Part 120: Chapter 5 Daily Life, Part 7

: Ah, Makoto! Yup, that's Makoto, sure as the sky's blue!
: Hey, Hina...
: You really had me worried, ya know? What happened to you last night?
: Worried...?
: Yeah, right after nighttime hit, we all went to get you. We were hammering away at your doorbell, but you never answered. We thought maybe you'd been...you know...



: I mean, not that that'd actually happen! I mean, nobody here would wanna--you know! So anyway...what were you doing?
: I didn't feel good, so I went right to bed. I had no idea you guys even showed up... But why did you come to get me? Did something happen?
: Umm...well, lots of stuff, actually. I'm not sure I can really explain...
: Let's go meet up with [everyone else], then they can tell you all about it!

> everyone else

: So...is everyone waiting somewhere else or something?



: Oh, yeah! We all stayed up the whole night!
: The whole night...!?
: I lost at rock-paper-scissors so I had to come get breakfast for everyone...
: So you got here just in time! C'mon, help me carry it.
: O-Okay, sure...
: Everyone's in the gym. Hurry up, I'll meet you there!

The gym...? Why's everyone in the gym?

: And...the entire night?









: Ah, there he is!
: This is worse than being late for your wedding, the birth of your son, and your own funeral, all at once!
: Jeez. To show up now, like it's no big deal...
: You made us s-stay up all night, while you slept like a b-baby in your bed...?

Just like Hina said, everyone was there. Besides Kyoko... And then I noticed... They'd formed a circle around...something. As soon as I saw what that "something" was...

: What the--!?

Before I could catch myself, I'd cried out.





Spread out in front of them...were the remains of Monokuma.

: Wh-What are you doing?
: What does it look like? We're dismantling it to see what makes it tick.
: Dismantling!? But I mean...that's Monokuma you're messing with, right!?
: Yeah, that's right.
: She's not even fazed...!



: Relax. There's no danger.
: You say that, but...

What is this!? What are you guys doing!?

: Seriously, what are you thinking!? How can you say tearing apart something like that isn't dangerous?
: It isn't! What do you want us to say?



: Well, I guess I'll handle this. I'll explain what's goin' on, Makoto. Cuz that's how much I like ya!
: Byakuya found this li'l fella layin' around, then we tore it apart!
: That doesn't explain anything...



: Just before we went to bed last night, I came to the gym to try and talk to Monokuma. I wanted to see if he had any new information about Kyoko's disappearance. And I found him here, just like normal. However...when I found him, he was no more than a regular toy. He didn't react, didn't say a word.
: You're saying...he wasn't moving at all?
: I waited there until nighttime officially began, but still Monokuma laid there motionless. I gathered everyone up as quickly as possible so they could take a look. Even then, he still didn't make a move. So I immediately initiated the disassembly process.
: It was Master's s-stroke of genius. A chance to find out what m-made Monokuma tick...
: One thing we discovered is that he's quite a sophisticated machine. It's leagues beyond any normal remote-control toy. Who has enough free time to invest in something like that, anyway...?
: B-But besides that, what I'm wondering is...why did he stop moving all of a sudden?



: I thought maybe he'd malfunctioned, but we didn't find any cause as we were taking him apart.
: So if he didn't break down...
: Then maybe something happened to his puppeteer, the mastermind. Something unexpected. I can't imagine any other possibility.
: Something...unexpected?



: They were probably so s-scared of Master, they ran away in t-terror...
: Or maybe they got sick or something?
: But Monokuma made his announcement this morning, right? Who was that, if not the mastermind?
: Oh, I'm sure that's a recording. It's set to a timer, and plays as necessary.
: That's true. He says the exact same thing every day, right?
: Hey, guys? I don't think now's a good time for light conversation...



♪ Music cuts out. ♪

: I just found something. What is it...?
: I-It's...!
: It's what?
: A bomb. There's some installed in every Monokuma robot, I'm sure.





: A b-b-b-bomb!?
: That's super bad! We need to get rid of it!
: Roger that!
: It appears the bomb has a motion sensor. Any sudden movements, it's sure to go off.
: M-Motion sensor!? For serious!? Agh...I'm starting to get all shaky...!
: Hey! Get it together! You're a man, aren't ya!?
: I-I'm fine! I'm totally fine! Ah, ah, ah!
: You're so NOT fine! You're all "ah ah ah"!



♪ Music fades out. ♪

: Oh, I probably should have mentioned. The motion sensor is off right now.
: Ha-ha-ha-ha! Jeez, don't scare me like that!





: God, you're like the world's most spineless worm of the century!
: Hey, come on! The century's just getting started! Don't call the race already...
: Whatever... Just h-hurry up and put the bomb down. Hanging onto it's not g-gonna do anyone any good...
: Oh yeah, good call.

*thunk*

: Okay, it's down! Everything's all good!



Hiro put the bomb down, but that wasn't my main concern at that point.



My eyes were glued to Monokuma's remains... He'd just stopped moving all of a sudden. Was it really because something had happened to the mastermind that they weren't expecting...? But what could that have been? When I thought about it...



...I couldn't help but think back to the night before. Being attacked by that masked figure...



: Hey, uh...Makoto?
: Huh?
: Don't "huh" us! Did you hear a thing we just said!?
: ...Huh?



: So that's a n-no. What are you, some k-king of brain-dead farm animal...?
: S-Sorry...
: We were just saying, since we're done dismantling Monokuma, what should we do now?





: And we've decided to continue our offensive assault.
: To try and uncover the mastermind's true identity, we're going to break into the headmaster's room.
: R-Really...?
: Since the mastermind appears to have stopped all activity, now's our chance. Wouldn't you agree?
: B-But...if the mastermind comes back while we're in there...



: If you're scared, you're welcome to stay here by yourself.
: Or go l-live in the chicken coop, with all the other chickens. You can be chicken number s-six...
: This is a battle, a fight to the death between us and the mastermind. We don't have time to deliberate.
: Yeah. I mean, I don't wanna hafta kill each other, or anyone else. But we have a chance now...



: So? What are you going to do? Are you going to run away, or are you going to fight?
: ...You're right. I'll go with you.
: Okay then. We're going to break into the headmaster's room. Everything comes down to this moment. Anything can happen, so prepare yourselves.
: I'll follow you a-anywhere, Master! To all the ends of the E-Earth!
: Sakura...if you can hear me, lend me your strength...
: I can do this... I'm a man, and I can do this! I've got the will of the entire universe on my side!



We each found determination in our own ways, and when we were ready, we left the gym. Our target was the headmaster's room, on the 4th floor of the school.