Kaede's execution ends on an ominous note, the piano closing down on her still-warm corpse, Monodam killing Monokid, our horrified silence and the piano slams shut with a loud bang, claiming them both to death. All too soon the wall closes up again, hiding the room from view. As soon as the walls connect, Shuichi collapses in defeat, hot white tears streaming down his face at a fast pace. No one dares to speak for a moment, all terrified, half expecting to hear another blood-curdling scream through the walls. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, until finally... someone or better said something speaks.
"EH!?" Monotaro whimpers "M-M-M-Monokid is..?"
"Monodam what did you do?" Monosuke questions carefully, edging away from him
". . ." Monodam says nothing in return
"Nooo! My sweet darling Monokid, a precious and pure soul, claimed as collateral damage!" Monokuma shivers, a damaged look graces his features, reflected by his cubs. "A nightmare, this is a n-nightmare... my poor..." Monokuma's mood switches as he brightens up, "On second thought, It doesn't matter. I've got four other cubs left!"
Monophanie speaks up in a faint voice "Our existence... means that little to... to..." She promptly throws up and soon after the Monokubs leave
"What in the world is this!?" Keebo, the first real person to speak, exclaims in utter horror, waving his arms in front of himself
"You're fuckin' kiddin' me, right? There's no way she just..." Miu stammers, holding onto a nearby podium as her legs wobble
"I...I can't-" Kokichi cuts himself off and stares into the distance, looking uncertain, and decides not to say anything more
"Yaha! All this adrenaline creates such an exquisite feeling of despair!" Monokuma cackles to himself, "It's moments like these that make all the killings totally worth it!"
"You're despicable..." Tsumugi whispers sorrowfully, still staring at the wall as if it will open up again to replay the execution
"Does human life have no value to you at all!?" Tenko cries in outrage, body in a rigid fighting stance, ignoring her tears in favour of defending others
"I'm not a monster, of course, I know human life is precious, besides, if it wasn't so precious I wouldn't have so much fun ending it!" Monokuma laughs viciously at her
"I don't think I've ever felt so... irritated," Ryoma grumbles to himself, looking curiously thoughtful about something
"I-I won't-, I c-can't forgive you for this! I never will!" Kaito roars furiously, shaking his fist into the sky like a promise to Kaede
"Spoken like a marked man," Tsumugi quips before clamping a hand over her mouth, horribly confused at what she said
"What is your objective, Monokuma?" Kirumi demands with a voice full of steel, her eyes hard as she stares up at him in slight defiance
"...Do you hate us? I don't think I've done anything to you?" Himiko questions sadly, "At least not yet."
"You haven't done anything wrong, Himiko!" Tenko sniffs next to her
"...Hate you?" Monokuma pauses at that, "Hmm, who can say? That's your job to figure out. If you wanna know what's going on, you're gonna have to work for it. Puhuhu~" Monokuma absently scratches his head, "Then again, the corpse formerly known as Rantaro may or may not have had a hunch."
"Rantaro had a hunch?" Maki asks neutrally, looking only slightly curious, "How? What was it?"
"Puhuhu, I'm not telling!" Monokuma's smile widens impossibly
"Hmm, he did say he would end this game," I mention nervously, to the surprise of everyone else as they turn to stare
"When'd he say that!?" Kaito exclaims in shock,
"Ah, I hung out with him yesterday, and he just commented on it. I umm, never quite got what he meant by that so I just left it alone." I shrug helplessly, he did say it, not exactly to me, but it was in the original game, I'm not sure if it even counts for much.
"Just tell us what this damn hunch is!?" Miu fumes, slamming her fist onto the podium next to her
"Puhuhu, I wonder..." Monokuma places a paw to his mouth, "I do wonder..."
"If you won't tell us then keep your mouth shut," Maki scowls
"You're focusing way too much on piano freak rather than her deadweight victim." Monokuma smiles sharply at us, "Too bad he died before his talent could be revealed, he would've finally been able to be useful! Oh well, too late!"
"What was so important about that guy?" Kaito asks again, frustrated
"When will you stop pestering me!? You're focusing too much on this, you should plainly leave it alone, you should start spending more time on watching your own back," Monokuma turns and swiftly disappears on the spot, leaving only us in the courtroom.
"He never did answer us..." Himiko pouts in annoyance, which only succeeds in having Tenko start hopping around her screaming her assurances on how great she is. Himiko eventually groans and pulls her hat down in humiliation.
"I can't stand this," Tsumugi whispers beside me, "I-I feel like... like I'm going to go crazy..." The moment she stops speaking her legs give out, and I grab her before she falls, slinging her arm around my shoulder to keep her stable, as I walk her to a podium where we sit down together.
"You'll be okay, don't give up hope," I whisper soothingly and put a trembling arm around her, letting her relax into me as I reassure us both, "We'll be okay."
"Is there really any hope?" Tsumugi cries slightly, a single tear dribbling down her cheek
We silently watch the others in the room, all drained of hope after what just happened.
"I don't know," I sigh deeply, touching my neck as I think of Kaede's final moments, symbolic as they were, but still dreadfully unpleasant.
"Aaaargh! Shut up! SHUT! UP! You all just need to SHUT UP!" Kaito shouts at the top of his lungs, voice echoing around the room, and pounding his fists together to win our attention. "Every single one of you... and your meek little complaints... You're pissing me the hell off!" Kaito stops talking, staring us all down until his eyes connect onto one prone form, "But the one who's pissing me off the most... is you, Shuichi!" Kaito roars, swiveling his fist back and punching Shuichi in the face, "Clench your teeth!"
"Kaito! You are supposed to say that before you hit him!" Keebo points out incredulously but doesn't complain further, watching the altercation with undisguised interest.
"Weren't you listening to Kaede? Did you hear what she said!? She said she believed in you!" Kaito continues, ignoring Kebbo, who huffs slightly at this, "She passed her wish onto you! Doesn't that mean anything to you!? You didn't say a damn thing to Monokuma! What the hell's wrong with you!? You call yourself a man!?" Even as Kaito says this, he still has tears rolling down his cheeks. "...What's the matter? Say something already." Kaito clenches his teeth "Aren't you pissed off a little!?"
"Kaito, enough..." Kirumi intervenes, seeing Shuichi remain still.
"Sucker punching is really low, I guess it's expected of a degenerate, but it's still low!" Tenko comments idly, "you better knock it off!"
"...Tch. Fine." Kaito scoffs and starts walking over to the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Keebo questions, trailing after him
"Back up, this place is giving me the creeps," Kaito responds and steps in the elevator, causing some others to follow him
"Staying here will only make us further depressed," Kiyo comments as he walks past us
"Shuichi... you okay?" Gonta asks Shuichi in a concerned tone, kneeling beside him, arms awkwardly held in the air, unsure of what would be appropriate
"..." Shuichi looks up and stares at Gonta before answering meekly in a scratchy voice "...I'm fine, I'm fine."
"Ah, good!" Gonta cheers slightly, though the open concern never leaves his face as he fiddles lightly with his bug box
Shuichi glances ahead at the others where they all stand waiting inside the elevator, "...Sorry, you all should go ahead without me... I want to be alone for a while."
I help Tsumugi stand and help her to the elevator, "It's okay Shuichi, we understand completely!" I say as I pat him on the shoulder when I walk past, "Don't stay down here too long, and if you need it... I'm open if you want someone to talk to, we all need some help sometimes." I whisper the last part to him warmly before walking into the elevator with Tsumugi
"Just hit the reset button on your feelings and you'll be happy in no time!" Kokichi laughs as he walks by
"Let Gonta know if you need his help, okay? " Gonta beams at Shuichi before ambling away towards the rest of us, having been the last one to stay behind, before pausing and turning around again, "Umm, Gonta also think, you and Kaede were good friends, maybe go to Lab to feel better, Kaede help make friend feel better!" Gonta smiles one last time before leaving Shuichi to stare after him in thought
"...Kaede..."
"Angie!" I turn around, Kaede is standing in the doorway, a hand over her mouth in surprise as a delicate smile begins to spread across her face.
"Hello, Kaede." I gently greet her, hesitantly waving my hand.
"What are you doing here?" She questions, walking over to me, eyes on the piano, her new piano.
I scoff slightly at this, she doesn't even care enough to look at me. "I was curious about the labs, what of it?"
Kaede runs her fingers over the keys, not enough to play a sound, but enough to make her smile. "I didn't mean anything by it," her hand pauses briefly before pressing down, the sound reverberating around the room until only silence is left between us. "Have you ever played the piano?" She inquires softly.
I click my tongue at that and cross my arms over my chest, turning away from her. "I played a little when I was younger, but... I don't remember much... only the basics."
"That's alright, I love to play." She sits down next to me with a nostalgic sigh, "It always makes people smile when I play. It's how I can express myself, it lightens my heart. Like the moon's reflection on water..." Kaede turns to stare at me with honest eyes, "When I'm playing the piano, it's like I'm breathing life into everyone who listens, giving them new hope..." Kaede reaches over and grabs my hand, placing it over my heart, "The beat of the music connected with the beat of my heart." Grasping my other hand, she lets out a low giggle, "You're tense, huh." She looks up at me with a warm smile "It's not surprising, we all are. Even if you don't show it." She let's go of my own hands and places her hands onto the keys, "I know a song that can help, 'Claire de Lune' by Debussy! It's a pretty song, and it's so soothing that it will calm your heart, for sure." Kaede smiles at me once more before she starts to play.
Jealousy crawls around my heart, but I push it down, relishing in the chance to hear Kaede play. Her fingers glide across the piano. Her laugh sounds like a delicate melody as I lean into her. Kaede, the little bell. I fall asleep at some point, all of the tension in my body was gone. Even when my head slumped onto Kaede's shoulder, she didn't stop playing. She stayed with me, playing different songs until I woke up. Her warm, gentle smile on my mind as I slept.
"Maybe, once we all get out of here, I can teach you to play the piano again!"
I walk into my room with a deep sigh, collapsing onto the bed in defeat. How could I have been so arrogant earlier, this is most definitely real. That execution was just, I shiver, too much. I spend hours simply lying there, my thoughts spinning in utter turmoil before I notice the little black box on my table. I cautiously walk over and open it, peeking inside, and I soon drop it in shock.
*Obtained Present
Musical Note Hairpin
A hairpin, one that looks almost exactly the same as Kaede's. I kneel on the ground and stare at it, trying to remember what Kaede's pins looked like. The only difference is the tiny inscription on the side that spells out the name 'Angie' oddly enough. Did everyone get one? Mysterious and disturbing. Shaking my head, I quickly get changed and go to sleep, wishing to wake up from this nightmare.
Before I fall asleep, I whisper out a brief prayer and apology to Kaede, hoping she can hear me.
