Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Inauthentic and saccharine, the funhouse seems, with its jumbled assortment of rooms and tantalizing fruit “wallpapers.” But it has a certain gothic quality to it that you admire– it feels almost haunted. What kind of architecture is this? Why do you get such a strange feeling in the tower?

The uncanny miasma of despair accumulating within you gnaws at your sinking body– it’s happening already. It’s only been a day or two (you’re not even sure anymore) since you’ve last eaten, but you’re starting to feel gaunt already. It’s been difficult to sleep due to pangs of hunger coursing through your body like lightning. Due to the stress of your entire situation, it has been difficult to eat large portions in general. Looking at the accursed mirror in the music venue, you’d sworn you might’ve lost a little body fat.

You can’t help but feel a little like a zoo or a circus animal– perhaps even a freak. You wouldn’t put it past Monokuma to sever your arms and force you into a trapeze act, anyway. But that’s not the case, regardless. It’s quite late, at least to your knowledge, and you’re currently heading from your room, the leftover standard room in Grape House, to Strawberry House to see what the deal is with the Final Dead Room.

You’re very careful with your entrance. Fortunately, you’d assured yourself that nobody outside could have possibly seen you enter the room. Looking around at the tepid place, with its crimson scrawlings on the wall– they’re definitely intentional. One just above a safe– you imagine you’ll have to crack the code, somehow– says “Watch the NEWS” in menacing red-and-black streaks. It looks clotted. You nearly gag.

You open up the fold-out doors of the closet, peering at the disgusting “5” smeared against mildewing plaster. 

Upon hearing the shuffling of fabrics, you turn around and see none other than Gundham Tanaka, who is just as shocked as you are (perhaps even more so) to see another student in the Final Dead Room at this time.

You nearly shriek, startling heavily at his presence. His appearance doesn’t even disturb you, just his sudden appearance. How he manages to be so sneaky with all that jewelry, those heavy buckled boots, and 4 critters on his person eludes you.

“Oh!! I..  didn’t hear you come in! I didn’t even know two people could be in here at the same time…”

Monokuma appears in a flash, cutting off your words.

“Yep~! But you won’t get any help from Monomi. I don’t know why I allow her to butt in… you kids should be figuring these out on your own! What kind of headmaster am I if I condone CHEATING? Not on my watch! I’m keeping little sis in here to atone for her sins. Riiiiight , Monomi?” He tweaks her ear.

“Heeeey!” She mewls.

“BTW… You’re still being watched. In case you kids think about getting freaky. Just know… I’m watching. Upupupupu~” His synthetic body swells with sweat. Your face grows hot at that implication, not to mention the appearance of a… bed. Oh my . What’ll that be used for?

Heavy metal bars obfuscating the exit slam down onto the floor, and Monokuma disappears with Monomi in his grip as soon as he finishes chortling, letting you marinade on that little tidbit of degeneracy. The air in the room goes from freezing cold to sweltering within an instant… you don’t know if it’s because of the presence of another… individual, or because of how flustered you’ve become.

You glance Gundham’s way. He’s not looking at you, his mouth pushed into the solace of his scarf. His pale cheeks are tinged with pink. It’s almost endearing. His hands are wrapped firmly across his chest, his body trembling ever so slightly.

“Should we complete the puzzle together then, since we’re both here…? He made it seem like we can help each other.”

“You trust Monokuma of all the creatures here…” He scoffs.

“We don’t really have a choice…” You lament.

“Hm. I suppose I will allow you to assist me… how quaint.” He laughs gently through his nose. It excites something foreign in you. Being talked down to like that… you’d never liked that very much before; it seems different coming from him.

You manage to tear your eyes from him as you continue rifling through the closet as you were when he made entrance, grabbing the coat hanger. 

Gundham approaches the desk, opening each drawer. He places the card in the right drawer on top of the desk, the pliers in the middle one he places in his pocket, and he tugs on the left drawer, but is unable to open it up. He grunts in dissatisfaction. You head over to the desk to check out the card.

At its top, it reads:

S M _ _ _ _ S

“Like the days of the week…?” You think out loud.

“It must be more complex than that…”

You shake your head, not in dismissal at his claims but at the feeling of being overwhelmed by the many clues that starts to overtake you, like staring at a blank sudoku.

“The safe is numbers-only, anyway. And we should focus on that one first.”

Your eye goes to the numbers on the walls. The 5 in the closet, the 6… or is that a 9? It’s got that line on top, like in a deck of cards. It’s probably a 9. A 3, and a 7. In addition to the numbers, there’s a strange looking sigil on the ground, like a plus with a number 4 at its top.

You glance above the safe again.

Watch the NEWS… news… but the TV doesn’t work… and neither does the laptop.

Gundham’s words ring in your head, that it must be more complex… nothing these days has ever been quite so easy.

Perhaps it’s not a 4… maybe just a weird looking triangle, like the trick Monokuma tried to pull with the 9. Though there’s 4 walls, each with a number, which would match those needed to unlock the safe. But what order do they go in?

“3, 9, 5, and 7. How…? I could just try them in any order, I guess.”

“I would not do such a thing! Perhaps the safe is rigged with explosives.”

You sigh. “You’re right… but how do we know?”

“Perhaps all of this ‘blood’ points to the same clue.”

“Points…” You ignore the strange way he emphasizes “blood” to focus on his word choice. The triangle by the plus points to the wall with the 3 on it. You glance at the safe, the closet, the 5, and the strange message again. Why is NEWS in all caps?

“That rune by your feet is reminiscent of a compass.” You look right into his eyes as you have a shared epiphany.

“Compass points north… it’s pointing at the wall with 3 on it. So that’s north? So that’s east, south, and west…” You point at the other walls while he continues to think. There seems to be a piece of your reasoning that Gundham finds lacking.

“Ah!” He exclaims, pushing past you to enter the code.

“Wait… how do you know you’ve got the right code?! You could kill us!”

“Impossible. If such a thing occurred, I would enact a psychic shield with magicks to fortify against the blast.”

You want to believe him.

“So..?”

He approaches you again, placing a hand where your shoulder blades meet at your back. You’re perplexed by this change in demeanor.

“The word NEWS contains the alliteration of north, east, west, and south. Has it been revealed to you too, now?”

“So, 3, 9, 5, 7?” You look around, everything falling into place suddenly.

“Yes. Let us hope that’s correct.”

You plop down on the deeply uncomfortable bed beside the Monokuma plushie. Just before he inputs the code, a jingling noise beneath the bed startles you both.

“Did you hear something?” He nods, pressing a finger to his chin in contemplation.

“Maybe… is it under the bed?” You bent over, falling to your knees to check it out. You reach as far as you can underneath, but you don’t feel anything. When you emerge, nose rife with a layer of gray dust, you notice his eyes shifting from where you’d just pushed out your ass in a searching position. You blush, smoothing out your skirt. You might’ve felt a little breeze down there– you wonder if he got an eyeful. Oh well.

“I-I don’t feel anything under there,” You blunder. “It seems we need a tool to try and fish something out, if there is anything under there.”

“That apparatus from within the closet… let me wield it with this , will you?” He takes the pliers from the desk in his unbandaged hand.

You approach Gundham, handing it to him. He folds it swiftly into a crude metal hook. He hands it back to you, and you get back down there, fishing around with the hook until you’ve captured something. 

“Ah?” You exclaim, dragging it into your field of vision. You show him the key, and he nods in affirmation, grabbing it before heading to the locked drawer and fishing out a pair of scissors. He hands them to you, sharp side pointed at himself. How polite.

“Thanks.” 

He kneels right beside where you’re seated on the starchy bed, right by the Monokuma plush, and he stabs into it harshly with the scissors. You’re glad that’s not you . He reaches inside and fishes out a battery, which he also hands to you, his fingers brushing yours, bitterly cold with starvation. He stares at you for a moment, and you look at his face, those two eyes like gray and red radio nodes, until you can feel your face heating up again. 

Gundham brushes the dust from your nose gingerly– it’s eerie. You feel like one of his animals. Your lips fall open, pursed just slightly in the midst of this vast tension. You wonder if he can feel it too.

“W-we should open the safe now.” You mutter.

Gundham makes a spectacle of hurrying to the safe, hamsters sliding out of his sleeve as they each slide one specific digit of the code to the correct one. You can’t help but giggle a little bit– it’s quite showy.

The safe’s bulb glows green, and inside are a USB and a digital camera. He grins with pride and laughs in triumph, encouraging the Devas back onto his arm, into the respite of his scarf.

In this moment of purity you allow your mind to wander. And…

He’s really kind, isn’t he?

He’s sweet, he’s gentle, he’s attentive, and you just can’t get this out of your mind. Every aspect of himself that he deems corrupted or daemonic is something that curls around your senses like the soft, dove-white tails of a kitsune, something freeing and ultimately heavenly. Heavenly. He’d despise that— to be thought of in such a way.

You’ve heard others describe him in a plethora of ways– such as “once you get past his exterior, he’s pretty cool” and “he’s scary at first before you get to know him.” And that seems to be where he’s critically misunderstood. He should be loved because of his quirks, not in spite of them. Loved? Who said that? His image dances around the planetarium of your mind.

Planetarium…

“Do you have a pen?”

He looks around for one, but shakes his head, offering a meager apology. In the meantime, he’s placed the batteries in the camera’s slot and has turned it on.

“It could be Sunday or Monday, but it could mean the Sun or Mercury…”

You dismiss this as a shallow hypothesis.

“Come. See this,” 

You obey– you stand and peer over his shoulder at the contents of the camera. A photo of the order of the solar system.

“That has to be it, then.”

“The password for the computer?”

“Indeed.” You both head over to the laptop, inputting the USB and typing in S M V E M J S– Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Success! You’re greeted with a strange code of filled in and blank circles with numbers:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

○ • ○ • ○ • ○ • ○ •

○ ○ • • ○ ○ • • ○ ○

○ ○ ○ ○ • • • • ○ ○

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ • •

Your attention turns to the rhythmically blinking terminal beside the laptop.

“Another code?”

“The sequence of flashes… perturbs me.”

“Could it match the key we’re given here?”

It appears like so:

• ○ ○ •

○ ○ ○ •

• • • ○

• ○ • ○

“The first one makes no sense… if we used the formula for Othello it would be 13… that makes no sense. It’s 4 digits long, 1 digit each. How would you enter 13?”

“Hm. I believe I have an idea.”

Cham-P appears on top of the terminal, covering the other three blinking lights.

“The light blinks four times each, you see… Perhaps each of these lights acts individually.”

He provides the same coverage for the other 3 blinking lights.

If that’s the case…

• ○ • •

○ ○ • ○

○ ○ • •

• • ○ ○

“9, 8, 7, 5?”

“Let us try this incantation in the safe’s mechanism.”

This time, you get to put in the code. You push the numbers carefully, and it glows green again. You smile, briefly forgetting what situation you’re even in. The lock over by Gundham pops open, sending Cham-P flying back to his owner.

“Looks like we need the USB again…”

He removes it from the computer and puts it in, and a platform emerges from the floor in the center of the room. It startles you.

“Wh-what is this?” You walk over to it, now seeing the pistol and a small box of bullets that lie atop its expanse.

“It appears this is a game of chance, you see. Our future is written in the stars, denoted by Moirai already.”

“Do we both have to do it-?”

“Yes, you do!” Monokuma’s shrill voice returns.

“Woooooooow! You managed to keep your hands off of each other in a secluded room… with the Ultimate Breeder …with no exit… in a certain death situation …” He looks very hot and bothered. It’s quite disturbing. You reflexively move from Gundham’s side.

“I’m impressed! I won’t have tomfoolery like that on MY school trip, you hear?!” Monomi appears from behind him, pushing him out of the way.

“Heyyyyy… This is MY school trip, too! Plus, that’s not the kind of breeding he does, and you know it!” She whines.

“Nevertheless, you both will need to undergo the challenge of Russian Roulette in order to obtain your prize… since there’s two of you, you might have to share. Oh well. Good luck! I’ll be waiting out there for you.”

“By the wayyyy… the luckier you are, the better your prize will be! You heard me, folks– the more in the chamber, the juicier the reward! Don’t disappoint me! Upupupupupu!” He leaves swiftly.

“Get back here!” Monomi follows him, flailing wildly.

You’re left alone in silence with Gundham again.

You can’t avoid staring into those soulful eyes of his again. An expanse of red and gray, like a cardinal and a sparrow, enshrouded in an onyx nest of pristine eyeliner. You wonder what he’s thinking about you . Is he thinking about you killing yourself? Your brain matter marrying with the viscera of the walls?

“We must form a blood pact, [ Y/N ].”

“A blood pact?”

“You heard me correctly.”

“But I thought your blood was full of poison.”

“In our sublime cooperation in this dire task… I believe that you have achieved the ability to be unsullied by my fey lineage.”

Did he touch your face on purpose to discern that?

He’s scared. You can tell by the way his body moves around the platform and the gun, the meager sweat brewing on his cheeks.

“So…”

You glance at the scissors on the bed. Gundham grabs them hastily, motioning for you to come over to the bed. Your eyes go wide. This situation wouldn’t be so bad, in any other circumstance, would it…

He kneels before you, as if he were your knight, and he takes your trembling, clammy hand into his, looking up at you like the night sky.

He pushes the blade into your palm, and you wince, biting your lip as you stare up at him.

“Do not agonize, my siren. It will be over soon.” That nickname almost soothes the intensity of your pain.

He drags the scissors across his own palm quickly, drawing a thick bead of pure crimson.

He kisses your wounds together, the two of you sandwiching the oozing redness between your malnourished hands. You toy with his rings with your nervous fingers. He murmurs something under his breath in a language you couldn’t possibly understand.

“It is complete. You shall not die without my consent, lest the chimeras lurking in the shadows of Hel feel the unbridled, black breadth of my fury. Understand?” His tone and sincerity are as genuine as they come. But it hurts. It all hurts a lot.

A tear slips from your eye. “Yes.”

“Nh…! I’ve… upset you…”

He unwraps part of his arm bandages and presses them against your wound to absorb the blood. He lingers a little, keeping his hand around yours.

“No… no… let’s… let’s just shoot ourselves already.” You force a smile to try and make him feel less uneasy.

“Do you want to go first?” You ask. He nods, sighing.

“If there were but two guns, I would have us pull our triggers simultaneously. Our souls would intertwine like twin serpents and dance to Tartarus together.”

You smile at his kindness. He takes the gun, placing the Devas in your hands, offering them a smile as he would before he said good-bye to them forever. Fuck. That breaks your heart. 

Gundham takes the run, smacking it against the platform and loading a singular bullet in its chamber. 

“Just one?” You ask. He nods.

“It would be hubristic and gluttonous to test the universe’s will with surplus.”

It shuts– the spin of the chamber sends a chill down your spine. He looks right into your eyes, and you squeeze yours shut as he pulls the trigger.

A click.

Your lip quivers. He loads the gun again with a flourish, handing it to you, taking his dear hamsters back into his shaking hands.

You do the same, making straightforward eye contact with him as you pull the trigger.

Another bare, virginal click. What are the odds?

Chapter Text

In the afterglow of lady luck’s tender bosom, you fly into his arms, the remnants of tears in your eyes. He stalls, arms frozen behind you, first not returning your embrace, but settling in nicely and not-so-chivalrously at your waist once the shock has worn off.

For the first time in 3 days, you feel warm.

“I… I’ve never been so scared. But our pact protected me.” You keep your fingers intertwined with one another behind his neck.

He preens. “Yes… with the armor of my blood, you’ve been vaccinated against the horrors.”

You don’t want to hang onto him for too long, so you relinquish him.

“Let us reap the reward of our bravery.” He whispers to you. You nod, and he follows you out of the room into the Octagon.

A window. A window! It’s been quite a while since you’ve seen the outside world. You gaze outside, and you’re a little shocked at what you see. Shouldn’t Grape House be over there?

“Have you gleaned the secret of our abode, pet?”

“Yeah… are these positioned… vertically?”

“It seems as if that is so.” He’s behind you rifling through bins of weapons. A sudden sinking feeling overtakes you that isn’t just hunger or its ensuing madness.

“Hey… why’d you decide to go to the Final Dead Room today?”

Initially, he’s not sure if he should tell you.

“I have… some business with Nekomaru.”

“Ah.”

“I extend a similar question to yourself.”

You think.

“I didn’t do it for the weapons or prize or anything, I was just curious. I had no idea it would end with Russian Roulette or any crazy shit like that.”

“Did anyone see you come in here?”

“No. I trust nobody saw you, either.”

“Certainly not.”

“How are we going to explain this?

“Well, it seems that there’s a secret passageway from this room to both Grape and Strawberry. You could just… follow me out, if you want, as long as nobody’s there. Or I could follow you. I don’t really know what’s more suspicious.”

He recoils at that suggestion. It’s scandalous, you know, and he knows too, but what choice is there?

“What time is it even right now?”

He rummages through the bin again, grabbing an old-timey looking pocket watch that pops out of the metal it’s encased in.

“3:30 am.” 

“Jeez… I seriously doubt anyone’s up right now. Just come with me. There’s less of a chance, since Sonia and Chiaki are sharing the soundproof room. We’d just have to worry about Akane or Hajime, and she snores like a monster. So I guess it’s just Hajime we’ll have to be careful about.”

You take off your shoes and sneak to peer out of the door, and when the coast is clear, he follows you closely and discreetly out of the Octagon.

Heading towards the standard room, yours and his footsteps merge in heft, and you open up your door as quietly as possible to let him in. The moment you’re in, you sigh.

“We still should be quiet… you never know who might be here.”

“Hey… what do we do if we get caught somehow? And how do I explain the cut on my hand? An accident?” You sit down on your bed. He stands by its foot.

“There is no need to be so paranoid, dark lady. I fear the answer is simple. And it is one I know you want to hear.”

He’s right. You want to hear it from his lips.

“You tell them we shared a night of darkest ecstasy, you and I.”

There it is.

“The wound, let’s say it was… a little too primal.”

You look at him with the widest eyes you can muster. This is his plan?! A demon and an angel, coming together in the darkness of the night, awash in a frustrating sea of hormones and hunger. You’ve heard that being famished makes you aroused sometimes. Not often, though. This is pretty weird.

“Let us rendezvous at Strawberry Lounge at noon tomorrow. I have a proposition to share with you, if you’re so inclined.”

You try to cloak how eager you are to meet with him again by offering him a gentle nod.

“I’ll be there.”

He has a dream about you in the scant hours of sleep he gets the rest of the night. You’re attired in strips of deliciously thin fabrics, silks, tulle, and cotton, in cream and pearlescent white, surrounded by a pack of six or seven shiny black wolves. All females. How serene. You look like a lamb, a sweet angel among the barbs and thorns of the rest of this madhouse. He’s suddenly very close to you. He traces the outline of your ribs through your skin with the back of his bare hand. Your chest heaves.

You wake up around 6, and he’s gone. He’d gone back to his own room. How stubborn of him. Something feels hotter on your body, and you immediately notice your hand has been engulfed in something.

You’re graced with the tender familiarity of a purple scarf, adorned with sigils you don’t understand, that’s been wrapped around your wounded hand.

Chapter Text

/ 7 am, Day 3 /

“Hey, [ Y/N ], sorry if this is weird, but were you by yourself last night?” Hajime asks you between grunts.

Monokuma changes up the pose. You flex your hand, closing your eyes to focus your body’s motions as you tentatively field his question.

“For the most part, yeah. How come?” You lie, brow sweating from anxiety in addition to that inherent to your body’s contortion.

“I woke up pretty early this morning and I heard a door shut. I might’ve even seen someone around Grape Hall but I couldn’t really tell who it was.”

That moron. He should have just stayed.

You gulp.

“What do you mean exactly, ‘for the most part?’” He’s treating you like a murder suspect already. It undercuts his seriousness, however, that the back of his shirt is as transparent with sweat as a greasy fast-food bag.

“I don’t really want to talk about it here… I can tell you about it later.”

/ 12 pm, Strawberry Lounge /

With your best coy and shattered voice you call to him. He’s sitting on the offensively pink bench looking contemplative, his boots crossed over one another like thick leather wires.

“Why did you leave me last night?”

He pouts, turning away.

“When you say it like that, I sound about as dreadful and blackened as my soul. But it was the will of the universe, dark flower. Know that.”

Your arms are crossed.

“Truthfully, I did not know that you desired my hellish company,” He sighs.

“Why wouldn’t I?” You ask, rhetorically. 

You know he couldn’t devise an answer. Even if his touch isn’t poison to you, he seems to think that his presence provides enough potential to corrupt you.

A potential that is piquant and breathtaking.

Before you can even think of anything else, his gaze is fixated on you again.

“But, you see, that makes this fate that the goddess has spun for us all the more sorrowful.”

“Why is that?” 

“Nekomaru and I are going to spar by the tower tomorrow. One of us will die in combat, the other will be executed at trial.”

Your mouth hangs open, and you stiffen.

“I see… How… noble.”

“I am pleased that you understand. It is fitting, after all the horrors that we endured in the shadow of Nyx’s moon, as a dyad.” 

You know, he seems to reference goddesses more often than gods.

You drape the scarf, which had previously been placed around your arms chicly like a pashmina (or perhaps a Midgard serpent), around his neck again, focusing on the way it smells, on the way he smells– like gentle herbs with a rich musk to them, like a tree brimming with sap. The way he’s forced you to box him in like this makes this action kind of like a striptease, which would make you laugh if you weren’t starving. You’re standing with one leg between his thighs. 

He meets your sorrowful eyes, full of the half-sour milk of betrayal and human kindness, with his own. You think about tracing his scar (tattoo?) with the tip of your finger. 

You feel the phantom of his palm upon the back of your thigh, and you sigh aloud, almost collapsing into it. Between the fluttering of your eyelashes he beckons to you like an obedient little creature, and you lean towards his face. He’s so pale, pale as a sunless flower, but he’s gotten remarkably used to human touch, like a formerly stressed animal.

“You do not have to assist me. I am capable of performing such feats on my own. But if it would please you, to be part of this noble movement…”

So he… feels… bad…

He whispers right into your ear. His voice is delightful in the smoke of a whisper. 

“Though I have plots to lay. We must be careful. There are ears everywhere.”

You nod, your lips so dry and cheeks so clammy. His lips brush over your cheek when he pulls away. You feel like you’re going to faint.

Does he know he’s such a tease?

“Another rendezvous is in store, then. Our bloody Chamber, at the grim stroke of midnight.”

You linger just a little too long for comfort in front of his face.

“My Evil Eye will guide you in the meantime. And watch over you.”

His lips grow awfully close to yours. You imbibe the intoxicating scent of his breath, letting your fingers brush against his scarf as you feel a darkness inside you at your waist that begs to be corrupted.

“Thanks.” When you enunciate, your tongue brushes his bottom lip.

“So don’t do anything you would not want your dark lord to see.”

/ 4 pm, Free Time /

You’re sitting in the normal room with Hajime after having a rather existentialist conversation. He looks comfortable, but he’s about ready to leave.

“This has been fun, Y/N.”

You smile, flashing him your gaze for a moment, your fingers dancing over your mouth. You dip a nail between your lips to bite in anxiety.

“Thanks, Hajime. I know it’s not the same as being able to go walk on the beach or drink tea like we used to, but I’m glad you could have some fun.”

“Oh, I just remembered. Not to pry, but what did you want to tell me earlier when you were talking to me during Tai Chi?”

It’s not that I WANTED to tell you anything…

“A-about last night?”

“Yeah.”

“And I’m a little curious about that.” He points to your hand, the wound upon which is exposed in the way you crane your neck and rest your chin against your palm.

“Well, their cause is the same, I guess, and it’s not… it’s just…” Your face heats up.

From the way you’re embarrassed, Hajime averts his gaze.

“I-I’m sorry, I thought–”

“I was seeing someone. I was being visited by Gundham.”

“Gundham? How come?”

“What kind of question is that-? Because I like him?”

“O-oh, you mean like. Seeing him.”

Your face heats up again. “Yeah…”

“That’s where… um… this is from, too.” You have no idea if Hajime would believe something like that.

But he seems to.

“I-I’m sorry for invading your privacy. I thought someone might’ve tried to kill you and maybe you were just hiding it, I don’t know. Everything here is making me assume the worst of people. It’s awful what this place is doing to us.”

You sigh and nod. “It really sucks that it’s come to this.”

A sticky and blackened silence, like an oil spill.

“I-I’ll go now. See you tomorrow.” Uncomfortably, he takes leave from your room swiftly. 

You should have told him not to tell anyone.

Since you’ll have to stay up until midnight anyways (and however long after), you figure now might be a good time to take a nap.

It’s quite difficult to fall into a slumber when your stomach has gone numb from hunger, but your body seems to be quite reactive in other ways… but you remember the Evil Eye.

What would he say?

Chapter Text

/ 12 am, Final Dead Room /

You’re there before him this time. You walk through the room, past the bars, sitting on top of a chest in the arsenal. He appears at midnight on the dot.

“Did anyone see you come in?”

“You mock me, dark lady.” He scoffs. Apparently not.

Gundham immediately starts searching for tools– electrical tools and wrenches and hammers– things befitting someone like Kazuichi instead. Are these for dismantling Nekomaru?

“What are you going to use those for?”

“In our preparations, may I delegate this task to you?”

You nod. He places a screwdriver in your hands.

“You must take the devices in the saccharine Strawberry Lounge and send them two hours into the past. This is imperative. You must also create alarum at 5:30. ”

You nod again. Set the clocks back two hours . 

Before he turns around to look at the tool arsenal again, he does a double take and turns back to look at you. It makes you flush.

“Have you been good?” He asks in a voice you’ve rarely heard. It’s extra deep and almost… placating. As if it is reserved for beasts to be tamed.

“I had to tell Hajime about… what you said we did. He thought someone had tried to murder me in my sleep.”

His intense eyes are full of fiery rage.

“How meddlesome… is he incapable of keeping his putrid cosmic energy to himself? I can practically smell it on you.”

Is he jealous?

“I-I didn’t mean to. I mean, he pressed me for it.”

“Fret not, fret not… for it is not your fault. I should have kept a better watch, anyway. Perhaps I just can’t leave you alone anymore, hm?”

You grin a little bit; you’re used enough to the way he speaks to tell that he’s flirting now.

“While you are altering the temporalities of the Lounge, I will be destroying the demons within the elevator so as to not allow any access to the Realm of Grape.”

“Why is that?”

“When Nekomaru wakes, he shall meet with me at the Tower of Strawberry. I will have him cornered, his hackles will be raised like that of Cerberus. But I shall not falter. Know that. His fall is imminent.”

You toy with the screwdriver, looking down until you feel compelled, indebted, urged to look up at him. He glances over at you, keeping your eyes. He divines what you’re thinking.

“Speak.”

“Will I see you again?”

Wordlessly, he paces over to you, taking your chin between his thumb and forefinger with his unbandaged hand.

He kisses you, but it doesn’t feel like a kiss, because the taste of his lips fills your empty stomach, bloating it with the gluten and protein of desire. It feels like a little morsel in desperate hunger, an awaited oasis. You close your eyes without intending to, but once it’s over, you wish you’d kept them open. When he pulls his face away he looks at you with those piercing, menacing eyes again. You study his face– his pale lips, shiny with saliva and the evidence of affection; his cheeks, visibly warm.

Your hands eclipse the spots on his face that you’re gazing at. He’s just as warm as he looks, full of hot blood and not poison, his veins made of tissue and fiber and not dangerous streaks of icicles.

His eyes close, and he cranes his head to the right to kiss your thumb; with that, he pulls away, clasping your hands together first and then letting them fall down to your sides.

Being very careful not to make any noise, you open the door to Strawberry Hall, propping it open with a brick from inside the Octagon, where you’ve left your shoes. You tread in socks to the lounge, taking down the clock and opening the back, turning the little dial until it says 10:30 instead of 12:30. Before putting the clock back up on the wall, you set the little transparent hand for 5 hours in the future so that the alarm goes off right at 5:30.

Despite your immense care in keeping quiet, the actions of setting the clocks are soothing and therapeutic, and you start to feel calm enough to drift off. Things start to catch up with you, and your eyes flutter shut.

/ 7 am, Strawberry House Normal Room /

Fuyuhiko startles awake, again, one of many times since Peko’s death. It had taken basically the whole night to fall asleep, but it was nightmares again ; he sighs and rubs the left half of his face in frustration before getting up and going to the Lounge to see if anyone else is up. It feels… off today.

“Whoa!” He startles upon seeing you passed out with your head on the table. You awaken at that.

“A-Ah!”

“What’re you doing up here?” A valid question.

“I just got here a couple minutes ago. I wanted to see if anyone up here was awake. All the other girls are still asleep.” A lie, but there’s no way of knowing that yet. He has no idea that the elevator is broken; it seems airtight to you.

“Hm. Shit, is it really only 5 right now??”

“I guess…” You’re cut short from any rumination by the unmistakable sound of Nekomaru walking through the halls. Fuyuhiko pops his head out of the lounge. You follow him… Nekomaru is heading downstairs.

“What’s he doing up this early?” Fuyuhiko grumbles. You remember the internal clock in Nekomaru’s chest, how it always keeps the real time. A knot of doubt and malaise sets in throughout your chest, but nothing is over yet. But Gundham was set to duel with Nekomaru, right? Why lure him out like this?

/ 7:10 am, Strawberry Tower /

Gundham knows what it is like to wait for prey. Many predators do this. Of course, most animals didn’t have off switches or carbon plating, which almost makes him feel like he’s cheating. No, no, it’s not that. He’s been training the Devas to do this for days now– it would be a shame if that was all in vain and all his friends (and you … could he even label you a friend? Perhaps a paramour… ) had to perish. Or, worse, he was the causal force that initiated their deaths. He couldn’t allow himself to be the conduit of fate in that way. So he chose a different way.

The familiar clanking of Nekomaru’s joints sets the hairs upon the back of Gundham’s neck erect, and he prepares for battle. He knew that destroying the elevator would force Nekomaru to come to Strawberry Tower for Tai Chi. And it was so simple for him to break the circuits– the guides in the Octagon gave extensive information about the machinations of the Fun House. But he attributed that to the Strength of Darkness he possessed. 

As soon as Nekomaru passes his hiding spot, he sends Cham-P out to open the panel behind his head and push his goodnight switch. It was Cham-P’s most intense mission yet, and it was a success. Nekomaru whips his metal head around, but he’s on his knees in front of Gundham before he can even say a word.

“Our parting is… not ideal. But I confess, this is how it is ordained to be.”

After collecting (and rewarding) Cham-P, Gundham tampers with his internal clock, kneeling as he pries it out so that he can twist the dial. He stops as thoughts of you fill his head. Such a shame that you couldn’t be here for this part of the plan, but it’s a private matter. And he wouldn’t want to expose you to such grievous and dark activity. You were like his last speck of hope, and implicating you in Nekomaru’s death would wound him. Would it even count as death? It’s not the first time he’s died. It doesn’t really matter.

When he’s wrapping Nekomaru up in wire, he thinks about when you were unconscious in the bed, wrapping his scarf around your wounded hand. He looks down at his own wound. It’s beginning the process of healing, the sides of the gash stretching towards one another over his palm. It’s almost romantic.

He hangs the hook of wire that keeps Nekomaru bound upon the doorknob. Like clockwork, he destroys the button to Strawberry Hall. He absconds through the Octagon, moving swiftly to push the Grape Tower button to drop the floor, constructing the space for Nekomaru’s demise. 

Gundham places a giant hammer he found yesterday in the arsenal beside a pillar in Grape Tower. Hopefully the misdirection will prolong his time with everyone. When he leaves, he locks the other door up tightly with some chains and padlocks. With that, he is convinced that everything will fall into place.

He longs to see you again before the alarm goes off.

/ 7:25 am, Strawberry Lounge /

You and Fuyuhiko had begun a conversation about whatever you could stomach talking about for a little while, but the two of you opted to sit in silence for a while. While you’re speaking to him, you notice that you are still in your socks.

You start to panic, but you see Gundham in the doorway a minute later, and you breathe a sigh of relief. He must have won the duel!

His eyes go wide as if he’s shocked to see you, and even more shocked to see Fuyuhiko.

“Fools! Where is everyone else?” He booms.

“Dunno.” Fuyuhiko is slouched over onto his knees. It’s ear-piercingly quiet in the Lounge.

The alarm startles everyone. Kazuichi rushes in seconds later, very confused with one of his signature shrieks. You yelp and leap towards Gundham, and Fuyuhiko groans. Fuyuhiko stands on a chair and rips the clock off the wall, its bells vibrating intensely. You cover your ears.

Gundham knows what’s happening now. At this moment, Nekomaru is waking up and throttling until he falls all the way onto the ground floor.

“This raucous... It's louder than the supreme ruler of the Netherworld bellowing for a sacrifice...!” You look over his shoulder at Fuyuhiko fumbling with the clock.

“ Excellent work, dark disciple .” He uses the pandemonium to whisper to you. It’s like an aside in a play.

“What are you doing?!”

“I-It's not me! The wall clock just started ringing... I was just trying to stop it...!”

“Stop it already then!”

“Easy for you to say! I’m trying!” Fuyuhiko finally shuts it off.

“Ugh… well, I’m wide awake now.” Kazuichi scoffs.

“My mental defenses were bombarded with sonic resonance… was this your doing, Fuyuhiko?”

“What? Why would anyone do something so childish…”

“You must've rushed over after hearing that sound. You sure got here fast, though…” Kazuichi almost sounds like he’s implicating Fuyuhiko in something already.

“W-well… I didn’t rush over here. I was already here by coincidence.”

“Hm… coincidence? ” Gundham’s accusatory voice is dark and velvety. You could get used to it.

“D-Do you think I’m lying?” Fuyuhiko seems sheepish.

“It’s too early for this… I’m going back to bed.” Kazuichi rubs his eyes and heads towards the door.

The extremely loud thunk as Nekomaru hits the ground is utterly impossible to conceal. The whole building practically shakes, and everyone snaps their heads to look where the noise is coming from.

“What the hell was that?” Fuyuhiko snaps.

“Earthquake?” Kazuichi says, jumping toward Fuyuhiko in fear.

“The building did not actually shake.” Gundham murmurs.

“We should go check it out.” You say. Gundham turns to glare at you. You soften your expression… did you say something wrong?

You step outside the room with Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko. Gundham watches you all from the Lounge doorway.

“That sounded like it came from the Tower, no?” Fuyuhiko walks over to the elevator. You start to sweat.

“Yeah…” The door refuses to open, and Fuyuhiko steps back.

“How…?”

“Let’s try the stairs.” The three of you tread down the staircase to attempt to access the tower that way instead. Similarly, the button is broken, dangling down from its source via one singular wire. Kazuichi examines it. He steps back, nearly landing on your foot; he gives you a quick but awkward apology, as was his wont. You’d forgotten about your lack of shoes.

“So we’re trapped over here?” You ask.

“We should probably tell the others.”

“I think I saw a phone in Strawberry Lounge.”

As you’re heading upstairs, a familiar, terrifying noise plays over the speakers of the Fun House. A message appears on the nearby screens. Kazuichi yelps.

A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!

/ DEADLY LIFE – Strawberry Lounge /

Fuyuhiko must have called and hung up at least five times by now.

“Dammit…” He growls.

“I wonder who was killed…” You lie.

“You should try one more time.” Kazuichi says. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to increase the phone’s volume when it rings.”

“Fine…” He picks up the phone again, pressing the grape button, and this time he’s greeted with a familiar voice.

“Oh… you finally picked up!” You, Gundham, and Kazuichi crowd around the phone to hear the conversation.

“Is that you, Fuyuhiko?” Hajime says on the other end.

“Jeez, the phone was ringing for like thirty minutes! I was starting to think no one would pick up.”

“W-What are you guys doing? You all are in Strawberry House, right?”

“Duh. Even if we wanted to get to you, we couldn’t. Elevator’s busted, and someone broke the button to the Strawberry Tower door. We’re sitting ducks over here.”

“The elevator’s broken?” Kazuichi asks. You nod.

“So’s the Strawberry Button.” You say.

“I-I could probably fix the elevator door. I dunno about the button though, it might take some spare parts that I don’t have in here.”

“You still there?” Fuyuhiko asks.

“Yeah… s-sorry. But everyone’s okay over there?”

“We’re safe, but we couldn’t find Nekomaru anywhere.”

Another silence.

“Yeah… about that. Remember the body discovery announcement?” A wave of dread settles over everyone as they realize what happened.

“Damn… why’d it have to be him? We just fucking got him back!”

“Where was he killed?” Fuyuhiko finally asks.

“Grape Tower. He was… you know… when I walked in.”

“Grape Tower… so if the Strawberry Button wasn’t broken, we’d be able to enter the tower…” You remark aside.

“Oh shit… so the killer broke the elevator and the button in order to split us up on purpose!”

“Is there any way you guys could get to us?” Hajime asks.

“Kazuichi’s gonna try to fix the elevator. He said it’s gonna be hard to fix the button to the Hall without extra parts.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you. Are you gonna be alright?”

“Yeah. We’ll be there the moment the elevator is fixed. Until then, it’s up to you bastards to investigate!” With that glib note, he hangs up. Just then, Nagito enters the lounge.

“Where have you been?!” You ask. Nagito looks woozy, like he's sleepwalking.

“Hey! Are you listening?” Fuyuhiko yells.

“I’m talkin’ to you, Nagito.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t huh me. Not surprised you weren’t listening to me…”

“Sorry… I was thinking about something…”

“Probably something messed up and gross,” He murmurs.

“But I was listening. Nekomaru was killed, right? Then that body discovery announcement was referring to him…”

“Yeah… Out of everyone here, it just had to be him… after everything he went through… damn.”

“It's tantamount to being killed twice... Truly, he must have been burdened by terrible misfortune…” Gundham pipes up. What’s he setting up here?

“Okay, so now that we know what’s going on, I’m gonna go fix the elevator, okay?” Kazuichi starts to walk away.

“Mmm… can you wait? First, we should get…” Nagito starts, but he is rudely interrupted.

Monokuma appears, startling everyone.

“...Get the Monokuma File?”

Before leaving abruptly, Monokuma hands everyone some milk and bread. And the Monokuma File. You wonder if Hajime has one, too. Aside from Nagito, everyone starts scarfing . Gundham tries to act like he’s not, but he is. You’re no exception.

“The killer made a big mistake.” Nagito says, with a strange expression permeating his face. He goes on about ‘symbols of hope,’ but you can’t focus because you’re trying to savor the bread. The only thing that snaps you back is when Gundham starts talking again. His voice could pull you out of a stupor.

“It seems that we too shall begin the investigation on our end. Though it remains unclear how much we can do…is this acceptable? If I show my serious side, things will not end with mere child's play.” His unique way of speaking lends itself to the obscurity of the situation quite well. Even if pressed, he could just confuse whoever is asking him questions.

Nagito looks a little starstruck staring at everyone. It’s unsettling.

Everyone sits down at the table on the deeply uncomfortable chairs. You have no idea how you were able to sleep in one of them. Fatigue and hunger must do wonders.

“Why don't we try arranging the sequence of events in this case?”

“Proceed.” Gundham’s arms are crossed.

The general consensus of everyone’s account of the morning is that nobody from Strawberry House (with the addition of yourself) was able to get to Monokuma Tai Chi because the elevators and the Strawberry Button were broken. But there was some confusion about what time Nekomaru got to Grape Tower.

“We might know. He went downstairs around sunrise.” Fuyuhiko says, referring to himself and you. Kazuichi is shocked, Gundham even more so.

“You mean you personally witnessed Nekomaru going to Grape Tower?!” Gundham shouts. You nod.

“You don’t remember the rumbling? The alarm went off in the lounge and then the rumbling started.” Fuyuhiko explains. Nagito apparently did not even hear the clock go off.

“Could you elaborate?” Nagito asks.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I figured it was around morning and I went to the lounge to see what time it was. At that point [Y/N] was there. She was passed out. When I got there, the clock said 5 am…” Fuyuhiko rubs his head as he recalls.

“When did you get here?” Kazuichi asks you . Somehow, Gundham’s arms cross even more. You glance at him. This was not negotiated.

“Um, before then. I had the same issue, I haven’t been able to sleep for a while, but I stopped in here to check the time at… 2, maybe? I don’t remember what the clock said. All I remember is Fuyuhiko coming in here and waking me up around 5.”

“Your prying is unnecessary. Fuyuhiko was here by coincidence. Why does the presence of [Y/N] here around the same time as him warrant any suspicion?”

“Well, the girls and Hajime were all supposed to be in their rooms in Grape, so I’m just confused why she was here. And how, I guess, since the elevators and doors were broken.” You start to sweat.

“She was in my chamber.” That shuts them all up. Your eyes go wide, but you turn in your chair to hide your face in Gundham’s shoulder.

“A-ah… okay… um… ” Fuyuhiko’s freckled face reddens. He clears his throat.

“So, your shoes are probably in his room, too.” Kazuichi tries to keep the conversation on track. You forgot that you were shoeless.

“Ah… that made you think of Peko, didn’t it?” Immediately derailed by Nagito.

“Shut the fu … I mean, it’s n-none of your business.”

“Alright, well, why would Nekomaru wander off so early?” Kazuichi asks.

“I was wondering that too… I mean, I already knew I wasn't gonna get any sleep... So I just sat in the lounge thinking and talking with [ Y/N ], and we waited for him to come back. That's when the clock in the lounge started ringing. Thanks to that loud alarm, I completely forgot about Nekomaru. Until just now .”

“And I heard that alarm from my room. It woke me up out of my sleep.” Kazuichi nods, crossing his arms and trying to lean back in the deeply uncomfortable diner chairs. He almost falls down.

“I have a suspect already.” Nagito says in his typical glib manner. Everyone is shocked.

“Huh?”

“It’s me!” He says. Now, everyone is confused.

“I mean...isn't it strange? I was the only one who didn't notice an alarm that was so loud, everyone else came out of their rooms... Well, the same goes for the rumbling noise that you guys heard after that.”

“Are you fucking around with us?”

“No… not right now. So Fuyuhiko and [ Y/N ] witnessed Nekomaru at 5:00 a.m. That's the time Nekomaru apparently went down to the 1st floor. At 5:30 a.m., the alarm clock in the lounge started ringing. When that happened, you two woke up and left your rooms to go to the lounge, where Fuyuhiko was. Right after that, you heard a strange rumbling sound…” You notice that Nagito just assumes that Gundham woke up to the alarm too. But he couldn’t have, because nobody could hear anything from outside in his soundproof room. You plan to tell him that later.

“Something might've happened to Nekomaru during that noise.” Gundham says.

“H-hey… If Nekomaru died when we heard that sound... Doesn't that mean we have an alibi? If that's when the killer murdered Nekomaru, we were all at the lounge at that time.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Fuyuhiko says, gazing into the distance at the clock.

“I’m gonna go take care of the elevator.” Kazuichi glances over at you and then gets up to go do that. Everyone mirrors him, and Nagito and Fuyuhiko walk over to the door. Nagito leans in to speak to Fuyuhiko. From what you hear, he’s talking about needing some help investigating the rumbling sound. Fuyuhiko wonders why Nagito needs his help with that, and Nagito gives him a cryptic answer. Whatever he said seems to have piqued Gundham’s anxiety.

Gundham turns to you the moment they’re out the door.

“Pray tell, where are your shoes?”

“I think I left them in the arsenal.” You say, fear permeating every syllable.

“Gh-! It’s… I should have removed them. I fear Nagito will be heading over there now.”

“It’s my fault… not yours. I didn’t mean to fall asleep in the lounge. I was gonna come back to the arsenal once I was done. It just came over me all of a sudden. I’ll go get them.” You start to get up, but he grabs your hand. He forces you to look at him.

“Do not. It is too perilous. It is a dangerous mission for someone more suited to such caliginous tasks. I must go.”

“How will you go when Nagito is planning on going inside?”

“I will strike while he is inside. While he deigns to solve the puzzle and obtain access to the arsenal, I will slip in and out like a serpent. I promise you this, Dark Lady.”

“Okay… please be careful. I think we’re in some kind of endgame at this point.”

“I most certainly will.”

Nagito examines the broken button at Strawberry Hall.

“The killer's intent... I can think of only one explanation…”

Nagito looks up at him.

“Ah, Gundham…”

“Perhaps...they intended to keep me from entering the scene of the crime… Which means the killer was afraid! Afraid of the conclusion promised by my assumptions!”

“Yeah… sure…” Nagito is lost in thought.

“So, if I’m not wrong, the elevator and Strawberry Hall door look like they're completely broken. And the elevator was stuck open into Grape House… if the killer is the one who did all this, then they’re most likely stuck at Grape House right now.”

Gundham stands to the side, feigning looking at the broken button while Nagito enters the Final Dead Room. The minute the bars are down on the inside, Gundham heads over to the secret passageway to enter the Octagon.

The shoes are gone.

/ 10 am, Grape House /

You, Gundham, Fuyuhiko, and Kazuichi all ride the newly fixed elevator to Grape House. After some conversation, particularly alluding to the fact that the elevator may be rotating 180˚ instead of moving, everyone heads towards Grape Tower. While people stand around and talk, you go quickly to your room to grab another pair of shoes from under the bed. You're not sure how Monokuma managed to transfer all of your multiple pairs of the same clothes into here, but you don't ask questions, lest you summon him.

You leave your room, and Chiaki is out there, lost in thought.

"Everything okay?" She asks. You nod, and you walk with her towards Grape Tower, where everyone is about to enter.

You stop in your tracks upon seeing the corpse.

Nekomaru’s body is surrounded by a mess of blue crude oil. His head and foot have fallen off, and one of the pillars has collapsed right beside him. The hammer? You think you saw something like that in the arsenal. He’s covered in different lengths of wire.

Everyone is shocked and deeply disturbed upon seeing his body. Akane seems the worst– she looks alright, but the tension in her body gives her an aura of profound devastation.

Nagito’s attitude is different… he seems frustrated and less tolerant of everyone’s questions.

After some conversation, Kazuichi musters up the strength to perform an “autopsy” (bot-opsy?) on Nekomaru.

“Looks like...the damage to his head is the reason Nekomaru died...I mean, stopped functioning…”

“His torso is covered in huge dents, and his parts are dislocated... Hmm... Maybe a gear shaft broke, too? Well, for now I tried disassembling Nekomaru's chest.”

You look at the clock in his chest.

“It looks like it stopped at 7:30. It also has an alarm set for 7:30.”

“How come none of us heard it?” Akane says. “All I heard was that rumbling noise.”

“Tch.” Nagito is toeing the line between passive and aggressive.

“Huh?” Hajime says.

“You guys overlooked an important clue. I swear, you're just the worst ... As I thought...there's no way I can leave this to you guys.”

He shows everyone a long doorknob that was wedged under Nekomaru’s body. How could such a thing fall out? It was screwed in.

“The Grape Hall door is the only one missing a handle… that’s it, then?” Hajime asks.

“There’s no way to tell unless we look at it. We’d have to take the elevator to Strawberry House and enter Strawberry Tower from Strawberry Hall…” Nagito asserts.

“The button is broken… and Kazuichi told us earlier that he needs some spare parts in order to fix it.” You remind him.

“We have all the spare parts we need here, right?” Everyone is shocked at Nagito’s suggestion.

“Use our dead friend?!”

“It’s called recycling .”

“A-Anyway, there’s chains on this side of the door, remember?” Hajime tries to redirect the conversation.

“Doesn’t matter. C’mon, let’s go to Strawberry Hall.” Nagito so tersely sets out toward the elevator.

Fuyuhiko, Chiaki, and Hajime hang back with you to talk.

“Is he delegating strange tasks to you guys or something?” You ask. Fuyuhiko nods.

“Yeah… he told me to investigate all the clocks inside both buildings. Their times were normal. He never told me why. Weird ass.”

“For now...why don't we head over to Strawberry Tower, too? Along with the doorknob matter, there are still many mysteries surrounding this that we don't quite  understand…” Chiaki pipes up, and you nod.

“You’re right.” Hajime concurs.

Fuyuhiko and Chiaki continue ahead, and you walk alongside Hajime for a bit. He walks over to talk to Akane briefly, and you stop by to speak to Sonia.

“Nagito is acting strange, isn’t he?”

“Yes… I do not understand why he is being so cruel. The Nagito we know...would not talk like that, right?”

“Yeah, it’s as if he’s been replaced. So cold and… bossy.” You place hand hand contemplatively on your chin.

“Oh my gosh!” You’re startled by Sonia’s yelp. As if there haven’t been enough reasons to shout today…

“What happened to your hand?”

“I fell last night. I tried to grab something to stop my fall, but it slipped and cut me.” What's another lie, at this point?

“Is that right? Well, I most likely did not hear because my room is soundproof. I hope you are doing alright in spite of it.” Something about her makes you feel bad for lying, like you just want to please her…

But you keep your mouth shut. She’s too sweet to be told Gundham’s lie (the coital injury) and though she might be fond of the real thing (something tells you she’d be down for a blood pact, too), it’s too close to the case to tell her.

/ Strawberry Hall, outside Strawberry Tower /

“Now that we're all here, why don't we hurry up and try it out? What will happen if you press the button?”

Everyone is apprehensive about Nagito’s suggestion.

“There’s no way it’ll open. Did you forget about the chain?” Fuyuhiko sighs. Something tells you that Nagito knows something nobody else does.

“Don’t even bother.” Akane says, frustrated.

“Let’s give it a shot.” Hajime suggests as he presses the button. To everyone’s shock, it opens.

“Impossible!” Gundham cries.

“Hey, doesn't this all look the same as when we were in Grape Tower?” Akane says.

“Yeah… The body isn't the only thing that moved. Even the tipped over pillar and the spilled oil... They've all moved the exact same way…” 

The crime scene is identical, and even though you already knew that Strawberry House was on top of Grape House, you’re still confused.

“It’s magic!” Sonia shouts.

“What the hell is going on?” Fuyuhiko growls.

“I think I’m starting to see the truth…” Chiaki says.

“Kehehehe…. I see…” Gundham starts, crossing his arms and standing up straight.

“I feel it! Remnants of the winds of hell... how I've missed you! It appears that the Netherworld is behind this occurrence. Fortunately, for you humans... the portal created by the demon's power was too small, so it existed in this realm for only a brief second. But the portal's impact managed to dislodge the chain and it was sucked into the portal as it closed shut! This is the truth behind the chain's disappearance!” Oh, how you'd missed his outbursts. It's bittersweet... you wonder how many of these he has left before the trial.

Hajime looks contemplatively at the door and its distinct lack of doorknob.

“Don’t you see it?” Nagito says mockingly.

“No…” Hajime is confused.

“Just wait.”

Ding dong, bing bong.

Everyone looks at the nearest screen to await Monokuma’s message.

It appears...that it's time for the class trial...

He says some other meaningless things, too.

“How are we supposed to get to the trial grounds from in here?” Kazuichi asks.

A rumbling begins. Akane starts looking around.

“What’s that, Akane?” You ask.

“Do you guys hear something?”

Suddenly, a giant Monokuma head bursts through the floor. Its mouth opens with another shudder of the ground.

“I guess we go through here?” Hajime says, and Nagito starts walking before the words are fully out of his mouth.

“All right! I'm gonna go! Just hold on Nekomaru! I'll make sure I avenge you!” Akane runs into the mouth recklessly.

“Seems like a trap…” Fuyuhiko passes nonchalantly into the darkness, his hands in his pockets.

“I agree. I detect the scent of danger." Cham-P is suddenly on his shoulder.

"Even my familiars are saying, ‘Do not go inside…’ How interesting! If you can kill me, you're welcome to try! Try stabbing your sword through my very heart!” He ends the little soliloquy with a well-placed evil laugh. If you weren’t terrified on his behalf, you might swoon a little.

You follow after him. Sonia, Chiaki, and Kazuichi follow behind you. Nagito and Hajime are the only ones left.

As the elevator descends, you look across the elevator at Gundham. His eyes are closed, he’s smirking a little, and his arms are crossed. You beg him silently to look up.

The journey is endless. He finally looks up. So much is communicated through your eye-to-eye contact in the dim light of the elevator– every click is a flash of darkness, and when the light returns, it blinds for a minute. You can see the violent red and the sky gray so clearly in that blip. He takes a deep breath– you can see his chest moving.

After such a long time, the elevator clicks its final click and makes its stop.

Chapter Text

Cultivating the trial’s atmosphere as facetiously as always, Monokuma goes off on something about cooking Monomi into a curry.

“I’m here today because coach Nekomaru risked his life to protect me. I won’t let his killer get off easy… no way I’d be tempted by a nice curry, got it?!” Akane growls, though you and Sonia both notice how much she’s drooling.

“Why don’t we try to go over the incident? We weren’t able to leave Strawberry House, so I want to make sure our story is straight.” Fuyuhiko redirects the conversation towards something more productive.

“Hajime and Chiaki were also with me.” Sonia replies.

“H-Hajime?! Were you three… you know…”

You’re amazed at how fast Kazuichi’s mind goes to dirty things. And he didn’t suspect you and Gundham at the start. You suppose that when Miss Sonia is involved, well…

“Imbecile!! I am not some loose-legged woman…”

“Of course you’re not! You’re way classier than that.” Kazuichi stutters uncontrollably.

“With loose legs, I could probably do the splits super easy.”

They all manage to steer the conversation towards something irrelevant, without fail.

“We just happened to run into each other on the first floor of Grape House, and we went to the tower.” Hajime says, and Sonia nods in agreement.

“The body discovery announcement was made soon after, which is when Akane came over.” Chiaki chimes in.

“We heard the body discovery announcement too, but from Strawberry House. But the elevator was out of order, so we were trapped.” Fuyuhiko continues.

“We decided to go to the tower to get to Strawberry Hall, but the door button was broken, too.” Kazuichi says.

“Thinking we should at least find some means of communication, we set our sights on the lounge telephone...” Gundham says. It’s the first time he’s spoken during the entire trial. He is quickly derailed by Akane.

“It’s definitely someone from Strawberry House!! There’s no way a chick would kill someone so cruelly… so it’s gotta be one of you Strawberry House dudes. One of you better fess up, or I’ll break you all in half!!” Akane cracks her knuckles.

“And we’re the cruel ones?!” Kazuichi yelps.

“C’mon, enough. We don’t have the luxury of discussing irrelevant things. There are so many questions this time around.” Chiaki says.

“Yes… this place is a mystery,” you chime in.

“Well, then let’s discuss the weapon.” Kazuichi says.

“Huh?” Nagito pipes in.

“What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious?”

“Huh?!” Nagito’s expression is half confused, half deeply annoyed.

“The pillar, right?” Akane tries to answer his question.

“The hammer! He used the hammer to beat the crap out of Nekomaru!”

“The hammer was pretty clean to be the murder weapon. The rest of his body was covered in oil. I don’t think it was what the killer used to murder him.” Hajime asserts, and an array of people nod in agreement with him, including yourself.

“What if the killer wiped off the blood?!” Kazuichi seems desperate to be right. Probably because of Sonia’s presence.

“Why wouldn’t they have just thrown the weapon away at that point… if that’s not it, what’s the actual weapon? Nothing else at the crime scene even looks like a weapon.” Fuyuhiko sighs.

“The only thing at the crime scene that had oil on it was the broken pillar.” Hajime affirms again.

“Nobody could withstand a blow from that pillar… even if you used a hundred percent of your muscle strength, it would be impossible to wield it as a weapon.” Gundham says.

“It was pretty frickin’ heavy. But there’s one dude who could have lifted it.” Akane has that twinge of curiosity in her eye again.

“Who?” Fuyuhiko asks.

“Nekomaru’s robot body, of course!”

“So he killed himself?” Gundham inquires, a darkness in his voice that almost feels like hope.

“Don’t be stupid, he’d never do something like that.” Akane says.

“Sooo… we’re back to square one?” You say.

“No… what about if the killer tipped the pillar over onto Nekomaru and that’s how he died?” Sonia suggests.

“If that happened, then there should’ve been pillar fragments on top of his body.” Hajime and Chiaki agree with each other.

“No way. I’m positive that Nekomaru was killed by that pillar. I trust my instincts.” Akane says, and everybody seems a little bewildered that she would bring up instincts at a time like this, yourself included.

“You guys are pathetic, not noticing the truth. But I’ll help you out, I guess.” Nagito scoffs.

“What kind of shit is that, Nagito? How come you’re not acting crazy anymore?” Fuyuhiko’s hair seems to be on edge.

“The pillar itself is not enough. But the ultimate weapon is.” Now some salient wisdom from Nagito. Perhaps he’s not lying about providing some actual help.

“You mean… the thing you get from clearing the final dead room?” Kazuichi says, and Nagito nods in agreement.

“Everyone has seen it by now, haven’t they?” Nagito says cryptically, but without his newfound scorn.

“Yes, you’ve seen it clearly now… I am the ultimate weapon, the one who has claimed dominion over evil, he who cuts the insolent catalyst which flows from the chaos with the sword of victory…” Oh, how he starts. And know now in your heart that you don’t want him to ever stop. You feel something warm and beautiful bloom in your chest, like thousands of insects or dandelion spores. How quaint for something like love to blossom in a place like this.

“You are far greater than the ultimate weapon. You wield the four dark devas of destruction.” Sonia gushes.

“I… I see…!” Gundham’s flustered face rears itself again. Oh? Well, you of all people know he likes praise from pretty things.

“I don’t know why, but I don’t like this.” Kazuichi frowns.

“Me neither.” You say under your breath, spitting a little, flashing a very quick pitiable expression at Gundham. He notices, shifting his scarf.

“Cut the bullshit. What’s the ultimate weapon? I know it’s not Gundham.” Fuyuhiko seems to get testy whenever the topic gets… romantic. It’s sad.

“In order to clarify that, we need to solve the secret of the funhouse.” Nagito has opened an entirely new can of beans.

“Is it the structure of the fun house? Strawberry house leads to strawberry tower, and grape house leads to grape tower... But in actuality, they are both the same building, and both houses are linked to the central tower.” Sonia says.

“But when we went to grape tower from grape hall, Nekomaru’s body was in front of the door to strawberry hall. But when we went to strawberry tower from strawberry hall, his body was in front of the door to grape hall.” Hajime wonders.

“They must have moved his body!” She says, and Hajime shakes his head.

“He’s too heavy. And what about the oil stains on the floor?” You’ve become so focused on refuting her that you almost forget you’re actually nudging them toward Gundham’s guilt.

“Hey… Nagito. We’re stuck.” Hajime sighs.

“I knew it would come to this. I’ll give you a hint. I’m the only one who knows because I’m the only one who played the game.”

“The life-threatening game? You cleared the final dead room?”

“Yes, once I cleared the final dead room, I saw it. I took a picture.” He takes a digital camera from his pockets and hands it to Fuyuhiko after fiddling around with it.

“The first floor of strawberry house is located in a high area. Grape house is not behind the tower like we’ve been led to believe.”

“I see… strawberry house and grape house are in the same building but on different floors, then. The first floor of strawberry house is the fourth floor above grape house” Hajime rubs his chin pensively.

“But the shape of the building..! The two houses are totally different shapes. A hexagon and a rectangle, yeah?” Kazuichi says, confused.

“If you place the strawberry rectangle on top of the grape hexagon, it just looks like a hexagon from above. That’s why strawberry is on top of grape.” Chiaki deduces.

“That’s riiiiiight~! Those two houses are on different floors of the same building!” Monokuma trills.

“How h-horrible-!” Monomi shudders.

“If that is the case, and strawberry tower is perched atop grape tower, why was Nekomaru’s body in both places?” Gundham crosses his arms.

“Because one of the bodies was a dummy!” Kazuichi shouts triumphantly.

“Huh?” A sentiment felt by everyone at the trial, spoken into existence by none other than Fuyuhiko.

“Nekomaru did die with a mechanical body… a dummy body could have been constructed with spare parts!” Gundham is confidently misleading.

“You are magnificent, Gundham~!” Sonia purrs. Kazuichi is miffed by Sonia’s taste for Gundham… again, he’s not the only one.

“If we had spare parts, I think it would not have taken as long to fix the elevator.” You say firmly, reminding Gundham of what is at stake here and how circling around the drain still means you’re destined to go down.

“More importantly, if there was a dummy, how would the killer have anticipated that Kazuichi would disassemble Nekomaru to look for clues?” Hajime sure knows how to kill tension.

Gundham sighs. “Even if his body wasn’t a dummy, it’s meaningless if we don’t have the important answer. How was his body transported from floor to floor?”

“The tower itself is a giant elevator.” Hajime says calmly.

“WHAT?!!” Gundham roars. He’s overselling it a little.

“Then why is there a picture of a strawberry when you enter from grape, but a grape when you enter from strawberry? And why were the chains around the door gone on the grape door?” Sonia seems quite perplexed.

“There are too many strange things. Was that tower really an elevator?” Gundham says.

“When you see people, and things… make sure you focus on the good parts instead of the bad.” A real we are the music makers moment for Chiaki, but Gundham softens his posture. It works. You give him a reassuring glance, but he’s not looking at you.

“What does everything that hasn’t changed have in common?” Chiaki nudges Hajime with her words, and it seems to click for him.

“They’re… all on the floor? So… you mean the floor moves, but not the ceiling?” She nods at him.

“By the way, what’s the mystery with the chain on grape tower’s door?”

“Everything was done deliberately so that we’d stay away from strawberry tower. If we figured out the secret of the funhouse, it would make finding the killer ever the more easier. I applaud him, or her.” Nagito’s saying crazy things again, but the lump in your throat is getting more and more steady since he’s started revealing these little niblets of truth.

He probably already knows the killer.

“The funhouse is certainly connected to the ultimate weapon.”

“You’re progressing much too quickly, Nagito. If strawberry and grape house are connected vertically, how does the elevator transport us from one house to the other?” Gundham’s brow is furrowed again. Something tells you a monologue is about to begin, and you’re filled with less excitement and lust and more worry.

He starts to go on about how if the elevator moves vertically, you should get off on the same side of the elevator, but in actuality, you get off on either side of the elevator, left or right, depending on which house you’ve moved to. Sonia concurs and even creates a back-and-forth with him. You’re feeling levels of embarrassment you didn’t know were conceivable.

“Ugh, as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. My compass needle rotated 180 degrees while in the elevator, too.”

“It probably just rotates while it moves. There’s many ways this could be possible. I don’t think it’s such an important detail to be hung up on.” You sigh.

“So now can we talk about the ultimate weapon?!” Akane shouts.

“It’s at the Octagon.” Nagito says glibly.

“What the hell is that?” Fuyuhiko asks, curt as ever.

“The secret room surrounded by concrete in the depths of the final dead room.” Hajime replies.

“The building structure is the weapon,” Nagito says, and everyone is confused.

“Ahahahahaha~! So deserving, to be called the ultimate weapon.” Nagito preens, and everyone is uncomfortable.

And on that note, the class trial intermission begins. The room goes dark, and everyone steps off their pedestals.

You can’t help but feel a little hurt. It’s not Sonia’s fault for liking him, of course. But when half the people out there know you spent the night with him a few times (which may or may not be true), it feels like you’re being cheated on. Yeah. It’s serious.

Kazuichi tries to cozy up to her, but she borderline shrugs him off and goes up to Akane, presumably to talk about doing the splits or something. You can’t afford to care at this point. You take Gundham’s shoulder in your hand.

“Hey.” He smells like cloves, and his coat is warm to the touch. You shiver; you just want to collapse into his arms.

“If you’re going to die, or I’m going to die, or whatever, can we at least just, you know, be serious about this for a second?”

He sighs, and his breath feels so nice on you. Everything about him has this luster of love, like an aura. You cannot get enough of it. It makes it too hard to be upset.

“About… us?” He intuits, and you nod.

“What’s happening with Sonia? Are you conspiring with her, too?”

“You may be mad. I am… suggestible to exquisite temptresses, yes, it is in my nature. But I assure you, in the cursed name of all the strange and wild things in this realm that are unholy, that you are, doubtlessly, my Dark Lady.”

You sigh. It’s too much. You fall victim to him again.

“I want to stay in this moment forever.” You drop your poor, tired head against his chest, and his fingers cord through your hair absentmindedly.

“Of all the blessed moments to store yourself in, like little jars, you choose this one?” He teases; he uses that low, quiet tone he reserves for private moments, and it fans a flame inside yourself, roaring.

“You know it’s the sweetest; like the veil, where life and death just miss, right where they…kiss.” You press your body against his; his muscles (you don’t expect his muscles!) are so hard, like tense meat.

After thoroughly relishing how nice his body feels, how good he smells, and considering the brief idea that you may never touch him again, you stand up and straighten the front of his coat, noticing the few hairs you’ve left on his white shirt. You’re almost proud.

“I want to allocate something to you.” You gaze upward into his eyes, so full of soul . He’d never agree with that .

He slips a ring off of his finger.

“When I’m in the underworld, I want you to be my Queen.”

You gasp, staunchly trying to keep your eyes from welling with tears.

“ When? I’m sorry, I just… haven’t accepted that you might die . In the next… like, hour .” He is silent as he slips it onto your ring finger, then your middle finger when he sees that it’s too large to fit onto your ring finger. The reddened pallor of his hands next to yours is the most beautiful sight in the world.

“But yes. Of course I will be your Lady.”

You look to see if anyone else is looking, and you kiss him on the lips, a liplock that suggests you’d like to kiss everywhere else on his body. You pull away, your lips darkened by the contact.

“You really believe the building is the weapon? How can we be sure you’re not lying?” Kazuichi crosses his arms, needlessly. You’ve grown to be far less patient towards your classmates delaying the inevitable.

“I don’t want to die either. There was a time when I thought I could become a stepping stone for your hopes, but… I sincerely retract that remark. I'm disappointed too, you know. If this was a murder for the sake of hope, I'd happily sacrifice myself…”

“You peddle falsehoods, as per usual. There is no such thing as murder for the sake of hope. Murder is simply murder. Forcibly sacrificing others for one's own desires...! Even one as diabolical as I would avoid such actions!” In a way, Gundham right. Gundham didn’t kill for selfish reasons; he killed so that everyone would not waste away. Nekomaru could have done the same thing.

“Maybe for one’s own hope… hope for others , though… it’s the most beautiful thing of all. Ah, what am I saying…” You mutter, and Kazuichi shoots you a strange glance, while Nagito seems elated that you’ve come around to his way of thinking. He has no fucking idea .

“Anyway...if the killer used the building structure, why don't we think about how they used it? As in, the cause of death.” Chiaki redirects the conversation.

“Nekomaru died from falling. If the Funhouse's secret is that it's a structure where both towers and houses are vertically connected, then the killer made use of its height and caused Nekomaru to die from falling.” Hajime seems certain.

“So he got pushed…?” Akane questions.

“I-I’m not sure,” Hajime is caught off guard.

“Don’t just make things up when you don’t know the method. Where would you even be able to push someone off in the first place?!” You’re not certain if it’s Gundham’s hubris, or something pushing him toward everyone discovering the truth.

“You could push him off the top floor when the elevator is on the ground floor.” Akane puzzles.

“But if the elevator is open on the first floor, how would the killer get to the top floor?” Fuyuhiko tries to make sense of her idea.

“Saying he died from falling is truly incorrect! You should burn in the flames of hell!”

“Maybe, after he locked Nekomaru inside the elevator, the killer moved the elevator from the top floor to the ground and made use of that drop.” Chiaki chimes in again.

“But the elevator has a movement sensor. If something is inside, the other door won’t open.” Kazuichi reminds her of its mechanics.

“He wasn’t moving,” Hajime asserts. “Someone pressed Nekomaru’s good night button.”

“Even if they moved the elevator in that manner, Nekomaru would have just moved along with it. There would have been no drop for him to fall and die from, yes?” Gundham is getting a little defensive again, toeing the line between prolonging and shortening the trial.

“Consider the wire and the doorknob. It had scrape marks on it, and the wire was tied around Nekomaru where his leg fell off.” Hajime presents the evidence.

“So he was hanging in midair?!” You say.

“He was soooooo well hung. Kinda like…” Monokuma mewls. It flusters you a little– not just from his innuendo, but you can sense a little pride in Gundham’s demeanor when he talks about how good of a job he did hanging Nekomaru there.

“You better not finish that sentence!” Monomi chimes in.

Kazuichi takes issue with this, snowballing Hajime’s evidence into a huge argument about how it was possible that Nekomaru fell if he was tied up. It ends with Hajime reminding Kazuichi that Nekomaru has an alarm clock in addition to a good night button, and that once it went off, Nekomaru probably flailed around until the handle fell off, which was what led to him falling and dying.

“I see… so that’s how Nekomaru fell to his death. I get it. It appears it's just as Miss Sonia said... I'm just a pest... No...I'm not just a pest, I'm a total fuckin’ pig. Isn’t that right, Miss Sonia~? If I’m a fucking pig, please say so!” Suddenly you don’t feel so bad about your stolen glances when Kazuichi is so brazen .

“No, I believe you gave your all.” Kazuichi is heartbroken at her response, prompting an expression of utter disgust from Fuyuhiko.

“When Nekomaru fell to the floor, he collided with the pillar. So it did kinda end up being the weapon, in a way.” Hajime says.

“So, how do we locate a clue leading to the killer?” Sonia asks, sighing.

“What about the alarm? It was set for 7:30 am.” Fuyuhiko says, and you gulp. This might be the part where you come in.

“Huh? That’s not possible. I slept in a little, but I still got to the tower at 7 in the morning.” Akane shouts, and Sonia concurs.

“It appears yet another contradiction has been birthed,” Gundham seems ever so pleased. “If he died at 7:30, how were you at the tower after he died yet simultaneously at 7 am?”

“Maybe the clocks got changed. But Nekomaru’s clock can’t be altered. His shows the real time.” Hajime says, and you start to sweat.

“No, I checked all the clocks inside the funhouse. Nagito told me to.” Fuyuhiko points to him, and Nagito nods.

“M-me too. They’re all legit.” You say.

“It’s possible that the killer tampered with all the clocks, you know.” Hajime suggests, and the rest of your classmates seem to agree.

“Wow, this is fantastic.” Nagito gushes.

“The impact sound of Nekomaru hitting the floor could be used to pinpoint that time in our time.” Kazuichi says.

“It was when we were gathered at the strawberry house lounge.” You want to nudge Gundham away from this. This is the tidbit you’d been thinking about all along– Gundham hadn’t been in his room for long, and he must have forgotten that his fancy room was indeed soundproof, and that nobody could corroborate his presence anywhere .

“What is it, Sonia?” He says.

“I did not hear such a sound.” The drums of panic boom within your ears and lungs.

“I heard that sound at 5:30 in the morning. I woke up right away to check the lounge clock.” Akane says, and it snaps you back. 

I didn’t set any of the clocks in grape house . Could this be the detail that fucks everyone? But he didn’t tell me to. He didn’t tell me to.

“So the time was off by two hours.” Hajime concludes.

“Whyever did the killer alter our perception of time? What purpose would such a feat incur?” Gundham stirs the pot.

“To lure out just Nekomaru, of course.” Nagito says, like such a thing was so obvious.

“So, since we were required to leave for Monokuma Tai Chi, this practically guaranteed it would be just Nekomaru up at that time, since he has his internal clock.” You muse.

“I witnessed him early in the morning. He must have thought it was 7 and he was heading to Tai Chi.” Fuyuhiko says.

“Now that we know how the killer lured Nekomaru, our suspect list has decreased in size. [Y/N], what happened next?” Nagito cryptically looks around before his eyes fixate on you.

“Well, the alarm went off in the lounge when I was talking with Fuyuhiko. And you know, it was right before the rumbling sound, now that I think of it.” You recount.

“Whoever doesn’t have an alibi for when the big rumble happened is the prime suspect!” Fuyuhiko yells.

“I ran out quickly when I heard. My walls are pretty thin, I was shocked to see people already in the lounge. It was Fuyuhiko and [Y/N], and also Gundham.” Kazuichi rubs the edge of his beanie contemplatively.

“Can we backtrack a second? Why was [Y/N] in strawberry lounge in the first place? And how?” Akane asks, and you look around sheepishly.

“That’s not relevant,” Gundham snaps.

“L-let’s revisit that later, maybe,” Hajime is blushing. “Nagito, what’s your alibi?” Nagito is extra silent, which freaks everyone out.

“Even if I wanted to go to the lounge, I couldn’t.”

“Foolish talk of the weak…” Gundham mutters.

“Not only did I not hear the alarm, I never even heard that rumbling sound.”

“I didn’t hear them either. I sleep pretty hard.” Chiaki remarks. He’s been buried, hasn’t he? What do these three have in common?

“Gundham? May I ask you something?” Hajime asks, and he’s got that tone he uses when he fingers people in the trials.

“When the alarm rang, you rushed there too?”

“What’s wrong with that? If the bell of catastrophe rings throughout the night, it is the universe's providence to stop it…”

“How could you hear it? You were in a deluxe room.”

Gundham is freakishly quiet, which upsets Sonia and Kazuichi.

“Unless you were already out of your room already at the time. So when Fuyuhiko saw Nekomaru, Gundham was already there waiting for him.” Hajime concludes.

“And he couldn’t go back to his room cuz Fuyuhiko and [Y/N] were in the lounge.” Kazuichi adds.

“I guess I should probably tell you all why I was in the lounge. It’s gonna come out, so I’ll just be honest.” You blurt out.

“She was with me. In my room. During the night.” Gundham speaks in a stilted voice, and there are various degrees of shock around the room. You bite your lip.

“Yeah. Okay? I was in strawberry house all night. I went to the lounge because I couldn’t sleep.” Part of you is super embarrassed, but another half is… thrilled .

“Couldn’t sleep, huh… after… y’know…? He must not be very good.” Kazuichi says.

“How crude!” Sonia scoffs.

“Upupupupupupu~! Now this is what I live for.” Monokuma chortles.

“Anyway, I… actually saw [Y/N] when I entered the lounge after I saw Nekomaru head downstairs, a little before the alarm went off.” Fuyuhiko says.

“Anything else you care to say, Gundham?” Nagito says.

“Including myself and my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, how many ears do we possess?” He pulls out the Devas, inspiring a collective confusion.

“The answer is ten... that's right, I possess ten ears… that means I have five times the hearing of a normal human! The soundproof system here may as well not exist!” He starts to get sweaty.

“Do you understand the situation you’re in right now?” Fuyuhiko asks.

“Gundham?” You say sweetly.

“Do not panic… the truth… shall now commence!” He clears his throat, cradling the Devas.

“At the time, I left my room to go to the bathroom. By coincidence, I heard the alarm. That's right, that's all it was... The world is always so simple.”

Chiaki expresses disbelief, and everyone is inclined to agree.

“Your assumption has been wrong since the beginning! Based on your assumption, I hung Nekomaru from the fourth floor of the tower, and made the floor descend to the first floor... From there, after returning to strawberry house, I was present when the alarm at the lounge went off, correct? How do you suspect that I traveled between both houses if the elevator was broken?”

“Hmmm, he has a point.” Fuyuhiko murmurs.

“The elevator was broken, but open at the grape house side. Whoever used the elevator last left it open at grape house. I was in strawberry house when the alarm started ringing. You are wrong.”

He laughs uproariously. “Have you learned your lesson, pitiful humans!? You cannot overcome this contradiction!”

“There’s another way of getting between the houses.” Hajime says plainly.

“Lies!!” Gundham cries.

“Then why don’t we ask someone who actually used that method?” Hajime’s eyes fly to Nagito.

“Huh?”

“W-what? There’s a secret passage connecting the first floor of strawberry house to the third floor of grape house. Nagito can corroborate me.”

“He’s right. On the Octagon. And once you clear the room, you can use it whenever you want. Now…” Nagito pauses.

“I have a question for [Y/N].” Everyone looks toward you.

“When you had fallen asleep in the strawberry lounge, how were you attired?”

“What kind of question is that? Wearing my normal clothing.”

“When we saw her, she didn’t have any shoes on. But they were in Gundham’s room.” Kazuichi replies.

“I found these in the Octagon during the investigation.” Nagito passes the camera around again. It’s a photo of your shoes.

“Um…”

“Are you suggesting that [Y/N] committed the murder? It seems like an awful lot of work for one person, let alone a girl. Nekomaru is… he was… big and heavy in that robot body.” Kazuichi says. It’s a little ignorant, but you let it slide.

“Mmm, no. That’s precisely my point. Gundham had an accomplice.”

“If you value your life...you should stop with your scrutiny…” He’s fuming at Hajime.

“The weapons and tools used for Nekomaru’s murder were all in the Octagon’s arsenal.” Hajime remarks.

“Since the elevator was broken, Nekomaru had to go to strawberry tower instead of grape, just like we did later that morning. Gundham was waiting for Nekomaru’s arrival there while [Y/N] was asleep in the lounge. Or… maybe she was resetting the clocks for him.”

“All you have is proof that she was at the final dead room. Right now, she’s the main suspect. What does Gundham have to do with this anymore?!” Sonia cries.

“The more damning piece of evidence is this: after luring Nekomaru to strawberry tower, there was no way he could spar head-on with his robotic body, so he managed to subdue Nekomaru without fighting him by pressing his good night button. Only Gundham is capable of this, yeah?” Nagito deduces.

“Hm? Wh-what? Huh? I didn’t…” Gundham stumbles over his words uncharacteristically.

“Huh?” It’s as if Nagito is taunting him.

“Don’t… don’t mess with me!! I cannot ignore those words! Ha! You fools make me laugh! After all this time, you still don't understand anything at all!” He lets out a very hearty laugh, like he used to when you would spend time together before all this.

“I cannot finish just yet. Maybe I'm just a human destined for hell! I'm going to destroy your illusory assumptions! You said I pressed Nekomaru's good night button. However, that button was on the back of Nekomaru's neck. To press it, I'd have to get behind him. Fuhahahaha! If you want to set me up as the killer, at least surpass your own human limitations!” That confidence is really what lured you to him.

“You’re wrong, Gundham.” Hajime is calm. It erodes Gundham’s bravado.

“Listen well! I shall teach you two tips for making someone admit their defeat! First, you must crush them with your own overwhelming power. And as for the other… you must provide a reason that will persuade that human! You have not fulfilled either of those yet!”

“Even if you didn't get behind Nekomaru, you should've been able to press the button on the back of his neck. As long as you have the power of the hamsters you keep with you!” Hajime points at him dramatically.

You consider piping up, that there’s barely any evidence suggesting that you couldn’t have been behind Nekomaru to press the button somehow, since your alibi is flimsy. But that’s not what Gundham wants at this point. Something has become abundantly clear– he wants to spare everyone from the grim kiss of death, including you. Implicating yourself would make him the sole survivor.

“Now that you mention it...after Ibuki was killed in the music venue, one of Gundham's hamsters retrieved the piece of wallpaper from the baton lighting, right? Hey, with your friends and their exceptionally smart brains, it must've been possible...” Chiaki mentions.

“How about it, Gundham?” Hajime taunts. Gundham grunts, but it snowballs into a fit of maniacal laughter.

“Not just myself...but you actually brought up how splendid my subordinates are… I have no choice but to admit it. It appears I’ve obtained a one-way ticket to hell.” Everyone is silent. Sonia’s eyes appear glossy with an immaculate shine of tears.

“Fine! Then you must trample me underfoot and advance! Victory can only be built upon a foundation of corpses! You cannot find peace without sacrifice anywhere! Now, trample this life! Trample it as though it were mere trash on the side of the road! Pull the curtain strings of this worthless performance with your own two hands!”

Hajime recounts the entire story.

Let us go over the many tricks the killer and his accomplice prepared before the crime was committed. First, he destroyed the elevator, trapping our respective groups in strawberry and grape, myself and the girls in grape, and [Y/N] and the guys in strawberry.

Next, he lured out Nekomaru. How? [Y/N] turned back all the clocks by two hours. Since his own clock cannot be tampered with, this guaranteed that only Nekomaru would go to the tower. [Y/N] also set the timer on the lounge clock to go off at 5:30.

After finishing up, the killer went to strawberry tower with the tools from the Octagon, meaning that he knew the secret of the funhouse– that strawberry and grape are just different floors of the same building. At some point, [Y/N] also headed to the lounge, but she left her shoes in the Octagon.

Nekomaru went to grape tower for Monokuma tai chi. Fuyuhiko witnessed Nekomaru go downstairs before going to the lounge. He went downstairs because the elevator was broken. This is where the killer awaited him.

With the skill of his hamsters, he was able to incapacitate Nekomaru by pressing his good night button. Once he was down, the killer tied up Nekomaru and set his chest alarm for 7:30 am. He was then hung to the doorknob with the wire.

The killer then destroyed the door button to strawberry hall in order to disguise the murder weapon– the structure of the funhouse. Then, he used the Octagon’s passageway, and presumably tried to collect [Y/N]’s shoes, but he discovered they were missing. He then pressed the button to lower the floor of the tower, leaving Nekomaru’s body dangling.

The killer then placed the hammer to look like the weapon and wrapped a chain around the back door to confuse us again, making it seem as if we couldn’t enter the tower from strawberry hall. He then escaped through the Octagon’s passageway, but Fuyuhiko’s presence foiled his plan. Time ran out, and the alarm went off.

In order to secure an alibi, the killer had to enter the lounge when the alarm went on; the killer had a deluxe room, so the part of his plan where he was to return to his room and feign not hearing the alarm was quashed. Nekomaru woke up, flailed around, and fell all the way to the floor, colliding with the pillar when the knob fell off and creating more carnage than intended. It created a great raucous, which we all heard. But since Fuyuhiko was in the lounge, the killer could not return to his room. That’s why…. I can’t think of anyone but you!

Everyone stands in a circle around Monokuma away from the dais and the lecterns.

“Splendid! That was splendid. For a mere human, you did quite well!”

“I cannot believe it… you killed Nekomaru?” Sonia shouts.

“You don't wish to forgive me? Do you feel regret? Then finish it! Cast your impure votes for Gundham Tanaka! My beloved, deadly foes! Let the voting time begin!”

Everyone, including yourself, casts their votes. You cannot believe this is happening, yet it seems so real.

“You were riiiiiight~! Four in a row, wow! The one who killed the robotic Nekomaru in the funhouse was none other than Gundham Tanaka!”

“Get this execution over with already.” Nagito sighs. You want to curse him out, but sadness numbs and silences you.

“I want to hear it from Gundham.” Hajime is frozen.

“Why do you want to talk to one who has lost? The loser merely leaves... it would be wholly unnecessary for me to say anything…”

“...is what I would like to say, but for honor's sake, I shall correct one thing. You guys said I made Nekomaru powerless without fighting him... That, however, is a great mistake.”

“Huh?”

“Nekomaru did fight, that is no mistake. He fought me, he lost, and he died. If he was trying to cling to life, there are many ways he could have done so. But he did not allow that for himself.”

“Explain.” Akane’s hands are in tight fists.

“I shall reveal all. Within the Final Dead Room, [Y/N] and myself discovered the secret of the Funhouse. I devised a killing plan utilizing that secret. By tampering with all the clocks in the building, Nekomaru was lured to the tower...and we stood face-to-face. He knew immediately that it was a duel. He saw me. He could have ran. But he did not turn his back to me. He chose to fight me, risk life or death.” He looks to you for confirmation, and you bite your lip to choke back the tears, nodding.

“He gave his all to try and kill me. If I had died instead, it would have been much more confusing, yes? How common it is for a victim to have his or her scenario turned around on its head, dying to his own design. Our success was glorious.”

“Wh-why… did you fight? We were all friends! Even if you both consented to the fight, it was still wrong.”

“What is the point of living if you’re just waiting to die? There's nothing courageous about that! That is abandonment! A mere feeling of resignation! These feelings dominate us, friends, but resignation ignites nothing but giving up. It is an insult to life itself. Ever hear of dog-eat-dog?”

“As in… a zero-sum game? Someone has to die?” You say, voice breaking a little.

“If killing for the sake of living is evil, what would you call giving up on life itself?! If a world would consider that justice, then I will fight that world with every fiber of my being! Giving up on life and choosing death is nothing but a blasphemy toward life. A violation of the natural order. The arrogance of humanity.”

Everyone is stunned.

“Nekomaru had the courage to die when he needed to die. That is why he challenged me to our battle. Regardless, I admit I have betrayed you all. That is the absolute truth. But even so, don’t you think it is a worthy alternative to slowly starving to death here?”

“So that is why you committed your crime… hey, does that mean you guys completed the final dead room? And survived russian roulette?” Chiaki directs the question to you and Gundham.

“We completed the final dead room together, by chance. We made a blood pact. That’s the whole story.” You say, wiping a tear away, exposing the wound of your hand. It almost looks like stigmata. It feels like stigmata at this point, too– like you’re being punished.

“Do not weep for me, dark blossom. Compared to my battle with Nekomaru, that was ecstasy.”

“I knew he was going to spar with Nekomaru. He told me before. That’s why I reset the clocks and set the alarm. I lied to you all, and I’m terribly sorry.” You confess.

“Passion and ardor are strange forces, and they make us do strange things, do they not?” Gundham takes your hand within his own, and reveals his own blood pact scar.

“Gundham, don’t tell me you sacrificed yourself for us.” Hajime’s voice breaks too.

“I can’t believe you would ask me such a foolish question. Just who do you think I am!? I am Gundham Tanaka, history's greatest monster! My cursed existence is feared by all mankind! There's no way I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of you fools! Now then, let us be rid of this foolish talk. It's about time the fun started!” Hajime is right. Gundham knows that Hajime is right. Gundham’s faux-pride has eclipsed himself again.

“Let us begin, Monokuma.” His voice is the darkest it’s ever been, like a black hole.

“Yaaaay! I have prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Breeder, Gundham Tanaka!”

“Wait-! This is too much… please! Stop this! I beg of you!” Sonia cries, falling to her knees. Kazuichi instinctively lunges toward her.

“An act as unrefined as stopping a man from going to his death… does not befit a noble such as yourself.”

Sonia collapses in a fit of mousy little sobs. Your eyes flicker to Gundham’s, and they are full of a shadow of hope. He’s such an antithesis, so hellish and dark but erupting with beauty and felicity. You know you’ll miss it greatly

“I do not regret enlisting you, my disciple, dark goddess… paramour. You did extraordinarily well. But it is now time for me to go. My Evil Eye will watch over you until we meet again. And I am certain of this– no matter what sort of duties I must perform for the devil, I will be waiting for you below, always.” Absent-mindedly, you twist the ring around your middle finger.

“I’ll wait for you too.” You break down a little, and Chiaki places a reassuring hand on your back. You approach him slowly, your whole body in varying stages of numbness. You crane your head toward his like the reaching tendrils of ivy and kiss him on the lips. His lips are dry-- as if the kiss is full of poison.

“Can we start for realsies now?” Monokuma huffs.

“I do not mind… however…” He leans in to listen into the scarf.

“My loathsome dears, are you worried for me? Oh, that is unlike you. There is no need to fear… I am but a temporary visitor of this world. Now that my duty is complete, it is time for me to return to the darkness. That is why, until the very end…”

He turns to face everyone. “Pride! Conceit! Courage! Insolence! Fearful of nothing! Daunted by nothing! Let us laugh uproariously!” He bellows with laughter.

“ That is Gundham Tanaka! I shall stick with my evil until the very end! Open Sesame, Pandaemonium! I shall fill hell with true hell!”

Don’t give up on life. Don’t give up on hope. Don’t give up on happiness.