Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC) Chapter 17: Conflagration of Fame (Intermission), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 1: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Intermission)

Warning!

This is a Danganronpa Fic, so expect dark, serious, and mature themes! But also fun and whimsical themes! Enjoy! But no choice words due to certain Gas Station Manager in this chapter! Woo hoo!

[Facility Hallway]

Dr. Hannah Yokomizi continued walking towards the break room. Everyday, she silently praises Asher for being so oblivious. She had faith in herself as an actor, but she turned herself around rather well after her little breakdown in the closet.

"And... there." Hannah had finally thrown away the last of the tear-stained tissues.

Hannah took a deep breath. Asher interrupting her mental breakdown had shook her, but she was thankfully feeling better now. She darted her eyes downward.

"What... was that?" She muttered. Back in the closet, she... saw and heard her daughter. She swore she did. But she's dead. The "Goddess of Fame" had taken her daughter away from her. But she knew she had seen her. Of course one thought did rise up into her mind, but it was so outlandish that she refused to believe it. How? How could something like that even be possible?

Hannah sighed and pinched her cheeks. She knew she was thinking too hard about it. She brought herself out of her thoughts, and went off to her actual destination, the Break Room.

[Break Room]

Hannah took her first steps into the break room. It was one of her favorite places in the facility. She valued a good work-break balance, so she liked the break room a lot. In fact, calling it a break room didn't even seem completely accurate. It was more a hybrid of a break room and a cafeteria.

It was very spacious, and it sported a good amount of fancy tables of chairs. Odd, considering that not many people actually work here. People never questioned it too much though. The walls were a bit of a turquoise color, and the tile floor was turquoise as well. Besides for that, there were a variety of little posters, decals, and notices all over the walls. Then there was a counter where people could get their food, along with a specialized coffee area and breakfast area.

Hannah looked around. Like usual, there were only about six people even in here. She looked at who was here, and her eyes immediately landed on her good friend, Zenkichi Nakata. He was sitting alone, seemingly just doing nothing. She gave him a small wave and he waved back, before going and grabbing a coffee. Plenty of cream and sugar of course.

After grabbing her coffee, she walked gently over to Zenkichi's table and sat with him.

"Hello Zenkichi. How are you?" She smiled.

...

He didn't respond. He seemed to have gone deep into his thoughts. Well, she wasn't going to bother him. Hannah opted to just drink her coffee and relax. She'd have to check on the patient again soon, so she wanted to enjoy her relaxation time. So she just took a deep breath and relaxed...

...

"Huh? Ah, hello Hannah. When did you get here?"

It took a second for Hannah to realize that Zenkichi had finally noticed her presence at his table. She wasn't bothered by it, and she just gently smiled.

"Not too long ago. I didn't want to bother you. Everything alright?"

Zenkichi sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Any update on the tests?" Zenkichi's voice oozed with fatigue.

Well, that wasn't really anything new. Zenkichi had a reputation for being serious and strict around the facility, but that was mainly because he's usually always tired. So Hannah opted away from commenting on it.

"The video should still be playing." Hannah checked her phone.

"For about... another half an hour or so. I haven't been paged by Asher, so I can only assume nothing has gone wrong so far." Hannah smiled.

"Hm. That's good then..." The end of Zenkichi's sentence drifted off, almost like he was close to falling asleep. He was usually fairly tired, but not this tired. Hannah knew something was different this time.

"Zen, are you-" Hannah lightly coughed. "Ah, Zenkichi. Are you really okay? You seem... different today."

Zenkichi's expression didn't change at the question, it stayed the same. Blank and deadpan.

"No, I'm fine Hannah. You don't need to worry about me..." His words drifted once again.

Hannah pouted. She knew him well enough to tell when he was hiding something. She looked him over. His hair was slightly unkempt, he had bags under his eyes, and his clothes appeared unwashed too. He definitely wasn't okay. Then it was when her eyes drifted to his pocket that she assumed she found the source of the problem. She grabbed it from his pocket and held it in front of his face.

"You're fine? Then what's this?" Hannah dangled a pack of cigarettes and a half-full flask of alcohol in front of his face.

Zenkichi scowled and snatched them away from her.

"Don't take my things!" He shoved it back in his pocket.

"Zen, you aren't "okay". What's happening?" Hannah sincerely asked. But Zenkichi wasn't eager to talk.

"Hey! I told you to stop calling me Zen!" Zenkichi looked away and frowned.

Hannah looked down at her feet. She didn't mean to make him angry. But she was a therapist. She couldn't just ignore someone clearly in mental trouble. Especially that Zenkichi was drinking again. She had a... sort of duty to help him. And she had an inkling about the source of the problem.

"Zen... be honest with me. Is it Yukari?"

Zenkichi's eye twitched for a moment.

"It..." He stopped. Hannah knew she was right.

"What happened? Was it last night?"

...

Zenkichi didn't say anything for a while. Hannah of course wanted to know what was going on, but she couldn't exactly force it out of him. So she just waited. Luckily, it didn't take long for Zenkichi to open up.

"Yeah..."

...

Another moment of silence. Hannah sensed that this was her time to take control of this conversation.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" It was a mixture of a command and a question.

"It was... last night. I got home late. Again." Zenkichi sighed and shook his head.

"Yukari wasn't happy. I said some things, and she slapped me. Twice." Zenkichi laid his head down on the table in shame.

She thought so. Zenkichi's marriage troubles weren't exactly a big plot twist. It was fairly known how rocky his marriage with his wife, Yukari Nakata, had been for a while. But it had gotten a lot worse after... they lost their daughter. The Nakata family lost their daughter in the same incident where Hannah lost her daughter as well. So she fully understood Zenkichi's feelings of sadness and loss. But she also knew that drinking away his problems wasn't a good answer. She needed to get more information first.

"What was your fight about? Was it about... Yuri?"

Zenkichi's head shot up from the table as he turned to glare at Hannah, like he was about to tell her off. But... he didn't. His gaze quickly mellowed out.

"Yeah. It was..." Zenkichi muttered.

"What did you say?" Hannah slightly narrowed her eyes.

...

Zenkichi didn't say anything for a moment.

"Well... the whole thing started when she confronted me about the whole "Goddess of Fame" thing..."

"Come now Yukari, do you not know what she did? Do know what she did to our daughter?! Yuri is gone! Taken from us by that witch! My morals are gone. This is what she deserves."

"Zenkichi! Listen to yourself! You sound like a madman! And of course I know what she did! I know that our daughter is gone! I know that she did it! How could I not?! But what you're doing is ridiculous!"

"If you know then why fight with me? I'm giving us what we want! Her even being here is an amazing opportunity. We can get revenge, and we can-"

*SLAP*

Zenkichi was cut off by the sting of his wife's hand across his face.

"You're crazy. You're insane. You aren't the man I fell in love with. I need to be alone for a while. I need to leave." Yukari started to walk away.

Zenkichi knew he should leave it there, but he just couldn't fathom why Yukari didn't understand what he was doing. He was doing this for them!

"Fine. Leave then. Yuri already left me, it makes no difference if you do too."

Yukari turned back around after that remark. Yukari had a hauntingly blank look on her face. She stepped back over to him and...

*SLAP*

Another slap.

"How DARE you say that to me. I'm done. I'm done with you. Get your head out of your ass! Stop being a selfish lunatic! You psycho!"

This time, Yukari stormed off before Zenkichi could offer any more curt and heinous remarks.

Zenkichi watched through the window as Yukari got into her car and drove away.

"I..." Zenkichi muttered out loud to no one.

Zenkichi explained what had happened last night in full detail for Hannah. And despite her profession, even she was shocked. Yukari and Zenkichi had yelled at each other plenty of times before, but it never reached Yukari hitting her husband, or even her storming off. But, considering what he had actually said, Hannah couldn't exactly blame Yukari for her behavior.

"So that's what happened..." Hannah slowly nodded her head. Zenkichi didn't say anything. He just looked off into the distance.

"Zen..." Hannah slowly reached for Zenkichi's hand and grasped it. He didn't resist.

"Being distraught over what happened to your daughter is perfectly normal. But lashing out at Yukari isn't the right move. No matter what might've happened, you two coming together and staying together is the most important thing you can do right now." Hannah spoke slowly and gently.

Zenkichi didn't say anything. He just let Hannah's words sink in for a moment. He knew... she was right. And he did love Yukari. He knew he did. He just... didn't know what to think. Zenkichi instinctively reached down to take a drink from his flask, but Hannah caught his hand.

"Zen. No. Drinking isn't the answer here." Hannah took the flask from his hands. Zenkichi just sighed. Again, he also knew that drinking away his problems was wrong. But... he just gets so frustrated. In his mind, how else can he relieve stress?

"Oh yeah? It's not the answer? And screaming about your daughter in the closet is?!" Zenkichi retorted.

Hannah's eyes widened. He... heard her? Was she that loud? Hannah looked away.

"That... isn't relevant. That doesn't matter."

Zenkichi was unamused by that answer.

"It doesn't matter huh? Ridiculous. I..." Zenkichi looked away from Hannah for a brief moment.

"I appreciate you wanting to help me. But you also need to help yourself too. Y-Yoko..." Zenkichi whispered that last part, calling Hannah that pet name.

Hannah looked back at Zenkichi. She wasn't the type to just trauma-dump onto people. But...

"I... have been hearing voices. Seeing things. I've been hearing and seeing Yvette, even when she isn't there." Hannah admitted. Zenkichi now locked eyes with Hannah again. That certainly got his attention.

"Huh. Really?" He thought for a moment before continuing. "Could you be developing schizophrenia? I mean, you're the therapist here, so you obviously know a lot more than I do. But it sounds like you might be."

Hannah's eyes widened once again at Zenkichi's theory. Maybe... he was right? Maybe he had a point? She thought about it more...

"You know... that wasn't the first time it happened. Everyday, when I pass by Yvette's room at home... something just triggers in me. I feel like I just need to lock myself away and have a mental breakdown. Then when I do that, I start seeing Yvette again. But... it's not comforting. Or nice. It's... scary. Disconcerting. I'm... scared." Despite what the narration just said, Hannah just trauma-dumped onto Zenkichi. He didn't mind it though. After all, he understood the feeling of losing a daughter.

Zenkichi wasn't exactly sober at the time, but he wanted to offer whatever advice he could. Hannah's hand was still on his left hand, so Zenkichi opted to put his right hand on top of Hannah's hand. "Yoko." He stared directly at her. She shakily met his gaze. "If you ever need anything... just know that... I'm here. So if... uh..." He awkwardly stammered with his words, but Hannah could sense his sincerity.

She thinly smiled. "Thank you Zen. That means more than you could know." They shared a quiet moment together, before Hannah changed the subject.

"Zen. I hate to change topics, but we were talking about you here. Not me." She said like she was lecturing him.

Zenkichi groaned. "Oh yeah, I guess we were..." He looked away. "Where were we...?" His voice turned bored and tired rather quickly.

Hannah sighed. "We were talking about Yukari. So let's not waste any time. Okay?" She asked gently, like she was talking to a child.

Zenkichi didn't respond, but Hannah kept on going anyway. "So what happened to Yukari after your fight? Where did she go?" Hannah tilted her head.

As soon as she asked that, Hannah noticed something peculiar. Zenkichi immediately froze up at the question, and his eyes widened ever so slightly.

Hannah quickly got concerned. "Zen? Where did Yukari go?" She leaned in as she asked. Hannah felt Zenkichi's hand shake a little. It took a second for him to finally answer.

"I..." He stopped. Hannah just gave him a gentle yet firm look while waiting for him to continue.

...

"I... don't know. I don't know where she is." Zenkichi revealed as he laid his head down on the table.

It took a few seconds for Hannah to actually process what Zenkichi had just told her. "Y-y-you don't know? How don't you know?!" She raised her voice without meaning to, subsequently catching the attention of the few others in the break room at the time. I mean, can you blame her?

Zenkichi just kept on laying his head down on the table in shame. But Hannah couldn't let him hide from this. Therapy is one thing, but this is another. Despite not being as strong as him, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up to force him to face her. "Zen. You need to answer me. You don't know where she is?" She sternly asked. She avoided raising her voice to his time.

Zenkichi just slowly shook his head. "A-after she left last night... I wanted to give her time to herself." He reached down to his flask, but Hannah swatted at his hand.

"Hey. Continue the story, not the drinking." Hannah usually wasn't stern or mean or anything like that, but this was a special case.

Zenkichi closed his eyes. "I didn't know where she stayed overnight... so I called her mom, Yusufa. I asked her about Yukari and all of that, but she didn't know anything..." Zenkichi opened his eyes again and looked down. "I had to really cover up what I said to avoid having Yusufa know that her daughter was missing..."

Hannah quickly shook her head after hearing that last part. Did she... hear him right? "So wait a moment Zen. You didn't tell her mother that Yukari is missing? Seriously?!" Hannah got right up in Zenkichi's face as she asked that.

In response, Zenkichi got defensive. "O-oh come on! I didn't want to worry her over something that could be a false alarm! For all I know, Yukari just went out of town to stay with a friend or something... She has done that before after all." Zenkichi slowly shook his head. "That idiot..." He muttered.

Hannah had been slowly calming down. She couldn't just let this go, but she thought that maybe Zenkichi was right. It hadn't even been 24 hours yet. And she knew Zenkichi and Yukari's history well enough. She knew they'd fight. So it wasn't completely out of the question that she'd just... go away for a while.

Hannah let out a strained but relieved breath. "Are you... sure? Are you positive that this could indeed just be a false alarm?" She asked him.

Zenkichi looked right at her. "I honestly do." He closed his eyes in thought. Could it actually be false alarm? Yeah. Is it one? He didn't know. He just kept on telling himself that it was one. He knew he should be more worried about it, but he... just hated the feeling of worrying. He knew it was bad but... he just didn't want to acknowledge the reality of the situation. And luckily for him, Hannah seemed to trust his word.

"F-fine then." Hannah shakily let out, then she grabbed Zenkichi's hand. "Just promise me that after work you'll look for her. I'd rather, and I'll assume that you'd rather know where she is than not, right?" Hannah gave a thin smile.

And Zenkichi returned the smile. "Right. I will." He gave a determined nod.

The two shared another quiet moment together.

...

But Zenkichi interpreted the moment this time instead of Hannah. "Say... Yoko." He wasn't looking at her. "Can you... take this?" He slowly reached for the flask he had in his pocket and handed it to her. "I know what you said is right. So can you just... take it?" Zenkichi was clearly embarrassed.

But Hannah didn't judge him. She smiled and gently took it. "Of course I can take it." She put the flask in her pocket for now. She would've liked to take his cigarettes as well, but given his mental state, she knew she should take it slow. And she assumed he didn't have any intention of giving those up just yet anyway.

Hannah noticed that Zenkichi was still looking away from her. "Zen? How are you feeling?" She gently asked.

He still was looking away from her. "I'm... okay. It hasn't even been that long since it all happened... and I suppose it's just hitting me in waves is all." He went and finally made eye contact. "Thank you... Yoko. For talking with me. I haven't had anyone I could just... talk to... for a while now." Zenkichi may not have been smiling or anything, but she could tell he was feeling at least a little better. Good! That means she knows how to do her job!

"It's not a problem Zen. You can always talk to me." Hannah's smile had been slowly growing wider and wider. She's always so happy to help out others. Just like... just like Yvette. She made a mental note to do a proper mental evaluation of herself later. If she actually was developing schizophrenia, that was something she needed to get checked out.

But she could leave that for later. Because right now... something else was on her mind. She knew it was horrible to think this. But... "Zen? Tell me again. How are you feeling?" Her eyes relaxed.

Zenkichi slightly narrowed his eyes. "Well... good. I suppose." He took notice of the look Hannah was giving him. "Yeah. I'm not completely good but... I'm getting there." He felt his heart start to beat a little faster. "Why... do you ask?"

Hannah giggled. "Well..." She held onto his hand a little tighter, and leaned in closer to him. "If it'd make you feel better we could always..." She got leaning into his ear. "You know..." Hannah whispered sensually.

Zenkichi felt a pleasant chill run up his spine. "Yoko... we... I..."

Hannah lightly nibbled on his ear. "C'mon..." She took his hand and slowly led him out of the Break Room.

Was she... was he really about to do this? Zenkichi's wife was missing! God's sake Yoko... why now...?

But with each step he took... he felt himself being lulled into the strangest sense of calmness. What was he doing? Zenkichi and Hannah had definitely... been together before... but now? Of all times? His mind was telling him to tell Hannah "No"... but he just couldn't.

Hannah led Zenkichi by the hand to a remote corner of the facility. They stopped in front of a closet. A different closet than the one Hannah had her mental breakdown in, of course. "So? What do you say...?" Hannah took off her lab coat as she opened the closet door.

Zenkichi bit his lip. "Yoko... are you sure?"

"Of course I am." Hannah answered surprisingly serious. "Zen..." She trailed her hand down Zenkichi's shoulder. "We both need this... we need Yvette and Yuri out of our minds. And you need Yukari out of your own mind for now. It's... consuming both of us. So..." She took his hand. "Why not have a little fun to make the bad thoughts go away?"

Zenkichi narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you a therapist? Do you suggest stuff like this to all of your clients?" He started to slowly take off his lab coat too.

"Oh c'mon." Hannah took his lab coat. "Don't act like you don't want this too. And it's not like it's out first time doing this..." She led him into the closet. "And it's especially not our first time doing this since you've gotten married- oh!"

Zenkichi had decided to... start.

"It's good to see you're excited..." Hannah giggled.

...

"Wow..." A dishelved Zenkichi stepped out of the closet. "You know... I do feel a bit better."

Hannah couldn't help but smile as she situated her lab coat. "I'm glad to hear that. And if you ever want to-

*BEEP*

"Oh?" Hannah took out her pager. It was Asher. Despite what she and Zenkichi had just... done... her mind shifted back to a serious mode rather quickly. "Zen. Let's go. The video should be finished."

Zenkichi got back to his own serious mode as well. "Right. Let's go."

...

[Testing Room]

I awoke with a jolt of pain in my neck. I fluttered my eyes a few times, to help me get used to the sudden light. And because of that, it took me a few seconds to notice Asher standing over me. "Hmm?" I hummed tiredly.

"Oh! Uh..." Asher seemed to be at a loss for words. "I never know what to say to her..." I heard him mutter. "I hope they get here soon..."

They? Is he talking about... hm. I feel like I should remember who he's talking about... why can't I? My brain feels so scrambled... like there's a million different signals going at once. It feels like I shouldn't be able to think... but I can. It's hard to describe the feeling. But it also feels like... those signals are cutting off certain parts of my brain? What was happening to me... and why wasn't I more concerned? Why...

"Forgive us for the delay Asher. We're here."

"Indeed. The test concluded then?"

Two people suddenly walked into the room... and they were... right! Nakata and Yokomizi! I remember! Why did I forget them?

"Mm hm. The test just concluded Dr. Yokomizi." Asher relayed to her. "And... um..."

"Asher? What is it?" Yokomizi tilted her head.

"Are y-you okay? You seem to have a faint blush on your face." Asher pointed out, oblivious as ever.

Yokomizi blushed a bit harder, then partially covered her face. "O-Oh? Do I?"

Nakata shook his head. "Don't worry about it Asher. She's fine." He covered for his... "meeting" with Yokomizi. "Anyway, how did the test go?" He changed the subject quickly.

"Oh! Right!" And Asher went with the subject change. "Um... where did I put it..." He took a second to find his notes. "Ah, my notes are on the counter behind you, Dr. Yokomizi!" He pointed out.

"Hm?" Yokomizi looked behind her. She instantly noticed the notes. "I see..."

"Hey, Hannah? I'm going to leave you and Asher to handle the aftermath of the test." Nakata put his hand on her shoulder. "Agata just called me. He's coming down here soon, and he needs me to confirm something for him."

"Alright! That's okay!" Yokomizi smiled, then grabbed Nakata's hand for a split second. "I'll see you later then."

"R-right." Nakata surpressed his own blush as he left the room, but not without a quick wave to Asher.

"Bye Mr. Nakata!" Asher called out before he moved closer to Yokomizi. "Dr. Yokomizi, have you looked over the notes yet?"

"Ah!" Yokomizi got scared for a split second. She had nearly forgotten that Asher was in the room. She was still thinking about Zenkichi...

Wait! That's enough daydreaming! Yokomizi mentally pinched herself as she picked up Asher's notes, and read through them.

Test #1: Codename: Conflagration Watchalong

-The Patient had violent and visceral reactions in the beginning. The Patient screamed things such as "No! No!" and "I don't want to watch this!" and other various things to that effect. The Patient's screams persisted throughout the first half of the video.

-After the second half of the video started, upon Dr. Agata's request, I injected the marked drug into her neck, and I gave her one of "those" pills. Both took about 10 minutes to come into effect. After the drugs came into effect, The Patient seemed strangely calm. The video chilled me, but the video didn't bother the patient in the slightest. The Patient's calm attitude persisted until the end of the video.

-After the video ended, I, as requested, asked her if she knew who "Ross Kelley" was. And as expected, she said she had never heard that name before in her life. And when I showed her the lighter, she had zero reaction whatsoever.

For Agata: Was she supposed to have no reaction to the lighter?

-In the aftermath, The Patient had been sleeping. Her sleep seemed to show no distrbance.

The notes ended there.

"This is fascinating Asher..." Yokomizi started going over the notes once again.

"Right?" Asher looked over at me. "She seems rather still right now... but wow. Seeing her reactions at the beginning of the video were rather upsetting. But now... nothing."

I narrowed my eyes at Asher. A video? What was he talking about?

"Hmph." Yokomizi quietly scoffed. "And she truly had no reaction to Ross Kelley? And no reaction to the lighter?"

"Yes. She had none at all." Asher kept starting at me. I still had no idea who he was talking about. Who is Ross Kelley? Should I know them?

"Hm..." Yokomizi tapped a pen against a certain part of the notes. "I see the note you wrote for Agata. Were you under the impression she was supposed to react to the lighter?"

"Oh! About that." Asher pulled out... something? I couldn't tell what it was.

"I should've clarified better on my notes..." Asher flicked a button on the thing, and it caused a flame to appear on the thing. "I said that because she forgot what a lighter was. She said she didn't know what this was."

Yokomizi raised an eyebrow. "That's... strange." She took that thing from Asher, then turned to look at me. "--? Do you not know what this is?" It sounded like she said my name... but it was like my brain censored it. Is that... the first time that has happened? It's such a strange sensation.

"Hey." Yokomizi snapped her fingers to get my attention. "Do you know what this is or no?" She waved around the weird thing she was holding.

I was strapped down to this... bed... thing? But I managed to shake my head. "No...? What is it?"

Yokomizi turned back to the notes she was holding, and jotted something down.

-For Agata: Maybe lower the dosage? Patient has forgotten what a lighter is. -HY

"Okay. There." Yokomizi set the notes back down. "Besides for the lighter... the test was essentially a success. Now..." She open a drawer and dug around for... a tape recorder?

"Asher, I wish to have an audio log for the tests. It'd be useful to have an extra record for the project." Yokomizi set the tape recorder down.

"Oh! That's a good idea!" Asher adjusted his glasses. "Um... whenever you're ready Dr. Yokomizi!"

Yokomizi giggled. "Alright then Asher. I'll start." She cleared her throat, then started the audio log.

...

"Audio log start. Log #1. Date is June 2nd, 20XX. Time is 15:00."

"This is Dr. Hannah Yokomizi speaking. Also in the room with me I have Dr. Asher John Jr.. Today, we'll be going over the results of Test #1 on the patient." Yokomizi cleared her voice. "Test #1 seemed to have remarkable effects. Asher showed her a lighter, and it had no effect! He showed her a picture of him, and she had no reaction! It was fascinating! It was like all memories of Ross Kelley were erased from her brain! Absolutely fascinating! Right Asher?"

"Yep Dr. Yokomizi!" Asher's voice seemed to be a little more quiet compared to Yokomizi's. "The video has some crazy effects. Dr. Agata is a truly impressive man."

"I agree wholeheartedly Asher." Yokomizi giggled. "Anyway, we'll be using this audio log so we can have an extra record of our progress on our patient. Test #1 is essentially complete. Agata is working on Test #2, and Zenkichi is working on Test #3. So all in all, the future is looking hopeful! If we can accomplish this... it'll be quite the feat!" Yokomizi coughed. "Okay. I think that's it. Any closing remarks Asher?"

"Oh! Erm..." Asher paused. "I don't believe so. I'm just excited to get going on this project!"

Yokomizi giggled. "Indeed Asher. I am as well." Yokomizi paused. "Alright, now I think that's it. This is Dr. Hannah Yokomizi and Dr. Asher John Jr. signing out. Log #1 finished."

...

"There." Yokomizi made sure the log was saved, then she stored the tape recorder in a safe location. "Now... well, it's about time to be done for the day I believe?" She checked the clock.

Asher's eyes widened as he looked at the clock too. "Oh wow! You're right!" He collected his things. "I think I'll get going then."

"Of course Asher. Have a good night." Yoko gently smiled.

Surpressing a blush, Asher sped-walked out of the room. And that left... me and Yokomizi. Upon seeing Asher had left, Yokomizi walked up to my bedside. "Did you enjoy the test?" She asked.

I frowned. "I heard you two talking about a test... but I don't know what you mean?"

Yokomizi stared silently at me for a moment...

...

before proceeding to scoff. "Stupid bitch." She turned away from me, and grabbed a needle from a drawer. "It's about time for you to rest..." She started to dig the needle into my neck. "You and your little ignorant act... keep on playing dumb all you fucking want..." Her eyes shone with a chilling malice. "But you will pay. Mark my words." She injected the needle into my neck...

...

And I lost consciousness...

"Hmph." Yokomizi collected her own things, before leaving the room herself. "Agata is coming tomorrow... good." She muttered. "Now... I wonder where they got off to..."

...

[Wax-Ember XLV - Office]

"Where?!"

"Where is that useless girl?!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Yamamoto, but we are currently looking for her. We have the top investigators searching for her."

Ryuji Yamamoto shot up from his seat. "For top investigators, they're clearly horrible at their job!" He slammed his desk. "I want them fired! Hire new and actually competent guys!"

"U-uh... yes sir." His secretary frantically nodded.

"And are the police doing their damn jobs at all?!" Ryuji slammed his desk again. "Nineteen ultimates go missing and what? They don't care?! Are they doing anything at all?!"

"The police are trying as well sir." His secretary responded.

Ryuji got in his secretary's face. "Did I ask for snark from you?!" He slapped him. "They clearly aren't try harding enough! It's ridiculous! Bessie goes missing during a show, and they can't find her?! What a joke!" He went back to abusing his desk.

"W-well sir, like you said, it was nineteen ultimates. That's a lot of clues and testimony to go through and-"

Ryuji was scowling. "You think you're funny? "Nineteen ultimates"? I don't care about those other eighteen losers! Hanako is the only one of those bastards that matter!" He literally threw a book at his secretary. "That fucking stupid scrap of metal... can't believe that girl would just disappear. Useless."

"W-well sir, Hope's Peak Academy is famous. Of course they'd care about all of their missing alumni. And I think Hope's Peak recently hired that famous detective?? And-"

"GET OUT!" Ryuji yelled.

"Y-yes sir!" The secretary scurried out of Ryuji's office, leaving him by himself.

"Can't believe Hanako..." Ryuji grabbed a picture he had of himself, Hanako, and his real daughter he had on his desk. "What a useless machine." He picked up his phone and checked it. "Aimi hasn't responded to my calls... god. Wouldn't be surprised if that bitch had something to do with this." He closed his eyes. "I can't lose Bessie. My perfect star... without her, I'm ruined. Fucking ridiculous..." He began to search through police reports, news, texts, absolutely anything that might give him a lead on where his useless scrap of metal went. Until...

*KNOCK*

He heard some knocks at his door. "Leave! I'm not taking meetings or visitors at the moment!" Ryuji didn't feel in the mood for much of anything at the moment.

"Oh? My mistake. I'll leave you be."

Ryuji felt his breath get caught in his throat when he heard that voice. It was clearly a girl... but why did he feel a chill up his spine at the sound of her voice? He stayed silent, his breathing uneasy.

...

Alright. The voice probably left. Now, it was time he get back to searching for his worthless "daughter"-

"Hello. You're Mr. Ryuji Yamamoto, yes?"

"W-WHAT?!" Ryuji yelled out as he jumped up in his swivel chair. It was the chilling voice again. But this time... it was like she was whispering in his ear. He slowly turned around in his chair, and when he saw what... or who was behind him... he felt his soul leave his body.

The lady standing behind him couldn't have been older than thirty. She was fairly tall for a woman, with a lean physique. She had golden eyes that pierced your soul, and long dark purple hair that flowed like a horrible waterfall. She also wore a strange yet fancy hairpin in her hair that consisted of various shades of purple, with three purple feathers on the hairpin too. Speaking of feathers, she wore a dark purple feathery boa around her neck as well. For the rest of her clothes, she wore a dark purple dress that went down to a little above her knees. She wore a corset with golden buttons, and then she had on dark purple high heels too. Finally, in addition to the boa, she had a variety of purple necklaces around her neck, she had on purple jewel earrings, and she had purple painted nails.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Yamamoto?" The woman dressed in purple eeriely spoke.

"W-w-what the hell?! Who are you?!" Ryuji shook as he got as far away from the lady as possible.

The lady slowly shook her head. "That's not a nice way to address a lady Mr. Yamamoto. You told me to leave already anyway..."

"Already...? Were you that voice who was just at the door?!" Ryuji realized.

The lady nodded her head. "That was me." She took a step closer to the cowering talent manager.

"S-stay back! How the hell did you get in here?!" He started to sweat.

"How did I get in here?" The lady stopped and tapped her pointer finger to her chin. "That's a silly question. I am a goddess you know. I have rather impressive powers."

Ryuji frowned. "A g-goddess?"

"Mm hm." The lady curtsied. "You may call me Achlys. The Goddess of Misery. It's not a pleasure in the slightest to make your acquaintance Mr. Yamamoto." Achlys thinly smiled.

Ryuji was a loss for words. He didn't understand what was happening. This lady dressed in purple, who calls herself "Achlys," broke into his office, and for what? He didn't know. But he wasn't about to find out. He started to reach for his pager to call security, while Achlys continued to stare creepily at him.

"Oh? Are you calling for security? I wouldn't." Achlys easily noticed what Ryuji was doing.

"I don't care! I'm not going to tolerate intruders in my office!" Ryuji attempted to page security.

...

Emphasis on attempted. "Why?" He tried to page them again. "W-why aren't they responding?!" He clicked. He clicked. He clicked. Nothing. He started to get really scared now.

Achlys chuckled. "I said that you shouldn't call security already."

"H-huh?" He pointed at the goddess. "Did y-you do something?!"

Achlys chuckled again. "Of course I did! I took care of them." She gave the creepiest... most chilling... most freakiest... open mouth smile. "See?" She pulled out six...

"W-what the fuck?!" Ryuji fought back the urge to vomit. Achlys had pulled out six eyeballs.

"Your security time had rather pretty eyes you know." Achlys admired the six eyeballs in her hand. "Yes... Ryotaro Akasuko's brown eyes... Mizuki Shiho's green eyes... and Akifumi Eiko's blue eyes..." Achlys's eyes shined... or perhaps darkened with an unspeakable sense of pure misery. "It's unfortunate they're not in the land of the living any more." She got a closer look at one of the eyes. "You had some impressive security Mr. Yamamoto. They fought well. But it wasn't enough." She giggled.

"T-those... c-can't be real! What did you do?! Where are my security?! W-where's my secretary?!" Ryuji felt like he was having a heart attack.

Achlys couldn't help but giggle again. "Your misery is so entertaining..." She tossed the six eyeballs at Ryuji. "To answer your questions... they're all dead Mr. Yamamoto. I thought that was obvious?" She took a step closer.

"N-n-no! You must be l-lying!" Ryuji ran to his door and tried to open it. "No... what the... w-why isn't it opening?!"

"Do you need more proof Mr. Yamamoto?" Achlys continued her thought. "So be it..." She pulled out another pair of eyeballs. "Your secretary Hifumi Hongen had some real pretty eyes. This dark blue is wonderful to look at..." She admired his eyes. "He was pretty too... it's unfortunate he had to die."

"Why won't t-this door open?!" Ryuji kept pounding on his door.

"Look at his hands too..." Achlys pulled out the severed hands of Ryuji's late secretary. "Your secretary was young... and wow." She pulled off a ring from one of the finger. "He was married too? How sad." She pocketed the ring.

"Someone! Anyone! Help me!" Ryuji pleaded through his door.

"Hm." Achlys was very amused at the sight of this man. "Lady Pheme was right. You are a coward." She threw a knife right above his head.

"Agh! No! Don't hurt me!" He turned back to face the goddess.

Achlys smiled. "There we go. I waiting for that cowardice of yours to dissipate enough for you to face me." She grabbed her knife from the door. "Will you stop running now?"

"W-what do you want from me?! Why did you k-kill my guards?!" Ryuji's hands shook.

"What do I want from you, you ask?" Achlys sultrily went up to Ryuji. "My Lady Pheme asked me to find you... and give you a message."

Ryuji kept shaking... but that name this psycho just said caught his attention. "W-wait... Pheme? As in..."

Achlys giggled. "I see you are aware of my lady. Good. Then are you aware of what my lady is doing?"

"Uh... n-no?" He didn't understand what she meant.

Achlys frowned. "Hmph. Not surprised. According to what my lady told me, she said "Ryuji Yamamoto is the type to have his head up his own behind"." The goddess did an impression of a voice Ryuji hadn't heard before.

"W-what?!" Ryuji didn't even know what to say anymore.

"But that doesn't matter. Not at all. In fact..." She trailed off. "I think..." Achlys pulled out a phone. "Ah yes. It is time." She gave another creepy, open-mouthed smile, then walked up closer to Ryuji.

"W-what do you-" He got cut off as Achlys roughly pulled him up off of the floor by his collar.

"Look. My lady has a message for you..." Achlys shoved the screen of her phone in Ryuji's face.

"W-what the-?" It was on that screen Ryuji saw a lady dressed in white with a metal mask beneath a monitor. It took a moment for her to start speaking.

"To tell the story of Hanako Yamamoto... you must start with her upbringing."

"H-huh?! Hanako?!" Ryuji interjected.

Achlys, in an instant, shot her free hand forward and grasped the man's throat. "Watch it." She spoke with utter disdain.

"Okay..." The video continued as Achlys' grip loosened.

The lady snapped her fingers, and two pictures appeared on the still descended monitor. "Ms. Yamamoto didn't have real parents due to her robotic nature. But... here are her... parent equivalents, let us say." She pointed to the monitor.

"W-what the hell?! That's me and Aimi!" Ryuji interjected again.

Achlys tightened her grip around Ryuji's neck. "You are not a good listener...! Be quiet!" Her grip continued to tighten.

"I'm... sorry...!" Ryuji choked out. Achlys kept her grip tight as she forced Ryuji to continue watching the video.

And as the video went on and as this lady in white continued to speak about the personal details of Ryuji's life, the talent manager's dread began to grow and grow...

"...And Ryuji, a powerhungry and selfish man, wanted the perfect star. One that... well, wasn't human, and one that didn't have human needs and worries." Pheme paused. "He wanted a slave. It's as simple as that. A slave that was meant to help a certain girl get famous... a girl named Kioka Yamamoto."

...

"Now... Hanako's early years were filled with the dark dinginess of a basement, as well as television and radio. The latter two being used to input data into her robotic body."

...

"They had gotten to a point where Hanako was almost at a semi-complete point. But... all of a sudden... Aimi Sonohara disappeared." She said ominously.

...

"Ryuji worked tirelessly to find people to continue upgrading and repairing Hanako. But that attracted attention... namely the attention of his actual daughter... Kioka Yamamoto. Hanako was based off of Kioka's features. When the two eventually met after Kioka wandered into the basement... she wasn't creeped out at all. Hanako's prime objective was to aid Kioka. Yet... the two quickly developed a relationship... befitting of sisters."

...

The monitor changed to a picture of Hanako and Kioks getting interviewed by paparazzi. "Kioka had no one in her life. Her father Ryuji Yamamoto had barely a single care for her. That single care he possessed for her... was just his intense desire to make his daughter famous. He merely saw his daughter as an object. Scum of the earth..." The lady scowled.

...

Ryuji felt his heart start to beat faster. How... how?!

...

The picture changed to show Ryuji overseering Kioka and Hanako. "In the public eye, Ryuji never claimed Hanako or Kioka to be his daughters. They were merely... his talent. Talent to leech off of. Talent to use for his own means."

...

The picture on the monitor changed to show five girls, two of which being Hanako and Kioka. "After the "twins" had garned enough fame, Ryuji formed "The Seismic Sisters," a group consisting of five girls. The other three girls had their own dreams for fame... and you know what? Did they achieve those dreams? Not in the slightest." Pheme shook her head. "That sleazebag Ryuji Yamamoto put a lot of preferential treatment onto his real daughter. Kioka was always in the spotlight."

The picture on the monitor changed to one showing Ryuji yelling at three girls. "Hanako was forced to watch as these three girls were emotionally and verbally abused by her "father". They were forced to reach and perform at impossible heights, to even get a chance in the spotlight. We'll get back to those girls soon, but for now, just remember that one of them was named Gina Lenora, a foreigner." Pheme took a breath. "Hanako watched emotionlessly and uncaringly as these girls got abused. Why should she care? She was a robot after all. Ryuji still held no genuine love for Hanako, but he did instill in her one thing. That was to never trust your instincts, and to always follow orders from others. To just aid her "sister". That was it."

...

The lady in white even knows about Gina?! Who the hell is this woman?!

...

"Kioka still had an honest love for singing, despite how horrible her father was. And Hanako's job was to support that love. Luckily for them, that love brought them far. Far enough to reach Hope's Peak Academy!"

...

Pheme cleared her voice. "Do you remember Gina Lenora? Well, she felt an awful amount of rage after being kicked off of the team. So much so..." A creepy shade was cast over Pheme's face. "That she decided to kill Kioka. She sabotaged the show to make it so a spotlight would fall upon Kioka's head, ending her miserable life. Gina was quickly caught and jailed.

...

"H-how does this bitch know about this?!" Ryuji couldn't keep his thoughts to himself. But a glare from the goddess of misery quickly shut him up.

...

The picture on the monitor changed to one showing Bessie B. Blossom. "After Kioka's death, Ryuji was scrambling. His daughter... the one he actually held a modicum of care about... was gone. But... he wasn't out of luck yet, as the show Kioka died at was private. So... he made it that Kioka never died. Because he forced Hanako to become Kioka. ... But Ryuji couldn't care less about her feelings. He needed a perfect star."

...

"Ryuji took an even more manipulative role in her life, turning Bessie into something that was more akin to a puppet than a robot."

...

"Even if she was a broken husk... that husk was going to make sure that Kioka Yamamoto lived on... even if it meant erasing Hanako Yamamoto from existence... and turning herself into Bessie B. Blossom... the Ultimate Pop Star."

...

Ryuji was just forced to witness something that he only thought would happen in his nightmares. "W-w-what the hell?!?!" He started to freak out.

Achlys giggled, then released his neck. "I told you no? My lady Pheme had a message for you. And it was that. Just a little something... showcasing who Bessie B. Blossom really was... and how much of a wretched human being her "father" is." Achlys open-mouth smiled.

"How d-does she know about that stuff?! I paid good money to hide that from the p-public!" Ryuji felt his eyes shake.

Achlys creepily giggled again. "Money can only get you so far. How foolish to think you relied on it so wholeheartedly..." She shook her head.

Ryuji tried to open the door again. You'd think he'd learn by now. But he turned around to face the goddess. "So... what?! Is this b-blackmail?! Is that w-what you w-want?!"

"Blackmail?" Achlys looked at Ryuji like he was stupid. "Oh please. I'd never resort to blackmail. Anyway... that's not the entire message I wished to show you."

"W-what d-does t-that mean?!" He stuttered.

Achlys blinked... and when she opened her eyes, her eyes lost all color for a moment. "What I mean... is this." She shoved her phone back in Ryuji's face. And on it... was...

"W-w-w-w-what... WHAT THE HELL?!" Ryuji yelled out, only the goddess of misery hearing him. He yelled out... because on that screen... was the burnt and charred body of Hanako Yamamoto.

"Hm. You truly aren't aware of what my lady is doing then." Achlys pocketed the phone. "But that's alright."

Ryuji's face was still a sickly shade of blue from what he just saw. His first instinct was to assume that was fake. But this psycho has already pulled out eyeballs and hands... so... it's probably... "W-why are you showing me this s-stuff? Is Hanako... dead?" He sounded defeated. "It's r-really not blackmail?"

Achlys gave her signature creepy giggle. "Like I told you, it's not blackmail. It'd make for pretty awful blackmail... considering the whole world knows about this already." She open-mouth smiled.

Ryuji didn't think the pit in his stomach could get deeper. But rest assured, it did. Without even saying a word, he pulled out his own phone and looked up "Wax-Ember XLV", his talent agency. "N-no..." Despair filled his eyes as he saw the top result.

Wax-Ember XLV exposed?! Bessie B. Blossom is. Robot?!

Ryuji Yamamoto exposed?!?! Kioka Yamamoto is dead?!?!

He checked his twatter.

omg... wtf? I didn't know Yamamoto was such an ass. #ryujiisoverparty

WTF THAT BESSIE PIC HAS TO BE SHOPPED WTF NOOOO

nooooooo i kinned Bessie so harddd noooooooo

Holy Ryuji Yamamoto has a crazy history. Yeah he's a scumbag but I want to learn more.

Bessie being a robot is wild but it MAKES SENSE I KNEW I WASNT GOING CRAZY

counting down the days until ryuji gets arrested lololol karma gonna get you lololololol

kill him :pray:

He doesn't deserve to breathe air :raiha_texting:

Ryuji felt like his soul was shriveling up at those last couple of messages. And Achlys kept creepily giggling the whole time. "Isn't that so entertaining?!" She swatted his phone out of his hand, then got right up in his face. "How does it feel?" Her voice took on the creepiest tone he's ever heard. "Isn't it magnificent? You're whole life crashing down around you?! Isn't it?! Isn't it wonderful seeing karma finally strike you down?!"

Ryuji just kept staring at nothing, unblinkingly. Reminiscent of how his late "daughter" would stare at things.

"And you know... I have another thing to show you. Courtesy of my Lady Pheme, of course." Achlys' tone went back to normal as she pulled up another video, and forced Ryuji to watch it. The point of this video didn't pop out at Ryuji immediately. It was... multiple videos of two parents ignoring their child? It seemed to take place it Italy...

"Tell me Mr. Yamamoto, does the name Aelia Celani ring a bell to you at all?" Achlys asked.

Ryuji didn't take any time to think about the question. All he said was "N-no..."

Achlys shook her head. "I expected as much. Well, I showed you this video to tell you that, you're not alone!" She said strangely cheerily.

"W-what does that mean?" He whispered.

"Well, these videos showcasing these horrible people abusing their daughter... have also been released to the world." An aura of misery seemed to eminate from Achlys. "I unfortunately can't pull up video feed from Italy... but I can show you this!" She pulled up a news article. Ryuji still had no idea why this psycho woman was doing this... but he was too afraid to go against her at this point. Besides, it seemed like his life was ruined anyway. Why not just go along with her until the police eventually arrive?

But anyway, the article's title was:

Parents of Ultimate Puppeteer Arrested?!

-Earlier this morning, Giovanni and Silvia Celani were having breakfast at a restaurant in Italy... before they were suddenly arrested! Videos showcasing them ignoring and emotionally abusing their Ultimate daughter had suddenly spread across the internet. They were arrested on charges of child abuse! In addition, a haunting and horrific photo of the mutilated body of their daughter spread across the internet too!These videos and that photo seem to have came from the-

Achlys knew Ryuji wasn't going to want the see the photo the article mentioned, but she showed it to him anyway. "Here!" She showed him a photo of the mutilated corpse of Aelia Celani. Her body was filled with stab and bullet wounds, and the top half of her head, and her hands and feet were cut off too.

Ryuji fought back the urge to vomit. It... was the worst thing he had ever seen in his life. Easily topping the corpses of both of his daughters. "W-why?" He barely managed to mutter out.

"Why, you ask?" Achlys pocketed her phone, then pulled out her dagger from earlier. "Well first, Aelia Celani murdered Bessie B. Blossom. Were you not aware?" The look on Ryuji's face told her that he was not aware. "You are miles more clueless than what Lady Pheme told me evidently. But that doesn't matter. Not... at... all..." Achlys held her dagger to Ryuji's neck. "You see, I exist to serve my lady Pheme. I am her agent in the outside world. And I carry out her will." She dug her dagger a little bit deeper into his neck. "And her will is to make the famous suffer... and feel misery. She is already accomplishing that with her little game... but she wanted more. After Hanako Yamamoto and Aelia Celani passed on, she wanted to expose the crimes of their relatives to the whole world. Giovanni and Silvia Celani are being dealt with by the italian police. They're lucky."

"L-lucky?" Ryuji's voice was as quiet as a mouse.

Achlys gave another creepy giggle. "They're lucky... because they don't have to deal with me. I, as the Former Ultimate Slayer... have a job to do. A job bestowed upon me by my Lady Pheme." Achlys explained like it was a simple concept. "But anyway... you've seen the corpses of your daughters. You've seen your life fall apart before your eyes. Everyone knows what secrets you hide. In fact..." Achlys paused. "I believe I hear sirens. The Police are coming. Well then... Ryuji Yamamoto?"

"..." Ryuji didn't reply.

Achlys stared him dead in the eyes. "I'd like to send you on a meeting."

"M-m-meeting?" Ryuji's voice held no emotion anymore.

"Yes... a meeting." Achlys then gave the most creepiest open-mouth smile she's given yet. "A meeting with both of your daughters!"

...

[Hope's Peak Academy - Osaka Branch]

"Hm. Never thought I'd be stepping foot in a place like this."

A man walked into the academy. It was currently pretty quiet in Hope Peak's Osaka branch. He saw what he assumed to be the regular hustle and bustle of ultimate students running around. Trying to get to their classes, talking to friends, proving their talents actually make sense, and more. And the sheer variety of people here really struck him. But for as enchanting as the sight was, he had business to do. He had never been to this branch of Hope's Peak before, so he had trouble finding the receptionist.

"Hm..." He thought aloud. He took a few steps, before noticing a map of the school on the wall. "Wow... this place is bigger than I thought..."

"Are you lost?" A high-pitched voice rang out from behind him.

"Oh!" He turned around at the voice and saw... a rather short and petite girl.

The girl had slightly wavy, just past shoulder-length hair that she tied back in a simple low ponytail with a black hair tie. She had curtained bangs framing both sides of her face. She has plain, upturned brown eyes with dark circles under them. Then the rest of her face was fairly youthful and rounded, in contrast to her tired and somewhat sharp-looking eyes. She had rounded cheeks and a soft jawline, resulting in her having something of a baby face. She had a fairly straight nose too.

Her build was small and delicate, with relatively little fat or defined muscle. She had little to no curves alongside a small bust, making her look somewhat scrawny when combined with the rest of the figure. She had skinny arms and relatively small hands with short nails, which she keeps unpainted.

Then her clothes consisted of a gray v-neck tee shirt paired with dark blue jeans with a slightly worn, faded appearance. For footwear, she wore black socks paired with clean but somewhat old all-black sneakers. Over her shirt, she wore a navy and black zip-up hoodie; the inner lining and the back of the arms and shoulders are black, while the rest of the hoodie was navy blue. Lastly, she wore a black medical face mask.

"Hey. Again. You lost?" The girl spoke with a rather matter-of-fact tone.

"Ah! Um... well..." He wasn't sure why he was getting caught on his words. Why did this feel weird to him?

The girl gave him a flat look. "Are you...? Hm. Nevermind." She shook her head. "Alright, do you have a reason for being here or not?" She got blunt with him.

The man quickly shook his head. "Ah, I'm sorry. You are...?"

"You want to know my name? You come across as very strange you know." She didn't mince words. "But it's probably fine. I'm Shiki Okubo. Ultimate Digital Archivist." She coughed. "Do you have a reason for learning the names of random girls you meet?"

The man was just trying to be polite... but he should've expected some of the ultimates here to be rather... unique. "Shiki. Would you be able to point me to the receptionist?" He finally asked.

Shiki had a look in her eyes that made it seem like she realized something. "Oh. It's over there." She pointed in a nondescript direction.

The man smiled. "Thank you." He bowed his head, then headed in the nondescript direction.

Shiki watched him walk off. "Huh. So he has arrived. I should probably get ready. I'll probably be meeting him again soon." And then Shiki took her leave.

...

The man reached the reception desk. "Ah, hello? I'm here for a meeting?"

The receptionist smiled. "A meeting? Who is the meeting with?"

"Oh, I should probably explain that shouldn't I?" The man laughed. "I'm here for a meeting with Headmistress Yuki Shirazane? Tell her that Amadeus Katkea has arrived, please."

"I see!" The receptionist typed something on their computer. "You... are Mr. Katkea?" The reception looked up and got a good look at Amadeus.

Amadeus was an older man, in his early sixties. But seemed decently tall, and had a lean but slightly defined physique. He had almost yellowish gray eyes, and short ruffled dark teal hair, though some of his hair has started to gray. He also had a little bit of stubble on his face.

For his clothes, he wore a white undershirt with a teal tie, and a vertically striped dark teal suit vest over that. Along with that, he wears vertically striped dark blue suit pants and dark blue loafers. Finally, he had on a long very dark blue trenchcoat, though he had it hanging loosely on his shoulders, not using either sleeve. The trenchcoat seemed a little worse for wear, but he still had an overall proper and composed look.

"Indeed. I am Mr. Katkea. Is there a problem?" Amadeus stayed composed.

"...there's no problem at all!" The receptionist nodded and got back to typing something. Amadeus was silent as he waited for the receptionist to finish.

...

"And there!" The receptionist looked up and smiled. "Ms. Shirazane has been expecting you, and should be ready to see you now. Take the elevator to your left to the fifth floor, and after that, take a right, then go straight. That should lead you right to the headmistress's office." They finished explaining.

"Thank you. I appreciate your help. I'll... get going." Amadeus gave the receptionist a grateful smile, then headed to the elevator.

It was empty, so he got on it and went to the fifth floor.

...

And after he arrived, he got off the elevator, took a right, and continued straight. And like the receptionist said, Amadeus could already see the office. He walked up to the door, and took a deep breath. He couldn't help but get at least a little nervous before each case. And he definitely knew why Shirazane contacted him. And it was going to be a doozy. So he mentally prepared himself... and knocked.

...

"Hm? Mr. Katkea? Is that you?" A voice rang out from behind the door.

"Oh? Is he here? That's exciting!" Another voice rang out.

"Yes, it's Amadeus Katkea. May I come in?" He asked through the door.

"Of course! You may come in!" The first voice said.

Well, here we go. Time for another case to begin. With another deep breath, Amadeus opened the door and walked in.

[Hope's Peak Academy - Osaka Branch - Headmistress's Office]

"Mr. Katkea! It's good to see you!"

"Ah, you're Amadeus Katkea? I've always wanted to meet you!"

When Amadeus walked into the office, he saw two women. The first one was the headmistress, Yuki Shirazane, as he knew.

Shirazane was an older woman who still looked remarkably young for her age. Amadeus knew she had to he older than him, but her face said that she wasn't older than forty, with nary a blemish on her face. But she had short and styled dark green hair, and green eyes.

For her clothes, she wore a bit of a faded gray undershirt with a dark green tie, a tan suit jacket, and a tan pencil skirt. She also wore black tights, dark green high heels, and she also wore a single earring on her right ear. The design being a green diamond.

Amadeus could tell she definitely works hard to mantain her appearance. But he stopped looking over Shirazane, and drifted his gaze to behind her, as there was another woman standing there.

The girl was younger, likely in her early to mid twenties. She was a slightly tanned girl who stood around 5'6, with big purple eyes. She had long, flowing silver hair that extended down a little past her shoulders as her long bangs reach the base of her nose. She also had a beauty mark just below the left eye.

For what she wore, she had on a straightforward outfit of a white button-up with a purple tie under a low-cut beige sweater vest. An unbuttoned black blazer is worn all over everything, with the edges and buttons colored silver. Then she wore a black skirt just above her thighs, a pair of black tights, and purple loafers on her feet with silver buckles. She also had a pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands, and a black leather peaked hat with a silver button latch that wraps around the hat.

Another interesting appearance... though Amadeus didn't know this girl. And Shirazane wasn't the type to take on assistants... so who was she?

"Now Mr. Katkea, please, take a seat. We have a lot to discuss!" Shirazane smiled as she motioned to the seat on the other side of her desk.

Considering what they were about to discuss, he was surprised to find her acting cheery, but he guess he couldn't blame. "Thank you." Amadeus took a seat.

"Oh, before we begin, I should introduce the young lady standing behind me shouldn't I?" Shirazane motioned behind her.

"Don't worry Ms. Shirazane, I got it!" The girl shot her hand into the air excitedly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Katkea! I'm Rika Sekiguchi! The Ultimate Mystery Novelist!" She put her hand down, then leaned forward toward Amadeus. "Keep this a secret... but I'm actually the Ultimate Detective! I'm just undercover right now!" She winked.

Shirazane rolled her eyes. "Sekiguchi, no you're not. Why do you still tell that to people?"

Rika giggled. "Ah come on! Don't undermine my genius! That's no fun!" She pouted.

"I'm not undermining your genius Sekiguchi." Shirazane sighed. "I'd just perfer if you told any new people you meet your actual Ultimate talent. It'd make this easier."

"Hmph." Rika playfully crossed her arms. "Whatever. That's alright! I'm not the focus right now anyway!" She looked at the man they were meeting with.

"Quite right." Shirazane nodded, then turned to Amadeus.

Amadeus narrowed his eyes. These two already were quite the pair. He wasn't sure why Rika was here, but he knew why he himself was here. "So." Amadeus began speaking. "I assume you'd like to get right to the heart of the matter, Shirazane?"

"Hm? Really? You wouldn't like to catch up first? We haven't see each other for a while!" Shirazane smirked.

Amadeus wasn't in the mood for this, and he made sure his face gave off that vibe.

Shirzane gave a dry chuckle as she read his face. "I'll take that as a no. Fine then." She took a breath. "You of course know of the nineteen missing alumni, yes?"

How could Amadeus not? Nineteen alumni having gone missing, with nary a trace. Rumors and theories are abound on the internet right now, but there's nothing conclusive right now. Amadeus had looked into it a little already, but he hasn't found much. But he expected to eventually be called upon by a Hope's Peak official. Admittedly, he wished it wasn't Shirazane of all people, but now wasn't the time for that. He had to stay professional here.

"I do know." Amadeus nodded. "And I know that's the reason you called me up here. Isn't it?"

Shirazane's face was devoid of any expression. "Correct. You are the Former Ultimate Detective after all." Shirazane and Amadeus saw a grin form on Rika's face at that statement. But the headmistress continued to speak. "I wish to employ your services Mr. Katkea. You've solved plenty of difficult cases in the past, so I trust your skills. You are a very capable and impressive person."

Amadeus really didn't like being praised by her. But again, now was the time to be professional. "Thank you Shirazane." He bowed his head.

"Of course." Shirazane smiled. "To continue my thought, I have faith in your skills, and in your ability to find the missing nineteen alumni. So what do you say? Care to help us out?" She extended her hand.

"I'd like to..." Amadeus trailed off. "But first, what exactly has Hope's Peak been doing to investigate this?" He crossed his arms. "I'm curious why you're resorting to trying to obtain my help."

Shirazane and Rika widened their eyes. Shirazane at least, didn't expect a question like that. But perhaps she should've. "Fair question." She coughed. "Hope's Peak had been doing what we can. We're currently cooperating with other branches worldwide, considering the varying nationalities of the missing alumni."

"And what is "cooperating" exactly?" Amadeus narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling on what the truth is here, and he wanted to get it from Shirazane's mouth.

"Well... questioning students and such. Cooperating with law enforcement as well. You know?" Shirazane gave a half-assed answer.

"Uh huh." Amadeus knew Hope's Peak has been doing the bare minumum. The Osaka branch has been doing the bare minimum, at the very least. "Fine." As much as Amadeus wanted to confront her, once again, he needed to stay professional. "Alright." He took her hand. "I'd be happy to help out Shirazane. You'll have my aid."

Shirazane smiled wide. "That's wonderful! I knew calling on you was the right choice." She vigorously shook his hand. "It'll be a pleasure doing business with you."

Amadeus just signed himself up for something that's likely going to get him in some major danger... but he's seen plenty danger in his life anyway. So what was a little more? "...Right." He pulled his hand away. "So-"

"Ah! Hold on!" Shirazane cut him off. "This isn't necessarily relevant to the case, but I'd like to ask you something Mr. Katkea."

"Oh? What is it?" Amadeus raised an eyebrow.

"Your associates." Shirazane had a strange tone in her voice. "Will they be aiding you?"

"My... ah." Amadeus understood what she meant. "Makoto and Nina? They're out doing their own thing at the moment. I'm not sure if they're going to be able to help out... but surely that's not a problem right?"

Shirazane coughed. "Yes... Makoto and Nina. No, that'll be fine. I was just curious." She shifted her eyes to the side.

"Now, I have my own question to ask you." Amadeus adjusted his posture.

"Hm? Ask away!" Shirazane went back to smiling.

"I don't mean to sound rude..." The detective glanced to the side. "But what is her role?" He motioned to Rika.

"Ah, Rika's role? Well-" Shirazane got cut off.

"I can answer that!" Rika stepped forward. "It's simple. I'm a detective too! Ms. Shirazane asked me to help out with the case too!" She cheered.

"Is that so?" Amadeus raised an eyebrow, then looked at the headmistress.

Shirazane sighed, then leaned in to whisper. "As soon as Rika got word that we'd be employing the skills of Amadeus Katkea, she begged to help out. She's incessant when it comes to mysteries. So if your associates won't be able to help out, what say you to having a partner? She may seem a little... delusional..." She quickly glanced over to Rika. "But she's skilled. She's not an Ultimate for nothing. And wouldn't it be useful having a Hope's Peak alumni helping you? She can guide you around the school too. So c'mon. How about it?"

A partner huh? Amadeus hadn't had a proper partner in a long time. But she had a point. If Rika was an alumni herself, she'd be a valuable ally to have. And it's not she'd be harmful. "Sure." He whispered back, then stood up. "Rika Sekiguchi. I haven't properly introduced myself to you have I?" He stuck out his hand. "I'm Amadeus Katkea, the Former Ultimate Detective. It's a pleasure to work with you."

Rika's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! It's an honor to work with a detective of your caliber. Being partners will be fun!" She shook his hand. She seemed to be rather bubbly about this whole affair. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing though.

"Now then." Amadeus collected himself. "Shirazane. It was nice to see you again. I'll get started on my investigation, and I'll report to you at the end of the day." He bowed his head.

Shirazane grinned. "I look forward to hearing from you!" She then buried herself in a business e-mail or something.

"Alright! Let's go Mr. Katkea!" Rika jogged out from behind the desk and headed to the door.

"Yeah... uh... let's go!" He wasn't sure if he could match her excitement, but he was as well try. He followed her out the door of the Headmistress's office.

[Hope's Peak Academy - Osaka Branch]

Without a current destination in mind, Rika and Amadeus just started to walk.

"Say, Rika?" Amadeus got her attention. "I'll defer to you. Where do you think we should go first for the investigation? If we're staying in the building, I'm not familiar with it, so I'd appreciate a guide."

Rika stopped walking. "Hm..." She had a look of deep concentration. "For places to start... I'd say the library!" She stuck her finger her in a "Eureka!" sort of way. "There should be plenty of information there. Not to mention, we should be able to access the Talent Outcome Archive!"

Amadeus tilted his head. "Talent Outcome Archive? What is that?" He wasn't familiar.

"Well, it's a collection of data on Hope's Peak Alumni!" Rika explained. "The Ultimate Digital Archivist created it!"

Data on Hope's Peak Alumni... that sounds useful... hold on. "The Ultimate Digital Archivist?" Amadeus blinked. "Is that... Shiki Okubo?"

Rika seemed surprised. "You know Shiki? You're even more impressive than I thought!"

"I don't know her, actually." Amadeus pulled out a notepad. "I met an Ultimate Digital Archivist when I entered the place. She pointing me to the receptionist."

"I see!" Rika happily nodded. "Hey, what's that notepad?" She pointed out.

"This?" Amadeus showed it to her. "Whenever I take a case, I like to note things down. Like evidence, for example." All that was on the notepad so far was:

Rika Sekiguchi - Ultimate Mystery Novelist "Detective"? - Partner

Shiki Okubo - Ultimate Digital Archivist

Yuki Shirazane - HP Osaka Headmistress

"I just have persons of interest at the moment." Amadeus showed off.

"Oh, that's pretty smart!" Rika pulled her own notepad from the void and started to jot down her notes. But she suddenly stopped. "Hold on. Why did you put quotes around Detective?" She sounded both amused and offended.

Amadeus furrowed his brow. "Mystery Novelist is your talent isn't it? You aren't actually the Ultimate Detective are you?"

Rika sighed. "That is the fault of Hope's Peak." She crossed her arms. "I have the skills of an Ultimate Detective... yet they invited me as the Ultimate Mystery Novelist! It's silly!"

Amadeus chuckled. "Oh... now I see."

"You see what?" Rika blinked.

"You're Kira, aren't you?" He realized.

Rika's face lit up. "So you know my stories? I'm honored! Then you surely must see my true skills?"

Amadeus narrowed his eyes. He had always been a fan of detective novels and such, but it took him a moment to realize this girl was "Kira." Kira was a mystery novel author with a... following. He'll word it like that. "I suppose I do. I never said I doubted your skills. That wasn't what I wanted to imply." He shook his head. "Just wanted to write down information. That's all."

Rika gave a satisfied nod. "Very good then! I'm glad you agree I should've been the Ultimate Detective!"

"Well I didn't say that-"

"Alright, that's enough talk!" Rika hopped up excitedly. "Let's go to the library!" She took the older man's hand and started to lead him there.

"You don't need to take my hand." Amadeus deadpanned.

"Fine fine. It was a joke!" She let go. "But for serious now, let's go!" Rika urged him along as they made their way through the winding halls of Hope's Peak Academy.

[HPA - Osaka Branch - Library]

"Ah! I love the smell of books!" Rika burst through the doors of the library.

"You don't have to be so loud you know." Amadeus whispered to her.

"Pshaw! There's no one in here anyway!" Rika pointed out.

To Rika's credit, she was mostly right. There was a small girl typing away on a laptop in the corner of the library, but it was essentially empty.

Amadeus looked around. "Considering that this is a library at Hope's Peak Academy of all places, I'm surprised it's so empty."

Rika checked her phone. "Well school basically just got out for the weekend. People normally hang around to study after school, but it looks like nobody decided to stick around." She shrugged.

"Guess so..." Amadeus narrowed his eyes.

Rika looked at Amadeus' face and giggled. "Hey, I love a good mystery, but this definitely isn't one. I could tell you were thinking about it. Rest assured, it's not strange that nearly nobody is here!"

Amadeus looked surprised. Rika was more observant than he thought. "Alright. I trust you." He relaxed a little. "Suppose I shouldn't start overthinking this now." He had a habit of that. Perhaps Rika was going to be a better partner than he thought.

"Anyway, let's go!" Rika urged him along again as she went towards the only girl here. And, like he thought, it was Shiki Okubo who was typing away in the corner.

Shiki looked up from her laptop. "Oh hey. You're here. Finally." She moved the laptop away from her, so the duo could actually see her face.

""Finally" huh?" Rika noticed her wording. "I guess word of the partnership between us detectives has spread already."

"No. If it has spread, I sure didn't know about it." Shiki shook her head.

"Hm? Then why were you expecting us?" Amadeus crossed his arms.

"Isn't that obvious? Aren't you two detectives? Well, one a detective and one a mystery novelist?" Shiki brought out some snark.

"Is it obvious?" Amadeus was admittedly a little lost.

Rika smirked. "Oh, I get it! Mr. Katkea told me he already met you. So did you realize what he was here for then?"

"Pretty much." Shiki moved her laptop back over to her. "You underestimate how famous you are Mr. Katkea. I'd be surprised if someone didn't know you."

"I see..." Amadeus realized what she meant. He... had confidence in his skills, but he sometimes underestimated how well known he was.

"I recognized you by your face." Said the girl with half her face hidden. "And because you're here..." Shiki finished typing, and looked up. "You're searching for the missing nineteen alumni, aren't you? At the request of Ms. Shirazane?" She got right to the point.

"Impressive..." Amadeus muttered.

"That's correct!" Rika answered for him. "Ms. Shirazane has tasked us both with seeking out the missing alumni!"

"Makes sense." Shiki coughed. "I can pull up the TOA for you."

TOA must've stood for the Talent Outcome Archive. Amadeus was rather curious to see this. He hadn't been able to access and read files like this before. It looks like Rika has seen the TOA, judging by her expression. But this'll still be interesting.

"Alright. There." Shiki pulled it up.

"Great! Let's get searching!" Rika went and took a seat right next to Shiki.

Shiki looked away from the mystery novelist, while trying to surpress a blush. "Right..." She trailed off.

Amadeus never really knew how to deal with awkward situations, so he just silently took a seat next to Rika.

"Well... okay." Shiki collected herself, mentally preparing herself to deal with an extrovert and... probably another introvert? She wasn't exactly sure where Amadeus fell on that spectrum. "I can look up whatever you need. The TOA isn't complete, but there's still a lot of information."

"I'm grateful for your cooperation, Shiki." Amadeus smiled. "Now. Where should we start?"

"Hm..." Rika started to think. "Shiki, can you pull up the nineteen files of the missing alumni?"

"Sure." Shiki got right to it.

"Right, that's the logical place to start." Amadeus crossed his arms. "Let's see if there are any similarities in their files or anything. The link between them all could just be that they are all ultimates, but there could be something else."

"Good point!" Rika started to jot something down on her notepad.

Silence fell for a moment as they waited for Shiki to pull up the nineteen profiles.

"There. Done." Shiki was already down.

"That quick?!" Amadeus was a little thrown back.

"Yep. This is my talent, remember?" Shiki bragged a little. "I work for Hope's Peak too."

Oh. That was a surprise. "You work for Hope's Peak? Interesting." It's not like an ultimate working for Hope's Peak was unheard of, but it's still something you don't hear often. "Why'd you start working here?" Amadeus asked.

Shiki shrugged. "The TOA is one of the main reasons. Hope's Peak got me to work on it for them during my second year here. And after I graduated, they wanted it to be mantained, and they offered me a job. I saw no reason to refuse it. Simple as that." She explained.

"Fair enough." Amadeus slowly nodded. Personally, he'd never want to work for someone like Yuki Shirazane. But Shiki didn't know her past, and that was okay. If she was happy here, that's all that matters.

"Here. The Profiles." In perhaps the most blunt and sudden change of topic ever, Shiki moved her laptop over to Rika and Amadeus. They instantly saw nineteen tabs open. And the tab it was open to... the file was for Aelia Celani, the Ultimate Puppeteer.

Amadeus started to think. "Rika. I have a question."

"A question? Fire away!" Rika seemed excited to answer.

Amadeus looked over Aelia's file. There wasn't anything suspicious at a first glance. "The nineteen alumni. Do you know the order they were kidnapped im by any chance? These files understandably don't show that, and I'm curious if the authorities ever compiled that."

"The order?" Rika narrowed her eyes. "Let me see." She pulled out a notebook from who knows where and started to page through it. "Um... here! I searched through police documents and compared it with my own research to compile this!" She slid her notebook over to Amadeus.

She looked through police documents? Was she allowed to do that?

...

Eh, it probably didn't matter. "Thank you Rika." He smiled, then looked over what Rika had compiled.

Current working order of when the missing nineteen alumni went missing:

1. Kuroko Kurobara - Hypnotist

2. Rival Seizon - Backing Vocalist

3. Ayaka Naganohara - Violinist

4. Genjiro Mashimoto - Wrestler

5. Joji Kaneshiro - Carpenter

6. Darren Taylor - Bartender

7. Lake Beaumont - Ballet Dancer

8. Yoshino Akiyama - Horror Novelist

9. Damien Lux - Beautician

10. Aelia Celani - Puppeteer

11. Rosalind Reinhardt - Cinematographer

12. Ji-hoon Jo - Celebrity Detective

13. Kei Aikawa - Lawyer

14. Bessie B. Blossom - Pop Star

15. Raiha Miyahara - Trendsetter

16. Catherine Munchkin - Cat Burglar

17. Adam Brooks - Academic

18. "Alpha"* - Gas Station Manager

19. Aurora Beaufort - Starlet

"Fascinating..." Amadeus muttered. "And you're sure of this?"

"Yep!" Rika sounded proud. "I looked through various police reports and testimony from the loved ones of these people. I'm very sure of this!"

"That's good then." Amadeus gave it another look. He immediately noticed something strange. "Rika? What's the deal with number 18? Alpha?"

"Oh! Her!" Rika immediately knew what he meant. "Well I put quotes around her name, because it's well known that her real name isn't Alpha. It's well known within Hope's Peak at least. And the asterisk is because someone saw her get kidnapped! She's the only one of the nineteen that had a witness to her kidnapping!"

That immediately piqued Amadeus' interest. "A witness? Who?"

"Her uncle." Shiki jumped in. "Her uncle wanted keep his identity on the down low. But according to him, a truck drove by on a road near the gas station Alpha owned, but it popped one of it's tires. Alpha went out to help him, then got knocked out and thrown in the back. Then the truck drove off with the flat tire."

"Exactly!" Rika patted Shiki's shoulder. Shiki scooted away a little at the touch.

"I see." The uncle of "Alpha" huh? Amadeus thought about some things. "So her uncle witnessed his niece get kidnapped, and did nothing about it?"

"Well... pretty much." Rika sighed. "He even said he was outside while he watched it happen. He never explained why he didn't go to help or anything. Very mysterious...!" Rika wished she had an answer to this mystery, but she didn't. "It's tough getting into contact with the guy. Not to mention her uncle is a Former Ultimate too. He's a mysterious guy!"

"Her uncle is a Former Ultimate? Hm..." This wasn't where Amadeus thought suspicion would drift, but he started jotting down notes about Alpha's uncle.

"You're talking about Alpha?" Shiki spoke while switching tabs. "Here." She pulled up her file.

"Thank you Shiki." Amadeus turned the laptop so that he could see her file. "Wow. The girl has been through a lot. Ah, the file shows her real name too. Wonder why she hides that..."

Rika narrowed her eyes. "I wonder why too... I can't think of a reason... ah! Hold on! Mr. Katkea! Shiki! Look!" She pointed to a segment on Alpha's file.

Shiki wasn't exactly sure why she was being included but she leaned in to see what she was taking about anyway. "Oh. Huh." The segment read:

After Alpha's graduation, her uncle moved to Japan, but still stayed in contact with his niece.

"He's in the country? Convenient." Shiki nodded. "Feels like an important person to talk to." Shiki pulled out her phone and started to look through something.

"Indeed! Let's see if we can find him..." Rika eagerly nodded, before trailing off. "Huh."

"You realized it too Rika?" Amadeus crossed his arms.

"Yeah. I think so." Rika now nodded in understanding. "According to police reports, all nineteen kidnappings took place within a timeframe of a week. And the kidnappings in general took place barely a couple weeks ago. So..."

"Alpha's uncle just moved to Japan." Amadeus felt like he was getting a lead. "Feels strange to move away from the country your niece was kidnapped from."

"Alright. I think I can do it." Shiki suddenly spoke up.

Rika jumped up a little at the sound of Shiki's voice. "You think you can do what?"

"I'm roommates with a girl named Yoshino Fukuhara. She's the Ultimate Hacker. I might be able to get her help to track down Alpha's uncle." Shiki started to look through a few other things.

"Really?" Amadeus blinked. "Thanks... but you have no obligation to help us to that extent. Rika and I would've been satisfied with just the TOA."

Shiki stayed silent for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm curious."

"Curious about what?" Rika tilted her head.

"Curious about the culprit, obviously." Shiki rolled her eyes. "Nineteen ultimates being kidnapped and taken to an unknown location... you two aren't stupid. You know what that could mean. And because of that, I'm curious. That's all." Shirazane had implied that she wanted Shiki to help out Amadeus, but Shiki liked listening to herself and only herself.

The former detective and the delusional detective narrowed their eyes before sharing a look. "Alright. We'll take any help we can get." Amadeus smiled.

"Yeah! Having an assistant will be a lot of help!" Rika cheered.

Shiki wasn't sure how she felt about being called an assistant, but she decided to just brush it off. "So you want to see if you can contact Alpha's uncle? I'll see if I can help with that." Shiki began to text someone, presumably her roommate. "What else? Anything else interesting?" She moved them on.

"Anything else...? Hm..." Amadeus looked over Rika's list once more. "Rika? Aurora Beaufort was the last one kidnapped? She's a famous actress no?"

Rika grinned. "She's famous for more than just acting! But yes, she was seemingly the last one kidnapped out of the nineteen. Though..." Rika went and pulled up Aurora's file on the TOA.

"What is it? Why did you trail off?" Amadeus started to look over Aurora's file with Rika.

"It's strange. The circumstances behind Aurora's kidnapping... they're strange. Stranger than even Alpha's." Rika dropped ominously.

"Strange?" Amadeus raised an eyebrow.

"I know what Rika means. Look." Shiki pulled up a different file, and showed it to Amadeus.

"Oh. That is strange... weird..." Amadeus started to think about, while purposely not telling the readers why its strange. "I'll note that down. Any other strange circumstances for anyone?"

Rika shook her head. "Nope! Not as far as he know."

"Right..." Amadeus added a new note to his notepad.

Suspicious - Alpha? Aurora? - Investigate this more

"Let's move on from that for now." Amadeus finished his note. "We've seen some suspicious things... but let's see if we can find anything else."

"Right!" Rika happily nodded.

"Right." Shiki nodded, debatably happy.

The trio started to look through the files of all nineteen, they looked through police reports they could access, and they compared absolutely all of it. They looked through a lot of information. And in the end... "We got some decent stuff." Shiki summed it up.

"Yeah..." Amadeus muttered. Him, his partner, and... his third partner? He wasn't really sure if he should consider Shiki part of their little group right now but for now he will. "Our main leads are Alpha's uncle and Ryuji Yamamoto. Those are the leads we can feasibly follow anyway."

"Yep! Alpha's uncle is a strange witness... and Ryuji Yamamoto seemingly... well, we all saw." Rika sighed. "A number of the kidnapped alumni seem suspicious..." She looked over her list again. "But we don't have many ways we can pursue those mysteries unfortunately..."

"Yeah. They are kidnapped after all." Shiki typed away on her laptop. "But you think Raiha Miyahara, Kei Aikawa, Catherine Munchkin, and Aurora Beaufort are suspicious?"

"Yeah. I do." Amadeus sighed. He never enjoyed suspecting people, but there were certain little details about those four that threw him and Rika off.

"Alright. I'll make it so I get a notification whenever news pops up with any of their names. I'll start looking deeper into them." Shiki spoke while not looking away from her laptop.

"Thanks Shiki!" Rika hugged the digital archivist's shoulder, prompting another blush from her. "But we have plenty of information to go on... this mystery is already shaping up isn't? This is so..."

*DING*

"I got a notification." Shiki interrupted Rika speaking.

"Already?" Rika widened her eyes. "Good! What new clues do we have?"

...

Shiki silently blinked as she watched what unfolded on her screen.

"You guys should look at this." Shiki gave her phone to Rika and Amadeus with slightly widened eyes.

"What is... it...?" Amadeus was speechless at the sight. Rika was speechless too when she looked st the phone. Because...

A video had been posted to an anonymous twatter account... showing a woman dressed in white going over the entire backstory of Bessie B. Blossom.

"Wow! This is fascinating!" Rika was enthralled. It consisted of details the public knew and details the public assuredly did not know

"Didn't know Bessie was a robot. Wow." Shiki was trying to process all of this.

"Kioka... Hanako... Bessie... huh." Amadeus took out his notepad. "Shiki? Can you find out if Ryuji Yamamoto is at his talent building? It's a low chance, but let's try and see if we can meet with him."

"Right. Also, it appears another video was posted. Showing the lady in white talking about Aelia Celani." Shiki was looking up Wax-Ember XLV while watching this new video.

"The mysteries keep growing deeper...!" Rika tapped a pen against her hat as she thought.

All three were being fairly casual about this, despite how blatantly strange this was. That was because all three had a feeling what this was and what this meant. But they were also logical people. They weren't going to jump the gun and make any assumptions without any concrete evidence-

"Oh god." Amadeus whispered, clearly shaken by something.

"Woah..." Rika's hands shook.

"That's... wow." Shiki was speechless. (Besides for those two words)

Along with those videos, photos of the charred corpse of Bessie B. Blossom and the mutilated corpse of Aelia Celani started to spread like wildfire. The entire internet was imploding. It wasn't like anyone really knew who Aelia Celani was. But people really knew who Bessie B. Blossom was. The corpses plus those videos caused a metaphorical wildfire to spread across the internet in an instant. Everybody, including our trio, knew what this meant.

"That's one mystery solved." Shiki bit her lip.

"This mystery has gotten good..." Rika had a creepy smile on her face.

"No... they're in a Killing Game... aren't they?" Amadeus spoke aloud what they all were thinking.

Shiki began to type with a passion. "People are saying it's all real. People are saying this lady in white is Pheme too."

Amadeus, Rika, and Shiki too all furrowed their brows.

"I'm sorry..." Rika lost her creepy smile. "That was Pheme? Really? But I thought Pheme..."

*SLAM*

The door to the library burst open. "Mr. Katkea! Ms. Sekiguchi! Ms. Okubo! I have an urgent message from Headmistress Shirazane!" It was one of Shirazane's aids.

"What is it?" Amadeus quickly stood up.

"It's... Ryuji Yamamoto." The aid seemed frightened. "He's... he's..."

Shiki stood up. "Speak."

"Ryuji Yamamoto..." The aid took a deep breath. "He's...

...

He's dead."

...

"Oh?" Rika slowly stoop up, then gave a slow and creepy smile. "This... really just got good!"

Before I say anything, I need to give a certain someone a shoutout, because he'll likely talk about where his shoutout is when he eventually live reads this. So...

I want to give a massive shoutout to Danganronpa: Corrupted Hope (peak) by SilverMark16!

Now I also want to give a shoutout to Danganronpa: Twisted Tragedy by SilverMark16!

Now I also also want to give a shoutout to Untitled Third Fic by SilverMark16!

All of these are peak stories! Read them right now! (Or whenever you can)

But it all seriousness, I want to give a legit thank you to SilverMark16. He's been a massive source of inspiration for me, and he helped inspire one thing in this intermission. So, just so Gold knows this, I honestly had the idea to do an intermission chapter before he posted his first interlude chapter in TT. I was afraid it was gonna look like I was stealing his ideas, but I legit had this idea for a while.

But one idea I did steal from him was including some rejected submissions here!

Speaking of, thank you to oddlyirregular and LupusOverkill for letting me use your characters! Shiki and Rika were definitely some OCs I had a tough time rejecting, so I'm glad they get to appear in the story in some way. I had Rika as a part of the official cast for a long time, but if I can honest, it was Ji-hoon (and Damien) who knocked her out of the race. And Shiki was part of the final decision for the final character to include in the story... and that one was insanely difficult for me. But I'm glad they're here. And for Oddly and Lupus, don't be afraid to tell me if they way I wrote your characters should be changed/fixed at all! But their stories, along with the story of Amadeus Katkea will continue on in the second intermission!

I plan on including more than just Shiki and Rika, so look out for that!

Then so people know, Amadeus, Shirazane, and Achlys are all my own OCs. I've been excited to showcase all three. Achlys was so much fun to write, and introducing Amadeus and Shirazane was fun too.

Now that that's out of the way... how was the first intermission chapter? I originally wanted it to go through the investigation of Ryuji's body, but I opted to save that for the next one instead. I know the guest stars didn't get a whole lot of screen time, but just you wait. The spotlight will be back on them soon! (And by that I mean whenever I finish chapter 2)

Alright. I think that's it. The story outside of the killing game is slowly developing... and the story of Chapter 2 inside the killing game is about to develop! Stay tuned!

Glamourous Guest Stars:

Rika Sekiguchi - Ultimate Mystery Novelist [oddlyirregular]

Shiki Okubo - Ultimate Digital Archivist [LupusOverkill]