Re-education
Crushed beneath Pekoyama's icy presence, I quietly returned to my seat and went back to my meal. Then, without warning, someone slipped into the chair across from me and leaned in to whisper.
"Hey... Kei, you got a second?"
"Huh? What's up all of a sudden?"
"This afternoon at two-thirty... come to the supermarket on this island..."
"The supermarket?"
"Shh...! You can't let the others know...!"
Watching Souda whisper like we were hatching a conspiracy, I suddenly realized what this was. This was that event—the one where you get to see the girls in their swimsuits.
"Wait... is this about the girls going to the beach—"
"HEY!!"
"...Ack!"
Souda's eyes went wide as saucers as he clapped a hand over my mouth. The food I'd been chewing lodged in my throat, and I spent the next several seconds coughing my lungs out.
"What is this... O familiar of the Dark Lord... what manner of being could inflict such suffering upon you...? Tell me as well..."
"Th-this has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it!"
After shooing away a curious Tanaka, Souda leaned back in and hissed at me—I had more or less recovered by then.
"You idiot! If you already know, why the hell would you say it that loud—"
"Look, I don't even care that much... what's the point of staring at girls in swimsuits anyway..."
The truth was I wanted to see it more than anything, but if Kirigiri caught me, I couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen. Better to skip this event...
"I heard your detective girlfriend's going too..."
"I'm in."
Missing an event like this would be a disqualification as a man. It was time to show off my masculinity for the first time in a while.
Then again... is this actually masculinity?
The question flickered through my mind for a moment, but I was about to see Kirigiri in a swimsuit. What else could possibly matter? Souda and I huddled together, whispering as we began to plot our infiltration of the beach trip.
"Hnnngh... Kirigiri..."
Every ounce of stress I'd been carrying melted away at once. I flopped onto the bed in my cottage and rolled around like an idiot. Kirigiri in a swimsuit. A living, breathing Kirigiri in a swimsuit! I had never, not even in my wildest dreams, imagined a day like this would come.
Come to think of it, if I ended up swimming with them, I'd have to wear a swimsuit too, wouldn't I? I hiked up my shirt and glanced down at myself. Not exactly a sight to behold. If I'd known this was coming, I would've let Ogami put me through hell back in the day. I should probably ask Nidai to train me one of these days.
So... now what?
There was still time before two-thirty, and I was turning over what to do with it when the doorbell rang. Ding-dong♪ Ding-dong♪
"Um... Kei...? I came by about last night..."
"...Koizumi?"
Right. I'd completely forgotten about the promise I'd made with Koizumi last night. I got up from the bed and opened the door to find her standing there, looking faintly tense.
"Don't just stand there. Come in."
"Okay..."
Koizumi shuffled into my room, fidgeting. I'd forgotten about our meeting thanks to the upcoming beach trip, but I'd prepared for this kind of thing—I'd already brought tea and coffee back from the supermarket.
"Tea? Or coffee?"
I'd finally gotten to use a line I'd always wanted to try. Tea? Or coffee? Wasn't that the standard opening for high-ranking people and counselors in every drama ever made? I felt a little giddy for no good reason.
"Um... I don't know... I don't really feel like drinking anything..."
"The aroma and flavor of tea soothes the mind, and coffee gives the body energy and lifts a gloomy mood. You're pretty anxious right now—drinking either one would be good for you."
Since I was already in a good mood, I rattled off some trivia I half-remembered and played the expert. Koizumi rested her chin in her hand and answered in a small voice.
"...Coffee, then."
"This is actually pretty good... did you learn how to make coffee or something?"
"If you want to give a good counseling session, knowing how to make coffee and tea is the basics. It helps the person you're talking to feel even a little bit better."
"Hmph... so despite how you look, that Ultimate talent of yours is actually pretty impressive?"
"Haha... it's nothing special..."
The truth was it really wasn't anything special. I'd pretended to use a proper coffee machine while actually dumping in instant mix, and as for counseling—I'd never done it before coming to the Danganronpa world, so I was barely scraping by on game knowledge.
But hey, if the results are good, who cares? Koizumi was sipping her coffee with a satisfied little smile, so using the instant mix had clearly been the right call.
"Haa... so, the reason I came here..."
"It's because of the game they gave us as a motive, right?"
"H-how do you know about that...?"
"I played that game too. I've already figured out the gist of it. So you don't need to explain."
At that, Koizumi closed her mouth. Her eyes dropped, and a gloomy expression settled over her face.
"Honestly, I don't want to believe any of it, but... ever since I played that game, every day has felt uneasy. Even when I'm just sitting still, these... strange memories keep coming back..."
"Monokuma didn't give us that motive for no reason. He made us play a game like that on purpose, to plant seeds of suspicion between us. So you don't have to let it weigh on you too much..."
"I want to do that... I really want to...!"
"...Koizumi?"
Koizumi's voice suddenly started to crack.
"That photo in the game over screen—the girl who died from a baseball bat to the head... that was... that was my friend Sato...!!"
Damn it. I hadn't thought of that. Even if the face was bowed and hidden behind hair, there was no way Koizumi wouldn't recognize her own friend. She'd already figured out the game was real—without even seeing the clear bonus.
"I tried not to believe that stupid story about our memories being erased... but if that's true... then what about Sato...? And... according to the ending credits... the one who killed Kuzuryu's sister...!"
"Koizumi, calm down."
"Sa-Sato... Kuzuryu's sister... and... the one who killed Sato was... Kuzuryu..."
"....."
Koizumi was forcing the truth out, piece by painful piece. She'd already pieced together most of it. What the hell was I supposed to do with this...?
"I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do... Yesterday, when Kuzuryu called me to the park... I wanted to... I wanted to apologize, but... I wanted to, but...!"
Koizumi slammed her fist down on the desk. Her face twisted.
"Ku-Kuzuryu killed my friend in the end too...! He committed the same kind of murder... so why am I... why am I the one being treated like the killer...!?"
A moment ago she'd been drowning in guilt. Now she was furious at Kuzuryu. She was completely unstable—unable to keep her rapidly shifting emotions in check. Her face contorted as she went on.
"E-even if that game is true... I... I didn't do anything wrong... Ku-Kuzuryu has no right... no right to come after me for revenge now!!"
In a way, she wasn't wrong. But in Chapter 2, Koizumi said those exact words to Kuzuryu's face. And that's what triggered the murder. I had to step in here.
"...You're right. Your friend killed Kuzuryu's little sister, and Kuzuryu killed your friend. That's an undeniable fact."
"Th-that's right...! So...!"
"But it's also true that you destroyed evidence and tried to cover up the crime for your friend who committed murder."
".....!"
Koizumi's eyes began to tremble. I kept going.
"In a situation like this, the weight of anyone's sins doesn't matter. The laws and rules of modern society don't exist here. The only rules that exist are Monokuma's—rules designed to goad every last one of us into murder."
"....."
"You already know why Monokuma used this as a motive, don't you? This wasn't aimed at everyone. It was aimed at the two of you—you and Kuzuryu. It's a scheme to turn one of you into a killer and the other into a victim. Are you really going to dance to Monokuma's tune?"
"I... I..."
"I understand how you feel about what happened. I really do. But if you hold onto that attitude in a situation like this... something irreversible is going to happen. If you'd said to Kuzuryu in the park yesterday what you just said to me—what do you think would have happened?"
Koizumi's face went deathly pale.
"See? You can picture it. So no matter what you think... this time, swallow your pride and apologize to Kuzuryu. Then you can get an apology from him too. If you don't, you're just doing Monokuma a favor."
"B-but... even if I apologize... what if Kuzuryu's already decided to kill me...? What if he's already... already planned it out... and he's just waiting for his chance...!?"
"Kuzuryu is angry because you've been running from this. All he wants is to face the truth of what happened and set everything right. So if you apologize first... you can calm him down. Even as furious as he is right now..."
Koizumi nodded at my words, but then her voice broke again.
"I... I want to... but I'm scared... I can't find the courage..."
"....."
"Honestly... avoiding Kuzuryu... telling myself he had no right to take revenge... that was all just because I was scared... I'm... I'm a coward..."
"A coward... what are you talking about..."
"I've always been like this... always looking away... always running... so..."
"I'd like to hear why you think that. I know it's hard, but... could you tell me...?"
"....."
Koizumi opened her mouth, then shut it again. From the pain on her face, this was tangled up with something raw—a wound, a trauma. But I needed to know if I was going to end this. I appealed to her, my voice earnest.
"I'm asking you. Of course you'd hesitate—we're talking about the trauma sitting in your heart. If you don't want to say it here and now, I completely understand. But..."
".....?"
"I want to crush this killing game."
"The... the killing game...?"
"That's right. To do that, I need to neutralize the motive Monokuma gave us. And to neutralize Monokuma's motive, I need your courage right now."
"My... courage...?"
"Yes... so I'm asking you, Koizumi."
Koizumi's eyes filled with tears. Then she began to speak.
"I wanted to be brave too... like my mom, the war correspondent... I always wanted to take pictures with her, but... I was too scared to go with her..."
"What were you afraid of?"
"Photographing people's misery. Photographing faces twisted in pain. Photographing horrible scenes of devastation. I was afraid of facing the fact that photographs... don't only capture happy moments..."
"And so?"
"So... every time I had a chance to go with my mom... I used taking care of my lazy dad as an excuse... and I always ran away... and I'm still... doing the same thing now..."
"....."
"In the end... even in a situation like this... I'm just a coward... You think I'm pathetic too, don't you...?"
Watching her mumble that in a small, tearful voice, I almost laughed. I could barely believe this was the same prickly girl who used to snap at every guy she found pathetic.
Well... now that I knew the side of her the games had never shown, it was time for me, as a fan of the series, to give her some comfort. I offered Koizumi a small smile.
"It's kind of funny, hearing the girl who always called unreliable guys pathetic ask if she's pathetic herself."
"Th-that's..."
"I know. You blamed your lazy father, but... the real reason you hated pathetic men was because you saw yourself in them, wasn't it?"
".....!"
"But you're not a coward, and you're not pathetic. If anything, you're brave."
"I'm not...! I...!"
"Hey. How many people do you think can sit in a counseling session and lay their heart out as honestly as you just did?"
"...?"
"People with wounds in their hearts are extremely reluctant to expose their trauma or their shame. Even if the person sitting across from them is a counselor, they're still a stranger. The defense mechanisms kick in on instinct."
"....."
A good example suddenly came to mind. I closed my eyes for a moment, then spoke to her, calmly, the words I'd wanted to say.
"I... no. There's a kid I know who went to counseling for years and never once opened up, not even at the end. That kid didn't have the courage to face their fear. But what about you?"
"I..."
"You told me everything, didn't you? That makes you incredibly brave. A real coward would've just sat there with their mouth shut, unable to say a single word."
"But...! I'm still scared...! I want to apologize to Kuzuryu, but... what if he attacks me...!"
"I'll go with you."
"...What?"
Koizumi's eyes went wide. I declared it to her, without hesitation.
"When you go to apologize to Kuzuryu, I'll go with you. That solves it, right? If anything happens, I'll..."
"Protect me?"
"Hit the security buzzer and call Kirigiri as fast as I— uh... I mean... that's not... of course I'd... p-protect you, right?"
A brief silence fell. Then Koizumi broke it with a laugh.
"Pfft... so if you protect me, nothing will go wrong? That's your conclusion...?"
"N-no... I do have a security buzzer, you know..."
"You're so weird... one second you're incredibly reliable, and the next you're completely untrustworthy... I can't figure you out at all."
"Uh... is that a compliment? Or an insult?"
She ignored my dumb question and stood up.
"You've been a big help, Mr. Unreliable-but-Surprisingly-Talented Counselor. I know what I need to do now."
"That's a relief."
"Well then, I'll be—"
"Wait, are you going to apologize right now? Then I'm coming with you!!"
"Huh...?"
I'd managed to turn Koizumi around, which was good, but I still hadn't done anything about Kuzuryu. If she apologized first, he might accept it—but he might also lose control of his anger and attack her. To keep that from happening, I had to go with her, no matter what.
"S-so that wasn't just talk...?"
"I keep my word once I've said it. Are you going now? Then I'll get ready too..."
"No. I'd like to go right now, but... I'm a little worn out... I was going to settle my nerves first and go this evening..."
"Ah, in that case—the girls are heading to the beach. Why don't you join them? Playing around with everyone should help you settle down."
"They did invite me earlier... that might be nice. Thank you. Really. For everything."
I was glad she'd accepted. With this, I could at least keep Koizumi safe through the beach event.
The second motive was halfway crushed, and the thought made me smile. Koizumi smiled back, then headed for the door. I called after her in a hurry.
"And! When you go to apologize! You call me! That's an order!"
"Haa... I already said I would."
"It's a promise, okay!?"
"Yes, yes."
With that, Koizumi opened the door and left. I stared at the door for a moment, then threw myself onto the bed with a triumphant grin.
"Alright. One problem down... now I just need to go with Koizumi to apologize and talk Kuzuryu around..."
The tension drained out of me, and my imagination immediately took off—wondering what kind of swimsuit Kirigiri would show up in at the beach.
"Still... why do I have this sudden chill?"
"I see... so Miss Koizumi would like to join us for our swim as well...?"
"Yeah... is that okay? Or is it too late..."
"No... it isn't that..."
Koizumi had come to find Sonia so she could join the beach trip. When Sonia's expression turned puzzled, Koizumi's did too.
"Um... Sonia? What's wrong? Is something the matter...?"
"Well... Miss Koizumi, are you feeling unwell?"
"...Huh?"
"Your face is extremely red..."
"Th-that's... this is... ah, it's nothing!"
"M-Miss Koizumi...?"
Koizumi suddenly started stammering, then whipped around and bolted. Sonia was left standing there in complete confusion.
"Sonia. May I ask you something?"
Kirigiri, who had been watching Koizumi leave with a distinctly icy stare, posed the question with an expression of complete indifference.
"Miss Kirigiri? What is it...?"
"If a puppy you were raising... started wagging its tail at every stranger it met, what would you do?"
"Hmm... strangers can be dangerous, so I suppose I would have to give it a firm lesson so it wouldn't do that again?"
"Yes... I agree completely."
"I see... but why bring that up all of a sudden...?"
"....."
Sonia closed her eyes and offered a brief, silent prayer for the puppy Kirigiri was raising.