On my way back to the cottages, I spotted Kyoko Kirigiri and Nanami locked in a grim, low-voiced discussion.
"Huh? Kyoko Kirigiri? Nanami? What are you doing out here?"
"K, come here. Quietly..."
"...?"
I'd tossed out the question lightly enough, but Nanami answered in a voice so serious it made my skin crawl. Instinctively, I knew something had gone wrong. I swallowed hard and hurried over to them.
"What... happened...?"
"Well..."
"The [clear bonus] is gone."
"What!?"
The words hit like a bolt from a clear sky. The [clear bonus]—the core of this motive, the decisive piece of evidence—had vanished? Why? How?
"Y-you searched properly, right?"
"I searched the entire banquet hall myself. I couldn't find even a trace of it."
"Then where the hell did it..."
"There's only one answer. Someone stole the [clear bonus]."
The instant Kyoko Kirigiri said that, one image flashed across my mind: that white-haired hope-pervert. I didn't know the specifics, but come on. Wasn't this obviously Komaeda again?
No doubt the second he got loose for a little while earlier, his cursed "luck" kicked in, he got his hands on the [clear bonus], and then stuffed it into his coat while cackling to himself. I could practically see it.
"K-K!? Where are you going!?"
"...?"
Nanami and Kyoko Kirigiri stared at me in bafflement as I suddenly tore off toward the old building with murder in my eyes, but I didn't stop. My head was full of one thing and one thing only: beating the truth out of Komaeda.
"I might fall for it once. But not twice."
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"Ah, K... welcome... Did you maybe come all the way here to check on someone like me—"
"Shut up and hand it over."
"Hm...? What are you talking abou—"
"That envelope! Hand it over, now!!"
"Ahaha, I have no idea what you mean..."
I lunged at the grinning Komaeda and started frisking him from top to bottom.
"Well, well. You little bastard."
"Ahaha, so you caught me... what a shame..."
A moment later, I found the [clear bonus] envelope tucked inside his clothes. Honestly, I'd already been half convinced it was him, but deep down I'd still been worried—if Komaeda wasn't the culprit, then where the hell was I supposed to start looking? As usual, Komaeda did not disappoint.
At least there was one saving grace. Even if he'd looked at what was inside the envelope, he probably wouldn't be able to infer what it meant so easily. This was a reward you only got after playing the game, after all. Sure, he'd understand they were important photos, but if I took them back now, he wouldn't be able to use them to stir up chaos.
"I knew it. I'm confiscating this. The hell do you think you're doing, trying to start trouble with it?"
"Ahahaha..."
"What are you laughing at, you deranged hope-fetish freak...?"
"K...! What happened...?"
"Komaeda...?"
Kyoko Kirigiri and Nanami, who'd chased after me a beat too late, froze the second they saw us.
"Here. Komaeda had it."
"How did you know Komaeda was the one who stole it?"
"...From now on, whenever something happens, there's a fifty percent chance Komaeda did it. So start by beating up Komaeda first."
For some reason, K's logic sounded weirdly persuasive. Before they even realized it, Kyoko Kirigiri and Nanami were nodding along.
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Morning arrived.
As usual, everyone naturally gathered in the dining hall for breakfast, but several seats were empty.
"Hmm... looks like there are a few empty spots...? The people from the old building should've rejoined us by now too..."
"Komaeda's missing... and who else?"
"Kuzuryu and Pekoyama are absent, sir!"
"What? Where'd they go...?"
"My apologies. I'm a little late."
Speak of the devil. The moment her name came up, Pekoyama pushed open the dining hall door and stepped inside.
"Oh! Pekoyama, thank god. I was worried you weren't coming! Today, the one on food-delivery duty for Komaeda is you!"
"...I see."
"Here, I already plated the food, so just take this and—"
"Um..."
Right in the middle of Hanamura explaining things to Pekoyama, K cut in from the side in an oddly timid voice.
"If it's okay... can I take it to him instead...?"
"Hm? K, you?"
"Haha, if I want to win back everyone's trust, I should take the initiative even with little things like this."
"Hmm, true enough. All right! Then K can take this foo—"
"No."
Hanamura, who'd been about to hand the tray over, and K, who'd been about to receive it, both froze at Pekoyama's icy voice.
"I will be the one delivering the food."
"P-Pekoyama...?"
"K, I told you to watch yourself around me. I still do not trust you."
As Pekoyama spoke, leaking just a hint of killing intent, K flinched. In the end, he let out a sigh and stepped back.
"Whew... fine. Do whatever you want."
"That was already my intention."
With that, Pekoyama turned and left the dining hall, now frozen solid with tension, and headed for the old building.
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"Damn it... this guy, that guy... I can't stand any of them..."
Kuzuryu muttered to himself as he wandered around the hotel. He was getting hungry and had considered slipping into the dining hall to grab something to eat, but the place was already packed wall-to-wall.
And there was no way his pride would let him fumble around collecting food in front of everyone.
So he kept circling the hotel, planning to head in naturally once the others thinned out. As he did, his thoughts drifted back to what had happened yesterday.
"That bastard... calling me a shrimp, a whiny little brat...?"
It had been a long time since anyone had hurled abuse like that at him, and it had sent his temper straight through the roof. If Pekoyama hadn't stepped in and stopped him then, things probably would've exploded.
"...Hah. Well, whatever. I guess that is how I look to other people."
Kuzuryu sank into a dark, heavy silence.
Even in a situation like this, the others could still flaunt their [Ultimate] talents. But what could he do here?
To begin with, he'd only gotten into Hope's Peak Academy because he was the organization's successor. Not because his own talent shone. Just because he was the "successor."
That fact had already been lodged in his heart like a splinter, but in a situation like this, it cut even deeper.
In a place where he couldn't rely on the organization's power or throw around the intimidation of being yakuza, wasn't he just a weak boy being protected by Pekoyama?
"Maybe... someone like my little sister would've been better than me..."
The instant he thought of his sister, his chest dropped.
"...Shit."
He'd tried to forget it, but he just couldn't. That game he'd played because the word "motive" lured him in—it had contained a story shocking enough to leave a scar.
How stunned had he been when the kids' names rolled by in the ending credits... along with the name Kuzuryu?
Sure, it was probably one of Monokuma's tricks... but it still left behind a strange feeling. Like he'd experienced this once before. That sticky, unpleasant sense of déjà vu.
"Natsumi... you're okay, right...?"
One bleak thought after another rose up, but he forcibly shook them off. She was the little sister he'd always felt inferior to. There was no way she'd die over something that stupid.
If she knew he was wasting time worrying like this, she'd probably sneer, "Idiot! That's so cringe! Ugh..." Yeah. Worrying about her was a losing game.
"...Young master?"
"Peko?"
Just as he barely managed to steady his turbulent thoughts, Pekoyama came walking toward him from the distance, carrying food.
"Young master, what brings you out here—"
"Peko, I told you. Drop the title and talk normally here... We're supposed to be friends in this place."
"B-but... I am your tool..."
"Peko, stop calling yourself a tool."
"....."
Watching her fall silent, clearly at a loss, stirred up old memories in him. She had been by his side since birth, growing up with him, sharing every moment. By now, their bond had become something that couldn't be severed even if they tried.
How many times had she saved his life? How many times had her life been endangered because of him?
Whenever she saved him, whenever she got hurt, he'd wanted to repay her somehow—but the organization's rigid rules had never made that easy.
That was why he'd wanted to change things at Hope's Peak Academy, to fix the relationship between Pekoyama and himself that had hardened into nothing more than master and tool, user and used... and yet now they'd been dragged into this absurd situation, and once again he was relying on her.
...So at the very least, he wanted to help her with something this small.
"Peko, that food... you're taking it to Komaeda?"
"Y-yes... no... uh... yeah..."
"Give it here."
"W-wha...!?"
"I'll take it to him. Last night, even after I told you over and over not to, you still stubbornly followed me around and guarded me. You must be tired, so get some rest for a while."
".....!"
"And instead of following only me around, go hang out with those idiots once in a while... There's no reason for you to be isolated because of me too..."
"Ku-Kuzuryu..."
"Anyway, I'm going."
Leaving those words behind, Kuzuryu headed toward the old building, his face faintly red.
"...Young master."
And Pekoyama's face was just as red.
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"Hey. I brought food, so get your ass up already."
"Mm... Kuzuryu...? Ahaha, I think this is the first time you and I have talked alone..."
"Quit grinning, dumbass. And don't even think about talking to me."
"Um... there isn't a sandwich, by any chance—"
".....You insane bastard."
Not wanting anything more to do with him, Kuzuryu tossed the food down beside Komaeda and turned to leave—but Komaeda's next words were so loaded, so poisonous, that they stopped him in his tracks.
"...So you've already gotten over what happened to your sister?"
"Y-you... you...! What the hell did you just say!?"
"You played a game that contained such a despair-inducing incident, and if you saw a photo of your sister's corpse lying there in such a gruesome state... I figured you'd obviously be drowning in despair. But I guess that's exactly what I should expect from everyone's hope, an [Ultimate]...!"
In an instant, Kuzuryu lost control. He lunged at Komaeda, grabbed him by the collar, and screamed in his face.
"You piece of shit!!! If you're trying to piss me off, I won't forgive y—!!"
"What? You still haven't seen it? Then... I guess you should go confirm it for yourself..."
"W-what...!?"
Komaeda grinned.
"I mean the photo of your sister's corpse... the one those traitors have."
".....!"