"…and here's your Monokuma file! Enjoy!"

For many years, there has been an age old saying among the people. "Patience is a virtue." Commonly it is used by parents to tell their unruly children that to calm down and stop being so quick to want things in the now when they could just as easily obtain the same later. But it is so much more than that. It is the belief that, through the act of waiting, one can observe the situation carefully to learn and understand beyond what a brief glance would have offered. It is the act of observing, waiting for an opportunity to achieve far greater results then what would have been gained though rushing. It is through being patient that you gain a better understanding of your surroundings and create more and better rewards for your efforts then what you ever would have achieved had you been impatient and hasty.

Whomever said that…clearly never had to deal with Monokuma.

Byakuya sneered at the mastermind's puppet body as it almost joyfully tossed the pad at his temporary aid with a sadistic grin on its face, its beady eyes turned upward in a facsimile of joy. To think that he had been made to wait by this wretched child. The Monokuma file was supposed to have arrived right after they had decided to preform the class trial, like last time with the trial for the Ultimate Pop sensation.

But no, it would seem that the fool had only decided to do his job and present the electronic file after they had already started gathering evidence. Unbelievable.

"Why is this so late." He demanded to know as he made every effort to let the fool running this farce know the level of his displeasure at being held up like this.

Disappointingly, yet not unexpectedly, the bear shrugged him off with nary more then a wave of his paw. "Well, what can I say? Maybe I wanted to see how you would react if I didn't lend you a helping paw."

Byakuya scowled harder at that. "Really? Do you honestly believe that I would buy that excuse for even a moment?"

"Well, no. Not really." The puppet admitted as it lost its jovial expression in the process. "To be honest, I had it all set up earlier, but I was distracted by all of that delicious confusion going on here. But, mostly I was just seeing just how well you all could figure things out on your own for once. And, I gotta say, I'm impressed by some of your adaptability. I dare say, it was rather…enlightening. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ah, so that was his game. Very well.

"Hmph," Byakuya scoffed as he turned away with a sneer. "If you've nothing more to offer, then I suggest that you leave."

That wasn't a suggestion, not in the slightest, and the bear caught on quickly, turning on its heel and waddling away with a dower expression. "Aw, you're no fun."

He nearly scoffed at the pathetic display, but he quickly decided that it wasn't worth wasting a single iota more energy on entertaining the psychotic puppet master. Instead, he made his way over to his temporary assistant for the moment and casually gazed at the pad held in the luckster's grasp.

"The victim is Chihiro Fujisaki." Makoto mumbled as he read. "Injuries include signs of blunt force trauma to the back of the head, multiple broken and dislocated ribs, and signs of having suffered from mild asphyxiation. The victim shows no signs of further external injuries, nor any signs of being poisoned."

Interesting, yes, quite interesting. "Did you notice?"

When the clearly naive child replied with that insufferable, "Huh?" he had to resist the urge to chastise him and instead replied, "There is a distinct difference between this and the last file we were given last time. Tell me, can you see it?"

It wouldn't do to just give away all the answers after all. Let the poor child figure out the differences on his own lest he never learn to stop relying on others to find things out for him. Fortunately, it didn't take to long for the preverbal light bulb to click in the boy's head.

"There's no time in here." Makoto stated in shock once it had clicked in his head.

Byakuya smirked at the simpleton response, "Well, it seems that you do have some capacity of memory in that head of yours. Yes, it would seem that the mastermind decided to omit those details this time around."

"But why?" the luckster questioned as he pinched his chin in though, trying oh so hard to try and understand the logic of the twisted mind of the one who ran this operation. It was almost humorous to watch. As if a simple child like him could understand the intricate mind of one so twisted as this.

Still, might as well throw him a slight boon. "It's not likely that it was a mistake. Rather, it feels rather deliberate, wouldn't you say?"

There, let him stew on that for now. More importantly, it was about time that they established the weapon used in this whole situation. Not that it would be difficult since it would require someone to be rather blind or daft to miss the bloody stain on the sledgehammer as it leaned against the truck tire in the corner of the room.

"Why is there a sledgehammer in here anyway?" His assistant asked, and Byakuya couldn't help but wonder the same.

"Yes, I'll admit it does feel rather out of place." He had to admit as he compared it to the rest of the room. The truck tire was also a rather unusual addition as well, as even with the inclusion of the exercise equipment. It was odd to see such a set of items in a school building to begin with, much less the girl's locker room of all places.

Momentarily he pondered over the thought process of these two items being here. For what reason could someone ever want a tire of all things in the locker room, as well as a sledge hammer? Both were rather weighty as well, the hammer head alone easily weighting over twenty-five pounds while one could only guess as to the tire's weight. For that matter, which of them could possibly have any kind of need for something like this?

Immediately his mind went to the only two people of their current group that matched the description. Aoi Asahina was a possibility, after all she did seem like the type to pick up strange items in some strange idea of exercise. However, considering all the facts, it was more likely that it belonged to her more musclebound companion in Sakura Ogami. For a fighter like her, wielding such a weight would be no problem.

Yes, the picture was starting to form in his mind now. It was all coming together now.

"But, it's strange." His assistant commentated. "If this is the weapon they tried to kill Chihiro with, then…how did she survive?"

Ah, now there was the question of the hour. It was about time that he decided to use that nugget of intellect that he had showcased in the last trial. Byakuya had begun to suspect that it had been a complete fluke that the luckster was able to piece together the truth in that last case considering how naïve he seemed to act, but he was happy to see that his initial assumptions hadn't been completely correct for once. Oh, the Neagi boy most certainly was a poor naïve child, thinking that he could trust anyone here to work together in this competitive environment was proof enough of that, but he wasn't such a fool that he couldn't put aside his belief to find the truth.

"You are…enthusiastic about all of this, are you not?" the heir turned to the women who claimed her name was Celeste with a look of contempt at the insinuation.

"How could I not be?" he remarked rhetorically with a pitying shake of the head. "If we do not unmask the culprit, we all die."

"T-that might be true but…" Makoto protested, but it fell onto deaf ears.

"What? Do you want to die?" The heir questioned harshly, turning to face the luckster so that the boy could see the full extent of just how irritated such a foolish idea made him. "Then go shrivel up and die somewhere. As in right now, go ahead. Otherwise, you're a waste of space."

Were his words harsh? Obviously so, yes. However, they needed to be. If the boy was to ever be a true asset in the future, then he would have to stop trying to delude himself with naivete. He would have to shed the vale of lies that every commoner would prefer to conceal the world in and realize that the world was not all friendship and understanding as everyone preached on their little soapbox. The world was a harsh, cruel place were only the strongest, smartest, and ambitious stood up high trying to knock each other down while the common folk scratched at their heels for a chance to do the same. And if that meant being a little harsh, well, it wasn't like he had any reason not to anyway.

It was quite clear that his words weren't appreciated, a fact that he had considered but ultimately discarded as unimportant, so it was a small surprise that one of them stated, "There is some truth in what he says."

All eyes turned to their resident mystery women Kyoko as she continued, "If we don't solve the mystery, then our lives are forfeit. That's a fact that we cannot ignore. And if Byakuya is right and this is the work of Genocide Sho…then unless we do something, more victims could start piling up."

"Forget more victims!" Hifumi exclaimed in a mixture of anger and horror. "If we mess this up, we're all dead meat!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Monokuma suddenly interrupted as he dashed back into the room with a seemingly offended slap of the air. "Honestly, you people jump to the rashest of conclusions. For your information, there is no need to worry about it. In any one killing game, it is forbidden for any one person to kill any more than two people. In addition, between the courses of a class trial, any act of violence can only be performed once per person, provided that they didn't succeed in becoming the blackened."

That certainly caught them all by surprise. "Wha…? I don't remember any rules like that."

"That's because I hadn't told you about it yet." The bear replied to the confused otaku. "I only got around to updating it last night."

Like clockwork, the students followed the prompt by the bear to whip out their handbooks to see just what the heck the bear was on about. Sure enough, in pixelated black and white, word for word, was the very rule that they were discussing.

"Yeah, it's a good rule, right?" The bear preened with pride at its own ingenuity. "I figured that it would really ruin the game's pace if someone decided to go around and kill everyone else all willy-nilly. That would just completely ruin all the fun of your lovely student live, right?"

His comment was met with glares that were about as effective on the plushy as it would have been on any old wall.

"In that case, why limit it to one person?" Sakura questioned though her glare, though she had to have a rough idea of what the sadistic bear would say.

"Well, in any fun mystery, you never want to miss out on at least the potential of a serial killer angle!" The toy gave off a sinister laugh as it rubbed its paws together like a cliché, old time cartoon villain. "If I only allowed one, then where would we get our drama?"

"Hey, why the fuck didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Mondo growled at the bear from where he was glancing over Makoto's shoulder. The luckster flinched it the sudden invasion of his personal space, but instead of questioning it, he turned to look at the bear in confusion as well.

"Because really, I shouldn't have too." the bear responded with a dismissive shake of his head. "Honestly, you really should be going out of your way to check your E-handbooks every morning. There's no reason I should have to go out of my way to tell you every time some minor thing happens."

"But…isn't that, like, part of your job?" Leon questioned, completely and justifiably confused at the automaton's words. Monokuma then turned to the all-star with an arm outstretched as it made to counter his argument…

"…Huh. When you put it like that, I guess you've got a point there." And as if it hadn't just admitted to the mistake, the two-toned bear waddled away with its chin in its paw.

"I really hate that thing." Leon stated once the bear was out of sight, a statement that was silently shared by the others.

"Still, while I can't say I understand his thinking, it would seem that anyone of us is allowed to kill two people, but we are only allowed to injure one. That is what he said, correct?" Celeste pondered over the words the bear left them in befuddlement. "That doesn't seem to have much of a trail of logic, yes?"

"Hey, yeah, you're right. What gives?" Yasuhiro asked as he scratched at the mess of dreadlocks he called hair. "Doesn't that mean that there can only be one blackened?"

Byakuya tsked at their naivety. The fools started to blindly raise their hope at what they were as rash as to assume as a mistake on the mastermind's part. Once again, it would seem that it was up to him to straighten out the dullards of society with some real logic; but of course, not until after hitting them with some choice words of his own. "It must be nice to be so ignorant to the world around you. Tell me; is it always sunny in that paradise you've locked yourself away in? Obviously what he's saying is that, while you are allowed successfully kill two people, you are only allowed to fail once."

"That's the most likely outcome, yes." Kyoko agreed a feat that was almost praise worthy. "In real life attempted murders, many criminals are brought in relatively quickly if the victim survives to testify. The mastermind is most likely trying to emulate that with these rules."

"Precisely." Byakuya smirked, glad to see that at least someone was using their brain for more than just filling for the space between their ears. "And to insure that we are motivated to not fail, they are making it more akin to reality. Failure to successfully kill only makes it that much easier to be punished for it."

"Dude, that's…that's messed up." The all-star commented with a grimace. "So, it's either kill someone and go to trial, or fail and go to trial? That's our only options? That's just…I can't even."

"Well, there is one other option." Byakuya elaborated, and then lifted up his arm to show off the literal bomb strapped to his wrist. "We still have our one life-line to give should we fail at least once."

A grimace crossed everyone's expressions at the grim reminder as many glanced at their own wrists. It was likely that they had, at least in part, tried to ignore that part, preferring to fane ignorance to the fact that they continue to hold innocent lives in their hands. He couldn't fault them on that one, not this time. Unlike him, they clearly never had to hold that kind of power over others before, so the fear of letting those lives down could be crippling to those that weren't ready for that kind of responsibility.

It was hard to remember what it was like to be a commoner for one who rose to power like himself. To see the world through the vale or comfort that others took for granted. These children were clearly not ready for the harsh world that they lived in, or the horrors that awaited them.

"B-but, that's just…wrong." Asahina stammered to argue. "We shouldn't be trying to kill each other in the first place, its wrong!"

"Is it really?" The heir countered. "It seems that you've forgotten, but this is all a game. One where lives hang in the balance and death is encouraged to progress. Playing the pacifist will not save you, not in here. You will see that, one day."

He turned on his heal at that final word, ignoring the plankton biker's demand for him to, quote, "Dude, just shut up." There were still things that needed to be done to help set the stage.

Yes, they would all see just how cruel the world really was, even if he had to string them along for a bit to show them the real truth.

"Come, I believe we've found all we need here." Byakuya interrupted Makoto before the boy could get too sidetracked by any further useless thoughts, and without much pause, he made his way to the doors and pushed though them, only stopping once he had left to wait for his temp.

The second the lucky student walked out the door, the scion scoffed. "Do you always have to keep people waiting for you every step of the way?"

He gave the lucky commoner no further words, nor did he wait for him to try and apologize. It would have been pointless after all. Instead he turned the boy's attention to the locker room doors. It was time to put the boy to work.

"That asshole is really starting to piss me off."

Kyoko idly listened as Leon grumbled to himself, his brow furrowed as he gazed at the door the scion and the luckster had just exited. She could understand the all-star's ire though, Byakuya hadn't exactly made to sell himself to their fellow captives all that well, and it was very clear that he was only going to continue that trend if the way he had basically strong-armed Makoto into helping him was any indication.

"I hate to say it, but I'm with the baseball idiot." Mondo voiced his reluctant agreement, ignoring the insulted shout of Leon as he continued, "Someone really ot to do something about him."

"Leave him be." Sakura stated as she stood by stoically, her expression stern. "For now, we have more important things to take care of."

The two boys grumbled as they separated, but aside from some glaring at each other, they made no further moves to continue their squabble. Kyoko sighed silently in relief. She really didn't need to deal with a brawl on top of the crime scene, potentially damaging possibly vital evidence in the process. She had already had them mess with too much by letting them let down Chihiro.

Not that she ever would have had them leave her hanging up there on the exercise equipment. That would have been far too cruel and unusual, even for the sake of preserving the crime scene. It wasn't worth the risk of further injuring Chihiro; especially at the risk of her possibly dying from asphyxiation.

Ah, yes. That was something to take note of. She took a good look at the cord that had been used to suspend the tiny programmer with another glance as she focused on the details she could remember of the scene. There had definitely been something off about how she had been suspended. From how she could remember, while the multiple loops and knots around her hands had been tight and constrictive, the one that had been around her neck had been loose.

That raised the question; why had they done that? They had to have known that Chihiro was still alive when they tied her up, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to be concerned with keeping the loop light. Plus, there were the other loops that had been there to consider. From where they had been wrapped around the programmer's hands, they looped around the shoulders, crossed around the back and under the ribs, and went back up to wrap around the neck before repeating on the other side. They had to have used every last inch of the cord to get this kind of result, even to the point that the plug was part of the knot itself.

This had the unusual effect of helping to support Chihiro as it hoisted her up. But that only made things more confusing. Why go through all the effort to keep her supported like that if they were planning to kill her? The only logical conclusion then would be that they hadn't wanted her dead.

Her eyes wandered over to the bloody words on the wall. Yes, that part changed things a bit. This whole thing didn't feel right, this whole spectacle. Clearly it had to serve a purpose, and the only conclusion she could think of was that, this was something to call out Genocider Sho. Alternatively, it could have been done as a direct reference to the serial killer's modus operandi, but she couldn't recall there being anything about them crucifying their victims.

Or…Had she? It didn't sound familiar, but the more she looked at the words written on the wall and the equipment used to suspend her, the less sure she felt. It was like a part of he was telling her that she should know what she's looking at, but her mind was refusing to cooperate. It was frustrating, but ultimately it would have to wait.

So, if not to call them out, then why go through all the effort. Was it to insight a reaction? Well, if it was, it certainly got one out of them. Panic certainly was in abundance among the class, along with rage, fear, and horror. Toko had even outright fainted.

"Hmm…" Toko. That she had passed out wasn't much of a shock, she had expressed having a form of hemophobia before, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to have reacted as she had. However, it was her actions after she had awoken that were of concern.

Sakura hadn't been too far off when she said that it was like Toko was like a completely different person. She had become so spastic and erratic in such a short amount of time, it was enough to give someone emotional whiplash. It was so bizarre, like a switch had been flipped when the girl hit her head and all of her trepidation had completely evaporated, but it was at the cost of her becoming overwhelmingly loud and incorrigible.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed as she considered that. Could it be that this was the reaction that they had wanted? If it was, then why did they specifically want Toko to react like this? The only reason she could think of would be that it would be related to…

Once more she took in the scene. Yes, that would be the only way that this would make sense. The secrets that they had all been given yesterday, that would be the only reason that she could think of.

However...this was all speculation at this point. While it certainly seemed to match up perfectly, it was just as possible that she might be completely off the mark. Even when her gut instinct seemed to be screaming at her that she was on the right track, there would be no point if she didn't have all of the necessary facts all lined up.

Besides, there were still other things that didn't seem on the up and up. Things that might even upend the entire theory if they end up contradicting any minuscule detail.

'I can not afford to jump the gun here.' Kyoko thought as she rubbed her fingers together from a rather interesting clue she'd noticed. 'There are far too many lives at stake to recklessly try to force a theory right now. Gather evidence first, save the theorizing for the trial. There are other mysteries to figure out first.'

"Whoa! Hey! What happened to your arm!" Speak of the devil.

The surprised shout of the all-star was quite the attention grabber, every single set of eyes in the room suddenly snapped over to gaze in shock at the cause of his rather sudden shout. And why wouldn't they? It wasn't often that you see the Ultimate Martial Artist with blood stained bandages wrapped around her arm.

'Well, almost everyone.' Kyoko mentally corrected with suspicion, but chose not to comment on.

"Hmm…?" Sakura questioned, but that didn't stop her from adjusting her arms, whether subconsciously or not, into covering the rather large stain on the bandages wrapped around her right forearm. Of course, now that someone had pointed it out, there was no hiding it.

"Gegh!" Hifumi screamed in shock. "I-It's true! B-But how!? Her stats are off the charts! You would have to be completely suicidal to face her! W-who would do that!?"

"More importantly, how the fuck did you guys miss it till now?" Mondo inquired incredulously, in the brash way of his. "It's not like she was doing much to hide it before now."

"Hey, lay off man!" Leon shouted back at him. "We've been running around all morning and trying to find Chihiro, I didn't have any time to see it 'fore now!"

"Ah, w-well, I try to avoid looking at Miss Ogami usually." Hifumi sheepishly started, but quickly elaborated, "N-not out of any kind of fear mind you! Just out of respect!"

Sakura was silent in response to the question and to the shouting of the otaku, her eyes closed and she turned her head away from them all. She was seemingly lost in thought, contemplating whether or not to tell them the truth or leave them in the dark.

"Hey! Why don't you guys back the fuck off?" Mondo surprisingly interrupted when Leon took a step closer to the fighter, his hands brought together as he cracked his knuckles with a terrifying grin. "Ain't anyone ever tell you not to pester a chick if she don't want ta talk to ya?"

"Wha…?" Leon questioned before immediately going on the offense. "The hell your problem, man!? It was just a question!"

"Yeah! A question that you don't need ta know the answer too!"

"Hey! Fuck you, man!" the All-star rebutted elegantly, his face mere inches from Mondo's own with a matching sneer. "If I want to ask a question, I'm gonna fucking ask it! Just because you gotta be the center of attention doesn't mean that you can get on my case!"

"Why you...!" Mondo growled with his teeth gnashed into a gruesome snarl, his knuckles popping ominously as he tightly gripped his fist. "You got a freaking death wish pal? Cause I'm happy to oblige if ya are!"

Normally, that would be enough to end this whole thing. Mondo was quite intimidating when he got angry like this, and usually that would make anyone go silent from fear. Leon, however, seemed to have given up all any and all of his fear in his ire as he glared right back, going so far as to grab his shoulder and rotating the joint in preparation for a brawl.

Off in the background of this event, Hifumi was being absolutely useless as he stood by, his hands pressed hard into his cheeks as a high-pitched squeal of absolute terror squeezing out from between the two pounds of fat. His whole body quivered like a jelly mold on stilts, his knees knocking together in the sight of these two completely fed up teens ready to duke it out.

It was looking like a confrontation was inevitable at this point. Neither of the two boys were going to back down on their own, not this time. But Kyoko wasn't even remotely surprised at this point. Both of them had been showing more and more resentment for each other ever since the end of the first trial, and it would seem that they would need someone else to remind them that there was a time and place for this kind of nonsense.

Fortunately for them, Kyoko wasn't going to be that person. This time.

"Enough."

That was all that the Ultimate Martial Artist had to say as she placed her hand onto Mondo's shoulder and gripped firmly. Her voice was calm, steady, but it carried a feeling of warning should she not be followed. Mondo turned to argue, clearly not ready to just let it go, but one look into the scared woman's eye stalled him.

Leon was right behind the biker in freezing in his tracks, though for him it was from his legitimate fear of pissing off the only women in the world that could quite possibly use his whole body as a bat.

"Sakura." Kyoko started, but she didn't say more. Or rather, she didn't get to say any more as the gaze of the far larger women fell upon her and shut her down just as effectively as it had the boys. It wasn't from fear though, or even her respect for the muscular women; even though she did have a lot of respect for her. It was the look Sakura gave her stopped her in her tracks. It was one full of regret, frustration, and curiously, a little bit of relief.

"...We were planning on revealing this at a later time, once we were all together at the trial grounds." Sakura started as she turned to address them, her left arm moving up to grip the bandages wrapped around her other arm.

...and fully showing off the bloody spot showing though.

"Last night, there was an incident."

"The library?"

It hadn't been much longer for them to find the clues that he had needed the boy to locate. Aside from a minor inconvenience of having to get past the traitorous witch and the overbearing sound board and explaining to them the situation upstairs, they had managed to make good time. They had found a dead E-handbook that the bear had poorly hidden in the entrance hall, and aside from having to visit the unpleasant waste of air that he wouldn't dare name at the behest of that doughnut brained simpleton, things were progressing at quite the productive rate.

Well, it was all to his favor anyway. In fact, it might have been a boon as far as he was concerned. That bespectacled trash in purple had played her roll quite perfectly. He had barely had to say a thing before she started dropping every single possible clue to her secret in front of the swimmer, fashionista, and the luckster. Even without actually revealing it, she might as well have shouted out from the rooftops that she was the serial killer for how much she gave away.

It was almost enough to make him sigh. To think that the police had been fooled by that complete shell of a women all this time was mind boggling. No, worse, that she had some how managed to hide it from all of society for any length of time was somehow the most infuriating thing he had had the misfortune of finding in this school.

Then again, he couldn't exactly say much either. He wouldn't have expected it himself had she not told him two days ago in a vain attempt to earn his attention. There wasn't really all that much to her that stood out as either serial or killer, aside from her appallingly horrific attitude.

Well, regardless, that secret wouldn't be hidden for much longer anyway.

Without a word, he proceeded to head into the place that contained the clues he needed to sow the final seeds of cruel reality into the other's minds. A place that had the truth that he sought to show these baleful fools that should hopefully finally pull them from the pitiful delusions that they had chosen to bury themselves in. Yes, the place that all people go to educate and be educated in turn.

So naturally, this would have to be a part of their investigations.

"Yes, but more importantly..." He cut himself off as he looked over to the archives, the only other door in the room. But of course it wasn't the library itself the real reason that they had come here. The only reason that he would consider bringing someone else to this room that had become a soft of sanctuary for him.

"...Well?" Byakuya asked, gesturing towards the door with his head. It wouldn't do if he was the one to open it first after all.

"Huh?" The luckster questioned before quickly correcting himself. "I mean, uh, 'well' what?"

Admittedly, not much of a correction, but still, it was progress.

Byakuya resisted the urge to sigh and tilled his head back with a look of superiority. "Do you honestly need me to explain how to do something so basic as opening a door? If so, I have nothing but pity for your parents for having to raise such a burden child."

Naegi gave him a completely unimpressed look, but aside from some likely internal gripping, headed over to the archives door.

Finally, if the wretched fool was telling the truth, then this door should be…

*Clunk*

...What?

"What's the hold up?" Byakuya questioned, his glare firm as the luckster rattled and yanked on the door knob, failing to pull open the door blocking their way. All he had to do was open a simple door, was that really so much to ask?

Apparently so, since all the boy could do was look his way and say hopelessly, "It's locked."

Of all of the- "Fine, if you can't do something so simple, then get out of my way."

With that, he brushed the lower classed fool aside and grasped the doorknob with his own hands and quickly tried to pull open the door for himself. Unfortunately, it would seem that the boy had been telling the truth.

Frowning, Byakuya gripped the doorknob with both hands, applied a bit more force, and was met with the same result. With his frown swiftly shifting into a sneer, he rattled the door a few more times for good measure, then took a step back.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Byakuya questioned aggressively, not growled since that would be beneath him. He knew for a fact that he had been promised that this door would be unlocked by now if he played his part, so what was the deal here?

His eyes narrowed in contempt. That retched lying sack of fluff and bile. He knew he shouldn't have believed a word that wretched tool had spouted off. Well, that's not to say he had truly trusted the kidnapper in the first place, but he expected at least a bit of decorum done in the slightest.

"Huhuhu. Something wrong?" Ah, and if it wasn't the devil himself here to waste their time further with his little games.

"You know exactly what's wrong here." He glared at Monokuma with a truly baleful gaze. "Why is this door locked?"

"Why?" the bear parroted back tauntingly with a tilt of the head. "Why wouldn't it be? I don't recall opening the door for you brats at any point thus far."

This little- "We need to go for the in there for the sake of the investigation."

"For the investigation?" It again taunted openly. "And what makes you think that there is anything of importance in there?"

It gave a snide glance in Makoto's direction, or as much of one that could be done with its beady eyes, and instantly he understood what it was doing.

"As if you even have to ask." He glared with a scowl. "There wouldn't be a reason to even come here otherwise. Besides, I have reason to believe that a most vital clue resides in here. So, open it."

"Hmm...Hmm..." Monokuma made itself look like it was contemplating his words, its paw tapping away at its chin in a reflection of deep thought. But it didn't take long for the act to falter when it started snickering.

"Oh, sure. I'd be happy to let you into this room that I haven't ever had any intention of letting you into. I'd be positively tickled pink to let you in...NOT!" Monokuma laughed uproariously as if he had said something funny before suddenly roaring in anger.

"Like hell I would do that! I might have fallen for that one before, but not this time! I don't care if it's for the investigation or not, I won't be opening this door for ANY-"

Suddenly, without warning, the bear puppet slumped over. The expression was the same, but it was like something had cut its strings for a second. Byakuya wasn't sure what happened, but just as suddenly, it shot right up, but there seemed to be something...different about it this time.

"...Ahem. As I was saying, that would be what I would say, however, in this specific case, you make enough of a point that for this and only this case, I will make an… exception. For the sake of the investigation, of course."

Odd. What did- "HOWEVER! I will not be allowing you to take anything from this room. If you even think of trying to sneak something out, I will have no choice but to… remind you of my wild side." And to punctuate this fact, the bear's three claws extended out with a shing of metal on metal.

Well, it wouldn't matter much in the end. "That's fine. Once we're done here, we won't need anything else here."

"Okay then!" Monokuma said excitedly, then turned to the door and clapped its paws with an excited, "Now, behold my power! OPEN SAYSO ME!"

For as idiotic as the dramatics was, it did appear to have worked as the doorknob audibly clicked as it unlocked. Then, as if to show off how "impressive" his act of unlocking the door was, the bear waddled over and leaped up to grab the knob, and opened it with a flourish, even going so far as to land dramatically with an exaggerated bow.

He didn't even attempt to acknowledge the theatrics. He just walked right by without a word beyond, "Let's go." to his help. But that didn't stop him from considering just how...off that last part of the conversation was.

The sudden abrupt stop and start. The slight yet change in tone. Had something happened? Did something happen to the mastermind behind this all? It would explain it, but it only added another mystery to solve.

He resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. Of course there would be more to all of this. There was always something with this bear.

Well, no matter. It didn't matter what was happening with their enemy. All that mattered in the end, was that he complete his objective here. Then, his plan to guarantee his own safety would be assured.

"Now, then." Where did that file get put again?

"It happened again."

I muttered as I stewed in my silent den, my fingers pressed together in front of my face. From the look of my reflection in the now darkened screen, I could say that I had a very stormy expression. A feeling that wasn't just because of my own plans falling apart around me.

Before now, I had my concerns, but I know now, things were only going to get worse.

I had just watched the two boys walk away from the library, Makoto looking as horrified as you would expect an innocent boy to become after stumbling on a very gruesome murder scene for the first time. Or in this case, the case file documenting multiple accounts of a serial killer's victims.

It was understandable that he would have such a face. Seeing police reports with such detailed pictures of so many people bloodily pinned to walls crucifix style by pairs of scissors, it wasn't really something you would really be able to look at without feeling absolutely disgusted and horrified. Names upon names of dozens of dead men, and the only thing to show that they had lived being a piece of paper showing how they died.

Not really something even his optimism could counter so easily.

However, that wasn't what had my concern. He would recover, but the fact that he would or wouldn't didn't matter right now. He shouldn't have even gotten to see it in the first place. I had specifically locked the door to prevent him and Byakuya from entering and finding the folder within.

So why did they get a chance to see it? Why had I let them in when I had done what I could to stop them in the first place? Well the answer was quite simple.

I didn't.

Well, I did, but I didn't. When I was telling them that there was no chance that I would open it, I had closed my eyes for just a moment, and when I opened them the both of them were leaving. If I wasn't paying attention, I would have just brushed it off as them giving up and leaving.

But I was paying attention. I was looking for inconsistencies, and because of that, I realized that I must have blacked out when I had closed my eyes. And since the only way to unlock the door was from my intervention with my console, that meant only one thing.

I was the one to open it.

So, since I wasn't the one that had done so, it meant that the I that had opened it had to be the one that I had thought couldn't have been responsible for since I thought they were dead and gone.

No, that wasn't right. It was just my hope that she was gone for good. I had been trying to ignore that possibility, trying my hardest to pretend that it wasn't possible that she could be around anymore. I wanted to believe that it wasn't possible for her to be here anymore and that I had completely overridden her.

Unfortunately, I couldn't pretend anymore. I can't just push it aside and hope that I was just imagining those little signs of some other voice popping in here or there when I'm not expecting it. I refuse to ignore the truth any longer just because it was horrifying to consider.

The truth that, the true mastermind, Junko was still alive.

It wasn't as if I hadn't considered the possibility, rather, I didn't want to believe it. I think that, deep down, I knew that she was still in this head of ours, but the possibility of her return made me so internally afraid that I tried my damnedest to pretend it couldn't ever happen.

But I had seen too many things that proved otherwise by now. Between last night, and my own trap I had set up with with the library's archive room, I now had the final bit of proof I needed that she wasn't as gone as I had hoped.

Now, the problem was now in figuring out just how far her influence over this body extended.

Unfortunately, that wasn't something so easily figured out. All I had from the little I had seen in both the journal and my own experience thus far is a note saying that she didn't seem to be aware of the actions of me, the intruder in her head. I guess that went both ways since I couldn't remember anything they had done while I was backed out.

Other then that I had no idea what those limits might be. I needed something more concrete, more ironclad. I need to get a better idea of just what limits Yasuke Matsuda might have discovered in his journal.

So, I quickly rushed over to the main surveillance room and made a quick check of everyone's location. Most of them were where they were last time I had seen them, but it would seem that Hina had recruited Mukuro in her efforts to try and sway Toko out of her room, as well as giving the soldier a quick recap on what was going on. Makoto had been abandoned Byakuya and was heading back over to the locker rooms, while the rich boy was heading off to do his own observations so as not to be left behind when the trial happened.

The only weird one out was Yasuhiro who had gone back to his room alone. Strange. I guess he was going to preform a divination or something. He had pulled out a lock-box from under his bed, but when he opened it, all that was in there was some stuff for incense lighting. Wood board, tiny lighter, and of course, half a dozen sticks of yellowy-forest green incense sticks.

I felt a bit bad that I honestly thought he was pulling out some "special herbs", if you catch my meaning. I guess I had been corrupted by the theory that he was some kind of druggy because he smells bad and dresses like a deadbeat and offered to have a Brusque with one Makoto, a high school student. I mean, yeah, having had to spend time with him I can attest that he really did smell rank, even more then Toko; who never bathes. But I had been watching him on these cameras this whole time and he never once whipped out anything resembling a pack of illegal med or materials. It was enough to make me feel bad for doubting him like that.

Regardless, back on topic. I gave a quick look at the rest of the rooms and, when I didn't find anything else worth noting, I quickly snatched up the little book on the desk and started leafing through it again and again, trying to find some kind of clue, some kind of counter measure.

"I swear." I growled as I poured over page after page for something, anything, that could shut her out. "I won't let you get your way. I refuse to let you kill anyone for your sick, twisted game. You will not, will NOT, hurt them on my watch!"

Hey everyone! Might as well call me Mushu, because "I LIIIIIIVE!"

So, long story short, I had to go though a lot these past several months. My computer finally gave up and had to be replaced, again, I went through a massive upheaval in my life that left me extremely depressed, lost access to my favorite place to brainstorm and write due to construction efforts knocking it down, I went through a massive creative burnout, whole lot of messy junk.

But I'm back in the chair now and back to writing. My mind is clear, I finally got my life back in order, and I'm back to writing. Here's hoping that nothing else goes wrong this time.

So, a fair bit of progress made in the investigation, and a horrifying reveal has been made. Now it's on to the second half of the investigation, and then, our wonderful trial can begin!

See you next time!

Omake: Hiro's stash

"Man, I just can't calm down."

Yashiro muttered as he walked to his room, his hand scratching at a knot he'd found in his dreadlocks. He had been having the worst week, bar non. First he gets randomly stabbed by the resident pop sensation, then there was the trial, then he started getting these really vivid and horrifying dreams that would keep waking him up at all hours of the night, then his secrets were threatened to be exposed and the overwhelmingly painful headache yesterday, and now they were going to have another trial for Chihiro. It was far to much for him to deal with.

"Gegh!" he grunted in pain when his headache suddenly flared up wildly, a feeling that was starting to become far too familiar now. Ever since he hit his head, he'd been having these painful spikes to his brain that left him feeling terrible and woozy. Sometimes it would even result in these weird and wild visions that left him feeling sick to the point of losing his lunch.

And when that happened, there was no choice but to break out his special stash.

With Junko taking over his position of trying to drag Toko out of her room, that gave him some time to head to his room and, after making sure that his door was locked, head over to his bed and pull out a lock box from under his bed. Opening in with his special combination that no one could possibly figure out, 420, he popped the lid open and pulled out the supply.

His special incense kit.

It was similar to a regular incense kit to the uninitiated, but to a fortunetelling master like himself, it was something far more valuable. For it was in the sticks themselves that contained a mystical herb that would boost a person's sixth sense to an absurd degree, letting them see into the very cosmos themselves if they meditate right next to the burning stick.

Now, he wasn't one to believe in such occult conspiracy bull, but after trying out the small sample that the sleazy looking vendor had offered, he immediately bought up the whole supply.

It did wonders for his headache, and it even helped him with some of his more difficult future readings. And at only a hundred million yen for a whole crate, it was practically a steal!

Yeah, it made his eyes kinda red, and it made him super hungry afterwards, but it was worth it. Now, if only it didn't make his room and clothes smell kind of like an old, dry skunk, he might like it a bit more.

Now, if only he could figure out why his supply seemed so much smaller then when he first arrived at this school.