Chapter 22:
. "What are you doing here, Kirigiri?" Togami asked, his face maneuvering around his book on the Napoleonic Wars.
. "I just came here to ask if either of you have seen Yamada or Hagakure." she replied.
. "No." Both replied.
. "Why are you looking for them?" Togami asked.
. "That's none of your business." Kirigiri replied.
. "Well, I don't trust you."
. "You don't trust anybody."
. "That's not the point."
. "Weird." Fujisaki said, as Kirigiri walked out. "Wonder what that's all about."
. "She probably thinks one of them has murdered the other." Togami said.
. "And that doesn't bother you?"
. "Not in the slightest."
. With that, the conversation ended. Togami went back to flipping pages in his books. Fujisaki went back to studying calculus.
. Kirigiri walked along the second floor, pacing back and forth in front of the library.
. "What's going on? Something's up. And I know it. But what? What could possibly be the mastermind's next move? There's four days left until Monokuma reveals the secrets."
. She put her hand up to her forehead.
. "But without knowing everybody else's secrets, I can't hazard a guess as to where Monokuma got them from. How did he get them?"
. Naegi looked at the clock. Celeste had left Naegi about an hour ago. When she left, Naegi was still practicing his pool shots. Shooting them across the field of green felt, he made an observation.
. "It seems you need an understanding of geometry and physics."
. "Quite right." Fujisaki said, walking in. "The felt needs to be as close to frictionless as possible. Otherwise, the collision becomes more and more inelastic."
. "Inelastic collisions?" Naegi asked. "Fujisaki, since when are you a physics person?"
. "Since I got trapped here in this school. It seems almost too easy. But anyway, inelastic collisions are when the conversation of momentum or kinetic energy is not the same before and after the collision."
. "Conversation of momentum?" Naegi asked, somewhat confused.
. "Yes, it's when no momentum is lost through a physics system."
. "What the hell is momentum?"
. "It's mass times velocity. I mentioned this before." Fujisaki said, circling the pool table again. "But conceptually, it's Force divided by time. In other words, how much Force multiply by how much time do you have to apply in order for the object to stop moving. The higher the number the greater the force and or time required to stop it."
. "Okay. That somewhat makes sense." Naegi said, attempting another shot.
. "Friction applies force outside the collision, which is why, technically, pool shots are inelastic. But for simplicity sakes, there are usually calculated as elastic."
. "Elastic collisions? Let me guess. They're the opposite of inelastic collisions. Where the conversation of momentum and the conservation of kinetic energy applies."
. "Yes." Fujisaki replied, lining up a pool shot and nailing it off the rail.
. "Thanks for the physics lesson. You know, we must be running out of things to say to each other if we're talking about physics in our free time."
. "What else can we talk about? I mean, it's not like your usual small talk of "How's the weather?" is going to work."
. "Hey, Fujisaki."
. "Yes."
. "How's the weather?"
. "A pleasant day in the mid-70s. And now for five-day forecast, another day in the mid-70s tomorrow. And it looks to be in the mid-70s all week. Courtsey of that air purifier in the physics lab." Fujisaki snarked.
. "You know I think that's the most accurate weather report somebody's ever predicted." Naegi replied.
. "You mean to tell me, they get it right once in a while?" Fujisaki said.
. The two continued to play pool until the evening Monokuma announcement.
. Naegi slept peacefully, others less so. Their dreams were all filled of days gone by, of what life had been like before they had been trapped here. All of them were itching to get back. One day, they would get back.
. At midnight, Genocider opened her eyes.
. "I'm bored. I should go see Alter Ego again. But it would be suspicious if Monokuma saw me prowling around just now. So I guess I'll just do something about that. I wonder if Master Byakuya is still in the library."
. She left her dorm room, and prancing away up to the library. Togami was not around.
. "Bummer. Master Byakuya must have gone to sleep already."
. Genocider saw the atrium of secret case files.
. "Hmmm, I wonder." She thought to herself as she strolled on in, her shadow changing angles from the lights.
. Sure enough, it was there. The Genocider Shou case file. She flicked her tongue around.
. "I wonder what they've said about me." She said as she opened the case file and began reading.
. Suspect likely has Disassociation Identity Disorder.
. "Well, these cops got that right. Except Mrs. Gloomy isn't around anymore."
. There were lists of a good portion of the victims. They noted that every victim was male, and that victim had been found the same way, crucified gruesomely with her custom-made scissors, with the words "Bloodbath Fever" written with their own blood.
. Other than that, the cops could find no connection between the victims. Some were as young as seventeen, others were in their late twenties and early thirties. Genocider could personally remember Mrs. Gloomy's disdain for some of them. She had read her alternate self's diary a great deal of many times. Of course the cops would have no idea how to connect them if the lone connection was that every victim's name was contained in one teenage girl's diary, all entries dated mere days before they died.
. The longest any 'victim' had lasted after Mrs. Gloomy had written down their name was about a week. . "A notebook that kills people. I feel like someone turned that into a story already." Genocider thought to herself.
. She fingered the pages, trying to remember why they all died. That one was written in because Mrs. Gloomy had been rejected in the most gruesome fashion, humiliating her in front of the whole school. She remembered exactly one name Mrs. Gloomy had written in her diary, that Genocider hadn't gone after.
. "Kenji Suzuki."
. If she recalled Mrs. Gloomy's diary correctly, Kenji had let her down relatively easily. He also scored points because it wasn't like he went into another relationship either. He had never shown much interest in girls (or guys) on a romantic level. He treated her much the same way after Fukawa's confession as he had before it. Such a plain name too. He also went off to college across the ocean right after the rejection, so she couldn't have gone after him even if she wanted to, but Genocider couldn't remember what Fukawa had written down about why he had gone. Kenji did his things, and that was it.
. She went back to perusing the list of victims.
. Kazuto Tanaka
. Daisuke Sato
. Takato Isogai
. Kouichi Kanabara
. Junpei Yasuhiro
. The list went on.
. Tomohito Ishida
. Taisei Muramatsu
. Ren Shindo
. And so forth, the list continued even longer.
. Genocider read the list, and those were just the kills confirmed to her. Though she doubted how there could be 'unconfirmed' kills. She killed everyone the exact same way. If it resembled the other deaths, then it was one of hers, if it wasn't like that, then it wasn't one of hers. There was no way around that.
. Genocider flicked her tongue around her mouth. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
. "Hello, Monokuma."
. "Gasp. That's some perception skill you have there, Genocider. So have you thought about my offer yet?"
. "Yeah, I've thought about it."
. "And?"
. Leon awoke to a knocking at his door. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and got out of his bed. He drank a swig of a sports drink just before answering the door as a precaution.
. There was a piece of paper neatly folded in thirds as the front of his door. Leon quickly grabbed the piece and hastily shut the door. He opened it. The letters were written in blocky letters.
."Tomorrow night, meet me at 1:30 AM in the physics prep room. I think there might be a way out. It would be bad if Monokuma found out."
. Leon muttered to himself. "Whoever wrote this message, why use the blocky letters? Eh, whatever. I'll ask that person at our meeting tomorrow night."
. It seemed to Maizono that the next morning came too swiftly. Her dreams were broken up by the morning Monokuma announcement. From what she had dreamed, Naegi was there, and so was Ishimaru. Naegi had been refusing to reveal something to Ishimaru, but for the moment, Maizono had no idea what Naegi had been avoiding to say.
. She slowly rose from her bed, put on her school uniform like she had every day for the past week or so. Airily, she walked into the cafeteria. Kirigiri was sipping her coffee.
. "Morning, Kirigiri."
. "Morning, Maizono."
. "See anybody else this morning?"
. "Togami came in. Said he needed something to keep his mind after reading all night."
. "Couldn't he just sleep through the day?"
. "That's what I asked him, but apparently not."
. Hagakure walked in.
. "S'up dudes."
. "Hello, Hagakure, I didn't normally expect to see this early."
. Hagakure twiddled his thumbs.
. "Something wrong?" Kirigiri asked. "You look flustered."
. "I-i-t's nothing. Just worried about the next few days. I mean, the secrets are going to come up out in three days unless someone commits murder."
. "Yes, I suppose so."
. "You know, I hate to say it. But I'm actually kinda of curious about what everybody's secrets are." Maizono said, cautiously. She was hesistant to bring it up. Discussing the motive might lead to issues later on.
. "Easy for you to say. You're a pop idol. What kinda dastardly secrets could you have? You autotune or something?" Hagakure said.
. "W-w-hat? No."
. "Does it have something to do with your blue hair?"
. "My hair?"
. "Yeah, your hair. Why's it blue?"
. "I don't think that's important."
. Just then Yamada walked in. His glasses shone expectantly.
. "Truly, we are the Elite Four of Getting-up-In-The Morning!"
. "Dude, that could sound so wrong taken out of context." Leon yawned, walking into the cafeteria for the morning greetings that doubled as alibi creators. "So what are you talking about?"
. "You ever noticed that Maizono's hair is blue?!" Hagakure said, getting straight to the point.
. "Yeah, what's yer point? So she's dyed it, what so strange about that?" Leon mumbled.
. "No, I don't think she's dyed it blue! I think it's her natural color now!" the shaman said, palming his crystal ball in his hands.
. "Ack!" Maizono said, putting her hands over head. "Stop talking about my hair color!"
. "Why, what's wrong with it?" Leon said. "It's you. You need something that's just you."
. "I don't like to talk about it." Maizono replied, smallily.
. "Ooooo." Genocider came strolling in. "Hey guys, couldn't help but overhear. Maizono's hair is blue, you don't say. Is that your deep secret? Why your hair is blue? So I thought autotuning was your deepest secret."
. "Stop it!" Maizono said, as she ran out of the cafeteria, and crashed headfirst into Naegi.
. "Oww. Maizono. Could you get off me?"
. "Sorry."
. Leon came running out of the cafeteria. "Are you guys al- Guys! Not now! Get into one of your bedrooms!" And upon those words, the rest of the people (and Genocider) in the cafeteria came rushing out.
. "Thanks, Leon." Naegi snarked.
. "Oh, come on, man, you know I'm just joking right?"
. "I know you are. But I think Yamada is taking it way too seriously!" Naegi said, straight-faced, pointing at Yamada.
. "Truly the gods of manga have graced me with the inspiration for my next manga. It will be about an ordinary guy-"
. "Stop right there, Yamada. That trope has been done to death." Naegi said.
. "Too late." Maizono said, under her breath as Yamada wound up to continue, oblivious that the fact that everybody now felt extremely awkward.
. "An ordinary guy and his days as the manager of his pop idol girlfriend! Join them in their quest to keep her relevant and her sanity from all of the pressure intact."
. "Good morning, guys. Monokuma informed me there was a ruckus going outside." Fujisaki emerging from Chihiro's room.
. "Hey, Fujisaki."
. "Hello, Naegi. Did you and Maizono have an inelastic collision with the floor or something?"
. "Yes."
. "Well, you don't need to hybridize right here." Fujisaki snarked.
. "Hybridize?" Leon said. "That's a new one."
. "Why 'hybridize'?" Kirigiri said. "Your word choice, it interests me."
. "Well, biologically speaking, you are a mixture of both of your parents." Fujisaki said. "That and it sounds cool."
. "Collide 'n' Hybridize." Leon said. "I call dibs on making that my rock band name."
. "You want to make a rock band?" Hagakure said.
. "Yeah, you think I just threw out music references because they were a vital part of characterization." Leon said, raising his fists.
. "Who the fuck cares about characterization?" Genocider Shou flicked her tongue. "We've been put into an insane situation. Characterization don't mean jack shit."
. "So is it worth ace shit then?" Naegi said.
. "What the hell is 'ace shit'?" Genocider said, completely missing Naegi's line.
. "Never mind."
. "Sonia!" Monokuma said, popping out. "Naegi, Maizono, it's way too early. Save it for later."
. "Oh shut up!" Naegi said.
. "Yeah, shut up!" Maizono hastily agreed.
. "You say that, but neither of you have moved from the floor." Monokuma replied.
. Maizono quickly got off Naegi. She was blushing profusely. Naegi, brushed the dirt off himself before standing up.
. "But I must say, the two of you are excellent entertainment." Monokuma admitted.
. "What do you mean? Entertainment?" Naegi said, clinching his fists. "Entertainment to you?"
. "Entertainment to everybody."
. "What does that mean?" Leon said.
. "Ignore it." Kirigiri said.
. Fujisaki came back, munching on a blueberry muffin.
. "When did you get that?" Yamada said.
. "I sneaked away and got it." Fujisaki replied. "Because secretly, I'm a ninja!"
. "Mistress Fujisaki,... what's so funny, Monokuma?" Yamada asked, changing topics mid-sentence.
. "Uppupupu. You'll understand soon. They'll understand soon, won't they, Chihiro?"
. Chihiro stopped eating the muffin; Fujisaki's eyes widened in nervousness.
. "Chihiro, you wanna explain now? Or later?" Naegi said.
. "Is it your secret?" Hagakure said, perfectly blunt.
. "What?" Fujisaki was taken aback. Chihiro hurried away from the others, and into the bath.
. "Aren't the rest of you guys going to peek?"
. "What? No!" Leon said.
. "That's surprisingly chivalrious for a 'ladies' man.'" Monokuma said. Monokuma chuckled some more before disappearing.
. "Well, obviously, Chihiro wants to be left alone." Maizono said.
. Everybody except Hagakure and Naegi dispersed. Maizono went back to her room. Leon went back with Yamada and Kirigiri to the cafeteria.
. "So Naegs, what's up? You wanna see my stigmata?"
. "No, that's a poor excuse for a conversation starter. What even is a stigamata?"
. "It's a type of scar. See here."
. "Hagakure, no, no. Keep your clothes on. Ugh."
. "See, Naegs, isn't it mysterious."
. "It's not an X."
. "What? Of course, it's not x-shaped. It's a scar."
. "The Fullmetal Alchemist reference flew right over your head."
. "No, it didn't."
. "Sure..."
. Hagakure turned discussion to the motive.
. "So we've only got three days left until our secrets are revealed.
. "Yeah, so what? Are you going to use your crystal ball to see who's going to die? Or are you going to see our secrets?"
. "Dude! I can't be that specific."
. "That's lame."
. "Hey, Naegs, what if I told you your fortune for a wicked low price."
. "No deal."
. "What?"
. "It's probably way too expensive to be worth it."
. "You know what, I'll just show you myself. You'll never guess what I saw."
. "What's that?"
. "Your kid and my kid are going to have the same mom."
. "No." Naegi said, flatly.
. "Well, I also saw that as the Luckster you'll have a great instance of Luck."
. "Not really. Say, if you really want to believe you. Tell me who you think who's the next one of us to die if any?"
. "Asahina."
. "Even though she's been quite the shut in for the last two days?"
. "Hey, man, girls, especially teenage girls are weird. They come in all shape and sizes."
. "I'll say."
. "Most of them do or don't believe in cosmogony."
. "Well, that covers everybody. Everybody in the humanity race either does or doesn't believe in cosmogony, whatever the hell that is. Way to weasel words there."
. "HEY! I'll have you know that tarot cards and numerology can be extremely accurate.
. "What does that have to do with anything?"
. "I had revelations."
. "So you had a hunch?"
. "Don't go making it seem like less than it is, dude! You ever heard of cryptids?"
. "Yeah, those legendary creatures. Are you telling me you found some?" Naegi said, humoring Hagakure until he could get away. Hagakure was quickly getting on his nerves. "So your revelations were using what?"
. "Well, usually for my revelations I use this!" Hagakure said, triumphantly as he shoved a ball into Naegi's hands.
. "Hagakure. I don't want this."
. "Come on, man. The Crystal ball has declared you its master, and now you must attend this seminar."
. "Seminar? You want me to go to a seminar after being trapped in this school!" Naegi said, waving his arms like an airplane.
. "Well, yeah." Hagakure smiled. "Hey, Naegs."
. "What, Hagakure?" Naegi's patience was thin.
. "You ever hear of OOPArts?"
. "Out-of-Place Artifacts?"
. "Yeah, like the Baghdad Battery."
. "I've heard of them, but I don't particularly care."
. "You don't care about ancient super-cultures and extraterrestrial life?"
. "Unless the Doctor starts knocking about, talking about how the Daleks are invading the planet for the umpteenth time... and failing. I don't particularly care."
. "Doctor Who?"
. "Under there?"
. "Under where?"
. "Hehe. I just made you say 'underwear.'"
. "Really mature, Naegi."
. "You know, you're the reason why the History Channel doesn't show actual history anymore."
. Chihiro sat in the bath alone, facing Alter Ego.
. "Master. What's wrong? You seem down. I think."
. "I am 'down'. Alter Ego."
. "Why?"
. "Monokuma has introduced a new motive."
. "Oh no."
. "Yeah, unless there's a murder within the next three days. He's going to reveal our deepest, darkest secrets out loud."
. "Master, what is a 'deepest, darkest secret'?"
. "A 'deepest, darkest secret' is a piece of information that you do not want to ever share with anybody else. Not your friends. Maybe not even your family."
. "I see. That sounds awful. Does everybody have a deepest, darkest secret?"
. "I suppose so."
. Genocider Shou came in.
. "Chihiro, I know you want to stay in here. But Monokuma's starting to get suspicious. You've stayed in here far too long alone."
. "Yeah. I know. Why are you coming in here?"
. "Because I don't want to lose Alter Ego any more than you do." Genocider said, pointing her scissors at Fujisaki. "I've grown rather attached to the bastard. And I don't want to see Monokuma smash him to bits."
. Fujisaki stopped and smiled. "Alright, Genocider. Enjoy your bath."
. "Don't worry. I will."
. The rest of the day was spent in tense silence, with everybody away from each other.
. At 1:30 A.M., Leon went to the Physics prep room.
. "Hello, who's there?"
. "I am."
. Leon whipped around.
. "Togami. Don't tell me you were the one who sent that note."
. "What note? Oh, you mean, the note that was slipped underneath the door. No, I didn't write it." Togami paced up to Leon, his arms folded. It seemed to Leon that the Physics prep room seemed much more omninous now. He almost felt like summoning Monokuma just see what happened.
. All of a sudden, a pair of knifes were placed at the throats of Leon and Byakuya.
. "Who's there?" Leon said, freaking out. "Don't kill me. Don't kill me."
. Togami's eyes widened. Someone had gotten the jump on him, but how?
. "Well, well, I only expected to murder one person tonight. Byakuya, how nice of you to tag along." Celeste Ludenberg smiled. Leon turned his head as much as he could to see Celeste's usual smile. It was almost as though she was playing a game, and winning.
. "You've been so 'helpful'. Was it all an act?" Leon said, taking back.
. "Surprisingly, no."
. "So was your secret too much to let Monokuma see it cut loose to the rest of us?" Togami asked, coolily. His senses were in overdrive. How was he going to get out of this? He was scanning the physics prep room for any sort of weapon. He briefly considered his options. Could he get one of hands in between the knife and his throat without the knife hitting the wrist?
. It seemed to Leon that Celeste stood there forever.
. "Hesitating, eh, Celeste?" Togami said. "You have us at your mercy. If you're going to do it, do it."
. "Hey, man. Shut up." Leon said of Togami. The heir was really making things hard on Leon. Leon's attention was focused on his own survival. Could he pinch Celeste's knife hand near his own throat inside his arm pit?
. "CELESTE!" A fourth voice shouted across the physics prep room.
. "M-m-a-izono?" Celeste said, stunned, as she turned around.
. "Well, well, it looks like the tables have been turned." Togami said. "You can't kill all three of us, it would be against the rules. You have to leave a witness now."
. Celeste grimaced. Her plan had been foolproof, but now thanks to a fluke, it was ruined.
. "So you mean, nobody can murder anybody now?" Leon said, his voice started to ease up.
. "Oh, I wouldn't say that." Togami said, taking advantage of the situation, and catching Celeste off guard, and getting her knife into his hands. He whipped around, and now the knife was at Celeste's throat.
. "What good will that do you?" Leon said, while Maizono just collapsed to the floor. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening. Not now. Not now. Not again."
. "You fool, you don't see it. If Celeste kills you, and I kill Celeste, I've killed only one person..."
. "Which means you can go after Maizono." Celeste said.
. "WHAT!" Leon was now in shock.
. "Exactly."
. Maizono regained her voice. "What—what-what if I escape?" She said dismally. "What if you can't kill me before the class trial?"
. "Oh, that won't be a problem. The bedrooms are all soundproof. I trust everyone else is asleep in their beds already. So I just have to go all over the school until I find you."
. "And what if she makes it back to her dorm room?" Leon said. "You can't get in, unless she lets you in at that point."
. "Oh, that won't be a problem." Togami replied. "I have it figured it out. She'll let me kill her."
. "I'll let you kill me?" Maizono said, flatly. "Like hell that's going to happen."
. "Oh, would you prefer I kill Naegi instead?"
. The eyes of the other three people in the physics prep room went wide with shock.
. "You'd do that?"
. "Of course, I would. If I get out of this school, everyone would die anyway. What difference does it make if I murder them now or they die at the class trial?"
. "You're a monster." Celeste said.
. "You're in no position to talk, Celeste Ludenberg. After all, I simply hijacked your plan and used it against you."
. "You make a fine opponent yourself."
. "Thank you."
. "Oh shut up, Celeste. HE HAS A KNIFE TO YOUR THROAT!" Maizono said. She thought Celeste was oblivious to her situation.
. "Maizono, relax. There is only one thing I can do now."
. "And what's that?" Leon said.
. "This." And Leon flinched.
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry, for the delay in uploading a new chapter. I've been very busy in my personal life. Also, I had to make sure these sections played out just right. This is where shit goes down. So stay tuned, and keep rereading those early chapters, you might guess what I'm about to do. There are lines that foreshadow what's going to happen. (Or at least some of it.) If you feel so inclined, leave a review, with some of your guesses. The references abound of course.