The Captured Heroine
I rushed out of the bathhouse to find the girls clustered around Ogami, who had collapsed to the floor.
"Sakura...! What's happening all of a sudden...!"
"M-maybe we should try CPR...!"
"She was perfectly fine just a moment ago, bathing right alongside us..."
While the others milled about in a panic, Kirigiri approached Ogami with unshaken composure and pressed two fingers to her pulse.
"Small mercies — her heart is still beating."
"Th-then..."
"Her life doesn't appear to be in immediate danger, but this is clearly not a normal condition. We need to get her to the nurse's office. You boys — don't just stand there. Help us."
Following Kirigiri's lead, we hoisted Ogami onto our backs and carried her to the nurse's office.
"Sakura... open your eyes..."
We stayed by Ogami's side for a full hour, but she showed no sign of waking.
"Kirigiri, how's she looking?"
"...I'm no doctor, so I can't give you a definitive diagnosis, but Ogami appears to be suffering from drug poisoning."
"H-hang on... drugs...?"
"Yes. She was already in poor condition after the injuries from Monokuma's self-destruct, and then her hand was pierced by scissors yesterday. Her body would have been vulnerable even to a small dose."
"Then... how did Ogami get poisoned in the first place...?"
"....."
Kirigiri fell silent, sinking into thought. Watching her, Asahina suddenly spoke up as if something had just occurred to her.
"That's it! Now that I think about it, there's one suspicious person!"
"A suspicious person...?"
"Yeah — the one person who isn't here right now..."
Come to think of it, Togami had been missing since morning. Nobody had seen him at all. Asahina's face twisted into a scowl.
"If you look at how that guy normally acts... he's got to be the culprit...! I bet he was trying to kill Ogami so he could walk out of here alone..."
"Asahina, I understand how you feel, but jumping to conclusions isn't going to help. The fact that Togami isn't here could just as easily be evidence that he's innocent, right?"
"W-well, yeah... sorry... I got too worked up..."
"Naegi has a point, but that man is hardly someone we can trust. Perhaps we should search the school for him?"
"True... we haven't even investigated the newly opened fourth floor yet... How about we split into a search team and an exploration team? The search team looks for Togami, and the exploration team investigates the fourth floor."
"Wait...! Then who's going to take care of Sakura...! I'll stay behind and look after her...!"
"That won't be necessary."
"...What?"
Asahina stared at Kirigiri, unable to make sense of what she'd just heard.
"Kirigiri...? What do you mean..."
"I'll handle the nursing."
"You will, Kirigiri...?"
"I haven't mentioned this until now, but my talent is Ultimate Detective. I may not be a physician, but I've dealt with situations like this more times than I can count. I'll be better suited to caring for her than you would."
"B-but..."
"Besides, you stayed up all night last night looking after Ogami, didn't you? Leave this to me and get some rest."
".....Thank you. But I can't just sit around doing nothing...! I'll join the team searching for Togami!"
"Then... Kirigiri will stay and care for Ogami..."
"Um... I'm not exactly a fan of walking around either, y'know...? Mind if I stay and help nurse Ogami too?"
Ikusaba cut in without warning. Naegi, Fujisaki, and I — the three of us who knew her true identity — all moved to intervene, but Kirigiri answered with a perfectly even expression.
"Fine. Do that."
"Heh-heh... Got it...! Thanks, Kirigiri!"
Something about Ikusaba's bright, beaming smile set off a deep unease in my gut. I couldn't just sit this one out. I had to step in.
"Hey... mind if I stay and help nurse Ogami too...?"
"You too? ...Ah, right, you and Kirigiri are... God, you damn couples."
The others shot us pointed looks, but I didn't have the luxury of caring. Ikusaba had been smiling at Kirigiri this whole time, and those eyes weren't smiling at all. Something was about to go very wrong.
"All right. Then Kei, Kirigiri, and Enoshima will stay in the nurse's office. Everyone else, let's divide into teams."
With that, the others filed out of the nurse's office one by one, discussing how to split up as they went.
"..."
"Kirigiri, what have you been thinking about this whole time?"
"....."
Ten minutes passed. Ikusaba sat silently in her chair. Kirigiri remained lost in thought, just as she had been since the others left.
It was quiet — and yet the air felt like a bomb with a fuse burned down to the last millimeter. The anxiety finally got to me, and I spoke up. Kirigiri opened her eyes and said, very softly:
"Hmph. You really are a different breed."
The moment those words left her mouth, the old cabinet in the nurse's office creaked open, and Togami stepped out, brushing dust from his clothes.
"Forcing me to hide in a place like this... had the plan failed..."
"Haaah... Anyway, the plan worked, didn't it!? That's all that matters, riiight~?"
"T-Togami... why were you in there...?"
"Your brain works even slower than I expected. Isn't it obvious? To kill Ogami, lying right there."
Damn it. He finally went and did something spectacularly stupid. I'd let my guard down. In the original, Togami gets redeemed, so I'd unconsciously lowered my guard — but the original Togami was the single biggest aggro magnet in the first game until Ogami's sacrifice. The narrative even portrayed him as enjoying the killing game right up until his redemption. That said it all.
"Wait... then the one who poisoned Ogami was...?"
"That'd be me~! While I was giving her a massage, I told her it was medicine for her wounds and slathered on a slow-acting paralytic when nobody was looking! Pretty smart of me, huh?"
"I was the one who selected and mixed the drugs, if I recall..."
"Ehh, let's just gloss over that~! Don't be so stingy!"
Shit. If it had been Togami alone, maybe we could have managed — but with Ikusaba here, the two of us didn't stand a chance. As long as she was putting on the gyaru act it was one thing, but now that she'd dropped the mask this blatantly, a head-on fight would put us in serious danger too. If that was how it was going to be, I at least needed to buy some time.
"Why... why would you do something like this?"
"Why? To get out of this place, obviously."
"For a reason as petty as that..."
"Simpletons like you wouldn't understand, but this is a death game in which we kill and are killed. You people think I'm the one who's wrong — but from where I stand, the ones who are wrong are you, playing at your cheap little games of friendship."
"...Then why are the two of you working together?"
"She approached me yesterday with a proposal. She would incapacitate Ogami, and then the two of us would stab the fallen Ogami at the same time, becoming joint culprits and walking out of here together."
"B-but... doesn't that only benefit you?"
"Well~ I take on the burden, and in exchange Togami mixed the drugs for me — and once we're outside, he promised to make me rich with the Togami family's fortune! It's a win-win!"
The Togami conglomerate got blown off the face of the earth. How exactly is he planning to make her rich? Not that Togami had any intention of honoring a hollow promise like that in the first place — but Ikusaba's real goal wasn't a life of luxury. It was killing Ogami and kicking off the killing game. So I supposed it didn't matter.
"I brought a nice sharp kitchen knife to make the killing easy. Like it?"
This was bad. Ikusaba had already drawn a knife from her clothes, as if she had no interest in stalling any longer.
".....!"
In that instant Kirigiri lunged, reaching to snatch the blade from Ikusaba's hand — but...
"Ha. Were you seriously trying to take this from me?"
".....Ngh."
"...Ki-Kirigiri!"
Ikusaba slipped the grab as if it were nothing and countered, and Kirigiri hit the floor.
"...Y-you...!"
"Oh? So you really weren't the mastermind after all. Well, it hardly matters now."
Something in me snapped. I charged Togami — and he put me down without the slightest effort, his voice dripping with contempt.
"I have survived threats far greater than this. Unlike a feeble creature like you, I am more than proficient in hand-to-hand combat."
"Nngh... Leave Kirigiri and Ogami out of this... kill me instead...!"
"Pfft. Almost touching. But you see, if we kill you or Kirigiri, a Class Trial will be convened. That's why we're going to kill Ogami. We'd like to leave this place now."
"Wait...! Hold on...!"
"Stalling is useless. Fukawa is currently diverting the others so they won't come here. No one will be arriving for some time."
"Well then... shall we get started~?"
Togami and Ikusaba wrapped their hands around the knife's handle at the same time and raised it high overhead...
"...Hah!"
"Don't—!"
They brought the blade down together with all their strength—
Wait.
"Wh-what? Togami? What are you doing?"
Ikusaba tried to drive the knife down, but Togami had locked his grip on the handle and was holding it back.
"...Now. It's time."
"UOOOOOOOHHH!!"
The instant Togami spoke, Ogami — who had been lying motionless on the bed — surged to her feet and unleashed a blow of pure, undiluted force at Ikusaba.
A sickening crack rang through the room.
"Ghk.....!"
Ikusaba left her feet entirely and slammed into the far wall. What the hell was going on?
"I thought as much. This was the plan all along."
"...So you noticed."
"Of course I noticed. That's why I threw my own body into that little performance of trying to take the knife."
"Ki... Kirigiri... what are you talking about...?"
Kirigiri rose from the floor, brushed off her clothes, and spoke as if nothing had happened.
"When I examined Ogami earlier, I already knew she was conscious. But I suspected she had a reason for pretending to be unconscious, and when I thought it through, it seemed connected to that suspicious ointment Enoshima had applied to her during the bath — so I improvised a convenient lie."
"Hmph. Is that all?"
"There's more. You claimed you were going to commit murder, but there wasn't a shred of killing intent in you. And no matter how well Fukawa was diverting the others, stalling for time offered you nothing — yet you kept answering Kei's questions and dragging the conversation out. Almost as if you were waiting for something."
The moment Kirigiri finished, the door to the nurse's office burst open and the others poured in.
"M-Master Byakuya...! I brought everyone, just as you instructed...! D-did I get the timing right..."
"Wh-what on earth is going on...?"
"Well, this is a fine mess..."
"Sa-Sakura...? Togami...? What is all this..."
"Why is Miss Enoshima crumpled against the wall looking like she's in so much pain...?"
Ikusaba ground her teeth as she took in the arriving students, then turned on Togami.
"Wh... why...? There... couldn't have been... a better deal... for you than this..."
"It's quite simple. Did you honestly believe I would cooperate with the mastermind who locked me in this place?"
"Togami...? What do you mean..."
"Genocider Syo. Your turn."
"Ah — right! Yes! Just a second...!"
Fukawa pulled a pepper shaker from her pocket, inhaled a lungful, and promptly sneezed — transforming into Genocider Syo.
"Pampaka-bam! It's a little gross, but hey, whatever? Genocider Syo is heeere!!"
"This is a critical situation, so spare us the nonsense and play that tape you mentioned."
"Yeees, sir~! Here we go!"
Genocider Syo produced a cassette tape from her clothes and pressed play. As the recorded conversation between Ikusaba and Genocider Syo filled the room, the others descended into confusion.
"I-Ikusaba Mukuro...? But... you're Junko Enoshima, aren't you...?"
"That is hardly the only peculiarity, everyone. How was Miss Enoshima able to so casually declare that she would kill Genocider Syo?"
Celestia's sharp observation pulled every gaze in the room toward her.
"The everyday Miss Fukawa is one thing... but Genocider Syo is a vicious serial killer. The moment your identity as Mukuro Ikusaba was exposed, you said you would kill even someone like her. Did you not?"
"Now that you mention it... that is weird. Is that even possible?"
"And the more interesting point is that Genocider Syo did not fight — she attempted to persuade you. Does that strike anyone as a normal state of affairs? Enoshima... no. Ikusaba. Just what is your true identity?"
I quietly flashed a thumbs-up at Celestia, who had finished speaking and was looking at me with a faintly expectant gaze. Then I cleared my throat and spoke.
"Now that everyone knows, I suppose there's no point hiding it. The person standing in front of you isn't Junko Enoshima — she's Mukuro Ikusaba. The Ultimate Soldier, and one of the masterminds behind this killing game."
"Ke... Kei... what are you saying...!"
"This is one of the secrets of the killing game that I already knew. I don't have time to explain it properly right now, so I'll give you the full picture when I get the chance. Anyway, the important point right now is..."
"That she is the mastermind of this killing game. Simpletons like you apparently require evidence and testimony before you can even begin to deduce such a thing — but I arrived at the answer entirely on my own."
...That pisses me off for some reason, and the fact that he isn't even wrong pisses me off even more...
"Last night, she came to me and proposed that she paralyze Ogami with poison so that we could kill her together and escape. Naturally, I wanted nothing more than to crush the mastermind who had locked me in a place like this — so I turned her plan against her."
"Turned it against her...?"
"Isn't it obvious? I gave her a compound mixed with ordinary ointment instead of a paralytic, and then I slipped Ogami a note through the crack in her door that night, informing her of the entire scheme."
"That is correct. His words are the truth. My collapse was part of his plan as well. Everyone — I am sorry for causing you to worry."
Wait, so Togami carried the whole thing? That's... kind of embarrassing, actually...
"Um... uh... Master Byakuyaaa? This is all well and good, buuut... why didn't you mention that I spent all last night clinging to you and talking you into this..."
"Silence."
"Eheheheheheh... A bashful Master Byakuya is adorable too!! Ahyahyahyahya!!"
"Your role is finished, Genocider Syo. Return to being Fukawa."
"Yeees, siiir!! A... a... achoo...!"
So Genocider Syo put in one hell of a shift. Fukawa or Syo, those two really do give it their all.
"I always intended to take my revenge on the mastermind who locked me in this wretched place. And as it happens, the timing could not be better."
Togami rolled his wrists, a thin, unpleasant smile spreading across his face as he started toward Ikusaba.
"Wh-what are you going to do!"
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. She trapped us here and rendered us immobile — so naturally, we will cripple her entire body until she cannot move either."
"W-wait a second...! That's going way too far...!"
"Too far? Then you propose we simply leave this dangerous creature be? Step aside, Kei. I have not entirely dismissed my suspicions regarding you."
"Even so, that's... wait... huh...?"
"What? Why are you—"
"Kei! Togami! Get back...! You have to dodge...!"
"M-Master Byakuya! Look out...!"
I had been locked in a struggle with Togami, trying to talk him down before he went off the rails again, when Fukawa suddenly threw herself in front of us.
"You... what do you think you're—"
A heavy thud.
"Fu... Fukawa!?"
Fukawa had collapsed, a knife buried in her stomach, blood spilling out as she groaned.
Ikusaba had already drawn two more knives from her clothes, and she had both of them leveled at Togami and me.
"You... as long as I am standing, no one will—"
"Sure, I'd lose to you in a bare-handed fight — but you're so exhausted right now you couldn't even react to an attack that obvious, could you, Ogami? And I've got knives."
"Even so... I can still defeat someone of your caliber...!"
"Now that I think about it... yeah, you probably could. But can you win while also protecting the two standing in front of me?"
".....Nngh."
".....Ikusaba. Take me as your hostage and let Togami go."
"You— what do you think you're—"
"Hmm. Well, my body's not in great shape either, so holding two hostages is a bit much... and a pathetic weakling like you, with all those nice relationships, makes a better hostage than that insufferable Togami anyway... Fine. Kei, walk over here. Togami, you step back."
".....You... why...!"
"I'm not doing this because I care about you. I'm doing it for everyone, so shut up and go..."
"......!"
"And... take care of Fukawa..."
Togami clenched his jaw, slung Fukawa over his shoulder, and rejoined the others. I walked over to Ikusaba's side and suffered the humiliation of a blade pressed to my throat.
And just like that, I became a captured heroine.