23 Another Step For Hope

"Ah… Too bad I didn't catch them in the act. I am sure the Kirumi and Gonta thing was just an act. It was definitely a cover-up just to distract our focus from Kaito and Maki." Kokichi was spacing out while he laid on the grass under a tree's shadow. "Surely next time! I will get them and there's not going to be any maid there to save them. Even though I really was surprised by Kirumi and Gonta but, exposing that to everyone else didn't satisfy me as Kaito and Maki would've done." Kokichi started to formulate his next master plan.

"Hey…!" A voice called out to him, but he just ignored it and kept thinking.

"Now maybe if I use Shuichi and Kaede this could come out really good." Kokichi was elaborating his next plan out loud.

"Hey!" The voice calling out to him grew louder.

"Maybe if I can trick them to-"

"I'm talking to you! You little shit!" Kokichi finally noticed the screams calling out to him. He turned his head from the ground to find a white-haired guy, with a suit and an eye patch. "You think being disrespectful is funny you little fucker?!" Said Fuyuhiko as he unleashed all of his anger on his student. Not the best behavior for a teacher.

Their tutoring session had already started thirty minutes ago. As soon as this happened Kokichi ran off to wherever he felt like, this clearly pissed Fuyuhiko off.

"Next time you try and run away from me I will tie you up to a chair and break your legs. Understand?" Fuyuhiko warned Kokichi while a menacing aura exuded from his body.

Fuyuhiko sat down on the grass a couple of meters away from Kokichi, he laid his back against the tree.

"So, what do you want to talk about? Spit it out already" Fuyuhiko asked with not a small hint of patience and hostility.

"Huuh? Why do I have to tell you? I don't like you" Kokichi answered in the most burlesque way possible, which rubbed Fuyuhiko off in all the wrong places.

"LISTEN HERE YOU FUCK!" Fuyuhiko immediately replied aggressively as he hit the ground with his closed fist, "I'm your tutor you have to-"

"Hey, hey, Fuyuhiko I can hear your screams all the way from the island three"

The Yakuza was suddenly interrupted by a tall person, wearing a green long jacket, white pale skin, and white hair. It looks as if he was seriously ill. His skin was incredibly white as pale as a bedsheet.

"Oh! We haven't been introduced, well it's not that I'm worth the while. I'm the lowest of the low compared to all of you" The pale guy exclaimed as he walked closer to them. Kokichi sat up as he found interest in this guy's words.

"There you go again with your self disdain, could you give it a break?" Fuyuhiko answered the new incomer.

"Oh, I'm sorry I bothered you. Trash like me should not even speak." The pale guy replied to Fuyuhiko.

"And there you go again" The pale guy completely ignored Fuyuhiko's comment. He kept treating himself with contempt and Kokichi found this really interesting.

"By the way Fuyuhiko, would you mind if I take your place today. I see you're having a hard time with him, maybe I can help" Fuyuhiko seemed relieved when he heard this.

"It's all yours. I'm heading back right now, good luck" Fuyuhiko stood up and walked away from the spot.

"Haha, Luck is something I definitely don't need" The pale guy muttered to himself as he sat in the ground right in front of Kokichi. "It is amazing to finally meet you Oma-kun" Nagito smiled and his eyes brimmed with excitement. "My name is Nagito Komaeda, I was formerly known as the Ultimate Lucky Student" Kokichi stared back at him with amazement.

"Wow! Ultimate Luck? That is an amazing talent!" Nagito felt some flattery, but he immediately ceased those feelings.

"Believe it or not it's just a useless talent for a worthless person" Kokichi's curiosity started to kick in even more.

"Tell me Komaeda-senpai" Kokichi's curiosity started to build up, towards this ill-looking person.

Nagito quickly interrupted him "Please call me Nagito, I don't deserve any honorifics"

"Wow, how much can you despise yourself?" Kokichi thought, surprised by Nagito's attitude. "Why were you looking forward to meeting me out of everyone?" Kokichi asked Nagito.

"I saw you all inside Danganronpa, and your hope was much brighter than anyone else's" Kokichi cocked his head sideways in confusion. "Actually, I wanted to make sure all of you brimmed with a hope that could overcome any despair!" As soon as Kokichi heard this, his mouth curled upwards in an evil grin.

"So, you were the tutor that proposed continuing the Danganronpa simulation, weren't you?" Kokichi sorted and fit the pieces together perfectly.

"Correct, that was me" Kokichi expected some denial, resistance, or even an apologetic tone in Nagito's response. But he received quite the contrary treatment, a happy, amazed, and twisted answer. He straight up accepted putting everyone through that hell.

"Partly I am kind of sorry to put you through all of that, but it was necessary for the name of hope" Kokichi could not understand where he was coming from.

"Hope…, huh" Kokichi lowly sighted. "What is hope Nagito? How did you notice it in me?" Kokichi asked in a more serious tone, but Nagito's expression remained unchanged. His twisted smile didn't fade for a single second.

"You really don't know? Even though you became an embodiment of hope to your fellow classmates?" Kokichi didn't quite grasp the idea Nagito was trying to convey.

"What do you mean?" Kokichi asked in bewilderment.

"You sacrifice yourself to help everyone else, though your plan didn't come out as you planned. Your death gave hope to Shuichi and the others to move on and reveal the truth. Everyone's death inspired them to continue and unravel the truth, but yours especially did just as Kaede's, because you died for everyone's sake" Kokichi's eyes opened up and an obviously fake smile rose in his face.

"Wow! You really think so Nagito? Those could've never moved on without me. They're just hopeless" Said Kokichi with a fake excitement tone.

"Back in the day, I did something just like that, but I am just a stepping stone to reach hope. I gave my life away to attain the purest hope" Nagito's face brimmed with twisted happiness as he reminisced the past.

But suddenly his eyes change, they looked darker than usual and his voice grew serious as he spoke. "And you were a stepping stone for hope as well" Nagito looked deep into Kokichi's eyes. "You certainly aren't trash like me, but you were a step for your friend's hope" His smile grew twisted and everything about him seemed different, he oozed with a whole different aura and personality. "That's what I was looking for when I proposed continuing the simulation, and I found it. Ke he he" Nagito's laugh was terrifying as if all the misfortune everyone went through was a mere joke for him.

Kokichi's teeth clenched in anger, "Everyone was just a puppet for me. I controlled everything, what they did, what they thought. I misguided everyone in the class trials just to my entertainment. And my death was nothing more, but one of my plans to confuse everyone. There was no more to it." Kokichi crossed his arms and looked away, as his lips revealed the worst lie, he could've ever told.

"If that makes you feel better, then think about it that way as long as you want," Nagito said as he stood up from the ground. "But if you keep it that way it'll be harder to accept" He stared at Kokichi with cold eyes.

"Well then! It was great chatting with you. Today's session is over" Nagito's attitude went back to normal or could that even be considered as normal. He walked away from Kokichi leaving him at the shadow of the tree, alone.

"Tch… What would he know…" Kokichi muttered to himself.