"I guess Ultimate Motivational Speaker fits." Aiyaka tilted her head to the left. "Though, Truth be told, it sounds super lame."
"But there's nothing inaccurate." the committee member spoke. Kizakura verified when he scouted you. You possess-"
"Yeah, yeah, I can talk in such a way to aspire people to do great things and assure them of their confidence. That while you know of people who do this for a living, somehow this local teenage girl is far superior. See, like I said, I don't have a problem with it fitting my talent." Aiyaka interrupted. "The thing is Motivational Speaker makes me sound like some washed up old guy talking at motels by airports. I need something that sounds better, grander than that. Hmm…y'know, I like that. How does Ultimate Influence sound? Sounds kinda badass, don't you agree?"
"We can't just change things on a whim. Just like you, another student in your year wanted to change his titles to Ultimate Chef to sound better in his opinion and we turned him down."
"Well, I guess he didn't know what to say in his argument. Now, how about we have a longer chat about this?"
"L-Love!?" questioned a shocked Sora.
"Yup." Aiyaka nodded enthusiastically. "My dear departed Junko may be lost from this world, but she'll always be in my heart…well, and as a part of me." She finished before kissing 'her' right arm.
"I always knew you were off, but you're demented." Kirika glared.
"C'mon, don't say that. You and me are sisters in the love department. We've both lost the ones we loved. Ah, I know! How about I go get you Seiji's dead body. My treat."
"Don't you dare bring him up like that!" Kirika shot her a death stare.
"Ah, I understand. Truth of the matter is I too have my own pains I still deal with. Sometimes you just lose it and well…you just smash the nearest thing to you. Just bashing and bashing and bashing. The thing's broken but you keep smashing it. The one you love is dead and you can't do anything about it. Try as you might, any hope of bringing them back is gone. The red flows all around you as the sickening crunch continues, but you can't stop. Before you know it, the thing stops moving; it's never going to work again. As you collapse in the blood, you fall into the deepest, darkest pit of despair. But then you realize it. Junko, your soulmate, your shining star, the light of your life, has taught you the ultimate lesson of despair. In the end, you've become closer to them. Ah, Junko…Junko…"
A smile of pure ecstasy grew on Aiyana's face, her eyes practically swirling with despair. Her breathing started to become ragged as she continued muttering Junko's name.
"All this time, I've been following her path. Yet, she was always out of my reach. However, this Killing Game and my despair of losing her has accelerated my journey. Yes, in truth, that's why I took everyone who survived and thrust them into this situation. I know I still have work to do, but maybe having another game would fix that. But first, we need to end this one."
"You already confessed to being the mastermind." Kirika stated. "And as said before, Tomoki's Killer would have to be the mastermind."
"Oh, I don't deny that's a possibility. However, your ground for that is missing one thing. A murder weapon." Aiyaka said.
"Don't forget, we've determined that the weapon was an outside item." Sora chimed in.
"But what was it? Huh, huh?"
"Given the wounds on Tomoki, I'd wager you'd snuck in a pocket knife. It'd be easy to conceal and just as easily to hide." Kirika figured.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Aiyaka sounded. "You got it. I did in Mr. Know-It-All with a special pocket it. Wanna see?" She reaches into her jacket as she pulled a medium sized black handle out. "I had this specially made for me. It functions like a box cutter. Helps me with my little arm problem. You can check the blade. It might have a little Tomoki on it."
"Enough of this!" Kirika pounded on her podium. "Let's just end this."
"Not so fast." Aiyaka resumed. "You haven't even heard of all my victims. I knew I'd be a bit before I could convince you all to kill your fellow man, so I started this off with a bang…or more of a whack."
"You mean…" Sora started.
"Yup, I'm freely admitting that Taru was my responsibility. Weirdly enough, it was kind of satisfying. I mean, I never had any problem with the guy, but he'd be a sore later on. So, bye bye."
Holding Monokuma up to her face, Aiyaka walked over to his spot.
"Now, let's get into the endgame. All the evidence that convicts me is on the table." she had Monokuma speak. "You can bring this to a close. However, I invoke a one time only Finale!"
"What!? You're making up rules now!" Kirika steamed.
"Nope, had this planned from the start. That's where a normal Class Trial would end. Now it's time for everything to wrap up." Aiyaka sat Monokuma down as she started to speak normally again. "You know how this goes. Hope or despair. But here we do things a little different. You've seen the outside world firsthand and how terrible it is. The damage, the death, the despair. Even the Future Foundation's best efforts haven't stopped it. Then all of a sudden, you find yourselves faced with our old classmates in a Killing Game. Several upstanding citizens who survived with hope finally succumb to despair. And to top it all off, a trusted friend engineered everything and had been associating with her beloved Junko all this time. Can you honestly say that it's worth going back out into that world again? One in which despair will never die and will bloom eternal?"
Kirika and Sora watched as their handbooks glowed with two choices. Hope or Despair.
"Choose your answer. As my special cupcake did, I'll abstain, cuz let's face it, you know me." Aiyaka stuck out her tongue.
The two stood speechless. Yes, Aiyaka was the one responsible and deserved to be punished according to her rules. Yet, she had a point. She'd started the game, but others had made their own decisions. The outside world was improving, but things still were horrible. Even, as she said, they hadn't noticed the truth about her during their time at Hope's Peak and during the Game. Here they were, two of ten she'd forced into a situation to bring about despair, living while the others, including ones they'd cared deeply for, had perished. Could they truly speak on hope's behalf?
"Wow, am I that good? I mean, my talent is talking to convince people to do things, but I wasn't really trying to do that this time. Just normal convincing." Aiyaka piqued up.
"I-I don't…" Sora muttered.
"She's…she's right." Kirika mumbled.
"Exactly. Now, just push that button." Aiyaka said before looking at her right arm. "Just look, Junko. They're so close to giving up." She brought her arm to her face in a loving touch.
"You're…right." Kirika mumbled again.
"I heard ya the first time."
"You're right." Kirika said more confidently this time. "The world outside is still in a horrible state. We didn't know your schemes with the Ultimate Despairs. Some of us did succumb to despair as you planned. Yet, we can't give up."
"What!?" Aiyaka went wide eyed.
"Sora, you too. Think of everything we've been through. Everything that our former underclassmen went through. They didn't give up hope and neither should we. What would Taru, Suzuki, Ito, Takashi, Mitsuba, Takura, Tomoki, and…Seiji say if we have up here? All that was fought for here would be lost. We didn't live this long to simply give up in a place like this. We need to press forward and take hope in hand. Persevere into tomorrow. What do you say?"
"You…" Sora started. "You've really changed. To think the old, quiet, shy you would be the one leading the charge. But yeah, you're right. It can't end here. Aiyaka, your game is over."
The Ultimate Artist and Cyclist reached forward, pushing Hope on the handbook. The screen flashed as Aiyaka's face presented on the screen, indicating her loss.
"Looks like Hope wins." Aiyaka despondently said as she raised Monokuma in front of her face. "Seems like despite our best efforts, you still cling to that silly notion." She lowered the bear to reveal her smiling, crazed face. "Oh well. All that planning and dedication goes to waste. And what's more, I've been found guilty of two kills and masterminding the whole situation. You know what that means. It's time for a VERY special punishment." Aiyaka fished through Monokuma's back to reveal a big, red button. "I'll get to see my beloved Junko again soon. I'm so ecstatic. I wonder if this is how you felt? Here I go. IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"
All around the walls, small portions dropped to reveal a variety of pictures of Junko Enoshima. Aiyaka smiles as she stepped backwards and looked around. The floor behind her opened up as a giant effigy of Junko emerged. Chains shot out as they dragged Aiyaka into the middle. The pictures on the far side began to catch fire as the flames burned them up one by one. The fire pushed on as the flames moved from one to another. As they reached the last picture, the flame spread on a path towards the giant Junko effigy. Aiyaka continued smiling as the fire burned around her. As the flames threatened to consume the entire effigy, two holes opened up in the floor as twin spears shot out and impaled Aiyaka. She hacked up blood as the fire accelerated. Looking above, the whole thing seemed to be a sham as a heart descended, reading 'Love Explosion'. Below it, a counter was display as it it zero. With one giant explosion, the blast engulfed the entire scene.
Kirika and Sora felt the heat of the explosion as they were pushed back as their world went black.