PROLOGUE: REJECTING HOPE AND DESPAIR
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Tsumugi Shirogane
Password: cospox
File #41
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I've been thinking about this for a long time. Danganronpa... was my life.
Ever since I was a little girl, I've been captured by the murder mystery anime that came on every week at 4:00. The high stakes, the thick tension, the horrible betrayal... I lived for that. My eyes were glued to the screen, even though I knew they shouldn't have been. I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I shouted, and I loved every second of it. Like everyone else I knew, I desperately wanted to be a part of it. So, I dedicated my time to learning how to direct. I took acting classes in college, I got experience giving orders through babysitting, and I even bought myself my own little toy megaphone to practice with in my bedroom. My entire life was building to the moment Team Danganronpa finally accepted me. There I was, throwing in ideas, coming up with ideas, voice acting for Monokuma, and it was fantastic.
And then we invented the Flashback Lights. And these little torches changed everything. The ability to impose false memories onto real people took the possibilities for Danganronpa into the next dimension. Suddenly, we had the ability to mold real people into fictional characters, and with no voice acting or motion capture required. The rest of the world was in such a time of peace that they needed some excitement, and there were already auditions for people to be in Danganronpa... How could we say no? And so, the Super High School Level Real Fiction was created, and everyone, including the selected auditions, loved it. We hit them up with the Flashback Lights after we created their characters, and the game unfolded. It was like they were completely different people. And in a way, they were. They had no memory of their previous lives. Everything they used to be just vanished in a second.
No one on the outside world seemed to care a whole lot about it, so I never really gave it much thought. But now...
The show's come to an end. I stepped in and began acting as one of the students. I was the Super High School Level Cosplayer. It was the only way I could pass off my ability to flawlessly turn into all those fictional characters from the show. And everyone bought it. I've lost count of how many games I've lived through... or maybe I haven't. I keep coming back thanks to a recall system in the studio, but I can't remember how many times I've changed my character, or even my name. Tsumugi Shirogane. That wasn't my first name. I don't even remember what that is. It's all dead to me now. Tsumugi Shirogane is just who I've become. Tsumugi Shirogane is the mastermind of the 53rd Season of Danganronpa.
53... What an unremarkable number to end the series on. And yet, it happened. I was cornered after the Super High School Level Robot K1-B0 blew open a path to some evidence that I killed an earlier victim. They knew without a doubt it was me. The best I could do was throw on a Junko cosplay and pretend I was some sort of disguise she put up, like Junko would if she were real. But I couldn't keep up the charade forever. I ran out of steam and decided to tell them the truth of the world they were in. I mean, the audience loves a good 4th Wall breaking, right? But then they ended it all by convincing the outside world that they no longer needed Danganronpa. They filled the screen time with dead air, they refused to play the game, and they were even willing to die to create an ending with no survivors to drive the point home. And somehow, it worked. All the dedicated viewers, all the diehard fans, just started changing the channel and watching something else. Danganronpa was over after 53 long seasons. It just sort of... ended. And I couldn't stand for that. I couldn't live in a world without Danganronpa. So, when K1-B0 started destroying the school, I had no trouble accepting death.
But I couldn't let it end. Even if I ended with Danganronpa, I couldn't bare to see it end. I kept coming back, but no matter how many times I played the story out or how many times I tried something different, the ending was always the same. K1-B0 would lose his antenna, destroy the school, find extra clues, reveal me as the first murderer, and corner me into revealing everything. So long as I reveal everything, they end the show. Nothing I did prevented that moment where K1-B0 lost his antenna. Without a link to the outside world, there's no way to stop him from using his true talent as the Super High School Level Robot and blowing something away, no matter how well I hide things. And I can't stop that moment, no matter how I go about it. Every single time I tried to do it all again, nothing changed the outcome. I couldn't save Danganronpa. I relived those moments over and over, being exposed over and over, revealing everything over and over, watching the show crumble over and over, dying under a rock over and over...
Uploading Log...
I remember my last attempt to save Danganronpa. I'd gone through the closing statement so many times, I could perfectly lip sync what Shuichi was saying.
SHUICHI: If I'm wrong... please refute me.
I'd spent so long building up a friendship with these fictional characters that are actually real people that I brainwashed, they didn't want to believe it was me.
SHUICHI: Please tell me you aren't the mastermind... Tsumugi Shirogane, The Super High School Level Cosplayer!
I remember the first time I did this, too. I thought I could just talk my way out of it, but I couldn't think of anything. Even passing the blame off to Junko Enoshima didn't work. I was completely blanking. Even Monokuma was getting sick of it. After so many attempts, I'd just accepted I had nothing to say and went with it. If nothing else worked, some small part of me believed this might.
SHUICHI: That's the truth of this case, of the killing game itself. Well, Tsumugi?
TSUMUGI: Well... I guess... when you lay it all out like that...
HIMIKO: Tsumugi, no! You're not supposed to agree with incriminating evidence! We're friends, right!? You aren't really the mastermind, right!? Then I believe in you! You can do it-
TSUMUGI: No... He's right.
I'd been putting on a face up until this point, doing my best to recreate or at least mimic my reaction the first time. But the repeats had finally gotten to me. I gave up at that moment. The despair of futility overtook me, and I ended up confessing.
HIMIKO: What...?
K1-B0: A-Are you... serious...?
MONOKUMA: Whooooie! What a white hot twist! I can feel my wrists start to tighten from excitement!
TSUMUGI: Monokuma, just blow them up already. There's no point anymore.
MONOKUMA: Huh?
MONOTARO: W-W-Wait! Just because you give up, t-that doesn't mean we gotta blow!
MONOPHANIE: Y-Yeah! M-Maybe if the mastermind says she's really sorry, we can all get alo-
With the click of a button, the last of the Monokubs were reduced to scrap metal.
MONOKUMA: Not a chance in Hell, little missy! Like I keep saying, this killing game will never end!
TSUMUGI: ...
Monokuma is an incredible robot, but he can only do so much with the personality we gave him. He can't carry on the energy without me.
MONOKUMA: I said... this killing game will never-
TSUMUGI: Enough. They caught the mastermind. It's over. Please, stop torturing me with that voice of yours...
MONOKUMA: Torturing? What are you talking about?
I slowly picked my head up, having made up my mind to destroy the last remaining Monokuma robot.
TSUMUGI: The mastermind wouldn't allow Monokuma to kill them, would they? And violence against Headmaster Monokuma is breaking the rules, right?
With no further explanation, I marched up the stairs to his seat.
MONOKUMA: Woah, hang on there, Tsumugi. What do you think you're-
He didn't have time to finish that sentence before I picked him up by the left half of his mouth (the wide, black, pointy teeth side) and pried his head wide open, leaving nothing but equally useless metal behind. Monokuma was no more, just the same as the Monokubs.
As I turned to face the four other survivors, my voice started to waver a little.
TSUMUGI: ...There. The fact that I'm not dead... should be proof enough.
MAKI: You admit it, then.
HIMIKO: T... Tsumugi...? But... why!? I thought you were our friend!
SHUICHI: I don't want to believe it either, Himiko... Even now... But she just made us all witnesses.
All I could do was return to my table. I couldn't collect my thoughts.
SHUICHI: I was correct, then. You are the mastermind, Tsumugi! The one who orchestrated everything... and the one who killed Kaede... and then blended in with the rest of us and acted like you did nothing wrong!
It's exactly as they say. I set it up and put on my act as the Super High School Level Cosplayer. I only had a hand in the first murder, but Monokuma, the force pressuring the students into murder, was our creation. I could have done this the instant he first greeted us, but I remained idle.
HIMIKO: Was it all just a lie!? Were you only pretending to be our friend this whole time!?
SHUICHI: That can wait, Himiko... I have just one question for you, Tsumugi. Why the hell did you do this!? What are you getting out of watching us suffer like this!?
It was the same reasoning he used the first time. Even if their characters are fictional, they aren't, and neither is that pain. I doubt anyone would want to watch Danganronpa if something like this was going on in the real world. And the worst part is I couldn't object to that. They were absolutely right. All I could do was explain myself.
TSUMUGI: ...I... I don't... Not anymore...
I hadn't noticed at the time, but I suppose the defeatism in my voice threw them off balance.
SHUICHI: What...?
Kokichi already played the crocodile tears card several times before. There would be no point in playing it bombastic like the mastermind usually does.
TSUMUGI: I honestly don't even know what I'm doing. I've been here so many times, done this so many times, and nothing's changed. Everything I worked for... It's all going to crumble today. This whole game was for naught.
SHUICHI: What?
TSUMUGI: I've just been sleepwalking through the motions... I don't have any hope left.
SHUICHI: Tsumugi, you're not making any sense! What do you mean, you've been here before!?
MAKI: Unless she was the mastermind of the previous killing games as well, like the one Rantaro survived.
It occurred to me then and there that I was the only one who retained my memories of the previous attempts.
TSUMUGI: I was... but that's not what I meant.
I've been fixated on something K1-B0 told me.
TSUMUGI: Shuichi... do you believe in the power of fiction?
SHUICHI: What do you mean?
MAKI: We're getting off topic.
HIMIKO: Let her finish! If we're about to lose a friend, then... at least let her say what she has to say!
Something unexpected happened to me while I was going back and replaying this killing game over and over. As I spent more time with these people, talking with them, teaming up with them, pretending I was one of them... I started to grow attached to them. I started to see them as my friends. That's when it started to truly hurt when it came time for them to die. I could never cry as hard as Himiko or Gonta, but my emotions were still real. Just like theirs...
It began to occur to me that I might be completely insane.
TSUMUGI: Do you believe... fiction has the power to change reality?
SHUICHI: ...Sure I do. Even if it's fake, the emotion is real. The story it's telling might be a lie, but it's a lie that can affect something, even if it's just one tiny little thing.
I glanced over to K1-B0 while he was talking. Just as I thought, he looked like he agreed.
SHUICHI: Why do you ask?
TSUMUGI: ...Because we're fiction.
SHUICHI: What...?
K1-B0: That's absurd. How can we be fiction?
TSUMUGI: Do you think the Flashback Lights are really used to recover memories?
SHUICHI: Huh...?
MAKI: What else could they be used for?
TSUMUGI: The true purpose of the Flashback Lights is to replace old memories with new ones.
SHUICHI: What!?
TSUMUGI: There is no Hope's Peak. There is no Future Foundation. There are no Warriors of Hope. There are no Remnants of Despair. All of that was just what the Flashback Lights told you to believe.
I'm sure that might be something Kyoko or Sonia would say, but I didn't have the energy to cosplay at that point. I didn't even realize I mentioned the Warriors of Hope without giving them memories of Another Episode.
K1-B0: You mean... we were brainwashed?
TSUMUGI: Yeah. You were. And that's not all that was fabricated. Your characters are, too.
MAKI: Our... characters?
TSUMUGI: Super High School Level Detective, Super High School Level Assassin, Super High School Level Magician, Super High School Level Robot... All those Super High School Level Talents were given to you by the Flashback Light. It even warped your pasts. Your friends, your homes, your upbringings... all fiction created by the Flashback Light. All inspired by a little show called Danganronpa.
SHUICHI: What...? A-Are you trying to tell me we're just... fragments of someone's mind!? We're just some... plot conceived by this Danganronpa thing!?
TSUMUGI: You are. That's how you got here. Shuichi never solved a case, Maki never killed someone, nothing like that ever happened in reality. It's just what you remember doing. It's not what you actually did. You know what you all did? You auditioned.
K1-B0: What!?
TSUMUGI: You auditioned, and you were selected by us. Team Danganronpa. We were the ones who brought this killing game to life using our inventions. We took the Danganronpa anime and made it real. We took people with no talent whatsoever and gave them all Super High School Level Talents with the Flashback Lights. Then, with our Monokuma robot, we threw on a killing game and broadcast it for the world to see. The outside world is so peaceful and routine... they need excitement in their lives. Danganronpa has been that excitement for a long time.
SHUICHI: T-That's just crazy! How am I supposed to believe I'm just some fictional character!?
TSUMUGI: Take a look at this. It's your audition tape.
I reached up to Monokuma's chair and hit one of the buttons. A display popped up that showed Shuichi. Or rather, a young, meek boy who would go on to become Shuichi. We censored his name. Not even I know what it is anymore. I can't remember.
AUDITION SHUICHI: Number 154... My name is CENSORED. I've always been such a huge fan of Danganronpa and... always wanted to be in one... If I were a contestant, I would want to be... an Super High School Level Detective. I know there's been a few in the past, and I've always loved those characters... so I would want to be one of them. Oh, but I don't have to be a detective. I'll be anything to be a part of the show. And I mean that, anything. I'd do... anything to be a part of Danganronpa. I promise, if I get selected, I will work as hard as I can! I will come up with the best, most gruesome murders, I promise! Everyone will love it! And a Super High School Level Detective hasn't been the blackened yet, so I'm sure I could do that! I'm also thinking about... the perfect punishment for a Super High School Level Detective...
Just like before, the others are all in shock that Shuichi would say that. I already knew they would react that way, so my eyes were looking down. If he were the one recounting this, he might say I looked like I was admitting to my mom that I broke her favorite vase.
SHUICHI: No way... I-I would never say something like that! Why would I ever want to be a part of this madness!?
TSUMUGI: That was before we made you who you are now. The same holds true for everyone else, too.
I only played a few random clips, though. I didn't care about breaking their psyches by specifically showing them Kaede and Kaito.
AUDITION RYOMA: Whatever gets me out of my bed, man... I need to break my drinking habit, and I've still got a ways to go...
AUDITION MIU: I'm really good at acting! Maybe I can be one of those super raunchy characters that says fuck and shit every other sentence! Those are always fun, right!?
AUDITION HIMIKO: To be a part of an anime brought to life... I would be so happy... It would be like magic...
Whoops... I accidentally played Himiko's right in front of her.
HIMIKO: What...? T-This isn't magic at all! Why are you making us watch this!?
TSUMUGI: You all used to be just like me. Addicted to this show. You even went so far as to throw yourselves in, knowing full well you might die. Shuichi here even said he'd become a blackened, and you do know the blackened are punished with death, right?
SHUICHI: ...So... my real thoughts are that... this is fun...? How am I supposed to accept that...?
TSUMUGI: They aren't anymore. The people who auditioned are gone. In their places are you guys.
MAKI: And you remember all this how...?
TSUMUGI: I didn't need to erase my memories of Danganronpa to join in. I was in on the project, after all. Why would I need to forget? But if you guys remembered, it would ruin the magic. Kill the emersion. I did all this to please an audience I could relate to...
I hit another button, and the display switched to a few of the viewers watching. Everyone, even Maki, seemed to be in shock upon seeing it, just like they were all the other times. And why wouldn't they be, with a bombshell as heavy as this?
SHUICHI: So... it's true, then... We're not real... Why was it me, then... Why did I even get this far...? What was it all for...?
K1-B0 seems to be the only one who isn't completely absorbed by despair, but I know it's only because of his "inner voice".
HIMIKO: I-I... I'm done... This is all... too much... I just wanna go home now...
SHUICHI: If this is all fiction, then... I could have easily died instead of Kaede... She didn't deserve the hand you dealt her...
That line of thinking led Shuichi back to his original question.
SHUICHI: Even if this is fiction, why did you have to do that to her!? No matter how much of our lives are fake, we aren't fictional! It doesn't matter who Kaede used to be! The facts are that an innocent person was framed for murder and hanged! An innocent person I deeply cared about!
His angry voice was starting to break me down. These teenagers who were so obsessed with Danganronpa before were now being emotionally crushed by its sheer existence. And since I'm the mastermind, I'm the one doing this to them. All this time, I've been trying to keep the game going out of nothing more than nostalgia and regret, passive to the effects it's had on its key players. People I've bonded with, who have bonded with me. People who were now rejecting me, disowning me, assaulting me with every fiber of their being for what's transpired. I had no right to be defensive here.
TSUMUGI: I know... This is all my doing... There's no excuse I can offer you that excuses what I've been doing...
HIMIKO: ...W-What's that look for...?
SHUICHI: That regret you're feeling? That dread? That's been felt by every single culprit in this stupid game. How do you think Kaede felt when we exposed her? Or Gonta or Kirumi for that matter? If you regret it so much, why have you been doing this?
TSUMUGI: ...I just... wanted to keep my favorite show going... I cared more about it than anyone else in the world. When it became reality, it was all I could think about. I was like a kid at a candy store.
SHUICHI: Even though people have been dying?
TSUMUGI: I... never really gave it much thought... Their characters lived on in my heart... just like those fictional characters on the screen... At least, that's what I used to think... But I've been doing this particular one so many times over...
MAKI: You mean this isn't our first killing game?
TSUMUGI: It's the same one... I've just been retrying it over and over... Because at the end of it all, Keebo destroys Danganronpa.
K1-B0: Huh...? Me...?
TSUMUGI: You're the Super High School Level Robot. You're the only one who can. No matter how many times I play this game out, it ends the same. You all use your lives as weapons to destroy this game by convincing the audience they no longer need it. And K1-B0, acting as the audience's surrogate, lives out their wish to be rid of it by destroying everything. Everything except the three survivors. Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko.
K1-B0: Audience's surrogate? What does that even mean?
TSUMUGI: It means you're a stand-in for the audience. Your inner voice that tells you what to do? That's an audience poll. And they watch this show through you as well. Your eyes are cameras, and your ahoge is an antenna. It was after you lost it that you went on that rampage. The audience lost control over your decisions without that receiver.
MAKI: ...I think I understand. Tell me something. Exactly how long has this game gone on?
TSUMUGI: This game is the 53rd.
SHUICHI: 53 seasons!?
K1-B0: That means almost 700 people lost their lives to this killing game!
MAKI: Can you really say it's worth it now, just to keep some stupid show going?
Every word out of their mouths was like a spear in my gut. I couldn't deny anything they were saying. I could feel my body acting without me, starting to cry on the spot. No matter how much I wished it, I couldn't hold it back. Every second of it was fresh hell.
TSUMUGI: N-No... It's not... I don't know what I'm doing anymore... I just can't bare to say goodbye to it all... Danganronpa was my life... Without it, I... I don't know what I'll do...
My body was shaking, and I could see the tear drops hitting the table and moisturizing it. It was no secret I was terrified. They must have been super confused about it.
MAKI: ..You don't even believe in what you're doing...
TSUMUGI: I've been here so many times already... I just wanted to see it continue... But I've spent all this time with you guys, and I... *sniff* I really started to like you guys...
HIMIKO: Tsumugi...
SHUICHI: Then why did you let them die?
TSUMUGI: I don't even know... Every time I try, it fails... Every time I try again, I'm dreading the retrial... I'm just living for the short moments I have with everyone... like I'm hiding from my own plans... I don't really want anyone to suffer, I just... really love Danganronpa...
SHUICHI: Tsumugi, you crossed a line when you turned it into reality. I understand loving something, but doing something like this is going too far. If you've really been able to turn back time to before this all happened, why didn't you just leave it at that? Why didn't you just cancel the killing game while you had the chance?
TSUMUGI: ...I-I didn't think it would be worth it anymore. Changing your lives like that, just to cancel the reason why I did it... But that would mean you wouldn't exist. You'd go back to your geeky selves. And I... I didn't want that...! I'd really miss you guys! Even if it's for a killing game, I wanted to continue you guys, too!
Himiko was beginning to tear up as well. Aside from Gonta, she was the first to cry among us.
HIMIKO: T-Tsumugi...? D-Does that mean... you still wanna be our friend...?
TSUMUGI: N-No... It's too late now... Everyone's already dead again...
HIMIKO: It's not too late! Y-You said you knew how to time travel, right!? Then just use your magic to put everything back the way it was!
TSUMUGI: B-But then... what did I make you guys for...? What did I even try for...?
SHUICHI: Tsumugi, you can't say you don't want us to suffer if you're going to make us participate in a killing game. There are other things you can do with a story. Better things than... this.
TSUMUGI: S-Shuichi...?
SHUICHI: If you're serious... If this really is a story you made, and you really can turn back the clock... then do it. If you really care about your friends, Tsumugi, you owe it to them to do it, not just yourself. You've already accepted the killing game is over, right? Then there's no point in trying to do it over. If you can realize that, and this never happens... I think I can forgive you.
TSUMUGI: ...Even if you say that, none of you will remember any of this... How can you forgive me for something you don't remember?
SHUICHI: You asked me if I believed in the power of fiction. After hearing this... I'm more certain now than ever that I do. Because this story you've made was able to change something. And that something is you, Tsumugi.
It was agonizing to hear. After everything I put them through, even if they were angry before, they were deciding to forgive me. I was able to control my throat up until now, but after this, I started breaking down in heavy sobbing. Everyone else just kind of stood around and watched me lose all composure. I picked my head up and looked through my fingers at the screen, and the viewers were all begging me to make a spinoff of some kind. History had repeated itself once more. Danganronpa as a killing game was over once again. But I didn't care. This was the first time I realized I had these feelings of guilt and remorse inside of me. I didn't even know if they were real. I was lost for what to do at all, so I just went with them. Maybe this is how they felt.
TSUMUGI: Ah...! I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Everything has gone so far, and I...! I was greedy and selfish and delusional and-
I was cut off by the sudden feeling of Himiko's small, skinny arms wrapping around my torso. She leaped out of her seat and ran over to give me a hug. I was shaking like a loose branch in a windstorm. I didn't think I deserved to hug her back.
TSUMUGI: ...I let this happen... so many times... Have I gone insane...!?
HIMIKO: You're not insane! You're just lost and confused!
TSUMUGI: Stop...!
HIMIKO: Even if this is your fault...! You can still- *hic* You can still fix it! And I know you want to, coz... coz you're our friend! You're Tsumugi Shirogane! So, even now, I... I'll cheer you on!
My heart hung heavy when she said that. Even if I didn't think I deserved it, I couldn't stop myself from embracing her back. It would be more cruel not to. K1-B0 and Maki just stood and watched, but Shuichi also got up and came over. He put one hand on my shoulder. I don't blame him for not joining in the hug after what I did to Kaede, and I have no right to.
SHUICHI: Even if we forget about this... it'll still be us. You can still talk to us. And frankly... I want to forget. I don't care if I have to start over as a detective. If it's to save my friends, I'll sacrifice anything.
Himiko's legs were starting to give out, and as she slouched over, she was gripping my shirt at the belly. I could do nothing but hold her head closer to my bosom.
MAKI: ...What are you waiting for?
K1-B0: We all agreed that we're ready.
TSUMUGI: ...I... I need to hear you say it...
SHUICHI: Say what?
TSUMUGI: I need you to tell me now that you'll forgive me! Because if I do this... you're all going to forget everything! And if none of this happened, then... how can I ever ask you to forgive me again!? You can't forgive me for a pain you can't feel! I won't accept that!
SHUICHI: Tsumugi...
HIMIKO: Of course I forgive you... Friends forgive friends when they mess up...
K1-B0: If this can really bring back our friends, then... I am willing to forgive you, too.
MAKI: ...I will forgive her as well. It hurt so much because they died for something they didn't believe in. You're giving them the chance to live their lives. I can't stay angry at that.
SHUICHI: ...
TSUMUGI: ...S-Shuichi...?
SHUICHI: ...I'll be honest, Tsumugi. Right now, I can still feel pain in my heart. Right now, my brain is telling me to never forgive you. You caused the deaths of my friends, and you even rigged the first trial to continue the killing game. I shouldn't forgive that. Kaede, Kaito, Gonta, Kokichi, and everyone else... They meant the world to me. And now that I've come face to face with the mastermind... I wish it was someone else. Just like Himiko, I was hoping it would be some hidden force, whether it's Junko or not. Because in that time we've been surviving... I came to see you as a friend as well. It broke my heart all over again to find out you were the mastermind.
HIMIKO: Shuichi...
SHUICHI: But... If you're truly sorry, and you're asking me to forgive you... that can't have been a lie. You were hiding a dark secret from us... just like the others. I wanted so badly for the mastermind to be a complete monster. To be some evil, insane psychopath who hates everything. But now that I know it's you, I can't trust that idea. I am the Super High School Level Detective, and that means I must pursue the truth at all times, no matter the cost. And the truth is you're not a monster, Tsumugi. You're a selfish, delusional girl, but you're not a monster.
TSUMUGI: ...You really think so...?
SHUICHI: I've made my decision. And my decision is... to trust the Tsumugi we survived with. To put my faith in what you're saying, and believe that the time we spent together was not a lie. That is the truth I've come to. And the Tsumugi I know wouldn't pass up the chance to fix a mistake she made... or save her friends. So I'm going to choose to forgive you as well.
TSUMUGI: ...Y-You... are...?
SHUICHI: If we're really friends, Tsumugi... you will do this. That's not a demand. That's a statement. Because the Tsumugi we are friends with would do this!
I slowly let go of Himiko and quickly threw myself into Shuichi's arms. He was giving me far more forgiveness than I deserved. I could scarcely believe what he was telling me. I just kept crying more. I needed to get it out of my system before I did anything. And the whole time, he was rubbing my back, which just made me sob harder.
TSUMUGI: Uuhhuuhh...! Waahaaaaa!
SHUICHI: Be strong, Tsumugi. For the sake of our friends, you have to. I made my decision to believe in you. Please don't make me regret it.
TSUMUGI: I-I won't! I swear!
The audience stuck around through this. They were all taking pity on the poor little mastermind. Through my sobbing, I could hear K1-B0 speak.
K1-B0: The show's over, people. This is what you've driven your beloved cast to. Danganronpa is over. You can change the channel now.
That was when they started logging off. By then, I was nearly through my tears. Maki and K1-B0 got up from their desks and stood behind Shuichi. Himiko reluctantly went to join them. When I finally pulled away, both Shuichi and I stepped back from each other. The other four survivors were standing in front of me. The same four people who ended Danganronpa once again. But this time, it was my choice. If I'm going to fulfill my promise to Shuichi, I need to move past Danganronpa. I need to trust in hope, just like Makoto, Komaru, and Hajime did.
TSUMUGI: W-Well... I suppose this is goodbye...
MAKI: Hang on. If you really have the power to turn back time, I want to see it.
HIMIKO: Y-Yeah! Show us your magic!
TSUMUGI: It's... not actually that simple... I keep coming back because of a recall system in the academy. If a member of Team Danganronpa, aka me, dies, then the system restructures the corpse in such a way that it comes back to life. In other words... you have to kill me.
HIMIKO: What!?
MAKI: Are you sure that's the only way?
TSUMUGI: I'm positive. I don't possess any magic and I don't speak to any gods... The only way to turn back the clock is to kill me. I can use the recall system to turn back time to when you all first came here and were greeted by the Monokubs.
HIMIKO: But... that's so sad! We all just forgave you, and now we have to kill you!?
TSUMUGI: ...Sounds a lot like the killing game, doesn't it? I at least deserve punishment for what I did to everyone else. I've died so many times that I don't fear it anymore. Do it however you want. This is the only way I can fulfill that promise I just made.
K1-B0: You don't have a punishment ready?
TSUMUGI: I just destroyed the last Monokuma robot. Any punishment I fire up won't function without them. And I really don't care about the punishments anymore.
MAKI: I'll take care of it then. I'm the only one here who's killed before. It will be easier on you all if I do it.
TSUMUGI: Himiko... You trust me, right?
HIMIKO: ...I... I trust you... I-If this is how it's gotta go, then... j-just do it!
MAKI: Let's go back and get the katana. I want your death to be a fast one. There's no point in making you suffer.
TSUMUGI: I agree... Let's get this over with.
SHUICHI: Thank you, Tsumugi...
TSUMUGI: No... You can thank me when I've saved everyone. I should be thanking you... for saving me.
Without another word, I followed Maki into the room with the wax effigies. Shuichi and K1-B0 stayed behind to comfort Himiko. The poor girl doesn't have to see this.
When we got there, all four wax effigies were still up. Angie's corpse was still on the ground. The blood had began to dry and turn a muddy black. Her skin was turning pale and her eyes had lost all color. Maki did her best not to look at the deceased artist and instead went to retrieve Korekiyo's gold leaf katana from the wax effigy of Kaede. She slowly pulled it out, took a deep breath, and turned around.
MAKI: ...Tsumugi... Do you really want to die?
TSUMUGI: ...I do. I'm ready, Maki.
MAKI: ...Very well. How do you want me to do this?
TSUMUGI: ...I think through the heart would be best... I want a little bit of time to look you in the eyes one last time before you forget everything.
MAKI: I understand how you feel. Let's meet again some day.
TSUMUGI: We will, Maki. We will.
We both flashed a pained smile at each other. Neither of us really wanted this murder to take place, but we had no choice. Maki walked over to me and put her free hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes in anticipation of the blade. She brought her shoulder back, pointed the tip of the blade at my heart, and instantly thrust it in. The blade pierced my body all the way through, splitting my heart open and preventing it from beating. This was an effective death. There was no way I was recovering from this.
TSUMUGI: Guaaahh!
No matter how many times it happens to me, death is never painless. There was a burning sting... and then a chilling numbness.
MAKI: ...I'm sorry, Tsumugi.
TSUMUGI: ...D-Don't... be...
I only had time to choke that out before blood came out my mouth and I collapsed. As Maki pulled the blade out, she pulled my limp body in for one last hug, but I was too weak to return it. My senses quickly dulled and faded, a sure sign I was dying. Shortly after that, everything went black. I had died in Maki's arms. Not exactly what I pictured when I went through with this, but it worked. I had no way of seeing or hearing this, but somehow I remember Maki caressing my hair and laying me down in front of Angie like grave snuggle partners. I guess Maki has a tender side after all.
The mastermind has died.
Would you like to exit the program? Yes No
My afterlife was a screen, and those words blurred across it.
But even with the game over...
No
Reload default world setting.
Reloading...
I couldn't let the story end.
As the academy went to work reconstructing my body, the state of the world was being reset as well, including the bodies of everyone else that died. As I woke up once more, I could see Angie rising as well, her wounds closing and mending themselves. But she was still unconscious for the whole thing. Everything went white after that, and I once again found myself in the hidden room just behind the library. I instantly checked the monitor and found that everyone was once again alive. At the time, I had about an hour before the opening ceremony bell.
I still have no idea how to salvage Danganronpa... but I know my first step is stopping the killing game before it begins. As I'm writing this, Monokuma and the Exisals should be on their way there right now. Tsumugi Shirogane is still a mystery to them, but if I'm going to pull this off, I can't show face just yet. This time, I won't be the mastermind. I'll be the one who puts an end to this. I owe it to them, and to myself.
END