53 Lies and Counting.

Chapter 2: Prologue to a Daily Life.

Begin Recording 321drv111-0.

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In this chapter, I try and remember how to write!

Especially the kubs.

I'm also gonna mix up some of the names with the Japanese version, along with Gonta's speech.

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"So. How did you gain your talent?"

Rantaro hummed again, fiddling with a silver ring on a finger in thought.

How was he going to do this... He accidentally let his talent slip, which was the newer talent and not the older one, and now Kaede was going to ask questions about why he had such a talent and he had no idea what to say. There was no way in hell telling her the truth would end well for anyone, especially him if Tsumugi ever found out.

Well, he would become guacamole faster, that was for sure.

So what would the back story be?

"...Rantaro?"

"Ah, my talent. I can't remember."

Kaede tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, what do you mean?"

Rantaro rubbed his head in thought, hoping to whatever God there was out there that this would work. "Well, I remember my talent but... I don't actually remember why and how I got it. It's all... It feels like, my memories just fell apart, I can remember small fragments but..."

Rantaro trailed off, quickly becoming nervous and uncertain.

Kaede crossed her arms, thinking to herself. "Really?

Shuichi, confused, spoke up, "That's odd. Why are your memories-"

"Well, I did hit my head earlier, maybe I can't remember because of that." Rantaro suggested. "The locker I was stuck in wouldn't open, I think the door was broken as it just refused to budge."

"Then how did you-"

"Rise and shine, ursine-!"

Five familiar, child like voices rang out throughout the room as an even more familiar tune started to play in the background. One by one the Monokids began to pop all and within a few seconds Monotaro, Monophanie, Monosuke, Monokid and Monodam popped up out of the floorboards with a cheer.

That was when he heard it, a faint background tune.

'Even their theme song is playing?!'

"Rise and shine, ursine!" Monotaro repeated happily.

"Ahhh! You guys again?!"

The red and white bear ignored Kaede's outburst and instead turned his attention towards Rantaro. He held up his hands, yelled,

"Father! You came back!"

And jumped into his arms and started to hug his chest.

Both Kaede and Shuichi looked dumbfounded at what they were looking at. One of the Monokubs from before, one of the bears that has them trapped here-

Called Rantaro father?

They both looked at each other, slowly coming to the same conclusion. Didn't that mean that Rantaro also trapped them here? That he's one of their kidnappers? Or was the strange stuffed animal lying.

Monophanie bristled, "Monotaro, no! That is not daddy! Daddy is far more handsome than this bastard!"

The comment made Rantaro frown, "That's incredibly rude. Where are your manners young lady?"

The pink bear huffed. "You don't deserve them! Give him back!"

He couldn't help but chuckle as he stroked the bears scalp, feeling the soft artificial fur and the cold metal underneath his finger tips. He was having far too much fun with this he had to admit. "Monotaro, how are you feeling?"

"M'tired."

Monokid burst out laughing at the situation in front of him, taking out another small guitar. Monosuke sighed, taking out an abacus. "Looks like the door caused more memory problems than before. Oh well, hopeful father can fix him when he comes back."

"Memory problems?"

"Listen well youse bastards, because I'm gonna explain this once." Monosuke took out a few yen bills with Monokuma's face printed on the front and began to fan himself, the abacus disappearing from sight. "As we explained earlier to you two," He began, referring to Kaede and Shuichi, "this is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and that there are 16 of you all."

"That's right, this academy was made for you sixteens cretins." Monophanie continued sweetly, despite her words. "However as you may have noticed this academy is incomplete. No thanks to these two," she motioned towards Monosuke and Monokid, "We had to make a rush job concerning certain items, including the lockers and Ultimate Labs."

"The lockers you trapped us in?"

"Yep!" Monotaro rubbed his head against Rantaro's chest with affection. "Umm. But some of the lockers had faulty locks and hinges so umm... What were we talking about again?"

"...YOU-HAD-A-BAD-LOCKER. WE-APOLOGISE."

Monokid laughed, hitting Monodam with his guitar, which once again broke. "Hell yeah! You broke the door off and crushed Monotaro. Now he thinks your his son!"

"...Monokid I think you've mixed up a word there."

"They're the Monokubs, we're the humans! Monotaro thinks he's a Monokub!"

"...I think Monokid broke again."

"Great."

"Dummy."

Monotaro laughed. "Father, are you feeling alright? You must have hit you're head if you can't remember this."

Rantaro put the cub down, who seemed to protest before Monophanie took his paw and dragged him to the rest of the Monokubs. "Well, thanks for the information. Is there any particular reason why you came to see us?"

"Naw, not really." Monosuke shrugged. "We just needed to confirm something, plus Monotaro wanted to see you-"

"After you manipulated him, you bastard!"

Rantaro couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes at the pink bear. 'What ever you say incest bear.'

But what did they need to confirm?

"Well then. After you all introduced your self to the rest of the students, you all are gonna be doing an activity later." Monosuke chuckled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Well then, with that all done..."

"So Long! Bear Well!"

And just like that they all left one by one.

The trio was silent, so awkwardly silent you could hear a pin drop.

"So..." Rantaro piped up, hoping to break the silence. "That answers your question right? The door was jammed and I fell on top of one of the cubs and, well, you saw the result yourself." He paused. "Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Huh, oh, of course."

"Can I tag along for a bit?" He unconsciously started to fidget with his bracelets. "I want to explore the school and meet everyone but I'm a little anxious to go around on my own. Plus I want to be near someone just in case I passed out again."

"Does that happen often?" Shuichi asked.

"No, not really. But sometimes when I've passed out I tend to pass out again shortly after. So I just want to be careful, y'know?"

"I guess that makes sense." Kaede nodded to herself, the ahoge on her head curling downward. He was getting awfully distracted by that thing. "Oh, do you have your Monopad on you?"

Rantaro blinked.

"Then that means this is yours. Shuichi!"

The detective walked up to him, handing him something that resembled a black and white tablet. "This was on one of the tables, is it yours?"

Rantaro thanked him, turning on the Monopad, he was greeted with his name which was shortly followed by the familiar menu screen from the game, except the colour scheme was green and black instead of the blue/pink and back background.

Along with an extra icon that was never there in the game.

He nodded. "It has my name, so yes. Thank you very much."

"Shall we get going then?"

"Of course."

Beep!

You obtained a Friendship Fragment!

Kaede Akamatsu fragments, 1/6.

Beep!

You obtained a Friendship Fragment!

Shuichi Saihara fragments, 1/6.

Rantaro looked at his Monopad to check the sudden notifications. 'So I do get fragments, that's interesting.'

"Rantaro?"

"Oh sorry, the beeping startled me. Let's get going then shall we?"

As soon as they had left the classroom, the newly formed trio were immediately greeted by a certain, blue haired girl hanging outside the room, a worried expression on her face yet slight curiosity in her eyes behind her glasses.

Kaede waved at the girl in greeting while Shuichi adjusted his cap and averted his eyes.

Rantaro, on the other hand, froze in fear.

"Hey Tsumugi."

"Hey Kaede, Shuichi, is this the guy who screamed?"

Kaede nodded, not noticing how the green haired teen was fidgeting nervously behind her and how obviously he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Poor guy passed out, isn't that right Rantaro?"

Tsumugi Shirogane tilted her head at Rantaro. "Oh really now?" She rested her chin on her fist as she crossed her other arm across her chest. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... I'm better. Just a panic attack, that's all."

He was five seconds away from actually having one if he didn't jump out the nearest window, anything to get away from her.

"A panic attack?" She repeated. "Shame I can't cast Amrita to make you feel better, does it even cure panic attacks?"

Both Kaede and Shuichi looked confused. Amrita?

Rantaro on the other hand-

"Amrita... Isn't that a Persona- no, a Shin Megami Tensei healing spell that heals aliments?"

That was the wrong thing to say, as Tsumugi's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas day. "You got that reference?!"

'Did... Did that count as a reference?' He wasn't sure.

She wasn't done yet though, it had only just begun.

"I was awake on that day! The day everything came to an end!"

"Highschool of the Dead."

"What other popular manga did the creator of Gantz make that's getting an adaptation?"

"Inuyashiki: Last Hero?"

"What is a crimson behelit?"

"An item from Berserk, also referred as the Egg of the King, it is one of the most recognisable things from Berserk, from its appearance and from the infamous Eclipse scene."

"What influenced manga and anime like Berserk and Evangelion?"

"Devilman, which is getting a 2018 adaptation on Netflix."

"It is?! Um! Haveyouacceptedjesusasyourpersonalsaviour?"

"Ghost Stories. More specifically the English dub. The reason it changed from the original was because it didn't sell well so the creators wanted the English casting team to change it up as long as they kept to certain rules. These rules included keeping the main casts names the same, including the spirits as their based on real Japanese and Chinese mythology and keeping the sealing method for each spirit the same. Everything was fair game, which meant-"

"That the Ghost Stories English dub is considered to one of the best English dubs out there!"

Tsumugi clapped her hands in joy, clearly pleased that someone understood what she was talking about. "Finally, a plain girl like me has a fellow brother I can talk my about my interests in!"

Neither Kaede or Shuichi understood what the hell either of them were on about.

"Can you introduce yourself..?"

"Oh sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Tsumugi Shirogane, I'm the Ultimate Cosplayer."

"Cosplayer huh?"

The final trial case of V3 entered his mind. Those cosplaying qualities of hers were quite... Terrifying, to say the least.

He did his best fake smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tsumugi. My name is Rantaro Amami."

"Nice to meet you too Rantaro. What is your Ultimate talent?"

"Well-"

"Heeey! What are you all doing?

The conversation was interrupted as a male voice rang out through the hallway. A boy with with strange white clothes, long wavy purple hair and checkered scarf was casually walking up to them with a big grin on his babyish face, which Rantaro had noticed was slightly red and wet.

And suddenly Rantaro wanted to kiss Kokichi from getting briefly him out of the situation.

He casually waved at him, completely ignoring Tsumugi. "Hey! Can we help you?"

Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Little Shit, waved back and walked up to him. "Hey new people, hey otaku girl! Have you seen a robot walking around?"

"What? A robot?!"

Rantaro raised a brow. 'Was he not with Kiibo?' "No, I don't think so, why?"

"I wanted to touch him a little! I've never seen a robot before so I got curious!"

"..."

"But then he ran away. Now I can't find him."

"..."

"I've always wanted to be friends with one too."

"...I see."

'Poor Kiibo.'

"Soo~ What's your talent?"

Kokichi, for a split second paused at Rantaro's question, his expression blank before disappearing. "Oh? Me?" Kokichi pointed to himself, an innocent expression on his face which quickly turned into a terrible grin. "My name is Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader!"

Poor Kaede looked confused, most likely trying to figure out his talent.

"Ultimate... Supreme Leader?"

"I also learned the hard way that a robot's breath smells like gasoline. Not surprising though."

"My breath does NOT smell like gasoline! I am powered by electricity!"

The robot himself came out from a corner that lead to the stairs, looking mighty peeved at his lying. With silver-ish white hair sporting a long ahoge and his body consisting of metal plating and two metal buttons on his chest and stomach, Kiibo stood near the stairs with irritation on his face.

"There he is!"

"Wait." Kaede muttered to herself. "He's a robot, like, for reals, an actual robot?"

Shuichi seemed to have come to a different conclusion however.

"A-Are you... One of the Monokubs-"

"Do not compare me to those toys!" Kiibo yelled. "I am not just any robot! I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot! But please address me as Kiibo!"

"Ultimate Robot?" Kaede asked, not entirely sure if he heard him right.

"That's not faaair!" Kokichi whinned, "You can't steal my spotlight! Especially a since you're just a robot."

"I do not appreciate you're robophobic remarks, especially you're attempt at humour."

"Of course you wouldn't understand humour. Robot's can't understand human humour or basic human emotions to begin with!"

"D-do not mock me! I have studied the complete history of stand-up comedy!" Kiibo retorted, making Kaede roll her eyes from the situation. 'He should of watched it rather than study it.' She thought.

"I also have at least a basic understanding of human emotions, and I know those tears you were crying earlier were not fake."

'Wait what.'

"Nee-heehee!" Kokichi did his signature laugh. "But that was just a lie, no? Good old crocodile tears."

"Urggh!"

Suddenly the air around Rantaro grew incredibly tense. He could feel the air around grow dense, becoming more thicker and solid as it began to slowly crush him, his body; especially his chest felt like it was stuck in a vice. His gut once again felt like it was twisting in uncomfortable tight knots, he felt himself grow warmer, he felt a cold sweat on his body start to form.

He felt sick.

He felt absolutely awful.

He felt like the world was about to crush him, swallow him up and spit him back out.

And no one would care.

"Rantaro..?"

Everyone stopped talking when they heard Kaede's worried voice. Rantaro was sweating, his eyes were dilated and his breathing short and shallow.

He covered his mouth and immediately ran down the stairs.

He ignored their calls.

He ignored the beeps from his Monopad.

And he never noticed that someone was chasing after him.

The world around him spun, never relenting even as he continued to lean over and retch into the toilet. No matter how long he stayed there, he still felt his insides twist and pull and his muscles burn like he just ran a marathon.

He heaved and panted before collapsing to the side of the stall and gasping for air, the pain on his body slowly dulling.

He turned on his Monopad, hissing as the bright light stung his eyes. He began to check for a certain something, something only he had.

Survivor Perk.

Clue to end the killing game.

The mastermind who behind the killing game is hiding somewhere within this academy.

Your best chance of exposing them is when Monokuma needs a spare.

At that time, the mastermind will go to the library's hidden room.

To prove that this hint is accurate, I will predict something.

The first thing you will remember is the Ultimate Hunt.

Only share this information with people you know you can trust.

How you determine that will mean your life or your death.

Rantaro Amami.

The teen scrolled through his Monopad, shuffling on the clean toilet floors. Along with the hint his pad came with, it also came with the map of the whole academy like the normal pads. It showed that he was in the Hallway 1F and that he was...

In the girls bathroom.

'Not a girl anymore. Forgot about that.'

Unlike the other pads on the other hand, it also showed the secret room that was connected to the library.

'Just like the game...'

He bit his thumb. How exactly was he going to to do this?

The best idea was to tell someone, more specifically Kaede and (especially) Shuichi. However telling them right now probably wouldn't be a good idea, maybe when the situation called for it, then defiantly.

But would it change things?

Would, by sheer Komaeda levels of luck, they be able to stop Tsumugi and stop the killing game? Would the outside world let them go free for any reason?

Or would it cause a completely different murder and lead into something akin to a different route? A route of new motives, victims and murderers?

Or would nothing change, he would die and trigger the killing game.

The more he would think about it, the more he was growing uncertain. If he did nothing like the game and pursued the hidden room on his own, he would die, Kaede would be framed for the murder and the killing game will continue.

So that was a definite no no.

If he told someone about the hidden room, the murder will probably be averted and he would live, but someone would else would probably be killed and the path will continue a different path.

Possible.

Or if they all worked together, along with some hints, they could stop the killings altogether.

Very low possibilities.

But he was going to try.

You will just die though.

A voice echoed in his head, a voice that filled him with cold dread.

Someone as useless as you would never live. Even as a man.

He hugged his legs close to his chest, gently rocking himself back and forth.

You will die regardless of what you do. You would never stop the killing game because of how worthless and insignificant you are.

He covered his ears, trying to block out the voice.

Useless useless useless useless useless useless.

He choked back a cry.

You were never-

"Never what?"

Silence. The voice had left.

In response he smashed his fist against the door, causing a large bang to echo throughout the room, causing him to flinch at the noise.

"Oh? Is my beloved Rantaro in here?"

He froze, was that-

"Kokichi?"

"Nee-heehee! The one and only! Or is that also a lie?"

He put his hands on the toilet seat, nearly misplacing his hand and slipping inside the toilet. He opened the bathroom door and peeked outside to see a grinning Kokichi.

"Does my beloved Rantaro realise he's in the girls bathroom? Are you secretly a pervert or a you hiding a dirty little secret from me?"

"...It was the closest toilet." He muttered quietly. "Also I'm not a girl," not anymore anyway, "nor am I trans."

Wait.

"Why are you calling me your beloved?"

"Were you crying earlier? You look like shit."

Silence.

A nod.

"What's the matter?"

Rantaro looked at him in surprise. Kokichi had a rare serious expression on his face and the tone in his voice was devoid of his usual cheer and quirks. Knowing full well that Kokichi wouldn't let up, he began to speak. "I'm just... A little overwhelmed, I guess. I just woke up in a locker for no reason and-"

Kokichi walked up to him and tip toed, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Didn't I tell you before that I'm not fond of liars?"

"Huh?"

He paused. "Did I ever say that to you?" He shook his head. "Tell me the truth. Do you remember?"

'What was he talking about?' Rantaro had no idea what he was on about at all. They only just met unless-

Unless... It couldn't be.

"Time was running out, you were heading to the library after Kaito dragged you along to fight off death." Kokichi started and Rantaro couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You headed to the library to get to the hidden room and a flash caught your attention, you went to go see what it was-"

"I was killed."

Kokichi stared at him. Rantaro continued, "I was killed from blunt trauma to the head by a shot put."

They were both quiet, Kokichi had an unreadable expression on his face and Rantaro was starting to sweat the longer Kokichi said nothing. He opened his mouth to speak, to confirm what he said-

Then Kokichi laughed.

"Nee-heehee! But that's a lie though. I really just made that up, your so weird when you-"

He stopped, noticing that Rantaro was shaking, holding back choked sobs.

Tears were running down his face.

He remembered.

He remembered.

He remembered.

He remembered.

"You remember..." He hiccuped. He didn't care how he looked right now. "How do you..."

He collapsed onto the floor, accidentally taking Kokichi down with a yell.

The dam broke, he sobbed into the shorter boys chest, who had quietly and uncharacteristically began to stroke and pat his back.

As Rantaro continued to cry on top of him, Kokichi looked at the ceiling.

He woke up in a locker as soon as the hydraulic press had started to touch him and everything was going dark. He saw Kiibo and Gonta, who had already gone outside, and the emotions, the memories, the pain suddenly crashed down on him all at once, not unlike the press.

He cried, he had cried for awhile and it was the first time he had cried since coming to this damn academy.

He did in front of Kiibo as well.

He nearly did it again when he heard Kaede's and his beloved Rantaro's voice, two people who died, one he was oddly fond of.

They were alive. They were all alive.

But.

He clenched the taller boys shirt in his fists. They were all going to die again. Nothing would change and he would go through all of it again.

But he noticed how Rantaro was acting. How... Out of character he was.

He was nervous, fidgeting, and looked like he was about to have a breakdown. It told him that something was wrong with Rantaro.

And he remembered. He was scared, he was disoriented.

But he remembered, he was alive.

As his sobs started to turn into quiet sniff and small coughs, he felt determined.

(and in pain and hard to breath as a 5'10 man was crushing him, who was 5'1 and much lighter)

If Rantaro had the the clues to find the mastermind.

Then they could end this killing game for good.

Warning. Time anomaly found. Would you like to erase the anomaly?

NO.

Warning. Not deleting the anomaly can cause potential damage to this world and the Data Stream. Are you okay with possible damage to the system?

YES.

Acknowleged. The anomaly Kokichi Ouma will not be erased.

Do you wish to send Afterlifer Rantaro Amami a gift?

YES.

How many?

TWO.

Understood. Please put down the names, the gifts will be loaded into Afterlifer Rantaro Amami's Haven after a small amount of time has past after loading.

CLOSE.

Understood. Closing down.

End Recording.

Next chapters should be longer hopefully for now on.

This is starting to sound similar to KlonoaDreams Clair de Lune, but I was planning this story before I realised that story even existed so, yeah. So we have instead a OCInsert!Rantaro and a Timelooping Kokichi.

I was having trouble writing the chapter, I was having trouble with writing the charaters and such, but I'll probably fix this up like with what I did for the first chapter if it bugs me too much.

Well, regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed the newest chapter. Please fav, follow and especially review. It lets me know you guys are enjoying this story, cause despite the difficulties I'm having fun writing this!

Have a great day you guys!