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So… that just happened. He guessed.
Kaito sat in the exisal, face lined with sweat, staring at nothing. The exisal, for all intents and purposes, had to appear to be entirely off if someone came across it. In case someone stumbled upon it and thought to themselves, hey… a murderer could totally hide in there. Cramped and uncomfortably, sure, suffocating on the scent of his and his victims blood, sure, but… he cooould. Let’s open that bad boy up and check, huh? Just in case?
That’d be a bummer way to make everything he and Kokichi just did entirely meaningless.
So, after locking himself inside, Kaito had given the controls a long look and, after carefully checking the inner casing design of the machine and making a few rational guesses as to what button would lead to what function of the machine based on case sizing, had put it into ‘sleep mode’, essentially. Turning everything off with the exception of a small red emergency light that shone drearily behind him, just higher than his head. It really was a small space.
And job done— and nothing else to do to ensure this all wasn’t about to be ruined by a pair of wandering eyes and an electric-hammer— Kaito had just sat there and stared at the darkness for a while. His rasping breaths loud in his own ears, occasionally tapping at the book in his lap fitfully. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Little reassuring sounds to remind him that he was still here… that this was still real.
Tap-tap.
Had that just happened?
It occurred to Kaito that it couldn’t have. All of that had been too insane. Things like that didn’t happen, not in real life. Kaito had just spent three days trapped in a bathroom, quietly wheezing and hacking and dying, more bored out of his mind than anything… and then everything at once. Everything at once. Everything at once. Everything at once—
Tap-tap.
He was supposed to be doing something, wasn’t he?
Other then squishing Kokichi?
Kaito felt a wave of nausea run through him, eyes widening slightly in the darkness. Sweat starting to pick up again as his breathing became more labored. The ever present pain in his throat warning him he was going to need to cough again soon. Stay calm… stay calm… you only squished your friend a little bit . Only a little. Only entirely flat and he had exploded he had exploded it happened all at once all at once all at once all at once —
“I’m supposed to… read the script.” Kaito murmured out loud to himself. Blinking slowly at the red-tinted void that was the black screen in front of him. Blinking as his eyes adjusted and he realized he could see his own red-tinted silhouette in the dark mirroring of the black screen. “…next part of the plan…”
Tap-tap.
“Next part of the plan!” Kaito suddenly shouted, a wide grin splitting his face into two. Literally, he felt like his head was going to flop backwards like a sesame street puppet. He could imagine it so vividly. His eyes wide and unseeing, head flapping urgently as in a high, squeaky voice he told the kids at home ‘Are you ready? The Luminary of the Stars says its time to learn the 1-2-3’s of getting away with murder! Yaaaay! Let’s gooooo!’
He laughed a little at that mental image, and some of the building hysteria waned a little as he opened up the ‘script’ to page one… and frowned as he saw Ryoma’s name.
Kaito warily read Kokichi’s step by step plan for Ryoma to commit suicide— Should you accept this dire mission, Ryoma-chan, and save all our lives while ALSO ENDING THE GAME! — but to stage it like it was murder, leaving indisputable evidence behind that Kokichi had done it. Then, when I’m allowed to go free, I can go get help, but leave behind my own evidence for them to find that your murder was actually a suicide! That way they’ll know 1: Monokuma can be tricked and the trials can be rigged, and 2: they’ll be sooooo inspired by your sacrafice that none of them will be able to bring themselves to be the first actual murderer!
Kaito skipped ahead a few pages, and realized Kokichi wrote this back in the first days they had gotten here. A plan for how to deal with the time limit in a way that would allow Kokichi to escape to get help, while at the same time exposing Monokuma as a sham. Not to mention using Ryoma to guilt-trip the rest of the students into ignoring future motives in his name… all it took, apparently, was Ryoma agreeing to strangle himself.
“… fucking asshole .” Kaito growled, flipping through the pages as he saw Kokichi draw out specs for some sort of tracker for Miu to make, so that he could find the dome again once he was free. “This was what you were working on those three days? Fuck, I was asking everyone for help and ideas, why didn’t you just fucking talk it out with me? We could have figured something out that didn’t result in Ryoma dying, jackass…”
Except Kokichi had talked out a plan with Kaito.
And now Kokichi was everywhere, all over the floor, on his pants, on his slippers, Kokichi was all over him—
Calm… calm… breathe, Kaito…
The next plan Kaito recognized. Using Gonta’s love for bugs to kidnap the other classmates for the Bug Meet & Greet. This would allow Kokichi to steal the loved one's motive videos. Kaito kept reading and, well, at least with this one someone dying didn’t seem to be the expectation for the plan to work… though Kaito felt his stomach tighten with alarm as he saw step by step instructions for Maki, this time. How she was going to help Kokichi kidnap the folks most likely to commit murder to save a loved one and keep them alive and hidden from the others, who would want to free them too early— You know how to keep helpless little idiots alive, and you have a ‘fuck everyone else’ attitude that would be peeeerfect for a prison warden! You were born for this role, Maki!!
Then, at some point, in a different pen ink, Kokichi had written on the side lol nope she’s an assassin rip all of us i guess
More and more plans like that, as each motive was announced. Some motives had multiple plans put in place, some of the plans stopping mid-structure as Kokichi wrote in what new bit of information he had learned that meant it wasn’t going to work— Angie’s too much of a megalomaniac to work with, and besides, the cult might actually work?? Best to just step back and see how that plays out— Tenko would make a half-decent accomplice, she’s surprisingly hard to trick, but her bias basically makes her worthless to all future plans, she’ll never cooperate— Korekiyo just feels like a murder waiting to happen. The guy’s basically bragging about it every time I talk to him. And he’s got this whole sister-based judgment system on the girls he’s always referencing. Probably best I keep an eye on him, maybe I can stop it in the act??
Kaito raised an eyebrow at the ‘??’ noting as the pages went on more and more of Kokichi’s plans seemed less geared towards talking to a potential accomplice and him more talking to himself. His writing becoming more unhinged and uncertain as the days went on. One page looked like it had been written out and then scratched over entirely by the rough markings of a blue pen, Kokichi furious about whatever he had written there. Kaito wondered what it was, till he turned the page and saw NOPE WON’T WORK THERES NO FUCKING PLANET TO GO BACK TO MORON
Ah. Kaito scowled. Looked like they were getting closer to what he imagined would be the ‘Gonta/Miu’ plan. Reading about Kokichi’s other failed plans to try to stop the murders had made him almost forget for a minute that Kokichi was more than happy to set up other peoples murders to further his own goals. Fucking hypocrite… none of these plans ever had him dirty his own hands, Kaito had noticed. It was always someone else doing the hard work. Like taking advantage of other peoples weaknesses detached him from the things he had them do, somehow… fucker … FUCKER FUCKER FUCKING ASSHOLE WHY DID YOU DO THIS WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO US WHY—
Kaito’s eyes had gone wide again, and his breathing sounded hysterical even to his own ears as he panted. Unable to see the writing anymore because his vision had dilated to the point of whiting out, the fear and panic rushing through him all at once. He had killed Kokichi he had killed Kokichi he had watched him fucking explode he had to walk through the blood, he was covered in it, everywhere was covered in it, smeared all over the floor and splattering the bathroom and on Kaito’s clothes and on his hands FUCK!
Kaito wrapped his arms around his chest and tried desperately to breathe. Breathe, breathe, dumbass!! You have to “KRA-AUGH! KAUGH—KAUGH! H-AGCK! ”
Kaito coughed into the book, barely able to breathe as his chest rattled and shook, his lungs trying to expel themselves out of his body. For a second, he felt like he was choking, like he was drowning… and eventually the blood dislodged itself from the building pressure of his throat, and he hacked blood onto the page he had been reading. Blinking tearily as his body started to calm down a little, staring at the words as they came back into focus…
The world can’t be gone. This death game is being recorded. That recording has to be going to an audience somewhere .
The world being destroyed is fake.
It’s all fake.
The audience has to grow bored with us. We have to end the game. At all costs. It’s the only way, Shuichi .
Kaito panted, blinking tiredly… before laughing a little through his bloody teeth. “W-was Shuichi the next a-accomplice, Kokichi? Man…I chased you all over this damn school trying to talk to you. And I was really the very last person you e-ever thought of working with, huh…f-fucking asshole…”
Again, there was something incredibly calming, about laughing at the situation. Kaito chuckled some more to himself, blood dripping down his chin, as he read more, turning the page. Yep. Shuichi was next. Shuichi and Gonta. Kokichi, realizing Miu was planning to kill him next, planned out Gonta’s murder of her beforehand right down to the toilet paper, while also having a looooong list of items he intended to have her make before she died. Kaito thought that was particularly fucked up. Kokichi getting his full use out of her, before her planned strangulation. Kokichi and Miu… Kaito spat some blood onto the side of the exisal, the bitter taste matching his feelings. Those two idiots… if they had just agreed to work with everyone else… dammit .
All of that had happened as planned, but apparently another part of the plan had been to have Shuichi work with Kokichi to split the vote. To make it impossible for the class to decide if Kokichi had done it or if Gonta had done it. And to use their sympathy for Gonta and fear of getting it wrong to pressure them into not voting at all.
The audience won’t want to watch all of us get gunned down at once without ever knowing who did it. I’m certain of it. That’d be boring. I’m calling Monokuma’s bluff. He won’t do it.
Kaito wondered what had happened to this plan… before realizing, ah, obviously. Shuichi hadn’t so much as indulged Kokichi’s attempts to draw him into a plan. Kaito had known Kokichi was trying to isolate Shuichi from Kaito, and now he guessed he knew why. Kokichi probably thought if Shuichi didn’t have Kaito for support, he’d turn to Kokichi, in the same way he had turned to Kaito when Kaede had died, and to Maki-roll when Kaito had been too sick and freaked out to help in the third trial. Kokichi had seen someone who needed a partner to function, and had thought isolating Shuichi would make Kokichi a prime candidate.
… Kaito suddenly felt an overwhelming sadness, at that.
Kokichi was so naive… and he had died before he could ever get the chance to understand. Kaito had killed him before Kokichi ever had the chance to understand people. Kokichi was so good at reading people, but he didn’t understand them. Probably to the bitter end, he hadn’t understood why Shuichi hadn’t chosen him, even when Kaito had barely been able to look at Shuichi without being furious and hurt, let alone support him. Why the isolated detective hadn’t seen Kaito fall apart and just immediately gone running to the next person with all the answers.
“People aren’t… static. Kokichi.” Kaito told the pages quietly, flipping through the pages sadly as Kokichi predicted, entirely wrong, what Shuichi would do the more Kokichi isolated him from Kaito. “Fu-fuck man… you can’t make a whole plan based on peoples fucking… stereotypes. Man… you really made a whole plan based on ‘the detective will always be logical’, huh? Like Shuichi would inevitably pick you over me, j-just because you had answers and I didn’t? Because he was ‘smart’ and picking you was the ‘smart’ choice… you’re always forgetting he’s just a person, Kokichi. You always kept forgetting we were all just people…”
Kaito paused, and in a morbid way, he realized he was pausing to give Kokichi a chance to respond. His hands trembling as he sat in the silence, listening for him. Kaito didn’t believe in ghosts, but fuck, for a second there he had really felt like he was trying to explain it to Kokichi. Like the guy was listening, as Kaito just shrugged tiredly, “He picked me cause I made him feel cared about, Kokichi. That was it, man, that was all it took. You wanted your sure-fire accomplice? You should have just let him know you cared about him. You didn’t need all this shit to isolate and gaslight him, or me , for that matter, you dick. I’d have worked with you too… you just needed to show you cared about anything at all, a little . What the hell did you ever accomplish, pretending to be so damn above it all? It didn’t matter if you literally had all the answers, your attitude about the murders just made him too repulsed to work with you.”
“Between us? He wanted to trust me over you.” Kaito whispered. “So he did. That’s all the logic there was too it, Kokichi. Why did you expect anything else?”
Another long pause. Waiting for a response. Trying to imagine what Kokichi might have said…
“…Nee-heehee~” Said ‘Kokichi’, that strange, unnatural smile splitting Kaito’s face again. “Him just ‘liking’ someone enough to reject logic didn’t save poor Gonta, now did it? Kai-chaaan?”
“ Kokichi. ” Kaito flinched, gritting his teeth, “Knock it off, that’s not fucking fair man.”
As Kaito stared unseeingly down at the specs of the electro-bombs, script gripped painfully in hand as he dug his thumbnails into the page, ‘Kokichi’ said, with all his little giggles and tonal inflictions, “Oh? And I’m the naive one? That’s rich, Kaito! You’re the one who spent that whole trial thinking if you could just remind Shuichi that he likes Gonta and doesn’t like me, that somehow that’d save pooooor Gonta’s stupid, worthless life! Like somehow that’d make it so that the impossible really was possible, and Gonta’s hands weren’t the one that strangled that stupid whore Miu! You bet all of our lives on it . Kaito .”
“Show some respect, man! They’re both fucking gone, fucking stop insulting them! And Gonta wasn’t worthless, and Miu was only kinda stupid!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!” ‘Kokichi’ cackled— Kaito’s throat stung— as he flicked some hair out of his eyes, smirking darkly at Kaito’s red-silhouetted reflection in the dark mirror in front of him, “Wooooooow, Kaito? Even you can’t find a nice thing to say about Miu now that she’s dead and gone, huh? You have to admit, for all the people I set up to die, no one was exactly weeping over that mean, cocky disgrace of a human being~”
“Gonta did.” Kaito muttered, unable to meet the eyes staring back at him in the reflection, his gaze hovering slightly to the left of their ear instead, “He wept, man… how could you watch him cry like that and feel nothing? ”
“Kaito.” Kokichi said. His expression blank, eyes just wide and searching. “I made you kill me in the most horrific way you can think of, a few days later. So that everyone who died can rest in peace.”
“…”
“Do you really think I felt nothing?” Kokichi asked.
“…”
Kokichi smiled. “Do you feel something?”
And Kaito whimpered.
He whimpered with his whole body, curling around the book as he clutched it to himself. Unable to look at the reflection of himself as a pathetic keening noise escaped him, a whine from deep within his throat as tears suddenly spilled heavily down his cheeks.
“Kokichi, why? Why did this happen, why did this happen? Why did you do this to us? Why did you do this to me!? I didn’t want this, damn you! ”
Kokichi didn’t say anything to that. Just watched dispassionately as Kaito bent his body forward, curled around the book as he wept against his knees. Grief and horror rocking through him as he wailed. He didn’t want all of this to have happened. He didn’t want to have killed Kokichi. He didn’t want Kokichi to be dead and Gonta to be dead and everyone to be dead, he wanted to go home! Why had all of this happened? He was going to be an astronaut…
He felt his lungs give him warnings that his wailing was going to start another coughing fit, but Kaito ignored them. Weeping and sobbing into his legs, just wanting all of this to stop, stop , until finally his lungs insisted he quiet down. Coughing and hacking into his knees, until Kaito felt dizzy, swallowing iron and vomiting blood, spots in his vision as he eventually straightened up. He looked in the reflection and saw himself again in the darkness. Saw even in the silhouette how haggard he looked. How defeated.
He was dying… Kaito could feel it…
“I’m not going to make it, Kokichi.” Kaito murmured. Blinking tiredly at himself. “Is this why you didn’t want to work with me? Because I’m sick? I’m so tired, Kokichi… maybe you should have tried harder with Shuichi. I’m so tired…”
“Yeah, well…” Kokichi shrugged somewhere in Kaito’s head. Unimpressed. “Before you go and die on me, could you at least read the plan? Do that much, space case, I literally already died for this plan. So any amount of effort on your part would be soooooo appreciated, okay? Thank youuuuuuu—OPEN YOUR EYES KAITO!”
Kaito opened his eyes with a little gasp. Had he fallen asleep? Passed out? Literally just closed them for a moment? He didn’t know.
…he had to read the plan.
Kaito looked down at the book, and realized he was already on the correct page. He knew cause the handwriting was sloppier. Kokichi literally writing this out as Kaito set up and double checked the camera angle. Kokichi getting as much down as quickly as he could. Also he knew cause he immediately noticed the word ‘Astronut’ and assumed that it wasn’t a typo.
Alright, astronut! First things first! I know my blood must be, just, fascinating to gawk at, but pull it together! You have to go to the exisal and hide in it, and most importantly, you have to put it into sleep mode! Here’s how you
Kaito rolled his eyes as Kokichi gave him step by step instructions on the process he had worked out himself barely thinking about it. Kokichi really had no faith in his intelligence. “I told you man, I’m not an idiot.” Kaito muttered as he continued reading about how the exisal moved and the voice changer and how Kokichi wasn’t going to tell him how the weapons worked because that was just asking Kaito to accidentally blow a hole open in one of the others by accident. Though, if you gotta accidentally kill one of your ‘friends’, aim for no-balls, IE Keebo. He’s my number one for Mastermind choice right now. Seriously, he’s a robot, he was probably built specifcally for this game!
“Robophobic.” Kaito chuckled a little, though he could entirely see Kokichi’s point. He liked to think if Keebo was the mastermind through, the poor guy probably didn’t know it. He had always seemed sincere, to Kaito.
Then he kept reading. Again, a lot of the notes were obvious. Don’t forget to use Maki as a red-herring, to give Shuichi a chance to prove it wasn’t her, and then really focus on the switcharoo stuff. Show the murder video early, as soon as Kaito could, to put suspicion on Kaito. Remember, it’s not enough to have them just say it was me and have it actually be you. We have to have Monokuma visually uncertain who it was, right up until the very end. It has to be obvious he guessed, when he guesses wrong. Which means both of us have to be equally likely suspects, by the end.
“Got it, got it…” Kaito frowned, as pretty quickly the notes stopped being about the case, and more about Kokichi’s mannerisms. How to handle the other students as Kokichi.
Every time Maki gets too ready to murder me, switch to you. It’ll keep her off balance.
Keebo came to try to talk to me yesterday, if he’s smart he’ll try to trap you by asking you questions about the conversation. Here’s exactly how it went:
Tsumugi’s always a non-factor in these trials, don’t worry about her even if she starts to catch on. Her last valid point was ‘maybe a ghost did it’, her arguments are always garbage. If you recognize any of her anime references and you’re me remind her she’s useless weeb trash for me, I’d love for that to be my last words to her <3
If Himiko starts giving you any trouble just suggest I have a crush on her (DONT do it as yourself, Maki-roll and Shumai would mutually DESTROY her). Angie made her useless using that same gimmick, she’s easily knocked off her game by that. But only mention it once and then never again, or she’ll actually think it through and resent the attention, like we saw with Tenko. Affectionate, but aloof, got it!?
Kaito rolled his eyes at the comment about Maki and Shuichi. Dammit, Kokichi, always messing around…
Though once again he just felt… sad. As for Shuichi, Kokichi put I don’t know what you should say to Shuichi. Nothing I try ever works with him. He’s probably going to be the one to ruin all of this. Just try to keep the truth from him as long as you can…
Finally, if Monokuma tries to psych you out by threatening to kill everyone if he guesses wrong
Kaito blinked. Eyes blurringly assuring him, yes, the sentence did just end there. Kaito flipped the page, and brow furrowed, flipped a few more pages. Nothing. Nothing?
…not even a last request? A last message to Kaito? No last words? Just Kokichi either running out of time or just… realizing he didn’t know what to do about Monokuma threatening to kill everyone. Just leaving it blank with no advise to give, leaving Kaito to figure it out.
Just that worst case scenario, and then silence.
Feeling oddly empty— let down— Kaito closed the book. Holding it to his stomach as he stared at his reflection. No last words? How does someone write all of that just before they’re about to die, and not bother to write out some last message to the universe. How had Kokichi been willing to die that way…?
“At least I wasn’t boring, right?” Kaito mimicked at his reflection.
“At least I wasn’t boring… right?” ‘Kokichi’ said again, staring back.
“Kaito?” Kokichi said to him. Looking tired and sick and dying in the glass. “Right? At least I wasn’t boring?”
“…no, man. Fuck, you weren’t boring.” Kaito answered back. His eyes blurring once again. God, he had cried so much in the last few weeks… Kaede’s execution had started the waterworks and it was like Kaito couldn’t stop ever since. He was so tired of crying. “I wish you had been. I wish you had been boring…”
“You were fun.” Kaito told Kokichi. His heart sinking, as he held the book. “In your own shitty sorta way. Man, in different circumstances? With your antics and your speed and, fuck, that shitty, brilliant, stupid fucking brain of yours… I could see a version of myself that viewed you as a rival. To wanna outrun you, out think you, to combat your shitty plans. The hero to your villain, ya know? You did seem to love playing at being the villain… shame I didn’t make a better hero, I guess. Maybe a better hero could have stopped all of this…”
“I wanted you to come work out with Maki-roll and Shuichi and me.” Kaito confessed, “I could never get you to sit still long enough to ask, though. Always ended up bickering with you even when we did talk. Did you know I was trying to ask and that’s why you wouldn’t let me get a damn word in edgewise? Why not? You were like Shuichi and Maki… you needed the friends, man. You needed the courage to rely on other people. Why were you so convinced you were in this alone? You and your ‘hapless accomplices’.”
“…I didn’t want you to die.” Kaito murmured. “You or Maki-roll. I didn’t want you to die and I didn’t want her executed. So fucking stubborn, the both of you. Why were you both so determined to destroy each other? Did you really have to make personal enemies out of the recovering assassin, Kokichi? Don’t look at me like that, yes, recovering , I was going to talk her out of that awful career eventually. She was going to go on to be the Ultimate ‘Literally Anything Else’. Maybe Ultimate Fighter? You don’t have to kill people to have kickass fights with them, worthy of being an Ultimate…” Kaito suddenly snickered, “Ultimate Crossbolt Shooter. Too dark? Too soon?”
“…Nee-heehee~” Kokichi giggled, “How morbid, Kai-chan~ If you make that joke to her face, definitely do it in my voice. I want credit for that one!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Kaito smiled fondly at the reflection. Something in him finally relaxing a little, “…is it tough being dead, Kokichi?”
“Mmmm,” Kokichi hummed, like he was thinking about it— interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, Kaito’s throat not liking the humming— “Nrgh… hah… w-would you believe me, whatever I said? I am a liar, after all.”
“Yeah.” Kaito said softly. “I’m literally about to die, putting my faith in a plan you came up with, ‘Kich. Might as well go all in and just say I believe you, regardless of what you say next.”
“Okay~ Then it’s full of rainbows and unicorns and I’m flying on a cotton candy cloud that I’m currently in the middle of devouring , Kaito! Aren’t you excited to join me!?”
“…”
“…it’s not that hard.” Kokichi finally said, “It’s scary. Especially when you’re going. But the ‘being dead’ part? No, Kaito. It’s not hard. I’m okay. You’ll be okay too.”
Kaito swallowed at that. A few more heavy, rolling tears spilling down his cheeks… but he nodded, “…okay. I believe you… will you come meet up with me, when I go? I… I’m scared man. I don’t want to give that fucking bear the satisfaction of knowing I’m scared, but… I am. Will you come pick me up?”
“…” Kokichi was silent for a while. Kaito uncertain what he would say in this situation… before deciding Kokichi would probably just lie. “Yeah. I’ll be there Kaito. Waiting for you to tell me all the ways you messed up my super cool, one hundred percent idiot-proof plan!”
“Shut up, man, I’m gonna knock this damn plan out of the park. End this whole game once and for all.” Kaito said softly, blinking hard. He was tired… he was going to fall asleep soon. And this time, when he woke up, it was probably going to be trial time… everything happening again. Long periods of silence and being trapped, and then everything happening. All at once. All at once… and then long periods of silence again…
“…stay with me until I fall asleep, ‘kichi?” Kaito whispered softly. “I promise I’ll be ready when we start. But I’m so tired…”
“Sure, Kaito. Big man Momota, needs someone to hold him till he goes to sleep!” Kokichi giggled through the reflection, as Kaito gripped the book tighter. Blinking slower. “So needy! Paaaathetic… but, sure. Why not? I’ll stay. Chase away all the scary dreams in Kai-chans dopey, ugly head~”
“Fuck you man, I know I’m handsome.” Kaito chuckled, closing his eyes.
“Why, your mom tell you so?”
“Jackass… always messing around…” Kaito smirked. His eyes feeling heavy. “Shut up and let a guy sleep.”
“Okie-dokie!” Kokichi whispered. Sounding on the verge of sleep. “Goodnight, Kaito~”
“…night, man…”