"W-What the hell happened here!?"
"Nngh... Shirogane...? Why're you all frozen solid...?"
"D-don't tell me! Those two guys did something to Shirogane-san...!"
"...I don't think that's it."
As the students began murmuring in confusion, Akamatsu, Saihara, and Amami quietly looked at me—then smiled.
'Yeah... figures. The sane ones really are reliable...'
I had been pretty damn anxious that things might go off-script, but in the end, we'd pulled it off. We had the Mastermind dead to rights.
That hopelessly hardcore otaku girl standing there with her soul blown clean out of her body, staring blankly into space.
"Hey, say something. Why'd you come here? What's with that shot put ball in your hand? And... where did you even come from in the first place? Hurry up and answer, huh?"
"Why would Shirogane-san come to a place like the library?"
"Akamatsu-san, go call the people who aren't here yet. Everyone else, can you restrain Shirogane for now?"
"R-restrain Shirogane-san...?"
"Yeah. She's the Mastermind behind this killing game."
"W-What!?"
"W-what are you talking about, Saihara...?"
"Of course I have proof. I'll explain the details once everyone else gets here."
At Saihara's confident declaration, the others cautiously crept toward Shirogane and started tying her up, while Akamatsu ran out of the library to gather the rest.
'That was way too close...'
I wasn't showing it, but I'd been wound up so tight for days that now, with everything finally over, all the strength drained out of my body.
'...If not for this, anyway.'
Ignoring the barrage of questions from the students who looked like they were dying of curiosity, I slumped into a chair off in the distance, closed my eyes, and began recalling what had happened a few days ago.
- Akamatsu isn't the culprit. The true culprit, and the Mastermi...
[Kyoko Kirigiri]
That message was still displayed on the E-Handbook.
.
.
.
.
.
Let's rewind for a moment—to when I first arrived at this academy and met Monokuma.
Back then, my E-Handbook suddenly started vibrating, and I was dropped into some bizarre space where I saw Akamatsu being put on trial for murdering Amami.
After that grotesquely surreal experience, I returned to the gym, where a popup window on my E-Handbook was waiting for me.
- Survivor Privilege
"...Survivor Privilege?"
At the time, I was too rattled to think straight, so I tapped the popup without much thought—only to be hit with a second shock when I saw the contents of the message at the top of the flood of information that appeared.
'...W-what? Akamatsu isn't the culprit...?'
The message—presumably left for me by the person who remained most vividly etched into my memory—was, unbelievably, talking about the very scene I'd just witnessed.
The name of the Mastermind, the true culprit, had been cut off, but even the single fact that Akamatsu wasn't the culprit was enough to plunge me into total confusion.
I glanced around. The others were still focused on Monokuma up front. So I carefully edged backward and started checking the information on the handbook.
- Inside this academy, there exists a Mastermind orchestrating the killing game. The Mastermind is 'Akamatsu Kaede,' and she will attempt to manipulate the killing game however she pleases by becoming the one who rallies and leads the students.
If a situation arises where Monokuma needs a backup, she will head to the hidden room in the library. At that moment, the hidden door in the library will open, so you must enter the hidden room before she does and stop her.
And if things go wrong... you may have to kill her to end this killing game.
'K-kill her...?'
I froze for a moment at the horrifying contents of the note, then forced myself to steady my nerves and kept reading.
I will make a prediction to prove that this hint is true. Just now, you should have remembered [Ultimate Hunt].
You must not share this information with anyone. If you value your life, then under no circumstances should you reveal it.
[Left by K]
'What the hell is this now...?'
When I saw the message bundled together with the academy map, I was thrown into confusion for the third time.
'I left this message...? And Akamatsu isn't the ringleader?'
So much contradictory information came crashing into me all at once that my brain was starting to overload—when someone suddenly shouted.
"Seriously! This isn't the time for us to be fighting!"
Akamatsu, raising her voice at everyone just as the atmosphere was about to fracture, immediately started persuading the group. Word for word, it was almost exactly what the person I assumed was me had left in the Survivor Privilege.
"I-if that's true... does that mean Akamatsu really is the one behind this? But... if she is, then why was she on trial in that mysterious memory...? And what about the message left by 'Kirigiri'...?"
In the end, my brain was pushed to the brink of combustion by the relentless strain of trying to process it all.
'...What am I supposed to believe?'
Caught in endless turmoil over whether I should trust the person who seemed to be my past self, or the unknown memory and 'Kirigiri,' I finally made a decision before my brain could burn itself to ash.
"...Who knows. Maybe she really did say it for everyone's sake... or maybe it's just a trick to make everyone let their guard down."
'For now... I'll hold off. I need to watch how this plays out.'
That was the decision I made: postpone judgment.
.
.
.
.
.
One day later, I headed to the dining hall with Amami, who was glaring at me with a deeply dissatisfied expression.
'...S-scary...'
I was, frankly, intimidated as hell.
Amami was probably making that face because of how coldly I'd treated Akamatsu yesterday.
But I couldn't help it. I still had no certainty which of the two contradictory pieces of information was real and which was fake.
If Akamatsu really was the Mastermind, then I absolutely couldn't let her take control of everyone. So even if it put me in danger, I had to keep her in check as someone who knew the truth.
And if she wasn't the Mastermind, then the note claiming 'Akamatsu is the ringleader' had to be a trap left by the real Mastermind. In that case, I had no choice but to pretend to suspect Akamatsu and deceive the one truly pulling the strings.
Either way, for the time being, I had no choice but to treat Akamatsu coldly.
"K-kun, can I say just one thing?"
"...What?"
"At the dining hall today, I'd appreciate it if you didn't push Akamatsu-san too hard."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"I understand your position too, but from where I'm standing, Akamatsu-san is clearly trying to help everyone."
"....."
"She looked like she was reaching her emotional limit because of what happened yesterday. So... could I ask that of you?"
"...Fine."
For some reason, Amami—who radiated the overwhelming aura of a social butterfly—made that request with a frightening expression, and before I knew it, I'd agreed. Was I some kind of loner before I lost my memories?
When I entered the dining hall, the others glanced at me, then quickly looked away. Being treated like the weird one by a bunch of abnormal people was honestly kind of depressing.
"Oh, everyone's already here?"
The moment Akamatsu entered the dining hall, everyone's attention snapped toward her.
"By the way, Akamatsu, are you okay?"
"...Huh?"
"Everyone ganged up on you yesterday, so I figured you must've been pretty hurt..."
As I sat there quietly, that rotten little menace Oma suddenly started picking a fight with Akamatsu. Wait... was that really how I looked to everyone else?
"The one who attacked her the most was K, though!!"
And just as I was thinking that, the little bastard dragged me into it.
"Shut up, all of you."
"Why you little...!"
Thanks to that, I was forced to slip right back into my role as the coldhearted asshole.
Just as I was wondering how to deal with Momota, who'd gotten pissed off at what I said, Monokuma popped out and dropped a bombshell.
'The first murder... won't have a trial...?'
The instant I heard that, it felt like puzzle pieces started slamming into place inside my head.
Monokuma had just said that the person who committed the first murder could leave alive without a trial. Which meant that if Akamatsu were the 'Mastermind,' all she'd have to do was kill Amami and stroll right out.
But if the scene I saw in that dark space was real, then Akamatsu had chosen to stand trial even after being handed a chance to escape this killing game. So if that scene was genuine, then Akamatsu was not the 'Mastermind.'
Then why would Akamatsu kill anyone? Even if she wasn't the 'Mastermind,' the only reason she'd have to commit murder would be for the first-murder privilege.
No sane person would kill someone just to save themselves, then voluntarily submit to a trial afterward. Which meant Akamatsu had a third reason.
'That reason is... no way...'
In one of the scenes I'd seen in that black void, Akamatsu had said this while trying to explain herself to Saihara.
"No way! That can't be true."
"......."
"Because when Amami-kun was murdered, I was keeping watch in the classroom, okay? Then after that, I went to the library, and that's where I found the body..."
Right after that line, it had cut straight to Saihara's rebuttal, so I hadn't been able to hear what came next. But from that alone, one thing was clear: Amami died in the library.
And in the library, there was a hidden room.
So maybe... just maybe... Akamatsu had somehow noticed the hidden room by chance and set up some kind of trick at its entrance to catch the Mastermind.
I didn't know why, but the feeling hit me with strange force. Like it was something I already knew. And even setting that aside, it was a perfectly plausible theory.
Wasn't I myself already obsessed with finding some way—any way—to catch the Mastermind? And if it came down to it, I had even been willing to die together with them, just like the note said.
'...Wait. Come to think of it, why am I willing to do that?'
At this point, I was getting seriously curious about what kind of person I had been before losing my memories. So I tried digging through my mind as hard as I could—and instead of remembering myself, another interesting piece of information surfaced.
'Ah! Right, that note...!'
According to the message left by 'Kirigiri,' Akamatsu wasn't actually the true culprit in the case. The true culprit was the 'Mastermind.'
As I turned that information over in my head, the truth slowly began to take shape.
The Mastermind had almost certainly used Akamatsu's trick—or twisted it into a trick of their own—to kill Amami. And Akamatsu, crushed by guilt over failing to catch the Mastermind, chose to stand trial herself.
Judging by how most of the students had wept bitterly during Akamatsu's Execution, there was a very high chance this deduction was right.
'Then... was the note left under my name really a trap after all?'
Not only did its contents contradict the rest of the information, but the so-called prediction in the note—the memory of [Ultimate Hunt]—still hadn't surfaced even now. In other words, there was a very high chance it was a trap laid by the Mastermind.
At that point, I had no choice but to trust the mysterious memory and the note left in the name of the person who remained more precious to me than anything else.
Whether it was prophecy, psychic power, or something else entirely... at the very least, this unknown memory couldn't have been something the 'Mastermind' intended me to see.
The bastard who started a killing game where people murder each other wasn't going to kindly reveal the culprit and victim of that very game.
Maybe this memory had been planted in me in secret by people trying to stop the killing game—or by 'Kirigiri,' someone precious to me—so that the killing game could be brought to an end.
I had no idea how anyone could know the future, but if I considered that other fragment of memory—'this place is a game world'—then it wasn't impossible.
So... from here on out, I decided I'd act based on the mysterious memory and Kirigiri's note.
'Whew... I finally managed to settle on a course.'
After finishing that absurdly long chain of speculation, I looked around, thinking I should at least get back to my meal—which had probably gone stone cold by now...
"...Huh? Where am I?"
Somehow, I was back in my room.
'...Ah, right...'
Come to think of it, I'd gotten so lost in thought that I'd unconsciously kept up my cold, nasty act in the dining hall, then trudged all the way back to my room without even realizing it.
'The fact I forgot that means I was seriously deep in thought... wait a second.'
If Akamatsu really wasn't the Mastermind... then hadn't I been way too harsh on her this whole time?
Even if it was all to deceive the Mastermind, I'd said some truly awful things to her. It was late, but I felt like I had to apologize to her as soon as possible.
With that in mind, I stepped out into the dorms. Just then, Saihara came out of Akamatsu's room, spotted me, strode over, and spoke with a savage expression on his face.
"...If you make her cry again... I won't let it slide next time."
After lashing out at me in that icy voice, Saihara turned on his heel and disappeared out of the dorms.
"M-make her cry...? Me...?"
Sensing that something had gone very, very wrong, I rang Akamatsu's room intercom. A moment later, Akamatsu opened the door—her eyes swollen and puffy.
"Y-you... why are you here...?"
The instant I saw her stammering in fear the moment she looked at me, sweat started pouring down my back and my chest tightened until I could barely breathe.
"...K-K-kun?"
I stood there babbling incoherently for a long moment, then finally squeezed my eyes shut and—
"I-I'm so sorry!!"
".....?"
—slammed my head to the floor and began a full, soul-searing dogeza of repentance.
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