This chapter was originally written early 2018. It has been edited as of October 18th, 2018. The author's notes are still written in their original format, however.

Note: Okay, so this will be a series of interactions that Kokichi has with the other students of NDRV3. They can be seen as romantic, platonic, friendly, etc. I try to keep a neutral standpoint with ships but if there are implications in chapters, you can do with those what you will!

Each different interaction will have a different "point in time" depending on the character...there are mild spoilers, but nothing huge like the game's entire plot, chapter six, pre-game, etc. Additionally, you can assume these interactions happen in the same universe, different universes, whatever floats your boat! I say this because Kokichi's character will undoubtedly start changing if he was the social butterfly like these chapters may sometimes make him to be...

There will be three characters showcased per chapter, as you can see here. This will total up to five chapters since there are 15 other students besides Kokichi Ouma. So now, a few notes on the specific sections in this chapter:

MIU IRUMA: this interaction takes place before the death/investigation of chapter four. it is based off of the flashbacks in chapter five where Kokichi explains where he got the electrobombs and such.

GONTA GOKUHARA: this interaction can take place anytime after the events of chapter two!

ANGIE YONAGA: this interaction takes place during chapter three, before the death/investigation of that chapter.

Miu Iruma

Miu is too hungry, too sleepy, too anything to be doing much right now. But even so, she wants to work on her projects. So she heads back into her lab, hoping that no one kills her as she does so (because really, she's in here, like, all the time) and that she can just sit down at her work table without incident.

It was too hopeful of a wish. When she gets into her lab, someone is already there before her. Normally Kiibo would drop by for some maintenance or something, so that wouldn't have been too unusual. And although she doesn't like him that much, Shuuichi's presence would have been welcome, too.

Instead, it happens to be her least favorite person in this school, right next to Monokuma himself. Just seeing the gleam of the color purple is enough to send her into a frenzy. She channels her irritable energy from being too everything-at-once, and yells at him. "Hey, dumbass! Who gave you permission to be in here?" Miu's eyes narrow down to angry slants, and she stomps her way over to him. "Get the fuck out!"

"Don't be so stupid, you floozy," Kokichi returns equally bitter words in her direction. "Just because it's your lab doesn't mean I can't be here. These are public places, y'know."

"Well, I don't want you here, anyway! So who cares about the rules? This lab is fucking mine, I get to decide who goes in and who d-doesn't..." her tone has softened from the initial biting anger, and she blames her hunger, fatigue, and everything else that stops her from going all out. It doesn't help that his words are acidic enough to burn her, and that he is just as—if not more so—clever as she is. With all these factors in mind, Miu feels like this situation would fall out of her hands quickly enough.

As such, she tries to reassert her authority in every way possible. This is your lab, Miu thinks to herself. And that fuckin' loser is the last person that gets to be here. Show him what's up.

"You say that, but I've seen that dumb robot come in and out like he pleases." A thoughtful pause ensues on Kokichi's end. Then his face morphs into a wicked smirk, the sheer mania emanating like radioactive waves off his body. "Oooh, is that how it is, Iruma-chan? You'll only let people that sexually exploit you enter your lab?"

"T-That's not it!" she blushes, but the thought of what he just said isn't too unappealing, in all honesty. In fact, she thinks a bit too hard about it, and unintentionally drools. He scowls at the sight of it.

"That's definitely it, judging by your reaction. Are you sure that you're the Ultimate Inventor? How come you're not the Ultimate Prostitute, instead?" He tilts his head in genuine confusion, the very notion of which mocks her to the core. "You're probably way better at breaking mattresses than you are at building stuff."

"Y-You're so mean," she finally whimpers, closing in on herself. It isn't the first time he has verbally tore her to shreds, but it's somehow different from before. This one hurts, a lot. "Y'know, I-I usually tolerate you when you say such awful stuff to me, b-but when it comes to my talent, that's—that's my pride! It's my everything! S-So, I don't need you or your approval of what I do to get in the way, Cockichi."

"Oh? Even if that's the case, I'm sure you're devastated by what I just said. Which was all the truth, by the way!"

"...Ugh!" She groans, and turns her back on him. Doing such a thing is dangerous, she knows ('cause maybe he'll actually kill me now that my back is turned) but it hurts less when she doesn't have to be face-to-face with him. Miu might be ill-suited for her talent, but Kokichi certainly isn't. The Ultimate Supreme Leader knows how to craft words that build people up and break them down in the same vein. He speaks truths, shouts praises, and hisses cruelty all in the same breath. He's the best of the best at being a liar and a deceiver all at once, none of which should have surprised Miu in the least.

But it pains her all the same.

Maybe he's right, a small voice in Miu's mind echoes to her. Maybe I should just give up—

"That's a lie, also. Have some pride in yourself, will you?" His voice is sudden, but sincere. She turns on her heels, and sees that he's waving a disappointed finger in her direction. It's not the first time that she's been struck dumb by his forcefulness, but it's certainly the most memorable time. Her icy eyes widen, and fill up with a strange warmth. Then, her brilliant mind speaks to itself in a single, succinct matter.

What?

He rolls his eyes. "Guess I'll have to explain it, huh? You know our fights are only fun if you put your best into it! You should've said something back to me, like, 'at least my talent is helping us survive, what's your talent good for in a situation like the killing game?' or 'hey, people actually come to me for help! What does that say about you?' followed by one of your stupid nicknames for me. Like, come on, Iruma-chan!"

"What?" Shocked by the drastic change in tone, she blinks to make sure that the Kokichi she sees in front of her is the real one, and not a hallucination caused by too little sleep across too many nights. "What did you say?"

"Oh, so in addition to being stupid, you're also deaf." He smiles, and she's not sure if she should trust that smile because she knows the uncertainty of the person behind it. In fact, she's not sure of anything right now, but he continues in spite of her. "I said I was lying. Don't you know that I'm a liar?"

"I know that," she insists, placing one of her hands on her hips. "But even then, why go so far for a lie? That was fuckin' uncalled for!"

"If you're so maaad about it, then how about proving me wrong?" he asks this teasingly, but there's something in his eyes that offsets the negativity of it all. Before she can even begin to decipher it, he reaches into his back pocket, and pulls out a small journal.

Stepping closer to Miu, Kokichi flips through the pages until he finds the one he wants. Then he takes out a pencil from behind his ear, and points to it. "Think you could come up with something like this?"

Miu's curiosity takes over before anything else, and she glances at the sheet. It's a rudimentary design compared to anything she can come up with, but it's not bad at all. From the gist of it, it seems like Kokichi wants her to make some sort of device that would terminate nearby electrical signals—something that would stop a machine in its tracks entirely. Strange, but not unheard of. She quirks a brow at him.

"What the hell do you need this for?"

"For the Exisals, obviously. What, is it too hard for someone like you to do?"

She can't see through his ruse, and she doesn't know that he's annoying her on purpose, but none of that matters. It's like he said, how she had to have some pride in her work. He wants an invention? He'll get an invention! She'll show him what it means to be an Ultimate Inventor, and make him eat his words! This resolve flooded her head like water, and her face lifts into a confident smirk.

"Nothing's too hard for me! I'm the Ultimate Inventor, after all! Stuff like this is nothing more than foreplay." She lifts her head up, and makes sure to look down at him with the most pride she can muster. But it's all for show, because she speaks with a neutral tone afterward. "But what's in it for me?"

"Everything, obviously." He doesn't back down either, because his eyes are as determined as hers. "What's in it for you is your reputation, your credibility, any last shreds of respect I have for you…"

"Bullshit," she snaps. "You've never respected me!"

"If I didn't respect you to some degree, would I be asking you for a favor right now? Why don't you pay attention to anything I say? Come on, Iruma-chan, you can't just be thinking about getting laid all the time!" He points this out to her, sounding accusatory but mostly just annoyed. She huffs.

"Just spare me your horseshit already! How can I think about getting laid if you're here? As long as you're in the vicinity, then I'm just, like, instantly turned off." She's not even joking in the slightest, as the warmth and tingles she felt from his scathing remarks earlier have faded by now. She burns this honesty from her sky-blue eyes to his bruise-violet ones.

The bruise contracts as he blinks. "Oh, please. Just 'cause I'm not your type doesn't mean I'm a turn-off!" Kokichi enunciates his words carefully, because he wants her to fall for his bait.

And she does. "My type? And how would you know what my type is?"

"Seriously? I know you and Kiiboy do some 'maintenance'—" he curls his fingers into air quotes, and chortles at her angry stare— "in here. I'll also never forget that time where you walked around half-naked for Gonta's sake and nothing more. Your type," he decides, "is the submissive type."

She blushes. "H-Hey, that's not—"

"But it's too bad. You could have been fun to play with, if you didn't have, like, ten STDs and zero personality." He inspects his fingernails, making sure to shoot her an indifferent glance when she sputters at his offhand comments. "Anyway, how long are you gonna just stand there, doing nothing? Are you waiting for someone to get killed before you start working on the stuff I asked you to?"

"Shut up, you limp-dicked virgin! Like I said, there's nothing I can't do! I'll have your dumb shit ready for you in no time!" Her usual fire ignites, and he doesn't seem too offended by it this time. She feels a sense of relief in seeing that, but then quickly denies it. What the fuck, Miu, she wonders to herself. Since when the fuck do you care about his feelings?

"That's what I like to hear," he chirps, lips curling into a wondrously glee smile. It's like the animosity he had towards her was never there to begin with. Miu feels dizzy thinking about how quickly he can change face. "Then, I'll leave you to it, Ultimate Inventor." He spins on a dime, arms outstretched in the most childish way, and he leaves the lab just as soon as he might have entered it.

Before Miu realizes it, Kokichi is gone and everything is quiet. It's just like him to cause a scene as quickly as he leaves it, though. She sighs to herself, and heads back to her workbench to get started on his request.

"Oh?" She sees something that was not there previously. There, bundled on her desk, is food. Or the semblance of food, but based on the wrappers, it's definitely food. It looks like someone's lunch that never got eaten. It has rice and some hotpot from today's lunch that she had forgot to attend, as well as a water bottle and—score!—some of that sukiyaki caramel she likes.

"D-Did Kokichi leave this here? Is that why he was here beforehand?" she asks herself, looking towards the exit like he might jump out at any second. He doesn't, thankfully, and she looks back down at the items before her. "There's no way he would've done this. He's awful and he doesn't even know that I love this kind of stuff...well, the caramel, anyway…"

She picks at the wrappers, and starts taking a bite. Another possibility comes across her mind. "Maybe Kiibo really did leave it here...as thanks for the maintenance earlier?" Shaking her head, she dismisses how the food might have suddenly appeared, deciding that isn't nearly as important as eating the actual food itself. She has been quite starved lately, forgetting to properly eat and sleep when she's so busy with her work.

So while she may never admit it, she appreciates this little gesture done by whoever-it-was. She enjoys it so much that when she's done, she starts working on the next project right away with newfound energy.

"So that ugly bastard needs this done, huh? Better crank it out so I can get to stuff that really matters!"

The lab becomes quiet again, with only the sound of pencils scratching and metal bending to be heard throughout.

Gonta Gokuhara

"Ouma-kun, you really don't like bugs?" Gonta asks in a defeated tone. For a big guy, he sure gets disheartened easily. This is what Kokichi thinks as he sighs.

"Gonta, I told you this already. I was lying about liking bugs before. It was an excuse to get to the motive videos, remember? Don't tell me you already forgot!"

"Gonta is pretty forgetful sometimes," he admits, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "But why would you lie about bugs, Ouma-kun?"

He's asking me why I lie, something inside Kokichi thinks. Should I tell him the long, itemized list of reasons why I lie? And should I give him the alphabetical list or the chronological one? Actually, scratch all that, there's no need to get so complicated. "Because they're gross, and you really like insects, and I didn't want to disappoint you or whatever." Violet eyes flicker back and forth between Gonta, his insect cage, and the green grass below them all. "Also, weren't you the one that said you couldn't find any bugs in this place? So why bother about them?"

"It's true that Gonta couldn't find any bugs before, but that makes Gonta want to try even harder to look for them!" his eyes light up, and he smiles down at Kokichi. "You understand, don't you?"

"Sadly, I do." He sighs again, making sure to drag out the impossible length of the noise as much as he can. Then he concedes. "And by the sound of it, you really want me to help you."

"Gonta really does! He appreciates all the help he can get! But if Ouma-kun needs something, then Gonta will not hesitate to carry out a favor for him. It's only the right thing to do." Gonta's face right now is too good, too pure, and too wonderful for the likes of Ouma. But the promise of getting another free favor from the other is too sweet to give up, and Ouma knows that having help from someone as forgetful and slow as Gonta would only help him in terms of keeping his intentions a secret.

Kokichi smiles, softly this time. "O~kay, but a promise is a promise! Don't forget that!"

Gonta nods his head vigorously, then matches Kokichi's grin for his own. "Of course! Gonta forgets unimportant things from time to time—and maybe some important things after that—but he never forgets a promise!"

.

.

Kokichi is never going to admit it, but sometimes he likes hanging out with Gonta—either that or he dislikes hanging out with other people more than he does with the Ultimate Entomologist. The guy is so easy-going and so gullible that the situation can never be in his favor, so Kokichi can naturally (and rightfully, in his mind) take the lead. Even if he was the one that needed to be convinced at first, he ends up being the one charging ahead and laying out bait for the bugs.

The two of them set up traps in likely places for insects to appear. Gonta, being much taller than Kokichi, easily puts them in the high branches of trees, atop tall fixtures, and in the rafters of the hallways outside. Kokichi, therefore, finds his place in the tough-to-find spots, and in little crevices where no one else except for him (and Yumeno-chan and Hoshi-chan, he thinks amusedly) could have fit. Then he crawls out each time, clapping the dirt off his clothes, only to be greeted by the smiling Gonta.

That smile is the perpetrator of the truth—a truth which is the fact that Kokichi really does appreciate moments like these where he can just mindlessly hang out with Gonta. Since he's so sincere, naive, and kind, he never bothers insulting Kokichi for his lies, or overreacting to the bitter truth whenever it comes out of Ouma's mouth.

For that reason and that reason alone, he makes quite the companion.

"Did you bait this one already?" Kokichi points to a tiny space beneath one of the courtyard benches, where there is a sizeable dip in the ground that insects—should they appear, anyway—would most likely be.

"Not yet," Gonta answers. "The space is far too small for Gonta. Ouma-kun, can you maybe…?"

"Yeah, I got it~" he agrees, and gets down on his knees to crawl under the bench. Although it should have made him feel more self-conscious about his height and size, moments like these actually made him feel better about himself somehow. He can do things that bigger, stronger people can't do as easily.

Kokichi places the bait (which is just some sort of food, actually. He asked Gonta if this was a waste of resources but then Gonta brought up the fact that the kitchen and pantry never seem to run out of food, and Kokichi agreed with his statements) inside of the hole. As he retracts his hand, he miscalculates the exact location of all the jagged pieces of stone, and accidentally cuts himself on their edges.

"Ow!" He yells out with genuine surprise, and tries not to jerk his body, but ultimately gives into the urge. His head bangs against the bottom of the bench instantly, and his voice escapes in pained groans.

"Ouma-kun!" Gonta calls out, and gets down on his knees to try and see under the bench. He's much too big to see properly, though. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," he mutters, and tries to squeeze his way back out from under the bench without further incident. This time, he succeeds, and when he has more freedom to move around, he jumps up to his feet. Then he rubs his hand at the back of his head gingerly, hiding the scowl that wants to form on his face because he's hurt.

Gonta doesn't quite see through this, but he's so worried about the pain Kokichi just went through that he doesn't care. "Gonta is sorry! He should have baited the spot himself so Ouma-kun wouldn't get hurt! So you wouldn't get hurt!"

"It's alright, sheesh. It's not like I died." He blinks once, twice, then asks in a funny voice: "Although if I did die, would you be the blackened or would it be me? Would it count as a suicide since I volunteered to do it?"

"O-Ouma-kun!"

"Aw, but I was just kidding," he jokes in an obviously half-hearted voice. But that's good enough for Gonta, because his worries have migrated elsewhere. Ruby red eyes scan over Kokichi (which doesn't take long, there's not much to look at in terms of bodily real estate) then widen.

Gonta gently reaches outward, and grabs the hand Kokichi used for placing the bait. His hands are as Kokichi expected them to be: rough, calloused, hammy like no other. But his touch is as gentle and cautious as someone's hand can be. Distantly, Kokichi thinks that Gonta's fingertips feel like the flighty wings of a moth, or the tentative legs of an ant.

Then he wonders if he hit his head, instead, to be thinking of weird things like that.

The other brings him back to reality, though, as he inspects Kokichi's hand carefully. There is a medium-sized cut running alongside it, and blood leaks out methodically, in practiced drops—almost as if it was a self-inflicted wound, instead. The thought of the injury (and what it might have looked like if it really were self-inflicted) becomes too much for him to bear.

Gonta's heart drops as his voice rises. "Oh no, blood!"

"It's nothing," Kokichi insists, slowly pulling his hand back to his side with Gonta's reluctant permission. "Seriously, don't freak out over everything! Especially this, it's just a little blood! What if there was a body announcement right now? You might just faint!"

"Gonta has a bandage for this," Gonta says, ignoring all of Kokichi's japes. He takes out some from his pocket, and reaches for the injured hand again. Only this time, Kokichi really does pull away, and even goes as far as to move an entire step back from Gonta. The latter looks hurt—but not necessarily offended by—the former's action.

He is silent for a moment before speaking. "Why did you pull away from Gonta?"

"Because it's fine, like I said. And besides, you don't have disinfectant so even if you wrap it up, it might still get infected anyway." That has definitely got to be one of my worst lies yet, he thinks to himself, thank God he's so dumb, otherwise, he might not—

"Well, lucky us, because the bandages already have medicine on them! Gonta forgot until now, but Angie-san told me to medicate the gauze! Gonta helped her with a sprained wrist from painting, you see, so he took her advice willingly."

"You went through all that to slap on some ointment on these things?"

"Yes! So, please, Ouma-kun, don't worry too much about the infection. It most likely won't happen."

"Ugh, this is really too much. You're too soft, Gonta," Kokichi says this, but he finally allows the him to grab his hand once more. Although he finds this whole situation to be fussy, and awkward even, he knows it's better to accept the help rather than refuse it, because an infection might actually kill him, and that's the last thing he wants right now, despite implicating otherwise.

He is totally still as Gonta works with the bandage. Surprisingly enough, he does a decent job of dressing it up. Thinking back to the rough contact he had with Gonta's hands the first time, Kokichi feared that the other's hands are too clumsy, too big, and too inexperienced for delicate work like wrapping bandages. But he's proven wrong as Gonta's hands are firm—knowing, even—as they loop the bandage over itself, and securely fasten it with tape.

When he is all done, Kokichi inspects his work, and smiles at the sight of a clean, bloodless limb. Then he gives a thumbs up with the same hand that he got hurt with. "Hey, not so bad, Gonta! I always prefer not being injured to being injured! I guess I really can't kill ya now, huh?"

"Gonta really wishes that you wouldn't joke about killing like that," his smile falters, but returns at the thought of a nice recovery from what just happened. "Still, Gonta is happy that Ouma-kun is no longer hurt."

"And that's the part of all this that I just I don't get," Kokichi says. "You do know that was your big chance to kill me, right? I was vulnerable for a second, but even when I'm not, you could totally just slit my throat or something." He runs a finger across his neck, and sticks out his tongue pretending to be dead. Gonta flinches, and Kokichi apologizes in his own way by ceasing the act.

He doesn't relent, though. "No, seriously, Gonta. Why bother helping me? I know I agreed to help you set up insect traps, but that's because you promised me a favor beforehand. Otherwise, I'm pretty awful, y'know? It'd probably be better for you and everyone else if I was dead."

"..." Gonta thinks about this, and his gaze moves skyward as if the answer lied with the stars above. After a moment or so, he returns to reality, and nods at Kokichi with a newfound resolution in his voice.

"Ouma-kun lies a lot, Gonta knows this. Ouma-kun says hurtful things sometimes. Gonta also knows this! But even so, Gonta likes Ouma-kun!" A cheesy smile appears on his face, and he continues preaching with the same sincerity. "Gonta doesn't think that anyone deserves to die. Especially not his friends! So, he will protect everyone, and that includes you, Ouma-kun."

A fuzzy feeling manifests in his chest, like cotton stuffing inside of a stuffed bear. Kokichi doesn't know what it is (oh yes, he does) so he just ignores it. Of course, the pure naivety and goodwill radiating from Gonta is nothing short of unbelievable. If anything, he sounds like Kaito a bit, with that hunky-dory "friends are my power" gibe and whatnot. Yet somehow, when Gonta says things like that, it doesn't sound as bad or corny.

It almost sounds like it could be true.

Kokichi knows better than to get his hopes up, however. After all, the mastermind could be Gonta (unlikely, he thinks assuredly) or at the very least, Gonta is close to the mastermind, which could spell the end for Kokichi if he lets them know what was really going on with him. So he denies his act of stupid purity for now, although he spares Gonta the smallest of signals to let him know that he appreciates the thought.

That sign comes in the form of a tiny smile. If Gonta were Shuuichi, he might have seen what lies behind the grin. He might have seen the small shrivel of honesty in Kokichi's eyes, or a new, springy step in his every movement. But Gonta wasn't Shuuichi, so he couldn't have picked up on the nearly invisible signs.

Kokichi sends them out, nonetheless.

"That's a dangerous way of thinking, Gonta-kun. But that's so you, when I think about it. So I guess I'll let it slide this time," Kokichi says coolly, throwing his arms back and putting his hands behind his head. His smile still lingers. "Aaaand we're all done with the baiting now, right?"

"Yes, we're quite done! Gonta is thankful, because he could have never done it all by himself."

"Good, good." Quickly, the smile fades into smirk territory, and Kokichi relishes the momentary worry that slides across Gonta's face as he speaks. "So, about that favor you promised me…"

Angie Yonaga

"Hey, Kokichi!" Angie calls. He turns around, and gives her a curious look as she bounds her way over to him. The spring in her step is alive and well, and her sun-colored jacket flies out like wings behind her back. Combined with that wide, innocent smile of hers, Kokichi knows one thing for sure.

He's in trouble.

"Angie-chan," he greets her. "What's up?"

"Before that, I will ask you something. Are you busy right now?"

"Yes," he says quickly, not even lying this time. He's always busy, because he has to think three steps ahead of everyone else at all times. He's always busy, because he has to write and plan and plot and do everything he can to stay alive in this game. He's always busy, because his truths and lies have to get sorted out so he can make some sense of this game, of this life, and of this world.

"Yes," he repeats himself, masking the momentary madness that's going on in his head. "I'm busy."

"Oooh," Angie's face falls, but not into a frown like it should have. It drops into a neutral expression, one full of thought and wonder. Then it comes alive with a tranquil but maniacal happiness that only someone as eccentric as the Ultimate Artist is capable of doing."Well, who even cares about what you're busy with? I'm taking you with me, anyway!"

"What are you—"

"Let's go!" she doesn't give him time to think, and pulls him along by his wrist. Since she is the same height as him, Kokichi figures her to be equally strong and not at all hard to pull away from. But when his protests are met with only an iron-tight grip, he realizes that she's not the same strength as him at all.

She's way stronger.

.

.

Minutes later, Kokichi still wonders what Angie plans to do with him. Not that any of her plans will come into fruition easily, because he's not letting her get her way once she lets go of him, but the idea itself is interesting enough. Also, she has never approached him on her own like this—in fact, he's sure that she hasn't approached anyone on her own like this, because she floats on her own so freely, too strange and distant for anyone to truly understand. The only exceptions to this were the members of the student council, who were less like fellow members of a committee and more like tools to her disposal. So it seems as if she only approaches people when they have a use for her.

Maybe they have something in common, after all.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" Kokichi asks, choosing his words carefully so she might actually answer them. He doesn't know her that well, and therefore can't gauge how much joking he can do with her or not. Not that this would deter him from messing around with her at all, but it's the thought that counts.

Of course, her league of idiot council members also pose as a semi-large threat. So there's that, too.

"Guess!" Angie replies cheerfully. "Guess where we're going, Kokichi!"

"Your lab," he answers casually, "since it just opened not too long ago."

"Wow, you guessed correctly! God must have told you the answer, huh?"

"God didn't—"

"Even so, you would have figured it out now that we're up here!" She pauses in front of the main door to the Ultimate Artist Lab, which is a lock-and-key door with multiple paint splatters on it. Hers is the only lab with locks on it, although the accessibility should have been as open as all the others.

Of course, ever since she started the war with her wacky student council (even going as far as to convert them temporarily to her religion, sometimes referring to God as her island-named "Atua"), going in and out of the room freely has been out of the question. Eyes stop outwardly pondering this and flicker back to her image, which is mostly hidden from Kokichi's view as she faces away from him. And she does this so easily, too, like the thought of him killing her in this moment isn't a worry of hers.

Strange.

"Open says me!" Angie yells out, and turns the knob on her lab door. Kokichi doesn't bring up the fact that he can definitely unlock it whenever he wants to. "Come on, then!" she pulls him along again, unrelenting in her grasp.

"Angie-chan, do you always kidnap people and bring them here? Or am I special?" he is half-joking, but mostly he wants to start testing how thick her skin is. The initial caution from before still holds, though, so he keeps his smirk down to a minimum.

She doesn't seem to mind, though, and just laughs at his words. "Nyahaha! I didn't kidnap you, silly! I brought you along with me!"

"Yeah, against my will," he points out. "Can't you feel my squirming? I've been trying to break free this whole time."

"Oh, Kokichi must be really weak because I didn't feel anything." Angie says this with actual honesty, her voice surprisingly free of malice. Even though her carefree attitude isn't anything new, it still fascinates Kokichi whenever it appears. He puts a finger to his mouth out of thought.

"Eeeh? Angie-chan's the one that's too strong, I've been thrashing around like a fish out of water over here! But anyway, are you gonna let me go now or what?"

"Yes, I'll let you go, but I want you to see something before you leave." Her voice is too earnest for his liking, but she makes good on her promise by releasing his wrist. While he has every right to leave now, he decides to stay and see what the big deal is. What did I get dragged all this way for, anyway?

"Is it a painting? Because I hate art." He points at her accusingly, hoping his words stick to her.

They don't. "Well, even so, I'm still gonna show you it!"

"I was just lying, Angie-chan," he tells her, even though she probably knows this. "But wow, you really do whatever you want, don't you?"

"It's all according to God's will," she assures him, but a mischievous smile on her face says otherwise.

He pokes fun at her religion for a bit. "Whose God are you referring to, Angie-chan? Certainly not mine," he gasps dramatically, placing a hand on his chest as if offended. "Just kidding, I don't believe in God any more than I believe in Monokuma."

"God can be anything, depending if you want to believe in Him or not," she says simply. "I call him 'God' by simplicity, but back on my island, we worshipped a being known as Atua. They are synonymous, and everything is God's—Atua's—will."

"Okay, okay. I was just curious~" he says, all in good faith. "Seriously, though, what's going on?"

"I'm going to show you something, and it's under this sheet. Are you ready for it?" Her steely blue eyes are warm, now, and she hums while taking careful steps away from him. Angie's long, golden jacket flutters out behind her, and brushes against Kokichi's fingers as she walks.

It's soft.

He smiles, and follows after her. "Yup, show me what you got."

Angie nods, and grabs the white sheet hiding her work. Then she does a quick count of "one-two-three!" under her breath, and pulls it off. Even so, it takes a few seconds for Kokichi to be able to see anything, and when he does it's nothing like he expects it to be.

It is a painting of him. Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, stares at a painting done in his honor. Although it is paint, the only thing that gives that away are the obvious brush strokes on the canvas. Otherwise, it looks like he is staring at a large, superimposed image of himself in the mirror. The details are startlingly accurate, as Angie even managed to get the shine on the chain link that sticks out from under his scarf! This is in addition to the shadows cast by his bangs landing on his face, and the correct color order of the buttons on his shirt.

Yet, the way his painted smile is so empty yet so full at the same time makes him want to break the canvas to pieces. He resists the urge.

For once, he's shocked. Of course, Kokichi loves it when people pay tribute to him, but he never once expected the Ultimate Artist to do such a thing! He looks to her with a starry-eyed expression and widening smile. "Wow, you did this for me? I didn't even have to threaten your life or anything!"

"Oh, so you like it? I mostly struggled with your hair color, y'know. Because even now, I can't really tell if it's purple, black, a mix of both, or black with the ends being purple. It also doesn't help that the lighting always changes and stuff~" she shrugs, but quite clearly pleased by the praise given to her just now.

"Nishishi! It's an enigma, like me!" Kokichi says only that on the matter of his hair, because honestly, he couldn't care less about maintaining it. But he returns his attention to the painting, looking between the creation and its creator. He blinks at her with obvious curiosity, hoping to draw her into his questions with the same feeling.

"So, are you obsessed with me or something, Angie-chan?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, we don't know each other that well but you still painted a picture of me. Of course it's an awesome picture, but I'm just confused about it."

"What's so confusing about it? My muse is ever-changing, even if my heart belongs to God." She taps one of her dry paint brushes against her face, and stares off to the side with a dreamy look in her eyes. "You were great inspiration, actually."

"And when exactly did you get inspired by me? Was it in the dining hall where I totally declared the 'student council versus everyone else' war? Or do you have, like, a super-awesome memory that you can just paint people's exact image with?"

"Hmm," she wonders aloud, twirling the brush in her fingers, now. Her hands never seem to rest, even when she's not painting. Is that the restlessness of an artist, let alone an Ultimate? "I want to tell you, but you're Kokichi, you know? It's a bit personal, and you've been at odds with the members of my council, soooo needless to say, I'm a bit angry at you, too."

"Oh, so you do realize what's going on around you!" he sounds genuinely surprised by this, and smiles at the tiniest hint of annoyance that appears on Angie's almost incorrigible face. "Here I was, thinking you were just some airheaded devotee with her head in the clouds...but that's all wrong, isn't it? You're actually really clever, Angie-chan. Getting those guys to be on your student council and whatnot, that takes some massive manipulation on your part."

"I am just an extension of God's will, and God wants peace for the academy and those that live here." She has said this to him before, but it sounds different somehow. He thinks hard about why that is, while she continues speaking regardless of him. "The members of the student council agree with God's teachings, and so they get along with me just great! It works out for everyone!"

"But you've been basically ordering them around like your servants," he reminds her. "And despite being a 'council' they haven't had any say on any of the matters you brought up before. I'm pretty sure they're just blindly agreeing with you." Kokichi frowns, and starts welling up fake tears. "And you just ignore them anyway, g-going off a-and d-doing your own t-thing! Waaaaah, you're so mean to them, Angie-chaaaaan!"

He wants the obvious fake crying to dispel any actual anger that might surface from her skin, but it doesn't work as well as he wants it to. Even though Angie smiles brightly at him, her eyes are wearing a dark expression and he feels like he might freeze from staring at the ice-blue for too long. But he stands his ground, anyway.

Angie spares him a laugh. It does nothing to warm the chills that crawl up his spine."They do as they please, and all that. Kind of like you, right? You're almost alike, so something tells me that you'll understand. Yes, God and Atua and the universe itself tells me that you're just dying to know how I got your image down so perfectly."

She speaks the truth, but he would never admit it. He simply gives her a dismissive wave of hand. "I mean, you looked at a picture of me, right? C'mon, it's not difficult to understand."

"Nyahaha! That's totally wrong!" she winks at him, and moves her brush in the air like it was on canvas, instead. "Actually, I had a dream about you, Kokichi!"

"Aw, you're flattering me~ I never knew you fantasized about me this way, Angie-chan!"

"I don't normally dream about things like this, so I actually considered it a nightmare when it happened!" She giggles wickedly at her own wit, but also at the fake pout that crosses Kokichi's countenance. "No, but I really did dream about you. And in my dream, you were really vivid...so when I woke up, I came straight here to paint what I saw in that dream."

Angie walks towards the canvas, and lets her fingers run down the sides of its frame. There's something wistful in her eyes, and her white hair makes the image of a halo appear in his mind's eye. He blinks the image away as she speaks nostalgically. "I'll never forget what you said to me, either."

He can't think of anything satisfying to retort with, so he simply sticks to the truth of his curiosity. "What did I say?"

She lowers her arms which had been moving in various ways just now, and keeps them still at her side. Then she lowers her head, as if in prayer, only to bring her hands clasped against her chest. Angie's eyes flutter in Kokichi's direction, and she speaks in a rich, heavenly voice that doesn't quite sound like her yet sounds completely like her all at once.

Ouma vaguely wonders if she's somehow managed to brainwash him, too, when he wasn't paying attention. Has he been lost the moment he stepped inside the domain? Perhaps she charmed him when she first grabbed his hand. Maybe Kiibo sent out brainwashing waves from faraway. When he steps outside, will he be able to go back to his room, or will the trap finally spring up on him? He wonders about all of this because Angie's voice is silkier than it should be, and she recites the syllables in such a way that they leave tiny shivers that climb up his back with every syllable she speaks.

"'I'm afraid I see through you, Angie-chan. You don't fool me anymore. You claim to love colors, but even so you are completely transparent.

And for someone that is so sure a God guides her hand, you seem so uncertain.

Hey, Angie-chan? Is it possible that you're really lonely?

Hmm? How do I know this? Well, it's obvious, isn't it?

I've never seen someone's smile as empty as yours.'"

She pauses after this moment in the anecdote, and for once Kokichi has nothing to say. A thought lives and dies on his tongue, and he just glances between Angie and his painted depiction wordlessly. He stares at his fake smile on the canvas, and remains silent as she finishes voicing the recollection of the fleeting dream.

" 'Except for mine, of course.' "

Note: thank you for reading! I appreciate reviews when I can, but if you're stuck on what to say, let me ask a few questions:

Of the three snippets here, which one of them did you like the most? (or the least, if you feel comfortable saying so). How do you feel about the characterizations I've given to the characters?

Again, thanks for reading! Look forward to the next chapters soon!