As soon as Kirigiri announced herself, the atmosphere of the waiting room changed like she'd pumped the air full of crackling electricity. The other students jumped and spun towards the door like a row of marionettes all tugged by the same string.

Junko laughed as she watched them, though she kept her hands well away from the button that would turn the sound into Monokuma's adorably distinctive cackle. After all, even if her act was the best around, she couldn't expect to steal every show! And with Kirigiri's usual focus on working behind the scenes, it would only be fair to let her have center stage now that she was preparing for a spectacle. It had been such a long time since anyone else had made so much effort… Junko couldn't wait to see her performance!

In fact, if the Monokuma robot's camera was giving her an accurate read of the room, it looked like the show was already in progress. Kirigiri was sure in character as she stalked into the room, all cool confidence and chilly masks. Credit where it was due — the girl knew how to put on a good act, especially when she breezed past Naegi without answering a single one of the questions he was trying to ask. Any normal observer might have bought the idea that she barely cared about the scene around her at all.

But after two years studying her darling friends, Junko could read the truth from them with as little effort as if they'd said it aloud. And when it came to the prickly little loner Kyoko Kirigiri, Junko knew that the more walls she put up to hide her emotions, the more vulnerable she was. The steely iron in her eyes, the even set of her shoulders, the calm line of her mouth showing only the faintest hint of a knowing smirk — all of it screamed out that there was a gaping weakness beneath just begging to be exploited.

And what kind of friend would ignore such an obvious invitation?

Kirigiri finally stopped directly in front of the Monokuma robot, raising one eyebrow as she stared down at it. "So?"

Junko couldn't stop the giggles from gurgling up in her throat at the other girl's flat, dry voice. So she was even pulling the emotions from her tone as she issued a challenge? Oh, this fight was going to be fun!

"What's this? Usually I'm the one who gets to show up fashionably late!" she exclaimed into the microphone, pressing the button that would project her words through Monokuma's mouth. "It's pretty bold to go around trying to steal the headmaster's place in the lineup, don't you think? I mean, what if you went so far as to try to step into my shoes as the last word in adorable ursine style? That kind of crime would definitely have to count as breaking a school rule, right?" She flicked another button, and Monokuma's sharp teeth gleamed in an innocent smile.

"Not at all," Kirigiri said, like she actually expected people to buy her cool as a cucumber act. "I made it here. I haven't broken any rules in the process." She turned her head to the side, glancing at the other students. "Isn't that right, Naegi?"

"Huh?" Naegi blinked, and Junko shook her head in pity. The poor injured boy didn't have a clue why the sudden question had been thrown his way. "Well… yeah, I think that should be right. I mean, the rules only say we have to show up — there's nothing in there about time limits or being late."

"So there shouldn't be a penalty," Kirigiri concluded, turning back to Monokuma as though she thought that settled things.

"Wow, I guess you've been doing your homework!" Junko said brightly. "And with full marks, too! You're right, there's no official penalty for being late." She leaned forward towards the camera feed, getting a good look at Kirigiri's eyes. "But I bet you'll be sorry when exam time rolls around."

And there it was — a flicker of the eyelashes, a contraction of the pupils. No matter how confident Kyoko Kirigiri wanted to be, fear and doubt were already gnawing their way through her heart. Junko tapped another button as her laughter overtook her again, letting Monokuma's chortling mingle with her own.

But for some inexplicable reason, no one else joined in. Junko rolled her eyes, releasing the button. God, her friends were such downers sometimes — no appreciation for real art of comedy! Sure, she knew the humor would play better with the international audience, but where was the fun in that if she couldn't even see it?

"Well, time to get on with it!" she announced. "Hurry, hurry, time to get on the elevator before the clock runs out! Bet you all can't beat me down there!" A last few taps of her fingers made Monokuma disappear from the room, and she flopped back in her chair to see how long they'd make her wait.

"Kirigiri… did you have enough time to see the body?" Naegi asked.

She only spared a single glance back at him, mask locked in place. "I saw enough to prepare for what's coming. Don't worry — everything seems perfectly fair and in accordance with the rules."

She didn't even give the poor boy a chance to answer before striding into the elevator, taking her place just inside the door and turning to stare up at the camera with cold eyes. Junko beamed back, fluttering her fingers in a flirtatious wave. She loved it when her friends were thoughtful enough to say hello!

It was such a shame this would be the last chance Kirigiri would get.


Naegi would never get used to the elevator down to the trial rooms, its shaky descent clunking its way through his aching bones. If he'd tried to stand on his own as he usually did, in the center facing the doors, he knew he would have been jolted off his feet before the elevator so much as reached the halfway point. Now, even though he did his best to brace himself against the wall with his free hand, only Ogami's supporting arm kept him upright during the ride down.

No one spoke as the elevator descended, the dim light sending deep shadows pooling at their feet. Naegi would have liked to take this one last chance to ask Kirigiri a few more questions before they began the trial, to try to help with whatever she was planning — but even if he could have seen the slim girl behind Ogami's bulk, he wasn't sure he could have mustered the nerve to break the silence of the elevator. The heavy air sucked away all pretense of speech, leaving only the pressure of the oncoming trial… and the threat of death that came with it.

The ride seemed to last for an eternity, but even so, Naegi wasn't ready when the elevator doors finally opened, flooding them all with the bright lights of the trial room. Spots blazed across his vision until his eyes snapped instinctively shut, turning his head away to shield himself from the aggressive glare.

But he knew he didn't have the luxury of hiding in the elevator forever. He could already hear the brisk click of heeled boots crossing the floor — that would be Kirigiri, striding out to take her place at the circle of podiums. With a grimace, Naegi forced himself to turn his head back to the doors and open his eyes.

Even braced for the onslaught of light, it was almost punishingly bright after the dark elevator. The walls of the trial room had been lined with mirrors — but not the smooth, even mirrors he was used to seeing above a bathroom sink. These mirrors had been warped and broken, distorting the reflections with bulging grins and jagged edges. Images bounced back and forth from surface to surface, tangled by cracks and lumps and twists, until the monstrous creatures staring back at him were barely recognizable as his friends.

Naegi tore his eyes away from the room ahead. He couldn't let himself get distracted by the decor, no matter how disturbing it might be — he had to focus on making his way out of the elevator. Even with Ogami helping him, he still had to make the effort of dragging his foot forward with every trudging step, fighting against the need to close his eyes and rest for just a few minutes. Rest wouldn't be an option until the trial ended.

As soon as he took the last step over the threshold, the elevator doors slammed shut behind him with a clang, nearly catching the back of his hood in their grip. The sound echoed through the room with a hollow tremor, bleeding into the slower tapping of footsteps as he and Ogami made their way across the long stretch of floor to the podiums.

As Naegi concentrated on every painful step, another pair of footsteps fell into the paced beside him. He looked up to the side, his heart lurching at the sight of Togami at his side. Even gray-faced and swaying with exhaustion, the other boy's eyes narrowed with a bitter determination not to be defeated. Naegi knew he should be relieved to see that his boyfriend hadn't lost his willingness to fight in spite of being so tired… he just wished that he could draw more confidence from the other boy's face.

Togami glanced down at Naegi, as if feeling the pressure of his gaze, and the faintest hint of sadness crept into his expression for a moment as their eyes met. "Are you ready to face this?"

Naegi would have liked to say no, but he knew it wasn't an option. "I have to be, don't I?"

"Yes. You do." Togami's lips tightened briefly, going white around the edges. "You know that I — well, that I trust you, Naegi. I'm going to be depending on you to be on my side in this trial."

Naegi frowned. "What are you talking about? I —" The words caught in his throat, choked back by Ogami's silent presence hulking at his side and the legion of security cameras gleaming at him from the walls. "I'm always on your side," he said, instead of the words that had almost said themselves in response to the plea for his trust.

Togami nodded slowly. "Good." He raised a hand towards Naegi — then paused, his gaze flickering first to Ogami, then to the cameras all around them. When his eyes finally reached the throne where Monokuma sat, grinning down at them all, Togami let his hand fall back to his side, a scowl crossing his face. He looked back at Naegi. "I know you'll be able to make the right decision in the end." He turned and walked towards the podiums, circling around to take his place between two crossed out portraits of Fujisaki and Celeste.

As Ogami helped Naegi up to his podium, he let his eyes trail around the circle, taking in the crossed out portraits of all the friends who'd died because of the mastermind's killing game. He looked at each portrait, meeting the eyes of every student through the heavy Xes that did nothing to obscure their faces… until he got to a picture that shouldn't have been crossed out.

Genocide Jill stood in front of her podium, tapping a pair of scissors against her palm as she glared up at the portrait of a terrified Fukawa, frozen in the moment that she'd seen her picture lit up as the blackened. A dark red X slashed across the image, proclaiming the girl's death even as her alter ego took her place in the circle. Naegi bit his lip, wondering if he ought to say something.

"Man, I can't believe you didn't try to get my good side!" Jill spun to face the rest of them with a wide, off-kilter grin, Fukawa's image looming over her shoulder. "I mean, nothing moves books like a good photogenic glamour shot, right?" She threw back her head and laughed, a note of manic wildness threaded through the sound.

"Does it matter?" Kirigiri asked, sounding bored. "You know which podium is yours. That's what matters."

"Wow, you just want to get right to it, don't you?" Monokuma asked brightly, leaning forward with a cheerful grin crossing his face. "Well, if you're that eager, then I think we don't need to waste any time with jokes or setting the scene. Let's get started!"