(3rd Person's POV)

After closing and locking her dorm room door, Sora immediately headed towards the gymnasium, too anxious to notice the stragglers in the halls.

Every step she took, a drop of sweat appeared on her face. As much as she didn't wanna go, she didn't really have a choice in the matter.

Sora went into the dining hall and she was one of the first ones there. Not that it mattered since, because of the announcement, people were coming in quickly. And when everyone arrived...

"Hmm... Asking us to gather together all of a sudden like this... What could he possibly want?" Taka wondered.

"Indeed. What might await us this time?" Celeste asked no one in particular.

Well, whatever it is, it cannot be anything pleasant... Sora thought.

"Hmhmhm." Byakuya softly chuckled. "He keeps things interesting, that's for certain."

Of course, the progeny's amused attitude didn't sit well with the other students.

"How is that funny? Can't you smile like a normal person once in a while?" Hifumi asked. "Like how the housewife on a classic TV show smiles at the end of an episode?"

"There's something totally messed up with you if you can laugh at a time like this!" Hina yelled.

"Which of us is actually "messed up," hmm?" Byakuya turned his head to the swimmer.

"Wh-What's that supposed to mean...?"

"Nothing in particular. Just admiring, that's all." Byakuya said. "I don't want to kill anyone. But I also don't want to stay here, living in blind denial day after day. I was just admiring how you could live like that and still keep your sanity."

Bold of you to assume I'm sane... Sora thought.

"I'm not in denial..." Hina weakly said.

"That reminds me. Remember how you kept talking about how the police or whoever would come help us? How'd that turn out?" Byakuya rhetorically asked. "It seems to me there's no sign whatsoever of possible rescue."

"Th-That's just..." Hina tried to make a retort, but Byakuya actually brought up a good point. "I wonder what actually happened."

"It's strange, that's true. There's no way the police wouldn't know about it. We're right in the middle of a major urban area." Kyoko pointed out.

"The police suck!" Hifumi exclaimed.

"On the contrary, the mastermind may be just that powerful, to take control even of the police..." Celeste said.

"Oh!" Hiro perked up. "This might not be related, but--"

"Then don't say it." Toko rudely interrupted.

"Nope, gonna say it!" Hiro smiled. "It's about last night. I was near the main hall just staring off into space. When all of a sudden, I heard it."

"You heard what?" Chihiro asked.

"A sound that... I don't really know what it was..." Hiro said, struggling to describe it to his fellow students.

"Wh-What kind of sound?" Taka inquired.

"Well like I said, I don't really know. But if I had to describe it..." Hiro rubbed his chin. "It was like...a construction site, I guess?"

"A construction site?" Makoto repeated in confusion.

"I mean, I could just be making that up. I only just barely heard anything..." Hiro told them.

"Then you d-definitely made it up." Toko said as she scoffed. "M-Must've just been the sound of the ocean in th-that head of your-"

"Say what!? Whatchoo talkin' about, 'Kawa!?" A familiar cartoonish voice piped up. The students turned to the podium as Monokuma jumped out.

"He's arrived..." Kyoko stared straight at the bear.

"What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction...but it could have been an explosion!" Monokuma said.

"Huh?" Makoto raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu... That can kinda sound like construction in a way!" Monokuma laughed.

"What are you talking about...?" Makoto asked, failing to understand anything that came out of the monochrome's mouth.

"Ah-ah-ah! Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered!" Monokuma exclaimed, butting his paws over his mouth. "It's a secret little secret!"

"Fine, then let's move on to what you can tell us." Kyoko spoke up. "Why did you call us all here?"

"You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya!? Ready for me to get to the point, huh?" Monokuma said. "But before that, you mind if I vent a little?"

"...Would it even matter if we say no?" Sora asked with a deadpan look on her face.

"Nope!" Monokuma smiled. "So anyway, I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster... I'm thinking, it's probably because of this ho-hum, boring old everyday life. I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue! Listen, can I just be frank?" He turned to the students. "The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting booooored! So, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!"

Chills were sent down the students spines as that last sentence left the bear's lips.

"M-Motivate...!? Is it another set of videos or something...?" Makoto widened his eyes in horror. "Are you gonna show us some demented thing to try and drive us all to murder!?"

"Drive you to murder!?" Monokuma said, feigning offense. "What a mean thing to say! Just awful!"

"I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore! No matter what you do, I swear to Kami we won't!" Taka proclaimed as he pointed at the bear.

"Hmm. That's very big talk. Do your best to back it up, okay?" Monokuma chuckled. "Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So this time it's...embarrassing memories and secrets! As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets!" The bear then pulled out a bunch of envelopes.

"And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!"

As Monokuma spoke, he tossed the envelopes at the students feet. Sora quickly snatched the one with her name on it and pulled out what was written inside. When she read the envelope...her eyes widened.

"Sora Shirayuki has a yuri porn stash large enough to fill up an entire section of a library."

"What...!?" Makoto gasped.

"H-How...?" Hina softly blurted out.

"How'd you find out about this!?" Taka demanded to know as his face went cold.

Everyone started talking at once. Monokuma let out an impish giggle.

"You have 24 hours! If someone doesn't become blackened by then...all your deepest, darkest, most embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world!" Monokuma said. "Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans! Kyaaah! Wouldn't that be sooo embarrassing!?"

"...So that's what you meant by "motivate"?" Makoto looked up at the bear.

"Yup, you got it!" Monokuma nodded. "They're all pretty unpleasant, trust me. None of you want me to reveal that stuff, right?"

"It's definitely something I'd rather people not know, but..." The lucky students lifted his head up, eyes filled with determination. "We'd never kill over something like that!"

"Wh-What'd you say!?" Monokuma stammered.

"He's right! Your plan is doomed to fail! No one's gonna murder someone for this kind of thing!" Taka said, followed by similar comments.

"O-Oh no... Is it because...for better or for worse, your memory is still a way to connect to the outside world? I have stuff I wouldn't want anyone to know no matter what, so I assumed you'd all be the same... Which is why I put so much effort into preparing this next motive!" Monokuma put his head down and feigned sadness. "Maaan! You're saying you really won't kill each other over this stuff? That just sucks! ...Well, what can ya do? Okay, then in 24 hours, I'll expose all you secrets just to make myself feel a little better! So sad, so depressed! Farenotwell...!"

With an almost convincing look of depressed dejection on his face, Monokuma receded into the gym's depths.

"I didn't know what to expect at first, but...maybe we dodged a bullet on this one." Hina spoke up. "I mean yeah, having those secrets revealed is gonna be totally embarrassing. But that's seriously not enough to give someone a reason to kill, right?"

"Good news, everyone! I have a brilliant idea!" Taka exclaimed as the others turned to him. "Why don't we all just confess the secrets in those envelopes right here and now!? If we do that, any and all motive for murder will vanish! That's pretty smart, right!?" He proudly said. "Okay, so my embarrassing thing is..."

"I d-don't want to hear your stupid s-story!" Toko interrupted Taka, a nervous expression plastered on her face. "Besides, I don't...I don't w-want to talk about it... I don't c-care what anyone says, I don't want to talk a-about mine!"

"Neither do I." Celeste spoke up. "Not because it is unpleasant, but because it is impossible."

"Well, it's just human nature to wanna hear it when you say it's impossible!" Hifumi said. "C'mon, it'll be good for ya!"

"Absolutely not."

"It's okay, just a little bit. C'mon c'mon c'mon...!"

Didn't you learn you lesson from the other day...? Sora thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

"As I said--"

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!"

Celeste finally had enough, showing her more abrasive side once again. "I said I don't wanna talk about it, you human bag of lard!"

"Kyaaah!" Hifumi screamed.

"No." Sora simply said, giving her two cents of Taka's suggestion. "Just...no."

"I agree with them. There's no need to discuss it." Byakuya spoke up.

"What do you think, Fujisaki?" Taka asked, looking at the programmer.

"Um...s-sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now." She put her head down. "But I also don't want to leave things the way they are. So maybe I can talk about it later... After I try my best...to become strong... Then I can tell everyone."

"If you don't wanna talk, you don't have to." Hina reassured her. "I'm not super-excited to talk about it, either..."

"If everyone's that much against it... Even if my bro's the one that suggested it, I gotta say no." Mondo said, putting his head down.

"W-Well, that's okay, then." Taka nodded, seeing how so many people are against him on his suggestion. "Either way, if it's just a few secrets, I'm sure nobody's about to kill anybody over it. Okay, I'll stop with all the secret talk. But... Each of us has 24 hours to get ready! Having our secrets exposed isn't going to be fun, but it's not like we're gonna die cuz of it! So, you know, um... Don't do anything hasty!"

"...That's reassuring." Sora said sarcastically.

"Uh, okay, sorry." Taka sweatdropped. "I know it's gonna be tough, but..."

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."

"Nighttime already, huh? Okay, let's all call it a day." Hiro said.

"Good idea. We need to prepare for tomorrow." Sakura nodded in agreement.

Sora was left with anxiety she couldn't shake off, but the students left things as they were, and left things as they lay. One by one, they headed back to their rooms.

---

As Sora closed her door, she looked at the envelope that contained her secret.

A secret so bad, you'd kill someone for it... Sora mused.

Personally, from what her envelope contained, it wasn't too bad. Sure, it's super embarrassing and people would probably give her weird looks for a while, but she wasn't so ashamed that she'd kill for it.

But...she knew better. She knew that not all secrets have the same value. It's all about perspective. A secret that's not that important to one person would be a big deal to another.

Sora sighed. This whole day has tired her out. Which is why...after laying on her bed...

"Zzzz..."

...She quickly fell asleep. But what she didn't know was...while she was sleeping...a tragedy was taking place.

---

The next day...

"..."

"...morn...ing."

"...good...d..."

"Goo..d...morning..."

A bunch of scrambled up words entered Sora's ears. She lazily lifted up her eyelids as her vision was blurry. Soon, her eyesight cleared up to see Monokuma, his feet standing on top of her chest.

"Good morning!" Monokuma grinned.

"Uwah!" Sora yelped as she comically fell onto the floor. She got back up on her knees, her expression being mixed with irritation and confusion. "Que diable?!" She cursed.

"Upupu! Nice reaction! I'm glad to see you didn't disappoint!" Monokuma chuckled.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Sora demanded to know, standing up and recovering from the shock of what just happened.

"I wanted to spice things up! So instead of a school announcement, I decided to wake you up in person!"

"W-Why?!"

"Because it's fun." Monokuma simply said.

The blonde's eye twitched before clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"...Just get out of my room. Quit being such a perv." Sora grumbled.

"Puhuhuhu..." Monokuma laughed. "You would know a lot about pervs, wouldn't you, Shirayuki?!" He mocked as Sora's eye twitched. "Besides, don't you wanna hear it right from the bear's mouth?"

"...Hear what?" Sora inquired as her ahoge bobbed up and down.

"Are you sure you should be acting this laid back? I mean, even though something happened to one of your buddy-buddy classmates?" Monokuma asked.

"...Eh?" Sora blinked twice as she cocked her head to the side.

"Wuhwuhwuh-what? What's with that underreaction? You don't look concerned at all!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"What're you talking about, bear?" Sora asked.

"Puhuhu! That's for me to know, and you to find out! Good luuuck!" Monokuma giggled, and with that, he left.

Getting up on her feet and stretching, Sora yawned as her ahoge swinged from side-to-side.

"Welp." Sora smacked her lips. "Guess I have to go to the dining hall..."

---

Sora walked to the dining hall. She was the second one to arrive. Soon...

"Ah, Naegi!" Hina exclaimed.

"Oh hey, you're here already?" Sora tilted her head.

"Are you okay?" Hiro asked, ruffling his hair.

"Did Monokuma talk to you, too?" Sakura questioned.

"Hiro, Hina, Ogami, Shirayuki, and..." Makoto stopped as his eyes laid on a familiar progeny.

"..."

"Togami... You're the only ones here? Where's everyone else?" Makoto asked.

"Either they're already off trying to verify what Monokuma said..." Byakuya looked at Makoto. "Or they've fallen victim to the "something" that Monokuma mentioned."

"The...something?"

"It can't be... Has it happened again?" Sakura folded her arms as she closed her eyes. "Murder...?"

"S-So if something really did happen... Does that mean someone did it cuz of what happened yesterday?" Hiro asked.

"It can't be! That stuff was just a bunch of old memories!" Hina exclaimed.

""Just" old memories? Don't be so sure about that. " Byakuya spoke up. "Clearly someone felt it was more important than that."

"Huh...?" Makoto looked at him.

"To judge someone else's values based on your own outlook... Do you realize how dangerous that is?" Byakuya rhetorically asked as Sora nodded in agreement.

"Wh--? Why didn't you say something yesterday!?" Hina glared at Byakuya.

"Did you already forget? This isn't a co-op game. It's every man for himself." Byakuya pushed up his glasses, making them shine. "What good does it do me to go out of my way to help you?"

"Stop saying that already!" Hina yelled.

"There's something wrong with him, for serious. Did he get brainwashed or something?" Hiro asked.

"That's not important." Sakura spoke up. "What matters right now is that we find out what happened..."

"She's right. Let's all split up and begin looking." Byakuya said as he chuckled to himself. "Hmhm... The game is afoot."

Rolling her eyes, Sora walked out of the dining hall, as well as everyone else to figure out what happened... and who met an unfortunate fate.

---

Having her instincts guide her, Sora walked up the stairs to the second floor. She then found herself staring at the door to the pool.

Opening the doors, she found nothing of interest. But when she checked the locker doors...

Hm? Aren't they supposed to be locked? Sora thought.

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"For this investigation, I have unlocked the doors. Please look around to your heart's content!" Monokuma said on the monitors as they quickly shut off.

"Oh. That makes sense." Sora shrugged.

"I-Investigation...?" The blonde tensed up as she heard Makoto's voice behind her.

"Just as I thought." Byakuya was there, too.

How did you... Sora thought, wondering how she didn't notice them behind her

"Judging from what he just said, there can be no doubt a murder really has taken place." The progeny mused.

"C-Come on...!" Makoto said, trying to think of another possibility.

"And the locker rooms... They're suspicious. Very suspicious, indeed. Wouldn't you agree?" Byakuya said as Sora tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? Suspicious...?" Makoto inquired.

"It seems nobody's searched the locker rooms. Let's start with the girls locker room..." Byakuya muttered, as if he was talking only to himself.

Without waiting for a reply, he pressed his hand against the girls locker room door and the door swung open without a sound.

In that moment, time began to freeze.

Right before their eyes....

Was the crucified body of Chihiro Fujisaki...the Ultimate Programmer...

Chapter 14: End

To be continued...?