[3rd Person POV]
Since everyone has stood on their respective podiums, Monokuma initiated the beginning of Ogami Sakura, The Ultimate Martial Artist's Class Trial.
And while it doesn't hurt any less to lose another friend, they have to move forward without them.
[CLASS TRIAL: IN SESSION!]
"Alright, are we gonna lose another student? Or will this entire school life come to an end? Without further ado, let's get this started! The long awaited Class Trial!"
Monokuma cheered from his seat while the students mentally prepared themselves for the hurt and verbal showdown that's about to happen.
"The culprit is either, Togami, Fukawa, or Hagakure! After all, Sakura chan called all three of you to the recreation room!"
Asahina pointed an accusing finger at the 3, prompting the Ultimate Heir to respond.
"It's true that I did get such a note from her, but I wasn't foolish enough to go!"
"I-I didn't go either!"
Hagakure denied.
"What a blatantly obvious lie."
Y/N muttered with almost disappointed eyes.
It's honestly amazing how Hagakure was still able to disappoint him despite how far down he already is.
"Ngh... I saw it with my own eyes! Hagakure Yasuhiro was the culprit!"
Fukawa pointed at the clairvoyant.
"Y-You saw me!?"
"I did!"
"What do you mean?"
Naegi questioned the bookworm.
"I-I was summoned by Ogami Sakura. But I was scared, so I got there first and hid in the locker. And then..."
Fukawa said in detail how she saw Hagakure grab a bottled Monokuma figurine and smashed it on Ogami's head before he fled the room.
"She's lying!"
He denied it again.
"I see... So it was you!?"
"N-No!"
"Death sentence! You deserve to be executed! Alright, we can cast our votes now, right!?"
Y/N just watched the entire thing unfold, not even sure when's the good time to say anything.
"Yes! He's the one who killed her with a surprise blow."
Fukawa accused, this is when Y/N knew it was time to say something.
Naegi was supposed to do it, but the Information Broker got to her first.
"That's where you're wrong, kiddo!"
*BREAK*
"Y'all really can't be bothered to stay in the crime scene more than once and a couple of hums, huh? Ogami chan got bonked in the head twice right, Naegi chan?"
Y/N refuted, causing Hagakure to agree with him and Naegi to nod in agreement.
"H-He's right!"
"W-Well, I'm pretty sure he hit her head twice--"
"No, I only hit her once!"
"So you admit you hit her?"
Kirigiri confronted the clairvoyant.
"I-I mean... I thought Ogre was gonna kill me. So I panicked."
He finally confessed after convincing nobody that he didn't do it.
It isn't even a good attempt, but whatever.
"Fukawa!"
Togami called out to the Ultimate Writing Prodigy
"Y-Yes?"
"What did you do after Hagakure left the recreation room?"
"U-Uh...."
"Just tell us the truth!"
"A-Ahh! I... I don't remember!"
Then she began to explain that, after Hagakure fled the recreation room she came out of the locker and saw a very bloody Ogami Sakura before passing out.
After the explanation, Fukawa had told the class to ask her before rubbing her nose with her hair, causing the girl to sneeze and transition into the Serial Killer pervert, Genocider Syo.
"Here I am!"
The killer greeted.
"Answer only what I ask you. Did you kill Ogami Sakura?"
"Eehh... First, let me get this out of the way. That gloomy girl and I don't share memories! So I'm not sure what exactly happened, but there I was, asleep, when someone picked me up off the floor. I opened my eyes, expecting to see a prince, but saw this splatter movie monster instead! It scared the sh!t out of me! I picked up a nearby bottle and attacked her! I mean, I was just so scared~! Whack-an-Ogre!"
Syo cackled after explaining.
Hagakure sighed because of this, feeling relieved of his guilt
"Thank goodness... That I wasn't the one who killed Ogre."
"Hagakure kun, you don't have to say it like that--"
Naegi would've told off the bum, but Asahina smacked her podium and demanded the votes started.
"Then that settles it! Let's begin that vote already! Come on, hurry! It's time to vote!"
"Ah, so she's the impostor this time... Well, not really. But she's the closest to an impostor we're going to get."
Y/N commented while the swimmer turned to Monokuma
"Monokuma, take our votes."
"Wait,"
"Naegi...?"
"Something about what she said bothers me. Where were you when you hit Ogami san, Fukawa san?"
The lucky student asked the serial killer, who answered
"The same place I woke up in. Right in front of the magazine shelf!"
"But... Ogami san was found dead sitting on the couch. If she had died from getting hit in front of the magazine shelf, it doesn't explain how she died sitting on the couch."
"You're exactly right, Naegi. Furthermore, there were also bloodstains on the floor by the magazine shelf. To summarize, it is an undeniable fact that Ogami was attacked in front of the shelf."
Togami supported the Lucky Student.
"Th-Then that makes Genocider Syo the culprit!"
Hagakure accused the serial killer.
"I'm not! Ogre didn't die at the same place I hit her!"
She denied.
"Is that so? Who's the real culprit, then? How exactly did they kill Oga-"
"Oh, for f*cksakes, you rich *sshole, just get to the point already!"
Y/N ruffled his own hair in frustration.
Togami gritted his teeth before showing the poison bottle as evidence.
"Wh-What's that?"
Naegi asked.
"It's the same one that's in the Chemistry Lab, right? Since the drug shelf is divided into 3 sections: for nutrients, reagents, and poisons. And for some reason, the poison was among the nutrients. A stupid attempt at a cover-up. Isn't that right, Kirigiri chan?"
Y/N explained while getting the girl to nod at his reasoning.
"Now, I wonder how a poison found it's way onto the nutrients rack."
Togami eyed Asahina who reacted.
After a scoff, Togami proceeded to down the "poison"
Even Monokuma woke up from it's nap because of the student's reactions.
"T-Togami kun!"
"Oh, how I wish that poison is real right now."
"Byakuya sama, what are you doing!? Hurry and throw it up! All over me, plea--"
"Shut up!"
Togami yelled at the killer.
"Togami kun. Mind if I look at that bottle?"
"Not at all."
Then he tossed the bottle to Kirigiri, who dumped the contents unto her gloved palm and tried it for herself using her finger.
"This is protein powder."
She concluded.
The hardest thing Y/N had ever done was resisting the urge to be sarcastic about it, he knows Kirigiri needed to say it for these nuggets, but he really wanted to mess with her for it.
"Correct. That bottle contained protein, not poison. And wasn't there an empty protein shake bottle lying in the recreation room? Now what could these 2 things mean?"
Togami smirked as Naegi realized what he meant.
"Someone switched the contents of the poison and protein shake bottles, and Ogami san drank the poison in the protein shake bottle... "
"Bet you that person was grey and naked too."
"Precisely. Seeing that's the conclusion I've reached, there's no mistake.
"Really nailing yourself with that line, huh?"
Y/N snickered with a hand near his mouth, wanting to already see the events that would unfold later.
"That's cool and all, but what if there was a little bit of poison left in that bottle?"
Hagakure asked, causing the heir to scoff.
"I'll deal with it when the time comes. Also, about the footprints in the chemistry lab... When the culprit was switching the poison and protein shake around. The footprints seem to be from sneakers. Let's head to the Chemistry lab now. If we compare our footprints to the ones there, that will make it clear who the culprit is."
Togami was taking lead of the class, where was he leading them? Probably a slaughterhouse.
"It was me."
Asahina confessed.
"And there she goes..."
"Those footprints are mine. I... I was the one who killed Sakura chan!"
The swimmer continued her confession with tears in her eyes.
Of course, because of how close those two are, they were surprised to learn that Asahina was the one to kill Ogami... Well, except for two people, as they know this isn't the case.
"A-Asahinacchi... killed Ogre?"
"Weren't you two best friends...?"
"“Best Friends” She used that relationship to her advantage. If the protein came from Asahina, Ogami would drink it without thinking twice."
Togami crossed his arms.
"That's... right. In the recreation room, Sakura chan asked me to bring her a protein shake."
"That must be when you realized, “I can kill her now”. Then switched the contents around and handed her a bottle filled with poison."
"When I did, Sakura chan gulped it all down."
Y/N was just watching it all unfold, he wanted to speak right now and rub salt on the incoming wound Togami's pride would receive.
But he glanced at Kirigiri and saw her with a finger on her lips in a hushing manner, signalling Y/N to let them talk for now.
"And then... After Sakura chan drank it. I left the recreation room..."
Kirigiri nodded her head and Y/N went for it before Naegi could.
"QUACK QUACK, YOUR ATTEMPT AT LYING IS WHACK!"
*BREAK*
"Asahina chan, I know you just lost your best friend, I know how that feels. So with that in mind, I'll go easy on you..."
Then Y/N leaned on his podium slightly.
"...did you really think we're that big of an idiot to fall for it? Well, I'm sure Togami is, but you know that we were right there."
Y/N looked at Togami with a smug smile. He's done nothing but get on the heir's nerves ever since the trial started. Probably because he was still extremely salty about Togami's comments about Celeste.
"But Naegi chan, there's no way that explains why the door's locked, riiiiight~?"
Y/N turned his attention to the luckster, causing him to nod his own head.
"Locked door...?"
Togami trailed off, missing a piece of info.
"Before we found the corpse, the door to the recreation room was locked. L/N kun had to punch through the window in order for us to enter. So how did you lock the door from the inside after leaving the room? If you can't explain that, then you're not the culprit."
Naegi retold the situation before asking the swimmer who had nothing to answer.
"Well..."
She could only cry after her weak attempt to get back at everyone fell apart.
"Impossible! As the person who swapped the drugs, the culprit is Asahina, without a doubt!"
Togami projected his voice, finding himself being contradicted.
"In that case, allow me to introduce a new piece of evidence. Togami kun, it's a clue that you gave us."
Kirigiri suddenly spoke, catching everyone by surprise.
"Oh, she's about to pop off."
Y/N excitedly listened to her.
"Me?"
Kirigiri emptied the poison bottle and a shard of glass from the window Y/N shattered fell to her palm.
"Wh-What's that shard?"
"Is that... the shard of glass L/N kun broke to open the door?"
"Yes. The shard somehow found its way into the bottle of the poison in the Chemistry Lab. There's also something else that's strange about the shards of glass. Those shards in the recreation room, for some reason, they weren't on the protein shake bottle, but underneath. What exactly happened to those two bottles?"
Kirigiri gave a question she already knew an answer to.
This is because she wanted to give Y/N a chance to tease the heir.
"Yeah, Togami. I wonder what happened? I wonder why you didn't notice? You were doing such a good job until now, you know? Come on, do your best!"
Y/N smirked whilst he rested his cheek on his palm and his elbow on the podium. Meanwhile, Togami gritted his teeth and further squeezed unto his own podium in frustration and irritation.
"I see... I got it!"
Naegi yelled out.
"What...!?"
"It was originally the bottle of poison that was in the recreation room! While we were distracted by the corpse, someone retrieved the bottle of poison. And later, when they came back to the room with everyone, the person waited for the opportunity and placed the protein shake bottle there. They were trying to cover-up Ogami san's death."
Naegi did his closing argument with Kirigiri and Y/N on full support.
"We found the same yellow powder from the Chemistry Lab on Ogami san's shoes."
Kirigiri continued before Y/N took over.
"That means~ she was in the chemistry lab when that powder busted a nut on the floor! Ogami chan must've accidentally dropped it while taking the poison off the shelf right, Kirigiri chan?"
Y/N smiled while the girl nodded in reply.
"If that's the case, then Ogami san took the poison herself. In other words, she committed suicide. Looking at it that way, it also resolved the locked room mystery as well."
Naegi concluded.
"That locked room was created by Ogami chan so nobody can stop her from committing suicide. And it aaaalll began when she called the 3 idiots: Togami, Hagakure chan, and Fukawa chan. Right, Naegi chan?"
Y/N followed up to Naegi's story, while the Luckster nodded for confirmation.
"But then, after that Ogami san got hit on the head by Hagakure kun and Fukawa san. And When Asahina saw the spilled powder in front of the poisons rack, she realized that Ogami san had taken some poison with her."
But even after all the evidence has been laid before her, Asahina continued to push for her guilt. Forcing everyone to accept that it was she that killed Ogami Sakura.
"Asahina san, that's enough. It's over."
Naegi told the swimmer.
"It's not over yet!"
"It is over. No, we have to put an end to it."
Having no choice but to do so, everyone casted their votes. Y/N didn't know if his was still counted, but he casted it anyway, using Celeste's podium as a way to do so.
And indeed, it was Ogami Sakura who killed herself.
What a sad conclusion...
"This... is the truth!?"
Togami shook from his podium.
"That's right, you pompous f*ck nugget. It's stuff like that, that shows you never had friends, I mean, your butler's probably the only person who gives a sh!t about you, right? But even that's just for a buck."
Y/N insulted the heir, letting a bit of his own personal feelings seep into that insult as a venom.
"Didn't I warn you? If you keep making light of people's emotions, it'd come back to bite you. People don't act based on calculation or profit-and-loss alone. You simply don't understand that. That's why you failed to uncover the truth."
Kirigiri also told him off while rubbing salt on Togami's wounded pride.
Due to Y/N and Kirigiri further insulting the heir's pride, said heir became aggravated and shouted at the two.
"Neither calculations nor profit-and-loss arguments, you say? If that's the case, why did this woman hide Ogami's cause of death!?"
Togami's hand was shaking from anger as he pointed to the just-as angry Asahina.
"I'll tell you why!"
Then Asahina presented a nearly folded paper in front of the class.
"What's that?"
"Sakura chan's will."
Asahina began to read said will
"This ugly battle has left me in despair. I would rather end this myself than wait for someone to kill me."
"Sakura chan felt guilty about being the mole, so she tried her best to get everyone's forgiveness. But you trampled all over her feelings, driving her to despair and suicide! Sakura chan also had a frail side, you know. She was just a normal girl. It's as good as if we killed her! We have no right to live after what we did!"
Asahina continued to cry while giving her explanation.
While the others were still recovering from shock due to this revelation, Y/N became increasingly angry.
Asahina almost put Kirigiri in danger because of this stunt she pulled.
While he doubts Kirigiri herself would have actually fallen for this, it still didn't sit well with him that Asahina just attempted to kill all of them, effectively putting Kirigiri in danger at one point. And if Togami had his way, they would've died... Kirigiri would've died.
"So... You were going to die and take us down with you?"
Asahina had shown the letter to everyone, and it took Y/N a split second to know what was actually going on.
"You've been duped, you freaking idiot..."
He muttered, catching the others' attention before Monokuma interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt your little sob story, Ogami san's real will is right here."
The bear showed the real will which caused Asahina to question what it is she was holding.
"Wh-What's this... Then?"
"Oh. Just some stuff I randomly scribbled. Now, then. Allow me to read out the real will to you in my wonderful, beautiful voice!"
Monokuma continued to taunt which plunged the swimmer further into despair.
Finally feeling the gravity of what she had just tried to do for the wrong reasons.
"To my best friend, Asahina:
The mastermind took my family's dojo hostage and forced me to do his bidding. But I no longer wish to betray my friends, especially you, who considered me your best friend. With my death, the flames of infighting will vanish and prevent any further killings. For that very purpose, I shall gladly surrender my life. For you all, my precious friends.
Dear Asahina, I am truly sorry. Survive with your friends. You must survive!"
"That's all! Kuuuuu~"
Monokuma finished reading the letter as it watched the despair on Asahina's face while it pretended to feel bad.
"Sakura chan killed herself... To stop us from fighting...? No way..."
Asahina trembled greatly, doing the exact same thing her best friend wished her not to do.
"But thanks to you, everyone ended up trying to kill each other. I guess Ogami san died in vain."
The headmaster taunted.
While Y/N was still upset at Asahina for attempting to kill them, most of his anger changed its direction to Monokuma. Who had manipulated the crime scene.
"No, she didn't!"
Naegi shouted at the bear.
"Oh?"
"Ogami san reminded us... She reminded us that we are friends and should be cooperating!"
"Naegicchi's right!"
"Hmph. Monokuma, I'm dropping out of this game. Now all that remains is to find the mastermind so I can brutally punish him. That sounds far more entertaining."
Togami gave the bear a smirk of confidence.
"Wh-What the heck!?"
"Same here. I'll follow Byakuya sama anywhere!"
Syo agreed
"Well? Can you still say Ogami san died in vain?"
It was Kirigiri this time doing the taunting.
"Whatever. I still got my highly anticipated Punishment Time!"
"This is bad! Monokuma has her!"
Y/N yelled out causing others to react in shock.
"WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST TODAY!"
..........
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.................
The area heavily resembled a construction site as a 'dozer drove over the barriers and stood behind the center. And at the center of it all, it sat quietly there...
Turning on from it's sleep state and realizing what was happening.
Alter Ego was going to get executed.
An initial punch at first, before several others followed it rapidly, sparing not even a second of rest for the program.
After it was done destroying the computer, only a ball of Monokuma's darker half was left before the 'dozer left.
Just like that, Alter Ego was gone...
This was certainly unexpected, even Y/N didn't expect it to be so soon.
Monokuma cackled behind them while watching their reactions.
"That thing was such a pain."
"So you noticed what Alter Ego was doing?"
Kirigiri questioned the bear.
"I had known about it all along. Now then! Shall we continue reading Ogami san's letter?"
"Lastly, the mastermind has altered our bodies--"
"Hah? Whoa! It'd be spoilers to read out any more. Huh...? She'll strike back at me?"
The lavender-haired girl squinted her eyes at this, and she already had an inkling of an idea of what the bear was talking about.
"Well, whatever! Say, how about we read Celeste san's letter to L/N kun instead!"
"....."
"C-Celeste san's letter...?"
"I managed to slip in his room, you see! And it would be a huge pain if we don't re-"
Before the bear could even finish what he was saying, Y/N had already nabbed the letter from it. He moved so fast.
He remained just beside the bear, and the atmosphere within the room became heavy with tension.
He was close... He was this close.
Y/N wanted nothing more than to tear this bear apart for desecrating the last thing Taeko gave him before the Class trial that would lead to her death.
The beating of his heart became louder and louder, but he knew he can't do it. Atleast, not for now.
"L/N kun, you know what happens if you touch me, right?"
The bear taunted the quiet broker.
Y/N could faintly hear voices telling him to not go through with it, but somehow he fell deaf to them all.
Firstly, it tampered the evidence and put Kirigiri in danger.
Secondly, it had the nerve to grab Taeko's letter with its paws.
"......."
He truly was close, but... He needed a reminder as to why he's enduring so much... and that came in the form of a tug on his elbow.
"L/N kun. Let's go."
Said Kirigiri before slowly dragging Y/N back into the courtroom.
Y/N followed quietly, letting Kirigiri lead him back.
Just as long as Kirigiri's still here... As long as she isn't in danger...
......
..........
.............
Back in the courtroom, before they all boarded the elevator, Asahina called upon the students for something she had to take responsibility for.
"I... tried to kill you all. Sorry."
Then she bowed to show her sincerity.
"I'm really sorry."
"You don't need to feel guilty about it, Asahina san."
"He's right!"
Hagakure supported the Lucky Student
"But... I am sorry."
Asahina bowed again
"Make that the last one. I haven't fallen so low as to require your apology."
Togami adjusted his glasses before putting both hands behind his back.
"Mhm... I understand."
"Oh-! I hope that wasn't a romance flag."
Syo brandished her scissors in response to this.
"HAAAH!? Of course not! I'm not interested in that four-eyed loser!"
"A F-Four eyed loser? me!?"
"A Four eyed loser? Him!?"
While the 3 continued to argue, the 4th Class Trial slowly came to an end.
But the story's simply not over yet.
Y/N had been quiet ever since Monokuma's attempted stunt, and even up until they had all got back from the trial room and into the main building, he remained quiet.
But of course, he remembered the nightly meetings, and had waited for Kirigiri at the laundry room.
And unsurprisingly, she turned up.
"L/N kun."
She called out, but Y/N remained quiet.
Kirigiri approached the boy and took a seat next to him.
Both shared momentary silences, and she took another before finally talking.
"Just a little more and we can finally figure out what happened here."
Y/N slowly turned his head towards her, prompting Kirigiri to go on.
"Ogami san's way of getting back at Monokuma. I think I know what she was talking about. I plan on investigating later."
Then he finally spoke, out of concern for her.
"...Should I come with you...?"
"No. The more we are, the lesser chances I have at investigating everything. Just stay in your room tonight."
Y/N nodded as she instructed, and while he wanted to follow her wherever she planned to go, he understood that Kirigiri really needed to be alone in order to do this.
Both stayed quiet again for a while.
That awkward silence caused tension, a tension easily cut through...
"L/N--"
"You're curious about what Taeko wrote to me, right?"
"....."
"Here."
Y/N handed it to her without even hesitating, this lack of hesitation was found weird by Kirigiri, even though he reacted so strongly to Monokuma.
Well, it is Monokuma, so it probably isn't that strange.
Kirigiri slowly took the piece of paper and began reading through it, and her eyes widened a bit at the end. Celeste really did know a lot about him.
When she was done, she handed it back to Y/N who took it and immediately folded it before putting it back into his pocket.
"According to the story you told me before, you and Celeste san knew each other for 4 years before attending Hope's Peak, correct?"
"Yeah. Shortly after you and I both met."
"And you both started to live together for 2 years before Hope's Peak because Celeste san requested for your protection."
"Enough time that we both would consider each other family a little after."
"And during all that time, it would seem that... Celeste san developed feelings for you."
Kirigiri's voice softened a little
"Yeah. For me to not even be able to tell puts a lot of credibility in her ability to lie. Just as long as she has the confidence for it, I guess."
Then there was a pause. It wasn't long, then Kirigiri inhaled and exhaled.
"Did you... feel the same...?"
She whispered.
"Huh?"
Y/N heard her mutter under her breath
"It's nothing. It's almost night time. Later a little after midnight, meet me at the data-processing room. I'll tell you about what I found in my investigations later."
"Alright. But the moment you feel like you're in danger... Get away from wherever you are, and come find me immediately."
Y/N told her sternly, his face was full of worry.
"...where is this coming from?"
"Kirigiri chan, Ogami chan's dead. And after your performance today, and what you're intending to do later, you're going to become Monokuma's target..."
"We can't move forward if we don't risk it, you know that."
Kirigiri squinted her eyes at him.
"If that risk is you, then I don't want to risk it at all! If something happened to you then I..."
He responded and stopped himself, causing Kirigiri's eyes to widen in surprise.
He was being protective... oddly so...
There was that hint of desperation in his eyes that she had never seen him express, but it was hidden away so quickly.
Just what has he been thinking all this time...?
"I understand. I'll let you know when something happens."
Kirigiri nodded, causing Y/N to soften up.
Still, Y/N thought of her as someone very important to him to act this way...
But whatever the case is, Kirigiri had a suspicion...
A suspicion she would soon reach the confirmation for on a later date.
"Now then, go back to your room L/N kun. Remember our meeting. See you then."
"And remember what I told you."
Kirigiri nodded at this and both left the room.
Y/N would spend the night-time next to the note he had been given, deciding to never leave it unattended again.
If Kirigiri hadn't stopped him then, he definitely would've....
Anyway, only a few more hours before their designated time...
.........
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...................
Naegi Makoto found himself at the data-processing room after being woken up by Kirigiri and being asked to meet with her there.
He found nobody present when he arrived, and was unlucky enough to run into Monokuma.
"What are you doing here this late into the night!? It's 3AM, you know!? Go to bed!"
The bear chewed out the lucky student.
"What's this ruckus about?"
A voice came from the halls, emerging from it was Kirigiri who had already met with Y/N on the stairs before heading towards the data-processing room.
"Kirigiri san!"
"You two too!? Of course you two would be joined at the hip anywhere you go! Go to sleep, the three of you!!"
"Good idea. L/N kun, Naegi kun, let's head back."
Kirigiri agreed with Monokuma's proposal.
Y/N raised an eyebrow at this, even when it was just the two of them, she refused to tell him anything and said she also invited someone else to join them. The broker already had an inkling of an idea about who it was, so he let her be.
But now...
It's probably a way so that she can say something whilst Monokuma was going back to wherever he came from.
And by the stairs, both Y/N and Naegi questioned what she was doing, but instead of answering that question, she whispered to them something else...
"Ikusaba Mukuro. The 16th student hiding somewhere in this Academy. The one they call “The Ultimate Despair.” Watch out for her."
"The 16th... student...?"
"The Ultimate... Despair..."
REMAINING STUDENTS: 8 LEFT?
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Y'all have no idea how happy I was to write the Mukuro line.
Also, I'm quite proud of how Y/N turned out as a character. I can't say the exact details as to why as it would be a spoiler, but I'm quite proud of it.
What does everyone else think?
Anyway, Chapter 5 now! Here's where I finally fully open up Y/N and Kyoko's relationship. Hope I do well!
-Mod Ibuki