Chapter 26
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the Hiatus. I'll explain why at the end of the chapter.
Day 10's Monokuma announcement started off with a bang.
."What the blazes is that song?" Togami asked, as everybody trudged out of their rooms.
. "Wait..." Naegi yawned. "I know this song. It's Death The Kid's Theme Song from Soul Eater."
. "What, you don't like 'Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!'?" Monokuma asked.
. "You know, in this case, it's a little too on-the-nose." Leon said, as everybody went back to their rooms.
. In a couple of hours, while Fujisaki took a bath, only Maizono and Naegi were ready to explore the fourth floor. Everybody else was still catching up on their interrupted sleep both from Monokuma's morning interruption and the previous day's trial. As the two slowly ascended the stairs, and throughout the school, neither of them said much. But as they made their way to the fourth floor, it seemed a bit different from the previous three. Maybe it was the floor grates, but Naegi found the fourth floor more metallic and cold than the previous three.
. "Makoto, what's wrong?" Maizono asked.
. "Nothing. It's just seems off." Naegi said.
. The boys bathroom appeared just like the other bathrooms in the school part of the academy. There were green and yellow tiles on the walls, various hues of blue tiles on the floor, and an iron plate covering the window. There were a few urinals, and toliets, and a sink and the mirror. Exiting the bathroom and turning left, he saw a blue door. The sign said 'Data Lab'.
. "Do you think it's locked?" Maizono asked.
. "I don't know." Naegi replied. He tried opening the door. It was no use. "No good- the door's locked. I guess we won't be getting in here."
. The two teenagers continued going over the metallic grates and through the dull yellow walls with gray wood-panelling. After passing the data center, they continued forward and took a left. The two peered into the Classroom 4-A. It was wavy blue with iron plates covering the windows.
. "Makoto, what the hell is that?" Maizono asked.
. "Maizono, what are you talking about? Wait, why am I drawn on a chalkboard?"
. "I don't know." Maizono replied. "And with the words, 'One day, I saw Monokuma in class.'
, "And sitting at a desk. And why is there blood on the right hand side of the chalkboard?"
. Feeling slightly perturbed, the two left the classroom and moved on to Classroom 4-B. The lighting changed from yellow to red. With twenty desks as well, this classroom was more of a spotted yellow, and black.
. Printed sideways was an equation. "e^(iθ)= cos(θ)+ i*sin(θ)"
. "We'll have to ask Fujisaki about this equation." Maizono said.
. "Ask me what?" Fujisaki had appeared.
. "Fujisaki!" Naegi said, somewhat surprised.
. "About this equation." Maizono pointed out to the board.
. "Ah, Euler's Formula." Fujisaki said, after taking a quick glance at the board. "I can explain it if you like."
."It would probably just go over our heads." Maizono said.
. "Never the less, the history behind it is quite fascinating." Fujisaki said. " Basically, Euler found something that two other mathematicians, Johann Bernoulli and Roger Cotes had missed, and he combined it into a major equation in the 1740s."
. "Fujisaki, you find this stuff way too fascinating." Naegi said.
."Well, I am a programmer, and it gets hard to program without a good understanding in numbers."
While Maizono and Naegi left the classroom, Fujisaki stayed behind to check the desks. The two made their way towards the chemistry lab. It was gray like floor tiles outside. There was a table filled to the brim with assorted beakers and test tubes. Naegi noticed a cabinet on the far left side next to what appeared to be the boiler.
. "A, B, and C." Naegi said. "Hey, Maizono, look at this."
"It appears A is for protein-like substances, vitamins, minerals and the like, including something called Proteinzyme-X." Maizono said, rifling through Cabinet A.
. "Proteinzyme-X?" Naegi said. "What a lazy name. Isn't that just like a portmanteau of protein and enzyme?"
. "Portmanteau?" Monokuma appeared. "Like the people who ship you together call it Naezono?"
. "Ack! Get it away. Get it away. Get it away." Maizono said.
. "Well, that's not a very nice thing to say to your headmaster." Monokuma said.
. "Considering our lifestyle here." Naegi said. "I'd said that that is a very appropriate reaction."
. "Well, whose fault is it for wanting out of here?"Yours, you dingbat. You're the one who provided the motives."
. "But you're the ones who murdered each other. You've had three class trials so far. That's why you have access to the fourth floor now. Though I have to admit, there's no way I saw this many making it to the fourth floor."
. "How many did you expect to see?" Naegi said.
. "About seven or eight."
. "There's nine of us."
. "Oh, is there? I lost count. Well, I'm out."
. "Ah, before Monokuma showed up, I meant to ask. What's an enzyme?" Maizono asked, as the two exited the chemistry lab, and turned around away from the staircase up to the fifth floor.
. "Oh, right, you probably missed that lesson in middle school. I can't remember, but it's something something cellular biology something."
. "I see. I'm not very good at biology. Perhaps you could teach me sometime?"
. "Hey, you're asking the average guy here to tutor you? I wasn't that good at middle-school biology either. Too much memorization. The only thing I ever remember about biology is reading up on the internet about the Sonic Hedgehog gene, and that it has inhibitor of Robotnikinin. Which reminds me." Naegi said, glancing at the staircase. "If there isn't a biology lab on this level, it must be on a floor above us."
. Maizono facepalmed. "Gotta make that reference, don't you?"
. "Of course, I'm very good at making references."
. "Uh-huh. Of course you are, Makoto."
. Fujisaki sat alone in the classroom, wondering about what to do now. Alter Ego had finished decrypting the files that morning.
. "I'm paraphrasing here, big brother, but it appears these files were under secure for a very notable reason."
. "And what reason is that?"
. "Do you know what 'The Most Despair-Inducing Incident in of Human-Kind.' is?"
. "No, I have never heard of it."
. "And yet the headmaster, makes many references to the incident."
. "I see. What are the details you can tell me?"
. "Apparently, it happened over a year ago according to the scanned papers. I've been off for quite a while so I don't know if my internal clock is correct anymore."
. "It shouldn't be too far off. You weren't that old of a model when I found and made you."
. "Anything else?"
. "Well, since you asked, it appears that the headmaster's signature has been cut off from these scans."
. "What?"
. "I mean, the rest of the document is there. But it's like it's been photoshopped out. I think it's possible that a headmaster, a man in his late 30s is the mastermind."
. "Then that can only mean... these documents have been tampered with. But with that in mind, by who? The headmaster or the mastermind? Or are they not the same?"
. "Wait, Alter Ego, can you find out the headmaster's name for me? Using anything else."
. "Just a moment. I'll perform a search."
Fujisaki waited for a few minutes.
. "By process of elimination, I found the headmaster's name."
. "And what is the name of the headmaster?"
. "I found only one name that does not come up in any file labelled 'student profiles'. Jin Kirigiri. Say, isn't that Kyoko's last name?"
."Yes, yes, it is. Another mystery."
."Speaking of mysteries, how many students were there when you were first trapped in here?"
."Fifteen."
. "Well, I found sixteen student profiles."
. "Okay, first exclude the names of everyone you've met or I've told you is alive."
."Next, exclude the names of Toko Fukawa, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Junko Enoshima, Mondo Oowada, and Sakura Oogami."
. "Done."
."Who's left?"
."Someone by the name of Mukuro Ikusaba."
. "What?"
. "Whoever put this information on the file probably didn't mean to add this information on us. But apparently there was supposed to be a sixteenth member of your class. But reasons unknown it was scrapped, or Ikusaba didn't come."
. "I suppose it's entirely possible this Mukuro Ikusaba just showed up late after the rest of us had already been abducted. But I don't remember seeing anything about her on Hope's Peak Message Boards except for the fact that she was a member of this mercenary group called Fenrir. Have you cracked the file?"
. "No. Mukuro Ikusaba's is heavily encoded, even more so than the others."
. "I wonder why."
.The only thing Chihiro could do now was search for a network cable and ethernet port. But where could Fujisaki find one? Maybe there was a network cable in the physics lab or A/V Room? And what about the fact Kirigiri Kyoko was potentially related to Kirigiri the headmaster? Was it possible their initial hunches in the first trial were correct about Kirigiri being the mastermind? And what further information would come out when Alter Ego decrypting even more of the files left? Fujisaki walked over to the far side of the classroom, and wondered about the outside world.
. Next, Maizono and Naegi checked the office. There were a bunch of potted plants.
. "Hey, Maizono. Is it just me or do all of these plants have monocoins?"
. "You're right. They sure do."
. There was nothing about the office that stuck out. All faculty files had probably been taken out of the room. Naegi would check himself later after they had finished exploring. The two left the office and went over to the headmaster's office. It was locked.
. "Another locked door! Impossible! Wait, no, it's totally possible. What am I talking about?"
. "Naegi. Was that another reference? Because you need to stop."
. "It's not another reference. At least I don't think so."
. "What do you mean, you don't think so?"
. "I mean, I can't quite remember where I heard it first, but that line sounded way too... way too..."
. "Elaborate?" Kirigiri said, walking over.
. "Elaborate! Yeah, that's the word!" Naegi said. "Wait, Kirigiri, how did you know what I was saying?"
. "Easy. Because I've been up here the whole time." Kirigiri replied.
. "Wow, you were really, really quiet. Please don't ever stalk someone. You'd make a great stalker. And by great, I mean horrible to have."
. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'd never stalk anyone. Unless they were suspicious of course...No, actually, it's because Monokuma felt like playing the audio of your conversation to me as I walked up to the fourth floor."
."Seriously?" Maizono said.
. "Yeah, he keeps blabbering about entertainment value. Apparently when we're not having murders or class trials, the mastermind finds the most pleasure in watching your relationship. At least that's what he told me in his trolling manner."
. "MONOKUMA! HEY, MONOKUMA!" Naegi shouted to no avail.
. "Hang on, let me try something. DESPAIR SUCKS! BEAR PUNS ARE STUPID!" Maizono said.
. "How dare you?" Monokuma appeared.
. "What are you trying to do anyway?" Kirigiri said. "You've spent the past half-hour taunting me about Naegi and Maizono 'relationship'?"
. "Perhaps he's tried to force a love triangle?" Fujisaki said.
. "A love triangle, with me?" Naegi said. "How utterly ridiculous."
. "And yet, I find it's the most entertainment." Monokuma said.
. "Did you suddenly absorb Yamada's love for high-school animes? You know the ones where all the female characters fight over the main male character?" Naegi snarked. "You're providing us with motives to kill each other. You really think you can also have harem genres and high-school comedy?"
. "Well, why not? I'm less likely to get bored that way. I like my entertainment versatile."
. The conversation quickly died as Kirigiri left. There was only one room left on the fourth floor, the music hall.
. Naegi, Maizono, and Fujisaki were first impressed with the grand scale of the music hall. The pink squares on the wall were maybe for acoustic purposes, but Naegi would have chosen a different color.
. "Hey, Maizono, you wanna gather everyone over here and try singing together?"
. "A chorus performance?" Maizono replied. "Hey, you know, getting together with all of us and... Oh, that sounds like fun." Maizono thought back to the happier days of her idol group performing together, and it depressed her.
. "Maizono?"
. "Sorry, it's just, you reminded me of my idol group members."
. "Oh, I'm sorry."
. Naegi stopped and thought about what could cheer Maizono up.
. "Hey, you know, Maizono, I've always wanted to see some live music."
. "Yeah, I'd like to go, too!" Maizono replied, excitedly. "When we get out of here, we should go to a concert! But I mean, I had hadn't much time lately to do anything like that, thanks to my own work schedule. But going to see other people perform is a good learning experience!"
."Uh huh." Naegi replied.
."Wait... you weren't talking about going to see 'me' perform, were you?" Maizono asked, blushing as she stared at the piano.
."You should be careful. Everything about Maizono has been manufactured and autotuned. Performing lively is a whole different set of skills." Celeste said, entering the room.
. "Is this a grand piano?" Naegi commented, ignoring Celeste. "It seems really old. I bet it's worth a lot of money, but without someone who can play it, it's not very useful."
. "Hey, Maizono, can you play the piano?"
. "Yes. Of course. I may not know a whole lot about pianos themselves, but I can tell what a good piano sounds like." Maizono said, as she tapped the keys. "Not only is it a genuine antique, but it still sounds lovely too. It'd be great for my next performance to have one accompany me."
. "You definitely should."
. "I just wish I could play and sing at the same time, though." Maizono sighed.
."Well, here's something for you to do while we're stuck in here." Naegi said as Leon entered the music hall.
."Expected to see you here, Maizono, but it strikes me out of character that Naegi and Fujisaki would be here as well. Well, not surprising, considering new area and all, but anything I should keep an eye on the rest of this floor after I've finished looking around here."
."I don't think you'll miss anything important, Leon." Naegi said.
."Well, you'll probably miss Euler's Formula in one of the classrooms, but that's about it."
."Euler's Formula?" Leon asked.
."Don't ask." Maizono and Naegi said at the same time.
."Hey, Fujisaki, what kind of music do you like?" Leon asked.
."You know, I really don't have any specific kind." Fujisaki said, pondering. "But I do like listening to music in general. It's very relaxing to listen while programming and all. I like to listen to music when I'm having fun in general, and it usually makes everything more fun. Heck, I'll even listen to music that'll cheer me up when I'm sad and all."
."That's good to hear."
As Maizono and Naegi walked out, Togami walked in, pursued by Genocider.
. "Togami." Fujisaki said.
. "Ah, yes. A music hall, I would expected such a refined school as Hope's Peak Academy under normal circumstances to have one."
. "Of course, we are considered Ultimates." Celeste said. "We should have the best possible facilites to showcase our talent, isn't that right?"
. "So you're saying you can play some instruments, Togami?" Leon commented.
. "Of course, all the standard ones, yes. It's part of a typical education for one who would call himself a Togami."
. "Uh huh." Leon said.
. "Well, showing any weakness opens the door to defeat. My knowledge is my armor." Togami said.
. "Yeah, well, that armor isn't going to do you any good if Genocider Shou decides to filet you, dude." Leon said, as he left to go explore the rest of the floor.
Everybody spent the rest of the morning was spent exploring the fourth floor. Then they all met in the cafeteria.
. "So what have we learned?" Naegi said.
."The fourth floor doesn't have a way out, just like the first three." Maizono replied. "The eight of us have searched it thoroughly."
. Monokuma suddenly appeared. "Oh, come on, the suspense is eating away at me."
. "What?" Naegi said.
. "I've had a motive saved up for quite a while." Monokuma said. "There's all something waiting for you in the A/V Room. Isn't that, right, Maizono?"
Maizono suddenly went pale.
."Uppppuuu. Go and find out."
Everybody suddenly rushed to the A/V Room. In it, they found a box of fourteen DVDs with each of their names.
. "You know, I was originally going to present this as my first motive, but things changed." Monokuma admitted as everybody begin watching their videos and were horrified at what they saw.
. "Interesting." Kirigiri said. "Why present this now?"
. Celeste suddenly remembered something. "Wait, 'That's nine out of the ten.' Where's Asahina? Has anyone seen her since before we discovered Hagakure's body?"
. And suddenly the room went silent. Not one of them could recall the last time they had seen Asahina.
. "Shit." Leon said.
. "It could be she just didn't want to participate." Genocider said.
."No. Now that I can think about it, it would make sense. It's pretty hard to determine a murder without a cause." Kirigiri said.
. "Murder!" Naegi said. "But we just came off a class trial. Do we really have to do this again?"
."It appears so." Celeste said. "And it also appears that at this moment, Maizono is our most likely suspect. She was the only one who knew about these DVDs before Monokuma revealed them moments ago."
. "I wouldn't be so sure." Naegi said. " We've been here ten days, how do you know someone else didn't also enter the A/V Room during that time?"
."I'm willing to bet she hid the body as well." Togami said. "After we can't hold a class trial if we don't find a body. So Maizono, out with it, where did you hide Asahina's body?"
."I didn't hide her body! I don't know where she is." Maizono shouted, before running off.
."Well, that's certainly suspicious." Togami said.
."You just accused my girlfriend of murder." Naegi said, angrily. "That's not something anybody could take lightly."
."Oh hohoho. When did you and Maizono become an item?" Monokuma asked.
."Shut up, Monokuma!" Naegi and Kirigiri said in unison.
."That was weird." Naegi pointed out.
."I think one of you owes the other a soda." Leon said. "But more importantly, how are we going to find Asahina's body?"
.Meanwhile, Naegi went to go find Maizono.
."Maizono, what's wrong?
."Naegi, listen, I didn't kill Asahina, you have to believe me."
."Shush. I believe you, but tell me, why did you never mention that video?"
"Because I didn't want it to be real. My idol group, my friends, they're all in trouble. I have to get out of here!" Maizono replied. "What if they're all dead?":
"Calm down. Then there's nothing more you can do for them. But how do you even know that that video is completely legitmate?"
."But what if it is? Even if my friends aren't dead, what if they all drift apart from each other and abandon me while I'm in here?"
."They're not going to abandon you."
Maizono's tears streamed down her face.
."What makes you say that? I'll be left on my own. The world will forget about me."
."Well, first of all, they're not really your friends if they abandon you because of this situation. Second of all, isn't there such a thing as a 'comeback' tour? Third of all, if your idol career stalls because of this, you could always join Leon's band instead. As soon as he figured out how to shelve his own ego, he'd love have you on board. And of fourth of all-
."What? Leon's band?"
."Yeah, the guy's bored with baseball. Wants to start a punk band. Worse case scenario, your career as an idol dies a painful death, but your musical career takes a hard left into punk-rock territory with Leon."
."Naegi, that's insane. I can't ... music with Leon?"
."Oh, come on. This situation's so bad, it could fuel ten albums worth of songs! Though I suppose you have to switch to Hard Rock and Post-Grunge instead."
.Maizono smiled weakly. "That's most backwards-case of optimism I have ever heard, Naegi."
."Well, that's just how I roll."
. She glomped him and grinned.
."So I guess you could say I'm ready to rock?"
. Naegi slow-clapped.
."Naegi, what was the fourth thing you were going to bring up?"
."Oh, well, I was just going to bring up the fact that you were never going to be left alone. I'm living proof of that. I did just call you my girlfriend to Togami and all."
A moment later...
. "Maizono, you're ... crushing me."
."Of course I am. You're a veritable human plushie."
"Thank you for those complimentary words of analysis." Naegi deadpanned.
."There you are." Togami said. "We're splitting up to search for Asahina's body. I'll be taking the dormitories. Leon, Fujisaki, Kirigiri, you'll take the second floor. Celeste, Naegi, Maizono, you'll take the third floor. I'll take the first floor."
."What about the dormitories?" Kirigiri asked.
."Genocider, take care of it. And ask Monokuma to open up Asahina's room. She may still be in there just like Ishimaru was in his own room." Everybody was waiting for Asahina's door to be opened first before departing to their sections.
."Ay. Ay. Ay." Genocider saluted.
."So, Monokuma! Open up Asahina's room!"
. Monokuma complied, and immediately set off the smoke alarms.
."Ack! I forgot that I had to turn off the power in Asahina's room."
. After some coughing and the smoke dissipated, every student rushed in. Asahina's room was smoky black. Everything looked blackened and slightly ashen.
."What happened in here?" Leon asked.
.It was Kirigiri who found the answer. She picked up the toaster with a knife jammed into it.
."Take a look at this. I think the culprit must have dislodged one of the heating coils to start up some smoke in this room."
."And where's Asahina?" Leon asked. "Her body isn't in here."
."Well that answers that question. Everybody split up and go find her. We have the next stage of the game to complete." Togami said.
. Seeing Maizono, Celeste and Naegi off to third floor, Kirigiri, Leon, and Fujisaki worked out who was going to explore what to start.
. "Fujisaki. You take the woman's changing rooms. I'll take the library." Leon said. "Kirigiri, you take the classrooms. I'll swing around and grab the man's changing room after I'm done with the library."
. Togami was not having much luck on the first floor. He had checked classroom 1-A. It was empty. He had checked classroom 1-B. It was also empty. The nurse's office held no sign of her, and neither did the gymnasium. The Student Store? Forget it.
. "This is insane." Togami muttered to himself. "Where could that donut loving swimmer be hidden?"
. Even after Genocider had reported to him that there was no sign of her in the bath, or the kitchen or the store room, the pair of them had no luck anywhere else.
. Elsewhere on the third floor, Celeste, Naegi and Maizono weren't finding Asahina either. The physics lab and prep room held no answers. There wasn't a sign of her in the classrooms or the rec room. Kirigiri had no luck in the second floor classrooms, and Leon had no luck in the library or the archives. Eventually all seven had to admit that they weren't finding Asahina's body, and they met up in front of the changing rooms.
. "Did anybody find her body?" Togami asked.
. Everybody shook their heads.
. "Wait a minute, where's Fujisaki?" Celeste asked.
."Oh, no. Did Maizono do her in as well?" Genocider accused Maizono.
. "That's rich, coming from a serial killer." Maizono shouted right back.
."Enough." Kirigiri said, getting in-between the two of them, when the men's changing room door opened. There was someone wearing a long-sleeved shirt, navy-blue cargo pants and a cloak.
. "Who the hell are you?" Genocider asked. "Where's Cherry?"
. "How could you not recognize me after how many days? I'm Chihiro Fujisaki." Fujisaki replied.
."Yeah, okay. Wait, why are you wearing guys clothing, where's your skirt? You're a girl, so how did you get out of the men's changing room?" Genocider asked.
."Of course, I'm wearing guys clothing. I AM MALE."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So the reason I took a break was that it was the end of the semester, and also, I finally got a PS Vita. I spent Christmas week or so, playing the first game and beating it on Mean Difficulty, and also doing a run-through of Dangan Academy. (Which has its flaws, mainly limited dialogue options and locations.). Yes, I wrote 25 Chapters of Fanfiction for a video game franchise I had only ever watched footage of. (most NicoB) Also, I've been replaying the floor discovery parts of Chapter four, in order to add a layer of authenticity. And that part where Naegi calms down Maizono? It was a prototype version of that passage I wrote that turned into SDHSL Smartass.
Hell, I even noticed some details that I don't think anybody else pointed out. For instance, why the hell is the EGYPTIAN Eye of Horus on the second floor of the dormitories? (Then again, the legend of Fenrir comes up in-game as well) And there's this hilarious gag cut to Yamada's angry sprite if you talk to Fujisaki a second time in the introductions after Chihiro has already been introduced to you.
If anyone can tell me how to record PS Vita Footage without modding the handheld, I'd love to show off the little nuances of character I've discovered on Youtube or something.