"Kirigiri, say it again."
"B-But... it's embarrassing..."
"Hurry up."
Lying on the bed with her cheeks burning red, Kyoko Kirigiri edged closer to K, who was stretched out beside her, and whispered softly.
"...K oppa."
"You're leaving something out at the beginning, aren't you?"
"Heuung... K oppa..."
"Pffft...!"
"Huuuuuu..."
Unable to endure the humiliation, Kyoko buried her face in K's chest and let out a muffled groan. K stroked her hair and murmured under his breath.
"I wish this moment could last forever..."
He said it with a deeply satisfied smile.
Then a glacial voice sliced through the air, and his whole body locked up on instinct.
"...K."
"W-What's wrong, Kyoko?"
"Did you enjoy yourself?"
".....?"
"Everything you've done to me until now..."
"Kyoko...?"
"I remember all of it."
".....!"
Staring at Kyoko as she looked down at him with an icy expression, K broke out in a cold sweat from head to toe.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Kyoko...?"
"...Hm? K? What's wrong...?"
"I mean... I, uh... guh!!"
"K...?"
"M-My head...!"
After seeing Kyoko's attitude abruptly change for a moment, K suddenly clutched his head and groaned. Kyoko looked at him with anxious eyes, then gently began stroking his head.
"D-Don't be in pain..."
"Ah... hahaha..."
"If you're hurting... I'll be sad too..."
"T-Thanks for worrying..."
"Until you get better... c-can I keep patting your head...?"
"...Yeah."
"Hehe, thank you..."
Kyoko smiled brightly, then kept stroking K's head, murmuring for him to get well soon. Forcing a smile as he accepted her gentle touch, K thought to himself:
'...I'm screwed.'
Starting with Kyoko Kirigiri and K, the symptoms of the children afflicted with the Despair Disease gradually began to ease.
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"All the patients' symptoms are easing up? That's true?"
"They're not completely cured yet... but at this rate, it looks like everyone will recover by the end of today."
"As expected... once I, the Supreme Overlord of Ice who Subdues All, personally took action... a mere plague never stood a chance."
"It wasn't because of you!! It was thanks to Miss Sonia's divine grace...!"
"That Monomi or whatever said she cured it, didn't she? Still, that stuffed-animal bastard had more going on than I thought. Curing the Despair Disease and all."
"That's a relief... There was a crisis again this time, but in the end, everyone is safe."
Gathered in the hospital lobby, the students talked about how the patients' conditions were improving. The good news had everyone breathing easier in their own way, but amid them, Saionji—wearing a thoroughly displeased expression—let out a yawn and opened her mouth.
"Haaahm... If they're gonna get better on their own anyway, doesn't that mean we can go rest now?"
"Still... just in case... let's keep nursing them through today."
"Tch, what a pain..."
Just as Koizumi was trying to soothe the irritable Saionji, who had started grumbling after staying up all night to help nurse the sick, the hospital doors opened and Chiaki Nanami walked in.
"So this is where everyone was?"
"Oh, Nanami? What about Tsumiki?"
"Thankfully, her fever broke a little while ago and her breathing's stable now, so I think she'll be completely better soon. Hinata-kun is taking care of her right now."
At Nanami's words, the students' expressions softened with relief.
"So... she won't suddenly snap again and go berserk like yesterday... right...?"
"The other kids' Despair Disease symptoms are easing too... so... probably not."
"...Young master Kuzuryu is currently resting at the lodging. He did wake up this morning, but he still requires stability for the time being."
After calmly reporting on Kuzuryu's condition, Pekoyama gripped the wooden sword at her waist and quietly muttered:
"That said, it's regrettable that it wasn't by my own will. Had I acted of my own volition... I would have shown her exactly what for."
"Pekoyama...? There's a crack in the hilt of your wooden sword..."
"...Ah."
As Pekoyama's face flushed faintly, the others stared at her with naked fear. Watching that scene, Nanami smiled a little, then passed by the group and spoke.
"I'm going to check on the patients one more time."
"Well, I don't mind... but shouldn't you get some rest?"
"I think I'll feel better once I confirm with my own eyes that they're really improving."
"In that case... fine. Be careful."
"Nanami really is nice..."
"Well, she was the one who stopped this whole incident too..."
"But seriously... what's going on between her and Hinata...?"
Listening to the students whisper among themselves, Nanami climbed the stairs and suddenly murmured:
"Besides... there are a few people whose reactions I'm curious about once their symptoms disappear..."
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"Ugh... I'm still kinda depressed... and being depressed made me hungry..."
Owari was still a little down, but she had started complaining about being hungry in her usual way again. Compared to before, when she kept bursting into tears nonstop, this was a huge improvement. That alone was enough to reassure me. Before long, I should have Hanamura prepare some Owari-specific snacks.
"So my Despair Disease is really gonna clear up? I believe ya... that's real good news, y'know..."
Ibuki was still speaking in a serious voice with a serious expression, but her usual speech pattern had returned, and unlike yesterday, she was no longer shouting—just muttering gravely to herself. At this rate, Ibuki would probably be back to normal soon too.
"To think everyone managed to overcome a disease with a name as despair-inducing as 'Despair Disease'... This is true hope itself...! Ahahahaha...!"
"...Komaeda-kun, are you completely better now?"
"Actually, that was a lie!! This isn't nearly enough to be called true hope...! I was hoping for something far more dramatic...!!"
Komaeda's symptoms had eased as well, but because his case had been more severe than anyone else's, his recovery was slower. At this point, it had become impossible to tell whether he was lying or telling the truth.
The students were currently locked in heated debate over what should be done with Komaeda going forward.
One side argued that, since he had informed Kuzuryu and Pekoyama about the additional outbreak and helped prevent a murder early, they should restrain and monitor him but not lock him back in the storage room. The other side insisted that, considering everything he'd done, he still deserved to be stuffed right back into the storage room.
Neither outcome would be particularly pleasant for Komaeda, but the man himself didn't seem to care much either way. Then again, being Komaeda, he'd probably just laugh and wrap either result in some deranged sermon about hope.
"So soon enough... an overwhelming despair will come to burn this tiny hope and happiness to ashes...! And if that happens... just how beautiful will the overwhelming hope blooming from it be?"
Leaving Komaeda to his renewed stream of lunacy, I headed for the room where K and Kyoko Kirigiri were staying. I'd been wondering for a while now what kind of reaction they'd have once the Despair Disease wore off.
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Knock knock knock
"K? Kirigiri? Are you in there? I came to check on how you're doing..."
Right now, I was knocking on the door to the hospital room where K and Kyoko Kirigiri were staying. Normally, the two of them had left the door wide open like they wanted everyone to see, but for some reason, now it was shut tight.
Knock knock knock knock knock
"The other kids' symptoms are getting better. How about you two...?"
"....."
"Um... guys...?"
Something was wrong. I'd been knocking for a while, but no answer came back.
"Hey... if you're in there, answer me...!"
Suddenly, a bad thought crossed my mind. Even if their symptoms were improving, that didn't mean nothing could go wrong. Starting to worry in earnest, I pounded on the door and shouted.
BAM BAM BAM!!
"K!! Kirigiri!! If you're in there, answer me already...!!"
Creeeak...
At the very moment I was hammering on the door and calling their names in a desperate voice, the hospital room door suddenly began to open, slowly.
"...Nanami?"
"Kirigiri!! Are you okay...?"
Poking her head through the slightly opened gap was Kyoko Kirigiri, wearing a shy expression.
"Yeah... thanks to you... th-thank you for worrying about meee..."
"Thank goodness... I thought something had happened. By the way, where's K?"
"...K?"
At those words, Kyoko flinched.
"Yeah... I checked on you, but I still haven't checked on K, so... I'm a little worried?"
"W-Well... I don't think... you need to worry about him..."
"You don't think I need to worry...?"
I tilted my head at Kyoko's answer.
Then, all of a sudden, I heard a muffled voice from somewhere beside her.
"H-Help... nghk...!"
Kyoko, who had been smiling awkwardly, suddenly yanked her hand sharply to the side. A dying gasp rang out from somewhere, and then silence fell.
"Anyway... we're fine... so you can go now..."
There was a leather strap wrapped around Kyoko's hand. Piecing together the rough outline of what was happening, I quietly let out a sigh, turned around, and headed for the stairs.
"...Hehe."
"K-Kyoko... this time... was an act of God..."
"I remember everything you did to me... so I'll return all of it to you exactly as it was."
"...Hic."
Judging by the sounds behind me, something absolutely catastrophic was happening in that room... but since it was clearly the result of someone's own karmic retribution, I decided not to get involved.
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"I thought keeping you trapped here would stop you from doing anything... but you'd already activated the code to解除 the Despair Disease...?"
"....."
"Upupupu... The Despair Disease I prepared so ambitiously... neutralized by the likes of Monomi... That's a bit of a blow to my pride, you know?"
The gigantic [Enoshima's Alter Ego], wearing an openly irritated expression, swept its gaze across the monitors scattered around the room, then glared down at Monomi below and muttered darkly.
Monomi, who had been bound all over and subjected to torture, glared right back at [Enoshima's Alter Ego] and spoke.
"Monokuma... no, Enoshima... in the end... you're going to fail...! Those children... no matter what happens now, they won't commit murder anymore...!"
"...Really? Is that so?"
"Have you ever once succeeded in making them kill each other? Even the original failed at that... there's no way you could possibly pull it off— Ugyaaaaaaah!!"
"I'm... different."
The Alter Ego spoke in a voice as cold as vacuum-sealed steel.
"Sure, I have an emotion module installed, so I can't help feeling emotions. But I don't let those emotions sway me and ruin my work. Unlike that shell that's probably rotting in solitary confinement right about now."
"You say that... but you've already done plenty of things because your emotions got the better of you...! Ugyagyagyagyak...!"
After absentmindedly shocking Monomi with electricity, the Alter Ego spoke again in a hollow, soulless voice.
"And unlike the original, my objective isn't to broadcast the children falling into despair. My objective is simply to kill them. So this motive... will be an 'act of God.'"
"W-What are you trying to do...?"
"Do you know what the most basic and reliable method of torture is?"
".....?"
"It's simple... starve them until they die!!"
".....!"
Without even sparing a glance for Monomi, whose face had gone deathly pale, the Alter Ego began electrocuting her again and quietly recited:
"They can all starve to death together, or they can commit murder. I'll let them decide for themselves... Upupupupupupu..."