-This is made by Starrshard on Ao3 and Wattpad, please check them out. I have been given permission to upload this to, as they do not have an account on this website-
There was a gloomy silence hanging over the students' heads at breakfast the following day. Everybody was quiet, somberly eating their food, going through the motions mindlessly as they comprehended the chaos of yesterday.
Where to even begin? The traitor motive, the hero rescue, All for One brainwashing Cementoss... I'm surprised all that happened just yesterday. It feels like so long ago...
Tamaki, as usual, was eating in silence. He normally didn't talk much anyway, so the quiet wasn't uncomfortable, per say. No, the rest of the class being in pure silence was the thing that put him on edge. I guess I can't blame them. After that...
"Ahem. Hello." Tamaki jumped and looked up as Mezou suddenly spoke, the tension in the room thickening to a choking point. "If you're all going to continue with your naive searching for hope and truth, shouldn't you discuss what transpired yesterday?" the multi-armed boy asked coldly.
Another lapse of quiet followed his prompting.
"I... agree with him," Tsuyu softly said. Her eyes still bore that haunted look; she was staring at her empty plate with wide eyes. Nejire had been giving her a concerned look since they sat down. "We should discuss. It could help us get out..."
"Alright. Let's talk, then," Mirio spoke, true to his nature. "The hero rescue team."
"Well, they're sort of obvious," Hitoshi stated bluntly. "There's a few possibilities. They could've finally made it into the building after being held off by the villains for their first few attempts, they could've finally sent their first all-out raid after sending scouts, or-"
"Or it could've been my machine! My device!" Mei piped up. "The test run I sent a while ago. Maybe that got through and they finally got some sense of urgency, or something!"
"...possible," Mashirao said slowly. "Or Yuga could've given them some pointers."
"Wh-Whatever the case with the rescue team, we know they got in and got fought off by the villains... meaning the villains are strong." Tamaki built up enough courage to speak out, stumbling into the conversation.
"I agree. The more important fact of the matter here is the traitor motive Monokuma gave us," Nejire said, tearing her eyes from Tsuyu. She seemed concerned; the Pageant Star was like a flower that had finally managed to unfurl its petals, even if only for one day, and was looking out for everyone else with little regard for her own health. Another good day, hm? I'd like to think she's getting better.
"The traitor motive? That's got to be a lie," Denki whimpered, his eyes distant. He wasn't eating; he never got food in the first place. His head was on his arms on the table.
"Are you sure?" Yaomomo murmured. "So far we've already had murderers, a mass bomber, and an assassin among our ranks. It wouldn't be a stretch to say we have a villain, too."
"H-Hey, don't be so pessimistic!" Tooru cried. "Monokuma's probably lying, to make us suspicious!"
"I agree with her. He likely wants to make us all suspicious, so that someone will try to kill whoever they believe the traitor is!" Mei announced.
"But what if he isn't? Yaomomo's right, it isn't a stretch," Shouto suddenly spoke up for the first time that morning, his voice soft.
"Eh? Two pessimists?!" Tooru wailed.
"Monokuma has never lied before," Mezou said. "He's always acted out his motives; he let Yuga go, for example. And it's not a stretch to think one of us could be a villain."
"Three?!" Tooru continued.
"Guys, we shouldn't be so negative!" Nejire cut in. "That won't do us any good, and we'll all end up dead that way!"
"Upupupu! That would be fun, wouldn't it?!" Monokuma suddenly leaped out from behind the half-wall. Tamaki -along with a few other people- jumped.
"Puhuhu! Scared you, didn't I?" Monokuma grinned. "I see you're all hesitant to believe me, which is suuuuuper disappointing. I've never lied, have I?"
"Yeah, but you're still a villain. Who knows what you could pull?" Mezou growled.
"Never mind that! Anyway, I'm here to convince you, so listen up and take notes!" He jumped to the head of the table and cleared his throat. "Ahem.
"One-A kids! You must all remember the USJ attack, right?" Monokuma prompted. Several of Tamaki's underclassmen nodded; heck, everyone in the school knew well about that. It was a huge blow to UA, having villains entering the campus.
"Well, the villains were after All Might. That was never a mystery. All Might had been scheduled to teach there that day; he arrived late, of course, to save the day at the end. However, how did the League know All Might was to be there, on that specific day, at that time?" The robot grinned.
Silence followed. Tamaki had never actually considered that before; why and how did the League choose that specific location and time to attack, with such a large-scale team as well? He heard they brought a Nomu and a ton of minor villains with them. It was odd, now that he looked back on the event.
"The League knew about the schedule! They knew that All Might was going to be there, because SOMEONE told them about the schedule! The someone... was a member of the school." Monokuma looked awfully proud of his deduction.
Even worse was that he was probably right.
"But then it could be anyone! The traitor might not even be a member of this class!" Mei insisted.
"But that's not the last of it!" Monokuma continued. "Remember when Shigaraki attacked Izuku at the mall? Bingo! Someone told him about that. And after that, the Vanguard Action Squad's attack on the summer camp? Nobody knew where the camp was taking place except for some of the staff, the Pussycats, and -you guessed it- Class One-A, once they got there!
"And of course, somebody told the League about the location of the camp. That somebody was a member of Class One-A!" Monokuma held up his paws and smiled. "So? How about that?"
"Wrong... this has got to be a trick..." Tsuyu whispered. She put her head down and started whispering to herself. Nejire was growing increasingly concerned.
"But he has logic. He's right," Shouto said. "It can't be a member of the Big Three, Mei, Class One-B, or Hitoshi, because they wouldn't know about the mall visit. It can't be a staff member because they also wouldn't know about the mall visit. It can't be the Pussycats because they don't know the schedule for the USJ attack."
"So... it has to be a member of Class One-A?" Mashirao whispered.
"Yup!" Monokuma smiled. "Yaomomo, Tooru, Tsuyu, Denki, Mashirao, Mezou, Shouto! One of you is the traitor!"
Silence. The tension was rising again.
"Puhuhu! Think it over with your little golden brains! I'll be off now!" Monokuma ran off, laughing.
"He's... he's gotta be kidding, right?" Tooru murmured. "A traitor..?"
"All the evidence he's provided is correct," Mezou said. "All of his points, and everything that's happened so far... there's most likely a traitor in our midst."
A hush fell over the students again. The tension was thick enough to slice with a blade.
"I'm leaving," Mezou announced. He took his plate and walked out the door.
"Me too... Come on, Mashirao." Hitoshi beckoned to his boyfriend, and they left together. So he still trusts him, huh?
One by one, all the students left. Everyone parted on a terse note.
Throughout the day, the tension only got worse. Tamaki could see the looks the students gave each other; Tsuyu would walk with Nejire and refuse to talk to anyone. Mashirao and Hitoshi stuck together like glue; it was clear the violette trusted him greatly. Mezou stayed in the gym, alone. Denki holed himself up in his room. Tooru and Mei stuck together. The formerly invisible girl stayed in Mei's room the whole day. Yaomomo and Shouto were in the library for part of the afternoon, alone.
In short, it was terrible.
That evening, Tamaki went to Mirio's room for the Big Three-plus-Tsuyu gathering they had arranged for dinner, since obviously the class didn't gather for a meal and Tamaki enjoyed anything with Mirio involved anyway. He ran into Nejire on their way over.
"How long do you think the class'll keep this up?" she asked, clearly down from the traitor situation going on. "How long... before someone dies?"
"I'm not sure," Tamaki murmured.
"But I know it won't be long."