"Ugh... ngh..."
When I clawed my way back to a sliver of consciousness through the haze, I saw an angel standing in front of me.
"Am I... dead?"
I guess that made sense. Harukawa had kept torturing me and torturing me, so maybe I finally died. If that happened, did that mean Harukawa became the blackened?
"I dunno... but at least an angel came instead of a demon..."
Honestly, I thought if I died, I was guaranteed a one-way ticket to hell. According to Harukawa, I was the boss of some unbelievably awful organization and a human trash fire who caused an incident back in middle school.
But if an angel came to greet me, then maybe I really was a good person after all...
"Get it together."
"Y-yes, ma'am?"
Suddenly, the angel twisted into a vicious scowl and started shaking me.
"U-um... why are you doing this...?"
"Wake up already. And stop pissing me off."
Yeah, figures. There was no way I was getting into heaven. The thing in front of me was probably either a demon disguised as an angel, or some foul-tempered angel assigned to drag souls down to hell...
"...Do you want to die?"
"Huh?"
"What was that about foul-tempered...?"
"...Ghk."
I let my guard down. If she was the kind of being that could pass for an angel or a demon, then of course she'd have mind-reading powers. I badmouthed her. Was I about to get slapped with an extra charge and dropped into an even more atrocious layer of hell? What was I supposed to do abou—
"Are you insane?"
".....?"
"Why do you keep muttering your inner thoughts out loud?"
"...Ah."
Only then did my head clear enough for me to actually look. It wasn't an angel. It was Harukawa. So I'd just been hallucinating for a second.
"I-I'm sorry... I got lightheaded from anemia, so I was out of it... I hallucinated... I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."
"....."
Harukawa stared at me in silence while I groveled as pathetically as possible. Usually, after looking at me like that, she'd stir the knife buried in my side, so right when dread started crawling up my spine, she began walking toward me.
"P-please spare me... no, I mean, I don't even expect you to let me live... just please go easy on me... I think I'm going to bleed out and die soon anyway..."
"...Eat."
"...Huh?"
But instead of jabbing at my side, Harukawa tossed something onto the floor with a dull thud.
"Ugh... food..."
"..."
When I lowered my head and looked more closely at what had rolled across the floor, I realized it was hard bread and bottled water.
"C-can I... eat this...?"
"...Didn't you hear me tell you to eat?"
"N-no! Thank you for the meal...!!"
I had no idea what was going on, but for now, I decided to devour the food in front of me. I'd been dizzy for a while now, and my thoughts felt sluggish and muddy. It seemed like if I ate something—anything—I might be able to think straight again.
"Munch munch munch..."
My whole body was tied up tight, and I was slumped on the floor, so I had no choice but to shove my face down and eat off the ground.
Yeah, it probably looked unbelievably miserable. But what was I supposed to do? If I asked her to untie me, Harumaki might just stab the other side this time...
"H-huh?"
Come to think of it, there wasn't a knife in my side anymore. And when I looked more carefully, I saw it had even been wrapped in bandages. Why?
"U-um... where did the knife that was in my side go? And... what's with these bandages?"
"...Why? Do you want me to stick it back in?"
"N-no! I was just curious..."
"I took it out. And I wrapped the bandages."
"W-why...?"
"Yesterday, while I was torturing you, you suddenly started losing your mind, babbling nonsense, and then passed out. I've done enough torture to know this much—if I'd pushed you even a little further, you really would've died."
"....."
"So I'm taking a break from torturing you for today. I'm going to torture you for as long as possible before I kill you."
The instant I heard Harukawa's horrifying declaration, my appetite died a swift and ugly death.
"Pffh..."
I lifted my head from the bread I'd been forcing down and carefully asked her a question.
"Um... when you say you're taking a break for today... does that mean a whole day has already passed?"
"A few minutes before you woke up, the 8 a.m. announcement played."
"Ah..."
According to her, there'd be no torture for at least the rest of today. Was I supposed to be relieved? Or terrified of the torture waiting for me tomorrow?
"I don't know... just eat the bread for now..."
Normally, I would've tried to think my way through this somehow, but yesterday's agony had already snapped my spirit clean in half.
"Munch munch munch..."
In the end, I lowered my head again and started cramming bread into my mouth.
"...Thank you for the meal."
"......."
After I finished the bread and politely thanked her, Harukawa suddenly frowned. I flinched, wondering what I'd done wrong this time, and then she spoke.
"...Are you really an amnesiac?"
"...Huh?"
"I'm asking... if you really have amnesia..."
Her voice sounded strained—painfully so. I stared blankly for a moment before hurriedly nodding along.
"Ah... yes! That's right! I really do have amnesia!!"
"How much don't you remember...?"
"Everything! I don't remember anything! I only found out my name and talent by looking at my E-Handbook!"
"......."
Harukawa stared at me for a long time as I babbled desperately, then finally dropped into a chair and muttered,
"If that's true... then... haaah... what am I... supposed to do...?"
I watched her sit there and murmur to herself, then cautiously opened my mouth.
"Um... I know this probably just sounds offensive coming from someone who's lost his memories, but..."
".....?"
"I'm sorry... I really am... Whatever sins my past self committed against you... I'll accept the punishment for all of them..."
"......"
"So... you don't need to feel guilty... Haruma... huh...? Why am I getting so sleepy...."
A crushing wave of drowsiness slammed into me out of nowhere. The words spilled out unconsciously, and in the end, I couldn't fight it. I collapsed onto the floor.
"...Just as I thought. The food I gave him last night had sleeping pills in it."
Knock knock knock
As K sank into sleep, Harukawa muttered like she'd expected this all along. Then, when she heard knocking, she picked up the knife beside her and began to think.
"And if the food had sleeping pills in it..."
"Hey! Harumaki...! I brought breakfast!! Open up!!"
"....."
"Uh, Harumaki? I said I brought breakfast, y'know?"
"...Looks like she's sleeping pretty deeply?"
"Then get outta the way! It's time to test the [Universal Master Key] this body invented!!"
"M-Momota-kun, are you sure this is okay? Maybe we should go get Mukuro-san even now..."
"No!! I'm handling this!! He's already been subdued, and if that soldier gets involved, it'll obviously turn into overkill!!"
"O-okay, okay, so move! I need to use the key..."
"...It means something like this was bound to happen."
.
.
.
.
.
A few hours after the morning commotion, the kids gathered in the dining hall with gloomy expressions.
"....."
They'd somehow managed to assemble, but the atmosphere had sunk into a bleak, airless stupor. Their rescue operation that morning had ended in failure, and once Tojo and Mukuro found out what they'd tried to do, the two of them had coldly torn into the others for it.
On top of that, ever since Oma had accused him of being the Mastermind yesterday, Hoshi had stopped moving around with the others entirely, making the dining hall feel emptier and emptier by the minute.
And in that dreary, hollowed-out dining hall, it happened all at once.
"Nyahaha~! Sorry to interrupt this depressing mood, but I've got a super important announcement to make~!"
"...An important announcement?"
"That's right~! So then... allow me to introduce it! In order to create a Saishu Academy without a killing game... Angie has founded the 'student council'!"
At last, Chabashira, Yumeno, and Kiibo stood up in the dining hall and began formally announcing the creation of the student council.
"...And that's why we've decided to form the 'Saishu Academy Student Council,' with Yonaga Angie as student council president!"
"Nngah... our student council is gonna create a Saishu Academy with no killing game!"
"The student council is always accepting new members~! So if you want to join... anyone can~!"
"Nishishi... Angie-chan, did you not hear what I said?"
While Yonaga cheerfully explained the student council, Oma suddenly cut in with a slippery, mocking voice.
"Hm~?"
"...That cooperation is over now, remember?"
"Nope~! Now that the student council exists... cooperation is absolutely indispensable, y'know~?"
"Really? Then I guess I'll have to make an anti-student-council alliance!"
Oma turned to Gonta, who'd been standing nearby in a daze, and spoke.
"Right, Gonta?"
"U-uh?"
"You just promised you'd make an anti-student-council alliance with me, didn't you?"
"D-did I...? Um... ah, right! I did!"
"And... that skanky girl over there too, right?"
At Oma's words, Iruma recoiled and started protesting.
"W-what!? Wh-who are you calling skanky..."
"Hm? Iruma-chan, why are you reacting?"
"Y-you... weren't talking about meee...?"
"Of course I was talking about you, you skanky girl!!"
"Eeeeeek..."
"Anyway, join the anti-student-council alliance! Then I'll promote you from skank to mega-skank!!"
"I-is that... a good thing...?"
"Then... if Iruma-chan joins the anti-student-council alliance... that automatically means my guinea pig Shirogane joins too!"
Oma flashed Angie a grin.
"So then... now we've both got four members each, right? Angie?"
"Nyahaha... I wonder what Oma-kun is plotting~?"
"Why, to end cooperation completely, of course! Monokuma keeps exploiting the fact that we're cooperating!"
"That's wrong~! Everyone has to cooperate if we want to stop murders from happening~!"
"Looks like we've got ourselves a proper standoff now!"
"I think so too~!"
Oma and Angie were both smiling brightly as they talked, but their eyes weren't smiling at all. The kids watching their exchange felt an involuntary chill slither down their spines.
"Well then... I guess victory here will come down to who can secure more members... and the people left are... let's see..."
"Kirumi, Mukuro, Korekiyo, Shuichi, Kaede, and Rantaro are left~! And except for Korekiyo, they're all part of K's faction~!"
"Nishishi... if K-kun were here, this contest probably wouldn't even exist!!"
The two of them briefly swept their gazes over the neutral kids silently watching them, then spoke again.
"Then~! The student council will devote all its strength to rescuing K~! So... if you want to save K, cooperate with the student council~!"
"Our anti-student-council alliance is gonna put our strength into rescuing K too!"
Oma shot a sidelong glance at the student council members before continuing.
"I mean, come on—someone who thinks she's a mage, an aikido girl whose technique only shines if the other side attacks first, and a robot with the strength of an old man? We're obviously better! We've got Gonta and a genius skanky inventor!"
"But the problem is that you're in it, Oma-kun~!"
"Pretty sure the same goes for your side!"
And just like that, the conflict between the 'student council' and the 'anti-student-council alliance' began in earnest.
"........"
Meanwhile, Shinguji's eyes gleamed as he looked over the girls in the student council,
"...."
and Mukuro and Tojo silently glared at him.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hyaaahm... what the... why does my body feel so stiff... ah, right. I'm tied up."
The instant I opened my eyes, I recognized reality with brutal speed. I tried to pull myself together, but my mind refused to cooperate.
Well, obviously. I'd spent all day being tortured by an assassin, and the only thing I'd eaten was a single piece of bread. There was no way my head would be working properly.
At least it felt a little better than yesterday, when I was on the verge of going completely insane... but honestly, even now, I still felt half out of my mind.
"...Am I hallucinating?"
Because Momota was standing right in front of me.
"K... you okay? You look way more hurt than I expected... damn it, Harumaki... this is too much, isn't it?"
"Back, foul hallucination!!"
"...Huh?"
"Get away from me!! I'm not crazy yet!!"
I was wrong. I wasn't half out of my mind. I was completely gone. The hallucination was talking to me way too vividly.
"...Shut up."
"S-sorry... I thought I was seeing things in front of me..."
"That's not a hallucination."
"Huh?"
But according to Harukawa, the thing in front of me wasn't a hallucination. So what, that meant the guy in front of me was the real Momota?
"How badly did you get tortured for your mind to be flickering in and out like this...?"
"Y-you really are Momota?"
"Well, yeah... what, did you think I was fake Momota?"
Once I realized the Momota in front of me actually existed, I finally broke into a huge grin and shouted,
"Momota! You came to save me!!"
I lit up, thinking that even if he was a space pervert, Momota was still a loyal bro. Then Momota made an awkward face, held up his hands—which were tied with rope—and spoke.
"No, I got caught too."
"...Shit."