I DID IT. I FUCKING DID IT.

I apologise for the long delay. I never stopped working on this story. But I've had a shitty year, particularly in regards to my depression.

And this chapter...I fought with it so many times. But I got through it.

Anyways, none of that matters, because I fucking updated this story.

Enjoy!

The room was full of boxes.

Small boxes. Large boxes. Cardboard boxes. Wooden boxes. Plastic Boxes.

They were all neatly labelled.

Kokichi pursed his lips and looked at the other side of the room.

He saw a number of things that weren't boxes; a pile of wooden pallets, some large buckets and long plastic containers, and weirdly enough, a sink.

Why does this school have yet *another* storage room? Maybe it's filled with more *interesting* things than the warehouse. He mused.

He paused when he saw Maki and Kirumi.

They were kneeling next to each other in the centre of the room, shifting through the boxes one by one.

Kokichi grinned and stepped forward. This was a perfect opportunity to show up Kaito and his dumb beliefs about friendship and trust.

"Heeeeeyyyyy Harukawa-chan! And Tojo-chan!" He called out loudly, voice dripping with fake joy.

Kaito frowned at him, but Kokichi didn't care. He just wanted to annoy Maki.

Maki stood up and glared at him coldly.

Anyone else would have flinched at the sheer hatred in her eyes, but Kokichi just grinned and waved lazily at her. She didn't faze him at all.

In contrast, Kirumi just shrugged listlessly and went back to searching.

Her reaction warmed Kokichi's heart. She was too depressed to really care about anything.

"What do you want?" Maki asked tersely.

Kaito opened his mouth-

"Did you discover anything… Harumaki?" Kokichi said quickly.

Kaito frowned at him again, his cheeks turning a deep pink.

Kokichi responded with a sharp smirk, showing off his teeth.

Kaito looks cute.

"Some of these boxes are filled with dangerous items." Kirumi said suddenly, standing up and eyeing them warily.

"Yes. We found a box labelled "sharp objects". It's full of knives and similar…implements. I also found a box labelled "cooking supplies" that had nothing in it but matches. So, the contents of this room range from the lethal to the mundane." Maki said slowly.

"What kind of "sharp objects"?" Kaito asked apprehensively.

"Knives, spikes, arrows, scissors…. stuff like that." Maki said calmly.

"Can you show us?" Kaito said.

Maki nodded and picked up a nearby box. It was long and tin and made of wood. She carefully opened it and showed them what was inside.

Sure enough, it had every type of "sharp object" in it, except…

There aren't any swords. Kokichi noted.

"This is soooo exciting! I wanna find some murder weapons!" Kokichi declared loudly.

He ran towards a large pile of boxes and kicked it over, before kneeling down and eagerly rifling through it.

He found a box labelled "swimsuits", one labelled "fishing", and even one labelled "comics", but he pushed them all aside and focused on searching for more dangerous items.

In the background, Kaito was busy chatting to Maki. Kokichi ignored them both.

Fortunately, he soon found a large cardboard box labelled "blunt objects".

"Come over here! I found some interesting shit." He shouted.

Kaito and Maki quickly joined him. Kirumi came a moment later. She looked very lost.

Kokichi pointed excitedly at the box and then tried to prise it open. But it was no use. He couldn't open it.

"Need help?" Kaito offered.

Kokichi shook his head and continued struggling. He didn't need Kaito's help. He could do it by himself.

Kaito threw up his hands and backed away.

Kokichi struggled with the box for a few more moments, when someone suddenly poked his left shoulder, making him squawk and fall backwards.

Maki didn't react and just knelt down. She was holding a pair of scissors, which she used to slice the box open.

Kokichi glared childishly at her.

Kaito snickered softly and then grinned.

Kokichi huffed and looked away, supressing a smile.

"Done." Maki said, leaving to put away the scissors.

Kokichi scooted forward and tore the large box open.

The first thing he noticed was that it had been reinforced with a large amount of duct tape. No wonder he hadn't been able to open it.

Peering further in, his gaze was immediately drawn to a pile of hammers.

They were labelled according to size, from "Justice hammer 1" to "Justice hammer 4".

Kokichi poked the largest hammer and whistled sharply, pretending to be impressed.

"I wonder if I could hammer in a giant nail with this." He joked.

Maki rolled her eyes.

"That would be very impractical." Kirumi said listlessly.

"No. It would be fun!" Kokichi said, grinning at her.

"We're getting off track. We need to study everything in this box. I…I'm getting a weird feeling. Like Monokuma is tricking us with this room. It's all too obvious. I mean, this box is labelled "blunt objects" …it's as if Monokuma wants us to see it so we don't notice anything else- anything less obvious. He might've hidden something more insidious in another box. A more subtle murder weapon. Like poison." Kaito rambled.

Kokichi snickered and clapped a hand over his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.

For once, Kaito had said something smart.

"Maybe Monokuma hid a gun in one of these boxes? That's a really subtle weapon." He suggested flippantly.

"No Kokichi. Just no." Kaito said exasperatedly.

He cleared his throat. "Moving on, maybe the flashback light is hidden in one of these boxes?"

"I'll help you look." Maki offered.

She turned to Kirumi.

"Do you want to help?"

Kirumi recoiled in surprise, then nodded eagerly.

Too eagerly. Kokichi concluded.

"I don't want her to help us. Who knows, she might get some ideas."

Kirumi tensed.

"Ouma, Tojo isn't going to try anything. She's injured and we're all watching her. If I think she's planning anything, then I'll escort her from the room." Maki said pointedly.

Kaito glanced between them, furrowing his brow.

After a moment, he looked at Maki and nodded slowly.

"I agree. She can help us."

Kokichi chuckled dryly.

Kaito hadn't learned squat. He was still just as stupid as ever.

"Fine. But I refuse to be near her. I'm going to the other side of the room." Kokichi stated, getting up and walking away.

Kaito sighed and went after him.

Thinking that a lecture was coming, Kokichi hastily grabbed a nearby box, labelled "electronics", and flipped it open.

Fortunately, he'd ended up finding something interesting.

The box had a number of broken monopads, some cameras and monitors, two looooong extension cords, an ancient hairdryer, a lot of random cables, and some handheld gaming consoles.

He reached into the box to grab the hairdryer, only to snag his fingers on a string of some bright red flowers.

"Find anything interesting?" Kaito said, approaching him.

"Nothing. Just some crappy Christmas lights." Kokichi said quickly, shaking off the flowers.

Kaito peered into the box.

"It's just useless junk. Most of it looks broken. There's nothing useful in here." Kokichi said.

"You sure? Maybe the flashback light is hidden at the bottom?" Kaito pressed.

"It isn't. I already checked. If you don't trust my judgement, you can check it out yourself." Kokichi snapped, shoving the box towards Kaito.

"Kokichi…" Kaito trailed off.

Kokichi ignored him and picked up a small box labelled "kits".

It only contained eight tiny sewing kits and eight tiny tool kits, and nothing else.

Kokichi cursed and threw it away.

He grabbed another box and turned his back on Kaito.

Kaito shook his head and went away, opting to search another pile.

They all searched the room unsuccessfully for the next half an hour.

Eventually, Kokichi gave up and decided to go to the back of the room and look there.

But he didn't find anything useful there either, just a large cardboard cut-out of Monokuma, and several folding chairs.

This is useless. Fucking useless. We still have the scroll. I'd rather search the rest of the building than continue wasting time here. Kokichi kicked the cardboard Monokuma right in his grinning face, then harrumphed and stalked over to Kaito.

"Momota-chan, let's go. There's nothing here."

"One second…" Kaito turned to Maki and Kirumi. "Have you guys found anything?"

"No." Kirumi said.

Maki just shook her head.

Kokichi surveyed the room with a bored expression.

It had almost been a waste of time.

At least we found some potential murder weapons…

He glanced at Kirumi.

She had regained some of her poise. She seemed calmer…almost happier.

She loves menial tasks. He thought, scowling at her.

"Right Kokichi, let's get going. Unless… Are you guys going to stay here? Or come with us?" Kaito asked the two girls.

"Tojo?" Maki deferred.

"You really want to "keep an eye on me", don't you"?" Kirumi muttered.

Maki remained silent.

"Whatever. I'd rather stay here and continue searching. It gives me something to do. Plus, I'd rather not have to put up with Ouma-kun any longer than I have to." Kirumi admitted.

"Agreed." Maki said bluntly.

"Aww. You guys are breaking my heart." Kokichi snarked.

"Kokichi, where should we go next?" Kaito said quickly.

"Well, we still have the scroll. I don't know where we could put it…" Kokichi pursed his lips.

"Try the courtyard." Kirumi suggested wearily.

"The courtyard?" Kaito questioned.

"At the far end, on the left, there's a small statue of a ninja. Maybe you could use the scroll on it?" Kirumi said.

"Hmm. We don't have any other ideas. So, we may as well try it." Kokichi said, not bothering to thank her.

Kaito stared keenly at Kirumi, sucking on his lower lip. He was mulling something over.

Kokichi narrowed his eyes at him.

I can't tell what he's thinking. Unless…

"Thank you Tojo." Kaito muttered.

Kirumi laughed mirthlessly.

"You don't have to be cautious of me. I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"That's a lie. You haven't given up. You'll never give up, because you're the "prime minister of Japan" and the lives of "your people" are worth more than ours." Kokichi jeered.

Kaito widened his eyes. He didn't know what to do.

"Ouma, stop it. There's no point in arguing with her." Maki butted in unexpectedly.

"Figured that you'd defend her. You're both murderers, so the two of you should get on like a house on fire." Kokichi snorted.

"Kokichi." Kaito said his name gently, trying to remind him of what they'd discussed earlier.

Kokichi gave him a mocking grin.

"Let's leave before I vomit." He slurred, pretending to gag.

"All right I just need to-" Kaito started.

"No. I need to get outta here, or I'm gonna huuuuurl." Kokichi yelled, giggling and rushing out of the room.

He only got a few steps out of the door, before Kaito caught up to him and stopped him by gently touching his shoulder.

Kokichi winced and tried to shrug him off.

Kaito quickly retracted his hand, then coughed and gave him a pointed look.

Kokichi sighed loudly, but didn't run away.

"Please don't annoy Harumaki. I told her to keep an eye on Tojo. She's doing it of her own accord." Kaito whispered.

"Fine. But I'm not going to spend any time with them unless I really have to. I refuse to become Harukawa-chan's friend." Kokichi warned.

"I understand completely Kokichi. I would never force you to be friends with Harumaki…because you've both made it very clear that it's not what you want. But this is a killing game…can you at least be civil towards her and Tojo?" Kaito requested.

"Nishishi. I thought you were going to do something stupid and try to get us to spend time together, so we could "grow closer" or some shit." Kokichi said.

"I'm not that dumb." Kaito quipped, smiling brightly at him. "Ready to move on?"

"One second. I wanna try something. Follow me." Kokichi requested, returning to the storage room.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, but duly followed him back in.

Inside, Kirumi and Maki paused and stared at them with dim confusion.

Whistling nonchalantly, Kokichi grabbed a nearby box and walked towards the door.

A loud animalistic screech echoed throughout the room.

Monokuma appeared out of nowhere and ran towards him. He was breathing deeply and his eyes were flashing red.

"You can't do that!"

"Why?" Kokichi said, smiling cheekily at him.

"Because it's my stuff!" Monokuma countered, pouting defensively.

"How were we supposed to know that?" Kaito said.

"Ehhhhhhh. That a good point. I didn't think about that." Monokuma conceded.

Kokichi laughed.

"Of course, you did. You just wanted to mess with us. I bet you were waiting for one of us to try to take something out of this room, so you could scream at us."

Monokuma blinked wildly, feigning innocence for a few seconds, before laughing shrilly and grinning toothily at him.

"You're too clever for your own good."

"I can't help it. I'm a born liar and a thief. It's in my blood. My parents were master thieves! They stole the Mona Lisa and then returned it in the same night! Nishshishi." Kokichi lied easily.

"That's such a bad lie. It's funny. I can't wait to see how you'll react to the next murder." Monokuma taunted him.

"I can't wait! I love the Class Trials!" Kokichi cheered.

But in his mind, he was cursing the bear.

He hated the killing game. And Monokuma. And the fucking kubs. And most of all, the mastermind.

He remembered Shuichi's beaten-up corpse and Angie screaming as she was lit on fire…

He felt the sudden urge to vomit and hurriedly swallowed, managing to supress it.

I can't let anyone see my real feelings…my weaknesses. I have to hide them, keep them buried way down deep inside of me. He decided, smirking at the bear.

No one could know. No one would know.

I looooove this killing game.

A tired sigh brought him back to reality

"Kokichi, we know you love the trials…Monokuma, can anyone take anything from this room?" Kaito pressed.

Monokuma looked down and started twiddling his thumbs.

"Wellll…. if someone asks really nicely…I guess I could lend them some things…under certain circumstances."

"To plan a murder?" Kokichi guessed.

"Ya got it! Well done!" Monokuma confirmed.

Another complication. Great.

He thought about Miu and her gadgets.

I should really ask her to create something for me, before she gets too paranoid and starts planning a murder.

"What about the next motive?" Kaito asked.

Kokichi mentally facepalmed. Kaito had just done something very stupid. There was no point in being so direct, so obvious, with the bear.

"Why are you asking? Are you that eager for the next murder? Or- are you planning to kill one of your classmates?" Monokuma smirked.

"What? No." Kaito flinched.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything now. All in good time, my dear Momota!" Monokuma said, laughing and then disappearing into the floor.

Kaito cursed.

"That was very stupid Momota-chan." Kokichi chided him.

Kaito frowned, then gasped.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Kokichi said.

"Momota, do you want to talk later?" Maki asked suddenly.

"Sure…uhh, can I see your lab?" Kaito said.

"All right. But you'd better not touch anything." Maki said.

"Great! Can I come around five? I can't come any earlier because I'm seeing Iruma and Kiibo." Kaito explained.

"Sure."

"Is it a personal visit Momota-chan? A date?" Kokichi joked, winking suggestively at him.

"No. Harumaki and I- just no." Kaito snapped, blushing slightly.

"This is a killing game." Maki stated harshly.

"So?" Kokichi said.

"There's no time for romance." Kaito squeaked.

Kokichi puffed up his cheeks and stuck out his tongue at him.

Kaito took a deep breath, then smiled brightly at him. It was his "I've just had an incredibly stupid idea" smile.

Kokichi stilled.

"Harumaki, can I show Kokichi your lab?" Kaito suggested.

"No." Maki said.

"Ohhhhhhhh! I'd love to see it!" Kokichi yelled.

"No." She repeated.

"Pleeeeaseee." Kokichi demanded obnoxiously, knowing that she wouldn't change her mind.

"I'll keep an eye on him. If he tries anything, I'll kick him out myself." Kaito promised.

Momota is such an idiot. Kokichi thought.

Then something unexpected happened.

"Fine." Maki gave Kaito a pointed look. "Actually, if he tries anything, I'll kick you both out. With no return invitation."

Kokichi laughed sharply, but stopped when he noticed Kirumi watching them.

She had a curious glint in her eye…

Kokichi smirked sharply at her.

He'd just had a great idea.

Maybe I will stay on my best behaviour. It would be useful to study Harukawa-chan's lab and see her weapons and gear. And it gives me another chance to annoy Kirumi.

"Great!" Kaito said, smiling warmly at Maki.

Maki harrumphed lightly.

"Thank you. I promise that I'll stay on my best behaviour." Kokichi said smoothly.

"You'd better." Maki warned. "Also, Tojo will be there. After all, I am watching her."

"But of course. You'd never leave your murder buddy behind." Kokichi snarked.

"Let's get going Kokichi. We have stuff to do. Like figuring out the scroll." Kaito hurriedly pointed at the door.

"To the courtyard!" Kokichi screamed, laughing and tearing out of the room.

Kaito muttered a quick goodbye and then hurried out after him.

Kirumi ignored them and focused solely on the boxes in front of her.

Her movements were mechanical; open a box, inspect its contents, and then neatly sort it into one of two piles; useful and not useful.

The first pile was empty, while the second pile had twenty boxes in it.

Better make that twenty-one. Kirumi thought, putting another box aside.

Maki glanced at her, then shrugged and went over to the other side of the room, putting some much-needed space between them.

Kirumi was thankful for the gesture, but she didn't dare acknowledge it.

Maki was nothing to her. Not a friend, an ally, or even an enemy.

Kirumi shook her head and resumed searching.

I'm just putting up with Maki because I need time to plan my next move…

Minutes passed.

She found all sorts of things, but nothing useful. Like the next flashback light or a clue about the killing game.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maki glaring at something in her hands.

Unable to stop herself, she looked away from her task to get a better look.

Maki immediately noticed and quickly met her gaze.

Kirumi stilled. She recognised the careful coldness in the other girls' eyes.

It was a calculated façade.

Kirumi could relate to her…

She looked away and bit her lip.

I have nothing in common with Maki. We're not the same. She reminded herself.

Ducking her head, she ignored Maki and grabbed another box, trying to stop her feelings from overwhelming her.

But it was no use.

A wave of deep, permeating shame and guilt washed over her.

Not again. Not now.

She gritted her teeth.

I should be with my people. Not here.

She thought about her classmates.

I let them all down. I need to pay for that. And they are technically my people as well, being Japanese citizens...but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Plus, they all hate and mistrust me now. So, there's no point in trying to mend things.

She flinched and balled her hands into fists.

I'm lying to myself…I miss having my classmates trust and their attention.

She'd loved serving them. Helping them. But they wouldn't even let her do that anymore.

She didn't have a purpose.

Well…that was another lie.

I do have a purpose…well, a choice; I could either try to plan another murder and escape on my own, or…join up with my classmates and help them defeat this killing game.

Kirumi chuckled silently to herself.

It's not much of a choice. Getting away with a murder now would be nigh impossible, simply because my classmates are just too wary of me. Heck, I bet that when the next murder occurs, they'll waste a lot of time accusing me until Ouma-kun or Momota-kun convinces them that I didn't do it.

She sighed.

If I try to get close to them now, they'll just push me away.

So, she was back at square one.

I just need to bide my time and wait for a chance to strike. She decided, developing an ill feeling in the pit of her stomach.

I don't want to hurt anyone else. But I- I have to. I need to get out of here.

Unless…

She glanced at Maki.

"Harukawa-san, do you need any help?"

"No." Maki said, not even bothering to look up.

Kirumi refused to give up.

"Did you find anything?"

"No." Maki repeated, sounding slightly annoyed.

Kirumi sighed and went back to work.

A few moments later, the awkward silence was broken by with a sharp curse.

Kirumi paused.

Something had upset Maki.

Which gave her an opportunity.

She scrambled to her feet and approached the assassin, her heart thumping with odd excitement.

Maki was clutching a black and white comic book in her hands, so tightly that her knuckles were white.

Kirumi could see a leering Monokuma on the cover.

"They're all the same! They're all about that fucking bear!" Maki ranted.

"Harukawa-san, please calm down and tell me what's wrong. You'll feel better if you get it out of your system." Kirumi said.

Maki took a deep breath and pointed at a small box. It was full of books.

"They're all terrible…and they're all written by Monokuma; from his personal "diaries", to shitty fictional stories, and some non-fiction books about things like torture and kidnapping."

"So…do any of them actually contain any useful information?" Kirumi asked.

Maki snorted sarcastically.

"As if. I skimmed through some of them- they don't mention anything about our predicament. I mean, one is called "Ultra Despair Boys: Monokuma edition". It's a badly drawn comic in which Monokuma psychologically tortures two little boys and then eats them at the end. Useless."

"I'm beginning to think that this room is one of Monokuma's jokes." Kirumi said tiredly. "He knew that at least one of us would diligently check it out and search every box. Therefore, he filled most of them with useless junk to waste our time."

"And we fell for it. Great. Just great." Maki seethed, glaring at the boxes.

Kirumi cleared her throat.

"This isn't a wasted effort Harukawa-san. How about we catalogue what we found? At least the more dangerous items?"

Maki took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

"Good idea. When another murder happens, it'll help determine what items the blackened used."

Kirumi paused.

"We should also catalogue the "electronics" box."

Maki raised an eyebrow.

"I just think it would be useful." Kirumi muttered.

Her instincts told her that it was important.

"All right." Maki didn't challenge her request.

Together, they compiled an inventory of several boxes:

[Sharp objects: Caltrops, spikes, arrows, knives, some weird daggers, and a bayonet.

Blunt objects: "Justice" hammers 1-4, baseball bat, hunk of wood, smaller wooden blocks, a claw hammer, a small golf club, several pairs of num-chuks, and a knucklduster.

Electronics: Old broken monopods? Monitors, cameras, two long extension cords, a hairdryer, miscellaneous cables, some red lights (Christmas tree lights?), a flashlight, and a couple of pairs of earphones and headphones.]

Afterwards, Kirumi gave Maki a curious look.

"Shouldn't you be guarding your lab?"

Maki laughed blithely.

"It's locked tight. And I check it every hour or so. Nothing's gone missing. I'd be able to tell."

"So, you're guarding me instead? Making sure I don't plan another murder?" Kirumi said.

"Pretty much."

"But why? I thought that you didn't care about the others." Kirumi pointed out.

"I'm doing someone a favour. Besides, I have nothing better to do." Maki shrugged.

"I'm going to clean my lab later." Kirumi said.

"All right."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Do you need any assistance?" Maki pressed, the barest hint of awkwardness in her voice.

Kirumi widened her eyes.

"With cleaning my lab?"

"Yes?"

"No."

Kirumi bit her cheek, hesitating.

"If you're going to watch me, you might want to bring a book or something. It'll take a while. I don't have anything else to do."

"All right." Maki said.

Another pause.

"So, what now?" Kirumi ventured.

"Shall we go and find the others? Maybe they've found something?" Maki suggested.

Kirumi nodded.

"It'll be good to regroup. They might've found the flashback- "

As if on cue, the monitors pinged and Monokuma appeared on screen.

"Everyone, please come to the cafeteria! The flashback light has been found!"

Maki and Kirumi shared a look and then wordlessly left the room together.

Howzat?

The story isn't dead, but I'm not going to give a deadline on my next chapter. Just know that I'm working on it and doing my best.