I wanted this chapter to be up on New Years, but... actually, y'know what, fuck it. I'm not coming up with an excuse. The last two chapters had me going "Oh, sorry, holidays and work and such," but enough of that. I already said my schedule was gonna suffer, so at this point the only one who's holding me to a weekly thing is myself. So I'm the one who messed up.

With that out of the way, you definitely don't want to miss this chapter! I hope you enjoy it.


Chapter 13

Sea and Punishment

"Good morning, Hajime." Sonia greeted as the boy entered the dining hall.

"Yeah, good morning..." He said as he took his seat and began putting some food on his plate. He was trying to think of a way to lead the conversation into the motive.

"What is it, Hajime...?" Akane asked, slight concern peeking from her cheerful face. "Is that all you're gonna eat?"

"You just eat too much, Akane." Hiyoko explained.

"You're one to talk. All you eat is candy."

"Just because it's candy doesn't mean you should make fun of it. These gummies have four different fruit flavours, so I'm sure they're full of nutrients."

"You should just eat real fruit."

Gundham rolled his eyes at his classmates antics, before asking, "...Is Mahiru missing?"

"...Hm?" Hajime looked around and, sure enough, Mahiru was absent.

"She's always here every morning, it's strange for her not to come..." Nekomaru remarked.

"I wonder if she is not feeling well." Sonia said.

"If that's all it is, we have nothing to worry about..." Byakuya decided. "But... there's still a small chance that she..."

"A s-small chance that she's what!?" Hiyoko asked.

"Hm? I saw Mahiru, she was outside the hotel." Akane said.

"Well, guess that answers that." Maki said.

"Jeez, don't say such a spooky thing." Hiyoko scolded. "As punishment, how about you run around in a circle three times, say "woof," and jump off a cliff?"

"I'm not going to do that." Byakuya told her.

"But what was Mahiru doing outside the hotel?" Ibuki asked.

"She said she wanted to be alone." Akane explained. "I even asked her to come eat with us, but she turned it down."

"...Wanted to be alone?" Peko repeated.

"M-Maybe... she's planning to play that game..." Mikan suggested.

"What are you saying, pig barf!?" Hiyoko snapped. "There's no way Mahiru would play video games! She's not like that slowpoke gamer girl over there!"

She gestured across the table at Chiaki, who was silent for a few seconds. Eventually, she asked. "Ah, were you referring to me?"

Mikan was barely holding in tears as she squeaked, "Eeeekk... I am pig barf, aren't I...?"

"No, Hiyoko's just being a nasty little brat again." Maki assured her. Before Hiyoko could respond, Maki sat up straighter. "I get that you have a thing for Mahiru or whatever, but you really do need a filter for that mouth of yours. Going around and insulting people all the time is a sign of a lack of intelligence."

"Yeah, whatever, nerd. At least I don't need to suck up to people to get them to like me."

"But... you do. That's why nobody likes you."

Rather than honour her with a response, crocodile tears began pouring down Hiyoko's cheeks. "Waaaaah! Maki's bullying me!"

"Yeah, that's my cue to leave." With that, she pushed her plate away and quickly made for the exit before anyone could stop her.

Hajime sighed. It seemed it would be impossible for him to bring up the topic of the game just yet.


I was the last person to enter the conference room, just like the last time. Everyone was already in the same spots, with Makoto, Celeste, and Chihiro sitting, and Byakuya and Kyoko standing. Rather than take my seat, I stood at the front. I would be taking more of a leadership role in the proceedings this time around, after all.

"Looks like everyone's here." Kyoko noted. She turned to Byakuya. "Are we ready to begin today's meeting, then?"

He nodded. "Why don't you fill them in, Al?"

I smirked. Was this the new "Tell 'em, Naegi?" Either way, I said, "This meeting is more of a continuation from the last one. If you'll recall, that one was cut short due to Byakuya and I getting overly aggressive with each other. But we both took a step back, communicated our points of view with each other, and came to this decision. We'll be holding a vote today."

"A vote? Regarding what?" Makoto asked. Leave it to him to ask about the obvious.

"The fate of Maki Yugami. Byakuya argued in favour of pulling her plug as early as possible, in order to most assuredly prevent any future disaster she may be planning."

"Albert, meanwhile, has decided to watch her until we're certain she's dangerous, despite the overwhelming evidence that Maki Yugami is simply an extension of the Junko Virus." Byakuya finished.

"Right. We already stated our arguments, so all that's left is for you four to break the tie. Of course, since Hina's not here, our group has an even number of people, so it is possible for us to get another tie, but in that case, we could always consult someone like Chiaki for a second opinion. And... yeah, that's basically how this whole thing's gonna work. All you guys gotta worry about is stating your opinion on the matter. Pull the plug, or leave her be?"

"So, how should we do this? Alphabetically?" Kyoko asked.

Byakuya nodded. "Since the first two people to state their opinions were Al and I, whose names start with A and B respectively, that sounds the most reasonable."

"Well then in that case, Celeste, you now have the floor."

"Legally speaking, she would go last, since her name starts with a T and all..." I noted.

Celeste ignored my remark. After only a moment of thinking, she stated, "I see little reason to worry about this girl's well-being. Assuming she's even human, which I firmly believe to be false, she must have purposely invaded our program with the intent of interfering with our project. We hold no obligation to spare her life, as she's either an extension of the Junko Virus, or another enemy entirely. I vote that she gets the death penalty."

The coldness in her voice when she said that sent a chill down my spine, but I kept my posture. "1 for mercy, 2 for death. Chihiro, you're up next."

"I'm next..." He repeated quietly, thinking to himself.

"Just pick whatever you think is right." I assured him.

He spent a minute or so thinking, occasionally meeting my gaze. Finally, he decided, "I think... I have a different point of view from the rest of you, since I'm one of the programmers assigned to the project. So, whatever the result of this vote is, I'm gonna have to be the one to put it into action. If we vote to have her killed, then I'll..."

"So you won't do it?" Byakuya asked.

He shook his head. "Even if I was somehow taken off the project... there's still no way I can vote to kill someone. And while Celeste's theory that she's just an AI does make sense... I still couldn't delete someone like Alter Ego, either. I vote that she lives."

"That's 2 for 2." I said, smirking at Byakuya.

He shrugged. "Kyoko?"

"I've already thought about this a great deal, and I've already made up my mind." She said. Classic Kyoko. "It's the job of a detective to consider every possibility before making her choice. With that in mind, no matter how likely it is that she's an AI, I can't make a decision based solely on that until I have evidence that proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. We can always delete her later, but if we kill her now and it turns out we were wrong... Well, there'd be no going back at that point. So for now, I vote that she lives."

Celeste seemed somewhat miffed that nobody else liked her theory. Makoto spoke up next. "I guess I don't really have to state my opinion, huh? But I agree with Al, Chihiro, and Kyoko. We can always act later, but if we screw this up now, it could be bad. It's better to be sure about this kinda thing. Plus, even if she is an enemy, that doesn't mean we have to jump to the death penalty immediately. I vote she lives."

"That's that, then." Byakuya decided. "I'll let it go for now. Our next course of action seems obvious to me, at this point."

"Right." I agreed. "Celeste, Chiaki, and Miaya will continue watching the program. Chihiro and Taichi will keep playing defensively. And the rest of us will continue our investigation until something new rears its head."

"On that topic, I found out something interesting." Kyoko stated. "While our facility here is able to connect to the internet and receive emails from the rest of the Future Foundation, our network only covers this archipelago. Therefore, if Maki is some sort of foreign invader, she must be somewhere on this island in order to connect to the Neo World Program. Do I have that right, Chihiro?"

He nodded. "Pretty much. That's the thing with being so far out in the middle of nowhere. If Maki were a person connecting to our program, unless she was in the same room as the Remnants, she would be lagging horribly."

"Well, given that this morning, she was able to duel the Ultimate Swordswoman for minutes at a time, multiple times, I'd say she has no problem with lag." Celeste agreed. "One could say her reaction speed is almost as good as a machine..."

"Give it a rest, Celeste." I said. "We all heard your opinion, and we voted the way we did anyway. If you don't like it, do something about it yourself. Though something tells me you'll have a hard time convincing Chihiro or Taichi to kill someone who could be innocent."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but shrugged. "Fine. I know when I've lost. But just so you know, if this comes back to bite us later, I'll make sure the last thing I do before I die is take you with me." With that, she gathered all of her grace and elegance, and strutted out of the room.

"What a bitch..." I muttered to no one in particular.

"Hey, let's not throw around insults like that." Makoto defended.

"I'm not hearing anyone hurrying to correct me."

Chihiro, with a suppressed smile, checked his watch and sighed. "I should probably switch with my dad now. He's had a long shift. I'll see you guys later, okay?" We said our goodbyes, and he left the room as well.

I scratched my head. "What's the opposite of a bitch? I wanna mirror what I said when my least favourite left the room with when my best friend left."

Kyoko smiled. "Well, "bitch" is just outdated slang for a female dog. So I suppose the opposite would be "tomcat," which is a male cat."

"Nah, sounds too weird. I think I'll just play it safe and call him my dawg. Now, after having properly annoyed you all, I'll be taking my leave."

Makoto stopped me. "Actually, Al, there's one more thing I'd like to run by you. And Kyoko and Byakuya, too."

"Oh? I'm all ears."

He stood up, revealing something I didn't notice before. On his lap was a closed laptop, the same shade of black as his suit. He placed it on the table, and opened up his email folder.

To Future Foundation 14th Division - Makoto Naegi

Where are you guys? What are you doing right now? What you're doing is a serious act of treason. Do you understand? Why are you protecting the Remnants of Despair? It should be abundantly clear to you how dangerous it is to keep these people alive. Stay calm and think about this carefully. You guys are being lied to. Think carefully about what's important to bring the light of hope to the world. The seven of you joined the Future Foundation because you agreed with our ideals, right? The Future Foundation rescued you from the tragedy you survived and cooperated with recovering your memories. Immediately return the Remnants of Despair to our headquarters. Unless we eliminate them, The Tragedy will never end... Everything... is for the sake of a future filled with hope...

Future Foundation 2nd Division

Kyosuke Munakata

"Damn, even he's getting on my case now..." I muttered. "As much as I just wanna type, "Suck my dick. Love, Albert Wright," I doubt that'd help our situation much at all."

"I would be surprised if he isn't already sending some people to hunt us down and take the Despairs..." Byakuya said.

"Or take them out." Kyoko added.

"So, what do I do?" Makoto asked. "We can't just let them kill these guys."

"Kyoko is our branch head." I said. "She should be able to talk some sense into them. I could also get Miaya to vouch for us. If things get desperate, Byakuya and Celeste are charismatic enough to come up with some excuses."

"I'll do what I can." Kyoko assured us. "However, keep in mind that the Foundation could find us any time now. We're racing against an hourglass where we can't see the top half."

We all expressed sounds of frustration. Byakuya turned to me. "Al, do you remember how many days this killing game took in Danganronpa 2?"

I did some quick mental math."...We've still got... over a week. A week and a half, at the very least. I mean, there are six trials, just like in our killing game. Five murders, and the sixth one being where they solve the mysteries surrounding the program. We've only had one case so far..."

"Assuming there's a minimum of three days between each trial, with the exception being the sixth, then that's... thirteen days." Kyoko calculated.

"That's... a lot more time than I thought we needed." Makoto admitted. I thought I heard some distant shouting, but the others didn't react, so I ignored it.

"So Munakata's goons have almost two weeks to find us before..." I paused. I could hear the commotion in the hallway getting closer. No more shouting, but someone was moving in a rush. I moved for the door, but it slammed open before I could reach it.

Standing in the doorway was Chiaki, breathing heavily, tears building in her eyes. Before I could ask what was wrong, she managed to choke out her answer.

"It... It happened again..."


Mikan felt very awkward. The two girls that had accompanied her to the diner were perhaps the two girls who were most different from her. Ibuki, who was full of energy and always outgoing, never stopping to worry about what others thought about her, and Maki, who wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and was always ready to help take command when the group was confused. Next to the two of them, Mikan felt like a bug...

"C'mon, Maki Roll, eat up! The burgers in this place are amazing!" Ibuki prodded. "Or are you trying to watch your figure? Because I totally get that, even if Ibuki's never had to diet before."

Maki shook her head as she took a sip from her soda. "I was under the assumption that we were going to the beach after this. I don't want to get stomach cramps and drown."

Mikan raised a hand slightly. "Um... Th-That's actually a myth. It's perfectly fine to swim after eating."

Rather than ignore her, or shut her down, Maki's eyes widened. "Wait, really? Well, in that case..." She reached across the table and snatched up a handful of Ibuki's fries.

"Hey!" Ibuki watched as half of her food was slowly taken away. An question must have come to her mind, and with her lack of filter, she immediately articulated it. "Say, Maki, what is your secret to getting a figure like that?"

Maki paused and shrugged with a playful smirk. "Sorry. My only secret is that I'm naturally perfect at everything."

"C'mon, don't hold out on me! Ibuki would kill for a body like yours!" She started thinking for a few seconds. "Hey, Monokuma should make that a motive... Like, a body-swap motive! Then Ibuki would be able to touch as much as she wanted! Oh, speaking of, can I touch you?"

"I'm charmed, but I'm afraid these girls are a little too important to me. No one other than me is allowed to touch them."

"Aw, but not being allowed to just makes me wanna do it more!" Ibuki argued.

"Yeah, well, you're fun personality might let me give you a few passes, but that's one line you won't cross. At least, not without losing something of your own." Maki's eyes drifted toward the window. "...Hm?"

"What is it? What?" Ibuki asked.

"Is that... Hiyoko?" Maki observed. She was running across the parking lot, away from the tunnel that lead to the beach. She seemed distressed. "What's wrong with her?"

"If I had to describe it as a song title... it'd be "Sprint of Tears"!"

"Huh? It looks like she's running from the beach." Mikan said. "Did something happen?"

When Hiyoko ran past the diner, Maki asked, "Wasn't she part of our Girls' Day Out?"

"A-Apparently she can't swim so she turned us down..." Mikan explained.

"Then... what was she doing at the beach?"

"I-I'm sorry... I don't really know all the details about that..."

"Well, it just means that women are full of surprises." Ibuki decided. "Mahiru's the type to totally come, but she surprisingly turned us down too!"

"Mahiru, miss girl time? Now I've heard everything."

"But it can't be helped! Apparently she wasn't really feeling well!"

"Um... I'm terribly sorry to continue this topic but... why was Hiyoko... crying?" Mikan asked.

"Jeez, one thing happens, and suddenly there are so many questions. I hate not knowing what's going on..."

Before any of them could think too hard about it, the front door of the diner opened. Standing there was Chiaki, wearing nothing but a white ruffled bikini and her backpack, and with a small box in her hands.

"My my, how disappointing." She said when she saw the others. "I thought if I came early I'd be the first one to arrive."

Ibuki gasped. "Whoaaaa! Chiaki, you came wearing only your swimsuit!?"

"I didn't want to carry it with me. If I did, it'd be a serious burden."

"In that case... What's that you're carrying?" Maki asked.

"Instead of bringing lunch for everyone... I brought ice cream."

Mikan spoke up. "Um... It's not like I'm gonna turn it down but... Ice cream is completely different from lunch. I don't think it can be used as a substitute..."

"Also... I was thinking of stuff we could all do at the beach together... so I brought a board game, too!"

"Hmm, should we play it even though we came all this way to go to the beach?" Ibuki wondered. "...Nah!"

"...I see, that's disappointing..."

"In any case, have a seat." Maki offered. "We're still waiting on... 3 other girls. Unless there was another that turned you guys down?"

"Not that I know of..." Mikan said.

"Muah-haha! Wearing a bikini is suuuuuure daring!" Ibuki cheered. "And you get bonus points for wearing a white one! My heart's not just thumping, it's thumping all sporadically like "Badump, thump! Thump, badump"!"

"That's, um... not a good thing..." Mikan told her.

"H-Hey... I kept ya waitin'..." A new voice said as the diner door opened once again.

Akane stood at the entrance, wearing only a blue-and-white striped bikini. What caught the eye of the other girls, though, was that she was covered in blood.

"H-Hey... Sorry to... keep you guys waitin'..."

"Eeeeeek! Akane!? Wh-What happened to you!?"

"Wh-What...? Is somethin' wrong...? I made sure to... wear a swimsuit this time..."

"...Not that, your wounds!"

"I-It wouldn't be strange if we nicknamed you "Carrie" right now!" Ibuki shouted.

"O-Oh... You're talkin' about these..." She gestured to her wounds, and clutched the one on her head that was bleeding quite profusely. "Heh, on my way over here, I happened to run into... coach Nekomaru... And when that happens... I gotta fight him, y'know!?"

"A-Are you really all right?" Ibuki asked. "Your head... it looks like it's split in half."

"Well, it'll heal as long as I rub some spit in it, right...?"

"That's... a good way to get infected." Maki said.

"Hehe... I'm all fired up now... I never knew such a strong opponent even existed...!"

"A-Anyway, you need to be treated!" Mikan insisted. "And you also need your wounds sterilized... Akane, please come with me!" With an unusually forceful demeanour, Mikan pulled Akane into the bathroom.

Maki watched them disappear, then turned to look out the window. "Guess she's the Ultimate Nurse for a reason. Though, remind me never to invite Akane and Nekomaru to the same place."

Then, the door opened for the third time. "...What is all this ruckus?" Peko entered, wearing a black bikini and her sword bag. She was soaking wet from head to toe.

"Hey, Peko." Maki greeted. "You're, uh... dripping."

"...I just did a little swimming." She said, breathing somewhat heavily.

"Swimming..."

"I swam around the island for about three hours." She explained.

"That's too obvious for me not to comment on!" Ibuki interrupted. "That's definitely not "a little swimming"!"

"And why were you swimming, anyway?" Maki asked. "Did you forget? We're about to go to the beach in a few minutes."

"It wasn't for my enjoyment..." She clarified. "I was trying to see if I could swim to a different island. But I couldn't find any other islands. It seems it may be difficult to leave this island by swimming..."

"Didn't we already establish this on day 1?" Maki asked. "Besides, if you didn't see anything after 3 hours of swimming, then it's not difficult, it's impossible."

"Yeah, that may be true..." She took a seat alongside the rest of the girls. She stared at Maki for a moment. "...Will you be wearing your hairband at the beach?"

"Yes, Peko. I'm also going to wear my lab coat and all of my clothes above my swimsuit. It's something new I've been meaning to try."

"A simple "no" would have sufficed."

"Yeah, well, ask a stupid question... I am finding it a little hard to believe that Ibuki, Mikan, and I are the only ones with enough modesty to show up dressed."

"This body, though... man..." Ibuki marvelled. "Young ladies are sure well-endowed nowadays... Is that a challenge against all the women in the world? Fine! Ibuki accepts that challenge with the power of technology! Time to pump these puppies full of silicon!"

"...Don't say such asinine things." Peko scolded.

The door opened to welcome the final visitor of that afternoon. "Ah, I am terribly sorry for my delay." Sonia stood, wearing a wetsuit and a smile. "As I have never worn a wetsuit before, I had a hard time putting it on, which resulted in my delay... Really, it is my bad."

"It's no bother, Princess." Maki assured her. "If anyone's keeping us waiting, it's Akane. She got in a fight with Nekomaru on her way over, so Mikan's busy patching her up."

"Oh dear. I suppose that does sound like them, though." She thought for a moment. "Why don't the rest of you go on ahead? I will stay back, just to make sure they are alright."

"I guess they don't need all of us waiting for them." Chiaki agreed.

"Right. Let's go, then." Peko said.

"Yahoo! Beach party, here we come!" Ibuki dashed out the door, the other three following slowly behind her.

By the time the three passed the entrance to Chandler Beach, they heard a scream.

"Was that... Ibuki?" Peko asked.

Maki covered her ears. "What's she making a ruckus over this time? The other day she was screaming over-"

Suddenly, the bell rang, and the monitor on a nearby palm tree sparked to life. "A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"

Before Chiaki or Peko could react, Maki took off like a bullet. She headed straight for the rear door of the beach house, the one nearest to her. She turned the nob and shoved with her shoulder, but the door wouldn't budge. "Damn!" Wasting no time, she abandoned that door and ran around for the front.

The door was ajar, and Ibuki was on the ground, still screaming her powerful lungs out. Maki joined her side, and as she faced the inside of the house, she was met with a horrifying sight.

Sitting against the far door, head split open like a coconut, surrounded by a pool of blood, was the corpse of yet another one of her classmates. The blood was still a fresh, bright crimson, and the smell was only that much more pungent due to the hot air of the beach. The body had a pained expression, making it clear that its final moments of life were in suffering. It looked so weak, so helpless, in such contrast to the forceful person Maki knew in life.

The body belonged to Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer.


Let's be honest, Mahiru's probably the most underrated character in DR2. Most of the time, I've seen her very low on rankings, only slightly higher than Teruteru and Hiyoko. I can at least see where people are coming from with that, since her pushy personality and favouritism for Hiyoko can get pretty annoying. But overall, I still see her as a sweet girl who's used to having to be responsible, and is constantly in a struggle between trying to maintain order while still being a friendly schoolgirl. She's definitely not the deepest out there, but if you're willing to look for it, she's actually quite interesting.

So why did I decide to kill her off? We shall see.

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