My world warps and I collapse as thousands of scenes play out at the edges of my vision, pushing and pushing the blurry images until they become a stable scene. All too soon it's over, and I'm left gasping for air, shocked at how powerful the scene felt. The powers of the flashback lights were unparalleled. I now have a set of memories that detail me running away, running away from the Ultimate Hunt. Yet at the same time, I don't. They feel tangible, but they also feel wrong, like they don't fit. I already know that the memories from the flashback lights are fake yet I would've still fallen for it, at least for a short moment, because of the influence behind these things. The only reason I didn't was this inherent feeling of it being wrong. It's scary. All you need is someone to believe they're telling the truth and these things could get you to do anything. I want to hide it, stash it away for no one to find. I wish I didn't have to show them this, but it was a crucial point in discovering the mastermind, and there's always the chance someone will find another one, so why bother. I focused hard on the memories I just got, trying to see if I'll somehow trigger another scene before I-

"It'S oKaY DeAtH iS KiND," An unsteady voice speaks as I see another picture of Angie, me, smiling with a device over our head, mouthing the words as I hear them.

"Ah!" I jump to my feet in confusion, colliding with a table, I grunt, placing the light back into my pocket, and walk out of the room, heading back over to the tunnel, my thoughts in turmoil. Death is Kind. What does that mean?


The first room I walk into is Kirumi's research lab, which is decorated in the style of the victorian era. In the center of the room is a long table with figures, dolls representing those Kirumi serves, sitting around it, a man, a woman, and a little girl, all dressed formally. Three seats are left empty. Candles adorn the walls and at the back are four large windows with Luscious blood-red curtains draped about them. A sofa sits in a corner with a low table placed in front, where Kiyo is currently relaxing.

Nearby is an open closet with thousands of laundry machines, vacuums, and pressure washers. Anything one would ever need to help clean was here, even some pots and pans for cooking. Kirumi stands inside examining them all, checking she has everything she needs.

"Marvelous, isn't it? A room full of history." I spin around to see Kiyo laughing to himself, watching me with amused eyes. "If all the rooms are filled with items pertaining to our tastes, then I am most excited for when mine is uncovered."

"What would be in your research lab?" I ask curiously

"Hmm, I believe there will be many things, it is hard to tell, anthropology covers many areas," Kiyo speaks slowly, weighing every word carefully as he closes his eyes. "Though I assume there will be books pertaining to rituals and seances, perhaps if fortune favors me, I shall even gain the materials needed to perform them. You?"

"I...I don't know. There are lots of possibilities." I respond, biting my lip as I think, would the lab change now that I'm here?

"How interesting." Kiyo turns his head away from me likely finished with our conversation

"Seances, rituals? Sounds neat. Wonder where I've heard that before." I mutter, walking up to Kirumi, "Do you like your lab, Kirumi?"

"This room is... exquisite," Kirumi smiles, "This will prove most useful when I perform my cleaning."

"Cleaning..?" My eyes widen, "The whole school!? By yourself?"

"To serve is a maid's duty." Kirumi dutifully responds

"Okay then," I think hard on my next words, "How about you let me help you every now and then?"

"I could not possibly-"

"It's my request." Kirumi stills at that, "I want to spend time with you in the future so that we're good friends. And if you'll be cleaning this entire school then I want to help, you can teach me the ropes." I laugh at the thought of us both cleaning together, "I've never done much, so I could do with someone helping me learn."

Kirumi doesn't speak for a while, looking thoughtful before she says her next words, "Very, well. You may assist me, but... only for an hour each day, that is the limit," She thrusts her arm out, "Do we have an accord?"

I grin and shake hands with her, "That we do."

I tell both her and Kiyo about the flashback light, and if they can gather everyone to meet up at the gym in 2 hours, they both agree.


The next room I find is the Ultimate Entomologist's lab, filled with, well, bugs. The whole place is like a forest. A round table was in the middle of the room. Lots of books are on it, all of them have something to do with insects. The walls are graced with thousands of different insect specimens on display and underneath them are cages filled with eggs and larva.

Gonta sat on the ground, reading a book on some insect, beaming when he spots me and jumps to his feet in joy. "Angie! It amazing, right? This paradise!"

"Yeah Gonta, it looks great."

"Gonta so excited to get his own special room!" Gonta waves his arms happily

I walk up to the table, "What are you going to do with the eggs?"

"...they sleeping in cool place, but it's okay! Eggs probably hatch if Gonta take good care of them!"

"Well, you are the ultimate entomologist, I don't think you'll have any problems hatching them."

"Gonta glad."


I walk up the stairs to the recently unlocked third floor nervously, unsure as to what could be up here and come across the Ultimate Tennis Pro's lab. An entire indoor tennis court is set up, taking up the whole space. A door leading to a shower room is in the back. The only one in the room is Ryoma, sitting on the ground and staring at the court, fingering a tennis ball in his hands.

"Hey, Ryoma!"

"Angie," Ryoma acknowledges my presence with a nod before turning back to stare at the court.

I watch him closely, seeing the sad look in his eyes I plop down next to him and stare at the court, wondering what he sees when he looks at it. "Are you good?"

"Heh, I'm fine, kid. You don't have to worry about me." He lets out a self-deprecating chuckle, eyes never leaving the court as silence follows his statement.

"Are you sure?" He doesn't reply, so I try something else. "What makes you happy?" I turn to stare into his eyes as he looks at me.

"What do you mean?" He asks slowly, his eyes never leaving mine

"You know what I mean, Ryoma. What makes you happy? What used to make you happy?"

Ryoma pauses before answering, "Nothing makes me happy anymore, but a lot of things used to. My cat, my girlfriend... tennis. I'm not sure how to feel that way anymore like there's this deep abyss that I can't satisfy..." Ryoma trails off. I stay silent, giving him time, "You know something funny? I kind of want to feel that way again, pick up a racket and remember the good old days before fate screwed me over. I want to, but I just can't." Silence surrounds us following his words.

"Maybe that's because you don't see a way out of this abyss? You're... lonely." Ryoma scoffs at this, "Don't judge." I lightly scold before continuing, "I'm just saying... that, that maybe you never managed to start again because you couldn't see a reason to, that you weren't confident you would succeed. But you also don't want to get close to anyone in case you lose them. You're just... afraid."

"Speaking from experience?" We sit in silence for a brief moment, staring into each other's eyes as Ryoma responds, "Someone said something similar to me once before, I guess if you're saying it, it might be true." He sighs, "I might never feel truly whole again, but... I guess I can give it a shot." Ryoma gets up and walks over to a racket, picking it up and twirling it, "I've been kind of been resigned to dying here, you know?"

"You don't have to be though." I get up as well, "You may not see it, but I think you have something to live for, you just have to find it."

Ryoma grabs a tennis ball and throws it across the room, "I'm a bit rusty and... I'm still not ready, but we'll be here for a while, so It gives me time to start life over again, thanks, kid. Who knew you'd be good at pep talks," He snorts, "Who knew I'd listen to one."

"It's no problem, Ryoma." I start to leave the room, "Maybe you can teach me to play one day?" I reach the door and turn to him with a sad smile, "If we both get out of here together, live through this, I'd like to think that we'd be friends by then." I close the door behind me with a soft click.


I come across the red and gold door and walk up to it with a sense of dread, especially when I see Maki standing outside it, a venomous glare settled on her face.

"Hey, Maki! Is this your lab?" I walk up to her with a small smile. Though I'm unable to feel anything but sadness. At the loss of a friend, with her lab being found.

"Angie." Her eyes soften briefly, as she looks at me, before hardening as she registers my question, "It is. And I'm not letting anyone in."

"Oh." I pause, thinking over the best response I can give her, "Okay, that's fine." I nod my head for show, as she looks surprised, "I, ah, like the design of the door. It's a really nice shade of red, it reminds me of something, but..." I shrug, "I can't remember what."

"You wouldn't normally think this was my lab with the design of the door," She responds stiffly

"I guess not, but... each one I've seen so far is designed to our tastes so... It doesn't really... mean anything. It's your lab." I smile at her, I actually have no problem waiting, there's no way I'm stopping her talent reveal, though I will protect Kokichi from her wrath. It was an instrumental part of her development, she needed it to grow otherwise, she'd spend the whole game in front of this door. She'd grow weaker and weaker until she'd be horribly vulnerable. The way Kokichi dealt with the problem was, shockingly, one of the better ways to do so.

She nods wearily, "Thanks. If that's all..?" She steps closer to the door

I laugh and beam at her, "Yep! Enjoy your lab, Maki, I'll see you around!" I run off after that, leaving her whispered response to go unheard.


Back on the first floor, I find Himiko's lab just as Shuichi uncovers it. This leaves me to be with Tsumugi, Himiko and him as I look around, listening absentmindedly to their conversation.

"To think there was a room like this beyond that wall..."

The room was filled with all sorts of things, I'd like to think it was the most impressive I've seen so far. This room suits my tastes far more than the victorian styled room, dedicated to an era I hardly know anything about, nor the room devoted to a sport I've never played in my life. This room was meant to be unexpected. No one knew a magician's tricks better than the magician.

"I was just plain worried."

The room was filled with all sorts of tricks I'd never even heard of. There was a cauldron in the center of the room, a flaming fire lit underneath it. Two candles stood nearby, drowning the pot in their delicate yet ominous glow. Bottles lined the shelves, paintings were strewn along the walls, and a large wooden chandelier hung from the ceiling.

"This place is filled with mana. It's perfect for me."

The whole room had a medieval feel to it that I absolutely adored, It was a room that felt comforting yet magical to me. Like I was backstage at some huge event. I was giddy with excitement examining all the different tricks, wondering how they could be used. I was so caught up in it all I barely noticed when Shuichi and Tsumugi left, leaving me with Himiko until she, surprisingly enough, approached me.

"I wish this room had more magical items."

I turned, surprised she'd ever be the one to initiate a conversation between the two of us, before calmly replying, "That would be nice, right now it's all mixed up with parlor tricks, right?"

Himiko perks up at my response, "Nyeh, are you a mage too!?"

I laugh slightly, "No way." At her hurt expression, I elaborate, cathing onto her thoughts, "I'd know if I was a mage, but, I'm not. What I mean is that I feel like I'd be able to tell if something was definitely magical, it'd be something innate, I suppose."

"Nyeh, I guess you're right." Himiko gives me a small smile as we stand in comfortable silence, our bond strengthening at our fondness for magic and a similar love of it.

A buzz from my monopad made me arch an eyebrow as a rule was added on.

Swimming is prohibited in the pool during nighttime. Touching the water is also against the school rules.

There's a pool?


I had absolutely horribly forgotten that the pool was a thing, a source of much embarrassment that I was thankful no one could witness. The pool is empty when I find it in a separate area altogether from the labs, which all were rather close together depending on the person. The water was shamefully shallow. I wanted to curl up and cry at that. The whole place looked like the swimming pools you'd find at a resort, not the sad excuse of the one you'd find at a school. The ceiling was replaced by a gorgeous glass dome with designs woven into it. The floors were marble. A high up window to the side showed the gym, and another, higher up window, should lead to Ryoma's shower room in his lab. There were sunbathing chairs, parasols, three diving boards, each at different heights, and some shrubbery. The pillars had vines crawling about them with the occasional flower. The room felt alive.

My mood dipped slightly as I internally wailed at the loss of having it taunting me. Why did the water have to be so shallow!?


Kirumi approaches me as I'm on my way to the gym that she has notified as many people as she could, and they were all meeting in the gym now. I pass the hotel, holding back a shudder, and walk up to the casino where I spot Shuichi, obviously leaving the building.

"Shuichi!"

He tilts his head up in surprise as he watches me approach, raising his eyebrows, "Ah, Angie! What do you need?"

"Were all gathering in the gym for an explanation!"

"On what?" He asks, thoroughly confused

"Well, I might have found something, so we need to be with everyone so that all can be explained!"

He watches me wearily, "Okay, let's go then."

We walk to the gym after I send a longing glance at the casino.

Soon.


"We all here?" I mentally count the numbers, giving myself a satisfied nod as I do so, I stand in the middle of the room, all eyes following me. "Check this out!" I pull out the bulky flashback light, presenting it to all

"This is a peculiar-looking flashlight...So, what of it?" Keebo inquires thoughtfully

"Umm, I dunno what it is either. There's not much to it..." I trail off

"Then what's the point of this?" Maki snaps, looking visibly agitated being away from her lab

"I was thinking we could try turning it on." I avoid everyone's eyes, "I haven't tried to turn it on yet! So I don't know what will happen. But..." I stop talking, missing the way Kokichi's and Ryoma's eyes narrow, figuring my lie out immediately with the way my hands shook as I stared at the flashlight with eyes only one who knew what it could do would be able to.

"I can help!" A jovial voice calls out, and moments later, Monokuma joins us, and I flatly tune out his speech before interrupting.

"What is this?" I shake the flashback light for emphasis

"Impatient are we?" He taunts, "That, my dear, Is a flashback light!"

He tips an imaginary hat, "It doesn't shed light on darkness, but rather on your forgotten memories."

"Lost memories?" Shuichi questions, baffled at the very thought, and the darker insinuation

"Ya see, my heart bled when I saw how worried you all were when you couldn't remember how you came to this school so..."His voice changes from the mocking tone it was to a more serious one, "If you use that, you can remember everything. Don't you want that?"

"So this is all your fault!?" Kaito shouts in righteous anger, "You took our memories?"

"What did you do to us?" Tsumugi asks,, holding a hand over her mouth, desperately holding back bile.

Monokuma's voice adopts a singsong tone, "If you use the flashback light, you'll remember." Monokuma disappears shortly after

"I don't believe this." Maki shakes her head with an audible sigh

"What do we do now!?" Miu barks, "There's no way that thing can treat amnesia!"

I stare at the flashback light in thought

"You all are way too cautious! It's decided, we're doing this!" Kaito shouts gleefully, ignoring the complaints thrown his way and letting them roll off him like water, "We can't win by only running away all the time! To win, you've gotta be reckless!" His face grows somber, "If we can't even do this just because we're afraid, then how are we ever going to face Monokuma? How can we defeat him if we're always afraid?"

"But admitting you're afraid lead's to courage." A voice that has been suspiciously absent since the first trial comments, making me shift in discomfort. It's not wrong, per say.

I snap out of my thoughts hearing Kaito tell me to turn the flashlight on, I do, and everyone's eyes glaze over, all but mine.

"Well, fuck!"


When everyone comes to I tune out of their conversation, having spent the last ten minutes trying to remember what happens during it as I had nothing else to do! It was so annoying! I had no idea it took ten fucking minutes for the new memories to sink in. Goddammit! My attention span was already low enough without waiting for that long. Let's be honest, five minutes in and I was dying of boredom, half tempted to call Monokuma to talk, anything to ignore my classmates blank, dead eyes.

"Too similar to Rantaro and Kaede?" That voice in my head was getting awfully chatty recently. I didn't like it.

Blah, blah, blah - screw Monokuma - blah, blah, blah. Some were surprised at my swift change in attitude, but I could not bring myself to care. I failed to notice that, while most figured I just was frustrated with the lack of information provided by the flashback light, the stupidly observant ones were drawing, ah, let's say different conclusions. Ryoma and Kokichi were the wariest.

We soon split off into different directions.


I go into my room and lock the door behind myself, suddenly drained of energy as I walk to my bed and collapse onto it. A nap won't harm anyone. Sleep quickly draws me into its clutches. The last thing I see before I fall asleep is our body lying in a pool of blood in our research lab, eyes barely open, a smile still there as those words from earlier are mouthed over and over again as a katana closes in and the world vanishes.


Death is kind, Isn't it?


Friendship Fragments collected!

Himiko Yumeno - 3-5

Ryoma Hoshi - 1-5

Maki Harukawa - 2-5

Kirumi Tojo - 2-5