It's party time!

There aren't any page breaks in this chapter, which is usually a rarity reserved for the trial chapters, but a lot happens in this one location. Like I said before, DR2 is a big game. I am also aware that I haven't been going back to Albert's POV very often, but obviously the main story takes place in the game, so that's where I'll be focusing most of the chapters. The next time we see him will probably be after the first trial. Anyway, will Maki's plan work, or will Nagito succeed in his attempt for murder? Or will something completely different happen?

Either way, I hope you enjoy.


Chapter 5

Total Party Kill

That evening, everybody began arriving for the party one by one. At the door, Byakuya patted everyone down in a body search to make sure nothing dangerous was brought in. Maki didn't care. Her trap had already been set in advance, thanks to Kazuichi's quick work. Sonia would certainly hear a fine recommendation about him as thanks. However, that was later. This was now.

The Criminologist sighed as she leaned on the wall near the door of the dining hall. She was going to avoid going anywhere near the table Nagito hid the knife under. Once the lights went out, that area would suddenly become ground zero for this killing game. At least it would if her plan didn't work.

As the various faces arrived for the party, the atmosphere became much less tense than when it was just Maki and Nagito. She kept shooting him dirty looks, but he seemed to be really good at ignoring them. Either that or he was used to it. The thought just made her pity him, but she refused to let her emotions affect her judgement. Needless bloodshed was wrong.

"Ah, Hajime! How do you like it?" Nagito asked as the boy with the missing talent entered.

"What do you mean?"

Nagito spread his hands. "See? I decorated the whole dining hall for the party. I even laid out the carpet, too."

"...Really? Even the carpet?" Hajime eyed it, estimating how long it would have to be for the amount of floor it was covering.

"Yep, I brought it from the supermarket." He said proudly. Maki was quite impressed with how many useful things she could find there. "I actually wanted to cover the whole floor, but I guess the carpet wasn't big enough. There was a lot of dust and cobwebs all over the place, too. It took me all day to clean the dining hall just because of that."

Hajime seemed to appreciate the state of the room a lot more after hearing that. "You're commendable, Nagito."

"...Yeah, thanks."

As more and more people arrived, it became more lively, and everyone engaged in idle chit chat. Eventually, Byakuya arrived and cut through the noise with his commanding voice. "...Thank you for waiting. Teruteru is in the kitchen, and... it appears Fuyuhiko did not come."

Peko bowed slightly. "I apologize. I did inform him about the party, but..."

"It's not like you need to apologize, Peko." Mahiru said. "It's his fault for not coming..."

Byakuya sighed. "I explicitly stated that attendance was mandatory, but... It's fine... If just one person is absent, that shouldn't pose a problem... He won't be able to do anything."

"...What do you mean by that?" Peko asked cautiously.

"More importantly... hm?" The Affluent Progeny's eyes caught something. "Hey, what is that!?...Dangerous." He dashed toward the table at the center of the room, grabbed a group of kebabs, and started gorging them right off the skewer.

"H-Hey! What are you doing!?" Hajime asked.

"You're hoggin' all the food! No fair!" Akane accused.

"No, I'm not...!" He said, his mouth stuffed with food.

"I don't care what you say, you're totally pigging out!" Mahiru told him.

"I'm telling you, I'm not...! Look carefully at this dish."

"It looks like delicious roasted meat..." Nekomaru observed.

"...And just what is stabbed into this roasted meat?"

"...Hm? It's an iron skewer." Peko answered.

"That's right. This iron skewer is definitely a dangerous item. I must take full responsibility and collect it!"

At that moment, Teruteru entered to check up on them. "Heeeey! Looks like everyone's here! I should go ahead and bring out the rest of the...huh?" His eyes fell on the table the kebabs were previously on. "Whaaaaa-!? Some messy eater ruined my arrangement!"

"Who made this dish?" Byakuya asked, holding the skewers firmly, his eyes pointed directly at Teruteru.

"Th-That would be me, but... um... Are you a food critic...?"

"What are you plotting? Cooking with such dangerous items..."

"D-Dangerous...? That's churrasco, it's a South American meal where you stab meat with an iron skewer to cook it... It felt really tropical and exotic, so I thought it would totally fit the party's atmosphere."

"...These iron skewers are a problem."

"Eh!? Iron skewers aren't allowed either!?"

"If that's how you're acting, then there might be more skewers than just these... Hey... Hajime. Come with me. I need your help." Byakuya said as he grabbed his duralumin case and marched out of the room.

"...Wh-Why me!?"

"It's your fault for standing right in front of him..." Kazuichi said. "My condolences..."

With that, Hajime rolled his eyes and went to follow him. Teruteru seemed unsure of what to do, but eventually moved to follow them as well.

"Oookay..." Maki said. "He does know that common kitchen utensils can be considered dangerous, too, right?"

"Of course." Peko agreed. "Even a common spoon can be fatal, given the right precision and force."

"Either way, I guess it's good to know he's at least taking his job seriously." Mahiru admitted.

"Though, he may be taking it a little too seriously..." Nekomaru mused.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not risk getting a spoon through my eye." Maki joked. It didn't seem to lighten the mood.

After a minute, the door opened as Hajime and Byakuya entered, with Teruteru following slowly behind them. "Ah, they're finally back!" Mahiru said.

"Hey, let's eat already! I'm starvin'!" Akane begged.

"There's still an issue we need to address first." Byakuya told her.

"Eh? An issue? Who do I gotta beat the crap outta? Just say the word, I'll do it for ya!"

"That won't be necessary... The issue is where to safeguard this duralumin case that has all the confiscated items."

"Can't we just leave it here?" Kazuichi asked.

"I've already put a lock on the case, so it shouldn't be a problem, but... we should definitely up the security and keep it some place safe."

"Some place safe... Oh! There is a storage room at the back of this old building." Sonia suggested.

"A storage room, huh? ...Even so, we can't leave the case alone in there."

"Then someone should guard it." Peko decided. "That would keep it safe, yes?"

"Eh? Who? Who?" Hiyoko asked.

"...I'll do it, of course." The Swordswoman offered.

"Eh, are you sure...?" Mikan asked. "I guess... if you insist. Just kidding...!"

"But it'll be lonely there by yourself." Ibuki told her.

"I don't mind... I'm really not that good in situations where I have to be around lots of people anyway." She admitted.

"Nahaha, if I wrote a song about this, the title would definitely be "Lonely Girl in the Storage Room.""

"However, Teruteru has gone to the trouble of cooking... Is it all right for me to bring some of it with me?"

"Yeah, that's totally fine!" Teruteru assured her.

"But... if you're going to do guard duty anyway, it might be better to avoid the storage room." Nagito cautioned.

"Eh? Why is that?" Hajime asked.

"Well, not only is the storage room packed with lots of stuff, it's hard to see in there and full of cobwebs... Also, I was so busy cleaning the dining hall that I didn't even have time to clean the storage room."

Hajime nodded when he heard this. "If you stayed in there for a long time... I think it would be bad for your health."

"In that case... Why don't you guard it in the office?" Byakuya suggested to Peko. "If I recall correctly, there's also a circuit breaker in there, too. It'd be a good idea to guard that as well."

"Yeah, the office sounds nice." Nagito agreed. "I'm pretty sure it's not that dirty, either."

"...Understood." Peko decided. "So I need to be on guard duty at the office. Then, I should get going. Have fun tonight, everyone." She took a plate piled with food, the duralumin case, and slowly walked out of the room.

Ibuki watched her leave. "Mmm, seeing Peko's back as she walks away makes me feel like she's got this super cool, melancholy vibe..."

"But shouldn't she have taken that other case with her, too?" Hiyoko asked, pointing at a similar case in Byakuya's arms.

"This... No, this case is fine."

"Ah, no fair! You're, like, the only one who got to bring their own stuff."

"When you're as special as me... you get special privileges."

After a second, Kazuichi said, "When you put it that way... it's hard to argue with you."

"This duralumin case stays with me at all times. I've put the key to the other case in here as well. I will take full responsibility for watching over it. There's no way I can let anyone else handle this matter."

"M-More importantly... We're all done now, right?" Akane asked. "Let's start the party..."

"No, there's still more."

"Ugh, who do ya want me to beat the crap outta!? Hurry up and tell me already!"

"Seriously, it has nothing to do with that..." Hajime groaned.

"Actually... if you're volunteering, I do have one particular nuisance in mind." Byakuya said.

"Huh? Are you talking about...?"

"Monokuma, of course. He's the one thing that could obviously disrupt this party."

"Awwww riiiiight!" Akane cheered. "So you'll let me eat if I beat the crap outta Monokuma, right!?"

"Wait a sec..." Nekomaru interrupted. "If you actually pick a fight with that thing, you're just going to end up perforated..."

"Are you tellin' me to wait till I starve to death!?"

"St-Starve to death!?" Mahiru repeated. "That's a little extreme...!"

"Our opponent is not someone we can just fight." Byakuya reminded everyone. "Rather, it is better if we use our heads and think of a plan..."

After a few moments of silence, Chiaki spoke up. "...I'll do something about it."

"Do something...? You...?"

"Hey now... What can a girl like you do?" Kazuichi asked. "You're just gonna put yourself in danger."

"I won't. It's not like I'll personally do something."

"You won't...?"

"...Do you intend to utilize Monomi?" Gundham guessed.

"Yeah, if I can talk her into helping us... She might be able to keep Monokuma at bay... at least, that's what I think."

"Ah, that's probably a good idea!" Mahiru agreed. "She looks like the type that's easily manipulated!"

"Plus, Monomi and Monokuma totally have a rivalry going on!" Ibuki noted.

"Well, it's a pretty one-sided rivalry." Hiyoko muttered.

"But will you really be okay, Chiaki?" Nagito asked. "I still think it's dangerous..."

"I'll be fine. If things get dangerous, I'll just run away as fast as I can... Well then, I'll be going now." With that, she left the dining hall.

"Hm. So much for that whole "attendance is mandatory" rule." Maki said.

"S-So, it's all settled, right? Akane asked, wiping the drool from her chin. "Then can we..."

"...You're right. Let's begin." Byakuya announced.

"ALLLLLL RIIIIIIGHT!" Akane charged straight to the center table.

"Kehehe... So, the "banquet" has finally commenced..." Gundham said, approaching another table. "Fuhahaha! You better keep me entertained!"

One by one, each student made their way to the tables. Everyone started by pouring themselves a drink, bar Akane. Maki herself kicked off the wall and made her way straight for the central table, and poured herself a glass of grape juice as everyone began to banter.

"Hey, are we good? Can I finally eat?" Akane begged as she took a chunk out of a piece of meat.

"You're already eating!" Kazuichi said.

"Haha... hahaha... I-I can't stop... Hahahaha! I can't stop my hands from shovin' food in my mouth!"

"Well, of course you can't stop." Teruteru said proudly. "These are the world's tastiest party dishes, after all. No matter how full you feel, you can't help but continue eating such exquisite delicacies... This is what I cook, the world's tastiest dishes!"

"Th-That's rather scary..." Mikan said.

"...You're not eating?" Akane asked. "Then I'm gonna eat all this by myself!"

"I'll make lots more in the kitchen, and then I'll bring it all out here, okay?" Teruteru told them, making his way for the door.

"Hey everyone!" Mahiru announced. "While we're at it, why don't I take pictures for you guys?"

"Wow, that sounds wonderful!" Sonia cheered. "Please do!"

As Maki reached for some appetizers, Mahiru snapped a picture of her and the others at the table before moving around to get more angles. Everyone seemed to calm down now that they had something to distract themselves with.

Maki was the opposite. Despite occasionally responding to the small talk of the group with quiet laughter and a kind smile, she could feel her heart racing in her chest. The time for Nagito's plan was fast approaching, meaning she would have to play interference pretty soon. And if she messed up, it would cost a life. No. She shook her head. She wouldn't mess this up.

"Maki, are you well?" Sonia asked her. "You seem to be tugging on your hairband quite hard."

Damn nervous tick. She quickly pulled her hand down to her side and played it off. "Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit fussy about my hair, that's all."

"Ah, I understand. I usually have a hairdresser to help me for events such as this. I am lucky I at least remembered how to get my hair like this."

"Well, if it helps, I think you look enchanting."

"Oh, thank you! You are quite gorgeous yourself."

Maki smiled. It wasn't every day she was complimented by royalty. At that moment, she felt Kazuichi nudge her with his elbow. When she looked to him, he had an expression that said I honoured my end of the deal, what about yours? She rolled her eyes, and considered how to bring it up. Might as well be straightforward.

"Oh, by the way, thanks for the help earlier today, Kazuichi." She said, loud enough for Sonia to hear. "Seriously, you're a lifesaver. Don't know what we'd do without you."

"Huh? Oh, uh, don't mention it." The Mechanic said, unsure of where she was going with this.

"Did you have some problems with something, Maki?" The Princess asked.

"Yeah, well, you know how my cottage is the shoddy-looking one at the end of the boardwalk? Well, the electronics inside were pretty cheap, too, like the lights would flicker every so often and things like that. When I brought it up to Soda Pop, he dropped what he was doing and came to fix the problem. Great guy, he is."

"Hehe, just doing my job..." He said.

"Well, I'll be sure to employ his services if I ever have a mechanical problem." Sonia said.

His face fell for a moment. Not the type of attention he was looking for. "Right. Anytime..." But when he said it, she was already moving on to the next table.

"Hey, cheer up." Maki told him quietly. "Romance is a slow burn. We can't all have love at first sight. At least with this, she now has a positive opinion of you."

"She thinks of me like I'm another one of her servants."

"Yeah, but she also thinks of you as her classmate. So just be friendly, don't overwhelm her, and eventually she'll start to think more about you. Besides, chicks dig guys who can be reliable."

"If you say so..." He gave, staring after Sonia.

"C'mon, you got this, King Kazuichi."

"...King, huh?" He considered the title. "I never actually thought about that, but yeah, that is what I'd be if Miss Sonia and I got married or something... King Kazuichi. I like the sound of it."

"Oh, and one more thing. Thanks for the help, for real. The trap, I mean."

"Well, like I said, don't mention it. It was a piece of cake for the Ultimate Mechanic." He said confidently. He gave her a small wave as he walked off to follow the Princess. With that, Maki gave herself a satisfied sigh as she finished off her drink.

The sounds of the party were interrupted by Nekomaru's groans of increasing discomfort.

"Hm, Nekomaru? Did something happen?" Hajime asked.

"Th-The party's just started, but... I... must... return to my c-cottage...!"

"Don't be foolish..." Byakuya told him. "I won't allow such selfish actions."

"Don't stop me, Byakuya..." He warned. "There comes a time when a man knows he's gotta go...! If I don't go now... it would shame me as a man. Shitting my pants would totally shame me as a MAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

"...So he was talking about the toilet!" Hajime gasped.

"Thank you, Hajime, I didn't catch that." Maki deadpanned.

"If you need to use the bathroom, there's one in this old building." Byakuya told him. "Why do you need to go back to your cottage?"

"I-I've been trying to use it many times... but the door just won't open at all!"

"Wh-What is this blasphemy...!?" Gundham asked, apparently not in response to Nekomaru, though.

"...What now?" Byakuya groaned.

"M-My Hell Hound Earring... has disappeared! Did it vanish into subspace!?"

"Calm down... You probably just dropped it somewhere."

"Oh shit!" Nekomaru suddenly shouted, clenching his buttcheeks mightily. "I'm gonna SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"Shut up!" Byakuya demanded. "Don't you dare!"

"Heeeey, is it really all right if I eat all of this?" Akane asked, still picking through the large amounts of food Teruteru set out.

"D-Don't be an idiot! Make sure you leave some for me!"

"Heeeey Byakuya!" Mahiru approached him, still in the partying spirit. "Everyone c'mon! I'm gonna take a picture! All right, say "cheeeeeeeeese!""

In response to the camera flash, Byakuya turned to her. "Hey! Why can't you all act a little more mature...?" As he finished his statement, they all heard a machine beeping loudly. "...Hm? What was that sound just now?"

With that, the lights went out, plunging the students into complete darkness.

Several seconds of stunned silence passed before everyone started moving, the sounds of commotion being the only sign that anything was happening. Maki took a deep breath and started slowly walking backwards, toward the door.

"Uwah! It's a b-blackout!" Mahiru shouted.

"Hey, I can't see anything!" Kazuichi shrieked.

"I-It's pitch black! My future is pitch black!" Ibuki shouted melodramatically.

"E-Everyone, calm down! We gotta stay calm in a situation like this!" Mahiru told everyone.

"Waaaah! Don't step on my feet!" Hiyoko screamed.

At that moment, Maki felt her back collide with someone else, sending whoever it was tumbling forward and into the wall, and causing her to trip and fall on her butt. "Ah! S-Sorry!" Even worse, she had lost her sense of direction, and therefore lost her path to the door. She tried feeling at the floor, but everywhere she felt was just carpet. Then someone stepped on her hand, so that plan was a bust.

"H-Hold on a sec!" Kazuichi shouted over everyone else. "I'll go along the wall and... do something about it...!"

"What the hell!? What's going on here!?" Byakuya asked. "Th-This is...!"

"Ow!" Nagito yelped.

Suddenly, every sound was interrupted by a powerful shockwave as the back of the dining hall was illuminated by an explosion. Humanoid silhouettes and pieces of the floorboards were blasted away, colourful sparks flew all across the room, screams and crackling were the only sounds to be heard, and the smell of smoke assaulted the students' noses, making it hard to breath.

If there was one good thing about the sudden flames, they allowed the students to see in the dark, however dimly, and the chaos had come to a stop. Everyone simply stood or sat still in their spots, breathing shakily. Maki stared into the flames, her heart rate slowing down back to normal after the events.

Eventually, the lights turned back on, and everyone sighed deeply. But the respite didn't last long. Kazuichi ran in, carrying a fire extinguisher from the kitchen, and put out what little embers remained. Everyone moved in to inspect the damages.

Byakuya and Nagito laid near the hole at the back of the dining hall, hideous burns covering parts of their bodies. They appeared unconscious, most likely due to the shock. Luckily, their injuries weren't severe enough to be life-threatening.

Still, Nekomaru knelt down to inspect their wounds. "They're alive, but they're going to require immediate treatment. Where's Mikan?"

"Found her." Maki announced. Beside one of the tables, Mikan laid spread-eagle, covered and surrounded by various dishes that were knocked off the table.

"I-I'm sorry! I tripped again!" Mikan apologized when she saw Maki's gaze.

"S-Seriously...?" Hajime asked. "How do you trip and land like that!?"

"Never mind that." Maki snapped, helping Mikan to her feet. "You've got work to do."

Mikan followed her eyes to Byakuya and Nagito. "Ah! D-Don't worry, I can treat their wounds! I'll just need some medical supplies..."

"Where do we even take them?" Mahiru asked. "It's not like we have a clinic on this island."

"My cottage has what we need." Mikan explained. "We could take them there. B-But I'll need help moving them."

"I can help with that." Nekomaru boasted, lifting Nagito over his shoulder and pulling up Byakuya in his arms.

"Are you sure you can carry them by yourself?" Sonia asked. "Nagito might be thin, but Byakuya's physique is rather... grand."

"Muscle's heavier than fat, and I've had to carry some muscular athletes during my time as a team manager." He explained, steadily following Mikan out the door. "Besides, I need to head to my cottage, anyway, especially after that scare..."

The remaining students didn't quite know what to do. Some of them paced, some of them sat around, exhausted, and some of them just left to got to their cottages. Maki guessed that they all had the same thought in their minds: Why did this happen? She sighed in relief for the fact that Nagito wasn't a threat at the moment, but felt bad for Byakuya. Hopefully he would make a swift recovery. Things might not have gone exactly to plan, but at least a murder hadn't been committed.

After a few moments, Akane's quiet munching of table scraps was interrupted with sniffing. "...Hm? Hmmmm?"

"Did something happen, Akane?" Sonia asked.

"Well... Do any of you... smell somethin'...?"

Gundham shrugged. "After the inferno of the void, this cursed hall certainly smells of smoke. It would be odd if it did not."

"No, I'm not talkin' about that..." She clarified. "...It smells like... burnt meat?"

Everyone exchanged glances. The only table that was caught in the blast radius had no dishes on it. "Are you sure...?" Maki asked.

Akane's nose continued to twitch like an animal's. "It's comin' from over there...!" She said, pointing at the hole in the floor left by the explosion. "It's... under there...!"

Maki and Hajime were the first to move. They began moving toward the back of the room, slowly, as if each step could be their last. Just before reaching the tipped-over table that blocked the hole from their vision, they both stopped in their tracks.

Why am I hesitating? Maki wondered to herself. It's not like I'm afraid of death. I've never feared it in the past. Death is the path I follow to find murderers and psychopaths. Death is what I study so that I can find its weaknesses, so that I can prevent it in the future. Death is my calling. Death is how I survive. So why... Why am I hesitating?

She bit her lip so hard that it threatened to bleed. She heard Hajime beside her mutter to himself, "There's no way that's gonna happen!" before he stepped forward and looked over the edge of the table. She forced herself to follow suit.

Laying at the bottom of the hole, on the scorched earth under the building, was a charred corpse. Charred black from the explosion, almost unrecognizable. The clothes were burned away, the skin was melted, the flesh and fat beneath were charred beyond repair. The spot where the face should be was, like the rest, burned black and misshapen. There was no movement, no sounds, no sign of life. It was undeniably a corpse, a dead body, and empty vessel. The only way the observers could identify the body was from its stature and physique. While the body was deformed, it still had its general shape, a unique shape that they were able to use to rule out, without any doubt, who it was under the floor.

The body was Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Cook.


Looks like the cooks been cooked.

I apologize. If I'm being honest, I really did want Teruteru to survive a little longer this time around, because despite the way he acts, I do honestly find him to be an interesting character. Unfortunately, given how unstable he is shown to be in canon, I couldn't see the first case passing without him being involved in some way.

So, sorry to any Teruteru fans out there, but perhaps his death may allow him to act as a stepping stone for the hopes of his classmates. Or something.

In the next chapter, the students will investigate the circumstances of this murder.