"Ahem." K1-b0 looked embarrassed, as he didn't realize just how loud his voice could get. By his surprised expression, Kokichi surmised that must have been what Toshiro had been tinkering with the day before. "Sorry," K1-b0 added sheepishly, but still at volume. "I just wanted to let everyone know that they will be clearing away lunch, so please take anything you'd still like. The only thing left is that all participants must come to the gym no later than five PM... did I miss anything professor?"
Arukawa spoke to K1-b0, but it was too far away for Kokichi to hear. Thankfully, K1-b0 repeated it. "You have the remaining three hours to do as you please. The whole school is open, minus the pool, the hangar, and my and Tenko-chan's labs. Thank you and good luck."
Silence.
And then panic. No, not general panic.
Kokichi realized he'd never passed on his deductions to Daisuke. He'd passed out in K1-b0's room the night before.
'FUCK,' he tapped.
'I know. Kii is going to get taken away now .'
' That's not the problem .'
Kokichi hurt his leg pressing so hard.
Momo came back.
"Something wrong with your leg, Boss?"
"No, just… just nervous." He took in a deep breath, trying to compose himself. Again, Daisuke must have thought of something that made him elated, helping Kokichi regain his composure. "They're going to take K1-b0 away now. I… I want to go with him."
"What a coincidence, Boss. Mamoru wanted to see some of the electronics, anyway."
"Really, now?" Kokichi asked, narrowing his eyes.
That was another thing he'd noticed, after Daisuke filled him in on who Mamoru actually was during lunch. There weren't any rolling overhead tracks installed in the school ceilings for a camera . That, and Mamoru had been told he needed to submit orders on where the camera should go, he wasn't going to directly control one, which was odd. And... would he be hospitalized here ? The outside facility certainly had all the tools of a small but modern hospital, and a dedicated medical staff, K1-b0 notwithstanding.
Did Mamoru… have some control over Monokuma itself? Mamoru wasn't a good enough actor to actually play the voice of the animatronic, voice changer aside. The kid was just too… nice , too emotional. And they wouldn't waste their star villain on some random kid with no acting experience and bouts of long rest.
There were always the mechanized digger machines, or maybe some other animatronics?
' Are you thinking about what camera Mamoru has control over ?'
' How... do you ?'
' Our brow is furrowed, we're sweating like a pig, you were biting my left-hand nails. Which you need to stop doing, please, before they start bleeding. And I feel confused through you. Either that or you're trying to figure out how to pass on what you wanted efficiently. I know you can't multitask talking to others and me at the same time. Too much mental energy. What about when I talk to you ?'
' Not nearly as bad. I can parse your tapping and do something else. I just '
"Boss?" Momo snapped in front of his face. "Do you need to sit?"
Kokichi just gulped, and Daisuke pinched his thigh.
Momo looked genuinely worried. "Kokichi-kun?'
"I... I'm fine. Worried."
"That's not like you."
Kokichi dropped his voice to a whisper. " Joining a killing game isn't like me . Our credo? Have fun and do no harm . I'm just..."
"Permission to-"
" No !" Kokichi snapped. The party quieted, and many sets of eyes turned to Kokichi. Arukawa rushed over.
"Kokichi-kun, do you need to talk with someone?"
Yes. To Daisuke. In private, he thought.
Kokichi took a sharp inhale.
"I want to go back to the outside facility," Kokichi started, breathed out, and clarified before Arukawa could get a word in. "Or wherever they're taking K1-b0 so I can say goodbye."
A look of understanding washed on her face as her shoulders relaxed.
"If you want that, Professor Iidabashi was just going to bring him down now. Is that's what's upsetting you?"
Shit. He couldn't lie to her. Not without her knowing.
"It's one of the things that is."
"Thank you for your honesty, Kokichi-kun. What else is the matter?" God. She's so honestly genuine it makes Kokichi's stomach churn. There has to be something terrible at the bottom of her soul, something nasty and dark. No-one could live through overseeing this many games and not be like that. Maybe a sadist?
Kokichi swallowed thinking of something else that genuinely bugged him without giving up the real reason.
'MOMO,' Daisuke supplied.
Kokichi sighed, lowering his voice. "I don't like playing pretend for what I can assume are Daisuke's friends."
Arukawa closed her eyes and laughed quietly. "Right. This must be a little insulting."
Momo looked between them before articulating a flat "What".
"Let's take a walk, shall we? K1-b0 is the only participant aware of this, and outside of us, only one other staff member is aware. Let's just say, Kokichi-kun here is... a special case."
Momo, Kokichi, and Mamoru were sent down the elevator in the school store first, and Kokichi dutifully waited with them below the set while Arukawa, K1-b0 and Iidabashi took it next.
"There's probably one of these hidden in my lab, too, since it's the closest thing underground, other than the courtroom," Kokichi said aloud, trying to ignore the two pairs of eyes.
Finally, Momo broke the silence, just as the elevator dinged, letting out the other three.
"When Arukawa-sensei said you were special...?" Momo started.
"I'm self aware . I mean, I know I'm a scripted character. I also have some general idea of who my host is, but it's not like we share thoughts or anything- I can't think at him like all those anime where two people share a body," he said with a smile, peeking down at his right hand. "And while I could probably figure out Daisuke's own memories if I really really strained myself, what's the point? They won't be useful in a killing game."
"So you know you're not an Ultimate?" Mamoru asked, confused.
"Well, I am. My skills are real and my personality is mine. I'm not my host. I just know my memories from before here aren't... real. I'm guessing you got told what role you were given in my history. You don't need to fake being my subordinate in front of me. I know you're not. I've never met you. Daisuke has."
"Oh. Right. It's like me and Yurie-chan, then. Sorta."
"And.." Kokichi closed his eyes for dramatic effect, pretending to concentrate. "Mamoru-chan is... Shuichi-kun's older brother, right?"
"Close," Mamoru replied. Kokichi knew exactly what he really wanted to say, but chose not to correct.
"Kokichi-kun, thank you for coming to see me off, though," K1-b0 added sheepishly. "I will be honest I wanted to slip out as quietly as possible."
"Thanks for letting me anyway. That little goodbye party was starting to grind my gears. You're here for Daisuke and Shuichi-kun. Nobody can be here for me, since I'm only two weeks old. Anyone who actually knows me is already here."
Momo's face fell.
"Don't take it the wrong way. I'm sure Daisuke appreciates it, buried somewhere under my psyche. But seriously. Go spend your last few hours with someone who actually might care."
"Are you sure?' Mamoru asked. "They're going to burn away your last two weeks later."
Momo cut him off. "Mamoru-chan, let's give him some space. He's right. We're Daisuke-kun's friends, not his. I think he really just wants to say goodbye to his friend on his terms. I'm sure Shuichi and… and his uncle will let us join them. Good luck, Kokichi-kun. Bring yourself home to us."
"You mean bring Daisuke back to you," Kokichi corrected, sharply.
Momo sighed. "Both of you. I may be Daisuke-kun's friend, but if he's accepted you in, I do too."
Kokichi made a motion, one of Daisuke's, attempting to push glasses that no longer existed up on his nose, sighing, as he realized it was one of Daisuke's own nervous tics embedded in him.
"I'll take a hug goodbye, for Daisuke," he croaked out, realizing, statistically speaking, this might be the last time they saw each other.
Momo nodded slightly. "Not goodbye. See you later. I made a bet with him, you know, that he'd come back alive."
"I don't fancy games of chance, unless I stack the deck," Kokichi replied, getting awkwardly hugged by Momo in front of the two professors, K1-b0, and his host's g-g-good friend's older brother.
"Then stack it," she replied. "I saw your character sheet. You're a smart one. I was in your shoes about a year ago."
Kokichi just nodded.
"See you around, Boss," Momo added with a wry smile when she let go. "Come on, Mamoru-chan, I know when I'm not wanted."
Momo grabbed the handlebars of Mamoru's wheelchair and turned around to the elevator.
She didn't look back.
It was just the four of them now, Kokichi hanging back ever so slightly, both trying to keep an eye on K1-b0, and try to start to relay scraps of information to his mule- to his host- to Daisuke.
K1-b0 looked back. Kokichi knew trying to hide his tapping as he walked wasn't going to be lost on the bot. K1-b0 stopped walking, and both professors turned around.
"K1-b0?" Iidabashi asked, the very first time Kokichi or Daisuke had actually heard his voice. It was strained, mechanical. If Kokichi strained himself, he could see a machine strapped on Iidabashi's neck. The man was human, but maybe his vocal chords were damaged? He seemed to have some of the telltale signs of being a former chain smoker, from the yellowed nails and discolored skin, though none of the smell. Something had gotten him to quit years ago, but the scars had been left behind.
"Yes, Professor?" K1-b0 asked. The word held the weight of 'dad'.
"Are you okay?" Iidabashi asked. His mouth didn't move.
' I think he had lung cancer ,' Daisuke supplied.
' Trachea ,' Kokichi replied.
"Not… particularly. I'm not worried for my own safety, since you're backing me up, but…"
"You worry for the others. I never put worry in your software. The concern is yours and yours alone. Don't forget it."
"I won't, Professor."
"Hiroko and I will walk on ahead," Iidabashi said with a small nod. "Walk with your friend. You know where to go. Please just try to meet us within an hour."
Hiroko. So that was Arukawa's first name. It sounded so… boring.
"Thank you, Professor." K1-b0 couldn't look his creator in the eye. Or was he? His eyes were really on the outer and inner corners of his face. It was hard to tell where he was actually looking.
With a click of heels and a shuffle of thoroughly worn-through loafers, the two were gone.
"Kokichi-kun. You are not okay." K1-b0 stated, as soon as he knew he was out of earshot of the pair.
In front of the only person in the world who knew the truth about his existence- the whole truth- Kokichi finally began to shake and fall. Without thought, K1-b0 supported his friend, and gently lowered both of them to the concrete floor of the service tunnels, leaning against one of the steel rebar beams.
"Sh-sh-shhhhhh," K1-b0 shushed, curling the boy in his arms. "You are safe here. There's no transmitter equipment, and I hear nobody."
"I'm… K1-b0, I'm scared. I don't have a computer backup if I'm sliced or diced or thrown in an incinerator. And Daisuke's scared too. That stupid party… it's like they were dangling what we left behind right in front of us! Why would they do that?"
"Probably for this," K10b0, replied, running a hand on Kokichi's back. "I don't think you've noticed, but your costume has medical monitoring equipment sewn in. Thread circuits. Your pulse, your breath, your vitals. I would be unsurprised if they were checking stress. I noticed it when Miu-chan… decided to have her bosom have intimate relations with my head. So, my prior statement is not quite true that there is no transmitter equipment. It just is either not able to transmit sound or video, or it isn't currently turned on."
"Not turned on?"
"Miu's costume had a microphone, probably for the game. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't… in my face. It wasn't turned on, and if yours has one too, it's not currently transmitting. Even if it were RFI shielded, it still has to transmit that signal outbound- I would know. May I… erm, get a little more intimate with the parts of the costume near your neck?
" Phrasing ," Kokichi replied, the innuendo getting a small giggle from the boy. "Go ahead."
Kokichi arched his head upwards, and let his friend search- only a moment needed before K1-b0 grinned mischievously.
"Found it. It's in your neckerchief, right here," K1-b0 said, touching the spot with one hand, and taking Kokichi's wrist, the one that ended in Daisuke's hand, guiding his arm to the spot, with the other. Daisuke curled his fingers, felt a small pucker, and a tiny disc sewn in the kerchief the boys hadn't noticed before.
"Tricky, tricky," Kokichi said. "You can't turn it on, can you?"
"I'd need to know what frequency it actually runs on, for one. That would take too long. It's likely a very narrow band if everyone is covered in medical instrumentation so the signals don't overlap. I feel a hum here," he added, loosening his grip on Kokichi's right wrist, and twisting it up. "The button of your cufflink is a pulse monitor."
"So, I'm all decked out like your dad, then."
"Professor Iidabashi is not my father."
"Could have fooled me," Kokichi replied. Somehow, knowing he was walking with a hospital's worth of eyes on him made him feel a bit more at ease.
A show like this wouldn't waste that kind of effort just to make their subjects actually die… could they?
"So, Kokichi-kun, you seemed awfully nervous," K1-b0 said, a small grin on his face as he shifted Kokichi into a more comfortable position on his lap. "You were going to give yourself a bruise, tapping yourself like that, and look at your fingernails! If Arukawa sees you've been biting, she'll send you for a manicure."
Oh noooo," Kokichi mock whined. "More servants to wait on me hand and foot."
"I mean, that nail polish that tastes extremely bitter."
"I shouldn't be biting Daisuke's nails down to the quick," Kokichi replied, sheepishly.
"No, you shouldn't. And you shouldn't be bottling up whatever's bothering you. It only should take five minutes to walk back over to the robotics lab. I want you to talk out everything on your mind. It'll stop you from biting your nails… or jabbing yourself in the thigh. It's probably a fasterway to get off what's on your mind too, isn't it?"
K1-b0.
That bastard .
K1-b0 grabbed each of Kokichi's wrists, placing his own palms over Kokichi's and Daisuke's hands.
"No nail biting, no fidgeting. Just talk."
Kokichi took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
"Okay, so, first off, the tunnel layout had me really curious. Based on distances and depth, I'm pretty sure the trial- and thus the execution grounds- are right under the research facility, so that means…"
"We should go," K1-b0 said, cutting off Kokichi mid-thought, about forty-five minutes later. "I don't want to delay the inevitable any more. Do you feel better?"
"Yeah. I wanted to talk that out before I forgot it all. Thanks… Keeboy ."
"If that sticks through your last wipe today, I'm going to short a circuit."
Kokichi snorted. "Whatever you say, minion ."
"I'm debating on whether that's a step up or down." K1-b0 smiled, shoving Kokichi off him and straightening himself. Extending a hand, Daisuke took it and K1-b0 pulled them up.
"Awwww but you're so warm," Kokichi whined, a little flushed.
"If we stayed much longer, you might have just fallen asleep."
Kokichi sighed, stretched, and followed his friend down the concrete halls to his death.
K1-b0 opened the doors to his lab, the entire robots team- save Keisuke, for obvious reasons- present.
They were dressed like they were going to a funeral. Well, except Toshiro, who was still in his DICE costume from earlier.
"I don't need any theatrics," K1-b0 snapped. Kokichi was stunned. He'd never seen the robot angry before. "Just shut me off and do the job."
One of the young women stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "Funerals aren't for the deceased, K1-b0."
K1-b0 froze.
"We love you, buddy," Tohru interjected. "Good luck, and stay safe."
"I wish… wish I could cry," K1-b0 replied, the light completely gone from his eyes.
It was like a mad rush, as the college and grad students were upon him, hugging and crying in a giant huddle. K1-b0 in turn, made sure every one of his young creators got a tight, warm embrace.
"It's not goodbye, it's 'I'll see you later'," he kept repeating, until he was convinced it was the truth.
For him, though, it basically was. Even if game K1-b0 died, this one would remember everything to his own funeral, wake, and probably go back to nursing the survivors, like the obedient child he was.
That didn't make it hurt less.
Professors Arukawa and Iidabashi stepped forward. "We'll take it from here, everyone. K1-b0, on your bench, please," Iidabashi said. It was weird to consider the human's voice was so mechanical, and his… creation's, far far less so. "Kokichi-kun can stay. I want the rest of you out."
The students nodded, a few said their final goodbyes, and they all shuffled out. Toshiro clapped Kokichi's shoulder on the back. "Good luck to you too, Boss."
Kokichi frowned. "Not funny."
"Any idea how much shit you taught me since you came here? Your coding skills spit on mine."
Kokichi relaxed his shoulders a little. "Fine. You've earned that right. Now scram, before the Million Dollar Man shoots rockets out of his hands."
"K1-b0 wouldn't hurt a fl- oh. Yeah, Iidabashi is a slave driver. I'll see you 'round. Be good."
"No promises."
Kokichi walked over to K1-b0 laying on his workbench, expression neutral, and reached out both his arms so he and Daisuke could both take K1-b0's hand in their own.
K1-b0 nodded. "Kokichi-kun, stay safe, good luck and I'll-"
Iidabashi released K1'b0's shutoff button.
Kokichi fell to his knees, bawling.
Arukawa had to pry Kokichi off the floor.
"Up you go, you'll see him again soon enough."
Kokichi's breath hitched. "No snide remarks about how crying's not manly?"
"I'm a psychologist," she said sharply. "Expressing your emotions in public takes a lot of bravery. Now you need to go clean yourself up. And change into your 'normal' costume. You can use the boy's dorms, they're closer than going back in the dome, I'll have someone bring them to you."
"My normal clothes?" Kokichi looked surprised.
"In your case, the black gakuran. What your character thinks they were kidnapped in. We have to do these larger wipes in stages, so that'll be more familiar to you when you awaken between them."
Kokichi nodded, wiping the snot off on his sleeve. Arukawa frowned. "I hope you don't mind but I'm also going to have someone clean up your nails. They're unbecoming of a supreme leader."
Kokichi smirked. K1-b0 could read his mother like a book.
There were no decorations on the bunks. They'd all been taken off.
So much for short lived nostalgia.
Kokichi cleaned himself, changed, sat still as Toki came in with a small nail kit and cleaned up his cuticles, filed the ripped-up nails smooth until his anxiety wasn't physically visible on them anymore, and painted something clear on top.
"T-t-try biting them now," she said with a wicked smile. "I'm sure y-y-you won't be once you do."
"What, you install a joy buzzer?" Kokichi joked back.
"Only you," she said with a small sigh, before squeezing his hand.
Kokichi lifted his right arm to his face, and Daisuke stuck out his pinky.
His whole body shuddered.
"GODDAMN IT."
He didn't think a million memory lights would burn out the taste of that polish.
Everyone was in the gym, in their normal uniforms, save K1-b0. Iidabashi was probably tinkering around in his code.
Fifteen futon were laid out on the floor.
"No shields this time," Arukawa said. "And please, pick a spot wherever you like. One of the things we've done for priming is getting everyone on a slightly different wavelength, quite literally. You're all going to receive the same light, but each of you will only actually get information from your own portion."
So that's how they'd be able to control the participants (well, to a point, they gave memories, not orders)- K1-b0 would probably just get wireless updates when they got flashed. Kokichi slipped off his shoes, and flopped on a futon. Might as well just get it over with.
Miu picked one on one side of him, Shuichi the other, and Kaede quickly grabbed the free space next to Shuichi.
Tenko quietly took the free spot next to Miu, and the rest of the group filed into place.
And then Kokichi gasped, banging on the inside of a locker until its hinges gave way.
That wasn't too weird, he thought. He was small, picked on a lot. Getting shoved in lockers wasn't exactly a new occurrence.
The bars on the windows were, though. As was the fact that the locker he was in was in the front of the classroom, not the hallway.
Kokichi balled both hands into fists. This wasn't his school. He blinked, thinking. A rush of fragments. He'd just been in class, as usual, went to the convenience store after art club let out to grab a snack, when two massive men dragged him into a black car, put a bag over his head and…
And what ? His whole mind was a haze. He couldn't remember much at all.
Kokichi pressed both of his pointer fingers to his temples. His eyesight wobbled.
What was he forgetting? It was something important. It had to be.
Kokichi sat down, took a few deep breaths.
And then he spotted the other kid.
Only a few centimeters taller, the other boy in the room wore the same black gakuran as him. But they were a common boy's uniform. He didn't think they were from the same school. Especially with the hat, slightly off center over the boy's soft white hair. White. Kid had pale skin too, almost like paper. Maybe an albino? Some schools would have still forced the poor kid to dye his hair black. He knew his own had a "black hair only" policy, the backward twats. Even the foreign girl who sat in front of him had to comply, despite the equally enforced "no dyeing of hair" rule.
Japan was stupid. Rules were stupid. And there was a kid slumped against the shoe locker in the back that needed his help.
Carefully, Kokichi stepped forward. The kid had headphones on, and wasn't breathing, though he was warm and had a heartbeat.
Kokichi gulped. This was exactly the sort of start to a horror comic. The kid had to be a ghost or-
Curiosity got the better of Kokichi, and he reached out to the kid. His body was… hard. Like it had no give under the clothes. Kokichi peeled off one of the kid's gloves.
And laughed.
"A goddamn robot," he chuckled, breathing out. "I'm going to regret this, but let's see if I can't turn you on."
Kokichi put the glove back on the robot's exposed hand, and opened its mouth, poking the plastic teeth. No dice. The eyes had no eyelids, and the headphones didn't come off or open.
There was a pretty shiny red button on the back of his neck, though, under the collar of his gakuran. Kokichi pressed it lightly, then tried pressing and holding.
"…miss you," the robot said as it sputtered to life, before jumping back slightly.
Somehow, Kokichi felt a sharp pain, washing over him.
Sadness , and he didn't know why. Kokichi swallowed the feeling down and looked at the robot in front of him, in slight disbelief.
"You were out cold," Kokichi explained, meekly, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry for poking around."
The robot frowned. "You had better be sorry! If you damaged anything, you'll be hearing a word from my lawyer!"
"Do robots have… lawyers?" Kokichi asked back, curious.
"That remark is extremely robophobic!" the robot shot back, glaring at Kokichi.
"Whoa, there. I just woke up here, too. I'm not trying to offend you."
The robot just shook its head, and wobbled to its feet. "My apologies. I… do not like to be force-shut-off. Someone snuck up on me from behind and…." The robot rolled the collar back over his button and the six holes surrounding it. "You tell no-one of this."
"What, that button, or that you're a robot?"
"Either."
"Fine. But you have to tell me what to call you."
"K1-b0."
"You don't want people knowing you're not a robot, but you want me to call you something that's not a human name?"
"My… my creator's name then. Iidabashi Ren. Yours?"
"Ouma Kokichi."
K1-b0 nodded, and looked at the bars on the window behind him. "Let's figure out where we are first, Ouma-san."
Somehow, being referred to by his last name annoyed Kokichi, but he couldn't put his finger on why.
"Stand behind me as we move."
"Ooooh, protected by a mech!"
"I'm not strong, I don't think I could even lift you. But my body is very durable. If this is a kidnapping, I'm at least heavy enough to protect you from a knife or low caliber bullet. In exchange, you watch my emergency switch on my neck."
"Fair, Iidabashi-san."
"Let's go," K1-b0 said sharply, and slid open the classroom door, to shouts and gunfire.