Shuichi had walked into the dining hall. Kaito, Maki, Tsumugi, and Kiibo were there and the atmosphere was thick. But there was one person trying to cheer everyone up.

"Geez, don't be stupid, guys. There's no way I'd die, y'know?" Kaito reassured. "Cuz I'm Momota Kaito, Luminary of the Stars!"

"Are you really okay?" Tsumugi asked.

"I'm telling you! I'm just fine! I wasn't feeling great yesterday, but after a good night's sleep, I'm all better. I'm 100% better now!"

Maki sighed. "There's no way you would get better so quickly after coughing up that much blood."

"I told you, didn't I? I just coughed too much and cut my throat a little, that's all."

"Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too hard?" Kiibo inquired. "Or suffering from a chronic illness-"

"Don't be stupid!" Kaito interrupted. "If I had a chronic illness, I wouldn't stand a chance in astronaut training! Seriously, you guys are worrying too much. Just cuz you all love me and cant help yours-"

"...Of course we'd be worried." Maki snapped.

"My bad... But I'm serious. You don't need to worry about me anymore... I shoulda told you guys I wasn't feeling well. I made you worry for nothing."

"..." Maki glared at Kaito, unconvinced.

"O-Okay... don't glare at me like that. If I do start to feel bad again, I'll have you guys help me, okay? Now that that's outta the way, let's eat! Yeah, c'mon guys! Let's all eat!" Kaito spoke cheerfully then left to go get his food.

"Hey... Where's Aki-san and Yumeno-san?" Tsumugi asked.

"I believe Yumeno-san said that she would go and get Aki-san... but she seems to be taking quite a while." Kiibo responded.

"They better come here soon. We need to discuss ways on how to get out of here." Maki said.

As if on cue, the doors opened and they appeared at the door.

"Good morning." Himiko said with a smile.

"Good morning, everyone!" Ichika chirped.

"Ah... good morning you two." Shuichi said nervously.

"Aki-san. Are you feeling alright?" Kiibo asked.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Ichika smiled.

Tsumugi blinked in shock. "S-Seriously...? How can you say that after what happened?"

"Well, there's no point in being sad, right? It's better to just be happy, no matter what happens."

"Well, now that you two are here, we need to discuss ways on how to escape this place." Maki spoke up.

Himiko nodded. "Escaping is well and good... But what *does* the outside look like? We still don't know what the secret of the outside world is either."

"Gokuhara-kun wouldn't tell us what it was because it'd give us so much despair we'd want to die." Tsumugi replied.

"I-If that's true, then what could possibly be happening outside this academy?" Himiko stammered.

Kaito then returned to the table, his hands full of food. "We can't figure that out just thinking about it, so there's no point wasting your brainpower."

Kiibo gave Kaito a nervous look. "But we can't simply not think about-"

"Sure, there's a chance the outside world is messed up because of Monokuma. But making us worry about it is what Monokuma wants. He's using it to put pressure on us. Ouma and Gokuhara just snapped under that pressure. The outside world is probably fine." Kaito shrugged.

"You don't know that for sure yet." Ichika mumbled.

"You're such an optometrist... Can you prescribe some rose-coloured glasses for me too?" Himiko asked.

"...I think you mean 'optimist'." Tsumugi sighed.

"Either way, that's something to think about once we get outside, so focus on that now." Kaito said.

Kiibo looked over at Shuichi. "...As a detective, what are your thoughts on this, Saihara-kun?"

"I-I've considered a few theories, but I can't say for sure..."

"Well, that's understandable. There are barely any clues." Himiko said.

"..." Ichika hummed. "Is that really true?"

"Nyeh?"

"..." Ichika sighed. "Actually, nevermind."

"No, Aki-san! Please speak your mind. Any kind of insight would be great." Kiibo exclaimed.

Ichika shook her head and smiled gently. "No. Really... It's nothing."

Kaito scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad we're talking about how to escape, but... where'd *he* go? Ouma..."

"I... haven't seen him. Even if I did, I'd be the one running away..." Tsumugi shivered.

"I haven't seen him either. It's like he completely vanished." Kiibo added.

"He said himself that he's really good at hide and seek, so he's probably just hiding somewhere." Ichika said.

"We can't just let... that person... be. He's... a little too dangerous." Tsumugi stammered. "No... not just a little... Because he... He enjoys watching us suffer. His face just screams that he's having fun whenever he sees us suffer. He's not normal... There's obviously something wrong with him."

"He *is* the traitor in the game..." Himiko grumbled. "Honestly, it was obvious."

"If we weren't in this killing game, I would've assassinated that lowly traitor already..." Maki sighed. "Ironic... The rules of this game actually make it harder to kill."

"Harumaki... That's not good. Playing this killing game is just what Monokuma wants us to do." Kaito sighed.

"...I know."

"Killing in general is bad..." Ichika grumbled.

"Hey, if we don't do anything, we'll be killed by Ouma-kun next!" Tsumugi exclaimed.

Shuichi shook his head. "No, actually... we're safe right now. Ouma-kun told us that his objective was to win the killing game. He wouldn't risk a murder that would so obviously implicate him."

"But he might be planning to make us suffer some other way!" Tsumugi cried. "Like how he used Gokuhara-kun... Anyway, we need to find him as soon as-"

Tsumugi got cut off by Monokuma. "Here I am!"

"Nyeeeeh! Monokuma!" Himiko exclaimed, taking a step back.

"What are *you* doing here?" Shuichi glared at the bear.

"Puhuhu. I've got business with you guys, of course."

Ichika tilted her head. "You're talking about the prize, correct?"

"Hurry up and give it to us." Maki demanded.

"Caaaaaaan do!"

"...You're being awfully compliant." Kiibo commented.

Monokuma nodded. "Of course. I can't refuse you all, not when I'm alone and outnumbered. But I'm used to being alone. Back in the day, I was alone from start to finish... Anyway, here's your prize!" Monokuma pulled out two keys. "You get two keys! This one is the last real key, and this one is the real last key! Now then, go find the areas that these keys will unlock. See ya later, Bye-onara!" Monokuma then hopped away.

"So, what should we do about this new area?"Tsumugi asked.

"I think we should prioritize searching for that new area over searching for Ouma-kun." Kiibo said. "It likely contains a Flashback Light, and we may discover some new facts."

"So you're saying humans are low priority... Typical for a bloodless, tearless, machine man." Himiko grumbled.

"I'm... not sure we're close enough for you to be making jokes like that."

Maki turned to Kaito. "...What do you want to do, Momota?"

"I'm worried about Ouma, but... There's no point worrying about him all the time." Kaito punched his fists together. "Alright! Our first priority is to solve the mystery of this academy! Let's investigate!"

"Alright... Ah, I'll hold on to that..." Shuichi said.

"Oh... that's right." Without meeting Shuichi's eyes, Kaito placed the keys into Shuichi's palm.

"Momota-kun? Saihara-kun? What's the matter? You both seem different today." Kiibo commented.

Ichika lightly shook her head and chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about it, Kiibo-san. Let's go going, shall we?"

***

Shuichi, Ichika, and Kiibo had just opened up a door using the Real Last Key and were currently in what seems to be a garage of some sort.

"What is this place...?" Shuichi placed a finger to his chin.

"I feel like I'm on the set of a sci-fi movie. A mecha could pop out at any moment..." Kiibo mumbled.

Ichika blinked. "What? But Kiibo-san you-"

"Aki-san... Don't." Shuichi interrupted. "Just... keep it inside."

"..." Ichika smirked and raised an eyebrow.

The three students wandered around and came across a shutter that seemed to be protected by some kind of barrier.

"...It seems to be well fortified." Kiibo commented.

"Yeah... no kidding." Ichika responded with a smirk.

"That is... an electric barrier. We can't raise the shutter while it's active."

"If they're protecting it this strongly, there must be some secret in there." Shuichi said.

"That's a possibility. Let's investigate to see if we can get in."

"Hang on, Kiibo-san. I don't think you should go near it-" Ichika didn't get to finish before Kiibo reached the shutter and tried to touch it. A loud, blaring sound filled the room and echoed throughout the chamber.

"Wh-What is this!?" Kiibo shrieked.

"Kiibo-kun, get away from the-" Shuichi got cut off by Monokuma hopping into view.

"Oh my! Tsk, tsk, tsk! Don't you go setting off the alarm now! C'mon, c'mon, outta the way so I can turn off that alarm." Monokuma waddled up to the control panel, punched a few buttons and the alarm turned off. "Geez! You guys gotta be more careful!"

"Be careful?" Shuichi repeated, "What was that alarm for? It was so loud..."

"You see that motion sensor alarm above the shutter? In order to turn it off, you need to use an alarm remote. A super loud alarm will blare if you approach the shutter without turning off the alarm."

"You don't say... That was quite shocking." Ichika grinned and Monokuma glared at her.

"You're puns really spark quite a lot of anger within me." He grumbled.

"Hmm, you currently seem quite angry. Watt do you have against puns?"

"I-I'm sorry... I can't follow you two..." Kiibo spoke up nervously.

Shuichi sighed. "Anyway... why is there an alarm system here of all places?"

"Puhuhu... This place is so important that it needs beefed up security. I guess while I'm here, I'll also explain that electric barrier." Monokuma pointed at the control panel. "To turn it off, you gotta enter a 59-digit code into the control panel next to the shutter. I'll tell you what the code is, but only once. So make sure you memorize it. 503934857857362940569285811037959390029298779948-"

"Wait... slow down please!" Kiibo shouted. "503... what was the rest?"

"Only three numbers!? C'mon, robot! I know you can do better than that! Like I said, this is a very important place. Well... it uses to be important but that was a long time ago. Now it's just pointless."

"Pointless?" Shuichi parroted.

"Yep, it's pointless. So I may as well give you guys the alarm remote. You can use it to turn off the motion sensor alarm above the shutter..." Monokuma pressed the big red button on the black remote and some beeping could be heard. "See? It turned off the alarm system, didn't it? Now just use the control panel to deactivate the electric barrier, and you can go inside."

"Um... can you repeat that code you mentioned earlier?" Kiibo requested sheepishly.

"Huh? How annoying. But since it's your first visit, I'll let you inside just this once." Monokuma waddled up to the control panel, quickly punched in the numbers and a loud beep rang throughout the room and the forcefield disappeared. "Okay, now you just gotta manually raise the shutter and you can go inside. You can either use the control panel inside to restore the alarm system and electric barrier or the control panel out here. Or do nothing, and the barrier and alarm will stay off. Well then, safe travels!" Monokuma left, leaving the three Ultimates in a stunned silence.

"Ah..." Ichika waved her hand around her ear.

"Aki-san?" Shuichi gave Ichika a puzzled look.

"..." Ichika hummed. "Kiibo-san, Saihara-san. I'm just wondering... Have you two ever heard a strange buzzing in your ear before?"

"Strange buzzing?" Shuichi shook his head. "No, I haven't."

"I apologize, but I've never heard any buzzing since we got here." Kiibo said.

"Ah... must just be me then." Ichika smiled innocently. "Anyway, let's go check out the hangar."

"Yes, let's go, Saihara-kun, Aki-san. We have no other direction to move but forward. My inner voice is telling me... Hope moves forward."

"Yeah... you're right." Shuichi nodded.

"Then lets goooo!" Ichika ran up to the bottom of the shed, grabbed a hold of it and pushed it up. The three students walked in and saw-

"An Exisal!?" Shuichi exclaimed.

"All five of them are here! It's too dangerous! Let's run!" Kiibo made a sprint for the door but Ichika quickly grabbed his arm.

"Hang on, Kiibo-san. Don't panic, it's safe. The lights aren't on or anything, so they're powered off for now."

"Oh, now that you mention it... you're right. I wonder what's going on."

"Ah-hahaha!" Monokuma reappeared, laughing at us. "Surprised? This is actually the Exisal hangar! Yep! This is where the Exisals are stored! This is where I was guarding the precious Exisals so no one would mess with them... But... it's pointless now."

"Is it because the Monokubs are gone? No one can control the Exisals anymore." Shuichi asked.

Monokuma sweated. "What!? No one can control them anymore!?"

"...Am I wrong?"

"Oh, don't worry about my reaction just now. I thought a somewhat over-the-top reaction would put you guys on the defensive."

"What does that mean!?" Kiibo yelped.

Ichika gasped and placed her clenched fist in her palm. "Are you implying that w-"

"Don't get so worked up!" Monokuma interrupted Ichika then looked over at Kiibo. "You may be a machine, but you're not a demon model." Monokuma laughed one last time before leaving the students alone again. Shuichi, Ichika, and Kiibo proceed to look around the hangar.

"This seems like one hell of a machine..." Ichika muttered as she looked at the hydraulic press.

"This hydraulic press is probably used to scrap decommissioned Exisals." Kiibo said.

"Scrap them?" Shuichi repeated.

"Yes, even the Exisals could not withstand being crushed by a giant metal slab. Also, it seems you can control the hydraulic press using that control panel over there." Kiibo pointed to a panel in front of the hydraulic press.

"Looks like there are three buttons. An up and down button as well as an emergency stop button." Ichika said, looking closely at the panel.

"Look, there's a safety notice here." Shuichi pointed to a sliver and red sticker. "The hydraulic press has an infrared sensor. When it detects a living being... It automatically stops, for safety reasons. If someone accidentally ended up in the press, that machine would stop."

"What do you two think?" Kiibo asked.

"Of the safety function? I... don't know-"

"...Let's give it a try." Kiibo suggested.

Ichika tilted her head. "Give what a try?" As Shuichi and Ichika stood there confused, Kiibo suddenly got under the press.

Shuichi's eyes widened. "K-Kiibo-kun!? What are you doing!?"

"Saihara-kun, Aki-san, please!"

Ichika blinked. "Uh, please what?"

"If the press comes to a stop when it detects a person, what will happen if it detects me? Let's find out!"

"Are you sure about this?" Shuichi shifted nervously. "I don't know if the sensors will work..."

"Don't worry. If I sense any danger, I'll move out of the way. I just really want to try it out. If I don't, I'll never be able to rust in peace when I die." Shuichi gulped nervously.

"..." Ichika sighed and a small smile appeared on her face. "...He's not changing his mind about this. Let's do it."

"Okay... but get out of there if it's dangerous, okay?" Shuichi moved his hand over to the down button and pressed it. The machine's metal slab came down further and further and further when Kiibo rolled out of the press moments before it slammed down.

"Th-That was a close one!" Kiibo panted, clearly shaken up quite a bit.

Ichika ran to Kiibo's side. "Oh my muffins Kiibo-san, are you alright!?"

"Why did you do that!?" Shuichi exclaimed.

"Why didn't you press the force 'stop button' button, Saihara-kun!? But... at least we know now. It seems I'm only perceived as a machine, not a human."

"But only to that hydraulic press. You're perceived as a human to Saihara-san and me." Ichika beamed.

Shuichi looked at Ichika, a little confused. "He is?" Ichika elbowed his side and he let out a small yelp. "Argh...!"

"I am?" Kiibo smiled gratefully at the two students. "Thank you..." He then wandered off to look around the hangar.

Shuichi rubbed his side. "Aki-san... You really didn't have to do that..."

"Geez, I thought pretty boys like you were nicer than this, Saihara-san. He wants to be viewed as a human, so we should at least give him that." Ichika sighed.

Shuichi and Ichika then split up and investigated different parts of the Exisal hangar. Shuichi left to find out the use of the other key, leaving Kiibo and Ichika in the hangar. Kiibo was looking at the Exisals and Ichika was inspecting behind the hydraulic press when Tsumugi suddenly burst in.

"Kiibo-kun, Aki-san!"

"Shirogane-san? Is everything okay?" Ichika asked.

Kiibo looked startled. "D-Did something bad happen?"

"I found something important! We need to assemble in the dining hall! I'll see you there!" Without giving Kiibo or Ichika time to formulate a response, she sprinted out again.

"Oh boy... I hope it's nothing too serious."

"Yes, we should hurry to the dining hall. I shall go and fetch Saihara-kun." Ichika nodded and made her way over to the dining hall. Himiko, Kaito and Maki were already there. Soon, Tsumugi came in, followed by Kiibo and Shuichi.

"Is everyone here!? Guys, it's serious!" Tsumugi exclaimed.

"Yeah, you found the Flashback Light, didn't you? Let's use it already!" Kaito grinned.

Tsumugi sweated. "Oh... sorry. It's not the Flashback Light..."

"...It's not? I honestly thought that's what this was about!" Kiibo exclaimed.

"Then why'd you call us all here!? I had to go to the bathroom!" Himiko shouted.

"I found... something pretty serious. I thought I should tell everyone right away..."

"Pretty serious?" Ichika repeated, tilting her head. "What exactly did you find...?"

"Those letters Gokuhara-kun found in the courtyard... There's more added to them again. It looks like the message is complete now. We can finally read it... 'This world is mine...' 'This world is mine. Ouma Kokichi'."

"...This world is mine?" Maki parroted.

Ichika's placed a finger to her chin. "Huh..."

Kaito sighed. "Heh, so that's what it all means. It was all just a prank by Ouma."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "A prank?"

"He kept adding to that message just so he could make fun of us."

"Nyeeeh... I see. That definitely seems like something Ouma would so."

"Well, who cares about Ouma. More importantly, what about the Flashback Light?" Kaito asked.

"It seems no one has found it yet." Kiibo responded.

"Maybe... that's Ouma's fault, too?" Himiko suggested. "He probably found it first and hid it."

Tsumugi shivered. "We need to do something and find him-"

"No, there's no need to bother with him. The best way to deal with guys like him is to ignore them. So, let's just leave him be." Kaito said, surprisingly calm.

"You say that, but you were the angriest out of all of us," Maki commented.