"Ugh..."
A man staggered out of a closed locker, then promptly collapsed onto the floor.
"...Ow."
After a moment, he hauled himself back up by grabbing the desk beside him and muttered in a dazed haze,
"What... is this place...?"
His mind was still swimming, too fogged over to grasp the situation, and he slowly looked around with a bewildered expression.
"...A classroom?"
The instant he realized where he was, the blank look on his face began to rot away at terrifying speed.
"A classroom, lockers, sealed windows... and a monitor... Don't tell me this is...?"
Clack!!
"Aah...!"
At that exact moment, as the man murmured in a trembling voice, the locker beside him flew open and a blonde girl burst out.
"Where... am I...? Why am I in a place like this...? Ah! Kirigiri-sensei?"
"...Akamatsu."
"What on earth is going on?"
"....."
Clack!!
"Kyaaaah!!"
The girl, who had been questioning the man with a completely lost expression, let out a startled scream when the locker beside her rattled and swung open.
"Ugh... ngh..."
Just like the man before him, a boy stumbled out of the locker and fell to the ground. He groaned, then spotted the two people in front of him and recoiled with a shout.
"W-What now? Are you underlings of 'those guys' too!?"
"...Shuichi-kun, calm down and look at us."
"K-Kaede? Kirigiri-sensei?"
The boy stared at them blankly.
"We were definitely in the middle of our closing ceremony..."
"Right, we were at the closing ceremony, weren't we? Then why did we suddenly end up in a place like this?"
"....."
The boy fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then he lifted his head with a grave expression.
"Considering everything... I think we've been kidnapped by the 'Ultimate Hunt.'"
"...K-kidnapped?"
The girl went pale, then carefully turned to the man who had emerged from the first locker.
"What do you think, Kirigiri-sensei...?"
"....."
"...Sensei?"
But something about the man's atmosphere was deeply wrong.
"...Everyone, get behind me."
With a severe look on his face, the man spoke to the kids and began stroking the ring on his hand.
"If we're lucky, we can end this before it even begins."
"Huh?"
"...First, let's get out of here."
At last, he took his hand off the ring and spoke in a calm voice. The kids hesitated for a moment, then cautiously followed him out of the classroom.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hellooo-yes! Found you, found you! Kuhahaha...!!!"
The moment they stepped out of the classroom, what greeted the three of them was a giant robot.
"Kyaah!!"
"W-We have to run!!"
The two kids standing behind the man panicked and tried to bolt at once, but—
"...Stay calm. That thing can't hurt us right now anyway."
The man merely watched the robot charging at them, his expression utterly composed.
"B-But... that robot is rushing at us with red lights blazing!"
"W-What the hell is going on here...?"
His unnerving calm made the kids falter. In the end, they pressed themselves close behind his back and watched the situation unfold.
"Huh? You guys aren't running!?"
"...We just need to go to the gym, right? We'll walk there on our own."
"I-I'm gonna get yelled at by Dad for this..."
The man led the children past the robot, which was muttering in confusion, and started toward the gym.
"A-As expected of you, Sensei! I guess being that person's husband means a situation like this is nothing..."
"Kirigiri-sensei, but... how do you know the gym is over there...?"
"....."
He ignored the voices behind him and kept walking in silence. Then, when they reached the front of the gym, he suddenly turned around and began whispering to them.
"...Huh?"
"W-Why...?"
"I haven't said this until now, but if my guess is right..."
".....!"
The children froze in visible shock after hearing what he said.
"...Shuichi-kun, what do you think?"
"So I was right after all... That's why Oma-kun... Come to think of it, the whole reason she even came to Saishu Academy in the first place..."
"There's no time. If we drag this out any longer, they'll start to suspect us. So be ready."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man opened the door and muttered,
"...It's a game that ends once you take down the king."
.
.
.
.
.
When the gym doors opened, the fourteen students huddled together inside turned toward the three who had entered and spoke up.
"Kirigiri-sensei?"
"Did that damn robot chase you here too, Sensei?"
"Akamatsu, Saihara. So you were here too."
"What are those things...? What are they planning to do to us...?"
The kids greeted them with obvious relief, but the man only walked silently through the crowd with a hardened expression.
"Actually, this whole situation is a surprise event I prepared...!!!"
"R-Really!?"
"Of course that's a lie! After getting duped for a whole year, you'd think you'd know better by now... What, are you a robot with no learning function?"
"T-That statement is discriminatory toward robots!!"
"Good grief... I was supposed to go to the amusement park with Maki after the closing ceremony... what the hell is this...?"
"I don't know who did this... but whoever pulled it off, I'm going to kill them."
"Tojo, how do you read this situation?"
"I can't say for sure, but if someone was capable of kidnapping all of us... then whatever's behind this may be far bigger than we imagined."
"Nngah... what in the world is going on here...? I promised I'd put on a magic show for the children at my teacher's orphanage tonight..."
"I-I'm sure the kidnapper is a man!! Yumeno-san, please be careful!! Those men might abduct adorable Yumeno-san at any moment!"
"Instead of panicking, let's all pray to God~! If it's God, I'm sure He'll help us~!"
"Today was supposed to be the day I visited my sister's grave..."
"Hey!! Gloomy-sensei!! What the hell is this? Don't tell me this is another one of your shitty surprise parties!?"
"I-I don't know what's happening... but don't worry!! Gonta will protect everyone!!"
"Kirigiri-sensei, then this really is... that situation I'm thinking of, right?"
The man continued walking in silence through the uproar. Then, at last, he stopped in front of a blue-haired girl and muttered in a low voice,
"...Now."
"Sensei? What are you—"
"Hyaaaah!!"
"Kyaah!?"
The instant the man gave the word, the two standing behind him lunged at her. The blue-haired girl was seized before she could so much as twitch.
"W-Wait! What are you doing—"
"What is this? A group assault? You trying to make it a 4P? So you really were a pervert teacher after all!"
"N-No matter who you are, even a teacher can't just attack a girl!! Get away from her... h-huh? But why is Akamatsu-san... ?"
"Nngah? What in blazes are you all doing!?"
Most of the students were thrown into confusion by the scene, but—
"Nishishi... so I was right after all?"
"...So she's the Mastermind, is that it?"
"I don't know the details, but at least the target that needs killing seems clear now."
"No wonder... there was always a reason she seemed so fundamentally unsuited to my sister..."
"Nyahaha... God just spoke to me... He said to hang Shirogane...!"
There were also a few who seemed to have grasped the rough shape of what was happening.
In the middle of that tangled chaos, the man pressed his ring to the blue-haired girl's neck and began to whisper quietly.
"...To be honest, I wasn't sure whether you were completely innocent or the 'true Mastermind.' But today settled it."
"Huh? What are you talking—"
"...You were the 'other leader,' Shirogane Tsumugi."
"....."
The girl fell silent at those words, and the man continued.
"The moment I clench my fist, a poisoned needle will spring out from this ring. It's a lethal toxin. No antidote exists."
The second he finished speaking, the robots that had been chasing everyone earlier burst out from all sides, and from inside them sprang bear-shaped robots.
"You bastard!! Stop this right now!!"
"If y'all keep this up, it's not gonna be fun anymore, ya know!"
"I-I'm seriously gonna get beaten up by Dad at this rate!"
"Cease this action immediately!"
"....."
The man stared coldly at the assorted bears shouting in fury, then said,
"...If I slip and stab Shirogane by accident, then there won't be anyone left to operate Mother Monokuma, will there?"
".....!"
At that, the robots froze solid. The man let out a sigh and muttered,
"Learn who's holding the advantage here, you obnoxious little freaks. Haaah... though honestly, I never thought I'd have to see those damned things with my own eyes..."
"...I knew it. I figured you'd have anticipated everything."
"...What?"
"In the first and second killing games too... you were always anticipating everything."
"....."
"...But did you anticipate this?"
"What are you— guh...!!!"
The man, who had been questioning her with an icy expression, suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed.
"S-Sensei!!"
"H-Hey... gloomy-sensei... what's wrong with you all of a sudden? Did you do drugs or something?"
"...What did you do to Kirigiri-san?"
The blue-haired girl smiled and began to murmur.
"...Of course you didn't see it coming. That the carnation pin everyone prepared for you—the one you treasured so dearly—had a device like that hidden inside it..."
"...Damn it... Gonta... Harukawa... Chabashira... now... subdue... that... bastard..."
Fshiiiiing!!!
".....Shit."
Clutching his chest, the man struggled desperately to rise, but then one of the bear robots whipped out a flash device and fired it. Leaving behind a curse, he collapsed along with the other students.
"...You're so good at predicting everything else... but whenever it concerns you, you never manage to see it coming."
Standing alone among the fallen students, she quietly watched as the bears dragged him away and murmured,
"...Isn't that right? Danganronpa superfan, K? Kirigiri K?"