Beneath the Mask [Oumasai]

Chapter Two

Kokichi's POV

The echo of my footsteps bounced off the walls as I walked through the hallway of the fourth floor. I was heading to the Computer Room, driven by my curiosity. I wanted to know what Miu was doing there for so long. She told us that she was making some kind of escape from the Killing Game, but nothing more.

Not long ago, I was hanging out with Shuichi in the library. Well, if falling asleep next to someone can be called hanging out. I was kind of angry at myself for doing it, because I really shouldn't have beeen wasting my time like that. As much as I loved spending time with the detective, I couldn't afford to be distracted by him too much. I had to keep an eye on the others and prevent anyone from murdering someone else. After all, the Killing Game can't function if the participants don't kill, can it?

As I reached my destination, I entered the room quietly. Miu stood there, distracted by the computer, seemingly unaware that she wasn't alone anymore. I stood on my tiptoes, and began to creep toward her as silently as a cat. She still didn't suspect a thing, as she was still messing with some cords. I stopped right behind her.
"Watcha' doing?" I called out in a cheerful voice, startling the girl.

"Heeeeeee!" The inventor jumped with a high pitched scream, then turned around with an angry expression on her face. "Wh-why you little...!"

"Neeheehee, scaring people like this sure never gets old! You should've seen your face!" I chuckled, finding her reaction quite amusing.

Miu sighed in annoyance. "Ugh...What do you want this time?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I only wanted to know what you were doing with the computer for so long."

"I told ya'll already! You'll have to fuckin' wait and see!"

"Okayy...How long do we have to wait though?"

"Let's see..." She fiddled with one strand of her long hair, thinking about the answer. "I have to set some stuff up, and bring in some chairs. So ya have to wait until tomorrow. "

"Hey, I'm feeling nice today, so maybe I could help you with that!" I offered eagerly. Only because I wanted it to be done soon. For some reason, I had a growing feeling of suspicion about this whole thing, so I wanted to know what's this all about as soon as possible.

Miu looked at me shyly."R-really?" she asked in a thin voice.

"Yeah! I'll go right now!" I turned around and rushed out the door. I've seen some good chairs sitting around in the other rooms. They seemed kinda heavy though, so carrying them wasn't gonna be easy for me. I figured that Miu probably needed the chairs so that we all could sit in them, which meant that I had to bring nine of them in total.

About fifteen minutes later, I placed down the last chair with a satisfied huff. Luckily, the process of carrying all of them there took a lot less time than I expected.
"Hey, Miu! The seats are all here." I exclaimed loudly, making the inventor glance away from her work.

"Oh, umm...Thanks."

"Soo, because I helped you, how about you tell me what you're doing?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and heaved a sigh. "...F-fine. So there's this Virtual World. With those stuff-" she pointed at a heap of helmet-like things on the floor "-our consciousness can be transferred into it and move around in avatars."

"Oooh, I see. Well then, it's getting late, so I'll g-" I started, but I got cut off by Miu.

"Umm, actually, there's something else...Could you um, meet me on the roof of the mansion in the Virtual World? I...wanna show you something."

"Sure. See ya tomorrow!"

With that, I hurried outside.
My suspicions were confirmed by what Miu just told me. She was planning something. And that something...was most likely to kill me. I saw the way she was looking at me and the way she averted her gaze when she stated the reason she wanted to meet up with me. But that's really unfortunate for her, since I can't die here. So because of that...she has to die. And since I can't kill her...someone else has to do it. Which will lead to another execution. Because of her stupidity, she and someone else will have to pay with their lives. I really didn't want it to end up like this, but I didn't have a choice. I already had an idea how to save everyone, and I swore to myself that I wouldn't let anyone or anything stop me.

I knew I had to come up with my own plan to sabotage Miu's. Right then, an excellent idea came to my mind: What if I used the motive Monokuma gave us? I sank my hand into my pocket and pulled out the card key I stole.
Earlier, I completed the Death Road of Despair by myself. At the end of it was a giant door that could be opened with the card key. By using it, I learned the truth about the outside world, the Killing Game, and ourselves. Seeing all that caused a painful ache in my chest... But my instincts told me not to believe those things I saw, so I still had a little amount of hope left. And if the "truth" made me feel despair, then what reaction would the others show? They'd probably believe there's no point in escaping this place and that it doesn't matter wheter they live or die. In that state of despair, I could easily manipulate someone to kill.

I marched away from the Computer Room in search of the black and white bear. I thought that if I could convince him to put the supposed truth of the outside world in a Flashback Light, my plan would be almost complete. After that, I'd only have to think of a way to lure the future culprit to the device, and convince them to cooperate with me. I already knew who I was going to use to fulfill my plan...