✧ Chapter 13 ✧
[ A Fever was the Woe ]
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"Stop."

Maki and Peko stood in front of Kokichi, shielding him from the onslaught of students. The two girls held out their weapons, Maki with a knife and Peko with her bamboo sword.

"Hey! What gives?" Akane demanded, cracking her knuckles. "You're protecting the enemy!"

"This isn't right," Peko said quietly, fixing her red eyes on her fifth year classmates. "If you killed Ouma, it would be as bad as Monokuma killing Miss Chisa."

"But this is all his fault to begin with!" Leon pointed to Kokichi, who was silently standing behind the two girls. Peko and Maki stayed defensive, shoulder to shoulder.

"But killing people isn't the answer," Maki held her knife higher, her long hair waving a little. "I've sworn to stop killing, because it isn't right. The real person you have to attack is Monokuma."

"Ehhh?" the bear climbed onto the podium and scratched his head, "Why me? I'm merely a pawn in a game! I'm just a mascot! You kiddos aren't looking at the bigger picture."

"Anyway," Monokuma sighed, looking at the ceiling, "If you're not gonna attack Ouma, that's boring. The people reading this book were just waiting for some excitement!"

"The what?" Fuyuhiko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Soooo maybe just go back to class and stop wasting your time." Monokuma waved a lazy paw, "I've punished you guys enough haven't I? I killed your favourite teacher!"

"D-Dont treat it so lightly!" Maizono sobbed, covering her face as tears rolled down her cheeks, "She didn't deserve to die!"

The students looked at each other, all of them agreeing to what Maizono said. Miss Chisa never deserved to die..

No one deserved to die.

"Oh, she was just an extra. Anyway, chop chop, students! Move your fat asses and skinny thighs. And oh, if you do want to attack Ouma, feel free to do so. I'll turn a blind eye to your threats and whatever treatment you give to him."

Kokichi felt annoyed. Seriously? What kind of principal was he?

Why was Monokuma attacking him so much? Pinning blames on him and encouraging the students to outright bully him?!

Unless.

Kokichi stared at the red eye of Monokuma, right at the camera which was watching their every move.

He was close to finding something important to this school, but now Monokuma wanted to shut him up.

Even if he had to use the other students to do so.

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Kokichi slammed the door of his room shut, a wave of tears swimming in his eyes as he clutched the doorknob. Crap. He why did he think it would be so easy..?

Actually walking into the room where Keebo used to be.. expecting him to barge in as per normal with his stacks of books. But no one opened the door or greeted him with concern.

He squeezed his eyes tight, sliding to the ground and resting his forehead against the wood. His fingers slipped off the doorknob and fell onto the ground.

Everything was going too fast. And it was his fault...

Of course it was his fault.

It was his fault Miss Yukizome Chisa.. the most kindest teacher of Hope's Peak Academy was dead.

All because of her love for her students.

Kokichi turned, surprised when he heard a strange electronic beep. Was he imagining things? Or was that just the door?

Another loud beep made him frown and get up from the floor. At least he didn't punch the wall this time..

His knuckles had hurt when he did that, after all.

"You have one message."

Kokichi frowned, confused when he saw the screen of Keebo's computer flash again.

"Would you like to answer this message?"

A robotic voice asked Kokichi, prompting him to do something. Man, these gadgets were impatient.

Kokichi hesitated a little before walking over to the computer. He stood in front of it for a minute before hesitantly taking the mouse and using the cursor to click, 'Yes.'

A small Keebo sprite appeared, smiling and waving as the message opened. It was a letter?

Kokichi narrowed his eyes a little, squinting at the tiny font. Damnit.. why did font sizes have to be so goddamn tiny?

To: Kokichi Ouma
From: Keebo Tetsuya
Received: Five minutes ago

Wait. Five minutes ago?

He clicked on the folder furiously, trying to open it quickly so he could see its contents. If Keebo sent this to him five minutes ago..

While he was at the hospital..

Something must've happened..

He opened the message and almost immediately, the screen was filled with documents and folders, all opening at once.

"Holy shit!" Kokichi used his hand and slammed it on the keyboard, trying to stop it. "Ugh, this is why I cant use these devices, Keeboy, you idiot!"

After a few seconds, the computer finally stopped loading and a new message popped up. Kokichi leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

A picture of a hospital hallway was shown to him, followed by another picture of a couple of people in lab coats and white suits. Doctors? Businessmen?

Kokichi scrolled down the page, seeing more and more rooms of the hospital. Each room held a person inside.

Each room was the size of a normal dorm room, which was pretty small. He could see a machine in a corner, and a couple of devices hooked to a figure on a bed. And a glass wall.

So the rumours were true..

There actually was a glass wall which separated two rooms...

But how and why was Keebo showing all this to him?

A new message popped up at the side of the screen. A chat log?

Kokichi quickly clicked on it, not wanting to miss anything out. He needed to talk to Keebo, urgently. He needed to find out what were they actually doing to the patients at the hospital...

And where was Kaito Momota, of course. If he solved that mystery, then Shuichi would be happy again. That was all Kokichi wanted.

Keebo: Ouma? Ouma, can you receive this?

Keebo: Crap, Miu, I don't think it's working. There's practically no sunlight in here. I told you- now's not the time to rant to me about sunlight, you beautiful nerd, TALK TO THE ANNOYING GREMLIN.

The messages were only delivered exactly one minute ago. Which meant that Keebo and Miu were alive?

Kokichi sat down in front of the computer, typing as fast as he could. At the corner of the screen, the little Keebo sprite kept hopping up and down, occasionally distracting Kokichi.

Kokichi: Keebo? What's going on?! Reply ASAP.

He waited for a minute or two, for once, feeling nervous as he waited for their reply.

Keebo: Oh thank, circuit boards. You're here! We were about to lose hope.. We don't have enough time till they take us away, and I'm using that voice messaging thingy that Miu installed into my watch.

Keebo: Keebo, now's not the time to talk about how smart I am! Explain every single thing to Ouma right now or I'll get mad!

Kokichi: What's going on, Tetsuya? Tell me already!

He waited for awhile, leaning back against his chair and unable to believe what was happening. They were actually texting him from within the hospital.. something no one has ever done.

Keebo: Ouma, listen carefully. The hospital isn't what it seems, alright? This is all a fake. A ploy. Someone is controlling everything from behind the scenes. Someone wants to remove all the love of this world, and God, that sounds cheesy. Anyway-

Kokichi: Keebo, seriously. Why aren't you being serious?!

Keebo: I am! Now stop interrupting me. As I was saying, Iruma and I had a plan to get into the hospital in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I do love Iruma, but- awww Keebo- we made a promise to each other to find out more about the hospital.

It's all part of the plan, Ouma. Don't panic. I'll try my best to give you updates but I don't know how often. I'll explore the hospital as much as I can, and you dig up the old cases for me. Especially the Komahina one.

Kokichi: Oh for God's sake, Keeboy. You even gave them a ship name?!

Keebo: It's not my idea! It was Iruma's and the rest of the school population... Whatever it is, just review the cases again. If you can, get Saihara to help. This is too much work for just one person. Just be careful and find clues. As for Momota- Keebo switch that off. Now-

Before Kokichi could react, the sprite at the corner of the screen suddenly turned dark. The pixelated Keebo closed its eyes and appeared to be sleeping.

"Wait.. Keebo?!" Kokichi held the screen, "KEEBO! What did you want to say about..." he sighed, realising that it was no use. Keebo had logged off, cutting all connection again.

He folded his arms, glaring at the screen, but softening his glare when he replayed the conversation in his mind again.

Thank God Keebo was safe...

But what about Kaito?

What was wrong with that hospital, and why did Keebo ask him to check the old files? Kokichi bent down, remembering that Keebo always stashed folders under his desks and cupboards.

He pulled out stacks and stacks of papers, some old, some new... all of them about the cases that Monokuma had announced before.

So many questions. All of them unanswered or unexplainable..

Man... Kokichi sighed to himself, just resting his elbow against the edge of the wooden box. He stared glumly at the papers. He was too lazy to start the search..

And this was going to take ages to do alone.

♥ End of Chapter Thirteen ♥