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

Chapter 4 Part 7: The Third Flashback Light

Your POV:

Everything was about to start. Everyone was in the dining hall aside from two other people. Kokichi and Kiyo were the only ones not there. Kiyo was in Ryoma's lab, handcuffed to ensure that he wouldn't be able to cause harm to anyone. Kokichi was no where to be found, stealing the motive before we could even get a chance to see what it was.
Kaito seemed thrilled to get everything started, however I was nervous about what was going to happen. I was also nervous about the fact that Kokichi wasn't here yet. Sure he was mischievous, but that wasn't a reason fo leave him out. If he found of what the card key unlocked, he could tell us what he saw, but that was only if he would tell us.
Rantaro seemed to notice that everyone was gathered, so he set me down. I looked down nervously as I waited for the conversation to start. There was no telling what we would remember from this.
"If you don't mind me asking, what about Kokichi?" Kaede asked.
"Forget about him!" Kaito exclaimed in response to that, "it's his fault for messing around like that!"
"I guess...he must be a real pro at hide-and-seek," Himiko replied.
"I have to agree with Himiko on her account!" Tenko exclaimed, "Himiko what spell did you use to know that!?"
"Nyeh... I'm too tired to explain it..." Himiko replied.
I was slightly confused on what Himiko was saying. Kokichi was a master at hide and seek, but I was able to find him while playing with him. It took a lot of time for me to find him, but I did nonetheless. I could say that I was a bit better at the game than he was. I managed to hide, and he wasn't able to find me until it was really late.
"Kokichi is good at hide-and-seek, but I was able to find him," I explained, "he did have a hard time finding me though..."
"Nyahahaha, that's amazing! Maybe we should have (y/n) find Kokichi!" Angie exclaimed.
"It still doesn't dismiss the fact that I don't know where he could be," I explained, "I mean if he's trying to hide from everyone, then he will move to change his hiding spot constantly."
"So that means no one can find him, huh?" Shuichi asked in response.
"He might've used the motive's card key to enter a place we're unaware of..." Maki replied, biting her nail in frustration.
My eyes widened in response to what she said. The thought crossed my mind that he probably was trying to find the place where the key card was, but it never crossed my mind that there could be a new place that the card key could unlock. I felt stupid for not realizing that sooner. Using the items we got as a reward for surviving unlocked new areas of the school in seemingly magical ways. I didn't understand that the same case could be for the motive.
    "I feel very stupid for not thinking about that possibility..." I muttered with a sigh, "it should've been obvious to me since that could very well be the case, but honestly I'm none the wiser."
    "(y/n), it's alright," Kaede replied, "you have a lot on your plate right now, so it's understandable."
    "Kaede is right about that," Kirumi explained, "we all know that you are under some mental strain since yesterday. After all, Kiyo did try and kill you because you confronted him."
    "I can't even imagine what that must've been like," Keebo muttered, "in any case, it is worrisome that Kokichi might be at the area where the real motive is."
    "Heh, next time I see him, I just gotta catch him and ask," Kaito replied.
    "That's only if you catch him," Tenko told him, "and I highly doubt a degenerate male can even manage as much."
    "Hey! Shaddup!" Kaito shouted, "If (y/n) can find him, then so could I!"
    'That will be a lot harder than you think it is...' I thought in response to that.
    It was true. With my account on how long it took to even find Kokichi, it would take Kaito longer. Even though he was motivational, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch. Before I could even say anything in response to that, Kaito was quick to change the subject back to the reason on why we all met up in the dining hall.
    "Anyway, let's try out this Flashback Light!" Kaito exclaimed.
    "But...I'm still uneasy about these Flashback Lights... Are they really okay to use?" Tsumugi asked.
    I knew how Tsumugi felt when she expressed her concern. Her concern was on par with mine. I knew that remembering these events were important, but why were all of those memories ones filled with tragedy? Why weren't we getting any memories of any happy things that were in our lives. It seemed that the only thing those machines held was tragic events that would lower the mentality of everyone here.
    "Well, if we don't use them, then our memories will never come back, y'know?" Himiko asked in response, "so we've got no choice but to use it! The memory we'll get from this is our only clue!"
    "Well said Himiko!" Tenko exclaimed, "I'm glad to see that you're putting what I taught you into practice. Expressing yourself is an amazing thing to do!"
    Himiko seemed to blush lightly in response to this. I did notice something. After what happened with Angie, she seemed to listen to what people were saying to her. It was honestly nice that she was starting to express herself more. Himiko seemed to not show much emotion before, but now, she was trying to express herself. I could feel myself smile at that fact, but that didn't change how I felt about these Flashback Lights.
    "I agree with fish dicks over here!" Miu exclaimed in response to Himiko.
    "Who are you calling a chunk of breaded fish!?" Himiko exclaimed angrily.
    "Miu! You have no right to call my sweet Himiko terminology used by degenerate males!" Tenko shouted.
    "Ah-haha, for someone who looks like canned tuna, you make some pretty good comebacks," I heard an all too familiar voice say in a mocking tone.
    I looked towards the entrance of the dining hall, seeing the person who stole the motive from Kaito. Kokichi Oma, the only one aside from Kiyo who wasn't in the dining hall was standing at the door with a seemingly carefree smile on his face. I was honestly shocked that he even heard about where we were meeting. He was obviously somewhere where everyone else wasn't looking, so I didn't know how he could've known.
    "You degenerate male!" Tenko shouted, "how dare you call my sweet Himiko something that comes out of a can!"
    "Yeah! How dare someone call me a wad of shredded fish!" Himiko exclaimed in protest, "wait...Kokichi!?"
    "I knew you'd find us here..." Maki muttered, anger lacing her voice, "but only because it's you."
    Kokichi seemed to just smile as he walked over to the table where the rest of the group was standing. He obviously wasn't phased by the glares given to him by Kaito, Maki, Tenko, and Himiko. The rest of us seemed to be in shock about seeing him. I looked at Rantaro with a nervous look on my face. For some reason, Kokichi appearing like this was very unsettling to me.
    "Thanks for the compliment!" Kokichi exclaimed, "so, why are all my merry friends gathered here? Especially my beloved (y/n). She is obviously here as well, so explain it to me."
    "First things first..." Rantaro muttered, "I want you to tell us what you did with that card key."
    "Ooh, so you're worried about that, aren't you, play boy," Kokichi replied, "well, you can relax, for you see, I couldn't use the card key."
"You couldn't use it?" Shuichi asked in response.
"Yeah, I had no idea where to use it, so I just gave up instead," Kokichi replied with a seemingly innocent smile.
Something was very odd to me about Kokichi's behavior. He didn't seem too upset that he couldn't use the card key, and that kind of confused me. I couldn't tell if Kokichi was lying about this or not. I didn't think that he would lie about something like this. He wouldn't... would he...?
I was deep in thought about this. Of all of the people here, Kokichi was defiantly one of the hardest to read. With his mischievous personality, no one really knew if he was lying or telling the truth most of the time. The only time he would actually admit to telling the truth was when he was in a bind. I had no idea what to think at this point.
"You don't seem too disappointed about not being able to use it," Keebo told him.
"I *am* disappointed, damnit!" Kokichi shouted in response to that, "I wanted to use the card key!"
I flinched slightly when he suddenly shouted like that. It completely caught me off guard at that point in time. He was acting carefree, and mischievous like always, and right when Keebo told him that he didn't seem too upset about not being able to use the card key, Kokichi out bursted. It amazed me how Kokichi could act one way, but then pull a complete one-eighty. It always seemed like what we were thinking about him wasn't the case at all.
"Jeez, cool your jets, Kokichi," Ryoma muttered.
"I can actually agree with beanie over there..." Miu scoffed, "but if ya ask me, I smell another fuckin' lie!"
"Whatever..." Kaito muttered, "talking to him's just a waste of time."
"Kaito, please don't say that..." I muttered, "how would you feel if someone called talking to you a waste of their time?"
"Awwwww~!" Kokichi exclaimed, "my beloved (y/n) actually cares about me!"
Kokichi seemed to have crocodile tears coming from his eyes as he said this. It was as if he were personally touched by the fact that I stood up for him.
"We are back tracking again!" Kaito exclaimed, "we have more important things to do right now, and he isn't helping."
Kaito held the Flashback Light in his hands as he jabbed an accusing finger to Kokichi. It seemed like he didn't mind that fact as his eyes grew sparkles in them just be seeing the Flashback Light held in Kaito's hand.
"Oh hey, the Flashback Light," Kokichi said, lemme see that. Kaito doesn't have the balls to turn on the switch—"
"Of course I do!!!" Kaito exclaimed, interrupting Kokichi.
Kaito being egged on by Kokichi thumbed the switch hard. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as the Flashback Light turned on. Once again, the world warped around me. The familiar feeling of light started to dance around me. It was like being shown the light in a mocking, yet cruel way.
    I could feel information being pushed into my head, like always, it was overbearing. It was like my head was about to explode, but it never happened. All of the information being pushed into my head started to form a scene. Soon enough, it became clear. The scenes flew by inside my consciousness... everything was starting to become more clear.