Your POV:

    After Miu left, I could still feel as if my mind was spinning. I had explained to her what I explained to everyone else who I had helped to stay alive. Miu didn't seem to believe what I was telling her at first, but proof did the talking for me.
    After the whole ordeal I felt exhausted and stresses still. When I thought that talking to someone about it would help, I found myself back at square one on how I was feeling. I still had no idea how Miu was back when I wasn't able to do anything, so it was obvious that someone intervened at some point.
    I could feel a headache starting to form once more as I rubbed the temples on my head. I knew I had more free time, but I felt too mentally exhausted to really do much. I knew what I was going to do for the free time I had.
    "I think I should probably rest..." I muttered, "I'm feeling too drained to go out and talk to anyone..."
    My mind seemed to be made up, and I knew Rantaro was probably doing his own thing as well. I felt like I needed some rest, and I didn't want to worry him more than I already have.
I was still sitting on the bed, graced to me by the ones who were behind this whole killing game. I leaned over, peeling back the comforter on my bed before slipping into it, nuzzling myself into the covers to try and get warm. I defiantly needed to relax a little bit and gain some of my energy back.
I could feel my eyes close, trying to get some of the stress I felt out of my system. It seemed that soon after my eyes closed, I fell asleep, the last of my free time for the day being used for a nap aside from what I normally did.
Usually when I was stressed, a nightmare was normal for me, and this case was a little bit different. It seemed that even my mind was too drained to come up with something to startle me, so all I saw in my sleep was a pitch black nothingness that I was used to seeing.

————

I had no idea how long I was asleep for, but I soon had a main indicator. It was quiet in my room, until the loud chime of the monitor rang through my room, causing me to shoot awake. I seemed to still be half asleep, so it took me a moment to process what woke me up.
The monitor clicked on, showing Monokuma and his fancy glass of what seemed to be champagne, as well as his fancy food such as shrimp, sushi, and sashimi. I've never seen this before, and chances were... it was because the Monokubs were at some sort of resort.
"Ahem!" Monokuma's voice announced, "this is an announcement from Ultimate Academy. The time is now 10:00 p.m. Night time has officially begun. Killers, this is your chance to strike! Victims, you have my condolences! Will you sleep like a baby tonight? Or sleep with the fishes? Either way, sweet dreams!"
    I couldn't help but have a slightly sour expression as the monitor turned off. I was woken up by that said monitor, but now, it was Monokuma giving the announcement, and it wasn't at all motivating in any way. It was quite the opposite.
    I pulled up the covers that I was previously nestled in, sitting myself up on my bed. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes out of habit. Normally at this time, I would have just gotten back to my room after hanging out with someone, and after that, I would be training with Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, and Ryoma.
    I had no idea what was going to happen now, considering the fact that Kaito wouldn't even look at me. A few moments went by as I tried to wake myself up. It seemed that as I was trying to do that, the all too familiar sound of my doorbell ringing rang through my ears. For a moment, I thought I was making myself hear it, but that wasn't the case.
    The doorbell was actually ringing, and I found myself getting off of my bed to go answer it. It took me a few moments to get to the door, but as soon as I did, I opened it. Almost instantly after, Maki came into my room, a slightly lighter expression on her face.
    "Hey, (y/n)..." Maki muttered, "do you have a minute?"
    I had no idea why Maki was at my dorm. I honestly thought she was going to get me to train tonight, but from the looks of it, that wasn't the case. I had to ask her what was going on.
    "What is this about?" I asked in response, "is something wrong?"
    "I swear, both you and Shuichi have a similar way of asking things..." Maki muttered, "in all honesty though, Kaito asked me earlier... to show him my research lab."
    "Kaito wanted to see your lab...?" I asked in response.
    "Like I told Shuichi just before coming to you, I might as well show him..." Maki replied, "I know that idiot won't take no for an answer... so you have to come as well."
    After Maki said those words, she left the room, leaving me slightly awestruck. She wanted me to go to her research lab...? Part of me felt slightly uneasy because I had a lot on my plate right now. A lot of things were stressing me out, but the fact was... Maki invited me.
    'Since Maki invited me, I guess I should go...' I thought.
    After deciding that I was going to go, I stretched slightly, giving myself a little wake up call. After that point, I opened my door and headed to the school. I could feel the cool night air blow through my hair as I walked the trail to get to the entrance hall.
Something about the way the cool air felt helped me relax a little bit. I was still alive, and I knew that fact. I couldn't relax too much however because once I put my guard down, that's when something bad would happen. I felt myself look up at the sky as I walked closer to the entrance hall. A walk was always a nice way to calm my nerves, and I knew I was going to need it.
As I walked into the school, I couldn't help but think about the fact that Kokichi was missing for the entire day. I never even saw him once while we had to unlock the new areas of the school. I didn't even have the slightest idea on where he was. I guess he was really trying to stay hidden from everyone.
I knew I needed to be more careful around him. Out of everyone at this school, he seemed to have the most malice. If I had to suspect anyone to be the mastermind, it probably would be him, but that message he left on the rock... I couldn't tell if he was just pranking us, or if he was actually serious.
I decided to save that thought for later as I made my way to Maki's Lab, taking the stair cases that led to the second floor, and then the staircase that led to the third floor. Maki and Ryoma both had their labs on this floor, and many things did happen on this floor.
It seemed that after awhile of walking throughout the school to get to Maki's Lab, I finally reached my destination. The door was red with gold framing. I took a few moments to get myself relaxed and calm, before opening the door and walking in.
"I'm sorry I'm a bit late," I said with a sigh, "I tried to get here as fast as I could."
After saying that, I actually looked around to see who was in here. Kaito was looking at me with a slightly shocked look on his face, and I didn't realize that I was standing next to Shuichi. Ryoma was here as well, and he was standing next to Maki.
"Huh...?" Kaito asked.
Kaito was staring at me for a moment before he averted his eye sight from mine. I could feel myself get slightly upset from this. It was me... Kaito was someone I looked to as a friend for inspiration, but now he was avoiding me. I had no idea why that was still, and this was happening since this morning.
"O-Oh, so you and Shuichi were coming too..." Kaito muttered.
"Y-Yeah..." Shuichi replied with a sad look on his face.
I felt like I couldn't even say anything. Silence rang though Maki's lab as I could feel how awkward this situation really was. From what Kaito said, it wasn't just me he was trying to avoid... it was Shuichi as well. The silence made me feel uncomfortable, and it felt like it was weighing down on me.
    Maki seemed to notice this silence. I could hear her let out a loud sigh, and Ryoma had his eyes closed and his arms crossed as he took note of the awkward silence going on. Both of them seemed bored from the painful silence that was taking place. I felt as if Maki wanted to break the silence, so she soon spoke.
    "Why did you ask to see my research lab so suddenly, Kaito?" Maki asked.
    "Well..." Kaito trailed off, "I just wanted to see what kind of weapons were here."
    "What?" Maki asked in response, "why would you want to see my weap—"
    "But wow!" Kaito exclaimed, interrupting Maki, "there's a ton of stuff here! Can you use all of these, Maki Roll?"
    "Yes, more or less..." Maki replied, averting her gaze from Kaito.
    "But there's no swords of any kind here— Japanese or western—right?" Kaito asked.
    When Kaito asked Maki about the reason she didn't have any swords, I could feel my mind drift off to the special training that we did with a model sword. Maki told us why she never liked to use swords, and it seemed that Kaito had forgotten that. I remembered because her story was cute, but I could also feel the frustration from it.
    "I don't use swords of any type," Maki replied, "not after I botched a mission with a katana."
    "I remember the story you told of the mission you botched when Kaito tried to get us to train with that model sword," I replied with a small smile, "a target at an anime convention, and how you looked like a certain character..."
    "Yes, that's right..." Maki muttered, pouting lightly as she tugged one of her pigtails, "I'm surprised you remembered that..."
    "Of course I would Maki," I replied, "but I'm not going to make you feel awful about it."
    "I see..." Kaito muttered, seemingly ignoring what I had just said, "either way, I don't feel like weapons really suit women."
    "Well then, what would you say about me?" Ryoma chimed in, "I suppose you don't think an iron ball suits me."
    "That doesn't count!" Kaito exclaimed in protest, "I just don't really think a woman should be using weapons..."
    Maki was silent for a moment after that, and so was Ryoma. They seemed to be taking a moment to think about what Kaito had just said. I knew it wasn't my place to talk, so I was silent. After a few moments of silence went by, Maki finally spoke once more.
    "Care to explain why you wanted to see my weapons?" Maki asked.
    "Didn't I tell you this morning?" Kaito asked as he scratched the back of his head, "I've got a plan figured out."
    I knew Kaito mentioned something of a plan this morning, but I had no idea what his plan was. I didn't think anyone had an idea on what his plan was, but whatever it was, I had a feeling it had something to do with the weapons in Maki's lab. Basically, Kaito wasn't telling us anything, and he didn't want us to worry about anything. That still didn't change the fact that he didn't want to look at Shuichi and I or speak to us.
"Oh!" Kaito exclaimed, "what's in that black case over there?"
Kaito seemed adamant to get out of the conversation that was taking place, so he headed to the far bookcase where a couple of black cases were. Kaito was known for changing up the conversation when he didn't want any part in it, and I knew that.
"What's in it?" Kaito asked, "is it some kind of weapon?"
"...If you want to know, why don't you open it?" Maki asked in response.
"Hmm..." Kaito muttered, "let's see..."
I could hear the zipper being pulled from the black case, opening it like a normal duffel bag. Kaito reached his hand into that said black case, and he pulled something out. He held what looked like a bunch of parts in his hand, and he asked what that was, and why it was a bunch of parts.
"It's a disassembled crossbow," Maki stated.
"Hmm, so when you put them together, they become a crossbow," Kaito replied, "looks interesting. Hey Maki Roll...can you teach me how to put it together?"
"Sure..." Maki muttered in response, "I don't mind."
With that, Kaito sat himself on the floor of Maki's research lab, and Maki was still standing, but she was kneeling down, bending her knees. She was doing this to show Kaito how to put the crossbow together. In all honesty, this was kind of cute in a romantic way.
Kaito really helped Maki get out of her shell, and maybe they would get into a relationship. My mind soon drifted to the blood that came out of Kaito's mouth yesterday. I was still very worried about Kaito. I wanted to help him so badly, but he kept acting like everything was fine—
"Put this...and this together..." Maki spoke, breaking my train of thought.
"Umm..." Kaito trailed off, "like this?"
Kaito's hand was around what looked like the trigger for the crossbow. He was clicking things into place on Maki's instruction, and he looked to be memorizing how to put the weapon together.
"And then, put that other part in the opposite way..." Maki explained, "...Ah, wait. That's wrong."
"Oh, my bad," Kaito replied, "it goes this way."
"Mmhm," Maki replied, "then, next it's—"
My mind seemed to have traveled to certain memories from when I first got here, but seeing something like this... it made me feel slightly out of place. I couldn't help but smile at Maki and Kaito. They were both getting closer, and I was just here. It felt slightly awkward, but I was happy that Maki was acting more happy. That's all I could ask for.
    Eventually, Maki and Kaito both succeeded in putting together the crossbow. To be fair, it was pretty cool to see how to put it together, and it was kind of like putting an instrument together for a music class. In any case, Kaito seemed pretty happy with the results of Maki's teachings.
    "Whoa, since I built it, it became an extra-cool crossbow!" Kaito exclaimed happily.
     "You say that as if it matters on who is building it..." Ryoma muttered, "you really do have quite the ego, Kaito..."
     "It does matter because I, Kaito Momota, Luninary of the Stars built it!" Kaito exclaimed, "it does seem a bit complicated though...but I think I can do it by myself next time."
    "Hey Shuichi, (y/n), did you both want to learn too?" Maki asked, "and Ryoma is more than welcome to learn as well."
    Part of me felt like I could use the knowledge to build a crossbow somehow. I knew I was in trouble, and I could feel myself look down slightly in response to Maki. I just didn't want to hurt anyone, so I knew what my choice would be.
    "No thank you, Maki..." I muttered, "if I learn how to build one, I think someone might think of me as a potential culprit..."
    "I think what (y/n) meant to say is that she probably understood from watching," Shuichi stated, "in any case, I think I understand from watching."
    "A crossbow seems a little tacky to me," Ryoma mused, "all I needed in a near death experience was a metal ball and my tennis skills..."
"Then let's put it away," Maki stated in response, "you can easily take it apart by reversing the steps."
"Wait, do I have to do it!?" Kaito asked with a horrified expression.
"Who else is going to do it?" Maki asked in response.
"Yeah...s-sorry..." Kaito muttered, "I don't...feel too good again..."
When Kaito said those words, I could see a pained expression on his face as his hand was instinctively wiping his chin. I could feel myself start to worry because the image of Kaito coughing up blood never left my mind. I was worried.
"...Huh?" Maki asked in response.
"Kaito, are you alright!?" I asked, "I'm getting really worried!"
"It seems like I'm not at one hundred percent!" Kaito exclaimed, dismissing my comment, "so I'm gonna go back first!"
"Hey!" Maki exclaimed nervously in response.
Before I could say anything, Kaito fled the room quickly. He ignored Maki and I, and it seemed like he was in a hurry. I could feel myself grow with worry. I had no idea what was going on with him, or why he was ignoring me.
I felt myself feeling drained from the ordeal, and it felt like my confidence was taking a fall. I had no idea how much more of this I could take. Friends seemed to come and go in my case, and I had no idea what to do if Kaito never spoke to me again.
    "...I knew he wasn't the type to clean up, but I never thought he'd run away with a crappy lie..." Maki muttered with a slight pout, "...how frustrating. He's the worst."
    "Ah, well, that's just Kaito..." Shuichi replied.  
    "You all are the worst too..." Maki muttered.
    "Huh...?" Shuichi asked in response.
    "I'm kind of confused too..." I muttered.
    "I'm sure you guys know why I invited you, right?" Maki asked.
    I was pretty sure I knew why Maki wanted Shuichi and I to come. She wanted to help us make up with Kaito, but it didn't seem like it worked. I could feel myself look down in response to her words. I still didn't even know what I did. Why was Kaito avoiding us...?
    "You were trying...to help us make up with Kaito..." I muttered.
    "(y/n) is right..." Shuichi muttered.
    "It's not like he hates you guys or anything," Maki explained in response, "he's just being stubborn."
    "But..." Shuichi trailed off, "I just don't know what to say to him."
    "I feel that way too..." I muttered, "I don't even know what we did to be ignored by Kaito. I'm concerned but I just don't know what to say or what to do... what happened yesterday with Miu, and how it all went down... I have no idea how it all happened, and it's making me nervous."
    "I feel the same way..." Shuichi muttered, "if Miu wouldn't have come back, Gonta would've died in place of everyone else... I'm sorry, Maki... I just...need more time..."
    "I want to make up with Kaito, but I just don't know what I did..." I muttered.
    In response to our words, Maki let out an audible sigh. She seemed to look slightly disappointed in us for what we were saying, and honestly... I didn't blame her. I didn't even have the guts to ask Kaito what I did. My only guess would be agreeing that Gonta was the one who tried to kill Miu.
    "I didn't realize you guys would require such high maintenance," Maki muttered.
    "S-Sorry," Shuichi stuttered.
    One of the things I realized at this moment was how far Maki has really come. I didn't realize it before, but she was concerned. I didn't even realize that Maki would be so concerned about us. Maki was so soft spoken that I didn't even realize.
    "...Thank you, Maki..." I told her, "I didn't realize you were so concerned about us..."
    Maki was silent in response to those words. Shuichi uttered a thank you to her as well, but she was still silent. In the end, Shuichi and I were the ones who took apart the crossbow and put it away. After we had finished, we went out separate ways. In other words, we went back to our respective rooms to get some rest. I felt like I needed it after what happened today.
As I got myself ready for bed, many thoughts were entering my mind. How this academy was a mystery... how I still didn't even know why we were here and how we got here.
Everything about this place was mysterious, considering how many areas there were here. I even found myself wondering how certain things were able to happen, such as the pixel key lock, and the Levistone. It was all so confusing, and it made me stressed that I have been here for a long amount of time, and I still had no idea how this place even worked. It was a huge mystery.
Another thing I was worried about was Kokichi. He was missing all day, and I never even got to see him. I was wondering what the boy was up to, and why he made such a message on the rock. So much seemed to be happening, and I found myself more concerned about him, as well as the situation with Kaito, Shuichi, and I.
I was used to people abandoning me, but I felt a good part of myself believe that it wouldn't happen. Sadly, with Kaito ignoring Shuichi and I, I felt like my worst nightmare was coming true all over again.
The best thing for me now would be to sleep. I needed to get some well needed rest, so I could deal with whatever was going to happen tomorrow. I flopped myself onto my bed, and I found myself able to sleep even though I took a nap earlier.

Kokichi's POV:

It was all a part of my plan to leave that message. It was shaking everyone up to no avail even though I was aware that Kaito would steer the conversation away from my message. I kept myself hidden the entire day as according to plan. It gave me some time to prep what was coming.
"Kaito is really such an idiot," I mused, "he thinks I'm just *messing around*. Nee-heehee, if only he knew..."
My eyes scanned the monitors as I noted that (y/n) was done with whatever she was doing with that idiotic astronaut. I saw my possession go back into her room, an exhausted expression on her face, and once she was in her room, I caught a glimpse of her flopping onto her bed before closing her eyes and sleeping.
If it were my plan to kill her, I would've done so already. Since I know that it was her messing up my killing game, I have to use her self-sacrificing nature against her. I knew there was no way that she'd let a friend get into danger.
As soon as I confirmed (y/n)'s sleeping figure, my eyes once again scanned the panel of cameras in my secret hidden room. What I saw caused a smile to form on my face.
Rantaro was sneaking out of his room, and he seemed to be heading somewhere. I could feel myself start to giggle as I realized what was going on. It was too good not to laugh at. Everything was going according to plan.
"That's right, Rantaro," I muttered, the man's name on my lips causing venom to leak out of my voice, "you think what you're doing is your choice, but no... it's all a part of my master plan. Soon you won't even be able to look at my beloved (y/n). After that, she'll break, and then I'll get to have my fun~"

Hey all! It's Christmas Eve, and here we are with an update! Things are going to get more intense from here. So Kaito is still kinda being stubborn, and Rantaro decided to sneak out of his room to go somewhere.

In all honesty, cliffhangers are my specialty! Merry Christmas to you all, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then have an amazing holiday season! Stay in tune for next week's update.

Sadly I can't say much because I've been busy, but have an amazing holiday guys! Ciao for now!- yuki_no_fuyu