Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Despair Syndrome]

Sai slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times before managing to process what they were seeing. He realized he was looking at the wall of a classroom, at a large map of the world pinned to the wall. He shifted a little and realized he was sitting at a desk, slumped over it as if he had fallen asleep in class.

He raised his head and looked around. The classroom was empty, not a single student or teacher present. He wondered what was going on as he looked up at the clock mounted on the wall above the teacher's desk.

7:57am.

[Beautiful Dead]

He straightened with a start. Something was wrong. The last thing he remembered was stepping past the gate to Hope's Peak Academy, his new high school. Suddenly he was waking up in a classroom just two minutes before the opening ceremony? Why had he suddenly changed location? How had he fallen asleep?

He pushed the questions out of his mind and stood up, heading straight for the door. After pausing to look at a small map on the wall, he set off through the school, moving as fast as he could without running to the Gym, where he'd been told the opening ceremony would be taking place at 8am sharp.

Hope's Peak Academy. He had been so excited to have been chosen to attend. Only the elite of the elite were accepted into the school's ranks, the high school students demonstrating outstanding skill in their fields, the best of the best in their fields. Hope's Peak housed the 'hope' of the world, training them and preparing them to shoulder the future of society. Graduates were basically guaranteed success in later life, as if their 'Super High School Level' weren't enough to ensure that.

Sai, however, did not have any particular skill. Once per year, Hope's Peak held a draw out of every high school student in the country, admitting the winner and awarding them the title 'Super High School Level Luck'. Sai had been that chosen student, bringing great honour to his family and himself.

Now, however, he was worried he was throwing all that out the window, nearly being late for his first day at the prestigious school. He hoped he had enough 'Super High School Level Luck' to at least evade punishment.

Luckily for him, though, he pushed open the Gym doors just a little before 8am.

Fifteen other people turned to look at him the moment he walked in. He had the immediate urge to turn around and run back home. These were the 'Super High School Level' students, the best in their fields. Just being in their presence was surreal.

[Beautiful Days]

"Who's this kid," a tall, bulky guy asked. He was wearing sports shorts and a letterman jacket over a tight-fitting shirt, as if he had just come from a workout session. He had a mean sort of look about him, like he wouldn't hesitate to laugh cruelly if you tripped in front of him. He also looked like he wouldn't hesitate to trip you in the first place.

"Nogushi Sai," a girl about Sai's height answered from the other side of the room. She had a smart blouse and skirt on, very neat hair, and was looking at a notepad she must have pulled from somewhere. "Title: 'Super High School Level Luck'. He's the raffle winner."

"Ha!" the jock laughed. "The no-talent loser!"

"Rude!" a girl with long pink hair snapped, putting her hands on her hips. She wore a pink heart-printed sweater with a light blue skirt, and was frowning at the jock like a teacher would a troublemaker. "Don't talk to people like that!"

"What're YOU gonna do about it," the jock chortled, not even turning to look at her. The pink-haired girl was about to say something else when a spectacled boy beside her reached out and lowered her hand. This boy had a simple T-shirt and jeans, but also wore a small fashionable jacket, which contrasted strangely with the rest of his casual attire.

"Losers," a blonde in a tight, sleeveless shirt muttered. She stood next to the jock, arms folded, eying everybody in the room like they were peasants to her lord. She wore a very short skirt that matched her top, and her nails here manicured to perfection. The jock looked quite pleased to be standing next to her.

"It's eight o' clock," another boy announced. He had combed hair, thick glasses, and wore a white button-up shirt under a uniform jacket. "The ceremony should have started, and yet there are-"

"Shut the hell up," the jock told him, "who cares if there's no teacher here."

"You have to admit it's odd," a short, acne-ridden boy piped up. He had a white button-up shirt and uniform jacket too, including a school tie.

"I agree, actually," a tall boy with flyaway, wiry hair said. He wore a T-shirt and zip-up hoodie, tight jeans and white sneakers. He was holding his hand up to his mouth, having just stopped biting a nail to speak. "This is meant to be a real fancy school, you'd think everyone'd be on time."

"Yeah, what's the chance of a whole school being late to their first day?" a boy in a plain shirt and pants asked. His hands were dry and cracked, like they had been subject to a number of chemicals, and his hair was parted very deliberately.

"What's more coincidental," the girl with the notepad said, leafing through her notes, "is that out of all the people to show up on time, we're all in the same class."

"That's crazy!" a girl with her brown hair in a messy bun and her jacket tied around her waist, "maybe this place only has one class at a time!"

"Nope," notepad-girl answered. "Plenty of classes, only one of them shows up. Did anyone see anybody else on their way here?"

A murmur of 'no' echoed around the room. Several people, including the jock, the girl next to him, and a boy in a black leather outfit leaning on the wall didn't answer.

"Interesting," notepad-girl said, scribbling something down. "If we really are the only ones in the school, something is definitely up. I mean, the fact we woke up in a classroom is enough proof of that, but it doesn't hurt to have more information."

"Wait," Sai said, uttering his first words to who were apparently his classmates. "You all woke up in classrooms too?"

"Sure did," the crazy-haired guy said. "Freaked me out, I didn't know where I was. Never seen the classrooms here, before."

The students continued to talk amongst each other, as they apparently had been before Sai entered. He looked around nervously. There were only two other kids not socialising with anybody, the boy in black leather scowling at the main groups, and a boy with a blue scarf and black coat, who was approaching Sai.

"Hi," the boy said, smiling warmly. Sai nearly tripped on his words as he repeated the greeting.

"You okay?" the boy asked. "You're looking a bit scared. Worried about meeting all the new people?"

Sai smiled. "A little," he said. "Having everyone look at me at once was a bit scary."

"Yeah, we're all a bit nervous right now, none of us are sure what's going on.

"I'm Nobu, by the way," the boy said, extending a hand, "Nobu Kitano."

Sai took Nobu's hand and shook it. "I'm Sai," he said. "But you... already knew that."

Nobu smiled. "Hah, yeah, that's Youku Takagaki. She's a Super High School Level Journalist, so she's all about information about people. First one here, marked off everyone as they came in with their names and titles. It was a bit weird, but I think she just likes getting her facts straight."

"Cool," Sai said, not sure how else to react. "What're you? Your title, I mean, not like what are y-"

Nobu laughed, interrupting the beginning of Sai's descent into incomprehension. "I'm Super High School Level Socialiser."

"Socialiser? Like, talking to a lot of people? But you were on the side when I came in...?"

Nobu looked away, thinking about his words. "'Socialiser' is a bad term for it, honestly. I'm good with reading people, is all. I'm good with sizing people up and picking their personalities and emotions, so it's easy for me to get along with people. It's why I started talking to you, actually."

"You wanted to talk to me?" Sai asked, worried. "Why me? Why ONLY me?"

Nobu shrugged. "You looked scared. You looked like you were the only one who needed someone to talk to."

Sai's worry melted away and he smiled.

[-]

"Upupupupupu!"

Everybody gasped as they heard the strange laugh suddenly blared from the speakers on the ceiling. They all looked up, as if expecting whoever was using the PA system to be floating above them.

"Good morning, you bastards!" the voice said.

"'Bastards'?" Nobu repeated, confused. Several others did the same.

"Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! You guys are the best of the best, the 'Super High School Level' students of the country, our 'Shining Future'! Thank you for choosing to attend this year's opening ceremony! And with that, please welcome your headmaster!"

Everybody turned to face the front of the Gym, where a podium had been placed facing them. From behind it, to everybody's surprise, a stuffed bear, half white and half black, leaped up and landed on it.

[Mr Monokuma's Lesson]

"Upupupup!" it laughed, in the same voice the announcer had used. "Good morning, you bastards!"

There was chaos. Some people started laughing, others looked up in confusion.

"Are you serious?" the jock laughed. "What the fuck is that?"

"Hey!” the bear said. "Don't talk that way to your headmaster! I'm Monobear, your number one, your in-charge ‘sarge! Don't disrespect me, or I'll kick you out on your big fat bottom!"

"Hey!"

"Now, to kick off this year's ceremony," Monobear continued, ignoring the students' reactions, "I've prepared a few short statements, condensations of what to expect from your time here at Hope's Peak."

"I can't tell if he's being serious or not," a boy with dirty, messy hair in equally dirty overalls said to the tie-less uniform-wearer, who took a step away from him.

[-]

"Numero Uno," Monobear continued, "since you are all meant to be the symbols of Hope in this dark, pathetic world... starting now, not one of you is allowed to leave the school! Forever!"

[Mr Monokuma's Extracurricular Activity]

The laughter and murmuring stopped. Silence fell over the group following Monobear's words. Even the boy leaning against the wall reacted, finally looking up at the headmaster with wide eyes.

"Secondly," Monobear began, but the jock interrupted him.

"Hey! What do you mean we can't leave!?"

"Do you mean we're trapped in here?" the girl with the coat around her waist asked, her voice tainted with concern.

"Of course!" Monobear answered. "How are you meant to foster the growth of the Shining Future of Hope with the taint of despair from the outside world?"

"I didn't sign up for this," the boy with acne said, annoyed. "I didn't know we wouldn't be allowed to leave! You can't contain the Sada Army forever!"

"None of us knew that," Youku said. "There was nothing of the sort anywhere in any paperwork any of us were allowed access to. What the school is doing now is not only impractical, but illegal."

"Illegal?" Monobear repeated. "Why would I care about doing anything illegal? Bears can't be punished by any extent of the law, you know."

"You're not a bear," the heart sweater girl said. "You're a robot or something, you can totally be punished!"

"I'm not spending the rest of my life in SCHOOL," the jock announced.

"Oh?" Monobear asked. "You sound so committed. Could it be you already know how easy it is to leave?"

"There's a way to leave?" the boy with acne asked, suddenly excited.

"Thank God," the dirty guy sighed, a smile on his face.

"Upupupup!" Monobear laughed. "Yep! There's an easy way to leave! We call it: the Graduation Rule!"

"Graduation Rule?" Youku asked, writing it down.

[-]

Monobear paused, raising a paw to his mouth coyly. "The only student that may leave the school... is the student who kills one of his classmates!"

[Weekly Despair Magazine]

The atmosphere in the room shifted from inconvenience to complete terror. Students gasped, stepped backwards, one girl with pigtails in a thick jumper and stockings fell to her knees, unable to stand. The girl next to her, with bright blue hair and a petticoat, stood still, making a squeaking sound.

"Are you fucking kidding?" the jock cried. "What sort of school is this?"

"Upupupu!" Monobear laughed. "That's right! I don't care how you do it, but if you kill a classmate and get away with it, you get to leave the school and escape into the despair-filled world beyond!"

"Th-that's insane," the boy with cracked hands stuttered.

"Why would you think we'd believe this!" the boy with mismatched clothing yelled.

"This has got to be a joke," the girl with the coat around her waist said. "You're just joking, aren't you?"

"He's not," the crazy-haired guy said. Everybody turned to look at him. He was staring at the ground with a look of intense fear. "Monobear isn't joking. Nobody's telling any jokes here."

"Shut up, geek," the jock spat, "what do you know?"

"More than you," the boy shot back. He took a breath. "First of all, a joke has to be set up to have any effect. Thrusting us straight into such an extreme situation is hardly a good setup, if anything it's damaging. There would also need to be a punchline, and as far as 'kill your classmates' goes, there's nowhere to go with that except should somebody take it seriously. There is no setup, there is no punchline. There is no joke, and this situation is real."

He looked up and stared at the jock with a frown. "Tabito Okabe, Super High School Level Comedian. Don't question my knowledge of my talent, Oishi."

"You know him?" Youku asked, looking between the two.

"No," Tabito answered, looking away from a frowning jock. "I looked some people up, too. Yawara Oishi, Super High School Level Quarterback."

"More like Super High School Level Asskicker," Yawara spat, stepping forward.

"Upupupupu!" Monobear laughed. "I see tensions are already high! I might not have to wait very long for a murder after all!"

"Yeah you will," the heart-wearer said, "there's no way we're gonna kill each other! We're high-schoolers, not murderers!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Monobear told her. "We're all capable of anything, you know. Just look at me, a simple bear, rising to the ranks of headmastery! I'm so proud of me! And you will be too, once you kill your classmates and graduate!"

"You're fucking sick," the girl beside Yawara said, pointing at him.

"Not as much as you," Monobear said darkly. "Not as much as ANY of you."

Monobear’s voice suddenly lost its ominous tone and he spoke normally again. "Well, that about covers everything! I hereby close this year's opening ceremony! Take care, and enjoy your permanent school life of mutual killing!"

[-]

With that, Monobear jumped backwards off the podium. The sound of a moving trapdoor was heard, and he vanished, leaving sixteen confused and scared high school students.

The remained silent for a few moments, each one looking around at their peers. They were trapped inside the school, and were being forced to kill each other to escape. Instead of a life of hope and a shining future, they were being thrust into a game of life and death. The sixteen students, the sixteen Super High School Level students of Hope's Peak Academy, were now a part of a school life of mutual killing.

They were now part of the machinations of Despair.

[DANGANRONPA OP]

Chapter Text

Sai looked at Nobu, who was looking at everyone else one at a time.

"Nobody's thinking it," he whispered to Sai.

"What?" Sai whispered back.

"Everyone's worried someone else is thinking it, but nobody actually is."

Sai realized what Nobu was talking about and his tension lessened.

"Okay," Youku said. She looked out at the other students, who were now watching her. She swallowed before speaking. "I think we should probably introduce ourselves."

"Are you shitting me?" Yawara asked. "A teddy bear says we're gonna kill each other and you think we should make FRIENDS?"

"It's to lessen our worries," Nobu answered. "If we know who each other is we'll be less scared of each other."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" the girl next to Yawara said. "If somebody's planning to kill someone-"

"They're not," Nobu told her. "Nobody here is planning anything."

"I am," Yawara said. Several people gasped. "What? I wanna get out!"

"Maybe," Youku said, "but you're not planning on DOING anything."

"You shut the fuck up," Yawara said, walking towards her. The girl with a coat around her waist stepped in front of him. "Don't touch her," she said. Yawara stopped, but continued to frown at Youku.

"I..." she tried to continue, "I think we should at least know who our classmates are. Maybe we should go around the room, or-"

"Fuck that," Yawara said, turning towards the gym doors. "You know who I am, anyway."

"And I just can't be bothered," the girl next to him said, pretending to yawn. She followed him through the doors and out into the apparently empty school.

"Kanayo Daishi," Youku said distastefully. "Super High School Level Cheerleader."

"Great," Tabito grumbled. "A power duo. This place'll be a totalitarian society in no time."

"Tabito Okabe," Youku said, repeating Tabito's words. "Super High School Level Comedian."

"Miyabe Jo," the girl with the coat around her waist said, raising her hand. "Super High School Level Drummer. Call me Jo."

"Fuuga Tomori," mismatched-clothing boy said. "Film Critic."

"S-Sahori Mitsuwa," the heart-sweater girl said, her expression still fearful. "Super High School Level Matchmaker."

"Super Level Chess Player," the acne-ridden boy said. "Daichi Sada".

"Nobu Kitano," Nobu said, stepping forward. "Socialiser."

"Sai Nogushi," Sai said, following Nobu's lead. "Good Luck."

"Arata Mazuka", the dirty boy said. "Super High School Level Landscaper."

"Genji Erizawa", the boy with cracked hands said. "Cleaner."

"Accountant," the uniformed boy said. "Shigeru Akita."

"Fumiyo Handa," the girl with blue hair said, helping the girl with pigtails to her feet. "Super High School Level Cosplayer."

The pigtailed girl looked up at the crowd, then back to the floor. "Itsuka Kahaya," she mumbled, only just loud enough for them to hear. "Super High School Level Blogger."

"Youku Takagaki," Youku said, "Journalist. And HE," she continued, pointing to the boy in leather, who looked up, "is Ryouji Fukusaku, the Super High School Level Pickpocket."

Ryouji scowled and looked away. "I cared about none of that," he muttered.

"An eloquent statement," Tabito said, his arms folded. "Bold and ironic, since we also don't care."

Ryouji shot a look to Tabito, who flinched and unfolded his arms.

"Is this really happening?" Fumiyo the cosplayer asked, timidly.

Nobody answered for a moment. Then the accountant, Shigeru, stepped forward.

"It is," he said. "This is happening. And those two that have just left are already enemies of ours."

"Hold on," Sahori said, "they're not our enemies! They just need some time to themselves! After hearing this sort of news, I think we all do."

"Sahori's right," Youku said. "We should take some time for ourselves. Maybe look around the school, find our dorm rooms..."

"Just give ourselves some time to calm down," Daichi said, nodding.

The decision seemed to be made. The students meandered around, eventually leaving the gym. Sai chose to stay close to Nobu, his only friend in this place. They found their rooms easily enough, all along a single hallway on the first floor. The stairway to the upper floors was blocked by a shutter, and they seemed to be equipped with a fully-stocked kitchen, as well as a laundry room.

There were also, on every window and door to the outside world, huge steel plates that would not yield. Even Yawara, whom they found in a classroom attempting to remove one, could not shift them one iota.

They were trapped in Hope's Peak Academy.

Chapter Text

"Good morning, you bastards! It’s 7 in the morning! Time to wake up! Let’s all strive to do our best today!"

Monobear's voice rang out from every speaker in the building. The majority of students had gone to bed quite early, having no other way to spend their time the day before.

Sai and Nobu were some of the first to end the day, bidding each other goodnight a few hours before Night Time had begun; the period between 10pm and 7am when Monobear made announcements. Now, Sai and Nobu had left their rooms within seconds of each other, coincidentally running into each other in the dormitory hall.

"Morning," Nobu said. He had dark circles under his eyes. Sai had them too, neither of them having slept very well.

"Good morning," Sai returned. "Are you going to breakfast?"

"Yeah, thought I might as well."

The two walked together to the cafeteria, where they saw several students already eating.

"Mornin'!" Jo said, slurping up a bowl of cereal. "Sleep well? I sure did!"

"How?" Tabito asked, his face buried in the table opposite her.

"I didn't get much of a good sleep either," Youku yawned. She was sitting next to Tabito, an untouched plate of cooked eggs in front of her.

"Has anybody else come in?" Nobu asked, taking a seat at the table. Sai followed suit.

"Nobody," Youku answered.

"Yawara and that cheerleader chick are probably gonna sleep in," Tabito said. "Each other, I mean."

"Tabito!" Youku scolded. Jo snorted and spat some milk onto the table.

"Hah!" she laughed. "Nice one!"

Tabito looked up from the table long enough to flash her a sleepy grin, also showing the telltale circles of a bad night's sleep.

The cafeteria doors opened and a girl and boy walked in; Fumiyo and Fuuga. Fumiyo was almost unrecognisable due to her hair being inexplicably long and blonde, as opposed to short and blue. Fuuga looked like he'd slept well, but was definitely not acting like a morning person.

"Morning," Fumiyo declared. Fuuga moaned as they both walked over to the table to sit down.

"Fumiyo!" Youku exclaimed. "Your hair!"

"Oh, this?" Fumiyo asked, holding part of her hair in her fingers. "It's just a wig. I like mixing things up every now and then, so I brought a whole bunch with me!"

"No doubt for utilizing clever disguises," Tabito said, finally sitting up straighter in his chair.

"Wh-what?" Fumiyo stammered. "No! I just love colour! That's all!"

Tabito started laughing. Youku smacked his upper arm, to which he dramatically overplayed his reaction.

The other students gradually filed in over the course of the hour. Soon, only Yawara, Kanayo, Ryouji and Itsuka were the only ones not at the table. Arata, the dirty Landscaper, was now clean, evidently having had a shower. His clothes were still stained with dirt, possibly to the point where they would never be clean again.

"Those guys must enjoy sleeping in," Genji, the Super High School Level Cleaner stated.

"My guess is that Kanayo chick is still doing her makeup," Arata posed.

"Sexist," Sahori retorted. "She's probably spending some alone-time with that football guy. I'm seeing a 92 per cent chance of a short-term future with those two."

"That's just because it's always the cheerleader and the jock," Fumiyo said. "They always get together and run the school, like a king and queen."

"More like overlords," Tabito corrected. "They assume their power, not get born into it."

"I doubt their authority would mean much in this place," Nobu said. "With only one class, there aren't enough people to give it to them."

"What if they're plotting against us," Daichi said. "They could be rallying their troops, preparing to strike when we least expect it!"

"Yes," Tabito agreed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "The air-head and the meat-head, strategically overpowering an entire class. Their wit and panache will truly be our downfall."

"NOW he's being the class clown," Jo noticed.

"Yesterday we were being told we had to kill each other," Tabito explained. "I might be a comic but I know my boundaries."

"Speaking of boundaries," Youku said, taking out her notepad again. "We have some things to discuss."

Some students groaned. Youku ignored them.

"I think we should continue to meet here each mor-"

She was interrupted by the cafeteria doors being thrown open with more force than was necessary. Through them strutted Yawara and Kanayo, together just as they had predicted.

"What's for breakfast?" Yawara asked nobody in particular, making his way to the kitchen. Nobody answered him.

"Bring me something low-fat," Kanayo called out to him, taking a seat next to Sai.

"Morning," she said, beaming him a smile. He looked away, his eyes wide.

"As I was saying," Youku said, irate. "I think-"

"Can it wait?" Kanayo asked, taking a small bottle of nail polish from her pocket. "For, like... ever?"

"What's YOUR problem?" Jo asked. "We were talking here!"

"Well here's the thing," Kanayo said, starting to paint her nails a dark blue colour. "I'm talking now."

"Excuse me?" Youku asked, incredulous. Kanayo ignored her.

"From now on," she said, her eyes trained on her fingertips, "you're all gonna listen to me. Do what I tell you to do, and there'll be no trouble."

"Trouble?" Fuuga asked. "What sort of trouble are you thinking of promising?"

"Yes!" Daichi agreed. "What sort of foul villainy are you planning, Temptress?"

"Just Yawara kicking your ass and throwing you out with the trash," Kayano smiled. "Simple, really."

Yawara came back from the kitchen with a plate of food, which he placed in front of Kanayo.

"Thanks, sweetie," she said, not even looking up from her nails. Yawara gave Sai a menacing look and sat on Kanayo's other side.

"What are we supposed to do first, Kanayo?" Arata asked.

"Are you joking?" Tabito asked him. "We're not gonna listen to her, she's insane!"

"Yawara," Kanayo said. Yawara slammed his fist down on the table, glaring at Tabito, who flinched in spite of himself.

"If you're planning on seriously doing this," Youku began, "may I put forward some suggestions?"

"Well since you asked so nicely," Kanaya said, finally looking up from her work to give her a smile.

"I SUGGEST," Youku said, stressing the word, still frowning at the cheerleader, "that we should meet here every morning. Firstly it would put us at ease, knowing where everyone is, and we can assign the jobs we need to do-"

"The cleaner does the cleaning," Kanayo reeled off, "we do our own laundry, and we all stay out of each other's way."

"I meant more like trying to find a way to escape this place," Youku said, her patience wearing thin.

"Escape?" Genji asked.

"You think there's a way out of here?" Sahori added.

"I don't know," Youku answered, "but if there is, we should find it."

"Whatever," Kanayo decided, putting the finishing touches on her nails. "Everyone pick a room and go there. Look around. There, done."

"Fine," Youku decided, putting away her notepad. "If that's as detailed as we're going to get, I'll take it."

"Um," Fumiyo began, raising her hand. "What about Ryouji and Itsuka? Itsuka sleeps very late in the mornings, and Ryouji is missing!"

"When they decide to show themselves, we'll tell them what we've decided" Youku instructed, standing up. "I'm off to inspect the laundry room."

"I'll come with you," Tabito said, looking only too pleased for an excuse to leave the table.

"Genji and I'll take a look around the foyer," Arata said, putting his arm over Genji's shoulder. "Right, Genji?"

Genji looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. His eyes were locked on Arata's hand, and he looked like he was trying not to scream.

"Sai," Nobu said, "let's look around some of the classrooms."

"I'll come, too," Fumiyo decided, standing up. "Fuuga, do you-"

Fuuga was leaning on the table, asleep.

"Could somebody make sure he's not alone?" Nobu asked.

"I'll stay," Sahori decided.

"I'm probably going to hang around here for a while, too" Kanayo said, lazily.

"Two's better than one, anyway," Nobu said.

"I will investigate the trophy room," Shigeru said, pushing away his finally finished plate.

"Aagh!" Jo gasped. "Shigeru! I forgot you were here!"

Chapter Text

Sai stared at what used to be the classroom's windows. Each one was covered with huge steel plates that wouldn't budge no matter how hard they tried. Nobu and Fumiyo had already started looking around the room.

"So, Fumiyo," Nobu said, trying to start a conversation. "You're a Super High School Level Cosplayer, right?"

"Yup!" Fumiyo confirmed. "I love making costumes for conventions and parties, it's super fun!"

"Do you enter contests?"

"Oh, all the time! Every chance I get! Sometimes I enter twice, and change right after I go offstage!"

"Cosplay contests have stages?" Sai asked.

"Uh-huh! There are announcers, too! And prizes! I only ever go to conventions for the chance to go up onstage and show off my costumes, nothing else compares!"

"So you make everything yourself?" Nobu asked.

"Everything! I make my own clothes, props, I even do my own makeup!"

"That must take a lot of time," Sai wondered.

"Oh yeah," Fumiyo agreed. "Sometimes it takes me a whole week just to get one cosplay finished."

"A WEEK?" Sai repeated, astounded. He'd had friends who enjoyed cosplaying, and he remembered some complaining about needing over a month to make their costumes.

"I KNOW," Fumiyo agreed, mistaking Sai's comment for an agreement. "I used to need months, but now I can get things done a whole lot easier. You give even basic materials, I can make almost anything!"

"That's a pretty cool skill," Nobu smiled. "Is that where you hope to make your fortune in life?"

"Oh, I'd LOVE to be a seamstress!" Fumiyo said, her eyes sparkling. Sai came to the conclusion that Fumiyo was like a child, with huge dreams of the future that got her incredibly excited when she talked about them. "I'd love to make real high-end clothes for all the rich people, and make really good stuff for real cheap so people who aren't rich can afford cool clothes!"

"What a noble cause," Nobu nodded.

"Yeah," Sai agreed. "I can never afford any good clothes, mostly my family shops at superstores."

"Aw!" Fumiyo cooed, looking at Sai as if he were a puppy. "Well don't worry! Once we get out of here, I'll start on an all-new line, and it'll all be super hip and super cheap! And you can have a full set, free!"

"Wow," Sai said, unsure of how to react. "Fumiyo, that's... uh-"

"That's really generous," Nobu said for him, correctly reading Sai's mindset. "You sound like you've got it figured out, Fumiyo."

Fumiyo looked like her smile was going to reach her ears. She looked up at Nobu and Sai with gleaming eyes, which Sai didn't need to be a Super High School Level Socialiser to see were filled with happiness at the notion of other people praising her.

"But speaking of getting out of here," Nobu continued, looking around the classroom, "I don't think there's anything contributing to that in here."

"I haven't found anything either," Sai agreed.

Fumiyo's mood dropped. "Oh, well," she said. "Let's go see how the others are doing."

The three left the classroom and were about to head off to the cafeteria when Ryouji passed by.

"Hey! Ryouji!" Nobu called. "Did anyone tell you abo-"

"Yeah, they told me," Ryouji answered without stopping, "despite my lack of interest."

Ryouji disappeared around a corner. Fumiyo stuck out her tongue in his direction while Sai and Nobu shared glances.

From around the corner Ryouji had turned, Itsuka appeared, watching the floor as she walked.

"Itsuka!" Fumiyo called, and ran up to her. Itsuka yelped and took a step back as Fumiyo collided with her, trapping her in a hug. "Good morning!" Fumiyo greeted, cheerfully.

"M-morning," Itsuka returned, her eyes wide.

"Did you meet Sai and Nobu?" Fumiyo asked, gesturing to the two boys. Itsuke glanced at them before looking back to the floor and shaking her head. She was fumbling with her fingers, nervously picking at her cuticles and nails.

"Oh, you gotta!" Fumiyo declared, pulling Itsuka towards them. Sai looked on nervously as Itsuka only barely let herself get dragged along.

"Nobu's a Socialiser, so he's good at reading people," Fumiyo said, pointing to Nobu.

"Sorry she's making you uncomfortable," he said, sheepishly.

"And that's Sai! He's real lucky to be here! Well, maybe not, but there's something there!"

Sai nodded, trying not to come off as too outgoing. Itsuka still looked scared of them, or maybe just scared of socialising at all.

"Itsuka, introduce yourself!" Fumiyo told her, when she didn't say anything.

"Oh, it's okay," Nobu said, "she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."

"I-I'm Itsuka Kahaya," Itsuka mumbled. "I run a... a... blog..."

"Run a blog?" Fumiyo asked, incredulous. "It's not just a blog! It's like a community!"

"Community?" Sai asked.

Fumiyo turned to them, excited. "Itsuka's Flower Girl!"

Nobu and Sai failed to respond.

"Flower Girl!" Fumiyo repeated. "Splash Trip? Come on, you gotta know Splash Trip!"

"It sounds familiar," Sai said. He remembered seeing something like that on the internet. "Are you the one who runs that site?"

"She sure is!" Fumiyo said, grinning. "Splash Trip has hundreds of thousands of followers! They're like an internet army! Once, she got them all to graffiti their towns in one night!"

"It wasn't graffiti!" Itsuka said, suddenly. "It was just a sticker! It would come off!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she looked mortified that she'd even opened her mouth.

"Sorry, my bad," Fumiyo said. "Anyway, she got everyone to take part in some scheme to promote some cause. She's got a lot of pull on the internet, she can get anything done. There's a rumour that she managed to influence last year's election!"

"I-It's not that big," Itsuka said. "R-really... and it's not, like, sinister or anything... I just..."

"It's okay," Nobu said, "I understand. You're just a girl with a blog, aren't you, not some big-shot commander, right?"

Itsuka looked up at him. "... yeah," she said. "People... give me far too much credit."

"Hundreds of thousands of followers is still a pretty big accomplishment," Nobu smiled. "Maybe you don't give yourself enough."

Itsuka looked back to the ground. She paused fiddling with her fingers for a few moments.

"You're so sweet, Nobu," Fumiyo said, smiling and tilting her head. Nobu laughed and shook his head.

Sai smiled. Nobu was so good at making people feel better. He'd done it to him, Fumiyo, and now Itsuka. He really was a good Socialiser.

"Hey, you guys!"

They turned to see Tabito and Youku standing down the hall. "We're meeting for lunch," Tabito continued, "we're thinking of making that a regular meeting, too."

"'Kay," Fumiyo agreed, and lead the way towards them. Nobu, Sai and Itsuka followed.

"Find anything?" Youku asked.

"Nothing," Fumiyo answered, dejected. "And Ryouji's not being very nice about the whole thing."

"Yeah, we ran into him, too," Tabito said. "You'd think he'd be able to steal some manners with that talent of his."

"Did you guys find anything?" Nobu asked. Tabito and Youku exchanged a glance.

"Well tell you when we meet the others," Youku decided to say.

Nobu and Sai looked at each other. Could they have found a way of escape? Or was there something else to look out for in these school halls?

Chapter Text

Tabito and Youku lead the way back into the cafeteria, where most of the class were already assembled. Kayano had not moved from her chair at the table, while Yawara had apparently not left her side. Fumiyo immediately sat on the opposite end of the table as Kanayo, followed almost centimetres away by Itsuka, who was as close to leaving a familiar, friendly face as she was bursting into song.

Nobu and Sai took seats beside them. Sai watched Kanayo, again painting her nails, who looked up as they entered. Without warning, she smiled at Sai. His eyes widened and he looked away, already beginning to blush. Nobu noticed this almost instantly, and immediately has to conceal his laughter.

"Are you worried your last colour went out of fashion in the last hour?" Tabito asked Kanayo, bitterly.

She shot him a glare. "I re-apply twice a day," she told him coldly. "Not that somebody like YOU would even care about keeping up appearances, but it starts to wear off after only a few hours. I polish three times daily, morning, noon and night."

"Careful, funny boy," Yawara said, cracking his knuckles. Tabito said nothing, becoming suddenly interested in the design of the tablecloth.

"I'll assume Ryouji won't be joining us again," Youku said, standing up.

"Who said you could talk?" Yawara asked, smiling cruelly.

"Let her," Kanayo said, putting the finishing touches on her last nail. "Someone has to report, or something."

"Inspiring speech," Tabito muttered. Fumiyo covered her mouth and looked down.

"Tabito and I found something," Youku announced. The atmosphere around the table changed drastically.

"Seriously?" Nobu asked.

"This is most excellent news!" Daichi, the Chess Player declared. "Surely you have found an escape hatch of some kind!"

"'Escape hatch'," Yawara chuckled to Kanayo, "what a loser."

"We didn't find a THING, to be honest," Youku explained, "but more of an... inconsistency."

She looked down at Tabito, who took a moment to notice, since he was still staring down. In the meantime, there were some general sounds of confusion at Youku's words. When Tabito finally looked up and saw he was being 'tagged in', he stood up quickly.

"Yeah, uh, yesterday we all had dinner here, right? MOST of us," he emphasised whilst staring at Yawara, "put our plates and stuff in the kitchen, the table got cleared, everything was all fine."

"I can't see how this means anything yet," Jo said.

"Well when we came in this morning, today, the table was clean."

"You just said we cleaned it, though," Arata said.

"No, I said we CLEARED it," Tabito corrected. "We just moved the plates. There were still stains on the tablecloth when we left last night. Today, there's nothing. Completely clean."

"There was something else," Youku added. "Yesterday I rearranged some products in the laundry room while inspecting the cupboards. Today, the whole cupboard was neatly arranged."

"What is it you are posing to us?" Shigeru asked. The accountant's voice again shocked some people.

"Somebody else is in the school with us," Youku said.

A gasp echoed along the table.

"Somebody else?" Sai asked, worried. Apart from Monobear, who didn't seem the cleaning-up-after-children type, was there somebody else roaming the hallways?

"At some point during the night," Youku summarised, "someone cleaned up the cafeteria and the laundry room."

"Uhm," Genji began, raising his hand, as if in class.

"Genji?" Youku allowed. Genji looked extremely guilty.

"That, uh... that was me, who did those things."

The tension generated by the possibility of an intruder dissipated, to be replaced by a mixture of relief and disappointment. Now, it seemed obvious that the Super High School Level Cleaner would have been the one to clean up after them.

"Aw," Jo moaned, "just when things were getting interesting.

"It would've been a real help if there was someone else in here," Arata mused.

"Hoho!" Daichi laughed. "Truly, Genji is a warrior among the people! Tidying up after others, a true white knight!"

"I-I can't help it," Genji mumbled, looking to his feet. "I don't like messes."

"Pfft," Yawara laughed, "freak."

Genji looked up at Yawara with a pitiful frown.

"Well I think it's nice," Fuuga said.

"Yeah," Sai said, looking at Genji, who was looking a bit less hurt. "Thanks, Genji."

"Hah, you're just as stupid," Yawara said, turning on Sai.

"Oh, leave him alone," Kanayo uttered, waving Yawara away.

Yawara looked like Kanayo had told him she was actually an alien. Suddenly, nobody was sure how to react.

Kanayo looked back up to Sai and winked. He immediately looked away in surprise and shock.

"Well, in any case," Tabito declared, "that WAS what we had noticed, but I guess that leaves us with nothing."

"I found no clues, either," Shigeru said.

"Us neither," Arata said, dejected.

"Is there anyone who DID find something?" Youku asked.

Nobody said a word.

"Alas," Daichi said, closing his eyes. "Our day has been wasted."

"It's only lunchtime," Fuuga said. "We still have half a day to investigate."

"I'm SO not in the mood," Sahori said, leaning forward on the table. "Can't we just eat and forget we're in this place?"

"Oh, please," Itsuka said. Several people were shocked to hear her speak and turned to face her, but only saw her staring wide-eyed at the table, shocked that she had dared to speak, let alone make any sort of joke.

"Fine," Kanayo sighed, "we're done for the day. Everybody, go... read, or whatever loser kids do when they're bored."

"I'm so happy you're in charge," Tabito said, putting on a wide, fake smile. He avoided Yawara's eye as best he could.

Some people decided they were over sitting in the cafeteria and left. Kanayo and Yawara left the room, Kanayo leading the way, heading off to do whatever private business they decided to do together. Itsuka had definitely had enough of socialising for the day and was escorted out by Fumiyo, accompanied by Fuuga. The remaining students began to talk amongst themselves.

"Glad SHE'S gone," Jo said happily.

"I'm glad she gave us permission to do what we wanted," Arata said, smiling.

"You idiot," Jo said, shoving him, "we don't have to listen to her!"

"But aren't we?" Arata asked, genuinely wondering. Jo opened her mouth to answer, but froze for a moment.

"I think Arata's smarter than he lets on," Tabito mused aloud.

"Hah! Hear that, Genji?" Arata said, draping his arm once again over a now-stunned Genji. "I'm smarter than I look!"

"Uh, Arata?" Nobu said. "I don't think Genji's all that comfortable with physical contact."

"What? How come?" Arata asked, not directing the question at Genji, who was breathing deeper and louder than normal, but Nobu.

"Just a hunch," Nobu responded, watching Genji with concern.

"Oh. Okay, sorry buddy," Arata smiled, lifting his hand slightly and hovering it a few centimetres away from Genji's shoulder. "Better?"

Genji looked intensely confused but nodded.

"So what do you think cheerleader girl's deal is?" Youku asked the table. "Why's she pulling the power act?"

"It's not that complicated," Sahori answered. "Girls like her are always drawn towards power. It's inescapable for them."

"Girls like her?"

"Blonde cheerleaders," Nobu explained. "It's a bit of a stereotype, but I think in her case it fits too well to ignore. She was probably hailed as a queen in her middle school, so she's carrying over the delusion of royalty here."

"The day I kneel to a washed-up Prom Queen will come accidentally," Tabito predicted, "whilst bent over double from laughing at them too hard."

Youku covered her mouth, failing to conceal laughter, hitting Tabito on the shoulder.

"I don't want to take her seriously either," Genji said. "I-I had enough of social ladders in my old school."

"As long as Yawara's enforcing her rules, though," Nobu mused, "I don't think we have much of a choice, apart from secretly knowing that none of us actually acknowledge her supposed position."

"She's not that bad, is she?" Sai asked.

"Excuse me?" Tabito asked back, shocked.

"Dude!" Jo exclaimed, "are you joking right now? 'Cos you should leave that to Tabito, seriously."

"I'm sorry," Sai said, raising his hands in surrender, "I didn't mean that there's NOTHING wrong with her, I just... maybe we shouldn't judge her so harshly? I mean, it's still only our second day here, she might still need some time to... cope?"

He looked around at the table. Nobody seemed to be biting. Jo was shaking her head, her eyes squinted in mock suspicion. Sai turned to Nobu, who was trying not to laugh. Sai was about to say something else when Nobu gave him an exaggerated wink, a parody of Kanayo's earlier flirtatious behaviour, and the table erupted in laughter.

Sai blushed and sank down in his chair. After a few seconds, even he couldn't help but smile a little.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the students awoke the same way as their first. After an announcement from Monobear, they gradually filed into the cafeteria for breakfast and for their morning meeting. The first shock of the day for Nobu and Sai was to walk into the cafeteria and seeing Ryouji sitting at one of the smaller tables.

"Ryouji!" Sai exclaimed, surprised.

"Screw off," Ryouji replied. Nobu comforted Sai as they sat down at the main table while the rest of the students made their appearances.

"Mornin', everyone!" Jo declared. "I got a feeling about today, I do!"

"I too have a feeling!" Daichi agreed. "Today is the day new developments finally occur!"

"I'd love to believe that," Fuuga said, walking in behind them, "but we looked over every inch of this place yesterday. I don't see what we have to accomplish today."

Nearly hitting Fuuga in the back, Yawara pushed open the cafeteria doors and let Kanayo enter, flicking her hair over her shoulder as if her only reason for being there was for it to be noticed.

"Good morning," she said, taking a seat opposite Sai. She took out her bottle of nail polish and immediately went to work while Yawara went to the kitchen to bring her some breakfast.

Youku stepped through the doors and looked around to assess the turnout. "Oh, Ryouji's here," she said, surprised. "Thanks for-"

"I'm just here to follow the rules," Ryouji said. "Don't wanna get accused of anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fuuga asked.

"I don't have to explain myself to people like YOU," Ryouji said, frowning from his table. "Just give your speech or whatever you do at these things and let me go."

"We wait until everyone's here," Youku explained. Ryouji rolled his eyes and leant back in his chair, staring at the roof, a look of frustrated discomfort on his face.

Eventually the rest of the class arrived, even Itsuka, although she was being led by Fumiyo and apparently running on next to no sleep.

"This is everyone," Youku counted. "Let's look over what we're doing toda-"

"You know what?" Kanayo said, studying her left thumbnail, "I think today should be a 'free time day'."

"Excuse me?" Youku asked.

"Everyone did such a good job yesterday," Kanayo continued, "I think we can allow ourselves a day or rest, or whatever."

"This isn't just WORK, Kanayo," Youku told her, getting impatient. "We're trying to find a way OUT of this place."

"Why the rush, though? Nothing's happening in here, there's no time limit on us being here, there's no reason to STRAIN ourselves over-"

"STRAIN ourselves?" Tabito asked, rising. "Kanayo, you haven't lifted a perfectly-manicured finger since you walked into this place."

"Hey!" Yawara yelled. "Shut the hell up, nerd!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tabito said sarcastically, "I meant since she walked out of the damn WOMB."

Yawara stood up, cracking his knuckles. Tabito's angry expression faltered and he stepped back in spite of himself. Youku turned towards Yawara and moved between him and Tabito, raising her hands.

"Don't you come any closer," she said.

"Or what," Yawara asked, hardly caring for an answer as he took a step towards them. "What's a girl gonna do? Slap me in the shoulder? Cry about her feelings?"

"Hey!" Sahori cried, standing up too. "Stop being so rude!"

"Sit down, Yawara," Kanayo commanded lazily. Yawara looked back at her with a shocked, pleading expression. He looked back to Tabito and slowly lowered his arms. He went back to his seat beside Kanayo and dropped into it loudly.

"Here's the thing, Notepad Girl," Kanayo said, twisting the cap of her nail polish and turning to Youku with a sweet, fake smile. "I've worked for where I am today. I've won teams from every school I've been to championship Cheerleading contests. I've been cheering since I was FOUR. I'm so good I've had COLLEGE scholarships since I started middle school. I've done my work to get to this school, so don't you DARE tell me I'm not entitled to be proud of myself."

"Your 'pride' is the problem," Youku said.

Kanayo stood up quickly, shocking everybody into leaning back a bit. She looked at Youku with a strange expression, like she wasn't quite sure how somebody who didn't worship her could exist right in front of her, and like she was already planning exactly how to get rid of her.

"I don't need this," she finally said. "I don't need people like you telling me what to do."

With that, Kanayo turned around and headed for the cafeteria doors, followed by a seething Yawara. They both vanished from the room, once again out of their way, at least until the midday meeting.

"Wow," Arata said, after a few moments. "She-"

"If you start to praise her," Tabito warned, "I'm going to throw you at Yawara."

"I can't BELIEVE her," Youku complained, sitting back down. "She's so... she's so-!"

"'Entitled' is a good word," Fuuga said.

"So's 'bitchy'," Sahori added.

"She just needs to get used to our way of doing things," Nobu said. "Once she realizes there is no 'high-school hierarchy' here I'm sure she'll start to get better."

"Although," Sahori said, raising her hands excitedly, "can I just say: her and Yawara? I totally called that."

"I think we ALL called that," Tabito laughed.

"Once she started bossing him around, maybe," Sahori said. "The minute they walked in I could tell they'd get together. And NOW look at them! Inseparable!"

"How do you know they're together?" Jo asked.

Sahori giggled and tapped her nose. "Little things," she answered. "I'm just a bit annoyed I wasn't the one who fixed them."

"I'm surprised ANYONE could like that guy," Fumiyo said, crossing her arms. "He's so mean! And rude!"

"But he's hot, sweetie," Fuuga said, smiling like an adult would to a child, "to girls like Kanayo, that's all that matters."

"I know, right," Itsuka mumbled. Fuuga, who was sitting next to her, shot her a cheeky smile. Itsuka flinched, but smiled to herself.

Nobu turned to Sai, who was struggling to sit upright.

"Hey Sai," he asked. "You okay?"

Sai turned to face him, showing the circles under his eyes had darkened, and his eyelids were half-closed.

"I'm... I'm so tired," he said. "Two nights without much sleep, I can't... I can't keep doing this."

"Dude," Nobu said, "go to SLEEP."

Sai mumbled something while nodding and stood up. He left the rest of the class to discuss the pros and cons of Kanayo and Yawara's evident relationship and what else they were planning on doing that day and made for the dorm hallway. He pushed open his door and locked it behind him. He turned to his bed, looking incredibly inviting due to his current mental state.

Before he collapsed, he looked up at the clock on the wall behind him. 8:32am

------------------------------

Later that day, students started to gather for the midday meeting. Nobu and Jo, who had been investigating the baths, were making their way back. Nothing of interest had been found, but they had shared some information on their histories with each other.

"So, you never stay with a band after they get famous?" Nobu asked.

"I can't, y'know?" Jo said. "Once they're big, they don't need me anymore. Gotta move onto the next bunch 'o losers."

"Is that all you are?" Nobu continued. "Just a catalyst for other peoples' fame?"

"I don't know what a 'catalyst' is," Jo laughed, "but I'm just a helper. It's what I do!"

"If that's what you want to be doing," Nobu said. They were entering the cafeteria, where only a few people had gathered.

At the table, Sahori, Itsuka, Fumiyo and Fuuga were chatting over a pot of tea. Kanayo sat a chair down from them, her hands fanned out. She was looking at their tea with a hint of longing.

"I could hold the cup for you?" Yawara was asking, standing between Kanayo and the teaset.

"Thank you, Yawara," Kanayo said, sounding slightly exasperated, "but I think that'd be just too weird."

"Kanayo's nails are still wet," Fumiyo explained to Nobu and Jo, an evil little smile across her face. Jo chuckled as she sat down and slid the fifth cup, which was supposedly Kanayo's, towards herself. Nobu sat beside her, looking around the room. Shigeru was sitting alone, silent as per usual, and Tabito and Youku were sitting at the head of the table, talking about something privately.

"What's taking everyone so long, I wonder," Fuuga thought aloud.

"We just said 'lunchtime'," Tabito told him, "I guess people interpret that differently."

"I bet Ryouji won't come at all," Jo guessed, rolling her eyes. "He'd say something like 'I don't eat lunch'."

"Where's Sai?" Fumiyo asked, turning to Nobu. "Aren't you two like, best friends or something?"

"Ahah," Nobu laughed sheepishly, "I don't know about that... but Sai was tired this morning, so I told him to sleep a bit longer."

"Ugh," Kanayo complained, standing up. "I'm tired of this, that's IT."

She turned to the doors and marched. "If I have to give up part of MY day to have some stupid meeting," she said, leaving for the dorms, "then so does everyone else!"

Yawara didn't know whether to follow her or not. He seemed torn between going after his 'girlfriend' or staying away from her while she was in a mood.

"WELL then," Tabito commented, "at least she's doing things for herself, now."

"Hey!" Yawara said, deciding to stay. "Don't you say shit about her!"

"You've got to admit, though," Fuuga began, "even YOU have to admit that she-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Kanayo's scream pierced the air, seeming to simultaneously fill the atmosphere and destroy it. Everybody leapt to their feet. Yawara instantly ran towards the door.

"BABE?" he shouted.

"HELP!" Kanayo screamed again. "SOMEBODY COME QUICKLY!"

Once Yawara was out the door, everybody suddenly regained control of their bodies. They bolted from their chairs towards where Kanayo's voice could be heard.

What's happened, Nobu wondered. Was she being attacked? Had there been an accident? Was she hurt?

Nobu reached the dorm room hallway and turned the corner, finding a wall of students already there. He found a gap and pushed through, looking at the scene. He saw Kanayo looking a complete mess on her knees, crying, clutching her face with her still-wet polished nails, leaving blue marks mingling with her tears, pointing at something in front of her.

Nobu's legs stopped working. His heart and stomach dropped from his body and his blood stopped moving. The breath left his lungs and he realized he was falling against the wall.

"Upupupupup!" Monobear's voice rang out from the PA system. "A body has been discovered!  Following a brief period of investigation, we will commence our school trial!"

On the floor, in the middle of a doorway, his blank eyes wide open and staring straight ahead, lay the body of Super High School Level Good Luck, Sai Nogushi.

Chapter Text

Chaos broke out.

People started screaming. Itsuka fainted. Fumiyo rushed to Sai's side and shook him, as if he was sleeping.

"SAI!" she shouted at him. "GET UP! SAI, WAKE UP!"

"Wh-who would do this?" Fuuga breathed. "Who could do this to someone?"

"I-Is he really... d-dead?" Youku asked, her voice cracking. By her side, Tabito was white-faced and looked ready to throw up.

Kanayo was holding onto Yawara's arm, still staring at Sai's body and breathing heavily through her sobs.

"SAIII," Fumiyo yelled. "WAKE UP! GET-"

"Get away from the body," Shigeru commanded.

Everybody looked at Shigeru, who had stepped out from the crowd. Fumiyo looked up from Sai's body to stare at him, tears pouring over her cheeks. "Wh-what?" she asked.

"Get away from the body," Shigeru repeated, more forcefully. "You could be tampering with evidence."

"Excuse me?" Sahori asked, also stepping out. "How could you SAY that to her? He was our FRIEND! What are you-"

"Any student who wishes to leave this place," Shigeru said, looking at her coldly through his thick glasses, "must kill a fellow student. Clearly, somebody has taken advantage of this rule. Somebody is trying to graduate."

"That's SICK," Fuuga said. "Nobody here would do that to someone! And not to Sai, of all people!"

"Sai was weak," Daichi said, folding his arms. "He had no true skill, and was small in stature and personality. He was a victim from the start, no doubt targeted by the culprit from the moment they-“

"SHUT UP!" Nobu screamed, scrambling to his feet and staring madly at the other students. Everybody was silenced and spun around to face him. His eyes were wide and his face was wet with tears.

"How can you be talking like that?" he demanded, pointing at Daichi. "How dare you talk about him like he wasn't important! He was just as important as the rest of us, more to me than anyone else! Now he's... now..."

Nobu's voice failed. He fell silent, slumping back against the wall, now staring at the floor.

He could barely feel anything but his own gripping sadness. How uncomfortable his posture was, how unevenly he was breathing, none of that mattered. All he knew was that his best friend was gone, dead in front of him, and he was never coming back.

"E-excuse me," Youku whimpered, raising her hand. Everybody looked at her, which caused her to flinch. Her face was pale and she looked like she was having trouble standing. "What did Monobear mean when he said... 'trial'?"

"Upupupupu!"

Everybody screamed again as Monobear was suddenly there amongst them. Nobody saw him appear or approach, and yet somehow he was standing with them as if he'd been there the whole time.

"HE'S HERE!" Jo yelled. "HE'S HERE TO FINISH US OFF!"

"Finish you off?" Monobear asked. Everything he said sounded as if he was either being sarcastic or patronizing. "Oh, but I couldn't! The school rules forbid me from interfering with students' lives! Upupup, unless of course those rules are already broken! Upu! Upupupupu!"

"What do you mean by 'trial'?" Fuuga asked him.

"'Trial'?" Monobear repeated. "Why, the trial to determine who murdered Sai Nogushi, of course! And to help things along, I've presented you all with The Monobear File! Just check your electronic Student IDs for a full report on the murder!"

"We have to have a trial?" Sahori asked. "But nobody here is a lawyer!"

"Here at Hope's Peak, we have our own brand of justice! No lawyers needed! Just a class of high school students and a majority vote! If you identify the killer, your school life continues, but the culprit will be punished for breaking school order. If you don't choose correctly, the killer gets to graduate, and everybody else gets punished instead!"

"We vote on who we think is the killer?" Jo asked. "And then they get 'punished'?"

"After a discussion period, of course!" Monobear answered. "And before even that, you have this period of investigation! Which you sure are wasting a lot of time of talking to me! Oh well, what's gone is gone! Isn't that right, Sai?"

Nobu stood at Monobear's final line. "Hey!" he yelled.

"Good luck, you bastards!" Monobear said, then sped off around the corner. Nobu made to follow him, but realized there would be no use.

"It was Kanayo!" Sahori accused, pointing straight at the cheerleader, still being consoled by Yawara. "Sai's body is in her room! She MUST have done it!"

"What?" Kanayo asked, looking at the nameplate on her room, down to the body, then back to Sahori, her eyes wider. "Wait! No! I didn't do it!"

"Then why's Sai in your room?" Fumiyo yelled, standing up. If Yawara weren't as close as he was, Fumiyo would surely have run up to Kanayo and began beating her.

"I-I don't know!" Kanayo cried, tears beginning to flow again. "I don't know what's happening!"

"You were the first one to find the body!" Jo yelled, she too pointing to Kanayo. "That's suspicious! You're a suspect!"

"The Monobear File says the murder took place at 12:02pm," Youku read from her ID, her voice wavering and her fingers quivering. "Kanayo, where were you at the time of the murder?"

"I-I don't know," Kanayo answered, trying to think. "The... laundry room? I think?"

"Yeah!" Yawara agreed. "We both were! I was helping her with her laundry today!"

"You even help her with her laundry?" Fuuga asked, turning up his nose.

"What's it to ya'?" he asked, threateningly. "Her nail polish was still wet, so I helped her out. AND I got to fold up her panties! Bet YOU'RE jealous, movie boy!"

"I doubt that," Fuuga muttered under his breath. Kanayo elbowed Yawara in the chest.

"Yawara!" she yelled. "This isn't the time!"

"This is a waste of time," Shigeru stated. "We may discuss the case to our hearts' content in the trial. For now, we must gather evidence."

"We're meant to be investigating," Genji realized. "How much time have we wasted?"

"Don't even dwell on that question," Shigeru told him. "We must make good use of what we have left."

Nobu turned back to where Sai's body lay. Shigeru was right. They had to investigate the scene of the crime and identify the murderer. Only then would justice be done, and they could continue their lives in relative peace once again.

Nobu approached the body, but hesitated. It was the body of his best friend, after all.

I have to do it, he resolved. I have to act now, and act fast.

The investigation into the death of Sai Nogushi began.

Chapter Text

Nobu approached the body. Wanting to avoid looking at Sai for as long as possible, he looked at the plaque next to the doorway he was lying in.

'Kanayo Daishi', it read. This was indeed Kanayo's room. Whoever had killed Sai had left the body in plain sight, in the middle of an open doorway.

Nobu felt anger begin to burn inside him. Of course it was Kanayo. Who else could it be? She had been flirting with him yesterday, enticing him, lulling him into a false sense of security so she could kill him in cold blood! Who else would have left the body here, so obviously out in the open...

Even as Nobu thought it, he began to doubt it. The body was out in the open, located so obviously in the 'culprit's' doorway. Could Kanayo really be that bad at covering up her tracks?

Nobu looked away from the plaque and steeled himself. He had to examine the body, there was no way he could partake in the trial without at least having done so. He took a deep breath and directed his gaze to the body of his dead friend.

Sai's eyes were wide open, devoid of all life. They were heavily bloodshot, much more than they had been earlier due to lack of sleep. His neck had several bruises, most of them directly over his throat.

"Strangulation," Youku said. Nobu looked up to see her comparing Sai's body to what she was reading on her ID. He would have looked back down, but he just couldn't bring himself to look back. He had seen what needed to be seen, that was all that was needed.

He directed his attention, instead, to the area around the body. Kanayo's room looked just like any other, nothing appearing to be out of the ordinary.

Except, Nobu realized, for a bottle of something sitting on the table just beside the door. Nobu was about to pick it up, but stopped himself. He couldn't contaminate the crime scene. Instead he studied the label on the bottle.

"Cleaning product?" Nobu thought aloud. What would Kanayo need cleaning product for? From the look of her room, she kept things pretty tidy, he couldn't imagine why she would need to clean up anything.

"Um, Nobu?"

Nobu looked up from the bottle to see Fumiyo, Itsuka and Fuuga. Nobu stood up straighter to address them.

"Hi," he said, almost robotically.

"We just wanted to say... how sorry we are," Fuuga said. He put his hand on Nobu's arm in condolence.

"We knew you and Sai were close," Fumiyo said, "and... we knew..."

She couldn't continue. She buried her face into Itsuka's shoulder. Itsuka was horrified at first, but lowered her hands and stood still, accepting her fate.

"Sai was a nice kid," Fuuga said, letting go of Nobu. "He didn't deserve this."

He didn't deserve this. That sentence hung in Nobu's mind. No, he thought. He didn't. He didn't deserve anything the culprit did to him.

"You should talk to Youku and Tabito," he said, again without much feeling. "They looked bad."

Nobu turned away and hurried out of the room, awkwardly sidling around Sai's body in an attempt to leave the room as fast as he could. He pressed his face against the hallway wall and just stood there, drowning himself in his emotions.

"You're Nobu, right?"

Nobu looked up. Ryouji was looking at him from along the wall. Nobu immediately analysed his expression. He was shocked at what had happened. He hadn't expected it. He didn't know what to do now, about the investigation or anything else. He didn't want to cause trouble.

"Yeah," he answered. "Why?"

Ryouji didn't answer. He turned away and left, heading towards his own room.

Nobu turned around and leant his back against the wall. He tried to calm himself, to think more rationally about the case. Then, out of her room, stepped Kanayo.

"I don't see why we don't just move him," she muttered, stepping over Sai's body. "This is the worst place to have something blocking the way."

Nobu felt something inside him go off like a nuclear bomb. His body was full of fire, and rage, and hatred. Hatred for Kanayo. For what she was saying about Sai now. For what she had done to him.

Nobu was sure Kanayo had murdered Sai. And he was going to pay for it.

"Ehh," Monobear's voice suddenly sounded from the PA system. "I'm getting bored of this. Shall we start the show?"

"Already!?" Arata asked, shocked. "I only just finished framing the scene!"

"Let's begin the School Trial you've all been waiting for! Please gather around the big red doors on the first floor of the school. Upupupupu! I'll see you soon!"

The speakers went silent. Nobu felt his blood pumping strangely. Was this fear, sadness, or excitement? He couldn't quite tell. In any case, he should meet at the doors Monobear was talking about.

They had passed the doors several times over the last few days. None of them could get it open, so they had decided it was just another locked-off area like the staircase. Now, though, they found them easy to open, and each of them gathered in the small room beyond them. A large metal grate covered the opposite wall, whatever lay beyond it shrouded in darkness.

"Is this all of us?" Daichi asked.

"Not yet," Arata said. "I only count fifte... oh. Yeah, this is everyone."

Nobu wanted to turn around and yell at Arata for his idiocy and for bringing up the fact once again, but he didn't. He stared straight ahead at the metal grate ahead of them, where he was sure they had to go.

"Do you all still think it's me?" Kanayo asked, worried.

"Of course not," Yawara answered. He was the only one who did. Everybody else, excluding Nobu, looked at her with either suspicion or worry. Fumiyo looked at her with an expression of intense rage.

"Are you okay, Nobu?" Fuuga asked. Nobu didn't reply.

"Upupupu!" Monobear said, inexplicably in front of them. "I'm glad we're all here!"

"How does it DO that!?" Jo asked, shocked.

"How do I do that? Why, it's easy! I just close my eyes and wish really hard... then harness a nuclear reactor to tear a hole through time and space!"

"That's quite a feat," Arata said, impressed.

"I hate you so much," Tabito muttered, just quiet enough for Arata not to hear him.

"Anyway!" Monobear decided, turning to face the grate. "It's about time we went down, isn't it?"

"Down?" Sahori wondered.

The grate creaked aside and a light beyond it turned on. Beyond it was a metal cage about the size of the room they were in now. Monobear was escorting them into an elevator.

"Please enter the elevator you see in front of you" Monobear announced over the speakers. The students suddenly realized he had vanished from their presence. It will carry you bastards directly to the school courtroom. The court... that will decide you bastards' fates... Upupu, how exciting!"

The class filed into the elevator in silence. When they were all in, the grate slid closed again. The elevator started moving of its own accord, taking them down.

Nobody spoke. The atmosphere was thick with suspicion and concern. Fourteen students were sharing an elevator with a murderer, somebody who had killed one of their own. Soon that person would be revealed, by none other than the classmates they had tried to fool.

Nobu hardly breathed. The trial, the time to avenge Sai's death, was fast approaching. He just hoped he could truly do his friend justice, and at least help in catching the culprit.

The elevator stopped and the grate slid open again. The students turned around to see they had come into a large, circular room. It was decorated to look like a courtroom, with a ring of sixteen jury stands right in the middle. Opposite them, part of the jury ring, was a tall throne, upon which Monobear sat.

"Upupupu!" he laughed. "Welcome! What do you think of our courtroom?"

"It's authentic enough," Fuuga said. "The arrangement is nothing like a real courtroom, but it's genuine."

"Nobody cares how 'genuine' it is," Yawara said, then addressed Monobear. "What do we do, then?"

"Stand at your stall, of course!" Monobear answered. "Hurry, now! We want to get this trial started before dinner!"

Everybody walked around the ring, looking for their stall. Nobu found his, indicated by a plaque with his name printed on it, directly next to one marked with Sai's. He stood in his designated spot, turning to see a portrait of Sai's school photo placed where he would have stood. Over his face, a blood-red 'X' had been painted. Nobu turned to face the centre of the circle, too angry to think straight.

"Upupupu!" Monobear laughed again, once everyone had taken their places. "I hereby declare the first Murder Trial of Hope's Peak Academy open!"

And with that, their discussion of the identity of Sai Nogushi's murderer began.

Chapter Text

"Let’s start with a simple explanation of our school trial!" Monobear said. "The result of the trial is determined by your own votes. If the correct culprit is chosen, they alone will be punished. However... if the wrong person is voted for, everyone but the culprit will be punished. The culprit alone, having managed to fool everyone, will publicly graduate this school! Now, let us start already!"

"The victim is Sai Nogushi," Shigeru said, as if he had rehearsed it. "The cause of death was strangulation, occurring at approximately-"

"Are we seriously talking about this?" Sahori asked, angrily. "The murderer is obvious!"

She turned and pointed straight across the ring to the student opposite her. "It was Kanayo! Kanayo killed Sai!"

"Hey!" Kanayo retorted. "This is serious! Don't go accusing people without proof!"

"Of course there is!" Sahori cried back. "Sai's body was found in YOUR doorway!"

Nobu looked over to Kanayo but addressed everybody else. "Kanayo was acting pretty nice towards Sai yesterday," he said, trying to keep calm. "She acts like she doesn't care for anyone, not even Yawara. For her to flirt with Sai was very uncharacteristic."

"She must have been seducing him!" Jo realized.

"What!?" Kanayo choked.

"Aha!" Daichi declared. "Lulling the target into a false sense of security! A strategic move, Kanayo!"

"Th-that's not what I was doing!" Kanayo cried, looking around at her classmates. "I just thought he was cute!"

"What!?" Yawara spat from several stalls away. "You what!?"

"I'm allowed to look at other guys, Yawara," Kanayo said, "we're not exclusive."

Yawara looked a little betrayed.

"Anyway," Kanayo said, standing up a little straighter, "I couldn't have done it, I wasn't even there!"

"A likely story!" Daichi said, pointing accusingly at her. "And who can attest to this supposed alibi?"

"Yawara, of course," Kanayo said, turning to Yawara expectantly.

Yawara looked up at Kanayo. "What do you mean we 'weren't exclusive'?"

"Oh my GOD," Kanayo said, looking up to the ceiling as if about to curse out the heavens. "Could you just tell them we were together today so they stop thinking I MURDERED SOMEBODY?"

"Oh," Yawara realized. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, I was with her the whole time!"

"If Kanayo has an alibi," Shigeru stated, "then she could not have committed the crime."

"That's impossible!" Sahori said. "Sai was in HER ROOM!"

"It's possible it was somebody else," Fuuga said. He was stroking his chin and looking thoughtful. "The only evidence suggesting Kanayo is the murderer is the location of the body..."

Nobu was stunned. Kanayo had an alibi. She couldn't have killed Sai. But Sai was found in her room, in plain sight. It couldn't be anyone else... could it?

-

Sahori: "The body was found in Kanayo's doorway!"

Kanayo: "I told you, I was with Yawara!"

Sahori: "But it can't be anyone else! It's obvious it was you!"

Fuuga: "Exactly. A murderer wouldn't be THAT obvious about their crime."

> Body in Open Doorway

-

"That's right!" Nobu agreed. Everybody turned to him, seeing him looking up, inspired. "The body was left in full view of the hall, right in the middle of the doorway."

"Exactly!" Sahori said, getting frustrated with repeating her claims. "Right in Kanayo's doorway! It's obvious she's the killer!"

"But that's the thing," Nobu explained. "No murderer would be that careless with their victim. Leaving the body in her doorway is practically confessing to the crime."

"Why are you all agreeing with me without agreeing with me?" Sahori asked, thoroughly confused.

"Don't you see?" Nobu asked her. "The last place a murderer would leave a body is in a place that would convict them."

"That's right," Fuuga said. "The way this murder is set out suggests... somebody is trying to frame Kanayo."

Students around the circle gasped.

"Frame me?" Kanayo repeated, bringing her hand to her mouth. "Who would want to frame ME?"

"I can think of a few," Nobu muttered.

"Hold on," Fumiyo said. "Our rooms can only be unlocked when we swipe our ID's. How could somebody other than Kanayo open her door?"

Everybody turned to Kanayo, who was suddenly looking embarrassed.

"I..." she began. "... I don't lock my door when I leave it."

"You are literally the worst person I've ever met," Tabito said.

"So what we have determined," Shigeru summarised, "is that Kanayo was most likely framed. If this is the case, what other evidence do we have to suggest the true culprit?"

-

Kanayo: "I'm being framed? By who?"

Shigeru: "That's what we need to find out."

Jo: "What else was at the scene other than the body?"

Daichi: "There has to be some other piece of evidence."

Fumiyo: "Something that wouldn't have been there before!"

> Bottle of Cleaning Product

-

"There is!" Nobu announced. "On the table next to Kanayo's door, in her room! There was a bottle of cleaning chemicals."

"Cleaning chemicals?" Sahori asked.

"Why would there be cleaning chemicals in Kanayo's room?" Arata asked. "She's already a pretty clean person."

"Thank you, Arata," Kanayo said. "And yes, that IS strange. I didn't bring any cleaning chemicals with me, I don't even remember finding any when I looked through my room for the first time."

"So the chemicals were placed there during the murder!" Jo put together. "The murderer must have left them there when they committed the crime!"

"So what?" Fumiyo asked. "How do we know whose it is? Do we look for fingerprints? Is there a name tag?"

"I don't think we need to resort to such investigatory tactics," Daichi said. Fumiyo saw his gaze fixed across the ring. One by one, each person turned to face the one student they realized would own the chemicals.

"Genji Erizawa," Shigeru said. Genji was pale-faced and wide-eyed, sweating profusely in his stall.

"W-wait," he managed to say. "I-I didn't leave them there, I swear!"

"YOU!" Kanayo yelled, leaning forward, threatening to leap over the railings and throttle Genji herself. "YOU left the body in my room! YOU tried to frame ME for killing him!"

"No!" Genji shouted. "I didn't! I didn't do it! I'm being set up!"

"A double-setup?" Fuuga thought aloud. "Highly unlikely."

"And too complicated to bother with," Jo added.

"Yeah!" Yawara agreed. "The freak did it! He killed the loser kid AND he's trying to frame Kanayo for it!"

Genji could barely speak, he was so frightened. "I-I wasn't th-there! I w-was on my d-d-daily clean-ning rounds!"

"Cleaning rounds?" Nobu asked. He was trying not to direct any rage towards Genji. If it turned out they were wrong, just like they were wrong about Kanayo, he would have let his thoughts be clouded for nothing.

"Yes!" Genji said. He was speaking faster now, trying to get through his sentences before he started to trip on them. "I have a regime! Get s-supplies! Proceed to next location! C-clean every surface! Return to supplies, exchange, r-repeat! I'm always moving, I never stay l-long enough except to clean! I-I couldn't do it, I couldn't clean AND k-kill somebody! It's impossible!"

"That's right," Daighi said, slowly. "You could not possibly have enough time. Therefore, you must have hurried! And in your haste to form an alibi, you left your supplies behind at the scene! You have dug your own trap, Genji Erizawa!"

"That's wrong!" Genji shouted. Daichi double-took, more dramatically than necessary. "There's no way I could have forgotten my supplies! Cleaning is my life! There's no way I would have rushed my duties!"

"You're such a FREAK," Yawara chuckled. "Why don't you just give up and confess already?"

"Hold on."

Everyone turned. Youku had finally spoken in the trial.

Nobu stared. He hadn't noticed before in his rage, but Youku was not looking well. Her face was pale and she still looked sick. She had taken her notebook out and was looking through it, searching for something.

"Here," she said, tapping a page. "Part of my research on students before I came here."

She passed the notebook to Tabito, standing beside her. He looked similarly distraught, but seemed more able to act. He took the notepad and read what was on it.

"OCD?" he read.

Youku nodded. "Genji Erizawa has an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Sai Nogushi was killed by strangulation. In accordance with Genji's disorder, there is no way he could be the murderer, as he is unable to stand contact with another human being. It's the same compulsion that drives him to clean."

Genji was looking at his shoes. His face was tomato-red, and his fingers were trembling where he gripped his stall. Nobu could easily tell what he was thinking. Genji had just had his darkest secret told to his whole class, and was expecting nothing but grief for it.

"Hah!" Yawara laughed. "So he's a CERTIFIED freak!"

Genji shrank back from Yawara, as if his words were pushing him away.

"As you can see," Youku said, softly, "Genji is innocent. One who cannot bear human contact could not possibly-"

"Halt everything!" Daichi cried, pointing to the sky. Out of his pocket, he pulled a folded-up piece of cloth with a flourish. "I discovered THIS during my investigation!"

"What's that?" Kanayo asked.

"It's a cloth!" Daichi announced, holding it out for them all to see. "Found in the trash can of Kanayo Daishi's room, right on the top! AND it smells of cleaning chemicals!"

"Are you saying Genji strangled somebody by CLEANING something?" Sahori asked, incredulous.

"Exactly!" Daichi agreed.

The courtroom was silent.

"... what?" Fuuga asked.

"Yes!" Daichi said. "For this cloth was not the only thing covered in cleaning chemicals! The other thing tainted by chemicals was... the victim's neck!"

People started to talk amongst themselves at this revelation. Nobu stared at Genji, who had looked up at Daichi's announcement, and was staring at the cloth with a look of pure terror.

"Genji must have used the chemicals to clean Sai's neck," Jo theorised, "then he'd be able to touch him, and kill him!"

"If anything," Arata mused, "this is even more proof that the murderer is Genji..."

"How would you even keep somebody still long enough to clean their neck?" Tabito wondered.

"They probably started gettin' it on," Yawara laughed. "I knew they were fags, the both of them!"

"ExCUSE me!" Fuuga yelled, turning to Yawara.

"Why don't you just STOP TALKING!" Fumiyo told him, looking like she was closer to jumping the rails than Kanayo had been.

"Aw, shut up," Yawara said, rolling his eyes, "we've got a killer to punish."

Genji somehow found the strength to speak one last time. "I-I didn't!" he cried. "I wasn't there! I was cleaning the infirmary!"

"Can anyone confirm this?" Shigeru asked. "Can anyone confirm your alibi?"

Genji said no further words. He spluttered, and choked, and tried to speak, but nothing coherent was heard.

"There you go, then!" Arata said, smiling. "We did it!"

"We can vote now, right?" Yawara asked, turning to Monobear. "We can pick the killer?"

Nobu felt a little uneasy. Something about their decision felt strange. Had Genji really killed Sai? It seemed so out of character. Then again, the evidence was there. There was no denying the facts.

"Um..."

Everybody fell silent. Itsuka looked like she was about to cry when everyone turned to look at her, after hearing her speak, some of whom for the first time since she'd introduced herself on their first day.

Nobu swallowed. If Itsuka was willing to speak, something was up. Something big.

Chapter Text

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "It seems Itsuka has the floor. Itsuka! Of all people! What a laugh! What a show! Truly this is a Trial for the ages!"

"Let her talk," Fumiyo snapped at him. "It's okay," she said, turning to a scared Itsuka.

"You don't have to look at them," Fuuga said from beside her, in a low voice.

Itsuka looked at her fingers, picking at her nails again. "I... I just thought... if all Genji has is a lack of an alibi, then... then maybe-"

"It's not just that," Kanayo interrupted, "it's the chemicals left at the scene and on the kid's neck!"

"She wasn't finished," Fuuga said pointedly, frowning at Kanayo. "Besides, anyone could have stolen Genji's supplies and prepared the scene."

"Th-that's it," Itsuka said. "Anyone could have done it... except those with alibis..."

Itsuka stopped speaking. People started to look at each other, eyeing each student suspiciously. Itsuka had brought up a very valid point. The evidence they had gathered was only circumstantial, with Genji being the suspect simply because he had no alibi to boot. But who else didn't have an alibi? Who else was suspicious?

-

Itsuka: "I... I was in the storage room..."

Fumiyo: "It's true! We were both there with Fuuga!"

Jo: "Nobu and I were in the bathhouse, investigating."

Yawara: "Kanayo and I were doing her laundry."

 - Laundry

Kanayo: "How many times do I have to try to clear my name?"

Kanayo: "Yawara and I are basically irrelevant, now!"

 > Laudry

-

"You've got that wrong," Nobu interrupted. Kanayo shot him a sideways glance. Nobu was looking between her and Yawara. "You and Yawara were in the laundry around the time of the murder. Isn't the laundry room where the cleaning supplies are kept?"

Kanayo looked like she didn't know how to answer.

"Yes!" Genji choked out. "Yes, they are!"

"Then couldn't either one of them have taken the chemicals?"

Talking broke out amidst the students.

"Hey, shut up!" Yawara told them all. "If Kanayo'd taken some bottle of something, you think I wouldn't have noticed her take it? Or leave with it?"

"Yeah!" Kanayo agreed. "Same with Yawara!"

"How many times do we have to say it!" Yawara cried. "We were both together all day!"

"You've got that wrong!"

Everybody spun around. Arata had his hand raised. He gave Nobu an excited nod, which Nobu decided not to react to.

"Daichi and I were in the foyer," Arata explained, "looking at the big door in front of the entrance. I saw Yawara walk past and into the cafeteria."

"You did?" Fumiyo asked, shocked. "Was Kanayo with him?"

"I don't think so," Arata said.

"I don't remember this particular event," Daichi said, eyeing Arata. "Could it be you are fabricating evidence?"

"You were facing the door," Arata said, shrugging. "You probably didn't see him."

"So let me get this straight," Jo said. "Yawara... was lying?"

"Hell no!" Yawara spat. "I was with Kanayo all day! I just went to get her a snack, is all!"

Everybody stared at Yawara. Then, the focus turned back to Kanayo.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Arata," Youku asked, "do you know what time Yawara went to the cafeteria?"

"Nope!" Arata said. "Not a clue! It wasn't that long before Itsuka, Fumiyo and Fuuga did, though!"

"We saw it was past midday," Fuuga said, "we were going to the lunch meeting."

Fumiyo gasped. "That means-"

"Kanayo was alone in the laundry around midday," Nobu finished. "Kanayo no longer has an alibi."

-

Kanayo: "What!? We're back on me AGAIN?"

Kanayo: "I told you, I didn't do it!"

Yawara: "She couldn't have! When I came back, she was right where she was!"

Kanayo: "See? Right where I was!"

Kanayo: "And in any case, if there's no proof I stayed-"

Kanayo: "-then there's no proof I left!"

> Cleaning Schedule

-

"That's wrong!" Nobu announced. Kanayo spun back to Nobu, an exasperated look on her face.

"What NOW?" she asked, clearly losing her temper.

"Genji," Nobu asked. Genji stood to attention, still terrified over being under suspicion. "What did you say your regime for cleaning was?"

"Oh! First I gather supplies," Genji reeled off, starting to calm down just a little, "then I complete my duties in one room, then I switch my supplies for the next... oh!"

Genji wasn't the only one who realized. Several others were suddenly looking back to Kanayo, one or two still waiting for Genji's testimony.

"And when you went back to replace your supplies around midday," Nobu asked, "was there anyone in the laundry room?"

"N-no!" Genji answered. "There wasn't!"

Everyone was looking at Kanayo now, who was staring at Genji with a slightly crazed look.

"Are you serious?" she asked, then looking around the ring. "Are we seriously back on me AGAIN?"

"There's nothing concrete," Shigeru said, "but now that your alibi has been eliminated... you are once again a suspect."

"That's BULLSHIT!" Kanayo shouted. "This is insane!"

"If you had some proof you aren't the culprit," Shigeru told her, "your supposed innocence would be much clearer."

"I'm getting SO tired of being accused of murder."

"Well what do you have that says you're not guilty, then!?" Fumiyo asked angrily.

"Nothing!" Kanayo answered. "Well, I... I don't know!"

"Wait a second!" Yawara called. "Kanayo, you couldn't fold your laundry!"

Kanayo sighed. "Yawara, this is SERIOUS, stop bragging about touching my clothes!"

"But the reason I had to touch them was because your nails were still wet," Yawara explained, his expression proud. "If you'd killed the kid, there'd be nail polish marks all over his neck."

-

Kanayo: "Oh, yeah! I'd just put nail polish on around then!"

Fuuga: "So with Sai's clean neck..."

Daichi: "Kanayo's fingers could not have come in contact with the body!"

Yawara: "Aha! Kanayo, your wet nails have saved you from suspicion!"

> Chemicals on Neck

-

"I don't think so!" Nobu cried. People turned back to him, surprised. Nobu was positively pulsating with anger. He knew the truth, now. It had been obvious from the start, for all the wrong reasons, but now the culprit's identity was certain.

"The cloth," he said. "In the trash."

"You mean THIS?" Daichi asked, raising it again. "The one Genji used to clean Sai's neck?"

As soon as he spoke, his eyes widened in realization. The others had a similar realization, too.

"... no," Nobu said. "The one KANAYO used to clean Sai's neck."

Everyone turned to Kanayo. She was staring, not at Genji, or around the ring, but straight at Nobu. Her teeth were gritted and her eyes had a mad spark to them.

"Kanayo," Yawara asked, breaking the silence. "Wh... what-"

"JUST SHUT UP, YAWARA!" Kanayo screamed. Yawara jumped, leaning away from her as she turned straight back to Nobu. "That's so STUPID! As if I'd ever KILL someone! Especially not a cutie like Sai! And there's DEFINITELY no way I'd ruin my nails!"

"That's uncharacteristic of you," Nobu spat. "You called him 'that kid' earlier, not something one would call someone they were interested in."

"SHUT UP! It's obvious what's happened here! The cleaner killed Sai, left his bullshit bottle and framed me because I'm such a BITCH!"

"Genji's OCD prevents him from forgetting such things!"

"He made an exception! He's a FREAK!"

"Do you even know what OCD is?" Fuuga asked.

"WHATEVER! I STILL DIDN'T DO IT!"

Kanayo's hair was starting to fall out of its normally perfect formation. Her expression was wild, her face almost nothing the calm, proud one they had known the cheerleader to have. Kanayo was becoming unhinged.

They needed something. One more piece of proof. One more discrepancy.

-

Kanayo: "Where's the PROOF!"

Kanayo: "You're all so obsessed with proof, but where is it?"

Kanayo: "WHERE'S THE PROOF IT WAS ME!?"

Fuuga: "..."

Fumiyo: "...!"

Kanayo: "SEE? NOTHING!"

Kanayo: "You want your discrepancy? Well that's just too damn bad!"

> Kanayo's Teacup

-

"I wouldn't be so sure!"

Nobu brought the attention to himself once again. "When we came to the cafeteria, you were having tea with Itsuka, Fumiyo and Fuuga. But you couldn't pick up your cup, because your nail polish still hadn't dried."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Kanayo shrieked. "THAT'S SO INSIGNIFICANT!"

"No it's NOT!" Nobu shouted back. "Nail polish doesn't take that long to dry! You had recently applied more, just as you had before when Yawara was folding your laundry!"

"I-"

"You had just re-applied your nail polish after murdering Sai and wiping it off on him!"

"SHUT UP, YOU FREAK!"

"YOU KILLED HIM AND TRIED TO FRAME GENJI!"

"NO I DIDN'T! YOU DID! SOMEBODY ELSE DID!"

-

Kanayo: "I didn't kill Sai!"

Kanayo: "It was Genji's chemicals!"

Kanayo: "YAWARA WAS ONLY GONE FOR A FEW MINUTES!"

Kanayo: "IT WASN'T ME! IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN ME!"

Kanayo: "I..."

Kanayo: "I...!"

Kanayo: "SO WHAT IF I PUT MORE NAIL POLISH ON! THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!"

> KANAYO'S NAIL POLISH REGIME

Nobu: "YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!"

-

"You apply nail polish three times a day," Nobu declared, "you said so yourself! Morning, midday and afternoon! The only reason you'd need to apply more would be if you touched something while they were still wet... Like Sai Nogushi's throat!"

Kanayo was speechless. She was frozen, leaning over her stall, staring at Nobu with wide, crazy eyes. Her mouth was open, as if to speak, but nothing was coming out.

"There may have been something else that compromised Kanayo's nail polish," Shigeru stated. "Kanayo, do you have anything to say?"

Kanayo did not have anything to say.

"K-Kanayo?" Yawara asked. He was looking at her in a strange way, like someone he trusted had betrayed him. Which, the other students realized, was exactly what had happened. "I was with you... you didn't touch anything... what did you wipe your polish on?"

Silence.

"Kanayo!" Yawara yelled, sounding scared. "Kanayo, did you-"

"Of COURSE I did," Kanayo finally said, standing back up. "Are you stupid, Yawara?"

The other students gasped. Nobu stared at Kanayo, his body filled with rage. He had been right from the start.

"That's right," Kanayo said, looking around the room. "I killed Sai Nogushi."

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "I'd call that a confession, if anything! I guess it's time to start the voting for REAL this time!"

-

Trial #1: The Case of Sai Nogushi

The culprit was found guilty. The culprit was Kanayo Daishi.

COURTROOM CLOSED.

Chapter Text

"I sent Yawara out to get me food," Kanayo explained, finally admitting her defeat. "I stole the cleaner's bottle from the laundry, and I strangled him in my room."

"Why."

Nobu's question hung in the air. Kanayo looked at him as if he were insane. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "I want to get out of this place! This school sucks! Nobody cares about ORDER here! I'm like a queen with no subjects, it's ridiculous!"

"You killed somebody just because we didn't play into your high school bullshit?" Tabito asked.

"Not JUST that!" Kanayo said, angrily. "We're TRAPPED in here! I don't want to be stuck in here all my life! I want to get out! So I got some loser to come to my room and killed him. It's what anyone would have done."

"Not us!" Fumiyo yelled.

"Not YET!" Kanayo yelled back. "We all want to get out of here, it's just a matter of time before somebody else tries! And I may have failed, but who says I won't try again? There are plenty of other people I could easily overpower!"

"Upu... Upupu! Upupupupupupu!"

Monobear laughed his cruellest laugh yet. The students turned to face him, suddenly even more worried.

"'Try again'?" Monobear asked. "Whatever do you mean? You were caught out, Kanayo Daishi! A caught culprit must pay the price!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kanayo said, waving Monobear away. "Your little 'punishment'. Whatever, I'll take whatever punishment that comes my way. What is it? Clapping erasers? Detention?"

She gave Genji a cruel smile. "Cleaning duty?"

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "Nothing of the sort! Why, the penalty for disrupting your peaceful school life... is execution!"

"WHAT!?" Kanayo shrieked. Everybody else gasped.

Nobu looked between Monobear and Kanayo. Was he being serious? Was he... was he about to execute Kanayo!?

"And speaking of which," Monobear continued, "I think it's about time we got this punishment underway!"

"No!" Kanayo yelled. "WAIT! You can't be SERIOUS!"

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "I never joke, Kanayo! Bears are incapable of humour!"

"Yawara!" Kanayo yelled, turning to him. "Yawara, help me!"

Yawara stood in shock, watching Kanayo. She continued to plead with him while he stared, his eyes wide, his mouth half-open, at the girl he had spent so much time with over the last few days, the girl who was about to die right in front of him.

"This time, I prepared a special punishment for the Super High School Level Cheerleader, Kanayo Daishi!"

"NO!" Kanayo yelled. "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"Let's give it our best!"

"NO!

"It's-"

"HELP ME!"

"PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Kanayo leaned over the railing, reaching out towards Yawara. He stared at her hand, and made to extend his own.

"YAWARA!"

"K-KANAYO!"

Monobear procured a comically large mallet from behind him as a large red button extended from the throne in front of him. As Kanayo and Yawara were about to make contact, he brought the mallet down, and hit the button. Kanayo Daishi’s punishment began.

-

Kanayo's stall suddenly came to life. Before Kanayo and Yawara's hands could meet, her stall turned into a sideways elevator, immediately speeding backwards through a hallway that had suddenly appeared. She gripped onto the rail in front of her and looked around, trying to see if she could safely dismount, but she was moving too fast.

The stall stopped just beyond a metal grate, throwing Kanayo off of it. She fell to the floor and rolled a short distance while the grate closed behind her. Some distance away, her classmates were running to catch up.

Noises came from behind her. She slowly got up and turned around, seeing hundreds of mannequins start to pile up. Many at a time, they fell kneeling on top of each other, building a huge structure of faux teammates. The rows grew shorter and shorter, until finally there were just two mannequins on top, just below an illuminated square in the ceiling.

The mannequins had formed an enormous pyramid, just below an escape hatch.

Execution, Super High School Level Cheerleader Kanayo Daishi: "Gimme an 'E'!"

Kanayo ran for it. She reached the base of the pyramid and leaped. She started climbing up the layers, faster than she looked like she should have been able to. However, she was giving far less consideration for the comfort of the inanimate people, stepping on heads and necks and feet in her desperation to reach the top. As she neared the final layer she began to add some flair into her routine. She started to swing around on the outstretched legs of the mannequins, clambering to the top as gracefully as a ballerina on a dance floor.

Finally, she reached the top, and stood on the last two mannequins. She looked up at the ceiling with an intense look of pride and insanity, reaching out to pull herself up... but there was no escape hatch above her. What she had mistaken as an illuminated hole and in fact just been an illuminated panel.

Kanayo looked down. She was so very high up, high above the metal grate she had been forced through. The pyramid didn't feel as safe anymore. In fact, it felt quite dangerous.

At the bottom of the pyramid, a single mannequin started to quiver. No, not a mannequin. Monobear. Monobear in a blonde wig and cheerleader's skirt. His arms and legs quivered under the weight of so many mannequins, and Kanayo herself.

The pyramid started to wobble. Kanayo extended her arms to balance herself, but her efforts were fruitless. She stared at the ground far below her and felt the effects of vertigo for the first time in her life. She began to kneel, to either get a more comfortable footing or begin to climb back down.

Far below her, Monobear's arms and legs finally gave, and he fell to his chest.

The pyramid began to topple. Mannequins started to fall all around, from the bottom up. Kanayo saw the destruction begin to approach her and looked back to the ceiling, clawing it for some sign of a trapdoor or handhold. There was no such thing.

The mannequins beneath her feet shifted. The pyramid collapsed beneath her and tumbled down. Kanayo Daishi plummeted, the ground rushing up to meet her...

The students flinched. They watched in shock as the mannequins began to pile up.

From under the rubble, something stirred. A moment later, Monobear emerged from the mannequins, stepping dazedly towards them. When he had regained his footing, he hesitated, then raised his arms in a 'V'. The sound of applause played from nearby speakers.

The pile of mannequins stirred no more.

-

"AAH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Fumiyo screamed. Itsuka was once again unconscious. Shigeru was staring with a strained look on his face, trying not to show emotion. Yawara was weeping as he gripped the grate, calling for Kanayo. Youku was leaning against Tabito, who had buried his face in her shoulder. Everybody else was just staring with wide eyes.

Nobu gripped the grating in front of him. Kanayo was dead. She had murdered Sai, and she had been murdered in turn. Sai hadn't deserved what he'd gotten... but neither did Kanayo. Nobody deserved to die, surely not even murderers. Not like this.

"Upupupu!" Monobear laughed. He was suddenly standing behind them, his wig and skirt missing. "That was a doozy! I wonder if the next one'll top it!"

"Th-there won't be a next one!" Sahori said, her voice weak. "Nobody could risk this! Nobody would!"

Nobu wasn't so sure about that, but didn't say a word. He continued to stare at the rubble that covered Kanayo's body. He wondered what she had thought in her final moments, if they had been anything similar to Sai's. He wondered if Sai would be happy he had been avenged... no. He wouldn't. He wouldn't have wanted Kanayo to suffer like that, no matter how much she had made him suffer.

The students stood in near-silence, with the occasional sob or whimper, before the remains of Kanayo's execution. A common thought on their minds was just how much Kanayo had risked to escape Hope's Peak Academy. Several couldn't help wondering whether such a risk was really worth it.

------------------------

That night, Nobu lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He knew there was next to no chance of him sleeping tonight. In just one day, two of their numbers had died, been murdered by someone. It had become apparent that there was no way their school life was going to be anything less than terrifying. If anyone else had the same idea Kanayo had, their numbers would dwindle even further. Nobu hoped it wouldn't come to that with all his heart.

He was startled by his doorbell suddenly ringing. He shot up in bed, suddenly alert. He walked towards the door, taking an empty drawer out of its cabinet. He had no weapon to protect himself with; the least he could do was pick up something to defend with. He was even more startled to open the door and see Ryouji standing there.

"Hey," he said. He looked at the drawer strangely.

Nobu immediately took to analysing Ryouji's expression. He felt no joy in what he was either about to do or had already done. He wasn't aiming to be violent or cruel. He was here about a serious issue.

Nobu lowered the drawer. "Sorry," he said.]

Ryouji looked away. He was uncomfortable, too. He pulled something out of his pocket, a black notebook, and held it out to Nobu. "Here," he said.

Nobu took the notebook. He opened it up to the first page and scanned it. He suddenly felt a mixture of excitement, sickness, and anger.

"This is-"

"I swiped it from the kid's room," Ryouji confessed. "But I looked through it, and... it didn't feel right. Thought you should have it. And I know it was evidence, you'll know once you read it, but I... I don't know, I didn't want you to know I took it."

Nobu looked between the book and Ryouji.

"Why should I have it?" he asked, trying to keep his temper under control. Ryouji had taken some VERY private property from somebody recently deceased, it wasn't something he should just get away with. And yet, something about him returning it...

"He... it sounded like you two were real close," he answered. He had turned completely away, now, far too uncomfortable with the situation. "He said you were his... best friend, or something."

Nobu felt something stab into his heart. Ryouji made to look back, to say something else, but ended up walking hurriedly away, back to his room.

Nobu watched him for a moment before closing his door. He went back to his bed and stared at the notebook. After a moment of deliberation, he opened it, and began reading. He managed to contain himself until he read the last entry, only several pages in, when he started to silently weep. He tried to make sure his tears didn't stain the pages as he read.

"Dear Journal. I barely slept last night again. Now I'm so tired I'm amazed I'm even able to write this. Nobu told me to get some sleep, so I've come back to do that. I'm still really glad I met Nobu, without him I don't think I would have made any friends here. I can't sleep for long, though; Kanayo's note said she wanted to meet me at midday, so I only have a few hours. I still can't believe she wants to see me! I thought she was with Yawara! I decided not to tell Nobu just in case it doesn't work out. I'll probably tell him anyway, really. I really feel like I can tell him anything. He's the first person to talk to me like he really cares, not like anyone I knew in middle school. I know I've only known him for a few days, but I think Nobu is my best friend, maybe even the best friend I've ever had. Well, I should probably try to get some sleep. I only have a few more hours before I have to meet Kanayo! I'll probably come back tonight after I've told Nobu how it's going. Until next time! - Sai Nogushi."

Chapter Text

Nobu shuffled down the hallway to the cafeteria. He had been woken up by Monobear's morning announcement, something he considered a feat as it meant he had managed to fall asleep the night before. He had lost track of how long he had stared at the ceiling above his bed, going through the events of that day.

Two people had died, he realized. The force of the matter was truly hitting him. Two people who were alive, two people they had met, talked to, befriended, were now dead. Not only that, but they were being kept inside the school until it happened again.

Nobu had lost a friend to the desire to leave. He wasn't about to have it happen again.

When Nobu entered the cafeteria, he found himself to be the last to arrive. Everyone, even Ryouji, looked up from their tables as he entered.

"Hi," he said.

"Morning," Jo returned. She was the only one who did. Nobu looked to Ryouji, who averted his gaze. He then went to sit between Fumiyo and Jo at the table, where he surveyed the rest of his class.

Shigeru was as unreadable as ever. Itsuka, Fumiyo, Genji and Sahori were looking at the table as if in a trance. Fuuga was glancing around the table, concerned for the others. Yawara had his arms folded and his feet on the table, frowning at the wall ahead of him. Youku and Tabito were sitting opposite one another at the head of the table, still pale from the day before. Neither of them looked like they had recovered.

Arata, Jo and Daichi seemed to be the only ones who weren't as shook up as everyone else.

"So," Arata asked, "what're we doing today?"

"Nothing," Sahori answered. "We're sitting at this table and waiting to starve to death."

"You're on your own there, sister," Jo said, getting up from the table and heading for the kitchen. Arata looked up and down the table before following her.

"Jo is somewhat correct!" Daichi announced. "We cannot let ourselves fall behind in terms of productivity! We must take everything in stride and carry forth!"

"Can someone shut this asshole up?" Yawara asked. "We do what we want. That's your damn schedule, or whatever the hell you want."

"For those who actually want some ORDER," Fuuga proposed, "does anyone have anything they want to suggest?"

While the question was open to the table, everybody was waiting for Youku's input. She had been their competent leader so far, they would be more than happy for it to continue.

Youku, however, did not look happy at all. Her eyes were glazed and she didn't look up from the table when anybody spoke. If she could hear anything, she wasn't letting them know.

"I think it's somebody else's turn for a while," Tabito said sadly, looking concernedly at what little of Youku's face he could see.

"Uhm," Fumiyo said, slowly standing up. "I... I think if we don't really know what to do, we should just... take a day to recuperate?"

"A day of rest would be most beneficial," Daichi considered. "Especially for those of us hit the hardest, emotionally."

"As if there's anything else to investigate, anyway," Sahori muttered.

"Excuse me?" Shigeru asked, startling Jo, who nearly dropped the tray of breakfast she was returning with.

Sahori looked up at him, wary. "Uh... I said it's not like there's anywhere else to investigate?"

"Did nobody else notice the stairwell?" Shigeru asked, speaking to the whole table. Nobody answered.

Shigeru gave an expression of distaste and stood. He walked to the cafeteria doors and looked back. He wanted them to follow him.

Outside the cafeteria, across the lobby, the stairwell could be seen. However, something about it was different than it had been yesterday.

"Hey!" Arata exclaimed. "The grate's gone!"

"We can go upstairs?" Sahori gasped.

"New plan!" Fumiyo said, excitedly. "Everyone check out the rest of the school!"

"Great!" Jo said. "After breakfast!"

"Well, YEAH, of COURSE after breakfast!"

Ryouji, Shigeru and Yawara did not wait until after breakfast to investigate the upper floors, but rather left the group immediately. The others went back into the cafeteria, where they saw Tabito and Youku still at the table. They hadn't followed them out.

"Are you okay, Youku?" Arata asked. "Do you need anything?"

Youku looked up at him and stared for a moment. He gave her a cheerful grin, which she clearly didn't know how to react to. "Thank you, Arata," she told him, "but I'm fine."

"Okay, then," Arata said, heading towards the kitchen. "Hope you feel better!"

Youku looked at Tabito as if to ask what the hell just happened.

"I don't know," Tabito answered. "Plant life?"

They told Tabito and Youku what they had found, prompting them to have a quick private discussion and leave them to investigate. The rest of them ate, finishing their meals at different times and grouping off to head for the next floor. Nobu, Fuuga and Sahori left together and ascended the stairs.

"It is but a single floor," Daichi told them when they reached the top. "Our promise of a boundless school grounds has been snatched from us!"

"At least the bounds have widened," Sahori sighed, then led the other two down the hall.

The second floor offered a slightly broader range of facilities than the first floor. While there were also classrooms and bathrooms, there was also an art room and what turned out to be a training dojo.

They peeked in through the dojo door and saw Yawara training with a punching bag suspended from the ceiling. He turned around when they entered and ordered them to leave, using much more colourful language than they would have rather.

"What an ass," Sahori complained, shutting the door.

"I know, right," Fuuga agreed, cheekily.

Sahori realized after a moment what Fuuga had said and gasped. "Fuuga!" she cried, laughing with wide eyes as if they were going to get in trouble.

"You were thinking it," Fuuga laughed. Nobu watched with a raised eyebrow as the two giggled over each other.

"But yes," Fuuga suddenly said seriously, cutting the laughter short, "that guy needs to stop. Just, completely."

"I know!" Sahori agreed. "Things are bad enough here, how can he act so mean all the time?"

"Bullies tend to not get enough attention than they want," Nobu told them. "He probably expects people to know him and doesn't want anyone to ignore him."

"Well he's managed that," Sahori scoffed. "The whole class hates him."

"'Any advertising is good advertising'," Fuuga said. "As long as his brand's out there, I don't think he cares what people think of it."

"He's been getting worse," Nobu said. "He's angrier; both just then and at breakfast he was more antagonistic."

"He seemed pretty much the same to me," Sahori grumbled.

"No, he's right," Fuuga thought. "It's the same, but different. I think before he was just being cruel, now he's being cruel and ANGRY."

"Although," Nobu considered, "we have to remember Kanayo."

"Do you think they actually cared about each other?" Fuuga asked. "They hung out all the time, but I always assumed it was just because they fit the cliché."

"A lot of the time," Sahori said, "cliché mandates behaviour. Why else would it be a cliché if it weren’t a common occurrence?"

"I think you both know a bit more about this sort of thing than I do," Nobu confessed.

"Oh, nonsense," Fuuga said. "I get what I know from movies, they just imitate the real world. Sahori, you're probably the expert here."

"On one side, yeah," Sahori agreed, "I mean I'm fantastic at bringing people together, but I didn't work on this one... Aren't you a Socialiser, Nobu? You've gotta have something on them, right?"

Nobu shrugged and thought back about Yawara and Kanayo. "Yawara was always protective of her, but we never saw them in any situation more intimate than a breakfast order. If he really cared about her, we didn't see him show it."

"... I can't believe she's really gone," Sahori said, softly.

The atmosphere changed. For a few minutes, they had enjoyed some peaceful ignorance of their situation. Suddenly, though, reality had come crashing back down around them, and they remembered the truth.

Around the corner nearby, Youku came towards them, staring along the wall as she walked.

"Oh! Youku!" Sahori said. Youku broke out of whatever state she was in and looked back at them.

"Hey," Sahori said, soothingly. "You doing okay?"

"Better," she said. Her eyes wandered back to the wall. "I... I don't know..."

"Oh, Youku," Fuuga said. He walked over to her and put his arm over her shoulders, resting his chin on his own. "We'll get through this."

Youku looked sadly at Fuuga's arm and patted it. "Tabito might."

"Is he okay?" Sahori asked.

"He's... better."

At that moment, in a feat of timing even the Super High School Level Comedian could not have planned, Tabito came around the opposite corner, flanked on each side by Jo and Arata, looking thoroughly displeased.

"- so really, we're totally safe!" Arata was saying.

"You idiot!" Jo said to him. "Just because we know what the risk is, doesn't mean nobody's gonna try taking it!"

"Really?" Fuuga, Sahori and Nobu asked in unison.

Youku managed a weak, sad smile.

Chapter Text

Time passed and the groups split and mingled. Without much time until the midday meeting, students were simply meandering around the second floor waiting for time to be up. Sahori and Nobu had stuck together, doing only slightly more investigation work than when they had been with Fuuga.

"So what do you think about Tabito and Youku?" Sahori asked as they looked through a classroom on the second floor.

"Huh?" Nobu asked. "In what way?"

"I dunno... how they're doing on their own, how they're coping together-"

"Oh. Uh... I guess neither of them are doing very well, but Youku seems to be taking things harder than Tabito. He's acting as both an equal and a helper to her, since he's a similar level of troubled as her but less enough to be able to comfort her."

"Okay," Sahori said slowly, "then... what about them just together?"

Nobu laughed. "I'm seeing your matchmaker side coming back out."

"I can't help it," Sahori giggled. "There are so many people in the world and I just wanna see them all date."

"How come you like all that stuff, though?" Nobu asked. "Talking about other people's lives, interfering in their affairs, doesn't it-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Sahori said, lifting a hand. "If this is about matchmaking, it's not all about interfering in lives. Matchmaking isn't a matter of making people do things or forcing them to get together with people, it's about setting up scenarios in which people can have the opportunity to change their own lives for the better. I don't MAKE people go out, I just bring people who want to together so they can START to."

"... that's a better way of describing it, I guess," Nobu confessed. "And the gossip?"

"Oh, THAT," Sahori giggled. "Gossip's just fun! Don't you feel it? Knowing things about other people? It's not like we use any information to our advantage, but isn't it just fun to know about people?"

"I guess," Nobu said, agreeing that knowing people was a positive thing. "On the other hand, it's usually better to respect people's privacy about certain things."

"When it comes to stuff people say in secret," Sahori said, "I agree. When it's about stuff we see for ourselves, as in PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, though, I have no restraints."

"As long as we don't start speculating."

"Nobu, my dear," Sahori said, winking. "If you know what you're doing, speculation's the best bit."

Nobu shook his head, smiling. Sahori may have some differing opinions to him, but she was harmless in the end.

"Such as about certain people?" he asked.

"Such as MANY people," Sahori answered.

"Especially the ones that hang out together?"

"Especially! Friendship is great, but relationships are better. Other people's, I mean."

"What about your own?"

"Is this your flirtation method?"

Nobu laughed again. "Not quite."

"Aw," Sahori laughed with mock disappointment. "A pity, we would have been STELLAR together."

Daichi leaned his head in through the door. "Excuse me," he asked, "have either of you perchance found a textbook or literary container of any kind?"

Nobu and Sahori blinked. They quickly looked around the room at the several open desks and cupboards they had gone through.

"I don't think so," Sahori answered.

"How come?" Nobu asked.

"It's quite strange," Daichi said, stroking his chin. "Between so many classrooms, one would think there would be an abundance of textbooks. Alas, there seems to be a great shortage."

"Shortage as in, lack?" Nobu asked.

"Indeed," Daichi confirmed, his voice dark. "By the way," he added in a normal voice as he turned to leave, "I'd advise against entering the dojo. Yawara is in there with a large punching bag set up and does not take kindly to intruders."

"Did he hurt you?" Sahori asked, worried.

"Not at all," Daichi said, disappearing from the doorway. "He simply shouted a great deal and called me some crude terms."

Sahori folded her arms and walked back to the cupboard she had been looking through. "That boy needs to learn his place."

"I really hope you're talking about Yawara," Nobu said.

Sahori scoffed. "Look at you, Mr Socialiser, trying to put Tabito out of work."

"When the king's off duty, the servants tend to the castle," Nobu smiled.

Sahori paused searching for a moment. She turned to Nobu, who saw her concern and stopped what he was doing to listen.

"... do you think Yawara will be okay?"

Nobu thought for a moment, then sighed. "We can hope, but... I have no idea."

"Not even a speculation?"

Nobu returned Sahori's small smile.

------------------------------

Midday arrived and the students filed into the cafeteria. They were wary of their surroundings on the way down from the second floor, after all their last lunchtime meeting hadn't gone very well. However, this time every classmate made it down to the cafeteria and sat at the main table, even a reluctant Ryouji. Everyone except for...

"Where's Yawara?" Jo asked. "Is he still punching things in the dojo?"

"Probably," Fuuga answered. "Does someone want to bring him or do we let him tire himself out on his own?"

"I'll get him," Youku muttered. Beside her, a worried-looking Tabito whispered something into her ear. She shook her head, then headed for the doors. Tabito looked on, concerned, as she left the room.

"Uh," Fumiyo began, breaking the strange silence, "should we start with who DIDN'T find anything?"

"So, everyone?" Jo said.

"On the contrary!" Daichi announced. Everyone spun around, suddenly excited. Sahori and Nobu, however, exchanged slightly worried looks.

"What is it?" Genji asked. "D-did you find a way out?"

"Of course not!" Daichi answered.

"But we have unveiled a mystery," Arata said dramatically, raising his hands in an attempt to look mysterious himself.

"Oh, god," Sahori grumbled. She and Nobu already knew what to expect.

"What?" Fumiyo asked. "What is it?"

"Not a single classroom," Daichi explained, "contains a single textbook! Not one!"

Everybody else groaned and leant back in their chairs.

"Huh?" Arata asked, confused. "You don't like it?"

"It's not exactly a problem," Fuuga said.

"Yeah," Jo agreed, "it's not like we even do any work in this place."

"But classmates, THINK!" Daichi cried. "This is a SCHOOL! Surely there must be some literary knowledge to be found, whether it is required or not!"

"Maybe they just emptied the place," Sahori dismissed. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Well I thought it was interesting," Arata sulked. "If we're not finding any ways out, can't we at least get excited about-"

The cafeteria doors crashed open and Yawara strode in, looking particularly angry. A scared Youku appeared behind him.

"What?" he asked, looking at the others. Nobody answered out of shock. "Well? Whaddaya want?"

"What do you think?" Tabito grumbled as Youku hurried back to sit down beside him. "Midday meeting. Just sit down."

Yawara stepped heavily over to the table and sat down at the head of the table. He put his feet up onto it and leaned back, looking out at the other students, watching him. "Go on," he said, waving them on, "keep talking about feelings or whatever else geeks talk about."

"We're talking about escaping," Sahori said, disgusted. "Shouldn't YOU care, too?"

"Idiots," Yawara said. "We already know how to escape."

"What?" Genji said. "Wh-where? Did you find something?"

"No, you freak," Yawara laughed at him. "We kill someone. That's how we get out."

"Nobody's going to do that," Nobu stated. "Nobody's going to kill anyone."

"Why not?" Yawara asked, taking his feet of the table and leaning forward. "There's no other way out, if you want the prize you gotta enter the competition."

"You're despicable," Sahori said.

"And you're a bitch," Yawara answered. "And not even a HOT one."

"And we all know how much you like the hot ones," Tabito muttered. "No matter HOW bitchy they are."

There was a pause, a pause during which nobody said a word, only felt sudden, intense offense for what Tabito had just said.

"What did you say to me?" Yawara asked, looking at Tabito with mad eyes. "Are... are you disrespecting my girlfriend, funny man?"

"Maybe," Tabito said, frowning, "but I AM surprised you even know what respect IS."

Yawara walked over to Tabito, shaking his head. "Oh, wrong answer, loser."

Tabito stumbled out of his chair and backed away, trying to hold his determined expression up to Yawara's craziness.

"Hey," Fuuga said, "get away from him!"

Yawara ignored him.

"Back off, Yawara," Sahori said, standing up, "get back!"

Yawara strode straight past her and continued to Tabito. Tabito took a step back, still trying to resist the urge to flee, but when Yawara was within grabbing distance he tried to spin around to make a break for it. With one last step Yawara closed the distance between him and Tabito and grabbed him by the shoulder. Youku looked up from the table.

"Hey!" Nobu yelled, standing up.

Yawara spun Tabito back around to face him. Tabito opened his mouth to say something, but Yawara silenced him instantly with a swift punch to the face.

People suddenly stumbled backwards in an attempt to get away from the violence. Fumiyo and Itsuka screamed, Itsuka immediately diving under the table to protect herself.

"How's it feel?" Yawara sneered, glaring at Tabito, who he still held in a tight grip.

"F-fuck you," Tabito muttered through a bloodied nose. Yawara raised his fist to deliver another blow, but Daichi had leapt to his feet, grabbing something off the table. Before Yawara could push out again, Daichi had driven a fork into his shoulder.

"AAGH!" Yawara cried, letting go of Tabito and stumbling away from the rest of the table. He looked at the fork imbedded in his shoulder, then up in shock at Daichi, pushing Tabito away and standing strong.

"Only the weak prey on the weak," he said, sternly. "How dare you add physical abuse to your long list of trespasses."

"How dare I?" Yawara asked, incredulous. He reached up and plucked the fork from his shoulder, ignoring the blood that started to flow. "How dare I," he repeated, his mouth beginning to curl into a smile. "How dare YOU!"

Yawara let the fork fall to the floor, lunged forward and grabbed Daichi around the throat, slamming him backwards into the table, right in front of Youku. People screamed and gasped again. Tabito grabbed a stunned Youku and pulled her away from Yawara, out of her chair and onto the floor.

"DAICHI!" Arata yelled. He jumped for Yawara and grabbed him around the upper arm, trying to pull him off. Yawara let go of Daichi long enough to shake his arm once and dislodge Arata, then slammed the back of his head into the table.

"HOW'D YOU LIKE IT, HUH?" he yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU, LOSER! I'LL KILL EVERYONE!"

Fuuga and Jo had run behind and were both pulling Yawara, Jo hitting him in the side of the head and shouting abuse. Yawara let go of Daichi and pushed them both away with a single shove each.

"Hey!" Sahori shrieked, "you don't hit a girl!"

"I'll hit whoever I fuckin' WANT!" Yawara yelled. He threw Daichi sideways off the table and leapt onto it, almost running towards Sahori. People were yelling for him to stop, Sahori was screaming and Yawara was suddenly towering over her...

A metallic sound cut through the noise and everybody fell silent.

Nobu, among others, froze. The sound was unmistakably identifiable, and the fact it was possible to make struck fear into every student's heart but one.

Everybody turned towards Ryouji, the source of the sound, to see him pointing straight to Yawara with a switchblade.

"Get away from her," he said, coldly.

"Ryouji," Sahori choked, "where did you get that?"

"It's mine," he answered. "I take it everywhere. I gotta. And HE'S gotta get off the damn table."

"You threatening me?" Yawara asked, in the same voice he'd repeated Daichi's words.

"Yeah," Ryouji answered. "Yeah, I am. Get off the table, asshole."

Yawara paused for a few moments, but obliged. He got off the table without taking his eyes off of Ryouji.

Ryouji retracted the blade and lowered it. "You try something like that again, I'll take you to your girlfriend."

Youku, who had been holding onto Tabito's arm, suddenly stood up and ran for the doors.

"Youku!" Tabito yelled, going to follow her.

"He's gonna kill us!" Youku screamed, pushing the doors open. Tabito ran through them, catching up to Youku just a few steps past, grabbing her hand.

"Youku, calm down!" he yelled.

"He's gonna kill us!" Youku repeated, turning back to look at Tabito with wide, crazed eyes, full of tears. "We're all gonna die in here! We're all gonna die, we're all gonna die!"

"Y-Youku, please," Tabito choked, "please calm down! W-we're not gonna die! We're gonna get out!"

"No we're not," Youku cried, tears streaming down her face. Her breathing was heavy and loud, and her pull on Tabito was weakening. "We're not getting out, he's gonna keep us here and then we're gonna die-"

"No," Tabito said, his hands shaking, "no, we're gonna make it, we're g-gonna get out of here. You and me, and Jo and Sahori, and that cleaner guy, we're all gonna make it out..."

Tabito was crying. Youku had stopped speaking and was just sobbing. Tabito pulled her closer and embraced her. She buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry loudly. Tabito was squeezing her tight, trying not to cry himself, shaking all over.

From the cafeteria, everybody stared at their two classmates breaking down. Nobu ran from his seat and pulled the doors shut, blocking them off. The sounds of their sobbing were almost completely drowned out.

"... losers," Yawara muttered.

"Would you just SHUT UP," Sahori said, sitting back down.

"I'm not lyin'," he said. "I'm gonna get out of here. I don't care who I have to kill."

Genji was helping Daichi to his feet. Yawara turned to see where the sound was coming from and saw Genji holding Daichi's arm as he stood. "Especially not Batman and Faggot over there."

Genji looked up to Yawara in fear. "I-I'm not-"

"Bite me, villain," Daichi spat.

"I bet you'd like tha-"

"LEAVE."

Fuuga had no intention of letting the situation continue. He glared at Yawara, unwavering in expression, even when Yawara turned to look.

"Fine," he said, after a few moments. He walked out through the cafeteria doors, making sure to shoot a glare in Ryouji's direction. When he opened the doors they saw Youku and Tabito were no longer just outside. He made to cross the lobby towards the stairs to the second floor, slamming the doors behind him.

The room was silent. They listened to Yawara's footsteps become distant, until they were out of earshot.

"Ryouji," Genji breathed. "Have you had that the whole time?"

"Course," Ryouji answered. He sat back down at his separate table and folded his arms. "Brought it with me."

"Not to sound accusatory," Daichi said, sitting back into his chair, "but arriving into this scenario with such an advantage is quite unfair."

"I was never gonna kill someone with it," Ryouji told him. "Still, now you know I got it, if I used it to off someone it'd be pretty stupid."

Nobody said anything else after that. The midday meeting was clearly over, and they were no closer to finding a way out. If anything, rather than feeling more hopeful about the future, they felt more in danger than they had since entering the school.

Chapter Text

The night of Yawara's outburst, Nobu called himself an early night. As he lay in bed, waiting for the sleep he knew would take ages to come, he replayed the events in his head and analysed the situation.

Yawara was clearly out of his mind. Not literally insane, but he was definitely some kind of crazy. With Kanayo's death still so recent, he was still in the coping stage. That must be what all his time in the dojo was about. However, to be focussing all his emotions on anger and taking them out on everyone else was just mean. Nobu made a mental note to suggest in the morning that they don't bother Yawara until he calms down a bit. He is, after all, a grieving boyfriend.

Youku, however... Nobu closed his eyes and shook his head. Youku was different. She was grieving, too, but not from Yawara's standpoint. She was realizing the implications of their situation and not handling them very well at all. She was being forced to face the prospect of death at the hands of a classmate, and it terrified her. In some ways, Youku was as close to the edge of sanity as Yawara was.

Nobu rolled over and tried even harder to sleep. It wasn't easy to sleep when you were so worried about the future, much less the future that lay just on the other side of night.

----------------------

Nobu woke quite early, but waited in bed until Monobear's announcement came over the speaker.

"Good morning, you bastards! It’s 7 in the morning! Time to wake up! Let’s all strive to do our best today!"

Nobu rolled his eyes and stood up, hardly weary after having over an hour to wake up properly. He showered and dressed before leaving for the cafeteria. In the hallway, however, he found a half-dressed Sahori standing at the door to her room, fiddling with the doorknob.

"Sahori?" Nobu asked.

Sahori whirled around, shocked. "NOBU!" She shrieked, covering herself. She only had a bra and pyjama-like underwear on. She tried to cover her chest first, then her loins, but in an attempt to look casual, gave up entirely and simply leaned against the door.

"HI," she said. "What's up?"

Nobu was speechless. He stared at Sahori, almost naked, leaning against her own possibly-locked door with an awkward smile on her face and wide eyes.

"Are... are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said, waving him away. "You go to the cafeteria, I'll wait here."

"... okay?"

Nobu slowly walked away, hoping he could forget such an embarrassing event. Behind him, he heard Sahori knocking rapidly on the door. He started walking faster.

He soon reached the cafeteria, where he found Jo, Arata and Shigeru in the middle of a discussion. He hoped he wasn't about to get into anything as strange as he just had.

"Ah! Nobu!" Arata called. "You can help!"

"Morning, Nobu," Jo said, waving. Shigeru looked up at Nobu, looking incredibly disinterested with a hint of pleading in his expression.

"Good morning," Nobu laughed, "what's going on?"

"Shigeru doesn't talk much, y'know?" Arata said. "We're asking him why, but he's not saying anything."

"I've told you," Shigeru said, "I only act when it is necessary for me to do so."

"How about yesterday, then?" Jo asked. "When Blockhead was doin' his strongman thing, you're a big guy, you could've helped!"

"I'm tall," Shigeru said. "Not big. Or strong."

"But WHY don't you act much?" Arata asked.

"I think," Nobu said, interrupting Arata's questioning, "that Shigeru's the kind of guy to keep to himself. It's really his own business why he doesn't talk much, and that's pretty okay."

Shigeru nodded in Nobu's direction. Jo rolled her eyes. "M'kay," she said, "I'll take that."

"Okay," Arata said, sounding a little dejected. "It'd be cool if you talked more, though."

"Why?" Shigeru asked.

"... I dunno," Arata said, "so you're not just sittin' there and we're not leaving you out."

"Aw!" Jo said, nudging Arata, "that's really sweet!"

"It is?"

Shigeru shook his head, the tiniest smile playing about his face, as several students entered the cafeteria at once.

"Mornin'!" Fumiyo greeted. She was followed by Fuuga, Itsuka, a fully dressed Sahori  and Daichi, the last of whom was looking quite pleased with himself.

"They all came straight here out of the same dormitory!" he announced. "My guess is some sort of slumber party took place last night!"

"Oh, Daichi," Fuuga cooed, a little sarcastically. "Whatever gave you THAT idea?"

Fuuga saw Nobu smiling at him and winked.

"If you MUST know," Fumiyo said, "we weren't feeling very happy after yesterday, so... yeah, we had a slumber party. And it was COOL and FUN."

"Itsuka talked!" Sahori said, putting her arm around Itsuka's shoulders, who shrank back a little. "It was so cute!"

"I-I'm sorry," Itsuka said out of habit.

"See?" Sahori smiled. "She's adorable when she talks!"

"Her own pace, sweetie," Fuuga told her as he sat down at the table.

"Oh, right," Sahori said, letting go of Itsuka. "Sorry."

Itsuka followed Fumiyo to the kitchen, playing with her pigtails and smiling to herself.

"She's smiling," Nobu said in a low voice to Sahori when she was out of earshot. "Did you guys do that?"

"I think so," Sahori responded. "How good are we?"

"In smaller groups she's a lot better," Fuuga said. "I think she just needs to work her way up."

Yawara burst through the doors, causing Sahori and Arata to flinch, walking straight towards the kitchen. Just as he reached the door to the kitchen, Itsuka opened it and stepped through. She saw Yawara right in front of her and shrieked, dropping her food and jumping away to the side, clutching her own hands.

Yawara rolled his eyes and stepped over the mess she'd made. "Dumb bitch," he muttered. Fumiyo gave him a dirty look and gave Itsuka her tray, giving her a light push towards the table. Itsuka hurried to her chair, her eyes on the ground.

"Great," Sahori said to Fuuga. "I think she's just taken a few steps BACK."

Yawara emerged with his own food and sat at the table, eating loudly but wordlessly.

"So," Fuuga said, breaking the almost-silence. "Thinking of being nicer today?"

"Fuck off," Yawara said through a full mouth.

Genji came in and froze when he saw Yawara at the table.

"Morning," Yawara said, seeing him. Everybody else looked up, surprised.

Genji barely knew how to react. "G-good morning?"

"Get a good night's sleep?" Yawara asked. Nobu's eyes narrowed. He was feigning concern, his words covered in subtle sarcasm.

"I guess so?" Genji answered.

"I bet you did," Yawara said. "What was it? The teddy bear? Blanky? I bet that's what you take sleep."

Genji looked to the floor, his hopes of Yawara being nicer shattered.

"Oh, he's all sad again," Yawara laughed. "Maybe I got it wrong. Oh man, what if it's a fuckin' bottle of bleach! What if the li'l freak sleeps with a SPONGE or something!"

Genji sad beside Arata and Daichi, not even bothering to get himself any breakfast.

"Yeah, sit right there," Yawara said, after swallowing. "There we go, now the Loser Crew's all together again."

"Silence, musclehead," Daichi said.

"Or what, you're gonna checkmate me?"

Fuuga shook his head at Daichi, suggesting against retaliation. Daichi took the hint and resumed eating.

"Yeah, don't even bother," Yawara said, seeing their exchange. "Wouldn't want the Loser Crew to lose any more members. What was the captain's name again? Good-Luck Chuck, or whatever?"

Something inside Nobu snapped. He rose to his feet and opened his mouth to let fly a string of insults and angry words, but Fumiyo had skipped that step and gone straight to yelling at him.

"HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. "HOW DARE YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HIM!"

"Oh, shut up," Yawara said, "he can't hear me."

"I CAN!" Nobu shouted.

"ME TOO," Fuuga agreed, standing up. "We ALL can!"

"Oh GIVE me a BREAK!" Yawara shouted, standing up, too. "I've HAD it with this teaming-up bullshit!"

"What's the matter?" Sahori asked. "Don't like being the ONLY one people HATE?"

"Nobody HATES me," Yawara said, "you're all just pissed off that I'm the only one who gets how this game works!"

"This isn't a GAME, YAWARA," Nobu shouted, "People are DYING! Our FRIENDS are DYING!"

The cafeteria door swung open once more, and Tabito and Ryouji stepped inside.

"Oh HERE we go," Yawara said, "NOW we're gonna..."

He trailed off. His eyes widened. Fumiyo screamed. Itsuka took a step backwards. Everybody else gasped.

The front of Tabito's shirt was covered with blood. His hands were bloodied, too, but there were no wounds on him. His face was soaked in tears, and was still contorted with silent crying. Nobu felt the blood in his veins chill.

Ryouji was pale, holding Tabito up by his upper arm. "Dojo," he said, sounding dead serious.

There was a pause before everybody ran. Fuuga was the first, followed by Fumiyo and the rest of the girls. Nobu ran up to Tabito and Ryouji.

"Are you okay?" he asked Tabito, who shook his head, closing his eyes and letting more tears pour down his cheeks.

"Go," Ryouji told him. "We've seen her already."

"Ding-dong!" Monobear's voice rang out from the PA system. "A body has been discovered!  Following a brief period of investigation, we will commence our school trial!"

Nobu's heart fell into a bed of spikes. He ran from the cafeteria, across the lobby, up the stairs and across the second-floor landing, following the sounds of Fumiyo's screaming to the dojo.

The other students were once again blocking his view, and once again, Nobu stepped around the group to see what everyone was looking at, once again feeling the terribly familiar stab of fear pulse through his body.

In the middle of the dojo floor, in a pool of blood, holding a samurai sword impaled in her stomach, was the Super High School Level Journalist, Youku Takagaki.

Chapter Text

Nobu felt weak at the knees again. Fumiyo was sobbing into Fuuga's shoulder, who was staring in disbelief. Itsuka was shaking.

Sahori was livid.

"YOU!" she screamed, turning to Yawara. "YOU did this!"

"What!?" Yawara choked. "No I didn't!"

"Oh, please! You're not fooling ANYONE!"

"Sahori, please," Daichi told her. "There's no need to be rash."

"RASH!?"

"Daichi is correct," Shigeru said, his voice wavering a little. "We must keep our cool. We cannot waste as much time as we did last time. Our investigation period has already begun."

"Tabito," Jo said, quietly. "Someone has to take care of him."

"I think Ryouji's got that covered," Arata said. "But I'll go, too."

Arata left the others with the body. Nobu watched him leave, then double-took. On the wall near the door were a number of hangers for several samurai swords. One question, the question of where the sword had come from, had already been answered.

"She's holding the sword," Genji said. The others looked back to Youku and saw that her hands were in fact around the grip of the blade. The same idea Genji had begun to dawn on him.

"Did she... do it herself?" Sahori asked.

"No!" Fumiyo cried. "She wouldn't! She'd never do that! This is just another frame-up!"

Fumiyo's trust in Youku was not completely shared. Nobu shared glances with Jo, Sahori and Fuuga. Youku had not been acting all that sane yesterday. After her outburst, and how she had been acting the last few days...

No, Nobu thought. We can't just assume anything. We have to investigate. We have to uncover the truth, and as soon as possible.

He took his ID out of his pocket and searched for Monobear's report, which was labelled 'Monobear File 2'. It said about as much as the first had said. Youku had been killed with a samurai sword through the abdomen at approximately three in the morning.

"It says she died at three in the morning," Nobu said, confused.

"What?" Jo asked. "What was she doing here at three AM?"

Nobody could answer that question, yet. They could only add it to the pile.

Nobu was the first to step forward, towards Youku's body.

The first thing he noticed was her expression. She looked almost serene, her facial muscles relaxed and her eyes closed. She could have been sleeping. Elsewhere, her body was not as undisturbed. The sword had been driven through her abdomen almost deep enough to pierce through to the other side. Nobu couldn't look for very long, but the wound was longer than the width of the blade - it had been intentionally pulled upwards to worsen the damage.

Nobu looked closer at Youku's hands, which the sword's grip was held limply in. Her fingers were wrapped around it loosely, and both had some blood on them. Nobu had no doubt about it being Youku's own.

The pool around the body had long since stopped spreading. The puddle had been disturbed, most likely by Tabito, who had evidently found the body. Blood was smeared around, altering the otherwise round shape of the pool. Nobu almost didn't realize something that didn't quite fit with the rest of the puddle: a thin, perfectly straight line of blood. It began about a foot outside the puddle, where it ran almost parallel to the body for about twenty centimetres.

Nobu was just thinking about how odd this pattern was when Tabito entered the room.

"Tabito!" Daichi announced. "What are you doing here? Should you not be resting?"

"Why would I be resting," Tabito said in a weak voice. He worded it like a question, but he didn't inflect his voice.

"Well," Daichi said, finding difficulty in picking his words, "this incident is clearly troubling to you the most out of us all, surely you would benefit from-"

"I'm not gonna do nothing after this," Tabito said. "I'm not going to let this go unsolved... I have to help her."

Daichi did not say anything further. Tabito stepped forward, towards Youku, where he stared at her for a few moments before beginning to look around the room. His body was still shaking.

Nobu looked between him and the puddle, where the disturbed patterns were visible. He wrestled with his dilemma for a few moments. It would hardly be tactful or respectful in such a place, but he had to speak. He needed to know what happened when Tabito found the body.

"Um... Tabito," he said. Tabito turned to look at him. Nobu saw his eyes, still shining with tears. "... can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," Tabito said. "Whatever you need."

"How did you... I mean, what happened when you found her?"

Tabito paused for a moment, trying to gather himself. "This morning, I went to her room to see if she was okay to go to breakfast... I knew she woke up early all the time, so I thought she'd be there, but she wasn't. And I knew she wouldn't have already gone, because the morning announcement’d only just played."

Nobu saw Tabito was having trouble getting the words out, but he remained patient while Tabito took a few breaths to steady his voice.

"I looked around the dorm hallways but I didn't see her, so I checked the other rooms. Then I went upstairs and checked the dojo, where she was... here... like this..."

"Did you come straight down?" Nobu asked.

"Of course not," Tabito said. He held a part of his bloodstained shirt up for Nobu to see. "I saw her here and... I lost it. I ran over and... I just... hugged her..."

Tabito was crying too hard to form any words. Nobu was able to piece the rest of it together, though. Either Ryouji had heard Tabito and brought him down, or Tabito had worked up the strength to walk downstairs, where he found Ryouji and showed him the dojo.

Nobu reached out and patted Tabito's shoulder. Tabito tried to dry his face with a clean section of his shirt. Nobu cursed himself inside. As good as he was at this socializing nonsense, he wasn't nearly qualified to handle this sort of situation. It had never come up, of course.

Nobu turned back to the room and saw the swords on the wall. He walked over to them, side-stepping several other classmates, and studied them more carefully.

There were wooden hooks attached to the walls, where several swords were resting horizontally, two hooks per sheath. There were two hooks that weren't supporting a sword. Of course, this missing sword was obviously accounted for.

What wasn't accounted for was the tiny bit of blood on the sword just below the empty hooks. Nobu looked closer. There was a small amount of blood on the sheath and grip of one of the swords. Nobu looked back to measure the distance between the swords and the body. It was a lot greater than what distance blood could spatter.

Nobu looked around the rest of the room, along with several other classmates. Genji, Shigeru and Yawara had left the room already, and Arata and Ryouji had not returned. Nobody else seemed to discover anything further, although some weren't exactly trying very hard, either from lack of ideas or a lack of motivation. In Itsuka and Tabito's case, this wasn't a difficult mystery.

Nobu stopped his investigation and simply looked out onto the room. Youku was positioned almost in the centre of the room, just a little further towards the back wall. The sword looked to have damaged nothing but her body, leaving no marks on the floor or walls. Nothing else seemed to be out of place. If it weren't for Youku's corpse, one would not have thought there had even been a murder.

"Ehh," Monobear's voice sounded from the PA system. "I'm getting bored of this. Shall we start the show? Let's begin the School Trial you've all been waiting for! Please gather around the big red doors on the first floor of the school. Upupupupu! I'll see you soon!"

"Damn," Jo cursed, "I got nothin'."

"In my opinion," Daichi said, as the students began to file out of the room, "there is less to this scene than the previous one. We may be in for a shorter session this time around."

"If you ask me, it's open and shut," Sahori said, bitterly.

Nobu turned to Tabito. "Are you feeling okay, Tabito? Can you face the Trial?"

Tabito looked up. He looked determined, a strange difference from his previous expression. "We'll figure it out," he said. "That's all that matters."

The classmates entered the red doors on the first floor, where Genji, Shigeru, Yawara, Ryouji and Arata were already waiting.

"Ah! Back from investigating?" Arata asked.

"Did you do any at all?" Jo asked.

"Er, no. After the last Trial I figured I wasn't that good at looking for clues."

"In the last case," Nobu stated, "you're the one who disproved the killer's alibi."

Arata didn't respond or change his facial expression, although his eyes did flash with concern.

"Upupu!" Monobear's voice echoed in the small room over the speaker. "I see you're all here already!"

"I see you're NOT," Tabito muttered.

"I heard that, Tabito!" Monobear said. "I'm already down here, waiting on you! We're speeding things along this time, you see! I've been running on my treadmill since the last Trial ended, so I've developed quite a taste for speed!"

The grate opened onto the elevator, which the students filed into.

"Upupu! See you down there!" Monobear laughed as the elevator grinded to life. "Don't be scared if you don't see me down there! I'll just be moving so fast I won't even be visible to the naked eye!"

Arata opened his mouth to speak but Sahori elbowed him.

Nobu was on edge. It was happening again. The Trial that would determine their fates. Soon, one of them was going to die, be murdered for what they did to Youku. How was this justice? How was this fair to anyone? An argument could be made for a murderer, but in such a situation as this...

The elevator reached a halt much sooner than last time. Nobu barely had time to contemplate the Trial's morality before they were already being forced to begin. The students left the elevator and entered the courtroom, which had undergone a slight renovation.

"Do you like the new wallpaper?" Monobear asked from his throne, gesturing to the courtroom walls, which were now a vibrant blue. "I put it up myself! I've been working for days to put it all up for you!"

"I thought you said you were on the treadmill," Arata said. Monobear looked at him. Arata stared back. The other students looked between the two for a few moments before ignoring the spectacle entirely and finding their stalls.

"Aw, I blinked!" Arata cursed, finally breaking away from Monobear's glare.

"Are you kidding me," Tabito muttered as Arata found his stall. Monobear was still glaring at him.

"ANYWAY," Monobear finally said, "we're all here now! You know what THAT means!"

Nobu glanced around the ring. The stalls where Kanayo and Youku were to stand had crossed-out portraits in their places, just like Sai had beside Nobu. The rest... well, the rest contained potential murderers. Somebody had killed Youku, the Super High School Level Journalist. Somebody had disturbed the peace of Hope's Peak Academy. Somebody, providing they successfully navigated the Trial about to begin, was about to be Punished.

"I now declare," Monobear stated, "the second Hope's Peak Academy School Trial, open!"

Chapter Text

"Let’s start with a simple explanation of our school trial!" Monobear said, repeating what he had said at the beginning of the last Trial. "The result of the trial is determined by your own votes. If the correct culprit is chosen, they alone will be punished. However... if the wrong person is voted for, everyone but the culprit will be punished. The culprit alone, having managed to fool everyone, will publicly graduate this school! Now, go! Talk about your dead friend!"

"It was Yawara!" Sahori yelled, pointing straight to him. "He SAID he'd kill someone, now look what's happened!"

"Hey!" Yawara retorted, "I already said I didn't do it!"

"Of COURSE you would!" Fumiyo yelled. "Anyone who's killed somebody would say that!"

"That statement is redundant," Shigeru said, calmly.

"Can we just vote already?" Sahori asked. "We already know who did it!"

"It wasn't me!" Yawara yelled. "Do you want to DIE, you stupid bitch!"

"SEE!?" Sahori shouted, "HE'S THREATENING ME!"

"He's merely stating the rules," Shigeru said. "If we vote incorrectly, we could all be killed."

"I'm threatening her, too," Yawara growled.

-

Sahori: Yawara's the only one mean enough to kill someone!

Yawara: You don't know that! Shigeru doesn't even talk! He could be worse!

Shigeru: Please don't try to pass the blame.

Shigeru: Unless you have evidence, just try to clear yourself from suspicion.

Sahori: Hah! Good luck with that!

Sahori: The murderer is Yawara! It can't be anyone else!

> Time of Death

-

"Hold on," Nobu said. "That's not entirely true."

"Oh, come on!" Sahori cried, "Nobu, don't buy into his-"

"Sahori," Nobu commanded. Sahori stopped talking, waiting for Nobu's explanation.

"It's right there in the Monobear File," he told them. "It says Youku was killed around three in the morning, while everyone should have been sleeping."

"Isn't being out of our rooms at night against the rules?" Genji asked, worried.

"Of course not," Monobear exclaimed, as if this were the most obvious fact in the world. "That was just a rule you bastards came up with to make yourselves feel better about sleeping!"

"Regardless," Nobu said, "everyone else was in their rooms at the time of death, alone and asleep. Yawara isn't the only one who could have done this. None of us have alibis."

"I-It could have been anyone?" Jo gasped. "And we can't prove it otherwise?"

"Excuse me," Fuuga said, raising his hand. "Sahori, Itsuka, Fumiyo and I slept in the same room last night. The four of us have each other as an alibi."

"Surely THAT'S against the rules," Arata said.

"Wrong again!" Monobear declared.

"I'm afraid that's not quite enough," Shigeru said. "While you may have slept in the same room, anyone could have left the room while the others were asleep to commit the crime. Unless you were still awake at three in the morning-"

"Oh, we were," Sahori giggled.

"Adultery!" Daichi shouted.

"How dare you!" Fumiyo shouted back.

"Nothing bad happened," Fuuga said, "can we get back on topic?"

"Yeah," Jo groaned, "even if you for are innocent, there're still too many suspects."

"Where do we go from here, then?" Tabito asked. "How do we narrow it down?"

Daichi immediately answered. "I suggest we try to discover why Youku was in the dojo in the first place! She should have been asleep like the rest of us, after all!"

"Maybe she was she kidnapped?" Fumiyo asked.

"That's possible," Fuuga said. Nobu frowned. A kidnapping, he thought. Was it possible?

-

Fuuga: Someone might have knocked at her door...

Fuuga: ... and dragged her to the dojo to kill her.

Jo: That must've been hard; you can't just drag someone upstairs by yourself.

Daichi: Is this knowledge from personal experience?

Tabito: Maybe there are marks on the culprit.

Tabito: Can holding a struggling person leave bruises?

> State of Room

-

"Hold on."

Everybody turned to Nobu, who was holding his chin in thought. "I don't think she struggled."

"What?" Tabito asked.

"How could you say that?" Fumiyo said. "Are you saying she WANTED to die?"

"I'm not saying anything like that," Nobu said. "But... did you see the dojo?"

"What about it?" Arata asked.

"There were no marks anywhere, from the sword or anything else. From what I remember, the hallway outside wasn't damaged, either."

"That's true," Genji said, surprised. The rest of them turned to face him. He swallowed but continued. "There were a lot of things in the hallway that could have been disturbed, but nothing's changed since yesterday."

"What are you two talking about?" Yawara asked, annoyed.

"If there was a struggle," Genji explained, "there would have been something to show it."

"Someone trying to escape would give anyone a lot of trouble," Nobu said, "if there's nothing to suggest a struggle, not even a mark from a shoe, it's likely there wasn't one."

"Well then how did she get to the dojo?" Arata asked.

"Maybe someone invited her," Fuuga suggested.

"I thought about that," Genji said. "I thought she might have been called there, like Sai was. I looked in all the trash cans for a note or a letter, but I couldn't find anything. I even checked her room, but there was nothing."

"You were in her room?" Tabito asked, frowning.

"W-well, yes," Genji said, worried. "I asked Monobear to open it because I thought the investigation needed it."

"It's true, it's all true!" Monobear said. "Ain't no privacy for ghosts, after all! Dead girl rooms are open for investigation!"

"Don't talk about her like that," Tabito spat, turning to frown at Monobear.

"I can't believe you looked through her stuff," Yawara said, shaking his head. "That's weird, man."

"I-I thought it would help!" Genji pleaded, looking scared. "Please, believe me!"

"Calm down, Genji," Arata told him. "We believe you."

"Yeah," Sahori said, eyeing Yawara, "he's just being an asshole."

"If there wasn't a note," Daichi said, "then the culprit must have asked Youku to meet them there themselves!"

"You mean in person?" Tabito asked. "Somebody told her to meet them in the dojo in the middle of the night, and she went? Do you actually believe that?"

"I... I agree it is improbable," Daichi confessed, "but what else do we have to go on?"

"I have something," Sahori said. Her voice was filled with malice. "If Youku was taken to the dojo against her will, there would be signs of her resisting. But if the person who took her was strong enough, she wouldn't be ABLE to resist!"

"Oh, come ON," Yawara complained.

-

Sahori: The only one strong enough to drag her here is you!

Yawara: That doesn't prove anything!

Sahori: You're always in that room, training yourself to fight!

Sahori: Training yourself to KILL!

Yawara: Why would I train with my fists just to kill someone with a sword!?

Sahori: That's not even proof!

Yawara: Oh yeah? How's THIS for proof! ANYONE could have used those swords, not just me!

> Location of Swords

-

"That's not true," Nobu declared.

"Oh, what's THAT supposed to mean?" Yawara angrily asked, turning his expression of frustration onto Nobu.

"Sahori's right, you've been in that dojo for days-"

"Who cares where I am? OR what I'm doing!?"

"Because what you were DOING was not letting anyone else in!"

"So just because I'm SELFISH I'm a KILLER?"

"NO," Nobu said forcefully. "Because the swords were hanging on the wall beside the door!"

Whispers broke out. Yawara's mouth was open in an abandoned retort.

"Only somebody inside the room would even know there were samurai swords to use," Nobu explained. "The fact that you were the only one to even go in since the second floor opened leaves you as the only one who could have used them."

Yawara was stunned. "I... I-"

"Inconclusive."

Everyone turned to Shigeru, who was staring at Nobu.

"I'm sorry?" Nobu asked.

"Such a claim suggests that Yawara did not leave the dojo once since he entered. Before he arrived and after he left for the day, anyone could have entered the dojo without his permission and seen the swords."

Nobu was silent. He hadn't considered any of that. His argument had fallen flat, after all.

"Well," Sahori said, "he DID go really early, and left pretty late."

"Shut up," Yawara spat. He still looked angry, but was also relieved he wasn't the only suspect.

Nobu looked down and frowned. This case was up and down, so far. At this rate, finding the culprit was going to take forever.

Chapter Text

"We can't keep doing this," Jo complained. "Every time we get a suspect someone says something and we go back to square one."

"If we had some actual evidence," Fuuga said, "this wouldn't be so hard."

"Well what else IS there?" Fumiyo asked, impatient. "What else could tell us who the murderer is?"

"Um..."

Once again, Itsuka looked like she was about to faint as the rest of her class turned to face her. She looked over to Fumiyo, who nodded encouragingly, then to Sahori, who did the same. Fuuga, standing next to her, patted her on the shoulder and nodded. Most of the others exchanged looks. Nobu felt uplifted.

"We... we're looking at it so big," Itsuka said. "We started looking for the trick... but we don't know if there was a trick..."

"What the hell is she on about?" Yawara asked, looking around the room for answers.

"Ignore him," Fumiyo told her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... look at her body. She was... holding the sword that killed her, herself."

"That was to make us think she killed herself!" Fumiyo said. "There's no way she did it herself!"

"But then there's... the struggling thing."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh," Sahori realized.

"You UNDERSTOOD that?" Yawara asked, surprised.

Sahori ignored him. "If she's holding the sword, and there was no evidence of a struggle...-"

"And there was nothing to say she was INVITED to the dojo," Genji continued, "so she could have gone there herself."

"What are you saying?" Fumiyo asked, hardly believing what she thought they were implying. "You think she actually...?"

"... killed... herself?" Tabito breathed, staring at the centre of the ring.

Nobu was stunned. Suicide. The thought had of course crossed their minds, but they had shoved it aside almost instantly. After all, nobody could have possibly decided to end their own lives in this place. Now, however, Nobu was surprised with himself. The way Youku had been acting for so long, it was downright idiotic of them to rule out suicide. She had been so unstable and terrified at the thought of staying there in Hope's Peak; of course it was possible for her to have killed herself.

But... is that really what happened? Was there nothing else to suggest otherwise?

-

Sahori: I suppose... it's POSSIBLE, I mean...

Sahori: ... for Youku to have killed herself.

Fumiyo: No! It can't be! She wouldn't have!

Shigeru: Actually, her mind has not been sound for some time.

Arata: That's true; she's been pretty depressed since the last murder.

Arata: What else is there to go on, anyway?

Jo: Nothing else at the crime scene, that's for sure.

> Line of Blood

-

"That's not true!" Nobu declared. Heads turned. Something at the scene they had missed?

Nobu thought hard. There was something to that pattern of blood around Youku's body. It couldn't have been made accidentally; it had to have come from something. Something straight and covered with blood...

"There was a mark," Nobu said, "next to the body. The blood was marking a perfectly straight line along the floor."

"Perfectly straight?" Daichi repeated. "Why, a 'perfect' mark of any kind could not be made without intention! Such is the improbably random nature of the universe!"

"So there was something straight on the floor?" Sahori asked. "Did it stop the blood from spreading?"

"No," Nobu said, "it was more like it had been placed on the floor after it was already covered in it."

"Already covered?" Tabito asked. "You mean..."

"Yeah," Nobu said. "The sword."

"She put the sword on the ground after she stabbed herself?" Arata asked. "Why would she do that?"

"She DIDN'T, you moron," Yawara said, "someone took it out of her when they killed her, then put it back in."

"How do YOU know that?" Fumiyo accused.

"What the hell else do you think happened?" Yawara asked. "You fuckers are STILL ganging up on me?"

"Until some proof comes up," Sahori grumbled, "duh."

"Even if she DID take it out," Jo asked, "why would she put it back in? Once is enough, you can't mess up stabbing yourself in the stomach THAT badly."

"All the more reason why she DIDN'T," Fumiyo said, proud of herself. "Somebody ELSE did!"

"Are we sure she didn't take it out herself?" Tabito asked. "If this is her... suicide, I... don't want us to get anything wrong..."

-

Tabito: I mean, CAN we prove she didn't do it herself?

Fumiyo: Of course we can!

Fumiyo: ... somehow...?

Fuuga: Let's think for a moment. Maybe the order of events is important.

Fuuga: First, the sword was put through Youku's somach.

Fuuga: It was then removed, placed on the floor, then put through again.

Fuuga: I think that's everything that happened.

> Blood on Sword on Wall

-

"That's not right," Nobu interrupted.

Fuuga looked up, confused. "There's more?"

"Uh... I think so," Nobu answered. "I mean, there must be. In addition to the blood around Youku's body, one of the swords on the wall also had some blood on the handle."

"Whoa!" Arata exclaimed. "That's insane! What does that mean?"

"It means that whoever killed Youku certainly has a powerful strike!" Daichi responded. "That's quite the splatter distance!"

"It's not from the attack," Nobu explained, "otherwise there would be more than just a small bit."

"It could be from Youku," Jo shrugged. "If it was her doing, she could have... well, I don't know. Never mind."

"Wait," Tabito said, looking worried. "Don't say that, now I'm... well, what if she DID? Do SOMETHING, I mean, what if she touched it and we get it wrong?"

"Calm down, Tabito," Sahori told him. "We're still talking, we'll figure it out.

-

Sahori: So how do we know Youku didn't touch the sword?

Yawara: Uh, for one thing, why would she?

Sahori: Just let us figure this out, okay?

Fuuga: Well, she didn't start bleeding until she was wounded...

Fuuga: ... she would have touched it at least after the first attack.

> State of Room

-

Nobu opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted. "She couldn't have, then," Genji decided.

Nobu was a little shocked, but forced himself to recover.

"... eh?" Sahori asked. "How are you so sure?"

"Because there was no blood trail between Youku and the swords," Genji answered. "If she was bleeding, she would have left a trail. Somebody else left that mark on the other sword, and whoever they were had come into contact with Youku's blood."

"NOW the freak's doing something," Yawara scoffed.

"Why are YOU so high-and-mighty?" Sahori asked, tilting her head to the side and sounding just a little bit vindictive. "This proves Youku didn't kill herself. Who's our number-one suspect, again?"

"Uh-"

"YOU, YAWARA. YOU KILLED YOUKU!"

"Stop saying I killed her!" Yawara yelled, looking livid. "Funnyman's the one with blood all over him, maybe HE'S the killer!"

"Are you JOKING?" Sahori scoffed, "TABITO? Kill YOUKU? You're dumber than I thought!"

"How DARE you," Tabito growled at Yawara, looking murderous. "Don't you DARE say something like that again!"

"You can't deny you look suspicious," Yawara said in a patronizing tone, "you LITERALLY have blood on your hands."

"I found her body, asshole!" Tabito yelled, "it's all from her!"

Nobu looked up from his thought. Something had suddenly clicked in his mind. He looked to Tabito, who was looking quite hurt at being accused of murdering his best friend. There was a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Tabito," Nobu asked. "You found the body."

"... yeah?" Tabito responded, confused.

"Did you tell everyone what happened?"

"Oh... uh, no. Just you."

"Would you mind?"

Tabito didn't understand Nobu's request, but he fulfilled it anyway. "Uh... sure."

Nobu watched as Tabito relayed the story of how he found Youku's body to the rest of the group. The more he told, the more certain Nobu was of his hypothesis.

-

Tabito: I went to check on Youku before the meeting.

Tabito: She wasn't in her room, so I checked the other rooms.

Tabito: When I saw she wasn't on the first floor, I checked the second, and...

Tabito: ... found her in the dojo.

Jo: Did you check the cafeteria? We were in there all morning, we didn't see you.

Tabito: I didn't think she would be there.

Tabito: This was just after Monobear's morning announcement.

> Sahori Mitsuwa

-

"If that's the case," Nobu asked with a heavy heart, "why didn't Sahori see you in the hallway?"

Tabito looked up to Nobu, confused. "Why didn't... what?"

"Sahori," Nobu said, turning to her, "did you see Tabito in the hallway this morning?"

"No," Sahori answered, looking worried. She slowly turned to face Tabito, who was looking around warily.

"I don't get it," Arata said. "What's special about Sahori? Is she psychic?"

"I was in the hallway," Sahori said, not taking her eyes off of Tabito. "It was part of a joke."

"We tricked her into going into the hallway without clothes," Fumiyo said, looking at Tabito. "That was before the announcement...!"

"We didn't let her back in until we were about to leave for breakfast," Fuuga added. "She was out there for nearly half an hour."

By now, everyone was focussing on Tabito, who was looking back and forth between everybody.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Tabito asked.

"What do we mean?" Shigeru asked. "Nobody 'means' anything, Tabito. We simply wish to know why you are lying to us."

Tabito didn't respond. He swallowed, and his eyes started to dart around the room. All eyes were on him, and he didn't have anything to say about it.

"You didn't leave after the announcement," Nobu said, "you left before it. Not only that, but you weren't LOOKING for Youku. You were already with her."

"Hold on," Tabito choked. "What are you saying? Do you think I killed her?"

"That's exactly what we're saying," Fumiyo answered.

-

Tabito: Th-that's insane, you can't be serious!

Tabito: I didn't kill Youku!

Sahori: Then why were you lying about where you were?

Tabito: I... I...

Fumiyo: Why did you leave before the announcement in the first place!?

Tabito: I didn't... I mean I-

Fuuga: Tabito, you're covered in her blood!

Tabito: I already told Nobu! When I found her body, I hugged her!

> State of the Body

-

"That's it," Nobu said. "That's the evidence we needed."

"E-Evidence?" Tabito asked. "What do you mean, Nobu? What evidence?"

"It's been staring at us in the face since before we started this Trial," Nobu said, frowing. "Since the moment Tabito came down from 'finding' the body."

"It's not true!" Tabito cried, leaning forward on his stall, "it's a lie!"

"Your shirt, Tabito!" Nobu declared, pointing straight at him, "covered in blood, from hugging Youku's corpse."

"Exactly!" Tabito said, "not from killing her!"

"If that’s the case," Nobu asked, "did you cover yourself with blood from her wound when the sword she was killed with was still impaled in her stomach!"

Tabito was speechless. His hands were gripping his stall's rails and his jaw was trembling, wide open.

"Tabito took it out," Fuuga realized. "He took it out... then impaled her again, to frame her for suicide."

"If Tabito is the culprit," Nobu continued, "then everything makes sense. The reason Youku was in the dojo at three in the morning, the reason there was no sign of a struggle, the reason why there was no evidence of a previously set meeting time. Everything in this case comes down to one thing: Yoku's trust."

"NOOOO!"

Tabito screamed, his eyes open and mad. He pointed at Nobu, continuing to scream. "HE'S LYING! HE'S TRYING TO FRAME ME!"

"There's only one person Youku would have trusted to lead her to a strange place in the middle of the night!"

"HE WANTS US ALL KILLED! HE'S WORKING WITH MONOBEAR, THAT'S WHY HE'S DOING THIS!"

"Oh, shut up!" Monobear said, pausing between eating a handful of popcorn he was pulling from a bag in front of him. "Nobody's in league with me! I run my own shop!"

"H-HE'S CRAZY, THEN!" Tabito yelled. "HE WANTS US ALL TO DIE, SO HE'S MAKING US CHOOSE WRONG! I DIDN'T KILL HER!"

"You've lost, Tabito!" Nobu yelled, getting heated, knowing now that he was in a showdown with a murderer. "Stop denying everything and just tell the truth!"

-

Tabito: It's not true! I didn't kill her!

Tabito: She must have killed herself!

Tabito: It's the only explanation!

Tabito: I didn't take her anyway! She did it on her own!

Tabito: I'M NOT THE KILLER! IT'S NOT ME!

Tabito: YOU CAN'T PROVE ANY OF IT!

...

Tabito: SO WHAT IF I'M THE ONE SHE TRUSTS! THAT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING!

> Her Eyes Were Closed

-

"If that's the case, Tabito," Nobu yelled, "then why, after being killed in cold blood, would Youku's eyes have been closed?"

Tabito froze, halfway to speaking. The room had fallen silent.

"Why else," Nobu said, "would Youku have died with such a peaceful look upon her face, unless the last face she saw was the one she cared about more than anyone else in the world?"

Tabito had stopped breathing. He looked up at Nobu, then around the ring. He looked in the face of every one of his classmates, trying to think of something, anything else to say.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tabito spoke.

"... okay," he said, his voice wavering, threatening to fail. "I... I did it... I killed her."

Chapter Text

Stunned silence. Everybody stared at Tabito as his grip on the rail loosened and he looked to the floor in shame.

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "It looks like we've once again dug up a confession! Shall we start the voting, then?"

Tabito let out a strangled sound as the other students cast their votes. He stared at his terminal for a moment before lifting a trembling finger.

-

Trial #2: The Case of Youku Takagaki

The culprit was found guilty. The culprit was Tabito Okabe.

COURTROOM CLOSED.

-

"Congratulations!" Monobear declared, standing up and raising his arms. "Two successful Trials in a row! You bastards are on fire!"

"Not so funny now, Funnyman," Yawara sneered.

"Wh-why," Fumiyo stammered, still looking at Tabito. "You were her friend, you were... she trusted you!"

Tabito looked up, his face covered with tears. "I..."

He was unable to speak.

"Oh man," Monobear said, "I'm getting sick of these silences. Tabito, you've murdered someone! Surely you have to have less of a conscience than this!"

Tabito looked up at Monobear in horror. "That's not right! It wasn't murder!"

"Are you fucking serious?" Yawara spat, "you just said it was!"

"No, I... I killed her, but..."

"Ahhh," Monobear sighed, "I can't take this anymore. You bastards wanna know what happened? Here, take a look for yourself!"

A television screen mounted to the wall behind Monobear, the one that had displayed the results of the Trial, flickered back to life. On the screen was a shot of a bedroom, with an overlayed clock, displaying '0247'. Lying on the bed was-

"Youku?" Sahori gasped. "Is that-"

"Calm down," Monobear sighed, "it's a recording."

Indeed, the Youku on the bed was not yet impaled by a sword. The number in the corner, '0247', must be a 24-hour clock.

On the screen, Youku slowly stood and walked to her door. As she opened it, the shot changed to the hallway. She left her room and walked across to another. She rang the doorbell several times until the door opened and the shot changed again.

Now, they were looking at the view of Tabito's room, as he let Youku inside.

"I can't do it," Youku said. "I can't keep going."

"Youku," the onscreen Tabito said, "we talked about this, you have to. We both have to."

"But you don't want to stay either. You said you felt the same. We don't have to stay here."

"... we can't, we-"

"Tabito..."

Youku was crying, now. She raised her hands and gripped Tabito's shoulders tight. "I can't do this anymore. I don't want to stay here, where we could be killed at any moment. I just... I just want it to be over..."

The real Tabito was watching the screen, silently weeping.

After a few moments, the onscreen Tabito spoke again, his voice cracking. "... I... don't want to, either..."

"Tabito," Youku continued. "... please... go with me..."

"Youku, I... you..."

"Please."

"..."

Finally, Tabito managed the tiniest nod.

"There's something in the dojo," Youku told him. "I saw it when I brought Yawara down..."

Youku stepped back and opened the door. Tabito followed her into the hallway.

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed as they walked down towards the stairs. "You see? Youku was going to kill herself anyway! You don't need to feel bad that she died at all!"

"You're a monster," Fuuga spat. Monobear giggled and covered his mouth with a paw.

Onscreen, Youku and Tabito were in the dojo. They had each taken a sword from the wall and were now kneeling in the middle of the room. Youku was standing right where she would be found many hours later.

"Together," Youku said, unsheathing her sword. Tabito nodded, still crying, doing the same. They held the swords up to their stomachs, both with tears flowing down their cheeks, and waited.

"I... I can't do it," Tabito choked, lowering his sword. "I can't... not..."

Youku's hands were trembling. "I read once that the brain won't let it harm itself easily... I..."

Tabito looked up at her, and they shared a gaze. "I... I'll do it," he said.

Youku looked scared. "Tabito, no... I can't let you-"

"If you can't," Tabito said, "if you want to, I'll... I'll help you. I'll do it for you."

Youku was fully crying, now. Tabito was still keeping his sobs silent. Youku nodded shakily, loosening her grip on her sword. Tabito set his aside and took hold of the grip, over Youku's fingers. He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"I'll b-be right behind you," he choked, with difficulty.

"Do it," Youku told him through her tears. "Do it, do it no-"

She shrieked as Tabito plunged the sword into her stomach. He let out a strangled sob as she gasped and lay back.

Tabito fought his trembling limbs and pushed the sword deeper, jerking it upwards to widen the wound. Blood poured from Youku's stomach and started to pool on the floor around her. She continued to weep and gasp, now lying on her back. Tabito's sobs were now audible, filled with pain.

"It's... it's coming," Youku managed to say. Tabito sniffled. He lifted the sword out and placed it, shaking, beside her. The camera zoomed in closer, so her face was clearly visible.

"Y-Youk-ku," Tabito sobbed. He had her hand in his, squeezing tightly, his other softly touching the side of her face.

Youku looked up at him with a weak, pained smile. "Thank you," she whispered. Tabito lowered his forehead onto her chest and cried, pressing his own body against her. Youku's face softened and her eyes slowly closed. Tabito let her hand fall lifelessly from his, embracing her body, sobbing all the while.

"It gets boring after this," Monobear said, as the footage started to speed up. It looked like for a while, Tabito did not move from his position. "Eventually he gets up and messes with the scene, stayed until morning and voila, instant suicide scene!"

The footage sped through Tabito standing up and taking his sword back to the wall, wiping it with his sleeve, replacing Youku's in her stomach and moving her hands back onto the grip.

The TV went black once again, and Monobear applauded as if he had just watched a feature film. "Of course," he added, turning to face Tabito, "he didn't do a very good job, now he's been found out."

"You... you LIED to her," Sahori said. "You let her think you wanted to die, too, and you-"

"That's not true," Tabito said, his face still wet. "I did want to go, I did want to go with her! This place, I... I don't know how any of you can stand it. Any one of you could be planning to kill. Youku and I were in constant states of anxiety, always scared for our lives. It was too much to bear... so we decided not to bother anymore."

"But when the time came," Nobu said, "you saw you could use her as a way of escaping."

"No!" Tabito said. "That's not it! I was going to follow her, I was! I just... I thought... I saw a chance, I thought if I could get out, I could... live for both of us..."

"You have no honour," Daichi said, distastefully. "A true man would have taken the sword and SPRINTED into the dark after your fallen ally!"

Tabito leant forward, gripping the rail again. "YOU do it, then! YOU face death! Try fearing the end of your life, YOU try being scared out of your mind of dying, of what happens next. I’d like to see YOU facing that when an opportunity is standing right in front of you!"

"You USED her," Fumiyo said. "You let her die just to get out."

"I... I'm sorry!" Tabito finally cried. "I'm sorry! I just... I just wanted to get out! I couldn't STAND it anymore! Neither of us could!"

"Yawn," Monobear said, miming the action, "I've had enough of this."

Tabito's expression shifted. His eyes widened in utter terror.

"I think it's time we got this Punishment on, don't you?"

"NO!" Tabito shrieked, turning to Monobear, "YOU CAN'T!"

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed, "of course I can! I can do what I want!"

"PLEASE! I'M SORRY, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"This time, I prepared a special punishment for the Super High School Level Comedian, Tabito Okabe!"

Tabito tried to speak, but couldn't make a sound.

"Let's give it our best!"

He stared at the center of the ring, holding the rail right. "Everyone... I'm sorry...!"

"Iiiiiit's Punishment Time!"

"Youku," he whispered. "... I'm... I'm coming..."

Monobear procured a comically large mallet from behind him as a large red button extended from the throne in front of him. Tabito closed his eyes as the mallet came down, hitting the button. Tabito Okabe's punishment began.

-

Two metal rings clamped around Tabito's wrists. He barely had enough time to look down at them in shock when the cords they were attached to were pulled tight. Tabito was pulled out of his stall and out into a dark corridor that been revealed behind him, previously hidden behind a curtain. He was dragged backwards at an alarming speed, pulled back by his wrists. He tried to stand but all he could do was slide around as his arms were nearly pulled out of their sockets and the floor scraped against his clothes like sandpaper.

Tabito saw his classmates running after him in the distance as a metal grate slammed shut in front of him. He was yanked upwards into a standing position and he felt himself slam into something tall and thin. His wrists were pulled back together behind him. He turned to see he was now handcuffed backwards to a pole. Looking up, he could see it was a very large, metal microphone stand. Immediately he began to struggle.

The lights were suddenly turned on. Tabito squinted due to the sudden change. He was in the middle of a round stage. Around him were stands, filled with an audience of Monobears. They were chatting amongst each other, pointing at Tabito trapped in the centre, still trying to escape.

Suddenly, the Monobears all shushed each other, and silence fell. However, a whirring sound could still be heard. Tabito stopped struggling and looked towards the ceiling in horror at the source of the noise: a large glass cube was being lowered around him. He froze in fear as the glass lowered, soon to cut Tabito off entirely from the world.

Tabito tried to control his breathing, tried to control his terror. Finally, the glass walls reached the floor, and Tabito was contained.

Execution, Super High School Level Comedian Tabito Okabe: "Laughing Stock"

From each corner of the cube, loud hissing sounds suddenly came to life. The Monobear audience immediately started clapping and whistling, cheering for Tabito. Tabito looked around for a few moments, scared, before the laughing gas being pumped into his prison reached him.

It started off small. A small chuckle, nothing too loud. Then, he was laughing. The contrast between a terrified look in his eye and an open, laughing mouth was enough to make anyone uneasy.

The gas became denser. Tabito started to laugh harder, a little strangely as he tried to control himself. Soon, however, all signs of him trying to fight it were drowned out by his own raucous laughter. He started to flail against his confines, still laughing louder than he thought he ever could. His thoughts began to cloud and his fears started to erode. His mind became fuzzy, his consciousness slipping.

The gas was still being pumped in, replacing the oxygen that had remained within the glass. Tabito's eyes lost their terror and glazed over as he continued to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. He could hardly breathe in from laughing so much. Around him, the Monobears continued to applaud, even joining in his laughter. They pointed and laughed as he became less and less able to breathe oxygen.

Tabito fell to his knees, looking up to the sky. His eyes were wide open, yet completely blank. Still he laughed, forgetting to breathe. He became weaker and weaker, his head lowering. Finally, his laughs began to quiet. His breathing wheezed and grew weaker. He lost the strength to hold up his limbs.

Finally, Tabito's laughter stopped. He continued to breathe weakly and uselessly out of habit. As his movements continued to slow, approaching stillness, curtains began to draw around the cube and the lights started to go out. The students watched as the back and sides of the cube were obscured from the audience's vision and the lights around them went out, until they looked in from a single side, the only light left being a spotlight on the microphone stand and the figure chained against it.

The curtains began to close and the light dimmed as Tabito's movements began to stop. As the Super High School Level Comedian finally stopped moving for the last time, the light was extinguished, the curtain was drawn, and the audience applause stopped.

-

Fumiyo and Itsuka were crying. Most others were just staring in shock. Shigeru swallowed. His jaw was trembling, a reaction he tried to conceal.

"W-well he DID kill her," Sahori said. "He... I mean, he deserved it." She did not sound convinced.

No, Nobu thought. This was the same as Kanayo. Even less so. Tabito had used Youku's intent to die to escape, while Kanayo had killed in cold blood. If Kanayo didn't deserve her fate, Tabito was nearly an innocent victim. But still, they had both risked the lives of their entire class just for a chance of freedom. It had been between the freedom of one or the lives of many. Such a choice should be obvious... shouldn't it?

"There we go, then," Yawara said, turning to leave. "Funnyman's gone. So sad, whatcha' gonna do."

"HOW COULD YOU?" Genji shouted. "HE'S DEAD! HE'S JUST BEEN KILLED!"

"Whoa!" Yawara gasped, "the freak's got a set of lungs!"

"Don't... don't call me that!"

"Call you what? Freak? How about weirdo? Mutant? What about just geek or loser?"

"You are SO out of line," Fuuga said, stepping towards him. "Why do you act like this? Why are you such an asshole?"

"We could be here all day," Nobu said, frowning.

"Or," Yawara said, "I could go, and you could all shut the fuck up and LET me."

"GO!" Sahori yelled. "That's what we want! We want you to go and never come back!"

"Careful, missy," Yawara threatened, pointing to the closed curtain behind them, "or you'll be the next one getting tied up and choked."

"How dare you speak to a woman like that!" Daichi shouted.

"Oh my god," Yawara spat, frustrated, "you keep thinking you can tell me what to do, it's so ANNOYING!"

"YOU can't talk!" Jo yelled.

"Do you want some?" Yawara yelled back, stepping towards her, but he was blocked by Ryouji, who had suddenly appeared between them.

"No you don't," he growled. Yawara stopped, then took a step back.

"Ugh," he complained.

Yawara turned around again and strode off down the corridor. "Just don't cross me again, any of you. Maybe then I won't hurt you."

Jo tutted and rolled her eyes. "What an asshole."

"He's worse than that," Genji said. "He's a monster."

"I don't care what he does," Fuuga said, "but if he tries to harm anyone again, I'm not going to stand for it."

Ryouji looked away, down the corridor after Yawara. He was frowning quite angrily. Nobu stared. Ryouji had seemed so distant when they arrived here, now he was defending them against their common enemy. He had acted alone for so long, why was he suddenly acting for them?

The students started to file back towards the elevator. Yawara had already taken one up to the first floor, so he wasn't waiting for them in the courtroom. When they reached the first floor, everybody headed for their rooms.

"I'm not in the mood for doing anything else today," Arata said. "The Trials are really tiring."

"More like emotionally taxing," Sahori mumbled. She got to her room and disappeared, not even saying anything to Fuuga or Fumiyo, who were about to speak with her.

Nobu made for his room, too. He wasn't in the mood for doing anything, even if it wasn't even lunchtime yet. When the time came, he would go to eat, then-

"AAAGH!"

Nobu spun around, terrified. What had happened? Had someone-

Daichi was in his doorway, hanging upside down by his foot, where a rope was tied to the top of the doorframe. "UNHAND ME! WHAT'S GOING ON? SOMEBODY CUT ME LOOSE!"

Around the corner, a laughing Yawara appeared, pointing at Daichi in jest. "I fuckin' GOT you!" He shouted. "You IDIOT, I can't believe you fell for that!"

"What have you done, villain!?" Daichi demanded. "Set me free at once! This is beyond a joke!"

"You're telling me," Yawara laughed, "it's like a mega-joke!"

"Daichi!" Genji shouted, running to his aid. He tried to reach the top of the doorframe, but just wasn't tall enough.

"How did you get into his room!?" Jo asked.

"Upupu! I'm sorry!" Monobear said, appearing suddenly beside Daichi's door. "That was my fault! Yawara told me there was something about the last murder he had to check, so I let him into Daichi's room!"

"And you BELIEVED that?" Fuuga choked.

"Please be kind to me," Monobear pleaded, "I'm just a bear! I get tricked sometimes! But don't worry, it won't happen again! No more screw-ups from me! I swear on my own life!"

"Oh man," Yawara laughed, turning to leave, "that was GOLD. That's for the fork, retard."

"HEY!" Fuuga shouted, running after him. "DON'T YOU JUST-"

Yawara slammed his door, locking himself in his room. Fuuga attacked the doorknob, trying to get through, but it was no use.

"SHIT," he spat, slamming his fist into it.

"Could somebody please find Ryouji?" Daichi asked. "I'm sure his knife could come in useful in this situation."

Nobu seethed. Yawara was crossing lines. At this rate, he was almost likely to kill somebody any day now. They had to be vigilant in their caution, being careful not to let anyone sneak up on them. Sure, save for Yawara they seemed united, but they had been similarly so just yesterday. As today had proven, anyone could have secret motives. Anyone could be willing to do the impossible to save themselves.

Nobu turned and made for Ryouji's room. Do we have to trust each other, he asked himself, or do we have to fear each other?

Chapter Text

Nobu headed for the cafeteria quite late. After the morning announcement had woken him up, he had simply remained awake in his bed, just thinking about everything.

Tabito was dead. Youku was dead. Sai and Kanayo were dead. None of them were coming back.

Ryouji had easily cut Daichi down from his doorframe, although nobody had prepared for the fall he took. Ryouji had assessed the trap Yawara had used.

"It's a simple design," he had told them. "Hunters use it to trap animals all the time."

Yawara had taken a jump rope, thick rubber exercise cord and some broken archery arrows from the dojo to fashion the trap, which he'd placed directly behind of Daichi's door. In entering, he had no time to register that anything was even on the floor in front of him before he had sprung it.

Nobu scowled. Yawara wasn't just being a nuisance, he was dangerous. The trap he had set for Daichi could have easily been deadly if he had wanted it to be. Daichi wouldn't have stood a chance.

Nobu entered the cafeteria, where everybody was already assembled.

"About time," Yawara snapped. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sleeping," Nobu answered. "What's going on?"

"The next floor has been opened," Shigeru stated.

"We thought we'd wait for you before investigating," Fumiyo said. "If you didn't know where we were, you might've gotten scared."

"That's what YOU all thought," Yawara scoffed, "I just wanna go already."

"Ryouji's threatening him," Jo laughed. Nobu saw Ryouji standing behind Yawara, his fist enclosed on his sheathed pocket knife. Nobu wasn't sure how to feel about controlling Yawara through threats, but for now he left the issue alone. It was nice to see Yawara behaving for a change, at least physically.

"Can we GO now?" Yawara asked, annoyed.

They all headed for the second floor, where the grate blocking the staircase to the third had been raised, trying to ignore the realization that new floors were being made available to them with each Trial that took place.

The floor mainly consisted of more classrooms, which Jo, Sahori and Shigeru investigated, first. At the far end of the main hallway, however, was a large door opening up onto...

"A greenhouse!" Arata exclaimed in joy. He ran up to the middle of the room and looked around at the tables of potted plants and flowers, the pots scattered around the floor and the garden that ran along the walls. The room was about half the size of the gymnasium and about as tall, able to house quite a large tree that stood in the middle.

"This is incredible," Arata continued, "it has everything! Sprinkler systems, artificial sunlight... I could cry, I really could."

"Weirdo," Yawara murmured.

Genji took a step back, his eyes darting around manically, before leaving the room very quickly.

"Genji," Daichi said, "are you not well?"

"I can't be here," Genji said, shaking his head as he swiftly walked away. "Sorry. Can't."

Nobu was surprised. Arata's entire personality had changed. Before, he was more or less cheerful, but overall quite blank. Now, in the presence of a garden, it was like he was coming to life. For the first time, Arata was expressing excitement. Nobu couldn't help but feel happy for him.

"So there's a bunch of plants," Yawara said. "There. Done. Bye."

He turned around and walked off, followed by Shigeru and Ryouji. However long Ryouji was planning to shepherd Yawara was uncertain, but not unappreciated.

"This looks... exotic," Fuuga said, looking at a strange flower growing nearby. "This is your turf, isn't it, Arata?"

"This is my turf," Arata grinned, "my home, my place, my canvas!"

He continued looking around the room, inspecting almost every plant and every bud. When he noticed the shed in the corner he leapt for it, searching through it for tools.

"I haven't been in a garden for like, EVER," Arata said, taking out a shovel and secateurs. "I've missed the soil, I have."

"Is this what Super High School Level Gardeners do?" Sahori asked. "Play in the dirt?"

"Landscaper," Arata corrected, still grinning. "And of course not! We USE the soil to nourish, we use it to bring life! AND we bring aesthetic appeal through our own utilities!"

Nobu was surprised Arata knew such words.

"That means you make things pretty, right?" Fumiyo asked.

"Exactly. I'd be able to work a lot faster with my team, but I can make it work!"

"Team?" Jo asked. "You have a team?"

"Uh-huh," Arata continued, beginning to inspect the soil in the garden. "Ten, fifteen people, all working together. We did work all over the country! We weren't that known for a while, but after The Night our number of customers skyrocketed!"

Nobu blinked. "The Night?"

"The Night!" Arata repeated. "The night we made over a whole street!"

"That was YOU?" Sahori gasped. "I heard about that on the news! That was over twenty houses!"

"Mostly me, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The REAL challenge was constructing that many unique designs!"

"They didn't even wake the people in the houses up," Sahori explained, turning to the others. "Everyone just woke up one morning and the whole street looked like a Hollywood set."

Nobu turned back to Arata, who was sifting the soil in his fingers. This whole time, Arata had been the leader of an elite group of landscapers, able to work on entire streets in a single night. He wasn't just a gardener, he was a professional, a legend. And they hadn't even known.

"Why didn't you tell us you were that good, Arata?" Jo asked.

Arata paused, then looked back at them, confused. "I didn't think you cared," he answered. "Aren't we all, anyway?"

Nobu stared as Arata went back to work. He knew what Arata meant. They hadn't asked. They hadn't asked many of them at all what they had done before Hope's Peak. He'd spoken to Fumiyo and Jo, but as for everyone else... they were mysteries. All they'd had on each other since they came to this school was their talent, and somehow that had been enough for them this whole time.

"I'll keep looking," Fuuga said, turning to leave. "Have fun, Arata."

"Oh, I will!" Arata said.

Nobu left, too. He and Fuuga re-entered the hallway and started poking their heads into each room they passed, seeing if any of them looked promising.

"He'll be happy for a while," Fuuga laughed. Nobu chuckled in return, then thought about something for a moment.

"Fuuga," he began, "what did you do before coming here?"

"Uh, breakfast?" Fuuga answered.

"Hah, I meant before you came to this school."

"Oh! Oh, that's much more interesting. I criticized movies!"

"... like, for fun?"

"For a while, yeah. I had a site where I just complained about every movie."

"... every movie?"

"Well, every movie I could get my hands on. And not just saying 'this is good, this is bad', I'm talking casting decisions, editing, camera angles, I take that shit DOWN. You know Robert Egbert?"

"Yeah?"

"Hates my guts."

"Seriously?"

"I'm more thorough that him and he knows it, that's why nobody knows me. Well, the public doesn't know me. People in the industry are MORE than aware of my wrath. Sometimes I get advance screenings just so I can tell them how they're messing up!"

"That's... sort of incredible."

"So's the lengths some people will go to not get slammed in the comments section. You know 'Simplicity'? They got me to watch that EIGHT TIMES before they even started marketing."

"They didn't start marketing until after they finished the movie?"

"Incredible, right?"

Nobu shared Fuuga's laughter and felt relaxed. This is what he'd wanted out of his high school life, just talking with other people and sharing their happiness. He was also one step closer to understanding his classmates, to rectifying the mistakes they'd made.

Fuuga looked into one room. "Hm? Daichi?"

"Fuuga! Nobu" Daichi called from inside. "Come in, come in! This floor has an AV room!"

"Oh, brilliant!" Fuuga motioned for Nobu to follow him inside. On the far wall was a large white screen, where a projector would be able to shine. The room was filled with cubicles, each one with a television screen, a pair of headphones and a rotating chair. Daichi was sitting at the cubicle directly in front of the door.

"I've been investigating the system's capabilities," Daichi explained as Fuuga and Nobu pulled up chairs to sit on either side of him. "Each cubicle has a remove for their own screen, none of which work on any others!"

"Nifty," Fuuga said.

"It's fantastic," Daichi said, "such technology is not cheap, for a high school to go to such lengths for a simple AV room... I'm astounded!"

"Is this a DVD drive?" Fuuga asked, looking at a device next to the screen. "Is that all these are? DVD players?"

"Definitely not," Daichi said, lifting the remove and pressing a button. The screen displayed a sort of home screen. "These operating systems allow usage of media files straight from the school's computer network!"

"Oh, brilliant," Fuuga said, grinning. "Is there anything there? Please tell me some past students started pirating movies."

"I haven't checked," Daichi said, starting to look through the network drives using the remote. "There seemed to be nothing of interest in the first folder I checked, but maybe in sub subdirectories- oh!"

Daichi had opened a folder and a large number of filenames were suddenly displayed on the screen.

"Yes," Fuuga declared in victory, "video files! Check what they are, I don't care if it's a crappy sitcom, I need some CULTURE."

Daichi moved the cursor down the list. The filenames were all 'VID' with a numeric extension. Daichi highlighted the file named 'VID023' and hit 'play'.

None of them were prepared for what began to play for them.

The camera was being fumbled around by whoever was holding it. Somebody was laughing, possibly the cameraman.

"I can't believe you weren't recording," a voice laughed.

Nobu, Daichi and Fuuga felt something cold grip around their hearts. The camera was lifted and the face of a smiling Tabito was brought into frame.

"See," he said, pointing to something just beside the camera lens, "the light means it's recording!"

"I said I was sorry!" another voice laughed. Nobu felt a catch in his throat. Tabito turned the camera to show Sai, holding several pieces of paper stapled together. He immediately covered his face and turned away. "Hey!" he cried. "Not me! Cameramen don't go on camera!"

"They do when they mess up!" Tabito laughed, zooming in and walking around to get Sai's face into frame. "This is your public punishment, O Crappy Cameram-"

The video suddenly corrupted and the player stopped. The screen showed the main menu once again.

"Wh-what?" Fuuga asked, shocked.

"Oh, dear!"

The three nearly fell out of their chairs. On the wall in front of them, Monobear's face was being projected. He had a paw over his mouth, as if embarrassed. "Sorry about that," he said in his mocking voice, "I wasn't aware of those files. Don't worry, though! I've deleted them properly, this time!"

"W-wait!" Fuuga called, standing up. "What was that? Was that real?"

"Oh no no no," Monobear said, "I'm not saying anything! Toodle-oo, you bastards!"

Monobear vanished from the screen.

"DAMMIT," Fuuga said, punching the table.

Nobu looked at the screen, worried. "That was... that was Sai and Tabito..."

"I hadn't realized they were friends," Daichi confessed.

"They weren't," Nobu said. "At least, not like that. That never happened."

"We don't even have a camera," Fuuga said. "And we've only just found these systems, there's no other way we could've uploaded them until now."

"Perhaps this did not take place recently," Daichi said. "Perhaps... this happened before the school year began?"

"That's not possible," Nobu said, "Sai didn't know anybody when he came here. If he'd known Tabito they would have been closer."

"It's the only explanation, though," Fuuga said. "Sai and Tabito knew each other before Hope's Peak. In fact, if they're on this network, then... they were here before."

Nobu looked away. He couldn't believe it, he refused to believe it. There was no way Sai would have lied to him, he was... well, he was trustworthy. He was scared. If he'd known even one person when he walked into the gymnasium that day, he would have gravitated towards them like a magnet. No, he couldn't have known Tabito before Hope's Peak. It wasn't possible.

And yet, what they had seen looked authentic. It was as if Tabito and Sai really had known each other, as if they had actually been friends.

Nobu swallowed. Could he have been wrong? About Sai? About... anything?

"What do we do?" Fuuga said. "What do we tell the others?"

Nobu didn't answer.

"SHOULD we tell the others?" Daichi asked. "If we cannot make sense of this information, must we really trouble others with it?"

"... maybe not...?"

"I am not suggesting we keep this a secret forever," Daichi assured, "I simply think we should know what we are telling them when we eventually do."

"Fine," Nobu said. "We don't tell them."

"We don't tell them," Fuuga repeated dreamily, looking away. "We don't tell them that two of us knew each other before coming here."

Nobu closed his eyes and resisted the urge to correct Fuuga, to tell him he was wrong. This was made easier by the fact that he wasn't even certain of such a fact.

Chapter Text

The rest of the newly opened third floor proved to house nothing else but more classrooms. Nobu and the others ended up returning to the cafeteria, adhering to the habit they had learned when such developments occurred. Nobody spoke much, preferring to wait until everyone was present before beginning any discussion. However, once it became apparent that Yawara and Arata were not going to be joining them, they began. Nobu silently noted Ryouji's surprising return appearance.

"I suppose Arata's not going to be coming either?" Fumiyo wondered.

"I'd be surprised if Arata ever left that greenhouse again," Fuuga said.

"In that case," Shigeru began, "did anyone find anything worthy of mention?"

Nobody answered.

"Great," Jo grumbled. "Another waste of time."

"It wouldn't be a waste of time if we ever DID find a way out," Sahori said.

"What are we even expecting to find?" Daichi asked. "A window, perhaps? The higher we climb, the less chance we have of surviving a fall from one."

"I'd settle for an answer to why we're even in here," Genji said.

"Oh?"

Monobear had appeared at the head of the table at Genji's words.

"Aagh!" Genji cried in shock, along with several others.

"Must you always be this surprised when I grace you with my presence?" Monobear asked, sounding hurt. "I'd much rather you cheered, or threw a party!"

"What do YOU want?" Ryouji asked, stepping forward.

"Didn't somebody ask a question?" Monobear asked. He leaned towards Genji. "Was it you?"

"Agh!" Genji cried again, jumping. "No! No it wasn't! I'm sorry!"

"How dare you lie to your headmaster," Monobear scolded. "I have my ways, you know! How else would I know a question was asked at all?"

"What are you here to tell us, then?" Nobu asked, cutting Monobear's torture of Genji short.

"Oh? Well, I'm here to tell you why you're all here!"

"Y-you are?" Fumiyo asked, hardly daring to believe an answer was so easily obtained.

"You're in this school," Monobear said, "because you are all the best of the best of the best of the best! That's why you're 'Super High School Level Students'!"

"And why are you pitting us against each other in a game of life and death?" Daichi asked.

Monobear played a drumroll sound from his speakers as he leant back, as if drawing a long breath before speaking. "You're participating in this game," he began, still drawing them in, "... of kill-or-be-killed School Trial Madness... is because..."

Cymbals crashed and he leapt onto the table in an odd pose. "- We want to make you despair!"

"Despair!?" Sahori gasped.

"Is that seriously it?" Jo said. "You're doing this just to make us sad?"

"'Despair'," Monobear corrected her. "There's a GRAVE difference."

"You're a monster," Fumiyo said, angrily. "Is there really nothing more to this than a sick obsession with death?"

"Upupu," Monobear laughed ominously. "Not 'death', Fumiyo. Death is an event. Our motivation is... Despair. More than sadness, more than fear, the worst emotion, no, the worst state a human being can be in. To hit that rock bottom, to feel that awful, terrible, beautiful despair..."

Monobear jumped back off the table onto the chair behind him. "Whelp! I hope I've been a help to you all!"

"I hope you die," Jo spat.

"Same to you, then," Monobear said, then scrambled under the table. Everybody knew well enough not to even bother looking under after him, for he was probably already gone.

"That wasn't helpful in the slightest," Daichi said.

"It was terrifying," Fumiyo said.

"But not without reward," Ryouji said. Everybody turned to face him, still standing.

He gave them a determined look. "He said 'our' motivation. Not 'my'. Whoever's doing this, it's a group. Not just one person."

"Oh!" Daichi exclaimed. "A clue! A clue to the identity of our captor!"

"It's not a very good one," Sahori grumbled. "Whoever's stuck us in here have boarded the whole place up with huge metal plates, obviously it's not just one person doing it."

"Any information is better than none," Ryouji told her. He then turned around to leave. "If we're done here, I'm just gonna go."

"Wait," Nobu said standing up, but Ryouji had already left the room.

Nobu frowned. Ryouji was a mystery to him, which wasn't all that common. He could read his emotions, but couldn't fathom his intentions. Initially, Ryouji had been cold and distant, unwilling to care about anyone. He was in fact the most likely to have killed somebody, with his level of empathy.

But he hasn't, Nobu thought. He hasn't acted how I expected at all.

Ryouji had started to communicate with them. Firstly with Nobu through the gifting of Sai's journal, then with the others when he protected them from Yawara, and somewhere along the line he had started coming to their meetings without being asked or approached. After all this, however, Nobu was still unsure as to why he was doing all these things. Ryouji was getting closer, but his reasons for doing so were still shrouded in mystery. For a Socialiser like Nobu, it was almost maddening to be this unsure of a person.

In similar suit, the other students started to leave the cafeteria. Nobu stayed behind, still trying to figure out what he even wanted to do. There wasn't all that much to do in the school, even with the dojo and AV room unlocked. Nobu wasn't much for heavy physical exertion, and after seeing what he had on the network he wasn't too interested in going back to the AV room any time soon. He felt the greenhouse should be left to Arata, since he was clearly more excited than anyone else about it.

He watched the students leaving and continued to think. It had been interesting to hear about Arata and Fuuga's lives before Hope's Peak, and in light of his recent and repeated failure to understand Ryouji, it would be favourable to continue attempts to understand his other classmates.

Bringing up the rear of those leaving the cafeteria was Genji. From what Nobu could tell, Genji was mildly worried about venturing out into where Yawara could be. He probably wasn't terrified because he knew he was going somewhere Yawara would not. Nobu concluded that Genji must be heading straight for his room, to hide from everyone else.

Nobu jogged to catch up with Genji, who had already broken away from the rest of the group and started towards the dorms.

"Genji," he called. Genji flinched and looked back, seeing Nobu.

"Nobu," he replied. "Sorry, hi."

"Sorry?" Nobu asked. "Why sorry?"

Genji looked embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry, I... I didn't realize it was you?"

"Nothing to apologize about," Nobu smiled.

Genji nodded. "Did you, uh... want something?"

"Not really, just saying hi."

"Oh. Uh... hi, then. I guess."

Nobu let his smile fade a little. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Genji nodded a bit too enthusiastically. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Fine."

"Apart from being scared of Yawara."

"Yes."

"So you're scared of Yawara?"

Genji paused. "Of course."

"... Yawara's not the first, is he?"

Genji looked around nervously, as if Yawara would appear at any moment.

Nobu didn't want to come off as too patronizing. If his hunch that Genji had been helped before, there was a high chance he was tired of being spoken to like a child. "I'm sorry," he said, "I just... he sucks, y'know?"

Genji looked at Nobu, looking both worried and thoughtful, although Nobu was beginning to realize worried was Genji's default expression. He felt a vague sense of distrust towards him.

"No," Genji finally answered. "He's not the first. Nowhere close."

"That's rough," Nobu nodded. "I'm sorry it didn't stop with coming here."

Genji looked away. "Thanks."

Genji looked uncomfortable. Nobu thought quickly over whether he should let Genji go on his way or talk to him a little more. Not quite ready to abandon their conversation, he opted to continue.

"So," he asked, sounding chipper, "what makes a Super High School Level Cleaner?"

Genji looked up again, the distrust more apparent. "Uh... I clean things really well."

"That can't be it," Nobu said. "I mean, not JUST it."

Genji shuffled uncomfortably in place. "Well, I... I took over for my elementary school's janitor when he retired... that was in my third year... then he got me a job at a hotel a year later... once it started winning awards for cleanliness, others started looking for me..."

"Wow," Nobu said. "That's kind of impressive, actually."

Genji didn't change his expression. "Thanks. I thought so."

"... but nobody else did?"

"Nobody thinks cleaning things is impressive. Everyone thinks it's stupid."

"Most people don't. They just think it's a thing people have to do. It's the real losers that see being good at something as stupid."

Genji shuffled in place again, but looked less distrustful and more confused. "Why do you care?" he asked. "If you think it's just a thing to do, why are you even talking to me like this?"

Nobu frowned. "I don't want you to think that nobody cares about you."

Genji's confusion broke for an instant, showing a flash of admiration. "I... what?"

"Yawara's an idiot, he's the one who thinks you're a loser. The rest of us, we don't think that. I don't want you thinking that you're alone in this place. We're all here with you."

Genji looked like he was going to cry. He nodded wordlessly and looked at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Nobu asked.

"Y-yeah," Genji stammered. "I'm fine."

"What's Yawara?"

Genji looked up, a sad smile on his face. "Yawara's an idiot."

"Yawara's an idiot," Nobu smiled back.

"What's this about the obvious?"

Genji jumped in fright. Nobu looked behind him to see Jo walking towards them.

"Hey," she said. "Don't mind me, just walkin' around. This place is kinda boring with nothing to do."

"Hah, yeah," Nobu agreed. "The best entertainment we have is each other, in a way."

"In that case you're probably right in your element, then," Jo mused, now standing with them.

"I'm sorry?" Nobu questioned.

"Socialiser!" Jo said. "This whole school's gotta be like your playground right now!"

Nobu laughed. "In a way, I guess."

"So," Jo said, clapping her hands together. "What's this about Yawara being a dick?"

"J-just that he is," Genji laughed, weakly.

"That's about right," Jo said. "What's his deal, seriously."

"Bullying can happen for a number of reasons," Nobu said. "He could have been bullied himself, he might have had a bad upbringing-"

"Or that's just who he is," Genji said, sounding bitter. Nobu looked down at him and saw him frowning at the ground. "There are bad people in the world. Not all of them have motivations. Some of them are just evil."

"That can't be right," Jo said. "People don't just do things for no reason."

"Alright," Genji rebutted, "some of them do it for fun."

"Guys," Nobu interrupted, "can we agree to disagree for now? We don't want to start fighting."

"We don't?" Jo asked. "Nothin' wrong with a good fight, y'know."

"What?" Genji asked, stepping back.

"Not a fistfight, dude," Jo laughed, "a talkfight. Argument, discussion, whatever you wanna call it."

"You like having arguments?" Nobu asked.

"Not all the time, but it's not like they're bad. How else are you meant to convince people they're wrong?"

"Do you really have to, though?"

Jo shrugged. "Do what you want, I guess, but I can't stand it when people think they're right when they're not. Like when they say the gays are going to hell, or Yawara saying he's not lying."

"What about Yawara?" Nobu asked, mildly thankful for an opportunity to change the subject.

"Yeah," Jo began to explain, rolling her eyes in reminiscent annoyance. "I asked him why he's started walking around the school now instead of stayin' in the dojo all day, you know what he told me? He said he's 'sick of it'. Can you believe that?"

"Since when has he been spending less time in there?" Nobu asked. "Wasn't he in there yesterday?"

"Nope," Jo said. "Yesterday was the Trial, remember? After we finished, a lot of you went to your rooms, including him. The day before that, he was there, but today he hasn't set foot in there."

"How do you know?" Genji asked.

"'Cos I've been in there," Jo said, a bit proudly. "I suck at this investigation thing so I went and checked it, saw he wasn't in there and just went to town on that punching bag thing. Man, that's good for relieving stress!"

"So Yawara stopped going to the dojo after the Trial," Nobu thought aloud. "After Youku..."

"Oh," Jo said, realizing what Nobu had thought of. "Oh, man. Do you think he's... do you think he's scared?"

"Or he has a conscience," Nobu suggested. "He might not want to spend time in a place where someone-"

"That's not it," Genji said. He was frowning again. "He's not being respectful, he's just scared."

"Knew it," Jo said, making a fist and grinning.

Nobu, deciding against Jo's advice, refrained from starting an argument. Although he saw her point, he didn't want to make an enemy out of anyone, especially not Genji. The poor boy had too many enemies as it was, and here he was, locked in a school with who could be the worst of them all.

Whether Yawara was being respectful of Youku's place of death or scared of it, that information didn't particularly concern Nobu. While he was all for connecting with his classmates, he had no ambition to connect with Yawara. He stood by what he had said, that every bully has a reason for bullying. What he hadn't mentioned was that regardless of the reason, he didn't respect bullies to any degree, and by no means cared about what those reasons were, or anything about them whatsoever save the fact they were bullies, people who turned Super High School Level students like Genji into people who jumped at unseen speakers and began their conversations scared of their friends, not trusting them enough to believe a word they were saying.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day passed with little to no activity, as did most of the next morning. Only a few students, Nobu included, met in the morning for their meeting, while the others either came in solely for breakfast or skipped the meal entirely.

Of course, Yawara was the one who didn't enter the cafeteria at all that morning. In addition to Nobu, only Daichi, Shigeru, Fumiyo, Itsuka and Fuuga actually sat down to discuss matters, however briefly due to lack of information. When lunchtime came around it was the same, with only the six of them remaining long enough to talk.

"This is ridiculous," Daichi declared. "Surely they cannot be so adamant about breaking the rules!"

"They've only ever been rules we made up," Fuuga told him, "it's not like they're facing any punishment."

"They will face punishment from us," Daichi warned, "punishment by social ostracism!"

"Hah!" Fumiyo laughed. "That's sure to set them straight, getting ignored by all the cool kids!"

"I don't think we're the cool kids," Itsuka said, quietly. "If anything, we're the ones being ostracized right now."

"What's this?" Daichi gasped. "Itsuka? The blogger? TALKING to us?"

Itsuka looked terrified that she'd opened her mouth and looked down at the table.

"Aw, shut up, Chessy," Fumiyo said, grumpily. "She can talk whenever she wants. It's okay," she added at a lower volume to Itsuka, "don't listen to what other people think."

"No, no! You misunderstand!" Daichi asserted. "I am not commenting in jest nor tease, I am simply astonished that our young Itsuka has summoned the courage to speak to us!"

"That's all because of me!" Fumiyo said, pointing to herself and smiling proudly. "I've been grooming her!"

"I think we've all had a bit of a hand in that," Fuuga said, smiling.

"Y-yeah," Itsuka said, also showing a small smile. "I think... just being around you all is... helping..."

"Well, even if that's the case," Fumiyo said, still sounding proud, "I'm just glad I had any impression at all."

"I'm glad you're feeling braver, Itsuka," Nobu said. "If I may ask, what do you think has been the best help?"

"I'm sorry?" Itsuka asked, looking scared that she didn't know the answer to a question.

"Oh, forgive me," Nobu said, holding his hands up in apology, "I'm only wondering. After all, I find such social transformations quite interesting, incidentally."

"Such is the Super High School Level Socializer!" Daichi declared.

"W-well," Itsuka wondered, "I think... I think getting to know other people better is good... I wasn't scared of Fumiyo any more after she talked to be for a little..."

"You were scared of me?" Fumiyo asked, surprised. "I had no idea!"

"How about me?" Fuuga asked. "Were you scared of me?"

"W-well, yes," Itsuka confessed. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," Fuuga smiled, "as long as we're all good, now."

"So now you are not afraid of anyone?" Daichi asked. "With the exception of Yawara, of course, I would completely understand if anyone were to be afraid of such a brute."

"Um..."

Itsuka didn't look like she could answer. She gripped her hands together and started picking at one of her nails.

Nobu knew what Fumiyo was going to say before she said it, for he had deduced as much himself. "Well, you, for starters," she laughed.

"Eh!?" Daichi gasped, shocked. "Me? Somebody afraid? Of me?"

"I'm sorry," Itsuka breathed, looking incredibly shameful.

"It's just 'cos you're so loud all the time," Fumiyo said, grinning.

"N-no!" Itsuka said. "Confident! I said confident! A-and loud, but also-"

"My gosh!" Daichi cried. "Such power! I have never felt it before! To be feared is truly a formidable inspiration!"

"Stuff like THAT is what sets people running," Fuuga laughed.

"Once she gets used to it, though," Nobu said, "maybe she'll be less scared of him, too!"

"Agh!" Daichi gasped. "Really? Oh no! I must never have such an outburst again! The power must be contained! Preserved! Itsuka, did you know I consumed several litters of kittens before coming to this school? It was terrifying!"

"Oh my GOD," Fuuga laughed. Fumiyo was already in hysterics, rolling about in her chair at Daichi's attempt to be scary. Itsuka tried to hide her smile, covering her mouth with the top of her shirt.

"Oh, man!" Fumiyo laughed. "Shigeru, you do it too!"

Shigeru looked over at the mention of his name. "Hm?" he asked. "Am I in this group of those feared by Itsuka, too?"

Itsuka's eyes widened and she tried to hide more of her face in her shirt.

"Aw, Itsuka," Fumiyo said, "you coulda' just said you weren't! Now you might as well have said 'yes'!"

Itsuka was silent for a few moments, invisible past the fabric of her shirt. "... he's so quiet," she finally mumbled.

"Aha!" Daichi laughed. "Indeed, Arata and myself are not the only ones of such a persuasion!"

He turned to Shigeru, grinning. "It is indeed strange, Shigeru! The fact that you keep to yourself so much is literally terrifying!"

"Come on, now," Nobu said, ready to defend Shigeru's choices again, "he doesn't have to-"

"Many would rather be feared for their lack of actions than their unsavoury ones."

Daichi was speechless. Shigeru had made eye contact and spoken so coolly he could not have possibly intended to provoke the sort of reaction he god.

"Oh, MAN!" Fumiyo called. "Shigeru BURN!"

"That was magnificent," Fuuga said, slowly clapping. "Just wonderful."

"Good God," Daichi said, defeated. "When Shigeru deals his blows he truly ensures their fatality!"

Shigeru gave the vague impression of someone who didn't know what was going on, at least to Nobu.

The laughter of most of the people present was interrupted by a loud scream coming from above them.

"What was that?" Fuuga asked, jumping to his feet.

"Oh no," Daichi said.

Shigeru was the first to move. He led the others out of the cafeteria and up the stairs, where they were sure the sound had come from.

"It sounded distant," Shigeru said. "I would guess the third floor."

They flew up the stairs until they reached the third floor and continued running, looking for any open doors. They ended up outside the greenhouse, the floor outside of which was covered in dirty footsteps. The door was open ajar.

Shigeru burst inside and slammed the door open completely. The six of them leapt inside, expecting a terrible scene, but all they saw were three people in an awkward situation.

Sahori was sitting on a table nearby, watching Arata attempting to wipe a lot of dirt off the front of Genji, who had his arms raised high and looked like he was about to cry. Or, as they soon realized, scream again.

"Sorry," Sahori said, "our bad. Well, Genji's bad. Nothing's wrong!"

"What the blazes happened to cause Genji to cry so loudly?" Daichi asked.

"I-I didn't cry," Genji said.

"My apologies, Genji," Daichi said, "an incorrect synonym."

"He just knocked the pot over, that's all," Arata said, waving. "I mean, he didn't take his hand out right..."

Near Genji's feet was a large overturned pot, with some dirt falling out of it.

The way Nobu understood it, Genji had placed his hand into a pot of dirt. The result of which, due to his fear of uncleanliness, must have been for him to pull it back out and thereby pulling the pot over towards him. He must have gotten a lot of dirt on his front because of it.

"I'm guessing all the dirt outside is your fault, Arata," Fuuga said.

"Uh, I guess so," Arata said. "I've been coming in and out of here a lot."

"What were you doing with your hand in a pot of dirt?" Nobu asked, looking to Genji.

Genji looked embarrassed.

"We were working on his problem," Arata smiled. "I thought maybe if he got a bit dirty every day, soon he'd be better!"

"Therapy of such degree has not been recommended in the past," Daichi said, concerned. "Too much of a shock can do more harm than good."

"Really, Arata," Fuuga said, "this wasn't a good idea."

"No, it's okay," Genji said. He looked sheepishly away. "It was my idea. I thought... maybe I could fix it, just a little."

"In that case," Daichi said, "Really, Genji, this wasn't a good idea."

"Yeah," Nobu agreed, having some experience in a similar field, "you don't want to overexpose yourself. Maybe start a little smaller, next time?"

"Actually, we did," Genji confessed, still sounding embarrassed.

"Yeah," Arata grinned, "yesterday we were working with individual grains!"

"Then a spoonful," Genji continued.

"Today was a much bigger step, though" Arata said. "That one was my idea."

"I'm sorry I yelled," Genji said, "I didn't mean to scare anyone."

"I'm glad this all has a good explanation," Fumiyo said, "but there's one more thing."

"Hm?" Arata asked.

Fumiyo pointed to Sahori. "Why's she here?"

"Hm? Oh," Sahori said, "I'm just hanging out here."

"Just hanging out?" Fuuga asked.

"Yeah," Sahori shrugged. "I didn't have anything else to do. I just like hanging out with people."

"Aw, we were downstairs," Fumiyo said, "you coulda' hung with us!"

"Next time, I promise," Sahori smiled.

Shigeru made to leave the room, the mystery of the scream now solved, but Fuuga, Itsuka, Fumiyo and Daichi stayed around, walking over to Genji and Arata.

"Do you have a broom in here?" Fuuga asked, looking at the mess on the floor.

"Uh-huh," Arata answered, "in the shed over there."

Nobu sidled over to Sahori, who looked mildly annoyed.

"Just hanging out, huh?" he asked her, his voice low.

Sahori broke into a cheeky smile. "You know the trope where the confident, knowledgeable person teaches the small, nervous one?"

"I'm vaguely aware of it."

"To me, that's the cutest trope possible in any form of media ever. Arata and Genji overcoming fears together? Nobu, I swear I nearly died today."

"Some might find this sort of behaviour creepy," Nobu said, not fighting the smile creeping across his face. "Yours, I mean, not theirs."

"Maybe," Sahori said, "but that's why I don't tell anyone."

"You're telling me."

"You're a special case."

"'Special case'?"

"Don't read into that. Besides, it's not like I actually think those two will get together. I just like seeing them being all cute 'n stuff."

"Do you think they could work?" Nobu asked, sort of interested himself.

"Not a chance," Sahori giggled, shaking her head. "He's too messy and he's a complete wreck."

Nobu chuckled and looked back to the others. This is nice, he thought. Not just everyone getting along, but everyone... well, changing.

Itsuka was starting to be less afraid of other people, assisted by Fumiyo. Even now, she approached Arata and Genji with the others, and looked to be at least listening to them in conversation. Genji was even trying to break out of his OCD fears, reaching out to Arata to help him. Despite the bleak situation they were in, they were connecting with each other and become better for it. Even though it was as far from a high school as it could be, Hope's Peak had become an environment for them to grow together, as people and as friends.

Nobu smiled at the group of classmates, the group of friends. Somehow he knew that everything was going to be okay.

That thought was immediately shattered as Yawara burst in through the door.

"Who died?" he asked, looking around the room. "Chess freak? Nah, there he is. Oh, wig bitch is still here, too, that's a pity."

"Get out of here, asshole," Sahori grumbled, refusing to look in his direction.

"Give it a break, pinkie," Yawara said, "we all gotta meet when someone bites it, don't we?"

"Nobody's been killed, Yawara," Fuuga said. "You can go back to pacing."

"Aw, that's a shame," Yawara groaned. "I was lookin' forward to some more losers gettin' picked off."

"How could you say that?" Fumiyo asked. "How could you think that about your classmates?"

"'Cos that's how the game's played, wiggy," he said, coldly. "You kill or you die. Have you been paying attention these last buncha' days?"

"Have YOU?" Daichi asked. "So far every murderer has been successfully caught. So far, killing seems to invite a sure-fire trip to Monobear's punishment."

"Let me tell you something, loser," Yawara said, stepping forward. "Those guys got caught because they were losers, you get it?"

"You think Kanayo was a loser?" Fumiyo asked.

"I'm TALKING, bitch," Yawara spat, pointing to Fumiyo, who instinctively flinched. Before she could retaliate, she was pulled back by Itsuka, who was watching Yawara in fear.

"Losers are gonna get caught," Yawara continued. "I'm no loser. I'm a winner. Do you even know who I am?"

"Yawara Oishi," Daichi said, standing his ground. "Super High School Level Quarterback."

"Exactly," Yawara said. "I've moved around American football teams since I was in middle school, ya' dig? Every one of them got to the top of the ladder, all because o' ME. Then I get a letter from this school sayin' they think I got what it takes to be a 'symbol of hope' or whatever bullshit they were going on about, and I came all the way over to see what the noise was about.

"You know what I find, though? I find YOU pack of losers. THAT'S why I know I'm not gonna get caught, why I'll do whatever it takes to win this game. All you 'symbols' are a bunch of people who play board games and dress up like assholes! None of you are winners, like me. None of you can kill me."

"You think just because your contest is sport," Fumiyo said, breaking away from Itsuka's grasp, "you think you're superior than the rest of us? Daichi wins chess competitions all over the world, I'VE competed at international cosplay levels for years! You push a bunch of people around and you think that's the only thing that means something?"

"Yeah, I do," Yawara said, pushing the advancing Fumiyo back by the shoulder.

"D-don't touch her!" Genji yelled.

Yawara turned to Genji, who immediately stepped back, making no effort to hide his sudden rush of terror.

"Oh, you think you're bein' all brave now, don't you," Yawara said slowly, his voice lower. He took a step towards Genji, which would have forced him to back away further had he not been paralysed by fear.

"Look at you now, though," Yawara continued, still advancing. "Scared. Weak. You're the worst out of all of them, you know that, kid? You're a JANITOR. You clean MESSES. You're the one they call to clean up after people have already failed. You're lower than failure, kid. How does that feel? To be even lower than a loser?"

"Get away from him," Daichi commanded, stepping forward, but Yawara, now right in front of Genji's face, grabbed his shoulder and threw him aside without even taking his eyes off of Genji. The room was completely silent save for Yawara's voice.

"... do you know how pathetic it is to get pitied on by people who are already losers? Do you think they're your friends? That they care about you? That's not even true. Nobody cares about anyone who isn't a winner. So nobody. Cares. About you."

Genji brought his hand up and slapped Yawara weakly across the face. Yawara paused, his face turned slightly. A light gasp rippled through the crowd. Genji stared wide-eyed at Yawara turning his face back towards him, frozen in utter terror.

"You fucking loser," Yawara muttered.

Genji had no time to react before Yawara brought his fist around, connecting with the side of Genji's face. People yelled out in shock and anger as Genji hit the floor on his side, having been spun around by the force of the impact.

"You MONSTER," Fumiyo shouted.

"VILLAIN," Daichi cried, running up towards him, but with one push from Yawara was sitting painfully on the floor again.

Yawara turned around and left the greenhouse without so much as a backwards glance.

Genji rolled over and looked up at the others, his eye already starting to bruise. Tears welled up in his eyes as he scanned the crowd, seeing so many pitying faces looking down on him. Nobu read quickly. Genji glanced at the door, indicating he wanted to leave, to not be around them. He was fully capable of moving, now, but hadn't gotten up. Genji didn't want to leave because Yawara was outside. Genji wanted to be alone, and they were stopping him.

Nobu tugged lightly on Sahori and Daichi's shirts, stepping back towards the door. They somehow understood his expression and turned to leave the greenhouse. Fumiyo did the same after a short silent argument, taking Itsuka with her. Arata just shook his head and knelt down beside Genji, who didn't seem to mind him being there.

Trying not to look back, Nobu turned and left the room, too.

Things were going so well, he thought. And they had been. But no matter how lush and lively an environment, when sharing with a poisoned influence, nothing can grow.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day proved to be as uneventful as the morning (barring the midday meeting, of course), as did the next morning. Nobu was finding himself bored of their school life, as were the several others he discussed it with at breakfast. There simply wasn't enough for them to do. They would have complained to Monobear if they didn't think questioning the headmaster would be considered rude, as they didn't know just what degree Monobear would punish them for such.

By the time lunchtime arrived, even Daichi had given up returning to the lunchtime meetings, stopping by only to eat lunch before returning to whatever way he had found to otherwise spend his time.

"These meetings are getting smaller and smaller," Fuuga sighed.

"Where's everyone even going?" Fumiyo asked. "What else is there to do here?"

"Ask them, I guess," Nobu answered. "Although I can't think of anything else to do. I guess Jo has the dojo, though."

"I think I saw Sahori in the AV room," Fuuga said.

"Maybe she's trying to find something to watch," Itsuka suggested.

"Good luck to her," Fuuga said. "We didn't find anything when we looked through it last time."

"That was a pretty quick look, though," Nobu said.

"You settled for a 'quick look'?" Fumiyo faux-gasped. "Unacceptable! We must be as thorough as possible!"

"Somehow," Fuuga laughed, "I doubt it'd help if we were."

"O, ye of little faith," Nobu smiled.

"I'm sort of inclined to agree," Fuuga shrugged. "We've been looking for days, if there was any way out, we would have found it by now."

"Or we haven't looked hard enough," Nobu posed. "Have we double-checked? Triple-checked?"

"We double-check every day," Fumiyo groaned. "We're gonna be stuck in here FOREVER..."

"That can't be true," Itsuka mumbled. "There has to be a way out."

"Don't you dare take that as an invitation," Fuuga said, frowning at the ceiling.

"Who are you talking to?" Nobu asked.

"Monobear," Fuuga said, distastefully. "If he comes down here one more time and tells us to kill one another I might just make him a target."

"He's the one who wants all this," Fumiyo grumbled. "He's the one who wants us to stay in this place, be his playthings."

"P-playthings?" Itsuka asked, sounding terrified.

"More or less," Fuuga agreed. "He said it himself, he wants us to despair. He loves watching us walk around, all unhappy. I wouldn't be surprised if he was fine with watching us live our whole lives in boredom."

"What would that mean for us?" Nobu asked. "Living our whole lives in here?"

"What do you mean?" Fumiyo asked. To the side, Shigeru looked up, possibly interested.

"... Monobear's trying to make us despair," Nobu said, "beginning by taking us away from our previous lives and giving us new ones. For starters... what are we giving up?"

"Um, freedom?" Fumiyo said, as it was the most obvious answer. "Getting to go home or to school or up a hill whenever we wanted?"

"Since this place is home AND school," Nobu laughed, "those two are already catered for."

"Nobu," Fuuga asked, seriously, "are you trying to say you're okay with this?"

"Oh, god, no," Nobu said. "Not at all. I'm just wondering, if the situation really is hopeless... well, I guess I'm just interested in what Monobear's taken from us, is all."

The others were quiet for a few moments.

"Is this just you trying to learn more about us?" Fumiyo asked, suspicious.

Nobu froze. "Uh... maybe?"

Fumiyo stared at him for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. "Well just ask, then, geez."

"Huh?"

"Nobu," Fuuga said, "we all know you're the Socializer. We don't need your expertise to tell when you're trying to get information out of us."

Nobu felt a little uncomfortable. It wasn't like he'd been trying to be stealthy about his learning, but he didn't want to be seen as just trying to obtain information about everyone.

"I'm not just trying to get information," he said, "I really am interested."

"We know that, too," Fumiyo smiled. "It's nice, it really is."

"I, for one," Fuuga said, his expression growing wistful, "can't go to the movies anymore. That's what I'm missing. Going places like movie theatres and malls."

"Ooh, malls," Fumiyo said, sounding dreamy. "I miss shopping. You can find all sorts of things in thrift stores, y'know, especially if you're looking for cheap cosplay material."

"I... miss the internet," Itsuka said. "Honestly, I... I'm worried about my... blog."

Itsuka looked ashamed that she cared about such a thing.

"Oh, right!" Fumiyo gasped. "All your fans! What must they be thinking?"

"They're not fans," Itsuka said, "they're just people."

"'Just people'," Nobu laughed. "Itsuka, people are the most important things in the universe."

Itsuka laughed. "Important people?" she asked, suddenly sounding confident and sarcastic. "That's a riot. If every person was important I'd be too scared to leave the house. OH WAIT."

Itsuka laughed to herself for a moment before looking up and realizing people were looking at her with concern. She made a high-pitched sound and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry!" she said. "I was... That's how I talk! On the internet! I'm sorry...!"

She looked back down to the table, scared and apologetic.

A moment passed before Fumiyo snorted in laughter. Itsuka looked back up, surprised somebody had found her comment funny.

"There you are," Fumiyo laughed. "I wondered where you went!"

"Wh-where I went?"

Fumiyo wrapped an arm around Itsuka's shoulders and clapped her hand on the opposite one from her. "Here she is," she declared, ignoring Itsuka's shriek of shock, "good ol' Flower Girl!"

Nobu smiled at the mention of Ituka's online ego. It was nice to see her 'true' self coming through the fear and anxiety. It meant such a filter was becoming thinner.

"What about you, Shigeru?" Fuuga asked, returning to the conversation. "What are you missing?"

Shigeru looked over with his same disinterested expression.

"Aw, go on," Fumiyo said, letting go of Itsuka. "What do you even do?"

Shigeru looked away for a moment, then spoke. "I am an accountant," he said.

"That can't be all," Nobu said.

Shigeru looked annoyed that he still had to talk. "I... have my own business, managing accounts of other businesses. That is how I spent my time."

"All work and no play?" Fuuga asked.

"I have little interest outside work."

"Is that what you miss, then?" Nobu asked him.

Shigeru paused again. "... yes."

Nobu nodded at this answer. "It's definitely not nothing," he said.

"Not like what we have to look forward to," Fumiyo sighed. "That's pretty much nothing."

The others nodded. Monobear had succeeded in that respect, it seemed. He had taken away their lives and replaced them with nothing. Try as they might to find a silver lining to the cloud of Hope's Peak, they just couldn't find one bright enough to compensate for everything they had left behind.

"How about you, Nobu?" Fumiyo asked, breaking the silence. "Or are you evading the question yourself?"

Nobu hesitated. He hadn't given it much thought, actually, so in a way he might have been. He remembered his days of middle school, helping the school counsellor, working with psychologists... he'd always prided himself on how little about him they ever knew, how much about him they missed... but apart from that, he never had much going on.

"I guess," he answered, "I miss other people."

Fuuga and Fumiyo nodded, immediately concluding he missed utilizing his Socialiser skills to their full extent. Nobu shook his head. "Not like that," he said. "I mean... people. My family. My friends. Seeing people on the street."

The faces of Fumiyo, Fuuga and Itsuka started to fall.

"... just knowing I was in the world," Nobu finished.

Silence fell. Even Shigeru looked a little thoughtful. The feeling of being in the world was definitely gone. Without other people around them , they felt alone. Not just alone, but meaningless. Anything they did would not reach anyone but themselves, would not have any impact on anything but each other. While together they were not lonely, as people, they were alone in the world. The feeling of being a person, a part of a living, breathing society, was easily something to miss.

"If we don't get out," Itsuka said, sadly, "all of that will be gone forever."

"No more malls," Fumiyo sighed, "no more conventions."

"No more people-watching," Nobu mumbled.

"No more decent food," Fuuga said.

"Huh?" Fumiyo asked.

"Decent food," Fuuga repeated. He pointed to the plate in front of him. "Sorry if you like cold meat and bread, but for me it's just not enough."

Fumiyo stood. "That's it!" she cried.

"What did I say?" Fuuga asked, shocked.

"I've got it," Fumiyo declared. "Let's cook something!"

"Cook something?" Nobu asked.

"Can you cook, Fumiyo?" Itsuka asked, timidly.

"Nope!" Fumiyo said. "Can you?"

"... no?"

"Excellent! We'll work it out together!"

"What brought this on?" Fuuga asked. "Not that it's not an interesting idea, I mean."

Fumiyo looked down to him, smiling. "Life in this place is gonna suck, right?"

"Right," everyone said in unison, except Shigeru.

"Then let's do something about it!" Fumiyo said. "I'm calling it 'Hope's Peak Students Try To Make Dinner Once A Month'!"

"'Try'?" Itsuka asked.

"Eventually we'll learn and cut that bit out," Fumiyo smiled.

"A good dinner once in a while would help," Fuuga thought.

"Hold on," Nobu said, concerned. "Fumiyo, none of us know how to cook."

"Then we'll wing it," she replied.

"And it'll be fun!" Fumiyo said. "We don't need other people to have fun, right? Let's just do it! Don't you guys see how much fun groups of friends have when they try to cook?"

"Yes," Fuuga said, strongly. "I've always wanted to try it."

"Then let's do it!" Fumiyo repeated. "It'll be fun, it'll be a learning experience, it'll be SOMETHING to DO in this place... and if by some miracle we manage it, the future can get a bit better!"

Fuuga grinned and stood up with her. "Brighten the future with the promise of cooked meat!"

"Yes!" Fumiyo cried, pointing to Fuuga with a grin. "That's the enthusiasm we need!"

She rotated herself so she was pointing to Shigeru. "You're coming too, Shigeru."

"No," Shigeru stated.

"Yes."

"No, thank you."

"Yes, thank you."

"I refuse to play this game you're playing."

"I refuse to let you keep being bored and miserable! Come put things in an oven with us!"

Shigeru eyed her, looking annoyed. He glanced at each of the others, who also looked hopeful. He looked to Nobu, who shrugged and smiled.

"Fine," he said.

"Yes!" Fumiyo cried. She put her hands on her hips and looked out on the table like a queen. "Tonight," she declared, "we make a fabulous dinner! Or at least try to!"

"Woohoo!" Fuuga said, raising a hand. Nobu and Itsuka laughed at their enthusiasm, finding themselves drawn in to it.

Nobu grinned. Even after a discussion about all the things they were losing... no, BECAUSE of such a conversation, here they were planning to make their situation better. Even if such a menial adventure failed, it would still be an adventure, one they took on as friends.

He wondered if he was really going to miss other people that much, especially when they had thought of a way to live without them.

Chapter Text

An hour before the time people usually filed in for dinner, Nobu, Fumiyo, Itsuka, Fuuga and Shigeru met in the kitchen as planned. They had decided not to tell anyone else of their plans so that if they failed, there would be nobody to disappoint.

There was a counter in the middle of the kitchen, where Fumiyo, having arrived early, had placed a collection of food items she had found in a fast effort to prepare.

"Okay," Fumiyo announced, taking charge of the situation. "Here's the plan. We've decided to make dinner for all twelve of us-"

"Who decided that?" Fuuga asked.

"I did," Fumiyo answered, "trust me, we've got this.

"Now as I was saying, we're gonna make enough food for twelve people. I looked around this place and we've got steaks, pasta, and vegetables. I think we should made four meals of each so that everyone can be happy!"

"She's given this a lot of thought, hasn't she," Fuuga whispered to Nobu.

Fumiyo continued to outline how they were to prepare the dinner. Steak dishes were to have a side serving of rice, the pasta needed some sauce to go with it, and vegetable dishes were to be split between regular salad and a stir-fry. Everyone except Fumiyo was quite apprehensive about making this come together, since none of them had any cooking experience whatsoever.

"Now let's divide the jobs!" Fumiyo declared. "I'll take care of the stove, meaning I'll cook the steaks and watch over the rice and pasta while they're cooking."

"Isn't that the job that requires the least effort?" Nobu asked, smiling.

"Yup!" Fumiyo said, not bothering to hide her choice to delegate herself the easiest job. "I planned this whole thing, I think I deserve a bit less work."

Shigeru looked unhappy.

"Nobu," Fumiyo continued, "you prepare the rice. Fuuga, you get the pasta. When you're done, put them on the stove with me. Then help either Itsuka or Shigeru."

"What are we doing?" Shigeru asked, sounding disinterested.

"You," Fumiyo said, "are to start on the salad and stir-fry. Itsuka, the pasta sauce."

Itsuka looked terrified at the thought of preparing a sauce.

"Are we ready?" Fumiyo asked, gleefully.

"Never," Itsuka whispered in her Flower Girl voice.

"Then get to it!"

They went to their jobs, dispersing through the kitchen, starting on the daunting and relatively ridiculous task they had decided to undergo.

Fumiyo spun around and found the oven. She counted the number of burners and was instantly dismayed. With only four, it would mean that she had to cook the steaks one at a time, since she had to leave three free for the pasta, rice and stir-fry. She shrugged, flicked them all on, then grabbed a pan and put two steaks in at once. She figured she could keep the finished ones in the oven on low to keep them warm.

Nobu looked around the kitchen for an appropriate pot to cook the rice in. In a stroke of good luck, he happened upon something quite useful in one of the cupboards.

"Is that a rice cooker?" Fumiyo asked, seeing Nobu struggling with it.

"I think so," Nobu answered.

"Sweet!"

Fumiyo put another pan on the oven and threw two more steaks on. She grinned, seeing she could finish all four steaks at once.

Itsuka was staring at the table, looking worried. She had no idea how to make anything more complicated than toast, let alone a sauce. She had never paid any attention to the ingredients of anything, how was she meant to come up with a recipe?

"What's the hold-up, Itsy?" Fumiyo asked.

"I-I don't know what to use," Itsuka said.

"Neither do the rest of us!" Fumiyo smiled. "Just follow your heart and remember nobody can do it better!"

The thought seemed to give Itsuka strength. She went to the fridge and scanned the shelves, looking for anything that would taste how a sauce should taste. She was surprised by how much the fridge held, quickly becoming overwhelmed. She panicked and grabbed a bottle of ketchup, thinking it would do. She also spied some grated cheese and took that out, too.

"Fumiyo," she said, thinking fast, "could you please put one more steak on?"

Fumiyo looked at the steaks already on the stove. "Sure," she said, doubtful. She took another steak and tried to squeeze it onto a pan that already had two on.

Fuuga was bustling around the kitchen looking for a pot big enough to hold all the pasta. He looked through every cupboard, only finding smaller ones. He was about to give up and suggest cooking each serving in its own saucepan when he pulled open one last cupboard and found a single, large pot.

"Excellent," he muttered to himself. He grabbed both sides and pulled, intending to lift it out and set it down on the counter behind him. Unfortunately, the pot proved to be a lot lighter than he had expected, and it flung out behind him with such velocity he was surprised into dropping it. "Agh! No!"

The pot hit the ground with a loud, metallic crash. Everybody spun around to see Fuuga chasing the pot, which had started to roll towards the open door. They burst into laughter as Fuuga chased it out of the kitchen, swearing to himself over his own laughter.

"Are you SERIOUS, Fuuga?" Nobu asked, pouring water into the rice cooker.

"Shut up," Fuuga laughed, grabbing the pot. He came back inside the kitchen and put it into the sink just as Nobu finished using it. He turned on the tap and waited while the pot filled up with water.

Meanwhile, Shigeru had assessed what vegetables Fumiyo had prepared for the salad and stir-fry. He frowned at a head of lettuce and two onions, then headed straight for the fridge, which Itsuka had neglected to close. He navigated the maze of ingredients and found some tomatoes and several other green vegetables. He paused to wonder whether he even knew what one would put in a stir-fry, having never had one himself. Rather than admit he was clueless, he continued on as if he knew what he was doing. He also closed the fridge.

Nobu stepped back, smiling. The rice cooker was up and running, the little red light on the side indicating so. He turned and came up next to Itsuka, who was busy squirting ketchup into a pot she had taken from a cupboard.

"Done," Nobu said. "What're we doing here?"

"Um, I don't know," Itsuka said. "Pasta sauce is made with tomatoes, right? Ketchup is halfway between those, right?"

"I guess so," Nobu said. "Is that cheese?"

"I think people put cheese on pasta," Itsuka reasoned. "Do you think it's wrong?"

Nobu didn't answer. He took the cheese and started sprinkling shavings into the sauce in the pot.

"There's meat in it, too," Itsuka said, "Fumiyo's cooking another steak for it."

"Meat in sauce?"

"There's a word for it, I think. Bolognia or something?"

Fuuga carried a large pot of water and pasta to Fumiyo, who was poking at some of the steaks with a fork.

"Here we go," Fuuga grunted. The pot was quite heavy for him, and he was straining to hold it up.

"Oh, right," Fumiyo said, turning and lifting pans. She tried to arrange them differently.

"Come on, Fumiyo, this is heavy," Fuuga said.

"I'm sorry," Fumiyo said, flustered, "here." She grabbed the pot and helped Fuuga lift it onto the stove, but they misjudged each other's efforts and the pot started to tip sideways.

"Aagh!" they both cried. Water and pasta spilled onto the floor nearby.

"I'm sorry," Fuuga sputtered, still straining with the weight.

"No, no, it's fine," Fumiyo said. She scraped the slightly slimy pasta away from her feet and helped Fuuga properly place the pot on a burner. In doing so, however, they knocked over a pan, sliding two steaks off onto the top of the stove.

"My steaks!" Fumiyo gasped.

"Aagh, I'm sorry," Fuuga whined.

"Don't worry," Fumiyo said, trying to lift them with a fork, "go help Shigeru! Keep the ball rolling!"

Fuuga left Fumiyo to tend to the meat and hurried over to Shigeru, who was busy slicing onions. In front of him was a spread of lettuce, onions, tomatoes and several other leafy and sprout-like vegetables

"Hey," Fuuga said.

"The stir-fry is not to have lettuce or tomato," Shigeru said, wasting no time. "The salad will include everything."

Shigeru was speaking quickly, with a strange tone. Fuuga bent lower to get a look at Shigeru's face. "Are you... crying?"

"No."

"You are! It's the onions!"

"It's not crying," Shigeru said, sounding emotional, "it's moisture."

"Moisture from your tear ducts," Fuuga laughed.

"Prepare the salad," Shigeru commanded, as if on the edge of a breakdown. Fuuga laughed at how hysterical Shigeru was becoming due to his irritation and lifted a knife, taking a tomato to slice.

Fumiyo let out an anguished wail. "The steaks are all dry," she complained. Nobu looked over and saw her poking at the steaks, which were sticking to the pan and did look quite dry.

"Fumiyo," Nobu asked, "did you put any oil in that pan?"

Fumiyo froze. "No," she said. "That'd work."

She spun around and ran for the cupboard, searching through for some oil.

"Unnng," Itsuka moaned. Nobu looked back to the sauce they had started to mix and both saw and smelled a gross concoction.

"Hm," he wondered. "Do... do you think it's okay?"

"Maybe," Itsuka said. "We'll wait for the meat to be ready."

"AHA," Fumiyo announced. Nobu and Itsuka looked back to her, seeing she had found the oil, and was currently drizzling a ridiculous amount of it directly onto one of the steaks. She got to the pan with three steaks on and shook her head. She took two off of it, leaving one pan with a single steak, and covered it with oil, too. She also increased the heat so it would cook faster for Itsuka. She would finish the other two later.

Shigeru and Fuuga had finished slicing the vegetables and were throwing everything, save for a half of the onions and assorted vegetables, together in a large salad bowl.

"Okay," Fuuga said. "We have to toss it, right?"

"Excuse me?" Shigeru asked.

"Toss it," Fuuga said. "You know, shake it all about?"

"Oh," Shigeru said, lifting the bowl. "I thought you meant throw it all out."

"HELL no," Fuuga said, "we worked too hard on this."

Shigeru stared at the bowl and jerked it upwards. Several pieces of tomato and a lettuce leaf fell out onto the table between them.

"Huh," Shigeru stated.

"Pfft," Fuuga laughed. "It's okay, we'll wash them and put them back in."

"Did you wash them to begin with?" Itsuka asked from beside them.

Fuuga and Shigeru looked at each other. Fuuga picked up the runaway vegetables while Shigeru took the salad bowl to the sink. Shigeru turned the tap on as Fuuga placed the extras back in. The bowl started to fill up, letting the ingredients start to float and mingle. They also started to drift towards the edge of the bowl, threatening to pour themselves out.

"We should have probably done this with some sort of sieve," Shigeru said.

"Probably," Fuuga laughed.

Chapter Text

"We cooked a steak!" Fumiyo announced, lifting a pan in the air in celebration.

"Woohoo," Fuuga and Nobu cheered.

Fumiyo slapped the steak onto a plate and put it in front of Nobu and Itsuka. It was very oily but otherwise it looked fine.

"Okay," Itsuka said, thinking fast. "We, uh... need to mince it. That's right."

She and Nobu looked through drawers to find the proper utensils. Itsuka pulled out a mincing hammer. Nobu pulled out a potato masher.

"Is that the only one?" Nobu asked. Itsuka shrugged.

Together they started attacking the piece of meet with their respective tools. Halfway through their job they realized they could have been finished a lot faster if they had cut the steak into smaller pieces first, but by then it was too late.

"Hey," Nobu asked, his voice low. "Does this look completely cooked to you?"

Itsuka stopped beating it and looked closer. The inside was quite pink, and was a bit bloodier than she would have thought appropriate.

"Um, Fumiyo?" Itsuka said. "I think the meat is still raw on the inside."

"Huh?" Fumiyo asked. "Oh, sorry. I'll do the others for longer."

"What about this one?" Nobu asked.

"Well, you're gonna cook the sauce anyway, right? It'll cook through then.

"WAIT," she added, wailing again. "That means we need ANOTHER spot on here."

Annoyed, she took another pan off the burner. At this rate they weren't going to be done for ages.

Shigeru and Fuuga had finished the difficult task of draining the water from the salad bowl by putting the entire salad into different bowls and emptying it out before replacing the salad. Fuuga had put the last ingredients back into the salad bowl while Shigeru had begun putting the other vegetables into a wok for the stir-fry.

"Salad's done!" Fuuga cried.

"Yay!" Fumiyo yelled. "One down!"

Shigeru motioned to Fuuga, showing he had filled the wok.

"Do we toss this, too?" he asked.

"Probably, yeah," Fuuga said. "Here, maybe if we..."

They each held one side of the wok and motioned a countdown before jerking it upwards. Several pieces fell out but the stir-fry remained mostly intact. They tried it a few more times before Fuuga stopped them.

"Wait," he said. "We could just stir it."

"... STIR-fry," Shigeru said, realizing. Nearby, Fumiyo let out a loud guffaw. Fuuga picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the vegetables.

"Okay," he said. "We cook this on the stove, right? Do we use oil?"

"I don't know," Shigeru answered. "You must do."

They approached Fumiyo, who was enthusiastically oiling two more steaks.

"Fumiyo," Fuuga said, putting the wok on a remaining burner. "Oil us up."

Fumiyo poured a generous amount of oil onto the vegetables.

"Isn't that a little too much?" Shigeru asked.

"Naw," Fumiyo said. "It's vegetables, anyway. They're healthy enough to cancel it out."

"We're ready to cook the sauce," Itsuka said, she and Nobu holding the pot of ketchup, cheese and minced meat.

"One at a time, gosh!" Fumiyo said.

She sighed. All three teams needed the stove, now, and things were getting hectic. She breathed for a moment, then started giving orders again.

"Right," she said. "Itsuka, Nobu. Put the sauce in the oven. If you just stir it every now and then it'll be fine, right?"

Nobu opened the oven and helped Itsuka slide the pot inside.

"You two," Fumiyo continued, pointing to Shigeru and Fuuga while Itsuka fiddled with the oven's settings. "Do your stirring frying thing. I'm going to look at these steaks until they're ready to eat."

Fumiyo took a pan she had earlier discarded and put it back onto the burner beside the pasta. Now there were two finished steaks (three if they counted the one in Nobu and Itsuka's sauce), two on the burners, the rice and pasta were doing their thing and the sauce and stir-fry were being cooked. Fuuga and Shigeru took turns stirring and tossing the wok, inviting Nobu, Itsuka and Fumiyo to do the same. Itsuka could only bring herself to give the vegetables a very small toss, while Nobu gave a larger one a shot, and succeeded to applause.

"Fumiyo, you go," an excited Itsuka said. Fumiyo looked away from the steaks and grinned.

"Okay," she said, "let me at it."

She took the wok and shook it from side to side, preparing to toss it, then gave it a quick jerk upwards. The vegetables jumped into the air and fell back down, most of them landing back onto the wok. A few, however, missed entirely, and landed in a pan with a steak.

"Aww!" Fumiyo whined. "So close."

"So close," Fuuga repeated, laughing.

"Uh, Fumiyo," Nobu asked, seeing the steaks. "Those look like they're... burnt."

"Oh, yeah," Fumiyo said. "I'm leaving them on a bit longer after the last one, remember?"

"Keep an eye on it," Fuuga warned, "you don't want to let it burn."

"Eep!" Itsuka shrieked. "Nobu, the sauce!"

"Aagh!"

Together they threw open the oven door while Itsuka dived in with a wooden spoon, suddenly recoiling from the smell.

"Oh my GOD," Fuuga gasped, jumping back and waving the air around his nose. "What is THAT?"

"That is genius in the making," Itsuka said in her ego voice, thoroughly mixing the strange-looking concoction in the pot. "You wouldn't understand."

Fumiyo slid another steak onto a nearby plate where she was keeping the finished ones and reached for the final pan. She tried to turn over the last steak with a fork, but it fell off and tumbled off the pan, which overturned from the weight and poured oil down onto the burner. The greased-up steak was suddenly on fire.

"Aagh!" Fumiyo cried.

"AAGH!" Fuuga and Nobu shouted. Itsuka shrieked and jumped backwards.

Fumiyo, still screaming, flicked the pan and forked the steak back onto it. She pulled it away, flames and all, and ran to the sink. She spun the handle and blasted the tap, which shot out a jet of water that not only put out the fire but also dissolved the steak.

Meanwhile, the oil-drenched burner was flaming out of control. Shigeru, looking to be in a rare state of panic, grabbed a nearby cleaning rag and threw it down onto the flames. Rather than suffocate it, as he had intended, the rag caught fire, too.

Nobu scanned the room and saw a small fire extinguisher. He leapt for it and aimed it for the stove while Fuuga grabbed the wok and took it away from the soon-to-be danger zone.

Nobu released the catch and send several short blasts of the extinguishing foam onto the stove. The fire fizzled out, leaving a partially-burned rag in its place. Nobu put the extinguisher onto the counter while Fuuga replaced the wok.

They all stared at the oven, panting, recovering from the recent shock.

"Aw," Fumiyo said from the sink. They looked at her holding a pan of water and fragmented steak. "There goes a steak."

"Someone will have to have another pasta dish," Shigeru suggested. "Speaking of which, it's boiling over."

"Agh!" Fuuga gasped. He saw the foam dribbling out from underneath the pasta pot lid and grabbed another rag, wiping it away. He took off the lid and looked inside, trying to see if the pasta was ruined.

Nobu suddenly remembered a similar job. He looked back to the cooker, which he had never checked on. He hurried over, expecting to find the rice burnt or otherwise overcooked.

Smoke started to come from inside the oven.

"The sauce!" Itsuka cried. She pulled open the oven and immediately reached for the pot with her bare hands, but stopped just before she burnt herself.

"Here," Fumiyo said, tossing her the rag from the oven, which had been burnt into two pieces. Itsuka wrapped each piece around her hands and grabbed the pot inside. She lifted it while Fumiyo closed the oven and spun around to place it onto the counter, but as she stepped out, she stepped on the slightly slimy pasta Fumiyo and Fuuga had spilled earlier.

"AAGH!"

Itsuka slipped and fell backwards. Out of instinct, she threw the pot to the side so it didn't land on her and scorch her. As she landed on her back, the sauce exploded from the force of the pot's impact and splattered all over the floor and wall.

Fumiyo lay there, looking up at the ceiling in shock, as everyone else stared at her. The kitchen was silent, save for the sound of the stove still burning.

Finally, Itsuka started to smile. Then, she started to laugh. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, laughing loudly and heartily. Fumiyo started to join her, then Fuuga, then Nobu. Even Shigeru allowed himself a small smile at the situation.

In the end, the pasta was just fine, and Nobu had found that the rice cooker had been fitted with an automatic timer, so it had been prepared for some time already.

Shigeru and Nobu cleaned up the mess in the kitchen while Fumiyo, Itsuka and Fuuga took the food out to the cafeteria outside. They placed the salad bowl, stir-fry wok, rice cooker, salad bowl and pasta pot out in a row along the middle of the table.

"Well, the pasta has no sauce," Fuuga stated, "and there's one less steak than we'd planned for."

"Who cares," Itsuka said, folding her arms and looking at the table with pride. "It was a test run, anyway."

Shigeru and Nobu came out of the kitchen, massaging their hands. It had been tough work for them cleaning up the mess they'd made inside.

"Well, guys," Fumiyo said, a wide grin on her face, "we did it. Operation 'Feed Hope's Peak' has been successfully completed!"

"I thought this was 'Hope's Peak Students Try To Make Dinner Once A Month'," Nobu laughed.

"I said we'd get rid of the 'try'," Fumiyo smiled.

Nobu grinned, too. He looked onto the table, all set and ready for dinner. It really was brilliant, what they'd done. Not only had they killed some time, they had prepared something that their whole class could enjoy. All twelve of them, sitting down to a meal, just as they used to when they first came here. Even if it would just be for this one night, the twelve of them would be able to come together as classmates. Even Yawara, Nobu thought reluctantly, should be a part of such an event. Hell, even Yawara should enjoy such an event. Even he can't be that opposed to a good meal. Well, to a meal.

"Okay," Fumiyo said. "Who's gonna call everyone?"

"We could all go," Itsuka said. "Someone take the dorms, someone go to the-"

Her words were suddenly cut off by the last thing any of them wanted to hear.

"Ding-dong!" Monobear's voice rang out from the PA system. "A body has been discovered!"

Nobu's heart dropped. Fumiyo and Itsuka audibly drew breath.

"Following a brief period of investigation," the PA continued, "we will commence our school trial!"

Fuuga grabbed a nearby chair to steady himself.

"No," Fuuga said. "It... it couldn't have... somebody's...?"

"He's lying," Itsuka said, sounding like she was about to choke. "Nobody's... they couldn't have-"

"Oh, yes they could have!"

They whirled around and saw Monobear standing in front of the cafeteria doors. "They can and have!" he said. "I'd suggest you all go ahead and meet all your classmates at the greenhouse. We wouldn't want anyone missing out on the latest developments!"

"Yawara," Fumiyo said, anguished. "He finally did it, he finally... YAWARA!"

She screamed Yawara's name and ran from the cafeteria, passing a laughing Monobear. Shigeru followed, looking a little concerned. Fuuga and Nobu assisted Itsuka in rising and got her walking, until they were all running up the stairs to the third floor.

Who, Nobu thought. Who was the victim? Was it Sahori? Genji? Had Daichi picked the wrong fight a third time and finally paid the ultimate price? Who had fallen victim to Yawara's rage?

They came to the third floor and saw the greenhouse door already open, a group of their classmates already inside, blocking the view. They sprinted across the hallway and barged inside. Fumiyo burst through the crowd and looked at the scene, but froze when she saw it. The others ran to the sides of the crowd, getting their own view of the scene. Nobu stood at the very end, beside a now-horrified Fuuga.

In the middle of the greenhouse, a large tree stood, as it had since they had first entered the room. Looping over one of the branches was a long rope, which was holding up the lifeless body of one of their classmates by the neck.

Nobu's breath stopped in his throat. He could barely believe his eyes. The victim wasn’t Sahori, or Genji, or even Daichi. The possibility of this particular victim hadn't crossed his mind, not from the moment their School Life of Mutual Killing had begun.

Hanging from the tree by his neck was the corpse of the most unexpected victim, the Super High School Level Quarterback, Yawara Oishi.

Chapter Text

Several were yet to make it to the greenhouse. The ones who had, simply stared.

Yawara's body was hanging from the branch of the tree, perfectly still. He had died some time ago, long enough for movement to settle.

It was an incredible sight to behold. Nobody had expected another murder to happen at all, each of them believing such an act was beyond anyone else in the class. Now, clear as day, the body of the one student who had called himself a 'winner', was dead in front of them.

"This... this is..." Fumiyo tried to say.

"Th-this couldn't have happened," Sahori breathed.

"It's insane," Jo choked.

Behind them, more footsteps. The remaining students were arriving.

"What happened?" Daichi asked, hurrying inside, just in front of Genji. "Is it true? Is it..."

His voice trailed off when he saw the body. His eyes opened wide and his jaw fell open. Behind him, Genji stepped out. Slowly, he walked closer to the body, looking up in wonder at the blank, dead eyes of his former classmate.

Tentatively, Genji reached out with a finger and touched Yawara's chest. He pushed, and the body swung backwards slightly. Genji stepped back and watched the body start to swing from the tree. His eyes were wide.

"I can't believe it," he whispered. "He's... gone..."

"Genji," Nobu said, "come back away."

"Wait," Genji said, not taking his eyes off the body. "Just one minute."

"Genji, that's crazy," Arata said, "get back."

"... fine," Genji said. He looked away from the body and walked back to the main group. They all saw the look of disbelief on his face and started to feel wary. Nobu looked at Genji and read him. It was difficult, what with the range of emotions he must have been going through. Genji didn't know how to feel about what had just happened.

"W-we should look around," Jo said. "We don't have much time."

Nobu swallowed. Whatever they were feeling about this, they had to postpone it. They didn't have that long, as they'd found out previously. Nobu wondered if the others were as glad as he was to put off deciding what to feel.

Yawara was gone. The single poisoned flower in the garden of Hope's Peak was dead. But who had done it? Who had uprooted the life of a high school jock, thus threatening the lives of everyone around them? The time of accusation was looming. They needed to act fast.

They all checked their IDs, finding the third Monobear File.

"Monobear File 3," they read to themselves. "Yawara Oishi was killed in the greenhouse on the third floor at 6:43pm. The cause of death was asphyxiation, caused by hanging by a rope from the neck."

Nobu was the first to approach the body after Genji. He was hanging just a foot off the ground, over a small collection of pieces of wood. Nobu looked closer, seeing they were broken arrows. He inspected the rope around Yawara's neck, finding it to be a jump-rope from the dojo. He frowned. Something about this setting was familiar. He followed the rope up over the branch, then back down again. Sure enough, the rope was connected to a rubber exercise rope, also from the dojo.

He stepped back. Yawara had been caught in a trap just like the one he had used on Daichi. Whoever killed him must have wanted his death to be cruelly ironic.

Nobu looked closer at the body. One of Yawara's hands was held between the rope and his neck, like he had been trying to pull himself free. The other hand was hanging limply at his side. Nobu frowned, seeing cuts along each hand. He forced himself to look closer at Yawara's face, trying to supress the feeling of deja vu at the familiar signs of oxygen deprivation. There were two cuts on his cheek, too, and a bruise had started to form.

Nobu backed away from the body, not wanting to inspect the body any further. He looked at the floor around the body, seeing if there was anything else nearby, but save for the broken arrows there was nothing else to see.

This was something Nobu found suspicious. His mind wandered to a previous day, where they had seen Arata and Genji playing therapist with a pot plant. Nobu looked around the room, looking for it, but the pot seemed to have disappeared.

"Aw," Arata said, from two tables away, "the trays are missing!"

"What?" Jo asked.

"Two trays of these smaller pots," Arata said sadly, lifting up a small pot plant from a tray in front of him. "They're meant to be right here, but they're gone."

"Is that a clue?" Fuuga asked.

"Pretty weird clue," Sahori said.

Nobu frowned again. He looked at Arata, miserably rearranging the pots and complaining about a 'wrong sorting method'. Arata was notorious for spending all his time in the greenhouse. If he wasn't present at the murder, why? Unless he was, in which case...

"Arata," Nobu asked, walking over to him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Twice, you mean?"

Nobu stared. "I'm... I'm sorry?"

"Three, now."

"Stop jesting, Arata," Daichi told him. "This is a serious situation."

Arata smiled and shrugged. Nobu shook off his confusion and continued his questioning.

"The murder clearly took place here," Nobu said, "in the greenhouse. Where were you at the time of death, if not here, like you always are?"

Arata paused. "What, where was I twenty minutes ago?" he asked. "I don't know exactly, but I wasn't here."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"Well... no, not really. I was looking for the shovel, you see."

Nobu blinked. "The shovel?"

"Yeah," Arata said, sounding unhappy. "A while ago I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, the shovel was gone. I looked all around here but I couldn't find it, so I went looking around the rest of the school. Then I came back and found... uh, that."

He pointed over his shoulder to Yawara's body. Nobu nodded, thank him, and returned to his investigations.

It's far from an airtight alibi, he thought, and it's a ridiculous one at that. It sounds like he made it up on the spot.

Nobu tried to postpone judgement and kept looking.

He approached the shed on the side of the greenhouse and was about to open it when he saw a padlock attached to the locking mechanism.

"Arata," he asked, "do you have the key to the shed?"

"Key?" Arata asked. "That thing can lock?"

Several others gathered around the shed.

"Was it locked when you left it?" Fumiyo asked.

"If he didn't even know it could be locked," Sahori said, "I doubt it."

"I even looked for the shovel in there," Arata grumbled.

"Where's the key, then?" Genji wondered.

There was no doubt in Nobu's mind that whatever was inside the shed was an important clue to the case.

"Who's the strongest?" he asked.

"Do you really think you can break through a metal lock?" Shigeru asked.

"Not break the metal," Nobu said, looking around the room at his classmates. "Break the metal OFF. If we hit the door in hard enough, the metal might come off and-"

"Oh, save it," Ryouji grumbled. Ryouji, who had been silently looking around the room on his own, walked over to the door. He took his switchblade out of his pocket, causing mostly everyone to flinch and make room for him.

Ryouji came down to his knee and jammed the blade into a screw binding the locking mechanism to the door. Nobu watched sheepishly as Ryouji twisted the knife and unscrewed each one until the mechanism and padlock fell to the floor.

"Ta-da," Ryouji said in a monotone, pushing the door open.

Ryouji went inside first, followed by Nobu and the others. Ryouji pulled a cord on the ceiling and turned on a small light, illuminating the shed. They looked around, but could see no obvious clue. They had expected something big, something easy to spot that would have solved the whole case for them. Instead, they saw...

"Nothing," Sahori grumbled.

"Really?" Arata asked, still standing outside.

"What was the point, then?" Jo grumbled. "Locking something with nothing inside.

They started to file out. Nobu and Ryouji stayed, however.

"Ehh," Monobear's voice sounded from the PA system. "I think that's enough time. Shall we start the show? Let's begin the School Trial you've all been waiting for! Please gather around the big red doors on the first floor of the school. Upupupupu! I'll see you soon!"

"What!?" Sahori gasped. "Already!?"

"That felt like NOTHING," Jo complained.

"Oh no," Arata wailed, "what do we do?"

Nobu looked up at Ryouji, who had a similar, frowning expression as he did. They shared a glance and left the shed, taking their eyes off the shovel leaning inconspicuously against the wall.

The students filed out into the hallway, heading towards the stairs. Nobu looked down and almost laughed at Arata, leaving his dirty footprints out along the otherwise clean floor as he left the greenhouse. Almost.

They made their way down to the infamous red doors on the first floor, which allowed them access to the small, familiar elevator.

"Upupu," a waiting Monobear laughed. "Did you enjoy your investigation?"

"How could we?" Fuuga asked. "How could anyone enjoy investigating the death of a classmate?"

"Oh," Monobear said, sadly, "I would have thought Yawara's death would have been a real mood-lifter."

"How could you say such a thing?" Daichi demanded. "Death is nothing to be pleased about! Death is always a tragedy!"

However, Monobear's words were not entirely false. They all felt it, even Daichi. Nobody was truly sad about what had happened. Yawara had been their classmate, yes, but he was by no means their friend. In fact, he was an enemy to most, a menace to their otherwise peaceful way of life. Now he was dead, what they were worried about wasn't that somebody they knew was gone forever, but that whoever had caused it to happen had put them in jeopardy. If they didn't find who took Yawara out of the picture, each and every one of them, save the culprit, would die. This wasn't a fight to avenge a fallen ally. This was a fight for their own survival, and nothing more.

The elevator lowered down towards the courtroom, the patrons silent. Something about riding in the elevator this time was different, but they couldn't quite figure out why. It wasn't until the elevator reached its stopping point and opened its doors that it dawned on some of them: they had more room.

The students stepped cautiously into the courtroom, which was now decorated with a new two-toned wallpaper.

"Do you like it?" Monobear asked from his throne in front of the sixteen stalls. "Blue and silver, Mr Oishi's favourite team colours! I felt it necessary to honour his memory, don't you think?"

"You didn't do that for Sai," Fuuga said. "Or Youku." Monobear shrugged.

Tension ran high. The students stood at their stalls for the third time, now finding them easier through memory, a fact nobody felt convenienced by. They eyed the places where Tabito and Yawara once stood, where two crossed-out portraits were now standing in their places.

"I see we're all here," Monobear announced. "In that case, I think it's time to begin!"

Nobu exhaled, trying to keep his cool. For the third time since they had entered Hope's Peak, they were about to play a game that could end their lives or save them. To let one classmate survive or sacrifice one for themselves. Somebody had disturbed the peace of Hope's Peak Academy, murdering the Super High School Level Quarterback, Yawara Oishi. Had they done the school a favour? Had their actions been heinous nonetheless? However their actions were to be viewed, the game they were about to play was not about what to do with the culprit. Such a result was already determined for them.

This, Nobu thought, was a game of life and death. Of winners and losers, survivors and victims. Every single student in that courtroom was facing Punishment. The question, the game, was who will succumb to it.

"I now declare," Monobear stated, "the second Hope's Peak Academy School Trial, open!"

Chapter Text

"Let’s start with a simple explanation of our school trial!" Monobear said. The students' anxiety was breached briefly by annoyance, since they had heard this speech multiple times already. "The result of the trial is determined by your own votes. If the correct culprit is chosen, they alone will be punished. However, if the wrong person is voted for, everyone but the culprit will be punished. The culprit alone, having managed to fool everyone, will publicly graduate this school! Now that THAT's out of the way, get on with it!"

Nobody spoke for a moment. A few looked expectantly to Sahori, who had formed a habit out of beginning each trial with an accusation. This time, she was silent.

Shigeru took the opportunity to explain the situation. "The victim was Yawara Oishi," he said. "Death by strangulation, most probably occurring in the greenhouse."

"Well, the motive's obvious," Jo said. "Nobody liked the guy."

"True," Fuuga said. "If we're gonna be realistic, everybody had a motive."

"I don't know," Fumiyo said, glancing at Shigeru. "Some people don't seem like the type to hold a grudge."

"Some people are good actors," Shigeru said, noticing. A few more seconds of silence followed his statement.

"Can we go off topic for just a second?" Sahori asked.

"We don't really have the time," Nobu told her.

"Just real quick," Sahori said. She looked down at her hands and frowned. "Does anyone actually... you, know... care? That he died?"

Nobody spoke.

"Okay, someone should say it," Fuuga said, reluctantly. "We're not upset that Yawara died."

"Oh, thank god," Sahori said with relief. There was other awkward agreement around the circle.

"What does that mean for the murderer?" Fumiyo asked. "Are we saying we forgive them? No hard feelings, thanks a bunch?"

"Definitely not," Daichi declared. "We must remember, people! Yawara's life was a life badly utilized, but it was a life nonetheless, one somebody among us has snuffed out like a candle. We cannot let our personal beliefs cloud our choices and deter us from justice!"

"Especially since the rest of us are going to die otherwise," Nobu added. There was some uncomfortable sounds of agreement. Now that the obvious had been dealt with, it should be easier to get on with the case.

"The murder happened in the greenhouse," Sahori put forward, bringing them back. "As most of us know, that's home turf to one of us."

"Who's that, then?" Arata asked. Sahori glared at him.

"You, Arata," Fuuga said.

"Oh. OH! AGH!"

Arata's eyes widened in panic. "Wait, no! I didn't do it!"

"You're always in there, though," Fumiyo said. "If you happened to NOT be when the murder happened then that's pretty suspicious!"

"I-I wasn't!" Arata said, worried. "I was looking for the shovel!"

"Calm down, Arata," Sahori said. Her arms were folded and she was frowning. "I'm not accusing you, I'm just pointing out the facts. I've learned my lesson."

"Sahori's right," Fuuga said. "We can't just throw around accusations. We need to get the facts straight."

"Can we talk about the rope, already?" Jo asked.

"Rope?" Fuuga asked in return.

"Yeah," Jo said. "It's kind of obvious, isn't it? Yawara hung himself."

"What!?" Fumiyo gasped.

"It's not that surprising," Jo explained. "Nobody liked him, and he still felt bad over Kanayo's death, so he hung himself. Why else would he be hanging? You can't just trick someone into putting their head in a noose."

Nobu frowned. That wasn't exactly true, after all.

-

Jo: That has to be it.

Jo: Yawara hung himself.

Daichi: I highly doubt that. He was such an avid 'winner', after all.

Shigeru: As I said, some people can be skilled actors.

Jo: Besides, how else could it have happened?

Jo: There's no other way he could have gotten his head in that noose!

> Broken Arrows

-

"That's not right," Nobu interrupted.

Jo blinked. "Huh? It's not?"

"Under Yawara's body," Nobu said, "were some broken arrows from the dojo. Part of the rope holding him up was from there as well, the rubber exercise rope."

"That sounds familiar," Daichi mused.

"It should," Nobu told him, "it's the same trap he used on you."

"Trap?" Jo asked.

"Exactly. Yawara didn't hang himself, he was caught in a trap. This is definitely a murder."

Sounds of realization scattered through the group. Nobu had known this was the case from the beginning. Yawara had been caught in a trap just like the one he had used on Daichi. Whoever killed him must have wanted his death to be cruelly ironic.

"So," Jo said, "if it was a trap, just like the one Yawara used on Daichi... that's pretty ironic, isn't it?"

Daichi swallowed. Nobu looked over to him, concerned. This possibility hadn't crossed his mind.

"What are you insinuating?" Daichi asked.

Jo shrugged. "I guess I'm 'insinuating' that this was a revenge kill."

"A revenge kill!?" Daichi gasped. "You think I would stoop so low?"

"Aha!" Arata said, pointing to him. "Nobody said they were accusing you!"

The courtroom was silent.

"It was very heavily implied," Shigeru told him.

"Huh?"

"Yes they were, Arata," Sahori sighed.

"... oh."

Daichi looked scared. "B-but it couldn't have been me!" he said. "I don't know how to set a rope trap like that!"

"It's not that hard," Jo said. "Not when you had a model to work with."

"Model!?"

"That's right," Fumiyo said, "you could have learned it from being in the trap yourself!"

"This is absurd!"

"U-um, excuse me?"

Genji had raised his hand. Everybody looked to him, seeing him looking back, interested. Nobu noticed he looked a lot less scared, a lot less worried about speaking out. He realized that without Yawara, Genji was feeling much safer.

He did, however, look nervous about what he was about to say. "I just wanted to say, before we got distracted... what about the shovel?"

Nobu's eyes flashed.

"Yes, the shovel!" Arata said. "That's why I wasn't at the scene of the crime! The shovel had gone missing!"

"Could you elaborate?" Nobu asked. He wanted Arata's story to be known to all before he debunked it.

-

Arata: I was in the greenhouse, then I had to go to the bathroom.

Arata: When I came back, the shovel was gone!

Sahori: 'The' shovel? Is there only one?

Arata: Yes! So I had to go looking for it, you see.

Arata: I couldn't find it in the greenhouse, so I left to search the rest of the school!

> Shovel in Shed

-

"Actually," Nobu said, "it was."

"What?" Arata asked.

"He's right," Genji said. "We looked in the shed, the shovel was right there."

Nobu looked at Genji, impressed. He didn't think anyone other than he or Ryouji had noticed it.

"I-it was?" Arata asked. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"No doubt they didn't want you changing your story to accommodate the new information," Daichi said.

"B-but it was locked!" Arata said. "The shed was locked when I got back! I couldn't have put it in there!"

"If the shovel was never missing," Fuuga explained to him, "there was no reason for you to leave."

"But it WAS and I DID," Arata complained.

"There's no proof of that," Fumiyo said. "In fact, there's proof AGAINST it."

Arata turned to Genji, appalled. "Genji, what are you saying?" he asked.

"I-I'm sorry, Arata," Genji said, "I just... well, it's suspicious, is all."

"But now they think I did it," Arata said, sounding like he was going to cry. "Genji, why did you-"

"Arata, I'm sorry" Genji interrupted, "but we need to talk about this. If we didn't discuss everything, we couldn't find the absolute truth."

Nobu couldn't help but feel pride for Genji's growing confidence. Arata swallowed, nodding sadly.

"Can somebody tell me why the shovel means anything?" Jo asked, confused.

"It proves it wasn't missing," Daichi said.

"Not necessarily," Sahori said. "Arata could be telling the truth."

"THANK you," Arata said, breathing with relief.

"That would mean," Sahori said, "that someone ELSE put the shovel back in the shed and locked it, which means somebody stole it in the first place."

"Why would they lock it up?" Genji asked.

"To frame me!" Arata cried. "Somebody's trying to frame me!"

"Wow," Fumiyo muttered, "this was thought out."

Nobu thought to himself. Something else was nagging at him, something important. Was that all the shovel was, in this case?

-

Jo: So the shovel was taken, then put back and locked in the shed?

Fuuga: That seems to be the case.

Fuuga: It seems it was used as evidence to make Arata seems suspicious.

Daichi: Truly a deceptive ploy!

Jo: Is that it? Is that all there is to it?

Fumiyo: Well there's nothing else it could have been used for, could it.

> Injuries on Body

-

"That might not be so," Nobu said. This was met with some raised eyebrows.

"Really?" Sahori said. "What else, then?"

"Well... there were the cuts," Nobu began.

"Cuts?" Fumiyo asked.

"There were cuts on Yawara's body. There were some on his hand and face, maybe even on the rest of his body."

"Are you saying the shovel could be a further murder weapon?" Shigeru asked.

"Well, it might not have caused the death," Nobu said, "but it could have been what caused the injuries."

"Somebody... beat him with a shovel?" Fumiyo asked, her voice a bit softer.

The atmosphere thickened a little.

"Uh... it's possible," Nobu said. "Even if it wasn't the shovel, something had to have caused those cuts."

Fumiyo swallowed. Nobu felt the tension rise a little. Somebody had hung Yawara, that much they could tell, but now they were realizing it had been worse than that.

"This wasn't just a murder," Daichi said, "this was a brutal attack."

"... it sorta makes the revenge kill theory a bit stronger," Sahori said.

"What!?"

Daichi was looking scared again. "Don't tell me you're back on me!"

"It's just an extended motive," Nobu said. "We need more proof to come to any conclusion."

"Well, does anyone else have any?" Daichi asked, sounding desperate. "Anybody? Any evidence at all?"

Nobody was coming up with anything. Daichi looked around the room, terrified. The seconds ticked by, feeling to him like hours.

"Uh," Fuuga finally said, breaking the silence, "I think I have something."

Daichi whirled around to face him. "Something? Yes? What is it?"

"Well," Fuuga continued, unsure. "I don't think it's really 'evidence', but... I thought it was a bit weird."

"Anything," Daichi said.

Fuuga frowned. "Well, I thought it was a bit odd, but just because I didn't think it really belonged.

"I looked in the trash, since we found important evidence in there, once, and I saw some pieces of a broken flower pot.

"Arata," he asked, looking over to him, "do you remember anything being in the trash in the greenhouse?"

"I don't think so," Arata said, thoughtful. "I've never used it myself, I don't think."

"What does that matter?" Fumiyo wondered.

"Duh," Sahori said. "If they weren't there before the murder, then they were put there DURING it. That means we have to discuss it."

Another mystery to solve, Nobu thought.

-

Fumiyo: So there're some mystery pot pieces in the trash. What's it supposed to mean?

Fumiyo: Where would they have come from, then?

Fuuga: Surely a broken pot. I mean, what else could it come from?

> Missing Pot

Nobu: It must have. The pot Arata and Genji were using the other day is missing.

Nobu: The pieces could have come from that.

Fuuga: Arata, had you broken any pots before the murder?

Arata: Definitely not. I take excellent care of everything I use.

Fumiyo: Except the shovel...

Shigeru: At some point during the murder, then, a large pot plant was broken.

Shigeru: The significance of this is still unknown.

Sahori: Maybe it isn't significant at all.

Sahori: If could have just broken, it could mean nothing at all.

> Clean Floor

-

"I'm certain it does," Nobu said. "The pieces indicate a broken pot. However, the floor of the greenhouse is clean."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jo asked, confused.

"If a pot were broken," Nobu told them, "it would have spilled its contents everywhere. Since there's no dirt around, and we're sure a pot was broken during the murder, then the culprit must have swept it all away."

"That," Fuuga continued, inspired, "and the fact that the pieces were hidden, suggests that the pot breaking is an important part of the case!"

"So," Daichi said, "a large pot was overturned, and this is somewhat significant!"

"Oh!" Arata realized. "The missing smaller pots! They could have broken, too!"

"Weren't they on the table?" Fuuga asked.

"If there was a struggle," Sahori said, "it's not out of the question that a table was knocked over."

"Can we go back a second?" Jo asked, annoyed. "We JUST figured out the murderer cleaned up the scene, who else is more suspicious now than Genji right now?"

"Agh!" Genji cried. Nobu saw the scared, spineless Genji break through the newfound confident one.

"Hold on," Sahori told her. "Just because he can clean, doesn't mean he did it. Any murderer would try to get rid of evidence."

Genji breathed out. Nobu saw his fear trickle away again.

"Anyway," Fuuga said, bringing them back, "what could the breaking pots mean? And the table, too, I guess. Maybe."

"A struggle sounds likely," Shigeru said.

"I thought he was caught in a trap," Fumiyo said.

Sahori rolled her eyes. "One problem at a time," she said. Nobu frowned, though. That was an important piece of the puzzle, one they couldn't let get away from them.

"It may have been a chase," Daichi said. "Was the large pot and table Arata is referencing not some distance apart?"

"Somebody chased him?" Sahori asked.

"Somebody chased Yawara around the room," Arata stated in disbelief, "with a shovel."

That was a strange sight to imagine, Nobu thought. Yawara running away from someone, possibly scared for his life. It didn't seem like him, but then again, would anyone be themselves in such a situation?

"Where does that leave us?" Fumiyo asked. "Is that what the pot meant? That there was a chase?"

"That doesn't really take us anywhere," Fuuga said, shaking his head. "If it was an important clue that Yawara was chased around the room, it doesn't make much sense."

Nobu swallowed. They were fast approaching a standstill. He racked his memory, trying to think of anything else he saw. The pot being knocked over, the table overturning, the dirt on the ground... somehow it was relevant, somehow it was all a clue...

Chapter Text

"Um," Itsuka began, as she always did, raising her hand timidly. This time she didn't wait for Fumiyo's reassurance before speaking. "When I looked at... Yawara, I saw he had... dirt on his shoes. I thought, maybe-"

"Hey!" Jo accused, pointing at her. "Why didn't you say something before? That proves there was dirt on the ground already! Withholding evidence!"

"Charge her!" Arata declared. Itsuka looked like she was about to run away.

"Hey, shut up," Fumiyo said. "It slipped her mind, that's all."

"I-it's okay," Itsuka said, looking away from the people and down to her hands. She had the nail of her index finger ready to dig into the cuticle of her thumbnail, but held off. "I just... I thought of it when we started talking about dirt... If there was dirt on the ground, would something to do with... our feet, be important?"

"It's possible," Fuuga said, nodding. "If the victim had dirt on their feet, maybe the murderer would, too?"

"Of course!" Arata said, smiling. "Everyone, please show your shoes!"

A quick check of the underside of everyone's shoes showed that Arata was the only one with any dirt on them.

His smile had been corrupted by fear. "... huh," he managed to say.

"Arata," Fuuga said, wary, "you're the only one with dirt on your soles."

"... no, I-"

"You're the culprit, aren't you," Jo said, looking vengeful. "You killed Yawara!"

"No!" Arata yelled. "I didn't! I'm not the murderer!"

"Where's the evidence you weren't?" Sahori asked, sounding angrier.

"G-Genji!" Arata gasped, looking to his friend. Genji just stared at him, a look of fear and shock on his face.

Nobu was tempted to believe the situation, but something wasn't sitting right with him. Then again, the evidence was there.

The greenhouse was Arata's home ground, where he spent almost all his time in. His story about leaving the greenhouse was easily thrown into doubt by the shovel, which was all but confirmed to be used in the murder. He's the only one with dirty shoes, just as the victim had.

And yet, Nobu felt uneasy as the others started to turn on Arata. It just wasn't enough.

-

Jo: Spit it out, Arata! You killed Yawara!

Arata: I-I didn't! I swear I didn't!

Fumiyo: You might as well confess, it's obvious it was you!

Arata: I... no!

Fuuga: It's not looking good for you, Arata.

Arata: I... I... didn't...

Arata: I didn't kill him! I didn't kill Yawara!

Sahori: Look, it's been decided! It's been PROVED!

Sahori: Your feet are dirty, just like Yawara's are!

> Home Turf

-

"Hold on!" Nobu cried over the accusations.

Everyone stopped their arguing and Arata looked up at Nobu in fear.

"Arata's shoes are ALWAYS dirty. He's been in the greenhouse since the third floor was first opened.

"Well then why are nobody else's shoes dirty?" Sahori asked.

"Yeah!" Jo backed up.

"It's the floor cleaning thing all over again," Nobu said. "Any murderer would try to cover their tracks, in this case, literally. If the dirt was significant, of course they would have cleaned their shoes."

Everyone was silent. Arata looked at his accusers, seeing them realize the truth of Nobu's statements and nod in agreement.

"Sorry, Arata," Fumiyo said.

"Yeah, sorry," Jo added. Sahori gave a sort of uncomfortable shoulder jerk.

"Aagh," he said, laughing awkwardly. "Tha-thank you, Nobu. This is terrifying."

Nobu looked at Arata shaking his nerves off and realized how much stress he would have just been under. Every time they accused one of their classmates, they were put under a horrible light. To be accused of murder, of attempting to kill not only one classmate but let every other die by punishment... to be trusted that little, put under that much disrespect and antagonism by everyone closest to you, must be the worst feeling in the world.

"Well, then," Daichi said. "We appear to be back at a standstill."

Nobu caught Ryouji rolling his eyes indignantly. He didn't blame him, of course. They were stuck once again, no closer to discovering the culprit than last time. The case was moving so slowly, he was starting to worry if they were never going to identify them.

"Perhaps," Shigeru posed, adjusting his glasses, "we go over what we already know."

Several others nodded. They needed to refresh, to see what they had already learned. Maybe then a hole in their deduction will show.

-

Jo: We know that Yawara was chased through the greenhouse...

Jo: ... and overturned a pot and probably a table.

Daichi: The dirt went everywhere, which the killer then cleaned up after the incident.

Shigeru: What about said incident? How did that transpire?

Daichi: Oh. Yes, well... Yawara was caught in a trap that caused him to hang.

Daichi: A trap just like the one he used on me.

> State of the Body

-

"Hang on," Nobu interrupted. The trap wasn't the same as the one Dachi had tripped, or at least the result had been different. "The trap entailed snaring the victim's ankle," he told them. "Why was Yawara hanging from his neck?"

"Because he wouldn't have died by hanging from his ankle," Jo said, rolling her eyes.

"But the culprit hit him with a shovel anyway," Nobu continued. "Even if Yawara were hanging upside-down, the culprit would have still killed him with the shovel. Besides, the trap was set on the ground, for his ankle. How did he come to have his neck trapped instead of his ankle?"

"OH," Daichi realized. "That is an EXCELLENT observation, Nobu!"

"We've got something," Fuuga muttered, relieved.

Nobu was glad there was something else, too, but he didn't know how it fit together with the rest of the case. Somehow, Yawara had been hung by a trap intended to catch him by the ankle. How had the killer managed to do it? No, how had Yawara managed to do it?

Nobu closed his eyes and thought. The sequence of events played in his head, an imagined scenario. Yawara was to trip the trap and hang upside down for the culprit to beat with a shovel. However, it wasn't his ankle that was caught, but his head. The trap was set to snare whatever tripped it, so he must have tripped it with his head instead of his ankle. If his head was on the trap, on the floor, then that could have meant...

"Tripped," he said.

"What?" Fuuga asked.

"He must have tripped," Nobu repeated. "The trap would have snared whatever part of him disturbed it, which must have been his neck. If his neck was that close to the floor, he could have tripped on something and fell on it head-first."

"Hold on," Jo said, holding up hands for silence. "There was a struggle, Yawara didn't trip the trap properly... something's telling me this whole thing didn't go very according to plan."

"It seems so," Fuuga nodded. "The culprit obviously set a trap for Yawara, but it looks like it didn't go the way he wanted it to."

"Maybe Yawara saw it," Sahori said. "He's dumb, but he's not stupid. He might have seen the trap on the floor waiting for him and... Oh!"

"What?" Jo asked. Sahori has stopped in sudden realization.

"What if," she said, "she saw the culprit and tried to chase THEM, instead of them chasing HIM!"

"Then he trips on one of the things they knocked over," Fuuga nodded.

"That sounds a lot more like Yawara," Fumiyo nodded. "I didn't like the idea of him running from someone."

"This still doesn't help," Daichi told them. "While it is an excellent insight and I'm sure we're all much more familiar with the scenario than we previously were, we still are no closer to discovering the identity of the culprit."

"He's right," Genji said. "Knowing Yawara tripped on a pot or something isn't going to help us find the murderer."

Nobu silently cursed their situation. They had discovered so much, but none of it mattered without the identity of the murderer. What annoyed him so much was how general it all was. Anybody could have lured Arata from the greenhouse, and yet Arata could have been lying. Anyone could have engineered the hanging scenario since there was no way of knowing who did or didn't have the knowledge to do so. And, most frustratingly, everyone had a motive. But then... no. Then again, not everyone could have done it.

"Of COURSE," Nobu said, smacking himself on the side of the head. "Alibis!"

"Ali-who?" Arata asked.

"Alibis!" Nobu repeated. "Not everyone could have committed the murder because not everyone was alone at the time!"

"OH," Sahori realized.

"Did we really skip that part?" Fumiyo asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Who was where," Nobu began. "Who was with who, who can confirm each other's presence?"

"Well," Fumiyo said, sadly, "I was with Itsy, Nobu, Fuuga and Shigeru. We were... making dinner."

"Oh no," Fuuga moaned, realizing. "It'll be cold by now."

"Surely your dinner can wait at a time like this," Daichi said, indignantly.

"No, I mean," Fuuga tried to say. "It was going to be a surprise."

"We decided to make dinner for everyone," Nobu told them. "A real dinner, I mean. We cooked and everything."

"Aww!" Sahori cooed. "Guys, that's so nice!"

"Fuuga's right, though," Fumiyo said, dejectedly. "It'll all be cold by the time this is over."

"We'll reheat it," Itsuka told her, touching her forearm. "It'll be okay."

"I guess," Fumiyo said. "The surprise is ruined, though."

"Well, if it means anything," Daichi said, "I was quite surprised a moment ago when this was revealed."

"Yeah," Jo grinned. "Weirdest revelation yet."

"Could you bastards get back on topic!?" Monobear grumbled.

"Oh, SORRY," Fuuga said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"Well Jo and I were in the AV room," Sahori said. "We found some movies on the school network and wanted to-"

"Eh?" Monobear said, surprised. "You found what now?"

"Pirated movies," Jo grinned. "The kids here were pretty crafty, they hid them real well."

"There are MOVIES on there?" Fuuga cried.

They looked at Fuuga, who had a crazed look in his eye. "I," he said, filled with determination, "am going to have SO. MUCH. FUN."

"I didn't know they had movies on there," Daichi wondered.

"Neither did I," Monobear said.

"PLEASE let us keep them," Fuuga said. Nobu frowned at his sudden change in behaviour.

"Oh, fine," Monobear decided, although he didn't sound happy about it. "My goodness, I really DID do a terrible job of clearing the network. Is there anything I DID delete, I wonder!"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Jo asked, expecting one of Monobear's tricks.

"Oh, nothing," Monobear said, waving her away. "Nothing at all."

Fuuga, Nobu and Daichi exchanged concerned glances. The memory of what they had found on the network resurfaced and filled them with more dread and concern.

"Was that a clue?" Arata asked.

Fuuga was the first of them to speak. "We should probably..."

"Yeah," Nobu agreed.

"We might as well," Daichi nodded.

"Tell us what?" Sahori asked. Fumiyo and Itsuka were looking at Nobu and Fuuga, worried.

Fuuga breathed in, then spoke. "When we went into the AV room for the first time," he said, "we... found something."

"Nothing definite," Nobu added.

"Nobu, come on," Fuuga said, looking unhappy. "It's inescapable."

"What did you find?" Fumiyo asked.

Nobu looked around, nervously. Even Shigeru and Ryouji were paying attention. He swallowed, then told them what he had been trying to deny in his mind since the moment he saw it.

"We... we found footage," he said, "of Sai and Tabito. Alive. Outside the school."

"Outside?" Jo repeated.

"What does that mean?" Arata asked.

"It's hard to face," Fuuga said, looking briefly at Nobu, "but it means Sai and Tabito knew each other before coming here. That, and for some reason some video footage they took was put on the school's network."

"What was on the video?" Sahori asked.

"It looked like they were doing some kind of play," Fuuga said. "Tabito looked like he was holding a script, he told Sai he hadn't filmed something right-"

"I'm sorry," Monobear interrupted, "but I'm afraid you'll all have to get back on topic. Also, bears are incapable of feeling apologetic."

"That was a pointless addition," Daichi grumbled.

"He's right, though," Sahori said. "We need to finish this soon, before we have to vote."

"Right," Fuuga said. "So far, only Daichi, Genji, Arata and Ryouji don't have alibis. Can any of you confirm where you were at the time of the murder?"

The four of them looked around, worried.

"There we go, then," Jo said. "Four suspects. That's a lot better than all of us, that's for sure."

Nobu agreed, but was still worried. Even though they had a lot smaller pool of suspects, now, they still didn't have any more evidence. Nobu felt himself starting to sweat. If something new didn't come up soon, they were surely going to fail.

He shook off his doubts and tried to reaffirm himself. They had to figure something out, there was no way around it. If they weren't going to come up with evidence, they were going to come up with something else. Somewhere among the pieces they had was a combination that would lead the way to the truth. There has to be something, he thought. There has to be.

Chapter Text

"Upupu," Monobear giggled, "time's running out! Has our culprit succeeded in committing the perfect crime?"

"Definitely not," Jo said, defiant.

"Exactly, we can figure this out," Fuuga said, although he didn't sound like he completely believed it himself.

"What else do we have?" Sahori asked. "I mean, what else haven't we figured out?"

Nobody answered. A few looked around, hoping somebody would break the silence, give them something to follow on.

"Ooh!" Fumiyo said, suddenly. "The dirt! What was the dirt for?"

"Huh?" Arata asked.

"The culprit swept up all the dirt, didn't they? Why was that, again?"

"They didn't want us to see the dirt," Daichi thought aloud, a little shakily since he was one of the prime suspects. "Perhaps there were footprints?"

"We already knew they ran around," Jo said, "we figured that out by ourselves."

"And it doesn't prove anything about their identity," Sahori grumbled.

"Oh," Daichi said. "... perhaps it disguised WHERE they ran?"

"We looked around the whole room," Fumiyo shrugged, "we even found the shovel in the shed. It still wouldn't have helped."

"Maybe it's the fact the pots were turned over," Arata asked. "Who's the clumsiest out of the four of us?"

"I suspect you, Arata," Shigeru said. Arata choked.

Nobu shook his head. "We need to think this out," he said. "What are all the possible things that could have happened?"

Sahori sighed. "Should we go through it one more time?"

-

Fuuga: The culprit and Yawara knocked over one large pot and a table...

Arata: With my smaller pots!

Fuuga: ... spilling dirt all over the floor.

Fuuga: They then cleaned up all the dirt, probably to conceal a clue to their identity.

[Clue to Identity].

Daichi: They must have left footprints, or Yawara's shoes would be clean.

Jo: But where they walked doesn't give any clues.

Fumiyo: Even the fact there was a chase doesn't help us.

Sahori: And anyone could have knocked it over, so that's not substantial, either.

Fuuga: It couldn't be to make it look like suicide, either, since they also beat him with a shovel.

Fumiyo: This is so annoying!

Fumiyo: There isn't even any point to cleaning up the crime scene!

> Clue to Identity

-

Nobu quickly drew breath. "Hang on," he announced.

Everyone looked. Nobu's eyes were wide and he was staring into the middle of the circle, shocked.

Fumiyo's words had sparked something in his mind, making him realize something. Footprints didn't matter. Location didn't matter. Events didn't matter. The dirt didn't matter. Therefore...

"You're right," he said.

Fumiyo blinked. "I am?"

"There was no reason," Nobu said. "At least... not one pertaining to the murder..."

"What's wrong with him?" Jo asked. "Is he okay?"

"Nobu?" Fuuga asked.

Nobu shook his head. He knew what had happened, and who caused it to happen. Now, it seemed obvious.

"It wasn't necessary for the culprit to clean up the crime scene," Nobu said, "because there was incriminating evidence... it was not a issue for the murder at all."

Nobu looked up at one person, one classmate, the one he now knew had murdered Yawara and put their lives in danger.

"It was an issue for him," Nobu said. "The murderer cleaned up the crime scene... because he couldn't bear not to."

The rest of the students followed Nobu's gaze, and stared at the new prime subject. All eyes were on Genji, eyes wide and sweating.

"Wh-what?" Genji asked, terrified. "M-me?"

"You have OCD, Genji," Nobu said. "You can't help it."

"N-no!"

"Hey, Nobu!" Arata said. "Back off him, okay? We've been working on it!"

"You didn't make enough progress to-"

"STOP IT," Genji cried, slamming his fists onto the rails in front of him. Everyone flinched, seeing something in Genji they had yet to see: anger.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, angry tears starting to well up in his eyes. "I thought you were my friend! You're not, are you, you're JUST like the others!"

"Arata," Nobu asked. "Were the smaller pots in the right order, or had they been rearranged?"

Arata didn't answer, looking at Nobu like he was some kind of monster, but the realization was building inside him.

"If some were broken," Nobu continued, "could the remainders have been grouped together, compulsively organized?"

"Stop!" Genji yelled.

"Revenge kill," Sahori said, realizing. "Daichi didn't get revenge on Yawara, YOU did!"

"Shut up!"

"Genji has been bullied by Yawara since the beginning," Daichi said, still staring. "One could argue the antagonism was exceptionally cruel in regards to-"

"STOP TALKING, YOU BASTARD!" Genji cried, looking at Daichi and hunching over like he was trying to hide. "ALL OF YOU, STOP IT! THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

Tears were flowing down Genji's face, now, and Nobu saw no trace of confidence left in him. Genji was once again a broken boy, targeted by everyone around him.

"Genji," Jo said, crossing her arms, "tell the truth."

"I AM," he yelled. "IT WAS ARATA!"

"What?" Arata gasped, looking at Genji in shock.

"HE HID HIS OWN SHOVEL, HE'S THE ONE WITH DIRT ON HIS FEET!"

Arata stared at Genji, past the extended hand that was pointing to him. "Genji," he croaked.

"The shoes are not conclusive," Shigeru said.

"NEITHER IS THIS CLEANING BULLSHIT," Genji yelled. "YOU'RE ALL JUST GANGING UP ON ME AND IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Nobu frowned. This wasn't true at all. He opened his mouth to-

"That's not all."

Everyone spun around, some gasping in shock. Ryouji was staring at Genji, a scowl across his face. Nobu blinked. For the first time, Ryouji had spoken during a Class Trial.

"Wh-what?" Genji asked, his rage subsiding a little, beginning to be replaced by fear.

"There's more," Ryouji continued. "Something else that doesn't make sense, unless you're the killer."

"You're lying!" Genji yelled. "You're just like them!"

"It's something you said," Ryouji said, unfolding his arms. "Just a few minutes ago, in the middle of the discussion. Nobody else seemed to pick up on it, but you said something that just didn't sit right with me."

"No I didn't," Genji said, still crying. "I didn't."

"When we were talking about the chase," Ryouji said, his eyes narrowing, "you said that just because Yawara tripped over a pot, it wouldn't help us find the murderer."

Genji made a quick choking sound.

"We hadn't been talking about anything so specific," Ryouji said. "Saying Yawara tripped on a pot was strange, unless-"

"I SAID 'OR SOMETHING'," Genji screamed. He leaned forward over the rails and continued to sob and yell at the others. "YOU ALL DO THIS, THEY ALL KEEP DOING THIS! THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

"'This isn't fair'," Arata softly repeated.

Nobu leaned back a little. Genji was getting angrier, not more fearful. If he were innocent, the pressure of false accusation would be ruining him, pushing him down and further into despair. But now, he was flying into a rage and lashing out against them.

"You killed Yawara," Ryouji said, holding onto the rails in front of him. "His bullying was too much for you and you snapped."

"WHY ARE YOU EVEN TALKING," Genji cried.

"You wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine," Ryouji continued, raising his voice, "so you made the same trap he set for one of his victims!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

"You took the shovel to lure Arata out of the greenhouse, then you used it on Yawara's hanging body to beat him to a pulp while he died caught in the trap!"

"YOU'RE LYING!"

The other students were stunned. Even Nobu was staring in awe, unspeaking.

"It must have been so liberating for you," Ryouji said, bitterly, "watching him die, knowing you were the one that hurt HIM for a change-!"

"NONE OF IT MEANS ANYTHING!" Genji screamed, all traces of fear erased from his expression. "THE DIRT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!"

"Whether it does or not, we still have to vote, and you're the top suspect."

"IT'S NOT ENOUGH!"

"Oh, I think it is!"

-

Genji: You're lying! You're all lying!

Genji: I didn't kill him! I swear I didn't!

Genji: Stop accusing me!

Genji: STOP ACCUSING ME!

Genji: GET OUT OF MY FACE!

Genji: YOU'RE ALL EVIL! YOU'RE AS BAD AS HIM!

Genji: I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL!

Genji: I DIDN'T DO IT!

Genji: JUST BECAUSE THEY CLEANED THE GREENHOUSE, THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT WAS ME!

Ryouji: It wasn’t just the greenhouse, Genji!

> Hallway Floor

-

Genji's eyes widened further, somehow still possible for him to do. His mouth was open in a silent scream, on the edge of yelling something else out, something else to delay the inevitable.

"The floor outside the greenhouse was a complete mess before the murder," Ryouji said to him, calm. "Afterwards, somebody cleaned it up. The murderer. Cleaning up the crime scene, that's circumstantial if you want to believe it. But the surrounding area? That's just... obsessive."

The room was silent but for Genji's uneven breathing. The seconds ticked by without anyone saying anything. Then...

"... it felt... so good," Genji whispered.

Nobu leaned back, tragically relieved.

Chapter Text

Everybody stared. Genji, Yawara's confessed murderer, lowered his head.

"He was... evil," Genji said, his voice soft. "He was everything I went through in middle school, and elementary school... I thought high school was going to be different, but... he was worse than anyone I've ever met before..."

Genji raised his head, tears in his eyes, and spoke in a terribly pained voice. "This place was meant to be better," he choked. "Yawara ruined that. He ruined EVERYTHING."

"So you got revenge," Jo said, through gritted teeth.

Genji hesitated, looking at the ground again. "It wasn't meant to go like this. He was just meant to hang there, I just wanted him to feel what he did to people, but... he saw me hiding, and..."

His expression grew softer, the pain in his eyes receding just a little. "... it was like a dream. First he was running at me, then he was on the ground, and then he was... hanging there by his neck..."

He smiled. "It was incredible."

"Upupu!" Monobear laughed. "You bastards got ANOTHER one to confess! I guess this means we get to start the voting, then!"

-

Trial #3: The Case of Yawara Oishi

The culprit was found guilty. The culprit was Genji Erizawa.

COURTROOM CLOSED.

-

Genji, still smiling, continued his story. "He was choking and trying to escape, but he couldn't. He struggled and struggled, and soon he wasn't even angry, he was just scared... I had the power. I watched him, I laughed at him, then the shovel was in my hands, and I was... hitting him... I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't see anything... and then he... wasn't struggling anymore... I didn't even notice it happen, but once it had... I realized what would happen and I panicked, I tried to clear everything up before Arata came back and found everything, then I hid until I heard the announcement... and I was free."

Nobu looked at Genji, nearly terrified. Genji's reaction to Yawara's body in the greenhouse wasn't him realizing that Yawara was gone, it was him finally letting himself enjoy it. At last, he had been free of Yawara entirely.

"B-but Genji," Arata said, weakly. "You... you said I was the...-"

"Sorry, Arata," Genji said, not sounding sorry at all. "I did it for both of us. Daichi, too. And Sahori. And everyone. After that, it... it was just about surviving."

Sahori scowled. "Don't you dare say you did something like this for me," she spat.

"I would never condone this!" Daichi announced.

Arata couldn't speak.

"It doesn't matter," Genji said, standing up straight again. "It's already happened, he's gone forever. And I don't regret it at all."

"Upupu," Monobear chuckled. "Is that so?"

"YES," Genji stated, turning on Monobear.

"Upupu... Mr Erizawa, can I ask you something? Would you say you killed Mr Oishi out of anger, rather than a desire to escape?"

"Of course," Genji answered. "It never mattered to me whether we escaped or not, I only ever wanted to-"

"I see," Monobear mused. "That's pretty interesting. It means you're the same as Yawara."

Genji's rage returned with a vengeance. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! I'M NOTHING LIKE YAWARA! HE'S EVIL!"

"Evil?" Monobear repeated. "What would you call torturing somebody who had to live through the death of his girlfriend?"

"That's not the same!" Genji shouted. "She was evil, too! They both deserved what they got!"

"Your view of evil seems to be very warped," Monobear wondered. "But then again, who has the same view of anything these days?"

The other students were watching the back-and-forth between Monobear and Genji, nobody daring to get involved.

"What did you know about the boy you killed?" Monobear asked.

"Wh-what?" Genji sputtered. "Nothing! I don't know! He was evil, that's all that matters!"

"Did you know that Yawara's poor mother died when he was in elementary school?"

"I said I don't care!"

"Not to mention he was heinously bullied, too!"

"... what?"

Genji's anger hadn't subsided, but for just a moment, he paused before continuing.

"It's true," Monobear said with dramatic sorrow, "poor little Yawara was bullied terribly by his peers, and his drunk of a father did absolutely nothing to help. Neither did the teachers, either. Truly a tragic scenario."

"None of this matters!"

"Once you reach a certain point, the only option becomes to fight your way out of it yourself, and that's just what little old Yawara did. Got himself expelled, doing it! How's that for justice?"

"Nobody gives a shit," Genji shouted.

"Oh, don't worry, he got into a new school. He asserted himself quite well, too! He was so strong, and they were so weak! Why, he even became good at football! Who would ever question such a man, would suspect he would ever have been a loser?"

Nobu was feeling less and less comfortable with Monobear's story. When Yawara's actions were all they could judge him on, there had been no issue about disliking him. Now, against his will, Nobu was finding himself doubting everything he'd believed about Yawara. On one hand, Yawara seemed to have lived a tragic life, but on the other...

"Tragic backstories don't matter," Fumiyo said, interrupting the conversation. "Just because he had a bad life, it doesn't excuse his actions. He was still heartless."

"Exactly," Genji growled. "He's still a terrible person."

"... upu?" Monobear giggled. "Upupupu? Heartless? Are you quite sure about that?"

Monobear spun on his toes and the television mounted on the wall behind him flickered to life. They were looking into a student's room, just like the screen had showed the last time they'd seen Monobear use it. This time, however, they were looking in on Yawara's bedroom. However, the content, shockingly, was incredibly similar.

Yawara was crying. He was sitting on his bed, his face in his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Nobu stepped back. It was almost impossible to believe, but... here it was.

The screen flickered slightly and a number in the corner changed, a day counter. Yawara had changed position, but he continued to cry in the privacy of his room. The counter changed to another day and he moved again. Yawara had been crying on his own for over a week. Nobu absently counted on his fingers. The day counter was showing numbers as early as '3'... the third day. The day Kanayo had been found guilty of murdering Sai.

Nobu watched Yawara, the man they'd seen as an unstoppable, unfeeling monster, in the weakest moments he'd ever had, the secret mourning of his girlfriend.

"Is... is that really Yawara?" Arata asked.

"I-it looks like it," Fumiyo said.

Genji stared, still angry. "Wh-what is this?" he demanded. "What are you showing us?"

"Why, it's Yawara's true heart!" Monobear laughed. "And to think you thought he didn't have one! Oh yes, and here..."

Monobear pointed at the screen and a volume counter increased. Yawara's sobs were suddenly audible, as were the other words he was saying.

"... K-K-Kanayo... n-now Y... Y-Youku..."

Nobu blinked. Yawara had said Youku's name, hadn't he?

"... Youk-ku ah-a-and Tabit-o-o...!"

Yawara's sobs were mangling his voice almost beyond recognition, but there was no doubt that he was not only thinking about Kanayo, but the others, too. Youku and Tabito, possibly even Sai. Yawara was mourning all of them.

"You say bad actions make a bad person," Monobear said, sounding solemn, "and that may well be true. But shame on you all for saying Yawara Oishi did not have a heart."

Everybody was looking at the screen, shocked and torn. Sahori looked like she was about to cry. Even Fumiyo looked doubtful of her previous statements.

"I don't care!" Genji shouted again, slamming his fist on the rail in front of him. The attention of his classmates was thrown back onto him. "Nobody cares about any of that, Yawara was a bad person and he deserved what he got!"

"That's a dangerous slope to slide down," Monobear tutted.

"Genji," Daichi tried to say, "Yawara was clearly-"

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER?" Genji cried. "THIS... THIS ISN'T FAIR! You all think he's GOOD now? You think I'M evil, don't you! You do! You're all taking his side! My whole life, people kept telling me not to fight back, that it'll all come back, that fighting's only going to make it worse and that it'd drag you down to their level, but it's NOT FAIR! It's BULLSHIT! Why do THEY get to live without consequence? Why do THEY not get what they deserve? Why don't they EVER have to pay for their actions? Everyone lets them get away with MURDER and we have to sit and take it! It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not FAIR!"

Genji's eyes weren't just wide, they were crazed. He was screaming at everyone in the circle, his rage taking over his mind.

"Well if I didn't do something," he asked, "who would? Who would have, huh? NOBODY! THAT'S who! You would have let him KILL me! Well fuck that, right? FUCK THAT. I killed him first, I made him pay, I SHOULD BE THE HERO! You know how I felt when I was hitting him with that shovel? It wasn't just gratifying, it was ENLIGHTENING. THAT was fairness, THAT was justice. Today, I ended the reign of a monster, today I did the RIGHT THING!"

"Upupu," Monobear laughed, "I'm glad you feel that way, Genji, but I'm afraid we'll have to cut this little meeting short."

"Wh-What?"

Monobear was sitting down on the throne again, rubbing his paws together. "That's right, it's Punishment Time!"

Genji leant back and let out an anguished, angry wail that forced many students to flinch.

"WHATEVER," he screamed, throwing himself forward. "Whatever you WANT, you FUCKER. This is the FUCKED up part, right? I'M the one who gets punished!"

"You DID disrupt the peace," Monobear said, "it's in the rules!"

"FUCK your rules, FUCK this whole SYSTEM! Everyone punishes the good guy and lets evil prosper, it's DISGUSTING!"

"I've prepared a special execution for the Super High School Level Cleaner," Monobear giggled.

"This is it," Genji said, gripping the rail in front of him, ogling it with his wide, crazed eyes. "This is where it ALL goes to shit. This is where the bad guy gets to run off while the victim gets told off!"

"Shall we hurry this up, then?" Monobear asked, procuring a comically oversized mallet from behind him.

The whole class watched, shocked into silence, as Genji started to laugh. "Hehe... aheha... Ahaahaha! BUT HE'S NOT GETTING OFF THIS TIME," he cried, as Monobear lifted the mallet above a large red button that had appeared in front of him. "THIS TIME, THIS TIME HE'S NOT GETTING OFF! THIS TIME, THIS TIME, THE BAD GUY'S FUCKING DEAD! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Monobear's mallet connected with the button, and Genji Erizawa's Punishment began.

-

A rope was suddenly thrown around the laughing Genji's body, trapping his arms at his sides and pulled back, hard. Genji lost his grip on the rail and fell backwards, being dragged backwards towards a hallway suddenly revealed past the panel behind him. He saw the rope ensnaring him and instinctively tried to wiggle out of it, but couldn't move his arms nor fight whilst being thrown around by a pulling rope.

He passed a metal grate, which slammed shut just a few seconds before the other students in tow caught up to him. The rope behind Genji stopped pulling him away from the courtroom and instead pulled upwards, dangling him in the air in front of a large wooden pole. Quickly, many other ropes appeared around him, wrapping around him and the pole, lashing him to its top. He hardly had time to comprehend what was happening to him until he realized he was at the top of what could have been a totem pole.

For a few moments, nothing happened. His classmates reached the gate and, as usual, tried to break through it to no avail. Genji looked down from his position, his laughter fading. The reality of his situation was beginning to set in.

Then, from above, a machine lowered down. Genji watched a row of long, thick strips of material descend. They were stopped just below his feet, where the entire row was spun around the pole and tied off, leaving the pole looking like it was wearing a very bad dress.

Genji's laughter disappeared completely. His eyes widened, not with anger, but with fearful realization. He looked around the room he was in, the room he had not had enough time to process. The floor was covered in mud, and piles of trash were piled up and scattered all over the place. Behind the pole, a large plastic bucket was filled with what looked like soap and water. He looked back at the dress of material strips, and his Punishment became clear.

Before he could scream, a giant, robotic claw-like arm was extended from the back wall, in front of a window through which Monobear could be seen, piloting it. The claw wrapped its 'hand' around the wooden pole and lifted it, then spun it around one hundred and eighty degrees, flipping it upside down.

The material cascaded down over Genji's body, completely concealing him within them, as the whole pole was suddenly turned into a very oversized mop.

Execution, Super High School Level Cleaner Genji Erizawa: "Tidying Up"

The hand lifted the mop and dipped it into the bucket, vibrating up and down to lather it up with soap. It then took it out and went straight to work, slapping into the muddy floor and sliding around. The arm haphazardly scraped the mop around the room, pushing mud and trash all around. It made piles of waste and and smeared it all over the place, doing more harm than good. Behind the window, Monobear shook his head and re-dipped the mop into the water bucket, just to repeat the whole process again.

At the back of the room, a small hatch opened up along the wall. The mop started to scrape and spread as much of the mud and trash as it could through it, where it simple fell. It worked and worked, cleaning up as much of the mess as it could.

Finally, the room was devoid of mud and trash. The machine slowed and stopped, holding the mop in the middle of the room. Genji couldn't be seen or heard within it.

With one final lever press, Monobear commanded the arm. It made one sweeping movement, and the mop was thrown into the garbage chute, before it was closed up for good.

If Genji was still alive when his body was thrown into the hatch, he had been unable to scream as he fell through the darkness.

Chapter Text

The students were in shock. Even after everything they had been through this Trial, they still didn't know how to feel. On one hand, Yawara was terrible to everyone, and Genji had ended his reign. On the other, Genji had murdered somebody out of his own twisted sense of justice, and it turned out Yawara had been just as or even more damaged than anyone else in the school. They both had reasons for the terrible things they did, both become corrupt along their journeys to power, and they had both payed the ultimate price for them.

Sahori, however, was not confused. She covered her mouth to muffle her moans of anguish at having watched another classmate tortured to death, and started to cry into her knees, squatting in front of the gate.

Arata was watching the hatch Genji had disappeared through, gripping part of the grate tightly, his face mortified.

Nobu turned away and leaned back against the grate. He was through with watching more people die. Genji would never have committed such acts if he hadn't been bullied into doing them, and Yawara wouldn't have been so horrible if he hadn't been trapped inside the school, away from professional help.

Nobo lowered his head. It all came back to this. None of them were supposed to be here. Nobody should be playing this game. They were meant to be at school, taking classes and living the so-called 'best years of their lives', together, as a class. Instead... they're here, falling victim to their own and each other's anger and despair. None of it was fair, none of it was right.

Nobu looked to Ryouji, standing far to the side, looking at the floor. Nobu approached him.

"... Hi, Ryouji," he said, keeping his voice low. Ryouji looked up, then back to the floor.

"Hey."

"... I, uh... thank you, for what you said in the Trial. It was... well, you helped us all survive."

Ryouji looked back up to Nobu, his expression still stony. He avoided eye contact and nodded. "It's fine."

Nobu still found Ryouji for the most part a mystery. Even now, Ryouji was hurt about the death of another classmate, but he was covering it up, not in a stoic way like Shigeru appeared to be, but in a way that was... it was as if he just didn't want to look like he cared. Why he would want to appear like that was beyond Nobu.

"You're still reading me," Ryouji said, sounding distasteful.

"What? Oh, sorry."

"No you're not."

"... yeah, I am. Sorry."

Ryouji frowned at Nobu, who almost stepped back. He was far from comfortable with Ryouji's gaze, especially when it held for so long.

After a few moments, Ryouji blinked and looked back to the grate. "Do you think he was right to do what he did?"

Nobu followed Ryouji's gaze. "I don't know."

"... do you really?"

Nobu didn't answer.

"... me neither. Not anymore."

"What do you mean 'anymore'?"

Ryouji didn't answer. He paused, still staring beyond the grate, then turned and started back towards the courtroom, back towards the elevator. Nobu watched him leave, still uncomfortable after hearing the things he'd said.

"F-Fumiyo..."

Nobu looked back to the others. Itsuka was helping Fumiyo to her feet, still shaking. Fumiyo was wiping more tears from her eyes, but nodding to show she was okay to stand.

Fuuga had his arm over Sahori's shoulders, squatted beside her, neither of them talking. Daichi, Shigeru, and Jo were standing, unsure of whether to move or not.

"We should get back," Jo said. "Staying here is never a good idea."

"J-Jo is correct," Daichi said, almost faltering. "We must not let ourselves dwell on our pain."

He patted Arata on the shoulder, who was still looking out past the grate. Arata looked back and gave him a confused look, as if to ask him why what had just happened, happened. Daichi led him by the shoulder a few steps away until Arata was moving on his own.

Fuuga all but lifted Sahori to her feet himself, refusing to let her stay there on her own. He turned her towards the courtroom and started walking, almost carrying her entire weight against him as she shuffled along, her eyes blank and her cheeks wet.

"We still h-have dinner," Fumiyo told them all. "Enough for everyone, if... anyone wants some."

"I think Sahori would rather just go to her room," Fuuga said.

"Me too," Arata added, still sounding hurt.

"Well I would love to sit down with the rest of you," Daichi said, trying to inject a little more of his old enthusiasm into his words.

"Me too," Nobu said.

Together they rode the elevator to the first floor of the school, where some went their separate ways.

"I'll take her to her room," Fuuga said, still supporting the silent Sahori. "I'll meet you guys there."

The rest of the class headed for the cafeteria.

"I don't know how much I'll be able to eat," Jo said, "but I'm sure whatever I do will be great."

"I'm afraid it'll probably be mediocre at best," Nobu said. "It was our first time cooking anything, so it-"

"Oh, cut that out," Daichi interrupted as they reached the cafeteria doors. "I'm excited, regardless of predicted quality!"

They pushed the doors open and entered the cafeteria, but froze in shock. Fumiyo let out a horrified gasp.

The table was a mess. Rice and pasta had gone everywhere, and the steaks were nowhere to be found, save for oily stains left all over the table and several plates, which were strewn all over like they'd been placed by somebody several metres away.

At the head of the table, bloated beyond what looked like his physical capacity, was Monobear. His mouth and fingers were greasy and there was still a strand of pasta dropping from his lips.

"Oh!" he said. "I've been caught!"

"What did you DO?" Fumiyo cried.

"What?" Monobear asked, guiltily. "I was hungry!"

"So were we!" Daichi said, angrily.

"We worked hard on that!" Nobu yelled.

"Did you?" Monobear wondered. "It didn't show in the slightest."

"Don't say that about us!" Itsuka cried.

"The meat wasn't cooked, the pasta and rice were just terrible... I'm never coming to this restaurant again!"

"Why would you eat something that wasn't yours?" Daichi demanded. "Such rudeness is unbecoming of-"

"Un-bear-coming?" Monobear asked, on the verge of laughter. "I'm afraid I disagree! Bears eat other animals food all the time! It's an integral part of the laziest survival technique!"

Monobear rolled himself off the chair and started towards the kitchen. "Oh, well! Better luck next time! By which I mean, don't make such terrible food in my school again!"

"Get back here!" Fumiyo yelled. Itsuka tried to stop her but Fumiyo sprinted straight for Monobear. He disappeared through the door just moments before Fumiyo reached it, but when she barged inside and leapt for where she had seen him walk, he had disappeared.

Nobu frowned at the mess Monobear left on the table while Fumiyo yelled a multitude of cusses. This dinner was meant to bring them all together, to give them just one night of enjoyment amid the despair, and Monobear had known that. He knew perfectly well what he was doing, what he was taking from them.

Nobu walked back to his room in anger, passing a then-confused Fuuga. It just never ended in this place. Yawara bullies them all, then Genji risks their lives to kill him, breaking a friendship with Arata in the process and possibly ruining the greenhouse for him just as the dojo had been for Yawara. Now their chance at a normal class union was dashed for no reason other than to keep them in despair.

Nobu lay down on his bed, fuming. He wasn't staying in despair at this school. He was above that. What he felt wasn't sadness at their losses, or worried for another of them to go rogue, or fear that he might be the next victim.

All he felt was anger, at Monobear, at keeping them locked up, unable to experience the world, forcing them to trim their own numbers, trying to make them feel despair.

His hatred burned for the one who was destroying their high school lives and turning them into this twisted game of life and death, this game that he knew was tragically far from over.