Like the others before her, Mukuro jumped back at the open accusation.
"Wh—what do you mean?! I was in the cafeteria…"
Byakuya crossed his arms.
"Alibis don't matter anymore, not if a trap was set in advance. In fact, being one of the few people who was in a public place at the time of death is even more suspicious!"
"But, like, you were in the cafeteria, too…" Hiro muttered.
Byakuya spared a brief condescending glance at his classmate, then dismissed him entirely.
"There's a reason why I was reluctant to consider the possibility of traps," he said. "It's simple: there's no evidence of one, which implies the killer would have to be extremely proficient. No one else here is likely to be an expert trapper, but you… You say you don't have any memories, but we don't actually know that for sure, do we? We've just taken your word for it."
"Byakuya," Hina cried. "That's nuts! You have no evidence of that!"
"Don't I? She's part of Fenrir, a renowned mercenary company. That tattoo proves she's already a killer. She could very easily be the Ultimate Trapper or the Ultimate Assassin; both of those are professions useful in war."
"Y—yeah!" Toko agreed. "What else could she be? The Ultimate Soldier? Not likely!"
Sakura closed one eye and squinted at her.
"You must have some kind of reasoning for dismissing that possibility, Toko."
"I d—do!" the Ultimate Writing Prodigy stammered. Despite this, it was obvious she making up her reasoning on the fly. "Look at her! It w—was hard to tell before, when she was covered in bruises on the first day, but now that she's h—healed, you can tell she doesn't have a single scar on her body." She pointed wildly at Sakura. "You're the best martial artist in the world and you're covered in scars! So, tell me, how l—likely is it that she could be a fighter and never taken damage before?! Being an assassin or s—something just… makes more sense!"
Mukuro pulled her tattooed hand over her chest. She had never given any thought to why she had no scars – after all, why would she? But Toko's reasoning did make some sense…
The Ultimate Assassin… Would she be a pale, black-haired teenager sullenly hiding in her room most of the time, only to get lured out by a boy…?
Before Sakura could respond, Makoto intervened.
"I think you're wrong, Byakuya." he said.
"Oh?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "I certainly hope you have a way to prove that."
"Maybe it's not proof, exactly, but…" Makoto pointed to Leon, then Sayaka. "If Mukuro was going to murder someone, wouldn't it have made more sense to do it when Sayaka and Leon screwed up in my room? But the thought didn't even occur to her. She stopped the murder and got us all up without any hesitation. Why would she give up the best opportunity anyone could ever ask for, then commit a different murder later on that could more easily get her caught?"
Mukuro turned away and covered her mouth, burning with shame at Makoto's words and confidence in her. She hated that Mukuro of a few days past who'd almost struck down Leon and Sayaka.
"It's—it's true!" Sayaka backed him up. "Mukuro… She saved me that night, even though she didn't have to. In fact, she saved everyone! And we all saw how injured she was that first day. She's… She's never lied to anyone."
Is she… helping me?
Mukuro looked over to her. The idol smiled at her, then gave a thumbs up. Sayaka's emotions had changed so rapidly that it was impossible to keep up with them, but Mukuro managed a weak smile in an attempt to accept the gesture.
"I… didn't treat you that well, Mukuro," Sayaka admitted. "But I know you didn't do this."
Makoto's belief in her had been bad enough, but Sayaka's just made Mukuro even more ashamed. An image of that cowering, screaming blue-haired girl in the corner passed through Mukuro's mind, and her face turned red. Sayaka mistook this for blushing at their new friendship, though, and kept on smiling. Mukuro turned away, regretful of what she'd thought about that night, and how close she'd come to becoming the murderer the two of them were certain she could never be.
"What Makoto says makes sense," Taka said. "Although, I have something to add to it! Consider the following: Mukuro would have been in Makoto's and Chihiro's eyesight the entire time in the trash room. Setting up a trap without one of them noticing would have to be incredibly difficult."
"That same logic applies to Hina and myself," Sakura said. "Although, it should be noted that I have absolute trust in her regardless of any lack of evidence."
Celeste's red eyes shone as she leaned over her podium. A strange, spine-chilling aura surrounded her as she challenged the martial artist.
"Are you really this naïve?" she asked. "How can you have such trust when you know one of us is a murderer? Not only that… but we know Mukuro in particular was a killer even before any of us met Monokuma, or else she wouldn't have that tattoo."
Mukuro rubbed her hand again.
The tattoo…
The one link to her past, and it caused her nothing but trouble.
"Mukuro's Ultimate talent doesn't matter here!" Makoto pointed straight at Byakuya. "No matter what you think of her, and no matter what your trapmaking skills might be, there's no way anyone could set up a trap in an open space with three people in the room!"
In his typical fashion, Byakuya crossed his arms and let everyone's anger and suspicion wash over him, like it didn't even matter at all.
"Okay," he allowed. "Then let's talk about Leon again!"
"Ah, dude, again?!" Leon screeched.
(Present Your Argument)
"You set up a trap in the trash room when Chihiro wasn't looking," Byakuya said. "Then you waited for someone to trigger it."
"Dude, I didn't do anything!" Leon fired back. His skin was as red as his hair.
"It is also nearly impossible to believe that Makoto, Mukuro, Asahina, or Sakura could have set up a trap with two other people in the room." Taka agreed.
"I don't know, maybe they could have!" Leon threw his hands in the air.
"Heheh…" Toko snickered evilly. "L—let's not f—forget how you almost killed two people with a sword!"
"I already explained that!"
"Yeah!" Hiro laughed. "Plus, since you helped her with the trash, you totally would've known where Chihiro would stand to trigger your trap!"
(Break)
"No, that's wrong!"
Everyone looked to Makoto. Although he'd shouted the words with conviction, he looked hesitant and disturbed. He wasn't facing anyone as he spoke.
"That… that can't be right, Hiro…"
"What? Why not?"
"Because…" He kept speaking, but he was clearly as confused anyone else. "Because Chihiro only stood in that spot… because she was grabbing the prayer beads that fell…"
The room fell silent. Then—
Byakuya gasped in exactly the same way as Kyoko. He wasn't as horrified as her, but he was just as shocked. His eyes flit between Makoto and Mukuro, blazing with… frustration? Anger? Disappointment? Mukuro couldn't quite tell.
"Byakuya?" Makoto asked. "Do you know something?"
Byakuya quickly regained his footing, but he was breathing heavily. He looked at Makoto like he might have looked at a UFO or a portal to another dimension. He tried to speak, but the only thing he managed to say was: "That's… impossible…"
"Again?!" Taka groaned. "Is there some epic secret to this murder that silences all who discover it?!"
"Yes!" Monokuma shrilled. His legs kicked up and down wildly, like a little child. That was the most terrifying moment of them all. Mukuro's heart sank, and she knew one thing for certain:
Whoever the killer is, I won't like it.
Sayaka had the same feeling. She reached over and gripped Makoto's hand. Her own fingers were covered in sweat.
"Fine," Makoto said. "Let's keep solving this. We're almost there, anyway. I can feel it."
"So what Makoto is saying," Hina said. "Is that if the beads fell by accident, they couldn't be used to lure Chihiro in a trap?"
"We don't know they fell by accident," Sakura said. "We just assumed that."
"No," Makoto said. He closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and opened them. "Hiro only threw them out earlier that day. No one else could have gotten into the trash room to set them there, so unless Chihiro planted them there on purpose herself, they had to have fallen out of the trashcan by accident."
"They could've been thrown through the gate!" Hina said.
"No…" Makoto said. "If you're setting a trap, the location where the victim is standing is going to be the most important thing, right? You couldn't reliably throw the beads into that exact position."
"He could!" Hifumi shouted, and pointed at Leon.
"C'mon," Leon groaned. "Why does everyone hate me?!"
"No," Makoto said. "It wasn't thrown. Remember how the string was broken? If it landed hard like that, after being thrown a long distance, the beads would have exploded everywhere in all directions."
"Perhaps the killer used the pole idea that Byakuya had, but in reverse?" Sakura suggested. "You could place the beads on the floor inside of the gate, then push them forward until they've reached the proper placement."
Makoto shook his head.
"I don't think that's possible. There's no way you could push it that distance with just a pole without some of the beads rolling off in other directions. We didn't find any extra beads on the floor. So, they must've been dropped by accident!"
"And yet… Chihiro triggered the trap, yes?" Celeste tapped a finger against her podium. "She dropped the beads by mistake, which means they couldn't have been part of the killer's plan… But they were also the most important element in setting up the trap."
"Yeah, um, sorry if this is a stupid question, but let me ask a question here," Hina leaned over. "What was this trap, exactly? I don't really understand."
Makoto looked down, thinking.
"It was something that would cause Chihiro to fall backward, hitting her head on the corner of the incinerator."
Sayaka swallowed, hard.
"But it's also something that disappears once it's triggered, leaving no evidence behind? Am I getting that right?"
"Yeah…" Makoto looked up to Kyoko and Byakuya. Neither spoke. "I don't… understand…"
"You can't build a trap that just 'disappears!'" Taka said. "There must have been something else left behind at the scene."
Mukuro shook her head and responded.
"There was nothing else at the scene of the murder except the trash, the prayer beads, and the logbook."
At the last word, Makoto's head sprung up.
"No…" he whispered.
Monokuma cackled hysterically.
"Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes! I thought there was bearly any chance you'd figure it out before the vote, but I'm so happy to be wrong!"
Makoto turned away, just as Kyoko and Byakuya had. But unlike them…
"I… figured it out." he said. His voice was low and sullen.
"What the hell happened, man?!" Leon demanded. "Tell us!"
"Chihiro… she just slipped."
Mukuro's heart pounded hard against her chest. She wanted him to stop talking, but Makoto kept right on.
"She dropped the beads, went to pick them up, and slipped… on the only thing there was to slip on…"
"The logbook." Mukuro said, almost too softly to hear. "It was the same color as the floor, so she didn't see it…"
"And fell backward… and hit her head…" Makoto continued. "That's why only the bottom of the logbook has blood on it. It never left the floor, Chihiro's headwound just bled out and engulfed it over time."
No one said anything. And then…
"Hold it," Hiro said. "I thought we said that this was some kinda super sophisticated trap. How do you plan something like that?"
"You don't." Byakuya finally broke his silence. He sounded disappointed. "It could only have been… impossibly bad luck."
"What?!" Hina screamed. "Then it's not murder!"
"Allow me to repeat myself!" laughed Monokuma. "Any death except disease and old age counts as murder."
"That's insane!" Taka boomed. "No one reasonable would ever claim that's murder!"
"You kids today and your 'justifiable manslaughter' and your 'acts of God!' Take it up with your local congressman if you want the law changed!"
"Woah, we can do that?!" Hiro asked, suddenly excited. "Who do we complain to?"
"Me!" Monokuma laughed. "And I'm in office for four more years, so good luck persuading me! Now, if you don't tell me who the Blackened is, the rest of you will be executed in their place!"
"And the killer will graduate… by accident?" Byakuya asked. He sounded almost angry.
"Yes! It's so delightfully despairful, I almost can't take it!"
Makoto looked down to his podium. He was caked in sweat.
Sayaka stood next to him. Her hands were over her lips, and there was no blood in her face. The rest of the class was a flurry of anger, disbelief, confusion, panic, and outright denial.
"Then… we need to determine who dropped the book." Byakuya said, joylessly.
"You sound a lot less excited than before." Leon said.
"I am." Byakuya admitted. "Overcoming challenges with intelligence is one thing, but random luck? The game is suddenly less amusing." He shook his head. "The book was put in the trashcan the day Naegi and Ikusaba helped with the garbage, so…"
"It was o—one of the three of them." Toko said. Even she sounded sympathetic.
"It's unlikely either Makoto or Mukuro remember…" Celeste cooed.
All throughout this exchange, Makoto had been silent. His legs were shaky, and his expression was dark. Mukuro was pretty sure he could only keep standing by holding onto the podium.
"Makoto…" she whispered. "Are you alright?"
He closed his eyes. He tried to speak, but his voice squeaked, then trailed off.
He knows something, Mukuro thought. Something that makes him unable to keep fighting, even though he knows he has to for everyone's sake.
Mukuro knew it in her heart, too. She didn't have any evidence, but she knew there was only one thing that would leave Makoto unable to fight for everyone's survival.
"Mister Naegi!" Hifumi screeched. "I believe you can help us figure out who dropped that logbook!"
Makoto didn't open his eyes.
"It seems he can't speak," Byakuya said. He sighed. "It's hard to blame him, though. Whatever he says will get either Ikusaba or himself executed."
Mukuro flinched when he voiced what everyone was thinking.
"Nuh-uh!" Hina shook her head vigorously. "Nuh-uh, no way, no how! Chihiro could've dropped the book herself! If that happened, Monokuma can't kill anyone!"
"We must know the details of what happened in the trash room the day of Toko's and Taka's fight," Sakura said. She was one of the few who could keep her voice steady. "If Makoto will not speak, then the unhappy task falls to Mukuro."
"What?!" Mukuro jumped back. "Me?!"
"Yeah!" Leon stared at her. "Do you know who dropped the book?"
Mukuro shook her head.
"No… There isn't really anything to tell. Makoto and I helped Chihiro with the trash, then we just left her."
"Are you sure?" Byakuya pressed. "Maybe no one set out to commit murder, but withholding information here isn't just incompetence. It would be murder, itself."
"Y—yeah!" Toko agreed. "You could get Byakuya and me killed! … oh, and everyone else, too."
"Look!" Mukuro crossed her arms and tried to look confident than she really was. "I don't know! I went to the trash room to help Chihiro throw stuff out. If I'd seen the book drop, I would have picked it up and tossed it into the fire. Since I didn't pick it up, I must not have seen it drop, which means I couldn't have seen who dropped it!"
"Ugh!" Leon moaned.
"That same logic will apply to Makoto as well…" Sakura nodded.
"Very well, then," Celeste toyed with a strand of hair. "Let us speculate upon how to determine who dropped the book."
(Present Your Argument)
"Are you kidding?!" Hiro grabbed his head. "There's no way to know who picked up a random trashcan!"
"M—maybe you can ch—check your crystal ball…" Toko snarked.
"…" Kyoko closed her eyes. She was either lost in thought or unwilling to condemn someone so unjustly.
"I remember that the trashcan was mostly full of food…" Taka murmured. "Can we use that information somehow?"
"…" Byakuya carefully studied both Makoto and Mukuro.
"Is it important that the trashcan was from the cafeteria?" Sakura asked.
"…" Sayaka bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes never left Mukuro.
"What about how the trashcans were made of plastic?" Hifumi asked. "Maybe that's useful!"
"This is insane!" Hina cried. "No one is really responsible. Chihiro could have dropped the book, so let's just vote for her. That way, Monokuma can't punish anyone!"
(Break)
Mukuro sucked in her lips. What she'd just heard was definitely false… But if she voiced her reasoning for why, it would kill someone for certain. Herself or Makoto, she didn't know, but…
Doing nothing will get almost everyone killed, she thought. If I went free because of that… I'd hate myself forever.
Even the thought of that hurt. Mukuro could never live with that kind of shame. But to voice what she knew was as good as killing someone herself.
Everything within Mukuro was chaos. Her throat tightened, sweat poured down her face, and blood rushed through her veins so fast and so hard that it practically overwhelmed everything else in the trial. But most of all, Mukuro felt the infinite weight of Kyoko's words on her shoulders:
Expose the killer immediately. Not just for the truth, not just because they're a murderer, but also to save everyone else. It's your duty.
Had Kyoko honestly meant those words? She was completely silent right now. Mukuro could do that, too. She could wrap herself in that hypocrisy, just like Kyoko…
"That's not right!"
The words were out of Mukuro's mouth before she knew what was happening. All eyes turned to her, save Makoto's. No one was angry, but everyone was surprised, scared, or both. Without thinking, she kept talking.
"What… what you said, Hina…" Mukuro shrank back. The fact that she'd spoken hit her, and she wanted to die.
"What do you mean?" the Ultimate Swimmer asked. "All I said was that three people were in the room doing the garbage, so any of them could've dropped the book."
Mukuro bit her lip. She felt an overwhelming urge to back out of her claim.
"Oh…" she said. She poked each of her forefingers against the other. "Well… Never mi—"
"No!" Byakuya snapped. "You know something."
"I agree!" Taka barked. "You are definitely hiding something!"
Mukuro turned to Makoto. He was still stone-faced.
"I…" Mukuro could barely stand. "I…"
Someone told her to say it; Mukuro didn't know whom. She kept watching Makoto.
Please, she prayed. Please, please, please, please let someone tell me I'm wrong…
At last, Mukuro turned back to the class. She swallowed, hard.
"We can't vote for Chihiro," she said. "She… didn't drop the book."
"No way!" Hina shook her head. "It's totally impossible to know that for sure!"
Mukuro took another breath. From across the circle, she saw Kyoko watching her, eyes wide and ablaze. Kyoko didn't seem to hate her like Sayaka; if anything, she seemed impressed.
"The cafeteria trashcans are much larger than the dorm ones," Mukuro continued. Her voice cracked several times. "Chihiro was too weak to lift them without a lot of effort. She'd have only tried if no one else was around to help her. That's probably why, the day she died, she'd emptied out the small trashcans already, but didn't get to the large ones."
"That's right!" Leon ran a hand through his hair. "When I helped her, I was the one who did the big cans. Aw, man! I totally forgot about that!"
Hina's eyes were tearing up.
"No!" she said. "No, no! Stop! I don't want to hear more, this isn't fair!"
Mukuro's legs were jelly. She stood only by holding onto the podium for support. She looked over to Makoto. If he'd given the slightest signal, or even done nothing, she would have happily stopped talking and let the others take over. But instead, he smiled.
That smile crushed any hope Mukuro still had. They both knew who dropped the book.
Beyond him was Sayaka. Her eyes were wide, too, but there was something behind them. It wasn't just anger, hate, or even fear. It was something else entirely, something worse than all of them combined. And Mukuro knew, without a doubt, that all of it was directed at her.
"It's… It's probably me." Mukuro forced the words out through a sob. "I… I'm the one who—"
"Mukuro." Makoto whispered. "Don't."
She turned away from him. It was impossible to face him. For a moment, she caught Kyoko's eyes again. The other girl was staring at her. Her face was also a mixture of emotions.
"Makoto," Mukuro gasped out at last. She was crying. "I'm so sorry, I wish it was me, I really do, but… it… it had to be you who dropped the logbook."
"No!" Sayaka shrieked. Her eyes were on fire, her voice was full of wrath, and her skin was red instead of white. Within her was something halfway between hysteria and despair. "You're lying!"
She screamed so forcefully that even the other students were taken aback. She slammed her fists into the podium in front of her, then grabbed its edges and twisted. The wood underneath her nails cracked.
"You're trying to save your own skin!" she hissed. Tears of hate and guilt streamed over her face. "I won't let you! I won't let you! I won't let you hurt him!"
(Bullet Time Battle)
"Noooo!"
"I hate you!"
"He'd never hurt anyone!"
"It's not his fault!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"You're betraying him!"
"You're wrong, you're just wrong!"
"You did it!"
"You lying bitch!"
"How could you?!"
(Killshot)
"You can't possibly prove who touched that trashcan!"
(Break)
"I'm sorry, but I can!"
The words came out of Mukuro's lips, but there was no confidence or energy behind them. She was barely holding herself together.
"You lying whore!" Sayaka threw her head from side to side and roared. "It's all an illusion to save your own skin!"
"Sayaka—" Makoto started.
"No!" She pounded the podium again. "Whatever you say, it's only because she's tricked you somehow!"
"I couldn't have lifted the trashcan to the fire." Mukuro breathed. Her eyes unfocused. The world was just a blur of shapeless colors and muffled noises. "For the past few days, I've felt a pain in my back when I lift my arms too high."
A thousand miles away, someone cried out the word "Liar!" It might have been Sayaka.
"I…"
Something hot caught in Mukuro's throat. She couldn't continue.
A hand gently touched her shoulder. The world flooded back – first Makoto, and then the rest of the classroom. All of it was still covered in a teary haze.
"Mukuro," he said. He wasn't mad at all. "Keep going."
"But…"
"It's all on you," he said. "You're everyone's only hope, now."
It took a long, long time for Mukuro to tear her eyes away from Makoto.
"Hifumi…" she said.
"Whaaaaaaat?!" He threw up his hands and screeched. "Me?!"
"Do you remember when Makoto and I passed you in the dorm area with Chihiro and the trash?"
"Oh, yes, I do. But you were all holding trashcans and trash bags. I don't know who had the one with the logbook!"
Mukuro paused one last time. She wanted more than anything to stop. But…
"When we passed you in the hallway," she said. "I tried to lift a trashcan over my shoulder. I stumbled, Makoto caught me, and I had to carry it against my chest."
"Oh!" Hifumi gasped. "Yes, that's right! I forgot all about that!"
"So, you see… It doesn't matter who picked up the trashcan with the logbook from the cafeteria, because I physically couldn't have lifted a heavy object up to the incinerator, and Chihiro wouldn't have done so either, at least not while she had help. One of us might've brought that can to the trash room, but lifting it up like that was too much, which means…" Her voice gave out, and she barely choked out the conclusion obvious to everyone: "It must have been the third person there."
"Nooooo!" Sayaka screamed. "That doesn't prove anything!"
Sayaka raged again against her podium, screaming and weeping and spitting up. She'd verged on suicide for days, catatonic and unable to accept what she'd done, the people she'd betrayed. And now, having been granted a second chance by the very boy she'd hurt the most, it was all stolen away from her by pure dumb luck. Mukuro looked at her with tears and pity, but it wasn't for Sayaka she felt – it was for herself. She would have given anything to be Sayaka now, to deny everything and scream and wallow in hate and anger and despair.
But it wasn't to be. Makoto charged her to be strong, so Mukuro ignored the knots in her stomach and forced herself to go on. She stood and pointed straight at Sayaka, but the truth was that a weak breeze would have knocked her over in an instant.
"I'll lay it all out for you, Sayaka," she said without emotion. "And when I'm done, there won't be any room left for doubt."
(Closing Argument)
"This is what happened!"
"It all started when Taka, proud of his new logbook, went around pestering everyone for what they'd done the previous day."
"He made the mistake of annoying Toko one too many times, though, and asked her about a sensitive topic: her leg. I don't know why she was so upset about that, but…"
"In a fit of anger, she grabbed the logbook from him and flung it away."
"By accident, it landed in Celeste's breakfast. Celeste left in a huff, but the book itself was ruined, so Taka threw it out."
"Later that day, Makoto and I were walking past the cafeteria and heard Chihiro struggling with the trash."
"We volunteered to help her out, thinking we were doing her a kindness… Though, knowing what we know now, I wish we'd just kept on walking."
"We passed Hifumi in the hallway, and I lifted up the heavy trashcan over my shoulder."
"Pain surged through my back, and I almost fell over. I had to carry it against my chest, instead."
"When we got to the trash room, I wasn't able to help with the heavier cans, including the one I brought myself. Chihiro was also too weak to easily lift the heavy cans, so the job fell to Makoto."
"But when he wasn't looking, Taka's logbook fell out of the can and hit the ground. The noise it made was probably drowned out by the loud pipes, and because the book itself was the same color as the floor, we couldn't see it."
"Maybe we would have, if the stained part of the book had faced us, but… In the end, we just left it there."
"Later, Hiro broke his strand of prayer beads, and had to throw them out."
"No one volunteered to help Chihiro that time, so she threw everything out by herself. It probably took her twice as long."
"At some point, she dropped the beads to nearly the same place as the logbook. They probably couldn't have been heard over the pipes, but since they were brown, she saw them against the black floor. She went over to pick them up, and…"
"Slipped on the book Makoto dropped."
"She hit the back of her head on the corner of the incinerator, which killed her instantly. Then she fell to the ground, and lay in a pool of her own blood until we found her the next morning."
"It should have been too unlikely to ever happen, but it did anyway. And the only person who could make something so improbable become reality…"
"Is the Ultimate Lucky Student."
"It has to be you!"
(Break)
Mukuro felt like she ought to point dramatically at someone, but she barely had the energy left to even say two words:
"Makoto Naegi."
She fell to her knees, completely drained of whatever power had propelled her this far. She was only a husk of human being; the shell of a girl without the heart or feeling inside.
A heavy, terrible air hung over the courtroom. There was no sound for a long time, save Sayaka's helpless sobs. A merciless iron hand gripped each of the students' hearts and squeezed, denying them not only hope, but even the satisfaction of their own survival. Almost no one looked up from the floor. Kyoko was the only one who stared on ahead, but her attention was on Mukuro.
Makoto grabbed Mukuro's shoulder and smiled at her, resigned to his fate. He didn't hate or blame her at all, and that hurt all the more. It would have been easier if he'd acted betrayed. Mukuro knew now how Sayaka felt when Makoto so easily forgave her.
"Welp!" Monokuma laughed. "With that, it's voting time! And make sure to vote, because if you don't, you'll be executed, too!"
A lever appeared out of Mukuro's podium, as well as a 4x4 grid of pictures. Each was of a student, save the last, which was blank. Chihiro's picture was grayed out.
"Who will be chosen as the Blackened?" Monokuma asked. "Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?"
She watched the others slowly, reluctantly vote for Makoto. It was unimaginably cruel of Monokuma to force them to actually condemn him themselves.
Mukuro slowly, emptily wrapped her fingers around the cold lever. For a moment, she wanted to just let her hand fall away and let herself be executed with Makoto. It would have at least been some kind of resistance to this horrible game.
But she pulled the lever anyway. Did she want to live, or did she just not want Makoto to see her die? Even Mukuro herself didn't know.
She wasn't the only one who'd had the idea. Sayaka stood at her podium, arms at her side. She said nothing, and only stared at the lever and sniffled.
She plans to die.
"Sayaka!" Makoto said. "Pull it!"
She didn't reply. He pressed a hand to his heart.
"Sayaka, please. I don't… I don't want to die knowing that someone else is dying, too."
Her face screwed up. She shook her head.
"I won't," she whispered. "It's not right."
"Sayaka," Makoto said. "There's no reason to throw your life away. Please!"
He stared her down for a long while. Finally, she reached up and pulled the lever. That only made her cry even more.
"Heehee!"
As if by magic, a slot machine appeared in front of Monokuma. In its center, three reels spun down and down. Mukuro could just barely make out cartoon images of each student's face. Some moments passed, and each of the reels slowed and stopped on the same face: Makoto's.
"Uh-oh!" said Monokuma. "Looks like you got it right on the money! The Blackened in this case, the one who killed Chihiro Fujisaki… was none other than Makoto Naegi! Though, I should mention that it wasn't a unanimous vote. One of you voted for Mukuro instead! Who could it have possibly been?"
"This is bullshit!" Hina screamed. It was so out of character for her to curse like that, even Monokuma seemed surprised.
"I concur," Sakura said. "Blaming him for this is an act of madness."
Other students spoke up in Makoto's defense, and even Byakuya seemed dissatisfied with the result. He crossed his arms and looked away, clearly frustrated. Sayaka in particular ran up to Monokuma's wooden throne, then threw herself at his feet.
"Let me take his place!" she cried. "Please! I… I'm the one responsible, if you think about it! Makoto only dropped that book because he walked by the cafeteria with Mukuro, and he only spent time with her because I screwed up that murder with Leon!"
Monokuma rubbed his chin.
"Oh, I didn't consider that."
Sayaka's face lit up. She nodded her head up and down.
"Yes, yes! Please, Monokuma, please!"
"Well, since you asked so nicely, and since your logic makes so much sense… No!"
Monokuma laughed hysterically, then jumped up to the top of the back of his throne. A laptop fell from the ceiling and landed in his hands. He slapped the keyboard furiously for a few seconds, and then a massive television descended from on high.
The screen lit up with a still image of the trash room.
The security camera, Mukuro thought.
Past the gate, Makoto, Mukuro, and Chihiro sat in a circle. A red circle appeared where the wall behind them met the floor. At first, Mukuro saw nothing inside of it. Eventually, just barely, she found the almost-invisible logbook.
Without warning, the image turned into a video. Makoto was the first to move, shaking his head and looking back at Chihiro.
"There are a million ways a computer expert can help us," he said. "Hack open the vault door at the entrance, contact the police, take control of the Monokuma robots… It's not your time yet, Chihiro, but this is a school. There'll be computers somewhere, and once we find one, it'll be your time to shine."
"You'll save everyone," Mukuro agreed. "You're the single person most likely to save us all."
Chihiro's face brightened. She smiled wide.
"My time… to shine…" she repeated.
The recording stopped, and the screen went dark. Everyone in the room was quiet.
Mukuro thought her heart might have stopped beating. If that had been so, if she'd died right there, she would have been fine with it.
"Ahahahahaha!" Monokuma screeched. "How delightfully cruel of you, Makoto, telling Chihiro she was going to save you all as you set your trap to kill her. I didn't think you had it in you! Byakuya, maybe, but not you!"
Makoto's face was very pale, and he was obviously fighting hard to stay calm.
"I will not permit this!" Sakura roared. Her pupils disappeared, and eyes of pure white fire stared straight into Monokuma. "You will not touch Makoto except by passing through me!"
She ran to place herself between Makoto and the throne, then took up a martial arts stance. A fierce aura of black energy simmered in the air around her.
For a long, tense moment, it seemed like she would actually leap at Monokuma and make good on her threat. But then a voice interrupted.
"It's okay, everyone," Makoto said. "Don't."
"But—" Sakura started.
"No! I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I don't blame anyone here. Don't feel bad."
But it was painfully obvious that everyone felt nothing but bad. Sayaka was crumpled up in a heap at the foot of the throne, and most of the students looked away, completely ashamed. Makoto kept talking.
"Don't give Monokuma an excuse to hurt you. Please… just survive."
He put his hands on Sakura's fists and lowered them. Still obviously upset, she turned away, stricken by shame.
"And," Makoto continued. "I am… I'm kind of respon—"
"No." Kyoko said. It was her first word since she'd put together what happened. She looked Makoto dead in the eyes, then thrust her hand at him, pointing at his chest. "You're not responsible for this at all. Don't think you are. This is… completely unjust. Remember that."
"I don't really get it," Hiro said. He kicked the ground. "If Makoto's the Ultimate Lucky Student, then shouldn't this be impossible?"
Somehow, Makoto managed to smile.
"I was thinking about that…" he said. "But… maybe now, no one will play Monokuma's game."
"I do not understand your meaning." Celeste said.
"Now everyone knows that this game is rigged and insane. The rules to it are too absurd, so there's no point playing it when the only real enemy is Monokuma himself. If I really am the Ultimate Lucky Student, then maybe me dying now, in this way, is the way that will save the most people. And… I still don't want to die, but I do want to save people."
"A—and if you're not?" Toko stammered. "Wh—what if there's no such thing as luck?"
Makoto smiled again. This time, he was very sad.
"Then I guess I'm just unlucky."
"No!"
Sayaka threw herself at Makoto.
"Please, don't die!" she begged. "I… We… The way I…"
Whatever control Sayaka had over herself disappeared. She started babbling incoherently, shaking against Makoto, until he took her hands in his own.
"Sayaka," he said. "I don't blame you for anything. But I need you to do me a favor."
She nodded, just barely. He leaned down and whispered something into her ear. She burned red, then looked away. She couldn't stand.
He stood and faced Kyoko.
"I enjoyed your unofficial lesson during the investigation," he said. "It… it actually helped me a lot, during the trial, trying to figure things out."
Kyoko turned away to hide her face. Even she couldn't keep calm after that.
"You can trust Sayaka and Mukuro," he said. "They're both good people."
Last of all, Makoto came to Mukuro. She was crying as hard as Sayaka.
"This isn't fair," she wheezed. "I wanted to spend more time with you… I wanted… I wanted to play with that silly charm you gave me! I wanted to explore the school with you! I wanted… I wanted…"
Mukuro fell to her knees. Makoto kneeled down with her, then grabbed her shoulder.
"You saved everyone."
"I didn't save you!" she hissed.
He shook his head, and seemed about to speak, but someone interrupted.
"And that's a wrap!" Monokuma shrilled. "It's time for the punishment!"
"You bastard." Mukuro muttered. It was all she could say.
Monokuma twirled down between them and split them apart. His face was inches from Mukuro's.
"Heehee! Oh, Mukuro, Mukuro, Mukuro. Does this fill you with despair?"
It did. No matter Makoto's kind words, there was no strength left in her. She wanted to feel hate, to feel anger, to rage and scream and attack the stupid bear, and perhaps to be struck down in response. It would have been better than the torrent of despair that filled her.
"I hate you." she whispered.
Monokuma saw right through her.
"You're such a disappointment."
Disappointment…
The word struck a chord within her. A distant memory, faded but not entirely erased. For the briefest moment, there was something inside of Mukuro, something solid and real, and not the ghost of who she'd once been, or the memories of others told to her that she seized upon. This was her memory. Monokuma was not the first to call her a disappointment; Mukuro's sister had often done the same, and it had hurt every time.
And that half-formed memory, pulled from whatever life she'd had before this damnable school, carried with it only one emotion: despair. It poured into her, suffocating her, drowning her even worse than Makoto's impending death had. It was the most devastating realization of them all:
I finally have something besides despair, and it's just more despair.
Her throat seized up, and she fell to the floor, unable to breathe. She grasped her neck and wept, and when the tears cleared, all she could see was a cord wrapped around Makoto's own neck. He reached out for her, but the cord pulled back and dragged him with it. A second later, he disappeared into a drape.
The television screen above flickered back to life.
GAME OVER
A tiny pixel version of Monokuma marched over to a tiny pixel version of Makoto, then dragged him off-screen by the hair.
MAKOTO NAEGI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!
(Scene)
~ Seventy Seconds of Bad Luck ~
A perfectly straight, dimly-lit hallway stretched on in either direction. The walls were gray and cracked, and the skeleton of wood and metal was visible through the fractures. The carpet underneath was moist and frayed. Tiny, indistinct bugs crawled in and out of the holes, having lived and died for countless bug generations within the mold hidden just out of sight. Something like four-leafed clovers grew out of the floor, but they were black and dry, and crumbled to dust whenever they were touched.
Makoto searched either wall for a door, but found nothing. Unsure of what to do, but certain in the knowledge that anything would be to Monokuma's benefit, he simply stood at the ready, waiting for the punishment.
Bump
Everything shook. Bits of plaster fell out of the walls and ceiling.
Bump
Makoto flipped around. His heart was racing.
Bump
In the distance, he saw something silvery shining in the dark.
Bump
A number of small shapes skittered over the floor from one direction. He looked down and saw that they were cats. No – tiny robots in the shape of cats, and each had Monokuma's red eye. There were thirteen of them, and all of them were black.
The tiny robot cats jumped around, meowing in faux terror. They ran past Makoto, mocking panic and bidding him to follow.
Bump
Makoto squinted. The faraway silver something came more into focus.
Bump
He gasped.
It was a huge vehicle, a tractor or a steamroller, but modified. In the place of wheels, it had enormous metal legs that slammed into the ground, then pulled it forward by a few feet.
Bump
It filled the entire hallway. There was no way to pass it, and no way to slow it down.
Bump
The nose of the vehicle was emblazoned with picture of Monokuma's face. Underneath it was the text: BAD LUCK BEAR. The bear in question sat in a seat behind the thick glass window of the machine, controlling it and forcing it toward the Ultimate Lucky Student.
Makoto ran from the machine in the other direction, and as he did, the speed at which it moved increased.
Bump bump bump
It moved faster than he could, faster than any human could, and he screamed and tried to stay ahead of it.
Bump bump bump bump
Something shone in the distance, but Makoto couldn't slow down.
Bump bump bump bump bump
Four ladders were set up so that their legs touched either side of the hallway. They were easy to run under.
Bump bump bump bump bump bump
The ladders fell beneath the machine in seconds. It crushed them all underfoot like paper.
Bump bump bump bump bump bump bump
The shining light in the distance became clearer: it was a mirror. Like the machine, it took up the entire hallway. There was no way around it. Makoto watched his reflection grow larger and more panicked, and the machine behind him grew.
Bump bump bump bump bump bump bump bump
With no other choice, Makoto covered his face and jumped through the mirror. It shattered instantly, and on the other side—
A spear impaled Makoto straight through the heart. Lucky to the end, he died instantly, and his lifeless body was consumed by the machine. The uncaring vehicle moved on, leaving only a smear of blood where once a boy had been.
(Scene)
Mukuro kneeled on the floor in abject shock, unable to tear her eyes away from the pink streak that had been Makoto. Even when the screen went black, she saw only his final, terrible moments. Her heart didn't beat, her eyes didn't blink, and no air passed through her lips. Whatever despair she'd felt before was less than a drop in the ocean compared to this. A ravenous void consumed all inside of her, leaving only a drape of pale skin pulled over despair shaped like a girl.
The world went black, and Mukuro lost herself in the darkness.