electricangel12: Hey there, slow down, friend. Let's save the twists for the trial, no? ;). The things you said make sense, so fixed. Thanks!
TheRoseShadow21: Thanks! Hoping this trial still has some surprises in store if those suspicions do turn out to be valid. If not… I'm sure the next one will.
Sacchin: Shiki has a hand in everything, friend ;).
Anonymous568: I think Junko's relationship with anyone would be interesting. But yes, the triplets are funny people.
CO2isSmilin: Thanks mate!
Vortex Oblivion: Almost? Now, that would be a bit unambitious wouldn't it? …do keep expectations low though, it makes this easier on me XD.
Furimari: Thanks a lot, mate! Ah, I was quite fond of how Fukawa's execution turned out too. Really glad you liked it!
AnimesWorld: I don't think I'll have a Junko's POV chapter after all actually. Mostly because I can't think of enough things to fill a whole chapter and also partly because she may be one of those characters who are meant to be incomprehensible and her own chapter may spoil that. I was thinking of having Shiki as the youngest since the younger the siblings of this family seem to be, the more authority they seem to have. I'm putting him as younger than Mukuro and older than Junko for now though, since while he can sometimes be a bit bonker (like Junko) he also has a bit of a conscience (like Mukuro), so he's sort of the middle ground. Fair enough. I'm having Ikusaba as the original last name though, since Ikusaba Shiki flows better, and it's more convenient to have Junko change her appearance since Shiki already looks like Mukuro. Their relationship is... weird... Shiki loves both his sisters, but as with all things related to his emotions, he's unable to express it properly. Junko, on the other hand, expresses it the same way she expresses everything, filled with her love for despair. So yes, it's rather awkward. Alter Ego may actually get a bit of screen time before the end, or he/she may not. I'll see whether it flows well. Is that canon, the part about the classroom? That would be problematic, since he's indeed part of the 78th class and planted at least one whisperer within SDR2's class. I guess I'll have to mess with the canon in this case and say in this universe all Hope's Peak classes house seventeen students, since any story I write in Danganronpa will probably follow this same format. The world, in this case, refers to the outside world (if that was a reference to something then I apologize for being too stupid to get it XD). It's also the final tarot card, which would be Shiki himself (though he also uses Hanged Man and a few others, won't be mentioned within the story though). I quite liked the two openings. There's something about how old-school they feel that I'm quite fond of.
This one turned out a whole lot shorter than I was expecting. Still, my excuse is that it's only half the trial. I think it ended on a good note though so I'll skip the author's notes at the end.
I feel like this chapter drags on in places, but I like the ending, which is where most of my thoughts went. This is one of the vital chapters, so I'd really really appreciate reviews, thanks!
I'm contemplating whether the next chapter will be a standard one or a back story one. We'll see where that goes.
Enjoy!
edit (26th March): How embarrassing... Fixed.
Chapter 33
After an oppressively long elevator ride, we arrive. The elevator door opens, momentarily blinding us with lights. Once our eyes adjust, we head toward our seats.
The room is… different. It is considerably bigger, brighter. Where there were seventeen seats, there are now only eight. The other nine seats, along with the portraits of the dead students, now stretch along the circular wall of the trial room. The portraits of the dead ones are high up, staring down at us, judging, the crosses over their faces more apparent than ever. Junko isn't going to let us forget how many died for us to get here.
And of course, Junko's portrait is now replaced by Mukuro's, because once you've stabbed someone with a knife you might well give it a good hard twist.
"This psychological game isn't going to work on us, Enoshima." Togami sneers. His statement rings hollow.
"No? Shame…" Junko whines. "Then let's play the other psychological game then, shaaaall we?" Junko stands up from her golden throne and takes her own seat among us. "Let's go over the rules one last time, shall we? If you can identify Kirigiri Jin's murderer as well as all the mysteries of the academy, you win. If you can't, however, I win. The loser receives a spectacular punishment filled with love. The winner chooses."
"C-Chooses?" Naegi asks.
"One thing at a time, Naegi dear."
"You're saying you have no qualm with executing yourself?" Kirigiri asks.
"Course not." I do. "Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, shall we begin? Hope's Peak Academy's final trial commencing… NOW!"
"Kirigiri Jin's murderer…. Why are we wasting our time like this!?" Kuwata asks. "It has always been clear from the start. She's the one who did it! The fact that she stands here among us indicates she's a viable suspect, so obviously…"
"You can cast your ballot now if you want." Junko suggests calmly. "Of course, I'm not responsible for what comes next if that's the case."
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Naegi says. "She allows us to have this trial even after revealing her identity. It… feels like a trap…"
"Clearly." Togami nods. "The only sensible thing to do now is to go through the trial as we normally would. This is to be our final one anyway. We must be certain of the villain once we cast our ballots."
"Agreed." Maizono nods. "Let's… take this slow…"
Kuwata sighs, disappointed. "Fine… I don't know who else it would be… but if we must… let's try to prove it. Where should we start?"
"Naegi… I think you should tell us what you found…"
Naegi sighs, hesitant. "I… I'm not entirely sure what it is…"
"Just tell us what's on the phone." Kirigiri urges.
"Right… of course…" He takes out the phone, enters the password once more. "The contact list is… empty… Call history has been wiped… or perhaps it was never used for that. The only traces of this phone ever being owned by someone are in the inbox and outbox."
"Did you read through the mails?"
"A few… They're mostly rather incoherent though…"
"To you, maybe." Togami snorts. "Pick one and read it out loud."
Naegi clicks through the phone a bit, still confused. He finds something soon enough, and begins reading aloud. "Um… this one is in the outbox…
"Whisperers,
Come to the gymnasium at 6PM.
We've found ourselves firearms, explosives and machetes.
Do whatever comes natural."
"Gymnasium… Could it be… our gymnasium? The school gymnasium?" Maizono asks. "More importantly… what did it he mean… do whatever comes natural?"
"Firearms, explosives and machetes… Whatever it is, it's not good…" Kuwata says.
"The headmaster did mention extremely violent riots within his logs…" Kirigiri muses. "This seems to fit the bill."
"Read us another one." Togami commands.
Naegi clicks through the phone a bit.
"Whisperers,
Come to the Physics Lab at midnight.
You will find juniors. They've been drugged. I've provided tools.
Do whatever comes natural."
"What the fuck was that!?" Kuwata yells.
"I don't know!" Naegi shouts, almost angrily. "I don't know… I don't know what this is… I don't know what this means… I've spent all the time I should have spent investigating reading these… and I just… I can't figure it out…"
"Another one." Kirigiri commands.
"But…"
"Please, Naegi. One more."
Naegi bites his lips, and reads.
"Whisperers,
Come to the front yard at midnight.
You will find at least one of your own family relatives.
They don't know despair.
I've provided the best equipments.
Do whatever comes natural."
Whisperers?
No... That can't be, the whisperers were fighting despairs. I don't understand. Both the dream and the girl confirmed it. So why…
"The rest of the messages… are they… similar?" Togami asks.
"They follow the same pattern, yes." Naegi says. "I don't understand… It's so pointless… A reason was never given. They just wanted to hurt people. W-Why…"
"It must be hers!" Kuwata shouts, pointing at Junko. "Only she would do something like this… She enjoys despair… She must…"
"The password was 'Junko'." Naegi mumbles. "One wouldn't use one's own name, right?"
"While that's no reason to discount the possibility of her doing it just to confuse us… It does seem rather unlikely." Kirigiri says.
"It could be Mukuro's." Togami suggests. "I've looked through her file and she seems like the type who wouldn't flinch at these sorts of violence."
"Mukuro wouldn't do this." I say. "She's harmless without someone to order her around, and the phone clearly belongs to someone who pulls the strings."
"Don't be so sure. You haven't seen her in years. People change."
"…"
Not my sisters.
"This is all theory at the moment." Kirigiri points out. "There's no point dwelling on it until we have more clues. Naegi, do you have the password for the other one?"
He quietly takes out the white phone and starts typing. "… apparently."
"The password?"
"'Mukuro'"
"The other sister… Interesting… what's in it?"
"It's… nearly identical… no call history… no personal customizations… the exact same mails… wait… no… this is…. What?"
"Naegi?"
"The messages… they make no sense…"
"I thought we already established that." I say.
"No… These ones… These ones contradict with the previous ones… I don't… what?"
"Read." Togami commands.
Naegi takes a deep breath.
"Whisperers,
Despair are about to start another riot.
Distract them. The 78th Class must stay safe.
Despair must die."
"Uh… what?" Kuwata asks. "The whisperers… were they not causing riots and torturing people for no good reason?
"That's what I thought!"
"Keep reading." Togami commands.
"Right… let me find another… here…
"Whisperers,
Hanged Man and Judgement will deal with the Despair member we captured at that warehouse again.
Chariot and Hierophant will cause our own riot to distract the school. All others, be on a lookout for anyone who seem to know about the missing Despair member.
Despair must die."
The codenames…
That sounds rather familiar now doesn't it…
I don't understand…
"I thought… the whisperers were the Super High-School Level Despair…" Maizono says.
"These ones, however, are clearly fighting despair." Kirigiri muses. "They were trying to learn about the group while staying in the shadow themselves. It seems they were quite skilled to have gone on like that for so long."
Naegi speedily browses through the messages. "Yes… these whisperers are definitely against despair… the latter messages indicate they've become completely single-minded in their pursuit… they're… they're indistinguishable now…"
"Explain yourself." Togami demands.
"Whisperers,
The 84th class houses at least three members of despair.
Moon reports they would be hosting a party at their homeroom teacher's house.
Gas it. Let no one out.
Despair must die."
"These guys… they're the ones fighting despair?" Kuwata asks.
"Fighting, would be putting it charitably." Kirigiri says. "They seem to have no concern whatsoever for collateral damage."
"What's the goddamn difference between the two groups then!?"
"This, I suppose." I point out. "Despair clearly won, and here we are."
"Are you trying to justify what they did?"
"Just a thought."
"This is pointless." Togami points out. "We should focus on one thing at a time: Kirigiri Jin's murderer. As interesting as this is, it has given us no insight into what happened to the headmaster."
Kirigiri sighs, clearly wanting to pursue the secrets behind the messages. "Good point… While these may be useful in uncovering the secrets of the academy, I suppose we should get back on track…"
"Right… the headmaster then?" Naegi asks.
Kuwata frowns. "Who else could it be other than her? I suppose Mukuro is also a possibility, since…"
"Evidences suggest otherwise." I say.
"H-Huh?"
"We've found the headmaster's logs. For those of you who haven't seen it yourself, here's the short version: Kirigiri Jin has been researching and fighting Despair for quite a while before this. He employed both his daughter's, Kirigiri Kyouko, and my help solely for this, which explains why our memories were wiped. However, according to the logs, we couldn't pin down the one pulling the strings. Things apparently got bad, and the headmaster opted to lock us in here."
"H-He l-locked us in here?" Maizono asks.
"I'll explain later. But, as we were somehow certain Despair was among the 78th class, it was also a plan to lure out Junko and Mukuro. It worked. They were locked within their room and monitored constantly. The headmaster found the hidden room inside the Data Processing Room and locked himself in to investigate its purpose and functions. That's where he died."
"I see. And this implies that Junko or Mukuro couldn't have done it?" Togami asks.
"Presumably. According to his logs, they were locked inside their room 24/7. The doors couldn't be opened without someone accessing them through the main control room, which only Junko and Mukuro had access to through the use of their fingerprint. They, of course, couldn't get out. So the only one who could have let them out, in theory, was Kirigiri Jin, the victim."
"And why would he do such a thing?"
"Beats me."
"C-Could either of them have escaped?" Maizono asks.
"According to the files I've found in the headmaster's office, her title was the Super High-School Level Mercenary. It's highly likely that she would be good enough to escape imprisonment."
"The doors were never opened." Kirigiri points out. "You've seen your own room, I'm sure. There isn't a way out if the doors are locked."
"Both the headmaster and Kirigiri herself were certain escape was not possible." I say. "I don't see how one could disagree."
"Wait… when did I say that?"
"We found your journal inside the lockers room." Naegi explains. "It contained factual details about your investigation… mostly. Of course, as with headmaster's logs, most of your discoveries were false evidences."
"My journal, is it?"
"Hold on a sec…" Naegi fumbles a bit, looking for the thing in the pockets of his jacket. "Here"
Kirigiri casually catches the journal with one hand, flips it open and quickly skims through the entries. "I… see… I'm sorry, go on without me… all this… may take a while to digest…"
"Good." Togami snorts. "We have more important things to worry about anyway."
"… such as?" Kuwata asks.
"You said the headmaster locked us all in?"
"It's… more complicated than that…" I say. "See… I got these DVDs from Yasuhiro…"
"Yasuhiro? Oh. You mean her?"
Rude cunt.
"Got it from Kirigiri." Yasuhiro shrugs. "Who apparently found it in the headmaster's room… the one in the dorm that is."
Kirigiri looks at us momentarily, nods in confirmation, and immediately gets back to devouring her journal. Her eyes flick back and forth at a rather impressive pace. She's getting a handle on the situation, I think.
"What's… What's in it?" Maizono asks.
I take the DVD out for them to see. "78th class emergency interviews…"
"Interviews… I don't remember…"
"Neither do we. But here it is regardless. We made an agreement with the headmaster."
"But we've never met the headmaster? R-Right?"
"No…" Kuwata says. "I definitely would have remembered something like that…"
Togami shakes his head.
Naegi seems unsure. He already suspects.
"Yet, I'm still holding the DVD in my hand." I say.
"W-What's in it?" Kuwata asks. "What did we say?"
"The headmaster… he wanted us to live in the academy, potentially permanently. He asked for our consent…"
"No such thing happened! And even if it did… there's no chance we'd agree to something like that!"
"…"
"N-Nakahara?"
"… all seventeen students of Hope's Peak's 78th class gave their consent. We agreed to… this."
"H-Huh?"
"Nakahara… come now…" Maizono says.
"Absolutely ridiculous!" Togami shouts. "Why would I ever do such a thing?"
"The headmaster's logs… things are happening outside…" Naegi mumbles.
"Like what? Surely, the Togami family would be the first to know if something that big was to happen."
"Perhaps it did…"
"Ridiculous. I remember no such thing."
"Don't you understand!?" Naegi shouts, frustrated. "We can't count on what we know… We can't trust on our memories… She has already demonstrated her ability to take them away. Who knows how far she actually went… Who knows how much she actually took…"
"Not possible!" Togami shouts, but I can see he's sweating a bit. I think he's seeing some sense in Naegi's words. "To pull off something like that… to me, Togami Byakuya, it's simply unthinkable."
"Unthinkable!? Look where wear are? Look what happened to us! We're being filmed and broadcasted this very moment! Nothing is unthinkable at this stage!"
"What… are you saying?" Maizono asks.
"I'm saying it happened to all of us! All our memories… that's why we don't remember… the… events…"
"Mankind's Most Despairingly Maleficent and Monstrous Malefaction…"
"… yes… things are bad out there… the headmaster said as much… maybe… maybe that's why we're here… maybe that's why we agreed to this…"
"Then why did we forget!?" Kuwata asks. "Didn't the headmaster… agree… to protect us…"
Kuwata… I think he's starting to remember…
"It's her…" Naegi points accusingly at Junko. "She took our memories away, one of our own classmates, locked in here to be safe with the rest of us. She's the traitor here."
This made Junko giggle. "A traitor, my friend, implies you all thought I was your friend. By the time the headmaster died, I was locked up inside my own room, drinking my own piss."
"You did no such thing." Kirigiri says. "Father wouldn't allow it."
"No… Too soft, that one, loved every single one of his students, the fool."
"Irrelevant." Togami interrupts. "You, Junko. Are the interviews real, or did you fabricate them just to confuse us further?"
"And why would I do such a thing? Despair tastes all the sweeter when it is brought about by the very victims. I'll have no hand in it. It must grow naturally, you see."
"Then… Nakahara and Naegi… they're right? We did agree to this? Our memories were wiped?"
"So it seems…" I mumble. "The question is… how much…"
Kirigiri closes the journal decisively. "Two years."
"… what?"
"Two years. I analyzed my own journal. According to my deductions, there's a two years gap in our memories."
"T-Two years?" Kuwata asks in disbelief. "Two goddamn years? That's… fucking absurd!"
"Then… the photos we found on the new floors…" I mumble.
"The lockers…" Naegi says.
"Yes." Kirigiri nods. "We've been here before. We've studied here together. Two years of our life, gone, just like that. And thanks to that, we've spent the past few weeks murdering our own friends."
"That's…"
"Absolutely, totally, completely, despairingly fan-fucking-tastic!" Junko cheers. "You finally remember! The irony would have been meaningless if you all died before you see it, but I'm so happy you learnt that one truth!"
"B-Bitch…" Maizono says under her breath. "All this time… my friends outside… my dream… what was I chasing?"
"Despair, my friends. Despair of the lost. Despair of the dead. Despair of the irony. Behold, boys and girls, the wonders of despair."
"Irony… that's why you took our memories!?" Kuwata yells. "Because it's so fucking funny!?"
"Mostly, yes. But you gotta admit. It was, indeed, so fucking funny."
"You…"
"Calm yourself." Kirigiri commands. "We haven't solved the murder yet. She holds our lives in her hand. We must win the game or it would all be meaningless."
Two years… We lost two years… I should be expecting this… but… something's off… What am I missing? Two years… what happened in two whole years?
"Of course… Of course…" Togami nods, though clearly still slightly spooked. "The murderer first… Then we'll take care of you, Junko…"
"L-Let's get back on track…" Naegi starts. "How about… the murder weapon?"
"Oh that's right… we didn't finish that one last trial did we?" Kuwata says. "What was it… the knife or the gun?"
"Now that we know Mukuro's identity, the knife likely belonged to her." Togami points out. "It was clearly used for military purposes, judging by its impersonal design and standard model."
"What about the gun?"
"Unlikely." I say. "They mostly use automatic pistols for that these days. I don't think my sister is one to use anything for a reason other than a simple necessity. Still… her locker seems to contain equipments for firearm maintenance, and as far as we know there isn't any other firearm in the school."
"We don't know whether that one belongs to her…" Naegi points out.
"What, do you have other ideas?"
"N-No…."
Now, that wasn't a very committed answer there, was it?
"You're hiding something."
"H-Huh?"
"I think you know something we don't, Naegi. Tell us what you know."
"Why... do you think that?"
"Please, it's my job to see the signs. I know you're hiding something."
"It's… It's not important. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."
"That's not for you to decide, Naegi."
"Naegi?" Maizono asks, worriedly. "Don't you… trust us?"
"I do!" He answers, rather defensively. "I'd trust you all with my life. I'd trust… him… That's why… That's why I don't want to say it…"
"What? To protect us?" I ask. "Such attitude undervalues your trust, Naegi. The fact that you're holding on to something yourself speaks volume about your insecurities. Tell us what you know. We finally have a singular enemy to face. Don't make us fight among ourselves now."
"That's… exactly… why…"
"Talk."
He sighs, looking more hurt than he has any right to. It's not that I don't trust him… okay, fine. I don't trust him. I don't trust people. People are unpredictable, irrational, chaotic. What am I to do? He's a friend, but he knows something I don't, and I don't feel safe.
"Togami…" Naegi starts. "Do you… remember the syringes I showed you?"
"Togami nods cautiously. "The ones you found inside the infirmary, yes?"
"I… lied…"
"What?"
"I found them inside the locker… the one with the white phone…"
Togami's eyes open wide, staring at Naegi in anger. Then they shoot straight at me, filled with hostility.
"What's going on?" Kuwata asks. "W-Why are you looking at him like that?"
"Nakahara…" Naegi mumbles. "The syringes… Those are used to control heart pressure…"
"… especially ones with heart diseases…" Togami finishes. "Quite a coincidence, don't you think?"
The students cast their gaze upon me.
"Then… the phone…" Maizono mumbles. "You were the one fighting Despair?"
"The headmaster recruited him…" Kirigiri muses. "According to the logs, you provided quite a volume of substantial information, which could easily be explained by you owning a massive network of information throughout the school: The Whisperers."
Guess I should have confessed early my connection to the Whisperers.
"It… might be a coincidence…" Naegi points out.
"The phone's password was his sister's name." Kirigiri dismisses. "… one of… his… sister…"
She's… onto something…
"Did you… Did you do all that, Nakahara?" Kuwata asks. "Did you employ all those measures just to fight Despair?"
"I… don't remember…" I answer. Though, honestly, I can see myself doing that. Perhaps it's best not to say that out loud.
"Did he know?" Kirigiri asks. "Did my father know you did all those things in order to achieve his goals?"
"I said I don't remember! That was another person. I don't have his memories. I'm not him. And besides… it was the headmaster who hired me…"
"To fight Despair?"
"And to protect the 78th class."
"… what?"
I sigh. "Remember our first incentive? I was shown a sound clip of me being asked to keep the 78th class alive. Clearly, I failed. But the headmaster must have wanted me to keep you all alive. I… can see myself… crossing the line a bit…"
"A bit!?" Kuwata yells.
"Shut it! I don't know, okay!? That's someone else now! The memories are gone. He's dead. That's final. A-And besides… should we not get back on track?"
"Your first incentive…" Kirigiri interrupts. "What was it like?"
"Well… I was asked to join Hope's Peak and keep the 78th class alive at all cost. I was told I may need to run some errands as well. The other person's voice was artificially altered so that I would be unable to discover his identity, but at this point it's clear that that was Kirigiri Jin."
"I see…"
"At all cost…" Maizono repeats. "I wonder if he knows what he was really saying…"
"Can we… move on to another topic?" I ask. "The headmaster's murder is the only important thing right now. Let's not get off-track."
"He's right…" Naegi says. "We can… deal with this later. We shouldn't fight among ourselves. We need to find out how Junko murdered the headmaster."
"You're so sure she did it?" Kirigiri asks suddenly.
"Well, there's also Ikusaba…"
Kirigiri flips to the final page of her journal. "Yes… the last page does indicate that I thought it was Ikusaba who did it…"
"That, coupled with the fact that she's the Super High-School Level Mercenary, makes her a likely target." Togami points out.
"Except the headmaster has already confiscated all of Ikusaba and Enoshima's properties when he imprisoned them. Her knife couldn't have been used for murder then."
"Presumably…"
"Which leaves the gun as the only possible murder weapon. And it can't have belonged to Ikusaba, for reasons we've already discussed."
"Then… whose is it?" Maizono asks.
"… you're wrong…" Yasuhiro speaks up at last, taking us all off-guard. Does she know what Kirigiri's talking about?
"Unlikely. Equipments for gun maintenance were found inside his locker, Yasuhiro." Kirigri answers calmly.
"Are you saying… it belonged to me?" I ask.
"And that means he's the only possible person who can own a revolver now, does it?" Yasuhiro says.
"We've all seen the way he holds that gun." Kirigiri continues. "He knows it well. He understands its weight and structure."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"That means plenty when you take the phones into account. The Whisperers trying to create Despair were told inconsistent information and answered to false leaders. The very same ones were captured, and confessed those very lies to us. Moreover, the ones fighting Despair were protecting the 78th class and were told exactly where to find the other Whisperers to capture, specifically the ones who were fed sufficient amount of lies."
"Are you saying… the black phone… belongs to him, as well?" Togami asks.
"Junko. Mukuro. His two sisters. The two phones. Opposite sides, unknowingly fighting for the same purpose: Despair. It was no coincidence that by the end, the ones fighting Despair became Despair itself."
"Absolutely fucking ridiculous." Yasuhiro grumbles, losing her temper. "You yourself said it was Ikusaba who did it in your own journal."
"Ikusaba Shiki."
"If he was working for Junko, then why did he capture them both? Why did he help the headmaster?"
"You don't believe the very things you're saying, Yasuhiro. Ikusaba Shiki was the one who urged the headmaster to lock us all in. Everything went just as planned. The sisters were captured. They escaped. The headmaster was killed. And now, here we are, playing his game."
"You're saying he shot the headmaster with the revolver, but we found an unfired bullet inside the control room. The gun was not fired. That couldn't have been the weapon."
"No... That's because he didn't use it yesterday, or the day before. He used it before all this. He used it when we were locked in. The gun… did we not find it with five bullets in a six-slots-chamber?"
"H-He was tasked with protecting the 78th class… He was tasked with protecting us…"
"And he did. We've survived Mankind's Most Despairingly Maleficent and Monstrous Malefaction. The whisperers knew where to strike. They were told where not to. We've survived, so we can participate in the game. Don't you get it? He came here with a job. The job is already over."
My job is already over…
The second incentive…
"Junko was the only one who could get into the room. No one else could have. It required her fingerprint… her… fingerprint…"
"Yes… indeed… her fingerprint… something her twin would definitely have. Her twin who has been among us all this time, helping us capture his two sisters, locking us into the academy, engineering Mankind's most Despairingly and Malevolent Malefaction. Her twin, standing among us right now, trying to solve his own murder. Am I right, Ikusaba Shiki?"
Ha…
Haha…
It was me all along…
The irony… The despair… The illusion I crafted myself…
It's all so fucking funny, isn't it?
Junko shoots up to her feet in a heartbeat. "Coooooooooooooooorect! Hagakure Yasuhiro, Ikusaba Mukuro, Yamada Hifumi, Fujisaki Chihiro, Fukawa Touko, Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Oowada Mondo, Asahina Aoi, Oogami Sakura aaaaand Kirigiri Jin were murdered by Nakahara Shiki, the Super High-School Level Traitor, Hanged Man, the Super High-School Level Trickster, head of the Whisperers, Super High-School Level Schemer! I name you guilty! Guilty of Murder! Guilty of Deceit! Guilty of Despair! You, who played us all for fools. You, the one who murdered his own headmaster in cold blood. You, the one behind it all, the one responsible, the villain. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ikusaba Shiki, Super High-School Level Despair!"
A familiar voice rings out within my skull.
An illusion, a construct of the mind, yet more real than anything in front of me right now.
'At your service.' He finishes, bowing, smiling, watching.
Morte…
… no…
… me.