"Good morning, everyone," Shuichi said as he entered the room.

You lazily waved at him, continuing to blankly stare down at the untouched food on your plate.

"Ah...yeah. Good morning." Tsumugi looked down at the floor.

"Good...morning..." Kiibo slowly spoke.

Miu only sighed. Even she was in a bad mood.

"What's wrong, bro!?" Kaito suddenly spoke out. "You're not gonna eat!?"

You mentally sighed. How can he be so optimistic in a situation like this? I'm not sure if I feel jealous, or if he's just being stupid...

"If no one eats, then I'll have Gonta eat you all!" Kokichi joked. He casually sat down beside you, turning to you. "That includes you." He bopped your nose, but to his dismay, it didn't really cause much of a reaction like he'd been hoping for.

"...Sure, go ahead..." you mumbled. Your mind was fuzzy, and you weren't quite sure if you felt good enough to put in effort to think.

Kokichi huffed. "Oh come on, you're acting so dead and mindless! We already have Kiiboy...!" He hoped that you would chuckle, but...

"..."

You felt bad that you weren't really talking to him. Part of you was screaming, asking what was wrong with you for not interacting with one of the only people who decided to keep coming back to you; someone who had the patience to deal with you. But the other part... It asked, 'What's the point?' You felt like you were going to die, anyway. If not by someone else's hands, then...

"How lazy. He's being kind in trying to talk to a loner like you, but you... Hah! You make me want to laugh! You just leave him there hanging? Oh-hoho! Just wait until you need help, *then* you'll try to speak with him, but at that point he'll know that you're not worth wasting the extra breath—!!"

"Heeey!" Himiko shouted. "You guys have no energy! You need to look alive! You're all still teenagers!"

"H-Himiko?" Shuichi stuttered in confusion.

"Your 'good mornings' are too quiet! It's 'cause you're so quiet that you feel down!"

Miu sighed even louder, but it didn't seem like it was out of a bad mood... At least, that's what you thought.

"I didn't mean you should sigh louder!" Himiko said, frustrated.

"...Weird," Maki spoke up for the first time that morning. "I thought you'd be the most depressed out of all of us."

"Of course...I'm depressed. This is the most depression I've been in all my 200 million years. But...being depressed won't help those who died rest in peace... Tenko and Angie, too. If I stay depressed, they won't be able to rest in peace, either." The redhead jumped up enthusiastically. "So in order to make their deaths have meaning, I've decided to live my life with positivity! S-So anyway... Please...t-take care of the...new me..."

"You're out of breath already," Kaito sighed, rubbing his head. "You're going full speed right out of the gate!"

"But it's just like Himiko said." Tsumugi smiled brightly. "Those of us left need to look to the future and live. For all the others' sake."

"Yeah!" Kokichi chirped. Let's cheer up and work hard! This game is just getting started!" Stars were in his eyes... It made you smile just the smallest bit.

"Game?" Shuichi repeated.

"Huh? Isn't that what we were talking about? Ughhh...but now that there's less people, I might...be the next victim... Woooow, so exciting! But I definitely don't wanna die! Well, I guess that's the same for everyone else! Ah-hahaha!"

"Please..." you quietly muttered to him, "don't worry already about being a victim. I..."

"What, are you going to kill me?" Kokichi tilted his head at you. Then, loud enough so that everyone in the room could hear, he said, "We all know that out of everyone left in this killing game, I'd be the most likely to turn up dead next!"

How can he say that with a smile on his face? You bit your lip. Kokichi, I... I can tell that that's not-

At that moment, the doors to the dining hall burst open, Gonta running through them. "Everyone! This is serious!"

"Oh, no... The Colossal High School Girl is on the other side of the wall, isn't she!?"

"Okay, maybe not that serious, but Gonta went to courtyard before coming here..."

"The graffiti?" Shuichi questioned. "Was more added to it?"

"Yeah. More letters added..." Gonta quickly and sloppily drew something on a napkin, supposedly depicting what it looked like. Everyone gathered around to look.

What is this? you asked inside your head. You bet that that was what a lot of the others were thinking as well.

"I'm not sure what it's trying to spell... 'The swords'? Or maybe 'this world'?" Kiibo wondered.

"Wh-What about the world? What does it mean? Is there some crazy story going on?" Tsumugi questioned.

"It's probably just graffiti, right? We should ignore it," Maki suggested.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Shuichi quietly said.

"...Why? Do you want to die?"

A terrified look crossed the detective's face. "What?" He took a second to compose himself. "No one here takes credit for it, right? But now there's more added to it. It must have some meaning."

Kaito looked to the side at nothing, an uneasy look in his eyes. "So, seriously, none of us here wrote it? If this is a prank, you better speak up."

"But Gonta stumbled onto the writing by coincidence, right?" Kokichi spoke up. "If it was a prank, then they would've done it in a more obvious spot, not in the grass. There's nothing more depressing than an unnoticed prank."

"It's like a titty no one wants to fondle!" Miu remarked.

That was so not needed, Miu...

"Well, it could just be Gonta writing it, since he was the first one to find--"

"Gonta never do that! Gonta never make trouble for everyone! It's...ungentlemanly."

Kaito rubbed on the back of his head. "Well, I don't really get it, but... Maybe it's some kinda clue. Thanks for the report, Gonta."

"...Gonta just glad to help," the gentle giant responded bashfully. "Gonta want to help, even little. Tell Gonta if you need help with something, okay?"

"O-kay, got it! I'll let you know if I want you to punch someone." Kokichi grinned innocently as he put his hands behind his head.

"Kokichi..." you mumbled in a warning tone, a glance to match it.

"No! You don't get to tell Gonta what to do anymore!" Himiko exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah... Gonta learn lesson after Insect Meet and Greet..."

Kokichi looked down, dejected. "Tch, booooring."

"Oh ho! My ears are burning!" a different voice suddenly entered the room. Monokuma gleefully bounced into the room. "Are you guys talking about me again? You must love me! Hm? Are you getting dizzy from the face I make when I concentrate really hard?"

"Your face...?" Tsumugi asked. "It's always the same, isn't it?"

"Never mind that... You guys are probably eager for it, right? My prize, that is." The bear started sweating. "Right? You guys can't live without getting a prize right now, right? That's what I thought, so I brought a prize!"

"Oh great, I wonder what junk we're going to get this time," you groaned half-heartedly.

"Rise and shine, ursine!" Monophanie cheered as she appeared out of nowhere.

"Huh? What's an ursine?" Monotaro asked.

"Oh my... Forgetting your catchphrase is like the kiss of death for a mascot, y'know?"

"Hahaha! 'Cause I'm a mascot! Get it?"

"That wasn't even a joke! There was no set up, no punchline, no nothing!"

"By the way, who's this pink stuffed pig and why is she talking to me?"

Geez, can't they hurry it up? you mentally begged. My mind already feels like its splitting apart... You covered your ears as you watched the two remaining Monokubs bicker and fight.

"Heeey, give us some lovin', tooooo. I want my reward alreadyyyyy," you could barely hear Kokichi say. You uncovered your ears, hoping that the bears wouldn't act up too much.

"When did you get so friendly with Monokuma, Kokichi?" Tsumugi asked him nervously.

Good question, Tsumugi, you thought in your head. You saw the pen that Gonta had used before to scribble down the graffiti depiction. You grabbed it and quickly wrote something down on your napkin. Yes, good question indeed... You looked at her for a moment or two before looking away.

"Okay, okay," Monokuma spoke. "The prize this time is—"

"Ta-da! The legendary Levistone, the priceless Octobrush, and...a card key! Which just so happens to be the motive, too!" Monophanie announced.

Your heartbeat quickened in anxiousness. Really? Another motive...? What should I expect, though...

"Did you say...motive!?" Shuichi asked in horror.

"Yep! This mysterious card key is your next motive!" Monokuma explained.

"A card key is the motive?" Kaito questioned the bear. "What does that even mean?"

"So, the new area you can open with the card key... Is that where the real motive is?" Maki inquired.

"Puhuhu, that's a secret. Why don't you use it yourself if you're so curious?"

"No, we shouldn't," Kiibo spoke up. "If we want to prevent another murder from happening—"

"Yoink! I'll take that card key then!" Kokichi exclaimed. In an elegant motion, Kokichi stood up from his seat and ran past Monokuma, snatching the card key from his paw.

"B-But that Monokuma's motive! What if another murder happen!?"

"I wouldn't mind that at all, y'know?" A smug grin crept onto the supreme leader's face. "This is the killing game and we're the players, plain and simple. Why wouldn't the players play the game?"

"Quit screwing around and just give it to us!" Kaito demanded.

"No thaaaanks! See yaaaaa!"

"K-Kokichi," you muttered weakly, "wait! Where are you going...?" What's the point? He's not going to notice me...

"Wha—! Hey! Wait up!" Kokichi sprinted out of the dining hall to go to who knows where, Kaito sprinting after him in pursuit.

"Running in the halls isn't normally allowed, but I supposed boys will be boys," Monokuma growled. "Also, I forgot to mention this, but I've hidden another Flashback Light somewhere. I wonder what memories you'll uncover next! Happy hunting!"

"So long, bear well!" The Monokubs left as well.

"Wh-What should we do? Kokichi and Kaito are gone," Tsumugi remarked.

Kiibo looked down in thought. "We cannot leave Kokichi alone with that card key motive..."

"But...aren't you curious about the Flashback Light, too?"

"Perhaps we should all search together, and look for Kokichi as well," Shuichi suggested.

You perked up a bit. "Yes... Yes, great idea, Shuichi!"

Kiibo agreed. "That's a good idea, but...let us look for Kokichi while you focus on the search. Right now, we need your skills as a detective, Shuichi."

"Right... In that case, let me hold onto that. I'll look around again."

"Nyeeeh, Shuichi's grown up!" Himiko exclaimed cheerfully. "He's become so reliable! Now that you're so respectable, I'll let you pet me if you want!"

"Shuichi is so amazing. Gonta wanna be useful to everyone too."

Maki sighed. "Don't worry. When the time comes, we'll use your body as a meat shield."

"Okay! Gonta hope time come soon!"

"No... You should hope that it doesn't come," Tsumugi told him.

You stood up. "Alright then. While Shuichi goes searching and stuff, we should all try our best to find Kokichi...and Kaito."

Everyone started to leave the dining hall, you included, until a certain cosplayer grabbed onto your arm. You turned over to her, only to see a teasing smirk on her face.

"...What?"

The female giggled a bit. "I've been keeping a close eye on you, (Y/N)!"

What...does that mean? You started to feel a bit nervous. "What does that mean?"

"I know, you're probably on the mindset of, 'Why would she notice someone like me in the first place?'" she continued.

That's true, you thought, but...there's no way for her to know that. Right?

"Aside from noticing the smaller things, like how your eyes change color according to whether you're telling a lie or the truth and how you were up walking around all night last night..."

Your eyes widened. "How would you know any of that...?"

Tsumugi pushed up her glasses. "Oh! Well, we all saw how your eyes changed color during the first trial. I just...made that conclusion. As for the walking around thing, I saw you! And I know it's you because of the bags under your eyes."

But I know that I didn't see anyone else outside... I remember. I had watched everyone go inside their dorm, too... Not to mention how convenient that conclusion she made was... You were starting to get wary of the situation. You remembered that Tsumugi could very well be someone...dangerous... She was giving off a weird aura, too.

"But, anyway!" The blue haired girl smirked again. "I've noticed that you've been growing quite fond of a certain...someone, hmm?"

You were completely caught off guard with such a change in subject. "Wha...?" you stammered.

"I've noticed that you've been hanging around someone a lot~" She had a devilish look on her face, but at least it was more playful rather than threatening.

"You mean...Kokichi?"

She clapped her hands. "You aren't dense! Congratulations! I've seen a bunch of anime and manga before where someone (normally the protagonist) is so dense and oblivious to another character's emotions. I mean, it's cute and similar to a hard to get type, but eventually it gets so annoying that you just want to jump through the screen and scream at them!"

You flinched a bit at her raised voice. She seems really passionate about her, uh...anime and manga.

"So what if I've been hanging around him a lot?"

"Is there something going on that the rest of us don't know about?"

Oh...

OH.

"I don't think so," you quickly replied. "Now, I really think that we should be going now...! Kokichi and Kaito could be running around somewhere and we could've stopped them, o-or maybe Shuichi found something important—"

Tsumugi sighed dreamily. "If this were a show, or maybe an anime, I bet that people would ship you two so much!"

"T-Tsumugi! Don't you know how w-weird that sounds?"

She blinked at you, and then with a straight face, spoke, "Are you denying some feelings or are you actually dense?"

"Neither!!" you shouted.

"Both," she corrected in a disappointed tone.

"Come on, we have to get going..." You pulled up the scarf around your neck to cover your cheeks. She might take it the wrong way, you thought.

"Come on, (Y/N)! He even gave you one of his scarfs!"

"Tsumugi!!" you shouted angrily at her.

The girl finally calmed down, holding herself. "Sorry... I'm just a plain cosplayer who gets overly excited about these things. It's one thing to see relationships on the screen, but it's another thing when such an anime-type relationship happens in real life, y'know...?"

You sighed. "Sorry that I raised my voice," you grumbled.

"Don't worry," she winked at you, "I have some secrets of my own as well!"

What does that mean...?

"Now come on, (Y/N)! We really are wasting time!" She pulled on your arm, dragging you out of the dining hall.
***

"Oh, Kaiiitooo!?" Tsumugi yelled out.

"Kokichi? Kokichi!?" you yelled.

The cosplayer that was at your side had suggested to check the fourth floor to which you complied. You weren't quite sure if that was exactly the right place to go, but nevertheless, you followed her since your were kind of lost without a certain someone always pulling you around everywhere. Or at least, it felt like he was.

"Kai-to! Where are you!? Please don't murder Kokichi...because then you'll be the next blackened, and you'll be punished..."

"You don't care about him murdering Kokichi for Kokichi's life as well...!?" You groaned. "I don't think that we'll find either of them just yelling out their names absentmindedly. In fact, knowing Kokichi, he'll probably just take it as an advantage to know where to avoid."

Tsumugi huffed in frustration. "You're the one who keeps screaming Kokichi's name every five seconds like your life depended on it."

"..." You sighed. "Alright, fine, let's go check somewhere el—"

BANG!

"Wh-What was that...?" the female asked nervously.

"You seem to be a bit more frightful than normal people," you flatly remarked. "Come on, let's go investigate what happened." She nodded at you, and the both of you made your ways over to the source of sound.

"Oh, Shuichi?" Tsumugi tilted her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, well, I was able to use one of the objects that I got on the scrolls that were here and now there's a staircase," the detective replied. "This should be...the fifth floor? Just how many floors does this school have?"

"Either way, it might be of our best interest to check it out," you spoke.

The three of you all made your way up the staircase and to the fifth floor. To you, the floor reminded you of some weird church.

"This has a completely different feel from the fourth floor," Tsumugi commented. Her eye seemed to catch something. "Huh? That door over there is just plain suspicious. Could it be...?" She walked over to a pair of doors, quickly pulling them open to walk inside the room.

You glanced over at Shuichi before shrugging and following her inside. Shuichi walked in as well.

Oh... Yeah, this definitely screams the 'Ultimate Cosplayer Lab' alright, you thought. You couldn't help but to let a quiet "wow" pass through your lips as you saw just how big the place was. "This is a pretty neat lab you have."

"Umm..." she looked over to the side, "even with all these materials and tools, if it's by myself..."

"I see... Cosplay is fun to do with others, right?" Shuichi inquired.

"Yeah. There's no point in doing it by myself... Hey! Do you two want to give cosplaying a try!? Come on, try cosplaying with me!"

"U-Us?" Shuichi sputtered.

You tilted your head at her. "...What?"

"I think it's just plain fun to become fictional characters," Tsumugi responded. "To become a completely different person and feel like you're part of a different world... Doesn't that sound interesting? Don't you want to live...in a fictional world?"

She's giving me that weird aura again... you thought cautiously.

"Ah, but...I'm investigating right now..." Shuichi told her. "And you two should be searching for Kokichi and Kaito."

"Then we can all do it later. Let me know when you feel up to it." The girl smiled enthusiastically. "I'll help you, you too, (Y/N), to become your favorite character, whether it's form an anime, manga, or game. However, even if you're just trying it out, you gotta cosplay with love!"

Shuichi just gulped, and you felt a bead of awkward sweat forming on your face.

Tsumugi turned around behind her, looking at the bar scene being depicted through the set up. "Oh! It's just like the real thing!" She sat down at the table in front of the counter. "Are you two thirsty? I can make one of my signature cocktails if you all would like."

"A signature cocktail?" the detective repeated with a growing smile on his face.

"Yeah, it seems like all the drinks here are top-quality stuff. I used to make them a lot at my part-time job. Don't worry. It'll be non-alcoholic, of course."

But...we're supposed to be looking for Kokichi...and Kaito, I guess.

"Ah, okay... I'll take one," Shuichi told her.

Tsumugi giggled. "Yep! You deserve it for working so hard during the trials and investigating. How about you, (Y/N)?"

You raised a brow. "Ah, but...why me?"

She had that devilish smirk on her face again. "To celebrate," she cooed.

"Celebrate what?" Shuichi asked curiously. Honestly, you were asking that too, just inside your head.

"Shuichi, have you noticed them hanging around someone a lot?"

Your eyes shot open. "I think I'm starting to understand what you're getting at—" you bashfully pulled up your scarf to hide the blush on your cheeks, which were surely from irritation, and you were going to play it off like you were irritated...because you totally were, nothing else, right? "—and I...I d-don't like it."

"Sure... Yeah, okay."

You glanced over at Shuichi for help. Even he was giving you a smile like he knew the situation!? Agh, geez, I can't escape it...!

"Anyway, I'll start making the drinks so that you don't feel so pressured anymore," Tsumugi teased, turning away from the two of you as you both sat down on a stool.

"So..." you started awkwardly, "have you done anything with that Levistone or whatever?"

"Yeah, I actually did," Shuichi replied. "I found Kiibo's Ultimate lab. He said he didn't really like, though, since it was so high tech and sci-fi."

You furrowed your brows. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

Shuichi nodded, and only a few seconds later did Tsumugi turn around with two glasses in her hands. You tasted the liquid put in your glass, and...it was actually fairly good. Soon, you and Shuichi finished your drinks.

"Please come again."

"Yes, thank you. I'll be back," Shuichi told her cheerfully.

"Thank you, Tsumugi, but I thought we were working together to find Kokichi?" You stopped talking, remembering to add something judging by the smirk on her face. "And also Kaito?"

"I could do that...but I also want to check around a bit more to see all of what my lab has to offer."

You sighed. "Fair enough...I guess," you mumbled. "You have fun, then."

"Yep!"

You left her lab, Shuichi following you. Looking around the big room, you spotted a rather plain looking door. The door was colored a violet color that eventually faded into a nice, bright blue. The only real fancy thing about it was the silver border around its sides. Modest. I can stand for that, you thought. Without a second thought, you found yourself gliding over to the door.

"W-Wait! Where are you going?" you heard the Ultimate Detective ask from behind you.

"I'm checking something out. Don't worry, I'll get back to finding the boys. There's just..." you paused for a moment. "Well, I think this might be my lab."

"Really? How can you tell?"

"Just the colors...and my lab needs to open up at some point, right?" You eventually made it to the door, placing your hand on its silver handle. "You can go check out that other door. It looks like it could be your Ultimate lab." You pointed somewhere else.

"O-Oh, okay." The sound footsteps fading out signaled that he was walking away, leaving you alone.

You pulled down on the handle, causing the door to open up. You walked inside and closed the door behind you, finding a small, silver key hanging on the knob. So I can lock myself in here if I oh so wanted to, huh? Nice.

You looked around. Your lab wasn't nearly as big as Tsumugi's, but that was fine. If it was that big then you might have been overwhelmed.

Immediately, you thought that your lab looked familiar to your mom's office but merged with another familiar room that was in her work building. To one side of the room was a table with two chairs facing each other, one on either side. The main interrogation room. On the wall farthest from you was a big whiteboard, next to it, a cork board. On the same wall that the door was displayed a mirror. Your eyes switched to the right side of your lab, finding a bunch of huge filing cabinets.

Oh? How curious, you thought. Upon closer inspection, you noticed that on each cabinet had a label on it. Each label had a name of one of the students in the killing game, all randomly placed. You eagerly opened up one of the cabinets, hoping to find something. There was only a file folder or two in there which you instantly grabbed.

"Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective," you mumbled to yourself, reading the name on the folder. There was only one sheet of paper with scarce notes on it, and then a picture of him at the bottom.

-detective
-seems to take lead in the trials
-everyone likes him

"Wow, how helpful..." you groaned. "Maybe I'll have some better luck with the rest."

You set the file back into the cabinet and started fishing in another cabinet.

"Tsumugi Shirogane, Ultimate Cosplayer."

-cosplayer
-plain...really plain...
-least interactive or helpful in class trials
-stresses out about how plain she is

I wonder why this one has more notes in it than Shuichi's... you wondered. You placed the file back in its cabinet. Quickly, you tried to check the other cabinets; so far, none of the others had any notes. Only pictures sloppily attached to the piece of paper with a small bit of tape.

You turned back around to look at your room once more, suddenly seeing a note on the table that you must have missed upon first inspection. You walked over and picked it up to read what it had to say:

You're special.
Use this quiet, locked in little haven to the best of your advantage.
Analyze everything like your life depends on it...it basically does.
Do your best.
No one likes a boring character after all...
Good luuuuuck~

"Wha...What the f*ck?" you whispered to yourself. "Is this some kind of joke? Did someone just place this here to prank me, or...what??" You could feel some nervous sweat starting to roll down the back of your neck; cold and uncomfortable. Anxiously, you made your way over to the filing cabinet with your name on it and threw the note in there, locking the cabinet.

"Gah, motherf*cker!" You stumbled over something, your leg hitting something that was sure to bruise later on. Looking down, you found that a filing cabinet was open, pulled obnoxiously far out. "Oh, there's one more that I haven't checked yet." You bent down and took the folder inside.

"Kokichi Ouma, Ultimate Supreme Leader. His talent sounds kind of intimidating or powerful, at least, it might sound like to someone who's never seen him before and doesn't know how he acts like, but... Huh. I never took the time to actually think about how cute it makes him seem." You were about to open up the file folder when you finally realized just what you said.

Face flushing red, you clasped a hand over your mouth, but it wasn't like that could do anything at that point. After what seemed to be an eternity, you finally let your hand drop to the floor.

"Sh*t..." you whispered to yourself, letting out a single chuckle. "Is it true? No, haha... How could I...l-like someone like h-him? It's—I'm just lying to myself."

"Yes, that's exactly it. You're lying, you terrible liar."

"......" Huh?

"I see that you're being quiet. Oh, my dear (Y/N)... I'm only trying to protect you~..."

You stood up, turning to the door. "Yeah, y...you're right. There's no way that I could have let myself develop f-feelings for someone in such an awful environment in this even more horrid killing game..." Right?

You walked towards the door, but instead of leaving, you took a step to the side so that you were facing the mirror.

"I trust him, for some weird reason," you started talking to yourself. "If that ends up to be a terrible decision on my part then...I guess I really have nothing to loose. I'll trust him, and I'll trust him with my...feelings..."

You shot your head up with a sudden rush of adrenaline and determination. Your eyes were so purple that they were practically glowing.

"I... I guess I like—no, love...K-Kokichi Ouma."

You were silent before giggling a bit at that thought and blushing slightly. "Oh, a crush on Kokichi... Hehe, this will be a ride."

"..."

Word Count: 4732
~~~
Would you guys be interested in a Halloween special? Or, just...any holiday special? I kinda need to know quickly so that I can get as most of it done as I can.
(Also, me complaining/long notes will be attached to the word count as a comment since I don't wanna make the chapter that much longer. Important stuff will be at the end of chapters, though, since I know that not everyone will ever bother to check the comment.)