Chapter 5: An Eye for an Eye
It had been a few days since they had been locked inside Hope's Peak Academy and Esteban had yet to find anything of note of who had locked them in. He had done his best to find a way out but he had no such luck.
In other news Chihiro had been able to build the cracker Esteban needed, now he had to have it programmed but to do that they would need the equipment.
He had also found something curious about the vault door. After a deeper inspection he found a button that had shown three different wheel locks. They were of very high quality with the code randomized each time there was a mistake.
He had theorized this vault door worked like a puzzle box. Which basically meant there would be multiple steps to actually opening it. If he hadn't been in such a situation he would have praised whoever made this door as it almost felt like tailor made for him.
On another front, he had noticed some people slowly getting more desperate. He had tried to keep people in high morale but there were some already falling to Monokuma's despair and it wouldn't be long till he gave them the push they needed.
He wrote down a list ranking the students he was locked with. From those who he trusted to those who he felt would try to kill. In those he fully trusted were: Kyoko, Aoi, Chihiro, Sakura, Makoto, Mondo and Taka.
Those who he trusted a decent amount: Junko, Leon, Hiro.
Those he wanted to keep an eye on: Hifumi, Toko.
Those he didn't trust at all: Sayaka, Togami, Celeste.
He had been surprised at how manipulative Sayaka turned out to be. He knew the idol industry was cutthroat but he didn't expect her to be as good as she was. He had watched her build a bond with Makoto trying to appear as friendly and flirty as possible with him. She gave her smiles and laughed about things but they sounded hollow to him. He had caught one of her breakdowns where Makoto had to calm her down.
He didn't blame her at all but he knew now thanks to Makoto that she had done 'bad things' under her own admission to him. To keep her place at the top. Whatever the reason it could be assumed she could falter and try to kill someone.
The person who he had the most difficulty putting was Junko. Although she had acted like an ally and he really wanted to trust her something kept feeling off. Some parts of her story didn't fit, why she did that? He didn't have a clue.
Right now Esteban had his ear up to the wheel lock slowly turning the last one. He had asked to be alone and to keep noise at a minimum. A single mistake would erase all the work he had done and reset the whole thing.
"Hellooooo" a voice said snapping him out of it. The familiar clang rang out and he was back to square one. He glared at the Monochrome bear standing there innocently.
"Maldita sea este oso..." He grumbled. "The fuck do you want Monokuma?" He asked.
"I'm sorry! Did I interrupt something?" He asked innocently.
"You know what you did... Now get on with it. I rather not waste my breath talking with you."
"Such a tsundere! I'm sure our viewers can feel the sexual tension." The bear moaned disgusting Esteban.
"Okay... First thing... That is fucking disgusting, second of all... Viewers?"
"Yep, but I'll leave it at that. Anyways... I just wanted to see if you were ready. I will be releasing the first motive." He explained Esteban looked at him unamused and crossed his arms.
"I'll stop anything from happening." He simply stated.
"Oh I'm sure you'll try" Monokuma said giggling. "But can you stop yourself?" The bear asked.
Esteban laughed as the bear looked at him with a blank expression. "You have nothing to threaten me with or motivation enough to kill anyone here."
"Hmm you lack faith in the power of your headmaster" Monokuma grumbled. "But it doesn't matter. The best way to teach you unbeliever is to prove myself!" And with that Monokuma disappeared again. Esteban let out a sigh before turning back to the vault door.
"Esteban?" A voice called out to him. He turned around and saw Chihiro she looked scared, more scared than he had ever seen her. Something had happened.
"Is something wrong Chihiro?" Esteban asked concerned.
"Monokuma asked us to go to the A/V club. He said he had prepared a motive."
"Hmm... I see" he walked over to Chihiro and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, no matter what it will all work out in the end."
"I-I believe in you!" She quickly said as they walked over to the A/V club. Everyone was standing around the door. Seemingly waiting to see who would open it. Esteban pushed past them and opened the door.
"What did you think was going to happen?" Esteban asked amused.
"Well... We thought it could be a trap" Makoto said a bit embarrassed.
"Fair point but I doubt the mastermind would just go and kill us. They seem more interested in us killing each other." Esteban said. He entered with Makoto and the rest following close behind. He saw a box he hadn't seen before. He looked inside and saw dvds inside with the name of each one of them. A feeling of dread mounted as he thought of what was on them.
His mind defaulted to either blackmail or an incentive. He felt an urge to break them before anyone watched them and lifted the box with the intent of smashing it before Monokuma arrived.
"Whatcha think you're doing!" The bear asked mad.
"Breaking them pendejo, whatever is on them is definitely not worth watching." He said glaring at the bear.
"You can't do that! Do it and I'll have to punish you!" The bear warned. Esteban gritted his teeth before putting the box down. "Good boy! I spent so long working on this motive, it would be a shame if it went to waste." The bear disappeared as Esteban grabbed his DVD, he looked at everyone and let out a sigh.
"This isn't worth killing over" Esteban said.
'We don't know that' his other self said leaning on a table.
'I won't kill anyone here.' Esteban replied, his other self chuckled drily.
'I'm just saying killing Togami could be considered a good deed.'
'Look I won't add more to my body count if not needed' Esteban said putting in the DVD. He watched as an overview of El Carmen appeared on his screen.
"Oh El Carmen, some say it's the anarchist dream come to live with people being as free as possible but also working together." Monokuma began saying. The scene changed over to someone walking through the streets.
A sense of nostalgia washed over him as the camera walked through the main street. He saw the small restaurants, the kids playing tag, people going on with their lives with a smile on their faces.
His happiness quickly washed away into pure dread as the scene changed. An overview shot of El Carmen appeared. A thick white cloud covered it. There were small fires around the area and as the drone started flying closer to the ground he could only look in horror. The scene was out of a horror movie. There were people sprawled on the ground.
They looked severely burned. Their skin peeling off. Most of them looked dead but other bodies seemed to be alive as he could see laborious breathing. He could hear some faint screams as the drone kept moving in a direction.
In a familiar direction, he saw a church appear through the thick cloud. The door barely open, he steeled himself for whatever was inside but it wasn't enough. The scene was one of pure suffering. He saw what he assumed was the noncombatants of El Carmen all dead in the church. Elderly couples hugging, parents hugging their kids in a desperate attempt to shield them.
"Sadly, the dream was not to last, and so El Carmen was wiped out of the map. But... Who did this?" Monokuma said. The screen cut to black with only one message. 'Learn more after graduation.'
Esteban gripped the table tightly. He felt pressure growing in his chest. For a second his facade broke, his face turning to full despair. Someone had used white phosphorus on people. His people, his family. He looked around and saw how horrified his classmates were watching their own videos.
Seeing all this... Senseless violence and death pulled him back to reality. His face turned to anger he felt angry, like he had never felt before. He would find who did this and kill them with his bare hands. But... Right now... He needed to keep everyone together. Whatever they got was probably terrible in equal measure.
He could barely hear people as they started to panic. Esteba's ears rang as he tried to compose himself.
"I see... So this is what he meant by motive. He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other." Kyoko said sounding surprisingly composed.
"Prisoner's dilemma..." Esteban added.
"Huh?" Hifumi said sounding confused.
"Let me use an example. Imagine two countries are on the brink of war. But both countries want peace, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces and they both end up betraying each other." Celeste explained.
"Basically the fear of treachery becomes the enemy of stability." Esteban concluded. He had composed himself as best as possible trying to sound calm and not show how angry he was. His knuckles growing white as he clenched his fists.
The atmosphere had grown extremely tense as people started sizing each other up. Things were deteriorating and fast.
"That kinda sounds l-like us right now... Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts, we're all afraid someone might betray us..." Toko said fearfully.
"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head! That's exactly what they want us to do!" Taka argued, he found himself agreeing with the hall monitor. At least he kept his focus.
"You can say that, but maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just..." Leon argued getting angrier.
"Taka is a lot of things but a killer? Highly doubt it" Esteban said jumping to his defense.
"Like you can talk!" Leon said more agitated.
"This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants. They want us to fight. Don't you see?" Sakura said getting between the two.
"Yeah, you're right. We all need to calm down..." Chihiro said. Esteban nodded but kept a close eye on Sayaka who seemed to have gone into shock. He could see it in her eyes. She snapped, and she snapped hard.
"Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just...talking. Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system." Junko said. "Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?"
"I don't agree with curiosity but yeah we should talk about it." Esteban said, he saw Makoto draw closer to Sayaka as if to comfort her.
"Stop it!" She yelled, the horror in her eyes said it all. She bolted out of the room.
"Sayaka!?" Aoi looked worriedly as the girl bolted out of the room.
Makoto was about to follow her when Togami spoke up. "Leave her."
"I can't do that! I have to go make sure she's okay!" Makoto protested.
"Sadly I agree with rich kid, she needs time, let her process everything." Esteban added.
"I can't leave her!" Makoto said speeding off behind her.
'Buen chamo' his other self said.
'Yes he is a good guy, but... We both know things have been set in motion, someone will try to kill. My money is on her.' Esteban said.
'What about us? We need to leave now!' His other self bellowed. 'They killed them all! We need to get out and kill them!'
'I know... You think I'm not crumbling on the inside!? They were my family... God...' Esteban replied deflated.
"I h-hate romantic comedies like this. I don't care what h-happens to her, personally..." Toko said.
"That's because you're totally thoughtless!" Junko replied angrily.
"I'm really worried." Hina said.
"Then why don't you go do whatever you think you have to? We don't all have to stick around together, right?" Celeste said which seemed to echo the feeling of a lot of people. Most left, few stayed. Hina, Sakura, Chihiro and Junko.
"We should probably move somewhere else" Esteban said.
"I agree" Sakura said. They moved to the cafetería. Esteban offered them coffee. They all accepted, black for Sakura, Hina wanted something with so much sugar he wondered if it was even coffee by then, milk and sugar for Chihiro and black for Junko. He walked out with all the cups and put them down.
"So... Anyone want to speak of what we saw?" Esteban asked. He saw his other self pacing around the room like a caged animal. It worried him a lot.
"I-I... I saw that they had my father!" Chihiro said starting to sob, Esteban leaned and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry Chihiro" Hina said sympathetically.
"These monsters have no limit!" Sakura said enraged.
"Jesus..." Junko simply said.
"Okay Chihiro I know it's hard but in what state was he in?" Was he hurt? Did you recognize where they kept him?" Esteban asked.
"N-no and he seemed to be okay but scared." Esteban nodded.
"Good to hear." Esteban said smiling.
"They have my brother..." Hina said next. They all looked surprised.
"Damnit..." Was all Esteban muttered.
"He looked okay" Hina added trembling a bit. "But... I'm so worried, I don't know what they might do."
"That is understandable" Sakura said giving her a sympathetical smile. Her smile turned sour when she spoke up. "They have my family and boyfriend... They also burned our dojo down..."
These attacks, the severity, all the kidnappings... And killings they were too coordinated, besides he had people trained a local militia in El Carmen, their location made it extremely hard to attack. Had the central government moved to put down their movement they could most certainly repeal them. But the use of those bombs... Even the government wouldn't use it for the international backlash. The more he thought about it the more his theory made sense. Something had happened on the outside, the world was probably reeling by some event. What it was? He couldn't guess.
"Mine showed they had my family" Junko simply stated. Esteban looked at her and noticed it. She was telling them a boldface lie.
'What is she hiding?' His other self said.
'Dunno... But... This has definitely tipped me off. She is hiding something.' Esteban simply replied.
"What about you?" Junko asked snapping him out of his internal debate...
Esteban looked at his coffee, the images had been burned into his mind. It had felt so surreal, he felt as he could smell it he could feel it and touch it all. It felt as if he was there.
"I..." Esteban began he let go of his coffee and clenched his fists. "I saw El Carmen... Burned to the ground... Everyone was dead." He said biting his lip, he bit hard until he felt the metallic taste in his mouth.
"What?" Junko asked going cold.
"Those bastards!" Sakura said a killer aura around her.
"I-I" Hina couldn't put it into words.
He felt someone hug him. It was Chihiro, he appreciated the gesture but it didn't calm him. "But why would they specifically kill them?" Junko asked.
"I don't know" Esteban growled. "But... When I get my hands on who did it... They will die slowly."
Junko watched in absolute bliss. Esteban had reacted as she expected. With pure anger, with something she could only describe as wrath. Esteban had never been one for despair, he always focused it into anger. He said it made him push forward even harder. But for a brief second she saw what she was looking for. Despair, and what a pure form of it... She had only seen it once, the sorrow on his face, the helplessness... It was all so perfect it excited her.
The last time she had seen him like that was the day he almost ruined her plans. To plunge class 78 into despair would have been the cherry on top. And what better way to do it than to kill their beloved class president for all of them to watch. And it had gone all according to plan. That was until he decided to take a gamble and blow a huge crater in the ground.
By that point she knew he would try to stop it. And a thousand possibilities ran through her head. But she didn't expect such a... Stupid plan. He pulled her out in the middle of the killing game and helped her out.
Of course she sent the reserve course students to stop them and kill her. But... Esteban gunned them down without hesitation. He carried her as explosives went around the area. Explosives she didn't plant, but... She was Junko Enoshima and she had backup plans. And so even with his desperate struggle as he tried to save her, she was killed in front of him.
She had to admit it was hilarious to see him struggle. To pile up so many corpses and fail all the same. He had this weird belief that if in the end, it all worked out the bodies he mounted would be worth it. And so his friend died, as he tried to stop the bleeding. In a cruel twist of fate the only person who was there was Hajime, or well... Kamakura, how ironic it was that he would watch his friend die next to her boyfriend who remembered nothing.
But that was old news. Now she wanted to see what that pig of a sister would do. She wasn't supposed to get anything on the DVD but considering how... Useless she had turned to be she decided to give an ultimatum. Her or her friends. Kill Makoto and Esteban tonight or join them and leave her behind.
She giggled, Mukuro for how useless she was as a mole at least was devoted to her and she could use her as she wanted. Though if she were to be honest she wondered if there was a possibility of betrayal. Maybe there was, lucky boy and latino heat were her only friends. The uncertainty kept her amused at the very least.
It had gotten relatively late at night and Esteban, Aoi and Sakura were sharing tea. Junko and Chihiro had retreated to their rooms leaving the trio alone.
"Señorita Sakura... This tea is great!" Esteban complimented with a big smile.
"Yeah! It's sooo good!" Hina praised.
"Thank you, to the both of you" Sakura said with a faint smile.
"You have to teach me how to do it!" Esteban said. He had reigned in his feelings. He needed to appear strong, at the very least he needed to for everyone around him, and he couldn't stomach the possibility of doing what Monokuma wanted.
"Of course, but I do ask you to show me how to make coffee." Sakura said.
"Deal!" Esteban said. Then they saw something they didn't expect, Sayaka entered the kitchen. Esteban quickly picked up on the fact she quickly grabbed a knife. She gave them an excuse she was hungry.
Esteban clenched his fist. She had finally made the choice... He would need to stop her. Before he left before her and waited. His other self kept pacing.
'That bitch!'
'Calm down camarada' Esteban said.
'Callate puto!' His other self said.
'What has gotten into you' Esteban asked.
'Our people! They were massacred and you act all calm and collected!'
'We both know I'm seething but going on a rampage won't fix anything!'
'Shut up! Shut up!' Esteban saw Sayaka turn the corner. She walked to her room only to be intercepted by Esteban.
"Put the knife back Sayaka" Esteban warned.
"I don't know what you are talking about" she said nervously.
"You think I wouldn't notice? Put it back before you hurt someone."
"Stop it! I will do it..." She said. She gripped something as Esteban looked at her in disgust.
"You fold on the first sign of trouble and plan to murder? Disgusting..." Esteban said.
"You are a criminal! You're the one to talk." Sayaka said angrily.
"Yep, takes a piece of shit to know one." Esteban said. "Now put it back, I won't ask again."
Before he said anything else she lunged at him like a wild animal knife in hand. Esteban moved out of the way and disarmed her. His eyes filled with fury as he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall.
"Disgusting, you selfish bitch really thought you could do me in?" Esteban said. A familiar ringing filling his ears.
"P-please" she gasped for air as she struggled.
'Finish her!' His other self said. Esteban wanted to do it. He felt as if his body acted. On his own as he saw her slowly stop struggling.
"I-I don't want to die" she said. In that moment... He saw a girl, someone who was too afraid to die. Someone who could have been any of the countless people massacred in El Carmen. He let her go with much difficulty. Pilling bodies was not the answer.
She coughed violently as she gained her bearing back.
"Put the knife back" Esteban said. The ringing growing louder as he felt his skull vibrating. He had scared her enough he thought and stumbled back to his room. His head was throbbing and his other self was not helping. He barely made it to the table, he quickly grabbed the bottle and with trembling hands he opened it but before he could take one his other self slapped the bottle out of his hands.
'Only way of getting rid of me is dying pendejo!' His other self bellowed. He collapsed on the ground and tried dragging himself to one of them as the ringing grew louder only for darkness to envelop him.
Mukuro sat on her bed, she looked at the bayonette Esteban had gifted her. A warm feeling washed over her as she checked it. It was a bit rough and definitely not professionally made but he made it just for her. Then the guilt hit again. She thought about it, all the kindness that was shown to her with betrayal.
It wouldn't be the first time she did something she didn't feel comfortable with. But Junko has made it clear it was her or them. She felt terrible, could she really go through with it? Her mind went to the countless times she was alone, how people used to avoid her. She was the ultimate soldier and that made some fear her.
Esteban had told her that she should think for herself and live for herself. Arguing that total devotion to someone else wasn't really living. If that were the case she hadn't truly lived in years. Junko had stopped visiting her and now she needed to make a decision.
It had been settled, she would kill Makoto first then Esteban. She just hoped she would find the strength she needed to go through with it.
Esteban woke up feeling like someone had stomped on his head. The pain had numbed a bit but he still felt like shit. He slowly stumbled to his feet and saw he has toppled the table and pills were still all over the ground.
He forced himself up slowly. His other self watching like a hawk. Esteban chose to ignore him and looked over to the clock. He passed out for maybe three hours. He wanted to head to bed but something told him he needed to check outside just in case. He really doubted Sayaka had gone through with it but it didn't hurt to check.
He opened his door and looked down the hallway and his blood went cold. He saw Makoto's door slightly open. Could she have really done it? Without a moment's hesitation he ran towards his room. He went in and saw indications of a struggle. The room was filled with scratch marks but no body. Then he saw the door to the bathroom, someone had removed the doorknob.
He turned the door and saw a scene he didn't expect. He saw Sayaka up against the bathroom door with a knife in her chest. He quickly rushed to her and checked her vitals. There was blood, lots of it. He prayed to God he would find a pulse.
God seemed to answer as he heard a faint pulse. She was alive but barely. What could he do? He had trained to take care of wounds if heists went sideways. But he didn't have the equipment. The only place he could think of was the nurse's office. He would have to break in, not that he cared at the point. He picked her up and ran as fast as he could. He arrived at the door and kicked it in. He placed her on the bed.
He started working trying to stop the bleeding. She had lost a lot of blood. It would be a miracle if she held while he worked. He heard footsteps approaching. He prepared himself just in case, it could be the killer after all.
He saw Junko walked in and see him. His hands all covered in blood. He ignored her and kept working.
"See if you can find blood packs." Esteban ordered.
"What the hell!?" She yelled confused.
"Look for them or leave I don't have time to fucking waste!" He responded. She stood there in shock. She looked conflicted. He didn't have time to ask what that was all about and he really didn't care. After a few seconds she walked to the small fridge and pulled out some blood bags. He looked at them, AB they would work well.
"Okay good, now we need to work on stopping the bleeding" Esteban said.
Esteban gave orders as they worked to stop it. He was surprised at how well Junko was working. She seemed calm and collected, and if he were to be honest she seemed to know what she was doing.
Two hours had passed and they did the best that was possible in the current situation. She was stabilized. This didn't mean she would make it through though. He would need to keep an eye on her. Junko had already washed her hands. Esteban sat on a chair with the knife in his hand.
Of course it was the same kitchen knife as last night. It seemed Sayaka was hellbent on killing and it backfired, quite massively.
"You should wash yourself." Junko said. Esteban nodded and walked over to the sink. He washed the blood away slowly. His mind wondered if he had stayed up and guarded would this have been avoided? He tried shaking the idea, what ifs would only drive him crazy.
Esteban was clear Junko wasn't the killer. Seeing how Junko moved under pressure and how calm and collected she was not to mention that she seemed to know what to do made that clear. 'Junko' was more than she let on. Had she been the killer he did not doubt Sayaka would be dead. That and he noticed Junko had a combat knife on her.
She probably didn't notice he had caught on to her. He had kept a scalpel on him just in case he needed to fight but even then he knew he was at a huge disadvantage. But he wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Carajo..." Esteban groaned. Why did things have to be so complicated?
"She's fine. For now at least" Junko said. "Now mind telling me what the hell happened?"
"Thought something might happen today. Decided to check saw the door open and found her like this" Esteban explained.
"What the hell... What the hell!?" Junko acted pissed. Esteban just gave her a sideways glance and ignored it. "Did you see who it was?"
"No..." Esteban said. "Anyways... As you said we did all we could. But someone has to keep an eye on her just in case. I will, go and rest. We will talk tomorrow."
"Remember the rules, if you fall asleep you'll be punished." Junko reminded him.
"Not gonna sleep, I'm staying awake." Esteban simply responded.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes."
"But-"
"Just go..." Esteban said. She seemed hesitant but nodded. "Also... Don't think I didn't notice the combat knife."
"W-what?" She asked worriedly.
"Just... Leave it where you found it..." He said in a defeated tone. "To think I ever trusted you."
Mukuro stood there in shock, the words cutting deep into her. It had been the first time in a long time he had shown disgust at her. And shed didn't blame him. She planned to kill two people tonight only to then turn around and help him save one.
Mukuro just nodded and left. She could have killed him right there and then but something stopped her. Try as she might there were too many good memories. She wasn't completely detached thanks to him and Makoto. She would try to bargain with Junko. Hopefully she would find another way to please her sister.
Esteban sat on a chair next to Sayaka's bed. He was completely exhausted his body ached and the headaches didn't help one bit.
'So you saved her huh?' His other self said in disgust.
'Yes, now what do you want.'
'Just making conversation camarada. It's kinda boring here...' His other self said lighting a cigar and walking around the room.
'You tried killing me...'
'Killing is such a harsh term! We both know you won't die from this. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, we are tougher than that...'
'I don't appreciate being in pain. I don't know about you but I am tired of getting stabbed, shot or beaten.'
'Well it is true it can get a bit... Tiresome. But this is the path we walk.'
'You would rather pile corpses till you got your way.'
'You make me sound like a psychopath. I don't want to kill innocent people. Only those who deserve it. For example this girl right here.'
'No.'
'You know she just got the ball rolling and more people will try to kill?' His other self asked amused.
'Of course, but... I want to know the full story.'
'Hmm whatever...'
Esteban was interrupted when he saw Kyoko walk in. She seemed surprised to see him sitting next to Sayaka's unconscious body.
"Hey Kyoko... Hell of a night..." Esteban joked. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"I don't know how you can joke considering the situation we are in" she admonished.
"That's the reason I joke, we are in deep shit. Someone tried killing Sayaka." Esteban said. Kyoko looked at him her eyes softening.
"You haven't slept have you?" She asked concerned.
"Nope, been keeping a watch." He said stretching a bit. "Doubt I could get shuteye now. People are about to go ballistic."
"Right now we should try to find out who tried killing her." She said.
"Well you probably will detective" he said smiling at her.
"I don't think many here have what it takes." She said as he laughed.
"True that. But right now we need to handle the fallout... They're bound to see the blood trail leading here."
To say it had devolved into pandemonium would be an understatement. Accusations were being flung around and people were on edge. Esteban just watched as things unfolded. As much as he wanted to try to calm everyone down he knew it would be a worthless endeavor. They had been called to the gym by Monokuma.
Whatever he wanted was bound to be problematic. But Esteban felt well he stopped someone from dying. It wasn't the way he would have wanted but at least she was alive.
"Why would Monokuma call us here? He is the one who tried killing Sayaka!" Makoto said, although Esteban wished that were true he knew it couldn't be.
"I would never do that! If you can believe anything, you can believe that!" Monokuma said popping behind the stand.
"There he is again..." Leon said.
"Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere. I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here." Monokuma explained.
"Then who tried killing her?" Chihiro asked.
"Someone in this group" Esteban said calmly.
"Correctomundo!" Monokuma said. The atmosphere grew tense as people exchanged looks.
"Hmm? What's the matter? You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling gun!" Monokuma mocked. "Don't you remember what I told you when this all began? One of you decided to kill Sayaka so that you could graduate! Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!"
"You're lying right?" Hifumi asked pale as a ghost.
"Of course he's lying! I'm telling you, he killed her!" Makoto argued.
"Nope, sorry. One of you almost got the kill. Sadly one of you saved her. If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify to that little fact." Monokuma said.
"A pleasure to rain on your parade" Esteban said.
"Oh well. Even though the murder was thwarted did you really think you would have gotten out with just killing?" Monokuma asked laughing. "You're all so naive, killing is just the first step! Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However...even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to upload, remember?"
"You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations?" Celeste asked. "If you are the "blackened" that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you are talking about, is it not?"
"Bingo! It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with!"
"So a trial?" Esteban asked.
"Bingo! It'll begin a few hours after the murder! Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown!" Monkuma explained. During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is. And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct...only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However...if you choose poorly...then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go...that's all there is to it!"
"What exactly is this "punishment" you keep talking about?" Hifumi asked unsure.
"Well, to put it simply... Execution." Monokuma said darkly.
"By execution, you mean..." Chihiro said fearfully.
"Execution is...execution. Ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper place in a hurricane!"
"So, to make sure I understand... If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong...all the rest of us get...executed?" Taka asked.
"What a smart little chimpanzee you are! Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So it's basically what the outside world calls a "lay judge" system, or an inquisition type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is." Monokuma said. "But sadly Sayaka is alive therefore the rules don't apply here. But that doesn't mean we can't have a fun trial! How about this? Considering she is alive if you don't get it right you won't die but if you get it right you get to choose the punishment of the would-be killer!"
"W-Wait, hold on a second!" Junko said. Esteban looked at her. That look in her eyes... She was about to do something stupid...
"Junko..." Esteban warned.
"You're freaking insane, you know that!?" She said even more aggressively. Esteban tried grabbing her arm but she shook him off with surprising force.
"Hmm?" Monokuma looked amused at her.
"A class trial? What the hell is that!? I don't want anything to do with it!" Junko said, Esteban watched worriedly. He tensed up knowing something was bound to happen.
"Why not?" Monokuma asked.
"Whaddya mean why not!? Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who tried murdering someone!?"
"What!? Are you saying you're not gonna participate in the trial!? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!" The bear said.
"What? Punishment?" Junko asked.
"Stop this Junko" Esteban warned.
"You shut the hell up!" She responded.
"I might...I dunno, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!" The bear said dismissively. Esteban noticed it was taunting her. The mastermind wanted to have fun. They were out for blood.
"Shut the hell up! Say whatever you want, I'm not gonna be part of this!" She responded.
"The evil standing here before me... I'm trembling with fear...!" The bear said mockingly. "But I won't give in to such evil! It's my style to stick it out and resist till the very end...! If you really wanna get out of here... You'll have to go through me first!" The bear waddled towards Junko. All attempts at calming her had failed.
Junko stomped on the bear. Esteban's eyes widened. Monokuma had gotten what he wanted.
"Are you enjoying yourself now?" Junko asked.
"Are you?" The bear asked almost as if smirking. "Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You've violated a school regulation... I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"
Then Esteban saw it. The world almost slowed down as spears flew towards Junko. In that moment his body almost moved itself as if in autopilot and pushed Junko out of the way... Had he been rested he would have been able to dodge them himself but that wasn't the case...
Esteban yelled in agony as loud as he could. Although he had been able to push her out of the way he wasn't fast enough to move himself completely out of the way.
Right now he was impaled on multiple areas. His left leg dangled in the air, another spear pierced the left side of his abdomen two others hit him on his left and right arm leaving him dangling like a morbid piece of art.
Esteban was no stranger to pain but this was on a new level. He had been stabbed and shot but now he impaled. Before he could completely process the situation the spears retracted and a sickening sound echoed as flesh was mangled even worse than before.
He fell to the ground and tried applying pressure to his wounds but there were too many. He gritted his teeth hard and felt as if at any moment they could shatter.
Junko and Kyoko jumped straight into action trying to help stop the bleeding. "We need something to stop the bleeding!" Junko said. Without hesitation Sakura ripped her bandages and gave them to the girls. Hina quickly joined the action as they tried to stop the bleeding.
"Shit... Kinda lightheaded, I can't pass out guys... Makoto..."
"Yeah?" He said already closing the distance and kneeling next to him.
"Keep me talking I can't go to sleep." Esteban said.
"Okay! Come on Esteban tell me about some heists you've been in!" He said.
As they did their best to try to help him Monokuma just watched silently. The bear analyzed the situation as it unfolded.
To say Junko was livid was an understatement. She had planned to kill her sister and it all was going according to plan. Mukuro had no idea this would happen, she thought Junko would just take her out of the game. But it seemed she had forgotten how stupid Esteban could be. To throw himself like that was borderline suicidal.
She didn't want to kill him yet. Though it would bring her much despair she had bigger things planned for him and the feeling of disappointment would undoubtedly surpass the despair.
"Well that was unexpected!" Monokuma said giggling. "But I believe we've all learned a valuable lesson! If you break the rules things might not end well for you! I would keep that in mind Junko I doubt you will always have someone to take the hit for you!"
Kyoko looked at the bear. If looks could kill she definitely would have killed the bear by now. "Why did you try to kill her? Weren't you going to lock her up in a prison?"
"I changed my mind!" The bear argued.
"Bullshiiiiiit" Esteban slurred. "You wanted to kill her from the start!"
"Whaaaaat? I would never come up with something like that!" The bear said innocently.
Esteban was conscious but it was a struggle. Any movement would bring agony and even with all the adrenaline pumping through him he could barely keep himself from screaming. They ignored the bear as they moved him to the nurse's office.
He could hear some arguing but couldn't make out what most of it was. Time flew by as they patched him up. He knew they had to investigate the crime scene and so one by one they left. Only leaving Junko who refused to move.
Esteban slowly got his bearings back. He saw Junko standing guard like a hawk. He had never seen her like this. He wanted to shift in bed but the pain was too much.
"Do you need something?" She asked worriedly.
"Water..." He simply said. She filled a glass and helped him to it. Each sip feeling like the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Why..." She simply said.
"What?"
"Why did you risk yourself for me! You saw the knife! I-I..." She began saying as he chuckled.
"You planned on killing someone but instead helped me save Sayaka..." He began saying. "You have your reasons. I want to hear them. Besides... I would be very sad if you died..." He said as exhaustion took him over as he finally fell asleep.
And cut! Kept you waiting huh? So here is the new chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it, it took a bit longer to push out because life got in the way. Anyways let's have an update on the voting shall we?
EstebanXHarem: 4
EstebanXKyoko: 1
EstebanXMukuro: 0
EstebanXJunko: 0
Well harem is pulling ahead! You still have time to vote so make sure you do! As always feedback is always welcomed. UltimateMetroMan out!