"Just kidding. Why would I punish you?"
"Hh... hhuuugh..."
"Grrrk... grrrk..."
"Ikusaba, at this rate you're gonna grind all your teeth down... calm down first..."
"Fujisaki... when is the infiltration operation starting...? I want to go in right now if I have to..."
Chihiro Fujisaki, the one responsible for the Neo World Program incident, had been suffering from one brutal headache after another lately.
Because of the footage being forcibly broadcast throughout the Future Foundation, pressure was mounting for an immediate infiltration operation—and recently, even his own comrades had joined in on that pressure campaign.
"Ikusaba... I told you already. System authority is still in Monokuma's hands... The odds of successfully breaking in are abysmally low, and even if we did succeed, you'd just get trampled by Monokuma while trapped in the role of a student..."
"I don't care... just send me in already..."
"No. I can't shove a friend straight into a death trap."
"Come on... no, seriously, those bastards...!"
As the scene on the office monitor looked ready to start rubbing salt in the wound all over again, Ikusaba snapped, grabbed the remote, and tried to shut the power off—but for some reason, it wouldn't turn off.
"What...? What's wrong with this thing...?"
"Lately, my Alter Ego and I have been so focused on the infiltration operation that Enoshima's Alter Ego used that opening to seize complete control of the Future Foundation system, so now even turning the power off has been block—"
"Then we'll shut it off physically."
"...What?"
Ikusaba's expression turned glacial. Then she pulled a military knife from her clothes and hurled it straight at the monitor.
Pzzzzzt!
"...Ikusaba?"
"If we can't turn it off... then we just smash all of them."
"You're not seriously planning to go around every branch and destroy every monitor...?"
"....."
"Ikusaba, go outside and cool your head. You're way too worked up right now."
"...Haa."
After Ikusaba clawed at her hair and stormed out of the office, Fujisaki looked over the remaining students and spoke.
"Why are you all here?"
At Fujisaki's question, the gathered students began speaking up one by one.
"Move the operation forward at once!!! Conduct like that is a blight on the Future Foundation's public morals!!"
"At first, it was actually useful since there was plenty of material I could reference for doujinshi... but now I'm too terrified of what might happen next to even continue my promotional work..."
"I'm sick of watching that footage... And this time, no matter how exhausted I get, I still can't get used to it... Damn that deceitful bastard..."
"...Seeing someone who was once a candidate for my slave being toyed with like that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Please move the infiltration operation up as soon as possible."
"Every time I try to eat a donut... something filthy starts happening... Now... I'm scared to eat donuts..."
"I ran a fortune-telling, and... something huge is gonna blow up real soon... If we don't go now, it's dangerous, y'know..."
As the students' complaints erupted all at once, Fujisaki let out a sigh and raked his hands through his hair.
"I'm telling you... like I said before, going in now is basically suicide—"
"Huh...? Why are you all gathered here?"
"Oh my, hello there."
Fujisaki was trying to reason with them in a near-pleading voice when the door suddenly opened and Naegi and Sayaka Maizono walked in.
"A couple? Then... they're the enemy too!?"
"Right, those two are no joke either...!"
"U-um... what exactly is that supposed to..."
"Naegi!! Maizono!! Excessive public displays of affection in the workplace lower productivity and crush the morale of onlookers!! Therefore, for the time being, you should refrain—"
"Good grief. You're still as pathetic as ever."
"Uheeheeheeheehee... losers... You're only saying that because you've got nobody...! Puhuhuhuhuhuhup!!"
Cutting through the students' furious shouting, Togami and Genocide Jack entered. The room immediately exploded into fresh outrage.
"Come to think of it... Naegi and Maizono, sure, and Togami and Fukawa too... but that Kuwata idiot who fell for his own cousin, and Oogami, who's apparently been reverting her appearance back by several years lately because of her boyfriend—they didn't join today's protest either...!?"
"Damn you bastards... so you've all got someone, huh!?"
"Uuugh...! Get lost...!"
"I-I have someone too, actually... I've already been with Buko-chan on my monitor for years now..."
"Silence, all of you. I have brought important news."
At Togami's sharp declaration, the rampaging students fell silent. One by one, they sat down and listened to what he had to say.
"It has just been confirmed that the escape code input field for Kyoko Kirigiri and K has been activated."
"You mean... the two of them might be able to get out midway through?"
"In theory, yes. However, Monokuma has erased their memories. Under those conditions, it will be difficult for them to escape immediately."
"Then... doesn't that make this a bust after all...?"
Togami folded his arms and began speaking in his usual imperious tone.
"No, it is not a bust. The 'escape code' was set by K himself... and it was a string of characters that held some kind of meaning for him. Because of system restrictions, we cannot tell him directly, but once we establish contact with Usami again, giving him a related hint should be enough for him to figure it out."
"What... does that even mean...?"
When the others asked, Naegi picked up the explanation.
"When K was setting the Neo World Program's one-time emergency escape code, I asked him what those characters were supposed to mean. And K said..."
Hearing that, the students were thrown into confusion.
"What...?"
"Huh? Was there some kind of connection there?"
"No matter how I think about it, I can't make the association..."
Watching them, Naegi thought to himself.
'K... if it's you, you'll figure it out... right?'
.
.
.
.
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"Here. I brought it from the supermarket, just like you asked. Now then, I'm going back to continue nursing Komaeda-san."
Tsumiki looked at the two of them still rolling around on the bed with a thoroughly fed-up expression, spoke in a flat voice, handed what she was carrying over to K, and disappeared.
After receiving the item from Tsumiki, K broke into a grin and called Kyoko Kirigiri over.
"...Kyoko, come here."
"Yeees..."
Click.
"Th-this is...?"
"It's not fair... if I'm the only one wearing a buzzer around my neck... You should wear one too."
"Ah... ah..."
Smiling faintly, K fastened a personal alarm around Kyoko Kirigiri's neck.
"Mine's leather, but yours is just a normal cord... so be careful not to snap it, okay...?"
"Mm... okay..."
"If anything dangerous happens, press it right away. I'll come running immediately."
"Th-this... could it be..."
"Hm?"
"A-a couple set...? R-right...?"
"That's right. A couple set."
At that, Kyoko Kirigiri's eyes went wide. Then she smiled.
"Thank you, K!! I'll treasure it forever!!"
"Our Kyoko's such a good girl..."
With an expression full of affection, K tugged on the cord hanging around Kyoko Kirigiri's neck, drawing her toward him.
"Hhk...!"
"A good girl... deserves a reward, right...?"
"Hah... hngh..."
And as their tongues tangled together with the ease of long practice, K thought to himself:
'This still isn't enough... I can't feel safe yet... I'll need to come up with something else too...'
K was utterly fixated on one thing alone: making Kyoko Kirigiri safe, no matter what it took.
.
.
.
.
.
"Haa... haaah..."
"....."
Now that he had finally stopped even his stubborn stream of nonsense and was reduced to nothing but pained groans, Tsumiki stared at Komaeda in thought.
'Come to think of it, Komaeda-san betrayed Class 77 and sided with Junko-sama...'
His assistance had been quite useful to Junko-sama's plan. But there was one thing she still couldn't understand. Why had Komaeda suddenly betrayed Class 77 in the first place?
"Komaeda-san, why did you... side with us back then...?"
"....."
"Haa..."
Then again, if it were him, he'd probably start spouting some ridiculous sermon about hope and claim that was the reason. The moment she imagined it, murderous intent welled up inside her.
"Now that I think about it... if I strangled you to death right now... wouldn't everyone just assume you died because of the Despair Disease?"
"....."
Tsumiki approached Komaeda with a frigid expression—but then a knock suddenly came from the door.
"Tsumiki, it's time for the shift change. We'll take care of Komaeda, so you should get some rest—"
Hearing that, Tsumiki muttered with a look of utter disbelief.
"Just like always... that absurd luck of yours is still going strong."
Wearing a disappointed expression, Tsumiki grabbed the doorknob, cast one last glance over Komaeda, and opened the door.
"Then... I'll leave him in your careee..."
"...Just leave it to me!"
"We'll do our utmost...!"
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"This guy... he's in way worse shape than I expected..."
"So it was true when they said tonight would be the critical point."
Kuzuryu and Pekoyama stared at Komaeda with complicated expressions. To them, he was both an uncomfortable presence and a living reminder of their own sins.
"...He was the kind of bastard I used to wish would just die already, but seeing him suffering like that... it makes me weak."
"....."
"Pekoyama... someone like me really isn't fit to be the heir, huh...?"
"Young master... please don't say that..."
"Then if we make it out of here alive... wanna run away with me?"
"Y-young master! Wh-what are you...!"
"Not as tool and master, but as friends who rely on each other... or maybe something more than that... What do you think?"
"I... I..."
Just as the air was about to turn unmistakably pink, Komaeda opened his mouth and shattered the mood.
"Ahaha... hey, guys... wanna hear one really unfun fact...?"
"W-what is it...?"
"You were conscious this whole time...?"
"Given the situation... and because I've had enough of looking at you people after all the hope you've shown me... I kind of don't want to help you for once..."
"What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull now...!? Shut the hell up and lie down, bastard!!"
"Ahaha... if you don't listen, you definitely won't regret it..."
The fact that someone on the verge of death was speaking in such a bizarrely cheerful voice sent a chill through both of them. In the brief silence that followed, Komaeda continued with visible effort.
"Lately... not a single new person has come down with the Despair Disease...! Isn't that amazing...?"
"What the hell are you talking about...!?"
"The symptom of the Despair Disease he has is 'lying,' so... I believe he's saying that there actually has been another infected person..."
"What? If that's true, that's a huge problem, isn't it...? Hey, then who was the new one that got infected...?"
"....."
"Hey!!"
"...."
"He's lost consciousness, young master."
When Komaeda finally succumbed to his illness and blacked out, Kuzuryu and Pekoyama stared at each other for a long moment.
"Trusting what that bastard says leaves a bad taste in my mouth... but this time, even if we do believe him, it won't exactly cause any harm. Right?"
"Yes. I believe this statement of his is different from the usual slander and attempts to sow discord."
"...They say you should tap even a stone bridge before crossing it. Wouldn't hurt to make the rounds and check on everyone at least once."
And so, the army of hope standing against overwhelming despair continued to grow, little by little.