"Haaah... of all things, now I get to be the hostage in a hostage standoff too... So what's next? Seriously, I can't wait... haha..."
"...Shut up."
Mukuro Ikusaba watched the boy muttering timidly to himself and thought:
'What... are you, exactly?'
The unease she'd always felt whenever she looked at him had long since crossed the line. It wasn't unease anymore. It was fear.
Ridiculous, wasn't it? That she, who could snap a frail little thing like him with the slightest exertion, was feeling fear. If the soldiers who had died by her hand on the battlefield knew, they'd probably find it utterly absurd.
"...Ugh."
"Hm...? What? What's wrong with you?"
A savage pain suddenly lanced through her chest. Oogami's all-out blow from earlier must have cracked one of her ribs. As she struggled to exhale, the boy cautiously approached.
"You... are you oka—"
"Don't come near me."
"..."
"What? Don't tell me you're actually thinking of resisting."
"You look really bad right now... If it's okay, then maybe I could..."
Whoosh!
She snatched up the knife beside her and hurled it so it barely grazed past the boy's face.
"...!"
"Next time, it goes straight through the middle of your face."
"..."
The boy's face first drained of all color. Then, wearing an unbearably sad expression, he plopped back down and started mumbling pitifully to himself again.
Watching him like that made the ache in her ribs worsen. No—not her ribs. Somewhere deeper than that was throbbing.
'What is this...? Was it not just my ribs? My heart burns so badly I feel like I'm dying...'
Clutching her chest and swallowing down a groan, Ikusaba reviewed her situation once more.
'...I managed to bluff my way through in front of Oogami, but in this condition, I can't beat her. Not a chance.'
Of course, Oogami wasn't in perfect condition either. But even at full strength, facing her unarmed was difficult. To confront her like this now would be suicide.
Her desperate last bluff—taking K hostage—had turned out to be a godsend, creating this bizarre deadlock. But if things continued like this, the one at a disadvantage was her.
The others could rest at their leisure and recover their stamina. Oogami could do the same. But Ikusaba had to stay on guard at all times, and the food she could safely eat was limited. If this dragged on, she would only grow weaker—physically and mentally.
Knock knock knock.
"Um... could you open the door? I brought food..."
Fujisaki had brought the meal. Since he was the frailest of the group, he'd been assigned the role of delivering food.
"It's lunch for today... I'll bring dinner in six hours..."
Fujisaki set down the basket of food, glanced at K for a moment, then left with a miserable look on his face.
"...A piece of bread and some milk. Not bad..."
The others had probably thought they were pressuring her by giving her such pathetic rations. Apparently, it hadn't occurred to them that for Ikusaba—who had once survived for weeks on the battlefield by starving and living off grass roots and field mice—this counted as a feast.
'...Whew. Still not enough.'
But back then, she had been starving without a single injury. Now she was suffering from severe internal damage. If she wanted to hold out even a little longer, she needed more food than this.
"...You. Hand that over."
"...Okay."
The boy passed over his own bread and milk with a strangely practiced, natural motion. Hm? Just now... why did she think that looked familiar?
"...Gh... Gah!"
"W-What now? Why again?"
The instant she thought the sight of the boy pitifully offering her bread looked oddly familiar, a splitting headache tore through her skull and nausea surged up.
"Ugh...! Bleegh...!"
Tears welling in her eyes, Ikusaba vomited up everything she'd forced herself to eat, then kept retching for a long while. Only then did she notice the boy patting her on the back.
"...If you're really that sick, then just give up and surrender to the others—!"
She drove her fist into the boy's stomach. Caught by the sudden blow, he couldn't even resist before collapsing, clutching his abdomen.
"I'm pretty sure I told you not to come near me."
"Ggh... ngh... fucking hell... Naegi rehabilitates people in no time, so why... why can't I... ugh..."
The boy muttered something incomprehensible, then looked up at her with watery eyes. The moment she met that gaze, her head throbbed again and her stomach churned.
"Ugh... You're disgusting, so stop looking at me..."
"D-Disgusting...?"
"Yeah. Just looking at your face gives me a headache and makes me want to throw up...!"
Ikusaba had only stated the truth, but the boy looked utterly shattered. The light in his eyes died on the spot. Honestly, the way he looked was so cute it almost made her want to tease him more...?
'Wait. What did I just...?'
Ikusaba was rattled by the fragment of memory that had flashed through her mind, but only for an instant. Another wave of violent headache crashed over her, and she couldn't hold onto it.
After barely suppressing the pain, Ikusaba stared at the surveillance camera in the room and murmured softly,
"Enoshima... honestly... I'm so lonely, and this is so hard... but for your sake... I can do anything... even give my life..."
Of course, Ikusaba had no way of knowing that the little sister she adored so much had, until just moments ago, been seriously debating whether or not to kill her.
.
.
.
.
.
The next morning, everyone except K, Ikusaba, Togami, and Fukawa gathered in the dining hall.
"Morning... everyone..."
"...Yeah."
Normally, breakfast was when everyone forced themselves to act cheerful, but after what had happened yesterday, a heavy gloom hung over the room.
"Everyone... at times like this... we must strive even harder... But... whew. With one of our classmates in danger, even I find it difficult to summon my spirit..."
"Naegi, do you think K will be okay?"
"Even if Ikusaba is the Mastermind, if she kills K now, she'd still have to face a Class Trial... so for now, he should be safe... probably..."
"...This is all my failure. If only I had been stronger...!"
"Sakura...! Stop blaming yourself...! You did everything you could...!"
"My magnum opus, forged from Master's idea, is finally complete... and yet I cannot show it to him... How tragic..."
"If K dies... then who's gonna be my guarantor— Gah!"
"You spiky-haired bastard!! Is that really what you should be saying right now!? You wanna get taught a lesson, huh!?"
"...Let's just eat first."
After yesterday's hostage crisis, Ikusaba had dragged K into her room. Kyoko Kirigiri had offered to become the hostage in his place, but Ikusaba had simply pressed a knife to K's throat and told her to get lost, so Kirigiri had no choice but to retreat empty-handed.
Everyone had spent a long time gathered outside Ikusaba's room, desperately discussing solutions, but no one could come up with anything decisive. Eventually night fell, and they agreed to meet again the next morning before dispersing.
"By the way... how's Fukawa doing now?"
"Fukawa is in the nurse's office right now. Apparently her injuries are pretty severe... she's still in serious condition..."
The atmosphere, already dark, somehow grew even darker. Everyone ate breakfast in silence.
Then someone opened the dining hall door and stepped inside.
"...So you're all here."
"...Togami? We're already depressed enough, so grab your food and leave quietly."
"..."
When he didn't react even to Owada's muttering, the others turned to stare at Togami as if wondering what had gotten into him. He bit his lip hard, then spoke to them with visible effort.
"...I came to eat with you."
"W-What...?"
"H-Has the sun risen in the west? I mean, sure, we can't even see the sun in here, but still..."
"..."
Even amid the noisy uproar, Togami remained silent. Then Kirigiri, who had been unusually quiet until now, asked in an icy voice,
"So what exactly brought about this change of heart? Why have you decided to dine with the 'common rabble' today?"
"..."
Astonishingly, even Kirigiri's provocation failed to draw any reaction. Togami quietly opened his mouth.
"I admit it. What happened yesterday was my fault."
"...!"
"I... cannot forgive the Mastermind... who forced me to owe an unpayable debt to not one, but two people for saving my life... In order to crush the Mastermind completely... I will, after considering the circumstances... extend my cooperation. Specially."
"...So what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"With my limited insight... I believe hearing such words from Lord Byakuya Togami is, from our perspective... roughly equivalent to a full prostration apology..."
"Well, to sum it up, he's saying, 'Sorry about everything so far, let's do better from now on,' right? I mean... sure, the result was a little rough, but he really did come through yesterday..."
"Yeah... He could've just handed himself over to the Mastermind, but instead he tried to catch them and almost succeeded, right? Honestly, I saw him in a new light yesterday."
"Togami... is the place I hit you last time okay...? I wasn't in my right mind then either... so let me apologize now... I'm sorry..."
"We were both in the same position. There is no need for a needless apology."
"My, seeing as you were quietly keeping watch by Fukawa's side until just now, perhaps you really have decided to change...?"
"...That woman will only start bothering me again before long anyway. Frankly, I'd rather she stayed like this for a while longer..."
"So now it's not just 'tsun' anymore—you've finally started the 'dere' part too? Upupupupupu...!"
For one brief moment, it felt like a warm mood might finally settle over the room. But as always, Monokuma barged in without a shred of tact, and the atmosphere froze solid again.
"...Wah!? Monokuma?"
"Wait...! Why is Monokuma here? Ikusaba should definitely be in her room right now...!"
"Upupupupu...! I'm not Ikusaba, though? And who even is Ikusaba? Did a transfer student show up without me noticing...?"
"Playing dumb won't help...! Yesterday already proved that Ikusaba is the Mastermind...!"
"Upupupupupu... If Ikusaba is the Mastermind, then who exactly am I?"
"Th-That's..."
"Isn't it obvious?"
At Kirigiri's firm, crystal-clear voice, everyone's attention snapped toward her.
"If the 'Mukuro Ikusaba' we've seen until now was pretending to be 'Junko Enoshima,' then where is the real 'Junko Enoshima' now?"
"C-Come to think of it... then the real Junko Enoshima is..."
"No way—Ikusaba killed Enoshima and wore her skin or something...!?"
"What kind of idiotic nonsense are you spouting now, you sea-urchin-headed moron..."
As the others floundered, Togami, who had been silently observing, spoke up.
"Ikusaba may have worn Junko Enoshima's disguise, but Junko Enoshima is alive. Somewhere in this academy."
"What are you talking about, Togami...?"
"In other words, there are two Masterminds: 'Junko Enoshima' and 'Mukuro Ikusaba.' Most likely, Junko Enoshima handled the operation of the killing game, while Mukuro Ikusaba directly participated in it to control variables and obstruct the students' cooperation."
"No, that's not it... Originally, in the beginning—"
"Silence, Enoshima. Now that I know who you are, I swear on the name of the Togami family that I will pursue you to the ends of the earth and make you pay."
"Upupu... 'The Togami family,' huh...? Is that so? Go ahead and try... if you can...! Upupupupupupu..."
"You bastard... what exactly is that reaction supposed to mean...?"
"Togami, I'll explain everything later, but right now—"
"Right, right! I almost forgot! That would've been a disaster if I'd let you ride that momentum!"
The instant Monokuma finished speaking, everyone's E-Handbook vibrated.
[K, Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, and Fujisaki may not directly or indirectly leak the truth of the killing game.]
"W-What is this...? 'K, Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, and Fujisaki may not directly or indirectly leak the truth of the killing game'...?"
"Upupupupupu! Spoilers are a sin, you know...! They make dramatic moments go all flat and lifeless...!"
"Adding a cheap, underhanded rule like this... You really are cornered, aren't you, Enoshima?"
"You've been calling me Enoshima this whole time, but I'm not Enoshima—I'm Monokuma! So call me Monokuma properly! And the really underhanded one here is K... What the hell did he do...? The escape switch was still inside the prize machine..."
Leaving Monokuma to mutter to himself again, the others began talking among themselves.
"Um, but... seeing this rule just made me think of something... Where's Fujisaki right now...?"
"Oh, he went to bring breakfast to Ikusaba and K..."
"What? Breakfast? What does she think this is, a hotel? One meal a day should be more than enough."
"It was one of Ikusaba's demands... couldn't really help it. Still, we're giving her as little food as possible..."
Speak of the devil—just as they were talking about the breakfast Fujisaki had gone to deliver, he opened the dining hall door and stepped inside.
"U-Um... I'm back..."
"All right! Now that everyone's here, I have an announcement!"
The moment Fujisaki arrived, Monokuma began relaying his message.
[After your delightful breakfast, everyone please gather in the gym! There, the fourth motive will be announced!]
"...So you still intend to keep this killing game going."
"Forget it! No matter what happens now, we're not doing any more killing game crap! Never!"
"Upupupupupu... Are you sure you'll still be saying that after you see the fourth motive? Well, you'll find out soon enough! See you later!"
With that, Monokuma vanished, leaving behind only that revolting laugh.
"Whew... It's good that everyone's united, but... how long are we supposed to keep dancing to Monokuma's tune?"
"Right... Even if we've joined forces, the 'motives' Monokuma brings are definitely dangerous... At this rate... he might eventually force a murder outright..."
"Everyone, don't worry... If we endure and hold on to hope, then something good will definitely happen. So let's just hang in there a little longer...!"
The one who quietly but clearly voiced that resolve wasn't Kirigiri. It wasn't Naegi either. It was Fujisaki.
"Yeah, Fujisaki's right. Falling into despair is exactly what the Mastermind wants more than anything. Let's hold out a little longer!"
"That's right. Right now, this is the time to trust each other and endure."
"Well, if you people who've heard the secret of the killing game from K say so..."
"Fufufu... As expected of those who know the dark truth... So you've been hiding a trump card all this time, have you...?"
"...Whatever it is, don't push yourselves too hard."
"Isn't there anything we can do to help too? Even if we don't know the secret of the killing game, we can at least follow your instructions..."
"It's okay... You've already helped enough."
"No, but still—"
"Just now, too."
"...Huh?"
Fujisaki only gave the others a meaningful smile as they stared back in confusion, then finished the rest of the sentence in his heart.
'Because Enoshima can't control Monokuma and monitor the school at the same time.'