Partners Resemble Each Other

"Hm? What's this about...?"

"Just like we agreed beforehand — we're heading out to start persuading people."

"I see. Very well. But I can hardly leave the three of you to wander about on your own. Wait here a moment."

Pekoyama, who had been standing watch over us, disappeared somewhere for a short while and came back with Owari and Nidai in tow.

"The hell...? Why're you guys out here?"

"What's going on?"

"They say they've come out to do the persuading, as previously discussed. The two of you will serve as their escorts."

"Haaah... and we were just getting to the good part. Whatever. We'll pick it back up tonight."

"I welcome a challenge anytime."

Owari and Nidai were still locking eyes, that same competitive fire burning between them. I called after Pekoyama as she turned to leave.

"Um... Pekoyama. If it's all right—"

"Do not speak to me. I do not trust any of you."

And with that, she was gone.

"...Looks like Hanamura was telling the truth. Quite a few people really don't trust us."

I listened to Kirigiri's even, unhurried observation and sank into thought.

The ones openly hostile toward us right now were Kuzuryu, Pekoyama, Saionji, and Koizumi — four in total.

Now that I line them up... aside from Pekoyama, they're all man-haters, aren't they...?

Saionji's personality was infamous for being insufferable, and Koizumi had a well-documented habit of barking at any man she found untrustworthy. Kuzuryu would almost certainly keep trolling unless something as catastrophic as Pekoyama's sacrifice forced his hand — and Pekoyama followed Kuzuryu's will without question, which made her a threat by default.

On the other side, the ones in our corner were Soda, Mioda, Togami, and Hanamura — also four.

Four for, four against. A dead heat.

Yeah... winning over the neutrals is going to be the whole game this vote.

The situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. If we could peel even one person off the fence...

"Oh, right — how does the vote actually work? Simple majority, I'm guessing...?"

"Huh...? Now that you mention it... did Hanamura even tell us?"

Whatever the reason — probably the blood loss clouding his judgment — Hanamura had apparently forgotten to mention the voting rules.

"Excuse me... about the vote—"

"It requires a two-thirds majority."

"...Come again?"

"Of the thirteen people voting, two-thirds — which rounds to nine — have to agree. That's what was decided."

"What...?"

"Hold on, why two-thirds instead of a simple majority? And what's with the rounding?"

"This is that important. Did you think everyone's trust would come cheap?"

"..."

Nidai's jab left me with nothing to say. He wasn't wrong. We were the ones who needed this, not them. If anyone was going to run themselves ragged, it had to be us.

"Haaah... fine. Nothing we can do about it. Let's just—"

"Wh-what the hell...?"

"Damn it. What's that Monokuma bastard cooking up this time..."

"..."

Of all the rotten timing. We'd only just stepped out to start persuading people... And calling everyone to Jabberwock Park right now — that had to be the second motive, didn't it?

The second we walk out, he drops the second motive. Was he really that desperate to get in our way?

"Calling everyone to Jabberwock Park... it's to announce the second motive, isn't it."

"The s-second motive...?"

Watching Nanami talk with Kirigiri, her face gone pale with surprise, I suddenly remembered what the second motive actually was. A game.

Not just any game, of course. It was a game adapted from a real incident — the death of Kuzuryu's younger sister, Natsumi Kuzuryu, at Hope's Peak Academy.

The person who killed Kuzuryu's sister had been a friend of Koizumi's. Natsumi had been relentlessly bullying Koizumi, and the friend had snapped and murdered her. Afterward, Koizumi learned the truth and stayed silent. Kuzuryu learned the truth and murdered Koizumi's friend.

That was the tragedy they had packaged into a game and forced the students to play — Chapter 2's motive, in all its ugliness.

In Chapter 2, Kuzuryu cleared the game, flew into a rage, and murdered Koizumi. So was that same nightmare about to repeat itself here?

No. Maybe not.

I needed to remember how many times trusting the original game's knowledge had already blown up in my face. I was an irregular in this world. Things had already changed.

Either way, I had to see it with my own eyes.

"Ah! That's a game console, right? Hey, where's the software? What's the lineup look like?!"

...Huh?

I was, honestly, a little thrown. I'd been bracing for an entirely different motive — but so far, this was identical to Chapter 2.

"Ta-daaa! I give you... the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case!"

Even the name of the game was the same. What was going on?

"Twilight Syndrome... an adventure game, first released in 1996... about a high school girl investigating various urban legends..."

Watching Nanami light up as she rattled off the game's history, I felt a strange little smile tug at my mouth. The game she was talking about so excitedly was one that Spike Chunsoft — the studio behind the Danganronpa series — had acquired.

The feeling was hard to name. I was still wearing that awkward smile when Monokuma addressed the group.

"That's right! This game is your next motive... in other words, the motive you'll need to start killing each other...!"

Having declared the motive, Monokuma did what he always did — sowed distrust, picked at old wounds, set them against one another.

"How many times do I have to say it...? You're not friends. You're enemies. Every last one of you is each other's enemy, got it...? Well, except for those three public enemies over there, of course...! Upupupu...!"

He grinned at the three of us, and then he was gone.

"Wh-what do we do...?"

"D-don't ask me... how would I know...?"

"Touching that game carelessly would be dangerous. That much is certain."

"Yeah... we should take a closer look at the situation first..."

The consensus was already swinging toward not playing. Being told it was a motive for murder would make anyone hesitate — but sooner or later, someone would sneak a session in anyway.

If I want to know what's actually in that game, I'll have to play it myself... maybe tonight, in secret... ah. Right. We're still in isolation.

We weren't quite as badly off as Komaeda, who was still tied up in the warehouse and hadn't even made it here — but the three of us were hardly free agents either. I was going to have to figure something out.

"Fascinating... a motive to commit murder. How very entertaining."

"A motive to commit murder... what part of that is entertaining?!"

"Well, you've gotta kill somebody if you want to win this killing game, right? If you're gonna do it anyway, might as well have some fun with it."

"You... you...!"

"And besides... if you kill one of those three, there's no Class Trial. You could have even more fun with it..."

"...!"

With that, Kuzuryu flashed a thoroughly unpleasant smile and walked off.

As if Komaeda going several times more off the rails than in the original wasn't already enough to deal with — now I had to keep an eye on that pint-sized brat too. I was going to lose my mind.

"Hm?"

"I won't let anyone else get hurt... I'll stop it. I swear I will..."

Nanami was murmuring it under her breath, her face set with resolve. The uncertain, unready girl I'd first met was already gone. What I was seeing now was the real her — the one who had been everyone's anchor, everyone's hope — and something warm settled in my chest.

"Um... everyooone... actually, I have some good news..."

Just as the mood had gone thoroughly grim, Tsumiki spoke up in a trembling voice.

"Good news...?"

"Y-yes... Hinata-san... he just woke up..."

"What? Are you serious?!"

"Fortunately his life isn't in any danger... but he'll need to rest for a while..."

It was the first piece of genuinely good news in a long time, and the others started buzzing with excitement.

"Cause for celebration! A real cause for celebration!"

"His life isn't in danger... thank goodness..."

"The medical supplies were terrible, the conditions were terrible... you really are the Ultimate Nurse, Tsumiki!"

"Fueeeh... th-thank you..."

"Shouldn't we go visit him or something?"

"He's sleeping again right now... rest is the priority, so it would be better to go tomorrow..."

Everyone was smiling, talking over each other — everyone except Nanami, who stood a little apart with a lonely look on her face.

"I... I don't have the right to be happy yet... he hasn't forgiven me..."

"It wasn't your fault. Hinata's awake now — the second he's up for it, you should go apologize—"

"Do I even have the right to apologize to him...?"

"Talking yourself down like that isn't healthy. Keep it up and it'll rot you from the inside."

"Haha... thanks for trying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to make me feel better..."

Nanami forced a smile, but she couldn't quite hide the sadness in her eyes.

"What... it's already ten...?"

"Time really flies, huh..."

"Aaahhn... I'm so sleepy..."

"Heheh... m-me too... I was up all night nursing him..."

"The hell's your problem? Suddenly acting all buddy-buddy."

"Ah... I... um..."

"Pfft, look at her. That's hilarious... the way you're stammering... you were a total loser back in school, weren't you?"

"I-I'm soooorryyy!!"

Saionji's unfiltered malice went lashing out at poor Mikan. Meanwhile, over on the other side, Owari suddenly started stretching and made a beeline for Nidai.

"Nidai. How about we finish that match we didn't get to earlier?"

"We're supposed to be watching those three."

"If it's those three, I'll take over the watch."

Togami appeared out of nowhere and volunteered himself as their replacement. Owari's face lit up with pure competitive hunger.

"That settles it! All right, let's—"

"Hold on. If we're going to fight anyway, why not make one of those three the referee? They can keep watch at the same time."

"Ooh, not a bad idea. Then who... hey! Kei! Get over here!"

"Huh...? What's up?"

"Be our ref!"

"?!"

And so Kei was dragged off, wearing the face ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a man who had never asked for any of this, to serve as an unscheduled combat referee. Everyone else headed off to bed — everyone except Saionji, who had apparently found her entertainment for the evening and was verbally unloading on Mikan with a grin, and Mikan herself, who was absorbing every last hit.

"Uh... Kirigiri...? I'll sneak a look at that game, so you—"

"There's no need to sneak. If you want to play it, play it openly."

"To... Togami...?"

Nanami thanked Togami several times over for the unexpected kindness, then turned and spoke quietly to Kirigiri.

"Um... could you help that girl? She's suffering..."

"Leave it to me."

Only then did Nanami look relieved. She headed for the game console.

"...You're not actually enjoying this, are you? Acting all weak and hurt like that. You're a masochist, aren't you? Hm?"

"I-I'm nooot..."

"Don't you 'I'm not' me, you fat pig...!"

"E-eeeek...!"

"Haaah, there she goes again. Another fake little scream so we'll all feel sorry for her...? I swear I can't stand—?!"

Saionji had been mid-rant, working off her stress by tearing into Tsumiki, when she looked up and saw Kirigiri walking straight toward her. The color drained from her face.

"Y-you... what the hell...?! Why—"

"That's strange..."

"Wh-what's strange..."

"There's this awful smell coming from somewhere..."

"...!"

"I can't tell if it's the stench of a rotten heart... or just the stench coming off your body. Either way, it's rather foul, isn't it?"

"Nngh... nnghhh...!"

Saionji glared at Kirigiri, trembling from head to toe — but the moment Kirigiri wrinkled her nose and pinched it shut, her eyes welled up and she bolted.

Kirigiri watched her go with a look of faint disgust, then turned and started toward Tsumiki.

"I-I'm soooorry... that smell... it might have been coming from me... no, it was coming from me...! I'm sorry!! I'm really, really sorryyy!!"

The moment Kirigiri approached with that unreadable expression, Tsumiki seized up with a familiar, bone-deep terror, shaking so hard she could barely stand.

"As an apology... you can hit me if you want...! Anywhere is fine... just hit me hard...! Ah, or if you were already planning to hit me, then something else—"

"Haaah..."

"E-eeeek...!"

Kirigiri sighed and reached out. Tsumiki squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the pain she knew so well —

"Looking at you... you remind me of a puppy I used to take care of."

"Ah...? Uh... huh...?"

Kirigiri's hand settled on Tsumiki's head and began to stroke her hair.

"There were times she looked every bit as pitiful as you do right now..."

"...?"

"She's grown quite sturdy since then. Though I suspect she still has a long way to go."

"I-I don't really understand, but... if you want me to act like a puppy, that's my specialty! I can do it as much as you want! Before I learned the sea turtle egg-laying performance, crawling around like a dog was my whole—"

"Shh."

"Aueueueuh..."

Kirigiri pinched Tsumiki's cheek and stretched it until the words stopped coming. Then she looked her in the eye.

"M-me...?"

"Who was it that saved Hinata's life?"

"I-I just did what I was supposed to..."

"Don't you dare reduce an achievement like that to a 'just.' You're the nurse who takes care of all of us, aren't you?"

"B-but..."

"No matter how you've been treated until now — no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠matter what kind of unhappy past you carry — the person you are is someone this group needs."

"..."

"So have a little confidence."

With that, Kirigiri gave Tsumiki's head a few careful pats, said her goodbyes, and started toward Nanami.

Tsumiki watched her go, a blissful look spreading across her face.

"I... I was finally... shown affection... heheh..."

Kirigiri was halfway to Nanami when she paused, just for a moment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and murmured to herself.

"They say partners start to resemble each other, don't they...? It seems... that hypothesis may have some merit."

"..."

"Hah... haaah... hah... why... did I... the referee... get dragged into it too..."

"Haaah..."

An hour later, watching Kei collapse face-first onto the floor, gasping for air and muttering pitifully to himself, Kirigiri found she had no choice but to re-examine the credibility of her hypothesis.