This was much easier to edit than last chapter. Mainly a lot of setup/humour. Enjoy!
Miu was busy studying a large computer, grinning excitedly as she poked around wires and circuit boards.
Kiibo was watching her closely. Kaito swore that he could even see hearts in the robot's eyes.
Aside from the giant computer, the room also had a bunch of armchairs and tables, some consoles, and a few desks.
It's very futuristic. But what a let-down…there's nothing here that can really help us. Kaito thought, sighing and looking at Kokichi.
The supreme leader was busy searching one of the desks, upending all of the drawers and carelessly scattering papers, pens, and other stationery onto the floor.
Kaito went over to him.
"Find anything?" He asked.
"Nope. Just office supplies. Boring." Kokichi stated.
"Need help cleaning up?" Kaito said.
Beforehand, he would've lectured Koichi for creating a mess. But now…he understood things.
Kokichi was searching for the flashback light. Because he wanted answers. Because he cared about them.
Plus, it was Monokuma's stuff. Therefore, in Kaito's opinion, Kokichi could mess the room up as much as he wanted to.
"Nah. The kubs will deal with it." Kokichi mocked, smirking at him.
He ran over to Miu and Kiibo.
"Find anything useful, Iruma-chan?" He yelled.
Miu stopped and glared at him.
"Quieten down Ouma-kun. Please." Kiibo said, getting flustered.
Kokichi widened his smirk.
Miu rolled her eyes.
"There's no point in reasoning with him Kiibo. He's a gremlin." She snapped.
Kokichi pouted.
"Why don't you just tell us what you found Iruma…please?" Kaito cut in, trying to calm things down.
"Get the fuck on with it pig-whore." Kokichi goaded her.
Miu huffed.
"Fine…I've never seen technology like this before. It's way more advanced than even the shit I worked on in high school. And I was in the top class..." She explained, smiling brightly.
"I have so many happy memories of my classmates…once, I even helped them make some sort of new karaoke machine that would supposedly let you sing in multiple languages at once. It didn't go anywhere in the end; we couldn't get the translation software to work. But it was fun." She added dreamily.
"You're really gifted, aren't you Iruma?" Kaito praised, feeling happy for her.
Miu blushed lightly. It was far more dignified than her usual lecherous blushing.
"D-don't lie to me." She muttered.
"I'm not." Kaito countered.
"You still didn't answer my question Iruma-chan. Is this thing actually useful?" Kokichi interrupted, pointing at the computer. He sounded very irritated.
Kaito frowned.
Miu scowled at Kokichi, her mood plummeting.
"It's some kind of computer. That's all I know. I need to run some tests on it to figure it out." She snapped.
"How boring." Kokichi drawled.
Then he smirked at her.
"Hey, if you're so good at robotics…have you used Kiiboy as a sexbot yet?" He pressed.
Miu glared at him, her blush deepening.
Kiibo blinked wildly and shut his eyes, trying and failing to contain his embarrassment.
Kaito coughed loudly. Everyone stared at him.
"Kokichi…seriously, how dense are you?" He said, pretending to be serious.
"Huh? What do you mean Momota-chan?" Kokichi said, pursing his lips.
"Iruma respects Kiibo's autonomy! She wouldn't do anything to him without his explicit permission!" Kaito lectured, feigning intense anger.
Kokichi started to sniffle, pouting dramatically and crossing his arms.
Miu and Kiibo both flinched.
Kaito winked at Kiibo and motioned towards Kokichi with his right elbow.
It took the robot a few moments to catch on.
"Oh!" Kiibo muttered.
He took a deep breath and pointed at Kokichi.
"Momota-kun's right. Iruma-san would never disrespect me. And I-I care about her. A lot." He admitted, smiling at Miu.
Miu sighed and blushed even harder, overcome by his words.
"Sooooooo, what you're saying is…you want to let Iruma-chan use you as a sexbot in the future?" Kokichi asked comically, his tears vanishing.
Kiibo blushed again, but managed to control his emotions.
"O-ouma-kun your jokes are terrible!" He snapped.
"It's not a joke. It's an honest question." Kokichi countered easily.
Kiibo clammed up.
Kaito came to his defence.
"Kiibo, Kokichi is just joking. Remember, he's a prankster. He's just lying for his own amusement." He said pointedly.
Kokichi went completely still and grinned maniacally at Kiibo, letting his eyes bulge out of their sockets.
"Silly Momto-chan. I'm being serious. Kiiboy isn't human. He's an object. A dangerous object. If we don't keep an eye on him, he could kill us all. That's why I delight in mocking him. I don't have to hold back. Nishishi." Kokichi said coldly.
Kaito blinked and shivered at Kokichi's tone, uncertain if he was being serious or not.
He's just exaggerating... Kaito thought.
Suddenly, Miu glared venomously at Kokichi.
"Fuck off Ouma." She retorted severely. "Go away."
Kiibo smiled gratefully at her.
Kokichi shrugged and relaxed, looking at Kaito.
"All right. I'll leave. Iruma-chan's pig stink is too much for me anyway." Kokichi said, turning towards the door.
Miu ignored him, while Kiibo shook his head.
"Momota-chan, are you coming?" Kokichi asked suddenly.
Kaito frowned, then sighed.
They still had to investigate the rest of the floor.
"One second." He said quickly, turning to Miu and Kiibo.
"Wanna hang out later?" He offered.
They blinked at him.
"Uhhh, why? I mean-why would you want to spend time with us?" Miu muttered.
"I wanna get to know you guys better. Don't worry, I won't bring Kokichi." Kaito said, smiling at her.
"I'd love to spend time with you! If we become friends, we'll be able to work together and defeat the killing game!" Kiibo cheered, nodding eagerly.
Miu hesitated, pursing her lips.
"Okay." She agreed.
"This afternoon?" Kaito suggested.
"Sure." Miu confirmed, her lips quirking up into a small smile.
Kaito nodded and opened his mouth-
"Come on Momota-chan! I'm getting boooored." Kokichi wailed.
Kaito sighed.
"I'll see you guys later." He said, waving at Miu and Kiibo and then following Kokichi out.
In the corrido, Kokichi gave him a pensive look.
"You're just wasting time Momota-chan." He whispered.
"Why?" Kaito pressed.
"Iruma-chan…she's afraid. Very afraid. She doesn't trust anyone. Even you. She only trusts Kiibo. Actually, Kiibo is the only person she likes." Kokichi explained.
"I know that. But I still want to become her friend and gain her trust. Heck, If I can become friends with you and Harumaki, then becoming Iruma's friend should be easy." Kaito boasted.
"I'm not your "friend" Momota-chan." Kokichi snapped, chuckling humourlessly.
Kaito smiled warmly at him.
"Sure, you are…As for Kiibo…you just don't trust him because you think he's a spy for Monokuma." He accused lightly.
"Pretty much. Now shut up." Kokichi said sharply. His face was blank.
"All right. We can discuss this later. Let's explore the rest of the floor!" Kaito said brightly.
Kokichi sighed tersely, but still followed him back down the corridor.
They checked out the three adjoining rooms. But rather disappointingly, they didn't find anything of note, just three empty and rather ramshackle rooms.
Although, they were all filled with holes. Kaito had to stop Kokichi from leaping down them. Multiple times.
They went back to the intersection and headed right.
They soon came across a rather large wooden door and quickly went through it.
It was a rather spooky room.
Artefacts and other strange objects lined the walls, and it had multiple floors. The upper floors were filled with bookshelves.
Korekiyo and Tsumugi were standing in the centre of the room, admiring a number of objects in glass cases.
"Hey!" Kaito called out.
Korekiyo looked up and waved at them to come over. Which they did.
"This place is fucking creepy." Kokichi quipped.
"I like it. It fits my profession." Korekiyo stated sagely.
"Shinguji-kun has been telling me about his travels. He's been all over the world! He's seen some amazing things!" Tsumugi said brightly, grinning at them.
"Kukuku. I've told you very little." Korekiyo joked.
"Do you have a BDSM fetish?" Kokichi asked suddenly, smirking at him.
Korekiyo shook his head and glared at him stonily.
Tsumugi bit her lip and paled considerably.
Kaito sighed.
"Ignore him. This room is amazing Shinguji!" He praised, looking around.
His eyes fell on a gold leaf katana.
"Wow. That must be worth a lot!" He said, whistling through his teeth.
"Kukuku. It is. But not because of the gold…no, it's an incredibly ancient and precious relic. In fact, all of these artefacts are very precious. I wonder how Monokuma obtained them…" Korekiyo trailed off.
As if on cue, a mocking laugh echoed throughout the room.
Monokuma appeared from behind a display cabinet and bustled towards them.
"Upupu. That's part of the mystery of this school." He said, grinning at them mockingly.
"Soooooo, that means that you didn't gather these items together? It was someone else?" Kokichi quickly pointed out.
Monokuma refused to answer him and just shrugged.
How did Kokichi figure *that* out? Kaito thought, frowning sharply.
"Anyways, I'm here to give Shinguji the key to his lab. His personal key." Monokuma jibed, getting out a small key and throwing it at Korekiyo.
The anthropologist deftly caught it.
"That's also the only key to this room. So, if you lose it…well, tough luck. You're not getting another! Upupu." Monokuma added.
"Can I lock myself in and have complete privacy?" Korekiyo asked.
"Yup! And you can practice your weird BDSM as much as you like!" Monokuma mocked, laughing shrilly.
He disappeared.
"Great! I can study some of my more gruesome artefacts without fear of being disturbed." Korekiyo noted, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
"Wow! That means that you can jack off to them in peace!" Kokichi shouted, his eyes shining.
Korekiyo glared at him again.
"Can you tell us a bit about anthropology?" Kaito asked quickly, trying to distract him.
Korekiyo nodded and looked way from Kokichi.
"Kukuku. Certainly. Anthropology is the study of human cultures and their development. There are many horrific stories…and many uplifting stories." He said, smirking lightly
"So, it's a bit like manga?" Tsumugi suggested hopefully
Korekiyo went very still.
"No. It's not." He stated seriously, a dangerous edge to his voice.
"R-right." Tsumugi squeaked, backing down.
Kaito ignored them and looked at Kokichi.
Despite his rather casual demeanour, he was subtly bouncing up and down and fidgeting with his hands. He was so worried that he couldn't even stay still.
He also kept glancing around the room, as if desperately searching for something.
He's trying to figure out how this room fits into Monokuma's plans. How- if it'll be used for the next murder. Kaito realised, smiling gently at him.
"I'm going to poke around!" Kokichi declared abruptly, grinning at everyone and running to the other side of the room.
"Don't touch anything!" Korekiyo yelled after him.
Kaito laughed, then cleared his throat and pointed at the golden katana.
"How old is it?" He inquired.
Korekiyo smirked pleasantly.
"It's at least five hundred years old. I need to study it further to decipher its true age. However, it was likely the blade of a great warrior or general. That's why it's so fine. The gold leaf was probably added later." He stated.
"Huh." Kaito said, taking a closer look at it.
The gold leaf was cracked and peeling in many places. If anyone handled the blade, they would have to be very careful to not damage it.
"Is it still sharp?" He asked Korekiyo.
"Probably. I've studied similar Katanas and they were very sharp. Once, I almost cut my hand off." Korekiyo said.
"Then isn't it dangerous? Shouldn't we lock it up?" Kaito blurted out.
Tsumugi flinched, while Korekiyo bristled defensively.
"Absolutely not! It must be handled with absolute care! I'll keep my lab locked up. It'll be safe that way!" Korekiyo professed sharply.
"That's not what I meant…" Kaito sighed.
"Momota-chan, don't worry, Shinguji-kun will make sure it stays safe…that no one will be able to use it." Tsumugi assured him.
Kaito smiled at her. He was happy that at least someone was taking him seriously.
"I won't let anyone desecrate this blade." Korekiyo vowed.
"Keep your key safe! Tsumugi said quickly.
"I will." Korekiyo said, rolling his eyes.
Kaito chuckled again.
"Shinguji, is it okay if I take a quick look around your lab with Kokichi? Then we'll leave." He said.
"All right. But keep an eye on him." Korekiyo said.
Kaito went over to Kokichi.
He was standing by some shelves and was staring rather intently at a red, rather devilish mask.
"Find anything interesting?" Kaito said.
Kokichi shook his head.
"It's all useless crap." He muttered, sighing wearily.
Kaito bit his lip.
Kokichi was concerned. Very concerned.
Kaito needed to alleviate his worries and make him feel better.
I need to let him make fun of me. He thought.
He had an idea.
"Well…I'm not sure crap is the correct word." He cautioned, making his voice overtly serious. "This is Shinguji's lab. Be more polite."
"Nishishi... Do you actually like this crap? Are you turned on by it?" Kokichi snorted, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Kaito laughed deeply.
Kokichi rolled his eyes.
"I know what you're doing. Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer my humour to be more organic, not forced." He said seriously.
Kaito huffed and sobered up.
"Find anything dangerous?" He changed tactics.
"Nope. There's nothing dangerous in here except that katana." Kokichi quipped.
"We should remove it." Kaito argued.
"Momota-chan, there's no point. Despite whatever precautions we take, someone will still be murdered. It's best to just let things happen. I'd rather have a murder I can solve, than one I can't." Kokichi said carelessly.
Kaito frowned.
"I'm going do my best to save our classmates! I won't let anyone else die!" He declared strongly.
"That's what Akamatsu-chan and Saihara-chan tried to do. And they died for it. Don't follow in their footsteps Momota-chan." Kokichi mocked him.
Kaito's temper spiked and he sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm down.
Kokichi isn't winding you up. Remember, he's being serious…he's trying to warn you. Kaito realised.
"Thank you Kokichi. You're right. Let's talk about this later." He promised.
"Whatever." Kokichi muttered darkly, huffing and looking away.
However, the his mouth was quirking up.
Kaito grinned at him then looked at the shelves.
"So, hypothetically, can someone use any of this crap to murder someone?" He said lightly.
Kokichi brightened up and smirked.
"I don't think so! I think the electrical sockets are more lethal!" He joked.
"Electrical sockets?" Kaito murmured
"They're everywhere!" Kokichi said.
Kaito looked around. Kokichi was right. They lined the exhibits.
Wouldn't it be better if they were out of the way? He thought, shaking his head.
"Faulty wiring can be very dangerous!" Kokichi said. "Who knows, maybe the next death will be an accident! Wouldn't that be great! We would only have to deal with one death, not two!"
"Yeah…wanna move on?" Kaito said, struggling to understand him.
"Let's ditch this dump. I wanna look for Harukawa-chan and Tojo-chan and spy on them." Kokichi exclaimed.
"You don't need to be so concerned about them. They aren't going to try anything." Kaito said steadily.
"But they could be planning a double murder! Working together to escape!" Kokichi jibed.
"Harumaki wouldn't do that. Who knows…maybe she's keeping an eye on Tojo? Maybe she wants to help us." Kaito said slowly.
"You really have a lot of faith in Harukawa-chan, huh. Unfortunately, she's a heartless murderer who doesn't trust anyone. She's only stringing you along." Kokichi warned lightly.
But Kaito wasn't fooled. He knew that Kokichi was being serious.
"She won't let me down. She's good." Kaito said gently.
"Momota-chan, don't be so naïve." Kokichi stated.
"I'm not. Harumaki is on our side." Kaito insisted.
"No, she isn't." Kokichi snapped.
Does he suspect me? Or is he concerned for me? Kaito thought.
"Kokichi…Harumaki didn't murder Shuichi. And she won't kill any of us. She has no reason to. She made that very clear." He said quietly.
"So, just because she said so, you believe her? Fucking hell you're dumb." Kokichi said, his grin waning.
"Yes, I believe in her because I trust her. And I want her to believe in me so she can open up and become a better person. She had a horrible childhood Kokichi. Remember her motive video- her handers tortured her and tried to make her into an unfeeling killing machine." Kaito said tersely.
"And that excuses her many murders? "Kokichi countered.
"It doesn't. I never said it did. Her contracts will always haunt her. But she can move on, stop killing, and become a better person. That's it." Kaito said quietly.
Kokichi paused, his grin twisting into a sneer.
"Do you want me to "open up" so I can "become a better person"? Is that why you want to be my friend?" He taunted.
"Not at all. I like you for who you are. I want to be your friend, because I like your company and I want to get to know you better. Yesterday, I thought you were just an annoying prankster…and after the trial…well, I was wrong." Kaito confessed, smiling brightly at him.
Kokichi blinked and stared at him blankly for a moment.
Then he started to laugh. And he didn't stop.
He laughed so hard that tears leaked from his eyes.
Korekiyo and Tsumugi stared at them, with annoyance and concern respectively.
Kaito refused to back down.
He knew what was coming.
"Momota-chan is the biggest idiot in the whole wide world." Kokichi yelled loudly.
"I know I am. But I like being the biggest idiot in the whole wide world." Kaito declared.
Kokichi chuckled lowly.
"I won't be surprised if someone kills you, just because of your attitude." Kokichi sniped.
Kaito shrugged.
Kokichi gave him an insulting grin.
"Come on, let's go find Harumaki and Tojo-chan. I'm going to prove you wrong." He declared.
Kaito winced briefly, but quickly pulled himself together and kept his smile up.
No Kokichi, I'll prove you wrong. He vowed quietly.
Kokichi strode out of the room, not bothering to look back.
Kaito followed him, all the way down the corridor to the final room.
Kokichi hurried inside, not bothering to hold the door open for him.
Kaito huffed and opened the door, only to swear and stare at the room in astonishment.
Next to him, Kokichi did the same.
Howzat?
I love cliffhanger endings, don't you?
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