Your POV:

    Kokichi had left a couple of minutes ago, leaving me terrified with the last words told to me before he left. After he left, there was a knocking sound that came from the window, and it was revealed to me that Maki was there against all odds of it being Kokichi. Before I knew it was Maki, my mind was almost instantly convinced that Kokichi was going to the other side of the window just to mess with me. When that wasn't the case, relief washed over me, but I knew it would be short lived.
    I didn't have enough strength in my aching limbs to get myself to the height of the Hanger Bathroom window. All I knew was that Maki was there because I heard her ask me if I was doing okay, as well as the fact that Kokichi left as well. I knew very well the conversation Maki and I would have would be a short one.
"I'm just as fine as I can be right now," I told Maki in a quieter tone, "it helps that you have been visiting me... it helps me know that everyone is okay right now, and that's the only thing I can hope for."
What I told Maki was the truth. I was grateful that Maki came by to check on me because she was the one who was keeping an eye on Kokichi. That's all I knew in terms of what everyone was up to at the moment. But I also knew that Kokichi was planning something, but if I even said anything about it, Kokichi would know eventually.
We only had what we assumed was how long it took him to arrive wherever he was getting to. I had to make the most of this conversation with Maki, because if Kokichi found out... I didn't know what could happen. I was terrified to think about what he'd do to me if he even found out Maki was talking with me.
    "Right now, everyone is fine," Maki stated, "like I said the last time I came by, everyone is more worried about you and what that bastard could be planning. In any case though, just try and stay strong for as long as you can. If everyone else can't follow through, I have ways to make sure Kokichi can't harm anyone again."
Maki explained that right now, everyone was fine. It was a nice bit of reassurance to hear. It was basically the same as yesterday when Maki checked on me while Kokichi left. I was told to stay strong as long as I could, and I knew it was getting harder to be strong when I was constantly being told how I was the cause of the people I cared about the most being killed. Because of these thoughts, after Maki told me to try and stay strong, it resulted in my gaze directing itself to the floor.
That wasn't the end of Maki's words as well. She said if no one would follow through, she had ways to keep Kokichi from hurting anyone else. Maki was being completely vague about what was going on, but I thought I knew what she was trying to tell me even if I didn't know what she and the others were planning.
That didn't stop myself from tensing up when I heard the tone she used with that said line. Her voice was quiet like always, but I could hear the rage in her voice, as well as the serious tone as well. Part of me was starting to think that she was planning on killing Kokichi. It did make sense considering she was an assassin, but I knew she still needed to be careful.
"Be careful, Maki," I told her, "I've been trying to be as careful as I can as a hostage, but I'm not in the position to even ignore Kokichi. I'm not in any position to not do what he says, because I know I'll pay the price..."
Maki's eyes were narrowed as I spoke about a little bit of the hostage situation. I told her the truth, and I wanted to warn her about what Kokichi might do with me. I wanted to warn her so badly, but I had no idea how to. I could find a way to code a message somehow, but part of me was thinking that Kokichi would be able to figure that one out. However, I was running out of options at this point.
    "It's good that you're being careful," Maki explained, as her eyes maintained a slightly softer look, "I guess we're all so frustrated right now because we are trying to figure out what Kokichi is planning. There was the whole thing with Rantaro as well. Everyone was upset with him for the way he ignored you like that. There's just a lot at stake right now.
    I knew there was a lot at stake right now. Everyone was frustrated. I was frustrated from this situation too. According to Maki, everyone was trying to get some idea on what Kokichi's next move would be, and I knew a little bit on that matter. Kokichi intentionally told me that I was going to be used, but never explained how in caution of me telling someone else.
    Even if I wanted to code the message, I didn't know much about any sort of code out there that can be used to encrypt what I wanted to say. Even if I did, I couldn't really do much with my arms cuffed behind my back. Because of this, I could either tell Maki what Kokichi said he was going do, or keep my peace.
    Even if I didn't know what Kokichi's true intentions were right now with what he was planning. I knew something bad would happen if I gave her an idea, but I wanted to let them know that something was going to happen. Even if I got caught, I had to warn them in some way. If Kokichi was trying to ensure that no one would know, he still revealed that he was going to do something to me to get the others to kill each other. Time was of the essence right now.
    "Maki, you guys need to be careful..." I told her, "I don't know much on what Kokichi is planning, but it has something to do with me..."
    Even if I was terrified about what Kokichi would do if he found out, I had to tell her. When Maki heard that  Kokichi's plan had to do with me, her eyes started to have a dangerously deep red glint. I knew by now that this dangerous anger in her eyes wasn't directed at me.
    "So whatever Kokichi is planning," Maki said quietly, anger in her voice, "has something to do with you? So he is using you as a motive... that bastard..."
    "Yeah..."I responded nervously, "whatever Kokichi is planning, I'm probably going to be the motive, and I don't even know what he's going to do. He didn't tell me that much because he knew I would find a way to tell someone, so you guys need to be careful. We only have so much time, and you need to know... before you have to go, please let the others know. They need to have an idea on what his plan is, when if I don't know. You have to tell them, please."
Maki stayed silent as I told her what was going on, at least what I knew. I needed to warn them even if it would prove the point Kokichi made to me earlier. I had to tell them, and Maki listening really did help. We were just about out of time, so I had to make sure I told her what I knew and to pass that on to the others.
Maki nodded a few moments after I was done speaking. It was more or less of a quick nod, showing that she understood what I was saying and what I was requesting.
"I understand," Maki replied, "I will pass this on to everyone, but you have to make sure you look after yourself. I'm sure that bastard is almost where he needs to go, so we are out of time for now. Please be careful, (y/n). If you feel alone, just know I'm looking after the hanger..."
I nodded in response to Maki's words. She quickly left the window, and quickly retreated to the darkness for the time being. I let out a small sigh before making my way back to the spot I was laying in. I knew I messed up, but at this point, I've had enough pain from the psychological taunting he dealt me through. There was nothing he could do that would be worse mentally for me for the time being, and I knew I had to warn them.

Rantaro's POV:

    We managed to find what we were looking for. Miu and the others knew how important it was to stick to keeping these plans separate from each other. Now that my group knew where the hidden route was, we would need to touch base with the others at some point in order to explain the whereabouts of the route to them.
    "So if our part of the investigation is done for now, I suggest we also join the others to talk about the bait plan," Kirumi stated, "we need to make sure everyone is able to talk about how we will proceed with the said bait and continue to plan the real one without Kokichi knowing."
"I agree," Ryoma replied bluntly, "if we stay separated into groups, Kokichi will expect that something else might be happening aside from what he is seeing. We have to make sure we are convincing enough to fool the liar."
"Ryoma is right," Kaede replied, "we should meet back with the others to discuss the plan we are using to bait Kokichi. Then, maybe we should find a place to discuss everything else sometime during nighttime hours, because I think we all know Kokichi will be in the hanger."
We were all still sitting at the table in Kirumi's lab, being relieved that we found what we were supposed to find. We were trying to figure out how we'd proceed, and there were some good points that were brought up. Ryoma mentioned that if we stayed separated into groups, Kokichi would suspect something eventually. Ryoma was right about that. Kokichi wasn't someone who would believe separating into groups would be normal.
If we needed to do anything, Ryoma was right when he said we should talk with the others about our so called *bait* plan and plan for that in the dining hall. However, Kaede did mention that we could discuss our real plan during night time somewhere aside from the dining hall. It was a good idea, but part of me was wondering if Kokichi did stay in the hanger during the night. It would be most likely because he was keeping an eye on (y/n) in the hanger as well, but I wondered how long he'd keep her in there before he thought it it as an inconvenience.
"I think our next course of action should be what Ryoma just said," I explained, "we need to discuss the false plan with the others when we get back down there, so Kokichi can believe that we are all in on it. As for discussing our real plan, I think discussing this during nighttime is an idea, but we should wait to ask Maki what he does during the night. I know she's been able to view him leaving the hanger during a portion of the day, which leads me to believe he's been traveling to the hidden room. If he stays in the hanger during the night, we should be able to find a place to discuss everything else."
"When you bring that point in," Kaede said, "I think we should ask Maki if he goes somewhere during the night before we plan on another area to discuss everything."
"It looks like we all are in agreement then," Kirumi spoke, "we are going to join the others to give details about the plan that will bait Kokichi. Once we hear back from Maki, we can determine if we are going to be safe finding another meeting place during nighttime. Getting the rest of our peers is also something important we need to try and do in this process."
    "That sounds like a plan to me," I said in response, "but we need to separate before we turn the device off. I think it's a good idea to show that we all weren't conversing together to make the performance more realistic."
    We were thinking of possible flaws while discussing the possibilities. That was the only way I could really put it. We were all short on time until something bad would happen. We had to prepare for each and every thought or observation Kokichi could think. Every move we made would be suspicious to him, especially since he was able to spot our lies easily.
    "I think that's a good idea," Ryoma replied, "maybe we should see if Miu can rig this device to cover even more area. It might be a good thing to consider."
    "I think we can discuss that with her later," Kaede replied, "right now, we should all separate, but wait a minute or two before the next person goes."
    It was understandable to try and decide placements for everyone once we turned the device off. We had
to make sure Kokichi didn't think we were grouped together too often. Not after this little scheme of ours. I'm sure everyone else agreed with me on that notion as well.
    "I think we are all in agreement," I stated, "so before we meet the others, we will separate one at a time, making sure there is a minute or two in between. After that, we will take a small break before meeting with everyone else."
I nodded in response to that. We were all in agreement. We would separate and do our own thing for a short while. We needed to collect our thoughts to shape our discussion from later. Maybe it would be better to discuss this during night time. We just needed to get our facts straight in everything we knew now so we could use that to devise a plan to rescue (y/n).
"I guess I'll be the first one to go," Ryoma stated with a shrug, "I'll see ya guys later."
Ryoma left after saying that. This started as the string of each of us leaving one by one. Instead of engaging in conversation though, everyone was reserved to themselves, lost in thought about the constant connections we were now aware of.
A few minutes passed by silently as I thought of what to do. There was so much to speculate, and so little time to pull it off. I knew our plan had to end in killing Kokichi. If we didn't do that, this madness would never come to an end. If we didn't do that, he would continue to pursue (y/n).
"Hey guys, I'll be the next one to go," Kaede said, "I'll see you guys once I get my thoughts sorted out."
Kaede walked out after saying that, giving a small wave. I would assume she would either spend her time in her lab, looking at sheet music to ease her mind. We all had different ways to ease our minds. We had to let ourselves decompress at least a little bit before we continued the path we were on.
    A few minutes would pass by, and I knew I'd be the next one to leave. From what I knew, Kirumi had the device, and this was her lab we were in. It wouldn't make sense if she was the next one to leave. If I could do one thing right now though. It would be to see (y/n) and make sure that she's okay. I didn't know when I'd have a chance to do so though...
    "Kirumi, I will head now now," I told her, "be sure to turn off the device not long after I leave."
    "Don't worry, Rantaro," Kirumi replied with a smile, "I know what my responsibility is, so I will make sure to fulfill that request."
    I smiled in response to that. I knew I could trust Kirumi. Since what happened during the second case, she has grown into someone who refuses the violence no matter how it hurt. In a way, it didn't matter now considering we were all that was left of the human race.
    "Alright, I'll see you soon," I said.
    After that point, I walked out of Kirumi's lab. I decided that I would go outside, making my way down the stairs of the floor I was on. I made it to the ground floor not long after to spend some time outside to help my thought process. I somehow felt more calm when I was able to feel a breeze on my skin and through my hair. Maybe part of that reason was because I was outside constantly trying to find my sisters, so looking at whatever background was outside helped to calm me down.
    So that's what I'd be doing while I waited to meet with the others. Everything was happening so fast, and everything was going according to the plan we had set in place so far as to keep Kokichi from finding out what we were truly up to. Hopefully we were doing a good enough job to give Kokichi blind spots to what we were actually doing. That's all we could hope for in a situation like this.

Kokichi's POV:

    I found myself making my way to the school after leaving the hanger. I had no idea what the others were up to, but I knew soon that I would find out. Maybe if I decided to eavesdrop at the dining hall, I'd get a general idea. I still couldn't help but think these bastards were starting to get smarter. The fact that they wanted me to not know about anything made it fact that they were getting smarter. It was best that o did something about that before it got any more out of hand.
    I'm sure Maki at least has figured out I leave the hanger for a little bit of time in order for me to catch myself up on whatever they were up to. It was such an inconvenience for me. Especially if they try to strike while I'm away. That would be no good. Perhaps it was better to end toying with (y/n) and start the main festivities. If I didn't do that, then I would be allowing more time for everyone to devise a better plan.
I decided that right then and there I would eaves drop on the dining hall. While it was just as easy for me to just go into the hidden room right away, there was a certain thrill to being in the shadows. Maybe Maki keeping an eye on the hanger was making me crave to do the same thing. It was laughable really.
But it wasn't exactly laughable really. From the way everyone was trying to work together, I needed to ensure that I knew exactly what they were planning. I didn't know whether Monokuma did his job or not. As I entered the school, I wondered if the robotic bear did what I told him to do, or if he just half assed everything like he usually did. I knew once I got into my hidden room, I would summon him to ask.
Miu wasn't someone to be underestimated in that regard. It was already an issue that they were thinking about rebuilding the device. I've seen time and time again how Miu works. Once she put her mind to it as dirty as it was, she would go to great lengths to get it done. I recalled that she had stayed up all night to create cameras to try and help Shuichi and Kaede catch me in the act of going into the hidden room behind the bookcase.
'It's too bad they didn't figure out there is more than one way to get into the hidden door...' I thought as I made my way to the dining hall silently.
As soon as I made my way to the closed doors of the dining hall, I could hear voices muffled through the door. As suspected, the usual meeting place for everyone was the usual meeting place. Well maybe partially everyone. I highly doubted everyone would be here, but I did know everyone who was in kahoots and banding together right now.
I knew everyone who was talking together was Angie, Kaede, Kirumi, Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Miu, Ryoma, and that playboy. Everyone else was sulking in their rooms from what I caused. I knew by default who could be in the dining hall right now. Maki definitely wouldn't be there because I knew she would be in the hanger.
They were being quite adept in trying to plan against me, but I knew there was no way whatever they had in store I couldn't handle. It was my job to oversee this game, so if my contestants were trying to overthrow me, they would be sure to regret it. I wouldn't allow them to get close to (y/n).
    "So plan is to attack hanger with weird hammers, and rescue (y/n)?" I heard Gonta ask.
    "Precisely!" I heard Miu's voice exclaim in response, "we use the hammers to deactivate the barrier at the front of the hanger, and it will be access. That's what she said!"
    'They plan on charging at the hanger with the Electrohammers?' I thought, 'it looks like everyone is getting pretty ballsy. I wonder if they actually think charging the hanger will work in rescuing (y/n).'
    It was a pretty brave move on their part. I wondered if the thought even crossed them that I could be eavesdropping on them as they spoke? A frontal strike on the hanger was a pretty big move, but it wouldn't work if (y/n) wasn't in the hanger anymore. If there was no reason for them to enter the hanger, their plan of what they have now would be torn apart.
"We should probably determine how many Exisals we have to go through in order to get to wherever (y/n) is!" I heard Angie exclaim, "the reason we have to determine how many Exisals are in the hanger, because we all know that these hammers can take down an Exisal, but one strike to one will cause the hammer to run out of battery, so it's best to know what we are up against, so we have plenty to spare!"
    "Angie is right," I heard that idiot, Kaito respond, "the last time we were in a situation when we needed them, they all died at the same time. And the hammers take a full twenty four hours to charge. During that time, I think we should talk strategy, unless Miu can extend the battery life somehow."
"If I did that, I'd have to take all of them apart to change the battery!" I heard Miu shout in response, "it would take me some time to compress the power I need to extend the god damn battery life. We are on short time, so we need to work with what I got!"
'So they are planning sooner than I thought they would...' I thought as a smile formed on my face, 'I guess I do need to speed things along. Perhaps I should introduce the next motive to them all tomorrow... yes... they would be singing a different tune after tomorrow.'

Hello all! Happy 2023! Really hope this year is better...

I'm trying the bold font for my authors notes. I'm sorry about last weeks break. Christmas left me mentally drained, and it was uh, my first Christmas as a legal adult. It was a very eventful Christmas and I feel like I've gained weight for it all lol XD.

In any case there was a lot of repeating elements in this chapter, but it'll be made up in the next couple of chapters. I'll try to get one out next Friday, but I can't guarantee it because my classes are starting back up. One of the classes I'm going to be taking is figure drawing, and I'm so excited for that!

I feel bad for keeping everyone waiting, but everything is still on a slow simmer. I'll keep things short. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, or overall Happy Holidays! I hope everyone's new year is going good so far! You might see me next week, but there might also be a hiatus until May. If I don't see you all until then, I wish you well, and I thank you for your patience!- yuki_no_fuyu