A Mastermind's Mind

Saihara Shuichi, (Log 1, Chapter 4, Part 1)

Miu steps up, moving a small avatar hand to prevent Kiibo from joining her on the roof. As her finger twitches, she slowly moves over to Kokichi, looking as if she was measuring every step carefully.

Kokichi stands still. He's there, staring straight through Miu.

He's looking at me, Kiibo thinks with a detached sort of realization. While the avatar's face doesn't show much emotion, he knows Kokichi's regarding him as less of a friend and more of a liar.

He can hear the words loud and clear ringing in his head. You lied to me. Kokichi almost says. I thought we were friends. You lied to me.

Even though he knows he shouldn' t be guilty, Kiibo winces and looks away, b ecause he never betrayed Kokichi-

He moves to climb up a step, attempting to reach Kokichi, but Miu pulls him back and growls in his ear. "That's the mastermind, idiot. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He stops, gaping at her in confusion. Sure, Kokichi was annoying at times, but right now, she shouldn't be stooping to jokes like that!

Miu pulls Kiibo back into the stairway, eyeing the still white form on the rooftop. "Ya know, Ouma .. did'ja get off to all this," she gestures around her, carefully retracting the hammer from her back. "This killin'? Well, didn't you?"

Kokichi looks a bit confused at first. His avatar's violet eyes regard her curiously, and she grins, a wide smile that was uncanny on such a familiar face. She starts walking, and Kiibo is frozen for a moment. He'd never seen that kind of expression before on her. It wasn't registered on any of his databases, and his inner voice was going wild with sentiments of 'despair' or 'insane.' A part of his consciousness whispers, are we going to witness a murder? , and the voice goes absolutely wild.

Kiibo winces and backs down a step, managing to keep his balance. Another camera function clicks to Kokichi's face, whose eyes flash at him for approximately five seconds before focusing back on the blabbering inventor.

During her tirade, Miu gets even closer to Kokichi, reaching out to touch him-

Suddenly, there is a slight blur, and then Gonta's there wrapping toilet paper around Miu's-

Neck?

-

Kokichi stares off into space, taken in by the speckles of snow that rest on his nose and fingers, lighting the ground white. An artificial, full moon, that serves as the only source of light on the rooftops, stares back at him.

The sound of a shuffle starts behind Kokichi. He doesn't mind. It's just Gonta, after all. He stands still, blending in and contrasting the whites of the background. Then, the unmistakable sound of a door squeaking open.

He tilts his head, just a bit, to look at Miu. She has a hand out, as if trying to protect someone from him, and pulls a hammer out from nowhere.

Kokichi studies her for a while. A suspicious gaze, a prideful strut, and a shaking hand. So she was just as terrified as him...wasn't she?

Miu sneers at him, something so full of malice and distrust that his mind runs wild with questions. W hy? Why? Why? As soon as she finishes off her monologue casually, he finally understands. This could be a game-changer; this could be a chance. He doesn't-he wouldn't ever just decide to kill of someone, but if Gonta couldn't restrain her, then maybe...

He doesn't move, only closes his eyes. No, even if he did want to kill her, there was no way Gonta would go along with it. Looking back at the inventor, he just now realizes that there is actually someone behind her. The figure is familiar, as is the hair, and...it's a robot. A white-haired, blue-eyed robot teenager.