Location: Dormitory's Time: 10:05 am

After leaving my room, I made my way towards Kirigiri's room. When I got to the door, I hesitated before knocking. What if she isn't here? I thought to myself. Then again, how will I know just standing here? Gathering myself, I put my hand over Kirigiri's door. Just as I was about to knock...

"Ace? Why are you at my door?" Kirigiri asked.

Nearly getting a heart attack, I jumped in shock and fear; falling backwards. Kirigiri helped me to my feet. "Kirigiri would you make a sound when you walk behind people, please!?" I exclaimed.

"I'll make an effort next time...anyway, why were you at my dorm room door?" Kirigiri questioned.

"Oh right, I had a bit of free time on my hands, so I thought I would get back to you with what you wanted to tell me in the Gym...unless this is a bad time?" I asked while catching my breath.

Kirigiri placed her right index finger's knuckle near her chin, as if thinking. She then glanced around in all directions like she was checking to see if there was anyone around. She then grabbed my arm firmly and brought me forward.

"K-Kirigi-" I stammered, but she covered my mouth.

She then leaned over to my ear. She whispered, "It's not safe to talk here, meet me in the baths in 5 minutes..." Kirigiri then let go of my arm walking in the direction of the bath house.

What is she up to? I thought to myself. Still confused, I made my way to the bath house making sure I wasn't being followed. When I went inside, I saw Kirigiri was sitting down on one of the benches. She had her eyes closed lost in deep thought. "Kirigiri, I'm here..." I said trying to make my presence known.

Kirigiri opened her eyes, greeting me with a nod. She then went to the door locking it. The situation must have started to get intense, because my heart started beating faster and faster. I was getting extremely antsy about what was going on. Then Kirigiri sighed, "You can relax Ace, I just wanted to make sure no one could overhear us..."

"Why did you want to talk in the bath houses then?" I asked.

Kirigiri replied with another question, "Look around, what's the one thing that's not around here that's everywhere else?"

Scanning the area, I did find that there was something odd. Upon looking around the whole room, there wasn't a single security camera that Monokuma had placed all over the place. "There...isn't a single camera...is that it?" I slowly asked.

Kirigiri smiled, nodding her head. Sitting down again Kirigiri exhaled, "Ok...what I'm about to tell you is something I only told Jade. I'm telling you because...well, Jade trusts you. So I don't want anyone else knowing about it, not even Naegi, understand?"

I nodded. Whatever Kirigiri is about to say, it was definitely important. But I wonder...what could be so bad that not even Naegi can know about it?

Kirigiri cleared her throat, "Ahem...ok...it would appear that I have a case of Amnesia..."

"A-Amnesia? What makes you think that?" I asked in disbelief.

Kirigiri turned her head facing the door, "...because I don't remember what my SDHS talent is...or anything before waking up in one of the classrooms here..."

What?! She...doesn't remember...her SDHS talent? Trying to process this, I sat next to Kirigiri on the bench. I glanced at her and she seemed to have become more stressed; her jaw was clenched. "When...did you realize you had forgotten your SDHS talent?" I asked trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Kirigiri tightened her fits shaking in anger, "When I found Jade walking the halls. She had asked me about it and I just drew a blank...I couldn't remember a thing..." She then looked at me suddenly masking her anger, "Ace...can you think of any reason why this happened?"

"Not...that I can think of. This is a really weird situation...I mean, to forget your SDHS talent is pretty mysterious..." That was all I could say. I was still trying to decipher the mystery till Kirigiri stood up. "What's wrong?" I asked.

Kirigiri replied, "Nothing. Let's just put this aside for now. We can continue to discuss this matter another time," She started to walk to the door. "Just remember don't tell anyone, not yet..."

"Y-yeah, no problem. What are you going to do now?" I asked getting up myself.

Kirigiri answered, "I'm going to investigate the school building to see what exactly is in there. What about you?"

I looked up to the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was 10: 55. Guess I don't have anything to do. "Well, I guess I'll on into the lunch room. I'll see if there's anything to snack on there and then...I guess I'll head back into my room." I answered.

Kirigiri pushes the hair away from her face, "When you can come join me in the Gym, I want to have a closer look at those iron plates on the windows. Also, everyone's planning on meeting in the Cafeteria for lunch, are you coming?"

I thought about it for a second. I wouldn't mind going, but if it means Togami will be there...I had better make sure its ok to have Jade and Togami in the same room. Better check in on Jade before 12: 00. "Yeah, I'll be there. I just got to check up on a few things before I go. See ya, Kirigiri..."

Kirigiri and I parted ways, going in opposite directions. I still had that conversation running through my head...How could Kirigiri have amnesia? Was it when we all blacked out coming here? Still trying to straighten the problem at hand I subconsciously made my way back to my room. My thoughts were interrupted by someone tapping me on the shoulder. Turning to see who it was, I saw it was Celes.

Celes greeted, "Hi lovebird, why did it seem that you were deep in thought?"

"Hey Celes, I was trying to clear up a few things in my head..." I answered.

Celes gave me a look of curiosity, "What were you thinking about?"

"Just stuff about Monokuma and ways to get out of here," I replied rather quickly.

Celes nodded, "Ok...anyway, have you seen Jade? I haven't been able to find her and she isn't in her room..."

"Wait...what do you mean, you can't find her?!" I asked now alert.

"I mean we can't find her. We have everyone looking for her, but the problem isn't that she's alone; just missing..." She gave me a stern look, "Togami can't be found either."

I felt adrenaline run through every part of my body. Jade and Byakuya...both missing and can't be found. This is bad. Jade, please don't do what I think is going on! I silently prayed. I turned to run, but I stopped short to turn back to Celes. "Stay in this are, if any of them show up. Call for me as soon as it happens!" I yelled.

Celes gave me a nod and ran down the hall.

I darted towards the school, turning on my Electro ID. Checking over the map, Jade's ID was somewhere near the Gym. I sprinted down the hall, passing every one and nearly tackling Asahina. When I finally made it to the Gym, I scanned the scene. Jade was on the ground with her rapier drawn, but she was out cold on the ground.

I scrambled over to Jades side, jumping to her side. "JADE! Come on, wake up!" praying she was alright. I shook her trying to get a reaction from her.

Then, her eyes started to open. She weakly spoke, "a...A...Ace...?"

"Thank God, what happened?" I asked, helping her up.

She turned toward the front, "Monokuma..."

I turned to see what she was staring at and in the front of the room I saw Monokuma with the gold leaf practice sword drawn.

Monokuma chimed, "Ace and Jade, sitting in a tree, G!"

"Monokuma!? What did you do!?" I stood up drawing my swords.

Monokuma proclaimed, "Defending myself, of course! Jade attacked me when I was minding my beary business! So, I taught her a lesson!"

I turned to Jade expecting to see her make some sort of protest to Monokuma's claim. However, Jade sadly looked at the ground not making a sound.

Jade whispered, "I...I'm...sorry...Ace..."

Monokuma laughed, "Upupupu...see? She broke the rules, so it's PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Monokuma raised the practice sword ready to pounce. I jumped in front of Jade raising my blades against Monokuma. "Don't even think about it! You want her? You'll have to get through me!" I declared.

Monokuma laughed, "Upupu...you say I have to get through you? Then so be-"

Just then a voice called out from the trophy room "No, it's not punishment time!"

I turned to the doors and I saw everyone come rushing into the Gym. Kirigiri, Sakura, Leon, Naegi, Fukawa, Yamada, Fujusaki, Asahina, Maizuno, Leon...and even Togami. Where has he been this entire time?!

Asahina exclaimed, "You're alright! Thank goodness!"

Sakura, Asahina, and Fujusaki went to Jades' aid, while Togami, Kirigiri, and Naegi rushed to my side. "G-guys?! How d-" I stuttered, but Togami cut me off.

He shot, "That doesn't matter at the moment, right now. We need to deal with Monokuma."

He's right. I thought quickly. Turning back to Monokuma, I saw that he looked extremely mad.

He roared, "Hey! Stay out of our business! She broke a rule, so she has to get punished!"

Kirigiri countered, "No she didn't. It was you who attacked her!"

Naegi and I looked at Kirigiri with confused faces.

Monokuma started jumping up and down like a toddler. Monokuma exclaimed, "ME!? Attack a student?! I suppose you have some EVIDENCE to be making such an accusation?! HMM?!"

Kirigiri smiled, "As a matter of fact, I do."

Kirigiri walked up to Monokuma carefully taking the blade that he was holding. Monokuma stood back arms crossed, trying to see what she was doing. I also walked closer and Naegi followed close behind.

Kirigiri then let go of the sword gold paint covering her gloves. Kirigiri smiled, "Just as I thought, this sword was covered in gold leaf, no?"

Monokuma confirmed, "Yep, I managed to grab it before Jade was able to strike me down! She attacked me in the trophy room. Luckily, I was able to draw the practice sword. She lashed out at me, but little did she know that I know how to use a sword! So I blocked it and chased her into the gym, where she lashed at me again. I dodged it by tripping her. She fell off the stage that knocked her out when you found her now! That's what happened!"

Kirigiri turned to Monokuma, "You're lying."

Everyone looked at Kirigiri as if she was crazy. He's lying? How can she be so sure?

Monokuma was outraged, "What?! How am I lying!?"

Asahina exclaimed, "Lying?!"

Togami rolled his eyes, "Please explain already, Kirigiri, everyone's more lost than a child in a store alone..."

Kirigiri turned to me, "Get me Jade's rapier."

"Why do you need her sword?" I asked running to get it.

Kirigiri put the practice sword down in front of everyone, "You'll see..." Giving her the blade, she examined blade itself. After she was done, she pointed to streaks of gold running up and down the blade. Kirigiri explained, "Look at the marks on her rapier. These came from parrying blows from the practice sword. If you look at the practice sword," she picked up the practice sword, "the gold leaf from the blade part of the sword is all gone. This suggests that what Monokuma said is false. One block, which is what Monokuma said he did would have left one slash mark on the sword. However with the streaks on Jade's rapier and the practice sword's blade being bare of any gold leaf, it's safe to say that Monokuma's story of 'defending' himself is false. Do you have any objections, Monokuma?"

Monokuma just stood there almost as if crickets were going off. Monokuma's red eye, however, was pulsing and giving off a nasty looking red glow.

Togami then walked forward, passing me and Naegi. "What happened, Monokuma? Already out of things to say?" he gloated.

Monokuma then started pacing and then shouted in anger, "Ok, FINE! I wasn't expecting there to be a 'detective' among you guys...nor was I expecting you guys to solve the mystery so fast. Anyway, everyone gather around I have an announcement to make! Gather round!"

Anger pulsing through my veins, I first went to Jade to check on her. She had a cut on her face, arm, and leg that were patched up. Also, she was clearly exhausted. With Fujusaki's help, we picked her up putting her on my back. She weakly spoke, "Ace...I should have told you...but Monokuma...he..."

"Don't worry Jade, we found out what happened. Monokuma just called us together to hear his announcements... Also, I'm sorry...for not being there to protect you..." I said shakily. I then felt myself tearing up. Not wanting to let Jade see it, I quickly whipped my face.

Jade closed her eyes leaning her head onto my shoulder, "It's okay, Ace... I know...you didn't mean to..." Jade soon fell fast asleep on my shoulder.

I then turned to Sakura, Asahina, and Fujusaki, "Thanks for patching her up. Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine. The cuts aren't deep, but she was really shaken up by this. Right now, she needs rest," Sakura explained.

Asahina's face turned red with rage, "I hate Monokuma! What he did is unbelievable!"

Fujusaki whimpered, "C-can he do it to us as well?"

I didn't trust myself to answer Fujusaki's question. After all...I promised I would protect Jade, but I failed in doing that... I turned trying to hide my despair from them. Thankfully, Asahina answered the question for me.

"Don't worry about a thing, Fujusaki... I'm sure he won't try it again... right, Sakura?" she asked.

Sakura replied encouragingly, "Of course. If he tries again, I'll rip him apart..."

"Yeah... me too..." was all I could manage to say.

Kirigiri walked up to us along with Togami, Naegi, and all the others.

Kirigiri asked, "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine... Sakura, Asahina, and Fujusaki patched her up..." I answered.

Togami smiled, "So, Ace, tell me how friendships working out for you so far. Not as happy-go-lucky as you thought it was now, was it?"

Before I could reply, Leon stepped in Togami's face, "Watch it, Togami! I don't give a-"

Asahina and Sakura broke them up. Sakura pulled Leon back, while Asahina pushed Togami away. Leon was using every insult under the sun at Togami, but Togami just stood there with a small smile on his face and eyes closed. Yamada, Maizuno, Naegi, and Fujusaki all stayed back not trying to get involved. They looked as if they were about to break down from the situation at hand.

Sakura said calmly, "Leon, calm down. He is not worth it."

Asahina yelled, "You are unbearable, Togami!"

Togami gave a short laugh, "Heh, you fools are so naive..."

Celes butted in, "Ahem...pardon my interruption, but aren't we supposed to be listening to what Monokuma wanted to tell us?"

"Celes is right. Can we stop the fighting already?" I said trying to keep my voice steady. From what Monokuma did to Togami acting like a brick, I just wanted to get this over with so that we can eat. Then take Jade to the nurses' office or somewhere she can rest.

Monokuma suddenly spoke out, eerily saying, "Upupu... this is great... the despair, the fighting...this is just perfect!"

Asahina proclaimed, "Enough already! Say what you wanted to say already!"

Monokuma jumped in fear, "Y-yes mam... Scary... Any who, the event that just transpired was a test and you all passed! Well actually, Kirigiri was the one who passed, but I'm not going to get into specifics here."

Leon confused, "What?! It was a test?!"

"You put Jade in danger... nearly killed her... to test us?!" I yelled.

Monokuma smiled posing like a girl would look at her finger nails, "Yup, so it does look that way, doesn't it? Did I hurt your feelings?"

I completely lost it. I handed Jade over to Sakura.

Sakura confused, "What are you-"

"I'm going to tear each and every Monokuma that appears apart!" I answered firmly. Drawing my blades I made a lunge for Monokuma, but Kirigiri stepped between me and Monokuma.

Kirigiri reasoned, "Stop. You saw what happened last time you attacked him. What do you think will happen if you go in doing it again? Don't forget, he still runs the show around here, not you."

She's right...Taking a deep breath, I stepped back trying to calm down.

Monokuma cleared his throat, "Ahem...anyway, I didn't gather you all up just to tell you guys you passed the little test. Upupupu... you see... I totally forgot something when I told you guys you had to kill each other." Monokuma jumped in front of us all and started pacing back and forth, "See, I gave you guys the perfect setting and situation...but there's something so important that I feel like a dummy forgetting about it!"

We all listened intently to figure out what Monokuma was talking about.

He then stopped, grinning an evil smile. Turning to us Monokuma roared out, "But I forgot the one important thing when making murders! The Motive!"

Chills ran up my spine. Motives? I turned to everyone around me looking for expressions. Everyone besides Togami had fear and concern on their faces.

Fujusaki squealed, "M-motives?!"

Yamada screamed, "REASONS TO KILL!?"

Fukawa freaks out rambling, "I can't take much more of this!"

Asahina panicked, "What kind of motives?!"

Monokuma laughed, "Upupupu... Now if I told you, it would ruin the surprise... On the other hand if you wanna see it, then may I suggest the AV room? It's got the incentives for everyone! Enjoy!" Monokuma disappeared leaving everyone in a state of fear.

In the AV room? I thought quickly. No one moved to the door, though. They all stayed where they were trying to get a grasp on what just happened.

Oowada suddenly spoke, "Hey Naegi, did Monokuma say what was in the AV room?"

Naegi replies, "Yeah, I think s-"

Oowada interrupts, "Great! Go check it out for us, buddy! I know you can do it!"

Really? Really Oowada? I thought to myself.

Naegi surprised, "What?! Why me?!"

Oowada smiles, "Because I'm counting on you!"

Maizuno cuts in, "It's okay Naegi. I'll join you!"

Naegi blushes a little, but smiles at the same time.

Hehe... I sheath my swords and walk over to Naegi. "I'll come along as well. Might be good having a swordsman with you, Naegi." I leaned close to Naegi's ear, whispering, "Also, I got to keep my eye on you and Maizuno. Can't let you guys go having fun alone now, can I?" Naegi's face turned red from embarrassment. Laughing, I patted Naegi on the back. "It's okay, I'm only kidding! Come on, let's go." I joke.

Naegi glares, but is still flustered about the situation. Maizuno follows Naegi with a smile beaming off her face.

I turned back to Kirigiri, "Think you can handle the situation till we get back?" I asked.

Kirigiri nodded gathering everyone up again near the stage.

I then met Maizuno and Naegi in the Trophy room.

To Be Continued...