"Harumi," I start suddenly.
Harumi stops and glares daggers at me. "What?" she snaps.
"You're a bitch."
"You stupid m-"
Harumi stops whatever she's about to say when Monokuma's voice suddenly rings out throughout the loudspeakers.
"Ahem, I'm getting tired of waiting here…" he says. "Let's get things started, shall we? It's the event you've all been waiting for...the class trial! I suggest you all lay down on the floor within the next ten seconds unless you want to wake up with a beary bad headache…" Monokuma says ominously and the loudspeakers click off.
Oh. Just like that, huh?
The five of us exchange a look and quickly sit down on the floor, some of us more reluctant than others (I'm looking at you, Harumi).
In the next second, I feel a piercing pain in my neck and drowsiness quickly starts to set in.
Valentin is the first one to drop.
I guess this really is it…
I hope we can solve this...I really don't want to die…
Kasumi you stupid gremlin…
And then everything goes black.
…
…
…
"If you're trying to make me get used to the sight of your face as soon as I wake up, it's not going to work."
Kasumi pouts. "Boo." she says and she moves aside so I can sit up.
The twenty-four of us remaining (not counting Yukiko, though she is still here with Luan) are back in the cell we were in when we first woke up here. Our colored handcuffs are back on our wrists and now there's a matching pair around everyone's ankles.
Paranoid much?
…
But I wonder if there's a reason for it…is it possible that Sting could have-?
"Perish the thought, Sora Sugawara." Takeshi says, appearing and kneeling down in front of me. "I don't want to believe that Sting is dead, but the only way out of here is over the barbed wire fences in the Yards, yes?" he thinks. "And even if Sting somehow got over that, he still has the Beast Monokumas to deal with." Takeshi says as he glances at one of the security cameras in the room. "I believe Sting is hiding somewhere and our captors are just frustrated they don't know where he is." he says with a small smile. "He is alive. I feel it."
"Or they could've caught him and killed him." Candace chimes in pessimistically as she walks over to us. "No offense to crazy snake boy but I don't feel like he has the right sense to stay hidden." she says.
Greyface's laugh - I jump when I realize she's laying on the ground right behind me - resounds throughout the cell. "OR, if I may present another option, Sting died in the Rec Room and one of us moved his body!" she says with a dramatic gasp. "You guys aren't thinking about all of the possibilities, y'know? Yes, the last of us girls all went into M-Pod together and that's where all twenty-four of us were for a while. But it'd be easy as hell to slip back without anyone noticing, move the body, and go back to M-Pod. Boom, body moved." Greyface says. "Riiiiiight? Not to discredit Sting as the killer, of course." she grins. "We may not have had the same type of homicidal career but I like to think of the two of us as kindred souls - I think he could've done it and then get offed himself after."
Before anyone else can chime in with their own opinion, the cell door crashes open. A herd of Guard Monokumas are there, just like last time.
"Well?" one of them says. "Come on, brats! Daddy and his friends are waiting for you."
The Guard Monokumas herd us into the same courtroom that we were all sentenced in. Waiting for us is Monokuma in that same getup as before - full court dress: scarlet robes with a white jabot and a bench wig. In front of his judge's bench stand the hooded figures of Hanako and Taro.
An unpleasant tingle goes down my spine. My neck burns just looking at them.
Taro grins when he sees the look I'm giving them. "Welcome back, Sugawara. How's the neck?" he jeers, Hanako laughing beside him.
I raise my hands and give them both the finger.
Looking around the courtroom again, it's been modified to match what we saw in the Killing School Life and the recordings of the Killing School Trip - twenty-six trial stands forming a circle. One of them is empty and one of them has a stand with an x-ed out photo of Ryu.
Twenty-six...the Killing School Life had an extra one for Junko Enoshima, the Mastermind. If we have the exact number of us, that means the Mastermind is among us. An imposter.
(Pun intended.)
Ordinarily I would think that they'd be supervising the game like Junko but going by the presence of Hanako, Taro, and whoever/whatever is controlling Monokuma, they're not alone. They have no reason to be on the outside watching in.
A rough shove from a Guard Monokuma trying to get me to my trial stand pulls me out of my thoughts.
Once everyone gets into place, Monokuma starts his usual spiel about the rules and whatnot. I tune him out and look around the circle. Continuing from my right is:
Kasumi,
Harlequin,
Luan (Yukiko was taken away by Hanako and a pair of noise-canceling headphones is on her head),
Armen,
Kensuke,
Hitoshi,
Toshiro,
Candace,
Takeshi,
Juriya,
Yosuke,
Kanna,
Shun,
Kano,
Masaki,
Mai,
Greyface,
Kaori,
Harumi,
Valentin,
Sasaki,
the empty space,
Yume,
Nemiko,
and to my left, the photo of Ryu.
I sigh and tune back into whatever Monokuma is saying.
"-get started! Now, let the class trial-"
"Hold on." I say. "Hi. Yes. I have several questions." I say. "What about Sting? Wasn't it an original rule that participation was mandatory for all surviving students? You did say all of the original rules were in place, didn't you?" I ask. "Moreover it was originally said that each death would get its own body discovery announcement. We only got one - Ryu's." I point out. "Also, the only portrait here is Ryu's. So where's Sting?"
Monokuma looks awfully annoyed about being interrupted. He waves his gavel angrily at me, "Don't worry about him!" Monokuma snaps. "You're quite rude, you know. I wasn't done speaking!"
Kasumi awkwardly reaches up to scratch her cheek. "S-So...this is really happening, huh?" she says with a forced smile. "I really don't feel like dying. Anyone else?"
Harlequin flashes a cheerful smile, "Y'know, I didn't say it before but that's too bad about Ryu. I kind of liked him." he says and shrugs. "Welp, nothing you can do about it! I wonder how the next part of the game is going to go…" Harlequin says, looking around.
Luan stares down at his trial stand silently, a solemn look on his face. I can't imagine how he feels. Blackened or not, he would want to survive this more than any of us because of Yukiko.
Armen lets out an annoyed huff as he struggles to brush the loose hairs from his ponytail out of his face. "Let's not dawdle any longer," he says. "This case isn't nearly as complicated as other cases I've come across." Armen says with a confident, evil smile. "Well, Sting being missing does complicate things but I'm sure we can all still arrive at the correct answer."
Kensuke puts on a comforting smile. "Don't worry, big brother Ken will be here to make everything all better." he says and lifts up his arms. "Come, we can still hug if you duck under my arms." Kensuke says.
Hitoshi has an odd mixture of an embarrassed and saddened look on his face. "We can't...I can't die here. I still haven't...apologized…Reiko..." he trails off as his words turn into incoherent mumbles.
Toshiro looks around the circle with distaste. "I don't know who it was murder aside, but leaving Ryu's body like that was not very cute of you." he says. "If you're going to kill someone, have the decency to leave them cute."
Candace shuffles to the other side of her stand, putting some distance between her and Toshiro. "Ahem," she clears her throat. "I'm not the smartest tool in the shed so I'm counting on you big brains to get me out of this. Girls like Kanna and I are simply too young and pretty to die, y'know?"
Takeshi has a confident smile (a much kinder, positive one in comparison to Armen's) on his face. "We are students of Hope's Peak Academy, twenty-six teenagers humanity has chosen as the best of the best. We are the future." he says. "There is only one blackened here. The innocent are the majority here, we will not die here." Takeshi says optimistically.
Juriya tries to cross her arms and ultimately fails when the handcuffs restrict her. "Tch." she rolls her eyes and sighs. "It's as Takeshi says, we arethe best. Assuming our two detectives are innocent," Juriya looks pointedly at Armen and I. "and assuming that you all trust my medical evidence, we're going to figure this out."
Yosuke puts his hands together in prayer. "I too believe that we will get out of this." he says. "After all, He has spoken to-"
Kanna gives Yosuke a look. "Didn't I hear Sora yelling at you about this whole thing you're doing? Cut it out." she says snippily and sighs. "I...I'm sorry for yelling. I'm so tired…"
Shun grins. "Yeah, tired of dealing with Harumi, I bet." she says.
("What was that, you ugly haired delinquent?"
"You heard me.")
"But I really don't want to die here either. I have a lot of people waiting for me on the outside. I can't disappoint them." Shun says seriously.
Kano looks around at us with a calculating stare. "Games are meant to be played just like we are meant to live our lives," he says. "I'm the Ultimate Gamer for a reason. I don't lose." Kano sneers. "Game on, blackened."
Masaki looks at everyone like they're the dumbest people he's ever met. "Seriously…? We barely even know each other…" he says. "You're all idiots if you're relying on everyone but yourself to get you out of this." Masaski says as he pulls his hood over his head. "Jeez, this room is so cold…"
Mai fidgets with her collar. "I…I have faith in everyone's ability to solve this." she says. "I don't think I can help, but I'm rooting for you!" Mai says.
Greyface smiles calmly, scaring the majority of us. "Give me a good show." she says.
Kaori, who had been paying attention up until Takeshi's speech, seems...sad? Angry? I don't know but it's like his words had the opposite of the intended effect on Kaori.
Harumi is...a fucking bitch.
I haven't had a lot of time to get to know Valentin but he looks more alive then he has in the three to fourish hours we've spent together (him being one of the last people I met, waking up in that room together, our 'trial', the investigation, and now this...damn, I really don't know anything about the boys, do I?). It looks like the firefighter in Val is finally awake.
"We can do this, y'all!" Sasaki says encouragingly. "We're all a bunch of smarties, should be easy as surviving a hurricane finding out the killer!"
("You're the only one who's survived multiple Category Five hurricanes, Sasaki…")
Skipping over the empty space that I assume was supposed to hold Sting is the last member of the band of gremlins, Yume. Oddly, similarly to Kaori, her hopeful mood seems to have taken a turn for the worse.
I wonder if I'll get the chance to ask them about that...
Nemiko looks as determined as she was when I found her helping Armen examine Ryu's body. She balls up her fists, lets out a shaky breath, and: "L-Let's d-do our best, everyone!"
Everyone, including myself, is surprised to hear her speak. Even Armen looks a little taken aback.
To my left is the photo of Ryu. With him being the last person I met here, he's the person I know the least about. We didn't get to talk much before we were all herded here to receive our sentencing.
Ryu...Kuro Kamiyama, your killer won't get away with this.
Truth Bullets
Monokuma File - The victim is Kuro 'Ryu' Kamiyama. His body was found next to an unconscious Luan and Takeshi in the 2nd Wing. The time of death is unknown. His skull was cracked open with an unknown object and his head is surrounded by a pool of his own blood and bits of his brain. The cause of death is from blood loss. Ryu's neck and knuckles have also suffered severe bruising.
Takeshi & Luan's Assault - Someone hit Takeshi and Luan over the head with an unknown object while they were guarding the ladder to the vent.
Broken Piece of Metal - Juriya found a broken piece of metal in Luan's wound.
Luan's Account - According to Luan, their assaulter took out Takeshi first and then him. He thinks they came from the 2nd Wing Yard.
Sting's Body - All of the girls thought Sting was dead but when we returned to the Rec Room, his body was gone. Is he still alive or did somebody move his body? Monokuma won't say…
Rec Room Hours - Sting got into the Rec Room somehow when it was only available to the girls.
Shun & Kaori's Conversation - Shun and Kaori made some very good points about Sting's disappearance...
Ryu's Notepad - How does Ryu know that?
Signs of a Struggle - Ryu definitely put up a fight before he died. His knuckles are bruised and there's blood under his fingernails.
Wooden Pieces - There are a bunch of broken wooden pieces around the area where Ryu's body was discovered.
Open Air Vent - There's an open air vent on the ceiling. The grate keeping it shut is nowhere to be found.
Ryu, Luan, & Takeshi - Neither Luan nor Takeshi have said this directly yet but it's more than likely that they were assisting Ryu in traveling around in the air vent.
Armen's Account - Armen was the one who discovered the body. Everyone was already back in their cells when he went to wake them up - all except for Yosuke. He apparently stays outside late at night for 'religious nonsense'.
Times of Activity - Ryu's body was discovered while the boys were supposed to be sleeping.
Missing Pipe - There is a section of piping in the 2nd Wing Yard that looks like it's missing a pipe.
"Now then, let me re-explain the class trial since Miss Shock Collar here interrupted me before I could finish and you all started talking on your own. Jeez, you kidnap a couple of kids and they treat you worse than the dirt they walk on…" Monokuma sighs sadly.
I raise my hand. "You electrocuted me for no reason." I point out.
"That's what you think."
"Huh-?"
"Let me begin! Argue your hearts out and vote for who you think the killer is! Your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out whodunnit then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one…" Monokuma smiles. "...then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and they will earn their freedom one way or the other."
My eyes widen. 'One way or the other'? What does that mean…? Maybe I should've paid attention before.
Is what we were speculating about before true…?
My eyes drift over to Armen and he shakes his head.
He doesn't know either.
Shit.
"Now let the class trial…" Monokuma pauses for dramatic effect. "...begin!"
TRIAL START!
"So…" Candace is the first one to speak. "How do we even start this?" she asks.
I tense when most of my classmates turn to look at me. "What?"
"You like books. You're smart and not creepy." Harumi says, glancing at Armen with distaste. "Do something...booky." she says, gesturing nonsensically at me.
That's probably the nicest thing she's ever going to say to me.
"We should probably establish what happened to Sting first, right?" I say. "Whether he meant to or not, he might be involved with Ryu's murder...right?" I ask, glancing at the one who should really be in charge of all of this.
Armen smiles unkindly. "I don't plan on dying here, Sora Sugawara. I won't let you take the discussion in the wrong direction, I'll let you know when you're veering off course." he says. "The people are looking to you to lead the discussion so do it."
Well he doesn't have to be such an ass about it.
Nonstop Debate
"What happened to Sting, huh…" Kanna mumbles. "One of the boys should know that, right?" she asks.
Masaki points a finger at Toshiro, "Don't look at anyone but him. They were friends...for some reason." he says.
Toshiro's expression twists. "Pointing the finger at people already, huh? Damn, I didn't take you for such a coward, Masaki." he sneers. "Not cute at all."
"We don't know anything about what happened to Sting, all we can do is make educated guesses." Hitoshi says. "There's no evidence showing what happened to him, right?"
Truth Bullet: Shun & Kaori's Conversation, FIRED!
"You're more well read than I thought."
"Let us harvest for the truth."
BREAK!
Hitoshi smiles. "I was only thinking of what you said before the trial."
I nod and give Hitoshi a small smile. "We don't know anything but we can make educated guesses. Isn't that right, Shun and Kaori? I was thinking about what I overheard you two saying when you were investigating Toshiro's and Sting's room." I say.
Shun and Kaori look confused for the briefest second before they remember what happened between us.
"Oh!" Kaori exclaims, nodding.
"Right." Shun says, nodding.
"I mean, that's only common sense after knowing what we know about the Killing School Life, right?" Kaori asks with a confused frown.
Shun nods again. "Monokuma, Hanako, and Taro are hiding information from us. It's like we said before and like you said at the beginning of all this: there was only one Body Discovery Announcement. As it was with Celestia Ludenberg's trial, there wasn't a second B.D.A. until there was a real and true second body to be discovered." she says.
"And Sting's Body wasn't there for the boys to 'discover' when we returned to the Rec Room." Kaori continues. "And despite Greyface trying to confuse us for her own amusement-"
Greyface cackles loudly.
"-I don't think one of us snuck back and went through the trouble of hiding his body. We investigated every inch of the prison and he was nowhere to be found." Kaori says. "Not to mention the Rec Room Hours. If he was forced to stay in there when the door was closing, he would have been dead and there would've been an announcement when Juriya, Sora, and Kasumi found him." she finishes.
There she goes firing my truth bullets before I get a chance to use them…
"Well?" Kaori and Shun say in unison.
All of us turn to look at Monokuma, including Hanako and Taro.
…
…
…
…
…
"Fine. He isn't dead. Happy?" Monokuma deadpans.
Toshiro beams. "R-Really!?" he asks excitedly.
Monokuma dejectedly puts a hand over the left side of his chest. "Scout's honor. Minato Sakamoto did not die inside our lovely little Correctional Facility." he says."Furthermore, no, he is not responsible for Kuro Kamiyama's death."
"Then what happened to him?" Kasumi asks. "You left clothes for him in his room...do you not know where he is?"
Monokuma giggles. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I've said my piece, blondie. Maybe I'll tell you if you survive this trial!"
Beside me, Kasumi lets out a shaky, nervous breath. I give her a small smile. "Relax." I whisper. "We can do this."
Kasumi nods and smiles. "Yeah. Yeah, I believe in you." she says.
Good.
Now, what next? Sting is apparently irrelevant to Ryu's murder, so back to Ryu…
"Let's talk about the murder weapon." I say. "If we figure out where it came from we can narrow down the list of suspects even more."
Armen smirks. "Very well."
Nonstop Debate
"Why do we have to figure out the murder weapon? The Monokuma File states what Ryu's cause of death was." Masaki says.
I shake my head. "If we figure out what the murder weapon was, we'll know where it came from and who could've possibly attacked Ryu and the boys."
"One hit from whatever it was was good enough to knock out Luan and Takeshi." Juriya says. "Several hits from whatever it was did that to Ryu."
Shun raises her hand. "Um, didn't Ryu have bruises around his neck? What's to say the killer didn't just, uh, you know…" she trails off, an awkward look on her face. "...slam his head against the ground repeatedly?"
"Hm...I-I don't...I don't think so." Luan shakes his head. "We...we were hit with something. I am sure."
Truth Bullet: Broken Piece of Metal, FIRED!
"Allow me to break down that argument!"
BREAK!
"No, I'm positive the killer used some kind of weapon against Ryu." I disagree.
Harumi rolls her eyes. "I told you to do something booky." she says. "There wasn't anything metal where Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedledipshit got jumped, dumbass book nerd."
Yume raises an eyebrow. "Miss Thing, you were in the bathroom the entire investigation, how would you know?" she asks.
"I had to pass by their bodies on my way to the bathroom, you mouthy bitch." Harumi snarls. "There wasn't anything shiny."
"Shut your stupid confectioner mouth and listen." I snap, glaring at Harumi. "Juriya found a broken piece of metal in Luan's wound when she was cleaning him up." I reveal.
"Take a look at this." Juriya says as she pulls out a ziplock bag from her pocket. For a second I almost think Juriya's trying to crack some sort of joke - the bag looks empty - but then I see it. "It's a tiny piece of metal. I found it in Luan's wound." she says. "That means their aggressor, blackened or whoever they may be, used something metal to knock them out, yes?"
Truth Bullet: Broken Piece of Metal, obtained!
Juriya puts the ziplock bag back into her pocket, giving me a pointed look. "The only people who know about it are the ones in this room and Armen." she says. "I think you understand it's better that it stays that way until the time is right."
I nod. It seems that Juriya is in agreement that Takeshi and Luan are innocent. And if Armen knows and now I know, that means that promise Kasumi made him all those days ago is finally coming into play…
I'm Armen's tool now. Damn Kasumi.
"Okay, so something metal was used to hurt each of them. How does that prove Luan and Takeshi are innocent?" Kaori asks. She doesn't sound malicious like Harumi, she's simply trying to understand.
"Because both of our stories line up, Kaori Yoshino." Takeshi chimes in. "It's as Luan Delvina told Sora Sugawara, I was knocked out first and then it was him. I know for a fact that I was knocked out first and Luan Delvina is not disputing that fact. That means I am innocent, no?" he says.
Takeshi continues with a pleased smile when he gets nods of agreement from everyone.
"Moving on, if my dear partner was the one to attack me, how could he have disposed of the weapon after knocking himself out and killing Ryu?" Takeshi asks. "It's simply not possible."
Everyone goes silent for a moment, processing the information.
"So we're all in agreement then?" I ask. "Takeshi and Luan are innocent."
Yosuke nods unequivocally. "Yes. And I believe we can determine the murder weapon and take eleven other people off the suspect list as well." he states, smiling when several heads turn to stare at him with wide eyes. "Ah, did I say something helpful? I'm glad."
Candace scoffs. "More like something outrageous - and with no explanation to boot. Are you going to elaborate what's going on in that shiny, prejudiced bald head of yours or are we going to have to guess?" she asks.
"Breathe, Candy…" Mai says.
Yosuke brings his hands together in prayer. "Forgive me, I assumed Miss Sora shared this information with you all but I just remembered we made this discovery shortly before the announcement played." he apologizes and turns to me. "Miss Sora, do you recall what we found and determined?"
Of course.
Question: What did I discover with Yosuke?
A DVD copy of Sun Witch Esper Ito
Armen's creepy gloves
The probable murder weapon
"That was easier than fixing up a children's book."
Answer: The probable murder weapon
"We found the probable murder weapon." I answer. "Well, not exactly the murder weapon but one of many." I say and explain what we found.
When he doesn't say anything else, I sigh and move on to investigating the Yard like I originally planned.
There was a section of missing piping in the 2nd Wing Yard - somewhere the boys only had access to at the time of the murder.
I notice it almost immediately.
A chill goes down my spine as I stare at the obvious missing piping from the wall.
Could it just be a coincidence?
I test my theory by tugging on the nearby pipes. None of them move.
"Y-Yosuke," I call. "Can you pull on some of these for me? You're stronger, so…"
Yosuke snaps out of his daze and puts on his kind facade again. "Yes, of course, my - Miss Sora." he says, walking over. He pulls on the same pipes I did. They move a little bit but otherwise they're securely attached to the wall. "They're in there, all right." Yosuke confirms. "With a little bit more effort I'm sure I could remove one, though." he says and glances at the section of missing piping. "You believe that the missing pipe is the murder weapon?"
I nod. "As far as I know, nobody has found it but it makes sense, right?"
"So…" Kanna trails off.
"...It really could only be one of us." Kensuke finishes with a grimace.
"Hold on," Hitoshi starts. "I don't mean to doubt you, Sora, but how can we all be sure that you're right?" he asks. "So there was a missing pipe. So Juriya found a piece of metal in Luan's wound. Where is this pipe now?" Hitoshi asks with a frown. "I'm fine with being on the suspect list but I just don't understand that part."
"Of course you don't." Kano says haughtily.
Harlequin waves his hand at Kano. "Shhh! It's starting to get good now!" he says. "And it's not like you know either so just enjoy the show!"
Kano doesn't say anything else.
Where is the pipe now…?
…
…
…
That's a great question. I don't know.
"Well?" Harumi snaps.
"Be quiet." Kasumi says, glaring at Harumi. "Do you want to die here? Let her think."
I appreciate it, Kasumi, but that was all in vain. I really don't know-
"E-Erm, perdón," Valentin interrupts. He looks strangely red in the face, almost...nervous? "I can...I can assist here," he says. "It is...easy answer. The pipe was thrown over the 2nd Yard's fence." Valentin says. "I saw it from the 1st Yard."
All at once, Yume, Harumi, Kanna, and I turn to look at him.
He's lying.
"So what's going on here?" I yawn. "I've looked everywhere I could for any sort of evidence."
Kanna sighs. "Harumi went about it in a rude way but she really did get sick from seeing Ryu like that." she says. "She only just started feeling better a few minutes ago and Valentin was kind enough to bring her her clothes. She's changing now."
Valentin gives me a small wave, smiling shyly. "I...um...I am sorry I was not able to help with the investi...investigation?" he tries. "I can explain later if...you know."
Valentin was unable to investigate for some reason and he only went as far as F-Pod so that he could grab Harumi's outfit.
"Is that so…?" I say slowly.
"Yes." Valentin says firmly, steeling his expression. "The fence is tall, si, but not so tall as to prohibit even the shortest of us from, ah, throwing something over." he says. "The barbed wire merely makes the fence more...more taller?" Valentin tries and shakes his head. "...You know what I mean."
"And how do you know that?" Armen challenges. "What makes you so capable of judging our throwing velocity?"
"I am a firefighter."
"That's not...ugh." Armen sighs but doesn't say anything else.
I clear my throat, "So...it was thrown over the 2nd Yard's fence, then?"
Valentin nods.
So he believes it was one of the boys too.
Yume and Kanna are giving Harumi a look that screams 'shut up'. Amazingly, Harumi listens.
"That settles that argument then," I say. "The girls are off the suspect list."
What now? With Valentin's lie, we've established that a pipe was used to attack Luan and Takeshi and we've narrowed down the suspect list…is there any evidence that can be used to support alibis?
"S-So, what next?" Sasaki asks.
"Gosh, I still can't remember…" Yosuke mutters. "It was important, I know it…"
Nonstop Debate
"We should establish alibis next, right?" Toshiro asks. "It's not looking good for us…weren't we all sleeping? How are we supposed to get alibis from that?" he wonders.
Kensuke nods. "We...we were supposed to be sleeping, all of us should've been tired from the previous twelve hours when we had access to A-Wing. Clearly, someone was still awake enough to commit murder." he says with a frown.
"I don't know about you guys but I was exhausted." Hitoshi says, tries and fails to cross his arms, and sighs. "Sting kept bothering me about having 'the same father'..."
Takeshi taps his chin. "Hmm...this is quite the problem on our hands."
Truth Bullet: Armen's Account, FIRED!
"Maybe you're smarter than you look."
"Did you expect anything less from a cutie like me?"
BREAK!
"Shiro is right." I nod. "According to Armen, the one who discovered the body, everyone but the victims were in their rooms." I say.
Wait…
My eyes widen.
Armen smirks. "Did you remember what I told you, Sugawara?" he asks.
That's right…
Armen said everyone but one person was in their room.
Did he really do it?
What a perfect, hypocritical example of not practicing what you quite literally preach.
Accuse: Who wasn't in their room when Armen went to report the bodies to the boys?
Kasumi
Harlequin
Luan
Armen
Kensuke
Hitoshi
Toshiro
Candace
Takeshi
Juriya
Yosuke
Kanna
Shun
Kano
Masaki
Mai
Greyface
Kaori
Valentin
Harumi
Sting
Yume
Nemiko
Ryu
"You're the only one!"
DECIDE: Yosuke
"Yosuke." I say, turning to look at him.
The Ultimate Priest sighs and shakes his head. "I knew all eyes would be on me but please, I've been trying to remember something since before the trial even started." he says. "I didn't do it. You may not like me but I am a firm believer in what I preach - I would never kill somebody. I just need more time to think." Yosuke pleads.
Masaki rolls his eyes. "Whatever, man. Think quickly. I want to get out of here." he says.
Candace stares at Yosuke unsurely, a conflicted look on her face. A steadfast ally of LGBTQ+ rights, she and Yosuke were born to be enemies. If she's doubting his guilt…
Did Yosuke really do it?
I have no idea.
Think think think think think.
Let's review what we've covered so far.
Monokuma confirmed that Sting is innocent in this case.
Also, Sting is alive.
We've concluded that the girls are innocent as well and that the blackened has to be one of the boys - excluding Takeshi and Luan.
We got to that conclusion because Valentin told a lie so we could move on with the trial...a bit strange for him but nonetheless it did help.
According to Armen, Yosuke was the only one not in his room when the body was discovered.
And now Yosuke is the number one suspect.
But...is it really that easy?
I tune out the discussion as I glance at Armen. He's still silent, observing everyone like I am. If Armen really believed Yosuke was the killer, he would have brought up this piece of evidence when we started...right?
…
…
...
Jesus, I'm not the one skilled in detective work, why isn't he helping?
Nonstop Debate
"So that's it, right?" Harumi asks. "The ugly bald giant over here who doesn't know what tweezers are killed Ryu?"
Hitoshi looks a little unsure. "Should we vote now…?"
Takeshi clears his throat and raises his hands. "If I may-"
"I agree. Let's get this over with so I can go back to my warm bed…" Masaki says with a yawn.
"But-" Takeshi starts.
"Ah, pardon me, Mister Masaki, but what did you say just now?" Yosuke asks, surprised.
Takeshi sighs.
Masaki frowns, "What?"
"You said you want to go back to your warm bed, correct?" Yosuke asks, looking like he's on the verge of a breakthrough.
Masaki attempts to cross his arms and grumbles once he remembers that the handcuffs are restricting him. "Yeah. I said that. So what?" he asks.
Yosuke gasps. "Th-That's it! I remember!"
...Break…?
"I was having trouble remembering because it was our scheduled bedtime and I was lethargic, obviously." Yosuke starts. "I was not the only one outside before the twelve hour switch was announced," he reveals. "Mister Masaki, Mister Minato, and Mister Valentin were outside as well."
Armen smirks. "Is that so?" he asks as if this is the new information he was waiting for all along.
Truth Bullet: Yosuke's Account, obtained!
Toshiro hums. "I dunno, it sounds like you're panicking and just trying to point fingers at random people." he says.
Yosuke shakes his head earnestly. "You didn't let me finish." he says. "Mister Minato went inside first. Later, Mister Valentin went inside. I fell asleep for a while and when I awoke, Mister Masaki was gone as well." Yosuke pauses and sighs. "Well, I suppose I am pointing a finger at somebody." he says.
I frown.
Who is Yosuke trying to direct suspicion on?
"I dislike discussing things like this…" Yosuke sighs again. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
…
…
…
Oh.
Oh.
Accuse: Who is Yosuke trying to accuse of murdering Ryu?
Kasumi
Harlequin
Luan
Armen
Kensuke
Hitoshi
Toshiro
Candace
Takeshi
Juriya
Yosuke
Kanna
Shun
Kano
Masaki
Mai
Greyface
Kaori
Harumi
Valentin
Sasaki
Sting
Yume
Nemiko
Ryu
"Is it...you?"
DECIDE: Masaki
"You think it's Masaki." I answer and steel myself for the inevitable argument.
Yosuke doesn't say anything, a grim look on his face.
Masaki looks taken aback. "Excuse me?" he blinks, looking between Yosuke and I. "Based on what?"
"If we're all in agreement that the killer came from the 2nd Yard, Yosuke just narrowed down our list of suspects." I say, thinking out loud. "According to him, Sting went inside first. Valentin went inside second. Monokuma already confirmed that Sting is innocent in this case so that means Valentin wouldn't have passed by Ryu's dead body and Luan's and Takeshi's unconscious ones. Masaki went inside last." I say. "If it was Valentin, Masaki would've reported it to everyone immediately - but he didn't. Armen did." I say. "Along with the rest of the boys, that clears Valentin of suspicion as well. With that, we're now down to two suspects: Masaki and Yosuke."
"I don't understand," Kaori speaks up. "How does that make Masaki a suspect?"
"Masaki didn't report the body which means it wasn't there when he went inside - meaning he's the one who created the dead body. On the other hand, Yosuke is claiming that he was outside the entire time until the body was discovered - however after Masaki went inside, Yosuke could've easily taken out Luan and Armen and then Ryu after he came down from the air vent and gone back outside." I explain. "Two suspects."
Kasumi groans and covers her face with her hands. "This is too complicated. How are we supposed to pick?" she asks.
"Let's just put it to a vote-" Harumi speaks up but I immediately shut her down.
"We're staking our lives on a coin toss, dumb chihuahua." I snap. "Not even yours."
God she's so stupid.
Everyone goes silent for a moment, thinking.
I turn to look at each of the boys, gauging their reactions to the stall in our case.
Kano, Luan and Kensuke don't look too pleased with Harumi's suggestion either.
Armen seems like he's finally going over the evidence in his head and not leaving me hanging.
Toshiro has an...odd look on his face.
Hitoshi and Valentin look like they're still confused on a few details - Hitoshi because of the pause in the case and Valentin because he's beginning to get that exhausted look that I'm starting to get very familiar with (he also looks like he didn't hear anything of what we all just discussed).
Harlequin and Takeshi look as though they're trying to remain cheerful and positive but I can see that they're stumped too.
And our suspects, Yosuke and Masaki, look understandably bothered about being the only two on the suspect list of a particularly brutal murder. Whichever one is innocent - if they're not both innocent - nobody's been under this much stress since the height of The Tragedy.
Yosuke and Masaki...Yosuke and Maski...a priest and a taxidermist…
…
…
What evidence haven't we gone over?
We have the murder weapon, we have alibis for everyone but Yosuke and Masaki, what are we missing?
Hangman's Gambit
What piece of evidence can help us progress from here?
?-?-?-?-?-? / ?-?-?-?-?-?
Something that we haven't talked about yet…
?-O-O-?-?-? / ?-?-?-?-?-?
It probably has something to do with why the killer went so berserk on Ryu…
?-O-O-?-E-? / ?-?-E-?-E-?
Ryu and Luan - they hit him so hard there was a broken piece of metal from the pipe in his wound.
W-O-O-?-E-? / ?-?-E-C-E-?
Ryu, Luan, and Takeshi were found around the entrance to the 2nd Wing.
W-O-O-?-E-? / P-?-E-C-E-S
What were they doing there?
W-O-O-D-E-? / P-?-E-C-E-S
That's right! They were guarding the ladder that's now broken - for some reason. That's the key to solving this, I'm positive.
Answer: W-O-O-D-E-N / P-I-E-C-E-S
BREAK!
"I think…" I break the silence. "I think that whoever the killer is...the motive got to them bad." I say. "Whoever it is has been holding back how they truly felt and something about Luan's, Takeshi's, and Ryu's…activities made them snap." I say. "I can picture a timeline of events about how it went down, but…" I look at each of the boys meaningfully. "Has anyone noticed anything? Anyone acting strange or maybe they said something?"
"Well," Harumi starts up once again.
End me right now.
"I have a room right next to Greyface here-" she says, gesturing to the serial killer. "-and I'm like, ninety-five percent sure I hear her whispering things about Kanna at night. It's hard to sleep sometimes, y'know?" Harumi says.
…
…
…
Greyface smiles. "She was talking to the boys, dipshit." she says in a friendly tone.
Harumi bristles but before she can say anything else, Hitoshi thankfully speaks up: "Maybe it would help if Masaki and Yosuke share things about their past during the Tragedy?" he suggests.
Masaki scoffs. "As if," he says, glaring at Hitoshi. "how would that help?" Masaki asks. "Both of us could easily lie and say we had it easy during the literal apocalypse to drive suspicion away from us." he snaps. "Easy time means less anger and that means you're the least likely to go crazy, right?"
Yosuke sighs and straightens himself. He clears his throat, "I was living in my church during the Tragedy." he says. "We were mostly away from the Ultimate Despair and we would help everyone we could. Many of my fellow clergymen died whenever we went out on supply runs but I believe it was simply God freeing them from their torment." Yosuke says with a peaceful smile. "We had our losses but who didn't?"
Masaki grits his teeth. "I'm not saying shit." he says and clenches his fists. "My life is none of your business and it doesn't have anything to do with this."
…
…
…
Something isn't right.
I know a liar when I see one. I had to deal with plenty of backstabbing liars and homicidal psychos when I was just trying to survive the Tragedy.
Masaki…
…
…
…
He isn't lying.
And neither is Yosuke.
What am I missing?
Rage definitely played a factor in Ryu's murder.
About the murder weapon, Yosuke could've easily pulled it off and he could've pulled it off even easier if he was fueled by anger. Masaki, being the skinny twig he is, also could have managed to pull it off if he was fueled by anger.
The ladder that Luan and Takeshi were guarding was absolutely destroyed - it was barely recognizable.
Think, Sora, think.
What am I missing?
I can't let all of these people die here. We're kids! We haven't done anything with our lives! Hell, one of us is a parent. I myself have something to do too. We can't die-
"Relax."
I jump when I suddenly feel a hand on my arm. I glance towards my right. Kasumi gives me a comforting smile that quickly turns teasing, "You look like you're about to burst a blood vessel, baby raccoon." she says and taps the bottoms of her eyelids. "I don't think your eyes can take you being anemic and a raccoon." Kasumi grins.
Juriya sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Kasumi, now's not the time for your antics-"
Takeshi silences her, an interested look on his face. "Shh. Let her." he says quietly.
"You're a smart cookie, Sora." Kasumi says. "But we shouldn't have put all that pressure on you. Breathe. We're not on a time limit-"
"Actually," Monokuma pipes up. "I'm getting a little bored of this no progress back and forth."
"...so we're on a bit of a time limit." Kasumi says with an awkward smile. "But listen-"
My eyes widen as I stare at Kasumi. "That's it!" I gasp. "Kasumi, you're a genius!" I beam.
Kasumi looks confused but blushes all the same at the compliment. "I didn't even say anything yet…?" she trails off, scratching her cheek.
I kept overlooking it but someone here has been acting strange ever since the murder.
Do I think that person did it?
I have no idea.
But they know something.
I look at the boy between Hitoshi and Candace.
He must feel me looking at him because he turns towards me and we lock eyes. "Hm?" he tilts his head.
He knows something.
"Toshiro," I start. "You were pretty close with Sting, right?" I ask.
Going up the stairs to the second level of cells, a pillow misses me by mere centimeters.
"And you said this was okay with Toshiro, right?" I hear Shun ask.
"Yeah. He said he looked through Sting's stuff himself but couldn't find anything and that we were more than welcome to try." Kaori answers. "Sting can't...he can't be dead though, right? Like Sora said, there was only one B.D.A. and now Sting's body is missing. They brought outfits for him and his accessories too, so..." she trails off.
So Toshiro and Sting were the ones who ended up sharing a cell, huh.
"What happened to Sting, huh…" Kanna mumbles. "One of the boys should know that, right?" she asks.
Masaki points a finger at Toshiro, "Don't look at anyone but him. They were friends...for some reason." he says.
"Fine. He isn't dead. Happy?" Monokuma deadpans.
Toshiro beams. "R-Really!?" he asks excitedly.
Monokuma dejectedly puts a hand over the left side of his chest. "Scout's honor. Minato Sakamoto did not die inside our lovely little Correctional Facility." he says."Furthermore, no, he is not responsible for Kuro Kamiyama's death."
"Masaki didn't report the body which means it wasn't there when he went inside - meaning he's the one who created the dead body. On the other hand, Yosuke is claiming that he was outside the entire time until the body was discovered - however after Masaki went inside, Yosuke could've easily taken out Luan and Armen and then Ryu after he came down from the air vent and gone back outside." I explain. "Two suspects."
...
I turn to look at each of the boys, gauging their reactions to the stall in our case.
...
Toshiro has an...odd look on his face.
Toshiro smiles. "That's right!" he confirms.
Armen frowns. "What the hell are you doing, Sugawara?" he asks. "We already covered the Sting subject - the bear confirmed that he's alive and he has nothing to do with Kamiyama's death."
I ignore him, keeping my focus on Toshiro. "Do you know anything about-"
"WHAT!?"
All of us jump at the sudden outburst.
"Are you kidding me!? How is that possible? Our collars are state of the art - these brats investigated the damn body! We basically have three doctors here! Three scientists! How is that possible!?"
Kensuke is the first one who manages to speak up as all of us stare at the culprit of the outburst. "M-Monokuma?" he calls. "Did we do something wrong?"
Luan frowns. "A-Ah, I do not believe he is being angry with us." he says and points at Hanako and Taro.
Both of the lackeys have their hands to their ears, shocked looks on their faces.
They're listening to something.
Candace lifts an eyebrow. "Interesting." she says. "I wonder what that's all about."
Kanna looks around, confused. "Do we...keep going?" she wonders.
Shun yawns and puts her hands behind her head. "Like I said at the beginning of this whole thing, I have a lotta people waitin' for me on the outside." she says. "We need to get this done quickly and efficiently."
Greyface snickers, "Hahaha, I didn't know the dumb jock had such a big vocabulary." she grins, making Shun frown.
Kaori slaps the serial killer upside her head without missing a beat. "Don't you have better things to worry about than Shun's vocabulary?" she chastises.
Kano grins. "I knew something seemed off." he says proudly.
Valentin, now wide awake from the bear's scream, looks concerned. "Por favor, I hope we did not mess up somehow." he says and gently slaps his cheek. "Come on, Val, despiértate."
Nemiko manages to pull out her notepad and quickly scribbles something down. She hands it to Yume.
"Nemiko thinks something went wrong on their side." Yume reports. Then she laughs, "Better them than us, right?"
Juriya frowns and taps her chin. "Frankly, I'm inclined to agree." she says. "Look at them, they're not paying any attention to us."
I turn my attention back towards the three head honchos. Hanako and Taro are quickly tapping away at tablets in their hands. We still can't see their faces because of those damn masks but by the way they're moving, they look pretty frantic.
What's going on?
Before I have a chance to ask just that, Monokuma finally turns his attention back to us, an angry, red look on his face: "I declare an official class trial recess! Guards, take them back to D-Pod!"
'D-Pod'?
"Yes, Daddy!" the herd of Guard Monokumas chants as they run into the courtroom.
...HEH?
TRIAL BREAK!
D-Pod
Evidently, they were remodeling while we were fighting for our lives.
The halls to B-Wing, C-Wing, and so on and so forth are still present and blocked off. Whether this used to be F-Pod or M-Pod, it still looks relatively the same aside from the extra cells.
It looks like we're going to be sharing a living space now.
I turn around and am immediately face to face with someone.
Surprisingly, it's not Kasumi.
"Shiro." I blink.
He gives me a calculating look, something I've never seen on his face before. "Sora," he says in a quiet voice. "You were going to ask me about Sting, right?" he asks.
I nod.
Toshiro then puts on his usual smile and grabs me by my now free wrists, "You're so smart, Sora!" he says loudly, catching the attention of our nearby peers. "Come on, follow me this way." Toshiro says and walks towards the newly named Showers Wing.
I look at Toshiro suspiciously as I close the door to the girl's bathroom behind me. "You were rather loud at the end there for someone who wants to talk in private." I say.
Toshiro hums and jumps up on the counter and sits down. "I thought it would make you feel safer if I let everyone know you were with me." he says. "It wouldn't be a very good murder if they all knew you were with me last, right?"
He has a point.
"Ah," Toshiro smiles at me. "There's that smile. So cute!" he coos.
Smile?
Oh.
I quickly wipe the smile off my face and clear my throat. "Um."
Toshiro pouts. "No fun." he says. "Kasumi would've died to see that." Toshiro sighs and shakes his head. He looks at me seriously. "I wanted to talk in here because there's no cameras. Sting and I tested it before and there's no mics on our collars either." Toshiro says. "We said a bunch of stuff about his very detailed plan and...nothing. No shocks, no Monokuma appearances, nothing."
I nod and motion for him to continue.
"I knew about Sting's plan."
There it is.
"I didn't know, however, if he succeeded." Toshiro says and I think back to the way he double checked with Monokuma to confirm Sting's status.
"Fine. He isn't dead. Happy?" Monokuma deadpans.
Toshiro beams. "R-Really!?" he asks excitedly.
Monokuma dejectedly puts a hand over the left side of his chest. "Scout's honor. Minato Sakamoto did not die inside our lovely little Correctional Facility." he says."Furthermore, no, he is not responsible for Kuro Kamiyama's death."
"And if Sting succeeded and he's alive…" Toshiro trails off. "So did Ryu."
...Huh?
…
…
…
'So did Ryu'?
...
Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?
I blink, staring at Ryu with wide eyes. "What? Ryu? What does Ryu have to do with this? Succeeded with what, the guy's dead!" I ramble, confused.
Toshiro laughs at the look on my face. "Ahahaha! I knew I'd get a reaction like that!" he grins. "Let me explain..." Toshiro says.
Ryu
Earlier on Day 4…
Takeshi and Luan look rather relieved to see me come back out of the vent alive.
"Ryu." Luan smiles, looking at me.
Takeshi starts climbing the ladder to help me get out. "Did you find anything?" he asks. "A-Wing? F-Pod? A way out?"
I shake my head when both feet are back on the ground. "No. The entire path was silent - no sign of the girls or a way out." I lie. "There were also several branches leading to other vents, I'm guessing." I sigh. That part is true. "I'll have to check out the other path tomorrow."
Takeshi sighs in disappointment and Luan awkwardly pats him on the back.
We make plans for tomorrow's vent crawl, clean up after ourselves, and go our separate ways.
…
…
…
I can't wait until it's time for everyone to wake up to talk to him. If the girl - Kasumi, I believe - is right, that's a murder waiting to happen if they're reunited.
I make my way back to M-Pod and climb the stairs up to his cell. I knock on the door, "Sting? Toshiro?"
It takes a minute for any sound to come from the other side but eventually I do hear movement and the door opens, revealing a grumpy Toshiro. "What?" he snaps. "It's not very cute to interrupt someone's beauty sleep."
"I need to talk to Sting." I say. "You can stay and listen too, I guess."
Toshiro looks like he's considering shutting the door in my face but sighs and steps aside, letting me in. "Fine." he says. "You wake him up, I need to go splash my face." Toshiro says and trudges to their bathroom.
"No need!"
Like something out of a horror movie, Sting suddenly sits up ramrod straight in his bed, his dull red eyes wide open. "I'm awake!"
I get straight to the point, "Did you know Kasumi Yuan prior to your enrollment in Hope's Peak Academy?" I ask.
Sting blinks, looking at me curiously. "I don't know…" he trails off. "When we all woke up in that big room on our first day here, I thought she looked familiar but I just couldn't place her, y'know?" he says. "Why?"
"You killed her guardians during the Tragedy." I state bluntly. "Her aunt and uncle."
Sting blinks, lost in thought. Then he beams, "Oooooooh!" Sting crosses his arms and nods with his eyes closed. "I think I did, yes. I remember a nice old couple who, now that I think about it, look pretty similar to Blondie." he says.
…
…
…
I don't -
Ugh.
I sigh and shake my head as Toshiro comes back and sits down on his bed. He has a scandalized look on his face, "You killed Kasumi's aunt and uncle!?"
Sting shrugs. "I guess I did." he says and sighs. "I'll try to apologize if we ever get reunited with the girls."
I think back to what I saw in the vent crawl today.
"So…" I trail off, studying Sting's expression. "Do you really feel guilty?" I ask.
Sting nods earnestly. "Yeah! Yes! I mean, I'm tryna turn over a new leaf and all that and I promised Mr. Hope's Peak that I'd be good!" he insists and gestures to his roommate. "Just ask Shiro! Or Harlequin! Mr. Hope's Peak and him made the same promise!"
Toshiro nods. "He still has a few quirks but Sting's a good guy." he says with two cheerful thumbs up.
"Well then," I say. "How do you feel about planning an escape with me? It'll have to be the two of us but if we can leave this place alive, we can get help."
Sting looks at me with stars in his eyes. He grabs my hands, staring at me with as genuine a look as he can muster: "I'm totally in."
"Then let me tell you both about what I've been up to."
Presently on Day 5…
"Sting being a former Ultimate Despair and Ryu being the Ultimate Spy, I didn't really have much to bring to the table." Toshiro says with an easy smile, unbothered. "Together, with me standing guard, they planned out their escape routes all night." he pauses. "Well, day, I guess." Toshiro corrects himself. "The whole twelve hour thing is a little confusing.
"But…" I blink, hundreds of questions running through my head. "The blood...the...brain bits...he wasn't breathing!"
Toshiro laughs again, "That's another thing Sting brought to the table-"
Ding dong dong ding!
Toshiro and I freeze when the announcement tone plays. "Attention all inmates, please report to D-Pod for a very important announcement. Immediately." comes Monokuma's voice.
I exchange a look with Toshiro.
D-Pod
When we get back to D-Pod, Monokuma is standing in the middle of the room, tapping his foot angrily. "Good. You're all here." Monokuma says when Toshiro and I join the group. "Let me cut right to the chase. I'll be honest." he says, very clearly annoyed. "It seems as though Kuro Kamiyama managed to fake his death. Along with Minato Sakamoto, we've lost track of Mr. Kamiyama as well."
Beside me, Toshiro smirks.
"As such," Monokuma continues. "Since there is no guilty party to punish, the trial is canceled. I…" he twitches. "I apologize for the inconvenience. We'll have more news for you tomorrow."
Everyone immediately bursts out with questions and insults but Monokuma merely laughs and vanishes into thin air.
…
…
…
…
No trial? No guilty party? No dead body? Ryu and Sting are alive?
…
…
What the hell?
…
So no one fell for the motive. That's good...I guess. Excluding our resident rich girls, all of us are used to living under those conditions. We haven't lived like spoiled royalty in years.
So…
What now?
I don't have to wonder long because Toshiro is once again calling everyone's attention and directing us to the Showers for 'fun time story time'.
Sting
M-Pod
Two days before Sting's body was discovered...
Ah...life is good, isn't it Monsieur Brahms?
We may not have our other friends with us but Mister Naegi promised he'd make Future Foundation return them to us if we graduated Hope's Peak without any more...incidents.
That's fine with me, I mean, Miss Junko killed herself and my old friends tore up her body. She's not here anymore and my other friends that actually had thoughts other than "Despair despair despair despair!" were all locked up like I was so...I don't really care about Despair all that much now. It's not fun without them. I just want my precious snakes back.
I haven't actually been able to move towards that goal since - ah, excuse me, they're called Hanako and Taro now - since Hanako and Taro kidnapped me and my classmates.
A bit of a bump in the road but hey, what can ya do?
At first, the Killing Game seemed fun but you know what? I actually like these guys. They're not exactly the biggest fans of my past but it's like that kid sings in that hit Disney Channel Original Movie in that one song: 'the past is past. Forgive, forget.'
I don't want them to die.
And I know I'm not the brightest tool in the shed anymore since I've spent about a year or two being a deranged serial killer so I probably won't be able to pull this off as quickly as I'd like to. I know some of them are going to bite the dust - let's just hope that I'll be able to keep that number as small as possible.
I've been spending a lot of time with Mister Shi Shi - nice guy by the way - and I think you'll agree, Monsieur Brahms, that there's a lot more to these people than their talents.
Of course, they're not as interesting as the other snakes Future Foundation took away from us, but I'd still like to get to know them.
Especially that girl, Blondie, hanging around Miss Bookbinder…
Sting
M-Pod
One day before Sting's body was discovered…
Today was an interesting day.
I hung out with Mister Shi Shi, annoyed Animal Corpse for a while, realized that Farm Boy was my long lost brother, saw Daddy Day Care, Femboy, and Mister Dragon work together to get into a vent, and I had stale ramen noodles covered in some kind of sauce for dinner!
A good day, I think, right Monsieur Brahms?
But seriously, I have no interest in whatever those three are doing. I have my own plan that only I, the Ultimate Snake Charmer, can pull off.
Mister Shi Shi thinks I'm unhinged - I mean, well, I am but that's not the point - but he promised not to say anything to anyone unless I turned up dead.
I just have to make sure no one sees me hiding in the Rec Room when time's up for us.
Honestly, I'm amazed they didn't think to make sure I didn't have anything hiding there…
If I succeed, guys, please don't go too crazy because of their motives. I don't want to rescue corpses.
Sting
M-Pod
Hours before Sting's body was discovered…
Okay...okay alright alright alright! Maybe I'm not in this alone.
Mister Dragon guy woke me and Shi Shi up and somehow he knew how I knew Blondie? I don't really get that part yet but I guess I killed her family during the whole Tragedy thing.
Oops.
Mister Dragon also has his own plan for escaping and he wants us to work together. I'm totally down!
Monsieur Brahms, doesn't he seem like a nice dude? Shiro's also such a nice guy - he promised not to say anything about Mister Dragon's plan either!
Mister Dragon said that whether or not we succeed, while the others are doing the whole trial thingamabob, Monokuma and his crew will get notified and the trial will be put on hold before any guilty party is decided.
I hope it works!
Sting
Rec Room
Minutes after Sting's body was discovered…
…
…
…
…
…
…
I didn't...make it…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Just kidding!
I'm alive and well. For now, anyway. I still have to make it out of here.
One, two, three...Miss Bookbinder, Blondie, and Lady Doctor…
I only have to wait another three minutes for the rest of the girls to come running into the room. They all gasp when they see me and start panicking, wondering how I possibly could've gotten in here. One of them reaches down to check my pulse - jeez their hand is cold.
"Kekeke...cold. Dead as a doornail."
Greyface. A kindred soul. She knows, she's just not saying anything.
I appreciate it!
"If he's...th-then where did Sora, Kasumi, and Juriya go?"
Hmm...Miss Faker, I think?
"Probably into M-Pod. The announcement said that they would open something in the Rec Room and there is a giant hole in the wall now…"
Roller Skater!
"They had to have gone in for a reason. As far as I know, those three were the only ones in A-Wing when the announcement went off - Yukiko too, obviously. We should join them."
Ooo, the actual Ultimate Comedian in the girl's group of rather large entertainment talents.
"Right...come on, guys, we can…investigate Sting later…"
The American! Pretty easy to tell that it's her - her Japanese is fine but the accent still has that American spice, y'know?
The girls all murmur more apologies to me, step aside my body, and head into M-Pod.
I wait a few more minutes just to be safe before I put my plan into action.
My arms still feel incredibly heavy but thanks to Monsieur Brahms and my other friends, there isn't a single poison out there that's fatally harmful to me. In fact, some of them even act as medicine to me now - that's how I'm going to remedy the other poison I took.
It takes me a second to reach into the pockets of my jumpsuit but I do manage to grab onto the vial I marked with a scratch.
…
…
…
…
Aaah, that's much better.
I stand up on shaky legs and stretch. "Alrighty then. Let's get outta here, Monsieur Brahms! We have to keep up our end of the bargain, remember?" I ask the snake around my neck.
…
"Exactly!" I agree.
Sting
A-Wing
As I walk into A-Wing, I have to wonder...I know I'm being watched. So why are they letting me do what I'm doing? To see what happens? I dunno. Or maybe they're distracted by Mister Dragon's 'death'.
A downright shame about that, by the way. I was aiming for all of us to make it out alive.
Oh well.
…
…
…
Ahahahaha! Just kidding. You were there, Monsieur Brahms, you know he's alive.
Back to the matter at hand.
What are Monokuma, Hanako, and Taro thinking? Are they really going to let me go?
I mean, the barbed wire will hurt for sure but hey, I like the pain. I wasn't a successful Remnant of Despair for nothing.
Anyways, why haven't they stopped me by using my collar to inject me with something or shocking me? That's what the whole purpose of hurting Miss Bookbinder was, right? To show us that they had the means and power to keep us in line?
Hmmmmmm…
Oh well.
Now, if I'm right, since M-Pod has the 2nd Wing...
Sting
1st Wing
...F-Pod should have the 1st Wing!
Perfect.
Now, let's see about that barbed wire that should be around the fence of the 1st Wing Yard…
Hanako and Taro exchange a look.
"Are we really going to let him go?" Taro asks.
Hanako shrugs. "I mean, I know I said I wasn't the biggest fan of his work but the boss explicitly said not to interfere and he hasn't responded to our initial report that Sting broke rule number six." she says. "He's probably busy with whatever happened in the 2nd Wing."
"True…" Taro agrees. "The collars are set to make the B.D.A. go off when they no longer detect a pulse." he recalls. "In Sting's case, the poison he ingested slowed his pulse down so that he looked dead to Sugawara and the others; the collar could still detect his pulse. Greyface could feel his pulse too when she went to check but..."
"...but she's Greyface." Hanako finishes. She sighs and shakes her head. "A shame these cameras don't rewind, we'll have to look at the footage later to find out exactly what happened in the 2nd Wing and what exactly Sting did in the Rec Room. God I just wish I could see who everyone is crowded around - look! The girls are there now too, we're not going to be able to see a thing."
Sting
An unknown amount of time later…
Golly, this cupboard is cramped. Maybe I should've waited to grab those. Sorry about that, Monsieur Brahms.
I lost track of time eight thousand one hundred eleven seconds ago but if I scouted out the place correctly, they should be bringing Mister Dragon's body into this room soon. It reminds me of that room Mister Naegi and his friends discovered during the game specially run by Lady Junko.
Bang!
The doors slam open and startle me for just a teensy weensy second but I manage to keep still and hold my breath.
This is it.
Through the gratings on the doors of the cupboard, I can kind of see what's going on.
Yes! Just like I thought - they're bringing Mister Dragon's body in here.
It's being pushed in on a stretcher by someone in robes like Hanako and Taro - maybe it is Hanako or Taro?
I don't get a chance to find out because that's all the figure does - they wheel Mister Dragon in, set the stretcher in place in the middle of the room, and leave.
I wait six hundred seconds just like Mister Dragon told me to and get to work, kicking the doors of the cupboard open and crawling out. I push myself up onto my feet and start snooping around the room
"Syringe, syringe, syringe…" I mutter to myself as I go through a number of drawers.
…
…
…
Aha! Look, Monsieur Brahms!
I pull out two vials - a round shaped one and a skinny one with sharp edges.
Mix these together...shake thoroughly...put the concoction in the syringe...there.
I turn on my heel and look at Mister Dragon's very nearly dead body.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, baby!" I cheer as I stab the syringe into Mister Dragon's neck.
…
…
…
Oh wait, that's right, I have to push the medicine in.
"Sting…"
I look up at the sound of Mister Dragon's hoarse voice. "It worked! A little slower than I thought it would but I guess you don't have the same immunities and stuff that I do-"
"Sting." Mister Dragon repeats, turning his head with a bit of difficulty and looking at me, unamused. "What am I wearing?"
"I found our clothes!"
"But these aren't my clothes."
…
…
…
"Take your clothes off of me, Sting."
There. I'm me again.
I smile, pleased, as I check myself over in the reflection of one of the body coolers.
My dark green hair is still cut short and spiky - it hasn't gotten that much longer since we've been here. My faded red eyes stand out against my tan skin and my green hair - Shi Shi once said that I look like a walking Christmas ad! I haven't lost that much muscle since we started our prison diet but hey, I still look good - right Monsieur Brahms? I can even make this scar on my lip that I got from the asshole with the ring look good.
It feels good to be back in my own clothes. My open gold lined, black Arabian vest shows off all of the scars on my torso. Turning around, I can see the golden snake design on the back of my vest hasn't been ruined. My leg scars are hidden by purple harem pants and my trusty black sandals look as battered as ever. These bad boys got me through a lot of toughies. Before I turn around to put the rest of my stuff on, I recount my piercings to make sure they're all there…snake bite...helix...four...ten...fifteen…
Just kidding. I don't have that many.
I turn around and start grabbing the rest of my accessories off of the table. I pull my golden snake coil armband on and slip on my gold rings…
…
Tch.
I shake my head and turn around to see that Mister Dragon finished getting dressed t-
…
…
…
What a sight to behold, eh, Monsieur Brahms?
"Is this some kind of joke, Sting?" Mister Dragon asks.
I stare at him in shock. This is not at all what I was expecting. "What...what are you talking about?" I ask after I get over the shock of his appearance.
Mister Dragon hasn't changed physically, obviously; his slightly spiky, wavy jet black hair is still a bit matted from my blood and the mushed up food and his dead stormy gray eyes are as dead as ever (even though they're looking at me with a lot of annoyance). He's a bit paler because of the poison I gave him but he'll be back to his normal light color soon.
Oddly, Mister Dragon is wearing an open purple suit with a white dress shirt underneath and a purple necktie. He has purple dress pants on, black socks, and black dress shoes. A pair of black shades dangles from the pocket on his purple suit jacket.
I scratch my head, confused. "Uhm, that was in the box marked with your name." I say. "Kuro Kamiyama, right?" I ask, thinking back to his entry in my PDA.
Mister Dragon scowls and tosses his tie over his left shoulder. "Damn bear…" he mutters under his breath. He rolls his sleeves up, revealing a slim black watch on one of his arms. "I guess it doesn't matter." he says. "Did you find out if you could actually do it?"
I nod and smile proudly. "Of course. I knew I could do it." I say. "I can tame the Beast Monokumas."
Mister Dragon gives me the first genuine smile I've seen from him. "Good. Then let's get out of here and save our classmates."
Sora
Presently…
"...and that was their whole plan." Toshiro finishes, looking at all nineteen of his remaining classmates.
Armen grits his teeth. "I don't understand. Kamiyama was dead. I examined him myself - I touched his brain." he says, angry and confused. "How could I have missed that…?"
"Ah," Toshiro blinks. "That's right. I forgot to mention - Ryu was counting on both you and Juriya eating the sad excuses for meals that we've been getting." he says. "Something about the lack of nutrients and your bodies trying to run on the little energy they've been getting. Those who haven't been eating aren't trying to run on fumes, they're running on nothing, blah blah blah." Toshiro says and waves his hand. "I don't get it, I'm not a sciencey boy."
Juriya frowns as she chews on her lip. "I suppose...there is that...and we both could have also been distracted with making sure Luan and Takeshi were okay." she says, clearly displeased with having been fooled but trying to reason it out.
"Oh!" Shun raises her hand. "Speaking of, who attacked Luan and Takeshi, then?" she asks.
Toshiro laughs awkwardly and smiles apologetically at the aforementioned boys. "That would be Sting," he says. "Being who he is, Sting knows how much force it would take to knock someone unconscious and kill them."
Takeshi and Luan look at each other, thinking. "Now that I think about it," Takeshi starts. "It's not that I'm in an excruciating amount of pain, I'm just...hungry." he says with a laugh.
Luan nods in agreement, Yukiko asleep in his arms. "Y-Yes...hungry." he says. "A headache, yes, but it is not...it is not bad." Luan says.
Yume clears her throat, waving Nemiko's notepad in the air. "Ahem," she clears her throat. "Nemiko wants to know why the ladder was destroyed and the air vent was left open. By all means, it looked like a real crime scene."
"Ryu put his Ultimate Spy skills to use during his five days here and pinpointed all of the cameras." Toshiro says. "He knew you guys needed something to investigate so he and Sting came up with the idea to have his 'murder' there." he explains. "Sora was on the right track with what Ryu had in mind - a murder fueled by rage."
My ideas widen as it all comes together in my head. "Ryu knew that that particular area was a blindspot and it got even harder to see when we all crowded around it." I realize. "Hanako and Taro would be busy trying to figure out what was going on there and they wouldn't notice Sting until it was too late."
Toshiro nods and claps. "Exactly!"
Kensuke raises his hand next, "What about the bruises and scratches on Ryu?" he asks.
"Sting." Toshiro answers simply. "They wanted it to be believable, of course."
Greyface pulls Toshiro's attention next. "Why Sting, I wonder." she says in a curious tone. "Ryu could've easily chosen someone more…" the serial killer grins. "sane."
Toshiro freezes and I see his eyes drift to Kasumi.
Ryu told him.
I glance back at Candace. She noticed too.
If Sting were to come back for whatever reason and everyone knew about his particular relationship to Kasumi, they could use that against her if he ended up dead.
Based on what he wrote in his notepad, Ryu thought something similar.
"Um…" Toshiro blinks.
"What an odd question." I speak up, looking at Greyface as if it were obvious. "Shiro already said it - Sting being who he is, he has a different set of skills and talents than the rest of us." I say.
Greyface hums as she turns to look at me. "Is that so, Sora?" she says, a crazy look in her dark eyes.
Creepy.
I shiver. "Yes. Obviously."
Greyface doesn't say anything else but smiles at me like she knows I'm hiding something.
Kaori narrows her eyes at the serial killer. "Stop being creepy." she says.
"I think we're all glossing over something very important." Kanna says, calling everyone's attention to her. "Sting and Ryu escaped this place successfully. If we can just stick it out and ignore Monokuma's motives, we can all leave this place alive!" she says.
Hitoshi shakes his head and crosses his arms. "I hate to disagree but if the motives are anything like what happened to Class 77-B in the Neo World Program, we won't have any choice." he says pessimistically.
Kensuke frowns, confused. "The 'Neo World Program', Toshi?" he asks.
Hitoshi scratches his head as he thinks. "I thought everyone read the reports." he says with a sigh. "It was after their second trial. Monokuma infected them with a sickness called the 'despair disease'." he explains. "It had different effects for each person. If we get something like that, we can't control what it does to our personalities - whether that means we're more likely to kill or more likely to be killed." Hitoshi says.
"B-But…" Valentin speaks up. "That was...inside a computer...si? How can he do that to us in the real world?" he wonders.
Masaki yawns. "Our collars, I'm guessing," he says. "Anyways, are we done here? Getting accused of murder is tiring and I'm cold." Masaki says and shivers right on cue.
"Speaking about being accused of murder," Kasumi says and looks between Masaki and Yosuke. "Are you two, like...good?" she asks.
Yosuke nods and smiles. "I am fine. It all worked out in the end, I bear none of you ill will."
Masaki yawns again, waving her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm still alive. I don't care." he says. "...Just don't make that mistake again. Goodnight." he says and exits the bathroom.
Masaki's departure makes everyone else slowly follow suit and trickle out until it's just Kasumi and I.
I narrow my eyes. "What?" I ask.
"So about our sleeping situation, I know we have our own rooms now, but-"
"No."
Chapter 1 - Live Like Spoiled Royalty (END)
Surviving Students
Sora Sugawara
Kasumi Yuan
Yuya 'Harlequin' Tanaguchi
Luan Delvina
Akifumi 'Armen' Yatagarasu
Kensuke Oishi
Hitoshi Kimidori
Toshiro Haruki
Candace Meyers-Opulence
Takeshi Yamamoto
Juriya Inaba
Yosuke Sakurai
Kanna Kawagiri
Shun Asuga
Kano Hanazaki
Masaki Takano
Mai Rinzaki
Greyface
Kaori Yoshino
Harumi Gen Cho
Valentin Del Rio
Sasaki Kagaku
Yume Nii
Nemiko Tamatsuki
Escaped
Minato 'Sting' Sakamoto
Kuro 'Ryu' Kamiyama
A/N i'm a liar i cut it down to seven parts
back to chapter 2 poggies let's go
