The New Motive

Gifts and Works In Progress

Wake up, get dressed, go to the cafeteria to eat, then head off to go do something with Shuichi. That's more or less how Kokichi remembered this week's mornings going. With a few exceptions here and there, of course.

After he finished his meal, however, he couldn't seem to find his roommate. The taller had finished a little while before him and left. Kokichi assumed he'd gone back to their room, but he wasn't there, nor was he anywhere else he looked.

He waited for a couple minutes back in the room before getting bored and deciding to wander around instead to find something to do. He'll be back.

. . .

"So, . . . What is it?"

"Are you fucking shitting me right now? You weren't paying attention that entire time?"

"Uh, . . . No?" Shuichi responded nervously.

"Well, yours truly, Miu fuckin' Irima, the Ultimate Inventor, is presenting the likes of you with her first model of Miu Iruma's Badass Artificial Intelligence Robot. Respectfully named MIBAIR.

"Oh, wow. What's MIBAIR do?"

"Glad you asked. This baby's been designed to be able to follow Monokuma around and report back to me any important information she gets on him and any way possible ways out of this hellhole." She explained enthusiastically.

"Woah, that's amazing."

"Yeah, I know."

MIBAIR's design was unfinished, but it was still fasinating to the young detective. It was mostly a bunch of pieces that formed a strong skeleton for the machine. It had a few other parts like cameras and joints connecting things, too.

"How long do you think 'till she'll be usable?"

"This version is bigger so that I can see how everything is interacting and I can find problems more easily, but I plan on making her smaller. She is an AI but I'm going to program her to where I can control her using a separate device for emergencies. It'll take some time, but she's gonna do us a whole fuckin' lot of good." She said practically beaming with pride.

"That's incredible."

"Hell yeah, it is. She's my pride and joy. And if you ever wanted to borrow her to get some footage of you-know-what," she said suggestively, nudging him in the side with her elbow, "I might lend her to ya."

"Wh- what do you mean?" He asked, not sure he wanted to find out.

"God, you're such a fucking virgin, Saihara," she groaned. "That bastard Ouma. I know for damn sure you want to and we both know I'm gonna use 'er to-"

"Uh, no, it's alright. I'm fine," he blurted, stepping away and holding his hands up defensively.

"Whatever," she sighed. "Your loss, not mine."

"Uh, . . . I'd better get going then. So, good luck on your robot, Irima."

. . .

Shuichi arrived back at the room a few minutes later, Kokichi already being there. He was laying on his back on the bed making a sort of snow angel on it. He leaned his head back, over the edge to look at him when he entered and smiled, getting up quickly and rushing over excitedly.

"Sai-chan, you're back. And it's 'bout time, you've only been gone for like ever," he said playfully.

"Oh, that long? Sorry, Ouma."

"Yeah, you'd better be. Where even were you?" he teased.

"Irima was showing me an invention she's been working on. It's supposed to be really useful to us and I think it will be. She's calling it MIBAIR."

"Huh, well leave it to the whore to come up with a name like that for . . . whatever it is. Maribelle, was it?"

"It's an acronym, actually. Something about artificial intelligence, I think."

"Is that right? Oh! That reminds me, well not really, but I just thought of it," he said cheerfully, walking over to the desk at the bed side. "I have a little something for you."

"I- um, . . . W- what is it?"

"Sit," was his simple reply.

"Ouma, I'm not a dog," he laughed.

"Well, you're not getting it if you don't."

"Alright then," Shuichi sighed, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

"Now," the shorter said holding something behind his back and out of the other's line of sight, "close your eyes and hold out your hands."

"Can't you just show me?"

"I guess you don't want it then."

"Fine." He did as he was instructed and nervously held out his hands. He dropped something into them and he felt it before opening his eyes again.

"You didn't?"

"Oh, yes I did."

"Ouma," he smiled happily, standing to hug him. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. Where did you find it?"

"Library. You know, the place they keep all the other books," he joked. "You were gone forever and I got bored. I remembered, though. Stephan Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

"Thank you," was all the other could manage to say.

. . .

The evening brought with it the usual nighttime announcement, but this time low rolls of thunder accompanied it. (For the sake of the fic, they can hear this, but there still aren't any windows.)

"Well, kiddies, this marks your fifth night in pairs. None of you have died or killed one another and, frankly, I'm disappointed in you guys. Oh well, 10 'o clock, nighttime, yada yada yada. Get some sleep. Goodnight." Click.

"Well," Shuichi said, marking the page he'd left off on and setting his book on the table, "I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight, Ouma."

"'Night," he replied.

The two got settled to go to sleep as the soothing sound of the thunder neared the academy. Shuichi laid down and closed his eyes, but Kokichi turned the bathroom light on, grasping his attention.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I, uh, . . . It's just that. I'm . . . I don't like the thunder." The other smiled and agreed with the light, laying back down.

Before long though, there was a loud crackle. The light went out and in the distance Shuichi heard someone scream something sorrowfully.