The Perfect Recipe for Disaster

by Destux

What happens when you mix insane and insane together? A certain supreme leader finds out about three secret parties that were being held without his knowledge. And no one does NOT invite Kokichi to a party, especially if a whole class of sixteen people will be attending. It would be stupid to not invite him; after all, he's great at parties!

5. Executing pt 2 (Finale)

A/N: Just a quick heads-up before getting into this chapter. This might contain some uncomfortable things like mild gore, anxiety attacks and some compromising positions. Keep that in mind or you might get blindsided.

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Meanwhile, in the auditorium...

"AHHHHHHHH! THAT SOUND WAS CUUUUUURSED!"

"O-Oi! What the hell happened here?!"

"I can't see! I can't seeeeee!"

"C-Calm down! Or else you'll- Uwah!"

"Save me, Mahiru-neeeeee!"

"Can someone just turn the damn lights on already?! I can't keep eatin' in the dark like this!"

"W-Where are you guys...? Did the blackout happen over here too?"

"E-E-E-Eeeeek!"

"Mikan-chan?! Ibuki's coming to- EEEEP!"

"What the?! What's going on- Oof!"

Chiaki felt something hard and heavy topple and pin her to the ground. She felt a rush of pain go through her body as her back made contact with the ground. Whatever fell on top of her instinctively steamrolled over her chest and face, immediately intensifying the pain which made her squeak out a quiet whimper like a rubber ducky getting squished. For a moment, something soft, moist and sweet brushed over her lips, and something else even harder than the object on top of her slid over her delicates in a teasing manner as the object rolled over her like a Katamari. That moment lasted way shorter than she had thought and her mind abandoned all logical reasoning for the duration. A thought of pulling the object nearer to her lips flashed in her brain.

That thought now became a command for Chiaki. Not understanding what was happening to her, her body mindlessly acted on its own and tried to reach for that hard object...

...But before she could even reach for it, the object was now far from her reach; leaving only an aching sensation in her body... and in her heart...

"S-Sorry!" a voice that probably sounded like Hajime's said to her in apology, bringing the literally depressed gamer back to her senses.

Sounds of falling plates and heavy thuds echoed around the room as the blackout ensued. Not only that, but the panicking voices of Chiaki's classmates joined those sounds as well. Sitting up from her current position, the gamer managed to stay calm and keep still while everyone was running around, tripping over each other as she can evidently hear. In times like these, her skills in playing those investigation games would be important. Chiaki racked through her brain to try and think of a way to assess and remedy this situation.

"Does anyone have a fucking flashlight over there?! One of you bastards needs to go reset the breakers!"

Flashlight... Right! Her console can act as a light source for everyone!

With the pork bun still on her hand, Chiaki fished out her console from her catpack once again. She didn't even need to look at it to know where it is or where the buttons are despite the pitch blackness of the auditorium. Flipping open the DS, she turned the brightness of the screen all the way up. The bright light that emanated from the screen stung Chiaki's eyes for a bit so she had to look away and point the screen up so that the light would become a beacon for her classmates.

"H-Hey! Over there! A light!"

"Ah, using your plaything for gamers as a makeshift beacon... Nice thinking, Nanami-san! Hell! Yeah!"

"Hmph, darkness encircled my foul existence ever since I was born. Unlike you mortals, I do not need something as insignificant as a tiny speck of light to guide me. Darkness blinded me. Darkness guides me. Feh!"

Like moths enticed to a lamp, her classmates slowly huddled near the light source. Akane was still somehow holding up a plate of food and still gorging herself with some skewered meat. The others who tripped over themselves slowly stood up from the ground and joined them as well. With the guidance of their class rep's bright beacon of hope - as Nagito would call it, Peko went over to the two concussed bodies that belonged to Mikan and Ibuki. The musician was apparently locked into a position where their faces touched each other with the nurse's legs keeping the struggling musician there. Chiaki shone the light on them to make it clearer for the others to see.

After Mikan noticed that the "spotlight" was on the both of them, she instantly released the charmed Ibuki and wormed her way off from under her. "Kyaaaaaaaah! I'm s-s-s-sorry, Mioda-san! I-I-I don't know what c-came over m-me..." the nurse wailed out while trying to make herself look pitiful by making a big deal over a small scandal. She started to sob her eyes out.

"Hohoho! That's some hot and juicy action there if I do say so myself!" Teruteru snorted.

"Ewwww! You're really a nasty, trashy pig whore, aren't you?! Go and grovel on that ground like the hog that you are while you're at it!" Hiyoko snapped at the crying nurse with abject hatred on her voice and face even though she wasn't that visible from Chiaki's beacon. Mikan did exactly that as she choked out some pig sounds through her hiccuped cries while she snorted at the carpeted ground.

"Ugyuuu... *snort* *snort* *hic* uuuuuu..."

With a concerned look on her face, Chiaki asked Peko to help the two up. The swordswoman calmly complied with her request and pulled the two into a sitting position to gather their senses. Mikan was still whimpering and Ibuki's face was...frozen in an expression that the gamer can't quite describe. She'd seen that kind of face before in her dating sims but she never really understood why they would make that kind of expression on some CG scenes... or so she thinks.

"Eeehhhh... Mikan-chaaaaan~..." Ibuki moaned out with drool escaping her mouth. Upon closer inspection, her pupils seemed to have been replaced with hearts instead of the usual pink orbs.

"Looks like Mioda's down for the count..." remarked Kazuichi who finally stopped panicking from the blackout.

"You're a real dumbass, Soda." Fuyuhiko added. "Ever accidentally kissed a woman before and loved it?"

"Like hell do you know!" the mechanic shot back. "You never even kissed a girl before!"

"What the fuck did you say to me prick?! I can move past first base before your pathetic ass can land one!"

"You wanna bet?!"

"Oh, you're fucking on!"

"Jeez! You boys are so insensitive!" Mahiru interjected on the tirade between an angry mechanic and a pissed off yakuza, pushing them both away before they can hurt each other. "Women should not be treated as objects for your petty bets! You both should be more like responsible men instead of acting like immature teenagers!"

The three glared at each other for a while until after the two men clicked their tongues at each other and averted their gazes. The auditorium fell into a wordless type of silence. Some sounds could still be heard, like Byakuya and Akane who were wolfing down their portions, Ibuki who was continuing to convulse and drool on the spot while loudly moaning out "Mikan-chan~", Hajime and Peko who were busy comforting the sobbing nurse with shushes and rubs on the back, and Hiyoko who was munching on some gummies instead of eating Teruteru's dishes.

"Now that that's been taken care with," Nekomaru finally spoke up to address the current situation with the others who were busy eating in the darkness by the beacon. "We still need to take care of the lights. Whatever that sound was, it must have caused a breaker overload. We need someone to reset the breakers." The hulking team manager turned to look at Kazuichi's perpetually frustrated state and raised his already loud indoor voice. "Soda! You'll be in charge of that!"

"Yeah, but I'll still need a spare flashlight to go backstage..." he grumbled, not wanting to go to that dark and scary place. "Besides, we can't just use Nanami's console. We'll need somethin' just as strong for here too."

"Well, Nanami? Do you have any other flashlights with you?"

"No, I don't..." Chiaki replied and paused for a moment. "...Probably. Lemme check for a sec."

Setting down her catpack, she handed the flashlight to Nekomaru's gigantic hands and gestured for him to shine it inside the bag of goodies. With the light shining on the stuff she shoved in the bag in a hurry, her eyes darted around the pile of consoles and cartridges and searched for something that could be used as a light source. Technically, her other consoles could be used but the light they emitted would be too dim. Chiaki mentally sighed. Looks like this loot chest didn't hold the items she needed for this moment. Who would bring an extra light source for a party anyways?

Now that she thought about it, Nagito would... probably.

"Sorry, Nidai-kun..." she hastily said as she picked her catpack back up and put the straps on her shoulders. Nekomaru handed the console back to her. "...This is the only flashlight I have."

"Got any other options, coach?"

"Hmmm... Very well! I shall run back towards the dorms and grab a flashlight mysel-"

*BANG*

A loud explosion followed by a myriad of pops and crackles near them immediately silenced the loud Nekomaru and stopped everyone from doing what they were doing. No one uttered a word. It was suffice to say that everyone froze up as the strong smell of gunpowder wafting through the air immediately killed their appetites except for a few people who REALLY wanted to eat. Chiaki ate the last remains of her pork bun and joined their silence.

*BANG*

Those same sounds reverberated inside the auditorium once more. This time, everyone was able to see the sparks of fire that those pops and crackles made. They were at a considerable distance from the stage... which was directly under the lights in the auditorium.

The panic inside Chiaki's mind was continuing to grow but she managed to keep a calm façade. Those explosions, sounds and gunpowder...

There was no mistake... those sounds came from the lights trying to turn back on. Another round of those explosions might cause the lights to combust... probably.

"Guys..." Hajime spoke up with a hint of fear in his tone. "...I don't think resetting the breakers would be a good idea..."

"Y-Yeah..." Kazuichi nodded with a shaky tone. "...Good call, Hinata..."

It was bad luck that they requested the walls to be soundproof since they didn't want to cause any panic from Ibuki's screamer of a concert. If these walls weren't soundproofed, there'd be a good reason for the bystanders who happened to be near the auditorium to panic. Anyone else would've thought that there was a shooting going on inside but for the people inside, the loud sounds and sparks were an effect of the lights overloading. Someone might have attempted to reset the breakers already.

But the breakers were backstage and the only person who wasn't present was...

"...Komaeda-kun!" Chiaki shouted her thoughts out loud with full-blown panic overriding her calm face. Everyone turned to the general direction of her abnormally panicked shout of realization.

"Huh?" Akane asked in confusion. "Did ya see him or somethin'?"

"Komaeda-kun went backstage, right Hanamura-kun?!" she asked frantically to the chef who was now sweating bullets.

"Y-Yeah, I did say that..." Teruteru said, breaking off from his accent for a moment. "...Why the sudden panic though, Nanami-san?"

"Don't tell me he's..." Hajime quickly added before he bit down hard on his tongue after connecting the dots. "...We need to get him out of there right now!"

"Woah woah woah! Slow down there!" Hiyoko raised her voice to stop Hajime and Chiaki from panicking. "Why are you two in a hurry? That creeper is just backstage, right? So, why should we be-"

"That's because he's trying to reset the breakers, you nincompoop!" Kazuichi already understood the situation at hand and berated the dancer for her stupid question. "He's gonna cause a fire if we don't get him out of there, damnit!"

As soon as the mechanic said those words, there was an uproar inside the auditorium. Even Mikan and Ibuki were shocked right back to their usual selves from his words.

"You better not be fucking around with us, b-bastard!" Fuyuhiko threatened shakily amidst the other panicking voices.

"You think I'm joking around about a friggin' fire?!"

"This party has become disastrous..." Sonia remarked sadly. "...and it was all from a single blackout."

"Blub-blub-blub-blub... Ibuki cannot take this anymore..."

They all continued to talk over each other. They weren't getting anywhere at this rate so Chiaki had to settle this for them, class rep style.

"Guys!" she yelled out but no one was listening. She tried again and again yet no one else seemed to have heard her. Her throat was getting sore but she wasn't about to give up. Not until she finishes her job. However, before she puffed her cheeks out to charge her scream beam for everyone to stop, she was interrupted by a voice.

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

Everyone was silenced and they flinched from that extremely loud and commanding voice that blasted through the speakers-

Wait a minute.

The speakers? How?

As if that mysterious voice expected those questioning thoughts, two claps echoed throughout the room and multiple spotlights shone on the stage, revealing a caped shadowy figure on the middle of the stage holding high a microphone on its left hand and a soda can on its right hand.

"Is that... Komaeda?"

"No, he's not! He's WAY too short for it to be him!"

"Then who in the world is this stranger?!"

"That's not the real issue here! More importantly, how was this person able to use the lighting and sound system if there's a blackout?"

"Nishishi... Oh, how LONG I've waited for this day, you guys!" the familiar-sounding voice shouted at the mic with childish excitement. "I've been DYING to finally meet you all!"

"That voice..." Gundham uttered in a soft voice. "...It appears that we were right after all..." That horrified tone betrayed the eccentric breeder's normal tone for his over-the-top speeches.

"Shit shit shit... SHIIIIIIIIITTTT!" both Nekomaru and Kazuichi cursed loudly in sync with each other.

"MWAH-HAHAHAHA! It seems that you three have finally caught up with current affairs!" The stranger tossed the empty can of soda to the side of the stage and removed the cape that obfuscated his figure, revealing an incredibly tall mushroom clad in a white suit and checkered scarf... or so Chiaki thinks.

This stranger then pulled out a remote that looked like a large video game controller to the gamer and began to press some buttons on it. As he pressed those buttons, a chanting choir that sounded like the choir that chanted in Cantata Mortis accompanied by the screams in those heavy death metal songs that Ibuki made Chiaki listen to could be heard from the speakers while two geysers of flame erupted from the stage. In addition to that, a vivid display of fireworks and pyrotechnics colored the scenery that unfolded before them. Multiple streaks of light and random explosions made everyone flinch with the brightness and loudness of the light show. There was red there, green here, yellow over there- oh, and there's violet everywhere too. Unlike the others, Chiaki's eyes weren't that sensitive to over exposure to bright lights from her late night gaming sessions in the dark under her comfy blanket - it didn't bother her at all. She just... stared indifferently at the bright lights. What did in fact bother her was the growing heat in the auditorium. Even without her jacket and hood, she still wanted to remove more of her clothing just to cool off.

If it was going to be this hot, I should've just come in wearing my bikini instead... Chiaki thought to herself with a long look on her face in regret of her uncomfortable fashion choice.

While she was merely watching the show, everyone else just stood there and watched in awe and terror. It was too dangerous for them to approach this stranger with all the sparks and fire surrounding the stage.

"That's right... it's me... Oma Kokichi, the Ultimate Supreme Leader-slash-Ultimate Party Maniac!" he proclaimed loudly while balling his cape and tossing it into the two geysers, sending a burning projectile towards them which burned completely before it reached them. "Nice to meet you, my friends- Oh wait! Let me rephrase that..."

"I'm glad to finally be friends with "Nanami-chan's Minions"!"

It was that that made Chiaki's eyes widen and fall to her knees. Everyone else faded from her sight and all the other sounds were muted, leaving her to her own musings. Even with the portable beacon on her hand, all she saw was the pitch blackness of the auditorium. It soon began to swallow everything in her sight. She felt lost in this scary and all-too-familiar cavern that she tried to avoid every time she thought deep about... stuff.

Minions...? They're not my minions... They're my friends... right? she thought to herself in apprehension to the answer to that question that targeted her specifically.

Then again, she wonders what would've happened if she wasn't their class rep. Would they still treat her the same way? Would they still listen to her when she would suggest that they hold parties to create memories and strengthen their friendship?

Kokichi's description of her classmates would've rung true if they didn't treat her the same way. That thought did not feel good at all...

...The thought of her friends becoming like those mindless troops in those simulation games that followed her every command sickened her to the point where she wanted to vomit out everything inside her. They're all such wonderful and splendid friends. She never wanted them to feel compelled to heed her every word. How dare she destroy their sense of self with her position?!

Her body felt extremely heavy and she lay broken on the ground, completely paralyzed - her mind the only thing that's active in her.

They'd really become her minions who only respected her because of her position and achievements as class rep.

It's the same thing all over again...

It's always because of her title that she was recognized and she hated that...

Sure, she was fine with them praising and validating her and her efforts. In fact, it felt good and it never failed to make her happy but now that Kokichi hit her with that twisted perspective, the bad effects started to take a toll on her feelings.

Chiaki was starting to hear echoes and murmurs at her vicinity. As she heard them, she was suddenly put in familiar scenery instead of the insides of the dark auditorium.

"...I agree with our class rep. We should not avoid this opportunity for your hopes to shine even brighter!"

Would Komaeda-kun have agreed with me if I wasn't their class rep?

Huh? No! Wait! Stop!

""No can do, ma'am! Ibuki must make sure our class rep does not fall asleep on the way, so I'll wait by the door!" Ibuki yelled while saluting."

S-Stop it! Mioda-san is my friend! She would've helped me regardless-

"Tell me about it. Their class rep's always making a fuss over such a trivial matter that they have to go around the campus and proclaim it to everyone they meet like their indecent cultist. Luckily, ours is better and much more refined than that lowly pianist, isn't that right?"

"I agree with Byakuya-chan! You are the best class rep ever!"

No! Stop looking at me as your class rep-

"Oh come on! Cut yourself some slack! We think you're obviously the best class rep and anyone who thinks otherwise are gonna have to go through us! "

"S-Soda-san is right. Y-You're not doing y-your best like how Akamatsu-san or Naegi-san does, b-but rather, you are the best class rep ever and they are simply copying you."

Tsumiki-san?! That's wrong-

"Even though it was Makoto's idea to hold a party for their respective classes and the other two agreed to this idea, he admitted that he was inspired by how Chiaki became a class rep. Kaede, too, was inspired by how Chiaki used her talent that normally would have distanced her from other people. 'Nuff said, their ideas and actions all came from how Chiaki brainwashed her classmates to be her friends with video games."

No! That's not true! THAT'S NOT TRUE! STOP IT!

"Don't worry! Ibuki will listen even if her speech is too long and boring!"

"Yeah! We should listen to her too! I'll punch anyone who doesn't listen to her!"

"Hmhmhm! There are other ways to thank me. Just give me a call and I'll be right there to offer you a special dish just for our beloved class rep!"

Stop it stop it stop it STOP IT!

"Please don't look down on yourself, Komaeda-kun. You're still our classmate no matter what."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! As expected of our class rep! Your ability to detect the problems of the ones you lead knows no bounds! You should have been called the Ultimate Class Rep instead!"

STOP IT! I'M NOT JUST-

"That's very you. You're always being a class rep to everybody else, aren't you?"

No... not you too... Hinata-kun... I thought... you understood me better than anybody else...

More unpleasant thoughts that were once happy memories to Chiaki began to play in her brain. Those memories became warped with her current state of mind. Everything she thought she did as being as their friend was now twisted into something that went with the idea that she brainwashed everyone to escape her crushing loneliness. Even those happy fun times with Hajime and Chisa as best friend and pupil respectively lost their original meaning.

Everything Chiaki did that was once validated became invalid for her.

She didn't realize that tears were falling from her eyes as more and more of those horrible memories played in her mind. The warm colors, like the orange that glowed by the fountain whenever Chiaki and Hajime played video games and the bright yellow that shined through the windows of her classroom whenever homeroom was in session that she often associated them with became dark, but not as dark as the blackness of the auditorium; it was bright enough so she would be able to see clearly. She wanted them to stop. She wanted to believe that those weren't true but it just seemed so real.

Why did it have to make so much sense?!

Why did she even wan-

BANG*

The loud and sudden sound of a firecracker going off near her shocked Chiaki out of that anxiety attack. She sprang back up, the suddenness of the action made her free hand accidentally slap her face in a resounding smack. It was almost as if she needed to be scared by a firecracker and slapped to bring her out of that dark and horrible place. The memory was still fresh in her mind and the hand that was holding the Nyantendo DS was quaking.

I need to stop thinking about that... It's not healthy... she mentally commanded to herself, mashing the buttons frantically to stop the anxiety from taking over.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

She spammed those words to herself repeatedly. She firmly believed in the thought that Kokichi didn't mean what he said and that it was just another nickname for her friends in supreme leader lingo. Sure, it sounded like she was in denial but she will latch onto that thought until proven otherwise.

After repeating those words to herself, she was finally back to her normal self. It seems as if the supreme leader's presentation on stage was finally finished, accentuated by the fact that he was laughing uncontrollably like Kefka's cackling during the fourth movement of Dancing Mad.

The resemblance was so uncanny that it made Chiaki shudder at the thought of Kokichi causing the end of the world just to prove a point...

The gamer used the beacon on her hand to examine the expressions on her classmates' faces. Most of their expressions told her that they all had their souls ripped off of them, leaving a perpetually anguished face from that harrowing experience of pyrotechnics and deathly music, like something out of a creepy Pokédex entry.

"Nishishi..." Kokichi giggled at the mic in glee. "How did you guys like my entrance? I know I know...pretty gr-"

"You'd do well being called the Ultimate Maniac instead, you psycho!" Hiyoko snapped while hiding behind a frozen Mahiru.

"WHATEVER!" Kokichi yelled at his mic again. Chiaki had to cover her ears this time. Her ears could only take so much from his high-pitched yelling, amplified by the loud speakers. "You guys don't know how to start a party so allow me to rectify this amateur mistake for my precious friends!"

She saw Kokichi hold the remote up high in the air and made the index finger of his free hand slowly approach some random button on it. Did someone activate their slow motion skill?

"S-Someone get him out of here now!" yelled Teruteru in a panicked voice. He didn't even need to say it since it was the most obvious thing to do right now. Peko and Akane bolted over towards the smirking supreme leader to try and bat the remote away from his hands. Seeing this, Kokichi's quickened his trigger finger and pressed a button on the remote which activated more fire pillars, barricading all possible entry points to his current position. The duo decided to back off slowly from the evil villain on stage and wait for the opportune moment to strike.

With another press of a button, something small exploded between the two and they jumped back on reflex. They completely abandoned their mission and gave the stage a wide berth. Yeah, that seems like a good idea... maybe.

"I think I made it pretty clear that it'd be a bad idea to defy the evil supreme leader, yeah?" Kokichi stated smugly while letting the flames die down so the others can see him. He made sure that they weren't completely shut off though. "Oh, and before you try to throw something at this remote, I have an extra right here in my pocket." He pulled the extra remote from his pocket to prove his point.

That remote was able to activate a lot of dangerous things on stage; it was almost as if that remote held all the power inside this auditorium, from the building's power supply to booby traps that she didn't even know existed inside the auditorium in the first place.

And that was the kicker to all the strange things that happened during the party...

They were planning to have a simple party, with as little pyrotechnics or explosions as possible, and yet an outside party was able to turn this simple party into an enormous fire hazard. Only Chiaki and her classmates were privy to the specifics of the party, like the whereabouts, party supplies, equipment and decorations, so how did Kokichi manage to plan all this right under their noses?

"The Prince of Lies is always lurking within the shadows, searching for a suitable prey to spit its virulent tongue on. Considering how he already sunk his fangs on our helpless and demented ally, it would only be a matter of time before he learns of our banquet. When the moon glows brightly on the night of our gathering, he would unleash his venom upon us all!"

Was this what Gundham meant? Was Kokichi spying on their class the whole time?

Well, she didn't know the exact answer to those questions. All she knows is that there is a supreme leader here who basically crashed their party. Quite rudely, too.

It didn't even need to be said that crashing into a party uninvited was disrespectful.

Thinking about it now, Kokichi *did* lack EXP points in his Morals stat, didn't he? That would explain his lack of decency or respect for other people... or so she thinks.

"Now that that's out of the way," Kokichi started and played with the remotes by juggling them both. "Let's kick this party off with a simple game! There's a prize for whoever wins~!"

The others groaned except for Chiaki. In fact, she became excited and started to fire off one question after another. "A game? What is it?! What are the rules?! What are the prizes?! How do-"

"Nishishi... calm down, Nanami-chan! It was just a lie!"

"Oh..." the gamer's excitement instantly crumbled to dust with one simple sentence. She thought that he was going to make friends by playing a game with them. Her face hung low into a downtrodden and defeated state. "...I thought..."

"Oopsies~!" he cut Chiaki off with the same excitement that she had just a few moments ago. She perked her head up. "Did I say it was a lie? I'm sorry, but that was a lie too!"

Before Chiaki could make a reply, the others quickly jumped to her defense and started to reprimand and berate Kokichi.

"Hey! Stop playing with Chiaki-chan's emotions like that!"

"You got some balls for trying to pull a prank like this on a yakuza huh?!"

"Just what are you trying to pull here anyway?! You can't just come crashing in here and expect us to play some kind of game with you!"

"What utter nonsense. I shall now render your entire existence to oblivion as punishment myself!"

"Alright alright fine! Jeez!" Kokichi raised his voice to drown out the barrage of statements directed at him. "I was gonna return Komaeda-chan to you all if you guys just cooperated but nooooo... you just had to act like freaking buzzkills, huh?! Well, so be it! I guess we'll just skip the fun parts and go right ahead to the main event then!" he angrily yelled while smashing his fist at one of the buttons on the remote in a fit of frustration. The others voiced their concerns for the missing Nagito but those fell on the supreme leader's deaf ears. "Have fun suffocating in this godforsaken building for all I care!"

Kokichi pocketed both remotes and put on a two-faced gas mask to cover his face before retreating backstage. After he left, the spotlights that were focused on him shut off abruptly, leaving the others to rely heavily on Chiaki's source of light.

The room fell silent after his stomping exit, save for the quiet sound of smoke getting exhausted from the smoke machines that were positioned on weird spots. For some reason, Chiaki felt sleepier than usual and started to yawn for a very long period of time. She also began to sway in place, the weight of her drowsiness making her legs wobble in a threat to collapse under their own weight. The dead silence in the room was broken after both Chiaki and Akane broke into a coughing fit and collapsed on the floor, the sound of heavy thuds reaching everyone's ears.

As her eyelids were getting heavier by the second, she could hear the concerned yells of her classmates and the sound of bodies dropping on the floor. Chiaki's eyes managed to open in shock of seeing Hajime collapse to the ground beside her. "Hinata-kun...!" she tried to reach for his hand but her arms felt extremely heavy from fatigue. She could see that the other boy was struggling to get up from the ground as well.

Why was everyone falling down at the same time?

Why did she feel so tired all of a sudden?

Chiaki was starting to lose her hold on her thoughts as she was being lulled to sleep - to forget everything and just... *yawn* rest for a bit…

"I'm alright... don't worry. Can you... *yawn*... move, Nanami?"

"...I...can't... I'm really...*yawn*...sleepy..."

"Damn it...! Were...we set up...?"

"*yawn* Can I take...a nap...beside you, Hinata-kun...?"

"Nanami...?"

"...zzz..."

"Nanami...! Wake...up... Now's not the... time... to... *yawn*... sleep..."

"...zzz..."

Everyone in the room soon fell to a dreamy deathlike sleep, not realizing that they were all knocked out by Kokichi's special laughing gas.

---

Ten minutes.

That's all the time he had and needed to move the bodies before they would all wake up from the effects of the gas. There was no time to waste dilly-dallying around, so he immediately ran to the rendezvous point where he and Gonta planned to meet up.

After a short trek through the woods (not really), he saw the husky entomologist seated on the grassy area by the tree, humming a tune to himself as a bunch of butterflies that were flying around him suddenly fled when they sensed the malice that was buried deep inside Kokichi draw closer. Gonta was saddened that the other butterflies left without saying goodbye. His eyes looked like he was longing for some company from those creepy crawlies.

He can have his fun later, after he helped Kokichi with his.

"Sorry to cut your little bug chat short, Gonta..." Kokichi apologized in faux sadness. "...But it's time for the show to begin."

Gonta stood up in attention and excitement for the news. "Ah! Gonta is glad to finally host-"

The supreme leader made a gesture with his hand that commanded the other's mouth shut. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're excited and all but you're gonna have to help me out for a bit longer, okaaaay~?" he said as he smirked with evil intentions lurking deep within his smile. He pulled out two gas masks and handed the larger one to Gonta before he continued. "Here. Be sure to wear this mask once you get inside, okay Gonta? Someone farted in the building and it made a really stinky smell that I had to puke." he paused and made a retching sound to prove his point. "Anyways, do you have the stuff ready?"

"Mhm! Gonta has everything prepared, from rope to Insect Exhibit!" the gullible Gonta happily replied to affirm Kokichi's question while pulling out the things he asked Gonta to bring, including the makeshift kangaroo pouch for Kokichi to ride in as a joke.

Well, at least he took this partnership seriously, right?

"Great job, Gonta!" he exclaimed loudly as he jumped inside the pouch and wore the gas mask, gesturing for Gonta to follow. After the both were now in their gas masks, Kokichi shouted once more in an attempt to rally Gonta towards the auditorium.

"Now then, CHAAAAAAGRE!" he pointed towards the auditorium and Gonta literally charged towards said building like a mad bull. The latter was so fast that the former had to hold on the straps of the pouch to keep himself from falling off. Kokichi looked like he was having the most fun he ever had in life. He always dreamed of being able to control a giant to do his bidding and he was fulfilling that dream right now.

Kokichi decided to have his fun for a short while. "YEAAAAHHHHHH! MOVE FASTER, GONTA! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!"

Gonta somehow managed to move even faster than before. From the looks of it, he was sort of running at the speed of sound by now. Each of his steps were taking humongous strides every time his feet touched the ground alternatively. With his great speed, he left dust in his wake. After a significantly short amount of time, they arrived at the entrance of the auditorium. Kokichi dismounted himself from his most trusted steed and ordered Gonta to open the auditorium. With little effort, Gonta propped the doors open so they can transport the bodies much easier. Kokichi took one of the remotes that he had and turned the lights on with it. The others were still under the effects of the laughing gas, it seems.

"Hmmm, why are visitors asleep, Oma-kun?" the husky gentleman asked after observing the sight of multiple sleeping bodies piled on top of each other, crossing his arms in deep thought.

"Oh, don't worry about them!" he jumped and gave a slap to Gonta in the back since he was so freaking tall! "They just partied hard and fell asleep! They're gonna wake up soon and I wanna surprise once they do!" he lied and Gonta, being the gullible and naïve gentleman that he is, took it as the truth.

Gonta then went to work in tying the bodies in groups of two or three with the sturdy rope that he has while Kokichi went to the extraction zone to acquire his package, which was just some random comically large cart that was hidden in a conveniently shaped bush. The size of the cart was enough to house some of them. The larger people had to go first, which means that Nekomaru and the fat Byakuya had to go first. Kokichi can shave off a few minutes of his precious time by making trips from the Insect Exhibit to the auditorium and back; the two avenues were nearby after all.

Kokichi eventually found the cart and wheeled it towards the auditorium. As expected, Gonta was finished in grouping them up exactly the way he intended, with Mikan as the only one who was isolated. Gonta would definitely be a good minion to have...

...Or maybe even his very own right-hand man to challenge Kaede and Shuichi's authority.

Time can only tell.

"Soooo, did you remove all their weapons, Gonta?" he asked after observing Gonta's admirable handiwork.

"Gonta removed all dangerous items on visitors." the large gentleman oh so innocently replied. "Would be bad if visitors attacked insects with weapons..."

Looks like he had a brain in there after all... Kokichi kept that comment to himself and instead replied with a "Wow, that's some smart thinking!" like he had gained some sort of achievement for actually being thoughtful.

"Thank you, Oma-kun!"

Gonta then carried the heavy passengers first and placed them in the cart. Since there was still space to put over them, the supreme leader ordered Gonta to put the shorter and lighter people on top. After a pile of bodies formed on the cart, Kokichi draped the cart with a cloth to cover the sleeping bodies. He then sent Gonta off towards the drop-off area. While the other was busy carting the sleeping passengers, Kokichi figured it was a good time to help himself with some delicious grub. Kokichi took off the gas mask and grabbed an American-style hot sandwich with a side of grapes and soda on a plate and enjoyed the dinner that wasn't even meant for him. He didn't need to worry while eating since the laughing gas has already dissipated due to Gonta propping the doors open for the outside air to ventilate the fumes inside.

As he was busy chomping down on the sandwich, he walked over towards the sleeping forms of Hajime and Chiaki and observed them with a blank expression on his face. They were huddled together, face to face, from the rope with their arms and legs wrapped around each other. He made especially sure to tell Gonta to them together this way. On first glance, it was a cute sight of them cuddling with each other, but there was another less cute reason why they were the only ones who were tied this way.

And it wasn't just so he can make them suffer from stiff joints - no, it was much more sadistic than that...

A lesson in reality needed to be taught to these uneducated morons. Especially to these two.

His blank expression upturned into an all-knowing smirk as he slurped from the bottle of soda in his hand. "Nishishi... After I'm through with you, you'll wish you never woke up, Nanami-chan..."

There was something artistically satisfying about an angel who crashed from the heavens above to this evil supreme leader. He'd clip this angel's wing and revel in the sight of her unholy descent from greatness, with no hope of ever returning, then send her crashing down into the murky quagmire, sullying her pure and pristine image with his malice. It was evil, but DAMN he'd be lying if he didn't say it felt GOOD!

Moving on from the two lovebirds in their makeout session of sorts, he went over to the other sleeping groups of people. He brooded over the numerous ways he could torture them with the free time he allotted for himself before the Insect Exhibit. Unfortunately, all he had was this unwieldy big-ass revolver. Well, at least he had a bunch of pellets with him. With these, he can rain down a storm of fake .45 caliber revolver bullets...

Wait, he had an EVEN better idea.

Why not hold both Nagito and Chiaki at "gunpoint"? Hell, why not throw Hajime in there too just for the heck of it?

Kokichi giggled in glee as he fantasized about the scenario that would unfold if he forced them to send one of their "friends" to their "death". Two of them lead to painfully obvious choices, and then there's this person who was on the midway point of the like-and-dislike scale. Of course, they would obviously go for the one who deserved it the most among them - it was a no-brainer to condemn their resident troublemaker to the executioner...

...But one should ask, can Chiaki really kill Nagito off in good conscience?

Or does she have the guts to offer to off herself to save two of her friends?

So many questions, too little answers...

They *could* always send Hajime to the gallows if they felt like it was too hard of a decision for the class.

Kokichi, unfortunately, decided to throw that idea into his mental dumpster filled with other bad ideas. "Ehhh, that's too old-fashioned anyways," he commented as he took another handful of his sandwich. "And super unoriginal too..." he swallowed that handful in realization of such an obvious truth.

He skipped over to the cuddly duo once more but he froze mid-flight in a comedic manner when he heard someone talk in their sleep.

"...Nghh... I need to stop him... he's going to eat them all..."

"Oh~?" unfreezing himself, Kokichi abruptly turned his neck towards Chiaki's mumbling and crouched near the sleeptalking girl. "Would you prefer if I eat you instead~?" he whispered near her ear in a very mockingly sadistic tone. "Or how about your precious allies?"

"No, stop! Please... spare them... I led them here... They all don't deserve this..." she sleepbegged to the giddy supreme leader who was having fun turning her fantasies into a nightmare.

"Nishishi... I'm VERY hungry and I don't think eating you alone will satisfy me. You can't cheat me a deal with your high stats, Nanami-chan! I might as well eat them all now!"

"You... you... monster!" she struggled and moved her legs around in a temper tantrum while being restrained by the rope. Kokichi visibly flinched from her unusually loud tone and he had to remind himself that this innocent gamer was just hysterical from the laughing gas. "Let them go! Let them go!"

"Poor choice of words, Nanami-chan!" he then raised the bunch of grapes on his plate over his mouth then dropped it. He chewed the grapes loudly near her ear which made Chiaki struggle and squirm even more desperately.

"Om nom nom... Mmmmm, deeeelllllllliciousss~-oh! You should try some; they taste like grapes!"

"No! Stop! No!"

Kokichi actually did stop after he saw actual tears flow out of her shut eyelids and after he heard Gonta push the doors open. He instinctively turned his head for a moment then turned back to the delusional Chiaki. He then leaned closer into her ear and whispered, "I'll be back after a while, my dear Nanami-chan~." all the while playfully messing with her hair in an attempt to "comfort" her. He then gave a teasing kiss on the side of her head and patted it for her.

He stood up from his crouching position and proceeded to approach Gonta. He stopped in his tracks when he heard Chiaki sniffle a few times and say something along the lines of "I hate you..." and "Don't...touch me..." repeatedly like a traumatized child, which lifted Kokichi's spirit and face. It was a lie, of course. All these class reps are forgiving to a fault so there's no way they would actually say that in a resentful manner to Kokichi. Especially for Chiaki. It wasn't like her to growl like a mangy mutt towards anybody, not even towards somebody like Kokichi.

Wouldn't that be interesting though?

Getting Chiaki to despise someone was akin to the ultimate goal of any aspiring evil supreme leader. Unfortunately for this particular Ultimate Supreme Leader, this didn't count because of the laughing gas. He definitely had the ability to make everybody hate him so much that they wouldn't even give a damn if they saw him bleed out in front of them. Even if they did, he'd continue to antagonize himself until the moment he breathed his last.

His tenacity is vicious but so is Chiaki's. Once they put their minds into something, they always, always, see it through to the end. No task was too daunting for them if these two were driven. Kokichi's undying insistence with being an evil supreme leader hadn't met its match until he knew of Chiaki's unwavering compassion and kindness for everybody.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps he and that gamer girl weren't so different after all.

They were both tenacious leaders who controlled a large group of minions.

They had a hard time fitting in with society.

They both loved playing "games" with the "others".

Kokichi had a few more in mind but even with all these similarities, they had one very evident difference with each other.

The devil has met the angel and only one can come out of the meeting alive. So, it's either he falls to Chiaki's sympathy, or she falls to Kokichi's malice. The millionaire's question would then be "Who would win?".

Naturally, he was aiming for the jackpot and he's planning to go All-In on the latter scenario. This cruel game was rigged from the start against Chiaki's odds and he has a considerable lead against her right now. Not only that, but he hasn't even played all his cards yet.

And what chance did she have in winning?

An infinitesimal. That's what.

Now onto more pressing issues...

"Hmmm?" Kokichi raised his arms and intertwined them behind his upturned smile and curiously tilted head. "You were fast, Gonta!"

"Ah, Gonta got excited that he rush sleeping visitors as fast as he can." the third-person conversationalist explained. "Should Gonta move slower next time, Oma-kun?"

"Well..." the supreme leader held a finger up his chin pensively. "...As long as you don't wake them up then it's fine really. Heck, you can even toss them around like toys if you wanted to!" he suggested with fake innocence in his expression.

"Gonta would do no such thing to visitors! It super ungentlemanly!"

"Nishishi... relax Gonta. It's only a friendly suggestion."

Gonta merely nodded at that and went ahead to load up the empty cart with more bodies. This seems to be the last trip he's making. With a bit of a look of longing on his childish face, Kokichi decided to fill a plate up with food for Gonta with some leftover orange juice.

His most loyal servant was now done transporting all the bodies inside the cart and was ready for the next trip. Kokichi noticed this and ran towards him with both of their food. "Gonta, wait!"

"Huh? Do you need something else from Gonta, Oma-kun?" Gonta asked with his hands still on the handle of the cart.

"Let's... take a break for a while." Kokichi offered the plate with Gonta's food towards the other. "I mean, a gentleman needs to have his dinner, right?"

"Right! Gonta almost forgot to eat his from waiting in grass!" Gonta then took the plate and happily enjoyed his meal in appreciation of the food given to him. Kokichi took this as a signal to finish the remains of his dinner. "This is really good!" Gonta remarked after having a few large portions from the grilled fish. "Did you make this, Oma-kun?"

"Of course, I did, Gonta!" the lying supreme leader replied with another wide beam. He then pointed towards all the food in the auditorium. "You see all this? I made it all just for them and the two of us!" Kokichi began to tear up and continued his lying. "And... and... *sniffle* *sniffle* UWAAAAAAAAAAAHHAAAAHAAAAA! THEY DIDN'T EVEN INVITE US TO THE PARTY, GONTA! HOW COULD THEY?! AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR THEM! UWAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Gonta approached Kokichi and comforted the crying supreme leader by picking him up from the ground and hugging him. The one who was being comforted wailed out even louder then used the large gentleman's messy hair as a tissue to blow on.

"It ok, Oma-kun." Gonta ignored the snot on his hair and patted Kokichi on the back as lightly as he can. "Gonta will eat dinner with Oma-kun. You do not need to cry no more..."

After a very lengthy hurt and comfort session, Gonta finally let Kokichi down and continued their communal dinner together. Kokichi swung his mood around once more, returning to his usual cheerfulness.

The two finished their dinner at the same time even though Kokichi had his almost finished. They both set their plates down at one of the servicing tables, with Gonta's plate on top of Kokichi's. The latter then went to the cart that was filled to the brim with bodies and sat at its peak that was covered with cloth.

Wait, who was he sitting on top of again?

Eh, doesn't really matter as long as his seat wasn't hard and protruding up his asshole.

With every last bit of innocence in Kokichi's mouth obliterated, Gonta began to push the cart towards their destination. The ride was neither fast nor slow. It was some semblance of a scenic ride for the two of them. With the squeaky creek of the cart's wheels from the weight of its load, the supreme leader tried to relax just this once. He spent the whole day running around the campus that was enough to match the circumference of the entirety of Hope's Peak; that wasn't a hyperbole by the way.

Kokichi tilted his head up and shifted his weight on the two arms that were teetering on the cart's edge for balance. It was a peaceful night after all and the stars always seemed so pretty for this evil supreme leader, because that's what Gonta would always say when the class would always go stargazing during their numerous outings. It just... eventually registered for the cynical Kokichi that these stars were beautiful in a sense that their beauty couldn't be destroyed by manpower. No, he wasn't some braindead astronaut who thought that he could reach for the stars with his hands if he so wanted. The most he could do is to obscure that beauty. There really wasn't anything that can be done to the beautiful luminosity itself.

Hm. Maybe he didn't need to destroy that beauty after all.

Kokichi remembered how Nagito would always ramble about the absolute hope that would overcome the greatest despair and how beautiful and arousing it would be once that psycho saw it.

"Ah...I can see it now. The hope that would come...from the despair that my classmates would feel...from my death..."

Those words still continued to ring in Kokichi's head after he let the other inhale a *slightly* excessive amount of laughing gas.

He should've expected some intoxication from that mistake...

...A very interesting intoxication that bathed the night sky in a terrifyingly different light...

Oh, he's gonna give Nagito what he wants alright - a twisted gift for a twisted point of view.

Seems fitting, don't you think?

Right, Kokichi was mentally having a conversation with nobody for a second. He tried his best to forget that really embarrassing thing he just did even though no one would've even known in the first place. The supreme leader let out a sigh and just focused on looking at the lights above without going too philosophical on the matter. That's what got him into that shameful mess after all…

---

The stars continued to glow in the night sky just as the sands of time continued to fall from the proverbial hourglass. The cart abruptly stopped at their destination and Kokichi backflipped himself off the cart with his hands in an amazing display of acrobatics. He landed on his feet and opened the door to the Insect Exhibit to set the stage of the final phase of this insane plan while Gonta focused on arranging the bodies just as they planned.

The venue had some sort of forest feel to it, with all the overgrowth and uneven lengths of grass. The chirping of crickets and buzzing of insects inside their respective cages could be heard but in a muffled manner. Even as prisoners in their cages, these things just don't shut up, do they? He had half a mind to sneak in here with some pesticide to finally shut them up but that was a plan for another day.

A plan to "eliminate" another fellow troublemaker, just in case she decided to go in a murderous frenzy from this boring academy of mutual life.

That was something every single one of them, except for some people with bleeding hearts, all agreed upon.

They'd hold a campus-wide party just to celebrate the departure of that she-devil and strangely enough, the higher-ups wouldn't even bat an eye for this rebellious act. Of course he knows why they can't just let her go that easily.

Returning to the task at hand, Kokichi used the hanging vines to grab onto the hanging ledge to see where the hidden camera was. The ledge was the only thing that was enough to be considered a safety hazard based on school standards in this nightmarish place. One false move and the ledge would come crashing down together with the unfortunate human who decided it was a good idea to go monkey climbing in an Insect Exhibit just because it looked like a forest. He then hoisted himself up the ledge and activated the five minute timer for it to start filming. Afterwards, Kokichi jumped down from the ledge and softened his landing by grabbing one of the vines that hung from the nearby tree. He stuck another graceful landing.

"Gonta is finished with seating arrangements, Oma-kun." Gonta turned his back and reported his task to his supreme leader.

"There's one more thing I forgot actually..."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Go back to the auditorium backstage and get him too. Kinda slipped my mind while we were eating. Oh, and you can grab some snacks for the "visitors" while you're at it."

Kokichi handed a key to Gonta.

"If you wanna know where he is, he's in that duralumin case that I labeled for you specifically. Use that to open it."

The husky gentleman gave a quick nod and immediately went for the exit. Kokichi then bolted towards the exit and stopped him.

"Woah woah woah! Slow down there, big fella! I'm not done yet! I'll ask you one last thing before you go, 'kay Gonta?"

"Ok! Gonta will listen to Oma-kun's question."

"No matter what happens tonight, we'll... still be friends... right? You won't hate me or anything?"

"Of course! Gonta will always be friends with everyone! Even you, Oma-kun!"

"Good. That's all I need to hear..." Kokichi then stepped away from the exit to make way for Gonta.

As soon as the other was beyond earshot, Kokichi laughed. That laughter grew louder and exploded into a hysterical laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! OH, HE FELL FOR IT! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Wiping the last of his tears from his eyes, he began to prepare his final act for tonight. He then pulled out that revolver from his pocket and shot the hanging ledge with a blank. A resounding boom came out from the gun and the bullet hit the ledge at its weak spot. The recoil from the revolver hurt his shoulder a little bit but he supposes that was a part in preparing for what's to come.

"...Nghhh... where...are...we...?"

Kokichi gave out one last smirk and a menacing sidelong glance before pocketing the revolver.

Looks like we're scheduled for an early start, huh…

---

What a strange place...

Chiaki woke up in one of the strangest places ever. And she had her fair share of spawning in strange places too. There was one time she was sleeping inside the bus dreaming about being a square that jumped over spikes and over great distances and she woke up beside a railroad that was coincidentally near a police station as well. Whenever these things happen, she would get terrified at first but that terror would diminish quite fast since her mind always chalked these off as a natural shock from her unfamiliar surroundings... probably.

This time, however, she couldn't make sense of how she ended up here. One second, all of them were huddled together by her flashlight and the next thing she knew after hearing a loud bang was opening her eyes and seeing a whole lot of green everywhere...

...Facing a deep red panicking Hajime and sitting on his lap no less.

Instinctively, Chiaki tried to squirm out of the tight hug from the other but she couldn't. It was clear that he, too, couldn't get out. She settled to nestle herself near Hajime's body instead. There has to be a reason why they're both like this, right?

"...Nghhh... where...are...we...?" she quietly asked while burrowing herself deeper into Hajime's shoulder.

"Allow me to answer that for you, Nanami-chan!"

"…Huh?" Chiaki peeked over Hajime's shoulder to look over to whoever just called her by her name. What greeted her was an excited Kokichi who used his hands to squish her cheeks together and pull her face closer to his. She tried to move her head away but his grip was surprisingly strong. There was something eerily familiar about this…sadistic look on his face - something she hated with all her heart.

"You're in Hell."

Kokichi then let go of her face and moved towards the front of the room. He clapped his hands in annoying manner and shouted, "ALRIGHT, FOLKS! TIME TO GET UP!". She could hear the many groans of her classmates around her as they woke up from their deep sleep. It seems that they all fell asleep at the same time but there was something else bothering her.

Why were they tied with a rope?

She saw Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi and Teruteru, Nekomaru and Peko, and Mikan who was isolated in the far corner of the room. On Hajime's side of the room, he saw Mahiru and Gundham, Sonia and Ibuki, and Akane and Byakuya. That's not the only thing she noticed. After seeing how the others were tied up, Chiaki and Hajime were the only ones tied facing each other, unlike the others who were back-to-back. Maybe their captor was too lazy to fix how they were tied?

After the others took note of their situation, the room was filled with cries of terror and complaints regarding their partner.

"What the fuck?! Why the hell am I tied up with this goddamn bitch?!"

"Can you shut up too?! You're not the only who's pissed about this, y'know?!"

"GAAAAHHHHH! I'M TIED TO THIS PERVERT! I WANT SONIA-SAAAAAAAANNN!"

"Hmhmhm! I-I can work with this...!"

"My bamboo sword... is gone?"

"Grgh! So is my chain! LET ME OUT! I NEED TO TAKE A SHIIIIIIIIT!"

"Uguuuuugyuuuu... w-w-why is it always m-meeeee?!"

"Release me this instant, you ungrateful cur! Do not test the might of Tanaka the Forbidden One!"

"Can't you take this seriously for once?! Why don't you use your hamsters to get us out of here instead of threatening him?!"

"Oma-kun, please reconsider! Why don't we resolve whatever dispute you have with us using diplomacy?"

"Grrrrrr! Ibuki does not like being tied up! Even if Ibuki's next to a cute princess like Sonia-chan!"

"Damn it! This is making me weak! How 'bout you release us and we'll fight you, huh?!"

"Are you seriously that daft? He's not going to release us if that's what you're planning to do!"

Amidst all the loud shouts and cries, Kokichi looked like he was losing his patience already. He pulled out a comically large revolver from his pocket, pointed it towards Chiaki and pulled the trigger. She flinched from the bullet that barely missed both Hajime's chin and Chiaki's cheek, marking one of her pale rosy cheeks with a wound that made red trickle down from it. Kokichi wasn't done with the gun and decided to shoot another bullet at the ceiling this time, knocking out one of the lights on top of them. The room was still bright even without that one light.

After those two extremely loud revolver shots, everyone in the room fell silent and focused their glare on the boy with the large gun on his hand. "Are you all done now?" Kokichi asked in a monotone voice, masking all the childish excitement he had earlier with grave seriousness. "I have enough bullets here to make 16 blocks of Swiss Cheese with your bodies, y'know. This is what you guys get for pissing me off earlier." The supreme leader pocketed the revolver and completely changed his current mood to a happier one. "Nishishi… I'm just kidding you guys, come on! It was a harmless pra-"

"Was shooting a bullet at Nanami a harmless prank?" Hajime growled with a deep voice towards the grinning Kokichi. Oh yeah, she almost forgot about the wound on her cheek since it honestly didn't hurt all that much... or so she thinks.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kokichi slapped his knee from the mad laughter that escaped his mouth. "H-How... about you... lick the wound before... you say anything stupid?" he managed to ask while holding back the laughter to speak more clearly.

"D-Don't mess with me! You just want to see me lick her, don't you?!"

"Oh? And what if that bullet had some sort of toxic substance that can be cured with saliva, Hinata-chan? Surely, you wouldn't want Nanami-chan to have an awful mark on that side of her face, riiiiight~?"

"Screw you! That's a damn lie if I-"

"Just lick it for me, Hinata-kun… Please." she pleaded to the angry Hajime.

"B-But we don't know if he's lying or not!" Hajime refuted back. "He could be lying about the poison or he could be getting me to take the poison fo-"

"Then just spit it out!" both Chiaki and Kokichi shot back in sync at the shocked boy, with differing levels of pitch of course. Kokichi continued however. "Jeez, no wonder why you still don't have a talent. You just keep making stupid decisions in your life, don't you?"

"W-Why you…!"

Chiaki turned her face and glared at the supreme leader to silence him while gesturing for Hajime to start licking the marred cheek. "Don't listen to him, Hinata-kun. I promise I'll try not to be bothered by it..." she paused for another moment. "…I hope so."

He eventually relented and started to lick her cheek. Chiaki shuddered and let out an inaudible moan from the cold and slimy feeling of Hajime's tongue slathering saliva on every inch of her cheek. The other soon got his tongue to take a lick at the side of her neck.

"Nnnh…!" she shut her eyelids and sealed her mouth tight in an attempt to hide the moan that was threatening to escape her mouth as she felt that slimy object lick every part of her neck. Hajime wasn't simply licking her neck now; he was practically sucking at her neck like a vampire!

Calm down… I need to calm down… Hinata-kun's just trying to clean my neck. Yeah…that's probably it… I think…

She was now getting bothered by this but she tried her best not to show it to him. Her heart was mashing buttons repeatedly at the moment, making her legs jolt uncontrollably, so she used her hands to grip Hajime's sides to calm herself down. Despite every effort to keep a calm face, she couldn't hide the warmth that spread through her cheeks from this… arousing feeling. She noticed how his hands were trembling on her hips, probably from apprehension. After all, Chiaki knew she wasn't an ice cream to be licked over and over again from all sides so she sort of understood why Hajime agreed to do this for her with some reluctance… she thinks.

What she didn't understand were the *weird* sounds that Hajime made while he was licking her cheek and neck.

"Ewwww!"

"Eughhhh! Blegh! That's disgusting!"

"Urp! Dude... stop... you're gonna make me...vomit..."

"Oh, please do describe the scene in more detail, Soda-kun~!"

"Goddamn it, Hinata! At least show some fucking decency while you're licking her!"

"...I am perpetually disturbed by this grotesque display..."

"Oi, cut it out already. Nanami's getting uncomfortable with your borderline sexual assault on her."

"…H-Hinata-kun…" Chiaki said while trying to keep her composure. "…A-Are you done…?"

"A-Ah…" Hajime jolted back and shook his head to break out of his dazed state. "…I'm sorry if I-I was kinda pushing it. It just tasted really good..." his tongue swirled around the edges of his lips to prove his point.

Chiaki's fears were confirmed; her friend was officially a vampire now and he just tried to suck blood out of her, but strangely enough despite her being bothered by it, she was actually elated by the fact that Hajime enjoyed the taste of her blood. "…You forgot to spit it out, Hinata-kun…" she flatly mentioned, reminding him of what he was supposed to do after he licked her.

"It was just tomato paste, Nanami…" he replied with cold indifference in his tone. Chiaki let out a disappointed sigh after knowing that Hajime was actually enjoying the taste of tomatoes and not her blood. It was a nice thought to have... maybe. "…Just tomato paste; no poison added."

"Tomato paste that I made, mind you…" Kokichi added after remaining silent during Hajime's do his best Lickitung impression for Chiaki in amusement. "…For all we know, I could have still added the poison in there."

Hajime sighed exasperatedly. "…With that amount, the worst you can give me is a stomachache, Oma. Just drop the act and quit playing around."

The little supreme leader gave a menacing smirk to that jaded remark. "Nishishi… don't you know that there are some poisons that can kill with just that amount? Take cyanide for example; it's found in common household items yet it's used to assassinate high-value targets like politicians and global powers. Given the clout that I have as the leader of a secret evil organization, wouldn't it be safe to assume that I am capable of doing such a horrible deed, Hinata-chan?"

"…And you'd do all that just to kill someone unimportant like me?"

Chiaki noticed how Kokichi's purple eyes glanced at hers for a brief moment before returning his gaze towards Hajime. The supreme leader started to cover his mouth with both of his hands as if he was trying to cover something inside it. He looked like he was giggling with the way he moved his body. Unable to contain whatever what was threatening to leave his mouth, Kokichi bursted out into an incredibly loud fit of laughter. The laugh was so exaggerated that his chest heaved up and down at a very fast rate. Whatever Kokichi wanted to say was replaced with a bunch HA's and HO's and HEE's.

"And just what is so laughable about his reply, you troublesome jester?" Gundham asked in his usual bravado.

Kokichi managed to calm down after an unhealthy amount of laughing. He looked at their Dark Lord straight in the eye with a straight face…

…And laughed out loud once more.

"Oh for crying out- JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION ALREADYYYY!" Nekomaru bellowed out in an annoyed yell.

"Listen to the old man, you punk! Stop laughin' and start talkin' if you don't wanna get punched in the face!"

"OH, THE IRONY IS TOO MUCH IT'S MAKING MY STOMACH HURT!" Kokichi yelled out in reply while trying to contain his hysterical laughter. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ALL CALL HIM YOUR FRIEND IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE OBVIOUS LIE IN THAT STATEMENT! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Lie?!" Hajime parroted incredulously. "If anything, you're the liar here! You've been doing nothing but toy with our emotions and actions just for your amusement!"

"Yeah, Hajime-chan's right! Kokichi-chan doesn't have the right to call people out in their lies!"

The others soon joined in reprimanding Kokichi in their restrained state. Chiaki still hasn't opened her mouth throughout this whole ordeal and opted to think silently about Kokichi's statement about Hajime hiding a lie in his statement. Well, technically, his statement about him being unimportant is *certainly* false. He's their friend and he isn't so easily replaceable in their group. Hajime is important, just as important as all of her wonderful friends. But that's what it all was - it was simply false, like how Nagito describes himself. It's all false and the both of them are great friends…

…So what was the hidden lie in his statement?

In the first place, who was the liar here, exactly? Kokichi or Hajime?

"Fine, let me ask you all this question then," Kokichi managed to completely stop his laughing fit and transform his face into a more serious one. "Who exactly is the liar here?"

Did he read my mind?

"It's you, obviously!" Hiyoko answered the question even with her back turned towards the supreme leader in front. The others seemed to have the same answer in mind, seeing as they all said their cheers of agreement with the dancer.

Kokichi, on the other hand, had a different answer in mind. "Wow… are you all really this stupid? Or just painfully naïve to a fault?"

"So are you saying that I'm the liar then?!" Hajime shot back in a challenging voice.

"Say, Nanami-chan." The other ignored the boy and addressed Chiaki. "Do you consider Hinata-chan as your friend?"

The answer was simple really. "Yes, of course Hinata-kun is my friend."

"And you, Hinata-chan?" Kokichi then passed his scrutinizing gaze towards Hajime. "Do you consider Nanami-chan as your friend?"

"Yes, I do. Why are you asking these obvious questions?"

Kokichi brought up his nails and examined them. "Ever heard of the saying, "It takes a liar to know a liar"? I know what you're hiding behind that very convincing answer so how about you stop lying to your "friend" and tell her the truth? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to know the real Hinata Hajime behind that façade you put up for her. Isn't that right, Nanami-chan?"

Chiaki tensed up in fear and started to slightly tremble again. No no no no…that's wrong…please…be wrong…

Hajime visibly paled from being put on the spot by Kokichi. "Sh-Shut up! D-Don't try to steer the conversation somewhere else!"

"Is that the sound of Hinata-chan admitting to lying to his "best friend" I hear?"

He's not lying…he's not lying…he's not…lying…

"Oi, you better back off, you bastard." said Fuyuhiko in his threatening tone. "What did they even do to you?!"

"Oh, I don't have anything personal against Nanami-chan or Hinata-chan or any of you." Kokichi smirk widened while he was still examining his nails. "I just find it funny that you guys continue to look down on me from a higher moral ground just because I'm a liar. But I *do* wonder about what you said to me, Hinata-chan," the supreme leader tried to make conversation with his nails. "Aren't you the one who's toying with human emotions and actions here? Can you really call that bond "friendship" if both parties are hiding something big from each other? Oh, and I'm not just talking about those two- no no, I'm talking about everyone in here."

Kokichi looked up and examined the look on the "fingernails" in the room. The silence and victorious smile on his lips told everything Chiaki needed to know. "Eh, doesn't really matter, does it? You guys are, like, *the* best and most tightly-knit group in this academy so it's natural that you guys trust each other, right? Hey, isn't that what friends do anyways? Shouldn't they "trust" each other? Or, at least, that's what she thinks…" his eyes glanced over and stared a hole right through Chiaki's eyes that were devoid of vigor and vitality. "…Isn't that right, Nanami-chan?"

Chiaki's eyes tried to avoid the smug look on the supreme leader's face, looking at the grassy ground by her feet instead. She didn't want to answer that question because somehow, she already knew where Kokichi was planning to go with this conversation.

No more lies…no more lies…no more lies…no more lies…no more lies…

I don't want it to be true… Please, tell me you're not lying to me Hinata-kun…

…Please…

Kokichi let out a sigh and stopped examining his nails. "Man, you guys are sooooo disappointing…and here I thought that those secrets wouldn't be enough to ruin that "friendship" that your pathetic class rep goes around saying to brainwash Naegi-chan and Akamatsu-chan. You even got them to rebel against the academy's ideals!"

Pathetic…

Brainwash…

A scary sensation was churning inside the trembling gamer's stomach as she heard those despicable and wrong words. She clenched her fists and caved her body deeper inwards to contain that sensation.

Nevertheless, he continued. "Well, I always knew that that whole "friendship and magic" thing was just a crappy lie to get some frie-"

A…lie…? My friendship… A LIE?!

And that was all it took for Chiaki to snap…

"THAT'S ENOUGH, OMA-KUN!"

"Nanami-san?!"

"Nanami?!"

"What the-?"

Everyone was audibly and visibly shocked by Chiaki's outburst since it was an incredibly rare sight to see from this calm and collected girl. A few tears of rage and unbridled emotions that she kept inside her for who-knows-how-long erupted out of her eyes as she faced the final boss ahead of her. Kokichi, on the other hand, let out a few quiet giggles and smiled an all-knowing smirk at the other.

She can't allow him to talk down on her and her friends like this any longer…

She can't allow him to force her back into that lonely cavern…

She won't allow him to call her efforts and actions a lie…!

"Just because my friends are hiding a few secrets from me doesn't mean that it's all just a lie! I…I understand if they aren't comfortable with sharing those horrible things since I have my own, too. But…it's normal to have some secrets, right? I will still trust them regardless until they can finally find it within themselves to let others know their secrets cuz they're my friends…" Chiaki looked over Hajime's shoulder and saw the others give their smiles of approval. With a relieved sigh, she then looked over to the grinning supreme leader and shot him with her signature angry face. "…I hope that answers your question, Oma-kun."

"Oh my God, FINALLY! Took you a while to start talking, Nanami-chan!" Kokichi threw his small arms in the air in celebration. "Now we can finally get this party started!"

"Eh? What do you mean the party has not started yet? Haven't you done enough already?!" Kazuichi replied in a half-scared-half-angry manner.

"Of course…" he paused for a moment. "…not! I can't just let my efforts of manipulating Gonta into dragging you all here for his Insect Exhibit go to waste! I spent three days preparing all of this and I'm not gonna let it end here!"

"What…did you say?" Gundham asked with a shaky tone. "Insect…Exhibit?"

"Oh? Is the "Supreme Overlord of Mice" afraid of mere insects?" Kokichi teased with a voice mimicking Gundham's tone on the phrase "mere insects" and signature pose of crossing his arms minus the childlike grin on his face.

"Y-You dare continue to infuriate me!? I will incinerate you and this place to ashes with the fires of Pandaemonium if you don't release me this instant!"

"Calm down, Tanaka!" Mahiru shouted to pacify her partner. "And you, Oma! What is it that you said about manipulating Gonta?"

Chiaki saw Kokichi skip over towards the other side of the room where she can't see with the way she was tied right now. "Alrighty then! Make sure your ears are wide open cuz this is the last time I'll say this! I. Manipulated. Gonta. Into. Dragging. You. All. Here!"

"Why would you do something like that?!"

"Psshhh! Because I'm an evil supreme leader, duh! It was really easy too! All you have to do is to lie to Gonta about having some interested visitors and he'll be your mindless and gullible servant!"

"Th-This is going too far already!" Sonia interjected into their conversation. "What have we done that has motivated you to do this to us, Oma-kun?!

"Nishishi… Would you believe me if I just wanted to be your friend?"

It was clear from everyone else's multiple shouts that the answer was a no.

"Awww… Welp! It was worth a shot. Let's just wait for Gonta so we can- Ah, there he is! Welcome back Gonta!"

Kokichi returned to his original spot in front of the room and pointed his finger towards a random area in the other side of the room.

"That's...Komaeda!" Peko raised her voice after looking over to where he pointed.

"Wait, what?! What the fuck happened to that bastard?!" Fuyuhiko began to ask questions frantically as he joined the others in looking over to where he was.

"K-Komaeda-san? A-A-Are you alright!?" Mikan asked while trying to worm her body towards Nagito. Chiaki really wanted to see how he was doing but unfortunately, she can't turn her head 180 degrees. Her neck was already stiff after looking at her left for a very long period of time so she decided to rest her head on Hajime's shoulder. She didn't even notice how bad Hajime was trembling before she placed her head there. The trembling only intensified when she felt his head rest on her shoulder as well. It was almost as if he was vibrating…

"Ha…ha ha…*cough* *cough* All you symbols of hope really shouldn't bother with trash like me…" Nagito replied weakly between his coughing fits. "…I'm fine really…"

"That is simply not true, Komaeda-san! You are just as important as we are!"

"Yeah, I agree with the princess here!" Kokichi eagerly butted into the conversation he wasn't even invited in. "Without you, I wouldn't have been able crash this party! Your intel was super important, partner~!"

The others were shocked to hear that from Kokichi. Some weren't that surprised to know that Nagito and their captor were cooperating behind the scenes since they already had their doubts from the start. The shock mostly came from how bad the white-haired boy looked when he was brought in by Gonta.

Poor Komaeda-kun…he was betrayed by his co-op partner and used as a scapegoat for his plans… Chiaki thought sadly to herself. He didn't sound fine like he had stated - he sounded like he was hurt badly - physically and emotionally. If only there was a way to escape this rope-

"O-kay then Gonta!" Chiaki's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kokichi's childlike voice. "I'm gonna have to leave early to get some stuff prepared for the after-party so please entertain our lovely visitors who said that they didn't like bugs!"

"Huh?! Do visitors hate bugs?!" asked a very enraged Gonta.

"N-No wait that's not-"

"Yup yup! They totally said that! They even said that they don't mind killing bugs since they're so nasty!" Kokichi said so gleefully to the gentleman. "You have to show them that bugs aren't nasty, Gonta!"

"St-Stop! D-D-Don't believe h-h-him, Gonta-san! H-H-H-He's lying!"

"Oma-kun lied just now?!"

"Of course not! I would never lie to my best friend like that. Right, Gonta?!"

"Hey! That's not what you said earlier!"

"Don't fucking believe that lying bastard, Gonta!"

"He's trying to trick you! Just look at what he did to Komaeda!"

"See, Gonta? They're all trying to make seem like the bad guy here! That means that they DON'T want to be in the Insect Exhibit!"

"JUST STOP LYING ALREADYYYYYY!"

"I'll freakin' bop ya in the head if ya listen to this kid!"

"This is a useless farce. This snake has this gentle giant's mind under his control already."

"Nishishi… I'm sooooo sorry I couldn't join you all in this wonderful Insect Exhibit but I have some errands to run…" The sound of a door opening was heard. "…See you guys later!"

Chiaki heard Kokichi slam the door shut and lock the door from the outside. The faint sound of his running footsteps gradually quieted down as he ran away from Gonta's Exhibit. The room was put in a brief moment of silence before the others started pleading to their captor.

"Gokuhara-san..." Sonia started. "...I'm afraid that I must kindly ask of you to release us. We did not consent to participating in this event and so we were dragged here against our own will. Please think this through." the princess finished in an elegant yet concise manner, befitting of her regal diplomacy.

"But..." Gonta tried to reason out with Sonia. "...Oma-kun told Gonta that there will be visitors for Insect Exhibit..."

"And you believe something that's obviously a lie?!" Hiyoko asked in complete disbelief of the gentleman's gullibility. "Ugh, great! We're stuck here with Bug Brain Co. until that gnome comes back!"

Gundham gave a low chuckle at that statement. "Fear not, mortals. For I and the Astral Capturer of Fleeting Ashes have joined forces to free us from this damning prison of woes."

"…He means that we have a plan to get us out of here and to make that guy pay for what he's done to Komaeda…" Mahiru explained to the people who didn't understand the breeder's verbose words. "…We just need to try to get Gonta over to our good side by agreeing to this… Insect Exhibit."

"Isn't there another way we can escape without having to go through this?" Peko inquired.

"Unfortunately, there are no any other methods." Gundham answered in a regretful manner. "It just so happened that we aren't on the good side of this Colossus due to our most recent outburst. That tricky devil is cunning indeed, manipulating our powerlessness and twisting the very foundation of the truth to his favor."

"Shit…" Fuyuhiko swore under his breath. "…Guess we have no choice, huh?"

"H-Hold on…! It is still of our best interests to try and reason with Gokuhara-san." Sonia tried to convince the others with her earlier suggestion. "I believe that this gentleman is reasonable enough to-"

"We can't reason our way out of this, Sonia…" Hajime cut the princess off. "…We'd be putting ourselves at a bigger disadvantage if we did. The more we try to disagree with Gonta, the more he'll insist on letting us participate in this Insect Exhibit. Oma probably already fed him a bunch of lies about us so we'll have to prove him wrong by agreeing with this. It's as what Tanaka mentioned - we already made a bad impression for Gonta. We have to win his trust if we want to stand up to Oma."

"I see… I suppose you are right in that regard, Hinata-san…" Sonia relented with a defeated tone. She then cleared her throat and addressed Gonta. "…We'll agree to see participate in this exhibit then, Gokuhara-san, but if you would, please untie us from these ropes. It is quite uncomfortable for me and my friends."

"Mhm!" Gonta hummed in agreement. "Gonta was about to do that to feed visitors with snacks from party!"

Everyone in the room made an exaggerated groan of relief as the gigantic man released them from their ropes.

Well, Nagito's was more exaggerated as usual... as exaggerated as he can currently be, given his sickly state however.

"…Ah…*cough* *cough*…such…wonderful hope. It's truly beautiful, isn't it…?"

As soon as Mikan and Nagito were untied, the former rushed over to the latter and tended to his needs. The others did so too as they carried Nagito over to the hammock by the thicket in the other side of the room that was away from its only entrance. When Chiaki and Hajime were finally released, she thought of going too but there was something else that was bothering her.

"Hinata-kun?" Chiaki pushed herself back and shifted her body to sit beside Hajime. She then looked up to his green eyes that were filled with doubt and anxiety. "Are you alright? I noticed that you weren't fine when Oma-kun pressured you… I think."

"It's…" the boy looked away from Chiaki in shame and focused on the crowd of people by Nagito's side. "…nothing important." he trailed off in abject uncertainty.

The gamer placed her hand over his and let her head rest on his shoulder once more. "…I meant what I said earlier. I still believe in my friends even if they're still hiding some things from me…" she paused for a moment and turned her neck to let her forehead rest on his shoulder instead of her head's right side. "…But you're different, Hinata-kun. For some reason, I'm scared of you. I want to trust you, I really do! But the way you smile is… scary. Even scarier than Komaeda-kun's… I think."

Hajime didn't say anything, letting silence fill the atmosphere between them. Chiaki took this moment to observe her classmates who were all taking turns taking care of the frail boy. She continued the conversation. "You two are alike, y'know? Both in a good and bad sense. Komaeda-kun always likes to risk his life to make sure that the others are happy cuz he thinks that he doesn't deserve to be with us. While I don't agree with the way he thinks, I can't help but see the same thing with you, Hinata-kun…" she lifted her head only to notice that Hajime was still looking at them before putting it back down. "…I can't help but feel that you're risking something just to make me happy. I don't want that. I don't want to see my friends suffer just to please me as their class rep and the same goes with you. I want all of us to be happy in a…" she made another pause to think of a better term to portray what she meant. "…sort of mutual way. Get what I mean?"

Silence…

"Hinata-kun… were those times you spent playing video games with me just a lie to make me feel less lonely?"

More silence…

…And her heart sank just as her voice did…

"So… it's true then, huh? It was…all just a lie…like how Oma-kun said it was…"

"…I didn't say that, Nanami. I was just thinking about what you said. About how Komaeda and I are alike…"

"…How about what I asked you earlier?"

Hajime moved his body and lifted Chiaki's head for her to gaze at his soft eyes. His thumb was slowly wiping the wet side of her cheek as he replied. "It wasn't a lie. It's just… there's been a lot on my mind lately…"

"Would you mind telling me so I can help you?" she asked, feeling a bit frustrated at herself for not helping him when he needed it. "I want to help, as a friend…"

Hajime smiled. "Well, I don't need any help now. I found my answer already."

Chiaki lunged at him and embraced the other. "Promise me you won't do anything dangerous, ok? I'll always be happy with you playing games with me, and I'll try my best to make you happy too, ok? I don't wanna be scared of trusting you anymore, Hinata-kun." she said in a quick manner, rapidly firing off statement after statement of reassurances as an effect of her mind in disarray from the emotional high she's feeling right now.

Hajime returned the hug and rubbed circles on her back as a gesture of comfort. This helped her a bit... probably. "I'll…keep that in mind, Nanami."

On second thought, it did help her. A lot.

Chiaki smiled and hugged Hajime a lot tighter. "Thank you, Hinata-kun…"

Thank you… for proving me wrong.

Never had she felt any gladder that all those worrisome thoughts were just lies…

---

They continued to enjoy their moment of ignorant bliss until the two eventually released each other from the hug and stood up to check on Nagito. When they did see him, he really did look worse for wear like how the others had described it with their panicked voices. He looked even skinnier, paler and weaker than his usual self. Even his one-thousand-watt-bright smile became dimmer.

Nagito's light grey eyes then moved to see his new visitors. Chiaki heard something come out of his mouth, probably a chuckle, before closing in eyes to rest peacefully.

"Komaeda-kun…" she started with a very concerned expression on her features. "…What happened to you?"

The white-haired boy reopened his eyes and fluttered over to hers, as if there was something he found beautiful behind her concerned-looking eyes. "…My apologies for making you worry about useless garbage, Nanami-san." he stated, still with a quiet voice. "Haha… I wish I could die from self-loathing for betraying my classmates like this…*cough* *cough*"

"Please don't push yourself, K-Komaeda-san!" wailed Mikan as she ran over to his side to let him drink something from a spoon. The other accepted the offering in reluctance and swallowed the syrupy liquid. "Y-You need to have some rest to regain back the energy you lost."

"Wait a minute, "betraying my classmates"? What do you mean by that?" Hajime decided to ask about what he just said.

"…I didn't mean to include you in that group, Hinata-kun." the white-haired boy replied in a scornful way. "What gives you the right to think of yourself as an equal to the other Ultimates? You're just a Res-"

"Don't try to dance around the topic by looking down at me, Komaeda." he cut the other off with a sharp spat. "At least tell Nanami about what Oma meant when he said that your intel was crucial for this."

Nagito merely scoffed at that reply and changed his tone for Chiaki, who was giving him a very soft glare. "...I simply gave Oma-kun what he wanted from me. Of course, I can't not withhold anything that an Ultimate wants from me; I am beneath them after all."

"Does that explain how he just so happens to know my secret?" Hajime butted in the conversation with a question.

Nagito pretended he didn't hear her friend…she thinks. Chiaki decided to repeat the question for her friend.

"Of course! It was all for the sake of hope, Nanami-sa- *cough* *cough* *cough*" his deranged rambling was cut off by dry coughs that made him jerk his body up every time he did. Mikan asked for a cup of water from their gentlemanly captor and she quickly let Nagito drink from it after receiving the water. The white-haired boy seemed to have felt better... probably.

"But why Hinata-kun specifically?" Chiaki asked in a very confused manner. "He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?"

"…I'm not the right person to ask that question to." Nagito answered with a wry smile.

"Can't you just answer the question, Komaeda-kun?"

"…I suppose," Nagito looked over to the others who were busy having their snacks. "I can at least tell you what I know if that's what you want, Nanami-san." he then returned his gaze over to hers and took a deep breath. "I told Oma-kun about the many things we all discussed for the party and I decided to tell him what I found about the personal lives of all you Ultimates, including Hinata-kun's, since he was very insistent about it." he then let out a sad sigh of sorts before smiling once more. "Haha, I know. Not only am I a useless waste of space but I'm also a selfish traitor. Please feel free to despise me whenever you-"

"And you didn't know what he was planning?"

"I simply thought that Oma-kun might have been "borrowing" our ideas for their very own party at the time…"

"Humph!" Chiaki puffed her cheeks out at Nagito for dancing around the question again with vague answers. She was getting frustrated with his persistent evasion. She could just give up her questioning for now since she already knows how Kokichi was able to make this all happen. "Fine then. Let's just drop the topic for now…" she grumbled to herself as she forcefully pulled Hajime by the arm to get some snacks.

I'll get you someday though, Komaeda-kun. Mark my words! Chiaki thought to herself, hatching a plot to punish Nagito by beating him a thousand times in Super Smash Brawl for frustrating her. …That and for making Hinata-kun feel stressed.

---

As the night turned into midnight, the others were starting to get sleepy. Strange, considering that they all just woke up from getting gassed in the auditorium. Did the effects linger? Chiaki simply shrugged to herself as she took a tiny bite from her fried dough cookie, which, to everybody's surprise, was being hoarded by Peko, as evident with the 3 small boxes being balanced on her hand.

No one decided to question it though… Everyone had their weird sides when it came to things they like; the video game enthusiast knew this feeling very well. Maybe this stoic swordsman actually had a soft spot for fried dough cookies?

"It getting late now…" Gonta remarked sheepishly as he checked the time by looking outside a window. "…Gonta should start Insect Exhibit since bugs will be asleep soon."

Right, there was that too…

The group wasn't too keen on the idea of this Insect Exhibit; well, not that she would know the reason why. She never really knew much about bugs except for the fact they somehow make you scratch your skin when they touch it. As if on instinct, Chiaki covered a part of her exposed left arm with her right hand and started to rub down on it. She had this weird compulsion for no reason to rub her left arm - it just felt really itchy.

It was *really* itchy… Why did it feel so itchy?

"Might as well start it now so we can get it over with." Byakuya suggested while devouring multiple dishes as his "midnight snack". Chiaki looked away and tried to finish her singular cookie since she was beginning to lose her appetite. It was really strange how seeing someone eat food with such vehemence could make you not want to eat.

And all the gamer ever ate for dinner was a pork bun and a fried dough cookie…

Well, she wasn't planning to eat much anyways. She just wished she could enjoy the food without all these wild events. She had enough of those happening at her classroom everyday.

Gonta gestured everyone to be at their proper places in the kindest way possible. Even some of the more rebellious Ultimates complied with his kind requests and showed a very scarce display of discipline for the titanic man. Maybe they decided to turn over a new leaf?

As soon as everyone was at their designated spots, they patiently waited for the exhibit to start. In the face of all this, Gonta scratched the back of his head in confusion and diffidently said, "Gonta does not know how to start Insect Exhibit…".

"It would be preferable if you proceeded to what you think is the most important part of this Exhibit, Gokuhara-san." recommended Sonia with a pretty and innocent smile.

He nodded affirmatively and went to the large shelf at the eastern side of the room. Upon closer inspection, Chiaki could see the hordes of various insects caged inside numerous transparent cases. The compulsion to scratch on her arm with her nails was becoming harder to resist all while a teardrop of nervous sweat was sliding down the side of her head.

This can't be an allergic reaction, can it?

Mikan recommended everyone to apply some kind of ointment that she got from Gonta on their skin so that the insects would not cause severe irritation on it. She took the liberty of examining the suspicious bottle for everyone before handing it over. So far, no one has shown any signs of any allergic reaction to the ointment nor the insects; that is, no one except Chiaki. When she did inquire about the treatment, the nurse reassured her that any sort of allergic reaction from that ointment would become noticeable instantly. She said that her skin would become bumpy, swollen and itchy. Thankfully, Chiaki didn't have any of those ugly-sounding symptoms.

So what was with this itchy feeling on her arm?

The confused gamer glanced around her surroundings to gauge everyone's reactions of the amount of bugs being kept inside those cases. Most of them seemed naturally scared about it. Chiaki, too, was scared of bugs, but not these kind of bugs. The ones that she was afraid of were the game-breaking ones and the ones that were MUCH larger and more infinite; you know, the kind that would be able to conquer a planet by sheer numbers? She wonders if those bugs are capable of doing the same thing though…

Even with all these thoughts on her mind, Chiaki remained as calm as possible and waited for their captor to start the Exhibit. The group waited for what seems like a minute, watching Gonta maneuver around the multiple shelves and cases before pulling them towards the center of their line of vision. The center of everyone's attention was on the two shelves that housed all the buzzing chirps.

Yep, that's a lot of bugs…

"These b-bugs won't k-kill us or anything, right?" Kazuichi asked in a trembling voice.

"Of course not!" Gonta replied. "Bugs are friends. Friends would not kill other friends."

"Th-Then… Bug-chan will stay in those cases, right?" Ibuki asked, sharing the same trepidation of Kazuichi's voice. "Cuz Ibuki's not sure about meeting Gonta-chan's friends…"

"Insect Exhibit is for everyone to be friends with bugs! Visitors will meet bugs and bugs will meet visitors! That way, bugs and visitors will become best friends." the entomologist then placed his hand on one of the cases. "Now then, let us start Insect Exhibit!"

"It was nice…knowing all you losers, I guess… Except Mahiru-nee of course!"

"Dumbass! Like hell are we gonna die in this shithole!"

With that being said, Gonta opened all those cases one by one and the Hell that Kokichi told Chiaki that they were in became the truth. Swirling black legions of flying and crawling creatures approached the group and the room was later filled with mixtures of terrified human screams and excited bug noises. Some people stayed in groups to fend off the assault, while some people who weren't part of any group frantically ran around the room to escape.

Peko stood by Fuyuhiko's side and made sure that no bug would try to do anything funny to them. Even without her bamboo sword, her presence managed to stave off any creature from her. She didn't manage to scare them off completely as they only tried to keep a safe distance from the two people in black.

Akane and Nekomaru stood back-to-back in a fighting stance to shoo away any approaching critters. Normally, they would've been unsuccessful since the bugs were tiny and no normal person had any crowd control skills like Peko's Intimidation skill; but they weren't just normal people, this was about Akane and Nekomaru - a combination of electrifying agility and endurance. With the way they moved, they danced around each other like two raging winds forming a persistent hurricane, blowing away every unfortunate and insignificant insect from them.

There were others who weren't so averse to the bugs, like Nagito, Sonia and Gundham. Both Nagito and Sonia even let those bugs crawl all over them. Gundham, on the other hand, did not mind them buzzing around him. In fact, it looked like he was the one who was controlling the bugs, given the victorious smirk on his face and bold stance. The bugs hovered around him, forming a real dark aura around him as he walked around the room with a booming and challenging laughter.

Well, those were all the people who had no problem with surviving this exhibit. As for the others…

"AAAAGHHHHH! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!"

"St-Stay back…or I'll sq-squish all of you…!

"Don't do it, Hiyoko-chan! He'll get mad at you if you try to kill them!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IBUKI WHO'S DOING THE CHASING, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUUUUUNNNNDDD!"

"Tch! How much longer do we have to endure this?!"

"No no no no no! Dr. No says no- Ack! Bad touch! Bad touch!"

Yeah, they can probably hold their own… Chiaki thought to herself. …I think.

Mikan was nowhere to be found but her very distinct crying sounds could be heard nearby. Chiaki looked over to where the crying was coming from and saw an extremely large hump of bugs covering something like a fuzzy dark blanket-

Oh…so that's where Mikan was. She must have tripped from running around frantically then completely devoured by the bugs.

Wasn't that…a bad thing?

Brushing off the bugs on her legs, she walked on over to the large pile of black that was covering the bawling nurse and moved her hand in a swiping motion to drive away them off of her, like how she would clean the screens of her consoles. It…kinda worked in the end and Mikan was now free from those bugs. Chiaki crouched down near her and gestured to help her up but the other made no approaches of accepting it, opting to quake on the spot and sob uncontrollably.

The concerned Chiaki looked up to find the others. She accounted for everyone else except for Hajime. In most 3-5 player co-op games, inexperienced players must always stick together, most especially for these types of levels. Sure, there were others who can solo this mission, like the three people who were enjoying this Insect Exhibit, but he wasn't one of those types of players yet…probably. Now, the gamer was faced with an incredibly difficult dilemma of choosing which inexperienced player to abandon to help the other. It was already apparent that Mikan can't do anything without being covered by a swarm of insects and bugs while Hajime can probably hold his own but with great difficulty.

But, she can't just abandon him again… Not after leaving him alone by the fountain because of her recklessness.

However, if she leaves Mikan alone, she might get hurt…

Chiaki had a feeling that this was all planned out somehow. The big bad boss must have took advantage of her tendency to protect others and use it against her.

This is super difficult…

Fortunately, after a few seconds of glossing over multiple scenarios, Chiaki had a good strategy in mind. "I'm sorry for forcing this on you, Tsumiki-san…" she apologized to Mikan then used all of her strength to scoop her up from the ground. Mikan squealed in surprise while Chiaki continued. "…But I have to make sure everyone's safe."

With the nurse on her arms, she ran around the area to search for the elusive Hajime.

---

Holy cow… these things are… a lot heavier than I thought…

Under the quiet and cloudless dark sky, late at night, a shadowy little troublemaker was struggling to move a cart twice his size and a bajillion times heavier than he is. It didn't help that the cart wasn't made to traverse the unpaved road towards the Insect Exhibit. Even so, he questioned how she was able to carry all these equipment to those events.

Seriously, all she does is twiddle her fat little fingers on some buttons yet someone like her was able to carry all these?! Even *someone* as athletic and healthy as Kokichi was having a difficult time pulling these things on a freaking cart!

"ARGHHH! SCREW IT!" he screamed in frustration out into the dead of night and took one of the video game consoles with both his hands then raised it high up in the air. However, after a few deep breaths, he decided against breaking the console in two. If he was going to use his strength, he'd rather much use it on pulling this Atua-damned cart.

Besides, much more valuable things will be broken after this…

Kokichi continued to sluggishly move the over-9000-ton cart over towards the Insect Exhibit. He kept repeating the words, "It'll all be worth it in the end…" to himself if his body decided to tire out on this.

---

It had been about an hour since Gonta started the Insect Exhibit. Everyone came into this mission horribly unprepared. No one would've expected to be forced to survive an Insect Exhibit when they all planned to have a simple yet fun party. Despite all of Chiaki's efforts to survive, she was starting to get tired from keeping the bugs off her body. There were just too many of them for her party members to handle; not only that, but these bugs had a plethora of stat debuffs to make it even more difficult.

Chiaki wished that the unknown time limit would come to an end soon. She might pass out from fatigue again if she had to survive another ten minutes of constant pest control. Drooping herself in exhaustion, she then decided to just lie down on the grassy bed and recover her HP and energy points.

She was tired… So tired and sleepy…

...Sleep? That seemed like a good idea… probably.

Chiaki's eyelids began to pull down from their heavy weight and let the darkness surround every corner of her vision. She drifted off to a dreamy sleep. She'll just leave it all to the very reliable Hajime to make sure that they don't fail the mission.

Sure, there were some bugs and insects all over her body and it felt really itchy and sort of ticklish on her skin, but right now, sleep was more important - more important than any other human need fathomable.

Her other senses had started to shut down and as they did, the faint and distant screams and pleas of her other classmates had faded into a soothing chiptune melody that she set to play whenever her laptop displayed the screensaver. If she had to describe it in an excruciatingly detailed manner, there was this one time when she described the melody to Ibuki. She corrected her and said that it sounded more like a boring tune to play in a waiting room lounge or some lame royalty-free elevator music for a company that has an extremely stingy budget for entertainment. Chiaki was slightly offended by that disparaging comparison on her "main menu soundtrack" but she will admit that the first one seemed more accurate. It does play when her mind goes to the waiting room lobby after going to "screensaver mode".

How else could she describe Terraria's Night theme anyway?

The melody continued to play and her sense of reality warped into a land of dreams. Chiaki hoped that there won't be an evil person or hydra in this dream for once...

---

"Knock knock!~" Kokichi rapped on the door with one hand while the other fished out the keys for said door. "Papa's hooooome!~" and he's brought treats for the them too!

He played around the door's lock with the key he had with him, twisting and turning it in a way like he was trying to break the lock's mechanisms just for the heck of it. After the mischievous little rascal heard a click from the door, he took a step back then proceeded to shift his weight on his grounded foot to kick the "barricade" down like in those action movies. As if on instinct he pulled out his revolver and tried to satiate the itch of his trigger finger by firing the gun repeatedly before remembering that he hasn't reloaded the gun yet; this fact was ascertained by the light sounds from the revolver's chamber spinning. Kokichi didn't notice the eerie silence in the room because he was still pulling the trigger on the revolver.

With uncertain eyes, he looked towards where he was pointing the gun's long barrel at...

...And he noticed a red splotch of tomato paste on Gonta's forehead...

Oh shit!

Kokichi hastily shoved the revolver back into his pocket, hoping that the shock of his arrival would erase that "bloodstain" in Gonta's head. The serenity of the room soon got to him so he exited the room and came back with the large cart of goodies in hand - the goodies being a bunch of video game consoles and cartridges for the warmup session before the metaphorical axe comes to sever their bonds. Beneath all those goodies were a bunch of nasty surprises.

Well, Kokichi had a plan for how this night was gonna go but as fate would have it, things started to NOT go according to plan…

"Oma-kun… was what visitors saying true?" Gonta asked after returning back to Earth. "Did you…lie to Gonta?"

"Ughhhh…" Kokichi groaned in annoyance. "…How many times do I have to tell you? I don't lie to my-"

"Then explain this!" Mahiru held her camera up to play recording of a very familiar conversation he had with the group while Gonta was still absent.

"Calm down, Tanaka! And you, Oma! What is it that you said about manipulating Gonta?"

"Alrighty then! Make sure your ears are wide open cuz this is the last time I'll say this! I. Manipulated. Gonta. Into. Dragging. You. All. Here!"

"Why would you do something like that?!"

"Psshhh! Because I'm an evil supreme leader, duh! It was really easy too! All you have to do is to lie to Gonta about having some interested visitors and he'll be your mindless and gullible servant!"

Clever girl…

Kokichi masked the smirk that was trying to stretch his face by acting nervous. All he managed was a bead of sweat to roll down his forehead. "Oh c-c'mon, guys! Th-That could've been e-edited for-"

"You've got that wrong!"

The supreme leader slightly flinched from that sharp declaration and accusatory pointer finger from Hajime. He didn't expect this random talentless NPC to stand up against him. His sweat now came more naturally than the first since he was starting to get nervous.

"Koizumi's camera can only record or take pictures! Also, it's not just a recording of you saying that, but you were filmed in this place while saying that, so that means this footage couldn't have been edited beforehand!"

"Ah crap…" Kokichi started to slowly back away from the others before bumping into two large bodies that were barricading his only exit. He turned around and saw Nekomaru and the larger Byakuya towering over him.

"No use trying to weasel out of this one, Oma." the Ultimate Team Manager warned. He then proceeded to crack his knuckles and gaze at him with subtle killing intent. "It's time you paid for your BULLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

With a slightly panicked face, his eyes darted around the room, thinking fast for a way to escape the sixteen people, Gonta included of course, that were slowly zeroing in on his position. If they caught him, he would have to taste the same medicine he forcefully fed them and he, by all means possible, wanted to avoid that.

His eyes were fixed on the cart that he just wheeled in. In front of that cart from his position was a furious-looking Gonta who was thinking of vaulting over the contraption to tackle him down to the ground. Just beyond him was an opening for his escape towards the maze-like hallway that acted as a mini-warehouse for "exhibits" like this. That cart was his only saving grace from Insect Hell; all he had to do was to jump over his only opening and run towards that warehouse.

Kokichi approached the cart and grabbed its side with both of his hands, preparing to dodge the first tackle from Gonta.

Now, all it takes is a little push to the right side...

"Nishishi... Oh well..." Kokichi sighed before looking at the gigantic gentleman with villainous eyes. "...The cat's outta the bag, huh? You're too naïve for your own good, Gonta. I mean, look around you!" he addressed the others in the room by glancing at them. "How stupid are you to assume that there would even be visitors for this shitshow anyways? If they were really interested, they wouldn't even have tried to put me on the spot. Those liars are no better than me!"

"What, so just because we lied to Gonta, that makes you more righteous than we are?" Hajime challenged the other with his own argument. "We didn't manipulate him with lies. That was all you! You lied to him by saying we were interested in this Insect Exhibit!"

"Who said that I had the higher moral ground, Hinata-chan?" Kokichi shot back with a question of his own. "Since people hate lies so much, a lie, even if it was told with good intentions, is still bad - just like how murder is still murder no matter how much you justify it. Neither of us in here has the right to say who is the more righteous. In the end, we all told our lies to manipulate Gonta, although in your case, its more like..." he paused to think of a good follow-up. "...Self-preservation, isn't it? You all just wanted to get back at me for forcing this horrifying experience upon you all, riiiight?~"

"Alright, that's the last time you talked shit to us, bastard! Rush him!"

Everyone except for the people blocking the entrance tried to tackle him. Expecting this offensive strategy, he used his hands to push himself high up in the air, high enough to flip over Gonta's spear tackle and land behind his original position. Since the others missed him, some of them crashed towards the cart while the more dangerous potential pursuers were on the receiving end of the tackle and were effectively knocked out. The people who were able enough to give chase were Gundham, Fuyuhiko and Hajime. Kokichi flipped them off and sprinted towards the maze-like warehouse. "Nishishi... CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, LOSERS!"

"Damnit! You're not escaping this time, Oma!"

"Fuhahahaha! Run while you still can! The hawk will eventually catch the snake no matter how far it slithers away!"

"I'll make sure to fucking rip that lying tongue through your teeth!"

---

"Nishishi…"

Chiaki's body became heavier - the weight of utter disappointment pulling her head and shoulders down. Wasn't it too much to ask for a good dream for once? She's had enough of having to hear that schadenfreude-like giggle and to see that sadistically toothy grin every time she closed her eyes.

I don't feel like waking up from another nightmare again… Chiaki thought to herself as she willed herself to awaken. With a long yawn and some removing of eye crusts, she was able to open her eyes. She sat up from her position and noticed that there weren't any bugs on her this time. Did the time limit finally end?

After booting her other senses back up, she didn't hear any terrified screams or booming shouts or laughter anymore…

…Not only that, all the bugs and insects were suddenly removed from the area… Along with everyone else…

…What's going on?

Chiaki stood up and scanned the area around her. She could definitely see that she was still at the area of the Insect Exhibit albeit at a different part from where she lied down. The last place where she fell asleep was in a big open area, surrounded by her classmates, which was near the entrance or exit. There was one here but it was further from her than she remembered, plus the area was certainly smaller than the last, she thinks. It was most likely that she was carried here by someone while she was sleeping.…maybe. Upon examining the ground where she woke up on, the gamer noticed that she was resting on a real grassy bed under a large shade. This might've been why she woke up without being disoriented by the lights. She made it a mental note to thank whoever placed her here.

Still in a persisting state of confusion, she stumbled her way towards-

Wait a minute… Chiaki stopped in her tracks, realizing something important that flew over her head ever since she woke up tied next to Hajime. …Where's my stuff?

She re-examined the area around her - this time in more detail. She searched every nook and cranny, suspicious and not suspicious, and left no stone unturned. Even with all those minutes of searching, she came up with no traces of her catpack that held all her gaming necessities. The gamer felt her spirit being forcefully pulled out of her body. All those days of progress and years spent raising her virtual cities and communities…

My games… Why would people steal my precious games…?

What…was this terrible feeling of loss?

It wasn't hope. That much she was sure of.

Anger flared up from her insides. She'll find those games and give that no-good thief a beating. She stomped her way out of the room, her shoes mercilessly crunching the grass beneath her which symbolized how she was going to beat this horrible person down to a pulp. She thought of extending the scope of her search to the entire academy. Chiaki wouldn't simply give up precious years of grinding and 100%-ing games.

She gripped the handle of the door but didn't open it. She heard multiple footsteps just beyond this wall as well as a few familiar voices that spoke in a way that she would never mistaken. She identified three of the voices belonging to Gundham, Fuyuhiko and Kokichi. Maybe they know where her things are?

Controlling the rage that was boiling within her, Chiaki opened the door as gently as she can and felt someone tackle her from her left side as she stepped out into the dark hallway. Both of their bodies crashed into the door, pushing it towards the wall. The gamer yelped from the immense shock that coursed through her back.

Owww…not again…

"Alright…We finally…got you." Fuyuhiko panted but his threatening tone didn't escape his voice as he brandished a knife on both of them. "I'm gonna enjoy…cutting…this…bitch open…!"

"N-N-Nanami-chan!" Kokichi yelled out as he hugged the other for protection- though, it looked more like he was the one protecting her. "Th-They're gonna kill me!"

"While I would very much like to eviscerate you to see your insides pool out," Gundham spoke in a tone that was darker and colder than his usual one. "I will propose a better act of vindication for this faux supreme overlord. You there!" the breeder addressed someone who Chiaki can't see from Kokichi's unkempt hair blocking her view. "Bind him with the strings of fate that I sent you to gather." he then let out a low cackle. "We shall let him suffer the same fate we went through!"

Hajime eventually came into her line of sight with rope in hand and tried to pry the clingy supreme leader off of her body. Kokichi became more desperate and clung deeper into Chiaki's body to the point where he was squeezing the life out of her.

"Let her go already!" Hajime emphasized every word with a forceful pull that only hurt the human teddy bear even more. "You're making this worse for the both of you!"

"Well, I don't wanna go!" Kokichi whined in response. "Nanami-chan is the only friend I have left in this world where no one trusts me!"

"That's it! We don't have time…for your bullshit, bastard!" Fuyuhiko pushed Hajime aside and slashed Kokichi's back with his knife. The latter shrieked at Chiaki's ear and relented long enough for Hajime to pull him off. The gamer was finally able to breathe easily after a few heavy pants for some air. Sitting up from her position, she saw a teary-eyed Kokichi bound with some rope and gagged by the mouth with some duct tape.

Fuyuhiko pocketed his knife that was somehow clean from the slash and let his violent rage subside, not to be mistaken with completely vanish mind you. "…So you're telling me, we're gonna let Gonta do whatever he wants to this kid?! Have you forgotten what he can do to that idiot just by opening his mouth?! Not only that, but this brat's slippery as hell!"

"Yeah, but Gonta's just as fast, maybe even faster." Hajime argued. "Trust me. Nanami's seen just how quickly he caught up to me when I tried to run away from the exhibit. Plus, I don't think Oma can just change Gonta's mind again with his lies since he already knows his opinion about insects…"

"Hm…" Gundham thoughtfully hummed in agreement. "…A convincing remark. He and I shall go on ahead and deliver this foul demon to his fate then. You, on the other hand," his eyes glanced over to Fuyuhiko's then unto Chiaki's. "Shall bear the responsibility of ensuring that our class rep leaves this accursed place safe and sound. It is quite apparent that she is…disoriented from these recent events and might not know her sense of direction."

Chiaki was mildly surprised by Gundham's considerate words. She stood up and smiled at the breeder. "…Thank you for caring about me, Tanaka-kun."

The breeder scoffed at her kind gesture of gratitude and hastily signaled for Hajime to carry the squirming Kokichi with both their shoulders. "…I do not need your invaluable thanks, mere mortal. I simply thought ahead to skip the others' noisy inquisitions about your unknown whereabouts."

Yep, same as ever…

As the two strolled further away from them, Fuyuhiko tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to follow him towards the opposite direction.

"Umm…" Chiaki mumbled confusedly while focusing her gaze elsewhere. "…Shouldn't we follow them towards the exit, Kuzuryu-kun?"

"Yeah yeah, we'll get to that in a sec…" the yakuza heir brushed her question off with a wave of his hand. "…I just need your help with something. It's pretty important."

"…You need my help with something important?"

"Just shut up and follow me, alright?! Oh and before you ask, it's not some illegal stuff so relax."

Trying to stifle a yawn after hearing the word "relax", Fuyuhiko marched forward while Chiaki mindlessly followed. The two were silent all throughout the journey in this dark dungeon. The gamer thought of breaking away from her current quest to find a torch. Not that she could though even if she wanted, she felt like she was locked to this cutscene and abandoning the storyline might break the world…she guesses.

Chiaki had an urge to open her mouth and ask if Fuyuhiko knows where her things are but he was just too fast for her to catch up so they can have a pleasant conversation. She knows she could've just yelled it at him but she really didn't feel like it. She decided to ask him after they were done with whatever they were supposed to do.

The pair eventually arrived at the doorstep of a large storage closet. Fuyuhiko approached it and opened the closet, revealing what looks like video game loot in Chiaki's eyes.

He did say they weren't going to do anything illegal, right?

"Nanami, could you grab the cart over there in that room?" Fuyuhiko pointed towards the room opposite to the other room adjacent to the storage closet.

Chiaki replied with a slow "Ok…" and entered the small room that shared the same forest feel with the last two areas she woke up in. Finding the cart, she wheeled it out of the room and returned to Fuyuhiko, who was patiently waiting for her. Afterwards, he proceeded to fill the cart up with the video game loot that upon a second glance, she noticed it consisted of a number of items that belonged to her classmates.

"These are ours, right Kuzuryu-kun?"

"Take a fucking guess, dumbass…"

Chiaki assumed that these were theirs and racked through the loot in hopes of finding her missing items. Still no signs of her precious cartridges and consoles, much to her chagrin…

"…Looks like they're not here either…" the gamer remarked, disheartened by her insufficient findings.

"What, you mean that video game junk?" Fuyuhiko interjected with a little laugh of mockery at the end. "While you were sleeping, that goddamn brat barged in with a cart full of 'em!" he then slowed down in loading the cart up. "…But yeah, it's weird, ain't it? I mean, our stuff's right here but yours wasn't." he finished transporting all the "goods" then placed a firm hand on Chiaki's shoulder.

"…Listen, Nanami…" he started with a very serious tone. "…I don't know if it's just me but that kid's got his eyes set on you. I still don't believe the bullshit he spouts about him being the leader of some organization but even I gotta admit, he's got the guts to be one."

"…I'm afraid I don't understand what you're trying to imply here, Kuzuryu-kun. From what I see, I think he just wants to be our friend."

"Are you fucking serious right now? Don't tell me you-"

"I am."

"Didn't you notice what he was trying to do?! Who the hell in the world would gas us, manipulate that big shit-for-brains to tie us up, and fucking try to shoot you with a damn revolver if they only want to be "friends"?! Not only that, but he was close to exposing whatever Hinata's hiding from us if you hadn't spoken up! Tell me now if you still think he wants to be friends with us!"

"But that's what you think, isn't it? All he did was just play around with some harmless pranks. The worst thing he's ever done to us was to get us to doubt our friendship…at least, I think so. Even so, I wouldn't call his actions as a way of being evil for the sake of being evil. I…understand what he was trying to say to some degree…I think…"

"Then, how about Komaeda?! After what he's done to the guy, can you really say for sure that Oma is *not* evil?!"

Chiaki was at a loss for words. How could she forget about what happened to Nagito? Kokichi trusted the white-haired boy to assist him in his goals then later betrayed that trust by putting him in that unfortunate state. He was so close to death, but he looked…happy about it? No matter, Chiaki wasn't one to forgive killing. What Kokichi had done to Nagito was something she couldn't forgive either, regardless of how much he would try to justify his actions.

Betrayal or treachery was akin to hacking in video games - one of the worst sins a gamer can commit.

"…I'll try to talk to Oma-kun about it then…"

"…You do realize that you're gonna talk to a professional liar, right? Like hell are you gonna get him to talk!"

"But you said that he has his "eyes on me", right? That would mean that he's interested in me…I think…"

Fuyuhiko clicked his tongue and decided to take his frustrations out on the cart by pushing it towards wherever they came from. Chiaki heard him mouth something off to her but she didn't quite understand it. Before she could ask however, he asked in a loud voice, "You coming or what?"

And just like that, Chiaki forgot the serious conversation they just had and continued on their main quest.

---

After another pleasantly quiet stroll through the dark halls of the Forest Dungeon, the last of the people who went in there came out and joined the others. As much as Chiaki wanted to rejoin her friends, her eyes were fixed on the cart of very familiar-looking cartridges and consoles. She slowly approached it with abject curiosity but mild wondrous excitement and examined each and every one of them.

…There's no doubt about it, these were her belongings that she left inside her room along with the stuff she brought for the party. For a second, she was fooled into thinking she came across every gamer's treasure trove. She couldn't mistake the smell and unique texture of each and every one of them. Those were tells that that specific object is hers.

...Now that she thought about it, maybe what the others said about her being weird was...pretty weird as well. They said that things tend to fly over her head or that she completely missed the point - case in point, the fact that she forgets things she lost but can accurately identify every object she owns.

...I'm probably thinking about it too much... Chiaki pondered to herself, continuing to rummage through her pile of video games and consoles. ...I think...

Amidst all the goodies, the gamer found her long lost catpack with all her portable gaming necessities still intact and miraculously untouched by anyone else except her. Pulling it out under all the rubble of polystyrene and metal, Chiaki now strapped her pack on her shoulders, giving her an effective toy to fiddle even without her hood.

After examining the cart, she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. Her attention successfully diverted, Hajime approached her and asked if she was done and needed help to transport her belongings back to the dorms. Chiaki answered with a curt "Yes", traces of shame riddled in her voice but went unnoticed by her spiky-haired buddy.

Satisfied with her response, Hajime called out for Peko. He didn't even say anything to her but the stoic swordswoman immediately understood his request and wheeled the cart out of the room without hesitance. Mahiru was noticeably upset by Hajime's unreliability and berated him for sending a woman to do a boy's job. He simply rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself.

"There's just no way to satisfy everyone no matter what I do…"

Chiaki heard this and defended Hajime. "…At least Hinata-kun asked if I needed help with that. It would be even weirder if a boy entered the girl's dorms with a cart of my stuff…I think."

"Yeah…" Mahiru sighed in defeat, relenting to Chiaki's sound logic. "…I guess you're right."

"Now that everything's been settled with," Fuyuhiko stepped in suddenly with a new topic for discussion. "Can we head back now? I want some damn peace and quiet after this bullshit of a party."

"Kuzuryu-san! The party that we all prepared for is certainly not "bullshit"!" Sonia jumped in and corrected the yakuza before softening her tone. "But sadly, I do believe that we are all "pooped" from this disastrous evening."

Chiaki noticed how some of her classmates groaned loudly after hearing the princess say "pooped". Sonia coughed louder than those groans to silence the crowd and continued. "It would be best if we were to settle this mess that Oma-san created the next day instead. We cannot resolve this matter in our current state."

Everyone else voiced their agreement on Sonia's advice. Hearing this, she turned towards Gonta and bade him farewell. Their gentlemanly captor thanked them all for participating in the Insect Exhibit and granted them their most sought freedom. The whole class practically rushed out of the room and collectively let out a relieved sigh. Eventually, the others said their goodbyes and headed off towards the dorms. Only six of them: Hajime, Chiaki herself, Nekomaru, Ibuki, Mikan and Nagito, remained - three of them observing the worried-looking gamer who stared at the door to the Exhibit with a hand on her chest.

"Is…he gonna be alright?" she asked to the door right in front of her as if it was a better conversation partner than the other three.

"You mean Komaeda?" Hajime asked as a reply. "He's fine. Tsumiki's taking care of-"

"I'm not talking about Komaeda-kun…" she interrupted the boy's attempt at assuaging her worries. "…I'm talking about Oma-kun. Didn't Kuzuryu-kun cut his back with a knife? He seemed pretty hurt about it…"

"Kuzuryu made sure NOT to actually cut him!" he hastily answered, once more trying to steer her mind off of the topic of Kokichi. "It was more like a whip on his back than a laceration, honestly…"

Chiaki slowly turned away from the door. Well, if Hajime said that Kokichi is fine then he's fine, right? She was too tired to argue with her friend about the supreme leader's safety. She simply shrugged her shoulders and followed Hajime towards the group of people who were waiting for her with smiles on their faces.

Nekomaru approached her and gave her a *light* slap on the shoulder. "The party may have been a failure, but we still had fun together as a team!"

"Ibuki agrees with Neko-chan!" Ibuki jumped in, challenging the loud Ultimate to a screamer contest, or so Chiaki thinks. "This party was super-duper fun! 10/10 would party again!" she finished in a rhythmic sing-song voice while clapping to the beat.

"I'll have to disagree with you on that…" Hajime remarked, unenthusiastic about what happened to them. "…I'd rather not go through that again."

"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Hajime-chan! You got to be tied up with Chiaki-chan and lick Chiaki-chan's cheek! Even Chiaki-chan was enjoying herself!"

Both of their faces sported an identical shade of red at the same time and looked away from each other. Ibuki always knows how to fluster them both, doesn't she?

"A-Anyways!" Hajime shouted to veer the conversation elsewhere. "Aren't you forgetting that it was Oma who put us up to this in the first place?!"

"Oh yeaaaaah…" Ibuki rubbed the back of her head after realizing that. "…Ibuki kinda forgot about that…"

"But you do have to admit," Nekomaru added in a thoughtful tone. "He made the party even wilder in a sense."

"At the very least, I can agree with that."

The group started to walk towards Mikan and Nagito, offering to switch places with Mikan in taking care of Nagito's injuries from the party. After some convincing, they negotiated a deal that they would all stay to take care of him at the nurse's office. Apparently, the nurse was very insistent that she would take care of the frail boy since his life was very delicate. He would need to be monitored constantly because of his unpredictable immune system.

She said that it was a miracle that he's even survived this long with an incredibly weak immune system. Chiaki, on the other hand, was scared of the thought of losing one of her friends to such cruelty. If they wanted Nagito to recover back to his old self, then they needed to consider Mikan's negotiation.

But just as the night couldn't even get crazier, the chaos wasn't done with them yet…

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they were heading towards the school clinic. That loud voice sounded so desperate as if it was a genuine cry for help.

"...Did you guys hear that?"

"I-I did… B-B-But I don't know where it-"

"AHHHHHH! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! PLEASE HELP MEEEEEE!"

"It's Kokichi-chan! At the Exhibit!"

Leaving Nagito in a safe spot, the group rushed over towards the entrance of the Exhibit. Nekomaru pounded on the door in a state of panic. "Oi! What's going on there?!"

"THEY'RE ALL OVER MEEEEE! AHHHHHH! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OOOOOOOOFFFFFFF!"

Along with Kokichi's shouting, they heard even more bugs and insects buzz from beyond the door. Hajime joined Nekomaru at assaulting the door with their concerned shouts and frantic knocking.

"Gonta! What are you doing over there?! We told you not to go overboard!"

"Open up, Gonta! Or we'll have to use EXTREME FORCEEEEEEEE!"

"I'M SORRY, GONTAAAAAA! I LIKE INSECTS NOW! I LIKE INSECTS, OK?! JUST PLEASE, GET THEM OFF ME! Huh? What's th- NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEEEEEEEEESSSS! GAAAAAAA-"

CRASH*

thud*

The screams and buzzing noises inside the room died down after the sounds of loud crashing and a body hitting solid ground. It was deadly silent inside the Exhibit. The silence from within spread outside like an outbreak from a doomsday laboratory. Chiaki could feel her blood run cold from the eerie atmosphere around her, despite the hot weather right now that has not changed ever since she went out of the dorms. Even Ibuki chose not to make a peep about it.

The group jumped back from the startling heavy click of the door opening. That was the first thing they heard a minute after the cries of Insect Utopia were quelled. From beyond the metallic gate that separated them from the Insect Exhibit, a panicked Gonta came out with a...

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE HEEEELLLLLLLLLL?!"

"BLOOOOOODDD! THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"

Chiaki looked away from the nauseating sight and covered her mouth. She could feel her dinner traveling up from her stomach and towards her throat.

Of all the times to vomit, why now and not when she was dizzy?!

And of course, the moment she turned away, she saw Hajime puke out a mixture of orange and green. The projectile flowed copiously from his mouth as he made the longest retching sound that Chiaki ever heard.

The fight to hold back her own vomit was akin to completing a deathless run of the Ninja Gaiden trilogy in one go - once you mess up, it'll all come out and there's no going back from it…

After an insane amount of fortitude and endurance, Chiaki was able to control her insides…for now. She then took a deep breath and turned her eyes towards that nauseating sight once more. Kokichi, who was bleeding profusely from his forehead, was sleeping on the ground while Mikan focused on taking care of him.

Meanwhile, Gonta was busy apologizing to the others who were present by saying that he didn't mean to hurt his visitor. Based on what he told them, Kokichi was trying to get away from the insects that only wanted to be his friend and badly injured himself in doing so. Chiaki was thankful that the entomologist spared them from the exact details of how the supreme leader managed to sustain a wound like that.

She could imagine a few ways on how it could happen... but because it's just an imagination, it didn't make her throw up.

…Strangely enough, she would find it slightly comical.

The whole group swarmed Kokichi's sleeping form. However, Mikan reprimanded them and told them to keep their distance from her patient, and so they backed off, but only a bit.

...It seemed as if they didn't believe the sight that was right in front of them.

Chiaki couldn't fathom a reason as to why they thought that way. The liquid on his head certainly looked like blood to her… probably.

"…sa…l…"

Kokichi was mumbling something in his sleep and the others were interested as to what he was saying.

"Do you know what he's saying, Mioda?" inquired Hajime.

"Well, Kokichi-chan sounds like he's saying "mmmmmrshmrsh sal mershmersh"." replied the musician who was sporting an unusually serious face as she stuck her head out jauntily and held a hand close to her ear.

"…I…t…sa…l…"

From Chiaki's perspective, she could see Kokichi's mouth move as well as his chest and hands twitch every time it did. Mikan, not understanding what her patient was mumbling, moved her head closer towards his mouth.

"H-Huh? Wh-What i-is It, Oma-san?"

"…It…sal…"

"I-I'm s-sorry but I don't u-understand… Pl-Please tr-try your best to s-speak louder."

Chiaki swore she heard Kokichi giggle for a moment.

"I…said…"

As if lightning struck Kokichi's body, he instantly woke up from his slumber, sat up from his position, grabbed Mikan's head with both his hands, pulled it closer to his face until she could take a good look at his, and shouted with his eyes dilating like the eyes of a reptile even with the blood continuing to flow from his forehead. He did all that in one deft motion.

"Eek…!"

His nurse's concerned expression transformed into one of absolute fear as she was forced to see that bloody and demonic crescent-shaped smile from the supreme leader's face. Had she reacted a little sooner, she would've been spared from such a horrific sight.

"IT'S A LIE!"

The now revived supreme leader dropped his hands to his sides to which Mikan used this opportunity of freedom from his clutches to jump back and sob in terror. Shaking off the shock of Kokichi's sudden vigor, Chiaki knelt down beside the wailing nurse to comfort her. She wrapped her arms around her friend then drew circles on her back like how Hajime did to her not so long ago.

"I-I'm sorry! Pl-Please f-forgive me! Please forgive me!"

"It's okay, Tsumiki-san. It's okay. We forgive you."

Each time Mikan cried out those words to the bloodied supreme leader, Chiaki repeated her words of comfort to her. It was as if she was using her unknown powers to cure Mikan from her status effects.

Surely after a repetitive cycle of crying and comforting, the wailing nurse managed to calm down. The gamer, however, remained by her side. She turned her head to glare at the giggling Kokichi who was somehow paler than his natural skin color. She could tell that the smile on his face was extremely forced, seeing as the area on his forehead was turning bluish-violet and his pupils were now larger than his irises.

"Nishishi… How…cute…" he remarked the scene before him in a deeper and more tired voice.

"Y-You're insane!" shouted Hajime towards Kokichi.

"Oh...? Insane...? Me...? Haha… you wound me… Hinata-chan!"

"K-K-Kokichi-chan is now a z-z-z-zombie..." Ibuki managed to add in despite her teeth chattering in abject fear overriding on her colorful expressions. "P-P-P-P-Please don't eat I-I-I-I-I-Ibuki…"

"He…hehe…hehehe… I gave you guys a pretty good scare… didn't I? Too bad… everyone wasn't here…to see it…" Kokichi started to wobble in place. "…Wheeee… One…little…two…little…three…li…ttle…Gon…tas…"

And then he collapsed to the ground - this time, for good. Although, no one took the initiative to check if Kokichi was really unconscious or not. Eventually, Gonta reluctantly offered to check but Nekomaru declined said offer and volunteered for his job instead. The gentleman looked down in shame and left the area, informing the group that he was going to pack his stuff up back at the Insect Exhibit. Hajime told him that he shouldn't feel too bad about it and that they'll come and help him.

"Hm." Nekomaru nodded thoughtfully and scooped Kokichi up from the ground with his muscular arms. "I've checked him out already I can safely say that HE WON'T BE WAKING UP ANYTIME SOOOOOON!"

"Quiet or you'll actually wake him up…!"

"Gahahaha! Not to worry, Hinata! That was a test to see if he would react to my loud voice! See? He's not waking up!"

Chiaki stood up and helped Mikan back to her feet. There were two people who came out injured tonight and they needed a nurse to take care of them. "Tsumiki-san, are you okay now?"

"…I-I'm fine n-now, Nanami-san…" the nurse replied in her usual stuttering voice. "…Th-Thank you…"

Before Chiaki could return the gesture, Mikan asked if Nekomaru could bring both Nagito and Kokichi to the school clinic. He said that he will but he also told her that he would need to "take a long SHIIIIIIT" once he brought them in. That meant that their strongest unit would retire for the night and they couldn't exactly ask Gonta to help out since he's busy as well.

With a sleeping Kokichi and Nagito now with them, they ventured off towards the school clinic, hoping that they could get inside the massive building and sneak past the guards who were enforcing the curfew.

---

Their infiltration on Hope's Peak was successful and they were able to make it towards the clinic. The guards were less vigilant than they had thought. Even with their lack of experience in stealth missions, it was surprisingly a low difficulty level to accomplish.

Entering the clinic, Nekomaru placed the two bodies on their respective beds and hastily took his leave. Ibuki and Hajime soon followed after him, telling the group that they were going to the Insect Exhibit to help Gonta out- well, mostly it was Hajime who was going to help since Ibuki only wanted to join just because she thinks that the clinic is too boring and quiet for her liking.

Much to Chiaki's dismay, the both of them weren't planning on returning here once they were done and that they were going straight to bed afterwards. She was actually planning to at least play some video games with her friends once this was all over. It disappointed her to see that the majority of her plans for tonight were postponed because of Kokichi.

She stood by the door with a sad look on her face as she watched the three fade further into the moonlit halls of the academy. She took this moment of silence to sigh and return to Mikan's side.

At least she wasn't going to be lonely in this clinic with two sleeping people…

"N-Nanami-san? You can just go back to the d-dorms and go to sleep for today…"

Chiaki considered the nurse's offer for a bit before shaking her head to decline. "…I don't feel like sleeping yet. Is it ok if I stay here and help you, Tsumiki-san? I'll take care of Oma-kun while you tend to Komaeda-kun's needs."

Mikan gave a satisfied smile of approval. "Ok then. B-But I have to bandage Oma-san first before you can visit him!"

The gamer nodded at that and decided to sit down and play some video games at the clinic's lobby to pass up the time.

---

Ugh…

…Why did today have to be the day where he finally woke up on the wrong side of the bed?

Or in this case, the wrong bed?

Kokichi woke up from the hot light of the sun slapping his face to wake him up. He definitely was in a bad mood today. He begrudgingly opened his eyes and felt his head squeeze itself in, compressing every imaginable sensation of pain into one jackhammer that pounded on all sides of his cranium.

That freaking hurts, damn it!

Come on, brain! Don't fuck up my day any worse than it already is!

The pain eventually subsided after he massaged the temples of his head with his hands. One detail he took notice of was the fact that he had a bandage wrapped around his head.

How did he happen to end up at the clinic again?

…The events that took place at the party soon came crashing in his memories like a freight train coming in hot. He recovered from his temporary memory loss and began to laugh. The looks on their faces as they realized that they were all tied up in a very awkward position was just too hilarious!

Oh, and how could he forget how the others reacted when he scared them with his injury?!

That was the best part of the plan so far and he didn't even prepare for it!

This was just too funny!

Kokichi was able to contain his laughter as his insides were starting to hurt. Wiping the tears that blurred his vision, he saw a girl mimicking what he just did with his eyes seating beside him. That was strange. When did she get here?

More importantly, shouldn't she be cleaning the mess he made last night?

"…Good morning, Oma-kun…" she greeted the supreme leader with a yawn. "…Are you feeling better now?"

"Nishishi… Of course, I am, Nanami-chan…"

That wasn't a lie by the way.

He couldn't feel any gladder than waking up to see Chiaki instead of their class rep. If the latter was here instead of her, she'd be scolding him about what he just did to the others during their party.

"Tojo-san will be coming here later for your breakfast…" she informed him. His day was just getting better and better by the second! "…Do you want to play some video games while we wait?"

"Hmmm… while I'd love to play some video games with you, I think you're here for a different reason other than trying to become my friend…"

"What if that was all I wanted to do, Oma-kun?"

"Reeeeaaaally, Nanami-chan~? Even after what I just did to you and your friends, especially Hinata-chan, Komaeda-chan and you?"

"…Have you ever had a Gengar and Clefable before?"

Way to dodge the question, Nanami-chan… "Hmm… Never heard of 'em…"

Chiaki pulled out one of her video game consoles and booted up a game called "Pokémon FireRed". Judging by the name of the game, Kokichi assumed that the gamer was talking about these Pokémon. Regardless, he's still never caught any of them in his life. She then showed the screen towards Kokichi. The dark purple one was apparently named "Gengar" while the palish-pink one was named "Clefable".

The two looked vaguely familiar to him…

"Ehh, I like the Gengar one better. He looks more interesting…"

"You remind me of a Gengar, you know…" she commented as she switched the console off and returned it inside her bag.

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, your hair shares the same purple he has and you smile like he does…"

"Awwww. Thanks for the compliment, Nanami-chan!"

"…And you like to trick people. That's what a Gengar does to people. They trick and prank people as a way to have fun but because of this, they despise and avoid Gengars as much as possible."

"S-So…*sniff* *sniff*… do you despise me too?"

Please say yes please say yes please say ye-

"I don't, Oma-kun. That's why I want to be your friend. I see a lot of myself in you - someone who is generally not liked by the public because of their…weird quirks. This is the reason I brought up Gengar and Clefable in the first place. In some online gaming threads that I visit, people theorized about how these two were alter egos of each other. Sure, they were clearly different, but the more you look into it, you start to realize how similar they are."

GODDAMN IT! "Nishishi… Well, that's one thing we can agree on. All the more reason why you should join my organization, Nanami-chan! You can be the vice supreme leader of my group! Think of all the fun and crazy times we can enjoy in that wild wild world out there!"

"Hmmm… sounds tiring…I think. I'd rather play video games with my friends."

Kokichi held back a comment about how boring that answer was and simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "…Fine fine. Let's just play those stupid games, ok?!"

"They're not stupid, Oma-kun. They're-"

"Yada yada yada… I get it! Let's just play already!"

At the end of it all, it turned out that Kokichi lost in this game he played with Chiaki…followed by 20 other losses in Gala Omega. You win some, you lose some. This loss pissed him off for sure. He couldn't get the other to hate him and think of him as nothing but an evil person who enjoys seeing others suffer.

sigh* Well, at least there was the off-chance that he would replace Hajime as Chiaki's number one gaming buddy…

This wasn't the ending he expected nor wanted, but there was always next time…

…And next time, he'll definitely win this game.

---

A/N: Finally…done…with…this…

Whew.

The last scene with Kokichi and Chiaki was actually going to be longer. I was planning to put some extra stuff in there but this fic was already approaching 50k words (novel status). This was originally going to have just 3 chapters with at least 10k words in it. Looks like I underestimated myself. Trust me, I've cut down a lot of stuff to decrease my word count but the fact that this was a LONG fic still remained.

I just want to say something here before I leave.

This is the most effort I've put into a fic even though the plot was ridiculous. I've made sure that the characters I featured in the tags get an appropriate amount of presence (I know Peko said about two or three lines of dialogue throughout this entire fic shush), and I've tried to make them as in-character as I can. I think I've done a pretty good job here.

But that's what I think about this fic. What matters is what you guys think about it.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this! I hope that this fic was worth your time! Have a nice day and remember, School is Cool! :D