Chapter 3: Logical Despair (B)
Danganronpa franchise belongs to Spike Chunsoft and Kazutaka Kodaka. This is a piece of shit is just fiction purely for entertainment purposes only.
"Shuttle bus?" Yoichi asked me. I looked at him and shook my head.
"Don't look at me. We've only been here for two days." I told him. "Though it has to be somewhere outside. I'm sure if we just follow the others then we'll find it." He gave me a nod of confirmation. We all were seemingly a little listless since none of us had taken the time to actually memorize the layout of the campus. Give us some slack, we only had two days and given everything that's happened we could be excused for not knowing that much. We did eventually find the stop and had all gathered there. Monokuma then spawned from thin air and gave us his usual inconsiderate, insufferable voice as he greeted us. That voice is something that will scar so many of us if we ever make it out alive.
"Welcome Group B, to your first class trial! And I've gotta say, I'm very proud of you!" Monokuma stated ecstatically.
"'Proud'?" Natsuko reiterated as a question. "What do you mean?"
"Upupupu..." He chuckled. "Of course. You're the group to start the killings. Finally, something extreme and exciting!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Unlike that wretched Group A with their friendship bullshit! You guys cut right to the chase and know where your priorities lie." He extended his paw out to all of us as a whole. It could just be the paranoia talking, but I could've sworn he had a bit of emphasis on me specifically. Though it was only for a moment as he went on. "Great job you guys!"
"Hey, you stupid bear!" Emiko called out. "What the hell are you talking about!? Like, you're vague as shit! Explain!"
"Priorities." Monokuma replied. "You all know what has to get done."
"We...do?" Tatsuya asked. Of course we all knew. He was clearly playing coy with the situation. We were all in a Mutual Killing Game. A game of self preservation, where platitudes of friendship couldn't be as trusted as in any other scenario. This was an All-for-one situation Monokuma put us in... And Shigeo's killer had played right into his paws. One of us had done that. Something seemingly so ludicrous once before was now an inevitability at this point. Bottom line: One of us is a killer and we'll die if we don't figure out who!
"Okay, so are you ready for your first class trial...? 79th Class of Hope's Peak Academy, Group B...!" Monokuma taunted.
Just as he did a shuttle bus rolled up to the stop and Monokuma motioned for us to board. We were all getting on but someone then grabbed my shoulder and kept me back... It was Chidori. "Chidori..."
"Kazuki, I..." She wanted to say something, but she was just fumbling her words at this point. She pushed her fingers nervously together and averted her gaze from mine.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. She didn't say anything. She only darted her eyes around nervously, embarrassed about something probably. "If you aren't ready to talk about it now, then save it for after the class trial for when you feel comfortable." She didn't say anything as she just nodded and got on the shuttle in front of me. Once we were all aboard, Monokuma closed the bus doors and we all had taken a seat somewhere. Everyone had seated themselves as far away from each other as we possibly could. No one could be trusted in this scenario. To the individual, the group as a whole was tainted by something toxic. What that was, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted. I was much like the rest. One of us had just committed a murder and was now on the line for it. I had no idea who could've done it or if one of us was even capable of performing such a heinous act but here we are. Living in that reality.
I decided to go over the information I collected one last time to try and solidify some kind of a case from it. Any gaps or questions in logic I'd need to rely on some kind of luck.
(TRIAL UNDERGROUND) Monokuma File 1-B: Victim: Shigeo Kyou. Time of death: 8:27 pm. The victim suffered a major wound to the lower abdomen and bled to death. No other wounds on the victim's body.
Yukino's Autopsy: According to Yukino, the victim had something pierce his intestine, which lead to him bleeding to death. But what caused it?
Gun and Tripod: A gun that had been propped on a tripod, originating from the Campus Store. It's a very defective gun. Firing at the slightest of sudden movements. Mistake or design choice? How was the killer able to fire the weapon to begin with?
Scrap Paper: A bunch of chicken scratch on a single sheet of paper. What could this mean?
Chidori's Account: It seems some items from the store were taken. Most likely the murder weapon.
Yukio's Note: It was the note that Yukio handed to everyone for the get together. The killer probably planned this in advance, knowing this party was going to happen.
...Wait, that's all I have!? Crap, what good'll this do? It was finally time we arrived at some sort of courtroom. It took about an hour or so for us to arrive and the thirteen of us disembarked the bus. We all stood in front of the large chamber and waited for Monokuma to get us moving again. He told us to follow him up the large staircase and we all followed like obedient pets and we then stood in the middle of a circular court room. We had to take our assigned seats. Starting from myself going clockwise: Myself, Yukino, Yukio (now deceased), Tatsuya, Saburo, Kohaku, Emiko, a space directly across from me, Yoichi, Shigeo (now deceased) Natsuko, Masato, Kazuhiro, Shinju, Chidori and Amaya before cycling back to me. There were 16 spaces in total and only 15 of us. On a monitor above Monokuma's head it read "Court now in session."
(DAWN) "Let's start with a basic explanation of the class trail," Monokuma explained. "So your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunit" then I'll punish what will now be known as the *blackened*. But if you guess the wrong one... I'll punish everyone BESIDES the blackened! And that person will be granted permission to leave this school."
"And... one of us is the actual killer?" I asked, gloom sticking to each word vehemently.
"That's right!" Monokuma said in a tone that contrasted mine. I remained silent at the thought of someone able to kill a classmate.
"Before we start, are the signs necessary?" Saburo pointed out to the signs of Yukio and Shigeo with a crimson red 'X' slashed through them. "I remember them being important during the first killing game but they seem rather... redundant."
"They're very necessary!" Monokuma exclaimed. "How are we supposed to remember them if there's nothing left of them!?"
"Well... they kinda died right in front of us..." Yoichi stated.
"And what about the sixteenth seat?" Chidori asked. All of our attention was drawn towards the seat below Monokuma. "There's fifteen of us to begin with, so it's pretty suspicious to have sixteen."
"Well, Group A and B both share the same courtroom. So rather than just make two separate buildings and seats, I just rolled it into one. You guys seem very incessant on the preamble, so let's get to talking about the murder already!" Monokuma exclaimed from his throne.
"Right, so where do we go from here?" Amaya asked. "I've never really watched too much of mystery to understand where to start."
"I have!" Kazuhiro exclaimed. "The first thing they always do is confirm the facts! I can't believe this will be like that American television show!" He seemed to exclaim that last fact to himself.
"But... what's fact?" Tatsuya inquired, while crossing those corded arms. "I find it highly improbable that the information everyone found is the same."
"Would it be wrong to start with the Monokuma File? Then we can piece it together from there." Yukino suggested. "If we don't, we all die..." Those final words seemed to hang over everyone as the situation suddenly felt more dire. I have to pull myself together, for everyone's sake.
(-BREAK-) "Fine, we'll play along." Masato sighed, sounding condescending in a way. "According to the Monokuma File Shigeo suffered from a severe wound to his abdomen. He died at 8:27 PM... That's all we have from the file."
"Wait, seriously!?" Shinju cried in a panic. "What are we gonna do!?"
"Did anyone examine the body?" Chidori asked.
"No one really went near the body. None of us are good at that kind of stuff." Amaya dismissed.
"That's wrong!" I shouted, realizing a contradiction in her statement.
(SOLAR) "Wait a minute, Amaya. Someone hear is good at that kind of stuff." I said. "Right, Yukino?"
"Correct." The blond doctor said. "It's in my field of profession to identify injuries and illnesses. If I couldn't do that, then I wouldn't have the title of Ultimate Doctor."
"Your ego aside..." Natsuko muttered, then asked, "What did you find?"
"The victim's intestine had been pierced with some kind of object. I wasn't able to extract it because I didn't have the proper tools at the time." Yukino stated. "So I was unable to discern where it came from."
"W-wait, his i-i-intestine?" Kohaku stammered out. "I-I thought he s-said it was his stomach...!"
"Yukino told me that it's a common misconception to assume where all your organs are in your lower abdomen." I pointed out, recalling the conversation I had with Yukino.
"Anyway, the wound looks like it hit him in his intestine, not his stomach."
"I remember he said it was in his stomach..."
"It's common to confuse where all those organs are since it's all in the general vicinity. But the stomach is closer to the upper half of the torso whilst all the other major organs are in the lower half." Yukino went on.
"So, what caused the injury?" I asked her.
"Something had pierced his intestine. That's what caused the injury which led to him bleeding to death."
"He said his stomach when in actuality it was his intestine." I pointed out.
"Enough of that." Masato blurted suddenly. "I believe its time we cut this trial short. Wouldn't you agree, Kazuhiro?" He seemed mightily confident in something.
"Yeah!" Kazuhiro stated.
"What the heck do you mean, cut it short?" Emiko asked with her usual irate tone.
"I'm talking about the culprit, obviously." The mathematician declared.
(TURBULENT) "Wait, you know who did it!?" Yoichi gasped in shock.
"Of course." Masato said. "There's no doubt the killer is you, Hajime Kazuki!" He declared.
"W-what!?" I asked in utter shock. "W-wait a minute! On what grounds are you making this accusation!?"
"All the evidence that I found in this case points to you being the killer." He stated calmly. "In your room I found within your bloody clothing, this." From his e-Handbook he showed everyone a bloodied knife. The one that came from the survival kit. "The murder weapon. You were also the only one who was closest to him when he died. And he died right in your arms."
(DISTRUST) "W-wait!" I tried to stammer out nervously. "It's not like that, honest! I never had the knife!"
"Wait, that was...!" Chidori gasped.
"I said wait!" I shouted. "I didn't use the knife at all. He had that injury the moment he stood up!"
"Likely story criminal." Masato claimed. "You easily slipped the knife into him the moment you caught him, hid it in your jacket pocket while you attempted to act like you were concerned and finally swapped out the jacket with the one you currently have now."
"His explanation does make sense..." Shinju said more softly than usual. "He was the only one next to him when he died after all."
"The weapon was found in his room!" Kazuhiro declared.
"Wait, Masato. How could that knife have been in my jacket when you said there was no proof to be found in my room!?" I asked dumbfounded by the situation.
"I hope you could forgive my little white lie. I didn't want to alert you to having your cover blown so easily." He stated.
I held my hands out in a defensive manner. I was trembling. How could any of that happen? I didn't use the knife to kill Shigeo! So how would Masato have found it in my room?
(DAWN) "Jeez, you're all like sheep." Saburo sighed. "Overlooking crucial details to cling to some pretenses of some self-proclaimed genius?"
"Self... proclaimed!?" The mathematician gasped out.
"Hey, what the hell are you talking about!? Crucial details!" Emiko shouted.
"N-not s-s-so loud...!" Kohaku rasped out while covering her ears. She was right next to Emiko after all.
Saburo sighed once again and turned his gaze away from everyone else present in the court room. "If you choose to believe Osamu's predictions, by all means go ahead. I personally don't care what the group decides as a whole. However, I have some evidence of my own I want everyone to evaluate and compare to his alleged evidence. We do have the time, after all."
"If you don't care so much, then why bother sharing your evidence?" Natsuko asked.
"The truth needs to be seized from multiple viewpoints. Great detectives always say that, especially in cop shows and the like." Kazuhiro seemingly "squee'd" at the mention of murder mystery. "First, I want to show everyone this." From his e-Handbook he presented something that Saburo and I saw earlier.
"Is that... the pistol and tripod from the back?" I asked, reassuring the obvious.
"Correct. I found this ominous duo in the backroom where all the food is stored." The white haired enigma stated, not making eye contact once. "I'm inclined to believe that this is the murder weapon." Something about Saburo at the moment sounded kind of... robotic? Or maybe it was just rehearsed...
"Hold it." Shinju interjected. "How am I supposed to believe that the killer would use a gun over something more close range. Like assassinating them with a thick needle in the food or even just running up to them. It just seems pretty nonsensical to use a gun for something too easy."
"Actually, it makes logical sense." Saburo explained. "There's something about this gun that makes it different from normal firearms. Kazuki knows what I'm referring to, right?"
I should know what he means. It did just happen. "The gun is dysfunctional."
"Dysfunctional how?" Chidori asked.
"The gun has a very sensitive trigger, so just shaking it slightly sets it to fire." I explained.
"The killer must've found this out by accident, otherwise they wouldn't have considered the gun as the weapon." Saburo elaborated.
"W-w-wait a s-s-second!" Kohaku stammered out. "H-how are you so sure it's the murder weapon!? I-it seems i-i-impossible!" Now that I think about it, there was something that made me think it was the murder weapon. But, what?
(-BREAK-) "I-it'd be impossible for the gun to be the w-weapon t-t-to begin with!" Kohaku declared.
"What other weapon could there be then? It's not like the killer had time to clear everything up." Yoichi stated. "Because Saburo had told us what to do."
"All we know is that something pierced Shigeo's innards..." Yukino stated.
"The attacker must've done it before he gave any orders... It's the knife. Case closed." Masato stated adamantly.
"No, that's wrong!" I shouted.
(SOLAR) "What is with you?" Masato asked me. "Why do you keep shouting that?"
"A habit, I guess. More importantly, the knife wasn't the murder weapon. If you've been listening to what both Yukino and Saburo have been saying, then it becomes clear!"
"...How, exactly?" Tatsuya asked.
"They keep using the term "pierce". Not "stab"." I said.
"What difference does it make!? Isn't a wound still a wound?" Kazuhiro inquired.
"Technically, no." I went on. "First, they wouldn't keep using the term if it was a simple stab wound. They both would've said "stab" eventually. Second, could a single stab from a knife like this really cause that much damage to someone's intestine?"
"Huh. Guess that does make a lot more sense." Amaya said.
"In fact, I doubt that knife would hurt a big guy like Shigeo!" Shinju exclaimed.
"In a way you're not wrong." Yukino added. "Due to Shigeo's body mass, the blade of a knife shouldn't be able to go all the way through his intestine. What specifically happened was that an object of sorts had pierced his intestine, causing it to rupture. He would've been alive a whole lot longer than the few seconds we saw if the knife had been the true weapon."
"Which is what brings us back to the gun! Right, bro?" Yoichi asked, almost gleeful.
"Correct." Saburo replied while crossing his arms. "The killer most likely discovered that this weapon was faulty on accident when they went to get this, a tripod, and a magazine of bullets."
"Wait, a magazine?" Chidori gasped. "There weren't any gun magazines inside the Campus Store. They're all loaded with six bullets each."
"Really...?" The white haired male asked solemnly rather than with surprise. He seemed to be in deep thought once again.
(MR MONOKUMA'S LESSON)
"Correct correct CORRECT, Ms. Yukimura!" Monokuma chimed in. "All guns in the store come with a six bullet pack guarantee. But no more than that. If you can't more bullets then you need to get more guns."
"But, why not just give us more bullets? It makes much more sense that way." Shinju explained.
"Don't give the killer bear MORE reason to kill!" Emiko shouted.
"Actually, if I gave you all ammunition directly then I'd be doing a terrible grievance as your headmaster. I'm supposed to inspire creativity in your day to day actions, not hinder it with mundane weapons. It'd just be no fun at all! And what would you do if the killing's were the same every time? You'd no doubt all get bored."
"Likely story. It's murder, so I doubt killing people would ever get boring." Yoichi explained. "N-not that I think killing people is fun! Just erm... eventful?" Was he being serious? At a time like this they can find the time to try being lighthearted.
(DAWN)
"Monokuma's tendencies aside..." Kazuhiro said in an attempt to change the subject. "You have yet to show any proof you had no involvement with the murder, Kazuki."
"Did you miss the part where they explained the wound?" Emiko asked, irritated by Kazuhiro's constant pointing of me. She seemed a bit more invested now than earlier, probably because she realized her life is on the line too.
"B-both Saburo and Y-Yukino showed that a gun w-was the weapon." Kohaku elaborated.
"Okay, so what?" Kazuhiro said. "Just because the knife wasn't used doesn't mean he isn't the killer."
"While you do bring up a good point, I can assure you Kazuki never left his room from when we all gathered for lunch to dinner." Saburo stated. "I would know because I saw him and Yukio discussing things and Kazuki eventually entered the room."
"But how come you know he never left?" Amaya asked with a child like naivete. She did have a point in regards to Saburo would know I was resting in my room. I never once told anyone I had been resting in my room.
"W-were you watching o-over him...?" Kohaku asked, visibly pleased with the development of the situation for some reason. "L-like a chivalrous knight does for their beloved?"
"What kinda things brew in that head of yours?" I asked, embarrassed by the situation. I wasn't entirely revolted, just flustered. At least Saburo was attractive- Okay, I'm gonna stop before someone gets uncomfortable.
"The answers more mundane than romantic." Saburo sighed in that usual uninterested tone of his. "I was with Yoichi the entire period. In fact, so were you Hisao. I was serving as a watch the whole time and not once did I see Kazuki leave the dorm building."
"Maybe he slipped by when you didn't notice." Masato suggested. "I remember you talking with Yoichi the whole time. Plus, an additional motive could be for Kazuki's preference of name. Shigeo always called him Hajime to his dismay, so maybe he saw his opportunity to strike."
"Hold on!" Chidori cried out. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Our apologies, Chidori." Kazuhiro said. "It was Yukio's idea to get us all to gather together for that dinner, remember?" As he explained I thought back to when Yukio came to me in my room. He did invite me to a dinner.
"Now that I think about it, is it entirely possible Yukio planned it out?" I asked, with a bit of a nervous tone in my voice.
"Wait, are you saying Yukio wanted us to commit a murder!?" Shinju asked in disbelief.
(TURBULENT)
"I'm suggesting that Yukio may be the killer himself." I explained. "Though, that's just a thought... I don't have any evidence for it..." I didn't want to think this way about our deceased classmate, but... it just made too much sense. Yukio seems like the omnipotent element in this case. And how he wanted everyone to gather in one room. The pieces just feel like... they click.
"Seriously!?" Emiko gasped in shock. "That hyper active pain in the neck was actually planning a murder!?"
Tatsuya was quick to counter her point. "It was just a suggestion, please don't accept it as immediate fact. Furthermore, while I do believe Kazuki to be on the correct line of thought, I believe his initial assumption on Yukio being the culprit to be false."
"Yeah. Me too..." Yoichi mumbled. "He didn't ever once seem like the type who'd wanna kill anybody..."
"But, where do we go from here?" Natsuko inquired. "I'm not even entirely positive as to what everyone's insinuating..." She was right. Tatsuya's claim was very bold. I'm not even entirely sure what he meant by that. Just what did he mean?
"Everyone, stay focused. I believe our culprit is easier to be found than you realize." Saburo stated calmly. "This is where it comes down to the wire here. So please, I ask you all to listen to me again."
"How do we advance from this point?" Yukino asked. "I feel like something just clicked but... I'm not sure what..."
"If we talk it out a bit more then I'm sure we'll crack the case." Saburo explained.
"He's right..." Chidori said, steeling herself. "We have to talk it out together."
"I concur." I said, finally. They're right. We just need to relax and discuss this. The truth is in our sights!" God I hope so...
(-HEAT UP-)
We all had no idea what to do next, but Saburo seems to have an understanding of the situation. "To understand how the killer was able to perform their actions... First we have to re-establish what we already know so far."
"We know that the fact the killer used a gun and tripod to kill Shigeo..." Yukino input. "But what comes next?"
"Correct, so the killer had to have set up beforehand, correct?" Saburo went on.
"Yeah, that would seem the most sensible." Yoichi replied.
"But, what are you getting at? You don't make any sense." Natsuko added.
"I'm saying someone must've snuck their way into the backroom of the cafeteria, or was already there." Saburo claimed.
"The only ones there were myself, Masato, Yukio, Yoichi, and you Saburo..." Kazuhiro claimed. "But it doesn't seem likely that we did it."
"No, Saburo's right!" I exclaimed, agreeing with Saburo's claims.
(EXISAL TRIBE *A V3 OST*)
"What Saburo said makes perfect sense!" I reiterated. "If in the cafeteria was only five people, then it's only right to assume one of those five is the mastermind of this problem! So that's what Tatsuya meant..." I looked over to Tatsuya as I said this and he grinned back at me with approval. "But, if it wasn't Yukio then it would've had to have been someone in his group." I deduced.
"As Kazuhiro said, I was with Saburo the whole time!" Yoichi stated quickly. "So there's our alibis! Everyone else I remember being on their own though."
"You're pretty quick to sell everyone else out for having your safety first." Natsuko called Yoichi out on.
"Hey, I'm watching out for my brother too!" Yoichi exclaimed with irritation. "So I'm not just being an asshole and looking out for myself!"
"Still, it says a-a lot about human nature... right?" Kohaku said. "O-one moment all buddy buddy, t-then the next out to get one another l-like animals..." She bit her nail as she said this, clearly nervous at saying anything beyond boy's love and ghosts.
"Regardless, that leaves two prime suspects..." Yukino stated.
"T-there's no way..." Masato said. Kazuhiro and I were together too..."
"Yeah, we were." Kazuhiro stated proudly. "I can say without a doubt that Masato and I were together and neither of us could've ever set up the tripod." Wait, they were... together? This raises something that now bothers me.
"Kazuhiro..." I addressed him. "Just why were you two in my room?"
"Ah-!" Kazuhiro strangled out.
"Wait, they were where!?" Shinju exclaimed. "I remember Chidori and Kazuhiro going with you but not Masato..."
"After I decided to help with the investigation, I went back to my dorm and found Kazuhiro standing guard. That's where he accused me of the murder. Masato had come out saying he didn't find anything incriminating in my room. But, that contradicts what you said earlier. Right, Masato?"
(ODD)
"Y-yes..." Masato stammered. "I-I had my suspicions on you, so I didn't want you finding out I found that knife in your room."
"A likely story." Emiko said. "I bet you were just covering up that nerdy ass of yours, weren't you?" She sounded disgusted by Masato.
"Wait, you've got it wrong...!" Kazuhiro exclaimed. "I swear he's innocent!"
"No more games, Hisao!" Saburo shouted. That was the first time we heard him shout since we got here. Something about his voice was very demanding and powerful. It was enough to get Kazuhiro to cower in fear. "There was one detail I had overlooked before, but thinking back it must've been the key to clearing up everything."
"Huh...?" Masato gasped. "I-I don't know what you mean..." He seemed incredibly panicked about something. But, what was Saburo talking about? Could it be...?
(-HOPE VS DESPAIR-)
"I swear, I didn't do anything...! You've gotta believe me!" Masato pleaded, sweat dripping from his forehead like crazy.
"The evidence would beg otherwise." Saburo claimed.
"No, you're wrong!" Kazuhiro shouted. "There's no way he could've done it! No matter what evidence you have he didn't do it!"
"Sorry... but that's wrong!" I shouted, remembering the one scrap detail I found earlier.
(FUTURE)
"I know one piece of evidence that proves he did it." I said. "It's this scrap paper." I showed everyone the scrapped piece of paper I found in the trash, the one with the numbers.
"Wait, isn't that...?" Amaya gasped.
"Yes, the paper that I showed you that had those numbers on it. He must've done the math out to get the angle just right to-"
"I swear it wasn't me!" He insisted. "You've gotta believe me! Monokuma told me-"
(MR. MONOKUMA'S LESSON)
"Okay! I think that puts the cap on your trial time!" Monokuma interrupted.
"Huh?" Kazuhiro said. "Wait a sec! I thought we got all the time we need!"
"Sorry, but time is not a leisure right now." Monokuma went on. "We've all got busy lives to live so let's just wrap this up, okay?"
"No! Wait dang it!" Masato shouted. "This trial is rigged!"
"Huh...?" I gasped out.
"Pick who you think killed Shigeo Kyou." Monokuma put simply. "Remember, there's no wrong answers." He gave a seductive wink as he said so.
...So, without much option, we voted. Almost unanimously it was for Masato. Almost. One of us had voted for someone else, and I don't think I need to say who.
"Well well well..." Monokuma cooed. "Another slip up like that Kazuhiro, and I may have to punish you along with the blackened."
"You set me up..." Masato growled. "You used me... my intellect..."
"Whatcha gonna do about it?" Monokuma asked innocently. "It's not like I asked you to do those calculations to kill someone or anything."
Wait...! So then it was...! "Monokuma! You set him up!?"
"I never would've expected you to interfere..." Saburo said. "But that doesn't change the result does it? He still rigged it to fire at the result weight shifting."
"No..." I gasped.
Masato grit his teeth and clenched his teeth. "If only I was more aware... If only I realized sooner..."
"Masato, we-" I tried saying.
"Well, without further ado, it's time to start our Punishment!" Monokuma whooped.
"No...!" Chidori gasped.
"You damned bear..." Tatsuya growled. He stood in front of Masato with Yoichi and Kazuhiro at his side. "I won't allow you to kill unjustly."
"There's no way I can turn my back to Masato! I know Yukio wouldn't...!" Yoichi declared.
"Same for me!" Kazuhiro exclaimed. Those three were willing to fight for Masato's life. They all had a strong sense of justice for the greater good.
"What's this? Did you all grow a pair in a second?" Monokuma asked vulgarly. "You teenagers really are rebellious! How many more of you do I have to stamp out until you get it through your thick skulls!? You don't decide the rules here, I do!" Monokuma shouted like a parent. "If you don't realize that then you'll all be good and dead!"
What could we do? Monokuma most likely had traps and punishments laid out for us already if we stepped out of line. I wanted to think that we might stand a chance... or that we might be able to save Masato and ourselves... but what could we do?
"Guys..." Masato mumbled. "Just let me die..." Everyone looked at him and shock and before anyone could deny or shoot down his proposal he quickly went on. "I don't think innocent people should defend a guilty man. I was foolish and allowed Monokuma to manipulate me..."
"But-" Kazuhiro tried to argue.
"Alright! It's Punishment Time!" Monokuma cackled. A small button rose in front of his chair and he spun a little mallet around and hit the button. On the monitors it flashed 'GAME OVER' as a small sprite of Masato was on screen. It read 'MASATO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. IT'S TIME FOR PUNISHMENT.' A sprite of Monokuma walked by and dragged Masato off screen.
(Number Cruncher) We all stared warily as Masato closed his eyes while the Monokuma chain clamped shut around his neck and yanked him away from all of us. Kazuhiro tried reaching out for Masato but he was out of reach as he was dragged away. The monitor turned back on and showed us Masato strapped to a desk and various metal machines behind him on a conveyor belt. On the desk was a long list of papers he was hurriedly writing, it must be his way out. It looked as though it was the conveyor belt used to kill Kirigiri but modded to hell and beyond. Each machine was a large mechanical arm with a small mallet attached. Then the conveyor started. The conveyor belt started as Masato was whacked in the face one at a time by each of the mallets as he tried to finish but barely able to concentrate as each one continually beat him to a bloody pulp. He had reached the end of the belt and what awaited him was the garbage disposal. He answered the last problem as the press was coming down. Just before it could harm a hair on his head it stopped thankfully but the conveyor was still moving. It moved off screen and I could only assume he fell through a hole. However, he didn't land with a splat or no sound at all. All we could hear was the sound of what something inside a turbine sounds like as it gets ripped to shreds and all we saw was bits of hit shirt and blood. We stared at the screen with horror once more. This is reality, isn't it? There's no way something too cruel could be a dream... there's just... no way... before I knew what was happening everything about my world turned to black and I hit the ground with a thud.
As my consciousness faded I could hear that laugh. That cheery but haunting laugh chuckle in the back of my mind. That chuckle grew louder and louder until it was a full blown cackle. Monokuma's laugh... it consumed the last of my cognitive thought until I couldn't focus on anything anymore...
Students Remaining: (26)
Akiko S. - Ultimate ?
Hajime "Jay" Kazuki - Ultimate Luckster
Akemi Hanako - X (Former Ultimate Actress)
Ryota Takao - Ultimate Sports Master
Akihiro Junichi - Ultimate Merchant
Shinju Suzu - Ultimate Instrumentalist
Destiny Kiro - Ultimate Vocalist
Kazuhiro Hisao - Ultimate Heir
Kohaku Mari - Ultimate Medium
Tatsuya Raiden - Ultimate Combatant
Chidori Yukimura - Ultimate Charisma
Hiroaki Hisashi - Ultimate Fanfic Author
Shin Yuzuki - Ultimate Artist
Chou Ayano - Ultimate Gamer
Amaya Chika - Ultimate Collector
Emiko Kamiko - Ultimate Fashionista
Masato Osamu - X (Former Ultimate Mathematician)
Yoichi Kunio - Ultimate Web Star
Juku Kunio - Ultimate Chef
Saburo Kunio - Ultimate ?
Natsuko Ren - Ultimate Traditional Dancer
Shigeo Kyou -X (Former Ultimate Connosseiur)
Ikazuchi Michi - X (Former Ultimate Electrician)
Miyako Usagi - Ultimate Hacker
Yukino Toshiko - Ultimate Doctor
Izanagi Katsu - Ultimate Gambler
Makoto Takeo - Ultimate Commander/Class President (If you want a better title)
Rei Naoko - Ultimate Student
Atsushi Tamuki - Ultimate Engineer
Hotaru Haruki - Ultimate Botanist
Yukio Yuudai -X (Former Ultimate Hero)
"So now we're down to 26 players, then?" Said the mysterious person, chewing on popcorn. "How interesting." They check a separate monitor on the demolished building that was once a Future Foundation Headquarters. "Their game is already up too." The figure paused for a moment before finally stating aloud "They won't make it any time soon... which leaves me so many liberties of my players~!" They cooed. "Ah, I can finally be creative beyond murder! Ahh, I can't wait for all the cute and awesome ideas! They'll be in for a surprise soon enough~!" The figure chuckled malevolently. "Heh... Despair today. Despair tomorrow. That's what this is... upu... upupupu..." The figure finished his chuckle while licking the salty snack of their lips in a rather sultry manner.