That night, an hour or so before anyone else had gone to bed, Kyoko and Makoto met up with each other in the changing room of the bathhouse, patiently waiting for Chihiro to show up.
"So, how long is this going to take exactly?" Makoto asked "we might want to make this quick so that Taka doesn't get suspicious of us..."
"Why Taka specifically?" Kyoko asked.
"Well...Ever since we got the group together, I've taken it upon myself to spend most of my available time with Mukuro...You know, just in case she ends up getting into any trouble..." Makoto explained "Byakuya seriously thinks that she might still be on the Mastermind's side, but I'm using this as an opportunity to prove otherwise."
"And let me guess. You asked Taka to take your place while you came here with us?" Kyoko asked and Makoto nodded "I must say, you're getting awfully close to her, despite your prior vocal opposition to her..."
"I can't tell if you're suspicious or jealous..." Makoto scratched the back of his head "but since it's you, I'm guessing it's the former...I don't really get it myself, but I kind of just feel bad for her..."
"Don't worry," Kyoko smiled "I'm not trying to pry any more than I need to."
"H-Hey guys..." Chihiro said as he stepped into the room, mid-conversation.
"Oh, Chihiro!" Makoto smiled, but then exclaimed "what the heck happened to you!?" as soon as he saw the large bags under the programmers eyes.
"Much work...No sleep..." Chihiro moaned "let's just get this over with."
"Before we do, would you mind telling me what you have in your hand there?" Kyoko pointed to Chihiro's clenched fist, as if he was holding something small in it.
"Oh...This?" Chihiro asked "it's just something I got out of the box alongside a spare laptop."
"What did you need a spare laptop for?" Makoto asked.
"You wanna know?" Chihiro smirked "I guess I can tell you now."
"That's amazing!" Makoto exclaimed "now I'm confident this will work!"
"How were you able to make a new one in such a short space of time?" Kyoko asked. Chihiro gave an unnaturally smug smile.
"No matter what the situation, I'm still the Ultimate Programmer," he said "but I don't have time to brag. Makoto, would you mind?"
"Right...got it..." he nodded, then turning to the open laptop, and asked Alter Ego "you ready to go?"
Alter Ego didn't respond, and at first, everyone thought this was because the AI hadn't heard him, but it nodded on the screen, signifying it was ready to go. Kyoko closed the laptop's lid and handed it to Makoto, who slipped the folded computer under his shirt."
[Hehe! That tickles...I think?] Alter Ego chuckled.
"Stay quiet...!" Chihiro snapped.
"Sorry Alter Ego," Makoto whispered "we're going to take you somewhere. Until we get there, you absolutely can't make a peep.
[Understood!] Alter Ego said, remaining quiet from then after.
"So, I know that now might be a bit of an inappropriate time to ask this," Chihiro said "but even though we agreed to connect Alter Ego to the network, how exactly are we going to go about that?"
"We can't let the Mastermind think we're plotting something. We already attract enough suspicion as it is," Kyoko explained "so we're going to put on a bit of a show for them."
"A show?" Makoto repeated.
"We're going to pretend Makoto found out about the hidden room from us, and when we get there, I'm going to tell you two to go in and check the room again in case the person who attacked Chihiro left anything behind," Kyoko explained "I'm going to stay outside while the two of you go in and hook Alter Ego up. There were a bundle of cables inside the desk drawer in the hidden room, which means there will probably be a network cable in there too."
"Assuming the Mastermind didn't take it that is..." Makoto reminded them "but I guess all we can do is go and find out for ourselves..."
"Alright...let's do this..." Chihiro gulped.
"Chihiro, I'm being dead serious here...!" Kyoko snapped as soon as they arrived at the second floor "now that Makoto knows about the hidden room, I'll ask again. Are you certain all those files were taken? I don't buy it! Go back in and check again! I'll keep watch!"
"O-Ok!" Chihiro whimpered "on it Ma'am! Will do ma'am! C'mon Makoto, you gotta help me!"
"R-Right!" Makoto stammered "we'll be back in a bit!"
"Good," Kyoko frowned "I'll stay right here and keep watch, just in case."
Kyoko put her back to the door while Chihiro and Makoto entered the men's restroom together.
"Man..." Makoto said once they were sure they were out of eye and earshot "you're both surprisingly good at acting..."
"I'll be honest about something and say that I wasn't acting," Chihiro wiped the sweat from his forehead "she's the one who's good at it. At first I thought she was generally mad at me..."
"She's very imposing when angered or upset..." Makoto considered "alright, let's go. Where is this door?"
"At the back, over here," Chihiro said "try not to fall over."
The last time Chihiro came to this room, he'd practically fallen through the wall, but this time he was careful to open the hidden room. Upon stepping inside, Makoto examined the surroundings.
"I don't particularly know what I was expecting...but even without the files on the shelves, I'd imagine this room still looks really mundane..."
"It's not very well kept, but it's true that it matters to the Mastermind," Chihiro said "now do you remember the sign we're looking out for?"
"Got it..." Makoto said, approaching the desk drawer and rummaging through it "but hey, good news, I found our network cable."
"There's always a chance this might not work," Chihiro reminded him "network cable doesn't necessarily mean network."
"I have faith in your computing skills," Makoto smiled, handing him the laptop from under his shirt and the cable he'd picked up "just do your thing."
Chihiro wasted no time getting everything set up. He placed the laptop on the desk, and inserted the other item he'd gotten into it. He then attached the cable into the laptop while Makoto inserted it into the port. After everything was set up, Alter Ego appeared on the screen.
[How is it?] Chihiro typed.
[Hm...] the AI took a look before responding [no problems. It looks like it's going to work out.]
[Good,] Chihiro hesitated before he typed his next line [remember. This is do or die...There's a high chance this is the last time we'll see each other.]
[Just leave the rest to me,] Alter Ego smiled [I'll find something. I know I will! You can count on me Chihiro.]
Chihiro paused and felt his eyes water up at the familiar sound of the AI calling his name. He wiped it and typed back...
[I have faith in you...] Makoto took Chihiro's hand as he led him out of the hidden room, with Alter Ego waving them a happy goodbye.
"Well?" Kyoko asked sternly as the two came back.
"S-Sorry...We really did check this time," Chihiro sighed "we got nothing."
"Yeah, it all went well," Makoto acted awkwardly "it really was all gone..."
As soon as Chihiro and the others returned to their rooms that night, he himself approached his bed and faceplanted into it. Having lost a few hours, Chihiro was more than willing to catch up. At least...that's what he'd hoped. Upon the approach to morning, the morning announcement shook Chihiro awake. However, something wasn't quite right about it. Chihiro thought for sure that it wasn't time to get up yet, and it turned out this wasn't a misguided thought. When Monokuma appeared on the monitor, he had a slightly different message. One that shook Chihiro to the bone.
"Hey..." he whispered "you guys wanna see something cool? Come to the gym. I'll be waiting..."
Monokuma seemed less cheerful in his tone than he usually was, but he still had a huge, annoying, smug grin on his face. Chihiro left his room after getting dressed, and met with everyone else in the hallway.
"Is someone going to tell me what that was about?" Byakuya asked "what's the meaning of waking us up before the morning announcement?"
"Whatever it is...it doesn't sound good..." Mondo grumbled. Chihiro, Kyoko and Makoto shot each other worried, yet confident glances.
"Guys..." Chihiro said "before we go...can I just say something?
"Huh?" Taka and everyone else turned to look at the small programmer as he spoke.
"I want you to make a promise to me," Chihiro said "if...by any chance...something ends up happening to me...I want you all to take what information you have, and get out alive. Together. Even if it means I'm not here to see it through..."
"What are you saying Chihiro...?" Mondo asked, eyebrows raised.
"Just trust me..." Chihiro sighed "I think I know what this is about..."
"Wh-Why are you making it sound like you're about t-to die?" Taka began to sweat "did you...break one of the rules or something?"
"...I might have done..." Chihiro sighed "come on, let's just go..."
"W-Wait! Dude! Y-You can't just not explain it!" Mondo snapped "where're you goin'!"
"What's going on?" Taeko asked "do you two have any idea...?"
Kyoko and Makoto did not respond when prompted. They just sighed and made their way after the others.
"I don't know why..." Mukuro said "but I don't like this..."
"What the hell is this!?" Mondo exclaimed as everyone arrived at the gym. Usually, the gym was pretty well lit, even during the night time, just like most of the other academy rooms. However, right now, the entire room was encased in pitch black. Only the light from outside allowed the students to see in the dark.
"Monokuma clearly has some sort of show to put on for us..." Byakuya grumbled "what has he planned now?"
Unfortunately, the answer was not a wistful one. As soon as he said this, spotlights immediately switched on and illuminated a single spot on the stage...Sitting in the middle of that spot...was the laptop that the group had been using for a while now...and on the laptop...
Was the face of Alter Ego.
"A-Alter Ego...!?" Chihiro spoke the AI's name "Alter Ego, can you see me!?"
[...Chihiro...?] the laptop responded [is that you?] But before the AI's creator could respond...that's when it began...
[EXCAVATOR DESTROYER!]
The rest of the stage became illuminated, revealing a hand-drawn urban landscape background behind the laptop. The AI's face appeared calm, but soon he looked around confused as the ground started to tremble. The backdrop standing behind them was then knocked down by a large dozer controlled by Monokuma, who proceeded to repeatedly smash Alter Ego's laptop into the shape of a round ball. Once his destruction work is done, Monokuma added a finishing touch to his masterpiece by stamping his very own Monokuma muzzle and evil left eye onto it. He then slowly backed away on his bulldozer and disappeared, leaving what used to be Alter Ego's laptop sitting on the stage.
Silence rang loud in the gym as soon as Monokuma's machine was out of sight...but that quiet soon gave way to madness...
"NOOO!" Taka shrieked at the sight.
"Holy shit!" Mondo boomed "they're a fuckin' ball!"
"Alter Ego!" Makoto exclaimed.
Chihiro himself was silent...but he felt his legs give way and he flopped to the floor.
"Were we ratted out...!?" Byakuya snapped "by who...!?"
"Don't look at me!" Taeko snapped, immediately feeling a few eyes on her. Before the discussion could escalate further, the black and white bear with a completely black heart popped up on stage.
"Ahhh...Nothin' quite like a morning execution to get you going!" he breathed a huge sigh of relief "I feel like I'm gonna have a good day today! Maybe I'll have a nice hot bowl of ramen for breakfast?"
"H-How dare you!!" Makoto roared, lunging forward, forcing Kyoko to hold him back "HOW DARE YOU KILL THEM!"
"You bastard...!" Mondo bellowed "I SWEAR TO FUCKIN' CHRIST YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"
"SCREW YOU!" even Taka seemed to have lost whatever sense of emotional control he had left "I'll kill you for that!"
"What's up with you lot?" Monokuma asked "it was just a laptop. Don't tell me you actually got attached to that computer? That's about as sad as falling in love with a bouncy ball...I pity you all, really I do..."
"They weren't just a laptop..." all of a sudden, to everyone's surprise, Mukuro Ikusaba stepped forward, fists clenched and rage in her stoic eyes "they weren't just a laptop at all...They were...a friend..."
"Mukuro..." Makoto whispered to himself, shocked at the mercenary's willingness to stand up for Alter Ego despite feeling very much opposed to the idea of befriending the AI before.
"Man...In the long time we were together, I never ever suspected you'd be one of those weirdo's who thinks everything's got a soul!" Monokuma smirked "kinda funny since you don't have much of one yourself...Ha! Well, whatever the case, it's too late now. You might be surprised to hear I didn't really wanna bear the burden of taking them out, but it's their fault for puttin' their nose where it didn't belong!"
"So you caught on to our plan..." Kyoko frowned "I figured."
"Plan?" Taeko inquired.
"Oh, hold yer' horses girly! I was never NOT in the know!" Monokuma smirked.
"Wh-What does that mean...?" Makoto trembled.
"The fact that Mount Fuji had messed around on the laptop and how you used it to decrypt those files? I saw through you EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!" the bear began howling with laughter!
"So you knew and were just keeping tabs on us...!?" Byakuya snarled.
"The data was, in a way, a gift from me to you," Monokuma smirked "I'm the one who put that info there for you to dig up, but trying to hack into the schools network was a BIIIG No-No!"
"You had is wrapped around your finger from the very start...!" Taeko scowled.
"If you wanna blame someone, blame Chihiro!" Monokuma pointed his paw "HE'S the one who rallied everyone together under the influence of false info!"
"The info itself wasn't false...!" Mukuro snapped "you just on purposefully missed out the detailed bits..."
"If this is really my fault...!" Chihiro suddenly clambered to his feet, and stood trembling, his entire body filled with rage "then why don't you execute me too, huh!?"
"Huh!?" Mondo exclaimed "what're you sayin'!?"
"I'm the one who decrypted the files, and I'm the one who made Alter Ego!" Chihiro cried, then waving a hand back to the others, "this is my fault! Not theirs! If you're going to execute anybody, execute me!"
"And so the titular character offers up their life to protect their friends..." Monokuma tilted his head "oh how I wonder how things will go?"
"Not on my watch!" against anyone's expectations, Taka suddenly lurched in front of Chihiro and spread his arms and legs, almost as if attempting to block Chihiro from any harm "if you want to get to Chihiro, you're going to have to go through me first!"
"Taka...!" Chihiro gasped.
"Same for me!" Mondo roared "I don't wanna just lay down and die...But you've got another thing comin' if you think I'm just gonna let you kill my friend and get away with it! I'll take whatever explosion you can throw at me!"
"Mondo...!"
"Alter Ego's death doesn't bring us despair Monokuma...!" Makoto also got in the way "we're going to take from it...And we're going to learn from it...! And we're going to make you pay! But we WON'T let you kill Chihiro!"
"Makoto...!"
"Woah, woah, woah! Settle down you rowdy boiz!" Monokuma began to sweat "he's the one who said it, not me! And as entertaining as the idea is of killing all 4 of you off at once is, that'd have the side effect of taking away my excitement for the near future! I don't have time to sit around and buy all your hope and future crap, so now that the demo's over, I'm outta here!"
True to his word, the bear vanished, leaving everyone in the hall to collect their thoughts.
"Now that he's gone..." Byakuya sighed "I suppose it's time that anyone who knows what he's talking about should speak up? I suspect that the three of you had a hand in something?"
Byakuya notably pointed towards Chihiro, Makoto and Kyoko. Kyoko decided to take the bait and explained what had happened to everyone.
"I'm...I'm sorry everyone..." Chihiro wiped his eyes "I have to go..."
"Ah! W-Wait! Chihiro!" Mondo reached after him, but the programmer was already long gone "dammit! He probably thinks all of this is his fault..."
"Actually Mondo," Taeko suddenly said with a frown "I think you'll come to find that this IS his fault..."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Taka stammered.
"Chihiro was so insistent to band us together under a common cause..." Taeko sneered "but all he ended up doing was leading us right into a trap...The situation right now is all his fault..."
"I'm sorry, you really think Chihiro went and flat out TOLD Monokuma about the plan!?" Mondo snapped "you heard him, he knew about it all along!"
"But how could he have known that they would try to connect Alter Ego to the network?" Taka asked a good question. Everyone sat there and thought for a moment before finally, Byakuya spoke up.
"Ikusaba..." he said sinisterly. Mukuro turned her head to look towards him.
"Yes?" she asked.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Byakuya leered "you sold us out...!"
"Me?" Mukuro asked.
"It couldn't have been Mukuro!" Makoto exclaimed "aside from when I went with Chihiro and Kyoko to hook Alter Ego up, I was with her the whole time. She wouldn't have had an opportunity to sneak away!"
"Ah, so that's why you had me watch her the previous evening..." Taka recalled.
"You know Makoto, I can't help but think that you've been quite friendly towards Mukuro recently..." Taeko pointed out "it makes me rather suspicious...It's almost as if you're covering for her..."
"Covering for her!?" Makoto parroted "what do you mean!?"
"I'm calling it now...I don't think we can trust a single word Makoto says..." Taeko leered "I suspect that he and Mukuro may both be traitors for the Mastermind, and that he's covering for her..."
"I'd be inclined to believe you honestly," Byakuya frowned "but I'm not about to go pointing fingers at Makoto. I'm merely certain that trusting Ikusaba was a bad idea. In fact, placing any semblance of trust in this game was a bad idea all around..."
"It worked out pretty well though, didn't it!?" Mondo snapped "why're you complainin'!?"
"I'm going to say this so that you flea-brained paramecium can fully get the message," Byakuya said "I won't deny that Chihiro Fujisaki is smart, but at the end of the day, he's still a naive, and weak-hearted idiot...!"
"Watch it Togami...!" Taka threatened "I don't like the way you're speaking...!"
"I'll speak however I damn well want...!" he snapped back "a nice group project and friend circle may sound like an ideal way to get by, but it refuses to address the bigger problem that's been present throughout this entire situation. The more we talk about trust and friendship, the cheaper those words become. Blindly trusting in people you know nothing about is basically an invitation to be backstabbed...!"
"He's right...That's why it's more effective for everyone to look out for themselves, like we've been doing," Taeko glowered "remember what I said about the killing game in the first few days we got here? This is a zero-sum game. For one to win, everyone else must lose. It is completely impossible for us to be friends. We are all each other's enemies. Chihiro isn't smart or hopeful by seeing that. The reverse actually. He's an optimistic imbecile, and he deserves to be resented for what he'd done...!"
"That's rich, coming from you!" Makoto growled.
"I have no regrets," Taeko shrugged "I'm playing this game how it's meant to be played...And now I'm going to bow out of this whole "team bonding" thing you've got going on..."
"As will I," Byakuya frowned "this was a complete waste of everyone's time. You'd better watch out Ikusaba...chances are, when I decide to commit to the game, you'll be my most likely target..."
"I have my eyes on you personally Makoto..." Taeko threatened. The two of them then strode individually out of the hall, leaving the others in complete disarray and silence.
"That...could not have gone more shitty..." Mondo commented "I'm glad Chihiro wasn't here to see that..."
"I'm not..." Kyoko said "it'll be much more painful when he finds out..."
"What do we do?" Makoto asked.
"While I can't sympathize with Byakuya and Taeko, I must admit, you're all being far too naive about this..." Mukuro spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Taka asked.
"What if, by chance, Byakuya was right?" Mukuro asked "what if, hypothetically, all that stuff about Monokuma casting me aside was a ruse to get info on you all? Even if I'm not anymore, it doesn't change the fact that I disguised myself as someone else and pretended to be your friend. You shouldn't be trusting me so willingly..."
Everyone remained silent, wondering what to make of this all...What should they do...? What COULD they do...?
It had been half a day since the situation that had happened in the gym. Chihiro had needed time to himself to allow him to collect his thoughts on what had happened. Alter Ego had felt more than just like a mirror. They were a friend. And Chihiro was now praying and hoping that things would turn out to be alright.
Recalling what Hiro had said about how the laundry room as a place to go and clear his mind so he could do his fortune telling and connecting with the gods or...whatever. Turns out that he wasn't exactly wrong. The scent of the softener and other wash supplies was surprisingly therapeutic. The tranquil feeling of the quiet in the room, with the constant noise of the spinning washing machine in the background. The table that he was laying on wasn't very comfortable, but even still, the rest was enough to make it feel like he was laying on a cloud. As they'd laid down, Chihiro had noticed that a magazine of one of Junko Enoshima's pinups was staying on the table, and Chihiro had a flick through it while they laid there.
"I don't know how I ever let it fool me..." he monologued "Mukuro and Junko look nothing alike..."
"Did someone mention my name?" Chihiro sat up to see Mukuro and Makoto enter the laundry room, both of which were surprised to find Chihiro inside.
"Oh hey Chihiro..." Makoto stammered "sorry...Mukuro and I just met up to talk about some stuff...We didn't mean to cut in..."
"Oh...hey you guys..." he said "don't worry about me, I'm feeling better since this morning."
"This place is pretty peaceful," Makoto said "it's almost like you could stay here and forget what you've done..."
"I'm surprised you were so willing to sacrifice yourself for us," Mukuro said "I don't understand the meaning of making a sacrifice..." Chihiro turned and sat up.
"To sacrifice something means to give up something valued for the sake of other considerations," he told her "I'm willing to give up my life if it means I can protect my friends. Alter Ego was the same."
"I've never known a world like that..." Mukuro said "it's all-"
However, before the words could fully leave her mouth, Makoto suddenly brought one finger to her lips, and another towards Chihiro, signaling them to be quiet.
"Huh?" Chihiro asked "what's-?"
"Shh...!" he hushed "do you hear that?"
"Hear what...?" Chihiro asked. However, as soon as he did, he could faintly hear the noise "...no...!"
"We should go...now...!" Mukuro said, apparently also having heard the noise. The three of them immediately darted out of the laundry room, where now they could hear the jingle with perfect clarity, followed by the monitors around them illuminating with Monokuma's face.
"A body has been discovered! I repeat, we've got a body here! The location of the corpse is the fourth floor's music room! Better start movin' your butts so we can get right into the investigation that leads to the Class Trial! We don't have all day you know!"
The bear need say no more. Mukuro was in the lead, followed closely by Makoto, with Chihiro behind him. The amount of stairs that they had to climb was frustrating and tiring, but their bodies ignored the feeling out of desperation and fear, causing an adrenaline rush.
"Why did this happen...!?" Makoto panted "we were all so peaceful just yesterday! We shouldn't have let this happen!"
"I'm not going to forgive who did this...!" Mukuro snarled "let's go!"
"And I'll never forgive the people who set this whole thing up!" Chihiro basically roared.
"Dammit..." Mondo was growling, sweating profusely as Chihiro and the others arrived "how...?"
"Careful Mondo..." Taka said "I know how you feel, but remember, this is a crime scene...Try not to disturb it..."
"So they're finally dead?" Byakuya asked "I suppose it was only a matter of time..."
"Jesus christ Byakuya, they're dead and that's all you have to say!?" Taka snapped.
"Hey!" Chihiro exclaimed out of breath as they all arrived "what happened here!?" Instead of answering, Mondo and Taka moved out of the way.
Makoto, Mukuro and Chihiro looked up at the top of the stage. Kyoko was already up there, keeping a short distance, but still taking notes of the corpse...
The corpse...
The corpse that had a thin figure and who's face was obscured, as their head lay crushed underneath the heavy piano that was usually present on top of the stage...
The corpse of the Ultimate Gambler, Taeko Yasuhiro...