Next Danganronpa 4: Despair Beyond Hope Chapter 6: Killing Game Start (Part 5), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 1: Deadly Life (1-3)

Disclaimer - I do not own Danganronpa or any of the characters you may see in this story. All rights is reserved for Team Danganronpa and basically anyone else involved with the making of this wonderful, hopeful, and despairing series. All characters you see here are based on me and my friends, only Japanified for Danganronpa tradition sakes.

Warning: This story may contain cursing with some * censors, character deaths, despair, no hope, absolutely disturbing sexual innuendos and dark backstories. Side effects may include tears, sadness, depression, and of course despair. Puhuhuhu. Don't say I didn't warn ya!

BIG GIANT WARNING: BE CAREFUL! THERE ARE SPOILERS AND SUBTLE HINTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE OTHER GAMES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

TRIAL RECONVENE

The trial had been in disorder.

Now it was time for the second act of this trial. The students have calmed down after the reveal of Yusuke's interference of the crime scene, but needless to say, a lot of the students have begun to suspect him for the murder itself. And even if they weren't, some wished he was so he could be punished accordingly. Ahem, Nanaho, ahem.

"Now then," Monokuma started the trial off once more. "Back at the Trial at hand, last time, we discovered a very big plot twist. And like every good mystery, there is always a great plot twist waiting to be discovered! This Trial is just so exciting!"

"Before we continue Monokuma, I just want to ask Yusuke one thing," Akira frowned at Yusuke, her eyes forming distrust into her eyes at the Ultimate Gamer. "Why did you move the body? Why did you tamper with the crime scene? Answer me now Yusuke."

It was clear now.

Anzai Akira was pissed and everyone happened to be a bit fearful of that. This was the first time Akira has showed something other than her expressionless emotions. How she looked when she stared at Yusuke was no longer a cold look, but instead a glare of pure anger.

But Yusuke didn't seem bothered by it one bit. With a chuckle, he responded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yusuke asked, with a small innocent smile. "Because I was bored. I wanted to spice up the Killing Game. And what better way than tampering with the crime scene? I moved the body yeah, but I guess my handiwork was a bit too sloppy. If I had placed her body face down then maybe the mystery would've been impossible to solve haha."

The students looked at Yusuke, some glaring at him and some looking at him in disgust.

"But I ended up getting found out anyway," Yusuke sighed. "What a shame. Guess I made it too easy huh? Heh. Hah. Heh hah. Heh hahahahaha!"

Yusuke began to laugh. Nanaho was trying hard not to jump over her own podium to go strangle him. Hatsuharu glared at him hatefully. But no one was more angry than Naoki, Ogawa, Akira, and Michiyo.

"You f*cking sick bastard!" Naoki screamed. "You carried a dead naked woman's body to her bed to mess with us because you thought it was fun?! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you so hard I'll make sure that gameboy you play gets shoved straight up your *ss!"

"Try it," Yusuke challenged, staring at Naoki dead in the eye. "I dare you."

"Hey, if Naoki's gonna do it, then I'll be the accomplice!" Michiyo cracked her knuckles. "You're f*cking dead to me too!"

"You guys think I'm afraid?" Yusuke asked, not showing any care in their anger. "You guys think you're just a bunch of tough hotshots, but the truth is: I don't care what you do to me. Life itself is a game. And my only crime was making the game more interesting. You guys should be thanking me."

"Thanking you?" Natsumi asked shocked. "Y-You're sick! You're absolutely insane!"

"Why is everyone ganging up on me?" Yusuke asked, crossing his arms, staring at everyone with a blank expression. "I mean, we're in a Class Trial of Life or Death. Shouldn't we be more focused on who's the killer rather than focusing on me? You guys are wasting your anger on the wrong person. The person you should be angry at is the person who killed Sachiko."

The students were silent for a moment until one student spoke up.

"He's right," Ogawa said. "If we continue yelling at Yusuke, we'll end up going nowhere with this and then we'll all be..."

"A-A-A-Actually m-may I s-say s-s-something?" Izumi sheepishly raised her hand. Throughout the class trial, she has only been in the background, hardly saying anything. This time, she had something to say that might actually help contribute to the Trial at hand.

"Go ahead Izumi," Nanaho said. "Anything to take my mind off of Yusuke over there."

"W-Well th-th-this is a-about Y-Yusuke," Izumi shivered as Nanaho changed her expression to disgust. "A-And I th-think w-w-we sh-should d-definitely c-consider h-him a suspect."

"Oh?" Yusuke looked interested to hear what Izumi had to say.

"You think Yusuke might be our culprit?" Kumiko gasped.

"Now I'm very interested," Hatsuharu crossed his arms, smirking. "Perhaps we might not have wasted our breath on the wrong person after all. Go on Izumi. Tell us why you suspect Yusuke."

Suspecting Yusuke

Izumi began to start, her voice quiet and her breathing getting a little frantic. For once, the spotlight was on her now. Everyone was counting on her so at this point, it was up to her to continue this trial.

"W-W-Well, w-when I l-l-left m-my r-room the d-day Yamashita d-d-d-died, I s-saw," Izumi began, her voice beginning to quiet down. She was getting nervous but she had to pull through, for everyone's sake. "I-I, I s-saw h-her."

"You saw Yamashita," Kenta rubbed his chin with a thought in mind. "Well we all saw her that day so what does that have to do with Yusuke?"

"I-I-I a-actually s-s-s-saw Y-Yamashita t-t-talking t-to Y-Yusuke," Izumi revealed. "A-And I-I-I h-heard w-w-what th-they s-s-said."

Izumi peeked over the corner of the corridor where the next set of rooms were after hearing a set of voices speak. And from there, she widened her eyes to see Yamashita and Yusuke. Yusuke in particular held a large wad of cash in his hands and Yamashita herself was smiling at the cash as she spoke with Yusuke.

"Sex?" Yamashita asked. "With me? Hell yeah I accept!"

"Cool, just don't tell anyone else about this agreement okay?" Yusuke smiled at Yamashita. A deceitful smile that Izumi recognized all too well. "Wouldn't want trouble to happen amongst our fellow classmates now am I right?"

"A-A-After th-that," Izumi shivered more often than before. "I-I, I r-r-ran a-away b-b-because I-I g-g-got s-scared and h-hid in m-my r-r-room. I w-w-wasn't s-sure w-what I c-c-came a-across b-but I j-just n-needed t-t-time t-to th-think a-about w-what I s-saw."

"Oh," Michiyo was hit with a small dose of realization. "So was that why you ditched our little girl hangout session with me, Hatari, Kumiko, and Natsumi? We assumed it was because you were having a nervous fit or something."

Izumi gave a nod at the first question Michiyo asked and then reverted back to silence, having said her part. The realization of what Izumi had testified would've meant.

"So that means," Awaka was shocked. "Yusuke! You had sex with a prostitute?!"

"...Sure I did," Yusuke smiled but later his smile turned to a look of disappointment. "But truth be told, for an Ultimate Prostitute, she really wasn't that good. She was kind of rough around the edges. A little too aggressive and she tended to bite a lot. It was my first time anyway so I guess I shouldn't complain as much."

"What the?!" Kenta was especially shocked to hear this. "So it's true?! You had sex with Sachiko?! And she wasn't even that good?!"

"Why are you more focused on that part?" Hatsuharu asked, crossing his arms.

"In any case, in light of this new testimony, I think we can now conclude one thing," Inoue began, continuing the Trial along. Then without warning, he pointed his gloved finger directly at Yusuke. "Yusuke is the murderer who murdered Sachiko!"

The glares of agreement with Inoue's accusation all directed toward Yusuke. But Yusuke didn't seem bothered by this accusation. Not one bit he did not. Instead, he looked at Inoue, directly at the eyes of his mask.

"Really?' Yusuke crossed his arms, looking at Inoue blankly. "You gonna rush to conclusions. Just like that? Well then Jack Dracula. Tell me why you think it was me. It'll probably be worth a laugh or too."

Inoue was silent as Kumiko looked at him. Then with an encouraging nod directed toward Inoue, Inoue began to explain.

"Izumi testified that you had paid a great sum of money for Sachiko," Inoue explained. "As a bona fide prostitute, she would've no doubt accepted the money. And the only reason why people pay prostitutes money is to have sex with them."

"Is that all?" Yusuke asked, looking a bit disappointed by Inoue's deductions.

"That's not all," Inoue shook his head before continuing. "Everyone, think back to the condition of which Sachiko's body was found."

...

"Ah!" Kumiko got it instantly. She had realized what Inoue was explaining. "Sachiko was bare naked! And if she was bare naked. Yes. We talked about this earlier!"

"..Yes, we established that Sachiko was having sex before she was killed," Inoue said. "And the only person we know who was having sex with Sachiko was none other than Yusuke. That is the reason why I believe Yusuke is the culprit of this case."

"Okay okay," Yusuke shrugged without a care in the world. His face was ridden of boredom, but that's okay. It was clear he wasn't backing down without some words of his own. "I admit, your deductions do make some lick of sense. You think I'm the murderer because Sachiko and I were the last people to have sex right?"

Inoue stared at Yusuke. It was clear that Yusuke himself was hiding something. Something that could change the Trial over its head. A turnabout more like. But that's a different game and Monokuma hates copyright unless he does it himself.

"What if I were to tell you that," Yusuke began before smiling once again. "Sachiko and I didn't have sex."

"Come again?" Hatari asked, a little bit shocked.

"The fun's over now," Yusuke sighed, shaking his head. "I admit that I paid her a large wad of cash, but I didn't have sex with Sachiko. The only reason why I paid her was so she could have sex with someone else. Or more like, try to seduce someone else."

Yusuke began to chuckle. Then that chuckle became a laugh. A little crazy and creepy laugh that began to haunt some of the weaker students. And soon enough, most of the students were hit with a realization.

"Wait a minute," Nanaho blinked. "Are you saying that you paid her to have sex with someone else? Why the hell did you do that?!"

"Haven't you learned anything, you failure of teacher?" Yusuke blatantly insulted Nanaho directly at her face. "I did it because I was bored. It was supposed to be a joke where the person would get all flustered and stuff. But I never would've thought that person would kill Sachiko."

"Hold on a minute," Ogawa, similarly to the other students, was also hit with realization. "You mean, you knew who the murderer was all this time and you kept quiet about it?! You gotta tell us!"

"Nope," Yusuke shook his head. "I don't have to and I certainly don't 'gotta'. Besides, it's fun seeing you guys accuse the wrong person when I'm the only one who knows who actually did it. Plus, I owe it to them. After all, it is kind of my fault they're in this mess right now. So naturally, I have to cover for them otherwise, I'm just as an *ss as Naoki is."

"You were already an *ss when you tampered with the crime scene!" Naoki yelled at Yusuke.

"So then, that means," Ryu began to think. "You knew where the original crime scene was too. And you moved Yamashita's body from there to her own room. Even Olivia wouldn't do something like that!"

"And if we are to assume what Yusuke said was correct," Hatari began. "Then that means Yamashita did indeed die in someone's bedroom. The only question is, whose bedroom was she killed in?"

The students were at a loss. Yusuke gave a small expression that seemed to be a small smirk. Monokuma yawned. But then a voice spoke up once again:

"I believe we can figure that out with everything we have discussed so far," Akira began. "Let's begin with a game of Process of Elimination. I can safely now say that Yusuke is definitely not the culprit."

"What?" Kenta asked, blinking. "How could you say that? He could be lying for all we know."

"Actually, your testimony can determine that Kenta," Akira told Kenta. "Remember your testimony? When we waited for Monokuma from beyond the Red Door you mentioned that you saw five people head to the kitchen the day Yamashita had been killed. Those five people were: Yamashita herself, Awaka, Naoki, Ryu, and Inoue. The knife went missing after that according to Awaka. And if you notice, none of the names you mentioned was Yusuke's, meaning Yusuke could not have taken the murder weapon at hand."

"Unless Yusuke dressed up as Inoue and did take it," Awaka pointed out.

"Do not even insinuate anyone, especially Yusuke, could be able to take anything from my room," Inoue told Awaka with a dark tone. "Let alone dress up as me."

"Anyway," Akira continued. "Our potential suspects in that regard now is Awaka, Yamashita, Naoki, Ryu, and Inoue. I believe we can all now safely deduce who indeed is the true culprit of this case."

She was right. Among those four, only one potential suspect remained. Only one of these people could have taken the murder weapon. And if they took the murder weapon, that placed them right on the Culprit Podium. Yes, the culprit had to have been...

...

"...Ryu..." a voice said. It belonged to Hatari, who had realized that among the four, the only possible person who could've taken the knife was without a doubt: "Ryu Sugoui. Y-You w-were th-the one wh-who t-took th-the kn-knife? Then doesn't that make him the..."

Hatari began to shiver as much as Izumi would when she spoke. She trailed off as Akira finished her thought process. She coldly looked at Ryu, as she spoke up.

"Culprit?" Akira finished her words before nodding. "Yes it does. Ryu, would you like to prove me wrong?"

Ryu looked at Akira, then at the other shocked or glaring gazes from his fellow students. He was silent. A little bit confused. But then he realized what this all meant now. He was being accused of being the murderer. And boy did he become super flustered upon hearing that.

"W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-Wait!" Ryu screamed out loud. "Me?! I'm the culprit?! Th-There's n-no way I'm the culprit! Y-You got to believe me!"

"If we do Process of Elimination from there," Inoue began. "It would be clear from the start. I cannot be the culprit because if I was the culprit, we would not be having this Class Trial in the first place, as explained."

"And Sakamoto can't be the culprit either," Kumiko nodded, summarizing what was said earlier in the Trial (the last chapter). "We established that Naoki couldn't be the killer. In fact, Naoki would have no reason to kill Sachiko unless she had the knife."

"I'm also right-handed," Awaka nodded as well. "I can even prove it. Kumiko, hand me a pencil and page from your journal so I can prove I'm right-handed."

"And I can prove I'm right-handed too!" Naoki nodded. "I'll also write on Kumiko's journal to prove it."

"Please don't," Kumiko hugged her journal close to her.

"With that said, it only leaves you as the culprit Ryu," Akira crossed her arms.

"Whoa whoa, hold on, couldn't Yamashita have taken the knife?" Ryu asked, chuckling sheepishly. "I mean, if she took the knife, then it could've been someone else who murdered her right? Right! So it's not necessarily me!

"Sachiko came out of the kitchen with a cucumber," Kenta pointed out. "Totally different from a knife."

"Um, um, um, Peanut and Olivia are pointing at Yusuke!" Ryu began to sweat harder and harder. "Yeah! He's the murderer! Peanut and Olivia are never wrong!"

"Using your imaginary friends to accuse me?" Yusuke asked. "Wow. You really are desperate to get out of this bind. It's almost kind of fun to see you this desperate. But yeah, you guys figured it out. The person who I told Sachiko to seduce was Ryu. Congrats to you all. Looking forward to play with you all next time."

"And plus, why would someone like Yamashita even prepared a knife if all she cared about was sex?" Nanaho crossed her arms. "Quit being such a big baby and admit defeat!"

Yusuke smiled as she said this. But immediately, Ryu screamed out, not ready to back down just yet.

"N-No!" Ryu screamed. He was beginning to break down. At this point, his desperation was becoming the noose that would soon hang him till he had no air left. And now it was up to the students to make that noose tighten quicker. It was him or them...

Ryu? The Killer?

"You can't believe a single thing Yusuke says!" Ryu yelled out. "He's obviously lying! I mean. Just because I had the weapon doesn't mean I killed her. Heck, maybe there was another weapon that was used to kill Sachiko! Yeah! Peanut says she saw a glass shard thrust in her back!"

"Are you joking right now?" Hatsuharu looked annoyed. "We've already established that the murder weapon was the small kitchen knife. And you were the one who took it. It could've only been you!"

"Yeah," Nanaho shook her head. "Let's just go straight to voting. We're only wasting time right now."

"NO!" Ryu screamed, scared for his life. "I'm not the killer! I didn't do it! You don't have concrete proof that I did it! Yeah, I had the knife! So what?! When Yusuke moved the body he could've taken the knife and plunged it in her back and killed her."

"Wait, then that means," Ogawa was hit with realization.

"Ryu must've knocked out Sachiko," Kumiko blinked. "And then Yusuke was the one who thrust in the knife? So then, Yusuke is still the culprit! He landed the killing blow by stabbing Sachiko in the back!"

"Gah, this is so f*cking confusing now!" Naoki clutched his head.

What really did happen? Did Ryu stab Sachiko on the back? Or did Yusuke? This was a debate of the century. Who really landed the finishing blow? Was there any clue to point to who could've done it?

"How do we know who finished the killing blow?" Hatari asked, scared for her life. "At this rate, if we end up voting the wrong person, we'll all end up getting executed!"

The trial was in disorder once again. Yusuke's satisfied smile at seeing everyone getting nervous with Ryu's desperation to get the target off his back. Oh how beautiful was this chaos. But sadly, all this chaos needs to end...

"No we won't," Akira assured Hatari with a nod. "Yusuke couldn't have been the killer because of one simple reason."

"And what's that?" Michiyo asked, a little confused.

"His mistake when moving the body and tampering with the crime scene," Akira explained. "Please think back to how we all realized that the crime scene was tampered with before any of us had even found it."

"Well, the only reason we even figured it was tampered with was because Sachiko's back was on the bed, covering up the- AH!" Kenta instantly realized what Akira was referring to. "I get it!"

"Think back to what Yusuke had said," Akira told the group.

"If Yusuke was the killer," Akira gave her first non-expressionless expression: a smirk. "Wouldn't you think he could've placed her body face down instead of the more obvious mistake? I'd say Yusuke did that just to give us a chance to find out his plan, just as he threw the knife away for us to find it...or at least for Ogawa to find it."

"But maybe Yusuke didn't notice the stab wound on the back?" Natsumi blinked.

"Not possible," Akira shook her head. "What kind of killer wouldn't have put the body face down? If Yusuke had indeed did that, then the chance of the killer escaping his guilt would have greatly increased."

"So all this time," Kenta was shocked. "Yusuke was throwing hints at us like crazy. God damn it Yusuke!"

"Well, Akira is right," Yusuke shrugged with a small smile. "But honestly, I did consider putting the body face down, but I thought it would make the case too hard. It's only Class Trial 1 after all. And I suspect there will be more to come so yeah, that's basically why I made things a bit more obvious this time around."

"Don't tell me you're going to do it again," Nanaho looked at Yusuke, irritated.

"What if I do?" Yusuke asked, smiling widely. "What are you going to do about, you spineless teacher?"

"10 hours detention will shut you up just fine!" Nanaho yelled.

"Hey hey!" Monokuma yelled from his seat. "I'm the only one who gets to assign detention! I'm the Headmaster! It's my job, not the Ultimate Teacher's job! Sheesh!"

"In any case," Inoue crossed his arms. "That clears Yusuke of being the murderer. And I bet that Yusuke also has more proof to back up his innocence. Which only leaves one candidate for this crime. Ryu Sugoui. Please, admit your guilt, now..."

Ryu looked at his own classmates. They were turning on him. His tears beginning to envelope through his eyes. What should he do? If he confesses, he's dead. He's going to be dead. There was no other way out of it.

"Y-You can't!" Ryu yelled. "I'm not the culprit! I'm not the culprit! You've got it wrong! Objection! Hold it! Take that! Gotcha!"

"What on Earth is he spouting?!" Hatsuharu looked shocked at Ryu's behavior.

"Whatever it is, I think we need to go over this case one more time, so we can..." Kumiko looked hurt having to do this, especially to someone who was usually so friendly to the others. "...So we can prove Ryu's guilt once and for all."

Closing Argument

It was time for the Closing Argument, a basic summary of the crime and how it took place. Complete with visuals and whatnot, everyone except Ryu began to review everything they had learned so far:

"So let's go back to the very beginning," Akira started them off. "To the events that had happened yesterday to the events that had happened today. Allow me to begin. At the very start of the day, Nakashima Yusuke met up with the victim, Yamashita Sachiko and paid her to go 'seduce' someone later tonight, which would be witnessed by Nakamura Izumi herself."

"Then later at approximately 1 PM," Inoue continued along. "Kaito Awaka had headed into the kitchen with Nakajima Kenta, Sakamoto Naoki, and Ogawa Makoto heading to the cafeteria."

"Kenta would later see three other people enter the kitchen in that time," Hatsuharu crossed his arms. "Those three people were Inoue Tadayoshi, Yamashita Sachiko, the victim, and the culprit of this case."

"During that time," Ogawa rubbed his chin as he continued to chain along. "The culprit had stolen a small kitchen knife from the knife display case which didn't go unnoticed by Awaka himself."

"And soon later that night," Natsumi jumped in with her understanding of the case. "Sachiko met up with her soon-to-be killer and together, they headed into the killer's room. From there, they decided to do some absolutely fun things."

"But that was shortly interrupted," Nanaho nodded before mumbling, "As it should be" and then continuing along. "When the killer grabbed the lamp with their left hand and hit Sachiko on the head with it."

"This led to the lamp missing some shards and caused the bruising on Sachiko's head," Kumiko nodded. "However, at that time, Sachiko was not dead, but merely injured."

"And when the killer saw this," Naoki nodded. "They f*cking ended the b*tch's life with their hands by stabbing them on the back with the kitchen knife they stole from the kitchen!"

"This caused a splatter on the bedsheets," Yusuke smiled before chuckling. "Then I came in to decide to make things a little interesting. I transported the body and the other pieces of evidence to Sachiko's own room."

"But in doing so, Yusuke made one mistake," Awaka nodded. "And that mistake was propping the body on her back instead of her front, which gave us a reason to suspect that the crime scene was tampered with in the first place."

"Then Y-Y-Yusuke g-g-got r-rid of the w-weapon b-by t-tossing it in the incinerator t-t-trash," Izumi finished it off.

"Yusuke may have tampered with the crime," Akira nodded before looking at the culprit. "But the culprit who murdered Sachiko could only be one person. And that person was you! Ryu Sugoui!"

Finishing off the Closing Argument, Ryu himself looked baffled at the deductions they all made. That was what had happened. It was a very simple case indeed. But were they done? Were they finished.

Shaking his head, refusing to back down just yet, Ryu cried out.

"No no no, you guys are all wrong!" Ryu yelled. "You can't prove anything! In fact, you guys say I'm left-handed, but that's not true! I'm right-handed! So in other words, I can't be the culprit!"

"Just give up dude," Ogawa shook his head. "You're left-handed. I remember it clearly now. Everyone, think back to when Kumiko first gave everyone the soup on the first day..."

Ryu, used his left hand to hold the spoon and sip the soup and immediately he looked sick to his stomach. Then he coughed and hacked. It looked like Ryu was...dying. Instantly, everyone but Kumiko and Inoue raced to help him. Kumiko was just shocked while Inoue was silently watching this occur. It seemed like...he knew this was going to happen.

"He used his left hand to drink my soup!" Kumiko was wide-eyed.

"Conclusive enough for you Ryu?" Hatsuharu looked tired of Ryu's pestering. "Give up now. Your childish claims that you did not do it is not helping your case."

"I d-didn't do it," Ryu yelled out. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I. Didn't. Kill. Sachiko!"

"Ryu's not giving up!" Kenta looked shocked. "Guys, is there any like conclusive evidence we can prove to like prove his guilt once and for all?"

As Ryu continued to scream that he did not do it, the others began to think about the last damning piece of evidence that can lock up Ryu for good and end this Trial once and for all...

...

"There is one piece of evidence I can think of," Nanaho noted. "And that's the missing shards. We never did find those shards did we?"

"That's true," Hatari nodded at Nanaho. "They weren't in Sachiko's room when I searched the floors for clues."

"And you can bet my fedora that Yusuke and I didn't find any shards of any kind in the trash," Ogawa nodded, tipping his fedora up.

"So that can only leave one place," Kumiko gave a nod, slowly beginning to understand.

"Yes," Akira nodded as well. "There is only one place where those missing shards could be. And without a doubt, they were in Ryu's room the entire time. Shards as small as those are easy to miss so I would like to believe Yusuke missed those shards as well."

"And if someone with peripheral vision like Yusuke missed the shards," Naoki gave a solemn nod. "Then that's it. The f*cking shards we've been b*tching about were in your room the entire time Ryu."

"No!" Ryu looked terrified for his life.

"Huh," Yusuke smiled at Naoki. "You learned how to say peripheral vision. Congratulations. But yeah, in any case, I say we do a search of Ryu's room and see for ourselves if small shards can be seen around his bed area. And if we do find them, then I think we have our culprit."

"NO!" Ryu screamed, looking even more terrified.

"Wah wah?" Monokuma seemed to have been in the middle of some sort of nap as Yusuke had said this. Then as he woke up, Monokuma stretched out his arms and continued to look excited, even though this trial seemed to have bored him to bits. "Oh. Is it voting time? Ah yes! Ahem it is voting time! Please pull the lever in front of you and cast your vote on who you think that blackened is!"

"Oh, I have strong confidence that we have caught the blackened," Nanaho nodded, glaring at Ryu.

"N-no..." Ryu silently spoke before screaming out. "N-NOOOOO!"

Monokuma showcased a screen for everyone to look at. And the results of it were pretty much unanimous. In fact, let's show it right here, right now. I am going to type up words so I can fill some space and fill in the word count, yeah like that:

Ryu - 15

Yusuke - 1

Then the screen flashed to big bold letters that flashed at the eyes of the students.

GUILTY

"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma cheered. "Looks like you kiddos got it right! The deceitful student who murdered Yamashita Sachiko was none other than Ryu Sugoui! The Ultimate Cartoonist!"

As Monokuma laughed, Ryu shivered. His classmates, staring at him, appalled by his crime. Ryu Sugoui, one of the more innocent students of the group, killed one of their own? The only question was:

"Ryu..." Hatari shivered, looking at Ryu. "W-Why did you do it? Why did you kill Sachiko?! She wasn't even targeting you! You weren't even targeting her! So why would you...?"

"I-I-I," Ryu began to tear up. "I-I-I, I m-messed up. I messed up so hard and now I can't fix it. I, I, I d-d-didn't m-mean f-for i-it t-to h-happen. I j-just a-acted b-b-because I-I-I-"

Ryu Sugoui. Normally a cheerful young man who enjoyed the interactions between his imaginary friends and had an admiration for cute plushie toys. To think he would've murdered someone. It was unbelievable.

"S-Spit it out f*cker," Naoki glared. "W-Why the h-hell did you k-kill that b*tch? Answer us damn it! Answer us!"

"I was," Ryu sniffled before he looked at his classmates, tears streaming out of his eyes. "I was so scared! I was so so scared! I d-didn't kn-know w-what t-to d-do s-so I. I was so s-scared of being k-killed th-th-that I a-acted w-without th-thinking."

"Ryu," Kumiko looked at him sympathetically.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen, honest!" Ryu cried. "I was just so scared."

Ryu kept repeating that same phrase. But honestly, it didn't help the other students understand his motivation for killing. But then, someone spoke up. Someone who understood why Ryu did it.

"I see now," Akira nodded. "It was the motive wasn't it? The Assassination Target motive. If we killed our target, we got to leave the school without the need of a Class Trial. That was it wasn't it Ryu?"

Ryu gave a nod as he let the tears fall.

"Y-Yeah," Ryu said as he began to explain. "W-When M-Monokuma announced the m-motive, I instantly b-became s-scared. I w-wasn't s-sure w-who t-to t-trust. I w-was s-so s-scared th-that s-someone w-was g-going to k-kill me."

"And doubled with the fact that we were not allowed to reveal our targets," Hatsuharu crossed his arms as he spoke. "That must've been the secured reason Ryu took the knife from the kitchen. You were terrified to the point where you stole a knife from the kitchen in order to protect yourself in case someone attacked you."

Ryu gave a nod, his tears still streaming down.

"W-When K-Kumiko a-asked i-if a-anyone was c-considering k-killing anyone," Ryu sniffled. "I-It w-was c-c-clear f-from th-the v-very s-start that th-th-there w-were p-people who c-considered m-murdering s-someone. And if we c-couldn't f-find out who's t-t-targeting w-who th-then, wh-who sh-should I t-trust? E-Everyone a-at th-that p-point b-b-became s-someone w-who w-was p-possibly o-out t-to k-kill me. S-So I p-prepared the knife in c-case s-someone w-wanted to k-k-kill m-me."

Awaka looked at Ryu, fighting back tears. And when he heard Ryu talk, he instantly remembered what he and Ryu had conversed about on the day of the murder:

"No no it's okay," Ryu chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I just hung out with Peanut and Olivia because I had a hard time trusting others. Connecting with others. All that mumbo jumbo heh. What about you Awaka? What got you into fitness training in the first place?"

And then another moment was remembered:

"I politely decline," Ryu looked nervous. "I'm sorry but, after hearing today's motive, I just need a moment by myself to wonder who I can trust. So you guys have fun without me. I got Olivia and Peanut by my side so don't worry about me."

"So then, that was why," Ogawa was hit with realization. "When Yamashita Sachiko approached you to have sex, you thought she was going to kill you."

"And one thing led to another," Michiyo began to reason. "And Sachiko ended up dying in your room."

Ryu was silently crying to himself. A truly tragic case of a misunderstanding between a young man who had ended up thrown into a fit of paranoia and a seductive mistress who had been fooled by a Troll Gamer.

"W-When she approached me th-that n-n-night I instantly th-thought sh-she was out t-to k-kill m-me," Ryu continued to cry. "I sh-should've r-ran b-b-but I d-didn't. Instead I, I-"

"Hey hey Ryu!" Sachiko appeared before Ryu with a seductive grin on her face. "I heard you were looking for a little fun time between me and you and I've come to say that I accept your notion!"

Ryu looked at Sachiko, confused by what she meant. We now know that Sachiko was tricked by Yusuke to seduce Ryu but unfortunately, Ryu had no idea that was the case. Inside, he believed one thing:

He is Yamashita's target. And she is planning to kill him.

"W-Wait I um I-"

"Aw come on," Yamashita grinned seductively. "Don't be so nervous! Let's go into your room and have fun! You'll love it! Trust me."

"That stupid b*tch just couldn't be subtle about it could she?" Naoki shook his head.

"And in the end, her own lust is what sealed her fate," Inoue nodded. "Her own lust has caused her to become hungry. To the point where she was easily fooled by Yusuke and ended up becoming a danger in Ryu's eyes."

"W-W-When sh-she d-dragged m-me into m-my own r-room," Ryu shivered. "My h-heart b-began to pound l-louder th-than b-before. To th-the p-point w-where I c-couldn't h-h-hear a th-thing b-b-but m-my own h-heart p-pounding a-away. And so all I s-s-saw then was S-Sachiko's g-grin. I-I-I-I I didn't know she just wanted s-sex! I didn't know! I...didn't...know."

Ryu began to calm down a little as he continued his confession to the crime.

"S-So when w-we were having s-sex," Ryu wiped away his tears. "I was w-wondering w-when sh-she w-would s-strike. And with e-every p-passing m-moment I was w-w-wondering w-why she d-didn't s-strike f-first. S-So th-that's w-when I-"

"That's when you hit Sachiko over the head with the lamp," Nanaho finished his sentence.

"I thought I killed her then," Ryu sniffled, his voice gaining back its composure. "But t-to m-my s-surprise, she got up again. And th-th-that's w-when I p-plunged the knife through her b-back. And then I b-blanked out. Lost consciousness."

"And then I came in to find the scene before me," Yusuke gave a nod with a smile that made everyone glare at him with disgust. "I thought that if you guys found the body in Ryu's room, you would find out he was the murderer for sure. So that's why I took the honorable decision to move everything to Yamashita's room. That way, I can get the fun I want watching you guys scratch your heads and Ryu can be happy for oh maybe a short while."

"You bastard!" Naoki yelled. "This happened because of you! If you hadn't tricked Yamashita into going to Ryu, he wouldn't have-"

"Please, I already atoned for my sins," Yusuke gave a smile. "I moved the crime scene for Ryu. Remember? You can't blame me for an accident if I don't do something to fix that accident ya know? I knew it was my fault Yamashita died, but hey, at least she died doing what she did best. Right?"

"H-How could you say that?!" Hatari was shocked at Yusuke's attitude at all this. "Yamashita died and you're still smiling? You should at least feel some sort of remorse for at least being a part of this. Don't you?"

Yusuke was silent.

"The girl asked you a question!" Kenta was angry too. "Do you even fe-"

"S-Stop it," Ryu sniffled crossing his arms. "D-Don't b-blame Y-Yusuke. Y-You c-can blame me. When I w-woke up, I th-thought everything that had happened w-was j-just a n-nightmare. B-But when w-we f-found S-Sachiko d-dead I, I instantly r-realized th-that m-maybe th-the 'nightmare' I h-had w-was r-real."

"What are you trying to say Ryu?" Natsumi was shocked as well. "You can't blame yourself. You only acted out of fear!"

"B-But I had all the chance in the world to tell you that I did it!" Ryu yelled. "But I didn't! Instead I acted like a stupid idiot! I tried to accuse Yusuke! I kept quiet about me being the murderer! We would've been done hours earlier if only I h-had c-confessed!"

Ryu dropped down to his knees. The tears came out again, and this time, a number of the other students began to tear up as well. Natsumi herself had tears streaming down her face.

"B-But I g-guess, I w-was j-just s-so s-scared of d-dying that..." Ryu began to cry as he spoke quietly. "...That I stayed quiet."

"R-Ryu," Natsumi cried. "Y-You..."

"D-Damn it," Naoki himself was beginning to tear up too. "D-Damn it all! Damn all this to f*cking hell!"

At this point, Hatari herself began to cry profusely. Inoue looked away as Kumiko herself began to tear up. Ryu was just a person so scared of dying that he did sinful things that he himself was disgusted by. He truly didn't mean for everything to happen...

"Ahem, are we done now?" Monokuma interfered this little quiet moment as he spoke quickly. "Good! Because surely I hope you guys didn't forget about the last important part of every Class Trial did you?"

"Monokuma you-" Awaka was shocked as he realized what was happen. His tears streaming down his face as well. "No! Y-You can't be s-serious."

"Y-You can't!" Natsumi begged. "Y-Y-You can't!"

"Sorry!" Monokuma said, distasteful at the sounds of all this begging. "But thems the breaks! For ruining your precious little society, the blackened will have to endure course punishment for his crimes! Yes! It's time! It's time for the execution! Puhuhu!"

"Monokuma!" Michiyo yelled at Monokuma. "S-Stop!"

"You can't execute Ryu!" Hatari said with a shocked look on her face. "You just can't! He didn't mean to kill Sachiko! You can't! Y-you-"

"G-Guys," Ryu said softly as everyone turned to him. The sadness were apparent on all of their faces (except the colder ones like Yusuke and the ones where you can't see like Inoue). "I-It's o-okay. Y-You d-don't have to interfere f-for m-my s-sake. I...already knew I was going to d-die."

"Ryu," Ogawa didn't know what to say as Monokuma jumped in once again.

"I have prepared a very special punishment for Ryu Sugoui," Monokuma laughed. "The Ultimate Cartoonist!"

Ryu looked at his classmates one more time. The sad look on their faces was going to be the last thing he saw. He knew that for sure. Then with a deep sigh and a poor attempt at smiling, Ryu continued to speak.

"D-Don't w-worry," Ryu tried to smile. "I'm...I'm n-n-not a-afraid of d-dying anymore."

"Ryu..." Akira herself looked pained as she tried desperately to look away. It was clear to her that Ryu was terrified. And he was going to terrified until the very end.

"Let's give it everything we got!" Monokuma cheered with a laugh. "It's PUNISHMENT TIME!"

"Peanut and Olivia are going to watch you all," Ryu smiled as he let the tears stream down his face one last time. "Please take care of them for me. Promise?"

...

Monokuma sat on his chair and taking a gavel behind his back, he hopped down and slammed the gavel right on the button, stars popping out everywhere as he grinned evilly.

GAME OVER

RYU SUGOUI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.

TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

Ryu Sugoui stared at his classmates who stared at him back in shock. They had all circled around him as three metal claws attached themselves over Ryu's neck and shoulders. Then with a scared and shocked look on his face, he was dragged off through the door, the other students holding out their hands in an attempt to save him.

But it was no use. He was dragged into whatever Punishment Monokuma had in store for him with the signs now flashing:

IN USE

KAMI KAMI K O

Ultimate Cartoonist

Ryu Sugoui's Execution: Executed

Ryu Sugoui found himself attached to what seemed to be a punching bag. And immediately his shocked sweat-filled face saw two Monokumas, one dressed as a clown and one dressed as a punk.

Then, as the music revved up, the Monokumas charged, punching Ryu as the bag he was attached to starting to sway around from the force of him being punched. Clown Monokuma punched his knees and face. Punk Monokuma punched his stomached and the other side of his face.

And this went on and on as Ryu himself began to feel the bleeding and bruises beginning to appear. His teeth was getting loose. He was beginning to get cuts on his body was the punches. And his body beginning to weaken, Ryu still somehow managed to find the strength to look up.

Ah yes.

As he had gotten used to the Clown and Punk Monokumas punching him, he saw a Monokuma dressed in what seemed to be an orange jumpsuit, holding back his arms and hands in a very familiar pose. Monokuma also had on a yellow wig that floated in the air as Ryu instantly recognized what he was about to do.

As he was continuously getting punched, Monokuma's hand began to flash a bright color that began to grow and grow by the second as we can see the angles cut to different things. Ryu's shocked face. Monokuma's hands that were beginning to flash into a bright orb of energy. Clown Monokuma punching him across the face. Punk Monokuma punching him across the face.

And then the finishing blow.

Monokuma released all that energy he kept up with a laugh, shooting a large bright beam towards as Ryu, completely engulfing him and the body bag he was attached to...and then it was all over.

Whatever remained of Ryu was now disintegrated into his own ashes and the remaining 14 students all got to watch this. It was as if... they had been watching Ryu personally get cremated while he was alive.

The chain that once held the body bag still dangled no longer containing the bag that had Ryu attached to it. And Monokuma stood at the front row...mighty pleased had what he had just done...

"WAHOOOOOO EXTREME!" Monokuma screamed out in joy and pleasure at what he had just done.

Contrasting to Monokuma's excitement was the other students, all of which who were shocked at what they witnessed. The color on their faces were long gone and they were silent. The first person to speak was none other than Sakamoto Naoki, who was bewildered out of his mind.

"W-What the f*ck did you do?" Naoki asked before looking pissed. "W-W-WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU JUST DO TO RYU?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Monokuma looked at Naoki before shrugging. "I punished him. Executed him. Want simpler words? I killed him. He disturbed your peaceful society and thus he deserved to die just like that!"

"Y-You f*cker," Naoki began to tremble as tears began to form from his eyes. "Y-YOU F*CKING SON OF A B*TCH OF A BEAR! No one deserved to die like that! Especially Ryu! I-...I'll...I'll f*cking kill you myself!"

Naoki prepared to charge but was immediately stopped by Awaka who had to restrain Naoki from even remotely closing in on the laughing Monokuma. Inoue stood by Naoki's side, silent.

"You can't do that Naoki!" Awaka said, tears streaming down his eyes. "You have to be strong. Be strong for Ryu."

"Besides," Inoue added, his voice noticeably quieter than before. It seemed that even he was having trouble adjusting to what he had just seen. "If you even touch one hair on Monokuma's spiteful body, you'll end up like Usami."

When he heard that, Naoki quit squirming out Awaka's grasp before dropping to the floor and now visibly crying. He repeated the same words over and over again:

"N-No one deserved to die like that," Naoki cried. "No one deserved to die like that. No one deserved to die like that."

"R-Ryu..." Natsumi sobbed as well. "I-I-I c-can't b-believe h-he's..."

"Geez," Monokuma shook his head. "Make up your mind kiddos. You guys got him convicted of murder to the twelfth-degree and now you're crying because he's dead? I don't understand you kids at all. It's like making sure a serial killer gets the death sentence and then crying when he actually gets the death sentence delivered. What the baloney was that all about?"

"Ryu didn't deserve the death penalty at all!" Kumiko yelled out Monokuma, fighting back tears. "He was just scared. Just like the rest of us. W-Why are you s-so cruel?"

"Nyahahahahaho!" Monokuma laughed. "Cruel? I'm not cruel! I'm just doing what befits the law here at this Summer Academy you all are attending! What you are all experiencing now is just a result of our code of law. Delicious, delicious Despair. Cry your eyes out and beg on your knees kiddos. All that Hope you guys have about living a normal life. Throw that out the window! Because everywhere you go, everywhere you look, there will be nothing but Despair."

Yamashita Sachiko was dead. And Ryu Sugoui was executed for killing her. Everyone looked at one another. Naoki glared at Monokuma hatefully. Kumiko and Natsumi both began to weep bitter tears. Izumi herself began to bawl as well. Akira merely looked away. And Yusuke? He smiled. He smiled wider than anyone had ever smiled ever again.

The game had begun.

And just as Monokuma had laughed in their Despairing faces, they all knew that Hope was nowhere to be noted. Everywhere they will now partake from now on will end in Despair...

...

And that same laugh would continue to haunt the remaining 14 students in their dreams...

CHAPTER 1 END

Students Left: 14

Anzai Akira - The Ultimate Law Enforcer

Fujiwara Natsumi - The Ultimate YouTuber

Hamano Hatsuharu - The Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Hatari Todou - The Ultimate Supermodel

Inoue Tadayoshi - The Ultimate ?

Kaito Awaka - The Ultimate Fitness Trainer

Konno Michiyo - The Ultimate Biker

Murakami Nanaho - The Ultimate Teacher

Nakajima Kenta - The Ultimate Revolutionaire

Nakamura Izumi - The Ultimate Writer

Nakashima Yusuke - The Ultimate Gamer

Ogawa Makoto - The Ultimate Godfather

Sakamoto Naoki - The Ultimate Film Director

Saruwatari Kumiko - The Ultimate Matchmaker

Chapter 2 Coming Soon...