Kaede Akamatsu (Harmonic Souls)

## Kaede Akamatsu

**Kaede Akamatsu** is a character featured in *Harmonic Souls: An Alternate Continuity*, the second entry in the *Ultimate Virus AU* series by PetildaFan. She also appears in *A Careful Eye Saved My Life*.

Kaede is based on the character of the same name from *Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony*. As opposed to canon, she survives past the first trial and retains her role as the main protagonist, eventually becoming one of the eight Ultimates to survive the Killing School Semester.

Kaede has the title of **Ultimate Pianist**, owing to her prowess in playing the piano since childhood and winning various awards. Later on, due to her position as leader during the killing game, along with her optimism and cheerful persona despite all the despair surrounding her, she is titled **Ultimate Love** by Maki Harukawa.

## History

### Early Life

Kaede Akamatsu lived with her parents in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido. Her mother was a professional cello player and her father was a junior high music teacher. She enjoyed classical music thanks to them.

When her parents found her playing a toy piano, they showered her with praise, enthusiastic that their daughter is a "musical prodigy". A few years later, they hired private tutors in order to let her study and play the piano.

Her lessons led her to play different songs flawlessly, winning various contests thus letting her be recognized as the **Ultimate Pianist**.

During one of her performances, she was visited by Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Hope and Headmaster of the reformed Hope's Peak Academy. He wanted her to attend the school and gave her an application to fill out once she would have came back at home. Kaede accepted right away, deciding to take the opportunity.

After submitting the application, she visited the school for a psychological exam, in which she remarked how she wanted to use her talent to "help people smile again". Once the exam was finished, the teachers looked pleased with the results and said that they would get back to her once they finish examining the other Ultimates who applied.

About a month later, she received an acceptance letter from the school. Her parents were so proud that had shared the good news with everyone in the family. It was a little embarrassing for Kaede but she knew that she made this far thanks to her parents' support and she was grateful for that.

Kaede attended Shining Star International High School and right before the start of the next school year, news reports about the disappearance of 15 Ultimates from all over the country started to appear. It sparked a huge outcry, with Future Foundation warning all Ultimates to hide their talent from the world until the responsible for the disappearances is found. Meanwhile, Hope's Peak decided to shut down until the Ultimates were gonna be found. Kaede was sad that she couldn't play the piano but she knew that it was for her own safety.

One morning, while walking to school, she was forcefully shoved into a car. She tried to fight back but the men were too strong, even the neighbors tried to rescue her but during the fight, she felt a stabbing feeling in her neck and lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she was trapped in a pod with a helmet on her head. There were also other thirteen teens in similar pods. Suddenly, a man carrying a capped teen in a blazer uniform showed up and revealed that he was the "last one". Kaede peeked out her pod and recognized a man in a wheelchair with five little Monokumas, it was Professor Isas Idabashi.

Idabashi started to talk, revealing himself as the Ultimate Neuroscientist and then about the reason why they were all abducted, the Project: Danganronpa. He then talked about the helmets on their heads, the Blackout Helmets but stopped and chuckled, coldly admitting that none of the them is going to remember that moment.

After one of the boys swearing to ruin to plan, Idabashi angrily asked Monodam to let "Subjects 52a and 52b" to receive an "extra-special treatment". Monodam, however, hesitated and Monophanie decided to obey instead, starting the **First Memory Reprogram**.

### **First Memory Reprogram**

***NOTE: These events are shown in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.***

With no memory of what happened earlier, Kaede later woke up in a locker within an eerie classroom, overgrown with vegetation, on the second floor of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. Upon stumbling out of the locker and bumping her head, she collected herself and tried to figure where she was and what was going on. Before she could do too much however, a boy stumbled out of the locker next to the one she woke up in. The two got acquainted with each other, with the boy introducing himself as Shuichi Saihara, before they headed out into the hallway.

However, as soon as they left the classroom they were found by a large mechanical monstrosity known as an Exisal, which chased them until they both got to the first floor, only to run into more of the robots. The pair continued to evade the large mechanical monstrosities, not realizing that they were being led towards the gymnasium, where fourteen other high schoolers had already gathered.

Not long after, all five Exisals appear once again and threaten the participants. However, after the ones controlling them realized that they weren't supposed to be using them just yet and that they had gone off-script, the five mysterious individuals exited the Exisals and introduced themselves as the Monokuma Kubs. The Kubs give the sixteen participants a new set of clothes before giving them their "first memory" via the Flashback Light. Kaede and the other fifteen students underwent the fabrication process, where all of their past memories and personalities were heavily fabricated. After the process was completed, Kaede and the others entered the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles as totally different people, officially commencing the Killing Game known as the **Killing School Semester**.

### **Killing School Semester**

#### Introduction

Kaede once again woke up in the same locker as before, along with Shuichi. The two had no recollection of their previous meeting and as such, they reintroduced themselves. The pair explored the seemingly abandoned school, finding and introducing themselves to all fourteen other students before being told by the Monokuma Kubs to assemble at the gymnasium. Kaede and Shuichi, along with everyone else, headed there immediately and were introduced to the Monokuma Kubs properly, along with their father, the self-appointed headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, Monokuma. Monokuma announces that all sixteen Ultimate students would participate in a Killing Game, much to a majority of the students shock, horror, or displeasure. Kaede was exceptionally outraged by this announcement, declaring to Monokuma and his cubs that they would never participate in a Killing Game. Her bold declaration fell on deaf ears, as the robotic bears continued to laugh at and taunt the participants. With that, the Killing School Semester had officially begun.

#### Attempting the Death Road of Despair

After Monokuma commenced the Killing Game, Kaede read the Killing Game rules on her Monopad. The disturbing rules baffled all of the students, causing a discord among the group. Kaede who saw this immediately stopped them, saying that they should cooperate together instead of fighting if they wanted to escape. As Kaede proposed a sound and straightforward argument, everyone's heart was able to become one, all thanks to her speech. Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist, then remembered that he found a manhole inside the boiler room behind the school building. Kaede along with her friends immediately followed the Ultimate Entomologist's lead, with a hope of finding a way out.

Descending the manhole, Kaede and the others found a tunnel leading outside of the academy. Though everyone thought that the tunnel probably ended up being a trap, they still had to test every single possibility in order to escape. However, Kaede and the others exhausted themselves both physically and mentally as they found that escaping through Death Road of Despair is next to impossible. Due to this, Kokichi revolted, saying that Kaede's repeated motivational speech is the source of the group's agony, added by some of her friends giving up on escaping the tunnel, the group's harmony came to a swift end. The tunnel ended up being a trap set by Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs, much to everyone's dismay. Kaede, who blamed herself for making everyone break up, was comforted by Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut, and Shuichi, both of which still completely supported her ideals.

As the nighttime announcement broadcasted, everyone including Kaede returned to their dorm room. When Kaede returned to her room, she found a key which was supposedly for her dorm. Monokid gave the key to Kaede to give her access to her room while also giving her a "hint", which was that if she stole someone else's key she will get the chance to kill someone. Kaede got increasingly irritated and scared Monokid to make him flee.

#### The First Motive and the Hidden Door

The next day, Kaede went to the dining hall after everyone else did and was greeted by Kokichi who in turn for his rebellion towards the group's harmony, created a "kind" lie that made the group consolidate again. Afterwards, Monokuma came to the cafeteria and announced the first motive, anyone who committed the first killing will graduate without holding a trial, effectively calling it a "First Blood Perk". Kaede still boldly declared that they wouldn't lose to Monokuma and that they had promised each other to escape together. Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate ???, pointed out that this was used to invalidate the cooperative game by Kaede and make it into a noncooperative game where the players don't work. Kaito meanwhile, became increasingly outraged with Monokuma for doing whatever he wanted and lunged at him. This caused the Monokuma Kubs to show up, showing no hesitation to punish the Ultimate Astronaut with the Exisals for attempting violence against their father, effectively breaking the rules.

The red Exisal charged at him but accidentally ended up crushing Monokuma instead, supposedly destroying him. The Monokubs were incredibly saddened by the sudden demise of their father, stating that he had no spare and that he was one of a kind. Upon learning this, the participant's mood improved greatly, thinking the Killing Game to be over. Kaede however, was still skeptical, but this skepticism was met with accusation of her wanting to continue the Killing Game from some of the participants, much to Kaede's dismay.

Kaede returned to her room and began to cry silently. A moment after that, Shuichi came to her room, telling that her beliefs are not wrong at all. In fact, Kaede was the only person Shuichi trusted enough to share his secret with. Once Kaede visited the library with the Ultimate Detective, he pushed one of the bookshelves aside to reveal a hidden door, much to her surprise. Due to the nature of the hidden door, Shuichi speculated that someone among the group was actually working with Monokuma, much to Kaede's shock and disbelief. Shuichi was just as stunned as she was and decided to test his own theory by sprinkling some dust within the card reader slot of the hidden door to see if someone was really going in and out of that door without anyone noticing. Kaede and Shuichi leave the library after putting the bookshelf back into place and head back to their respective dorm rooms.

#### The Additional Motive

Kaede once again joined everyone else in the dining hall the next morning, only to find that Monokuma had, in fact, returned, much to the dismay of the students, but to the joy of the Monokuma Kubs. Monokuma goes on to reveal the additional motive, that if a murder did not occur within two days by noon, everyone who was forced to participate would be killed. Despite Kaede's best efforts to try and keep everyone together, a majority of the group seemed too depressed to stay united and left the dining hall.

Shuichi once again took Kaede to the library and revealed the hidden door to her. Both discovered that the dust that had been planted in the card reader dust by Shuichi had fallen onto the ground, indicating that someone had used the card reader to enter through the hidden door. With this information confirmed, Shuichi hypothesized he stated that with the way Monokuma worded the additional motive that he was trying to protect someone and that the hidden door may be connected to Monokuma's revival. He then went on to state that if someone was being protected by Monokuma, and had the ability to create a spare of him, that they were the mastermind of the Killing Game.

Kaede was horrified to think that the one responsible for all their suffering was one of them but thought to herself that there's no way she could forgive such a person. Shuichi extrapolated that the mastermind might come to the hidden room if they needed to create a huge amount of Monokuma's. Kaede made up her mind and decided to believe in Shuichi's detective work and take the risk with him despite being warned by him that it's just his deduction and that he could very well be wrong. After reapplying the dust to the card reader slot, they both left the library once again and returned to their rooms.

Not thinking about the cruelty of the Killing Game for a moment, Kaede agreed to meet up with Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer, in the game room and asked her to paint her nails in return for giving Tsumugi a nail brush earlier. Kaede was happy with Tsumugi's work, but then Rantaro walked in and claimed that he could do nail art as well, which he proved by then painting Kaede's nails, much to her embarrassment and Tsumugi's jealousy.

Kaede also meets up with Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist, during free time. He told her about his sister, to the point that she more or less jokingly asked him if he is into incest. He seemed to get slightly angered by this and simply answered that incest is regrettable. Kaede apologized and told him she didn't mean it in a bad way, which quickly calmed him down. Korekiyo likes Kaede and her optimistic nature very much and asks her to be his sister's friend. She agrees, and Korekiyo leaves to plan a good "method" for them to meet. In reality, Korekiyo is planning her murder, as his sister is already dead, and wants Kaede to become his sister's "99th friend", along with Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid, and subsequently reaching his goal to "bring" 100 "friends" to his sister in Heaven.

#### Kaede's Plan

Kaede woke up the next morning to someone ringing her room's doorbell. She answered it, expecting it to be Shuichi, only for it to be Monokuma telling her that her Research Lab had opened up. Annoyed, she slammed the door in his face, only for the bell to ring again. She told the one ringing the bell to go away, expecting it to be Monokuma only for it to actually be Shuichi this time, to whom she apologized immediately for her behavior. Shuichi had come to her with a plan in order to catch the mastermind, finding it safer to catch them from a distance instead of hiding out in the library.

Hoping to catch the mastermind, Kaede and Shuichi begged Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, to make them cameras to set up in the library. They retrieved parts for Miu to make the cameras from the warehouse. While there, Kaede began to worry. She pondered whether or not this plan would really be able to save everyone. With this worry on her mind, she put the disposable cameras, along with a shot put ball, in her backpack. Pushed by the motive presented by Monokuma, Kaede planned to murder the mastermind and save everyone from the Killing Game without telling Shuichi.

In the morning before the time limit hit, Kaede and Shuichi met Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist, who informed the duo that there was a fight between students in the dining hall. Originally, Kaede was supposed to retrieve the modified camera from Miu along with Shuichi, but this problem forced Kaede to split from Shuichi and head to the dining hall with Angie. There, she found that Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro, would willingly let himself be killed so that everyone else could survive. Kaede tried to get him to reconsider, telling him that they'd escape together, but he didn't believe there was any more time left for idealism now. Rantaro stopped him and said that he would end the Killing Game in his own way and told everyone not to do anything unnecessary. Listening to this, Kaede's determination to save her friends became even stronger.

She left the dining hall to meet up with Shuichi in the classroom next to the basement. She listened to Shuichi's explanation as to why he chose this particular classroom to keep watch before heading to the library to set up the cameras. During their setup process, Kaede left the air duct open and arranged the books on top of the shelf in a staircase-like manner. She also taped down the hidden camera aimed at the hidden door exceptionally well and turned the flash on, hoping to lure the mastermind into the path of the murder weapon that she had set up, killing them and saving everyone. All the while, Shuichi never noticed a thing.

After finishing their setup, the two headed back to the lookout classroom that Shuichi had picked out to keep watch and wait. While waiting for the sensor to react, Shuichi told Kaede about how he earned the title of the Ultimate Detective, a marking point where he began to be afraid of searching for the truth. Kaede told him that she was actually afraid, but with Shuichi standing by her side, she didn't hesitate to catch the mastermind. She told him that he needs to hold his head up high, and the fact that she believed in him effectively gave Shuichi the courage and strength that he needed.

Not long afterward, the monitors turned on and began to play an eerie soundtrack, signaling that the time limit was almost over. Around this time, Kaede and Shuichi also witnessed seven people heading into the basement, which were Gonta, Kaito, Tenko Chabashira, Maki Harukawa, Himiko Yumeno, Angie, and Rantaro. Shuichi, worried that they might stumble upon the trap they had set up in the library, headed down into the basement to check on the group, leaving Kaede alone. She quickly grew anxious without Shuichi by her side and began to sweep the classroom, apparently for no reason at all. Unknowingly to her, it was a collateral effect of the soundtrack, who was actually part of a brainwashing process. She became relieved when he came back, but it was not long after that that the buzzer in Shuichi's hand went off, indicating that someone had moved the shelf hiding the hidden door in the library. He rushed out of the classroom with great haste, but Kaede used this opportunity to roll her shot put ball into the air duct that led into the library before quickly chasing after him. She hoped that her shot put ball would hit her target who is none other than the mastermind behind the Killing Game.

Once they reach the basement, they are joined by Kaito and Tenko, who tells the duo that they should join their strategy meeting. Kaede tells them that they might really be able to end the Killing Game, and so they join them and storm the library. They notice the bookshelf concealing the hidden door closing again as they enter and go to inspect it. As soon as they do, they come upon Rantaro's corpse not far from the hidden door's position, apparently having been bludgeoned to death with Kaede's shot put ball, much to Kaede's shock and horror.

Tenko's scream alerted the people in the game room, while the body discovery announcement alerted everyone else who had yet to arrive. Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs appear not long after and tells the culprit to step forward and claim their "First Blood Perk", but Kaede refused, not wanting to leave everyone behind. As a result of no one stepping forward, Monokuma scraps the First Blood Perk and holds a Class Trial anyways, telling everyone to investigate, then hands out the Monokuma File. Kaede quickly comes to terms with the fact that she killed a dear friend. Despite this, she still encourages everyone to come together and search for the truth, not wanting Rantaro to have died for nothing.

In reality however, her plan failed. Rantaro's true killer is Tsumugi Shirogane, who was brainwashed by the eerie soundtrack into committing murder, and covered up and altered the crime scene to make it seem as if Kaede's plan had succeeded. Taking advantage of Kaede's trap and setting her up as the culprit, the truth is obscured from everyone. Not realizing this, the participants search for a truth that had been painted over with lies by Monokuma and the Mastermind.

#### Uncovering the "Truth"

During the investigation, Kaede and Shuichi decide to continue working together, questioning everyone and uncovering clues. When they heard from Kiyo that Tsumugi left the dining hall to use the restroom, Kaede became suspicious and decided to head back to the library to question her.

When she did and asked her if she could have disguised herself as someone, Tsumugi took her to the first-floor girl's bathroom and asked Kaede to give her her clothes so she could dress as her. Once she did, Kaede saw Tsumugi's cospox, effectively meaning that she couldn't have disguised herself. Kaede was very shocked by this but was convinced that Tsumugi had a solid alibi.

Once the main investigation is completed, everyone gathers in the warehouse where Monophanie had developed the photos from the hidden cameras. The group looks through each and every photo, but find no clues to the culprit or the mastermind, like Kaede was hoping for. She becomes increasingly more anxious, wanting to reveal the mastermind during the Class Trial, but not intending to keep her crime hidden.

Afterwards, the investigation ends, and the group gathers at the Shrine of Judgement in the courtyard. They step into the newly revealed elevator and descend to the Class Trial grounds. While they were on the elevator, Kaede told Shuichi not to avert his eyes from the truth anymore and that he had to fight for it even if it is frightening. She tells him that if he was scared, he should borrow the strength of those who would be there to help him and let that be his strength, believing that Shuichi is capable of doing such thing.

During the Class Trial, Kaede had no intention of hiding her sins from everyone but wanted to unveil the identity of the mastermind beforehand. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred when Shuichi discovered the supposed "truth" that Kaede murdered Rantaro, but refused to speak about that fact as to not condemn his friend. Unfortunately for him, this act of silence, as well as forgetting to mention the camera intervals to Kaede before-hand, caught the suspicion of nearly everyone else in the trial and he is quickly denounced as the culprit. As a result, Kaede is left with no other choice but to protect him, mentally apologizing to everyone for being unable to reveal the mastermind and save everyone.

***NOTE: These events are shown in A Careful Eye Saved My Life.***

As Kaede believes that she is unable to reveal the mastermind's identity and prepares to reveal herself as Rantaro's "killer", she is stopped by Shuichi who, upon second thought, realized that the pianist can't be the murderer due to how the blood splatter from Rantaro's corpse doesn't line up with Kaede's trap.

Re-examining all the gathered evidence once again, the detective proceeds to explain how the murder actually happened, pinning the blame on Tsumugi Shirogane.

***NOTE: These events are shown in Harmonic Souls: An Alternate Continuity.***

Everyone is shocked and in utter disbelief that Tsumugi, who seemed to be so plain and sweet, could be the culprit. The cosplayer reveals how she was jealous of Kaede due to her being so cute and how she was presumably attracted to Rantaro, to which the pianist replies that she thought it was just a misunderstanding.

After everyone casts their vote, Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs are ready to execute Tsumugi but Kaito, Tenko and Gonta immediately jump to her defense despite facing an Exisal. Tsumugi tells them to stop, saying that she's ready to die, and wants the other classmates to live and escape. Kaede watches in horror as Tsumugi is killed via the "Cosplay Contest" execution before rushing towards Shuichi, who was having an emotional breakdown and was subsequently punched by Kaito.

In order to cheer him up, Kaede brings Shuichi to her Research Lab and plays Claude Debussy's Clair De Lune. The detective begins to cry and reveals how the first culprit he had ever caught died after trying to break out of prison multiple times, and that the same pain had awakened following Tsumugi's execution. Kaede hugs him and reassures that they can bring down the mastermind together.

#### Exploring the Rest of the Academy

The morning of the next day, Kaede meets up with Shuichi and they head together towards the dining hall. Once there, everyone would gather once again and have a normal, but forced conversation to try and make themselves forget about the horrible events that transpired yesterday. Shuichi notices this forced behavior as Kaito apologizes to him for what he did the day before.

As Kirumi prepared breakfast for everyone, Kaede is one of the people who were amazed by her skills. Afterwards, the Monokuma Kubs showed up and handed out four random items that the students could use to unlock more areas in the academy. Kaito gives the items to Shuichi, as he thinks that the Ultimate Detective is the most fitted person for such a task but, noticing how Shuichi is uncomfortable when put under the spotlight, Kaede decides to take them herself.

On the second floor of the school, she is approached by Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro. He talks about Shuichi's hat, and how it is used to not look people in the eyes and asks her to keep an eye on him, to which the pianist cheerfully accepts. Later, new areas are discovered such as Kirumi's Research Lab, in which Shuichi decides to stay there for a bit. Afterwards, in the new casino next to the Love Suite, Kaede is approached by Angie Yonaga, who is holding a conspicuous flashlight that had been discovered in a chest next to Gonta's Research Lab. Angie told Kaede to meet in the gymnasium and the pianist obliges.

After everyone had gathered, Monokuma appeared and told the participants that it was a Flashback Light and that it had the ability to restore lost memories before leaving and letting the students decide what to do with it. Although everyone was skeptical at first, they eventually gave in and used it, allowing everyone to remember that they had been on the run from the "Ultimate Hunt". Though they could not remember the exact details and circumstances behind it, just that they had been on the run, they were forced to erase the memories of their talent for their own safety with a new technology that can hibernate memories by controlling brainwaves.

#### The Motive Videos

During that same night, the Monokubs prepared the second motive, distributing various motive videos at random while the students slept. Kaede ended up receiving Gonta's video, which she watched the next morning revealing that the closest people to the Ultimate Entomologist are his forest family. Wanting to immediately handle the situation, Kaede sprints towards Gonta's room, only to find it empty. As she meets up with Shuichi, the two head towards the dining hall. After everyone had joined in order to discuss what to do, Kaede is one of the people who suggests to exchange the videos, as they treat about the most important people to them, but everyone rejected the idea, out of distrust for what happened the last time Kaede had tried everyone to cooperate and afraid that it would cause another murder to happen.

As Shuichi is still shaken by what happened to Tsumugi and Rantaro, Angie proposes a local tradition from her island, hosting a party to celebrate the dead. The idea is well taken, also by Monophanie, who offers to bring dance music to the party and decorations, while Kirumi offers to sew proper outfits for the occasion. Later that day, Kaede is in her Research Lab when she is visited by the latter in order to take measures for her dress.

The night after the motive videos were presented, Kaede decides to find out more about Shuichi's past in order to help him overcome his sadness and calls Monokuma, assuming that he has files about all of them. To her surprise, Monodam shows up instead, saying that his father is sleeping and hands out Shuichi's file. Kaede is in horror at discovering that Shuichi had suicidal thoughts and before she can think of doing something, she is invited by Maki to the courtyard. Once there, she notices Shuichi and Kaito doing push-ups and is startled by the detective's pronounced muscles. Maki, who decided to trust her, invites her to do a sparring session and Kaede accepts, bonding with her new friend.

#### Party Plannings

The next morning, Kaede meets up with Shuichi, and they both head towards the dining hall. Kaede subtly keeps an eye on him after finding out about his suicidal thoughts the night before. On their way to the dining hall, they meet Ryoma, who is too depressed to join the others. Shuichi tries to reason with him, but Ryoma talks about his sudden mood change, something that Kaede notices too.

In the dining hall, not everyone is gathered there. Aside from Ryoma, Maki, Kokichi and Gonta are also not present due to their own reasons. Kaede notices that Angie and Monophanie are painting the banner for the party, now called the "Divine Souls Celebration". The pink bear said that Monokuma let her borrow the portraits of Rantaro and Tsumugi for the memorial while Angie asks for a double-blade spindle for the blood ritual, explaining that it is needed as it forever joins the two souls of the ones who take part in the ritual.

Suddenly, Monophanie suggests that Himiko should host a magic show, in which Angie agrees, saying that they all need to live in a friendly atmosphere. Kaede likes the idea, as she shares the same opinion too.

#### Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet

During that same day, unbeknownst to Kaede, Gonta, thanks to Kokichi's lies, believed that everyone hated bugs and began kidnapping various students into his Research Lab in order to get them to like bugs. In reality, Kokichi simply wanted to get everyone to watch their motive videos in order make the Killing Game "more interesting". Kaede would be the first student that Gonta detained. Shortly after, the Ultimate Entomologist brought Tenko, Kiyo, K1-B0 and a passed out Shuichi. Gonta apologizes to the latter because he didn't stop in time from using his full force. After Himiko and Angie were also brought in, the Insect Meet and Greet began.

Everyone panicked as insects began to buzz about and wreck havoc. In order to finally end this absurdity, K1-B0 used his recording function in order to convince Gonta that Kokichi had tricked him, much to the former's anger. With that, Kaede and everyone else barring Gonta and Kokichi took back their motive videos before immediately leaving Gonta's lab, then heading to bed.

#### The Amazing Himiko's Magic Show

Kaede attended Angie and Himiko's Magic Show along with everyone else from Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet, bar Kokichi. Angie thought that Atua deserved all the credit, much to Shuichi's chagrin, who stated that she should be thanking everyone who helped to set the show up, but the artist ignored his remark.

With the magic show about to begin, Kaede notices how Shuichi is constantly glancing at Kirumi, while talking about Kaito, Maki, Ryoma and Kokichi's mysterious absence. Meanwhile, Angie explained the details of Himiko's trick before the Ultimate Magician jumped into the tank, having only a single minute to escape the water tank before the tank would be filled with flesh-eating piranhas. Angie closed the curtains, but everyone grew increasingly worried as the timer continued to count down and Himiko had yet to come out. Gonta couldn't take it anymore and stormed the stage, wanting to save Himiko before the piranhas would fill the tank, much to Angie's disappointment. Once the timer ran out, the piranhas dropped into the tank along with a large object, though Himiko had yet to come out of the tank. Tenko begged Angie to open the curtains, a plea that she promptly responded to by revealing the tank, however, no one was prepared for what they were about to see. The lifeless, handcuffed body of the Ultimate Tennis Pro, Ryoma Hoshi, drifting within the tank...

Within seconds, the piranhas devoured every last bit of flesh and organs from Ryoma's body, leaving only his skeleton and the handcuffs behind.

After the body discovery announcement played, the remaining students gathered in the gym. Kokichi playfully urged Gonta to throw K1-B0 against the tank because it would take too long to drain by hand. Tenko helped Gonta use the Ultimate Robot like a battering ram and shattered the tank. After what was left of Ryoma had been gathered, Monokuma shows up. Angie asks him where are the Monokubs but the bear reveals that they locked themselves due to some big project they've been working on. Monokuma then hands the students the second Monokuma File and, with that, the second investigation had begun.

#### Another Investigation

Kaede teams up with Shuichi once again and they begin the investigation by checking the Monokuma File. Shuichi notices how the time of death isn't listed, as opposed to Rantaro's murder investigation, thus implying that a key evidence for the culprit's identity is the time when the murder happened.

As she asks the others more informations about Ryoma's last moments, Kaede recalls that she had not seen the latter ever since the prior day's morning. She later asks Angie about how Himiko had performed her trick in order to better understand the crime but the artist reveals that Himiko refuses to give a proper answer, only to say that it was "magic".

Kaede later asks Kirumi about the piranha tank, as she was one of the people who helped set the stage up. The maid reveals that the tank had been attached to the lightning batten, and then raisen it up. Kirumi pauses to yawn and Kaede asked her if she was alright, to which the maid replied that she had stayed up late the night prior due to sewing suits and dresses for the Divine Souls Celebration. The pianist was happy for her work but also concerned by her health and asks her to relax and get some sleep, but Kirumi insisted that she lives for the sake of others.

After calming Gonta down from his sense of guilt, Kaede is approached by Miu, who asks her about what happened after Gonta had captured her. Kaede talks about the Insect Meet and Greet and realizes that everyone who participated there had an alibi for the murder, sans Kaito, Kirumi, Maki and the deceased Ryoma. Once finishing the questioning, Shuichi asks Kaede for a ladder so that he can investigate the curtains. The detective then notices that the window of the gym is open, with some abrasions on the frame. Shuichi tells her about the objects inside the tank, such as after a pair of stainless steel handcuffs, a square glass pane and a snorkel. The pair then heads towards Himiko's Research Lab, where they meet Kokichi.

Kokichi revealed his alibi; right after leaving Gonta's Research Lab, he met Kirumi in the entrance hall, who criticized his behavior and then chased him after he decided to escape. Then, at the beginning of nighttime, he took the Motive Videos from the dormitories and came back to Gonta's Lab. After Kokichi left, Kaede and Shuichi investigate the Research Lab and find a huge water tank, similar to the one used in the magic show, with the difference of a segment near the top that opens up.

The pair then arrives in front of Maki's Research Lab and, with Kaede's surprise, the child caregiver is with Kaito and Kirumi. An irritated Maki asks Kaede why she didn't spar with her the night before, to which the pianist apologizes, saying that she couldn't because of Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet. Shuichi is confused and Kaede talks to him about Maki's sparring sessions. Meanwhile, Kaito asks Maki about her weird staying in the Lab all day, as if she was hiding something. The latter doesn't respond but reveals her alibi, aka threatening Gonta and avoiding the Meet and Greet. Kaede is taken back by Maki's sudden change in demeanor but believes that she didn't kill Ryoma. Kirumi then asks Kaede and Shuichi when was the last time they had seen Ryoma alive. Placing together all the information they had gathered, it was established that Ryoma had been alive at least up until 8PM.

Once in the Ultimate Tennis Pro's Research Lab, Shuichi notices the now-limp net and how the cable was missing, to which Kaede theorizes that the culprit must have taken it. The two then visit the shower room and notice how the room is more suited for the Ultimate Prisoner, due to its strange vibe. Kaede finds a rope tied to the window frame and the same abrasion marks of the window frame from the gym. The pair then investigates the pool, one last time before they're forced to go to the Shrine of Judgement for the beginning of the trial.

By the time Kaede and Shuichi reach the Shrine, everyone is already there. Kokichi suspects Himiko but Tenko squeezes the magician's hand and yells the supreme leader. After stepping in the elevator, Kaede notices that Shuichi is still looking strangely at Kirumi and doesn't understand why. As they descend, Kaede thinks about Ryoma's killer and wants to find them, even if it will be difficult to suspect one of her friends.

#### The Second Class Trial

As the Class Trial began, Angie was quick to suspect Himiko, despite how close they had supposedly become. This outraged Tenko greatly, stating that, if they were really friends, Angie should believe in Himiko. Angie countered this and stated that she's simply telling them what Atua is telling her and that they should be thankful, lest he pours his holy wrath upon them all. In the end, even with Himiko's commitment to her magic act greatly annoying Kaede, she was eventually cleared of suspicion thanks to Shuichi's efforts.

#### The Summoning Ritual

The next morning, Kaede, Kaito and Maki headed to Angie's lab to try and convince her once again. They discovered Himiko outside of her lab, claiming that Angie wouldn't come out no matter how many times she knocked on the door. Kokichi overheard the situation and used his lock-picking skills to break into Angie's lab. The group was shocked to find Tenko's corpse lying in the center of three wax effigies in a pool of her own blood.

Everyone gathered in Angie's research lab following the body discovery announcement. Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist, suggested that they perform a seance to commune with Tenko's spirit, a suggestion that Himiko and Kokichi agreed to. Korekiyo invited Kaede due to her being the group leader and the girl accepted, albeit being unsure at first, completely unaware that the Ultimate Anthropologist had sinister ulterior motives.

Shuichi would later replace K1-B0 for the seance, due to the others wondering if a robot would really work for it, much to the Ultimate Robot's dismay. Korekiyo then says that they would need a spirit medium and that it would work best with a girl. Himiko offered to do it before Kaede offered instead, saying that Himiko wouldn't be able to say goodbye to Tenko if she was the medium.

#### Clearing the Death Road of Despair

Kaede, along with the other survivors, used Miu's inventions to cross the Death Road of Despair. They came across a large metal hatch at the end, which they open up, and discover the apparent state of the outside world. Shortly afterwards, Kokichi appears and proclaims himself as the ringleader behind the killing game and controls the Exisals to take Kaito hostage in the Exisal Hangar.