"Hm? What's this about...?"
"Just like we agreed in advance, we came out to start persuading people."
"Hmph... Fine. But I can't just let the three of you wander around on your own. Wait here for a moment."
Pekoyama, who had been keeping watch over us, disappeared somewhere for a moment, then returned with Owari and Nidai in tow.
"What the hell...? Why're you guys out here?"
"What is this about?"
"They say they've come out to persuade people, as previously discussed. You two will accompany them as guards."
"Haaah... We were just getting to the fun part... Well, whatever. We can settle it again tonight."
"I welcome your challenge as many times as you like."
Leaving Owari and Nidai glaring at each other with eyes still blazing, I called out to Pekoyama, who was about to head off somewhere else.
"Um... Pekoyama. If it's okay..."
"Do not speak to me. I do not trust you."
With that, Pekoyama vanished in a cold rush.
"...Looks like Hanamura was right. Quite a few people really don't trust us."
As I listened to Kirigiri's calm murmur, I sank into thought.
Right now, the kids who were clearly hostile to us were Kuzuryu, Pekoyama, Saionji, and Koizumi. Four in total.
'Now that I line them up... aside from Pekoyama, they're all disasters, huh...?'
Saionji's personality was already infamous for being absolutely vile, and Koizumi had a bad habit of barking whenever she saw a guy she couldn't trust.
As for Kuzuryu, unless something huge happened—something on the scale of Pekoyama's sacrifice—there was a high chance he'd keep stirring up trouble. And since Pekoyama would follow Kuzuryu's will no matter what, she was dangerous too.
On the other hand, the ones taking our side were Souda, Ibuki, Pigami, and Hanamura. Also four.
In other words, it was dead even. Four in favor, four against.
'Just like I thought... persuading the neutral group is the key to this vote.'
The situation wasn't as bad as I'd feared. If we could persuade even one person from the neutral camp...
"Oh, right. How's the vote supposed to work? Simple majority, I guess...?"
"Huh...? Come to think of it... Hanamura didn't explain that?"
Apparently, for whatever reason, Hanamura—who'd lost enough blood to turn his judgment to mush—had forgotten to tell us how the voting would work.
"Um... how exactly does the vote..."
"Two-thirds must agree."
"Huh...?"
"Out of the thirteen people voting, two-thirds must approve. Rounded up, that means nine votes."
"What...?"
"No, wait, why two-thirds instead of a majority...? And what do you mean, rounded up...?"
"Because this is that important, isn't it? Did you think earning everyone's trust would be easy?"
"....."
Nidai's blunt strike left me speechless. He was right. We were the desperate ones here, not them. Which meant we were the ones who had to run ourselves ragged.
"Whew... No helping it. Then let's hurry and—"
[Ding dong, bing bong!]
"Wh-What now...?"
[An announcement from the Hope's Peak Academy School Trip Executive Committee! Everyone, please gather at Jabberwock Park immediately! Once again, this is an announcement...]
"Damn it... Monokuma... what's that bastard trying to pull now...?"
"....."
Damn it. The timing couldn't have been worse. We'd only just gotten out to start persuading people... Then again, if he's calling everyone to Jabberwock Park right now, is this because of the second motive after all?
The instant we stepped out, he announces the second motive? Was he really that desperate to interfere with us?
"As expected, gathering everyone at Jabberwock Park must be for the announcement of the second motive."
"Th-The second motive...?"
Seeing Nanami stare at Kirigiri in shock, I was suddenly reminded that the second motive was a game.
Not just any game, either. It was a game adapted from a real incident at Hope's Peak Academy—the death of Kuzuryu's younger sister, Kuzuryu Natsumi.
The person who killed Kuzuryu's sister was Koizumi's friend. After Natsumi kept bullying Koizumi, that friend murdered her.
Then Koizumi learned the truth and chose to cover up the incident. Kuzuryu learned the truth as well—and killed Koizumi's friend.
That tragic chain of events, twisted into a game and forced on the students as something to play—that was the motive for Chapter 2.
In Chapter 2, after clearing the game, Kuzuryu flew into a rage and murdered Koizumi. So then... was that same hideous tragedy going to repeat itself here too?
'No... maybe not.'
I had to remember how many times trusting my game knowledge had blown up in my face already. I was an irregularity in this world. Of course things had changed.
Either way, we'd have to go see it with our own eyes.
.
.
.
.
.
"Ah! This is the game console itself, right? Hey, where's the software? What's the lineup?"
'...Huh?'
Honestly, I was a little thrown off. I'd been expecting a completely different motive, but so far this was exactly the same as Chapter 2.
"Ta-da! Its name is... [Twilight Syndrome Murder Case]!"
Even the game's title was the same. What was going on?
"Twilight Syndrome... an adventure game whose first entry came out in 1996... about a high school girl and various urban legends..."
Watching Nanami excitedly rattle off the game's history made me smile for some reason. The game she was talking about was one that Spike Chunsoft—the company behind the Danganronpa series—had acquired.
The feeling was strange enough that I could only manage an awkward smile. Then Monokuma addressed everyone.
"That's right! This game is your next motive... in other words, the motive you'll need to kill someone...!"
After declaring the motive, Monokuma did what he always did—sowed discord, spat venom, and drove wedges between everyone.
"I've told you over and over... you're not comrades, you're enemies, every last one of you, okay? Well, except for those three public enemies over there...! Upupupu...!"
Monokuma laughed as he looked at the three of us, then vanished.
"Wh-What do we do...?"
"E-Even if you ask what we do... it's not like I'd know..."
"It's dangerous to tamper with that game carelessly. That much is certain."
"Yeah... We should observe the situation a little more..."
The mood was already tilting toward not playing the game. Which made sense—if Monokuma called it a motive for murder, of course people would recoil. But in the end, someone would probably play it in secret.
'To figure out what's in that game, somebody has to play it once... Maybe I can sneak out and do it tonight... Ah, right. We're under confinement.'
We weren't as tightly restrained as Komaeda, who was tied up in the storage room and couldn't even come here, but the three of us weren't free either. We'd have to think of another way.
"Interesting... a motive for murder... Now that's entertaining."
"A motive for murder... what's entertaining about that?!"
"Well, if you want to win this killing game, you've got to kill somebody, right? If you're going to kill, why not enjoy it?"
"Y-You...!"
"And besides... if you kill one of those three, there won't even be a Class Trial... so you could enjoy it even more..."
".....!"
Leaving those words behind, Kuzuryu flashed a revolting grin and walked off.
Komaeda had already gone so catastrophically off the rails that he was enough to give me a migraine all by himself, and now I had to keep an eye on that little punk too...? My sanity was starting to fray.
"...I'll stop it."
"Hm?"
"I won't let anyone else get hurt... not ever again... I'll stop it... no matter what..."
Nanami murmured those words with a face full of resolve. The clumsy uncertainty she'd shown at first had faded away, and what emerged instead was the real Chiaki Nanami—the girl who had been everyone's support, everyone's hope. Seeing that made something warm swell in my chest.
"Um... eveeeryone... I-I have some good news..."
Just as the whole group was sinking into gloom, Tsumiki spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Good news...?"
"Y-Yes... Hinata just woke up..."
"What? Really?!"
"Thankfully, his life isn't in danger... but I think he needs to rest and recover for a while..."
At that long-awaited bit of good news, the kids immediately started buzzing with excitement.
"A celebration! This calls for celebration!"
"His life isn't in danger... that's such a relief..."
"The tools were bad, the environment was awful, and you still pulled it off... That's our Ultimate Nurse, Tsumiki!"
"Uwaah... th-thank you..."
"Shouldn't we go visit him or something?"
"He's asleep again right now... Stability comes first, so maybe tomorrow..."
Everyone was smiling, talking over each other in relief, but Nanami stood off to the side alone, wearing a lonely expression.
"I... don't deserve to be happy yet... He still hasn't forgiven me..."
"But it wasn't your fault, was it? Now that Hinata's awake, once he's fully conscious, you should go apologize right away—"
"Do I even have the right to apologize...?"
"It's not good to keep tearing yourself down like that. If you do, you'll rot from the inside out."
"Haha... thanks for trying to comfort me..."
Nanami forced a smile, but she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.
[Ding dong, bing bong!]
"What...? It's already 10 p.m.?"
"Time really flies..."
"Yaaawn... I'm sleepy..."
"Hehe... m-me too... I was up all night nursing him..."
"What's with you? Since when are you acting all friendly?"
"Ah... um... th-that's..."
"Pfft, wow, look at this one. Hilarious. Stammering like that... what, were you some kind of loser?"
"I-I'm sorryyy!!"
As Saionji's pure malice lashed out at poor Mikan, Owari suddenly started stretching over on the other side, then strode toward Nidai.
"Nidai, wanna finish the match we couldn't settle earlier?"
"I need to keep watch over those three..."
"If it's those three, I'll watch them."
When Pigami abruptly stepped forward and volunteered to be the guard, Owari's face lit up with competitive fire.
"Problem solved! All right, then, let's go...!"
"Wait. If you're going to fight anyway, why not make one of those three the referee? That way they can be monitored too."
"Hmm, not a bad idea. Then who should we pick... Hey! K! Get over here!"
"Huh...? What's up?"
"Referee for us!"
"!?"
And just like that, K was dragged off with a pitiful expression to serve as an utterly unplanned martial arts referee. Meanwhile, everyone else went off to sleep—everyone except Saionji, who seemed to be having the time of her life verbally flaying Mikan alive, and Mikan herself, who was taking every hit head-on.
"Um... Kirigiri...? I'll try sneaking off to play that game... so you..."
"There's no need to sneak around. If you want to play it, do so openly."
"T-Togami...?"
After repeatedly thanking Pigami for his unexpected kindness, Nanami quietly said something to Kirigiri.
"Um... please help that girl over there... she's suffering..."
"Leave it to me."
Only then did Nanami finally look relieved as she headed toward the game console.
"...Honestly, aren't you actually enjoying this? Acting weak, acting hurt, making yourself look pitiful... You're a masochist, aren't you? Hm?"
"N-Nooo..."
"Oh, shut up, you pig bitch...!"
"H-Hiiieek...!"
"Ugh, there you go again, screaming all fake so you can play the victim...? Seriously, I can't stand—!?"
Saionji had been happily venting all her stress by tearing into Tsumiki, but the moment she saw Kirigiri striding straight toward her, her face suddenly went pale.
"Y-You... what...? Why are you..."
"How strange..."
"Wh-What's strange...?"
"I keep smelling something foul."
".....!"
"I can't tell if it's the stench of your rotten heart... or the stench coming off your body... but either way, it's pretty putrid."
"U-Uuugh...!"
Saionji trembled violently as she glared at Kirigiri, but when Kirigiri frowned and pinched her nose shut, Saionji's eyes instantly welled up. A moment later, she turned and bolted.
After watching her go with open disdain, Kirigiri turned her head and started walking toward Tsumiki.
"I-I'm sorryyy...! Th-That bad smell... maybe it's coming from me... no, it is coming from me...! I'm sorry!! I'm so, so sorryyy!!"
As Kirigiri approached with a stern expression, Tsumiki was seized by a familiar terror and began trembling all over.
"A-As an apology... you can hit me if you want...! Anywhere is fine... just hit me really hard...! Ah, o-or if you were planning to hit me from the start, then maybe something else..."
"Haa..."
"H-Hiiieek...!"
Kirigiri let out a sigh and reached out her hand. Tsumiki squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the familiar pain she thought was about to come, but—
"Looking at you... somehow reminds me of the dog I'm raising."
"Huh...? U-Um... y-yes...?"
Kirigiri reached out and began gently stroking Tsumiki's head.
"There were times when that one looked pretty pitiful too, just like you..."
".....?"
"But now... it's grown rather dignified. Though of course, it still has a long way to go."
"I-I don't really understand what you mean... but if you want dog impressions, that's my specialty! I can do as many as you want! Before I learned the sea turtle egg-laying show, crawling around like a dog was my special ski—"
"Shh."
"Awuuhmgh..."
Kirigiri pinched and stretched Tsumiki's cheek to stop her rambling, then looked straight into her eyes and spoke.
"You are someone precious to all of us... someone we absolutely need."
"M-Me...?"
"Who saved Hinata's life?"
"I-I just did what I was supposed to do..."
"Don't reduce an achievement that great to 'just.' You're the health committee member who treats everyone, aren't you?"
"B-But..."
"No matter how you've been treated until now, no matter what kind of miserable past you've had, you are still someone everyone needs."
"....."
"So have some confidence in yourself."
With that, Kirigiri gently patted Tsumiki on the head one last time, said her goodbyes, and headed toward Nanami.
Watching Kirigiri go, Tsumiki murmured with a blissful expression.
"I... I was finally... cherished... Hehe..."
Meanwhile, as Kirigiri walked toward where Nanami was, she paused for a moment and muttered to herself.
"Was it that partners grow alike...? Somehow... that hypothesis seems surprisingly credible."
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.
.
.
.
"....."
"Huff... haaah... huff... why... did I, the referee... get dragged into this too...?"
"Haa..."
An hour later, K came back completely exhausted, collapsed face-first onto the floor, and panted out that miserable complaint. Watching him, Kirigiri had no choice but to reevaluate just how credible that hypothesis really was.
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