Torment and Lies (New Danganronpa V3 x OC)

[23] Don't leave me

Kaito stumbled back and fell to the ground, coughing up a fit. Ichika stood in front of Kokichi, an arm outstretched in a defensive manner, and glared at Kaito.

"You... What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Ichika barked. "I know you hate Ouma-san, and he's done some really unforgivable things-"

"Aki-chan..."

"But that doesn't give you a free pass to murder him, you rotten ball of-"

Kokichi grabbed Ichika's sleeve and tugged it. "Aki-chan!" Kokichi's voice was much weaker than before. "Listen, Momota-chan wasn't trying to kill me. Harukawa-chan was."

"Eh-?"

"She came in here earlier inside a green Exisal and she shot me using a crossbow."

Ichika took one at Kokichi and saw that there were two holes in his clothes. "She shot you two times!?"

"No, Momota-chan shot me in the arm." Kokichi pointed at Kaito with a pout.

"What the hell!?" Ichika scowled at Kaito, eyes narrowing.

Kaito froze and frantically shook his head and hands. "W-Wait! I admit, I did shoot him, but I never wanted to kill him! I just wanted answers!"

"That doesn't change anything!" Ichika snapped back, her hand protectively gripping Kokichi's uninjured shoulder. "You still shot him! He needs medical attention now before the wounds get infected and-"

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm gonna die soon. Harukawa-chan's arrows were tipped with a lethal poison." Kokichi coughed aggressively. "I don't have much time left, so we need to move fast."

Ichika's eyes widened. "Lethal... poison? Then what about an antidote!? Saihara-san's lab has antidotes, doesn't it? If I run fast enough, I can get to it in ti-"

"There was only one antidote and I gave it to Momota-chan to drink. Aki-chan, look." Kokichi grabbed Ichika's wrist. "I can either die from poison and Harukawa-chan will become the blackened, and both our deaths will be meaningless, or you help Momota-chan and me with our plan."

Ichika bit her lip. "...What plan?"

"...I'm going to make a murder that no one, not even Monokuma can figure out. We're going to film Momota-chan underneath the hydraulic press, stop it just before it crushes him then Momota-chan and I will switch places. After that, Momota-chan is going to hide in an Exisal and pretend to be me, to confuse Monokuma."

Kaito pulled out a white notebook. "Ouma showed me his plan. It's pretty damn crazy, but I think we can pull it off."

Ichika stared at Kokichi, apprehension in her eyes. "Is this... really how you want to go?"

Kokichi nodded. "I'm going to win this killing game. Even if it means dying myself, I *will* achieve the victory I want. Also..." he lowered his voice so only Ichika could hear. "...you can use my death to make this killing game interesting."

"..." Ichika sighed. "...I see." She grabbed Kokichi's arm and slung it around her shoulders. "Fine. Let's do this." Kokichi and Kaito nodded. The trio headed to the hydraulic press.

"Momota-san... why are you agreeing to be a part of this plan?"

Kaito sighed. "Because as Ouma said before, he gave me the antidote in exchange for helping him with this plan. But the main reason is so Harumaki doesn't become the blackened, since she poisoned Ouma."

"How did *you* get poisoned? Actually no... Can you please explain everything that happened?"

"...Okay." Kaito nodded. "Let's start from the top. I asked Yumeno to bring me a crossbow with one arrow. I planned to ambush Ouma when he came to check up on me next. When he did, I shot him in the arm. I never intended to kill him, I just wanted to disable him. While we were fighting, another Exisal came into the hanger and Harumaki jumped out of it and shot Ouma in the back with a poisoned arrow. She then started demanding answers and Ouma didn't answer, so she went to shoot him again to kill him, but I didn't want to her to become a murderer, so I took the arrow."