A/N: After months of absence, I am proud to announce that Danganronpa: The Hope Ending is recontinuing! Yes, I finally regain my love for writing this story, and I hope all of you are ready to continue reading it!

For those who may have forgotten, I discontinued the story due to lack of motivation. And since I regained it, I can now say that this story will see it through!

All that said, here comes the next chapter in this long-awaited comeback!

First of all, I'd better check the Monokuma File to see exactly what's going on.

"The victim was Chihiro Fujisaki. The time of death is estimated to be around 2:00 AM. The body was discovered in the girl's locker room on the 2nd floor of the school. The cause of death was a blow to the head with a blunt object. She was killed instantly."

That's all it says. Well… It's not like there's any point complaining about it. No matter what, I gotta do what I gotta do…

"Hey, Naegi. Do you have a second?" Togami called to me.

"Did you need something from me?" I asked as I walked over to him.

Of course. Life without purpose is quite dull, you know?" He asked.

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so I just asked him what he needed.

"I'm going to let you cooperate with me during my investigation." He stated.

"…Huh?" Was all I could say. Togami sighed in annoyance.

"I'm purchasing your talent." He said. "The same talent which allowed you to solve Maizono's case."

"S-Solve…? No, I just-"

"You seem to have some limited use. Which is why I've chosen you." He continued. "You have the honor of contributing to my investigation."

Is he… Inviting me to come with him? He's doing it in the most arrogant way possible, though…

"Now then, shall we get started?" He asked. "And don't object; we need to get moving. There's no time to be standing around."

I was completely silent. I don't know what just happened, but it looks like I'll be working with Togami on this one.

The first thing I did was examine Chihiro's body like I did with Maizono's. "Very strange…" Said Togami. "The more I look, the more strange it all seems. This must be Genocide Jack's handiwork."

"But-"

"But we're not sure why he did it. Is that what you want to say?" Togami asked in annoyance.

He then chuckled. "I wonder about that…"

…Okay then. Anyway, there didn't seem to be anything abnormal about her body, so I moved onto the message written in blood on the wall. But what was the meaning behind it? "Bloodlust"…

Across from the body, there was a dumbbell on the floor, and…

It has a bloodstain on it!

"The Monokuma File said that "A blow to the head with a blunt object" is what killed her." Said Togami.

"Does this mean this dumbbell was actually the murder weapon?" I asked.

Togami nodded. "I don't imagine it could have been anything else."

After I took a picture of it with my e-Handbook, I noticed a fresh bloodstain on the carpet a few inches from Chihiro's body. It must've been splattered there during the murder…

The poster above it had some blood on it, as well. It was of a beautiful woman laying down on the beach in a very seductive pose.

I then noticed Kirigiri taking her time examining Chihiro's corpse. She poked and prodded. Going over every inch of the lifeless body.

"You're a very strange woman, you know. Being able to touch a dead body with absolutely no trouble." Togami pointed out. Noticing her as well.

Kirigiri didn't even glance at him when he said that. She seems to be concentrating very hard like she can't even hear us.

I then heard a sigh of despair. Turning around, I saw it came from Sakura. "I use this locker room all the time. Now… It has become the site of Chihiro's death."

"But… Why was she killed in the locker room?" I asked her. "Actually, if you think about it, she could have been killed somewhere else, then carried here."

"She was very light, that is true. It wouldn't be hard for someone to carry her. But still…"

What she said next gave me quite a shock.

"I still think she came here on her own by choice."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"She'd been talking a lot lately about how she wanted to get stronger." She explained.

"So, you're saying she came her to exercise?" I asked. "But according to the Monokuma File, she was apparently killed around two in the morning. Would she have been really exercising that late?"

"Hina or myself are usually in the locker room during the day. She was probably avoiding it then." She assumed. "Although we invited her to join us more than once, she never showed up. So I can only assume she was trying to avoid us."

"And instead she came to exercise in the middle of the night?"

"Perhaps. But it's difficult for me to imagine she would have come alone." She began. "She did want to start exercising, but she specifically mentioned she couldn't do it by herself. She needed support from others."

"So you're saying she could have come here in the middle of the night to train in secret, but that she also would have come with someone else." I assumed.

Sakura shrugged. "It's a possibility, I think."

"Dude had a real complex about being weak." I suddenly heard Mondo say. "You heard Chihiro talk about it, right? All "I need to get stronger!".

"Yeah, I do remember she said that more than once…"

"Sure did. Which… I guess explains the trip down here…" He said. Pausing to sigh.

"But… Did she really need to get stronger that badly?" I asked. Hoping that he wouldn't punch me again. "You already mentioned it, but… She was a girl, after all. Most girls aren't that strong."

Mondo sighed again. "I dunno man. Haven't really thought about that stuff."

The cause of Chihiro's complex… I can't help wondering what it might be.

A/N: And that's all for now! Like before, I'm aiming for at least one chapter per month, and I'll update it whenever I can. I hope you're as excited about the revival as I am!