(3rd Person's POV)

"So, you said that you had a reason for investigating all that stuff on your own." Sora recalled. "How'd that turn out for ya? You remember anything?"

"I think there's still a lot I don't remember. But at the very least..." Kyoko flipped her hair. "I was finally able to recall my purpose, and my ability."

"Your "ability"?" Sora raised an eyebrow.

Kyoko folded her arms. "My ability--what everyone should have known me for..." She made a small smirk as she looked Sora straight in the eyes. "...I'm the Ultimate Detective."

The two stood in silence at Kyoko's revelation. A brief breeze of wind brushed over the two as they both exchanged serious expressions before Sora broke the silence by letting out a small giggle.

"Obviously." Sora snickered.

Kyoko blinked. "Obviously...? You mean...you knew?"

"Not exactly, but I had a pretty good idea on your talent for a while now." Sora said. "I mean, come on, Kiri. Not only do you fit the "Mysterious Detective" trope to a T, but you were really detailed when it came to the dead bodies." She explained. "Like, taking a look at Fujisaki's head wound? Knowing what rigor mortis is? By the time the 4th trial came around, I just assumed you were either a detective skilled in homicide cases or some kinda serial killer with a fetish for corpses." The blonde chuckled. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't connect the dots and find out yourself."

"I-I told you before, I'm not "into" dead bodies, I'm into solving mysteries."

"...Which involves checking out dead bodies. Sooo..."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Anyway... The reason I came to Hope's Peak Academy... There was someone I had to find here in the school."

 "Who's that?" Sora asked.

"Well... It was the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy." Kyoko told her.

"The headmaster...? Why would you want to find them?" Sora raised an eyebrow.

Kyoko let out a sigh. "Because...he's my father."

"...I'm sorry, what." Sora deadpanned.

"I was separated from him as a child." Kyoko explained. "As it turns out, he became the headmaster of Hope's Peak."

So you mean to tell me... Sora thought. That Kyoko is the daughter of the headmaster, who runs the most well-renowned school in Japan?! What kinda last-second surprise plot twist bullshit is this...?!

"But then...that explains why you acted so out of character when Alter Ego and Doppelgänger told us that the headmaster might be involved..."

---

"I'll find a way..."

"Huh?"

"No matter what it takes...I will find the headmaster. No matter the cost..."

"Kirigiri? What's going on...?"

"..."

---

Kyoko closed her eyes. "My memory hadn't come back at that point. But when he said that, I felt...strange. It makes perfect sense now, of course, since my whole purpose for coming here was to find him."

"I guess that...kinda makes sense." Sora mumbled.

"But listen, Shirayuki." Kyoko opened her eyes. "I want to make this perfectly clear, so there's no misunderstanding... I said the headmaster wasn't the mastermind, but I didn't say that to protect him. I only said what I felt based on what I'd seen when I snuck into the headmaster's room."

"Hm? Whaddya see in there, then?" Sora quizzed curiously.

"The room had been ransacked. The shelves were a mess, the desk drawers dumped on the floor... The only conclusion is that someone who didn't know where anything was had been in there."

"The mastermind, right?"

"That was my assumption, yes. And to confirm my suspicion..." Kyoko pulled out Monokuma's key. "...I decided to investigate the 2nd floor of the dorms using the key I'd found."

"...Why there?" Sora inquired

Kyoko pulled out some kind of map. "Because I also found this in the headmaster's room." 

"...The hell is that?" Sora wondered.

"It's a layout of the entirety of Hope's Peak Academy. I found it in the headmaster's room, along with Ikusaba's profile and that key. The map showed that the 2nd floor was home to a number of rooms meant for faculty use. Some of the staff must have had to stay overnight from time to time. And I figured the headmaster would have some kind of private room there... I assumed that if that were true, that room would likely hold more clues. So I went to check... And that's when I finally remembered. I remembered that my purpose was to find the owner of that room."

"Ah, so you went there to see if the headmaster really did have a private room in there..."

"But once I got there, I noticed that the 2nd floor of the dorms didn't have any cameras or monitors." Kyoko mentioned.

"What was it like, then?" Sora asked before specifying. "Ah, that part of the school, I mean..."

"It's hard to describe. All I can say is... The moment I saw it, I realized...whatever's going on in this school is more horrific than we ever imagined."

"...Eh? Why do you say that?"

"I can't explain it. You need to see it for yourself. And I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough..."

That's pretty ominous, but okay...

"Of course, once I got to the 2nd floor of the dorms, there were no cameras, and no monitors." Kyoko recalled. "Which is why I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the building."

"Did it have to do with Mukuro Ikusaba?" Sora guessed.

"Just to be perfectly clear, I didn't kill her." Kyoko clarified. "And I know it wasn't you, either."

"Yeah, but... Everyone apart from you and me had an alibi." Sora pointed out. "So if neither of us killed her, then who did?"

Kyoko shook her head. "What I can say for sure is that the mastermind is directly involved. To begin with, the point of the class trial of Mukuro Ikusaba... was to get me killed."

"Get you killed...?" Sora parroted in confusion.

"I stole that key and disappeared, and disappeared, and in retaliation they wanted to draw me out and eliminate me." Kyoko explained. "That was the point of the class trial."

Sora folded her arms. "Really now...?"

"The mastermind knew they couldn't interfere directly."

"'Cuz of the school regulations...?"

"Exactly." Kyoko nodded. "The mastermind is adamant about following the rules, and with that rule in place, they couldn't step in. Since they couldn't kill me themselves, they tried to use the class trial to do it."

The mastermind couldn't step in because of the rules? That makes it sound like...the mastermind themselves is somehow bound by the school regulations. Sora thought.

"There's one other thing I'd like to point out about the murder of Mukuro Ikusaba..." Kyoko said.

"Mm?" Sora tilted her head.

"There was a point where Ikusaba may not have become the victim..." Kyoko folded her arms. "It could have been you, Shirayuki...!"

"...Excuse me." Sora deadpanned.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"You're talking about..." Sora trailed off as she flashed back to when that masked figure attempted to kill her. During that night...I could've died...?

"I can hear them, you know. The footsteps of the god of death." Kyoko said.

"...What." Sora deadpanned once more.

"I can hear the god of death as he moves. That ability naturally draws me into cases, just like this." 

"I...I don't..."

"Which is exactly what happened with you. I was in the dorms, and I had a sudden sense of dread. I looked down the stairwell...and I saw a white shadow cross the corridor. I gave chase right away. As I followed it, I saw the shadow go into your room... I ran into your room, and I saw what was happening. I intervened immediately, of course. That wasn't the end of things, of course. I stopped them, but that led to... Whoever the masked assailant was, they ended up dead. And their murder was disguised, and the dojo key wound up in my room..."

Kyoko let out a sigh. "It all has to be the work of the mastermind, in an attempt to use the class trial to eliminate me..."

"So that would mean...whoever killed Ikusaba is the mastermind, too?" Sora assumed.

"I don't have conclusive evidence, but that's what I think." Kyoko admitted. "But that's really bad if true. It means the mastermind can kill whoever they want if they feel like it."

"Wait, but doesn't that create another contradiction?" Sora wondered. "The mastermind used the class trial to kill you 'cuz she herself couldn't directly interfere, right?"

"You're right. That is a contradiction." Kyoko agreed. "And it's not just Ikusaba... They needed the class trial to kill me, but seemed ready to kill you in your room... Everything they did is a contradiction."

"But what does it all mean?" Sora asked.

"It means that the mastermind is the one who's been cornered."

"...I'm sorry?"

"Just a little more... A little more, and I should be able to figure out the mastermind's identity." Kyoko pursed her lips as she looked at Sora. "The identity of...the other Ultimate Despair."

"...Whaaaaaat." Sora deadpanned.

"There's no doubt that Ikusaba was the Ultimate Despair, and that she's dead. But I don't think the Ultimate Despair is just one person."

"It isn't...?"

"If you think about it, "the Ultimate Despair" seems to implicate whoever caused that event.

"You...You mean..."

Kyoko nodded. "...What happened a year ago--the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history.

The Tragedy... Whoever's responsible for that... They're the Ultimate Despair?

"That despicable group whose only purpose and motivation comes from despair..." Kyoko frowned.

"Then they're..."

"Make no mistake..." Kyoko narrowed her eyes and folded her arms as she proclaimed. "They're the root of all the evil that has forced us to go through this."

...

...

...

...

...

...

"That is the Ultimate Despair. And that is our real enemy."

Arc 5:  100 Mile Dash;  Pain of a Junk Food Junkie...Complete!

Surviving Students: 7/17

To be continued...?