"Wow, they're screaming out their lungs in there!" Kokichi exclaimed once we had left the lab. "Oh well. At least it isn't us."

"I guess. Doesn't make me feel any better, though." I sighed.

"We should get moving. We said we'd be back by nighttime, right?" Ryoma said.

"Yep, that's the plan. It shouldn't take too long for us to gather all of the Kubs Pads. Let's go!" Kokichi then led the way like a kid leading others into the forest for an adventure. Ryoma and I shared a glance and a shrug before we followed suit. Eventually, we made it to the dormitories, which felt really empty since almost everyone was in Gonta's lab right now. That actually makes me think of the remaining few who aren't there. Rantaro, Maki, and Miu. I wonder where they are right now. Hopefully they aren't in their rooms.

"Alright. What now, Kokichi?"

"Well, we go into each room one at a time and search for the motive videos, simple as that." Kokichi said. "The real question is who should we start with. Hmm… Eenie meenie miney that one!" Kokichi said while pointing in a random direction. "It looks like Kaeyayday is up first! Let's go in order from there."

"Alright." I nodded as we walked towards Kaede's room. Kokichi took out his tools and quickly got to work, easily getting the door unlocked within seconds.

"Time to look for the video… Where would it be?" Ryoma muttered as we started looking. I mentally apologized to Kaede as I began searching her room with the others. Eventually, I found it within Kaede's desk drawer after a few minutes of searching.

"Found it."

"Good. Let's move on to the next one." Ryoma said as he began walking out.

"Hold on. Let's at least see which video Kaeyayday got." Kokichi told us.

"Hmm? Why?" Ryoma asked.

"I actually share Kokichi's opinion. We should know who got who's videos so we know if we should worry about someone already knowing what's on their own video." I said. "But let's just look at the beginning. We're going to watch them all later anyway, so we can wait for that stuff."

"Fine…" Kokichi sighed.

"I better not have to wait to see my video…" Ryoma grumbled.

"Don't worry, Ryoma! I promised you that you would be able to watch your video if you help me, so we'll watch it together before we go back to the screening party. You'll be one of the first to see their own video." Kokichi told him. "We'll also watch my own video too, since I'm way too curious as to what's on it."

"Hmph, fair enough." Ryoma said.

"Well, I don't have a problem with that, as long as no one is watching them alone." I said. "Anyway, let's get back to it. I'm turning on the video." I told them as I tapped the screen.

"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video!" The video exclaimed, much like Maki's, but this video instead showed the title 'K1-B0's Motive Video'.

"So Kaede got Keebo's video." I said as I turned off the pad.

"Hmm…" Kokichi hummed as he went to Kaede's desk and got a sheet of paper out. "I'm going to write this down, just so we don't forget. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Yeah. Perfect, actually." I nodded. "Let's move on to the next one." And thus we continued like this, entering the rooms of our friends and classmates and taking their videos. It was going pretty smoothly so far. We had gone through most of the girl's rooms so far, and Kokichi had written down who had gotten who's videos. So far so good. No one has their own video so far. However, just when I was thinking I was worrying for nothing, we found our first worrying video.

"Wow. Tenko's better at lying than I thought. I can't believe she already got her own video." Kokichi exclaimed after we played the beginning of the video we found in her room.

"So you were right after all, Rin. Some people did get their own video." Ryoma grimaced.

"And out of everyone...it was Tenko?" I muttered. Is...is this why she was a bit more reserved during that first meeting about the videos? But she seemed so fine when I talked to her later. Was she...just trying to deceive me? Could she be planning something?

"Well, I suppose this just means we gotta watch out for her in case a murder happens. She's way more likely to kill right now since she's one of the only people who have seen their video." Kokichi said before chuckling. "Well, not like that will matter once we get back to the Meet and Greet."

"Right…" I muttered as we moved on to the next room, which was Shuichi's room. And once again, we were met with another surprise when we found the video. "Shuichi had his own video too!?" I yelled.

"Wow! That's even more of a surprise! That means our very own Ultimate Detective might be planning a murder as we speak right now!" Kokichi gasped before he made a grandiose pose. "But how exciting would that be? The Ultimate Detective actually turns out to be a cold, blooded murderer! What a plot twist!"

"This isn't one of those murder mystery novels." Ryoma rebuked the evil leader.

"This is really concerning. Two people got their own videos. What does this mean for us?" I pondered out loud, now speculating on possibilities that might happen.

"Like I said, it won't matter once we start the screening party. You're worrying way too much!" Kokichi told me. "Let's just move on to the next room already!"

"The next room is Rantaro's. I wonder who's video he got." Ryoma pondered.

"Well let's find out!" Kokichi said as he ran to the door and took out his tools. Before he could even start lock picking, the door opened up, revealing Rantaro on the other side. "Oooh…" Kokichi muttered when he saw Rantaro. "Hiiiiiii, Avotaro!"

"What are you doing, Kokichi?" Rantaro asked. "If you wanted to talk to me, you could have just knocked or rang the doorbell." That's when Rantaro spotted Ryoma and me, though I was doing my best to avert his gaze. "Ryoma and Rin too? This is a strange group. Now I'm curious. What's going on?"

"U-Umm… You see… What happened was…" I began, though I had no clue as to what to say.

"Wait, does this have to do with how Gonta was carrying people away?" Rantaro asked.

"Uhhh…" I mumbled, even more hesitantly and nervously than before. Kokichi just sighed before he looked up at the tall, green-haired boy.

"We're taking all the motive videos and are going to use them to host a video screening party!" Kokichi said cheerfully. "Want to join us? All we need is your video~!"

"Is that so?" Rantaro asked with a raised eyebrow. "So you all are going around stealing the Kubs Pads and then you're going to force the people Gonta took hostage to watch every video? Is that about right."

"...Yes?" I answered with a shrug. Rantaro stared at the three of us before he eventually gave a warm smile.

"Then give me a sec. I'll grab my video."

"Wait, really?" Ryoma gawked.

"I don't see why not. I didn't care if we shared the videos or not, but I'm getting the feeling that if all three of you are working on this, it might be best if we do end up watching the videos together. It's probably better than the worst case scenario." He then looked at me and gave me a nod. "Besides, Rin is helping you, and I trust him. That's good enough for me."

"...Thank you, Rantaro." I told him in a soft voice.

"That makes things so much easier! You're way more understanding than the others!" Kokichi chirped happily. "Hey, we actually already found your video, so how about we watch yours with you early as a way to thank you. We haven't seen what's on it, so maybe it'll have your talent or something." Rantaro thought about it for a bit before he nodded.

"That sounds good. I'm not dying to know, but it'd be a lie if I said I wasn't curious to see what's on it."

"Then it's decided." Kokichi smiled widely. "Wow, look at us. The four of us are working together to make the killing game more interesting. It reminds me of my old gang, though 3 people hardly compares to 10,000 people working for me."

"I can imagine." I dryly chuckled. "Guess we should continue. Let's move on to Gonta's room." And so we continued the rest of our search, finding the last of the videos with Rantaro now a part of our little band of thieves. With the rest of the videos collected, Kokichi made quick work jotting down who had which videos.

Kaede had Keebo's video.

Himiko had Rantaro's video.

Miu had Kiyo's video.

Angie had Himiko's video.

Maki had Miu's video.

Tenko had her own video.

Shuichi had his own video.

Kiyo had Angie's video

Kaito had Maki's video.

Keebo had Gonta's video.

Rantaro had Kaito's video.

Gonta had Kaede's video.

Ryoma had Kokichi's video.

Kokichi had Ryoma's video.

"Alright, that's all of them." Ryoma said as we left the last room.

"Alright! And we have a lot of time to spare too!" Kokichi cheered. "Now let's get started with our private screening party. Let's start with Maki's video!"

"No, Kokichi. That's not what we agreed on." I told him sternly. "We're only going to watch your guy's videos. That's what we said we'd do before the real video showing." That is the case, but I also don't want to let anyone watch Maki's video right away. It's sort of a huge bomb shell. It'll get revealed anyway, but it's best if everyone else sees it at the same time.

"Ah, come on, Rinny! I'm super curious about her video!"

"How come? Isn't her video just like the others?" Rantaro asked.

"But I want to see if she's been lying about her talent!" Kokichi exclaimed. "I'm a liar, so I can tell when other people lie unless they're even better at it than me like Tsumugi was, which rarely happens anyway. I can tell Maki is lying about something, and I bet it's her talent. There's no way someone so cold and distant can have a talent like Ultimate Child Caregiver, it's way too suspicious! I wanted to sneak into her lab when it opened up, but she kept guard until nighttime, and even then there was this new lock on the door that was unpickable! That's way too much trouble to just hide what's in her lab!"

"That is true…" Ryoma said.

"Still, we only agreed to watch each of your videos. If we start watching any of the others, we might be here for a while just watching all the videos while the others are stuck in the Insect Meet and Greet." I told them.

"Good point. I did say we would be back by nighttime." Kokichi sighed. "Fine. Who should we start with?" Ryoma looked like he wanted to say something, but paused before sighing as well.

"Let's start with Rantaro's. He agreed to help us at the last minute and willingly gave us the video he had, so it's only fair."

"Wow, Ryoma! That's so selfless of you, especially since you're only doing this to watch your own video!" Kokichi said in a playful tone. "Alright! Let's watch Avotaro's video!" Kokichi grabbed Rantaro's video, and without hesitation, pressed play.

"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video!" The video exclaimed, showing the title 'Rantaro Amami's Motive Video'. "Who's the most important person in your life? And now, without further ado…" The video then showed Rantaro, surrounded by multiple younger girls, all of whom shared resemblances to Rantaro in some way. Rantaro was also somehow managing to hug each one of them at the same time, which was impressive by itself. "Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer…"

"Adventurer?" Ryoma remarked, though we kept watching without stopping.

"Due to his father's...tendencies, Rantaro has quite the large family, having 12 sisters, most of them being step sisters. Rantaro, being their only brother, was always very protective of them, and would do anything to make them happy. Of course, since his family is pretty loaded with cash from their father's business, Rantaro frequently went on boat trips to various parts of the world with his beloved family. However, during the first of these adventures, Rantaro's youngest sister disappeared and was never found. Rantaro blamed himself for not being a responsible big brother and went off to scour the world in search of his sister, while helping out with his father's business as he did. This of course led to obtaining his title of Ultimate, but along the way, the rest of Rantaro's sisters disappeared during his travels around the world too, but he was determined to find them all. Well, lucky for him, we found all of his sisters for him!" The video then showed an image of Rantaro's sisters, but they were now in a cage of sorts in torn clothing with multiple injuries. "Oh dear! It looks like something has happened to them. Some terrible accident of sorts! What kind of accident? It's a secret! Find out for yourself. Puhuhuhuhuhuhu…"

The video cut off after that, leaving the room in a cold, dead silence. I don't know about Ryoma or Kokichi, but I was honestly afraid of saying anything right now. That was...a lot to take in, and it must have been 100 times worse for Rantaro. After a few more seconds of frightening silence, Kokichi finally spoke up. "Soooo...you're an adventurer, huh?" Kokichi said in an almost muted tone. I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood by changing the topic to a more cheerful one, but even he seemed stumped as to how to go about it.

"Yeah...I am, I suppose." Rantaro said in a soft, quiet voice. "I already remembered what the video said before this...about my family. I already knew about how much of a failure as a brother I already was, but to see that my sisters might now be in such a horrible situation…" Rantaro trailed off as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "...It's a bit much right now."

"Rantaro…" I tried to say, but Rantaro held out his hand to stop me.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. Even with this, I'm not going to do something reckless. I...I'm just happy that there's a chance they're still alive out there. That's more than what I had before coming here." He said that, but I could see he was lying. His tightened fists were shaking a bit. I leaned over and placed my hand on Rantaro's shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"I promise Rantaro, we will get out of here, and you will see your sisters again, safe and sound. I swear. I...We all will be here to help you get through this until then. So please, come to us if you feel you're overwhelmed with thoughts on this." Rantaro turned to me and gave me a fragile smile before he nodded.

"Y-Yeah. Right. I trust you after all. Thanks." I returned his nod as I moved back to my seat. "So...who's next?" Rantaro then asked.

"How 'bout mine?" Kokichi asked as he grabbed his video. "We can save the best for last with Ryoma's video. I'm also curious to see what's on my video." With no complaints from any of us, Kokichi played his video eagerly.

"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video! Who's the most important person in your life? And now, without further ado…" Just like the other videos, this one went from the title 'Kokichi Oma's Motive Video' to an image of Kokichi wearing a cape and a hat while surrounded by people in matching white straight jacket outfits. Each one was wearing clown masks, and Kokichi was holding one as well. "Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader… He caused mayhem the world over as the leader of the secret organization, D.I.C.E. And by 'mayhem', I mean petty nonviolent crimes and harmless pranks, which makes sense considering the group's anti-violence policy. Anyway, Kokichi had ten loyal goons working for him. These goons were like friends and family… The most important people in his life… But then, a terrible event befell those precious people.." The scene then showed the members of D.I.C.E. now in a cage and heavily injured, just like Rantaro's sisters. "What kind of event? It's a secret! Find out for yourself. Puhuhuhuhuhuhu…" Once again, the video cut off after that, leaving us in silence. Once again, I felt powerless in even attempting to comfort my friends after seeing these videos. I once again only felt disgust towards this killing game, Monokuma, and the people who trapped us in this hell.

"Kokichi…" Rantaro began, but he never got the chance to finish.

"As if D.I.C.E. would be so readily captured and tortured like that." Kokichi remarked, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "The most annoying part about this is how all of you now know the identity of my secret evil organization. Of course, what that video said about my group was all a lie. Those ten were just high ranking members. It didn't show the thousands of others who are a part of the group. C'mon, let's just hurry and watch Ryoma's video!" I couldn't help but stare at Kokichi in confusion after hearing his words. Does he not want us to worry about him, or perhaps he really isn't bothered by the video's content. I can't tell. He's doing well to hide his emotions right now, not even allowing for the slightest reactions. Yet, despite my concerns, I can't help but feel Kokichi will be fine. This whole thing was his idea. He must have already been planning for the worst when it came to what his video showed, so he might have already mentally bracing for the blow. Out of everyone, I don't see him letting even something like this throw him off his game. "So Ryoma, are you ready to watch your video? I already watched, so I think I should warn you. It's bad, and that's no lie." Kokichi told Ryoma with a laid back smile.

"Hmph, I'm ready for it. With this, I'll know what I'm fighting to escape for." Ryoma said with a fierce look of determination. "Play it."

"Alrighty!" Kokichi chirped happily as he played the next video.

"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video! Who's the most important person in your life? And now, without further ado…" I thought I knew what to expect from this video after watching 3 others, but I was so completely wrong. The scene went from the usual title screen to a blank, black screen that had yellow 'under construction' tape on the edges of the screen. Monokuma was in the middle of it all wearing a construction hat and giving a sincere, sad bow to us. "This message is for Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro… Unfortunately, there is no one in the world who is important to you! I'm so sorry. Really, I am. You have my deepest sympathies. Sorry~! Sorry. Sorry…" And the video ended on that note. I just stared at the video in confusion and horror. That video was completely different from the other ones. It was...empty. There was nothing in it. No one...No one in the whole world is important to Ryoma according to this video. It's the only thing that Ryoma didn't want. The worst part about that was Monokuma's tone. It almost felt like...he was genuinely sorry that he had nothing to present at the end there. I can't even tell if any of it was a lie or not. I turned to look at Ryoma and saw him with the most pitiable expression I have ever seen on a person.

"Well...I should have expected this. Makes sense. Everyone I cared for died long ago. Shouldn't have expected some new person to suddenly become that important person in my life." Ryoma grimaced with a new dark look of despair.

"W-Wait, Ryoma. You can't take what this video says at face value. It's supposed to get us to kill someone after all, so it might be lying." Rantaro tried to convince the tennis player, but Ryoma wasn't having any of it.

"How can you say that it's a lie after watching your own video? You saw your sisters. You saw Kokichi's group. The other videos are probably the same! Can you honestly tell me that you think it's all a lie?" Rantaro didn't seem to have a response for that, moving back and looking to the ground dejectedly. However, someone else made a quick reply to Ryoma.

"I think it's a lie." Kokichi immediately replied. "Rantaro is right, and I bet Rin agrees too. This is a video made for the specific purpose to get us to kill, or perhaps to a greater extent, to get us killed. You all say you won't listen to anything Monokuma tells us, but when it comes to these videos that he made, suddenly you're more keen on believing him. This is why I told you all we shouldn't cooperate. You all are far too gullible to truly work together, so the smart people like me need to stay far away from your hot mess. Still, this game would get really boring if you killed yourself now just because you believed this lame video, so try not to do something completely stupid. At least not until you come up with a way to make your death super exciting!" Ryoma's eyes widened at Kokichi's words. Ryoma then looked at the ground for a few seconds before he got up and pulled his hat down.

"...I'm leaving. Don't bother me." That was all Ryoma said before he left.

"Ryoma, wait!" I cried out as I got up to follow him.

"I'll talk to him." Rantaro then said, standing up himself and placing a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "You and Kokichi need to head back to Gonta's research lab for that screening party. It's almost nighttime, after all. I'll go talk to Ryoma and make sure he doesn't do anything reckless." I looked at Rantaro before looking to where Ryoma was walking off. I then turned back to Rantaro and nodded.

"Okay. I trust you. If anyone can do it, it's our reliable mysterious adventurer." I said with a nervous smile.

"Yep, that's me. Just focus on what you need to do. I'll handle this." Rantaro told me with a kind smile. Now I know where he gets his calm and cool demeanor. He gets it from having to take care and be responsible for 12 sisters. He's probably the most qualified for helping comfort someone. He does have that perfect big brother vibe going for him. Rantaro then ran after Ryoma, leaving me alone with Kokichi, who didn't really seem fazed by anything that had been shown by the videos.

"Alright, since Avotaro is handling Mister Mopey Tennis Pro, we should start heading back to the others. Don't want to keep them waiting for too long!"

"Right." The two of us then picked up our piles of Kubs Pads and started walking towards the second floor. "...Do you really think Ryoma is going to be okay?" I asked the mischievous Kokichi.

"Of course! I'm sure he'll be just fiiiiine!" Kokichi told me. "And if he isn't, I'm sure Avotaro, you, and the others will do something to try to cheer him up."

"...You're right. I shouldn't worry too much about it." I then turned to Kokichi with a sort of proud smile. "If anything, I think that perhaps your words might help him too. I'm surprised you said that."

"Oh, Rinny. I'm disappointed. Can't you tell that I couldn't care less about what happens to Ryoma? If he wants to die, so be it. I don't care what happens to a killer like him. I just don't want this game to start being a tear fest because the 3 foot tall midget isn't happy."

"Sure. Whatever you say." I said as I took a deep breath, feeling a bit better after that. By the time the nighttime announcement played, we finally made it back to the Entomologist's lab. Kokichi pushed the door open and-Oh my god! That's a LOT of bugs!

There were bugs EVERYWHERE, and they were on every surface available in the lab. Gonta was standing near the door with a huge innocent smile on his face as our friends ran around the room in a panic, bugs flying after them the entire time. Countless bugs were crawling up Shuichi's leg as he tried to shake them off to no avail. Meanwhile, Tenko and Angie were digging into a pile of bugs, which upon closer inspection was burying Himiko alive. She must have been completely surrounded by bugs and they piled onto her. Kaito was probably the one who was freaking out the most, running around like he was on a marathon in an attempt to get away from as many bugs as possible, all while Kiyo, Keebo, and Kaede did their best to get bugs out of their hair and mouths. I would never say this to Gonta's face, but this is possibly the worst way possible to try to get us to love bugs.

"Ughhh! There are bugs everywhere! How nast-I mean, how nice~." Kokichi said, hiding a horrified expression from the sheer amount of insects in the room.

"Ah! Kokichi! Rin. You back! We have tons of fun with bug friends!" Gonta said as if it were the happiest day of his life. "Oh? Where Ryoma?"

"H-He felt a bit tired after we finished that errand we had to do." I told him. "D-Don't worry about him, he's fine."

"Oh, okay. Then do Kokichi and Rin want to meet bug friends now? We have lots of fun together!"

"We would absolutely love to, Gonta, however, I think your friends are looking a bit tired now, so don't you think we should let them rest now?" Kokichi asked. "We should just call it a day. A gentleman knows to do things in moderation, y'know."

"Hmm...Kokichi right. It is bug friends' bedtime now. Oh well. There always next time." Gonta then started putting all the bugs back into their cages, much to the relief of everyone in the room.

"You guys okay? You look like you've been to hell and back, and I wouldn't doubt you if you said that's the case." I told them, only receiving a few angry glances in response.

"Kokichi. Rin. Does this mean you got them all?" Shuichi asked us.

"Yep! Look!" Kokichi said as he showed off the pile he was holding. "Kubs Pads! Gotta catch 'em all! We even got the pads belonging to the people who aren't here! Nee-heehee... Now we can get this movie party started and watch everyone's motive video! I just need to plug these into the monitor I brought."

"You brought a monitor?" I asked.

"Yep. I found it in the warehouse, which kicked started this whole idea. I would suck if we hosted a screening party but had to all lean over each other's shoulders just to watch the Kubs Pads. I brought back here with the necessary equipment to set it up, and right after, Gonta brought in Tenko and Keebo!" Huh, I guess that makes sense. Kokichi then set down the Kubs Pads and took out the monitor he was talking about.

"You brought that thing here by yourself? It might be small, but it looks like it's heavy."

"Nee-heehee… I'm stronger than I look, I'll have you know." Kokichi told me with a cheeky smile. "Now, who's video should we start with?" Kokichi then asked as he once again grabbed his pile of Kubs Pads to look through them.

"Hey! We said we don't want to see the motive videos!" Tenko shouted.

"Well, it's late and I'm getting sleepy! So let's just start already." Kokichi said, ignoring Tenko's cry.

"Start what?" Gonta asked.

"Don't worry about it, Gonta. It's for the best. Just make sure no one-" Before I could finish, Keebo interjected.

That's it! I won't let you do as you please!"

"Keebo?"

"I didn't want to use this unless I absolutely had to. It eats up a lot of my electricity. But that's neither here nor there! I will stop you right here, right now!"

"Keebo...what are you going to do…?" Kaede asked.

"Don't worry everyone. I'll take it from here. Thank you all for enduring it. Now I can finally use it." Keebo then declared. Kokichi and I turned to Keebo with a raised eyebrow. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this? "Kokichi. Rin. This stops now. Using my talent, I will end this!"

"You're talent?" I repeated before it hit me. "Kokichi, what did you say to them before I brought Kaito here?"

"H-Huh? Well… All I did was explain to them the plan." My heart sank upon hearing his answer. Oh no… I remember Keebo saying he could play records, so does that mean…?

"Now, watch as I show you the true power of the Ultimate Robot!" Keebo said as he turned a knob on his head and pressed it like a button. I then got my answer as I heard the voices now coming from him.

"Is this your doing, Kokichi? Did you have Gonta kidnap us?" That was Shuichi's voice coming from Keebo. No…! He recorded everything!

"Nee-heehee… He's so simple-minded. As soon as I told him that everyone who hates bugs was trying to get rid of them, he started crying, and said that he would get you guys to love bugs...or something like that." That was Kokichi's voice. Shoot! With this, Gonta now knows Kokichi was just using him. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse- "In fact, Rinny and Ryoma are helping me too! Well, Ryoma is sorta being blackmailed into, but Rinny is helping out of the goodness of his heart! Once they're back from bringing people here with Gonta, it'll be all set! Once everyone's here, we can throw a motive video movie party!" Oh...shit…

"So, what do you think!? You just saw my audio recording function for the first time!" Keebo proudly said.

"Did he really just whip out an audio recorder like it's some kinda secret weapon!?" Tenko shouted.

"Way to go, man! Awesome!" Kaito cheered.

"But that sounded like it was a cassette tape. Aren't those really old?" Kaede asked.

"But it's a metal tape, you know!?" Keebo defended himself.

"The sound quality isn't exactly what I'm confused about here, mister high tech robot…" Kaede told him.

"L-Let's just put this aside now. More importantly, it seems to have worked." Keebo said as he pointed to Gonta.

"Kokichi...what you mean? You...not like bugs?" Gonta asked with an angry expression. "And Rin, what this about you helping trick Gonta? You both force Ryoma to do bad thing too?"

"Ohhhh...noooo…" I muttered in terror.

"...Maaan, now it's boring." Kokichi sighed.

"You say we get them to understand how amazing bugs are… Was that lie?"

"Haha, I wouldn't lie to you. I loooove bugs. From the bottom of my heart." Kokichi chirped.

"Y-Yeah! I wouldn't lie to you, Gonta. We're friends! I helped you look for bugs in the courtyard, remember?" I added, hoping Gonta's fury would be quelled. Unfortunately…

"Oh… So it not a lie. Then Gonta happy… Let's have fun with bugs all night…" Gonta said with a serious glare. "Who want to pet more bugs!?"

"Eh?" That was the only sound Kokichi and I could make in our new found fear.

"Now! We must run while we still can!" Keebo shouted.

"Wait! We need to take back our Kubs Pads first!" Tenko shouted as they all ran towards me and Kokichi. Without hesitation, Tenko snatched the Kubs Pads Kokichi had while Kaito took all the ones I had.

"W-Wait!" I shouted.

"Awwww…" Kokichi moaned like a child. And without waiting another moment, they all left the lab.

"K-Kaito!" I called out. Kaito turned back to me and gave me a look of pity, only for Shuichi and Kaede to pull him out of the lab and close the door. I...might have screwed up big time. That's when I heard a loud sound and turned my head, only to see all of the bug containers opened once more. The bugs immediately flew out and started flying towards us. The rest is a blur as Kokichi and I ran around the lab for hours, screaming as loudly as we could, until we were eventually spared from any more torment. I couldn't remember most of it. I think my brain immediately purged the memories out of my mind due to how traumatic they were. I only remember the start where I was running for my left, and then suddenly coming back to find myself lying on the ground panting like I had just run 100 miles. My chest felt like it was on fire. I slowly got up to see Kokichi in the same kind of state I was in. "Wh-What happened?" I asked

"Oh good. You awake now." I turned to see Gonta tending to the bugs who were back in the cages. "Rin and Kokichi fainted after few hours of playing with bugs. I stayed up taking care of bug friends and classmate friends. Now me and bugs tired, so we end it here." Gonta said with a kind smile. But it quickly turned to one of concern as he looked at me and Kokichi. "Kokichi and Rin shouldn't lie anymore. Was wrong to trick Gonta and try to steal motive videos. Gonta won't fall for tricks again."

"R-Right… I'm sorry." I told him.

"Yeah, sure… What he said." Kokichi groaned as he got up.

"Good. Gonta happy now. Gonta let you leave now." I nodded to him and got up and left the lab with Kokichi, feeling different as I did. I took out my Monopad and checked how long we were trapped in that hell-I mean 'fun place'.

"It's almost...7:30 a.m!?. We've been trapped in there for the entire night!?" I shouted.

"Yep. Welp, this was the definition of failure." Kokichi noted.

"No kidding. I don't think I could ever look at an insect the same ever again after this." I shivered. "I'm going to head back to my dorm. I'm exhausted."

"I'll probably do the same. I've got to make a new plan as to how to make the killing game more exciting anyway, so I need as much recovery time as I can get!"

"You're still saying that stuff?" I asked before giving a sigh and scratching my head. "Well, if you need any help with your plans, I might be willing to help. That is, as long as it's not too malicious and there isn't a possibility of facing consequences like this again." Kokichi turned to me with a curious gaze before he started laughing.

"You really are an interesting person, aren't you Rinny? Of course, I probably won't need the help of my loyal minion again after this, but I suppose I'll keep that in mind. Or maybe not. I am a liar after all."

"Yeah, yeah, you've said that a few times." I replied as I started walking away. "See you tomorrow Kokichi."

"Sweet dreams Rinny! Don't let the next blackened kill you tonight!" Kokichi 'affectionately' told me. With the failure of the Insect Meet and Greet still in my mind, I made my way to my dorm room and immediately collapsed onto my bed, sleep taking me just as quickly.


Ding dong, bing bong

"Rise and shine, ursine!"

"This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Academy! It's 8 a.m. so wake up!" Monosuke yelled. Monosuke then ran out of the room the Monokubs were in as fast as he could.

"Oh, he left! Monosuke is so impatient." Monotaro sighed.

"He's been cranky lately, so it's making him impatient." Monohanie explained. "I...don't like impatient men!"

"I..WANT-TO-GET-ALONG-WITH-MONOSUKE." Monodam said. Monsuke then came back and pressed his face against the camera.

"It's a little early, but I'll go ahead and do the nighttime announcement too! It'll be 10 p.m. later!" And then he took off again.

"It's too early! Your impatience is trying to warp time and space!" Monotaro yelled.

"...So long, bear-well." With that, the video ended. These announcements keep getting more and more pointless. At least that's how it feels to me. I sat up in my bed and stretched my arms. Still a little sore and tired from Gonta's insect meet and greet, though I do deserve it I suppose. But Himiko's magic show is happening today. I would like to see it, but I'm not sure if they'll want me there after yesterday. Perhaps I can go ask? Or maybe it's best to leave it alone and not show up. I sigh at the thought. That's what I get. And I was looking forward to the show too. Himiko's the Ultimate Magician, so it's bound to be amazing. Maybe it'll be as good as Yuuki's escape acts! I pause after I had that thought? Yuuki? Who's…? I felt a mild headache start to form the more I thought about the name and why it came up. It's happening again. One of the names of the people Tsumugi was cosplaying as...they keep popping up in my head.

Shaking my head, I got up from my bed and smacked my cheeks. Stop thinking about nonsense. There's other things I should be doing right now. Like… oh! I need to go pick up that radar from Miu! She's probably done with it by now. With new confidence in the day, I quickly got out of bed and sprung out of my room with an exciting new feeling of purpose. With that radar, I can really start working on a play to end the killing game. I'll be able to confirm a few of my theories I've had about this place like the hidden cameras. And since the radar will be able to disable any devices it finds, then I'll really be able to make some plans.

"Ah, Rin. What a coincidence running into you here."

"Hmm? Oh, Keebo. Good morning. What are you doing here? I thought you were going to go see the magic show." I asked the robot, who had just left the academy's entrance.

"I do plan to. I even helped set things up." Keebo told me with a proud smile. "However, I didn't get the chance to ask Miu to do some daily maintenance checks yesterday thanks to what happened, so I wanted to ask her today."

"O-Oh…" I said hesitantly. "I'm...really sorry about that. I know we should have gone about it a better way, but that was the only thing I could do at the moment that I thought might help us." Keebo then raised his hand and shook it.

"There's no need to apologize. Everything is already finished, isn't it? I don't know about Kokichi, but you at least had obvious pure intentions in doing what you did. Still, I had to stop it. What you both were doing might have caused multiple problems."

"Yeah, but I think it might have solved a lot of problems as well." I then added. "But that's neither here nor there. It's over, and that's that."

"Agreed. So Rin, are you going to the magic show as well?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure the others would want me to come after yesterday's fiasco, so I was thinking of missing it."

"If that's your only reason for doing so, I would suggest you go anyway. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind at all. I am confident that they would love to have you there with them."

"You really think so?" Keebo nodded at my question, which caused me to give a sigh of relief. "Then I suppose I should hurry up with my little errand so I don't miss the show."

"What are you doing? You seemed to be running with a smile on your face when I came out of the academy."

"I'm just picking up a small invention I asked Miu to make. Nothing too special, though it will prove useful if it works"

"Is that so? What does it do?"

"It detects-" I was about to answer Keebo's question, but that's when I saw something strange. Outside of Miu's lab was Kokichi. He was standing in the lab's doorway, and he was just staring into the room with a blank look. "Hey, what's wrong with him?" I asked.

"Hmm? Is that Kokichi? Why is he here as well?"

"Let's ask him. Hey! Kokichi! What are you doing just standing there?" I shouted. Kokichi slowly turned to me and Keebo with the same neutral expression.

"Oh...Rinny...Kee-boy. You...might not want to see this…" Kokichi said in a soft tone. I was immediately put on edge. Kokichi has never sounded like this.

"Kokichi, what happened?" I asked sternly. Kokichi only turned his head back into the lab. I looked over to Keebo, who gave me an extremely nervous gaze back. We both gave each other a nod as we both moved towards Kokichi and peered into the Inventor's lab. What I saw...I...I don't know how to feel right now. So many thoughts entered my head just from what I was seeing, along with so many confusing emotions to go along with it. I understand why Kokichi was acting the way that he was. This sight is just too much to suddenly see by yourself. There in the middle of the lab, was Miu, hanging by a rope that was tied to the ceiling. She had hung herself, and it made no sense to me. Once again, for the second time in the Ultimate Academy, someone had died, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.