Part 139: Chapter 6 Deadly Life, Part 3

: The dining hall is usually where we find the others.



And suddenly, we were greeted with...





: Skrgh@yaGfew, anji&\krakAW;! fzzlbRff#[]
: You again...
: Hrskzzzz_dat.; EgspllER103.2.1.255
: Is he...broken?



: I suppose his emotional instability reached its limit.
: aG^3. 4sum=(SEN|akt~____ 61! *leaves*
: Jeez... What the heck?

♪ Music fades out. ♪



: I wonder what that was all about...

I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

???: Ah--!





: Is that...Makoto?
: Y-You guys!
: It is! There's no two ways about it, that's Makoto!
: Huh? You s-survived?
: Jeez... You're like a stubborn little cockroach, you know that?
: I'm just asking to make sure, but...you're not a ghost, right?

Everyone was there. All my friends who had struggled together...and survived... As soon as I saw their faces, I couldn't help myself... I started to tear up.



♪ Music cuts out. ♪

: Wait...what's that smell?
: Yeah man, that seriously stinks!
: It's Makoto! He smells like a wet dog!
: G-Get away! Shoo! Shoo!
: ...

And in a flash, my tears dried up.





: Let's have a chat with the others before continuing the plot.



: Makoto! What was it like hanging out in the spirit world!?
: I...didn't go to the spirit world.
: Did you get to talk to her?
: Who?
: Miss Cleo!
: No, I didn't talk to her. I mean, I didn't go to the spirit world...!

I mean--who the heck is Miss Cleo?

: (This is a really weirdly timed reference to make considering Miss Cleo actually died a few weeks ago...)





: I still can't believe you survived.
: Yeah, me either...
: You do realize why it is you escaped execution?
: It was...Alter Ego. He...saved my life.
: Not too many people can say they had their lives saved by a computer program.
: I imagine it was a learning experience for you.





: So what have you guys been doing while I was gone?
: Well, we figured that since the trial was over, we'd have access to new places again.
: And?
: No dice. All the rooms that were locked before...were still locked.

So there weren't any new areas... Then where can we go to find new clues?





: Ugh, you s-stink...! Are you rotten!?
: Rotten ph-physically, mentally, every way you can b-be rotten!
: Sorry... I was rolling around in garbage for a while.
: This smell is s-so...smelly...!
: Ahaha! Super smelly! You smell even w-worse than me! Way worse than m-me!
: ...I win.

She seems...happy for some reason.



: With that done, let's tell everyone what we've agreed to.



: There's no time to indulge in an extended happy reunion. We need to explain to everyone what happened with Monokuma.
: Explain...? Explain what?
: But is it okay that you're here? What if the mastermind catches you?
: That's related to [what I have to tell you all].

> what I have to tell you all

: I need to tell you all about...the last class trial.



: Last class trial...?
: We're going to redo Mukuro's trial.
: What!? Seriously!?
: What's the point of redoing it? Makoto killed her, right?
: No, I didn't do it! Like I keep telling you...
: Makoto isn't the killer. And of course it's not me or any of you.
: Th-Then...who is it?



: What she's saying is, it was all the work of the mastermind.
: What!? You're saying the mastermind killed Mukuro!?
: That's right. It was all an elaborate trap contrived by the mastermind. Makoto spotted the trap in time, and did what he had to to stop it.
: But his decision meant that *he* would be the one to die.
: You spotted the trap, did you Makoto?

You make it sound like it was easy. I just, ya know...

: But executing Makoto, who *wasn't* the blackened, is a clear violation of the school regulations. The rules state that *only* the blackened is to be executed. The mastermind broke their own rules.



: Which is why I went and negotiated with them to have the trial one more time.
: And the mastermind agreed!? Does that mean they really did break the rules...?
: They had no choice but to agree. You used the TV broadcast to gain the leverage you needed, didn't you?
: Very observant of you.
: I recall what you said at the end of the last trial... When you said "Now it's the mastermind that's ensnared," that's what you were referring to.
: Hey! I'm totally in the dark here!
: For anyone who doesn't understand, you can ask Kyoko to explain it again. Later.



: So, knowing all th-this...what do we do now?
: It's about who killed Mukuro, right? So our job is to expose the mastermind...?
: But there's more to it than that, correct?
: Um, yeah... For us to win this time, we have to solve every last mystery surrounding the school.



: Every last mystery...?
: But we've been looking around all this time, and we still don't know anything, right?
: You've probably guessed already, but if we lose this time...everyone dies.
: E-Everyone!?
: H-Hey! Who said you could agree to those t-terms without talking to the rest of u-us!?
: I'm fine with things the w-way they are! I'm fine living here forever with M-Master!



: I, meanwhile, want to get out of here as soon as humanly possible.
: Anyway, at this point the only way for us to survive is to unravel the truth.
: In other words, one decisive final battle. A rather interesting development, I'd say.
: But figuring out who the mastermind is, AND how they killed Mukuro, AND all the school's mysteries...
: It's a pretty tall friggin' order...
: Maybe, but this time the trial is different. We know who our enemy is now. So if we work together and search as hard as we can, I'm sure we'll solve all those mysteries!





: I'm not so sure about that.
: ...Huh?
: I [can't agree] with the idea of working together with everyone.

> can't agree

: You...can't agree? Why not? I mean, working together with everyone seems like the most obvious way to solve all the mysteries...
: That's what I thought, too...at first. Until Monokuma gave us that little hint of his...

Hint...?



: Kehehe... It's a very polarizing approach, I know, but--okay, enough puns. Anyway, here's a hint... I'm sure I told you this already, but...this killing game began with sixteen participants, all of them high school students. And the only people to take a single step in Hope's Peak since the killing game began...are those sixteen students.



: Monokuma said that, did he? Then Kyoko's opinion is perfectly reasonable.
: Huh? But why...?
: If the mastermind really is the one who killed Mukuro, as Kyoko says...then the mastermind would have had to set foot in this school, right? Monokuma could probably murder Mukuro, but there's no way he could have disguised the scene like that.
: But according to Monokuma, the only people who have set foot in Hope's Peak...are the sixteen students who have been taking part in the killing game.
: Then...the m-masterming is...!



: There were fifteen of us in the m-main hall at the very beginning... Add in M-Mukuro, and you get sixteen...





: So the mastermind w-would have to be...one of them?
: And of those sixteen people we started out with, the only ones still alive...are the people standing right here. Need I continue, or do you get it now?
: You're saying the mastermind is one of us!?
: Y-You can't be serious!
: W-Wait! We can't say for sure that's true yet! Monokuma might have just said all that to confuse us...!



: It's certainly a possibility. But only one among many...
: The mastermind being one of us is *also* a possibility.
: And that is one possibility we can't ignore.
: Yeah! I mean, they're an u-ultimate, right? The Ultimate Despair. So they m-must be a high schooler!
: You can't say it's not p-possible...!
: But if one of us was the mastermind, they'd have to be controlling Monokuma somehow, right? But did you ever see anyone acting suspicious any time Monokuma was active?



: Maybe they s-snuck off and controlled him i-in secret...
: I don't care how sneaky you are, we would've noticed someone sneaking off that many times.
: Then maybe Monokuma was on autopilot! Maybe they loaded up all the dialogue and actions beforehand!
: In that case, there's no way he could have had all those back-and-forth conversations with us.
: Well...it wouldn't be entirely impossible, if they directed the flow of the conversation.
: W-Well, maybe...but still!

♪ Music fades out. ♪



*Ding dong, bing bong*





: Ahh, this is a school announcement. You've all probably figured this out by now, but at this point, the killing game has now entered "True Ending" mode. So in the name of fairness, I will unlock every room in the school! Look wherever you want! Solve the mystery in whatever way you see fit! Puhuhu... Then we can all meet up at the class trial, okay? Gaahahaha! Ahahaha...!





: How very magnanimous of him to unlock all the rooms.
: The time for talk is done. Now we need to begin our investigation.
: B-But...!
: I was planning on working alone from the beginning anyway.



: At this point, I can rely only on myself, on the Togami blood flowing through my veins.
: I have no time to worry about the rest of you. Each of you must uphold your responsibility. Well then... *leaves*

After making his final statement, Byakuya left the dining hall.



: Gaah! M-Master! He didn't take me w-with him...!
: Do ya blame him?
: Without Master, the r-rest of you are like...coffee with cream w-without the cream! Or c-coffee!
: You're totally useless!
: S-So...bye! *leaves*

With that, Toko trudged out of the dining hall.



: And now *she's* gone... And you're gonna go off by yourself, right Kyoko?
: That's right.
: Which just leaves Makoto, Hina, and me...
: ...



: In that case, I'm gonna go by myself, too!
: Wait, how come!?
: Just wait and see! I'm gonna use my totally awesome spirit power to figure out the mastermind's identity!
: Hahahaha! *leaves*

Laughing loudly, Hiro left the dining hall...



: Everyone's really gonna go off by themselves...?
: What about you, Hina?
: Umm... I guess I'll do the same thing.
: I mean, it's not that I don't trust everyone, ya know?
: But...up till now, I haven't really been all that useful. I just depended on Sakura, and everyone else.
: You're not useless! If you hadn't been here, I woulda died!
: M-Makoto...!



: Nng...that's really nice of you to say...!
: But still, I know I've mostly been totally useless.
: So I figure, at least here at the end, maybe I can find something that'll help us all get out of here. So I'm gonna go off and do it all on my own!
: Okay, see ya later! *leaves*

Hina was in surprisingly high spirits as she dashed out of the dining hall. And once again...

: ...it's just us two.



: Indeed.
: So...you're gonna go off on your own too, right Kyoko?
: Well, don't misunderstand. Just because we're going to do our searches separately doesn't mean we can't still work together.
: That goes for all of us.

I think I see what you mean... Doing out own investigating doesn't mean we can't work together in the end. I should just see it as us splitting up to cover more ground. And then we can get back together and share what we found. Yeah...that's right!



: Well, I'd better get going. I have an endless list of things I need to check.
: Monokuma said all the doors in the school had been unlocked, right? So we should be able to investigate every nook and cranny in the school.
: We can visit all the places we couldn't go before...
: Makoto...no matter what it takes, we *have* to uncover the truth. By any means necessary... *leaves*



With that, Kyoko was gone. Leaving only me...

: I don't have time to waste, either. I have to begin my search...

I still can't believe the mastermind might be one of us. So that's what I have to prove...

I'll prove that the mastermind ISN'T one of us! I'll expose the mastermind's true identity, and solve the mystery of this school...

: ...and then we can all escape together!