"Are you ready Kokichi?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm-AAAAH!"

"There. All done."

"OW! Rinny! What the hell!? You said you'd pull at the count of three!"

"Oh, what do you know? I guess I lied, Kokichi."

"O-Oh…Hahaha…I-I see what you did there. I'd hit you for that, but the pain is sorta stopping me right now."

"Sure…" Rin rolled his eyes as he twirled the throwing knife he had pulled out of Kokichi's back. "Now I'm going to plant the evidence in the bathroom. You drag Kirumi out of the hangar. After that, we can start setting up the press trick."

"You got it, Rinny!" Kokichi's pained expression vanished as he showed Rin a bright, cheerful smile. Rin shook his head in an exasperated manner as he walked over to the bathroom, leaving Kokichi by himself in the hangar. Well, alone except for the unconscious body of Kirumi.

"Okie dokie, Kirumi. Time to get you outta here." Kokichi smirked as he grabbed Kirumi's arms and began dragging her out of the opened shudder.

Kokichi couldn't stop the smile that had formed on his face. The plan he and Rin had made was absolutely crazy. It was the most insane thing he had ever come up with, and he absolutely loved it for that. A murder where the victim is unknown. A murder where it's impossible to determine the cause of death, preventing an accurate deduction leading to the culprit.

And, of course, all of that covering up the fact that with the Electro Radar, the real Mastermind and Monokuma don't know what's happening right now, meaning that they don't know that Rin didn't drink the poison's antidote and instead gave it to Kokichi. That means they'll most likely expect Kokichi to be the victim in this case. That means that if they used this situation to their advantage and swapped places, it would be the perfect trick to beat the mastermind and Monokuma at their own game.

However, that plan has flaws that were apparent if you looked at it closely enough. For one, it assumes Monokuma won't just cheat once the class trial begins. Within the walls of the academy, and especially within a class trial, Monokuma's words are the law, and he can make up whatever he wants whenever he wants. Nothing would stop him from just adding or removing rules to help him get around the plan to trick him, and nothing would stop him from just killing everyone if they managed to ruin the game anyway.

Secondly, if the two of them were going to go through with this plan, that meant that if the plan was figured out, whoever survived would be executed as the killer, no matter what. Sure, the plan needed both of them alive and the surviving person would have to be the one to kill the other, but because they would be the only living witness to that, even if the surviving person waited for the poison to kill the victim to make Kirumi the blackened, nothing would be able to prove that for them.

Without Monokuma as a witness, all the surviving person would have is their own word that they weren't the killer since the poison was the thing that actually killed the victim, which Monokuma would most likely call bullshit on since how convenient would that be? Of course, the video camera from the warehouse they were going to grab could be used to record the victim's true death via poison, but the moment the camera gets brought in as evidence, Monokuma will have access to the footage, proving the whole trick pointless since then he'd know who the real culprit was.

That perfect leads to the third problem with the plan: it wasn't impossible to solve. If someone was clever enough and didn't immediately buy what the footage of the crushed victim showed, someone could discover that the video was paused in order to switch the victim out. Considering that the remaining students had Shuichi, the Ultimate Detective, on their side, that was practically a guarantee to happen. And if Shuichi figured out the trick, that meant Monokuma would the moment the detective unwittingly showed the bear the truth.

Once found out, the culprit would have no choice but to reveal themselves. The point of the plan was to ruin the killing game by making Monokuma get the answer wrong, rendering his verdict invalid and bringing his authority as the game master into question, because if he was wrong in one trial, he could have been wrong in others. That would destroy the meaning and purpose of the killing game. But if Monokuma figures out the trick and gets it right while the students get it wrong, there would be nothing stopping him from punishing the students for getting it wrong. So if that happened, the culprit would have to give up in order to prevent everyone else from dying.

It was hardly a perfect plan. That much was obvious.

However…that was without taking one major factor into account in this situation.

What if…there was no poison?

Well then…that changes the game, now doesn't it?

With the introduction of poison and a single antidote, that meant either Kokichi or Rin had to die. However, if there was no poison introduced into either of them, that meant no one would have to die if they did things correctly. If they were smart and had the resources, they could trick the students, Monokuma, the mastermind, and anyone else into thinking one of them had died, when in reality, there was no death.

But then what would be crushed to create the crime scene? Someone had to be crushed under the press in order to make it look like a murder had happened. Crushing a body would leave a shit ton of blood under and in the press, and it'd take an entire body's worth of blood in order to get an accurate amount.

But wouldn't you know it, a certain green Monokub had left the students with a medical center after the events of the third case, and within that medical center was a small fridge full of, you guessed it, blood packets.

Well now…that was quite fortunate, wouldn't you agree? It was as though everything was set up in order for the two of them to pull the wool over everyone. And with access to the Exisals, getting all the supplies outside the hangar would be easy without either of them being caught by any active hidden cameras, although it was unlikely any of those cameras would still be active since Rinny used his Electro Radar at full power. Apparently, at full power, the radar had the potential to cover the entire campus with its effect, but neither really wanted to risk the entire plan on a maybe, so one of them would have to take an Exisal on a spin to get the blood, camera, and tripod.

Hey, Kokichi wasn't going to complain about being lucky about their supplies. After all, if one thing hadn't been so perfect, he'd have to kill Rin. That was a huge weight off the supreme leader's shoulders. While he could admit that he caused the deaths of three people during the previous case, the very thought of taking a life with his own hands still shook him to his core.

And for it to be Rinny…

Kokichi didn't like that line of thought.

Thankfully, he wasn't the only one who was thinking of ways to fight the Mastermind. Rinny also wanted to beat them, and unlike most of the others, he wasn't an idiot. In fact, he knew quite a bit about the killing game and how it worked now thanks to getting his memories back.

Kokichi smiled widely as he thought back to what his enigmatic partner in crime had told him before they had started this insane scheme. To think Kokichi was right about a ton of things regarding this killing game, but still, even he wouldn't have come up with what Rin had said.

And that was only one of the things he knew. Rinny seemed to want to keep everything he could close to his chest for now, but Kokichi would learn what he knew in due time. Once this whole debacle was settled, he would pester Rinny to no end until he spilled the rest of his secrets. Kokichi was his supreme leader, after all. If anyone had to know, it was him.

Although…considering their plan was going to ruin the killing game, Kokichi figured it wasn't that important. After all, the killing game won't be able to function once they're done, so those secrets won't be of any use anymore. Still, Kokichi didn't like not knowing something, so that still be a fun project to get down to later.

"This should be good enough," Kokichi muttered once he had dragged Kirumi far enough away from the hangar.

Now being done with the job, Kokichi let go of Kirumi, letting her limp form flop back down to the ground with a heavy thud. Not that he cared. The bitch tried to kill him, so fuck her.

"Okay, Kirumi! Have a nice nap~!" Kokichi giggled as he skipped back into the hangar just in time to see Rin leaving the restroom. "Rinny~! I'm done~!"

"Good. Same here. Everything's all set up in the bathroom." Rin nodded. "All that's left now is for one of us to go get the supplies for the trick. So…who should–?"

"I call dibs!" Kokichi exclaimed as he dashed over to the opened Red Exisal.

"Of course…" Rin rolled his eyes once again. "So I'll just stay here then and wait for you?"

"What are you talking about? I called dibs on driving the Exisal." Kokichi explained as he got settled in the cockpit. "You're coming with me!"

"...Pardon me?"

"Well, we're gonna hafta test to see if both of us can fit in this thing, right?"

"...Damn it, I hate that you're right." Rin sighed. "Move over."

And thus began the, admittedly, uncomfortable and awkward testing phase of the plan. While they both managed to fit inside the Exisal's small cockpit meant for the even smaller Monokubs, the journey from the Exisal Hangar to the Ultimate Academy was not a quick one, nor was it at all comfortable.

"Ah! Get your elbow out of my face!"

"Your face? You're knee is in my gut!"

"At least you don't have to deal with your awful breath!"

"Oh, please! I've been stuck in a bathroom for the past few days! What's your excuse? You don't smell like a bed of roses, either!"

"Gee, I wonder why. Maybe it's because I'm COVERED IN MY OWN BLOOD BECAUSE A CERTAIN MAID TRIED TO KILL ME!"

"Can you BLAME her!? You've been insufferable this entire time and then you go and say you're the mastermind while also kidnapping me! What did you think was going to happen!?"

"Not a murder attempt!"

"Clearly. Who's supposed to be the leader here again?"

"Don't act like you're so smart! Or do I need to remind you how easy it was to lure you away from the group to get the drop on you? Or perhaps you'd like me to remind you of the last trial?"

"That's it! Forget the plan! I'm killing you right now!"

"Go ahead! I'd like to see you try!"

Needless to say…it was a long trip in the mech. It also did not help that because of how small the cockpit for the Exisal was, it was nearly impossible for a single person to be in a position to operate the mech by themselves, meaning both of them had to work together just to get the Exisal to move in a straight line. Considering how things were going, they were going to need the entire night to get things to work.

After who knows how long, they eventually, finally, got their shit together and managed to grab everything they needed. Once they had returned to the hangar, they got to work with the actual 'murder' plan.

…With a few hiccups here and there.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Kokichi?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

"Because this is stupid! You're stupid! THIS ENTIRE ARGUMENT IS STUPID! Just get on the ground and let me drag you to the press!"

"But I'm supposed to be the one dragging you in this case, riiiiight? That means I should be the one to do it!"

"Why?! You have a stab wound on your back, and I'm bigger and stronger than you! It'd be easier just to drag you!"

"But the narrative, Rinny! The narrative! We need to make this look exactly as it should!"

"Oh my god, I'm gonna–Rrrrrgh!" Rin nearly shouted as he pulled at his hair, at his wit's ends as Kokichi sent him an innocent smile. "Fine! Jesus Christ, FINE! To hell with reasoning and logic! Do whatever you want!"

"Thank you, Rinny~!" Kokichi smirked as Rin groaned.

So, after Kokichi slowly dragged Rin across the hangar grounds, with Rin having to make sure the stab wound on his arm was getting enough blood on the ground as it happened while his face was in a permanent deadpan, the two finally were at the press.

"Okay. Now take your shirt off." Rin said as he set up the video camera on the tripod near the press's control panel.

"Oh? I thought Rinny wasn't interested in me." Kokichi smirked coyly as he began to undress.

"Don't make it weird, dude. We can't have your bloody shirt in the video if we're gonna be flushing it down the toilet." Rin grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. That's why I have your bloody jacket." Kokichi smiled as he posed after he draped Rin's jacket over his shoulders. "Hmm…this is quite nice, actually."

"If you're done playing around, then get in the press. Let's get this started." Rin demanded with a glare aimed at the little grape-colored pain in the ass.

"You got it!" Kokichi exclaimed as he walked over to the press, but he stopped right as he got in front of it. "...Hey, Rin."

"Yeah?" Rin asked, noticing the sudden serious tone Kokichi had let out.

"You…You're gonna stop the press as soon as the camera can't see me anymore, right?" Kokichi asked with a shaky breath. "It's not that I'm scared. It's…It's just this is a little nerve-wracking."

"Kokichi…"

"I know! I know this is all just a setup. I know it's all part of the plan. I'm just being stupid." Kokichi shook his head as he held his injured arm. "I'm just overthinking things. I don't know why, considering everything that's already happened. I know it's just part of the plan, but looking at this thing is just a bit intimidating now, y'know? Just imagining the cold metal slowly moving down towards me as I stay still underneath, waiting for it to approach... The thought of how painful it might be to be slowly squeezed between the two slabs of metal…And the thought that it'd take one wrong move or one mistake or one breach of trust for it to all suddenly end, just like everyone else. I'd be dead, with not a single soul to miss me. I…I don't…I don't–"

Kokichi suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jolt as his train of thought was derailed. He suddenly felt how sweaty he was and how his vision was now shaking a little. Worse of all, he could feel how fast his heart was beating and how loud it was in his ears. He turned his head to his side, only to see Rin next to him, shockingly giving him a concerned look.

"Kokichi…" Rin began before his face shifted slightly into a reassuring expression. "You can trust me."

Kokichi felt his breath hitch when he heard that, causing him to be unable to move or react properly for a brief moment. Kokichi then gulped, took a deep breath, and then managed to find the words to respond to a statement he had never accepted from anyone before in his life. A statement that went against everything he had worked toward and believed up until now.

"...C-Can I really?" Kokichi asked as he returned his gaze to the hydraulic press, which he could now admit was horrifying him at that very moment. "How can I know you won't betray me? You've already tried to kill me before, and Kirumi just made a second attempt on my life. How do I know this isn't just another attempt to murder me? We might have come up with this grand plan to beat Monokuma, but all it would take is for you to not press a single button for a single second for this 'plan' to kill me. It's easy to tell me to trust you, but you're not the one who has to get under this thing while someone else controls it. You aren't the one whose life is in someone else's hand."

"...You're right. I am asking a lot from you in this." Rin nodded slowly. "But I know what it's like to trust someone like this and have them betray you. I know what it's like to have to stare death in the face, and I know how terrifying that is. That's why I'm here right now. So that no one has to ever go through that again. So that no one has to go through what I've been through, or what you've been through. No one should have to go through what anyone here has. I know I made a lot of mistakes here. I have plenty of regrets. But saving your life…I can't say that was one of them."

Rin then let his expression relax, and Kokichi's eyes widened by what he saw. At that moment, Rin looked utterly drained of any life. He seemed to have aged by a decade just from how wholly exhausted he looked alone. The way his face seemed to crinkle when he let out a sigh and the way the light in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly as he stared off at nothing, lost in thoughts and memories. For the first time, Kokichi felt as though Rin had taken down his own mask of lies for someone to see.

"Kokichi…I've lied a lot during my life, and I've lied a lot during this killing game. I've lied for good and terrible reasons, for selfless and selfish reasons, and for others and self-preservation. My life is made up of lies and truths, both mixed so thoroughly together that I can't tell them apart anymore. But if I was only able to share one last truth in this life of mine, let it be this."

Rin then looked back to Kokichi before dropping his hand on top of Kokichi's head, ruffling the self-proclaimed dictator's mess of dark violet hair.

"You are, by far, the most insufferable person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, and that includes the likes of Monokuma and Miu." Rin laughed. Kokichi growled at that before swatting Rin's hand away.

"If you feel that way, then why–"

"But that doesn't mean I want you dead." Rin finished, stopping Kokichi in his tracks. "This entire time, I've been trying to reason with myself why you act the way you do. I tried to convince myself that you were better than you acted. That you were actually a good person despite what you said. I told myself that out of anyone, I was the best suited to see that since I could see through those lies of yours. Of course, that was just my own pride and arrogance talking. The truth is, you aren't a good person. No sane person could say that after the things you've done here. But at the same time, I can't say you're a horrible person either. Now that I'm not bending backward to see you as a good person, and now that I'm not so angry I would strangle you in front of an audience, I think I know where I stand in regards to our relationship."

"...And where do you stand?" Kokichi asked softly.

"I can't really say that we're real friends. I'm not really sure what we are at this point." Rin shrugged with a tired sigh. "But one thing is for certain. We're all in this shitty situation together, that includes you and me. If there's anything I can believe in regard to this twisted relationship between us, it's that we both hate the killing game. Everything you've said about loving this game was all a lie, after all, right?"

"...Yeah." Kokichi nodded as he looked to the ground. "How could a game you're forced to play be fun? I…I had to lie to myself just to survive. I had to…! To…to survive."

"Yeah…I know. I know now, anyway. While it doesn't justify anything you did, I can understand that much. You're just like me and everyone else. We're all scared and desperate to survive. So that's why I've made my decision. I've been pussyfooting around the issue this entire time when the answer was sitting right in front of me. I just didn't want to accept it. No matter what happens, I know what I have to do. I've made up my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to end this game, just like I said I would at the start of this nightmare. But unlike before, when I thought I had to do it all by myself, I'm gonna take a different approach. So…" Rin turned back to his partner in crime and smiled. "I'm going to trust you. That's why you can trust me, too. We already shook on it, didn't we…partner?"

Kokichi was speechless for a moment, but that's when Rin slapped his back with a loud laugh.

"I mean…It's also possible I'm wrong about not being poisoned and I'll start having symptoms show up suddenly during all this." Rin laughed as though that possibility was hilarious. "If that happens, I'm gonna have to trust this entire plan in your hands. And considering what I know about you, I think things will go smoothly should that worst-case scenario should happen, as unlikely as it is. I doubt poison symptoms would be so slow in appearing, so I think we're good in that regard. But you never know, right?"

"...Tch!" Kokichi couldn't hold it back anymore as snickers began to escape from his lips and his body shook from laughter. "Y-You…You're unbelievable, you know that, right?"

"Of course. Who do you think you're talking to?" Rin proudly asked as he puffed out his chest. "You're talking to the most enigmatic person you'll ever meet in your life. I don't really care how I come across anymore. I'm tired of the heavy burden the 'responsible adult' role gave me, so I'm going to do what I want even if it's stupid or makes me look bad. Not like it matters at this point. I think I already did a good job at ruining that mental picture you all had of me anyway."

"I'll say." Kokichi snickered, now visibly relaxing as he looked back to the intimidating hydraulic press. It was still terrifying in a way, but now…now it felt like things would turn out okay. Maybe, perhaps, this was right. "...Okay."

"Hmm?"

"I'll trust you," Kokichi said before flashing Rin a toothy grin. "Just this once, though. You better be grateful. An Ultimate Supreme Leader of Evil's trust is hard to earn. Bow down and thank me for such a gracious act."

Rin snorted at that as he flicked Kokichi's forehead in amusement.

"Sure. Right. 'Supreme Leader of Evil'. Says the guy who tried to overthrow someone far more evil." Rin mused. "So are you ready now?"

"...Yeah." Kokichi nodded confidently. "Let's do this."

"All right then." Rin smiled.

As Rin got back up to the press's control panel, Kokichi laid himself down in the hydraulic press. He laid there completely still, lying on top of Rin's jacket as he stared up at the large metal slab ominously above him.

"Okay. I'm starting up the camera and press. Keep your eyes closed until I say so." Rin told him. Kokichi didn't nod or respond. All he did was take a quick, deep breath before closing his eyes and remaining as still as he could.

That's when it started. Without any more warning, Kokichi heard it. The hydraulic press had started up, and he could hear the metal slab slowly moving toward him. It crept its way to his still form, ready to crush him into paste, yet Kokichi didn't move. He didn't open his eyes. For the first time in a long, long time in his life…he was putting his trust in someone else.

And after what felt like an eternity, the sounds of the press finally stopped.

"Okay. You can open your eyes." Rin called out.

Kokichi did as his partner said and opened his eyes, before suddenly gasping at how close the metal slab was from his face. It was nearly touching his nose and toes. And yet…it was frozen in place.

Relief washed over the supreme leader, and he laughed in his own head at how ridiculous he was being for freaking out before. Now far more relaxed than he was before, Kokichi slid out of his spot in the hydraulic press, leaving Rin's jacket inside. He was just in time to spot Rin heading his way with a bag full of blood packets and the spare clothes they had gotten from the dorms.

"How's our indie film looking?" Kokichi asked cheerfully.

"Pretty good," Rin responded as he tossed Kokichi a new clean shirt and scarf. "All it needs now is the dramatic climax."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Kokichi asked as he quickly put on his outfit. "Let's hurry up and set the scene for this grizzly murder." Kokichi then placed his hand over his forehead as he feigned distress. "Oh, woes is me! I can't believe I must crush my loyal, faithful goon to death like this! Oh, the horror! The inhumanity of it all! The–!"

"Knock it off." Rin interrupted as he flicked Kokichi's face again. "If you have the energy to talk like that, then you can help me place all these packets."

"Gee, where'd your sense of fun go, Rinny?" Kokichi asked disappointedly as he grabbed a couple of packets and helped spread them out in the press. "It's not like anyone is watching us, so what's the harm in having a little fun?"

"Nothing, but I'd rather not joke around when we're planning my fake murder." Rin hummed softly as he set his own packets under the press.

After they were done placing all the blood packets, Rin got out of the camera's line of sight as Kokichi dashed up to the control panel. Rin rolled his eyes as he looked over at the excited dictator.

"Let me guess. You want to finish the recording to keep with the narrative, don't you?" Rin asked in a deadpan tone.

"Now you're getting it, Rinny!" Kokichi cheered as he moved his hands over to the control panel and camera. "Now be very quiet. I'm starting up the show again."

Rin nodded as he turned to face the press. Without further ado, Kokichi clicked both buttons needed to start up the camera and press again, and within moments of that, the press moved again, slamming down on the blood packets set inside it. The packets exploded when the press came down, blood bursting from the press like a freshly squeezed fruit. It exploded outward, spraying the front of the press by a good few meters.

It was quite convincing. It left a very disgusting sight.

Kokichi smiled as he stopped the camera's recording.

"There! All done!" Kokichi smiled as he skipped down the steps to the press's control panel. "You're deader than a doorknob, Rinny! Dead as dead can be!"

"Yep. I'm proud of you, buddy." Rin muttered with an amused eye roll as he grabbed the press's power cables and pulled hard enough to tear the cords apart, the cords sparking wildly for a few seconds afterward. "And with this, they'll never be able to figure out that neither of us is dead."

"The others are pretty hopeless without us, aren't they?" Kokichi smirked as Rin grabbed his spare jacket they brought. "Sure, they have Shuichi, and Kaede and Rantaro can be clever once in a while, but with Tenko and Keeboy with them? They're pretty screwed here."

"Tell me about it." Rin chuckled. "Right. Only thing left to do is squeeze into that Exisal again. That's…gonna be fun." He grimaced. "Welp, nothing we can do about it. Let's get in there. I'm ready to take a nap. This has been an extremely long night."

"Hmm…" Kokichi hummed a little as Rin walked over to the Exisal. He wasn't going to say anything, but he couldn't help but ask since they had the chance now. "Hey, Rinny?"

"What is it, Kokichi?"

"What…about Kirumi?" Kokichi asked in an emotionless voice, a blank, neutral expression on his face as he spoke.

"Kirumi?" Rin repeated before turning to Kokichi with a look that could only be described as scornful and full of disregard. "What about her?"

Kokichi actually had to force back a wince when he heard the harsh tone Rin used. At least he still got an answer as to 'what were they gonna do with her'.

"Nevermind," Kokichi muttered. "Let's just get in the Exisal for now."

"Right…" Rin grumbled as they got into the mech.

Once they had managed to get inside the mech, Rin shut the hatch. Once they were locked in there, they began to wait for morning to arrive. The two didn't speak to each other as they waited. It was hard to communicate when Rin had somehow fallen asleep already.

Kokichi sighed as he thought about everything that had happened in the past few moments. This was their best chance at dismantling the killing game. It would work. It had to work. And so, with nothing else to do, Kokichi closed his eyes. Once again, just like every other night in this hellish academy, dreamless sleep overtook him.

Ding dong, dong ding…

"Hmm…?" Kokichi grumbled when the sudden noise woke him up. He was still drowsy, and he was extremely uncomfortable due to the cramped space he was in. "E-Eh…? What–?"

"Oh, good. You're awake. Just in time. Things are about to get started."

"Huh?" Kokichi blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he turned to see Rin's face. That's when everything clicked as he recalled what had happened the previous night. Suddenly, he was fully alert as his head spun around to see through the Exisal's glass hatch.

There, at the entrance to the Exisal Hangar past the open shudder were all the others, staring in horror at the sight in front of them. And as they were staring, a certain announcement began to play.

"Puhuhu…. Puhuhuhuhuhuhuhu… A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather at the Exisal hangar!" Monokuma announced on the monitors. "Ah-hahahahahahaha! The killing game just keeps going and going! The despair's not over yet!"

"There we go. That's proof that our plan worked." Rin smiled. "Monokuma thinks there's a real dead body in there. He's just as clueless as the rest."

"That's…good." Kokichi let out a tense breath.

It was relieving to know things worked out in the end, but Kokichi still felt anxious regarding the plan. Just because Monokuma and the others had fallen for their plan didn't mean things were guaranteed to work out perfectly from now on.

Besides that, there were also the reactions of Kokichi's fellow students that were bothering him just a bit too.

The way Kaede ran over to hold Rin's jacket before falling to tears. Kirumi's vacant expression as confusion and regret were reflected in her eyes. Rantaro's pained look of acceptance. Tenko's shocked look of horror and disgust. Even Keebo had to turn his head to spare himself the pain of the sight. And then there was Shuichi, who just looked puzzled, but his eyes flashed between every part of the scene Kokichi and Rin had created, already trying to piece everything together, if only to find closure.

Kokichi frowned at the sight he was seeing. Of course the others would react like that. Rin's jacket sleeve was hanging out of the press, just as they planned. But…would they have reacted like that if it was his own sleeve hanging out?

Kokichi bit his lower lip as he berated himself for having those thoughts. Of course they wouldn't react like that if they thought he was the victim. He didn't deserve their sympathy. Not after what he's done to them. He didn't even want their sympathy. It was for the best this way.

That's what Kokichi would tell himself, anyway. Maybe then that would make him feel better.

It didn't take long for the investigation to begin, and it was an odd feeling to be watching the others investigate instead of actually investigating. This was a crime both Rin and Kokichi had created, so in a sense, they were the culprits who fabricated this crime. Watching the other students fumble around as they attempted to solve their mystery was strange, but oddly it was also a bit amusing to see them go about their business as an outsider.

There was a close call once, though. Kaede had stopped in her tracks and suddenly turned to the Red Exisal that they had been hiding in. Rin's breath hitched slightly as Kokichi felt sweat form on his face. Both had the same prayer resounding in their mind.

'Please, for the love of God, do not ask Monokuma to open this Exisal up!'

Thankfully, despite the stare that seemed to pierce through the Exisal and their very souls, Kaede eventually turned and continued on her way to the bathroom. The two young men both let out a tense breath at the same time when she did.

That was stressful. But hey. It can only go uphill from here, right?

It felt longer than it actually was, but the investigation came to an end, and the students were left with no choice but to leave the hangar and head to the trial grounds. They waited for a few more moments to make sure no one would come back before the two felt ready to start moving the mech to the trial. But at that moment–

"Puhuhuhuhu… No one has called, yet I have still appeared!" Monokuma exclaimed as he appeared out of nowhere.

Both liars froze before they could attempt to move the Exisal. Neither was certain as to why Monokuma had suddenly appeared, but the moment the bear turned to face their Exisal with a huge, wicked smile, they started to get an idea.

"Hey there, Mister culprit! I know you're in there! You don't have to hide anymore." Monokuma called out as he got closer to the Exisal.

Kokichi and Rin turned to each other with nervous looks as they thought about how they should respond. Getting out was out of the question at this point, but Monokuma knew they were in there, so what did that mean for them? That's when they realized what the bear had actually said, or more specifically, what he didn't say. He didn't call them out by name, nor did he know there were two people in the Exisal. He still thinks there's one person. They could work with that.

"...What do you mean? I'm obviously not the culprit." Rin finally responded as he turned on the Exisal's microphone receiver. "Don't make assumptions just because I'm like this."

"Oho! I see, then Mister Wakuri is innocent then in this case?" Monokuma asked while tilting his head. "Is that what you're saying? Then are you accusing Kirumi Tojo as the culprit in this case?"

"Stuuuuupid! That was a lie!" Kokichi interrupted as he shoved Rin away from the mic and took over with a loud cry of his usual catchphrase. "Shouldn't you know that I'm the blackened killer here? Were you not paying any attention back then? Or are you actually dumb, Monokuma?"

The bear stared at the Exisal blankly after hearing that, but after a few moments, he covered his mouth with his paws as he giggled loudly.

"Fufufufu… I see! So you're going to hide your identity even now? How exciting! This will certainly make for an interesting class trial. I suppose I'll allow it." Monokuma smiled. "Go ahead and stay in that Exisal. Keep using the voice changer inside there. I don't mind. I figured something like this would happen, so I already set up the trial grounds to accommodate! So go on and head to the trial grounds! We need to get ready for your grand entrance!"

Monokuma left quickly after that, causing the two to let out another tense sigh.

"Geez. Just what is his game?" Rin growled as he and Kokichi began to pilot the Exisal once again.

"He wants to make the game exciting," Kokichi replied with a snarl. "He probably thinks he can turn this mess around to make an interesting trial."

"Yeah. He was very careful with his words. He didn't say anything that would indicate he didn't know which of us was in here, but he was still attempting to press us for info." Rin noted.

"Well, no matter what he learns, he won't know the truth. It's impossible to know what actually happened with how we set everything up." Kokichi smiled proudly.

"That is true." Rin nodded slowly. "Let's just hope we didn't screw anything up."

The two piloted the Exisal together over to the shrine of judgment, where, shockingly, a large elevator that the Exisal could fit in was waiting for them. How it got there or if it was there from the very start and they just never noticed because it was hidden, the two didn't know. It didn't matter either way. Without waiting a moment more, the two entered the elevator and waited as they descended to the trial grounds.

Once they reached the bottom, the elevator doors didn't open. Voices could be heard from the other side of the doors, though. The trial had already started, and both of them could hear the other students frustratingly asking Monokuma where the culprit was, only for Monokuma to tell them that the missing person was lying in wait for a grand reveal.

"So that's how he's approaching this…" Kokichi hummed as he crossed his arms.

"Perfect. This is right where we want them." Rin smiled.

"So how're we gonna play this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Which one of us is gonna be running the show here? I wanna be the big bad guy!" Kokichi whined.

"That'll ruin the whole setup we have going. With the way we set up the case, you're the one who's the culprit, so it'd make sense for my voice to be coming out of the Exisal as a disguise. It'll be better if you just stay quiet and let me handle the talking."

"But I really, really wanna play as the culprit here! I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader of Evil! The villain role suits me way better than you!"

"Is that what you think?" Rin asked with an amused tone as he raised an eyebrow at the dictator's statement before a large cheeky grin appeared on him. "Oh, you sweet summer child. How little you know about me…"

"Oh? Are you saying you're still hiding things from me, Rinny?" Kokichi smirked.

"You have no idea." Rin chuckled before shaking his head. "But we'll save that for later. My personal information is hardly important right now. We should focus on making sure this case ends as we want it."

"Hmm… Let me ask one thing before that, then. Just one. I swear I'll wait after you answer this one question of mine."

"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"You know me so well, Rinny!"

"Sigh… Fine. I'll answer one question. But just one." Rin conceded. "So what do you want to know?"

"...Who are you really?" Kokichi asked as he turned to Rin with genuine curiosity.

"...What do you mean?" Rin asked as a frown began to form on his lips.

"Who are you? You said you finally remembered everything, so who are you? Who were you before coming here?" Kokichi asked.

"...Nobody," Rin muttered as he turned away from the supreme leader. "I'm just…I'm just me."

"Just you?"

"Just me."

"What about your talent then? You are the only Ultimate here who hasn't revealed his talent." Kokichi pointed out. "So what's your Ultimate Talent?"

"My Ultimate Talent, huh?" Rin muttered as his eyes began to look sorrowful as he looked off in the distance, staring at nothing before he finally answered. "I already told you guys."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kokichi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I–" Rin tried to explain, but stopped when the doors in front of them began to crack open. "Look like it's time to start."

"Right…" Kokichi nodded as they moved the Exisal into the room, causing the other students to stare at the Exisal in horror and confusion.

"An Exisal!?" Shuichi shouted in utter shock, nearly falling backward as he did.

"Wh-Why in the world is an Exisal here!?" Tenko screamed in panic.

"Oh…I guess you guys would be scared if an Exisal suddenly walked over to you." Rin said as he spoke through the Exisal's receiver. "Guess that's my bad. Sorry, I guess."

"Wh…What?" Kaede gasped as she took a few steps away from her podium.

"...What is this?" Rantaro asked in disbelief.

"That was…Rin's voice." Keebo exclaimed.

"...Rin?" Kirumi repeated as she let out a small gasp. Rin frowned at that before sighing and speaking up again.

"I can't really explain right now. There's a lot going on now. And…somehow or other, I found myself hiding in this Exisal, and I ended up taking a nap in here." Rin explained while making the Exisal rub the back of its head. "But it's fine now. I'm here, aren't I? It doesn't matter if I was late. So…what's up? Been a while, hasn't it guys?"

"H-Hold on! If Rin's in that Exisal, then the one who died was actually–!"

Tenko began to speak, but that's when Kokichi started to get bored from just watching. He was the Ultimate Supreme Leader! He didn't just sit around during exciting trials like this! It was his job to mess with everyone! So…

"Stuuuuuuuupid! That was just a lie!" Kokichi shouted as he elbowed Rin in the gut and pushed him out of the way so he could grab the Exisal's receiver. "Ah-hahaha! You guys thought I died!? I would never! Noooo way!"

"K-Kokichi!?"

"I'm gonna live till I die~! I'm gonna laugh 'stead of cry~!" Kokichi sang proudly.

"Wha-You know Frank Sinatra songs!?" Kaede gasped.

Kokichi was about to say that of course he knew classic songs like that (and totally not because one of the members of DICE was a huge music buff), but Rin shoved him back, nearly making Kokichi bite his own tongue.

"What are you doing!?" Rin hissed quietly.

"Living this trial up, of course," Kokichi smirked as he kept the receiver to himself and kept responding to the student's accusations. He would play his part in the trial, just to mess with the others. That way, it was even more confusing by the time that got closer to the truth.

Rin huffed as he glared at the supreme leader, but instead of getting angrier, Rin just leaned back and sighed, letting Kokichi have control. Kokichi smiled as he quickly continued to play the role of the villain, a role that suited him more perfectly than any other.

It didn't take long for a wrench to be thrown into the mix though. And that wrench was a simple name.

Junko Enoshima.

When that name was first brought up, Kokichi mumbled the name in confusion, accidentally leaving the receiver on as he did. Both he and Rin were silent for a brief moment before Kokichi turned off the receiver, looked over at Rin, and asked a single question.

"Who the hell is Junko Enoshima?!" Kokichi yelled in a whisper.

Rin just shrugged in response. He looked just as confused as Kokichi, but then, within just a brief moment that Kokichi almost missed, Rin's eyes widened ever so slightly, as if realizing something.

"...It's nothing to concern ourselves with." Rin eventually answered.

"Wait, you know who that is?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Why not?" Kokichi frowned as he pouted.

"...She's supposed to be dead, for one."

"...Oh."

"Besides, she has nothing to do with us and our killing game. I don't know why her name is coming up, but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a distraction to throw us off, so let's treat it as such."

"Right…" Kokichi mumbled as he turned on the receiver and got back to work.

Eventually, though, the fun had to come to an end. Monokuma made sure of that.

"For example…is Kokichi really the one in that Exisal? Stuff like that…"

The moment that question left the bear's mouth, Kokichi hummed thoughtfully as a twisted smile formed on his face. This was what he was hoping to happen. This was gonna be fun.

"Hey, Rinny." Kokichi began as he made sure the Exisal's receiver was turned off.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna really mess with everyone's head?"

Rin paused at that before turning to Kokichi with a raised eyebrow. Kokichi only smiled in response as he moved the receiver in the ex-amnesiac's direction. Rin stared at it for a good moment before an amused smirk appeared on him.

"Oh, this is just mean," Rin remarked with a chuckle as he got closer to the receiver.

"That's not gonna stop you though, right?" Kokichi asked.

"Nope," Rin replied without a moment of hesitation. "Y'know, this almost makes you taking over the Exisal at the start worth it."

"Almost?"

"Did I stutter?" Rin then cleared his voice before turning it on the moment Monokuma mentioned hearing his voice coming from the Exisal. "Yeah...about that... You really can't rely on the voices that come from this Exisal. There's a voice changer in here and everything, so it doesn't prove anything."

The moment his voice came out of the Exisal, the reactions that came from the other students…

Priceless.

After that, the trial continued as planned. Rin took control of the Exisal and immediately showed off the video camera to further push the others in the direction they needed to go toward. Monokuma was outta as being completely clueless in the trial, and Shuichi began leading the others toward the supposed 'truth'.

Kokichi did notice something strange during the whole thing. The way Rin was speaking was…off. It was strange hearing Rin talk about wanting to 'win' in this killing game, but it was even strange to see him act so…harsh and practically cruel to the others. And the way he spoke to and about Kirumi…

Well, Kokichi couldn't talk. He felt much the same way. Yet…would he be as harsh as that?

…Probably. He was Kokichi Oma, after all. Cruelty was practically his middle name at this point.

There was a point where it seemed to boil over more compared to the rest of the trial, though, and Kokichi couldn't help but find it strange. No, it was more than strange. It was bizarre. Of all the things that could have pushed Rin the farthest, he didn't expect it to be the others calling him the Ultimate Hope. Kokichi didn't even really know what that meant, but considering it was somehow making Rin angrier than Kokichi had ever seen him, it must have been something big.

Thankfully, despite that moment of rage and the overly harsh and cruel words Rin kept spewing at the others, Shuichi soon led them to the truth of the body swap. Once he had finished his deduction, the two within the Exisal played one last trick to mess with the heads of the students before the vote finally came around.

It was shocking to see Shuichi seemingly realizing what their goal was and trying to ruin his own deduction in order to help, but considering the outcome of the vote, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

"–And that leads us to now. That's everything that happened in this fake case you all have been freaking out over." Kokichi finished his explanation of their plan.

"You skipped a few details and embellished some others…but yeah, that's essentially what happened." Rin sighed before giving a nod.

The other students and Monokuma just stared at them with this disbelieving look. They looked at them as though they were crazy, but to be fair, considering what they had done, that probably wasn't too far from the mark.

"Y-You mean…this entire case…was fake?" Shuichi asked in an exasperated voice.

"There was no murder, and there was no body crushed under the press… It was just…blood packets you got from the medical room?" Rantaro muttered as he ran a hand down his tired face.

"I-I-I'm sorry… I just…don't get it. This is too much for me." Tenko rubbed her forehead as she spoke.

"Yeah! This doesn't make any sense!" Kaede shouted as her gaze hopped between Kokichi and Rin. "You both were poisoned! How can you both be here alive and well?!"

"Didn't I already tell you that neither of us were actually poisoned?" Rin asked while shaking his head. "If you remove the poison from the case, it's possible for both of us to survive."

"But…How? I know I poisoned the tips of those blades. So…how could you not be poisoned?" Kirumi asked, though her voice was weak and nervous.

"That's what I was wondering too," Kokichi said before giggling. "Nee-heehee… But when he explained things to me, it all made sense."

"What do you mean?" Keebo asked.

"It's simple if you remember a certain tool Rinny had on him before this case, y'know." Kokichi smiled.

"Tool?" Shuichi repeated. "You mean…the Electro Radar?"

"Bingo." Rin snapped his fingers as he smiled. "Days before this case happened, I went to your research lab and used my Electro Radar to swap out the contents of that poison."

"Oh…! Using the Electro Radar, you would have been able to disable any cameras nearby. That way, Monokuma would have no idea the poison was swapped out with some harmless liquid!" Kaede gasped.

"So you swapped out all the poison in my research lab then?" Shuichi asked.

"No. Just the Strike-9 Poison." Rin corrected.

"Huh?"

"I mean, swapping out all of that poison with harmless material would have taken way too long. Besides, where would I get all I needed to replace all of that poison? There were, like, fifty or more bottles of different poisons. There was no way I was getting rid of all of that stealthily without Monokuma or anyone else noticing." Rin explained. "So, I just replaced one. That was doable."

"Th-Then…you mean it was just luck that you managed to survive this!? If Kirumi had picked any other poison or chosen any other method for killing, you would have died!" Keebo shouted.

"Well, then that would have been my fault for picking the wrong poison to swap out. Not like it mattered. I was right in the end, so who cares?" Rin shrugged. "Besides, even if I guessed the poison correctly, there was no way to know that Monokuma didn't check the poisons sometime before the case. If he did, he would have realized that the poison wasn't actually there and swapped it back. There were admittedly a lot of things that could have gone wrong with this. But I didn't really care. I did it all on a whim, after all."

"On a whim…!?" Tenko exclaimed. "You swapped out the contents of a random bottle of poison…on a whim?!"

"Yep. No deeper meaning than that." Rin muttered in an emotionless tone. "It was just…a small thought I had that I figured I would entertain for just a moment. Turns out that saved my life, huh? Funny how life turns out."

"You seem pretty casual about all of this, Rin," Rantaro noted as he crossed his arms. "I would think someone in your position would act a little differently considering how close they were to death."

"But I didn't die, so who cares? Not the first attempt made on my life, anyway." Rin muttered as he lifted his open hand to stare at it blankly. "Besides, it's not like it matters whether I live or die. No one would miss me anyway."

"That's not–!" Kaede tried to say, but Rin cut her off.

"Anyway, shouldn't you guys be wondering what happens now? I mean, you voted, yet there is no blackened in this case. There was never a blackened, because there wasn't a case to be solved. There was no murder. No victim. This class trial was pointless."

"That's right. So…what happens now?" Shuichi asked.

"I dunno. Why don't you ask Monokuma?" Kokichi smiled as he turned to the bear who had been silent ever since the two of them came out of the Exisal. "He seems pretty bewildered, doesn't he?"

"He…has no idea what to do, does he?" Tenko muttered as she stared at the motionless bear.

"What can he do? He can't punish anyone, can he? None of us died, so none of us are the blackened that can be punished." Rantaro pointed out.

"Not only that, but since there was no blackened, our vote can reasonably be thrown out, meaning we also can't be punished for getting the vote wrong," Keebo added.

"But because Monokuma thought there was a murder and set up a trial and even declared Kokichi to have been the culprit who killed Rin…The killing game is…!" Shuichi began.

"Utterly in ruin. The killing game can't go on anymore." Kokichi finished with a smile as he folded his arms behind his head.

"H-Huh? What do you mean by that? How does this 'ruin' the killing game?" Tenko asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kokichi questioned. "Monokuma broke his own rules."

"He broke…his own rules?" Kirumi repeated.

"How does this killing game work again? Think about it like that." Rin told them.

"How it works… Well, this killing game has us seventeen Ultimate students trapped here in this academy unless one of us kills a fellow student and manages to get away with it in a class trial." Kaede began to explain.

"When a murder occurs, Monokuma will give out a Body Discovery Announcement after three people discover the body. After that, the students will be allowed to investigate before having to participate in a class trial." Rantaro continued.

"During the trial, we'll argue over who the culprit is, and then vote who we think they are. If a majority of the students are right and vote for the correct person, only the blackened will get executed, and the rest of the students will continue on in the killing game until it repeats. But if the students bote incorrectly…" Keebo stated.

"Then everyone besides the killer will be punished. Afterward, the culprit who managed to trick the others will be allowed to leave the academy." Shuichi finished the explanation.

"Right. That's the basics of how this killing game is supposed to work." Rin nodded. "So you see it, don't you? The rules that Monokuma broke?"

"That's…right, actually. Monokuma sent out a Body Discovery Announcement when there was no body to investigate." Keebo noted.

"Not only that, but this whole trial was pointless. There was no blackened and no victim. This entire case was essentially an elaborate prank." Rantaro muttered.

"But who cares if Monokuma breaks his own rules? Does it even matter in the end?" Tenko asked.

"Of course it does. After all, why else would the rules exist in the first place?" Kokichi asked.

"H-Huh? What do you mean?"

"Think about it. If the rules weren't important, then why have them at all? In fact, why set up this elaborate killing game in the first place?" Kokichi asked. "If the goal was to just have us die or kill each other, there had to have been better ways to go about this. Doing it this way is really roundabout, isn't it?"

"That's…true." Tenko nodded.

"So…you're saying that because the killing game was set up with rules and these intricate details, there has to be a reason for them existing?" Kaede asked.

"Of course. There is nothing in this place or in this killing game that has simply happened for no reason. Everything that happened here was planned and purposeful. Nothing here was an accident or unexpected." Rin explained. "So if this game has specific rules for us and Monokuma to follow, then there's only one reason for them to exist."

"Because there's an audience watching us." Kokichi finished.

"A-An audience?" Keebo gasped.

"You mean there are people watching us kill each other!?" Tenko explained.

"But… How can that be? The outside world was destroyed, wasn't it? Who could possibly be watching us?" Rantaro asked.

"Who knows? Does it matter?" Kokichi asked. "The point is, if there wasn't anyone watching, there'd be no point in having rules or being a stickler for them. Death games are meant to be watched. If there was no one watching, there'd be no reason to make it a game. It'd just be killing."

"That's why Monokuma is bound to the rules as much as we are. He might be able to twist the rules or make new ones whenever they're convenient for him, he can't just break them willy-nilly. What kind of game is entertaining or fun when the game master is constantly cheating? If something like that was allowed, there would just be no rules then." Rin added.

"So that's it. You wanted to make Monokuma break his own rules in order to bring his role as the game master into question." Shuichi remarked.

"If Monokuma, the head of the killing game and the one running it, breaks his own rules, then that would bring into question all of his actions up until that point," Keebo said as he realized the point as well. "It would bring everything into question, including the previous cases."

"The previous cases…Ah!" Kaede gasped. "I get it! If Monokuma got this case wrong, what's stopping him from getting the previous cases wrong too?"

"Wh-What!?" Tenko gasped before dread engulfed her face. "Th-Then…! You mean…Himiko might have been executed for nothing?"

"If Monokuma was wrong with this case, it's possible." Rantaro nodded as he put a hand to his chin. "Even if the people we voted for in those cases believed they were the real culprit, it's possible that they actually weren't. In fact, if Monokuma can get the answer wrong, what's stopping him from lying about things that happened in the case and saying it's the truth?"

"If that's the case, then Monokuma could just accept whoever we vote for as the culprit and execute them no matter if they're innocent or guilty. He could even interfere with the case and kill the victims themselves and then lie about how they died and who did it. This brings everything into question!" Kirumi gasped.

"Do you get it now? This is why the killing game is ruined now. Because there can't be a game when the game master is so fallible. Now that we've proven and shown that he can be wrong here, it completely tarnishes his reputation in this game. He is no longer fit to run things. And now that we've shown that, the situation we're in is no longer a killing game. In truth, this has just been killing." Kokichi told them.

"There was nothing fair in this game, or sophisticated, or balanced. There was nothing even entertaining or fun, because the game master might have been cheating us from the very start." Rin explained as he stared at the others with a serious expression.

"Now that we've shown that, there truly is no reason to keep playing. No reason to keep killing. No reason to keep watching. Why watch pointless, unfair killing? That's no longer interesting or fun. That's just boring. That's why it's really over now. This killing game is done." Kokichi added with a smile.

"Y-You…!" Monokuma finally let out a growl as his body began to tremble and shake with pure fury once again. "Who do you two think you are!? What makes you so confident that the rules are so important?! What's stopping me from just punishing you both right now!?"

"Nothing. You could technically do that." Rin admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. That's when he shot the bear a bored, callous look. "But what would that do? Make you feel better? That would only further prove our point that this killing game was nothing more than senseless killings with no rhyme or reason. You'd be doing us a favor, really."

"Grk–!" Monokuma recoiled at that, but quickly recovered. "Th-Then I'll just punish Kokichi! He broke the rules, after all! He attacked me, the headmaster! That's against the rules! I have every reason to kill him!"

"Do you really?" Kokichi asked as he tilted his head. "I mean, isn't that just petty at that point? What would your audience think? They wouldn't see it as me being punished for breaking the rules. They'd see it as you trying to clean up your own mess by getting rid of me. How lame and boring is that?"

"Besides, why bother following the rules at this point? We've already shown how meaningless they are since you can break them yourself." Rin sighed. "Just give up. You have no power here anymore. None of the Exisals are under your control. Kokichi still has the wireless remote to control them, and now your title of game master is in tatters. Face it. You've lost."

"Grk…Grk…Grrrrrrrk…!" Monokuma growled and growled, and his body shook and shook as he got angrier and angrier, until eventually…he stopped. Monokuma just stopped moving and stopped making any noise.

And then…he left. Without a word, Monokuma got out of his chair and disappeared without another word or remark.

"Huh… I thought he'd have a bit more fight in him." Kokichi grumbled a little in disappointment. "Oh well. All's well that ends well. I guess I can be satisfied by this ending."

"So…what happens now?" Keebo asked nervously.

"Hmm? I dunno. We do whatever we want now, I guess. The killing game is really over now, so it doesn't matter anymore, I guess. What do you think, Rinny?" Kokichi asked as he turned to his partner in crime.

"..." Rin didn't say anything in response, though. Instead, he slowly turned in the direction of the one he hadn't so much as acknowledged yet.

The other students tensed up when they noticed who he was looking at, but none more so than the victim of the piercing icy-cold gaze. Kirumi flinched hard at it, and she felt chills wrack her spine as her skin grew pale.

And then Rin started to slowly walk towards her. Kirumi's anxiety jumped at that, and Kirumi felt herself choking on her own throat as he approached. When he got close enough, Kirumi lowered her head and closed her eyes, waiting for the worst to happen. More harsh words, a denouncement of some kind, even perhaps a physical retaliation for what she did. She was ready for it and would accept it.

What she was not expecting was for nothing to happen.

After another moment of nothing happening passed, Kirumi opened her eyes to see what was happening, only to see no one in front of her. Turning around, Kirumi was able to see where Rin went, and it all clicked.

Rin had gone inside the elevator. He hadn't been looking at her at all. He hadn't even acknowledged her. That whole time, Rin had simply been looking at the elevator behind her, and he walked right passed her to get to it.

Rin didn't even look back as the elevator doors closed.

Everyone was speechless after that. What does someone say in response to that? No one really knew, especially not Kirumi, who could only feel even more shame and regret boiling over inside her.

"Well, that happened," Kokichi grumbled, not at all caring about the awkward atmosphere that had been created. "Jerk didn't even bother answering me. Welp, I guess that just means he doesn't have much of a clue either." Kokichi then smirked as he skipped over to the elevator doors, which just so happened to open right as he got in front of them. "Well then, I'll be leaving too now."

"W-Wait a minute!" Shuichi yelled out. "We still haven't gotten any real answers from you! Why did you lie about being the mastermind? Why would you go through all of this effort to end the game? What's your goal in all of this, and why do any of this if you're an Ultimate Depsair?"

"Ultimate Despair?" Kokichi hummed as he tapped his chin playfully. "You said that same thing before during the trial, but just like when Kirumi had me on death's door, I can't say I get what any of that means. Although…" Kokichi's playful look suddenly shifted into dark frustration as he continued. "Hearing that phrase pisses me off for some reason. I can't help but despite it for some reason. Maybe it has to do with the fact that being called that nearly got me killed! So if you could, please never call me that again. If you do, I might have to maul you to death with the Exisals as punishment."

"But–!"

"Look, I don't know what you guys think you know, but you're wrong. About me, and about Rinny." Kokichi told them with a serious expression. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Think whatever you want. I know I don't care. Go ahead and keep on pounding your head against a wall to solve these pointless questions. Just know that I don't care enough to answer those questions for you. So… Toodles!"

The elevator doors decided to open back up right at that moment, letting Kokichi hop inside and close the doors before the others responded.

That left everyone else standing there in pure, utter confusion. They stood there like that for a while before Tenko spoke up, bringing to words the thoughts everyone had.

"Seriously, what is even going on anymore!?"

"Damn it! How could this have happened!? Everything is falling apart now!"

"Ratings are falling at a rapid rate! I-I've never seen our ratings this low before!"

"Those two ruined everything! Because of them, Monokuma screwed up the entire game!"

"Well, what are we gonna do now, huh!? We can't keep going now that the rules have been completely shattered like this! And Monokuma can't even punish those idiots for making this whole scheme either!"

"We're already getting thousands of complaints about the end of the trial for everything that wrong. The lack of a victim and the lack of a blackened to execute have created an uproar. Danganronpa is supposed to have a victim and a culprit die at the end of each chapter! This is NOT supposed to happen!"

"Of course, there are those who thought it was brilliant and love the fact their favorite characters are still alive…just as there are a handful of sympathizers still somehow running their mouths. However, overall, this is marking the lowest point of our entire history."

"No other character, no matter how smart or capable, has ever been able to break the game! How did this even happen!?"

"I knew that Ultimate Supreme Leader was a mistake… I always knew he was going to be a pest despite his appearance. His character was too unpredictable and unstable. He was always going to end up coming up with an insane scheme like this!"

"No duh! We all knew that! We made his character, after all! But none of us thought he would survive during a plan like this! We thought if it ever got this bad he'd end up self-destructing and getting himself killed! we even had contingencies for this exact situation!"

"Well that clearly didn't happen, and clearly those contingencies didn't work at all!"

"It's not our fault! It's Rin Wakuri's! It's all his fault! How in the world did he manage to pull this off!? He's just like the others! We knew everything he was capable of, so how did we miss this!? How did he break out of his role!?"

"We should have just killed him when he forced his way into the killing game! We should have just–"

"Enough."

The lone, authoritative tone immediately shut up all of the men at the large meeting table. The overwhelming silence and tension overtook everyone as they all slowly turned to the man at the head of the table. The man at the head had not spoken up until that point. He had merely been watching silently. However, if one looked closely, one could see aggravation hiding within the indifference. There were hints of annoyance and frustration and exasperation. To those who knew the man well, the exhaustion was well apparent to them.

"Let them be. We do not need to do anything." The man said as he got up and stared at the others with a stern gaze. "The answer is clear, is it not?"

"I-It is?" One of the other men asked nervously.

"If our participants want the killing game to end and are willing to go so far simply to ruin it, then we should end the game like they want. However, they do not yet understand what price must be paid for such a thing to happen."

The man then got up from his chair and started walking toward the exit, confusing everyone else in the room.

"U-Um…Sir? Where are you going?"

"Is it not obvious? I am going to make a call. I believe it is time the true mastermind of this game starts the process to end it. Maybe then those foolish students will realize what they have just done."

"After this, they all will understand. They will all fall before the truth."

A/N: If any of you are confused about that final scene, it relates to the scene I added to the last chapter of arc 4 (Arc 4 Part 11: Severed to be specific). It's just a bit of foreshadowing and a bit of a look at the behind-the-scenes folk in the story. Obviously, ruining the killing game would cause some waves, so it only makes sense that we'd see *something* happening with team Danganronpa. Whether these guys will have a deeper role in the story...well, you'll see whether they do or not. Maybe they don't have to get directly involved. Who knows? Heh heh heh...

Anyway, we're getting closer to the end. I'm guessing we are...oh...ten or so chapters away from the end, give or take a few if I need to split certain chapters into smaller chunks or merge chapters to make them more sizable. How crazy is that?

Fun fact, according to my oldest google doc where I wrote the prologue arc, I started writing this story February 15, 2021, although I remember starting the story around November of 2020. Okay, so...Woah. Wow. Okay. Holy crap. I've been writing this story for nearly three years now? Just...wow. And this whole thing was just a fun 'what if I did this' to distract me and to help develop my mystery writing skills for a possible Fangonronpa idea I have. Now it's become a passion that has spawned dozens of other story ideas with multiple fandoms.

So really, thank you all for bearing with me on this journey. I know it has been a long time coming, but the end is soon, and I really hope you all enjoy it. I've given the ending a lot of thought, and I feel the need to keep mentioning how excited I'm getting as I get closer to the final act.

(Now I just need to stop editing and posting chapters in the dead of night lmao)

This story has been a lot of fun and means a lot to me now, so let's give it our all as we reach the finish line.