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Staring at him, Kokichi knew he was going to like him immediately. Maybe not as much as he ended up liking him, but he was still sure.He’s standing in that classroom, next to the glorified roomba Kiiboy, and Akamatsu-chan and the mystery boy are by the door, looking at him as he explains himself and his talent. He’s keeping a grin on his face, despite his own nerves about their situation.“Saihara Shuichi,” the shaking boy tells him at Akamatsu-chan’s prompting, “The- The Ultimate Detective.”He’ll go on to elaborate; he’s just an apprentice, he only solved one case faster than the police, he really doesn’t deserve his talent, everyone else must be better, and the like. Self depreciative, huh? And, honestly, looking only on the surface level, one wouldn’t think he’d be that interesting to Ouma Kokichi. But Kokichi is a master of analysis - a master of people. He doesn’t look surface level. He sees the intelligence in the boy before him. He sees the probing questions, the nervous way he bends to conversations in easy conformation to gain more information. He sees the way he makes simple deductions casually. He has a brain on him. He knows that those eyes of his that are hidden by his hat are probably calculating and observant. Just like his own.And despite him not being quite comfortable with his talent yet, Kokichi knows he could be.No, he knows he will be.In a killing game like this, an Ultimate Detective is going to be useful. Whether he likes it or not, Saihara Shuichi is going to become confident in his abilities. By the end of this, he’ll either know his limits inside and out or he’ll be dead. There’s no inbetween.Kokichi only hopes it’s the former.---It’s during Akamatsu-chan’s trial that Kokichi finally gets to see what he’s been looking for all along. For the first part of the trial, he watches the boy closely. He’s calculating, taking in every piece of evidence and looking it over. Akamatsu-chan is leading this trial, but Saihara-chan is solving it. Kokichi thinks the difference is both distinct and important. Still, he was starting to get almost-sort-of-worried. With Akamatsu-chan’s positive reinforcement and Kokichi’s own forceful pushes, he thought Saihara-chan would’ve said something by now. But he’s still silent. As helpful as Akamatsu-chan is for boosting Saihara-chan’s confidence, the way she takes careful steps with him, doing all the hard work for him, is actually limiting his abilities.Still, when the time is right, Saihara-chan comes into his own.Trembling and riddled with nerves, Saihara-chan directs his attention to Akamatsu-chan. “...Akamatsu-san is the culprit.”For the rest of the trial, many people attempt to disprove him, even Akamatsu-chan herself acting oblivious, but Saihara-chan rolls on. Through it all, he combats ideas and theories with cold, hard facts. He sets aside his emotions for Akamatsu-chan in exchange for a harsh truth. For real logic. Saihara-chan looks up, scanning the room. Kokichi sees he’s looking for threats. People who would think to raise good points out of a misguided sentiment. And Kokichi was right. Those eyes are observant.He just didn’t count on them being so beautiful.Saihara-chan’s eyes are intelligent. They are grey, yet golden. They sparkle with calculations and theories and yet, they also shine with grief and determination, hope and despair tangled into one blend of truth and lies. He adjusts his hat, but he doesn’t hide his eyes. Kokichi is ever thankful. He mourns the idea of not being able to see such beauties again.And if when, the next morning after the trial, Saihara-chan shows up to breakfast with that emo hat no longer on his head, Kokichi rejoices, that’s his secret to keep.---Saihara-chan is intelligent. He’s thoughtful. He’s beautiful. He’s a bit of a nervous wreck, but he’s getting better with it. These are all traits Kokichi already knew about him. But when Saihara-chan seeks him out in order to talk with him, Kokichi also learns this: He is unpredictable. He is interesting. He analyses Kokichi’s lies instead of scoffing and turning away. He gives things Kokichi says some thought, instead of immediately dismissing them. He doesn’t catch every lie, but who could? It’s certainly an achievement that he catches even half of them.He’s amazing. Talking to him is amazing. Kokichi wants him to come back. He welcomes the distraction Saihara-chan gives him from the itching worry about DICE from that terrible motive video. He wants to play more games and see more of Saihara-chan’s reactions. He wants to watch him stammer and get flustered, he wants to watch him pick apart Kokichi’s statements, his eyes watching every tiny shift in Kokichi's body language. Way more than a tiny part of him wants to watch the Ultimate Detective shine. And that’s not a lie.He wants more. And he gets more in the worst way possible. It’s a sickening realisation when they find Hoshi-chan’s corpse. It’s the horror of a magic show turned murder scene. Well, he already knows that Yumeno-chan is most definitely not the killer. It’s too convenient, and besides, he doubts anyone would be stupid enough to so obviously set themselves up. Someone wanted to frame her.Still, he gets the trial started as he always does, and watches, with fascination, as Saihara-chan takes the reins. As always, he tackles debates head-on, pushing back argument after argument in order to prove contradictions incorrect with evidence. He thinks ahead, linking evidence to each other. There are moments where he stands in silence, deep in thought, pretty eyelashes on display. He proves fact after fact, piecing the truth together as though it’s a jigsaw puzzle. And the most impressive thing? He doesn’t have all the pieces yet, but he’s already halfway done.Kokichi’s awe only ceases when idiot Momota-chan influences Saihara-chan. Emotion? In a class trial? It’s ridiculous.He wishes he was close enough to set the other straight. But he can’t be. Not like Momota-chan is or Akamatsu-chan was.And then Saihara-chan lies.He says that he heard Harukawa-chan talking with someone that night. Kokichi doesn’t call him out on it. But he can’t help but watch.He remembers Akamatsu-chan lying, too. Sometimes lying is necessary, even for ‘good people.’ But Kokichi just wasn’t expecting it from Saihara-chan.People lie differently. Most people have tells. Saihara-chan certainly does. His eyes flick around the room the moment he says it, as if waiting for someone to argue. They land on Kokichi, likely remembering what he’d said in the first trial about always knowing when people are lying. Kokichi grins slyly at him. Saihara-chan smiles back weakly.He also tells his lies oddly. The moment he’s finished the sentence, he piles on explanations, like that will justify the existence of his lie. Most people take what’s said at face value, so explanations like that shouldn’t be supplied unless prompted. It just makes what he’s saying more suspicious.Saihara-chan lies, and Kokichi can’t decide whether or not he likes the way the falsified truth falls from his lips. ---It’s later, after the wave of despair he won’t let himself feel from Tojou-chan’s execution clears, that he reflects.He draws more lines on his board. He thinks of the, Trustworthy? he’d almost feverishly scribbled under Saihara-chan’s picture.He thinks of the ringleader. Though Saihara-chan seems to have completely written off the possibility of a ringleader, Kokichi is confident in this initial deduction.Or maybe he’s just paranoid.Well, he is paranoid. He always has been. Paranoia keeps him alive. Trusting others is difficult enough normally, but in a killing game? It’s incredibly idealistic. No one knows what the others are thinking. If they’re drafting up plans for murder as you speak to them… And with the potential for a ringleader amongst them, trust is a concept even more distant. It’s later that very night, when his thoughts drift back towards the Ultimate Detective, that something sour fills them. That thought he’d had earlier today…He can’t be close to Saihara-chan. He can’t be. He can’t be because of the half-formed plan based on suspicious wording from Monokuma and odd occurrences. And besides, he learned the hard way the comradery won’t be tolerated in this killing game. Why hasn’t everyone else? Why are they so blissfully ignorant?He suddenly feels a tingling sensation in his throat. It feels like he has to cough, but there’s nothing to cough up. He tries to get whatever it is out, but he’s unsuccessful.Kokichi groans, annoyed. Whatever. He collapses into his bed. The odd feeling will probably be gone tomorrow.---He wakes up and coughs. Something feels like it’s gotten stuck in his throat. He flashes back to last night, and that same exact feeling. Maybe he did swallow something by accident.But no matter how much he tries, he can’t get whatever it is unstuck. Eventually he gives up and resolves himself to feeling like this the entire day. If he doesn’t cough it up by the end of the day, maybe he’ll just force himself to throw up.Kokichi begins the day by heading to the Ultimate lab of the assassin who just strangled him and presenting it to everyone. Harukawa-chan can’t be trusted. She’s already proved she’s prone to violence. He’s warning the group of her.He then gets to explore the new areas. Some of them are pretty interesting, especially that Ultimate Anthropologist lab. Though the murder weapons are kind of lame in comparison to Harukawa-chan’s.By the end of the day, his airway still feels clogged. Kokichi finds himself staring at the board across the room. It’s only a part of the whole that is his plans and theories, but looking at the physical manifestation of his attempts to end this game fuels him. He clenches his fist. He doesn’t have time for random itchiness in his throat. He’s in a killing game. Staring at the whiteboard, he finds his eyes drifting towards Saihara-chan’s picture.
Trustworthy?
Though Saihara-chan can be trusted to solve the trials, he’s not sure if he could trust the detective beyond that. He’s Ouma Kokichi; he doesn’t trust anyone. Not even beautiful detectives with intelligent eyes and lips that curl when they tell even more beautiful lies.Kokichi coughs. Whatever it was in his airway seems to have finally given him a break and decided to get out of his throat. He continues for a few more dry coughs, and eventually his throat feels free as something lands on his hand. Kokichi glances down at his open palm, curious to whatever morsel was annoying him the entire day.It’s a blue flower petal.That is… not what he expected.A flower petal? Did he swallow a flower petal? How? And even if he did, why did it get caught in his throat? He surely would’ve remembered choking on a flower petal, of all things.Mildly disturbed yet curious, he holds the petal up to his eyes. It’s smooth and vaguely heart-shaped. Kokichi doesn’t have enough flower knowledge to figure out what kind it is, but he’s pretty sure he hasn’t seen one like it in the outside area. Especially not this colour blue. It’s very beautiful.It’s deep and rich, reminding him of the wavy hair of a certain detective.Suddenly, his throat feels clogged again. He coughs and coughs, but nothing comes out. A sarcastic part of him goes, Imagine if it’s another petal. A terrified part of him echoes, What if it's another petal?  ---The next morning, Kokichi leaves the dorm and learns… Angie-chan’s starting a cult and has already brainwashed multiple students. What a wonderful thing to wake up to.Thankfully, Saihara-chan, the only intelligent one here, isn’t brainwashed. Small victories.Momota-chan, who’s apparently deathly afraid of ghosts, vanishes to his dorm. The student council patrols the area with an iron fist. Angie-chan reigns over her domain from her Ultimate lab, secluding herself off from the world in an attempt to bring back the dead. She proclaims her God is the only salvation for the school.Kokichi wonders what God has been doing, if He’s been here the whole time.He coughs. Nothing comes up. But when Saihara-chan approaches him again, he slips on a grin to hide a moment of weakness. They play more games, exchange more riveting conversation. Kokichi rigs the cards. Of course he does. But it was all worth it for the look on Saihara-chan’s face.Kokichi wonders if he suspects the truth. It’s highly unlikely to have two sevens in a row, after all. After the blue-haired detective is gone, Kokichi realises he isn’t faking the smile anymore. That night is filled with more theories, but not as much coughing. Whatever is stuck in his airway doesn’t come up.It’s not another petal. He’s probably just coming down with a cold or something, which’ll suck, but he’ll deal with it. No one will know.It’s not another petal. Because flower petals don’t magically appear in people. That’s not how anything works.
It’s not another flower petal.
---Kokichi explores the school. He doesn’t waste any time investigating the new areas now that they’re more empty because of the Student Council. He’s had a vested interest in the secret tunnel the entire time, thus his designs for those hammers that jam electric signals. He’s almost completed the blueprints. He’ll have to give those to that inventor once he’s done.There’s not a lot that’s interesting about the new Ultimate labs. Well, except for Angie-chan’s, since he couldn’t check it because she won’t leave. During one of his moments of downtime, Saihara-chan stops by once more. It surprises Kokichi to see him back so soon. Well, it’s not like he has any complaints.He laughs, dragging Saihara-chan over to the dining hall and setting up a tea party for them. He talks of his organisation and how they had to take mandatory tea breaks, and then he slips some morbid lies amidst this in order to throw Saihara-chan off. Despite how bewildered he seems, he keeps up with the conversation. His eyes sparkle as he does.Saihara-chan is a surprising person. There’s been a few times where Kokichi says something that should mess him up, but he responds coolly and calculatedly instead. Sometimes he calls Kokichi out on his lies, and sometimes he just goes along with him. Either is fine. Saihara-chan makes everything entertaining.Kokichi’s looking at him now. Watching him drink the tea carefully, his pretty lips placed up the teacup, eyes closed dark, long lashes that flutter as he moves.He really is otherworldly.Kokichi’s heart beats faster and he places a hand over it to feel the unsteady rhythm. It’s an odd feeling. It’s almost like adrenaline, with how fidgety yet energetic it makes him. It’s something giddy, something warm that encourages his childishness.It’s only when he bids Saihara-chan a goodbye that he realises that whatever was clogging his throat hasn’t bothered him in hours.---Later that very day, he happens to stumble across Harukawa-chan and Saihara-chan’s nightly training. He watches from afar, taking in the way the two interact.Isn’t Momota-chan usually with them? He must be too scared to come out.Even from his hiding spot, Kokichi can see the easy smile Saihara-chan gives the assassin when she speeds through her exercises. He can see the untense expressions when the two talk, even on Harukawa-chan’s face. Kokichi’s never seen her so… non-murderous.He’d warned the group of her talent and isolated her in order to protect them, but Saihara-chan and Momota-chan went out of their way to include her amongst the group once again. Why? Some mockery of friendship? In a killing game?  They must be out of their minds.Then Chabashira-chan approaches them and Kokichi skulks off to avoid being detected. When Saihara-chan and the two girls pass, he taunts Chabashira-chan briefly, though his eyes are on Saihara-chan the entire time. He blows the detective a raspberry as he leaves. Saihara-chan’s cheeks pink, but he doesn’t react otherwise. Kokichi can’t help but feel disappointed. It reminds him of the feeling the realisation he couldn’t be close with Saihara-chan had given him.Kokichi coughs.But it’s not a small, weak one from earlier. He coughs, and he coughs, and he coughs. Quickly the entire thing transforms into a fit, where Kokichi’s leaning against the wall as his body trembles.There’s a scattered pile of blue and purple petals, still falling slowly to the floor, and one still remaining on his lips. He peels the leftover petal from his face with surprisingly steady hands. It’s no longer just a part of him that’s terrified.---Kokichi doesn’t get the time to do anything about it. The next morning the group returns to Angie-chan’s lab, and Kokichi is already pretty sure what they’ll find. Angie-chan should respond to Student Council members, if she’s alive. But she doesn’t. He picks the lock to her door with steady, practised hands, thinking of the petals still tickling his airway and the eyes of the detective currently watching him.And then they open the door, and discover a corpse.After the announcement, Kokichi slips away to do his own investigating. As he watches Harukawa-chan and Saihara-chan investigate together, he can’t help but feel the petals come up. This time the pile is all that same Saihara-chan blue, none of the purples. He wonders what it means.Kokichi stuffs the flower petals into his pocket. He’ll toss them outside when he next gets the chance. That way no one will find them. Today is going to suck, and not just because of the trial. After the incident last night, Kokichi just couldn’t stop coughing up petals. It’s like the realisation that he could sent his body into overdrive. Like, wow, we’ve always wanted to cough up flowers, we just weren’t sure it was possible! Time to make Kokichi suffer! It’d be infuriating if it weren’t so terrifying. Actually, it’s a bit of both.He didn’t get any restful sleep the night before because of the rampant coughing fits. His room is stuffed full of petals in all different shades of blue and purple. He finds the most common colours are the Saihara-chan blue and a purple that matches his own hair colour. The purple ones piss him off, but he couldn’t bring himself to stomp on the blue ones.They still annoy him, though.---Chabashira-chan is dead.Kokichi never expected a double kill.It could be two separate killers, but why would another one strike now? Did they think there was going to be two class trials held? He supposes that could make sense, especially since they’d have the added advantage of their crime probably being investigated less… If they weren’t a moron. Who killed Chabashira-chan is beyond obvious. Wow, gee, wonder who the killer could possibly be when she died in the middle of a seance that a certain person suggested, set-up, and was the only one to know all the facts for.The empty room is suspect, too. As is the Necronomicon and Shinguji-chan’s ritual. But, unfortunately, halfway during his investigation, a floorboard just decides, Hey, Kokichi isn’t suffering enough! Okay. He knows that’s not what happened. When he awakes from passing out, he sees that the crosspiece had been cut, so it was intentional, not unlucky. But it sure does feel like the universe is out to get him today.Perhaps this is Angie-chan’s God’s persecution for being a heretic. Well, at least he’s alive.That’s better than Angie-chan can say.He hobbles out of the room, bleeding from a heavy head wound from that stupid floorboard. At some point, he must’ve passed out again in the hallway, because when he wakes up once again, there’s a certain Saihara-chan and Harukawa-chan standing over him.“It’s a lie!” he exclaims with as much energy as he can, though it ends up just sounding manic.Harukawa-chan’s expression is cold-faced, but Saihara-chan’s is worried as he asks Kokichi what he’s doing. It makes him feel all warm inside to have the detective show a bit of care towards him - though it’s probably more worry to what happened rather than Kokichi himself.That realisation makes his throat itch, and he swallows harshly.He explains the incident and hands Saihara-chan the book, watching his beloved detective scan over it with his ethereal eyes.Kokichi leaves to prepare, and the moment he’s alone he coughs. The liar watches as petals a Saihara-chan blue fall into droplets of his own blood. Huh. Was that pool made from his head wound? The blood there is sort of drying by now.His lips taste like copper.This trial is going to suck, but at least Saihara-chan will make it bearable.---He was right about the trial.Kokichi knew that Chabashira-chan’s death has more importance than everyone else seemed to think it did. So he has to direct everyone's attention to it. Unfortunately, having the status as a liar who likes to mock others and do meaningless things really doesn’t vibe with him just outright stating his intentions, so he has to dig his claws into Yumeno-chan’s still-raw wound and have no mercy.The look that Saihara-chan gives him is a cold one. He swallows, keeping the petals down. It can wait until the trial is over.“Yeah, I did it. I killed Angie-chan,” he lies, smiling casually like he’s talking about a favourite candy instead, “I picked the lock, snuck inside, and wham! ”Saihara-chan narrows his eyes, and goes on to poke and prod his statement until the lies are too ridiculous for even Kokichi to keep up with.Yes. Saihara-chan will make it bearable.He does, at least, until he locks eyes with Harukawa-chan in a silent agreement that only sappy, moronic friends have, and lies once again.After giving it some thought, Kokichi has decided he likes the way Saihara-chan tells lies. He isn’t great at it. The lies themselves are fine, but he has a lot of tells, if you’re looking hard enough. Still. He watches the way Saihara-chan moves along with his lie, allowing Kokichi’s medium to envelop him fully just to get closer to that oh-so idolised truth. It’s poetry. It’s irony. It’s beautiful, just like his beloved Saihara-chan. Kokichi has always believed that lies are better than the truth. Most people don’t actually want the truth. And besides, lies are more fun, anyways. There’s infinite possibilities to be found in a lie, after all.But Kokichi finds he loves both Saihara-chan’s lies and Saihara-chan’s truths. They both make him giddy. He wants to dissect and unravel both, either, anything related to this intelligent, anxious detective that keeps saving their lives.He isn’t like Kokichi, though. He doesn’t lie for logical reasons or entertainment. He lies when he emotionally believes something that can’t be proven with evidence. He lied to cover Harukawa-chan, and he lied to make everyone believe Chabashira-chan wouldn’t have betrayed them. Both lies were formed of belief, but that’s not really what lying is about. It’s probably just like Saihara-chan to only lie when it’s a contradiction to lying itself. He lies, and unlike Kokichi once again, he has someone to cover him. Harukawa-chan lies too, less elegantly than Saihara-chan does. They lie together, not because lying is beneficial, but because it’s a necessary evil they’ll bear together, as friends. He feels ill.He coughs, but he hides it by sliding on his joking mask, and laughing. After he’s done speaking, everyone looks away.Except for Momota-chan.Momota-chan is staring right at him.It’s unnerving, almost.---That trial made him sick, for so many reasons. Shinguji-chan is a monster. He murdered two people for such a stupid reason, and admitted to having killed more. Murder is wrong. Morally. Lawfully. Subjectively and objectively wrong. And yet Shinguji-chan does it casually. He doesn’t even have enough respect to regret it. To hide in shame as he lists his reasons.Instead, he holds out his arms and insists, “All of humanity is beautiful, even the worst of it!”Okay, creep.Kokichi is the first to flee the trial grounds fully. The moment he’s back in his dorm, he collapses to the ground, hacking petal after petal. This fit isn’t the same as the last few. It actually hurts. His throat burns so badly.When Kokichi looks up, there’s tears blurring his eyes, but he frantically wipes them away. He can’t show weakness, not even to himself.Glancing down, there’s blue and purple petals pooling in a pile of blood. Blood. There’s blood. Coughing up petals is concerning enough already. But now there’s blood.More tears sting his eyes, but he refuses to let himself cry. Instead, he turns and kicks over one of the purple piles. The flower petals fly around him, a few more landing in the blood spots.Once he’s done watching the destruction, he packs as many petals into his pockets as possible and goes to dispose of them outside. Then he returns with a rag to clean up the blood, and afterwards he makes sure it’ll never be discovered again.Well, he supposes it’s about time to figure out what is wrong with him.He first goes to the library, scouring books about flowers, but all Kokichi gets are books on flower care and growth. Like, hello? He doesn’t want to care for these flowers; he wants them dead, actually.Okay. He’ll try illnesses, instead. Though here’s nothing about flowers that he can find in multiple flip throughs. Annoying. Almost as an afterthought, he wonders if the anthropologist would’ve cared for something like this.With more unread books about flowers and illnesses in his hands, he returns to the Ultimate Anthropologist lab and scours through the books there.Ooh! ‘Mysterious Illnesses’ sounds perfect for what’s going on here.He flips through until he gets to where anything with ‘flower’ in the name would be set, and sees the title: ‘Hanahaki Syndrome’.Sounds promising.The document is broken into overview, causes, symptoms, history, and possible cures, so Kokchi does some reading.
Overview:

In Hanahaki Syndrome, often called Hanahaki Disease, or just Hanahaki, a flower grows inside the victim’s lungs. The flower will continue to grow until a treatment is provided, blocking airways until the victim suffocates. This disease, while curable, is very often fatal because of the physical and mental toll it takes on the victims. How long it takes Hanahaki Syndrome to kill its victims is very dependent on the person, and can be anywhere from weeks to a year. 
Oh. ‘Very often fatal.’ ‘Blocking airways until the victim suffocates.’ And the time is ‘dependent on the person,’ so he doesn’t even know how long he has left to live. But ‘anywhere from weeks to a year ’ is not promising. At least it’s curable.
Causes:

Hanahaki Syndrome is often referred to as “The Disease of Unrequited Love,” and this title is definitely accurate. The victim is always very enamoured with someone they do not believe loves them back, and when these feelings of love and despair intertwine, it is believed the flower seed of Hanahaki Syndrome is born. This is why the flower type changes between cases, as flower symbolism is very important to Hanahaki Syndrome, often representing the victim’s feelings. The loved one of a victim of Hanahaki Syndrome is often referred to as the “beloved.” 
No.Kokichi? In love? Impossible. He’s the Ultimate Supreme Leader. He doesn’t do stupid things like fall in love. It’s ridiculous. Is he reading the wrong disease? Everything else was fine before this. Or, maybe, he has a strain of Hanahaki unrelated to love?Seriously. Who would he even be in love with, anyways? There’s no one that--No one that… he’s shown any interest in… …Oh. Oh. He’s in love with Saihara Shuichi, isn’t he?That’s what those bubbly, giddy, adrenaline-esque feelings are. That’s why he wants to learn so much, why the smallest pieces of Saihara-chan are both the best gifts he could receive and yet not enough at the same time. Why he wishes, nonsensically, that he didn’t have to be the hated one, so that he could be close to Saihara-chan.Ouma Kokichi is so in love with Saihara Shuichi that it’s killing him.Of course. Ultimate Supreme Leaders aren’t met to fall in love, and especially not in killing games. This is his punishment for being stupid.
“The Disease of Unrequited Love.”
… It’s beyond obvious that his love would be unrequited. Saihara-chan could never like him. He likes kind people, like Akamatsu-chan. People that build him with motivation instead of bringing him down with pressure. His lungs obviously don’t like this train of thought, though, because soon he’s hacking up more petals to stuff into his pockets.The history section and symptoms part are definitely interesting, but Kokichi will have to read them later. Right now he’s frantically looking down for cures. 
Cures:

There are only two known cures for Hanahaki Syndrome. The first of which has been around since the disease was first discovered. It is where the “beloved” of the victim reciprocates their love and means it. Just saying the words is proven to not undo the effects of Hanahaki Disease. However, if the love is truly reciprocated, then the plant inside the victim will wither. The victim will then throw up the remaining flower. The second cure to Hanahaki Syndrome is a possible surgery. However, it is still experimental and, while the plant is successfully removed, there is yet to be a surgery without side effects. These side effects are usually either complete loss of memory of the “beloved” or a loss of ability to feel romantic love. 
Well, those both suck. Saihara-chan ever reciprocating his feelings is impossible , and he’s currently trapped here, so there’s no chance of surgery. Just makes him more desperate to escape, he supposes. And even if he could have the option to have the surgery, would he take it?Yes. He would. There’s no question. (He thinks of intelligent, sparkling eyes, deep blue hair, a nervous laugh and determined words. The way that his whole being lights up just being around that gorgeous detective. He thinks that, truly, he doesn’t know. )He would. He would. He just has to get out, and without murder.He thinks of saying, I want the Hanahaki Syndrome surgery, and wonders if he’d be able to say them. Truths are always harder for him.He isn’t sure. Some part of him thinks it may be easier than he thinks. Kokichi glances down at the book. His hands are shaking like Saihara-chan’s would. He then feels the sensation of another petal at the stray thought of Saihara-chan, and something like fear grabs at his chest.---After realising he had been sitting on the floor of the Ultimate Anthropologist’s lab for a little too long, he dusts himself off and returns the books to the library. He holds onto the Mysterious Illnesses book, though. It’s not like Shinguji-chan will miss it.When he returns to his room, he opens the book and flips to the symptoms part of the Hanahaki Disease page. There’s two different parts of this one, so he reads them one at a time. 
Symptoms:

Symptoms of Hanahaki Syndrome mainly focus on throwing up or coughing up petals and blood. Because of this, Hanahaki Syndrome often comes with suffocation, nausea, delirium, and high chances of unrelated illnesses. Depending on the flower type, thorns on the plant may also do severe damage to the lungs, which may cause death before suffocation. The rate of the progression of the disease is based on the “beloved” of the victim. Being around the “beloved” often has a positive effect on the victim, however thoughts of or things that remind the victim their “beloved” does not love them back often has visceral reactions. 
Kokichi really hopes his flower is one without thorns. It’s bad enough just suffocating. And apparently, being around the “beloved” - oh wow, now Saihara-chan really is his “beloved” detective - is both good and bad. Hooray. It just depends on whether Kokichi’s brain decides it likes him or not, and he does not have a good track record.He reads the second part of the section.
Hanahaki Syndrome occurs in three stages. The first stage is the beginning, where the victim only coughs up petals. The second stage occurs when the victim starts coughing up blood as the flower disturbs their system. The third stage is when the victim starts coughing up actual flowers or bouquets as well as blood, instead of just petals. The third stage is the final stage, and death will occur at the end of this stage. After the victim has passed, the flower will then open the victim’s mouth and bloom out of it.
That’s creepy as hell. Is that how Kokichi is going to die? Suffocating on flowers until they grow out of him like he’s a greenhouse?He’s already in the second stage, since he’s got petals and blood. No actual flowers or bouquets yet. At least he’s not that close to death. But he’s ticking towards it by the minute, and he isn’t sure how much time he has left.Well then. It’s time to bring those blueprints to that idiot inventor.---When Kokichi snatched the keycard, he thought it would’ve opened up a secret room, or something. He couldn’t find where it went on his first round of looking.Pouting, he stops and thinks about where it could go from there.Suddenly, there’s footsteps.“...Hey, Ouma-kun.”He feels a smile tug at his lips before he even thinks to slide his mask of the childish prankster on. Even with the knowledge of his disease, he can’t tamper his excitement to hang around Saihara-chan.He grins, explaining the fact that he can’t figure out where the dumb keycard goes, and Saihara-chan, like the saint he is, offers to help.They go around the campus, talking about a ton of different things. As a bit of irony to himself, Kokichi makes sure to call Saihara-chan his “beloved” more often. It’s not even a lie anymore.He wonders if it ever was.“This is soooo dumb!” Kokichi complains, “Why give us a motive for murder if we can’t use the motive!?”Saihara-chan laughs softly, “Maybe that’s for the best. Motives from Monokuma are never good.”“I suppose my beloved Saihara-chan is correct…”The detective flushes bright and glances away. Even after a whole hour straight of dealing with it, combined with all the previous instances he and Kokichi have hung out, he still hasn’t gotten used to the pet name. How cute.Eventually, the two give up on using the motive and return to the outside area. Honestly, Kokichi has been hanging around here more, anyways. It’s easier to cover up the petals by blowing them away in the breeze.With the two now in a better spot, Kokichi begins the ‘final event.’ Before this was the ‘final event’ because of his plan to make everyone hate him, but now it has the added bonus of he’s literally dying now!Oh. Making everyone hate him will make Saihara-chan hate him. Obviously, Saihara-chan was never going to like him back anyhow, but he hadn’t considered what Saihara-chan hating him would do. Would it just kill him on the spot?He’ll have to be very careful about that particular point.While playing the game, Kokichi misses the stab on purpose. A small slice makes its way on his fingers, and it hurts slightly, but not terribly. He expects Saihara-chan to be worried, but compliant, just as he was before the last trial.But no.Saihara-chan worries, and he rushes to grab a first-aid kit. And he doesn’t just toss Kokichi the kit and leave. He stays and painstakingly takes care of the tiny cut.Saihara-chan’s hands are clasped right over Kokichi’s own as he works, expression anxious, yet caring. His hands are smooth and, while cooler than Kokichi’s own, not frigid. Just cold enough. Soft. Delicate, yet strong. So, so very much like Saihara-chan himself. It’s perfect. Kokichi breathes. For the first time since Shinguji-chan’s trial, he breathes deeply, with no trace of the need to cough. He savours it; this moment. All of it.The feeling of Saihara-chan’s hands holding his, working with a gentle sort of care. The way his brows furrow with worry and concentration as he works. The ability to breathe. It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to breathe. He’s never appreciated it more.“Are you alright, Ouma-kun?”“Nishishi~! It’s just a tinsy tiny cut, my beloved! But thank you, anyhow! I mean, what would I do without my precious Saihara-chan?”He pinks nicely, letting out a half-laugh, half-breath, “Well, that’s good.”Kokichi stares at the hands around his own. He feels like this moment could last forever (he wants it to - oh, how he wants it to) but it’s already moving forward. Time’s going too fast. He realises this will be the last time he’s alive and feels this way.Whether or not he dies, he’ll definitely lose this feeling. He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to. Now he understands why victims of Hanahaki usually die. He doesn’t want to stop loving Saihara-chan, even if it hurts.And Kokichi knows now that, I want the Hanahaki Syndrome surgery would fall from his lips easily.Because lies always do.(Saihara-chan lets go.)

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ouma Kokichi is going to die.If it weren’t already obvious.It took a long while - probably longer than it should’ve - for this to click.The first thing Kokichi thought when he saw the ruined world was: What about DICE? He’s been sitting on the floor in front of that closed door for so long. He wishes he’d never discovered it. Wishes he’d never asked that idiot inventor for the Electrohammers that got him here.DICE aren’t just injured, like that motive video had implied. They’re gone. They’re dead. They’ve died off from a stupid meteorite virus, just like the rest of the world. God, all those horrible flashback light memories make so much sense now.What about his theory, though? Who can watch if the world is dead?The ringleader, he supposes. An audience of one.
Everyone is dead. Hearts, Clubs, Spades, Diamonds, Ace, Jack, King, Queen, Seven…
All of them. His subordinates. His friends. His family. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.What has he got to live for? He doesn’t want to continue anymore.And then it hits him: He won’t. He’s going to die for sure now. No one here can perform surgery, especially not for something so niche. And Saihara-chan will never love him back. That’s a pipe dream.He can’t get the surgery. He has no chance. (A part of him is relieved. He doesn’t have to choose between his love and his life. The choice was ripped away from him. He’s going to die either way.)No. He can’t die, yet. Not from Hanahaki. Not from his despair. He has to end the killing game. He has to save his friends. He has to-
-Mercy kill them.
Huh?
If they die without knowing, they’ll be happier.
No. That’s… they want to survive. 
If they die without knowing, it’ll be better.
…Despite how much Kokichi tries to ignore that voice, he cans the idea.No, he doesn’t dismiss it.---Kokichi desperately tries to keep it together after that. But there’s nothing to really latch onto anymore that could stablize him. Intrusive thoughts make his heart ache which makes him cough up more petals. His head, his heart, his lungs; they’re all tormenting him. His acting is good, though. Nobody notices that much is wrong with him.Until he absolutely loses it during breakfast.Emotions bubble up: pain, despair, fear, love, and they swirl into a melting pot of hysterical mania. He laughs at the group, calling the killing game fun and talking about how he’ll be the next to continue it if no one else kills in this time. The group shies away from him as he talks, getting progressively more anxious.Saihara-chan doesn’t move. He looks worried.Saihara-chan could never be worried about him, though. He’s worried about what he’ll do. Right. Just remember that.He chokes on a cough, turning it into more laughter, which then dissolves into anger at their reactions.“You’re all whack jobs! What’s wrong with your heads!?” he exhales violently, trying to pull his thoughts together to formulate them. They don’t know. They don’t know, practically becomes a chant as he watches all of his classmates (friends?). None of them know the truth. They’d be as broken as him if they did, and it’d be way more obvious.None of them know the truth. It should stay that way.
If someone else dies and they get it wrong, they’ll all be killed, and they’ll never know the truth, they’ll never know that horrible despair, and it’ll be better. It’ll be better. It’ll be bett-
Momota-chan punches him in the face.Kokichi’s cheek flares in pain as he turns away, rubbing a hand across the growing bruise. Momota-chan is yelling. The others are just watching. Even if they disagree, they wouldn’t go against Momota-chan because they all like him so much.Kokichi drowns in that terrible truth. This is why he’s always believed lies are so much better.His cheek hurts and his lungs ache and his throat burns and his heart wants so badly for something so impossible. For the family that’s dead. For the detective that’s so intelligent and so easy to love. His thoughts feel like shattered pieces floating around in his brain. He’s always been a logical person, but all he can do is sit through this and feel every piece of agony. Emotions from the strained pressure on his head from everything that’s happened finally snapping. He needs to get a hold of himself.He can’t.“You’ve always been odd, Ouma, but this is weirder than normal,” Momota-chan says to him, fist still raised from his hit.“Momota-kun…” Saihara-chan murmurs, and Kokichi immediately latches onto the sound. His thoughts pop back into place.Kokichi was floating, but Saihara-chan’s voice brought him back. He takes a deep breath and steels himself forcefully, ignoring the way his heart stutters in his chest at the look that remains in Saihara-chans beautiful eyes.
He isn’t worried about Kokichi.

He’s worried about what he’ll do.
(And yet Kokichi can’t help but think of cool hands wrapping a bandage around his bleeding finger, the detective’s face pinched with worry - not at Kokichi - but for him.)The flowers in his chest, thrumming with hope, ask, What’s the difference? Kokichi thinks it’s a major one, but he doesn’t cough again for hours.Small victories, he supposes. ---Iruma-chan is going to try and kill him.The whole virtual world thing seemed pretty pointless and really suspicious, so he checked it out. Turns out, someone in the virtual world can die of shock. Iruma-chan is planning a murder, and who else would she kill then the one she’s planning a solitary meeting with?So, Kokichi plans a counter. Fighting through bloodied petals, he speaks with Monokuma, convincing him to reuse the secret of the outside world motive. He promises to be interesting. He’ll spice up this game with something exciting. And he will.It’s just that only Monokuma will enjoy it.Unfortunately, Kokichi’s thoughts of his crime jump to who would be solving it, and Saihara-chan’s face appears in his mind. Kokichi finds himself wondering what Saihara-chan’s hatred will feel like. He thinks of the disappointed look he’ll wear, and the way his lips will turn downward. He’s the only person here who ever gave Kokichi a chance, and Kokichi will have taken his kindness and stomped it to pieces.And when Kokichi’s Hanahaki Syndrome spills out onto the floor, Monokuma just laughs in response.“That’s one terrible disease ya got there! The only thing that'll save ya is true love! Too bad this academy’s only got despair!”Kokichi rubs the coppery substance from his lips, smiling with bloody teeth, “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Nishishi… I just want to have more fun. I don’t care about anyone.”It’s the biggest lie he’s ever told.He cares so much that it’s literally killing him.---Gonta-chan seals his fate as he follows Kokichi out.Of course, it’s exactly what Kokichi expected, but it doesn’t change a thing. They wander out into the forest area where Kokichi knows the flashback light is. It’s snowing softly, sparkling with a beauty that could only be fake. There’s wind, too. It’s too bad Kokichi can’t breathe in the air properly. His senses may be hooked up to the Virtual World, but that doesn’t mean they forgot his condition.He may not throw up petals here, but he won’t be free of his unrequited love any time soon, either.“...Don’t you want to protect everyone?” Kokichi asks in a tone much more sombre than he normally speaks in. It’s the final nail in the coffin. Kokichi is just too good of a manipulator.Gonta-chan picks up the flashback light.
Click.
And then he lunges back, shouting and crying. He collapses into a heap. He’s sobbing, sobbing, sobbing. Remembering all of the family and friends he’s probably lost. Everything is dead. Earth is uninhabitable.“Gonta-chan, there is something we can do. Let me tell you something… Okay?”---“Huh? Momota-chan’s not here?”“Y-yeah, you’re right…”“Well then! I’ve got to say - I’m honoured to have been called up here by you! Oh, is this a booty call…?” his expression morphs, becoming blank, “Or… are you here to kill me…?”“S-so, you figured it out… But there’s nothing you can do. You… can’t resist me. I made sure of it when I programmed your settings.”“Uh-ohhhh! Guess I’m in trouble now!”“I-I’m sorry, but… you should just give up. This is- This is my only chance. I have no choice but to do this… My inventions will change the world… They’ll make the world a better place! It’s my duty as a genius inventor! S-So, I can’t afford to die here- Eeek-! ”“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…!”“Don’t apologise, Gonta-chan! She was trying to kill me! She claimed it was for the world or whatever, but that was just an excuse.”There’s a clicking of the lock. A body hits the floor, and its murderer drops to his knees.“Still… I-! I’m so sorry, Iruma-san! I’m so sorry… So sorry…”“I already said don’t apologise! We’re saving everyone. You don’t have to be sorry for that.” There’s more sobbing, “...It’s okay. Here… We have to clean up now, Gonta-chan… If we want to save everyone, your crime can’t be discovered.”“...O-Okay… I-I can handle it, so don’t worry…”“And you’ll do a good job. ‘Cause… my subordinates are the best of the best, you know?”The door opens, and there’s footsteps as someone leaves. The murderer stands alone with the corpse of his victim. He wanted to be useful. He had wanted to save his friends. He had tried so hard, but he wasn’t strong enough to fight the exisals, and he wasn’t smart enough to solve class trials. All of his friends had wanted to go outside, but the outside is ruined. Inside Hell, outside Hell… Learning of that awful truth only made him despair. It drove him to end up here, a murderer. They will feel betrayed, won’t they? Saihara-kun, Momota-kun, Yumeno-san, Shirogane-san, Harukawa-san, Kiibo… They will all feel betrayed when they die. But it will be better. They will die believing that their families are safe, that their lives are intact.He turns and heads to the shed, looking down at the lattice below.---If Gonta-chan’s fate was sealed the moment he followed Kokichi out of the house, then Iruma-chan’s fate was sealed when she came to confront him on the rooftop. And now here they stand in the trial, the group pouncing on Kokichi himself, his head beat-beat-beating like a hammer against his skull. Buzzing with his thoughts of his despair and his love.He hasn’t revealed the truth yet.He was waiting for Saihara-chan to do it, so he hasn’t spoken up. But Saihara-chan has zeroed in on him instead, which… isn’t exactly incorrect. It just isn’t right, either.If Saihara-chan accuses him, will Kokichi steer the trial in Gonta-chan’s direction? If he doesn’t, if he just lets it happen, then-(...His classmates, his friends, will never have to know that horrifying truth. It’d be a kind lie. And hasn’t Kokichi always advocated for those?)But Kokichi… to be honest, he wasn’t prepared to have to make this decision. Kokichi thought Gonta-chan would’ve been caught already. But it’s not like Saihara-chan isn’t smart enough, it’s that Gonta-chan is way scarier a liar than Kokichi thought he was. If he hadn’t known otherwise, he might’ve actually believed Gonta-chan was telling the truth. And that’s horrifying. He feels that paranoia he could never quell bubble up from underneath the surface. He thought Gonta-chan wanted to save everyone, but he’s lying too well. Gonta-chan shouldn’t be able to do this. Did- Did he use Kokichi to become a culprit? Why? The outside is ruined.Has Gonta-chan been lying about his intelligence this whole time? Is Kokichi the only one who knows?  It’s panic, almost. Kokichi didn’t trust anyone, but Gonta-chan was one of the few people he almost-sort-of trusted. It’s anger, almost. He wishes he could trust Gonta-chan. If he’s lying, then there’s a chance he’s still just doing it to save everyone, and just happens to be a better liar than Kokichi originally thought. Why does he assume that he’s being betrayed? Why is he so paranoid? It’s the thing that’s separated him from everyone else. The thing that’s taken so much from him. “Well, near the end of our search time… I went to the salon, and Ouma-kun… You weren’t there,” Saihara-chan lies, “I checked around and waited for you to come back, but you never did. Eventually, I returned to the kitchen to keep searching. So, Ouma-kun, where were you?”Kokichi holds in a cough. It’s panic, almost. It’s anger , almost. Almost. 
Almost. Almost. Almost. Almost.
Everyone told him off for being a liar. Saihara-chan debunked his lies and got upset when he lied during trials, and didn’t trust him, and didn’t care about him in the way he cared about the pitiful Harumaki-chan and Momota-chan because he wasn’t honest or sympathetic. He trusts an assassin over a liar because truth is the almighty saviour, isn’t it? It is to everyone.And as dumb or annoying as that ideology is - a world with only truth would fall apart immediately, after all - Kokichi would be forced to respect it if everyone partaking in it was consistent. But they aren’t. Harukawa-chan lies for her own purposes to not be outcasted, Momota-chan lies about whatever illness he has, Yumeno-chan lies about her magic to feel better about herself, and Saihara-chan lies through trials when it’s convenient. They act morally correct until it no longer benefits them.
Hypocrite.

None of you deserve to die with kind lies.

If you want the truth that badly, I’ll give it to you.
“Ohhh… so you use under-handed tactics, too, huh, Saihara-chan?”Saihara-chan flinches. No one but him sees because they’re all looking at the liar himself. But Kokichi’s eyes are for his beloved alone.“Nishishi! You got some balls lying to me. I’m gonna take away your fun for pissing me off, Saihara-chan!” He laughs. Kokichi forces himself to look away from Saihara-chan, though. He can’t focus on those golden irises now. Because… it’s time to throw Gonta-chan under the bus. “I’m gonna take away the mystery solving fun! If I can’t win this game, I’ll make it boring for everyone! That’s my revenge!” He goes on to confess his involvement with Monokuma, which the students don’t take too kindly to. Momota-chan especially. Of course they don’t. His kind-hearted classmates don’t know the first thing about strategy or playing both sides. To them it’s just black and white, good or bad. And now he’s landed himself square in the ‘bad’ category, but it’s not like he particularly minds. This was always the plan after all.“Weeeelll, then…” he laughs, taking in a breath. And here comes the opening act. It will be the gateway to his plan - to his victory. He falters for a single second. Thinking about Saihara-chan, thinking about the flowers in his lungs, thinking about his friends and the world and Gonta-chan’s sacrifice contrasted by his potential betrayal. Kokichi grits his teeth and smiles, “The culprit is Gonta-chan~!”And the most entertaining part of it is that while the courtroom explodes into chaos, Saihara-chan barely looks surprised.---It was horrible.Kokichi couldn’t keep himself together in the end. He was wrong, of course. Gonta-chan never betrayed him. He had just forgotten about his crime. Kokichi got Gonta-chan killed because he couldn’t trust him. He betrayed the entomologist’s wish to save everyone. Even if it was misguided, he understood. He understood, and he backstabbed such an innocent and kind hope. He can’t take it all.The way that Gonta-chan’s going to die believing that he was stupid and useless. And the way that, despite everything, both Gonta-chan and the AI Gonta-chan were defending him… He breaks down sobbing. “It should’ve been me, I should’ve taken responsibility… I know that! Everyone hates me, so the role of villain is perfect for me…”He sobs and he sobs. For the death of all of his classmates, for his own betrayal of someone he almost, almost trusted, for his own paranoia, for the flowers blooming in his lungs from his stupid, doomed love. He makes a promise he knows he can’t keep. Just so that Gonta-chan can die with some peace of mind. He, of all people, deserves a kind lie.He hadn’t wanted Gonta-chan to go alone. In a moment of weakness, he’d begged it to be him instead.Watching that execution was the real Hell. Gonta-chan didn’t deserve it. Not in the slightest.He couldn’t even remember his crime.After it’s done, Kokichi feels like he’s in a daze. Nothing is real. Not after that. What could possibly be real? It felt like a nightmare. This is a nightmare.  It’s only when his classmates start pestering him about the secret of the outside world - a secret they definitely don’t want to know - does he snap back to himself. Like ‘himself,’ is a real concept to him anymore. The Ouma Kokichi he wanted to be was the Ultimate Supreme Leader, the one who leads DICE. He’s not a leader anymore; his team is dead. There’s nothing to lead now. His talent is useless.And he couldn’t even follow DICE’s rules to honour their memory.
A no-killing policy.
Sure, he hadn’t killed anyone himself. But it was still his fault. It still counts, to him and everyone else. Gonta-chan may be a ‘murderer’ by definition, but Kokichi is a murderer. “If you really cared for Gonta at all, you’d tell us!” Momota-chan’s saying when he finally glances up at his precious classmates.Ouma Kokichi is no longer a leader. Ouma Kokichi is no longer anyone’s family. Ouma Kokichi is no longer anyone’s friend. Ouma Kokichi will never not be a liar. Before, Ouma Kokichi wore masks of a prankster who was always laughing or a spooky, yet joking supreme leader who ran a group of friends which were more like family. And he’s got so many more for different scenarios. A collection of endless, changing faces. Yet, the mask he has always kept but never worn is the mask of a monster. The act of a villain, of the ringleader, of the type of person who would believably put sixteen teenagers into a killing game. It is a mask which has been hanging upon his wall, ready, but never used.He dons it now. He will wear it for so long that he no longer remembers how to not. He will wear it until he dies. And Ouma Kokichi grins.He spreads out his arms, laughing and laughing. He pokes fun at Iruma-chan and Gonta-chan’s deaths. His words are dripping with mockery and malice and laced so carefully, almost lovingly, with poison. His eyes are coated in abyss. He doubts he looks human.The reactions of his classmates to his horrible words are instant. Chaos strewn with horror with disbelief. Most are fearful. Some are angry. He laughs at it. It’s so unbelievably horrible that it’s sort of funny, too. It’s humorous. It’s not. He doesn’t want to laugh at this.He can’t stop, though. They’re manic cackles, and they’re so loud and so packed with emotion that Kokichi realises he’s slipped some of his anger in there, too. His anger at everything; from his own paranoia to the ringleader’s lack of humanity - he’s so, so angry. And so, so sad. And so very alone. Here is his stage. It feels as such, when he’s standing amidst a crowd of crying spectators, dancing for the ringleader’s audience of one. His performance is energetic and depressing, evil for the sake of good, hatred with a motive of care, beautiful flowers watered by grief, causing death, yet planted by love. Kokichi doesn’t just mock his own victims, though. He sends daggers at everyone in the room, especially those who still have the energy to yell back, like Momota-chan and precious Harumaki-chan.Acting, acting. He’s always an actor. Always playing a part, always being something he’s not. Always lying. Lies suit him, sure, but he knows they don’t paint him in beauty like they do Saihara-chan.No, he is not beautiful. He is ugly, monstrous, and terrible. Something unloveable. He was loved once, but those people are gone. Any evidence of what they knew is gone, too. Now no one in the world except for Kokichi knows the truth about him. No one left knows or cares that he’s always tried to lie for good reasons. All they see is the monster, the lie, and terrible monsters, pitch-black lies, could never be loved by soft, blue-haired detectives who strive for the truth. Not that a monster would ever want that, but isn’t that just more evidence of his lies? He may be unlovable, but he is not one incapable of loving another.The proof is in his very lungs.Yet it is a piece of evidence Saihara-chan will never find. Kokichi turns, grinning when Momota-chan shouts. And this time when Momota-chan lunges at him, Kokichi is expecting it. He ducks to the side and punches the astronaut. It’s sure to cause the man’s illness to act up in front of the group a bit, which Kokichi winces at the thought of. He empathises with him. But it won’t stop his performance. The show must go on, after all.And it does.Until a voice speaks up, tone soft as always, yet laced with familiar poison.“The one who’s lame… is you, Ouma-kun.”Ah. Saihara-chan’s angry.It hurts, but Kokichi forces himself to meet his beloved’s eyes. Grey-clouded and brimming with despair and grief and pain that Kokichi caused. The flower in Kokichi’s lungs isn’t happy, either. It tickles his throat. He wants to cough. He knows it’ll bring up blood, so he can’t yet. He doesn’t know how his classmates will react.He isn’t sure what would hurt worse: Them pitying him or them not caring at all.Kokichi forces himself to listen to what Saihara-chan’s saying. Just like Gonta-chan deserved a kind lie, Saihara-chan deserves to be listened to. “Momota-kun always has people gathering around him, but there’s no one around you.”It hurts. Unable to cough, his chest aches instead. His mouth tastes of copper.Saihara-chan doesn’t normally speak with poison, unlike Kokichi. That isn’t who he is. Yet, this is what Kokichi does to people; he morphs them into something they aren’t. Something horrible like he is. He feels sick. He’s unsure about how much of it is from the Hanahaki Syndrome.His part in the performance ended abruptly, and it makes sense. Saihara-chan’s so much like a protagonist. If Kokichi is a villain, hated by the show, then Saihara-chan is loved by it. Of course Kokichi’s part gets cut off. He was taking up too much space, anyhow.“You’re… meant to be that kind of guy.”Saihara-chan stops, and for a moment it’s as quiet as a breath.Is he waiting for something? If he is, then what for? What could Saihara Shuichi possibly want from Ouma Kokichi now? An apology? A secret unveiling of his real feelings? That could never happen. The rejection would kill him, and Kokichi isn’t ready to die.And besides, expecting a liar to tell you the truth is idiotic. Saihara-chan is too idealistic.Ouma Kokichi’s response runs faster than his brain, and when the gravity of what Saihara-chan just said finally truly sets in, he stops, adjusting his mask for a split second with a blank and soulless look. Then, he lets that terrifying expression stretch over his face once again, and he proclaims that he will be the victor of this death game.And then he leaves.He feels their stares follow him as he goes. The moment he is out of sight of his classmates, he runs. His feet pound against the floors of the academy as he books it to the outside area. He doubts he’ll make it to the dorms, but he has to at least get outside. It’ll be easier to cover up then.If it doesn’t kill him.It certainly feels like it will when he stumbles onto a grassy part and begins coughing. Petals pour out of his mouth and they’re so covered in blood, he can’t even tell what colour they are for a second. The coughing fit doesn’t end there.He’s replaying it now, the look on Saihara-chan’s face. The hatred in his eyes. It was agonising. Kokichi wants to cry. He doesn’t, he doesn’t, because he’s a monster. Is a monster even capable of tears? If he’s capable of love, he would be, but he shouldn’t be capable of love. He’s a monster.
(The one who’s lame… is you, Ouma-kun.)
What must be a bigger flower gets caught in his windpipe. Immediately, he starts choking on it. He hacks desperately, only managing more drops of blood from his lips. It rolls out of his mouth with a particular awful cough. He stares at it, seeing a bundle of flowers with blues, purples, and pinks. Pinks? That’s new. He thinks he may recognise the flower now that it’s not just petals, but he’s too oxygen deprived to think straight.His throat hurts. There’s no thorns as far as he can tell, but it’s agonising anyways. Saliva and blood drip from his lips.
(Momota-kun always has people gathering around him…)
It’s not over, though.There’s more coming up and he can’t breathe. Dark spots gather on the edges of his vision, and he collapses against the grass. He’s fighting desperately to breathe and now he’s pretty sure that if he falls unconscious he’ll die. Die. Die. Die. He doesn’t want to die. He has to end the killing game, to make everything up to now worth it. He doesn’t want the creepy flower to crawl out of his mouth like it’s alive. He doesn’t want his classmates to find him like that.He doesn’t want another class trial to start, not so soon. Give Saihara-chan a break, at least.
(...But there’s no one around you.)
Tears gather in his eyes against his will. His heart pounds against his chest at the thoughts of Saihara-chan. He can’t breathe and he can’t think and he can’t feel anything but the pain. His body screams for air. The flowers are unforgiving. Merciless.As cruel as Kokichi is. He deserves this. Deserves, deserves, deserves this. He drops onto the grass, sure he’s about to die.He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t withstand Saihara-chan’s hatred. It truly was the worst sort of pain; the deepest a dagger could dig into him.His chest heaves, his body spasming from the agony.
(You’re… meant to be that kind of guy.)
Kokichi gags once, twice, and something, somewhere - he refuses to acknowledge the potential of it being Angie-chan’s God - must take mercy on him. Because the bouquet comes up, and it’s just blues and pinks this time.Ouma Kokichi breathes. Barely. His breaths are small and croaky things, and he doubts they’ll get better with time, but at least he’s alive.He sits up slowly, staring at the ground below him. There’s a concerningly large pool of his blood, completely covered with petals and three bouquets of flowers.So, he’s on the third stage now, huh? He really is on the verge of death now. What a tragedy. Ha. It’s not really “tragedy” when it’s the villain, is it? He gathers himself up and heads to the library, looking for something.---He gets a book on flower symbolism. The Hanahaki Syndrome passage had mentioned it was important, and he was curious, especially since he had identified what kind of plant is growing in his lungs and killing him slowly. He knows what flower to despise for the rest of his life now.
Hydrangeas.
The rainy season’s famous flowers. Pretty much everyone knows what hydrangeas are, especially since this is literally their homeland. There’s four major colours that usually depend on the acidity of the soil. Kokichi has only seen three colours in the petals so far: blue, purple, and now pink.Fun fact: apparently, they’re also poisonous! That’s sort of concerning, given they’re growing inside of him, but he’s been fine so far. Or, well, as fine as one can be while slowly suffocating on flowers. The symbolism of the blue petals is apology, gratitude, remorse, sincerity, and understanding. For purple it’s pride, royalty, understanding once again, and creativity. And for pink it means romance, sincere emotion, and affection. Finally, the one colour he doesn’t seem to have, white, represents vanity, boasting, purity, grace, and goodness.Well, he can understand it. Sort of. The romance one seems pretty obvious, and the blue one definitely represents Saihara-chan. As for the purple… Could it be meaning him? He is prideful. So… Saihara-chan, him, and romance. Cool, cool. He supposes that makes sense. If only those concepts weren’t killing him! He’d appreciate them more then. Too bad, though. The world doesn’t really care when monsters suffer.Kokichi sighs, resigning himself to his fate.---Kokichi is hiding from the others. Partly because of how close to death he is, though, it’s mainly to further his plan. As most of his actions are. He needs to be sure of the others’ determination to end the game before he trusts them with the Electrohammers. Firstly, it’d be bad if cowardice took over and they never ended up going through the tunnel. Though that’s unlikely, Iruma-chan’s actions prove it’s possible. Secondly, if one of them decides to use the Electrohammers for a murder before they can make their escape plan. This may occur if they have the opportunity to do so before they’re willing to risk their lives in order to escape. And finally, the cruellest (yet most realistic) reason - so that the despair of the ruined outside world will hit them even harder.Kokichi wants the killing game to end. If everyone knows it's worthless to continue playing it, the tragedy will be over. They need to learn that murdering to escape is worthless. They need to believe it’s hopeless to fight back against Kokichi, who they'll believe is the ringleader.It’s terrible. It’s truthful.Are the two concepts that different? A horrible, devastating truth, just like Gonta-chan’s futile, murderous hope. Hope and truth. Both idolised ideas. Both cruel in their own ways.Kokichi coughs.His condition has worsened since the fourth trial - obviously - but a part of him prefers it this way. He rarely coughs up solitary petals anymore. When he finally gags something up, it’s full bundles. Which, while more painful, are less frequent. They’re more convenient, honestly. If he were constantly coughing up petals, he’d be leaving trails behind him for the survivors to casually follow to his hiding spot.Yes, that would be troublesome, indeed.Though the lack of petals doesn’t stop him from coughing up blood. Luckily, if anyone finds any blood splatters that he misses, they’re going to think it’s from Momota-chan’s illness. Speaking of Momota-chan’s illness; it’s likely to kill him soon, too. They’re both on a time limit now. When Kokichi had first caught Momota-chan coughing up blood the night before Iruma-chan’s death, he had wondered if the man had Hanahaki, too. He quickly discovered that isn’t true. There weren’t any petals, and if he did have Hanahaki it would definitely be for Harukawa-chan, who obviously likes him back. He wouldn’t even have the ability to develop it.Nope, Momota-chan has some completely irrelevant illness that happens to make him cough up blood and bring him closer to death every day, just like Kokichi. It makes the two of them similar. A part of Kokichi can’t stand it. Momota-chan is naive, foolish, idiotic, uses Saihara-chan’s successes like they’re his own, and hypocritically condemns Kokichi just because of his liar status. Or, well. It was just because of his liar status. Now Momota-chan’s condemnations hold water, but that’s only a recent development.But Kokichi doesn’t hate Momota-chan. He truly doesn’t hate any of his classmates, even the ones that succumbed to Monokuma’s motives. Akamatsu-chan wanted to save them. Tojou-chan wanted to save everyone else. Gonta-chan wanted to save everyone.And even if he hates Harukawa-chan’s talent, her uncaring attitude, the way she so brazenly threatens people with death because she’s simply that used to taking lives, he doesn’t hate her.  What Shinguji-chan did disgusts him. He hates it, he hates what Shinguji-chan admitted to, he hates that he considered that man a classmate. But he can’t bring himself to hate him. Shinguji-chan only ever wanted to save himself and his sister, but is that truly who he was the entire time? Kokichi will never know. It’s blind stupidity that keeps him wishing that Shinguji-chan wasn’t truly like that. That it was a motive or a cruel truth that broke him.(It’s belief, isn’t it? Something that he disregards time and time again.And yet he has always believed. Believed in the good in lies that no one else seems to see. Believed in himself, because that’s all he had left.Believed in a blue-haired detective to solve mystery after mystery, to save their lives over and over again, to be kind and intelligent.)Kokichi supposes he’s a hypocrite, too.---Momota-chan is unconscious, hanging limply from an exisal’s grip. Harukawa-chan is gripping a dagger so tightly her fists are going white. She’s clinging onto her anger because it’s all she has left. Saihara-chan is staring at Kokichi with one of the most horrible looks Kokichi has ever seen on him.He hands Kokichi the exisal hanger’s alarm remote, staring at his own hands all the while. His eyes are perpetually wide, dull, utterly lifeless. His lips are drawn in a line born from resignation. Shame and sorrow furrow his brows, scrunching up his face. He looks like he would be angry if he had the energy to feel anything.His hands are shaking too much for Kokichi to properly take the remote. He clasps his own hand right over Saihara-chan’s in order to grab it.(Saihara-chan’s hands clasped right over Kokichi’s own as he worked, expression anxious, yet caring.) It’s the opposite of the way they were standing the very last time they ever spent time together. Kokichi leaning over, hands resting on Saihara-chan’s own. Except they’re not in the fake outside, warm and bright. They’re standing in front of a metal door, cold and dark. They’re not friendly classmates anymore. 
(He’s perfectly imperfect. He’s so much himself.

That’s why Kokichi loves him so much.)
Kokichi chokes up.His smooths a finger of Saihara-chan’s skin, steadying him just enough to pull the remote from his hand. Saihara-chan finally looks at him, golden eyes illuminated by the fires of a ruined world existing only in Kokichi’s mind’s eye.Saihara-chan’s grip on the remote tightens, and Kokichi smiles at him questioningly, tilting his head. What do you want from me? Kokichi wonders, For me to take it all back? Hand the remote to you and set Momota-chan on the ground, and maybe even follow him down to apologise? If I did, would you accept it? Would you give me another chance? Would you bother to get to know the real me, even after all I’ve done?
…Would you ever think to love me back?
The answer, of course, is a resounding, “No.” It’s a futile, distant wish. That Kokichi could just take it all back and everything would be okay. But that isn’t the truth. Only a kind lie he tells himself.Saihara-chan’s hands are still cool in temperature, still shaking, and Saihara-chan himself is still so strong. Kokichi wishes he could tell him how strong he is. A part of him wishes he could even tell Saihara-chan how much he loves him, simply because Saihara-chan deserves to know how much he’s cared for, but he can’t. He can’t because it would kill him before he’s ready. He can’t because it would ruin his plan.Kokichi misses the ability to breathe.
(He doesn’t want to stop loving Saihara-chan, even if it hurts.)
And Kokichi knows now that, I love you more than you could ever know would never be able to leave his lips.Because truths are impossible for a liar like him to stomach.(Kokichi lets go, taking the remote with him.)---Kokichi is preparing.He goes in and out of the exisal hanger, gathering necessary materials. The camera. The tripod. His book of plans. Food for Momota-chan. An extra of Momota-chan’s coat. Snacks. Papers. Pillows. Blankets. He collects and collects.In the bathroom Momota-chan is currently coughing up more blood. Kokichi appears in the doorway behind him, wearing a smile.He holds out some goodies: rags for the blood, food, and some tea that will never be as good as Tojou-chan’s was.“Aren’t I so generous?” Kokichi hums to the astronaut.Momota-chan looks like he’s gearing up to punch him again. He must have some measure of self control, though, because he doesn’t end up doing so. Instead, he just grits his teeth.“What makes you think I’m gonna accept this?”“...It’s just meant to make your dying less painful, but I suppose if you don’t want it, you don’t have to have it.” Momota-chan stares at it blankly, so Kokichi continues, “It’s not like I poisoned it or anything. If I wanted you dead, you would be. Besides, what worth is there in poisoning a dying man, anyhow?”That just seems to make Momota-chan angrier. He forms his hands into a fist, and just as he’s probably about to lunge at Kokichi, self control or safety be damned, Kokichi tosses a pillow right at his face. When the makeshift weapon fluffs to the floor, Momota-chan’s face is comically shocked. Kokichi giggles at the sight, “Nishishi-! And since we’re going to be holed up in here, you’ll need some way to rest! Wouldn’t want you to miss your beauty sleep, right?” “What’s your game, Ouma?” “I already told you! I’m just bored of the killing game! Do whatever you want. I don’t really care anymore. I just gotta keep you here so everyone else doesn’t rebel against me and kill me! Harumaki-chan’s really scary, y’know!”Momota-chan is very obviously seething, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he leans down to pick up the pillow.Kokichi throws the blanket over his head.
“...Ouma.”
Kokichi runs out of the room, cackling all the while. Despite everything, that interaction hits so close to home that he can’t help it. It reminds him of days spent piecing together all sorts of pranks. It reminds him of the rambunctious laughter of DICE. Of home. He can’t laugh properly now because of his Hanahaki, but it’s nice either way.---In the exisal hangar, Kokichi is writing. For days, he’s been stuck in this feverish writing craze. The script is now pages and pages long. He’s been planning out everything he can. He’s always known how this plan will end, but he never truly had the means until he saw the hydraulic press.It’s perfect for what needs to be done. It doesn’t make the idea any less excruciating.
<THE GRAND ENTRANCE !!!>

Monokuma: Calls out the exisal.

You, in your own voice: *Laughs.* Looks like I scared you guys. But it’s me, Momota Kaito!

(Note: You’re going to sound better speaking naturally for your own lines than reading mine, so just make sure you get the point of the line across, but say it how you would normally.)

Everyone: Reacts to you being in the exisal

(Note: I’m writing ‘everyone reacts’ to make sure you put space between your lines. A performance is all about timing. And this is one hell of a performance, right?)

You, in your own voice: Things got really crazy, so I ended up hiding in the exisal and dozing off! That’s why I’m so late. Sorry, guys!

Everyone: So, wait, it was actually Momota-chan in the exisal!?

You, in my voice: -Stuuupid! That was just a lie! Ahaha, you guys thought I died? I would never! Noooo way!

(Note: Yes, I do expect you to hold the sounds of the letters I put extra of. I’m sure you can manage, Momota-chan.)

You, in my voice: *Sings “I’m gonna live until I die.”*

Harukawa-chan: Probably threatens me in some way

You, in my voice: Nishishi, you’re making me blush! You’re getting so angry over me.

(Note: If she doesn’t end up threatening me - which is unlikely - skip this line. There’s gonna be a lot of lines like this where you skip them if I guessed the others’ responses wrong.)

Saihara-chan: Is that really you, Ouma-kun?
Kokichi stumbles as he writes Saihara-chan’s part. He turns away from the book in order to cough, watching droplets of blood hit the floor. He wipes them away, thankful for his quick reflexes. It’d be pretty awkward if Momota-chan had to look at his blood while making his grand entrance.
You, in my voice: That’s right, Cracker Jack!
Kokichi sighs, flicking his pencil.
<DIFFERENT ACCUSATIONS>

(Note: Since I have no idea where or what people will be doing during our ‘murder,’ Saihara-chan may come to various conclusions on who to press for information. Whoever it is, you’re going to jump on them as well.)

--KIIBOY--

Saihara-chan: Points as Kiiboy for <reason>

You, in my voice: I can’t believe a hunk of junk would kill poor old Momota-chan! Did you get jealous of us meatbags?

Kiiboy: That’s robophobic!

You, in my voice: But can you argue with Saihara-chan’s reasoning?? Nooo, you can’t! You’re the murderer!

Saihara-chan: That’s not what I’m saying. (He goes on to explain/clarify, probably.)
Kokichi keeps on writing into the night. Different possibilities. Endless conversations.
Yumeno-chan: Arguing that she’s innocent.

You, in my voice: Agree with her. It’ll mess her up and make her (potentially) more suspicious.
Kokichi’s hand hurts. He doesn’t stop.
You, in my voice: I’m actually NOOOOOT the culprit!!!!

Saihara-chan: Then why’d you claim you were?

You, in my voice: The REAL culprit of this case is absolutely terrribbleee, so I’m covering up for them.

Saihara-chan: Why?

You, in my voice: It makes the trials more interesting, obviously!
Kokichi’s head hurts. He doesn’t stop.
You, in your own voice: I actually am alive. I’m just having to act like Ouma. But I have to stay in this exisal because of my injury.

Probably either Shirogane-chan or Yumeno-chan: Wait, so Momota is still alive???

You, in your own voice: Yeah, I am! My sidekick, Shuichi! Prove to everyone that I’m alive!

Saihara-chan: No.

You, in your own voice: Huh?

Saihara-chan: You’re not alive. You’re Ouma, and I can prove it.

You, in your own voice: Shuichi, you don’t believe in me? Well, I’ll set you straight!
Kokichi’s heart hurts. He doesn’t stop. 
You, in my voice: The world’s ended, so this game is the only entertainment we have! But what counts as winning? Besting the other players? No, I want to beat Monokuma! This is my battle, nishishi~!

(Note: END MY LAUGHTER WITH A FLOURISH, MOMOTA KAITO. It sells the illusion better :P !!! )

Saihara-chan: Ignore Ouma-kun. He’s trying to distract us. We need to find the truth.

You, in my voice: How rude! The truth is sooo overrated!!!
Kokichi’s lungs hurt. He doesn’t st-“-Ouma-kun around?”He stops.Kokichi turns towards the bathroom where Momota-chan is being held. He takes creeping steps closer, listening quietly.Saihara-chan and Momota-chan are talking.Kokichi stands in front of the bathroom door. He hears Saihara-chan’s guilt. He hears Momota-chan’s inner thoughts. He witnesses their reunion and subsequent forgiveness.“You’re not alone,” Momota-chan tells him, and Kokichi can hear his smile from his spot in the shade, “You have friends. So, don’t take everything on yourself, okay?”“...Okay. I will. And don’t worry, okay? I’ll be back.”Saihara-chan sounds so… alive.Kokichi’s heart beats in his chest. His head feels like someone bashed a rock against it. His hand trembles in its spot, resting against the door.Saihara-chan is so lively. So distant from him. Kokichi could never make him feel that way, could never make him happy. Not like Akamatsu-chan. Not like Momota-chan, he thinks to himself. Because Akamatsu-chan and Momota-chan are what Saihara-chan wants in a real friend. That’s why he’s close to them. That’s why. That’s it.Not like Harukawa-chan, who Saihara-chan trains with, even when Momota-chan isn’t there. Not like Yumeno-chan, who Saihara-chan makes extra sure to hang out with and comfort after Chabashira-chan and Angie-chan’s deaths. Not like Shirogane-chan, who Saihara-chan listens to, chats with, gives credit to, and remembers to include. Not like Kiibo, who Saihara-chan treats like a real classmate.No, Saihara-chan is friends with more people than the motivators of the group. He’s friends with the group itself. What he’s looking for in a friend are his classmates.
What he’s looking for in a friend is not Ouma Kokichi.
He can accept anyone. He can befriend all.Anyone except Kokichi. All except Kokichi.It’s fair. Completely and utterly fair. He shouldn’t even have to think about it because it makes so much sense. The flower in his lungs disagrees.Kokichi swings the door open.“Momota-chan! I brought your daily sustenance~!”Saihara-chan is long gone. The bathroom is desolate with goodies scattered all around it. Momota-chan is sitting, crossed-legged on top of some of his blankets.The astronaut looks up at him from his spot on the floor. His brows are furrowed, eyes determined. He’s found the will to fight back.(And Kokichi knows the beginning of the end has arrived.)---It burns.Kokichi takes a ragged breath for an entirely different reason than his Hanahaki Syndrome. No, after Momota-chan had attacked him (which Kokichi had expected), Harukawa-chan burst into the hangar on top of an exisal, wielding a crossbow with poison-tipped arrows (which Kokichi had not expected).An assassin’s aim held true, of course, and Harukawa-chan’s arrows of death hit Kokichi straight in the back. So now he’s dying, no longer slowly suffocating on poetic love, but dying in every sense of the word as his body shuts down. And the best part is that it’s absolutely excruciating. Harukawa-chan really had chosen the most painful, slow-acting poison she could find, huh? How grand.Momota-chan keeps glancing up at him while he works on his book. Kokichi had never expected Harukawa-chan’s interference, though a part of him is grateful for it. It’ll make the crime more complicated.He’s going through his script, adding notes and adjustments to Harukawa-chan’s parts. Kokichi expects Saihara-chan to figure out that much, so he has to be prepared for it.Kokichi wants to snap at the man in front of him to keep working on setting up the bathroom scene - they seriously don’t have the time to dally - but he stays silent. Maybe it’s empathy. Maybe it’s exhaustion. Maybe it’s the fact that all of his muscles are on fire as poison courses through his veins.Momota-chan finishes, standing up as he does. That’s Kokichi’s signal to hurry up. He didn’t get as much done as he’d like. Momota-chan is going to have to improvise. But Kokichi thinks he can do it.…Kokichi supposes he’ll trust Momota-chan in this fact. It’s not like he has a choice.He attempts to get up. His muscles flare in disagreement, and his spine is barely functional because of his wounds, so he flops to the floor instead.“You’ll have to drag me,” he says, quietly, to Momota-chan. Earlier he’d poured his heart out. Now he no longer has the strength to do so.Momota-chan nods after a moment, taking a few steps closer.So, Kokichi gets forcefully dragged across the harsh floor, leaving a blood trail. More evidence for Saihara-chan to investigate and potentially figure out the plan. But he won’t. He won’t figure it out because Kokichi made it perfect. He won’t figure it out because Kokichi worked so hard on it. He won’t figure it out because this has to work.It has to. Kokichi’s given up too much for it. It just has to.His lungs burn alongside his muscles at the thoughts inside his head, except, with death approaching so rapidly, he can no longer block them out. And the walls seperating him from his thoughts that he’d so carefully stitched together crumble in seconds. On the verge of the end, Kokichi indulges himself with everything he’s wanted to think, but never could because it would shorten his life expectancy so quickly.(And he thinks: Saihara-chan is the most astounding and perplexing person Kokichi has ever met. He is insanely intelligent, diligent, he remains calm, he is kind, friendly, he moves forward even when he’s hurting, he carries the burdens of solving the murders and sentencing the culprits to death for the group because that’s who he is, and he doesn’t allow it to damper his ability to find life and small joys in even the worst scenarios. He makes friends, despite Akamatsu-chan’s betrayal. He still cares, despite the fact that people he cares about have died, and will probably keep dying. He was - is - kind to everyone, no matter how they’ve treated him.He gave Kokichi a chance, kept coming back over and over again to get to know him, laughing at his jokes and playing his games and indulging in his lies because that’s who he is, and who he is is breathtaking. Kokichi still remembers the feeling of Saihara-chan’s smooth and soft hands in his own. He remembers feeling wanted. Cared for. Considered a fellow classmate, a friend, almost. Kokichi wonders if Saihara-chan ever really thought of him as a friend.)Kokichi coughs, blood trickling from his lips to join the stains around his bleeding wounds.(And Kokichi thinks:He is so incredibly, absolutely, damnedly, in love. He’s liked Saihara-chan since first meeting him, and gradually that morphed into a love so enormous that it’s killing him from the inside. He is in love with every single part of the detective. He will praise the good parts, but Saihara-chan has his flaws, too. He’s great at piecing things together, but he doesn’t think ahead very often. He’d probably be pretty bad at chess. He thinks single mindedly sometimes, is prone to a mob mentality, believes in others easily, and can act hypocritically when it comes to his relationships with truths and lies.And Kokichi loves him.Kokichi has cursed his Hanahaki the entire time. And sure, it’s terrible and painful, but Kokichi was always going to sacrifice his life, anyways. He’s been willing to do so since the time limit murder first got announced and he made himself an easy target. The Hanahaki is killing him, but what isn’t?No, the flowers blooming in his chest are solid proof of his undying love. And they’re tangible proof that Saihara-chan will never love him back. And Kokichi doesn’t even mind.)Momota-chan helps him up the stairs, turning to the hydraulic press as Kokichi sets up the camera, trying not to hyperventilate as death draws closer.(And Kokichi thinks: There are many reasons Kokichi chose death by a hydraulic press. An unknowable victim as an idea of a murder is just one. The second is that Hanahaki Syndrome kills beautifully, and Kokichi does not want nor deserve to die in such a romantic way. No, he is a monster.The third is a bit more complicated. Hanahaki’s way of blooming out of the mouths of its victims is very obvious, and the survivors would look into it and find out Kokichi was in love. And, while they could suspect it was someone on the outside, many of the accounts in the ‘history’ section noted that Hanahaki often faded a bit after the beloved died, though there are exceptions.And, looking at the survivors, it’d be pretty obvious who Kokichi was in love with.And Saihara-chan is a good person with an incredibly guilty conscience. He’d believe it was his fault, as if he could control who he loved. Kokichi doesn’t want him to feel that way, so he will never let the others know of his Hanahaki Syndrome.And Kokichi hates and loves his Hanahaki. Another contradiction.But what is love, if not a contradiction? And what is a contradiction, if not the makeup of lies?And what is Kokichi, if not a liar?)Kokichi has the first part of the video done, and now he’s walking towards Momota-chan, towards the end of his life.And he thinks of Saihara-chan, because he can’t help but not.He coughs, blood dripping from his lips. Momota-chan stops, staring at him, looking both shocked and yet not surprised at all.“Do you have the illness, too?” he asks, “Is- Is it contagious?”“No,” Kokichi tells him, “Our sicknesses are different. Don’t worry. Your precious friends are fine, Momota-chan.”Momota-chan looks conflicted. He shuffles in place, “I noticed you were sick during the third trial, and I saw you cough up blood in one of the days after. Are you sure? The symptoms seem similar. Don’t lie about this, Ouma.”And Kokichi thinks:
Momota-chan noticed I was sick before I noticed he was? Wow.
Momota-chan noticed before Saihara-chan, the literal detective, did. It’s sort of funny.Though, to be fair, Momota-chan would’ve been more alert of random coughs than anyone else would be.Kokichi gags, bending down to allow a hydrangea bundle of whites and purples the colour of his hair fall from his mouth. 
White petals now, too. Huh.
When he looks back up at Momota-chan, the man is wide-eyed in horror. Kokichi supposes the Hanahaki answered his question on its own.“What was that? ” Momota-chan shouts, still staring at the flowers, as if they’re going to disappear when he blinks.“I’ll tell you what it is,” Kokichi murmurs, “If you promise not to tell anyone else about it.”“I promise,” Momota-chan answers immediately, “I won’t go back on my word. Tell me what it is.”And Kokichi believes him. Maybe it’s because Momota-chan is an idiot who wouldn’t lie about something like this. Maybe it’s because the man’s stupidity is finally rubbing off on him. Who knows, truly?“It’s called Hanahaki Syndrome. It’s nicknamed, ‘The Disease of Unrequited Love.’”“Disease of unrequited love?” he echoes, face pinched, eyebrows furrowed, obviously confused. “But, you…”  And then he pales, eyes somehow bugging wider from their previous position, “You…”And Kokichi thinks, as always, of Saihara-chan. His lungs ruffle angrily at those thoughts, forcing him to bring up another bundle of pink and Saihara-chan blue flowers. Momota-chan watches it fall to the floor, mouth hanging open as it clicks. Even an idiot couldn’t misplace that specific shade of blue.“If it brings you any solace, I was probably going to die today or tomorrow without your interference,” Kokichi says dryly.It obviously does not make Momota-chan feel any better.The breaths Kokichi takes in are so shallow and weak that he can’t get air properly anymore. There are flowers in his throat and poison in his system and a goal in his mind that he will do anything for, and the main fixture of this plan is in front of him; a steel death, awaiting his arrival.He picks up the two bundles and then walks past Momota-chan, not turning back to look even when he can hear the man’s shaky breathing, like he’s the one about to die.Kokichi lays down on the press. He can feel the cold through Momota-chan’s space jacket, cruelly reminding him of Saihara-chan. It’s different. It’s a bitter sort of cold, nothing like the cool tones of a blue-haired detective. And Kokichi gags up more blood and more flowers. The bundles are either combinations of white and purple or a mixture of pink and blue. There are no flowers with purple and blue together, nor white and pink.Momota-chan begins, inhaling with a tremble in his voice that he’s desperately trying to hide, “I don’t forgive you for everything you’ve done to us. And don’t think I understand half of the shit you did, either. I still don’t, even if you explained some of it. Still, I…”Kokichi is, for once, silent. He stares blankly at the press, morbidly wondering how it will look when it crushes him. He is trembling from the lack of oxygen. He is trembling from the poison.(He is trembling from the fear.)“You don’t deserve to die,” Momota-chan says firmly, “And I really am sorry it all turned out this way, Ouma.”Kokichi blinks, whispering, “I am, too.”He’s unsure if Momota-chan even heard it. The sorrowful, yet angry expression on his face says he did. The astronaut grips the railing tightly, gritting his teeth once again. He bends over, eyes flicking towards Kokichi, hands hovering above the button that will sentence him to death and the button that will make sure it’s all recorded.Always an actor, putting on a show. Always another performance. Even when he no longer has the energy to continue to act, the show must go on.“...He really did care about you, you know. He talked about you. Tried to get us to give you more chances.” Kokichi’s eyes burn. “He… believed in you, Ouma.” You disappointed him goes unsaid, but Kokichi hears it anyways.That agony that pours in from that revelation breaks the dam.Immediately, Kokichi can no longer breathe. Blood and flowers pour from his throat, still matched up in white-purple and blue-pink. They splatter all over the press and his clothes and his mouth.Momota-chan realises that he’s dying, so he presses both of the buttons. The press comes down agonisingly slowly and way too quickly at the same time.The poison kicks in, too, and soon Kokichi’s body spasms in the anticipation of death.He is dying for another performance, wearing the oh-so loved hero Momota-chan’s coat draped around his shoulders. Another mask to wear to the grave, set neatly beside his ringleader act. It is a fitting death for a liar.He is dying brutally, crushed and smashed into bloody, gory bits. His bones broken in agony, his skin pushed until all that’s left is blood, blood, blood and a legacy for Momota-chan to bear.It is a fitting death for a monster.Kokichi is dying in three different ways.There is the poison from the arrows of a crossbow that an assassin had wielded, and it was created from the hatred she harbours for him. There are the flowers growing in his lungs, fed by the pain in his heart, born from his love. There is the press above him, cold and so terribly real, closing in to take his life.And it is his hope.To succeed. For his friends to survive.And dying in three different ways is so overkill, isn’t it? So dramatic and theatrical and, truly, a fitting death for an Ultimate Supreme Leader.(Kokichi’s nose breaks as the press hits, his arms flail in panic and pain, and a bundle, coated in whites, pinks, blues, and purples, falls from his lips to the press to the floor.)It is fitting for Ouma Kokichi.---It really is a brutal scene.The hydraulic press is spilling seemingly endless amounts of blood. Momota-kun’s sleeve is caught inside, a hole in his sleeve - one that tells a story. There is a bloody trail from the bathroom to the press. Inside the bathroom is a bottle of something related to poison, three bloody arrows, and a crossbow.Shuichi has investigated many bodies now, but this scene still makes him vaguely ill. Especially since Harukawa-san is so adamant that Momota-kun is under the press, when they truly don’t know. It could be either of the people trapped inside, or maybe even something else?Wouldn’t that be cool? If no one else was dead, and it was another corpse, re-used somehow. But the body discovery announcement wouldn’t have gone off otherwise.Shuichi doesn’t want either of them to be dead, which is odd, given all that Ouma-kun has done. Shuichi still believes there’s something else there. Ouma-kun felt so much deeper than whatever he showed after the fourth trial, but what does Shuichi know? He doesn’t get people. Not like Ouma-kun does. Did?He just tries his best. He’s not sure if that’s been working out, but he’s still alive. That’s got to count for something.Shuichi doesn’t really want to get close to the press, given the massive bloody pool around it, but he is a detective, both physically and at heart. He loves his talent, and he sort of hates it, too. He enjoys being a detective, but he didn’t expect to have to use it in such an excruciating way.A contradiction, he supposes.Shuichi glances around the hydraulic press’ area, looking for more. He talks with Kiibo and learns the cord has been severed, and that’s both useful and not. As evidence usually is.And that’s when he notices something odd. Amidst the blood, there’s a flash of something… purple?Shuichi leans down, peeling it away from the pool with a nauseous look. He brushes off the blood from whatever he’s found and…It’s a petal.A petal? What’s a petal doing in the exisal hangar?He glances around. Hm. A petal is likely irrelevant to this case - Shuichi can’t think of any world where Ouma-kun or Momota-kun would’ve brought in petals, of all things - but maybe it’s useful for another mystery? Well, he supposes he’ll keep it. Just in case.It is, after all, the exact same shade as Ouma-kun’s eyes. It brings a small smile to Shuichi’s face that is quickly dampened by why he found it, and what it was covered in. For some reason, a petal was by the hydraulic press after the murder. Since if it was before, it would’ve been drenched in blood. Always another mystery for the detective, huh?Shuichi pockets the petal, thinking of Momota-kun and Ouma-kun and wondering what happened last night. He remembers Momota-kun’s speeches and training sessions, the way being the man’s friend brought Shuichi confidence and warmth and something so real to help push away the unfeeling grief that had set in after Akamatsu-san’s death.He remembers their fight during the fourth trial, the anger and pain Momota-kun had been feeling, how Shuichi was forced to ignore him instead of helping like the other had done so for him. He remembers Momota-kun ignoring him, and yet still defending him and the group because he cares. He remembers them making up through that very bathroom’s window, and hopes that wasn’t the last time he’ll see the astronaut. He remembers Ouma-kun’s lies and games, the way being around him was invigorating and infuriating, how he could turn a conversation around and run circles around Shuichi’s mind. He remembers the smile he’d worn, staring at Shuichi after their ‘final event.’ He remembers the warmth that had flowed through him at Ouma-kun’s laughter. It had been a different laugh than his chaotic giggles and manic cackles; it was just laughter. It was so real. He remembers the way Ouma-kun’s pale, soft hands had felt in his. How, even when wearing the look of something inhuman, laughing about the fact the world had ended, Ouma-kun’s hands were still ever-so warm, and ever-so honest.Shuichi doesn’t trust in a chance for Ouma-kun’s goodness, but he hopes. But he believes, almost. He wishes. He never got a chance to just sit the liar down and talk to him about it - it all went too fast, and then Ouma-kun ran off and disappeared. He just needs a chance to try and pull down the liar’s walls, to get to know him. Shuichi wants to. He wants to, truly. Being around him was… something exhilarating. It embarrasses him. It excites him, thinking of what Ouma-kun will say next. He feels almost weightless around the other. He can forget about the killing game momentarily, drawing cards and drinking tea and playing rock-paper-scissors with a childish, beaming prankster that keeps looking at him with so much warmth in his eyes.Shuichi pauses in front of the red exisal, staring at it, thinking.And he desperately hopes that the ‘final event’ wasn’t really their final event.---(And through the metal mask Ouma had asked him to wear, wielding a book of scripts, Momota Kaito mourns for the people he loves and the person he thought he hated.)