Rantaro's POV
"..Kaede is lying."
I stopped in my tracks the moment she said that. Kaede lied? I don't believe that.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, Rantaro! Just a few days ago, you said you weren't ready to trust anyone, and now all of a sudden you trust Kaede with big information like that?! Get a grip!"
"I trust her more than I trust you, that's for sure."
"T-That isn't even the point! I know that she is lying because she's the mastermind! There's no such thing as a killing game loop, why would she bring it up otherwise?!"
"And how do I know you're not the mastermind, Tsumugi? You could very well be lying too."
"Rantaro, why would I ever do something as messed up as this? I have no reason to!"
"Anybody could say that and still be the mastermind. I'm not convinced."
"Well, then that's exactly why you shouldn't trust Kaede either! I don't care if you don't trust me, but she's a danger! I'm just.. trying to look out for you, Rantaro." Tsumugi got closer to me as she said that.
"Sure, like you didn't say that Kirumi should've killed me or something like that under your breath the other day."
Tsumugi opened her mouth to say something back, but couldn't find the words. Instead she sighed and said something else.
"Look, Rantaro. I don't want to argue with you right now. I'm not in the mood. So.. I'll tell you a little secret of mine."
"Secret?"
"Yep! I'll just tell you this.. You were right. I am a liar. Worse than Kokichi, even."
Why was she dragging this on so much? Couldn't she just admit it? She was already suspicious enough..
"..Just tell me. I know what it is."
"Do you really?"
"Yes. You're the mastermind, Tsumugi. You've given me enough clues to figure it out. Admit it."
Tsumugi's lips curled into a smile. She let out a laugh.
"Wow, I'm surprised! You figured it out faster than the Ultimate Detective!"
"Mhm. You knew about my trust issues and you were trying to manipulate me just now, weren't you? I'm not as easy to break as you think, Tsumugi."
"Sure, sure.." Tsumugi went silent after that.
"What? You're not going to tell me to not tell anyone or I'll die or something like that?"
"Oh, no, no, tell people all you want. See if they believe you. They'll find out the truth eventually, so I don't care."
I was surprised at how easily she was giving up.
"Really?"
"Yep. Plus, my cover may be blown, but there's still a lot you don't know. That alone keeps me satisfied."
"So, the killing game loop.. Were you the one behind that, too?"
"Who knows? You'll find out the truth soon enough.. Anyway, I'm done with you. You can leave."
"No, I still need to-"
"Nope, no more questions! Like I said, you'll find out soon enough. You out of all people don't need to know, anyway. Not like you're my mortal enemy or anything!"
"Wait, what?"
"It's not important. Out you go!" Tsumugi said as she pushed me out of her room and shut the door, leaving me confused as hell.
What did she mean by that "mortal enemy" crap? Did something happen between us that I don't know about?
..I'll just ask Kaede tomorrow since it's almost nighttime. Maybe she'll know..
Maybe.
--
The next day..
Kaede's POV
Ding dong, bing bong
"Attention, students! Please make your way to the gym! I don't care if the day just started, I have an announcement to make! Get up out of bed and make your way over here!"
Ugh, seriously? This is what I have to wake up to? It's probably another motive..
I tumbled out of bed and stumbled to the gym. (Pour myself a cup of ambition, and yawn and stretch and try to come to life-)
I was one of the first ones there. The only other people there were Kokichi, Kiibo, and Angie.
"Hey, Kaede! Um.. how have you been?" Kiibo asked me.
"I've been alright, thanks. How about you?"
"I've been alright as well. I don't think I got a full charge last night, so I do feel a little drowsy.." Kiibo said.
To be honest, though, if anyone was drowsy, it was Kokichi. I knew that he stayed up late, but he looked bad. Like he hadn't slept in days or something..
As some of the others filed in, I went up to Kokichi.
"Hey, Kokichi? You okay?" I asked. I got no response though.
Kokichi fell asleep standing up. How do you even do that..?
"Kokichiii, wake upp~! Atua says it's time to rise and shine!" Angie said energetically, poking Kokichi's side.
"5 more minutes.." Kokichi mumbled, slowly waking up.
"Noo, you can sleep later, Monokuma has an announcement to make and you can't miss it! Wake up!" Angie poked his side harder.
"Fineee.." Kokichi slowly opened his eyes, yawning. He observed his surroundings.
"Oh! Hi, Kayayday!" Kokichi said, acting more awake.
"Hey.. how long have you been here for? I don't think you can fall asleep in like, 2 minutes, can you?" I asked.
"Mm, I'm just really tired, I could nod off again any minute.. Just kidding! I'm not tired! Not tired at all.." Kokichi said, starting to close his eyes again. I grabbed his shoulders.
"No, you can't fall asleep again! Not until Monokuma makes his announcement, then I'll take you back to your room and you can sleep all you want, okay?" I shook Kokichi, making sure he was awake.
"Okay.." Kokichi groaned.
Everybody else came into the gym, and Monokuma started speaking.
"Hello, everyone! I'm not sorry for getting you up so early, because wouldn't you know, this is a motive reveal!"
Everyone groaned.
"Really? Another fucking motive?!" Miu said, frustrated.
"Yes, another fucking motive, because that's how this killing game works!" Monokuma exclaimed.
"..What is this motive, exactly?" Rantaro asked.
"Well, let me explain! A select few people will start acting.. different. A lot differently from their normal selves. Why, you may ask? Because of this little thing called the despair disease!"
"..It doesn't seem like anybody has been infected yet. Nobody has been acting off, from what I've noticed." Kiyo said.
"Of course not, because the motive will take effect tonight! I'd say about three people will be chosen, and if nobody kills, one more person will be infected each day! And it will keep going like this until nobody is theirself anymore!"
"So, if we want to stop that from happening, we have to kill?" Ryoma asked.
"You got it! So, that is the motive, folks! Have fun planning murders! Puhuhuhu~!" Monokuma exclaimed before disappearing, leaving everyone on edge.
"Okay, cool, the motive is going to control us all if none of us murder.. Can I go to sleep now? I'm exhausted." Kokichi asked.
"I'll.. take him back to his room.. Come on, Kokichi.." Shuichi said as he took Kokichi's hand and led him out of the gym.
Nobody else knew what to say. This seemed to happen every time a new motive was revealed, because it's a chilling reminder that more people are possibly going to die soon.
But I can't let people lose hope. We will find a way out, I know we will!
"Hey, listen up, guys!" I raised my voice as everyone turned to look at me.
"I know everything may seem hopeless right now, but we will make it through if we just stick together! I refuse to let anybody else die!"
"Kaede, I appreciate you trying to bring our spirits up, but I'm not sure anybody's convinced. We always try to make a plan to escape together, but people always die somehow. I don't know if there's anything you can do." Kiyo said.
"No, Kaede is right! We must not lose hope!" Angie spoke up, agreeing with me.
"Exactly! I won't let this motive get to everybody! We will find a way out if we all join forces and work together!"
"Yes, you're right. We just need to work with each other and make a plan, with that we'll surely escape!" Tsumugi spoke, getting pumped up.
"I hate to say something so naive, but maybe this isn't such a bad idea. I'll definitely try to help so we can get out of this hell." Ryoma said.
"Exactly. Kaede is such a great leader, we can't fail with her on our side. I know we won't." Rantaro smiled as he spoke.
Soon enough, just about everybody got on board. I managed to encourage everybody to not lose hope. My only job now is make sure that I don't fail them..
I sure hope I don't.
--
Later that day..
I was hanging out in the kitchen, trying to find some sort of snack for me to eat. I didn't have too much at lunch, so I was still a bit peckish.
Not too long after, Shuichi came in, trying to find something as well.
"Oh, um, hey, Kaede.." Shuichi quietly greeted me.
"Hello, Shuichi! What are you looking for?"
"Just something to eat, I guess.. Plus, I have to bring this back for Kokichi.." Shuichi said, grabbing a grape Fanta out of the fridge.
"Of course he would want that.. Ooh, what's this?" I asked, pulling what seemed like a cake out of the fridge.
"When did this get here? I was just looking in here earlier, that wasn't there.." Shuichi said.
"It wasn't? Hm, that's strange.."
"..Monokuma probably planted it there."
"Monokuma? Why would he make a cake?"
"I-I don't know! I'm just saying, it might be a trap.. I am pretty hungry, though.." Shuichi said before sighing.
"Give me a piece." Shuichi gave in.
"Ha, knew you couldn't resist." I said while grabbing a knife to cut the cake with. I cut out two pieces and gave the first one to Shuichi.
"Thanks.."
"No problem! Enjoy your cake~" I said, winking at Shuichi.
"Yeah, yeah, I will.." He gave a small smile before making his way back to Kokichi's room. They are so in love it's not even funny..
Anyway, I went back to my room to eat the cake. I took a bite, and it tasted SO good. It was strawberry flavored, I love strawberry..
I ate more and more until my piece was gone. I set the plate down on the nightstand beside my bed. Damn.. I feel really tired after eating that..
Oh well, it's probably nothing.. It's just because it's almost nighttime right..
I feel like I might.. fall asleep..
...
*she dead /j*
--
The next morning..
Rantaro's POV
Ding dong, bing bong
"Rise and shine, students! It is now 8 AM! As of now, the new motive has taken effect! Take caution and have fun~!"
Damn it.. That motive.. I wonder who was infected..
Well, definitely not me, that's for sure. I still feel the same, so that's good..
I should go find Kaede..
I headed down to the dining hall, where everybody usually is in the morning, and what I saw was.. surprising, to say the least.
Why is Shuichi tied up?
"Haha, I just love you sooo much, Kokichi! Please, untie me, will you? These cruel jerks are just too blind to recognize true love." Shuichi said with a creepy smile on his face.
"No, Shuichi. We tied you up because you threatened to put a knife through my chest. Remember that?" Maki asked.
"Of course! I don't regret that at all!" Shuichi laughed.
So Shuichi is one of the infected, huh? Why does he always seem to be a target for these motives..?
Not long after, I spotted Kaede with her head down on the table. Is she okay..?
I went to sit down next to her.
"Kaede, are you alright..?" I asked her. She slowly lifted her head up.
"There's no hope.. We're all gonna die here.." Kaede said gloomily. Since when did she get so.. depressed like this? What happened..?
"I know what you're gonna say, Rantaro.. We can escape together, yeah, sure.. Maybe as corpses.." Kaede sighed and slammed her head back down on the table. Angie came to sit down next to me.
"Hey, Angie? Do you know what's wrong with her?" I asked her.
"Oh, she's been like that all morning. I'm assuming she was infected by that despair disease thing.. She wouldn't act like this unless something big happened.."
Oh.
"That.. makes a lot more sense.." I said, disappointed. There probably wasn't anything I could've done to prevent it, but.. I wish I could've done something.
Wait, Monokuma said three people would be infected, so who's the third?
That wouldn't take too long to find out, as Miu ran into the room next.
"Kiibo! There you are!" She hugged Kiibo.
"M-Miu! You're.. squeezing me.." Kiibo said.
"Oh! Sorry!" Miu quickly let go of him.
"What's up with you? Usually, you would've said something insanely vulgar by now.." Kiibo asked.
"Vulgar? Me? I would never! You're my friend, why would I say anything like that to you?" Miu asked.
Yeah, Miu is definitely not herself.
So, to recap..
Shuichi is insane, Kaede is depressed, and Miu is friendly. Interesting..
All of a sudden, Monokuma appeared in the middle of the room.
"Alright, alright, calm down, everyone! I'm sure you all have noticed what is going on by now!"
"Of course we have. How long is this idiot going to be like this?" Maki asked, referring to Shuichi.
"Don't you remember, Maki? If you want the real Shuichi back, you'll have to kill! Same goes for Kaede and Miu."
"I quite like Miu like this, actually.." Kiibo said quietly.
"Anyway! Just a reminder that if nobody kills today, one more person will be infected tomorrow! That's all! Toodles!" Monokuma did his signature laugh before disappearing.
"Just great." Maki said, sighing.
"Maki, I can take care of him, ya know. I think he likes me the most out of everyone right now, soo.." Kokichi said.
"Oh, yes, please do! I love being around you, Kichi." Shuichi giggled.
"Kichi-? Yeah, no, I want the real Shuichi back too. C'mon, you're coming with me." Kokichi said as he untied Shuichi and grabbed his arm.
"Ooh, yay! This is gonna be fun! Bye, losers!" Shuichi stuck his tongue out at us before Kokichi dragged him away.
"Wow, he's not a very nice guy, is he?" Miu asked Kiibo.
"Ironic, coming from you, but I guess not.." Kiibo said in response.
"We're all going to die.." Kaede mumbled.
"Great, she's at it again.." Ryoma sighed.
"I, um.. I'll take care of her.." I said.
"Aww, how sweet! Hopefully you can lift her spirits." Angie said.
Yeah, if that's even possible.. I doubt Monokuma made this 'despair disease' easy to cure..
"Well, we're going to get going now, I'll try my best to talk to her." I said while tapping Kaede on the shoulder.
"I don't wanna get up.. What's the point..?"
"Come on, Kaede, you can't sit there all day." I held my hand out to her.
"Fine.." Kaede hesitantly stood up and took my hand.
As we were walking out the door, Tsumugi looked at me right in the eye and smirked.
Oh, fuck you, Tsumugi.
~~~
A/N: 2 chapters in 2 days?! what?! this is unheard of, I must be sick 😨 nah I just had a lot of motivation after publishing the last chapter, so here we are folks. hope yall enjoyed, let's see if we can go on a 3 day streak (probably not..) bye bye guys I'll see yall in the next chapter!! <3