"So let me get this straight. The second the door opened, he charged in full of spirit, got caught by Harukawa, and immediately became a hostage?"
"Yeah."
"...I'm so dumbfounded I can't even talk. If my side wasn't throbbing right now, I'd be howling with laughter."
If my side really hadn't been throbbing, I probably would have burst out laughing. At bare minimum, common sense says you prepare for the possibility that the operation might fail...
"...Ugh!"
"K? Are you hurt...? Ah. Right. Of course you are."
The stabbing pain in my side, which had been nagging at me for a while, suddenly sharpened into something vicious. Well, obviously. After getting stabbed and twisted around like that yesterday, it'd be weirder if it didn't hurt.
'...Whew. I should ask the others to forget the sleeping pills and mix some painkillers into the bread instead.'
"Anyway... this place is insane. Why are there so many weapons?"
Apparently still failing to grasp the full gravity of the situation, Momota kept glancing around Harukawa's research lab.
Judging by the way Harukawa had been glaring at him with that glacial stare for a while now... wasn't Momota about to get tortured too?
"Um, Harukawa... Momota didn't do anything wrong, so if you could please not hurt him..."
"....."
"...A-am I asking too much?"
His only crime had been trying to save me, so I put on the most earnest expression I could and pleaded for mercy on Momota's behalf. But then Harukawa turned that same icy stare on me instead, and my voice trailed off into a pathetic whimper.
"...Why would you think I was going to hurt him?"
"Uh... because you were looking at Momota with the exact same expression you had right before you tortured me...?"
"...I'm not going to torture him. He's just a hostage I'm keeping so the others won't storm in here anymore."
"Th-thank you...?"
After somehow securing Momota's safety from Harukawa—or something close enough to count—I finally let out a tiny breath of relief and looked over at him.
"cough... cough..."
"...Momota?"
Then, out of nowhere, Momota started coughing. What was that about?
"Momota, are you sick?"
"cough... ahem... It's nothing. Just went down the wrong pipe."
"...You haven't eaten anything, though."
"I-is that so? Then maybe it's a cold..."
For some reason, Momota answered in a strangely gloomy voice. Well, getting sick in a situation like this would be spectacularly inconvenient.
"Um... Harukawa, I think Momota might have a cold, so maybe you could just let him go—"
"...Shut up."
"Yes, ma'am."
My negotiations crashed and burned in an instant. So instead, I carefully edged closer to Momota and lowered my voice.
"Momota, so... do you have any kind of plan? There's no way you really came here with nothing but reckless momentum, right?"
"I did have a plan... mixing sleeping pills into the bread. A brilliant idea straight from the brain of yours truly, Momota Kaito-sama..."
"Oh! Then... when food comes later, we can naturally get Harukawa to eat it—"
"...Already failed."
"Ah. Don't tell me the bread I ate was..."
No wonder that tidal wave of drowsiness had hit me earlier. It was because of the sleeping-pill bread this idiot prepared. Well... thanks to that, I did recover a little mental stamina.
"Then you seriously don't have any other plan?"
"Nope."
"You've got to be kidding me. In a situation like this, you should at least have brought some kind of self-defense weapon... ah, never mind. This place is basically an armory, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway..."
Harukawa's private room had all kinds of weapons displayed across the walls—guns, blades, bows, and more.
If someone with bad intentions stole even one of the weapons hanging there... just imagining what might happen was enough to make my skin crawl.
'Damn it... though I guess the one silver lining is that Shinguji's chances of getting his hands on an efficient weapon have vanished...'
It was a relief that Shinguji—who would soon try to sink both Angie and Chabashira in one stroke—was no longer likely to get his hands on one of those terrifying weapons. But since I couldn't personally keep him in check with my own eyes, the unease gnawed at me all the same.
"No helping it... I'll just have to trust Doggie and the crazy maid... and I did give Chabashira a warning too... ngh...!"
"K-K? What's wrong with you?!"
"It... it hurts... damn it..."
I was trying to leave the outside to them and think of some way to escape from here, but then an overwhelming bolt of agony tore through my side, and I collapsed to the floor.
"Th-this guy... blood's coming through the bandages...?"
"Y-you... why all of a sudden...?"
"Hhk... hhhk..."
Momota jolted in shock and pulled at my side. Even though the wound had been tightly wrapped in bandages, blood was seeping through.
The suddenness of it all left not only Momota, but even Harukawa, staring at me with open alarm as they rushed closer.
"H-Haruma— Harukawa... what's happening to him...?"
"...I... wasn't expecting this..."
Warm blood kept pouring from my side while the rest of my body grew colder and colder, and the two of them started panicking in earnest.
"F-first, the bandages..."
"Move, I'll do it..."
The instant Harukawa snatched up the bandages and came to my side—
Pshhhk!!
"Aaaaagh!!"
Blood suddenly burst out through the gaps in the bandages wrapped around my side.
"...Huh?"
Harukawa's face and clothes were instantly drenched in red. Staring at the sheer volume of blood gushing from my side, she froze on the spot with the bandages still in her hand.
"H-Harukawa!! What the hell did you do?!"
"Th-this can't be happening... I was sure I controlled it so his life wouldn't be in danger... there's no way blood should suddenly start spurting like this..."
As their voices grew fainter and fainter inside my dimming consciousness...
"N-no! Don't die yet... no, don't die at all!! Once I realized your memories really were gone, I wasn't planning to kill you anymore!!!"
She stumbled all the way over to me in a frantic blur. I gave her a weak smile, and then, suddenly, words surfaced from somewhere deep in the dark.
"H-Harukawa... no, Harumaki..."
"Don't die!! I said don't—"
"...Ten demerit points for assaulting a teacher."
"...What?"
"I dunno... it just... suddenly flashed through my head..."
"K-K?"
And before I could even finish my final sentence, my consciousness plunged into blackness.
"Damn it!! K, don't die, you bastard!! You're the one who said you'd get everyone out of here alive!!"
"......"
At the very end, I think a single tear was running down my face.
.
.
.
.
.
"U-um... Ikusaba-san! Tojo-san!"
"...What?"
"What is it, Chabashira-san?"
"Uh... well..."
In the dining hall, the student council and anti-student council alliance had continued tearing into each other without pause. Finally unable to endure it anymore, Ikusaba and Tojo had stormed out. So when Chabashira came running up to them, panting for breath, both girls immediately turned wary eyes on her.
"I-I have something I want to say to both of you..."
"Get to the point."
"Y-yes, ma'am..."
Ever since confirming that K was being subjected to grotesque torture, Ikusaba had been radiating a constant murderous aura. When she answered in that frostbitten voice, Chabashira flinched for a second—but then she clenched her fists, set her jaw, and shouted with all the force she had.
"I-I want to lend you my strength in getting K back!!"
"Don't need it."
"We'll be fine."
"Th-that was immediate?!"
Contrary to her expectations, Tojo and Ikusaba cut down her offer in a single stroke and kept those cold eyes fixed on her. Chabashira blinked in confusion before asking again.
"I-if it's not rude of me to ask, could you tell me why my help isn't needed...?"
"I don't have time to play along with childish nonsense like the student council or anti-student council."
"You were obviously saying that to lure us into joining the student council. But we're busy making plans to save K. So..."
"N-no, I think you've misunderstood! I'm not here as part of the student council right now—I'm here as Tenko of Aikido!"
"...What?"
Chabashira drew a serious breath and began speaking.
"I was deeply moved by what K did yesterday...! Even though he's a male degenerate... ah, no... I mean, even though he's a man... uh, well... a guy? No... but a man is still a man..."
But after fumbling her word choice over and over, Chabashira's brain finally overloaded, and her solemn expression became completely pointless as she dissolved into incoherent babbling.
"So basically, you want to help us personally?"
"Y-yes! Exactly! Aikido is the martial art of justice! Of course, until now I've only used it for the sake of women, but K is so slender he almost looks like a woman from far away, so he's within the acceptable range... no, not really, but still..."
"Chabashira-san, thank you very much for offering your help."
"I-I'm only doing this because murder absolutely must not happen! This is not me protecting a man on behalf of women! This is a clear exception..."
"...Well, she's still an Ultimate, so she should be useful enough."
Ding dong, bing bong!
"Oha-kuma~!!"
"...Huh? What's this?"
Ikusaba had been wearing an annoyed expression, though the soldier in her had clearly taken some grim satisfaction in their increased manpower. Just as she was about to start discussing the operation plan again, an announcement rang out across the entire school.
"Everyone, report to the gym right now!"
"We've got an announcement, so make sure you come! Of course, if you're busy, you don't have to!"
"But... if you suffer any disadvantages because you didn't come, we won't take responsibility, so be prepared!"
"........"
"Hey, Monodam! You say something too! My throat's killing me from all this beating around the bush!"
"Then... see you in the gym..."
"Uh... I guess we should go to the gym, right?"
"...We'll hear the announcement first, then decide what to do next."
"That makes sense. We also need to stay on guard against Shinguji-kun..."
"H-huh? Wait, do you know something about Shinguji-san?"
And so, that absurdly dangerous combination—a trio that could probably conquer Saishu Academy if they felt like it—headed for the gym while discussing Shinguji.
.
.
.
.
.
"Upupupu!! Looks like everyone who's coming is here!! Then... it's time for a shocking announcement!!"
Once everyone except Harukawa, Momota, K, and Hoshi had gathered in the gym, Monokuma opened his mouth with his eyes gleaming.
"A kidnapping case, a brand-new hidden mastermind, and even a clash between the student council and the anti-student council... Even you guys, who've gotten used to this kind of juicy chaos, should find this premium announcement interesting!"
"........"
"Haaah... because all that happened, the scenario where the Monokubs rebel against me ended up being way too boring, so I scrapped it—"
"Just get to the point! You're wasting time!!"
As Monokuma dragged things out, Ikusaba shouted through gritted teeth.
"Then I'll announce it! Right here and now... I present the third motive!!"
At those words, the students immediately began murmuring.
"Damn it... so Motive Videos don't even count as motives anymore...?"
"Well, Ikusaba-san and Tojo-san have the Motive Videos. As long as no one can beat those two, the motive is basically useless..."
"Nishishi...! If I'd known this would happen, I would've watched everyone's Motive Video in advance!"
"Be quiet, you male degenerate! Most of the headaches happening lately are your fault!"
Monokuma watched the students mutter among themselves for a while, then finally spoke again.
"This time's motive is... a transfer student!!"
"...What?"
At that, all the students turned to look at Ikusaba at once. She wore a blank expression for a moment, then glared viciously at Monokuma and spoke.
"What... exactly are you trying to pull?"
"Upupupu! Relax! I'm not talking about you!"
Monokuma laughed at her reaction, then continued with a wicked grin.
"The 'transfer student' I'm talking about isn't just any transfer student... it's one of the people who died up until now!"
"...What?"
"Monotaro!! Show them!"
"Okaaay~ Dad!"
At Monokuma's command, Monotaro pulled out a thick book from somewhere and began explaining.
"This is called the Book of the Dead! If you perform the ritual in the order written here, you can bring back the dead!"
"What the hell are you—"
"Of course, you can only revive one person, so be careful..."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Yeah, what kind of insane crap are you idiots babbling about?"
"Just ignore them... it's the same nonsense they always spew..."
"Huh?"
Monokuma and the Monokubs had been staring at the students with eager anticipation, but when the reaction turned out to be painfully lukewarm, they started to panic.
"Um, don't tell me your bodies have already become too jaded to be satisfied by this level of stimulation? Is that it?"
"If you get hooked on stuff like this already, you're in big trouble!!"
"Yeah! You perverts!"
"Your bones... will rot..."
As Monokuma and the Monokubs blushed and scolded the students, Amami—who had been standing quietly until now—stepped forward as their representative and began to speak.
"No... I mean, that's only natural... because up to now, not a single person has died, right?"
"Upupupu?"
"A book that revives the dead... personally, I do find it interesting, since it sounds like the kind of relic you'd find in ancient ruins... but since there's no use for it right now, it's not exactly..."
"Monotaro, don't tell me you forgot what I said earlier?"
Monokuma, who had been quietly listening to Amami, suddenly turned to Monotaro with a dawning look of horror.
"Huh? Dad, what do you— Ah! Right!"
"You idiot!! Forgetful or not, how could you forget that?!"
"S-sorry, Dad!! I'll go make the announcement right now!! C'mon, guys!!"
"Seriously, Monotaro's forgetfulness is something else!"
"......"
As Monokuma exploded in fury, Monotaro broke into a cold sweat, then vanished with the rest of the Monokubs in tow.
And then, a short while later...
Ding dong, bing bong!
"...A body has been discovered. Please make your way together to the crime scene, the Ultimate Assassin's research lab."
"Bleeaaargh... I ran too fast and now I'm gonna puke..."
"S-sorry! I forgot we were supposed to make the announcement before gathering here... my bad, I forgot!"
An announcement carrying utterly impossible words echoed throughout the school. Every single person who heard it froze solid. Then, from the stage in the gym, Monokuma looked down at the students and quietly opened his mouth with a smile.
"There it is, huh? A dead person? Upupu! Upupupu!! Upupupupupupupupupu!!!"