#Maki rantaro and kiyo r cool too ^.^

[pey-up]

my strange and evil son

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 2, daily life (Part 2)

Note of the author: Fun fact! This was one of the first scenes I imagined when I was making this AU. This is where the fun begins. :)

Chapter 2: The wolf and the lamb - Daily life

Day 6 since the beginning of the game. 7:30 AM.

Shuichi felt like he slept better than the previous night. The sun was shining through the window, it was enough to wake him up. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around his room, looking at nothing in particular.

It was then that he noticed something on the table of his room. A colorful pad that didn’t look like his monopad.

He took the tablet to take a look at it. There was written “Kubs pad” on the back. He frowned, and when he touched the screen, the tablet lightened up and a video started playing.

On the screen he could recognize his own silhouette on a teal-blue background, with written in flashy letters:

Shuichi Saihara’s Motive video What is your motive!?

And Monokuma’s voice talking cheerfully. “Alright! Back by popular demand, it’s time for the motive video! Who’s the most imp-”

Shuichi turned off the tablet. He stared at the turned off gadget with wide eyes.

“What even was that?” he asked himself. Perhaps talking to the others about it would be a good idea.

He got dressed up, put the strange tablet in his pocket and left his room.

Keebo was in the hallway, with a similar tablet in his hand.

“Hello Shuichi. Nice to see you up.”

Shuichi’s eyes were still on the tablet. “You got one of these too?”

Keebo looked at the item. “Yes, it was on the table this morning, when I was done charging. However I turned it off when I saw ‘motive video’.”

The other boy sighed in relief. “I’m not alone then.”

The two went to the dining hall. Tsumugi, Korekiyo, Kirumi, Ryoma and Rantaro were already here. There was a pile of 5 of those tablets on the table.

Korekiyo sipped his tea and put down his cup. “You also had those ‘motive videos’ I see.”

Keebo showed his’. “I can see that you gathered the tablets. Do we have to put them here?”

Rantaro shrugged. “The others didn’t watch theirs either, so for now we’re putting them here until we decide what to do with them.”

Ryoma was tapping his fingers on the table. “Kokichi went back to his dorm to get his. Speaking of which...”

The small boy appeared with his tablet. “I got it.”

The three put their tablets with the others. All they could do was wait for the others.

Shuichi wasn’t too much in the mood to talk, so he listened to the nearby conversations. Maki was talking about how she thought she had a strange dream but didn’t remember any of it, Ryoma and Rantaro were talking about the latter’s lab and Kirumi was telling Keebo about traditional meals she learned to cook for her job.

About 15 minutes after the morning announcement, everyone was there, and all of the tablets were reunited.

Angie was swinging her legs under the table. “Shall we watch all those videos together? At least we’re sure no one hides anything from anyone!”

Kirumi was visibly not pleased. “If those videos are about the most important people in our lives, watching them would mean falling into Monokuma’s trap.”

Ryoma looked up to the maid. “Stop sugarcoating this. I’m sure at least one of us already watched their video and decided to pretend they didn’t.”

Kokichi’s voice was almost unheard. “I would still like some privacy...”

Everyone started debating. Rantaro suddenly got up and asked for everyone’s attention.

“I understand some of us want some privacy about our personal lives, but those videos will probably make us remember important elements from our past and perhaps the Ultimate hunt, and we can’t exactly completely ignore them.”

He continued. “I discussed the issue with Korekiyo to know what could be a good compromise to reach. Some of us would like to keep their life private, which I understand perfectly, since we didn’t live through the same things. However it is a risk we have to take if we want to recover at least a bit of our own memories.” 

Kirumi raised an eyebrow. “So? What is this solution you suggest?”

Korekiyo responded. “We create groups of 3 or 4 people trusting each other enough to show their videos to the group. We fix a moment to watch those videos, and after that no one is allowed to talk to anyone outside their group about what they saw in the others’ video. Of course you can show your own video to the rest of us if you want to.”

Shuichi put a finger on his chin. That sounded like a doable plan. He didn’t have much to hide, but he hoped the more reserved people were okay with this.

“Do any of you have any objections? Please speak up if that’s the case. I wish to hear the opinion of everyone.” Rantaro’s voice sounded gentle yet confident. Shuichi would be lying if he said he didn’t envy him.

For about ten seconds everyone just glanced at each other. From Shuichi’s point of view, Kirumi and Kokichi were not comfortable, but were not saying anything. That, of course, didn’t stay undetected by the medic.

“Kirumi, do you wish to say anything?” he asked.

She sighed. “I would very much like my personal life not to be revealed to anyone, but I suppose I don’t have a choice.”

Rantaro fidgeted with his necklace. “Unfortunately it wouldn’t be fair to ask everyone else to reveal it and let one person watch the video by themselves. We established the rule that no one in the group was allowed to talk about what they saw in the others’ video outside of their group.”

Everyone was staring at her at this point. “Fine. I accept.”

“What about you, Kokichi?” Rantaro asked.

The small teen got startled. “Oh, it’s just um... Do we really get to choose the groups?”

He smiled. “Yes, we’ll just try to make sure the groups are composed of 3 or 4 people of our choice.”

Himiko gave him a pat in the back. “If you want we can be together in a group, we just need someone else!”

He smiled faintly. “I... I accept, then.”

Rantaro exhaled a breath and smiled at the group. “At least we’re getting somewhere.”

It took them a while to decide, but the groups were formed.

The first group were Shuichi, Kaito, Miu and Korekiyo.

The second group were Kokichi, Himiko and Rantaro.

The third group were Ryoma, Kirumi and Keebo.

And the last group were Maki, Kaede, Tsumugi and Angie.

They decided to watch the videos the next day morning, to leave the groups more time to get to know each other better.

At least they managed to get through this, for now. Kaito asked where the tablets would go, in case someone tried to watch their video.

They decided to lock all the tablets in Rantaro’s lab. Since a majority of them trusted him, he was chosen to keep the key to the lab.

~ Time skip, my old friend ~

5 PM.

Shuichi couldn’t help but think about the motive videos Monokuma gave them this morning.

After spending some time alone in his lab, he decided to go outside for a bit. He came across Kokichi carrying a small bag and Himiko without her coat on, the cloth rather used like some sort of bag.

“Oh, hey Shuichi!” Himiko joyfully said.

Shuichi blinked in confusion. “What are you two doing?”

“We were with Kaede yesterday at the casino and somehow the machine we were playing with broke and gave us a ton of monocoins! So we’re using them.”

Kokichi scratched his neck. “I feel like I’m to blame for this...”

She giggled. “Don’t be sorry, we got all these cool items, and since the MonoMono machine broke as well we got to keep the coins we used!”

The smaller boy was embarrassed by the events that happened, but he didn’t look really sad about it.

“I mean Kaede got a ton of coins too, I think she bought some sort of key?” she shrugged. “I didn’t pay too much attention to it.”

Shuichi knew exactly what she meant, but preferred to stay silent about it.

“So you guys got all of those items from the MonoMono machine for free?”

Himiko smiled with glee. “Yup! And it was things either I or Kokichi liked! Cool, right?” she elbowed him.

Kokichi stuttered. “R-Right...”

The two went their way and Himiko waved at Shuichi. “See ya later!”

He didn’t really know what to do before dinner, so he joined Rantaro outside. They talked for a while before Kaito approached them.

“I was looking for you two!”

Shuichi blinked. “Do you need us for something, Kaito?”

“We’re gonna have drinks at the pool, wanna come?”

Rantaro got up and brushed off the dirt on his coat. “That would be nice. Who will be there?”

The biker looked enthusiastic. “There will be Miu, you two and I. Oh and Kiyo decided to join in as well.”

Shuichi sighed in relief. At least it wasn’t too much of a big thing. Not that he hated the others, but a hang-out session with a few “close” friends felt more comfortable for him than a giant party.

They walked to the pool and saw Kirumi and Miu holding drinks entering the building.

“Oh, Kirumi is joining too?” Shuichi asked.

Kaito shrugged. “We simply asked her to help us with the drinks, I don’t think she is gonna stay though.”

When they opened the door, the two young women were setting the drinks and snacks at the table.

Miu waved at them. “So you guys came, huh?”

Rantaro smiled. “I figured it would be nice to chat as a group of friends, so yeah.”

Kiyo was observing the pool area. Rantaro called him so they could sit down and chat.

Kirumi left, saying she didn’t want to disrupt their group, and that her task was done.

The drinks had bright colors, but that was to be expected by cocktails. Korekiyo took the glass in his hands to observe the gradient.

“We really should thank Kirumi for her hard work preparing these.”

Kaito laughed. “But hey, we won’t know if they’re good unless we drink!”

They all cheered, to forget about the killing game just for a few minutes.

Shuichi approached the drink to his nose to smell it. The alcohol smell was strong, but the fruit smell was able to cover it up a little.

He looked at the others, they hadn’t touched their drink yet. Rantaro and Korekiyo were talking about the pool area’s aesthetic, but Miu was looking at her drink with unease, and just when he was about to ask her what was wrong, her gaze shifted to Kaito approaching the glass to his lips.

It felt so sudden. Miu got up, slammed her hands on the table and yelled.

“DON’T DRINK THIS, IT’S POISONED!!”

The rest of the group was startled by the sudden reaction, especially Kaito, whose eyes shifted from the drink to his best friend, who had tears in the corner of her eyes and was visibly trembling.

There was a small moment of silence that felt like an eternity.

Rantaro was confused, but managed to mumble out “What are you-”

(BGM)

He didn’t finish his sentence when Miu abruptly sat back on her chair, elbows on the table and her hands covering her face. She broke down in tears, mumbling things to herself.

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry-”

Kaito spoke up reluctantly. “Miu… What… How did you…”

The grip she had on her hair tightened. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

The boys looked at each other. No one really knew what to say. Rantaro smelled the drink and frowned. He made the others understand that it was definitely not alcohol for a cocktail.

Kiyo took a deep breath and set the glass down.

“Should we assume you are the one responsible for this?”

Miu’s head slowly fell down on the table, arms crossed to cover her head, and nails digging in her skin. She was still shaking and sobbing to herself, but she nodded.

“I’m… I…”

Shuichi was still trying to process what just happened. Did Miu just try to kill them? Rantaro looked pensive, Kiyo was silently observing the crying Miu and Kaito was shocked, to say the least. Shuichi felt bad, that must have felt like a huge betrayal for him. His best friend trying to kill him, and even if she seemed to regret it, the will to kill was there. In those colorful glasses.

It took her a while to even begin to calm down and cease the tear-filled muttering. When she raised her head just out of her arms, Shuichi noticed a part of her make up was smudged and her eyes were red. She didn’t even dare to look at any of them.

Since the others had been silent, Rantaro asked her the question everyone wanted to ask.

“Why…?”

She flinched at the question.

“I… Kaz… I’m- I’m sorry-”

She couldn’t even form a single sentence correctly through her sobs.

“Kaz… Would have never wanted this… What am I doing...?”

Korekiyo stayed calm and tried to interrogate her despite her current state. “Would you please tell us who is ‘Kaz’?”

She tried to recompose herself, unsuccessfully.

“Kaz…”

She rubbed her eyes.

“He’s- He’s my son- I watched my motive video this morning and I saw him and I knew I had to escape to protect him and I saw my chance with my lab opened and and-”

She was just rambling at this point. Kiyo told her to calm down one last time, but that made her completely enraged.

“HOW CAN YOU TAKE THIS SO LIGHTLY?? I TRIED TO KILL YOU ALL!!” she yelled at no one in particular, getting up from her chair, still in a panicked state.

“I-I-I tried to kill you all with homemade poison from my lab I organized this whole party to kill you and blame it on Kirumi and-and I didn’t even hesitate to do so because I watched my motive video and lied to you all but I just want to see my son again he needs me and I miss his precious face and and and-”

Tears were running down her face. She had completely broken down.

Kaito tried to get her attention but that turned out pretty unsuccessful.

“Miu, calm down! Look at me-”

“HE WOULD HAVE NEVER WANTED ME TO KILL ANY OF YOU!!”

Silence filled the building once again.

She fell on her knees and laughed to herself.

“What am I doing…?”

Kaito got up from his seat and got down to face Miu. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“This… Is a lot for me to take in, I will admit. To think my best friend tried to kill me.”

She winced at the last sentence.

“But that best friend also backed down and regrets what she has done. She did this for her family, and even though it will take a while for us to completely get over this, I can’t blame you for wanting to fight for your family.”

She looked up to him, but that didn’t seem to reassure her very much.

Shuichi himself was a bit doubtful by the statement. Of course the one to blame would be Monokuma and the mastermind for putting them through this but… At the same time he can’t help but feel like Miu really was responsible for this incident.

Kiyo seemed to be thinking. “I don’t think you are entirely to blame, but you still had your part in this. I think the best option would be to talk about this once all of us managed to stand back from the situation.”

Rantaro hadn’t say a thing. He didn’t look mad but he was certainly not happy.

Miu wiped away her tears. “I… I know this may sound selfish but…”

Rantaro turned to her.

“Can we… Keep this between us? I know I don’t deserve it but please…”

The others glanced at each other. Rantaro was stirring his glass. “What do you think, Shuichi? You’ve been quiet for a while.”

He was startled by Rantaro’s sudden question. His gaze wasn’t making things better either. “I- uh….” he paused. “I think… We should at least make sure the products used for this are taken away and the poison destroyed.”

Rantaro nodded. Shuichi turned to Kiyo. “And Kiyo’s right. I think it should be better not to make anym- any bad decisions with emotions taking control of us.”

Miu, sitting on the ground, clenched the trembling fists resting on her legs, tears filling her eyes even more. Those same emotions pushed her to act this way, and saying this just reminded her of her lack of self-control.

Rantaro stared at her for a few seconds before turning to the rest of the group. “So to sum this incident up, we keep quiet about this for now, destroy the materials and wait for tomorrow to decide what we do?”

The others nodded. Rantaro got up from his chair and briefly looked at the two best friends before turning to Shuichi.

“Us two should go to Miu’s lab to get rid of the materials. You okay with this Miu?”

Her eyes didn’t even move. She simply muttered. “Yes. Do what must be done. That’s… What I deserve at the very least.”

He gestured to Shuichi that they should go and leave them alone for now. The blue-eyed boy turned back to Miu one last time to see her wiping her tears with Kaito at her side.

They closed the door and headed to the lab. They had so many questions but both knew it would be better to wait for the next day to ask her about it. Or maybe Korekiyo, who stayed at the pool, would probably be able to get to know what was going on with her.

-

The walk was silent, just like the time the two were meeting the other ultimates about a week ago. But it felt different. They had just escaped death because their attacker didn’t manage to get through her plan. She was so close, if she reacted just a few seconds later and the situation would have been a disaster.

“Hey…” Shuichi said. Rantaro slightly turned his head.

“What do you think of all this? You didn’t say much back then…”

His friend took a few seconds to think about an answer. Or more likely, to wonder if his thoughts were worth being told.

“What is done, is done. Miu tried to kill us but couldn’t bring herself to actually do it. We’re alive and that’s what matters. We should focus on making sure no one else gets their hands on the poison.”

Shuichi’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what to expect, but it was certainly not this. “You… Actually don’t plan on telling anyone about this?”

“No.” He replied. “The less people know, the better it is. This entire academy reeks distrust and fear of being killed. If we talk about this incident the others will snap just like she did, and some probably won’t back down before actually committing the act.”

“That’s… One way to think.”

But Shuichi remembered what the monokubs said the day before. “But... The monokubs said they would refill products if someone tried to destroy them.”

Rantaro started thinking. “Honestly I don’t think that will be the case for certain situations. But for now just the prepared poison should be destroyed.”

Shuichi hummed in agreement. They were forced to trust Miu not to try anything again. They could only hope Kaito and Korekiyo would be able to calm her down for the time being.

Rantaro turned to him. “Ever wondered how you were able to guide the others during the class trial?”

He had thought about it, it was a bit strange to him. “I don’t really know why. Tsumugi said I was leading the debate but… I’m just an average guy. I’m a violinist, my talent doesn’t even have anything to do with leading. I’m bad at this.”

The green haired boy hummed. “You know, I talked about this with Kiyo, yesterday.”

Shuichi blinked.

“To him it was normal for the others to follow your lead. And I agree with that. I mean…” he chuckled.

“Let’s be honest here. We’re the two leaders of the group, you and I. But my influence is more… Direct. I got the group to cooperate, to get organized, you know the deal.”

“My influence has its limits. I think you realized it by now, but I saw how the others looked at me during the investigation and trial. I’m completely indifferent when it comes to people dying. I’m used to it after all.”

“Even just now, the reason I asked you to say what you think is because they would most likely listen to you.”

Shuichi was confused. “But why?”

“You have that compassion. That innocence the others have. You felt bad for Gonta dying. For Tenko dying. You have that kindness that I lack in those stressful situations. People are more drawn to you because of that natural kindness. That humanity. You can keep calm but still have that feeling of compassion. That’s what the others are looking for in the trials. Someone to relate to, who doesn’t sound and look like an experienced murderer.”

Shuichi was surprised to hear Rantaro talk about himself this way, but it made sense. Of course he wouldn’t try to take advantage of this in the future, however it felt strange to be considered a leader by Rantaro himself.

“That’s what Kiyo told me. That it was more about instinct than a concrete feeling.”

He nodded. Of course the therapist would know what he’s saying. Shuichi had to assume this role as a leader. A role that Rantaro couldn’t fill completely.

Rantaro stopped in his tracks.

“From now on that’s our job to keep this group together. This is gonna be hard, I know, but it���s necessary.”

He fidgeted with his necklace. “Let’s be honest here. We won’t all get out of here alive, and I’m 100% sure another murder will occur in the next few days. But if there’s anything I’m trying to do in those times, it’s to make sure the group doesn’t completely loose it.”

“You and I will be the leaders from now on. So I’m counting on you to help me with this.”

He extended his hand.

“Deal?”

After hesitating, Shuichi shook Rantaro’s hand.

“Deal.”

They arrived at the street artist’s lab. It was time to take away the products, even though they knew she wouldn’t try again after this incident.

It was just to make sure.

They entered the lab. Nothing looked like it had been touched yet from a quick glance, since everything was clean. Rantaro went to the lab bench. That’s when he noticed small droplets of water in some of the glassware.

“That was definitely used recently. At the very least today.”

“Do you think she has more of the poison in the lab?”

Rantaro shook his head. “Even though she planned this in a hurry, she still covered up the evidence. She most likely threw the surplus away. Perhaps...”

He turned to a white plastic bottle labeled “bin”. He grabbed it and stirred it for a few seconds to judge how much liquid was in there.

“There isn’t much, but it’s still something.” Rantaro said as he looked at the sink.

Shuichi frowned. “I know nothing about those products, but there’s a reason it’s kept in a separated bottle, right?”

The green-haired boy sighed. “I know, but it’s either someone gets their hands on this and could try to use it and frame Miu, or we risk polluting who knows where since we don’t know where those pipes lead.”

“Fair point.”

Rantaro poured the transparent liquid into the sink. It’s smell was stronger than the “cocktails” from earlier, most likely because there was fruit juice to cover it.

He went to one of the shelves and opened it to see many bottles labeled as toxic or inflammable. “As for the ingredients we can’t do much because the Monokubs will replace it, right?”

Shuichi nodded. “I don’t know when they’ll replace it, but they will do eventually.”

“I see.” he closed the drawer. “Then there isn’t much to do anymore for now.”

Rantaro didn’t say a thing as he walked to the exit, passing by Shuichi.

“Oh and...” he stopped in his tracks and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Tomorrow you and the rest of your group will watch Miu’s motive video. I’m not supposed to know about this, so from now on pretend this event never happened. I don’t know anything about her motive video and will not know about it unless she talks to me, and make sure to inform the others about this. Got it?”

Shuichi actually got scared by Rantaro’s sudden reaction, but he nodded. “G-Got it.”

Korekiyo entered the room right after.

“I see that you’re done with the ingredients?”

Shuichi approached the two others. “We did what we could do, but if we steal things the monokubs will refill it.”

The tall young adult put a finger on his chin. “I see. I’m also done talking to Miu, she is alone with Kaito as far as I know.”

Rantaro was quick to respond. “So? Has she calmed down?”

“We agreed on doing therapy sessions so she can cope with the situation. But of course that will be after we officially watch her motive video.”

He nodded. “Alright, we’re good to go for now. Oh and-” he turned to Shuichi.

“You two make sure we left nothing in the lab. I got something to check.” he said as he left.

Korekiyo asked if he could take a look at the lab. They stayed in it for a while, searching in every shelf if anything looked like poison.

After about 10 minutes, they left to join the rest of the group. They will have to pretending nothing happened.

They found Kaito and Miu going back to the dorms. Miu seemed to have calmed down enough for now.

Shuichi and Kiyo decided to stay outside to talk about something other than what just happened. Even though Kiyo had a threatening aura, it was pretty relaxing to talk to him.  It’s like you almost wanted to trust him immediately. No wonder he was called the ultimate therapist.

About two hours later, they ate dinner. The atmosphere was tense, mostly because of the upcoming day, but the most cheerful ones were able to bring back a few smiles.

Shuichi decided to take a walk before going to bed. After all tomorrow he would watch Kaito, Korekiyo and of course Miu’s votive videos. He was nervous at the idea of this “motive video compilation”, but it was too late to go back.

But he had a gut feeling this wasn’t going to go as planned. Everything seemed way too convenient.

"You good?”

Shuichi got startled. It was Kaito, right behind him. “Don’t scare me like that...”

He laughed. “Sorry, man.”

Kaito sat down next to Shuichi. “Today was... Special.”

Shuichi nodded. “I don’t really know what to think about this. I don’t even know if I can trust her anymore.”

He nodded in understanding. “We... Talked after Kiyo left. But it’s like I both do and don’t get why she did this.”

“... I think we should let her talk to Kiyo. Either she is genuine in her regret, or Kiyo will be able to tell if she’s lying.”

Kaito leaned back to lay on the grass. “I really want her to say the truth. I want to believe in her.”

Shuichi turned to him. “If it’s not too personal, how did you two become friends so quickly?”

He chuckled. “We’re mutual fans, y’know? I’ve been admiring her work ever since she started and she is a fan of the family! We knew each other’s names and when we met here, it just sort of clicked.”

The violinist raised an eyebrow. “The family? Is she your long lost sister?”

“Haha, no! That’s how I call the gang. They’re like family, but like a man family. They taught me everything I know. I may have missing memories, but I never forget the family.”

Shuichi weakly smiled. “Man family? What is that supposed to mean?”

“We’re all men in the gang. It’s kinda like a rule. And if you’re not a man, then become one." He chuckled. “Manliest shit I’ve ever seen.”

Shuichi blinked. Perhaps he didn’t want to know more about the gang, considering that he is not exactly the definition of a ‘man’. But if Kaito considered them his family, then good for him.

The two went their ways, to their dorms. And hopefully wake up mentally prepared to watch those motive videos.