Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, last chapter ended with the group watching Sayaka's death. Now, they're going to see the beginning part of the first class trial, as well as another death. I hope I got the reactions down. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Chapter 16: Watching Ch 1: To Survive Part 9
(Chapter 1 - To Survive - Deadly Life)
"That's not a good sign." Junko stated, finally managing to calm herself. Everyone couldn't help but agree to that.
"Is Makoto okay?" Hina asked, remembering that he blacked out.
"He probably is." Byakuya said. "He must've just fainted from seeing Sayaka dead."
The screen changed to Makoto's point of view, the boy slowly opening his eyes. When he did, he saw that he was looking a familiar ceiling and a familiar face. "Ah! You're awake! Finally! Are you okay?" Hina asked him in concern.
"Now's no time for sleeping. Get your ass up!" Mondo growled, his head bowing down.
"Dude, calm down man" Leon said. "Seeing Sayaka dead in his own bathroom is not something he could brush off. It's not something any of us could have brush off in his shoes."
Mondo sighed. The biker clenched his fist and closed his eyes, looking a bit blue in the face. "Yeah, I know."
"Huh….?" Was Makoto's slow response.
"You were unconscious, dude." Hiro told him. "I had to carry you back here."
"It's no surprise, considering what happened." Sakura stated.
"What….happened?" That's when the memories of Sayaka, dead in his own bathroom, came rushing back. "Gr-Graaaah!" He cried out in horror.
"H-Hey, are you okay?!" Hina asked, startled.
He ignored the question. "So it wasn't a dream?" The lucky student asked, sitting up. "What I saw….it was real?"
"That's right. It really did happen." Byakuya said coldly. "Sayaka….is dead." Makoto's face contorted into horror and despair at Byakuya's cold answer.
Several of the students' hearts' broke at seeing their favorite lucky student with a horrified look on his face. Even Byakuya felt himself getting emotional at Makoto's horrified state before looking away. Maybe he should've been a bit more tactful with giving the news.
Hina and Chihiro started tearing up at seeing this while Celeste and Kyoko felt their eyes getting misty. The others, such as Leon and Mondo, had to look away from the screen for a moment.
Mukuro gripped her knees at the sight. This was because of her. Makoto is like this, because she didn't stop Junko's plan. Seeing him so horrified is ripping her up inside.
Once again, she had to ask herself. Could she really go through with this?
Junko felt like shaking in glee and crying at the same time. Seeing Sayaka dead, Makoto screaming, the horrified look on his face when it was confirmed it wasn't a dream, it's all so despairful! It makes her want to orgasm, but at the same time, she wanted to cry at Makoto's horrified state. It was glorious!
Suddenly, Makoto shot up and took off running. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Byakuya called out.
Makoto stopped and turned to the prodigy. "I have to see for myself!" Makoto shouted. "I have to see if Sayaka is-! If Sayaka is….!"
"You can check once, twice, a thousand times." He told him coldly. "Sayaka is completely and irrevocably dead!"
Sayaka flinched and buried her face further into Makoto's chest. Makoto, in response, tightened his hold on her and continued stroking her hair.
"You could be a little more sensitive Byakuya." Sakura sighed. "This isn't something people could just accept."
Byakuya sighed. "Perhaps." Was all he said.
"No!" Makoto shouted. "I have to see for myself!"
"Listen to us, man! Whaddya think's gonna happen if you go out there?" Mondo asked him.
"Well what good is it gonna do just sitting around here?!" Makoto retorted. "I mean, why are we all hanging out in the gym at a time like this?!"
"Yeah, now that he's mentioning it, why are we at the gym?" Leon asked. "I would've thought we would be gathered in his room."
"Monokuma must've summoned us to the gym." Kyoko deduced. "That's the only possibility as to why we're there."
"And we listen to the fucker?!" Mondo growled. "He's the damn reason why this happened!"
"That's why we listen to him." Kyoko stated, a bit coldly. "No matter how we feel about him, he's our future selves' kidnapper. Disobeying him would be unwise."
Makoto sighed. "She has a point." The luckster said. "We saw what he tried to do to Mondo for attacking him."
"What makes you think he wasn't the one that killed me?" Slowly, Sayaka got out of Makoto's embrace, though she kept a hand gripped onto his own. "How come we aren't thinking that he didn't do it?"
Byakuya crossed his arm. "While it would be nice to pin it on the bear, for one, it would be too convenient." Byakuya began explaining. "And two, if he wanted to kill us, he could've done so in the beginning instead of telling us to kill each other."
"Our friend….Sayaka….she's…." Finally, he shouted. "She's dead!" When he said that, he looked down. The horror and despair is still on Makoto's face.
Sayaka and Makoto gripped each other's hand tightly. The idol is glad Makoto is at her side. Otherwise, she felt that she would've broken down.
Kyoko spoke up. "None of us want to be here right now, either."
"Then….why?"
"Sh-Shouldn't it be obvious? Monok-kuma," Toko answered. "He told us all to c-come here."
"Well, hold on! Don't talk like that. We all protested it!" Taka stated. "I mean, we remember the terrible price Sayaka had to pay. B-But…."
"I'm the one who convinced them to come." Kyoko told Makoto. "Right now, we need to do whatever he says. We're his prisoners, right? It's not a good idea to defy him without reason. We don't need to make any more sacrifices than we already have."
Leon scowled. "While you have a point Kyoko, it still pisses me off that we have to listen to him."
"I wouldn't expect any of us to be happy about it, or all of us to be resigned." Kyoko stated. "And I doubt my future self would either."
Makoto stayed silent for a moment. Then, he spoke. "Why should we listen to anything he has to say?" A scowl entered his face. "It's obvious he's the one who killed Sayaka!"
As he said that, Monokuma appeared. "I would never do that!" Monokuma denied. "If you can believe anything, you can believe that!"
Leon growled in anger. "He's here again…."
"Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere." The bear stated. "I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here. I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the 'Bear-Times-One' rule!"
Mondo growled. "I really wish I could say that the fucking bear is lying."
"But like Byakuya said, if he wanted to kill all of us, he could've just done it earlier." Kyoko said. "Or if he wanted to frame one of us, he wouldn't need to resort to showing us motives."
"Then….who did it?" Chihiro asked fearfully. "Who killed her?"
"You already know the answer!" Monokuma declared. "The one who killed her is….one of you!"
Everyone was silent at this. Makoto felt his horror grow. 'One of us….killed Sayaka?' Makoto thought. He shook his head. 'Don't be stupid. That's….'
"The only logical answer." Byakuya sighed. "As much as we don't want to believe it."
"So one of us really did kill Sayaka." Hina covered her mouth, "But who?"
Sayaka looked at all of her friends. Who could've killed her, and why?
"Hmm? What's the matter?" Monokuma questioned, tilting his head. "You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling Gun! Don't you remember what I told you when this all began? One of you decided to kill Sayaka so that you could graduate! Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!"
"Everything is wrong with that!" Taka shouted. "Killing someone just so they could escape? That's wrong!"
"Don't pretend it's normal, you fucking bear!" Mondo roared.
Hifumi shakily spoke up. "Y-You're lying….right?"
"Of course he's lying!" Makoto exclaimed. "I'm telling you, he killed her!"
Makoto gripped his fist. He wish he could believe that, that none of them was the killer. That last thing he wants to do is doubt his friends.
But he knew that one of them did it. He doesn't know why, but he, along with everyone here, just knew that Monokuma wasn't lying.
Monokuma rebuked his accusation yet again. "Nope, sorry. One of you is now a bona fide killer. If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify to that little fact."
"What….?" Without thinking, Makoto looked around at everyone. Everyone else did the same, a combination of fear, suspicion and confusion in the air.
"A-Are you serious?" Chihiro asked, tearing up.
"Someone," Taka became very pale. "Someone killed someone!"
"It's amazing what some people are capable of." Celeste remarked.
"Hey, hold on!" Mondo protested. "Don't assume he's telling the truth!"
"That's enough." Byakuya said loudly, silencing everyone talking. "Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here." He turned to Monokuma. "If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?"
"...Huh?"
"Don't play dumb!" The heir demanded. "That's what you said, isn't it?! If you kill someone, you get to leave!"
"Hang on a minute, why do you want to know about it?" Mondo asked.
Byakuya scoffed. "If you think that I was the one who killed her, I very much doubt it. If I did, I wouldn't ask that question and draw suspicion to me. Plus, I don't succumb easily to desperation."
"Puhuhu," Monokuma started giggling, more and more until it became a full blown evil laughter.
"Why are you laughing?!" Leon questioned, pale.
After a few more giggles, the bear answered. "It's cuz….naive. You're just so naive!" He let a barking laugh. "You think it's really that easy? That you can just kill someone and waltz on outta here?! You're super naive! Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE! No, no, no, the real thing has just begun."
"Wait, you mean there's more?!" Leon exclaimed.
"Not surprising." Celeste said. "If you recall the sixth rule, it's stated that you can't be caught if you're the 'blackened'."
"Which mean you have to get away with the murder in order to leave." Byakuya summarized.
"Meaning that Monokuma's got something set up for that." Kyoko deduced. "Something we might not like."
"Oh come on. Can we get a break here?" Hina whined.
"The….real thing?" Makoto asked cautiously.
"Are you ready?!" Monokuma asked everyone. "Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However, even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to uphold, remember?"
Celeste was the one to answer. "You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations. If you are the 'blackened' that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you're talking about, is it not?"
"Bingo!" Monokuma confirmed eagerly. "It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with! So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin!"
"A class trial?" Makoto furrowed his eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Not anything good, I suspect." Celeste stated. "And it looks like our answers were correct."
'Class….trial?' Thought a confused Makoto.
"Yup! It'll begin a few hours after the murder!" Monokuma stated. "Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one debate showdown!"
The scene changed into a image of boys and girls facing each other in podiums, with Monokuma on a throne. "During the trial, you'll have to present your argument about who you think the blackened is" The bear began explaining. "And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you arrived at is correct, only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life."
"However," The bear continued. "If you choose poorly, then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which will means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trials go….that's all there is to it!"
"Wait, so you mean he wants us to point the finger at someone?" Makoto questioned in shock. "Condemn them to this punishment he keeps talking about?"
"And what does he mean by punishment?" Hina asked nervously.
"I think we can all guess that." Byakuya sighed.
The scene switched back to the gym. "So, um," Hifumi spoke up nervously. "What exactly is this 'punishment' you keep talking about?"
"Oh! Well, to put it simply," Once again, the bear dropped another bomb. "It's execution!"
Several eyes widened in horror and skins started paling. Makoto, reveling in his own horror, cried: "Execution?!"
"Is he fucking serious right now?!" Mondo exclaimed, very pale.
"E-Execution?!" Hifumi screamed in terror.
"And by executions, you mean…." Before Chihiro could finish that, Monokuma suddenly got in front of her, causing the programmer to yelp and land on her butt.
Several others yelped at the speed. "Chihiro!" Taka exclaimed.
"You get the fuck away from her!" Mondo shouted in anger.
The camera got another close up to Monokuma face. "Execution is….execution. Ex-e-cution!" Monokuma emphasized. "Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poisonous gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!" After that, Monokuma jumped away from Chihiro.
By now, nearly everyone is pale in horror. "So if we pick the wrong person, all of us will die," Kyoko began summarizing. "But if we get the right person, they'll be executed."
"So's he forcing us to condemn a person to be killed?!" Makoto exclaimed. The boy is shaking now. "That's insane!"
"That is way too cruel." Hina said, covering her mouth. "Having to find out the death of one of our own, and then immediately condemn the killer to die."
"I know they killed, but that doesn't mean they deserve to die." Chihiro said, near tears.
Meanwhile, Sayaka stayed silent, her hand still in Makoto's, a conflicted look on her face. Makoto looked at her in concern, but stayed silent for right now. He's got the feeling that she'll tell him about it later.
By now, several of the students are quite paled. "S-So, to make sure I understand," Taka spoke up, also looking pale. "If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong, all the rest of us gets….executed?"
"What a smart chimpanzee you are!" The bear complimented. "Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it!"
"Is he accusing me?!" Taka exclaimed in outrage. "I would never kill someone!"
"Hey you fucking bear, going lay your accusations somewhere!" Mondo shouted in anger. "Don't you fucking dare accuse my bro!"
"Already planting suspicion amongst us. That bear is going to be a nuisance." Byakuya sighed.
"So it's basically what the outside world calls a 'lay judge' system, or an inquisition type thing!" Monokuma explained. "Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is. But judge carefully, cause all of your lives are on the line!"
"That bear created a double edge sword." Mukuro said quietly. "If we get it right, we'll have to live with the guilt of condemning someone to death. If we get it wrong, then we'll die. Either way, he would get what he wants."
"Clever and cruel. That's what that sword is." Sakura stated, her eyes brimming with anger. Once she finds this mastermind, she won't let them escape from her grasp.
"Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook. Make sure to keep it in mind!" Monokuma then pulled out a E-handbook and added the rule in.
Just as he finished, Junko suddenly spoke. "W-Wait, hold on a second!" Junko spoke up in anger. "You're freaking insane, you know that?!"
The disguised Mukuro's statement got everyone's attention. "Mukuro," Makoto said, concern in your voice. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not sure." Mukuro narrowed her eyes in thought. Her sister, Junko, is also thinking.
"Hmm?" Was Monokuma's response.
"A class trial? What the hell is that?!" She exclaimed. "I don't want anything to do with it!"
"Why not?"
"Whaddya mean, why not?! Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone?!"
Several's eyes began to widen. "Mukuro, you're putting yourself in danger." Kyoko stated. "My future self did say it isn't wise to disobey him right now."
"I guess my future self saw the class trials as too cruel. Condemning someone to get murdered is not something I would want to be a part of." The soldier said. "I may have killed as my time in Fenrir, but my enemies fought back. I don't choose who to be killed."
Inwardly though, she thinks that Junko must've order her to say those things. Junko is thinking the same thing.
"What?!" Exclaimed the bear. "Are you say saying you're not gonna participate in the trial?! Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!"
That took Junko aback. "What? Punishment?!"
"Please don't tell me he's going to kill Mukuro." Makoto pleaded.
Mukuro blushed at her crush concern as Junko spoke up. "Don't worry! I'm sure sis can handle anything thrown at her!"
"I know. But still, I'm a bit worried for her." Makoto stated back, making Mukuro blush more, despite the situation.
"I might," Monokuma try to think of a good punishment. "I dunno, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!"
'Oh! That's what future me is doing!' Junko figured out. 'Get my hopeless sister in a jail cell to set an example to the others!'
That got Junko's fire back. "Shut the hell up!" She shouted in anger. "Say whatever you want, I'm not gonna be part of this!"
"Don't be so selfish!" Monokuma growled.
"You're the one being selfish!" Junko countered back. "Kill whoever you want, it's got nothing to do with me!"
The group couldn't help but cheer for Mukuro. "You fucking tell that bear Mukuro!" Mondo cheered.
"Yeah! We won't be a part of his sick game!" Hina whooped.
Sayaka couldn't help but frown. From sounds of it, they don't care who murdered her. She knew that it wasn't what they're thinking, that none of them simply doesn't want to condemn someone to death, but the thought still came up in her mind.
She shook her head. She needs to stop this line of thinking. Condemning someone to die is not something she should want.
"The evil standing before me," Monokuma began trembling. "I'm trembling with fear!" He then stopped trembling and brought out his claws. "But I won't give in to such evil! It's my style to stick it out and resist till the very end! If you really want to get out of here, you'll have to go through me first!" He then began running, though it look like more of a waddle.
Despite the situation, the group couldn't help but laugh at the site of a running Monokuma. "Quite the drama queen there." Celeste stated.
"Yeah, seriously." Leon rolled his eyes, still snickering. "Go roleplay in your own time."
"If he's trying to be serious, he's failing." Byakuya remarked.
However, before he could get close, he was suddenly got stepped up by none other than Junko Enoshima. "Gyumeh!"
That got everyone to stopped laughing. "What the hell are you doing?!" Leon exclaimed.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Hina questioned.
Makoto looked at her in heavy concern. "Mukuro?"
"Monokuma says that he would lock her in a cell." The soldier reminded them. "So I should be fine."
"Are you enjoying yourself now?" Junko rhetorically asked.
"Are you?"
"Huh?"
"Violence against the Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed." The bear said menacingly. "You've violated a school regulation…."
Sakura sighed. "At least she won't get killed. I'm glad for that."
"And look at it this way! If she gets put in jail, then she could break out and find out more about the mastermind!" Hina stated, after thinking about it. "She's the Ultimate Soldier, right? So it should be easy for to break out!"
"That is a possibility." Celeste mused.
Makoto beamed. "Our future self is going to have hope!"
Mukuro had to withhold a wince while Junko had to withhold laughter. For Mukuro, she can't help but feel bad for indirectly giving them that hope. For Junko, it's so funny and so despairful that they're relying on Mukuro, when her hopeless sister is on her side.
"I invoke the mighty summoning spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"
The camera suddenly moved to Makoto and the others as several whooshing sounds were made. Makoto's eyes widen in horror at what he said.
"Wh….?" Junko's face is blue, and her mouth and eyes are open wide in shock. "H-Huh?" The camera angle then enlarged and move downward to show spears all through her body. "This wasn't….supposed to….why….me?" As her eyes shot wide, the spears suddenly pull out of her simultaneously. It cause blood to splatter and for the fashionista to fall down in a limp, letting out one last breath.
The slightly happy air evaporated completely when they saw the death of Mukuro. And like when they saw Sayaka's death, eyes were wide with shock, faces were pale in horror, and the whole room is completely silent.
Hina was the one to speak up first. "Mukuro's….dead?" She said in horror.
"What the fuck….?" Leon breathed, his whole face pale.
Makoto is shaking in horror. Sayaka was bad enough, but now Mukuro? Two of his closest friends, dead right in front of him in such a short time. "No," He said hoarsely, the horror etched into his vocal cords. And like he did with Sayaka, he looked towards Mukuro.
Said girl couldn't keep her emotions out of her face as she sat frozen in her seat. Shock, confusion, horror, and despair is written all over her face. She's….dead? And the one who killed her was her own sister? What's worse was that it seemed like her future self sounded confused and shocked from her words as well. It was a one-sided betrayal.
Even Junko, with Ultimate Analyst abilities, was shocked at what she saw. "I….Mukuro….she….wha…." Suddenly, a mass amount of despair and pleasure shot right through her body, causing her eyes to roll to the back of her head and herself to simultaneously faint onto the floor.
"T-T-This is horrible," Chihiro covered her mouth, tears spilling on her cheeks. "Two of our friends our dead now."
"This is a dream! A very bad dream!" Hifumi exclaimed, holding his face in terror.
"We wish it was." Byakuya stated, his fists clenched tightly and his face quite pale. "But no. This is our possible reality."
Makoto, who was still staring at Mukuro, gain a look of concern. He could only imagine what she's thinking right now. He wanted to go to her, see if he could do anything to help, but there's another person by his side, who also needs his help. He'll have to speak to Mukuro later.
Shock and horror filled the gymnasium. "Wh-What the….?" Hina covered her mouth, looking quite pale.
"I don't…." Tears once again filled up the programmer's eyes.
"Th-This can't be real." Leon breathed, looking very pale.
"NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Hifumi screamed in horror.
Monokuma then spoke up, slowly getting up from the floor. "Now I'm painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise." He stated. "I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping up for no good reason, ya know? But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all. Ahh, what an amazing promise! But now you guys understand, right?"
Once again, a close up to Monokuma's face happened. "Now you see just how serious I am." The bear said menacingly. "Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated….etc. So, if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey these school regulations!"
Celeste turned to Byakuya. "What did you say about him failing to be taken seriously?"
"I have may spoke too soon." Was Byakuya statement.
Mukuro, meanwhile, had a thought in her mind. 'She killed me….just so she could set an example to the others? Was I... really so... expendable?'
Makoto himself is looking at the now dead Junko Enoshima in horror, an unbelievable amount of blood pouring out of her. His eyes are wide and face pale. "It's really not all that shocking." The bear stated. "She just died, that's all. Just went and died. It's no more remarkable than the inevitable demise of the entire human race. It's just as natural as the eventual end of the world itself."
Makoto gripped his free fist in anger. "Is the death of a human being, the death of our friend that irrelevant to him?" The luckster questioned. "That bastard!"
Mukuro turned to Makoto, surprised. It wasn't often for her to see Makoto angry, much less, for her.
"Makoto?" Hina looked at him in concern.
Makoto sighed, calming himself down a little. "Sorry. Seeing two of my closest friends die, with the latter's death being so casually dismissed by the bear, it's just so aggravating."
Mukuro continued to be surprised by his words. Closest friend? He really considered her that?
"This isn't some superhero comic. So it's not like when you die, you didn't really die." The bear continued. "This is reality!"
"...Why did you have to kill her?" Kyoko asked him. "Didn't you say you would put her in a prison or something?"
"I changed my mind." Was Monokuma's response.
Mukuro clenched her fist. More questions filled her head. Did her sister do it….on a whim? A last minute decision? Was it revenge for her leaving?
Kyoko shook her head. "No, you've been wanting to kill this entire time."
"Kill this entire time?" Monokuma tilted his head in confusion. "Don't be silly, you can't kill time! Or are you being metaphorical? Are you saying I wanted to waste time this whole time?" That thought got him looking angry. "Come on, what do you take me for? I'm Monokuma!"
"He's avoiding the question." Sakura stated.
"Or, he's trying to make a fool out of Kyoko." Leon suggested, Kyoko slightly frowning at the last suggestion.
"Anyways, none of that matters now." Monokuma got back to the main subject. "I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!"
He then pulled out a black file out of nowhere. "This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question. I like to call it….The Monokuma File! I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse."
"Um, Kyoko is an expert at this." Leon pointed out. "With her help, we'll be able to find the culprit."
Kyoko nodded. "I should be able to do it, especially with the file that Monokuma gave us."
Makoto gripped his fist. "I don't know want to see anyone else die, much less sentence them to death." Makoto admitted. "But our future selves doesn't have a choice. And we can't let Sayaka's murderer get away with it either."
"True. Sayaka's death can't go unpunished." Taka agreed. He then looked down. "I just wish our future selves didn't have to do it Monokuma's way. I don't wish for the death of one of our own."
"So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death." The bear continued. "What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got see it all go down!"
Another spark of anger coursed through Makoto. He knew that it should be expected for Monokuma to watch, to not do anything, but….the fact that it happened still made the luckster feel anger towards the mastermind.
"He sounds so….happy about it." Hina stated, covering her mouth in horror and disgust. "This guy is sick."
"At least it will be a fair trial." Kyoko sighed. "While it's disturbing he saw it all, it's….reassuring that the trial will be fair."
"That doesn't feel right." Chihiro said, feeling a bit sick.
"It's not suppose to." Was Kyoko's comment towards the statement.
"Wait, so then….you know who killed Sayaka?" Kyoko clarified.
"Of course I do!" Monokuma confirmed. "If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair and accurate judgement during the trial, now could I?"
"That's a good point." Kyoko reluctantly conceded. "The judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That's….somehow comforting."
"Don't get me wrong, but I kinda wish it wasn't." Leon said, looking sick as well. Several others look so as well, especially Sayaka.
Said idol is holding her mouth, keeping her silent cries from coming out. The fact that the sick bastard watched her die made her very ill. Makoto, knowing how she's feeling and feeling ill himself, rubbed her back in comfort.
"Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation! After all, you don't have any choice but to give it your best shot!" Monokuma giggled. "Seriously, you don't have a choice! Okay, so we'll meet up for the class trial….in a little while!" With that, Monokuma disappeared once again, leaving the class stunned and confused.
Everyone was silent, not knowing what to say at the moment. Everyone conscious is trying to process what had happen. Finally, it was Leon who spoke up. "So, Sayaka died," Leon began. "And one the who killed her is one of us. Monokuma told us we have to find the culprit, or we'll die except for the murderer. And to top it all off, he killed Mukuro to set an example."
"No time to grieve, no choice but to find the culprit and send them to die," Again, tears spilled out of Chihiro's cheek. "This is too cruel."
"Yeah. And the damn bear sounds so damn smug about it." Mondo growled, his head down and eyes closed.
"And none of the routes will lead to a happy ending." Celeste said. "If our future selves fail, then we'll have to see them die. If they succeed, will be forced to see one of us be executed."
"That's true," Kyoko sighed. "But they need to find the culprit. If they don't, then the mastermind will get a quick victory."
Makoto spoke up. "Kyoko's right." Makoto said, sounding a bit strain. "They need to do this. And Sayaka's murder can't go unsolved, so the only thing we can do is hope for the best possible outcome."
"Which is finding the killer, and then getting them killed." Hina gulped, feeling very ill. "I'm not liking this at all."
"How do you think Mukuro and I feel?" Sayaka muttered, scooting closer to Makoto and wrapping her arms around his one arm.
Slowly, after a long moment of silence, Makoto moved over to Junko's body and knelt down towards the corpse. He put two fingers on her wrist, checking for a pulse, but didn't receive any. "She….really is dead." Makoto said in dismay.
"I would be surprise if she was still alive." Byakuya sighed. "Ultimate Soldier she may be, but it's impossible to survive several spears in one's body and the blood loss coming after."
"I'm sure my future self knows that, subconsciously at least." Makoto stated, looking down. "But still-"
"W-W-Wait," Everyone turned to Hiro, who was stunned silent for most of it. The oldest of them look shaken. "J-Just wait a second! S-She's….really dead?! Then that means….everything we've seen so far is real?! This is our future?! Not some kind of prank or anything?!"
"Hell no!" He shouted, holding his head. "Someone get future me outta there! Save him! SOMEBODY HELP!"
'He's accepting this situation now?!' Was the overall thought of everyone conscious in the room. Even Kyoko and Celeste couldn't keep off the look of disbelief at the idiocy being displayed.
Sayaka and Mondo growled, both standing up to punch Hiro right in the face. But Makoto and Chihiro quickly grabbed onto their respective friends, stopping them from doing so. Makoto pulled Sayaka back into their seat and whispered some comforting words while Chihiro gave Mondo a pleading look, settling the angry biker down.
"I don't know why you even bothered to check." Byakuya remarked. "After those injuries, and losing that much blood….frankly, I'd be shocked if she did survived something like that."
"H-Huh? H-Hold on," For the first time in a while, Hiro spoke up. "H-H-Hold o-on! J-J-Just w-wait a second! Sh-She's….dead?! Then that means….that means everything that's happened so far is real?! It's not a joke or whatever?! It's really real?!"
He then started screaming. "Hell no! S-Someone save me! Let me outta here! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"You're j-just now accepting that?" Toko asked incredulously.
"At least we can cross Hiro off as a possible murderer." Byakuya sighed. "Considering he'd continue thinking that this whole thing was a joke, I doubt he would've killed Sayaka."
"No argument there." Kyoko sighed. Hiro is definitely crossed off the list.
Makoto looked at the others. Suspicion and fear invaded the faces of everyone. 'We got put in a position that gave us no choice but to be suspicious of one another.' Makoto thought in agony. When his eyes went to Kyoko's, he was amazed at what he saw. 'Yet, there isn't even a hint that any of it has gotten to her.'
Kyoko smirked to herself from the compliment. While she's sure that she had her own suspicions as well, she was content to know that her iron clad mask hasn't failed her.
"Now's no time to wallow in your depression." Kyoko stated to everyone. "The worst thing we can do right now is lose all faith in each other. That would lead to the same disastrous result as having total faith in everyone else."
"Huh?" Leon said in confusion.
"Cooperation is absolutely key at this point." Kyoko told everyone. "Who you decide to trust or not trust is, of course, up to you."
"Continuing to think about and talk about the deceased certainly isn't going to help anything." Celeste said coldly.
That angered Hina. "S-Saying stuff like that is just-!"
"How many times have I told you?" Celeste interrupted. "Anyone who can't adapt….will die. Death is the only thing awaiting those who are unable or unwilling to adapt. If that happens, you only have yourself to blame."
"Celeste!" Makoto exclaimed. "You shouldn't say stuff like that!"
"Especially during something like this!" Hina stated, scowling in anger.
Due to years of lying and acting, Celeste didn't wince in guilt. Instead, she only sighed. "I admit, I was more than a bit out of line there. What my future self said was uncalled for."
"What an awful thing to say!" Hina shouted in anger. "Especially after what's happened!"
Kyoko interrupted the conversation. "Right now, exposing the killer is the most important thing. Because if we don't, we're all going to die here."
"Way to be an Ice Queen, Kyoko." Leon commented on.
The detective merely sighed. "I need to be. If our future selves don't put their focus on exposing the killer, then they'll all die."
"I know, I know. Still, you can take a page in Makoto's book and put it nicely once in awhile."
"...She's right." Byakuya stated. "We need to begin our search right away."
"Either way, we can't run away from the situation, so we have no choice but to move forward." Sakura conceded.
"We just hafta do it, I guess…." Hina sighed in reluctance. "What other choice do we have?"
"No way in hell am I letting someone kill me!" Leon stated in anger. "Alright, dammit! Let do this!"
"Look like they're going to work together to find the killer." Sakura stated.
"Yeah. Like our future selves are saying, we don't really have a choice." Leon said. "And there's no way I'm going to let that bear kill me that easily!"
"Yeah! We'll be living as long as possible!" Hina cheered, though it was less exuberant than it usually is.
As everyone encouraged themselves to do this, Makoto started thinking to himself. 'Yeah, we have to do it. There's no other choice but to.' The luckster thought. 'If it's the only way to survive, then that's what we have to do! But more than that, I need to find….I need to know why Sayaka had to die. Why she had to be the one.'
He thought back to the corpse he saw. 'I'm terrified of finding out, but if I don't….I know I won't be able to ever accept her death. So there's no other choice for me.'
"Makoto," Hina murmured, covering her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. The emotions in his thoughts, the tone….it breaks her heart.
"Such emotion, such passion!" Tears are running down Taka's face. "It shows how much you really care for Sayaka!"
Makoto nodded, looking down. "I have no doubt I would be the same now." The luckster stated. "I would want to find who killed Sayaka, why she had to die. So, while I'm terrified about the outcome, I hope we do see why she had to be the first one."
'Oh Makoto….' Unshed tears stung in Sayaka's eyes before burying her face into his shoulder. Seeing herself dead was bad enough. Seeing how badly it's affecting Makoto, how devastated he is, makes it even worse. While she's happy he cares about her that much, it's horrible seeing him in that much pain.
If only she knew what's in store for them.
Byakuya then spoke up. "Pause the TV." He ordered Spirit. The host raised an eyebrow before shrugging and pausing the TV. "Now, before we start, we better snap Hiro out of it," They turned to the still panicking Hiro. "Wake up Junko," They turned to the unconscious fashionista. "And I suppose check on Toko/Jack." Finally, they turned to the unconscious author.
"...I'll get my sister up." Reluctantly, Mukuro went up to wake Junko.
"I'll help Hiro snap out of it." Hina sighed, getting up from her chair.
"I'll handle Toko." Makoto silently ask Sayaka to let for right now. Reluctantly, she did so, but silently pleaded for Makoto to be careful. He smiled reassuringly before going to Toko.
Slowly, he approached the unconscious girl, like she's a dangerous predator. And considering what's lurking inside of her, it isn't farfetched.
Just as he was about to touch her, Toko suddenly jumped and flipped into the air, startling everyone and causing Makoto to fall on his butt. The girl landed on her feet, her head bowed. And when she lifted it up, it was revealed to be Genocide Jack.
"Hey Big Mac!" Jack, or Jill as she would like to be called, said. "Long time no see!"
Makoto chuckled uneasily. "Hey Jill."
She gave him her usual grinned before looking around with a frown. "Where the hell are we?" She asked. Her gaze then landed on Spirit. "And who the hell is this guy?"
Spirit inclined his head towards her. "Hello Genocide Jack. There's a lot of things that needs to explained. You might want sit down. It's kinda a long story."
"Ooooh, story time! Never done that before!"
And that's the end. I hope you guys like this chapter. Next up, will be the investigation, as well as the group pointing fingers at Makoto. By the ways, any ideas on how to structure the investigation? I think I got a fair idea how to, but I would like to hear you guys opinion. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.
