The next morning, Masashi woke up, still wondering about what he had learned last night. Though it was a relief to know that Atsushi had not been up to anything shady, it still troubled him a bit to see that he had not become any friendlier, unlike what Masashi had been hoping for. And more importantly, there was a secret room connected to the merry-go-round room. It certainly had a strange air about it; it did not match the woodland setting at all, looking more like a private room in a great mansion. Masashi had guessed that it was simply a room for employees to relax in or to hide in for some of the attractions, and it would explain why the amusement park management had not even bothered to integrate the library into the setting.
Maybe I should talk about this with Mari later... A part of him wondered whether she and Atsushi had found anything interesting from their investigation, and Mari seemed more willing to tell him. And as far as he could tell, there was no rule that stated that she could not talk about it, so it would be no breach of protocol, and all would still be right.
As Masashi got ready to join the others for breakfast, however, he spotted something peculiar by the corner of his eye. There, lying on his desk, was a pink tablet. Right away, Masashi picked it up. Since it had not been there last night, it must have been Monokuma that had put it there. But if that was true, then the tablet betokened nothing good.
Still, I wonder what this is, Masashi thought as he looked at it, which looked much like a Monopad. When he tapped the screen, however, it turned on, showing two silhouettes of him. In the middle was displayed, in a rather gaudy font, "Masashi Kousaki's Motive Video".
"It's the moment we've all been waiting for! The motive video!" Monokuma's voice rang out from the video. "Who's the person most important in your life? Let's find out!"
The screen then changed, now showing a certain girl with short black hair and a bright smile. On her head was a white headdress, and her white apron was worn over her black dress that came with white lacing. She was standing alone in a room that had plain beige wallpaper and looked rather clean.
"Keiko?!" Masashi exclaimed, confusion rushing through his mind, his heart beating fast. Why in the world was his little sister in this video?
"Masashi Kousaki, the Ultimate Lucky Student!" Monokuma continued. "Rather bland and uninteresting upon first glance, this high school boy can stand out only with his title. But the same can't be said for Keiko Kousaki, his little sister and the Ultimate Maid! We've managed to get a video with her, so let's hear her sweet exquisite voice now!"
"Oh, hey, Masashi!" Keiko said. Masashi was relieved to hear that she had the same blithesome and light-hearted voice as she always did. "I hope that things are going well back at home. It's been pretty tiring so far at the place I'm working at, but it's no problem for me! I'll be sure to send you some of my earnings soon!"
But no sooner had Masashi felt glad to see her doing well than the screen changed. To his utter bemusement and horror, Keiko was sitting on the floor and looked quite unkempt, her clothes tattered. She seemed to be in a different room; the wall was a dull gray color, and the surroundings were extremely dirty. And worst of all, her kind smile was no longer there, weariness and misery all over her face.
"Wh-What the?!" Masashi blurted out, seeing that she seemed to be in a jail cell of some kind. Whatever her place of imprisonment might be, his concern and confusion grew ever so quickly.
"Oh, no!" Monokuma said all too blithely. "It seems that Keiko's days of employment have come to an end! And it's all due to an unfortunate incident! What is that incident, you may ask? Well, you'll find out once you leave this place! Puhuhuhuhu!"
The video ended.
"N-No…!" Masashi said, trying to deny what he had just seen. This must be some kind of cruel trick of Monokuma's. "There's no way this is true… There's no way in hell this is true!"
He would have thrown the tablet at the wall if he had not suddenly remembered that the others might have gotten something like this as well. He must go see them right away. Leaving the tablet behind, Masashi rushed out of the room and found Murphy and Haruyuki nearby.
"Ah, you two!" Masashi said. "Have you gotten—"
"The motive videos? I'm afraid we have," Murphy said, his expression grim under his straw hat. "The whole thing stinks to high heaven, that's for sure."
"Futaba and Atsushi have made us tell the rest of you to go to the dining room at once," Haruyuki said. Strangely enough, he looked not at all befuddled by what he had found in his room. "Once everyone is gathered, we shall then talk about this."
With no complaints, Masashi headed to the dining room at once. There, Futaba, Atsushi, and Mari stood by one table, the phenologist looking a bit tired, perhaps from waking up earlier than she usually did. The others who were here were Faye, Sister Hikari, Haruka, and Tanjiro, all of whom looked quite bothered and dispirited. There was no need to ask whence their unease came.
"I-I can't believe it…" Faye murmured. "H-How…?"
"Th-This is a joke, right?" Haruka said. "I mean, speaking as a clown, I can't but see this as one…"
"If it is a joke, it's a rather mean-spirited one," Tanjiro remarked.
Soon, all the others came. Most of them looked rattled and confused, and only Haruyuki, Abraham, and Maiha seemed to have managed to keep it together. Once everyone settled down, Futaba stepped forwards. She herself kept her usual stiff demeanor, but something about it looked a bit forced. It seemed that even she had been shocked by her video's contents.
"Now that we are all here," she began, "I would like to confirm something. Has each and every one of you gotten a so-called motive video?"
One by one, the students affirmed so.
"But what is the meaning of this?" Murphy asked. "What's Monokuma trying to pull here?"
As if bidden to come, Monokuma popped up right in their midst and looked rather gleeful at this sudden development.
"Why, what's confusing about it, buddy?" Monokuma said. Though their captain, he certainly seemed rather uncaring about his passengers' concern.
"You know what I mean," Murphy replied. "Why have you given us these videos?"
"What, haven't you ever heard of a gift?" the captain said. "Here at Brightmere Mirthyard, we appreciate the loyalty that our customers show to our brand, so we'd like to give something back!"
"Say that to me again, but without the bullshit on top of it," Abraham said, snarling.
Monokuma scoffed. "Well, so much for customer satisfaction! All right, I'll tell. See, I've been waiting for the last two days, and let me tell you, I'm pretty surprised!"
"Surprised at what?" Tanjiro said.
"Surprised that none of you have been killed yet!" Monokuma exclaimed, paws raised. "I mean, I was once stuck in an amusement park for a day, and the appeal got old really quickly. There are only so many ways I can enjoy riding the same roller coaster again and again!"
"Is that all you do at an amusement park? Ride on roller coasters?" Maiha said condescendingly. "Such simplistic taste you have."
"That aside, didn't you hear us the first time?" Masashi said. "None of us will ever seriously think about killing!"
"Ah, that's true… I never seriously think about it. I'm the kind of bear that likes to think about it relaxedly…" Monokuma said wistfully. "Anyway, since none of you have had any plans for that, I've decided that you need something to spur you!"
"Then in other words, the 'motive' in these motive videos…" Futaba said.
"Yep! If you want to know what's happened to your family or friends," Monokuma finished for her, "you'll have to kill and get through the class trial without getting caught!"
The class gasped. Though a few might have already suspected so, it was still a shock to see that Monokuma was now actively working to get them to fall into his paws.
Kumi held what appeared to be a teddy bear dressed like a knight, the storyteller's face full of anxiety. "Th-This must be a lie! The videos must have been conjured by the evil warlock to trick us all!"
"Nope, it's reality! The people in the videos have been… Whoops, I almost gave it away!" Monokuma said.
Though the videos had been bad enough, hearing Monokuma confirm that the contents were not a lie only deepened the students' horror. If it was not a lie, then it meant that Monokuma had somehow gotten his hands on Keiko. It took Masashi great restraint not to grab the bear by his white suit's collar and demand that he tell him everything.
"And there's no telling what may happen to them if you don't act soon!" Monokuma continued, a paw set on his peaked cap.
"What do you mean, Captain Monokuma?" Haruyuki asked.
"Sorry, but I'll say no more! Loose lips sink ships, and I certainly don't want to sink this one," Monokuma replied cheekingly. "After all, I'm on it, and I don't want to get my outfit wet!"
"You… You bastard!" Arashi yelled. "How dare you do this?!"
However many times the others might chide him, it seemed that there was no controlling Arashi's hot temper, as he lunged toward Monokuma straight away. Fortunately, Murphy grabbed him by the arm, holding him back.
"Hold it right there! Don't you remember what happened last time?" Murphy said.
"B-But—"
Murphy did not loosen his grip on him. "I don't like this any bit, believe you me, but you mustn't lay a hand on the bear unless you have a death wish."
"Hey, that's not true!" Monokuma said, raising his paws in protest. "Being captain's a pretty stressful job, so I certainly won't punish you for touching me if you're willing to become my masseur."
"Ew, no!" Sayua said, giving him the evil eye.
"Yeah, I think it's pretty clear none of us want to touch you any time soon," Sorao remarked, hands rested behind his head. In any case, Arashi seemed to see the recklessness in hitting the captain, so he resisted no more.
Monokuma scoffed, as if truly hurt by Sorao's words. "I don't appreciate your lack of taste, but that's a problem for another day! Anyway, I've done my job, so I'm gonna get myself a cocktail!"
Tanjiro frowned. "You're just going to leave us like this?"
"Oh? Are you sad that you can't have a cocktail?" Monokuma said. "Sorry to break it to you, but cocktails are a privilege that the captain has! Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"
"Wh-Who cares about that?!" Hikari said, looking ghastlier than usual.
"Hmph! Once again, there's the problem of lack of taste among you!" Monokuma said. "Well, then, goodbye until the first body pops up! Or, you know, until you need me to unclog your toilets. You should be grateful that I'll do you that, at least."
Once Monokuma left, the students stayed silent for a while. It was like when they had heard from Monokuma that they were now in a killing game, and at the time, Masashi had not thought that he would have any more surprises from the bear. But he was dreadfully wrong, and all of a sudden, the chance that the killing game might truly go on had reared its ugly head.
"So what's the plan now?"
It was Sorao, who was facing Futaba and the leader's other two members. The others faced them as well, seeking the lady's guidance.
"Well…" Futaba said, apparently having a bit of trouble. "Hmm… Well… I suggest…"
"Suggest what?" Sister Hikari asked.
"I suggest… that we forget all about it," Futaba answered. "The videos are meant to spur us into killing, yes? Then… we obviously should not think about it at all, and we must do nothing. Sooner or later, we'll forget about it, and with our inaction, we'll have avoided Monokuma's trap."
"I have an objection."
It was none other than Maiha Hanazawa, who stared coldly at the lady.
"What objection could you possibly have?" Futaba said, looking somewhat surprised. "All we must do is forget about it."
"Hmm… Forget about it, you say," Sorao said. "Well, to a certain point, I get it. If we think about the videos, we'll obviously be likelier to think about killing someone."
Many of the others murmured in agreement with Futaba's advice. On one hand, Masashi could hardly brook the thought that Keiko was in great danger, and he needed to know what had happened to her, fearing lest her situation grow even worse. But on the other hand, Futaba's bidding made sense, since the only way to beat Monokuma at his own game was not to play at all, and killing would only continue the killing game.
But as if having foreseen the positive response, Maiha scoffed, a certain keenness in her eyes. "But that's no solution at all! You tell us to forget about it, but have you forgotten what Monokuma said as well about the hostages?"
"I-I believe he hinted that if we should not kill anyone soon, something bad might befall the hostages," Tanjiro said.
"Wait, you don't mean…" Faye said.
Maiha stood confident, her arms akimbo. "It's exactly what you think it means! Those facts in mind, do you truly think that we can simply forget about this and expect everything to be all right?! For all we know, the hostages may soon undergo such things as forced labor… torture… death! Can you truly look me in the eye and say that you are willing to take that risk and gamble with their lives?!"
Futaba flinched, staying silent as she struggled to come up with a response. However arrogant and prideful Maiha might be, however bombastic her speech might be, there was no denying the fact that she had a point here. Something might soon befall Keiko, and the sooner he got out of this godforsaken ship, the sooner he could find her and get her to safety.
"Th-That's right!" Haruka said, her voice and expression fearful. "W-We can't just do nothing while our loved ones are in danger!"
"Yeah, I can't agree to that!" Faye added. "There has to be a more effective, successful, and worthwhile solution to this!"
"You've got to think of something else!" Sayua said, her and the others' attention now directed at the speechless leader. "There's no way in hell I'll sit here like a lame duck and do nothing!"
"Y-Yeah!" Arashi said, angrily shaking his fist. "W-We've gotta stop Monokuma from doing whatever's going on in his twisted mind!"
One by one, as if overcome by the strength and might in her words, the students that had been in agreement with Futaba's advice now lost certainty in the effectiveness of what their lady had bidden them do. It was as if a virus had been unleashed upon the class and made them lose all control of their suppressed emotions. Besides Maiha, the only ones who Masashi could see had not reacted with panic were Atsushi, Mari, and Haruyuki. The last seemed to be looking at the situation as if he were a faraway seer, whereas the first two seemed to be whispering to each other about something.
"Everyone, please! You must settle down!" Futaba besought. "We mustn't fall for the temptations that Monokuma has laid us out. If we act maturely and think rationally, we can see that what I have suggested is the wisest course of action."
"B-But, Lady Futaba, a-are you sure about that?" Kumi asked, clutching his teddy bear even more tightly. "S-Surely there must be something you can do to fight off the evil warlock's spell!"
More and more grew the cries to beseech her to reconsider her bidding and think of a better plan. However many times she assured that she was right about her plan, there was no stopping the flood of fears that had been evoked in the students. The more closely Masashi looked, the more he could see Futaba becoming less and less able to keep her prim and proper disposition. The lady eyed each member of her audience, not stopping at one for even a few seconds, her lips trembling, her hands shaking a little. It was as if she were begging for someone else to say something instead, her eyes meant to beckon the target to speak in her stead. But now, there was no chance that anyone in the audience would speak for her.
"You know," Sayua said, "I bet you can go ahead and tell us to do nothing since you're not telling us the truth."
"Excuse me?" Futaba said, eyes widened.
"Don't you know? Sitting ducks are the easiest to kill," Sayua answered. "If you have us stay put and do nothing, it'll make it easier for you to take one of us down! I bet that's what you're truly up to!"
Maiha raised a finger. "Why, that's a rather good point! I don't mean to mar the good woman's name, but it's rather worrisome how vulnerable we shall be if we go with her idea, is it not?"
"N-Now that you mention it…" Hikari said. "Sh-She has been awfully insistent about it."
A few others too murmured about the very possibility that her whole idea was nothing more than a plot to weaken them. At this point, Masashi thought that it would take the lady extremely well done persuasion to get them back on her side, lest her leadership be questioned as well. After all, it was the others that had agreed to let Futaba be their leader.
"All of you, be quiet at once!"
The shriek that rang throughout the room silenced all the students, for it had come from none other than their leader, who looked, to Masashi's sheer surprise, utterly wrathful. Maiha covered her mouth with her right hand; Atsushi and Mari stopped their whispering; and Haruyuki eyed the lady with surprise.
"You have no right to slander me like that!" Futaba yelled, all grace and composure gone in her voice. "I've been doing nothing but tell you the wisest thing to do, and yet you accuse me of working against you! How utterly, utterly foolish!"
"Eek!" Kumi squealed, hiding his face behind his teddy bear.
"Sh-She's gone berserk!" Red Mask said, gaping.
"Whoa, I certainly didn't see that coming," Sorao said, eyes widened.
The others stared wide-eyed at her as well. Up to this point, Futaba had acted as this stiff and fussy girl, no doubt because of her wealthy upbringing, and for the most part, her decisions had been sensible enough. But now that there was a motive, confusion had been sown in the class. Now was the time when she was needed the most, but she must not have been ready to handle all the pressure and expectations thrust upon her.
Sh-She sounds much more like a brat now. Kind of like Arashi, actually... Masashi had no idea as to what he ought to say, but it was clear that all her gracefulness had been nothing but a facade.
"You blather on and on about how I ought to change my approach, but I'm the only one that's actually come up with something, so until you suggest something better, I suggest that you keep your mouths shut!" Futaba said, crossing her arms, the crowd growing more bemused at her brattiness.
"B-But don't you think that we should at least talk about other options together?" Sister Hikari asked.
"Other options? What's the point of discussing it when there's nothing else we can do?" She turned to her deputy and his helper. "And don't you have anything to back me up with?!"
"Forsooth, we do." Atsushi stepped forwards, looking much less perturbed by Futaba's change in disposition. "Mari and I are come up with an idea that helps lessen our ordeal."
The archaeologist then whispered something in Futaba's ear, after which she grew surprised. Though she questioned him at one point, after more whispering, she nodded along, apparently approving of the idea. Futaba took in a breath of air and now looked a tad calmer. "All of you, go to your rooms and come back with the motive videos."
"But why?" Tanjiro asked.
Futaba scoffed, her fist clenched. "I'll explain once you bring them here! Now do it, if you know what's good for you!"
This time, no one, not even Arashi and Maiha, argued with her. The students were all curious about whatever idea Atsushi had put into her head. Once they came back with their videos, Futaba bade them put them on the table before her.
"Uh, could you now tell us what this is all about?" Sorao asked. "I mean, I don't see what having all the videos here will do us any good."
"Oh, it'll do you a lot of good, surely!" Futaba said. "Watch!"
Futaba grabbed one of the tablets and raised it up high, as if beckoning the students to gaze at it. It looked like any other tablet, and without turning it on, one could not tell whose it belonged to. Then, with all her might, she slammed it down onto the floor, the impact making a horrible and loathsome noise.
"Wh-What the?!" Masashi exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like to you? We are to destroy every last one of these videos!" Futaba answered. "If I were to leave you be with them, you would simply watch them again and feel even more tempted to kill!"
"Would that we had destroyed them before we had watched them," Atsushi said. "Then the whole ordeal would have been avoided. But we can still do something about it. Let us get to it."
"Ah, all right," Mari said plainly.
A few seconds later, Atsushi and Mari grabbed two of the tablets and smashed them onto the floor as well.
"Hmph! This one is still working!" Futaba said, having touched the tablet that she had just smashed. "It'll take a few more attempts to destroy this, I see!"
Just as she was about to fling it onto the floor again, however, Arashi rushed toward her, Murphy unable to restrain him. He snatched the tablet from her and turned it on.
"This one's not mine!" Arashi then tossed the tablet in a random direction, and if it had been a few inches nearer to the left, it would have hit Haruyuki. The pyrotechnician turned toward the deputy and his assistant, who were standing by the table with all the tablets. "Then one of them's gotta be mine!"
Arashi ran toward the table, Futaba bidding that the two stop him at once. When Atsushi and Mari tried to grab him, to everyone's surprise, he leapt at them instead and crashed into the table, spilling all the table's contents.
"You stupid little wretch!" Atsushi exclaimed before he bade Murphy and Sorao restrain him. "Be not reckless! Do you not reck of your wellbeing when you resort to that measure? You shall be punished for this!"
"My video!" Arashi exclaimed, but it was no use. As the others silently watched, Futaba, Atsushi, and Mari went ahead and smashed the tablets one by one. By the time they were done, the floor had become covered with the remains of eighteen pink tablets, and the other students had come to show a mix of shock and disillusion.
Futaba cleared her hands, her wrath gone. "Well, now, the pesky temptations have been taken care of!"
"Taken care of? Hah!" Abraham said scornfully. "You may have smashed up the fucking videos, but there's still the problem of the damn hostages."
"Well, as I said beforehand, there is nothing else we can do," Futaba said, regaining her composure. "All we can do is forget about the videos' contents and wait."
"Wait? How does that—"
"I am not done yet, mind you!" Futaba cleared her throat. "It was quite silly for me to forget, but as Atsushi has kindly reminded me, we must wait, but we do not need to wait too long. Remember that I am Futaba Inoshishi, one of the children of the CEO of Inoshishi Enterprises. My father has several resources under his beck and call, and his security force and the authorities must be looking into my disappearance as well as yours, I should imagine. And I am sure that your loved ones' kidnapping is being looked into as well. After all, a disappearance of eighteen more people throughout Japan is bound to catch the authorities' attention."
"Ah, so it'll only be a matter of time before they're rescued as well, right?" Sorao said. "I said it last time, but I'll say it again: it's pretty lucky that you were kidnapped along with us."
"In a way, it's a blessing in disguise," Murphy said.
The others looked more and more persuaded that Futaba had the best idea here. Of course, it was no different from what she had suggested only a few minutes ago, but now that she had given them a good enough reason to back her up, her rhetoric was enough to overcome the naysayers in the crowd. Much as he was loath to admit it, however, it was clear that Futaba had had to fall back on Atsushi for support. If this were to happen once more without someone to support her, then things would become much worse, Masashi imagined.
"And one more thing." Futaba then bowed so greatly that the others looked quite shocked by the gesture. "I greatly apologize for my conduct earlier. It was very unbefitting for someone in my position, and I accept that as the leader, I am responsible for any misbehavior and misdeeds within my purview."
It was a short apology, but it was enough for the others to accept it without any gainsaying. And yet, in the end, she might have her way around here, but this incident had undeniably broken her classmates' image of her, and it would take much for her to mend it. At least, Masashi hoped that she was aware of what steps she could take to do so.
"Now, then," Futaba said, "this mess must be dealt with immediately. Monokuma says that he will do the cleaning, but I want this room to be tidied up for dinnertime. I can hardly brook the thought of supping on the floor."
Sorao shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But, uh, who'll be assigned cleaning duty?"
"Uh, could I do it?" Masashi asked. "I don't mind working a bit. It'll help me clear my mind, I think."
Futaba looked a bit pleased, no doubt because she found him rather agreeable. "Very well, then. We shall have Masashi rid the dining room of the current mess. In the meantime, you are free to do whatever you want. Of course, you should not think about your videos' contents, but as I obviously cannot stop you from doing so, I can only give you that small but significant piece of advice."
"Well… no harm in trying at this point," Faye said. "Not as if I could do anything else, of course..."
Sorao scratched his head. "Yeah, it may be a bit hard, but I guess that's the best thing to do for now."
"R-Right! With the help of Lady Futaba's family and friends, we'll overcome whatever the evil warlock throws at us!" Kumi said, having regained his usual cheeriness. "Sir Teddybane will swear to that as well!"
"Sir Teddybane?" Tanjiro asked, confused.
"Oh, that's what I call my teddy bear!" Kumi then showed off his teddy bear wearing a knight's armor. "I've had him with me since my seventh birthday! He's always here for me whenever things get rocky!"
Sayua pointed at the teddy bear, her face betokening her dismissiveness. "Hah, you still have a teddy bear at your age? You ought to grow up and let go of the damn thing as well as drop the whole fairy shtick."
"Wh-What? You… You don't think fairies are real?" Kumi replied, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Of course she doesn't. Anyone who's grown up knows that Fantasyland isn't fucking real," Abraham said.
"Now, now, there's no need to put him down for it," Sister Hikari said gently. "I'm sure this is simply his way of coping with the situation. If all the business about fairies keeps his busy, there's no harm in letting him be."
Abraham scoffed, but in the end, he said nothing else. He must have realized that it was futile to try to get Kumi to leave his fantastic world.
Once Futaba dismissed everyone, the students soon went their separate ways. Arashi ended up being escorted to his room by Tanjiro, his designated guard. Meanwhile, Maiha, who looked a bit disappointed, headed for the starboard hallway. There was something that Masashi wanted to ask her, but for now, he must clean up the dining room.
"The mess won't clean itself up, you know, so you'd better get started!" Masashi sighed wistfully. I'm pretty sure that's what Keiko would say if she were here...
First things first, he ought to take care of the broken tablets. They had been the so-called roots of temptation to kill, wherefore the leadership's three members had agreed to destroy them. But if they had asked him about it, he would have told them that there was no need to do so. Yes, things did not look too good right now, and he could not but agree that letting the others watch the videos again would not make things better. But in the end, he was sure that even with the videos, there was no way that the students would actually try to murder one another; murder was a crime too great to pull off without letting guilt set in later. And even though he was very curious as to how Keiko fared right now, murder was far too dear a price for knowledge.
As he collected the tablets, however, he happened to touch one of them and nearly started once a voice came out from it. The screen was slightly cracked because of the damage that Arashi had caused, but the video was playing. The leadership must have accidentally overlooked this one because of the chaos that Arashi had caused. And yet, it mattered little, since the one that had escaped the leadership's cleansing, as it were, was none other than his.
Masashi wondered whether he ought to laugh, since the very root of his temptation was still here. He could watch the video once more and not only see Keiko's face but also her voice. To be sure, he checked the other tablets to see whether they by some chance were functional. Unfortunately, however, they were all broken. But when he looked at it the other way, he felt all the luckier that it was his that was the only one unbroken. He felt a bit bad that he was deceiving the others, but this was something that he would not let go, and so he hid the tablet in his gray jacket and worked as quickly as he could to finish the cleaning.
After a long while, the dining room looked as it usually did. If Keiko had been here, undoubtedly, she would have done it much more quickly.
After putting the video in his room, Masashi walked around the woodland kingdom, wanting to see what the others were up to. Though sure that they were still a tad troubled by the motive videos, he hoped that they would soon find a way to handle the situation. Of course, that was much easier said than done; now that Keiko was in trouble, he wondered every now and then how much danger she might be in.
At one point, he passed by the lounge in the third deck and heard voices coming therefrom. He peeked in, and to his surprise, it was Futaba and Sorao.
"Ah, well, once again, I'd like to say that I'm sorry I got caught up in the frenzy," Sorao said, bowing. "Even though I was concerned about the person in my video, the others and I shouldn't have pestered you."
Futaba nodded, unperturbed. "At this point, what is done is done. Still, it is not only I that must learn from the experience."
Sorao chuckled. "Well, that's true. I'll try not to get carried away next time. But, you know, maybe I can help you as well."
Futaba raised her eyes a bit. "Oh? Whatever do you mean?"
"Let me try to put this as lightly as I can… I think that your leadership could be better."
"That is evident enough," Futaba said. "But one could say likewise for many a thing. Unless one actually had a good reason to make that argument, I should be inclined not to pay heed to it."
"A reason, you say? Well… You may want to hear this." Sorao cleared his throat. "I've heard that yesterday, Atsushi had been dealing out punishments to a few others for breaking the rules. For example, Faye ended up having to clean up the servants' quarters as part of punishment for accidentally breaking a plate. He even had her set up a curtain on the window since he said it would make the room look better."
"So I have heard. But how is that relevant to the reason that you claim to have?"
"Well, I think the punishment ought to be less harsh," Sorao said. "And from what I've heard, so do a few others. I mean, no one wants to be subjected to tiresome work or locked in a room the whole day. Maybe you can soften things a bit."
Futaba pondered for a moment. "I see your point. I suppose that I ought to make a rule that limits what kind of punishment may be given."
Sorao smiled. "Sweet! And while you're at it, you had better know that Atsushi isn't exactly the most popular guy aboard. I think it'll be better that you not listen to him all the time. If you always listen to him, your image will no doubt be associated with him, and the others, I'm afraid, won't think that highly of you."
Having stayed silent for the last few minutes, Masashi was amazed to see how helpful Sorao was to Futaba. He had struck him as a rather kind man when they had first met, but it was good that he was also helping the leadership. Whatever her qualifications might be, Futaba was not exactly the most approachable student here and so someone like Sorao might help her with that.
"But when shall I not listen to him?" Futaba asked stiffly.
"Simple. You ought to think about how Atsushi's suggestions affect the class," Sorao answered. "The others understand his suggestion to break the motive videos, but they're not too happy about it. Next time, you need to think twice about what he says and think more about how else you can make the class happier."
Futaba nodded along, seemingly accepting of his criticism. "Hmm… I suppose that that is right. Very well. I shall contemplate the matter."
His suggestion intrigued Masashi as well, since it meant that if she listened to Sorao, Atsushi's influence would be lessened greatly. Given that the rest of the class did not seem to like Atsushi too much, Masashi saw this as a good thing, since the others will doubtless be much happier. Of course, he could only imagine how angry the archaeologist might become upon hearing the news.
"Now, then," Futaba said, "you say that you are a celesta player, yes?"
"Yep, but there's no celesta to play here, so I can't play you a piece."
Futaba shook her head. "Anyone can obviously see that there is no such thing here, and so clearly, that is not what I want. I presume that you have played at concerts before."
"Well, not to brag, but I have won many a musical competition and performed in many a concert," Sorao said, looking a bit prideful. "My many achievements have helped raise my musical profile."
"Then surely you have many tales of your performances to talk about. Entertain me."
"Sure thing!" Sorao said. "One bright and starry night…"
As soon as Sorao began his tale, Masashi saw it as a sign to leave them alone. Interesting as it might be, he was more interested in seeing what the others were doing. When Masashi entered the third deck's playroom, he found Maiha standing there alone. She appeared to be thinking about something, sitting on a log.
Ah, that reminds me… I want to ask her something.
"Uh, Maiha?" Masashi said as he approached. "What are you doing right now?"
She said nothing as if she had not noticed his presence.
"Maiha?"
Nothing happened. Wanting to make her notice him, Masashi poked her on the arm, which garnered a stern stare from her.
"What do you want?" she asked, already looking tired of his presence, her arms crossed. "Couldn't you see that I was thinking deeply about certain matters?"
"I simply want to ask you something," Masashi said. "It's about what happened earlier. You reminded everyone that Monokuma might do something bad to the hostages."
"Yes, I did," she said, eyeing him warily. "What of it?"
"You… You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Masashi asked, remembering how she had acted during the meeting. "You said all that stuff to make the class angry at Futaba."
Maiha rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was simply pointing out what she had overlooked. Accusing me of being a rabble-rouser is uncalled for, to say the least."
He should have known that she would deny it. After all, her being a rabble-rouser led to unsettling implications about what she might do later.
"Even so, you should have known that you'd make Futaba get anxious with all the pressure from the others," Masashi pointed out. "Because of you, she acted rather unbecomingly for a leader."
"Well, it's her fault, truly," Maiha said dismissively. "If she couldn't handle it, then she shouldn't have become the leader in the first place."
Oh, so that's what this is all about… Masashi sighed. Of course she had a grudge about not having been chosen as the leader. Unlike Futaba, Maiha did not even put up any image of grace and humility, however fancy and elaborate she might look.
"Wait, I don't get it," Masashi said. "Futaba's a rich girl like you. And since you've been calling the rest of us commoners, I'd figure you two would get along."
Maiha let out a scornful laugh. "You think that all rich folk are the same! Truly, you are a commoner. Let it be known that she and I are too unalike."
"Really?"
"Yes. For one, she's needlessly fussy and persnickety, and she sounds too stiff as well," Maiha answered. "And for a leader, she's far too weak and unassertive, having to have Atsushi help her all the time."
Funnily enough, given what Sorao had told her, Masashi would think that to be no longer a problem for Maiha, but he could see that her grievances were deeper than that. After all, even before seeing how Futaba would act as the leader, Maiha had already been a bit upset that she had not been chosen. Masashi suspected that her true desire was to stand above all others. Of course, he did not know how Maiha treated her friends, but he suspected that she at best saw them as equals and never as her betters.
"And even if we were not in this situation, I should still find her quite disagreeable," Maiha said. "I've talked to her about such topics as business, finance, and politics. We disagree too much for me to deem her someone to associate with."
In other words, even if she talked to someone of the same social class, if that person differed too much from Maiha in those matters, friendship was not to be expected. Therefore, there was no chance that Maiha would ever work with Futaba. It was rather small-minded, but given how prideful she was, Masashi was not too surprised at her behavior.
But there was another quality of hers that worried him. However childish she might be, she had managed to put the class into a frenzy over Futaba's solution to the problem involving the motive videos. Clearly, she was far more cunning than he had thought her to be. Of course, he was sure that she would never try to kill, and he had no actual proof that she was truly scheming against the leadership since her excuse for agitating the crowd sounded innocent enough. But henceforth, he must be careful around her. There was no telling what she might do next.
And here it is! The long-awaited motive has been shown at last. It's pretty ordinary (and it's the first one in the franchise!), but I think it's pretty effective in pushing certain characters to kill. Masashi's certain that no one will actually kill, and there's this hope that the Inoshishis will rescue them, but of course, as we all know, this is Danganronpa. The characters are bound to be let down, and someone will die soon. Now that you have this chapter's motive, which characters do you think will be the victim and the killer?
