the punishment motive (completed)

16

sorry if you read it and got confused as to where chapter 16 was, i numbered this chapter wrong since a few chapters kinda went poof and idk what happened 😩 i just fixed this chapters number and i'm currently trying to figure out the disappearance of the other chapters
[insert small teaser for the final chapter]
»»————-　•　————-««
he clutched his chest through the fabric of his clothes, breathing heavy and tears threatening to spill from his golden eyes.
he looked around at all the people that he had met while he was trapped in this hell- their eyes were dark with the colors of fear and disbelief.
he probably looked about the same, but he wasn't worried about that.
out of all the people that could have brought this terrible fate upon them, leading them to their inevitable deaths one by one.
out of all the people that could have forced them to watch someone they didn't deserve to consider a friend be tortured out of his god damn mind at the mercy of sharp needles and murderous machines.
out of all the people...
that he considered a friend.
his heart rang out with sorrow as he spoke, bringing forth what he hoped was the end of the trial.
"tsumugi shirogane, you are the mastermind!"

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬

i thought that if we exposed tsumugi, and ended the killing game, we'd finally be free. we'd be able to get out of this twisted world. that we'd be able to walk out of here hand-in-hand and be able to say that we survived together. to forget everything that happened and live our lives away from this chamber of death.
in a way i was hoping it was all a nightmare, just a stupid dream.
i'd wake up and be in my own room, in my own home wherever that was.

i'd have a normal life, i wouldn't be the ultimate i̶͉̍́͐̔͛̑̽̎͘͘͝t̸̛͎͇͇͓̜̱̾̀̈̄͊͜'̵̭͕͓͊͂̈́̾͆̇͂̓͐̎̀͗͝͝s̵̡̫͈̤̗͙̖̙̍̉̕ ̷̟̗̝̮̰̥̩̗̯̭͊͊ͅṉ̷̈́̈́͠ỡ̴̮̼̈́̄̓̊͆̅̄̄̏̍̀͝ͅt̴̼̰͌̒̍̈́̆̍̾̈́͘ ̴̡̝̪͔̪̞̈́̆͗̆͗̒́̊͠͠r̴̡̢͓͓̪̪̞̺̞͗͌͜ē̷̠̯̜̖̞̦̼̹̖̓̆̏͐͌̃̍̀̾̆̎̕͝ͅȁ̶̢̙̮͔̬̭̜͕̻̖͋̄͗̊̍͆̐̎͐͘͝ͅl̵̡͍̬̯͗̒̀͌̽̑́̅̓̑͗

they'd all still be alive. we'd all be friends and live happily without the trauma of whatever this twisted killing game is.
but that hope died slowly as we all stood there, helpless, watching the body fall to the floor in a heap of bright magenta, the silence only disrupted by sorrowful wails coming from a certain ultimate robot.
[end of teaser]
✥﹤┈┈┈┈5 hours earlier┈┈┈┈﹥✥

waking up that day was a little more difficult that usual, for whatever reason. it might have been the ungodly position he's fallen asleep in, or the restless uneasiness circulating in his chest, but shuichi felt off throughout his morning routine. even as he put on his shoes to go meet the others in the cafeteria, he felt as though there was something wrong. he couldn't just shrug it off- there had to be a reason for this uneasiness. as he set a slow pace down the hall, he went through his mind to recall all the recent events.
monokuma's motive, kokichi's punishment, spending hours in the cafeteria trying to get him to wake up, kokichi's plan to catch the mastermind...
he froze, his eyes widening as his head tilted down, facing the floor.
kokichi's plan.
where was kokichi...?
that was it. that was the feeling in shuichi's chest that wouldn't go away. he hasn't seen or spoken to kokichi since he laid out his plan to confirm the identity of the mastermind. that was three days ago.
he didn't even realize when, but he was suddenly pacing to kokichi's room, desperately knocking in the hopes that the purple-haired leader was there.
when there was no response, shuichi tentatively twisted the handle of the door. surprisingly, it was unlocked. which was strange, since kokichi would never leave his door unlocked if he wasn't there- he wasn't that careless.
"kokichi? i'm coming in..." shuichi muttered as he stepped into the bedroom.
he couldn't really describe to layout of it, only comrpehending that the room was pretty messy. there were things lying on the floor and some on the bed- was that a rantaro effigy??
he shuddered as he shuffled away from the inanimate model of his taller friend as he continued to explore the room, searching for evidence that kokichi had recently been there.
nothing showed that he had been there in the past few days.
he was about to give up until something caught his eye. on a small table near kokichi's bed lay an object that shuichi couldn't make out until he got closer. when his eyes finally processed what lay in front of him, he panicked and ran out of the room with the object in hand.

the others ultimates sat in the cafeteria, mostly unaware of what had occurred there a few days prior. the ones that had been there to hear kokichi's ideas and plans to reveal the mastermind all stood in the kitchen together in a bundle of nerves. they all had the same stirring anxiety that the detective had felt that morning, but none of them had checked kokichi's room.
"have either of you guys seen shuichi yet?" rantaro asked, crossing his arms and eying the people that where there with him- angie yonaga, kaede akamatsu, kiibo, and kirumi tojo standing off to the side cleaning plates.
"atua says that he must be awake by now, perhaps he already ate?" angie chimed in, lifting her arms over her head in a worship-like position.
"i haven't seen him either, but last night he said he wasn't feeling good so he went to sleep early" kaede added, her usual cheery tone diluted by concern for her friend.
the short conversation quickly ended as the cafeteria doors slammed open, revealing a distressed detective with a small paper in his hand.
"where the hell is kokichi?!" he yelled out between gasps for air, suggesting he had sprinted all the way to the cafeteria.
kaede was quick to get to her friend, holding him by the shoulders and making him look at her.
"shuichi, what's wrong?" she asked, panic beginning to lace her silky voice as she processed what the dark-haired teen had said as he entered the room.
"why are you worried about kokichi of all people?" maki muttered, her gaze darkening as she spat out the name of the boy that was nowhere to be seen.
"yeah, what's he done that's got you all worked up?" kaito asked in his regular booming voice, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
kaede turned from the others to see her beloved best friend shaking in her arms, tears beginning to form.
"...shuichi...?"
shuichi hesitantly handed the paper to the pianist, and she took it gently from his quivering hand. she looked down at the paper and almost screamed.
the paper was small and had a circular cutout, the style of monokuma's head. but instead of monokuma's face on it, there were two words delicately painted on in magenta.

'i know'

~~~
i hope you guys liked the little teaser thing 😼
you can probably guess what's gonna go down soon.
anyways i finished midterms like an hour ago so yee
i should be able to wrap up this fic by the end of december if life doesn't decide to fuck me over like always 💃🏻💃🏻