The Surprise Party
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The moment the clock struck ten, the students began filing into the old building one after another.
"Teruteru's cooking... I can't wait~!"
"Ehehe... a party... I'm so excited... Ah, I-I won't get in anyone's way, I promise...! I-is it okay if I t-tag along too...?"
"My cooking is for everybody! Anyone who wants some is welcome!"
"Hold it, all of you. You will submit to a body search before you set one foot inside."
"Huuuh? Piggy's doing it himself...? That's sexual harassment, you know."
"Lives are at stake here...! A trivial matter like that—"
"It is not trivial! And I still don't completely trust you, either."
"She's right! I mean, what if Piggy's the traitor and he just uses the search as an excuse to grope us...! Eeeek! Gross!"
Koizumi and Saionji dug their heels in, and Togami let out a long-suffering sigh before offering a compromise.
"Fine... the girls will inspect each other."
"Koizumi-nee! Inspect with me!"
"Men, over here. I will not tolerate a single weapon. That includes those of you who arrived early."
"T-Togami... if you asked me nicely..."
"Silence."
Togami cut Hanamura's slimy remark off mid-sentence and began searching every student from head to toe.
Good. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Before anyone had shown up, I had gone through the rooms myself — sweeping for hidden tricks, hunting for stashed weapons. Fortunately, I hadn't found a thing.
If things stayed this way, maybe we could actually have a genuine, enjoyable party — nothing like the original.
A party, huh... This is a first for me.
It was a little embarrassing to admit, but I had never been to a real party in my life. I had spent so many years without a single proper friend that I had never even celebrated a birthday, let alone been invited to something like this.
Which meant, if you thought about it, this was my first party ever. The realization sent an unexpected flutter through my chest.
The entire old building had been searched down to the last corner, and the body searches were done. As far as I could tell, there was nothing left to worry about.
We had been through so much already. Honestly, I just wanted to forget all of it for one night and enjoy myself.
"By the way, where's Kuzuryu?"
"I informed him about the party... but he doesn't appear to be coming."
"A self-appointed loner, huh. Well, that's his problem."
"Wait... you don't think that bastard's out there planning a murder by himself, or—"
"Hey, Souda! You been reviewing what I taught you?"
"Huh...? Oh, yeah, of course! I mean, it's all ridiculously hard, but... if it means I get to talk to Sonia-san, I'll do anything!"
I steered Souda off that particular cliff before the mood could sour again, then flicked a glance toward the girls clustered by the entrance. They had paired off and were checking each other over.
Even in a situation like this, same-gender searches were a lot better than some guy forcing his way through a pat-down. Everyone was on edge — flexibility beat brute force every time.
"Hey! Stop peeking!"
"Ah— that's not what I—"
"Then turn your head when you talk, maybe?"
At this rate I was going to get branded a pervert. I snapped my gaze away before the misunderstanding could get any worse, struck up some small talk with Souda, and headed for the banquet hall.
"Ah, Kei-kun! What do you think?"
"Hm?"
"I ran out of things to do after hauling all the ingredients, so I decorated the central hall for the party! I even laid down a carpet."
"Where did you even find all this...?"
"The supermarket had it... though there wasn't enough to cover the whole floor, of course."
Just as Komaeda said, a few bare patches of floor still showed through.
In the original, Hanamura had gone down to the hall and driven a long skewer through the table, piercing Togami where he sat in one of those uncovered gaps. But the iron skewers that were supposed to become the murder weapon had already been turned over to Togami of Hanamura's own free will, and every last portable burner had been drained of gas.
All of which suggested Hanamura had completely given up on killing anyone. What a good kid.
"Yeah... it actually feels like a real party. The iron plates bolted over the walls kind of kill the mood, though. What are those?"
"San-D — one among the Four Dark Devas of Destruction, the Silver Fox and Annihilator of Stars — has pierced the veil of truth with the power of darkness..."
"Uh...?"
"Those... were once windows!"
"Okay, but... why board the windows up with iron plates?"
"Heh heh. San-D... your fur is particularly unruly today."
"I asked why the windows are boarded up with iron plates..."
"A fine day... countless lives are born, and countless lives fade into dusk..."
"....."
I was listening to Hinata and Tanaka's little comedy routine and waiting for the party to start when Togami suddenly called my name.
"You. You cleaned the kitchen earlier."
"Yeah... and?"
"Then come with me. We need to inspect it again."
"Huh? I already went over it carefully—"
"At this moment, the kitchen is the most dangerous room in the building! It is packed with hazardous objects. A single inspection is not enough. You cleaned it — so use that memory and search every corner again."
It sounded obsessive at first glance, but he had a point. In the original, they had searched just as thoroughly and still missed the skewer hidden in the meat — and someone had died for it.
Besides, I had been meaning to sit down with our group-project team leader for a counseling session anyway. If we were going back to the kitchen, I could kill two birds with one stone.
"That is an order from your leader. Follow me."
"Got it. And for the record, you don't need to make it an order. You can ask me for this kind of thing anytime."
"Hmph. More spine than your appearance would suggest."
I fell in behind a bristling Togami and headed for the kitchen once more.
"...Hmph. It matches the inventory list exactly. Rather meticulous, aren't you? More than you look."
"Everyone's lives are on the line. I can't exactly half-ass it."
"...A fine attitude."
Togami and I tore through every corner of the kitchen, and in the end the recovered items lined up perfectly with the inventory.
"Whew... so we're good, right?"
"Not yet. The kitchen appears to be clear, so now we inspect every other room—"
"Togami, I already went over the other rooms with a fine-tooth comb. We can afford to rest a little—"
"Insufficient. We need to investigate more thoroughly still."
"...Why are you pushing yourself this hard?"
"...Because I need to."
"Need to?"
"I promised those children I would not allow a single casualty. Having made that promise, I am obligated to remain vigilant — to pile caution upon caution."
"...Aren't you putting too much on yourself?"
"...What is that supposed to mean?"
I looked him straight in the eye.
"Carrying that much weight isn't good for you. Don't get me wrong — the way you are right now is a huge help to everyone. But you're running yourself into the ground. You know that, right?"
"....."
"It wouldn't kill you to ask the others for help now and then. That forceful, I'll-handle-everything-myself attitude of yours looks brilliant right now... but down the line, it could turn into poison. Is there a reason you do it this way?"
"....."
"Go ahead and get it off your chest. My talent is Ultimate Counselor, remember? I can always make time for the worries of someone who works this hard for everyone else. Come on."
Togami closed his eyes, swallowed a low sound, and began to speak in a level voice.
"...I am, by nature, a suspicious person. That is because I have a past I cannot speak of to others."
"That past being...?"
"I cannot give you the details... but it was a living hell. A life of doubting others, and then doubting them again."
"....."
His face was deadly serious — but I couldn't tell whether he was speaking as Togami, or telling me the truth of his own life. I turned it over for a moment, then opened my mouth.
"The past... isn't all that important. Clinging to a past that only leaves you with regrets matters a lot less than facing the reality in front of you."
"....."
"Whatever your past looks like, the person I've been watching this whole time is someone I admire. So I don't think you need to keep clinging to that past... or to whatever version of yourself you think you have to maintain."
Togami was silent for a beat. Then he asked, almost offhandedly:
"...If you had no choice but to become someone other than yourself... who would you want to be?"
"Uh..."
"Forget it. It was not an important question. Now, the other rooms—"
"'No choice,' huh. That's a pretty cruel way to put it, don't you think?"
"...What?"
Togami stopped with one foot already turned toward the door. I didn't let the opening slip away — I said the thing I had been wanting to tell him for a while now.
"Being forced to become someone other than yourself... I can't even imagine it. If there were a person living that kind of life... I think they'd look impressive. But I don't think they'd look happy."
"....."
"So no matter what anyone says, I'm going to be me."
"...There are people who have never been themselves. Not once, from the moment they were born. Even if those people wanted to become themselves... they would not know how."
His voice was raw. At last, it felt like Togami was talking about himself.
"Wouldn't know how, huh... There's actually a pretty easy way."
"...And what is that?"
"Simple. You trust other people. You lean on them. You build bonds."
"...Bonds?"
"Yeah. The ones who define who you are... are other people, right? Other people are the ones who recognize you in this world. Other people are the ones who call your name. Other people are the ones who accept you and care about you. I think a person's identity is something other people end up defining."
"....."
"So even someone who can't define themselves... if they trust others, lean on them, and build those bonds... don't you think they'd find a way to define themselves, eventually?"
"...I see."
Togami nodded slowly, the look of someone who had just understood something important. It was such a good expression that I felt a small smile tug at my mouth before I could stop it.
"Haha. I talked a little too long, didn't I? Sorry — once I slip into counselor mode, I lose track of time... Anyway, the other rooms—"
"That will not be necessary. I will inspect the remaining rooms myself."
"You don't have to. I can help just fi—"
"I received a threatening letter this morning. It announced that a murder would take place today."
"...What?"
"That is why I organized this party — to protect everyone. I had intended to keep it to myself, but I believe I can entrust this to you."
".....!"
"I will examine the other rooms with care. You will go to the banquet hall and keep watch over the others. That is an order from your leader... no. A request."
I parted ways with Togami and stepped into the banquet hall, sinking into thought.
A threatening letter... Yeah. The one who sent it has to be Komaeda.
In the original, Komaeda had sent Togami a letter today as well. Given everything I knew, there was no one else it could be.
I had been so caught up in the idea of a party that I had completely forgotten about the letter. And if he had gone so far as to send one, Komaeda was going to try to make something happen tonight — one way or another.
"Ha. Not a chance. Come and try it."
I was confident I could shut down his trolling tonight.
To kill any blackout trick, I had hidden every iron in the warehouse. I had checked and re-checked whether the air conditioners in the warehouse and the party hall were on a timer. I had sealed the breaker box with industrial-strength adhesive I had picked up at the supermarket, so no one could pry it open.
And I had pulled the desk from the exact spot where the murder had taken place in the game and stashed it in storage. There was nowhere left to hide a weapon.
Which meant that if I just kept Komaeda under close watch for the rest of the night, we would get through this safely. Even Komaeda wouldn't commit a murder with me standing right there, eyes wide open.
Of course, even a stone bridge is worth tapping before you cross it — and I had sworn not to put blind faith in my knowledge of the game. So I had asked Kirigiri to keep a careful watch on the others for the entire party.
And we had agreed that if anyone so much as looked suspicious, the two of us would close in together and pin them down or take them out of commission.
Alright. If a murder happened after all of that, it would be a joke from God. And I had no intention of losing to a joke from God, so I was going to stay sharp.
"Hey, Togami! You done investigating? Can we get this thing started already?"
"...Wait. We still need to decide where to store the case containing the dangerous items."
"The case...?"
After a debate between Togami and the others, they settled on the same solution as the original: the case of weapons would be kept in the office, with Pekoyama standing guard.
"Then that matter is settled. However, there is still one unresolved problem..."
"Now what? Can we please start already...? I'm starving..."
"Monokuma. So long as Monokuma is present, we cannot enjoy this party with any peace of mind..."
"You don't need to worry about that!"
Monomi popped up out of nowhere, and the students all turned to glare at her. She shrank into herself and spoke in a wilted little voice.
"W-why is everyone looking at me like that... Am I really that untrustworthy...?"
"Hey, we're in the middle of something important? Don't interrupt, just—"
"About that... Monokuma can't exert any influence here!"
"W-what is that supposed to mean...?"
"I mean... this is the only place the virus... ah, wait, that's a secret... How do I explain this..."
Monomi clutched her head for a moment, then gave an awkward little laugh.
"Anyway, I'm stronger than Monokuma here! So for now, please rest as much as you—!"
"If it was that important, you should have said so sooner!! What were you doing keeping that to yourself this whole time!?"
"F-fwawah... I'm sorry..."
"Haaah, well... so this place is safe, then? Great. That means we can actually relax and enjoy the party, right?"
"...So it would seem. Very well. Let us begin."
"Alright! Finally!"
"*Slurp*... Does that mean I can eat now? Awesome! I'm gonna eat every last thing on this table!"
"Gahaha... At last, the banquet begins... Entertain me, I command you! Ahahahaha!"
And so it began — a joyful party, a brief chance to forget the terror and the tension of a killing game, if only for a little while.
"Ahahaha! I can't stop my hands! I'm happy! I'm so happy!"
"Of course you can't stop! This is the world's most delicious party cuisine, prepared by yours truly, Hanamura!"
"I-it's so good... Is someone like me... really allowed to eat food this delicious...?"
"Huh? You're not gonna eat it? Then I'll just eat it all myself."
"Don't be so greedy! There's plenty of food! I'll bring out as much as you want!"
Part of me wanted to glue myself to Komaeda's side and watch his every move, but if I made the surveillance too obvious, I would only make him suspicious.
Getting on Komaeda's radar this early was the last thing I needed, so I kept a moderate distance and watched him — and everyone else — from there.
I couldn't quite shake the anxiety that something could go wrong at any second. But watching the kids look this happy, I felt a smile rise to my own face whether I wanted it or not.
And honestly, the food really was incredible. I was not exaggerating — it was the best thing I had ever tasted. So this was what an Ultimate Cook could do.
"Hey, everyone! Since we're all here, want me to take a picture?"
"Oh, how wonderful! Please do!"
"Okay then... say it with me? One, two, three...! Cheese!"
Click.
"Ah, I closed my eyes! Again, again!"
"I-is it really alright for someone like me to be in a photograph with all of you...?"
"To talk and laugh with friends our own age like this, and even take pictures together... I'm so happy. In the kingdom, I always had to observe the strictest etiquette..."
"Koizumi, you should get in one with them too. I'll take it."
"Hmmm, I don't know if I trust you with this... You'd better not drop it, okay? This thing is ridiculously expensive...!"
Hinata gave an awkward laugh, took the camera from Koizumi, and pressed the shutter. Off to the side, Nidai had broken out in a cold sweat and was muttering to himself.
"Urgh... uugh... m-my stomach, all of a sudden... I-I need to go back to the hotel for a—"
"No."
"P-please... I'm begging you, Togami...! If I stay like this I'm going to— in my pants—!"
"There is a bathroom in the old building. Why must you go all the way to the hotel?"
"Because someone's been in there this whole time...!"
And right beside a dripping, desperate Nidai, Tanaka suddenly cried out in a voice of deepest tragedy.
"I-impossible... this cannot be... My demonic hound, Earring, has vanished...!? Has it fled to another dimension...?!"
"What now..."
"Shit! I need to take a shit! A SHIT!!!"
"Haaah..."
Those two hadn't changed one bit from the game. I snickered at the spectacle, then pulled myself together and turned my attention back to Komaeda.
He had been standing in the middle of the group for a while now, talking quietly with Nanami. At first he hadn't seemed to be doing anything worth worrying about, and I had almost relaxed — but the faint, peculiar smile he kept wearing as he spoke to her was starting to look wrong.
I needed to hear what those two were talking about. I set down the plate I had been eating from and started toward them — and that was when it arrived, without the slightest warning.
CRACK!
"W-what the hell!? All of a sudden—!?"
"Blackout! It's a blackout! I'm scared!"
Wait. A blackout? How? I had eliminated every possible cause.
"Damn it! Where's the exit!? I'm about to shit myself and I can't see a thing in this dark!"
"Why... why did the power go out...?"
"...There!"
Togami, standing right beside me, suddenly shouted in alarm and took off running.
And in the place he was racing toward...
"Hah... hahhh... d-don't... come..."
"You there...! Stop...!"
Someone was standing with a knife in their hand — a knife smeared with fluorescent paint.
"Don't—! Both of you, stop—!"
".....!"
Kirigiri and I spotted it a beat too late and sprinted with everything we had, but—
"Wha—! W-who is that? Why are you pushing—!"
SHNK.
We were too late.
"AAAAAHHH!"
"Ghhhk...!"
"W-what was that? Who just screamed?"
"What's going on! What happened!?"
"...This is an emergency! Tsumiki! Get over here, now!"
"B-but... it's so dark I can't tell where anything..."
Click.
BANG! BABANG!
"So! How did you like the surprise party that Komaeda-kun and I prepared... wait...? Huh...?"
The lights slammed back on, and Monomi — who had burst out of nowhere to set off fireworks she had gotten from who-knows-where — took one look at the horror in front of her and froze, speechless.
She was not the only one. Everyone who saw it locked up on the spot. Because what waited for us in that terrible tableau was...
"Ah... aah..."
Nanami, drenched in blood, collapsed on the floor and trembling —
"Hhghk... hhk... hhgh..."
"D-damn it! Hurry...! Hurry and get him first aid—!"
— and Hinata, a knife buried in his stomach, dragging in each breath like it cost him everything he had.
"The ending's a little disappointing, but... well. I suppose it doesn't matter...?"
And Komaeda, who had somehow drifted up beside Kirigiri and me without a sound, leaned in with a pleasant smile and whispered: