❀ 4.8 - Reasons to Lie ❀
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…
"No, not like that! A little closer. Just so the antennas brush her nosey…"
Antennas...like on a television…?
"...not sure...might poke eye…"
What's going on? What's…
When I hear a frustrated whisper and a sigh of resignation, I crack open a blurry eye to see a bright green shape taking up a large portion of my vision. It moves a little, tickling my skin so I wiggle my nose. A giggle escapes me at the feeling, enough to get me sitting up where I can rub the sleep out of my eyes. I fell asleep?
Once my vision is clear, I see what's tickling my face.
It's an insect, a large one that almost looks like a praying mantis mixed with a chunky locust. It isn't until I've blinked two more times that I reach out to touch it, making Gonta pull it back quickly a few inches.
"Oh! Hold out hand- safer for nymph if it walk itself," Gonta says, prompting me to obey and watch as he tips his much larger hand to get the bug moving. Realizing the insect is nearly the size of my own palm, I end up putting my other hand out as well to give the bug more room.
"How long was I asleep…?" I ask once the hefty green insect sits on my hand, ignoring the prickly spines along its skinny legs. It's like its legs are made up of thorny rose stems.
"Like, maybe ten minutes? Neeheehee! Aw man, but I was hoping for a different outcome by using a bug to wake you up," Kokichi laments, making me dip my head a little so Gonta can't see my disdain for the presence of his companion.
"G-Gonta sorry…! Can't leave Kokichi because of promise...Gonta really sorry. Know not easy for Small Prairie," Gonta answers with a flustered look as I alternate moving one hand in front of the other for the bug when it keeps walking forward. It takes all my focus on the bug to hide my disappointment that my efforts and words haven't swayed the mountain sized teen, and yet Gonta still notices the change in my mood…
"It's whatever," I comment with a stiff smile, just as Gonta stands up and readjusts his tie, holding his hand out so the bug can return to his hand. With the bug still moving forward across my palm, it easily continues back into Gonta's waiting hold until I'm no longer holding any of the insect's weight. He returns to the wall of caged bugs and gently places it in its respective home, closing the lid tightly and walking towards the exit of the room.
That's a little confusing since we agreed to hang out and see bugs together, so I give him a curious look. I eventually get my answer after a second though.
"Gonta...even more sorry for this, but Gonta need to handle extremely important thing. Small Prairie need to wait with Kokichi here until ready! Then we start Insect Meet-and-Greet!" Gonta says, causing my eyes to narrow on his troubled, yet determined expression.
Stay here? Alone with Leech Face?
"You're joking, right?" I demand dangerously, noting Gonta's mild flinch at the sudden shift in my tone of voice. "You expect me to stay in a room with the jerk that I threw a bowl of soup at? Willingly?"
Gonta surprisingly doesn't answer. To my shock, he opens the door and meets my eyes one last time with an apologetic look. My heart strains with an anxious flare when I realize he isn't about to listen, leaving me to watch as the door closes shut firmly on my objections.
I stare at the door for a long minute, eyeing it with dry annoyance.
Well, it's not like there's a lock on this door to stop me from actually leaving in the first place. And there's no way I'd stay here even for sweet Gonta, so...
Just as I get up and take my first steps towards the exit, the familiar sound of clicks and a hard bind around my wrist prompts me to squeeze my eyes shut with a heavy sigh. With that breath, the fire of rage leaves me before I can act on it and aim it all at the gremlin beside me. I didn't even hear him sneaking up behind me, but besides that though-
"Where did you even get handcuffs in the first place?" I ask irritably once I open my eyes again to glare at the door leading out of the lab. If I could light the person beside me on fire with my mind and leave no trace of my involvement behind, I would.
"Ryoma's lab. Though I do have an extra pair in my room that I stole from the love hotel, but those ones are a lot cheaper and don't actually need a key to break out of, so I mainly took them for room aesthetics~" Kokichi answers rather pleasantly. I turn to face him, taking a glance down at the single cuff now tightly attached to my right wrist.
...The other cuff is attached to his left wrist.
"Why weren't these used for Kirumi?"
"Ah, that was my plan, but by the time I brought the handcuffs to them Kirumi had already excused herself from everyone's supervision. Kaito and Gonta sure screwed up watching Miss Prime Minister, huh? Althouuugh...I guess it's a little my fault not getting the cuffs to them sooner. My bad~" Kokichi says with a wide grin. When I don't immediately respond or smile back, he drops the expression with a sigh and plants both hands on his hips- making my right arm lightly swing along after his movements. "Okay, there was an ulterior motive in Gonta leaving you here with me, so I guess I deserve that look."
Oh, like I couldn't have figured that out myself? All this so he can keep harassing me! Because that's what this is now- harassment!
"I'm sorry," Kokichi states clearly.
I blink in confusion, watching the guy of my nightmares meet my eyes with an edge of guilt in his irises. I narrow my eyes at the abrupt apology he's clearly about to waste his time with.
"Stop." The word tumbles out of my mouth sharper than expected, but to his credit Kokichi actually falls silent. I nail him with a stiff smile. "What do you think you're doing?"
Kokichi actually looks a little miffed, but his irritation doesn't actually cross over into his voice when he answers, "Well, I'm trying to apologize."
My jaw clicks as I restrain myself from grimacing- letting my dry expression do most of the work. Especially when I cast an obvious gaze down at my cuffed wrist trapped to his. When I look back up at him, I give a shake of my head and smile with cynicism.
"No, you're not."
Kokichi just laughs at my blunt affirmation, despite my obvious disdain.
"Okay, so maybe my method of apologizing is dubious at best, but you'd never let me come close if I didn't do this!" Kokichi defends his actions, only to be met with a swift movement when I grab the front of his bandanna furiously and flip it over his face.
"Yeah, for a good reason! Kokichi, you can't cuff me to you, apologize, and then really expect to be forgiven!" I snap, watching as Kokichi hurries to pull his bandanna back into place and stare back at me curiously.
Kokichi seems to debate on the situation like he's really considering my words, prompting me to hold out my arm so I can see if there really is a change going on in him. If this isn't for show, he'll let me go and won't try to stop me from leaving the room.
"Uncuff me," I say, calming myself so it comes out a bit more at ease.
I watch as he takes my cuffed wrist like he's going to comply and uncuff me, only for him to pause after running his thumb over the lock of my cuff. He looks back at me with a smile, one that makes my heart sink and quickly rise up with anger. I could punch him, but I think even Rantaro would consider that taking things too far…or would he?
I reel my arm back quickly and curl my hand in a fist, just missing his face by inches when he shifts out of the way and grabs my wrist just in time before I can hit him. His smile doesn't budge from his face when he pushes my fist down, laughing like I totally wouldn't really dent his face like a caricature in an old slapstick cartoon.
Which I totally would...but for now, I'll temper my rage and simply count to ten in my head before I make Kokichi lose his.
One...two...three...
"Whew, you're fast! Good think I know what to expect out of our little violent Prairie Dog! To be fair though, I'm not cuffing you to me just to apologize. It's also so we can all have our Insect Meet-and-Greet! It was Gonta's idea to name it that," Kokichi claims, his smile becoming a massive grin as he finally releases my wrist once he's sure I'm not going to try punching him again.
"What part of 'you're a diseased toad leg' did you fail to understand the first time?" I ask darkly, watching as Kokichi's expression stiffens. Every time it does, I can't help but think he may be changing gears or something, because his expression eventually becomes apologetic once again. It's...really abnormal. Strange, and out of character enough that I'm completely sure his "apology" isn't anything genuine.
No surprise there.
"Disregarding the handcuffs, I meant what I said. I'm sorry," Kokichi says again, causing my gut to churn in distaste. Here we go again… "I'm sorry I was an ass- I didn't think it through and I regret what I did. I fucked up and I get why you hate me, so...it doesn't have to be anytime soon, but I hope you can eventually forgive me? There's really not a lot of people willing to put up with me, so-"
"How come? You're so nice," I comment with a manufactured casual tone, making Kokichi's expression twitch for just a split second that I almost don't catch it. He didn't like that? Awesome.
"Yeah...anyways, I just wanted to say that," Kokichi finishes, violet eyes studying my features as I return his waiting stare, prompting me to exhale with a shrug.
"Alright, to get the first thing aside, I don't forgive you. Nor do I believe you, seeing as not too long ago you were being pretty nasty about this whole thing. I doubt this is some sort of 'epiphany' that's struck you, so you can stop with the charade now," I claim, examining his expression for a change. His smile twitches, but I don't give him a chance to respond when I add, "And even if I did believe you?"
I advance on Kokichi, noting his mild apprehension when his back hits the confines of the room wall, allowing me to slam the base of my palm hard against the wall as close to his head as possible. Kokichi doesn't flinch to his credit, but he also doesn't try hurling back a snide comment or grabbing my wrist like he did when I tried to punch him. He just watches me with a pensive stare.
"If I believed you, I still wouldn't forgive you. It doesn't matter to me if you're telling the truth or not, because the bottom line is that I don't want to forgive you. I'd rather take out all my frustrations on you and make you completely miserable," I say directly to his face as I leave my hand up on the wall.
Kokichi expressionlessly stares at me, up until I see a glimmer of mirth in his eyes. He closely follows the look with a sudden laugh, smirking despite the position I've put him in.
"Alright! You got me," Kokichi confesses, giving a gracious wave of his free hand as he shifts to lean back against the wall more comfortably with an air of leisure. "It was a lie. Still, I do want to get rid of this tension between us. I mean...if Monokuma took advantage of your fight with Rantaro and your dislike of Tsumugi, he may try to take advantage of our squabble. So wouldn't it be better if we tried to get along instead?"
"We always fight. And you never wanted to get along, captain obvious," I bluntly snark, watching as Kokichi laughs in response.
"But it was all in good faith! I like you," Kokichi tries to convince me, making me scowl even more.
"No, you don't," I correct his ridiculous statement in dumbstruck disbelief, genuinely in awe with how much he keeps pushing that stupid concept. My response is met with a pout from the teen, one that makes me wonder how he didn't earn the title Ultimate Actor rather than Supreme Leader. I shake the thought from my head for a moment, narrowing my eyes on him to get myself on track. "That's besides the point though. I'll be paying you back for all the torture you've put me through."
Kokichi grins smugly after a second, making my thoughts hit a full stop. It's not that I'm suddenly trapped under his charm, because honestly this conversation just makes me angry. In fact, what stops me is the emotion he conveys with his eyes. It's out of place for what's going on- another of the quick gear shifts I've seen when he needs to change up his method of approach.
"Would you consider mercy...if I went with the original offer from yesterday then?" He asks coyly.
I raise a puzzled eyebrow as he lifts his free hand and taps his lips insinuatingly.
"That's where the problem mainly stems from, right? I promised you a kiss, or at least implied it. But then I tricked you and deprived you of what you really wanted," Kokichi summarizes pleasantly what he thinks happened, gauging my response with a critical eye.
When I don't say anything, he proceeds to place his hand behind my neck. I automatically tense up at being touched there, but Kokichi massages the area carefully until I relax a bit. I'm fiddling with the wall using my free hand, a tremor running across my body until I feel it at the tips of my fingers and toes.
Kokichi's totally focused on my face at this point, the air charged once again with a tension that sends butterflies fluttering in my belly- although it's not the most pleasant feeling considering who I'm with.
"Let me rectify my mistake. No tricks and no lies."
He gently urges me closer by my neck, leaning in when I don't immediately try to pull away or object.
He wants me to forgive him so badly he'll resort to doing something he absolutely doesn't want to do? Aside from everything else, this is suspicious. What does he need me specifically for? He could start following and bugging any other person, but he chose to do a one-eighty on his heel within the span of so little time just because? Without reason? How does that make any sense?
Before he can brush his nose against mine, I turn my face away in defiance to avoid his move.
"I don't want to kiss you anymore. You're probably bad at it anyways. Not to mention, I'd rather suck fish guts up with a straw," I state firmly, causing Kokichi to thankfully pull back with a gasp of offense.
Well, props to him for not pushing it, I guess...? Jeez, he's really set a low bar for himself if I'm giving him props for something basic as that.
"Hey! Don't knock it till you try it! Why would you assume I'm bad at kissing anyways?" Kokichi pouts, prompting me to snort in amusement.
"After your display yesterday? I doubt you could keep any person around long enough to actually kiss them. You'd send them running in the opposite direction long before you could actually test it out," I answer with a bit of a smirk, noting how Kokichi seems ready to dispute my argument-
Until I gently place what I was fishing out from behind him on his shoulder.
As soon as he feels the weight and turns his head to look, a cry of horror flies out of him when he sees a large hairy leg.
"EW, WHAT THE F-" Kokichi blurts out, closing his mouth tightly and cringing back against the wall when a hairy leg stretches out much too close to his lips for comfort. It's a good thing this spider is pretty calm. I'd feel a bit guilty if it started kicking hairs at him, but it seems bravely content to move slowly along Kokichi's shoulder and bandanna.
"What's wrong? This is the Insect Meet-and-Greet, right? I thought you liked bugs?" I say with an amused grin, watching his mangled expression twist in disgust and horror with every movement the arachnid makes.
"SPIDERS AREN'T INSECTS! Oh my god, Prairie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorr-eeEEEIIIIYYYY-" Kokichi's noises are the funniest, making me laugh in delight when the tarantula I fished out of its bug house rests a leg against Kokichi's cheek. He snaps his mouth shut and squeezes his eyes shut before moving to swat it off- until I grab his wrists and he makes a high pitched whine of fear that sounds pretty familiar to a noise I've made before.
"Heh, now who sounds like a theremin? Also, you can't swat a tarantula off of you like a normal tiny spider, you'll kill it if it falls! If that happens, I'm gonna tell Gonta you killed it, so let's try avoiding that miserable outcome."
He cringes more when another of the tarantula's legs starts moving against his cheek.
"Get it off! I'm sorry! GET IT OFF!" Kokichi cries desperately, turning his head away so the spider instead prods at his ponytail instead. "Don't you dare climb up my head you piece of shit-!"
He wriggles a bit harder to shake the spider off, which is enough to eventually make me collect the tarantula from his shoulder to securely return it to it's enclosure.
"Thank you, my fluffy friend~" I chirp as I close the lid shut, easily able to maneuver around the bug house even with only one hand.
As soon as I look back at Kokichi, I see this extremely dark and deadly expression on his face- one I just smile cheerfully at. To think his mask got torn off so easily when I put a spider on his shoulder! I should have done that the moment Gonta's lab opened. Would have made keeping him away from me much easier before.
"Aww, you poor thing," I coo, reaching over to cup his cheek like he's a little kid even though his expression is one that you'd probably find on the face of a very upset demon. He doesn't swat my hand away, resigning to continue narrowing that dark glare on me even after I drop my arm beside us. "So you don't like spiders? That's okay, what about regular insects? Here, lemme get that one up there out!"
I reach up to open another bug enclosure, eventually able to remove the lid and reach in as I feel Kokichi begin to fumble with his pockets as I turn away. A few of the insects in the heated enclosure make a hissing sound as I scoop one out and turn to face Kokichi. He's searching in his pockets desperately- and by the time he gets a ring of handcuff keys out, my foot swings up full force and sends them flying out of his hands.
"Hey!" He shouts, moving to catch the keys with one hand to no avail. The ring of dual keys land on the floor between us, giving me ample room to kick it across the lab to the far corner of the room where he can't reach them.
I click my tongue with plastic sympathy, running my thumb over the shell of the chubby insect in my hand.
"Oo...bummer. I guess in the end I wasn't trapped here with you. You're trapped here with me," I laugh, causing Kokichi's head to swing in my direction with an angry glare. He moves to step closer towards me until I hold out the bug in my hands so it's nearly in his face. A sharp inhale on his part and he recoils with a grimace of disgust, moving back within the limits of the cuffs.
"What the hell even is that? That's disgusting, how can you even stand touching it?!" Kokichi asks, pulling away from the cuffs even though he's not getting very far.
"It's just a bug, Kokichi, calm down. It's not going to eat you. Besides, I'll bet this little guy is more sanitary than you are," I say, petting the bug again with my thumb to make it hiss. Kokichi's expression twists into something rather inhuman. It's a repulsed look like I've never seen on the face of a person before, and I can't help but burst into giggles at the sight.
I wonder if this is how he felt when he made me watch those gory movies the other night? Or what he anticipated feeling when he convinced Gonta to hold a bug in my face as I was waking up?
Never mind the actual bugs. Kokichi explained what we're here for- an Insect Meet-and-Greet. Was it entirely Gonta's idea though? His trapping me in here was totally the result of Kokichi as a catalyst, that much I'm certain of. That said, why would Kokichi agree to seeing bugs with Gonta if he's obviously disgusted by them? Why would he be willing to face bugs in front of everyone else if he's at risk of making contact with more than just a single bug?
…
There's obviously something else to this whole fiasco. And I doubt it's that stupid apology he tried to brush off on me.
"I might be willing to put it away if you tell me what you're trying to pull here," I suggest pleasantly, watching as Kokichi raises an eyebrow of dubious confusion.
"'What I'm trying to pull'? Smelly Dog, did your brain go and delete what just happened? I apologized...and you told me to screw off with it. That's all I was trying to do," Kokichi states with a vexed scowl, prompting my eyes to narrow as I hold the bug closer to him and run my thumb over it's back to make it hiss at him. Kokichi jerks back against the wall, the corner of his lip turning up with revulsion.
"Don't lie to me, Leech Face. You can't play stupid with an ego like yours, so just-" I start, causing Kokichi's eyes to widen in bewilderment.
"'An ego like mine'? Oh my god, that's rich coming from you. I'm not the one here that was struggling with a savior complex just to feel good about myself. You're a total hypocrite, Pr- Smelly Dog," Kokichi snaps, slowly losing his cool the more I step closer with the bug until he's backing away along the wall so I follow.
"You know what's funny about being a hypocrite? I learned from the best. Also, you've spent the entire killing game following me and trying make me play the way you wanted me to. Do you think I'm stupid? Did you really think me liking you would make me subservient to you?" I ask, forcing my hand holding the cockroach to stay as relaxed as possible so I don't get so angry I end up crushing the innocent creature. "You don't control me. You don't control any of my choices or my actions. I'm not a chessboard piece, I'm a person. Whatever you need me for, you can count me out. I already told you I'm not trying to escape anymore and I meant it. You can complain, and cry, and snot your tacky checkered scarf- but it's not going to change my mind. Your talent can only take you so far, Kokichi, but I'm not following you."
I reach over him to open the insect habitat for what's labeled "Madagascar Hissing Cockroach" and promptly pop the bug I'm holding carefully into it with the other roaches, shutting the lid firmly with a click and grabbing hold of the cuff to drag Kokichi towards the other side of the room where I kicked the keys.
"What are you doing now?" Kokichi asks irritably, dragging his feet along the ground to slow me down even though it should be obvious what I'm trying to do. How strange- he was desperate to get those keys moments before when I was holding a bug.
I can always grab another if I need to.
"I'm getting those stupid keys to take this crap off, and then I'm going back to my room. Was that so hard for you to guess, Einstein?" I demand, pulling to get him moving until he really starts digging his heels in.
"No! You need to stay here!" Kokichi objects to my absolute shock. He said "no"? Like...he's really resorting to try and order me around?
...He's worse than Rantaro!
"Actually, I need to do whatever I freaking want. Who are you to tell me what to do?!" I argue, yanking hard on the cuff so he grimaces and promptly yanks hard on it back. I stagger forward for a second, but eventually lean back so I'm digging my foot against the ground too.
"...FINE! I'll tell you why I need you here! Stop pulling, you're going to break my finger, you psycho!" Kokichi hisses with a wince of pain when I yank particularly hard on the cuffs.
"Oh! So you want to convince me to play nice by calling me a 'psycho' now too then? Like 'bitch' and 'dumbass' wasn't enough? I think being in the presence of a literal sociopath- which you totally are, by the way- warrants a little psychopathy to get myself away from you. If you'd just let me grab the keys, your ugly, stubby finger would be fine!"
"You're impossible to deal with! Do you have any idea how annoying it's been having to babysit you? To flirt with you? You're crazy if you think someone would find you likeable beyond dealing with you for longer than a day! I'll bet you're gonna grow up to be a lonely and cranky old hag!" Kokichi snaps, making me frown and yank on the cuff so hard he yelps. With that, he shoots me one of the most angry looks I've ever seen from him.
It's enough to make him spit something I'm sure even he doesn't mean to blurt out.
"This is probably why Monokuma says you have nobody outside of this shitty place!" Kokichi barks, only to catch himself after it leaves his lips. All of a sudden, he plasters a blank expression across his face.
It's such a swift reset on his features that I almost don't know how to feel. Despite that though, his words have made my pulling hit a full stop with the slow registration of what exactly he's revealed.
Monokuma said something along the same lines to me before. That once I left, everyone would leave me and I'd be alone in a sea of strangers...but where did Kokichi get that information? Did Monokuma just freely give it to him?
So then…I really don't have anyone out there waiting for me?
Kokichi has also stopped pulling on the cuffs, and now we're just standing there staring at each other with expressions as clear as a chalkboard that's been wiped of all its vile content. I'm holding my breath for a moment, my entire body on pause as I try to process what he's just flung at me.
My throat feels tight. He could have punched me himself, and it wouldn't have hurt as much as his words do. Considering how his expression has become blank and careless, he must have realized this tragic mistake on his part.
No. That's stupid.
Kokichi is too cold and calculating to make a mistake like this. He said it and meant to say it.
"...Kokichi, I don't know what you're trying to do, but let me give you a...friendly word of advice from my perspective," I manage to say without a stutter, my voice leveled and conducted with so much control that it's hard to believe I can speak clearly with the amount of rage bubbling in my gut.
Kokichi doesn't say anything, so I continue as I reach up to wipe away the angry tears that have started rolling down my cheeks. Once I've deemed the drying of my tears useless with how much is falling, I pull on the cuff to get him moving again. For some reason, he's gracious enough to let me pull him over to the corner of the room where I kicked the keys, watching as I pick up the ring and reach over to unlock his side of the cuffs before I unlock mine. Once they're off, I toss both the cuffs and the keys to his feet carelessly. It isn't until then that I take a deep breath, my thoughts coherent enough that I know what I want to say to him.
"If your plan to escape involves using everyone around you like tools, especially after you already know what Monokuma wants as far as group cooperation goes...you're already dead. Trust me. I should know when it comes to spoilers," I add with an implicating tone, noting a shift in Kokichi's features that doesn't give away a particular emotion for me to interpret.
His guard is up as high as ever, and I doubt that wall will come down until he's alone...but then again, if he's smart, he's been completely bottling up his emotions with all the invisible cameras observing our every move.
"If I don't have anyone outside of this place, I definitely have no reason to be trying to escape. Whether I become a lonely old hag here or I die young here, in the end it doesn't matter, does it?"
I study his eyes for a moment, but Kokichi is still tight lipped. Once I realize I'm not about to get anything out of him, I give a short amused scoff.
"Can't say anything without first running it through a sensitivity check in your head for an hour, right?" I ask, pulling my gloves out of my pocket and pulling them on as I head for the exit. "You may as well start looking for a nice plot in the courtyard for yourself and start digging."
Kokichi doesn't stop me when I open the door and step out.
A far cry from how calm I was speaking to him, I end our encounter with a satisfying aggressive slam of the lab door, listening to the way the sound echoes down the hall. It's a motion so violent my arm hurts when the door makes contact with the doorframe, like I've just had my arm forcibly pulled by an Exisal. Still, I ignore the pain in my shoulder and simply roll it as I make an effort to recompose myself.
I dry up my tears and blow out a puff of air from my lungs. Although I don't particularly like them, I wish I had a mirror to see how my face looks. Not that I'd be able to do anything if my eyes are all red and puffy, but…
He's going to regret this. Somehow, I'll get ahead of him and make him think twice about treating me like garbage in the future.
It's while I'm standing by the door that I start hear footsteps taking up the silence, causing my stomach to swirl in frustration when I realize I'm not about to be alone- which I very much need right now.
Turning my head, I see Gonta coming down the hall with Tenko's arm in one hand and holding Angie's hand with the other. Compared to how vicious Tenko appears upon initial glance, Angie simply looks like Gonta's taking her for a walk with how she keeps up with his pace.
"Where are you taking them?! Gonta, will you please just tell us what's going on? Your behavior is highly irrational!" Kiibo tries to reason with the large man, who ignores him as he continues his escort of the two girls. "Did you bring Himiko here already too? Is that why she didn't come back from her lab yet?!"
"LET. ME. GO," Tenko carefully enunciates, hitting Gonta's meaty arms with her free hand and fist to no avail despite the obvious aiming on her part. She must be hitting something sensitive because the arm Gonta uses to hold her is twitching erratically like his nerves have developed a tremor.
"Nyahaha! It's alright, Tenko! Let us enjoy the adventure to expand our horizons. It's what Atua wants, he just told me! To shape our characters to our full potential…" Angie reassures Tenko carelessly with a carefree wink, causing Tenko to only bristle.
I make quick work of settling the last of my jarred nerves and pull out my ponytail, angling my face so they don't see the state of my features.
"Small Prairie? Why you out of-" Gonta starts, before I hear a gasp of delight on Tenko's part that makes my heart swell for a moment. Her voice always makes me feel better, like a breath of fresh air, but right now it feels like it isn't doing anything to quell my irritation.
I need to leave.
"Let me guess- Gonta kidnapped you too then? This is...perplexing," Kiibo is first to say, placing his hands on his mechanical hips. "At this point, your motives are unquantifiable, Gonta."
"Sorry, I'm suddenly not feeling very good right now. I have to go," I change the topic quickly to cut to the chase, keeping my face low as I skirt past the four of them.
"Prairie?" I hear Tenko ask in clear confusion. There's something in her tone that clues me on the fact she's noticed something off about me, which makes my insides coil up in alarm for a moment. I'm not ready to answer any questions yet, I need to calm down first.
My footsteps pick up the pace into a power walk.
"What? Are you oka-?" Kiibo starts to ask, until I hear the door open and the sound of Gonta quickly ushering the others in with a 'be right back' on his part. The door shuts behind the others and Gonta's heavy footsteps echo after me until I feel his hand land on my shoulder to stop me. Darn. He has really long legs.
"Small Prairie…? What wrong? Small Prairie sick?" Gonta asks, a tint of concern lacing his words that I wished had been there before he left me with Kokichi. It's enough to make me laugh bitterly under my breath as I try to keep my emotions in check. Again, just like the times before, I'm unraveling quickly at the seams. It always seems to take so little for me to become overwhelmed to the point of a meltdown.
"Yes. Just a little...I need to be alone for a little while and I'll be fine. I promise I'll look at the bugs with you next time, okay?" I manage to get out, only to feel Gonta's hand tighten a little. It doesn't feel like he's trying to restrain me or anything. If he was really going to do that, he'd probably already be dragging me back to his lab like he did with Tenko. No, his grip feels...emotional.
"...Kokichi did wrong again?" Gonta asks hesitantly, making my breath hitch a little despite my efforts to appear okay. I really don't want to answer him, but…
I turn a little to peer around him, making sure the others he brought aren't behind him. Once I see the empty hallway around his large frame, I finally look up at him and watch as his expression of concern contorts into such a look of guilt that he doesn't even bother asking anything else.
He gasps and almost immediately starts panicking, much to my irritation. What did he think was going to happen by leaving me there? That Kokichi and I would make up and play nice again?
"Gonta...Gonta so sorry! Shouldn't have left, Small Prairie was right!" Gonta apologizes, his voice struck with grief until he has the sense to get down and bow with a string of apologies rolling off his tongue.
As I stare down at him, I'm once again struck with a thought that hurts with an extra pang after Kokichi's most recent words.
I want to go home.
And I still don't know any other home than my stupid room in this hell.
❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀
I eventually peel Gonta off of the floor enough to console him and tell him it's okay, even though it's really not. He offers me a hug, but I don't take it. His choices hurt and he's seemingly okay with it because he still chooses to follow Kokichi around. It's obvious by how he seems to look from me to the door of his lab and back despite apologizing profusely beforehand for leaving me alone with someone that very obviously hates me.
There's no way he's not absolutely sincere in his apology. He really is guilty, that much I know.
But it doesn't matter. He still made some obscure promise to Kokichi that I almost don't even want to ask about anymore. In minutes, I had my bravado ripped off of me again because I still like him.
Trying to avoid him in this place is impossible.
I find myself back at the dormitory building after a cold trek across the snowy courtyard, thankful to not run into anyone else. I can see Monosuke tinkering with his Exisal on the field near the building, but he hardly pays me any mind other than glancing over his shoulder and then resuming his duties.
Likewise, I open the doors after meeting his gaze for a fraction of a moment, stepping in and glancing around to make sure nobody is lingering in the lobby to ask questions about my face. If I do encounter someone, maybe I can play it off as a result of the snow with some sincere acting and insistence. The time it took to walk here was probably enough for it to fade to something less obvious.
Climbing up the steps, I eventually reach my room door carelessly placed between Kokichi's and Kiibo's room. I close my eyes for a moment and sigh heavily, opening them to let my eyes rest on the door to the left of mine with heavy frustration. I wonder if Monokuma knew the torment Kokichi could put me through before we met. Maybe that's the real reason my room is placed on the boy's side of the dormitories, and specifically next to Kokichi's.
Still, seeing his stupid icon staring back from atop his room is enough to make my stomach roll with stress again.
I reach for my keys and flip past the wrong keys until something slowly occurs to me.
My tool bag is in there if he was telling the truth back in Korekiyo's lab...and he won't be back for a while with that Insect Meet-and-Greet he's hosting with Gonta, so now's the time to do something about it.
…
I unlock my room door quickly and make my way over to my vanity, discarding my gloves, shawl, and my coat to toss them on the floor carelessly. With hasty movements, I open the drawer under the table and dig around until I find some hairpins. Once I have the pins opened up like picks, I back out of my room to stand beside Kokichi's. My stomach swirls again with uncertainty at the sight of his door, like he'd walk out of it and catch me in the act even though I know he's back at the academy building.
I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off, but it's worth a shot. If it works, I'm going in. If it doesn't work, I just go back to my room and...wallow, I guess.
Pushing a few locks of my hair out of the way, I crouch down in front of the doorknob and stick the pins in the lock. Once I close my eyes, I focus my thoughts as I move the pins around in lock.
At first my movements are confusing and I repeat motions in several different patterns. There's little metal parts that I can move down with the tip of my hairpins. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing exactly and I can't see inside a lock to know how Kokichi picks them open…I've only ever seen his movements from outside of the lock-
Click!
...Oh. I guess just watching him over his shoulder was enough to copy him then?
I open his door and look back to make sure I'm still alone, eventually stepping in and around the mess across the floor. Kokichi lives like a slob…
Forget his organization skills- I need to look for my bag and get out.
I push forward into the room, closing the door behind me and locking just for extra measure. Once I turn to regard the messy room, I let out a soft groan of vexation. He's such a slob that I'm probably going to have to move things...would he notice if something was out of place?
If I move things, I'll just use my intuition to reorganize them where they were when I first stepped in.
Despite knowing I have a backup plan to hide my snooping around, I'm still careful with what I choose to move as I lift papers on mountains of items, digging around before using my intuition to brush the items back in place. I'm not actually sure how accurate my repositioning of items is, but there's really nothing I can do if it looks suspicious. He'll eventually figure out the bag itself is missing and I'll definitely be the first person he suspects, but I'd like to prolong that scenario for as long as possible.
It's while I lift up a stray pillowcase from Kokichi's night table with no pillow inside that I uncover a particular stack of books.
The books aren't the ones I had in my bag back in the AV room, but under them sits a tablet that makes me quickly pull it out with an edge of curiosity.
It's the kubz pad they gave him- the motive that was passed out the last round.
My eyes flick over to the door before I press the power button, watching as the title card appears with Kokichi's name over it. It's enough to make me bristle a bit at the realization this is his video.
Then again, why would he tell any of us? He doesn't trust anybody else and he'd end up being an immediate target if he said anything.
Despite that rational thought, my brain is too busy being angry to give it more consideration. Still, let's see what this video of his shows. Maybe it'll help me figure out what he's trying to do here and why he's having so much trouble understanding my perspective in our fight.
"Nooow then, back by popular demand, it's time to show another 'motive video'. Who, oh who, could be your 'most important loved ones', I wooonder? Let's begin, let's begiiin!"
The title card changes, and with it comes a lineup of people dressed in clothes similar to the outfit Kokichi was given by the Monokubs for the killing game. They look like hospital straight jackets, and although I can see Kokichi up front and center in the picture, the rest of them wear clown masks that obscure their identities.
Kokichi also has a mask, but he's holding it away from his face. I've never seen the other people before, but his mask is oddly familiar. It's enough to stir that sense of distant familiarity I'd had a few times while in his presence- over the dice charms on his knife and a few other things.
"As the Supreme Leader of a secret organization called 'D.I.C.E.', he and his team caused mayhem throughout the world en masse. In accordance with their two main mottos, 'do not kill people', and 'commit amusing crimes', this fun-loving band jokers committed harmless pranks and would joyfully watch their victim's entertaining reactions to the chaos."
Okay...well, at least it's nothing particularly awful so far. Actually, it's better than passable- his team forbids murder outright. It's nothing like Kirumi's crazy video about being the Prime Minister of Japan. What's this organization he works for called D.I.C.E. though? It sounds less like an organization and more like a reject highschool club.
"He had ten loyal goons who, together with Kokichi, formed a team of eleven people. To Kokichi, these people were friends bordering on family. They were his everything, the absolute most important people in his life, but…"
I pause it and look over the faces of the people in the picture, feeling my lingering frustration with Kokichi dissipate for a moment. Looking at how they are here, they clearly seem to like Kokichi very much. They all match and their poses seem energized beside him. How anyone can approve of a person like Kokichi is beyond me, but...whatever.
Because they're not strangers to him and you are. You're a stranger to even yourself.
Shaking the mildly upsetting thought away, I focus on the video again by hitting the play icon.
The scene of the picture changes, and my stomach plummets along with my stubborn attitude against Kokichi.
The people that were once around Kokichi are now in what looks to be a jail cell, beaten and bloodied from an unknown attack. Some are huddled in the back of the jail cell, while two grip the bars of their cage at the front in clear anger.
Kokichi isn't in this photo like he was in the one before.
Wait, there's only...nine people in here. It just said Kokichi had ten loyal followers, didn't it? It said there were a total of eleven, so...did one of them get away?
The video continues with the same outro of "something unbearable happened" as Kaitos, prompting me to let out a careless scoff when I realize it's the end of the important part of the video.
Not caring much to hear Monokuma's voice anymore since the video is already technically over, I scroll back to the previous photo where Kokichi and his followers stand in better times.
Come to think of it, it's odd they're just lined up for a photograph actually. If it's a secret organization, it's weird they'd put themselves in the spotlight for any sort of posed picture. I guess this could be a private photo they took for themselves to share with no one else, but...
To make sure I'm seeing the number of them right, I count off the people in the photo, pausing as I'm about to gloss over the small girl with straight hair and braids. She's wearing a similar hairstyle to the one Kokichi tried to replicate on me in the love hotel.
Did Kokichi style my hair to see if I was maybe her? Her hair is much lighter than mine and I doubt the straightness of hers is a result of using a flat iron.
I finish my count of nine followers, with Kokichi making it out to be a total of ten. Once I have the number finalized, I take a seat on his bed and look up from the tablet as thoughts begin to buzz in my mind.
If Kokichi tried to style my hair like that, it could mean Kokichi finds something about me that's familiar. Maybe his initial guess on the "who" is wrong, because I'm definitely not that girl with the braids, but...maybe…?
I shake the thought out of my head, and turn the tablet off after resetting the video. I stick it back under the book stack and then rearrange them on the table as they were prior to my meddling.
There's no way I'm a missing member of D.I.C.E., I don't find Kokichi himself remotely familiar and I wouldn't follow him anywhere even if someone offered me a million dollars. It's just the dice and the mask that's vaguely familiar- and it's likely they're just things they collected from a retailer I might have passed.
How did you know he could pick a door lock before he ever showed the skill off?
It's probably easy to explain that away. Maybe I saw him do it once before my first retained memories here? I don't know, but with my gap of unaccounted time before the killing game, there's a possibility I could have met Kokichi in here before I first fell out of the locker and just forgot. He would still know how to pick a door lock before the resets, so I could have seen it happen then.
My brain continues to try insisting on the possibility as I drape the pillowcase over the book pile, my movements becoming angry and frustrated as I stand up and fix his sheets so it doesn't look like I-
The sound of keys makes my heart jump to my throat.
With my intuition on full blast, I dive under his bed as quickly as I can without disturbing or touching any of his things. Its once I've settled quietly in my hiding spot that the door opens, allowing me to see his familiar stupid purple and black shoes stepping into the room.
No, no, no...why is he here?! He's supposed to be with Gonta in the Entomologist Lab for that Insect Meet-and-Greet, I just left him there!
Kokichi kicks aside a few papers carelessly with his foot, walking over to the whiteboard at the corner of his room and flipping it over to the back side. I didn't realize it had stuff on the back of it...I'll look at that later when he's gone.
If he doesn't catch me in his room first, that is. I don't think he'd do anything particularly dangerous- maybe just mean- but we'd definitely never be able to get on the right foot if he found me invading his privacy…
Who cares about that?! How many times has he entered my room without permission? He even helped others get into my room! Sure, Kirumi went in to clean, but that was after she poisoned my food and expected me to die! And Shuichi- he just let him in to investigate my belongings! Kokichi said he saw my undies!
My cheeks puff up moodily, but I do my best to stay quiet and not make any growls of disdain at the memories.
It's while I'm listening to Kokichi rummaging about that I hear something drop, causing him to cuss under his breath and promptly kick the edge of the whiteboard hard.
I can see small papers, magnets, and pins that were once attached to the board fall to the floor, which is soon followed by a sound reminiscent of Kokichi either hitting his fist against the board, or hitting his forehead against it. Either way, he's obviously not happy and I can only presume it's due to what happened moments before in Gonta's lab.
"...Why did I fucking say that to her."
Good. If you actually feel guilt, then feel guilty, you jerk. I don't know why you said it either, and I don't even know if it's the truth or not...also, not smart talking to yourself like that, the walls have ears.
Kokichi steps back from the board and crouches down to pick up the pieces from the board he dropped. I hear him organizing things again, feeling just a few streaks of terror strike me when I realize if he ducks just a foot more, he'd probably be able to see me.
Thankfully, he seems completely oblivious to my presence. His entire body is relaxed, nothing like how he holds himself when he's around the rest of us. Not even how he holds himself when it's just me and him. Alone, he looks about as relaxed as a person can get with their walls down.
After he's done with the board, he comes around the bed to the night table, tossing something on the bed. He turns away from the bed after that, walking to the door and stopping right at the door to do something I can't see.
It isn't until I hear the door open and close that I eventually peek out from under his bed. Once I hear the key turn to signify the room being locked, I let out a muted sigh of sheer relief.
Success! He didn't notice me!
I look up at the white board at the corner of the room, which he didn't bother turning back around. I feel my heart jump to my throat again when I realize there's pictures of each of the students, other than Kokichi himself, tacked to the board.
There's a side with a majority of students that he has unmarked, but a few pictures are on different sections of the board with a short note beside it. For instance, next to Miu's picture there's a note reading "possibly dead" and a note beside a photo of Tsumugi that reads "deceased mastermind; betrayed by Danganronpa?"
My eyes eventually gloss over Shuichi's photo reading "Trustworthy?" to land on mine where I can see...many more notes than the others. In fact, he used smaller writing to fit it all in a single segment.
"Monokuma's favorite. Surprisingly competent. Emotionally unhinged. Easy to get information from; difficult to cooperate with. Has feelings for me- but now hates me. Need to fix our relationship ASAP."
Just as I had suspected. He needs my forgiveness so he can keep getting information out of me. I presume he means the information in hints and body language rather than direct spoken info since I'm kind of muzzled by the ugly rules, but still.
Although...that's hardly a strong enough reason for why he'd be trying to earn my favor again. He could probably get that kind of info from Shuichi or the others too, couldn't he? I know I'm exposed to some particular secrets of the killing game that the others don't know about, but body language and little verbal hints only tell a person so much. If he needed me for a plan, that'd be a more believable reason for him to want to go as far as kissing me to earn my trust again.
This isn't what you came in here for!
With that reminder popping in my head, I look to the back of the board curiously and smile when I see what's hanging in my line of sight. He has his table propped up on its side against the wall, moved out of his way in place of the whiteboard and his messy pigsty. Hanging off one of the upper legs facing me is my bag, which I grab off of it to give it's contents a glance.
Thankfully, it seems like all the tools are in there- including the books I collected with Korekiyo. I can see the warping of the pages from getting wet under the sprinkler system in the AV room, but a quick check of the titles tells me these are the right books in here.
I throw the strap of the bag over my shoulder and turn towards the door, taking a deep breath and taking a moment to prepare myself. Kokichi stepped out, but I have no idea what he came in here for and I have no clue if he's left the dormitory building entirely. If I walk out, there's a chance he could be outside and BAM. I'd be caught red-handed slipping out of his room.
With some insistence on my brain to simply get it over with, I eventually unlock his door and turn the knob to peek outside quickly.
...No one's out here. Perfect.
I turn the inner lock of the door and close Kokichi's room quickly, opening my door and breathing a sigh of relief when I find it still unlocked as I left it. Better yet, the leech didn't get any ideas to break into my room or anything, so I lock behind me and allow myself to slide down against the door to take a seat on the floor with my bag.
I'll take these things to Miu's lab later when I'm sure Kokichi isn't lurking around anymore. Not only do I need them in there to do the work on the monokubs, but there's little chance of Kokichi breaking in and seeing the bag there since I doubt he'd have any reason to try breaking into that lab.
For now, I extract one book from the bag and get up to take the rest of my recovered items to my dresser, dropping it in beside my boots at the bottom and closing it up with a satisfied smile. He's probably going to confront me about it sometime once he notices it's missing, but who cares. However short-lived this will be, this is a victory.
Bzzrrt! Bzzrrt!
The sound has my stomach clenching and my heart constricting as I turn my head towards my room door slowly.
No...there's no way it would be him. Not this soon.
First I stick my book under the drawer of my vanity before walking over to the door and opening it up. I feel all the tension in my body fade when I see who's there,wearing a happy smile and gesturing to point his thumb back into the dormitory lobby.
"Guess who got a juicy nectarine ticket from Tsumugi's old bedroom?" Rantaro asks, pulling the ticket out from his jacket pocket with his free hand. When I see it, my mouth immediately starts to water. "Kokichi was nice enough to open the room up for me. He also said he wanted me to pass on the message 'sorry', but...we can think about that part later. Wanna go cash it out in the student store with me?"
I make a little jump of glee and leave my door open, hurrying to collect my coat, shawl, and gloves. Once I have them all on, I join Rantaro outside of my room and hook my arm with his to follow him out of the dormitory building.
Who needs Kokichi when I have Rantaro here? We're working out our differences and I may as well be floating on cloud nine when I'm around him.
"What happened to your ponytail? Got tired of the style?" Rantaro asks, making me lift a hand in realization there's no bow in my hair at all.
"Ah, I took it off earlier and forgot to put it back on. It's okay though, it's not necessary. I won't die without it or anything," I say as I pull the ribbon out of my pocket and play with it, making Rantaro eye my hair and run his fingers through it with a bit of a longing expression.
"It's a bit strange seeing you without it, I've gotten so used to that big hair bow that it's practically a trademark of yours," Rantaro says, looking at the ribbon I play with in my hands. "...Do you want me to help you put it on?"
"No, it's fine," I answer, watching as Rantaro deflates just a bit. He looks adorably uncomfortable- like he's fighting an urge to act on his big brother tendencies if I'm to go by how intently he stares at the hair ribbon I'm wrapping around my fingers and hand.
…
"Fine, you dummy, here. Hurry up though, I demand sustenance of the gods," I concede with a smile, handing him the ribbon and watching his face light up like a million stars.
"Don't worry, five seconds won't kill you," He laughs, running his fingers through my hair and pulling it up in a ponytail like it was before. Rantaro finishes it up with tying the ribbon in a bow, smiling and turning me to face him so he can adjust it neatly. It's while he's doing this that a room door opens, making Rantaro turn his head and raise an eyebrow up at the second floor of the boys' side. His hands have paused in their adjustment of my hair.
"...I don't know if I should be worried, or-" Rantaro starts, only for footsteps to quickly scurry down the steps.
"If you're so curious, you can meet the rest of us at Gonta's lab. That, or you can stay with Prairie Dog- it doesn't matter to me either way," Kokichi speaks up casually, passing by so quickly that I hardly catch a glance of him before I see his back slipping out of the building and into the snowy courtyard.
"Sorry", but he can't say it to my face or look me in the eye after what happened, huh?
"Still upset with him, hm?" Rantaro asks, making me nod quietly. "I heard him say he was going up with Gonta to meet with you in his lab, but by the time I got there you were already gone and Kokichi was oddly subdued. Well, as subdued as someone like him can get when he's trying to work the others up…did something else happen?"
"Kind of. Don't worry about it, let's just go for now. I'll tell you later if it's still bothering me, but right now I don't really want to think about it," I say as we step outside. I consider asking what happened in the dining hall with the flashback light, but decide to save it as a question for later in the night. Instead, I ask a less heavy question. "Are you going to see what Kokichi has cooked up in Gonta's lab after I get my nectarine?"
Rantaro glances down at me and just grins as he cocks his head to the side in amusement.
"Not interested. I'd rather keep you company- if you don't find me annoying, that is," he says, watching as I stick my tongue out at him.
"Actually, you're very annoying! But you can stay, I guess. You did bring me a nectarine ticket, so I'll grant you mercy for the provision of sustenance," I try to say seriously, only to break character when Rantaro pokes my side through my coat and makes me squeal loudly from the tickle.
"Right, right, mercy. Maybe I'm spoiling you too much? I should keep this ticket for myself now that I think about it," Rantaro says, tucking the ticket back in his inner jacket pocket and turning to walk back to the dormitories until I whine in objection and grab onto the back of his jacket to pull on him. Rantaro's laughing as I smack at him for his teasing, but he eventually bends down to scoop up some snow in his gloved hands.
I can already sense what he's thinking, but...he wouldn't really pelt little ol' me with a snowball, would he?
By the time he's straightened up and is facing me again, there's a sneaky grin on his stupid good looking face.
"Stand still for a second, yeah?" he says, pulling his arm back and making me turn to run when I realize he's not about to pull any throws.
And just like that, my spirits are lifted as we trade blows in the art of snowball fighting. It may not be wrestling or martial arts like with Tenko, but it still makes me happy nevertheless. That much is obvious by our laughter as we play around and try to hit one another- up until I forget what we actually went out there for in the first place.
We can talk about serious things later.
For now, we'll pretend like we're just a pair of normal teenagers out enjoying the winter weather with nothing to worry about besides the next snowball that pelts us.
❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀
❀ End of 3.8 - Reasons to Lie ❀