YOU THINK THISLL LAST? Daisuke asked.

BEATS ME Kokichi replied, typing left handed. BUT IF YOU'RE AWAKE AND AWARE ANYWAY IT'S THE LEAST I CAN DO. YOU'RE ONE OF MY UNDERLINGS NOW DAISUKE AND DON'T YOU DARE FORGET IT

YES BOSS

Kokichi could feel the sarcasm on Daisuke's words. Good.

Another week blinked by. Kokichi didn't change much more- he got more and more memories of his "childhood" sure, but with Daisuke fully aware at the back of his mind, he could pretty easily detach himself from them. By this point, nobody fell asleep during memory light sessions, merely sitting for a few minutes, almost bored.

It was weird being awake and aware- he could feel his own memories shifting upstairs while it was happening . He'd lose contact with Daisuke, and his hand would be his again, and he'd remember a birthday he never actually had, or the first time he hacked DoCoMo. There were two copies of Ai, and Mamoru, and Momo, his own slowly painting over Daisuke's- at least, temporarily.

Even if he forgot he was in a loaner, Daisuke was never truly gone, and pulsed shooting pain through his right fingers if Kokichi didn't give up the hand quickly enough after a session, giving the added bonus of reminding Kokichi he was just a character.

He was real in the sense that he existed, sure, but not so much in the sense that his memories were.

Kokichi didn't mind that. It kept him grounded. He'd rather the painful truth than the mountain of white lies everyone else was going through. It was his job to lie, not to be lied to.

"It looks like all of you are ready," Arukawa said one evening over dinner, a night fifteen days after they'd all arrived. "Tomorrow… we're going to take you all to the set, and start with promotional materials for the show. Photographs, pre-show interviews, and a mock trial. This will be your last night in this facility, and in about three days, we're going to give you all your last set of suppressions before the start of filming. That includes suppressing the time you've had since coming here. If you have any last questions for me- for anyone on Team Danganronpa- or if you'd like to talk to a therapist, our offices will be open all evening.

"I'd strongly suggest getting some sleep, the next three days will likely be quite taxing, but it's been tradition that we set up futons in the great hall, so everyone can be together. You'll have private rooms on the set, and starting tomorrow, that's where you'll stay.

"If you don't come to me tonight, I wish all of you the best of luck. We'll be keeping our eyes and ears open."

There was a quiet murmur among the sixteen of them.

"Professor… what about me?"

K1-b0 cocked his head side to side, curiously.

"Just before the game starts, your drive will be synched to the mainframe, and your memories of the past two weeks will be partitioned off. We will also be taking out… a few other things. Should you survive the game, your two sets of memories will be merged."

Arukawa looked sideways at Gonta while saying this, and K1-b0 understood. Merely removing the last two weeks would still mean there would be someone K1-b0 would know, and likely confuse him further.

"I… I understand, Professor. I'll stay with everyone… until the end." K1-b0's voice faltered a little.

Miu got up from her bowl of udon, plopped herself behind K1-b0, and pulled him in tight, her chest practically motorboating the robot from behind, drooling slightly from the closeness and warmth. K1-b0 blushed a little, accepting Miu's overtly sexual, if genuine concern, reaching behind him to squeeze her shoulder and pull her closer.

Miu had been the last of them to actually become their personae. Kokichi and Daisuke both guessed it was because… well, how much a needy slut she'd become, and they both despised using the word. Ace… reduced to fanservice . Kokichi looked away as Miu pulled both herself and K1-b0 backwards, forcing his head to rest on her chest.

Three quick taps to Kokichi's thigh. Daisuke and Kokichi taught themselves Morse, it was faster than typing on a tablet and far more discreet. Three taps to the thigh to let the other that they wanted to talk, and then tap away. To the outside, it just looked like a nervous tic. And Kokichi could 'talk back' to Daisuke without actually talking aloud.

' Ko ,' Daisuke started. ' If Shu is okay with it can we spend the evening with him? '

' Sure. Though look at him and Kay, ' Kokichi tapped out, with his own left hand on his left thigh looking at Shuichi and Kaede, leaning into each other. ' I don't want to turn that bicycle into a cart. '

Daisuke balled his hand into a fist, frustrated. Watching his friend become a boy hadn't been what bothered Daisuke, it was watching the body that housed his friend, deep in the recesses of that mind, pick someone else. But the frustration didn't last long.

' I'd rather Shu be happy than me butting in. ' Daisuke finally replied.

' Miu and Kii then? '

' We are the designated threesome. Ha. '

' You're a shitty liar, you know that, right? '

' Takes one to know one. '

"Kokichi-kun?"

Kokichi stirred. He'd fallen asleep on K1-b0, snuggling a warm, metal arm. Someone must have come by and draped a cover on him at some point. It certainly hadn't been K1-b0 himself, who looked a bit distressed with both Miu and Kokichi laying haphazardly on him, pulling his limbs in awkward directions as he kept himself still.

"Shu-shuichi-kun? It's like…"

"3AM," he supplied. "I… can we go for a walk?"

Daisuke didn't even bother with the alert taps. ' Yes please. '

Kokichi rubbed his left eye, and raised his right arm so Daisuke could rub the crust from his right. He sloughed off K1-b0's arm to a sigh of relief from the bot, who could finally shift Miu off him and properly onto a futon without disturbing Kokichi, too.

"You want to come too?" Shuichi asked K1-b0.

K1-b0 looked at Kokichi, and Daisuke made a small cutting motion with his hand.

"I'd prefer to keep watch over Miu-chan. She tends to have nightmares."

Shuichi nodded.

' Did Kii just… cover for us? ' Daisuke asked.

K1-bo lightly rapped the tatami, getting Kokichi's attention. ' You do realize it's easy to learn Morse code, don't you? ' he tapped out, with a small smirk, staring straight into Kokichi's and Daisuke's collective souls.

Shuichi looked between the two (three) of them for a moment. "Am… am I missing something?"

' How long has he known?! ' Daisuke rapped, forcefully, almost leaving a bruise.

' Would you shut up? There's a limit to how much I can multitask and all you need to worry about is one hand. '

Kokichi followed Shuichi to the gym, trying to concentrate on the taller boy for his host's sake. K1-b0 had known Daisuke took his arm back two weeks ago, and always offered to massage it out whenever it twitched or Kokichi clutched it after a memory room session. K1-b0 was a young AI, certainly, but not stupid. It wasn't much a stretch for him to consider if Daisuke had control of a hand that he'd figure out a way to communicate with it.

Shuichi flicked on the light in the gym, flopping down. His shirt jiggled just… well, Kokichi could tell he wasn't currently wearing a binder under the too-large sweatshirt, but only because he knew to look.

"Kokichi-kun?" Shuichi asked meekly.

"Yeah?" Kokichi slumped down next to him, to Shuichi's left so Daisuke could be closer.

"We made a promise… to Momo-chan. To your whole team."

"We'd come home."

"To my uncle… and your… really weird parents. Look, Kokichi-kun, I know they're really thieves. Until I can actually catch them in the act, I feign ignorance."

Kokichi laughed. Even now, they were intertwined.

"I… spoke with Arukawa after you fell asleep. I just… I wanted to talk to someone. She told me you and I would have a few more quick bursts. There's something that they're going to suppress."

"Why didn't they make us forget each other sooner?" Kokichi asked, connecting the dots in his head.

"Probably because it would mess up so many of my memories. And yours. I… I wanted to talk through them all. I know something's been changed in me. Maybe… since you knew me before and I knew you before… if we figured out the inconsistencies I might know a bit more about who I was before coming here? Before I forget you. Me. Us ."

"Saihara Shuichi. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ever the detective," Kokichi replied, with a bit of a jeer.

"You… won't help?"

"I didn't say that. But if you're asking to pick my brain… my memories…"

Well, Kokichi was a liar. But this time, as long as he only recited to Shuichi his memories… he technically didn't have to be.

Kokichi leaned into Shuichi. "And that's when the giraffe leaned over, and almost ate your hat."

Both boys laughed. "And that's when you picked the enclosure door, wasn't it?" Shuichi asked, drowsily. "It's kinda hazy, but I remember you sneaking in there and stealing it back. You had to be what… seven?"

"I'm older than you, Shuichi-kun, don't you dare forget that," Kokichi chided, snuggling comfortably in the crook of his elbow, smelling the musk in Shuichi's sweatshirt, Daisuke's hand on Shuichi's knee.

"I know… but you've always been so tiny . And then you had to sneak back out of the pen before the zookeeper caught you."

"Mom 'accidentally' knocked into a guy selling balloons. She's always been good at distractions…"

Shuichi sighed. "Thanks, Kokichi-kun. I… I needed that."

"It's almost five AM, we… we should probably go back to sleep. You going to find Kaede-chan?" Kokichi cracked his neck, sitting upright.

"I… I'm pretty sure they're making me feel for her, with the fake memories and stuff," Shuichi said, tracing the floor with his finger. "She's… way more pushy than anyone I'd consider… d… d… dating."

"So, who is your type then? Momo-chan?" Kokichi asked, stretching.

"I… wish I knew," Shuichi replied, before changing the topic. "Can I stay with you three for the rest of the night? I know you, K1-b0, and Miu-chan are all attached at the hip. And uh… I'd probably just wake Kaede-chan with my snoring anyway."

"Well, I can at least sleep through someone sawing through a safe door, and K1-b0 just kind of lays there awake."

"Thanks, Kokichi-kun."

"Up, up, up!" Arukawa clapped her hands as she walked around the great hall, poking everyone awake.

"Bwah?" Kokichi and Daisuke rubbed their eyes. Shit. Kokichi never took out his contacts last night. Shuichi blearily sat upright, looking like a zombie. He hadn't either.

"Some of you need to get a quick touch-up on your hair," Arukawa said. "Miu-chan? Kokichi-kun? Shuichi-kun? Please go follow Taka-chan. Ryoma-kun, Rantaro-kun…"

Kokichi tuned out everything Arukawa was saying, and helped pull Miu to her feet.

"I guess I'll see you all after you're done?" K1-b0 asked pleasantly.

Kokichi just grunted.

Taka read notes left behind by the woman who'd done Daisuke's hair just over two weeks ago (Daisuke furiously tapping that he'd never actually gotten her name), mixing the dye and touching up Kokichi's roots, before doing the same for Shuichi and Miu. Shuichi's color was dark enough that only someone looking for it would probably notice, and under his hat, it likely didn't even matter, but Miu's dye was extremely obvious. Still, they were going to be broadcast on television, and consistency for the cameras and all that.

Shuichi was finished first, ends trimmed and passed off to someone else, then Kokichi. He didn't squirm like Daisuke had, smiling quietly from the attention and relaxing in the chair. It would be the last time (in a while, until the game was over, he'd mentally added) he'd get this much attention, so he took what he could. Hair done, as he didn't get another cut, and he too was ordered into the next room over.

"I can do that myself," he commented as he was asked to sit for makeup.

"Yes, but you're getting promotional photos today, so we need to do a bit more than you'll do," the woman replied, Daisuke reminding Kokichi to make sure to ask what her name was before she'd finished doing his face for the camera.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw pinstripe.

"Shuichi-kun?" Kokichi asked. The taller boy sheepishly walked into view. "That's your killing game costume, or is that what you were 'kidnapped' in?"

"Killing game," Shuichi replied, pulling at the collar of his gakuran. It was the same high-collar style as Kokichi's 'normal' costume, but pinstriped, 'his' school logo on the breast pocket. Shuichi tugged at his cap, almost pulling it over his face completely.

"Very… modern Holmes, I guess. I was kind of expecting deerstalker and one of those short wool cape things," Kokichi finally articulated, as the makeup artist chided him for not sitting still. "If I'm going to be honest, it's surprisingly… normal. Minus the pattern."

' And they let you keep your brother's hat, to boot ,' Daisuke tapped in his own remark.

"I'm guessing that means yours isn't," Shuichi replied, pacing a little. "I need to eat something. I'll see you in the great hall?"

"If you're drinking anything, use a straw," the stylist chided, over her shoulder.

' Looking good, oh mighty Supreme Leader, ' Daisuke tapped lightly. Even without a voice, Kokichi could feel the sarcasm.

' Well, fuck you too. '

' Uh, I was serious. Turn sideways. Look at us. We look like we're going to finally curb-stop Batman and pull off his mask on national TV. '

Kokichi obliged his host, turning in the mirror to give them both a chance to get a good look. Alone, the white straight jacket with its mismatched buttons looked a little stupid, but with the bandana, and especially the shredded floor length cape and military cap, he looked like a supervillain who had seen years of battle (and maybe a few mental institutions)- if the combination of Daisuke's stature and natural bone structure exacerbated by the makeup didn't make him look like a middle schooler.

' Maybe I'd be more intimidating if you weren't so short and baby-faced .'

' Uh, pretty sure that makes us more intimidating, Ko. We look like a ten-year-old. Think about all those horror movies where the kid's a vengeful ghost .'

' Wrong genre savvy ,' Kokichi replied, as he laughed a little out loud.

' Laughing, or whinnying like a horse? '

' My last name does mean Horse King, probably Toki having a joke at my expense. '

' I guess every good supervillain needs a catchphrase, but is it too late to ask if we can re-roll that perk? '

' Goddamnit, you nerd . '

' And you love me for it .'

Kokichi usually insisted on having the last retort, but for Daisuke himself? He'd let him have the last laugh at his expense.

Kokichi sauntered back to the great hall, cape billowing behind him. He felt awesome. Like Darth Vader- though he didn't want to admit it to Daisuke.

With both hands- he flung open the doors to the great hall- to Shuichi, K1-b0, and Toshiro squatting over some black fabric and hunks of metal.

"Maybe we should wait for Miu-chan?" K1-b0 asked, all three of them completely ignoring Kokichi's grand entrance. Kokichi let himself pout for a moment, then hurried over to where the boys were sitting.

"Nobody else is done yet?" he asked, prompting the three of them to look up.

Shuichi burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, they gave you a cape," he smirked. "But I wasn't expecting the rest to just be your DICE uniform." Right. If Shuichi remembered Kokichi the way it seemed, he would have already seen Kokichi looking like this.

"It's a classic!" Kokichi whined back, a little upset that the reaction wasn't more extreme. Kokichi bunched the cape's fabric behind him and out of the way, looking at the mess of things in front of them.

"Apparently, Miu-chan worked with Tsumugi-chan to redesign my costume at the last minute, and they want me to try this one on instead." K1-b0 supplied. "It was originally something of a steampunk aesthetic," he added, pointing to some neatly folded clothing to one side, alongside a pair of shined black shoes with brown canvas gaiters. "This… looks more hard sci-fi."

"Honestly, with your plastic face, steampunk might have clashed, isn't that the wrong time period?" Kokichi asked, looking at the folded vest, with little embroidered gear patterns on it. "So, what's the problem? Don't know how to put it on? Looks like some kind of power suit to me. I'm getting some Go-Lion vibes off it."

A slam, and the great hall door almost rocked off its hinge. "Heeeeeeeeello boooooys!" Miu stomped, in knee high boots and a pale pink sailor-style uniform. Or it would have been, if it didn't look quite like steampunk bondage.

Maybe that's why she'd made an alteration, as Kokichi noted a bit of pink fabric poking out from K1-b0's pile. A tie, in the same color as Miu's uniform. They'd be too obvious a couple.

"What's the fucking holdup? My gorgeous body?"

"Let's… go with that," Shuichi pleaded, hoping to steer the conversation away from Miu's extremely exposed cleavage.

"Ohhhh, K1-b0 didn't get the instructions I'd left," Miu said, annoyed, looking at the pile. "Okay, then, strip."

If it were anyone but K1-b0, Kokichi would have probably fled. But the robot obediently took off his tee and drawstring pants, and awaited Miu's instructions.

"Ahhh, my adorable little exhibitionist," Miu said, eyes glinting, before snapping to business. "Okay, just put on the black part. It snaps up the front. And now, you probably want to put on the thigh guards, then the boots, and then just start snapping in the plates going from the waist up."

"Okay, the piece de resistance!" she added, when only a giant metal collar-like thing remained. "This plugs into your charging ports in the back, so your emergency off switch isn't so exposed. It also doubles as a quick diagnostic scanner."

"A… diagnostic scanner?"

"Like… um… if someone messed with you… and I wasn't there anymore… it'll give some basic info on what's wrong. For someone who isn't a genius like me. It's blast proof, shockproof, and waterproof too! And password protected, with a password that changes every fifteen minutes. You personally have to command it to disengage out of your ports, so someone can't just yank it out, either, but you can take it off to charge."

"It…. It would provide an autopsy report if you died before I did…" K1-b0 sounded out carefully. K1-b0 frowned, trying to choose his words. "Thank you. This… might save someone's life. It would be difficult to tamper with and obfuscate evidence should… should I end up being a victim."

"Am I a fucking genius or what?"

K1-b0 rolled the collar in his hand, before pulling Miu into a warm hug. "The best."

Notes:

I'd like to take a moment and note that nearly all of Kokichi's single-hand sprites use only his left hand, with his right arm hanging down, despite Kokichi being right handed.

Food for thought.