Work Text:
Free-time
Hajime was relieved to finally have some free-time. Listening to those animatronics… it was all too confusing. Wandering through the first island he began to think.
Was it true? That to escape this island, we’d have to kill each other?
No… it couldn't be.
“Hey, Hajime.” A soft voice brought him back to reality.
“Hi Chiaki. What brings you to Rocketpunch Market?”
“I wanted to see if there were any video games in stock.”
“Any luck?”
“Well they've got a few, but the quality is…”
“Not good, huh? Let me see.” Hajime followed Chiaki down one of the aisles and regarded the meagre display.
Most of the games were old classics; Super Mario World, Donkey Kong, Mega Man.
“What about Mega Man? I don't know about the first 6 games, but the 7th one was good when I played it.” Chiaki was silent. Hajime thought she must've fallen asleep, like she so often did, but when he looked over she was… holding back a laugh?
“...What is it? Is there some joke about that game?”
“Nothing. I guess I'll play Mega Man.” she said, with an entertained grin. Hajime didn't see what was so funny about what he had said, but as long as Chiaki was happy…
The next day
Everyone was gathered in the Hotel for Breakfast, everyone except Hajime. As he approached the entrance to the restaurant he heard chattering, and managed to pick out the voice of the Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind.
“He asked me how many candles should be placed on the King’s cake. So I said to him; it’s his 67th birthday, is it not?” she giggled demurely, her hand up to her mouth. All of the other students, who were gathered around her table, promptly fell into laughter. Ibuki particularly rocked back in her chair and hit the floor in shambles.
“Six seven! It’s funny, because he was 67 years old! The- the number!” Hajime raised an eyebrow. He must’ve missed the context for Sonia’s joke. Well, nevermind. He was hungry, so he walked over to the breakfast table.
“Hey guys. What’s for breakfast?
Nekomaru wiped a tear from his eye and replied.
“The chef said he’d be back with pancakes sometime soon!” Hajime assumed he meant Teruteru.
“Although, he should really be back by now.” Byakuya said.
“I agree. Someone should really go check on him…” Sonia said with a hint of concern. At that, Kazuichi jumped to his feet.
“I’ll go check on him! I’ll just be a few seconds Miss Sonia. 6 or 7, to be exact!” he said, then paused and stood where he was as if waiting for an answer. Everyone around the table shared glances and groaned. Kazuichi deflated like a balloon.
“Hajime.. Come with me. I can’t bear this shame on my own...” What shame? Hajime was completely bamboozled. He followed the mechanic into the kitchen, which appeared to be completely empty.
“Teruteru!” Kazuichi shouted, trying to locate the chef.
“We’re starving out here! Where are those-” The two boys rounded the side of the counter and saw to their horror the bloodied corpse of their classmate propped up against the oven, an apple wedged in his mouth like a gag. He was clearly freshly deceased, as the puddle of blood was still creeping wider across the floorboards.
“WAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHhhh!!!!!” Kazuichi let out a guttural scream. Hajime felt frozen to the floor, unable to move.
Was this really happening!?
He heard footsteps approaching, but couldn’t even find the will to move his gaze from the sick scene in front of him.
“What the fuck was- OH MY GOD!?!?!?” Akane burst into the room and immediately stopped in horror.
“A body has been discovered!”
Later…
Hajime’s hands shook as he looked over the case file one more time. There was such a scarce amount of evidence. Where else was there to check?
“Hajime.” At the sound of his name, he looked up to see the face of the Ultimate Lucky Student, Nagito Komaeda.
“Hi Nagito. How’s the investigation going?”
“Well, it’s certainly interesting… Whoever staged this murder was clearly sloppy. Yet I can’t begin to imagine their motive for beginning the game so quickly…”
“Sloppy? What do you mean by sloppy?” Hajime asked quizzically.
“Mikan said the time of death was about 6 minutes past 7, did she not?”
6 minutes past 7…
Six minutes past seven…
Six… Seven…
Where had he heard that before?
“Hold on Nagito… what did you just say?”
“I said 6 minutes past 7. What's so wrong about that?” Nagito said with an innocent face. But the sparkle in his eyes… it couldn't be a coincidence.
I must be going crazy… The sooner we can get this investigation over with the better.
“Anyway… see you at the trial grounds!” Nagito waved as he departed.
At the trial
About 3 hours into the trial, it was clear. There wasn’t enough evidence to pinpoint a murderer. Everyone but Hajime had been laughing at Sonia’s joke at the time of death, and Hajime himself wouldn’t have been able to sneak out of the kitchen without anyone else noticing. One by one, his classmates had been digging into each other and trying to make them break. The team rapport they had just begun building had been so suddenly washed away by this unsolvable case!
“It had to have been Hiyoko. The body was all made up like a roast dinner, with an apple in the mouth. She’s the one who’s always calling Teruteru a pig!” Akane shouted, capitalising on one of the few clues they had.
“Then prove it, bitch. There’s barely any evidence! What are the odds that I’m the killer!?” Hiyoko said, beginning to lose her temper. At this rate, when it came to a vote they would never be able to agree.
And then…
They’d all be executed.
Someone started laughing. It began as a soft chuckle, then grew into an insane cackle.
“Uh, what the fuck?” exclaimed Fuyuhiko. It was Nagito who was gripping his hair and wheezing with laughter.
“The odds… the odds… What are the odds!?” he kept repeating.
“Nagito, what on earth’s come over you!?” shouted Hajime. Nagito’s laughter died down and he gasped for air, leaning against his podium with shaky arms.
Then…
“Six seven!” he said, while making a strange up-and-down motion with his hands.
What?
“Six seven!” he said it again. Around the trial room, one by one, all of his classmates broke into laughter. Some of them mirrored Nagito’s action, too.
“Puhuhuhuhu! What a failure of a trial!” Monokuma’s piercing laugh rose above all the others.
“Guys, this isn’t funny! Monokuma’s about to execute us!” Hajime shouted over the cacophony of laughter.
This is too much… This is too much… This is…
There was no hope. No matter what… they wouldn’t find the killer. What was the point in trying? Before he knew it, Hajime was laughing too.
He got it.
67… It was so funny! How did he never see it before???
Six seven! Six seven! Six seven!
“Six seven!” Hajime shouted enthusiastically, making the same motion with his hands.