Sayaka stared listlessly into space, seated at the table farthest from the door into the cafeteria. Behind her, Mukuro propped up another chair and ran a comb through locks of blue hair. She raised it up, then brought it down, then up, and down, and up again, her actions as lifeless as her would-be friend's. Sayaka's mind was trapped within her own body, but Mukuro's was a thousand miles away. Neither of the girls spoke; neither could speak.
Mukuro knew her body was weak and trembling. She knew she was ghost white and covered in sweat. She knew that the acrid stench of vomit still hung around her tongue, and that her feet and toes were fiddling around, pushing against each other and the chair legs. But she couldn't feel any of it. She was an observer in her own body, an operator who sent signals by radio and numbly watched the response from a faraway sterile room. The only thing she could think about or feel for real was Monokuma's words.
For a split second, she poked her head over Sayaka's shoulder. The lines on the idol's face had grown into deep chasms, and the blue pinpricks that passed for her irises stared right back at her. A bit of drool trickled out of her lips and dribbled off of her chin. Whatever despair Mukuro felt, it was but a drop in the ocean compared to her ward's. There was nothing behind those eyes except a mindless void of self-hate.
"What's going on in there?" Mukuro heard herself whisper. "What do you remember? What do you think?"
She would have given anything for a second opinion.
Maybe you're the girl in that video you saw, the innocent, beautiful blonde on the bed…
Mukuro swallowed, and sensed, rather than felt, that vomity taste choke down her throat. Did she even want to be that girl on the bed? It would be a relief to not be a monster, but that would deny her even a name. She'd spent less than a day feeling like she knew herself, grasping onto that slim bit of hope that she could be a decent person after all, a girl who just helped her friends and that was it. Even then, 'Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier' was the only thing she could latch onto, a single rock jutting out of rapid of confusion and self-doubt, and she was loathe to surrender it.
Maybe I'm blackmailing Sakura into being a spy in your group…
At least that was impossible. Sakura was too noble, too honorable, and too proud. Monokuma was definitely bluffing there, but he had confirmed the existence of a spy. His game there was obvious, but Mukuro still had no idea who could be a spy, or who could be trusted even if they weren't. And worse yet, Monokuma had implied the existence of two spies…
A pang of anger surged through her, the first real emotion she'd felt since the school store besides fear. She had to do something, anything. She had to take some kind of decisive action… but what was there to do? What was there to try? The only thing worse than this situation would be following Sayaka into her catatonia.
I'd give anything for an enemy to fight.
Mukuro's thoughts were interrupted by a hideous, discordant sound, like some kind of metal monster screaming in agony. She rushed back into her body, that faraway numbness instantly gone, and accidentally crushed the comb. She twisted around in a panic, afraid that the world might be ending.
Instead, she saw Leon in the far distance, just entering the cafeteria. In his hands was a huge electric guitar, colored black and white and red, that he held awkwardly. He looked down at it, face scrunched up in confusion and dismay, and clearly paid no attention to where he was walking. If he kept in his current direction, he'd trip over a chair for certain.
"Leon!" she shouted, half to help him, and half to stop him from strumming the strings again.
He looked up in surprise, then made his way over. He hesitated when he came close to Sayaka, obviously uncomfortable with her.
"Heya, Mukuro," he said slowly. He kept his eyes on her unresponsive charge. "How's it goin'?"
"I'm just hanging out with Sayaka right now."
To enter such a bluntly normal conversation so soon after all that introspection was almost painful, but Mukuro managed to conceal her discomfort – that, or Leon was simply very oblivious. He opened his mouth, and by the expression on his face, she knew he was going to say something unkind about Sayaka. He caught himself at the last moment, then snorted. He settled on:
"Good of you to do that."
She did try to kill him, she allowed. Come to think of it, this is the same group of people as that night…
Mukuro tossed the ruined comb over into a nearby trashcan. At least there were no swords here.
Leon leaned up against the table, his attention still focused on the guitar. He tested another of the strings. If it was possible, he'd somehow managed to play that single chord wrong. Mukuro cringed backward and made a face, but he didn't notice.
"Like the axe?" he asked proudly. He swung the guitar so Mukuro could get a better look of it. "Think I'll name it… Red Flame."
The girl named 'Corpse Warblade' was in no position to judge that… but she did anyway.
"It looks like a good guitar," Mukuro said diplomatically. "Did you find it in the warehouse?"
"Sure did!" Leon gave a thumbs up grinned ear-to-ear. "First good thing to happen in this stupid place."
"Are you a musician, too?"
"I'm a musician, only." Leon shot back. He adjusted one of the tuning pegs on the instrument's head, but he was definitely doing it randomly. "All that baseball stuff isn't me at all."
Mukuro furrowed her brow.
"Do you mean… you don't like baseball?"
"Hate it," he sneered, voice dripping with contempt and hate. "I hate the shaved heads, I hate being in the pit with a bunch of sweaty guys, I hate the practice… Only thing I don't hate is how it got me into a fancy school on a scholarship, and even that landed me in this prison."
He strummed another few cords and conjured up the most hellish sound on Earth. Sayaka's mindlessness mercifully guarded her from it, but Mukuro almost wanted to throw up when she heard it.
"But…" he continued, not noticing her gritted teeth. "I'm just really good at baseball. The best in the world, I guess. Didn't ask for it, didn't work for it, but people begged to play, so I played, and it got in the way of my real destiny: punk." He scoffed. "Music's the best."
Mukuro had never really given Leon any thought before. The only thing she really associated with him was that time in the dorm with the sword, so he'd always come across to her like some kind of hotheaded idiot trying to dodge responsibility. She presumed he was very good at baseball, but otherwise, he'd seemed like one of the least impressive, least interesting people here. But…
Hating what he is, wanting to be something else, and being completely talentless at it…
It wasn't quite a connection to Leon that she felt, but it was something. For a second, he seemed almost like a reflection of herself: an oblivious, redheaded, kind of stupid mirror. She wanted to know more.
"Why do you like music?" she asked sweetly, hopeful that it would somehow provide insight into herself.
Leon rubbed the back of his head, then shrugged.
"There are a few things I did like about baseball," he admitted. "And, like, what if I could get those things some other way, right? Like, the girls."
"The girls." Mukuro said flatly, suddenly questioning her curiosity in this boy.
"Oh, yeah," Leon rolled his head back and bellowed out laughter. "I've gotten to third base in more ways than one, know what I mean? But there's this one girl at the hair salon, smokin' hot, you wouldn't believe her body, but she only dates musicians! Girls love musicians."
As if to emphasize his point, he tilted the guitar down at the ground, then beamed and struck a pose.
Mukuro's heart did not flutter.
"When I came to Hope's Peak, I was hoping I could somehow transition my talent, right? Go from being the Ultimate Baseball Star to the Ultimate Musician." He spat. "But obviously, that's not gonna happen now, so my only hope is to practice while I can, and become a famous musician once I'm outta here."
Mukuro pouted, unsure of what to make of Leon. His motives were so transparent and childish, but they weren't really harmful or cruel. He was unreliable and a bit of a dunce, but his instinct had been to save another student in peril. He clearly hated Sayaka for her premeditated murder, but held no grudges against Mukuro for stopping him from killing her, giving him a scar, or the spear incident.
For the briefest moment, the epiphany struck Mukuro that calling someone a mirror was unfair, that reducing any person to a single word like that was a disservice to them both. She saw the tiniest inkling of how complex a person might be, of how a whole universe might unfold within someone she barely knew, how anyone might have conflicting emotions dividing themselves, and yet learn to survive and become better. Most of all, there was the hope that a single action, no matter how terrible, might not forever define them…
Then Leon strummed another few notes on his guitar unprompted, and Mukuro's body tensed up, and her skin broke out in goosebumps. She almost vibrated out of her chair.
"The great thing about punk is that you don't need to be good at it," Leon babbled on, grinning to himself. "You ever hear the Clash or the Sex Pistols?"
"Yes?" she answered, hoping that would prompt him to keep talking, and therefore stop playing the guitar. And for all she knew, maybe she really had heard of those bands, so it wasn't technically a lie.
"Haha, yeah!" Finally, Leon set the guitar down on the table. "What about you? I'm thinking… I'll start up a band! Gonna need some backup, right? You know anything about music?"
Mukuro shrugged, and used her bare hand to smooth out some of Sayaka's hair. She wondered if the Ultimate Pop Sensation in front of them was listening, if she had any opinions on this conversation.
"Leon… I barely know what I do and don't know." Mukuro offered.
"Oh, yeah!" He slapped his knee, then looked up. "I'm a dumbass, huh? But c'mon! Try singing something."
"Me? But I'm… the Ultimate Soldier." She bit her lip. "What could I know about singing?"
"What could the Ultimate Baseball Player know about music? But I still do!"
That's debatable.
Mukuro sighed, then looked up to Leon. He seemed genuine, at least, and she didn't want to disappoint his good intentions. So, she would try and fail, and that would be that.
Her eyes went wide as soon as she opened her mouth. A soft, humming melody coalesced from nothing, and words sprang out of her throat unbidden, their origin unknown. Her eyes shut closed on their own, and the darkness of her vision summoned a new world before her.
"If I could have one wish granted / I would want wings on my back, like on a bird's / Please give me white wings…
I want to spread my wings to the sky, and fly away / To the free sky, where there is no sadness. / I want to flap my wings, and go there…
The dreams I dreamed in childhood, even now, I still dream…
I want to spread my wings to the sky, and fly away / To the free sky, where there is no sadness. / I want to flap my wings…"
The last word trailed off. Mukuro's heart was thumping against her chest, and she felt some strange combination of excitement, shame, and regret. Where had that song come from? Why did it carry with it those emotions?
She opened her eyes, expecting to find Leon looking impressed, or perhaps angry that she was better than him. And indeed, that did happen, but beside him also stood Hina, Sakura, and Kyoko, all but the last of whom looked shocked and pleased.
"Mukuro!" Hina shouted in her bubbly tone of voice. "That was incredible!"
Mukuro turned pure red. She looked away, unable to face anyone.
"Oh, uh, thanks."
"You have depths yet unexplored, Mukuro," Sakura agreed. "And talents we know nothing of."
Leon pursed his lips. He was more toward the 'angry' end of the spectrum than the 'impressed' one.
"You're pretty good," he admitted, steaming.
Kyoko was the only one to remain silent.
"I'm glad you guys are back," Mukuro stood up, then picked up the ruined comb. She awkwardly passed it off to Hina. "Uh… How'd the race go?"
Hina made a face, then crossed her arms. A second later, she uncrossed her arms, and pulled a jelly donut from her jacket. She stuffed almost the entire thing into her mouth.
"I don't see how that's important," she muttered, and spewed crumbs all across the floor.
Mukuro smiled sympathetically. She was actually a little surprised Sakura hadn't let Hina win.
"Oh!" Hina's demeanor instantly shifted back to her usual cheerful high spirits, then she swallowed everything in one go. She grabbed Leon by the shoulder, hoisted his guitar into his hands, and pushed him away. "Shoo, shoo! We're gonna talk about girl stuff."
"Aw, man, I was here first!" he whined.
"Go away!"
Leon reluctantly obeyed, kicking his feet against the floor as he did.
"Guess what?" Hina asked. "We decided to celebrate the race by having all of the girls go to the bathhouse tonight!"
Mukuro had yet to actually see this mysterious bathhouse, but she wasn't opposed to going with everyone else. Before she could ask any questions, Hina pumped her fists and rambled straight on.
"Kyoko mentioned something about how the pool and bathhouse both opened up the same day. Both have water, so that gave me the idea of everyone going together! I can't wait!"
"That sounds fun," Mukuro said. "But I don't think everyone will come."
"Wrong!" Hina shouted. "Toko's already agreed!"
Mukuro was taken aback. That was the girl she was most certain would refuse. She wasn't actually certain Toko even bathed at all – she usually carried a weird, slightly barfy odor with her.
"And Celeste?"
Kyoko shrugged, then spoke up. Her voice was soft, but still extremely certain.
"I'm sure she'll come."
Mukuro squinted and bored into those purple eyes. Hina was too excited to notice, but where was something in Kyoko's face that said that this wasn't just an ordinary certainty. Kyoko knew Celeste would agree.
This is more than just a bath.
(Scene)
It was the first time Mukuro had ever entered the bathhouse, but it proved to be exactly what she'd expected: a long, wide, and tall room with a floor that was half square wooden tiles and half shallow blue bath. The air was swelteringly hot, and a hazy fog settled over the room at waist-height and above. Each breath Mukuro sucked in pierced her throat and lungs, and her bare feet on the wood felt like they might catch on fire. If there was any surprise to this place, it was only that there was no camera. It was the first place in the school, except the dorm bathrooms, where Mukuro hadn't felt like she was being watched.
Kyoko, Celeste, Hina, Sakura, and Sayaka were already inside when she arrived, leaving only Toko absent. Each of the girls, including herself, wore nothing except white towels around their chests, except for Kyoko. Mukuro couldn't help but notice how the Ultimate Mystery kept her gloves on even in here. It was painfully hot, and those gloves would probably mold onto and stick to her skin for the rest of the day. For a moment, Mukuro wondered what Kyoko might have to hide under them, but then she rubbed her own bare right hand, and thought:
Who am I to judge?
Hina, Sakura, and Kyoko stood above the bath, talking about something she couldn't hear from her vantage point, but two girls were already inside the water. One was Sayaka, who sat in a corner, hair down and eyes faraway. Parts of her skin seemed to have turned red from the heat, but it clearly didn't bother her.
The other had pale skin and short, dark hair. She faced away from the door, eyes shut, and sat by herself with a practiced regal poise. Her grace and elegant bearing made her immune to the brutal warmth of the air and, presumably, water. Next to her, on the floor beside the bath, was a circular serving tray with, to Mukuro's shock, a bottle of wine and a tall, half-filled wine glass.
It took Mukuro a second to realize that this was a rare moment of Celeste removing her clip-on pigtails and lacey bonnet. They were all so much a part of her identity that seeing her without them was almost disconcerting.
Somehow, Celeste sensed her presence and peeked open a single red eye. A smile pulled at the corner of her lips, but she said nothing. Mukuro, more curious as to how a high school student got hold of wine, pretended to turn away, then surreptitiously looked down at the tray to read the bottle's label.
Grape juice.
She hunched over and grabbed her sides in an effort to stop herself from laughing. Of course Celeste cared more about the image than the contents.
If I saw it, then Kyoko would've also noticed it…
She wondered if Kyoko also had to stifle her laughter.
Probably.
"Mukuro!" Hina waved to her cheerfully. "Over here!"
Mukuro stepped around the bath and joined the three. She had always known, of course, how enormous and muscular Sakura was – the very first day, she'd had mistaken her for an adult man. But especially here and now, with only a towel to cover up her body, the true extent of Sakura's strength was impossible not to see. Every muscle was defined, every inch of her skin was bronze and tough as steel…
No one was more impressed than Hina, whose eyes darted all over Sakura's perfect body. She stared at her friend in awe.
"I can't believe you were able to throw Sakura across the gym that one time!" Hina said. "Both of you guys are amazing!"
Before Mukuro could say anything, a new voice joined the group.
"O—okay, I'm h—here!"
She twisted around to find Toko by the door. Her dark, braided hair fell around her shoulders in an uncharacteristically cute manner. Strangely, she wore two towels, one around her chest and the other around her waist, so that her entire body except her head and arms was covered.
Her glasses were completely fogged over, though, and she held them in her hands, cleaning them again and again with a piece of white fabric. Each time, the lens she'd just cleaned would be opaque by the time she finished with the other lens, leading her to engage in an endless, useless cycle.
Come to think of it, this might have been the second time Mukuro had seen Toko without Byakuya around, after that brief moment in the AV Room. Certainly, Toko seemed very uncomfortable, and she hunched over and kept her shoulder facing the others, as if prepared to run away at any moment.
The dour, almost blind girl made her way over to the bath, then slipped her useless glasses back on and paused by Celeste.
"H—hey, Mukuro!" she growled. Before Mukuro could respond, Toko raised a foot and kicked over the wineglass. Purple liquid went flying, but the glass itself somehow survived. "W—what gives you the r—right to steal the best c—corner for yourself, you w—worthless psychopath?"
Mukuro raised a hand to her waist, then raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Toko looked up to Mukuro on the other side of the room, yelped, jumped back in surprise, and then looked down more carefully. Celeste sat there in the bath, steaming more than the water.
Mukuro pursed her lips. Actually, she could understand how Toko had made that error. Without the pigtails, both she and Celeste had short black hair and very pale skin. You could still have told the difference if you paid attention to Celeste's graceful mannerisms, but with poor eyesight or from far away, the two of them probably looked identical.
"Pick up that wineglass." Celeste ordered. Her teeth were grit together and didn't move as she spoke, and her voice was dripping with hate. Toko mumbled something to herself, or maybe it was an apology, and dutifully picked up the glass. Before she could set it down again, Celeste continued. "Clean the glass."
"Wh—what? W—with what?" Toko stammered.
"Find something."
Toko muttered something again, this time more loudly, about how "only B—Byakuya can o—order me around," but she obeyed anyway, and wiped off the glass with a corner of her own towel. Now in a stained towel, she set it down and moved away, but Celeste raised a hand out of the water.
"Pour another one."
Toko groaned about how she didn't deserve this, but finally picked up the bottle and poured the glass back up to half-full. Mukuro was pretty certain it had never been touched in the first place.
"A—are you happy now, y—your Majesty?" she sneered.
"No," Celeste shot back even as she closed her eyes. "You're still around."
Toko started muttering again, then marched over to the others outside of the bath, bereft of her earlier paranoia.
What's it say that Toko'll get on my case for taking a corner of the bath, but not Celeste's?
Mukuro honestly wasn't sure. In any case, Toko faced Kyoko and motioned at Sayaka.
"Wh—why'd you bring the v—vegetable?"
"I didn't," Kyoko replied. "Hina did. Who else could we leave her with?"
"Hey!" Hina made a fist, then pointed at them both. "Don't call Sayaka a vegetable! She's going through a lot right now, and she needs our support!"
"I d—don't care about her s—stupid emotions!" Toko sneered and bit her thumb. "We've g—got stuff to talk about, and she's in the w—way."
"Stuff to talk about?" Hina blinked in complete innocence. "What do you mean?"
Toko looked confused for a moment, then cackled evilly. The undisguised mockery in her already cruel voice seemed to genuinely hurt Hina.
"H—how dumb are you?" Toko laughed. "A—all your mass went to your ch—chest instead of your h—head, huh?"
"We're just here to have a nice bath and celebrate the race…" Hina said, but her tone of voice showed that she was no longer certain of that.
"Hina," Kyoko said, as gently as possible. "Sorry for deceiving you, but it was necessary. We're here to talk about something important away from the cameras. There's important information to discuss that Monokuma can't learn."
"What?!" Hina turned blue. "Did everyone know except me?!"
"Yes." Sakura said.
"Yes." Kyoko said.
"Yes." Toko said.
"Yes." Celeste said.
Hina looked last to Mukuro, begging with her eyes for some support. But Mukuro only smiled sadly and admitted the truth:
"Yes."
Hina's jaw dropped.
"But… but… coming here was my idea!"
"Hina," Sakura rumbled. "Did it not occur to you that you only had the idea after Kyoko awkwardly mentioned the bathhouse to you, even though she's normally quiet and withdrawn?"
Kyoko tapped the back of her hand against her chin.
"I didn't want to seem suspicious by inviting everyone to the bathhouse the day after Toko took me here," she explained. "So, I tricked you into doing it for me."
Hina's lips curled into her mouth, half in shame and half in annoyance, and she marched over to the bath. Without a word, she slipped into the water beside Sayaka and submerged herself up to her bottom lip.
"At least you haven't betrayed me…" she muttered.
"The boys will come here tomorrow," Kyoko continued. "Byakuya agreed to explain everything to them."
"Byakuya?!" Mukuro repeated in surprise. "Have you been talking to him secretly?"
Toko shook her head.
"M—more like Master Byakuya's b—been talking to h—her!" she stammered. "Th—this was all his b—brilliant idea, d—don't give her the c—credit."
'Master' Byakuya?
"I think he's going to trick Taka into asking the rest of the boys, but I don't know his exact plan," Kyoko said. She sat by the edge of the bath, then dipped her legs in. Through the haze and reflection on the surface, Mukuro could see her stretch her bare feet. A moment later, she entered the water up to her shoulders. "But that doesn't concern us for now. What's important is that yesterday, I had a conversation with Byakuya and Toko."
"Oh!" Mukuro said. "That's when Toko invited you to the bathhouse."
"Yes. Byakuya was waiting for us there. He needed to talk to me, but inviting me here himself would have been too suspicious, so he used Toko as a proxy."
"He's so s—smart…" Toko clapped her hands and looked up, dreamily.
Sakura moved into the bath alongside Hina. Unlike the others, her mass was great enough that the water visibly rose a little.
A few seconds later, Mukuro joined them. The water actually wasn't as hot as she'd expected. In fact, it was rather comfortable. She waved over to Toko to follow, but the other girl hesitated.
"Are you going to come in, Toko?" Sakura offered.
"She can't," Kyoko interrupted. "At least, not yet. That's what we're here to talk about."
"We're here to talk about Toko's bathing habits?" Hina gasped and covered her mouth. "I didn't know Byakuya wanted us to do an intervention…"
"Sh—shut up, you big-titted idiot!" Toko's kicked some water at her in a fury. "Th—that's not it! And I s—smell just fine."
"Toko," Kyoko said tactfully. "Perhaps it would be easier if you sat down."
Toko scowled for a few more seconds, then finally accepted the advice and sat at the edge of the bath. That was as close as she got, though, and not even her toes entered the water.
"Okay," Kyoko continued. "We may as well get right to the point. Toko?"
"Y—yeah?"
"Show everyone your leg, and explain what happened that day with Byakuya."
Toko stalled for a second, suddenly conscious of everyone's attention. Her face burned red, and she seemed like she might retreat. But she finally sighed and shook her head, and moved a hand down to her lower towel, the one around her waist. She flipped it open to reveal her right leg.
Save Kyoko and Sayaka, everyone gasped.
(Scene)
One day ago
Kyoko was such a useless, conceited piece of shit. Who did she think she was, acting all mysterious and aloof? Anyone can do that. All you have to do is stand in a corner and not talk. It's easier to do that than to open your mouth and actually contribute to the conversation, like some people – especially Master Byakuya.
Toko's bottom lip pulled between her teeth. She bit down almost hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes rolled back up in their sockets, and she slowed her pace through the school.
Master Byakuya…
A pink-and-white haze drifted over the world. A tall, bespectacled Adonis appeared in the distance, his locks of blond hair flowing magnificently in the warm wind. His long white shirt was unbuttoned, and each of his pale abs shone in the dim light of an unseen sun. He opened up his arms to sweep in his future bride, and Toko—
"Toko?"
She looked back at Kyoko, furious that her fantasy had been interrupted. Of course, this was actually useful, Master Byakuya would be angry if they were late, but Kyoko couldn't have known that. Where did she get off, talking to Toko like that?
Toko grabbed Kyoko's hand again (stupid glove) more roughly this time, and pulled her into the dorms area and in the direction of the bathhouse.
"I—I wanted someone to h—help me wash my h—hair…" she muttered.
Kyoko was probably stupid enough to believe that lie, of course. Everyone in this prison-school was, with two exceptions, of course. What she could possibly have to contribute, Toko couldn't guess, but Master Byakuya wanted her, so he was going to get her.
As long as it's not in THAT way…
Toko bit her thumb. If this lavender-haired seductress made a move…
She stepped into the bathhouse's locker room. The dark carpet and long wooden benches were completely spotless – almost no one had actually used this place yet, except that idiot Celeste. One wall was mostly covered by metal lockers, and two automatic massage chairs sat in a corner away from them.
An entire room dedicated to bathing…
Toko shuddered. If not for being told to come here, she never would. But there was one other redeeming feature to this place, even if it was only temporary…
Master Byakuya stood in the center of the room, arms crossed. He tapped his foot on the floor again and again, waiting impatiently. He was always impossibly handsome, of course, the most beautiful man for a thousand miles. Even she would agree.
Have to make sure she doesn't come out… Have to make sure she doesn't touch him…
In this room, in this awful place whose only purpose was bathing, the Greek god that was Byakuya Togami stood out even more, like a diamond surrounded by filth.
I could be that filth…
Toko's mouth started watering at the thought of it. Even better, his eyes briefly flit down to hers.
"Toko," he said. "I thought I gave you two minutes to get her."
"B—but!"
He lifted up his sleeve, exposing his beautiful, chiseled wrist, and looked down to his watch.
"You got here with twenty seconds to spare." He pushed his sleeve back down, then looked up to her. Those deep blue eyes met her, and there was definitely, unquestionably a connection. He loved her for sure. "Go faster next time."
"Ah!" She clapped her hands together, then brought them up to her shoulders and hugged herself. He hadn't even insulted her this time! "M—Master Byakuya!"
She fell backwards and landed on a bench. By luck, she was sitting. Byakuya's lip pulled back in disgust, and then he dismissed her.
Toko looked back up to Kyoko, who looked at her, confused.
She doesn't understand our deep, personal love…
No one did.
"Kyoko," he said. His voice was cool, and he crossed his arms again. "Do you know why I had Toko bring you here?"
"There are no cameras," she said instantly. Her voice was also very calm. "You have something important to talk about, and can't risk Monokuma learning about it."
"Heh… You could say that." Byakuya leaned up against one of the walls. "Tell me… Did you notice something during the trial? Something odd, that the bear skimmed over as fast as he could?"
"You're talking about the sixteenth podium," she responded, again instantly. "He said the courtroom could 'technically' hold another student."
Sixteenth podium?
Toko scowled. She didn't like how this siren was so easily answering Master Byakuya's questions. She liked even less how Master Byakuya's tolerance of her verged on… not respect, but some plastic respect-like substitute.
Kyoko went go.
"By itself, that podium might not have meant much, but combined with what Makoto said on the first day we got trapped here—"
"Wh—what?!" Toko cut in. "What d—did he say?! I don't r—remember that!"
Byakuya scowled down at her.
"Don't interrupt." he commanded, clearly annoyed.
But Kyoko stayed calmer, clearly trying to show Toko up in front of Master Byakuya, and explained.
"On the first day, Makoto mentioned we were missing another student… Junko Enoshima."
That name!
Toko's hand reflexively started scratching at her right thigh. A low mumble eked out of her lips. If Kyoko didn't already know that Toko knew something, she definitely did now. Both of them looked back to Byakuya, who grinned with immense self-satisfaction.
"Obviously, you think that podium is for Junko," Kyoko said to him. "I had the same thought."
"Of course!" Byakuya's smile grew. "Junko Enoshima is the mastermind behind this entire game… She is Monokuma."
Master Byakuya's poise and the ease and certainty with which he said those words broke Kyoko's false, practiced calmness. For a brief, extremely gratifying moment, her eyes went wide.
Not even she's immune to Master Byakuya's wit…
"I'm confused." Kyoko said, suddenly back to normal.
"I guess I'm not disappointed," he said, a little bored. "Definitely not surprised. You're not here to help me figure anything out, honestly."
"Then what am I here for?"
He scoffed, then cocked his head.
"Isn't it obvious? You're here because I've already solved everything, and I need a way to disseminate that information to the others, and Toko's not a sufficient tool for the task."
"Ah!" Toko wrung her hands in her lap, burning with shame. "M—Master Byakuya—"
"Quiet."
Her lips closed on their own.
"Do you remember on that first day?" Byakuya asked. "Sakura speculated that Junko missed the first day because she was sick, and just got lucky."
"I remember." Kyoko said.
"From the beginning, I didn't like that explanation. It might have satisfied the other mouth-breathers, but I could tell it was wrong. What were the chances she'd get sick on such a convenient day?"
"It seems more probable than any other reason she'd be missing," Kyoko offered.
"I know, and that's what bothered me about it. It was too convenient. But…" He grinned again. "Toko!"
"Y—yes, Master Byakuya?"
"Show her."
Kyoko looked down at her, confused. Toko relished that confusion, and made sure to draw everything out as long as possible, to watch h—
"It's your leg, isn't it?" Kyoko guessed. "We all thought there was something wrong with it, but no one knew what."
Toko stared up at her. Angrily and all at once, she hiked up her skirt and revealed only her right leg. She had, of course, made sure to remove that girl's secret supply of scissors in advance.
Kyoko's eyebrows shot off of her face.
A sentence had been brutally carved into Toko's right thigh with a blade. The scars would last for the rest of her life. Ugly red letters sliced into the skin in haste formed letters and words. They were the right way up from Toko's perspective, as if she'd cut them herself, and…
Well, she knew her own handwriting.
JUNKO ERASED OUR MEMORIES x2
The skin around the letters was red and swollen. It was impossible not to scratch at it. It itched even now. But before Toko could scratch at it again, Kyoko swept down and ran her fingers over the letters, completely disrespecting all of Toko's privacy and personal space.
Bitch…
Kyoko finished examining the letters after about a minute. At length, she stood up and faced Toko.
"When did you find this?" she asked.
"Th—the first day, I went into my dorm. My leg was k—killing me! So, I went into the b—bathroom and saw it. It w—was just luck that I d—did pulled up my s—skirt in a place without c—cameras."
Kyoko flipped around to Byakuya.
"You've known about this for days," she said. "Why now?"
"Heh…" He looked away. "I wasn't sure if Toko was being truthful or not before."
"B—but you are now, right?" Toko asked hopefully, still scratching at her leg.
"Quiet, Toko." Byakuya snapped. She fell silent instantly. Oh, the contempt in his voice! Her heart was racing. "I still wouldn't have believed it, but Mukuro's amnesia makes for compelling supporting evidence. So, yes – I think it's a near certainty that this Junko Enoshima, for reasons I can't guess yet, erased our memories and masterminded this game."
Kyoko pressed her finger against her cheek.
"Junko erased our memories times two…" she murmured. "That means—"
"Ha!" Byakuya shook his head. "I've chosen you two to explain all of this to the other girls tomorrow, so let me make sure you understand it yourselves: it means that Junko erased our memories once, then we figured out what she'd done, and she decided to erase our memories again. Before she could, Toko thought to leave herself a secret message, which means that, despite all appearances, she actually managed to do something mildly useful."
Toko's arms snaked up to her shoulders until she was hugging herself. Complimented by Master Byakuya! It was almost too much to believe. Drool and snot leaked out of her mouth and nose.
"… I see." Kyoko finished. "And what do you intend to do with all of this information?"
"Heh…"
He turned away. A moment later, his good mood was gone.
"I… I think I've lost interest in Junko's little game, as it stands."
"Because of Makoto?" she pressed.
Byakuya took a moment before responding.
"… Don't mistake what I have to say. I haven't been moved by some worthless sentimentalism. No one in this school is willing to sacrifice himself for the others, or anything like that—"
"Makoto did." Kyoko said instantly. Byakuya scoffed, but didn't argue. "He could have misled us once he realized what had happened. He could probably gotten Mukuro not to turn him in. He could have easily tricked us into voting for her or Chihiro."
Byakuya's lips were sealed in a harsh scowl, but a low murmuring sound escaped. He didn't meet Kyoko's eyes.
"You know what happened in that courtroom was completely unjust," she kept going. "You know that—"
"Enough!" he sneered. "It's arrogance to apply your own morality to someone else. Don't read your own emotions onto me. The simple fact is that I've decided Junko's rules aren't worth following, even as entertainment. From this point on, I will set the rules, and I've decided the win condition is her death."
Toko's mouth fell open. Master Byakuya intended to bring the fight directly to the mastermind? She should have expected something so amazing! … Though, if she had, it would have been a little less amazing, so perhaps not.
Kyoko, though, was less visibly surprised. At length, though, she did smile.
"Could it be, Byakuya?" she chided him. "Inside that black husk you call a body is a heart?"
"Don't." he snapped. "The simple truth is that—"
"You can't leave until you have back what she stole from you?" Kyoko finished his thought. "At the very least, you need to know how much of your memory she took."
Again, Byakuya looked away.
"… You already suspected she'd messed with our memories, hadn't you?" he said. It wasn't really a question.
How did he know that? Toko wondered. He's so brilliant…
Kyoko shrugged.
"I didn't know it was Junko Enoshima," she admitted. "But if Mukuro had had her mind wiped, why not the rest of us?"
"Her amnesia could have been a coincidence. You must have had more than that."
This time, it was Kyoko who smiled.
"On the first day, I checked all of the nameplates on the dorm doors. I discovered that all of them had a lot of dust on their backs, as if they'd been there for months."
"Even though we'd supposedly only just arrived…" Byakuya muttered, and adjusted his glasses. "That means Junko either prepared those nameplates months in advance, or we've been here for months, and just recently had our memories wiped…"
"Except for one," Kyoko said. "There was one nameplate that was almost dustless."
Byakuya looked up, surprised.
"Then it was a late addition, someone Junko didn't expect to include in this game. Who?"
"Mukuro."
Byakuya's face darkened.
"I am bowing out of this game, at the rest of you are following me." he declared. He pointed directly at Kyoko, who didn't flinch. "In the name of the Togami family, I'm going to reclaim all that she stole, and kill her for wasting my time! Everyone else… will do what I say, and perhaps I'll tolerate you for the duration."
The light behind him shone brighter and transformed him into a beautiful silhouette, and Master Byakuya's soft, perfect skin molded into the radiance, until nothing was left but a yellow-haired god.
(Scene)
"Junko Enoshima, the sixteenth student, lying somewhere hidden in this school. The one they call the Ultimate Fashionista. We must watch out for her."
Kyoko finished the thought after the story was over. The two girls who'd spoken to Byakuya that day looked back to everyone sitting in the bath.
Mukuro watched them in amazement, mouth wide open. How much of this mystery had Kyoko and Byakuya just uncovered? An hour ago, they'd known almost nothing. Now, if nothing else, they had an enemy.
Each of the other girls took the information in a different way. Celeste's eyes were closed, but her face was scrunched in obvious contemplation as she worked to absorb this information. Hina covered her lips in terror, and Sakura's eyes blazed with anger. Only Sayaka's empty expression remained unchanged.
"But… wait!" Hina slammed her fists into the water. "If Junko Enoshima wiped our memories, how did Toko know to carve that into her leg? And why did Junko just let her? That would obviously tip all of us off!"
"Here's what I think happened," Kyoko said. Her voice was as calm as ever. "I think we were all students at Hope's Peak Academy, including Junko. For some reason, she decided to put us all into this killing game – I don't know why – and erased our memories. Again, I don't know how. I think that Mukuro escaped being captured and mind-wiped, but couldn't reach anyone for help, so she came back for us. She showed up partway through the game and told us the truth about Junko."
"Y—yeah!" Toko added. "S—so, Junko learns wh—what Mukuro's doing, and s—sends the Monokuma r—robots to stop her. As the Ultimate S—Soldier, Mukuro f—fights them for a while, but eventually g—gets overwhelmed! Junko decides to m—mindwipe us again and put us b—back into the game, with o—one new addition, which explains the l—less dusty nameplate."
Kyoko nodded.
"But before Junko can recapture us, Toko runs to some hidden location away from the cameras and carves that message into her leg. Assuming that the method of memory wiping doesn't involve stripping you naked, it would be possible for Toko to do this and Junko not to realize her mistake."
"If that's the case," Hina asked. "Why not tell us more? Like, put the full story on her leg."
"M—maybe it was impossible in the t—time I had!" Toko growled. "I—I don't know!"
Sakura had closed her eyes and been silent throughout this entire exchange. The area around her nose twitched several times, and it was clear she was even more disturbed than the rest of the girls. Mukuro wasn't sure why.
"Oh! And this explains Mukuro's amnesia!" Without warning, Hina grabbed Mukuro by the shoulders and shook her. "Maybe Junko was more scared of her because of how good at fighting she is, so she mindwiped her extra!"
"I also thought that," Kyoko agreed. "Or, depending on how volatile Junko's emotions are, she may have just been upset that Mukuro ruined the first game, and punished her for it. In any case, it seems certain that that first day we remember in the school, waking up and meeting each other for the first time… wasn't the first time. At the very least, Junko had to erase our memories twice to get this game actually started. For all we know, she's erased our memories even more than that, and the Toko of the past just didn't know about it."
"Then…" Hina covered her mouth again. "Oh my God! Are you saying that we could have all been friends and stuff? We could've gone to school together for who-knows-how-long? That… That would explain why I felt such a connection with Sakura and Mukuro! Because we were already friends to begin with!"
"O—oh!" Toko's eyes lit up. "N—no wonder Master B—Byakuya and I are so in l—love! It's old m—memories resurfacing!" She bit down on her thumb coating it in drool. "I bet b—before this, we were l—lovers, and Junko erased it all b—because she was so jealous! Th—that slutty whore!"
"Stop." Celeste said. She opened her eyes, and obvious suspicion and distrust burned within them. "Just, stop. This is ridiculous."
"Is it?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes. Consider this: Byakuya has opened talked about becoming the Blackened before. This could just be an elaborate ploy to bait us into a position where he can easily kill one of us."
"N—no!" Toko shook her head. "He d—didn't say anything like that to me!"
"That only helps prove my point," Celeste raised her nose. "Besides, Toko herself could be in on it. She clearly listens to anything he says. He could have told her to write that message on her leg."
Kyoko interrupted before Toko could start yelling.
"No," she said. "Toko was scratching her leg from the moment we met her in the entry hall, even before she'd ever met Byakuya. Besides, I examined the message on her leg. It's at least a week old, probably more. I'm certain it's genuine. At the very least, it predates our waking up here."
Celeste was obviously still skeptical.
"This entire story posits that Junko Enoshima somehow has the power to erase our memories. How does the Ultimate Fashionista have such a power? I would think her skills would be limited to cosmetics and clothing."
"Th—that's obvious, you i—idiot!" Toko moaned. "The Ultimate F—Fashionista is going to be i—irresistible to men! I bet she s—seduced the Ultimate Neurologist or s—something and g—got him to build a machine to do th—that!"
"Or, or!" Hina pumped her fists. "Maybe she's also the Ultimate Hypnotist!"
"Those are both leaping to conclusions," Kyoko interjected. "But it is a possibility that another Ultimate student helped her, or that she found something in the school to do it."
Celeste sniffed, then shook her head.
"Do we have any actual hard evidence for our memories being erased besides a deranged lunatic scarring up her leg?"
Toko was about to say something everyone would regret, but this time it was Hina who interrupted her.
"Mukuro's amnesia!" she said. "Stop being dumb!"
"I am still unconvinced. I would say that—"
"I also have amnesia." Kyoko said.
The room went quiet. Even Sakura opened her eyes.
"I've been keeping it a secret," she admitted. "I wasn't sure if I could trust anyone in this killing game. I'm still not sure. But… I do think we knew each other before this. Hina is right; we might have even been friends. Even if I'm wrong, though, it's obvious that this is too important for there to be any debate about."
Mukuro's heart fluttered in her chest.
"Y… You, too?" she asked, breathlessly.
"I shouldn't have kept this from you," Kyoko said quietly. "For that, I apologize. My memory loss isn't as severe as yours, but there's much of my past I can't remember. I have only vague recollections of my family, for instance. And my Ultimate talent… It's hazy."
Mukuro raised her hand. Without thinking, she placed it on Kyoko's shoulder.
"I… I'm not alone in this, then?"
"We all have had our memories wiped," Kyoko said. "But for some reason, Junko thought the two of us had to be made more helpless than the others. It's a certainty that Junko's plan, whatever it is, requires us not to remember any time prior to waking up in Hope's Peak."
Mukuro's breath caught in her throat. She'd always been able to count on Hina's support, but actually having someone else like her… It was a sense of relief she couldn't express in words.
"Oh!" Hina grabbed Kyoko's other shoulder. "Maybe you're the Ultimate Fighter or something, too!"
"No," Kyoko smiled. "I already tested myself in the changing room. I'm just a normal person. But, Celeste… Are you convinced, now?"
Celeste scowled. It seemed as if she wanted to still argue, but…
"I admit defeat," she said cheerfully. "I cannot believe that you, Mukuro, Toko, and Byakuya would all conspire to lie to us."
"Oh!" Mukuro fell back and almost hit her head on the floor. She slapped the water several times in surprise, splashing the girls around her. "Oh, oh! Oh my God!" The other girls looked at her. "Monokuma said something about this!"
"What?!" Kyoko stared right at her. "What do you mean?"
"Today, in the student store. I was with Sayaka, and Monokuma said there was a special item in the machine, with a one-in-one-hundred-million chance to get it. He said Makoto won it because of his luck on the day Sayaka tried to kill Leon. It was called an Escape Switch, and it would let everyone leave. But… He told me that I…" She sucked in her lips. She hadn't thought this far ahead, and she wasn't sure how the others would react. "Well, he said that I… uh… betrayed Makoto." She said the last two words in a low voice, as quickly as she could. "I said that wasn't true! I said Makoto would have told us if he'd gotten something like that, and that nothing like that happened the day Sayaka attacked Leon."
"No, that makes perfect sense now," Kyoko nodded. "Perhaps Sayaka tried to kill Leon the first time around, and got stopped somehow. Then, after our memories were erased again, she came up with the exact same plan. Then, Monokuma claiming things happened that we don't remember would mean those things happened the first time. In fact, this Escape Switch could be the impetus that forced her to erase our memories a second time."
"But…" Hina shook her head vigorously. "I can't believe Mukuro would ever betray anyone!"
"She didn't," Kyoko said calmly. "Junko was using the word 'betray' to mean 'failed.' Mukuro probably just failed to protect Makoto from the Monokuma robots, and Junko wanted to rub that in as revenge for ruining the first version of this game."
This time, it was Mukuro who covered her lips. That idea—that idea that she'd heroically tried to save everyone, that she'd failed in the end, that she—
But there was still that video where she'd lobotomized Chisa.
I can't have been a hero.
There was an ocean of relief waiting to pour around Mukuro, if only she'd accept it – and she just couldn't. No one who'd be so cruel and evil to that poor woman could be the person Kyoko described.
"I must know how much of our memories have been erased."
It was the first time Sakura had spoken since the story began. Her eyes were still closed, but conflict raged across her face. She was shaking, either with fear or frustration.
"There's no way to tell precisely," Kyoko said. "Months, at the very least, for the school to have been renovated the way it is. But… I suspect it was years."
"Based on what? I must know."
Kyoko tapped a finger on the edge of the floor.
"This isn't precise," she confessed. "And I am unsatisfied with this explanation… But I feel like my body isn't quite the way it should be. Like—"
"You feel slightly taller, or slightly heavier." Sakura finished.
Kyoko's eyebrow raised, then lowered.
"I should have known… You're a bodybuilder; of course you'd be the first to notice if your body felt at all off."
"You think it's been a year or more because we've grown slightly… Yes," Sakura growled. "But for me, it's the opposite. I feel as if my muscles have atrophied. The difference is almost imperceptible, but with the aid of the weights in the changing room, I've measured a minute difference in the amount I can lift. I think my time in this school has robbed me of some refinement."
"Yes…" Kyoko said. "I thought Monokuma might have done something to our bodies, but it's just the opposite. He only touched our minds."
"Years…" Sakura rumbled.
She stood up suddenly, then hefted herself onto the floor. She was breathing in and out quickly, clearly flustered at something. She turned down to everyone in the bath, opened her mouth, and then closed it again. It was such an alien look on her that Mukuro didn't know what to think. Sakura always had such a confident, prideful poise. To see her at all indecisive like that was unthinkable.
Sakura stood perfectly still for a few seconds. Her normal stoicism transformed her into an outright statue. For a while, only her eyes moved, darting between each of the girls.
"Know that I think of you all as friends," she said at last.
"What are you talking about, Sakura?" Hina asked. She was as confused as Mukuro, but far more disturbed.
Of course, Sakura is her best friend.
Sakura crossed her arms, then looked to the far wall.
"I am guilty of a great crime," she said in a low voice. "I cannot ask forgiveness, but I must explain it. I…" For a brief second, she lost her composure, but she regained it just as quickly. "Monokuma has blackmailed me into being a spy."
Toko flipped backwards in surprise, and Hina shook her head from side to side. Everyone was else was too stunned to do anything.
"No!" Hina said, alarmed and confused. "That can't be true."
"For three-hundred years, my family has watched over a dojo," Sakura explained. "Monokuma threatened it. I cannot let it be destroyed on my watch… But if what Kyoko said is true, then I have already been away from it for a year or more… It might already be destroyed… And we might have all… been friends, so that this betrayal is even crueler. And, in truth, I felt immense shame about this arrangement as it was. I am sorry, Hina, I went back and forth many nights over whether or not to tell you. You do not deserve this treacherous behavior."
Before Hina could respond, Kyoko spoke up.
"What did Junko have you do?"
"He—that is, Monokuma—contacted me after the incident with Sayaka and Leon." Sakura explained. "The impression I received was that he was frustrated no one had died."
"Of course," Kyoko said. Her eyes went down to the water, but her mind was on fire. "It must have happened similarly the first time, and been stopped somehow. Monokuma changed some variable and expected the murder to go off perfectly this time, but then Mukuro intervened and ruined it… Maybe, the first time, Monokuma even contacted you before the Sayaka-Leon fight, and was surprised by it…"
Mukuro looked over to Sayaka. Those blue eyes stared back at her, but there was no other indication that she'd heard the rest of the conversation.
To learn you betrayed Makoto twice, and that you'd been even closer to him than you'd believed…
It was almost too savage to believe.
"Perhaps," Sakura said, oblivious to Mukuro's thoughts. "He told me that if no one died in the next few days, I was to kill someone else of my choosing and prompt a trial. The day before I was to commit murder, we found Chihiro's body."
Hina lifted herself partly out of the bath, then hugged Sakura's tree-trunk leg.
"Okay!" she cried. "Okay, but you didn't do anything, so it's okay, right?"
Sakura turned away, burning with shame.
"Hina… You forgive me too easily. I—"
"Keep going." Kyoko pressed. "Did you do anything else?"
Sakura nodded.
"Yes, I am sad to say. I passed information on our dealings to Monokuma. He…" Sakura closed her eyes, then spoke again. "He knew we were planning to discuss something in here secretly, and contacted me when I was alone. I am to tell him of this discussion after I retire to bed."
Celeste raised a hand to her lips, then laughed.
"I see! You bring this up now because you wish to volunteer yourself as a double-agent, yes?" Her eyes took on that wide-and-crazy image she loved so much, and she pushed herself forward to face Sakura. "You think it is the only way to redeem yourself."
Slowly, Sakura eased herself back down, and sat at the edge of the bath. Toko crawled away from her, clearly still scared and upset.
"I cannot apologize enough," whispered the martial artist.
She took this confession much harder than everyone else, and it was clear how much it tore her up inside. For the first time, Mukuro saw Sakura as something other than that invincible colossus. She had emotions, she had shame, she looked and felt just like anyone else…
But most of all, Mukuro saw Monokuma dancing over her friend's body.
Maybe I'm blackmailing Sakura into being a spy in your group…
Mukuro shuddered. Monokuma had always claimed that bears don't lie, but she'd still have never believed it from anyone but the source herself. And if that was true…
He said there might be a second spy.
A cold chill ran up Mukuro's spine. If noble, honorable Sakura could work against them, then anyone was a suspect. She couldn't dare reveal that information now, though. If one of the other girls was the second spy…
"Y—you traitor!" Toko gnawed at her thumb. "I'm g—gonna tell Master B—Byakuya everything!"
"You'll have to," Kyoko agreed. "Especially the part where we tell her what to lie to Monokuma about."
Toko blinked in surprise.
"Oh, I, uh…"
"Make sure you find a way to tell Byakuya before he takes the boys to the bath, otherwise, there could be problems later."
Mukuro wanted to wade over to Sakura and comfort her friend, but…
Who could the second spy be?!
She sank into the bath up to her nose, then pulled up her knees to her chin and hugged herself. Her teeth were chattering, but the water disguised that fact from the other girls. If they hadn't already been in such a hot environment, the sweat rolling down her forehead would have given away her fear.
Hina couldn't be a spy, could she? Celeste was too suspicious, no one really trusted her. Sayaka was in no position to do anything… unless it was all an act.
She looked over to the idol's empty blue eyes. It couldn't just be an act.
It couldn't.
It couldn't.
Could it?
"What shall I say?" Sakura asked. "I yield to your expertise in this matter."
"T—tell Junko that we j—just took a nice bath together!" Toko demanded.
"No," Kyoko shook her head. "Junko already knows we know something worth talking about secretly, and she knows I'm the one who manipulated this bath into happening after I met with Toko and Byakuya. Our lie will have to be about something important." She furrowed her brow for a few moments. "The motives."
"Motives?" Hina asked.
"The first incident with Sayaka and Leon was prompted by Monokuma giving us what he called a 'motive.' It's highly likely that Junko will attempt to provoke us into murder again by inventing another motive."
"I see," Sakura nodded. "You propose we invent a fake way to combat the upcoming motives."
"Yes. Let's declare that the next time we're given motives by Monokuma, we'll come here and 'secretly' discuss them as a group. We'll all put them out in the open so there won't be any real reason to kill each other, or at least so we'll know whose motives are most compelling. That will be a good fake reason to meet tonight, but also serve a useful purpose once the time comes. Toko can relate all of this to Byakuya."
"O—okay." said the girl in question.
"And make absolutely certain never to mention memory loss, people knowing each other already, or Junko Enoshima." Kyoko added. "No one is to talk about either of those subjects outside of this bathhouse. Make sure the boys know this… Especially Hiro."
But the second spy…
Mukuro didn't know what to do. If she took Kyoko aside right now and explained in private, it would surely give away her knowledge to the spy, if they were watc—
Kyoko.
That was the most impossible person of all, right?
But Monokuma had implied that Sakura was a spy, and lo and behold, it was true. And he'd implied equally that Kyoko was a spy…
She'd been so helpful and considerate. She was the only reason anyone survived the first trial. She'd almost cried when Makoto died, she'd pulled Mukuro out of bed when she tried to starve herself to death.
Mukuro hated herself for feeling such distrust. Kyoko didn't deserve this!
… right?
"It's getting late," Celeste said. "We'll have to break up for tonight no matter what."
"Agreed." Kyoko said. "We can—"
"Wait, that's not where I was going. I have a question about this Junko Enoshima."
"Yes?"
"What does she look like? I confess, I do not pay very much attention to popular fashions, unless they are… Well, of a very particular sort."
Kyoko tapped the edge of the bath.
"I actually don't know. I might have, but I'm suffering the second worst memory loss."
"Me neither." Mukuro said quietly.
What their captor looked like was the furthest thing from Mukuro's mind. Who could possibly care about something as trivial as that? What mattered right now was Kyoko.
To trust, or not to trust…
Mukuro felt like a sword was being driven through her heart. She pressed her knees together and forced herself not to shake.
"I've seen her on TV and stuff," Hina said. "Um… She's super beautiful, like, more than you can even imagine. She's got these two giant blonde ponytails, and big blue eyes."
Mukuro's blood ran cold.
Two giant blonde ponytails, big blue eyes, unbelievably beautiful…
She bit down hard on her thumb, exactly like Toko always did, and looked up to find Kyoko staring right at her. For a terrifying second, she thought her friend might announce to everyone what had been in that motive DVD.
Kyoko remained mercifully silent to the others. But she stared across the bath and screamed her thoughts with her eyes:
The girl in your video.