A/N: *Sigh* yet another extension. I know you all are probably getting sick of all this building suspense and want to reach the end already but I just can't help but keep the plot going. Instead of just jumping straight to the end I want to make you all experience what it's like to go through a class trial just like in the games. In the original Danganronpa you are Makoto Naegi, in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair you are Hajime Hinata (and at one point Nagito Komaeda), and in my game you are Akira Maita. I just get so into the story that I have a tendency to drag things on. But I swear to you, next chapter will be the last prologue chapter. Cross my heart and hope to despair. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter as it will fill with you such despair and sadness. And in the end happiness and confidence. I plan to make this the best Danganronpa game ever, all I ask for is your patience and support.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Prologue, Part 12: The despairful truth

MAKE AN ACCUSATION

I looked up to the large tapestries that circled the walls of the dungeon-like court room. Twenty-eight tapestries in all. And each one depicted one of the students who lost their lives to this sick game made up by the Mastermind. I looked over each one individually studying the full body forms sewn on them. They looked all most life like, each form perfectly represented their counterpart's personality. And then my eyes stopped on the tapestry of the person who I knew in my heart could be the only perpetrator of the act in question. Hajime Hinata. "It could only be you!" I exclaimed, getting the attention of the others.

"Based on the content written in the message, the person who wrote it implied that they along with a single girl were the only two people remaining in the academy. So I think that the person who carved that into the box could have only been one person. The victim of this case, Hajime Hinata," I explained my reasoning.

"B-But if that's true then what does this mean?" Micho asked in surprise. "We figured that Hinata-kun knew he was going to be murdered but…it just doesn't make sense." I figured she was referring to that one statement in the message.

Flashback:

"This may be the end but if that is the case then I would rather be killed by her hands than my own. I choose murder over suicide. That person will not get me!"

"'I would rather be killed by her hands than my own,'" Micho repeated the line. "It doesn't sound like he was planning to commit murder himself, it sounds more like he had already accepted his fate."

"More importantly this means we can eliminate more people, right?" Keiko asked. "I mean Mr. Hajime Hinata clearly says that the person left with him is female. This means that we can eliminate all the male suspects, right?"

"Hey yeah!" Nate exclaimed in glee. "Yes we're nearing the end now dudes!"

"Alright then considering the girls that we know for sure are dead – Mahiru Koizumi, Hiyoko Saionji, Toko Fukawa, Ibuki Mioda, Sayaka Maizono, Kyoko Kirigiri, Celestia Ludenberg, Junko Enoshima, Peko Pekoyama, and Aoi Asahina – that leaves four more girls left. Sakura Ogami, Mikan Tsumiki, Sonia Nevermind, and Akane Owari. One of those four must be our killer," Jonathan inferred.

"Alright so that means we can exclude all the other boys, right?" Aya asked. "You know, Leon Kuwata, Mondo Owada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Hifumi Yamada, Teruteru Hanamura, and Nekomaru Nidai."

"Alright, we've only got four more to go. Our chances of survival are starting to look better," Shiro surmised.

"Yes, Azami-tan is excited hebi!" Azami exclaimed. "It's almost over hebi!"

Soshun sighed in relief. "Finally, we can relax now."

"Is it true, we're almost finished?" Chihiro asked in an excited tone. "We can go home soon?"

"It's almost over Chihiro-chan, just hang in there a little longer," Cam said as he squeezed the timid girl's hand.

"Mistress Hitomi, don't worry I shall return," Nodaka said to herself.

I chuckled in glee. 'It really is almost over. We can go home soon. I can go back to…back to...' Slowly my smile started to fade when a realization occurred. 'Hang on…where do I live again? That's weird, all of a sudden I can't remember which street I live on. I can't even remember if I live in a town house, an apartment, or what. I can't remember what my house looks like.' A new terror began to seep into my pores. 'Why can't I remember where I live? Could it be…no, no I must just be anxious. That's it, it's just anxiousness. My mind's too preoccupied with this mystery right now to think of anything else. That's all it is.' As I convinced myself that I was just being paranoid I shifted my train of thoughts back to the matter at hand. 'Okay Hajime had a relationship with a girl while he was imprisoned here in the academy. And that girl was one of our four remaining suspects, Sonia Nevermind, Sakura Ogami, Akane Owari, or Mikan Tsumiki. I just have to figure out which girl he was involved with and we'll have our answer.'

NON-STOP DEBATE

"Okay Hajime was getting it on with one of those four chicks! Let's discuss which of them seems like the kind of one he'd be into," Nate said.

"Getting it on? Chicks?" Sawa repeated. "Geez, Baron-kun can you be a bit more tactful?"

Nate blushed and looked away. "Uh, right sorry."

"Let's discuss our options," Soshun suggested. "First of all there's Mikan Tsumiki the Ultimate Nurse."

"She was your friend right Komaeda-kun?" Aya asked uneasily, clearly still a little freaked out by Nagito's change of character a little while ago.

"Not so much friend as she was one of the few people who tolerated my existence so I was naturally grateful to her for that. But if you must know we did have some similarities," Nagito replied.

"Don't tell me she was bat shit crazy like you," Jonathan suggested.

"No, no, not that extreme. She did however share my sense of masochism. Her's was even more pronounced, apparently the poor girl was severely abused and bullied though she would never admit by whom. Every time she would make a mistake or trip on account of her clumsy personality she would start balling and apologizing." Then he blushed slightly and cleared his throat as if he was nervous to say something. "One time she even told me that I could do…some pretty graphic stuff to her as punishment."

"Graphic stuff?" Chihiro repeated Nagito's words with a state of embarrassment.

"Well he might've been involved with Sonia Nevermind the Ultimate Princess," Nodaka suggested. "She was blonde, foreign, cute, and pretty ditzy from what I heard. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a normal Japanese male's ideal woman? But still she wouldn't have held a candle to my mistress."

"What are you implying with calling Nevermind the Japanese male's ideal woman? Are you saying that we all think alike or something?" Yasuke asked.

"Well definitely not you, your right hand's all you need, right?" Nodaka replied with a snicker.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" Yasuke shouted.

"What about Akane Owari, she was the Ultimate Gymnast? Some guys go for the athletic girls, right?" Micho asked.

Sawa laughed uneasily. "I doubt it would have been Owari-senpai. She wasn't in track club like Asahina-senpai was but almost everybody knew about her. If anything she was too athletic, she was always running and jumping around the school as part of her parkour training."

"But she was the Ultimate Gymnast, right? Why would she need to do parkour?" Soshun asked.

"I don't think she really had a reason, she just liked running, and fighting, and eating definitely eating. I don't know how he could have had a relationship with her but if he sparred with her she probably would have killed him then," Sawa said as she sweatdropped.

"But still you know there might have been a different attraction," Cam said uneasily as he blushed and pulled on his shirt collar.

"You're talking about those huge hooters she was always showing off aren't you tech boy?" Nodaka asked.

"I didn't say that!" Cam exclaimed in embarrassment. "Chihiro-chan is the only girl I need!"

Chihiro's face turned bright red and she began to whimper in an embarrassed tone. "…"

"What about Sakura Ogami?" Shiro asked. "She could've…"

"No," Jonathan cut him off.

"What, but don't you think Haji-chan maybe…?" Shiro tried to ask another question.

"God no," Jonathan cut him off again.

'Hmm the only girls remaining in our suspect pool are Sonia Nevermind, Sakura Ogami, Akane Owari, and Mikan Tsumiki. Could Hajime's girlfriend have been one of them? Given what we know that seems like the only conclusion but I can't help but feel that I'm forgetting about something,' I thought to myself. (Ammunition needed: Love lost to despair, Contradiction to refute: "one of these four chicks!".) "No, that's wrong!" I exclaimed as I reached the conclusion.

BREAK!

"Wait a second I think we might be forgetting a girl," I suddenly said.

"We forgot somebody?" Micho asked in confusion.

"Is there any kind of brain in there at all, cockroach boy?" Nodaka asked in her usual obnoxious tone. "We determined all the female suspects are already dead besides those four. Ergo, Hinata's girlfriend and killer could only be one of those four."

"Kira Onii-chan, do you think we might have been wrong in our conclusion that someone is dead?" Beigoma asked.

"No, I think all that we've determined so far is still true but I think there might've also been someone we've overlooked. I can't explain it, it's just a gut feeling I have," I replied.

"Well gut feeling or not, if Kira Onii-chan thinks we should look into this further then you can count me in as well," Beigoma asserted.

"Thanks Kiyoshi-san," I replied with a smile.

Nodaka scoffed and then said something to herself. "Typical, her opinion is the only one that matters to you."

"What was that?" I asked, unable to make out what she said.

"Nothing, just tell us what you're damn theory is already!" Nodaka exclaimed.

"Okay, okay," I replied in an annoyed tone. "Well when I was investigating the Boring-er room AKA Hinata-kun's room in the dormitory I came across this old photo under Hinata-kun's pillow." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the torn photo to show the others.

"It's a picture of Hinata-kun outside with somebody," said Micho.

"That's the girl's uniform for Hope's Peak Academy, no doubt that it's a girl he's with," said Aya. "But what's with her face? I can't make it out."

"It seems like someone tried to scribble out the girl's face out of anger, or jealousy perhaps?" Keiko wondered.

"But what does this photo have to do with what you're talking about Akira?" Nate asked.

"Well, remember that note that I found in Hinata-kun's waste basket about his meeting with the killer? I found another one in the waste basket too. They had the same handwriting which I guess proves that the same person wrote them but the content of each message is different," I explained.

"How so?" Connie asked.

I began to explain. "Well if you'll recall the note that I found about the meeting read like this:

Hi Hajime, we haven't talked at all since last week, have we? Our argument was really loud, eh? I'm sure if anyone else was here with us they would have been complaining about the volume. Look, I'm really sorry about what I said before, I didn't take into account how you felt and that was wrong of me. I can't help but feel like we've been growing further and further apart. I wish things could go back to the way they used to be. But no matter how hard I wish for it I know it will never come true. But I want to fix things with you before we both end up doing something we regret. Can you meet me at the fifth floor classroom at 2:00 A.M, please? I really want to talk to you, Monokuma told me something very interesting the other day and I want to discuss it with you. You'll know what to do, I'm sure of it. Please come, I want to see you.

(Blank name)."

"That note sounds a little impersonal don't you think? Like the person who wrote it didn't have any sort of connection to Hinata-kun at all," I explained and then pulled out the other note I had stashed in my pocket. "Which is in contrast to the contents of this other note:

Dear Hajime,

It looks like there's just (blank) of us now. Where has the time gone? It's been a while since we've spoken, we barely saw you after Byakuya died. You closed yourself off from us completely, don't tell me you lost your hope? You couldn't have right? Even after the others decided it was time for them to leave as well you still came out of your room for investigations and class trials, though those didn't really matter anymore since it always ended the same way. I saw you come out of your room every now and then though to grab something from the kitchen, remember when Teruteru used to cook for us? I miss him and everyone else too, but I especially miss you. You promised remember? When you first came to Hope's Peak Academy we found each other remember? I was such a dork back then, you found me dozing off remember? And then when all of this happened you said you would stay by my side and never leave me alone, right? Makoto is worried about you and so is Kyoko, and I'm worried too. Please come outside. I want to talk to you for real, it feels like it's been ages since we've talked face to face. I miss your voice, I miss your never-yielding spirit. What happened to the Hajime Hinata that I loved? Is he still there? Please reply to me in person.

Love, forever and ever,

(Blank name)."

Then I passed both notes around the group and made sure that everyone saw them. "Huh, now that I see both notes I see what you mean by them being different," said Micho. "It looks like the same person wrote these according to the handwriting but while one of them mentions familiarities and love to Hinata-kun this one about the meeting is a bit more direct and cold. That and the introductions and signatures are very different. But what does this mean?" Micho asked.

"It might mean that whoever Hinata-kun did fall in love with, they ended up having a fight with him and lost all their feelings for him," Izuru theorized. "It actually mentions a fight in the note about the meeting."

"So Hajime and the killer had a bad fight before they ended up trying to murder each other, man talk about holding grudges," said Nate.

"Something real bad must have happened for them to suddenly break up like that," said Aya.

"Hinata might've cheated on her and she kicked him to the curb. If that's the case then I don't blame her for killing him," said Nodaka.

"No I don't think that's what it was about," I replied. "I think the killer might've lied to Hinata-kun about something and that's why they fought."

"The killer lied to Hinata-kun and that's why they had a fight?" Micho repeated my words in an effort to understand them.

"Then in that case it stands to reason that whoever that girl is she must have pissed him off severely," Soshun said.

"I think that's the understatement of the year," said Nate who had the torn photo of Hajime and the mystery girl at that time. "The amount of pressure he put into scratching her face out with the marker, I think that whatever she lied to him about it must have been pretty big."

"…" We all stayed silent for a few moments to contemplate what that might be.

And she was the one to break the silence again. "Could she…could she have been involved with Ultimate Despair?" We all turned to look at Mukuro.

"Sheesh, with how often you speak we ought to put a bell on you so we won't be surprised each time you open your mouth," Nodaka remarked.

Mukuro seemed a little bit unnerved by that comment. She blushed slightly and then replied, "A bell…like with a choker and everything?"

"Huh, didn't take you as a submissive," Nodaka replied.

Mukuro shook her head to get rid of those thoughts and then continued with her previous thought. "I'm just saying, what if Hinata found out about Ultimate Despair being behind this whole situation, and that his girlfriend was part of Ultimate Despair. I think that much of a lie would ruin any kind of relationship. If the person you loved found out you were a monster…somehow I can understand that feeling."

"There she goes again, with Nagito its hope and with her it's despair," said Nate. "What's the big f'ing deal about those metaphysical ideas?!"

"Doesn't matter, hope is by far greater than despair!" Nagito exclaimed. "How could you give into darkness so easy Mukuro-chan? You and your sister, for shame."

Mukuro sighed and cast a dour expression. "Perhaps it's time I explain. If Junko Onee-chan is indeed dead and our plan has failed then I doubt it matters if I tell you about our previous goal in all of this."

"Your goal?" I repeated. "You mean the goal of this Ultimate Despair?"

"Originally, Junko Onee-chan used the title of Ultimate Despair to refer to herself," Mukuro explained. "But after a while that term began to slowly form to the name of our group which like Junko Onee-chan and I despaired the world."

"What does that even mean? Why do you despair the world?" Micho asked uneasily.

"To despair is to despair," Mukuro simply explained. "From the moment Junko Onee-chan and I were born into this world we realized that no one would ever truly understand us, that no one would truly ever accept us, and that if we were to die at that exact moment no one would so much as bat an eye. So we despaired. We despaired over never being able to truly love or feel, or truly experience the meaning of life, or be normal girls and do normal things. We were born with an innate sense of darkness. It grew in us like small seeds and as the years went by that despair soon blossomed into the flowers of evil. But though we both despaired, our levels of darkness were unequal. Junko Onee-chan took pride in her emptiness, her cold heart, her perverted soul, her dark and decrepit mind, she loved the feeling that despair gave her. You might even say it was a sexual thrill."

"Y-You're kidding? That crazy bitch actually got off on despair?!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"Like I said, perverse, that was Junko Onee-chan's nature in pure essence. Blood, violence, gore, death; these things were like aphrodisiac to her. For the longest time she would inflict despair upon the innocent, she tortured small animals and sometimes when she was bored even me. Though she was my little sister I was not the superior in our relationship at all. I knew that my little sister had an unquenchable thirst for despair so at a young age I vowed to do my best to sate her thirst, I participated in her rituals…as gruesome as they were. And within a few years our combined despair consumed our parents and they too fell into despair and slowly lost the will to live. But also in that time I discovered the world of military combat. It made me feel safe and comforted me and my despair."

Cam cracked a joke. "Yeah because nothing says safe and comforting like an automatic rifle."

Mukuro continued her story. "That's when I joined the Fenrir Mercenary Corps and became a killer for hire. I figured if my destiny was to become a killer who despaired the world and all of humanity then I might as well become a killer with some purpose."

"Hey it could be worse," said Nate. "You could've become some crazy serial killer."

"But in our time apart Junko Onee-chan's despair grew even larger than mine, while I was gone she began to gather other followers to act in my stead, and with each follower Junko Onee-chan tapped into their psyches and let out an animalistic desire for hatred and violence. Some killed their friends and family and some corrupted them as well. You might call it brainwashing, but the dark truth is that even though they were already under Junko Onee-chan's control at that point, they were still fully aware of their actions and the consequences that would follow. None of that mattered though, because all of it was for the Ultimate Despair's sake. To fill her with even greater despair over the fact that she created such blood-thirsty monsters and unearthed so much chaos, which lead for her to revel in that despair and recruit even more followers until something was born. It was not a simple entourage, a cult, or even a terrorist group. It was a disease," Mukuro explained.

"A disease?" Aya repeated.

"Junko Onee-chan's despair infected her followers, then they infected others, and then those others infected others still until a mass of people were hooked on Junko Onee-chan's despair. In essence the Ultimate Despair became not just Junko Onee-chan but everyone she infected herself and by proxy. The Ultimate Despairs were born into the world all at once to throw it into chaos unheard of in any known history. Basically, they were born to end the world," Mukuro explained.

"E-End the world?!" I repeated in horror.

"Junko Onee-chan's logic was that if such a dark individual like herself were born into the world then the world must have on some level wished to be ended, so she made it her goal to accomplish that wish and infect the entire world with her despair. Her Despairification of Humanity Project."

"Despairification?!" Yasuke exclaimed. "Come on, that's not even a word!"

"I returned to try and once again act as the container for her overactive despair but to my dismay Junko Onee-chan had become too powerful for me to deal with, her despair overpowered me and drew me in once again to the point where I almost hanged off her every word. So I followed her plan to make the world despair, the first step of the plan being the corruption of Hope's Peak Academy. In truth most of Junko Onee-chan's followers were students of that school, my sister wanted to corrupt them and the school because of what they both stood for. Ultimate Hope."

Nobody said anything form that point on as well all hung off every word Mukuro spoke.

"The world looked up to Hope's Peak Academy and its students. Symbols of Hope ready and willing to shape the future of the world. But for Junko Onee-chan's plan to succeed there could be no future for the world, all that cumulative hope had to be destroyed and give rise to despair so she along with her followers devised something so horrible and blood-curdling that it was sure to drag the entire world into despair. The mutual killing game. Yes, that's right. The game we're participating in right now, a game all about deceiving others and trying not to be deceived, a game full of mysteries and plot twists, a game where it's every man for himself. King of the caste, a zero-sum game, call it whatever you want, the point is that you can only escape by killing one of your friends."

"Why…why would you force young master Fuyuhiko and Peko-sama to play such an awful game?!" Nodaka shouted.

"The point of the game has to do with the things all around the school…" Mukuro replied.

'The things all around the school?' I repeated her words in my mind. 'Could she mean…' I asked my other self for advice on the subject and then he offered me this. "You're talking about the security cameras, right Ikusaba-san?"

"That is correct, you see not only is the Mastermind observing us through those cameras but the outside world is as well," Mukuro said shockingly, getting reactions out of all of us.

"What…?!" I exclaimed.

"The outside world is watching us?!" Micho exclaimed.

"Y-you're kidding?! We're on TV right now?!" Nate exclaimed as he pulled on his hair in disbelief.

"T-that's ridiculous, if somebody was watching us compete in this stupid game they would've come to help us already! We've been here for hours after all!" Jonathan exclaimed.

Monokuma suddenly let out that spine-chilling cackle of his. "Are you sure about that? Are you sure someone would come to rescue you?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?! Of course I'm sure!" Jonathan replied.

The Keiko spoke up. "He's right, surely in this type of situation the police would come and…"

"The police?!" Monokuma exclaimed and then chuckled in reply. "What are you talking about, the police don't exist anymore you know?"

"Eh?" Keiko replied in confusion.

"He's just saying dumb shit to screw with us again! You'll have to think better than that you Masteridiot!" Jonathan shouted at Monokuma.

"Again with this?! Why can't you just butt out, can't you see no one wants to hear from you?!" Yasuke shouted at Monokuma as well.

"Sorry, I know when I'm not wanted. I'll shut up now. But just one more question, if you please? What year do you think this is?" Monokuma asked.

"Eh?" I replied in confusion. "What kind of question is that? It's 2015, duh."

Monokuma chuckled again. "You might want to add about seven more years to that number Akira-kun."

"What?" I replied.

"That's right it's the year 2022!" Monokuma exclaimed in glee.

Micho gasped. "2022? What? How? Why?"

"You can't be serious hebi?!" Azami exclaimed.

"I-is he for real?!" Shiro asked in fear.

"No that, that can't be true. Monsieur Monokuma is definitely lying, it is just another of le Mastermind's cruel jokes," Connie assured us. "That is la truth, no?" she then added uneasily.

"Of course he's lying, don't tell me you idiots actually believe that shit! No way it's 2022!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"You don't just lose seven years, it's a total load of crap!" Yasuke also exclaimed.

"I can assure you of one thing and that is that I am a beary honest bear," said Monokuma. "Besides the occasional little white one, I never tell any lies. But this one doesn't qualify as one of those lies don't you think? Why would you deliberately lie about what year it was? That's mean. I speak only the truth. Today is October 23, 2022. Don't question the date!"

"There's no way…there's no way…no way…no way," Sawa repeated as she began to nervously shake.

"You lie, it can't be 2022!" Chihiro exclaimed through her tears.

"Stop lying already! You're making Chihiro-chan cry!" Cam exclaimed.

"I will not believe it, no way in hell that's true!" Soshun exclaimed. "No way I've slacked off for seven years and haven't noticed dammit!"

Jose looked through his notebook. "Huh, so I've been using the wrong date all this time?"

"It looks like the Mastermind does have a few more surprises in store, how interesting," said Izuru.

"A discovery like this does indeed fill me with despair," said Nagito as he shook with fear. "Luckily my hope will not die out that easily. I hereby embrace the new year!" he exclaimed.

"Dudes, don't tell me you're seriously buying this bull?!" Nate exclaimed.

Beigoma began to cry as well. "I'm scared, hold me Kira Onii-chan!" she exclaimed as she stuck out her arms in my direction.

"Don't you dare!" Nodaka shouted in my direction. Then she turned to Beigoma and shouted. "Stop crying you baby, he's lying and you're falling for his dumb tricks like an idiot!"

Beigoma continued to cry. "I c-can't stop!" she exclaimed. "I'm too sc-scared!"

I didn't notice either girl's banter though. I was too busy with my own thoughts. 'No way?! It's 2022?! How is that even possible?! It can't be true! I know for a fact that I woke up this morning and it was 2015! I even checked the calendar in my room like I do every day! And now, seven years have passed?! I know for a fact that it can't be true, so why am I even considering it?! It's a joke, just a bad joke, just a really, really bad joke!' Then I thought about all the other worldly sights I had seen that day. A bomb shelter fitted school, a robotic and malicious bear controlled by some unknown puppeteer hiding behind cameras, several dead bodies. All of it seemed so unreal, and yet all of it was real. So who was I to completely dismiss the possibility that yet another unbelievable thing had occurred without me knowing?

Then she shattered that last bit of reality we were holding onto. "I'm afraid it's all true." We all looked to Mukuro and were ready to dismiss anything else she told us as lies but then she got back our attention. "After Ultimate Despair grew to a sufficient size we took over Hope's Peak Academy and remodeled it to suit our purposes. Then we initiated the mutual killing game, twenty-seven Hope's Peak Academy students were selected at random and the last spot was given to the headmaster's daughter, Kyoko Kirigiri, because Junko Onee-chan believed it would fill the headmaster with unbelievable despair. Then the selected students were placed in the remodeled Hope's Peak Academy and were given the choice to live in the academy until the day they died or to commit murder and return to the outside world once again. This was six years ago."

"But that can't be true, we all just got here today. If something bad like that happened Hope's Peak Academy would have definitely had to shut down, right?" I replied, trying to convince myself that Mukuro's insane notion could not be true.

"You're right, the academy did shut down. But not because of that incident, it was because of an incident that happened a year before that one, in 2015. An incident in which twenty Hope's Peak Academy students suddenly vanished into thin air. They all just disappeared without a trace. The police and community exhausted leads trying to find out what happened to them but no evidence was ever found. But the truth is that those students were abducted by Ultimate Despair to further their goals. The abduction happened on October 23, 2015 and those twenty students were never heard from again."

"W-what?" Micho replied. "Y-You c-can't be serious? Are you sa-saying the twenty st-students who disappeared, that was us?!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Shiro exclaimed.

"You can't be serious?!" Aya exclaimed.

"No way that's true, that's like the plot of some obscure anime!" Jonathan shouted.

"It is the truth, I know because I was one of the ones who was abducted. I was not allowed to see the light of day for seven years as well. The only reason I remember and you guys don't is because I am an Ultimate Despair so they didn't erase my memories," Mukuro explained.

"You've got to be kidding, now you're talking about erasing memories?!" Nodaka shouted. "This isn't science fiction, there's no way that any of this is true!"

"But I'm telling you it is, it is the truth, and the only way we're ever going to get anywhere is if you accept it as such," Mukuro implored us to believe her ludicrous story.

"How can you just ask us to accept something as ludicrous as that?!" Nate exclaimed.

Azami plugged up her cat ears with her fingers to block out Mukuro's lies. "La, la, la, la hebi! Azami-tan's not listening hebi! Shimi-chan's lies can't get through hebi!"

"I'm telling you the truth, I swear!" Mukuro exclaimed in defense.

"Truth?! *Pfft*, you haven't been telling us the truth from the start!" Nodaka exclaimed. "It's just one lie after another with you! Lies! Lies! Lies! I don't want to hear any more of your lies!" It looked like the Ultimate Maid was on the verge of tears as well.

Jose looked a little unhinged at that moment as well. "I…I have to admit. The absence of time I was willing to let slide because that's actually a common cliché in mystery novels. But now you're saying that our memories have been erased and that's why our concept of time is so wonky? That sounds a little too farfetched."

"But it's the truth and the only way that we're going to solve this mystery and survive is if you accept it!" Mukuro exclaimed in annoyance.

"Accept what?!" Jonathan shouted in annoyance as well. "All those bullshit claims?! Saying you, your sister, and your wannabe terrorist group are crazy idiots is all I'll accept thank you very much!"

"And all that stuff about the police being gone and no one coming to rescue us?! I will not believe Mr. Monokuma or Ms. Mukuro Ikusaba, both of you are liars!" Keiko exclaimed in defiance.

"I want to go home! I want to go home!" Chihiro cried. "Daddy save me!"

Cam did his best to comfort Chihiro by holding her close to him. "Chihiro-chan," he said softly.

Monokuma cackled again. "Yes, now you see this is the climax I was waiting for! The look on your stupid faces when you realize the truth! It's fucking awesome! This is why scripted TV pales in comparison to reality TV! The drama, the comedy, the beautiful despair, you can't write this! Everybody wave to the cameras and say hi to the audience, that's about as close as you're going to get to seeing anybody ever again! Almost everyone in the world out there is now filled with despair because of the previous mutual killing game, the Killing School Life! It received such high reviews in the despair and mystery category that a sequel was immediately scheduled to come out!"

"I have no idea what the hell he's talking about anymore dude!" Nate shouted as he started pulling at his hair.

"Simple, watching your despair is everybody in the world's new favorite pastime! The real-life consequences reality of the mutual killing game fills everyone with oodles of despair, seeing kids whack each other off is heavenly and has made the world come just as perverse for despair as Lady Junko once was! It was so heavenly that she gave into despair as well and offed herself! Don't you see, my despair has risen above the previous Mastermind's, I'm stronger than Lady Junko ever was! Which is why I took over the mutual killing game and made it even better! I know exactly what the public wants! More thrills, chills, and kills! They eat this shit up with a perverted smile on their faces!"

"Stop it! Just stop it please!" Sawa looked like she was about to break down and start crying.

"I won't believe it! I won't believe it!" Shiro tried to exclaim assertively.

Everybody started to tear up, even the strong people in the room were starting to break down. Even me, I was still holding on to the firm belief that it was all just a big fat lie. That this overwhelming despair couldn't be real, even though deep down in my heart I was second guessing myself. And then it all just bubbled to the surface. "Is…is that why they killed themselves?" I asked. Everyone suddenly went silent and my voice rose above the others. I looked to Monokuma and repeated my question. "Is that why the other students killed themselves?"

Monokuma chuckled. "Yep, in a nutshell. It took a while for them to accept their hopelessness too but after a while of wearing on their souls it sunk in. Nagito-kun was right in a way, but the students didn't kill themselves over hope. Nope, it was despair. Black, gigantic, beautiful despair. They realized the utter hopelessness of clinging to life. The world outside the walls of the academy had betrayed them and left them to die, and the only way to leave this horrible place was by killing the few people who understood what they were going through, their true friends. What to do? What to do? Eventually they settled on a way to leave without hurting the few people who hadn't abandoned them, killing themselves. It's not as much despair as murdering your friends mind you but still despairingly wonderful none the less. They lived her for six years before each and every one of them cracked under the pressure and died. The killer taking the initiative and actually showing the gall to murder one of their friends. The audience loved it! A second season was immediately demanded! So in step you guys, the second picks for the new mutual killing game. The Killing Despairadise!"

"Killing Despairadise?!" I exclaimed in a horrified tone.

"I don't want to do this!" Sawa screamed. "Let us out of here! Let us out right now!"

"Why bother? No one cares whether any of you live or die anymore, sure they might've cared when you all suddenly went missing but during those seven years a big change has happened to world. The line of morality has become blurred beyond recognition. Everyone in the outside world now lives for despair, they're watching your terrified expressions right now and laughing their asses off. In this era, despair has become king!"

"No way is everyone as fucked up in the head as you?!" Yasuke shouted.

"Oh but they are, violence, gore, and despair have become the key principles of society. Everybody's watching you guys right now, just waiting to see you overcome this obstacle and get on with the mutual killing. And here's another little interesting tidbit, unlike the other students we didn't select you guys at random, nope several individuals asked for you guys specifically to be involved in a mutual killing game. They were looking forward to seeing you wallow in bottomless despair. If anything you could call them you creators. The creators of your hopeless situation!"

"This doesn't make any sense! Everybody wants us to kill each other?!" Micho exclaimed, practically in tears.

"Don't tell me you're starting to buy it now?! Don't give in idiot, it's just another trap! If people were really watching through those damn cameras they would have at least tried to save us!" Jonathan exclaimed.

Monokuma sighed in exasperation. "Ugh, how many times do I have to say it till it sinks in?! NOBODY – GIVES – A – SHIT!" the robotic bear shouted. "The outside world is rooting for you to solve this mystery right now so you can get on with your mutual killing game! They're dying to see the Killing Despairadise in action! What are you waiting for now that you're so close to the truth?! Solve the damn mystery already! Figure out who the damn killer is! Akira-kun was about to guess who it was and there's no doubt in my little diabolical bear brain that it would have been correct with a few more questions answered! Accept your situation, you were kidnapped and have lost seven years of memories! The world that you remember is gone! If your friends and family aren't already dead then they've been infected with despair and don't care what happens to you anymore! Face it, you're all alone! You should save your own skins and not give a shit about others because one way or another you're going to die! The only question is who will commit murder first?!"

"Stop it!" Beigoma screamed as she covered her face with her hat.

"Enough already!" Nate exclaimed.

"Azami-tan doesn't want to hear anymore hebi!" Azami exclaimed.

"So this is the Mastermind's plan to make us fall into despair, eh? As expected it's not working on me but I wonder how long the others can last?" Izuru asked himself.

"The despair in the air is almost enough to literally choke on. Need hope desperately, if we conquer this despair just imagine the hope it could create. Let me see it, just accept it already and let me bear witness to the creation of that glorious hope!" Nagito exclaimed as his eyes turned back into that mixture of green and black.

"I know it's a lot to handle but you don't have a choice!" Mukuro shouted. "If you want to live then you have to swallow this despair whole!"

'What do we do?' I asked myself. 'What do we do? What the hell are we supposed to do?' And then it began, we all began to despair.

"This is insane, I'm not buying any of it you hear me?!" Yasuke shouted. "We've all been missing for seven years?! Give me a fucking break! This is all nonsense, there's no way a group led by a deranged high school girl could have so much power that they're able to take over a school and turn it into some fucked up fortress of murder! It's total bullshit!"

'Of course, what Yasuke's saying makes total sense. Saying that some kind of crazy terrorist group started by high schoolers that horrible things solely for the sake of feeling despair, it's pure insanity. But what's this feeling? I think I have information to prove him wrong. But do I even want to prove Yasuke wrong?' I asked myself.

"More importantly, I thought we were talking about Hinata's murder?" Yasuke asked. "None of this other crazy shit matters! Let's just go back to what we already know, Hinata and all the other students are dead except for one. Let's go back to trying to figure out who that is and worry about motives later. Now Maita what were you saying before about this girl Hinata had a relationship with?" he asked me.

I was in deep thought at that moment and didn't respond. "…"

"Maita?" Yasuke called out to me.

"I…I don't think we can just ignore what Ikusaba-san and Monokuma are telling us," I said uneasily.

"What?!" Yasuke exclaimed. "Don't tell me you actually believe that nonsense about us being kidnapped having our memories us erased?!"

"Seriously Aki?!" Jonathan exclaimed. "I thought you were smarter than that!"

"I know that it all sounds ridiculous, but when I think back upon all the other strange things that we've encountered today I just can't help but wonder if there's any truth to what the two of them are saying," I said.

"I agree, as a matter of fact I believe we already talked about this before, didn't we?" Izuru asked.

"What the hell are you talking about we never discussed anything about sci-fi BS like mind erasing?!" Yasuke shouted in reply.

"That's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about our discussion about the academy," Izuru replied.

"What?" Yasuke replied.

'I get what Izuru's saying, we did talk about this earlier. What was that evidence again?' I asked myself. (Ammunition needed: Izuru's testimony). "That's it!" I exclaimed. "We did talk about it earlier, remember? Kamakura-kun explained it to us."

Flashback:

"You all are wondering why I chose to check the biology room first, right? Simple. It was the one place that stuck out because as Matsuda-kun specified, there is no biology lab in the main school building, or at least that should have been the case. Which brings me to my next point, we've been assuming that the school changed when we all got knocked out but the truth is that I think it was already different even before that."

"How…? How can that be possible?" I asked in reply.

"Actually, that's the one thing I'm not really sure about," Izuru replied. We all went silent for a few moments after that as fear slowly crept into our minds and bodies.

"We never did find the answer to that big question. Throughout the investigation we've seen tons of things that shouldn't belong in the main school according to you guys. The video recording room and the security cameras, the dormitory area, the reinforced bomb shelter entrance hall, and…you should remember this one especially Matsuda-kun…the biology lab. You in fact said that the biology lab should be in the science building along with your neurology department."

Yasuke's eyes widened in realization and horror. "No, you're not saying…no, th-that's impossible. They could've just added that biology lab without me noticing. Like I said, I don't venture out of the science building that much. Remember, I didn't even know that we had a music room inside the main building?" Yasuke said this in a joking and uneasy tone as a happy-go-lucky smile that didn't really suit him spread across his face. It was like he was trying to convince himself of that explanation which sounded rational but in this irrational world it seemed highly unconvincing, and I think Yasuke knew that.

I didn't want to press any farther but I couldn't stop. "But if that's true, then why make it look like a morgue?"

"…" Yasuke looked away at that point.

I continued on. "If it was just a regular biology lab that might've been the case but it wasn't. According to Kamakura-kun it was modeled after a morgue." Then a thought occurred to me. "Hey, Monokuma were the bodies of the students ever placed inside the morgue? I mean, that would've been the only use for that room, right?"

"An astute observation," Monokuma replied. "And just within my realm to answer. Yes, the bodies of the students were stored in the morgue for a long period of time. The students were here for six years after all, if they had been in the final destination room for that long then they would have just been skeletons, which are still despairful but not as despairful as rotting corpses. Before you guys arrived I switched the hiding places and left the bodies in that dry, cramped room to rot away. Just thinking about the looks you would get when you found them like that made me giggle in glee!"

"So if Ikusaba-chan's story about Ultimate Despair remodeling the academy for the sake of this Killing School Life is true, then maybe…" Micho struggled to find her words.

Then Jonathan finished her thought. "Maybe everything else she and Monokuma said is true."

It was a few minutes before anyone said anything after that. The despair in the air at that point was almost nauseous. We each tried desperately to cling to any fabric of reality we had left but it seemed futile. Until she spoke up.

"I'll admit that what you say might be true about us being kidnapped and having our memories taken away, but I will not accept what you say about the outside world!" Nodaka exclaimed with a new found passion.

"Come again?" Monokuma replied playfully.

"I will not believe it! That everyone's simply given up?! Given up on the will to live?! Fallen so deeply in despair that they've become as sick and twisted as the person controlling you?! Lies! All lies!" she shouted at Monokuma as tears began to trickle down her face.

"H-Hoshi-san…?" I said.

"What the hell's the matter with you people?! How can you accept his words so easily?! Help has to be coming! Someone has to be coming to rescue us! Nobody would just leave us here to die!" the Ultimate Maid shouted at the rest of us. "You're all just cowards! Cowards to afraid to stand up and not let the darkness overcome you! If you trust in everything this monster says then you really will fall into despair!" Then she pointed at Yasuke. "You especially, you dirty manga otaku!" Nodaka shouted.

"M-Me?" Yasuke replied.

"You were the one who said we had to work together to fight against Monokuma and the Mastermind! You said you hated people who doubt themselves, well take a look in the fucking mirror because you're beginning to doubt yourself too!"

"…" Yasuke remained silent, knowing that she was right.

"But I will not give up! I admit this place could possibly be a hell created by Ultimate Despair! I admit that young master Fuyuhiko and Peko-sama are dead! I admit that it might be possible for us to have lost our memories and we've really been gone for seven years! But I will not believe that the outside world has become as sick and perverse as that monster behind the cameras! The outside world is what we want to get back to, right?! It's why we're fighting, right?! Saying our friends and families are either dead or part of Ultimate Despair?! The Kuzuryuu clan may not be the nicest of people but they value honor among anything else, they would never ever do anything as horrible as this! My mistress shall become the head of the clan someday and she shall bring about an era of peace and prosperity and unite all the separate clans into one unified sect! My dream is to help her accomplish her dream, to stay by her side through thick and thin! Because even more than my mistress…she's my best friend! I will make it back home so I can be by her side yet again!"

Nodaka's words seemed hopeful, but I could tell she was struggling with the despair more than any of us. And then, like a flash of lightning, he swooped in and crushed her spirits into dust.

Monokuma cackled louder than ever before. "I've never seen someone try to honor the dead so much before!"

"Eh?" Nodaka replied.

Monokuma cupped his hands to his mouth. "Do you want to know a secret little maid? Peko-chan and Fuyuhiko-kun aren't the only people you know who are dead."

My eyes widened as I caught on quickly to what he was implying. "No don't…" I said.

"She's dead too. The other Kuzuryuu. The Ultimate Little Sister, Hitomi Kuzuryuu-chan. She died even before Fuyuhiko-kun died," Monokuma continued on even though I was sure he heard my words.

Nodaka was silent. And then she scoffed. "I said I wasn't going to believe any more of your lies. How dare you? How dare you?! How dare you say such an ugly lie?!" she screamed in anger.

"I speak only the truth," Monokuma replied. "Fuyuhiko-kun, Peko-chan, Hitomi-chan, and the rest of the Kuzuryuu clan. They didn't stick around long enough to even observe this beautiful world of despair that's been created. When Fuyuhiko-kun and Peko-chan were wrapped up into the Killing School Life the Kuzuryuu clan counterattacked…a counterattack which was then crushed by Ultimate Despair. The Kuzuryuu clan may be strong in power and numbers, but nothing even comes close to Ultimate Despair. We are everywhere. We are everyone. Just like despair we spread and spread like a disease. But hey, if you don't believe me why don't you ask the others? What I'm saying isn't news to them."

Nodaka calmed down and looked at each of us until her gaze finally fell on me. "You always have an answer. I know the truth already just tell me you know it too. What he's saying, none of it's true. None of its true right?"

"…" I looked away.

"Right?" she implored.

"…" again I was silent.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" she asked in an uneasy tone.

"…"

"Please, come on talk to me. Say something will you?" Her voice was sweet but her word were bitter.

"…"

"You idiot, don't ignore me!" she shouted. "I hate it when you don't talk, you haven't changed at all! Just please say something!" She cried and cried.

I could see that my prolonging the inevitable was just making it worse. I didn't want to see her cry, but I also didn't want to break her heart.

"Please. Please I'm begging you coc…Akira please talk to me." It was the first time she said my name. A bittersweet memory. "Please, if I hear it from you then I might be alright. If I die knowing the truth then I'll still be happy. But that's only a 50-50 chance, right? So just tell me…tell me that none of what he's saying is true. Please tell me that."

I looked her straight in the eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't do that."

Nodaka tensed up and then shut her eyes for a second to stop some of her tears from coming out. Then when she opened them I could see the sadness in her eyes. Those beautiful chartreuse eyes of hers were so damp. She gave me a small smile, a sad one but none the less a smile. "Thank you, it feels a little less painful coming from you. I won't be able to hold back for long so could you just tell me how you found out?" she asked in a quiet tone.

My heart ached. '…evidence…?' I asked my other self to pick it out for me, I couldn't be bothered. (Ammunition needed: Fuyuhiko's dying message). "While the other and I were on the Death Scavenger Hunt, one of the clues we encountered was a DVD inside the AV room, and on the DVD there was a recorded video of Kuzuryuu-kun. In the video he told us how Pekoyama-san sacrificed herself for him and the others, and how Koizumi-san took her own life."

"Why her?" Nodaka simply asked.

"Apparently he felt guilty for her and Pekoyama-san's deaths." I sighed again and said, "Hoshi-san, did you know Koizumi-san more than you let on? Because according to Kuzuryuu-kun, his sister bulled Koizumi-san, very badly in fact."

She stayed quiet at first but then, "She didn't mean anything by it. They were in the same photography club in middle school, Mistress Hitomi was always jealous of Koizumi because her photos couldn't hold a candle to the Ultimate Photographer's. Sometimes though she did go a little too far, I guess I was partly at fault for not correcting her. Is that why Koizumi killed herself?"

"I don't think that was it. I think it was partially out of guilt," I replied.

"Guilt?" Nodaka repeated.

"Do you know Sato Amari?" I asked.

"That was Koizumi's best friend," Nodaka replied. "The two of them were close to Tsumiki, Mioda, and Saionji too. But the two of them were especially close. They did practically everything together. Amari would often try to keep Mistress Hitomi from bullying Koizumi and then I would end up getting involved and I'd say awful things to them along with Mistress Hitomi." She sighed and then said, "I guess I was just enabling her, huh? What did young master Fuyuhiko say about Amari exactly?"

I sighed and then said, "One afternoon apparently Amari-san confronted Kuzuryuu-san about her bullying of Koizumi-san. She was trying to get her to just leave her friend alone and apparently Kuzuryuu-san vehemently denied that she had done anything wrong and things got physical and well…"

"Amari killed her, eh?" she asked. She folded her arms and then looked down at the floor. Her tears started to stream down her cheeks. "I can't really blame her, if anyone bullied Mistress Hitomi I wouldn't even hesitate. So when you say guilt, did Koizumi find out?"

"Yeah, but she didn't tell anyone. That's why her guilt remained, she didn't want to turn on her best friend. But Amari-san didn't last long after that, Kuzuryuu-kun found out what Amari-san did to his little sister and then out of anger he bashed her head in with a baseball bat. But that guilt ate him alive and after Koizumi-san died he couldn't take the cumulative guilt that he felt for the four girls' deaths and then the video ended with him…" I could finish the statement, not after seeing it happen with my own eyes.

"I see…and did he ever mention me in the video?" Nodaka asked.

"No, sorry he didn't," I replied.

I think that made her feel even worse. "I see…thank you for telling me Akira," she said in a quiet tone. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She brought her hands to her face and then she began to let it all out. The sounds of her weeping bounced off the walls of the dungeon-like courtroom. It looks like that meant she didn't want to continue. I couldn't blame her though, everyone was starting to feel that way. Even me.

"No more…" Aya frowned. "No more…" she repeated. The Ultimate Marine Biologist soon began to shake profusely and tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "I…I don't want to do this anymore…I don't want to keep talking about such awful things anymore," she whispered.

"…" I stayed silent.

"Murder. Suicide. So much blood, so much death. Why? Why do we have to be put through this endless torture?" Aya asked. Her tears began to flow at full force and her eyes quickly turned soggy and red. "*Hic, hic* I don't want to do this…anymore *hic*, I…I…just want this to end!" She started to cry profusely and then brought her hands up to cover her face, making her drop the crystal ball she was holding onto.

The crystal ball rolled on the floor until it found its way to Soshun, who looked really crestfallen. He picked up the spherical object and held it in his hands. "…" The Ultimate Student Council President remained quiet.

"Kisaragi-san?" Chihiro called out to Aya but the marine biologist wouldn't respond. Aya was just crying too much. And then Chihiro's eyes started to water as well. "Please stop crying, you're…you're…you're going to make me cry too." But no sooner than the Ultimate Programmer said it, hordes of tears began to swell up in her eyes. "I…I can't help it!" she exclaimed. "I *hic* want to stop too!"

Cam did his best to comfort Chihiro by puller her into his arms and letting her cry into his shirt. "Chihiro-chan don't cry, you're too cute to cry…" he whispered. He almost looked like he was on the verge of tears as well.

"All of this…we have to go through all of this and then still go through more?" Nate asked. He started frantically thrashing around. He dropped the pick axe he was holding and let it fall to floor. Then he pulled at his hair and shouted, "I can't take it! I can't take it anymore dude! Let us out of here right now!" he shouted at no one in particular.

Azami started crying cartoonish waterfall-like tears. "Azami-tan too hebi! Azami-tan wants her momma hebi!"

Soshun grit his teeth and I noticed the pressure he was placing on the crystal ball seemed to tighten. "Grrrr…" He started growling very softly and I could see his eyes starting to flare up.

"We're never going to get out of here are we?" Shiro asked in a downtrodden way. "We're all going to die here, aren't we?"

"Maybe…" Micho started to say something but then she paused. Then she sighed and started up again, "Maybe we should just give up."

"Eh?!" I was shocked, never did I think I would hear something like that coming out of her mouth. "Auruka-san? Wh-What the hell are you saying?!" I exclaimed. "After coming this far you just want to give up?!"

"I don't know…" she shook her head profusely and tears began to swell up in her eyes as well. "I don't know what to think!" she shouted back at me. Her tears began to stain her sweater. "I *hic* don't know what to do. I've…I've never felt *hic* this helpless before. I don't even know *hic* where to begin. I can't figure out any of this *hic* for the life of me. I have no idea who killed Hinata-kun *hic*. I have no idea how to handle any of this information we've been given. We've missing for even years? People really *hic* want us to kill each other? For the first time in my life, I can't think at all. I don't know what to do at all!"

"A-Auruka-san?" Even the Ultimate Defense Attorney was beginning to feel helpless, the restlessness, heartache, and overwhelming fear was slowly eating away us. It was noticeable on almost everyone's faces. Yasuke began gnawing on his fingers as a panic-stricken gaze took over his eyes. Keiko was holding Aya close and letting her cry out her tears, but the elder girl herself looked like she was also on the verge of tears. Jonathan was hyperventilating and looked like he was about to have a panic attack, I couldn't tell if it was from anger or fear. Sawa was completely morose with a look of fear in her eyes. Beigoma was shaking like a leaf and fidgeting with her sun hat. Shiro was panic-stricken and as still as a statue. Connie seemed to be silently singing a song to calm her nerves. Even Jose looked a little bit unnerved, he was sweating bullets and mindlessly flipping through the pages of his notebook. It looked like he didn't understand what was going on at all either and looking for clues in his memory notebook. Even me, I was also starting to feel the overwhelming hopeless sink in.

'I…I think I know the answer. I think I know who killed Hajime but I just…I just can't focus. Why…what's the point of all this?' I asked myself. 'What else is there? What else is at play here?' I searched my thoughts for anything else that could help but my mind had gone completely blank. 'What if I…what if I never figure it out? What if we really can't find Hajime's killer? It seems impossible, we've narrowed down the list to only a few people but I still don't understand. I don't understand the crime itself, it just doesn't seem to make any sense. But why is that? Why am I thinking that way? No, a better question is why did all of this happen in the first place? We're high school students, we should be worried about relationship troubles and exams and just school life in general. We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be here in this situation that doesn't make any goddamn sense! Why did those kids die? What the hell happened? I…I can't think of anything at all!'

Izuru, Nagito, and Mukuro looked perfectly calm though. None of them said a word as they patiently waited for us to come to our senses. The Ultimate Hope and the boy who loved hope. Neither of them seemed touched by this despair, this overwhelming, mind-numbing, bloodcurdling despair. Then there was Mukuro, the girl who was so used to despair that this mind-numbing feeling couldn't possibly affect her. There was no other word to describe this situation. It was pure unadulterated despair. Despair of the blackest form, of the deepest malice, of the worst nightmares. We had lost seven years. We were apparently kidnapped and had our memories taken away from us. It was the year 2022, could that really be true?! Hajime and the others died. Everyone here was going to die. I was going to die. People were watching us and they didn't care if we lived or died? No, they wanted us to kill each other. That was what they were waiting patiently for. We were going to die one way or another. It was inevitable. It was apparently what everyone in the outside world was waiting for.

'I don't want to die. If we don't solve this mystery then we will die here that has been made very apparent,' I thought to myself. 'But then even if we get out of here I'll be put into a situation where I will be forced to kill these people. That's even worse! I don't want anyone to die!' I was literally between a rock and a hard place. I didn't know what to do. It was like I had two choices of how to proceed the story in front of my head. But I couldn't make the decision. My other self, who always answered these kinds of problems was even having trouble making a decision. 'Should I give up on trying to find the killer and die along with everyone else to finally end this madness? Or should I keep going through this darkness and find out things I don't want to learn and be forced to either murder or suspect these people that I had grown to think of as friends?' It was an impossible decision. A decision no person should ever have to make. Yet in this "game" that made absolutely no sense. It was like it had been reduced to a simple multiple choice question. Two choices were available: I could either throw in the towel and die with my friends, or proceed forward into this crazy world of murder and suspicion that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

"Hmm, it appears you're all deciding whether or not you should quit the game before it's even really begun. That's fine if you want to quit, I guess. I'll just find some more contestants to take your places. No big deal. After all you guys have got a pretty hefty plate of despair already, I'm sure people would be fine with this ending. It's just going to be a real short game, that's all," said Monokuma. "But people are still going to die and I have a different execution planned for each one of you so as long as the masses get to see that it should fill their despair lust!"

'I've decided. I don't want to do this anymore. I'll die here alongside my friends!' I exclaimed inwardly. "I…I don't want to die." I gritted my teeth and the balled up my fist. "But I also don't want to go along with this fucked up game anymore so…" I sighed, "Maybe we should just quit. I mean if what Monokuma is saying is true, then nobody really cares if we live or die anyway. If the world really is gone, then what's left to go back to anyway?" I asked rhetorically as tears started to well up. "If going home means that I have to kill someone, then I'd rather die with you guys by my side!"

Then Mich followed my suit. "Me too, I don't want to kill anyone!"

"My Mistress is gone, my family is gone," Nodaka said through her tears. "I have nothing left to go back to anyway!"

"I can't think of any other options," Yasuke said and then sighed. "I thought surely I'd never give into despair, but if it really has been that long then she's probably gone by now. Which means I don't have a reason to live anymore either!" Then one by one everyone started to come to the same conclusion of hopelessness.

"Wait. Hold on. You…you can't be serious. Do you all really just want to give up and die?!" Mukuro shouted at us.

"What's the point dude?! If everything you say really is true then there's nothing left to go back to anyway! I don't want to deal with murder mystery game crap anymore!" Nate shouted back at her.

"Even if we survive this we'll end up having to kill each other to escape! I don't want to do that!" Aya exclaimed.

"No more blood hebi! No more murder hebi! No more despair hebi!" Azami shouted.

"I know I said I wouldn't kill anyone but after going through all of this I can't say for certain that I wouldn't end up becoming an idiot in the end," said Jonathan.

"When you put it like that, maybe it is better to just give up and not play the game at all," said Shiro.

"So this is the extent of your hopes?" Nagito asked with a scoff. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Oh well, I guess I won't end up seeing the mighty hope that is born from this despairful situation. But I've had a good run, can't complain. So long world, sorry you had to waste precious hope on garbage like me," Nagito said to nobody in particular.

"Hmm, well I suppose this outcome is interesting in its own right, if we were in a visual novel game one might consider this the BAD END route. Who knows maybe we'll get something for getting this ending first?" guessed Izuru. "Such a pity though, I was looking forward to what may come in the future."

Mukuro sighed. "If this is what you all really want, I guess I can't complain. It's my fault you guys are in this mess anyway." I saw her shed a single tear. "I know it doesn't mean much but once again I'd like to say that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all you've been put through."

I sighed in defeat. "Well I guess this is it then. I know our time together was short, but it was nice meeting you guys. Here's hoping we meet each other again on the other side."

Monokuma chuckled in glee. "Well then I guess it's time we end this. It's Punishment Ti…!"

Then all of a sudden a loud roar cut Monokuma off. It was coming from Soshun. "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He shouted so loud I thought my eardrums might burst. His roars of anger bounced off the walls of the trial grounds and magnified his rage. "Gooooooooooooooooddddddddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttt!" Soshun shouted and threw the crystal ball high up into the air, probably meaning to break it against the wall opposite to him but instead he threw it straight up into the air and within seconds of launch gravity took over and the crystal ball plunged back to earth where it shattered into many pieces right on top of Soshun's head. Luckily it was just glass, if it was real crystal he'd have probably died but instead…*bash, thump*. The glass crystal ball knocked him out and he fell back to the floor behind him.

For a few seconds nobody said anything and then all of a sudden Soshun started to roar in anger yet again. "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" And as strange as it sounds, against all logic, even though he had just been flat on his back and unconscious mere seconds ago, Soshun stood right back up on his feet. And I mean right back onto his feet, one second he was on his back the next he was standing up big and tall, along with a few other noticeable changes.

Soshun's crescent-shaped ahoge disappeared and his hair and had suddenly all stood up on end and had become incredibly spiky. His glasses were lying on the floor, shattered from the fall, but at that point I didn't think he needed them. Not when his eyes were glowing. I mean really glowing. His yellow irises had somehow grown and his eyes had turned completely yellow, but now they glowed with an electric tint, turning to the shade of a bright, lustrous gold. And his teeth had now become split and gave him the appearance of a canine…or possibly even a demon. Not only that, but along with his eyes, his whole body started to glow a yellow-gold. The glow grew and grew until a thick aura of it completely enveloped his body.

Now let me repeat. Soshun had collapsed and then suddenly and without warning got back up onto his feet and started to glow. Along with that his hair had turned all spiky and his eyes became menacing and threatening with a glow as well. This was not some pandering anime, or some weird reference to Dragon Ball Z, this was real life we were talking about here. Real life where high schoolers suddenly become involved with murder mysteries headed by some unknown madman controlling some robotic and malevolent teddy bear. '…..' Actually come to think of it, I'm not really that surprised anymore.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" the glowing Soshun shouted. "Oh damn, I thought I'd never get my time to shine! Ugh, it's been so long since I've been out in the open that I feel the need to stretch!" He started grunted and stretching his arms and then he just laughed and raised his hands up in a showy manner. "Psych, I'm already charged to the max and I'm ready to act! Soshun Murasame's time to kick ass has finally arrived! I don't know about the boring me but the current me always has an extra trick up his sleeve, now where the fuck did we leave off in our debate you peons?!"

"…." We were all speechless at the sight before us. Not only had Soshun's appearance changed, his voice had changed as well. No scratch that, his entire demeanor changed.

"M-Murasame-kun?" I hesitated.

"Well it ain't fucking Santa Claus! That's right! Soshun Murasame, the Ultimate Student Council Prez is at your mother loving service! All rise, now bow!" He raised his right pointer finger at us to direct our motions. "You guys didn't do it! What the fuck?! When you address your Student Council Prez you're supposed to how some damned respect! I'll have you know I have the power to expel worthless peons I want! I am not a normal Student Council Prez after all, I am the Ultimate Student Council Prez! All of the student body must listen to my commands! I am the god of the students, hear me roar!"

"Wh-what the hell happened to So?! He's gone insane!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"So, eh?! That's what you've been calling the ol' slacker, eh poindexter?! Well screw that, you can refer to him like that but I prefer to be called by my title!" Soshun shouted at Jonathan.

"What you want us to call you President Murasame now, or something? What's the point, we've all decided that we're giving up on the game now anyway you know?" asked Izuru. "We're not going to be around that much longer."

"Oh I see," Soshun said to himself. "That's why the ol' slacker was steaming mad, he wanted to tell you guys that you had shit for brains for even thinking like that but he didn't have the god damn nerve! Well say my name and I shall appear, as flashy as lightning, as powerful as a hurricane, like the mighty earthquake I will rock your very souls! Give it up ladies and gentlemen for the one, the only, the other half of Ultimate Student Council President Duo, the incredible Ultimate Deva!"

"Ultimate what?!" I repeated in bewilderment.

"The Ultimate Deva, that's me! What you got wax in your fucking ears?!" Soshun exclaimed. "I am the embodiment of all of Soshun Murasame's aspirations, hope, and rage! Especially rage goddammit!" Then he chuckled again. "But don't worry my loyal peons! Daddy Deva is here to shine his benevolent light on you! I may be kind of a cranky guy but I am without a doubt the world's greatest leader! Heck if it didn't sound so mother fucking cliché I would be called the Ultimate Dictator! But because of the neat glow in the dark trick I tend to do when I change into me the staff of Hope's Peak Academy decided to bless me with the tile of Ultimate Deva! I am a god, worship me and I shall bless you with my graces!"

It sounded ridiculous but Soshun's odd behavior was enough to make us all snap out of our despair-filled states and return to normal as we looked upon the odd sight of the former Ultimate Student Council President. "Are you for real, where the hell do you get off asking us to worship you?!" Nodaka shouted at Soshun.

Soshun chuckled again. "Just playing my loyal peons! The Ultimate Deva doesn't play that way, I'm not one of those pain in the ass gods that you have to pay before they bless you with their fucking grace!"

"Um, who is this guy exactly? It sure doesn't seem like boring old Soshun," said Nate.

"I am Soshun Murasame!" Soshun shouted. And then he quickly tacked on, "And I'm also not."

"You are Murasame-kun and you also aren't him? What does that even mean?" Micho asked.

"Allow me to explain young lady! For as long as I can remember I have existed as a shadow in Sohsun's life, I am his hidden self, the part of him that doesn't get to see the light of day quite often because of his natural relaxed and laidback persona! I only get to show up when shit really hits the fan but that's the time when I shine the most! If you want to call me something I guess you could say that I am the alter ego of Soshun Murasame, but I don't need to be referred to by another name! Even though me and the ol' slacker are like fucking night and day we still share one body, one mind, and one spirit!" Soshun proudly exclaimed. "I'm just like a super-charged version of the other guy and I'm ready to kick some ass! Bring out that wussy little Mastermind and I'll show him the true power of Soshun Murasame!"

"I…I'm really not getting what's going on here anymore. Too many abnormal things have happened to me today," said Shiro.

"Are you like Gin-eda's imaginary friend or something hebi? " Azami asked.

"Gin-eda? Silver branch?" Soshun stroked his chin. "I love it, and I'm sure the ol' slacker will love it too! Wait to go Jagaimo-chan, you're an okay chick in my book!" he exclaimed as he flashed Azami a toothy smile and gave her a thumb's up.

"You know Azami-tan's name hebi?" Azami replied in a confused manner.

"Duh, I know all of you peons! I wouldn't be able to call myself your self-appointed leader otherwise! A leader needs to at least know his peons' names, that's just common fucking curtesy!" Soshun shouted. "And to answer your next question, I'm always listening so I know everything that the slacker knows but ironically he doesn't retain anything that I know! Guess it just has something to do with his personality! But who gives a fuck about that, right now?! You're dealing with the Ultimate Fucking Deva right now, not the Ultimate Fucking Slacker! So feel free to still call me Soshun if you like, or if it's more comfortable just call me Deva, but I would be totally thrilled if you called me Leader! Fuck yeah!" Soshun shouted.

"This is just too weird, what happened to Murasame-san?" Aya asked.

"Mr. Soshun Murasame has gone through quite a "glowing" transformation, hasn't he?" Keiko joked.

"The Ultimate Deva, eh? I don't seem to recall you being among Hope's Peak's elite, and surely someone of your supposed talent would be in the top tier, wouldn't you?" Nagito asked Soshun.

"No way! I prefer to rule from the shadows as does ol' slacker, that's why any policies that we create as the Ultimate Student Council Prez get enforced through committee! At Hope's Peak Academy the title of Ultimate Student Council President has been made totally ambiguous so nobody learns that a crazy power junkie like me runs things! That's probably why you guys have never heard about Soshun Murasame before! I am fucking anonymous! It has to be that way or else people might start to panic, I mean think about it! If you knew that the guy chosen to lead your student body had a fucking split personality, you think you would still continue to follow him?! No way, right?! People with DID are labeled freaks, right?! But the Hope's Peak Academy faculty decided to keep me a secret because my leadership skills were just too great to pass up on so they took the good with bad and let the slacker enroll free of charge in order to study my fucking talent! Thus ends Part 1 of the origin of the Ultimate Deva! Stay tuned for more peons!" he exclaimed and then laughed furiously.

"Split personality? DID? What does this new development mean anyway tres amis?" Connie asked.

"I think I know what's going on here and so does Maita-kun," Jose replied.

"I…I do?" I replied.

"We heard of something similar that happened to another student during our investigation, remember?" Jose asked, trying to get me to remember.

Then it came to me. 'Wait, that's right. Something similar to Soshun's development was mentioned as happening to another Hope's Peak Academy Student. The evidence for that was…' I motioned for my other self to pick out the corresponding evidence to match Jose's claim. (Ammunition needed: Genocide Jack case file). "That's it!" I exclaimed. "During my investigation, I went to the library and met up with Historia-kun, there the two of us checked the backroom archives and stumbled upon some very peculiar information. You see, according to Historia-kun the backroom archives contain very secretive information that not just anyone is allowed to know, one of these pieces of selective information is contained inside a series of cold case files."

"What's a cold case file?" Aya asked.

"A cold case file is a case that detectives tried to solve but couldn't either because they didn't have enough evidence or they ran out of leads, so the case remains unsolved until eventually any remaining trails go cold," Micho explained. "The information pertaining to the case is then filed and stored for future detectives to come and see if they can discover any new clues. There's a lot of cases throughout history that have had this fate, but I didn't know there were cold case files here at the school. That's kind of…no, that is really creepy."

"Well I've known that they were there, so don't get any ideas about Ultimate Despair placing them there," said Jose. "The few students who are allowed to enter the backroom archives are of the top elite, people like Togami-san. He ventured into that backroom quite often. You see while I was simply solving mysteries in novels and stories he was taking it a step further and actually solving real life mysteries. If he didn't wind up dead I would admit to his face that he had farm more logic and reasoning than I did."

"So what's so special about this cold case file anyway?" Shiro asked.

"Well you see, this particular cold case file gave information about a series of murders that I'm sure you're all at least partially aware of. The Genocide Jack serial murders?" Jose asked.

Based on everyone's reaction it was safe to assume that they had at least heard the name Genocide Jack mentioned before.

"Genocide Jack? Isn't that the name of that crazy serial killer who's been talked about on the news?" Cam asked.

"They say Genocide Jack kills his victims in the most brutal way and then leaves behind a crude calling card written in the victim's own blood. Blood Lust," Chihiro explained.

"Blood Lust?" Jonathan repeated and then shivered. "Ugh, just hearing that sets me on edge."

"I've heard that before he came to Japan he's been all over the world, killing many people. His victims are said to be in the hundreds," Keiko said uneasily. "But those are probably just rumors, in reality I think he's only killed ten or more people, which is still a lot but at least it proves that Mr. Genocide Jack is human."

"Human or not, that psycho is bat shit crazy!" Nate exclaimed. He seemed particularly unnerved by the topic of Genocide Jack. "What kind of sick, twisted person kills people for fun?!"

"Soldier girl's sister in case you've forgotten," Nodaka replied.

"In truth my sister and I have probably killed more people than Genocide Jack could've ever dreamed of," said Mukuro. "Why bring up Genocide Jack all of a sudden?"

"Well you see, the case file mentioned specific details about a profile the detectives investigating him made up," I replied. "And it mentions something that I think you might all find a little shocking."

"Well what are you waiting for, whip that puppy out already you peon!" Soshun shouted at me.

"Puppy?" I repeated. "Oh you mean the case file, right?" I asked. "Well you see the thing is…I don't have it on me."

"According to Monokuma, we weren't allowed to take any information out of the archives, and he also said we couldn't take notes so I didn't get the chance to write any of it down in my journal," Jose explained. "But lucky for you guys I happen to have a photographic memory and after only reading the file once I remember every word written inside verbatim."

"I didn't say anything about not being able to take mental notes after all," Monokuma added.

"So what did the file say?" Beigoma asked.

"I'll skip the tedious details and get straight to the important stuff," Jose replied.

Flashback:

May 4, 2010- Top profilers from across the country have come together to investigate Genocide Jack. In just four short months Genocide Jack has driven his body count to fifteen and he is steadily rising with more and more time. All the previous signatures from his M.O. have still come to pass, all the victims are males who are stabbed and then crucified with Genoscissors, and the phrase "Blood Lust" has made an appearance at all of the crime scenes and is always written in the victim's own blood. One thing sticks out to the profilers about this specific signature Genocide Jack shows in leaving a message at his crime scenes, the fact that he is willing to exert the time and effort to write his message in his medium of the victim's blood shows that Genocide Jack feels like some kind of bond has been forged between him and his victims through death. If this is true then that would mean that Genocide Jack has already grown past the need to kill and is now doing it solely because he views it as an enjoyable pastime. Further, the profilers have suggested that Genocide Jack's particular M.O. is the key to catching him. As such we have retracted particular details of the cases from the public and media to make sure that no one gets any bad ideas and tries to become a copycat killer. If what the profilers say is true then this may mean that Genocide Jack is not driven to compulsion like a traditional psychopath but is instead fully aware of what he is doing and is enjoying every single second of it. This detail could make him far more maniacal and deadly than any other psychopath in existence.

June 23, 2010-We have done as the profilers have suggested and looked more into the times and locations of Genocide Jack's kills. The first victim was a young male student who lived in the Shikoku area, he died after school hours as did some of the other victims, and this may suggest that Genocide Jack could be another student or even a teacher. One thing is clear though, the key to finding him is through his victims.

July 4, 2010-We have found a correlation between all the victims, it appears that they are all of the type considered to be "handsome" to females. And considering the times of the kills and the locations this suggest that Genocide Jack could be female, a female student most likely. And if that is the case then we are looking for a female student who would not stick out like a sore thumb, Genocide Jack's deranged instability suggests that he may suffer from a mental disorder such as dissociate identity disorder (DID). It could be that Genocide Jack is merely an alternate persona to a female student, while the female student's real persona is the complete polar opposite of its deranged counterpart. Most likely shy, not very outgoing, timid and withdrawn. She most likely does not come from a stable social and home life and is thought of as an outcast to the outside world, however if the rule of polar opposites is true then this female student would be very smart and reserved in comparison to Genocide Jack's broadness and manic behavior. This could suggest why Genocide Jack has remained hidden for so long and has not drawn any unnecessary attention to himself, his real persona is smart enough to know when to take over and control his urges. It appears we are looking for a misunderstood girl with a monster inside of her.

"That's not everything in the report but all the important details are there though," Jose explained. "Anyone care to guess the identity of Genocide Jack?"

"What, now you want us to talk about finding the identity of another killer? It was bad enough with just one," Shiro complained.

"Well according to the details you gave us, the profile that the detectives came up with for Genocide Jack was that all his victims are males so Genocide Jack is most likely a female serial killer, which is pretty rare in itself," Micho explained. "Then it went on to say that because of the timing of the kills and their locations to school sites, Genocide Jack is probably a female student and the reason that this student has eluded capture for so long is because she wears another persona, one completely opposite of Genocide Jack." Then insight struck Micho. "I see, Genocide Jack also suffered from DID, more commonly known as dissociative identity disorder."

"Even when you give us what the acronym stands for I still don't understand it," said Cam. "What's dissociative identity disorder?"

"You've probably heard it used as multiple personality disorder or something along those lines," Yasuke replied. "It's a typical mental disorder that some of the more eccentric people tend to develop. Think of your personality, the very nature that describes you, as a person itself. Think of your brain as that person's home, now usually the limit for personalities is one per brain but what if another person moved into that brain and shared it with the current occupant, you would end up having two personalities instead of one. And the varying personalities tend to be different to a fault, they could have different mannerisms, different feelings and ideas, and even different names that they identify with," Yasuke explained. "People with this mental disorder are almost sharing their body with another person, and anything from falling asleep to coming in contact with a certain object can trigger this other person's appearance. It's not rally that uncommon to see this disorder in a person because what exactly causes it is still unknown but it's usually believed to be related to some type of abuse or trauma."

"Wow, hearing all that from you makes you sound kind of smart Surudoi-kun hebi," said Azami.

"I'll take that as a compliment ugly," Yasuke replied.

"But you're still so mean hebi," Azami replied.

"So that's what Soshun has dude? Whatchamacallit disorder?" Nate asked.

"Damn straight but Soshun didn't get abused you dumb peons! I showed up because whether he knew it or not he needed someone to control his life!" Soshun exclaimed.

"Wait you control So? Ugh, this comparison is giving me a headache!" Jonathan exclaimed as he rubbed his temples. "Look you said we could call you Deva, right? Because there is no way in hell I'm calling you Leader."

"Deva's fine, but I prefer Soshun Murasame! I'm not like other dissociative personalities, I don't have my own ideas or free will or any of that shit! I'm just Soshun's inner self, the kind of emotions that he's not able to show himself! Like I said before, I only come out when shit hits the fan and he gets mad!" Sosh…no, Deva exclaimed.

"So if you only show up when Murasame-kun gets mad, eh?" Micho asked. "Then the reason you showed up now is because he was mad at something?"

"That's right, he was off the charts steaming! I don't think I've ever seen the ol' slacker so mad before, he's usually such a fucking carefree guy!" Soshun shouted.

"As opposed to the guy who glows and uses exclamatories for everything?" Jose asked.

"Don't get snippy with me you peon because the guy that Soshun's pissed off at is you!" Deva shouted as he pointed a finger at Jose.

"Me?" Jose replied.

Then Deva pointed at Micho. "And you!"

"Huh?" Micho replied.

The he pointed to Yasuke. "And you, Dr. Know it All!"

"…" Yasuke remained silent.

And lastly me. "And especially you!"

"Me too?" I replied.

"Not just you, just especially you! Don't you get it?! All of you worthless peons are on Soshun's shit list right now!" Soshun shouted.

"Murasame-san is mad at us?" Aya asked.

"Why? What did we do?" Keiko asked.

"It's not about what you fucking did! It's about what you're fucking going to do!" Soshun shouted. "You peons are planning on throwing in the towel just like that and calling it quits on the game, aren't you?! Well too fucking bad because you guys aren't going anywhere, I'm here to make sure of that!"

"Y-you don't want us to quit playing?" I asked.

"Duh! You still got wax in your fucking ears?! Who the hell would honestly choose giving up and dying over living to see another fucking day?! No one that's who! That's why Soshun couldn't wrap his head around what was going on with you peons! He and everyone else here are supposed to be solving this mystery in order to go home and here you are choosing death! It doesn't make any fucking sense! I mean sure all of that shit that Monokuma and Mukuro were going off about just now might've been a lot to take in but that's no damn reason to just call it quits and fucking kill yourselves! Do you want to really end up like the other fucking peons who lost their lives to this god forsaken place?!" Deva shouted.

"…" We all fell silent at the sound of his words.

"So we've lost seven years' worth of memories?! Boohoo! So people want us to kill each other?! Boohoo! So we're stuck here in this impossible situation until we solve this mystery and win this mutual killing game bullshit?! Boo - freaking - hoo! None of those shitty details should be enough to make you want to kill yourself! That's the point Soshun was trying to make but you assholes didn't give him the time of day so I was forced to come out and school you peons myself! So what the hell is the matter with you guys?! Why do you want to die?! Why the fuck do you just want to give up and let Monokuma kill you?!"

"Technically, you'd be killing yourselves. I'd just be the suicide weapon," said Monokuma.

"Shut the fuck up you dumb bear!" Deva shouted at Monokuma.

"Yes sir, shutting up now," Monokuma replied.

"Now I'm not fucking around anymore, seriously I want a goddamn explanation right now! Why the fuck do you guys want to off yourselves now?!"

"…" we all stayed silent while wearing solemn expressions.

Deva sighed and then he lowered his voice a little. "Look, I know it's tough. This is a whole lot of information that you've been given, most of it is truly terrifying. We've been missing for seven years and in that time some crazy terrorist group led by some crazy bitch F'd up the world. Now this madness is being broadcast on television? It all sounds ridiculous but all the evidence we've gather so far suggest that all that ridiculous shit is true. But so what? So what if we've lost our memories? So what if our friends and families are gone? So what if the world's become such a crazy place that people get off on watching kids kill each other? You know what? I think the others knew. No I'm sure they knew. They had to have after being locked in this god forsaken school for six fucking years. They realized the hopelessness and the insanity of the realization destroyed them, but I think that was just because by the time they realized that hopelessness they had already sacrificed a bunch of their friends. But that's where we differ, don't you see?"

"…" we were starting to cheer up a little as Deva's words began to sink into us.

"We've discovered the truth at the very beginning of our story, don't you see what we've been given? We've been given a chance to break this endless cycle of blood and murder that those psychos from Ultimate Despair created. We already know the truth, albeit a despairingly awful truth we know now that what's outside isn't something we should kill for. But that still shouldn't stop us from getting out here right? Think about it, now that we know the truth we won't be blinded by things that don't matter in that chaotic world outside. We won't be fighting to get back to a dead world, we'll just be fighting to leave. Like it or not, we're all alone in this. Even though we just met today, and you guys just met me a couple of minutes ago, I feel like we're the only ones who can understand each other now. We've got to stop fighting and work together, and do our best to get along and become friends, we've been given a firm standing to start on now that we truly know what we're fighting for. That's why we shouldn't think of this as every man for himself but instead we should unite together just like Yasuke and Akira said before. Our enemy isn't each other, and it isn't this horrible despair like Monokuma will have you believe, our enemy is the Mastermind and the rest of Ultimate Despair. Us giving into that despair is what they want that's why they created this mutual killing game. Don't you guys see? It isn't a battle amongst ourselves, it's a one-sided massacre led by Ultimate Despair."

"…*hahaha*" we heard a slight chuckle and then turned to see that it came from a surprising individual. Yasuke Matsuda, the Ultimate Neurologist himself. When he noticed that we heard him laughing he didn't let up, no in fact his laughter grew and grew. Then finally he stopped laughing and smiled. "I can't believe that I gave in, even for a brief moment. I'm such a wuss. You're right…in saying I was right before. It's like I said, the only way we're going to get though this is if we all work together to escape. We make sure that not one single person dies and instead look for a different way of beating this sick game. Nothing's really changed, just the prize that we're trying to obtain. Now that we know that what's out there isn't worth killing each other over there's no reason to doubt one another for even a second." Then he laughed again and looked up to Monokuma. "I hope you and your scumbag friends from Ultimate Despair are watching because this is the declaration of war that I'm setting against you bastards. We're not going to willingly go along with your little game, no one's killing anyone. If necessary, I'll make sure of that myself."

"That's just like you," Micho said softly. "You claim that you don't really care about anyone but yourself but that's not the truth is it? Deep down, you're worried about each one of us aren't you? That's why you say that you'll protect us, right? You're easy to read, no matter how many walls you try to put up."

Yasuke blushed a little and then looked away. "Shut up ugly," he whispered.

Micho laughed and then flashed one of the bright smiles of hers. "You're both right, now that we know who our true enemy is there's no reason to doubt each other anymore. No matter what happens here I know that I will never ever hurt my friends, and I trust that you all feel the same. So that's why I'll continue to fight alongside you guys, after all what's a courtroom battle without a strong attorney present." Then she blushed and giggled. "Ugh, that sounded cooler in my head."

Nodaka sighed. "I'm sure that if Mistress Hitomi, young master Fuyuhiko, and Peko-sama were here today they'd want me to stand strong and fight to represent the noble Kuzuryuu clan. Even though I was only adopted by them I still feel as if they're my true family, so that's why I won't back down either. I'll make sure that the Mastermind and Ultimate Despair pay for the suffering that they put them through. I won't stop until their entire organization is reduced to dust!" Then she blushed and rubbed her shoulder. "S-So that's why I'd really appreciate it if you guys stayed with me until then." She looked right at me but it was only for a second. "Besides my Mistress, I haven't really had a friend since elementary school as hopeless as that sounds. So it would be nice to have someone who I know has my back no matter what." Then she looked away and pretended as if it didn't happen.

Beigoma smiled. "You all know how I feel, strength lies in numbers – Anon…no, you know what? Strength lies in friendship and trust – Beigoma Kiyoshi. I feel so strongly about it that I might as well stake my own claim on it. I hope you all will accept me as your ally, I know that I may not be the brightest or the most courageous…"

Nodaka cut her off. "Don't forget to add crybaby to that list of your faults. Programmer girl cries less than you."

Beigoma sweatdropped and replied, "Right, I know I can be a tad difficult in all those regards but I just want you to know that if you all will stand with me I think that I can push through those weaknesses and fight too. I don't want anyone here to suffer any more so let's stick it to those Ultimate Despair guys!" she exclaimed with newfound resolve.

Jonathan sighed and then said, "Geez, I usually hate getting on the bandwagon but I hate this whole bloody situation we're caught up in even more. And I don't know about the rest of you but I can't just live life not knowing what happened to us in that seven year gap in our memories so just for a little longer I'll stick with you idiots so I can try to make some sense out of this whole unbelievable dilemma. Just don't slow me down and you'll have my support and wisdom."

Sawa giggled and replied sarcastically, "Oh thank god, now we know we're safe. All hail the Ultimate Hypochondriac."

"It's Ultimate Procrastinator, you barefooted idiot," Jonathan replied in an angry tone.

Sawa sighed and said, "Well despite his arrogant claims, I agree with him and everybody else. We can't just take what's happened to us and Asahina-senpai and the other students lying down. The only way the victims of this horrible massacre are ever going to receive justice is if we show the Mastermind and Ultimate Despair what for. So if you're planning to fight then count me in too, I may not look it but I'm pretty strong. I can definitely kick some ass when necessary."

Then Shiro began to speak. "I know that I'm not that smart, and when it comes to gruesome things I kind of throw in the towel but I'd feel bad if I just let the rest of you fight my battles for me. So if you'd let me, I'd like to fight alongside you guys. I may not be the best comrade to have in a fight but I swear I'll try my best to be of assistance."

Nodaka scoffed. "Sheesh, even your speeches are soft. Despites your looks you're really just a marshmallow on the inside aren't you?"

"Marshmallow?" Shiro repeated the word as he blushed. "I…I wouldn't go that far."

"Despite Monsieur Monokuma's claims they have yet to be proven true by my own eyes. I for one will not believe in such absurdities until I see them for myself. La fiendish members of Ultima Despair want us to wallow in doubt and darkness, no? Then let us press forward tres amis into the unknown future. I Connie Takemi, le Ultime Horologist solemnly vow to escape this terrible game by any means necessary! Except killing mes amis of course," Connie tacked on to her speech.

"Hmm, Azami-tan's been thinking hebi," said Azami. "She's never really had that many friends because most people think she's weird hebi. But since meeting you guys she's been feeling like there's this incredible warmth inside her heart hebi. It's a weird feeling hebi. Is this what it means to have someone you can count on hebi?" Then the Ultimate Oculist nodded to herself. "Yes, yes, that's definitely what it means hebi. Azami-tan thinks of you guys as her true friends because you're just as weird as her hebi!" she proudly exclaimed.

"No one's as weird as you," Yasuke replied.

"Jagaimo-chan's point Surudoi-kun is that she wants to fight alongside you guys too hebi. Please treat her kindly hebi," she said as she gave us a wide smile.

"Though I hate blood, I hate feeling helpless even more," said Aya. "That's why I want to fight too! I want to be as fierce as a great white shark! As resilient as a starfish! As fast as a bottlenose dolphin! As strong as a killer whale! All the while being as cute and funny as a clownfish!" she exclaimed. "Even though the sea sponge is still my favorite animal I realize that I can't just sit around and filter feed like they do, I have to act, I have to do something. Just think of what's happened to the ocean in all the time that I've been gone? Maybe it's become even more polluted? Who knows how many species have gone extinct in the past seven years? It is my duty as the Ultimate Marine Biologist to protect the sea and all of the noble creatures who come from and inhabit it! I won't forgive anyone who messes with the precious and fragile world that we and all life inhabit!"

"Ultimate Despair has indeed raised us a very nasty hand, the dead man's hand can't even compare," Keiko said. "However, as the Ultimate Croupier I never turn my back away when a challenge has been issued. I hereby chalk up the previous feeling of despair I had as a mere fluke and momentary lapse of judgement. One that I shall not repeat, this I declare! I shall bring down the whole house and take every cent they have. So I say this to the Mastermind and Ultimate Despair, get your game on!"

"There will definitely be more mysteries to solve down the road, all of which I shall solve singe-handedly," said Jose. "Even though I am just the Ultimate Historian, I still pride myself on my knowledge and logic. I'm going to put both Byakuya Togami and Kyoko Kirigiri to shame with my powers of mental reasoning. And I also want to find out what happened to us in that seven year gap in our memories so I can record it for future reference. History is essential after all. So count me in, I'm not backing down anymore."

"I don't know if I'll be of that much help since the only thing I'm good at is working with computers," said Chihiro. "I know I can be a bit of a coward too, but I want to change all that. I…I want to be able to fight my own battles so I can destroy my old fragile self once and for all. I'm tired of being weak so please let me help too, so I can learn to change along with the rest of you."

"Chihiro-chan said something surprisingly strong and empowering. Her headstrong side is cute too," Cam said with a smile.

Chihiro blushed. "D-Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not, if you're going to fight then so am I. I said so myself remember, I'll be your knight in shining armor. So I'll fight to help us escape this nightmare and then I'll be sure to give you a proper proposal," Cam replied.

Chihiro looked away embarrassed and then she whispered something to herself. It sounded like, "Only after we get to know each other better," but I couldn't be sure.

Nate sighed. "Ugh, all my life I've been put through trials to test my merit, but still this whole thing is just messed up. I seriously haven't felt this scared since that one time. I feel like I can see my own death right now. I wonder, is this what it feels like to actually be aware of your own mortality? Seriously creepy dudes. But all those trials I went through made me the person I am today, everything we encounter in our lives has a purpose, right? Though I can't see what the purpose is to all of this nonsense but madness for the sake of madness. People who just want to watch the world burn are seriously messed up in the head. But that's exactly why I can't admit defeat just yet. No I definitely can't!" he exclaimed with a newfound confidence. "I've felt my own mortality only a handful of times, right now my freak out meter is easily on seven but that might be what makes it a challenge. I hate bullies and these Ultimate Despair bastards pick on the innocent and try to drive them insane, they're the worst kind of bullies. I swear, if it's the last thing I do I'm going to take them down. But even if I'm the Ultimate Assassin, an assassin can't do everything on his own. He needs information and backup to solve problems he can't solve with his skills. So that is why I hereby declare you guys my new Order, your job as such is to guide me with a foolproof strategy. Now just think of me as a sword and strike these Ultimate Despair bastards down!"

"I don't think it's going to come to that," said Sawa.

"Aw, I wanted to show off my sweet skills," said Nate in a disappointed tone.

"You all should know my opinion by now," said Nagito. "An organization that's sole goal is to bring the world into despair has no right whatsoever to exist. That's why I suggest that you guys unite together and show them what the symbols of hope are really made of!" That weird blush took over his face again and he began to shiver. "And if it's not too much of a bother I'd like to stick around and watch as the supreme hope needed to cultivate in this festering despair is born at last. I just want to witness that moment where you beat Ultimate Despair, I'll help too of course but I'm sure I won't be of any use to you. But please let me stay, if only just to witness that single moment where your supreme hope is truly born."

Then Mukuro sighed. "Though, Ultimate Despair was created by my sister I can't bear to see what has become of it. It has grown so dark and perverted that even Junko Onee-chan couldn't contain it, and if she couldn't handle that much despair then there's no way that I possibly can. That's why, I think I want to try hoping for a brighter tomorrow from now on. Maybe if I stay and fight I can learn what it truly means to stand strong. Though I am the Ultimate Soldier I do not want my only purpose in life to be that of a killer. I want to discover who I really am. There must be more to Mukuro Ikusaba than just being a soldier after all. I feel like this is the starting point I need to change who I am. So if you'll have me and forgive me for my past sins I promise that I will help you all in your endeavor to beat Ultimate Despair."

'Everyone. I feel like they've all changed somehow, if only slightly. What is this? This newfound feeling of hope?' I asked myself. Then I closed my eyes. 'I feel like a change is trying to happen in me also. But the question is, should I accept that change? If I do this, there's no going back. I can already tell, this road that I'm on right now will lead straight to the end. There won't be any more fear or anger or despair, no more pain or suffering or agony. If I choose to end everything now I won't have to go through the arduous journey that's ahead of me. But…' I tried to think back and answer the question I couldn't answer before. I searched and searched but I couldn't find it at all. I had really forgotten where I lived, but even more frighteningly it didn't end there. I forgot about what my room looked like, I forgot what my friends looked like, I forgot if I had any pets, I forgot what my mom and dad looked like and even worse I forgot their voices. I had forgotten everything. It was as if every significant person and event in my life had been whited out. There were no faces, no voices, no sort of feeling or anything. I saw past events in my head but there was no real connection to them. I had truly forgotten who I was.

'Ultimate Despair took our memories? If that's true, if that's really true…no it must be true, that's the only way I can explain this huge gap in my memories. But even more peculiar, I can't really remember anything before that, at least not anything involving another person. That's so odd. Why would Ultimate Despair go through the trouble of erasing all those memories? I thought they only took the seven years of memories that we had forgotten but maybe something else is going on here entirely. But, do I really want to know what that something else is? No, that's crazy talk. This is me we're talking about here, what am I scared of? These bastards stole my memories, I should want to get them back. Why am I hesitating?' But no matter how I tried to convince myself, this single ounce of doubt wouldn't leave my body. 'Is my subconscious trying to warn me not to pursue it any further because it knows I won't like the answer? Or…no, no matter what the case I want to remember. Those are my memories dammit! They're what define me, if I can't remember anyone important to me then what kind of person does that make me? My memories would be completely empty, with nothing but me and shadows in them. If I never knew the truth behind my memories, that might be even worse than dying. There would be no real connection to them, it would be like I was seeing someone else's life through my eyes. Not having any identity whatsoever is like the worst hell imaginable.'

'But still…why is it Ultimate Despair modified those memories? According to Mukuro only those memories over the past seven years that've been gone should be missing. The other memories are still there, it's just I can't remember certain details about them. Details that are important, that much I know. But what's the point of doing that?' I looked around at the others. 'And are they the same way? Cannot they not remember certain things either? It's all too strange. Especially this pang of fear I'm getting when thinking about my memories. It's like my subconscious is telling me not to dig any deeper, but that just makes me want to know why those memories are hidden even more. I…I don't know what to do. The others look like they've decided to fight but I don't know if I want to join them or not. I just want to go home, but I can't even remember where I live. This is all just too much!' I held my head in frustration as worry overtook me. 'I'm completely lost, I can't make heads or tails of any of this. I can't remember any of it? What else am I forgetting?'

"Akira? You okay?" Deva asked me.

'I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do,' that thought kept repeating itself over in my head. I was at an utter loss.

'That's right, I didn't tell you did I? Why Soshun and me were so pissed off at you?" Deva asked.

'It's like these memories aren't even mine, it's like I have no connection to them. That connection is completely gone. Who is Akira Maita? Who am I?' I asked myself.

"The reason is because of what you said before," Deva said.

I opened my eyes briefly and heard out what he had to say. "Eh?"

"What you said to Mukuro," Deva replied. "You encouraged her to prove that she was stronger than the Mastermind had thought. You had some massive balls yelling all that stuff at her like that. Even though he didn't say anything, Soshun thought that was so cool how you stepped in and handled things. Myself included. When Mukuro was teetering on the edge the rest of us just stood there but not you, you didn't even hesitate. You took charge of the chaos and brought the confidence back that Monokuma shattered in no time flat. It's like you and your words were the cure for her despair. So seeing you fall into despair yourself was just kind of a downer to him. He got pissed off at you and everyone else's whining and well the rest you know." Deva sighed and shrugged his shoulders. His glowing aura was starting to die down a little. "Look, I know that you're probably just as cared as the rest of us bu believe it or not you're a strong guy. I can tell just by looking at you, Akira you have what it takes to survive this too just like the rest of us."

Just like them? But I wasn't like them. "But I'm not like you," I replied. "I'm not like any of you. I don't have an amazing talent, or skill, or anything that sets me apart from others. I'm not special at all. I'm just the Ultimate Wannabe, I want to be like you more than anything else I want to be on the same level as you guys. But I'm starting to realize that no matter how much I wish I can be as strong as all of you, that's not me. I'm just a normal high school student. I'm cliché to an otherworldly level. I score average on tests and exams, all the movies and TV shows I like are whatever's popular, I'll only listen to music if a friend recommends a song first, I was elected class rep purely because people know I'm part of the go-home club and don't have anything better to do." I was starting to tear up, I could feel the tears strolling down my cheeks. "I don't have anything that sets me apart from the rest of the crowd! I'm a member of the Reserve Department's course, remember?! I blend in with a crowd of 2,357 other normal kids! There's nothing special about me at all! That's why I can't got through with this!" I shouted.

"…" the others remained silent.

"You're asking me to accept these unbelievable circumstances?! Well I can't do it! All of this blood, and murder, and death! Memories being erased?! A terrorist group of high schoolers bent on making everyone feel despair using a robot teddy bear?! This endless tragedy of suffering and pain…on some level this all may be normal in your world but it's not in mine! I just want to go home! I just want this all to end! You're wrong, I'm not strong, or brave or anything! I'm nothing! I'm nobody! I'm just some dumb kid who was picked at random for some psycho killing contest! And I don't want to play, you can't make me!" Then after that I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. For a few moments none of them said anything, but then she spoke up.

"No you're wrong. You're nothing? You're nobody? That's a lie and you know it." I looked up at Nodaka, and saw that she was frowning at me.

"What do you know? You have talent, an amazing talent. You matter to the world," I replied.

"I'm the Ultimate Maid, it wasn't a talent I was born with. It was a talent I created myself," she replied. "And for your information I wasn't always like this, before I made this talent of nurturing and caretaking my own I was a normal person just like you. I was taken in by the Kuzuryuu clan when I first began middle school because my parents passed away and I became orphaned. I was told by the other maids that my job was to make sure that Mistress Hitomi was protected and cared for at all times. Her being the same age as me, she opened up to me and we became the best of friends besides just being mater and servant. I learned everything I know today from the other maids and Peko-sama, they taught me everything I needed to know to take care of myself and to take care of others. I owe everything I have to the Kuzuryuu clan's kindness, but before that I was thinking the same thing you're thinking right now."

"…" I stayed silent as I listened to Nodaka's story.

"My friend, my best friend…no actually I guess you could say my childhood crush, moved away before I started middle school and I never saw him again. Then a year later my parents were killed in a car accident, leaving me all alone." She hugged herself and rubbed her shoulders. "I thought that the world hated me and it took away the people closest to me on purpose. I started to think I was nothing too, and for a while that's how I felt. Empty, like there was no meaning to my life at all. But when the Kuzuryuu clan took me in I learned that my way of thinking was just a coward's way of thinking."

"What?" I replied.

"Saying to yourself that you don't matter, that you're nothing special, that you can't do anything just makes you end up actually believing that. People who say those kinds of things to themselves are just cowards who never change because they convince themselves that they can't change on their own. You saying that you don't matter to the world is basically like you're saying that you would be better off dead. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to die…not anymore at least. And I don't want you to die either. You do matter Akira. You matter to me, and you matter to everyone else here too, right?" As if in response to her question the others began to agree.

"Maita-kun, we can't do this without you. We need you to help us," said Micho.

"If it weren't for you we would have never gotten this far, you can't just quit now," said Shiro.

"Reserve course student or not, none of that matters. You're our friend dude, believe it!" Nate exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter that you don't have a talent, that isn't what makes you special Kira Onii-chan," said Beigoma. "You're nice and brave and really smart, that's why I wanted you to be my older brother, remember?"

"You want to stop them too don't you? To make sure that they never hurt anyone ever again, you have to stand with us and fight," said Sawa.

"You're forgetting that you can't even really call my luck a talent," said Nagito. "Us talentless people have to stick together, don't you think?" Even he tried to assure me that I mattered to him with his odd ways.

"They're right Akira," said Deva. "Soshun and me agree too, you are our friend. Soshun has never really had that many friends before so for him to truly think he can rely on you, you must be one special guy. You've got a way about you that can inspire others to keep moving forward. As leader of the group it would be my honor to make you second in command."

"Again, no one said you're the leader of anything," said Nodaka. "Don't just declare random crap all of a sudden, you'll ruin this heartfelt moment!"

"I think it adds to the moment, thank you!" Deva shouted at her.

I didn't know what to say. I was speechless. These people, though I just met them a few hours ago thought of me in such a way. 'They think of me as their friend?' I asked myself and then I smiled. 'Of course. Why wouldn't they? I think of them as the same way, all of them no matter how weird or secretive or even downright scary. I don't want to see any of them die. I don't think I could take that. Yasuke, Micho, Nodaka, Nate, Jonathan, Soshun and Deva, Chihiro, Cam, Azami, Sawa, Shiro, Connie, Keiko, Aya, Jose, Beigoma, Nagito, Mukuro, and Izuru; whether I like it or not, we're all in this together. They understand how I feel about all of this craziness. In the short time that we've been together they all worked together with me and accepted me and all of my faults. How could I have been stupid? Of course they're my friends. And I'm theirs', and that's why I have to help them. We have to work together to combat this despair.'

"So what do you say Aki?" Jonathan asked. "Or are you really such an idiot that you're going to choose to die?"

"You're not a coward are you? What are you waiting for, let's get back to work shall we?" Yasuke asked.

"Well Monsieur Alice?" Connie asked.

"Are you onboard Myo-kun hebi?" Azami asked.

I smiled at them and then I chuckled. "You guys, thank you. Thank you so much, if you weren't here I don't know what I would have done. You're right, we can't stop now. We vowed at the very start to not grant the Mastermind's wishes and give into despair, so what if things are even crazier now? Our goal still remains the same. Beat this game and go home. All of us are going home and there's nothing Ultimate Despair can do to stop us!" I exclaimed bodly.

Deva laughed loudly. "There's the Akira that we all know and love!"

Mukuro smiled slightly. "It's good to have you back to normal."

Then Monokuma ruined the moment by speaking up. He groaned loudly. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! What the hell is this boring show?! This isn't exciting at all! What happened to the mystery dammit?! All you've done for ten fucking minutes is go back and forth spouting nonsensical bullshit about how you're all friends and you need to work together and blah, blah, blah, blah! Quit going in endless circles already!" Monokuma's red eye began to glow with anger. "I'm getting sick of this sappy, mushy garbage! Just make a damn decision about what you want to do already! Here I'll make it real fucking easy for you! Imagine two choices are in front of you, one is telling you to stop playing and end the despair and the other choice is telling you to continue playing and try and fight the despair! Now which one do you fucking choose?!"

"It's not even a question I have to think over, we're going to play and we're going to win!" I shouted at Monokuma.

"You tell him Maita-san!" Aya exclaimed.

"Ultimate Despair's days are numbered Mr. Monokuma!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Let's solve this mystery once and for all," said Jose.

"I'm ready, let's end this," said Chihiro in a confident tone.

"Aww, take charge Chihiro-chan! So kawaii I'm going to die!" Cam proudly exclaimed.

"S-Stop it. Yo-You're going to make me d-die of em-embar-embarrassment," Chihiro stuttered out with a deep red blush spread across her cheeks.

Then the hopeful atmosphere was disrupted by the most unlikely of individuals, the Ultimate Hope himself. Izuru sighed loudly. "Just as I thought, even something as interesting as this real-life murder mystery game wasn't enough. Such a pity, I was really hoping it would work this time. What's wrong I wonder? We've got an interesting mystery set up, a good and appealable cast of characters, and a very clear and dark plot set up. But still, something's missing. Something's missing from this game to keep my full interest. That's why my dear teammates, it is with a heavy heart that I withdraw myself from this game's proceedings."

"…" Everyone went silent upon hearing what Izuru had said.

"W-Withdraw, what are you talking about exactly Izuru-kun?" Monokuma asked. It looked like he was also a bit unnerved.

"I quit. I don't want to play this game anymore," Izuru simply replied.

"Q-Quit? Hey wait a second, you can't just quit playing when you feel like it!" Monokuma shouted. "You only get to quit when I fill with you despair and only when everyone else agrees to quit too! But neither of those things are happening here! You don't feel any despair at all even with all that's happened and what you've heard, and now you want to quit when everyone else has reached a hopeful turning point?! What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"I'm bored," Izuru replied.

"You're bored?! That's it?! Well suck it up and play nice with the others, if they feel hopeful then you have to feel hopeful too so I can crush you all with despair! You going in a different direction is not in the script I set up for this!" Monokuma shouted.

"Sorry, I can't help that I feel bored. That's just the way that I feel right now, I can't change it no matter what I, or you, or anyone else does for that matter. This game has been officially declared boring by me. I will not change my mind," Izuru said defiantly.

"Kamukura-kun, what are you saying?" I asked. "I thought we decided to finish the game together and fight Ultimate Despair?"

"I have no interest in either of those things," said Izuru.

"What?" I replied.

"I've already told you. I only waste my time on people and things that peek my interest, I have a very short attention span. You see, it's the downside to my talent," Izuru explained. "I am the Ultimate Hope. Essentially my talent is possessing talent. By observing another person's talent I can record it and then make the talent my own. This is due to superior intellect which the likes of you have never seen before."

"What are you talking about? You're not making any sense," I said.

"Did you know that an average human being can only use up to 10% of their brain? People like you Maita-kun who have no talent at all must work hard to obtain success in life. Then there's the talented people in the world, mainly the Ultimate high schoolers. Their brains have access to a slightly large percentage of their brain which they devote entirely to developing their talent. So above average humans can use roughly 15-20% of their brain's capacity. But you see, I'm special. Unlike the rest of the Ultimate high schoolers I was not born with talent, it was given to me," Izuru explained.

"Given to you? What do you mean by that?" Micho asked.

"I'm an experiment gone wrong if you will," Izuru replied.

"An experiment?" Nodaka repeated the word with bizarre bewilderment.

"I used to be a normal kid just like Maita-kun, in fact you might even say I was too normal." He looked directly at me. "I was completely and utterly normal. I was barely even a person, I completely blended in with the background. I was an only child and my parents were never around, I had no friends whatsoever, every time someone even looked at me they looked through me like I was almost invisible. It didn't even really matter if I went to school or not, no actually it didn't even really matter if I lived or died. I was completely invisible to the world. No one would miss me which is why I was taken in by Hope's Peak Academy to be used as a lab rat."

"Hope's Peak Academy was who experimented on you?" I asked.

"You know that the teachers and faculty are all scientists who run the academy for the sole purpose of researching and cultivating the world's talent, right? The school was just a means to an end to get talented kids to come so the scientists could study them. But about a year ago, or actually I guess it would be several years ago now, wouldn't it? Anyway, the scientists believed that they could further their studies by taking all the information they learned about talent's interaction with the brain and trying to manipulate the brain of an untalented person. If they could somehow give talent to an untalented person then this could prove to be a stepping stone to unlocking a new chain in the human genome, there for creating a new and superior human race. That was their goal at least. So they took someone that no one would miss and used them as a guinea pig to achieve that goal."

My eyes widened in fear. "No way…the Academy actually did something so horrible to you?"

Izuru smiled. "Yes, and not one of them felt remorseful for it. They cut open my head and snipped and prodded at my brain, taking away any memories of my past life and my basic personality in the process so they could remake me from scratch. Izuru Kamukura isn't even my real name, it was given to me."

"Wait, Izuru Kamukura, of course how could I forgotten something so important?" Micho asked herself. "Izuru Kamukura was the name of the original founder of Hope's Peak Academy."

"Yes, a fitting name for the next step in human evolution. Thus the Izuru Kamukura Project or more accurately the Hope Cultivation Project was born, the academy took me in and completely erased my memories using the knowledge that they obtained from the studies of the Ultimate Neurologist," Izuru explained.

Yasuke's eyes widened. "Wait, you're kidding?! Those bastards used my research to perform some fucked up experiment like that?!"

"Oh so you didn't know?" Izuru asked. Then he scoffed and said, "I guess that just shows that you never know what someone is truly capable of do you?" Then he sighed. "But even after all that they put me through, I didn't quite meet their expectations. It turned out that they made me too brilliant, each test and puzzle they put me through took only minutes to complete. Eventually it got to the point where I even started to look down upon the scientist that created me. The monster had risen above his creators. They began to fear me, which they were smart to do. Compared to them, I am no less than a god. I was and still am the smartest being in all of existence. But that knowledge came at a price. Like I said, they took away my personality and all of my memories and feelings that went along with it. They made me a blank slate and filled that slate with nothing but knowledge, but they forgot to add one crucial component. Anyone care to guess what that was?"

'I can only think of one thing,' I thought to myself. I asked my other self to answer the question and then replied, "The knowledge didn't restore your feelings, did it?"

Izuru chuckled. "No, it didn't. They broke me permanently. I could learn the definition of emotions, the verbal and physical responses for each of them, and even ways to approach others when these conflicting feelings arise. But as for myself, I could no longer feel anything. Happiness, joy, anger, hate, sadness, love, these were all foreign to me. So close yet unobtainable. I can't laugh without sounding maniacal or sarcastic, I can't get angry or show any signs of rage making me purely passive, and I can no longer cry. I am emotionless. I feel nothing towards anyone or anything. I am a true monster, so do you understand why they wanted to get rid of me? Why they wanted to get rid of their mistake? Or even why they couldn't?"

"Because of who you were?" Jonathan replied.

"Exactly, even if I was no longer human it didn't change the fact that I once was. I threatened to expose their deeds to the world in order to maintain my survival. And it worked. They realized that if word go out that they had created a monster that would be the end of their precious empire, I would make sure that it all came crumbling down brick by brick." Then he smiled. "But you see they didn't realize something else, that I would never truly do that because it would be boring."

"Boring? There you go again with that word. What do you mean by boring?" I asked.

"My intellect does more than allow me to know everything there is to know, it also allows me to predict what shall happen in the future. You can call it fortune telling, or divination, or whatever you like. But the truth is that it's all just logic. If word got out that I was created there would be uproar, students would withdraw out of fear that they would be used as guinea pigs as well. And then without any students the school would be inevitably forced to shut down operations, thus losing the grants given to them by alumni, who would no longer wish to be associated with the name of Hope's Peak. But that wouldn't be the end of it. A major social issue would arise. If Hope's Peak can't be trusted to help shape the future, then who can we really trust in the end? If monsters could arise and survive in this world, then what's the point of maintaining order and striving to be what society wants us to be? Mankind's very logic and order would be called into question. And the people who questioned it would then begin to experiment with the dark side of society. Chaos would erupt from the recesses of society's false sense of order. Anarchy would rain down upon order until all of society was crushed. Then darkness would seep in and poison mankind's mind, causing violence and insanity to appear in every single individual. A proverbial hell on earth would be created. And in the end mankind would kill itself to escape that false reality that it had lived in for so long."

"…" we were literally speechless. All of what Izuru thought would happen to the world did in fact happen, almost exactly the way he predicted it would.

"And I alone would remain, not being part of mankind. I would be alone in a barren wasteland of a world. All alone in darkness, just how I entered this world. A boring end. I did not want to see that boring outcome occur so that's why I stayed quiet on the sole condition that I could experience life once again in order to judge its fate. But sadly what I have observed since then is quite disappointing, even without my meddling I could tell the world was heading towards that boring end on its own. To me, mankind is so dull and uninteresting; one way or another, it will all end in death and destruction. The world is too simple, too single-minded, people kill each other every day through war, phamon, and pestilence. Death is the only natural outcome for the world. It's a boring and tragic fate. Which is why I live for moments of uncertainty and mystery, something that I thought this mutual killing game would provide me with." Then he sighed again. "But sadly those moments for me only last for a short while before my mind of infinite knowledge brings forth an ordered and certain solution for the short-lived moment of uncertainty. My knowledge is a curse, I'm fully aware of this but no matter how much I wish for it nothing will ever change. Yet another boring and tragic fate is the fate of the boy Izuru Kamukura…or whatever my real name is."

"So what you're saying is that you knew it would all come to this?" I asked.

"Some factors are a tad different but the outcome shall be the same believe me, which is why I choose to quit here and now. I was certain that you all would choose to fight Ultimate Despair, which is why I was ready to go along with your original plan to end your pain and suffering by choosing to quit playing. And now since we've reached the outcome that was certain to happen, I no longer wish to play. Which is why I say that the game has become boring. I already know all the answers, the few pieces to this puzzle that you all came in contact with fit together but unfortunately without the two key pieces of evidence you will never fill in the gaps. But since I no longer wish to play I have no need to keep holding back from you. I shall give you those two pieces of the puzzle if you can prove to me that you truly want to go down this boring route to the end."

"Wait, so does that mean that even if we choose to fight, the end is still gonna be the same?" Nate asked uneasily.

"Don't listen to him anymore!" Yasuke exclaimed. "Don't you see what he's offering?! He's saying that he's giving up his charade and giving u the answer, let's just take it from him and get this all over with and done!"

"Yeah, we can sort this all out after we know for sure that we're safe," Nodaka agreed.

"Uh, okay then, Kamukura-kun you put up a good fight so I humbly accept your decree of defeat," said Micho.

"So what's the evidence that we're missing exactly?" I asked.

"One of the pieces to the puzzle, you should already know if you remember what I talked about throughout the case," said Izuru.

'What Izuru talked about throughout the case?' I repeated to myself. 'If I remember correctly what he talked about on several occasions was…' I asked my other self the same question and then replied out loud, "The school profiles!" I exclaimed.

"Correct as always," Izuru replied. "Hidden in the headmaster's office is a gray binder which contains all of the students' profiles, including the ones involved in the original mutual killing game and ours as well. Mine is…discreet to say the least but everyone else has quite a fair amount of information in their profiles."

"So what you're saying is that we need to see the student profiles for ourselves?" asked Aya.

"Well what are you waiting for Izu? Fork it over," Jonathan ordered.

"I don't have it on me," Izuru replied. "But someone else does." The Ultimate Hope's eyes trailed over to the Ultimate Lucky Student.

"…" Nagito stood silently as the rest of us looked over at him. He wore a small smile on his face and his arms were crossed in a sort of smug way.

"Komaeda-kun?" I asked in response to Izuru's tell.

"So that's what you were hiding, you sneaky little rat," said Jose.

Nagito chuckled. "A rat? Even if I am just worthless trash, is that still a way you should address your senpai, Jose-kun?"

"Come on, enough games already!" Nodaka shouted. "Just hand over the student profiles!"

"You heard them Komaeda-kun, hand them over. I know you have them, you left the chemistry lab after me after all. There was a reason you didn't go back and tell the others after what I told you, wasn't there?" Izuru asked. "While I appreciate you trying to make things more interesting I said I was done playing so there's no reason for you to play these games anymore. They aren't amusing." It was weird, Izuru was trying to help us for once.

"You're supposed to be his servant, right?" Keiko asked. "Then by all means listen to his orders at once."

"Well Komaeda-kun, can we have the student profiles? Please, we need them to solve this case," I pleaded with Nagito.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening," Nagito replied in a playful tone. "What do you need again?"

"Don't fuck with us asshole!" Yasuke shouted. "Give us the damn binder already!"

"Enough games Komaeda-kun, let's end this already," said Izuru.

Nagito frowned. "You…disappoint me Izuru-kun," he simply said.

"I beg your pardon?" Izuru replied, seeming surprised at Nagito's response.

Nagito chuckled. "This game's gotten boring you say? I disagree completely, I say this game's just getting exciting." Nagito's crazy eyes returned. "By working together to overcome these great odds the Ultimates are increasing their hope tenfold. But just having them solve the mystery by handing them such a big clue is just too simple. Now that's a boring ending. The audience will totally be expecting that. If you want uncertainty in a game then I say that you should make the uncertainties happen yourself, for instance…" Nagito reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a gray binder which had the words HPA Student Profiles on it inside of the crest of Hope's Peak Academy. Then he held the binder up in his hands. "…the cumulative files inside this binder you all want so desperately is virtually worthless."

"What?" I replied.

"Izuru-kun is the one who's lying to you, he's been lying from the get-go. I was hoping that you guys being Ultimates would be able to figure it out on your own but it appears that you do need my help after all," Nagito said as he smiled gleefully. "But that's okay too, you guys are right after all. I am a servant, a servant of hope." Then he frowned again, "But sadly the person with the title of Ultimate Hope greatly disappoints me even now. A person brimming with hope would never simply quit just because they were bored. That act speaks to that person's character in saying that they are about as mature as a four year old. The answers that Izuru-kun speak of are all lies. The contents of this bulky binder are just meaningless details, I even have my own section in here. That fact alone proves that this information is just garbage."

"Where do you get off?! Give it to us and let us decide that for ourselves!" Yasuke shouted, getting annoyed with Nagito.

"All and all I'd say there's about two details that you need to know," said Nagito, completely ignoring Yasuke. "One. The basis of the progression of the crime that we have had is proven wrong by a single detail, a detail which Izuru-kun let slip out in our debate a little while ago. And two…" Nagito smiled again. "…quote Ben Kenobi, "There is another". That is all you really need to know."

"Wait, our information is in there as well, right?" Micho asked.

"Now like I said before, everything else is meaningless," Nagito completely ignored our words. Then the Ultimate Lucky Student reached into his right coat pocket and pulled out yet another interesting item. It was a small blue device which I recognized immediately to be a lighter.

"Komaeda-kun, what did you man when you said there is another?" I asked.

Nagito clicked the lighter and then a small blue flame erupted from the torch head. "Meaningless words, none of it matters," Nagito said to no one in particular as he held the lighter underneath the binder.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Jonathan asked.

"Somebody stop him!" Nodaka shouted.

But it was too late. It only took a second for the binder to catch fire, and within moments the student profiles were engulfed in flames. Nagito threw the flaming binder across the room, making us all flinch in fear. "Whoa, emergency, emergency!" Monokuma shouted. "Fire, fire, quick stop, drop and roll!" Then several Monokumas, holding fire extinguishers, appeared in the room and quickly put out the fire. But by that time, the binder and all its contents had become scorched and unsalvageable. We all looked at Nagito with a terrified look in our eyes.

"You psycho, what the hell is the matter with you?!" Nodaka screamed.

"Who just starts a fire like it's no big deal?!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Nagito's unbelievably bat shit crazy!" Nate shouted.

Nagito replied with laughter. "I'm not crazy, I'm nobody. Who are you? Are you nobody too?"

"He's seriously just playing with us," said Cam.

"I never would've thought he would start a fire to mess with us," said Jose. "He really is a terrifying individual."

"The madness trumps even that of le Mad Hatter, no?!" Connie shouted.

"K-Komaeda-kun?" I was literally speechless. I stood completely still while my eyes were transfixed on Nagito's eyes. I couldn't even see anyone staring back at me. All that remained was despair, despair crudely twisted and manipulated to resemble hope.

"That was our last chance you fucking idiot!" Yasuke shouted. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Well…I have to admit that I did not predict that would happen," said Izuru. "He certainly is a frightening individual isn't he? I wonder if we can even trust his words. Probably not, right?"

And then it came to me. It wasn't despair this time, no. It was a realization. Something was coming to me. Izuru and Nagito's words. The meaning of them was on the tip of my tongue.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Once again, I cleared my mind of all other thoughts and then hundreds of letters entered my mind. They appeared to be random but I felt like the answer was hiding among them.

B-A-E-T-O-Y-T-P-A-S-Q-C-C-F-O-L-S-T

P-X-D-K-L-U-R-R-W-I-E-Q-D-U-T-I-E-C

U-I-N-E-E-R-B-R-M-O-T-S-O-Y-C-O-T-L

V-P-K-K-O-R-T-C-N-S-U-J-U-O-P-E-U-P

H-G-P-R-O-P-U-Y-N-O-D-A-K-A-O-P-H

(Need a five letter word)

'S-E-T-U-P. Setup! That's it!' I exclaimed.

COMPLETE!

I opened my eyes again and I looked from Nagito to Izuru. "Both of you. Both of you already know the answer but are refusing to share it with the rest of us. Why is that exactly?"

"Wait, are you seriously asking that, Aki?" Jonathan asked. "It's because they're both fucking lunatics, there's no reason behind it idiot."

"But is it really okay to just paint it black and white like that?" I replied.

"Why not, black and white are excellent colors? I pull them off quite nicely, don't you think?" Monokuma asked.

"Shut up, no one's talking to you, you damn bear!" Deva shouted

"Right-o, shutting up now!" Monokuma replied.

"No actually, I think there's something else going on here. I think this was all a setup from the very beginning," I explained.

"A setup, what do you mean?" Micho asked.

"I think we might've been wrong about something…no, actually I think we've been wrong since the very beginning. Our original assumption about the murder, the suspects involved…I don't want to admit it but I think this is the only way to explain the rut that we've gotten ourselves stuck in," I explained.

"What do you mean by rut, dude?" Nate asked. "The answers were in the student profiles, we would've been okay if Nagito had just let us read them but since they're gone now all we have are those two cryptic clues that the son of bitch left us."

"But that's my point," I replied. "Why did Komaeda-kun give us those clues at all? I mean, it's clear that by destroying the student profiles there was something inside the binder that he didn't want us to see but if he really wanted to leave us in the dark he wouldn't have said anything at all, would he?"

"But he didn't want to leave us in the dark," Chihiro replied. "According to Komaeda-san, he just wants us to have more of a challenge so we can increase our hopes or whatever."

"Actually, I think that might've just been an excuse. What if Komaeda-kun was actually trying to help us?" I asked.

"I wanted to help you, you say?" Nagito replied. "I don't seem to recall ever mentioning that before. What makes you think that, Akira-kun?" Nagito asked.

'Seriously? I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and you're questioning me too?' I thought to myself as I sweatdropped. "I can't really explain it, it's just sort of a theory I came up with," I replied.

"A theory? Is that it? Hmm, then maybe I did what I did simply because I am crazy," Nagito replied.

'No Nagito you may be a little abnormal, but you're not crazy. Your world views may be demented and dark but you're not crazy. I know it, but what I don't get is why are you trying so hard to convince everyone you're crazy? You're hiding something, and there's one person I know who can prove it,' I thought to myself.

MAKE AN ACCUSATION

I glanced over each one of my friends and saw that they appeared to be confused and scared, until I stopped on the one person I knew who was guilty of something for sure and could also help me prove my theory. Izuru Kamukura. "It could only be you!"

A/N: Do you guys know what Akira's theory is and what he thinks Izuru did? If so good for you!

Reply: Thanks!

Sorry, watched the "Smug Alert" episode of South Park the other day and I felt like using that joke. Anyway, hope you enjoyed that emotional and surprising chapter. Till next time.