Here we are. The end of "Boys Life of Despair" and we are now transitioning into "A Next Generation Legend! Stand Tall, Galactic Hero!" I'm gonna warn you right now, that name is probably gonna apply to this story as much as it did with canon. Seriously, who named that chapter?
I feel like I may have over hyped the motive in the last chapter as being able to save my entire story. It probably won't, but if you're reading this far, your probably fine with that. Or not, I dunno.
Anyway, I hope you can enjoy chapter 13. Funny, how 13 is often considered to be an unlucky number.
Chapter 13
"Uh-oh..." Monokuma giggled after counting up our votes. "This time it looks like... you got it right again! Yes, it is so. The blackened that killed Toko Fukawa was... Mondo Owaaadaaaa!"
Unlike Leon, who revealed a cowardly nature at the end of his trial, Mondo stood there, accepting the grave looks everyone gave him. Still, he refused to meet our eyes.
Monokuma continued. "In case you're wondering, the vote was NOT unanimous. Kiyotaka chose the wrooong answer! You're treading very close to the danger zone, Mr. Ishimaru! You need to be more careful!"
"I-I refuse to believe it..." Taka declared weakly. "There's no way... no way he would kill someone!"
"Sorry..." Mondo apologized quietly.
"Wh-Why are you apologizing!?" Taka asked, practically begged. "Why!? Why why why why why!? WHYYY!? Wh... why? Why did you do it!?"
Mondo couldn't meet his gaze. He kept his eyes on the floor. He seemed to try to say something a few times. Finally, he admitted "Because... no matter what, I didn't want anyone to know..."
"So that's what triggered it, after all." Kyoko said. "The possibility of having your embarrassing memories and secrets exposed..."
"Th-That's impossible!" Taka asserted. "Nothing could have been that bad! Something that he didn't want anyone to know... even if it meant killing someone...? It's impossible!"
"How many times must I repeat myself?" Byakuya groaned. "To judge others by your own standard is the height of folly. Even if you can't comprehend it, he obviously can. That's all there is to it."
"Well, while we're on the subject... why don't I tell you?" Monokuma suggested. "That embarrassing memory, that secret he didn't want anyone to know... You know what Mondo did? He killed his own brother!"
"Gh-!" Mondo choked when Monokuma said that.
The bear continued. "Mondo, the Ultimate Biker Gang leader, makes all the hoodlums and riff-raff across the country tremble... But the only reason he had the chance to join a gang in the first place was because of a certain someone. Mondo's older brother's name was Daiya Owada. Mondo had nothing but respect for him. It was because of Daiya that Mondo ever got on a motorcycle. Mondo's older brother was his only family growing up. He was the only one Mondo could trust, or respect. He wanted to measure up to his big brother, so he imitated him in everything he did. Mondo was the epitome of the starry-eyed kid brother.
"Meanwhile, the charismatic older brother had put together a local motorcycle gang... and before anyone knew it, it had grown into the biggest biker gang in the country. Daiya, the older brother, number one in the gang. And his number two, his younger brother, Mondo. In the beginning, everything was peaches and gravy. But when Mondo started to think about how he would have to take over the gang from his brother someday... his brother's greatness, his reputation, began to gnaw on Mondo's very soul! Almost every day, Mondo heard the gossip and whispers of the other members of the gang. Which is why... on the night of his amazing brother's retirement ceremony, Mondo challenged him to a street race!
"But during the race, tragedy struck... The kid brother pushed ahead with reckless abandon, eager for victory, and dashed into oncoming traffic. But suddenly... the older brother came out of nowhere and pushed him out of the way, taking the hit for him! Laying in his kid brother's arms, the older brother delivered his final words... Of course he knew it was his brother's fault, but Daiya never blamed him for what happened.
"He decided to hide the truth of what happened from everyone else in the gang. In order to keep the gang together, and keep the promise to his brother... he could never admit to anyone that it was his own weakness that had caused the accident! And as a result... the team was made even stronger, under the banner of the kid who'd bested his big brother. "Daiya was gonna lose to his kid brother, so he got stupid and got himself killed." That became the explanation for what happened. Mondo's lie became the truth. He wanted to lead the team so bad, he was willing to tell all kinds of lies about his brother. And yet... As soon as our killing game began, he realized... no matter how tough he pretended to be, he was just another weakling that could die here in an instant. And then the lovely, the hateful Monokuma announced the revealing of the embarrassing secrets. At that point, it was clear I would have no problem shedding light on his secret... "Mondo killed his own older brother."
Mondo shook his head slowly as the story concluded. "N-No matter what... I couldn't let the other gang members find out. If that happened, everything would've been ruined... Everything me and my brother had worked to create... woulda been destroyed... his death... all the guilt I'd been carrying around... it all woulda been for nothing. So that's why... That's why I... I...!"
"Mondo..." Makoto said quietly.
Mondo shook his head, and continued. "After I saw what Monokuma had on me... my head filled up with a kinda fuzzy uneasiness, and just started swirlin' around. I'd never felt anything like it before... I... I didn't know what to do about it. I wasn't sure what to think or say. But after a while, that fuzzy uneasiness... turned itself into a rock-hard lump of anxiety, way down in my stomach...! So I was just... wandering around the school, aimlessly... I couldn't even think about going to sleep... and that's when I went to the bathhouse. That's where I found the crazy bitch, just gently running a pair of scissors across Chihiro's arms and neck, whispering creepy shit to him... and I felt like I could hear something starting to... creak. Something... inside my head.
"I felt a lot of things at that moment. Fear. Relief, I guess, that I managed to get there before... something happened. But mostly I felt... angry. It was like... it was personal. Like I was Chihiro, and my secret was standing over me, threatening to cut me open. I know it's stupid, but that feeling... it broke me. I saw the bench nearby. I remembered a move I'd used a thousand times before, back in the gang. I... don't remember anything after that. When I woke up again, she was laying at my feet... covered in blood... from how the place looked, I knew Chihiro would be blamed, so I moved the body up to the boys locker room... I thought it was the one place Chihiro couldn't have gone, but I was wrong, and he almost ended up getting the blame anyway..."
"H-Hey..." Taka sniffed.
"... I... killed her." Mondo admitted. "I killed Toko. Even after all this time, I'm still just as weak as I've always been! And thanks to that, I did something I can never take back...!" So, rather than be jealous of Chihiro and kill him, this time Mondo snapped and killed Jack because he couldn't kill his secret. And it was my fault... this happened because of me...
"Ahh-hahaha!" Monokuma laughed, pointing at Mondo. "Look at him! You see? You're all just like him! For a secret from the past, for a memory... For that, he killed another living human in cold blood! He couldn't cut free of his regrets from the outside world. He doesn't know what true strength is. Do you see hope anywhere in there!? Cuz I sure don't!"
"You... bastard!" Taka growled. "Just shut up, you son of a bitch! Go ahead, say that again, I dare you!"
"Okay! I'll say it as many times as I want!... is what I want to say, but... unfortunately, I can't do that right now! Because the time for punishing is fast approaching!"
"P-Punishing...?" Makoto repeated.
"You mean... execution...!?" Taka shouted.
"That's what I promised you, right?" Monokuma asked. "The blackened that disturbs the peace will be punished."
"H-Hold on!"
"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader!"
"N-No, wait! Wait!"
"Let's give it everything we've got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"
"I! Said! WAAAAAIIIITT!"
"...Sorry, man..." Mondo apologized. "I couldn't keep the promise we made... from one man to another..." Unlike Leon, he didn't resist as chains came out of the curtain behind him and dragged him through to his own execution chamber. Monokuma pushed us through, so we could witness his death.
He was chained to a motorcycle, with a Monokuma imitating his hairstyle sitting at the drivers seat. At the far end of the chamber, a motorbike cage slowly opened its gate. Speakers lining the room blared down at us in Monokuma's voice, deafeningly loud:
"THE CAGE OF DEATH!" The Monokuma revved the engines before speeding toward the cage. Just before reaching the cage, the front seat springed, launching the Monokuma into the air, and Mondo was left speeding round and round. Another Monokuma appeared and started hoola-hooping. Then, the cage became electrified, frying Mondo inside. The electricity lit the cage up to blinding levels of light. When it finally stopped, the motorcycle slowed and fell to the side, it's passenger gone from the realm. Three beeps later, and a nearby machine spit out a small tub labelled "MONDO BUTTER."
I rubbed my eyes. I watched the whole thing, even when the light could have blinded me. Another case, another two people died at my hand. I mourned Mondo, apologized to him. It'd never be enough.
"Laugh at death, and your soul will forever be at peace." Monokuma told us.
"It... can't be..." Taka whispered. "My... brother... Urraaaaaahhh...!" He crumbled to the floor, gripping his head in his hands. "URRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" We let him yell. We were all mourning in our own ways, it wouldn't be fair to stop him. Of course, some of us couldn't keep their mouths shut.
"What a disappointment." Byakuya sighed. "This is the end of the game?"
"B... Byakuya...?" Makoto said his name with a shaky breath.
"You're completely insane, you know that?" Hina told him, tears streaming from her eyes. "A game? One of our friends is dead! Do you realize that!?"
"Of course I do. Because this game is life or death." He said it like it was just that simple. Just another rule.
"I don't have anything to say to you." Kyoko said, shaking her head at him. "I don't have a response, except that... I just don't understand why. Why did you go out of your way to disguise Mondo's crime?"
"Why...? Isn't it obvious? Because it made things more interesting." He just didn't give a shit. The rest of us were crying and screaming, and he just didn't care. "Last night, when the murder took place, I was in the library as usual."
"So you ignored the nighttime rule, too..." Celeste sighed.
"That rule never mattered to me." He said. "I don't recall agreeing to it."
"Well, I don't particularly care. Please, continue."
"The night grew late, and I decided to return to my room. Which is when I stumbled upon her... I spotted Mondo coming out of the boys locker room. After he'd gone, I looked inside and saw the corpse."
"Wh-!? You mean you actually witnessed the murder!?" Hiro asked.
Byakuya chuckled. "He was such a fool. He didn't have the slightest idea that I'd seen him."
"So... you're saying you knew who the culprit was from the very beginning?" Hifumi asked.
"Indeed. But if that had been the end of it, how boring would that have been? I mean, what a waste of time to have the answer revealed right at the beginning. Which is why I decided to... lend a little helping hand. I thought it would liven things up."
"You did all that... to "liven things up"!?" Makoto shouted.
"So after hearing about Genocide Jack from Toko, you decided to use that... to create the fake murder scene?" Kyoko summarized.
"But damn, man... If we hadn't figured out who'd really done it, you woulda been dead too, right?" Hiro asked.
"Well obviously I would have revealed the truth before it reached that point. Of course..." He turned to Makoto. "Thanks to a certain remarkable someone, it never did. And I was able to preform an interesting experiment. Once I do decide to become blackened, I now know who I'll have to watch out for."
"Wh-!?"
"So that was your reason..." Kyoko said.
"Are you satisfied?" He asked.
"Yes. We're done listening to your story." She assured him. "I'd also like to ask Al his reasoning."
I looked up. "Huh?"
"I don't think you properly explained why you cleaned the crime scene. You could have went and woke everyone up, told someone what happened, but instead you wiped up the blood and went back to bed. Why?"
Yeah, that's a little hard to explain. Toshihide, some guy nobody here even met, put me into a sleep-walking state, then I cleaned the crime scene. Would anyone here believe that? Probably not. I sighed. "I dunno. I panicked, I guess. And I was sleep-deprived, so I kinda thought... it was just a dream. I was kinda hoping it was."
"You were panicked and sleep-deprived at the same time?" Celeste asked. "If a puddle of blood is not enough to wake you up, I'm not sure what is."
"Yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking. Maybe I'm just as fucked in the head as Byakuya, and I just don't know it." Byakuya looked like he was gonna say something, but Kyoko beat him to it.
"Trust me, you're not." She assured me.
"That's a nice sentiment, but-"
"Whatever you're reasons, you weren't doing it just to "liven things up"." She said.
I shrugged, and didn't push it any further. She didn't have any idea how much I should've been helping rather than hurting.
"Moving on..." She said. "There's something I'd like to ask Monokuma."
"Ohh? I'm up next?" The bear asked.
"You like to perform these elaborate executions each time, correct? My question is... why?"
"Puhuhu... Do you like them? But you know, this punishment, this despair- it's not just for you. All this punishment, all this despair is my gift to mankind itself!"
"You're overexaggerating."
"I am not overexaggerating!" He declared. "These punishments are meant to transform all hope to despair!"
"...What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Mean...? Meeaaan...? Mean? Mean mean mean mean mean mean mean mean mean mean! Good GRIEF! I don't understand why you have to pick apart every little stupid thing!"
"Hmph. Whatever, it doesn't matter." Byakuya shrugged. "In the end, I'm going to stand alone as the victor. And then everything will be revealed to me."
"Ahh, the noble son of a noble family... Truly you understand me!" Monokuma swooned. "Puhuhu, I think this is the start of a terrifying friendship!"
"Shut up. I would never stoop to the level of a childish criminal like you. Let me just say this... After I have achieved complete victory... you're up next. I'm going to find you and kill you. Understand? In the name of the Togami family, for which victory is a foregone conclusion..."
"Oooh, so cool!" Monokuma swooned once more. "It's like you're the main character of a video game or something! No trash mob for you!" Funny, I feel like Byakuya wants nothing more than to be the main character.
"I swear, whatever it takes... I will kill you!"
"Puhuhu... Temper, temper! Sounds like someone needs a nap! Puhuhu... Puuhuhuhuhu! Ahh-hahahaha!" Monokuma kept laughing as he led us back to the elevator.
Nobody said anything as the steel cage brought us back to the empty life in Hope's Peak Academy. What more was there to say? Death held no meaning in this world. It only signaled the start or end of a class trial. There was no time to say goodbye.
As I stepped off the elevator, I heard someone gasp and wheeze. I looked over the entire group before I realized the sound came from inside my head.
Toshihide, you're back. ...Yes. The mastermind somehow jammed our signal. I didn't even know that was possible. Interesting. Well, we found out the culprit without your help, so it all worked out in the end. I suppose. I just wish it didn't have to happen at all, you know? Actually, Al, I think I'll speak with you tonight. Too much to say, so little time. Watch your left. Tonight? So I can expect another dream sequence, huh? And what do you mean, watch my left?
"-stening? Al?" On my left was Chihiro, who looked worse for wear. But who wasn't, at this point? Other than Byakuya, of course. But man, Chihiro looked destroyed. I guess anyone would be, after seeing their role model get brutally executed. Was it better when he was killed by him, or that he had to watch him die? I was having a hard time wondering what was best right now.
I shook my head. "Oh, sorry, I was... thinking. What were you saying?"
"I was talking... with Kyoko, just now." He explained. "She asked me if I was still going to tell everyone about my secret. You know... about why I dress like a girl." He gripped the hem of his skirt as if the outfit was constraining him. In hindsight, he never did seem too comfortable with that skirt.
"Are you?"
"... I'm not sure. I don't think anyone wants to hear my story after... everything that's happened. Besides, with all the time that's passed... everyone probably made their own judgments by now, anyway."
"Did... Kyoko say anything?" I asked. You never know with that chick.
"She said that... she thinks it would be a good idea to do it soon. Like ripping off a band-aid..."
"That's funny, I thought you ripped it off when you came out and announced it to everyone." I smirked weakly. "But I think I can agree with her. It might be nice to get everyone's mind off of today, if only for a little bit."
I tried to think of more to say, but the walk from the elevator room to the dining hall was so short that there wasn't really a point. Once we reached the entrance to the dining hall, however, Chihiro stopped.
"C-Can I... tell you something?" He asked.
I shrugged. "You've already told me your biggest secret. Not sure why I'd stop you now."
"Remember how Monokuma said that Taka... didn't vote for Mondo?"
"Yeah, he doesn't seem to be doing too good."
"Well, I... I-I almost didn't vote for him, either..." He admitted. My calm exterior fell away. The heavy depression of despair I was feeling turned into a panic.
"Wh-What? Why!?" But I had a feeling I already knew the answer. I don't want to live... if it means killing someone else to do it. I don't want to kill anyone else! Leon died because we all voted for him, right? It's no different from us killing him ourselves! That's what he said after the first trial.
"But I... I thought about what you and Makoto told me... about directing my anger at the mastermind, that they're the one's forcing us to vote. So I decided... for Mondo and Toko... and everyone else, I'll do my best to get out of here, with everyone!"
I stared at him for a moment, and couldn't help but smile. "... and you say you're not strong..." I muttered.
"Huh?"
"I mean, sure, not physically. But while everyone else was worrying about their secrets, you were trying to improve yourself. And now, even after a class trial, you're still not giving up. So, yeah, maybe you don't have the muscles, but you got real strength where it counts."
Chihiro clearly didn't know how to take this kind of praise. "Ehehe... Thank you. I'm not sure what to say..."
"Well, if Monokuma isn't gonna show up and ruin everything..." I looked around the hall, peeking around corners. Nothing. Well, that's just worries me more. "Huh... Well then, let's eat."
Dinner was a nice cool-down from the rest of the day's events. Everyone still seemed rather down, but still managed to contribute to the small talk. I even went through the effort of making some milk tea for everyone, just the way Celeste likes it. I was gonna have to get used to making it, in time.
Byakuya was the only one not there, because he's Byakuya. Well, actually, there was someone else I'd say wasn't there, not entirely. Taka. He just sat at his spot at the table, with a thousand-yard stare on his face. When I gave him his tea, he took some sips every minute or so, and I managed to get him to take some bites of his food, but he mostly just sat there.
When everyone finished dinner and got up to leave, he seemed to take notice and got up. As he was heading to his room, I caught up with him and gave him a pat on his back. "Hey, man, are you gonna be okay?"
He turned to me, although he wasn't quite looking at me, more like through me. Still with the same expression, he slowly nodded at me before he continued walking. Seems I have my work cut out for me.
After the nighttime announcement, I retired to my room along with everyone else. I tried to think of a way to prevent myself from leaving like I did last night. We really didn't need Toshihide making me do creepy shit in the middle of the night.
I didn't know you wouldn't fully wake up. I promise not to do something like that again. I'm having trouble taking your word for it. That's fair.
In the end, I moved my chair in front of the locked door and decided that'd be enough to distract my effort. Probably not, though. When I turned to my bed, Monokuma was seated on it.
"Jesus!" I jumped. "What are you doing here?"
"Is it too much to believe I'm just coming over for a friendly visit?" He asked.
"Considering I hate you and everything you stand for? Yes."
He shrugged. "Hey, I might be crazy, but at least I'm honest about it. You sure have a weird way of choosing your friends."
The way he said it didn't imply he was talking about Chihiro, Hifumi, or Makoto. "How much do you really know?" I asked.
He laughed, and raised his hands defensively. "I don't know anything, I swear!" When I continued to stare at him, he let his hands fall to his sides. "Man, you're real boring right now. Not at all like this morning."
"Two of my friends died today." I growled. "And when we all get outta here, you'll join them."
"There you go using that word again! "Friends?" Do you really think you know who's on your side and who's not? You might know how to manipulate that cross-dresser into opening up to you, or any of those other freaks, but what about the one guy you can't cheat with?" He asked.
"Aha! You do know about all this shit!" I exclaimed, stepping forward.
"And I know more about it than you!" He emphasized "you" by pushing his paw into my chest. "You really think you and that physicist are being super secretive? That no one knows any of your super secret club secrets? Get real."
"This coming from a roboticized teddy-bear being controlled by the Ultimate Despair."
"I told you, I'm not a teddy bear. And how funny is it that I'm still less delusional than you?"
Albert, do not listen to him. You know what the Ultimate Despair is capable of. Okay, you shut up...
"... and you shut up. I'm too tired to deal with you. Get outta here so I can go to bed."
Monokuma laughed. "Sure, talk it over with your buddy. But think about what I said. You never know what those around you are thinking, y'know?" With that, he was gone.
I slipped off my lab coat, but paused when something fell out of my pocket. It was the envelope that held my secret, that I wasn't from this world. I considered burning it, since that was some pretty valuable info, but decided against it. One of these days, when everything's less complicated, I'll tell everyone, and I'll need something to prove it. I put it back in the pocket, and went to lie on my bed.
The dream began with the sound of a camera going off. I looked around. I was in a classroom, seated in a window seat in the back, behind Toko. Hiro was holding the camera, standing against the side wall of the room, and he just took a picture of the rest of his classmates. From the angle, it didn't seem like I'd be in frame. Good.
In the row in front of me, Mondo was sleeping, Toko seemed to staring dreamily at Byakuya, who was in the desk in front of her, and Mukuro was there, just... blankly staring at the front, as she does. The main group that would be in the middle of the picture was Makoto, Hina, Hifumi, Taka, Sakura, and Sayaka. Hina and Sayaka had doughnut boxes on their desks. The front row had Celeste, Chihiro, Junko, Kyoko, and Leon.
I felt guilt every time my eyes fell on someone who had died. They all looked so happy here. I was so caught up with myself I hadn't noticed another face sitting in the desk next to me.
"Well, I suppose you're starting to get an understanding for how I feel." The raspy voice said. Toshihide Tomonaga greeted me with a weak wave, his dull purple eyes studying me. Actually, they were probably studying my mind more than my body. He combed some grey hairs out of his face as he turned to view the rest of the class. Despite still looking unhealthy, I think his skin had a bit more colour to it now when compared to before.
"If what you feel is "overwhelming guilt," then, yeah."
"I do, actually. I already told you about my numerous plans, and equally numerous failures to stop the Ultimate Despair." He sighed. "This happened to them because I wasn't good enough."
"Took the words right out of my mouth." I smirked, then sighed. "But, man, trading Toko's life for Chihiro is the only real difference I've made so far..."
"So? What are your plans to prevent the next trial?" He asked.
I glanced at the classmates involved. "Celeste kills Hifumi and Taka for money. I guess I'll try to befriend her, but I'm not sure how well it'll work. Maybe, since I'm already on Hifumi's good side, I could convince him not to listen to her, but, well... it's Hifumi."
"Indeed. Maybe if you were two-dimensional." He smiled at me.
I stared at him. "You know, for someone who studies psychology in their spare time, you sure aren't too good at telling jokes. It's also pretty hard when I have to think about whether your joking or if you can actually make me 2D."
"I'm joking, of course. I suppose this is why Susumu was always telling the jokes." He sighed again.
"Who?"
"Susumu Kimura. A friend of mine. He was the Ultimate Biologist. I suppose you wouldn't know him. He was one of the victims of the Ultimate Despair."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
He waved it off. "That was a lifetime ago. But I suppose with that anecdote, you can understand that I only have my Kouhai's best interest at heart."
"This is about what Monokuma was saying, huh?" I scratched my head. "It's a bit hard for you to defend yourself when you're such a goddamn mystery to me."
"It's true I haven't been very open about myself, my condition, or my past. But we both have very similar goals. We both want to bring this killing game to a fast end. We both want to end the Ultimate Despair."
"I guess. Do you have any advice for me on what to do, then?"
He thought for a moment. "Well... you're operating under the assumption that the only people you have to look out for are Ludenberg-kun, Yamada-kun, or Ishimaru-kun. But after the last class trial, I assumed you would start looking out for everyone involved. You wouldn't think you would have had to worry about Fukawa-kun, but here we are."
I nodded. "Right. Anyone could be a victim."
"The question is, is there anyone you believe is incapable of being a culprit?"
I ran through the list of survivors in my head. "Makoto, Hina, Chihiro, Kyoko, or Sakura, definitely not. Byakuya, maybe. Celeste, most probably. Hifumi, only if Celeste tricks him into it. Taka, I don't think so. And Hiro, well... he's desperate, but I don't think he has the guts."
"So, Byakuya, Celeste, and Hifumi. Not a big list. I urge you to be a bit more cautious."
I was about to say "I know what I'm doing." but I wasn't sure I did. Instead, I said "I'll keep that in mind."
"Just keep in mind, I have your back. With luck, our laser may be ready for use in the coming days. This won't take much longer. Goodbye." He rose from his seat and strode to the door, the other students acting as if he didn't even exist. As he near the door, I heard a sound like a metal clack, and the door slowly moved open. When he was on the other side, I heard the sound again, and the door swung shut.
I expected the dream to end at that point. That always happens when Toshihide's done talking to me. Instead, it continued. Huh.
I stared ahead, at Toko's back, waiting for my vision to turn into the roof of my dorm room. Nope, just Toko's back. She shifted in her seat, and I saw her tongue dangle in front of her. Out loud, I realized "Oh, you're Jack."
She turned to me, and Jesus, that was a long tongue. Obviously, the in-game sprites exaggerated a bit, but it was still much longer than your average person. The rest of her face seemed content, like everyone else in the class, smiling. "So you remembered me, Einstein!"
So that was my nickname, huh? I suppose it was better than "Allie" or something like that. "How could I forget a character like you?" I sighed. "I'm... sorry I got you killed."
She went back to staring at Byakuya, but still seemed to be paying attention to me. "Eh, don't worry about that. I've killed hundreds of people! It's only fair that it'd catch up to me eventually."
She seemed a lot more... philosophical than I remembered. Well, duh, this is a dream. "Yeah, but I don't think Toko deserved to get offed in the crossfire."
"Meh, there's always innocent victims in war. Though if anyone dared to try and hurt Master, I'd shove my scissors so far up-"
"I just wish I could've... gotten to know you before you died..."
She looked back at me. "You know, I always wondered why you didn't talk to Miss Morose, like, ever. I mean, I know she can't compare to this murderous fiend, but I thought you two would've gotten along. You're both always off in your own little world, and have bad social skills, and-"
"Alright, alright... but, yeah, I guess I never thought of it that way. Toko was... a person. She had reasons for acting the way she did, however strange... But I just sort of... dismissed her as some annoying girl with self-confidence issues. I guess I do that with quite a bit of the characters..."
She cackled. "See, I think that's your problem. You just see everyone as "characters." I guess that's another thing you have in common with Miss Morose. You have a hard time seeing everyone around you as complex human beings, instead of one-note video game characters. Well, except for me. I'm just a serial killer."
She looked back to Byakuya. I did, too. "Right... like Byakuya. I always just saw him as a massive prick. But there are... reasons he's like that. Maybe instead of getting mad at him, I should try to understand where he's coming from." I thought about it for another moment, then slowly got up. "Thanks, Jack. I'll see you... well, I hope I don't see you for another, like, sixty years. But, bye."
She gave me a little salute. "Seeya, Einstein."
I walked through the crowd of students. Some of them greeted me, others seemed to ignore me. Hina passed me a doughnut when I walked by her. It wasn't Tim Horton's, but it was good enough. I made my way to the front of the room, where Taka had seated himself in the front-center desk. Mondo was sitting in the desk next to him, but I doubted it was his own, since he was just sleeping at the back of the room. The two were talking, but quieted down slightly when I approached.
"Uh, hey, guys..." I nodded to them both. I turned to Mondo. "I'm, uh... sorry that you died."
Taka said nothing. Mondo just shrugged. "It ain't your fault. Even if you weren't there, it still woulda happened, right? Besides," He nudged Taka. "once my bro snaps outta his funk, I'll be back and butter than ever."
Taka burst into laughter, and shoved Mondo's shoulder. "Bro, that was hilarious!"
I blinked. "Right. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that... I appreciate that you saved Chihiro, even if you didn't mean to at the time. I just wish you didn't have to die because of it."
Mondo shrugged again. "Everyone dies, man. Them's the brakes. And when you go too fast, you gotta pump the brakes."
Taka laughed again. "Bro, you are on fire today!"
Mondo nodded. "Anyway, I think you should be waking up soon, man."
"Will I ever get to see you again? Any of the people who died?" I asked.
"Obviously. As long as you remember us, we'll always be with you, y'know?"
"That sounds kinda sappy." I said. "But I guess I could use some sappy right about now." As I spoke, my body started feeling numb, my vision blurred, and I couldn't hear myself speak.
It was midnight. The dining hall was completely locked off. No student could possibly get here, and if they could, it was against the rules. Good.
The mastermind made their way through the kitchen, making a meal out of all the foods most likely to last in their stomach. Having to wait until night to eat was a pain, but they would do whatever they had to in the name of despair.
They sat down at a table and started getting to work clearing the tray. About halfway through the meal, they saw movement out of the corner of their eye. Toshihide Tomonaga, the Ultimate Physicist, entered their vision out of nowhere. He was good at that. Still, the mastermind was expecting this, after what happened at the trial.
"Greetings." He said. It was annoying how he always acted so polite, even to people he absolutely hated. "May I sit?"
The mastermind stared at him. In a completely monotone voice, they said "It's not like anything I say will stop you. Go ahead."
He took a seat directly across from them. "Let us get down to brass tacks, as it were. How exactly did you interrupt my connection with Albert? It was my understanding you didn't quite understand the science behind it."
The mastermind scraped some heavy stew into their mouth before answering. "I do not. But the waves you two can communicate on are just that, waves. Most radios can't work on that frequency, but I was eventually able to create a device that could specifically interrupt it. Sort of an... electromagnetic pulse, almost. But I had to make sure it would not affect the e-handbooks."
The physicist nodded. "I see. But you turned it off after the trial. Are you not going to stop me from speaking with him?"
They took a bite out of a fluffy slice of bread. "Nah, that'd be boring as hell. I'll let you help him out and shit, but I don't wanna hear any cheatin', 'kay? He's gotta figure out this shit on his own, like everyone else!"
"And you believe there will be more killings?" The physicist asked. God, he could be so annoying.
They took a gulp of some off-brand energy drink. "Well, obviously! If we actually thought you and that boy could be a threat, we wouldn't have went through the effort of putting him in the game in the first place."
"I see." The physicist sat in silence for a few more minutes. Then he stood up. "Well, I won't keep you. I only wish I studied psychology more. Perhaps then, I could understand you. Or perhaps not. If I could kill you here and now, then I would..."
They swallowed a heavy scoop of rice. "I could say the same about you..."
"I'll supposed I'll see you some other time. Until then." He turned and walked out of their vision, and he was gone. The annoying bastard will see despair soon enough. They swore it. His plan was doomed to fail.
Ooh, Toshihide is mysterious and stuff. Let's hope he and Albert can save everyone. But they probably won't, since this is pretty early in the story to just have everyone saved. Nah, there's still so much story to happen, and mysteries to solve.
Survivors-11: Makoto Naegi, Aoi Asahina, Byakuya Togami, Celestia Ludenberg, Chihiro Fujisaki, Hifumi Yamada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Kyoko Kirigiri, Sakura Ogami, Yasuhiro Hagakure, Albert Wright
Victims-5: Sayaka Maizono, Junko Enoshima, Leon Kuwata, Toko Fukawa, Mondo Owada
In the next chapter, the students will explore the third floor of the school.