The shock was so bad that everything around them - the colors and sounds - seemed muted out. Their relief and exhilaration at defeating the Monobeast evaporated into thin air. Monomi let out a wail as she saw what had happened under her watch.
The worst part, Hajime thought, was how… familiar it all was. He'd seen so many dead bodies already. This wasn't even his first time seeing Gundham's body. Maybe it was foolish of him to think they would ever move on from this.
An anguished scream rang out from behind him, and Sonia came pushing her way past the others. Kazuichi shuffled out of the way as she knelt down next to the body, ignoring the blood she was getting all over her dress.
"Gundham!" she cried. She was already sobbing, tears running down her face, as she started shaking him. "W-what are you doing? Why… why aren't you moving?"
She looked up at Hajime, a wild look on her face. "Hajime! You must do something! Before it's too late!"
Hajime shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sonia. He's already gone."
Sonia wouldn't have it. "No! No! He is a dark warlock! This injury should be nothing to him!"
She broke down crying, throwing herself on his chest, which was rather difficult to do with the large scrap of metal sticking out of it.
"You bastards…" Akane clenched her fists together. Her hair was practically standing on end. "Who did it? Who killed him?!"
"No one killed him, Akane," Mahiru said wearily. "It was an accident."
"That's bullshit! That's just what Monokuma wants us to think! Whoever did it better fess up, or else I'll – "
Akane cut herself off with a sharp hiss of pain. Hajime hadn't bothered to look over at her before, but now he did, and he instantly noticed the blood running down her right leg.
"Akane! You're wounded!" Mikan cried, racing over to her and steadying her before she fell.
"It's nothing. Quit worryin' about me," she muttered, but Mikan ignored her. She gently lowered her to a sitting position and examined her leg, gasping at the sight.
"You've been shot in the calf," she stammered. "T-the bullet missed the posterior tibial and fibular arteries, but… y-you might have sustained permanent nerve damage." She was obviously scrambling now that she could no longer magically heal the bullet wound, but she pulled some sanitary wipes out of her pocket and tried to wipe away the blood. "W-we have to figure out whether it's safe to remove the bullet… but Monokuma won't even let us get to the hospital…"
And then, as though summoned by his name, the small bicolored headmaster himself suddenly popped up among the students.
"Okay, what gives?" he snapped. "You kids are standing all the way out here, away from all the TV screens! You couldn't even hear my super special announcement! Now I have to deliver it in person!" He cleared his throat. "Congratulations! You've beaten the Adventure Phase and obtained the Monocrystal! In exactly one hour, the Class Election will begin!"
Monomi was shaking with rage… not that she could do much to act on it. "How can you be so cruel?" she cried. "Can't you see one of your students is… is…"
Monokuma just then seemed to notice Gundham. "Ah, so he is!" he said. "I'll have to prepare my secondary announcement. Ahem… a body has been discovered! But who cares? It's not like one of you guys killed him, you lazy little SOBs! So stop whining!"
The Imposter was giving him a glare that would have terrified anyone else. "Are you going to tell us anything useful, or are you just here to be a nuisance?"
"You're seriously gonna make us go through this Class Election bullshit? What about Gundham?" said Fuyuhiko.
"M-Monokuma… I must treat Akane's injury," Mikan whimpered. "An hour isn't enough time! If I don't sterilize it quickly…"
Monokuma started looking irritated. "You know what I'm hearing? A whole lot of bitching and moaning!" he snapped at them. "Did you all forget this is a Killing Game? The Class Election is going on as planned! In…" He glanced at his wrist, even though he wasn't wearing a watch. "Fifty-seven minutes! So get ready to say goodbye to another one of your friends!"
And he vanished once again.
"Well… that's that, then," Mahiru sighed, rubbing her arm and gazing at the ground. "I don't see any way out of this."
"Mikan. I'll help you with Akane," said Hajime. "We'll head to the supermarket. There's antiseptic and lots of other medical supplies there. That should hold her until… until after the Class Election."
"Owww… I said, quit worryin' about me," Akane grumbled as Mikan wrapped a compression bandage around her leg.
"T-thank you, Hajime," Mikan sniffled. "But I can make it there by myself. I'll… be fine."
"Like hell you will," said Nekomaru. "I'm coming with you. That's my athlete you've got there. Hajime, you should… go check on Sonia."
Hajime let out a deep sigh and turned back to Gundham's body. Sonia was still weeping over him. It looked like she hadn't even heard Monokuma's announcements.
Everyone else gazed back over at him too. "So what, we just fucking leave him here?" said Fuyuhiko.
"That looks to be our only option," said the Imposter, sounding a bit regretful. "Remember that this was just his avatar. It's not the real him."
"Y-yeah, that's right," Kazuichi said with a tremble in his voice. To his credit, he didn't look the least bit happy about this turn of events, though he still knelt down next to the crying Sonia. "You hear that, Miss Sonia? He's not really gone. He's… he's waiting for us back in the real world. Isn't that right?"
It took Sonia a moment to respond. When she did, she simply lifted up her head. Her face was so wet with tears that her hair was sticking to it, and her eyes… they were empty. Emptier than Hajime had ever seen them.
"I had healing magic too," she whispered. "And I didn't even think to use it… I just wanted to help him fight…" She gazed down at her dress, stained all the way down the front with blood. "I could have saved him… if only I'd found him in time…"
Hajime couldn't respond to that. Nobody could.
"How unfortunate," Nagito sighed. "It didn't have to come to this. There's nothing more despairful than mourning the loss of a classmate. But…" He grew an excited look. "This will just make our victory all the sweeter when we finally rescue our beloved Chiaki, right?"
"Nagito. Please take this seriously," said Peko, saying what everyone else was clearly thinking. "If this continues, there will be no one left to rescue her."
"Why, that's nonsense! I know my classmates better than anyone, and I know they will never allow Monokuma to claim victory so easily. That being said…" He folded his arms and smiled. "I suggest we all prepare ourselves for what he has in store. I for one am excited to see what this Class Election holds for us."
"Are you crazy?!" Teruteru cried, wildly shaking his fists. "How can you be excited about this? H-he's just gonna execute us! All over again!"
"Just forget it. He's impossible," Hiyoko muttered.
"He's right, though. We need to get ready," Hajime said quietly. "Kazuichi, can you help Sonia back to her cottage? She needs to shower and change her clothes. And so do you."
"Oh… yeah, sure thing, Hajime."
Kazuichi carefully helped Sonia stand up and led her away, and Nekomaru and Mikan supported Akane on either side as she limped off on her uninjured leg. The rest of the students, having nowhere to go, came to a tacit agreement to stay with Gundham. They all sat around the deserted airfield in melancholy silence, except for Monomi, who kept whimpering and tugging at her ears.
With nothing else to do, Hajime thought he should at least examine the body. It almost felt like a tradition. In the end, he only needed to perform a cursory examination to confirm that the cause of death was cardiac arrest due to penetrating trauma to the right atrium and right ventricle. It was an ugly way to go.
He died just like she did.
He winced, clearing the memory away. He had to keep it together. The others were counting on him.
Finally, an hour had passed. Without the TV monitors to alert them, Monokuma once again popped up among them to deliver his announcement.
"Attention students! The Class Election is about to begin! Please gather immediately at Monokuma Rock – you all remember where that is, right? Or do I have to draw you a map?"
"Monokuma Rock?" said Ryota. "That's not on the real Jabberwock Island…"
"I'm lost on this one as well," said the Imposter. "We'll follow the rest of you."
Slowly and reluctantly, Hajime and the others picked themselves up and left the airport, leaving Gundham's still body behind. No one said much of anything as they all trudged across the bridge to Central Island. The sky was overcast, and from the way the clouds were darkening, it looked as though night was beginning to fall.
Eventually, all three groups of students had congregated outside Monokuma Rock, which looked just the way it had last time. Kazuichi and Sonia had washed the blood off of themselves and changed into clean clothes, though Sonia still had the same dead look in her eyes. Akane's wound had been haphazardly cleaned and bandaged, and as much as she tried to hide it, she was still wincing in pain as she limped along behind the others.
"I thought we'd never have to come back here…" Kazuichi whimpered as they all gazed up at the four enormous Monokuma heads. "And we're already down a man."
"I'm already missing the guy," said Nekomaru. "Times like this, he'd distract us all with some weird speech about blood and demons and stuff." He gave a halfhearted laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "We're a weird bunch, aren't we?"
"What are we gonna do… what are we gonna do…" Teruteru whimpered as he fiddled with his sleeves. "Who are we supposed to vote for?"
"Aww, what's the matter? Afraid we're gonna vote for you again?" Hiyoko let out a cackle. "Ha! Of course we are! You're the most useless person here!"
"Ohhhh, that's it! See if I ever make you breakfast again!"
"Both of you, be quiet," Mahiru snapped at them. "Hiyoko… we've talked about this. I know we're under a lot of stress right now, but you have to be better than this."
Hajime just stood there, not really listening to what the others were saying. There was nothing useful he could say at a time like this. He had never been one for dramatic hope speeches. He wasn't like Nagito. He was almost relieved when Monokuma suddenly appeared before them all.
"Wonderful! Everyone is here on time!" cheered the evil teddy bear. "I would hate to have to execute someone for violating the rules… oh, who am I kidding. I would love to do that! But it looks like we're doing this the old-fashioned way!"
"So you do intend to execute one of us," said Peko. "May I ask for what purpose? Do you simply wish to cause us more despair?"
"Okay, no more questions from the peanut gallery," said Monokuma. "I'll go along ahead and set things up, so you kiddos just sit tight!"
He vanished into the ground, and just a moment after he did, one of the Monokuma heads up above them began to rumble and shake. Most everyone knew what was about to happen. They all stepped out of the way as its mouth opened up, and out came an enormous escalator that thudded onto the beach.
Ryota let out a scream. "Wha-wha… what is that?" he cried, hiding behind the Imposter. "Do we… are we supposed to get on that thing?"
"Hoo boy. Do we gotta explain everything to the new meat? This'll be a drag," said Akane.
"Well, everyone. I suggest we hurry along and meet this despair head on," said Nagito. "The sooner we do… the sooner hope will emerge triumphant."
It was clear Nagito was the only one in a good mood as the students stepped onto the escalator one by one, riding it up and up to the summit of Monokuma Rock. Then as they all filed into the elevator, the doors closed and it sank into the earth, rumbling along as it traveled deeper and deeper.
Then the doors opened up, and they were facing the Class Trial Grounds. There was Monokuma seated on his throne, the podiums arranged in a wide circle… and there was Gundham's portrait, crossed out in blood.
Without waiting to be told, Hajime walked over and took his place at his old podium. The other students followed suit, and as they did, it finally seemed to hit them that this was real. There was no running away from this.
Their latest battle of hope versus despair was about to start.
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A/N: Sorry for the largely uneventful update. Next time will be the entirety of the Class Election, where you'll see the executions have a certain... theme to them...
