Noona?
On a remote island that appeared on no map, inside a towering building, several people sat gathered in a darkened conference room. Their faces were grim. Every pair of eyes was locked on the monitor mounted at the front of the room.
"Would you care to make a little wager with me?"
"What? All of a sudden...?"
Amazingly, the screen was broadcasting the 78th Class's killing game in real time.
"All right. I've made up my mind. What the hell — I'll take that bet."
"Give me a break. Even with his memories wiped, that kid hasn't changed a bit. He really has no idea how precious his own life is."
The man who had been watching the broadcast in silence, his face twisted in a scowl, cracked open the bottle beside him and started drinking in long, heavy gulps.
"Kizakura. This is a critical moment. If you're not going to take it seriously—"
"I'm doing this because I'm losing my mind over here... I'm losing my mind..."
"Um~ if you keep drinking like that, your stomach really might burst, you know~?"
"...Quiet."
The old man seated at the head of the table opened his mouth, and the brief stir in the room died instantly. He closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and spoke again.
"What's the situation so far?"
"No murders have occurred yet, but if things continue like this, someone is bound to kill. We need to mobilize every force we can move immediately and take Hope's Peak Academy—"
"The entire area around Hope's Peak Academy is completely occupied by the Remnants of Despair. We may hold the high ground to some extent right now, but a frontal assault is still out of the question."
"So you're saying we should just sit here and watch?!"
"Ryota Mitarai, calm yourself. I know you owe Kei a great debt, but it was the Future Foundation that rescued you. And it is the Future Foundation that is protecting the world as we speak. We need to be more cautious."
"Munakata... You always go on about how we have to exterminate despair, so why do you turn so passive the moment this particular issue comes up? It's because of what happened with the student council, isn't it... Because of Kei—"
"Mitarai...! We agreed never to bring that up again...!"
"Don't run your mouth. Bring that up in front of me one more time and you'd better be prepared for the consequences."
"...Mitarai. Munakata. That will do. Yukizome, continue the report."
"...Yes, sir."
Watching the pointless argument unfold, the girl thought to herself.
Lately it's nothing but fighting... Nobody's opinions ever come together... All we do is split into factions... If that boy were here, would it have been different...?
These were people who had once performed well enough to back even Junko Enoshima into a corner. But they had lost their center, and the cracks were spreading. The conflicts were still petty, still internal — but if this kept up, the discord would spiral beyond anyone's control.
Why did he save me at the last moment...? If he hadn't, he might have found some way to escape the academy himself...
She thought of the boy who had appeared at the moment of certain death and used himself as bait to save her — the same boy who had been close friends with Hajime Hinata.
She thought of the small, happy days when the three of them had played games together and gone out to see movies. And she thought of how he had torn himself apart for failing to save Hinata.
I can't keep thinking like this...
Chiaki Nanami, Branch Director of the Future Foundation's 13th Division, shook her head and cast the dark thoughts aside. She chose to believe in the decision of the boy who had saved her life, and turned her attention back to the meeting.
"Fufu. Well then, do give it your all."
Celestia looked thoroughly satisfied. She picked up the book beside her and settled in to read.
Now that things had come to this, I had to persuade ten or more people by tomorrow, one way or another. Could I actually pull it off? No. I couldn't afford to ask myself that. I had to pull it off.
First: if the truth came out tomorrow, who would turn on me for certain? Togami, without a doubt. And Fukawa was attached to Togami at the hip right now, so she was a package deal. Ikusaba would obviously be hostile too. Throw Celestia into the mix and that made about four people who would be firmly against me. Which meant I had to win over at least ten of the remaining eleven.
Damn. That was way harder than it sounded.
Of the ten left, who could I count on? Kirigiri and Owada would almost certainly have my back. Maizono would help to some degree too. As for the rest of the kids... I honestly wasn't sure.
I'd gotten pretty close with them lately, but whether that trust would survive the revelation that I'd been covering up the secret of the killing game was another question entirely. Their lives were on the line. I couldn't blame them if it didn't.
So who did I absolutely have to bring over to my side? No matter how I turned it over, the answer was the same: the original protagonist, Makoto Naegi.
Naegi had been doing the same thing I had — talking to everyone, building rapport. He had a decent head on his shoulders. And most importantly, he was someone you could actually trust. If you couldn't believe in the boy who always thought positively and never stayed down — the Ultimate Hope himself — then who could you believe in?
Recruiting Byakuya Togami would have been enormously helpful, of course, but I couldn't see a way to do it right now. At the moment, Togami was still in full small-fry-four-eyes mode, treating this whole situation like entertainment.
Still. Kirigiri on my right, Naegi on my left — if I walked around like that, I had a feeling I could take Enoshima or anyone else. The image was so reassuring I almost smiled. I started turning over how I was going to persuade Makoto Naegi.
Attention, all students. Please gather in the gymnasium immediately.
Repeating: all students, please gather in the gymnasium immediately.
Morning. Yesterday's investigation period hadn't turned up anything particularly noteworthy.
I'd wanted to check the hidden space in the second-floor boys' bathroom, but I held off for fear that Enoshima would notice. I needed to sneak Alter Ego a connection to that place later, so for the time being I was staying well clear of it.
"Looks like it's about time. Shall we head down, then?"
Celestia left the library first, wearing a pleasantly cheerful smile. I was rubbing the sleep from my eyes and about to follow when Kirigiri slipped up to me, carefully keeping herself out of Ikusaba's line of sight.
"Kei. I need a word."
"Huh? Kirigiri? What's up?"
It was sudden, but the fact that she'd come to me behind Ikusaba's back meant this was something she wanted kept quiet. I lowered my voice naturally and leaned in.
"Last night, Celestia said she had something to tell you. What did the two of you talk about?"
"...Right. About that."
I told her about the wager I'd made with Celestia, and about my secret. Kirigiri nodded, then sank into thought.
Watching her like that, I suddenly found myself wondering what her secret was. Something about her father, probably?
"Come to think of it, what's your secret...? Ah, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to! Worst case I'll just cover my ears in the gym—"
"Speaking of which. I have a favor to ask."
"...!"
Kirigiri closed the distance in a single motion, so fast I couldn't even process it. Before I could get my bearings, she was at my ear, her voice a quiet whisper.
"No matter what I say in the gymnasium, don't panic. Just play along. This is more important than anything else. I need you to do this for me."
"Uh...? Yeah... okay. But what kind of secret is it that you'd—"
"There isn't time to explain. And we have an uninvited guest."
Ikusaba had spotted our suspicious little huddle from across the room. Her eyes lit up like a predator's, and she started coming our way.
"I'll say it again. Do not panic. Act natural."
With that, I hastily put some distance between us and arranged my face into something sheepish. Someone walked up and clapped me on the back hard enough to make me jump. I spun around. It was Owada.
"You little... Yeah... Hang in there... Big bro's rootin' for ya..."
I tried to tell him it wasn't like that. He just kept looking quietly disappointed. Together, the two of us headed for the gymnasium.
"Puhuhu... Is everyone here? Then let's kick off our heart-pounding secret premiere screening with some energy...! I'd love to, anyway... but most of you spilled your secrets the second you got them yesterday, so the air's completely gone out of this..."
Monokuma's voice drooped with genuine hurt. Then, just as quickly, the usual cheer snapped back into place.
"Well! Five of you still haven't said a word! And we've still got a highlight left! A pretty big highlight, actually... I wonder what kind of faces you'll make when you hear it..."
"That's right! I know the secret of the killing game, and I've been deliberately covering it up this whole time!"
"Pu... huhu...?"
I was not about to get swept up in Monokuma's pacing.
"Um... Kei-kun. Do you really think the others are going to understand just because you said it yourself? You're such an idiot..."
Monokuma wasn't wrong. The kids looking at me were either ice-cold or openly stunned. I'd expected this reaction, but that didn't stop it from hurting.
"I know that. I just didn't want to play along with your rhythm. And I needed time to get my thoughts in order."
"Haaah... You killed the mood twice. I worked so hard to set this up, and now I don't even want to bother... I still had so many lines left..."
Thoroughly deflated, Monokuma sagged down onto the floor and mashed the remote. The same giant screen we'd used for the first motive video descended from above.
"Whatever... Let's just get this over with..."
The soul had left Monokuma's voice. Letters began to appear on the screen.
The Ultimate Counselor, Kei, knows the secret of the killing game — but has been deliberately concealing it.
"This one... let's just skip it. This was originally supposed to be the highlight..."
The real name of the Ultimate Gambler, Celestia Ludenberg, is Taeko Yasuhiro. She has been using an alias all this time to hide that hopelessly uncool name.
"Hey, that's the same as my name! What's the problem? It's a cool name!"
Yasuhiro's completely unbothered remark sent a visible tremor through Celestia. She was probably going to be kicking her blankets in mortification all night.
The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Mondo Owada, allowed the older brother he respected to die in his place, then concealed that death in order to be recognized as the leader of the gang.
"I'm fine... I'm tired of running from the truth. My apprentice'll lead the gang just fine..."
So Owada really had managed to overcome his own weakness. Something in my chest pulled tight.
Junko Enoshima was sleeping outdoors when the wind blew her tent away. She spent the entire night soaked in the rain, and came down with a full-body cold that lasted a week.
"What... are you... actually a gyaru...?"
".....!"
Mukuro Ikusaba looked genuinely, completely thrown. This clearly hadn't been part of the plan. Instead of slipping in something minor and harmless, Enoshima must have stuck in a genuinely embarrassing memory just for the fun of it.
"All right! Next up is the highlight...! Okay, originally this wasn't the highlight, but it's still a pretty shocking piece of content! Let's put some energy into this!"
The moment Kirigiri's turn arrived, Monokuma bounced up off the floor as if the depression had never happened, voice bright and theatrical. What on earth was her secret supposed to be?
I glanced over. Kirigiri was watching the screen with a tense expression of her own. Please, I thought. Please let it be nothing serious...
Then the words appeared. And for a single instant, everyone in the room froze.
Kirigiri has met with Kei in secret in the locker room, where the two of them shared a passionate private rendezvous without anyone knowing.
"Bullshit."
The curse was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Spreading malicious fake news like this — I was not about to let it stand. I had to clear this up somehow.
"Puhuhuhuhu! So? What's the relationship between you two? Hm? Hm?!"
That damn bear was having the time of its life grilling Kirigiri. I'd done it to beat the mastermind, but putting her in an awkward position like this made my chest ache. And now I had to figure out what to even say—
"We're a couple."
Come again?
"Puhuhuhuhuhuhu... Denying it won't do you any... wait. What did you just say...?"
A flustered Enoshima had dropped even Monokuma's voice, asking the question in her own.
N-Noona...?