PUBLISHED: January 17th, 2017
Chapter 36: Yeah, I know it's been a while since I last updated. I've been busy. Oh, the joys of Cl-Opens. For my readers who haven't played V3 yet, don't worry, I'm in the same boat. I hope this can entertain my readers, old and new, as V3 crosses the Pacific Ocean.
. "This is strange." Monokuma said, as he prepared to observe the foot race between Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirgiri with Sayaka Maizono and Celeste timing them. Naegi and Kirigiri were racing to see if it was possible for someone to make it from the first floor to the fifth floor in the allotted time required to pull off the murder. Some elements about the athletic ability of both of them were apparent, as early as the first set of races. The first set of races was with regular clothes on, including shoes.
. While Naegi only needed three minutes to reach the garden from the gymnasium, as opposed to Kirigiri's three minutes and forty-five seconds, Kirigiri actually got off to the faster start, but eventually the problems of running in heels caught up to her.
. "So you aren't a humanoid Blaze the Cat after all." Naegi joked.
. "Shut up." Kirigiri said, panting.
. "What's this about Blaze the Cat?" Monokuma asked.
. "Come on, you don't see it?" Naegi asked. "Purple outfits. A purple color scheme. The standoffish nature."
. "No, no, I do see. It's just 'Why'?" Monokuma was generally puzzled.
. "The stress of this place must be getting to you." Kirigiri said.
."Forget it, Monokuma, sometimes his mind doesn't work the same way as the rest of you." Maizono added.
. "I have to ask, Celeste. Why are you running? I get, Maizono because of her athletic nature, but you?" Monokuma asked.
. "I was the one who suggested the idea. I should be the one who runs it. Literally." Celeste replied as though it was the most obvious answer in the world.
. "Well, keep doing it." Monokuma replied. "Viewership is skyrocketing. According to polls among the viewers, opinions upon who the guilty party is are just about split down the middle."
. "Seriously? You're running viewing polls?" Maizono asked as Kirigiri and Naegi each collected their breath.
. "Of course, people want to see if their theories are right." Monokuma said. "Though an interesting tidbit, I suppose among the demographic. Females are almost universally voting for Naegi as innocent, and males are almost universally voting for Kirigiri as the not-guilty party. They've both struck chords with audiences of the opposite gender."
. "You know, I have an idea." Monokuma said. "It's time for some music!"
. "Seriously?" Maizono asked in disbelief.
. "How about 'Theory of A Deadman'?" Monokuma suggested. "You know, you have to love this, viewers! It's the middle of the trial 5! Entertainment galore! And in the middle of the sprint! Loser looks elimination dead! In! The! Eye! But what does it take to win or lose this race?"
. "He's monologuing." Naegi said, panting with hands still on his knees. "Monokuma must be really confident."
. "He sure loves hype." Kirigiri commented.
. "You guys ready to go again?"Celeste said.
. "How come you're not tired?" Maizono asked the Ultimate Gambler.
. "Let's just say in the underground gambling world, you need to know when to cut your losses and just run." Celeste replied, as her jacket lay in a heap at the foot of the first floor staircase.
. "You know what, I'm not even going ask." Naegi wisely commented, continuing to gasp for air.
. "Come on, Celeste. Please elaborate." Monokuma asked. "I'm sure the viewers would love to hear more. It's not everyday that they get a glimpse into something like that. Since we're at a slow moment, what about you, Maizono? How about an inside look on the idol business? I'd love to hear more about your attempted cover of Pepsiman."
. "Fuck you, Monokuma. My agent always believed I could command large ratings, but not like this." Maizono sighed. "Never once in a million years, did I think me sprinting around a school custom built for murder would land me with such viewership."
. Naegi giggled.
. "What's so funny?" Celeste asked as she leaned against the wall.
. "I'm just imagining my sister's reaction to watching her brother do this." Naegi sighed. "Given Monokuma's modus operandi, I have no doubt that she's watching."
. "And?" Naegi having a sister was news to Celeste. "What do you think her reaction has been? I imagine she has been fearing for your safety."
. "I imagine, most of her reactions have been 'ZOMG'! Please don't die, Sayaka! Oh, and Makoto, too! This is intense!"
. "What?" Maizono said. "What? Why would she be more concerned about me than you?"
. "Yeah. I mean, well, she has been a huge fan of you." Naegi explained.
. Twenty minutes later, and after many foot races between Naegi and Kirigiri, Celeste was forced to conclude that the results were inconclusive. Neither one was significantly faster than the other one. and their legs were wearing out. Almost everybody had gathered together, except Fujisaki.
. "Well, that wasn't a waste of time." Leon said, sarcastically.
. "I don't know about you." Monokuma said. "But I certainly was entertained, and I'm sure the viewers were."
. "Hey, where's Fujisaki?" Maizono asked, pointing out the absence of the small programmer.
. "Oh, shit, a mid-trial murder?" Naegi said. "What else can be thrown at us?"
. "If you're looking for Fujisaki, he's in the Monokuma store." Monokuma explained.
. The seven people rushed to the Monokuma store. There they found Fujisaki in front of the Mono-mono machine, he was holding a small metallic sphere, and looking at it with disdain.
. "I don't remember that being one of the prizes when I checked here on the first day." Naegi said.
. "Oh, I see, Fujisaki. I just added that prize a few days ago." Monokuma said, explaining the origins of the toy.
. "I was trying to win a Jimmy Decay T-Shirt." Fujisaki sighed. "But instead I won a Metal Upa."
, "A Metal Upa?" Naegi asked.
. "Oh yeah, I heard about those. My idol group and I loved to collect them, especially Satomi . Metal Upas are pretty rare." Maizono said, as she smiled wistfully about days gone by.
. "Seriously?" Genocider said.
. "Satomi also liked to get Gero Froggies too. But yeah, the five of us would all watch Rainet Kakeru in our spare time." Maizono explained. "Never really got into the game ourselves though. We were too busy with our careers."
. "Isn't that like in its third season?" Naegi asked.
. "Yeah."
. "Well, then it's very successful. It seems like a lot of anime don't even get SECOND Seasons." Naegi sighed. "Let alone third seasons."
. "Oh, come on, Naegi. Plenty of Anime get second seasons. Code Geass for one."
. "It's classified as an uglycute character." Fujisaki said, holding the metallic sphere in his hand, and flipping up the air in a pseudo-juggling motion, and then
palming it.
. "Going to the Monokuma shop, talk about a waste of time." Togami commented as the eight of them headed back to the trial room and returned to their slots.
. "No, it wasn't a waste of time." Fujisaki said. "I was thinking about it, and what if two people murdered someone simultaneously?"
. "What are you saying?" Maizono said.
. "I'm saying what if it's possible that two people murder the same person at the same time." Fujisaki said. "We can only pick one culprit. And even if we pick one culprit, the other culprit goes free."
. "Fujisaki, where are you going with this?" Togami said.
. "I'm saying it would be a foolproof way." Fujisaki said. "With the setup of the current rules, at least one person gets out, the culprit who got away. But I don't know if we would be executed. Are we executed because we didn't get the culprits, plural? Or do we avoid execution because we technically got a right culprit? Well, Monokuma?"
. "Well- I?" Monokuma was at a loss for words. "Well—I, had never considered it."
. "Uh huh." Kirigiri said. "And yet what would you do in that scenario?"
. "Wait, is she actually suggesting she and Naegi both murdered Ikusaba?" Maizono said.
. "Oooooo, shit just got interesting." Genocider said, waggling her tongue.
. "Let's not think about that unless we've got to." Maizono said. "Now where were we?"
. "The time of the murder." Togami said. "We agreed that the culprit had to murder Mukuro before 7:30 AM, but that they couldn't have finished up their time at the scene of the crime until after 7:30 AM when they needed to move the tarps from Ikusaba's corpse.
. "In any case, this murder has used a lot of red herrings." Kirigiri said.
. "So what about that knife?" Leon said. "The Monokuma file said it was stabbed all the way through the back of the corpse."
. "There are two reasons why the knife isn't the murder weapon." Naegi said. "Number one, it was stabbed through the lab coat, but not through the tarp. And number two, a knife can not be the cause of the death. The cause of death according to the file was blunt force to the head."
. "Like the duralumin arrows?" Togami said.
. "Yeah." Naegi said.
. "Wait, explain." Genocider said.
. "Naegi and I found a locker in the dojo with bloody arrows and tape." Togami explained. "If you tape the arrows together, you could get something that inflicted the wound."
. "A single arrow is fragile, but a bunch is strong." Genocider said, sagely. "
. "Ah, yes, and it's possible to expand on that." Naegi said. "We found the dojo locker key in Kirigiri's room."
. "Impossible." Kirigiri said, pointing out a key element of her defense.
. "How so?"
. "I was not able to enter my room."
. "What?" Monokuma shot up.
. "Togami had my room key." Kirigiri said.
. "So the only person who could have grabbed the dojo locker room is Naegi." Leon said.
. "Wait, what?" Maizono said.
. "But I couldn't have gotten into Kirigiri's room either. Togami still had your room key."
. "Yes, that's correct. I still have Kirigiri's room key." Togami confirmed. "Where are you going with this?"
. "So neither could have planted it." Leon said. "The only one who could have planted it was Togami, and Togami can't be the killer. He has an airtight alibi."
. "There's something wrong with this." Celeste said. "This isn't like Asahina's murder. We're running out of options."
. "You guys are going to have to do come a decision soon. Wouldn't it be awful I cut you all short just because I was bored." Monokuma said.
. "And what about your viewers?" Naegi said.
. "Are they not entertained?" Maizono said.
. "What?" Togami said.
. "Gladiator. You know the 2000 movie?" Maizono said.
. "Yeah, alright. So what's the point?" Leon said
. "The point is, "How fast does Monokuma want this to end?" Naegi said.
. "You guys are modern-day gladiators in this academic coliseum." Monokuma said. "It's rather fitting. Gladiators fought for the entertainment of the Roman people."
. "Just watch." Naegi said.
. "How did you?" Togami said. "Wait, what's going on?"
. "And let's not forget how the body blew up."Naegi said.
. "How?" Fujisaki said.
. "Remember the bomb the Monokuma you dismantled had?" Naegi said. "I went back to check the gymnasium. It was gone."
. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Togami said.
. "I can't choose." Togami thought to himself. "Every time it looks like one of them is the culprit, the other proves something that they couldn't have done it. I'm supposed to be Byakuya Togami, heir to the giant Togami conglomerate. I was bred to be decisive at critical moments. Could be Fujisaki be right? Could they both be the culprit? Or could neither?"
. "Enough." Fujisaki said. "We need to work fast."
. "How?"
. "We've reached a dead end." Leon said. "We're out of options."
. "Not necessarily." Celeste said. "Let's run through everything again."
. "Get busy living or get busy dying." Monokuma commented.
. "What does a Fallout Boy song have anything to do with this trial?" Fujisaki said.
. "Huh?" Celeste said.
. "What? I like punk rock. Are you surprised?" Fujisaki said.
. "Yeah. Kinda." Genocider commented.
. "In any case, it might be more appropriate than the Sonic Rush's soundtrack. Isn't that right, Monokuma?" Naegi said.
. "What?" Monokuma said.
. "You're playing 'Get Edgy'" Naegi responded.
. "Ow, the edge!" Fujisaki couldn't resist chiming in.
. "Well, I mean, both games were released in 2005." Naegi pointed out.
. "I think this trial is going off the rails." Monokuma replied.
. "Oh, I quite agree." Kirigiri said. "Though for a multitude of reasons different from expected."
. "We've got two different suspects who are both equally suspicious." Togami said, grasping at the stand in front of him. "And in each case, both are able to take the blame off of themselves with ease."
. "Worse case scenario, we have a 50% chance." Celeste said.
. "And you're willing to take that?" Leon argued.
. "In the gambling world, a fifty percent chance is as good as you're going to get. Any maneuver that yields more than ten percent of success is considered a good approach." Celeste countered, using her own personal experience as the backdrop for her reasoning.
. "Or it could be a 100% chance. It could be both of them." Fujisaki said.
. "But if that's the case we have a 100% chance of missing out on one of them." Leon said.
. "Well, Monokuma, have you reached a decision about that?"
. "Yes, about that. If the class gets a culprit right, they aren't executed. It's as simple as that." Monokuma said. "If a culprit escapes detection, they will leave."
. "So that would make it a surefire thing that both did it." Fujisaki said.
. "But this wasn't known before now." Celeste pointed out.
. "Both Naegi and Kirigiri don't have alibis, if they were both asking Monokuma about this prospective loophole, it could work."
. "That's impossible." Maizono said. "Monokuma was dismantled and out of commission last night."
. "How can you say that?" Naegi said. "I'm not the culprit."
. "Ah, but it's to your advantage to say that." Fujisaki pointed out.
. "So you mean, we have to choose one to die and one to kick out." Genocider said.
. "Aw, that is messed up." Leon said. "Who leaves and who dies?"
. "That's assuming there ARE two culprits." Monokuma said.
. "Shit, we've been put in an impossible situation." Togami said.
. "Aww, what's wrong, Togami? I thought you wanted to be the one to make the judgment call in all scenarios." Monokuma taunted him.
. "Togami?"
. "No, he's right." Togami said. "It's time for a judgment call."
. "This is absurd." Leon said.
. "Absurdly amazing!" Monokuma commented. "I love these plot developments."
. "Hold on." Celeste pointed out. "Why do you get to make the judgment call? All eight of our lives are at stake here. We should do what we always do, and vote."
. "That's rich, coming from you.": Genocider said. "Mrs. 'I have to strategize and everybody do what I tell you'"
. "You're going to try to do this now!" Leon said. "Just because you're comfortable leaving your fate up to Mr. Rich over there doesn't mean the rest of us are!"
. "Excuse me?" Togami said.
. "Yeah, you heard me. Mr. Heir. You were just fortunate to be born into that title." Leon said.
. "How dare you!" Togami hissed. "I earned my title."
. "Sure you did, pal." Leon sarcastically replied.
. "I beat out my fourteen half-siblings to become the chosen heir of the Togami conglomerate. It required every ounce of my intelligence and physical durability."
. "Fourteen?" Maizono said. "There were that many of you?"
. "Yeah. And I was trying to take them all on as the youngest." Togami added.
. "See, I told you Master earned his talent." Genocider said.
. "Genocider, just shut the fuck up!" Togami was on edge. "Tell me, Mr. All-Star, you don't even want to play baseball. I heard you when you introduced yourself to Naegi. Why are you here then?"
. "I want to be a rock star." Leon said. "It's going to be so awesome.".
. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to even get into the music industry?" Maizono said. "You can't just snap your fingers and suddenly make it. You have to have a fine ear for tunes, and sounds, and you have to willing to do anything. If that means staying up three days in a row in order to get the perfect sound for a single, that's what you do. You'd probably just play around with the instruments and recorders for fun. "
. "It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n' roll." Monokuma interjected.
. "That's an electric comment you had there." Maizono said, sarcastically.
. "Well, I'll just be a punk musician. It should be much easier." Leon replied.
. "How dare you." Fujisaki said. "Punk takes actual effort."
. "What?" Kirigiri said in disbelief.
. "Yeah, I mentioned it like twenty minutes ago. I like punk." Fujisaki said. "I've been trying to get that Jimmy Decay T-Shirt from the Monokuma shop for several days now. Fight me."
. "No, I heard you. It's just 'Seriously?' Kirigiri's usual deadpan delivery was in shock.
. "I'll punk your ass with my sweet tunes after this damn school life of Mutual Killing is over." Leon said.
. "Oh yeah, go ahead. Try. You don't know the first thing about the proper sound for punk, do you?"
. "Then I'll learn." Leon said,
. Fujisaki scoffed.
. "Hey, it's certain possible for an athlete to have a music career." Monokuma added.
. "Shut up, Monokuma." Fujisaki and Leon combined to shout.
. "You guys are nutcases." Genocider Shou couldn't resist saying.
. "Oh, that's rich." Celeste said. "That's the pot calling the kettle black."
. "Is that why your original outfit stole Monokuma's color scheme?" Genocider said as Monokuma started up another song.
. "Excuse me?"
. "Yeah, the black and white lolita shit you had going on. You were my first pick for the mastermind."
. "I thought I told you to shut up." Togami shouted at Genocider.
. No sooner had the words come out of Togami's mouth then the lyrics of the song started up.
. "I feel depressed, I feel so bad./ 'Cause you're the best girl that I ever had."
. "Huh." That was all Kirigiri could say at the unfolding sequence of events.
. "Uh-oh, little girl, psychotic reaction./ And it feels like this!"
. "You like this song?" Monokuma asked. "It was recommended to me. Count Five's 'Psychotic Reaction!'"
. Everybody was at a loss for words for a minute.
. "I need you girl, by my side./Uh-oh, little girl, would you like to take a ride, now."
. As the three minute song was ending, Naegi was shaking his head. "He's just trolling us at this point."
."There, now how you do guys feel?" Monokuma asked,
. "Somehow even worse." Fujisaki was glum.
. "It's time to vote." Monokuma said. "Cast your votes now."
. Each person voted for who they believed to be the culprit.
. "What's this?" Monokuma said in shock. "WE HAVE A TIE!"
. "What now?" Leon said.
. "Well, ordinarily, it's supposed to be majority rules." Monokuma said.
. "Is this like the U.S. Senate?" Togami said. "I assume that essentially since you are the President Pro Tempore of this school, you get to break the tie?"
. "But he knows who the culprit is!" Naegi said. "He could pick the wrong culprit on purpose."
. "Indeed, he never set any rules on ties." Celeste said. "So for him to choose a tiebreaker now would be soundly unfair."
. "I didn't set any rules for ties! Because it never once occurred to me that there were ever be a tie!" Monokuma said, frustrated.
. "What I want to know is who voted which way?" Togami asked.
. "I voted Kirigiri." Maizono said.
. "I chose Naegi as the guilty one." Celeste said.
. "As did I." Kirigiri added.
. "I went with Kirigiri." Naegi said.
."My gut told me to go with Naegi." Genocider said.
. "I went with Kirigiri." Leon said.
. "As did I." Fujisaki seconded.
. "So that's four votes for me and three votes for Naegi." Kirigiri concluded. "Well, Togami, did you vote for Naegi?
. "Looks like Togami gets to make the judgment call after all." Monokuma snickered.
. And in that moment, Togami knew that the time for hesitation had past. It was time that he revealed his vote.
. "I voted for Naegi."
. "Four and four." Kirigiri said. "Well, this makes things interesting."
. "So we're back where we started." Fujisaki said.
. "Maybe some of Naegi's luck spread to us." Genocider said, cackling.
. "But what do we do now?" Maizono asked fearfully. "We didn't get the culprit wrong."
. "But you didn't get it right." Monokuma argued. "I could execute all of you right now."
. "And lose the source of your attention." Kirigiri asked.
. "What?" Monokuma seemed suspiciously alert. "How so?"
. "You organized this School Life of Mutual Killing as a way to show off to the world."
. "But you hedged your bets with the whole Monokuma facade." Togami said. "Clever. If it turned out badly for you, you could cut your losses and leave."
. "Is that really what you think?" Monokuma said. "You know what, let's leave the outcome of this trial to chance."
. "What?" Celeste said.
. "I have in my paw, a Monokuma coin. Heads and Tails." Monokuma said, showing each side off as he stood in the center of the trial stands. "Heads for Kirigiri, Tails for Naegi. That's who you voted for. If it lands heads, your vote will be Kirigiri. If it's Tails, your vote will be Naegi. And we'll go from there."
. Monokuma stood.
. "Everybody ready?"
. He flipped the coin.
. It landed... on its side.
. "Darn, let's do it again." Monokuma sighed.
. Monokuma tried again. It landed Tails.
. "Ding Ding Ding. Looks like Naegi is being voted the culprit. For someone who's called the Ultimate Luckster, you sure didn't have any luck just now. And it seems you're the only one to be executed."
. "What?" Naegi was in shock.
. And all of a sudden, before anybody could react, Naegi was sitting in a desk on a conveyor belt. He could heard the sound of a crusher behind him.
. "No!" Maizono was trying to scramble over the chain link fence that separated her from Naegi, but Kirigiri and Genocider held her back.
. "It's no use, kid." Genocider sighed. "It's over. I hate to say it, but welcome to the first day of the rest of your life."
. "Fucking fuck! You and I both know he didn't do it!"
. "I know. We know. He knows." Genocider said. "The world will know too."
. "I will get the mastermind, you hear me!" Maizono screamed at Monokuma. "As soon as I find you, you are dead. I will personally rip out your internal organs and feed them to pigs. I will gut you like the filthy, rotten animal you are."
. "Feeling the despair, yet, Maizono?" Monokuma trailed off, for something unexpected had happened. After everything that had happened, just when Monokuma thought nothing else could be unexpected, it happened.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Waiting on the North American release of V3. Seriously. In the meantime, I'm starting the Persona series. As far as I know, Dangan Ronpa has never had a tie vote in a trial before. Or two students murdering the same individual. Or a mid-trial murder.