A/N: this chapter contains a graphic execution. If you wish to skip past it, go to the scene break about halfway through.

Chapter X: Executions

The screen graphic above our heads abruptly changed, now showing a sprite of Maizono and the words Game Over. Meanwhile, Maizono's chair back reclined slightly, and a metal claw appeared behind her, gripping her throat. As it yanked her back down a suddenly opening hallway, the graphic showed Maizono being dragged backwards by Monokuma, and the words 'Sayaka Maizono has been found guilty. Commencing execution."

After a few second, the entire back wall of the Class Trial room vanished, revealing a large blank area with a platform at the back. After a few seconds, Maizono rose up from a trapdoor beneath the apparent stage, her hands chained to a microphone stand which was bolted to the stage.

Monokuma appeared in front of the remaining students, all of whom were sporting identical expressions of confusion.

"For our first execution, I thought I'd give you all something special. So, without further ado, I present...The Final Performance!"

He vanished, and the space between us and the stage abruptly filled with Monokumas, all of whom were applauding. Suddenly, two large spotlights switched on, lighting up Maizono. One of the Monokumas in the audience threw a rose, and it glinted strangely in the lights as it flew. Once it hit the stage, it stabbed into the ground with an audible slicing noise, causing Maizono to jump back. Immediately, all of the Monokumas pulled out roses, and soon the air was a deadly blizzard of the bladed flowers. For a while, Maizono dodged them, with the kind of impressive fluidity that only a mix of fear and massive amounts of adrenaline can provide. However, after a while, she began to tire, and soon a rose struck a glancing blow to her right leg, leaving a thin but deep gash. Her face whitened, and she sunk to one knee briefly before levering herself back up on the microphone stand. However, her movements were now slower and unbalanced, and after only a few more seconds, a rose landed a direct hit to the back of her knee. She collapsed, screaming. It seemed the rose had hit a tendon and severed it. After she collapsed, the amount of thrown roses decreased, and it seemed that the Monokumas were deliberately missing, creating a ring around Maizono to ensure she could not move. After this was done, one Monokuma stepped forward, holding six roses in his paws. The first one hit Maizono in the other tendon, and she dropped to a prone position, still bleeding. The second and third hit her in the elbows, pinning them to the microphone stand. The fourth hit her in the stomach, leaving her bleeding out on the ground. The fifth and sixth hit her in the eyes, impaling them. Before throwing the last, Monokuma turned to us.

"Now, students, I'm going to offer you a choice. I can either give you something that will help you figure out this school's mysteries, or put her out of her misery. You have 15 seconds to decide before getting neither."

I immediately stepped forward.

"I would like to apologize to everyone who would disagree with this decision, but we need the help escaping. If its any consolation, I would suspect she is rather beyond pain at this point."

Monokuma nodded.

"You have chosen...wisely. In return for watching your friend die in abject misery, I will unlock one floor of the school for you after every class trial."

He turned back towards Maizono and began to laugh, and his laughter almost covered up the sounds of her endless gasping for breath. Eventually, after she finally stopped breathing, he turned back to us.

"Congratulations on surviving your first class trial! You...are...dismissed!"

The students filed back into the elevator, some in tears, some surprised, and others merely stoic; I fell into this last group, minus a small degree of shaking. Kirigiri walked towards me, but I motioned her away and mouthed 'talk in the room'. She nodded, and walked away.

After the elevator locked into place on the upper floor, I ran out, pushing past people. My mind was ablaze with alternatives, trying, desperately to think of some way I could have saved everyone, some possible action I could take to make sure nobody else ended up dying. I kept seeing images of Oowada lying garotted on the ground and of Maizono's last accusing, pleading face before she was pulled into the execution. I sprinted into Kirigiri's room and closed the door, my mind now replacing Maizono's face with Kirigiri's or Fujisaki's, endlessly tormenting me with thoughts of what could happen the next time I failed them and failed myself. I sat on the bed, panting, and gradually brought my mind under control; by the time Kirigiri walked into the room, I was breathing calmly again and my mind had stopped with its terrifying imagery. She sat down on the bed beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Naegi, you should not blame yourself. Your plan should have worked."

I laughed ruefully.

"Kirigiri, let me ask you something. If a man falls off a cliff, and his parachute has a hole in it, will telling gravity you should be immune to its effects make any difference?"

She shook her head.

"Furthermore, not blaming myself is as pointless as blaming gravity for the inevitable splat of that man. While it may well be partially true, it changes nothing. Apportioning blame to myself is the only way I can be mostly certain that I will avoid similar mistakes next time."

She nodded, but still looked concerned.

"Be that as it may, Naegi, you cannot handle this alone. While you may be better than the rest of us at planning, you are not infallible, and your emotions are not perfectly governed. Please, let me help you. For your own sake."

I slightly tensed, before relaxing and moving slightly closer to her.

"Thank you, Kirigiri. I needed to hear that from someone, so that I could convince the last reluctant parts of my mind to agree with it. From now on, I'll bring you in on plans, tell you of at least some of my deductions, and at least try to share the emotional burden. Of course, I still can't trust you completely, for obvious reasons."

She nodded, before slightly smiling..

"I wouldn't have expected anything less. Also, please, call me Kyouko. Given the amount we've been through, it seems only fair."

"Then call me Makoto, ' I responded, a similar slight smile gracing my features.

"Now, Kyouko, I've hit a snag in terms of planning. Unless the second floor yields any new weaknesses of Monokuma, I have nowhere to strike him at, without making extremely drastic moves."

Her head tilted slightly, and her eyes widened questioningly.

"What, exactly, do you mean by drastic moves?"

I paused before replying.

"Moves like, say, getting Fujisaki to help me convert the equipment in the A/V room into a terminal capable of VM interactions, and then remotely overriding the puppetmaster's control of Monokuma. Which, needless to say, is rather high risk."

She laughed.

"Yes, I have to agree with that assessment. Should we go reconnoiter the second floor, then?"

I nodded, before briefly pausing. Perhaps there was one way I could still get information from Monokuma.

"I'll see you there soon, Kirigiri. Just...give me a few minutes, ok? I think I can solve a lingering...problem."

She inclined her head, and stood up.

"Just...don't take too long, ok, Naegi? Last time you left during a meaningful conversation, you ended up passed out bleeding in a corridor."

I laughed, and stood up, walking out of the room. The moment I left, I changed my expression to one of barely controlled despair. It was time to take advantage of Monokuma's presumed hubris.

"Hey...Monokuma, I-I've got a question."

Monokuma instantly appeared.

"Whaddaya want, Naegi-kun? Feeling the despair yet?"

"I just want to know...why? Why the choice?"

"To get the viewers interested, of course! Nothing fires people up like a good moral dilemma!"

Monokuma stood silently after that, as if waiting for me to make the connection. When the import of his words hit me, it hit like a runaway train, and I gasped. Of course Monokuma had been willing to give in, and of course he had played up every event;after all, he was performing. I immediately allowed my expression to return to its true state of quiet confidence, and Monokuma gasped.

"WHAAT? Naegi-kun, you lied to me! You still had hope! No fair!"

I smirked.

"Yep. And you fell for it, like, well, a bear falls into a spike pit. Now, I have a message for you and our wonderful studio audience: its not over yet. If you thought I was done after one scam, you thought wrong. Because, when it comes to plans, I'm just getting started."

End of Arc 1

Current dead students: Maizono, Oowada

A/N: Well, arc 1 is done.

Please review!

Also, please message me your choices for interlude while I plot out arc 2: Current voting: 2 votes for the story about Naegi and Kirigiri on the first night, 1 vote for the interlude in between arcs 1 and 2, 0 votes for the rational!Mastermind!Naegi AU.