Chapter 3: Part 3

The room Chiaki's group entered took them by surprise. It was dimly lit, the overhead barely showed anything. Only black shapes covered by a cloud of dark blue. Honestly, the light emanating from the hall showed more of the room's interior than the lights. From what they could see, the room was a complete mess. There were several reel film projectors set upon wheeled tables, all facing different directions. There were several tins for the reels to be placed in, but only some of them were closed and place in the proper shelf. The rest were placed in randoms stacks, were popped open with the strands of film lining the floors.

"Can someone turn on the lights?" Kaede asked. "Someone's going to trip on something in here."

"Hold on, let me see if this still works," Keebo said before taking a step forward and shutting his eyes for a moment. He smacked the side of his head before opening his eyes, which illuminated like a flashlight for the rest of the group.

Gundham raised an eyebrow as he watched Keebo step into the room. "Just how many techniques do you possess, automaton?"

"Well, my original creator outfitted me with several tools that could help me in my everyday life, but Miu upgraded with several other gadgets," Keebo explained.

"Um, Miss Iruma didn't…add anything…odd to you, right?" Hifumi asked. Despite his words coming across as something a concerned friend would ask, he couldn't help but drool at the thoughts in his mind. Perhaps they'd serve as inspiration for more fanfics.

"Can we focus on the investigation?" Kaede asked. "The less I think about Miu's interests, the better I feel."

"Right, let's see if we can turn the lights up," Chiaki said before following Keebo inside. "Do you see a light switch?"

Keebo's bright gaze crossed over the walls of the room before stopping upon catching sight of a sliding light switch. Keebo reached out and slowly brightened up the room. Now they could see that the film strands covered so much of the floor, any empty space resembled a stone path on a lake. They also saw that a there was a bench at the back wall of the room with a sink and some string hanging from the walls. It was an area to develop and cut film, a small red room of sorts.

Keebo shut the lights in his eyes off before looking towards the rest of the group. "It should be ok to come in now."

"Gonta still be careful," Gonta said as he tip-toed around the loose strands of film along the floor.

As the group filed into the room, they would slowly spread out to check out the various film tapes and canisters scattered across the room. Kaede and Gonta headed over towards the shelves to examine the titles, Gundham let his animals hop out of his coat and spread out across room to act as his eyes and ears, with Raijin and Phoenix flying up high and Khan and Mephisto crawling across the floor. Hifumi would make his way over to the film development corner. Then there was Keebo who chose to follow Chiaki. Chiaki moved towards the center of the room, pulling all the film projectors together and trailing her fingers across the film, slowly examining the images on each frame.

After confirming each of the other members were distracted with the investigation, Keebo would tap Chiaki on the shoulder. The gamer released her hold on the film she was examining and turned towards Keebo.

"Is something wrong, Keebo?" Chiaki asked.

With a frown across his face, Keebo spoke quietly. "Look, I know what I saw during my final trial. What Tsumugi said, what she showed us, there's no doubt in mind that everything we experienced was some kind of show. And all the evidence you or Celestia showed hasn't changed that. What we all need to focus on is getting you all back home."

In a rare change in attitude for the stoic gamer, her eyebrow furled and anger boiled up in her face. "That's enough. I'm going to listen to this."

"You can't just brush this off. Look, I know you're scared, but how could you possibly be an AI and say this place isn't a simulation? That just isn't possible."

"There's a lot of things that seemed impossible that still ended up happening," Chiaki turned back towards the projectors and took a deep breath. "It's simply another trick to induce despair."

"And you believe a teenager was able to develop brain washing technology, killer robots, and lead the world to destruction?"

"Then what are you?" Chiaki looked back at Keebo. "Do you still believe you're just a robot or are you some actor?"

Keebo paused for a moment and placed his hand against his chin. "It…it is possible…"

"But that doesn't add up, does it? You can feel your joints, can't you? The way you were able to transform your arms into cannons, your eyes turning into flashlights, that all felt too real, right?"

"The shifting metal…I did feel myself smacking my head earlier…" Keebo shook his head. "But what if you're wrong? What if this wasn't some trick to induce despair?"

"Let me ask you something, did Tsumugi tell you this just as you and your friends were about to win the last trial?"

"Well, yeah."

"That's what these masterminds do," Chiaki held her index finger up. "They'll do anything when they're pushed into a corner. Junko tried to convince people to stay put, making them fear the outside world, and in the first trial here, Tsumugi used disguises to get us to stop from voting for her. It's to make us doubt everything."

Keebo looked towards the floor for a moment. "You still haven't told me. What if you're wrong?"

Chiaki sighed, pulling her hood over her head. "I…I don't know….I just know, thinking about that won't help us. Show or not, simulation or not, we have to focus on finding a way out…I think."

Keebo looked back up at Chiaki. "You think?"

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry. I just say that sometimes."

"Oh…ok?"

Feeling their conversation was over, Chiaki turned away from Keebo to examine the film again. Keebo opened his mouth to speak more, but he stopped himself.

'She has a point,' the robot thought to himself. 'Real or not, we're still stuck here and we don't know why. I should get looking too.'

Keebo would step away from Chiaki and explore the rest of the room.

While the robot and AI were discussing the possibilities of their and their classmates' existence, Hifumi was in the corner staring at pictures of boobs. Yes, it seemed whoever was taking these photos and developing them was sleezy. While none of them contained any of women's faces, it definitely seemed like an invasion of privacy, from the corners of changing rooms while in the middle of, well, changing. Still, Hifumi took note of the photos. They may have been an inspiration for planned drawings. However, his train of thought was interrupted with Gundham smacking his hand down on the bench next to him.

"How long will you be gawking at these tasteless images?" Gundham lectured the round boy. "We have more important things than fueling your vices."

Hifumi adjusted his glasses and chuckled, masking his fear of the animal breeder's sudden arrival. "You simply don't understand my work. Exploring our primal desires through art is important to understanding oneself."

"Hmph," Gundham crossed his arms. "I don't believe your new master will enjoy seeing you degrade yourself to this level."

Suddenly, Hifumi shifted. His face turned blood red and his glasses fogged up. "No way! Miss Yonaga actually respects me and my work! She actually cares for my wellbeing! You're the one degrading yourself being Ludenberg's slave!"

"Slave?!" Gundham growled. "How dare you insult me, pig! You've only signed your name in my book of torment! Let hellfire rain down upon you for generations!"

"Can you two stop yelling at each other?" Kaede called out. "We've got a job to do."

Gundham glared back at Hifumi. "You will live just a while longer, but know this. The one you follow will lead you down a path of madness."

"Hmph," Hifumi adjusted his glasses once again. "Same to you, Mr. Tanaka!"

Gundham would leave Hifumi to his devices and reunite with his dark disciples. While both Raijin and Phoenix would land on his shoulders to whisper in his ears, Mephisto would slither over with a small string of film wrapped around him. Gundham picked up his snake and privately examined it. After a moment of doing so, he placed it in his pocket before picking up Khan.

Kaede sighed and shook her head. "Find anything yet?"

Gonta had his eyes set on the top shelfs, which far too high up for Kaede to look at. Still, even with Gonta's height, there were no sign of any clues. "What Gonta even look for?"

"Honestly, I don't even know, Gonta," Kaede frowned. "We could honestly be here all day and not find anything. Man, I really don't want to look through each one of these frames."

Gonta looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Chiaki is doing that."

Kaede looked over her shoulder as well. "Well, she's definitely got more patience than I do."

While Kaede was distracted, she ran her hand across one of the shelves. Her carelessness caused her hand to accidently knocked a canister off the shelf. Thankfully, Gonta's reflexes were fast enough to catch the canister in time. Kaede turned back to Gonta, placing her hand over her chest and letting out a sigh of relief.

"Nice catch, Gonta," Kaede said.

"Kaede need to be more careful," Gonta said as he handed over the canister.

"Yeah, I know," Kaede let out a small chuckle before taking the canister. Just before she could place it back in its original location, she noticed the title that was taped on the front of. "Mind Wipe Test: Number 3."

"Well, hello," Kaede whispered to herself. "What do we have here?"

The room that Shinji's group entered had the opposite problem that film room did. It was far too bright, and the fact the tiles of the floor and the paint of the walls both being a sterile white nearly blinded the group. However, they would soldier on through and their eyes would adjust to the light. They saw that the room they entered was a chemist lab, with three long tables equipped with sinks at the end of them. Said tables were covered with various tubes, flasks, beakers, and cups. Along one of the walls was a rack for your standard protection when in a lab. Coats, aprons, gloves, goggles, etc. Along another wall were several cabinets with glass doors, revealing what felt like hundreds of bottles of various different chemicals. Finally, there was a white board with the periodic table right be the front door and a bookshelf just on the otherside.

"Oh, look at what we have here," Kokichi dashed over the cabinet while giggling. "Just think of all the dangerous things you could make these."

"That will be enough out of you," Shinji said. "Mukuro, can you keep him in line?"

"Ok, before you guys try to hogtie my down again, can I just say something?" Kokichi asked. "Even you guys have to bored of keeping me prisoner."

"We're not tired of keeping you prisoner, we're just tired of you in general," Mahiru huffed out. "If you just behaved yourself, none of this would even be happening to you."

"But behaving is sooooo boring," Kokichi whined.

"Dude, just stop," Leon said. "You'll probably get out of it sooner if you just shut up."

"He won't be getting out at all," Mukuro said, making her way across the room and grabbing Kokichi by the arm, nearly crushing it in half with the strength of her grip. "He's staying prisoner until we leave this school."

Kokichi sighed and hung his head down, accepting his fate. "Fine. I'll be good."

"Good," Shinji said. "Now we can actually focus on investigating."

"Ok, but where do we even start?" Leon asked with an irritated tone. "It's just some boring science lab. What are even looking for in here?"

"Whatever seems of note, that's how it has always been," Shinji said. "If something doesn't seem right, tell us."

Leon, Mahiru, Kiyo, and Mahiru all nodded at Shinji before spreading out to investigate. At first, there wasn't anything really of note. It didn't help that Kokichi wasn't looking at anything while being dragged by Mukuro and Leon got bored immediately. Leon was so bored that he went over to the rack of lab equipment and started trying out the goggles. Mahiru rolled her eyes at the punk baseball player's childish antics before turning her attention towards the bookshelf. She couldn't help but feel stupid reading the titles. "Acids and Bases," "Chemical Reactions: From Safe to Explosive," "History and Use of Alchemy," "Chemistry 102," all these titles and terms flew over her head. She was a photographer, not a chemist.

"Hey," Leon popped up next Mahiru. "Find anything?"

"No," Mahiru said. "And honestly, it's hard for me to even focus on anything."

"Yeah, searching is boring," Leon said while adjusting the angle of his goggles.

"That's not the point. I can't focus on anything while everyone's just fine with Angie walking around doing whatever she wants."

"Angie? I thought we already punished her."

"Not well enough. That idiot Ishimaru just let her go after a few days and now she's talking to Hifumi and Teruteru. She's up to something. And Mondo's plan of just keeping her with Taka doesn't make me feel better."

Leon paused for a moment. "Need me to do like…lookout?"

"What?"

"Like, what if I follow them around then tell Chiaki what's going on? If Taka's not helping, she'd probably do it."

Mahiru tilted her head. "That's actually a way better way to handle this. And…I didn't expect you to offer to help."

Leon scratched the back of his head. "I've just been thinking about things a little bit…Both Nekomaru and Kaito died because I wasn't paying attention. I was right there when Nekomaru pumped Kaito into that trap. If I just…did something other than drag my feet, I could've stop it…If we can stop another problem before it happens, I'll do it."

Mahiru took in Leon's words, surprised by the lazy punk's earnest offer to help. Perhaps, things will change for him. Perhaps his plan could be the one to change things for her, for Hiyoko. She nodded at him, accepting his deal.

"Excuse me, Shinji," Kiyo called out. "I believe I found something rather unusual."

Shinji joined Kiyo's side. He was examining the periodic table placed by the entrance of the room. Before even needing to ask, Shinji noticed the unusual part of. Six of the elements were circled in red from a marker. Oxygen, Hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. Shinji placed his hand against his chin as he observed the table.

"I see," Shinji commented. "But I have a hard time understanding what they would be used for."

"Well, these are some of the most common elements in the periodic table," Kiyo explained. "Carbon is found in diamonds, coal, planets, and food. Of course, oxygen and hydrogen can be mixed into water, but what interests me is phosphorus. It's often used as a gas for pesticides or chemical warfare. I happened to use some during some of my previous…well, you know."

"You think Monokuma put this in place to have us create poisonous chemicals?" Shinji asked.

"I wouldn't put it out of the question, but all of them together…I'm at a loss for the moment," Kiyo said, his frown visible through his mask.

Mukuro glanced over at Kiyo for just the briefest second before Kokichi snickered.

"Similar souls, eh?" Kokichi said.

"What?" Mukuro rose an eyebrow.

"You two. You know, you've both murdered a lot of people, all for your sisters, just to get killed by them in return. Hey, you didn't have some weird incest thing going on with Junko too, right?"

"Shut…up."

"Oh, so you did?"

Mukuro's face turned red, a mixture of rage and embarrassment. "I-I did not!"

"Look, I may be an evil genius, but even I wouldn't sleep with my sister."

"I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH MY SISTER!" Mukuro snapped at Kokichi, however, shouting as loud as she did turned out to be a mistake. Mukuro looked up from Kokichi to see all four of the other group members staring at her. Leon even took of the goggles just to show has flabbergasted expression. Mukuro pinched the bridge of her nose and mumbled, "God damn it…"

After a few hours of investigating, all the students returned to their usual meeting location to discuss the third floor's investigation. As they all seated themselves around, Sayaka took note of everyone's expressions. No one had a light of excitement in their eyes, no sense of discovery.

'Oh no,' Sayaka thought to herself. 'Was this floor really a bust?'

"So," Taka stood up at the end of the table, "let us discuss our findings. I shall start us off, friends. The room was a cathedral, but was customized to have relics from various different religions. So, for those of you who wish to practice your faith, you have a place to do so."

Angie smiled brightly at Taka's words.

"Outside of that though, I regret to inform you that outside that, we couldn't gleam any useful clues for this killing game," Taka continued. "I apologize."

"That's ok," Chiaki held her finger up as she spoke. "We'll just have to check again later."

"What about your group, Namani?" Taka asked. "What was your room like?"

"The room we investigated was a film room," Chiaki said. "Or to be more specific, a film development room. It had film canisters, projectors, and a photo development center. It's quite messy, so if you want to investigate it further, you should watch your step."

"Were any of those film reels of note?" Celestia asked.

"There was one," Kaede spoke up and held up the film canister she found. "Now, this one says Mind Wipe Test: 3, so I think we look a bit more, we could find the rest of them."

"But how is that actually helpful?" Mondo asked.

"You guys all remember what Keebo said," Kaede explained. "Tsumugi really made it seem like all of our memories were fake. This tape could actually prove that it really was just a trick!"

"That's great, Kaede!" Tenko cheered. "We just got to find the rest of those tapes then everything will be solved!"

"Well, one of our problems at least," Ryoma said. "We'd still need to figure out where we are and who the mastermind is."

"Plus, this could be a trick as well," Rantaro commented. "The tape could be the lie while what Tsumugi said was the real truth."

"Come on, don't be like that, Rantaro," Ibuki said. "We got believe in who we are! Now, no more doubting unless we learn otherwise!"

"We can't just discard the possibility just because it makes you uncomfortable," Kiyo said. "The more we live in denial, the more it will hurt when we confront the harshness of reality."

"It'll hurt no matter what we do, idiot!" Hiyoko hissed. "How do you expect any of us to just be fine with us being fake?"

"And what about those secrets we got from Monokuma?" Nagito asked. "Why would he give us secrets if none of them would actually hurt us?"

"Everyone, we must remain calm to better meditate on the matter," Angie said while stretching her arms out.

"But what if Atua is fake too?" Kokichi asked. "What if us even thinking about this conversation is fake too?"

"We got to stop with this conspiracy theory talk," Sayaka said.

"Why? We've got to weigh all possibilities," Rantaro backed up the supreme leader.

"Guys, wait," Keebo placed his hands onto the table, halting the conversation and gathering everyone's attention. "I never meant to get you all scared about this. It's just…I was scared too…Not just for me, but for everyone. But after talking to Chiaki, I feel like there is more hope to this all being real than when I first woke up. So, please try to keep calm until we view the tape."

Everyone paused and nodded along to Keebo's words. It didn't necessarily resolve all the concerns the group had, but it was a nice gesture none the less. Everyone nodded, keeping their emotions in check before continuing the discussion.

"Well, the room we checked out wasn't anything special," Sayaka commented. "It was just some sort of conference room."

"What kind of conference room?" Taka asked.

Sayaka tilted her head a bit. "I…just said it was a regular conference room. Just some chairs around a table and one projector. That's it."

"No need to go back in there then," Celestia commented. "Kirumi, would you kindly explain the room we examined?"

Kirumi politely bowed her head. "Of course. The room my group investigated was a woodshop with several power tools for building, but I believe it would be wise for us to keep those tools away for protection."

"Except from me," Miu commented. "I'll definitely need them for my personal projects."

"Fine, only Miu will have access to the woodshop," Taka proclaimed.

"Uh, no, what if she goes crazy too?" Leon protested.

"I'm not crazy, dickhead!" Miu snapped back.

"Hold on, bro," Mondo spoke up. "Maybe Kuwata's got a point. Woodshops normally got power saws. She could chop her arm off and shit."

Taka placed his fist against his chin as he pondered. "Hmm, very well. Not just Miu, but anyone can use the woodshop. However, you must have at least one safety partner to accompany you throughout your time there."

"Fine with me," Miu smiled. "I already got Nagicuck with me at all times."

"Now then, for the last room," Taka turned his attention over to Shinji. However, Taka wouldn't ask Shinji what he saw. He simply stared at him.

"Very well," Shinji spoke up. "The room we investigated was a chemistry lab. Really, the only clue we found was almost too spelled out."

"What do you mean?" Sayaka asked.

"Well, it was a periodic table with six of the elements circled with red marker," Shinji said. "Obviously, the only person that could've marked it was Monokuma. So, there's a chance that Monokuma wants us to know about it."

"Well, what were the things that were circled?" Peko asked.

"The elements that were circled were oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus," Kiyo explained.

"Some of those are used in explosives," Mukuro commented.

"As well as poisons," Kiyo commented.

"Great, so he gave us a blueprint to kill each other," Miu said.

"But isn't calcium related to food?" Tenko asked.

"I think in proteins," Chihiro commented. "Is Sakura still in the nurse's office? She'd probably know."

"Hmmm, these ingredients seem familiar to me," Gundham commented. "I shall research in my spell books and return with my findings!"

"Very well, Tanaka," Taka said. "If that is all of our findings, then I say this brings this meeting for a close."

"Yes," Chiaki joined in. "A lot has happened this morning, so most of you most be exhausted. You can take the rest of the day to relax."

"Well, me and Nagicuck will be getting back to work," Miu stood up from her chair and yanked on Nagito's chain. "We got a little project to work on."

"As do my associates and I," Celestia said. "Gundham, you may bring your "spell book" with you."

"Very well, Master Witch," Gundham said, rising from his seat.

In just a few minutes, most of the group had exited the cafeteria. Chiaki had stayed behind for a moment, her eyes were slowly becoming heavy. Her narcolepsy was about to kick in once again, however a light tap on the shoulder stir her back to consciousness. Chiaki rubbed her eyes until they were able to lock onto Mahiru and Leon.

"Oh, hello," Chiaki said. "Sorry. I got a bit sleepy. How are you two?"

"Chiaki, I'm still worried about Angie," Mahiru said. "And I know we already put her under watch, but I just have this uneasy feeling with her and what's telling Hiyoko, and I-"

Chiaki placed her hand on Mahiru's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mahiru. I'll talk to Angie."

"I don't know if talking will be enough," Mahiru said.

"Maybe just help us keep an eye on her," Leon said.

Chiaki nodded. "OK. I'll help. And don't worry. We can resolve this without getting anyone hurt."

Towards the end of the night, Sayaka bunkered down in her room once again. Instead of laying down or taking a nighttime shower, she sat herself down at the desk by her bed with a pen and paper out in front of her.

"Well, it's time to finally play Detective Sayaka," the bluenette spoke to herself before writing. She wrote down a list of every possible clue or piece of information she could remember. Both for the mystery behind the school as well for who Kaito's true killer was.

-Floor layout makes no sense

-Projector Room on 1st floor had footage of a Hope's Peak documentary

-2nd Floor had 2 books on Hope's Peak and Danganronpa

-Tsumugi said Danganronpa was a show

-Rantaro is reading Tsumugi's journal

-Six elements were circled in the chemistry room

-Someone had to unlock the chain to the front door, not break it

-Someone had time to sneak into Mukuro's room

-Someone figured out they could cheat a murder without taking blame

The last note that Sayaka wrote made her pause. She reread it. Then again. She dropped her pen and buried her face in her hands. "They basically did what…what I tried to do…"

Then another thought crossed her mind. "No. I did. The class trials, I had to send someone to their death."

Sayaka took deep breaths in order to prevent herself from crying. 'No. None of this is my fault. It's Monokuma's. It's that other killer! They think they can get with it they got another thing coming.'

Sayaka balled her hands up into fists. 'They're going to see just how cruel I can get.'

"LOOOOOOOOOOOUD NOISES!" Monokuma screamed through the school's intercom. "It is now 10 pm. As a result, all the water has been shut off and the kitchen is closed until the morning. So, sleep dreams, my lovely little students."

Sorry this took so long, guys. I've been through a really rough time involving getting scammed. I had delete my deviantart account because of it. Luckily, everything turned out fine and I'm safe. Still, that may have affected my writing for this chapter. I can't tell if it's rushed or slow, but I'm just not feeling it right now.

As for the chapter's contents, I'm really trying to keep up the mystery, which is tough. I don't want to flash my hand too much. I'm also working on getting out the status quo a lot of the characters are stuck in. Mainly Mahiru and Kokichi. I know some of you have concerns about how I've written things. Some of you think me putting Kokichi through some shit means I hate his character, which I don't. I just think that, to change things up, make it seem like the characters are learning rather than being dense, would keep him in check at all times. As for Mahiru, I'm kind of sick of writing her as being a passive whiner.

Speaking of characters, I'm really going to bunker down with Sayaka. I've gotten a lot of kind words for how I've written her as a protagonist, which I'm honored by. However, I feel like with how the last trial had to play out, she didn't seem like she's been solving that much. And even worse, I'm worried I'm just writing her as another angsty protag like Hajime or Shuichi. Sayaka's this unique case where just how selfish or kind she is is up in the air. I'm going to play with her unique way of finding clues and her balance with cheerfulness and darkness. I hope to make her different from every other protagonist in the series.

Anyways, thank you for your patiences. Please leave a review/comment and I hope to update again soon.