It was morning at the Ultimate Academy, and the first thing that greeted everyone's ears was a loud shout.
"But we gotta do it! If not now, then when!?" Gonta shouted.
"Absolutely not! That's completely reckless. Even if Monodam is on our side, Monokuma is still a huge threat! He might have his own Exisal for all we know!" Tenko shouted.
"Gonta know that…but… Watching friends disappear… seeing everyone get weaker… Gonta no can take this anymore! That's why Gonta go fight Monokuma!" Gonta exclaimed.
"Fight Monokuma!?" Shuichi, who had just entered the dining room, repeated in a panicked voice of disbelief.
"Shuichi! Good timing! Help us talk some sense into Gonta!" Kaede pleaded when she saw the detective.
"Gonta's saying a lot of reckless stuff, but he refuses to listen to any of us." Rantaro explained with a concerned gaze.
"Gonta know it reckless…but it only way to save everyone." Gonta stated. "Waiting around, doing nothing just make more victims… That why Gonta gotta risk his life! Real gentleman would risk life! Gonta gladly give up life to save everyone!"
"Gonta, I get how you feel, but don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?" Kaito asked the large teen.
"Even if you were to fight against Monokuma, fighting them without any sort of weapon or plan would be foolish." Kirumi stated.
"...More like meaningless. You shouldn't do that." Kokichi muttered, not bothering to turn his head to face the others as he spoke. Kaito turned to look at the supreme leader with a raised eyebrow. Kokichi had entered the dining hall, and Kaito immediately noticed something was off about him. He sat slightly further away from everyone else, and he didn't bother making any sort of teasing remark or tasteless joke so far. He hadn't even spoken until now. And now that he was talking, Kaito was getting a bad feeling. That feeling proved itself right when Kokichi turned to the group and gave a wide smirk, though unlike his previous ones, looked wider, and more unhinged. "And even if you did do that, it wouldn't stop the killing game."
"What?" Shuichi questioned.
"...Why not?" Gonta asked.
"Don't you remember what happened to Tsumugi? She claimed to be the Mastermind, and she's dead, yet the killing game is still going strong." Kokichi explained before he tilted his head in a confused, innocent manner. "Actually, why would you even want to stop the killing game? It's just starting to get fun! It'd be a waste to stop it now." That's when Kokichi's expression shifted into anger. Real anger. "You guys are all whack jobs! Is something wrong with your heads!?"
"Something's wrong with your head!" Kaito shot back. Kaito was convinced. Something was definitely wrong with Kokichi. This was the first time he sounded truly pissed off since the first day when they kept attempting the underground tunnel. This wasn't an act. What Kaito didn't know was why he was so angry all of a sudden. Was it because Gonta wanted to fight Monokuma? Was it because they wanted to end the killing game? None of those make sense. Despite how much of a huge dick Kokichi was, this didn't line up with the things he had already done. It seemed…really off for some reason Kaito couldn't explain. Still, he couldn't help but get angry in response to Kokichi's sudden aggressive outburst.
"Oh, don't tell me…you guys aren't confident enough to win the game?" Kokichi asked, his expression once again immediately changing into one of starry-eyed wonder, before changing it once again to one of cockyness with outstretched arms. "Geez, if you're really that much of a weenie, then you might actually lose, y'know? But in my case, I'm full of confidence! I'll win this game, no matter what!"
"W-Win the game…" Kaede muttered while holding her arms.
"Are you planning on becoming the next blackened then?" Maki asked.
"Me…? The next blackened?" Kokichi repeated, now wearing a blank look as he seemingly processed the question in his head. His tone was one Kaito had never heard before. It seemed…confused? Doubtful? Scared? Hesitant? Confident? Unfeeling? Knowing? Kaito couldn't place a description that matched. Kokichi was too confusing of a person to do that. Still, it wasn't what Kaito expected. Normally, Kokichi would laugh and brush it off, or perhaps play along in a teasing manner that really meant 'I'm only saying this to get under your skin' sorta way. That was usually the impression Kaito got from Kokichi on most things, though sometimes Kokichi went too far for it to just be a joke, like with the Insect Meet and Greet. Was this one of those times? Kaito was about to ask Kokichi if he was okay, but that's when Kokichi gave his answer, one that made Kaito pale. "Yeah, sure. If that would help me win, then I'd do it."
"Are you serious…?" Rantaro asked Kokichi with a slightly shocked tone.
"Of course, I am! Games are only fun when you play them seriously, right!?" Kokichi asked, spitting out the words quickly in an agitated voice, as if he was offended by not being taken seriously. "So, c'mon guys! Let's enjoy this more! It's not often you get to play a killing game, y'know? Soooo, who's gonna be the next victim!? The game can't continue until there's another victim! So someone, start killing already! If you doooon't, then I'll kill someone instead! Just like I promised, got it!?" Shocked and appalled were understatements to what Kaito and the others were feeling after hearing Kokichi's rant. Kokcihi was nearly screaming every venom laced word he spat out, growing more and more furious as he did. Each time he spoke, he swapped his expression out for another, each more sinister and taunting than the last. Kokichi had never spoken like this before. He looked like a monster. No, he looked like the devil. A true demon that gets off on their suffering and despair. He had never acted like this before. Those who were really paying attention to him would notice at least that much. They would be able to see that for some reason, there was a storm raging inside his eyes. A spiral of negativity. That's why Kaito was the first to act.
"Why you… That's enough!" The astronaut shouted before he shot at Kokichi like a bullet.
BAM!
It happened in an instant. Kokichi took a few steps back, now having been knocked out his rant, before placing a hand on his now red cheek. Kaito had just punched Kokichi in the face. Hard.
"Kokichi…what the hell's gotten into you?" Kaito shouted with a stern glare.
"..." Kokichi didn't say anything as his widened eyes stayed fixed onto the floor. He looked genuinely shocked. The various expressions he had just worn were now gone, leaving only a blank look of surprise. Kaito could only grit his teeth angrily in response to that.
"You were messed up to begin with, but this is a whole 'nother level of weird." Kaito growled. "If you keep acting like this, I'm gonna knock your senses back into you!"
"No, Kaito! You already hit him!" Kaede shouted in protest.
"Kaito, please stop. There is never a good reason to commit violence." Keebo told him. "Even minor aggressions…can lead to atrocities such as murder." Kaito flinched when he heard that. Was Keebo implying that this might push him to kill Kokichi, or push Kokichi to kill him? Was he wrong in how he handled this? Maybe. No, actually, Kaito couldn't help but agree with Keebo. He probably shouldn't have hit Kokichi. Still, Kokichi is a stubborn bastard from what Kaito's seen. Sort of like Kaito himself, actually, and Kaito knew that if it was him who was acting crazy, he would need to be beaten back into his senses. After all, that rant sounded more like a cry for help than anything. Even if Kokichi didn't want anyone's help, Kaito had already made it his job to help his friends. He'd help them, even if they didn't want to help themselves. That's what it meant to be the Luminary of the Stars.
"Tch…fine. I'll stop for now." Kaito said as he dropped his clenched fist. "But, Kokichi… I hope that whole stupid speech of yours was a lie."
"..." Kokichi stayed silent, that look of speechless, dumbfounded confusion still on his face, his mouth still slightly ajar as he kept rubbing his cheek.
"Maybe…Gonta have to do it. If friends are gonna fight like this, then Gonta go fight Monokuma." Gonta suggested.
"Like I said, you can't! Please, don't do anything that'll get you killed!" Tenko scolded Gonta. She then walked over to Kokichi with a frown. "I don't like a single thing you said just now, but still, are you okay? That looked like a painful hit." Tenko offered a figurative hand of kindness to Kokichi, despite all he had said. Anyone could tell just from looking at her face that she hated being the one to offer the hand to Kokichi after that. Her grimace was one of the worst she's ever shown off, and her tone was colder and sharp. Still, despite appearances, it seemed like she was really trying to give the guys a chance, including Kokichi of all people. Even so, Kokichi didn't answer her. Instead, he turned around and started walking towards the dining hall doors.
"Kokichi?" Rantaro called out to the supreme leader. Kokichi didn't turn around as he opened the dining hall door. But then, he stopped.
"...You should probably go check on Rin." Kokichi said softly in a tender, almost remorseful, voice before he left.
"Rin?" Kirumi asked with a nervous expression. "Actually, now that I look around, Rin hasn't arrived yet."
"He hasn't?" Kaede asked. "He's usually here by now."
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since yesterday." Maki noted.
"That is right. Kaede and I tried to check up on him after the nighttime announcement yesterday, but he never responded to our knocks. We assumed he was asleep." Keebo noted.
"But Rin's not the type to not answer the door if someone knocks. Even if he had gone to bed earlier, I don't see him as the type to sleep through that or ignore that entirely." Rantaro stated.
"Wait…" Shuichi began, his expression dropping to one of realization and fear. "Yesterday, after we used the flashback light, didn't Rin say he was going to investigate the motive?"
"The motive?" Kaito repeated before he understood. The moment he did, his eyes widened in horror. "Wait… you don't mean… the reason Kokichi was acting so weird was…"
"...Kokichi originally had the card key before Rin stole it from him." Shuichi stated. "And with how Rin and Kokichi have worked together before, as well as how they're friendly with each other for the most part, I can imagine a scenario where Rin let Kokichi see it as well, or one where Kokichi followed Rin and just happened to see the motive."
"Then the reason Kokichi was acting more like a degenerate today…was because he saw the motive!?" Tenko shouted.
"Then Rin…!" Kirumi muttered quietly, her eyes shrinking to pindrops as she processed what Shuichi was suggesting.
"Shit!" Kaito yelled as he bolted out of the dining room.
"Kaito, wait for us!" Rantaro shouted as he and the others ran after the astronaut. Kaito didn't slow down though. Damn it! Damn it all! This was all Kaito's fault! He knew that card key was a bad idea! When Kokichi grabbed it, he was prepared to chase him around the entire campus to get it back from him, just to make sure no one could use it. But that's when Rin snatched the card out of Kokichi's hand. Kaito was still worried, but he didn't say anything about it. Rin always knew what he was doing. Rin always had a plan. Rin wouldn't succumb to any dumb motive. He never let himself succumb before. He was…stronger than anyone else there. That's what Kaito had seen. So, unlike before with the Student Council mess, Kaito kept quiet despite his apprehension and chose to believe in Rin this time.
But if Kokichi was acting weirder than usual because of the motive, then it was obvious Kaito was wrong. Kokichi was also strong. Strong enough to not let his emotions show so much like what happened in the dining room. He was much too volatile compared to how he usually is. If Kokichi was so badly affected by it, just what did it do to Rin? And if Rin was affected by the motive like Kokichi was, then it was Kaito's fault for not stopping Rin this time. Kaito should have said something. Kaito should have gone with him. Kaito…should have looked out for his friend and sidekick.
Kaito ran as fast as he could back to the dorms, and once he got there he ran up the stairs and started banging on the door. "Rin! Rin, open up!" Kaito shouted, despite knowing the dorm rooms were soundproof. All the while, a single thought kept running through his head. Please be okay. Please be okay! Kaito kept banging the door, with the others now filing into the dormitories soon after.
"Kaito! Has Rin…?" Kaede asked.
"No. He hasn't opened up yet." Kaito replied in a panicked voice.
"Calm down. Maybe he's just not in his room." Maki suggested.
"If that's the case, then why didn't he come to breakfast?" Tenko asked.
"Then should we split up to find him?" Kirumi asked.
"Perhaps we should-" Shuichi was about to say something, but the sound of the door opening made him stop.
"Can you not knock so loudly? I…have a headache." Rin muttered as he opened the door slightly to look out and see everyone. Kaito gave a small grimace when he saw his friend. Rin looked like a mess. His messy hair was now completely disheveled instead of how it usually looked. His clothes also looked like he just threw them on right before he cracked open the door, and his jacket wasn't even zipped up, appearing like he had just thrown it on a few moments before opening the door. Worse of all was his expression. Rin had a deep frown on his face, and his eyes were now darker and duller than usually with heavy dark bags under them. He looked terrible. He looked completely drained and lifeless. Empty.
"Rin, are you okay?" Rantaro asked.
"Kokichi said weird stuff today, so we come to check on you." Gonta added. Rin just stared at the others with an empty look for a few seconds before he responded.
"Sure. Yeah. I'm…fine." Rin told them in an empty tone as he placed a hand on his pale face. "Just…tired."
"Are you sure? You do not look so good." Kirumi told him.
"I said I'm fine." Rin gave a soft growl in a response. "I'm just having an off day."
"Off day? Does that have something to do with the motive?" Shuichi asked. That's when Rin gave him a dark glare, one that seemed to be threatening, warning the detective to not keep pushing the issue.
"This has nothing to do with the motive. The card key didn't do anything." Rin told them sternly.
"It didn't do anything?" Tenko questioned.
"No. I imagine the motive was to make us fight over the card key, but since we all just agreed to let me have it, the motive didn't work. The card key was never meant to do anything." Rin explained his thoughts on the matter.
"So you and Kokichi didn't see something using the card key?" Kaede asked him.
"No. Besides, I never ran into Kokichi yesterday after the flashback light." Rin told them. "If that's all, please leave. I want to be alone for a while." And with that, he closed his door, leaving the others.
"He seemed a little strange too." Maki noted.
"Yeah. He was more on edge than usual." Rantaro nodded.
"Are you suggesting that Rin was lying to us?" Kirumi asked the two.
"No, that's not what I was suggesting." Rantaro said. "However, it's still strange that Rin seemed so distraught after going to find the motive yesterday."
"Yeah. He seemed to be in a really bad state." Kaede quietly stated with a sad expression.
"Perhaps he is feeling down since the card key did not do anything?" Keebo suggested.
"Is that really it?" Kaede pondered before shaking her head. "We should focus on Rin for now. I'm worried about what might happen if he stays like this."
"But what can we do to help him?" Tenko asked.
"..." Kaito just stared at the door for a few seconds before nodding to himself. "Okay, I got it."
"Kaito?" Shuichi questioned.
"You guys don't gotta worry 'bout a thing. I've got this. It's my responsibility to look after my sidekick, right?" Kaito then turned to Gonta with a small smile. "Gonta, could you do me a favor and go check up on Kokichi?"
"Kokichi?" Maki repeated in confusion. Gonta, however, just gave a determined nod.
"Okay! Gonta will do his best!" Gonta told Kaito before he left to find Kokichi. Kaito smiled before looking back at the others.
"You guys can go too. I'll handle this."
"Are you sure?" Kaede asked, her tone indicating she wanted to help as well.
"Yep. Don't worry. I'll have Rin back to his usual self in no time." Kaito claimed with a big grin and his signature thumbs up.
"When you say it like that, it's hard to not trust you." Rantaro chuckled. "Alright. I say we leave it to Kaito."
"Okay…if you need help, just let us know. We want to help Rin too." Tenko stated.
"Will do!" Kaito replied. At that, the others began to leave the dorms. Once they had all left, Kaito let his smile fall into a frown. In truth, he wasn't sure if he really could do this. He was worried about Rin, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to do anything to help his friend. He was nervous. Still, he took a deep breath. No matter how he felt, he had to be the one to help Rin. He hadn't been able to help Rin in what felt like ages. Kaito felt like he had failed as a friend because of that. But not anymore. And so, he rang the doorbell once again and waited. It didn't take long for Rin to crack open the door once more.
"What? I thought I told you I wanted to be alone for a while." Rin gave a small growl at Kaito, but Kaito remained determined.
"Don't be like that. C'mon, I wanna show you something." Kaito smirked at his sidekick. Rin gave a raised eyebrow in annoyance as he sighed.
"Not now, Kaito. Maybe another day." Rin said as he tried to close the door, only to be stopped by Kaito.
"It'll only be for a little bit, and it can only be today." Kaito continued. "So come on, we need to hurry up!" With that, Kaito shot his hand towards Rin, grabbed his hand, and began dragging him out of his room.
"K-Kaito! Let go of me!" Rin shouted as he tried to pull his hand out of Kaito's grip, to no avail.
"Haha! C'mon, Rin. Live a little! Let's hurry up and go." Kaito laughed as he continued dragging Rin away.
"At least let me lock my room!"
"Did we really…have to come up here?" Rin asked as he panted, clutching his now burning thighs as he did. Kaito had dragged him all the way to the 6th floor so they could be in Kaito's lab, something Rin was fuming at.
"Of course! I can't show you this thing unless we're here." Kaito responded with a smile, choosing to ignore his friend's annoyance. "Just sit down while I set it up." Rin stared at Kaito with an angered look before it became one of defeat.
"Fine. Just hurry up with it please." Rin muttered as he sat down on the ground. Kaito didn't hide his shining grin as he continued to set things up. It didn't take long to do, and when he was ready, he turned it on.
Just like that, the room went dark, and the ceiling lit up like the night sky. Suddenly, it didn't feel like they were inside Kaito's lab. Now it felt like they were outside on a perfectly clear night, with the sky filled to the brim with stars and other celestial bodies. The change was so sudden that Rin made a gasp of surprise and his eyes widened as he stared up at the starry ceiling.
"This is the planetarium function of your lab." Rin muttered as he kept his eyes on the stars.
"Yep. Looks great, doesn't it?" Kaito asked as he plopped down beside Rin. Rin jumped, having not noticed Kaito get close to him. "This thing can show all the stars that you can see in the night sky. Look, there's the constellation Leo. And there's Pegasus. Oh! And there's Taurus. That cluster of light is the Pleiades star cluster." As Kaito happily pointed to those constellations, all the awe and wonder that were on Rin's face disappeared, and the same negativity from before returned to replace it.
"You didn't have to bring me here just for this." He mumbled. "If that's all, then I think I'll be going now."
"Hold on." Kaito grabbed Rin's arm and pulled him back down to the ground. Rin shot Kaito an annoyed glance, but Kaito wasn't bothered by it.
"What?" Rin spat out the question. Kaito winced at hearing Rin's tone. He seemed very agitated about something, and it hurt Kaito to see that. Still, that didn't discourage him. In fact, it only helped do the opposite.
"We never really talked things out between us when I think about it." Kaito finally said in a soft voice.
"What?" Rin's annoyance and anger now disappeared, his empty and tired eyes now wide from confusion.
"Yeah… The most we ever did… The most I ever did was apologize when you woke up before the last class trial, and that only happened when it did because I was worried you'd die on us." Kaito said before frowning. "But…just a single apology will make up for what happened."
"Kaito, what are you-?"
"If I'm being honest, I guess I was jealous of you." Kaito then admitted.
"Jealous…of me?"
"Well yeah. I mean, you're so cool. You're smart, dependable, and you always seem to know what you're doing and what you want. You've saved us plenty of times, especially in the trials. I guess I was just jealous that I wasn't nearly as helpful as you." Kaito then scratched his head and averted his gaze as he continued in a small mutter. "I'm sorta a little jealous of Shuichi for much of the same, if I'm honest…" Rin sputtered a few noises of disbelief before he finally found words to respond with.
"Kaito, are you an idiot? You're more than helpful!" Rin shouted, not believing anything that he just heard from the astronaut. "You're the most encouraging person I've ever met for one. You're also incredibly friendly, and you try to do what's best for everyone. You help lighten the mood and can get everyone to focus on what's in front of them instead of what's behind them. You're…the kind of person I wish I was. That's why…I tried to be confident in myself like you are." Rin then looked down shamefully as he looked at his open palm. "But I'm not strong enough by myself. I always second guess myself. I always want to second guess myself, even when I know I shouldn't. It's because there are people like you around me to encourage me and tell me that I'm more than what I actually am that I'm even able to try. I…was always jealous of you and the others, really." Kaito looked at Rin like he had just grown a second head at that.
"Wait…so were we both being idiots because we were both jealous of each other?"
"I wouldn't say that, but maybe that had a hand in it." Rin said, a dry chuckle escaping from his lips. "We were both just stubborn idiots back then."
"You can say that again." Kaito nodded before laughing. "Seriously. None of that would have happened if we had just tried to understand each other's position."
"Perhaps." Rin said before looking back at the starry ceiling.
"...You know, I really regret it. Not being on your side back then." Kaito said. "I should have trusted you. I should've believed in you, instead of being scared of the unknown."
"And I should have been less forceful. I shouldn't have begun to think that you all were helpless children that needed protecting, and that I was the only one who could provide that." Rin replied before sighing. "What an idiot I was. I still am one."
"Did you not hear what I said? You're one of the smartest people here! You're not an idiot!"
"But I am. I was just deluding myself into thinking otherwise." Rin muttered sadly. "It's only now that I've realized it. The truth of how helpless I really am. I can't do anything, even if I keep on trying. No amount of thinking or reasoning things out or even believing in myself will change that."
"Rin…" Before Kaito could say more, Rin's expression dropped to an even darker one than before. Despite how broken he looked, Rin still had a forced smile.
"Hey, Kaito. What would you do if all this ends up being pointless?"
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said." Rin told him. "If everything that's happened here in this killing game, the suffering, the pain, the deaths…if it all ends up being for nothing, what would you do?"
"That's ridiculous! What kind of question is that!?" Kaito shouted. Rin gave a weak laugh with hollow eyes as a response.
"It's a rhetorical question. Just answer it for me. What would you do in that sort of situation?" Kaito stared at Rin with a confused look before he realized the question had some sort of deeper meaning. Rin was looking at him expectantly, waiting with a sad, almost desperate look as Kaito stared back in bewilderment. He couldn't think of why the question was important or at all related to the things at hand, but Kaito figured he could at least answer the question. So, after thinking about it for a few seconds, Kaito answered.
"Why does that matter?"
"Huh?"
"Even if, and this is a big if, everything that's happened was 'pointless', why would that matter. What would even make it 'pointless'? The situation we're in? Whatever truth awaits us? None of that matters! All that matters is how I feel about all of this, and how I feel is that all of this wasn't pointless. Our friends died, but they didn't die in vain! Even if there's an ugly truth that will crush us waiting for us in the future, even if it's something as terrible as 'our friends died for nothing', I won't let it get to me! I'm the one who decides what has meaning and what doesn't have meaning! Who cares if the rest of the world thinks it's pointless? As long as it matters to me, it matters!"
Rin just stared at Kaito with a look of confusion and surprise, yet Kaito just looked back at him with confidence in his answer. It really didn't matter to Kaito. He didn't care what came his way. He never let any outside factor bring him down. Not the fact that he was too young to be an astronaut, not the fact that he was stuck in a killing game, and certainly not the fact that he was sick. Whatever happens happens, but the one who gets to decide how it will affect Kaito is himself. Why should he let other people or some other outside factor choose how he feels about something? It was all a bunch of nonsense! If he wanted to believe in something, he was going to believe in it until the very end, damn it! And nothing was going to change his mind.
"..." Rin kept staring at Kaito, looking unsure of how to respond, before his expression dropped into a small glare. Kaito couldn't help but frown a little at it. Rin had made this face before, and every time he did, Kaito couldn't help but draw similarities with Maki's glare. Both of their crimson eyes were piercing, as if they could see through people. If looks could kill, those two would certainly have quite the body count whenever they glared at people. "You're only saying that because you haven't experienced something like that yet. Would you really react like that if Monokuma came here right now and revealed something so awful, it made you want to die?"
"Of course! There's nothing Monokuma could show me that would make me feel like that! Even if it was the worst thing in the world, I won't give in! I won't stop until I reach my goal! I'm gonna keep living until I go to space, so of course nothing would make me want to die! Besides, even if I did feel that bad, I would want to keep going, because I still have all of you with me! There's no way I can give up when everyone else around me is trying so hard!" Rin visibly recoiled a little at that statement, as if the words themselves had hit him like a punch to the gut. Kaito saw a look of guilt and hatred begin to form on Rin's face as he averted his eyes.
"That's just what you want to believe! Stop talking nonsense! No person could look at something so awful and be fine!" Rin began to shout, his voice growing louder and more cracked with each word. It was as if his voice was a pane of glass that was now shattering before Kaito's eyes. "Even if you had others to support you, even if you wanted to keep on going, if it's such a hopeless situation, how could you possibly say you could keep going!? It's impossible!"
"It's not impossible! The impossible is possible! All you gotta do is make it so!" Kaito yelled back. And then there was silence. The glass wall had been shattered, like a bullet being shot through it. Rin looked stumped, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He moved it like he wanted to say something, before closing it and gulping a little. He looked…so unsure. So confused. Like he had just heard the most absurd thing in the entire world. Yet Kaito remained steadfast. Every word he said, he said it with sincerity and conviction. The same conviction he felt whenever he wanted to help his friends. The same conviction he felt when he saw Rin confidently shoot down someone's argument so that they could find the truth. That's why he wasn't going to stop. He refused to lay down and give up. His sidekick-no. His friend needed him, more than ever.
"I don't understand why you felt the need to ask that question, and I don't understand why it's so important to you." Kaito began as he moved closer to the still stupefied Rin. "But I won't pressure you to tell me. This clearly is a big deal to you. Whether this has to do with the motive, or something else Monokuma did, or even if it's just something you remembered about your past, know that I don't care. No matter what, I will be there to help you, and so will everyone else. No truth or lie or otherwise will ever change that."
"W…Why…?" Rin managed to ask. "Why are you so confident? How could you believe anything that you're saying? How can you even consider that having hope and believing is even possible?" Kaito smiled as he put a hand on Rin's shoulder.
"Because I know some of the most amazing people in this whole world, and I'm not gonna stop trying to help you all." He responded with a big smile. Rin kept staring at him for what felt like the longest time. But then, softly, Rin began to chuckle, but it wasn't the same empty, hollow chuckle he did before. This one seemed…relieved.
"I don't know how you do it." Rin said in a soft, tender voice. "You always have this way of… moving people."
"Well yeah! I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! If I can't help the people around me, how can I be expected to help my team when I go to space?"
"It's always something about space with you, isn't it?" Rin questioned with a small smile, the first one Kaito had seen that day. "But… I suppose you aren't wrong."
"Hmm?"
"I just got to stop complaining about it and just do it, right? Just like always." Rin mumbled to himself. "No matter what, I've just got to keep focusing on what's important. What's right in front of me."
"That's right. Don't let whatever's bothering you drag you down. Look it in the eye and shout 'I'll beat you!' right in it's stupid face!" Kaito told him, getting another laugh out of Rin, who looked a lot better now. He wasn't as sickly pale as before, and his eyes seemed lighter now.
"That's something you would do, isn't it?" He replied with a grin. "Only an idiot like you could pull something like that off." Kaito looked completely caught off guard by that statement as he gasped in an offended tone.
"I am NOT an idiot! I can't believe this! Now my own sidekick is calling me one!?" Kaito shouted in disbelief.
"Well, you are an idiot sometimes." Rin said with a soft gaze. "And that's why you're so cool, I guess. You don't let these sorts of things bother you, and while that's stupid, there's something to be admired there." Rin then sighed as he stood up from his spot and stretched his arms, making satisfying popping sounds as he did. "I guess I should get on with 'just doing it', right?"
"What are you planning on doing?"
"If I'm honest, I don't have a single clue." Rin admitted. "But… What's wrong with just enjoying myself today? I think I've earned a break after all of this." With that, Rin began to leave the lab, but before he did, he stopped and turned back to Kaito with a smile. "Thanks again, Kaito. I don't think you realize just how much you've done for me right now. I'm glad we've made up." With that, he left, leaving Kaito in the lab. Kaito couldn't help but smile too after that.
"I should be saying the same to you." Kaito muttered as he looked back up at the stars that were being shown on the ceiling. But then, Kaito felt something in his throat. Without even thinking, his body acted. He hunched over and covered his mouth and began coughing violently, so much so that he toppled forward onto his knees as he coughed. After he had finished, Kaito, who was now sweating bullets and looked very sickly himself, slowly moved his hand away from his mouth so he could look at it. It was covered in blood he had spat up in his coughs. He clenched his hand into a fist as he gritted his teeth. But then, he smiled, despite the blood that was now trailing down his mouth.
"A hopeless situation, huh? Don't I know it." Kaito chuckled. "I don't want to make a liar out of myself, so I'll keep going on too. Whatever this illness is, know this." Kaito then wiped away the blood from his mouth before pointing to himself confidently. "I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, and I'll beat you! I'm gonna survive and live with everyone else! And if that's not possible, I'll make it possible! I'm only gonna allow myself to die once I open the way for everyone to escape! I'll see it with my own eyes! Nothing is ever gonna change that! I'll spit in the face of death if I have to in order to keep going! That's not just a promise. It's a guarantee!" With that declaration against life and death itself, the man looked forward confidently. He had declared war, and he was going to win.
Meanwhile, Rin was walking back down the staircase, making his way back down to the 1st floor. He felt renewed. He still felt all of the pain and sorrow that had sprouted inside him the day before. Of course he could still feel the burning feeling in his now bandaged arm that screamed for release. That viciously told his mind that it was itchy beyond reproach. That bashed his mind with the insatiable desire to scratch at it. And yet, despite all of that, Rin felt that he could keep going on, if only just a little bit.
"Are you sure you're strong enough to handle the pressure?" Rin turned around and looked up. There, he saw something he was quite familiar with. It was something he had seen in the dark recesses of his mind, and plagued him with nightmares that came to him from time to time after the first trial after Tsumugi broke him with her words. It was the reason he didn't like to sleep, and was another reason as to why his sleeping habits were so bad. He had refused to acknowledge it before. He refused to think about it. That's why it was only showing up now, because now, for the first time, he was staring at it, locking eyes with it. Acknowledging it.
It was a girl, one he was quite familiar with. However, she didn't look normal. She was entirely red, and cracks could be seen throughout her body, like she was a porcelain doll. Her eyes were hollow, and she had a wicked smile. She was one of the people he saw in that nightmare he had before Himiko's trial. Worst of all, she had the appearance of someone Rin used to know.
"...Yuna." Rin muttered as he stared at the hallucination that haunted his dreams and had now begun to plague his waking life.
"I know just how weak you are, and so do you. Do you really think you could survive this? Survive this when people much stronger and smarter than you couldn't? I know you want to give up, just like before. You always give up in the end." The phantom taunted him with a hateful smirk. Rin just kept looking at her, his face not changing. And then, he spoke.
"I'll beat you." He said with nothing but determination. The hallucination seemed shocked at that reaction, but that lasted only a second before it began to smirk again. It walked past Rin, before placing a hand on his shoulder. It was a cold sensation that he felt, and he couldn't help but sweat while feeling it.
"I'll guess we'll see about that." The phantom replied. "Just remember. I'll always be here, in the dark corner of your mind you don't want to look at, along with everyone else who you couldn't save. We'll be waiting for you to join us in Hell." Rin turned back around, but the phantom was gone now. He gritted his teeth and continued stomping down the stairs.
"I'm not gonna die like you want. I'm not gonna give up like you want. Not this time. Never again." Rin growled. "I don't want to die yet, so I won't give in to despair this time around." So he continued on. Two men, both at their limits against two separate situations that were completely hopeless. Yet they continued to struggle pathetically. Because that's what humans do. And there's something beautiful and admirable about it.
