The Ultimate Biologist (Danganronpa 2 x OC)

Chapter 3 (VI): Does It Hurt?

Nagito was the first to speak up.

"I don't mind starting, but... I don't really have a grasp of how the case played out. You know... because I was asleep the whole time."

"Keh, even if you do grasp it, you're just going to confuse the heck out of us, huh?" Kazuichi said.

"But Komaeda's not alone, I don't really get it either," Akane said.

"You're fine..." Kazuichi replied. "Your head's empty anyway."

"Hey! What's wrong with that?! The more empty your head is, the more dreams you can stuff in it, you know!"

"Anyway, we shouldn't proceed with the trial if those two can't participate in the arguments..." Chiaki said. "The first witnesses were Hinata-kun and Hirata-san, right? Could you explain the incident and sequence of events?"

"Hm... my memory is a bit fuzzy from the illness, but I'll try," Katsumi said.

"Got it," Hajime said. "Let's start with when we split into the Hospital Team and the Motel Team."

The Hospital Team included the sick patients, Nagito, Akane and Ibuki, along with Mikan, Hajime, Katsumi and Fuyuhiko. The Motel Team consisted of Sonia, Chiaki, Gundham, Kazuichi and Hiyoko.

Since spending the night as a non-patient at the hospital was prohibited, with the exception of tending to the patients and developing the medicine in the laboratory, Fuyuhiko and Hajime had to sleep at their cottages, which Katsumi also did on the final day.

That morning, Hajime was woken up by Mikan because of Nagito's recovery and they went to the hospital. While in Nagito's patient room, Katsumi had also arrived to confirm his recovery. Afterwards, Katsumi had stayed in the room to organize the stuff and she and Hajime insisted that Mikan should rest, so she went to the on-call room. Hajime went out into the lobby to wait everything out.

That was when he saw the signal light on the monitor before the scheduled time. When he pressed it, the screen lit up with a person in a hospital and hemp bag walking up a stepladder to a noose.

"Hirata had just come out of the patient room and during that time, the person touched the rope and the monitor screen went dark, so she wasn't able to see it."

"That time, I was done organizing the patient room, so I was planning to go to the lobby, I think..." Katsumi said.

"Of course, I panicked at what I saw and quickly dragged Katsumi to get to the music venue and try to stop it."

However, when they arrived, it was too late. The person was already found hanging from the ceiling. Hajime quickly rushed to the motel, the closest place with other people, but only Chiaki joined them in the end. Not long after, they met up with Mikan and Fuyuhiko, who were searching for Ibuki, whom Mikan had noticed was missing after she had finished resting for a bit. Hajime quickly got them all to go to the music venue, but the doors were suddenly locked. That's when they broke the door down, and this time, Hiyoko's body was also there. Afterwards, Katsumi started to show her symptoms from the Despair Disease she was suffering from.

"So that's how the case played out," Nagito said. "Thank you... I understood it very easily."

I think I've learned a few more things now.

"Well," Fuyuhiko said. "It's clear what the problem is. When Hinata and Hirata left the music venue, who—?"

"Wait," Nagito said, his expression suddenly turning devious. "How do I know that Hinata-kun isn't lying right now?"

Everyone's eyes went straight to him.

"Huh? Wh-What is it?" Hajime asked, confused.

"I mean, it's clearly suspicious, right? You were the only one who saw Mioda-san's hanging video, and when you discovered the body, the only other person with you was Hirata-san, who isn't very reliable since her memory is still fuzzy from the side-effects of the Despair Disease. That means... you could be lying as much as you want right now."