Azumi

Despite the circumstances being extenuating (and that is an understatement), I was raised to believe that it is rude to stare. I try to wrench my gaze away from Gou, but no matter how valiant my efforts, I cannot. His eyes look darkened and lifeless, like he is hollow. His eyebrows curve upward and his lips quiver subtly despite biting on the lower one. "You say that your care for us is not a lie?" I say, shattering the silence.

My words seem to break him out of a trance and he looks straight at me. "Yes! I swear it! I know it sounds literally unbelievable right now, but I promise I was never lying about how much you guys mean to me!"

"Who do you intend to help, from this point on?"

"I– I want to help you guys. I really do. I just don't know what I can do. My... uh... cohort has me on a real short leash over here."

"If you claim that, in spite of your station, you are our ally, then you must strengthen your resolve! You are Gou Kita! You have never taken any challenge lying down and now is sure as hell not the time to start!"

He turns his head slightly. "You'd really... I mean, is this really okay?" In all honesty, I am not sure precisely how everyone feels about this. But, because this situation is urgent, or perhaps because I was forgiven despite my faults during the last trial, I cannot hold onto any feelings of betrayal.

Ren grabs my hand. His grip is clammy but firm. "C'mon, man! How much longer are you planning on acting all wishy-washy? That's so not like you. If you wanna be a Kamen Rider, then you have to help defeat the supervillian! Sure, you can't do a whole lot, but commit yourself to doing everything you can!"

Fujiko turns her head away from Gou and blocks her face with her hands. She breathes in that unsteady, congested way that indicates she's near tears. "Am I the only one who's angry? I thought we were a team! I thought you were our leader! You just... fed us to your coworker or whatever, and we followed you cause you were always so nice!"

Yuu hands her a pack of tissues he'd stowed away in our evidence backpack. She blows her nose loudly. "I'm... conflicted, too. You don't have to feel bad for not believing in him. We can leave the faith to the others. There's a place for skeptics. You and I can listen to what he tries to tell us and call him out if it looks like he's trying to trick us."

"He says he loves us but he was partially in charge of this whole thing! I just can't understand!"

"Fujiko doesn't get something? What a surprise!" Monkuma snickers cruelly.

"Hey! Enough! Leave her alone!" Gou interjects.

Chimon, newly exonerated, runs a hand through his hair. "Fujiko, it's okay. I'm just as confused, honestly. Gou, you blew your own cover when you could've told everyone my darkest secrets... but you went through all that to frame me in the first place."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to do that."

"Then why did you? Why do any of this?"

"I can't answer why I helped make sure this killing game could happen. But as for why I accused you... my partner said I had to put up a fight. They said it was too soon for me to get outed. I didn't want to listen, but I know I can be of more help to you all if I'm here! If they kill me... well... let's just say I'm not ready yet. So I had to comply."

"How could the person operating Monokuma say all of that to you when Monokuma's right here?" Ren ponders.

Gou takes a pause to look at Monokuma, sighs, and then pulls his helmet off. "There's a tiny speaker in here. They can broadcast any kind of message to me whenever they want. It's sort of similar to how Monokuma communicates with the Monoinu units. It's how I know when the coast is clear to go through passageways."

I inhale and close my eyes. Let it all come, and we shall do the rest from there. "I doubt you are allowed to disclose much about your cohort's identity. And your explanation of the helmet assures me that they are not one of us. But I've one last query regarding them."

"We'll see what I can do."

"Is it even possible for us to unmask them? Have we sufficient evidence?"

He nods strongly. "It's gonna be a challenge. They didn't leave much of a trail. But I know you guys are smart enough to pull it off."

"C-Can you stop complimenting us for a second? It's making this all a lot harder," Fujiko pleads. He swallows but concedes.

"Alright, guys. We've gotta get to figuring this out," Ren guides. "Is the leader of WDR the one operating Monokuma?" Monokuma zips his lip in Gou's direction, and Gou closes his eyes helplessly. "We'll put a pin in that. We should gather as many names as we possibly can."

"Let's look at the list we made then! All the people who wrote us loved ones' letters! I think, aside from us, those are the only names we have," Fujiko nods.

"Well... there are names we may have heard from each other prior to this," I point out. "They may not hold as much immediate relevance, but it would likely not harm us to share them."

"Okay. So we have this list. We'll go down the list, state names, their relationship to us, and, if possible, their occupation. Does that sound good?" Yuu offers.

"Alright. I have the list here. Chuya Sasaki, mentor figure of Azumi."

"She is a professional aerialist by trade," I offer.

"Himari and Arata Gima, parents of Bisque."

"Err... if I recall correctly, Himari is a business analyst, and Arata is an IT professional."

"Koemi and Shoji Teruya, parents of Fujiko."

"My mom's the owner of an adorable little bakery! My dad retired as a pro cheerleader, but he coaches cheer now!"

"Noriko Seikiguchi... I doubt any of us know what Keiji's mom does."

Monokuma clears his throat authoritatively. "She is an editor for a neuroscience journal! She helps decide which research papers get published!"

"Tatsuya Omori, Kana's oldest brother."

"Taking a gap year, but he'll be starting university soon!"

"Minato Mukai, Monterio's little brother. He's an elementary school student. Rika Igarashi, one of Nari's little siblings."

Monokuma once again interjects. "Middle school student!"

"Shinobu Enomoto."

"My mom's a property manager, but she works from home. She basically makes calls and deals with budgets so that certain apartments run smoothly."

"Danuja Asai... we already know he's a medical researcher. Junpei and Ruri."

"High school and middle school students respectively." After answering this, I gather the emails toward myself, as well as the special thanks chapter of the Danganronpa book, attempting to see if any names align.

"Orochi Bushida... pirate captain, obviously. Tsunade and Fumihiro Ueda. My mother is a special effects and costume makeup artist. Freelance. My father is unemployed." He waves a hand as if to dismiss that. "Marcus and Rafael Moore."

"Professional nanny and director!" chimes in the fiendish bear.

"Tohru Bando, Yuu's dad."

"Quality assurance for a soda company."

"Mika Endo."

Gou, having kept silent throughout this, peeps up. "Both a florist and a botanist. She breeds flowers to try and make hybrids."

"Lastly... Hibiki Iwai. Your cousin."

"He's uh, getting his master's in sociology. He takes whatever work he can get. A bunch of odd jobs and internships."

We contribute any other names we can think of: Giichi, Emika, and Shohei Omori. Sachiko. Ms. Inoue. Hayate Teruya. Tamiko Enomoto. Ayame Bando. Mayumi Ōshiro. Any living person we recall mentioning or hearing of this entire time.

"Any luck, Azumi?" Ren asks, resting his head on my shoulder and peering over at my work.

"Not one mention of any of these names anywhere... aside from Sachiko and Inoue, but without their full names, it is impossible to decipher whether they are the ones we know."

"None of those jobs make me think of TV... aside from Joanie's uncle Rafael, but he's allllllll the way in America," Fujiko sighs.

"Do we even know that we're in Japan right now?" Yuu asks, perhaps a smidge conspiratorially. "The building obviously isn't the same as the one we entered. Maybe someone moved us when we passed out?"

"Nari said it was still morning when we started our tests," Ren rolls his eyes.

"Who says it was the same morning as when we showed up? If nobody knows where we are, maybe that explains why nobody ever came to try and save us."

"Intriguing. Bisque made a similar comment... ages and ages ago. About how we have no proof we are in Tokyo. Personally, though, it seems... unlikely? What would be the purpose of taking us out of the country? And would laws not prevent this?"

"Puhuhu! You guys are thrilling! Your ideas are always so creative!"

Chimon tilts his head and puts a finger on his chin. "Does that mean we're on the right track? Or way off?"

Gou repeatedly slams his fists on the surface of the table in agitation. "Chillax! You aren't allowed to answer this one, so there's no need to get antsy! If you believe in them all so much, let them figure me out themselves!" A groan escapes his lips so wholly disdainful that I cannot help but giggle despite the dire conditions.

This small laugh, infinitesimally unimportant in the grand scheme of things, brings a slight smile to his face. He stares straight at Monokuma, smiles wider, and then crosses his arms behind his neck. If his ankles were not bound, I feel as though he'd prop them on the table. It is a display of his faith in us.

I only wish we knew how to reconcile his kind heart with the hell he has subjected us to.

...

Ren

Gou is trying to show off his trust in us. This honestly all feels way too surreal. It's hard to even think of Gou as the same person I've been friends with all these months. Feels more like this version of him is a dream. I'm trying not to antagonize him too much. He seems willing to cooperate with us, and once we get out, none of us will ever have to see him again, if that's what we want. So it's better not to alienate him and make him give up on supporting us. "Okay! The status is: we don't know if we're even in the same country we think we are, but we're pretty sure we are. All of this is based on the assumption that Rafael Moore is involved since he's a director, but we can't be certain about that, either. We've had no reason to suspect Joanie."

"This email seems strange, though. It's all about writing the fear scenarios and the message for the second motive. Joanie is a script writer, right? And she worried about people not wanting to hear what she has to say, like the WDR leader brought up," Chimon squints.

Fujiko clacks her nails on the table thoughtfully. "I mean, yeah, sure, that's like, kinda true. But would she really talk like that to her uncle? If Joanie was the sender and Rafael was the send-ee, why was the header 'HI Boss'?"

Azumi shuffles some papers around and peers at them. She's staring so intently that I'm stunned she hasn't burned a hole through the page. "Does your left eye hurt? Cause you've been looking right all day," I wink.

She smirks, and I notice her muscles relax. "Hmm... something odd has crossed my mind. Likely merely the result of witnessing so many coded messages."

"Trust me, Azumi. We looked at basically everything with multiple ciphers, and there's nothing," Chimon grimaces.

"I think it may be far more simple than that. In fact, Fujiko's comment spurred this. I believed I have noticed an intriguing pattern in the headers."

"The headers? What's going on there?" Yuu questions. He yawns, which isn't a fantastic sign. We shouldn't be getting tired yet, considering it seems like we all woke up fully-rested after the Free Time Event bullshit. But I guess he has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of progress.

"Both emails addressed to WDR's leader starts with 'HI Boss.' And in both, the 'HI' is capitalized. Neither Hachi nor the third party wrote in caps lock, which I find curious. The Morse Code message was also 'HI WDR BOSS,' correct? This phrase being utilized as a password alludes to its importance. Or at least, that is my opinion on the matter."

"Huh. I feel like I should've figured something was weird with that. But what does it mean, exactly? It feels like White Daisy Room is always speaking in some sort of riddle!" Chimon complains.

Gou snorts. "Tell me about it. I didn't even realize there was a meaning to all that fucking tapping. Nobody told me." Frankly, I'm still deathly curious what kind of secret he was being nudged into spilling about Chimon, but it seems like the kind of life shit that would just cause everyone more distress. We don't need that. If we manage to get out of here, it'll be up to Chimon what he chooses to tell us. "Can I give them a tiny hint? Something pretty obvious?"

"Wellllllll, I meaaaaaannn... You can sure start a sentence! I'll decide whether or not you can keep going."

"This game is way too complex to be overseen by someone particularly young. Whether or not any middle schoolers are involved... Monokuma is not controlled by any of them."

"That's a relief," I admit. Even though I knew Tamiko wasn't involved, it's nice having confirmation. And I won't have to meet Ruri or Rika like this. Monterio's brother is out, too. "Monokuma is someone we actually know of, right? We're not gonna say he's some total fucking stranger?"

Monokuma leans forward. "Oh yeah. You've totally heard my name."

"And I know this is a stupid question, but it's not one of the five of us? I like, can't imagine one of us would be able to control you and do a trial here. Like at the same time."

"Puhuhu! Wow, you're right! That is a stupid question. I'm not one of you guys."

"Please trust in each other. You're all you have," Gou begs. The fervor in his voice is so painfully sincere.

"What is your deal—? You know what? It doesn't matter right now. Basically, Monokuma really should be someone on the list." I take it from Azumi and she halfheartedly makes an offended sound before giving up. "It shouldn't be Mika. If the WDR leader literally said that their family loves Hachi, it would be extremely weird if Hachi was a PART of that family." As I pass her name, though, my eyes stop on something. "'HI' is initials," I whisper.

"Dear, speak up. Have you recognized something?" Azumi murmurs in response.

"'HI' stands for someone's initials!" She gasps, because she knows what that means. She can see it plain as day. I wrench my head up and look to Monokuma, trying to read his face. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on. As expressive as he is, he's still a robot. But that won't be the case for much longer. "Hibiki Iwai... that's your name, right? We probably should've figured. Gou's partner is his own relative."

Monokuma laughs. It's a terrifying laugh, so full of nothing and nowhere. It should sound so ridiculous considering Monokuma's weirdly pitched voice, but it manages to be entirely menacing. I grasp onto Chimon and Azumi's hands, feeling my heartbeat elevate. They cling on just as needily. Strangely, though, the cackling stops. Another laugh comes through, this one far less maniacal. The man that emerges from the shadows sounds so... normal. As though we told a playful joke.

The resemblance... wow. The same spiky, dark hair is gelled slightly, but even if it's more contained than Gou's, it can hardly be called neat. His eyes are sort of rust-colored, unlike Gou's deep brown, and there's a familiar warmth in spite of everything. He's got a grey button-up, but his trousers are this reddish-orange, like a sunset. His build is similar... a smidge taller, a bit slimmer, maybe, but not by a lot. None of us can say anything. We're just left soaking in what the hell is happening, at this point.

He smiles at us patiently. My stomach twists and I feel a little light-headed. "Ah, I leave you speechless, huh, you little chickadees? Well, let me just say. It's amazing to see you face-to-face after all this time."

...

Gou

I feel sort of like I'm gonna vomit? Maybe? When all this started, he said he wasn't gonna be here in person. Just through Monokuma and my helmet transmissions. It's been kind of nice to be able to touch him again, to hug him or have him teasingly punch my shoulder, but at the same time, having a healthy distance felt safer. I could yell at him when he was just Monokuma. I could defy him. He was a character, and I was not only allowed, but encouraged to dissent against him. I guess that's not really dissent at all then, huh? I never really said no.

Fuji looks between Yuu and me, trying to decide which of us is the better option to hug: the one who's mostly uncomfortable with physical contact or the one who backstabbed everyone and was lying to them all along. I feel myself break into a cold sweat, and she makes her decision as I try to look anywhere other than Hibiki. She grapples onto me. "I'm still so upset at you. This, like, doesn't mean I trust you or even like you."

"That's okay. I wouldn't trust or like me either," I nod.

She holds on even tighter. "That's not fair. Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop being the exact same person you were this morning. You have to be an awful meanie so I can hate you. You're the reason that so many people are dead." I feel my heart sink. I can't tell her. I can't explain myself or basically anything about any of this.

I straighten my posture. "You guys did fucking awesome, and I'm so proud of you! But the trial is far from over."

Everyone eyes the newcomer warily. He sits, setting the powered-down Monokuma in his lap. "Man, oh man, was it cramped in there! I sure am glad I escaped the robot and got my own body back," he teases with a wink.

"I'm pretty sure that's a joke, but I kinda don't know anything anymore. This is too confusing," Fujiko responds, concerned.

I can practically hear the grin in his voice. "That's okay. Smarts aren't everyone's strong suit. You're special in other ways." She recoils slightly, and her eyes flick around like she's trying to figure out what to say to that. He lets out an amused half-laugh. "Yuu, I'm choosing to be flattered by your staring, but you can pick up your jaw now. You're gonna catch flies." His cheeks turn pink in embarrassment and he closes his mouth.

"P-Pardon me. We have met before, yes?"

"Ah, right. Naturally, I know what you look like, but this would be your first time seeing my face. Sorry for skipping the formalities. As Ren so kindly pointed out... I'm Hibiki Iwai! Your bestie Gou over there is my cousin and right-hand man!" I have a feeling that he'd sling his arm over my shoulder if he were closer.

Ren pulls at his gloves. "Are you an Ultimate?"

He chuckles. "I could be corny and go for the stupid Ultimate Despair thing. But no. I'm just a smidge too old for a title like that."

"How old are you, exactly?"

"Mmm... something like twenty-two or twenty-three. Frankly, it's easy to forget. Gou's the next oldest, if you'd believe it. My parents were real young when I was born. He's very mature for his age, though," he dotes.

"Is that why you need to watch over me so carefully? Cause I'm mature?" I snark. I nearly jump in surprise at my own comment.

"Hey, there's no need to be like that. Your emotions bubble really close to the surface. I just needed to make sure you didn't spoil everything, cause you were distraught. And hey, would you please actually look at me? I'm sorry you're mad, but I miss you!"

I turn to him, see that confident face I grew up with, and sigh. "Happy now?"

"Very!" With that out of the way, I focus on the group again.

Chimon crosses his arms skeptically. "So... we caught you. What next?"

"Ha! Pragmatic as always. I knew I liked you. The next logical step after finding White Daisy Room's leader would be to figure out who we are... and why you're here."

I feel even more nauseous now. When they find out what we want, what we were trying to do here, then I guess that means we achieved our goal. I finished my mission. No matter how many times I wanted to turn away from this, no matter how many times I wanted to tell everyone everything, I still followed through. What is that supposed to say about me?

"Answer us this, Hibiki. Was Joanie really the one who wrote that email to you?" Chimon challenges. Right out of the gate, he's keeping the pressure on. I hope everyone catches on to his gumption and follows up. Gumption... that's the word, right?

"You tell me! You're a smart cookie."

"I am almost certain we all met before we initially believed," Azumi interjects, "due to the state of Keiji's tape recorder."

Yuu jumps in. "Right. We learned that it only has a storage of thirty messages, and once that limit is reached, it begins to auto-delete the earliest ones. When Keiji got here, his tape recorder was empty, and we wondered why you'd need to wipe messages from before we even came."

"Here is a hypothesis: every message that Keiji had on the date we BELIEVED we arrived were already wiped. They had all been replaced by more recent recordings... ones he could not recall taking. Considering you went through the effort to erase our memories, him hearing just a single one would be disastrous." Her gaze is so... steady. She's not afraid. Even despite how much disgusting, awful shit she's had to witness because of him... because of me... she looks him down, doesn't shiver, doesn't look even remotely close to passing out. How did she get so gutsy out of nowhere?

"Sure, but you figured that out a long time ago, right? Fits the good ol'-fashioned Danganronpa formula?"

Chimon pounces on the opportunity once again. "So if we lost a certain amount of time... something like a month at minimum... then I'm gonna predict this whole 'enrichment program' is a fake. We met at the real one, right? When was that, Gou?"

My head swarms. How am I even supposed to answer that? "Uh... a while ago."

"Then, when Hibiki says it's our 'first time seeing his face,' he means..."

"First time since we got here. Oh, but, uh... he met you all a bit later than I did."

"So what the hell happened between then and our capture? How did we wind up in White Daisy Room's clutches? And why did they do this to us?" Fujiko asks, voice cracking. Tears fill her eyes.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should never have let this happen.