Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, I think I'm finally getting back to regular updates. Here's hoping that it will last.
Before I begin though, there's something I want to tell you guys. I'm starting to write short stories, original ones that I plan to publish on Amazon Prime. These shorts are inspired by Danganronpa, along with a couple of other anime shows. The shorts will about different groups of characters, all trapped in a futuristic city. There will be elements similar to Danganronpa, but not completely. Each short will be about a different character. And the series of shorts will be called "Adept".
If you want to know more about it, let me know and I'll talk more about it in the next chapter. And if your interested in reading, I'll let you know when I publish the first short (If you don't decide to keep an eye out for it yourself). So, with that out of the way, let's get back to this chapter. Here, the group will watch the introduction of Robo-Justice, as well as the 'injured' victims of his attacks. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
A Lucky Soldier: Late Merry Christmas for everyone! And Early Happy New Years! I just finished my Christmas work grind on Monday and I'm about to go into a New Years work grind before the next semester of school hahaha... fun times. Anyways, the story progresses!
Chapter 53: Watching Ch 3: NGL! STGH! Part 12
"So, I searched all through the first floor, going from room to room." Narrator Makoto spoke as the TV showed the luckster going through each different rooms. "And just as I finished my search…"
"S-Someone! Come here!"
"What…!" Makoto's head shot up at sudden shout. 'That was Hina!'
Immediately, the whole class grew worried. "What the hell happened?!" Mondo exclaimed.
"Is she alright?" Sakura immediately asked.
"What did she find?" Byakuya asked right after.
'She's supposed to be checking…' "...the third floor!" Without thinking any further, Makoto ran for the stairs.
The next scene switched to Makoto flying up the stairs to the 3rd floor, to see a rattled Hina standing in the hallway. "M-Makoto!"
"Hina, what's wrong?!"
"I-It's awful…" She stuttered out. "The rec room door was open… a-and when I looked inside, I saw… I saw…!"
"AARRRGH! Finish your damn sentences!" Leon yelled out in frustration.
'What did you see?' Makoto thought with dread.
"I'd better get the others… right…?" Hina asked, still looking pale. Before Makoto could answer, she began running to the stairs. "I… I'm gonna go get 'em! You go on ahead, Makoto!" With that, she ran down the stairs.
"The rec room…?" Makoto looked at the direction of the rec room nervously. "What did she see in there…?"
"Please don't be another body, please don't be another body, please don't be another body…" Hiro muttered repeatedly, crossing his fingers.
Without thinking anymore on it, Makoto launched himself into the rec room. And the first thing he saw was Celeste, leaning on the wall with a bruised marked on her face.
"C-Celeste!" Makoto cried out in worry.
"What happened to her?!" Hina cried out with panic.
"Looks like she was attacked." Mukuro answered, easily working out what direction the blow came from and having a general idea on what kind of weapon it could have been.
Celeste, despite her looks, was also quite concerned. Did someone try to kill her? Who? And why? Lost in her though, she didn't realize her hands began shaking.
"C-Celeste!" Immediately, Makoto ran over and bent on one knee beside her. "What happened?!"
"I was… stupid." She groaned, her accent sounding rough. "I got… attacked."
"Look like you were correct, Mukuro." Makoto said, frowning.
"Who would attack the fair Miss Ludenberg?" Hifumi exclaimed in horror.
"Attacked?! By who?!"
"I am not sure." Celeste answered. "Some sort of… strange man."
"Strange man…?"
"What the hell do you mean by strange?" Mondo questioned. "Is it somebody we don't know?"
"But no one else is in the school other than us and the mastermind, right?" Taka questioned. "So could it be anybody else?"
"A suspicious person whose existence is so unusual, I can't help but call him strange…" Celeste explained. "Without a doubt, it was some sort of strange suspicious individual."
"Can you give us some details, here?" Leon groaned. "Cause that's not helping at all."
"Trust me, if I could control what my future self says, I would've done so some time ago." Celeste retorted. She herself wonders why future self is being so cryptic. Is it that hard to describe the person?
"And that man attacked me, with the hammer on the ground there…" She weakly pointed at the blue, small hammer a few feet away from her.
The design of the hammer caught the group's attention. "What the heck?" Leon spoke, frowning in befuddlement. "What's up with the design?"
"I'm… not sure." Kyoko said, narrowing her eyes in confusion. Where did it come from? Did someone made it?
"For the most part, it seems to be the right weapon." Mukuro commented, comparing her findings from earlier.
Hifumi also narrowed his eyes at the hammer. Why does the design for it seem so familiar…?
Makoto went over to where the hammer is at. 'What is this…?' He picked it up and examined it. 'It's some kind of… wooden hammer or something? Pretty strange design…' He then saw the name on it. 'There's some writing on the head…' "Justice… Hammer… 1?"
"That's the hammer he attacked me with." Celeste told him. "I barely managed to avoid the blow, but I stumbled and fell. I now curse my lack of daily exercise…"
Celeste bit her lip. Should she perhaps take some form of exercising in the near future? While the thought sounds abhorring to her, she can see now that her lack of strength could affect her negatively, as much as she hates to admit it.
She then finally noticed her hands shaking once again, and again, forced them to stop. She held back a growl of frustration. What is wrong with her? Why is her body refusing to keep in control?
'So you were attacked… with this?' Makoto thought, looking at the hammer once again. 'Justice Hammer 1…'
Before he could think on it further, a shout caught his attention. "Makoto! Celeste!" The two turned to see Hina and Sakura running in. "I found Sakura!"
"C-Celeste… what on Earth happened here?" Sakura asked, stunned.
"Apparently she was attacked by some kind of strange man…" Makoto revealed to them.
"A… strange man?" Sakura repeated, confused. She turned towards the down gambler. "Tell us everything you can remember, Celeste. Be as detailed as you can…"
Everyone leaned forward, anxious to hear what exactly happened.
"Well, it all happened earlier this morning…" Celeste began. "I woke up a little before 7 am. Nighttime was not yet over, but I knew it was about to end, so I decided it would be okay if I took a little stroll around the 1st floor." She winced as she touched the bruise on her face. "...I understand now that that was a mistake."
"Anyway, that's where I first saw the strange man. I was immediately wary of him…" She continued. "He was obviously suspicious, so I decided to follow after him in secret. As I followed, I saw him go into the rec room. I tried to get a peek through the gap in the door, which is when he noticed me, and…"
"And that's when you were attacked." Sakura concluded.
Celeste frowned. Waking a bit before 7 seemed reasonable. But following a strange man, willingly? That's something difficult to believe.
Perhaps she suspected that this man was the mastermind? Did she think it was worth the risk to find out?
Also, what's with the lack of details? Everything she said so far was pretty ambiguous.
"It happened after 7 a.m., just after nighttime had ended." Celeste stated.
"So if it happened just after 7 o'clock…" Makoto trailed off.
"...then that was just about an hour ago." Sakura finished. "Right when we were all meeting in the dining hall…"
"The attack caused me to lose consciousness." The gambler told them. "Which would mean, I was unconscious for about an hour."
"Well, I'm just glad you weren't hurt too badly…" Hina sighed.
"But why didn't he try to kill you while you were knocked out?" Leon asked, crossing his arms. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad nobody else has joined the dead club, but that's just strange."
"Perhaps killing isn't their real goal." Mukuro mused.
"Or they have a different target in mind." Byakuya added, giving a few chills down students' spines.
"That is because I begged and groveled for my life…" Celeste admitted.
That caused the three to look at her in slight surprise. "You did?" Sakura asked.
Slowly getting up, Celeste explained herself. "I told him I'd do anything if he spared me. I offered to lick his boots, whatever it took…"
That got more than a few raised eyebrows. "Damn." Leon whistled. "Your actually willing to throw your pride away just to survive?"
"So it would seem…" Celeste answered, keeping an aghast look from entering her face. While the thought of begging for anything appalled her, she can see sense of pleading for her life if possible.
Still, it must have been an absolute last resort or...
"So you were willing to throw away all your pride…" Sakura sighed.
"It is a necessary skill for survival." Celeste replied quickly in defense. "Anyway, the important thing now is that we go search for the suspicious individual. If we do not hurry, this could become a serious problem."
That caught the group's attention. "Celeste… what do you mean, a 'serious problem'?" Makoto asked cautiously.
"When I looked in the rec room, I saw that the suspicious man was not alone." Celeste explained. "He had with him… Hifumi."
"H-Hifumi?!" Makoto exclaimed in shock.
"ME?!" Hifumi gasped in horror.
"Oh crap!" Hiro stated nervously. "That isn't good!"
"Thanks for the input, Captain Obvious!" Mondo retorted, looking quite worried himself.
Celeste, meanwhile, felt her eyes widen before she could stop herself, a wave of panic slowly washing over her.
"H-Hifumi?!"
A distressed look entered her face. "After he attacked me, he dragged Hifumi away…"
"You mean… Hifumi was kidnapped?" Sakura questioned in shock.
This got everyone worried. "What is he planning to do to Hifumi…?" Hina asked, looking scared.
"D-Do they plan to t-t-torture before he dies?" Toko stuttered out, wrapping her arms around herself. "M-Make his death p-painful and g-g-gory?"
"You strangely sound happy about it..." Hiro commented.
"Please don't put such ideas into my head!" Hifumi pleaded, holding said head.
"Shouldn't we start looking for him, then…?" Hina asked in concern, looking ready to go searching immediately. "Listen, Celeste… did anything in particular stand out about this strange guy?"
"Did anything stand out? Well…" The gambler looked down at her side. "Rather than trying to explain it, it would probably be faster if I showed you."
That got the others confused. "What does she mean, show us?" Sayaka asked, confused. "How can she show us?"
"Show us…?" Makoto asked in confusion.
Celeste then revealed the camera she was hiding, holding it up in her hand. "This is Hifumi's hand-me-down. His digital camera…"
Makoto's eyes widen in realization. "You don't mean…!"
Several other eyes widen. "She managed to get a picture of the attacker…?" Chihiro gasped in shock.
"Without him realizing it?" Taka added.
"Wow! Nice one Celeste!" Hina cheered.
This gave the gambler a nice distraction, and had her smiling smugly. "But of course. I can't have this individual get a complete victory over me." It was strange feeling proud over another person's achievements, even if the person was another version of herself. This feeling isn't that bad.
"I was able to photograph the suspicious individual without him realizing it." She stated, her voice more confident.
"Seriously?!" Hina exclaimed, getting up close to Celeste. "Let's see it!"
Celeste held the camera for them to see. "I would tell you not to be shocked, but I fear it would do you no good."
"At this point, nothing could surprise us." Leon sighed. "I mean, we got a frickin robotic bear holding us hostage for a game of murder each other!"
"Oh boy, you got us jinxed bad…" Junko remarked.
With that, the group leaned over to see who the suspicious individual is…
… Who turned out to be a giant robot, holding Hifumi by the shoulders.
It took a couple of moments for the group to process what they're seeing. When they did…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Hifumi screamed in shock.
"What the fuck…?" Leon breathed out, baffled at what he's saying.
"What the hell are we looking at… ?" Byakuya questioned in befuddlement.
"Is that… a robot costume?" Hina asked in pure confusion.
Even Kyoko, Celeste, and Mukuro looked utterly lost at what they're seeing.
"Guess that would explain why Celeste couldn't explain it properly…" Sayaka murmured, looking just as confused as the others.
"That, is indeed... a strange sighting." Kyoko reluctantly agreed, also let down by the fact that it could have been concrete evidence.
Makoto numbly nodded his head in agreement. "And it explains the title of this chapter too…"
"Huh…?" It took a few seconds for Makoto to fully process what he's seeing before reacting more strongly. "Whaaaaat?!"
'Well, you were definitely right about the "strange" part…' The luckster couldn't help but think. 'Their face is totally covered.'
"Is that a… robot costume?" Hina asked, still shocked from being bewildered.
Hifumi, after recovering from his shock, spoke. "Not just any costume!" He exclaimed. "That is Robo Justice!"
That got the attentions of the others. "The fuck are you going on about…?" Mondo bluntly asked.
Makoto was the one to answer. "It's one of the anime shows Hifumi watches." He explained to the group. "One of his favorites." He then turned to the fanfic creature. "You're sure that's Robo Justice?"
"Positive!" Hifumi stated, nodding. "I could recognize him from a mile away!"
"But… why would someone disguise themselves as a character from an anime?" Byakuya questioned, still trying to process what he saw. "And how would they know of it?"
"It's possible that someone other than Hifumi watched the show, right?" Chihiro suggested.
Kyoko narrowed her eyes in thought. That's possible, yes, but somehow, that felt too convenient. There was something strange about this whole ordeal so far, but she just can't put her finger on it yet.
"As I said, a very strange and suspicious individual, yes?" Celeste asked for confirmation.
"So this weird robot guy… dragged Hifumi away?" Makoto asked.
"And I took this right after being attacked." Celeste answered. "In other words, a full hour ago."
Blood ran cold at this. "Damn it…" Leon cursed. As much as he butt heads with Hifumi, he didn't want to see him dead. "They need to find him, fast!"
"I-It's been a f-full hour, already." Toko reminded him, shaking. "F-For all we know, h-he may be already d-d-d-dead!"
"But we don't know that for sure!" Hina countered, trying to retain any color, and any positivity, she still had. "We… we could still save him!"
Hifumi, was just as pale as the others, if not more so, closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. "Don't be too late, don't be too late, don't be too late…" He chanted.
"Which is why if we don't hurry, it could become a serious problem."
"I believe I understand what happened." Sakura was about to say more, before pausing and then shaking her head. "Well, no, there is much I don't understand. But…" She looked at the picture once more. "The point is, someone dressed like that dragged Hifumi away."
"And it happened over an hour ago…" Makoto repeated what Celeste said.
"This is bad! We have to hurry!" Hina said urgently.
Makoto, Hina, and Sakura quickly turned towards Celeste. "Celeste, do you know where this mysterious man went?" The luckster asked.
Celeste frowned in thought. "When they left the rec room, they headed left…" She said.
"If that's true, they were headed toward the stairs leading down to the 2nd floor!" Sakura deduced.
"Wait, isn't that where Kyoko…" Makoto's eyes slowly widen in fear. "Where's Kyoko?"
"Is she still in the 2nd floor?" Sakura questioned, her eyes narrowed. "If so, she's in possible danger."
"I don't think you have to worry too much." Kyoko assured them. "I doubt the suit is designed to overpower a person."
"Then he must be down there, right!?" Makoto stated.
"The 2nd floor…" Hina frowned at this. "That's where Kyoko was supposed to be…"
"Huh?" Makoto turned towards the swimmer. "Speaking of which, why isn't Kyoko here?"
"Sorry… I didn't have time to go look for her." Hina explained.
"This is bad." Sakura stated. "If the strange man did head to the 2nd floor, Kyoko might run into him…"
Immediately, a look of worry entered Makoto's face. "We have to hurry! Kyoko's in danger!" As soon as he said, they all rushed out of the room and to the second floor.
By now, everyone was tense with worry. Is Hifumi okay? Is Kyoko okay? Did she run into this 'Robo-Justice'? And who's in the costume in the first place?
Hifumi himself felt terrified for his other self. Is he gonna end up another corpse? Beat up and tortured? Tortured then killed? The possibilities in his head scared him even more.
Kyoko, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes in thought. Yes, something definitely seems off about this. Why didn't the disguised individual destroy the camera Celeste had? Did they not see it somehow when they knocked her out? Maybe the helmet didn't provide the best visibility?
Byakuya was having similar thoughts. He was also wondering where the costume came from. From what they've seen, Monokuma doesn't have costumes like that laying around, so someone had to have made it. The only one who he could think of making that contraption is Hifumi, but the fool was held hostage by the one wearing that disguise. Something doesn't add up.
The next scene switched to the back of Byakuya and Genocide Jack, the two of them walking in the 2nd floor. "Hey, you two…" The two turned to see Makoto, Hina, Sakura, and Celeste running up to them.
"So Byakuya and Toko are safe," Chihiro sighed in relief. "That's good."
"Kinda." Leon sarcastically added. His comment was ignored by the mentioned Ultimates.
"What's going on? What's all the fuss?" Byakuya inquired.
"Yeah! You guys playin' a game or something?!" Jill added in. (Toko flinched at the sight of Jack, but didn't make any distress noises this time)
"Does it freaking LOOK like we're playing a game?!" Hina exclaimed in response.
Before anything else could be said, Makoto interjected. "Listen, have either of you seen Kyoko or Hifumi?!"
"Nope, nope, sure haven't!" Jill answered.
"Are they on this floor? We just got here ourselves." Byakuya told them in his usual calm demeanor. "I heard some kind of uproar, so I came running."
"We came here together!" Jill stated, a blush on her face.
"No… you're just stalking me." Byakuya bluntly said, an annoyed look on his face.
Toko scowled at that. "S-Stop stalking master!"
"Like you're one to talk." Leon retorted. "What the heck do you call spying on him in the library?"
"I-I was admiring him!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Mondo said dryly. "Maybe someone will believe you."
"A-Anyway, can you guys help us look for them?" Makoto requested, getting back to the main topic.
"Why?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What happened?"
"There's no time now. We'll explain later." Sakura told him.
"Well… fine." The heir accepted for now. "It sounds like something interesting is going on."
Junko snorted at that. "Understatement there."
"Yeah. A dude in a robot suit, dragging Hifumi around is definitely more than interesting." Leon agreed.
"HIFUMI! KYOKO!" Hina called out loudly. "If you can hear me, say something!"
Most of the students heard nothing. But one did. "Hm…?" The group turned towards Sakura, who was looking at a certain direction.
"Did you hear something?" Celeste asked.
"Maybe…" Sakura replied, focusing a little bit more before turning sharply towards her instincts. "I think it came from… the library!"
"The library?! Okay, let's go!" At Hina's declaration, the group started running to the library as fast as they could.
The next scene cut to the group barging into the library. And the first thing they saw was Hifumi, leaning on one of the shelves, blood dripping from his head and mouth. "It hurts… it hurts…!" Hifumi groaned painfully, looking dizzy.
Everyone's eyes widen at the sight of an injured Hifumi, especially the fanfic creator himself. "Hifumi!" Sayaka exclaimed in concern. "He's hurt!"
"Clearly." Celeste retorted, trying not to show too much concern. "But how badly?"
"Enough to give him swirls in his eyes, that's for sure…" Mondo remarked.
"But I'm still alive…" Hifumi sighed in slight relief. "That's a good thing. I haven't perished."
Several eyes widen in concern. "A-Are you okay?!" Makoto exclaimed in concern.
"I'm glad to see… you're still alive…" Hina said, though looked worried.
"It's super bad, though…" Hifumi groaned. "Look at all the blood…"
"How did you get hurt?" Byakuya inquired.
"That guy hit me…"
Makoto looked at him curiously. "What guy?"
"Robo Justice." Hifumi stated. After a moment of pause, he continued. "Er, that's what I decided to call him, just now…"
That earned a confused look from Byakuya. "What are you talking about…?"
"Th-That guy was… Robo Justice…" Hifumi repeated perilously.
"This 'Robo Justice' you are referring to is…" Celeste held up the camera for the group to see. "This, is it not?"
Byakuya, who looked at the picture for the first time, looked utterly befuddled. "W-What the hell am I looking at…?"
"We're asking the same question, dude." Leon stated as they gazed at the picture. "Second time around, and it doesn't look any less weird."
"This is the one that attacked Celeste and Hifumi." Makoto told him. "Isn't that right, Hifumi?"
"Yeah… that's him, I'm sure of it…" Hifumi confirmed with a dizzy nod. "Robo Justice…!"
"Robo Justice, huh…?" Byakuya mused, though still looked confused.
"This just keeps getting stranger…" Sakura murmured.
"Agreed." Mukuro said, nodding her head. "Why hasn't this 'Robo Justice' person, as Hifumi called it, killed anybody yet? He had the chance to kill both Hifumi and Celeste, yet didn't act on it."
"Well, I'm not complaining!" Hifumi spoke up with obvious relief.
"Neither am I." Celeste added. Though she herself wonders that. If the one in the suit is a fellow survivor, why didn't they take the chance to… finish, either one of them? While her future self said that she begged, she highly doubt someone desperate enough to escape would just spare her life. It's possible that they wore the costume in the first place, just to ensure that no one will recognize them as they perform their murder, but that doesn't explain what happened to Hifumi.
The only thing she could think is that it's someone outside of the surviving group, possibly the mastermind, but had doubts. Something is wrong with this, she can tell.
Meanwhile, Junko realized her mistake in setting up this whole killing game: She forgot to implement a kill limit! It would've been boring if one person decided to kill everyone else undetected and win by default. That's not enough despair!
As they talked, Makoto looked down to see another hammer lying around, with the same features as the first one. 'It's a hammer, just like the one Celeste was attacked with in the rec room. But this one is…' "Justice hammer 2…?" Makoto read outloud, picking up the hammer. 'And on top of that… this one is actually a little bigger than the last one!'
Eyes widened at that. "Holy shit man," Mondo gasped. "I surprised you can still move from a goddamned hit like that!"
"Y-Yeah, I'm surprised too…" Hifumi stuttered, looking at the hammer fearfully.
"This Robo Justice guy must not have a strong arm," Junko remarked, crossing her arms. "Cause that seriously should've made you unconscious at least."
"So not only is there somebody attacking people in a robot disguise," Chihiro murmured, looking concern. "But they're also having the hammers increase in size with each attack?"
"I wouldn't make that conclusion yet, but a bigger hammer is definitely a concern." Kyoko said.
That got a worried look from Makoto. "That doesn't good." He stated. "If they go after someone else with a even bigger hammer, that could seriously injure someone."
"Possibly even kill them, if given enough force." Mukuro added. That wiped away the bit of relief the group was feeling. But something didn't feel right to Mukuro. There was a lot more blood than expected from a hammer blow rather than bruising. And from Makoto's perspective, there was too much blood to get a proper look at his wound so Mukuro couldn't make any conclusions yet.
"He attacked me with that hammer. He bonked me right on the head with it…" Hifumi groaned.
"With all that blood, that's beyond 'bonking'..." Hiro frightfully commented.
"A hammer that big, I'm surprised you're still okay…" Hina said, looking at the hammer.
"I'm not okay…!" Hifumi retorted painfully. "Look at all this blood…"
"Protein help wounds, you know." Sakura advised. "Would you like some?"
"...I have never heard of such a thing." Celeste deadpanned. "Are you sure it isn't just you?"
"I'm still trying to figure out how she was able to gain a healing factor through that training of hers," Byakuya sighed, pinching the crease between his eyes. "But that's a mystery for another day. We still need to deal with this headache."
"And I have a feeling that this isn't the end of it." Junko sighed. Inwardly, however, she's giddy. Things are finally starting to get exciting now! No more of that boring friendship stuff going on earlier! Come on! Let's see what kind of show you've put on this time my participants!
Of course, she already figured out that both Celeste and Hifumi were acting, and that Hifumi probably made the robot suit as well since he's the only one with both the ability to do so and the knowledge of it. Those two were being so obvious to her that its that's a bit funny that very few of her classmates were following along. Ah, the complicated life of being the Ultimate Analyst. Also, if she knows herself, it's just about time for...
Suddenly, Monokuma came up with his usual maniacal laughter coming from his mouth.
As usual, it surprised the group, causing several screams and shrieks. "Seriously, him again?!" Leon groaned.
"Can he just get the fuck out of here?!" Mondo shouted in annoyance.
"This has got to be a joy for him to watch." Celeste sighed.
Several of the survivors jumped away in shock. "It's him!" Hina gasped.
The bear continued giggling. "A robot of justice, huh?! Now things are really starting to get exciting!" He exclaimed in glee. "What kind of special moves does it have? Can it fly? Can it COMBINE?!" With one more round of laughter, he disappeared.
Sayaka let out an annoyed groan at this. "What was the point of that?"
"I doubt it was nothing more than an annoyance right now." Kyoko sighed. "We should ignore him for the time being. We shouldn't give him anymore attention than needed."
"Good point." Taka agreed.
"Why… is he here?" Byakuya questioned, looking at where the bear disappeared from.
"Let us not concern ourselves with him…" Celeste quickly advised. "What we need to do now is get Hifumi to the nurse's office right away. Whatever else we do, he needs to be treated as soon as possible."
Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this. "You seem awfully concerned about your classmate."
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Celeste responded, her facial features betraying nothing.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you've shown in the past that you could care less about Hifumi, at least in the beginning." The heir pointed out. "So it's odd for you to show such concern for him."
"The events of this morning probably rattled my future self enough to be concern for the welfare of my classmates." Celeste responded without hesitation. "Even that of Hifumi."
While she said that, however, she can't help but notice too. Byakuya does have a point. She rarely, if ever, showed that much concern to her fellow classmates. Especially since most, if not all, are D rank during the time (Though Hiro is lower than all of them).
"Perhaps what happened unveiled your tsundere side and you're now showing how much your care for me?" Hifumi suggested in a dream-like state.
That got facepalms from a few, while Celeste held back an annoyed groan. "Seriously, dude? Now's not the time." Leon groaned.
"You're right! Let's go!" Hina immediately agreed with.
"Ngh… thanks, everyone…" Hifumi groaned.
The next scene cut to the group in the nursing room, bandages wrapped around Hifumi's forehead. "How ya feelin', Hifumi?" Hina asked softly, right beside the fanfic creator. "You want me to take a look at ya?"
"I-I'm okay…" Hifumi stuttered a little, holding his head. "I think it stopped bleeding. I'm still kinda dizzy, though…"
"Perhaps you should rest here a while." Celeste suggested.
"Y-Yeah, good idea…"
"Looks like things are calm for the time being," Makoto spoke up. "Hopefully, they can find this attacker soon."
"I doubt finding a guy dressed in a giant robot suit would be hard to find." Leon stated.
"The rest of us should get back to looking for that mystery assailant…" Sakur advised.
"Indeed. Before another victim appeared…" Celeste said in agreement. "The Justice Hammers seem to be increasing in size; first 1 and now 2."
"If there is a Justice Hammer 3, we can only assume it is even bigger than the first two." Byakuya mused.
Hina's eyes widen in shock at this. "If you got hit with anything bigger than that, you'd be dead for sure!"
Byakuya directed his attention towards Hifumi. "Tell us what happened to you, Hifumi."
"Well… I woke up early this morning and started looking for Alter Ego ahead of everyone else…" Hifumi explained, whispering so the mastermind won't here. "I went to the 3rd floor, and that's where the strange costumed man attacked me…"
"That must be what I witnessed at around 7 this morning." Celeste spoke up.
"After that, he dragged me to the library and WHACK! Down came the hammer…" Hifumi concluded. "That must've been… 30 or 40 minutes ago."
"Around the time Makoto, Kyoko, Hina, and I were still at the dining hall." Sakura stated. "Which means this Robo Justice couldn't have been any of us."
"Which would leave Byakuya, Toko, Taka, and Hiro as suspects." Mukuro listed off.
"At around 7:30 in other words… we would've still been in the dining hall." Hina murmured loudly.
'Which means Hina, Sakura, and I were together, and Kyoko was still with us.' Makoto thought to himself. 'So we all have alibis…'
Makoto frowned. Where on earth is Kyoko? She didn't hear all the commotion that was happening in the second floor? Is she even there at all?
"I was in the laundry room, doing my laundry." Byakuya told the group.
"His black underwear is as black as the pitch-black darkness of the blackest night…" Jill added.
The heir turned towards the serial killer with a scowl. "Why do you know that…?"
An innocent smile entered Jill's lip, her tongue still out. "Isn't it obvious? Cuz I was peeking!"
Byakuya bit back a growl of annoyance. "If I knew she was as degenerate as Hifumi, I would've put a restraining order on the fiend."
"B-But master," Toko protested. "You might have to put a restraining order on me too!"
"For once, a decent suggestion." Mondo commented.
Makoto shook his head before getting back to his thoughts. 'Anyway, so that means Byakuya and Toko were together at the time. Meaning they also have alibis…'
"Which means the only ones who could have been able to wear the costume are…" Mukuro looked at the two remaining suspects. "Hiro and Taka."
The two mentioned students paled, especially the fortune teller.
'The the only ones who don't have alibis for when Celeste and Hifumi were attacked are… the only two we haven't seen yet - Hiro and Taka. That's it, right…?'
"How much do you want to bet that it was Hiro that did it?" Junko asked everyone.
That got a startled yelp from the fortune teller. "H-Hey! Why does it gotta be me?!"
"Maybe because you're willing to do anything and everything to survive and get your hands on money?" Hina retorted, glaring at him. "You clearly showed that with that last talk with Kyoko!"
"B-But, it could also could've been-"
"Finish that sentence and I'll punch your fucking lights out!" Mondo growled, getting another frightened yelp from Hiro. "My bro would never have done something like that!"
"You say that, but it's also been said that you wouldn't have killed Chihiro." Byakuya pointed out. "And also that Sayaka wouldn't have attempted a murder. Both turned out to be wrong."
"You actually think bro would kill somebody?!"
"Yeah! I would never stoop that low, especially not for money!" Taka protested. "I wouldn't repeat the same mistake as Mondo did!"
"I'm just saying it's a possibility, that's all." Byakuya responded back. "Hiro's the more likely suspect, of course, but that doesn't mean Taka should be written out."
"He's right." Kyoko agreed before any more arguments could break out. "In any case, the group should be looking for this Robo-Justice anyway, so, if successful, we'll find out soon."
"By the way, what happened to Kyoko?" Byakuya asked. "I haven't seen her anywhere…"
"Oh yeah. She was supposed to be checking the 2nd floor, but… I didn't see her up there at all." Hina explained.
"Where could she have disappeared to…?" Sakura questioned, frowning.
"I have to agree. Where could she have gone to?" Taka questioned, holding his chin in thought.
"I hope she's okay…" Makoto murmured, more than a bit worry for his friend.
"In any case, I'm somewhat confident in my physical abilities. I didn't go through detective training for nothing." Kyoko said, hoping to dispel some of the concern for her.
Like the others, Kyoko is trying to think of where she gone. Did she find something, or someplace, that held clues, or possibly answers? Or did something else happen while she was searching?
"She's disappeared, huh?" The heir asked rhetorically. "What a strange woman. She might be exactly as I suspected…"
"Huh?" Was the reaction of several of them. Chihiro was the first to speak. "W-What do you mean?"
"What is it you're accusing me of, Byakuya?" Kyoko questioned, eyes narrowed.
"Didn't he hear Hina when she said that she, Sakura, Makoto, and Kyoko was at the dining hall?" Sayaka pointed out.
"Yeah. There's no way Kyoko would be Robo-Justice." Makoto stated.
The heir, however, shook his head. "No, I don't think he's talking about that."
That got some confused look. "Then what he's talking about?"
" *sigh*... isn't it obvious?"
"H-Hold on!" Makoto protested. "Kyoko was with us in the dining hall when Celeste and Hifumi were attacked! So-"
"I'm not talking about who attacked them." Byakuya interrupted him.
"...Huh?" The luckster stared at the heir in confusion.
"I'm referring to what we talked about last night." Byakuya stated. "Who the mastermind's spy might be…"
Everyone was immediately surprised by the accusation. "Are you actually thinking that Kyoko is the spy?" Leon asked in disbelief.
Byakuya sighed. "Not me personally, at least not yet, but my future self does, yes."
"But… why would he think that?!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Yeah! That shouldn't be possible!" Hina agreed with Makoto.
That got everyone staring at Byakuya, with Makoto's eyes widening. "Are you saying… Kyoko's with the mastermind?" His next response was immediate. "Th-That's not possible!"
"Kyoko has been helping us with both trials, as well as looking for a way out from the school." Taka pointed out. "Why would somebody working with the mastermind do that much?"
"For the trials, it's to make sure she comes out alive." Byakuya explained easily. "After all, if the blackened is picked incorrectly, then everyone but the blackened would get executed. As for looking for a way out, who's to say she isn't hiding stuff from the rest of us while giving us only the smaller details?"
"You're only making baseless accusations now Byakuya." Kyoko interjected, finally speaking up for herself. "There's no proof that I'm doing something like that."
The heir shrugged. "I'm merely explaining why my future self could see that as a possibility. As long as its a possibility, there's room for doubt."
Kyoko reluctantly and silently agreed to his point. She couldn't exactly prove that she wasn't doing that either. But if she was the spy, what reason was there for it?
"Isn't it?" Byakuya retorted. "This woman, who seems almost eager to handle dead bodies, hasn't even revealed her true identity."
"And now her memory loss is coming back to bite her in the butt," Leon groaned. "Especially since she's being silent about it."
"I doubt all of us would believe her if she said that." Celeste mused. "We could easily think she's lying, so the point is moot."
"But we all did lose memories of our time at Hope's Peak..." Chihiro complained.
"Yet at the same time, all of us remembered who we were except for Kyoko." Byakuya replied.
"Save this discussion for later." Sakura interjected before it could escalate. "Right now we need to focus on finding the suspicious individual."
"Yeah! If we don't hurry, there's only gonna be more victims!" Hina agreed. "That might be why Kyoko and Taka and Hiro haven't shown up yet!"
"Sh-She's right. We have to do something about that mystery man first…" Makoto said, trying to calm himself down.
"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you guys after I rest a bit…" Hifumi reassured them.
"Don't stay by yourself!" Hifumi squealed in fear. "You'll be a prime target!"
"Relax, dude." Mondo groaned. "If the guy didn't go kill you before, why would he go kill you now?"
"Understood." Celeste nodded. "Take care of yourself."
"Okay, let's go." With Sakura's words, the group of six stepped out of the nurse office.
"So now they're on the hunt for a guy inside a giant robot suit." Junko said. Then, seeing that it's been a while since she's played another role, decided to get into her queen persona. "Let's see if you peasants will be able to capture the elusive Robo-Justice!"
"Is now really the time Junko?" Makoto scolded her before turning back to the screen. "But yeah. Hopefully we can get them before anyone else gets hurt."
'Unlikely.' Kyoko thought to herself. Sooner or later, this Robo-Justice will attack somebody else. And most likely kill them.
Still, this whole thing is bothering her. Something isn't right about all this. But right now, she can't point her finger as to what. For now, she just have to watch and see.
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Pretty hard to write, considering how complicated yet obvious this entire case is. And I haven't gotten into the murders, investigation, and trial yet. That'll be a joy. Anyway, make sure to review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.
A Lucky Soldier: Got nothing to report as of now, except I'm busy saving humanity in FGO haha. That bunny-girl senpai anime that just finished was really good though. 100% recommended. I think I'll move onto that "Many colours" magical anime next. It has a really long name so I'd rather not write the whole thing.