"Yah-haaah! Greetings, Kaede! I came to announce that there is no more Atua!"
Angie waved to Kaede as she saw her walk up to her near the Ultimate Pianist's lab.
"Oh, Angie! I was just looking for y—wait, what?!"
Kaede cut herself off mid-sentence, doing a double take as she tried to process what Angie had just said. Was this…real? Every waking moment since they had met, Angie had done nothing but go on about how devout she is toward her God. In response, Angie simply giggled cheerfully.
"What a coincidence! I was looking for you, as well!" the artist exclaimed, beaming. "Indeed, Atua is a sham and a complete fabrication! Angie has rused you all! All Atua was good for was furthering my own intentions to deceive you all! Nyahaha!"
Kaede paused, left speechless. She remained silent for what felt like several seconds, Angie staring at her almost expectantly with that usual smile on her face, before she finally chimed in again.
"April Foooools!"
Silence once again fell between the both of them. Angie remained still, grinning widely, while Kaede stood there, flabbergasted. Hearing Angie say something like that about her own God left a pit in her stomach. Hearing it so out of left field left her shaken up.
"… O-Oh. Geez, I forgot that was today… You really got me, Angie."
Kaede worked up a smile, giggling herself once all the tension she had felt mere seconds ago seemed to slowly melt away. She sighed in relief.
"Nyahaha! Atua is pleased! That is how this holiday works, does it not? I was reading through the calendar in the main hall, and Kokichi helped explain it to me! Atua then told me to participate in the holiday to test my faith in Him! Isn't that divine?"
"Ah… Right…"
Kaede gave a shaky chuckle; though she didn't want to admit it, she had always felt a bit unsure on whether or not Angie's devotion to Atua was just a ploy. They were all forced into Monokuma's killing game, after all; it was only natural to feel apprehensive toward her fellow classmates. But feeling this way made her sick; she didn't want to distrust them, and she didn't want to participate in this killing game.
And even though they were all trapped here, Kaede had taken it upon herself to try to make the most of her time in this academy.
"So! What were you looking for me for? Did you have something you wanted to tell me, Kaede?" Angie asked, noticing her friend seemed to still have trouble speaking without proper direction.
"O-Oh, right! I painted a bunch of eggs to surprise everyone for Easter," Kaede explained, reaching into her backpack to take out Angie's egg. "So, here you go!" she exclaimed, offering it to her.
The egg was painted light blue with clouds and rays of sunshine. In the center of one side of the egg, a cute caricature of Angie's face beamed brightly, and underneath her face were two hands clasped in prayer. Around her were happy spirits of what were presumably willing blood sacrifices.
In hindsight, Kaede may have felt adding the spirits of blood sacrifices was a bad idea. She decided not to worry about it for now.
"I kinda borrowed a few paintbrushes and cans from your lab a few days ago in secret... I'm sorry. And I know I'm not the best painter, either. This might sound weird, but… I used to do this sort of thing all the time with my friends and family as a kid for fun. It would always bring us closer together. And with this... I hoped this would try to bring that same feeling to everyone here."
Angie's breath catches in her lungs when Kaede offers the gift. It was unexpected, and more sweet than she could ever say. Very tenderly, Angie takes the gift into her hands, examining it and turning it over in her tanned fingers. Those experienced eyes ran over every detail, and with a long period of silence between them, those blue eyes actually began to water a bit staring at the egg.
She looks back up to Kaede, her lip quivering slightly. "It's absolutely beautiful, Kaede. Thank you." She looks back to the egg and gives a small giggle. It was odd… Kaede had never seen Angie sound so sincere before. Hearing her so grateful, to the point it almost made her choke up…
"It's... it's funny! Angie has spent her whole life making art and improving, but every time... Every time I see what gets put into sincere gifts like this, there's simply no comparison." A bright teary smile, Angie wraps her friend into an embrace, squeezing tight.
No matter how apprehensive Kaede may have felt toward some of the other people in this school, she was always happy to try to be the best friend she can be toward everyone and make them feel appreciated. She wanted desperately to break that barrier of deceit and mistrust that had clouded over all of them, including the one in herself…and seeing Angie react so emotionally to her small gesture couldn't help but bring a smile to her face in response as she hugged her back.
Maybe there really was more to Angie than just her devotion toward Atua.
"I'm glad, Angie. I worked really hard on it in my room... I'm really glad you like it." And hearing such praise from the Ultimate Artist of all people truly felt most flattering of all.