Chapter 25
Another uneventful day passed by, causing the teens to grow more worried and some wonder if Monokuma's plan was to drive them to point of insanity in order to commit murder by remaining silent. Leon was in the basement once more, watching the video on the flash drive. His eyes were narrowed in focus as he carefully studied every detail of the video. He still didn't understand why Monokuma was nervous and angry of the idea of them finding the flash drive to the point he became enraged when Hiroko secretly stole it.
"There's got to be something. It just can't be that he grew worried about us learning that he had employees. There has to be something." he thought to himself.
He kept studying the video until he was startled by a voice. He quickly turned to see Hideyo with her arm propped up on the back of his chair and her purple eyes focused on the laptop screen.
"Hideyo, how long have you've stood there watching?" Leon asked in a confused tone, "I didn't even hear you come down the stairs."
The stunt actress simply shrugged her shoulders as she answered "You seem pretty drawn in by that video. In truth, I actually came down to watch it again as well. Monokuma has been so quiet, might as well do something to distract myself. Figured my experience as a stunt actress would come in handy."
The red-head jolted a bit in surprise as he watched the black-haired girl lean over his shoulder and replay the video. He didn't utter a single world as he stared up at his companion, noticing how her purple eyes were constantly darting in different directions as she studied the footage. Figuring it would be best not to disturb the girl's actions, he directed his attention back to the laptop. By the end of the video, he could hear Hideyo sigh loudly in his ear before feeling the weight on his shoulder lift away. He turned to see Hideyo with her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed in thought.
"Well I can tell you one thing from watching the video again." the stunt actress started with a huff, "That guy must have a high tolerance for pain. Talking from experience here. Even with the bullets not being fired at any fatal areas until the very end, any regular person would have passed out from the pain. There's no doubt he's had experience dealing with such pain."
"You can tell all that just from studying the video and what do you mean 'Talking from experience.'?" Leon asked.
The black-haired teen took in a deep breath with her lips curved downward into a slight frown. Grabbing the hem of her tank top, she pulled it up slightly to reveal a series of scars on her stomach. Even though the scars carried memories of pain, she didn't even pause as she pointed to each scar and explained the experience behind them. She could clearly remember each memory for each scar; one she got from a motorcycle stunt while another she received during an intense action scene. Every single one of the scars held a different story, ones that she couldn't help but be proud of.
The teenage boy's eyes were as wide as saucers due to the shock of seeing the assortment of scars. It surprised him that Hideyo managed to gain so many scars from stunt acting yet continue with her career to the point she was recognized as an Ultimate. Unintentionally, an impressed whistle managed to escape his mouth. Only a few seconds passed before he realized what he had done. Out of fear of angering the nineteen year-old girl, Leon slapped his hand over his mouth. But much to his surprise, instead of being angry, he saw Hideyo started giggling.
"Your face just now, you're acting like I would be insulted. The memories I get from these scars are both good and bad. Stunt work isn't exactly the easiest thing in world, but I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did if I didn't love it. Guess you can say, I'm just in love with the adrenaline." Hideyo stated with a smile.
A small smile manage to form on Leon's face in response, unfortunately it immediately vanished when a familiar voice spoke up "Man, if you're so eager to know who the bozo in the video is, you could have just asked."
The two teens spun around to see Monokuma standing behind them. The bear seemed strangely calm with his paws intertwined behind his back and a mysterious glint in his eyes.
"Where have you've been the past few days, did it really anger you that much that we discovered what the object Hiroko stole from you was?" the stunt actress accused in a bitter tone.
"Of course I was freaking mad! It totally gives away who the Mastermind is! But I digress, that totally isn't the reason why I've been silent the past few days." the demented bear replied with the tilt of his head, "I've been mainly pondering to myself, considering my next course of action. In the end I decided, what's even the point of hiding my identity? You guys will just figure it out, which is why I decided to tell you exactly who the Mastermind behind this killing game is."
Both Hideyo and Leon were taken back by the robotic bear's words. It was hard to believe the Mastermind behind the deadly game suddenly decided to give up all because they had discovered the flash drive. Many thoughts ran through their minds as to what could be the bear's intentions until it was shattered by Monokuma uttering a single name; that name was Toshiro Riichi.
"What did you just say?" the black-haired girl stuttered with her face pale in shock.
In that instant, Monokuma waved his arms in the air out of frustration as he yelled "Jeez! I tell you the Mastermind's identity and that's your reaction?! I said Toshiro Riichi is the Mastermind behind the killing game! You know, the same guy that gushes over the executions except for the one in the video that clearly gives a huge hint to the Mastermind's identity! The execution was shot like a movie for Pete's sake!"
Leon bit his lip out of uncertainty. While many facts did line up, he couldn't bring himself to believe that Toshiro is truly the Mastermind. To him, it didn't make sense for the Mastermind to reveal themselves, considering it the equivalent of painting a target on their head. It didn't make sense to him for the one responsible for the killing game to do something that could risk everything to come to a screeching halt. If there was no Mastermind, the there would no longer be any killing game. Unfortunately, while his train of thought made sense for him, he easily noticed that Hideyo did not share those thoughts.
His pale-blue eyes glanced over at the teenage girl, seeing the expression of rage and betrayal painted on her face. He had acknowledged the growing tension between the stunt actress and the director with the occasional hateful glares, threats, words shared between the two. Tension that had gotten worse over the past two weeks of their imprisonment. There was no doubt in the red-head's mind; this suspicious revelation would be the final straw. Worry coursed throughout his mind as he watched the teenage girl storm out of the basement, unsure of the thoughts running through her mind.
"Well, I say she took that news well. Puhuhu!" Monokuma snickered in delight.
Upon hearing the bear's voice, Leon spun toward the robot with a hateful glare and his teeth clenched tightly.
"There's no freaking way Toshiro is controlling you. Why would the Mastermind risk themselves getting killed? If anything, you're just watching from the sidelines like Junko Enoshima." he snarled.
The black and white bear slowly turned toward the nineteen year-old; his red eye glowing ominously.
"You're right about one thing, Toshiro Riichi isn't the Mastermind. I said that to get Ms. Anger Issues flustered." the demented bear taunted with a sly smile, "You'd have to be like extremely dense to not know she's got it out for director boy. It'll be amazing if I can spark a conflict between those two, especially if it results in yet another murder. But you're wrong if you think the Mastermind isn't one of the participants, I've been a potential player since the very beginning."
"You're feeling pretty confident by telling me all this. What's going to stop me from telling the others of your little scheme?" Leon asked.
But the moment those words left his mouth, fear began to stir into the pit of his stomach. The confidence he felt moments ago was immediately washed away by regret, making him wish he had never questioned the bear. His worry only grew when the sound of Monokuma's snickers reached his ears.
"Oh, so you want to play like that. Well how about this?" Monokuma began in his typical sly yet threatening tone, "You stay quiet about this little exchange and I won't tell the others that they have a murderer among their ranks. Isn't that right, Leon Saisei? Though in hindsight, maybe it would be better to address you by your real name. Right, Leon Kuwata?"
The red-head's face turned pale as he felt like his entire world had come to a screeching halt. Monokuma's taunts seemed to fill his mind as the bear explained how he decided to look back on his books concerning Hope's Peak Academy's killing game in order to finally learn why he was so familiar.
The psychotic bear was amused to see how petrified the teen before him was. He found it satisfying when all the questions in his mind concerning the mysterious teenager finally disappeared when he compared the facts. The only question remaining in his mind was how the teen was even there in the first place, but he chose to ignore that curiosity.
Leon swallowed hard as he began weighing his options. He wanted to prevent his friends from falling into Monokuma's trap, but he didn't know if they would trust him if they learned of his true identity. He knew Hiroko had taken the discovery very well, but she was the more calm and reasonable out of the group. With most of the peacemakers of the group gone, the nineteen year-old knew he would be dealing with seven paranoid and frightened teenagers. He hated to admit it, but he couldn't risk letting the others know of the truth; at least not while they were still scared out of their minds.
With a sigh of frustration, both toward himself and Monokuma, the baseball player finally replied "Fine, you win. I won't tell the others about this discussion."
"There's a good murderous baseball player mysteriously back from the dead!" the bear replied in a delighted tone, purposely choosing words to further anger the red-headed teen, "Just keep being a good participant and I won't tell your little friends about your secret. Hey, maybe if you're good enough, I'll insure that you'll actually survive this killing game! Puhuhu!"
The nineteen year-old did not respond, instead choosing to snarl as he could taste bitter hatred on his tongue. He no longer feared Monokuma, his paranoia of the bear deciding to kill him was long gone. All that remained was hatred for both the robotic bear and the Mastermind controlling it. Without any words, the teenager started to make his way to the stairway.
He was about to leave, until he was stopped by Monokuma commenting in a venomous tone "Consider this payback for peeking at that flash drive too early."
"Wait, too early?" Leon thought to himself out of confusion, "That means he intended to show us all along, but why would he want to do that?"
Unable to come up with a possible reason at the moment with the frustration of Monokuma's blackmail still bubbling in his head, the teen left the basement with the bear's laughter filling the air. Unfortunately, his troubles did not end there. The moment he finally reached the first floor of the factory, he was greeted with the sight of a large argument. He saw Isas standing in front of Toshiro who was angrily yelling at Hideyo while the stunt actress herself was having to be held back by Shizko and Naoko. On the sidelines, he noticed Isamu and Mineko watching with faces full of concern.
"Mastermind?! Hideyo, you've accused me of many things but this is the last straw! I would have to be a nutcase to want this killing game!" Toshiro yelled.
"Stop lying you piece of scum!" Hideyo snarled whilst trying to free herself of her companions' grip, "You confessed to everything as Monokuma! Besides, even without that confession, everything lines up. Every single time one of our friends was executed, you were the only one who took delight in it with your whole 'creativity' crap! Not to mention, we know the mastermind had researched Hope's Peak Academy. You seemed to know an awfully a lot about the first murder during Seiichi's trial."
Toshiro bit his lip as his eyes darted in different directions out of nervousness. He couldn't believe Hideyo was accusing him of being the one responsible for the deadly game the were forced to play.
"You're just like everyone else." the brown-headed teen tried to sound angry but the tremble in his voice revealed his fear, "You think all because I kept commenting on the creativity of the executions, that I enjoyed them. I told you multiple times that I didn't enjoy them, I was downright horrified by them. I don't get it. I embrace the image the public built up of me, yet I'm still hated. People only want to see the spectacle right? They don't care about the love and care you pour into emotional stories, no they rather see things blow up! So why am I still hated?!"
Isas let out an audible sigh as he listened to the two teens argue back and forth, wishing that Hisoka and Seiichi were still alive to help maintain peace in the group. His eyes began to wander, glancing at everyone until his sights stopped on Leon. His brow raised in confusion when he saw the teenager silently standing in the stairway with a guilty expression painted on his face. He recalled the last time a fight broke out between Toshiro and Hideyo, the baseball player had immediately rushed to his aid to end the fight. Yet this time, he saw the nineteen year-old was choosing to standby and watch.
He was confused until he felt something hard collide into his chest. The black-haired teenage boy's heart nearly stopped when he saw that Hideyo had broken free of her friends' grip and was now trying to shove him out of the way in order to reach the nineteen year-old she had come to despise. Isas tightly clenched his teeth as he steadied his footing, refusing to let the teenage girl knock him down. Risking a glance at the director he was trying to protect from the stunt actress' wrath, he looked back at the brown-headed teen to see him pressed against the wall in fear.
Directing his attention back to Hideyo, he quickly muttered out an apology before grabbing firmly a hold of her shoulders and smashing his forehead against hers. In that instant, he felt the stunt actress fall limp in his arms.
"Holy crap, Isas! Why did you do that?! Hideyo is going to murder you when she wakes up!" Naoko exclaimed.
"Out of all the words you could have used, you had to pick the worst one! Please don't mention murder while we're still stuck in Toshiro's game!" Shizko snapped.
The moment those words left the sculptor's mouth, Toshiro stared in shock as he stuttered "Y-You think I-I'm the Mastermind t-too?"
The silver-headed teen fell silent whilst glancing down at the floor. She hadn't meant for that comment to slip out, but she didn't see anyone else that could fit the role of the Mastermind. The thought of the director creating the killing game made her sick, especially when the killing game claimed Kiyoshi's life. Her body tensed as she tried to banish any murderous thoughts of revenge from her mind, remembering the promise she made with her deceased friend. After taking a few seconds to calm herself down, Shizko reopened her eyes to see her companions all silently standing in the hallway.
Silence lingered in the air until it was shattered by Isas speaking up, announcing that he planned to take both Hideyo and Toshiro to his room to calmly discuss things. The group of teens was shocked by the racer's announcement, but didn't attempt to stop him. With silence filling the air once more, the teenage boy hefted the unconscious stunt actress onto his shoulder before grabbing a hold of the director's wrist and walking down the hallway.
Once the three teens were out of sight, Isamu asked in a nervous tone "Was Hideyo truly right in claiming that Toshiro is the Mastermind? I know he's made all those nasty comments in the past, but he's never tried to kill anyone or provoked anyone into killing. He was even willing to help us in the previous trial."
"That's true, but it doesn't exactly prove his innocence either." Shizko replied with a sigh, "The Mastermind would want the killing game continue since, much like Junko Enoshima, considers an ending that results in all of us being killed at once as a boring one. So of course Toshiro would want to contribute to the trial in that sense. As for not provoking us to murder, Toshiro would have Monokuma for that as doing it himself would be a dead giveaway to his identity. Finally he wouldn't attempt to murder anyone since that would only result in his death if he's discovered and the killing game would come to an end."
Leon couldn't bare to listen to his companions discuss what he knew to be a false fact. His fingers dug tightly into the palm of his hands, trying to resist the urge to start screaming. He desperately wanted to tell his friends the truth, tell them what Monokuma had revealed to him. But with the bear's blackmail still lingering over his head concerning his identity, he had no choice but to remain silent. No matter how much it pained him to do so.