A Secret Rendezvous
I stepped out of the gymnasium and took a moment to collect myself. One by one, Monokuma started calling the others away to watch their motive videos.
The looks on their faces when they came back out were something else. Then again, even I—someone from an entirely different world—had been shaken that badly. How much worse must it have been for them?
Most of them were showing signs of anxiety, but the one who looked worst off by far was Maizono. In the original story, watching her motive video had sent her into such a panic that she'd gone on to commit that first, infamous murder. Right now, she was probably barely holding onto her sanity.
As the group sank deeper into unease, Ikusaba offered a suggestion, her tone deceptively casual.
"Hmm... instead of just sitting around all gloomy like this, why don't we talk it out? If we all share what we saw in our videos, it might help us feel a little better..."
On the surface, it sounded perfectly reasonable. But knowing who Ikusaba really was, I could tell her intentions were anything but kind. She was probably trying to stoke their anxiety by forcing them to relive every frame of those videos.
In the original, every last one of them had recoiled at the idea of describing what they'd seen. Maizono had even lost it and bolted the second Naegi asked her about his own video. I needed to shut this down.
"The thought's nice, but everyone's on edge right now. I think settling our nerves should come first."
"Uh... y-yeah? You think so...?"
Ikusaba flinched at the chill in my voice.
"I figure most of you probably saw something similar to what I did. Being shaken up is only natural. So for now, I think we should all rest and try to calm down. How does that sound?"
The others nodded in silence. It hurt to see them like this—kids who'd been so lively just a little while ago, now completely drained.
We agreed to meet again at the dining hall the next morning and went our separate ways. I headed back to my room, lost in thought.
Now that things have come to this, standing night watch isn't going to be enough. I need to make myself some real allies.
If I was going to commit, I was going to do it right. I started moving, putting the plan taking shape in my head into action.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
I was standing at Kirigiri's door, pressing the intercom. I'd steeled myself for this, but facing my favorite character still made my heart skip. I couldn't help being a little nervous.
"I believe I made myself perfectly clear. I have no intention of cooperating with someone who's hiding something."
Kirigiri stepped out, her voice even colder than usual. The video she'd just watched was probably still weighing on her, too.
"No, it's... I wanted to talk about the night watch, actually..."
I dragged the words out, buying time as I slipped her a note from an angle the security cameras couldn't catch. Kirigiri's eyes narrowed for a split second, then her expression smoothed over as she carefully accepted it.
"We already settled that. You and I are taking the night watch together. Just the two of us."
That was Kirigiri for you. She'd picked up on exactly what I was doing and played along without missing a beat. I'd accomplished what I came for, but I still needed to say this next part anyway, so I kept going.
"The thing is, pulling all-nighters with just the two of us is going to wear us down pretty fast. A few people offered to help out, so I was thinking we could discuss it at the dining hall tomorrow. What do you think?"
"Fine. We'll do that."
Kirigiri looked like she had a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but lingering here any longer wouldn't do us any good. I finished talking with her and, swallowing my reluctance, headed for the bathhouse.
As I started tearing down the restricted-access tape blocking the entrance, Monokuma popped out and started yelling.
"What do you think you're doing...?! That's off-limits! If something happens because you went in there, don't come crying to me!"
"Haaah..."
Honestly, until a few days ago, Monokuma had just looked like a video game character to me. Now I couldn't even stand the sight of the damn bear.
"Huh? Are you ignoring me...? Hello? Mr. Kei?"
"..."
"What, are you sulking because I played that motive video in front of everyone...? I didn't know you were such a sore loser, Kei..."
"....."
I didn't give him so much as a word, just kept peeling the tape away in silence. Monokuma finally snapped.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Fine! Fine, I get it! What do you want? I might've gone a little overboard earlier, so I'll grant you one special wish! Just this once!"
"...If I asked you to end this miserable farce, would you do it?"
I shot back, dripping with sarcasm. Monokuma bristled.
"Of course I wouldn't...! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to set up this killing game?!"
"...I just want to get a decent night's sleep and take a bath this evening. Open the changing room and the bathhouse. The others need a chance to settle their nerves too, so let them use it."
Monokuma mulled it over for a moment, then put on a look of magnanimous generosity.
"Well... they do say you need the carrot as well as the stick... I suppose that much is fine."
Thank God. Just as I'd planned, we'd have access to the changing room and the bathhouse. There were no security cameras or recording devices in either of them. In other words, it was the one place we could stay out of Enoshima's sight. Getting a location that useful opened up was going to make everything a lot easier from here on out.
Mission accomplished, I turned to head back to my room—and Monokuma whispered from behind me.
"But seriously... are you sure that's the wish you want? Don't need a murder weapon? Or maybe some of the girls' underwear?"
"Piss off."
Monokuma vanished with a disgusting little laugh. Even that short conversation had drained me completely. Exhausted down to my bones, I made my way back to my room.
"About time, I guess."
The note I'd handed Kirigiri earlier had told her to come to the changing room alone around eight-thirty that evening. Looking back, it did come off as pretty shady. Borderline creepy, even. But well—what else was I supposed to do?
I entered the changing room a little ahead of the appointed time. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and just rest, but there was something more important right now, so I held off.
A moment later, the door eased open and Kirigiri stepped inside. She'd actually come alone, just like I'd asked—was she not even a little afraid? Then again, if it came down to a fistfight between the two of us, I was pretty sure I'd lose.
"So. Why did you ask me to come here alone?"
She was watching me with considerable wariness. Fair enough. After a motive video and a note that shady, anyone would be on guard. Honestly, if I were in her shoes, I would've been too scared to show up.
"There's something I've been keeping from you that I want to tell you. This is the only place without cameras or microphones, so I didn't have a choice. And I have no intention of hurting you, so you can relax."
"So you've finally decided you want to cooperate?"
I'd wanted to cooperate from the start. I just needed time to figure out how to phrase things, since I couldn't tell her the whole truth.
"Yeah. Where should I even start... I'll lead with the most important part. The truth is, we've already been enrolled at Hope's Peak Academy for two years. Our memories have been erased. You've already got some idea about the memory thing, don't you?"
Kirigiri's eyes went wide at the sudden bombshell. For someone who almost never let her emotions show, that look on her face was almost unfairly cute. I steadied my racing heart and pressed on.
"I don't know why, but my memories weren't erased. Whether it was a mistake on the mastermind's part or something else, I remember everything that's happened over the past two years, and I know exactly what's been done to us."
Of course, my memories of those two years had been wiped too—but if I wanted to pass along what I knew, this was the only way I could explain it.
"That's all I can tell you for now. The mastermind knows the two of us are in the changing room, so if we take too long, it'll get dangerous. I think we have time for a few questions, though. Anything you want to ask?"
Just dumping information on her would be inefficient, and it wouldn't do much to earn her trust. Better to answer her questions and leak what I needed to along the way.
"Then here's my first question. What kind of Ultimate talent did I have?"
"You enrolled at Hope's Peak Academy with the talent of the Ultimate Detective. Well? Does that ring any bells?"
Kirigiri's expression hardened, and she suddenly clutched her head, wincing as if in pain. Hearing the words "Ultimate Detective" was probably bringing some of her memories back.
"This is... it seems... this is the truth."
The headache appeared to ease. Her expression evened out as she spoke. Now that Kirigiri had recognized her own talent, she'd be even more of a force to be reckoned with. That alone was a massive gain.
"Then my second question. Do you know the mastermind's identity?"
I finally got to tell Kirigiri who the mastermind was. It felt like the barber in the old tale, the one who couldn't rest until he'd shouted into the reeds that the king had donkey's ears. God, that felt good.
"That's... honestly hard to believe. But the information you just gave me was true, so I'll take your word for it for now. Then my last question..."
Kirigiri started to ask, then let the words trail off. She closed her mouth and stood there, her expression tight, clearly wrestling with something.
It might have looked baffling from the outside, but I understood exactly what she was doing. What she really wanted to ask about was her father. At this point in time, anything involving him was a raw nerve—her one true landmine.
She was probably debating whether to ask because her father's face had appeared in the motive video Monokuma had shown her. But her father had already been murdered. Was I supposed to just tell her that?
I was still torn—tell her the truth so she wouldn't catch me in a lie, since Kirigiri could smell deception a mile away, or hide it even if it made her suspicious—when she spoke again.
"...What's the situation outside the school right now?"
Looks like she hadn't found the courage yet. That was a relief, as far as I was concerned. She'd learn the truth soon enough. But our Kirigiri would get through it.
"It's complicated enough that I can't explain everything right now, but to put it simply: the world's gone to hell. Outside is a full-blown post-apocalypse."
Kirigiri's face darkened. Maybe because she now knew the video she'd seen hadn't been fabricated. But she composed herself almost immediately, slipping back into her usual cool, analytical demeanor.
"I see. All right. It's all rather hard to believe, but I'll trust you."
"Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd believe me this fast. That's a relief. Even I think it all sounds completely insane."
"You already knew about a talent I didn't even remember I had. And I could tell everything you said just now was the truth from your habits."
"My what? My habits?"
"You bite your nails when you're hiding something or feeling anxious. On the other hand, when you say something with clear conviction, you clench your fists. And the entire time we were talking, you had your fists clenched."
That was the Ultimate Detective for you. She'd even picked up on a habit that small. I was going to have to be very careful about pulling anything in front of Kirigiri.
"Anyway, thanks for believing me. We should probably get going soon, though..."
"You came in first, so you should leave first. I'll take a bath before I go, so no one gets suspicious."
She had a point. I left the changing room, leaving Kirigiri behind as she drifted into thought.