Right after the vote was done, a spell of dizziness overcame Masashi for a few seconds. For a moment, he almost fell over giddily. When his wits came back to him, and he steadied himself, the others had gathered around in the courtroom.
"Puhuhuhu… What a mess this ended up being," Monokuma began. "But, yes, just in case you somehow became blind during the previous sequence, the blackened is indeed Mari Anzai! Way to go, everyone! Four in a row! Hmm, but four is an unlucky number, is it not? Maybe you oughta have gotten this one wrong."
No one said a word. Even though they had won by uncovering the truth like the last few times, there was neither shock nor denial at the state of affairs.
"It's unfortunate…" Mari muttered wearily. "I never thought that things would end up this way, and yet, here I stand guilty."
"Well… what now?" Kasumi asked. "Normally, we'd ask for details like motive, but this time, Mari never meant to kill Hikari!"
"It was all the result of an unfortunate series of events…" Faye said drearily.
"Quite unexpected, to say the least," Haruyuki added. "We surely cannot interrogate an unintentional killer now, can we?"
"Then I say you oughta ask those two bozos for the sweet details!"
Monokuma pointed at Sorao and Kumi, neither of whom said a word as soon as the others faced them. The two men not only had formed a partnership but also had secretly planned to kill each other, whether directly or indirectly.
"What, you don't know where to start?" Monokuma said. "That's all right, then. We'll start with our dear Sorao boy."
Sorao nearly started upon being chosen, but in the end, he did not protest and instead heaved a sigh as he rubbed his head.
"Fine… If you want the truth, then feel free to ask," he said resignedly. "Not as if I could hide it from you at this point."
"To begin with, it turns out that you knew about Arashi's murder scheme and plotted to use it to kill Tanjiro, but he slew Sister Hikari in the end," Haruyuki said readily. "How did you find out about it in the first place?"
"It's no great mystery, really," he answered. "The night before the double killing. I was in the kitchen, grabbing a snack. But just as I began my way back to my room, whom should I see but Arashi heading over to the pirates' cove! I thought it was suspicious, so I shadowed him and soon discovered what he was up to."
"Thereafter, you took that photograph of Arashi," Maiha said, looking at him with great disapproval, "in order to ensure that he should be caught in the class trial if the truth were about to be left undiscovered."
"Yeah, that's right. Now, to be clear, while I hoped that Arashi would kill Tanjiro, I didn't expect him to kill Murphy as part of ensuring that the plan went smoothly. And I certainly didn't expect Sister Hikari to fall for the trap instead."
"But there's no changing the fact that you caused those deaths indirectly!" Faye said, aghast. "You knew full well of his scheme, but chose not to reveal it!"
"If you had, then we should've avoided needless deaths," Mari said.
Sorao sighed, looking quite unfazed by their objections. "Too bad that my desire to kill Tanjiro went unfulfilled that night. It's such a shame that Sister Hikari had to die in his stead… What a kind, sweet woman she was."
Hearing those words from Sorao made a sense of disgust arise in Masashi.
"You... Why did you go after him in the first place?"
It was Sayua, who sounded unusually calm. Masashi sensed that she was holding herself back.
Sorao glanced at her blankly for a few seconds before smirking a devious smirk.
"It's simple. For the last few years or so, he'd known what I was really like behind my 'nice guy' persona, or at least had a pretty good suspicion of it," he answered. "When we were still at the same school, he would always go up to me and accuse me of 'setting' him up. Of course, he was right. He was the unpopular one in school, and I enjoyed the chaos I created whenever I secretly badmouthed him to our classmates.
"Still, I managed to make other people at our school dismiss his accusations as envy, but sooner or later, we went to different schools, so it stopped," he continued. "Before the killing game began, I simply thought of him as annoying, not dangerous."
"But what changed?" Mari said.
"Well, as I said, he knew my secret. After this whole killing game fiasco began, it occurred to me that he might try to use his info to put me in a disadvantage," Sorao said. "And even if this game were to end with both of us alive, I would have to deal with him now that I had realized he knew too much. Once we'd get back to our ordinary lives and our different schools, I wouldn't be there to stop him from blabbing about me to his classmates. Imagine what he could do to my pristine image!"
"Your pristine image can go to hell for all I care!" Sayua said. "You wanted to get rid of him just because he upset you!"
Sorao scoffed. "I don't care about what you say at this point. I've succeeded, even if it wasn't Arashi who did him in."
"Speaking of him, why did you keep the photo of Arashi on your camera, even after he had been executed?" Haruyuki asked.
"Sentimentality, really. Not the wisest move, I admit, but hey, I never expected anyone to have my camera," he answered casually. "Of course, after I discovered the camera swap this morning, I quickly rushed over to the music room to get it back from Tanjiro. Unfortunately… he had already looked at the photos in the camera and found that photo. Even when he tried to reason with me, I knew that I must not let him live."
"And then you two got into a scuffle," Mari said.
It was then that Sorao frowned.
"He was far more daring than I thought… he was so daring that it was by his hand that things unfolded this way…"
It was only a split second, but Tanjiro had swung his club at Sorao, clearly hoping to bring an end to him once and for all. But just as Sorao had ducked and leapt to the side, he had heard the sound of someone being struck.
Sorao turned around with a hint of carefulness, only to nearly leap upon seeing Hikari lying on the floor with a bloody head. Yes, Sorao now understood what had happened. She had been standing nearby, muttering quiet and useless cries for them to stop. She had stood right near Sorao when Tanjiro had swung the club. Though he had missed Sorao, it was as if fate would not bear this avoidance of bloodshed, which was why it had directed the club at the pitiful girl.
"No, Hikari…!"
Tanjiro had stopped once he saw his handiwork before him. The dreadful sight made all his frenzy vanish from his face, shock and horror taking their stead. He dropped his club and rushed over to her.
"H-Hikari! Hikari, are you all right?!" Tanjiro squealed. She said nothing, having been knocked unconscious.
Eyes widened, his voice briefly bereft from him, Sorao beheld how much blood had already pooled near her head. "Do you feel a pulse?"
Tanjiro set a finger on her throat. "She… She's still alive… Maybe… If we get the others, then…"
It was then that an idea sprang in Sorao's mind.
It was a wicked idea, and it strayed from what he had originally planned lately, but the more he thought about it, the more daring he grew.
"No… It's no use," Sorao said. "Look at that wound. It reminds me all too much of how Murphy ended up after Arashi had attacked him. She'll be a goner, all right."
"Th-Then…" Tanjiro said, his face growing pale. "I… I'll soon become a killer! A killer, a killer, a killer!"
Seeing that, Sorao knew that he must go through with the plan.
"Now, now, Tanjiro, all hope is not lost!" he said reassuringly. "I have an idea on how you can get out of this mess. But first… Monokuma!"
Right on cue, Monokuma appeared from beneath, looking ever so mirthful. There was no need to explain what had happened.
"Monokuma, is there a way for anyone to make a copy of Tanjiro's contract?" he asked.
"You mean, from a printer? There sure is!" Monokuma answered. "There's a printer in the staff lounge above! Free of charge, too, but keep in mind, a copy of the contract is just that: a copy. None of the rules of the contracts apply to it."
Sorao smirked. "That's all I needed to hear."
"Wh-What? What are you talking about?" Tanjiro asked, still dazed from his grievous misdeed.
Having gone through a rough version of his plan in his head, Sorao told Tanjiro about it.
"I… I can't go through with it!" Tanjiro whimpered.
"Are you sure, Tanjiro?" Sorao responded, figuring that Tanjiro would show hesitation at first. "Are you willing to confess to your crime and undergo execution?"
Tanjiro's voice choked, and he glanced grimly at the gruesome and ghastly sight beside him.
"I… I'm sorry, Hikari… I'm sorry, everyone… but I… I don't want to die!" Tanjiro bemoaned. "I want to live… I want to see my family again… I want to go back to my old life!"
"Then get to it already."
Tanjiro leered at him, and for a moment, he seemed to be trying to come up with a retort, but in the end, he let out another groan of frustration. "Remind me again what I'm supposed to do."
"Just go up to the staff lounge, make a copy of your contract, and get one of the red curtains to clean up this blood with."
As soon as Sorao was sure that Tanjiro was gone, he walked over to the cupboard in which Monokuma's drinks and poisons had been stowed.
"Oh? Whatcha up to?" Monokuma asked, obviously interested.
"A little mischief, that's all."
Sorao looked at the compartment with the poisons and found a poison that also made the victim numb. This would be handy just in case Hikari unexpectedly survived and tried to escape and warn the others.
He walked over to the girl, who was slightly stirring. But that was no problem for him. He imagined that her sight of him was quite fuzzy at that moment.
"Don't worry, Hikari…" Sorao said as he took off the bottle's lid. "You'll experience a little numbness… It'll only last a few minutes. Soon, it will all be over."
Smiling at his small deception, he opened up her mouth and poured the contents of the poison into it.
"I don't think I need to go into detail on what happened afterwards," Sorao said. "Tanjiro never found out what I'd done. He went along with the plan like an obedient little lamb."
"It sounds like an ill-thought-out plan," Maiha said sharply. "You planned to have Tanjiro smuggle her body to the staff lounge, create the locked room mystery there, and sneak off to the upper theater room through the vent. But as soon as Tanjiro had tried to leave the theater room, his exit would have been recorded by the security system, and your deception would've been exposed."
Sorao sighed as if already aware of his mistake. "Yeah… If truth be told, in the midst of all the excitement, I completely forgot about the security system. Not my fault the doors don't let out a signal to show that we're being recorded."
"Why did Tanjiro happen to have the perfume bottle and the red curtain on him, anyway?" Haruyuki asked.
"Oh, those two pieces of evidence? I told him to find a way to dispose of them later," Sorao said. "Too bad he didn't get a chance to do it since… you know."
"Yes, he ended up in the upper theater room, where he unfortunately met Takumi," Haruyuki said. "What ensued in their encounter?"
"That's where I come in!"
Monokuma raised his paw.
"That dim-witted guy remembers jack squat about what happened, and the other fellow's dead, so it's up to me to tell you the tale," Monokuma said. "You see, it went something like this…"
Standing in the upper theater room and near two suits of armor placed near the vent, Kumi turned his head upon hearing the vent's lid popped open. Tanjiro crawled out thence, only to stop upon turning his head toward the storyteller.
"K-Kumi!" Tanjiro yelped. For some reason, he was holding a red curtain, a bottle sticking out of his pocket. "Y-You… Oh God… Oh God, you're here…"
"Tanjiro?" Kumi asked.
"Oh God… Oh God…" Tanjiro muttered, facing elsewhere as he paced about, paying him no heed. "Kumi… you… I... oh God, why did you have to be here of all places?"
"What are you doing? Why were you crawling through a vent?"
Appearing to ignore Kumi's questions, however, Tanjiro muttered a few undecipherable words to himself for a few seconds and then let out a great groan.
"I… I've already passed the point of no return…" he said. "There's no other way out for me... I can't turn back now…"
He then turned toward Kumi with a blank yet foreboding expression.
"Kumi… I'm sorry… I beg for your eternal forgiveness, but…
"I'm afraid you know too much…
"That's why I need you to be silent about this… forever."
"Well, I don't believe you need to hear the rest," Monokuma said. "You know what happened afterwards, right?"
"Yes, Tanjiro tried to kill Takumi with his bare hands, but Takumi managed to get the upper hand on the situation. But after realizing his crime, Takumi tried to fake the time of death," Haruyuki answered. "But he had failed to make sure that Tanjiro was actually dead, and he unwittingly killed him later on."
"I… I can't believe it…" Sayua muttered with a lifeless expression. "Tanjiro… There's no way he would say something like that."
"I should imagine that he must've been out of his wits," Haruyuki replied.
"It's quite hard to believe that such a man would resort to killing," Maiha said. "I talked little with him, but I sensed that he was a man of good morals."
"I can't fault him completely, though," Mari said sadly. "He had just committed a terrible crime, and while I'm sure he wanted to follow his morals, in the end, he must've felt pressured enough to choose his own survival… even if that meant resorting to killing potential witnesses."
"I… I guess so…" Masashi said.
What Tanjiro had done was wrong, no doubt, but he found it hard to imagine that he would have done otherwise if he had been in his shoes. The very idea of willingly confessing to his misdeed and submitting himself for a grisly execution shook Masashi to his very core.
"And thus ends the tale of Tanjiro Urata, the Ultimate Historical Novelist. Now relegated to the dustbin of history!" Monokuma said in a mockingly sorrowful tone for a moment. "Now, let's move on to the other would-be blackened!"
"You mean Kumi?" Kasumi asked. "I want to know why he tried to poison Sorao and escape with Hikari!"
"Obviously, that little doofus is in no position to answer because of his amnesia," Monokuma answered. "So I shall explain everything from the start.
"I'm sure that you're well aware of what happened in the previous case. His dear Sister Hikari was slain, and poor little Takumi was… less than pleased with what happened. He was distraught, he was!" Monokuma said as he feigned weeping for a moment. "Obviously, he saw her as a mother figure of sorts. But when he lost her, he did not stop there. No, in his despair, he wanted someone to replace her. That's where you come in… Faye."
"Wait, me?" she said.
"Yes, that's right. He simply wanted to latch onto some pretty and caring woman, and given the other choices, you were the fittest," he answered.
"H-Hey!" Kasumi said. "I'm pretty and caring, too!"
"Well, clearly, you weren't good enough for him," Maiha said.
"That applies to you, too, yes?" Haruyuki remarked snidely.
"Ahem!" Monokuma said, looking beet-red for a moment. "As I was saying… all went well… until yesterday evening. You remember what you said to him, Faye? Right after he angered you when he said your cooking could be better?"
"Yes, that's right…" Faye said. "I admit, I said some things I shouldn't have, but at the time… he just annoyed me with how he whined. I can't be blamed for getting critical, can I?"
"But there's one other thing that concerns me," Mari said. "It's what you said afterwards about Kumi's mind. As part of your tirade, you mentioned that his mind was 'unsound'."
"Yes, that has puzzled me for some time," Maiha said. "Whatever did you mean by that?"
"Well… I meant what I said,'' she answered, putting up an unperturbed expression. "Kumi is no normal child. No, he has a certain condition. If I remember correctly, it's called… Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis."
Ah! Masashi thought as he recalled what he had discussed with Mari that night. That's what we figured out as well… So Mari was right about it all along.
"What? Sleep paralysis?" Kasumi said, looking as mystified as the others. "What's that?"
"If I have it right, those with that condition find it hard to move or speak as they wake up or fall asleep," Faye explained. "And it's common for them to experience hallucinations as well. So vivid that one can write books about them and have people think that they came from his creativity. Books that would lead him to become the Ultimate Storyteller!"
As soon as she finished, everyone else grew startled, realizing what she was saying. They had made the same realization as Masashi and Mari had: the so-called fairies and monsters that Kumi would often talk about were nothing more than hallucinations. Meanwhile, Kumi simply stood there, looking silently befuddled by the revelation. Did he understand what she said? Or did he truly not see what his condition was?
"Astounding... so he truly believed in his delusions," Haruyuki muttered.
Crossing her arms, Maiha let out a derisive scoff. "I almost feel sorry for him... almost."
"I can't believe it! I thought he was just playing around, but really? A sleep disorder?" Kasumi said.
Sayua said nothing, but Masashi noted the less than friendly glance that she gave Kumi.
"When did you figure it out?" Mari asked.
"If truth be told… I didn't," Faye answered. "One morning, I heard someone knocking on my door and then found a note slipped under my door. It told me everything about Kumi's condition. I could not believe it, but to be sure, I went to the library and looked it up in a clinical dictionary. And sure enough, what I found matched Kumi's behavior to a T."
So that explains it… Masashi thought. Mari said she found it odd that Faye had figured it out. But it makes sense if she had been told about it instead!
"But who wrote that note?" Maiha asked. "Someone else here must've known about his condition if what you say is true."
It was then that a chilling chuckle rang throughout the courtroom. It was none other than Sorao.
"I'm sure that Monokuma would say it anyway, so what's the point in hiding it?" he said. "It was I who wrote the note."
The others gasped.
"What?!" Faye said. "You… You wrote it?!"
"Yes, and in fact, it was thanks to Sister Hikari that began it all," Sorao answered with a devious smile. "On the night of her murder, she and I were talking about Kumi's behavior in the morning. She mentioned that sometimes, he said that the fairies had paralyzed him. She said that it was part of his 'coping mechanism', but his 'dedication' to fantasy felt too strange to me. Hence, after the trial, I went to the library and took the clinical dictionary to my room."
"I should've known it was you…" Mari said, grimacing. "It also explains why you were so fixated around him after the trial: you wanted to figure out what his condition was."
"But what was your plan, exactly?" Haruyuki asked. "What did you intend to do with the information?
"It's not complicated at all, really," Sorao answered, sounding almost proud of what he had done. "I noticed that Kumi was trying to latch onto Faye as his 'mother figure'. So I figured that if they were to turn against each other… the consequences would be quite nasty. Hence, I gave Faye information about his condition… and in return, I had him purposely criticize her cooking."
It was then that Masashi recalled a short snippet of Sorao's conversation with Kumi right after Masashi and Kasumi had talked with Kumi for a bit.
"Now, come on, buddy, let's go help Faye with the cooking, shall we?" Sorao said, pointing at the kitchen. "I've noticed that she's been a little off lately, so I think we ought to try cheering her up."
"Cheer… her up?" Kumi repeated, sounding wooden.
Sorao nodded, grinning. "Let's talk more about it later. For now, the cooking awaits us!"
"From what I observed, Faye was quite proud of her cooking," Sorao continued, "so if she were to be insulted and felt threatened, she would reveal the information and permanently destroy her relationship with Kumi."
"Th-That's… That's diabolical!" Faye said, scowling. "You tricked us!"
"Trick you? Everything you two did, you did on your free will. I simply provided you with the impetus, that's all," Sorao retorted, smiling as if proud of his scheme. "Anyway, it worked out perfectly. When I visited Kumi later that night, he had lost all hope in finding happiness in this place. Sensing his desire to end this killing game, I could finally manipulate him and get him to agree to a partnership with me. My ultimate goal was to have him kill Tanjiro."
"But things did not go the way you wanted, even if you ultimately achieved your goal," Mari said. "Kumi planned to kill you instead."
Sorao frowned, all glee vanishing at once. "Yes… I didn't expect him to betray me and attempt to poison me. What made him think about betraying me?"
"Oh, it's simple!" Monokuma said. "You see… after Faye broke him with her words, Kumi planned to commit a murder and forsake this place for good. But then you came in and revealed that you knew about his desire to end this killing game, which complicated his plans. After all, if he declined becoming your partner, he feared that you would watch him closely and try to make the group suspicious of him. So he had no choice but to accept your partnership."
"But I still don't see why he thought to betray me."
"You really underestimate the little guy," Monokuma said, staring sternly at Sorao, who flinched for a second. "You tellingly chose not to sign his contract, because you planned to have him kill Tanjiro, but rat him out later. By not signing his contract, you wouldn't be punished for his crime, but you would indirectly kill Takumi instead. He realized that that was your plan all along, so he found a solution to his dilemma: killing you. He would get rid of a threat and leave this place at the same time."
Sorao widened his eyes. "Th-That's why…? But why did he choose poison?"
"Well, he figured that you would be quite careful around him, and given his stature, it would be impossible to do a physical ambush. Poison seemed like the fittest choice," Monokuma said. "Of course, he figured that you might anticipate it, so he thought that if he gave you a poisoned brownie right after the cooking session, you would have your guard down, and you would eat it, being none the wiser."
"And I must say, there would have been a certain tragedy in not knowing who had caused your death," Haruyuki said. "You might have suspected Takumi, but for all you know, someone else such as Faye could've poisoned your food. You would not have known for sure."
"I can't believe it!" Sorao ground his teeth as he looked down. "That witless fool! I was outwitted by the likes of him... and to think that if Tanjiro hadn't bumped into me and caused our cameras to be switched, I should have become the victim of this case!"
"A very complicated background for this case, yes," Mari said. "Nothing went the way that either of you intended murderers wanted."
"But there's one question remaining!" Kasumi said. "In the end, Kumi tricked Hikari into signing his contract. So that means that he intended to leave this place with her, right?"
"But why was it she that he chose to save?" Maiha asked.
"Puhuhu… I should imagine it's pretty obvious, but I guess I have to say it anyway!" Monokuma answered. "You see, Hikari was a very pitiful girl. Throughout her whole life, no one cared about who she was as opposed to what she was."
"She was… the Ultimate Spirit Channeler, yes?" Sorao said. "She had the extraordinary power to channel ghosts."
And it was then that Masashi realized what Monokuma was getting at.
"It can't be…" he uttered out of denial, though it was weak. "Kumi wanted her powers?"
"That's right!" Monokuma said. "He felt very lonely, you see. The killing game cut down many of the friends he had made during his time here. But if he had her powers, he would be able to commune with the dead."
"I… I guess that makes sense," Faye said.
"Yes… Hikari's powers are quite extraordinary," Monokuma said. "If he left this place with her alive, the little idiot could communicate with his dearly departed friends such as that clown girl or that motherly nun… as well as his two special darlings."
"His… special darlings?" Sorao asked.
The very mention of them seemed to have a great effect on Kumi, as his face grew pale, and he lightly shook his head as if not wanting Monokuma to speak of them.
"Oh, yes, yes, they're no longer with him, you see. He'd lost them long before this killing game began," Monokuma said before flippantly waving his paw. "But there's no need to know more about them, so let's move on."
"Wait, what?" Masashi said. "You won't say who they are?"
"Why should I, when he will still live? If he were off to the gallows, then, sure, I'd give out his whole backstory without a hitch. Same with Sorao, too. But that's not how things will play out," he answered. "And speaking of that, I'm sure we all want to get to our favorite part: the execution!"
Everyone turned to Mari, who showed no opposition to this.
"It is somewhat strange that this time, we have heard little from her," Haruyuki remarked. "But that is to be expected. She did not kill Hikari on purpose, and yet she killed anyway."
"There is little I have to say, anyway," Mari said resignedly. "We have heard everything from Sorao and Kumi."
No… this can't be it.
There was one more question that must be answered. The answer was outside the twofold revelation about the guilty men, and the whole truth about this morning's events had already been uncovered, and yet it was arguably the weightiest part of it all.
"Mari, wait!" he cried out. "Please tell me! Why did things turn out this way?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, sounding somewhat puzzled.
"I still haven't heard your side of the story!" he said. "Why… why did you choose to reveal yourself as the culprit? You could've gotten away with it after Sorao confessed, but… you pointed out what we had missed. Why did you make that noble choice?"
"Noble… Masashi, as I said earlier, my choice was not noble," Mari said. "No… it was wholly selfish on my part."
"Selfish?"
"Yes… do you remember what you said to me after Monokuma gave us the motive?"
It was then that memories of that conversation arose in his mind.
"To be truthful… I'd been thinking about what we'd do after this killing game."
He paused for a few seconds, at first unsure as to whether he ought to continue. But he figured that at this point, he might as well let it all out.
"And I thought that maybe we both could… continue to hang out. After all the time I've spent with you, I've grown to like you, and I... don't want you to leave me."
The more he went on about it, the more attached he felt about what he had envisioned for the future. He had wanted nothing more than his normal life back, but this time, he had thought that she could partake in it as well. Of course, it likely sounded silly to her. She had lived quite a different life, having narrowly survived being struck by lightning and thus wanting to live her life to the fullest before death should claim her. But all he wanted now was to tell her what he wanted.
"Well, that's all right. I don't know as well..." she said. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know how to think about all this."
"You don't?"
"I've seldom talked about my thoughts on fate with others. And this was the first time when I received such a reaction as yours. It honestly surprised me to see you be so upset."
"Ah, well... I can see why."
"I still think it's right for me to believe in fate. But after hearing how you feel about me, I'm actually a bit unsure on how to think about all this."
"You now doubt yourself?"
"Are you surprised?"
"A little, yeah."
An awkward silence soon hung over them, and it seemed that neither of them had any idea on how to continue the conversation.
"So... I guess we don't know how to work this out," he said.
"If that's the case," she said with a small smile, "then how about we stick together for now? It's better than going about this alone, is it not?"
Masashi could not but smile back upon hearing that. "Let's do that."
Ah... It was... that moment?
Masashi recalled why he had even chosen to apologize to her in the first place.
Mari had told him her belief in destiny that had sprung from her surviving a lightning strike, and in a fit of anger, he had told her to leave. Not long after that, Haruyuki had asked him to help Kasumi and her suppression of her emotions, and Masashi had invited Haruyuki, Maiha, and Kasumi to talk about it in the Ferris wheel room. But Kasumi and Maiha had gotten in a small fight, and seeing the unsightliness of their dispute had made Masashi regret his words.
"Until now, I felt that I was but another participant in this killing game," Mari continued. "Though I felt a certain connection between us, it was so faint that it could break easily upon pressure. However…"
Her face reddened a bit, much to his surprise.
"I hadn't realized how strongly you cared about me," she said. "So when I heard you say those words… Honestly, it was enough to make me even feel doubt about my own beliefs for the first time. I began to feel something more than mere 'concern' for you. For the first time, I felt... moved that someone truly felt that way about me."
"And that's why you chose to confess?"
Mari nodded. "Do you understand why I called it selfish? I didn't do it because it was 'noble'. I couldn't bear the pain of watching you suffer… and it was that very pain that made me see that my time was up. There's nothing noble about it at all."
"I…"
Masashi did not know what to say.
"Mari… you couldn't bear the pain of my suffering… but doesn't your passing still lead to others' suffering, too?" he said. "What about your family? Don't you think they'll be hurt from your death?"
"Of course I want to see them, but… I can't be certain about their safety anymore," she murmured. "The last I saw of my parents and my younger sister was in my motive video… and even that is long gone. The longer I spent my days here, the closer I felt toward you guys…"
"I… I guess that makes sense."
He recalled how Haruka, the first blackened, had killed so that she might find out what had happened to her mother. That was around the point when everyone had still had clear memories of their usual lives. If truth were told, he still missed his parents and Keiko, his dear younger sister, but it had become harder to remember any vivid memories of them. Meanwhile, he could more clearly remember what he had done with his fellow participants.
It was frightening how much he had grown accustomed to his "life" in this place.
"Masashi… I confess, after everything I've said, do you think…?"
"Think what?"
For some reason, Mari sounded somewhat frightened, yet he sensed that it was not the fear of death that was behind this.
"Do you think... I'm weak?"
"What? 'Weak'? How?"
"I could not find myself bearing the pain of your death, and yet here I am, expecting you to bear the pain of my death," she explained softly. "That's something that only a weak person would do..."
"No… You're wrong… you're wrong!"
He could tell her that she was strong.
He could tell her that sacrificing herself to save him required strength of her own.
But the very thought of having her accept her death disgusted him.
"I don't care whether you call yourself weak or strong!" he cried out. "All I want is for you to stay… that's all I ask for!"
He took a few steps toward her.
And without thinking, he embraced her.
"Don't leave me, Mari… please… don't leave me!
"I want you to stay by my side forever...
"And I'll stay by your side as well!"
He did not care how silly he looked.
He only wished that she could stay in his world.
As long as this wish of his were fulfilled, he would be glad.
"I… I don't want to leave you, too…"
As the two of them parted from their embrace, Masashi saw it.
There were tears in Mari's eyes.
"I wish I could spend more and more of my days with you…" she said softly. "I wish I could be part of your world for ever more…
"But it was just never meant to be…
"Why... Why did fate have to be so cruel…?"
"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma cackled, reminding Masashi of his existence. "I think that's enough sentimentality for one day! Let's get on with it."
"No… Mari, please…" Masashi said, feeling as if he had gone into a daze. "Mari… don't leave me…"
For the first time, Mari looked extremely reluctant, as if she were about to be borne off to a world from which she could never return. In the end, however, though the reluctance never fully left her face, she seemed to regain some tact as she faced toward Masashi.
"Masashi… I have one last question," she said. "Do you love the world?"
Love... the world?
What exactly did she mean by that?
He wanted to ask her, but he sensed that his time was short.
And so he said what came to him at once.
"I do."
"I'm glad to hear that," she replied. "For all my life, I've loved exploring the world. I thought that someday, I could go out to other parts of the world and explore them. Perhaps I might even manage to explore nearly every inch of the earth. Unfortunately, it seems that my dream will remain a dream."
"Now then, I've prepared a special punishment for Mari Anzai, the Ultimate Phenologist!" Monokuma announced. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's… PUNISHMENT TIME!"
Mari looked straight at Masashi.
"Masashi... this is my last wish," she said. "Please… never stop loving the world."
Masashi could not say anything.
He had many things that he still wanted to say to her.
But he said none of them.
He only nodded.
Mari smiled.
A second later, Monokuma took out his red button and slammed his mallet on it. The screens lit up, and Monokuma's sprite appeared, forcefully drawing Mari's sprite to the right.
"GAME OVER," the screen showed. "MARI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!"
Was it truly the end for her?
Standing now in her death site, Mari looked around and saw that she was in some kind of forest. There was no sign of mankind, as if this were a piece of earth that had been ripped out of a part of Earth that civilization had yet to reach. There was no sign of life, but the silence was almost soothing. With all sorts of flowers decorating the path that lay before her, it truly felt like a beautiful spring day.
Just as she took in her surroundings, however, a nearby monitor turned on and showed a title card that showed a dull gray background:
The Four Seasons' Doom
Ultimate Phenologist Mari Anzai's Execution: Executed
Right away, she heard a whirring from behind her, and something smashed through the wall behind her. It was none other than a great yellow bulldozer, with Monokuma driving it. The bulldozer swung its crane just once, knocking over the trees nearby. It took Mari no less than a second how she was meant to die.
And so she ran. Several times, Monokuma tried to grab her with the crane, but she narrowly avoided each attack.
She passed the point where the path wound such that it made her go in the opposite direction. At that point, however, the sun up in the heavens brightened. It grew so hot as if it had become summer already. Right away, Mari felt suffocated by the heat, wanting to drink even a drop of water. As she slowed down, Monokuma lunged the crane after her. Though he missed, he managed to scrape part of her arm.
Nonetheless, she ran, ho matter how tired she felt.
The bulldozer let out a roar, and the sun waned in its intensity, the heat dying down, the path winding again to the opposite direction. As the temperature cooled down and marked the coming of fall, the leaves turned orange and began to fall from the branches. But a strong, stark breeze soon came, blowing all the leaves toward her. Some of them landed on her face, and the few seconds of blindness made her almost bump into a nearby tree as the path wound another way.
A few seconds later, she heard Monokuma yelp. She turned around and saw that the leaves had covered his bulldozer. As he lost control, the bulldozer swerved and crashed into a nearby tree.
Just as she felt relief and passed the point where the path wound again, at that very moment, the wind stopped. Mari looked above and saw the bright blue heaven became blanketed by gray clouds. Right away, the first bits of snow fell, blanketing all the bare trees. Winter having come, the temperature dropped sharply. Mari shivered and tried to quicken her pace, but not only did she find the cold unbearable, but the snow itself fell upon the path, which made it hard to move through.
But the snow was not alone. No, the wind returned, and as if thinking that this would finish her, it blew the snow against her with all its might, causing a snowstorm. This time, Mari could barely see anything and tried to clear away the snow that hit her on the face.
Eventually, however, all feeling from her legs left her. She fell upon her knees, feeling numbness setting in, and leaned against a nearby tree.
Was this how she was to die?
Was she to die a slow and painful death from the elements?
Admittedly, there were worse ways to die. But it felt so disconcerting to die such a quiet death out here alone.
Mari leaned her head back on the tree. Whatever her complaints might be, there was nothing she could do.
There was nothing left to do but wait.
But just as she shut her eyes, a strong pain suddenly struck her.
She opened her eyes and realized what had happened: a lightning bolt had struck her. The shock rang through her body, and in contrast to the frigid cold, it warmed her body up so much that she felt as if she were about to be set ablaze.
Only a few seconds away from death, she cried out in agony one last time.
Soon, she spoke no more.
Mari Anzai's body fell, making a cold and dull noise as it landed upon the snow.
Everything was silent.
"Oh, boy, that one sure beat me out!" Monokuma said, leaning back on his seat. "But the setup with our special lightning-shooting device was pretty worth it, don't you think? Did you like how I subverted your expectations? It would've been pretty lame if I had just smashed her in with the crane, would it not?"
None of the remaining participants gave him any answer.
What they had witnessed was the death of someone who had not willfully done anything wrong.
What they had witnessed was the embodiment of evil.
As for Masashi, he felt nothing.
All feeling was bereft from him.
He fell on his knees, staring blankly at the screen.
What it showed was Mari Anzai's corpse, but it looked too surreal to accept.
It was all a lie.
That was what he told himself.
But the more he looked at it, the more real it appeared.
No sooner had he thought that than Monokuma let out another laugh.
"Still too shocked, aren't you?" Monokuma said. "What, are you thinking how it looked scientifically inaccurate? Well, I'll have you know that lightning can appear in snowstorms. We've done the research. It's been fact-checked. It's been verified! So be sure to rank this execution five out of five stars!"
"I certainly would rank it as cruel," Haruyuki said. "You truly have no morals."
"It's horrible... Mari didn't deserve any of that!" Kasumi squealed.
"But there's nothing we can do about it," Maiha said, clearly trying to keep a calm composure. "By now, we need only to wonder in what new ways he plans to disgust us."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be sure not to disappoint you," Monokuma said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few shows to catch up on, and many forums to troll on. Ciao!"
Monokuma then vanished from the courtroom, leaving the eight remaining participants.
Like last time, everyone was left speechless.
But this time, the foulness of the loathsome crime bore greater weight in the air.
Masashi found it so suffocating that he wanted to leave.
But as he stood back up, a voice broke the silence.
"It's sad... It's so sad..."
Everyone looked toward the source of the voice.
"Mari was guilty of trying to save someone's life with the wrong bottle..." Sorao said, rubbing his eyes. "Certainly, she did wrong, and there's no changing that. But the one who should've been punished was Takumi Takamitsu... He's the real monster in all this."
"You're one to talk!" Faye replied. "You tried to kill Tanjiro and Hikari! You only failed because of things you hadn't foreseen!"
Sorao sighed as he shook his head. "Fine, fine, call me a villain if you wish. But that doesn't change the fact that I am but one villain. Kumi is as much a villain as I am."
"Huh?" Kasumi said. "What're you saying?"
"Mari never meant to kill. But he certainly did. He tried to kill me, for one!"
"After hearing what you've done, I can't really say I feel sorry for you," Maiha said. "You certainly have done much evil."
Sorao sighed. "Be that as it may, you need to think about this some more. Set aside your prejudice. Don't forget, he tricked Hikari into signing his contract..."
He then nudged his head toward Kumi, who gulped as soon as everyone faced him.
"Th-That's because I..." Kumi whimpered. "I... I wanted Lady Hikari to leave as well! I wanted her to be happy... I cared deeply about her..."
"You lie," Sorao retorted. "According to Monokuma, the only reason was that you wanted her powers and nothing else, was it not? It's quite sad, really..."
"In what way?" Maiha said.
"Hikari Fey was a sad little girl," Sorao said. "For all her life, she'd been used by others for her spirit channeling abilities. She was seen as nothing but a tool... and it looks like the one who supposedly cared so much about her thought the same."
"N-No, I...!" Kumi protested.
"Then tell me!" Sorao bade, the sudden raising of his voice making Kumi flinch. "Tell me what you know about her! Tell me what you know about her personality, her likes, her dislikes, her hobbies, her fears, her dreams, her habits, anything that you know about her. Well, go on, speak!"
Kumi stood wordlessly, looking more and more befuddled. Though he seemed to try to say something, he could not utter a single answer, and the longer he tried, the more delighted Sorao grew. Did he truly know nothing about her? Or was he simply too flustered to answer any of Sorao's questions?
"Nothing! You know nothing!"
The musician pointed at him, an expression of great disgust on his face. "Take a good look, everyone! The so-called caring storyteller wanted to use her to see his long lost friends, but he never saw her as a friend!
"He didn't actually give a damn about her!
"He only saw her as a living tool!"
The others gasped and murmured to one another.
"I don't want to admit it, but... I can't deny he has a point..." Faye said.
"Takumi Takamitsu certainly seems far more selfish than he wants us to think," Haruyuki remarked.
Maiha gave him a sidelong glance full of disgust. "How can anyone feel sympathetic toward him?"
Kasumi bit her lip. "I... I can't think that any good person would see Hikari like that."
Masashi listened quietly.
He knew that Sorao was not to be trusted. He had deceived them the whole time. Naturally, he ought to ignore his words.
And yet, he listened on and let his words enter his mind. Loath as he was to admit it, Sorao had a point and proved it with Kumi's failure to answer his question.
The only one among the crowd who did not look fully convinced, however, was Sayua. Sorao must have sensed her hesitation, however, as he approached her.
"Oh, poor girl! You look unconvinced! But there's no reason for that. Remember: Kumi is the one who actually killed Tanjiro," Sorao answered, a slight hint of keenness in his voice. "Oh, sure, he may claim it was self-defense, but a killing is a killing, yes?"
"Th-That's..." Sayua said, her hesitation disappearing.
"I-I'm sorry…!" Kumi pleaded as he fell on his knees and clasped his hands together. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I killed Tanjiro, really!"
"Is he truly sorry?" Sorao continued as he leaned closer to Sayua's ear. "Remember that he loathed you and Tanjiro.
"I bet he's actually happy that Tanjiro's dead.
"Imagine it! The smile that he had as he laid his filthy eyes on him!
"And because of him... you will never see your beloved Tanjiro ever again."
"P-Please! I-I didn't want to do it!" Kumi continued. "I didn't want to kill him, honest! I—"
Then echoed a certain sound through the courtroom.
It was a sound that Masashi was sure to never forget.
It was the sound of Sayua punching Kumi right in the jaw.
"GWAH!" he yelped as he fell on the floor.
"FUCK YOU, TAKUMI TAKAMITSU!" she roared. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!"
He could not say anything other than meaningless blubbering, and the more Masashi beheld the sight, the more he felt the bile within him rise.
There was no good to be found here.
Everything about this was wrong.
"Oh no no no no!" Sorao said, feigning shock. "Look at what you've done to the poor cinnamon roll, the poor little bean, the poor sweetie pie! What have you done?!"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" she roared as she pointed at her victim and glared at the astounded bystanders. "He's not a cinnamon roll!
"He's not a little bean!
"He's not a sweetie pie!
"He's not whatever dumbass nickname you may give him!
"I'll tell you what he fucking is: A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING KILLER!"
The others gasped at her utter wrath. Masashi stood there speechlessly, finding that no words of his could soothe her.
And as everyone took in the horror of what had befallen, Masashi could never forget what he saw on Sorao's face.
What he saw was a small smile that betokened a great evil.
It was the embodiment of contempt.
"Sorao, how can you act like that?!" Kasumi yelped, frowning. "You're a monster... how can you stand so proudly when you tried to kill Hikari! You tried to take a life, the most valuable treasure of all!"
Sorao shrugged, looking not at all fazed. "Quite frankly, I no longer give a damn about what you think of me. I tried playing the nice guy, but no, Masashi had to go ruin things."
"He didn't ruin anything," Maiha said. "He simply revealed your villainy for all to see."
"I can't believe that after all you've done, you're the one still living!" Faye added. "Tanjiro deserves life more than you!"
"Tanjiro! Hah!" Sorao said excitedly, smirking as Sayua turned toward him. "He was but a pest who's gone from this earth at least!
"He would have ruined everything if he had been allowed to live!
"And that's why today is a joyous day!
"Tanjiro's dead!
"Tanjiro's dead!
"Tanjiro's dead—"
"FUCK YOU, SORAO MINETA!"
Sayua lunged toward him, unleashing another punch of her that landed straight on his cheek, and in a few seconds, he too rolled across the floor. The others gasped, but did not move, as if afraid that they too might be harmed if they were to interfere. As Sorao lay there groaning, Sayua simply looked down at him with a great intense stare. If Sorao was the embodiment of contempt, then Sayua was the embodiment of wrath. Every bit of her face looked like a ferocious tigress's, and were her mind truly unsound, one might imagine that she would tear him alive with her claws.
"Ahaha...
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The hollow laughter came from Sorao, who stood up while rubbing the spot on which he had been struck. Though his cheek clearly smarted, Sorao had a weird twisted smile.
"You've gone mad, Sayua! Mad! Out of your wits!" he said happily. "That certainly makes things easier for me."
As he laughed, Masashi realized what Sorao had been up to: he had already set his sights on Sayua as the next victim of his cruelty, whence he had intentionally said those foul things to provoke her. Needless to say, it had worked like a charm.
"DIE ALREADY, YOU BASTARD!"
Sayua attempted another strike at him. This time, however, Sorao lunged toward her.
"GAH!" she cried out as she fell upon the floor.
"Didn't you think the hit you gave me felt too easy?" Sorao said, speaking with a sneer and a cool voice. "It's only fair to give you one in return, yes?"
"Sorao Mineta… you are by far the most deplorable, depraved, and despicable man whom I have ever met!" Maiha said with great disgust. "Even the most wretched thief cannot match you!"
"Indeed. I dare say that you've surpassed my every expectation," Haruyuki remarked, taking in the sight more receptively.
Sorao scoffed. "I care little about your objections. As I said, there's no point in playing the nice guy to you anymore. Now, if you'll excuse me…"
He walked past the others, none of whom even dared to step in his way or say another word to him. He reached the elevator and headed inside by himself.
"It's time for me to leave," Sorao said, waving them farewell. "Take care now."
Letting out one last laugh, he pressed the button and disappeared along with the elevator.
For the next minute or so, none of the seven remaining survivors said a thing.
Hikari and Tanjiro had been killed.
And yet, the punished one had been an innocent woman.
Everything that had just happened felt too much like a nightmare.
How could this happen?
"Ugh…"
Sayua attempted to stand back up. She seemed to have recovered a little, but it was clear that she was still in pain. As she was close to falling, Kasumi rushed over and helped her get back up.
"G-Get away… I don't need any help," Sayua said, waving her away.
"You certainly don't look like it," Haruyuki said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, shaddup… I'm okay… really," she insisted.
Masashi said nothing, but gave a small nod. Right now, he was in no mood to say anything.
"Th-This is awful!" Kasumi said as she backed away from Sayua. "I can't believe it… I can't believe what I've just seen!"
"I have no words to describe the loathsomeness of the event…" Maiha said, clearly trying to sound collected, but even she could not hide her shakenness.
"It admittedly made something in my stomach stir," Haruyuki said.
"Aah… Aah…"
Kumi was quietly weeping, rubbing the part on which Sayua had struck him. He looked utterly disheveled, and the sooner he disappeared from Masashi's sight, the easier Masashi would feel.
"Um... What shall we do about Sorao?" Faye asked uneasily.
"We… We'll have to deal with him later," Masashi said lifelessly. "Let's go already..."
The others looked at him skeptically, but none of them argued against him, probably feeling tired of today's events as well. Afterwards, the remaining survivors went into the elevator and waited for it to reach the outside world. Once it arrived at the main deck, they wordlessly crossed the gangway back to the Moonlight City and beheld the other ship sail back to whence it had come. Then without any prompt, the participants headed back to their rooms in the woodland kingdom, not even saying anything to each other as they disappeared into their abodes.
As Masashi stepped into his room and shut the door, he only stared at his room's plain sight. It looked the same as always, having been cleaned as usual, yet he felt not at all motivated to go to sleep. In fact, he felt no motivation to do anything. He simply wanted time to pass by his lonesome.
Eventually, a certain creature popped up from underneath. Masashi felt too tired to show even the smallest sign of shock at Monokuma's sight.
"That was one heck of a trial, wasn't it?" Monokuma said. "I dunno why, but for some reason, it feels as if months had occurred between each part. Maybe I'm just getting old, and my sense of time is off. You don't think it's time for me to think about retiring, do you?!"
Masashi said nothing. He would not entertain his usual nonsense.
"Oh, geez, still moping about what happened?" Monokuma sighed and muttered a few words. "Well, fine. Looks like I'll have to talk about what you want. You wonder why things had to turn out this way, don't you?"
Masashi still did not answer him, but his tiredness gave way to his curiosity on how Monokuma seemed willing to be serious for once. He sensed no mockery in his voice, even if he sounded like his usual buffonish self.
"Well, I can tell you that it's not my fault."
"Then whose is it?"
"It's simple, really," Monokuma answered. "That Mari Anzai would meet her end like this... was simply part of destiny."
"Destiny…"
Never had he loathed such a word. Even now, he could not understand how Mari had embraced it so warmly that she had shown acceptance of death.
"But think about it: what exactly is destiny?" Monokuma continued. "It's not some magical force that governs the world. Nor is it a force that allows anything to happen. If you ask me, it's more like… the intersection of people's choices."
"What? 'Intersection'?"
"Think about this: it was not written in stone that Mari Anzai would become a killer," Monokuma explained. "She ended up a killer because of two events: first, the discovery of the 'antidote' bottle that Takumi Takamitsu had used in order to kill Sorao Mineta. Had he not chosen to kill Sorao, then obviously, there would've been no 'antidote' for Mari to find and use later.
"And secondly, Sorao Mineta's attempt to betray Tanjiro, which involved 'poisoning' Hikari. Had Sorao not done that, then obviously, there would've been no victim for Mari to use the 'antidote' on, don't ya think?
"So it's pretty clear!" Monokuma said. "Those two men's cruel choices crossed with each other. And in the intersection lay Mari Anzai's death."
Masashi said nothing.
But it was not out of denial.
Indeed, it made quite a lot of sense.
If it had not been for Sorao Mineta and Takumi Takamitsu, Mari would have never met her death.
Masashi had already had qualms about Sorao, but today's class trial had officially killed all his goodwill.
And as for the other guilty party, Masashi found it no longer fitting to think of him as Kumi, a kind and innocent storyteller who had been forced to kill in self-defense.
No, he was Takumi Takamitsu, who had plotted to kill Sorao and save Hikari in order to exploit her powers.
"Cruelty begets tragedy," Monokuma continued. "As long as the likes of Sorao Mineta continue to exist in this world and make cruel choices, then innocent people are destined to meet cruel ends.
"The world can never reach its ideal state. The world will forever remain broken!
"How can we ever reach a world in which intersections of cruel choices do not exist?
"And that," Monokuma said as he raised a paw, "is one reason why the project came to be."
"What…?"
At first, Masashi had no idea as to what he was referring to. But as seconds passed, a vague memory began to spring in his mind, and eventually, he remembered that one day.
Just as Masashi was about to end the meeting, however, he remembered that there was something that he had long meant to show the others. He took out from his pocket the note that Abraham had given him before his execution.
"Wait, hold on," Masashi said. "We still haven't checked this note yet."
"Oh, yeah, that note!" Arashi started. "What's on that note, Masashi?!"
"I don't know, really. I wanted to read it with you guys," he answered. "Let's see what's on it now…"
He unfolded the note and read aloud its contents:
"The eighteen Project Shining Morrow participants from Camp 7 have been designated as the subjects of the upcoming killing game. The overseer has been deemed ready."
What followed was a list of names of all eighteen participants of this killing game, which included Kasumi's full name as well.
"Are you talking about... Project Shining Morrow?" Masashi said as he snapped out of his remembrance.
Monokuma chuckled. "Oh, yes, yes, I'm glad that you remember that it exists. With all the chaos happening in these cases, it's easy to forget about the overall plot, so to speak."
Now that Monokuma had brought it up, he could not but wonder what exactly it was.
"What is Project Shining Morrow?" he asked. "And what is this about 'Camp 7'? We're not the only ones in a killing game right now, are we?"
"You want answers? Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit more... is what I would say," Monokuma answered. "But you entertained me enough with your pitiful behavior at court. I guess I can let a few words slip outta my mouth."
"Answer me already."
"Geez, don't look at me with such a mean look! And keep in mind these are only a few words," he said. "All I'll say is that... you guys were spot on when you guessed a while ago that this wasn't the only killing game going on. We've held more than one of these things with captives from our other camps. And it's all for the sake of realizing our ideal world."
Masashi only looked listlessly at Monokuma's gleeful smile.
The more he sought answers from him, the more he felt lost in this world of darkness.
How could forcing people to kill one another help Monokuma and Brightmere Research with their goal?
This killing game must have a purpose.
There had to be a purpose behind the violence and the deaths.
"I don't expect you poor little saps to understand our ambitions right now," Monokuma said. "Just wait! Relax! And then you'll find out! That is, if you live long enough! Puhuhuhuhu!"
Cackling, Monokuma sank back into the floor and left Masashi alone.
Chapter 4 - Moonlight's Twofold Revelation - END
Surviving Students: 8
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 (DEAD)
10. Hikari Fey - Ultimate Spirit Channeler (DEAD)
11. Sayua Tomi - Ultimate Cheerleader
12. Tanjiro Urata - Ultimate Historical Novelist (DEAD)
13. Hikari Shinto - Ultimate Nun (DEAD)
14. Haruka Minami - Ultimate Clown (DEAD)
15. Murphy O'Hagan - Ultimate Potato Farmer (DEAD)
16. Haruyuki Kanagawa - Ultimate Art Critic
17. Sorao Mineta - Ultimate Celesta Player
18. Mari Anzai - Ultimate Phenologist (DEAD)
And so ends the fourth chapter. Takumi's and Sorao's misdeeds sure messed things up significantly, didn't they? I have a lot to say here, given that things have changed a lot with the recent deaths.
First, my thoughts on the victims. Hikari's someone whom I felt rather sorry for because of her unfortunate circumstances. There was definitely a lot of room for her to grow, and in fact, she did. After Murphy's death, she became more outgoing and willing to reach out to others. Unfortunately, though she changed, in the end, she never managed to escape this killing game and change her life. I would like to thank NSPunny for submitting her to me!
Next, Tanjiro. He's… quite a character to say the least. He's a nice guy who wants to stand true to his principles, but he's not exactly the strongest character. As he admits, he's a weakling and averse to conflict, which is why he managed to put up with knowledge of Sorao's dark side. And the one time he actually tried to defend himself against Sorao, he ended up killing Hikari, or so he thought, and he ended up falling apart as he tried to hide his crime and cope with the fact that he'd gone against his morals. Pretty sad to see, to say the least, but it just goes to show that the killing game can push even the good to their limits.
Finally, the blackened. This time, the blackened ended up being Mari, who a few of you thought would die in Chapter 5, since she's clearly the "heroine" of this game. Unfortunately, because of events caused by Takumi and Sorao, she unwittingly became the blackened. I thought that with her personality, she would make a good source of conflict with Masashi's ideals, what with her acceptance of death and destiny, and his idealistic vision of his "world". And I actually felt conflicted about having her die like this, but in the end, I decided that it would be more interesting to follow this path for the story. I would like to thank TheRoseShadow21 for sending me Tanjiro and Mari.
Anyway, next time, Chapter 5 begins. Now that there are only eight people left, the killing game is near its turning point.