Oumota Oneshots

Told You So

(( Fake talentswap au, Kokichi is Ultimate Cosplayer and Mastermind, everyone else has their original talents but are swapped in game except for Kiibo and Shuichi. VR au because these children will never die in my hands, at least not permanently ))

"You all signed the contracts. I'm not so sure why you're mad at me! You should all have your memories of what you signed up for- I didn't trick you into anything. None of you even knew it was me in the beginning."

Kokichi Ouma sat in front of his former classmates, picking at his nailbeds with a small nail file as they all stared at him in disbelief. After all that had happened in the VR, he still looked so calm, so collected. Even after dying such a horrible death, being crushed by a piece of falling rubble from the school that was being blown to smithereens by K1-B0.

"How can you say that?! Why are you so calm about all of this? Aren't you upset that they... I dunno, tricked you into this too?" Kaito spoke up, clearly put off by how Kokichi seemed to not even care about the circumstances that led them there.

The small boy looked up from his nails, and smiled that weirdly unnerving smile that always made Kaito think he was tearing him apart limb by limb in his head.

"Because I wasn't tricked. I was paid to do this, and honestly, this being my fifth and last season as mastermind? What an awesome way to go! I mean, I haven't seen the whole thing, but it must have been so cool to see Kiiboy destroy the building!! Did you see his awesome power beams and shit?!" Kokichis eyes lit up, the previous unnerving look replaced with the childlike excitement that many had seen on his face when he talked about anime or cosplays.

"F... fifth...?" Kaede whispered, incredulous, "You mean..."

"Yeah. He was the Mastermind in my season too." Rantaro spoke up, looking rather calm himself. Kokichi nodded, sitting down and looking proud of himself.

"Its all just a game!! None of it was real, people get the show they want, and you all get to go home with the money you earn as 'real life' actors. Amami-chan made a deal post-game last season to give him a place in this season. So, he became the Ultimate Survivor!" Kokichi hugged onto the taller boys arm, who patted his head a bit with a sigh of resignation.

"Its ok if you're upset, but you did knowingly sign the waivers. Whatever reasons you have for wanting the money is none of our business, but its not my fault that you entered this," Letting go of Rantaro, Kokichi stood up and pointed to each of them, "You can only be mad at yourselves for what you went through. It was all known beforehand, and once you guys are rested you should get your memories back!"

Several people seemed agitated at how Kokichi was acting, but with how much went down just hours earlier, the memories all jumbled up in their heads, none were in the mood to fight with him.

"Well, whatever! Fuck it, lets get food. Wheres the fuckin' kitchen, Cuckichi?!" Miu slammed her hands on the table, breaking the tense silence in the room before walking off to go find the facilities in the small building without waiting for Kokichi to say anything. Several others meandered off to go explore, leaving only Kokichi and Kaito in the small cafeteria area.

"So, Momo-chan! Whatcha wanna do? You gonna go be angry somewhere else or just sit there like a bump on a log?" Kokichi said, propping his elbows up on the table, head in his hands and looking at the purple haired astronaut in question.

"Uh... I'm not really sure. I'm still kind of stunned, I guess?" Kaito rubbed the back of his head, before leaning back in his chair and sighing.

So much had happened in the last few hours. The game ended with him, Shuichi, and Maki all making it to the end of the game as Survivors. He'd seen for himself Kokichi's death, watched as the boy who had been his rival(friend?) be crushed to death after being outed as the one who put them into the whole situation. And now he knew that none of it was real. His life as the Ultimate Neo Aikido Master wasn't real, he was the Ultimate Astronaut.

Some things made sense- his affection for stars, how he could see the light inside each of his friends and the hope in their actions and words. He hadn't gotten all his memories back, but he also felt a weird pull towards the Cosplayer from the very beginning. He didn't quite get why seeing Kokichi Ouma die at the very end of everything made tears come to his eyes and his heart clench like someone had twisted it. And seeing him so happy, so unforgivingly nonchalant about the whole situation felt wrong.

Was this another one of his lies? There had to be a reason he was doing this, right?

"Whatever reasons you have for wanting the money is none of our business"

Did Kokichi need money for something? Thinking about this too much hurt his head.

A soft hand was placed on his shoulder, making him look and see the red eyes of Harukawa. He gave a small smile before looking back across the table. Kokichi had disappeared while Kaito got lost in his thoughts, making his heart drop. Instead of thinking more on such troubling thoughts, he decided to blow off all these built up emotions by training with his sidekicks.

-

Kokichi Ouma hated lying. He hated hurting his friends, hated making them think he was some heartless monster or an innocent kid who just thought that everything was a game. Its not like he was contractually obligated to participate in five seasons. Its not like he needed the money for something important. The only person who could possibly know doesn't remember, and hopefully wouldn't remember, if Team Danganronpa actually went through with their deal.

Everything he had done had led up to this. All the times he had to make friends, only to see them die and then wake up again and hate him for being the cause of so much misery, even if they did it willingly. No one who played the game knew just how hard it would be to make it through it. They always thought it was just a game- they wouldn't care about anyone else, they wouldn't make friends, they would kill and take the money and leave.

All of them were so naive, Kokichi thought. You can't make a good show out of emotionless murder. There has to be conflict, an uphill battle, a climax. Just like in all good stories, you can't tell one without there being some kind of pull to the characters. Everyone has to make bonds, friendships, and then watch as those they've learned to love be ripped from their hands by those they thought they could trust.

He hated hurting them almost as much as he hated himself. Which is why this is his last and final season- the one where they would have finally milked him dry of all his worth as an actor and player in their games and he could go back to the shameful life he lived before, secluded and lonely without hurting anyone else and without anyone knowing his real name.

This season they took his friends, his real ones, the ones he tried to keep away from all of this mess, and crushed his soul into a finely ground powder to be washed away with blood. He hopes that soon, no one will remember him or his name, and he can live life knowing that even if everyone hates him, he still hates himself twice as much.

Kokichi Ouma cries himself to sleep that night, knowing that those who were once friends are now nothing to him, and he is nothing to them.