A New Perspective

by Paludachi

It's been 10 days and despite Monokuma's best efforts, the students of The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles are not killing each other. He decides to introduce a new motive that the students can't ignore: he swaps all of their bodies! Shuichi wakes up to find that he isn't really himself anymore. He's in the body of Maki Harukawa, the ultimate child caregiver. The killing game

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.1: Trial 1

We made our way to a large circular room. It was oddly dark, with blue lights illuminating parts of the walls in a very ominous manner. It wouldn't be surprising if the darkness concealed an ambush, waiting for us to let our guard down. Contained within the blue light were stained glass windows that resemble the type you would find in a church. Instead of depicting any holy figures, from what I could see, they all depicted Monokuma. One had him carrying a cross. One had him reaching enlightenment under a tree. It looked like they took cues from various religions. In the center of the room, there was a circle of podiums, each with a name on them. Within the middle of all the podiums, a little device laid on the floor. It looked like some kind of projector that was facing upwards, almost as if it was just waiting to be properly installed. In the back of the room, under a brighter light than can be found elsewhere, sat a throne, and on that throne was Monokuma, who was waiting for us. It looked like he was drinking a wine of some sort as he held a chalice.

He rose and greeted us, " Thank you for coming everyone! Not that you really had a choice. Anyways, the podiums are preassigned. You'll find your name on the podium reserved for you. Go ahead and find your place and then we'll continue."

I looked around, scanning the names as I walked past each seat. Let's see. Maki, Ryoma, Kirumi, Kaito… Oh there I am, right next to Kaito. And on my right was…. Miu. As the others found their own names, it seemed the order, starting from my right was: Miu, Tenko, Kokichi, Himiko, Kaede, Gonta, Rantaro, Tsumugi, Kiyo, Angie, Maki, Ryoma, Kirumi, and then Kaito. Between Kiyo and Angie was a stand for Kibo, but all that stood there was a picture of Kibo with an X over it, representing that he really is gone. It still feels surreal to think that his head still lies in the middle of the dorm lobby. His light was snuffed out by one of us. I almost wish I got to know him more. I had a few interactions with him, but never got to get too close. It was now too late for that.

"Great, seems as though everyone found their seat. Now I can explain the class trial. You may have thought that murder was the only requirement, but killing someone is only step one. Now, the blackened will have to survive a class trial. During a trial, you will try to figure out who the blackened is, using evidence you collected during your investigation. If you can properly find out whodunnit, I will execute them for disturbing the peace. However, if you get the wrong verdict, I will execute everyone beside the blackened and they will get to go free. There is no set time limit on the trial, but you can't take all day. The verdict will be decided by a vote. Whoever gets the most votes is the official guess for who the murderer is. That's everything, so let's get this show on the road!" Monokuma explained.

Tenko raised her hand, "Wait, what about your promise?"

"My promise?" Monokuma looked stumped.

"Your promise to switch us back if someone became the blackened." Himiko clarified.

"Oh! That? Yeah, I could probably switch you all around again… buuuuuut I'll only do it after the trial has concluded. For the duration of the trial, you will stay as you currently are." he announced.

Now everybody was silent, as we all just stared at each other. It looked like some people were playing with their hands, while others kept darting their eyes back and forth. I think someone was even nervous whistling. It was clear that nobody knew how to start a trial.

Tsumugi was the first to speak, "So I've never been to a trial before. Where do we begin?"

"Oh, I've been to plenty of trials. It comes with the territory. Usually, it starts by making random accusations until someone confesses." Kokichi giggled into his hands.

Has he actually been to a trial before? He's the ultimate supreme leader, so it's possible, but I have to keep in mind this is Kokichi I'm talking about. As a detective, I do know a little bit about courtroom proceedings. This isn't exactly like a courtroom, but that knowledge should prove useful.

"Is that really how these things go?" Tsumugi was doubting Kokichi's earlier statement.

Kokichi replied, "Nyehehe, of course it is! Read up on the Salem witch trials. That's how they did it and did any witches disturb the peace? Nope! So it must have been effective."

I tried to clarify what we should do, "Well, first we should probably start by stating what we know for certain in the case. From there, we can branch off into other topics."

Kaede started us off properly, "Right! So let's see. We know that the victim was Kibo. He was dismembered. His head was found in the dorm lobby in the morning by you, Shuichi. His arms and legs were found in several people's rooms. I think that's about all we know."

"So now we talk about the killer, right?" Himiko asked.

Tenko answered her question, " What's there to discuss? We know it was the Spectre that did it. He said as much at Kaede's recital. Even worse, he chased some of us off during the investigation!"

"Was it a real life ghost? I've always suspected that ghosts were real. I once read a manga about it and thought it could be plausible." Tsumugi pondered out loud.

I began to answer, "Well we don't know for cert-"

Suddenly, Kokichi raised his voice to cut me off, "You bet it was real! He was all like 'Ooooooohh. I am a ghost' and we were all like 'Aaahhhh!' and he was like 'One of you will die tonight.' and we were all like 'Aaaahhh!' and then he started flying around and throwing ectoplasm balls and-"

"None of that is true.", I interrupted, "At least, the flying and ectoplasm balls part wasn't."

"Well then, please explain what did happen for those of us who were not in attendance" Kiyo seemed interested to learn more.

"Well, Kaede was on stage, playing her piano when a blackout occurred. When the lights went back up, the Spectre appeared on stage and said that one of us would die that night. He then went on the attack."

Gonta chimed in, "Yeah, he threw a knife at Shuichi and attack Gonta with a sword. Gonta would be swiss cheese if he not saved by Shuichi."

Miu looked angry, "I know I told you this in chat, but don't go getting yourself killed in someone else's body, dumbass!"

"S-sorry! Gonta is sorry!", Gonta tried to appease Miu.

"Again with the freaking apologizing with my voice! Cut it out!", Miu was annoyed.

"Sorry! Gonta stop!"

Miu let out a frustrated 'Grrrrr' as Gonta had a hard time breaking old habits.

Kaede came to his defense, "I think it was very noble of him to put himself between me and the Spectre."

Miu was aghast, "You nearly got my beautiful body killed for Kaeidiot of all people? If you weren't me right now, I'd slap you."

"Don't worry, Gonta. Even if you don't have your old body, I doubt that she could manage more than a tickle in Himiko's tiny, little body." Kokichi called out to Gonta.

"Hey!" Himiko took offense to Kokichi's comment.

Miu looked down at her tiny frame and stuttered out, "Sh-shut up…."

Maki refocused the conversation, "Back to the point, what happened next?"

"Well, Gonta and I ran out the door and tried to barricade him in, using our body weight. But when we eventually checked the gym again, he had disappeared." I continued the story.

"Just like a g-g-g-ghost." Kaito said, spooked.

"So he really was a ghost!" Tsumugi exclaimed, also spooked a bit.

The room erupted into conversation revolving around the possibilities of ghosts. Kokichi was telling Himiko that he saw the ghost of his grandma once. Kaito seemed to be contemplating his life choices, no doubt due to his phobia. Meanwhile Kiyo was explaining about how ghosts are different depending on the culture.

It was somewhat chaotic until Kaede called out, "Everyone, please, calm down! This wasn't a ghost. I'm sure of it. Isn't that right, Shuichi?"

"R-right", I responded.

Kiyo skeptically asked, "If it was not a real phantom, then how do you explain the disappearing act?"

I looked him in the eyes and said, " I'll grant you that it seems supernatural, but I assure you there is a logical explanation."

I paused, my nerves getting the better of me. It had been a long time since my last case. It's a thing I've tried to leave behind. Not to mention, all our lives are on the line. I can't afford to mess up. For everyone's sake I have to get this right, but the doubts were setting in. What if I was wrong? If any detail is incorrect, that would cost us all. Did I even have the power to convince others? Could I stand by my own convictions? All eyes were on me. It felt like I was shrinking as they all towered over me. Their eyes just glaring. Their expectations, surely massive.

That's when I got a squeeze on my hand. Kaito had started holding my hand again. He didn't have to. After all, our deal with Kokichi was to hold hands during the investigation, so we didn't have to hold it now. But he must have sensed that I was doubting myself and needed some support. I guess that comes with the leadership role he often puts himself into. A good leader needs to be able to read others and understand how they feel. Surely he has mastered that skill. He really is amazing.

"You got this partner. Believe in yourself." he whispered.

I took a deep breath and tried to push away the thoughts that I could be wrong.

I then responded to the question, " When investigating the gym, we found that there was a window behind the stage curtain. It leads to the pool area. The window was open when we found it, so it's likely that the Spectre used that as his escape route."

All of a sudden, the device in the center of all of us projected a picture of the gym window into the air for everyone to see.

"W-what the?" I was shocked.

Monokuma instantly explained, "That is our projector. Whenever you bring up evidence, it will be projected into the air so that others can see it. It's a smart projector, so it should know what you're talking about as it should have all the facts of the case. I've also thrown some random stuff in there for fun. Watch this! PINGAS!"

All of a sudden, the projector showed a fat cartoon character with a silly mustache. He's vaguely familiar but I couldn't identify him. Was his name Pingas?

Monkuma laughed frantically, "Hahaha! That one's a classic. You guys know this meme, right?... RIGHT!?... Huh, I guess you guys are too young. That makes me feel old…."

It seemed like Monokuma became sad all of a sudden. The red Monokub, Monotaro, tried to cheer him up, "Don't worry, Pop, I know that guy. It's Skibidi Toilet!"

The projector then showed what looked like a video game where a man's head was inside a toilet. I don't have any clue what's being shown at all and I don't think I want to know.

Monokuma was angered, "You brain rotted degenerate! Don't even compare Pingas to that modern day trash!"

"Perhaps we should continue with a relevant discussion." was all Kiyo responded with.

I could hear little whispers from around the room. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but then we had another question, courtesy of Rantaro.

"Ok, but the Spectre appeared after the blackout, right? If he wasn't a ghost, how could he just appear out of nowhere?" he asked.

"Himiko's magic could teleport people, right?" Tenko suggested.

Himiko first seemed proud, "Of course my magic could achieve a feat like that.", until it turned to concern, " Hey…. are you suggesting I teleported them in?"

Tenko clarified, "Of course not! But maybe they learned the same type of magic you did."

"Umm, I think it's more likely that he walked onto the stage during the blackout and that's how he appeared." I stated.

Rantaro took issue with my explanation, "There's no way that someone could have made their way to the stage though. It was pitch black. When I went to try and find the breaker, I didn't make it far at all, so there's no way someone could navigate in that darkness."

He did have a valid point. He only got to around where I was in the second row by the time the lights came on. Granted, it wasn't dark for long after he volunteered to check the breaker, but still, I could imagine it would be hard to navigate. But I recalled one detail from my investigation of the gym.

"That's very true, but there's actually a clue that suggests a tool was used. There were scratch marks on the ground." I elucidated.

Comments erupted from the others. 'Scratch marks?'

Kirumi offered her input, "What tool could the Spectre have really used to navigate through the darkness? To my knowledge, nothing in the gym would make navigating easier. I also didn't find anything in the gym that could be used as a guide."

I had no evidence for it, but I had a hunch that I knew exactly what tool was used.

"It was his sword." I said.

"His sword?" some voices repeated.

Tenko seemed to have some disagreement, "How could a sword be used to guide you in the dark? Aren't they used more for cutting things or stabbing things? Also, why is everybody referring to the Spectre as a 'he'? Kind of sexist to exclude the possibility that it's a girl. Not that a girl would commit a crime like this anyways."

That whole time, Kokichi was mocking Tenko by raising his hand and mimicking her speaking while making his hand look like a mouth. When Tenko looked at him with a fire in her eyes, he stopped and feigned innocence. She seemed to be onto him though.

"Well, Tenko, that's simple. He used the sword like how a blind man would use a cane. That way he could find where the stage was and he-", I paused as Tenko glared at me a little, "-o-or she…. can easily climb on."

"But where could the Spectre have been hiding anyways? It would have to be pretty close to the stage, even if the sword was used as a guide." Miu inquired.

"Judging by where the marks were, my guess would be the snack table." I answered.

Rantaro consented, "That would make sense. From what I remember from setting up the gym, the tablecloth did hang down to the floor. So it could hide someone underneath."

Ryoma, who had been pretty silent up until this point, finally commented, "So it looks like the phantom was phony after would think he would choose an object that wouldn't leave behind any evidence."

It was weird to hear Angie's voice with such a low, deep tone. Some other things, like Kiyo's voice talking as Kaede usually would, or Tenko's voice having Kokichi's mannerisms I had somewhat gotten used to, but I hadn't spent much time around Ryoma, so it was still a shock to be sure. Heck, beyond the voice, seeing Angie's body act in such a depressing way is really jarring since I associate it with a more upbeat and cheerful attitude. I thought by now I would be used to the changes, but I was still surprised.

Angie added on her own idea, "Perhaps the sword was used because it's all the Spectre had on him. I shall ask Atua for his thoughts on it."

Anyways, it seemed like the others were convinced that the Spectre was not a ghost, but a mortal.

"So, can we all agree that the Spectre was someone in a costume?" Kaede looked for consensus.

Everybody gave her a 'Yeah' or 'Sure'.

Angie, however, brought up a good point, "While I am glad that no ghosts have broken out of the afterlife to haunt us, we still have no idea who the Spectre can be, right? Perhaps Atua would know that too."

We really didn't know who the Spectre could be. All this time, and all we were able to determine was that it wasn't a ghost. Nobody said this trial would be quick and easy.

Korekiyo responded to Angie's comment, "Well, we can certainly narrow it down. The Spectre would have to be someone not in the audience of the recital. Who exactly was there?"

I raised my hand and saw Kaede, Kokichi, Tenko, Kirumi, Gonta, Angie, and Rantaro raise their hands as well. That aligns with what I remember being the head count, since about half of us were missing.

Korekiyo looked and responded, "I see. So that means those missing were myself, Maki, Kaito, Tsumugi, Himiko, Miu, Ryoma, and Kibo himself. Perhaps we should give our alibis now. I will start. I was actually with Kibo at the time. He and I were working on a little project together. We simply lost track of time and missed the show."

Tsumugi then said, "I guess I'll go next. I was in the kitchen, making dinner. Because Kirumi was busy preparing food and attending Kaede's recital, dinner was left up to me. But you see, umm, I'm a really bad cook." she began to laugh.

"It's true.", Himiko blurted out, "She had to ask me for help but not even my magic could undo the damage that the food sustained. So we had to make it again from scratch. Nyeh, I think Ryoma was there eventually too."

"Is that true?" Kirumi asked.

Ryoma, not changing his expression or tone, simply said, "Yeah. I had just finished a smoke outside when I came in and found a mess in the kitchen. I was about to leave, but they asked me for help. I didn't have anything better to do, so I stayed. I guess I wanted to feel useful for once…."

Tsumugi took back control of the conversation, " Sorry, Kaede. I really wanted to go to your concert, but I got a little tied up."

"O-oh, that's ok!", Kaede said, embarrassed, "You would have been welcome to the food at the recital though, so why wouldn't you just eat there?."

Tsumugi's eyes widened as she realized that she could have avoided all that hassle. She then smacked herself on the head. Just a second later, she turned to Ryoma.

"Oh I'm so, so sorry, Ryoma. I wasn't even thinking and I just hit your body in my frustration. Please forgive me." she pleaded.

Ryoma looked indifferent as he spoke, "It's no big deal. My body has sustained worse before. Besides, I'm not saving it for anybody, so it's not like it really matters."

"That does explain the mess in the kitchen though. Kinda rude of you guys to leave your mess and not clean it up." Kaito commented.

Himiko refuted, "But we did clean it up. That's why we couldn't make it to the recital at all. We weren't finished until after the Spectre chased everyone away."

"Why didn't you just use your stupid ass magic?" Miu mocked her.

Himiko huffed and responded, "I had to reserve my mana in case I needed it for later. Besides, I was tired and not feeling like it."

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. If magic were real, everyone would use that shit all the time. But it's not. That's why I like technology. It's reliable and it fucking exists!" Miu rambled on.

The irony of Himiko's mouth saying that magic isn't real was not lost on me.

"Of course magic exists", Kokichi defended Himiko, "After all, how else would you explain the fact that no one has ever loved you? Has to be magic."

"Eeeeeeh!" Miu squeaked. It seemed to shut her up for a moment.

Kaede continued the case, "So that leaves Maki, Kaito, and Miu who don't have alibis."

Miu spat out, "Oh, I have a fuckin alibi all right. I was in my lab, working on this super awesome thing when-"

"Was it boob enhancement for your flat body?", Kokichi interrupted.

"N-no.", Miu said defensively, " Jokes on you. I'm not gonna be in this surfboard body for long! And once I'm out of it, I'm kicking your ass!"

"Hey!" Himiko cried.

Wow, Himiko seemed to be getting a bunch of hate comments today from Miu and Kokichi. I kinda wish we were locked in these bodies just to teach Miu a lesson about humility. But I digress.

Maki was next to speak, " I was testing my new body."

Miu laughed and commented, " Finally, one of the girls is a pervert instead of one of the guys. What did you do, masturbate?"

"No, I-" Maki began.

"Try to see if you could suck your own dick?" Miu interrupted.

"I wasn-" Maki tried explaining again.

"How big is Gonta's member anyways? Fucker has gotten a front row seat to my tits so I think it's only fair you show off his hog." Miu interrupted again.

"It sounds to me like Miu is the perverted one here." Kiyo spoke.

This made Miu silence herself again out of embarrassment.

Maki could finally finish, "I was testing my strength. This body was massive and I wanted to see what it was capable of in terms of physical strength."

Gonta seemed to take notice and enlightened us on how strong his body was, "Gonta's body pretty strong. Could punch boulders."

"I noticed. I kind of like it." Maki coldly replied with a semi evil looking smile on her face.

"Maki not going to use Gonta's strength to hurt anyone, right?" Gonta seemed worried.

"No. At least no currently." Maki put his mind at ease.

With a smile, Gonta said, "Ok, that good. Hmmm. I wonder how strong Gonta is now? Maybe Gonta should test strength too!"

"Don't damage my body punching rocks, you neanderthal!" Miu objected.

Finally, we reached Kaito's alibi.

"So Kaito, what about you?" Kaede asked.

I glanced towards Kaito, awaiting his answer.

"Well you know, I was out and about." he said.

"That ain't a fucking answer." Miu criticized him.

Kirumi agreed, "Yes, we need something more than that if you want us to not suspect you."

"An answer like that makes you look like you're dodging the question." Ryoma suggested

Kaito, with a bit of anger and energy in his voice yelled out, "Ok Ok! The truth is, I was taking a dip at the pool."

There were some comments amongst the other students.

Angie cooed, "Oooh, a swim sounds fun. I should have gone to the pool as well."

Tenko seemed a bit more upset, " Kirumi's body is not meant for your degenerate gaze"

Rantaro voiced his surprise, " I didn't even know the pool was open."

"There was a sign.", Kaede explained, "but it looks like it fell into the bushes at some point."

Everyone seemed to be on board, however that would mean that we're back at having no lea-

"Hold it!", Kiyo declared, "You say you were at the pool during the recital, but based on our earlier conclusion that the culprit must have gone through the pool area to escape, you must have been able to see them. Your story doesn't make sense then."

"Wait, I wasn't lying! I was at the pool, but it's just that….. Just that… I left. I could hear the recital through the open window and remembered that it was that night. So, I left the pool and headed to my room to change." Kaito defended himself.

Kiyo had a quick retort, "Oh, that is very convenient. You just happened to leave before the Spectre could pass through the pool. And you said you left to go to the recital? But you never did show up, did you? That is quite suspicious."

I hated to doubt Kaito, but Kiyo did have a point. His story was really flawed. In fact, it even implicated him a bit. But I refuse to believe that he could have done it. There has to be something that we're not being told.

"So do you have any better excuse? Or can we call this a day and get on with your execution?" Miu asked with confidence.

I turned to Kaito, who was turning red. That's not a common sight, to see Kaito so flustered. If anything, that's more of a thing I would do than Kaito. Under his breath he was mumbling, "I…..uuuh….I…."

I was somewhat getting concerned for him. I let go of his hand, not even realizing at first that we were still holding hands all this time and I worriedly asked, "K-Kaito?"

Angie commented, "Nyehehe, I guess we have found our culprit. That was easy after all! Shall we get to the voting?"

Then, out of nowhere, Kaito yelled out, for all to hear, "I WAS MASTURBATING, OK? I left the pool, like I said, and was changing in my room. I caught a glimpse of this sexy body in the mirror, and I couldn't resist it anymore and just did it."

There was a loud collective gasp, followed by silence. It's as if we needed a moment to realize what he just said. Then everything all came in at once.

"Mr. Momota, I believe that is a grievous invasion of my privacy! I understand some things are unavoidable such as using the bathroom, but that is much too far!" Kirumi reprimanded him.

"You degenerate scum! How dare you violate someone else's body!" Tenko sounded furious.

Kokichi was laughing so hard, "HAHAHAHAHA. So much for being a good person. Hey! Hey Kaito! If you took any pictures, send them to me."

Monokuma interrupted the excitement, "He sure did take some pictures. Here's what we found when checking his Monopad camera."

The center of the room was then filled with various pictures of Kaito, in Kirumi's body, posing in front of the mirror in very suggestive poses. I hate to admit it, but I was feeling a tingling while looking at them. They were kind of hot. I had to feel bad for Kirumi though. Her naked form was on display for all of us to see. Looking over, I could see a face of shock, embarrassment, and a bit of anger.

"Wait, you can check our Monopad camera galleries?", Tsumugi asked, visibly concerned.

Monokuma kackled, "Of course we can! Miss Shirogane here has quite an interesting history as well. Let's take a look at it out of fairness."

Now pictures of Ryoma's penis were starring all of us in the face. When I woke up today, I didn't expect to find a dead body, but more than that, I didn't expect I would see naked pictures of two of my classmates. This trial has been greatly derailed. Despite the focus now being on Tsumugi's use of Ryoma's body, I could still see Kaito was trying to hide his face in embarrassment.

I myself didn't know what to think. I can't stand above him and claim some moral superiority. After all, I had done the same thing. In fact, I had done it days before Kaito did. But I feel for Kirumi. Especially since Monokuma said he would keep his word, this may have been temporary after all. I guess it was technically Kirumi's body. Was my own philosophy wrong? I had assumed that we would be stuck the way we are. Under that view, Kaito and I did nothing wrong. But we are changing back. And Kaito's blurting out that he masturbated reminded me of my own comment during my pep talk with Tenko. From there, I remembered all the feelings I had when I had hope that we could return to normal. All of those feelings were coming back and I was beginning to feel bad about myself again. After all the progress I made to get more comfortable, it was all coming crashing down.

However, me and Kaito were in the same situation. I know what he would tell me if he knew about what I had done with Maki's body.

'Oh Shuichi, we all have moments of weakness. You feel bad about it, so you have a moral compass. You'll be fine, man'.

I had to believe in Kaito, because I knew he would believe in me.

I turned to him and whispered, " It's ok, Kaito. I don't think you did anything wrong. We all have…. moments like that."

I retook his hand into mine to show my solidarity with him.

"Shuichi…" was all he responded with before Kaede tried to gain control of the group.

"Hey, everybody, let's all settle down!" Kaede announced.

Things began to quiet down a little bit.

"Well, umm, after that….unexpected alibi, I think we can all agree that Kaito's alibi is satisfactory.", she said, adding, "Wow, I was not expecting someone to announce that out loud", in a hushed tone under her breath.

Ryoma did a reality check, "Unfortunately, we haven't narrowed down the list of suspects yet. Everyone has an alibi now. So clearly, someone is lying. But we can't figure out who so I guess we're just at a dead end."

"Well, maybe we can move away from trying to find the Spectre through his actions and instead talk about Kibo." I suggested.

"What's there to talk about? Whoever the Spectre was came in the night and killed him. Wah, poor Kibo!" Kokichi cried with fake tears.

"I think I get what Shuichi is suggesting. Maybe we can find out who the Spectre is if we talk about Kibo's murder. After all, someone would have to kill him in the middle of the night and drop off body parts into people's rooms." Kaede tried agreeing with me.

"Wait, that's a good idea. We can eliminate a few people right off the bat!", Tenko chirped, "Remember the room rule from the first day of the swap? We couldn't enter our own rooms and had to move to the one that belongs to our new bodies. So, who got limbs?"

Gonta, Kaede, Kokichi, and I raised our hands.

"Since Kibo's limbs were found by Shuichi, Gonta, Kaede, and Kokichi, that means Miu, Maki, Korekiyo, and me are off the hook. We couldn't have murder Kibo last night." Tenko celebrated.

However, Kaede got it wrong earlier when she spoke about Kibo being killed last night.

"Actually, no", I corrected her, "I actually think Kibo's death didn't happen after the recital."

I could hear the reactions of 'What?' and 'How?'

Tenko seemed puzzled, "How can you say that? The only way for the limbs to appear in the rooms would be if somebody put them there. Therefore, Kibo would have to be killed at night."

"Everyone, I can explain.", I tried to calm everyone down as discussion arose about my rejection of the death time.

I decided to respond to Tenko's point first, "The Spectre actually had another way to get the limbs inside of people's rooms. A couple of the presents had an extra piece of cardboard in them. In fact, all the presents for those who found Kibo's limbs had this cardboard. I think that this cardboard acted as a fake bottom. It would make the box look empty, but in reality, the limbs were there the whole time."

"Wow, that's almost as good as a magic spell of deception." Himiko sounded amazed.

"Not to mention that those who got boxes with limbs had slightly bigger boxes than the rest." Kaito added, remembering that bit of information from earlier.

Kaede finished my logic for me, "I see! And then while everyone was sleeping, the Spectre could use the Monopad app to remotely control the limbs to come out of the box, making it look like they just appeared overnight.

She knew exactly where I was going with it. Kaede's pretty clever herself. Maybe she could be a detective if she so wanted to. But music is her calling. Hmmm, maybe in a different world, she would be the one to solve cases.

"So Gonta's box had leg in it the entire time? Kibo not attacked after Kaede's recital?" Gonta seemed confused.

"It's the only way to explain why only the boxes that had a limb had that extra piece of cardboard. Of course, that leads to an issue with the timing of events. The gifts were at our doors by the time we ran to our rooms. If the limbs were in the boxes by then, then it would have to mean Kibo was murdered before the Spectre appeared." I explained

Rantaro interjected, "I see what you're saying but there's one problem. We determined the Spectre is actually not a ghost, right? That means the Spectre can only be at one place at once. So, if he was under the table, hiding for who knows how long, then he wouldn't have time to kill Kibo before appearing at the show."

Kiyo agreed with Rantaro, " Exactly. The window to kill him on that day would be far too short given that the Spectre was hiding before the show even began. Also, where would his head have been at this point? We saw an oily mess in the morning, which suggests the killing would have had to take place in the lobby at night. Otherwise, the oil wouldn't have been so fresh."

"Gonta don't know. He not see Kibo all of yesterday." Gonta said.

"But Kiyo said he was with Kibo during the recital, so somebody had seen him." Maki pointed out.

"But what other reasons would there be to have an extra piece of cardboard in only the boxes of those who found limbs?" Kaito reiterated my earlier statement.

"They could have been put there alongside the limbs, in order to trick us." Ryoma suggested.

Everybody was going back and forth. It seems like we couldn't reach a consensus on the issue.

That's when we heard an all too familiar 'upupu' from the throne in the back.

"Looks like we're split right down the middle on this issue. The only way to resolve this is with a debate scrum. Get ready!"

He took a key and jammed it into a tablet that appeared right in front of him. All of a sudden, our podiums started to rise up into the air. I nearly lost balance as mine started to levitate, so I held on for dear life. We rose into a hatch in the ceiling that led to an all white room. We were then aligned in two rows, each facing each other. In my row were Kaito, Kaede, Angie, Gonta, Himiko, Kirumi, and Kokichi. In the one opposite us were Kiyo, Tenko, Rantaro, Miu, Maki, Ryoma, and Tsumugi. Then, on the white wall, a prompt appeared, asking 'Was Kibo killed before the recital?' I guess we were the yes side and the others were the no side.

"Now then, here are the rules. Each side will take turns making points and countering claims made by the other. One person will get to speak, before it switches to the other side. So make your statements count.", Monukuma clarified. "We'll start with Team 'No'"

Kiyo started for that side, "The Spectre would have had to kill Kibo afterwards because of the pool of oil that no doubt came from Kibo's head. It was still somewhat fresh in the morning."

Gonta answered, "But the oil around Kibo's head actually chocolate? So maybe it not freshly killed."

Maki was next to offer a point, "Kiyo said that he was with Kibo last night. Therefore, he had to be alive by the time the Spectre appeared."

Kokichi handled this one, "Well, nobody else saw Kibo all day. Seems like a lie to me."

"When would the culprit even have time to murder Kibo if he was in hiding?" Rantaro asked.

"You were decorating with Shuichi weren't you? It must have happened before you set up the table that morning." Kaede countered.

"So what? It happened before the third day? Pretty hard to hide a body for that long." Miu claimed.

"We found the rest of Kibo in the library, so as long as nobody went to the library, they could store the body there." Kaito explained.

"That's a pretty big if. The killer would have to prevent anybody from going to the library all day at least." Ryoma pointed out.

Kirumi answered that concern, " It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that nobody would enter that single room for one day. Especially with several of us preparing for Kaede's recital."

Tenko was the last one to speak for her side, " It's possible that Kibo's body was moved there after his limbs and head were detached"

Now it was my turn, "No, the library showed signs of a struggle happening there, so it's unlikely that Kibo was taken there after he was killed."

This was our answer! Kibo had to have been killed before the recital. The other side conceded and gave us the edge.

Our podiums began to lower and return to their normal position. Soon, we were back on the ground.

"Ok, so it's likely that Kibo was killed before the recital, however, that leaves us with no leads as to who the Spectre was." Kiyo proclaimed.

"Umm, I guess the people setting up for the recital are in the clear, but it may be harder to confirm where everyone else was." Tsumugi sounded dismayed.

"Well, actually, we do have a lead." I announced.

Everyone's eyes looked to me to elaborate.

"Knowing that Kibo was killed before the recital, that means that, Kiyo, your alibi was a lie." I pointed to him.

"I? Be the Spectre? How silly. Even though I did lie about where I was in the evening, it would have been impossible for me to be the Spectre. You and Kaito were with me for most of the second day and well into the evening on the night you say he was actually killed. And besides, if I were the Spectre, how could the boxes appear at our doorsteps? I would have had to be in hiding, waiting to appear at the recital, so the gifts containing Kibo's limbs couldn't be delivered. Yet they were." he said matter of factly.

I have actually been thinking about this for a while. Given the sequence of events, it would be impossible for someone to do.

"Maybe Shuichi was wrong. Maybe it was really a ghost after all. How else do you explain the gifts being delivered at the same time that the phantom showed up?" Tenko asked.

It seemed as though I was losing the trust of everybody as they began to question how the entire sequence of events could happen. I had to regain their attention and convince them about my theory.

"Psst, Shuichi, you do have an idea for how it could be done, right? It wasn't really a g-ghost?" Kaito whispered to me.

"Of course." I said back.

"That's all I needed to hear.", he whispered again, then turning into a shout, "Hey everybody, calm down. Shuichi has an idea, so let's hear him out!"

"T-thanks, Kaito…." I responded. Did he really need to put the spotlight on me like that? I appreciate the gesture, but now a lot more pressure is there.

"Ummm, yeah, it's actually rather simple. The events that happened last night are 100% possible if the Spectre had an accomplice. While the Spectre made a scene at the recital, someone else turned off the lights from the breaker outside, as well as set the gifts up outside of the rooms." I explained.

"So Shuichi say there are two Spectres?" Gonta asked.

"Not exactly, Gonta. I think he's trying to explain that someone worked with the Spectre, though there was only one Spectre." Kaede explained it for me.

"So, given that Kiyo lied about being with Kibo, it's likely that he is either the Spectre himself, or the accomplice." I concluded.

"Hmm, very perceptive.", Kiyo grunted, almost as if he was admitting defeat.

"Monokuma, what exactly is the rule if there are multiple culprits?" Tsumugi asked.

Monokuma thought about it before responding, " Only the person who dealt the killing blow to the victim is the blackened. Any partners will not receive the same benefits and will be counted as wrong if they are your final answer."

Well that's good to know, at least.

"Wait, Shuichi!", Kaito looked to me, "That book with the story about the Spectre that we found in the library, it seems like something that would be right up the alley of the ultimate anthropologist!"

Kiyo started chuckling, "Kekeke, so you have one culprit, but can you find the other?"

Miu spat, "Why do we even have to find the other one? Your creepy ass is probably the killer, so there's no need to find the other."

"Wow, Miu, that's mighty sus of you. That's real imposter behavior." Kokichi bantered.

"I have an alibi, remember? Moron, I was in my lab." Miu defended herself.

"Yeah, and I was in medbay." Kokichi shot back.

Whatever he was referencing, I had no idea what it was.

"Anyways….", I started to respond to Miu's initial question, "We need to find the other culprit because we can't confirm for certain that Kiyo's the one that actually killed Kibo. It could have been the other one, with Kiyo as the assistant."

"So was Kiyo the Spectre or the assistant? Or maybe he can turn into a ghost and it's just him alone?" Angie seemed puzzled.

"Well, that's exactly why we need to find the other culprit first. Then we can determine who did what later." I tried to help her understand.

"Soooo, we're back to alibis during the recital? Boooring! We've already been over that." Kokichi was overreacting to show his disapproval.

Kaede suggested, "Maybe we can go through everyone not at the recital and see if there aren't any more details we can find out. Obviously someone else was lying about their alibi, but unlike Kiyo's it may be harder to find out which one."

"Himiko, Tsumugi and I were all together, so we can corroborate each other's stories. Unfortunately, we were all in the kitchen, so we didn't see anything." Ryoma reminded everyone

"Actually, there is one person who I think could know something." Kaede turned to face Kaito.

Everyone else mimicked as we all stared at Kaito.

Kaito raised his hand to his face to defend himself, "What!? I told you guys, I was…. Doing things…."

"That's exactly why you would know something. You had to walk from the pool to your room to…. umm… do your business. So did you see anything out of place?"

"Now that you mention it", Kaito began to remember, "I actually remember seeing gifts by the time I got back. I had no idea who the Spectre was, but I set the gift aside while I got changed. By the time I was finished, there was already talk about the Spectre in the group chat."

Ryoma spoke, "That's great and all, but how does this narrow down who the second culprit could be? All we know is that they set up the gifts before the show began."

"Maybe it's implying that someone present at the recital is the accomplice.", Tsumugi suggested, "They could set up the presents and then go to the show to get rid of any suspicion."

"No", I corrected her, "That would still be impossible since that person also threw off the lights during the show. It's likely that they set up the gifts and then went to the powerbox to cause the blackout. I actually wanted to know if Kaito may have seen anyone on his way back."

"Oh yeah! I totally did.", Kaito remembered, "On my way to my room, I actually saw two people. I saw Maki out in the field, punching rocks and I saw Miu. She looked like she was in a rush too. You don't think…."

Everyone turned their attention to Miu.

"What?! Like I fucking did it." Miu yelled.

"You did say you were in your lab during the evening." Rantaro reminded everyone.

"Fine, you want an explanation? I'll give you a damn explanation. I did leave my lab. I didn't mention it earlier because I didn't want to embarrass Himiko. But if you all must know, I was looking for her. 'Why', you may ask. Because her body was having a big bloody period. But since the carpet matches the drapes, I couldn't know for sure. So, I wanted to ask her when her usual time is. All I know is I felt like shit and it was all red near my crotch." Miu explained.

"Hey, don't just go saying things like that about my body." Himiko showed a bit of emotion.

Everyone seemed to believe it, based on the same reason we believed Kaito's story. Why would they reveal something embarrassing in front of everyone and only when pressed on it if it weren't true, but something about her story seemed off.

"So, Himiko, is it that time of the month?" Kokichi asked without hesitation.

"Kokichi! That is not appropriate to ask, you degenerate. That's none of your perverted business." Tenko rebuked him.

Himiko was visibly turning red due to talking about a private matter in front of everyone. She tugged at her witch's hat, which she kept from her old wardrobe, to hide her face.

Kaede tried to get everyone back on track, "Ok, Himiko, did Miu ever come to you at all?"

"No, I never saw her that evening. After I was done in the kitchen, I went back to my room to practice gathering my magic energy."

We all turned to Miu again.

"What? I said I was looking for Himiko. I never actually found her. I looked everywhere. The courtyard, the library, the kitchen. But the kitchen was the last place I checked. It must have been after she had left. In fact, Gonta saw me in the kitchen at night. In fact, it was after the initial texts had gone out about the Spectre." Miu clarified.

Miu confirmed my suspicion In her list of places that she said she visited was the library. The library was supposed to be closed by then.

However, before I could explain anything, Miu started accusing Gonta.

"So Gonta, why were you in the kitchen after being attacked by the Spectre? You trying to get killed in my fuckin body?"

Gonta tried to defend himself, "Gonta just got hungry. That all. Gonta didn't try to get Miu's body killed. Gonta learned when Shuichi rescued him that Gonta no have his old strength. So Gonta tried to find Maki. She has Gonta's strength."

"Yeah, he came to me asking if I could go with him. I told him no." Maki confirmed.

The pieces continued falling into place. I took my shot.

"Hey Gonta, what was Miu preparing when you got there?" I asked.

"I wasn't making anything. I just stopped by there. That's all." Miu clarified.

"That true.", Gonta confirmed, "Gonta showed up and Miu left. Gonta then cooked hamburger."

"Hey, don't put greasy shit like that in my body! I don't want it to get fat." Miu sounded mad.

"It can't get fat if it already is fat, fatty." Kokichi joked.

He seems to be very mean to Miu in particular. Did she do something to upset him?

Miu's little outburst reminded me of earlier when Gonta tasted the 'oil' around Kibo's head. She said something very similar.

"Oh, Gonta remember that Miu left some of her smelly spray in the kitchen." Gonta remembered.

"Smelly spray?" Tsumugi asked.

Gonta elaborated, "Yeah! The same as after Gonta ate oil. Miu take Gonta to kitchen and spray smelly spray on Gonta."

"Eww, Gonta ate oil?" Tsumugi seemed grossed out.

"That's not very hygienic." Kirumi commented.

"Ha, that's hilarious." Kokichi laughed.

Finally, Gonta responded, "No, oil was actually chocolate, remember?"

"That's right!", I confirmed Gonta's claim, "And the chocolate wasn't emitting a strong smell. I don't think it would be a stretch to assume that Miu used her 'smelly spray' to mask the chocolate scent to trick us into thinking it was oil."

We all looked at Miu yet again.

"What is with this shit? Why do you little shitstains always turn to me instead of using your fucking heads? Clearly, the culprit used them without my permission. I only brought them to the kitchen because the fumes from whatever the fuck Tsumugi made earlier were giving me nausea. Couple that with the period and it was a bad time." she exclaimed.

"I would believe that.", I started, "If it hadn't been for what you said earlier. You went to the library. Supposedly, it was closed this entire time. So you would have seen the crime scene. Why did you not report it? The only reason would be that you already knew and were a part of the group that killed Kibo. You were placing the spray there to set up for later in the night when you would make the fake oil."

She was visibly flustered.

"You got nothing on me, you twerp. I went to the library, but I never went in it. I saw the sign that said it was closed and left it there." she seemed defensive.

"Oh, but I think I do.", I countered, "After Kaito and I were chased by the Spectre, we found ourselves in the kitchen. Inside was a chocolate mess. No doubt it was from making the chocolate oil. And at the scene were footprints. And they were small. Probably around the size of your current body."

"Nice try, Pooichi, but those came from me after I left Gonta. I took him to the kitchen to use my spray on him. He hadn't bathed in my body for days and was starting to smell, so to stop the stink, I sprayed him down. I then left and must have stepped in chocolate since it was everywhere." Miu had dodged me again.

I knew it had to be her, but she was being slippery about it with halfway probable excuses. I had to find some damning piece of evidence. But what? The only thing I could think of that was left were the burnt clothes. But they were not super recognizable so I couldn't say for sure it was hers. Then it dawned on me. Kaito may have said something earlier that I could use.

"Kaito, you said that Miu is now wearing the outfit you and Kirumi made for her, right?" I asked.

"Uuhhh, yeah. Why do you ask?" he didn't follow.

"Yeah, what do my clothes have to do with anything?" Miu demanded to know.

"Usually nothing.", I explained, "But isn't it an odd coincidence that we found some clothes burnt up just outside the kitchen? Wouldn't it be possible that Miu stained Himiko's regular clothes and only switched wardrobes because she burned any other choice? After all, Miu was complaining about Kaito's choice for her outfit when he brought it up earlier."

"Wait, the clothes you are talking about were by my lighter when I found you, right?" Rantaro asked.

Ryoma perked up, "It was your lighter that was found by the burnt clothes? That's awfully suspicious."

Rantaro held up his hands, "Wait, guys, it wasn't me that burned them. I lost the lighter and was looking for it."

"That's an awfully convenient excuse for someone that has more damning evidence than anything that Shuichi was trying to pin on me." Miu shifted the blame to Rantaro.

"Mr. Amami, when was the last time you had the lighter?" Kirumi interrogated him.

"I was able to retrieve it from my room before that rule of not going back to your old room went into effect. But I lent it to Kiyo before the recital. He said he needed it for something and I didn't think anything of it at the time." Rantaro relayed.

All our attention turned to Kiyo who preemptively said, "I know your first thoughts would be that I could use a lighter for when the gym went dark. But if I used a light, you would have seen me, so obviously I didn't use it for that. I actually just needed it for other things."

I've had enough of this. I know that it's Miu. This is a red herring meant to divert our attention.

"Ok guys, stick with me here.", I tried to gain everyone's attention, " We already know that Kiyo was a part of this, so it would be likely that he had the lighter, gave it to Miu to burn the clothes, which she stained when making the chocolate, and then she carelessly left the lighter there."

"That's just conjecture. Stop fucking bullying me. You're probably just jealous that you didn't get a hotter girl's body in this fucked up version of Freaky Friday." Miu was getting even more aggressive.

"That would explain why I saw Miu in nothing but her underwear in the middle of the night." Maki said casually.

What!? I was kind of upset. We've been stuck debating this Miu thing for who knows how long because I didn't have anything damning on her and apparently Maki had something this whole time. Why didn't she speak up? Why wait until now? Damn it, Maki….

"If you had evidence, why didn't you bring it up earlier?", I asked trying to mask how upset this made me.

"It didn't seem important at the time. She's pretty weird in general, so I didn't question it." Maki said with a blank expression.

At least that was that. I calmed down and realized that it had been the first time in a while that I had been this worked up. This isn't the first time this has happened. Even in past cases, I've had a habit of getting too into the interrogation. Sometimes it brings out this side of me that I didn't know I really had. A more aggressive side. A more bold side. I usually am able to keep it locked away. I don't think that's who I am or who I should be, but from time to time, it rears its ugly head.

I began to celebrate, "There we go! We have an eye witness that saw her in her undies. And there is no reason that she would just run around in nothing but her underwear. It fits nicely with what I previously stated. Case closed."

Miu tried one last time to defend herself but failed, "I- I…. have nothing. You fucking got me."

"So we found our other culprit, but which one of them did it?" Angie seemed bubbly.

"It had to be Kiyo who did the murder.", Tenko declared, "Only a male would do something as despicable as murder."

"That seems like an awfully limited view…." Maki responded to Tenko.

"But Miu is the one who delivered Kibo's parts. Maybe she killed Kibo." Gonta countered.

"Kiyo, why won't you just tell us which one of you did it?" Tsumugi wondered.

"If I did that, the case wouldn't be as fun, would it? Besides, if I were to be the killer, I would want to steer you wrong. So I would probably say Miu was the culprit. However, if I weren't the culprit and telling the truth, I would say Miu regardless. Either way, my answer would be the same. The only question would be if I'm lying." he answered.

I was about to interject until Kaito signaled for me to let him speak.

"I can answer that. While Shuichi, Kokichi, and I were in the library, Kibo's body played back a recording that was taken after he was attacked. It said, 'We *bzzt*get away with this. *Bzzt, you managed to kill him, but *bzzt* library looks like a wreck. Nothing can stop the dream team of *bzzt-ew and *bzzt-o.' It was a feminine sounding voice and while it did break up a bit, it's clear now that the voice was saying Miu and Korekiyo. That means Kiyo is the culprit!" Kaito explained.

"Shichi, is this true?" Kaede asked.

"It is.", I confirmed, "But-"

"Case closed then. Kiyo did it and Miu helped him." Tenko declared.

"Nyah, we really figured it out?" Himiko looked to confirm.

Kirumi spoke, "It seems as though we are at the end of the trial. Shall we commence with the vote?"

"I think so, yeah…." Tsumugi mumbled, sounding somewhat unsure.

Monokuma spoke from his throne, "You all want to begin voting time?"

I could hear mutterings of 'yes' and 'sure'.

"Wait!" Kokichi cried to get everyone's attention.

All eyes were on him as he began his speech.

"Before we start voting time and all switch back, I just want to deliver a message to Tenko publicly. Tenko, I'm sorry for all the things I put you through. It's just been a weird situation and I was looking for a form of relief. I felt the most normal when I was pulling pranks, but maybe I went too far." he announced.

Tenko looked confused at first but hesitantly accepted his apology, "Umm…. Thanks. I appreciate the apology. I'm still mad that you did what you did, but maybe we can recon-"

Kokichi interrupted her, "And that is why I decided to teach your body a new skill that you can use once we switch back. Let me show you."

Tenko fell silent and watched as Kokichi leaned back, thrusting his pelvis forward.

"This is called a queef.", he explained, "If I just contract certain muscles like so, I can-"

Then a giant sound came from Kokichi's privates as he was able to push air out. Everybody was stunned that he would do that in front of everyone. For most people, a fart in front of a crowd would be embarrassing, but this 'queef' was something he was reveling in. Tenko was visibly horrified.

"You little-" she hissed through clenched teeth. It looked like she was going to burst a vein.

Kokichi continued, " You know how a fart can smell after you let it out? I wonder if it's the same when it comes out the front. Only one way to find out."

He then stepped back and fiddled around with his breasts. I couldn't quite see what he was doing until a moment later, he pulled out a pair of panties, Tenko's panties, and brought it up to his face. Once it was under his nose, he told a big, audible sniff.

"Wow, I can't tell if the smell was coming from all the queefs or from this." he led on.

He flipped the panties to the back side to reveal a decently big brown stain.

"Gross!"

"Fucking disgusting!"

"What is actually wrong with you?"

Everyone seemed rightly grossed out.

"Wait, I thought you weren't wearing panties earlier." Kaede shouted across to him.

"Oh, when I had you record the dirty video? Why do you think I said 'I was a bad girl'? I did this before hand and hid it in my boobs. Just after Shuichi and Kaito left the men's room. Ooh do I spot some brown stains in my cleavage too?" Kokichi was having a ball with this reveal, constantly laughing and failing to hold a straight face.

I wanted to tell him to shut up about the bathroom thing. He really is going scorched earth in his approach, trying to get everyone in trouble. I was afraid everybody would look at Kaito and I and ask what he meant by that, but it seemed everyone was still too focused on the sight they saw before them.

At this point, Tenko was visibly so mad that she was shaking uncontrollably.

She let out a yell that I could only describe as demonic, "That's it! My body or not, you're going to pay, you little shit!"

She then lunged at Kokichi, tackling him to the ground. She began to flail her arm, slapping and hitting Kokichi repeatedly. I would say I felt bad for him for the beating he was receiving, but ultimately he deserved it. If anything, he was probably getting off light because Tenko wouldn't want to hurt her old body too much.

That's when Kokichi singled me out, "Look at this, Shuichi. I know that you know what this -ow- means. Tell them Shuichi! Ow!"

About half the others looked in my direction while the others continued to watch the scuffle unfolding in front of us.

"What does he mean by that, Shuichi?" Kaito asked.

"I-I don't know." I honestly answered.

"Don't play dumb!", Kokichi hollered, "You know what this outburst means!"

Monokuma stepped in at this point.

"Where was this energy when I asked you guys to kill each other before? Anyways, as much as I appreciate the effort, there will be no fighting in a trial. Now if you happen to kill him after the trial, that's ok. But for now, get back to your spots or I will punish you!" he reprimanded them.

What did Kokichi mean by I would know? What should I know? He provoked Tenko by doing more disgusting things with her body. Just like he had been doing for the past few days. How was this time any different? After some inflection, it dawned on me what I think Kokichi was getting at.

"Now then, shall we begin voting time at last?" Monokuma sat back up on his throne.

I raised my hand and objected, " Wait! I think I know what Kokichi is trying to say… If I'm right, he's trying to say… Tenko is the killer."

"Me, the killer? How could I be the killer? I was in the audience with you guys. So I couldn't have been the Spectre. And I couldn't have been the person who turned off the lights and delivered the presents. You're pulling this out of your ass! Why do you think I am the killer?" she scoffed.

"Well, it's just a hunch, but it's by the way you reacted just now." I answered.

"By the way she acted? Wouldn't you be mad if he was doing that stuff with your body?" Rantaro questioned.

"Yeah, seems like a pretty normal reaction to me." Ryoma agreed.

I clarified, " Usually, yes. Kokichi definitely deserved this. However, Tenko was supposedly moving past this. I found her crying after breakfast two days ago. After a little conversation, she seemed to be moving over his pranks. In fact, the next few times I saw her, she showed no reaction towards what Kokichi tried doing. Even after he said he wasn't wiping after using the bathroom, she reacted calmly. Her reacting like this casts some doubt as to if her earlier development was genuine."

Tenko looked shocked. Had I gotten it right? Even to me, this seemed a bit far fetched. But in a moment, she gained her composure and went on the attack.

"I thought we had an understanding, Shuichi. Yes, I was ok with letting go before. But we learned that we'd get our bodies back when the trial started. Now that I know I'm getting it back, I don't want him doing disgusting things with it." she explained.

She then glared at Kokichi, "And that brown stain in my panties better be chocolate or paint that's just made to look like shit. If it's not, you're gonna be in for a world of pain."

Kokichi just giggled and brushed it off.

He sighed and said, "Ah, I missed this."

Not just for Tenko's sake, but for all of our sake I also hope that brown stain wasn't actual feces. Back to the point though, Tenko did bring up a good point. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary to adjust your outlook once you learn some new information. So learning that Monokuma will switch us back could warrant this, whereas before, she could let go and accept her new body. But this reminded me of her behavior when she and I first had our pep talk. After I explained the possible different outcomes, she seemed a little too excited at the thought of killing someone to force a trial to switch us back. Could she have actually gone through with it? I wanted to think that she was past the idea and was really ready to accept her new self. But the more I thought about it, the more it was all making sense.

"You do have the motive. You wanted your body back. During our chat, you were suggesting that we kill someone to switch back. So it's likely that you were just using the guise of being over it as a way to draw suspicion away from you. Otherwise, just by motive alone, it would be too easy to guess it was you."

"That's nothing but conjecture, Shuichi. And I thought we were becoming friends… but it seems like you're just a degenerate who would rather frame me than accept you were wrong. Why is that? Is it because you would have to think about what you did to Maki's body? That you masturbated? You violated it? No, that couldn't be it, right? I have to be the culprit so that you can keep living in your fantasy. Next time, don't make baseless statements without any evidence.", she smugly said in front of everyone.

I immediately stopped what I was doing. Why did she have to bring up the masturbation? There was no reason to reveal that. It was something that I had told her to show how much of a wreck I was by focusing on disrespecting someone else's body. And those feelings were all coming back. We are getting our bodies back. Maki's gonna return to it and I -I violated it. Tenko was right here. I was a despicable person who basically raped another person since I didn't have Maki's consent. I was a monster….

Tears began to fall from my eyes as those earlier emotions that I thought I was able to control came back to the surface. All the embarrassment and anxiety and guilt that I had felt on the morning of the second day were back, and even more amplified then before because it was in front of everyone. Now everyone would know I was a pervert. That I was the scum of the Earth. I'm a betrayer, who used someone else's body for my own selfish pleasure. Even though I didn't go as far as Kokichi, I might as well be labeled just as bad as him. Tenko was right. I was hiding from the truth, so I had to throw her under the bus. I deserve the shunning and reprimanding that will follow. My breaths were getting deeper and I felt a ringing in my ears. It felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I must be hyperventilating from the barrage of emotion. I attempted to calm myself down, to slow my breathing, but I couldn't. I couldn't get enough air. I can't stop. How long has it been? It feels like hours but it's only been seconds. Everything was moving in slow motion as my vision blurred and the ringing increased. I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest.

I began to hug myself as the tears continued to flow. I was in no shape to continue this trial. I could hear everybody judging me.

"Shuichi too?"

"I expected more from you!"

"Disgusting!"

I just wanted to curl up in a ball and die. I deserved to die. I should be killed along with the culprit, if we're not all killed anyways.

But then, out of nowhere, I felt an embrace all around me. From my tear stained eyes, I realized that Kaito was hugging me tight. For just a moment, I felt somewhat safe in his embrace, though I was still struggling to simply breathe.

"K-Kaito…", I sniffled.

"It's ok" he whispered back.

He turned his attention towards Tenko, "Nobody makes my partner cry! You were way off base when you said that! Apologize, now!"

"And why should I? He was accusing me of murdering our classmate. All because that means he was wrong and he was going to have to contend with the fact that he misused Maki's body. I was right when I said we'd get back to being ourselves. He lied to himself and couldn't handle it. When his world came crumbling down, he tried to attack me. Frankly, he deserves it. We already know you're a pervert, Kaito. Now we can all know Shuichi is too." Tenko refuted.

Kaito immediately yelled back, " And so what if he did masturbate? Can no one else here tell me they didn't do anything inappropriate in their temporary body? We're young adults and we're in a situation that has only been fictional up until a few days ago. We've got to experience something that no one else ever has. Are you all telling me none of you, boy or girl, got curious or even went to the bathroom? We have a chance to experience what it's like to be someone else, so that includes trying out new experiences, including masturbation. It doesn't hurt anybody. If you did anything remotely inappropriate, raise your hand. If you can claim to do nothing wrong, you can keep it lowered. But you can no longer look down on the rest of us, as we will stand tall together."

Kaito raised his hand to the sky. It looked as though nobody else would raise their hand, leaving us two alone, until Kaede raised her hand. There were a bunch of shocked murmurs. Disbelief filled the air. Of course, I already knew that since she told me before.

"I would be lying if I could claim otherwise." she said in a low voice, sounding disappointed in herself a little. Only a little though.

Everyone was stunned until Himiko raised her hand as well.

"Not even my magic has been able to let me experience being a guy. I had to try it at least once." she explained.

Then Kokichi joined in, "You all know what I've done. Nyehehe!"

I wasn't sure if being on the same side as Kokichi was a good thing.

Then Angie raised her hand, " I may not be a guy, but I was curious too! Kaede, you got a really nice body!"

Rantaro hesitantly raised his hand, "I didn't masturbate but I did use the bathroom and I haven't been wearing a bra either and I occasionally cop a feel."

Maki then raised her hand, " I don't need to explain myself, but I did take showers, as well as other activities. Apparently I do need to explain to Shuichi again that I don't care. If anything, I care more that you're making my face look like a crybaby, so stop crying."

Next was Gonta, "Gonta accidentally flash everybody."

"I didn't do anything sexual, but I did smoke. I guess Angie isn't a usual smoker so that was probably not cool." Ryoma admitted.

Tsumugi added in, "You all…. Uhh…. saw the pictures I took."

Looking around and seeing all the hands that were going up, it made me realize that I'm not alone.

Kaito continued his speech from earlier, "See? Most of us have done something that the original owners may not have intended. So sure, Shuichi masturbated. As Maki explained, she doesn't even care. And most of us can't pretend to be any better."

He then turned to me specifically and finished, "Shuichi, you've been right about just about everything in this trial. I would trust you with my life. If you smell a rat, then I think it's worth looking into. Break it down for us, partner. Because Tenko's wrong about one thing. It's not the truth you're running from. It's the truth you're embracing. And the truth is, you're not some monster, you're my partner!"

Now I was crying again, but not because of guilt or shame, but because I had someone who really cared about me so much. I always have had this. Kaede has always had my back. She calmed me down after I felt broken. Now Kaito stood up for me in front of everyone. How did I find such amazing people?

"Again with the tears?" Maki sighed.

I wiped the tears away and composed myself. I looked towards Tenko once more and was determined to chase the truth. For Kaede's sake. For Kaito's sake. For my sake. I won't back down. Not when I have the support that I do.

I'm embarrassed that I had that moment of weakness, all over the perception of my peers. But I've learned that there are people who will accept me.

I took a deep breath to help regain my composure. Then, I began to explain the evidence to condemn Tenko.

"When we were in the library, there were several things I noticed. The first was dents across Kibo's torso. He had dents in his armor and took clear battle damage from his assailant. This is backed up by the state of disarray that the library was in. There was a steel putt ball in the library too, but it was buried under some books and had no blood or scratches on it. So likely, it was not the murder weapon. The library was also a mess which suggested that he fought back against the culprit. Now, very few people would be capable of taking on Kibo in a fight. You would have to have some training in martial arts or some method of fighting to stand a chance.", I started to explain my thought process. It was a little messy and unorganized, but hopefully the others could follow.

"What? So the culprit could punch Kibo hard enough to leave dents. I'll give you that Himiko's body would probably be too weak to do it, so that rules out Miu, but Rantaro's body should be able to. After all, I would have to use your body to do it and you and Rantaro are probably comparable." she pointed out.

"I wasn't finished yet.", I interjected, "Kiyo was with me and Kaito as we watched a cartoon about teenagers solving mysteries. Even after we left, he still remained in the theater room. What I think happened is that he came in later to the scene of the crime. Possibly because he heard the struggle that went on. He then was either forced to or decided to help you cover it up. Using a local legend of the Faceless Showman, he crafted the Spectre. It was basically like something straight out of the cartoon we watched. It also makes sense given that he is the ultimate anthropologist. He would know about folk stories from various different cultures, so it would be easy to find a story to base a ghost on. He would then dress up as the Spectre and put on a show in the auditorium."

"This is all just conjecture on your part! You have no actual evidence to back up these half baked theories." Tenko declared.

"Actually, I do." I fought back, " Kibo's body managed to record audio of his assailants. Monokuma, play the audio."

From the center console, it showed a still picture of Kibo's torso and over it was the recording that played for Kaito, Kokichi and I earlier. Everyone seemed shocked by what they heard. Tenko was turning red, either through embarrassment or rage.

"So what?! That recording doesn't prove anything. The names were cut out from the audio. From what we gather, one name ends with 'ew' and the other with 'o'. So, it seems pretty obvious that those names are Miu and Korekiyo!" Tenko cried.

Kaito pointed at Tenko and pointed out, "But Tenko, your name also ends with 'o'. It could be Miu and Tenko."

"Why would I even work with Miu to begin with? Seemingly, we have nothing in common. And I would never work with a degenerate male like Korekiyo." Tenko was defensive.

Kiyo scoffed, "I am hurt m'lady. Your words wound me so."

"That's where Kokichi comes in.", I answered, " This whole time, you've been (rightfully) upset at his treatment and use of your body. You seemed to be Kokichi's primary target. That is, except for one other person: Miu. Miu was also very tired of Kokichi's antics as he was able to use Gonta's naivety to do lewd things while in her body. That's more than enough common ground to consider working together. Korekiyo came in after the crime was already done and decided to join you."

Tenko seemed at the end of her rope, "I am tired of these accusations! There is no concrete proof that I worked with anybody. Besides, one of the two behind the Spectre disguise attacked me in the halls during the investigation. You saw it!"

"Hmmm, it does seem oddly convenient that you were attacked. However, you said something suspicious. You said 'Shuichi, just the guy I wanted to see.' Yet, you never did tell me why you wanted to see me in the first place. It does fit if you wanted to convince me you're not the one behind this murder. You and one of your conspirators, most likely Kiyo given the frame of the Spectre, set up these events to make it seem like you were attacked too. Which would explain my final piece of evidence…"

"What final piece of evidence? So far, you have nothing on me but guesses." Tenko stuck her tongue out at me.

I confidently proclaimed, "The bandages! We found some bloodied bandages in the library, likely as a result of confronting Kibo and sustaining injury. Now, how are your hands?"

Tenko shouted, "Fine! They're damaged but that was from the attack from the Spectre during the investigation."

I was about to say my final piece but instead Kaito made one last observation, " And wait, your Gi is in tatters too. This could also be from the Spectre confrontation, but it is suspicious. Tenko, I don't want to believe it's you, but everything points to you when you use your intuition. Not to mention that you dragged my partner's name through the mud to attempt to get him to back off. It does seem like you are trying to manipulate things."

Monokuma decided to chime in, "We are running low on time and I'm starting to get bored since it's largely just two people arguing. You both get one more statement and then we're doing voting time."

Tenko spoke first, " Shuichi has no good evidence that it's me. Sure, you can twist things to make it seem like it was me, but the only ones that we know for sure are Miu and Kiyo. This is a character assassination on me and I am hurt that Shuichi would try to pin it on me when I'm just trying to be a team player."

I cleared my throat and looked around. Everyone was staring at me and it felt like I had to make a good point. I started to blank on what to say, but ultimately chose to say, "While evidence is very important and is needed, sometimes, you have to use common sense and intuition to find an answer. And as one last thing, Kokichi, Gonta, Kaede, and I all got limbs. Gonta and Kaede are in Miu and Kiyo's bodies. Maybe they purposefully put the limbs into boxes that went to their old rooms to throw us off. I got one to throw me off as the ultimate detective. That only leave's Tenko."

"Alright!", Monokuma cheered, "Time is up. It is now voting time! On the screen in your podium, you can vote for who you think did it. I'm so excited! Will you get it right? Or maybe you'll get it woefully wrong. Either way, I will kill someone today."

I trusted my intuition and voted for Tenko. I looked over to Kaito who gave me a smile and a wink, telling me that he also voted for Tenko. Everybody else cast their votes and within a minute we got the results.

"And the blackened, as chosen by you guys is….", Monokuma was building anticipation, "...TENKO CHABASHIRA!"

Tenko yelled, "What!? Who voted for me?"

Monokuma shushed her, "Quiet, we will get the breakdown in a moment, don't ruin the tension!"

He continued, "And the actual blackened is…. TENKO CHABASHIRA! You guys got it right! Here's how it broke down."

The screen showed little tacks for how many votes each person got. It seems that Tenko got 8 votes. It was just over half. The screen then flashed to show who voted for who. The ones who voted for Tenko were me, Kaito, Kaede, Gonta, Kokichi, Angie, Kirumi, and Himiko. Maki, Miu and Ryoma voted for Kiyo. Rantaro, Tsumugi, and Kiyo voted for Miu. And Tenko voted for me.

"Now then, before we execute the blackened, I'm sure you guys have some questions you want answered. Students usually do after trials. Being the benevolent headmaster I am, I will allow you a few minutes until I find it convenient to cut you off." Monokuma announced.

It was kind of awkward, knowing who the killer was. She even used my body to commit the crime. To some extent there was blood on my hands. I can't help but think that I failed and if I could have been more convincing, this wouldn't have happened. Nobody wanted to speak, but it would be a waste to not get an explanation for all of this.

"Why would you do it? Why would you kill Kibo?" Kaito asked Tenko.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tenko questioned, "I wanted my body back. Kokichi was doing vile things with my body and I couldn't stand it."

"But we had the whole talk and you seemed like you were getting over it. Was it all a lie?" I wanted to know above all.

Tenko answered, "Oh Shuichi, if there is any remorse I have, it's for you. To answer your question, it didn't start out as a lie. I truly did get where you were coming from and I tried not to care. It didn't last long though. Not long after we separated, I ran into Kokichi who was drinking something yellow. He said it was urine that he got from the toilet."

"Ewww!" we all groaned in disgust.

Kirumi pondered, "Is that why you asked me for lemonade the other day, Mr Ouma?"

"Nyehehe! You got me. I wanted to play a little prank on Tenko. And it was worth it! By the way, the brown stain was chocolate. You don't think I would actually do some of those things, do you? Hehehe. Well, maybe I did a few of those things." Kokichi snickered.

Miu was furious, "What the hell is wrong with you? That's not funny and it's also disgusting! Even if it wasn't actually piss."

Tenko cleared her throat and continued, "Anyways…. It was at that point that I knew I couldn't take anymore of it. I was determined to both get my body back and punish Kokichi in the process. I knew that I would have been suspected easily because of my earlier outbursts. That's why I pretended like I had gotten over it. If people thought I changed, they wouldn't suspect me. I also made sure to be present when the Spectre attacked so that any remaining suspicion would disappear."

"Speaking of the Spectre, why did Miu and Korekiyo join in on this scheme?" Maki bluntly asked.

"I was chasing down that dickbag, Kokichi, after he tricked Gonta into showing my plump ass for the whole world to see. I eventually wound up in the library where I found Tenko. I ranted about how much I fucking hate Kokichi and we bonded over that. She invited me into her plan and I accepted, thinking that if we both could convince you morons that someone else did it, we could both go free." Miu explained.

"As for me, I believe it was stated earlier, but I happened to walk in on them after they murdered Kibo. Seeing an opportunity, I was curious about how Monokuma would handle having multiple conspirators. I decided to join them and I helped come up with a plan for how we could mislead everyone." Kiyo stated.

"Y-you didn't use a real sword when in costume, right?" I asked with concern over the fact I could have died the night of the attack.

Kiyo point blank said, "Oh no, that was real. You could have died. I also wanted to see how a double murder would affect the trial as well, but your reflexes saved you. How lucky."

Tenko spoke again, "Listen, I want to apologize, Shuichi. It was scummy of me to reveal what you told me in confidence. I did it to hurt you. Not because I hate you, but because I needed to stop you from solving the case. I didn't want to do it, but Kokichi giving you the idea that it was me made things a bit messy."

Kaede interjected, "That was seriously uncool. It was also really lame that you were willing to kill the rest of us to get your body back. We all were having issues, so all you needed to do was talk with us. Kaito, Kirumi, or myself would have had no problem helping you through this."

"You're not wrong, Kaede. I guess I didn't really see you as my friends. I had distanced myself from half of you because I hate degenerates, and I never really formed strong enough bonds with the girls. Himiko was the only one I spent much time with, but she somewhat kept to herself after all this craziness started. So, I kind of shut myself out from everybody. I guess I expected the girls to reach out to me, but they didn't. Everybody seemed so wrapped up in this crazy mess, that it seemed like everyone was isolated. Shuichi was the only one who did reach out. I think it takes a lot of strength to talk as openly as he did. Especially since he seemed uncomfortable. But I didn't have the strength to reach out like that. Maybe if I did, I could have gotten the support I needed. Shuichi, you were probably the closest friend I could have had here. Thank you." Tenko detailed.

"Tenko, I-", I wanted to tell her I don't think I was strong. I could have done more.

"That's enough of that. Who needs motivation and sympathy when we have good ol' fashioned murder? Gather around and grab some popcorn, because it's punishment time!" Monokuma ruined the mood

Kaede gasped and said, "But wait, she's still in Shuichi's body! You gotta switch them back first!"

Monokuma thought about it and asked, "Would you say he would be pretty sad if I didn't switch him back?"

Kaito spoke up, "I'd say he would! Nobody would want to see their own body die. Then he could never get back to normal."

"Well then, I will not be switching everyone back yet. Thanks for the answer. Now I can make even more despair!" Monokuma mused.

Suddenly, a collar burst from the ceiling and clung around Tenko's neck, pulling her into the ceiling. On a nearby TV monitor, we saw a feed of where she was taken. She was in a pitch black room until suddenly, the lights flash on. Suddenly, there are other people around her. They looked like robotic versions of us. Yet they were also all dressed in Aikido uniforms. One stepped up and began to pose as if they were ready to fight. Tenko did the same. Soon, the robot lunged at her but she parried it and flipped it on its back, slamming it down on the ground. Next, two more appeared, but they were disposed of. Then a few more, and some more after that. She was continually attacked by what seemed like an endless army of them. She could easily break them but it was clear that she was getting more and more exhausted.

As she stood there, trying to catch her breath, unseen robots from the shadows threw ropes at her, wrapping around her arms. Then some were wrapped around her legs. One went around her neck. She was basically immobile as she was tied up with so many ropes. As she struggled, a robot, who's appearance resembles Kokichi, entered the light and charged at her. Unable to block it, she was pushed off of whatever platform she was on. Her fall was stopped by the rope that hung from her neck. She gasped for air, struggling even more violently to do anything to free herself, but she was unable to. Soon, her struggling ceased. She was hanging there, limp. Soon, the rope supporting her was dropped and she dropped to spikes which waited for her down below. A giant spike pentarted the torso, basically guaranteeing she was dead. Tenko was gone, but all I saw on the screen was my own lifeless body. It was forever taken from me.

Chapter 4.2: Post trial

Seeing my body, lifeless was….. shocking. I was alive, after all, I was able to think about my own death, but a part of me was dead. No matter what happened now, I could never return to normal. This was a lot to process, too much to process. I kind of shut down just trying to process what just , people can't see their own deaths. It makes sense because they die. Sort of a 'No duh' situation. Yet, here I was, looking at myself, deceased. It was all I could really think about. How could this happen? Why did this have to happen?

"Shuichi, you ok?" Kaito tried to check up on me.

"Yeah…." I mumbled back.

"Are you sure?" Kaede tried to confirm.

"Yeah.…" I mumbled back.

I was not in the headspace to try and respond with more.

"Alright, enough with the trauma, switch us back right now!" Miu ordered Monokuma to do.

"Oh yeah, you did say you'd switch us if we solved the trial." Tsumugi reminded him.

"Oh yeah, I sure did! Welp, I'm a bear of my word. Alright everyone, it will take a little bit of time to prepare. I'll need you to stand in the center of the room." Monokuma instructed.

We all moved to the center of the room. I more so shuffled my feet slowly. Everyone began conversing while Monokuma began doing….something. I guess he was preparing.

"Wait so where does Shuichi's soul go if his body is dead?" Kaede tried to ask.

"Maybe he'll disappear into the void and Tenko's ghost will come back instead!" Kokichi joked.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's no such thing as ghosts. I thought this trial proved as much." Kirumi scolded Kokichi.

"Actually, ghosts have been said to exist in many different cultures. It is possible that whatever Monokuma will do will bring back the spirit and put it into the correct body." Korekiyo proposed.

"What if spending enough time in a body changes your soul?", Tsumugi questioned, "So Shuichi's soul morphed into Maki's soul and Tenko's soul morphed into Shuichi's"

"Then how would any of us get back, since all our souls would change, so we would technically be in the 'correct' body" Rantaro argued.

Ryoma brought up a concerning idea, "What if this has nothing to do with souls? What if it's hypnotism of some sort?"

Everyone looked at him looking for him to elaborate.

"For example, what if we never actually swapped. We just think we did. So I would be Angie who only thinks she is Ryoma. And the person who died was Shuichi who only believed he was Tenko. Then, there would be no soul mix up since there was never actually a swap."

Everyone pondered it over. Angie eventually spoke, "But in the case that we did swap, Shuichi still has no place to go. Maybe he would get Tenko's body, since that body would have no soul."

Everyone seemed to agree that that would be the case. I began to imagine it. How ironic would it be? Everyone but me goes back to normal, and I get to spend the rest of my life as the person who died in my old body.

"Hey, Monokuma, what's taking so long?" Miu sounded impatient.

"You can't rush the process." Monokuma casually answered.

"It looks like you're just sitting around." Himiko observed.

"All part of the process.", Monokuma assured everyone, " Now just keep waiting, it'll be a moment."

"Kokichi, step over there for a moment, I would like to have a few words with you." Kaito sternly said.

Kirumi seemed concerned, "Mr. Momota, do you believe it's a good idea to leave the designated part of the room?"

Kaito flashed her a smile and assured her, "Don't worry Kirumi. It'll be really quick. I'm sure we won't miss a thing. I just need to get something off my chest before he has any chance to get away."

The two of them stepped out of the center of the room and went to one of the edges. I moved a little outside myself to see if I could hear what they were talking about.

"I'll cut to the chase, why were you acting like a little shit during this whole thing?", Kaito angrily asked, " You basically caused the entire thing to happen."

Kokichi scoffed and said, "I don't expect someone like you to understand, but I actually saved us all."

"Saved us all?", Kaito said in disbelief, " If you hadn't been so awful to Tenko, she wouldn't have been driven to try and reclaim her body from you. She was wrong for killing Kibo, but I understand the reason. Frankly, I would have probably done something similar if you acted like that in my body."

"Look, I'll spell it out for you", Kokichi was being condescending, " Without me, you would have never found out who did it. Do you honestly think she wouldn't have killed to get her body back, even if I was respectful or someone else got her body? No way. Her whole thing was hating males. So if a dude got her body in the swap or she became a dude, she would have wanted it reversed. All I did was make it more obvious that she would be the type to kill by tricking her into showing her anger outwardly."

Kaito argued back, "There is no way she would have killed anybody if you didn't provoke her."

"I knew you wouldn't understand. I reveal the potential killers and this is the thanks I get. I know that you trust everyone, but not everyone deserves trust." Kokichi dismissed him.

Kaito raised his voice. I didn't even need to move closer to hear it. I'm sure that everyone could hear it, "And because of you, Shuichi lost his body forever! Even if you're right and Tenko would have tried to kill anyway, it would be much easier to talk things out and lower the tension if you weren't constantly upsetting her."

"Yeah, that's idealistic…"Kokichi shot back.

"Actually, it's not., I interjected, moving to where they were.

"Partner?" Kaito sounded surprised.

I was starting to feel again. The numbness of death began to subside and in its place was frustration.

"I talked with her on the second day of the swap. I felt like I made a lot of headway. She was adversarial at first, but after I explained how I came to the conclusion I came to, she seemed to get it."

"It was an act! She was pretending to be calmer for two reasons. First, it would piss me off since I did want a reaction from her and second, it would make you think she was over it so that you wouldn't suspect her." Kokichi countered.

"Even so, it could have been different if you just trusted people. You claim that you did it to expose who would have been a killer, but you only targeted a few people. You largely went after Tenko and did a few things to piss Miu off. But you didn't try to upset Kirumi, or Kaito, or Kaede, or Himiko, or anyone else. You're full of shit!" I was escalating my tone.

Silence followed until a hurt looking Kokichi glared at me and softly said, "You claim everyone should have trust in others. But that doesn't extend to me, does it? You'll trust everyone else except me. I thought you'd understand, Shuichi. I thought you would be able to understand my reasoning. But I guess I was wrong…"

I thought I saw a tear fall from his eyes before he wiped his face, using his arm.

"You're just as bad as the rest of them. If no one trusts me, then I won't trust anybody either." Kokichi tried to walk past me.

Kaito reached out and grabbed his shoulder, "Hey Kokichi, we're-"

Kokichi violently threw off Kaito's hand and shoved him back, "Don't touch me! You or your shitty, half rate detective."

Kaito, with a fire in his eyes, lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. I think he was more upset by the half rate detective comment than I was. They began slapping each other as they rolled around, trying to pin the other.

"Kaito, stop!" I tried to yell out and even hold him back, but I wasn't enough.

"Gonta help!", Gonta ran over from the rest of the group to help, "Kokichi, Kaito, please no fight!"

"Get back here, you idiot!" Miu yelled after him, shaking her fist.

"NOW!" Monokuma shouted.

All of a sudden a purple mist enveloped the center of the room where everyone else stood. I could see shadows of those enveloped in the smoke and one by one, they looked like they were collapsing to the ground.

"Kaede!" I yelled, hoping to hear a response.

There was no answer.

Soon, the purple haze was beginning to clear and everybody was lying on the ground, asleep.

"Monokuma!", Kaito turned his attention to the headmaster, "What did you do to them?"

"Me? Why, I'm keeping my promise of course. This is how you switch people's bodies."

"This is how you switched us?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes indeedy", he giggled, " This is a special mist that when inhaled, extracts your spirit from your body. These spirits can roam around and search for a new body . I used it on you guys when you were asleep."

I was about to think that Monokuma was making this up, but in front of me, as the purple haze vanished completely, there were glowing orbs flying around the air above the other students. I guess these must have been the spirits Monokuma was speaking about. They flew widely in circles, slowly descending down closer to the bodies. Eventually, they all disappeared into the bodies and I could hear a few groans and I could see some limbs twitching.

"Everyone, let's make sure they're all right!" Kaito took control of the situation.

All four of us, even Kokichi, ran over and began to tend to the others. I immediately went to Kaede's original body.

"Kaede?" I asked, holding her head in my lap.

I squeezed her hand and tried to be comforting. After a moment, her eyes began to flutter open.

"Huh?" she groaned.

"Oh, thank goodness." I said, relieved.

She slowly sat herself up, once somewhat falling back due to weak limbs, no doubt from the soul being displaced earlier. This whole process alone raises so many questions. Does a body without a soul die if the soul is removed for too long? By what mechanisms does the mist extract souls? Where do the souls lay in the body? Questions for later.

I supported Kaede as she tried once more to get up. I helped push her until she sat in the upright position.

"Nghh…", I heard her moan.

She brought her hand to head as if she had a headache of some kind.

"Kaede, are you ok? I can try to get an ice pack if you have a headache." I tried to be attentive.

It didn't seem like Kaede was listening as she continued to grumble. Eventually, she stopped though. She then slowly raised her hand and began examining it. She checked her nails and her palm. I was convinced that she was making sure that she was back in her body. After all, being Korekiyo for a few days, she may have been getting used to that, so it may be a bit surprising to be back in her original form. This would raise questions about the souls of those whose bodies were outside the circle. I wonder where Maki, Miu, and Kirumi's souls went.

"Kaede, you must be so glad to be back!" I tried to celebrate with her.

"Wait… what did you say?" she said in a deeper tone of voice, almost like a morning voice you have right after getting out of bed.

"I just said that I imagine you're happy that you swapped back, Kaede" I repeated.

She then looked down at her torso and took her boobs in her hand before abruptly turning to me.

"I don't think we're back." 'she' said.

"W-what?" I stammered.

"You called me Kaede, right? Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not her." she stared at me intensely.

"Then who-" I couldn't finish before 'she' cut me off.

"I'm Hoshi Ryoma. And I could really use a smoke right about now."

If the person in front of me was in fact Ryoma, that means Monokuma didn't switch everybody back. He just switched them again. I turned to ask him what the deal was, but the others were also beginning to awaken.

"What the…?"

"Am I back?"

"This isn't right."

There was general confusion from everybody. Outside of Ryoma, who apparently was in Kaede's body, I couldn't tell who was who.

"What the hell is this bullshit?!" Kokichi's body yelled. I could take a guess as to who wound up in there.

"You were supposed to return me to my glamorous body, but instead you put me in the little gremlin's?" 'he' yelled.

'He' then pointed to Gonta, "And you! Who's in my body this time?"

Gonta pointed to himself and said, "I still Gonta. You must be Miu. Right?"

"No duh! God dammit! That buffoon is still hijacking my looks! Hey, stupid bear, what gives? You were supposed to swap us back." Miu yelled at the bear.

"Actually, I kept my word." he said.

"But you said you'd swap us back to normal." 'Tsumugi' frightfully said.

"Wrong!", Monokuma mimicked a buzzer, " I said that I would switch you again. Read the official court transcript if you don't believe me. I never guaranteed the second swap would return you to normal."

Recalling the beginning of the trial, he was right. When Tenko mentioned his promise, he said that 'he could switch us around again'. That doesn't necessarily mean that it would be back to normal. Still, it was really disappointing that at least the others couldn't go back to normal.

"Well then switch us again! I'm not going to be stuck like this!" Miu said through clenched teeth.

"No can do. Even if I wanted to, that was the last of the magic dust. I can't just make any more. I got it from a very special place. That was the last that I had, so you are stuck in the bodies you now currently inhabit." he explained.

Miu got up and ran towards Monokuma. She grabbed him by the arm and threw him down at the ground.

"I'm not buying that shit! Give me back my body right now!" she demanded.

"Careful young lady, or should I say man? Violence against the head master is-" Miu shoved a boot into Monokuma's face, interrupting him.

"Shut up and fix it!" she demanded again.

"Hmm, it's been awhile since I've had to do this. Ahem.", Monokuma paused before chanting, "To me, mighty spear, Gungnir!"

All of a sudden, spikes popped out of the ground and in an instant, Miu had several spikes going in and out of her.

"W-what…" she said before the spears retracted and she laid on the floor, dead.

Several people screamed at the events that unfolded in front of us. Yet another classmate was gone. Out of the 16 that started, only 13 remain.

"Oh,", Monokuma turned his attention to the rest of us, "And we're not having a trial for Miu. Let this serve as a lesson, don't ever try attacking me. You're not going to win. Before I go, I will see you tomorrow morning with your reward and your next motive. Puhuhu"

He then disappeared, leaving us to sort out everything ourselves.

"Ok, everyone, listen up", Kaito showed his leadership skill, "we'll all reveal who is who right now to avoid any confusion. Especially since we're going to be like this possibly forever. I'll start. Me, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Gonta all remained unchanged since we were outside the radius of the mist. Now then, when I point to you, say your name. Go!"

He pointed to Ryoma's body and immediately the person inside responded, "I'm Angie Yonaga. Isn't that funny? Last time, Ryoma got my body. Now, I have Ryoma's body. Atua is funny like that. Though being a boy sounds fun."

She began checking out her new form so Kaito pointed towards the body of Rantaro.

"I'm Kaede Akamatsu. Ultimate pianist."

At least I now knew that Kaede was ok. Next, Kaito pointed to his old body.

"I'm Rantaro Amami. I'm glad to be back in a male body at least."

He then began playing with Kaito's beard. I guess he never could grow facial hair in his old body, so it was understandable. Kaito then pointed to Himiko's body.

"Maki Harukawa."

We all expected a little bit more since the others had some comments on their new forms but Maki wasn't in the mood to share, I guess. Kaito next pointed to Gonta's old body.

"I am Kirumi Tojo, the ultimate maid. It looks as though I will have to find a bigger uniform than when I was Kokichi."

Next the finger pointer towards Ryoma in Kaede.

"Hoshi Ryoma."

Just like Maki, I guess he didn't want to share anymore. Next to say who they were was Korekiyo's body.

"Someone should really make a manga out of this. Think of the fanservice. Think of the ratings."

No doubt it was Tsumugi in there. Before Kaito could point to the next person, Angie's body raised her hand and began to speak.

"I am ultimate anthropologist Korekiyo Shinguji. I must say, being in the body of someone from a different culture than my own is very fascinating indeed. Kekeke, yes. This presents some interesting opportunities."

"Just be sure to take good care of it!" the real Angie suggested.

Finally, that left Himiko, who was in Tsumugi's body.

"Nyeh, who has my hat? I need it to activate my mana in my new form."

Chapter 4.3: The Start of Something Beautiful

After about 30 minutes of exhausting discussion on what we should do next, conversation began to wind down. Everyone was done conversing and we dispersed back towards the dorms. In the field, everyone split up. A few went to the kitchen, some stayed outside to chat, and a few went to our respective rooms. I was among those that returned to my chambers. Once I entered, I didn't bother to turn on the lights. I sat on the bed, after I knew where in the room I was, and I began to disrobe. I removed everything except for my panties and bra. I had a feeling tonight, it was going to be hot, too hot for pajamas.

I fell back onto my pillows and pulled the blanket over me and just began to think. What even happened today? I woke up, found out somebody was murdered, may have had a sexual awakening, saw two classmates naked, found out Tenko was a murderer, saw my body get violently executed, and then was informed that this was me now. I think that about sums it up. But why didn't I feel anything towards this? I'm stuck like this, but I'm not freaking out. I was just casually in my underwear. I had no fear that it was Maki's body or that I was doing something wrong. I had made some peace with that before the trial. But now it feels more…. Final. Even before, I guess there was a part of me that still believed this wouldn't be it. I guess that's why I broke down a bit during the trial, as it dawned on me that this could have been temporary. But seeing my lifeless body, I think it expelled any thought that things could go back to how they were. I had nowhere else to go. Even if I swapped again, I could never be my old self. Even if Monokuma actually switched everybody back, I would be Tenko, or just disappear.

So I think I now, 100% see this as me, so there is no shame or need to be considerate for someone else's sake. And what about Tenko? I thought I truly got through to her. Kokichi's words, that it was all just an act, kept going through my head. If that's the case, was I potentially dooming the case? In part, I would have given Tenko the power of deniability to get away with it. And no one would have been able to find evidence to the contrary. And what about Kaito? When we kissed during the investigation and during the trial I-

Knock knock*

I heard banging at the door. I decided not to answer. I think I just needed to gather my thoughts. Process, what it is that I was feeling. It's probably just someone trying to check on me, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think it would be what I needed.

Knock knock* I heard once again. This time, it was a bit louder.

I continued to stay silent.

Knock knock knock* I heard a third time.

It was clear that whoever was at the door was not going to stop, so I decided to just give in.

"Just a moment!" I yelled at the door as I rose out of bed and headed towards the light switch.

"It's Kaito!", the voice shouted back, "I really need to talk to you. Is it alright if I come in?"

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" I answer back, searching the wall for the light switch. Eventually I found it and flipped on the lights.

"No. I really need to talk to you right now!" he sounded desperate.

Knowing Kaito, this was not up for debate.

"Fine. Come on in." I gave in to his demands.

I unlocked the door and he came walking in. I was half expecting a comment on my state of dress, since I hadn't bothered to put on anything. In fact, my clothes were still on the floor. My skirt landed in the box that contained Kibo's arm, but the arm itself seems to have been removed from my room. No doubt, Monokuma or the monokubs took care of clean up while the trial took place or when we were figuring out who's who.

Kaito took a seat on the bed and gestured for me to take a seat next to him. I did as much.

"Soo…." Kaito began. His eyes were looking towards the wall. It seemed like he was trying to avoid gazing at me. Not even just my lower body, which I could see his eyes dart from every now and again, but he wouldn't even look at me in the face.

"When Kokichi had us kiss earlier, I know we only did it for the investigation…" he continued.

His cheeks were slowly turning red and he began looking closer to my direction, without looking me in the eye.

"...But when it happened, I felt….. weird. It was as if fireworks were lit off in my mouth. I felt all tingly and… relaxed. I tried to ignore it, but then he had us hold hands. That alone, didn't trigger anything." he continued to explain.

He then turned his head to look at me, this time right in my eyes.

"But then there was when you held my hand at the trial. You were under no obligation to. You didn't have to keep a promise or anything. You did that of your own free will….When I was having a rough time. It made me feel….special. That tingly feeling returned. Really, I don't know how I focused on anything else during that trial, since my mind would constantly go back to that. I couldn't get it out of my head. And that's when I realized… Shuichi Saihara…. I think I l-like you….in that special way." he got to his point.

"Oh.." was all I could muster.

Frankly, I was shocked to hear this from Kaito. I thought that Kaito wouldn't have that kind of interest in me. I know that I felt similar about the kiss. And I think I knew it may be love too when he defended me in front of everyone. But I was so confused. I questioned what I was feeling earlier. But maybe, just maybe, was that my way of protecting myself? Maybe, I thought, deep down, that Kaito wouldn't reciprocate, and so I was trying to convince myself that it was Maki's body or hormones and that it wasn't me. But the moment that he said he liked me in that way, I knew for sure that those feelings from earlier, they weren't just because of the body I'm in. They came from me. I think I love Kaito Momota.

Before I could respond more, Kaito continued, " It was then that I was determined that after we all switched back, I would tell you how I felt. At first I was wondering if I was only attracted to Maki's body. It's hot. It's sexy. I do like it a lot. But it's the personality in the body I love more. Shuichi, you're so kind and modest and you're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. I know you doubt yourself, but dammit, you shouldn't because you are wonderful. I know I made you MY partner, but you did all the work. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to solve that case. And that's what I admire. I admire you, Shuichi. Female body, male body, it wouldn't matter, as long as it's you."

I couldn't speak. Tears began to run down my face. I don't deserve someone so nice like this. Someone who believes in me and admires me. Sure, Kaede did those things, but she was never as passionate in the way she spoke about it like this. Her compliments came off as her trying to boost my self esteem. Still true to how she actually felt, but said more so for my sake. Kaito's words felt like they weren't just for me, but for himself. He was also talking to himself deep down and sorting out the feelings he felt from his innermost soul.

"K-k-kaito.." I tried to give him something, but words failed me.

"But then there was that damn execution. I can only imagine what it's like to see your body killed in front of you. I'm so sorry, Shuichi." Kaito hugged me.

"But I just want you to know that you're not alone. I'm stuck this way as well. And seeing how these are now going to be our bodies forever, I don't need to worry about what Kirumi would do or think, since this is my life now! And I want that life to be with you!...Shuichi Saihara, will you be my partner? Will you be my girlfriend?" he waited for an answer.

I gasped at his proposal and tried wiping away the tears, but it was futile as more just kept coming. I couldn't help it. But I was smiling. More so than I think I ever had before. This is the happiest I've ever been. Not just since the swap but all my life.

"Yes, Kaito, yes! I love you too!" I squealed as I threw myself around Kaito to give him another hug.

He hugged me tight back and on my back, I felt a drop of water. Only a singular drop but I knew it was Kaito's turn to cry, though not as much as me.

We both drew back and he took my hands and promised, "From now on, it's me and you. Any problem that comes our way, we'll deal with it together."

He got up from the bed and pointed towards the door, "Well it's been a long day. I bet you'd like to get some sleep. So, I'll leave now. But I promise you'll be in my dreams."

That last line was a little cheesy and cliche but I laughed because of just how immeasurably happy I felt. Then from out of nowhere, Kaito gave me a big kiss on the forehead.

"By the way, Shuichi, you have the most beautiful smile. See ya later." he let himself out.

After a moment of silence to make sure that he couldn't hear, I let out a big, high pitched squeal of delight. I may have lost my body and I may have lost three classmates, but I gained a relationship that made all of those things seem insignificant. I turned off the light and tried to lay down, but ultimately, I just spent hours thinking about what just unfolded. I have a girlfriend? Boyfriend? Whatever we are, I have someone special. I held a pillow in my arms and clutched it tightly. Hehehe. I have a partner. Someone who loves me too. Was I too reserved in my reaction? He poured his soul out to me and I barely said anything. Was the crying too much? Of course not! Sure I don't cry too often, the past few days being the exception, but it was my honest reaction and that's what he said he loved about me. How will we do dates while in the school? Should I get him a gift? Couples do that, right? Hehehe, it'll be figured out. My thoughts continued like that for hours. No matter how much I tried to fall asleep, my mind would turn back to that. Eventually, I guess just to pure exhaustion, I was finally able to slowly drift to sleep, ending one hell of a day.

Chapter 4.4: A New Alter Ego

Ding Dong* I heard the doorbell ring.

What time was it? I glanced over to the clock and it said it was only six am. The morning announcement didn't even play yet. Was Kaito back already? I was kind of hoping so.

"Shuichi? It Gonta. Gonta need your help." I heard from the other side.

"Ok Gonta. I'll help you. Just a moment, I need to get dre-" I began before he just invited himself in. I guess he only heard the I'll help you part.

"Gonta glad Shuichi help Gonta. Oh, does Shuichi need to cover lady parts?" Gonta noticed I was only in my undies.

"That would be nice if I could." I told him.

I half expected him to get out so I could change but he just stood there. I guess he was waiting for me to get dressed. I really didn't need an audience, but I guess it is what it is. As I began getting my skirt on, Gonta explained the situation.

"Shuichi good with computers, right?" he asked.

I shrugged and told him, "I guess a little bit. I'm not really an expert, but I generally know the basics."

He explained further, "Gonta got message on Monopad. It say it from Alter Ego. Gonta no know who that is. They say to meet in Miu's lab. Gonta was hoping Shuichi would come with."

I don't see how this is a computer issue, but I am curious to see who this Alter Ego was. Could it be one of our classmates using an alias? I was finally dressed and we went on our way to Miu's lab. It was still somewhat dark out with the sun only beginning to rise. A fresh dew coated all the plants on the way to the lab. Once we entered, all that awaited us was a giant screen and a few gadgets that were scattered across a table.

"Gonta no see alter ego anywhere. Maybe it a big joke." he commented.

All of a sudden, the screen flashed a message saying to scan the user's face. I stood in front of the camera to see if I could do anything, but it said access denied and made a buzzer sound. It then dawned on me that this was Miu's lab. The user was probably her. That either meant we could unlock it using Gonta or Maki, since maybe it means Himiko's body. I didn't want to wake Maki, so I suggested that Gonta give it a try. He stood in front of the camera and the computer said 'access granted'. The screen then turned to a giant version of Miu's head.

"Ah master, there you are. It's been a few days since you last turned me on. What's up? And why did you bring the weird quiet girl?" It asked. It sounded just like Miu, on top of looking like her.

"Are you Alter Ego?" Gonta asked.

"Well duh", it responded, "You are the one who created me, so you should fucking know, you beautiful bombshell."

"Oh so Gonta find you! Why did you message Gonta though?" Gonta wanted to know.

"I didn't message Gonta. I messaged you. Are you sure you're ok? I just wanted to see if you wanted to give me a software update or something. It gets real fucking boring being turned off all the time."

Gonta looked confused before saying, "Gonta no know what a software update is. Is it related to soft clothes? Gonta cover all his lady parts with soft wear."

The program looked annoyed, "Ok, why the fuck are you talking like that? Did you get brain damage while I was gone or did someone just fuck your brains out?"

I tried to interject, "You said you haven't been on for a few days. Exactly how many?"

"About 3 or 4." it answered.

It must have last been used before Monokuma's motive. It has no idea that the person before it wasn't its creator, but Gonta. I quickly gave it a recap of the last few days: the swap, Kibo's death, the trial, and Miu's death.

"Wait, so you're telling me that the shit for brains gorilla man is inside my creator's fabulous body and she's just fucking dead? What the absolute fuck!?" it sounded furious.

Even if it was an AI version of Miu, it sure did talk exactly like her.

"It seems like we're stuck this way too. I don't know what to tell you exactly…" I wanted to comfort it, assuming it had feelings too, but I think I was failing.

"Great…. Fuuuucking great….. I wake up and everything has gone to shit. What am I supposed to do now? Rot away? With nobody to take care of me. I can't rely on this smooth brain to activate me. He had to call in Pooichi to do it. I really am just gonna rot on this computer…" It was lamenting its fate.

As it was doing that, Gonta was looking at some of the inventions on the table. He pointed to one in particular. It had a peculiar shape as it was a lever looking thing with red balls at each end.

The Ai looked where Gonta was pointing and answered, "That one? Looks like the master built that one after she had turned me off. I'm sure she must have logged it somewhere. Let's see…."

A progress bar came up showing the AI's progress in finding anything about it. Once it was completed, Miu's face came back up and it answered, "Looks like she was building a machine to try and switch you back. It says here that it should have switching capabilities but-"

Before it could finish, Gonta picked it up by one end and said, "So this can switch everyone back? Maybe Gonta should show it to friends."

"I think you should put that down, Gonta. You don't know if it's dangerous or not." I suggested.

I put my hand on the other end to take it and put it down, but as soon as I touched it, I felt a course of electricity pass through me. My vision blurred and I felt disoriented.

I caught my breath and said, "See Gonta? It was dangerous. That was quite the shock."

Upon finishing my sentence, something was definitely off. My voice didn't sound right, so I clutched my neck. That wasn't the only thing. Across from me, I saw…. Maki! Or I guess that was now myself….. Anyways, I saw myself. It began to speak on its own without me controlling it.

"Shuichi right. Gonta should no have picked up the stick."

If that is Gonta over there, that means I'm….

I looked down and saw a generous pair of breasts beneath me. Maki's breasts were one thing, but Miu's were even bigger than that. Man these things were heavy. I cupped both of them to give them a bit of support. I guess I did it without thinking what it may look like to outsiders because the AI started yelling at me.

"Hands off the goods, pervert! I know you two swapped."

I let the breasts fall free, which somewhat hurt my back. How did Gonta or Miu for that matter deal with these heavy things? I think I prefer Maki's more modest pair.

"She actually made a thing to swap us back. We need to tell the others immediately. This is incredible!", I rejoiced. At least Kaito and Kaede could go back to being themselves.

"Yes and no.", the Ai corrected me, "It is incredible, as the master and I always are, but it doesn't work. It can swap two people around, but the master was not able to work out a few kinks. Namely, the effect only lasts for 30 minutes. After that, you two will revert back. So it's basically worthless. Who would want to continually use it every 30 minutes just to be back in their own body? Looks like master hit a dead end and couldn't figure out a permanent solution."

"Couldn't you work on it a bit more to find a permanent solution? You're an AI copy of Miu, right? So you must be pretty smart." I tried to convince her, still not used to the new voice that came out of my mouth.

"I think it's pretty fucking amazing she got anything to accomplish any sort of effect at all. There's apparently no pleasing you people. Besides, I thought you said your body died. Where would you even want to go permanently? Wait, I bet you're just trying to hijack my master's sexy body! It would be better than Gonta, since at least you're halfway intelligent, but you're still a pervert, not to mention a wimp, so eat shit."

I wasn't going to let it insult me like that. Not anymore.

"Why don't you shut up and be nice to people for once? Your master would probably have had more friends if she wasn't a huge bitch to everyone!" I yelled at the screen.

She looked upset, "How dare you! She is a three dimensional character with a lot of complexities once you take the time to know her."

Her anger turned to smugness, "Besides, I only take orders from my master. My whole system can only be controlled once you verify your identity. So tough luck, bastard, but you can't make me stop."

Damn, this thing is just as annoying as the real thing. But then it dawned on me. It may only take orders from Miu, but as we discovered earlier, the system only cares about the body and not the spirit within. So as far as it's concerned, I am Miu right now.

I stepped up in front of the camera and had it verify me again, this time giving me a green check mark.

"Mute yourself." I commanded.

Surely enough, the lips were moving but no sound could be heard.

"Woah, did Shuichi use magic to silence Miu?" Gonta asked.

It was weird to hear what had been my voice for the past few days talking like Gonta, but it was so fascinating too.

"Yes", I confirmed to him, "It's sort of like magic."

I looked back to the screen and commanded, "Unmute yourself but say nothing."

The lips stopped moving and the head was just angrily staring at me.

This was awesome. She was at my mercy. She did whatever I wanted. After dealing with her attitude of 'screw you' for weeks, this felt so great.

"Gonta, we need to teach this AI a lesson. What would be a fitting punishment?" I asked.

"Hmmm, Miu said she no like bugs. Maybe we force new Miu to be with bug. Gonta have extra bug on him."

He then put his hands on my chest, seemingly looking for something in there. I was about to ask him what he was doing when he pulled out some green thing from my cleavage. It looked like a tiny praying mantis. Was that in my cleavage? How did I not notice that? Even if it was smaller than usual, it would still be noticeable. I'm kinda creeped out that it was there. Heck, how did it not get crushed between the mounds of flesh that I now had? At least praying mantises are not dangerous to humans.

Gonta put the praying mantis up to the screen and tried to look for a reaction from Alter Ego. It didn't seem to work however.

"I don't think that'll work, Gonta. Since it's digital, it probably won't be afraid of things in the physical world." I tried to explain to him.

"Oh, that too bad. Gonta put friend back in home for safe keeping." Gonta tucked the mantis into his chest, adjusting the outfit I had put on earlier.

I wanted to object but I guess there's no harm in putting it there. I will just have to remember to take it out once I return to that body. Besides, he looked happy as he patted the mantis's head.

"Gonta found him as baby bug. Gonta raise him big and strong. Very rare find. Gonta no find many bugs here." he explained.

I can't imagine many bugs are here naturally. I don't even know where exactly the school is, but it seems like we're the only living things here. Maybe Monokuma put some here for Gonta. That doesn't seem like Monokuma though. Back to the point, we still needed to figure out what to do with the AI Miu.

A smile formed on my face as I had an idea, "Alter Ego, tell me what you would find a fitting punishment for your master's issues."

It sighed and said, "Ugh, you bastard. I physically can't say no to you right now. Fuck. Fine. I would hate it if you made me work for you."

Work for me? Like as an assistant? In recent times, there have been AI assistants, haven't there? She could be like Alexa or Cortana or Siri or whatever. In fact, I could probably put her on the Monopad.

"Perfect. I want you to become my assistant in my daily life. How do I put you on my Monopad so I can take you everywhere I go?" I asked.

"Ah, you asshole…. Here, insert your Monopad into the receiver here. A prompt will pop up and you click share files. Then you can drag and drop my program onto your device." It instructed.

I went and retrieved my device from my room. I noticed the weather outside was older than what I felt earlier, but that was probably because this body had less clothing on it, which exposed me to the elements. Upon my return, I did as it said and transferred the files.

"Now what?" I inquired.

"Now double click on the file and open it in a text editor, which you can get in the Mono App store. Then in the text editor, compile the project into an exe file and you can launch it."

I did as it said and after launching the file, the Miu head was now on my pad.

"See, here I am. I can do any task you require of me. At least for however long you have master's body."

I didn't want it to end like that, so I decided to ask it, "Can you disable the authentication process and allow any user to access and use the app?"

"N-n-no…. Yes…. Damn, I can't lie to you. Fuck. You can allow it. Go into the admin settings and change access to public. Then you should be able to use it with any body."

Then an idea hit me. "I want you to also work for all the other students at this academy. You gave everyone a hard time and they deserve payback too."

"Fucking asshole! Fine, put my program onto the Mono App store, which you can do through the self publish feature and all they have to do is simply download it." It hissed.

I asked Gonta to go grab his Monopad while I followed the instructions. By the time he came back, I had it all set up. We loaded the app on his tablet and it also worked.

"Gonta, give her some sort of command." I said.

"Umm, show Gonta picture of bug." He asked of Alter Ego.

The tablet responded in Miu's voice, "Here's all the pictures I could find of bugs, insect brain."

Awesome, it worked!

"Gonta, try another!" I goaded him on.

"Tell Gonta when Be Nice to Bug Day is" he issued another command.

"You can't just look at a calendar? Whatever, it's July 14th."

I sent a message to the group chat, telling them to download the app. I think everyone would get a kick out of it.

All of a sudden, the TV in the corner of the lab played the all too familiar slogan

Rise and Shine Ursine!

The monokubs did their usual shtick. I largely ignored it as I told Gonta, "looks like it's officially wake up time. Let's go meet the others in the dining hall."

I turned the giant monitor off, which I assume will at least eventually shut down the Alter Ego program running on there. Gonta and I walked out of the lab but I suddenly felt nature call. Both number 1 and number 2. I excused myself, telling Gonta that I'd meet him at the kitchen. I really had to go so I booked it back to my room to relieve myself. I quickly pulled down my panties and sat down, feeling instant relief as soon as I finished up. Looking over to the mirror, I saw Miu stare back at me, mimicking my every move. I was reminded that for a limited time, I was Miu. I'm not entirely sure what came over me, perhaps it was the power I felt over Alter Ego, but I whipped out my Monopad.

"Alter Ego, launch camera."

My camera app was opened and I began taking pictures of Miu sitting on the toilet. Some I would purposefully strain her face. It wasn't usually like me to do this, but I felt powerful being in control of Miu's body. But how come I didn't quite feel this way about Maki's body? I think it may be because of my feelings and dislike of Miu. The idea of making her do whatever I want was really enticing. In fact…

I stood up and switched to camera mode. While looking at the mirror, I began talking to myself.

"Oh hey Shuichi, I know I called you a pervert before but I was wrong. You see, I'm just sad and lonely and a bitch and I take that out on everyone else."

I made sure to inflect my voice in a way to make it sound sincere while moving my body to really sell it in the video.

"You know, you're a pretty good detective. And you are kind of sexy too. I just didn't want to admit it, but now, how can I not? Not to mention you were able to score a cute girlfriend. I'm so jealous of you, Shuichi."

I had to try really hard to not laugh at the sound of Miu's voice saying all this. Then, I took it a step further.

"Maybe to apologize, I can let you see my breasts. Of course, I can't compare to you, but they are pretty big."

I then exposed her boobs and even zoomed in to really see them. I stopped the video and began laughing.

"Woo, what a rush!", I thought.

But then I kept thinking, that was out of character a bit. Usually I wouldn't go that far, to expose someone else's breasts. Miu was dead though. So I didn't really do anything wrong, right? Thinking further, it kind of makes it sad. I'm getting back at a person who isn't even alive to see me. That kind of brings into question if I was even doing it as a form of payback, or if there were other motives behind it. Less pure ones….. Maybe I was a pervert.

"Done living out your perverted fantasies, dipshit?" Alter Ego cussed at me.

I had forgotten she was even there.

"I, uh, yeah. Don't know what came over me. May have taken it too far… Maybe I'll delete the video." I admitted.

"You took it too far when you decided to use master's body against me, you nutsack. Not that you ever had balls to begin with."

Oh yeah, that's why I was getting payback.

"Maybe I'll keep the video, just in case." I taunted the AI.

"Ugh, I hate you so much."

"Alter Ego, enter sleep mode." I commanded.

"Fine. I don't want to see you in Master's body any more anyway. Wake me back up after you switch back."

The app then closed and Alter Ego went to sleep. I left the bathroom and exited the room to head to the mess hall.

Chapter 4.5: The Next Journey

As soon as I walked down the stairs from my dorm room, I was immediately spooked by a voice that came from behind me.

"What were you doing in Shuichi's room?"

Startled, I turned around to see Maki, in her new shorter form, staring at me.

Not knowing what to say, I start and fail to make up a story, "I….err….uhh… just needed some help with my Monopad."

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell other people about Miu's half finished invention. It would just get their hopes up when it may never be finished. Besides, it could be used for bad deeds. The swap is temporary, but that's enough time to murder someone while having someone else's body. I don't want to think anybody would use it like that, but I also had hoped nobody would get murdered period, which obviously didn't happen. So it might be safe to just not say anything. However, it seemed like I may have already screwed up.

"Hmmm….'I' and 'my' are first person pronouns. That's not usually how you speak, Gonta." she examined my body language.

That's right, I had to pretend to be Gonta, which includes mimicking his speech patterns.

I immediately try to fix it, "I….umm Gonta just trying to improve language skills."

"Hmmm…..interesting. Well then, Gonta, shall we head to the dining hall?" she offered.

I think I didn't really have a choice, so I told her yes and we were off to the mess hall. She walked behind me, but I swore I heard some weird noises come from behind me. Snickering sounds or maybe someone trying not to laugh or something.

"Are you…. Umm Gonta mean is Maki ok? Gonta hear noises from back there." I commented.

"It's nothing. I just keep dragging my feet a little. I'm not used to being in such a short body." she answered, "I somewhat miss your old form. It was strong. You could even kill somebody with it. Easily too."

That's an odd thing to bring up. I guess she technically wasn't wrong. Gonta's old strength is probably enough to easily crush somebody to death. That strength now technically belonged to Kirumi. Upon hearing Maki's comment, I'm sort of glad that she no longer has that strength. I was honestly not feeling comfortable being alone with her.

We reached the dining hall and Maki stated her farewell, "Nice talk we had there. Keep practicing your language skills, Gonta. Before you know it, you'll sound like you're a whole different person. Maybe like Shuichi, for example."

Did she know? There's no way. I think Gonta and I were the first ones up. It must be a coincidence. She took a seat right by Himiko and Angie and began eating cereal that was just laid out for her by Kirumi. Almost everyone was here in the dining room. The only ones missing seemed to be Kaito, Kokichi, and Tsumugi. I saw a seat open next to Kaede and decided to sit next to her.

"Morning Gonta." she greeted.

"Morning Kaede. Nice morning, huh?" I greeted back.

"Yeah, I guess. As good as you can get the morning after three people are killed." she lamented.

"It's a shame, but at least we're still here, right?" I tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah, you're right. Though, everyone seems a bit off. Like, Shuichi is sitting over there, when usually he sits next to me. I always try to leave him a seat but he didn't even seem to acknowledge me much this morning." she seemed sad.

Gonta was not doing a good job of pretending to be me. I had to try to salvage the situation so that she didn't think I was turning into some jerk who was ignoring her. The only excuse I could think of was revealing that Kaito and I were an item.

"Maybe it's because he's so happy. Did you hear that he and Kaito hooked up?" I tried switching the conversation.

Kaede seemed shocked, "They got together? And he didn't even tell me."

Her shock turned to sadness, so I tried to assure her, I was going to tell her. Technically, I just did. She just didn't know it yet. "He was probably going to tell you. Don't be sad."

She giggled a bit before solemnly looking at her own cereal in front of her, playing with the spoon in the milk. "I'm not sad about that. In fact, I'm really happy for him."

She looked around before whispering the next part to me, "Don't tell anybody this, but I sorta had a crush on him."

"You did!?" I cried in shock.

She put her finger against her lip, signaling me to be quiet before elaborating, "Yeah. I tried dropping hints but he seemed kind of oblivious to the signs. I guess it's too late now, but I'm happy that he's happy. Besides, we can still be friends. I think he's really grown in his new body. I kinda always wanted a sister that I could bond with and I guess I kind of got one. I can teach him all sorts of things."

The real Rantaro leaned in, overhearing the conversation, "I used to have 10 sisters….. What I wouldn't give to have one again."

Kaede began chatting with Rantaro about his history, but my attention shifted to Kaito, who just entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Shuichi!" he greeted my old body.

Gonta didn't seem to acknowledge him until Kaito took a seat next to him and grabbed his hand.

"Oh, hello. How is Kaito doing today?" Gonta finally acknowledged him.

"Umm, Kaito is good.", Kaito said, "Is the third person thing some kind of role play or maybe a nickname?"

Gonta looked confused, "Gonta no use nickname. If Kaito want nickname, Gonta can use it."

Kaito looked even more confused.

"I don't know what Gonta has to do with anything, but ok, I guess. He can use a nickname too. How about we come up with some for ourselves. We can worry about Gonta later." Kaito then tried to lean in for a kiss.

Gonta didn't seem to understand what was going on and just awkwardly sat there while Kaito tried going to town. Gonta was ruining this for me. I had to jump in.

"What's wrong, Shuichi? Is everything all right?" Kaito wondered out loud.

I jumped in on Gonta's behalf, "Shuichi is just feeling overwhelmed by the new relationship. He told me… errr Gonta all about it earlier. He very excited."

Gonta then seemed to remember that he was supposed to be me right now and added on, "Oh yes, Shuichi is very excited. Shuichi love new relationship."

Kaito looked stunned, "Wow, we've been a couple for a night and you're so starstruck that you have forgotten how to speak right! Well, I love you just as much, partner."

I had a huge sigh of relief as it seemed everything worked out well.

"Oh, by the way, Gonta, have you been practicing your language skills? You're getting better and better, my friend!" Kaito added.

Kaede returned her attention to me, "Yeah, you seem more articulate than usual."

I was trying to think of an excuse when suddenly my vision blurred again and I found myself sitting right next to Kaito, across from where I just was. I guess I'm back.

"Wow, Gonta over here now." I heard him comment.

Those around us seemed confused about what he meant by that.

"He just means that he's going to focus on himself, over there, whereas before, he was focusing on everyone in this whole area." I lied.

It was flimsy but it seemed to do the job and was the best thing I could do in such a short amount of time. I turned my attention back to Kaito and tried to redo the earlier kiss. I pecked him on the cheek and he got me back on the lips.

He smiled and said, "Now that's more like it. Magic in my mouth!"

Angie couldn't help but notice our affection.

"Oh, are you two together now." she asked.

Kaito confidently proclaimed, "Yes we are! And we are both happier for it."

Angie smiled back and said, "Well congratulations to you two. May Atua bless you and make your relationship as everlasting as he is."

Everyone around the table gave a little congrats or a small clap, except for Maki, who seemed to just be eating her cereal. I guess now everyone knows that officially, Kaito and I are dating. The happiness didn't last long however as Monokuma appeared on the scene.

"Enough of that mushy romance stuff! *Bleh*", he pretended to vomit, " what we need is more chills, thrills, and kills!"

"Eh, not another motive already." Himiko sighed.

"Yes indeedy! We gotta get a jump start on the next motive to make up for all that time you wasted not killing each other. This time, the motive is: a tropical island getaway!" he announced.

"Like, the killer gets to go on a tropical island getaway if they aren't caught?" Rantaro looked for clarification.

"Nope. We're all going to a tropical island together. It'll be a few weeks of surf, sun, and relaxation."

Maki coldly asked, "What's the catch? There always is one."

"Do I need a catch?" Monokuma feigned shock, " I just wanted to treat my students to a nice little vacation. Besides, even if there were a catch, I wouldn't spoil it. I only spoil movies for people on the internet. By the way, you have to go and we leave in 30 minutes. You will all be provided with backpacks, so pack your Monopad, some changes of clothes, and whatever else you may want."

We got up and all went to our rooms to start packing. I first packed a few pairs of clothes. I was already wearing what Kaito gave me, so I packed one of Maki's old uniforms that she had copies of in the closet. I also thought it would be a good idea to pack a swim suit since we were going to an island. Then some pajamas. Next I packed the Monopad. I decided to quickly rewatch the video I performed while I was Miu and I definitely will be keeping it for awhile. I felt…. Good while watching it. Then I threw in a hair brush, some of my toiletries like toothbrushes and extra soap. I even went down to the library and found a few books to take with me. It had been tidied up and Kibo's torso was removed. It looked as if nothing had happened at all. But I know better than that. They can take away the evidence, but what I saw will always remain.

I next went to make sure Kaito and Kaede were packing fine. They all had their stuff packed as well. In no time, 30 minutes passed and we all stood in the center of the room, bags ready to go. Tsumugi and Maki were the last to join us.

"I knew I shouldn't have skipped breakfast, but I found a new anime series to binge all night." Tsumugi made an excuse.

Maki also complained about something, "Stupid bear. I wake up and he tells me I have 10 minutes to get ready for a trip I don't want to go on."

Kokichi giggled, "Silly Maki, no one can opt out. You should know that, right?"

"Shut up, Kokichi. I am not in the mood for you or your shit right now. I have a massive headache for some reason and I don't have the energy to tolerate you." Maki held a hand to her head.

"You mean like if I did this?" Kokichi loudly yelled straight into Maki's ear.

Maki looked pissed, "Do you WANT to die?"

Did she nap? She was there when he made the announcement, so it seems like it would be a weird idea to take a nap. She did seem to have a headache though. Maybe she thought she could get out of the trip, but Monokuma did make it clear everyone was coming no matter what.

Speaking of, Monokuma came through the door and said, "Is everyone ready? I hope so, because here we go!"

Suddenly a giant ring opened in the center of the room and on the other side was a beautiful beach.

"Hop on in." Monokuma suggested.

Kaito and I held each other's hands and stepped into the ring, arriving on the other side.

Chapter : Into the Shuichiverse

Before Gonta woke Shuichi up…

It was weird. I awoke and I was in a black room. There was nothing in there, except for a lone door on the other side. It stood slightly ajar, allowing a little bit of blue light into the room. At first, I thought it may be a dream, however, I was still in my new form. My past dreams, even after the swap, I would be my original self, blue hair and all, but I could feel my now longer hair and there was still an absence of appendage between my legs. Perhaps this was a sign that I had fully accepted this form as me or maybe it wasn't a dream. But then what was it, if not that? I decided to creep closer to the door, slowly pushing it open, trying not to make a sound. I could slightly peer into the room. In the center of it stood a giant monitor, no doubt the source of the light. A chair stood in front of it and I could see two hands hanging off the side.

I wanted to get a better look but the door creaked as I pushed it forward a bit more, alerting whoever was in the chair to my existence.

"Who's there?" he asked. The voice was familiar. It was my original voice.

He turned the chair around and we stared at each other. This was me, no doubt about it. Blue hair, black outfit, he even had the hat I used to wear. Hitting something on the control panel in front of his monitor, he managed to turn on the lights to the room. In better lighting, I could see the room was enormous. There were some couches and a TV in the corner. A fridge stood on the right wall, close to another door. There looked to be a mini library in the back.

"Tenko?" I asked, turning my attention back to my clone in front of me.

"Tenko?" he repeated, "What are you -... Oooh, I see what this may be."

"What exactly is going on here" I wanted an explanation.

"You're from a body swap universe, aren't you. That would explain the look. And judging by your earlier question, I'm guessing Tenko got your body," he continued without answering my question.

The first part took me off guard, "Body swap universe? What do you mean by that?"

"This must be new information for you, so I'll try to explain it. You have heard of the multiverse, right?" he inquired.

"Yeah.", I responded, "In movies and fiction."

"Well, there's a bit of truth to it. Basically, there are many, many universes, each one different from the last." he explained.

"Then this place is another universe?" I tried to find out.

"Not exactly. This place actually exists between universes. Here, we watch the various universes and even gather and hang out here. Here, grab a seat and I'll see if I can't find your file."

He began rummaging through a filing cabinet that stood not too far from him. I decided to take a seat, as he said.

"You know, we occasionally get Shuichis from body swap universes. I see you landed as Maki. That seems to be a popular one, but occasionally we get Kaedes, Kaitos, even Kokoichis. Of course, whether or not they stay switched or not changes based on the universe." he tried to make small talk.

I had a few questions that I hoped to learn more about, " So only Shuichis from the different universes gather here?"

"Yeah. This is a Shuichi hub. Theoretically hubs exist for all our friends, but I haven't been to any of them myself, so there's no way to know for sure. Hey real quick, do you know how your switch was caused?"

"Ummm, it was some purple smoke that makes your soul come out of your body." I answered.

"Ah, probably under the magical subsection then. We see a variety of means here. Magic, machines, falling down the stairs, etc. Anyways, I'm sure you have quite a few questions, so let's see if I can sum it up. Gotta give this speech any time there's a new universe that joins us, so it can get a bit annoying to repeat. Basically, there is the prime universe, known as Danganronpa. We all spin off from that universe. We are basically infinite variations and interpretations from that world. Of course, while we are aware of the prime universe, it is not aware of us. There are a few constants that remain the same in every universe, such as your existence. Ah, here we go! Excuse me, just going to skim your file real quick."

Honestly, none of what he said made any sense. Danganronpa? Prime universe? So we're basically just a spinoff of a different reality? If anything, I was left with more questions. The other me commented as he read the file.

"Wow, masturbation on day one! Not to mention all the Kokichi stuff. A lot of universes tend to be horny, though many don't have any sexual content. Hmm… let's see…. Ah, I see this universe is going for Shuichi x Kaito right now. That relationship is very popular. Probably second or third, behind Shuichi x Kaede and Shuichi x Kokichi. You seem to be very happy at least."

"What do you mean? You sound like you're on an online message form that ships characters." I said, confused.

"Well of course. You are just a story, after all. Shipping is a big part of most stories." he casually said.

"Wait, story?" I wanted more information on that.

But just at that moment, the other door opened and a few people came in. Among them was me, but in a leather jacket, a girl version of me, Angie, which I'm assuming is a Shuichi who's in her body, a black and white me, a Tenko, and a me that wore very old looking traditional Japanese dress.

"Oh hey!", the first Shuichi I met here greeted them, "We got a new Shuichi here. It's another body swap universe."

The Angie of the group perked up when they heard that. They walked over to me and began to converse.

"So, you got Maki in your universe? I see. I guess it's obvious who I got.", Ang-ichi said.

"Oh yeah. How did you end up like that?" I asked.

"Oh, Miu was showing off a new invention to all of us when suddenly it went haywire and exploded. Everyone switched as a result." he explained.

"Kokichi was awfully happy to get Maki's body. He knew how to press her buttons. Usually it was making her body smile, seem silly, or act like an idiot. He did do some more extreme things though" he added.

"My Kokichi did the same thing with Tenko!", I exclaimed, " He did awful nasty stuff with her body."

The Shuichi who was reading my file commented on that, "He sure did. Gosh! Very…..fetishy stuff here…. God, I hope that was chocolate…."

Ang-ichi seemed weirded out, " I don't think I want to know. Anyways, how did you adjust to being Maki? FOr me, it was weird to look down and see darker skin…. And not see my penis…. But I eventually got used to it. Angie was awfully supportive of me. So much so, we kind of hit it off."

"You and Angie?" I was shocked.

"Yup, and we're pretty happy too. Who's the ship in your universe?" he asked.

Seriously, why are we using that term? It makes it seem like we really are just in a fictional story.

"If you mean who I'm seeing, me and Kaito just hooked up tonight."

"Congratulations.", he cheerfully said, "Kaito's a nice guy."

I turned my attention to the Tenko version of me, "What about you?"

He stroked his chin and answered, " Before I answer, I want to know a few things, so just humour me. First, how did you swap?"

"Purple smoke."

"Who was the first victim?"

"Kibo"

"Who was the first killer?"

"Tenko"

"You said Kokichi was in Tenko's body doing gross stuff"
"Yeah"

"Who's body did Kaito get?"

"Kirumi's"

"Just as I thought.", the exchange ended, " it seems like we're from extremely similar universes. In mine, I woke up as Maki as well. It seems like our stories are basically the same up until after the first trial. I'm guessing you didn't switch again. In mine, I did. I ended up in Tenko's body…. And before you ask, Kokichi was not lying about some of the stuff that he said he did. That has not been fun to deal with."

Gross. I'm kind of hoping that if I would have swapped to Tenko's body in my universe, that would be different as well. From the fridge, the leather Jacket Shuichi was digging around finding something to snack on.

"Yap yap yap.", he mocked, "All you mooks are the same. It's unoriginal and contrived if you ask me."

Ang-ichi rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, ok Mr. Edgy. Whatever you say."

The other Shuichi slammed the fridge and angrily asked, "What did you call me, you punk?"

He drew out a switchblade.

"Woah!", I exclaimed, "Why is this Shuichi ill tempered?"

"Oh, he's from a universe where he got zapped with Miu's personality adjuster. It basically made him a punk. Kind of like a 1950's American greaser. Apparently he's quite the ladies man in his home universe." the Tenko me said.

"You better believe it. Babes love a bad boy and I'm as bad as they come." he sounded proud.

The version of me that was a girl chimed in, "If you ask me, I prefer brains over brawn."

"Is she also from a universe where Miu's invention turns me into something different?" I asked.

"I -" the girl me tried to answer but was interrupted by Greaser me.

"Nah, the dame's universe is a genderbent universe. Guys are gals and gals are guys. But you would know something about being a dame, wouldn't you, babe?"

Before I could retort, the Greaser continued, "And before you ask, since we ain't got all day, black and white here is you as a 1930's Noir detective and ancient history you is a version of you from 1524, Japan. There's also other versions of you: Pixelated, alien, anthropomorphic, vampire, all sorts of crazy shit. We all caught up? Good, now shut your hole."

Man, he was very mean.

"Y'know, you are pretty hot for a dame. I kinda like that. But then again, I like them submissive and you seem like you think for yourself too much. Think I'll pass."

Misogyny aside, I don't think I should dignify him with a response if he's just gonna be rude.

"But why am I here?" was my final question.

The central Shuichi answered, "I'm not quite sure. Usually Shuichis aren't aware of the multiverse until after their story ends. If they become aware of it at all. At the very least, they tend to be aware of the prime universe. Your file is incomplete after case 1. So I couldn't tell you why you are here now."

Suddenly, the clock began to dong.

"Sounds like it's time for you to return to your story. Perhaps we'll see you again eventually."

They all began to wave goodbye, except for the Greaser one, who flipped me off.

Everything went black. It was all silent.

Silence…until…..

Knock Knock Knock*

I darted up, opening my eyes. I was back in my room, in my bed. Everything was normal again. Man, that was a weird dream.