Part 125: Super High-school Level Update #113

Super High-school Level Despair...

The group responsible for last year's "Worst, Most Despair-inducing Incident in the History of Mankind"...
The group who made the plan to throw us into a school life of mutual killing and broadcast that to the world...

The worst, most despair-inducing group...

They're the true identity of the mastermind.

Our true enemy, finally revealed.



But first...



Anyway, let's get out of this terrible place.
We'll talk more later.
Yeah...



Is she just waiting for me to ask?



...Kirigiri-san... did you bring it with you?
That thing you stole from the headmaster's office...Did you bring Monobear's secret tool?



...Of course.
It's a key that was very important for cornering the mastermind. There's no way I'd let go of it.
That key can open any door in this school, right?



Yes, that's right.

In that case, it might help us with that door over there...





Hey, Kirigiri-san... If we use your key, we can open this door, can't we?



...Let's try it.



She took the key out of her pocket, and slowly inserted it into the keyhole.

And then...

* click *

Yes! It worked!



We should be able to leave now. Let's go.
...Sure.

We opened the door, and put the garbage disposal room behind us.



At long last...
At long last, I was able to escape...

But, I didn't even have a second to catch my breath.

The real battle was still ahead of me...



CHAPTER 06: The Reason Super High-school Level Bad Luck Enticed Super High-school Level Murder and Super High-school Level Execution and Super High-school Level Despair
(Abnormal Days Part)





Beyond the door was a long tunnel stretching up, like a chimney.

On the wall, a steel ladder...

We started climbing the ladder, hoping to reach the ground.



It was a long ladder. When I looked up, I couldn't even see the ceiling.
And then, after a short while...

I couldn't see the floor anymore, either.

That garbage disposal room... It sure is buried deep in the ground...
Be careful where you step. If you fall down, I won't be able to save you.
S...Sure. I'll be careful...

Nevertheless, her warning probably had the opposite effect...

............

I should find something to talk about...

It's probably a good idea to have something to distract me right now.



U...Um, Kirigiri-san... There's something I want to ask you.
So, you said you're a "Super High-school Level Detective", didn't you? Since when have you been a detective...?



...Since when?
I've always been one. Ever since I can remember.
Being detectives... That has been the Kirigiri family trade for generations.
We started at a time being a detective was a much more sacred occupation.



So... is your family famous?



No. Just the opposite.
We aren't even well known among others working in our trade.



Eh? Why? Didn't you say working as detectives is a long family tradition...?



That's my family's pride...

...Pride?

Detectives do not stand in the light nor do they hide in the shadows...
We do not work for justice, nor do we work for evil. That's why we can always reach the single, absolute truth.
We should always remain at a place that is neutral. To do that, we must draw a distinction between us and the world.
And that's why we take it upon ourselves to hide from public knowledge.



Hide...?



It's an antiquated idea, and I can't say it's rational...
Nevertheless, we keep that tradition.
I mean... It's my family's pride, isn't it?

Pride...

I see... So that's why, back then...



When I read the Hope's Peak Academy thread before coming to the school, I couldn't find anything about who Kirigiri-san is.

She was hiding it... because of her family's pride...



But, despite what I just said...
I... ended up twisting that pride.



...Eh?



I wanted to enter Hope's Peak Academy, so I promoted myself to the recruiting committee.
It was an action... unworthy of a Kirigiri detective.

She twisted her family's important pride... She must have wanted it so much...

She wanted to enter this school so much... that she allowed herself to do such a thing.



I guess you had no choice, did you? You must have been looking forward to meeting your father.



............
...Looking forward?
Me, looking forward to a reunion with my father... There's no way that could ever happen...



Eh...?
B...But... it has been a long time since you've seen him, hasn't it? There must be so many things you want to tell him about...



There's nothing I want to tell that man.
...There is just one thing I must say to him.



O...One thing...?



It's something I want say to him, no matter what the cost is. I have to say it to him directly, face to face.



W...What is it...?



That I'm breaking off all relations with him...

B...Breaking off...?!

The last time I saw that man...
I was... still just a little girl.
I know it only second-hand, but it seems he was a very smart man...
A promising man of exceptional talent. He should've been the next family master.
But, he hated being a detective.
That's why he dropped out of the Kirigiri family...
And then, using my mother's death as an excuse, he left home for good.
He stormed out after having a huge fight with my grandfather, the current master. And he left me behind...



I...I'm sure he had a reason...
I'm sure he wanted to take you with him...



If he did, I must thank him.
I must thank him for leaving me behind.
I'm not like that man. I take pride in being a detective...
I take pride in belonging to the Kirigiri family...
Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, I'm happy he left me behind.
If, by any chance, he had taken me with him, I probably could never become a detective...



Since I was climbing a ladder, I couldn't see Kirigiri-san's expression.
What kind of a face was she making...? What were her feelings as she was speaking those words...?

I couldn't possibly tell.

It's just that, compared to her usual self, something's different...

She's usually a woman of a few words. But not this time.

She almost sounds... angry.



I am not planning on taking him to task. It's his life to live, after all.
I have nothing to do with him any more. He's a complete stranger. That's the cold truth.
But... There's just one thing...
There's just one thing I can never forgive him for...



Never... forgive?



The way people look at me.
I do not mourn having been left behind. In fact, I'm quite happy about it...
But, the people around me are different.
To them, I have always been "the girl who was thrown away by her father".
That's how everyone around me sees me.
Give me a break. I keep being haunted by the past... by the shadow of that man...
I just want... to rip that man completely out of my life.
That's why I must let him know face to face. I have to break all relations with him officially.
So I can put the past behind me once and for all...
So I can rip him out of my life...
...Even though he has probably forgotten all about me by now.



B...But, he's family... How can you just cut him off like that...?



All we have in common is blood. That's it.
Being connected by blood does not mean being connected by heart...
Can you really call that kind of a relationship "a family"?



Being connected by blood... does not mean being connected by heart...
I couldn't find any words that could deny what she said with such conviction.

So, I just...
Didn't open my mouth anymore.



We continued climbing the ladder, not saying a word.

And then, after a while, at long last...

...We reached the top.





I think this is the top...
Behind this door is Hope's Peak Academy.
We... came back.
There's a trap door on the floor of the trash room, isn't there?
...This is probably it.
Before coming down, I unlocked that door. You shouldn't have any problems opening it.
Let's try...

I reached my right hand to the door in the ceiling, and then, using all my strength, I pushed...



The door opened easily. And then...





We're back, aren't we...
That was one long ladder. I'm all worn out...

I can't tell yet if we're safe or not, but at the very least we managed to get back here.

Back to Hope's Peak Academy...

Kirigiri-san, thank you for saving me...



...I don't need any thanks. I was just returning a favor.



The question is, what do we do now?



But, what should we do now?
It's great that I managed to escape an execution, but if the mastermind finds me...
I'm not the only in danger. It's possible he will be angry with you too, after you saved me...



...Are you worried?
O...Of course...



In that case, we should just go and find out, shouldn't we?
...Eh? Find out...?





Let's go ask Monobear himself if your escape is a problem.
B...But...!



It's only a matter of time until he finds us, anyway. There is no safe place we can hide in...

As she said that, Kirigiri-san pointed to the camera.

...Are you saying that if there's nothing we can do but wait to be caught, we should just go turn ourselves in...?



...It's going to be alright. You have nothing to worry about.



It's the mastermind who is cornered, after all.

The mastermind... who is cornered...

You said that before. What does that mean?



The mastermind exposed it to us during Mukuro Ikusaba's trial.
He exposed... his own weakness.
The mastermind's... weakness...?



You'll understand when we talk to Monobear.
Also, the best plan is to find him before he finds us.
It will be to our advantage during the negotiation...

............

I have a bad feeling about this... No, "bad" isn't strong enough a word...

I guess... we have no choice, do we?



I think we might find him at the gymnasium.
...Let's go.