"Hey, Harumaki...! You in there...?"
"..."
"I know you're in there, so open up! Harumaki!!"
Late at night, Momota Kaito was pounding on Harukawa's research lab door.
"Damn it, if someone's talking to you, at least answer..."
Creeeak...
"...Huh?"
Making all of Momota's earnest knocking look ridiculous, the door had been unlocked the whole time. He stared blankly at the half-open door for a moment, then slipped inside with an awkward expression.
"Harumaki, where are y—"
"......."
"...There you are."
After stepping inside and glancing around for Harukawa, Momota spotted her crouched in the corner of the room and started toward her.
"...Don't come closer."
"C'mon... just let me talk to you for a sec—"
"I said don't come near me!!"
"..."
Her shriek made him stop short. Momota stared at her for a moment, then finally spoke.
"I came to treat your—"
"...Get out."
"You look awful right now, you know that...?"
"Did you not hear what I said—...ugh..."
Harukawa glared coldly at Momota as he pulled medical supplies from his pocket, but a sudden stab of pain twisted her face and cut her off.
"Let's see here... whoa, seriously... I guess that girl really is a soldier. To leave you this completely wrecked..."
Just as Momota said, Harukawa's condition was severe.
Although no tools had been used, Mukuro Ikusaba had beaten her with her bare hands, and Harukawa had barely resisted at all. The result was ghastly.
"G-get away from me...! Do you have a death wish?"
"...."
Realizing Harukawa was in no state to so much as lift a finger, Momota carefully approached and began treating her wounds.
"Go... away..."
"Just stay still, damn it!! If you leave injuries like this alone—"
"...You can still say that after watching someone who was walking around perfectly fine just a few days ago get killed right in front of your eyes?"
"That's..."
"I don't need your pathetic sympathy... I'm trash. I've spent my whole life killing people. So whether someone like me lives or dies... just leave me alone..."
Harukawa tried to shove Momota away as he treated her, but her body had no strength left. Giving up on that, she switched tactics and began tearing herself apart instead.
"Even sympathy is too much for me... I brutally tortured someone who'd lost his memories, all because of my own petty revenge... and in the end, I drove him to his death. On top of that, I even used the motive Monokuma handed us..."
"...There's still a chance you weren't the real culprit in this case."
"What...?"
"Saihara said someone else was the one who made blood gush out of K's side... so that means, you—"
"Drop it... In the end, I'm still the one who made the wound that started the bleeding."
"......"
Momota watched her answer in that hollow, despondent voice for a moment, then carefully asked his question.
"So... why'd you do it...? What the hell did K do to deserve something as horrible as that?"
"...I don't think I'm obligated to tell you."
"But I wanna know!! I'm the kind of guy who can't let stuff like that go!! And besides..."
Momota glanced at her, gauging her reaction, before continuing.
"...If K really does come back to life, then you two are gonna have to settle things between you, right? Well... assuming he'll even accept your apology. But if I knew the reason, maybe I could help..."
"...If I don't tell you, you're just going to keep pestering me, aren't you?"
"Huh? How'd you know?"
"...Haaah."
Harukawa glared at the head-scratching Momota for a moment, then let out a sigh and finally began to talk.
.
.
.
.
.
"I see... so in the end, that 'nameless child' is why you did all this."
"...Yeah."
"Just how important was that bond if it made you lose your mind and go this far?"
"...Let's just say she was the first and last friend I ever had."
"Then... you never made any friends after that?"
"...I've pretended to, for assassination jobs."
"......."
For a moment, Momota fell silent before words from a world so utterly alien to his own. Then Harukawa started murmuring to herself.
"If she'd still been alive, she would've come here instead of me... We were the same age... If I'd known things would turn out like this, I should've just run away from the orphanage with her..."
"...That orphanage, and that, uh... what was it... Shinmei something...?"
"Shinmyeong Relief Society."
"Right. So that means the orphanage had some kind of connection to an assassination group called the 'Shinmyeong Relief Society'? And there's a pretty high chance that connection existed because of K?"
"...Yeah."
Hearing that, Momota tilted his head and said,
"Then... are you saying K was a famous counselor from an orphanage and also the cult leader of the 'Shinmyeong Relief Society'?"
"...Yeah."
"But... the guy I knew didn't seem anything like someone that terrifying..."
"...What?"
"At the very least, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd live a double life and play the hypocrite like you said..."
"He lost his memories."
"If he lost his memories... then wouldn't that make it easier to see what a person's true nature really is—"
"...Shut up."
Harukawa weakly cut off Momota's relentless stream of words, then began speaking again in a drained, empty voice.
"Haaah... Yeah, you're right. The version of him who lost his memories really was a good person. So much so that I couldn't even imagine he was the cult leader I knew."
"...Really?"
"The cult leader I knew only cared about himself. But he... even when his own life was on the line, he still put other people first."
"Yeah... he was a pretty self-sacrificing guy."
"That side of him was the complete opposite of the cult leader who treated everyone but himself like pieces on a board. And just when I was starting to feel a creeping doubt about what I was doing... this happened."
By now she was confessing the truth with eerie calm. At last, she lowered her head and spoke again.
"Of course, I'm not shameless enough to beg for forgiveness or claim it was all just a misunderstanding. Even now, I still think there's a high chance K really is that cult leader."
"..."
"But... I never meant to kill him..."
"Harumaki... I think you've been trapped."
"...What?"
Momota suddenly spoke with a grave expression, and Harukawa looked puzzled for a second before her face hardened.
"...Sorry, but the torture was my choice. That doesn't change the fact that I deserve to die. So... if you're about to feed me some half-baked nonsense like that... get out. Now."
"...That's not what I meant. Anyway, if you ask me... I think there's an unseen hand behind all this."
"If you're only going to keep talking in riddles, then leave. I want to be alone now."
"....."
Momota stared at her in silence for a moment, then stood and started toward the exit.
"...Be careful of Hoshi."
"...What?"
Just as Momota grabbed the doorknob and was about to open it, Harukawa spoke in a low voice.
"Just... be careful."
"...Thanks."
After a brief word of thanks, Momota stepped out of her room.
But speak of the devil...
"Well, now... to think I'd be the one you should watch out for."
"....."
The instant he left Harukawa's room, the first thing Momota saw was Ryoma Hoshi, leaning quietly against the wall right beside the door, smiling to himself.
.
.
.
.
.
The next morning, everyone except K and Harukawa had gathered in the dining hall.
Even Hoshi, who hadn't shown his face in the dining hall at all until now.
"Ohhh? So even Hoshi the Mastermind decided to show up today? Hi there!"
"Nyehahaha~! The student council and the anti-student council faction may be locked in a cold war, but Ryoma-kun is a public enemy, y'know~? What kind of nerve does it take to stroll into the dining hall like this~?"
As the student council and the anti-student council faction, led by Oma and Angie, glared at Hoshi with icy hostility, Akamatsu hurriedly jumped in.
"...Um, Hoshi-kun hasn't actually been confirmed as the Mastermind yet!! You can't just say that like it's settled..."
"The only reason Hoshi hasn't been confirmed as the Mastermind yet is because he hasn't shown himself in front of us until now."
"What...?"
"If someone was being falsely accused, it'd be normal for them to try and clear their name somehow, right? But Hoshi-kun didn't just fail to do that—he didn't even try."
"...."
"Pretty weird, don't you think? Right? Nishishi..."
Even Akamatsu fell silent under Oma's razor-sharp point. Then Hoshi quietly opened his mouth.
"Think whatever you want. I'm here to eat."
"Huh? Um... Hoshi-chan? Did I hear that wrong?"
"Sounds like Angie heard it wrong too~?"
"I said I'm here to eat."
With that, Hoshi calmly began his meal.
"All right, then! Let's all eat!!"
The others had been staring blankly at Hoshi, but when Momota suddenly shouted that out with absurd cheer and started eating too, they all turned to look at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Momota-san, are you serious? He could be the Mastermind..."
"Shut it!! If we start fighting each other over something that hasn't even been confirmed yet... then even things we could solve won't get solved!"
"But..."
"It's time to stop fighting and start working together again!! So knock it off with this student council, anti-student council faction nonsense and stop draining each other dry!!"
As Momota abruptly launched into a lecture, Oma looked at him, then smiled.
"So... should I take that to mean you're planning to restart the 'cooperation' I worked so hard to end...?"
"You bastard... who said you got to decide cooperation was over? No matter how hard you thrash around, you can't create a situation where cooperation disappears completely!"
"Nishishi... is that so? Wanna test that theory?"
And so, all through breakfast, Momota's booming shouts and Oma's slippery, needling voice clashed back and forth.
"...Thanks for the meal."
That bizarre duet only came to an end once Hoshi finished eating and left the dining hall.
"...Angie-san, is the ritual coming along okay?"
"Yep yep, it's going perfectly~! Right, Korekiyo~?"
In the middle of that painfully awkward atmosphere, Akamatsu asked the question, and Angie turned to Shinguji with a smile.
"Kukuku... Of course. I found a book in my research lab that explains the spirit summoning ritual for the 'trapped child' in meticulous detail. Is this too the whim of fate...?"
"It's definitely Atua's will~! Which means K is going to come back to life because Atua wants it~!"
Angie seized the timing perfectly and lifted the mood, and for a moment, the others couldn't help being drawn in.
"H-he's really going to come back to life...? But... something that unscientific couldn't possibly..."
"D-does Gonta have anything he can do to help...?"
"Nyehahaha~! Joining the student council would be helping~!"
After working the room for quite a while, Angie suddenly made an announcement to everyone.
"So anyway, once you're done eating, come to the art room~! We've finished the ritual's preparations~!"
"Then that means...?"
"That's right~! Now we need to decide everyone's role in the ritual~! So even if you're not in the student council, I really want you to come~!"
With that, Angie left the dining hall.
"......."
Mukuro Ikusaba and Tojo quietly followed after her, and once the rest of the student council members filed out as well, the dining hall became patchily empty again.
"Well then, should our anti-student council faction head out and go sabotage the student council?"
"S-sabotage them...? B-but... if we do that... then we won't be able to bring K-kun back..."
"Damn it, if I'd known this was gonna get so annoying, I would've just turned that bastard into a robot!"
Before long, the anti-student council faction led by Oma also left the dining hall and started heading for the art room.
"...Saihara-kun. Amami-kun."
"What is it, Akamatsu-san?"
"What's wrong?"
Akamatsu, who had been quietly watching them all, suddenly called out to Saihara and Amami beside her in an uneasy voice.
"I have a bad feeling... Like something's going to happen..."
"It's okay, Akamatsu-san. We're here."
"...If we stay sharp, we should be able to handle most things. So try not to worry too much."
"......"
"That's right! Akamatsu! Like you said before, if we work together, there's nothing we can't solve!!"
"M-Momota-kun?"
Even after their reassurance, Akamatsu still looked anxious, so when Momota suddenly cut in, she blinked in surprise.
"Forget all this student council, anti-student council faction garbage... first, we finish the ritual!! And if K really does come back alive... those guys won't stand a chance against him!! Right?"
"Y-yeah... I guess... that's true...?"
"Good!! Then stop standing around here and let's get to the art room already!!"
"O-okay, okay, quit pushing! Momota-kun!!"
And just like that, the remaining three ended up heading to the art room together with Momota.
"....."
And from that moment on, one of those three remaining students began exchanging meaningful glances with Momota.
"A brand-new Jjure cover!"