Chapter 1: Part 7

Sayaka and Tenko crossed through the main lobby to the left wing of the school. Some of the other students entered the left wing as well, all of them retracing their footsteps out of the hope they had missed something before. Sayaka briefly glanced at the unmarked room, the one she saw the video in. It was like Monokuma was mocking her. She could try to watch it again, but like what the bear said before, she would only be able to view it when he decided she could.

'I hate that damn bear,' she thought to herself. She looked away from the door and led Tenko into the storage room.

Sayaka looked around and saw that the room was as much of a cluttered mess as Junko had explained. Boxes upon boxes of junk, sharp objects, and scraps.

"It's really cluttered in here," Sayaka said out loud.

Tenko dug through a random and shoveled out a handful of nuts and bolts. "We could be here for hours," she said.

"I know, but we do have to try and find something, right?" Sayaka asked.

Tenko immediately dropped all the bolts and pumped her fists. "Of course we will! We'll search and search and search until our hands bleed!"

Sayaka gave a nervous smile. "Come on, Tenko," she said. "We don't have to do that."

"But we will search super hard!" Tenko said with a bright smile.

"Right," Sayaka said. She wasn't one to critique other people's choice in grammar, even if it came across as odd to her. She had more important things to do. She split up from Tenko and began to scour through some boxes. Most of it was junk. Scraps, upon scraps, upon scraps. There were somethings that looked like computer chips, power strips, and some sort of gear. 'Maybe Chihiro and Miu could make something out of this stuff,' she thought. 'Though, I don't really want to interact with Miu anymore than I already have.'

"Ok, so what do we have here?" Tenko muttered to herself. She dug through another random box in the room. She would pull out an item, examine it for a moment, and then toss the item into another. "A wrench, ok. What is this, a ruler? Ok. Duct tape, ok. A cup, wh-why is this even here?"

After Tenko tossed the cup into the box before looking back at Sayaka. "So, do we know what we're even looking for?"

Sayaka pulled a tripod out of the box. "Just anything you think will be useful or…important," she said as she stretched out the tripod's legs. It seemed like it would still stand up if it was used. 'Maybe Mahiru could use this,' she thought.

"Ok," Tenko said. "What if we don't find anything?"

Sayaka stopped and looked back at Tenko. "I don't know. Why don't we look for…half an hour then we can leave?"

"I don't mind if we search longer," Tenko said. "We can search for ten hours! I'm sure we'll find something by then!"

"I hope so," Sayaka muttered to herself.

They returned to their search. For the most part, they found more of the little nick-nacks. All of which could be used for people's talents but could hardly be called important. Sayaka began to feel like an idiot. She wasn't a detective, no matter how much she liked to play one.

'We're not going to be in here for ten hours, that's for sure,' Sayaka thought. 'Still, I could try to make this investigation bearable.' It was then that Sayaka remembered the time she spent investigating Hope's Peak with Makoto. Even though they found nothing, she remembered that she was actually happy during that time. Just having some approachable and easy to talk to was amazing. It made her feel like she was normal. 'I can just do that!'

Sayaka moved away from the box and approached one of the shelves. As she skimmed through the items on the shelf, she glanced back at Tenko. "So, Tenko," she spoke up, "how did you get into Aikido anyway?"

Tenko dropped another cup back into the box before looking back at Sayaka. "Do you mean why I started training?"

Sayaka nodded at Tenko.

"Well, I was kind of raised on Aikido," Tenko said as she moved onto the next box.

Sayaka moved onto the next shelf in her search. "What do you mean?"

Tenko stopped digging through the current box she was on as she told her tale. "Well, back when I was little, like really little, I misbehaved a lot. I always got into fights, I broke a lot of priceless pots my parents owned. They tried everything, but nothing worked. So, they turned to a group of marital artists from a temple in the mountains to take care of me."

Sayaka stopped her search and spun around to face Tenko. "Your parents abandoned you?"

Tenko waved her hands. "No, no, no!" she said in a panic. "It's not like that! They always made sure to check on me. But these monks, my master, they were the ones that helped me kick my bad habits."

Tenko kicked the air and threw a punch out to demonstrate her skills. "With their training, they helped me clear my mind of all my overactive and short temper issues and they transformed my body in an unstoppable weapon of justice!"

"So, you learned Aikido from these monks?"

"Not just that. Me and my master were the ones that created Neo Aikido!" Tenko smiled brightly.

"So, martial arts was kind of a spiritual training for you then?"

"Well, the spiritual aspects are guidelines for how we're supposed to use Aikido," Tenko held her hands up in a fighting stance. "Aikido must be used for self-defense! I'm never supposed to start fights! I am meant only to defend myself and others!"

Sayaka smiled a bit as moved back onto investigating the room. "Mainly girls, right?" she giggled before kneeling down next to another box.

"Of course!" Tenko said loudly. "It's a fact that males are much more violent and predatory than girls!"

"Do you still believe that though?" Sayaka asked. "I mean, some of us weren't too…innocent."

Tenko paused for a moment. She sighed heavily before looking back at Sayaka. "Are you still upset about what you've done?"

"Of course I am…How could I not be?"

"It's not your fault though! We all know that Monokuma didn't tell you about the class trial!"

"But I still tried to kill someone," Sayaka frowned. "I still tried to frame my friend for it."

"Sayaka…" Tenko turned around to face her friend, "You keep saying these bad things about yourself, but I've seen you be nothing but sweet, smart, and amazing! I believe you're good at heart! You were just scared at that time and Monokuma tricked you!"

Sayaka could feel her heart beat faster from Tenko's kind words. In her mind, she thought Tenko was an idiot. Her bias for girl was clearly affecting her judgement. Yet, it made her feel better. It made her feel like she was a good person like Tenko believed. Maybe that little bit of hope was all Sayaka needed to hear. Sayaka turned away from the box and gave the martial artist a blushed smile.

"Thank you, Tenko," Sayaka said.

Tenko saw the look on Sayaka's face and her face became just a red. She shut her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers. "I-It's was nothing, r-really!" she said.

Sayaka giggled a bit. "Why don't we change topics? Hopefully to something more cheerful. It would make searching much nicer."

As Sayaka returned to searching boxes, Tenko thought up a new topic.

"So, how did you get into idoling?" Tenko asked.

Sayaka looked over her shoulder, "Huh?"

"Well," Tenko fidgeted with her index fingers again, "I mean you asked me how I got into my talent. Sooo, I'm curious how you became the Ultimate Pop Idol."

Sayaka took a deep breath as she sat herself down on the floor. It was one of those things she had to do repeatedly. Interviews, fan meet and greets, her audition, talking to her friends and Makoto, she always had to tell someone.

"Well, it's honestly a long a personal story," Sayaka explained. "I was a lonely child back then. My mother passed away when I was three years old. My father buried himself in his work to provide for me, but it kept him away from home most of the time. So, I ended up spending most of my time watching TV. Cartoons and puppet shows would make my day more fun, but one day I caught an idol performance."

Sayaka smiled as a wave of nostalgia hit her. "She was so beautiful. She was like an angel, and her voice was just perfect. Every note she sang had passion and grace behind it. And the way she smiled at her fans and how they cheered back, it was wonderful."

"So, that's what inspired you?"

Sayaka nodded. "It made me feel like all my troubles just disappeared. I thought that, if I became an idol, I could feel like that all the time and maybe help others feel that way too. So, that's why I became an idol."

"And you became one just like that?"

"Oh no," Sayaka shook her head. "Becoming idol is not easy. The auditions are long and straining." Sayaka turned away and returned to investigating. "I had to do a lot of terrible things just to make my dream come true."

"Oh," Tenko said. She was concerned by Sayaka's last sentence, but with a shake of her head, she threw on a bright smile. "Well, that terrible stuff is all in the past!"

"Yeah…" Sayaka said solemnly. 'I really should just focus on investigating now.'

The two of them returned to the investigation and for around ten minutes, neither found anything. It was just scraps upon scraps upon scraps. Sayaka even pricked her finger on a sharp edge. She would have to see Mikan just in case. She just had to keep sucking on her finger to keep herself from getting any blood on anything. Tenko kept making glances back at Sayaka, always prepared to dash over to her if she needed it.

It wasn't until the supposed eleventh minute passed when Sayaka stumbled upon…something. While investigating yet another box, she saw something odd. It was mannequin head, or it at least looked like a mannequin head. It had the blank white "skin" mannequins have, but it had actual details, facial features to it. A mouth, nose, ears, yet its eyes were pure black and made of glass and it had spikey white hair with an ahoge just as sharp as Makoto's. Sayaka didn't know what to make of it. It wasn't just random scrap, but it didn't seem useful either.

Tenko looked over at Sayaka once again and noticed that her idol friend had been looking at something. Tenko approached the girl and looked over her shoulder. "What do you have there?" she asked.

Sayaka tilted the mannequin head to the side as she continued to examine it. "It's some weird mannequin head." Sayaka turned around and presented the head to Tenko.

Tenko raised an eyebrow when Sayaka, but the moment she caught sight of the mannequin's head, her eyes went wide, and she snatched it out of Sayaka's grasp.

"It's Keebo!" Tenko shouted.

"Keebo?" Sayaka asked.

Tenko looked back at Sayaka. "Can you find the rest of him?"

"R-rest of him? I don't know what you-"

Tenko dashed over to the box and dug through it, tossing the useless scrap out of the way. Sayaka had to dodge a few of the projectiles before Tenko yanked a severed leg out of the box. "Here's one of his legs! Go see if you can find any of his other parts!"

"I, uh," Sayaka stuttered a bit. She nervously looked around the room before she noticed a severed arm splayed across one of the shelves. She picked it up. "Is this a part of it?"

"Yes!" Tenko snatched the arm away as she began to put Keebo's parts in an empty crate.

"So, Keebo," Sayaka spoke up as she kept exploring the room, "you say that like he was…"

"He was a part of our killing game," Tenko explained. "He was a robot that had all these functions that helped us out…I wonder how he ended up here."

"Wait, wait. Did you just say he was a robot?"

"Yeah!" Tenko said as she found another one of Keebo's legs. "And because he was a robot, he was exempt from being considered a degenerate male."

'So, maybe Nekomaru wasn't completely insane,' Sayaka thought. "So, how did he die?"

"I don't know," Tenko said. "None of my classmates even mentioned that he died."

"So, it had to have happened after Tsumugi died," Sayaka tapped the side of her head. "Do you think he was the one that killed her?"

"I don't know," Tenko said. "He's actually a very passive person…or robot."

Sayaka eventually find Keebo's other arm and Tenko found his torso. Once they placed all the parts in the crate, they got a good look at the poor state of Keebo's body. Obviously, it was in pieces, but there were other details that caught their eyes. The joints in his arms were either bent the wrong way or were crushed to a point where they could not move. The same went for his legs. His torso had some button dangling from wires, deep dents and cuts on the front and back, and was stuck in a twisted pose. As for his head, everything seemed fine at first glance but a look at the back of his head showed otherwise. There was a hole in the back, revealing the circuitry and data chips inside, as if a large rock punctured it.

"What could have happened?" Sayaka asked.

"I don't know," Tenko frowned. "I don't even think we can fix him."

"Well wait, we do have Chihiro and Miu," Sayaka said. "They could find a way to fix him, right?"

Tenko's lit up and she grabbed a hold of Sayaka's hands. "That's right! Miu can rebuild his body and Chihiro can get him programmed right! You're a genius, Sayaka!"

"I-I wouldn't say that." Sayaka blushed.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Tenko smiled brightly at the idol. "Come on! Let's bring this stuff over to Miu's room!"

"Right," Sayaka nodded before she picked up the crate and exiting the room with Tenko.

"You know you are the most suspicious person here," Byakuya said as he towered over Mukuro. "You have given minimal information of your killing game and your death. While I can't say there is any real solid evidence to this theory, I can't say Tsumugi is wrong to suspect you of being the mastermind."

"And your ultimate talent being a soldier is certainly unusual too," Taka said. "It could explain why the ways Monokuma had killed us were as twisted and grotesque as they were!"

Mukuro rolled her eyes at Taka's statement. Of course, he was correct in assuming she was part of the killing game, but his logic was never the strongest. She looked at the three men in front of her, and for a moment, thought of simply killing them. They were potentially threats to her. She knew that she could handle Taka no problem. As in good of shape as he was, he was no fighter and too straightforward. Byakuya, the imposter Byakuya, would be a bit trickier. He was more intelligent and had greater strength. Yet he was slow and not much of a real fighter. An arm drag and armbar would work well against him. Kaito was hard to figure out. Afterall, she didn't know him. He was like Taka as in his figure seemed muscular, but unlike Taka he seemed to have a more aggressive personality. He could be tough. Yet, he was also clearly far from the brightest man in the group. She could use that aggression against him.

Yet, fighting would be the worst decision Mukuro could make. She couldn't spend her time constantly running away from thirty other students, especially from Junko. Like it or not, she needed confess to some degree.

"I'm not the mastermind," Mukuro explained. "But…I have been lying to you about something."

"So, you're finally willing to confess," Byakuya said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, if you aren't the mastermind, what have you been hiding from us?" Kaito asked.

Mukuro took a deep breath. She kept a cool expression on her face and "I actually know most of you."

"What?" Taka gasped. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I know all of the students from both Hope's Peak classes," Mukuro explained. "I had been tasked to survey you closely and take notes on you. What you were scared off, what drove you, anything of value."

"Why?" Byakuya asked. "Who were you recording this information for?"

"I…I cannot say," Mukuro averted her gaze.

"Can't or won't?" Byakuya narrowed his gaze at her.

'God damn you, Junko,' Mukuro thought to herself. 'Why can't I out you? Why do I still want to protect you?'

Mukuro sighed. "I can't," she said. "They hid in the darkness and modulated their voice. They hired me to take notes on you. Perhaps they were the mastermind that ended up imprisoning you. They must have figured I would have been useful since I was meant to go to Hope's Peak as well."

"What about my group though?" Kaito asked. "Did you spy on us too?"

Mukuro shook her head. "No. In fact, I've never heard of the Ultimate Academy. Whether or not that same person had the same plans for you is something I can't answer."

"Man," Kaito scratched the back of his head. "My group keeps seeming more and more like the odd ones out."

"Perhaps someone else could have targeted you," Taka suggested to Kaito.

"There's still something you need to answer," Byakuya stated. "How did you die? We're all connected here by our deaths in the killing games. Where were you?"

"I told you that I was in a killing game," Mukuro said.

"Yet no one else from your killing game seems to be here."

"I can't explain that either."

Byakuya groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If that's the case, then you are free to go."

"Wait, we're really just going to let her go?" Taka asked. "She can't confirm her story as the truth."

"Yet we can't confirm that she's lying," Byakuya said. "What we do know is that she had some encounter with the mastermind. That individual certainly planned for us as the targets and were methodical in examining us."

"Still don't know about my group though," Kaito said.

"I guess we'll have to keep investigating to find those answers. But that will be enough for now. Thank you, Mukuro."

Mukuro nodded before exiting the room.

'Oh shit that was close,' Mukuro thought as she scurried down the hallway. 'I'm lucky the imposter isn't actually Togami. He'd never let me off that easy. Still…"

She glanced to the side to see Hifumi and Tsumugi. They were in the middle of a conversation about some anime. Mukuro could never keep track of the round boy's obsession. What did get her attention was Tsumugi.

'She tried to pin all three of the killing games on me,' Mukuro thought as she passed by the two. 'She could be the mastermind of that third killing game. Bit sloppy on her part. Junko wouldn't have done something like that…Why do I keep saying things? She killed me!'

Mukuro smacked the side of her head. 'I need to think about something else. Do something else.'

Just when she was about to turn the corner, Angie walked right into her path. Out of instinct, Mukuro grabbed a hold of Angie's wrist and dragged her to the ground as she twisted her arm.

"Ow!" Angie whined as she lifted her head up from the floor.

Mukuro sighed and released the girl. "Oh, it's only you," she said. "You shouldn't have snuck up on me."

Angie immediately rose to her feet and flashed her carefree smile at the soldier. "Oh no, no, no," she said. "I was not attempting to sneak up on you. I was sent to find you."

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I was in my room, allowing Atua to use me as a vessel as I painted. My painting was meant to show me which lost soul needed my assistance and it showed me this spot. It seems the lost soul I was looking for was you. Nyahaha!"

Mukuro rolled her eyes. "I'm not a lost soul."

"Ah, but your eyes say otherwise!" Angie wagged her finger. "So much sadness. You see nothing but greyness. The life a soldier is not nice. But with Atua, you can find the light you need. You will no longer be burdened with the feelings of guilt and betrayal."

"H-how did you know that?"

Angie's smile grew wider. "You just told me."

Mukuro gritted her teeth. She felt like an idiot. Something she didn't want to feel like. "What do you want?"

"I simply wish to introduce you to the way of Atua," Angie approached Mukuro and pulled her into a gentle hug.

Mukuro couldn't understand what was happening. Angie's embrace was soft and comforting. It reminded her of a precious memory of when Makoto hugged her after they spent a day together. So warm and loving. And yet, it so out of nowhere. It was like Angie was deliberately trying to get her to feel this way. It felt wrong.

"Trust me," Angie stroked Mukuro's hair. "I can tell you are hurting, Mukuro. I can help you."

Mukuro broke away from Angie. "D-don't touch me like that! Look, I don't know what you're doing but…just stay away!" Mukuro dashed off.

Angie pouted a bit. "Aww, I lost another potential follower. Oh well. Atua is a patient one and I will sorely find followers here in no time."

Mahiru had dragged Hiyoko into her room after the morning meeting. She let her small friend sit down while she crossed her arms. Hiyoko stumbled a bit as she entered the room, but she immediately regained her balanced and sat down at Mahiru's bed. Hiyoko swung her feet a bit before she noticed Mahiru glaring at her.

"Well?" Mahiru said.

"Well what?" Hiyoko asked.

Mahiru groaned and shifted her hands down to her hips. "Seriously, Hiyoko? You were being a total jerk during the meeting."

"Well, why should I be nice?" Hiyoko pouted. "They were all killers, weren't they?"

"That's not the point. We all agreed we wouldn't be rude during the confessions. It's supposed their chance to start making up for what they've done."

"Well, that's stupid! What, we're just supposed to be fine with them killing us?! Am I supposed to forgive Pigbarf because she lies about not knowing what she was doing?"

"How do you know she was lying?"

"How do you know she was telling the truth?" Hiyoko snapped back.

Mahiru frowned at her small friend. "Hiyoko, look…I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, but you can't lash out at everyone. You've been acting unreasonably angry even before the confessions. We should have worked on that back on Jabberwock Island, but we can do it now…Please."

"I don't need to change," Hiyoko crossed her arms. "Everyone else is just stupid."

"That's what I'm talking about," Mahiru said. "You keep belittling everyone. Won't you try it for me?"

"No!" Hiyoko snapped once again and hopped off the bed. "I'm sick of giving stupid people the benefit of the doubt! They're all jerks and suck! I hate this place and I hate these people!" Hiyoko dashed towards the door.

"Hiyoko, wait!" Mahiru went to grab a hold of her hand, but it was too late. Hiyoko opened the door and slammed it behind her.

Hiyoko had left the room with tears in her eyes. She was heading towards her room, but when she rounded the corner, she bumped into Angie.

"Ow!" Hiyoko said as she landed on her bottom. "Hey! Watch where you're going, idiot!"

"My, my!" Angie said. "Atua has led me to another friend."

"What are you talking about?"

Angie smiled and offered a hand. "Atua has sent me on a quest to find lost souls longing for purpose, and it seems you are at a crossroads in life."

Hiyoko slapped Angie's hand away and rose to her feet. "I don't need a stupid cult to make me feel better."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Angie wagged her finger. "Atua is not some simple make-believe trick for money. He is real, and he longs to help you."

"Well, forget it!" Hiyoko turned around to walk away. "I don't want to play nice with killers!"

Angie smiled a bit. "Of course! Forgiving killers that don't have remorse is foolish."

Hiyoko stopped in her tracks. She looked over her shoulder to see Angie. "Wait, you…you aren't a total moron?"

"Of course not," Angie smiled. "While Atua is all forgiving, he Is not without reason or logic."

Hiyoko turned around and approached Angie. "Ok, so we have to do something about them, right?"

"Of course," Angie said before taking Hiyoko's hand. "Come. Let's discuss this."

Hiyoko looked down at Angie's hand. She felt unsure. Angie was still a weirdo, but unlike Mahiru, she actually wanted seemed to acknowledge most of these people were killers. Yet, she remembered part of Mahiru was trying to say. "Give people a chance." She decided she'd give Angie a chance. At least so they could actually deal with the killers. She nodded and followed Angie down the hall.

This took too long. Work has been making my schedule unbearable to deal with. That's why my claim of Weekly Updates has been going wrong.

Anyways, Keebo is here. I know everyone had been wondering and it killed me to keep my mouth shut about him. I was so close to spilling the beans, but I did it!

Also, I had to do something I failed to do for the original roleplay this came from; actually use Hiyoko, Mahiru, and Angie. They were mostly just background characters with nothing really going on other than their usual schtick, but I'm changing that. The problem is that Angie and Hiyoko are kind of hard to write more than just one note jokes.

On an unrelated note, I must give an overdue thank you to you all. My story has gotten over 12,000 views and still growing! It's stuff like that and your reviews that make this worth while. I feel like I grow as a writer. So please keep on sharing and reviewing.