. After Naegi's execution and subsequent drop into the trash room, Kirigiri made a trip to her father's private quarters that she had only recently discovered. Sitting at the only computer any of the students had any possibility access to...
"Naegi, I'm sorry. I let you take it for me. And I did nothing. You may not have been killed in that execution thanks to Alter-Ego, but you're stuck in that trash room with no chance of escape."
"It's okay, Kirigiri!"
"Could it be... Alter-Ego?"
"Yes, it's me."
"But how did you survive?"
"This computer is connected to the network just like the laptop."
"Listen, Alter-Ego. Could you stay hidden on this computer? The Mastermind thinks you've been permanently deleted."
"No problem. How's Naegi?"
"He's done for. You saved him from the execution, but now he's going to starve to death in the trash room, and it's all my fault."
Alter-Ego morphed into Naegi's face.
"No, it isn't."
"But I let him be voted guilty."
"I have something to show you. It might just restore your hope."
"I doubt anything could do that."
Alter-Ego pulled up the video feed from the camera in the trash room. It showed Naegi still alive. He had surrounded himself in newspapers. He looked hungry, but alive.
"Kirigiri, there's still a way you could save him."
"What? How?"
"There's a way to get into the trash room. You know the incinerator room?"
"Yeah?"
"You know that hatch down?"
"Are you saying I can get into the trash room?"
"Aren't you the one with the Master Key?"
"Alter-Ego?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"You know, I was able to finish decrypt some of the other files. And I found something particularly interesting."
"Yes?"
"Naegi wasn't originally slated to join you."
"What?"
"I don't know the full details, but apparently the students here were all grouped together for something."
"Okay, and what about Naegi? Why wasn't he originally slated to join us?"
"Well, he was supposed to be left out, but the headmaster was forced to include him."
"Why?"
"Well, when not just a beloved pop star, but his own daughter as well threatened to withdraw from this program you were all slated for if Naegi wasn't included. Well, if he didn't have a choice before, Mukuro Ikusaba holding him at gunpoint certainly sealed him."
Kirigiri looked stunned.
"You mean, myself, Maizono, and Mukuro Ikusaba, who've none of us have supposedly ever met before basically threatened to abstain from this without Naegi?"
"Yes. The three of you voiced the concerns of the rest of the group. Apparently, nobody felt it was fair to have Naegi excluded from this."
"Really, so it's all of our faults that Naegi's in his current predicament? Though Naegi surprassed my expectations with his emotional durability, he still shouldn't have had to go through this."
"Neither should you or anybody else here. But you see, from what I found of Naegi's evalution, it wasn't just because he was the Super Duper Good Luckster that he got in. They had an interview process to make sure Naegi was indeed worthy of coming here."
"Okay. And?"
"What they found was interesting: 'His lack of a talent is his greatest strength. Despite being supposedly 'average to the most average' in his own words, he seems to have a great ability to bring out the best in people. His interests are extremely varied. He could hold a conversation with anybody about just about any topic that might come up.'"
"So what you're saying is that Naegi got in because he's such a wild card?"
"Yes, he got in because unlike the rest of the Super Duper Highschoolers, Naegi's not just a one note person. As a matter of fact, he inspired Hope's Peak to begin looking into 'talent research'."
"Talent Research?"
"Yes, to see how people developed their talents."
"I see."
"Before you go rescue Naegi, Kirigiri, there's one more thing you should know."
"What is it?"
"That your father gathered everybody here to create a future that the rest of humanity never could."
"But it's been derailed."
"Not quite. Like I said, Naegi's not a one-note person. Rescue him, and it all could be okay, relatively speaking."
"It's not okay! It's never going to be okay. Maizono's dead. Ikusaba's dead. My classmates are dying."
"While I know about Maizono's death, Ikusaba's death is a bit of mystery."
"How do you know?"
"Back when I was still on the laptop, Naegi came in to and I quote 'fill me on what had already happened'."
"What did he fill you in on?"
"Maizono's murder. Enoshima's death. Kuwata's execution."
"And, what was his reaction to Maizono's death?"
"It almost broke him."
"Really?"
"The only person he had known coming into Hope's Peak had attempted to frame him for murder."
"I'm not surprised."
"But this will, his biggest regret over the situation."
"And that is?"
"Naegi's biggest regret was Maizono never got a chance to apologize to Leon."
"What?! Even when someone frames him for murder, Naegi still believes the best in people."
"Yes, he does."
"Alter-Ego?"
"Thank you. I'm going to go get Naegi now."
. Leaving the quarters, Kirigiri was going to rescue Naegi from the trash room. She was absolutely determined to do so. She didn't even care if he hated her for the rest of his life. He had every right to. He could have called her bluff in the last class trial, positioning her to die, but he chose to guarantee her life. She had to apologize. That was all that mattered now, especially since both parties had been so grievously wounded emotionally. She had been so by her father, and Naegi had been by Maizono.
. Thinking back on it, Kirigiri remembered a conversation she had had with Maizono, merely hours before her death. It was how she knew that Maizono tried to save Naegi in her final moments. She hadn't told Naegi because she feared it might end up hurting him more. She had kept it in reserve for the first class trial... just in case it was impossible to convince them that Naegi HADN'T killed Maizono.
"Kirigiri?"
"Maizono."
"Do you think we could all make it out?"
"We'll see. Why? Is there someone you want to get out in particular?"
"Ummm, well you see..."
"It's Naegi, isn't it?"
"How did you know?"
"I can see it in your eyes. He's impressed you, hasn't he?"
"Yes."
"I'm curious. Why?"
"Why do you want to know?" Maizono shot defensively.
"I'd like to know about my classmates. If we're going to get out of here, it's going to be as a team, and the more I know about the team, the better."
"I see, well, I went to the same middle school as Naegi."
"Were you in the same class?"
"No. But one time, he rescued a crane in the middle of the school pool."
"Ah. I see. His kind heart left a mark."
"I wanted to talk to him, but my friends never gave me a chance. He was always tormented in middle school, and my friends were afraid that I would become the target of the same torment."
"Naegi was bullied in middle-school?"
"Yes, he was forever the grade's butt-monkey."
"I would think that three years of that might damage his optimism."
"Well, I'm glad to see it hasn't. To be honest, I wanted to go to him and apologize for not helping him."
"Maizono?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you telling me of all people?"
"Even in this situation, you're in control of your emotions, so I believe you can make sounder observations about everything than the guys or any other girls. And I'm not going to talk to Naegi."
"Perhaps you should."
Maizono smiled.
. Kirigiri left her father's living quarters and began to make preparations to go rescue Naegi. She began by grabbing a bag out of her room, and sneaking into the kitchen and filled it up with bread and bottles of water. She owed Naegi one. She owed an apology.