It was time.
Time for the trial that would settle this little issue we had. I would have to bench my enthusiasm and wait for the actual cast to figure out what happened of course, but the tell of what happened last night would soon be uncovered and I could finally stop worrying over it. Already the cast of fourteen students had all clambered into the elevator, all of them looking a bit cramped since it had to accommodate for multiple students, a crutch, and a wheelchair, but they were making do.
Even without being in there, I could practically feel the tension in everyone when they all piled out and made their way over to the stands, it was that bad. It wasn't helped out with the gray-scale picture of Chihiro sitting between Byakuya and Yasuhiro that kept drawing glances from the cast of students.
Personally, I would have skipped leaving the picture in the room, but I had sent a standard with the last trial and if nothing else, I was a professional, and if I was going to have to do something, that I was going to do it right, darn it.
Still, I probably should have picked a different floor for this. Just like the last trial, I had taken them to one of the trial rooms that the original Junko had prepared for this, but unlike the more sensible look of the last trial room, this one had far more red and orange to its look. The pillars were a deep copper and covered in all kinds of diamond shaped carvings and the walls were covered in a checkered patterned of brown and orange. Deep red curtains lay on top of a lighter red set that blocked off the doors that led elsewhere. Only the floor remained the same as the other trial room.
It still looked somewhat professional, if a bit quirky. Yet, something about it seemed just off enough to make you feel unsettled if you stared at it to long.
Why was I focusing on how the room looked at a time like this?
I guess it was my nerves acting up again, making my mind unfocused and jumping to unimportant topics. I couldn't help it though, I was feeling very frazzled. Not only did I have another brief blackout, but I had come across another entry in the journal that was both good, and bad news for me.
Unfortunately, I had to bring up a separate, earlier page for context.
"I'm starting to think that I might be suffering some kind of undocumenteddisease, because I've been actually looking forward to my weekends recently. Which is weird, because I detest group projects, especially ones I'm being forced to work on.
Now, I'm not saying that I like my coworkers, far from it. My initial thoughts were correct, the two girls were infuriating to deal with. Our personalities continue to clash every day, neither of them could handle my choice of terminology, I'm constantly having to go out of my way to explain that I didn't hate either of them, I just genuinely didn't care, and having to waste my time on this stupid project for this corrupt school makes me feel scummy. But when they got to talking about the actual project, I found myself actually starting to feel engaged.
The mute can be grating with her puppet, but she clearly knows far more about the human mind and psych then I had initially thought, and while the tiny child was quiet and far too sensitive for my liking, once you got her talking about programming and how we were going to get this ridiculous thing off of the ground, she could be rather surprising with how unbelievably intuitive she could be.
It was...strange. I've never had to deal with people I enjoyed the company of before this. The closest I could think of, was when I spent time with my girlfriend. Well, before she got on this whole, "Despair" shtick.
Speaking of which,I was confronted by her unintended head mate the other day. Not surprisingly, Mukuro drop the ball. They realized that the pervert solider was spying on them, looking for any weird oddities to report, and neither they nor Junko herself were amused.
I can't even blame them for being upset, since our love starved mercenary is apparently even more of a disappointment when it comes to recon then I had thought. According to the parasite, Mukuro might as well have been trying to practice her poor stalker routineon them. She was hiding behind walls, climbing into rafters, spying on her from rooftops. It was like she was trying to be a spy in one of those half-baked manga where the author only knew how to write cliches instead of doing any real research.
Regardless, both Junko's wanted it to stop, and since my girlfriend couldn't kill her, they decided to go to the only person they knew who could get results. Really though, the look on their face when they I told them that I was the one who sent Mukuro after them, you'd think I was responsible for a murder or something.
In the interest of my potential future children, I decided to make a deal with them. In exchange for getting their crazy sister off of their backs, the parasite would help me with my research on them every other day. Which is fine by me, there are only so many times I can be handed a novel of paper detailing every freaking thing my girlfriend does minute by minute and not want to commit violence on someone."
Okay, that wasn't too bad. Past me clearly didn't like Mukuro watching her like a creeper, and had gone to Yasuke to get her off of our back. Understandable, relatable even. I know I would hate it if I found someone stalking and documenting my every last move like that. Figuring out that Yasuke was behind it was simple too once you considered Mukuro's clique primarily consisted of four people; two of which were me and the third was Makoto, who wouldn't ask her do something so invasive.
The beginning part where he was clearly starting to open up to other people did make me smile just a tad. He had so little faith in others from what I could remember of his story, so it was nice to see that he was trying to interact with other people.
Another thing that brought out an awkward chuckle from me was a paper he had clipped to the page. Unlike his messy penmanship, this was was almost too clean. You could almost mistake it for being written by a computer if it wasn't for the fact that it was written on note paper.
It only had a small part to it, but what I saw was enough to paint a picture.
"07:00:00 Subject status: unchanged, currently asleep. Breathing: normal. No signs of discomfort. Continue monitoring.
07:01:08 Subject status: awakened, groggy. Seems to be agitated by something. Nose: crinkled. Eyes: scrunched. Continue monitoring.
07:02:00 Subject status: awake. Is observing unit. Continue monitoring.
07:08:48 Subject status: on the move. Subject forcibly extracted notes from unit, relocated notes out of nearby window. Unit's notebook retrieved. Message received. Continue monitoring. Silently."
The rest had been roughly torn away, but it was more then enough to make me shake my head and sigh.
Regardless, the next page proved to be far more valuable to me, having been the results of past me and Yasuke's first research session. When I realized that, I had put all else out of my mind to focus on memorizing every last word to it's finest detail.
And let me just say, I had to read it several times. Not because I couldn't understand what was written, for as sloppy as his handwriting is I had dealt with much worst. No, I had to read it again because I couldn't believe it was written by the same person.
"For someone who is essentially a parasite, I found myself quite pleasantly surprised by the amount of thought and research they had gone into their current existence. Already they had figured out what I had done to save their life, how it works, and they had even started learning their limitations. Some of theirintrospection match or even vastly surpasses my previous documentations.
According to "Kuro", that's what they've taken to calling themselves apparently, their ability to function with the world is not dissimilar to what could be describedas D.I.D., Disassociative Identity Disorder, or M.P.D., Multiple Personality Disorder. Both they and Junko share several things aside from the body, such as languages, motor control, and basic knowledge. They also seem to recognize people that they have met regardless of which side met them, and can recognize locations even if only one of them have been conscious to the area proper.
However, there seems to be some rather large disconnects as well. For example, while Junko apparently does not retain any information from when Kuro is in control and is seemingly repressed during this time, Kuro has full awareness and memories of the time when Junko is in control. Furthermore, Kuro seems to be able to take over whenever they please at any time, whereas Junko cannot. There is also a distinct lack of a trigger to cause them to switch control.This is quite different from my previous assumption that they do not share any memories or knowledge, as I had originally assumed their case to be not dissimilar to that of the situation with the Ultimate Writing Protege in their class.
However, the stress from controlling her body seems to cause a large amount of strain on Kuro's portion of the brain, as the longer they are in control, the more pain they endure. This pain manifestsanywhere from mild to severe headaches, nausea, and occasional dizzy spells in the early stages, to severe to overwhelming headaches, vomiting, involuntary muscle spasms in the facial region, all the way to complete blackout in later stages. The last case apparently only happened once so faraccording to Kuro, however, they were completely unable to regain control for a full twenty hours afterward.
It is unclear if these will change with any future tests Junko and I have planned, but I do know that this is what seems to behow they operate as ofthe moment.For some reason though, I can't help but feel that there was much more then what they told me. I will have to pursue the topic at a later date when I can.
However, there was one last thing they revealed to me about their switching. To be more specific, how to stop it. I wasn't able to get any specifics out of them, but apparently some chemical agents can have beneficial or detrimental effects on their ability to continue operation with Junko's body. More generally, what they eat and drink can either shorten or lengthen the amount of time Kuro can stay out. They didn't tell me exactly what they had tested themselves, but apparently specific combinations of sugary confections, proteins, and sweet drinks can cause them to get enough of a boost to push the time further, while certain spices, artificial additives, and somebitter beverages cause the opposite effect.
Clearly there were exceptions to these if the way they worded it is any implication, but they refused to elaborate. A somewhat understandable, if frustrating outcome, but there was quite a lot of impressive information gained so I can't complain too much. I will have to analyze this for later testing."
From there and for several pages beyond there was nothing but theories about everything they had talked about, but I couldn't focus on that because I was too busy trying not to deal with the conflicting emotions I was going through.
One thing at a time. I was completely shocked at the massive amount of professionalism throughout most of this whole thing. Where was the poorly veiled loathing for humanity and everyone dumber then him? Where was the lazy grammar and rants about people's incompetence? What happened to my angry, pessimistic, supremacist jerk? How much had past me impressed him that he completely dropped his passive-aggressive attitude and put on the glasses of a professional doctor?
More importantly though was these other things written here. A time limit, future tests they were planning, and the one I needed, ways to shut her down for a while. If this was accurate, then that meant that I could shut her out, for a while at least. I just needed to figure out what combination of things caused her to stop showing up and I would be set for now.
However, I couldn't help but shudder as I looked myself in the reflection in the screen of my monitor. What had me on edge and more then a bit concerned was that she would apparently still be aware of what I was doing. Just the idea that she was there, watching me right now through our eyes, it sent such a shiver down my spine.
Had she been there all this time? Just watching me fumble around with her killing game while trying my hardest not to mess up and get someone killed off. How many times had I been in a situation where she could have taken over and killed someone and I wouldn't have been the wiser? The night I was saving Sayaka's life, the morning I made breakfast, the time I slept in the bed with Mukuro; all just a small portion of the times she could have done something to completely ruin everything I had been trying to do.
And it had to be that she was there, because it was the only way this situation would make sense. Clearly one of the experiments had to have caused some sort of change or else this whole problem wouldn't be happening. Instead, I would be the one forced to watch as she ran the show, only able to take over on occasion which would have really changed the game entirely.
This really didn't help me in the grand scheme of things. For once, my past self's seeming paranoia was shooting me in the foot. It was great and all that I wasn't fool enough to trust Yasuke with all of my secrets right away, but it did nothing to help me stop Junko in the here and now making the whole point become rather mute.
Still...I couldn't help but feel worried as I tapped my fingers against the rim of a can of Blue Ram I had swiped from the school store. He said that certain stimuli could change the time allowed of my other half, and from the sounds of it this anti-energy drink should theoretically be enough to do that. However, I had no time to accurately test it nor an isolated environment to test it in.
I needed to be careful here, one wrong move could be the difference between life and death. For now, I couldn't risk it. I set the unopened can aside so that I could focus on what really matters now. The trial.
Though, to be honest, I couldn't help but feel stressed about that too. I had no idea who the culprit is in this case, so how was I supposed to make a judgment call here? My roll here was to hand out an unbiased result depending on whether or not they guessed correctly, but that didn't work when even I didn't even know the truth. I couldn't even go over the recordings from last night thanks to that blasted pass-code I still haven't figured out.
I would just have to rely on the students to figure this one out for me. Otherwise I was up a creek without a paddle. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and even though that failed, I turned on the Monokuma in the trial room and began the procession.
"For the sake of those that weren't available in the last trail," I began looking at Mukuro and Sayaka in particular. "let's begin with a basic explanation. So, your votes determine the result. If you can find out "Whodunit", then only the attempted blackened will be punished. But, if you pick the wrong one, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and they alone will be allowed to graduate."
Sayaka and Leon both winced at the reminder, the memories of the last trial still likely a tender scar for them, but they remained silent. Instead, it was surprisingly Taka who jumped in first.
"Alright everyone, now, let's establish one thing right away." he crossed his arms furiously as he spoke loudly and firmly. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say, the weapon involved in this case was none other then the dumbbell found in the girl's changing room! It was the only blunt object at the scene, and it had a large amount of blood on it. Therefore, it goes without a shadow of a doubt, that this was the weapon used to take down our fellow student!"
"That would have been obvious for anyone who looked at the crime scene." Byakuya scoffed, then readjusted his glasses with purpose. "Anyway, I know that the trial has just begun, but I've already discovered the culprit's identity."
Multiple gasps of shock answered back at the millionaire's sudden declaration, followed up shortly by Leon's disbelieving cry of, "No way! How the heck did you figure it out so fast!?"
"There really wasn't anything to figure out." the scion remarked back, of course with a condescending look in his eyes, naturally. "Not when the culprit left their mark so flamboyantly."
That dark look returned to his face once more as he continued, "...declaring themselves the murderous figure... Genocider Sho. This heinous criminal's modus operandi of tying up their victims in a crucifix fashion accompanied by a phrase written in blood along the wall."
"Ah yes, 'Booblust'." Hifumi failed in remembering the phrase, to which an exasperated Leon and Hina corrected, "Ah, no. It's 'Bloodlust'." though Leon ended his with a muttered, "Dumbass."
"Um, I think Byakuya might be right." Makoto added, pulling out his E-handbook and pulling up the picture he had gotten from me of the file of the killer in question. "I found this file while I was investigating the archive in the library. I believe it's supposed to be some kind of confidential police file on the Genocidier case."
"What…?" Mondo questioned. "That's kinda weird as shit, right? What was something like that doing in the library?"
"Better question." Mukuro chimed in with her own disbelieving expression. "What the hell is that kind of thing doing in a school, let alone here?"
Of course, there was no way that she didn't know that those archives had been filled at least partially with the files that had once been held in the Togami family vaults, of which only the files considered important to the heir had been brought in to keep safe from the world at large. But I wasn't going to call her out on that.
"Perhaps it would be best to come back to the topic at a later time." Byakuya deflected with a shake of his head. "The why of it is likely more trouble then it's worth. What's important is the fact that the details of the Genosider Sho's murders were withheld from the public eye. This file outlines the specifics of those same cases in exceeding detail. Only those that were qualified to view these files, and the culprit themselves would ever know of the details of the case."
"B-But, how can you be so sure?" Sayaka questioned before turning to her friend and asking, "Makoto, you said that you found this file in the library. Couldn't someone here have picked it up at some point and mimicked it?"
"Sorry, but no." The Luckster returned. "The archive was closed to everyone before now. The only reason we were able to even look at it was because we asked Monokuma for it."
"How about it Monokuma?" Kyoko demanded with her stoic voice, to which I replied, "The Archive in the library was not among the list of things unlocked from the last trial. While I can be persuaded to allow someone to read a file or two, no files are allowed to be taken from the library directly. But to answer the question you meant to ask, no one has asked me for that specific file until today, during the investigation."
"Then that settles it." Byakuya continued. "This is no mere copy-cat criminal. This is no doubt the act of the genuine article. The legendary murderous fiend stands among us right now. And I know exactly who they are."
"Well don't keep us in suspense, man!" Mondo loudly complained, "Out with it!"
And the next words out of the scion's mouth, would be final linchpin that would at least partially break a poor traumatized girl. It would be the concluding blow that would force a secret that she had tried so desperately to conceal in an attempt to make an attempt to make a better life for herself. In one fail swoop, he would ruin any chance of her making any trustworthy relationship here in the school.
I sighed, but I knew I couldn't halt it. I could do nothing to stop it without making things suspicious, not without putting her, and yeah me as well, into a dangerous situation that I couldn't do anything to help her fix. I could only put my head on the table, and silently apologize for the suffering that was to come, promising to do something to help her out in the future as Byakuya committed the final blow.
"It's Toko."
There was a time where one could have believed that love would concur all obstacles. In the best of times and the worst of times, two people could look beyond difficulties to come together and face the challenges of life. With just their bonds and trust, they could look past the issues of the past to create a better tomorrow.
This, was very much not that.
With just two words, her love, Byakuya, had completely thrown her to the wolves. He had turned the one thing that she had told him in confidence, the secret that she had bared to him in hopes that he would relate to her, empathize with her, help her, and turned it against her.
No, wait. Maybe he was trying to help her. Maybe this was a plan to get her some help from the other members of their classmates. This could be his attempt to save her by making her secret out to be something to accept her for by giving her more people to talk to about this.
This became unlikely, as he repeated his deceleration without a shred of kindness in his voice, "Genocider Sho's true identity...is Toko Fukawa."
"YOU LIEEEEEEE!" Hifumi screamed in horror, his cheeks compressed against his skull from how hard his hands pressed against them. The very idea was clearly too outlandish in his mind to be true, but the idea still horrified him regardless. He had just had a regular, if somewhat heated, debate with her just a few days ago. If she was really a serial killer...Toko could only imagine what kind of misguided nonsense his decrepit mind was constructing right now.
"Wh-wh-what?" was all Toko could utter as she trembled at the stand, still reeling dumbfounded by the betrayal of her love. The accusation, no matter how true, had completely floored her ability to rationalize.
"Okay, wait, hold on a sec!" The swimmer girl protested, despite the way her hands were shaking. "Toko has like, bloodophobia or whatever, remember? What kind of serial killer is afraid of blood?"
"Hey, yeah!" the baseball idiot cried out to her defense as well, "and like, I know she's got a real bad attitude and all, but a serial killer? C'mon, there's no way she's that bad."
She felt like she was choking when Byakuya merely shook his head. "Is Toko a serial killer? The answer is yes...and no. You see, Toko here came to my room a couple nights ago, claiming that she suffers from a condition that gives her a completely separate and drastically different personality."
"You're talking about "Disassociative Identity Disorder", aren't you?" Toko violently twitched at the luckster's accusation. "The file states in the profile that the suspect was believe to have that exact condition."
"Dissassoci-I'm sorry, what now?"
"Disassociative identity disorder." the fashionista correct the unwashed hippy. "It's also known as, "Split personality disorder". It's kinda obvious by the name, but it's when something goes wrong with someones head and they get another completely different personality or more."
Toko roughly raked her fingers through her hair in response. It felt like everyone was looking at her as they aired out her dirty laundry, marveling at it for just how disgusting it was. Why did they have to know all of this? Why were they able to pick out all of the worst stains on the cloth of her soul so quickly? It was like they were just locking on to all of her weak spots without even trying.
"O-okay, but..." The fat otaku hesitated, "still, to go and say that about Miss Fukawa is-"
"Perfectly acceptable." Byakuya interrupted, heedless of the violent twitch the girl crushing on him experienced. "Toko's strange behavior after seeing the body is proof enough that she has a split personality. Think back; she fainted when she saw Chihiro's unconscious body, assuming like all of us that she was dead, and when she woke up..."
"She was acting rather peculiar." Celeste reluctantly admitted with a contemplative scowl on her face. "Her rather melancholy tone completely evaporated."
"D-Don't go assigning adjectives to my t-tone without my permission..." Toko refuted, more out of a trained reaction then an intentional one.
"Not to mention, once she regained consciousness and saw Chihiro's body again, she was utterly calm." Byakuya calmly added despite the clearly pained expression she aimed his way. "In other words, within her is one personality that can't handle blood, and one that obviously can."
"N-ngh!" Toko growled out in a failed attempt to respond. Her whole face had clenched up and she could feel the frustrated tears pooling at the edge of her vision as she dug her nails through the tresses of her hair.
Why was he doing this to her? Why was her hurting her like this? He was supposed to be on her side, right? He was supposed to help her, he was supposed to keep her secret safe! Yet, all he had done was expose her with it. Was this just a sick game to him? Did he find it funny to see her like this!?
"But, like, why would she lock herself in her room then?" the baseball punk asked, but it was clear that it was more him grasping at straws then making an actual inquiry. "I mean, if she's got this serial killer personality, not to say I think she does, I'm just saying if she does have it, then what would locking herself in her room solve? I mean, the lock would be on her side anyway."
For a brief moment, Byakuya looked like he was going to scoff at the redhead's thought and had opened his mouth to do just that. Yet, after a moment, his mouth clamped shut with a click of his teeth as his eyes opened in stunned silence. Then he raised his hand to his chin in thought as he muttered an almost inaudible, yet clearly impressed, "Huh."
"It's most likely that she hadn't even considered that." Celeste suddenly stepped in. "Fear tends to leave people irrational and prone to common mistakes. Most likely, Toko thought that she could keep Genocider Sho locked away if she herself was locked up, thus she attempted to barricade herself in; incidentally forgetting that the purpose of a barricade is to keep things out, not in."
"How about it Toko?" Kyoko intervened, clearly thinking to go to the source rather then let this continue.
The idiot swimmer wasn't any help either, as she inquired, "This is all a lie...right, Toko?" clearly hoping that the answer was, yes.
However, it didn't matter what they were saying. It didn't matter to her what they were asking. Her secret was exposed, her mind felt like it was on the verge of shambles, she felt sick to her stomach and close to passing out.
"Y-You said you wouldn't t-tell anyone." So, if she was going down, she would at least get her own answers first. She ignored the gasps of shock and disbelief at her confirming the accusations, she didn't care about them. The only one she wanted to hear from was the one person here she thought she could trust.
"Y-you promised!" she declared, making sure that he could hear the depth of the anguish his betrayal caused her one hundredfold! "I can't b-believe you lied!"
However, her anguish seemed to mean nothing to him. His expression akin to that of stone as he callously said, "You have only yourself to blame. You came to me with your tragic little story. I didn't ask you to. In fact, I expressly told you that I wanted nothing to do with you or your little tale even as you continued to push it into my hands. This is the real world, not some romantic fairy-tale fantasy."
She didn't even wince at the remark despite having some recollection of the very same statement sometime prior. Yes, she knew that he said those things, but didn't he understand? She was desperate! She hadn't told him those things because she wanted his attention, even though she certainly wouldn't have minded, what she had wanted was to warn him of her darker side so that he would be safe! She had tried to help him!
She knew all to well the kind of person her alternate half liked to target, and he was the perfect match. So, it only made sense that she warn him of the danger so that they could work together to stop it. Between the two of them, maybe they could have made a plan to prevent his enviable demise. Why couldn't he see that!?
Several strangled sounds of anguish tried to make their way out of her mouth as he continued his harsh criticism. "Besides, you broke your promise first, didn't you? You said, that as long as you were here, no matter what, you wouldn't let Genocider Sho kill anyone. But in spite of that promise..."
"Y-you said if I kept my promise, y-you would g-go out with me!" She cut him off accusingly, because that was part of their agreement. It was the whole point of the reason she hadn't gone to anyone else as well to ensure that she had her bases covered.
This was a killing game after all, and she didn't want to die. There was no telling when her genocidal persona would manifest, so it only made sense to tell someone so that it wouldn't come to that. Yes, she may have wanted him to go on a date with her after all of this was over, but that was only after she saved him! He had even agreed to it!
Evidently, he disagreed. "How many times must I tell you? I never agreed to that. You were the one who went off on some intrepid fantasy while I was talking."
Toko...sadly couldn't deny that may have happened. She knew that she had a tendency to...occasionally dip into her fantasies mid conversation if the topic got her imagination going, but she didn't think she had done that. This time. Right? Maybe?
"But you couldn't do it, could you?" He cruelly continued, his glare like ice on her skin. "You just couldn't resist that rush from killing, could you?"
"I-I tried!" She tried to argue, but she on the verge of hysterics, "I-I swear I t-tried to control it! A-and I didn't e-even k-k-kill..."
"And that is the only small blessing here." Byakuya admitted, but it could barely be called a mercy under his cold glare. "But your efforts were overall useless. What a disappointment."
"Nggh…" for all of her novel achievements and vocabulary genius, words failed to properly describe the sheer hate she felt for him in this moment. Even when she outright stated a venomous, "I hate you..." it felt like the understatement of the millennia. She despised him for doing this, for trampling on her feelings, her trust, and her hope. She loathed him for his callous remarks, for how cold he was to her suffering.
What right did he have to torment her like this? Why did he think that this kind of abuse was in any way okay? All she had wanted was a chance, a single chance to help someone other then herself. Her only crime in the moment was trying to care about someone else for a change, and he spat on it. He took one look at her efforts and deemed them trash, filth unworthy of redemption.
And just when she thought he couldn't get any lower, he took a calm, frustratingly calm, breath and stated, "Well, that about wraps up the opening act. All that is left now is to hear from the person in question herself directly."
"Th-th-the person…?" Toko responded with a hitch in her breath. "Y-y-you don't m-m-mean..."
But she did know what he meant, she knew it all too well. For the first time in her life, she wanted to do exactly what he said. She wanted to give in for just a second, a single solitary moment, to let her alter ego go hog wild. Let him see just what kind of monster she could be when pushed, see how he liked a pair a scissors are lodged where the sun didn't shine.
But she refused to give him the satisfaction. She took a few ragged breaths as she tried to settle her raging heart before she would pass out. No, she wouldn't give in, she wouldn't. She refused to let this horrible person win, to make her into the monster he was painting her to be. She wasn't a murder crazed barbarian, she was a writer, a novelist, an artist of the literary.
She was Toko Fukawa, not Genocider Sho, dammit!
Unfortunately, she was too slow in her efforts. That little hitch had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Her poor stressed out brain couldn't handle the strain any longer, the pressure had simply become too much to bare. So, despite how hard she fought against the blackening of her vision, and the sudden lightheaded sensation, she couldn't stop her eyes from rolling back or her body from falling backwards. The last thing that she heard before her head clunked hard on the unforgiving checkered floor was the shocked cries of concern from a few of her classmates, and far more ominously, a soft giggle oozing with unrestrained madness in the back of her head.
"Beddy-bye time, miss morose. It's time for the real star to debut."
"Toko!" came the cry of Hina at the sight of her fellow classmate falling into another dead faint with a meaty "thwack". She wasn't the only one stunned by the sudden display, I could tell, though she was certainly the most vocal. Immediately, the courtroom was abuzz with life at the writer's sudden collapse, with sudden shouts of nothing but concern for her well being. Hell, even knowing that she would be alright I couldn't help but wince at the sound.
Poor Toko, she really didn't deserve that.
I had to withhold a sigh when she suddenly sprang back up and stunned all of the students into silence. Gone was the abrasive and withdrawn personality of the Toko they knew, gone was the angry pessimist with dead purple eyes. Instead, standing before them was a new face, full of manic excitement and wild red eyes full of madness. Gone was the soft and stuttering girl that was constantly hunched over and pulled into herself, instead replaced with a loud and proud women who stood like an amazonian that bordered on vain.
There was also the long tongue that wouldn't be out of place at a K.I.S.S. concert poking out of her wide, Cheshire smiling mouth. That certainly deserved mention.
"You rang?" the one called Genocider asked without a hint of either concern nor fear, her tone light, airy and twinged with madness. "So, you figured it out, huh? Well, whatever! I'm the Ultimate Murderous Fiend, Genocider Sho!"
Hifumi reacted rather appropriately to suddenly standing next to a self proclaimed serial killer. That is to say, he immediately put his entire weight on the stand opposite her and yelped in shock, "EuGh! What the heck!?"
"And, by the way..." She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "What the heck is a "Genocider" anyway? Why bother with the "r"? It's just so misplaced! I'll bet you anything that some schmuck miss-typed it the first time and never went back to tell anyone else about it, so it just stuck! I mean, have you heard what they call me across sea? Genocide Jack! I mean that is so gender stereotyping isn't it? Why must it be that the notorious serial killers be given guy names? If I had to be given a name, I'd much rather it be more suited to me personality; or at least grammatically correct!"
She suddenly cut herself off with a full-belly laugh so unhinged that you could just about swear you heard the door slam. "Just kidding! I don't care what you call me! Genocide, Genocider, Sho, Jack, Jill; it's all the same to me! Just don't call me Karen, or I'll string you up like livestock and call for your manager…! Just kidding again!" She then proceeded to fall into the pearls of mad laughter once more.
Meanwhile I was pounding my head on the desk. This is my closest ally people. This is the person I was trusting my secrets with. Oi vey.
"What the fuck is this!?" Mondo very aptly summarized the thoughts no doubt shared by the class.
"Toko...what happened to you?" Taka followed up, slightly fearful of the bizarre change that had overcome his peer.
"No! Not Toko! That's a loser name!" the newly dubbed Genocide Jill furiously corrected him. "And what happened is a textbook slit-personality! So what is one of them is a serial killer? You should turn a blind eye to other people's minor faults."
"There isn't anything minor about this!" Leon shouted in mild panic.
"She's so...intense!" Gasped Hiro, his mind struggling to keep up with the madness of the situation.
"You know what they say, sound in murderous mind, sound in murderous body!" was all he got from the loud fiend before she fell into another round of hysterics.
"This is so different from the one we've come to know." Sakura stated with clearly mixed emotions flashing across her face.
"Yes, well, the world is comprised of a front and a back, you know." Jill responded with her obscene tongue twisting and curling in the air as she mocked philosophical. "Just like how every inning has a top and bottom, or how in the depths of every truth lives a little lie, behind every dark and gloomy soul lives another that shines as bright as the sun!" Once more she erupted into a round of demented laughter, but this time there was a cruel twist to the tone that unsettled the ones who had weaker wills.
I did notice that Celeste, Kyoko, and even Byakuya had narrowed their eyes at her remark though. Clearly they had realized that there was a bit more to this twisted side's words then then she let on. It didn't show often, but there was a level sense behind the ramblings, there was a method to the madness that was this serial killer. The only problem was the mental toll you would have to endure if you made any attempt to deal with her without proper mental preparation.
"U-Um, Miss Sho-er, Jill? Can I ask you a question…?" Hifumi nervously asked as he pulled at his collar, sweat dripping down his face as he resolved to poke the beast.
"What's up?" She asked with a deceptively sweet smile only ruined by her hanging tongue. Despite that, the large teen managed to swallow the knot in his throat to ask.
"S-so, some of us believe that you are the mastermind responsible for our imprisonment. I-is this true?" The genocidal named girl seemed to consider his question for a moment, her tongue lazily curling and twirling as she thought. Then, she grinned wildly.
"I am the mastermind to end all masterminds…! NOT!" she belted out before leaning back in the podium and laughing uproariously, finding no end to the entertainment found in seeing their horrified expressions.
"Then it's not true?" Sayaka asked, to which I shouted back, "Of course it's not true! How dare you try to slander me and my good name with these outrageous accusations! Associating me with that creepazoid. If the police, government, and society in general weren't so incompetent, I'd sue for this slander on my good name! I mean, they just let this bloodthirsty maniac go buck wild over town for years!"
"Sure, I'm a bloodthirsty maniac." Jill admitted with a shrug. "But life is pain, right? The mere act of existing brings suffering to all others around you. It's a necessary evil if you want to survive...Kidding again!"
Once more, she began to laugh uproariously at her own "joke" as the other students looked on in bafflement. I couldn't blame them though, Toko was already someone who could be mindbogglingly difficult to handle at times, but this manic side of her was just a whole other level of beast. This was one person who just went from zero to a hundred and then stayed there. Not really someone that could be grasped easily.
Suddenly though, she cut herself off, and leveled a particularly nasty glare at Byakuya. "...Hey. Why am I out here anyway?"
"Huh?" was the most eloquent response Byakuya could offer to her sudden malice.
"You heard me Whitely, why am I out and about anyway? Miss Morose wouldn't let me out to play unless there was a reason for it; she's such a tease like that. And for some reason, I have a distinct and sudden desire to start cutting up the rug of a blond. Pretty. Boy. So, I feel inclined to ask, what did you do to Miss Doom-'n-gloom?"
To Byakuya's credit, he managed to hold his gaze with the psychopath without batting an eye. However, I could see the beads of sweat forming on the bridge of his nose and the tenseness of his shoulders. Regardless, he kept his composure and leaned back a bit to maintain his persona.
"Ahem, yes, well. This should be enough to convince you." He evidently did his best to completely ignore the red eyes glaring at him as he spoke. "The murderous fiend is the culprit who attacked Chihiro last night. There is even a motive. Since Toko certainly wouldn't want her secret about Genocider Sho to be brought to light. If such a secret were to be exposed, Toko's life would have been undoubtedly ruined. Thus, she has a very clear motive to never let that side of herself be exposed."
"I see, I see. Interesting, very interesting." Sho replied with an eerie amount of calm considering the accusation levied against her. Her tongue lazily twisted and curled in air as she nodded along as an almost whimsical expression formed on her face.
Only to be abruptly shattered with a shout of, "Interestingly wrong! Sorry; not sorry, but I'm not the culprit!"
"...Huh?" was Leon's intelligent response, before he stuck a finger in his ear, twisted it a few times, and continued, "Hold on a second, I think I misheard that. Could you repeat that?"
"I know, I know, it sounds weird. "the serial killer wasn't the culprit?" It sounds super unlikely even to my ears, and I'm the serial killer! But, sad to say, this wasn't my handy work." Jill shrugged then, her smile unwavering.
"Bullshit!" Leon cried out and was followed up after by Hiro, "There's no way anyone would believe that!"
"Aw, why ever not?" She asked, though it might have just been mocking. "I'm sorry, but I really didn't do anything to my little Chichi. Why, I dare say it goes against everything I stand by! I mean, really? Leaving a victim alive is just poor form!"
"...Chichi?" Hina muttered, suddenly lost by the new nickname thrown into the mix. But her question would go unanswered as Genocider pressed on.
"I mean, I'm all kinds of flattered that someone would mimic my style and all, seriously, it's so cute that someone would be trying to get my attention like this, but when you don't get all of the little details down pat, it just comes off as half-assed! I mean, they got soooo many things about it just plain wrong! It's like giving someone a recipe for your world favorite homemade pasta, only to find out they just went for a cheap store brand!"
"Did she seriously compare killing people to pasta?" Leon's question would go unanswered as Makoto stepped in.
"Actually, she's kinda got a point. Ah, but not about the pasta thing." He quickly corrected when he saw the questioning and somewhat unsettled face of the all-star turn his way. "What I mean is, while there are a lot of similarities to this case and the Genocider Sho ones, there are a several key differences to consider."
"Huh? How is it any different?" Hiro summed up the confused thought's of most of the cast of students.
"Uh-oh, you don't know?" Jill cut in abruptly, her finger snapping up to point at the eldest student in the room with contempt somehow expressed in her twisting smile. "Then gouge open a hole in those worthless ears of yours, human garbage, and listen up closely!"
The murderous fiend then placed a hand on her chest with a fond expression on her face and continued, "I murder with passion and conviction! I consider myself a professional with standards, and I have a very particular way of doing things. Imagine going to fancy restaurant, Italian for example. You would expect them to be very picky about the noodles, the sauce, basically everything. But what happened to Chihiro would be like if that same restaurant started serving Ragu or cans of Chef Boyardee! This is no creation of mine!"
"Let me rephrase that, in a way that may make more sense." Makoto said, clearly looking a bit green from her comparison. "There are three distinct differences between the Genosider Sho cases and this one. Besides the fact that Chihiro is alive, something that none of the previous cases share, the cause of injury is different. All of Genocider Sho's victims died from multiple stab wounds from multiple...pairs of scissors. But, Chihiro suffered a blow to the head."
"You're right! The methods are totally different!" Hifumi shouted in realization. "It would be completely out of character to suddenly change something so defining like that so suddenly."
"The last thing I noticed is how her body was arranged. In all of the Genocider Sho murders, the body was suspended using the same scissors used to kill the victims. But this culprit didn't."
"He's absolutely correct!" Taka confirmed with vigor. "Chihiro was suspended with a cord. There wasn't a single cut on them!"
"Right! Right!" Jill confirmed with a cackle. "In fact, I don't use just any old scissors. I only use my own personal, one of a kind, custom made, envy of the entire world, scissors! Like I said, I'm a professional. So, naturally I'm very picky about the tools I use!"
She paused for the briefest moment to consider something, before continuing. "AND! Andandandandand and…! Big Mac said there was only three differences, but there's actually two more! Look closer at the victims of all of the Genocider Sho cases, and you'll find a pattern just waiting to be found!"
"...Big Mac?" Makoto pondered to himself, but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he focused on remembering the verity of names found in the folder. It took him a moment, but the proverbial light bulb eventually went off in his head.
"Oh! They're all men! In every case of the file, all of the victims were men!" Makoto explained, looking for all intent like a kid who believed they had found out something they believed only they had noticed. Kinda hard not to when you're one of only three people in this place that read it and are the only one of them willing or able to bring it up.
"Yep, yep, yep!" Jill confirmed with a jovial clap. "I'm very particular about this, but all of the people I kill with such passionate conviction are...all adorable little men! No other kind will do, no ifs, ands, or booties!"
"U-Uhm, c-can I request a different seating arrangement?" Hifumi nervously asked me with a shaking finger as he leaned away from his demented classmate. Before I could answer, and subsequently shoot him down, the hamster faced otaku found a calloused finger jabbed into the center of his nose.
"Oi! Don't go and generalize my work by assuming you meet my criteria; especially right after I just told you what my type is!" Jill pushed with an offended look to the shaking boys terrified face. "That's the problem with society, always acting like one thing can be neatly crammed into one category and never allowing someone to express their own creative style. Everything just has to be labeled with one thing or another for you people."
She then gave him a harsh push that nearly caused him to topple out of the podium before putting her hand on her chest with a haughty flair. "I am a professional! Much like a chef would never use inferior quality ingredients for a four star restaurant trying to become a five star, I would never settle for anything less then what my profession would demand! I pick my targets on a specific quality, and I refuse to so much as consider deviation for any manor, whatsoever! I don't even care if the person is dumb enough to come at me first, if they don't match my standard, I would never use them for my personal brand of artistry! That little loli girl is not someone even close to my standards, let alone most of you."
"Most of…?" Hiro parroted in a worried mutter as he too not at all subtly leaned away from her as well. This was instantly met with a rather nasty stink-eye aimed at him from her for his unintentional insult to her tastes.
"So, since Chihiro was a girl, you wouldn't have attacked her. That's basically what you're saying, right?" Taka summarized, thankfully drawing the psychotic girl's attention from the thoughtless hobo in the process.
"Would an Italian chef suddenly make ramen, just because they're both noodles? Don't be stupid! I have too much passion and conviction to suddenly change my style so drastically!"
"We get it. You've clearly explained your hobby and philosophy. However, that's not all there is to it." Byakuya stated. "It's one thing to be passionate, it's a wholly different matter when you're forced to kill to survive."
"Quite, lowly cur!"
I immediately had to hit the mute to keep them from hearing my abrupt outburst of laughter. That line, plus Byakuya's dumbfounded parroting of the phrase combined by his insulted and flabbergasted expression was one of the most hilarious points in the story the first time, and it was just as funny this time. Just seeing him getting the rug ripped out from under him and his high-horse was always a highlight.
"I would never kill someone for something as lowly "self-preservation" or as petty as "survival"!" Jill heatedly countered. "And even if I did, why would I waste my time with the arrangement of the body!? It would totally make me out to be the suspect!"
"That is true." Sakura agreed reluctantly. "Twould only serve to make things more difficult for herself if we were to learn of her identity trough such a blatant and obvious display."
"She...does have a point." Leon quipped with a hand digging into his hair as he thought.
"PLUS! Whatever my reason to kill, harm, maim or whatever, I would never, and I mean EVER leave out my prized scissors!" Jill added with a scoff. "Who'd use a stupid dumbbell anyway?"
"W-well, maybe you used a dumbbell because there weren't any scissors." Hifumi offered as a theory, before correcting himself. "W-wait, I mean, well, there are the ones in the school store… U-ugh, wait. I s-shouldn't have said that."
Immediately the tension in the room skyrocketed as everyone either glared at the Otaku for his slip of the tongue, or looked on in horror at the other Toko.
Fortunately for him, all he got was a scowl from the serial killer. "Any scissors? Ohh, nononono no! Were you not listening to my rant earlier? I only use my own special custom made, envy of the entire world scissors! Anything else would just be like a sushi master using a fillet knife or a french knife instead of their traditional sushi knife! Yes, they function similarly, but it's the principle of the matter!"
"We get it already." Yasuhiro bemoaned, the constant comparison between murder and cooking making him queasy. "But, it's not like they're any in this school."
A truly cruel and sly smile appeared on my face and was mirrored by the murderous fiend. Oh the poor fool just had to say it. He just had to open his mouth and tempt fate just that tiny bit more. Really, he should have figured out by how she had been carrying on that she would never have allowed herself to go anywhere without a set of those custom scissors, as quickly proven when she slowly began to pull up her skirt and asked him, "Are you sure… about… that?"
Then, in a flash, she threw up her skirt, briefly flashing her black thong to the world. More importantly though, she showed her legs and the accessorizes adorning them. On one leg, a custom leather pouch full of over a dozen overly sharpened scissors, some of which she quickly snatched up in her fingers to hold in a menacing pose, complete with dramatic fanfare. On the other leg, a series of tali mark scars carved deep into her thigh, denoting her concernedly large amount of kills.
"Ack! She's fully equipped!" Hifumi screamed, understandably leaping out of his podium to hide behind the closest able body in Makoto at the sight of her murder weapon of choice. Though his was the loudest, the others weren't unfazed either. Nearly everyone looked ready to bolt for it, either to hide behind someone or something, or in some cases such a Sakura, Mondo, and Taka, putting themselves in the way to protect the others from her should she decide to attack. The only persons who didn't react much were Mukuro and Kyoko.
Mukuro because she knew better. She would be one of the few who knew that Jill would never be so foolish as to actually hurt anyone in this room, not when there were so many witnesses. Plus, her previous experience with the sociopath during class would have tempered her against the zany personality.
Kyoko, despite her induced amnesia, had Detective grit ground into her personality, if not her soul. If something like this fazed her, then I would have to question her grandfather's ability to teach.
I mean, I doubted his ability to be a rational human being, but that was for different reasons.
Regardless, nearly everyone was freaking out. Some, justifiably so. Tensions couldn't be higher as they all stared at the professional killer as she continued to pose dramatically. It was clear that she was reveling in the fear and anxiety her beloved scissors inspired in the other students. Maybe because she was the kind of person who preferred to be feared, or maybe she was just messing with them for shock and giggles. Who was to say. All I knew was, she wasn't the only one who found their reactions hilarious.
Of course, that was when the shouting began. Mondo, Taka, and Leon were the loudest by far, but Hifumi and Hiro were close with their shrill screams of panic. Hina was close, but between Makoto trying to get everyone to calm down and Mukuro trying to help, her voice was kind of lost in the noise. The rest were either too flustered or were just silent as they closed their eyes as they internally tried to block out the noise. Eventually, I had enough of this nonsense and pulled out my secret weapon.
"BWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A really loud, and likely illegally acquired, foghorn blaring over the speakers.
"Okay, okay..." I stated as I struggled to conceal my frustration. "Enough! This is a trial room, not a playground! Back to your seats!"
"B-b-but…!" Hifumi tried to argue from behind his meat shield, but I wasn't having it.
"Yes, yours. In your seat. A.S.A. Now. Besides, use your heads! If she was going to kill anyone here, she'd be punished on the spot!"
"Yeah!" She agreed with a nod of her head as she crossed her arms smugly, her scissors held loosely on her fingers. "I might be a bit on the eccentric side, but I'm not stupid! Even if you were my type, which, please, don't flatter yourself, I wouldn't use my scissors. Now get your gluteus maximus back here before I give you another reason to be called Huffy, Huffy!"
There were still plenty of hesitation on everyone's part, as well as a few confused raising of eyebrows at the new nickname for the Ultimate Otaku, but slowly they managed to reclaim their shattered beliefs and returned to their podiums.
Honestly, what was that about? I know that she's a serial killer and all, but they didn't panic nearly as badly in the game. Seriously, you would think something like this would have…come up in...the story.
I slapped my hand to my face. I did it again. I keep doing that. Come on me, this isn't a story. This is real life now, not a video game. Focus on the now, not on the was.
"There, now that everything's back on track…" I groused before offering a paw to the serial killer in the room. "You were saying?"
"Thank you, my creepy splitsy frienemy!" she curtsied back with a wide grin before addressing the others. "Now, as I was saying. I would never use a stupid dumbbell to kill someone! Especially when I already have my scissors on hand! Not to mention, I have no clue how to tie a knot, so rope's out of the question anyway!"
Leon groaned in frustration as he clutched his head. "I have no idea what's going on anymore…!"
Sayaka, with her good hand clutching her bad arm with a pensive look on her face, asked, "But, the only reason we figured it was you was because she was suspended like that. Makoto, you said no one here would have known about that outside of the police, right?"
Makoto glanced at her for a second before putting on his calculating face as he started piecing things together. "Yeah, normally no one here could have known about Genocider Sho, or her methods. The arrangement of the body, the bloody writing, the only way you could have known about it was if you were in the police, or got it from the archives...wait a moment."
He then turned to look at Byakuya with an unreadable expression on his face. "Byakuya. Can I ask you something?"
The scion raised an eyebrow, "Yes, what is it?"
"How did you know that there was a police report file about the Genocider Sho case in the archives." when the Scion didn't chime in, he continued. "Monokuma said that, no one has had any access to the archives and no one asked about the file. No one was supposed to know anything about what was stored there. But, during the investigation, when we went to the library, you seemed convinced that the archives would be open."
Byakuya did not respond, but Celeste chimed in. "Yes, that is rather strange, is it not? Why would you feel it so prudent as to look there?"
"There's more." Makoto continued. "Despite none of us being in there, you seemed to know for a fact that Genocider Sho's case file was in there. Plus, even though we never saw the file until that moment, you seemed to already known what we would find in it."
Hiro chimed in with a startled, "Hey, yeah! That's totally weird. Do you have, like, PSI or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Togami glared at the hobo for his laughable theory. "If you simple must know...actually, why don't you tell me."
"Huh?" Makoto questioned, prompting Byakuya to reiterate. "You seem to have an idea in your mind, so why not share it with the class. What exactly are you accusing me of, and on what grounds?"
Makoto was silent for a moment, but he managed to recover and stated his case. "I think...you have already seen the Genocider Sho case file before today...possibly before we even entered the school."
"Eh?" Hina blurted out, confused by the remark. "Wait, didn't you just say that we couldn't have seen it before today?"
"I did." the luckster admitted. "For most of us, this was the first time any of us ever saw the file. None of us should have even known that the file was even here in the school to begin with. However, Byakuya, when we were looking through the file, you told me that you, and your family, are able to access files that no one else can. You'd have no problem accessing classified government documents or internal police records."
Again, the scion was silent.
"Then, the reason he was pushing so hard on the theory of Genocider Sho being the attacker was because he wanted to pin the blame on her?" Celeste pondered.
"So, he arranged the scene to make it look like I'd put my stamp on it...!" Jill figured before a small blush crossed her face. "Oh my, oh my! I heard that my White Knight would do something like this to attract my attention, but never suspected that you would be such a flirt about it!"
Byakuya gave her the most soul wrenching glare of absolute disgust I had ever witnessed, and it had all of the effect of water on a duck's back.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere with her, he turned his attention back to the group; or more specifically, towards Makoto. "So now the suspicion falls onto me. Then I must ask, when would you say I began acting suspiciously?"
"Looking back on it," Makoto mused, thoughtfully. "You started acting strange just before we found Chihiro. You wanted to go to the girl's locker room right away, right? But since you're a guy..."
"I should have naturally thought of checking the boy's locker room first. That is what you were going to say, correct?" Byakuya finished for him with a wiry sigh. "The victim, Chihiro, is a girl. Hence why I said we should check the girl's locker room."
"No, That's wrong!" Makoto countered. "The reason it is so strange was because, up until that point, only Taka had any idea who had been attacked, and he never said anything about who the victim was! So, your claim of going to the girl's locker room because Chihiro was the victim doesn't hold up!"
"I see…a good answer, I'll give you that much. Interesting. Very, interesting." Byakuya conceded, but it was quickly thrown aside as he pointed at the luckster dramatically. "But your reasoning is far too weak!"
Makoto was taken aback by the response, and was unable to form an intelligible response, which Byakuya took full advantage of. "What's wrong? You're not finished already are you? There must be more to it then just that alone..."
"T-there is..." Makoto floundered a bit at the taunting, clearly not expecting to be called out like that. Fortunately for him, Kyoko decided to step in.
"There is more to it." she confirmed, before turning back to the luckster. "Think about it. We just talked about the differences between this case and the past Genocider Sho incidents. However, there was one more bit of proof hidden there."
It took a moment for the luckster to see what she was talking about as he looked over his notes in the E-handbook, but after a moment his eyes gleamed with understanding. "Your talking about the extension cord used to suspend Chihiro, aren't you?"
"Huh? Wait, hold on a sec. What about a cord?" Hiro asked, clearly having missed that part in the investigation, so Leon elaborated for him.
"Oh yeah! When we were untying Chihiro, I noticed that someone used a cord to tie her up! I was wondering about that."
Kyoko took over next, "In the library, the lights are rather dim for those that wish to spend long periods of time reading the contents. To combat that, there are personal lamps on each desk. However, there weren't any close sources of power to provide for them."
"Yet, when we went looking for Byakuya the other day, when he was reading in the library, he had an extension cord to power the lamp at his desk." Makoto continued. "And that same extension cord was missing when we went to investigate today! Byakuya, there's no way someone who uses that cord as much as you have wouldn't notice that fact!"
"Then Byakuya is totally the one who used the cord!" Mukuro chimed in with a closed eye grin, adjusting her crutch to avoid falling over when she flashed a peace sign. "After all, he basically locked himself in the library after all. If anyone used that cord, it's got to be him, right?"
I could see many nodding heads from the other students, many of them clearly buying the working theory wholeheartedly. Byakuya in response to the accusation levied against him...looked bored. Yeah, you heard right. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world despite the accusations levied against him.
Then again, what reason did he have to be worried? He did after all, have everything planned out. This wasn't a trial to him, no, this was an elaborate joke. A fun little diversion, just a moment to mess with the others and see how they react.
There was a bit of overlap of purpose, it would allow him a second chance to view Makoto's adaptability on the fly as well as his ability to rationalize facts. Furthermore, it let Byakuya see just how manipulable the luckster could be, how far he could be lead by the nose to a verdict. In some ways it could even be to test how willing he was to commit those he considered friends to being punished.
"Really? Is that all you have to offer?" Byakuya just sighed after a while, disappointment dripping off of every word. "Your conclusion is something like this…? I assaulted Chihiro in the girl's locker room, then hung her up and wrote that bloody message. I intentionally made it look like Genocider Sho was behind it. Is that about right?"
Makoto was silent for a moment as he considered Byakuya's words, the calm and utterly unconcerned tone of the scion's voice ringing some alarm bells. Even as several members of the class agreed to the statements made by the blond heir, I could see that the luckster was not among them as the gears turned in his mind.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been Makoto's shining moment. This would be the point that he would figure out that the crime scene had been swapped and then lead them all to the inevitable conclusion. There, with some help from the others, out a killer among them.
However, this time someone else decided to take the stand, to rip the rug out from Byakuya's plans and expose some truths that had been unknown until now. It was time for someone else to rise up and tell it like it was for a bit and knock the wind from a rich pretty-boy's sails. It was a time of change, a time for new leadership, a time for reevaluation!
Because, with a raised hand, an announcement was made. "Excuse me! But, that is very much not what happened!"
H-Hey everyone. Good to see you all, you been well? No? Well, me either.
Okay, just going to go out and say it, I'm sorry. When I uploaded the last chapter at the beginning of the year, I was starting to get back into writing, I was. I had a plan, I had a direction, and I felt like I could make some real progress in a few short weeks. However, as I wrote the chapter, I found that I was starting to hate what I was writing. Time after time I would find myself just staring at my screen not liking anything I had just put into words, more often then not deleting entire weeks worth of work because I didn't like what I was seeing. I was in a rut, to put it lightly
So when I realized I had gotten nowhere in a few months, I tried to take a step back, re-look over my story and see if I could get myself out of this rut, see if I could find what I needed to get me going again. It did not, if anything I felt more strained and frustrated then before. Eventually, I decided to get a second opinion, to talk about my problem to another person. A professional.
I was told, I was suffering from a creative burnout and it was why I struggling so hard. I had spent so much energy setting up my plan that I forgot to leave enough to act on it. Combined with the stress from the pandemic and the exhaustion from dealing with that mess, I had been burning the candle at both ends and was suffering from it. He recommended that I take a few weeks to back away from my story, and Danganronpa as a whole and pursue other interests for a little while to give my groove a chance to recover. And so I did.
Then it turned into a month. Then two. Then five. On and on it went, me trying out different things to bring back my creative spark, occasionally trying and failing to get very far in the chapter, but not quite getting it to a point where I could then get back into writing more then a paragraph a week. It might have even continued had I not had a chance encounter with the announcement of a new entry into Danganronpa.
Now, I was not an avid fan of the board game in V3. The quirky events and interactions were cool, but I wasn't a big fan of the game play. But that didn't matter to my brain. One look at the Decadence announcement had all of those memories flood back and inspired me to pick this back up again. Before I realized it, I had spent a full day just writing most of the chapter down and only had a few paragraphs to go. Now, obviously I couldn't finish just then, I still had to edit it to hopefully make sure I did it right, but I was further then I had been in months.
I can't promise the next one will be very soon. If I'm able to keep up with this, I might manage to get it in three to four month from now. But before I go, I want to thank you all for staying interested in my story. It's not the greatest thing on this site, but you all seem to like it enough to wait for it and ask about it, and that means a lot to me. With any luck, I'll see you soon. No Omake this time, I didn't want to delay this any longer then I had to, but I plan to have one in the next chapter.