Danganronpa: Algorithmic Alteration Chapter 20: Dual Disposition (Part 9), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Was that the truth of it all?

A murder case where they couldn't narrow down who the killer was?

"You… You piece of shit…" Hae-Won gripped onto her podium. If she probably wouldn't be stopped by someone, she'd run over and deck Ian right now. "Why…?"

Ian frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side. "Why what?"

Shaking her head, Hae-Won tried to figure out what question she even wanted to ask.

When the answer finally came to her, she continued. "Why Benoit…? What did he ever do to wind up in this sick and twisted game of yours…?"

May frowned at this. "If it was just because you could send me away… Wouldn't you have been able to send Benoit away?"

Letting out a small laugh, Ian shook his head. "No, because Benoit would never have made it. You at least had the coins to get down to the cafeteria."

However, Gennosuke wasn't completely convinced. "There was another reason, wasn't there?"

Ian tried to not change his facial expression. "Oh? You think so?"

Nodding along, Gennosuke continued. "Even if you had set it up, and May was the one who was going to die, it wouldn't have worked…"

May was beginning to clue in to what was happening. "Right… If I woke up in the garden suddenly, I would have… left…?" Wait.

Then why did Benoit stay?

Laki hummed out. "Oh! I guess Benoit could have left at any time too. There was a minute after each time he woke up that he could have left the room."

Hae-Won was looking down at the ground, almost drilling a hole through the glass with her eyes. "He would have been conscious several times before his death… Why… Why didn't he leave?"

"Everything was done in such a way to get the desired outcome." Ian tilted his head to the side. "You should already know why he stayed." His eyes drifted to look at someone else, but he didn't bring up their name.

Thinking about everything, it became rather clear just why Benoit had stayed. "Wait…" Hae-Won mumbled out, realising why. "He… He stayed… Because…"

…

"Michael was trapped in the shed."

Hearing that, Michael looked away, refusing to acknowledge it.

Not only was that the right answer… It became very clear that Michael knew this. "You…" Hae-Won turned to look at him. "You knew this."

"I…" Michael had no defense to this. She was right. He had been conscious the entire time, so he heard Benoit.

Ian shrugged, shaking his head. "Honestly, it's everyone else who was just asking to make this an easy job. If people actually took this game seriously, they would have been more careful."

"Michael." Hae-Won narrowed her eyes at him. " What happened?"

Michael had a hard time trying to find the right words. Instead, he flipped his hood back on, trying to hide away from everyone's gazes.

"Michael…" Melody mumbled out besides him. "Please… What happened."

"..."

He didn't want to answer…

Because had he done anything differently, Benoit would have still been alive. Then again, Michael had no way of knowing what Ian's plan was… And yet… He had prioritised himself above anything else… Something he now regretted. "He… He…" With a deep breath, he knew he would have to tell everything…

Chapter 2: Dual Disposition (Deadly Life Part 4)

Warning: This is a Danganronpa fic. There's going to be a good amount of blood, violence, gore, and a little more intense subject matter. You have been warned properly.

Slowly, Benoit's conscience began to come back, and he let out a painful groan. Last he remembered… He was talking to Michael and…

Right.

He had been injected.

Getting up, Benoit looked around… Except…

He wasn't in his Ultimate Station anymore.

No.

He was in the garden. "What am I…?"

"Benoit?" It was a familiar voice. It was Michael's voice.

Looking around the garden, Benoit began to search for Michael. "Michael? Where are you?"

"In… In the shed…" Michael said rather weakly. He still hadn't fully recovered from what Ian had done to him. "Ian… He…"

Benoit moved over towards the door, looking for the handle. "I… I think the door is broken…"

Michael tried his best to get himself out of the resistance band, but he was still having a hard time getting his arms to stretch the material. "I… He broke the door before going…" What the hell was Ian even planning? "Listen you should…-"

"Nngh." Benoit began to stumble around, having been injected again.

A minute had already passed.

"I…" Benoit said rather weakly as he found a wall to lean against. "Sorry…" Was the last thing he said before passing out again.

Which left Michael alone again. Taking a deep breath, he tried to break free from the restraints again…

But…

Nothing. He just wasn't strong enough…

…

It would be ten minutes before Michael even heard any movement. "Benoit?" He called out again.

"I'm… I'm back…" Benoit said rather weakly. "What do you want me to do?"

At first, Michael wanted to send Benoit to try and stop whatever Ian was doing, but it became very obvious that Benoit wouldn't be able to do that. "I… Get me out of here. If you get me out, I can maybe put a stop to everything…"

"To put a stop to everything…?" Benoit didn't quite understand it. "I can stop-"

"Free me." Michael ordered, trying to slowly make his way towards the door through small movements.

After a few seconds, Benoit nodded. "Right… I'll get you out…"

However, even with his strength, there didn't seem to be a way Benoit could rip the door open. "It's… It's…" He didn't get the time to finish his sentence, as he let out another painful grunt. "I… it happened again."

"Benoit!" Michael called out, but the sound of Benoit falling to the ground could be heard again.

Why…

Why were the two of them placed in this situation? Michael couldn't even check what time it was… "Why…" He mumbled out, resting his head on the ground. He'd just need to wait some more…

…

Another ten minutes, and Michael would be able to hear some noises again.

"Ng…" Slowly, Benoit stood up from the ground. "Michael… Are you… Are you still here?"

Taking a deep breath, Michael tried to move himself towards the door. "Yeah… I'm still trapped. I'm wrapped up pretty well."

If he wanted to get out of this… He would need to take on a much calmer approach. Or else, he risks wasting too much time. "What can you see from your side…"

Benoit shook his head, looking at the door. "The way the door is… It won't open without the handles… This was made rather poorly…" He tried to push or pull the door open, but he wasn't having any luck.

So instead, Benoit tried ramming into it, hoping to get it to break open. But even with his size, it wasn't enough. "No…" Not that Michael was in any danger if he was alone on that side, but he wanted to help him out before worrying about himself.

However, even Benoit knew he didn't have much time before he went under again. And now, he was really starting to feel the effects of the drug. He felt himself getting weaker every time he woke up. "I… I'm not sure if I can keep doing this…"

"Please…" Michael begged. He couldn't stay here. Not when someone was about to happen. Ian wanted him trapped here for a reason, so it was clear that he knew Michael was going to stop him. "You have to get met out…"

He had to…

"Alright…" Besides, Benoit really couldn't leave out someone in need.

But for now… Time had run out again. "Just…" Benoit felt himself stumble back after being injected again. "Give me… ten minutes…"

The sound of someone collapsing on the ground can be heard again.

Michael would just need to wait again.

…

When Benoit woke up this time, he knew this had to be the time. As he slowly stumbled his way onto his feet, he felt his clumsy nature taking over, almost falling down again. "Ugh…"

"Benoit? Are you up again…?" Michael mumbled out, almost having completely given up on any hope.

"Y-yes… I'm up." Making his way back over towards the door, Benoit had to think of something. Anything, really.

However, suddenly, the sound of glass breaking could be heard.

"Benoit…? What was that?" It didn't sound good, but Michael couldn't tell what it was.

This was quickly followed by the sound of crackling, like a fire.

"U-Um… A fire just started on the other end…" Even more reason Benoit couldn't just leave Michael here. "I'll get you out." He reassured, turning back towards the door.

Thankfully, the fire didn't last very long, as instead, water began to sprinkle out of sprinklers, soaking Benoit completely in water.

"O-Oh! Water took care of it." Benoit took a step back, as the water began to accumulate at his feet. "Um… There might be too much water…"

Not that it was a bad thing.

It was a garden after all.

Water is good.

Unfortunately, Benoit had found himself far too distracted to even realise a minute had already been up.

After the familiar injection, Benoit found himself stumbling around. "Wait…" With the water accumulating this much, it would be bad to fall into the water face down, he had to… Adjust himself.

Saving himself by making sure he was lying on his back.

Everything would be alright…

Next time he woke up, Benoit knew for sure he'd be able to help Michael get out of this mess.

Letting out a small sigh, Michael let his body grow limp again. It would be another ten minutes before Benoit-

Just then, a flash and sound he would never forget.

Through the small hole in the door, Michael saw a bright flashing light, as well as a scream.

"Benoit?!" Mchael began to panic, as the flashes of electrocution became very apparent from the shed. "Benoit!" Michael called out again, but no matter how much he struggled…

There was nothing he could do to help.

And… just as quickly as it all started, it quickly grew silent again…

Leaving Michael alone.

"Benoit…?" He mumbled out, knowing damn well there wasn't going to be an answer.

How… How could he be so dumb… Of course there was a reason for everything… "Dammit…" Michael tried to struggle again, with a bit more urgency.

Fueled by the delusions that Benoit could be saved, he tried everything he could to make sure he could free himself.

And yet… His own situation didn't improve. He still felt himself failing to get out of the resistance band.

"Dammit…" Michael let his head fall onto the ground again.

Maybe he was going about this all wrong… Maybe using force like this wasn't going to be his strong suit. So, instead, he switched up his strategy… Instead of trying to use his strength to get out, he was going to try and loosen up the bands by moving them around.

Michael wasn't getting any better results right away, but it wouldn't be long before he made some form of progress.

Slowly by slowly…

And finally…

He was free.

Slowly getting onto his feet, Michael rubbed his wrists. They had been stuck in a weird position, and they had grown uncomfortable.

His next priority was getting the door open.

However, based on Benoit's performance, he knew he didn't have a single chance to force the door open. So instead, his eyes turned over to the one thing he knew he could use…

The hatchet. The very thing Ian had used to cut his hair.

Grabbing it, Michael almost let it slip out of his hands immediately, but he managed to catch it.

Turning his attention towards the door, Michael began to hack away at it, destroying bits and pieces, each slash at a time…

Until…

The door had been decimated. He dropped the hatchet to the side, taking a look around the room, only to find something odd.

Not only was the water no longer there…

Benoit himself was missing.

"W-what…?" Michael stepped out into the garden. "B-Benoit…?" What was going on… Just… What happened…?

It had been over ten minutes since the screaming happened, but could Benoit have been moved…?

After looking around the garden, Michael decided it was best to leave the room.

However, as soon as he stepped out, a sound played out.

Voiced by none other than Monokawa…

" A body has been discovered! That's right! You heard me! A body has been discovered! Please, everyone, meet up in the Ultimate Soccer Player Station for more details!"

Hearing that, Michael froze up, unable to figure out what to say. When he finally realised just what was going on… He only mumbled out one name.

"B-Benoit…?"

Trial Ground Alpha

Michael was staring down at the stars below him. "I was only there… So Benoit wouldn't leave the garden…"

"Huh. So he had more purpose than to be framed." Lorelei was impressed for once. "You really thought this through."

Ian had his back towards the trial. "Everything was planned to the last second." With a plan like this, there was nothing he could avoid.

"And now…" Dae-Hyun rested his head on his head. "We have to figure out which of you two idiots killed him…" A fifty fifty… The odds weren't as bad as the ones from the goal sensors… But it was still uncertain whether they'd make it out of this alive.

"Now wait a fucking minute." Atlas narrowed his eyes, an idea popping in his head. "You say you planned everything down to the last second, but there's one thing you forget about."

Was Atlas onto something? Ian didn't really seem to think so. "What's that?"

"Because, if Laki isn't the killer, then she would have counted towards the body discovery announcement." Yeah, Atlas was confident in his idea right now. "That's how we're going to discover who the killer is. We just have to figure out if she was part of it or not."

However, his idea was short-lived, as Gemini shook his head. "No… I'm sorry, but that won't work as proof of any kind."

"WHAT?!" Atlas barked at him. "Why the fuck not!?"

Gemini didn't want to be the one to crush the last hope they had, but he didn't want people to go down the wrong path. "We can't use the body discovery announcement to prove who the killer is because…"

…

"Seira and I discovered the body together…"

Looking off to the side, Seira nodded. "Right. The first person to find the body was Edison. Even if Laki would have counted, it doesn't matter, because Gemini and I saw him together."

"Wait…" Michael narrowed his eyes, finally piecing something together. "That's… That's why…"

Ian raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. "What's that? Have you figured something out?"

Everything.

Everything was planned out.

There wasn't any avenue to escape…

Michael gripped onto his podium. "The reason you moved the body to the Ultimate Referee Station was because…"

…

"You didn't want me to be part of the body discovery announcement…"

"Oh, you figured it out." Ian didn't seem to mind in the slightest. "Good on you."

Laki nodded her head along. "Yup! If we left it there, you could easily figure out which one of us is the killer based on how many people it took to set off the body discovery announcement."

However, something struck Dae-Hyun as odd. "Then… Why the Ultimate Referee Station anyways?"

"Dammit…" Gigi frowned, realising the exact reason that Ian even chose that place. "Because he knew there would be people gathering there soon. He wanted his perfect alibi, so he placed the body where people would be at 5:00…"

Edison quickly picked up on what she meant. "Wait… Our DnD game!"

Melody hadn't exactly thought that far ahead, but what was the problem with making it up on the spot? "4:00pm sharp tomorrow!" A bright smile on her face. "And maybe we will go on for an hour."

An hour sounded nice. Turning her attention to the four in her group, Gigi spoke up. "After the soccer game is over, we can probably meet up for another session."

Edison adjusted his goggles. "That's fine by me!" He didn't really see himself doing anything else tomorrow except maybe raising his total. However… "Hypothetically speaking, what happens if the game lasts longer than that?"

Gigi shook her head. "We all have the time. I'll make sure the game doesn't take longer than it needs to."

Laki swayed her head from side to side. "Yup! Because we knew a group would be going there, we could easily avoid a small group finding Benoit on their own."

"Something that almost happened because Edison went on his own." Seira pointed out.

Ian stuffed his hands in his pockets, frowning. "Well, there was no plan for that, but it seems we got lucky anyways. Thank you for contributing."

Hae-Won's frown increased in size as she looked at him. "You know, you're a piece of shit…" Then, her eyes drifted over towards Laki. "So are you."

She didn't really seem to mind that much.

"I've been wondering…" May hummed out, thinking of something. She glanced over at Gennosuke. "And you've been having the same thoughts, haven't you."

"Yeah." Gennosuke offered a smile. "Do you want me to point them out, or should you?"

May felt like she should be the one to point them out, so she was going to do it. "Let me…" Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention over towards Ian. "This entire case is odd… In fact… Even the fact that we found out about many of the things in it is what makes it odd…"

As usual, she wasn't going to voice her concerns right away. Instead, choosing to be vague. "You…"

…

"Wanted us to solve this case."

"Huh?" Edison almost dropped the flask in his hand. "Why would he want us to solve it? Hypothetically, that… That doesn't make any sense."

However, Ian didn't respond. Instead, he only smiled.

Given that he wasn't going to counter her argument, May continued. "For one, we were only able to figure out Laki was involved because there was a coin missing from her. Sure, that could have been an accident…"

Placing her hands into her pockets, May frowned. "But I think you wanted us to discover that."

Gennosuke nodded his head along. "Same with the investigation. Laki showed off to me that she could do a handstand, and she pointed out the panel, which would eventually seal the method."

Tatiana narrowed his eyes. "You made sure to point things out in the shed, including the fact that the hatchet and crowbar was used…"

They weren't the only people who realised something. Hae-Won had just thought of something. "Not to mention… You could have hidden those gloves elsewhere for Laki to pick up… Yet you made sure everyone saw her with them."

With each point brought up, it was becoming very clear why all of those happened.

"You left breadcrumbs…" May yawned out, covering her mouth. "Every step of the way, you wanted us to reach this conclusion…"

Clapping her hands, Laki spoke up. "Yup! You got it right! It was Ian's idea, but how could I not go along with it?"

"See…" Ian turned away from the trial. "It doesn't matter if you figure it out, because in the end… The killer is unknown…"

"Then why… Why make it like this…" Michael mumbled out. "Why waste so much time with-"

As he said that, a beeping noise was heard, ripping everyone out of the thoughts they were having.

"Oh!" Monokawa flew over towards the timer. "Wow! To think that the timer would actually run out!"

"W-wait…" Gemini turned to look at him. "We need more time-"

The distance between the two was closed in an instant as Monokawa was now floating inches away from his face. "I don't remember asking you your opinions. I'm not sure if you remember, but the rules were read out to you."

However, before anything else could happen, a low chuckle could be heard. Specifically coming from Gennosuke. "You're right. However, that was only to discuss the murder case… It said nothing about discussing the votes."

Monokawa was going to say something, but Nova cut him off. "He is right. I say they should be given the chance to discuss who they want to vote for. It is a matter of life and death, after all."

Not wanting to go against Nova, Monokawa floated back. "Fine. But I will only give you an extra ten minutes to do so."

Gennosuke nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah."

The rules said not to push their luck, but they already had to do that with this case…

"My question." Lorelei placed a hand on their hip. "Why even do this in the first fucking place? Only one of you can step out of it alive. Do you do it for the thrill?"

Gennosuke shrugged, looking over at Laki. "I wouldn't be surprised if Laki agreed to it just for that reason."

May shook her head. "While that could be the plan… It seems…" She had to think of the best way to phrase this. "They put too much thought into this murder case to leave it to chance…"

Tilting his head to the side, Ian shook his head. "You don't know anything about us, so there's no point in figuring it out."

"Yeah!" Laki bounced around in her podium. "Aren't you just wasting time if you discuss the reasons why we did this?"

Gemini rubbed the back of his head. "They're right… We got lucky with the time we were given… So we should just figure out which person to vote for…"

"Hmm…" Dae-Hyun wasn't convinced by any of this. "We have ten minutes, let's take our time. We can save the voting for the last minute."

Closing one eye, Gigi had a thought she wanted to verbalise. "They may act like they don't have a reason. But nobody just kills for the hell of it. Both of them had their own motives."

"Of note…" Edison adjusted his goggles. "They both had secrets as their secondary motive."

"Tsk!" Atlas narrowed his eyes. "As if Laki had anything worth killing for. If Ian didn't have anything, I doubt she did."

However…

Maybe they were thinking about this all wrong.

Gigi seemed to think so. As she watched everyone argue on how to figure this out, she wanted to take a completely different approach.

Gigi closed one of her eyes, keeping her other one focused completely on Ian. However, she quickly lost herself in her own thoughts…

Up to this point… We've only been playing into Ian's hands. He wanted us to reach this point, which is why evidence was even left behind in the first place…

But we have to figure something out, or every single one of us will perish…

First off, let's consider this… Is there a way to figure out which of the two is the killer?

…

No…

As much as it pains me to admit it, Ian has devised some way to make it impossible for us to determine who the killer is. And even if there was a way to determine, we've run out of time to do so. We're going to have to vote in a few minutes.

But just because it's impossible to figure out who did the kill, doesn't mean we can't infer some things with the details we already know.

The next question is… Why? Who exactly would benefit from this setup…?

…

Both of them . Right, neither would work on this if it meant only one got the benefit over the other.

So there must have been a way that both parties could benefit from this entire murder plot… Then again, what exactly did benefit mean in this case?

Laki and Ian are both severely different individuals, so it's hard to figure out what they were aiming for…

Their goals were…

…

To survive…

To think otherwise is to fall right in Ian's hands again. Ian wants us to think otherwise, doesn't he?

Even if Laki is a bit on the crazy side, I doubt she would be alright with execution.

However… It's impossible for them to make a murder case where the two of them could live through it.

…

Or is it…?

Would it be possible to make a murder case where the two of them can live?

…

Yes…

As unlikely as it seems… They must have found a way to get out of this entire thing with both of them still alive.

That's why the entire murder was set up this way…
The only question remains… How were they even planning on doing that? If one of them has to be the killer, how would they both get out of this trial with their lives intact…?

…

..-

Now, Gigi closed her second eye. Normally she'd always have one open, that way she could keep an eye on those around her. But right now, she needed a moment of rest. When she was finally ready, she opened her eyes. "You know." Her voice was surprisingly calm as she looked over at Ian. "You are by far the worst person I've ever met in my life. You should feel honoured."

Ian grew a cocky grin on his face. "Hearing you say that makes it feel like an honour."

"Did you figure something out?" Tatiana's voice didn't change, but it was clear she was trying to hold back a nervous expression.

Closing one of her eyes, Gigi tried to figure out how to best phrase this. "I know what Ian's goal for this entire trial was…"

"You do?" Gemini hadn't figured it out, so he was shocked that Gigi had. "What was it?"

She remained silent for a bit, before finally taking a deep breath. "Ian's goal this entire time has been…"

…

"To have us forfeit our vote."

Gigi knew it wasn't going to be an easy revelation. They had all remembered the rule about it.

"W-what…" Michael winced upon hearing that. "Forfeit our vote… Why would…?"

Or… Maybe the others hadn't. "Because of Rule #13…"

Rule #13: At any point during the trial, if the participants unanimously decide to forfeit their vote, only half the people remaining will be punished, while the blackened escapes.

Dae-Hyun slammed his hand onto his podium. "Dammit!" If that was his goal…

"D-Dae-Hyun…!" Melody called out. "C-calm down." However she was finding it hard to keep calm as well. She had stopped dancing like she normally would.

"Wait…" Michael mumbled out, remembering something crucial that Ian had talked to him about while he was restrained in the shed…

Quickly, Ian had to take a few steps back, trying to regain his composure. "You just… Is that what makes you a cult leader?" He had never seen anything like this. Someone who could almost make people do whatever they wanted. "I need to be careful about you. Hopefully you're one of them."

What… What did Ian even mean by that? It was so vague… "What are you… planning on doing?"

At the time… It had seemed so cryptic.

But now, with the information Michael knows now, his intentions became all the more clear.

"You…" Looking at the ground, he couldn't believe what Ian meant by that. "You want me to be one of the people randomly chosen for death…"

"Ah. Didn't think you remembered that." Ian tilted his head to the side, a small smile on his face. "Almost completely ruined my plan right there." The smile had quickly vanished. "But wouldn't it be beneficial to have someone like you taken out of the game?"

Michael wanted to reply, but he knew now wasn't the time for that. They had a much bigger problem at hand right now.

"Why…?" Seira mumbled out, looking over at them. "Why would you ever…?" It didn't make any sense.

"Not only did you want to make this an impossible murder to solve…" Dae-Hyun shoved his hands into his pockets. "You wanted half of us to die for it?"

"Well…" Ian looked the other way. "When you put it like that."

"Hey, I like escape as much as the next guy." Gemini gripped onto his podium. "But this feels like a bit too much, even for me."

Atlas raised his leg, before having his heel slam down onto his podium. "Tell me one thing… bitch…" This one wasn't aimed at Ian, instead, it was aimed at Laki. "Why the hell would you even go for such a plan in the first place?"

Gigi already knew the answer to that. "Because they would both-"

"I didn't fucking ask you!" Atlas barked out. "I asked her!" If he could, he would point at Laki.

Gennosuke tilted his head to the side. "I know she had a pretty good reason, isn't that right?"

Laki hummed out, swaying her head to the side. "Because the plan was pretty good. Ian and I discussed it a few days ago, and I was on board."

Edison quickly shook his head. "There's no reason to trust Ian! Who would trust him at all?" But feeling that wasn't enough to get through to Laki, Edison decided to elaborate. "Who's to say he wouldn't backstab you in the end? I think he'd want to avoid dying…"

"Huh?" Laki tilted her head to the side, confused. "Why would Ian betray me? He's my bestie."

Winter quickly shook her head. "We haven't been here for long. That's not enough time to be able to place your full trust in someone." She should know, she already had her trust crushed right before her eyes.

Laki still had a confused look in her eyes. "A few… days?" She let out a childish laugh. "Silly…"

…

"I've known Ian for years."

Silence filled the room. At this point, they all thought they had been strangers… To hear such a sentence…

They had known each other for so long…

"How is that fair?" Dolly blurted out. "They were a pair this entire time?"

Ian had begun to lean his back on his podium, shuffling his cards around. "Now that the air is clear, we should come clean, right?" He stood up straight, turning to face everyone. "Laki is my bestie."

"And you haven't told anyone about that?" Tatiana took a step back. "Knowing that information could have helped us!"

Ian slowly shook his head. "Why would it have helped you? Just because we know each other, doesn't mean that it would provide any additional information. Besides…" He continued to shuffle his deck. In an instance, he had given himself a hand of four cards. "Never reveal your hand before you need to play it." He showed off the cards, all four being aces.

Quickly understanding the implication, Gennosuke slowly nodded his head. "Ah… That would be your secret, wouldn't it? For the both of you."

"Yup!" Laki nodded her head along. "Though, it's not really a reason to kill someone." Tapping her chin, she sent a glance over to Michael. "He had something much more valuable.

"Then why the fuck-" Atlas was going to ask, but he was cut off by Ian.

"Simple." Reshuffling the cards into the deck, Ian pulled out a few new cards. "Because a trick like this would only work once. After that, you would all be on the lookout for anything the two of us did."

"We aren't exactly trusted." Laki hummed out. "Some of the smart people would have noticed if we tried to do anything."

"So…" Hae-Won narrowed her eyes. "Your solution was to just go out and kill Benoit?"

Letting out a sigh, Ian shook his head. "We only went after Benoit because that's the only person we could have gotten. We didn't pick out Benoit because we hated him or anything."

Laki nodded her head. "Besides, with limited time, nobody else was doing anything, so we figured we'd get started."

"Tell me…" Ian put his cards down on his podium. "Would you have preferred if the motive ended, and everyone's secrets and threats were gone through with?"

Lorelei shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't really care. They were just people I knew online."

Winter shook her head. "A secret like mine would not have been worth a life."

Gennosuke shrugged. "Nothing I was going to be threatened with would have really worked."

"But…" Michael glanced at the ground. "Benoit… Also had a threat."

"But Benoit-" Hae-Won started to say before being cut off by Monokawa.

"What? Were you about to say that Benoit wouldn't have done anything to save them?" Floating over the trial grounds, Monokawa looked down at Hae-Won. "It is true that Benoit wouldn't have taken a life, but he was clearly worried about the life of the person who was being threatened."

And, given that the motive was over for the time being, Monokawa had no worries revealing to everyone just what was at stake for Benoit. "The person who we threatened Benoit with… was his own father." Apparently the only good father in Danganronpa. What the hell-

"His…" Michael mumbled out.

Michael let out a small nervous laugh. "No… I guess not." Slowly, he turned to look at Benoit. "What about you? Is the motive getting to you? You got a threat… so."

Now, a frown was visible on Benoit's face. "Yeah… It's hard to know that Monokawa would do that. Especially if we only have a day left before something happens."

"Would you… You know…?" Michael didn't want to say it outright.

Benoit quickly shook his head, understanding the implication right away. "N-no! I would never…" He let his body slouch slightly in his chair. "They would never want me to anyways…"

Slowly, Michael nodded his head. "Right… Benoit mentioned that the motive was bothering him…"

Monokawa lowered himself down, until he was at about eye height for the majority of the people. "Yes, Benoit's father. He too, was an Ultimate. What a lucky lad he was, surviving the initial tragedies."

Hearing that, the room grew cold.

Finally, Hae-Won spoke up. "Those tragedies… Do they have anything to do with this one…?"

Nova tilted her head to the side, shaking her head. "They have almost no relation. Those happened over two decades ago. How would it have any relation to this?"

An uneasy look on his face, Edison looked away. "Right… The…" He knew about them, but he never took the time to look them up. He was worried about what he'd find.

"If it has nothing to do with the killing game…" Dae-Hyun narrowed his eyes, feeling like they were just wasting time with this conversation. "Why bring it up in the first place?"

Covering his mouth, Monokawa let out a small laugh. "Because, it's just ironic how Benoit's father was able to avoid all of that, only for his son to be killed by a killing game so many years later."

"Stop it…" Hae-Won slammed her first on her podium. "Stop treating this whole thing like a game."

"Huh?" Nova turned her head to the side. "But this whole thing is a game."

However, she could understand Hae-Won's point. "That's enough Monokawa. Our goal isn't to make them have a mental breakdown. We should continue on with the trial."

Especially since the rest of the participants still had to deal with the lunatics that are Laki and Ian.
"I'm curious…" Gemini looked at the two of them. If they were telling the truth, he needed to know how long they knew each other. "When exactly did you meet?"

"When we were thirteen." Laki took the lead with that one. "So not a super long time, but we did get scouted for Hope's Peak together."

"Almost like a packaged deal." Ian tilted his head to the side. "We got our letters the same day."

Laki nodded her head along, remembering all the great times. "They're still so fresh in my mind." Now it was time for her to reminisce about the past, and how the two of them met.

Today was just another boring day of recess. Ian had sat down to play cards with a few of the other kids, but they were all sore losers.

Ian won every hand, so they wanted nothing to do with him.

It did bring down the mood, but not for long. Because he noticed a rare sight! The girl who was deemed a lunatic by the rest of the classroom. He couldn't disagree with that assessment… But…

That did cause Ian to grow a little curious. Stepping away from the bench he was at, he decided to approach her.

"Lakshmi, was it?" Ian had his hands in his pockets, and he had a small curious smile on his face.

Stopping what she was doing, Laki quickly turned to look at Ian, nodding her head rather quickly. "Yup! That's me! But you can call me Laki if you want."

That would be better, since that name was easier to remember. For a moment, Ian spent a few seconds looking at her. She had been covered in bandages, probably from past injuries, adding onto the lunatic claims she had going for her. "I saw what you did yesterday."

For a moment, Laki blankly stared back at him, almost as if to recall what he meant. Soon, a sparkle appeared in her eyes. "Oh! You mean the backflip off the monkey bars?"

Ian nodded. "You could have hurt yourself." Or worse, but he was young enough that his mind didn't immediately wander to death.

Still, seeing just how lucky Laki was sometimes, it got Ian thinking. "Could I join you in what you do?"

"Oh?" That was a proposition she hadn't heard. "You want to join me?"

From what Ian had heard, most people wanted to ignore her.

But him?

He was different. He saw the value of having a friend like that.

But join wasn't exactly the right word. Ian was more just curious to see what she could actually do. "Are you able to do a backflip without standing on the monkey bars?"

Laki crouched slightly to ready herself to jump back.

When her feet left the ground, the entire world turned around her, until she was barely able to land on her feet. However, she stumbled forward, and fell on the ground.

The only evidence that Laki had even fallen was a slight cut. "Oh! Another bandage!" She didn't really seem to mind one bit.

Ian on the other hand, was more than happy to have witnessed what he did. "Awesome!" He'd never attempt something like that himself, but she seemed to have zero hesitation at his suggestion. "What else can you do?"

It was nice to have someone who was just happy for her when she did these things, instead of always getting yelled at.

Even her parents had grown increasingly worried with what she wanted to do, when other times, they would have been happy to just see Laki having fun. "Hmm…" However, doing things on her own wasn't fun, so she got a better idea. "What do you want me to do?"

For a moment there, the boy was going to say an idea, until he realised they were moving too fast. "Hey, you don't even know my name yet."

"Oh!" Laki had completely forgotten about it! "What's your name?"

Tilting his head to the side, the boy smiled. "Ian." Walking over to her, he helped her up onto her feet. "Honestly, you're probably the coolest person in the class so far. I don't really care what the other people say."

It was nice for someone to finally compliment her, so Laki wasn't going to let this opportunity go. "I think the two of us can be good friends."

This could really blossom into a good friendship between the two.

Laki stood outside of a rather large building. There were a lot of flashy neon lights that were difficult to see during the day, but there they were. "This must be the place." She placed her hands on her hips.

Today, she was going to surprise her best friend while he was working.

Entering into the casino, Laki didn't have any clues on where to find him. In fact, her first step was trying to get around the people at the entrance.

However, as luck would have it, she didn't need to think of a way around them.

"Oh?" Ian had been making his way towards the exit, and was surprised to find Laki there. "How did you find this place?"

"Duh! As if I wouldn't find this place, you're famous around here." Laki looked around the area with amazement. "Is this your parents?"

Ian flashed her a smile. "Yup. My parents have had it for years." Screw going outside. She was here now, so everything would be perfect. He turned to walk further into the casino. "Should I show you around?"

That seemed to put a sparkle in Laki's eyes. "Yes! Show me the way!"

The two walked side by side through the casino, and with each new place, Laki seemed to be amazed. "You think I'd be good at gambling?"

That was a good question. One Ian had the answer to. "I say it depends on your opponent. If you face off against me, you'd lose every game you play."

Laki rolled her eyes. "Well no duh! You're the king of gambling. There's no way I'd beat you. But what about someone else?"

In that case… "I think you could confuse them enough to get a win."

"Confuse?" Laki liked the sound of that. "Yeah! That's what I'd do. They wouldn't know what to do against me."

Half the time Ian didn't even know what to do about her.

Soon, they reached the same table as before. "This is where I'm set up, normally." There was even a display to show how many people he had beaten. It seemed to be well in the thousands, and Ian had only been doing it for a year.

"That number feels pretty low." Laki commented before looking at him. "Let's raise it!" She sat down at the table.

Well, who would Ian be to decline such an easy victory? He moved to the other side of the table, getting the cards ready. "For you, I'll let you play for free. But after that, you'll need to get some coins from the front." His parents wouldn't like it if let someone play over and over again like that.

Laki shook her head, laughing a bit. "That just sounds like I'd be wasting my money to lose against you."

As he dealt the cards, Ian shrugged it off. "Hey, don't give me too much credit." Even if it was the truth. As he dealt out the cards, a smile appeared on his face.

Nothing else was better in the world.

"We've been close friends ever since." Laki nodded her head along to her own story. "And then to wind up here after all that."

Ian turned away from everyone, to prevent any of them from reading his expression. "And now, to end up in a killing game like this? A game that ends once a winner is declared, with the rest all dying."

"So what?" Atlas narrowed his eyes, his tone dripping with frustration. "You think it's fair to just get half of us killed just so you and Laki can live?"

"Not to mention…" Edison adjusted his glasses. "Even if one of you were to escape, the other person would only have a 50% chance of surviving."

"Look who you are talking to." Gennosuke raised an eyebrow, eyeing the lucky devils. "A girl who relies on luck, and a guy who's a master at gambling."

"O-Oh…" Edison felt his mood drop to the floor. "What kind of level of luck is this…?"

Hae-Won shook her head. "And then what? Whoever would live would be stuck with us. We aren't letting something like that happen again." They would lock up the person who remains.

Ian shrugged. "I don't think there's anything we have to worry about there." His voice oozed confidence.

He knew his plan was going to work one way or another.

It had to.

"You parade yourself around as if you're a fair player." Lorelei narrowed her eyes at him, a bit of anger in her voice. "You yell at me for cheating, and then you-"

"Shut it." Ian tilted his head to the side, a dark look in his eyes. "Everything I did was well within the rules."

Nova nodded her head along. "There's nothing wrong with what he did. If he had broken a rule, as soon as Monokawa would have been alerted, he would have taken action."

Floating over towards Ian, Monokawa began to orbit him. "Yup! And Ian has been playing well within the rules. Not his fault none of you can think like he can."

"I'm sorry." Ian stuffed his hands into his pockets. "But there's no loophole for this murder case."

Laki nodded her head along. "Yup! You'll have to rely solely on luck!"

"This whole plan falls flat, though." Lorelei narrowed her eyes. "No matter what option we choose, there's a 50% chance we'll die anyways."

"W-Well…" Edison adjusted his goggles. "Mathematically speaking… Individually, there's only a 50% chance of survival for either option, as a collective group, if we choose to abstain from voting… Then there's a 100% guarantee that half of us would survive."

"Then…" Seira looked at the ground, a mixture of emotions running through her head. "Would it be better if we just… abstained? I don't want to risk all of us dying."

Dolly lowered her arms. "I…" No matter what, there was a risk involved… But. "I think we should."

"You know." Nova called out, standing from her throne. "If you are worried about the odds, there's always something you can do about it."

Seemingly in a brighter mood, Dolly looked over at her. "Really? What can we do?"

"People who are willing to sacrifice themselves would increase the odds of everyone else." Nova explained, without a hint of change in her emotions. "As it stands now, eight people are going to be forced to die if you all choose to abstain your votes. However, if any number chooses to sacrifice their lives, then the remaining people will have much better odds at survival."

"Like hell I'm going to do that!" Atlas barked out, narrowing his eyes. He wasn't about to give up his life for some people he barely knew.

"Um…" Melody held her hands together, looking at the ground. The thought of giving herself up for the survival of everyone else did pop up in her head.

And yet… She refrained from speaking.

"Me!" Dolly yelled out. "If we go through with this… I." Why was she doing this? She didn't want to die… And yet… If she could raise the chance of survival for a potential friend, she'd do it.

"Hey now…" Gemini frowned slightly. "We still haven't figured out if we're even doing this."

"Right!" Monokawa called out. "It must be unanimous. If even one person says no, then everyone gets their vote back."

"For reference." Nova felt like this next part was important to specify. "The killer doesn't count towards the vote. They can vote, but it will not be counted. That way the killer cannot lock you into a horrible situation."

"Oh!" Monokawa almost forgot a crucial detail. "Not only that, but once this fails due to not everyone reaching a consensus, it cannot be tried again. You only get one chance at this."

Nerve wracking…

Letting out a sigh, Gemini saw that the screen on the podium had changed. "Do you all want to talk about it more?"

"I don't see what good talking will do." Dae-Hyun moved his hand over to place a vote. "Especially if we consider survival as a group."

"But." Lorelei placed a hand on her hip, clearly not on board. "If even one person says no, we're fucked, aren't we? So shouldn't we try and convince everyone else?" With that, she still put her own vote in.

Ian leaned forward on his podium. "Hey, the alternative is that everyone but the killer dies." Well, there was a third option, but he doubted they would get that outcome. "The safest option is to abstain, and at least half of you get to live." With that, he put in his own vote, followed by Laki.

"Fuck…" Hae-Won was stuck looking at her own screen, closing her eyes.

She didn't want to have to choose either option.

Either way, a 50% chance of dying wasn't something she was stoked with having to deal with.

After a few more seconds of contemplation, Hae-Won pressed a button on her screen.

One by one…

Everyone joined.

"Aww…" Monokawa let his body droop a bit out of disappointment. "I was hoping they'd argue it a bit more."

Checking the monitor on her arm, Nova's expression changed to joy. "I have the results." What an outcome they chose!

Using her jetpack, Nova was able to fly up to where Monokawa was. "Now, shall we reveal how you all intend on solving this."

With a tap of a button, she revealed what the votes were…

…

Forfeit Vote: 12

Keep Vote: 4

Seeing that, the colour from Ian's face slowly drained. "W-what…?"

"What the hell?" What was Dae-Hyun even looking at? Had they not all agreed to forfeit their votes?

"Like hell…" Lorelei placed a hand on their hip, narrowing their eyes. "Why the fuck would I go for that option? I'm not about to let myself get killed by random chance." The first vote.

"You…" Gemini turned his attention towards her. He was going to try and be agreeable, but she had blatantly lied to everyone, when in the end, it never mattered since she was the second person to vote.

Rolling their eyes, Lorelei made it very obvious just how much she didn't care about all of this. "You're so quick to give up, when we can still at least try and figure out who the killer is."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Atlas narrowed his eyes. "They fucking randomised it, you bitch. There isn't going to be any figuring it out."

"For once…" Gennosuke discarded his lollipop to the side. "I fully agree with her. Sounds like we're throwing away our lives if we forfeit the votes." The second vote.

"Hmm… You said so yourself, mister psychic. You can't read their minds." Dae-Hyun pointed out. "So how exactly are you expecting to get out of this?"

"Yes, but…" Melody looked at the ground, trying to process what to say next. "I… This whole thing is balled up…" But… Melody couldn't bring herself to just forfeit her vote.

Maybe it was a stupid decision, but she wanted the outcome where everyone can escape alive. The third vote.

"Don't…" Dae-Hyun turned to face her. "Don't tell me you also decided to keep your vote."
"I…" Melody couldn't make eye contact with him. She had… And she couldn't bring herself to admit it.

"Melody…" Dae-Hyun couldn't fault her, but he could call her out for doing something stupid. "If we vote wrong, we all die."

Melody knew that… And yet… "If there's a way for everyone to live, I have to go for that one."

"While we're at." Hae-Won stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Anyone else wants to admit to being the fourth vote?"

"Aiming for only half of us to survive… Something so far down the middle." Gigi began to speak, arms crossed. "That's not something I can allow. I especially can't allow Ian to get what he wants."

Hae-Won would have expected this from most other people… But from Gigi herself? "I thought you'd be able to think rationally about this."

Edison adjusted his goggles. "I know half of us would have to die, but it beats-"

"I don't care much for your reasoning." Gigi stared him down. "My vote ultimately didn't matter, as no matter what happened, the other three still voted to keep their vote."

"This… This is stupid…" Ian had been staring at the ground the entire time.

For once… A gamble didn't pay off.

"Are you so willing to throw out your own lives?"

"Um, newsflash, asshole. We were going to be throwing away our lives no matter what we did." Lorelei wasn't about to play his stupid fucking games.

Running a hand through his hair, Gemini was also beginning to panic. "But now… We have to make a decision." Again.

Tapping his wrist, Monokawa was growing impatient. "Hey now, you're testing my patience."

"It's not your life on the line." Hae-Won looked him directly in the eyes. "So if you could kindly stay out of this, it would be appreciated."

Letting out a humorous sigh, Nova shook her head. "They have an important decision to make. So just leave them alone."

"Is there any real reason to discuss this…?" May let out a tired yawn. She wanted to discuss it, but at this point, it almost didn't matter. It was going to depend on luck in the end.

If Ian had set it up a certain way, they might be able to figure out.

However, even that was out of the question based on what the two of them admitted.

"You…" Ian shook his head. He was still in disbelief at what was happening. He looked over at Laki, and she didn't seem to be too bothered at the moment.

Was she not showing it? Or was Laki actually unbothered by all of this? He couldn't tell.

"Should we try to tie the votes?" Edison suggested, before quickly realising that it didn't fully encapsulate the idea he had. "Or at least try to tie the votes. There's fifteen of us, so…"

Winter shook her head. "It would be best to not openly talk about plans like that. You have to remember…" Her eyes locked onto Ian. "These two get to vote as well."

"So what?" Atlas shook his head, anger visible on his face. "We just vote with our fucking hearts?"

"At… At this point…" Edison put away his flask, no longer having the energy to twirl it around. "That might be all we can do."

"Stop…" Ian shook his head. "You had a chance out of this…"

Why were they throwing it away? The odds were in their favour before…

Why…?

Seira grabbed onto her hair clip, pulling it out, before examining her Libra bracelet.

It was one of these two, and she pretty much had to guess. "Which one is more than likely to be the culprit…"

"What? What are you doing?" Edison turned to look at her, frowning at the very thought of what she was doing.

Narrowing her eyes, Seira placed the hair clip back into her hair. "I don't see you coming up with anything better! I won't be able to vote if I can't think like this."

Annoyed with her method, Edison turned his attention over towards the podium, pressing his hand to vote for one of the two. "It's a fifty percent chance you'll get it right… There's no thinking that needs to be done…" He adjusted his goggles, having a rapid change in mood.

Soon after, Gemini followed, voting for one of the options. "I… I think it's better to think about the consequences after. Thinking about it now will only cloud our thoughts."

"And if we're wrong?" Hae-Won crossed her arms.

"If… If we're wrong." Looking at the ground, Gemini placed his hands on his hips. "We will come to terms with it after…"

After hearing that, several other people moved their hands to vote.

Looking around, Laki scanned the room before voting too.

And soon, pretty much everyone had voted.

"Wow…" Monokawa was almost disappointed with how quick everyone did that. "You were supposed to argue about what to do for another five minutes…"

Oh well. He could live with this.

Soon, he floated up. "Let's see here…" Monokawa began to count all the votes. However, his change in expression indicated something was wrong. "What? I'm missing a vote."

"Huh?" Melody took a step back. "Which of you fellas didn't vote yet?"

"That would be me…"

As all eyes turned toward the person who said that, they'd be met with Gennosuke.

However, for once, his iconic grin seemed to be missing. Instead, he had a neutral expression as he seemed to be boring holes through Ian with his eyes alone.

"What… What do you want?" Ian narrowed his eyes, holding onto his podium. "This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it?"

For it to go to a vote.

"Why bother looking at me." Ian was out of moves. He had no game plan.

After looking at him for an extended period of time, Gennosuke slowly drifted his eyes away to look at Monokawa instead. "Hey, what are the votes so far?"

"What?" Monokawa floated over towards him. "Why would I reveal that?"

Shrugging, Gennosuke pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. "I need to see if my vote even matters at this point. If it doesn't matter, I'm just going to throw my vote to whoever."

"I can't-"

"Monokawa." Nova said softly. "Please show him the current results of the vote."

Grumbling under his breath, Monokawa floated away, activating the screen that showed the votes.

Ian: 7

Laki: 7

Melody: 1

Michael: 1

"Huh…" Gennosuke let out a small chuckle, seeing the votes being so close. "I suppose my vote does matter in the end." Leaning forward on his podium, he decided to make eye contact with Ian. "So what about it? I'm about to decide the fate of the entire trial."

"You…" Everything was falling apart. Ian couldn't even keep a straight face. The usual cocky expression he used to wear had long faded away, leaving him at his wits end.

Examining the lollipop, Gennosuke let out another small chuckle, before placing it back in his mouth. Slowly, he leaned forward on the podium.

"Your poker face is as perfect as a diamond." Of course, that's not all he had to say. "However, even a diamond can crack with a bit of pressure. You know who the killer is, don't you?"

"What the hell… are you talking about?" Ian glanced off to the side, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Please, don't take me for a fool." Gennosuke tilted his head to the side, losing the smile he had. "You make this all up, and then leave it to chance at the last moment? After everything else was so carefully planned…" He shook his head. "No. You planned for there to only ever truly be one killer. None of this half and half bullshit."

"You… You don't know what you're talking about." Ian was getting increasingly more frustrated. And… For a moment, his eyes drifted to the side.

Unfortunately for him, Gennosuke was able to pick up on that, and followed his eyes, only to land right on Laki. "Ah… I see…"

Laki had always been hard to read… Or, to be more precise… She was hard to read accurately. You should be able to figure out her basic thoughts, but it always felt like there was something just under the surface hidden.

And for once…

Those thoughts surfaced. "Laki." Gennosuke called out to her, turning away from Ian completely.

"H-huh?" Laki glanced over at him. She tried her best to pretend like nothing was off… But deep down, something was wrong.

For the first time ever… She saw that Ian was panicking.

Time and time again, Ian had always been able to keep his cool under any circumstances. Even when the killing game was announced, he acted like everything was fine.

For a moment, Laki darted her eyes back over to Ian, before shifting her focus back to Gennosuke. The smile she normally had was completely gone, and she stared directly at him. "What do you want?"

Examining his own lollipop before giving her any thought, Gennosuke let out a small chuckle. "Try your best to hide it, but your thoughts have finally surfaced." Letting the lollipop drop to the ground, he leaned forward on his podium. With one hand, he raised up the hair covering his one eye, so that way both of them were looking directly at Ian.

"Your trick has been revealed."

"I swear, you're as bad as May." Gigi commented, pointing out the vagueness.

Ignoring her, Gennosuke continued. "With just looking at the two of you, I've figured out where my vote is going."

"You're just bluffing." Laki narrowed her eyes. For some reason, she saw the same look Ian always had when they played cards.

Gennosuke was enjoying this.

However, that smile quickly faded from his face. "There's no need to call me a liar… I think I'll let the votes do the talking." Slowly, his hand moved over towards the voting screen, pressing a button.

And…

Fate was sealed at the moment.

There was no changing the outcome.

Slowly, Ian closed his eyes, expecting the worst…

Laki on the other hand, kept her eyes fixated on the screen.

And finally… A single sound played out, to indicate the vote had been added.

After taking a deep breath, Ian opened his eyes, to take a look at the screen.

And he was surprised.

"What…?" There was a bit of shock in his voice, but he soon turned to a smile. "What the hell are you even talking about?" His focus changed to look at Gennosuke. "I knew it… You're…"

…

"Nothing but a fraud."

However, Gennosuke wasn't really bothered by such an accusation. "They all say that, but they'll know the truth eventually." He let out a small chuckle.

"W-wait…" Seira realised just what Ian was getting at. "You don't mean…"

It was Ian's turn to let out a little laugh. "You talked a big game, and for a moment, you actually had me worried."

"Gennosuke…" Hae-Won slowly turned to look at him. "Did you…"

Before he could answer, Ian answered for him. "Yup, that's right… Gennosuke…"

…

"Voted wrong."

An uneasy air filled the room.

To find out that Ian knew who the killer was the entire time…

The fact that there was a bluff…

"You son of a bit-" Atlas began to say, but he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. If they had voted wrong…

All of them were going to die.

And the killer was going to escape…

"I wonder…" Gennosuke hummed out, not really bothered by the revelation. "For a gambler, you only seemed preoccupied with your own hand… That's unlike you."

"What… What are you talking about?" Ian had expected that Gennosuke would back down, but he only seemed to double down.

Letting out a small chuckle, Gennosuke shook his head. "I can assure you that I made no mistake in my vote. How about it, Monokawa?" He turned his focus over to him. "How about you reveal who the killer really is."

Floating up above the trial ground. "You got it!" He turned his attention over to a roulette that slowly lowered itself until it was halfway down the trial ground. "Let's give it a spin, shall we?"
Ian's eyes focused on the roulette the entire time.

They had all gone and thrown away their lives. They'd all realise it as soon as the roulette told them they were wrong.

First head revealed the person who had gotten the most votes.

Turning his focus over to Laki, Ian slowly nodded his head.

However, she didn't return the gesture, given that Laki had been too busy staring at the roulette.

Second head matched the first one…

And lastly…

The final head.

And with it, a message…

…

"Guilty."

Cards fluttered to the ground as Ian stood by, unable to process what he was looking at. "W-what…?"

None of it made sense.

Everything was planned down to the millisecond.

So then why…

Why was…

Why…?

…

Why was he guilty?

Quickly, Ian turned to look back at Laki. "Laki, what did you do?"

"I…" Laki took a step back, trying to process what was even happening.

"Congratulations!" Monokawa floated up, looking down at everyone. "You have correctly guessed who the blackened was, even with that mess of a trial!"

"No… I'm not…" Ian gripped onto his podium. "I didn't…"

How was this even possible?

Ian knew Laki had the right clicker, so how did he end up as the killer?

"What's that?" Monokawa floated down towards him. "Are you implying that I'm lying?"

Nova shook her head, a humorous look on her face. "We too, have rules to follow. If the verdict was wrong, Monokawa would know, and would be forced to enact punishment. There are no ways around them."

Which could only mean one thing. "Laki…" Ian turned to look at her. "You switched them?"

"Huh…" Taking another step back, Laki wasn't sure how to answer this.

At the time, she thought it was a good idea. But now…

"Normally, I would allow time for final words and the like, but you two already revealed everything you needed about your plan…" Monokawa seemed a bit sad. "Even the reveal of you two knowing each other is normally saved for after the vote… Buuuut seems like you wanted to speedrun your death a little. I understand that sentiment completely!"

"W-Wait!" Ian turned to look at Monokawa. "You can't just go with this, it's wrong-"

Shrugging, Monokawa showed how little he cared. "The results don't lie, so shut up and learn to accept the truth."

"I-Ian-" Laki looked over at him. Even with concern visible on her face, she was still sure that Ian could beat this execution.

After all…

Ian never loses.

Giddy at the opportunity to kill someone, Monokawa floated over to the button. He still didn't have a mallet, so he'd need to use his paw again. "I've prepared a very special punishment for Ian Santiago, the Ultimate Gambler!"

"Wait…!" Ian called out, holding onto his podium. "You have to be wrong!" Laki still wasn't answering him.

Was he truly not allowed to talk his way out of this?

"It's too late to start begging for your life." Dae-Hyun turned to look the other way.

The consequences of his actions had finally crept up on him.

"Let's give it everything we've got!"

"Laki!" Ian turned to look back at her.

Slowly, Laki nodded her head. "You… You never lose, right? So it'll be alright?" Hard to figure out if she was delusional, or just going through the stages of grief.

Ian lost the moment that Melody and the others decided to not forfeit their vote.

He had already lost.

"You all should have just…" Ian narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you fucking risk it?"
Of course, Ian would have done the same thing had he been in their position. He always takes the bet.

He just didn't expect the others to do the same thing as him.

"IIIIT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!" The glee in Monokawa's voice was apparent as he slammed his little paw down onto a button.

"God… Goddammit…!" Ian's grip on his podium tightened, as if refusing to be taken away. "I refuse to lose like this…"

Growing tired of his excessive complaining, Monokawa floated over towards him. " Admit it, Ian. You lost." He called out as he held in a laugh.

Ian Santiago, the Ultimate Gambler, has been found Guilty.

Time for punishment!

At the moment, Ian still had the same panicked expression as before, holding onto the podium for dear life.

Suddenly, without him realising, something began to lower itself from the ceiling. Quickly, the collar clamped around his neck, pulling him back.

Ian tried to hold onto the podium, but the force exerted on his neck began to choke him, forcing his arms to reach for his neck instead to try and free himself.

Soon, the collar dragged him upwards, down the elevator shaft, and onto his execution.

But not before…

"Oh, we have a very special guest today, as well!" Monokawa snickered at the very thought of it.
Before they could react, Laki felt something close around her ankle. "H-huh?"

And suddenly, she felt herself getting pulled up by her leg.

"You get front row seats to Ian's execution!" Monokawa called out, watching her disappear into the elevator shaft.

Ultimate Gambler Execution: Deal With the Devil

Opening his eyes, Ian found himself sitting down, strapped to a chair. However, he couldn't quite make out his surroundings in the dark.

Suddenly…

FLASH!

Lights turned on, illuminating the room he found himself in.

Ian was sitting at a table. A rather large circular table, with only one other chair.

It was across from him, and it was rather grand in size. Almost like a throne.

Looking around, Ian couldn't spot anyone, until he looked directly above himself, and saw Laki standing on the… roof?

"What…?"

No… upon further inspection, Ian realised he was upside down. Gravity was just decreased to allow him to not feel the effects that much.

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed across the room, and soon, a figure sat down in the chair across from Ian.

A figure, who looked strangely like the devil. However, it was a devil made of machinery.

Not like Ian would encounter the actual devil here…

At first, he wasn't sure what was going to happen here, but it became all too clear when two cards were dealt to him.

Reaching over, he inspected his cards.

A two of hearts, and an eight of diamonds.

A shit hand.

However, it didn't take him long to notice that he didn't have any poker chips to actually bet. After frantically looking around for a bit, his eyes met back on the Devil, who had a toothy grin.

From observing him, the Devil seemed to be pointing at his own eye.

Quickly, Ian realised just what was at stake if he lost this hand.

But, he wasn't going to get anywhere without making any forms of bet, so he agreed to the terms.

Suddenly, a ring of blue occupied half his vision, almost as if it was surrounding his own eye.

The round proceeded as normal, without either party needing to bet anything.

That's when it became very clear to Ian… There was no bluffing his way out of this. All his skills were meaningless here if he couldn't bet anything else.

The entire time, he could hear Laki above him, cheering for his success. It gave him reassurance.

Reassurance that would ultimately be meaningless in a place like this.

When the cards were revealed, Ian only had a pair, while the Devil had three of a kind.

Before Ian could even register what happened, half his vision disappeared, and was instead replaced with agonising pain as he felt blood pour out of his now vacant eye socket.

He had lost his eye in the bet.

It only got worse from here, because the blood poured out of his eye socket splattered all over Laki, drenching her in his blood.

This caused her to have a rather uncomfortable expression as she remained frozen… Almost in fear. "Ian…?" She mumbled out, breaking the verbal silence that had plagued this execution.

It was time for the next round.

That is, after Ian has to worry about what he's betting next.

A mirror began to jut out of the table, allowing Ian to look at himself, with his new look.

He quickly realised that wherever he looked, that part of his body would glow blue in the mirror, almost as if to confirm that's what he wanted to bet on the line.

He could faintly see the outline of his legs through the table, and decided to bet one of those.

Ian would need his eyes and hand to play the game, so he couldn't afford to lose those yet.

Results… Did not change, as Ian found himself losing this game just as quickly as he lost the other other one, causing another agonising scream as he felt his leg forcibly ripped off, causing more blood to leak out.

Once the blood reached the floor, Laki got herself coated with even more blood, falling down from shock.
In fact, she felt her entire body freeze up.

As for Ian, he felt his entire body grow weaker as more blood went to waste rather quickly.

His breathing increased in sound as Ian felt himself barely holding onto life.

Once again, the mirror appeared before him, almost as if to ask him for another body part to bet.

But it was all meaningless. It didn't matter what cards Ian got, he was always going to be beat by the Devil.

Instead, Ian turned his eyes away from the mirror entirely.

If he couldn't bet anything, he wouldn't lose anything.

That's what he wanted to believe in. Of course, things would never go the way one wanted in this place.

A flash of blue came from the mirror, causing Ian to look back at the mirror. He was only able to catch a glimpse of his left hand lightning up in a blue aura before the mirror lowered itself back into the table.

He knew he couldn't handle losing another limb after that, which meant he had to start winning.

Looking at his cards, he had a three of clubs, and a four of hearts.

A potential for a straight.

A potential to win.

With each new card revealed on the table, the opportunity grew bigger. A five, a seven.

All he needed was a six.

As fate would have it, the last card dropped was a six.

Just what he needed.

…

And yet…

It wasn't enough.

It was never going to be enough.

Ian stared down at the cards the Devil placed in front of him. A full house.

No matter what he did, the Devil would always have a better hand than him.

This wasn't the poker, but a cheap mockery only meant to torture him.

And then, the pain increased again when he felt his arm ripped away from him.

However, through all the pain he's already gone through, he almost didn't react, as if adrenaline had dialled down the pain.

Above him, Laki slowly got back onto her feet after another splatter of blood hit her. She felt disoriented, especially when looking up at just how much was left of Ian.

Out of the table, the mirror rose again, creaking as it came to a stop.

Once again, Ian saw no point in even humouring the mirror. Instead, he let his head lean back, spotting Laki again, drenched in his own blood.

That's when something off putting happened.

A blue aura could be seen around Laki, almost as if she was something he could just bet for this game.

"What…?" Ian mumbled weakly.

And.

For a moment.

Ian contemplated this, as a scene played back in his mind.

Ian found himself in an office, looking at the interviewer in front of him, which would be the last step before he was able to enter Hope's Peak.

He probably only had a few questions left. They had been generic questions, but based on Caroline's expression, he could tell this one would be much different.

Putting down her papers, she looked directly into his eyes. "You seem to think everyone is either a winner, or a loser. Do you believe that you too, could be a loser?"

Just what kind of question is that? Him? A loser. As if.

Shaking his head, Ian let out a small laugh. "Me, a loser? I don't think such a thing is possible." He believed those words with all his might.

But… He knew that it was also almost inevitable that he would one day lose, so he decided to add another part to his answer. "However, saying no makes me go against the ideal I believe in. So, yes, I too could lose one day. But as of now, Lady Luck continues to smile on me."

Slowly nodding her head, Caroline liked that answer.

He… He wasn't going to let himself lose.

Never. He had never lost anything.

Anything Ian set his mind to, he succeeded.

As the blue aura continued to flash around Laki, she was clueless to just what Ian was thinking at the moment.

"..."

And yet, Ian's gaze shifted back over to the mirror, causing his torso to be illuminated in the blue aura instead.

No.

After the way he set everything up.

He wasn't just going to change his mind at the last moment and get Laki killed.

"Next question." They had to be getting close to the end of the interview at this point. "Ah! I see you've been scouted at the same time as a friend. What do you think of Lakshmi?"

Hearing that name, that put a smile on Ian's face. "I adore her a lot! She's really fun to be with! Her condition is such a shame, though." Something that seemed to plague Laki her entire life. He wasn't sure if there was a way to solve it.

"But in my pursuit to make more fun happen with her, hopefully I can get lucky enough to make her feel something!"

Besides, she was one of the only people willing to put up with his antics, so Ian considered her one of the best in his books.

Letting out a heavy sigh, his focus on the mirror completely.

The one that was lighting up with a blue aura was Ian's heart.

This would be the last game of poker he ever played.

However, Ian wasn't one to go out on someone else's turn.

Grabbing his cards with his only hand, Ian flipped them over willingly, representing that he folded.

His last breath only lasted a moment, as he felt a part of him get ripped out, and he fell limp in the chair, still strapped to it.

Laki stood below him, watching in horror as she witnessed her only friend die right in front of her eyes…

…

Trial Ground Alpha

Soon, Laki was lowered from the ceiling, still covered in Ian's blood. When she was lowered about two thirds of the way down, the chain around her ankle came apart, allowing her to fall the rest of the way.

However, Laki didn't attempt anything to break her fall. Instead, she took most of it in the shoulder. "..."

Despite how things turned out, Melody still went to check if she was alright. "L-Laki?" She knelt down. She went to reach over for her, but the amount of blood she was covered in made Melody think twice.

After a few seconds, Laki slowly got back onto her feet, her vision a bit blurry from the entire experience.

After a few seconds, she took a look at her own hands, covered in blood that didn't belong to her. "I-Ian…?" Laki mumbled out, taking a step back.

Quickly, she tore her vision away from her hands. Instead, choosing to look at everyone who was staring at her.

A mixture of people frozen in shock at the blood dripping down Laki, and people who would offer her no sympathy.

"I…" Hell, even Laki didn't know what to say at the moment.

Ian wasn't here, so she had nobody to turn to.

While trying to process what to do, Laki heard the sound of something connecting to the roof behind her. Turning towards it, she noticed the elevator.

For now, her best move was to just leave.

Leave before anyone has anything to say for her.

Quickly turning to face it, Laki ran into the elevator, closing it behind her.

The rest of the fifteen people watched as the elevator detached itself from the floor, and rose back up into the ceiling.

The first to say anything was Gemini, who let out a heavy sigh. "What now…?"

"I think we get some rest." Gigi answered, crossing her arms. She had stared at the elevator the entire time as it disappeared. "It's late now, and our thoughts are probably clouded by what just happened."

Taking a step forward, Hae-Won looked over at Gigi. "Well, we can't just let nothing happen. We can't let her walk around as if nothing has happ-"

"I'm not saying we won't eventually do something." Gigi took a step towards Hae-Won. "But most of us are tired, and won't be able to think rationally, like yourself."

Narrowing her eyes, Hae-Won got ready to argue back.

Until Gemini stood between the two of them. "That's enough, both of you. No need to throw around petty arguments."

Seeing that there was no reason to keep arguing, Hae-Won backed down. "Fine." She turned to look back at the elevator, which connected itself back with the roof.

As the doors opened up, everyone stepped in.

Everyone, except for one person.

Michael found himself still standing at his podium, watching everyone get on. He'd… He'd just take the next one.

The last thing Michael saw was Winter staring at him for a few seconds, before turning her attention elsewhere as the doors closed…

Elevator

Like the elevator ride before the trial, most people were still on edge.

They were all safe, the threat of death wasn't looming over them like it had been before.

And yet… Nobody could relax still. After a trial like that… When it came down to a fifty percent chance of death.

"We got lucky…" Edison mumbled out, staring at the ground. "It was nothing but luck…"

"Well…" Gennosuke hummed out, leaning against the elevator wall. "I wouldn't really call it luck, given that I made the final decision."

As usual, Edison wasn't going to believe a thing he said. "You got lucky. Nothing more."

"There's more than just luck with this." Seira shook her head. She had also voted for Ian, so she knew her vote was right. "Who did you vote for?"

At that, Edison faced the other way. "Doesn't matter who I voted for… Of course! I voted for the right person."

No he hadn't… He voted for the wrong person.

"This isn't a competition…" Dae-Hyun had his arms crossed, looking at the ground. "Who cares who voted right. We should just be happy to be out of that mess." Things could have gone a lot worse.

Before anyone could say anything else, everyone began to float up.

However, there was no joy in it this time…. Even Edison, who had been fascinated by it, decided not to move around like he normally would.

In a few seconds, they were back on the floor of the elevator again.

"The plan for now…" Gigi trailed off. "Get some rest, and we should all meet up in the morning."

"What about people like Michael and Laki?" Lorelei brought up. "Wouldn't want them to show up."

"Hey." Melody placed a hand on her hip. "Leave the fella alone, he hasn't done anythin-"

Rolling their eyes, Lorelei let out a snicker. "Oh my, forgot he already has a fanclub. Why don't you suck h-"

With a hit on the back of the head from Hae-Won, that caused her to shut up with a small ow. "You need to learn to keep your mouth close, y'know." She didn't hit her hard. Just enough to get her to stop talking.

Soon, the door to the elevator opened up.

Stepping out of the elevator, nobody said anything as they all opened the doors to their rooms.

Trial Ground Alpha

The only participant left here at the moment was Michael, who felt it was best to wait until the last elevator before he left.

He didn't want to spend time with the others at the moment.

They probably all had thoughts on him.

Thoughts Michael could do without right now.

"Are you going to leave?" Now, while Michael was the only participant left, Nova was still here. "I will be closing down this Trial Ground soon, so it would be preferable if nobody was here. I can't keep routing the elevator back here, especially if the elevator is about to be offline."

For a moment, Michael's gaze was locked on the floor. Slowly, however, he turned to look at Nova. "Oh… Sorry…" He mumbled out rather weakly.

"Afraid of what the others will say now that the trial is over?" Nova got off her chair, walking over to him.

It was the truth… but… "Why do you care?" It was Michael's problem, so she had no reason to be worried on his behalf.

Nova was a bit hurt by the attitude, displayed by her visor changing to her saddened expression.

After a few seconds, it reverted back to her neutral expression. "As the one overseeing everything, I have to care." She moved over to one of the podiums, as if she too was a participant in the trial. "Can't exactly have a game if somebody is depressed, you know?"

Everything about this interaction felt off, so Michael stepped away from his own podium. "Sorry… I have to go…"

He wanted to be alone.

Especially away from someone like Nova.

Stepping into the elevator, he didn't even bother to look back at her as the doors closed.

…

Given that nobody was on the elevator, the entire ride was silent. And soon, Michael stepped out of the elevator, reaching the vacant rooms.

He took a step forward.

And stopped.

Looking at the rooms, Michael took a glance at his watch.

No. He couldn't be here… He…

Michael's head slowly turned towards the Psi Sector.

As much as he didn't want to be in that area anymore, it was the only place that offered him some time alone.

Even if he hated the isolation, Michael would have to do it for the time being.

Sure, he wasn't the killer, but the others wouldn't care. Who'd want to be around an Ultimate Cult Leader?

And it wouldn't take them long to realise the effect he had on the people around him.

Soon, an announcement began to play.
It was only Monokawa delivering the nighttime announcement.

" After an amazing trial like that, I don't expect most people to be ready to kill just yet. But still, maybe air on the side of caution. You never know what lunatics might be roaming the hallways. With that, have a safe night."

Stepping away from the cluster of vacant rooms, Michael let out a sad sigh as he made his way over towards the Psi Sector, flipping his hood back on to hide his own face…

…

Chatter filled the room as many people were out, enjoying lunch at the cafe.

Everyone seemed to be in a rather chipper mood. Of course, all their lives were going great, after all.

The only two people who didn't seem to be in a good mood were both located in the corner of the cafe.

The first had been staring intently at his coffee, almost as if digging a hole through it with his eyes.

The other was too busy looking at some reports. She had long brown hair with several red highlights, as well as some red eyes.

"Tell me…" The boy spoke up, revealing themselves to be Alan. Across from him sat the mysterious woman that had contacted him a little over a year ago. "Why did you want to meet up?"

The entire time he had been working for her, she hadn't once shown her face. He couldn't even get much information on her… Hell… Alan still didn't even know who this was.

Reaching over for her own cup of coffee, she pondered the question for a bit, before a small smile crept onto her face. "Because…" She took a slow sip of her coffee.
"I think I can finally put my trust in you." Putting the cup down, she turned her attention back to Alan. "You've done everything you've needed to do up to this point, so I can put my faith in you."

Has he? Alan hadn't felt like he did anything. "What exactly did I do?" For all he knew, he had simply gotten into Hope's Peak, and gathered some information.

Anyone could have done that.

And yet, the girl didn't answer. "Keep your voice down, will you?" Despite Alan not raising it in the slightest. "You've done enough for now. You weren't supposed to gather that much information, but you've really put in the work."

Tapping his finger on the table, Alan frowned. In a year, the only information he had managed to get from her was that she was a former Ultimate.

Not even a name. Not even what talent… But he could make some guesses right now.

"However…" Gathering her documents, she slid them over to Alan. "Now that I know you're good for the job, here's what I need you to research."

"What?" Alan picked up the folders, not bothering to open them. "I thought you wanted me to investigate the staff."

"I did." The girl stopped when their food was brought over. Once the waitress had left, she continued. "However, it became very clear that the person I wanted you to look into wasn't there."

What?

Alan shook his head, trying to dig his brain at just what she meant. "You mean people like Caroline, Paige, Reg-"

He was cut off when the woman kept speaking. "Sure, it was nice to have information about them gathered, but they had never been a concern in the first place."

This was only sending mixed messages to Alan. "I thought they didn't want you near the school."

Letting out a sigh, the woman spent some time thinking of an acceptable answer. When those thoughts finally appeared in her head, she continued. "All I said was that there would be people who don't want me involved in the slightest." She eyed the documents that she handed to Alan. "However, because you haven't brought them up in any of your reports, I can safely assume that they aren't present at the school."

Following her eyes, Alan opened up the folder, pulling out some papers. "What are these?" In total, there were seventeen files.

"These are the people I want you to research next. They aren't school staff."

From the looks of it… They were… Ultimates?

"Who… Who are these people?" Alan hadn't begun to read any of the names.

"You remembered how you got into the school, right?" The girl continued, placing her cup of coffee down. "You had to get a letter, and then you were invited to an interview?"

One of the easiest interviews he ever had to do. "Yeah? What about it?" Alan placed down the documents, trying to figure out what was even going on at this point.

"Well…" She trailed off. "These are people who took the interview, and were deemed unfit to attend Hope's Peak New York."

Then… That didn't make any sense. Alan shook his head. "I'm not sure how much information I can get on people who aren't at Hope's Peak."

However…

Alan was smarter than that, and he quickly realised the implication. "They… They are still attending, aren't they?"

"Correct. Despite failing the interview, they were still allowed to enter Hope's Peak. Against Caroline's wishes." Turning her eyes to the side, the woman hummed. "Except for the first one on that list. They passed the interview. But honestly, they shouldn't have."

Growing curious, Alan removed the first document. His eyes narrowed down on the talent right away. "What the…?"

"Ultimate… Cult Leader?"

He couldn't believe his eyes… Quickly, he started writing down something on a piece of paper. "Why would Hope's Peak ever accept a talent like that?"

The woman shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time they had accepted a questionable talent.

Over twenty years ago, they accepted an Ultimate Yakuza." Obviously not in New York, but still, the point stood.

Alan frowned as he read the file. Michael Astrophel… That sounded… Familiar. "What cult does he lead?"

"He's the leader of the Celestial Paragons… But this isn't about him." Well, it was, but there was so much more that needed to be spoken about.

Taking a deep sigh, the woman continued. "Most of the people in that list are people who failed the interview, and shouldn't have been allowed to attend Hope's Peak."

"Most…?" Alan was able to pick up the hidden meaning behind the words.

"Yes. Most." Glancing to the side, the girl tried to think of the best way to formulate the question. "Some of those have only recently been scouted, and have not gone through the interview process. However, they are more than likely going to attend Hope's Peak next year."

"So, what do you want me to do about those?" Well, it was almost pretty clear what the girl wanted him to do, so he answered his own question. "I assume you want me to try and prevent them from attending Hope's Peak?"

A bright mind, he was. Which is exactly why she went to him first. "Yes, if you can, I would like for you to try and prevent them from attending Hope's Peak. "If you check the last file, that's someone I really don't want attending Hope's Peak, ever."

Taking her word for it, Alan decided to take a look at the last document. "W-" He froze, looking at it. "Why would they ever let someone like that attend-"

"Exactly. And yet, he's on the list." Placing her finished cup of coffee down, she took out some money, placing it on the table. It was enough to pay for the two of them. "That's all I have for today. I should be contacting you in about two weeks to ask for an update."

However, just as she was about to leave, Alan reached over, grabbing her arm. "Wait!"

Working for someone he barely knew anything about… He needed to figure things out.

"Who… Or… What do you work for?"

The woman was definitely not going to answer the who part. If she did, he'd find out everything else about her.

But… The last part. "Fine. You've done well enough for your work, so you can at least be told where I work. I'm…"

…

…
…

…

…
…

…

…
…

…

…
…

…

…
…

…

…
…

…

…
…

"A member of the Future Foundation."

Future Foundation… Yes. Alan had heard of that before, obviously. Why wouldn't he have heard of them.

That did put a bit more faith into what he was doing, as well as give him a place to start doing extra digging.

Because, even if this woman could be trusted on a basic level, he wasn't going to stop until he knew just who she was.

Letting go of her arm, Alan sat back down, tucking the documents into his jacket. "Then, I'll let you on your way."

Giving him a polite nod, the woman walked away from the table, leaving him alone.

What the hell…

What exactly did he get himself involved in?

Looking down at his notes, Alan let out a small sigh. At first, it was just Hope's Peak.

But now… The Future Foundation? And something about a cult? Things were spiralling out of control rather quickly,

He had his work cutout for him..

Getting up from the table, Alan moved away from his seat, heading towards the exit.

It was just going to be another rabbit hole…

Holy shit was that ever an intense vote! You have no idea (Laki was winning the entire time, it was literally 4-10 at one point).

However, in the end, it was a 8-12 vote, and it didn't really seem like Ian had much of a chance. Especially when two of the six people who hadn't voted also voted Ian to die. I was very sad.

Anyways, not like it truly matters, I was going to be sad no matter who died. Both characters had a lot of potential plot left, which is why I decided to make this a vote in the first place.

However, it seems like we're going with the idea I originally had in mind.

Shoutout to Animeboy15 , for allowing me to use Ian. Ian quickly became my favourite character to write for during this entire thing. He was just a fun character, and very different from someone like Celestia. In fact, I think he was way better than her, but that's my own personal opinion.

Not everyone liked him, and that's fine. I wasn't writing him to be everyone's favourite.

A lot of great moments, and he was so great, I didn't want to lose him so early, so I decided to have this vote happen. In the end, 60% of you wanted him dead anyways so oops! I guess you'll have to wait till the end of the story to hear about what plans I had for him.

Now let's get to the elephant in the room. Yes, Ian and Laki were both sent with the intention of knowing each other. I had the option to only accept one, but why would I do that :D I had to accept the two of them together.

Because with it, we got one of the most chaotic trials I've ever written or even seen.

Honestly, I think I made a problem here by having this be the chapter two trial. Now how am I going to top something like that? (This is an actual question, please send help)

I'll find a way.

Now, I forgot to do this for chapter 1, but I won't forget it this time! Time to talk about the meaning of the chapter title, and the story at the start.

I'll start with the chapter title, since that's what you first saw when everything was posted. It should come to no surprise that Dual is in reference to everything that happened in this chapter. The main motive had to do with pairs. The closing argument was delivered as a pair. Hell, even the blackened was a pair.

As for the full title together, I think it fits the most with Michael. Before the trial, all we've seen of him so far is a soft spoken man who seems to be a really good person. In contrast to what we eventually find his talent to be, as well as what slight powers he might have. It's a very big contrast.

A few other things to note, disposition can also mean two other things: "The way in which something is placed or arranged, especially in relation to other things." Seeing this, I think of Benoit right away, as he was placed in two spots in relation to other things. In the garden, to be next to Michael, and in the Ultimate Referee Station, to be next to the water dispenser.

The next definition is this: "The action of distributing or transferring property or money to someone, in particular by bequest." And while it doesn't fully fit, finding that in the definition did get a chuckle out of me. Especially since Ian spent a lot of time transferring money to Michael.

Now, onto the story at the start. It is the story of Orpheus attempting to bring his wife Eurydice out of the Underworld. All he had to do was not turn back to look at his wife on the way out.

However, at the last possible moment, he turns to look at her, and she vanishes right in front of him.

We can draw parallels from it when we compare it to Laki and Ian. The two of them were close to pulling off the crazy plan they had, only for things to go wrong at the last possible moment.

All because the surviving member made a decision that ultimately sealed the other person's fate. With Laki sealing Ian's fate.

When reading through the story, I knew there was no other story that would fit in with this chapter.

Besides, everyone immediately started pointing at Benjamin and Dolly, which got a laugh out of me. Maybe next time, losers.

And with that, I'll probably be taking a little break from Danganronpa to focus on other stuff, but expect for Chapter 3 Part 1 to drop in September anyways! I'm hoping to get the first two parts out by the end of the month, but we'll have to see.

Once again, I'm really thankful that I got the opportunity to write Ian, and I'm really going to miss him! But now it's Laki's time to shine (again)

Oh, and shoutout to both SilverMark16 and ExtraMeme for finishing up the Daily Life of their respective stories, Twisted Tragedy and Obscurity's Disgrace . (There's a chance I post this before Extra posts his chapter, which would be really funny, so I'm not removing this) Make sure you check out their stories!

With that, I'm out.

Participants Remaining: 16

Edison Thompton - The Ultimate Chemist [SilverMark16]

Seira Natsume - The Ultimate Astrologist [WolfieRed23]

Winter Hibiscus - The Ultimate Love Guru [Grandma Sue]

Giustina "Gigi" Giulio - The Ultimate Referee [Nekoja]

Gemini Strela - The Ultimate Escapist [secretnobody]

Benjamin Mason - The Ultimate Ventriloquist [NSPunny]

Lorelei Kaiser - The Ultimate Computer Security Specialist [CandleFire45]

Michael Astrophel - The Ultimate Cult Leader [Omakin]

Melody Eleanor Hopkins - The Ultimate Tap Dancer [Prince PokePersona]

Kim Dae-Hyun - The Ultimate Talent Manager [oddlyillregular]

Lakshmi "Laki" Krishna - The Ultimate Lucky Student [Sempi]

May Summers - The Ultimate Academic Prodigy [KadachiNova]

Tatiana Novak - The Ultimate Knife Thrower [ExtraMeme]

Atlas Constande - The Ultimate Soccer Player [ComplicatedYetSimple]

Gennosuke Yagami - The Ultimate Psychic [theotakureader101]

Kim Hae-Won - The Ultimate Tattoo Artist [Weekaro]