Part 110: Super High-school Level Update #98
*ding-dong-ding-dong*
Good morning, you bastards! It’s 7 in the morning! Time to wake up! Let’s all strive to do our best today!
............ ............ Uu... Uu...
My vision returned much more slowly than usual.
............ * huff *First, I let out one big breath.
The shivers, the headache, the feeling of heaviness... They were all gone.
The only thing that remained... was the sweat covering my body.
But that sweat's origin... was probably not just from the fever I caught.
That dream I had last night...What the hell was that...?
No, was it even really a dream...?
I put my brain to work, trying to remember.
...Trying to pull images from the depths of my memory, piece by piece.
That's it...! Yesterday, I...
...Fell into feverish sleep...
...Heard a voice I didn't understand...
...And then...
When I opened my eyes...
There was someone strange in a mask standing in front of my bed. And that's not all...
...That masked person was holding a knife!
I have a feeling I tried to resist with every ounce of strength I had...
But... I can't really remember what happened...
Thanks to the fever, my brain and my body weren't in sync... I think I just acted on instinct.
It felt as if my body was moving on its own a long distance away from me... So...
I don't even remember what I did.
But, I'm sure...
I'm sure I did my best to defend myself...
After that, my memory is once again in bits and pieces... The next time I remember with any sort of clarity...
...Kirigiri-san was there.
But... Why was Kirigiri-san in my room?
It was a strange dream...But, was it really just a dream?
There must be a way to find out...
Yes, there must be.
When I opened the drawer...
Huh...?...It's empty. There's nothing in it.
Wait, that's strange...I'm sure I put it in there.
That survival knife Fukawa-san gave me for safekeeping...
That means...
The knife that masked person was holding... was the survival knife from my drawer...!!
I had a feeling that was the case. I guess that settles it.
It wasn't a dream...!
But if it wasn't, there are many things I don't understand...
Why was I attacked?
Who was that masked person?
And also... Why did Kirigiri-san...?
What's going on...? ............Anyway, if I try to figure it out by myself I'd get nowhere.
I should go to the cafeteria... I have to discuss it with everybody.
...Ah, it's you, Naegi! It really is you, isn't it?! Asahina-san...
Wait, where's everybody else?
...We've been a little worried, y'know? Where were you last night? Worried...? Right after it became Night Time last evening, we tried calling you out. But there was no reply when we rang your doorbell... We even thought... you might be dead...
...I wasn't really worried, though! None of us wants to kill anymore! So, where were you? ...I was sick, so I went to bed early. I never even noticed the doorbell ringing... But, why were you trying to call me out? What happened last night?
Um, lots of things happened... It's difficult to explain... But you'll understand once we go to where everyone else is!where everyone else is
So, is everyone else some other place?
Yeah, that's right. We spent the entire night there! T...The entire night...?! I lost at rock scissors paper, so they made me come here to bring everyone breakfast. You came right in time. Help me carry this food! S...Sure, I don't mind, but...
We're at the gymnasium. I'm going on ahead, come quickly!
The gymnasium...? What is everyone doing over there...?
They spent the night there...? Off to the gymnasium we go.
Ah, there he is!
Your lateness surpassed CEO level. It's presidential!
Honestly... coming in at this time is disgraceful.
J...Just like you, making us do all the work while y...you're sleeping in...!
Just as Asahina-san said, everyone but Kirigiri-san was there.
They were standing in a circle, their attention focused on "something" on the floor.
And the moment I saw what that "something" was...
...Eh!?I couldn't help making a startled sound.
In front of them was... a dismantled Monobear....
What... are you doing...? What does it look like we're doing? We're taking it apart to see what makes it tick! T...Taking it apart...?! But... isn't that Monobear? Sure. It's Monobear. A...And you're just... so easily...?
Calm down. There's no danger. No danger...?What is this? What's going on...?!
Hey, what's going on here?! I mean... there's no way taking Monobear apart isn't dangerous...!
I guess I have no choice. Let me give you the whole story, Naegi-chi!
Togami-chi noticed Monobear turned into a regular stuffed toy, so he called us to take it apart! The end! I still don't get it...
Last evening, just before Night Time, I came here to the gymnasium looking for Monobear. I wanted to see if I could get him to tell me if there were any developments regarding Kirigiri. I found Monobear here in the gymnasium. But... ...I couldn't get any reaction from him. It seemed as if he turned into a regular stuffed toy. So... Monobear didn't even more?
I waited for a while, and then the Night Time announcement came on. Monobear continued not moving. I went around the school calling everyone, and we all carefully came back here. But... Monobear was still not moving. That's when we decided to try taking it apart.
It was... Byakuya-sama's genius idea.... A chance to see what Monobear is made of...
And now that we did, I can tell you there's some extremely state-of-the-art technology in there. He wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't a simple remote-controlled toy. Honestly... what kind of bored rich man would even build such a thing...? M...More importantly... how come Monobear suddenly stopped moving...? I thought it could be a mechanical failure, but I can't find a trace of one anywhere. So... it didn't just fail? In other words, something unexpected probably happened to the mastermind, who was controlling him. That's the only reason I can think of. Something... unexpected...? H...He probably got scared of Byakuya-sama and ran away...! Maybe he suddenly got really sick? But... Monobear made the morning announcement earlier, didn't he? If something happened to the mastermind, who was that announcement from...? ...It's an automatic message. It's set to play at the same time every morning.
I see... They are the same words every time... Hey, you guys... now ain't the time for idle chatter, you know...
Look at what I just found in there. What do you think that is? T...That's...!!
...What?
...It's a bomb. It seems it was built into the Monobear design.
A B...B...Bomb?!!
It's dangerous! Just put it down, carefully!
G...Got it...
By the way, this bomb has a motion sensor attached to it. Be careful, if you shake it too hard it may go off.
M...Motion sensor...!? Seriously...?! B...But my hands are shaking...!!
Hey! Calm down! You're a man, aren't you?! E...Everything's fine... I'm super-calm...! It isn't fine! You're all shaky! ...I almost forgot to tell you. It looks like the sensor is switched off at the moment.
Ahahaha! You almost got me!
You really are the most unreliable person of the century, aren't you.
How can you tell?! The century just started!!
F...Forget it... Just put that bomb down, quickly... I don't feel safe with it in your hands...
Yeah, got it... There! It's on the floor! Now we can all calm down!
The bomb that was just in Hagakure-kun's hand was now on the floor. But, more importantly...
Before my eyes, a dismantled Monobear lay still.
Monobear just stopped moving. Could that be because...
...Something really happened to the mastermind?
For some reason... when I heard those words...
...All I could think of was about what happened last night.
...About that attack from the masked person...
Hey, Naegi, are you listening? ...Eh? Don't stand there going "eh"! Aren't you listening to the conversation? ...Conversation?
Y...You weren't listening, were you. You just stood there, spacing out like an animal about to die... I...I'm sorry...
We were just discussing, now that we're done taking Monobear apart, what we're gonna do next...
I decided we should take our offensive measures one step farther.
We need to find out more about the mastermind. We're breaking into the headmaster's office.