Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. Again, another weird chapter to work with, with much of the excitement around the first half. Here, the class will begin Chapter 5's deadly life. I hope you enjoy.
P.S. Anyone else noticed fanfiction dot net acting funky these past weeks/months? If so, any idea what's going on? Cause I got nothing.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Chapter 95: Watching Chapter 5: 100 Miles; Pain of a Junk Food Junkie Part 7
(Chapter 5 - 100 Mile Dash; Pain of a Junk Food Junkie - Deadly Life)
"Just to make things clear…" Makoto thought to himself. A flashback of the attempted assassination was shown. "Last night, I was attacked by someone wearing a mask. And whoever that was - now they're…"
Then the scene transitioned back to the present, showing the corpse. 'I don't know why, but now they're laying dead in front of me…' He thought in a daze.
"The situation must look insane to your future self, huh man…" Leon noted, turning his head towards his friend.
Makoto nodded. "My head would probably be spinning at that moment…" He admitted, earning a few sympathetic looks from his friends.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the mad laughter from Jill. "I told ya, there's a corpse hangin' out here!"
"Are they really… dead?" Hina asked, looking pale. "Is this really a dead body…?"
"You need to begin looking around right away. However…" Byakuya looked across the room with narrowed eyes. "Be ever so careful. There's no telling what you might find."
"Does he think that the attacker is still in the area?" Taka inquired curiously.
"It's a possibility to keep in mind, at least for our future selves." Byakuya answered, eyes narrowed at the screen. "Can't immediately be disregarded."
Slowly, the group gathered around the corpse. As they were examining it, Byakuya continued speaking. "Their heart isn't beating, they're not breathing, all signs of life have come to a complete stop…" He noted. "Thanks to the knife that's been driven into their stomach, their clothes are stained a bright red."
"It appears the bleeding has stopped, but the blood that's there is still wet." The heir continued examining. "Be careful you don't touch it and get some on you…"
"Hmm… that would imply that this happened recently…" Kyoko mused. "If it happened at night, the blood would've dried up already."
"Does that mean that the masked person was killed… while the survivors were at the gym?" Chihiro guessed, looking nervous about the whole thing.
"That would be the implication, yes." Was all Kyoko said.
"How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Hiro asked shakily. "Who is it?! Their face and body are all hidden, so I don't have a clue…"
"I'm pretty sure it's a girl at least…" Hina guessed.
"Huh?" Hiro turned towards Hina in confusion. "How can you tell?"
"Well… I think I see the outline of her chest. And just the general shape of the body…" Hina said, pointing at the spots she's talking about. "Yeah, the more I look, the more I'm sure it's a girl."
"That means our mystery guy is a girl…?" Junko commented, more of a statement than a question. "Does that mean the mastermind is a girl too…?"
"Assuming that this is the mastermind…" Celeste stated, her eyes also focused on the screen. "Then yes."
"I would be surprised that a girl would be this psycho and evil…" Hiro said nervously, scratching the side of his head. "But after Jill, I'm not surprised at all."
"Ditto." Several other students voiced in unison.
'Really?' Makoto thought with some surprise. 'Then it could be-!'
Again, he was broken out of his thoughts by Jill's laughter. "Okay then!" She then reached over to the mask. "Let's just tear the mask clean off!"
"Wait, she shouldn't-" Kyoko spoke up.
"They don't know-" Byakuya also tried to speak.
"It could be a-" Hifumi started.
"They should be-" Celeste attempted to say.
"Wait, don't-!" Byakuya protested. However, Jill already grabbed onto the mask by the time he did. And instantly…
*BOOM*
An explosion filled the area, throwing Jill far back and causing the others to cover their eyes.
All veined warnings died on the students' lips at the sight and sound of the explosion. Eyes widened with shock, skin went pale, and jaws dropped as they processed what they just witnessed. A moment after…
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Did it just-?!"
"It blew up! It suddenly just blew up!"
"How did-?! Why did-?! Wha-!"
"IT'S A TRAP!"
"TOKO!"
Suffice to say, all of the students were thrown completely off guard by the explosion. Even
'The body… it blew up.' Makoto thought dazedly, stumbling from the explosion. 'It blew up, it blew up, it blew up, it blew up, it blew up, it blew up, it blew up, it blew up!'
"Why the fuck did it blew up…?!" Mondo questioned in disbelief. "How the fuck did it blew up…?! What in the actual FUCK is going on?!"
"The hell if I know, man!" Hiro cried out, holding his head with both hands. "I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that an explosion just happened!"
"This entire chapter is batshit insane!" Leon shouted, looking at though he's about to rip his hair out.
"And what happened to Toko?! Is she okay?! Is she still alive?!" Hina asked frantically, worried for the book writer. "She took the full impact of that explosion!"
"T-Toko…!" Chihiro also looked scared of the writing prodigy.
Toko herself had a look of confusion and fear, having missed the explosion due to covering her eyes. 'What happened?! They said I, or uh, Jack, got hit with the explosion?! What happened to me?!'
For a moment, it looked as though the lucky student would pass out any moment. But before he could, a bucket of water was suddenly thrust into his hand. "Hurry up, put out the fire." He heard Byakuya say. "Come on, dump the water on it."
His voice brought Makoto back to reality, his eyes on the burning corpse. "O-Okay!" And with that, he took aim and tossed the water on top of the body. Thankfully, that was enough to douse the flame.
"I-I guess that took care of it…" Makoto said shakily, dropping the bucket.
"But what the hell, man?" Hiro cried out anxiously.
"It… exploded?" Hina questioned incredulously.
"I… had a bad feeling about that body. But I never imagined it would explode…" Byakuya said, also stunned.
'Neither did I…' Kyoko, Celeste, and the present Byakuya thought to themselves. They knew that they shouldn't just recklessly mess with the body, but for it to explode…?
Junko herself was also caught off guard by this sudden development. Now what brought this forward…? What is her future self trying to hide? Cause unless the junior detective managed to find something she shouldn't, this was caused by her.
"And now the body…"
The camera then shifted to show the now burnt and blackened corpse.
"Fuck…!" Both Mondo and Leon cursed out.
"The body is completely charred…" Celeste said with a small grimace. "Which means they can no longer tell who it is now."
"Oh come on…!" Hina whined.
'...I wonder… is that intentional?' Kyoko asked herself. Was somebody trying to hide the identity of the corpse? And if so, was it the victim themself or the attacker that placed a bomb within the mask?
"It's burnt to a crisp! That's beyond well done, man!" Hiro cried out.
"Don't compare it to a steak!" Hina protested. "I'll never be able to eat steak again…"
"What future me said…!" The swimmer exclaimed in vehement agreement. "I want to be able to eat a prime cut in the future, thank you!"
"But now that the body's charred, I really have no idea…" Makoto stated, staring at the corpse. "How are we gonna find out who it was…?"
The response he got was a question from the Togami heir. "Who isn't here right now?"
"...Huh?" The lucky student stared at Byakuya with numbed confusion.
It took a moment for the group to understand the implication the heir was giving. "Wait… they don't think that…?" Leon trailed off, eyebrows shooting up.
"If we consider who's not here, that will quickly narrow down who it must be." Byakuya explained.
"...It seems that they do, Mr. Kuwata." Hifumi answered the unasked question.
"There's only one person missing…" Hina pointed out nervously.
"It's… Kyoko." Hiro stated dreadfully.
"K-Kyoko?!"
"But - we saw Kyoko! And she wasn't wearing the mask!" Hina protested, waving her arms frantically. "There's no way that that could be her! No way!"
Before anymore could be said or added to that, Byakuya himself spoke up. "Don't get into a panic. My future self didn't say Kyoko." He told the group. "I'm certain he's talking about the other missing person. The one we suspect is dead."
That got the group silent, with more than a few minds clicking as to who he's talking about. "You think your future self is referring to the mastermind?" Celeste inquired.
"Yes." Byakuya bluntly confirmed.
Makoto turned back to the dead body, eyes wide. 'Then that dead body…' He thought fearfully. '...is Kyoko?'
The thought of Kyoko dying… it caused the lucky student's stomach to clench painfully. She's alive. Both the future version and present version. Makoto knew that. But the thought of that body being her, having to see another friend dead… for it to be Kyoko's corpse…
Almost subconsciously, he grabbed Kyoko's hand. That caught the detective's attention, causing her to look in his direction. When she saw the distressed look across Makoto's face, her eyes softened before squeezing his hand back in silent reassurance.
The lucky student shook his head, anguish across his face. 'No! That can't be right!'
"Calm down. I didn't say it was Kyoko." Byakuya stated curtly.
"But, I mean… who else…?" Hiro pointed out.
"There is one other person." Byakuya said confidently, a smirk across his face. "The mastermind…"
"So your future self really does suspect this…" Taka said, a frown across his face. "But what made him come to such a conclusion? After all, he doesn't have the information we all do, or even the future Makoto does."
"He doesn't, no. But there's the fact that Monokuma is hardly moving." Byakuya pointed out. "That alone gives reason for him to believe they may be dead."
That had the other three's eyes widening. "What?!" Hina exclaimed in disbelief.
"Th-The mastermind?!" Hiro followed right after. "Come on, there's no way! The MASTERMIND got char-broiled?! Get serious!"
"I agree, normally the idea wouldn't be worth considering." The Togami heir conceded. "But I have reason to believe it may be true."
A flashback of the survivors tearing apart Monokuma was then shown. "The mastermind being dead would explain that other matter, wouldn't it? Monokuma can hardly move around if its master is dead right?"
"The more this goes on, the more hopeful I feel that the mastermind is actually dead…" Junko said, sounding 'hopeful'. "And I don't know if I should be scared of that or not…"
"Yeah like… I really want the psycho to be dead, but…" Leon said, scratching the back of his head. "Like Byakuya said, that feels way too damn easy…"
"I would go with the term anticlimactic, myself…" Hifumi remarked.
"And there's the title change at the start… the shift from 'daily life' to 'deadly life'..." Celeste also pointed out. "That tells me the events within the school are far from over…"
"Not to mention… we still don't know who the mastermind is…" Sayaka added, biting her lips.
Suffice to say, there's a level of trepidation with the group. A hope that the mastermind actually is dead, but that feeling that isn't actually so.
"B-But… that corpse is a girl, right? It doesn't make any sense!" Hiro protested. "I mean, remember what Alter Ego said?"
A flashback of Alter Ego giving info about the headmaster was then shown, before going back to the present. "He said the mastermind is some middle-aged dude, right? Which the corpse obviously isn't!"
"Then could that mean… the mastermind isn't the headmaster…?" Makoto guessed, mostly to himself. "Is it the teenage girl Kyoko told me about? The Ultimate Despair…?"
"Huh…?" Hiro turned to Makoto in confusion.
"Mukuro Ikusaba… the sixteenth student at Hope's Peak…" Makoto recited what Kyoko told him.
"Now it looks like the others are gonna know of Mukuro's existence…" Celeste noted.
"And in turn, be led to the wrong conclusion that it's Mukuro that's the mastermind…" Byakuya sighed. "And that it's her corpse that they're looking at…"
Now he got the attention of Hina and Byakuya. "...What are you talking about?" The heir questioned.
"The other day, Kyoko confided in me…" Makoto began revealing to them. "She said there was a sixteenth student here in the school."
"I think you'd better tell us everything you know." Byakuya stated firmly.
"W-Well, all Kyoko told me was…" A flashback of the words Kyoko whispered was then shown. "It sounded like Kyoko thinks Mukuro Ikusaba is the mastermind." A flashback of Makoto and Kyoko's talk in the locker room was next.
It then clipped back to the present. "There's another student here, and it's a female?" Byakuya summarized. "That would match the body's characteristics…"
"And the phrase, the Ultimate Despair - it sounds super mastermind-y, doesn't it?" Hina added.
"Okay, so… the mastermind is this girl Mukuro? And she's a student here? And she's the Ultimate Despair?" Hiro asked question after question. "But if she's been hiding here in the school like some teenage Bigfoot…"
Eyes then turned back to the corpse in front of them. "...how'd she wind up burnt to a crisp?!" The fortune teller exclaimed. "None of this makes any sense! To just suddenly show up and then die?!"
"None of this making any fucking sense…!" Mondo groaned, his palm meeting his face. "We even know more shit than they do, and I still got more questions than goddamn answers!"
"It honestly feels so surreal - hearing the conclusions and questions our counterparts are making…" Taka stated, shaking his head. "The loss of our memories, the headmaster's death, Mukuro's disguise… those are the only things we know about that our counterparts don't, and yet it's enough to form completely different deductions."
"To be fair, the things you listed are pretty major Taka…" Makoto pointed out, a frown across his face. "But yeah, I see what you're saying. Knowing one or all of those things is enough to completely change our thought process."
"That's why it's important to get all the information before coming to a conclusion…" Kyoko advised. "And even then, be open for new information to appear and change the assessment. You never know what you will come across, and how significant that new information would be."
No one could deny that; especially having gone through four trials, along with the ongoing mystery throughout the school life they're watching. So the group remained silent to Kyoko's words.
"I think we'd better take a closer look at the body." Byakuya suggested. "There may be some clues to help us figure out exactly who it is."
"You think you can find out shit with half the body turned to char?" Mondo asked incredulously.
"Exactly. Only half the body is destroyed. There's still parts that remain intact." Byakuya retorted. "We could still gain something from investigating what remains."
"Ah! Hey, wait!" Hina suddenly spoke up, getting a bit pale.
"...What?" Byakuya asked in irritation.
"A-Aren't we forgetting something? You know… Toko?" Hina pointed out worriedly.
You could practically hear mental clocks ticking as the group went silent. Then, after a moment of that silence…
"WE FORGOT ABOUT TOKO!" Hina wailed, holding her head.
"Oh crap! Is she okay?! She's not dead, is she?!" Hiro exclaimed worriedly. "Cause I don't see her anywhere!"
"She took a bomb to the face, dude!" Leon stated incredulously. "I'll be surprised if she's actually conscious!"
"H-How could you forget about me?!" Toko, who still had her eyes covered, cried out.
"S-Sorry…!" Chihiro apologized, flinching in guilt. "We didn't mean to!"
"A lot of shit got thrown at us, okay?! Cut us some slack!" Mondo, on the other hand, replied defensively.
"Oh yeah! She got totally blown up, huh?!" Hiro exclaimed in realization.
"Forget about her. I'm sure the explosion vapourized her." Byakuya said dismissively.
"So cold!"
"You expect me to care?" The Togami heir merely raised an eyebrow in response. "How naive of you to think my heart softened that much."
The writing prodigy couldn't help but giggle at that. "You're s-sharp words never fail to f-flutter my heart, master…"
"...And she got on our case about forgetting her…?" Leon grumbled, crossing his arms. Sayaka let out a sigh of exasperated agreement, while Makoto let out an awkward chuckle.
As if summoned by the group, the writing prodigy rose up from a bush, looking completely dazed. "Nn… gh…!"
Seeing the dazed writer gave several relieved sighs. "She's okay…" Hina proclaimed, visibly relieved.
"And she doesn't look hurt…" Chihiro looked just as relieved.
"It looked like the explosion knocked out Miss Jill, and awakened Miss Fukawa…" Hifumi noted.
"Guess that's one benefit of getting an explosion to the face…" Leon joked slightly.
Toko wasn't sure if she could fully agree with that, having no desire to face an explosion herself; however, she held a relieved look beneath her hands, both at hearing her future self is okay and that she's back in full control.
"Oh! She survived!" Hina gasped happily.
"Oh… she survived…" Byakuya tsked in annoyance.
"...Someone sounds disappointed…" Leon deadpanned.
"Do you actually want Toko dead or something…?" Hina asked in exasperation, turning towards Byakuya.
"I could care less what her fate would be." Was the heir's response, shrugging. "Her being gone from my life is what I would be satisfied with."
"Master…!" Toko cried out in protest.
'...Can't blame him, honestly.' Practically half the students conceded. Toko's infatuation/obsession with the Togami heir was not something any of them considered attractive, by any sense.
"Huh? What just h-happened…?" Getting out of her daze, Toko looked around in confusion. "Master…?"
"You declare for the whole world to hear that you would never again inhale a single molecule of oxygen." Byakuya declared to the writer.
"Oh. Then… I don't mind b-breathing in the carbon dioxide you exhale." Toko giggled, pushing her index fingers together. "That's enough for m-me to live…"
"This is the strangest back-and-forth I've ever seen…" Hiro stated, looking completely weirded out.
"Like watching someone stab somebody, and the dude taking it like it's a hug…" Leon muttered, his words within earshot of his couchmates.
"That's… accurate." Makoto admitted with a nod.
"An apt description of their dynamic…" Kyoko also hummed.
"I would say they're even critical hits…" Sayaka added with a thoughtful tap to her chin.
Ignoring the banter for a moment, Makoto bent down towards the body. Seeing this, Hina spoke up. "Watch yourself, Makoto. She may be dead, but she's still a girl…"
"D-Don't worry. I don't plan on touching the body all that much." Makoto assured her. 'I'm not Kyoko, after all…'
"There's no shame in a physical examination of the body…" Kyoko chided. "To have the best chance of figuring out the mystery, you need to make a thorough inspection of the corpse, regardless of gender."
"M-Maybe, but… she's still a girl!" Hina responded in protest, waving an arm at the TV. "A guy can't just touch a girl's body like that, dead or not!"
"Didn't your counterpart push for one of the guys to examine Chihiro instead of Sakura before?"
"T-Those are completely different circumstances!"
Before he could notice anything on the body itself, he spotted something beside it. 'Hold on… there's something on the ground there. It's…' Curious, he reached a hand towards the object, before holding it up; the item in question being a black and blue key. 'It's… a key?'
Of course, that immediately got the group's attention. "Is that… the key to the data center?" Chihiro asked in recognition.
"Looks like it. Can't see it being anything else." Leon remarked.
"So now they'll have access to the data center." Celeste mused. "I wonder what they will find there."
"Considering it's locked, it has to be very important." Hina stated confidently. "Something that gives us clues about the mastermind!"
"We shall see, Hina…" Sakura responded to her friend. "Hopefully, that'll be the case."
'Is it what Kyoko took from Monokuma? Wait, no…' A flashback was then shown of Kyoko showing off the key before going back to the present. 'That's right. The key she stole was shaped like Monokuma. This isn't anything like that.'
"Then this key is…?" The lucky student spoke aloud.
His words got the group's attention. "What is it? Did you find something?" Byakuya inquired.
"Yeah…" Makoto held the key out for the others to see. "This was on the ground near the body."
"I've never seen this key before. What could it possibly go to…?" Byakuya mused to himself.
"So even you don't know, then?"
"Makoto… I'm going to give you a very important task." The Togami heir suddenly declared.
"Huh…?" The lucky student spoke in confusion and wariness.
"...The asshole is gonna ask him to look through the locked doors, isn't he?" Leon said blankly.
"I think that answer is obvious…" Junko responded back.
"That key might give you access to certain areas we thought were locked." Byakuya surmised.
"You mean…?"
"The bio lab, the data center, the headmaster's room, and the dorm rooms on the 2nd floor…" Byakuya listed off. "It's in your hands."
'So I'm your errand boy now…?' Makoto thought with slight disbelief.
"Gotta ask; why always ask or go to Makoto for stuff?" Junko asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, Toko's there. She's willing to do anything and everything you ask."
"Obviously, because I trust him for the more important task." Byakuya answered with an eye roll. "He proved that he isn't without skill, so why wouldn't I use him?"
"Yep. He's making your errand boy, dude…" Leon told his friend, patting his back sympathetically.
"I kinda gathered…" Makoto sighed, resigned to that fate for the time being. Beside him, Sayaka also gave him a look of sympathy.
Meanwhile, Toko gave a jealous glare at the lucky student behind her hands. 'How could he gain Master's trust so easily?!' She cried in her head.
"So, I went to the bio lab, the headmaster's room, and the data center to see which door the key unlocks…" Narrator Makoto spoke, as the present luckster tried the key at the bio lab and headmaster's room. "And the door it unlocked was…"
A clip of Makoto in front of the data center was then shown, with the luckster inserting the key into the keyhole. When he turned, a clear *click* was heard. "It fits!" He gasped. "I managed to unlock the data center…!"
The clear excitement from the luckster caused fits of giggles from more than a few of the girls. "You look like a kid there, Makoto…" Hina giggled out, covering her mouth.
The lucky student blushed. "C-Can you blame me? I was able to access a place that we couldn't before!" Makoto huffed defensively. "And you wouldn't be any better, Hina!"
"True. But you look particularly childlike…" Celeste said, melodic giggles leaving her mouth. "Rather endearing, in a way."
"So cute…" Sayaka cooed, ruffling his hair once again.
"Please stop treating me like a child…!" Makoto whined through the ruffling, his cheeks getting redder.
Even Kyoko and Mukuro were visibly amused by Makoto's childlike reaction, the detective hiding a smile behind her hand while Mukuro quietly giggled.
The scene switched to Makoto returning to the greenhouse. "So, you're back. How'd it go?" Byakuya inquired.
"I found out which room the key goes to." Makoto told them. "It's the data center, down on the 4th floor."
"Then we can get into the data center now?!" Hiro exclaimed.
"Interesting…" Byakuya hummed. "But why did the now deceased have that key on them? I suppose we'll just have to go to the data center and find out."
"Yeah, I think you're right…" Makoto nodded in agreement.
The present Byakuya furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Chihiro, you mentioned that the data center could be a place where the mastermind could monitor us, correct?" He recalled.
"O-Oh, um, yes. Yes, I did say that." Chihiro confirmed, nodding. "That, or the headmaster's office, are the most likely places that the mastermind could be hiding; and the data center would be the best place to set up a monitoring room."
The heir nodded in silent thanks. "Then that would be my likely guess as to what we're about to see." If so… then that would make for a stronger case of the corpse being the mastermind.
The scene then switched to the group gathered at the data center. "Here we are." The Togami heir declared.
"Looks like the door is still unlocked…" Makoto observed, getting close.
"Hey, so… when you open that door, there's not gonna be another huge KABOOM like before, right?" Hina asked nervously.
"You're asking that question *now*?" Hiro asked incredulously.
"Don't worry. We have Makoto." Byakuya assured them.
"What does he mean 'We have Makoto'...?!" The lucky student in question exclaimed, both in disbelief and exasperation.
"Are you actually asking him to face a potential bomb head on…?" Mukuro asked dangerously, a dark look across her face.
"Relax. I doubt that my future self thinks that it was actually hijacked." Byakuya reassured with an eye-roll. "I'm merely messing with their heads."
"You got a sick sense of humor, you know that Togami?" Mondo remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course a fool wouldn't understand the amusement of watching other fools squirm and flail, like eels on the surface."
"One of these days Togami, I swear, I'm wringing that fucking neck of yours…!"
"What…?" The lucky student looked at the heir incredulously.
"It's in your hands…" Byakuya continued, unfettered.
"Again…?"
"It means I trust you."
'That's an absolute lie.' Makoto thought indignantly. 'I'm just being used…'
"And like Junko said, we have a Toko here more than willing to tank a bomb…!"
"N-No, I wouldn't!" Toko protested Leon's claim, now removing her hands from her face.
"Oh?" Junko raised an eyebrow at that, a mischievous smirk across her face. "Want to tell that to Byakuya then?"
Immediately, the writing prodigy found herself clammed up; especially when saw the Ultimate in question raising an eyebrow at her. "I-I-I… if Master wants me to, t-then…"
"I rest my case." Both Junko and Leon nodded in satisfaction, the two even leaning over their seats to bump fists.
With a sigh of resignation, Makoto walked over and placed his hand on the knob. He slowly opened the door, eyes closed and body tense, taking a few steps into the room. After a moment of silence… 'Nothing… happened.'
Slowly, he opened his eyes…
And what he was met with was a darkened room filled with various monitors and computers.
"...Looks like Chihiro's hypothesis was correct." Celeste stated, eyes narrowed. "The data center really was transformed into a monitoring room for the mastermind."
None of the students were surprised by this, honestly. It made the most sense for the monitoring room to be there, where it could be more easily modified. At most, the only thing the group felt was a slight chill at the atmosphere that room was giving.
"Hey, that's-!" Hiro gasped from beside him, the rest of the group having entered right behind him.
Just as Hiro trembling hand pointed at the monitors, the scene switched to various monitors, all of them showing different parts of the school.
"Th-This is…!" Makoto gasped in shock.
"It's the direct feed from every single surveillance camera…!" Byakuya exclaimed, looking around the room. "All the cameras in the school feed back into this room… and they're displayed here on these monitors. So the sole purpose of this room… is to watch us."
"To… w-watch us?!" Hiro exclaimed nervously.
"Then this room is…!" Hina spoke in realization.
"The mastermind's private room, without a doubt." Byakuya stated confidently.
"So, since this is the mastermind's main room, and the key to it was on the body…" Sayaka mused, looking pensive. "Does that actually mean… that the mastermind is actually dead? That the corpse is theirs?"
"For real?!" Hiro exclaimed, looking incredulous. "The mastermind is dead?! Like, really dead?!"
"That's what it's looking like…" Leon said, though a frown was across his face. "But I don't know…"
None of them knew if it was due to something of an "outsider looking inward" type of situation, or the ominous words the narrator version of their lucky student gave, or even the fact that there's still one more chapter after this one…
But none of them could feel entirely sure that the mastermind is actually dead. Something about it all felt off.
'The mastermind's room…' Makoto thought to himself, his eyes focused on the monitors. 'I guess that makes sense. So the mastermind was here… watching us.'
"Then I think this settles it." Byakuya continued, smirking.
"Huh…?" Hina, in response, looked at him in confusion.
"The body in the garden…" The heir explained. "If they had the key to this room, it can mean only one thing. That body was Mukuro Ikusaba, and she was the mastermind."
"...Kinda weird seeing them think that Mukuro is that corpse." Hina admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "And that she is even the mastermind!"
"No kidding…" Junko snorted with a fake grimace. "Not fun hearing future versions of your classmates talking about your dead sister being the evil boss…"
That brought a few winces, and sympathetic looks to the fashionista. "Sorry, Junko. Mukuro." Hina apologized. "I-"
"Nah, don't worry. It's not really anyone's fault what's going on there." Junko waved off the apology.
"It's what happens when you're working with minimal information." Kyoko stated with a sigh. "You come to a conclusion that is different than if you have all the pieces. Even one missing piece of info can immediately shift the narrative into something else."
"Yeah, clearly." Makoto agreed, before turning his head towards the soldier in question. "What about you, Mukuro? Does this feel weird to you?"
"...Somewhat." Mukuro admitted. Seeing the survivors coming to the conclusion that she's the mastermind, and that the corpse was her, caused a surreal feeling for herself.
Hina's eyes widened at this. "Then the mastermind is dead? Like really really dead?!"
"It would seem so." Byakuya confirmed with a nod.
"F-For serious?!" Hiro exclaimed in shock.
"It's too bad they had to g-go and die… before Master could k-kill them himself!" Toko snickered. (Of course, that gained the usual sighs and eye-rolls from the group.)
'The mastermind… is dead?' Makoto thought, slightly stunned. 'Could that really be true? Does that mean… it's all over? Because, I mean… that body…'
A flashback of the body then happened. 'Whatever happened, they obviously didn't die a natural death. So who was it that…?'
"It would have to have been Miss Kirigiri, wouldn't it?" Hifumi guessed hesitantly. "After all, Mr. Naegi was in no state to do anything, and the others were together dismantling Monokuma."
"You're assuming that the four stayed together the entire time…" Celeste pointed out. "We don't know that for certain. They could've split away from one another at any point during the night, be it for a bathroom break or something else."
"If any of them were behind this murder, I'm pretty sure the culprit would've said something; especially if they believe that was the mastermind they were killing." Byakuya said in retort.
"As always, we'll need to continue watching. Speculation will get us nowhere at the moment." Kyoko stated, eyes focus on the screen.
The luckster was brought out of his thoughts by Hiro speaking. "B-But… if the mastermind really is dead…" He said hesitantly… before cheering. "That means we can finally get outta this hellhole! We gotta hurry and find the exit! C'mon!"
Before the fortune teller could move, however, Byakuya halted him. "No. We have to check this area thoroughly first."
"Huh?!" Hiro looked at the heir in confusion. "But what about the exit?!"
"If the mastermind truly is dead, we can leave whenever we decide to." Byakuya pointed out to him. "But right now… we need to find out why the mastermind set up this life-or-death game in the first place."
Byakuya nodded in agreement with his future self. "Regardless of any speculation or suspicion on our parts regarding the mastermind's status, it would be a waste to simply just go and leave without finding out more."
"That's right. It's important to find out who exactly the mastermind is, and why exactly this killing game was created in the first place." Kyoko also spoke in favor of continuing the investigation. "This could lead to something bigger than we initially see, or linked to others who had a hand in this."
"So even if the mastermind is dead, they're still gonna find out who she is…?" Sayaka asked.
"That'll help us a lot…" Leon sighed. "Either way, we can still find out who the psycho that made this sicko game is."
"And I'm bothered by the fact that the mastermind was obviously murdered."
"M-Murdered?!" Hiro exclaimed fearfully.
"So you think so too, huh?" Makoto asked, turning towards the heir.
Byakuya nodded. "Naturally. The state of the corpse makes it plain as day. There is absolutely no doubt… the mastermind was murdered."
"So they're gonna dig for who killed the mastermind…?!" Hina inquired with clear interest. "If so, maybe that's why it still shifted from Daily Life to Deadly Life!"
"You think that the mastermind is actually dead, Hina…?" Makoto asked her curiously.
"Well, I mean… it's kinda hard not to hope…" The swimmer admitted, turning away slightly. "I mean, I don't want people to die obviously, but if the mastermind's dead… that means the survivors are free to get out! Look through the school before that!"
"We understand, Hina." Sakura assured her, patting her friend's shoulder. "Still… we must be careful not to let our hope rise. This doesn't feel like the end by any means."
"...Yeah. True." Hina moaned, unable to deny that. Even she felt that silent foreboding that she just can't shake off!
"Wh-Why's it gotta be that way?!" Hiro protested. "I mean, who could've even done it?!"
"That's exactly why I said we need to investigate the purpose and identity of the mastermind." Byakuya stated in response.
"Now do you u-understand, you useless insect?!" Toko hissed at Hiro. "You're banned from t-talking to Master ever again!"
"Hey! You can't just me ban from talking to anyone!" Hiro protested, waving his arms.
"Y-You've wasted Master's t-time. You d-don't deserve to utter a sentence to him." The writer replied back viciously.
"Harshness!"
'The mastermind's purpose… and why they were killed…' Makoto thought pensively. 'This room may very well hold the answers to those questions…'
"...Hey Kyoko…" Makoto whispered to the detective, looking concerned. "Do you think that… you could've been the one that did it…?"
"...Can't say that it's not a possibility." Kyoko admitted with a sigh. "Assuming that I chased after the masked figure, they could've forced my hand… but I wouldn't go after them with the intent to kill, no."
"I see…" The lucky student let out his own sigh, conflicting thoughts on the matter swirling. "And… do you think that the body is the mastermind…? All signs seem to be pointing to that idea…"
"It does, yes. But it feels as though pieces are missing…" Kyoko answered, furrowing her eyebrows. One thing that bothered her the most is the bomb.
If the masked figure was the mastermind, why place a bomb on themselves? Did they want to hide their identity that much, to the point of making that kind of failsafe on the chance they're killed or immobilized? Or was this an attempt to hide something else? What, exactly, was the motivation?
The luckster looked around the room once again. After all, the mastermind must have spent who knows how much time here…'
"Okay then, let us begin our search. It's time to uncover the identity of the mastermind." Byakuya declared.
'Here we go…' Was the thought of several, some eager while others were nervous. What will the five survivors manage to find? Will it be something that'll uncover the identity of the mastermind? Will they find anything at all?
Junko, however, was watching the entire thing with nothing but amusement; a contrast to the unsettling atmosphere around the room. She knew that she wasn't dead. No way there's anyone within the surviving group that even had a chance to take her down. So her future self is setting something up to make things exciting.
Still, she wondered… who exactly is the corpse? With how the shots were set up on screen, there wasn't anything that she could see to figure out the identity. Heck, it could be someone outside of her class!
She doesn't know yet; and it made things so much more exciting!
And that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and that the class's feelings towards the whole thing is more or less accurate. I thought about having them believe, as their future counterparts, that the mastermind was dead; but that felt… off. So I took the "outside looking in" approach, with them having that TV sort of view without them recognizing that; at least not fully. After all, for the main villain to have died off screen? No regular TV watcher would buy it. Hope that was the better approach. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.