Chapter 29

I apologize for not uploading a chapter April 2016. I had some other things to take care of. But for those of you wanting to follow up Trial 4's end, here you go.

As the eight people left stared in horror, they saw a laptop sitting in a construction site.
"Alter Ego." Fujisaki whimpered. So that was what Monokuma meant by 'an execution'? Now he would never get to read those sixteen files, including the one on Mukuro Ikusaba. He had been so wrapped up with everything involving the fourth trial that he had left Alter Ego completely unguarded in the boy's bathroom on the second floor.
Monokuma decided to add a bit of fun for the next execution.
"This next execution is going to be narrated by someone from Aperture Science! 'This next test is very dangerous. To help you remain tranquil in the face of almost certain death, smooth jazz will be deployed in 3... 2... 1...'"
"Kirigiri.."
"I know. I wonder if Alter Ego's attempt was successful with the network connection.." Kirigiri replied.
"But what if it wasn't?"
"I'll need a distraction later on to confirm the result."
"All right."
"It can't be you. As Alter Ego's maker, you're far too obvious to make the distraction."
Suddenly, a construction excavator appeared, and began smashing Alter Ego.
"This is a replacement for Hagakure!" Monokuma said, gleefully.
"Awww... now that's just mean, Monokuma." Genocider condemned the ecstatic bear.
"Well, from one alter ego to another." Monokuma said.
. It was over in seconds, and as Fujisaki stumbled over to the crushed wreckage that had been his greatest creation and maybe even his dearest friend, there was nothing salvagable from the laptop itself. Maybe if the harddrive hadn't been twisted and contoured, something would have been able to be reused, but no such luck. Monokuma had been very, very thorough.
. With heads hung low, the eight survivors trekked back to their rooms. Or at least six of them did. They all needed sleep. The trials had been stressful, but in the halls of the first floor, Makoto Naegi had other plans.
"So Monokuma. And you can stop with that music track playing from the speakers."
"Oh, you again. Well, L's theme is suitably epic. Come to attempt to taunt me a second time, have you?"
"I've taunted you many more times than that."
"Well, I do love our chats. All things considered, you should be happy about this trial. Nobody else died." Monokuma pointed out. "Which is a real bummer. I mean, smashing a computer isn't anywhere as fun as smashing Sakura Oogami would have been."
"Uh huh. You were planning on saving her for later, weren't you?"
"Yeah, but who's fault was that, jackass? Thanks to that, I had to play her card way earlier than I wanted to. Shame, I thought Maizono had been just about to crack too. Oh well, it was better to have an insurance policy. Turns out I needed it."
Naegi stared.
"What's wrong, kid? Run out of witty words for your headmaster? Not living with the talent of SDHSL Smartass anymore? The fifth floor awaits. Go see it."
"Why should I go ahead of everyone else for the fifth floor?"
"Why shouldn't you? I mean, Togami, Kirigiri, and the others got a look at the second floor before the first trial had even been concluded, right?"
"That was a fluke. There was too much time to use up before your explanation. After all, I wasn't conscious yet."
"Fair enough." Monokuma said, as he waddled off.
Naegi stood there, fists clinched.
And then Kirigiri materialized from the shadows.
"Trials have become a repeated problem." Kirigiri said, walking up. "We've lost seven people so far."
"Nine."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Even though Genocider's still here, Fukawa does still count, doesn't she? And what about Alter Ego?"
"Yes, I suppose so. Those two do count."
"Yeah."
"Naegi..." Kirigiri said, whispering in Naegi's ear. "I'm going to need a distraction tomorrow night. Let's go to the bath to discuss further details."
. Both moved to the bath.
"What for?"
"It involves the headmaster's office."
"I thought it was electronically locked."
"Call unlocking it a last task by Alter Ego."
Naegi's eyes widened.
"Why tell me?"
"You're the best one equipped to distract Monokuma. I can't use Fujisaki, as Alter Ego's creator, he'd be too obvious. He'd get suspicious and leave immediately. There wouldn't be enough burn time."
"Kirigiri... switch with me. I'll take the headmaster's office. You distract him."
"No... I have to go to the headmaster's office."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know or you just don't want to tell me. You expect me to just distract Monokuma without knowing why."
"Compartmentalization of information."
"You think there's another mole."
"I'm not ruling out the possibility."
"And you think I'm the mole? That's why you don't want me to check the headmaster's study."
"No, you're the last person whom I think would be a mole. You've been integral to the trials. Seeing Hagakure the victim as a potential culprit for one thing. That's why I'm telling you."
. Naegi and Kirigiri continued discussing plans before parting their separating ways and heading back to their rooms.
"Kirigiri, I'm going to walk out, unless you tell me exactly why you have to be the one to go." Naegi said, forcefully.
Kirigiri stared at Naegi. The trials had changed him. She decided to drop the bombshell.
"Alright... the headmaster is my father."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. But I haven't seen him since he abandoned me as a child."
"How did you get that information?"
"Remember the secret motive? That was my secret."
"And while Monokuma dropped a major one, he also made a grave mistake, because I didn't even remember that my father was Hope's Peak headmaster."
"So you think you have amnesia?"
"Yes."
"Well, that explains why you've been relatively antisocial."
"Yeah, now do you see."
"Of course."
. Celeste had been staring at her bathroom mirror since she had come back from the trial.
""You just admitted you wanted an European castle and a reverse harem. If that doesn't signal a deep-seated need for attention, I don't know what does."
"Now they know my real name, there's no chance that'll refer to me as Celeste Ludenberg. My dream... my persona, I guess it'll come crumbling down. I can't really use it anymore. Looks like I'm isolated... again unless..."
. Celeste's eyes narrowed. Would she be able to do it? She had one key. But she needed someone else's in order to pull this off.
"Monokuma!"
"Another summons. I thought you all were supposed to be tired after the trial. What is it?"
"Asahina's room key? May I have it?"
"Not necessarily. Why? What do you need?"
"Her shoes and socks."
"A wardrobe change, huh? Not surprising, that last trial was certainly a doozy. Well, I can't really complain. For most people, that lolita outfit was just not doing it. Too dark." Monokuma said as he waddled off, bringing Asahina's shoes.
"I couldn't find any of her socks. So that means except for the pair on her corpse, all her socks are in the laundromat."
"On her corpse?"
"Yeah, after the trial's all done. I have to move the corpse out of the way. Remember?"
"I suppose so."
"Is that all your headmaster can do for you?"
"Yes. Thank you."
. Celeste went to the laundromat. She found all of Asahina's tube socks. While she was pairing them up, she found the laundry detergent. It brought back memories of the second trial, when Fukawa was killed, but Genocider appeared.
"The second trial's red herring for Ishimaru. Did Fukawa hide this after murdering Oowada?"
. Fujisaki was laying in his bed, rolling over. In contrast to the other trials, he wasn't exhausted.
. "Alter Ego was gone. The closest thing I had to a little brother is gone for good. Unless... No, Monokuma's probably already purged him from this school's network. He went to all that work for the files, butI'm never going to get to read them either. All his work, wasted away. I should have read them sooner when I had the chance. But I wanted everyone together when I read them. That's why I went searching for Asahina when I did. Mukuro Ikusaba's file might have contained something! Maybe some clarification on their relation. Something. Anything. She was here, a student here, even. I wonder where she is now?"
. His thoughts continued.
"Aperture? I don't remember anything related to smooth jazz in Portal. Maybe it was from a secret area or something? Scrapped content. That voice wasn't GlaDos." . . He heard a knock on his door.
"You?"
. Fujisaki slammed the door.
. Celeste rang the door.
. Fujisaki cautiously opened the door, and peeked out.
"You, what do you want?" Fujisaki said slowly and carefully.
"I was wondering...if I could have some of your old female clothes. My lolita outfit is getting impractical, and if there's a stain on it, it can't be cleaned."
"But would they fit you?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You're like 165 cm. If you're average, I'm minature. Why don't you try some of Enoshima's clothes? She was a lot closer to your size, and don't you still have her room key?"
"But I can't just use all of her clothes. It's not my style. I'm not a fashionista/model whatever she was."
"Then ask Maizono. She's about your size as well. And how do you know about Enoshima's clothes if you haven't looked at them yourself?"
"I suppose so. But all Maizono has is school uniforms."
"Listen, before this mess, we all came to Hope's Peak to fill out our dorm rooms and put our stuff in here well before this began. I'm sure Maizono has some other clothes." Fujisaki said, sleepily. "Now go ask her."
"But..."
"Just do it."
. Celeste sighed as she went into Enoshima's room. She rifled through Enoshima's clothes.
"This feels so weird." Celeste said, trying out skirts and shorts of various lengths. Finally, she found one that fit. It was a pleated neutral green skirt. It reached down to just above her knees and when combined with the tube socks and Asahina's spare pair of sneakers, Celeste thought that it worked.
"I didn't expect to find a piece of clothing this unassuming to be in Enoshima's room. Well, maybe, she wasn't intending to be walking around like a model all the time."
. Celeste found a white button up shirt, and went into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. And after letting her hair down to near-shoulder length, she didn't even look like herself. She looked more like a plain girl than she had in a long time. It was reminscent of her pre-gambling life.
"Before Celeste Ludenberg. Before the gothic appeal. Before a lot of things."
. Celeste did spot one more article of clothing that interest her. It was a navy blue North Face jacket. It had '200' on the left sleeve. She went back to the bathroom. When she zipped it, she would be quite warm. It had pockets for its hands, and as she stuffed them in, she half-expected to find something. Well, it appeared that Enoshima had never worn it. But did that make Celeste feel better or worse?
"Enoshima died protecting someone. And I lived by trying to murder someone. There's a sense of cruel, unfair irony in that. Why she'd do that? Was Naegi really that important to her?"
. Celeste seemed satisfied with her new outfit. There were a couple of other while button shirts, and pleated skirts that she took with her. Maybe some day, she would return to the persona and attire of Celeste Ludenberg, but for now that was obviously not going to be the case.
. Even though Monokuma woke them up at 7:30 AM per usual with his announcements, most of the students stayed in bed. It was too depressing. What were they going to do anyway?
. Naegi opened his eyes.
"What if I just slept? All day? Every day? What if Maizono and I and everybody else just spent our days eating and napping and occasionally reading?"
. And then developing anxiety said "No alibis for anybody."
. "Fuck it. I'm up."
. He staggered out of bed. Almost everybody was in the cafeteria.
"It appears floor number five has opened." Leon said.
"Eight people." Monokuma said. "All eight... wait, where are they? Kyoko Kirigiri? Taeko Yaushiro! But which one is the thief? "
Naegi wiped the grogginess out of his eyes.
"Wait, what did one of them steal?" Togami asked, looking intrigued.
"A key... and a blank-ity-blank blank!"
"Change of plans.. let's head to the fifth floor now!" Fujisaki said.
"No need to wonder where I am." someone announced. "I'm right here."
"Celeste, the wardrobe change!" Leon said. "You look... different."
"Good for you." Naegi said, nonchalantly. "Your old outfit was pretentious as hell."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Celeste said. "I thought it was elegant. I just realized that I couldn't continue to wear it."
"It needs to be dry-cleaned. What if I spilled something on it?"
"Su-ure." Naegi replied.
"Well, it does."
"Wait a minute... where did you get those clothes?"
"I got the socks and shoes from Asahina's room, courtesy of Monokuma. And I used Enoshima's key again to get some of her clothes that were more to my style."
"Celeste... that seems tacky." Maizono said. "I mean, wearing the clothes of the deceased."
"Why? What's the big deal? It's not like they're going to wear it anymore." Leon said, quietly.
"More importantly, where's Kirigiri?" Genocider said.
"We're not going to have another trial, are we?" Fujisaki said, nervously.
"Not if we don't find the body." Togami said, sipping his morning coffee.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Leon said.
"This could be a key point. Stop stopping. Let's get her. Go!" Naegi said, as he rushed out of the cafeteria with his classmates in tow.
"And this episode will be called '100 Mile Dash: Pain of the Junk Food Junkies.'"Monokuma chuckled upon seeing them exit.
. They all split up once they reached the fifth floor. Naegi noticed all the plant life that seemed to be to his left.
"The 5th floor has been opened up to us... And it's totally different from all the floors we've seen up till now. For some reason, it feels unpleasant." Naegi thought to himself.
"I haven't seen this many plants since I was last outside." he sighed. The blue lighting gave way to green above him. Classroom 5-A was to his right. He entered the classroom. Monokuma was playing the same pleasant melody over the intercom like he always did. Metallic plates covered the walls for these classrooms as floor was a combination of wood and tile, and the walls were covered in what only could be described as "African Camoflage."
. The chalk board was full of doodles. "Nighttime Secrets. No More. Stomp Stomp. He's so Dirty." Naegi almost couldn't decide what to make of it. Though both Leon and Celeste were there, they were silent. He left Classroom 5-A to its own devices, and walked down the hall, next to the adjacent Classroom 5-B.
. Genocider was there as well.
"Hey, Naegi, Monokuma's sketched on this chalkboard as well."
. Sure enough there was him identified with a brown ahoge and 'Makoto' being chased by Monokuma.
"Haha! Catch me if you can!"
"Wait up! I'm gonna punish you!"
. There was a third figure to the far right. Naegi couldn't tell if it was Kirigiri or Maizono but there were clearly disgusted with the sequence of events.
"Hope this isn't an omen of things to come!" Genocider said, chortling. "We'd be bored to tears without you!" Naegi took his eyes of his chalkboard and away from the Despair Sign. The metal plates had covered the windows here as well.
. Silently leaving the classroom, he walked along the hall, until he came to a four-way. He saw a classroom to his right, which would make it classroom 5-C.
"Eh, it's probably more of the same as classrooms 5-A and 5-B. I'll check it out later." Naegi thought to himself. He turned left, hands in his pockets. There was a dojo. The first thing that stuck out to him was the pink cherry blossoms trees in full bloom.
"Considering our situation, isn't it kinda ... out of place" Naegi thought.
"Are those targets in the distance?"
. He continued to glance around. Sure enough, there was another security camera.
"No matter when, no matter where, surveillance cameras are following our every move."
. Beneath the camera were a bunch of wooden lockers, and a straw post for sword practice.
"I wonder if this is where that Peko Pekoyama practiced to win that trophy!"
"Ah. Genocider!"
"S'up."
"Who's Peko Pekoyama?"
"You didn't see that trophy sword in the glass display in front of the gymnasium."
"I saw it."
"It was an award for a Peko Pekoyama."
"I see."
"Oooo, look at the suit of armor." Genocider said, drawing an attention to the display. "Combine that with the sword downstairs! And ooo, I love this song that Monokuma's playing for this room."
"What?"
"He's got a weird sense of humor. Playing 'Turning Japanese' by the Vapors in here. This song's over 30 years old. Or... wait,yeah, it IS 'Turning Japanese', but it's a cover... by whom? I know I've heard that voice before."
"I'll see ya later." Naegi said, backing out of dojo. Genocider may have preferred scissors, but the idea of giving a weapon to Genocider just didn't appeal to him.
. Naegi closed the dojo room. There was bright light to his right, and he walked to and found himself in a garden. Directly in front of him was an enormous flower. It was super weird and super creepy! Flowers weren't supposed to get this big
"Uwah! Wh-What 'is' this...? Is it real?"
"Watch out!" Monokuma had appeared. "That's a Monokuma flower. I came up with the name myself. Try and touch it, and you're in for some real excitement. Your heart's all like whoa! And the plant's all like snap! And your flesh is all like ... I'm dead!"
"So it's a giant venus flytrap."
"Essentially. A student at Hope's Peak Academy added improvement after improvement, and created this miracle creature! The Ultimate Botanist! Although, they died during the Tragedy!"
"What Tragedy?"
"By the way, despite how it looks, that flower is super practical! It can eat paper, plastic, even people! So it's totally good for the environment!"
"And you just let a plant like this remain in Hope's Peak Academy."
"Of course!"
"Why am I not surprised?"
"What? Such an eco-friendly creation is vital for the future growth of a healthy society."
"Like you care about a healthy society."
"Touche." Monokuma departed.
"Whatever the hell this is, I'd better keep my distance."
. He ran into Maizono in the garden.
"Naegi."
"You saw that mega-flower?"
"Yeah."
"It's truly disturbing. But on the plus side, look at all the different plants."
"I can't believe they got all these plants to grow in a room like this. Oh, and if you look close, you can see all kinds of strange flowers mixed in, too!"
"Is that so?"
"And I've never seen a lot of these fruits before."
"Maybe they're hybrids."
"Hybrids?"
"Yeah, cross-breeds of two types of plants." Fujisaki was also in the garden. "It's nice to be somewhere that's of a little different scenery."
"Different scenery or not. The fact remains that the blue sky is fake." Togami said, walking over. "Don't bother with the biology lab, it's locked."
"Really?" Naegi asked.
"Another locked door?" Maizono asked. "First with the headmaster' study and data room on the fourth floor, and now the biology lab on the fifth floor."
"Yes, it appears that they are integral to what's going on this school." Togami said. "More importantly, has anyone seen Kyouko Kirigiri?"
. The answer was a resounding 'No.'
"How strange. Monokuma made it sound like she was up here."
"Why do you care so much about Kirigiri?" Maizono asked.
"Not her, specifically,she's been going rogue since we got here." Togami said.
"Speaking of which, there's something off about this floor." Naegi said.
"What do you mean?" Maizono asked.
"This is Floor #5. There's no staircase leading up." Naegi said.
"We're at the top." Togami said.
"Feels strange to have made it this far." Fujisaki admitted.
"Yeah, same here." Maizono agreed.
"Why?" Togami said.
"Well, I didn't think I would last very long." Fujisaki said. "Maybe one murder, and subsequent trial. But all the way to what appears to be the top floor?"
"Yeah, who would have thought?" Togami said, sarcastically.
"Oh shut up, Togami." Naegi said. "Anyone of us could have been murdered at any point. It's not like we could control if someone chose to make us a target. If Maizono hadn't walked in, Celeste would have killed you a while back."
"But she didn't. And when it was all said and done. I was the one holding the knife to her throat. Not the other way around." Togami pointed out.
. Leon was eyeing Celeste in Classroom 5-A.
"What's her angle?" He thought to himself. "This wardrobe change, the Celeste from Day 1 would have never done this. It has to be fake. Is it fake? There's no way it was just practical. Otherwise, she would have done it a long time ago. She doesn't have a weapon right now, so she can't take another shot at killing me. Would she kill me? Or would she choose a new target?"
. Celeste was rifling through the desks in the classroom. She was finding nothing, but some old pens.
"Hey, Leon, if you had to pick one person besides yourself to leave this school, who would be?"
"What? What kind of question is that? Is that how you're going to choose your next victim?"
"Just answer the damn question."
"Alright... Naegi."
"Interesting."
"And now you?"
"Same."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, of course."
"Is it because Enoshima went to such great lengths to save him from Sakura Oogami?"
"Partly."
"You know, I have one thing to ask."
"And that is?"
"Why me?"
"Why not? It wasn't personal. It never was. I figured the element of surprise would give me the advantage, and it did... at first."
"And then Maizono walked in."
. And with those words, Leon quickly left the classroom, and entered the garden.
"What's with all the chickens?"
"Huh." The four people that were in the garden turned to look.
"Hey... what is with all the chickens?" Maizono asked "There's five of them."
"On the fifth floor. I'm gettting the feeling five will be our thematic number for now." Fujisaki snarked.
"What for a next trial?" Togami said.
"Togami... we just finished trial four less than a day ago." Maizono said. "I don't even want to think about trial five."
"Well, I do. There's no more staircases up."
"Could be the last one." Fujisaki said. "If it happens, it might be our last one. And then what happens?"
"I don't want any more trials." Maizono said. "I've done too many as is."
"Maizono." Naegi sighed. He shared her sentiments.
"I doubt Monokuma would let go that easy." Togami said. "At the end of a trial five, what happens?"
"Let's hope we never find out." Naegi said.
"Celeste, how long have you been here?" Maizono asked, as the Gambler was suddenly there.
"Long enough to hear the trial five thinking. It could be dangerous."
"Yeah, that's rich coming from you." Leon said, angrily.
"Look, if this is about clearing up my reasons for my murder attempt ..." Celeste said. "My bad."
"What?" Naegi asked.
"She told me it wasn't personal." Leon said.
"So. I don't see the problem." Togami said, arms folded.
"You really don't get how people work." someone said.
"Kirigiri!"
"Come with me to classroom 5-C. There's something that I need to show you guys."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay, but I've had computer issues

As always, please leave a review, recommend to your other fandom members, and enjoy. If you thought Trial 4 was full of surprises, wait until you see the rest of the story.