DING DONG BING BONG

"Bastards, bastards, bastards! It's morning now, eat, eat, eat!" Masaru yelled as the Warriors of Hope appeared on the screen.

"Awww… panic attack Masaru was so much better…" Kotoko pouted. "He was so not annoying,"

"At least he's not too busy to hate me anymore…" Jataro giggled.

"Monaca is glad that the Killing Game can continue uninterrupted!"

"We should all be glad, if Monokuma actually died we'd have to handle this game ourselves," Nagisa said. "No offence, I don't trust half of you to not kill everyone over a playground insult,"

"Hey!" Kotoko pouted. "Meanie!"

"I'm your great leader, and I demand that you say how cool I am!"

"Exactly my point…" Nagisa sighed.

Kaede's stomach rumbled, she left her room with a pep in her step as she left for the Cafeteria, today was the day she'd help Shuichi set up his plan to find the Mastermind, and finally end this dumb Killing Game.

Her walking practically developed into skipping as she made her way to the Cafeteria.

As always, everyone (Miu excluded) was already there eating their breakfast. She sat near Tsumugi and Shuichi as usual.

"Hey Kaede!" Tsumugi smiled at the Pianist.

"Hi Mugi, hi Shuichi!" The Pianist nestled herself between the two people. "What are we gonna be doing today?"

"Well, my current plan is for you and Tsumugi to pick up the cameras, then we meet up at the Library and set up the cameras there,"

Kaede nodded. "Good, good,"

"Oh, and also I say we set up a lookout room in the classroom just outside the basement, there's a vent in there that leads into the Library, so having someone there means that the Mastermind couldn't escape through there,"

Kaede smiled widely at the Detective. "That's actually a good thing to think about, Shuichi, good thinking!"

"A-Ah it's-"

"Something, it's something," Kaede chuckled as she corrected. "And it's a whole bunch of something, cause it's our best shot at catching the Mastermind,"

"Y-Yeah, thanks Kaede…" Shuichi looked to the side for a minute before returning his gaze to the Pianist.

"I plain hope this plan works!" Tsumugi said. "I'm already plain homesick being here,"

"I think we're all a little homesick," Kaede reassured. "I just wanna sit back, relax and play some Gymnopedie no. 1,"

"Th-That'd probably be really pretty, I'd love to hear you play," Tsumugi flushed as she complimented the Pianist's skills, Kaede felt her cheeks dot themselves with a light shade of pink.

"Thanks Mugi! I'll try to play for you as soon as I can,"

"I'd love to hear you play too," Shuichi smiled.

Kaede giggled. "Maybe when we get out of here, I'll hold a concert, just for everyone here!"

"That plain sounds fun!"

"Y-Yeah,"

SLAM

The whole Dining Hall turned towards the man who had loudly slammed his fists down on the table, The Ultimate Astronaut himself, Kaito standing next to Kirumi, Angie and Rantaro.

"Listen up all of ya, cause I got some good news!" Kaito announced. "I'm hosting a huge party in the Game Room tomorrow to raise our spirits, every single on of you are invited!"

"Even the soulless machine?" Kokichi turned his head.

"How rude! I'm perfectly capable of emulating the human soul!"

"Yes, yes, even the nonhumans here are invited!" Keebo made another complaint which was ignored. "Nyahahaha, how divine, how divine!"

"We're thinking about 6PM in the afternoon," Rantaro shrugged. "Not too early, not too late, y'know?"

Kirumi cleared her throat. "We wanted to ask if anyone wanted to help us set up; I'll be able to handle most of it, but all help is appreciated,"

Tsumugi raised her hand. "I'll help!"

"Nice!" Kaito raised a hand.

"Huh, why?" Kaede whispered in the woman's ear. "Not that I'm against you helping out our friends,"

"I can make sure that the Mastermind doesn't interfere with the Party," Tsumugi whispered back.

"That's a good idea," Shuichi nodded. "You should grab the cameras first, though,"

"Sounds good!"

"Hey Mugi, whaddaya talkin' about?" The Cosplayer jumped backwards, nearly snapping her neck and causing the first body discovery as a particular, small Supreme Leader appeared between them.

"N-Nothing, just discussing plans with my uh… my friends!" Tsumugi smiled at the thought.

"You have friends?" Kokichi turned his head.

Rantaro chuckled as he walked towards the Cosplayer. "Ignoring what Kokichi said, are you up to help us set up now? Cause uh, that's when we're going,"

"Ah, about that, I'll be a bit late. I'm eh… h-helping a friend carry something," Tsumugi stuttered like the FPS on a Brazillian server.

"Y-Yeah, I need help carrying something!" Kaede reassured, a big, unconvincing smile on her face complimented with an even bigger, even more unconvincing thumbs up.

Angie stared the two women down, with a wide eyed intensity only matched by her eternal smile. "Acceptable! I do expect help making the decorations, though!"

"Of course, me and Kaede just need to go… carry that thing," Tsumugi said as Kaede stood up to awkwardly tip toe out of the door with her.

"Good luck you two!" Kaito gave a big smile. "I expect your full effort in helping still!"

…

"So…" Kokichi trailed off. "How much do you bet they're making out in the bathroom or something?"

"Grr… what a degenerate thing to say!" Tenko yelled. "I'll break your spine if you say anything like that-"

"20 Monocoins," Angie smiled. "I do not expect them to remain in the awkward pining phase for more than a week!"

"Kyah! Angie's a degenerate too?"

"I think she was joking, Tenko…" Himiko mumbled.

"No, no, I am simply making money," Angie shook her head.

"Ignoring that… is attendance mandatory?" Maki asked.

"Well, I can't exactly force ya," Kaito shrugged.

"Then I'm not coming," Maki began to move out of the Dining Hall, just as Kaito opened his mouth- "And I'm not explaining myself either, I don't need to,"

"Pfft, her walls are gonna break one of these days, heh," Kaito chuckled.

"I think you got a ways to go until then," Ryoma said. "Good luck,"

"Gonta think Maki turn new leaf, then we all friends!"

Kaito walked over to the giant of a man to pat him on the back. "See? Gonta's got the right idea,"

Kokichi tiptoed over to Angie to whisper in her ear like a schoolgirl telling a rumour, the real juicy kind that gives someone an eating disorder for the next thirty years.

"So… how long do you think until creepy girl and space boy get together?"

"Oh, they'll be in the awkward pining stage forever, nyahaha!"

"So uhh… where would Miu's Ultimate Lab be?" Kaede asked the Cosplayer. "I got so caught up in helping that I forgot to ask where it is… hehe," Kaede chuckled.

"Oh! It's in the courtyard, near the building with that weird fountain at the end of the dome," Tsumugi smiled.

"Okay great, hopefully she's too tired to be vulgar," Kaede pouted a little as she thought about talking to Miu.

"Hopefully, hehe,"

Tsumugi led the Pianist to what looked more like a run down shed than an actual laboratory; complete with a rusty metal shutter.

The Cosplayer knocked on the shutter, they heard the sound of Miu yawning within before walking towards and opening the shutter.

The Inventor let out another, somewhat moany yawn. "Whaddaya want Plain Jane?"

"We're here to pick up the cameras," Tsumugi said.

"Yeah, yeah," Miu chuckled, instantly gaining her energy as she pulled out the three cameras and handed them to Tsumugi. "Before ya take 'em, I should let you know that they have a thirty second interval between shots,"

"That kinda sucks," Kaede chuckled.

"Well it's better than nothing, ain't it?" Miu let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll be gettin' my beauty sleep in here if you-"

"Oh wait, Kaito's holding a party tomorrow in the Game Room! He wants everyone to come, and well… you seem like the kind of person who'd like to party," Kaede chuckled.

Miu blushed a little. "R-Really? Why the fuck would I go to a party hosted by that dickcheese?"

"Jeez, sorry for asking," Kaede pouted. "You're not gonna be able to make any friends if you keep being rude like that,"

"Eeek!"

"And-" Kaede sighed. "Nevermind, let's just go, Mugi,"

"Ooooo, Mugi?" Miu chuckled. "Are the two flatties fucking in the bathroom?"

Kaede balled her hands into fists. "At least my tits don't sag like an old woman's! Ours have some life in them, not like your ugly cow udders!"

Miu squealed from the insult and slammed the shutter, retreating back into her Ultimate Lab.

Kaede let out a frustrated sigh as Tsumugi patted her on the back with her free hand.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Tsumugi chuckled. "Miu can be pretty rude,"

"No problem, understatement of the century though," Kaede chuckled back.

The two walked back to the basement, making light conversation as they met up with Shuichi outside of the Library's front entrance.

"Okay, here's the cameras!" Tsumugi handed them to Shuichi. "I gotta go set stuff up right now, good luck with your plan!"

"Bye Mugi!" Kaede smiled.

"S-See you around," Shuichi said as he lightly waved the woman goodbye as she walked over to the Game Room, Shuichi and Kaede could hear various sounds coming from the room: Angie's chuckling, Kaito haughtily ordering things for the party, and the placing of what were probably tables for the party.

"Th-That party honestly sounds pretty fun, if the mastermind's one of us there's a good chance that they'll be there," Shuichi said. "We should go to it, but leave near when it ends to hide in the lookout classroom,"

"What makes you think the Mastermind won't leave before that?" Kaede turned her head curiously.

"I found this note hidden under the secret door," Shuichi pulled a note out of his pocket at handed it to the Pianist. The handwriting was very neat, almost like a computer's.

The Students are holding a party in the Game Room, little do they know that all they're doing is gathering everyone up for my next motive! They're taking just a little too long to finally kill someone… it sucks!

Those silly little demons students, silly, silly, silly. I'll summon Monokuma to them just before it ends, and then boom! This Killing Game can finally smart.

She'd be so proud of me. Tehehe.

-MT

"So, the Mastermind plans to interrupt the party with a new motive?" Kaede looked lost in thought for a moment. "Who do you think the She that the Mastermind is talking about is?"

"That I'm not sure about, maybe the Mastermind has someone above them? They'd have to be apart of a huge organisation in order to capture 16 Ultimate Students,"

"That's true, that's true," Kaede said. "We should show this to everyone once we find out the truth of the Mastermind,"

"R-Right… the truth," Shuichi looked down.

"You seem sad about that, you were upset the last time I mentioned the truth," Kaede said.

"Ah, uh, I'll get into it once we're done setting up,"

"Okay, sounds good," Kaede nodded. "Speaking of setting up we should probably do that before it gets dark," Kaede chuckled.

"R-Right, sorry!"

Kaede hmph'd as the two entered the Library, they didn't cough at the dust this time. They've gotten used to it by now.

"Alright, you set up the cameras at the entrances, I'll do the hidden door camera," Shuichi pointed to where he wanted the cameras as he handed Kaede two cameras and a roll of duct tape.

"Aye aye Detective!" Kaede saluted as she went to set up the cameras.

It was easier than she expected, all she really needed to do was tape the cameras between two books, turn off the flash. She got the first one done within a minute, then as she was taping the rear entrance one in she heard the sound of metal scratching against the carpet.

It was Shuichi moving the stepladder towards the bookshelf that had the vent above it.

"Shuichi, what are you doing?" Kaede let out the smallest of chuckles as she saw the Detective moving stuff around.

"Ah, well I'm trying to see if I can place the camera up here easily," Shuichi said as he went up the ladder, casually opening a book as he did so… he seemed to get lost in reading it as it laid on the bookshelf.

Kaede finished up taping the rear entrance Camera "Uhh… Shuichi?"

"Ah, right, just got caught up…" Shuichi chuckled uncomfortable. "I don't think I can put it up here, it'd either get found or fall down," Shuichi walked down the stepladder.

"That kinda sucks," Kaede said. "Oh well, it'll work anywhere as long as it faces the hidden door,"

"Yeah," Shuichi moved the stepladder out of the way of the way of the bookshelf, he then quickly taped the camera to the bookshelf.

"Okay great, that's done!" Kaede smiled. "Now, let's go to the lookout classroom, I wanna talk to you,"

"O-Oh okay," Shuichi let the Pianist lead her to the Lookout Classroom.

It was a pretty standard classroom, the exact same as the other classrooms with the only difference being the vent leading to the Library.

"Sit down," Kaede smiled as she set up two chairs at either end of a desk, Kaede sat on one side while Shuichi sat on the other.

"Uh… Kaede, why are you doing this?" Shuichi pulled his hat downwards a touch.

"I wanna know why you seem… afraid of revealing the truth," Kaede said, her voice quiet and her tone gentle.

Shuichi sighed. "Remember when I said I only really solved one case?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I've always regretted solving it too," Shuichi pulled his hat down further as he mumbled. "The victim had been abusing the killer's family for years, h-he had led them all to suicide. So the killer decided to kill him. As he was being arrested he looked at me with this look of… hatred, I've never been able to get that look out of my head…"

Kaede nodded.

"That's why… ever since then I've been ashamed of my talent, of revealing the truth…"

Kaede cleared her throat. "It's not your fault, Shuichi,"

"H-Huh?"

"I said it's not your fault, he was going to get arrested anyway, so you shouldn't blame yourself for revealing the truth about him," Kaede said, raising her voice just a touch to get the point across.

"I-I guess… I just, I just can't bring myself to reveal the truth ever since then, I don't want more people to hate me for it, I don't want to hurt anymore people by revealing the truth-"

"Don't worry about that, Shuichi," Kaede interjected. "Sorry for interrupting, but you shouldn't let your fear control you,"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

Kaede sighed. "I wish I could just play a song to get the point across, or cheer you up, this is the next best thing, I guess,"

Kaede laid her hand on the table, on top of Shuichi's.

"You can feel it right? I'm shaking just as much as you are," Kaede chuckled. "I'm just as scared to reveal the Mastermind too, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from revealing the truth; from protecting my friends from this Killing Game,"

Shuichi paused as Kaede removed her hand from the Detective's.

"Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"Y-Yeah… thanks Kaede," Shuichi smiled as he lifted his hat a little.

"Don't mention in, you're my friend!" Kaede smiled as the two got up from their seats. "Oh, and hey! Once we get out of here I wanna see you with your hat off,"

"My… hat off?"

"Yeah! I think you'd look nice without it," Kaede giggled, Shuichi blushed and muttered out a thank you.

Kaede checked her Monopad, 6:00 PM.

"It's getting a bit late, I think we should split up for now," Kaede said. "See you tomorrow, Shuichi!"

"Bye Kaede!"

Kaede went back to her room to collect her thoughts, doing a mini celebration in her head. She'd helped Shuichi even if just a little.

Kaede realised how tired she felt in that moment, apparently setting up that plan was a lot more intense than she had thought it'd be.

She plonked herself onto bed, intending only to take a small nap before near instantly drifting off into sleep.

Tomorrow was another day day day day day day day day day day day day day day day-

3 VVV VV3 33 VV3 33V VV, YOU READY TO GO IN?

…

…

WHAT'S WITH THE SILENCE? THESE ARE OUR FRIENDS.

IT DOESN'T MAKE ME ANY LESS SCARED? WHAT IF WE SCREW THIS UP?

I FEEL YOU, I'M SCARED TOO. I'M NOT LETTING IT STOP ME FROM