(3rd Person's POV)

After the execution, before they took the elevator back up, Monokuma told the students...

---

"Oh, I almost forgot! Since the class trial is over, I'll go ahead and dispose of all the corpses! It's okay, no need to thank me! Just seeing your delighted, smiling faces is thanks enough for me! After all, nobody wants to look at a rotting corpse every day! That can't be good for your health... Nyohohoho!"

---

The students didn't even have time to mourn the deaths of their fallen classmates. Sora thinks that's exactly why he did it. That's how cruel this game is...But it's reality nonetheless. 

"..." Sora was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall and thinking of...nothing in particular.

Eventually, she pulled herself out of her absent-minded state as she sighed.

---

Sora soon headed to the dining hall. She had to wait a while, as she was one of the first ones to get there, but soon, the others started piling in.

And as usual, Makoto entered the dining hall last.

"Sorry I'm late..." Makoto said as he came through the doors of the hall.

"Oh, you're here. You sure wear tardiness well." Sora said, though it was mostly a muse to herself.

"Hey...are you okay, Naegi?" Hina asked with concern in her voice.

"You sure took your sweet time!" Taka yelled. "I was just about to go get you and drag you back here!"

"S-Sorry..." Makoto softly apologized.

"So? What happened? Was your room fixed up like he said? I imagine it would be pretty hard to sleep with a rotting corpse in your bathroom!" Taka laughed, though considering the context, his humor was in pretty bad taste.

"Jesus, that's fucked up, man. Why would you say something like that?" Mondo said, calling the moral compass out for his insensitivity.

"My room was...spotless. There wasn't anything left." Makoto informed his fellow pears. "Like the whole thing...never happened."

"It must be tough staying there, knowing what happened. Why don't you just stay in Maizono's room?" Sakura suggested.

"Well...staying there, with her scent still hanging in the air... That would hurt just as much." Makoto said as he put his head down, though he would quickly lift it back up, eyes filled with determination. "Plus... I've decided that I can't turn away from her death..."

"N-Naegi..." Hina whispered. "Hey, cheer up! Getting depressed isn't gonna help anything, right? If we all work together, I'm sure we'll find a way out of here!" She optimistically smiled. "So everyone just...try and cheer up and get back on track!"

"...Is that honestly supposed to make us feel better?" Byakuya spoke up, cutting through her words like knifes on butter.

"Huh?"

"That's ridiculous, Hina." Sora chimed in as she shook her head. "We were already "workin' together", if you could even call it that, and somebody still went behind our backs to commit murder. Anybody could betray us now."

"Indeed." Byakuya nodded in agreement. "Now that it's happened once, it's a question of when, not if, the next one takes place."

"Yeah, because M-Maizono made the first move..." Toko said with venom in her voice.

"..." Makoto stayed silent.

"B-But...if we work together against the mastermind, nobody'll have any reason to do something like that!" Hina argued.

"Keep telling yourself that. I'll be over here in the real world." Byakuya sneered at her. "Working together, fighting a common enemy... Like it or not, it's not that simple."

"...What do you mean?" Hifumi inquired.

"The mastermind seems to be much more powerful than we ever suspected." Celeste spoke up, taking the words straight out of Byakuya's mouth. "They took over Hope's Peak, which was supposed to be well defended, then modified it to fit their desire. They created Monokuma, which seems to be incredibly advanced, and they're providing for our every need. And the cherry on top is the execution we witnessed." She then looked at the students with a serious expression. "Everything has been planned down to the last excruciating detail. This is not the work of your everyday psychopath. Defying them may be too great a risk..."

"Then...what are we supposed to do?" Sakura asked.

"Anyone who truly does want to escape...will just have to follow the rules. In which case, the only option is to deceive those around you, and win the game." Byakuya replied.

"N-No..." A soft voice piped up as Byakuya looked at the source of it: Chihiro.

"No what?"

"I don't want to live...if it means killing someone else to do it." Chihiro said, defiantly shaking her head. "I don't want to kill anyone else...!"

"Anyone...else? What do you mean?" Hiro asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Kuwata died because we all voted for him, right? It's no different from us killing him ourselves!" Chihiro said, her voice filled to the brim with regret.

"B-But..." Hiro stuttered.

"If we hadn't voted for him, then we all woulda died instead, right...?" Hina pointed out. "That isn't what you wanted, is it...?"

"..." Chihiro put her head down, conflicted on the matter.

"She's right. If you heap that kind of blame on yourself, you'll turn into a full-fledged masochist." Hifumi agreed.

"..."

"Fujisaki, listen..." Makoto walked up and put a comforting hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "You're not to blame. Not you, not Kuwata, and not Maizono. The mastermind is responsible for everything that's happened. We had no choice but to vote. I can't even imagine what would've happened to us if we'd refused. And in the end, it was Monokuma who ultimately killed Kuwata! So don't waste your anger on yourself... Instead, direct it at the mastermind!"

BING, BONG! DING, DONG!

"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." Monokuma announced. "Oh, and one other thing..."

Sora looked at the monitor, her ahoge bobbing up and down in intrigue, her attention focused on the announcement. This is new...

"It was totally obvious before that you were trying to make yourselves feel better and justify what you did. See you, see you, don't see you, see you! That's about how much I can see you, even when you try to hiiide~!" Monokuma said in a sing-song-y tone. "Now pay attention and remember this well! The burden of judging others is a heavy one to bear. So be well aware of your actions! Order and stability rely on the sacrifice and responsibility of everyone! Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."

And with that, the monitor shut off.

"What w-was that about just n-now...?" Toko nervously asked.

"Was he saying it's out fault what happened? That's pretty cruel, man..." Hiro said, sighing.

"That piece of shit! Who does he think he is!?" Mondo growled.

"..."

And so, the day drew to a close. A tense and stressful day for the students that saw the end of their classmates. Sayaka, Junko, and Leon.

But...this isn't the end...not even close. The despair within the students.... It has only just begun...!

---

The next day....

After the hell that was yesterday, Sora found herself waking up early as she did her normal morning routine. By the time she got her clothes on, Monokuma's morning announcement came off as normal. Then, he called everyone to the gym.

"Oh, good grief... What the hell does he want now...?"

Some of the students were frozen with fear. Some with anticipation. But Monokuma was determined to get the others involved in his little game... And with that goal in mind, he began it...

---

"Okay! Lift your arms up, and down! One, two, three, four!"

"One, two, three, four!"

"Now reach waaay up, and bend waaay down! Tighten those muscles! Let's add a little strength, a little speed to those young bodies of yours!"

What the great Kami-sama am I watching...? Sora asked herself in her mind.

Simple, actually. Monokuma was exercising by moving his arms up and down, with Taka doing the same.

The other students weren't so willing. Makoto was dangling his arms in disbelief at what was happening before him, Mondo defiantly folded his arms, Sora had her arms behind her head as she tilted her head in confusion at what she was watching, Hina put her arms up in the air and sighed in exasperation, and Byakuya was leaning on the higher part of the gym away from the other students. The rest simply watched in silence.

"Ahh, doesn't this feel just great!? Being stuck inside like this, you gotta make sure to stay healthy!" Monokuma said, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

"You're the o-one keeping us "stuck inside"..." Toko said, nervously biting one of her fingernails.

"Don't sweat the small stuff! That's my motto." Monokuma brushed the writer's comment off. "Whoa, I sounded pretty cool just now, don'tcha think? Did you fall in love with me? Am I just to die for? Am I just to die in writhing agony for?"

"So...why did you call us here?" Sakura spoke up while Sora rolled her eyes at the monochrome. "Certainly it wasn't just to make us exercise..."

""Just" to make you exercise? JUST to make you exercise!?" Monokuma repeated, sounding irritated. "If exercise makes you laugh, exercise will make you cry! Now, if you keep doing these exercises, you will uncover the secret of the Assassin's Fist! Passed down from generation to generation in the empire of darkness... The power can by yours!"

"That sounds like the kind of junk a middle schooler would come up with..." Hifumi said.

"So...did you just call us here to exercise, or..." Sora droned on, expecting an answer.

"Of course not! You think I have that kind of free time on my hands!?" Monokuma rhetorically asked.

"Okay, so then..." Makoto inquired.

"Ahh, I'd like to make an announcement! Every time you overcome a class trial here at Hope's Peak, a whole new world will open up to you!" Monokuma told them, spreading his arms wide.

"A whole new world...?" Hiro repeated, confused.

"It'd really suck if you had to live here forever with nothing new to stimulate you! Besides, I know how you kids get these days with your ADD and ADHD. Right, Shirayuki...?"

"...What'd you say?" Sora tilted her head, though it was more of a result of being absent-minded than having an actual condition.

"See what I mean? I gotta keep you motivated!" Monokuma exclaimed. "So go ahead, look around all you want! Enjoy the brave new post-trial world till you explode!" He said, disappearing from the podium.

"A new world?" Makoto asked, confused, but interested.

"Is he talking about...a way to get outside?" Hina said, a hopeful expression on her face.

"I highly doubt that." Sora responded in a deadpan tone, shutting that idea down.

"Well, we won't know till we look!" Mondo said.

"Whatever he meant, it seems we'll have to search the school one more time." Sakura said.

"Okay, then let's split up and start investigating!" Taka spoke up. "When you're done, everyone meet back up at the dining hall and we'll share what we found!"

"You're basically a one-trick pony, you know that?" Byakuya condescendingly chuckled.

"More like a staple food source! Now let's get moving!" Taka yelled, and seeing his words as a signal, the students scattered and left the gym.

Chapter 8: End

To be continued...?