It turned out that once the privacy screen had been erected between their beds, Chihiro and Mondo got along smoothly, just as Kyoko had hoped. Celeste was considerably more exasperated with her own new partner, but she smiled and bore it cheerfully, as it seemed she always did. For her part, Toko whined as usual, but that could be ignored, and overall she seemed okay.
Monokuma had opened up a new floor of the school in the wake of the successful trial, so for some time the students were occupied exploring the full extent of their new home and, for Kyoko and Byakuya, investigating for clues as to the true nature of their imprisonment.
Unfortunately, as the days passed the only new information they discovered was more potentially faked evidence they were in Hope's Peak Academy. Kyoko could sense that the others were beginning to grow restless. Byakuya now seemed content to spend his days reading in the newly available library room, and Kyoko usually joined him without complaint, searching through the books for any potential leads, but the rest of the students were getting impatient for rescue and many of them growing resentful of the constant presence of their partner.
Still, it wasn't all bad. Kyoko was dimly aware of some of the connections other students were making with each other. Apparently Taka and Mondo had an endurance competition in the sauna while Makoto and Chihiro watched, and the two were now good friends. Toko kept dragging Celeste around to spend time near Byakuya, so Kyoko presumed she had a crush. Celeste would often engage Kyoko in conversation during those times, and Kyoko was pleased to find Celeste more sharp-witted than most. Hina and Sakura were the only pair who never seemed to have any disagreement, and Hina in particular stayed impressively cheerful. And while many pairs seemed content to keep to themselves, Makoto and Taka kept going around to all the other groups, spending free time with everyone and keeping spirits up.
Life was pleasantly boring for a bit, until - what else? - Monokuma showed up on the tv screens again, instructing everyone to gather in the gym for a school announcement. Byakuya and Kyoko sighed and put their books down in almost perfect unison, and Kyoko paused to let Byakuya take the lead as they walked to the gym. He seemed to resent being a follower.
Once in the gym, Kyoko idly listened to the others' chatter as they waited for the bear to appear. After a bit, Byakuya spoke up, taking everyone's attention. "So, it's been about a week since you all made your pact. But I can't help but notice there's been no sign whatsoever of possible rescue."
"Th-That's just…" Hina began, clearly floundering for an answer.
Kyoko cut her off. "I take that to be further evidence that despite the documents we've found, this is not the real Hope's Peak Academy. If it were, we'd be right in the middle of a major urban center, and we'd have been found and rescue would have been attempted."
"Oh, is that what you think!" Monokuma laughed, springing up out of nowhere.
"Aah" a couple voices cried out in surprise.
Monokuma smiled smugly. "I don't know why you're so suspicious. You ARE in Hope's Peak Academy, and there's nothing anyone can do to save you! Puhuhu..."
"You're lying!" Hina declared.
"Yeah, why would we believe anything you say, you piece of shit!" Mondo demanded, clenching his fist.
"Hmm?" Monokuma seemed to ponder that. "Well, if you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe the Ultimate Clairvoyant!"
Everyone stared incredulously at him for a moment, before turning to stare incredulously at Hiro.
Hiro seemed just as shocked as everyone else. "Wha-what?!"
"Tell 'em what you heard last night," Monokuma prompted, waving his hand dismissively.
"I, uh, well, I di-didn't think it was important," Hiro stammered.
"Obviously it was," Byakuya contradicted flatly.
"Well, uh, Hifumi and I were near the main hall, and I was just staring off into space," Hiro continued, "When all of a sudden, I heard a sound."
"What kind of sound?" Taka asked.
"I don't really know," Hiro confessed, "But if I had to guess, I'd say it was like a construction site?"
"A… construction site?" Makoto repeated.
"Yeah, you know, like jackhammers and stuff," Hiro added.
Kyoko took a moment to ponder that. If he really did hear construction, that could mean they were near a city, or it could just mean the mastermind had hired construction workers for some project, probably secretly…
Monokuma interrupted her thoughts. "What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction," he shook his head disappointedly. "But it *could* have been an explosion! Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu... That can kinda sound like construction in a way!"
That.. has terrifying implications, Kyoko thought.
"What are you talking about...?" Makoto asked, confused.
"Ah-ah-ah, you'll have to figure it out yourselves," Monokuma replied, holding his paws over his smile. "Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered! It's a secret little secret!"
Most of the students turned to look at Kyoko then. "Wha-what's he talking about?" Toko asked.
Kyoko sighed lightly. She knew, of course. The question was whether she should tell them.
"Will you tell them, or shall I?" Byakuya asked as she hesitated. Of course the rich brat would have no compunction about endangering the truce.
"He's implying that there *have* been attempts at rescue," Kyoko finally said. "He's saying Hiro heard combat outside, which probably means that people not aligned with the mastermind were out there, which probably means that they were attempting to rescue us, and since no rescue has come, we can surmise that they failed."
"So, no rescue is coming?" Chihiro asked quietly, putting voice to the same fear Kyoko could see in all her classmates - save Byakuya, of course.
"Boy, nothing gets by you, does it toots?" Monokuma asked Kyoko. "Anyone wanting to get away with murder would probably have to do you in first!"
Subtle, Kyoko thought sarcastically. "Look, this changes nothing!" she declared, trying to reassert control over the situation. "He may be lying to us about what Hiro heard, or another rescue might still succeed. We shouldn't give up hope after just a week!"
As she looked around the room, she saw that it was too late, the damage had been done. Her words had cheered a few, like Makoto, but most of the others held eyes of fear or doubt.
"Ye-yeah," Taka agreed. "Besides, we swore an oath! We have to wait at least a month!" Kyoko noticed that the conviction in his voice was not matched by conviction in his eyes.
"Oh, you do, hmm?" Monokuma asked, seeming to ponder the situation. Then his tone abruptly changed. "Okay, I need to vent a little! I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster... I'm thinking, it's probably because of this ho-hum, boring old everyday life. I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue! Listen, can I just be frank? The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting booooored! So, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!"
Everyone was too afraid to interrupt his rant until now, when Makoto spoke up. "M-Motivate...!? Is it another set of videos or something...? Are you gonna show us some demented thing to try and drive us all to murder!?"
"It doesn't matter!" Taka burst out. "I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore! No matter what you do, I swear to God we won't!"
"Hmm. That's very big talk," said the smiling bear. "Do your best to back it up, okay? Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So this time the motive is…" He paused dramatically. "Embarrassing memories and secrets! As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets! And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!"
Monokuma tossed the envelopes to the students' feet. They all scrambled to find and grab the one with their name on it, except Kyoko and Byakuya, who walked over calmly to the last remaining ones.
As she stared at the envelope, she considered simply ignoring it, and encouraging the others to do the same. If she didn't know what it contained, she couldn't be motivated to kill. But she remembered so little of her past… she had no idea what could be embarrassing for her, so this could be an opportunity to learn valuable information.
With a subtle tremble to her fingers, she pulled out the paper from the envelope, and read what it said. "Kyoko remembers almost nothing of her past! She doesn't even know her ultimate talent!"
Well. That was useless. She supposed it could undermine the students' faith in her a bit, but really, she wasn't worried.
But from the expressions on everyone else's faces, she could tell their secrets were a lot darker. A chorus of "What the?"'s and "How'd you find out about this?"'s erupted from their lips.
"You have 24 hours!" Monokuma laughed, quieting the din. "If someone doesn't become blackened by then… all your deepest, darkest, most embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world! Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans! Kyaaah! Wouldn't that be sooo embarrassing!?"
"To clarify," Kyoko raised her voice. "It'd be just the rest of the world learning these? Not ourselves?"
"Puhuhu… of course not!" Monokuma giggled. "I'd be reading them all aloud to you students too! Oh, imagine the shame."
"Look, it's definitely something I'd rather people not know," Makoto said, arms wide. "But… we'd never kill over something like that!"
"Wh-What'd you say!?" the bear asked, feigning nervousness.
"He's right!" Taka backed up his partner. "Your plan is doomed to fail! No one's gonna murder someone for this kind of thing!"
Looking at the fear on the others' faces, Kyoko wasn't so convinced.
Neither was Monokuma, apparently. "Maaan! You're saying you really won't kill each other over this stuff? That just sucks! And after I put so much effort into it too... " he said, feigning sadness. "Well, what can ya do?" he cheered up quickly. "Okay, then in 24 hours, I'll expose all your secrets just to make myself feel a little better! So sad, so depressed! Farenotwell...!" After that, the bear ran off and vanished.
Hina was the first to break the silence. "Huh, maybe we dodged a bullet on this one. I mean yeah, having those secrets revealed is gonna be totally embarrassing. But that's seriously not enough to give someone a reason to kill, right?"
Taka spoke up. "Good news, everyone! I have a brilliant idea! Why don't we all just confess the secrets in those envelopes right here and now!? If we do that, any and all motive for murder will vanish! That's pretty smart, right!?"
Kyoko had to hand it to Taka. That was a smart idea, perhaps the first to come from someone other than herself. Of course, she had thought of it herself much sooner, but still.
"Okay, so my embarrassing thing is…" Taka began, before Toko interrupted.
"I d-don't want to hear your stupid s-story!" she stammered angrily. "And I don't… I don't w-want to talk about it... I don't c-care what anyone says, I don't want to talk a-about mine!"
"Neither do I," added her partner Celeste. "Not because it is unpleasant, but because it is impossible."
Huh, Kyoko thought, that's an interesting comment.
Apparently Hifumi thought so too. "Well it's just human nature to wanna hear it when you say it's impossible! C'mon, it'll be good for ya!"
"Absolutely not," said Celeste, as she literally put her foot down.
"It's okay, just a little bit," Hifumi pressed. "C'mon c'mon c'mon...!"
"As I said-" Celeste started, but Hifumi kept talking over her.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!"
"I said I don't wanna talk about it, you human bag of lard!" Celeste screamed in a voice quite unlike her normal one, her face and posture the picture of rage.
"Kyaaah!" Hifumi screamed in return at the sight.
Kyoko was beginning to form a hunch about what Celeste's secret was.
"I agree with them. There's no need to discuss it," Byakuya announced matter-of-factly.
"What do you think, Kyoko?" Taka asked, looking for support.
Once again, everyone turned to gauge her response. She cleared her throat. "Clearly, some people don't want to participate. That's fine. If no murders occur, their secrets will be revealed in 24 hours anyway, so they can have some time to get used to the idea. But the rest of us should still share our secrets with the group. That way, everyone knows that those who shared their secrets don't have a motive to kill."
"Oh, I see," said Makoto. "That way, if a murder does happen, those of us who shared our secrets voluntarily are cleared of suspicion!"
"It would certainly be evidence in their favor," Kyoko confirmed.
"D-do whatever you want!" Toko shouted. "But I'm leaving!"
"Well, so long as I'm not expected to share my secret, I'm happy to stay and listen to yours," Celeste said, her normal smile plastered on her face.
"As am I," Byakuya agreed.
Toko groaned. "F-fine. I g-guess I'll stay t-too."
More influenced by Byakuya than her partner, Kyoko noticed.
"V-very well!" Taka said. "Before we start, is there anyone else who refuses to participate?"
"Yeah, uh…" Mondo spoke up, a surprisingly sheepish look on his face. "Sorry bro, but I'm not ready to share something so heavy."
"Um…" Chihiro spoke up fearfully. "S-sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now. Maybe I can talk about it later... After I try my best...to become strong... Then I can tell everyone."
Kyoko nodded. "Anyone else prefer 24 hours of secrecy to a strong alibi?"
"Well, geez, when you put it like that…" Mondo muttered softly, but made no move to change his answer.
After a moment of silence, Taka spoke up. "Then I shall begin. It is my duty as the Ultimate Moral Compass! But, see, I wasn't always such an upstanding citizen..."
…
Over the next few minutes, Taka, Makoto, Kyoko, Hina, Hiro, and Hifumi spilled their darkest secrets to the group. Honestly, none of them were that surprising or disturbing. Makoto's was even just that he wet the bed until fifth grade - no wonder he was adamant no one would kill over this motive. Kyoko would have assumed some of them were lying, but everyone showed the papers Monokuma gave them to confirm.
As for Kyoko's own secret, the others mostly reacted with compassion, imagining how terrible it would be for them to have such severe amnesia. They also threw out a few suggestions for what her ultimate talent might be, and Kyoko had to admit that "Ultimate Logician" sounded plausible.
Then, there was one left, one who had been practically silent ever since she first entered the gym. Sakura. Everyone looked at her, and she opened her mouth.
DING DONG BING BONG. Everyone flinched as Monokuma's face appeared on all the tv screens. It was the nighttime announcement.
Sakura sighed. "We shall discuss it tomorrow," she said simply once the announcement ended, and no one dared to disagree with her. The students quickly dispersed into their respective pairs and went to bed.