Hey! it's me again!

I really enjoyed writing this chapter (except for the last section, which I rewrote about 5 times).

The Maki-Kirumi-Kokichi-Kaito section is one of my favourite parts of this fic.

I hope you enjoy it!

It took Kaito a good half an hour to find Kokichi.

He was in the library, sitting in a chair with a book in his lap. But he wasn't reading it. Instead, he was staring at the secret-door bookshelf with a pensive look on his face.

Kaito cleared his throat.

"Yes?" Kokichi gave him an annoyed look.

"Hey. Ready to go?" Kaito asked, grinning.

"Is it that time of the day already?" Kokichi complained, carelessly throwing aside his book and leaping out of the chair.

"Yeah. So, please, please, behave."

"Don't worry, I'll behave." Kokichi snickered.

Kaito frowned.

"Momota-chan, I'm not going to try anything." Kokichi assured him. "This is too valuable of an opportunity to snoop to pass up."

"How was your afternoon?" Kaito said, relaxing.

"Pretty shit."

Which means that he didn't find out anything new.

"How was your afternoon?"

"It was better than yours. I spent some quality time with Kiibo and Iruma. Learned some pretty amazing things."

"Good. You can tell me about it later." Kokichi nodded briskly.

"As long as we can speak in private…in your room."

Kokichi froze.

"Kokichi? If it's too much trouble, we can meet in mine."

"No, no. It's no trouble. Just…are you sure you want to meet late at night? Alone. What would the others think?" Kokichi flirted, smirking at him.

Kaito quickly returned the smirk.

"They wouldn't think anything, because they're not going to find out. It's our secret."

"Okay." Kokichi stated simply, losing his flirtatious attitude.

"Good. Let's get going. We don't want to keep Harumaki and Tojo waiting."

Upstairs, before Kaito could react, Kokichi thumped loudly on Maki's door three times.

Kirumi answered it, greeting them with a stiff nod.

Kaito swallowed and stepped back.

Kokichi frowned at him, then shrugged and walked towards Kirumi.

She gracefully stepped out of the way and let him into Maki's lab, before turning back.

"Coming in?"

Kaito didn't say anything and elbowed past her.

Kokichi was surveying the room with comically side eyes.

Maki was watching him wearily, clearly having second thoughts about letting him in.

Kaito looked up and whistled in awe at the weapons and equipment lining the walls.

Seeing it all made him finally realise that yes, Maki was indeed an assassin.

If she wanted to, she could easily murder any one of them.

But she isn't going to. She's our friend.

"Quite a place you got here." He joked.

"It's well stocked. Too well stocked. Every day, I have to make an inventory of everything to make sure that none of it is missing. It's a pain." Maki said.

"Hey, why don't we arm ourselves and violently overthrow Monokuma?" Kokichi suggested.

"That would be pointless. He could summon the Exisals and easily destroy us." Kirumi pointed out.

"Don't be so serious. I was only joking."

"I know."

"I know that you know." Kokichi laughed. "Anyways, being eviscerated by a giant robot is too boring of a death for me. I want to go out in an exciting AND fulfilling way."

"Kokichi, you're not going to die." Kaito said.

"Everyone dies eventually Momota-chan. Even me."

"That's not what I meant- I mean, you're not going to die here. At least not on my watch."

Kokichi chuckled sharply.

"Aww that's so cute. Momota-chan, it would be a miracle if I didn't die here."

"Kokichi- "

"Lemme list the reasons why I'm probably gonna die here: I'm physically weak, no one likes me-

"I like you." Kaito said in a small voice

"-aside from you, and I'm a massive pain in the ass. Multiple people probably want to kill me. Including Tojo-chan."

Kirumi glared at him.

"Are you done ranting?" Maki said.

"Just about." Kokichi said flippantly.

"Right, then let me show you around."

"Please." Kaito requested.

"Pay attention. I won't repeat anything."

Maki started the tour.

At first, Kokichi bombarded with her dumb questions, but after she gave him a particularly blistering glare, he stopped and went quiet.

In contrast, Kirumi listened intently to everything Maki said. It made Kaito a little suspicious of her.

After covering the guns, they went to the blades.

Maki picked up a long, curved scabbard.

"Now, I know you've seen the katana in Shinguuji's lab, but this is a real katana." She said, a hint of distaste in her voice, as she unsheathed the sword and balanced it in her hand.

"Can it cut through anything? Even solid steel?" Kokichi pestered her.

"No."

"How different is it from the one in Shinguuji's lab?" Kaito said.

"I haven't seen it. Though I'm guessing it's some sort of old relic, covered in gold leaf?"

"Uh, yeah."

"This blade is probably far sharper. Old blades- antiques only retain their sharpness if they are properly looked after."

"Shinguuji-chan said it was very sharp. He said that he'd almost cut his hand off using a similar blade."

"Considering that Monokuma gave him it to him, I doubt it's that sharp. Shinguuji would need to carefully look after it to restore it to proper working order."

She cocked her head.

"Unlike this one."

She guided the blade over her head with both arms and gracefully sliced through the air, stopping an inch from the floor.

Kaito was entranced by her form. It was perfect.

Next to him, Kokichi suppressed a grimace, hiding it behind a childish smile.

"I could probably clean Shinguuji-kun's antique, if I had the right equipment." Kirumi muttered, eyes settling on the point of Maki's sword.

"You know more than I do." Maki said, shrugging and carefully sheathing the katana.

"Swords are boring. Let's look at more guns! Do you have a flamethrower? A missile launcher? An Ak-47?" Kokichi yelled.

"No. I don't have any of those."

"Do you have a sniper-rifle?"

"Yes. But I'm not showing it to you."

"Aww." Kokichi pouted.

"Do you have anything different?" Kaito said.

"What?" Maki furrowed her brow.

"I mean-anything more you. If that makes sense."" Kaito scratched the back of his head.

Maki was silent for a moment.

"Crossbows."

"What?"

"It's my preferred weapon. Here-I'll show you one."

She opened a briefcase and got out a small number of objects and, with insane precision, assembled them into a tiny crossbow.

Kokichi grinned and reached for it, but Maki easily lifted it away from him.

"It's not a toy."

Kokichi harrumphed and crossed his arms.

"I've seen a similar crossbow." Kirumi said suddenly.

Everyone stared at her.

"I already told Harukawa-san this, but one of my masters was the head of a security company. He owned a crossbow just like this. Apparently, it's one of the most expensive models on the market. He never let me touch it. I suspect he didn't trust me with it for some reason."

"He probably saw your true, rotten, nature." Kokichi sniped.

"No, Ouma-kun. We mutually terminated our contract after a few months together, because I got a more important position…also, his company wasn't doing well and he couldn't afford to keep me on. He later sold most of his weapons."

Kaito frowned. The memory was painful for her.

"Who was your weirdest client?" Kokichi asked loudly.

Kirumi didn't look at him.

"Did you serve any mad scientists? Estranged-but-crazy-wealthy families? Magicians?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh, then I bet the Prime Mini- "

"Kokichi." Kaito intervened.

Kokichi stared at him defiantly, then sighed and stepped back.

"Fine." He said flatly.

Kirumi gave Kaito an odd look, then nodded.

Kaito squirmed.

He had the gratitude of Shuichi's killer. He hated the feeling-

"Is there anything else you want to see? Or are we done here?" Maki said.

"I think we've seen everything that we wanted to see. Thanks for showing us around" Kaito said, grateful for the out.

"Just one thing…Harumaki, now that your secret is out in the open, aside from keeping an eye on Tojo-chan, what else are you going to do?" Kokichi pressed.

"Ouma, I'm not going to help you."

"I'm not asking for your help." Kokichi sounded frustrated.

"As I said earlier, I'm going to stay away from our classmates. But I'll do my part in the trials, okay?" She snapped.

"I understand." Kokichi said, brightening up.

"Now that I've answered your question, may I ask what you guys are going to do?" Maki retorted.

"We're going to defeat the killing game, settle down, build a house, get married, maybe adopt a kid or two- "

"Ouma."

"We can't really "do" much Harumaki. We can only deal with things as they happen." Kokichi said carefully.

"We're just going to do our best. And we're going to deal with the next motive together, because we're a team." Kaito added.

"I understand." Maki said.

She pursed her lips.

"Look, we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves. So, let's just stay away from each other as much as we can. At least for now."

"I agree." Kokichi said, nodding enthusiastically.

"Okay." Kaito said more demurely. He didn't like the idea.

"Harukawa-san, it's almost dinner time." Kirumi informed them.

"Thanks for reminding me. Will you two please leave? I need to put everything away and lock up."

"Come on Momota-chan." Kokichi waved at him.

"Kokichi?" Kaito said quietly, once they were outside.

"Hmm?"

"Want to talk about any of it?"

"No."

-beat-

"Y'know what Momota-chan, I think you're right about Harumaki. She isn't going to hurt any of us. At least, not at the moment."

"I'm glad you've finally realised that." Kaito smiled at him.

Kokichi shook his head.

"That doesn't mean I like her. And I hated being in her lab. Seeing all those weapons…I felt very uncomfortable."

He sounded hurt.

"Well, we don't have to go back there." Kaito said gently.

"Yeah. Unless one of those weapons is used to kill somebody. But I don't see that happening." Kokichi snarked. "Harumaki is a good guard dog."

"What about Tojo?"

"Harumaki will keep an eye on her. No- the only person I see using anything from Harumaki's lab in a murder is Harumakiherself. Otherwise, her lab is one big red herring."

"Yeah."

"Sooooo, what now?"

"As Tojo said, It's almost time for dinner."

"I don't want anything."

"All right. How about you return the favour for this morning and prepare me something?"

"You cooked me breakfast against my will. I don't owe you shit."

"I don't recall you hating it. In fact, you didn't even thank me for it."

Kaito frowned.

"Do you even know how to cook? Anything at all? Even a fried egg?"

"No." Kokichi said easily.

"Then what have you even been eating so far? Sandwiches? Snacks? Random crap?"

Kokichi harrumphed.

"Look, I'll make you something really simple. How about you come to the cafeteria in fifteen minutes? We can eat before everyone else."

"Fine."

"Good."

Kaito peered inside the fridge.

As it was the end of the day, it was almost empty.

It's usually restocked by the next morning…but where does our food actually come from? He thought. It has to come from somewhere in the academy. Or…offsite.

He shook his head and started looking for something to cook.

At the back of the top shelf, he found some chicken, a few miscellaneous vegetables, and a packet of mushrooms.

Perfect.

He chopped up everything and tossed it in a frying pan with some oil, cooking it thoroughly until it was all golden.

Kokichi came on time and sat down silently, not making a fuss.

But it didn't take him long to find something to complain about.

"Momota-chan, I have more food than you do."

"You're a growing boy Kokichi."

"So are you."

"I'm far ahead of you. Look at these muscles." Kaito flexed his right arm.

"Meh. I'm too tired to argue with you. Let's talk about something else."

Kaito looked around. They were all alone. Even Kirumi and Maki hadn't turned up yet.

"Okay. Why don't we discuss our plans for the next few days?"

"Public or private?" Kokichi said, without skipping a beat.

"Huh- oh, public. We can *ahem* have a private talk later today." Kaito winked at him.

"That was terrible Momota-chan." Kokichi critiqued him, before shovelling more chicken into his mouth.

Kaito laughed.

"Hey, if you want me to cook more for you, I don't mind. I enjoy doing it. It takes my mind off of things." Kaito said, thinking of Shuichi.

Kokichi stared at him inquisitively for a few moments, then nodded.

"I love free meals. Just try to vary your cooking a bit. I almost miss our old chef."

"Yeah. At least, I'm not…well…"

"A murderer?"

"…" Kaito stared at his plate.

"My grandparents told me how to cook." He said a moment later.

"Go on."

"Well, my parents died in a car crash shortly after I was born. My Dad's parents- my mother's parents didn't want me- took me in."

Kaito smiled.

"My grandma always said that "young people these days have no idea how to navigate a kitchen". So, every week she would teach me a new meal. I didn't always grasp it, but that was okay."

"Did they want grandkids? Were they overbearing about it?"

"Yeah. But they weren't overbearing about it. No- they really wanted me to find a girlfriend first. They would lecture me about it."

"How did they react when you told them that you wanted to become an astronaut?"

"They didn't freak out. When I said that I wanted to see the stars- actually make a career out of it, they sat me down and assured me they would love me no matter what I did, or what career I chose, as long as I promised to do my best. Oh, and keep in contact with them."

"How cute."

"I'm very lucky." Kaito conceded, then took a deep breath. "Kokichi…I know you're an orphan, but can I ask about Dice?"

Kokichi sighed.

"First of all, it's 'D.I.C.E', not 'Dice'."

"Oh. Sorry."

"They're my family. Well, the family I remember." Kokichi's face fell.

"You only remembered them after your motive video…" Kaito said gently.

"Before seeing that video, all I remembered was that I grew up in an orphanage without any friends, and that one day, to cope with it, I started pretending to be a Supreme Leader of a group that ruled the world. I would frequently run away and fool people with this guise. I even kept it up in school, which almost got me expelled on several occasions. But because my grades were so high, they didn't throw me out."

"Where does D.I.C.E factor in? I mean, after you remembered them."

"They adopted me. Not legally of course. A bunch of homeless people can't take in a kid." Kokichi muttered, then giggled and shook his head.

"They would regularly break me out of the orphanage. We would go out pranking people together. Eventually, we created our amazing costumes and formed D. ."

"How did you get noticed? I mean- scouted for your talent?"

"I cultivated a reputation as a boisterous troublemaker. So much so, that rumours started spreading about me. Even beyond the town I lived in. At some point, I ended up in juvie…and a guy in a fancy suit came to see me."

"And?"

"That's the last thing I remember." Kokichi said nonchalantly.

"Really?" Kaito questioned, unable to believe it.

"Yup."

"What does it mean?"

"It means that I'm special Momota-chan. Way more special than any of you." Kokichi finished his food and smirked at him.

"Wait- Kokichi, did you just lie about everything?" Kaito said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Yeah. Did you really believe that my backstory was that boring?"

Kaito narrowed his eyes at him.

Kokichi shrugged and shoved his plate away.

Kaito grinned.

"Well, I know you're an orphan…and I know D.I.C.E is your real family, because of your motive video. So, I guess that what you told me was at least partly true. Otherwise, you must've lied to me a little bit. Because it's part of who you are and you don't trust me completely."

Kaito's grin grew.

"Or…it was all true. You thought that telling me everything would throw me off, because you like messing with people."

"Exactly."

"Fine by me." Kaito said. "In contrast, I haven't lied to you at all."

"Hmm. I'm not so sure about that."

"Huh?"

"I'm pretty sure that you've been withholding something from me."

"I haven't- "

"Momota-chan, I can tell when someone is lying to me." Kokichi said pointedly.

Kaito went silent.

"I'm not mad or anything." Kokichi continued. "I'm way more bothered about how friendly you've been acting around me."

"Kokichi…"

"Momota-chan, I'm not your buddy. Not like Saihara-chan was. And it's only been one day since...since he died." Kokichi rambled, gripping the table. "I like messing around with you, to fool the others, but aside from that…I'm not sure I want things to go any further. I can't let anything distract me from ending things."

Kaito bowed his head.

I care about Kokichi. And he's right. He's not like Shuichi. Not even on the same level. But-

He looked up.

"Kokichi, you're right. And I understand your apprehension. But I still want to be your friend, not just an ally of convenience. Can't we figure out something out?"

"Momota- "

Suddenly, several of their classmates shuffled into the room.

"-let's talk later!"

"Okay. What time?"

"Come to my room at nine." Kokichi said, then abruptly got up and left.

Kaito stared at the empty spot he'd left behind, reflecting on his classmates.

Could he really trust any of them?

Aside from Kokichi.

"Hey! Where did all the food go?" Someone shouted.

Kaito jumped, feeling guilty.

Hurriedly gathering up his dirty crockery, he marched to the kitchen and dumped it in the sink before running from the room.

He almost collided with Tsumugi in the corridor.

She gave him a worried look, but he mumbled an apology and pushed past her.

He went to the courtyard and checked his monopad. It was just past seven. He had almost two hours to kill.

I need to distract myself. Not think about this killing game for five fucking minutes. He thought, taking one mindless step, and then another.

He wandered up the nearby steps and went around the corner, ending up in front of an unfamiliar door.

His monopad told him it was Ultimate Pianist's lab

Kaede's lab.

The lights flickered on he opened the door.

He sat down at the piano in the centre of the room and pressed a few keys.

He could almost imagine Kaede and Shuichi sitting there in his place, chatting and having fun, or Kaede playing the piano and Shuichi watching her with a smile…

He sat there for a long time. Just…existing.

Eventually, he roused himself and checked his Monopad.

It was almost nine.

He got up, looked around the room one last time, and left.

After this, it's the Kokichi-Kaito meeting, and then finally, fucking finally, the new motive.

I should update sooner. I have ch 18 and 19 drafted, and ch 20 half done.