Part 2 of 9
Later
"Now why would the library be so dusty?" Hank wondered to himself, as he had to stop himself from sneezing for a third time since coming to the library after Monokuma had opened the second floor for the group to explore. He then heard Byakuya scoffing on the other side of the room, leading to Hank to ask "Somethin' wrong?"
Byakuya adjusted his glasses, his usual smirk tugging at his lips as he replied "Not wrong. Just... predictable. This library is full of useless drivel. Nothing but fluff meant to entertain, not educate."
Hank exhaled, placing his book down. "Can't say I agree with ya there. Ain't nothin' wrong with a good story. Helps folks understand each other. Lotta wisdom in books if you know where to look."
Byakuya chuckled dryly. "Wisdom? Don't tell me you believe in such sentimental nonsense. Knowledge is about power, not understanding. The only thing that matters is knowing how to use it to your advantage."
Hank frowned slightly, arms crossing. "Now hold on just a minute. Power ain't just about takin' what you can from the world. A good man knows how to use what he's learned to help others."
Byakuya raised an eyebrow, intrigued but not convinced as he asked "And yet, here we are, trapped in a school where the only thing that determines our survival is how well we can manipulate and outthink our competition. Tell me, Hill-sensei, how do your moral values fit into a game where the only rule is 'kill or be killed'? Or better yet, do you honestly believe that an open door and a conversation will be able to make things better?"
Hank's jaw tightened before replying "That don't mean I gotta play by their rules. As for the other thing, we won't know if it doesn't work unless we give it a try."
"How quaint." Byakuya replied with a smug smirk on his face, as he sat down on a nearby chair.
Hank shook his head, exhaling. He decided not to argue the point further. Instead, his eyes drifted across the table, where a peculiar book lay open. A large, bolded title caught his attention, "THE CASE FILES OF GENOCIDE JACK"
"What in the world…?" Hank wondered as his eyes narrowed.
Byakuya glanced at the book before lazily leaning back in his chair. "Ah. That would be the infamous case files of the so-called 'Genocide Jack.'"
Hank skimmed through the pages, his expression shifting from curiosity to disgust. The book was a detailed account of a serial killer who had terrorised the public, brutally murdering victims in grotesque ways and leaving behind disturbing crime scenes.
"Now this… this is just plain evil," Hank muttered, shaking his head. "What kinda sick monster takes pride in this kinda thing?"
Byakuya chuckled. "Someone with ambition, clearly."
Hank's head snapped up to look at Byakuya, giving the man a questioning look as he asked "Excuse me?"
Byakuya smirked. "Relax, I'm not endorsing their methods, but even you have to admit, someone who can leave such an impact on society through their actions, no matter how cruel, is undeniably effective."
Hank was silent for a moment, staring at Byakuya with a mixture of disbelief and frustration, before replying "Son… tell me you didn't just say what I think you just said. Because if you have, have you lost your damn mind?"
"I'm sure I don't have to repeat myself." Byakuya replied, after which he shrugged.
Hank slowly closed the book and let out a deep sigh. "Y'know, I figured you were a little full of yourself, but I thought you at least had a shred of common sense. There ain't nothin' admirable about a killer, no matter how 'effective' they are." Hank said.
Byakuya, feeling rather amused, rested his chin on his hand, as he replied "That's a rather naïve perspective. The world isn't as black and white as you'd like it to be, Mr. Hill. Power, influence, and intelligence, these are the things that truly matter. Morality is just an illusion created by those too weak to seize control of their own destinies."
Hank's expression hardened. "Son, I don't know what kinda life you've lived, but where I come from, you don't get respect by steppin' on others. You earn it by doin' right by the folks around you."
Byakuya scoffed, as he replied. "And that's precisely why you'll never rise above your station."
Hank stared at him for a long moment before exhaling, as he said "Lemme tell you somethin', Togami. Money, smarts, all that fancy stuff you keep goin' on about it don't mean a damn thing if you don't got people who actually trust you. You think you're strong 'cause you push folks away? 'Cause you think you don't need 'em? Lemme tell ya, boy, the strongest people I ever met weren't the ones who stood alone. They were the ones who stood up for the people around 'em."
Byakuya's smirk faltered slightly as Hank continued speaking "You can talk about power and control all you want, but at the end of the day, when this is all said and done, and we get outta here, you're gonna have to ask yourself, who the hell is even gonna care if you're still standin'?"
Byakuya didn't respond right away. He simply stared at Hank, his expression unreadable. After a long silence, he finally replied "Hmph. You certainly talk a lot for a simple man."
Hank snorted, as he countered "And you don't think all that much for someone who claims to be that smart."
Byakuya stood up, adjusting his tie as he said "Keep believing what you want to believe, I've had my fill of this conversation. There's nothing left in this library worth my time."
Hank watched him turn toward the exit. "I dunno, son," he called out. "There's a lot of books here that could be entertainin' for you. Just cause something is entertainin' it don't mean it has to be bad." To which Byakuya paused for just a moment before shaking his head, as he then scoffed and walking away from Hank. He then exhaled, picked up the book again, staring at the name Genocide Jack before closing it for good. He muttered to himself, "One day that fool's gonna learn the hard way, I can already tell."
A few days later
Hank looked at the secret he had been given, 'Hank Hill has a narrow urethra, and beyond his son won't be able to have anymore kids.' How the person in charge had been able to get their hands on this secret was beyond him, but he didn't see how this would force Hank into killing even if the secret were to be revealed at a later date. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he overheard the reactions from the rest of the students.
"How did you get this!"
"I thought I had buried this in a place no one would find."
"Huh, I see."
"Duuuuuuuuuude, are you a mindreader or something?"
"Nope." Monokuma replied, as he then added "But if you want to prevent the secrets from being spilled, you better start killing. Or else all these juicy little secrets are going to be revealed tomorrow." After which he vanished behind the podium.
"Still weird." Hank thought to himself, as he then heard Makoto speak up.
"Wait guys, what if we all revealed our secrets in an environment where we all withhold our judgments, that way no one would have to kill this time." He said, only for everyone to stare at him in silence. Prompting Makoto to turn to Hank and ask "Hill-sensei, what about you?"
Hank stared at the secret in front of him and replied "Sorry son, but under any different circumstance I woulda helped you. Unfortunately, what I got is rather... inappropriate to say out loud to you kids."
"Maybe what we should do is take some time to digest these, and if everyone feels ready to tell theirs before this time tomorrow we share the secrets of our own volition. Otherwise Monokuma shares them." Said Kyoko.
"Yeah, does that sound good to everyone?" Asked Makoto, to which the rest of the group nodded, after which they began to disperse.
Later
A little bit after dinner, but not before the nighttime announcement Hank found himself sitting in his office with a book on grilling techniques. "This school really has it all." He thought to himself, as he then heard a knock on his door, as he then called out "Come in." The door then opened, as a nervous looking Toko appeared in front of him, prompting Hank to ask "Fukawa-san, somethin' wrong?"
"Uh, h-hi—H-Hill… H-Hill-sensei… Uhh, a-are you, um… b-b-busy?"
Hank straightened up, adjusting his glasses slightly. "No, I suppose not. You need somethin', Fukawa-san?"
Toko sat down in the chair opposite to Hank, as she nervously replied "I-I-I… um, I… I n-n-need… to t-talk. But, uh, m-m-maybe I shouldn't? N-no! I sh-should! I mean ugh, b-but maybe you'll, y'know… L-LAUGH! O-o-or hate me! O-or… K-KILL ME!"
"Nope, that ain't happening, now please tell me what's goin' on?" Hank calmly replied.
Toko flinched at the reply, but took a deep breath and replied "O-Okay, okay! I just… I-I…" She clenched her fists, forcing herself to spit out something coherent. "D-D-Don't you think some secrets are t-t-t-too… too d-d-dangerous?! Like, l-l-like they shouldn't be told?! Ever?! B-b-because if you d-do, then..."
"Then... what are you tryin' to say. Cause, I ain't exactly sure what you're tryin' to say, but if somethin's really botherin' you, best to just say it outright."
Toko visibly recoiled at that statement as she exclaimed "O-Outright?! A-Are you INSANE?! N-no, no, no, NO! If I say it, then SHE... she..."
"Who is this she you're referring to?" Hank asked, causing Toko to look at him in shock, but at the same time as if she was about to faint.
"I-i-i-i-i-i-i a-already s-s-said t-t-t-to m-m-much!" Toko shrieked, as she quickly rushed out of the office and into the darkened hallways, as Hank swore he began to hear the sound of cackling.
Hank blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but since he wasn't he just uttered "Well that was odd, hope she'll be able to deal with whatever that was."
Later
Hank was in his bedroom, having already placed his glasses on the nightstand and was nearly fully asleep when he heard some frantic knocking on his door, as he uttered "Huh?" before the knocking continued and kept getting louder.
"Hill! Open up, I fucked up! I fucked up real bad! It's an emergency!" A panicked voice belonging to Mondo Owada exclaimed.
Hank got out of bed with a sigh as he opened his door as he said "Someone better be dyin' for you to be making that kinda ruckus..." Only for the words to dry up in his mouth as he saw Mondo standing in front of him, with a bloodied Chihiro in his arms. "...Bwaahaahaa, what happened!" Hank exclaimed.
"Can I please come in... they're alive... just with a really weak pulse." Mondo said, his eyes filled with nothing but regret.
"Sure, put the kid on my kid, I'll grab a towel." Said Hank, as he and Mondo then quickly got to work to fix the injury that Chihiro had sustained. As Hill grabbed a towel from his bathroom, as well as a lot of ice from the cooler in which kept some of the beers he had in his room, all the while Mondo was making sure that Chihiro's pulse didn't fade away at any point during this. And so the two men kept working, trying their hardest to stabilize Chihiro, and after about a few minutes some small but subtle movements were being felt coming from Chihiro. Allowing the two of them to begin to take it somewhat easier again.
Which led to Hank asking what caused all of this to happen, making Mondo explain about the secrets that he and Chihiro had gotten, with it leading to Chihiro wanting to become stronger and seeking Mondo out for training. Mondo then explained about what happened in the gym, how Chihiro revealed their secret and it caused Mondo to flashback to what happened with his brother as well as it leading to him striking Chihiro on the head with a dumbbell. But it snapped Mondo out of what happened quick enough for him to seek out Hank.
"I see, can I ask, why come to me?" Asked Hank upon being told the story.
"I... I didn't know who else to come to for help. And with you keepin' your door open like that, I thought you'd be able to help out." Replied Mondo.
Hank exhaled at being told the story and said "You wanna know what I think?"
"How does that help?" Asked Mondo.
"Just think it'll give you some perspective, that's all." Replied Hank.
"Hit me with it."
"I think that bein' scared of your secret' doesn't make you any less of a man, it don't make you weak either."
"Don't call me weak!" Mondo exclaimed.
"I ain't calling you weak son, just pointin' out how you might feel, now sit down." Replied Hank, as he then continued "Now look, I ain't gonna pretend to understand what you went through, but I do know that all that guilt ain't healthy. So find a way to move on, or at least make peace with it. For you as a man."
"Easy for you to say, I bet someone like you has no issue with that. You've got a decent job, a family, friends." Mondo replied, only for Hank to pass him the piece of paper with his secret written on it. "Wait... is that?"
"Read it." Replied Hank, as Mondo did so as his eyes then widened.
"Dude... seriously. Was that what you meant when you said to Neagi that it wasn't appropriate for you to share."
"It was, and it was also why I got rejected from the military. But despite that I still do what is right, stand up for what is right, be there for my loved ones, be a part of the community. Being a man's not just about bein' strong, it's about doing the right thing..." Hank started, only for a realization to hit him "...hold on, now what was so bad about Fujisaki's secret that it led to him seeking you out?"
"Not my place to tell." Replied Mondo, only to be startled when Chihiro spoke up weakly.
"It's ok... Owada... Hill… can... know."
"You sure?" Asked Mondo, to which Chihiro nodded "You want to tell him and do you need any help sitting up?" to which another nod was given. And so Chihiro began to explain to Hank about how he had always been bullied as a child due to being seen as weaker than the other boys. So he moved schools and started dressing as a girl to avoid what had happened from repeating itself. He hadn't meant for this to keep happening for so long, but the time he spent dressing like this led to him getting used to it. But the motive gave him the motivation to finally break the cycle.
"Goodness me... I don't know what to say." Replied Hank after Chihiro had finished his story.
"I... I'm sorry... if I... deceived you... I do want to get stronger."
"Well, safe to say that you've at least got the right mindset. 'Sides being able to admit to your weaknesses and wanting to get better, now that is true strength."
"Thank you, sensei." Chihiro beamed at Hank.
"And again, those people who picked on you for not being manly enough are a bunch of cowards."
"Speaking from experience?" Asked Mondo "Never expected you to be the type to get picked on."
"Oh I wasn't the one to get picked on, I was the bully, pickin' on others weaker than me, it was wrong and somethin' I look back on with little pride. It's why I always try to impart those words of wisdom onto Bobby."
"Then... I guess a delinquent like me could still do something right?" Asked Mondo, while he and Chihiro's look of shock faded slightly.
"Depends, what do you plan on doin' beyond bein' a bike gang leader?"
"I'm thinking of becoming a carpenter."
"Ah, a respectable profession." Replied Hank "Also, couldn't help but notice you and Ishimaru bein' a lot closer than before, what happened there?"
"Oh that, we settled it like men, in a challenge who could last longer in the sauna. Don't remember who won, but we bonded as men, he's my bro now."
"That's good development at least." Hank replied, as the three of them continued talking deep into the night.
Later
"Sensei, are you sure about this?" Asked Chihiro, as he, along with Mondo and Hank, found themselves in the boys changing room the following morning a little bit before the morning announcement was supposed to go off. As Hank had given Chihiro some boxing gloves, while Mondo was standing in front of him with pads in his hands.
"I'm sure about it, look you wanted to get stronger right?" Asked Hank, to which Chihiro nodded "Well, getting stronger ain't just about havin' big muscles, it's about bein' able to defend yourself. Get a good hit in, and your opponent crumbles. Now, why don't you start with some basic jabs."
Chihiro nodded and immediately tried to hit the pads in the hands of Mondo, only for him to nearly fall over, leading him to having to readjust himself. Upon which he noticed the look on Mondo's face, to which he asked "Something wrong?"
"Piece of advice, if you want to do this properly, firmly place your feet on the ground and keep one your hands up when you use the other to deliver a punch." Replied Mondo.
"Ok, got it." Replied Chihiro, as he took the advice and immediately began to deliver a slow flurry of punches to the pads in Mondo's hands. Until after the first hundred or so punches he became unable to and fell onto his butt out of exhaustion "Dang it, not good enough." Chihiro cursed to himself.
"Not good enough? Son, you were able to reach a hundred on your first try, that's pretty good." Said Hank.
"But I couldn't do more."
"That's true, but it's a good start for someone who only just now got started. And I find that pretty manly of you." Replied Mondo, as Chihiro then turned to Hank.
"But... you still haven't told me... why do this so early?" Chihiro asked, while catching his breath in between every couple of words.
"Well, if we're lucky nobody died, unfortunately all our secrets will be read out loud. So what better way than to get a head start and ensure yours won't be able to harm you." Replied Hank.
"Speakin' off, Hill will you be ok with yours being read out?" Asked Mondo.
"Eh... I've learned to live with it." Said Hank. "Now come on, let's pause for now and get a drink. If we're lucky the morning announcement should sound in a bit and open..." Hank continued as he was interrupted by the tune of the morning announcement "...the kitchen, ah just in time."
"Ahem, a body has been discovered, after a certain amount of time a class trial will be held, could everyone please make their way over to the library."
Hearing the one announcement they really didn't want to hear the three of them turned to each other with looks of shock on their faces, Mondo then spoke up "We... we should go..."
"Yeah... yeah the library is pretty close." Replied Chihiro, as the trio then rushed their way over to the library and upon making their way to the entrance they found that the rest of the students had already gathered, most with looks of shocks on their faces, while some of the more stoic students simply stared at the scene in front of them. Once the three of them made it past the others, they finally figured out what it was they were looking at.
Because in front of them was the strung up body of Kiyotaka Ishimaru, being pinned to the wall by several scissors, while the words BLOODLUST were written on the wall behind him. Around him there were a bunch of bookcases that seemed to have been knocked over in a struggle, with some of the books being shredded to pieces as well as blood spatters on many of the walls. Upon seeing the body Hank exclaimed "Bwaahaahaa!"
All the while Mondo dropped to his knees as he whispered "Bro, no."
Hank stumbled backwards slightly, but quickly managed to catch himself as he then saw a familiar book lying open on the floor, the very same book that Byakuya had shown him at an earlier moment. The book that detailed the crimes of one Genocide Jack, upon the realisation hitting him Hank audibly whispered "Oh no."
This did not go unnoticed by Byakuya who said "Ah, I see that our earlier conversation managed to stick in your skull after all. Let's hope that it comes in handy for this investigation."
Hank exhaled sharply, as he replied "Togami-san, so help me god, if you killed Kiyotaka-san using the methods of a different serial killer out of some sick desire to prove your earlier point, I will kick your ass."
"How crass, but how are you going to prove my guilt in the matter?"
"Easy, you spend most of your time in here, anyone knows that."
"Good point, but where is your alibi, do not think I did not notice you arriving at a crime scene late for the second time in a row."
"Why you..."
"Both of you stop it at once!" Kyoko snapped, as she turned to Hank "Whether or not he is guilty remains to be seen during this investigation" she then turned to Byakuya "As for his alibi I'm certain it will be explained during this investigation." She then turned to both of them "Now, quit your arguing and get to work."
Later
The Investigation itself wasn't where the issue with the case lied, everything seemed to be pretty clear. Taka had decided to take a book out of the library to read before he turned in for the night, only him to get ambushed by his would-be killer. What everyone was able to agree on was that there had been a struggle between the two, until the killer had been able to take out Taka permanently and then strung him up.
Where the issue lied, was that no one had been able to figure out which of the students could have killed someone, which led to the group repeatedly going over the evidence for the last half hour, while Togami kept mentioning how he had spotted Toko wandering the halls the previous night sounding more cheery then usual. That was until Makoto's patience had run out and he asked "What are you getting at, why is it important that Fukawa-san was wandering the hallways?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you dullards?" Togami asked.
"Please do, this is getting us nowhere and frankly the sooner we're out of here, the better." Said Celestia.
"It's very simple, the files on the murders committed by Genocide Jack mentioned a theory about a split personality, which is why no one had been able to catch the killer."
"What... like that book Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?" Hank wondered.
"Precisely like that story, now, would the killer be so kind as to reveal themselves, Toko Fukawa."
"W-w-w-what! Y-y-y-y-y-you s-s-s-s-s-said y-y-y-y-you'd k-k-k-k-keep i-i-i-i-it a-a-a-a-a s-s-s-s-secret." Toko stuttered, before fainted out of nervousness, only for her to immediately rise with a crazed look in her eyes.
"Fukawa-san... you alright?" Asked Hina.
"Oh I've never been better, now that sad little Toko has been put to sleep, it's time to get this party started. With the main event of the show, Genocide Jack! Kyahahahahahahaha!" Genocide Jack cackled loudly, as everyone immediately became unnerved, while some exclaimed in surprise, she then looked around the room and saw Taka's portrait as she pulled two pairs of scissors out of her dress "Oh my, has the makeover I gave the hall monitor with a stick up his ass already been discovered."
"Wait, so does that mean that you admit to having killed Taka after Toko ran away from Hill-sensei's room? But how didn't we notice the scissors, everyone had been searched!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Oh Big Mac, don't you get it, people always end up missing the important bits. As for Mr. eyebrows, eyup totally killed him after Ms. Morose was too much of a fuckin' pussy to talk to the one person willing to help her. Granted, it did allow me some much needed freedom to take someone out. And I'll admit, not my first choice, but hey what can you do, master dodged out of the way. So I guess I had to claim second prize, granted Master told me he'd keep my secret afterwards and if he didn't I'd still get to kill him. So I guess this means I get to double my output." Said Jack, as she tried to leap to Byakuya, only for a claw that went around her neck came to keep her in place. "Hey, Winnie the piece of shit, what gives!"
"Oops, sorry, can't let you do that." Said Monokuma. "Now, normally I would let Naegi do a recap, you all vote, but since she pretty much admitted to it, what's the point? So instead I'm cutting right to the end, now, let's give it everything we've got, IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"
Monokuma slammed the hammer down on the button in front of him, and right as that happened Jack sneezed and turned back to Toko, who gave one last look towards Hank as she said "H-h-h-h-h-hill, I-i-i-i-i-i-i'm s-s-s-s-s-s-sorry. Y-y-y-y-y-y-you w-w-w-w-were j-j-j-j-j-just t-t-t-t-trying to help." and right at that moment the claw around her neck dragged her away.
The A-maze-ing library
Toko got dropped inside of a dimly lit library with stacks of books as far as the eye could see, Toko then looks up to see a sign that reads 'make it to the centre for your freedom', to which she nervously begins to make her way forward, only for a spotlight to be shone at a nearby book that Toko recognises as one of her very first books. She tries to pick it up out of the bookshelf, only for a knife to get launched out of the bookcase and into her shoulder. Toko screamed in pain, as she desperately tried to get up again and continue moving towards her goal.
But as she kept moving more spotlights were starting to get shone onto books on the shelves, Toko with the memory of the knife in her shoulder ignored it and instead did her best to keep moving through the rows of bookshelves to make it to her destination. Only for the books to get launched at her from the bookcases, leading her to get pelted repeatedly by books from all sides of the shelves around her. Eventually getting to a point that she was starting to get concussed, as she tried to continue to move forwards, only for her to freeze in fear as she saw that the bookcases were beginning to fall over.
Toko tried to make a run for it, only for her ankles to get broken by two more books that were shot from a lower bookshelf, leading to her trying to crawl out of the way. Only for one of the bookshelves to fall onto her, not immediately killing her, as she was still trying to pull herself out of the book shelf with her one remaining good arm. Only for her to look upwards in horror as she saw a crate full of books hanging above her with a rope, as Monokuma quickly cut the rope, leading to the crate falling down and crushing Toko in an instant, leading to blood getting splattered everywhere, as the group looked on in shock at the feed in front of them.
"Oh man!" Monokuma exclaimed as he was cackling loudly, while the feed got cut off "And here I thought after what happened last time that I wouldn't get to use one of these."
"Well, so much for that." Said Byakuya, as he turned to both Makoto and Hank "What was it you two said again? Oh that's right, something along the lines of 'with the right support we'll make it through this together' of course, I can't be bothered what either of you said to me. But still, two more people are dead and neither one of your methods ended up working." Byakuya finished, causing Makoto to look down in shame, only for Hank to speak up.
"Now hold on a sec' there son, you're a bit too quick to cast judgement there."
"Oh? And why is that, because the one person you tried to help has just been executed. Or is there something I'm missing here?"
"Well for one, while I did say that I was with Owada-san and Fujisaki-san earlier this morning before the body was found, I neglected to mention why that was."
"Enlighten me."
Hank eyed both Mondo and Chihiro who both gave him nods to tell him what happened, as he then replied "Last night Owada-san showed up at my door with Fujisaki-san in his arms, an incident had occurred during their training that accidentally ended up giving her a head injury. She would have perished if we didn't treat it in time, so there, two deaths prevented."
"And yet, you still failed to prevent the other two deaths, granted I did encourage it a little, but ..." Byakuya said, only for him to be interrupted by Aoi who jumped over the podium to slap him in the face "...how dare you strike me you peon."
"You bastard." Aoi hissed "Here we are trying to keep ourselves alive, and then you go and cause another murder. He should have executed you instead. What is wrong with you!"
"Nothing is wrong with me, in fact, I see things much clearer now."
"Then why not help us get out of here together?" Asked Sakura.
"Simple, it's not a matter of getting out of here, it is a simple matter of winning. Outsmarting the person behind this killing game, that is what matters. Granted, now that I know who to look out for and who will try his hardest to keep the rest alive, it will most certainly make for an interesting preceding of events." Replied Byakuya.
Hank sighed as he replied "There is no arguin' with you, is there?"
"I suppose not." Said Byakuya, as he made his way to the elevator "Now, since we're done here, we should get out of here." as he entered the elevator and didn't bother waiting for the rest.
Celeste then added "He is not wrong, it is a matter of survival after all." She then left the room as well.
Sayaka then turned to Makoto and asked "Makoto, are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Makoto replied, with a somber tone in his voice.
"Come on, let's get something to eat, it'll make you feel better."
"How did you know I was hungry?"
"It's like I've said before, I'm psychic." Replied Sayaka, as the two then also entered the elevator.
Hank then felt a hand placed on his shoulder and turned around to see Sakura "Something the matter?"
"Just wanted to say, I find it very admirable how you were willing to help both Owada and Fujisaki, don't let his words get to you."
"Thank you Ogami, that means a lot, but I just did what anyone would have done. Lettin' either one of them die for an honest mistake wouldn't have been right."
"Still, your willingness to step up makes you a good person." Said Aoi, to which Hank merely nodded, as the rest of the group then also made their way over to the elevator to get out of the trial area.
A few days later
"Ludenberg-san, can we have a word?" Hank asked, as the group had started to disperse after Monokuma had given the motive a few days after the last trial had taken place. A motive that included the prize of ten million dollars, and after what had happened during the last motive, Hank decided to keep a closer eye on his students during the reveal to find the one most likely to try and kill for it. And although it had been subtle, Hank was able to see the faintest change in expression for Celestia, leading to him trying to talk her out of what she was planning.
"Oh, what could you want from me?" Asked Celeste.
"Let's talk in my office." Said Hank, as the two made their way to Hank's office and sat down.
"Now, what could you possibly want to talk about? I am a very busy woman after all."
"Yes, I'd imagine with the rec room bein' opened and your tea gone."
"What was that?" Asked Celeste, her eyes flashing a dangerous colour of red.
"Nothin', point is, I know you're plannin' to commit a murder to get the money."
"Oh, and what evidence do you have for that? Are you sure you are not just seeing things, honestly I would understand that a bit more if your paranoia at trying to prevent another murder would cause you to throw around these baseless accusations."
"I ain't dumb, Ludenberg. I know the kinda life you wanna live, I overheard you mentionin' it to Naegi during an earlier conversation you had. That whole Victorian castle dream of yours? A pile of money like that would surely get you closer to it." Replied Hank, as he noticed a quick twitch on Celeste's face, an indication to him that he was getting closer to the truth.
"How very observant of you. But I wonder, why exactly are you bringing this up?"
Hank exhaled through his nose as he replied "Because I know what you're considerin'."
"Again with these accusations."
"Ain't an accusation if it's true." Hank replied, with his voice keeping steady, as he looked into her eyes. "You're thinkin' about doin' what you gotta do to win that money, ain't ya?"
At that Celeste let out a faint chuckle as she replied "Honestly sensei, I didn't take you to be such an observant person considering your background, but that raises the question, why does this matter so much to you?"
"Because it ain't worth it." Replied Hank, at which Celeste merely raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, and do you truly believe that? Would you care to tell me why?"
"You're damn right I do, as for the why... well think about it. And I'm purely speakin' hypotheticals here. But since you're the Ultimate Gambler, don't that mean that you've walked away from plenty of games with stacks of cash before. You're tellin' me that you can't make ten million on your own once you get outta here? And look, just like everyone else here, you got the talent, kid. You don't need to kill for that money. If you really are as smart as ya say, you'd know that."
"Are you encouraging gambling on school grounds, sensei?" Asked Celeste, as she gave Hank a smug look.
"No I ain't, again, purely hypothetically speaking." Replied Hank, before sighing as he added "Look, I know this place gets to folks. But if you go through with whatever you were plannin'? Then that dream of yours? That castle? That perfect life? It won't mean a damn thing, especially since there'd be multiple people who would be able to figure you out. So do keep that in mind." Hank finished, as he noticed a contemplative look on Celeste's face that went from a darkened look to a look of amusement "Ludenberg?"
"Honestly Hill, you've managed to surprise me." Replied Celeste, to which Hank raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, a conversation about the merits of killing for money, I would have expected this from either Kirigiri or Togami, maybe even Naegi, but you, I never expected this. You managed to do the one thing that no one else had managed to do before."
"And what is that?" Asked Hank.
"Change my mind or at least attempt to change it, perhaps I misjudged you when you first entered the gym sir."
"Does that mean you won't go through with whatever nonsense it was you were planning?" Asked Hank.
"I'll think about it for now, if a body isn't discovered tomorrow that died in the most confusing way possible, you'll know my answer. But for now, I'll retire to my room. See you soon sir." Replied Celeste, as she then left Hank's office, and after she was out of earshot Hank let out a sigh of relief.
Later
True to her word, no dead body would be discovered the following day, but despite the fact that she didn't go through with her plan, for most of the following day an air of tension could be felt throughout the school, leading to everyone spending the rest of the day in their own little corner or with the people they usually hang out with. Hank chose to spend the rest of the day training Chihiro with Mondo, after which he decided to play a solo round of billiards in the rec room. After that he went to dinner, but found that almost everyone quickly grabbed some food and went to eat it on their own. So Hank found himself eating dinner with only Makoto, Chihiro and Mondo present in the dining hall.
Which is how Hank found himself alone in his room a bit after the evening announcement when a knock was heard on his door, upon opening it he was surprised to see Yasuhiro standing in front of him. "Hagakure, somethin' the matter?"
"Can I come in?"
"Oh sure, need to talk about somethin'?" Hank wondered, as he led Yasuhiro inside who took the opportunity to sit down on a nearby chair, as he stayed silent for a bit before speaking up.
"Look man... this motive... it's got me freaking out."
"Anyone would be, with a motive that is essentially to kill for money."
"Yeah... but man... someone's planning something... I can feel it... I saw it in a vision, someone's going to die tomorrow during breakfast."
"Wait, hold on a sec'... did you say vision?" Asked Hank, to which Hagakure became a lot less panicked.
"Oh yeah that's my ultimate talent, I'm the ultimate clairvoyant, thirty percent of my visions come true." Replied Hagakure, to which Hank merely blinked.
"Only thirty percent? Son, that sounds like a scam waitin' to happen."
"Well, it did once get me in trouble with the Yakuza and I'm still in debt to them, but since we're locked inside of this school there's no way they'll be able to get to me. Anyways, want me to tell your future?" Hagakure asked.
"Normally I wouldn't waste money on somethin' like this, but just this once, sure. What are your rates?"
"My normal rates are ten thousand Yen, but none of us have money here, so sir if it's not too much of an issue, can I have a six pack of the beer that you have in that cooler?"
"Some of my beers? Son, how old are you?"
"Oh, I'm twenty-one." Replied Hagakure, causing Hank to nearly drop the beer he was drinking out of his hands.
"Bwa... wha... twenty-one, but why are you at this school then?"
"That, well, I was held back a few times, so that's why."
"Alright, I'll take yer word for it. So how you wanna do this?" Asked Hank while pulling a six pack of beers out of the freezer and putting them on the desk, to which Hagakure replied by pulling out his crystal ball.
"Now hold on a second, I gotta do this right." Said Hagakure, as he began to wave his hands in front of the crystal ball, and after a few seconds he held up his hands and said "I was able to see several things."
"Well, what is it?"
"Your son will become a semi-successful chef in the future." Replied Hagakure.
"I'd be very proud of Bobby if that happens. Anythin' else?"
"Yeah, turns out Togami-san will end up buying Strickland Propane and you will also continue to work at Hope's Peak as a guest speaker until you retire."
"And now I know that this is a scam, you just overheard things and used it as your own visions. You're like those tv psychics, please leave." Replied Hank, as he pointed to the door.
"No wait, I really saw something, I swear dude, for serious!" Hagakure exclaimed. "Look how about a deal, if none of those things end up happening I'll pay you back for the beers you gave me, but if it does happen you gotta pay me my rate."
Hank sighed as he replied "That sounds agreeable, now get outta here and keep the beers in your room. I don't need any other students on my back about handin' out beer like that." Replied Hank.
"Thank sensei, you're the best, for serious." Replied Hagakure, as he took the beers and his crystal ball, after which he quickly left the room.
Hank sighed as he left, after which he said "That boy ain't right."
The following day
"Now what is going on here? Why aren't any of you havin' breakfast" Hank wondered, as he entered the dining hall the following morning only to see that the remaining students hadn't started eating their breakfast yet. With Hina looking extra hungry, while neither Sayaka and Makoto were to be seen.
"Oh, hey sir. Maizono offered to make us all breakfast this morning, and she managed to rope Naegi into helping her." Replied Chihiro.
"Hmm, awfully kind of her." Hank replied, while ignoring the bad feeling he had in his gut, as he had noticed a similar look in Sayaka's eyes to the one Celeste had when the motive was given.
"I still find it weird that we weren't allowed to go into the kitchen, and send me out when I was just trying to get a peak at what she was making." Said Mondo.
"Maybe she didn't want to ruin the surprise." Said Chihiro.
"True, but the chick got freaked out over me asking her what she was doing with the salt." Replied Mondo.
"Dude, you can come across as a bit rough at times." Replied Hagakure.
"Still, freaking out over putting salt on the food is just weird."
"Whatever it is, I'm starving, so she better hurry up." Aoi said, starting to feel a bit hangry, as Sakura gave her a comforting pat on the back.
"Well wait no more, the food is ready to be served." Replied Sayaka as she and Makoto pushed a cart filled with Miso Soup, Onigiri and some dishes with noodles in them that Hank didn't recognise. "Apologies for the wait everyone, but I wanted to get this right." She added, as she and Makoto then began to hand out the different food options.
"Any reason you wanted to do this?" Asked Kyoko.
"Simple, everyone's been so on edge and worried that something bad is going to happen that it made the atmosphere in the school unbearable... I mean more unbearable than it usually is."
"Well I don't mind, it probably took a lot of hard work and putting all of this together is very admirable of you." Hank said "Also, do we get a drink with this?"
"Oh, that's right." Sayaka said, as she raised her hand to her mouth. "I completely forgot to mention this, but there are several drink options in the kitchen, unfortunately I didn't bring them in because I didn't know what everyone wanted. So if you want a drink, you should get one yourself." Said Sayaka as she and Makoto began to leave, after which everyone quickly also made their way into the kitchen to get a drink.
"Honestly, can't get good help anywhere these days." Said Byakuya, as he went to the counter to grab a cup of his specialised brand of coffee.
"Be glad I did this at all Togami." Sayaka replied coldly, as she was the first to leave the kitchen, while the rest continued to fill their drinks.
"Hina, why take so many donuts, we already made plenty of food." Said Makoto.
"I know, I just need to keep my blood sugar high or I won't have enough energy to get through the day." Replied Aoi.
"Hina, maybe take less of them, you'll ruin your appetite." Sakura said, making Aoi pout as she put three of them back. After which the last people had filled their drinks, and Hank returned to the dining Hall with Chihiro, Sakura and Aoi, while everyone else had retuned a few seconds earlier, with the group beginning to finally eat their breakfast, as Hank allowed the flavour to course through his mouth.
"This is pretty good, I didn't even know we had all these extra supplies. Not that I'm complaing..." Hank was about to say, only for Makoto to knock over his bowl, causing it to fall on the floor and causing some of the spilled water to get on Hank's shoes. "Bwaahaahaahaa!" He exclaimed as he felt the heat cover his feet.
"Oh no, sir, I'm so sorry!" Makoto exclaimed, as he grabbed a nearby towel and started to clean the spill. He then went over to Hank and said "Here, let me clean that up for you sensei."
"Don't, I'll take this to the kitchen and clean my shoes myself." Hank replied curtly.
"But..." Makoto started.
"It's fine kid, take my bowl and enjoy your breakfast, I'll be back in a bit." Said Hank, as he then entered the kitchen and used a nearby towel to clean his shoes. After finishing with that, he went over to the giant pot that was left on the stove, but right before filling his bowl a smell entered his nose that seemed to come from the water in the bowl. A sense that he hadn't sensed very often, but when he did he recognised it "Almonds? How odd, I don't think that should be there." he noted.
So Hank went over to the sink and cleaned out his bowl, before drying it and then refilling it with another helping of Miso Soup, before returning to the dining hall to rejoin his students. And as he sat down, he began to eat his soup, but while he was eating he couldn't stop thinking about the smell of almonds that his bowl had. Why would there be almonds in Miso Soup? Did Maizono want to add extra flavour to the breakfast she had made, or was it something else?
While he was thinking about that, his eyes wandered over to Kyoko whose eyes had fallen onto the spill that could still be seen on the ground as she seemed to be smelling something as well. She noticed that Hank was looking at her, and mouthed 'almonds' to Hank indicating that something was off, but before either one could say something, everyone's attention was caught by Celeste who got into a coughing fit.
Sakura, who was sitting next to Celeste, immediately assumed that she was choking on her food and attempted to use the Heimlich manoeuvre on her. Except nothing came out, as instead Celeste fell to the ground and began to reach out with her arms as if she was reaching out for air. Aoi and Sayaka immediately rushed to her side, as Aoi exclaimed "Celeste, talk to us!"
To which Celeste responded by inhaling, as she struggled to say "I... I... should have... done my plan... instead of listening... Hill-sensei... you utter FOOL!" She said as she continued to struggle while her face started to turn blue, before exclaiming "If I... if I find out... who did this...I will gauge their FUCKING EYES OUT!" After which she turned completely blue, and the last bit of oxygen she had in her lungs vanished.
Right as that happened Monokuma's voice could be heard over the intercoms "Ahem... I guess this goes without saying, but... a body has been discovered." after which the intercom turned off.
Sayaka immediately jumped up as she shrieked "Who did it! Which off you killed Ludenber! Which of you gave into the motive!"
"Whoa, Sayaka calm down!" Makoto jumped in, trying to calm her down.
"No! I wanted to calm everyone down after the motive made everything tense, but now... now someone used it to kill. How could they... how could they?" Sayaka wondered, as she began to cry into her hands.
"We will find the guilty party, and they will answer for their crimes." Replied Kyoko, as she then aimed her attention towards the remains of the spill on the floor as well as Celeste's bowl "First things first, seeing as the spill smells like almonds as well as the deceased's, it would be safe to say that someone poisoned multiple soup bowl with some form of cyanide."
"Cyanide you say, now where could they have gotten that from?" Wondered Byakuya.
"That is what we are going to find out. Now, sir, you were curious about the spill as well. Any reason for that?" Asked Kyoko.
"Well, when I went to refill my bowl I also smelled almonds." Replied Hank.
"It would seem my suspicions were correct then."
"Wait, so multiple bowls were poisoned... nononononono! I can't stay here!" Sayaka shrieked, as Makoto grabbed her wrist to calm her down.
"Sayaka calm down..."
But it fell on deaf ears, as she continued yelling "I need to get out of here!" As she then rushed out of the cafeteria, but not before knocking several now empty bowls onto the ground and causing them to shatter upon impact.
"Sayaka...!" Makoto yelled after her, as he tried to go after her, only for Kyoko to stop him.
"Leave her be, we have a murder to investigate."
"But..."
"When she feels better, she will return to us, otherwise we will see her at the trial." Replied Kyoko, to which Makoto sighed as he simply nodded in agreement. "Good, now split up into groups and start looking."
The group then nodded, as Makoto and Kyoko left together, while Hina and Sakura paired up and Byakuya reluctantly left with Yasuhiro, as Mondo, Chihiro and Hank began to investigate together. But right before they left Mondo let out a small cough, to which Chihiro asked "Owada, are you ok?"
"Don't worry, it's probably nothing."
Later
The investigation had gone relatively well, with most of the evidence being found in either the kitchen as that was where everyone seemed to agree that the crime had been prepared before it had been executed in the dining hall. Kyoko had even managed to find an empty vial of cyanide in salt form in one of the girls' bathrooms. While the group was able to determine that one of the four empty bowls that had been shattered upon the ground also had a smell reminiscent of almonds on them, with the four bowls belonging to Mondo, Chihiro, Sayaka and Hina. To which the group ensured that all four of them would be watched very closely in case any of them would start to show symptoms of being poisoned.
However, that did not make the trial any easier. Because while they did know what the murder weapon was, and how it had been administered, no one was able to figure out where the cyanide had come from nor when it could have been administered. Different theories were applied, from some of the food being poisoned the previous night, to someone sneaking into the kitchen while Sayaka and Makoto were preparing the food, to a suggestion from Yasuhiro about aliens being the ones to poison he food. A theory that everyone quickly decided to skip past, to instead focus elsewhere, as pretty much everyone had an alibi.
Which brings the trial to now, with everyone stuck on who the killer could be and how they could have pulled it off, with Monokuma even making vague threats about what could happen if they don't find the killer in time. Which led to a lot of panic from everyone present, only for everyone's attention to be caught when Mondo dropped to his knees as he began to cough very violently, while trying to grab onto his podium for dear life.
As that was happening, both Hank and Chihiro rushed over to Mondo, as Hank exclaimed "Son... speak to me, are you ok!" Only for Mondo's face to start turning blue.
"Oh no, cyanide!" Chihiro exclaimed, as he quickly turned to Monokuma and exclaimed "Pause the trial, please, this is important!"
"Fine..." Monokuma whined "...This has never happened before, so I guess I'll let you say goodbye. But after that, you better get your butts in gear."
Chihiro simply nodded, as he and Hank began to support Mondo to get him to stand up as Chihiro asked "Mondo... talk to us... what's going on!"
"It's working slower than with Ludenberg..." Replied Mondo, as his eyes fell onto Sayaka "You..." he growled.
"Me? What did I do?" Sayaka asked.
"You complete and utter bitch! That wasn't salt I saw that you were adding in the kitchen and after I returned to the dining room after getting my drink. That was cyanide... you killed Ludenberg... you killed... me... you... utter... BITCH!" Mondo roared "If... it wasn't for my code... I would deck you in the face!"
"Mondo!" Chihiro exclaimed, as he was trying to calm his friend down slightly, as he noticed that Mondo's face was turning blue.
This caused Mondo to look down at Chihiro as he replied "Chihiro..."
"No, please."
"Listen to me... I need you... you to stay strong..."
"Mondo!" Chihiro exclaimed, as tears were streaming down his face.
"It'll be ok... you have Hil... you have Ogami and everyone else... who isn't... a blood soaked murderer... stay strong... become the man you always... wanted... to... be..." Mondo finished speaking, as he then fell forward and out of the grip of Chihiro and Hank, having also taken his last breath.
"Well, safe to say, and even if it's a bit redundant, but a body has been discovered..."
"Shut up!" Chihiro exclaimed "Would it kill you to show a little respect to the dead for once!"
"Wow, who knew the little guy had it in him. Very well, I'll be respectful. It would seem that the esteemed Mondo Owada, has bit the dust. Surviving him are his remaining classmates and a few members of his biker gang. Better? Good, now continue the trial."
"There's not much of a trial left, is there?" Kyoko asked, as she eyed Sayaka, who began to look down.
"Sayaka... he wasn't telling the truth was he? Please tell me you didn't do this?"
"Oh, but she did." Monokuma said.
"What...!" Sayaka exclaimed, as she looked at Monokuma in shock as she said "I thought..."
"That we had a deal? Oh we did, but I'm bored at seeing this farce continue like this. So I might as well reveal her plan. See, yesterday she came to me with a proposition, in exchange for one tenth of the motive money I would give her poison with which she could enact her plan with, while she would get the remaining money. So after going to one of the still locked floors I gave her a vial of cyanide salt, after which she went on her merry way. And what a plan she enacted, ensuring that no one could quite figure out when the poison was put into the food or what happened to the rest of the poison. Spoiler alert, she flushed it down the toilet. Did I get everything, little miss idol?" Monokuma asked mockingly, as all eyes were then pointed towards Sayaka.
Sayaka took a deep breath as she replied "That... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... that... THAT STUPID BIKER, WHY COULDN'T HE HAVE JUST DIED FIRST! EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT, NO ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT! NO ONE, DAMN YOU MONOKUMA!"
"But you still haven't told us why you did this." Said Hank.
"WHY, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY!" Sayaka shrieked with a cold tone in her voice "I'LL TELL YOU WHY, I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I HAD TO GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL AND FIND MY IDOL GROUP! THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERED, NOTHING ELSE. I WOULD HAVE BEEN FREE FROM THIS HELL, FREE FROM EVERYTHING ELSE! ME, MY IDOL GROUP, MAKOTO AND THE EIGHT MILLION!"
Kyoko gasped at the last part as she asked "What do you mean eight million, and what does Naegi have to do with this?" Causing Sayaka to calm down slightly, but still having a look of horror on her face.
"I couldn't very well let Makoto die alongside you bunch of fools, so I made another deal with Monokuma. An extra million goes to him and he spares Makoto, and we are free to live our lives away from all of you." Replied Sayaka as she turned to Kyoko "You cold..." then to Chihiro "weak" then to Byakuya "selfish" then to Hina "Air headed" then to Sakura "Muscle brained" then to Yasuhiro "idiotic" and then to Hank "simpletons. But no, I couldn't have that, you all just had to ruin it!" She exclaimed, as Makoto who had been quiet up until now finally spoke up
"Sayaka, did you really think for even a second that I would have gone with you willingly if your plan had succeeded?"
"Wha-what?" Sayaka asked, as she jumped over her podium and came face to face with Makoto while grabbing his hands. "I did all of this for you, we could have spent the rest of our lives together. We would have been happy, this would have been the dream of any guy, getting to spend all their time together with a famous idol. And don't say you wouldn't, I saw how you looked at me in middle school and even now. You would have been in heaven, instead of this hell."
Makoto upon hearing this closed his eyes, as he let out a sigh and replied "Then I guess your intuition isn't as good as you thought it was. There was no way in hell that I would have taken a way out of this school if it meant sacrificing everyone else. I'm not sure if that is what you did to get where you ended up as an idol, but I would not have wanted that. So no Maizono, you were wrong." Makoto then freed his hands from Sayaka's grip, as silence fell onto the room as all that Sayaka could do was look at Makoto in betrayal.
"Maizono, one question, actually scratch that two questions, did what I tell you after the first motive mean nothin' to you? Also, why did Neagi's bowl have cyanide in it?" Asked Hank.
"Sir, it was a valiant attempt, but since then we didn't get any closer to getting out of this school. I had to get back to them, as for your second question. I had actually forgotten which three bowls had the poison in it, honestly, anyone could have gotten poisoned. So thank you sensei, for saving Makoto."
Hank sighed as he replied "You god damn idiot, you realise you could have gotten yourself poisoned as well. Right?" As he pressed the button on his podium to vote for Sayaka.
"Honestly, I would have expected this sort of thing from Yasuhiro, not you Maizono. Frankly, I'm insulted at your stupidity." Said Togami, as he pressed down his vote.
"Well, regardless of your opinions, you've all voted for Miss Maizono, so now let's give it everything we've got. IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!" Exclaimed Monokuma, pressing the button in front of him.
"Makoto..." Sayaka said, as the clam appeared around her neck "...I did it all for us, for you, we would have been happy." She said, as the rope then pulled her out of the courtroom and onto a stage, where she was then placed on top of the trigger of a bear trap and surrounded by an entire audience of Monokuma's.
Performing for an Insatiable Crowd
Sayaka looked next to her and saw a screen hanging from the wall that showed an image of a thermometer with a line at the highest possible point, with text next to it that read 'Reach to survive' as music immediately started playing. At first Sayaka had no idea what she should be doing, only for some of the Monokuma's in the audience to begin throwing rocks at her, forcing her to dodge while a few of them still managed to hit her in the head. She then looked down when she heard a creaking noise and saw that the trap was about to shut down on her.
But right at that moment the lyrics on screen appeared and she immediately understood what she had to do, and that was doing what she was good at, performing in front of a crowd of her adoring fans. So, even if she hated the song that had been picked for her, she began to sing along to lyrics as best as she could. And as she kept singing along to the lyrics she began to hear the crowd cheer for her, while she noticed from the corner of her eye that the bar on the thermometer began to rise up.
So she kept going, until Monokuma's face appeared on the screen while giving her an evil smirk and the music began to speed up, causing her to miss some of the lyrics and leading to more rocks to be flung at her. This kept going for another ten minutes, with the song speeding up more and Sayaka beginning to miss more of the lyrics while the crowd was starting to grow more rowdy as it kept throwing rocks at her, leading to Sayaka beginning to falter more throughout her performance.
Until a little while longer the music stopped, and an exhausted Sayaka looked up to see that the bar was one point removed from the line that would give Sayaka her freedom, causing her to drop to her knees in exhaustion, as she expected the bear trap to shut down on her. Only for nothing to happen as Monokuma appeared in front of her and began to clap loudly. Loud enough to cause the bar to begin rising and reach the top of the thermostat, but he kept going, leading to the bar to explode out of the top of the thermostat and making the screen begin to overheat.
Monokuma kept clapping, until the screen exploded, tilted a bit and fell down onto Sayaka as she was crushed and electrocuted by the screen, while Monokuma bowed down at the other Monokuma's as he thanked them for watching the performance, as the screen then cut off for the people watching in the trial room.
"...We wouldn't have been, not like this, not when it would have involved us living a lie based on murder." Makoto whispered, as he closed his eyes and let out an audible sigh, only for him to then feel two comforting hands on his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see both Chihiro and Hank comforting him.
"Naegi-san, are you alright?" Chihiro asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just give me a moment. What about you Fujisaki-san?" Makoto replied.
"I'll manage, but I'll make sure to keep the promise I made to Mondo, I'll honour his memory."
"Good, then I'll promise to do the same for everyone else who has perished up until now. We'll remember all of them together, no matter what they did, no matter how much they felt pushed in a corner."
"To be honest…" Kyoko spoke up "...I would not expect any less from either of you."
"Now come on, let's get outta here, this place has too many bad memories and we still have some food left over for dinner." Said Hank.
"Good idea, this trial has been going on for a while." Said Sakura.
"Yeah, I'm starving." Added Aoi.
"I suppose with three less mouths to feed what has been left over should suffice." Said Byakuya, as they all stepped into the elevator.
"Dude, must you always be like that?" Yasuhiro asked.
"I don't have to answer to a plebeian like you."
"Can we have one dinner without these types of talks?" Asked Aoi, causing everyone to immediately fall silent as the elevator ride out of the trial room continued.
Part 2 of 9, to be continued.