Part 140: Chapter 6 Deadly Life, Part 4

I guess I'll start by taking another look at Mukuro's Monokuma File...



"Due to the explosion, the victim's identity is unknown. They were, however, dead before the blast. The victim had been stabbed a single time with a knife, which went completely through the body. They had also been struck in the head with an object about as thick as a metal pipe. The body was covered with other wounds, but these were at least several days old."

: Once we find out who killed Mukuro Ikusaba...then we'll know who the mastermind is.

So, where should I start my investigation to figure out who killed her...?

: I guess I should start with the rooms that were locked up until now.

The headmaster's room, the bio lab, and the door in the data center with Monokuma's face on it... Oh, and the 2nd floor of the dorms where the gate was down before... That should be open now, right?

: After that, I'll have to double-check the areas that are connected to the murder...

Which means the garden and the dojo...

: Okay! Time to get started!





: It's time for the final investigation! There's a LOT of stuff to investigate this time. New rooms to explore, old ones connected to the case that we need to go over once again looking for new evidence... We're gonna be quite busy.



: First things first, the 2nd floor of the dorms is finally open to us after being locked all game long.



The gate's open... We can finally check out the 2nd floor of the dorms... Which means...

: ...I have to do it.





: *This* is the 2nd floor of the dorms...!?

It looks like some ancient ruins... Or no...it's more like a battlefield. Like a bomb blew up here or something...



: This place has seen better days...



: There are even dry bloodstains around.



: Most of the map is obstructed but there are a few places we can go in





: All but one of the dorms up here are blocked off.



: Even the dorm rooms are destroyed. Maybe this is where Kyoko stayed to avoid the "You may only sleep in the dorms" regulation. There is actually nothing to discover in here but it is unsettling nonetheless.





: More destruction, but more interestingly, there's a Eye of Horus painted on the walls back here. I'd actually never noticed it before.

: Apparently, the Eye of Horus has several different meanings, but was often painted on Ancient Egyptian ships to ensure safe passage. It was also used to symbolize sacrifice, healing, restoration and protection. No clue if it's supposed to have any meaning here. This place certainly doesn't look safe or protected. Maybe sacrifice considering the whole Tragedy thing...



: Impromptu history aside, there's a door here with a strange drawing on it.





: This room is filled with lockers...

It must have been for the Hope's Peak students who came before us... The class before ours must have used these lockers.



: Most of these lockers are destroyed and inaccessible.



There's a metal plate mounted to the locker... There's no way to get it open.



: This one however...



I wonder if I can open this locker...

*Rattle rattle*

Nope. Locked.



There's a card reader installed on the door. That must be how you get the locker open. After all, it's pretty similar to the card readers for the locker rooms on the 2nd floor of the school. And you have to use your e-Handbook to open those up. So does that mean...?

: Well, let's just give it a try.

I took out my handbook and ran it across the card reader. And then...

Bzzt!

: No luck...

Maybe only the locker's owner can open it. Which means none of us can do it...

: There are a couple more intact lockers but they are all locked too. Nothing else we can do in here for now.



: At the very end of the hall is this big wooden door.



: This room doesn't really feel like a student's room. It has a more...adult atmosphere.



: It's the headmaster's private room.
: Kyoko!
: I've been through this room several times already, but I still have one little regret. So I decided to check it out one more time.

Huh? A regret...?



: There are a few things to check out here. Let's start with this computer.



There's a PC on the desk. It must have belonged to the headmaster...

: Whoever used this last, it looks like they were very interested in the Ultimate Despair. The PC still has some search results left on it...
: Then we might be able to get some info on the Ultimate Despair!?



: There's not much, though. Nothing we don't already know.
: "The Ultimate Despair isn't one individual, but instead points to some kind of group. That group is responsible for The Tragedy, which happened one year ago. They're the worst sorts of people, whose driving force comes from despair..."
: And that's all there is. Not much to it, is there?
: But I guess that's the best he could do as a complete Kirigiri failure...
: B-But...any information about the mastermind is helpful, right? I appreciate whatever info we can get our hands on.
: I see. That's a good outlook to have.







: ...

Kyoko looks almost...meek right now. She must be thinking about something. I probably shouldn't bother her...



: There is a suspicious indentation on this wall...



Huh? There's a strange gap in the wall... Is it some kind of design mistake, or a construction defect or something?



: There's a gap here, but not just any normal gap... I can feel a breeze coming out.
: A breeze...?
: There's likely an open space on the other side of this wall.

Open space? Does that mean...?

: You mean, like...a hidden room!?
: I think I might know [how to open it].

> how to open it

: You know how to open it? Did you figure out some kind of trick or something?



: A very easy trick, yes. So easy, I'm not sure you can even call it a trick... I saw a program on that PC that I think controls it. Enter the right password, and the door should open right up.
: But I don't have a clue what that password might be. All we know is it's probably made up of letters and/or numbers. We can't really go from there...
: You're right, that's not nearly enough to go on...
: I looked through all his paperwork, all the files on the PC, everything I could think of. I learned more about him than I had any desire to, but nothing that might have been his password... When I think of how much time I wasted on this...



Jeez... So there's a hidden room she couldn't get into. That's what she meant by regret... I think we can assume that there must be some kind of clue waiting in there. But maybe for her, there's more to it than that...



Anyway, if we want to get in there, we need to figure out the password. And if Kyoko can't figure it out, no way do I stand a chance...

...No, wait. There might be a chance... The password could be... Something Kyoko wouldn't have thought of. Or something she didn't *want* to think of... For example...

: What about your name?



: Huh?
: Oh, sorry. I was just trying to think of what the password might be.
: ...

I'm sure she hasn't tried it. I mean, it's totally understandable... After the way she talked about her dad, the idea that he would use her name as his password. Knowing how she is, I bet the idea never even occurred to her.

: Umm...do you mind if I try it, just to be sure?
: ...It's not like you need my permission. If you want to try it, try it. Do whatever you want.
: O-Okay...



You know, I'm glad I thought of trying Kyoko's name. But if that's not it, that might just hurt Kyoko even more...

: ...
: If you're worried about me, Makoto, don't be. I already know that your guess it wrong.
: Okay... In that case, here goes nothin'...



I collected myself, then turned to face the computer monitor.

: Lemme just...type the password here...

I typed in her full name, "Kyoko Kirigiri"... My hands were tense, slightly trembling, and as I finished typing it in...



*Beep* ... *Krrrnnnn*





: What...? That did it!? Kyoko! It worked!
: ...



: ...Why?
: K-Kyoko...?
: ... *leaves*

Without looking at me, she disappeared into the hidden room. She looked...grim.

: Kyoko...





: ...
: H-Hey, Kyoko...?

I may as well not even have been in the room. Her gaze was fixed on only one thing...



A present...? Wrapped and covered with such joy... That's what made it so unusual...





There's a brightly colored box here. It seems totally out of place in here. The more I look at it, the more suspicious I get. Should we open it? I'm getting kind of a bad vice from it... But I mean, we can't *not* open it.

: O-Okay!
: Be careful, Makoto...
: Why, you think it's dangerous!?



: No, not dangerous. But...surprising, probably.
: Huh...?
: If it is what I think it is...at the very least, it's not something you'll be happy to see.
: Wait, so...you know what's in there?
: Just don't scream or anything, okay?



A-Are you saying...it's something that'll make me *want* to scream?

: ...O-Okay, I'm just gonna open it!

Step by heavy step, I approached the box. I took a deep breath, then took hold of the lid. Slowly, ever so slowly, I lifted it up...



♪ Music fades out. ♪

Light began to sneak its way into the box. I stole a hesitant glance inside, and...

: Gh...
: Guwaaaaaaaahhh!

Kyoko's advice was no use. I let out a trembling cry.





What was in the box... It was bones. Human bones... It was the last thing I expected to find in such a bright, joyful box. I mean, who could have possibly imagined...?



: Just as I thought.
: What...? Just as you thought...? How could you have known that? I mean...there were bones in there! Human bones!
: Well, it's not that I was thinking of the bones specifically. I just...had a feeling it would be his body.
: Th-That's pretty much the same thing! A dead guy in a box!
: My father...
: Huh? What about him?





: What you found in the box... Those bones... That...body... That's my father. Or at least...what's left of him.
: A-Are you serious!?

This is...Kyoko's dad? The same man she's been searching for...?

: H-Hold on! How can you know that for sure? How do you know...that's him?
: Given all the information we have already, that's the only possible answer.



: So that same person may very well be the mastermind who planned all this out. And according to the files, the headmaster is a man in his late thirties. It seems possible, even likely, that he's somewhere in this school right now.



: 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.





: Alter Ego said that the headmaster was probably here in the school...but the only ones who were alive at the start of the killing game were us sixteen students. When you put those two ideas together, it doesn't take much to assume...
: ...that most likely, my father *was* in this school, but he was also dead. That's my assumption, anyway.

As Kyoko explained her analysis, she was completely calm. Or, no...she *wasn't* calm. She was only trying to *seem* calm. She said it was just as she thought. So she knew it was a possibility. But I have to believe that at some point, she wanted to be proven wrong. Which is why she never looked in the box herself, even though she had plenty of chances. I know Kyoko said she wanted to see her father so she could cut off all ties. But was that all there was to it?



: I...gave up some of that pride. In order to enter Hope's Peak, I had to reveal myself to the school. I did it knowing it was something a true Kirigiri detective would never do.

Would she really give up her pride just for that? I couldn't help but wonder...







Huh? This picture...



It's all faded. It must be pretty old. Wait, is this a picture of...!?

: H-hey, Kyoko...!



: ...!
: ...Well, this is annoying. I came here to cut myself free of the past. And yet... To now find something like this... So what do you expect me to do now...?

Then I was right. It's a picture of Kyoko when she was a little girl. Knowing the headmaster had this picture all this time... He must have really cared about her...

: Why? What...? I wanted to face him and tell him myself. To cut him out of my life for abandoning me... That's the whole reason I came here. And now he's abandoned me again. And this time, he even stole the only opportunity I had to move on. He there ever been a worse father...?

Kyoko...





The headmaster's desk... It's probably hiding some kind of clue, so I really want to check it out, but...I really don't want to touch Kyoko's dad's desk without her permission.

: Don't worry about me. Feel free to look around as much as you like.
: Are you sure?
: Never let anything get in the way of the investigation. I don't.
: O-Okay, then...if you don't mind...

Starting from the top, I opened all the desk drawers and looked inside. I rummaged through each one, finding nothing but unrelated documents. But in the last drawer...



: Huh? Is this...?

It's...an e-Handbook, right? And it has a label on it that says "in case of emergency"...!



: A handbook with no limitations, given to the school's ultimate authority, the headmaster... I'm assuming that's what it is.
: I think you're probably right.
: It might prove useful as we continue our investigation.
: Why don't you hold on to it?
: Huh? But Kyoko...
: I don't need it. If you don't want it, go ahead and leave it here.
: Th-Then...I guess I'll take it.
: ...

Is it...really okay?





: ...Listen, Makoto...?
: Huh?
: Can I ask you a [favor]?

> favor

: A favor? What is it...?



: I know it's completely unreasonable to ask you this. And I know it'll only inconvenience you that much more. But...
: ...could you leave?
: Huh?
: Just for a little while. I'd just...like to be alone for a bit.
: K-Kyoko...
: Don't worry, I'm fine. I just need to calm down a little...
: I need to...get my emotions in order.
: ...You know, Kyoko... You told me before about the relationship you had with your dad. How you're only connected by blood, not by heart and soul. But...



: Maybe that picture motivated him, maybe he hoped to see me again someday. Is that what you were going to say?
: ...
: If so, it's just a theory. And this isn't an issue that can be settled with theories. That picture doesn't change the facts of what happened, what I went through.
: That problem can't be solved so easily.
: You're right... I'm sorry.
: Once I've got myself under control, I'll return to the investigation immediately. So please, just give me some time to myself.
: O-Okay, I understand. Then...I'll see you later.



: ...





Is she really okay...? Kyoko...it must have been a complete shock to her. I mean, it was a shock to *me*.



To find out what happened to the headmaster... There's no doubt the mastermind performed that evil deed. They killed the headmaster--killed Kyoko's father. They killed him... The headmaster...is dead.



: The one leading the Hope's Peak staff, the one who finalized the plan to isolate you...was the Hope's Peak headmaster. So that same person may very well be the mastermind who planned all this out. And according to the files, the headmaster is a man in his late thirties. It seems possible, even likely, that he's somewhere in this school right now.

But we were wrong about that. The headmaster *wasn't* the mastermind... Which means the mastermind's true identity is...



: 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.

[i]Fifteen of us met in the mail hall. Add Mukuro to the mix and you get sixteen. And including me, only six of us are still alive. Everyone else...is dead.




























Even Mukuro. Even she's undeniably dead. So the ones still left alive are...



Me.



Byakuya.



Hiro.



Toko.



Hina.



And Kyoko...



Only those six people are still alive. Then there's no question...

: Wait, no! That can't be! I refuse to believe it! There has to be some other way... There just HAS to be!