Danganronpa: Despair Never Dies/Story/Chapter 3

The main page for Chapter 3 of Danganronpa: Despair Never Dies.

### Third Stop

Despite the nightmarish images flashing in my head from the previous night, I was able to fall asleep rather quickly. I chalked it up to just my exhaustion, as all of yesterday was just an emotional rollercoaster of epic proportions. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Saeko's impaled corpse and Hikooki's drowning body. For a moment, I had forgotten that the two of them were dead. For a moment. We had all said that we wouldn't let something like this happen again, yet here we were anyway. Monokuma sure had this shocking way of forcing us to kill each other, even when we said we wouldn't.

"It is now 7 a.m.!" I heard Monokuma announce over the monitor. I cursed under my breath at Monokuma's smug, sadistic grin as the monitor shut off. Shaking my head, I changed into my clothes and listened to the train as it was going again. Where would we end up this time, I wondered?

Wasting no time, I headed out into the hallway to meet up with everybody else. Even though it seemed more and more pointless by the day, I still clung to that glimmer of hope that we would come together and defeat Monokuma, putting an end to this wretched game. It was a rather far-fetched idea, but somebody had to try it, right?

Right?

With a yawn, I headed toward the dining hall again. I saw Ryo in the hallway, standing by himself for whatever reason. He was looking down with his hands in his pockets, his face reading equal parts anxiety and disappointment.

"Ryo?" I called out, hoping he wasn't too upset.

"Oh, hey Kanon," He called back to me, waving his head. "Uh... so, about the other night," He whispered, looking to the side as his face flushed red.

I looked down and sighed. "Yeah..."

Ryo shook his head. "I think I should explain. I mean the other night, when we shared our secrets... You don't remember mine, do you?" He asked.

"That you're gay?" I asked him. His face reddened as he jumped, twiddling his thumbs after the initial shock.

"..." He took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. "...Please... You don't think that's bad, right? I... I can't really talk about it around my team. They all like to talk about women and make fun of gay men, they don't suspect a thing about me because I'm so masculine," He whispered. "And like... I guess when Tame exposed my secret, I felt... outed,"

I went silent as well. While I guess my time hanging out with Ryo gave me the hint that he might have been, it wasn't something I might have guessed immediately. Regardless, it wasn't something I would ever hold against him. If anything, there was no reason he should hide it. It was just wrong to pick on somebody for their sexuality.

"...I... think that it's just fine for you to be gay," I replied to him with a smile. "You should follow your heart. Face the reality. Go after your dreams, like you go after the ball during a game," I told him.

Ryo smiled back at me. "Thanks, Kanon... I really appreciate that a lot,"

"Of course!" I replied to him. "And while we're on the subject of revealing sexuality, I'm into just about everyone. Men, women, non-binary and trans people... Isn't there a word for that? Like, pansexual or something?"

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, I'm fairly certain that's what it is. Although I think bisexual people can be into all those too... it just depends on what label resonates with you more, I guess. Sort of like picking out a Jersey size that fits,"

"Okay! Pansexual it is!" I replied to Ryo. "Anyway, our friends are probably waiting for us back in the dining hall. Want to get going?" I asked him.

"Of course," Ryo replied. "You gave me the confidence I needed to face everyone, thank you so much,"

Ryo and I walked together to the dining hall, where everyone else awaited us. Everyone was with their usual groups. Toko and Daquan were sitting together, both looking distraught and upset. Surprisingly, Rai didn't look too upset by comparison, once again running his mouth to Shiro and Aiko. What did catch my eye more than anything was Masaki sitting between Amy-chan and Azizah. Both of them seemed to be talking to him at different intervals, and he would occasionally turn to both of them and smile. Something about this irked me just a bit, though I wasn't quite sure what.

"Oh, Masaki!" I called out, sitting with him, Azizah, and Amy-chan. The two of them went silent as I sat down.

"Good morning, Kanon," Masaki greeted me with a smile. I couldn't help but smile back in his direction as he motioned for me to sit closer.

"Ohaiyo Gozaimasu!" Amy-chan greeted me in her typical overly-energetic fashion. "How was your sleep, Kanon-chan?"

I sighed and looked down. "I think I slept too long," I replied, rubbing my eyes. "I'm still exhausted. Yesterday seriously messed with me,"

Amy-chan puffed her cheeks out at me. "Aw! I hope you get better soon, Kanon-chan!"

Azizah put her hand on my shoulder. "It may not always be easy, but we must keep pushing through, no matter how difficult life may get. Even when it seems hopeless," She encouraged me.

"I agree with Azizah," Masaki stated, adjusting his position to sit up. "Anyway, I know that this went *spectacularly* the last time we tried this out, but why don't we try deciding on who should be our leader this time?" He suggested. "Just try to stay on-topic this time,"

"I still hold to the idea that it should be Miss Amari," Asa suggested. "After all, she carried us all in the last trial with such aplomb, it would be a shame not to elect her as the leader!"

"I have zero objections," Kenji muttered to himself. "In such a desperate situation, I no longer hold to the idea that we are capable of governing ourselves,"

Kaemon rolled his eyes. "Am I the only one here not really on board with this idea?" He asked. "I mean, Kanon's just so emotional and irrational, plus once a month she'll-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," I replied, glaring right at him. "I'm learning to keep my emotions more in check, thank you very much,"

"Look, it's not because you're a woman, I just-" Before Kaemon could finish his sentence, Yuki raised her fist to him again. He kept quiet after that.

"Anyway... I appreciate the sentiment, but... I still don't know just how cut out for this I am," I replied. "After all, I'm still only learning,"

Azizah patted my back. "It's okay, Kanon. We all must start small at first,"

"Wait a minute," I began. "What about Azizah? She's cool and composed, and she's one of the smartest ones here!"

Masaki nodded back. "Could work. I can see it,"

"Yes, Miss Ali would be perfect!" Asa replied.

"Whoa!" Kaemon butted in again. "No way. I'd rather have *Kanon* than Azizah!"

Everyone stopped to turn toward Kaemon.

"Really?" Utamuro asked him. "What is it that you so irrationally hate about yourself that you project onto Azizah?"

Kaemon rolled his eyes. "Oh right, I never told you guys Azizah's secret the other night. I think it's for all your benefit to hear about it,"

Azizah gasped. "Kaemon, please, don't-"

"Dude, this is seriously uncalled for!" Tame called out.

Tomoe grinned. "Ah, guess we're getting some real drama here! Playing out just like a movie should,"

Before anyone else could say anything, Kaemon spoke up. "Azizah Ali is a practicing Muslim, and usually doesn't wear her hijab in public because she was attacked for it!"

Azizah instantly went silent, looking down and turning away from all of us. Everyone else fell silent as well, with Kaemon crossing his arms and grinning.

"There, now you all know,"

"Kaemon," began Daquan, glaring at him. "Get the fuck out of here before I kick your ass,"

"Pfft, why? Because you care *so* much about someone who would have you killed in an instant?" Kaemon asked him.

"That's enough of this!" Azizah cried out, wiping tears from her eyes. "Stop it! I would never kill anyone, it goes *against* my religion!"

Kaemon scoffed. "Didn't stop all those other guys, you know who I'm talking about-"

Before Kaemon could say anything, Ryo spoke up. "Kaemon Nakama is a virgin,"

Kaemon gasped and went silent, glaring at Ryo. "...Why the fuck would you just throw that in the open?"

Everyone glared at Kaemon as we all left the dining hall, not even getting a chance to finish our meeting. As we left, the train came to a stop as Monokuma appeared on the monitor again.

"Ahem. The Monokuma Express has arrived at its next stop. I recommend changing into your bathing suits for this one!" Monokuma announced before the monitor shut off.

Swimsuits, huh? Were we going to be on a beach for this one? It would be a stark contrast to our last stop.

I went back into my room and looked through my dresser. As expected, I found my old two-piece swimsuit, colored a pale yellow with a white stripe through the middle of both pieces. I quickly changed into my swimsuit, undoing my braids and my ponytail. It felt weird letting my hair hang down straight; I was worried I would look too different. I kept my glasses on as I was simply blind without them.

I walked out to the hallway, seeing that everybody else must have finished changing by now. I walked outside and instantly had to shield my eyes from the blinding sun, though my skin looked ridiculously pale as the sun's rays touched it. I felt the warm sand beneath my bare feet, enjoying the feeling as I looked out on the beach. It was completely empty save for the ocean in the distance, a small snack-shack, some empty lawn chairs and umbrellas, and a shower room/bathroom. It looked like one of those tourist traps, just without the tourists.

"Guess I was the first one out here," I muttered to myself as the second person walked out. It was Sen, clad only in a pair of cyan swimming trunks. He had a fairly slender build, not overly fit but definitely healthy. For some reason, he was still wearing his medical mask.

"Hello, Kanon!" Sen called out to me. "I see you're a quick changer. Is your swimsuit made out of the proper fabrics? If not, it can be damaging to your skin,"

I raised my eyebrow a bit, blushing a little as he made this remark. I imagined it was less awkward for him, being a doctor and all, but it was still weird hearing it from him. "I, uh... think?" I replied. "I've gone swimming once or twice before, and I've been fine each time,"

Sen nodded as the next two arrived - Guadalupe and Yuki. Guadalupe was dressed in a green bikini, and she looked exactly the way I thought she would - astoundingly toned figure and even a set of abs. Yuki was dressed in her regular clothes for some reason, though - and instantly began to sweat the moment she stepped out on the beach.

"Oh shit, it's hot out here!" Yuki called out, fanning herself off.

"*Idiota!* Monokuma told you to dress in a swimsuit!" Guadalupe scolded her.

"I just-" In a desperate move, Yuki tugged on the hem of her shirt, lifting upward. Instantly Guadalupe's face flushed a beet-red.

"Yuki, no! You're not wearing anything under that!"

Before anything past her stomach was exposed to the world, Yuki let go. "Oh shit, you're right! I, uh... might have a swimsuit, lemme go grab that," She then dashed off and back into the train as Kaemon walked out in a pair of beige swim trunks. Just as I expected, his body was fat and covered in blond hair.

"The fuck? Did she almost show her tits?" Kaemon asked us.

Sen shook his head. "Yuki might be suffering from heat exhaustion, it's probably best that we don't bring this up,"

"If you even think about sexually harassing Yuki, I will kick your ass!" Guadalupe threatened him.

"Geez, no need to get all pissy about it," Kaemon replied, crossing his arms.

Guadalupe scowled at him and sighed. "You're *muy estúpido*," She told him.

"Hey, I don't even speak Spanish, and I know what that meant!" Kaemon shouted at Guadalupe, before Kenji walked out in an athletic men's swimsuit. Strangely enough, he was still wearing his mask over his face, and his sword and sheath were still on his waist. Just as before, I was standing in awe over his toned and muscular physique.

"Do you just take your sword and mask with you everywhere you go?" Kaemon asked him.

Kenji nodded. "A good swordsman doesn't leave his blade behind for anybody,"

"Ooooooh, you're so fit and athletic!" Guadalupe exclaimed. "You must work out every day!"

"Yes, I do," Kenji replied with a nod. "It is my personal code to always be of strong body and of stronger mind. Speaking of which, Tame was supposed to join me, but I'm not quite sure where she went..."

"A little help?" Tame called out, poking her head out from the train's door. Kenji walked back to the train as her face flushed a beet-red. "F-From a girl?"

"I've got it!" I replied, running back up to the train. Tame was standing by the door, in a purple bikini. It was one of those that had to be tied to be worn, and the top had to be tied at the front. The top was stretching itself to fit over her chest, and Tame didn't have a solid grip on the laces. Her face was flushed a beet-red as she struggled to keep her top up. "Do you need help tying this?"

Tame gave a nervous nod as I helped tie the laces behind her back. "H-Hey, that's really tight!" She called back to me, wincing in pain. "I feel like it's gonna fall off!" I tried tying it a little bit more loose, eventually getting a good angle as I tied her top on. "Hey, thanks, Kanon!" She told me. "Truth be told, I'm actually super self-conscious," Tame admitted to me, looking down and covering her chest with her arms. "I-I know I'm going to get lots of stares, and... I don't know if I can handle that..."

I nodded back at Tame and smiled back at her, making sure I wasn't staring myself. "I understand. Just sit in the shade and away from everybody else, or tell people not to stare. If they do, then we'll all know that those guys are trash anyway. Don't worry, I won't let anyone make you feel uncomfortable!" I told her. This was quite the surreal feeling, reassuring my idol, the artist of my favorite anime.

Tame smiled back, but then suddenly reclined as Daquan and Ryo entered the hallway, in their swim trunks. Daquan was wearing blueish-gray trunks while Ryo's were a dull red, and both were just as beefy and toned as I was expecting them to be.

"Hey, girls!" Daquan greeted us. "Y'all goin' swimming with us?"

Tame gave a faint nod in Daquan's direction.

"No need to be shy," Ryo told her. "Remember? I'm not into girls,"

Tame gulped, still trying to hide her chest. Meanwhile, I was caught up with Daquan and Ryo's figures, they were quite impressive.

The four of us went back outside, and Tame immediately dashed underneath the shade of an umbrella, sitting next to Kenji.

"Holy shit-" Kaemon muttered. "Tame's... well, you know... even *bigger* than I imagined-"

"I would advise that you shut your mouth at once," Kenji replied to him. "It would be within your best interest,"

The next ones to arrive out were Utamuro and Amy-chan. Utamuro was dressed in white swim trunks with a black diagonal stripe through the middle, and Amy-chan was in a pink bikini with blue frills that sparkled in the sunlight. It was strange seeing Amy-chan with her hair all the way down, reaching down to her waist. Seeing Utamuro standing side-by-side with Amy-chan really accentuated their height difference; I never really processed just how much she towered over him. Utamuro was predictably thin and underweight, no real fat or muscle to discern on his body. Amy-chan wasn't particularly toned or fit, but what was impressive about her was her sheer height.

"Oh, *sugoi*! I can't wait to have fun on the beach!" Amy-chan exclaimed, hugging Utamuro tightly.

"H-Hey, you can let go of me, you know!" Utamuro protested, trying to wriggle out of her grasp.

After a few seconds, Amy-chan let go of the Ultimate Clothing designer. "Hehe, *gomen*!"

I kept eyeing up Amy-chan, having to tilt my head up just to look at her. Man, I just wished she was less loud, then I'd definitely be into her.

"I'm probably just gonna sit in the shade," Utamuro whispered, sitting under one of the umbrellas. Amy-chan took a seat next to him as Tomoe was the next was step out, dressed in a gray recreational one-piece, not showing off too much of her body. Her sunglasses were resting atop her head, showing her gold-brown eyes that she never showed us before. Just like the rest of the girls, she was actually wearing her hair down this time.

"How's it going, everyone?" Tomoe asked, strutting toward Utamuro and Amy-chan. "Damn, this would be a nice place to shoot for a movie," She muttered as she took a seat and pulled her sunglasses over her face again.

"You're just gonna wear that old thing?" Utamuro asked her. "That's the kind of thing they would have us wearing back in school. Surely Cool Tomoe should wear something, I dunno, cooler?"

Tomoe shrugged and grabbed a glass of lemonade conveniently placed on a table next to her. "Look, I don't show off. I dunno if I'm ready to wear something flashy like Amy-chan here,"

Utamuro nodded. "I understand. Well, if you ever change your mind, there's tons of different types of swimsuits I can make for you, to fit your body shape,"

Amy-chan sat by Utamuro and Tomoe, the three of them talking among themselves. I smiled, watching the three of them enjoy the day. It was quite refreshing to see us having fun, even if just the day prior we witnessed two deaths.

Rai, Shiro, Yuki, and Aiko were the next to arrive on the beach. Rai was wearing a pair of baggy blue swim trunks with a cloud pattern on them, and for once wasn't wearing his glasses. He had a fairly average build, his stomach being on the pudgy side and his chest on the skinny side. Shiro was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of light-gray swim trunks, not wearing their signature goggles this time. In its place as a seafoam-colored visor on their forehead, shielding their red eyes from the sun. Yuki was wearing a black bikini, and I couldn't help but gasp as I realized just how much she was hiding under her sweatshirt and sweatpants. She was rather fit, but not particularly toned or muscular above the waist. Her legs were significantly more toned and finely shaped, and she was fairly busty though not on the level of Tame. Aiko was dressed significantly more modestly than the others, in a black one-piece only exposing her shoulders, arms, and legs.

"Yuki!" Guadalupe called out, running up to her. "*Hermosa!* You look great in that!"

Yuki smiled back at her. "Hey, thanks! It's still kinda warm out here, but I do like to swim!"

"Huh, it's definitely going to be sunny for a long time..." Rai muttered to himself as he sat down on the sand. Shiro sat next to him, pulling the visor over their face and sitting beneath an umbrella.

"I'm still trying to develop a sunscreen that both shields the epidermis from UV light while also allowing optimal Vitamin D absorption," Shiro muttered. "It's difficult with my skin having no pigment, though,"

Yuki gave a chuckle. "Shiro, you're such a nerd!"

Shiro rolled their eyes in response and gave a sigh. "Yes, and you can thank nerds like me for every breakthrough in modern chemistry,"

Meanwhile, Aiko picked up a branch on the ground and began to draw a circle around Rai, Shiro, Guadalupe, Yuki, and I. Yuki and Guadalupe stepped outside of the circle as Aiko began to draw some straight lines through the circle as well as some strange symbols in the middle of the circle. When she finished, it resembled one of those magic circles seen in occult rituals.

"What's this?" Rai asked. "Are we going to sit here and chant more weird Latin phrases again?"

Shiro sighed. "No, this is a magic circle, as seen in alchemy. But alchemy is ridiculously outdated, no one actually believes it anymore. And if it weren't for anime, I don't think anyone would even care about alchemy in the first place,"

Aiko giggled at Shiro's comment. "Hehehe~ It's not an alchemy circle! It's for contacting the dark one, so that she may save us from this murder game!"

"Will this actually work?" Shiro asked.

"Probably not," I whispered into their ear. "I don't think it's any question that Aiko isn't... all there, so to say,"

Shiro shrugged. "She's weird, but I don't think there's anything too wrong with her,"

Aiko placed a few candles around the circle as she sat down with her legs crossed as she began to chant something indistinct.

"Why do you like her so much?" Shiro asked Rai. Rai shrugged in response.

"I'm not entirely sure, she's just cute, I guess," He replied. "Plus, she actually listens to me about the weather. Everyone else just kinda ignores me,"

Shiro nodded, staying in place and keeping a close watch on Aiko and Rai.

"Prepare yerselves, I'm comin' out, y'all!" A familiar voice shouted out. Toko burst out from the train, dressed in a pale lavender bikini, with their hair down and glasses off. They still wore their trademark lavender cowboy hat, and without their skirt and leggings on, one could see an automatic machine gun and a pistol strapped to their legs. Most of us stopped to look at them, surprised at their boldness.

"Is it... weird?" Tame asked them. "Being non-binary and wearing a bikini? I'd imagine you would be, I don't know..."

Toko sneered at Tame. "Where in the rules does it say that enbies can't wear bikinis?"

Tame sighed. "Damn... they're more confident than I am..."

"Is it uncomfortable? Wearing your guns around your legs?" Kenji asked.

Toko grinned at Kenji. "And yer one to talk, still carryin' yer sword with ya?"

Kenji shrugged and instantly went silent.

In the midst of Toko and Kenji's conversation, I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I gasped and turned around, seeing Hideki in deep blue swim trunks. He was lacking his signature hat, but still had his sunglasses on. Surprisingly, he wasn't super muscular, and was quite chubby, especially around the stomach.

"Oh, hello Kanon," Hideki greeted me, giving a smug grin in my direction and crossing his arms. "Don't think you're safe now, because Monokuma's still gonna try to make us kill each other,"

I sighed and puffed my cheeks out at Hideki. "Why can't you just let us have some fun for once?"

Hideki shrugged. "Monokuma doesn't take a day off, why should we?"

I didn't want to admit it, but Hideki was right. Anyone could kill anyone else at this point, and ignoring that possibility didn't make it go away.

"Also, that's quite the daring outfit you've got there," Hideki told me, looking me up and down. "You sure that's the right size? You don't really fill out the top too well,"

I instantly went beet-red, hoping nobody heard him. I covered my chest instantly, hoping no one was looking in my direction. At that moment, I looked over at all the other girls - Guadalupe, Tame, Amy-chan, Yuki, Aiko, Tomoe, they all had much different figures than I did. I didn't want to admit it, but every passing second was making me feel more and more self-conscious.

"C-Can you not say such things?" I asked to Hideki.

Kaemon walked over to us and poked my stomach without any real warning. I flinched and backed away from him.

"Yeah, you have basically a loli build," Kaemon noted. "But don't worry too much about it, at least the Flat is Justice crowd would like you a lot!"

"Okay, you two, that's quite enough," I heard a familiar voice call out. Masaki walked out, dressed in a pair of gray-blue swim trunks. I gasped, staring at him up and down as I noted his incredible build. He was fit and athletic, but not overly muscular like Daquan and Ryo. I had to cover my mouth and not make it so obvious that I was staring at him.

"What, you gonna white knight her?" Kaemon asked with a laugh.

Masaki shrugged. "I dunno, I just don't think people like you should be quick to make such demeaning comments about others' figures,"

Kaemon glared at Masaki, going completely silent as the Ultimate Thief approached Hideki.

"Yeah? And what do you want with me, mister criminal?" Hideki asked him.

Masaki gave a grin. "And you? You're clearly much bigger and stronger than little Kanon here. Pick on somebody your own size,"

Hideki rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Okay, whatever you say," He then walked away before leaning toward my face and whispering something. "Just because he's sweet to you doesn't mean he cares about you at all. That man is nothing but trouble," Before I could say anything else to him, Hideki walked off.

I looked down and puffed my cheeks out again, upset with Kaemon and Hideki. Suddenly, I felt seriously uncomfortable around everyone, sort of like I'd been mentally violated. I wanted to shrink down and disappear from everyone else, and hide my shame from the others surrounding me. I covered my face with my hands, looking away from everybody else.

"Hey, Kanon?" Masaki began. I pulled my head from my hands and looked up at him as I was still shaking.

"Wh-what is it now?" I asked him.

He inhaled and looked up, then looked back at me with a smile. "You, uh... look nice in that,"

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine as he said those words aloud. I felt a goofy, awkward smile spread across my face as I tugged on my hair a bit, suddenly feeling some combination of elation and nervousness. "Th-thanks..." I replied to him. "Y-You, uh... look really, uh... um..." The word I was looking for was very clearly "hot", but how could I say that?! He would definitely get ideas if I told him that. "You look... nice, as well,"

Masaki smiled back at me, moving his arms up and giving me a good look at his figure. I had to cover my mouth to hide my gasp as I looked him up and down. Good lord, he was hot! "Thanks," He replied. "I appreciate that,"

"Hello everyone, sorry I'm late!" Asa called out, clad in a beige bikini. She wore a large smile upon her face as she approached us, looking rather excited and confident. She was just so cute, being happy and cheery as well as her adorably plump self.

"Asa-chan!" Amy-chan called out, instantly running toward Asa. Kaemon, Tame, Yuki, Guadalupe, Sen, Daquan, Ryo, Masaki and I approached her as well.

"Oh my!" Asa called out with a smile. "I never expected to be this popular!"

"You're so *kawaii*, Asa-chan!" Amy-chan squealed. "Did you make anything?"

Yuki smiled at her as well. "Yeah, is there anything baking right now?"

"Oh, of course! You know there always is when I have the chance!" Asa replied to the two of them. "But Miss Sakura, Miss Hatano, you two must be patient. It is going to be a while before it's all finished, okay?"

Kaemon nodded back. "Man, I can't wait to dig into some of that sweet cake! There's just nothing like eating sweets and playing video games!"

Asa bowed toward Kaemon. "I am glad to hear that I may be of service to you, Mister Nakama,"

Suddenly I heard Tame shout, "Shut up!"

"Miss Maeda, what's wrong?" Asa asked her.

"This dickhead just said, 'Guess you're going to have to settle for second-biggest tits here!'" Tame replied, pointing at Kaemon.

"H-Hey, it's nothing personal!" Kaemon replied to her. "It's nothing but an observation!"

Ryo shook his head at Kaemon. "It's kind of weird to say things like that. You wouldn't go telling the same thing to myself or Daquan, would you?"

Asa gave a nervous chuckle as her face went red. "M-Mister Shinobu, please, it's... quite alright," Asa stammered. "I-I don't particularly mind offhand remarks about my, um... figure. I used to receive them quite frequently..."

Man, comparing my reaction to Kaemon's sexist comments and Asa's reaction, there was a noticeable difference. She had a lot more composure than I did, for sure. It was quite a wonder how Asa always managed to keep herself calm and collected.

"Moving on, it seems everybody is here except for Miss Ali," Asa pointed out. "Where could she be right now?"

I gasped, suddenly remembering our encounter with Azizah in the dining hall, and how Kaemon outed her in front of all of us. It was possible that she was feeling insecure around all of us thanks to him...

Just as Asa mentioned that, we saw Azizah slowly creeping out of the train. She was dressed in a dark yellow full-body wetsuit, with black stripes down the middle. Just like the others who wore glasses, she had them off this time. "H-Hello, everyone," Azizah greeted us all, approaching us but making sure not to look at Kaemon.

"Hey, Azizah!" Masaki called out to her with a wave. "Aren't you hot in that thing?"

Azizah shook her head. "It is not quite as hot as you might think," She replied with a nervous smile. "See, I am told to dress modestly, and so I do,"

Kaemon rolled his eyes. "Please, we all know it's because you're so oppresse-"

"No, that is not how it is either," Azizah replied to him. "It is just tradition. Personally, I feel more comfortable wearing this to begin with,"

"Yeah, that's *exactly* what you would say," Kaemon scoffed.

"Okay, you can stop being a dick now," Daquan told him.

"Would it be less of an issue if she were a Japanese woman who did not practice religion, wearing a wetsuit?" Kenji asked. "It appears as if this is just your bias showing,"

Before Kaemon could defend himself further, Monokuma suddenly appeared before each of us. This time, however, he was wearing palm tree-shaped sunglasses and a floral-patterned shirt. "Hello, class! I see you all made it to the beach in your swimwear today! Because you've all been so patient and cooperative, I'm going to allow everybody a fun beach day today! Play in the water, talk with your friends, soak in the sun! And most importantly, don't forget to have fun!" Monokuma told all of us as he grabbed a surfboard and jumped into the water.

It was a little strange, with Monokuma telling us to simply enjoy ourselves after witnessing a murder and an execution, but we certainly needed something to get our minds off of all this.

Everyone dispersed into their groups, but Masaki and Azizah stayed with me. Azizah kept looking down, being more quiet than usual.

"Azizah? You've been awfully quiet all day," Masaki told her.

"It's okay," Azizah replied to him with a smile. "You do not need to concern yourself with me, but I very much appreciate it,"

"Kaemon's just rude," I told her. "Don't listen to him, he's wrong about you,"

Azizah nodded and smiled back at me. "You are all getting so angry at him, but his heart is simply corrupted. With patience, he can be transformed into a kinder, more peaceful person,"

Masaki chuckled at Azizah. "You're too wide-eyed. I think Kaemon is just too far gone for any of us to reach at this point,"

"You all say that," She began. "But perhaps he has been misled. There is room for wisdom and instruction in him,"

What was Azizah planning? There was no way anyone could put up with Kaemon for so long. She definitely had some inhuman sense of patience if she was going to try to reach him.

"Well, in any case," Masaki began, "Isn't it weird that Monokuma would basically tell us to have fun right after a murder? I don't trust anything he says for a second,"

"Yes, it is strange," Azizah replied. "Usually he gives us a motive, so we should expect that soon,"

Masaki and Azizah had a point. It was weird that Monokuma was being so lax with us; he wasn't usually this way. I wasn't about to complain about some relief from the mutual killing.

After a few hours of all of us having fun on the beach, splashing each other with water and soaking in the sun, suddenly we heard a voice call out to us.

"Everyone, come my way," Kenji called out to us.

"Did you find anything of importance, Mister Yang?" Asa asked him with a tilt of her head.

Kenji nodded, crossing his arms. "There is something I wish for you all to see. I do hope that it is nothing terrible,"

Sen scratched his chin and looked around, then nodded. "It appears that we are all present, so we do not have to fear the possibility of one of us having been murdered just yet,"

"Kenji, could you at least tell us what it is?" Azizah asked him.

Kenji shook his head. "I... am not certain how I would describe it to you all. Please, the best way to learn of it is to follow me," He told us as he motioned for us to follow him. Each of us followed Kenji out of the water as he led us into the shack on the beach.

"The snack shack?" Tame asked him. "I mean, I do get hungry, but was it worth pulling us all away from the beach for?"

"Yeah, tell us what the hell is goin' on," Hideki said to him.

"Hmph," Kenji grunted, before opening up the door. The interior didn't seem to be too out of the ordinary, with various snacks and junk foods lining the shelves. There was one thing off about it, though - a strange crystal ball sitting on the counter, completely out of place. Thematically, it didn't match where we were at, and it didn't seem to have any real purpose.

"A fucking crystal ball?" Kaemon asked. "Some pseudoscience magic bullshit?"

"Don't be so quick to disregard it!" Aiko called back. "Crystal balls have historically had power to see what human beings cannot see! Before talented scientists like Rai existed, people would go to the crystal ball to see if it was going to rain on a certain day!"

"Well, um..." Rai wanted to say something, but his face went red and he kept stammering over his words. "Well, it's less about- and more- well-"

Shiro shook their head. "No, I think Kenji knows what he's talking about. A crystal ball doesn't particularly match a beach theme,"

"Not unless Monokuma was goin' for a haunted beach movie!" Tomoe replied with a grin. "'Course, it would probably suck, but maybe worth having a laugh over with your friends,"

Aiko grinned and reached out toward the crystal ball. "Shhh, I'm going to see if I can channel the energy from this crystal ball-"

Before Aiko could place her hand on the glass ball, Monokuma burst into the shack. "Why, hello students! I see you've found the rare, the elusive, the well sought-after Orb of Desire!"

The Orb of Desire?

...There was no way this could turn out well.

### Motive

"Orb of Desire?" I asked, eyeing the crystal ball. It didn't seem to be anything peculiar, and there weren't any scratches or marks that could be decrypted as any sort of subliminal message. Touching it didn't bring about any adverse effects either. Just what was Monokuma planning this time?

Ryo gave a curious tap on the glass ball and scratched his chin. "I don't get it. What's supposed to happen?"

"It's just what it says on the tin!" Monokuma replied with a haughty laugh. "It's an orb of desire! Whatever it is you want, it can grant you!"

Whatever it was I wanted? What if I wanted to end world hunger, stop the wars, end this killing game, grab the attention of a love interest? Would it grant it to me?

"So, if I wanted to be left alone and play video games forever, this glass ball could give me that? I don't believe you," Kaemon replied with an eye-roll.

"Yes!" Monokuma emphatically replied.

"What if I wanted to come to peace with life and its fluctuating tendencies?" Kenji asked.

"Yep! Like I said, *anything*!"

Rai scratched his chin. "Could it end climate change?"

"If that's what you wanted!" Monokuma replied, his voice sounding a bit irritated.

Amy-chan giggled. "Okay... what if I wanted to be surrounded by millions of adoring, squealing fans, all dressed in cosplay, and one day become the biggest, richest, most *kawaii* star in the whole world?"

Monokuma gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes! If you can imagine it, and you really wanted it, the Orb of Desire could grant it! Anything you wanted! There are literally no limits!"

Hideki shook his head. "I don't believe you. There's no way *anything* has the power to do such a thing. It creates too many problems. It could be misused in a way not even *you* could deal with the consequences of,"

"Shut it, Paul Blart!" Monokuma shouted back at Hideki, who backed up a bit. "You have no idea what sort of things I am capable of!" Everyone went silent as Monokuma's red eye glowed brighter, baring his fangs and claws. In a few seconds, Monokuma put away his claws and put his head down. "Anyway... you all have fun with the Orb of Desire!" Before anyone could say anything else, he dashed out of the shack in a flash.

"Bastard-" Hideki growled, raising a fist. He sighed and then turned back to the Orb of Desire and picked it up in his hands. "Just what sort of things is this capable of...?" He whispered to himself.

"Oooooh, Hideki is going to lead us in the ritual~!" Aiko cooed, flashing a devious grin. "What sort of things will you wish for?"

"Something easy, with no real consequences," Hideki replied. "If this thing really does have the power to do anything, it's best we don't misuse that power,"

Asa tilted her head at the Ultimate Interrogator. "Mister Harada, please don't get reckless now,"

Hideki tapped on the ball a couple of times. "Let's see here. I want... a chocolate donut and some black coffee,"

"Man, that's an easy one," Daquan replied. "You could easily get that in the train, you know,"

"I know *that*," Hideki told him. "What I'm talking about is the way Monokuma worded it. He said that this orb has the power to grant you whatever you wanted. Meaning that the donut and coffee should come to *me*-" Before Hideki could finish his sentence, he leaned forward and set the orb down. "Wait just a minute-" He looked over at a shelf behind us, staring intently at it. Each of us turned around to see a paper cup of coffee and a chocolate donut on the shelf.

"Wh-what?!" Yuki shouted out, her eyes dilating and her jaw dropping. "No way! This has to be a coincidence! It has to be!" She then put her hand on the orb as Hideki grabbed the donut and coffee off the shelf. "Okay... I want to feel cooler, it's too hot out here,"

"Hey, who said *you* got the next turn?!" shouted Kaemon, shoving Yuki aside to touch the orb. "I want Tame to give me a strip show,"

Tame instantly went red, and then she shoved Kaemon aside. "I want Kaemon to shut up. Forever,"

"Hey now, you know I can't do that," Kaemon replied. "Besides, I was joking. Nobody wants that anyway, that's stupid,"

Tame scowled at him and crossed her arms. "Right..."

In that moment, I realized just how much this orb was bringing out the worst in us, making us fight with each other, and only one of us had gotten a wish granted. It hadn't been any longer than five or six minutes, and already everybody was at each others' throats for a chance to get something they wanted.

Hell, for a split second even I wanted to get my hands on the mysterious crystal ball and see if I could fulfill my desires-

No, I couldn't.

"Everyone, break it up," Masaki intervened, pushing himself in the middle of everybody. "It's clear this thing is dangerous," He told us all, picking up the orb and walking away.

"Wait a goddamn minute!" Hideki interjected, standing in the doorway in front of Masaki. "Where do you think *you're* going?! How can we trust you won't just store it away in your room?"

Masaki shrugged and gave a sigh. "Fine then, if you want to follow me and make sure I don't wish for anything or hide it away, you can do that,"

Hideki grinned. "Fine then, let's go,"

Hideki and Masaki walked out of the shack, both of them holding onto the orb as they exited. Where would they put it, I wondered?

"Aw man, and I was going to wish for more sewing supplies," Utamuro lamented.

"You should have wished to be taller~" Aiko teased him, patting his head.

"And *you* should have wished for a personality," Utamuro replied with a half-smirk.

"You're doing it again!" I called out to them. "Come on, there's a reason they took the orb from us. Monokuma had something devious in mind for this one, and if anything, all we're demonstrating is that it's *working*!"

Shiro nodded. "Kanon is correct. Please, let's just forget about the Orb of Desire, okay?"

"Wait a minute!" Guadalupe called out. "How do we know Masaki and Hideki didn't hide it in one of their rooms or something?"

"Please, I believe we should hold more faith in Mister Domoto and Mister Harada," Asa replied.

"Masaki's a guy I trust alright, he's a cool dude," Daquan told her. "But that Hideki guy, he seems real off to me,"

I remembered when we were at the last stop, my eyes widening as I recalled Hideki's smug face as he waved my secret in front of me. Daquan had a point - never at any time did I actually feel safe or easy around Hideki.

"Yes, I must concur that Hideki makes me feel... on-edge," Kenji added on. "But I have nothing but faith in Masaki. It seems unlikely to me that anything worrisome will occur,"

Just as Kenji finished his sentence, Masaki and Hideki burst in through the door. Neither one of them were holding the Orb of Desire.

"Where did you put the Orb?" asked Amy-chan. "I still need to become the most *kawaii* idol in the world!"

Hideki shook his head and crossed his arms. "It's too dangerous. You saw what happened back there. Masaki and I are the only ones who know where it is, and we're not telling anybody else,"

Azizah nodded in return. "That's good. It is too unpredictable to let something like this take over ourselves. If we have a chance to fight back against Monokuma's motive, then it is important that we do so,"

"I think we're all ignoring something I thought would be incredibly obvious," Shiro began. "If that Orb is just as powerful as Monokuma says it is, it's possible one of us could use it to end the Killing Game,"

"That's some mighty fine thinkin' there, Shiro," Toko replied to them.

"But how do we know you would use the orb to wish for that?" Guadalupe asked.

Shiro shook their head. "I don't have anything else I could hope to wish for,"

They had a point. I was sure there was not a single one of us who just wanted to go home. I knew that Shiro was onto something big here when they said that. Perhaps I could give it a try?

Then I began thinking. If I was going to end the game anyway, I might as well get something else out of it. Perhaps a strong career as a photojournalist, or all the best cameras in the world. Or maybe even some attention from a certain thief?

*Kanon, no, stop,* I caught myself thinking. No, I realized that I was playing into exactly what I was saying earlier. The Orb was bringing out my own selfish desires, just as much as it had with the others.

"That's a nice little sentiment there," Hideki replied. "But why would Monokuma so readily give us something we could use to escape the Killing Game with? It seems like there would be a catch to it,"

Shiro nodded and scratched their chin. "Hmm, you're probably right. Think it would be worth a try, at least?"

"But that's no fun!" Aiko blurted out. "Think about it from Monokuma's perspective. Why would he introduce something like this to us if he didn't plan to make us kill each other with it? If it was so easy to just wish ourselves out of the Killing Game, he wouldn't give it to us. Doesn't that make sense?"

Rai nodded along. "Yeah! Aiko's right. There's no way Monokuma would give us something that would be his undoing,"

"Unless..." Sen began with a mutter. "You *can* wish for something like that. As a doctor, I've noticed that there is no miracle cure. Surgeries scar, medicines cause side effects, treatments don't always work. Nothing happens without something being lost along the way. Take Hideki's wish for that coffee. He still had to go out of his way to get it,"

"Ah-!" Cried out a distinct, high-pitched voice. I jumped as the cry echoed throughout the shack. We all turned to see Yuki standing in the corner, soaked in water and standing dead still. Several ice cubes lined the floor next to her body as her arms lay stiff at her sides. "Whoa, that's cold!" Yuki exclaimed as a grin spread across her face.

Wait a minute, didn't Yuki wish to be cooled off?

"Hold on," began Kaemon. "Yuki wished to cool down just a second ago, does that mean-" Kaemon then looked over at Tame and gave a wide grin.

"Kaemon..." Tame began. "I swear, if you-"

"Ha, don't worry, I wouldn't actually do anything like-" Kaemon then stumbled in Tame's direction and accidentally swiped at the string on her top. As he fell face-first onto the ground, the strings came undone as she pressed her top against her chest in a reflex. Her face went red as she fumbled to tie her top again.

"K-Kaem-" Tame's lips trembled as she struggled to formulate a proper sentence.

"Miss Maeda, dear, let me help you," Asa then began to tie Tame's top for her as Kaemon stood back up.

"Okay, let me just say," Kaemon began. "That was *totally* accidental. Completely. I promise-"

"Shut up!" Tame shouted at him as she delivered a quick karate-chop to Kaemon's throat. He let out a harsh gasp as his voice went hoarse immediately.

Wait... Kaemon's wish was for Tame to do a strip show for him, and Tame's was to shut up Kaemon. This was starting to get eerie now that Hideki's, Kaemon's, Yuki's, and Tame's wishes had all come true.

"That's it!" Kenji lashed out, drawing his sword and pointing it toward Kaemon's throat. "We simply cannot allow ourselves to go near the Orb any longer! Its power is too dangerous for any of us,"

Hideki gave a chuckle. "Kenji, I'd advise you to be less quick to draw your weapon. We already put the Orb away, remember? We should all be fine,"

Kenji lowered his sword and sheathed it again, then gave a nod. "Right... I apologize, Kaemon, it was impulsive of me to draw a weapon so recklessly,"

Kaemon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Yeah, right. I know you hate me just as much as everybody else does,"

"I would advise you to shut your mouth right then and there. A voice gives away much more than you may need," Kenji replied to him, turning away.

Amy-chan gave a yawn. "Aaaaahhhhh... I'm so *tsukareta*," she whined as she stretched her arms out. "Being a *kawaii* idol is exhausting..." She yawned as she pulled her mask up, rubbing her eye.

"I bet!" Ryo replied with a chuckle. "Gotta meet the demands of the fans, or something like that,"

I looked down at my E-Handbook. It was approaching nighttime, and soon enough it would be just about time for us to go to bed. Right now all we could do was hope that nobody would find the Orb of Desire, as only Masaki and Hideki knew of its whereabouts. That said, there was no way it could realistically be too much of an issue, right?

"Hmmm, Amy-chan is correct," Sen muttered. "It's getting rather late. It would be optimal for us to get some rest right about now,"

"Good idea!" Asa replied. "I'm sure this situation will clear itself up in due time, Mister Ikehara,"

Daquan nodded. "Sen's right. Why don't we just go back onto the train, and we'll discuss what we'll do in the morning?"

"Wait a minute," Hideki began. "We need to make sure nobody goes near the Orb of Desire. So for now, nobody will be allowed to go out at night without a buddy,"

"That's right," Masaki added on. "And we're going to make absolute certain nobody finds the Orb,"

"You're not going to be like... watching us, are you?" Tame asked.

Hideki shook his head. "Don't think of it like that. It's more like... security,"

"So, watching us, got it," Utamuro replied to him.

"It's for your safety!" Hideki protested, raising a fist. "Look, it's too dangerous to let anyone get near that Orb. If we don't keep tabs on everybody, someone could get seriously hurt doing this,"

My hands began to shake a bit listening to Hideki's words. He had a point - this was a situation which called for high security and monitoring of behavior. At the same time, the thought of constantly being watched over, by *Hideki*, no less, was a chilling thought. Just thinking about him seeing my every move, his smug and dauntless face at every turn, it was enough to send shivers down my spine. I *really* didn't need him seeing the things I would do. And if he somehow saw me in my bedroom?

I didn't even want to think about it. He already knew I wasn't this pure, untouched girl others thought I was. At least, I *thought* people thought I was.

As we all boarded back onto the train, I took the chance to walk side-by-side with Masaki. I gave him a quick nudge, staying closer to him than the others.

"What is it?" Masaki whispered, leaning his head down toward me.

"Are you okay with this?" I whispered back to him.

Masaki shrugged and gave a smile. "I don't mind you walking so close to me - I kinda like it,"

I felt my heart jump a little as he finished that sentence. I tried to hide the idiotic smile I was giving by turning away, though he could probably see just how flushed my face was. However, that wasn't what I meant to ask.

"I-I didn't mean-" I tried to begin as we all walked toward our rooms. Everyone else went into their rooms for the night, but I stopped Masaki before either of us could go to bed for the night. "What I meant to ask was- well- um-" I motioned for him to lean in closer as I whispered into his ear. "Are you okay with Hideki keeping tabs on us?"

Masaki took a long breath and sighed. "I... honestly don't know," He whispered back. "I want to think he has good intentions, but I can't know for sure what he wants. I can't stand that guy. At the same time, he has a point. Who knows what could happen if anyone manages to get their hands on the Orb?"

Just as Masaki finished his sentence, Hideki suddenly butted in. "Hey!" He interjected, pulling out his baton and flicking it between us. "You two are supposed to be in bed right now,"

I gasped a bit at Hideki's presence, stepping back and instantly reclining back toward my door. At the time, I didn't even consider his odd phrasing of "You two should be in bed right now".

Masaki, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as put off. He stood in place and shrugged, turning toward his room with a cool demeanor. "Yeah, alright," He replied. He then leaned closer to me again as Hideki walked back toward his room. "Just try and sleep, okay? Don't think about it too much. I promise I won't let Hideki bully you, okay?"

I gave a dumb, crooked grin at Masaki's statement. I wanted to look cute, but there was no way *that* was happening. For some reason, though, he flashed me his photogenic, calming smile back. "Th-thanks," I sputtered out, trying to cover my face with my hands again.

"Good night, Kanon," Masaki said to me as he went back into his room. I figured I should do the same and headed back into my room as I changed out of my swimsuit and into my pajamas. I sat down on my bed and looked up at the ceiling, feeling tingly all over for whatever reason. I would go between bouts of shaking and sweating at the thought of Hideki watching me and that warm, snuggly feeling in my chest remembering what Masaki said to me.

Maybe once we got out of here, I would tell Masaki how I felt.

All I could hope was that he would reciprocate. There was no way to tell if he would, and it wasn't guaranteed. After all, there wasn't a whole lot special about me. He could easily find a better girl than myself if he wanted. There wasn't any way for me to so reliably gain his feelings just through wishing.

...

...

........

.....

.........

...

Or was there?

### Free Time

I fell asleep almost too exhausted to stand or keep my eyes open, but somehow my sleep was restless in spite of that. I kept seeing Monokuma's malicious, nightmarish face flashing in front of me, shrouded in a black mist as his red eye glowed with a demonic crimson. His demented grin would forever be embedded into my nightmares, along with the images of our four dead classmates' corpses.

It was beginning to take a toll on my mental and physical health. I would wake up every morning feeling lethargic and exhausted, like my eyes and limbs were heavy and being dragged down every second. The thought of the Orb of Desire wasn't helping matters much either. At first it was just something that I would remember existed, something along the lines of "Oh yeah that existed". But the longer I allowed my mind to dwell on it, the more I became enthralled with the Orb of Desire.

No, *obsessed* with it.

Suddenly the possibilities of the orb began to circulate through my mind. I could theoretically use it to do just about *anything* I wanted. Anything from making Masaki develop feelings for me, to escaping this game, to even worldwide fame as a photojournalist. I could use it to be taller, to develop the strength needed to finally tell off Hideki and Kaemon. I could use it to be impossible for Monokuma to execute if I were to attack him.

I could use it to save everybody here, Masaki included.

Then, I began thinking about just what I had been saying last night. When we were all fighting over the Orb, how it was meant to divide us from the beginning. While it could theoretically give us anything we wanted, it was done in the pursuit of making us obsessed to the point where we would literally *kill* for it. That was Monokuma’s plan all along, and if I were to develop that same obsession, I would be falling right into his trap with the others.

That, I was not willing to do, not one bit.

I awakened the next morning and changed into my regular clothes, giving a big yawn as I checked the time. 6:56 am. *Damn Monokuma*, I thought to myself. *Even manipulated my own sleep schedule, that bastard…*

Four minutes quickly zipped by, and right on cue the morning announcement played. “Good morning, class!” Monokuma said, sitting on the chair while sipping his martini with that same grin on his face. I had this insatiable urge to climb through the screen and punch his face off, even though my arms were too thin and spindly to do any sort of real damage. “It is now 7 am!”

I couldn’t even be bothered to sit through the rest of the announcement as I walked out of my dorm. Immediately, I was greeted with the sight of Hideki strolling down the hallway, as I noticed Azizah and Guadalupe walking toward the dining hall, in the direction opposite of the Ultimate Interrogator. I tried to sneak toward the dining hall with them, when suddenly I heard the all-too-familiar calling of my name. *Shit*. I felt a shiver down my spine as I dreaded turning around, seeing Hideki’s smug, malaligned grin.

“Kanon,” Hideki called out to me. “Where are you going?” He asked.

“Um…” I turned around to look at him, his towering, imposing figure, his eyes covered by lifeless, robotic sunglasses. The grin of corruptness upon his mug. “Just… to the dining hall? With everyone else…” I muttered, looking down at the ground as my resolve had been greatly minimized.

He smirked at me and lowered his sunglasses. “Look, I don’t take you as the type to take the Orb or anything. I’m not really worried about you, so I’m just gonna leave you alone,”

I breathed a sigh of relief as Hideki walked away. It was nice that he never suspected me. It would mean that he I could steal the Orb, and he wouldn’t notice-

Damn, I was doing it again.

Shaking my head to clear myself of the previous thoughts I was having, I walked toward the dining hall myself. I arrived to the usual scene of everybody in their groups, with everybody grouping up with their friends - Rai was sitting between Shiro and Aiko, going off about the weather again as Aiko leaned her head on the table, looking at him with enthralled eyes as Shiro was leaning back in their chair, with an unimpressed look upon his face. Toko and Daquan were talking together, seemingly now over Saeko’s death. Tame, Kenji, and Ryo were sitting together as well as Yuki and Guadalupe, while Kaemon was off by himself at the end of the table. Asa was sitting next to Utamuro and Tomoe while shoving pastries into her mouth, while Sen was on the other side of the table, writing something down on his own. Masaki and Azizah were sitting next to each other and talking together, just like yesterday. While it irked me a bit, I noticed *something* was off.

Two people were missing - Hideki and Amy-chan.

“Good morning, Kanon!” Azizah greeted me as I took a seat between her and Masaki.

“You sleep well last night?” Masaki asked me, his gentle gray eyes looking into my own. I felt a chill run down my spine as my heart skipped a beat.

“W-well, I guess I kinda did…” I whispered. “Well, you know, as well as one reasonably can under these stressful conditions,”

Masaki nodded. “In any case, where is Amy-chan at?” he asked.

Utamuro’s eyes lit up. “Oh no…” his face suddenly went pale as he looked down at the ground. Given everything we had been through over the past week or so, his fear was absolutely justified. Considering what had happened to Lorenzo and Saeko.

Then, total silence filled the room. She was always up around this time, even factoring the *ridiculous* amount of time she would need to get dressed and do her hair and makeup. It was quite incredible how punctual she was despite not only how ditzy she came off, but the sheer amount of time and preparation it would take to put on her usual attire was definitely not to be underestimated. To get that all done in the time it would usually take me to just get out of bed in the morning, now *that* was impressive.

And the fact that she had not shown up yet was concerning.

Plus, where was Hideki in all this anyway? I remembered he was out patrolling the hallway, which made me more concerned the more I thought about it. Was he to blame for what was going on with Amy-chan? Oh dear, I just couldn’t handle the thought-

Suddenly, the door to the dining hall burst open, and we all gasped as a horrifying sight unfolded before us.

Hideki was standing in the doorway, gripping Amy-chan tightly by her hair. She was wincing in pain and holding her head, and it looked like some makeup was dripping down from her eyes.

“Whoa!” Utamuro shouted, running up to the two of them. Hideki let go of Amy-chan as she fell to her knees. “What did she do to you?!” Utamuro shouted at him, while helping Amy-chan stand back up.

“She was getting too suspicious,” Hideki replied. “I saw her looking around for the Orb of Desire,”

Masaki glared at him. “Look, what makes you think she was looking for the Orb of Desire?” He asked. “No really, what reason do we have to believe that you did this for any reason than just your own violent paranoia?”

“Yeah, this isn’t professional police behavior at all!” I tacked on. “Very uncharacteristic of an Ultimate,”

Hideki sighed and took a seat next to Sen. “Look, if she had found the Orb, then things would have turned out really bad for us. It’s something we can’t risk,”

Amy-chan let out an agonized “Owwww…” as Utamuro guided her to a seat, her movement looking dizzy and staggered.

Everyone went silent again, though the atmosphere seemed hostile and heated rather than frightened this time. A few of us were glaring at Hideki as Amy-chan occasionally whimpered.

“Anyway, what did we have planned for today?” asked Hideki.

“Y’know, I’m not bothering with this,” Kaemon said, getting out of his seat and walking away from the dining hall.

“Dear me, I… Really should be getting to baking now,” Asa nervously muttered through a mouthful of cake, getting up and rushing out of the room herself.

“Hmm, seems she’s suffering from a mild sugar rush,” Sen noted, for once taking an eye off of his paper.

Shiro tilted their head at him. “Is that a real thing?” They asked him.

“Why, of course!” Sen replied, his eyes perking up. “Perhaps not in the cartoonishly doping fashion that you may be thinking of, but it can raise a person’s brain activity to extensive levels,”

Shiro shrugged and laid back again, with everyone seeming to forget about the whole situation with Hideki and Amy-chan for some reason.

Within minutes, everybody had cleared the dining hall once more. With everyone else gone, as well as no plans or commitments coming up, I decided the best way to pass the time was to see what everybody else was up to. I definitely wasn’t about to spend any time with Hideki, so I was going to see who I could find by walking around.

I exited the dining hall and began walking down the hallway. As I made my way through, I noticed Aiko holding up a candle, muttering something under her breath. Surprisingly, Rai wasn’t anywhere near her for some reason.

Suddenly, Aiko turned to me and grinned. “Oh, hello there Kanon~” she greeted me, the flame on her candle flickering.

“Oh, hey-” I greeted her back. Her blood-red eyes and creepy, wide grin were as unsettling as always, sending chills down my spine as she spoke in her typical high-pitched, almost bewitching voice.

Aiko walked toward me and then looked me up and down, licking her lips. “Kanon, would you like to perform a ritual with me?” She asked, her wide grin turning into a warm smile. I couldn’t quite explain what it was, but somehow, in that moment, I felt… soothed. For whatever reason, I was starting to feel safe around Aiko. In that moment, her presence was warm and comfortable, even though those were words I would never use to describe her otherwise.

“Well, I’d love to!” I replied, now somehow eager to go along with whatever creepy thing she wanted to do.

“Excellent!” Aiko exclaimed, taking my hand. Her hand was covered in a soft black glove, but I could feel that she had a tight grip on me. Luckily, I had no plans to escape her clutches. Although, if I did, it would be quite unfortunate for me.

She and I walked out to the beach, where she then let go of my hand after we got decently far between the ocean and the train. She picked up a stick off the ground and then drew a circle in the sand, drawing various lines and indistinguishable patterns and designs inside. It was probably just another magic circle like the one she had drawn yesterday.

“What is this?” I asked her. “It’s the first time I’ve taken part in a ritual such as this. What’s the point of it?”

Aiko smiled as she began to place candles at the edges of the circle, notably placing them at the points where the lines would cross. Somehow, the flames on all the candles turned from an orange-red to a violet color. After she had finished setting all the candles, she sat down across from me in the circle.

“Okay, now just sit there, and close your eyes,” Aiko told me. I went along with it, closing my eyes. I could hear nothing but the crashing of the waves and the faint breeze, with the crisp beach air upon my skin. It felt like I was floating, like my body was in another dimension.

“You’re in another world now,” she said to me, her voice quiet, calm, reassuring. She took both my hands as I felt a surge of warmth through both my wrists. For once, I felt.. At peace. I had no idea what Aiko was doing, but whatever it was, it was working.

“Now, just concentrate on nothing. Clear your mind. This is a good test for stress relief and relaxation,” She whispered, her voice tickling my ears. “And whatever you do, don’t open your eyes,”

I then heard Aiko indistinctly mutter some phrases in a language I could not understand. It all sounded so alien to me, like sounds no normal human could ever make.

After the most soothing few minutes of my life, I heard Aiko’s soft voice echoing in my head again.

“Open your eyes,” she commanded me. I opened my eyes to see that all the candles had been snuffed out, probably from the cool beach wind. Aiko smiled at me and stood up, holding her hand down as if to instruct me to take it. I stood up and took her hand, making sure to snap some pictures of the circle before she kicked the lines in the sand out, putting all her candles away in the process. “This was my meditation ritual, the one I usually show to people first getting into my… spirituality,” She told me with a smile on her face. I didn’t quite know why she paused before finishing her sentence, but regardless, I had a good experience with it.

The two of us walked back up to the train, and we sat down at a table in the scenic room.

“So how was that?” Aiko asked me, looking deep into my eyes.

“It was… lovely, in all honesty,” I replied with a nod and a confident smile. “It felt… really nice. Better than I was anticipating,”

Aiko nodded and gave a sweet giggle. “Well, I’m glad to hear, dearie,” Aiko said to me, resting her head upon her hands. “How are you feeling now? Calm?”

I nodded. “Absolutely!” I replied. “Hey, would you mind if I did an editorial on your, uh, spirituality?” I asked her. “It obviously can’t be too big yet, but it’s fascinating to me,”

She nodded, her whole face lighting up. “Why, of course!” She said. “But, before we get to that, I have questions for you too,” she told me, clearing her throat. “First of all, how have you been? Every time I run into you, you appear to be downtrodden, sullen, jaded. You give off rather depressing vibes, and I must ask you. What is bothering you?”

“So you could see it after all?” I asked, giving a bit of a laugh. “I’ve tried not to look too upset, but I guess I’m not the best at hiding my emotions… Well, in all honesty, sometimes I feel like… well, you know. With all the death and all, I feel like I helped get Saeko killed… and Hideki being so controlling doesn’t help things. Plus, it doesn’t help matters that well… I don’t feel like I’m… enough, I guess. I can take pictures and write stories, but I still need to… do more. I just sort of fade into the background. Like I don’t really matter…” I trailed off. I had no idea why more words came out of me than I had previously intended, but I knew that my words would not fall upon deaf ears.

Aiko nodded. “I could sense it in you quite easily. Anyway… About all that. That’s absolute nonsense! You are perhaps the most intellectual person here! Why, I don’t think we would even be *alive* without you!”

“O-oh-”

“And don’t worry about all that, about not standing out! We are all unique in our own ways! None of us here is without talent, that’s what we’re all here for! And even beyond that, it is quite ridiculous that people have this idea that you need to have talent to matter,” She told me. “You absolutely matter. You’re beyond worth it! Kanon Amari, you are a precious gem and one of the most important people I have ever met!” She then took my hands and looked straight into my eyes. “Don’t you ever sell yourself short. Because I guarantee you, people in your life value you more than you could ever comprehend!”

“Wow…” Her reassuring smile returned to her face as I smiled back at her. She had struck a nerve with me in a way that only Masaki had before, and even then, that was mostly due to my attraction toward him. My only thoughts on Aiko up until now had been completely negative, but as it turned out… I was wrong about her. She made me feel *good* about myself!

Afterward, the two of us parted ways as she left, probably to hang out with Rai or Shiro. In the meantime, I set out to see who else was around to hang out with.

I walked into the scenic room, where I saw Amy-chan sitting at the table, applying heavy amounts of foundation and blush to her bruised face and looking into a rectangular makeup mirror. I could see black-gray streaks of mascara running down her cheeks, presumably from crying. Considering what likely happened with that dickhead Hideki, I couldn't blame the poor girl.

"O-oh, *ohayo* Kanon-chan..." Amy-chan said to me, uncharacteristically melancholy in her tone. The hairs in her wig had been crumpled and torn; it didn't look like it would ever see any usage again. It broke my heart seeing the girl so damaged and broken...

"Hey, Amy-chan," I greeted her, sitting down across from her. "You holding up okay?" I asked her. I didn't know why I was asking her that question; it was fairly clear that she absolutely was not.

Amy-chan shook her head and gave a subtle "*iie*" as she turned away, hiding the bruised side of her face from me.

I tapped my fingers on the table for a few seconds as I tried to think of some way to break the tension. "Uh... How cosplays have you done?" I asked her.

She gave a soft sigh and looked down, staying silent for a few seconds. "I lost count in 2009," she replied. Somehow, this sentence caught me off-guard. It didn't feel as overly-saccharine or ditzy or fake-Japanese. It felt... genuine.

"Wow, you... have sure done a lot?" I replied, giving a nervous chuckle. "Uh... how many albums have you recorded?" I asked. I admittedly wasn't too into the J-Pop scene, so I wouldn't even know any of her album names off the top of my head.

She scowled and shook her head again. "I haven't been counting since 2009,"

Her voice felt a lot softer and weaker than usual. This wasn't the obnoxious, boisterous Amy-chan I had been used to.

"Well uh..." I began tugging at my sleeve as the silence began to deafen the room. I could feel my heart pounding as I tried to think of something to add to the conversation, but *nothing* was coming to my head! "How much Japanese do you know?"

She shook her head again and turned away. "I stopped learning more Japanese in 2009,"

Dear god, what the *fuck* happened in 2009?!

"Okay, what happened that year?" I asked her. "You're... a completely different person than I thought you were,"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Nothing, that was just when I moved to Japan and switched labels, and... they gave me a new persona, telling me to play up the cutesy, dumb fake Japanese girl thing as much as I could,"

Wait... what?

"Is that-"

"Yes!" She replied, slamming her hands on the table. I sat there in silence as Amy-chan looked down. "Sorry, I'm really on-edge right now..." she whispered. "It's hard for me to keep up my ditzy persona when encounters like the one with Hideki happened," she said. "I had to live under a strict contract. I wasn't allowed to break character, I wasn't allowed to date because the boys had to believe I was single and available, for my image. And if I acted out of line..." she shook her head again as a single tear fell from her left eye, which she prompty wiped away with a tissue before covering up that spot with some foundation. "Sorry Kanon, I didn't mean to run my mouth there,"

I shook my head at her. "It's okay," I replied. "You needed to get that off your chest," I then pulled my journal out of my bag. "May I ask what sort of things went down?"

Amy-chan then gasped and looked away again. "I can't... Not if you're going to publish that,"

I shrugged and put the journal back into my bag. If she couldn't even inform me of what happened, then it must have been real bad. Perhaps it had something to do with her contract?

"I'm sorry, Amy," I whispered, clasping my hands. "I totally took you for someone completely different, I was convinced you were a total idiot butchering Japanese at every opportunity," I informed her. "Would have never guessed it was all an act,"

Amy-chan nodded and smiled at me, taking a deep breath. "Thank you Kanon, I really needed somebody to listen to me while Utamuro was out,"

I smiled back. "Of course! I feel like I've gotten to know a whole new side of you," I told her. "You and Utamuro seem close, are you two like...?"

She raised an eyebrow and giggled. "He's a cutie. Right now he's in his room, making a new outfit for me! The guy works so hard..."

Well, this was cute.

"Anyway, I'll be back. We should hang out more!" Amy-chan told me as she stood up, reverting to her cutesy self. "*Arigato* Kanon-chan, and *sayonara*!"

I walked away from the scenic room and walked toward the hallway, where I found Azizah working next to a power box attached to the wall, apparently messing with some wires using some tools from her belt. She turned to me as I approached, and flashed a quick smile in my direction.

"Good afternoon, Kanon! What are you up to right now?" Azizah asked me, taking a second to wipe her glasses off. Seeing her so cheery made it difficult to think about what Kaemon had done just the day before.

"Good afternoon to you too!" I greeted her. I didn't want to distract her too much; it looked like she was working hard on whatever it was she was doing.

She turned back to the power box and fiddled with the wires a bit for a few seconds, and then suddenly the light all around got brighter; I could see everything more clearly. I didn't een realize how dim the lights had gotten!

"Monokuma really doesn't take good care of this place," Azizah said with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well, it's not a hard fix for me," she said as she closed the door to the power box. "You look very surprised, Kanon. Why's that?"

"Just, you work really fast and I didn't see how dark it really was in here," I replied. "I'm kind of impressed!"

Azizah shrugged again. "Ah, you do not need to flatter me so much. This is quite an easy fix for me!"

Well, in her attempt to sound humble she ended up boasting even more. Not that I could hold it against her though.

"You're a really hard worker, aren't you?" I asked her. "You built that generator and you also make time for your religion, does it ever get tiring?"

Azizah shrugged again. "Not really. Yeah, it means I don't get to work on things as long as I'd particularly like to, but for my religion, I'll gladly make any sacrifices I need! Well... as many as I can afford to make, that is..."

I remembered what Kaemon revealed about her wearing her hijab in public, and suddenly frowned. I wanted to ask about that particular incident, but I also didn't want to open any old wounds.

"I'm supposed to wear my hijab, but I'm kind of scared to... People seem to be afraid of me when I wear it, and people like Kaemon really don't help. I feel like I'm letting go of an important part of me..." She trailed off. Huh, she got personal real quick.

"Well, it's just the rest of us here, why don't you begin wearing it now? I don't think anyone will judge you, except Kaemon," I said to her, trying my best to sound motivational.

Azizah shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. "I worry about the looks I'll get, or what Kaemon will say... I really don't want to have to deal with all that again,"

I looked down and sighed. She knew more than any of us how important it was that she wear it, but then again, I wasn't one to tell her how it would affect the way anybody else looked at her. It was obvious Kaemon would be a dick about it, but there was no way to tell how anybody else would handle it. I would definitely defend her if anyone gave her shit, but how would the others go about it? It was a frustrating dilemma to say the least.

"Well Azizah, just know that no matter what, it's okay. You don't have to do anything for anybody except yourself. It shouldn't be anybody's decision how you go about your religion," I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Azizah smiled back at me and closed her eyes. "I appreciate that very much, dear Kanon. I apologize if I am being difficult at the moment,"

Aw, now she was apologizing to me for things that weren't her fault? Poor girl.

"Anyway," She said, picking her toolbox off of the ground. "I've got some other things that need fixing right now. We'll talk later?" She asked.

"For sure!" I replied with a smile.

Just as Azizah walked off, Tame and Kenji entered through the door, both looking to be in a rush of some sort.

"Kanon! Come quick!" Tame said to me, grabbing onto my right hand.

"Wait, what is it?!" I asked.

"It's important," Kenji replied. "Furthermore... it's a secret. You can't let Hideki find out,"

### Train Life

Tame practically pulled me into the hallway, Kenji following along beside her.

"What are you showing me?" I asked, trying to pull away from Tame's hand. For one reason or another, she maintained an iron grip on my hand that I couldn't pry myself away from.

"You'll see," Tame replied. I couldn't hear any music blaring from her headphones this time, so I knew for sure she had to be serious about this. "It's about the Orb of Desire,"

In what felt like just a flash, the two of us led me to the car with the bedrooms. Tomoe, Utamuro, and Amy-chan were standing in between Shiro and Yuki's dorms, right in front of a small wooden dresser that barely came up to Utamuro's waist. It looked like it could have been for decoration, and furthermore, there was one in between every dorm room.

"What's so special about this?" I asked, pointing at the dresser. Was the Orb was likely just in one of the drawers - wait, it couldn't have been! I remembered, the Orb was too big to fit inside of a drawer like that!

"Take a look," Kenji replied, grabbing onto the sides of the dresser. He then lifted it up, to show a large, square hole underneath the dresser. The drawers were just for show anyway! More importantly, there it was. The Orb of Desire, underneath the hallow display dresser. I guess there were more clever ways of hiding something like this, but at the same time, who would have thought?

Furthermore, how *did* anyone find it? Who would have thought to look underneath a dresser? Specifically, this one?

Kenji then set the dresser back down after I'd gotten a good look for a few seconds.

"Rai's the one who pointed it out to us," Tomoe told me. "My guess'd be that he saw Masaki and Hideki with it, but none of us really know how. He wouldn't tell us how he figured it out,"

Utamuro nodded. "Obviously, we have to be careful around it. The temptation to gain something from this is really strong..."

"Why did you show this to me then? Why not just leave it alone?" I asked him.

"Because Hideki is a *baka* who can't think of a better place to store it!" Amy-chan piped up.

Kenji shook his head. "Wrong. It's simple - because it's inevitable that somehow, this Orb is going to lead up to some tension. Or, if things go wrong enough... even a murder,"

Tame gave a chuckle. "You know, maybe not the right time to bring this up, but when I'm writing scripts for Steady Heart and other anime I've worked on, I like to use tension as a gateway for romance!"

Everyone gave Tame a weird look as she then went a light shade of red, before clearing her throat and turning away.

"Anyway," began Kenji, moving on from that subject. "I'm thinking, if any murders do happen, we can all trace it back to this location,"

Wait, what about Hideki? If he found us here, we would undoubtedly feel his strongest fury.

"What if Hideki finds us?" I asked them.

Tomoe gave a chuckle and waved her hand downward, then shook her head. "Nah, don't worry about it. Masaki's got him distracted,"

"I hope he's okay," I whispered. Ugh, Hideki was such a dick to him! I really had to give it to Masaki, it wasn't easy to put up with Hideki so long. Yet Masaki always did it for us, what a guy.

"I hear someone coming," Kenji whispered, bowing his head as he gently set the dresser back down over the Orb. "Everyone, act as if we're all here by coincidence,"

"How do we do that?!" asked Tame, her face going pale as she stepped back.

Tomoe grinned, lifting her sunglasses up a bit as the sound of forceful, authoritative footsteps resonated through the hallway. There was no mistaking it, they had to be Hideki's. I'd recognize that paranoid, sinking feeling anywhere.

Before I could get a chance to do as Kenji asked and act like I was only here by total coincidence, Hideki entered the hallway through the door behind us. He flashed a grin as he approached, raising his sunglasses as he centered on all of us. Oh, fuck.

"What's everyone doing here, huh? Kind of an odd place for a meeting, huh?" Hideki asked us.

Tomoe gave a chuckle and turned around. "Hideki, you interrupted our improv session!"

"Improv?" Hideki asked, tilting his head at Tomoe. "Huh, doesn't look like the most thespian of people you coulda assembled here,"

Fuck. Hideki was onto us. I felt myself backing away a little as my heart began to palpitate in my chest. Come on, think fast, Kanon. Think fast.

"Oh no, I dropped my fishing harpoon into the ocean!" Utamuro exclaimed, his voice sounding choppy and staccato as he was very badly acting something out.

Tame then looked side-to-side and grabbed onto my shoulders, looking me straight into the eye. "Oh no, Captain, Ummmm- Ummally's fishing harpoon was the only defense we had against Doby Mick!" She overdramatically cried, suddenly embracing me and crying. Thinking quickly, I held her too.

"Dun' worry, my darlin'! If we go out, we go out together!" I badly acted out too, trying to make my voice sound like Toko's. My guess was that it wasn't convincing at all.

Hideki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Weird place to do your little improv thing, but alright. I guess bad acting isn't a crime," He then took in a deep breath and began walking out toward the door outside. "Anyway, I'm gathering everybody outside, so unless you guys want me to suspect you of something, I suggest coming with,"

With a hasty turn, Hideki walked out of the room and toward the beach. Was he really fooled by our act? There was no way, our acting was too terrible.

"Ugh, you guys are the *worst* actors I've ever seen!" Tomoe scolded us.

"I dunno, maybe the fact that you work with professionals might play into that," Utamuro replied, tipping his hat down in shame.

Kenji and Tame walked away and out toward the beach, as did Utamuro, Tomoe, and Amy-chan. I guess there wasn't left for me to do while I was here. I could have lifted the dresser to get to the Orb of Desire, allowing me to wish for something while nobody saw me, but that wouldn't be fair, now would it? Damn, the urge for me to feel the Orb, wish upon its crystal, glassy essence and grant a wish. I could escape from here with Masaki and lead a new life as a famous photojournalist. Hell, I could even get everybody else here out to safety!

However, I had to let that idea go. I had already made the point that vying for the Orb would only tear us apart further and make a murder that much more liable to happen.

I began to walk out toward the front of the room to see Hideki standing at the door, crossing his arms and sneering at me.

"You know, Kanon. It's pretty suspicious that you guys were doing improv in the hallway. You'd think that a more spacious room would be better for that, wouldn't you?"

I froze. Shit, he did catch onto me. But it wasn't my fault! Tame and Kenji pulled me into the room for whatever reason!

"D-don't look at me! It was Tomoe's idea!" I replied. "Shouldn't we go out onto the beach already? I'm sure everybody is waiting for us!"

Hideki gave an intimidating chuckle as he stepped toward me, lowering his sunglasses once more. "You know, you're trying awfully hard to change the subject, why's that?" He asked me.

"Does it matter?" I asked. I instantly regretted asking that as those words left my lips. I saw his eyebrows raise upward as a scowl spread across his face.

"Look here, you smartass," Hideki began with a growl, stepping forward as his imposing gait sent a chill down my spine. Oh no, I remembered what had happened with Amy-chan just this morning-

Suddenly I heard the door slam open as somebody stepped in behind Hideki.

"Are you tormenting Kanon again?!" I heard Masaki ask, grabbing Hideki by the shoulder.

I felt my heart jump a little as I gave a sigh of relief. I didn't even want to know what Hideki would have done had Masaki not stepped in when he did.

With that same scowl upon his face, Hideki turned away and cursed under his breath, making sure to get one last glare in my direction before heading out. I went outside too, as Masaki stayed by my side.

"Sorry about that," Masaki whispered to me. "I shouldn't have let him go and look for the rest of you on his own. I guess I just made a bad call,"

I nodded, unable to keep a smile off of my face. That was to be expected around Masaki, though, wasn't it? The two of us walked out onto the beach, where everyone else was gathered out on the sand right outside of the shack, with the exception of Yuki, who was in the water up to her neck.

"So we're all here now?" asked Kaemon, crossing his arms with a grimace over his face. "I've been waiting here for way too fucking long,"

"You've been out here literally less than five minutes," Shiro replied, wearing their visor from before.

Kaemon rolled his eyes and gave a groan, as Asa raised her hand up. "Mister Harada, for what reason did you gather us all out here?" she asked.

Hideki gave a chuckle as he glanced at me, and then back at Asa as he stood in the center of everybody. "So, I set a boundary concerning the Orb of Desire, hid it away from the rest of you as much as possible, and yet, *somebody* had to go out and break that rule,"

"Hey piggie, couldn't you have picked a better place to do this?" shouted Yuki from afar. "This ain't very convenient for me!"

The Ultimate Interrogator shook his head at Yuki's insinuation. "Perhaps I would have... if *somebody* didn't break the rule. Rai, care to explain?" He asked, turning to the Ultimate Meteorologist.

"Wh-wha?" Rai asked, his face flushing red as his eyes widened. "O-oh, right. Um, I was with Aiko in the hallway and- um- we saw this masked figure with the Orb of Desire! It was like a wrestling mask that went over their full head, covering their face completely! I couldn't tell who it was for the life of me!"

Aiko tilted her head at Rai and frowned. "I don't really recall that happening... I think it probably was too quick for my eye to catch! Too busy focusing on the spirits~"

Hideki nodded at Aiko and then stomped his foot on the ground, kicking up sand all around us. "Anyway, whoever that masked figure was, if they found the Orb of Desire, they broke our rule. And for that, we gotta punish 'em,"

Utamuro gave a snide laugh in response. "Sorry to burst your bubble, officer, but I think being harsh like this is only gonna make whoever the masked figure was less likely to come forward,"

"Of course they're not gonna come forward, why would they do that?" Hideki asked, before turning back to Rai. "Anyway, weatherboy, describe to me what the masked figure looked like. Were they tall, thin, what? We don't have a lot of people with us, so we can begin narrowing them down real quick,"

Shiro cleared their throat. "I'd like to mention that I was there with them, Rai, that'd be nice of you to at least add to that. Anyway, from what I could tell, the figure was kinda sleek, slender. Not very tall,"

Oh shit, that was most of us, wasn't it?

Rai nodded in return. "Right, Shiro was there with us. I couldn't tell too much myself, since we were kinda far away. But they're right,"

Hideki bowed his head down and scratched his chin. "Then I guess we can begin narrowing down the possible suspects. Kaemon, Asa, and I are too big. Ryo and Daquan are too tall and muscular, and it couldn't have been Rai, Aiko, or Shiro,"

"I was with Tame at the time," Kenji replied. "And Utamuro, Amy-chan, and Tomoe were there too, helping clean the scenic room,"

Kaemon rolled his eyes and began walking back up toward the train. "Look, if nobody is dead, I"m not doing this," He said as he trudged his way through the sand and back up to the steps of the train.

"Oh no you don't!" Hideki shouted, running after the Ultimate Game Livestreamer and grabbing onto his shirt collar. "We're all staying out here until sundown! Or until our mysterious masked figure comes forward,"

I scratched my chin and looked down at the sand. Was there somebody else among us, hiding on the train and out of sight of the rest of us? How would that even be possible? I knew that none of us had yet been able to get into the conductor's room, perhaps that had something to do with it? But then again, wasn't Monokuma the train's conductor?

"What if there's somebody hiding among us?" I suggested. "It sounds like we all have airtight alibis for this; I can't think of a way one of us could have been the culprit,"

Masaki looked at me, his eyes lighting up as he crouched onto the ground. "Actually, not a bad idea," He whispered. Masaki began drawing some lines in the sand, before connecting those lines to form boxes, until he'd created a map of the train on the sand. "Alright, so you guys know how none of us can get into the conductor's room?"

Toko grinned at Masaki's question, twirling a revolver around on their finger. "I reckon that yer onto somethin',"

"Ah, you're correct. I haven't had any luck trying to get inside of there either," Azizah confessed, looking up at the sky. "I figure we're not allowed inside,"

Of course, just as if right on cue, Monokuma burst onto the scene and appeared in the middle of our group.

"Upupu, you guys aren't trying to get into the Conductor's Room, are you?" He asked us, holding onto his gut as he gave a hearty laugh.

"Wh-what?! Of course we aren't, please do have mercy on us Mister Monokuma-" Asa pleaded, before Monokuma put his hands behind his back and kicked at the sand.

"Awww, you're not? Well that's no fun, because now I can't crush your hopes and dreams when I tell you that the room is off-limits to everybody except for train conductor Monokuma!"

I guess I should have been able to figure that out...

"Anyway, you guys have fun! Upupu!" Before any of us could say anything else to the sadistic bear, he disappeared in a flash and without a trace.

"...So I guess that answers that," Hideki grumbled.

Sen nodded, before walking back up to the train himself. "I can understand that Monokuma doesn't want to be bothered while he is at work; I certainly wouldn't want to be bothered while I was working either,"

"Where you think you're going, House M.D.?" asked Hideki as Sen walked onto the steps of the train.

"Oh, nothing much, just finishing up my work here," Sen replied, giving a cough under his mask.

"I knew it! Sen was the masked figure!" Yuki shouted from the water.

"Let's not jump to conclusions here," Guadalupe replied, looking up at the sky.

Hideki shook his head once more. "Sorry doc, but you're gonna have to finish everything up here later, at least until we find out who was behind all that,"

Some more time passed. I hung around Masaki and Ryo most of the time, but after around an hour happened and the sun began to set, I saw Kaemon walking back up to the train again.

"Hey, did you not hear me the first time?!" Hideki shouted.

"It's sundown!" Kaemon shouted back. "I haven't played a game in hours now!"

"It's only been around an hour though!" Daquan replied. "I don't like Hideki either but you're just gonna make more problems for all of us!"

Azizah stepped forward. "Please, Kaemon, just go along with this just this once-"

Kaemon growled and stepped forward toward Azizah, balling his hands into fists. "What's your fucking problem with me?!" He yelled at her. "You belong to a hateful group of people and just want us all to be killed! Get the fuck out of here before I make you regret it!"

Azizah went silent, standing back as her limbs stiffened up. "B-but- Kaemon, I-"

"I said shut the fuck up, bitch!" He said back to her, not giving her the chance to respond.

"M-Mister Nakama, sir-" Asa began, but she too was cut off.

"Oh, so now the fucking baker girl is gonna try to talk politics?!" He asked. "No, stick to what you're good at, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about,"

The sun was beginning to set in the distance. I wanted to run up there and punch Kaemon in the face, knock those glasses off his disgusting head. I wanted to slam him into a wall, really make him hurt.

Of course, I was too weak and feeble to attempt to do such a thing, but I wanted him hurt. For a moment, I even wished he was dead.

Before anyone could do anything else, Kaemon stepped back onto the train and disappeared from our sight. Azizah fell down onto her knees, and began to cry as she buried her face in her hands. "B-but... I-"

"You don't need to explain yourself to anyone," Masaki said to her, patting her back as he sat down beside Azizah. "We know. Kaemon's just a dick,"

"I-I really think he can get better-"

"Yeah, but until he makes some effort, stop trying," I told her. "He's not gonna change. People like him... they just don't,"

Asa gave a sigh and began to walk up toward the train herself. "I... really need to clear my head. If anybody needs me, catch me in the kitchen, making food for us,"

"*Sugoi!*" Amy-chan exclaimed. "I can't wait, I love Asa's baking sooooo much!"

Asa and Amy-chan walked up and disappeared into the train, leaving the rest of us behind. After a few seconds of silence, Yuki stepped out of the water as she dripped all over the sand. "Well fuck, I'm numb and can't feel a thing! My hands feel like prunes..." She whispered as she went up with Guadalupe. Everybody went up to the train, but Hideki stopped me right as I made it onto the steps just as before.

"Just so you know, Kanon," Hideki said to me in his intimidating tone as he always did. I gulped as he stared me down, a grin forming upon his face. "I don't exactly have the most faith in you *not* being the masked figure. In fact... if I had to guess, you're probably my first choice. It's always the ones you'd never suspect first,"

I felt my heart drop inside my chest as Hideki's words resonated through my head. Of course I wasn't the one who found the Orb! I didn't even own a mask! Hell, just as everyone else, I had an alibi during the whole ordeal! Before I could confront Hideki about that, however, he walked up and disappeared from my sight. It was getting late, and I was feeling awfully tired.

Just as I passed through the hallway and into the dorms, I checked back on the dresser that had the Orb underneath. I stopped for a bit, making sure that nobody was around. Indeed, it looked like everybody had gone to bed already. With a deep breath, I lifted up the dresser and snapped a picture of the Orb with my camera before setting the dresser down. While it would give away that I knew of the Orb's location, if something did happen, I'd be able to at least begin forming a statement.

I went into my room and drifted off to bed, too tired to even change out of my pajamas. I kept thinking about the Orb, and about Masaki, and about Hideki. I felt way too tired to do anything else, though.

I closed my eyes and suddenly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Zzzz... zzz...

Suddenly I jolted awake as I heard bumping and crashing outside my dorm room. It sounded awfully close to my room, and it sounded like something was breaking. No, it sounded like a damned hurricane was going on in the hallway. I readied my camera as I stepped outside, gulping a bit as my curiosity got the better of me-

And suddenly I gasped as I saw a masked, dark figure in the hallway. I couldn't really make out much due to the darkness, but I saw them fumbling with the dresser. Rai's testimony was correct - a slim, petite figure, with no other discernible features due to their outfit.

"Stop it right there!" I shouted, snapping a picture with my camera. The flash went off, but just as I got the picture, the masked figure dashed off without a trace. I walked back over to the dresser and lifted it up. The Orb was gone! I snapped another picture of the dresser without the Orb underneath.

"Kanon?" I heard Hideki ask, behind me and holding his flashlight up, the bright light shining in my face. "What are you doing out here?" He asked me.

"N-nothing!" I defensively replied. "I-I saw the figure! The masked figure that Rai was talking about!"

Hideki scratched his chin and looked underneath the dresser, then shook his head. "Right... what happened to the figure?" He asked me.

"Th-they took off toward the kitchen!" I replied. "Look!" I showed Hideki the picture of the masked figure on my camera. Sadly, all I had managed to get in the frame was their back, slightly obscured by the dresser in the foreground.

"...Right," Hideki replied. "Anyway, if that's where the masked figure took off to, let's go find them,"

I nodded back. I looked down at my phone to see that it was now 1:30 am. Damn, I slept through the night announcement?

With a hurry, Hideki and I ran into the kitchen. Inside, we saw that the room had all its lights on for some reason. Asa was constantly moving around, wearing a flour-caked apron, mixing some ingredients in a bowl. There was a timer on the oven which read "6:25", and Masaki, Amy-chan, Utamuro, Tomoe, Rai, Aiko, Tame, Kenji, and Sen were sitting at a table, patiently waiting for Asa's food to be finished. Everyone looked really tired, some of them almost about to fall asleep, with the curious exception of Amy-chan, who had just as much energy as always.

"Oh good, more of you have arrived!" Asa exclaimed. "I'm making cupcakes tonight!"

"Oooo, cupcakes?" I asked. Mmm, that sounded good... No wait, I had a reason I was here! "Guys, did a masked figure like the one Rai talked about come in here?" I asked them.

"Haven't seen one," Masaki replied with a shrug.

"Nope, it's just us here," Utamuro told me.

"Ah, the plot thickens!" Tomoe snickered

"Not really making a good case for yourself here," Hideki told me. Uh-oh.

Suddenly, that's when something really disturbing came on the monitor in the corner of the room.

After some static, an... uncomfortable close-up of Kaemon's face appeared on the screen. Behind him was the faintest image of a masked figure in the background.

"Ah, hello everybody," He greeted us as a disgusting, horrible grin manifested onto his face. "I promise there's an explanation for all of this. But, to make a long story short, if any of you guys want to see your friend again... I suggest you guys follow me into the computer room. Take this as a threat. If you don't wanna believe me..." He then gave a chuckle. "It's your loss. If you can't stop me... I wouldn't advise looking on the beach for a while,"

Before he could say anything else, the broadcast cut out as static appeared over the monitor again, before shutting off.

Wait, how did that even work?! How did he override Monokuma's monitors?! What of the masked figure? What was he going to do?! Was anybody in danger? Was Kaemon working with the masked figure? And what about the beach?!

"Did anybody else see that?!" I heard Azizah ask as she burst into the kitchen. SHe was holding a slip of paper in her hands, in just about illegible writing. "I... Got this on my doorstep. It says a lot of hateful things and I just know it's from Kaemon... Then I saw the broadcast and now I'm worried..."

"Only one thing to do!" Hideki called out. "Everyone, to the computer lab!"

"B-but Asa has to stay here to make sure her cupcakes don't burn!" Rai protested. "I'm too nervous... I'll stay here too,"

"Well, I'm going," Masaki stated. "I can't let Kaemon get away with anything!"

With great haste, Masaki, Hideki, Azizah, Sen, and I ran off into the computer lab. Just as we burst in through the door... we were met with something unexpected, unsettling, and absolutely... despairful.

The body of a clearly overweight figure hunched over on a chair in front of a computer, their face on the keyboard and dripping blood all over and onto the floor. Their hands were tied behind their back and over the chair, but more importantly, a mask, not unlike the one Rai described and the one on the figure I'd seen just minutes before, was pulled over their head.

"Oh no..." whispered Azizah. Hideki and Sen carefully approached the body as Sen pulled on a pair of blue rubber gloves, before carefully pulling the mask off.

All we saw underneath the mask... was Kaemon's pale face, his eyes rolled upward as his throat was crudely slit open, pink blood spilling onto his greasy yellow shirt.

Everyone stopped in utter horror.

**BING-BONG BING-BONG!**

The monitor in the corner of the room turned on.

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma said on the screen. He wore that same demented grin as always. "After a certain amount of time has passed, a class trial will begin!"

"N-no...!" Azizah cried, walking toward Kaemon's body. She wiped a tear from her eye as she stooped downward, saying something in a language I couldn't understand.

Masaki took a deep breath and shook his head. "I... know this is distressing, but... he always treated you like shit. Even now, we were afraid he'd be the one killing someone. Not the other way around..."

Azizah shook her head and wiped another tear from her eye as she turned back to Masaki. "You don't get it. Now... he'll never get the chance to change, be somebody better..." She whispered.

"I understand," I softly replied to Azizah. "Anyway, we gotta reconnect with the others. Find clues as soon as possible,"

"Kaemon said we should check the beach!" Hideki answered. "Maybe there's something for us there!"

Meanwhile, Sen was examining Kaemon's body. "I'll be right out there, I just need to perform an autopsy first,"

Then, we all went back into the kitchen. Everybody else was freaking out, yelling at and talking over one another with no order whatsoever.

"What happened?!" Tame asked, her body shaking and her voice jittering.

"Wh-who's *kojin*?!" Amy-chan whined.

"K-Kaemon..." Azizah whispered, her eyes going dead and cold. "He... he's dead,"

"The beach! Kaemon said there'd be something on the beach!" Hideki told us all. "We have to go there right now!"

In a flash, every one of us began to head outside to the beach. There wasn't anything in particular that caught my eye though. Everything seemed to be in order.

"Maybe it's in the shack?" Rai asked.

"Good call!" Masaki replied, "To the shack, now!" I went with Masaki, Azizah, and Hideki into the shack as the three of us began to look around. Again, nothing in here was exactly out of the ordinary.

"Do these bottles of soda look any different to you?" Azizah asked Masaki.

"Not really," He replied. Suddenly, Tame, Kenji, and Asa rushed inside of the shack, and Tomoe, Rai, and Aiko followed behind.

"Guys, come quick!" Tame commanded, sweat drops running down her head. "It's an emergency!"

"The masked figure returned!" Rai told us.

"I saw them, with my own eyes!" Kenji said.

With a nod, we all ran back onto the beach.

And the scene that unfolded before us was something that none of us could have ever expected.

The dead body of Amy-chan washed-up, wet, and covered in sand. Amy-chan's eyes were bloated and dilated, and the sand below her hair was dyed a light pink and blue. Strangely, it didn't look like there were any wounds on her body. Utamuro had pushed her onto her back, and was pressing down on her chest rapidly. Clearly, Amy-chan was not responding though.

**BING-BONG, BING-BONG!**

The monitor on one of the palm trees flicked on, Monokuma in the same spot as before. "A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, a class trial will begin!"

First Kaemon... and then minutes later, Amy-chan?

Furthermore... the masked figure was nowhere in sight.

Two murders in the span of only a few minutes.

Whoever this masked figure was, they were one of the worst people that could possibly exist.

### Investigation

“Oh no… Miss Amy-chan!” Asa screamed.

“Please… Please, Amy-chan! Amy-chan! Wake up…” Utamuro screamed before crying into Amy-chan’s dead stomach. If Monokuma’s announcement wasn’t enough, Amy had stopped moving completely. It was beyond obvious she was dead - but I could understand that Utamuro was in denial. It was natural, really - but now I had to get to the bottom of all this.

“Kenji,” I began, looking straight into the Ultimate Swordplayer’s cold, black eyes. “You told me that you saw the masked figure with your own eyes. What happened?”

Kenji shook his head and cleared his throat before making his dissertation. “I was combing the beach for whatever it was that Kaemon was talking about. Of course, I was unsure of what to look for. Then, that’s when I heard it, that disturbing gurgling sound. By the time I heard it, though… it was too late. When we arrived on the scene, it was too late…”

I turned to Tame, who was shaking, sweating bullets. Her headphones, for once in her life, were around her neck rather than her head. “We just… don’t know how it happened,”

I gulped, taking a look at Amy-chan’s drowned body. Her dyed hair was a total mess, streaks of pink and blue running across her shoulders and staining her shirt. I could see a few pink crumbs on her cheek, probably from eating the cupcakes Asa made. I knew she was always a fan, after all. Suddenly, the reeking smell of ocean water mixed with the overwhelming odor of a corpse filled my nostrils. On top of how hard it was to even look at Amy-chan, this ghastly smell overpowered me. I couldn’t investigate her body further than this. I had to take a few steps downwind, just to make sure I didn’t vomit on the spot.

“I got this,” Masaki said, coming from behind me. As he rushed through the sand, he turned over Amy-chan’s dead body. The calm, almost melancholic waves splashed Masaki as he investigated her sand-covered body, looking around for any wounds. “...I can’t find anything,” He muttered.

“M-maybe we should…” Rai sputtered, before gagging and turning away. His face looked almost a sickly yellow, about to vomit on the spot.

“We need to get Sen,” Azizah said. “He will know what happened,” In a flash, Azizah ran back toward the train.

“A double murder…” Hideki muttered, scratching his chin as he wrote something down in a notepad. “Just one is enough, but a second? There’s no way this can be within the rules-”

Just as if on cue, Monokuma appeared on the scene, as nonchalant about the recent death as ever. “Upupu~! Sorry Porky, but every killer can kill up to two victims at once! Which means that even if it was the same killer both times, it’s perfectly within the rules!”

```
I whispered to myself.  What the fuck, Monokuma?  You already gave us the rules the day the Killing Game began.  Who were you to start changing rules now that Kaemon and Amy-chan were dead?

```

“Hey, Monokuma,” Masaki began, as matter-of-factly as ever. “In the event that Kaemon and Amy-chan’s killers were different, what do we do? You never informed us of this,”

“Upupu~” Monokuma giggled, turning toward Masaki with a grin. “Good question! In this case… I think I’ll let you figure it out at the class trial!”

“Wait, but you can’t-” I tried to protest, but before anything else could leave my mouth, Monokuma vanished from sight. Well, that was quite typical of him.

“Two murders…” Masaki muttered under his breath, still scratching his chin. “Couldn’t be more than ten minutes within discovery of each other. We know that Amy-chan died as soon as she came outside, but we still don’t know about Kaemon,”

In only a few minutes, Azizah and Sen dashed out of the train. The Ultimate Doctor cut across the sand, making haste toward Amy-chan’s dead body. As Sen examined her, I took the time to pull out my E-Handbook. Right on cue, there were two Monokuma Files - One for Kaemon, one for Amy-chan. Amy-chan’s image was colored in pink on the head and stomach, as with Kaemon’s. The only difference is that Kaemon also had a long pink spot along the neck.

Monokuma File #3:

* The victims were Amy-chan Sakura and Kaemon Nakama. Both were killed via asphyxiation. Amy-chan’s body was discovered on the beach while Kaemon’s was discovered in the computer room.

“Weird,” Masaki said under his breath.

“What is it?” asked Azizah, raising an eyebrow at Masaki.

“Remember how Lorenzo and Saeko’s cases both had a time of death on them? There’s not one for this one,” Masaki said. He was right! I read the file twice, three times - a time of death was not listed!

“Does it matter?” Aiko asked. “We just witnessed Amy-chan die, and we saw Kaemon on the screen. As far as I can see, we already know the time of death,”

Aiko seemed to have a point. With Lorenzo, we had to juxtapose his exact time of death with every other event that happened in an hour. And with Saeko, I doubt we would have ever figured everything out if we hadn’t had her time of death as a starting point. Here, we essentially watched two deaths play out in real time.

“H-hey! Those crumbs!” Rai said, shakily pointing at Amy’s body, specifically toward her face. He was tilting his head at an angle between myself and Amy-chan, obviously trying to look away from her.

Oh yeah, the crumbs! I had thought nothing of them when I saw them on her face. Just to make sure, I snapped a picture of Amy’s dead body, making sure to get an extra focus on her face, double-checking to get just the right focus on the crumbs.

“What do they mean other than that she had recently feasted upon Asa’s confectionery?” asked Aiko, a puzzled look upon her face.

“It means-” I piped up. “We need to know if there was anything…

```
them.  If anyone can figure it out, it’s our Chemist,”

```

“R-Right! Shiro will know for sure!” Rai tried to approach Amy, before gagging in his mouth and backed up. “N-never mind, I can’t-”

“I got it,” Masaki said, scooping up the crumbs from Amy’s face into a cup. Wait, where did he get his cup from- oh right, stupid question. He then ran back onto the train, while Utamuro still knelt over Amy’s body.

“Amy…” Utamuro whispered, wiping a tear from his eye. I couldn’t even imagine what the poor guy was going through, losing two of his best friends so quickly. At least he still had Tomoe and Asa…

I had to get answers about that masked figure, it was a priority.

“This certainly looks like her body has suffered some breathing problems in her dying moments,” Sen said, moving his hand around Amy-chan’s stomach and chest. “It’s very likely she died from breathing complications,”

I had to remember this, that detail was crucial. Then I remembered something else!

“Rai,” I began, remembering how he was the first one to notice the masked figure. “Is this what the figure looked like?” I asked, showing him the picture I took on my camera. Rai gave a shy nod in response. “And you said that they disappeared as soon as you got a good look?”

“Th-they’ve only appeared in the dark!” Rai replied. “Both times, they were gone the second I turned away!”

Okay, that checked out with what I noticed. But where did they go? The first time I could understand. The second, a little more difficult, but Hideki and I were very close. And the third? They had nowhere else to run off to, and Rai, Aiko, Kenji, Tame, Tomoe, Utamuro, and Asa had to have seen them as well.

"Okay, Rai," I began. "Where were you when this all happened?"

"I-I was asleep, and then I heard the noise!" He replied. Hmm, so it seemed his story checked out with mine. "I was supposed to meet up with Aiko in the dining hall. That's when I saw a flash, and then a shadow of a humanoid figure! But I never saw more than that, and it disappeared as soon as the flash did. When I went into the dining hall, everyone was there, waiting for me,"

Alright, that was one account down.

"I can confirm that Rai appeared a bit later than the rest of us," Tame added. "Me, Kenji, Utamuro, Amy-chan, Aiko, Masaki, and Asa were already there. Then you and Hideki showed up, and later, Azizah,"

So Rai was a little late to the party, that was something for me to keep in mind.

Tame, Kenji, and Hideki turned to me. The Ultimate Interrogator approached me, with that same serious look upon his face which had come to strike so much fear into my heart. I felt myself jump in anguish with each step through the sand he took. Then, he stopped in front of me.

“Kanon, we should go inspect Kaemon. That’s where it started, that’s how we’ll get to the bottom of all this,”

I gulped, but Hideki was correct. It was probably a better idea to try to figure out what happened with Kaemon first, then we could move on to Amy.

“We’ll come with you!” Tame said, opting to tag along with us. Kenji was standing by her side as per the usual.

“Yes, there is much mystery surrounding Kaemon,” Kenji said. With that, the four of us headed back onto the train. As we passed through the dining hall, we walked back into the computer lab. Just as we’d left the body, Kaemon was bloodied and that haunting mask and accompanying cape were still there. Strangely, I also noticed that his hands were tied up behind his back with some sort of white cloth, stained pink from the blood dripping down his neck. Poor Kaemon, even if he was a dick, he definitely didn’t deserve this...

“That mask almost looks like it belongs to some anime villain,” Tame said. “Definitely doesn’t belong to somebody… Let’s say, subtle,”

Kenji and Hideki began looking around for any clues, then Kenji noticed something.

“Everyone, come look at this!” He commended, pointing everyone in the direction of a computer adjacent to Kaemon’s dead body. For some reason, the computer hadn’t yet been turned off, and an ominous red light was glowing underneath the computer’s power button.

“So this computer was never turned off!” Tame said, her eyes lighting up as she had uncovered another piece to the puzzle. With the click of a button on a monitor, a light flickered as we saw something on the screen. In front of us… was the eerie picture of Kaemon, what I assumed to be moments before his death.

“What happens when you click on it?” asked Hideki. Tame nodded and clicked on the image. In seconds, the same creepy message that played earlier in the dining hall played - only this time, it was around 10 times scarier.

“Ah, hello everybody. I promise there’s an explanation for all this. But if you want to see your friend again-”

Before the video could continue, I noticed something this time that had completely slipped my mind before - in the background, I could see a third of a shadowy figure. This time, however, I could barely make out what I was seeing in this one.

“Kanon,” asked Kenji. “Does this look like this recurring… Masked Figure that all of you keep referring to?”

I paused the video as Kenji asked me that, the video stuck on Kaemon’s perpetual demented grin. “...That… looks somewhat similar,”

“Then that settles it,” Hideki said. “Our enigmatic Masked Figure was definitely behind this one. Probably the one who killed him, while we’re at it,”

The one who killed Kaemon, that seemed like it was probably a stretch. But involved in his death…? That was a possibility I definitely could not count out.

I then clicked on the video again, hesitating as I clicked the old mouse. Then it began again.

“I suggest you guys follow me into the computer room. Take this as a threat. If you don’t wanna believe me… It’s your loss. If you can’t stop me… I wouldn’t advise looking on the beach for a while,”

So did that mean Kaemon was tied to Amy-chan’s death in some way?! It just didn’t feel right! The only connection I could find was the masked figure - In Kaemon’s threatening video, and in Amy-chan’s murder.

“The Masked Figure…” I muttered. “They had to have been behind this! Their involvement is just too much. All evidence points to them!”

“Alright, Kanon,” Hideki asked. “Who fits the description of the figure?”

“So,” I began. “You are too big, same with Daquan, Ryo, and Asa. Tame’s bust is probably too big, and Masaki is probably too tall. That leaves Yuki, Rai, Aiko, Shiro, Sen, Guadalupe, Toko, Azizah, Tomoe, and Kenji,” I replied. However, I should have anticipated some uncalled-for input from Hideki.

“And yourself,” Hideki replied. “I still don’t have quite enough evidence to suggest you aren’t the Masked Figure,” He then pulled out something I wasn’t quite expecting to see - It was the Orb of Desire!

“Wh-where did you find that?!” I asked.

“Underneath the file cabinet,” He replied. “Whoever put it here certainly didn’t do a stellar job at hiding it,”

Everything went silent as Tame and Kenji both looked at me, with suspicious looks upon their faces. Shit, I didn’t have anybody who could vouch for me! Even Masaki would come up short here…

Wait, I needed to figure something else out here!

“Is there a murder weapon in here?” I asked. If there was a sign of a murder weapon here, that could be a good starting point.

A few minutes of investigation passed. Tame, Kenji, Hideki, and I looked around the computer lab. When I say we looked everywhere, I do mean we looked everywhere - under rugs, inside seat cushions, beneath computers -nothing came up.

“This means that whoever the masked figure is, and wherever they went, they must have carried the weapon with them!” said Tame. “That’s a very short amount of time to dispose of a weapon, though…”

That’s when I looked back at the computer. Whatever program this was on, I could see that not a lot of time went into this. There was no real editing that had been done, as there was only one layer of video. However, as I investigated deeper into the settings, I noticed something that seemed to be a little off.

“Set To Play At - 1:35 am”

And I remembered I had entered the dining car at around 1:30. It definitely wasn’t that long between my time arriving and my time seeing the video.

Then I heard a knock on the door. I turned around and then opened the door behind us to see Shiro on the other side, with a glass beaker in his hand. “I have to show you guys something. I don’t know how much it’ll help this case, but… it’ll be something,”

With that, all four of us followed Shiro back into the dining car. There, Yuki, Guadalupe, Ryo, Toko, and Daquan had joined the rest of us.

“What do you hafta tell us?” Yuki asked.

“Yes, please tell us,” Guadalupe said.

“Listen,” Shiro began. “The crumbs on Amy’s face, they tested for trace amounts of Benzodiazepines,”

“What’s a… Ben-zo-diagram-pines?” Aiko asked.

“Glad you asked,” Shiro replied. “They’re a depressant which calms panic attacks and soothes anxiety. At too high of doses, though, they can knock you out, or even cause memory loss,”

“It didn’t look like she got knocked out, though,” Masaki replied.

“We’ll figure it out in the trial. Til then, we gotta find more evidence,” Daquan said.

“Wait!” I began once more, while everybody was present. “Where were you guys when the video played? I already know where Masaki, Hideki, Rai, Aiko, Asa, Tomoe, Kenji, Tame, Utamuro, and Azizah were,”

“I was in my room,” Yuki replied with a yawn. “It’s so hot here, I couldn’t help but sleep…”

“Same with Yuki,” Guadalupe said. “I’d done a big run around the train, I was ready for some rest,”

“I definitely wanted to sleep,” said Sen.

“As did I,” Ryo said.

“I just wanted to make sure I was rested for tomorrow,” said Daquan.

“And I dunno ‘bout y’all, but this sugar plum needs their beauty rest! Gotta give them deadeyes a break, yaknow?” Toko said.

So that didn’t tell me much. They were all asleep! And besides Daquan and Ryo, they were all possible suspects as our mysterious masked figure.

“There is one more thing I must mention,” Azizah said. “There were wires protruding from the computer next to Kaemon’s body. And they were hooked up to a monitor. I cannot confirm completely, but I must assume that all the monitors are connected in some form,”

“I-I might also add one thing!” Asa said, her hands behind her back. “A-Amy-chan. She… She wanted a really pretty cupcake,”

A pretty cupcake, huh? I had no clue what this played into our case, but I had to consider it. The sight of the dining hall became more ominous as I eyed a set of knives inside a wooden block.

“Wait, those knives,” Masaki said. He went over to pull them from the block, though to his surprise, they were all clean. “Huh, they’re clean. Guess it was something else…”

Before I could say anything else, some static appeared on the monitor - none other than Monokuma himself.

“Ahem. Investigation time is now over! Please meet me in the main room, then the class trial shall begin!!”

Oh no. Did we collect enough evidence?! Was it even possible to figure out who the killer was yet?!

After a trek back to the main room, Monokuma pulled us into the trial room. As always, I didn’t leave Masaki’s side.

“M-Masaki…” I said. “C-can we do this?”

“Of course we can,” Masaki replied. “It’s… gonna be difficult, but I believe in you. And… I want you to believe in me,”

That certainly sounded foreboding, but we could definitely do it. The fate of our classmates depended on it...