Joker's Wild

I had laundry to do the next morning, so I took my breakfast into the Laundry Room. Kirumi and Hina had baked donuts for everyone, of various types. I grabbed several Long John donuts with chocolate icing on top, then spent the rest of my early morning washing, drying, and hanging up my clothes.

After lunch, which consisted of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, courtesy of Kirumi, Hina, and Akane, I visited the Monoku-Machine and swiped my E-Handbook twice. I received a bottle labeled "Non-Alcoholic Drink of Immortality" and a book called "Another Hope". Scratching my head, I pocketed both items and decided that I needed to get to the bottom of whatever Kokichi and Nagito were up to. I debated for a while on whether I should reach out to Kokichi, or Nagito, first.

I needed to find Kokichi first. I decided to check the Courtyard, since that is where he seemed to be the most focused.

Sure enough, I found Kokichi poking around the fountain. Taking a deep breath, I decided to approach him, and ask him directly about his so-called "plan".

"So, Kokichi..." I started, still considering how to best approach him.

Kokichi turned around to face me. "So, you've come to talk to me, Shurinku? You must be either very brave, or very bored!"

I shook my head. "Nope, I actually wanted to ask you about this so-called 'plan' of yours. What, exactly, are you trying to pull here?"

Kokichi grinned slyly. "Now, what kind of Ultimate Supreme Leader would I be if I told you that?"

I took a deep breath, deciding that I needed to be more subtle with Kokichi. "I've been talking with Nagito, I'm sure you know."

Kokichi nodded. "Of course I know! I may be the mastermind, after-"

I cut him off. "Don't feed me that garbage! I know you're not the mastermind, but I also know you're trying to figure out who it is. Maybe I can be of assistance, if that's the case?"

Kokichi thought for several moments, then nodded. "Sure, but first, we must have a picnic here! My organization requires a break to increase productivity. We usually do it in the afternoon, but I can make an exception for you today!"

I had the feeling that Kokichi either wasn't taking me seriously, or was having fun at my expense. Either way, I decided to indulge him for a little bit.

"OK, fine, what are we gonna have on this picnic?" I asked, perhaps against my better judgement.

Kokichi shrugged. "How should I know? You're in charge of the food!"

Yep, as I suspected, Kokichi was just toying with me. Feeling mildly annoyed, I tried to steer him back to my original subject.

"So, anyway, have you discovered anything new or interesting while working with Nagito?" I asked, though at this point, I didn't really expect a straight answer from Kokichi anymore.

Kokichi put a finger up to his chin, thoughtfully. "Well, my organization is a pacifist group. We actually hate killing and murder. Yet, Nagito is willing to die so everyone can leave!"

I had heard something to that effect before, but decided to let Kokichi keep talking.

"So me and Nagito made an agreement. At the stroke of midnight tonight, we're gonna let Monokuma eat Nagito, so we can all go free!" Kokichi grinned eagerly.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I then opened them and stared directly into Kokichi's eyes. "That's another lie, isn't it..." I didn't even TRY to make it into a question.

"Nee-heehee!" Kokichi laughed, his fingers running through his hair before resting both hands behind his head. "Well, the second half was a lie. Me and Nagito ARE working together, though. I'm not lying about that, even if I am a liar."

Deciding that I had already wasted too much time talking to Kokichi, I decided to take my leave. I handed him the bottle of Non-Alcoholic Drink of Immortality, figuring that a liar could use something that was obviously a lie.

Kokichi took the bottle from me and read the label. "Woah! This is nice! I always wanted something like this! You have pretty good taste, Shuri!" He then looked up at me. "By the way, that's not a lie."

I nodded, still frustrated with my lack of progress, but not wanting to come across the wrong way with Kokichi, then took my leave of him, looking for Nagito next.

I didn't see him anywhere on the first floor, so I decided to check the second floor next. After finding the classrooms empty as ever, I opened the door to the Biology Room. There, I found Nagito, looking at a hanging skeleton model.

Not wanting to startle him, I called out to him from the doorway. Nagito waved and greeted me, and we both sat down at student's desks, next to each other.

"Well, I just got done talking to Kokichi, and I was wondering if you had any insight into what Kokichi's trying to do..." I figured I'd just be straightforward with Nagito, as he tended to be more of the submissive type. Not as much as Mikan, but perhaps on par with Kirumi, from my assessment.

Nagito shook his head, gazing down. "Nah, scum like me could never know something like that."

"But you DO know he's planning something, though, right?" I cocked my head at him.

Nagito lowered his voice, eyeing the security camera cautiously. "Yeah. He says he has a plan to uncover the true mastermind of this place, and get everybody out. I'm sure it's a plan worthy only of the Ultimate Supreme Leader himself! It fills me with hope just to think about it!" Nagito's eyes grew wide, almost crazily wide, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

"So you know he's plotting something, a way to get everyone out of here, but you don't know the details then..."

Nagito nodded, keeping his voice down still. "That's right. I'm sorry, that trash like me isn't even useful enough to answer your questions, but I'm not hiding anything from you."

I nodded, figuring Nagito wasn't really the lying type that Kokichi is, and decided to change the subject. "Ok, fine. Anyway, what have YOU been up to lately? Anything interesting?"

Nagito smiled and nodded, lifting his head up and speaking up again. "I spend a lot of time in the Game Room. Hina sometimes plays Pool, though the name of the game confuses her a bit. She's not very good at darts, either, but she tries. Ah, also Kirumi plays pool and poker with me, too. She's really good, but my luck usually wins out."

I nodded, content with his answer. "I'm glad the others are interacting with you in a fun way. With your self-degrading demeanor, I was worried everyone was ignoring or picking on you. I'm glad that's not the case, though." I smiled and nodded.

Nagito smiled back. "For someone like me to receive your attention and concern...I don't deserve your precious time, but the fact that you spend it on me anyway makes me happy."

I wasn't really sure how to respond to that comment, but the fact that Nagito seemed happy with my company was good enough for me. Feeling the conversation was reaching its end, I decided to hand him the book I got from the Monoku-Machine, "Another Hope".

"I got this from the Monoku-Machine this morning, and the title made me think of you. I don''t know if the book itself is any good or not, but I figured if anyone would appreciate it, you would."

Nagito's eyes grew wide as he read the title. "Another Hope..." He then nodded in approval and met his gaze to mine. "Is it really...ok to accept this? The title is quite interesting. Thanks, Shurinku. I'll take good care of it!"

Pleased with his reaction, I took my leave of Nagito. I spent the rest of my day at the batting cages, hitting baseballs the rest of the afternoon, before heading down to the Dining Hall for dinner.

Kirumi made sirloin steaks, with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and honey rolls. I had my steak served medium-rare, as medium tends to be too dry for my liking. The steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes were really good, as I expected, but the honey rolls were incredible! Soft and filled with honey flavor, but not so sticky that it's hard to eat. Kirumi really has this down to an art, I thought to myself. Hina, Akane, Mikan, and Peko seemed to be discussing something, but I couldn't hear what, as I was on the other end of the table, but they seemed excited about it.

To my surprise, their discussion today would turn out to be interesting for all of us tomorrow.