"Puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma said as the students spread out throughout the courtroom like last time. "Wow! I can't believe you've voted correctly! I certainly couldn't have seen this coming in a million years! Indeed, the blackened who killed Futaba Inoshishi was none other than Abraham Zargari!"

The blackened sighed as the others directed their weary and inquisitive gazes at him. "What a fucking mess this is… All this work done for nothing."

"I-I still can't believe it…" Sister Hikari mumbled. "Why… Why did this have to happen again?"

Kumi nodded slightly as he wiped his eyes. "Y-Yeah… Why? I-I thought we were all friends! Sure, you're mean and like to say a lot of bad words, but deep down, I thought you were on the side of good!"

"I agree… Even if there's the problem of your temperament," Tanjiro said, "I'd think that even you could see how evil it is to resort to murder, especially after what had happened to Atsushi and Haruka..."

Abraham said nothing as he glanced elsewhere, however.

"Why, Abraham…? Why?" Faye asked, eyes already watering.

"Hey, spill the beans already!" Sayua bade. "What made you snap and decide to off that rich chick?"

"Yeah… Please, answer us, man," Sorao said, a glint of sadness in his eyes. "Why… Why did you kill Lady Inoshishi?"

"I'd like to know as well!" Kasumi said. "There's got to be a reason why you went through all that work to frame me!"

"Well, if he will not answer us," Haruyuki said, "I believe that we can ask our captain for our desired information—"

"Hmph. No need to do so. I was simply preparing myself."

Abraham glanced back at the rest of them at last, and though his expression was plain, Masashi could sense a great deal of tiredness coming therefrom.

"You want answers that badly?" Abraham said, not a hint of anger in his voice. "Well, all right. I'll tell you everything. I'm not so stubborn as to think that I still have anything to lose at this point."

"Well, then, to begin with," Mari said calmly, "did your reason have something to do with the motive?"

Abraham nodded. "It was the one thing that pushed me into killing."

Once again, the others gasped, their expressions growing drearier and drearier as they accepted the fact that Monokuma's temptations had worked again.

"Oh… So you wanted to get back your stolen memories of your darling," Murphy said, lowering the rim of his straw hat. "That's… pretty understandable. It's pretty frightening to have no memories of someone important to you."

"Then who was it?!" Arashi asked. "W-Was it your mother?! Your father?!"

"Or perhaps he does not remember, because it was someone whose being he could not naturally deduce, like a sibling or a friend," Haruyuki said. "Perhaps he murdered Futaba because he sought his darling's identity. Only after getting away with the crime would he have gotten back his memories."

Abraham snorted. "Sorry, but that's not it. It's true that I thought it'd be swell to have my stolen memories back, and I still remembered my mother and my father, so I didn't know who my darling was. Say, Captain Monokuma, who is it, anyway?"

Monokuma chortled. "I don't see any harm in telling you now, so I'll say it: it's your younger brother! Among the four siblings you have, he was by far your favorite!"

"Ah, a younger brother… That makes sense," Abraham said, looking none the happier, however. "Anyway… Getting back to the point… My memories were important, but getting them back wasn't what I mainly had in mind."

"Huh?" Masashi raised his eyes. He had guessed that Abraham had simply wanted to be given back his memories, just as Haruka had wanted to gain knowledge of what had happened to her mother. But something about Abraham's response and overall behavior betokened that the problem had come from elsewhere.

"I-I don't get it, Abraham," Faye said, she and most of the others looking utterly befuddled by his answer. "If you didn't do it with the main intention of getting back your memories... then why?"

The waiter lowered his shoulders a bit as he heaved a great sigh. "It was the motive that caused me to begin to lose control."

Lose… control? Masashi could not fathom what Abraham was talking about. Lose control of what?

The group waited for Abraham's explanation with bated breath, but once again, the man said nothing. Unlike his earlier silence, however, it appeared that he was struggling to get the words out of his mouth.

Just then, Monokuma let out a short cry that drew all the group's attention. "Well, now, I don't think our waiter's fully talkative about this! That's pretty weird if you ask me, since I'm pretty sure waiters are supposed to be able to make conversation. Well, if that's the case, I'll explain in his stead."

Abraham's face tensed up a little once Monokuma decided to tell the group in his stead. Whatever it might be, Masashi had a feeling that what he would hear was not pleasant at all.

"You see, everyone… Abraham here actually has a connection to a certain condition!" Monokuma began.

"Wh-What?!" Masashi exclaimed as he and the others looked at the man, who seemed to look well enough, albeit a little tired and gaunt. "Wh-What is this condition?"

"Well… It's pretty interesting if you ask me!" Monokuma replied as he covered his mouth with his paws. "I mean, it's not every day that we get to see the combination of a waiter and anorexia nervosa."

"Wh-What…?" Masashi muttered out of sheer astonishment. "Anorexia… nervosa?"

"Huh? What's that?" Kumi asked, tilting his head slightly.

Tanjiro sighed, his expression drearier than usual. "It's… a very serious disorder, to put it lightly. If I understand it right, those who suffer from it have an unwarranted fear of being overweight or becoming so. Hence, they begin to… cut back on their eating…"

"B-But Sir Abraham doesn't look overweight at all," Kumi said. "Why can't he see that?"

"Oh, if only it were that simple," Haruyuki added. "Alas, it is a problem with the mind. Those who suffer from the disorder, I hear, lose weight at an unhealthy level, but they still see themselves differently and so continue their dangerous habit, which leads to a vicious cycle."

Abraham ground his teeth, sweat dripping down his brow, his eyes slightly filled with fear and dread. Eventually, however, he calmed down a bit. "Yeah... That's right. I hate to admit it, but that's the gist of my… problem."

"To say that it is a problem is certainly understating it," Maiha replied. "How did you come to have such a condition?"

Abraham set his right hand on his forehead. "Well… I'll keep it short and simple. A few years ago, I worked as a waiter at my family's restaurant. But my parents soon got a divorce, and so business took a great hit. Before long, we found ourselves in hot water with near bankruptcy. At that point, everything in my life seemed to be going out of control… and I felt so helpless and confused that I… saw my eating to be the only thing I had control over."

Control… Masashi began to see what Abraham had referred to with that word.

"S-So you… r-restricted what you ate?" Hikari asked.

"Yes. It started off small, but gradually, what I cut out grew greater and greater," Abraham said, gripping his black tie. "I didn't see it as a problem at the time, and admittedly, it would've gotten far worse if it hadn't been for a change in our fortunes. Many people got word of what was happening to our restaurant and so donated enough money to help us pay off all our debts."

"Oh, well, that's good!" Arashi said. "So your problems ended there, right?"

Uh, no, I don't think so… Masashi thought, seeing that Abraham had not actually explained how he had become diagnosed with the disorder.

Abraham shook his head. "Because of all the attention, I managed to find a job in a top-class restaurant, and after a long while, I was given the title of Ultimate Waiter. It was fucking fantastic to get some publicity for it, but…" He shook his head. "It came along with a lot of stress. I was falling back to my old habit of eating less, which I was desperately trying to avoid."

"And in the end, you fell victim to it," Haruyuki finished.

"Exactly. I passed out from malnutrition during one of my shifts," Abraham said, his voice dismal. "I was sent to a clinic right away and learned to manage my eating habits, so I was put on the road to recovery. Still, I haven't gotten back to a healthy level of weight."

"Hey, wait a minute… Is that why you haven't been eating with us at all?" Tanjiro asked. "Every time we start a meal, you always insist that we eat without you, since you say you plan to eat later."

"Ah, that's right!" Faye said. "Don't tell me that…"

Abraham snorted. "I can't stand eating before you guys… It's challenging enough to go through with it to stave off my eating disorder. That's why I always do it alone."

"W-We all get your problem now," Hikari said, "b-but how is it related to the m-motive?"

The waiter grimaced as he calmed himself, even though there was still a noticeably great amount of tension coming from him. "I… I couldn't believe what I had heard when the bear said my memories had been taken away. It was all so strange and ludicrous! At least with the hostage situation, it was realistic enough to accept. I could see how with enough manpower, Monokuma could have kidnapped our loved ones.

"But the whole memory theft… it was nothing like anything that I'd ever fathomed!" Abraham continued. "It was bad enough that I'd been kidnapped and put on this hellhole, but I at least thought that what was in my mind was safe and could never be taken from me!

"But seeing that not even my memories were safe from Monokuma… I saw my situation in a different light. I had felt that I had some control, but when that was shown to be wrong… I started thinking: if Monokuma could take away my memories… what else could he do to me? I started to feel my control over the situation slipping from my hands, and it influenced my willingness to keep up my eating habits. In other words, I found myself step by step undoing the progress I had made."

"Oh, I think I get it now…" Mari said, as calm as ever. "The reason that the motive pushed you into killing seems clear. The contents of the memories were valuable, of course, but that wasn't the main reason. No, it was the fact that your memories were stolen from you in the first place that made you lose control of your condition and thus pressured you to escape."

The others worsened in their expressions as they saw what Mari had said. Yes, that the memory theft had even been possible must have made Abraham think that he had essentially no control over himself, and so his mental state had worsened to the point that he would have fully succumbed to his disorder sooner or later.

Come to think of it… two nights ago, Abraham fell and broke some dishes, Masashi thought. That must have been due to the growing tiredness that he had felt as a result of his worsening mental state...

Masashi stared at the waiter in astonishment as the realization set in: Abraham had to avoid letting them know that he was in truth a weakling both physically and mentally. It made sense; in a killing game, potential killers would go after the weak and naive ones, and Abraham could have hardly fought back if someone had thought to target him. And from the others' faces, it seemed that most of them had realized it as well.

"H-Hey… You still haven't answered my question, man." It was Sorao, who looked a bit upset as he glared at the guilty man. "Why… Why did you choose Lady Inoshishi as your target?"

"Oh, right, that…" Abraham yawned, covering his mouth. "It's funny how things should work out, actually… Sometime after our memories were taken away, one day, Futaba and I had a little conversation in the dining room..."

"Ah, Abraham!" Futaba called out to him, having sat herself down at the table. "Could you please make me some cocoa? It's been awfully cold these last few days."

Abraham looked at her with weary eyes, though she seemed unwitting of his condition. It was ever so tiring to have to follow the lady's bidding, but as the Ultimate Waiter, he was supposed to find this work easy. It had only been a day since they all had been bereft of their memories of their darlings, and yet Abraham found it rather difficult to keep up this facade of being unaffected.

Once he began the making of the cocoa, Abraham headed back out from the kitchen, and he began to make some friendly chatter with her. She seemed to have nothing better to do, and she appeared to be one of those customers that would like the waiter to amuse them a bit.

"Now that I think about it, I would love to visit Egypt one day," Futaba said, as the conversation had been about what she thought about the Egyptian ship. "I have hardly ever traveled the world, but I think it would be a great shame if I could not see even a sight outside Japan."

"Is that so?" Abraham said, keeping up his smile. "Well, perhaps your dancer friend knows more about the world. That's the worth of having friends outside one's land, I suppose."

It was then, however, that Futaba looked askance at him, as if he had said something uncouth.

"Dancer friend…? Whom are you talking about?" Futaba asked with a puzzled tone.

Now Abraham looked weirdly at her. "Your friend that you mentioned a while ago… Magdalena Engracia Pinto was her name."

Recalling her name was a trivial effort for him. After all, he would not have become the Ultimate Waiter if he had not had such an excellent memory. It was how he could remember details of a few regulars, and he would always delight them whenever he recalled to them what they had said the last time they had dined at the restaurant.

Futaba set a finger on her chin and thought for a few seconds. "No… I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you may be mistaken. I know of no such dancer."

Ah, so that was it. The dancer was Futaba Inoshishi's forgotten darling. It all made sense now. And it appeared that no one had ever reminded her of the dancer, which meant that he was the only one who knew her darling's name...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Futaba asked.

It took a second for Abraham to see that the revelation had delighted him enough to make him show a little glee.

"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking about how you were so lucky to meet the dancer," Abraham said, having quickly come up with a lie. "You told me a while ago that you and your family once watched a performance of hers years ago. She was apparently a very skilled and lithe dancer. You befriended the dancer before she headed back to her homeland."

"I did?" Futaba said, still keeping her puzzled expression.

"Yes, but it appears that the stress from this situation has made you forget a bit." Abraham chuckled. "Perhaps the cocoa will help jog your memory. A hot drink brings up warm memories, they say."

Futaba scratched her chin a little. "Is that so? I can't say I've ever heard that expression… is that a piece of folk wisdom?"

Abraham cracked a small smile, the first that he had shown since the vote. "Oh, yes, the realization that I knew something very important about her delighted me. For me, any information can be used as a weapon, and so since it was her dancer friend that she had forgotten, it meant that I could entice her with information about her darling. And if need were, I could always access her pod."

"Was that... the only reason?" Sorao asked, staring at him with confounded eyes.

"Oh, it was the main reason, but it helped that Futaba herself was not physically strong at all," Abraham said. "Even with a weapon, I'm not particularly strong, so I needed someone weaker to kill off. Futaba qualified, and as I've already explained, she happened to be more… suitable than the other weaklings."

"I… see…" Masashi said, still amazed at the lengths that Abraham had gone.

"My turn now!" Kasumi said. "So what was the deal with framing me? I mean, I understand the whole part about smuggling the weapon out, but you didn't need to frame me!"

"Hah! Unlike the clown, I actually needed to frame you," Abraham answered, frowning.

"What? Needed?" Faye said.

"Think about it. You guys would've figured out one way or another that the weapon must have come from the second exhibit room," Abraham answered. "Then with Faye's testimony, I would've been seen as the most suspicious suspect, and you would've most likely figured out my smuggling scheme. It was a problem that I stumbled upon when I devised my scheme."

"So when did you light on the solution?" Tanjiro asked.

Abraham clicked his tongue. "Sometime after I realized who Futaba's forgotten darling was, I happened to see the idiotic thief girl crawling around the merry-go-round looking for something. Even though she quickly snatched it, I had already seen that it was a lockpick, and so it occurred to me… she could access both exhibit rooms with that lockpick. Then by framing her, I would have no longer been the most suspicious suspect. So I expanded my scheme to frame her."

"Of course, Haruyuki and Maiha also had lockpicks on them because of Kasumi's carelessness," Mari said, "but you couldn't have known that, could you?"

"No. That's why I focused on framing Kasumi only," Abraham answered.

Masashi gaped at Abraham's explanation for the choices in his scheme. It was admittedly incredibly complex and had many chances for him to make a great mistake somewhere, and yet he could see why Abraham had chosen to risk pulling it off. Because of his role as the keeper of the key to the second exhibit room, he needed to ward off as much suspicion as he could by making it look as if it were impossible for him to access the weapon.

"It's rather ironic, is it not?" Haruyuki said. "You spent all that effort on framing Kasumi, and you convincingly made her look like the culprit. But the one thing that led to your undoing was something you could've never foreseen."

"You mean… the fact that Sayua and Tanjiro saw me last night?" Kasumi said.

Haruyuki nodded. "Exactly. Thanks to their witness account, you were proven to be innocent."

"And Sayua and I were there only because she took Kumi's teddy bear last night and wanted to hide it somewhere late at night," Tanjiro said.

"And that only happened because Kumi suddenly collapsed from lack of adequate sleep, and she had the opportunity to steal it…" Sister Hikari said.

"Now that I think about it... the circumstances behind Sayua's and Tanjiro's witness account were extremely fortunate for us," Murphy said. "There was definitely no way you could've seen that coming."

"That's right…" Mari said, her gaze turning more serious, oddly enough. "Your plan was always meant to fail."

Wait… "meant to fail"? Masashi thought, puzzled by her wording. That's... a rather odd remark.

"Anything else you want to say?" Murphy asked.

"Oh, yes, there is one more thing," Abraham answered. "You mentioned a while ago that the killer could've learned Kasumi's name from her Monopad. After all, she carelessly dropped it somewhere, so I definitely had the opportunity to do so."

"Wait… are you saying that I was wrong?" Masashi asked, realizing that Abraham would not be saying this if he were right about this.

"Of course I am. I knew that Futaba had found her Monopad and had discovered what her name was, but it was not from the Monopad or Futaba that I got the name."

Abraham then took something out of his pocket, and it was a piece of paper that had been neatly folded. "Do you remember what Monokuma said after he had stolen our memories?"

Monokuma let out a hearty but irksome laugh. "This one's nothing bad. In fact, think of it as a gift! Somewhere on this ship, I've left behind a certain… thing."

"A… thing?" Sister Hikari asked as she and the others looked at him bemusedly.

"Yes, you may find it to be of great interest if you happen to find it," Monokuma answered. "And don't worry, you'll tell that it's from me if you see it."

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Faye said, eyes widened. "We never found out what it was all along!"

"A few of us went around looking for it, but to no avail, or so you thought," Abraham replied. "Of course, while looking around with Futaba, I actually found this list behind one of the hung drawings in the arts and crafts room. Since the contents are typed, it would've been impossible for any of us to fake it, so I knew for sure that it was from Monokuma. I took the list without letting Futaba notice."

"So the list had my name on it?" Kasumi asked, noticeably trying to suppress a grimace.

"Yep, that's right! It's a list of names of this killing game's participants, so naturally, I used your true name!" Monokuma said. "Like all the other things that come out of my gut, it proved to be rather helpful, didn't it?"

"Wait, that's it?!" Sayua said. "All that build-up and suspense about that unknown thing ended up being wasted on a list of our names?! I'd figured that it would be something more valuable! You know, like a gem or a phone or a car!"

"I think a car would've been out of the question, in any case..." Tanjiro replied.

Abraham snorted. "The idiotic thief girl's name was far more valuable to me than the other piece of information on the list, anyway."

"What…? 'Other'?" Masashi said. "What are you talking about?"

"It's something that'll interest you guys, I bet," Abraham answered. "But for the record, it didn't change my goddamn mind about escaping at all. You'd better read the list after the trial."

That said, Abraham handed Masashi the list, after which he pocketed it. Curious as he was to see what this other piece of information was, he decided to respect Abraham's wishes and read it later.

"I think it's about time that we got started with what we've all been waiting for: the execution! Our murderer's just deserts!" Monokuma said, stifling his giggle. "I'll give you only a minute or so for your last words, so make it quick!"

Abraham let out a scoff as he eyed the bear nonchalantly. "Seems like my time's nearly up. Anything to say before I go?"

"I… I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" Faye sighed as she looked at him sheepishly. "I think I'll miss you…"

"Really?" Abraham frowned. "I'm pretty sure you're well aware of how loathsome I am."

"Still… even with your negative qualities," the patissier replied, "I think there's some good in you. If only you had told us your problems… we might have worked it all out."

Abraham looked her in the eye for a few seconds before glancing away. "It's a waste of time to think about what might have been. All that matters is how things are now. In the end, I'm to be executed, and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about that."

"Abraham… Why aren't you scared?" Masashi asked, having noticed how calm he had been since the vote. "Aren't you afraid of what's coming up?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it… you're not swearing so much as you usually do!" Arashi said. "What's up with that?! How can you be like that at a time like this?!"

At all these questions, Abraham scoffed. "Knowing the consequences of being caught, I tried to win the killing game, but I lost. Now that it's clear what'll happen to me, I see no reason to make a great fuss over this."

Ah… I see…

Abraham was no fool. He had known full well the reality of his situation; indeed, if he had been in denial about the risk of relapsing into his eating disorder, then Futaba's murder would have never happened. Moreover, Abraham might appear to be prideful, but deep down, he knew full well that he was weak both physically and mentally. Because of that, he had not the will to keep fighting on when it was beyond clear that victory was no longer possible, whence he had taken his loss rather well.

"S-Sir Abraham…" Kumi slowly approached him, his eyes filled with tears and sorrow. "D-Do you regret killing Lady Futaba?"

"No, not at all," Abraham answered bluntly. "What would have otherwise happened would have resulted in my death. Of that I am sure."

The man's answer seemed to have shocked Kumi a bit, as the storyteller said nothing for the next few seconds.

"Aw, disappointed?" Abraham said, his tone showing some condescension. "Disappointed that one of your so-called friends ended up being a monster?"

"N-No… You're not a monster, Sir Abraham…" Kumi whimpered. "I… I think I understand why you did what you did… I wish you hadn't killed Lady Futaba, but I know it was the killing game that made you do it! It wasn't truly your fault!"

Abraham looked away with a scowl. "Are you done already?"

"Th-There's one more thing…" Kumi said. "Wh-What kind of character would you like to be in my tales? I-It can be anything that you want, I promise!"

"Anything, you say?"

"Y-Yes… Anything."

For a short while, Abraham said nothing while keeping his gaze away from the small storyteller. Eventually, he gave his answer.

"I wish to become a king so great and mighty that all men fear him."

"'Fear'? Don't you mean 'love'?"

"That wouldn't fit me at all, would it?"

Kumi stared at the man in wonder as he took in the answer, and he opened his mouth as if to gainsay him. But nothing ever came out, and instead, the storyteller meekly nodded.

"Good. And now that that's done, let's not delay the inevitable anymore," Abraham said as he faced the one to deliver his doom. "Captain Monokuma… do what you will."

Monokuma laughed as he slapped his right paw on the arms of his throne. "Why, it pleases me to see such good service! I was afraid that a guy like you might try to run away from his duty.

"Now then, I've prepared a special punishment for Abraham Zargari, the Ultimate Waiter!" Monokuma continued. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's… PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Abraham let out one last chuckle, though it sounded rather hollow and lifeless. "This wasn't how I expected to be rid of my condition… but beggars can't be choosers."

Before anyone else should say anything, however, Monokuma took out his red button and slammed his yellow mallet on it. The monitors lit up, and Monokuma's sprite appeared and dragged Abraham's to the right.

"GAME OVER," the screen showed. "ABRAHAM HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!"

Having been dragged off to his execution site, Abraham now stood in a restaurant that was filled with Monokumas dressed in sundry outfits, and they all sat at tables adorned with clean red tablecloth and pristine silverware, chatting quietly with one another. The walls and the floor were all of a light brown color, and in the background were arched windows that showed buildings with even more arches outside. On the walls were lanterns, a jackal's head, and weapons like a sword and an ax.

The title card then showed up on the monitors, and showed on a dull brown background that looked slightly tattered:

One Dead Man, Coming Right Up!

Ultimate Waiter Abraham Zargari's Execution: Executed

At once, all the Monokumas then raised an uproar, bidding the waiter serve them their meals already. Astounded and frozen at first, Abraham then gasped in pain as one of the Monokumas wrathfully threw him a knife. Though he nearly avoided the attack, the message was clear: he must serve his customers, or else the whole establishment should fall apart.

Abraham rushed into the nearby kitchen and a few seconds later, he came out holding two plates of smoked salmon and sliced beef. He made his way to the table of Monokumas that raised a sign, which signaled that he was to serve them. The Monokuma whom he had given the meal cheered, but the waiter was hit with such objects as plates and cups from the remaining customers. Wishing to escape the pelting, the waiter then speedily headed back to the kitchen once more. The more customers he served, the fewer the attacks became, and yet by the time he had served about ten customers, the waiter had grown extremely tired, having had to run back and forth.

There was only one customer left who had not been served. Abraham headed into the kitchen and came back out with a rather great plate of beef along with a few glasses of wine. But just as he was about to serve a Monokuma dressed like a businessman, a nearby customer suddenly extended his foot outwards. Abraham tried his best to avoid falling, but alas, his tiredness hindered him, and so he tripped. The tray flew into the air, the contents spilling onto the Monokuma businessman. The fleeting expression of joy on his face turned into great anger.

At once, Abraham got up and began to apologize, shock spread throughout his face, but it was too late: the businessman, in retaliation, took the jackal's head mounted on the wall and slammed it right onto his head, which made the waiter fall. But the attack had not killed him. No, the waiter was still alive, albeit barely. Was there still hope that he could somehow make up for this blunder?

Abraham weakly looked upwards, only to see two Monokumas dressed like chefs come out of the kitchen. After a few seconds of chatter between the chefs and the angry businessman, they came to an understanding as to how the latter ought to be compensated for the poor service.

Once the talk was done, one of the chefs then grabbed Abraham by the collar and pinned him down on a nearby table. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight was then shone on Abraham and the chef. The other chef reappeared, now wielding a great ax that had been hung on the wall, and by that point, all who beheld the scene saw what would soon happen. In his last moments, Abraham, sweating and looking utterly tired, shut his eyes.

All the preparations done, the ax went right below where his tie was worn on the neck, and the head was cut off in one fell swoop. Blood spewed out of the open wound, staining the nearby customers, none of whom, however, looked fazed. As the lighting turned back on, the other chef set the headless body upright and plugged the hole with the nearby jackal's head. Meanwhile, the chef that had beheaded the waiter picked his head up and scurried off to the kitchen.

A few seconds later, the chef returned with a platter and set it on the hungry businessman's table. Upon lifting the cover, the businessman clapped at the sight. The dish, after all, was none other than Abraham's head, besprinkled with spices, blood having spilled onto the plate as if it were the juice that oozed out of a steak.

The last customer's dish served, all the Monokumas in the restaurant cheered. The waiter had fulfilled his last customer's order, and so he had gotten his rest, never to wake up again.

Once again, the group was stunned by the horrific killing of one of its former members. To see such evil had been beyond terrifying the first time, but to see it again did not fail to inspire fear and dread in the survivors' hearts.

"Aah… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Masashi screamed once he had fully taken in what he had seen.

"N-No... Abraham...!" Faye said, utterly pale as she covered most of her face with her hands.

"H-Holy shit…" Sayua muttered as she touched her forehead. "He was fucking beheaded…"

"Wh… What kind of person would do that?" Tanjiro said, wide-eyed.

Murphy ground his teeth as he touched his straw hat, sweat dripping down his brow. "Another one of us… is now gone…"

"D-Don't tell me that Monokuma actually ate his head!" Arashi exclaimed. "Th-There's no way he'd eat human flesh, right?!"

"Oh, I'll have you know, we bears don't mind feasting on you humans!" Monokuma replied. "I mean, I prefer salmon and berries, but hey, if it means I get to live longer, I'll gladly fill my guts with yours!"

"Th-That is beyond messed up…" Sorao said. "And did you really have to humiliate the guy before killing him?"

"Indeed… It is a most unfitting ordeal for the man…" Haruyuki uttered, his voice showing a little fear. "I suppose that was the purpose, however… Both executions finished after bereaving the victims of all dignity…"

"Aah… This… This can't be!" Kasumi said, struggling to get the words out as she set a hand on her red mask.

"God rest his soul..." Sister Hikari mumbled, shedding tears.

Hikari and Maiha said nothing, but their faces could not hide the shock that they now felt from witnessing the bloody sight. Meanwhile, Kumi had begun to weep once more, his face hidden by the hood attached to his light-brown cloak, having fallen to his knees. Mari walked about here and there, as if compelled to move, but notwithstanding her calm countenance, it was clear that she would like nothing more than to leave this dreadful courtroom and go back outside, where she found peace, however short it might be.

"Well, now, I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the Ultimate Waiter's last service as much as I did!" Monokuma said. "Sorry that we didn't leave you any leftovers, though. His head was just too tasty to resist! I'll let you have my Chinese leftovers from last night, though, so everything's all right."

"Sh-Shut up! Stop talking about that already!" Masashi exclaimed as he looked furiously at the bear. "Don't you feel bad that you've caused four of us to die?!"

"Hmm? Why do you think I'm supposed to feel bad?" Monokuma said, tilting his head a little. "Abraham did the crime, and you guys caught him, so I simply followed the rules and punished him."

"That's nothing more than a stupid excuse!" Masashi responded. "You're the one that forced Abraham to kill Futaba!"

"Ah, but is that true?" Monokuma replied. "Sure, this is a killing game, but even if I present you with some obstacles, you always have the choice of not killing. Abraham could've just told you the truth about his eating disorder, and things would've been different for him, yes?"

"That… is true," Faye said sorrowfully. "If he'd just been open to us, then Futaba wouldn't have been killed…"

"Indeed," Haruyuki said, having regained his composure. "Abraham felt highly compelled to kill and forsake the rest of us, but in the end, he did so out of his choice. He was a victim, but not a victim without free will."

"Ugh…" Masashi groaned as he could come up with no good response. Loath as he was to admit it, Haruyuki had a point: Abraham had chosen to hide his secret and kill Futaba. He was no innocent child who did not know full well what he had been set on doing.

"Anyway, I'd normally just leave you guys here worrying about your fates and whatnot," Monokuma said, "but in this case, there's something important I've got to do!"

"There is?" Murphy asked.

"Yep! Have you forgotten about the motive?" Monokuma replied. "Now that the class trial's over, you get to have your stolen memories back!"

"O-Oh yeah!" Arashi said. "We're getting them back now?!"

Kumi looked up with weeping eyes, trembling. "Y-You mean you'll give me back my memories of Mom?"

Monokuma nodded blithely. "Yep! First things first, we've got to go back to the Memory Bank! Your memories are still there, and don't worry, you'll get them all back! See you there!"

The bear then disappeared.

"Well… Let's head there now," Faye said gloomily. "It's… the last part of this dreadful ordeal."

Yes… Masashi thought, feeling a sense of delight. I can remember everything about Keiko soon...

And so the fourteen survivors silently rode the elevator back up to the main deck. After they stepped foot on the Egyptian palace once more, the ship in which their doom was to be delivered sailed away and disappeared off in the distance. The clouds that had shrouded the heavens this morning had not gone away; nay, they had grown in number, betokening another storm.

When they arrived at the Memory Bank, it looked utterly clean, Futaba's corpse and blood gone, as if the killing had never been done in the first place. Monokuma stood there waiting and clapped in delight once seeing the survivors enter.

"Now, then, go into your pods, put on the headsets, and relax!" the captain said.

Saying nothing, the fourteen did the captain's bidding and stepped into their pods. After Masashi put on the headset, the pod's lid closed, and once again, he was by himself in utter darkness.

Some relaxation this is… Masashi thought as he fell asleep.

"Wakey, wakey! Time to get up now!"

Masashi opened his eyes, and for a few seconds, he simply focused on how groggy and dazed he felt. But as his mind became clearer, a certain realization came to him.

Keiko! I can remember everything about her!

Yes, it was not only what he had seen that night that he could remember. Every memory had been returned to him at last. He could remember playing with her when they were only kids, going shopping with her whenever she felt like it, and watching her practice dancing for her school club. They were all rather unremarkable activities, but never had he felt glad to remember the unremarkable.

It's true… You never miss the water until the well runs dry.

Masashi let out a chuckle in delight. Thanks to this experience, he now knew not to take the simplest things for granted. It was as Abraham had said: if Monokuma could take away his memories, what else could he do to him?

Keiko… I remember you fully now, Masashi thought. And I swear to you, we'll be back together some day…

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Masashi then got out of his pod, most of the others having gotten out already. Once Kumi and Mari got out, Monokuma, standing in the middle of the room, made a sound meant to imitate the clearing of one's throat.

"I'm happy to say that the memory returning procedure has been successful!" Monokuma said. "You should now remember everything about your darlings!"

"Y-Yeah… I do," Faye said, her smile true. "I can remember my dear mother's face again."

"And I can remember my own mother as well," Murphy said, sounding a little merry as well. "Thank God this whole ordeal is over!"

Haruyuki chuckled. "The experience has not particularly changed me, but I will admit that it has produced a few interesting results."

"I-I don't really care, so…" Hikari said. Even with her memories back, she still kept her usual gloomy countenance, as if what she had lost had been of no worth to her.

"G-Grandpa…" Arashi mumbled, eyes watering. "I… I can't believe I forgot about you! I… I swear I'll never forget you again!"

Sayua scoffed. "Not that I care much about my old man, but I guess it's good to get back what was taken from me."

"Ah… So it was my little sister…" Mari mumbled as she glanced elsewhere. "I can't say I could've figured that out…"

Kumi, on the other hand, was surprisingly quiet, his expression awfully still and wan.

"M-Mom…? D-Dad? I-I heard something weird earlier..." he mumbled, looking downwards. "I-I don't want to be alone... C-Could I stay with you tonight?"

"Kumi? Are you all right?" Faye asked. but the storyteller did not answer her, his gaze distant as if he were in his own world.

"Wh-What's going on? Wh-Why aren't you saying anything? A-And why does it smell so weird?" Kumi whimpered, his voice shaken. The more he spoke, the greater the fear in his voice grew, and his expression grew so uneasy that the others began to back away from him, as if fearing lest he attack them.

"What in the world...?" Murphy said. "What's he saying?"

"H-Has the memory returning procedure done something to him?" Tanjiro said, looking at him with dread.

"No way!" Monokuma said, raising his paws in protest. "It's been tested many times and has been proven to be 100% safe!"

"M-Mom! D-Dad! Wh-Why aren't you saying anything?!" Kumi continued, now clutching his head with both hands, his face full of unease. "I-I don't want to be alone right now! Th-There's something weird going on! Mom! Dad! Where are you?! What's going on—"

His odd rambling, however, was stopped when Sister Hikari suddenly embraced him, after which Kumi let out a small gasp.

"There, there, Kumi," Sister Hikari said gently.

"S-Sister Hikari?" Kumi said, looking dazed, though it appeared that his grip on reality was returning. "I-Is that you?"

"That's right," she said, showing a winning smile. "Don't worry, Kumi… even if you're frightened by what's befallen us up to now, I'm here for you."

"T-Truly?" Kumi said, looking uncertainly at her. "Y-You won't leave me?"

"Of course not," she answered, nodding. "I'll stay by your side, and nothing bad shall happen to you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Sister Hikari... I… I… I...!"

And it was then that Kumi buried his head in her lap, weeping aloud. Though startled at first, the good nun nonetheless let him weep as she softly rubbed the back of his head and muttered words of comfort, chuckling a little. Meanwhile, the others, staring at the scene dumbstruck, grew easier in their expressions, though still confused as to what had just happened.

"What in the world was that?" Murphy asked, scratching his head as Kumi's weeping grew quiet.

"I don't know exactly, but I don't think it was his usual behavior..." Masashi said, eyeing the storyteller concernedly. On one hand, he was relieved to see that Sister Hikari was soothing him, but on the other hand, the confusion that had sprouted when Kumi had begun to say those odd things still needed to be explained.

"Yeah, it sounded far more serious than that..." Faye said. "It's almost as if he had seen something before him that none of us could see..."

"But that sure sounds like a fantasy to me!" Kasumi said blithely. "So if you ask me, there's no need to worry about it!"

"For once, I agree," Sayua said, crossing her arms as she flicked a lock of her blond hair. "Let's face it: he's a dumbass who believes in fairies and all that baloney. That was likely his special way of showing how much this whole killing game had scared him. And so he naturally cried out to his parents, hoping that they could save his sorry ass."

"Well... I can certainly see Kumi fall back on his parents for support if they were here," Murphy answered. "He hasn't acted like that before, so maybe that truly was a one-time incident. After all, he watched two executions. God knows that kind of thing is bound to have a bad effect on him."

"Exactly. That's why we shouldn't waste our time on him," Sayua replied.

"I don't know... There's still something off about him, don't you think?" Mari said. "But in any case, maybe we should talk about it later. Aren't there more important matters at hand?"

"Yeah, there's one thing." It was Sorao, who looked, on the whole, unconcerned about the matter with Kumi, who had managed to calm down at last. He looked at the captain, who too had looked uninterested in what he had just seen. "Hey, Captain Monokuma. We have our memories back, but what about Lady Inoshishi's and Abraham's memories? Are they still in the pods?"

Ah, that's right… Masashi thought. The memories had been the very reason why Futaba had come here. In the end, she had not been able to see any of her darling's memories, having been ambushed by Abraham.

At Sorao's question, Monokuma shook his head. "Sorry, buddy, but they're no longer there! You see, they've been erased!"

"What…? 'Erased'?" Kumi said, his voice still shaken, even though he was no longer in a frantic state. "You mean, you—"

"Threw them in the trash? Yep, I deleted all the memory data in their pods after the procedure was done," Monokuma answered. "What's the point of having them there, when their owners are now dead? Of course, I have copies of them in my database, but they're for my eyes only!"

The group looked confusedly at one another as they thought about Monokuma's deletion of the memories. On one hand, it was rather saddening to hear that the records of the two dead students' precious memories were gone, never to be seen by anyone other than a mad bear. But on the other hand, perhaps it was for the best that they were gone. Those memories were about their darlings, and so they might have contained certain things that the two would have preferred to keep secret.

In any case, the memories were now gone. There was nothing that they could do about it now.

"Anyway, the returning procedure was thankfully shorter than the extraction, and it's now about six o'clock," Monokuma said. "I feel hungry for some Thai food, so I'll see you later!"

After Monokuma left, the group for a moment stood in silence, taking in what had just happened. They were relieved that their memories were now back, and so any stress and anxiety that had come from their loss should be gone now. And yet, the returning had come at a great cost of the loss of two friends. Masashi had wanted all his memories of Keiko back, but he had hoped that there was a way to do so without any death.

Then again, it's like Abraham said: it's pointless to muse about what might have been, he thought. All that matters is how things are now.

And right now, there were only fourteen of them left. They had begun as eighteen, and Masashi dreaded to think about how many they would end as.

Chapter 2 - The Lost Darling Beneath the Sands - END

Surviving Students: 14

1. Masashi Kousaki - Ultimate Lucky Student

2. Atsushi Morokuzu - Ultimate Archaeologist (DEAD)

3. Faye Nirigiri - Ultimate Patissier

4. Maiha Hanazawa - Ultimate Competitive Ballroom Dancer

5. Takumi Takamitsu - Ultimate Storyteller

6. Kasumi Ayukawa - Ultimate Phantom Thief

7. Abraham Zargari - Ultimate Waiter (DEAD)

8. Futaba Inoshishi - Ultimate Figure Skater (DEAD)

9. Arashi Seiya - Ultimate Pyrotechnician

10. Hikari Fey - Ultimate Spirit Channeler

11. Sayua Tomi - Ultimate Cheerleader

12. Tanjiro Urata - Ultimate Historical Novelist

13. Hikari Shinto - Ultimate Nun

14. Haruka Minami - Ultimate Clown (DEAD)

15. Murphy O'Hagan - Ultimate Potato Farmer

16. Haruyuki Kanagawa - Ultimate Art Critic

17. Sorao Mineta - Ultimate Celesta Player

18. Mari Anzai - Ultimate Phenologist

And so the second chapter ends!

Here we must say goodbye to Abraham, whom I don't particularly like as a person, but whom I find rather interesting as a character. He has an interesting reason for putting up his prideful front, and it would have also been interesting to see how he would have interacted with the cast if his eating disorder had come to light earlier. Sadly, that's Abraham's main flaw: he would never willingly admit to having such a condition, fearing lest he be seen as weak.

Now, I would like to thank Prince PokePersona for sending me Futaba Inoshishi, and Shirasaur for sending me Abraham Zargari. They were both very interesting characters to work with, and even though they're dead now, I hope that you'll stick around and see how the rest of this story goes!

Next time, the third chapter begins, and the aftermath of Abraham's killing will play out. Now, then, as usual, I'd like to hear your predictions for future chapters. What do you think will be the death order for this story? And how many survivors do you think there will be in the end? After all, this is a cast of 18 (and not the usual 16), so I'd like to know what your expectations are.