The atmosphere has gone so eerily tense and quiet since then.

To say that it's difficult to process everything that's happened would be a huge understatement. Not too long ago, they all watched Pekoyama die right in front of them. Then, they weren't even allowed some time to grieve or even process it all, and had no choice but to investigate the cause of her death before the impending class trial comes to them.

Then, the class trial came along, and after some time of discussions and arguments, Koizumi was revealed to have been the one responsible for the brutal murder, with Saionji being the willing accomplice for the crime. Because Koizumi got exposed, the rules of Monokuma's sick game dictates she has to die for what she has done.

From what everyone has witnessed, the execution had been so cruel and painful. It's obvious it wasn't about justice, but just another piece of sick entertainment for that bear. That bear was very gleeful before, during, and after that process. Way too gleeful and eager, if anything.

And now that the execution is over…

No matter how much Chiaki forced herself to, she can't look away from the statue. The statue who was once her classmate. Her classmate, brutally executed before everyone's eyes for murdering another. Even until now, those agonizing last moments won't be away from her mind any time soon, and the sheer terror from Koizumi's encased face will haunt her forever.

Hinata has gone completely pale and tense. His hands are firmly clutching over his head, like he's trying to get a hold of himself and keep himself from going into a panic attack on the spot.

Komaeda's been staring onto the ground for a while now. He doesn't make even a single noise. It's hard to see exactly how he feels about it from this angle, but it might've shaken him up too.

Tsumiki's distressed, broken sobbing is heard all over the place. This is a different, far more heart-wrenching version of her usual apologetic cries.

Owari's teeth clench against each other, no doubt cursing about the unfairness of it all.

Kuzuryu's face is completely unreadable. She didn't look horrified, and yet, she doesn't seem to look that delighted about it either.

Saionji's eyes are red and puffy, and she's been coughing for a while now. Her throat must've been pushed past to its limit, since she's been crying and screaming ever since the execution has started.

Alter Ego's reaction is possibly the most distressing one so far. He's fallen down to his knees. He's covering his face with both hands, uncontrollably sobbing as he repeats, "This wasn't supposed to happen." and, "I failed." to himself over and over again.

Others, like Nidai, Sonia, Tanaka, and Mitarai, have more quiet and subdued reactions compared to everyone else. And yet, it's clear that they're just as horrified about it as well.

There are some who have far more intense reactions. Hanamura, Ibuki, and Souda, have even begin retching and heaving, reeling at the realization of what has just been done to their late classmate. The sheer cruelty from it all has finally caught up to them.

It feels like a long while, but something finally breaks the solemn mood.

Unfortunately, it just happened to be the last kind of thing anyone wanted to hear.

"YAHOOOOOOO! EXTREEEEEEEMEEE!" Monokuma shamelessly shouts out loud, pumping one of his paws in the air, before proceeding to dance around all over the place, shaking his hips and even doing a couple of wild pelvic thrusts too. "Holy moly, it feels great doing this again!"

Chiaki immediately turns her head to that bear, having noticed what he just said. 'W…What does he mean by 'doing this again'? Is he saying that this wasn't the first time he's done this? No...that can't be right...that's too horrible to imagine.'

"Can't you shut the HELL UP?!" Saionji screams, being the first one to snap at the bear. Her voice sounds so intense despite how hoarse and weary it was.

Monokuma didn't look fazed by that at all. If anything, that actually seems to amuse him even more. "Oh my. If you wanted to join poor Koizumi right now, then you shouldn't have voted for her back then, upupupupupu!" He taunts, putting his paws over his belly as his laughter intensifies.

"I swear, I'm going to…" Saionji looks close to running towards him and committing direct violence towards, and yet, she remains rooted to her spot despite that.

"Aww, don't tell me you're actually still scared of dying, aren't ya? For all how much you care about your so-called 'big sis Mahiru', you'd still gladly throw her under the bus just to save your own skin, am I right?" Monokuma giggles.

That only further angers Saionji. "I said shut the hell up, you shitty teddy bear knockoff!"

Kuzuryu huffs, and then she mutters three damning words under her breath. "Serves her right."

Saionji turns her attention away from the bear. Her anger hasn't disappeared at all, and if anything, it's like she's going to redirect that from the bear to the yakuza heiress instead. "What did you just say?" She sputters out between clenched teeth.

Kuzuryu stares at her right through the eye. "I said, serves her fucking right, bitch." She repeats, her mouth twisting into a sneer as she punctuates every last word, emphasizing her point as much as she can. The last word she said is practically spat out like a curse.

Hearing that causes all sorts of horrified reactions from everyone, with some gasping out loud and at how shockingly sudden it was. No one can believe they'd ever hear something like that, even if it's from someone like Kuzuryu.

"H-Huh, w-what are you even s-saying?"

"Hey, that was totally uncalled for!"

"What in the actual hell is wrong with you?!"

Chiaki couldn't just stand there and keep quiet about it either. And so, before she even realized it, she quickly walks forward to block Saionji from Kuzuryu's view, and then goes to glare back at her. "Kuzuryu, are you even listening to what you're saying right now? Just because you were wronged by her, it doesn't mean you can say something so disrespectful!"

"Oh shut up, you don't know any jack shit either!" Kuzuryu shouts back, stepping forward a bit to make herself seem bigger and more intimidating. "So don't you dare act like you've got the higher moral ground over me!"

Before Chiaki can reply, she lets out a soft gasp as someone shoves her to the side. She's barely able to keep herself from falling onto her face, only managing to steady herself enough to stumble on her legs a bit.

"Nanami!" Hinata calls out, quickly running towards her to help. He holds onto her shoulder, helping her regain her balance. "Are you okay?"

Chiaki wanted to say she's fine, and yet, not even a single word comes out of her. She glances over to her side, to see if the one who pushed her was still there. And sure enough, she is still there, and seeing who it really was further shakes her up.

Saionji laughs. A rather bitter one, at that. "God, that's so rich coming from you, of all people! Besides, it's not like you're fully innocent with this either. It was you who ratted her out, right? It's all your fault why she died just like that." As she raises her head to glare at her, her eyes are burning with far too much intense hatred. "You killed big sis Mahiru!"

Her eyes widen, taken aback by that accusation. 'I…I killed Koizumi…' She repeats it in her mind, and before she knew it, the weight of those words finally hit her. Scenes from the cruel execution, and Koizumi's frozen, terrified face at the end of that...it's all flashing back through her mind again.

Hinata isn't having any of it, however. He keeps in her a tight yet secure hold as he shouts back, "Saionji, I can understand how you're feeling right now, but that's going way too far!"

Saionji refuses to budge at that either. "Oh shut up, you useless excuse of a counselor. Stop pretending you know exactly how other people feel! No matter how much you try to sugarcoat it, she took big sis Mahiru away from me!"

"As if it was an easy choice for her, or anyone else to make!" Hinata fires back, his voice increasing in intensity and volume as well. It sounds like he's starting to get angry at her as well. "Are you forgetting that if she hadn't been exposed as the blackened, we would've all been executed in her place?"

"So you're saying that Mahiru wasn't that important compared to everyone else, then? Is that what you're trying to tell me, that her life doesn't even matter at all?!" Saionji screams, her voice cracking further at the end of that.

On the other end, Kuzuryu is causing her own brand of chaos as well. She's now stuck in a shouting match between her and people like Sonia, Owari, and even Souda. From what little, somewhat comprehensible words can be heard from them, none of them were happy about how she blatantly spoke ill of the dead not too long ago.

The noises, the shouting, all the yelling…

Everyone's voices are intermingling into one, big mess that repeatedly clash against each other. It's all getting so uncomfortable and so unbearable once again.

If Chiaki could, she'd press her hands against her ears by now. 'Stop it, please. Just, please, make it all stop!'

"Ah, excuse me." Somehow, despite all the loud mix of noises that scattered all around the area, Komaeda's soft, relaxed words manages to overpower them all somehow. He then goes on and steps forward as well, and based on where he's looking at, he seems to be eyeing Kuzuryu and Saionji in particular.

Chiaki stares at him with wide eyes. 'Komaeda, what are you doing?' She knows she should go and back him up as soon as she can, before something can happen to him. And yet, even if Hinata hadn't been holding her until now, there's something about him that suggests he would've preferred if no one intervened for him.

Kuzuryu narrows her eyes towards him as she crosses her arms. "What the hell do you want with me now? Can't you see I'm in the middle of putting these guys in their place?"

Saionji rolls her eyes and grumbles. "Oh please, don't tell me you're going to make us listen to some kind of crappy and preachy hope speech right now, aren't you?"

Even with how intense and intimidating both Kuzuryu and Saionji are being to everyone right now, Komaeda looks completely undeterred by any of that.

His smile hasn't even left his face as he addresses them both, "Ah, not quite, but I suppose that sounds close. If you don't mind me suggesting it, maybe you two should stop being so ungrateful for once. This isn't how you should treat the one who saved everyone from a despairing death. And that includes the one who helped the blackened in the first place, right?"

"What in the actual fuck are you saying?" Kuzuryu mutters, staring at Komaeda like he's gone insane at that moment.

Compared to that, Saionji didn't say anything towards him; her voice must've been completely spent by now. But, she did retain her vicious glare against him.

All three of them continue staring down at each other. Saionji and Kuzuryu against each other, as well as both of them against Komaeda, and then, there's Komaeda against both of them. None of them are showing any signs giving in to the others anytime soon.

It feels like several minutes have passed, but then…

Kuzuryu dismissively shakes her head. "You know what, I'm too tired for this shit. I barely got enough sleep as it is. I better catch up with it instead of wasting more of my time with you." With that, everyone's hushed comments don't seem to bother either her at all as she leaves the area, most likely back to her own cottage.

Shortly after that, Saionji bites back, her voice quieting down to a barely audible mumble. "I'm not going to waste my time here either, especially not with the same room as the one who killed big sis Mahiru." She shoots one last glare towards Chiaki, before stomping off and away from this area as well.

Now that both of them have already left, Hinata turns to Chiaki. He looks at her, from top to bottom, and then his eyes go wide, probably because he realized he's still holding her so close to him. "A-Ah, I'm sorry! I got way too carried away back then. I must've made you so uncomfortable." He hurriedly apologizes as he lets her go, and his face is red all over.

Chiaki isn't sure why he's reacting like that, but she doesn't want him to worry that much about it. "No, it's okay, really." She reassures, gently shaking her head. "I didn't mind it at all, actually."

For some reason, instead of calming him down like she hoped, that just ends up making him even redder. He's even sputtering out, and she can't understand even a word that's coming out from him.

'I don't get what's up with Hinata right now.' She mentally notes. And now, she can't help but notice that the more she stares at him, the redder he becomes, for some reason.

And now, for some reason, Komaeda's staring really deeply at them. He's also smiling at them both. Again, for a reason she doesn't really know or get. Then again, maybe it's nothing at all, and he's smiling because he's glad they're both okay, especially after the kind of commotion both Saionji and Kuzuryu caused a while back.

Hinata's once bright red face immediately cools down to a somewhat annoyed grimace. "Komaeda, now's not the time for that and you know it."

Chiaki tilts her head to the side at that. Unless if she missed out on something, Komaeda hasn't even said anything, so why is Hinata getting snappy at him like that? 'I think I really don't get what's up with Hinata at all. No offense to him, but he's acting so weird about it.'

Moving away from that for now, she goes to take a look on how the others are doing.

Some of them are already starting to look at each other. From how it looks so far, they're all wondering if any of them should follow the two blondes back and maybe, keep them from possibly hurting or killing each other, just in case. Otherwise, who knows what either of them might do when no one's looking at them anymore.

Especially considering how their first (and hopefully, the only class trial they'll ever have) has ended.

"Oh boyyyyy!" Monokuma abruptly cuts in once again while stretching his limbs. "That was some fun drama you kiddos put up right there! Way more entertaining than those clichéd junk they throw in the TVs nowadays, actually. But, as much as I want to stay here longer, I know there's a really longggg night ahead for everyone, so I've gotta skidaddle for now. Toodles!"

And just like that, the bear suddenly disappears from everyone's view once again, just like he always does.

At first, everyone didn't care or react much about that; for better or worse, they all got used with how sudden Monokuma's entrances and exits can be, and pretty much gave up on how exactly he can do that. But then, maybe a couple of moments after that, the others begin panicking and chattering against each other.

"E-Eek! N-No, he c-couldn't h-have, c-could he?"

"God, that bear is such a sick psycho!"

"This is so horrible…"

Chiaki turns, frantically looking around to check what might be causing those kinds of outbursts. And then, she stops, having seen the reason why everyone suddenly got so disturbed. Or rather, more accurately, she can't see it at all. Because somehow, shortly after Monokuma disappeared out from everyone's view, the…statue of Koizumi is nowhere to be seen either.

Even if no one wanted to acknowledge it, the statue has been there this whole time, and yet…somehow, it's gone now.

'Did...did Monokuma take her statue with him? What is he going to with it now?'

Chiaki's throat and chest feel so heavy. She feels so sick and nauseous about the bear's possible plans with the statue. She can't imagine it being anything good, not with how he's been acting towards them so far, and it'd be just like him to use Koizumi's statue to further disrespect her and demoralize everyone at the same time.


From what it looks so far, after confirming that Saionji and Kuzuryu wouldn't try anything anytime soon, everyone has already left and went back to their respective cottages. Not a lot of them talked on their way back, and it's not hard to see why. It's been a really long night for them all, and with what happened, it'd be hard to even sleep well after that.

Chiaki didn't go back to her cottage just yet, so that leaves her as the only other person still up and about at the outdoors. What Saionji told her is still echoing in her ears, over and over again.

'I may not have laid a single hand on Koizumi, but it was also my vote that sealed her fate. I can't claim that I'm not responsible for her death then, can I?'

Chiaki swallows the lump that's forming in her throat. She then stares down at her hands, only now noticing they wouldn't stop trembling, even after she clenches her fingers together.

'Even if Monokuma did force us into this, killing is still wrong, no matter the reason for it.'

She then forcefully shakes her head, even lightly slapping herself for it. She really has to take her mind off that, even if only for a bit. And now that she thinks about it, there is something she wants to check first, just in case.

And so, that leads her to checking on Pekoyama's cottage. She immediately frowns at the sight of it, noticing that it's still heavily broken and burnt down, to the point it can barely even be called a cottage at all. It even looks like it might start collapsing on itself sooner or later.

'Monokuma didn't even bother to clean it up at all, did he? I don't understand why can't he even do that.'

She explores the cottage even further. It might've been from the darkness, but somehow, it feels like there are blots of inky, foggy dots cloud around the corner of her vision as well.

As she goes on, she nearly falls over as she suddenly hears something that's like an echo of distorted voices. And yet, it doesn't feel like anything living either.

+ / 17 imsorrymyliege& & & & soworthl3ess & & ihavefailed* *

Chiaki stumbles back with a gasp. She doesn't know where that's coming from, but she wants it to stop! She covers her ears with both hands, try to muffle those noises out, but no matter what, they just keep repeating in her head over and over again. And they're only getting much stronger and intense the longer she stays there.

Out of any other options, Chiaki forcefully steadies herself on her feet, before turning and running from there. Whatever might be causing that, she has to get away from it as soon as she can.

She isn't looking where she's going, and before she knew it, she gets hit with another set of distorted noises. This one was similar to the previous one she heard, and yet, it also feels so different too.

theresn0exc*ses 30#03 -idontwanttodieidontwanttodieidontwanttodie-

Both of those sets of distorted noises and voices only keep getting louder and louder, more vocal and desperate than before. Soon, they all start intermingling with each other into one big, incomprehensible noise that's backed up with so much intense negative emotions.

In the middle of the heavy fear and confusion that's only building up more and more, Chiaki bumps into something, possibly one of the cottage's walls, and then she collapses to the ground.

As she lies there, breathing heavily, it takes her a couple of moments to realize that none of those noises are echoing in her head any longer.

Once she's sure that none of it will start up once again, she then sits herself up on the floor. 'What were those…?' She breathes out, thinking over those jumbled up feelings she's experienced just now. 'Those voices, somehow, they sort of sounded like…'

The more she thinks about it and its implications, the more the nausea builds up within her. She covers her mouth, barely stopping herself from throwing up on the spot. 'If...whatever those were really from our dead classmates, then…how? That can't be possible at all, can it? Ghosts aren't supposed to be real…'

She hears someone's approaching really close to where she is, and so, she makes herself to stop thinking about that for now. As she forces herself to steady her breathing, even for a bit, she turns her head towards that direction.

"Nanami?" Komaeda calls out to her. "Are you okay? I thought I've heard something, and you look really pale right now."

As Chiaki stares at him, she mulls over her options. 'Should I tell him? Wait, no, I can't do that. He's going to think I've lost my mind. And besides, maybe I was just hearing things. I don't need to make him even more worried with something as silly as ghosts. At least, not even more than he already is.'

She shakes her head. "I'm fine. I just, you know, fell over because I got a bit clumsy. Yeah, that's all. It's nothing too bad, really." At the end of that, she gets herself up, ignoring how tense and wobbly her legs felt.

Komaeda looks over her, like he's heavily scrutinizing her, and then he asks, "You're still thinking about the class trial we had, aren't you?"

Chiaki considers denying that, but somehow, she gets the feeling if she did, she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. "Yeah, I guess so." She admits with a soft sigh. "I just couldn't stop thinking about it, since…you know."

Komaeda nods in understanding. "The whole class trial must've been really overwhelming. Especially since you've been sole driving force for most of it. Aside from the blackened and the accomplice, the other Ultimates have been rather helpful too, but you were something else entirely back there."

Chiaki tries hard to not grimace at hearing that, but she ends up failing in keeping herself from doing it. "It really was." Her hands involuntarily clench into tight fists as she mumbles, "But, I don't think I did that much. If it weren't for these stupid rules in place, I…I could've done something more meaningful than watching another classmate die—"

"Nanami," Komaeda begins, interrupting her from saying anything more. "I won't deny what that bear made everyone do is horrid, but I'll be honest with you here. Somehow, you felt so much more talented than I thought. You've done exceptionally well during the class trial. You led everyone to the truth behind Pekoyama's murder, exposed the blackened, and because of that, you've saved everyone else from a despairing death."

"I don't know. I only did what I could, but it still wasn't enough." Chiaki protests, rejecting those compliments that she didn't deserve at all. As she forcefully sets aside the intense heaviness from her chest, she then says to him, "Not to mention, I…I…"

"Killed Koizumi?" Komaeda finishes in a questioning tone.

Chiaki immediately goes quiet at that. She tries to say something, anything to counter that, but in the end, she couldn't do it. The only thing she could do at that point is shamefully look away from him. 'Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it.'

Komaeda puts his hands up in front of himself. "Ah, sorry about that. I wasn't accusing you of that at all. But, that's what you thought you've done, isn't it? You don't have to feel any guilt for that. Everyone voted against her, and it was Monokuma who delivered the punishment himself." He then shakes his head. "Besides, she committed such a disgusting crime. Cutting the life of a promising Ultimate so short, and for such a cheap reason too."

"It doesn't matter," Chiaki fires back, not noticing or caring if her tone came across as harsher than she intended. "Even if she was responsible for Pekoyama's awful death, she didn't deserve to die like that either."

"What do you think should've happened to Koizumi instead, then?" Komaeda asks as he raises a brow at her. Although his facial features remain soft and soothing, it's obvious that he isn't convinced by her argument in the slightest.

Chiaki breathes out, and then she admits, "I…I don't know. She must be held accountable for killing Pekoyama, but I don't think she must die for it. Especially not in such a cruel way."

"Hmm," Komaeda thoughtfully hums as he rubs a finger over his chin. It feels like he's been thinking about something for a while, before he finally turns his attention back to her, looking a lot more interested than before. "Is that so?"

Chiaki feels like she could wilt from gaze due to how intense it felt. "Yeah." She forces herself to speak up somehow, and then after realizing he'd prod more, she hastily adds, "I'm sorry I can't answer anything more meaningful than that."

There is actually one more reason why she didn't want Koizumi to die, but that was left unsaid. She couldn't bring herself to actually say it to him.

'One death was already too much.'

She exhales. Her mind slowly goes somewhat blank to the rest of her surroundings while her thoughts keep on running wild with all sorts of regretful what-ifs.

'If only we got to Pekoyama much earlier. If only we'd been more careful during the party. If only Monokuma didn't put those stupid rules in place. If only he didn't barge in our school trip and turned into the living, hellish nightmare it is now. If only…'

The last of her train of thought gets interrupted when Komaeda starts speaking up once again. "You know, you're so merciful, Nanami. Despite what Koizumi had done, you still don't wish death to fall upon her either."

She stares at him, keeping her face as blank and unreadable as much as possible. "Is that a bad thing?"

Komaeda laughs as he shakes his head. "No, not at all. If anything, I think that's what makes you shine so much brighter compared to anyone else I've met so far."

Chiaki bites the inner part of her cheek. She wants nothing more than to deny all of that, that she isn't really anyone special compared to everyone else. Yet, all she's able to do is whisper back to him with a quiet, "Komaeda…"

"I really do mean it." Komaeda quickly replies with a soft chuckle, like he knows exactly what she's about to say to him. "And I'm afraid you can't do anything to change my mind."

Since his mind is clearly made up, she can't do much other than to softly huff at that, turning her attention back to the ground.

Komaeda must've noticed her disbelieving reaction, so he continues on with that. "I know I may not be much help, and that I'm nowhere near any as good as anyone else here, especially not compared to you. But, I'll promise you this, Nanami."

Despite how she feels, she still glances ever so slightly towards him.

From there, Komaeda serenely smiles towards her as he slightly raises his arms, giving off a very welcoming presence overall. "No matter what happens, I'll always be on your side."

Chiaki blinks, trying to do her best to process what she heard just now. No matter how many times she repeated those words in her head over and over, she still can't understand exactly where he's coming from with them. "You...you can't be serious at all. What if the class trial back there was just a fluke? You'd be making a big mistake trusting someone like me this much, then."

Komaeda laughs, still sounding so soothing and pleasant, and then he adamantly shakes his head. "I'm sure it won't be a mistake for me at all. After all that I've seen, I know I can put all my faith into you."

Chiaki isn't sure what to say after that. Even if she were to dodge that or continue to deny that, it's clear that Komaeda would continue to insist otherwise. They'd be locked in a stalemate with that. And so, for now, she decides it'd be best to keep quiet and mull over it for now.

'I…I never thought someone would believe in me this much. I mean, I guess it does feel somewhat nice. It does make it feel like I can be useful for once. But, at the same time…I don't deserve any of that at all. It doesn't change the fact Koizumi still died so painfully, and I helped in letting it happen.'

From what she can see, Komaeda's still looking at her with such a warm and expectant look, even if she hadn't said anything back to him for a while now. There's something about that look that feels like it's stabbing right through her.

She shakily exhales, finding herself slowly giving in to that.

'But, if he really wants to keep believing, then I guess I don't have much of a choice here. I've already let a lot of people down, so I can't let him and everyone down either. I just hope I can do everything I can to live up to those expectations.'

Chapter 1
A Dark Hour Strikes

END

Surviving Students:
14


A/N: And that should be the end of Chapter 1 right there! Man, it was one heck of a bumpy ride, but it was also really fun, especially when it comes to figuring out what things I should do here. I think I've also learned a lot from here, especially when it comes to incorporating the murder mystery aspect in here, especially since this is my first time dabbling into that. That said, I think once Chapter 2 comes in, it might be a bit longer compared to Chapter 1, and let's just say, things are going to heavily diverge from that point on.