Masashi Kousaki was sure that he had been in the Simulation Room, playing the game known as Planet Explorer. It had only been sometime after lunch, and he had not felt unusually sleepy. And yet, despite his good enough memory, he could not remember what had happened after finishing the game.
"Where am I?" he asked himself. He found himself lying on a king-sized bed, and when he rose, he looked at the rich and great splendor that the wallpaper oozed. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was in his room.
"Huh…" he muttered. "Why… Why am I in my room?"
Had he been dreaming about the game?
If it had been a dream, then it certainly had felt all too real. Masashi looked around, and he saw nothing odd out of place. The window was closed, but he could still see the great blue sea outside. He even looked at the mirror at a corner of the room and saw that nothing was out of place. He was still wearing his gray jacket and his pair of black pants. And his face showed no signs of exhaustion or injury.
"Wait a minute…"
Masashi looked down at his wrists and noticed that there were a few scratch marks on it, as if someone had been attacking him there.
"Why…? Why are they there?" he muttered. "Maybe… the others know."
He turned around and headed for the door, only to stop when his attempts to turn the doorknob did not work.
"What the…?"
He tried the doorknob again, but nothing changed. It still would not budge.
"Why… Why… Why?"
He even kicked the door, hoping to break it or at least get someone's attention. But despite his best efforts, the door stayed stupendously sturdy.
"No… Wait a minute…"
Masashi groaned as he rubbed his head, something stirring in his mind. He walked back to the center of the room and sat at one of his chairs.
"I… I…"
After a few more seconds, certain images sprang in his mind. They all showed the Simulation Room, and in them were he and one other man: Sorao Mineta.
"No… Aah… Aah... AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Only then did he remember everything that had happened.
"I…" he muttered, trembling. "I… I tried to…"
He remembered the feeling of placing his hands on Sorao's neck and remembered his futile attempts to escape him. He had nearly finished the deed, but Maiha had interfered at the last minute and suddenly tranquilized him in the back. Sorao had used the chance to escape his grip, and Masashi remembered thoughts of his failure before falling unconscious.
"Why…? Why did I…?"
Just then, he heard the doorknob being turned. He quickly rose and ran to the door, wondering what was going on, and when the door was opened fully, in came a certain woman.
"Ah! Maiha!" he said, walking up to her. "What's going on here? Why am I…"
It was then that he noticed that she held a keycard in her hands.
"Are you... all right?"
Masashi noticed that she had spoken with quite a wary look and tone.
"Yes... could you tell me what's happened?"
"After I tranquilized you... the others finished playing Planet Explorer, and we learned from Sorao what had happened," she explained with a careful look on her face. "Monokuma deemed your attempt to be enough to mark you as a physical threat, so he changed the door to have it lockable only from the outside. I have your keycard right here."
Masashi quickly felt his pockets with his fingers, and indeed, his keycard was missing.
"This room's been turned into a prison cell…" he said. "So… the others agreed to lock me up?"
"That's right. They all were horrified by Sorao's outrageous description. And that's why... they've lost their trust in you."
Masashi said nothing at first. The sound of those words was so unbelievable at first that he hoped that he had misheard her. But her grim countenance destroyed that possibility in a matter of seconds.
"Do… Do you trust me?" he asked.
Maiha said nothing for a few seconds, looking to the side.
"Maiha?" he said, feeling more and more fearful.
"I'm sorry, but..." she answered. "You tried to kill someone, even if it was that wretch. That's not… that's not something that I thought you would ever do… Especially after what has happened throughout the whole killing game…"
Masashi wished to explain himself, but in the end, he saw no purpose. Even he was starting to lose faith in himself for what he had done.
"Then…" Masashi said, wishing to change the subject. "Could you tell me one thing? What was the reward from Planet Explorer? Everyone finished the game in the end, right? Wasn't it a bunch of documents?"
"Unfortunately, given what has just happened, Monokuma decided to use it as an excuse to delay giving it to us," Maiha said, looking more willing to answer. "He said that we needed some time to 'cope' with the situation, so he's settled on giving it to us after dinner."
"Sounds like an excuse…"
"Yes. But we've decided not to question it. And let's not forget about the bonus reward of Planet Explorer. Just before I came here to see you, I remembered about it and went around the amusement park to ask everyone. One of the other groups in the game indeed got the chance to ask Monokuma a question."
"Wh-Who?" Masashi said, his interest piqued.
"It was the first group… which consisted only of Faye. According to her account, Monokuma rejected the question of 'what is the purpose of this killing game'. He said it was too revealing, so she decided on a different question."
"What is it?"
"She had to come up with a question on the spot, and she had been quite curious about the founder's chest in the Simulation Room. So she asked Monokuma what was inside the chest."
"And?"
Maiha sighed out of annoyance. "Monokuma said that all that was inside were a bunch of clothes and trinkets. Nothing special at all. All that intrigue about his chest was for nothing."
"That must've been disappointing for her…" Masashi replied. "Anyway... when will I be let out?"
"Perhaps in a few days. At the very least, the others have decided that you shall be locked in here for the foreseeable future. As a result, I am now the leader of the group."
Masashi frowned, not out of frustration, not out of anger, but out of shame.
"Congratulations... you've finally gotten what you've wanted since the beginning," he said. "And you've even managed to lock someone up, just like you wanted…"
Curiously enough, Maiha frowned with a sad look in her eyes.
"It's peculiar… but now that things have come to this, I don't actually feel all too pleased about it. I suppose that given the size of the group, my decision making power has become highly diminished. But I also don't like the circumstances of this at all… Nonetheless, that's what the others think, and I believe it's the best course of action..."
What everyone has agreed to…
Maiha had said it before, but now the fact that he had lost all trust from the others truly sank in.
"If that's what everyone wants… then fine," he said resignedly. "Leave me be here…"
Maiha sighed, looking more and more sorrowful. "Before I go… you should know one more thing… Sorao said something quite… revealing."
"What? What is it?"
"When you were choking him… you were smiling."
The moment she said those words, Masashi felt as if his heart had skipped a beat.
"I… was… smiling?"
Maiha nodded hesitantly. "And what's more, Sorao sounded genuinely horrified when he recalled it. I don't think he was feigning shock."
"That's…"
"I'll leave you be for now," Maiha said abruptly, as if unwilling to continue dwelling on the topic. "Monokuma said that he'd take care of your basic needs, so you need not to worry about that."
Before he could ask her for more, she shut the door. Masashi tried to open the door again just to be sure, but as he thought, it did not move.
"I… I was… smiling?"
Masashi went back to his bed and sat down. He recalled what had happened during the tense moment with Sorao, but he could not remember his own facial expression. Had he been smiling, and he had just failed to pay attention to it? How could he find out what exactly had happened?
"Wait… Monokuma!"
"Yes, what is it, sir?"
Monokuma popped up from underneath as if he had been expecting this moment all along.
"The footage… Show me the footage of the Simulation Room during the attack!"
"Sheesh, no need to rush me. I already knew you'd ask that."
Monokuma then opened up the hatch in his stomach and took out what looked like a Monopad. When he turned it on, however, it showed the Simulation Room and the moment when Masashi and Sorao were by themselves. The camera was angled such that it showed Sorao mostly from behind, though Masashi could see himself pretty clearly.
"Let's fast-forward here a little…"
He sped through the footage and stopped right at the moment when Masashi began to choke Sorao. It was then that Masashi saw it.
"A smile…"
It was not just any smile. His lips were twisted in such a way that the smile was small yet devious, his eyes so entranced by the idea of killing Sorao. Masashi was in utter disbelief and thought that it must be an illusion of some kind. But when Monokuma continued the footage, the smile on his face did not disappear until Maiha ran up to him and stung him with the tranquilizer in the back, at which point a usual expression of pain and confusion appeared.
"No…" Masashi uttered. "That… That can't be…"
"Why not?"
"That… That's not something that I'd do! I've been taught never to hurt other people… An ordinary person doesn't go out of his way to kill another!"
He felt inclined to deny what he had done, despite having just seen it before his very eyes.
It was too horrible to accept.
It had to be a lie.
"Oh, I see, I see!" Monokuma said, nodding along nonchalantly. "I understand the problem now! Your line of logic is based on the assumption that you're an ordinary person!"
"I-I am! I'm ordinary, normal, average! I'm no Ultimate! The title of Ultimate Lucky Student is just something you gave me!"
"But you've just said it yourself: an ordinary person doesn't go out of his way to kill another," Monokuma retorted. "And yet you tried to kill Sorao Mineta! Oh, sure, you may say that he deserved to die, but that doesn't change the fact that you were the aggressor. You attacked him first. At that point, he was not a physical threat! You tried to kill him in a crazy, frenzied way!"
Masashi stopped, feeling his legs slightly shake.
"No… I…" he said, trying to find reason in his behavior. "I was distraught… Mari's death made me lose my wits!"
"Oh, really?" Monokuma continued. "The way you're saying it, it sounds like your fit of madness was just a one-time thing!"
"I-It was! That's the only crazy thing I've ever done!"
Monokuma said nothing, but merely chortled as he faced the Monopad away from Masashi and fiddled with it a little. He then turned it toward Masashi, who gasped at the sight. The footage this time showed Masashi's room, and he was there standing in his room. It almost looked like an image of what was going on, but Monokuma was absent in the video, and Masashi was holding what looked like a pink tablet.
"Wait a minute…" he muttered. "That's…"
He recalled it now. As part of the second motive, all the survivors' memories about their darlings had been stolen from them in the Memory Bank, and on the second night, Masashi had uncovered his motive video from the first motive. It was then that he had remembered that his lost darling was his younger sister.
"Keiko…"
The voice came from him in the video.
"Keiko… Keiko…"
Masashi had a clear view of his own face in the video.
"Keiko… Keiko… Keiko…"
He had the same joyful and mad smile as before.
"Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko, Keiko!"
Masashi was frozen, watching his own madness with utter aghastness.
Every utterance of his younger sister's name was an assault not only on his ears but also on his wits.
Every utterance of his younger sister's name broke down his will to deny what he now saw.
"Ahaha... Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Masashi could do nothing but gape as he witnessed himself laughing madly and then leaving his room with the motive video at hand and going to the Memory Bank.
"I… I… I was…"
He felt slightly dizzy as if he had been given a hard blow to the face.
"What's so surprising?" Monokuma said as he put away his Monopad, bearing a rather smug and condescending smile. "Did you think that your spell of madness was simply out of the euphoria of discovering your motive video?"
"Did you really think that you were in your right mind when you said your younger sister's name like a broken recorder?"
"Did you think that how you had reacted was how an ordinary person would react?"
Masashi said nothing at first, having lost all his heart to gainsay him.
The truth was beyond clear.
"I… I am not an ordinary person."
The moment that he said those words, his vision of his ordinary life with his family and friends began to flee from his sight.
He made no effort to chase after it.
It would feel as if he were chasing after an illusion.
"Puhuhuhuhu…." Monokuma said, looking quite pleased. "You look like you have a lot to think about! Well, I'll give you some alone time. I'll be back with dinner for you. How do ramen noodles sound to you?"
Masashi said nothing.
"You and your blank expression… Well, whatever. Do whatever you want. You have all the time in the world."
Monokuma disappeared.
Masashi was alone.
He had been alone here many times, of course.
But for the first time, he felt truly alone, as if the world had forsaken him.
For the next few hours, Masashi lay on his bed, sometimes turning his head to other parts of the room. He would shut his eyes every now and then and drowse off, only to awaken randomly. There was no sound but the waves' crashing against the great ship sailing through the sea, and the only life that he saw was the occasional seagull flying freely in the wide blue heaven.
At one point, Masashi rose from his bed and looked around his room, finding nothing better to do. He opened up one of his drawers and found a small pink camera. It took him a few seconds to remember that it was Sorao's camera, which held a photo that proved that Sorao had plotted to kill Tanjiro through Arashi's murder scheme. He had never given it back to Sorao and had put it in the drawer after the class trial. Besides this camera, however, he had only spare clothes in his closet. It struck to him how barren his room was, despite how kingly it looked.
Eventually, the sun set, and in came the evening and its blanket of stars. Monokuma came as he had promised and cooked Masashi a simple meal of ramen noodles. Besides making a few crass jokes, Monokuma said little of worth and disappeared as soon as Masashi began eating. Once he was done, he opened up the window, letting the fresh scent of the sea come in.
As the starry night darkened more and more, Masashi earnestly began to think about Monokuma's words.
He was not a normal person.
At least, he could no longer find it fitting to think of himself as such.
But when exactly had he begun to place much importance on that label, insofar as it had become something that he actively thought about?
It was then that he remembered the memory that he had recalled the morning after Arashi's execution. It had been the memory of a time when he and Keiko, in their elementary years, had spent a day in the park.
"One of the others got a perfect score on the test. When I asked him later how he could do it, he kept saying, 'you're nobody special, so you wouldn't get it'."
"What? That was rude of him."
"I thought so, too. But... is he right?" Masashi said. "Am I... nobody special? Is that why I'll never 'get it'?"
For a while, they said not a word, continuing to swing on their swings as a breeze strewed the leaves some more. Eventually, Keiko answered him.
"I don't think you should let that bother you."
"You don't?"
"Nuh-uh. You're not dumb at all. Sure, you're not special or anything, but that just means you're normal."
"Normal? Really?"
"That's what I think. And it doesn't make any sense to make fun of you for that, if you ask me."
"You think so?"
She nodded. "If someone said the same thing to me, that'd be what I think."
The more he thought about it, the more he grew sure that that moment had sown the seed for his current image of himself.
The conclusion that he had drawn from Keiko's encouragement was that since he was a normal person, it made sense that he would not do as well as prodigies.
Of course, that had been one moment, but over time, he had come to embrace the idea that he was just a normal person.
But why had he embraced the idea that much?
It was then that he thought back to what Sorao had said a while ago.
"If truth be told, even I'm not quite sure why things have to be this way. Is there something inborn that makes me this way?" He shrugged his shoulders. "And more importantly… does it matter? Either way, I'll gladly act the same way. I will continue to lie to those empty human beings."
"'Empty'?"
"'Empty' is the best label that I can give them. I have found that most people have hardly any original thoughts or ambitions, and they simply yearn to live life as it is, not wanting to rock the boat. They yearn for peace first and foremost. Because of this, they have rather simplistic personalities and average intelligence. They're what you may call 'normal', but they're all mindless sheep."
Masashi clutched the sides of his head with both hands.
It made all too much sense what he had been fleeing from all along.
He had hardly any original thoughts.
He lacked ambition.
He wanted nothing more than a peaceful life that would last forever.
He could not stop Sorao's words from ringing through his mind.
And now, he could think of only one thing:
I am an empty human being.
Yes, it had all begun when he had been belittled by others for the fact that he was mediocre and totally unremarkable. The more he had thought about it, the more he had felt that he was a weak and worthless human being with nothing to offer. And he had convinced himself that he would never rise above his level, especially after Keiko's talent as the Ultimate Maid had manifested over time, but he had been left a talentless loser.
He did not want to live out his days while having his mediocrity hang over his head. Hence, after Keiko had made that innocent comment about his test score, he had come to spin his emptiness into a lie that he could accept. He had managed to find solace in being an "ordinary person".
He had accepted his shortcomings as something inherent and commonplace. He had no longer cared about his lack of ambition, because someone on his level was not expected to have ambition, anyway. He had found it easy to accept his emptiness when it went by a friendlier name.
It had been his best way to live a peaceful life in this world.
Eventually, he had become so convinced that he was utterly ordinary that he had forgotten the very reason why he had come to think of himself as such.
Of course, even as an ordinary person, he still bore a little envy toward the so-called Ultimates. Anyone would do the same. They had talents that made them stand out.
But besides the inborn advantages of their talents, they also received praise from others.
They were acknowledged as special.
They never worried about being seen as worthless.
They might have their own problems, but they never had to deal with the agony of emptiness.
The moment Masashi realized why he had been so insistent about being an ordinary person, he felt his head ache.
Knowing about his emptiness was nothing more than a curse.
He wished that he had been allowed to stay in his lie.
But now that he knew of the truth, there was no turning back.
Wait a minute...
There was still one unresolved matter left.
He remembered his mad laughter when he had discovered his motive video. He remembered his mad smile when he had tried to slay Sorao Mineta.
It was as if there had been a madness lurking within him all along and waiting for the opportune time to be unleashed.
He might have been lying to himself all this time to hide his emptiness, but that was a different matter. That did not explain why he would act madly like that. He had never acted like that in his life outside the killing game.
And yet, he felt as if something had changed within him some time ago, long before the killing game had even begun.
No... I...
He remembered his mad smile.
Just the very memory of it made him tremble at what he had done.
The more he thought about the whole matter, the more afraid he grew.
He had to stop thinking about it now. He went to bed and tried falling asleep, doing his best to empty his mind.
When Masashi awoke, morning had already come. He could not remember what he had dreamt about, nor did he care.
"Good morning, sleepyhead!"
Still lying in his bed, Masashi tilted his head to his right, only to find that it was Monokuma. Besides wearing his usual white captain's outfit, he was also wearing an apron.
"Breakfast is ready!" Monokuma said, revealing a plate of toast and eggs. "Made by yours truly!"
"Oh… thanks."
"Wh-Wh-What? Is that all you have to say?!" Monokuma said. "I'll have you know that I could've just given you ramen noodles like last time! That would've been the easy way out!"
"Oh, well… I appreciate your work. Thank you."
"That's much better," Monokuma said as he shoved the dish onto Masashi, who nearly dropped it. "Now eat up!"
"Thanks for the meal…"
Masashi ate his breakfast while being watched by Monokuma. It occurred to him how awkward it felt to be watched like that, especially when Monokuma said nothing at all. As soon as he was done, Monokuma shoved him a glass of water, which he accepted.
"Now then…" Monokuma said as he took back the dish and the glass and took off his apron. "It's time to begin your day! How about you do the same thing as yesterday and do absolutely nothing productive!"
Monokuma chortled, and all the while, Masashi merely looked at him with a blank expression.
"Aw, looks like you've been thinking a lot, buddy!" Monokuma replied, looking unsurprised. "How do you feel now?"
Masashi at first did not feel like answering him, but it then occurred to him that he had not spoken with anyone for the last few hours. He had languished from boredom and isolation in this room, and his only company was the robotic bear that stood before him. He would take any company, even the one that oversaw this killing game as its host.
"Well? How do you feel?"
"Empty."
"'Empty'! Oh ho ho, funny you should say that," Monokuma said. "Let me ask you, then: what do you think of the world? Do you think it's a good place?"
"I… I can't believe that it was Sorao Mineta who was allowed to live, while Mari, an innocent, died instead… And it was the world that allowed for it to happen… I hate it."
"Ooh, that's a pretty edgy response, but I'm not going to complain about your lack of originality. Now, on to the next step.
"Do you remember that I was going to give you a prize to all of you for completing Planet Explorer?" he continued. "I actually gave it to your companions last night, just as I had promised."
"You did?"
"Yep, and I promised to share it with you later. And as I am a bear of my word, here it is!"
He opened up the latch in his chest and took out what looked like a bunch of papers. He handed them over to Masashi, who looked at the great heading at the top of the first page.
WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF BRIGHTMERE RESEARCH?
Right away, Masashi saw that this appeared to be a newspaper report, but the author and the date of publication were all blacked out. Presumably, the information was needless to know. Masashi continued to read down the page.
Lately, the small research firm known as Brightmere Research has caused some intrigue, as word has spread about its special therapeutic program. Supposedly, it is heavily centered on the use of various forms of technology, including virtual reality.
With much discussion about the use of the program, there has been far less focus on the man behind it all.
It was then that Masashi saw a small picture on the bottom-right of the page. It showed a young man with light blue hair that looked quite kempt, with a face looking equally nice, and he wore a simple white lab coat over a gray shirt. Despite looking rather handsome, he bore a rather forlorn expression as if he were a victim of misfortune, and he was staring off to the side, as if not noticing the camera.
Masashi saw the caption below the picture, and it showed the man's name:
"Mitsuji Mizugami."
This was the name of the founder of Brightmere Research.
Finally, after all this time, Masashi finally saw the man who had begun this sickening game.
To be quite honest, he looked nothing like what Masashi had imagined. He had imagined someone who looked more wicked, but the man that he now beheld looked quite like any ordinary man.
Though we interviewed Mitsuji Mizugami a short while ago, he himself was quite reticent about his own experiences. As a result, we did an investigation on the side and uncovered a few surprising details about his life.
Born as an only child, Mizugami grew up in a fine but modest home in Kyoto. The few accounts of his childhood suggest that his was a happy one. Unfortunately, that was not to remain, since at the age of eight, he lost both his father and his mother. His father had died from a sudden heart attack, with allegations that he had died from stress caused by overwork. Not long after, his mother was unfortunately struck by a passing truck. After these unfortunate events, the young boy was arranged to be taken care of by his paternal uncle.
Masashi stopped reading for a few seconds, shocked for a moment at the tragedy already involved in the founder's past. He could hardly imagine what it must have been like when Mizugami had realized that he was now an orphan. The best that he could think of was a darkness that hovered over him wherever he went, always reminding him of his loss.
All accounts from that point on show a starkly different picture of Mizugami, as one classmate from his middle school described him as "friendly, but inclined to stay silent". Despite his emotional change he still managed to perform well academically, being among the top students of his class. In his free time, he would even take English lessons from a tutor. His high school acquaintances would report how well he spoke English.
Besides his interest in English, however, Mizugami showed a great interest in the topics of technology and the human mind. He would talk about these subjects often in his computer club, and his interests did not die down when he attended Kyoto University, where he studied psychology.
Only about a year after graduation did he start a company aimed to "help lost and listless minds". This, of course, was Brightmere Research. It sounds like a rather random English name, but in our interview, he explained that it had not been pulled out of thin air.
"I gave it that name for a specific reason. When I was still learning English, my tutor would talk to me about how beautiful her native country of England was. Before moving to Japan, she had lived in a town in the countryside, though the name eludes me. Her descriptions of town life fascinated me, since they were quite unlike the experiences that I had. In her town, there was a close community, and most people really knew each other well. It seemed like such a serene place that it almost came off as fantastic.
"And there was one other thing. Not too far from the town was a lake. What stood out in particular was how it would often appear shining from the sun's rays. It was such a serene sight that the locals would often go there to spend the day. The very description stood out to me as beautiful, and even now, I can still picture it in my mind. The locals call it the 'mere'. It's an old English word for 'lake', so the name 'Brightmere' means 'shining lake'."
"Huh… So that's what the name means," Masashi muttered.
He had always thought that it was just a random name that the founder had given the company because it simply sounded cool or flowed well, but never had he expected it to be named after a place with meaning for the founder.
Masashi had already gone through most of the papers up to this point, but there was one last part of the article, it seemed.
We asked Mizugami one last question: why did you set up your company in the first place?
"The purpose is simple," he answered. "For much of my life, I've felt disillusioned toward the world, and at times, I cannot help but feel weak. But I've long yearned to change it. I wish to help others who feel likewise, so as to help make an ideal world."
It was those last words that stood out to Masashi most.
"An ideal world…"
"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Monokuma said. "As I said a while ago, the killing game is for the purpose of realizing our ideal world. The founder himself wants an ideal world because he has no faith in this world. It all began with the car accident that killed his parents. Of course, that was not the only thing that darkened his worldview. As the years went by, he saw people in a different light and only grew bitterer and bitterer toward the world. In a way, isn't that how you're feeling right now?"
"That's…"
"Oh, sure, both your reasons for thinking that way are different, but the fact of the matter is, you both agree that the world is a terrible place," Monokuma continued. "There's too much potential for cruelty because of the existence of scoundrels and selfish wretches. That's why the founder became involved in Project Shining Morrow. Don't you agree that there's some good to be found in all this?"
Upon hearing all this, Masashi felt less and less confused by Monokuma's words.
He still had many questions about the killing game and Brightmere Research.
He assumed that Mitsuji Mizugami had begun Brightmere Research as a legitimate company. So how had he changed such that he would end up arranging killing games? And how was the killing game involved in Project Shining Morrow?
Despite his questions and uncertainties, however, he could not find himself rejecting what Monokuma was saying.
It was true: the world was awful. He hated the world. He had wanted nothing more than a peaceful life as much as he could.
But now that he saw himself as an empty human being, he saw it as merely a wonderful dream. Masashi recalled his early days of being belittled by his peers, and he knew full well that the world was full of unkind folk.
At least Mitsuji Mizugami seemed to have some idea to realize an ideal world, however twisted the method might be. And from his background, Mizugami seemed earnest about wanting to make an ideal world not only for himself but also for others who had also felt lost and disillusioned. Perhaps he was nobler in his goal than Masashi had thought.
"But… Is this… what Mari would want?"
Even now, he could not stop thinking about her. He had loved her. And he still loved her memory. But it pained him that his love for her had never been able to complete, all because of Sorao Mineta's machinations.
Monokuma cocked his head to the side. "Oh? You seem to think Mari wouldn't want this. What makes you say that?"
"Well… she… she surely wouldn't agree that the world is full of cruelty. She'd say that you guys are wrong about your worldview."
"Are you sure about that?"
Though Monokuma's devious smirk was forever etched on his face, something about his expression oozed more glee than usual.
"What… What are you saying?" Masashi said, shaking out of foreboding.
"You know, Sorao was right to an extent. Your love for Mari was incomplete! You didn't even know much about her history, after all," Monokuma explained. "Something terrible happened to her!"
"Are you talking about the time when she was struck by lightning?"
That had been the cause of her belief in destiny. She had long thought that she had unfairly escaped death, whence she had borne a lax attitude toward death.
"Oh no no, not that!" Monokuma said, crossing his arms to make a sign of negation. "That kind of accident was an unfortunate accident. No human being had caused it. But something happened to her years later. More precisely, something happened to her family."
Her… family?
Come to think of it, Mari had seldom spoken of her family. Masashi remembered that she had mentioned her parents and a younger sister shortly before her execution, but other than that, he did not remember her ever talking about family much.
"Ooh, I know that look of yours! You want answers!" Monokuma clapped happily. "And would you look at the time! It's time for... Monokuma Storytime! Ooh, I've been waiting for this!"
Monokuma then grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. He also took out a microphone from his hatch, even though he had only an audience of one, and that audience was sitting right before him. Nonetheless, Masashi dared not to question the absurdity, wishing to hear what Monokuma had to say.
"Here begins the story of a certain girl," Monokuma began. "Mari had a little sister by the name of Izumi. She was a pretty and dainty little thing, and like many girls, she was interested in fashion and celebrities. Lacking any talent to become an Ultimate, she certainly looked more normal than her older sister, who was enthralled by science and exploring outdoors.
"Ah, but that was only how the ignorant saw it!" he continued, speaking with his usual merry tone. "Deep down, Izumi was sad! She was only in elementary school, and yet a lot of the other kids kept bullying her! She was a fragile little thing, and she was prone to harming herself in response… Of course, Mari and her parents knew about it. They were horrified! They tried to help! Mari tried to protect her from her bullies! Her parents even sent her to therapy!
"But no matter what, things just didn't get any better… The bullying continued all the way to middle school," Monokuma lowered his head and his tone. "And that is why a few weeks after the beginning of middle school for Izumi, something terrible happened."
Monokuma took a pause, and those few seconds of silence made Masashi tremble, his heart beating. He knew that this tale would not have a happy ending, but what awaited him?
"One day, Mari came back home from school later than usual. Her parents were off at work, and Izumi was already home… she was all alone.
"When Mari opened the door, no one greeted her. Curious, she looked around the house and then walked all the way to Izumi's room.
"The door was shut. She heard movement inside.
"Mari grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened it, sensing something was amiss.
"And when she peeked inside… she saw her sister.
"She was standing on a stepladder…
"And she was gripping a noose."
Silence fell upon the room.
Neither the storyteller nor the audience said a thing.
Masashi had become utterly frozen.
The very description of the event was awful, but he could not help but imagine it, upon which he grew sick.
"That... I can't believe it... Her little sister..." Masashi said a few seconds later, trying to imagine something else. "Horrible... Beyond horrible...!"
"Before you draw any more conclusions, let me finish the story, at least," Monokuma said laxly. "Izumi made her attempt to hang herself, but Mari managed to save her before she should die. Yet the damage was done. Her parents got all upset about it and sued the students who had hurt her the most. But even after they received compensation, there was too much controversy surrounding the poor little thing now. So the whole family ended up moving to another city. Izumi went to a new middle school, and everyone lived happily ever after, but not really. The end."
Despite the somewhat happier note that it ended on, Masashi did not feel at all happy about this.
The whole situation had just been unforgivable.
An innocent girl had succumbed to the cruelty heaped upon her, and she had sought escape in the most heartbreaking way possible.
"It's such a shame, you know," Monokuma said, shrugging his shoulders. "Mari was so stressed out by her younger sister's situation. She even tried to manage it by delving into paleontology of all things."
"She… did?"
"Yep. In fact, don't you remember that one time when you discovered the hidden library, and you were caught by that arrogant archaeologist? Mari showed up as well."
Upon his mentioning of it, a memory of the event arose in Masashi's mind.
Mari looked at the bookshelves with awe. "So many books… I wonder whether there are any about paleontology."
"Oh? Have you an interest in the field?" Atsushi asked, sounding truly surprised.
"To some extent," she answered, but for some reason, even though she seemed keen to talk more about the topic, Masashi could sense a bit of distance in her voice. "One time, I got into doing some informal research on dinosaurs."
Atsushi raised a brow. "Whence came the want to do such research?"
Mari stayed silent, but it was clear that she was hesitating. "I… wanted to occupy myself a bit. There was something going else in my life, and it was a nice change of pace."
Masashi wondered what exactly had been going on during then. Given the lack of fondness in her expression, he guessed that it had not exactly been a happy time for her.
"So that was it…" Masashi uttered. "She was talking about… her sister's attempted suicide."
"As I said before, even with no death, the damage was done, and in more ways than one," Monokuma continued. Despite keeping his usually merry tone, something about his words came off as less jovial than before. "Mari saw for herself the wickedness of mankind. Even after Izumi's bullies were punished for their behavior, Mari was no longer ignorant of the ugliness of human beings. And don't you think it's rather interesting that she chose to study paleontology?"
"Are you saying there was some meaning to it?"
"Well, this is just a hunch of mine, but I'm guessing that she chose that topic of all things because it was one of the farthest things from the current world," Monokuma said. "Paleontology is the study of a bygone era in which mankind had not appeared yet. By escaping to the past, she did not have to be involved in the wickedness of modern society… It sure looks like that was her way to bring peace to her mind.
"That's why if she were still alive, Mari would agree with us.
"The world is a cruel place.
"As long as cruel people such as Izumi Anzai's bullies continue to exist, it will remain broken.
"Innocent people will continue to suffer from the choices made by the cruel.
"It's part of their destiny in this world."
Masashi had no words.
He could not gainsay anything coming from Monokuma's words.
Why would he, when it made a lot of sense?
"You don't look like you want to disagree with me. That's good! I like it when people agree with me, even if I don't act like it," Monokuma said. "Take your time. Think long and hard about it!"
Monokuma sank back into the floor, leaving Masashi all alone again.
An ideal world… A world in which no one would suffer like Mari and her family...
He spent the rest of the day thinking about what Monokuma had revealed to him. Eventually, evening came, and Monokuma came back with a bowl of ramen noodles, but Monokuma made no attempt to strike any conversation before disappearing once more.
Once night fell, looking out the window and staring at the stars, Masashi felt as if he were wandering through a great darkness. He saw one star, and as he stared at its light, he remembered all that Monokuma had said about making an "ideal world".
The world… It's an awful place… So it's only right to make an ideal world… isn't it?
He thought back to what Monokuma had said about Izumi being bullied by her peers.
She must have been called many awful names such as "worthless" and "disappointing".
She must have looked deep inside, only to find nothing but a void as great as a starless night.
The agony of emptiness had been so horrible that it had driven her to attempt suicide.
It was all too horrible. Masashi hoped that Izumi had managed to find peace after that incident.
But he remembered what Monokuma had said about how it had affected Mari as well.
Her heart must have been forever tainted by a darkness that the world had inflicted upon her and her family.
Masashi put his hand through the window and reached for the stars, wishing that she might come down and answer him.
Mari... after what happened... you must've cursed the world…
So you would want a world in which you could shed the darkness in your heart... right?
The next day came, and Masashi woke up, feeling no motivation to rise from bed. Of course, he knew that he would have to rise eventually, so he glanced out the window and saw that it was yet another cloudy day. He looked around his room, wondering whether Monokuma had made his appearance yet. There was no sign of him, however, but Masashi figured that he would appear sooner or later. He arose from bed and readied himself for the day, but even after he was done with his preparations, Monokuma still was not here.
"Huh… weird," he said.
Just as he thought to call out Monokuma's name, however, he heard a noise from behind.
It was the sound of the doorknob being turned.
Such a sound immediately gripped his attention, and he rushed to the door. He had been bereft of human company for more than a day, whence the opportunity to see a fellow human being excited him.
A second later, the door was opened, and in came a certain woman. He had expected that it might be Maiha, but to his surprise, it was someone else.
"Huh? Sayua?"
Yes, it was the cheerleader, all right. Masashi recognized her yellow and white jacket, her white top, her purple skirt, and her purple and white bow that tied her strawberry blond hair into a ponytail. Nothing about her had changed.
"Good morning," she said with a sullen tone. "Are you done staring at me?"
"Oh, um… sorry about that," Masashi said. "I… I was just surprised to see you. No one's come to see me lately."
"Not hard to see why. You tried to strangle that bastard…" Sayua said, her tone lacking in disgust. "You did the one thing that I'd been imagining."
"Oh… well…"
He sensed a bit of praise coming from her, but looking back at that moment, he felt nothing but shame.
"Well, whatever. I'm here to get you."
"What? Why?"
The frown on Sayua's face grew.
"Monokuma's told all of us to go to the dining room. He's gonna give us a new motive."
How do you do, everyone? I hope you're all having a wonderful day.
Anyway, this chapter shows Masashi at his absolute lowest so far: he's become an attempted killer, and he is isolated from everyone else. This is a fairly different chapter, since Masashi talks with so few characters, and much of the chapter revolves around his thoughts. More importantly, now that Masashi has shed his image of being an "ordinary" person, the heart of his character is slowly coming to light, and more about Brightmere Research and Mari are revealed...
Of course, things are about to change, since there's an upcoming motive. See you next time!