A/N: So, you ever just see a certain post about what would happen if you were to lock Junko, Tsumugi, Monaca, Byakuya, Nagito and Kokichi in a room together to see who comes out crying first. Have that spiral into a thought about what would happen if Junko and John Kramer from Saw were locked into a room, and began to tear at each others ideals? And then have that spiral into a thought about how Hank Hill would absolutely tear into Junko if he was present during the final trial?
No. Just me.
Well, things kinda spiralled from there and that's how we ended up with this. There is some AU territory with this, but that is to be expected.
Also, a bit of a trigger warning, seeing as this story crosses over with Danganronpa and is something that deals with some heavy subject matter, I thought I'd warn you beforehand that this story will end up touching on some of that heavy subject matter.
That being said, hope you enjoy.
Part 1 of 9
Hello everyone, I know you're eager to get into the meat and potatoes of things, but before we get to our scheduled program, please, enjoy some free Monokuma theatre.
There was a stage that was crowded in darkness, until one of the spotlights turned on to reveal a white and black bear who immediately spoke up addressing the audience "Hello everyone, I'm headmaster Monokuma, the best murderous bear in fiction. That's right, Ted's got nothing on me, Freddy hasn't been scary since the first game and that wuss Winnie The Pooh is just a guy in a plastic bear mask."
"Now, you may all be wondering "Monokuma, why have you brought all of us here", "Monokuma are you planning on killing us?", "Monokuma, when did you get so handsome?" Well first off all, I'm very flattered, but I'm taken. But don't worry, I won't kill the audience, yet. No, instead I'm here to give you a thought. You ever hear someone say "Oh X series can't crossover with Y series, it wouldn't make sense, they're too different to crossover." and they immediately agree with them?"
"And then bring up the argument that because one of the series is a sitcom, where the past changes on a regular basis to fit what is needed for the narrative of that episode it would not be possible to make a coherent story out of that? But then one person doesn't care and says that you should just take what is coherent to make it work, while someone else throws the whole possibility out of the window because of that."
Monokuma didn't hear a response, so he continued "Well, regardless of if you care about this question, that was the conversation my sweet darling Monokubs were having a few days ago. So out of spite, and with the power of god, anime and a boatload of alcohol on my side I bend the multiverse to my will and made this happen. And that dear audience is how my world and that of King of the Hill are now merged."
"Will Hank Hill survive the killing game? Will he get on the nerves of the Mastermind? What about the other King of the Hill characters? Keep watching as we present to you..." Monokuma said as a projecting screen appeared behind him with a title on it.
King of the Killing Game
Hank Hill stood in front of the gates to Hopes Peak as he said out loud while narrating "Eyup, that's me, you're probably wonderin' what someone like me is doing so far away from Arlen Texas, in a place where a bunch of students are given fancy titles. Well, I still don't get it either, I tell you what. I guess it started after graduating from high school, I got a letter all the way from Japan that due to my interest in Propane and Propane Accessories I had been scouted as the Ultimate Propane Enthusiast to spend my college years studying abroad. Granted Cotton wasn't all too pleased with the idea of me studying in Japan." Hank said as he recalled the words his late father had said to him.
"Boyo, no son of mine is going to be studying in that land, you will stay in Arlen Texas and you'll like it!" Cotton exclaimed.
"But I suppose losin' my chance at playing football or gettin' rejected from the military was enough reason for immediately accepting the invitation, same goes for provin' dad wrong and so between holidays I spend three years at Hopes Peak in what they dubbed class 56. Surprisingly, I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would. Sure, the class was filled with a bunch of weirdos, some were sensible. I even recall making friends with an Ultimate Priest and an Ultimate Tractor Repairman. They were an odd bunch I tell you what, but in the end I had fun and learned a lot. And upon graduatin' I was given the title of Ultimate Propane Salesman."
Hank Hill - Ultimate Propane Salesman
"After that I returned to Arlen, worked for a shoe store for a bit, Married Peggy, started working for Strickland Propane, had Bobby, never really thought back to my time in Japan and kept living my life through all the nonsense that happened in Arlen. At least, that would be what I would be sayin' if it was true. Unfortunately after I met Junichiro for the first time I was approached by a man with the name of Koichi Kizakura. He said he had been followin' my exploits from afar, said something about his bosses tellin' him to."
"Never really gave that much attention, but the Ultimate Talent Scout gave me a job offer... well that wasn't entirely correct, more an offer to act as a guest speaker on salesman techniques every month for one week at the school for the business classes. I wanted to refuse, but seeing the extra money it would brin', especially in times where sales were low, I accepted the offer."
"So, for the past few years I would head to Japan twelve times a year to give the students salesman advice. Thankfully Junchiro was kind enough to let me stay over each time, and the school paid for my travel expenses, so at least that made the journey less of a hassle. But I can't help but wonder, did they put something in the water last year, 'cause boy howdy, class 77-B, where do I started with them."
"We have a nurse who can't stand up straight, a member of the Japanese mob, two fighters who nearly destroy the school weekly, two satanists..." Hank continued narrating while shuddering at their antics "...the perverted chef on who I made a mental note to never accept food from after hearing from Yukizome-san about what he had done, the musician who made me start carrying earplugs with me just in case and then there is Komaeda-san, oh boy Komaeda-san that guy is still an enigma to me."
"And honestly, after four weeks teaching them the basics of makin' sales I was ready to call it quits, thankfully Yukizome-san and Kirigiri-san convinced me to stay and promised me to keep the next class in line better. So here's hoping that class 78-A and class 78-B aren't as crazy, but that brings me to now. I was requested to be around for the orientation ceremony this year, just so the students would know who I was. Now usually I'm not around for these ceremonies, however, the Steering Committee insisted on me being around this time, something about showing them and this institution proper respect. Which, I don't disagree with and so that brings us to now." Hank finished narrating.
Hank then walked through the gate as he said "I was ready to start another school year teachin' these kids, I was even given the student list for both classes to see who I would be teaching. But before I could enter the door..." as right at that moment everything began to distort around him as he fainted. Only for him to immediately wake up as he found himself in the office or rather supply closet on the ground floor that had been turned into an office that he had been given.
"What in tarnation... did Sakakura find me or something and leave me here?" Hank wondered, as he thought back to the somewhat cordial friendship he had with the boxer, even sometimes taking him up on his offer to have a friendly boxing match. But despite that, the two would always feel somewhat uneasy around each other. As he took a look around his office and found that it had become a mess. "Now this won't do." Said as he frowned at the mess.
Hank immediately began to clean up the room, putting all of his papers back in the right cupboards, placing the clock back on the wall, and putting the dust in the trash bin. It was right at that moment that when he finished he overheard a rather loud voice speak over the loudspeaker "Ahem... ahem... Would Mister Hank Hill please make his way over to the gymnasium, everyone is waiting for you."
"Hmm, guess they didn't want to start without me..." Hank mused, as he left his office and began to make his way through the school. But as he was making his way through the hallways he noticed something off about them. "Huh, well that ain't right, when did they place these metal bars on the windows." Though he quickly kept going as he didn't want to be late, and a few minutes later he found himself in the gymnasium. Only to be immediately scolded by one of the students.
"Hill-sensei, you're one minute late! Such tardy behaviour is unbecoming of a teacher like you, even if you are a guest speaker!" A student, based on the student list Hank had, was most likely Ishimaru exclaimed, while some of the other students were giving him some odd looks.
"Apologies students, I didn't mean to be late, it was honestly the darndest thing. One moment I was about to enter the school, the next I fainted and found myself in my office on the ground floor." Hank replied.
"Then I guess we all are in the same boat, the same thing happened to the rest of us." Sakura Ogami said, who Hank also recognised from the student register. Hank couldn't help but immediately respect Ogami, from what he had read she was someone with a great work ethic and that was something he could respect.
"Regardless of Mister Hill's tardiness, we can finally get this show on the road." Said a bear that Hank didn't recognise.
"I'm sorry, did that bear just speak? Bears don't speak, what kind of nonsense is this?" Hank wondered out loud.
"Ignoring the utter rudeness of my employee, I'm headmaster Monokuma and..."
"Employee... what in tarnation are you talking about? You ain't the headmaster I've been workin' with these last few years, where's Kirigiri-San?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's around here somewhere, guy's got a real funny bone to him. Now, time for the announcement so I can explain what you are all doing here..." Monokuma said as he began to explain.
One announcement, one exploded Monokuma and several horrified looks later
Upon Monokuma finishing the announcement the group immediately burs out into an even bigger shouting match then during the announcement over their current situation. Hank, who already didn't want to kill and wanted to make sure that his students remained safe as well, was having none of it and climbed on top of the podium "Students, calm down! If you would just rationalise and think about this like humans and not act like animals, we could all make it through this."
"He's right!" A student who Hank recognised from the student register as Kyoko Kirigiri. "We have to rationalise this, work together, find a way out of this school or even find a way to get help."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Asked Togami, a face that Hank recognised all too well, for his family business had tried to buy out Strickland Propane on multiple occasions. Each attempt being laughed out of the office by Mr. Strickland.
"Maybe we can explore the school in groups, get to know each other better in the process." Makoto Naegi said, who was someone Hank was worried about, because if Komaeda was a bit odd to put it lightly, he was worried about the type of person Naegi would be. But the calm suggestion put some of his worries aside.
"That sounds like a reasonable idea, but before we do, maybe we should take attendance first." Said Hank as he pulled out the student list from his pockets and began taking attendance.
Later
Hank found himself paired up with Byakuya Togami, 'Junko Enoshima' and Celestia Ludenberg as the foursome made their way through the halls of the school in silence as Hank was thinking to himself "It's rather odd that all of class 78-B isn't here and that were missing a student from class 78-A." He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts as "Junko" spoke up.
"So, like, sensei you gonna tell us what's on your mind or are you going to stay silent the entire time?"
"Apologies, just thinkin' about the incomplete attendance list."
"You mean the lack of class 78-B?" Celeste asked, someone who Hank knew the true name off thanks to the student registry, but he also knew never to say it as anyone who did was known to vanish.
"Well that, but also, we're missin' Mukuro Ikusaba. It's rather concerning."
"And why is that?" Asked Byakuya.
"Well, if we're stuck in here where could they all have gone? And even if I'm a guest speaker, I'm still responsible for your well beings, so several students missing is concerning." Replied Hank.
"Oh who cares about one missing student?" 'Junko' said.
"She's right, why should I worry about those beneath me?" Byakuya added.
"I do, look, you may not think highly of them or care, but it ain't right to just want to forget about them. Look, in Arlen there's some real jerks and weirdos out there. But even if they act like a grade A jackass, they are still part of the community and deserve to at least have someone check in on them. Which is why I'll at least want to find out why they ain't here." Hank finished explaining as he eyed 'Junko' "'sides, ain't she your twin sister, shouldn't you care at least a little?"
The question took 'Junko' by surprise for a second, but quickly dropped it as she replied "She always was a waste of oxygen, so maybe you shouldn't waste yours thinking about her."
"Hmm, don't agree with that." Hank said, before shrugging as the group continued to look through the school. Upon which the group met in the kitchen, where a surprise was waiting for Hank, as he saw a barbecue in the kitchen. Hank walked towards it and to his surprise he saw a familiar logo on the cover "Huh, a Strickland barbecue, well I'll be, how odd."
"And why might that be?" Asked Celeste.
"I don't recall ever sellin' one of these to the school, so how this got here is beyond me." Said Hank, as he then checked the fridge and to his surprise he found a stack of steaks. "Well, this has to be the nicest hostage taker I've ever seen. If we ever make it outside I'm making steaks for all of you."
"Normally, I would be above eating such commoner food, but if you can make it well done I'll consider it." Replied Togami.
"You'll get yours medium rare, or you won't get any at all." Replied Hank, as the group then continued to look through the school.
Later
After the group had finished exploring the first floor and then returned to each other to explain what they had found, the group discovered that it was nearly time for dinner. So now they were all seated at the tables enjoying their dinner, Hank was seated near Sakura, Aoi and Chihiro as the three of them were listening to Aoi excitedly explain about a race she had "...and of course right before the last one hundred meters my opponent got a cramp in her leg, so I decided to wait for her to get better, because as you know it's never fair to cheat."
"You did the right thing Hina." Sakura said, as she then noticed that Aoi nearly choked on her food as she tried to continue explaining "...Hina, if you're going to continue talking, take some water."
"Good idea, I'll be right back." Replied Aoi, as she dashed off into the kitchen.
"Honestly, what would she do without me." Sakura mused.
"Reminds me of my niece, she ain't exactly the smartest, but she always means well." Said Hank, with a fond smile on his face.
"You know Hill, I wonder, besides teaching here and selling propane as you put it, what else do you do?" Asked Sakura.
"Well when I was younger I played football as a back runner and some light boxin'. Now though, mainly keeping my lawn in shape, doing repairs were needed, takin' part in the community and getting into whatever crazy nonsense gets thrown our way. I mean I've had to kick the ass of some jackass on a few occasions and I'll do it again." Replied Hank.
"That is very admirable."
"Well the feelin's mutual, before getting here I got briefed on the new students and overheard some of your accomplishments. It's very admirable what you've managed to do Miss." replied Hank, as at that moment Aoi returned with a glass of water.
"I know right." Said Aoi, as she then eyed Sakura as she added "I've told you before that you were great at what you do, and you can hear it from someone else."
"I guess you're right."
"Now, I've heard from you two, but what about you? What's your talent like?" Asked Hank, addressing Chihiro.
"Oh me, I'm the ultimate programmer." Replied Chihiro, as he immediately noticed the look of confusion on Hank's face "You don't know what that is, do you?"
"Sorry kid, I mean my half brother works with robots, apparently last year he worked with one Professor Idabashi and a rather foul-mouthed apprentice of his, but I could barely understand how they function. I can barely send an e-mail and I don't even know what a Jay-Peg is."
"That's fine, I'll try and explain it anyways."
Later
Junko Enoshima, the real one, was looking through the camera's in the data centre with a bored look on her face as she saw that everyone had gone into their assigned dorms and got ready for bed "Oh my goddddddddd, if I knew the first day would be this boring I would've gotten myself a movie for in here!" She exclaimed, as at that moment Mukuro entered the room "Oh hey Muku, how was it getting to know everyone again? I noticed that Makoto still wouldn't give you the time of day and immediately went for the idol. Granted, there was a fifty percent chance of that happening, the other half being our resident stoic detective and there was an error rate of about five percent."
"It was fine." Said Mukuro, as she ignored the other comment "I'm actually here with a question that you still haven't answered me."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"Why did you include Hill in the killing game, couldn't you just have found a way to send him home and have him perish like that? After all, you don't care for him the way you do for our classmates, right?" Asked Mukuro.
"Oh but that's where you're wrong, my dear sweet sister." Said Junko as she turned the chair she was sitting in around to face Mukuro "That man intrigues me, the way Naegi and his luck intrigues me. The man has such a passion for the mundane and makes something as uninteresting as grilling beef interesting. So if he dies, or he ends up falling into despair, it will cause me despair. And honestly, I can't wait for the first motive when he finds out that his wife and son are missing, sucks that Arlen hasn't fallen yet and that his job is still operating, that would make for some great despair from him. I really should have taken care of that conspiracy nut."
"But how would that..." Mukuro was about to say, only for Junko to get a call.
"Hold onto that, I'm getting a call." Said Junko, as she accepted the call "Y'ello..."
"..."
"Oh Monaca, so you finally managed to get his wife and child, great I knew I could count on you..."
"..."
"What's that..."
"..."
"What do you mean that nut job snuck onto the airship..."
"..."
"Oh so you did manage to subdue him after he threw sand in your eyes..."
"..."
"No, don't kill him, I might have a use for him..."
"..."
"Put him in the same building as the hostages, how hard is that to understand?"
"..."
"Oh come on, there's no need to cry, you didn't disappoint me..."
"..."
"Alright then, I'll count on you to keep them from escaping..." Said Junko as she disconnected the call and turned around to face Mukuro.
"And...?"
"Well, it seems like I need to go and edit Hill-sensei's motivational video."
"Need any help."
"No, you can go to bed, honestly this roadblock has given me the despair fix I need for today."
"Alright then, goodnight." Mukuro softly said as she left the data centre, while Junko got to work.
Later
The following day Hank was walking through the halls as he overheard the end of a conversation between Leon and Makoto "...And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good. I have my own dream for the future!"
"A dream... for the future?" Makoto asked.
"My only path in life is getting into music! You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right?"
"Uh..." Makoto stammered, not sure what to say.
"Now hold on a second there son." Hank interrupted, as he approached the two boys.
"Hill?"
"Were you listening in on our conversation!?" Leon exclaimed.
"Only heard the end of it, now calm down and hold on sec'. Did you really say that you wanted to quit your talent for something else?" Replied Hank.
"You wouldn't get it old man."
"No cause I think I do, boy, let me tell ya. You have a talent that comes natural to you, one that would give you a good and stable career. And you wanna throw it away for some half-baked dream? That's just plain irresponsible."
"Whatever, I don't have to take this from you." Said Leon, as he walked off with an angry look on his face.
"Should we... do something?" Makoto asked.
"Let him blow off some steam." Replied Hank.
"To be honest, I was thinking the same thing but I wasn't sure if I should have said it. Then again... maybe he'll come around on his own." Said Makoto as Hank turned around to look at him.
"Honestly kid, that blind optimism of yours is either going to get you in trouble one day or worse get you killed. What Kuwata needs is a good kick in the rear to get him back on track." Replied Hank.
"Sensei... it's not blind optimism... I just try to see the best in people. Granted, Kirigiri-san has told me this as well."
"Still, maybe it's something to think about." Replied Hank, as he then walked off.
Later
The group was sitting in the AV Room as they had been given their motives by Monokuma and were currently watching the videos they had been given. The one Hank had been watching showed an aerial view of Arlan Texas, as a narrator began to speak "Arlen Texas, a quaint town home to some of the most normal yet absurd people you'll end up finding in your life. And despite the mundanity of the situation, its residents always end up in some strange situations."
"From hurricane's, to revolts against big businesses, to contests about deciding the quality of meat, to people just standing on their lawns having a beer and even normal boring family life." The narration continued, as Hank fondly thought back to Bobby's success at the contest just a few weeks back, as then a group photo of the Hills with their neighbours was shown, only for the scene to change with Peggy, Bobby and Dale's pictures being crossed out with red X's, while the rest of the group had red question marks covering them.
"But oh no, did something bad happen to this quiet little town?" The narration asked, as it then showed a picture of Arlen with a red sky where there would normally be a blue sky. "And what about the people in the picture, are they alive, are they dead, are they struggling in their final moments? Find out after graduation." The narration finished as the screen turned off.
Hank looked at the screen in horror, to the point that he did not even notice that he had let out a scream "Bwaahaahaa." But he quickly took a deep breath, as felt a hand on his shoulder. Hank looked around to see Hifumi standing next to him, having a saddened look on his face.
"Hill, are you alright?"
"Yeah... just need a moment."
"What did you see?"
"Not sure, my family and neighbours might be in danger. What about you?"
Hifumi sighed as he replied "My sweet older sister, just like me she's an artist, but instead she draws hen..."
"Stop, I don't want to hear anymore. I told you earlier that I didn't want to hear about any of that weird nonsense."
"Sorry... but what do you think this is?"
"I think it's that dang bear's attempt at getting us to kill, but if he thinks any of us will snap, he's got an ass kickin' the size of Texas coming to him. So if everyone stays..." Hank said, as he saw Sayaka rush out of the room in fear, which he quickly made a mental note of. "...calm, then no one has to die."
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that." Said Monokuma, popping out from a vent above him.
"Bwaahaa, where did you come from?" Asked Hank.
"Doesn't matter, just wanted to tell you that even if you think that by staying calm no one will die you're wrong. Because guess what, there's enough fear in the minds of my dear students that one of them is bound to snap. So don't put all your eggs in one basket, after all accidents happen." Replied Monokuma, as he jumped back into the vent.
Hank turned to face Hifumi who was still looking fearful "Kid... remember what I told you. Stay calm, think about your family, I don't think they would want you to die."
"I know... I just have to go... I'll keep it in mind though." Replied Hifumi, as he quickly rushed off.
Hank shook his head at the sight and mumbled "That boy ain't right."
Later
Sayaka was walking through the hallway, after the nighttime announcement had gone off, with a worrisome expression on her face, a kitchen knife hidden up her sleeve and a note in her hand, as she kept mumbling "I have to do it... I have no choice... I need to get out of here... even if it hurts him..." Only for her to be brought out of her train of thought when a voice called out to her.
"Maizono, a word."
Sayaka looked over her shoulder to see Hank standing in the darkness of the hallway "Hill, what are you doing here?"
"I can ask you the same question, you've been on edge since the videos were given."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sayaka lied.
"Kid, I can see the knife sticking out of your sleeve." Hank sighed as he added "Come on, let's have a talk." As Hank began to walk off with Sayaka quickly following behind him, as they were walking he swore he could see Leon pass by with a pissed off expression on his face, but he ignored it to focus on the current matter, until a little bit later they found themselves in Hank's office in the supply closet, as Sayaka placed the knife on the table and sat on the chair to face Hank. "Now, what's going on?"
"I can't tell you..."
"Look, I'm trying to prevent you from making a mistake, just tell me what's happening. I promise I won't judge you for it."
Sayaka thought for a few seconds as she stayed silent, until she finally replied "Fine, I'll tell you..." As she then began to explain to Hank what she saw in her video, how freaked out it made her, the desire to get out of the school and find the rest of her idol group, as well as the plan she had made to switch rooms with Makoto, kill someone in his room, frame him, get everyone else executed and then leave the school. By the time she was finished she was in tears "...and in telling you all this I realised that others probably also had loved ones in trouble, and here I am trying to get them all killed. I'm pathetic."
"I see."
"That's it, I tell you everything and that's all you have to say!?" Sayaka exclaimed.
"Hold on a sec, I'm thinkin'." Replied Hank, as he then sighed a few seconds later and said "Alright, here's what's gonna happen, you're goin' to leave the knife here and return to your room to get some sleep. In the morning you're going to thank Naegi-san for letting you switch rooms and we as a group continue to find a way out of the school together. We act as if this conversation didn't happen, and you didn't spout a bunch of (gobbledegook)."
"What was that last part, I don't think that's a word with a Japanese translation."
"I meant nonsense."
"But what about the video? Won't our loved ones die if someone isn't murdered?" Asked Sayaka.
"I don't think they will, otherwise, whoever is keeping us here would be a terrible hostage taker. I've seen it in some old movies, without a hostage whoever is in charge would have nothing on us." Replied Hank.
"Oh." Sayaka replied, as the realization hit her.
"Exactly, now, get out of here, go back to bed and don't make me catch you out here for the rest of the night."
"What about the knife?"
"I'll put it back in the kitchen in the mornin'." Replied Hank, to which Sayaka merely nodded as she quickly dashed out of the room and closed the door behind her. As she left Hank sighed to himself and said "What am I going to do with these kids?"
Later
"Rise and shine students, it's a wonderful morning. You know, if you could actually see the outside world." Monokuma announced over the speakers, prompting Hank to rise from his bed, as Hank then got himself dressed and ready for breakfast as he thought to himself "How am I goin' to get that knife into the kitchen without anyone noticing? Oh well, might as well try."
And as Hank was making his way through the halls of the school he began to notice that there were some blood splatters on the wall, as well as some scratches on the floor. Seeing this worried him, so Hank began to pick up the pace, but right before he could enter the cafeteria an announcement was heard over the loudspeakers "Two bodies have been discovered, after a certain amount of time the class trial will begin. If everyone could please enter the kitchen, that would be great."
"Oh no." Mumbled Hank, as he quickly rushed into the cafeteria and saw that the doors to the kitchen had been broken off its hinges. And as he entered the kitchen he saw Hifumi Yamada and Leon Kuwata lying lifeless on the floor, but having a bunch of stab marks on their bodies as well as a deep gash in their necks. Upon seeing the two dead bodies, he exclaimed "Bwaahaahaa!" Turning everyone's attention onto him, as Toko immediately exclaimed.
"I-I-I-It w-w-w-w-w-was Hill-sensei, h-h-h-h-h-h-h-he's g-g-g-g-g-g-got a knife. He's g-g-g-g-g-g-gone crazy! H-h-h-h-h-h-h-he's gonna kill u-u-u-u-us a-a-a-a-all."
But before anyone could freak out, Kyoko spoke up "No it's not, there are two bloodied knives in the kitchen, those are clearly the murder weapons."
"Hmpf, maybe you ought to carry a plant with you to replace the oxygen you waste." Byakuya scoffed at Toko, who immediately got hearts in her eyes.
"Ohohohoho, master~" Toko replied, as Hank immediately shuddered.
"However, that still doesn't explain why you're carrying a knife." Said Kyoko, as Sayaka immediately started to sign towards Hank to not say anything. Only for Hank to sigh as he immediately began to explain what happened the previous night. After he was done Makoto eyed Sayaka in shock, while Sayaka looked down in shame. "Very well then, that clears some things up at least, let's get the investigation started."
But before the group could get much further, they were called into the gym by Monokuma, who upon their arrival began to taunt the group with the reminder that should they get the killer wrong during the class trial they would all perish except for the blackened. The group managed to stay relatively calm at the reminder, except for 'Junko' who got angry and began to stomp on the bear, which didn't seem to be doing a whole lot, until...
"Violence against the headmaster is strictly forbidden, spears of Gungnir, I summon thee!" Monokuma exclaimed, as right at that moment 'Junko' was impaled by spears rising from the ground as they were then stuck inside of her, as she uttered a few words before the spears were removed from her body, as she fell to the ground. The group looked on in horror, while Makoto screamed out in anguish, but at the same time Hank exclaimed "Bwaahaahaa" and rushed over to her, sat down and held her head up as she was coughing up blood.
"Enoshima, can you speak?" Hank asked.
"Hill... I-I-I'm... sorry... should have... should have... pro-pro-protected... them... protected hi..." 'Junko' uttered, until her final sentence was cut off she let out her final breath.
"Oh no..." Hank uttered, as he thought to himself "That's three students dead on my watch, I should have never come here..." But before he could keep wallowing in the misery any further, he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"Hill, I understand your grief over losing another student. But we have a potential double murder to investigate and we need you to keep an eye on things to make sure the blackened won't mess with things. Can you do that?" Asked Kyoko.
"Yes... just gimme a moment." Replied Hank, as he got up, gave one final glance to the body on the floor and spared a thought to the two bodies in the kitchen and followed the rest of the group to get the investigation started.
Later
The group had been investigating for a bit now, finding clues left and right and slowly beginning to piece together what could have happened. Right now Hank was in Leon's room, as he had found a journal that he quickly skimmed through as his eyes fell on an entry mentioning his cousin and needing to get back to her, especially with the newfound encouragement that Leon had received a while earlier.
"I should probably keep this with me for later." Hank thought, as he then noticed Taka placing the clothes that had been left all over the floor on neat piles on Leon's bed. "Son, what in tarnation are you doing?"
"Ensuring that his room is cleaned properly, him being dead is no excuse for his room being unclean." Replied Taka, keeping his mind on the clothes.
"Huh, you really take this 'moral compass' thing seriously."
"I have to, someone has to lead by example. And a clean room leads to a clean mind, which leads to success. Honestly, I admire you a great deal, Hill."
"Wha... me?"
"Yes, before coming here I made sure to read up on all the teachers who would be teaching me. I found you to be a man of great honour, a man of principles and a man of decency who believes in doing what's right. I wish more people could be like you."
"Ah shucks kid, it ain't anythin' special really."
"Still, if you could teach me that would be great."
"Not much to teach, just stay true to your morals and you should be good. But can I ask, why insist on being a beacon of morality."
"Certainly." Replied Taka, as he began to explain to Hank about his grandfather, his time as prime minister and how his actions led to Taka wanting to become who he is now through hard work.
"I see, that's very admirable and respectable. You've got a good head on your shoulders kid, I'm sure you'll make it far." Replied Hank.
"Thank you Hill." Said Taka, as the two kept looking through the room.
Later
The class trial was not going well to put it lightly, and Hank was beginning to feel like the group had been going endlessly in circles for the last hour or so. The problem wasn't that whoever the Blackened was had done a good job covering their tracks, the problem was that there wasn't any concrete evidence pointing towards anyone in the room. The group knew that there had been a struggle that both victims were involved with that ended in the kitchen, and that both had written a journal entry that mentioned needing to get back to a family member. But up until now they hadn't been able to pinpoint a concrete culprit.
And so the group had fallen silent, noticing the silence Monokuma said "It seems that you can't find the culprit, so I'm implementing a new rule, unless someone doesn't speak up in the next minute, I'm executing you all. So you better get ready to filibuster this mess of a class trial."
"I GOT IT!" Makoto suddenly exclaimed.
"Well what is it son, we've been going in circles here."
"This may be a bit far-fetched, but since we can't pinpoint this crime to any of us. What if they killed each other."
"But... what do you mean by that?" Asked Aoi.
"Are you suggesting a double homicide?" Asked Kyoko.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. With the journal entries I and Hill-sensei found mentioning their family members, and the struggle in the hallway that led into the kitchen, it's the only thing that makes sense." Said Makoto.
"Well Naegi, if you think you're right about this, why don't you recap things for us." Said Monokuma.
"Ok, so here's what I think happened. Based on the accounts given by Hina and Hill, it was clear that both Yamada and Kuwata were on edge from their videos and needed to get back to their families. It would seem that based on the other two missing knives they each grabbed one at different points during the day. Whether to defend themselves or to kill someone we will never know for sure, but when one or the other or both couldn't handle the pressure anymore and went outside to look for a victim."
"It was then that they saw each other, and based on the freshness of the blood Kuwata tackled Yamada into his room, upon which a struggle occurred. Yamada was able to push Kuwata out of his room, and the two kept struggling through the hallway. Each of them continuing to take stabs at each other, until eventually their struggle broke down the door of the kitchen and they both were able to deliver one fatal blow to each other's necks with the knife. After which they bled out in the kitchen, but not before writing an apology to one H.H. or in this case Hank Hill-sensei. Did I get it right?"
Monokuma sighed and replied "Man, it sucks that you kids figured out the double homicide, but I guess I'll just have to save the new feature for the next murder. Regardless, you managed to get it right. The murderers of Hifumi Yamada and Leon Kuwata were themselves, however, I'm not pleased. Because now I don't get to execute someone. Is what I would be saying, except I have an alternative."
Monokuma then pressed a button, and on the screen behind him appeared three food items. Aoi's donuts, Celeste's fancy tea and Hank's beer. "Since I can't execute you all due to being innocent, instead I'm going to permanently delete one of these food items from the school. Now since all three of your favourite foods are on the line, I'm going to make a wager. Whoever's food doesn't get picked, will become immune from the wrath of the person whose food is now gone. Sound good? Great, let's spin the wheel!"
Monokuma pressed the button, which made a wheel appear on the screen behind him and right at that moment the wheel began spinning. Everyone looked at the wheel with bated breath, Celeste beginning to feel that her anger was starting to rise at the thought of potentially losing her tea. Hank wasn't as worried, and if Aoi was worried she didn't really show it. And right at that moment the wheel stopped spinning, as its final movement moved it from donuts, to beer, to tea, to donuts, to beer as it stopped for a moment, only for it to move onto tea at the last second.
"And it looks like we have ourselves a winner folks, we get to say goodbye to Miss Ludenberg's tea." Monokuma said, but right as he wanted to get the execution started for the tea, he was interrupted as Celeste exclaimed.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!"
"Oh, is there an objection?" Asked Monokuma as he tilted his head.
"YES I OBJECT, I OBJECT TO THIS WHOLE SHAM OF A TRIAL. FIRST YOU TAKE AWAY MY TEA SERVANT AND NOW YOU TAKE AWAY MY TEA. THIS IS BULLSHIT! THIS TRIAL... NO THIS MOTIVE... THIS WHOLE MOTIVE WAS RIGGED, RIGGED I TELL YOU!" Celeste exclaimed.
"Too bad, so sad, say goodbye to your tea." Said Monokuma, as he pressed the button, which changed the view on the screen to show that all the tea in the kitchen and storage room got transported into a grassy field, after which it got set ablaze by another Monokuma with a flamethrower. After it burned for a few minutes, all that was left were some smouldering leaves. "Well that was fun, and I got to execute something, who's up for Chinese?"
Only to find that no one was responding, as instead the group silently made their way back to the elevator and to the ground floor of the school, after which they all dispersed and went their own way. Hank noticed that Celeste was too angry to say anything, so he let her go. Instead Hank returned to the gym, only to find 'Junko's' body gone, he then moved to the kitchen where he nearly bumped into a dejected looking Makoto in the hallway. "Don't bother, they're also gone."
"You all right?"
Makoto sighed and replied "I can't believe they're just gone."
"You close with em'?"
"I wouldn't say close, just hung out with them a few times and listened to their struggles. But what were you doing here?"
"Paying my last respects to them, felt that I coulda done more." Replied Hank.
"Same."
"A noble sentiment, but rather foolish don't you think?" Asked Kyoko, as she approached the duo.
"Oh hey Kirigiri, what do you mean?"
"Holding onto that and not moving on from it seems rather foolish."
"No... that's wrong." Replied Makoto, surprising Kyoko as he continued "To honour their memories I want to keep their deaths with me, to give me the strength to make it out of this horrible place. And that is why I'll forever carry their memories with me."
"And what about you, sensei?"
"Me? Well, as the only teacher in this place intending on keeping his students safe I take this as a learnin' experience. Keep everyone sane and reasonable, I'll tell you what."
"But do you believe you'll be able to pull it off?"
"If someone speaks up when somethin' ain't right with someone, it shouldn't be an issue. In fact, I might just announce at dinner that if someone is experiencin' an issue that the door to my office remains open."
"Very well then, I'll see what comes from both of your vows." Replied Kyoko, before addressing Hank "Oh and sensei, I understand what you were trying to do for Maizono as a teacher. But next time you want to help, don't try to wipe it under the rug. It'll only make you look more suspicious."
"Got it." Replied Hank, as Kyoko then took off.
"So, want to get something to eat?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah, I'm starvin'." Hank replied with a faint chuckle, as the two returned to the kitchen.
Part 1 of 9, to be continued