I wake up sometime later and walk around the school, unsure of what to do. I scroll through my monopad, looking for inspiration. I don't have much time left. I can only hang out with one person today. The thought brings a pout to my lips that I will deny for the rest of my life. Maki, Kaito, Kirumi, Kokichi, K1-B0, Miu... What do I do..? I absentmindedly scroll down the list of friendship fragments, feeling my eyebrows rise at the rate I've been collecting them. Maybe I'm better company than Shuichi. I snicker quietly to myself. As if.
"Angie!" I raise my head and look into soft red eyes.
"Gonta, hey!" I exclaim nervously, surprised at suddenly being approached by him.
"Gonta saw Angie looking sad. Gentleman want to help!" Gonta cheers
I give him a small smile, "Okay. Thanks, Gonta."
I spend some time talking with Gonta.
"Here, Angie!" Gonta pushes a small object into my hands.
*Obtained Present
Gold Origami
"Wow, thanks, Gonta!" I beam up at him, I've never done origami before, and a glance at the back of the box shows some handy instructions. Yay.
"Gonta wish to become Gentleman. Gentleman help others!" Gonta declares before smiling happily at me, "Thank you, Angie!"
"For what?"
"Inviting Gonta! Gonta very, very happy! This maybe first time Gonta spend free time with anyone." Gonta adjusts the strap on his bug box, "Gonta gonna work hard!"
"I'm sure you'll do great Gonta," I put the origami in my pocket, "You're really nice..." I trail off, going through my memories of Gonta
"What wrong? Is Gonta bothering you!?" Gonta frets, looking horrified
"No, No, No!" I wave my hands frantically in front of me, taking a step back from him, "I-It's not that! Please don't think that!"
"It not..?" Gonta meekly questions, still sounding heartbroken
"No, wh-why would you think that?" I ask sadly
"Gonta, not have many friends growing up, other people too scared to approach Gonta." Gonta vaguely explains, looking down at me with mournful eyes, "This place where Gonta find first people who not run away."
"Gonta..." I step closer and grab his hand, holding it tightly, "I'm here for you, If people are intimidated by you, give them time, if nothing changes then don't bother," I take a step back, letting his hand fall from mine, and slowly start walking away.
"Angie, thank you!" I turn my head slightly, catching a glimpse of fresh tears falling from his eyes as he tightly grips his bug box.
My hair flies around me as I twist my body around, sending him a bright smile as I continue walking, "No problem. If you ever want to hang out with someone or you're lonely," Gonta's eyes widen with hope, "Come find me!" I raise my hand in goodbye and soon disappear from his sight.
ding dong bing bong
". . ."
"THIS-IS-AN-OFFICIAL-ANNOUNCEMENT-FROM-THE-ULTIMATE-ACADEMY..."
"IT-IS-NOW-10-P.M. NIGHTTIME-OFFICIALY-STARTS-NOW..."
"EVERYONE-IS-OUT-NOW..."
"ON-WORK-DUTY..."
". . ."
"...BEDTIME-URSINE!"
Nighttime..?
I walk absentmindedly around the courtyard, not really thinking about going to sleep. The next motive should be handed out... tonight? The motive videos. Those are tricky. I don't know how to stop Kirumi. She gets her own video.
I could let the insect meet-and-greet happen, maybe this time Kokichi can get us to watch the videos, or I could give Ryoma enough hope that he doesn't let Kirumi kill him. But wouldn't she go after someone else? There's no way to convince her not to kill someone. After she sees the video, she's high on adrenaline. It'd take a week at minimum for her to get over it, consider waiting things out.
Maybe Kokichi's way is the best, he gets his own video as well. It's amazing how strong his beliefs towards killing are that it looks like he didn't even consider it. When he got his own video, he must've come to the conclusion the same could've happened for others, leading to him trying to get everyone to watch them, without letting them know he had his own. It'd also reveal Maki if he actually knew at that point what she was.
I idly twirl my hair, this is harder than I thought. Why is it so hard? I walk back towards the dormitory, a bounce in my step. I know it's not out of happiness or joy. I'm a bundle of nervous energy, horribly tense. How could I not be? It's the second chapter. Each chapter has always been done within a week's time. Which means sometime next week, I could die. The third chapter. Angie's death, my death. As each day passes, my fear grows, I don't want to die. I know I could die at any moment, I could die tomorrow, but that's when Angie died, it feels like a countdown. A waiting game. I walk into my room and collapse on my bed, a stray tear rolls down my cheek as I fall deeper into my subconscious mind.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, three bears pop into my room.
ding dong bing bong
"Rise and shine, ursine!"
"THIS-IS-AN-OFFICIAL-ANNOUNCEMENT-FROM-THE-ULTIMATE-ACADEMY... IT'S-8-A.M."
We dropped off presents in your rooms!"
"Hell starts here!"
"Hey, Monodam, was this your-"
I groan and throw a pillow at the monitor, rolling off the bed in the process. Those announcements were getting so old. I stare at the monitor with unseeing eyes as they continue talking, my mind elsewhere. This is it. My breathing feels heavy as I crawl towards the table, already catching glimpses of the 'present', as they call it. I reach up weakly and drop it into my waiting lap, not bothering to get up off the floor as my breathing picks up in speed. I turn it over, seeing the words 'kubs pad'. I can't breathe. I nimbly reach out and touch the screen, causing it to start playing the 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..."
The screen changes to a picture of...
"Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician, or, er, ' mage ' as she calls herself..."
"Thanks to her adoration for her talent, this little girl became the youngest magician of the year! Wow! Sadly, all it did was push her obsession to new levels, boo."
"Himiko was taught by her master, someone who she admired above all others. This was muddled in with a whole lot of envy at never being able to surpass him. Not so sweet."
"Recently, though, her Master experienced a painful accident!"
"What kind ofpainful accident? Puhuhuhu. Leave this place and find out for yourself!"
My body shakes as I process the information I was just given.
Himiko...
The monitor in my room cracks as I chuck a shot put ball at it.
I endure Monokuma's screeching for five minutes as he kicks me out of my own room to fix the screen, telling me to watch it next time.
After a while, I decided to leave my room and was leaving the dormitories when someone called out to me.
"Angie!" I turn around as Kokichi bounds down the stairs with a grin, "I was gonna go looking for you! Keeboy told me we're all meeting up in the dining hall!"
"We are?" I ask, already walking with him towards the Academy
"Yep, yep!" Kokichi nods his head rapidly, giving me the impression it's about to snap off any second, "Probably about these motive videos we got, hey, whose did you get?" Kokichi asks the question casually, but not as subtly as he usually does. His question was fired out rapidly like he couldn't contain himself. His eyes also keep shifting from analyzing my expression to my pocket, where my hand fiddles with the kubs pad restlessly, something he notices.
I want to tell him the truth, or something else, I don't know, anything was better than my reply. "What's it to you? It's none of your business whose video I got!" I snap defensively, tightening my grip on the kubs pad, "You should focus on things that are actually important! You're just wasting time right now!"
I yank the doors to the academy open and go to slam them in his face, only for him to stop me with his next words, "Like the flashback light?" He asks the question idly, marching into the building with a plastic grin on his face, the single genuine emotion visible was the way his eyes were narrowed, "You said you had no idea what it could do, you should know better than to try lying to me. You were pretty good at hiding it, but you knew what that thing would show us." He closes the doors behind us, dragging me towards the dining hall, "So what I'm curious about is why you lied, why did you?" He hums to himself when I don't respond, a cruel smile playing at his lips, "Maybe you already used it, but there's more to it than that. I don't know what you're up to, but I'll find out. It'll be a fun game!"
We stop in front of the doors that lead to the dining hall as he leans in with a grave expression and whispers into my ear, "I know you're not the mastermind. And don't play dumb, you're smart enough to know there's a mastermind among us, it's why you play friendly with everyone, never showing how annoyed or offended you can get. You're not all that boring, but you're definitely dangerous to the mastermind, you could be on the chopping block next. You better be careful, Angie."
With that Kokichi saunters into the dining hall, dragging me along, just as everyone else comes through the other door that leads here from outside. I suck in a breath, Kokichi made me go the long way, just so that we could talk. Dammit.
"We have gathered everyone else!" Keebo exclaims as he takes a seat at the table, everyone else following suit.
"Why did you drag us out here?" Maki asks, looking worn out, she must've spent the night at her lab.
"It is about the kubs pads, correct?" Kiyo inquires
"Monokuma gave us a new motive, we can't not talk about it," Kaito rolls his eyes
"Wait, that thing was a motive!?" Tenko screeches beside Himiko, who winces in response
"Didn't you watch the video?" Ryoma questions sullenly, casting a glance at Maki
"N-No, I was going to watch it after I ate some food," Tenko looks upset as she looks down at her hands, "I didn't think we'd get another motive so soon."
"well, you don't have to talk then, but you should at least listen!" Kaito pounds a fist on the table
"What are these videos?" Kokichi asks, shooting me a look
"Why are they all mixed up?" Miu shouts, causing Kokichi to look at her in surprise
"Mixed up..? But-" I hear him mutter before he catches himself, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation.
"Why Gonta get Tsumugi's video-" Gonta starts only to be cut off by Keebo
"Don't say it, Gonta!" Keebo looks pained as he says this, watching Tsumugi's rapidly changing facial expression.
"...I heard it... Gonta has my video..." She looks sick as she says this
"Who fuckin' care!? We're gonna exchange em' anyway, right?" Miu growls lowly, her hands twitching
"No!" Shout out multiple voices
"Why not?" Ryoma asks, "Aren't they kind of personal? They're about the most important people in our lives."
"That's why we can't exchange em" Kaito scoffs
"We do not know why they were mixed up... As long as we don't exchange them, we don't have to see our motives at all." Keebo adds on
"We're going to ignore them?" Himiko asks blankly, watching Keebo carefully
"Yes. At least, that is what I think."
"I mean, if we ignore them, we won't have a motive..." Tenko relents
"I'm against that," Ryoma interjects, causing him to get into an argument with Kaito that I tune out, glancing at Himiko nervously, only to catch her eye as she also glances at me. She was watching me, but I was watching her. At both of us being caught, we gaze at one another, neither relenting until she shifts her blazer, revealing a kubs pad, her gaze imploring me to understand. I draw my own out so that she can see it before putting it away. As the conversation around us continues, we make a silent promise to meet up later and talk about this.
"I think it'd be better if we didn't cooperate with each other..." Kokichi suggests slyly, a smirk gracing his features before he snaps back into the childish act, "Actually, we definitely shouldn't cooperate with each other!"
"Why not!?" Keebo questions, frustrated
"Well, it's not like I expected a robot to understand," Kokichi shrugs helplessly, "Honestly, think back to Monokuma's actions so far. Whenever we tried to work together, Monokuma would retaliate with a plan to make us suffer. It's happened before, so what's stopping him from doing it again? The more we try to cooperate, the more he'll try to make us suffer."
"Th-That doesn't make any sense!" Kaito bites out
Kokichi gives him a mirthless smile, "It's why I had no choice but to screw with you guys." He sighs, "too bad, you didn't even notice." His expression darkens, "I'm warning you all for your sake, don't get used to it." He grins once more, "I agree with Ryoma, let's just exchange our motive videos."
"Your logic makes no sense." Keebo quietly whines to himself
"Whelp, I've said my piece. I'm done here." Kokichi jumps up from his seat and starts walking around the table until he reaches me, "C'mon, Gonta, Angie. Let's go!" He tugs me up from my seat as Gonta stands
"Kokichi!" I shout, ignored by him
"What? Gonta, too!?"
"We promised to think of ways to get everyone to exchange their motive videos, remember?" Kokichi asks, already dragging me towards the door "Kirumi! I'll hit you up later when I'm feeling hungry, kay?"
"Did Gonta make promise?" Gonta questions himself before scrambling after us
"Where should we go?" Kokichi idly asks as we walk around the school, "Oh, you can go now if you want, Angie."
I bristle at his words, "Why'd you drag me out here in the first place?"
"What? You looked bored, am I wrong, or am I right?" Kokichi smiles innocently at me
I watch him wearily.
"If you want, you can ignore our conversation from earlier," He leans into my personal space, "I already told you I don't think you're the mastermind, you're too obvious to me." He walks away, "The best thing you can do Is forget it happened and keep in mind what I told you."
I nod sadly, "Bye Gonta, Bye... Kokichi." I run away from them as Gonta waves, and Kokichi watches me intently, his eyes repeating a single message over and over again.
Be careful.
Friendship Fragments collected!
Gonta Gokuhara - 1-5
Kokichi Oma - 4-5
