It All Started By One Single Tear (Rantaro x reader x YandereMastermind Kokichi)

Chapter 5 Part 16: The Truth of the Outside World

Your POV:

I still couldn't believe that we managed to get past the underground tunnel thanks to Miu's Electrohammers. The tunnel was made out to be the hard part of our endeavor, but there was still something that conflicted with our escape.
The door in the room we were now in had an electronic barrier, and some of our group was questioning whether or not the door led to the outside world. We needed to somehow deactivate the barrier so we could see what was on the other side of that door. That's what we needed to do right now.
    Shuichi recommended that we should look around in order to see what we can do, and everyone agreed to that. I scanned the room as I thought of our situation right now, and the weird circumstances that were taking place.
    It was strange to me that Monokuma didn't appear yet. We managed to make it past the tunnel, and into the room with the supposed exit. Wouldn't Monokuma be freaking out about that right now? I honestly had no idea because I haven't seen Monokuma since the morning announcement.
    "Isn't it weird that Monokuma hasn't appeared yet?" I asked, "should we be worried about that?"
    "You do have a point (y/n)," Maki replied, "even though we've come this far, Monokuma hasn't appeared yet. How strange..."
    "He thought we couldn't get through the underground passage, so he wasn't worried," Kaito replied, "but now, he's probably freaking out! I bet his face is all blue!"
    "If so, then he wouldn't be Monokuma anymore," Himiko replied, "he'd be a bluebeary."
     "Or..." Tsumugi trailed off in response, "maybe Kokichi is distracting him?"
     "...There's no way Kokichi would do that," Maki stated.
    "The only fuckin' reason why we got this far was because of my genius!" Miu exclaimed, "I bet you guys wouldn't believe that psycho if I didn't say what my beautiful inventions are supposed to do!"
     "But Miu," Keebo stated, "you did mention that you were about ready to kill one of us instead of defying the killing game."
    "You were almost brainwashed by the killing game, Miu," Maki explained.
    "I-I know that!" Miu shouted in response, "that's not me anymore! I promise!"
    I knew part of the reason Miu had a change of heart was because of me, but she knew not to tell anyone. I knew a good amount of the people here knew about my ability, but there were still some who didn't know. The ones who didn't know... there was a chance of one of them being the mastermind.
    I rubbed my arm out of sheer nervousness of that thought, and I could feel a dull pain come from the arm I was rubbing. It was the arm that was injured, wrapped in a gauze bandage. I tended to have ways to display my nervousness in constant fiddling, whether it was my hair or if it was rubbing my arm. It wasn't out of the ordinary for me to do something like that.
"In all honesty, we were in a pretty bad situation before," Kaede said, "Monokuma had the Exisals so we couldn't defy him, and I don't think he was expecting for everyone to survive like this! We have the upper hand this time, so let's be happy about that!"
"We still don't know anything, Kaede," Rantaro spoke, "I'm not known for ruining any happy moments, but this feels off. Monokuma hasn't popped up to try and stop us. He's put so much effort to keep us here, so it doesn't make any sense."
I could feel my heart ache slightly when I heard Rantaro spoke. His words sounded more emotionless than not. His tone was flat, somehow losing part of the calmness that usually resided in his voice. Despite what was going on between us, he was right.
For building an entire academy to trap us in, it was weird for Monokuma not to be stopping us. It didn't make sense, but I wanted to be hopeful for the world. I didn't want to see a wasteland when I got out there. I wanted to leave, and try not to burden anyone anymore.
With that affirmation in my mind, I silently made my way over to inspect the barrier that guarded the door. The bright green barrier was surrounding the circular door, and there was a control panel right next to it. That specific control panel had a password just like the one in the Exisal Hanger.
"This seems to be the control panel to the barrier," I explained.
'Just don't think about it...'
"This looks pretty similar to the one in the hanger, so maybe I can disable this using the passcode..." I told everyone.
'Make sure everyone is happy and safe, even if it causes pain.'
"I-If no one remembers the passcode, we can try to find an alternative method," I explained with a small smile.
'Smile and bear it. I can't keep thinking about it, I—'
"We don't even need a stupid passcode!" Kaito exclaimed, "if it's electronic, we just gotta destroy it with these hammers!"
"It seems like this lock is controlled electronically, so we can use the Electrohammer to open it," Maki stated as her eyes surveyed the control panel.
"Gonta is kinda worried though," Gonta said, "Gonta inside computer say outside world is *hell* Gonta so sorry for cursing, but Gonta just worried."
"Let's not worry about it Gonta!" Kaito exclaimed in response, "everything is going to be fine! Let's destroy this control panel with the hammers and open this big dumb gate...Then everything will be over! We can say goodbye to this academy and this killing game!"
"Finally..." Maki muttered, "this death game is going to end."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Maki..." Rantaro muttered, "we can't just assume everything will go back to normal, but hey, what do I know?"
"Yeah, you're totally changing the mood!" Tenko shouted, "don't give us doubts on our escape, you degenerate! We are going to escape, and we are going to return to our normal lives!"
    I had no idea whether or not it was going to be true. Beyond that door was supposed to be our normal, boring lives. I hoped that was what was beyond that door. It had to be what was behind that door. I had to stay positive for this. I needed to. Even if my life was bad, before I was trapped here, I knew I could start new if this door led to our normal lives. We didn't know the secret of the outside world, but hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as we thought.
    "Let's go!" Kaito exclaimed, "it's finally time to graduate from this academy of lies!"
    After Kaito said that, he held up his Electrohammer, and he swung it down on the control panel, letting out some sort of war cry. I made sure to move out of the way as soon as Kaito was swinging his hammer at the panel. I didn't want to be caught in the crossfire. As soon as the Electrohammer hit the control panel, I could see it start to short circuit. Soon enough, I saw the barrier around the door dissipate. There were two lights that acted as an indicator on whether the door was locked. The light turned from red to green, signifying that the door was unlocked.
    I was shocked that it was that easy to unlock the door. Miu's Electrohammers were really something to behold. It made something we thought was entirely impossible before into something that we all could manage working as a team.
    "Yay!" Himiko exclaimed, "the door's unlocked!"
    "I know Himiko!" Tenko exclaimed in response, "once we get out of this academy, I will never leave your side again!"
    "First, we just gotta open up this gate!" Kaito exclaimed in response, "let's all work together!""
    "I agree, Kaito," Kaede replied, "we need to work together to open this door. If anyone's going to do the honors of opening this door, it's going to be us when we work together."
    "Yes!" Keebo exclaimed happily, "we can do it! This is our moment!"
    "Finally..." Tsumugi muttered, "finally we can get out!"
    "Hell yeah!" Miu exclaimed happily, "why was I so fuckin' worried about being betrayed!? This was too easy!"
    "Nyahahaha!" Angie exclaimed, "Atua says we need to open the door, but what's behind the door? It's a mysterious mystery!"
    "There only one way to find out," Gonta said, "everyone, follow Gonta!"
    After saying those words, Gonta ran to the door with his Electrohammer in tow. I was surprised he hadn't managed to break it yet, at least by accident. Everyone else followed him, running to the door, including me. With our hands, with our own strength... we managed to open the door together, as a team. We opened the door that would lead to our future. It was a future of hope as well as despair. There was no getting around that...
I could hear a buzzer like sound come from the door, as it opened. The sound was so loud, and it almost felt like the door was somehow short circuiting. I had the urge to cover my ears from how loud this door was, but everyone else's arms were by their sides as the door opened.
A bright light came from the door as it opened, and that was surprising to me. If that much light was coming from the door, it must've been bright outside. The only indicator of whether it was day or night was the outside of the academy, which was covered by a cage.
As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light that came from the outside, my eyes instantly widened in sheer horror. Skies of bright and dull hues of red were cascading the once blue sky. I could see what looked like smoke radiating through the atmosphere, but that wasn't everything. Buildings that were outside laid in ruin, being nothing like what they once were.
Seeing this was like a slap in the face for me. My mouth hung agape as I stared out into the vast nothing that was once our world. The meteorites... the end of humanity... it wasn't a lie from what this was, and I couldn't handle that truth.
It was like all that was around me was fading into nothing as my sight was pinpointed on the hell that was outside. I didn't see the reactions of everyone else. I was too shocked to even move, and despite that, I was still tense. I felt like I couldn't move... it felt like I couldn't even breath.
I-I needed to snap myself back into reality. I needed to move. I couldn't let shock be the thing that makes me break. It felt like I was so close to breaking, one bad thing after another happening in a quick crescendo that took the course of a couple of days. Despite all of that, I managed to make my self move away from what I was seeing, only to see shattered looks on everyone, even Rantaro...
"What...is this?" Shuichi asked.
"What's going on?" Kaito asked, "what is this—"
"What the hell!?" Miu shouted, interrupting Kaito, "w-wait—I can't breath!"
I tried to take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves, but as soon as I tried to inhale, I didn't feel any air go into my body. I could feel panic arise as I could feel myself try and gasp for air. I couldn't breath. My heart rate started to increase from the panic I was feeling. I couldn't even breath to calm my heart because there was no air.
'W-What is going on?' I thought, 'I can't breath...I can't breath...'
I could feel my legs start to give out from the pain and panic of not being able to breath. I fell onto my knees, my head down, as I continued to try and gasp for air. I knew I wasn't the only one in this situation though, that much was true. The only thing I could focus on at the moment was pain. I could feel my heart pulsating rapidly from my ears as my vision became distorted. I knew what was happening... I was dying, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I didn't have enough energy in me to close the door, and I knew that. I knew I was going to die at some point, but I didn't want the others to die. Somehow, now... it didn't feel like it mattered as selfish as that sounded. I didn't have enough energy. My vision continued to be distorted, becoming more and more blurry by the second. I could feel myself collapse onto the ground as if it were the warmest, and comfiest bed. As soon as I collapsed, my eyes slowly closed on their own, leaving me in a pit of darkness that I felt I would never return from.
..........
Even though I was here, I found myself trying to hang on. It was dark, but I somehow could still hear what was going on around me. I was fighting to keep myself alive. I heard a clicking sound echo through my head as I struggled to keep ahold of the single thread of consciousness that I had.
A few moments felt like an eternity to me, and I could feel myself try to attempt to inhale again, but this time... I could feel air go into my lungs. I started to breath rapidly, getting as much air into my lungs as I could. My vision started to come back gradually after that point, and all I could see was the floor I almost passed away on.
'What happened...?' I thought.
My vision still blurry, I could make out a figure next to the control panel. I had no idea what was going on because my vision was still very blurry. I could barely make out the figure coming closer to me. I noticed purple hair, a blurry version of a terrifying expression on the person's face.
"Congrats!" I heard an all too familiar voice exclaim, "you finished the killing game!"
As soon as I heard the loud voice I knew all too well, my vision seemed to clear up in surprise. I saw Kokichi there, a terrifying smile on his face. I could feel myself start to grow terrified when I saw this expression. I wasn't just confused about that though.
"K-Kokichi...?" I stuttered in shock.
"You should've seen your face, gasping for air!" Kokichi laughed, "you were like a fish out of water!"
I felt too drained to deal with this. I as well as everyone else almost died, and Kokichi was laughing about it. After a moment of hearing Kokichi laugh, I saw him bend over, looking down on me.
"I was kidding about all of that, my beloved," Kokichi told me, "are you okay? If so, you need to get it together. It wouldn't be funny if you died here, y'know? After all, all of your lives are very precious to humanity."
    I found myself puzzled in response to what Kokichi was saying. He always wanted to get some kind of reaction from me, but his last statement was what really confused me. What Kokichi was saying about our lives, and how they were precious to humanity.
    "What?" I asked in response, "what do you mean by that?"
    "In response to your question, my beloved (y/n)..." Kokichi trailed off, "the fun starts now. It's finally time for me to reveal everything."
    I shook my head slightly, trying to get the dizziness I felt to go away. As I tried to move my body to try and get myself off of the floor, I could feel myself getting more dizzy. The room looked like it was spinning around me as I attempted to get up. My legs felt like jelly as I positioned myself to get up, placing my body weight on my knees before slowly getting up. I somehow managed to get up, but it probably didn't look very majestic when I did.
    As I was getting up, I started to notice more on what was going on around me. I could hear voices ask what was going on, both male and female. Tsumugi was sobbing, and Himiko and Kaito were wondering where we were and what was going on. I could see that everyone had faces that were sunken in from the sadness and shock that was going through their heads now. Even Rantaro... who always stayed calm in a situation like this... I felty heart break from seeing the horrified look in his face, but I knew I could do nothing about it, at least not here... and the only way I could do something was if I spoke to him, but chances were... he wouldn't want to speak to me.
    "Good mooorning, everyone!" Kokichi exclaimed happily, "how are you guys feeling? Terrible? Of course you guys are! Cuz you now know the truth of the outside world! I mean Gonta knew, but it was the virtual world *him* which makes things more confusing to you all."
    "Gonta wonder..." Gonta muttered as his face was sunken in as well, "what is truth of outside world?"
    "I'm wondering the same thing!" Kaede exclaimed in response, "what's actually going on here!?"
    "You all saw it, right?" Kokichi asked, "well aside from Kiyo, all of you saw it. Too bad he couldn't join the fun, hm? Well, it doesn't matter. The outside world you all desperately longed for... no longer exists!"
    "What do you mean by that?" Kirumi asked, "what do you mean by *it doesn't exist*?"
    "Do ya guys really wanna know?" Kokichi asked, "then I'll tell you. I'm getting kinda bored with how things are going now, so I guess I'll tell you guys the truth, kay? But mayyybe I should start with something you all can comprehend before I get into the more juicier details. Why don't we start with what happened before we found ourselves here, hm? Well, everything began when that despair came falling from the sky."
    From what Kokichi was saying, I had a feeling I knew what he was referencing. It had to be the meteorites that came up in our memories after the Flashback Light. That was the only thing it could be, but I had no idea where Kokichi was going with everything.
    "There was no way to avoid the numerous amount of meteorites raining down on Earth..." Kokichi explained, "the leaders of every nation realized that we could not escape the end of the world—"
    "H-Hold on!" Keebo shouted, cutting off Kokichi, "the end of the world...? What are you talking abou—"
    "Geeeez!" Kokichi exclaimed, interrupting Keebo, "you better not interrupt me again, or I'm not gonna tell you anything, got that?"
    "I-I hate to be the one to say this..." I muttered, "but before anyone interrupts again, we should probably listen to what Kokichi has to say..."
    "Nee-heehee," Kokichi laughed, "I guess my beloved agrees with me."
    "Kokichi, I will say this, and I will say it now..." I muttered in response, "I don't belong to anyone, especially you..."
   "Wow, harsh..." Kokichi muttered in response, "anyway! Continuing on where we left off... The leaders of every nation wanted to prevent the extinction of the human race... So they decided to implement a plan. The Gofer Project."
I didn't know what the Gofer Project was, that much was for sure. I was trying to make sure I was staying silent so I could listen to whatever Kokichi was telling us. He mentioned that he wasn't lying about this, so how would this whole conversation end? I had no idea. The only way I could understand was if I kept listening.
    "A plan to place talented humans in a spaceship in order to help them escape the world's end..." Kokichi explained, "...so that they may find another planet where they can preserve humankind... The Gofer Project wasn't implemented to save the human race...but rather, to salvage the human race. Seventeen young and and talented high schoolers were chosen for the Gofer Project. These Adams and Eves of the new world were known as the Ultimate students. But the seventeen students refused to partake in this plan. Well, it's obvious why they wouldn't... Surviving alone... Family and friends left behind to die... that's just hell right there."
    Somehow, my mind was trying to scramble the information being received from Kokichi. Our role in this so called "Gofer Project". It was like everything we've learned was starting to click together as Kokichi continued to land the harsh truth on all of us, only letting us react through expressions, not words. Despite the looks everyone was giving, they too were silent as Kokichi continued on with what he was saying.
    "So then, the seventeen students decided to flee from the project," Kokichi explained, "they erased their memories to forget their Ultimate talents...to become normal students. But it was around that time, a certain cult organization rose in power. Those who believed in the End of Days were convinced humans deserved the meteorites' wrath, some people even blaming certain individuals. When they discovered the Gofer Project, they plotted to sabotage the plan... that's when the Ultimate Hunt began."
I could feel more of a shock as Kokichi continued to explain everything. It was like Rantaro said before in the past...about how these memories were somehow connected. The meteorites...the Ultimate Hunt... those things being brought up made me more than certain that these memories were like puzzle pieces, connecting together more and more as we were told everything.
"The Ultimate Hunt affected all society," Kokichi explained, "those influenced by it searched for the seventeen students. As a countermeasure, the organization responsible for the Gofer Project... spread misinformation claiming that all seventeen students had died. That was our memory of the funeral. With this, they were able to quell the Ultimate Hunt, shelter the seventeen students...and carry out the Gofer Project. The Ark's launch succeeded...despite the meteorites and the destruction of Earth. The seventeen Ultimate students were sent off into space as humanity's last survivors. And that Ark...is the true identity of this academy!"
I could feel my head start to ache from all of this information. I was confused, and I was also startled. If what Kokichi said was true, we were really in a spaceship... and I had no idea why we saw the destruction of the Earth. If this launch was successful... why were we back...?
"I'm confused..." I muttered, "what do you mean, Kokichi?"
"The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles..." Kokichi trailed off in response, "is actually a gigantic spaceship colony."
"What the hell do you mean this is a giant spaceship!?" Miu shouted.
"Wh-What are you saying?" Himiko asked.
"I think the degenerate is lying!" Tenko shouted, "I'm not going believe any of what you're saying!"
"Whoa, hold on now," Kokichi replied with a huge grin, "this story isn't done yet. Don't you think it's strange? Why do you guys think the killing game happened on the Ark, humanity's last hope? Actually...the organization behind the Gofer Project made one terrible oversight."
"What terrible oversight...?" I asked nervously in response.
"I'm so glad you asked, my beloved!" Kokichi exclaimed in response, "a horrible person, hiding among the seventeen chosen to be the last survivors of the human race. It was the leader of the cult organization trying to crush the Gofer Project. And they hid among the last survivors of the human race, and prepared a robot on this ship... Yup. That robot is Monokuma. Originally, the seventeen chosen students were placed into a state of cold sleep...And were only supposed to wake up once the ship found a suitable planet... But Monokuma manipulated the Ark and brought it back to the ruined Earth. Although the seventeen were supposed to wake up on a different planet, they rose from their sleep...and they are now here."
"W-Wait, so if we did return to Earth on this mysterious Ark, then that means..." Angie said.
"What you guys saw..." Kokichi trailed off in response, "that's Earth now."
"Wh-What did you say!?" Kaito asked in response.
"That's Earth after a few hundred years, while we were in cold sleep... An Earth destroyed by meteorites...without oxygen or living creatures... An Earth without any cities...or any people you knew... That is the truth of the outside world."
I could feel myself feeling every ounce of hope or happiness drain from my body. I wanted to believe that this was fake... I wanted to, but seeing the Earth... feeling the pain of not being able to breath... it made me feel like Kokichi was telling the truth. My friends in the motive video were dead... my father and my sister were dead...
"There is no place for you bastards to go home to," Kokichi said, "that's why it's pointless to go outside. The outside world doesn't exist anymoooore!"
"W-What...?" Kaede asked in both shock and sadness.
"The Earth and humans have died out ages ago," Kokichi replied, "except for the last seventeen survivors of humanity."
"Th-That's a lie!" Himiko exclaimed, "it's...defiantly a lie!"
"I already told you that I wasn't going to lie about this," Kokichi stated, "it's getting kinda boring to be lying all the time, y'know? Anyway, I gotta confess... you know the cult I mentioned earlier? The leader... is me."
When Kokichi said those words, I could feel all of what I thought bubbling to the surface. Who I thought was behind this, not being able to prove that it was him... if he was the cult leader...then...
"Huh...?" Shuichi asked in response.
"Which meeeans..." Kokichi trailed off, "the mastermind who snuck Monokuma onto the Ark is... Meeeee!!!"
Kokichi's face contorted into one of a horrific smile. I could feel malice radiating from him as he told everyone he was the mastermind. I could feel myself start to shake. I had no idea if this was truth or not, but if he was telling the truth now... then he was the mastermind.
"S-So you're the one who is behind this!?" Kaede asked, "do you have any idea what you put us through!?"
"Of course I do," Kokichi replied, "I didn't just want to crush the Gofer Project, I wanted to ruin it in the worst way possible... So, I came up with a plan! What could be possibly worse than the last seventeen survivors of humanity killing each other!?"
"What...?" Maki asked in shock, "Y-You...!"
"I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting anything to hinder my plan, but unexpected things always happen, I suppose," Kokichi explained, "after Rantaro came back into the trial room after supposedly being dead, I knew it was going to be an issue, so I decided to investigate what was causing it."
I could feel my eyes widen in response to that. If Kokichi was actually the mastermind like he said he was, there was a chance that he knew. The way he was speaking... it was like he was beating around the bush. I was trembling slightly, as I felt sweat start to form on my face in copious amounts. From the corner of my eye, for the first time in what seemed like awhile, I could see Rantaro staring at me as Kokichi was talking about investigating this conspiracy that some of the others didn't know. After a few moments of our eyes meeting, Rantaro looked over at Kokichi.
"You're acting like you've solved this conspiracy, yeah?" Rantaro asked, "so whatever has been happening was a hitch in your plan."
"Don't act like you don't know anything, playboy..." Kokichi stated, "I know you knew what was happening from the start. And I have solved everything. Who among you want to know how your beloved classmates came back to life after living through certain death!?"
Everyone was silent for a few moments after Kokichi said that. He had a large smirk on his face as he shed the fact that he knew what was going on. I was praying that he'd be wrong. I was hoping that he got it wrong. I could feel my heart racing as the unbearable silence spoke volumes. I knew I was done for, but I didn't want to believe it.
"I will take your silence as a yes," Kokichi laughed, "so without further adieu~! The person who has been saving everyone from death, and messing with my plans... it's none other than our lovely (y/n)~"

I was so excited to write this chapter out that I managed to get more writing done this week, and I'm deciding to publish a little early because I'm nice. I was actually sick with the 24 hour flu this week, and that wasn't very fun for me. I'm feeling a lot better now, and I hope you all are excited.

Some of you might not be too happy with how I'm going about this, but I promise it's going to be interesting. We are getting very close to the end, and I mean very close. The lot of you that came here for Kokichi, your time is coming soon, I promise. I hope that this chapter didn't disappoint any of you because I worked very hard to write it out.

I'm sure many of you are going to ask, "what's going to happen next?" Well you will have to wait until next week. Kokichi basically decided to out reader, and I just cut it off there for suspense. I hope all of you have an amazing weekend. I will see you guys next week, and please have fun reading. This chapter is longer than usual, so go crazy! Ciao for now- yuki_no_fuyu