Warm rays of golden light streamed through the giant windows in the halls. Something felt off though. The sight of it just brought back memories of walking carelessly through the halls. No one at the time even knew what they were going to be in for. Hell, even the floors made you feel a bit nostalgic. They used to be almost entirely covered in long stems of grass and weeds, and now they were just...normal floors. I guess Monokuma and the Monokubs have been at work.

You looked over at your side, watching Kokichi bounce a little as he walked. He might be trying to stay positive...

It was the next morning, and you and him had decided to leave for your research lab before the morning announcement came on, so that meant the no one should be awake. If there were people awake, though, then it most likely wouldn't be many.

But then again, there aren't even that many of us left...

You shook your head, trying to focus on something else. Anything else other than death who was just waving at everyone, waiting to decide on who to jump on next. And that...created a weird image in your mind. You awkwardly cleared your throat.

"Hey. I just remembered, um... What did you do with Kaito?"

Kokichi turned around to look at you, a calm expression on his face. "Oh, him? I just tied him up and sold him to be a slave in Siberia, that's all."

"Kokichi..."

The small boy smiled a bit. "Okaaay, fiiine. It seems that you've seen straight through my lie! He's actually going to Mexico."

You raised a brow at him. "Oh really?" you humored.

"Yep!" He looked forward again, smile faltering a bit. "Ah, but... Right now, he's just stuck in a bathroom waiting for my subordinates to come pick him up."

So that's where he is... "But Kaito seems strong enough. Wouldn't he just be able to kick down the door or something?"

"Psh, did you really think that I didn't think about that? Don't worry, I made sure that he wouldn't be able to get out soon..."

You bit the inside of your lip a bit in concern, unsure about what he meant about that. Nevertheless, you brushed that off as you finally made it to the top floor of the academy building. You walked across the gigantic room to the door of your Ultimate lab. You opened it for Kokichi to walk through before entering yourself, walking in right whenever the morning announcement started to play.

You looked up at the monitor that was placed in your lab. It was just Monokuma there, saying the normal things. Even the announcements don't feel as... "lively" as before...

You looked back at Kokichi, who quickly looked back at you. "...We don't have a lot of time left," he said gravely.

"R...Right. We need to do as much as we can, then..." Shakily, you made your way over to the table and chairs.

Kokichi followed you, sitting down across from you and locking his eyes onto yours. Genuine concern was all that was in his eyes at the moment. "Are you going to be okay? Look, after all of the motivational stuff that you've told me... You can't just go back on your word."

"Sorry, sorry... Yes, I'll be fine. I'm just getting more and more nervous..."

The boy let out a deep breath, taking a moment to rack up his thoughts before opening his mouth to speak again. "So... Do you still have the card key?"

"Oh...! Yeah, I have it." You pulled it out of your pocket and placed it down on the table. "Didn't you say that you had an idea as to where we could use it?"

Kokichi nodded. "Yeah... I kind of meant to try and use it last night, but I guess that I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot..."

You nodded your head, waiting for him to go on. "...Well? What place were you thinking about?"

He dramatically swiped the card up off the table and pointed towards the door. "Want me to lead the way, sweetheart?"

Some heat rose to your cheeks at the unexpected and sudden use of the pet name. "W-Wait, can't you just tell me where we're going? And what if we run into anyone? Especially Maki... She might actually kill you if she spots you, no hesitation whatsoever."

Kokichi rolled his eyes and groaned. "That b*tch..." He looked back at you, suddenly making puppy dog eyes. "B-But... Y-You'd pwotect me, w-wight?"

"..."

"..."

"...That might be the most cringe worthy thing that I've ever heard you say before," you sighed, still smiling a tiny bit though.

"You don't find me cute...!?" His eyes seemed to become glossier and even more sweeter, if that was even possible. The moment was quickly ruined whenever that glossiness that you saw in his eyes formed crocodile tears. "WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

"Woah! Calm down...!" It was at that moment that you realized how long ago it felt like since you've seen him cry like that. You had gotten used to the genuine tears that he sometimes let shed in front of you that you felt the urge to wrap your arms around him, gently run your hands through his hair, and just keep calming him down. Even though you knew that the tears were fake. They were way too excessive to be real.

"Nishishi! I bet I had you real concerned there, huh?" he asked suddenly, a smirk already on his face. He wiped away some of the wetness that was left on his cheeks.

"Screw you..." you mumbled. Then you cleared your throat. "Ah, we got so off topic, huh..."

"Right, right! Sorry..." The boy grumbled a bit. "I wish we could just have fun moments like this again, where we didn't feel pressured to keep working like this..."

"If we're successful with this, then... Then maybe we can have moments like this again, once we...escape."

"Escape..." he repeated quietly. "...Alright. I wanna do this as quick as possible. Let's go to the basement." He grabbed your hand and wasted no time in leading you down the stairs and through multiple halls.

You kept looking around for any people who might be wandering around the halls. As far as you could tell, no one was out to see the two of you. You then began to wonder if the other students would even feel the motivation to leave their dorms and do anything...

Before you could think about that any further, however, you noticed Kokichi slowing down to a stop. You slowed down yourself, thankfully not crashing into him.

Without saying a word, the boy quietly opened the doors, allowing you to enter first. He walked in behind you, softly shutting the doors once he was inside. Then he made his way over to the moving bookcase...

"Kokichi, what are you doing?" you asked him quietly, suddenly feeling the need to whisper.

He proceeded to move the bookcase until the secret door was exposed once more. He simply pointed to the card reader. "...Huh, there's still some dust left from when Shuichi rigged it..."

You suddenly had an idea as to where he could be going with this. "Do you think that the card key could open the door?"

Kokichi nodded. "Here... Would you like to try it?" He held the card out.

You opened your mouth, ready to reply until he suddenly snapped his arm back. "Huh? What are you doing?"

The boy crouched down, hiding his slim frame by some piles of books on the floor. "Just stand out in the middle of the room and act as inconspicuous as possible, no questions."

I'm confused, but... I should probably listen. So that's what you did. You followed his instructions, stepping out into the middle of the room and picking up a random book. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the bookcase moving back to its normal spot. And right at the very moment it was all the way back to normal--

"(Y/N)!?"

You turned around quickly, finding Tsumugi near the door with a surprised look on her face.

"I... I-I thought...Kokichi took you? But now you're standing here, perfectly fine... What happened when he took you away with the Exisal? And why couldn't you say anything to us back in the hangar!? Did he do something to you?"

What a coincidence, with you walking into this specific room at the exact time that Kokichi and I were trying to open the door... you mentally groaned. Hm... Kokichi... He must have heard her coming.

"Umm... (Y/N)? Are you... Are you okay...?"

You blinked a few times at the girl in front of you before you finally remembered the situation. "Oh, um, yeah... I think I'm fine..." you mumbled.

Tsumugi placed her hands on your shoulders with a firm grip. "Tell me! What happened!? And where's Kaito!? Is he okay, do you know!?"

"...You're asking too many questions. Slow it down a bit so I can actually understand what you're saying..."

Suddenly, her face lit up. "Oh! I should go get the others!" She turned around and started running.

Does she assume that I'm going to follow her...? You sighed. I guess so, then... You peaked your head out of the library door. Once you were sure that she was gone, you turned back around to the pile of books. "Psst, Kokichi...?"

"Yep, still here," you heard him whisper. Then his head popped up from behind the books, looking around. "Where'd she go?"

"I'm not sure... I just know that she was going to try and find the others."

"Well, we should hurry out of here then." Kokichi stood up fully. He walked over to you, grabbed your hand, and without a moment of hesitation, began to speed walk out of the library.

***

"How much longer do you think we can stall for?"

Kokichi glanced around the walls of your research lab, tapping his chin with his index finger in a steady rhythm. "Umm... I'm not sure, honestly. Probably not for long though. When they do find you, you'll just have to think of a really good lie as to why you ghosted on them all like that!"

You groaned, running a hand through your hair. "We didn't even get to try the card key on the door... Whatever though. It probably wouldn't have worked."

The boy shrugged. "You never know..."

You sighed and paced around the room. You noticed that your whiteboard had some more things scribbled onto it than you remembered, and it vaguely reminded you of the whiteboard that you briefly saw in Kokichi's room one time. He must have been the one to do that. You brushed it off and continued pacing.

A loud yawn shattered the silence. "You know, this isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I'm thinking, okay?"

Eyes glancing over the filing cabinets, you decided to walk over to them and investigate. You pulled open your own cabinet, grabbing the filing folder and scribbling a few things down in it before placing it back.

"Eh? What did you just do?"

You looked back around at Kokichi. "If we can't see if we can open the door right now then I'd like for us to solve another mystery."

"Oh yeah?" The small boy raised his brow at you with interest. "Please, do tell."

"How I have different memories than everyone else... It just doesn't make sense for the real life..."

"I see, I see... Maybe it could help us solve the mystery around this place!"

It could also just be some sort of red herring...

You smiled softly as his enthusiasm, but it left as quickly as it came. "It might not though..."

Kokichi placed his hands on your shoulders, looking directly into your eyes. "But. It. Might... Man, you really need to lighten up a bit, y'know?"

You stared into his eyes for a few moments. Then you focused on the feeling of his hands on your shoulders. It felt much more comforting than when Tsumugi had done the same a while back.

"Aww, is there a reason as to why you're blushing?"

You snapped back into reality, only to find Kokichi smirking at you. Then you processed what he said... "Don't mind it. I... I don't know what you're even talking about," you mumbled, pulling up your scarf to cover up part of your face.

"Nishishi... I think I have an idea..." He brought one of his hands up to cup your cheek. You squinted your eyes at him and looked away, hearing him chuckle at your reaction. "Glad to know that you aren't fed up with me yet! So, if that's the case... Will you try to be a bit more positive?"

That caught you off guard, considering what was happening literally just a few seconds ago. You opened up your mouth to respond with something, but you ended up nodding when no words came out.

A genuine smile crossed Kokichi's lips. "Good! Alright, so... We need solve the mystery of our different memories..."

You tapped a finger to your chin. "Hm... All of the memories come from the Flashback Lights, right? Have you ever wondered...where they may have came from?"

"Monokuma probably pulls them out of his a**," Kokichi casually remarked. "I mean, a lot of the things that happen here seem like they should be impossible to exist in a realistic setting."

You let out a dry chuckle at his joke before focusing on his second sentence. He's right. Monokuma, the Exisals... They're way too advanced for the technology we have today...at least, I think so. You decided to make a mental note about that.

"Buuut...I think I may see what you're getting at?"

"Surely they can't come out of nowhere, right?"

The boy shrugged. "Probably not."

"Maybe they're being produced somewhere in the school?"

"They might...! Maybe we could find some clues if we were to investigate this some more..."

You nodded at him. "Right, that's what I was thinking... I'm still unsure if we'd even find some useful clues, if anything at all, but we should still try."

"When do you want to start our search?"

"Probably now... I don't want to waste time."

"Gotcha!" Kokichi chirped. He started to bounce towards the door before he paused. "Are we sticking together or are we splitting up?"

"...Splitting up would make things faster," you mumbled. "But--" Kokichi had already sped out the door. You just sighed and walked out as well. Just don't get yourself in trouble...please, don't...

***

You had already finished thoroughly searching the top three floors of the academy. You were still on the second floor, though you cleared most of it. It had taken you what seemed like forever, since you had checked in every nook and cranny that you could find. Most of your concentration had basically drained at that point, and exhaustion had already started to set in.

You'll never find anything.

Shut up...

You walked into a classroom and automatically heard the scuffling of feet on the floor. Oh no, did I accidentally run into someone? Please don't be Tsumugi--

"(Y/N)!"

You felt yourself nearly get tackled to the floor as a pair of thin arms wrapped tightly around your body.

"Wahhhh! Where have you been!?" You blinked a few times in order to realize that Kokichi was sobbing into your chest. "Do you realize how long it's been since the last time that I saw you!? You practically killed me with worry!" He paused here to sniffle a bit. "I... I... I MISSED YOU SO MUUCH!!!"

"K-Kokichi, calm down! Or...at least be a bit more quiet??"

Kokichi stopped crying. "But really, it's so nice to see you again! I was really feeling lonely... Man, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Umm...okay?"

The boy loosened his arms, only for them to drop down to your waist. "Anyway, I think I found something!"

"Where?"

"Here! In this room!"

You slowly looked around the classroom. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just...a normal classroom. Well, as normal as it could get in the situation that you were in. "I don't see anything important."

"Huh?" Kokichi looked at you with a questioning expression before turning around and looking himself. "...What? There was something here, I know it... Perhaps the system turned off when you walked it..."

You bit your lip. "If you really did see something and it turned off whenever I walked in...then that does sound suspicious. Can you tell me what you saw?"

Kokichi nodded. "Mhm. It was...a system that allowed you to make Flashback Lights."

"A system? What do you mean by that...?"

"It had different options for what you could put into the memory. A lot of the options contradicted another option that was available for you to choose, and I recognized some of them as the memories that...that the others and I have received."

You shook your head. "But wait. If these memories are real, then...you should be able to choose what you do and don't remember..." It started to click inside of your mind.

The boy snapped. "Judging by the look on your face, it seems like you're starting to get it. I tried to make one myself and I used it, and it showed me the exact options that I selected. But I never saw any options like any of the memories that you've described..."

"So does that mean that my memories are...?"

"...Real?" he finished for you. "I think so..."

"..." You bit your lip nervously for a second. "...Do you think that you could show me this thing? Is there any way for you to turn it back on?"

"I could try." Kokichi turned away from you and walked over to a desk. He felt around inside of it until he seemed to find something and turned it on. The screen in the middle of the room started to change--

"Pretend like I'm not here," he suddenly ordered you, dashing into a locker. You were confused until the door to the classroom opened.

"(Y/N)! There you are! Y-You're not a ghost...are you? You keep disappearing and reappearing!"

Ah, of course, it's Tsumugi... You glanced over to the front of the room. Everything seemed like normal. Definitely no creating of fake Flashback Lights here, nope.

"Come on! I insisted to go find you, the others are waiting in the dining hall for us! Let's go, hurry!" She sped walked inside and grabbed onto your wrist. Something felt off about her demeanor. Not to mentioned that her grip seemed too tight for comfort.

She rushed you out of the classroom and downstairs.

You kept glancing back at where Kokichi should have still been hiding...

"(Y/N)! You're okay!"

"Where have you been? You scared us!"

"Did something happen with Kokichi?"

"...Do you know where Kaito is?"

Of course, Maki of all people would ask that question. For some reason you felt very irritated at that.

You looked to the ground and said, "Guys, you don't need to worry. I'm fine... I don't know how, but I was able to trick Kokichi and...run away from him to go into hiding..."

"Did he threaten you at all? Did he hurt you!? If he did then I'll put the curse of death on him!" Himiko shouted angrily.

"He was.. He was just messing around with us. He said that we wanted to keep us hidden until he figured out what you all were planning on doing..."

"Now that you've escaped, he probably figures that you've gone to talk to us..." Shuichi remarked.

"What if he'll do something to Kaito now?" Maki asked, voice sounding a bit frantic.

"I'm not sure, but if he does, then we better hurry to Kaito's location and save him," Kiibo responded. "(Y/N), do you know where Kaito is right now?"

"I, uh..." You glanced up. Kokichi, what should I do...? Dammit, you can't read minds... Where even is he, anyway?

"Are you okay?"

You looked up and saw mostly everyone looking at you with a concerned look on their face. Maki just seemed to care about Kaito for whatever reason, Tsumugi... Sh*t, Tsumugi isn't here. Where did she go? ...I'm sorry, Kokichi, but I need to go check up with you, so that means I have distract these people.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking!" you told everyone. "I know exactly where Kaito is. He's in the bathroom in the hangar. We should hurry and get him out of there...!"

"Come on, first we got (Y/N). Now we need to team up to get Kaito back!" Shuichi spoke.

"Nyeh, I've got enough mana to help you all!" Himiko cheered.

"Let's go, I'll lead the way." Maki hurried to the front of the crowd and rushed out of the doors to the dining hall. Everyone made haste to follow her without another second to spare. No one seemed to notice that you stayed behind.

Time to look for Kokichi... and/or Tsumugi. You listened at the doors, waiting for the sound of footsteps to grow faint. Once they were entirely gone, you slipped out as well.

You sprinted up to the classroom on the second floor. Before you even entered, however, you noticed that the door was wide open. You merely glanced inside and noticed that the locker door was open as well, so there was no way that Kokichi was still in there. Where could he be then??

Time is running out. Hurry, hurry, HURRY!

Where the hell do I--??

Hidden door.

The thought hit you like a train. Kokichi still had the card key, he may have gone to the door to check it out while you were busy with everyone else. And Tsumugi...she just so happened to interfere each time you were trying to discover something important--what if she was doing that on purpose?

You started to panic and rushed back down the flight of stairs, this time going down even farther to the basement. You threw open the doors to the library and ran inside, seeing the bookcase was still open. And the hidden door was too.

You quickly yet carefully made your way inside. You saw a blur of blue flash by.

"(Y/N)!!"

Within the blink of an eye, there across the room, you saw Kokichi on the ground, back resting against the wall. Right next to him...was Tsumugi...towering over him with a bloody shot put ball...and then she turned to face you--

"Oh! How nice to see you here, (Y/N)!" Tsumugi cooed sickly. "But... I thought that you were with the others to help them go find Kaito..."

"You weren't there... How--"

"Isn't it obvious? I know everything..." She started walking towards you. Quickly. With each step forward that she took, you took another back. "This wasn't supposed to end this way, you know... You were quite the character, so..."

The next moment, Tsumugi had you knocked down to the ground and was towering above you. "So it's a shame that you're going to end like this!" The bloody shot put ball was in her hands, rising above you--

You kicked furiously at her legs, and it miraculously caused her to fall to the ground and drop the ball. I... I shouldn't kill her. You merely kicked her sides and rolled the ball as far away as you could, hoping that it would give you enough time to check on Kokichi.

Tsumugi just started...laughing. She was laughing manically, as if this was one of the most fun things that has happened to her in a long time.

Frightened, you backed away from her and ran to the other side of the room, kneeling down at Kokichi's side.

"Kokichi, Kokichi! Can you hear me? KOKICHI!"

"I can hear you... Shh... P-Please... Please don't panic and yell... Augh, you're hurting my ears..."

"Oh, I'm sorry..!" you apologized, this time in a whisper. "Please, just stay with me, okay? We can make it out together! We'll rescue everyone, they'll realize that you aren't a bad person... We can defeat the mastermind, make it out of this dumb game!" Kokichi's eyes fluttered. "Just... Stay with me, please... I can't do this without you..."

"..." Kokichi tried to move his head a bit but quickly stopped himself with a groan.

You moved your hand up to thread your hand through his hair. He seemed to lean into the touch, despite the pain he felt. What disturbed you was the amount of blood that you saw slowly making itself visible from his head.

"Come on, we need to make it out of here. I can patch you up, okay? And then we can make it out. We can escape, Kokichi! And once we'll make it out, I'll join you in your organization... I promise."

"(Y/N)... You idiot..." Kokichi mumbled. Your eyes widened.

"...What?"

"Isn't it obvious... I'm going to bleed out soon and there's nothing we can do about it."

"No, there is! If we just stop talking and wasting time then I can... I can, uh..." You tried to pick up his body but he groaned in protest.

"Tsumugi did a lot more to me than just hit me on the head... You just can't...s-see it..."

You paused for a moment, feeling the despair start to invade. "...You really aren't going to make it, are you...?"

"No... Now go!" His voice cracked. "Go, please! Before--!"

"Don't waste your breath," you told him, feeling tears well up in your eyes. "Just... Give me three last words. They can be anything."

Kokichi opened his mouth, seemingly prepared to say something...but then he looked around at something. His eyes widened, and his mouth closed to prepare to say something else. "...L-Look...behind you..."

WHAM!