Danganronpa: ReProgrammed

Boys Life of Despair: Part 23 [Class Trial END]

"But that choice...the choice to work up the courage to tell at least me..." Mondo grimaced "almost cost him his life..."

"I don't understand though!" Taka had began crying "we investigated together! We've worked through this trial together! How could there have been any animosity between the two of you merely the previous night!?"

"I think Owada has already made that clear," Byakuya answered for them "he tried to do it because he didn't want anyone to find out...To find out his secret..."

"But what could be so bad that he'd-"

"I killed my brother..." Mondo cut Makoto off. If it weren't for the already stone silence that everyone had agreed to, the courtroom would have likely exploded into confused shouts and screams again, but the silence allowed Mondo to continue "w-well...More specifically, he died in an accident that was my fault...I'll explain the rest later, if we get out of here alive, but...I'd kept that secret from my gang ever since I took over from him. If anyone found out the truth behind Daiya's death, it'd cause the gang to fall apart, and everything we'd worked so hard to build would've collapsed...In the end, Daiya died a coward, who everyone believed got too desperate and drove into traffic...And my lie became the truth...Daiya died, and died in vain, because I was never strong enough. I'm not strong. I've never BEEN strong...!"

The longer Mondo explained, the frailer his large body became. Eventually, as he finished his sentence, he fell to his knees, and laid his head face first upon his podium. A small puddle began to form under his head from his tears, and they dripped onto the floor.

"But when the killing game began, things became clear to me...I must've realized it when I attacked Monokuma and almost got blown up because of it...As strong as I kept telling myself I was, I was really a weakling who could die at any moment..." Mondo forced himself to continue "not only that, but as soon as Monokuma started up with all this shit about revealing the truth behind Daiya's death, this fog of anxiety started swirling round and round in my skull. Th-That ain't ever happened to me before! I was scared and didn't know what to do! A-And the longer it went on, that cloud fucking blew up into a huge fucking ass mountain! And it was then that...Chihiro he..."

Chihiro sadly recalled the events of the previous night.

"But...why?" Mondo asked, still processing all of this "why now? Why are you telling me this all of a sudden? Why tell ME?"

"...Huh? What do you mean?" Chihiro asked.

"Cuz I mean...you've kept that secret all this time, right?" Mondo asked "if anyone found out...you would..."

"You're right...but..." Chihiro sighed sadly, however, she clenched her fists and stared Mondo straight in the eye as she proclaimed...

"...I want to change. I've wrapped myself in lies. I'm weak. I want to destroy that version of me forever!"

Chihiro paused for a moment so Mondo could take her words in, before she continued.

"I have to change. I don't want to be weak anymore...And you're so strong, it can't hurt you, right? Whatever secret Monokuma might tell us, you-"

However...Chihiro suddenly stopped cold in her speech. As she said this last part, she'd smiled at Mondo, to show her eagerness...but the only thing that greeted her...was a face like death...

"So what?" Mondo suddenly said, quietly, yet menacingly "you saying I should just tell you? You saying that if I'm strong, I should be able to tell anyone my secret?"

"Mondo...?" Chihiro called his name quietly, worried for him. However, as she did, the Biker Gang Leader's giant frame began to tremble.

"...Are you making fun of me...?" he asked, his teeth grit very tightly "I'm strong? Are you fucking with me right now...?"