CLASS TRIAL END
Monokuma is giggling uncontrollably. "Looks like…you guys were right! Shinri Fujita, the Ultimate Critic, was mercilessly killed by Tomoe Yamamoto. You guys are getting the hang of this."
Homura slams her fist onto her stand in anger. "Goddammit…Tomoe, why the fuck would you kill Shinri?"
"Why, Tomoe, why?" Ekorin cries her heart out. "Why did you kill Shinri?"
Mizuki's tone is colder than ever. "You killed a sick man in a slow and painful way. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Tomoe doesn't meet anyone's eyes. "…What is there to say? I killed Shinri. Some sob story isn't gonna bring him back. Nobody cares. What happened, happened."
"I care, dumbass!" Yuyami yells at him, tears welling up in his eyes. "Dude, I would have called you my bro. We could have been friends! No, scratch that, we are friends! Bros don't kill for no reason."
He doesn't respond. But Yuyami doesn't give up.
"At least tell me for my sake, asshole! Why did you kill?"
"Tsk…" Tomoe says, looking at Monokuma. "You're gonna reveal the reason why anyways, huh?"
"Well, I love me some drama…" Monokuma drawls.
"Fine then." Tomoe says, taking a deep breath. "I killed Shinri for that changing machine."
"Well, I mean, duh." Hanako deadpans. "Everyone can guess that. But why do you of all people need that machine? You're buff, you're cool, you got an awesome talent; people would kill to be you."
"Hanako, phrasing." Noriko sighs.
But Tomoe ignores it. "I need that machine…so I can be my own person."
What?
"The fuck?" Homura raises an eyebrow. "How does that make any sense?"
"Let me speak, dammit. Truth is, I've never really got to feel like I've been in control of my own life. I was born a middle child, and both my older and my younger siblings took advantage of that since I was little. They guilt-tripped whenever they wanted me to do something, and it caused me to be unable to say no to people. I was a tall and large child, so I intimidated a lot of peers my age. Thus, whenever I managed to make a friend, I'd do anything to keep them. Even if they were toxic."
Ouch, that must seriously suck. How lonely do you need to be to be willing to put up with toxic people?
Tomoe continues his story. "I made a lot of mistakes, and even when I tried to change myself, I never felt in control. Even when I got ripped. Even when I started taking an interest in rock climbing and geology. Even when I tried my damn hardest to get people to stop taking advantage of me. And when I tried to take it to the extreme, I ended up here. So, when Monokuma offered not just freedom but also a way to change my entire self…I had to take it. It would have allowed me to create a life in which I would be in full control."
He snorts. "And ironically enough…my drive to change myself caused me to play right into Monokuma's hands. I'm a damn fool."
Yoru's tearing up. "Is…that the reason why…?"
Homura is trembling with anger. "That's a shit reason if I've ever heard one. Fucking hell Tomoe, you don't need a stupid machine to change! You could have taken therapy like a normal person!"
"A therapist where?" Isamu snarks.
"He could have talked to me!" Homura lashes out. "I could have at least tried to install more confidence in him!"
"Dude, you should have just said things like this." Yuyami grits his teeth. "I wanted to be friends with you regardless of how useful you are to anyone. I could have advocated for you, bro. We could have exercised and hang out and—"
He doesn't finish his own speech. He stamps his foot on the ground.
"Dammit, why'd you go for it? None of this needed to happen."
But Tomoe doesn't react. He looks at the ground in shame. However, he looks up for a moment, looking at Rea.
Toshiya catches on. "…It wasn't just the changinator itself. Rea said something to you, didn't she?"
My memory taps me on the shoulder. "You were alone with her before the announcement of the motive, and you had slung her over your shoulder when we were preparing for the party. She said something during those times, didn't she?"
"…Yeah. She did."
-Flashback—
He was not pleased to be Rea's babysitter. Sure, Noriko had assured him he would be able to leave her in someone else's hands soon, but that sure didn't help her annoying attitude now.
She had been shadowing him for the past 10 minutes, not saying a word but following his every movement. It was annoying as hell, not to mention creepy.
"Can you sit still for a goddamn minute?"
She pouted. If he didn't know her, he'd admit it was cute. But Rea wasn't cute, no matter how hard she tried to be. He had seen her being scary—he would never think of her as anything but a pest.
"Only if you sit next to me. How am I supposed to talk to you when you keep moving around? Have you ever heard of proper etiquette?"
Groaning, he sat down on the cafeteria chair next to her. "Fine. Now sit still."
Her grin made her even more irritating. "Alright! Now, what to talk about…oh! Let's talk about the next motive!"
"No."
"Please?"
"I said no. Besides, what makes you think there will be another motive?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Because the last motive worked, duh."
He huffed. "Didn't have much of a choice."
"You always have a choice." She countered. "The choice between humiliation and death. But I'm curious to see what Monokuma will do next. He now knows that threatening works, but I hope he goes for temptation next."
"Temptation?" He couldn't help but ask. He immediately regretted it.
"Yup, like promise you to give you a million dollars if you kill someone!" She answered far too cheerily.
He scoffed. "Who would kill for that?"
She giggled. "There are many reasons. Debt…poverty…greed…the knowledge that with money, fleeing the country is far easier…"
"Alright, fine." He interrupted her. "But still, you'd have to kill one person and sentenced the rest of the group to death. And that's saying you don't get found out. That's a hell of a risk."
"High risk, high reward." She replied. "I like those kinds of stakes."
"Only an idiot would try to outsmart you, Isamu, Mizuki, Toshiya and Yurika apparently." He huffed. "That's way too high of a risk, not that I would let you kill anyways. Besides, you're rich, why'd you need the money?"
Rea shrugged. "That's true. So in case that the motive is just a bunch of money, I'm gonna wait it out until Monokuma offers a far better motive for me."
That caught him off guard. "Wait?"
The look she gave him was…odd. He hadn't seen her making that expression before. A sort of a half-smile, that rested in between sweet and malicious. "You really don't think Monokuma has the patience to wait forever with a motive, right? Why keep a motive if it's not working?"
He didn't answer. He hadn't thought of that, really. It made sense though. Monokuma didn't look like someone who had enough patience to wait for weeks on end. At most, he would really only wait a few days before getting rid of it.
"Trust me," Rea said, a strange glimmer in her eyes "if the motive isn't one with a clear time limit and dull enough not to work, it will be gone by next week. Hope it's not too interesting for you."
It left him speechless. Almost speechless enough to forget about Rea. He snapped out of it when she almost exited the cafeteria and chased after her.
-Flashback end-
"You're a piece of shit." Homura hisses at Rea, who merely shrugs.
"I just told the truth. Monokuma doesn't like waiting, so motives don't hold up very long either."
Hanako looks to be at the brink of exploding with anger. "You're a dirty manipulator, that's what you are!"
Mizuki glares at Tomoe. "Please don't tell me you got convinced to kill just because of that."
He doesn't look her in the eye. He doesn't look at anyone. "During the cleaning of the party…"
-Flashback-
"So? What do you think?"
Her voice was quiet. Not too quiet so he couldn't hear her, but just soft enough for her words to only reach him. It helped she was on his shoulder. He had put her there to prevent from causing trouble, but it seemed she was using this chance to remind him of their earlier conversation.
"It's just a dumb machine. No one's gonna kill for that." He simply replied. He had no intention of replying her in the first place, but he knew she would try to elicit a response from him anyways.
"You're right." She sighed, which surprised him.
"What, no creepy or snarky commentary?" He couldn't help but ask, his voice equally soft.
"Well, what do I say? You're more than right. It's just a dumb machine. Shinri and Noriko are freaking out way too hard about this."
…He didn't want to complain about this sudden compliance. It was far nicer than how she usually was. But that was exactly why he was suspicious of her.
"…What are you planning?"
He felt her shrugging. "Nothing. Why should I? The motive is dumb and of no use to me. Bummer. I'll just have to wait until the week's over and see if the new motive is any better. Unless someone kills before that time, that is."
He stopped. She took it as a sign to continue. "Monokuma doesn't strike me as a bear to enjoy repetition. I mean, he could have used the same motive again, but he didn't. Ergo, when someone falls to the temptation, he'll move on to the next."
"Good." He said, a little louder than he intended. Yuyami looked up, appeared to assume he was talking about his own work, and went back to doing his thing. Rea waited until he was not paying attention before she spoke again.
"If you say so. I'll be honest, it feels a little exhilarating though, having such limited-time-deal. Like a limited-edition toy that only has a limited supply and limited time on sale. Do you know how many people go crazy for those sorts of things? It's madness, let me tell you that."
"What are you trying to say to me?" He snapped at her.
She chuckled. "The new motive will be gone forever by next week or even sooner. You only have one chance to take the perk of changing yourself and your life. And once time's up, it will be gone in a flash, forever beyond your reach. So…you must ask yourself…"
A chill went down his spine. He could feel her grin and her dark aura.
"…How much do you really want this motive?"
-Flashback end-
"And that's why…?" Noriko asks, her body slightly trembling.
"I couldn't let it disappear like that." Tomoe admits. "I couldn't let this one chance pass me. And it's when I realized I had to take action as soon as possible. If anyone killed before I did…then it would have been for nothing."
Rea smiles. "And you fell victim to your own impatience."
That piece of shit manipulator! She talked him into killing someone! "Rea, why did you encourage him?"
She doesn't respond immediately, looking me over and taking in everyone else. When she speaks, her face drops. "Because the game needs to continue."
Yoru's eyes are wide. "What…?"
Her tone is cold, colder than I ever heard. "I said, the game needs to continue, you dimwits. And if I need to push people to do so…well, so be it."
Hanako balls her fist, her face set in rage. "You monster! You pushed Tomoe into killing Shinri just so you can enjoy your stupid game?"
Rea doesn't even flinch. "Feel free to punch me if you want. It won't change anything. The game must continue."
W-what the hell? She isn't joking…but she isn't acting like her usual self either. What the hell is up with that?
Toshiya changes the subject. "There is one more thing I want to confirm…Tomoe, you hadn't decided on a target yet when you carried out your plan, did you?"
"…No. I was leaning towards Shinri to begin with, because…no, it doesn't matter. In any case, I was debating whether to kill you or Yurika, so I'd have less capable enemies in the trial, when Shinri revealed his sick nature."
Upon hearing those words, a chill goes down my spine. He…was debating whether to kill me? That means…if Shinri hadn't said anything about his condition…
Mizuki narrows his eyes. "And when Shinri said that, you realized you could add more confusion to the trial by poisoning him specifically."
He nods. "Yeah…I got no defense for that."
Yuyami grits his teeth. "Dammit dude…how can you say that so casually!? You killed a sick guy and made him think it was his own illness! That's despicable!"
Tomoe sighs. "If it makes you feel any better…he had accepted his fate when I spoke to him."
Huh? "Wait, you spoke to him?"
"…Yeah."
-Flashback-
Tomoe stepped out of the kitchen, looking around and steeling himself. He had poisoned one of the treats and put them in a place he could easily reach and find. Not that anyone would be able to snatch a random treat off him anyways. Now all he had to do was pick a target. Yurika was out, since now that she was in the kitchen, it would make him far too suspicious if she got sick there.
As he looked around, he noticed Shinri standing alone. He hesitated for a brief moment. True, his underlying medical condition would make the trial harder for everyone…but poisoning a sick guy felt incredibly wrong.
But then again, if his plan went off without a hitch, everyone would die.
And thus, he let out one quiet sigh…and walked over to Shinri.
"Hey. Want one?"
Shinri looked up at him, blinking for a moment, before nodding. "Sure, why not. I have some room for dessert. What you do you have?"
"Blueberry treats." He said, grabbing the poisoned treat.
Without as much of a hint of doubt, Shinri took it from him. It took every bone in Tomoe's body not to wince. Shinri grabbing the treat without a second doubt meant that he trusted him.
Shinri looked it over once, twice, and then took a bite. Quarter berry juices spilled from the hole, miraculously not staining his mouth—something Tomoe hadn't even thought about—but definitely leaving dark marks on his shirt. Shinri didn't seem to notice though, as he wolfed down the treat of the treat without a hitch.
He had done it. Shinri had taken the bait. And in fifteen minutes, his life would be gone. Sniffed out. It felt…strange, condemning a guy to death like that. And god, Shinri didn't even know he was poisoned yet. And soon his internal organs would be destroyed and would never know that—
"Hey, thanks."
The sudden words threw Tomoe for a loop. "What?"
Shinri smiled at him. "For helping me with this event. I'm going to thank everyone later on stage…but well, you're here talking to me, so I might as well give my thanks already."
"D-don't mention it." He muttered as he averted his eyes. He couldn't look him in the eye anymore.
"I'm serious." Shinri laughed. "I know you and a lot of other people have been wary of coming to this event, but you still came. And I know it's a little scary…but I'm sure it's going to be a fun night."
Tomoe couldn't find it in himself to respond.
Shinri didn't seem to notice his hesitation. "Don't be such a tough guy about it, I'm really thankful. And take it from me, life is sometimes living with whatever you have. I forgot that when the killing game was first announced. But…I relearnt my lesson. I won't hide again. I'm going to live the rest of my life in hope and happy memories."
It should have been heartwarming. It should have sounded optimistic and supportive. But to Tomoe, it felt like someone was twisting a butterfly knife inside him.
Finally, Shinri looked down at his shirt. "Aw man, are you kidding me!? And the show is about to start too! Is that why you weren't saying anything!?"
Tomoe got a light slap on his chest for his troubles.
Shinri groaned. "Maybe if I'm fast, I can still change…tell everyone I'll be right back, okay?"
Before Tomoe could stop him, Shinri was already out of the door. Ashamed, he looked at the ground. His eyes widened in horror as he saw a few spilled quarter berries lying there. Alarmed, he looked around. This wasn't good. If anyone saw the quarter berries, they might find out about its properties. But he couldn't dispose of them, not with everyone around here. Not when everyone—
BANG! CRASH!
He looked to the side. Rea had popped a confetti cannon behind Yurika, who had dropped the tray of glasses she was holding in response. As everyone gathered around them, Tomoe saw Rea briefly looking at him, with a meaningful smile. She had given him an opening. It was now or never. He quickly tore the bandana from his head and grabbed the berries, dumping them in the trash. Just as the crowd was about to disperse, he tied the bandana back around his hair and tried to act natural.
The crime had been committed. All he had to do was wait.
-Flashback end-
"Dammit Tomoe…" Homura mutters. She looks away to quickly wipe the tears from her face.
But Tomoe doesn't react. Instead, he looks at me. "There was one detail in your story you got wrong."
"Huh, what?" I blink in confusion.
"Not that it absolves my guilt…but I had actually uprooted the bush immediately after you left the botany lab the first time you came." He says, averting his eyes. "After you recklessly tried to eat a strawberry, I realized I couldn't let anyone accidentally poison themselves. I ask Kumachrome if there were any dangerous plants in the botany lab and also read whatever book I could find. The quarter berries were the only easily reachable toxic plant, so I immediately tore it out. It wasn't until after I realized just how much I wanted the new motive that I started using it."
"So it really was because of Rea that you killed Shinri…" Hanako says as she looks down, crying softly.
But Rea rolls her eyes. "Uh, no? I didn't force him to. I just reminded him the motive wouldn't last forever. He made the choice to kill Shinri himself."
"And Monokuma is the one who created the motive in the first place." Toshiya reminds us. "It's true that Tomoe shouldn't have killed Shinri and Rea shouldn't have manipulated Tomoe…but it's Monokuma we should be truly mad at."
Homura cracks her knuckles. "It's that stupid bear's fault again, huh? First Ainosuke and Kikoi, and now…"
Yoru quickly runs up to Homura to block her path. "Please don't! I don't want you getting executed!"
It doesn't seem to make her falter. "How many more of us need to die before that fucking monster is satisfied!? How much more blood needs to be spilled!? We can't just stand by and let this little shit control us!"
Her eyes are like fire as she looks at everyone. "We have to put a stop to this! One way or another!"
Noriko quickly steps in. "Homura, that's enough! You're going to get people killed this way!"
But Homura just takes a step forward, glaring at Noriko. "People are already getting killed, Noriko. Or did your head go so far up your ass that you've become blind!?"
She flinches. "I'm just trying to—"
"WELL LOOK WHAT GOOD YOUR TRYING DID! THREE PEOPLE ARE DEAD AND ONE MORE IS GOING TO DIE!" Homura screams at her. "IS THAT YOUR IDEA OF TRYING?"
"HOMURA, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Noriko yells back at her.
In a flash of fury, Homura raises her hand. Noriko closes her eyes.
But the hit doesn't come. Instead, Homura trembles with fury as her arm is still in the air, caught in Tomoe's grip.
"Homura. Don't. Recklessness is what got me marked for death. Don't let it consume you as well."
With a sharp pull, Homura frees her arm and stomps away from the group. Tomoe sighs.
"Look, I can't be here much longer. I'm going to die soon, and I won't be able to stop or protect any of you. That means you're gonna have to do that on your own for now on. I fucked up really bad and the last thing I want is for everyone to make the same mistake. So just…don't start too many fights among yourselves. It's just going to get people killed."
My heart aches. I didn't get to know Tomoe very well. But I trusted and relied on him, especially to take care of other people. And it's going to hurt to see him die.
Tomoe hesitates for a moment, then walks over to Masato, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If I somehow see her…I'll tell her how much you miss her."
Masato doesn't reply. Taking it for an answer, Tomoe turn to Monokuma. "Well? I'm ready."
Monokuma can barely contain his laughter. "Upupu…that means you're ready to go? Finally, we got past the mushy shit. Well then, I have a very special punishment for Tomoe Yamamoto, the Ultimate Geologist."
Tomoe turns to us one last time, looking us in the eye. "My biggest regret is being unable to be truly strong. That I was too weak to resist Monokuma. That I couldn't take control of my own life."
"Let's give it everything we've got! IIIIIIIIIttttt'sssss punishment tiiiiiiiimmmmmmeeeeeee!"
"Don't let him take control. Don't follow me. Don't set another foot…in this courtroom."
GAME OVER
TOMOE HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY
TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!
Tomoe is dragged away like how Kikoi was, but he barely resists. This is his fate. This is his punishment.
He finds himself tied down with rope, completely immobilizing him. The rope is attached to a Roman chariot, two horses—one white and one black—are standing ready. Monokuma pops up, dressed as a Roman centurion and carrying a whip.
WORLD TOUR CHARIOT
Monokuma raises his whip…and lets it hit the horses. The robotic horses start moving, dragging Tomoe along behind the chariot. Monokuma whips again. The horses start walking faster. He whips again. The horses are starting to break into a fast trot.
He raises his whip as high as he can. Suddenly, he starts whipping like crazy, as if his arm function is overclocking. The horses immediately go into a fully gallop.
Tomoe grits his teeth as the harsh ground and the speed destroy first his jacket and shirt, and then the skin on his back.
Monokuma doesn't stop whipping. The horses run over a cobble path. The loose stones dig into his skin, leaving bruises.
The horses run faster. By now, Tomoe is bouncing up and down from the force. Every hit on the ground is made more painful by the hard stones.
They go into a forest. The branches swipe at whatever they can find, poison ivy burns any open skin, fallen trees crash against him, hard enough to break bones. They run over hot desert sand. It burns his back, his legs, his feet when he lost his shoes in the forest. The chariot runs along a beach, saltwater getting in every wound. They go through plains, savannah, rainforests, tundra, arctic area. It goes so fast and yet so slow, and every change in climate and habitat brings new sorts of pain. From hard and dirty ground to ice cold snow. From the burning sun to a never-ending rain.
And with every whip from Monokuma, the horses go faster. Unrelenting. Merciless.
The habitat shifts again. Rocky ground again, but Tomoe sees where they're headed when he bounces just high enough. A large mountain. The trail guides them into a cave and Tomoe can feel the temperature rising. It's not a mountain, but a volcano, and they're headed straight for it. He closes his eyes as he accepts his fate of being tossed into an active volcano.
Then, the eyes of the black horse glows, and the horse makes a sharp turn. The other horse can't keep up and trips over his own feet. Monokuma tugs on the leash, but it's to no avail; the chariot flips over.
Opening his eyes at the sudden movement, Tomoe watches as he flies right over the crater, only to land on the other side of it. His body rolls and bounces away, and he has just enough time to be confused as the ground begins to shake, and a rain of rock falls upon him.
….
….
….
….
….
….
….
…Tick…Tick…Tick….
…Tick…Tick…Tick….
…Tick…Tick…Tick….
The rhythmic ticking wakes him. Every bone in his body screams for mercy, every nerve in his body begs for death, but he opens his eyes anyways.
He is alive.
A bright light shines in the darkness. Tomoe lifts his arm, reaching out for it, pushing away the rocks. Everything hurts. But he isn't dead yet. He might live. He just needs to reach the light. He just needs to reach up. He just needs to go a little further—
The light shifts. Monokuma grins from underneath it. Tomoe widens his eyes. It was a miner's helmet.
Two more Monokumas—all of them wearing miner helmets and holding pickaxes—surround him. The middle one raises its pickaxe…and plants it right in his back.
The other two join in, mining the Ultimate Geologist as if he was nothing more than common rock.
"Aw man, and here I was hoping to mine some diamonds…too bad!" Monokuma cheerfully says.
I take a sharp breath. Tomoe's gone. Cruelly. I can't bring myself to look at the screen anymore and look at everyone else.
Toshiya has averted his eyes, probably to avoid fainting again. I'm glad he did. I don't think anyone else would be able to carry him to his room, save for Yuyami. As for Yuyami, he is desperately trying to keep his tears at bay. It's not working. Yoru however, is crying, while Mizuki stands close to him, comforting him in her own way. Homura is punching the wall in anger. Hanako and Ekorin are trying to wipe their tears away. Isamu has turned away from the screen, his arms crossed. And Noriko…looks at the screen with wide, tearstained eyes.
"...Why? Why couldn't I…?"
Masato answers her. "Because your events aren't working. They're just providing people with opportunities." His voice is cold and low. "Just stop while you're at it. You're just going to get people killed."
Noriko looks at him, tears running down her cheek. "I-I was just trying to help! I-I just want everyone to get along—"
"You've done a shit job at doing that." Masato hisses. "Thanks to you, four people are dead. I hope you're happy."
These words cause Hanako to quickly wipe away her tears and stand between them. "Hey! That's not fair! Noriko couldn't have known someone was going to kill—"
"YES, SHE COULD HAVE!" He snaps at her. "KIKOI DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID PATROL, SO YOU COULD HAVE KNOWN ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR PLANS WOULD KILL SOMEONE!"
But Hanako stands her ground. "Kikoi died because Ainosuke tried to kill her! And Ainosuke tried to kill her because of Monokuma's motive! So if anything, this is Monokuma's fault!"
Monokuma waves his hands. "Don't get the wrong idea here! I'm not forcing you to kill someone. Both Ainosuke and Tomoe made the choice themselves. I'm just giving out some rewards if you do."
Homura cracks her knuckles, stained with blood from punching the wall. "You piece of living garbage. I'm going to tear your ears out of your head! This is all your fault! If you hadn't trapped us here, none of us would have died!"
Toshiya, realizing this is getting out of hand, tries to intervene by blocking her path. "Homura, stop! Don't let yourself get—"
She shoves him harshly aside, knocking him over. "Fuck off Toshiya. If any of you had the balls to take a stand against Monokuma, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Technically, you guys wouldn't be in this mess if you had just obeyed the law." Rea quips. "It's really all of your fault here."
Her words cause Homura to snap. She stomps over and punches her square in the face. Rea falls over, clutching her bleeding nose. Hanako seems torn between intervening and leaving Rea to her own. Noriko isn't.
"All of you, settle down! We're not going to solve anything through violence—"
"Then what the FUCK do we do then, 'leader'?" Homura growls at her. "Because you haven't done anything productive ever since we were elected!"
"Hey, the cooking schedule gives us food." Yuyami interrupts.
"Fuck the cooking schedule!" Homura is seething with anger. "If that's the best thing you've done for us, you've done a piss poor job at being a leader!"
Isamu rolls his eyes. "Monokuma, can we leave? I think we're done here."
Ekorin is shocked by his words. "Already? But we haven't even paid our respects! We shouldn't disrespect the dead, even if Tomoe was a killer."
"I'm not going into the execution chamber again, thank you very much." He huffs at her.
"You really should have a little more respect, especially considering you nearly got us killed by accusing me." Mizuki interjects. "Also, you haven't even apologized to me for that, and I'd like one now."
Isamu glares at her. "Well maybe you should act a little less suspicious next time."
"You little—"
Everyone is shouting at each other, filling the room with noise and hatred. The arguments don't cease, and it's starting to make my head hurt. I'm tired. I don't want to shout again. I want to pay my last respects to Tomoe, even though my heart is a little conflicted about it. He was planning to kill me initially, but I can't help but feel a little sorry for him.
The arguments are increasing. It's even worse than during the trials. Nobody is listening to each other. Homura is preparing to fight Yuyami, who's trying to keep her from punching anyone else. Isamu, Mizuki and Ekorin are arguing about apologies and whether or not to pay respect. Masato, Hanako and Noriko are arguing about who is at fault. Rea is still sitting on the ground, her nose still bleeding and messing up her dress. Toshiya and Yoru are trying and failing to keep the peace.
Finally, I have enough.
"EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!" I scream at the top of my lungs, letting out a scream of fury to attract their attention. It works, as everyone briefly stops arguing to look at me.
"I've absolutely had it with you guys arguing with each other! We really can't have five minutes of respect without anyone starting a fight here! I am, once again, tired and hoarse from carrying this trial and saving everyone from getting killed! I just want to pay some brief respects to everyone who has died up 'til now and go to fucking bed!" I screech at them.
Isamu tries to speak up. "I—"
"PAY YOUR FUCKING RESPECTS AND GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP! We'll talk about this in the morning when everyone's calmed the hell down!"
I take a few steps forward and clap my hands together, closing my eyes. Ainosuke…Kikoi…Shinri…Tomoe…may all of you rest in peace. And at least take solace in that you don't have to deal with this shit.
When I open my eyes, I see most people joined me. Letting out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding, I walk past everyone towards the elevator, flipping off Monokuma as I walk past him. The doors open and I walk inside, quietly waiting for everyone to finish their prayers and join me. One by one, people join me, not a single word exchanged. It's when the elevator starts moving that I realize I'm holding something.
It's Tomoe's bandana. Right, he threw it at me. Never asked back for it. I'll guess I'll hold onto it for now, no one seems to want to take care of it.
The ride up is quiet. Until Homura tries to speak up. "We should still—"
"Go to bed Homura." I shut her up.
Noriko tries to enforce the message. "Everyone—"
"Everyone, go to bed." Mizuki finishes for her. "It's late and we're all tired."
Nobody protests her words. Everyone must be just as emotionally tired as I am. When the elevator stops and the doors open, we all walk back to the dormitory. No words are exchanged, no messages relayed to each other. We just walk to our rooms and close the door behind us.
As soon as I lock the door, I sink to the ground, curling up in a ball. I'm still holding Tomoe's headband as I allow myself a few moments of sorrow and despair. When I look up, I notice Kikoi's jacket on the floor. Guilty for throwing it around like that, I get up and pick it up. With one item in each hand, I look for a good place to put them. I don't want to display them like a trophy, but I don't want to forget about them either. Finally, I cut the knot by folding them up and putting it in a near empty spot in my drawers.
With that taken care of, I throw myself onto my bed, the events of today finally sinking in. Two people died in front of me while I could nothing. I had to go trough another trial again. Almost everyone has started fighting each other.
The group is falling apart…and I feel like the worst has yet to come.
Chapter 2
Heresy of The New Age Philosopher
Surviving Students: 12/16
END