Kokichi awoke in a cold sweat, immediately grabbing for his neck like he remembered being strangled.

Because he had.

With his and Daisuke's hands close on his neck, Daisuke snapped out and took Kokichi's hand in his, running his thumb in slow circles on his palm.

Kokichi smirked. ' What, trying to cheer me up? ' he tapped into Daisuke's palm.

' Not just you ,' he replied.

The two of them were then met with the loudest, most awkward gurgling noise.

' We should get breakfast, I don't think I ate yesterday ,' Kokichi noted. ' I could probably eat a… '

Kokichi stopped communicating, and just sat up, blank eyed, staring at the far wall.

' Kirumi is gone .' Kokichi swallowed bile.

' Yeah, yeah, she is .'

'I don't know how to cook. And… I don't trust anyone else making my food. Not anymore .'

' What about me ?'

' Well yeah, but what are you going to do with just a hand? Tell me step by step? Last I checked, while you're talking, you can't even hold a knife. Unless …'

Kokichi held Daisuke's hand in his, thinking.

' Unless I try something really, really stupid .'

The moment the morning announcement went off, Kokichi pushed open the doors to the kitchen. He had a good thirty or forty-minute head start on his classmates just waking up, which was good.

He wanted the kitchen to himself for as long as possible.

' Don't forget, it's a loaner ,' Kokichi tapped into his palm, before crossing his arms and leaning on the kitchen countertop. ' Everything but my head, because, by your own words, you suck at talking .'

And with that, Kokichi started to let his whole body go slack.

It hurt, like pins and needles, or like a limb falling asleep, as his muscles spasmed. For a moment, Kokichi wondered if the searing pain would stop, if he'd made a bad decision.

But then the pain reduced, down to a dull throb, and his body shook out his arms and cracked its neck.

' Don't expect fine dining ,' Daisuke tapped. ' And if you're going to keep my head, don't get distracted. Watch what I'm doing or I can't see .'

For the first time Kokichi understood how Daisuke felt, being dragged around the kitchen as his body expertly set a rice cooker and began making tamagoyaki.

He had a quiet few moments to-

Flick.

Daisuke flicked his left middle finger on the back of his right hand, hard.

Right. Kokichi was only controlling their head but that meant he needed to pay attention and watch what Daisuke was doing, especially since he was trying to cut cubes of tofu.

And, up until now, Daisuke had just been operating their dominant hand, and yet, Kokichi hadn't needed to tell him to do anything. It was like, he'd reach for something and his hand would just finish the thought. Which meant that Daisuke was constantly having to pay attention to the fact that he had all his senses and no control, until he needed to do one minute thing for them both, or just for Kokichi.

A prod to go brush their teeth, a nudge to eat something, dammit, a reminder that he was doing okay.

The ghost had guts.

He finished, inhaled, and ran back to the dorms in about twenty minutes, leaving behind a wake of dirty dishes and a crusted rice cooker, for reasons that Kokichi didn't understand. The rest of the kids were slowly making their way to the dining hall, the fact that no food awaited them far away.

He knew none of them would have taken his cooking if he'd offered it, anyway.

Daisuke splashed water on their face and the mirror faded off. Maybe his makeup was running, from washing his face after breakfast, so, wh-

Because Daisuke reached for the trick drawer, powdered, and slammed it shut.

And suddenly, for a brief moment before he let his hand slacken to give Daisuke an outlet, Kokichi was very much alone.

' I cook, you clean ,' Daisuke commanded.

"Hey, sad sacks," Kokichi ordered, to ten other faces in the dining hall, upset, and probably starving. When had they last had anything to eat? The day before had been a whirlwind of investigation, trial, and pained sleep.

"What now, Kokichi?"

"I'm taking us up to Murder-chan's lab. All of us."

Kaito glared at him. "What, so you can gloat? Mister Right?"

Kokichi took a deep breath, and loosened his kerchief, showing off his bare neck. The ointment K1-b0 had given him the night before had reduced the swelling and pain, but it was pointedly as purple as his hair.

"Any other questions?" he asked sharply, before sliding on his smiling face like a mask.

Kokichi slid the cafeteria door open with a slam on its runner, and was actually surprised to discover the rest of the kids follow him up the stairs without a peep.

Maki's blood-red door was unlocked, and unbarred, with everything neat and organized. Now, Kokichi finally had a chance to get a proper look at the room without worrying that Maki would come. After the previous night's trial, she'd holed herself up in the only space she really could without worry- her own dorm room, as it locked.

Not that she knew he could pick the lock if needed.

The armory was metal and deep red walls, like something out of a superhero movie- the vigilante hero, this time, to contrast Kokichi's own supervillain lair. One far wall was a blinding white, lined with targets, a few things embedded in them.

Arrows. Weird. What kind of assassin uses arrows, nowadays? Kokichi expected poisons for their stealth factor, especially since there was no chem lab in sight, maybe a gun. Unless they were hidden somewhere in the room, it was a strange choice of tools.

"Look, I don't care how any of you feel about her," Kaito finally articulated, snapping Kokichi back to reality. "I'll be responsible for her. I mean, she did fly off the handle last night, but she hasn't killed anyone. She's just locked herself up. Hopefully that stands for somethin' y'know?"

And with that, he was gone. Kokichi sighed. Kaito was right, bruised neck be damned. She was just acting as rationally as she could, given the circumstances, something Kokichi could respect. He was doing the same.

Commotion in the second-floor hall, from the remaining three cubs handing out new trinkets to explore the school to the remaining ten- Kaito having long run down the hall. Of course, another one of the bears went splat along with Kirumi- Daisuke said there were usually five murders before a finale.

They weren't just their wardens, but a timer .

Daisuke's fingers twitched irritably, and Kokichi discreetly moved his arm to his side, letting Daisuke slip the hand in his pants pocket.

' Ko, we are fucked .'

' Fucked how ?'

' Thousand yen says one of these things opens the next floor up .'

' Why's that a problem? You said it was a creepy fake-haunted thing with a big computer room, and Kore's and Angie's labs, yeah?'

' Angie's lab is the only room other than the dorms with a lock. And if it's like last case where the staff are pushing specific people's buttons …'

' They're going to try to get us to murder someone… or frame us .'

"Hello partner ," Kokichi cooed, slinging an arm around Shuichi's waist after he'd forcibly paired himself off with the detective, slightly less meek as he was gaining confidence from the trials and investigations. "Are you ready to exploooore our feelings?"

Shuichi just looked exasperated, and very cautiously wiggled out of Kokichi's (deliberately loose) grip. He looked a bit like he wanted to bolt away, be with anyone else.

"Look, I'm not going to mince words," he sighed. "You did a good job in the trials, but you're just…"

"Incredible?" Kokichi asked, grinning. "Brilliant? Stupendous?"

"Frustrating," Shuichi muttered under his breath.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you," Kokichi replied, shoving his left pinky in an ear in an exaggerated display of cleaning them out, before reaching out with his right arm to throw his little ghostie a bone.

Daisuke understood; he gleefully grabbed Shuichi's left hand, and off they ran, up the stairs.

"Spooooooopy," Kokichi rattled in a low tone, wiggling his nose at the reek of incense on the ghostly floor. If he hadn't accidentally set himself off from coffee and incense when they'd first arrived, this floor sure as hell would have woken up Daisuke. He felt his control over their body weaken a little, but Daisuke didn't take the opportunity to wrest control, quite the opposite. His little ghost merely felt elated, lightly pepping them both up.

Weird kid .

"Let go , Ouma-san," Shuichi snapped quietly, taking away his hand, storming towards a door.

"Some people are no fun," Kokichi whined, dejectedly shoving hands in pockets, as the detective turned a corner.

Kokichi followed, but Shuichi was already gone, likely into the room that was a lab.

'Kore,' Daisuke supplied, poking his thigh through the fabric of the pocket.

'C'mon, you never get to talk to your sweetums, let's go crash a party,' Kokichi replied, running into the room with the express purpose of causing a massive scene.

"Shinguji-chan is scaaaary…" Kokichi whined aloud as he and Shuichi left the amazing library that was Korekiyo's study.

All Kokichi had done was mess with a replica katana in the room, and bam, Korekiyo went from zero to attempted murder in no time flat.

It was all just props, after all. Very good ones, in some cases, but props nonetheless.

Kokichi wondered if that actually extended to the weapons hanging up on the rack in Maki's lab, too. He didn't have a chance to take anything down, but they didn't look like foam or plastic.

Kokichi kicked around, finding some empty rooms. Worthless . No tricks, as he could see from a cursory glance. He wandered the floor a bit more, finding Shuichi looking puzzled at a room.

"Looks like a lab," he thought he heard the taller boy mutter.

Maybe this would be another chance to get closer to the blue-haired kid. For Daisuke's sake, right? Just Daisuke.

Why did his own heart need to flutter a little too? Or was all of it his alone? This was the absolute worst place and time to allow something stupid to happen. Daisuke had promised Ai to look out for her; Kokichi swore no more deaths. They needed to keep their head on straight if they wanted to do either, or both.

Kokichi bit his lip again. He'd consider talking to Shuichi about… that… when they both escaped.

Not if.

When.

"What can I do ya for, Stick-up-your-ass-chan?"

"Locked. Doesn't make sense. None of the other labs are, especially ones that should be, like Maki's."

"Step aside, my time has come to shine!" Kokichi replied with a smirk and flourish, pulling his picks from God-knew-where.

"You can… pick locks?" Shuichi asked incredulously. "Not exactly Supreme Le-"

The door flung open from the inside, and the aura changed drastically. Gone were the horror blood splatters and oppressive darkness of the halls outside, replaced with a bright, friendly art room positively stuffed with supplies- giant canvas, wax, clay, and what Kokichi could only assume were very expensive paints and tools.

"Ahahahahahaha! Angie has found her lab!" Angie exclaimed, ushering the boys in.

"Why is your lab locked?" Shuichi asked, confused, as he stepped inside, relieved to be in a normal room for a change.

"Angie works best in peace and quiet! This room couldn't be more perfect! All Angie's favorite tools and supplies are here, too!"

Shuichi frowned. "It's like this school… was made specifically for us…"

Kokichi snorted. Damn straight it was .

Kokichi was coming back from the warehouse, a case of juiceboxes for his room under arm when Shuichi fled by him, pale as a sheet. At least he wasn't screaming for help, just running away from… something. And the only things in the direction he was running from was… the back atrium, where the stupid Death Road thing resided, and Miu's lab.

Shuichi probably just walked in on Miu masturbating to one of her inventions- actually. She owed him a vacuum. He should probably check, just in case there wasn't another dead body in her lab.

As soon as Shuichi was out of sight, Kokichi put the case down on the grass and trotted over to the garage.

It didn't sound like masturbating at all.

It sounded like full on pornographic sex.

Kokichi's face reddened all the way to the ears.

"K1-b0, I know you're reeeeeaaaally enjoying this, but you need to be still for me, that's right…" he heard Miu croon, through the smoked-out glass of the lab windows.

"AAAaAAaAaA…" K1-b0 moaned, way more salaciously than Kokichi ever wanted to hear. He wasn't going to get that sound out of his head for… probably ever.

"I… K1-b0," Miu muttered. "Wait, hang up, someone's at my door."

Kokichi heard a shuffling of heels on concrete and made an attempt to bolt, but Miu had the doors open with a bang so loud Kokichi nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Oh, no you don't, you little half-birth," she screeched. "You don't get to sit at the door jerking off to this. Get your twink ass in here, it's time for a threesome."

Kokichi froze. Oh no .

"Iruma-san finally convinced me to get a tune-up," K1-b0 clarified, loudly, his screaming ceased. "I apologize for the noise, she is incredibly thorough but simultaneously tickling me for reasons I do not comprehend."

Kokichi started cackling.

"Fine," he said, defeated, as he slunk out of the sharp midday sun and into Miu's dark neon-lit lab.

"You caused this," Miu said, sweeping over a naked K1-b0 on her bench, his collar detached on a side table and his armor plates strewn on the floor. His fabric suit was nowhere to be found.

A large dish filled with glass shards sat precariously on the edge of that side table.

"Technically Gokuhara-chan was-"

"Following your orders, asswipe." Miu brandished a pair of tongs, before passing them to Kokichi. "And according to K1-b0 here, you seem to know what you're doing with him. Why he trusts you of all people is beyond me."

"I don't," K1-b0 squeaked from the workbench. "But I was nervous to have you touch me more. I don't want to be changed and I was worried you'd start taking me apart."

"Oh," Miu said, rounding out her mouth and moving closer- within a centimeter or so- of K1-b0, chest heaving over his exposed intricately clockwork-patterned body plates. "But I promise to put you back together when I'm done. Pretty pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

She traced a finger down his neck and to his chestplate, eliciting an inhuman howl.

Finally, she froze her finger, her fingernail pressed into his filigree, and K1-b0 came back to his senses. "Iruma-san, that was entirely inappropriate," he whined quietly.

She jumped back, nervous, and about to cry. Kokichi stepped in. "Yeah, well, rustbucket, did'ja like it?"

"Th- that's robophobic and you know it, Ouma-san!" K1-b0 shouted, snapping upright and glaring at Kokichi, gripping the edge of the bench.

"Not the point, did you like it ?" Kokichi repeated.

"I…" K1-b0 calmed down, his shoulder plates separating a little as he de-escalated. "It doesn't matter. I can't leave Iruma-san's lab like this," he added, spreading his arms to show off his body under his armor, tarnished and still slightly pink from Ryoma's and fish guts. "I smell like rotten fish and I'll get dust inside me without my suit on, which Iruma-san has kindly put in the wash."

"You didn't answer my question," Kokichi prodded further, side eyeing a nerve-wracked Miu, sitting, shaking a little on the floor.

" Yes ," K1-b0 snapped. "Yes, I like Iruma-san touching me. It feels good. Are you happy now, Kokichi? Iruma-san may be vulgar, but she knows what she's doing," he added, flailing to the dish full of shards.

"Y-you do?" Miu asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "I… I'm really doing… doing okay?"

"Yes," K1-b0 replied with a smile. "You're a lot more… um… thorough than the Professor is."

"Thorough…" Miu said with a thousand-yard stare. "K1-b0 calls me thorough…"

"Yeah, so don't leave him hanging there with blue balls," Kokichi said with a massive smirk. "Finish him off already."

K1-b0 turned red, coming to a realization. "Oh… oh, no, has this all been sexual innuendos?"

Kokichi deadpanned. "You're just realizing this now ? What about her touching you?"

"I have carbon based tactile sensors in my chest and arms, and she's been recalibrating them as she's been doing my maintenance. They've desynched thanks to being thrown through impact resistant glass ." The last few words were said with a bite Kokichi didn't realize K1-b0 had. That must have been why K1-b0 didn't ask Kokichi for a cleaning last night, that or he felt despite his own problems, Kokichi's neck was worse.

"I'm still a little bitter, apologies for the tone," K1-b0 added, as he resettled on the bench.

"Fine, I owe you. But I'm not 're-synching your tactile sensors', just going to help clean," Kokichi huffed, as he grabbed a pair of work gloves. "I'm not jerking off a Roomba today, thanks."

Kokichi left Miu's lab, smelling vaguely of lemons and wax, a small sliver of a cut on his left pointer knuckle courtesy of an errant piece of glass he'd brushed against while scouring off the last of the ick coating K1-b0. Miu herself had disassembled K1-b0 to clean out the rest of his insides, at least seven or eight rags coming out black from all the particulate in the school, before shooing him out to put K1-b0 back together and…

Well, the robot was still screeching when he'd fled the garage.

Kokichi felt like, for once, he was starting to actually get on terms with the students. Some of them, at least.

Gonta flagged Kokichi down in the courtyard.

"Ouma-san! Ouma-san! Gonta find more letters on stone! Gonta wants to investigate!"

"You asking me to go with?" Kokichi asked, eyebrow raised.

"Gonta would love company. And maaaaaybe… show Ouma-san a friendly bug?"

Kokichi laughed, genuinely.

"As long as it's one at a time, big guy. No plagues of locusts or any of that shit."

Gonta squealed like a small child, linking his massive arm under Kokichi's and practically dragging him towards his find.

Kokichi, exhausted but relaxed for the first time since he could actually remember, stretched out on clean sheets in a warm bed.

And then a bear. Monophanie this time; Monokuma had been MIA more or less all morning.

There went Kokichi's mood.

"Another motive video?" he groaned, shoving a pillow over his face.

"Naw, but that's a nice whiteboard you've got," she said, poking the large board he'd snagged from the warehouse, scribbled with his thoughts on the cases so far.

"You didn't put K1-b0 in the suspects pile, that's weird," she commented, scanning it. "You've got dead people- I'm gonna puke- and suspects, and then he's all off on his own!"

"None of your business," Kokichi grunted, as he pressed the pillow harder in an effort to shut her out.

"Yeah, well, not here for that, anyway. You've got a lot of keys here, wanna use one?"

Kokichi groaned. Again?!