Danganronpa: Painful Truth

Unlikely Sidekick

Kokichi made his way carefully down the hall alone. He stifled his concerns and speculations about everyone else and their roles, forcing himself to focus on his own part of the plan. The whole point of having subordinates was to trust them with the tasks he delegated to them.

The sound of an approaching group of Monokumas brought him back to his senses abruptly. Thinking quickly, he disabled the lock of a nearby door and waited inside. The robots lumbered past him obliviously and disappeared from sight.

With a sigh of relief, he crept out into the hallway. It was obvious that they weren't being controlled individually, and their AI was programmed to simply patrol the halls and attack any intruders they came across. This fact made it less likely that he would encounter too much human interference while trying to take one for himself.

Finally, he encountered a large steel door that looked identical to the Exisal hangar from the killing game. His pulse sped up as he approached the control panel and disabled the electronic force field with his electro hammer. Raising the door confirmed his theory. There were dozens of exisals stored inside, exactly like the ones in the killing game, but without the color coding.

Consciously, he was relieved and excited to have found exactly what he needed. There was no reason to feel anything other than satisfaction and determination as he stepped inside and examined the familiar surroundings. Despite that, a feeling of dread arose in his chest.

He'd known the source of his subtle anxiety from the start, but it was still painfully confirmed once his gaze landed on the object in question. An impressive mechanism designed to dispose of decommissioned Exisals. A perfectly reasonable piece of equipment to find in such a location.

He froze in place as he stared at the hydraulic press. His surroundings seemed to fade to a vignette around it. He had no idea how much time he allowed to pass. He felt dizzy and tired. His heart thumped loudly in his chest, and breathing felt strangely difficult. A wave of nausea clutched at his stomach.

He gritted his teeth, feeling foolish. He had a plan. He had to move. But how could he have been expected to factor such a pointless reaction into his plan?

Eventually, a rough, familiar voice spoke from behind him. It wasn't a voice he'd logically expected to hear, and yet it was a cruelly perfect fit to the setting. "Hey, Kokichi! Is that you?"

Kokichi winced, but the sound pulled him mercifully out of his own mind. He plastered a bright, cheerful smile onto his face before turning around. "Oh heyyy! If it isn't the space idiot! Did you need something?"

"Hey!" Kaito clenched his fist angrily, but his scowl quickly shifted to a frown of suspicion. "Wait a minute, don't tell me you actually joined these Future Foundation punks?"

"So what if I did?" Kokichi smirked slyly. "Sometimes evil organizations merge together to become more powerful. What's wrong with that?"

Kaito glared at him for a few seconds, but then he shook his head with a smile. "Nope, looks like you're too late, Kokichi," he laughed.

"Hmm? Too late for what?" He kept his tone nonchalant despite his confusion. Out of all of them, Kaito didn't seem like the type to join an organization like that at all. He was far too stubborn. "Do you actually think you can stop me from doing anything at this point? Nee-hee-hee! You're more stubborn than I thought!"

"That's not what I mean. I'm sayin' I'm not gonna be fooled by your act anymore." He crossed his arms, grinning proudly. "You probably thought you could get away with showin' me your true nature just because we were both about to die, right? Well your plan backfired, and now you're too late!"

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing now?" Kokichi asked irritatedly. "What is it you think you have figured out? I bet you don't even know, do you?"

"Shut up already!" he snapped. "You're just gonna keep screwin' around and makin' shit up, so I'm gonna talk now, got it?" He sighed hesitantly, looking suddenly awkward. "Truth is, I was standin' back there for a few minutes before I said anything. At first I thought, 'do I really have the energy to listen to this guy's bullshit right now?' But then...I noticed what you were lookin' at." He paused. "Pretty messed up way to go out. I almost had to look away!"

Kokichi scowled as his stomach twisted. "Get to the point already, I'm kinda busy here."

"My point is, the killing game is over, right? Ours is, anyway. So you don't gotta wear that ugly-ass mask of yours anymore. I'll make sure of it." He hesitated, then sighed. "It'll be my way of makin' up for the fact that I couldn't make your crazy plan work. Shuichi was too damn smart for me, I guess."

"Making up for it, huh?" Kokichi hid his surprise behind a mocking tone. "Didn't you say 'a man shouldn't apologize so easily' or some other garbage like that?"

"A real man doesn't apologize, he makes it right," Kaito growled. "So that's what I'm gonna do!"

"If you say so." Kokichi shrugged and grinned brightly. "I guess if anyone should apologize it's probably me. That's what you're thinking, right? Nee-hee-hee! But I don't think I will."

"Oh yeah? Not even to Gonta?"

Kokichi's grin faltered slightly as the name sent a wave of guilt through him.

Kaito nodded, looking smugly satisfied. "I told you, you're too late. You can't fool me anymore, I've already decided what to believe. You're gonna be more of a challenge than Shuichi and Maki Roll combined, but that mask is comin' off, you bastard. Whether you like it or not." He jabbed his thumb at his chest proudly. "Because I'm Kaito Momota! Lumi-"

"Yeah yeah," Kokichi cut him off dismissively. "Everyone's heard your stupid dumbass catchphrase before."

Suddenly, Kaito took a step toward him. He suppressed the urge to flinch and clenched his teeth, expecting to be punched. Instead, Kaito put a hand onto his head and ruffled his hair teasingly, which was somehow worse. "You're not some big bad supreme evil leader or whatever. You're just a lonely little brat, and I'm gonna prove it!"

Kokichi shoved his hand away angrily. "I'll have my subordinates torture you for that, you'll see," he muttered, but to his frustration, Kaito simply continued to laugh at him. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, idiot, if you're not gonna leave then you're gonna help me. Got it?"

"Damn right! You're my new sidekick for now, after all!"

"You wish," he scoffed. He approached the two nearest Exisals and used his hammer to disable the security features. The hatch for the cockpit swung open on both of them. "You remember how to use these things, right?"

"Yeah, they ain't that complicated."

"Oh good, maybe you are useful." Kokichi climbed inside one of them and closed the hatch. "There's deadly battle Monokumas roaming around everywhere, we'll use these to protect ourselves."

"Yeah? Then what?"

"Then we find the Monokuma control room. It should be nearby, if their layout makes any kind of sense at all. We'll get the door open, render anyone inside unconscious, and then..." he smirked to himself. "That's when my real plan starts."

"Alright! I'm on a roll when it comes to choosing sidekicks!" Kaito grinned.

"I'm in an Exisal," Kokichi reminded him irritatedly. "I could just throw you into that wall instead, if you want."