A/N: This is it folks! The final FINAL trial :D! We've finally reached this point, and me most of all, I'm a little astounded I managed to push all this way X*). Seems just like 2 years ago I started this fic...aside from the fact I just started this fic two years ago...YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN XD!

Anyway, as a personal note, would like to remind the majority that it had been almost a year since I last posted anything trial related, so if the format is a little off compared to my usual work, then I apologize, still trying to ease back into it.

And yes for the record, despite actually being close, and several people being down the middle, the results came with going to the trial by a single vote over the other offer : /! So dont' shoot me, just the people who wanted the trial more ^^

And with that, please ENJOY!

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"C'mon Naegi, it's this way!" Ikusaba continued to drag the smaller girl by hand as she lead her down the empty hallways.

"Huff! Huff! I-Ikusaba! Wait up!" Naegi pleaded, trying to keep up with the pacing girl.

It's been a bit of a hectic day for the young Makoto. It had been nearly three weeks since everyone had locked themselves away within the seemingly-impenetrable walls of Hopes Peak Academy. It wasn't necessarily by choice if the alternative was to go outside at this point. Mankind's-most-despairingly-maleficent-malefaction consumed almost every corner of the world by this point. While a title such as that might've seemed a strange, given how it actually did the impossible of nearly destroying mankind, it was only too fitting.

And the three weeks alone have been tiring for the Luckster herself. After the first week, she was silent to everyone after agreeing to resign herself to the inside of this school for possibly the rest of her life. After the second week, she had a hard time trying to bring her voice back and talk to everyone around her. No matter the topic or the conversation, every time she thought of mentioning something, she just kept thinking back to the topic of this horrible catastrophe, and lost her voice in mid-sentence every time.

It wasn't until her self-proclaimed Aunty Junko came by and convinced her just to accept everything for what it was. It was a bit strange how much she wanted her to accept. She wanted her to accept that there was no hope left in the world, that there was no one who would come save them later, and how no one was going to fix the world and what was wrong with it. The conversation itself lasted about twenty minutes long.

Strangely enough, while she did find her words comforting, the only thing she didn't do was accept everything. She accepted the idea of those things, mainly that no one was coming to save them and the world wasn't going to get fixed any time soon, but she didn't accept that there was no hope left in the world. She just couldn't. No matter how much Junko tried to convince her, she refused to budge from that ideal.

That... made things verily strange for Naegi after. After getting a charming haircut from the Super Model, Junko was practically gone altogether. She hadn't seen her for some time, nor had she heard anything from her or about her and everything she was doing. Even Ikusaba began giving her the silent treatment. It made her feel a bit awkward and wonder if she had said something she shouldn't have, wondering if she should apologize for it later.

But as if that wasn't the weird part, the morning now was especially weird. Since waking up this morning, the school was practically empty. She hadn't seen anyone throughout the halls or in the lunchroom when she went to get breakfast that morning. It gave her chills thinking she was the only person left in school, fear starting to well up inside of her.

Fortunately, that all dissipated when Ikusaba suddenly appeared shortly after she finished eating, practically waiting for Naegi right between the doorway. It was either a sign that her nerves were getting to her and she wasn't the only one in the school, or possibly her sister forgave her for whatever she did and didn't mind Ikusaba talking to her again.

Whatever the circumstances, she was just glad Ikusaba was willing to talk to her again... at least she was before she started pulling Naegi's wrists down the hallway without an explanation.

"Just come with me, you'll want to see this!" Ikusaba assured. Naegi wanted to rebuttal, but she was already out of breath simply from trying to keep up with Ikusaba's strange recent behavior.

Luckily she managed to finally get a chance to catch her breath after Ikusaba stopped at a nearby door, one Naegi hadn't recognized before. She's been through many doors and buildings throughout the school grounds throughout the following year, yet she barely even covered a fourth of everything the school had to offer, much less the possible rooms within the facility.

The door itself however, felt a bit strange to her. She couldn't put her finger on it but for some reason she felt herself telling her not to go in there, or to open the door. As to what was in there, she didn't have a clue, but she had the idea that it would explain where everyone else went this morning.

"What...huff..." Naegi hunched over on her knees for a moment, still trying to catch her breath. "What do you want?"

Ikusaba just stared at Naegi with a look she hadn't recognized before. It was a bit disturbing to say the least. Not once since Naegi met Ikusaba had she had a strange expression of emptiness in her eyes. It was bizarre. She had the same typical smile, eyes wide and ready for the day, and looked just fine all things considered. But her eyes were just "off" to her. They were empty, dark. It was almost like meeting someone else entirely, and that scared Naegi a little.

Ikusaba simply stared at Naegi for a few more seconds before she replied, "I found a way out." Her statement was blunt, clear, and to the point.

Needless to say, Naegi didn't even need an explanation for her behavior, understanding perfectly what she meant. Ikusaba actually found a way out of the school? Seriously? Naegi was sure the students of Hopes Peak had managed to find and secure every single door within the school. Every window was bolted shut, the main entrance was practically barricaded with a door you'd see on a safe, and, as an extra yet slightly unnecessary precaution, they actually had ready and loaded gattling guns at any possible entrances.

The idea of using said guns was a bit excessive, as most complained, but given how the disaster outside was effecting everyone into being irrational murderous psychopaths, Junko of all people, assured them that it was all necessary.

"Y-You... You found a way out?" Naegi repeated curiously, eyeing the door again.

"Yup." Ikusaba spoke a bit jittery as she glanced at the door. It was unnerving how robotic she practically responded, almost instantaneously the minute Naegi uttered her last word. "It's a way out! Youshouldgoin!" She sputtered quickly. Her quick muttering only made things more tense for Naegi. It wasn't anything against what Ikusaba was doing or saying, but she could easily tell something was wrong with the girl herself. As if to confirm everything she was thinking, she couldn't help but notice how Ikusaba's eyes twitched slightly along with her fingertips which were twitching back and forth.

"I...Ikusaba?" Naegi questioned, grabbing the Super High School Leveled Mercenary's attention once more. "Are you... Are you feel o-"

"Yup! Feelgreat! Neverbetter! Let's go!" Naegi nearly jumped as Ikusaba yanked her towards the door to her side. "Comeon! Comeon! Comeon! Open it!"

"But Ikusa-"

*CRACK*

"Open it!" Ikusaba raged, actually punching her hand through the wall hard enough to actually make it bleed. Ikusaba blinked to herself as she suddenly snapped out of her trance-like state at the sight of Naegi's face almost forming tears.

It felt like it was just dawning on her what she was doing up to this point for the last five minutes, realizing how she nearly terrified the gentle girl before her. She could barely believe how she was acting beforehand, but what else could she expect? After a five-hour "session" of her sister reminding her last night why she shouldn't betray her last night, she barely had a focus on anything she was doing throughout the day. It almost felt like she was just waking up and was sleepwalking for the last who knows how long.

If it wasn't for her recognizing the sweetness she felt from Naegi's face, or the hint of worry in her sudden shriek, she would've been stuck like this possibly forever. And now that she was finally snapped out of it, she couldn't believe how she was acting for the last ten minutes. She bit her lip almost to the point of drawing blood as she just now realized her hand was bleeding slightly AND punched through a wall, taking it out slowly as blood dripped down from her wrists.

"Y-Your...Your hand..." Naegi's fright of the girl slowly turned to concern as she noticed the intense bleeding she had.

Despite her gentle care and concern, Ikusaba could only bite her lip more as she walked away a few steps, squeezing her hand as she teared up a little. It wasn't tears of pain or sorrow, those were like candy to fellow Despair Students like her. No, these were tears of remorse and regret after realizing what today was.

She didn't want to go through with it, she couldn't feel the energy to! But her sister gave her a simple Ultimatum at the start of her "session" last night: either follow through on her plan and help, or she'll kill Naegi. Nothing simple, nothing complicated. It was a one choice only scenario if Ikusaba wanted to keep her precious Naegi alive.

But even then, she didn't want to be seen like this. This was who she truly was, what she really was inside. This wasn't the person she wanted Naegi to find out about, and the expression on her face confirmed her reasoning behind this. Naegi would never except her like this, nor would she accept her in any other way once she found out. She was willing to take this fake personality to her grave, as long as it meant Naegi would live.

"Pl-Please..." Ikusaba stuttered, her voice sounding more pleasant and familiar that Naegi recognized. "Just go through the door...I'm begging you..." This was the first time Ikusaba ever felt herself shed tears out of emotion.

And even without seeing the tears, Naegi could easily tell something was up with the Mercenary, but felt it better not to press on. She was one of her closest friends, and had been silent to her up till now. And the girl just punched her hand through a wall for Christ sake! She wasn't sure how to proceed, or what to do, but she knew trying to press on the matter would've been worse.

Seeing the options before her, she decided to simply go along with whatever Ikusaba had planned. Grabbing the door handle, turning it slowly, she was unaware of Ikusaba's pained expression gazing back at her as she did.

To Naegi's curiosity, she wasn't instantly blasted with a beam of light like she expected. After several weeks without sunlight, she assumed it would've been near-blinding once she first gazed outside. She thought it could just be night time, but even then that was provided the clocks surrounding them were all off, long enough to be twelve hours late or early depending on whatever time it was now.

In fact, to even more of her surprise, there wasn't anything outside-related at all. It wasn't even outside! It was just a room. It was a simple dark room with one overhead light shining down on the single rotating chair in the center of the checkerboard tiles on the ground. And within that center, there she saw her.

Her. Junko Enoshima. The Pink-haired fashionista that everyone knew and loved. Everyone loved her despite not knowing her. Everyone wanted to be her regardless of gender or appearance. She was the eye of the world and the literal Superior Model that everyone wanted to be! And she was presented right before her, leg dangled over the over, elbows on the chair's arms, and the tip of her hands holding up her head.

All with a genuine smile.

"Junko?" Naegi wondered aloud. She was surprised to see Junko here at all if anything.

On top of expecting a door to the outside, one which she questioned if she would actually use to escape this school or tell the others to secure anyway, she was surprised Junko was here to greet her at all. Since getting her own haircut from the professional, she hadn't said a word to Naegi since. Add that with her complete absence through the following days, it was nothing short of a miracle that she appeared so suddenly at all.

So suddenly...and seemingly expecting.

"Hmhmhm," Junko couldn't help but chuckle earnestly, "I gotta hand it to ya, I didn't think you'd actually have it in you! Bravo!" She clapped. That was among the lesser things Naegi expected to hear just now.

"In me?" She pointed to herself with a raised brow. Junko just wagged her finger at this.

"Oops, sorry sweetie, I meant my sister." She pointed ahead again, getting Naegi's attention to follow her finger to where it lead behind her.

That's when she saw the last thing she expected. Ikusaba, with a gun, raised over Naegi's face. She didn't expect the gun, she didn't expect to see one pointing straight at her, and she didn't expect to see a broken Ikusaba gazing at her so emptily.

There were no words to describe the fear that suddenly went through Naegi's body. She could barely feel anything at all at that point! From the minute the gun ended up a few inches from her face, her entire body shook as overwhelming fear overtook her nerves. Her quivering pupils were all that would move as she felt every corner of her body freeze in pure fear.

She could only utter a single word from her mouth.

"I-Ikusaba?"

"...I'M SORRY!"

*WHAM!*

And just like that, from the butt of her gun to the side of her face, Naegi's entire life had went dark...

It was impossible for Junko to hold it in after that. She held onto her sides as she burst out laughing, kicking her feet out as she bellowed with laughter. The look of despair on her sister's face, knowing it was all her sister's fault what just happened, and everything leading up to then, it was all too perfect. It was like a comedy with an expected punchline, yet expecting the punchline made it even more funny than not.

"Hahahahahaha!" Junko roared, hopping out of her chair.

Ikusaba was just speechless as she slid down to her knees. Never in this life nor the next, ever since growing attached to Naegi, did she ever think she was going to do something like this, to strike at Naegi herself. This wasn't even the tip of it, she knew she practically agreed to put Naegi through this game by knocking her out unconscious for her sister to begin her work.

It was just betrayal to her. Not for her sister for putting her through this, or forcing her of all people to knock out Naegi, but to herself and her love for Naegi. She couldn't face this anymore, it was just like a bad dream!

But she knew better than to doubt herself. This was just what despair was, and what it did. It spread more and more despair throughout the world and everyone around it. And it was an all-consuming entity without equal, without end. It would never perish from this world, and that's just the way it would always be.

And if Despair itself was a physical being, her sister was proof of that. The same Pink Super Model who sent this world through hell, filling it with nothing but despair. She had the power of the world in the palms of her hands, and with it, chose to end it simply for pleasure. She relished on it, on all forms of despair. It got her off, got her excited, and got her out of bed every day with a smile on her face.

And it was even more satisfying to feed on her sister's own despair.

"Ooh boo hoo, poow wittle Naegi went night-night." Junko teased, squatting down to sniveling girl. Ikusaba could only shake as she looked upon her sister again, tears rolling down her eyes.

"I...I..." Ikusaba couldn't say anything. She was responsible for this, and she wanted to declare it to the world.

She just couldn't.

Her breathing froze once more as Junko placed her hands on her shoulders.

"It's alright, sissy. She won't remember any of this anyway, remember?" Junko assured slyly. "As I always tell you, just leave everything to your big, mature, sister, alright...?"

And with a tender embrace, she kissed Ikusaba, sending her into her stupor of despair once more.

She wanted to let her know, to let her remember again and forever, that she was hers. Ikusaba belonged to Junko, and she wouldn't let anyone else say otherwise.

Not even her own sister...

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The hallway to the elevator was more tense than any feeling felt throughout this game, the reason being obvious. In truth, none of them thought they would reach this point. Granted, they thought they would escape if they hoped enough and tried their hardest, but it was almost poetic how it all came down to being a Class Trial that would get them out of here, much like how the game officially started nearly a month ago.

Throughout the investigations, Naegi took her time to socialize with her friends, possibly for what could be the last time she would ever have any free time. All of them had the same determined goal in mind- to finally get out of here and end this twisted game once and for all. None of them thought they'd get as far as this with all the past murders and incentives, yet here they stood, the final survivors of the Mutual Killing Game.

Yamada. Asahina. Owada. Kirigiri. And last but certainly not least, Naegi . All of them had made it this far and had heavy weight in each of their heart. It was an evenly-balanced weight, but one they could practically feel constantly in their chest.

Half of it was filled with a beautiful ray of Hope, all of them determined to finally be rid of this school once and for all. They all had a plan in the future, whether it came down to Owada's plan of tearing down this school, Asahina's of telling every victim's family of what horrors transpired around here, or Yamada who wanted to make a dedicated Doushinji in everyone's honor.

The other half, of course, was filled with unbridled Despair. Darkness, worry, fear, doubt, insanity, sorrow. Every little aspect that could possibly make despair all the more powerful and fearful. They knew they were going to be weighing heavily on whatever evidence they managed to find, in addition to whatever they discovered themselves. If they had failed even one portion of this trial, they would all suffer for it, and everyone watching them would fill with even more dread and despair.

To finally rid those who were watching of Despair, the students were more determined than ever to finally win this trial.

If only they felt determined enough to trust one another at this moment.

"We're here guys," Naegi announced cheerfully as she jogged down the hallway with Kirigiri behind her, "we-"

"..."

"..."

"..."

There were numerous glares sent towards Naegi's direction and all over the place. Each of the friends who were only brimming with hope and certainty when Naegi last saw them now glared at each other as if they were mortal enemies. Hatred and raged burned in everyone's eyes, only growling to one another as more time passed.

"G...Guys?" Naegi asked curiously as she looked around. "What's wrong?"

As opposed to any of the three answering for her, her answers came from Kirigiri, behind her. "I have a feeling a certain someone is responsible for this." She commented, tilting her head in the direction of the elevator.

There he stood, in all his "Beary" glory. Monokuma, the mastermind behind the Mutual Killing game, and the one responsible for all of this. Not only would this trial be their last, it would also be the only time Monokuma himself would interact directly with the trial itself as well.

After this trial, there was no telling what would happen if they win. Monokuma would either keep his word in order to save face, or more likely execute everyone else anyway due to being a sore loser. While he didn't agree with the idea of looking like a sore loser, nobody would put it pass him if he went ahead and did it.

Along with him, to his side, stood everyone's other ally, Mukuro Ikusaba. The Ultimate Soldier, the Super High School Level Mercenary. The one everyone had trusted, been betrayed by, and forgiven to. She was also the only one Naegi didn't have the time to chat with, seeing how she was busy keeping an eye on the Puppet Master throughout the entire investigation.

And yet, even she couldn't bother to glance at Naegi, giving everyone the same silent treatment as the rest with her head turned.

"Upupupupu!" Monokuma chuckled gleefully. "At last, the gangs all here! Ah, it feels so good to finally bring this to an end, don't it?"

"Just remember your end of the bargain," Kirigiri quickly responded, "that if we win this trial, the Mutual Killing Game will be brought to an end and we'll all be allowed to leave."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" The small bear growled. He wanted to partake in all the glorious despair that he could possibly soak from all of this. He absolutely hated being reminded about how this trial could possibly end in failure for him. "Just bear in mind, once I win this trial, all of you will be executed, and you'll finally see the truth."

"The truth?" Naegi questioned.

"The truth. That Despair is stronger than Hope."

Despair, hope. It was two of the words Monokuma enjoyed the most. As much as he despised it, he needed Hope to exist. After all, if he couldn't muster up any form of hope, he couldn't suffocate it to death with the flood of despair he cooked up after. One simply could not exist without the other, and everyone here was aware of that.

"Well we're not going to lose." Naegi said with confidence. "We're going to win this thing and finally leave this school for good!"

"Hmm? Really now? And what do the rest of you guys think?" Monokuma asked with a sly grin.

Despite the vote of confidence, the others just continued to glare at one another, never letting up on the anger that filled the hallway. Even when the elevator finally appeared, the group just marched on to the elevator itself, never even bothering to look someone else in the eye.

It really didn't make any sense here. What could have happened to turn everyone against themselves so fast? Did they discover something about Naegi herself? Or themselves for that matter? It was nothing short of a mystery, but one that would have to wait till the trial began.

Giving one last look to Kirigiri, they nodded to one another before boarding the elevator with everyone else.

This would be the final trial.

The Trial of Life, and the Trial of Death. The Trial that would determine who would live and who would die.

The battle between Hope and Despair.

And it would all started, one-hundred feet below ground.

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"Alrighty then!" Monokuma cheered with excitement, standing on the podium as opposed to his usual throne. "It's time for this class's final Trial! As always, you need to determine who dunnit, as always, and figure out who killed Naegi several weeks ago. Only this time, we're kicking it up a notch! You also have to determine the REAL identity of the Puppet Master, and have solved all the mysteries surrounding this school."

"Just the same as it's always been, huh?" Kirigiri assumed.

He grinned earnestly as he added, "But, to make it even more exciting, yours truly will also be joining you in this last trial. And to make it even more exciting, I have a very special punishment for the losers!" That wasn't unexpected at all. Especially if they were going to determine his identity, it would only make sense for him to cover for himself. "Now, where do we all begin..?"

"Fuck we begin anywhere!" Owada roared with anger, much to Naegi's and Kirigiri's surprise.

"Huh?"

"It all makes sense now! All of you fuckers were working with him all along!" He accused.

"Says a lot coming from you you dick!" Asahina yelled back. "You guys are really against me, aren't you?!"

"Oh ho, doth the lady protest to much?" Yamada's glasses gleamed in the light. "Because it turns out YOU guys are the traitors, not me!"

The scene before Naegi and Kirigiri left them completely dumbfounded. What the heck was everyone shouting at one another about? They were definitely not like this earlier, and there was no way Monokuma could've came up with a lie good enough to trick each other. Hell, it was doubtful anyone would even trust Monokuma enough to listen to a single thing he said at all.

"Guys, what are you all talking about?" Naegi questioned her friends, wanting to find the source of their problem. It was Owada who was the first to reveal the issue, handing over a photo much like Naegi received from Monokuma an hour ago.

"This you little bitch!" If it wasn't for the fact Owada was sure Naegi was among the Puppet Master's henchmen, he would've never directed such language at her, much less a woman in general.

The picture itself seemed to be a rather bright and cheerful looking scene. As opposed to anywhere within the school itself, the scene appeared to be taking place in an alleyway shopping district. There were numerous shops and booths set up all along the lane with different accessories as far as the eye could see.

And much like Naegi's picture, it showed their friends again. Yamada was being held back by Hagakure and Leon who tried digging into the food stands head first, Asahina, Celes, and Oogami were chatting near a magazine rack which Kirigiri was skimming through, surprisingly there was a stand with a wide assortment of firearms, with the well known soldier Ikusaba examining them.

Naegi, Maizono, and Fujisaki were examining a new floral pink skirt Naegi was holding, Togami and Ishimaru appeared to be researching an actual book from the stands near the magazine while Fukawa was spying on her white knight from behind the rack, and Junko could be seen at the far end of the alleyway examining a Manga, her face covered by a sign hanging from off the wall.

From the looks of it, you would think they were outside the school in the local city, maybe during a time they all had off of school and were just socializing. But what angered the Super High School Level Gang Leader was himself. More specifically, his absence from the picture. Out of all the students presented before him, he was the only one who was absent from the peaceful scene.

"You assholes have been working with the Puppet Master all along, haven't ya?!" He continued to yell.

The scene itself did bring curiosity and confusion to the young girl. Naegi couldn't understand why he was missing from the picture either, but the scene itself was even more confusing. Out of the many images and memories flashing more vividly in her mind, she couldn't ever remember a memory such as this in the past.

Provided these were memories at all, it most likely took place some time way before Naegi could remember, or one something her mind was trying to repress.

"The heck it does!" Yamada argued back. "My picture speaks a thousand words, and they all say you're the traitors here!"

Like Owada's, Naegi examined the picture before her.

Sure enough, like the several others she's seen up to this point, this one also displayed a curious scene. This time it showed everyone within the computer lab where they were given their first incentive earlier.

Hagakure, Leon, Oogami, and this time Owada, were all apparently laughing at whatever was on the monitor, most likely playing some funny video they were all watching. Naegi herself was watching baffled as Fujisaki sat next to her, watching as the numbers of input data and coding seemingly reflected from her eyes, watching the Ultimate Programmer type nearly a thousand codes a minute in record time. Even Kirigiri couldn't help but glance over her computer to what the two were doing.

Meanwhile Ikusaba, Asahina, and Maizono were apparently watching something with strange, mixed, reactions. Whatever was playing on their screen, it disgusted Maizono, it was making Asahina laugh, and Ikusaba watched with a strange eagerness, one that couldn't be explained from the view. Even Ishimaru was trying to figure out what was going on, being too far down the row of computers to get a good look.

At the same time, Fukawa appeared to be showing something to Junko with an even more-devious eagerness than that of Ikusaba, her tongue actually sliding across her mouth with excitement. Unfortunately, whatever they were watching, it caused some strange flash from the console, somewhat smearing the image of Fukawa by only a small amount, but making it more than impossible to see Junko's face, the light flashing right in front of her.

And out of the group, the only two who didn't seem the least bit bothered by anything were Togami and Celes, Togami resting his head on his arm, seemingly bored of all he was currently doing and most likely having finished it, and Celes just glancing around the room herself, wondering who was doing what to pass the time.

And just like all the others, Yamada was the only absence presented, or not presented in this case, to them.

"You mind telling me the meaning of this?!" Yamada challenged them.

Naegi could understand their anger behind all of this. If this was taken in the past, there was no telling when it was. From their viewpoints, this could've been taken years ago before the missing person ever met anyone else. They could have all known each other and be in "cahoots" with one another and behind everything around here. It was the only thing that made sense, even though the reasoning was a bit off.

It was only because of Naegi's trust in everyone that she could come to one possible conclusion, other than believing everyone else was betraying one another.

"Aren't you guys the ones taking the pictures?" Naegi asked curiously.

"Huh?" Asahina, Owada, and Yamada wondered in Unison.

Looking at their pictures once more, they did have to admit it seemed reasonable. Of course the person taking the picture wouldn't appear in it, naturally. But it still didn't make any sense for a certain reason.

"When the hell did we ever take this?" Owada questioned further. "I don't ever remember any of this shit happenin'."

"But it makes sense, doesn't it?" Asahina shrugged looking at her picture. "Unless this actually isn't everyone's first year here, then it only makes sense that we took the pictures ourselves."

"But why can't we recall any of this then?" Yamada was still as baffled as the rest, unable to tell what was causing this.

"Because we lost our memories." Naegi stated bluntly, looking to the giggling bear. "Isn't that right?"

After all this time, all this pain and suffering, Naegi was finally convinced. All these images and scenarios she was having played out in her head, she was convinced these were no longer some part of some "self-defense mechanism" trying to protect her mind or her psyche.

These were memories. Certified, legit, memories.

As to why the memories were coming back to her, she failed to understand, but she did know as of now that they all met before. They had known each other for some time, they all had some connection with one another and met in the past. None of them were strangers when they first met a month ago, and that was certain.

It was the one factor behind all of this confusion.

"Ah yes, we lost our memories..." Yamada's brief cheerful expression quickly switched to anger as he pointed accusingly. "As if! There isn't even any proof of this!"

Asahina dug through her pockets almost immediately, unfolding several papers she and Naegi discovered in one of the lockers a few hours ago. "But what about these?" She asked, handing the large gopher boy his drawings. "We found them in the upstairs lockers awhile ago. Aren't these yours?" Yamada adjusted his glasses, shaking them profusely as he examined the papers in more detail.

"Th-These aren't just like my work- it IS my work!" He was completely dumbstruck. Then again anyone would be if they discovered papers they made several years ago in a building they never remember walking into. Even with this shocking revelation, he was more curious to the other details of the page. "Wait, page 27 of...? Where are the other 324 pages?" Asahina mentally rolled her eyes at this.

"We weren't going to carry the entire locker full of drawings just to prove a point, Yamada..."

"So...wait a second..." Owada was just grasping the full details of what he realized. "Y-You're saying that...all of us..."

"Gyahahahahaha!" This was too much for the 3-foot bear, holding his sides as he busted with laughter. "Thaaaaat's riiiiight! You're all a big happy family of amnesiacs!"

Despite realizing it earlier, hearing it straight from the bear's mouth continued to shock the crowd. There was no way any of them could possibly believe that an entire year's worth of memories were suddenly vanished from their minds. And who could blame them? They were only on the very tip of this trial and were already spiraling down to the unthinkable in only a few short minutes.

At least for their sake, they didn't have any reason not to trust one another again. Even if they had their doubts, they could at least trust each other again to continue the trial.

"I know it sounds impossible, but if it's the truth, then we need to accept it." Kirigiri spoke. "Besides, we still have other matters to discuss first than just the school's mysteries."

Monokuma was just having way too much fun with this. If he knew it was going to be this fun, he would've started this trial up a long time ago. "Points to the only girl who gets it!"

"But if that's the case...T-Then how did you erase our memories you twisted bear?!" Yamada stammered. Monokuma just swooned at this from side to side.

"What? Is that all you're concerned about? Who cares about those details!" He began pulling out various small objects to emphasize his point. "Would you believe it if I said I hypnotized you? Would you consider it if I said I injected you with an experimental drug? Or how about if I said I just cut your heads open with a rusty saw and pushed around your brain a little?" Both Yamada and Asahina immediately jumped at this, quickly scanning their heads with their fingers, trying to see if they could feel any scars. "Who cares about the 'how', let's just move on with the now!"

"You seriously messed with our heads you little shit?!" Owada was more furious than usual at this.

If there was one thing he absolutely loathed above all else, it was someone messing with his head. It wasn't so much the idea that someone would do this stuff, what infuriated him was the idea that Monokuma could also be responsible for actually manipulating the students' minds and be responsible for those who killed one another.

He cracked his knuckles audibly as he gritted his teeth with fury. "Oh, I am so ripping your FUCKING LITTLE HEAD after this you bitch!"

"Wah, wah, wah, cry it to your brother- Oh! Whoops." Monokuma joked purposely.

Owada didn't find it funny.

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT-!"

"Ah! Owada, no!" Asahina struggled to keep the berserk Owada from lunging at the Puppet Master. No matter how mad he was, Asahina couldn't allow him to try and attack the Puppet Master no matter how much taunting he did. Any form of violence would immediately result in his execution due to the rules.

"If you really want to make him pay, you need to continue following the rules for now." Kirigiri stated calmly. Owada flared his nostrils briefly before glaring back at her. She did have a point to this, at least enough for Owada to see. It wouldn't do much good if he got killed for some stupid rule before seeing the Puppet Master himself meet his end. With a verily long, deep, breath, Owada tempered his anger enough to keep himself from lunging.

"Huff...Ok...I'm...I'm ok...sorry..." He didn't like the way he reacted to this anymore than they did. He was supposed to be the "Team Leader" for god sake! He needed to get his head in the game.

"You don't have to worry, Owada." Naegi said briefly with a bright smile before giving a stern gaze to the bear himself. "We're definitely going to win this thing, that much I can guarantee."

"Dawwwww, you always have to be a party-pooper, don't ya Naegi?" Monokuma whined. He would've enjoyed executing a student before the trial had ended, just to savor even more despair. "But you're right! You still have one more important topic to discuss before the mysteries of the school! Like who killed you, for example!" He announced gleefully.

The rest were taken aback by this for a short while. With all the excitement and news, they almost forgot the first goal of this trial; find Naegi's real killer. They were too obsessed at the moment with solving the school's mysteries that they almost forgot about it entirely. Not to mention Monokuma's nasty habit of mentioning the unwanted for the fun of it.

"...Nyeheheh..." All eyes turned to Yamada as he began chuckling mischievously. "Oh ho ho, we don't have to find out anything, actually."

The rest were a bit curious where this was going, Monokuma included. They never saw Yamada so overly-confident with himself like this. It was almost scary how calm and collected he was in these dark moments.

"You have a plan?" Asahina asked curiously.

"Indeed, my dear. For you see, we already have an ace in the hole!" The way he worded it was a bit off-putting coming from him, but the rest just rolled with it.

"Ooh? Does the little fat-man have a plan?" Monokuma teased. Even this surprisingly didn't set off Yamada.

"Laugh all you want, tiny," Yamada proudly taunted back, "but we have one advantage you don't!"

"Ooh? And what's that?"

"Her!" Yamada announced proudly, pointing to Ikusaba who was at the podium left of Monokuma. "She can just tell us who you are, and half the trial will have been solved!"

"Hey yeah!" Owada cheered in agreement. "We could probably solve everything around here with her!"

"...Ohhhh noooo!" Monokuma pretended to gasp with fear. "Woe is me, all my plans are for naught!"

After everything that happened, everyone had almost forgotten Ikusaba was here. She had been silent the entire time, even after Naegi discovered the issue with the pictures. It was actually strange compared to the others, how her expression remained constant despite any sudden changes in the trial. It was like her mind was entirely on something else even though the rest knew they were all on the same thing.

Sadly, Kirigiri didn't share the same sentiment as the rest, Naegi being somewhat on the same train of thought. She knew there was a reason Ikusaba was behaving like this, which would soon become apparent.

Even if Naegi herself didn't have the same level of know-how like Kirigiri did, she has been through enough to know when something these days were too good to be true. She was about to hear something she didn't want to by this point, even if some part of her did.

"No." Ikusaba stated bluntly.

"Ah ha! See?" Yamada didn't seem to realize yet what she just said. "Now we just need to compare it to the-..." Yamada froze midway with his jaw still open, only now grasping what she said. "...Wait what?"

"I said no." Ikusaba repeated. It was stern, strict, and firm.

"Ikusaba... please..." Naegi muttered sadly.

There was a notable twinge in Ikusaba's eyes as she gritted her teeth, grasping her sleeve tightly. Out of all of them, she didn't want to hear Naegi's plea the most. She couldn't think of how else to tell her, nor did she want to hurt her anymore.

"I...Mhh..." Ikusaba mumbled as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"She can't." Kirigri suddenly announced, realizing the situation. it wasn't the most unexpected news, just one they didn't consider hearing.

Asahina was the first to question this. "Huh? Why not?"

"Because it would make things too easy," Kirigiri explained as she glanced back to Monokuma, "isn't that right?"

"Was it that obvious?" Monokuma asked with a sly grin.

"I can't say or add anything to the trial unless you guys discuss it first." Ikusaba stated.

"Or else we'll automatically lose?" Naegi guessed correctly.

"Yes..." Ikusaba frowned a little.

She really didn't want to keep this all bottled up, and not just because of the rule in place. She wanted to finally prove to everyone she wasn't a traitor after long last. After everything she did up to this point and all the lies she's told, she wanted to prove to everyone she could be trusted again, even if it meant breaking the rules right now.

At the same time, she couldn't bring herself to break the rules. Not for the rules' sake, but for her sister. She couldn't betray her own flesh and blood! How could she be expected to betray her own beloved sister over these people she only met a year ago, even if one of them in particular meant something deeper to her?!

No matter which way she saw this, there was no easy way out, no right answer. She would be crushed with whoever she helped, and whichever she betrayed.

It made her heart ache. And the longer this trial lasted, the more it would break.

"So you can't tell us anything about the trial?" Owada moaned internally.

"Like I said, if you guys discover it first, then I can give you my two cents." Ikusaba replied.

"And until then, nuttin'!" Monokuma added. "Now with that said, move on with the trial!" The evil bear cheered raising his paw.

As much as they hated it, he did have a point. They needed to focus on the first part of this trial first, specifically Naegi's murder. Only then would they finally have the time to discuss the mysteries of the school.

"Then... I guess we just focus on the murder for now." Naegi stated. She wanted to help keep everyone in line, no matter how uneasy the tension made her feel. This was the trial that would actually end all their trials after all, and everyone needed to keep that in mind. "Where do we begin?"

"Well for starters, I don't think we should count on alibies anymore." Kirigiri suggested. "By now, everyone we were with back then has died, so no one can back up any of our stories or reasons for our alibis."

"But what about me?" Asahina asked with a raised brow. "I was with Naegi the whole time."

"But you split up later on, remember?" Owada reminded. "On top of that, she couldn't even see her killer, so who's to say you didn't kill her when she least expected it?" Asahina felt a little down at this. Despite knowing herself she wouldn't commit such a crime, she couldn't deny the possibility either.

"That also doesn't mean she could be innocent, too." Kirigiri commented. One of the many things everyone needed was to keep their spirits up. They weren't just fighting for their lives, but for the sake of Hope itself. "You could have just as likely gone in and done it too, code or not."

"Geh..." Owada grumbled as he scratched his head. "And none of us can really use the whole 'we were dry' excuse either, can we? We only discovered Naegi's body twenty minutes after she died, so they killer could've dried off by then."

That really brought up some good points. Until now they were solely focused on whoever was dry until they found Naegi, but that hasn't gotten them anywhere through this. Perhaps a new approach would feature better results?

"Don't forget they pulled off the murder according to the night of our party." Yamada also added. To the boys, it was a party. To the girls, it was a slumber party. "They pulled it off according to the stuff we talked about that night."

"But wouldn't it mean only someone at the slumber party could be responsible?" Naegi asked. "If they pulled it off based on your plans that night, it would've had to be someone who knew about them too, right?"

"Hmm...quite the conundrum, hmm?" Monokuma grinned. "Perhaps my lovely little assistant knows who the killer is?"

"Grrrrr..." Ikusaba growled to herself once more, feeling her partner's laughter behind the bear. She was obviously taunting her into saying something about the trial, knowing if she did, it would result in an automatic loss in the trial. And her partner was all too aware of what she was purposely doing, which only infuriated her more about this. "I...don't know..."

"Upupupupu," Monokuma cackled, "dawwwww, poor wittle Mukuro is too stupid to undewstand..." He taunted.

Even Naegi was getting fed up with the bear's gloating by this point. This was just as hard on the rest of them as it was for her, and that was a fact. And considering how much the Puppet Master has been betraying Ikusaba herself, who, Naegi assumed, remained loyal to until now, that was just adding injury to insult.

It was only then that another thought occurred to Naegi.

"...What if you're the killer?" Naegi accused Monokuma. The bear himself was actually surprised by the sudden accusation.

"Say whaaaaaat?" He feigned ignorance. "Cute, adorable, little ol' me?" Monokuma paused briefly in thought. He let out a teethy grin as an idea dawned on him, one that would make this game even MORE fun for him. "Upupupu, guess the cat's outta the bag!"

Everyone else was shocked by this outburst. Not one of them considered the fact impossible, heck most of them had a pretty good guess he was the actual killer. The problem was, why was he admitting it so openly? He didn't even try to put up a fight against this possibility, so why wouldn't he just defend himself? He wasn't surrendering, everyone didn't even need to think about that possibility- they knew the bear better than that.

This was Monokuma, master manipulator, despair-giving bear of pure evilness. There wasn't a single time in their lives of knowing him that he did anything nice or considerate without some ulterior motive. Everyone could feel the exact same feelings in their heart, and the exact same thoughts in their mind.

"This is bad..."

"Well, I guess you caught me good, Naegi. Nothing pulls the wool over your eyes!" Monokuma complimented in a sarcastic tone.

"You're being way too open about this." Kirigiri noted. "What are you planning?"

"Hmm? Planning? Me?" Monokuma feigned innocence once more. "What could you possibly mean? You guys were just too good for me, that's all I can say."

"Like hell!" Asahina yelled. "You wouldn't tell us something like this so easily without a plan!"

"Yeah, what are you getting at?" Owada squeezed his fist angrily.

"Oh, why can't you just let things go?" The bear whined. "I've just seen the error of my waaays. Is that so hard to believe?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Gyahahahaha!" Monokuma took pleasure in the absolute silence in the room, unable to keep a straight face. "Aww, you guys aren't fun anymore. So I'll just say this: go ahead and vote for me!"

"...!"

Only then did it finally dawn on the students where he was getting at with this. All of them expected to see this coming, just not exactly how it would come about. But whether or not it was expected, it was worrying all the same.

"Vote for me," the one single-minded line that gave away the issue he was pointing out. What would be the point of voting for him? They had no idea who he was! Just from looking at the blank expressions on their faces did it for Monokuma, enjoying the worrying despair in everyone's eyes.

"Upupupupu! What's wroooong?" He teased. "Just vote for poor little me, and everyone wins."

"We get your point," Kirigiri grunted, "there's no point in voting for you if we don't know who you are. That's all you're trying to get at, isn't it?"

"Bwahahahaha! Oh, gee, really? I just realized that myself!" The laughter emanating from the bear proved otherwise. "Boy golly, whoever could I possibly be?" Monokuma gazed the students one by one. "Could I be the fiery redhead with anger issues? Could I be the mermaid girl? Could I be the giant rolling pinball boy? Perhaps I'm the violet girl who's always one step ahead? Maybe I'm actually the soldier, and this is just a robot? Or maybe I really am the poor wittle victim, and just drowned myself?"

His taunts continued to no end. Every word he sputtered was like a dagger to their faces. All he had to do was taunt them one at a time, with no possible negative repercussions. Even if a student did actually lunge at him, which he hoped for, and tore his body in half, he could always replace that with another bear.

Even better! He can execute the student for breaking the rules after! Oh the fun he was having at their expense.

"You ass..." If there was one thing Owada hated, it was knowingly letting someone insult them and being unable to do anything about it.

"Whaaat? It's truuue!" Monokuma turned to his partner with a grin. "Isn't it, Ikusaba? Tell them who I am!"

Ikusaba's eyes flashed open with surprise at this opportunity, quickly turning to the rest of the group with her given chance. "I-Its-!" That was close. Right before she was about to reveal the ultimate truth did she finally understand what her partner was trying to do again. "Ghhhhhhhhhhh!" She growled furiously.

By annoying everyone to death with his recent ramblings, and letting Ikusaba take the opportunity to possibly relieve everyone's stress, the Mercenary was almost tricked into revealing Junko's identity once more. Not only did her sister goad her into admitting the truth, she also intended to execute everyone immediately after, had Ikusaba not caught on a split second after talking.

That didn't bring any comfort to the girl squeezing her head in frustration, though.

Still, she couldn't just ignore the question completely or give the Puppet Master another excuse to trick Ikuasba into talking. As much as she hated playing along, she had to continue this little charade, until the rest, hopefully, discovered Monokuma's true identity for themselves.

"Mmh... I..." Ikusaba pinched the skin between her eyes, trying to ease her stress. "It's like Monokuma says... The Puppet Master is definitely someone you met before."

If Ikusaba gritted her teeth any tighter, they most likely would've shattered. She could feel the intense pressure of the situation she just placed forth, being forced by her sister to reveal the information exactly as she intended. It didn't matter if her sister's mic was muted, or if she just kept it to herself. She could FEEL the laughter produced by the small bear.

He was enjoying every aspect of this, and he would continue to do so with Ikusaba pressed firmly against his paw, asserting his dominance between the two.

That didn't mean it went completely by unnoticed by Kirigiri however.

There was something about the way she worded it that didn't seem to make sense to her, how she purposely stated it was "someone they met before". Why did she word it like that specifically? It was way too vague in detail to be just a matter of speaking directly from her mind. It's almost like she hinted towards something that continued to remain unseen to everyone else.

This was Ikusaba's only way of helping back, without Monokuma noticing.

"So it's definitely one of us, right?" Naegi questioned, earning a nod from Ikusaba.

"They're alive right now, taking part in this trial as we speak." Ikusaba stated in a similar manner she did once more.

That statement was enough for Naegi herself to actually catch on to. With Monokuma holding the reigns behind her, Naegi knew there was no way Ikusaba could say anything straight about any part of this trial. So what better way to assist the others, or to give them the meaning behind her strange tone, than to make something so direct that it'd cast suspicion on their actions?

Only now did Monokuma himself realize what was going on, and he could only hold back his fury at this. He couldn't allow himself to make too many or enforce any rules by this point of the trial. If he kept adding on and made things more unfair, it would prove to the world that Despair could only beat Hope by being sneaky and deceitful, not by direct confrontation.

This was the only edge the remaining students had to even things out.

"...Then... What if it's someone we thought was dead?" For some reason, that was the first thing to come to Naegi's mind. It was a little strange to say the least. She couldn't figure out how she came to such a conclusion, but with the memories slowly returning to her, one image at a time, something seemed off about her in this whole trial, one that could only be explained with what she just said.

"Naegi!" Ikusaba tried to refrain from sounding cheerful at that. She didn't think Naegi would be able to come up with something like that after such a subtle plan so soon, much less this early into the trial. It brought a small spark of Hope to Ikusaba's heart once more, praying things would continue down this path.

"Hey yeah!" Owada acknowledged with pride. "If none of us are the killers, it has to be someone who's dead!" Monokuma could only grumble at the small grin Ikusaba gave him on the side of her mouth. The knowing kind of smile that taunted the bear back.

"But... Who could it be then?" Yamada wondered, tapping his chin. "There's only six of us remaining, ten of us died." That actually did bring up some thought. It would've been easier to pinpoint a killer if there were 5-to-6 suspects as opposed to 10. At least they were on the right track. "How do we figure out who's still alive?"

"Well...let's remember the order." Asahina looked back in her mind of the past murders. "First Maizono killed Leon... Junko was killed for breaking the rules..."

It's a good thing Celes was dead by this point, for Ikusaba's sake. If she was around, she would've noticed the twitch in her body just now after Asahina mentioned that.

Asahina continued. "Then Maizono was executed... Fujisaki killed Togami, but was executed by Genocider...Then Oogami died sacrificing herself by killing Celes who tried to implicate me for murder...then was executed too..."

"Then maybe it was one of the victims?" Naegi suggested.

"No, no noooo!" Ikusaba mentally screamed to herself. They were on the right track till this point, but Naegi sent it in the completely wrong direction now. Now it was Monokuma who was giving a knowing grin back to the soldier, it's effect multiplied tenfold.

"That would make sense," Kirigiri replied as she skimmed the E-handbook's evidence, "we all witnessed all the executions up to this point. But except for the killers, none of us were there when the victims were murdered."

"Then it could only be one of the victims, right?" Owada asked for assurance.

"Nothing guaranteed, but most likely." At least Kirigiri was open to the possibility it was an executed victim. "One of the victims could've survived and still be the Puppet Master at this very moment."

That brought a lot more relief to the remaining students, except Ikusaba. If they were simply going by the people who were murdered up until this point, it lowered the amount of possible suspects to even less than the number of remaining students! That narrowed down the list of who the Puppet Master could possibly be.

"So it would have to be either Leon, Togami, Ishimaru, or Celes." Naegi pointed out. "Since the fifth trial was the first time we had my trial, we didn't have a victim at that point."

Numerous ideas were coming to the students by the minute, all of which caused only further despair for Mukuro Ikusaba. She was glad they were getting ahead of the trial, but they went in the completely wrong direction as of a few minutes ago! If they kept up at this pace, they would've lost for sure.

She didn't care anymore at this point. She wasn't going to break the rules, but she wanted to move this back on the right path.

"This is getting ridiculous." Ikusaba commented out loud. "Kirigiri, tell them who it is."

"M-Me?" Kirigiri was a little taken back by this sudden command. What did she mean to tell them who it is? She was no closer to the truth than the rest of them, and was just as far from the rest if this was the direction they were taking.

Was Ikusaba trying to imply something else? Was she trying to imply Kirigiri herself was the Puppet Master? Her comment made no sense to her in the slightest.

"Come on, you remember, the pool?" Ikusaba reminded.

"Hey, hold up blabber-lips!" Monokuma flailed his paws angrily. "Are you forgetting the rules already?! No telling them anything yet!... Or maybe you just want to get them executed after all?" It was unsettling for the bear to be the one seeing Ikusaba smirking back.

"Oh, I'm not breaking any rules, partner." She sneered. "This was brought up back in the last trial, remember?"

...

...

...

*Flashback, Trial 5, 2 Days ago*

"Monokuma even admitted that we wouldn't have to worry about finding Naegi's killer unless they were part of that trial." Ikusaba reminded as she finished explaining.

"Hey yeah." Owada nodded his head as he understood. "In that case, she wouldn't have any reason to go back to hide any evidence either."

"Exactly, but that doesn't mean the real killer didn't try that." Kirigiri could already tell where this was going, having gotten used to Ikusaba throwing everything back at her. "You already admitted to it yourself, telling all of us about how you "met" me during that same night."

"I only met you in the halls on the first floor when you came back-"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ikusaba lied innocently. Kirigiri's pupils shrank slightly at this.

No matter what, all throughout the trial, they took the liberty of stating the actual facts and details when they accused one another as to why the other was the killer. Until now, not once did either of them lie about the facts they received, only their actual belief that the other was the killer. Sure, she could see why she would find her desperate enough to lie, given the time limit, but she thought Ikusaba could have the decency to at least keep telling the truth until the end.

What's worse, Ikusaba began to actually bring up the evidence to prove her point.

"Why, if you see the security footage here," Ikusaba continued, bringing up the video in the e-Handbook, "we can see you clearly in the hallways when you ran into me," she shot a minor glare to Kirigiri at this," while we were on the second floor."

*End Flashback*

...

...

...

"We were already talking about something discussed in the past." Ikusaba finished explaining. "And by your rules, I can discuss anything already pointed out in this trial, remember?"

"Grrrrrrrrr!" Monokuma grumbled as he crossed his arms. If there was one thing the bear loathed among all else, it was having the rules he personally set up, being used against him. It was the one thing that would always set him off, no matter how well things would go for him. "Fine, go ahead and discuss, but ONLY the parts you both know!"

"Hmph, fine by me." Ikusaba couldn't help but grin to him.

"What does that have to do with knowing the Puppet Master's identity though?" Kirigiri asked. If Ikusaba had a point, she needed to point it out, and preferably in a way that wasn't against the rules.

"C'mon, you remember! What you heard me and the Puppet Master discussing earlier? What was found in the pool?" Ikusaba reminded.

This was perfect! A single stand of pink hair would be all they needed to discover the true identity of the Puppet Master. Despite all the grief and turmoil everyone had to go through till now, this was the one thing that would end half the trial right then and there! There was only ever one person in the school with Pink hair, as far as the rest of them knew anyway, and it would finally draw out the larger, more important portion, of this entire trial!

At least... it would have, had Kirigiri refrained from her next response.

"What are you talking about?"

Monokuma grinned.

...

...

...

A/N: Whooftah! Surprisingly, I posted in less than a week of my previous post :P! I think that partly makes up for the time I needed to get my last chapter posted ^^! And as you guys can see, going straight to the trial was indeed the better option (hopefully)- since the single post of yesterday asking you all, i got all of this done within that time frame (give or take a few hours).

I really hope I did good with this folks, like i said it's been awhile since I last did a class trial, so I apologize if the formatting is a little off compared to usual : /. Nevertheless, we have 3 more chapters to go folks, maybe even 4! I have no idea how long or whatever, but the trials should come a lot easier/faster since conversations are a lot easier to put together than description after description of details X/.

So stay tuned! Like, Fave, and REVIEW what you think, reviews = faster posts ^^!