(3rd Person's POV)

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

In Sora's room, the annoncement went off, but...

...

...

...

"Zzzz..."

Snoring could be heard as the buxom blonde was still fast asleep. Looks like the class trial yesterday really tired her out...

The woman's hair was unkempt and messy. She wore nothing but a white tank top and lavender boxers. Her ahoge was also drooped down, as if it was also asleep.

"Zzzz..."

Regardless, it looked like she's not gonna be waking up anytime soon...

---

Meanwhile, with the other students, the morning after the conclusion of the second class trial, everyone met up in the dining hall, just like always. And they expected it to start like any other day. But...

"Today's count kinda sucks, huh? Fukawa and Togami still refuse to show up..." Hiro lamented.

"And I haven't seen Miss Asahina or Miss Shirayuki anywhere." Hifumi pointed out.

"Hina said her stomach was hurting, so she's taking it easy in her room for today." Sakura spoke up. "However, I do not know where Shirayuki is. For all I know, she's probably staying in her room as well."

"That is rather unusual. Normally Hina is so full of energy, and Shirayuki, while she is laid-back, is usually one of the first people to attend." Celeste said.

"Which is exactly what makes me worry..." Sakura closed her eyes.

"So it's just the seven of us, then?" Kyoko asked.

"It looks that way..." Makoto lamented.

"It's times like this where the committee chairman needs to get things going with a BANG!" Hiro exclaimed, pointing straight at a certain moral compass.

"..." However, the said committee chairman didn't respond. In fact, he didn't even seem to be doing anything. He was just...staring at nothing.

"Or not...?"

Makoto looked at Taka with concern. He hasn't said a word since everything that happened yesterday... One look at his face showed he hadn't slept a wink last night. It must be because of Mondo...

The two of them became so close, and then he finds out Mondo killed Chihiro... And then...having to watch Mondo get...punished. And nothing he could do about it... Makoto couldn't even imagine what it must have done to him.

"So, I mean...what's gonna happen now?" Hifumi asked. "We haven't found any way out, and we have no idea if help's ever gonna come. Ngh! Now I'm all depressed just thinking about it..."

"We simply have to make the best of things--do our best to get along and live here together in peace." Celeste said with her usual smile. "Forget about the outside world, and accept this new life. That is the only hope we have now."

"What...? To live here forever...?" Makoto looked at her, baffled at her insistence of this option.

"Here we have every convenience. We have food, clothes, our every need is seen to. Why are you dissatisfied? In fact, let me ask you this? What is it about the outside world that you long for?" Celeste asked, her face contorting into something unsettling. "Competition, discrimination, victimization and violence... As society grows, so does its perversion. In which case, is our current situation not-"

"Demon Angel☆Pretty Pudgy Princess..." Hifumi interrupted her.

"Hmm?" Celeste wondered.

"Meggy, the drill shop owner, the bunny-eared Amazon, Catgirl Dogboy, Robo Justice and the Galactic King... And...! And--!" Hifumi grit his teeth in frustration. "What I mean is, there's no 2D here!"

Celeste sighed. "The mastermind puts such base desire to their advantage, bending you to their will..."

"Okay, well, anyway... Since Taka's like, catatonic... As the oldest one here, I'm officially stepping up to take the lead!" Hiro declared. "So! We're all gonna work together and spend the rest of the day searching the school!"

"Searching...?" Makoto inquired.

"Well, I mean...since the class trial is over and all..." Hiro started.

"There should be new places for us to investigate." Sakura spoke up, finishing Hiro's sentence.

"Yeah, that's the ticket! Maybe we'll find some kind of clue this time!" Hiro exclaimed.

"Then once we're done eating, let's split up and begin looking around." Sakura looked at Celeste. "So, you have any problem with that, Celeste?"

"Hmm... There may well be a discovery waiting for us which may further enrich our life here." Celeste nodded.

"Er, no...the point is to look for clues." Hifumi sweatdropped.

And just as they were starting to come together, she barged in and ruined the conversation...

"You called for me, and so I appear!" A voice exclaimed as Genocide Jill came in. "Genocide-!"

"Ahh! Nobody called for you!" Hifumi exclaimed.

"What the...? How come it's Genocide Jill, and not Fukawa?" Hiro asked as he nervously took a step back, apprehensive of the serial kiler.

"Kami, this place is just AMAZING!" Genocide Jill gushed. "Finally a place I can just be my murderous self! Which is why I've decided to stop holding back and spread my wings! No more hiding in a cave for me! Plus, I have another battle to fight! The whole "killer with a split personality" thing is sooo overdone. I gotta destroy that stereotype! I'll fight all day and all night to murder those totally slanderous cliches!" She declared.

"But...you are a killer with a split personality..." Hiro pointed out.

"Gh--! If she weren't here, my chances of survival would go up AT LEAST 10%!" Hifumi growled to himself.

"C'mon, you gotta back me up here! Even the biggest stars need the little people to hold them up! Kyeeehahahaha!" Genocide Jill cackled.

"Well, whatever else we do today, first we should eat. We can't do anything on an empty stomach." Sakura spoke up, trying her best to ignore Genocide Jill's presence.

"You're right. Let's hurry up and eat so we can start our investigation..." Makoto nodded in agreement.

"Kyeehahaha!"

And so, the students were forced to eat breakfast with a murderer. And after their much needed, but very annoying meal, they set off to work looking around the school.

---

After searching around the second floor a bit, the students eventually found what they were looking for. The gate that was here before has been raised up, giving them access to the third floor.

First, Makoto explored the recreation room. Some of the equipment isn't exactly what you would find in a school, such as the pool table. There was also a copy of Othello in there, but he's never really played it before.

The next place he went into was the "Physics" room, and, well....

---

"Hey, Taka. Don't you think this place is like some kind of research institute?" Makoto asked, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"..."

Sighing, Makoto looked up to see a giant machine. "What's up with this ridiculously big machine...?"

"Watch out!" A voice warned as Monokuma came jumping out.

"Wh-What--?"

"What, you wanna do some quantum leaping!?" Monokuma asked.

"Huh...?" Makoto wondered.

"That's a time machine!" Monokuma clarified. "Pretty awesome, right? It was designed by a student right here at Hope's Peak! The Ultimate Physicist... Although, they don't go here anymore. They died during The Tragedy!"

"A time machine...?" A voice spoke up as Makoto looked to see Taka. "Seriously...? So...it can go back in time...? Okay, then...let me get in there... If I can go back to the past...then I can... This time I'll stop Owada for sure--!" He desperately said.

"Oh, sorry, not possible. This particular time machine can only go back one minute." Monokuma said. "It comes in handy when you, like...leave your pizza bagels in the microwave one minute too long."

"One minute...?" Taka looked at the bear with disbelief.

"Hmm... You sound disappointed. But actually, I was lying about the whole thing anyway. There's no such thing as time machines!" Monokuma chuckled.

"What...?"

"Honestly, it's just an air purifier." Monokuma revealed.

"Air purifier...?" Makoto repeated in confusion.

"It can produce clean air no matter where you're at. With that thing, you could even live on Mars!" Monokuma proclaimed. "But what with the discombobulating gravity and deadly low temperatures, you prolly don't wanna live on Mars. Anyway, this machine is the reason you guys have all this delicious air. So don't go messing with it! You break it, and it's your butt!" He warned as he left the room.

Makoto looked at the big machine. This is an air purifier...?

He then looked at Taka, who went back to staring at nothing.

"..."

To go out of your way to say something you know will hurt someone who's already suffering...

"God damn you!" Makoto scowled.

---

Makoto walked into the door connected to the physics room. Looks like an equipment room of some kind. Plus, It's super disorganized...and there's a strange chemical smell in the air...

Unfortunately for Makoto, he was unlucky enough to share the same room as Genocide Jill.

"Ahhh, this place is sooo relaaaxing! Sooo calming! The smell of formaldehyde is almost unbearable... It's so tempting! Ahhh, I wanna just dunk myself right in it!" She gushed.

Makoto sighed. Of course she likes it. That just goes to show how disgusting it really is...

And with that, Makoto's investigation was done.

I mean, there is one part that's pretty memorable, but let's save that for later, shall we?

---

When Makoto got back to the dining hall, the first thing he noticed was...

"Ah--!"

"Hina!?" Makoto exclaimed in shock. He tried to talk to her, but his voice was immediately drowned out by the others as they rushed into the dining hall.

"Hina!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Huh? I thought she was sick or somethin'." Hiro said in confusion.

Everyone rushed past Makoto and crowded around Hina. Being surrounded by everyone like that, she looked really uncomfortable.

"What the heck is with all this noise?" A voice asked as the others turned to see Sora. She didn't look very happy, either. She put her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner. "Good grief... Can't a girl just take a walk around here in peace and quiet?"

"S-Shirayuki?! Where have you been?!" Makoto asked.

"What's it to ya?" Sora folded her arms, her blank and indifferent expression still on her face.

"W-Well, you just never showed up to our breakfast meeting." Hifumi spoke up. "We've already investigated..."

"I was sleeping. Excuse me for being tired." Sora rolled her eyes. "Plus, I had to wake up, find the motivation to get outta bed, and look in the mirror for 5 minutes. I have a schedule to uphold, you know?"

"Okaaay..." Hiro sweatdropped.

"Anyway," Sakura turned to Hina. "Are you feeling better already?"

"Y-Yeah... I ate a few donuts, and that really helped a lot." Hina explained.

"You do love those donuts..." Makoto commented.

"But...wasn't it your stomach that was hurting?" Celeste pointed out.

"Well, my stomachache kinda made me hungry, so...you know..." Hina stuttered before rubbing the back of her neck. "Er, ahaha...I guess my memory's kinda fuzzy lately..."

"They say that a goldfish will eat however much food you give it, even if it's about to burst. Miss Asahina's pretty much the same, it looks like." HIfumi said.

"Hey! You of all people don't have any room to talk!" Hina pointed out, offended.

"Anyway... I was worried about you." Sakura closed her eyes.

"S-Sorry..."

"Besides that, you--!" Genocide Jill walked up to Hina.

"H-Huh...?" Hina took a few steps back.

"Jeez, your knockers are HUGE!" Genocide Jill exclaimed. "What the heck, did you convince them to double up on milk production!?"

"Stay away from her, fiend." Sakura growled as a blue aura surrounded her.

Huh. This game was lackin' in some boob jokes... Sora thought.

"And you!" Genocide Jill suddenly appeared in front of Sora. "Look at you! How can someone be so short, yet so stacked at the same time?! I can't tell if puberty was kind to you or not!"

"What're you, jealous or something? That tone in your voice sounds like you're jealous." Sora noticed.

"A-Anyway...first thing's first, we should talk about what we found." Hiro spoke up. "Right, Taka?"

"..."

" ...Right."

---

"Um, I wasn't able to help much with the investigation, but...I did make one discovery..." Hina spoke up.

"It didn't happen to be a donut-related discovery, did it?" Hiro asked, rubbing his chin.

"What does that even mean?" Hina sighed before shaking her head. "Never mind... It's about the nurse's office! Remember? There's one on the 1st floor, right?"

"I remember. But it's locked." Sakura said.

"Actually...not anymore." Hina revealed to everyone.

"Did you find any protein in there?" Sakura asked. "Or even vitamin supplements would be fine."

"I did look, but no dice... Just a bunch of headache medicine and over-the-counter stuff." Hina put her head down in sadness.

Sakura made a sigh as she closed her eyes. "I see... That's disappointing."

"It is disappointing. Like the end of the world is already here..." Hina lamented.

Maybe for you two... Sora thought as she rolled her eyes.

---

"The long road to maidenhood begins with a single step... That road may begin with only wrinkly old men, but it will end with strapping young adorable boys!" Genocide Jill randomly said.

"...What the hell are you talking about...?" Hiro deadpanned.

"Kyeehahaha!"

---

"There was a rather remarkable physics lab on the 3rd floor." Kyoko spoke up. "In the middle of the room, there was a machine bigger than anything I've ever seen before..."

"Oh yeah, apparently it's an air purifier." Makoto said.

"Huh? What's something like that doing there?" Hiro asked as Sora tilted her head.

"Is the device really that big?" Sakura asked.

"I...really don't get it." Hina said, looking confused.

"..." Taka stayed silent.

---

"Oh, I just remembered! I saw Togami a little while ago." Hiro mentioned.

"What!?" Genocide Jill exclaimed, pointing her scissors towards Hiro. "Where!? WHERE WAS HE!?!?"

"Y-You're kinda scarin' me..." Hiro took a step back, understandably apprehensive.

"Where. Was. HE!?"

"He was in the locker room... He had a huge stack of books he musta got from the library."

"So THAT'S where he was hiding!" Genocide Jill exclaimed. "I won't let him get away from me! Kyehehe..." She briefly giggle before running off.

"She just...ran off!" Hiro exclaimed.

"Is...is she okay?" Makoto asked with concern.

"Has she ever been okay?" Sora quietly snarked.

"We should not concern ourselves with her." Celeste waved Makoto's concern off.

---

"There is one piece of good news. There just so happens to be a rec room up on the 3rd floor! I have no doubt that our student life here will be even more enjoyable because of it." Celeste said. "Hmhm. Will someone join me in a game of Othello sometime?"

---

"I searched the entire 3rd floor, but...all the windows in the halls and the rooms were blocked off." Sakura informed the other students.

Hiro folded his arms as he made a frustrated sigh. "I wish they'd give this a rest already, for serious! Gimme back my bright blue skies!"

"Just forget about it." Celeste casually told him.

"You make it sound like I dropped a nickel or something!" Hiro exclaimed.

"Just to be sure, I went from one end to the other, testing each metal plate." Sakura mentioned. " None of them budged. It would seem escape via the 3rd floor is as impossible as we feared..."

" I see..." Makoto slowly nodded.

---

"There was an art room on the 3rd floor, and it had all kinds of gear. Myehehe... Now I'll be able to recreate all my favorite anime characters!" Hifumi exclaimed, looking excited.

"Oh, that's right." Sora smashed her fist into her palm. "I, uh, managed to find somethin' in the physics lab."

"Huh? I thought you were sleeping." Hiro pointed out. "When did you have time to do that?"

"When I had time to do it. Obviously." Sora said as if it was the most easiest explanation in the world.

"R-Right..." Hiro sweatdropped.

"So, what did you find?" Makoto asked.

"It was...uh..." Sora folded her arms, her ahoge swinging from side to side. "Oh, that's right. I, uh, have it right here." She said as she pulled out a digital camera with an anime design on it.

"Hrm...a digital camera?" Sakura looked at it.

"That's what it seems like..." Makoto nodded.

"Does it still work?" Hiro asked.

"I tested it when I found out. Seems like it works just fine." Sora confirmed while she yawned.

"Well then, let's see it!" Hiro took it from Sora's hands, though after getting a good look at it, he frowned. "What the heck? This thing is like a kid's toy! It looks like it can store like five pictures, maybe? It doesn't have a timer or anything!"

"On top of that, its appearance seems...questionable." Celeste tilted her head. "Is this some kind of anime character? Strange..."

"Rude! She's not strange!" Hifumi exclaimed. "She's Princess Piggles, from "Demon Angel☆Pretty Pudgy Princess"!"

"You recognize it?" Sora asked.

"Of course I recognize it! It's a super rare prize that was given away at a bingo contest at a big anime convention..." Hifumi said. "You have any idea how much I had to pay that guy to get my hands on it!? ...Wait...that's my camera!"

"Hm?" Sora tilted her head.

"M-Miss Shirayuki, wh-where did you find it!?" Hifumi inquired.

"The physics lab." Sora told him.

"It's my most prized possession. I brought it here with me, but I lost it the first day, along with my phone." Hifumi said.

"Why would it have reappeared in the physics lab...?" Celeste questioned.

"Agh, but look at it! It got all messed up!" Hifumi sighed. "Like when someone steals a sticker from your collection, or you buy a secondhand shirt... Well, that's it..."

"...Eh?" Sora raised an eyebrow.

"It's not mint condition. I don't need it anymore..." Hifumi said.

"...What." Sora deadpanned.

"But weren't you just saying how much it meant to you?" Makoto pointed out.

"Then...may I have it? I might be able to find some sort of use for it." Celeste spoke up. "If any of you would like to borrow it, please feel free to ask."

"Well...I can't really imagine any of us are gonna need to take any pictures or whatever..." Hina said.

"Yeah, true..." Makoto agreed as Sora handed Celeste the digital camera.

---

"Hey, um...can I tell you guys something?" Makoto timidly spoke up. "I found something that's...kinda been bothering me."

"What is it?" Kyoko asked.

"I found this weird picture in the repository." Makoto said. "Apparently Monokuma took it..."

"A weird picture? You mean, like...dirty!?" Hina scrunched up her face while Sora looked interested at the mention of the word "dirty".

"No, not that kind of weird." Makoto shook his head. "It was...a picture of Kuwata, Owada, and Fujisaki all together."

It took a few seconds for the students to register the words coming out of Makoto's mouth.

"Those three...?" Kyoko looked at Makoto, having her full attention.

"And the three of them were...laughing." Makoto added.

"It showed the three of them together, laughing? When could it have been taken?" Hifumi wondered.

"And there's more... In the picture, there weren't any metal sheets covering the windows." Makoto revealed.

"Then...the picture wasn't taken here?" Sakura asked.

"But I don't recall hearing anything about them knowing each other before coming to this school." Celeste mused.

"You probably just imagined it! Monokuma cast a spell on you!" Hifumi assumed.

"No! I saw it, I'm telling you!" Makoto insisted.

"But if it wasn't taken before we got here, or after we got here..." Hina reasoned.

"I bet they're all still alive! They left the school and then took that picture!" Hiro guessed.

Kyoko shook her head. "That's impossible. After all...we saw it with our own eyes." She looked at her classmates, the images of the three students' last moments and corpses flashing back in her head. "They're all dead. Either murdered or executed..."

And they're not the only ones. The other victims of the killing game...their deaths sure as hell weren't illusions. There's no way they're still alive.

"So we have to figure out when that picture was taken..." Makoto mused.

"Monokuma most likely forged it. I can't imagine any other possibility." Celeste said, twirling a strand of her hair.

Sora folded her arms in a skeptical manner. Is that all there is to it...?

"Stay focused, man! Don't let Monokuma's bullcrap sidetrack you!" Hiro said.

"He's right. But more importantly..." Celeste started, moving the topic. "On another topic, there is something that has been bothering me. I would like to discuss that."

"What's bothering you, Celeste?" Makoto inquired.

"It's about Hina..." Celeste looked at the swimmer.

"What? Me!?" Hina tilted her head in confusion.

"You said your stomach hurt, did you not?" Celeste rhetorically asked. "But I believe that was a lie. What really happened?"

"Huh?"

"It varies from person to person, but whenever someone lies, they tend to have a way of showing it." Celeste told her. "It is called a "tell"--something that you can't hide, no matter how hard you try. Whenever Hina lies, the tip of her nose gets just a little bit longer."

"What!? For real!?" Hina exclaimed in shock as she covered her nose.

"Actually, no." Celeste deceitfully smiled at her.

"Huh...?" Hina looked at her.

"But your reaction just now confirmed it--you were lying." Celeste pointed out.

"Oooof..." Sora winced.

"Th-That's no fair!" Hina exclaimed, baffled.

"Hmhm. If you are going to lie, at least try to lie convincingly." Celeste giggled.

"Hina...be honest. Were you lying about your stomachache?" Sakura looked down at her friend.

Hina sighed before relenting. "...Y-Yes..."

"Why...? Why would you lie about that?" Sakura inquired, closing her eyes.

"Are you feeling guilty about something!?" Hifumi exclaimed, accusingly pointing at her.

"No, that's not it at all!" Hina quickly shook her head. "It's just... I mean, I have a reason for it! To be honest...I didn't have a stomachache. I did it cuz...even it I came and told you the truth, I thought you wouldn't believe me..."

"The truth...?" Makoto repeated in confusion.

"...I saw it." Hina said.

"Saw what...?"

"A ghost..."

And just like Hina predicted, the students were skeptical of this.

"...What." Sora deadpanned.

"A ghost...? You mean like, THAT ghost!?" Hifumi asked.

"Is there more than one ghost...?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at Hifumi.

"B-But...I mean, ghosts are..." Makoto tried to say.

"See! I told you you wouldn't believe me!" Hina pouted.

"I-It's not that I don't believe you, but..."

"...I believe you. No matter what anyone else might say, I will believe whatever you say, no matter what." Sakura spoke up. "So...can you tell us exactly what happened?"

"If you really mean that, Sakura...then okay. I'll tell you. Umm, so...it happened last night."

---

"I was in bed, but I couldn't get to sleep. I just kept thinking about everything that's happened up till now."

"I know I shouldn't cry... But... I've had enough. I can't take it anymore. Getting out of here...anytime soon... It's...impossible. I can't let myself think about...how much I want to get out of here. If I keep thinking like that, I might decide to..."

"I ended up just getting more upset... So to try and cheer myself up, I thought I'd go get some donuts."

"...Donuts. I need to eat some donuts...! That'll cheer me up!"

"Donuts again!?" Hiro exclaimed.

"Glazed donuts, twisty donuts, jelly donuts, cream-filled, donut holes, malasadas...! O god of donuts! I'm praying for a wonderful encounter!"

"And you ignored the rule regarding nighttime..." Celeste mentioned as Sora rolled her eyes at the gambler.

"I know, sorry. I feel really bad about that..." Hina softly apologized.

"Anyway, please continue." Sakura requested.

"I'm sorry... Please forgive me for breaking the nighttime rule... But right now, for me...donuts are absolutely necessary...!"

"Well... So I left my room and headed for the warehouse... But then I started hearing a strange sound..."

Grr grnnn!

"...Huh?"

Grn grn grrnnn!

"What's that sound?"

Grn grn!

"It sounds like it's coming from...the bathhouse..."

Grn grrrrnn grrn!

"It was coming from the direction of the bathhouse. So I headed that way..."

"I'm super scared, but..."

"The locker was halfway open, so I took a look inside..."

"I-Is...? Is someone there?"

"And I saw a human shape, surrounded by a pale green light. There's no doubt who it was... It was Fujisaki!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

---

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Hifumi screamed.

"N-No way...! A gh-gh-gh-ghost!?" Hiro stuttered, putting his hands on his head in fear.

"It is simply not possible." Celeste denied the entire story. "You must be mistaken. Just as in most cases of "paranormal" activity, it was born from your weakened mental state." She rationalized.

"Then all we have to do is go see for ourselves, right? Let's just go to the bathhouse and see what Hina saw." Sakura suggested.

"It is a waste of time."

"Maybe, but...there's no harm in it, right? If we don't find anything, that'll be the end of it." Makoto said.

"Plus, it's not like you guys have anythin' else to do. You already investigated the 3rd floor, right?" Sora pointed out.

"You're gonna go try and see a gh-gh-ghost...? Is that really a good idea? It might put a curse on you!" Hiro exclaimed.

"You can wait here if you want." Hina said while Sora sneaked behind Hiro, reached up and touched his shoulder.

"H-Huh...?" Hiro turned around.

"Boo." Sora jumped up with a deadpan expression.

"GAH-HAH!" Hiro screamed, falling on the floor, landing with his butt. "O-Okay! I don't wanna be alone! Take me with you!"

"Hmph..." Sora made a small smirk.

"What are you going to do, Celeste?" Kyoko asked, looking at the gambler.

"I suppose I have no choice..." Celeste sighed.

"How about you, Mr. Ishimaru? Are you gonna wait here?" Hifumi looked at her.

"..." To the surprise of no one, Taka didn't reply.

"...I guess that's a yes."

And with that, the students headed to the bathhouse to check out this "ghost" Hina spoke of.

Chapter 17: End

To be continued...?