"Yeah... The [Ultimate Hunt] happened because of 'that incident'...!"
"R-right! The world fell into chaos because of 'that incident'..."
"That's right. After 'that incident' happened, the world stopped being the world we knew."
"But... what was that incident?"
"Ngh... it's all fuzzy again this time too..."
After some time had passed, the students in the gym began to stir awake one by one and speak about what they had remembered.
All except Mukuro and Tojo, that is. The instant they woke up, they looked beside them, then checked the place where Harukawa had originally been standing, and froze solid.
"...This is an emergency."
"...Damn it."
Leaving only those words behind, Mukuro and Tojo bolted out of the gym in a panic, and the others could only stare after them in bafflement.
"W-what? Where are those two suddenly going?"
"Come to think of it... K-kun isn't here."
"Not just him... Harukawa-san is gone too..."
As Akamatsu and Saihara pointed out the empty spaces among them, Amami, who had been standing quietly nearby, picked up the thread.
"Then... does that mean K and Harukawa-san were already gone before we woke up?"
"Th-that means... no way..."
"Kyaaaaaah!! This is terrible!! Even Harukawa-san has fallen into K-san's clutches!!"
At Chabashira's horrified shriek, the girls first looked dumbfounded, then started chiming in one after another.
"S-so the next target... wasn't me...? Why...? How could this be...? My chest is the biggest, too..."
"I-Iruma-san! How can you be disappointed about that right now!? Pull yourself together!!"
"Ngh... if she's that good, maybe making her my assistant would be great publicity. My magic show might do even better..."
"Y-Yumeno-san!! Don't surrender to capitalism!! You're a magician, aren't you!?"
"Nyahaha~! Maybe I really should recruit him into the student council~! If we get K, two more come bundled in automatically~!"
"Y-you too...? Ah, forget it. You're just going to say it's Atua's will anyway..."
"...So there was a reason he became the protagonist in a dating sim capture route."
"Exactly! If you praise K-san, he'll just get even more out of control—wait, hold on, since when did Shirogane-san start naturally acting like part of our group!?"
After struggling for quite a while to correct the girls' wildly skewed perceptions, Chabashira finally snapped.
"Th-this is all that damned degenerate male's fault!! Everyone except me, the one person who was always on guard against men, has had their minds warped by K-san!!"
"U-um... I'm not like that... Is it because I play the piano so often...?"
"...Akamatsu-san, I really don't think piano has anything to do with this."
"Therefore, I, Tenko, will strike that man down and save Harukawa-san and everyone else!!"
With her fighting spirit blazing, Chabashira stormed out of the gym.
"...Could it be because of that?"
"Hm? Momota-kun?"
The students had been staring blankly after her retreating back, but when Momota suddenly spoke with a grave expression, all eyes swung toward him.
"This morning... when K went to his research lab... he had some trouble with Harukawa."
"T-trouble?"
"Yeah. I don't really know why, but... Harukawa was pouring out killing intent at K like crazy. It even freaked me out a little..."
"Nishishi... that's a big problem!"
Hearing that, Oma suddenly smiled and opened his mouth.
"Harukawa's the [Ultimate Assassin], right? So... if she held a grudge against K... you can all imagine what might happen, can't you?"
"Sh-shut up!! This only happened because you provoked Harukawa yesterday!!"
"Th-that's so unfair!! All I did was reveal her talent... the one who really caused this is someone else!! Waaaahhh...!!"
As Oma made that loaded remark and burst into crocodile tears, the others immediately started pressing him.
"What do you mean someone else caused it?"
"S-sorry... Gonta doesn't really get what you're saying..."
"Stop talking in circles and say it clearly! Otherwise, I'll play that recording from before!"
Despite the barrage of demands, Oma just kept crying. Finally, Kiibo lost his temper and was about to have Gonta play the anti-Oma recording they'd saved yesterday, when Saihara spoke up.
"...Come to think of it, something's strange. How could those two have disappeared from here before the rest of us?"
"Well... maybe they just happened to wake up before us?"
"No, Momota-kun. The first and second times we used the [Memory Flash], everyone woke up almost simultaneously, with only a few seconds at most between us. If that's any indication, it should've been the same this time too."
"R-right... then what the hell happened?"
Just as Saihara's observation began to seed unease through the group, Yumeno suddenly looked like she'd remembered something.
"Ngh... now that I think about it, Harukawa was acting kind of weird right before the light went off."
"What do you mean, Yumeno-san?"
"Wasn't I behind all of you because I was doing magic? That meant I could see everyone at a glance... and right before the light burst, Harukawa suddenly put on something like an eyepatch and flattened herself against the floor."
When Yumeno finished, the students blanked out for a moment before Shinguji finally spoke.
"Kukuku... then this becomes quite simple. Harukawa, who bore a grudge against K, somehow learned that the [Memory Flash] would go off in the gym and used that fact to her advantage."
"...What do you mean? Used it how?"
"What Shinguji-kun means is that Harukawa-san exploited the [Memory Flash]'s effect. K-kun was... being guarded tightly on both sides, without a single opening."
"Come to think of it, the [Memory Flash] restores memories, but until then it leaves everyone incapacitated. Harukawa-san may have targeted that moment and abducted K-san."
As Shinguji's theory was picked up and sharpened by Saihara and then Amami, Shinguji, who had briefly fallen silent, spoke again.
"Of course... rather than abducting him, she may already have killed him... Kukuku..."
As Shinguji finished and let out that unpleasant laugh, a pall of anxiety settled over the students' faces.
"Hey~! That's not the important part, though. Did you all forget what I said?"
A long silence had congealed in the gym, and Oma's bright voice sliced right through it. Momota immediately exploded.
"Hey!! Read the room!! We're talking about something important here!!"
"More important than the fact that there's a culprit behind this situation? And..."
Oma deliberately dragged out the pause, then curled his lips into a wicked smile.
"...more important than the possibility that person is 'another Mastermind'?"
"...What?"
"What the hell are you talking about, idiot!? Another Mastermind!?"
"Right, because the Mastermind is... this bitch, isn't it?"
"I-I was just an innocent student who got kidnapped while attending a cosplay event, nghgggggh...!!!"
"Shut up!! You masochistic freak!!"
"I-I'm not a masochoooogh!!"
Oma stared for a moment at Shirogane, who was trembling all over with her body twisted up, then resumed speaking.
"Well... Shirogane was a Mastermind, sure... but you heard it too, didn't you? Shirogane was 'eliminated.'"
"...Yeah, Monokuma definitely said that."
"In other words, the Mastermind may not have been Shirogane alone. There could have been two, or even more. I agree with that."
"Exactly. Even after Shirogane got caught, this killing game is still running just fine, right? Which means there has to be another Mastermind among us..."
"G-guys...! We can't do this! We agreed we'd cooperate now..."
"Akamatsu-chan, what are you talking about?"
"H-huh?"
As the conversation veered into dangerous territory, Akamatsu tried to cut in, flustered, but Oma cut her off instead and spoke with a glacial smile.
"I told you already... 'cooperation is over.'"
"Wh-who decided that...?"
"Well now... didn't you hesitate to cooperate with K too, after seeing his Motive Video?"
"Th-that's..."
"Nishishi... see? I didn't create discord. I just snapped the chain called 'cooperation' that was wrapped in hollow words and pretty excuses!"
"I've had just about enough of this!! So then... do you even have any proof this 'other Mastermind' exists!?"
Momota roared again, and Oma turned to him and answered coolly.
"Well... let me ask just one thing. How did Harukawa know the [Memory Flash] was going to go off during today's magic show?"
"...Huh? You're right."
"Now that I think about it, wasn't the [Memory Flash] going off during this magic show... just an accident?"
"Yeah. That Monotaro guy accidentally attached the [Memory Flash] core to Monosuke..."
"What if that was part of the Mastermind's script?"
"...What?"
"What if it was a plan the Mastermind designed... and they tipped Harukawa off about it?"
That suggestion sent a visible tremor through the group.
"B-but if the Mastermind really approached Harukawa... there's no way Harukawa would've just let them walk away, right?"
"Right. At the very least, she would've told everyone the truth... or at least captured the Mastermind and..."
"You said Harukawa-san had 'terrifying killing intent' toward K-kun. In that case, Harukawa-san might not have cared who the Mastermind was at all. She may have moved for one reason only: to kill K-kun."
"C-can that really be true...?"
"Y-yeah... no matter how deep the grudge..."
"...It's something I realized while working as a detective. Killing intent and the desire for revenge can, at times, take priority over absolutely everything else."
"......."
"I don't know what exactly happened between Harukawa-san and K-kun... but if she'd go this far... then the grudge must be monstrous. If there is a Mastermind, they may have exploited that..."
"S-Saihara-kun...!"
"...Sorry, Akamatsu-san. But... I agree that the Mastermind could still be among us."
"...Ugh."
Akamatsu lowered her head in despair at Saihara's words, while Oma turned back to the others and continued.
"Then here's the question! Who's the most suspicious person, right now, who could've told Harukawa the [Memory Flash] would go off during the magic show?"
"....."
When the students all turned cold eyes on him, Oma scratched his head with a flustered look.
"Huh? You're suspecting me?"
"...Honestly, you are the most suspicious."
"K-san is suspicious too... but in a very different way."
"Ngh... who could possibly be more suspicious than you?"
"That's right~! Then we can just offer Oma-kun up as a human sacrifice~!"
"Nishishi... sure, it's natural for me to seem suspicious, since I'm the Supreme Leader of Evil... but in this room, there's exactly one person who's even more suspicious than I am."
Still grinning as he addressed everyone, Oma suddenly stopped, fixed his gaze on someone, and resumed with a smile colder than ice.
"Someone who normally doesn't get along with anyone, doesn't talk to anyone, but suddenly this morning was talking with Harukawa-chan and entered the gym before anyone else. The one person whose Motive Video I couldn't secure. And... the person who hasn't said a single word until now."
"......."
"If there's one person who matches all three of those conditions... what do you think that makes them...?"
Oma flashed the most sinister smile yet at the person standing expressionlessly before him, then delivered the name like a blade.
"...Hoshi Ryoma?"
.
.
.
.
.
"Then... first question."
"B-before you even ask the first question, you're torturing me...? What kind of twisted—"
Thk...!
"G-ghk... ughbl—!"
"Could you stop making such pathetic noises, Cult Leader?"
Before the first question had even been asked, K found himself on the receiving end of a very practical demonstration of a professional assassin's skill. The moment a knife sank into his side for the crime of running his mouth, reality finally came crashing down on him.
"...I have sinned unto death. Please, just spare my life."
"So you do know you've committed a mortal sin... don't you, Cult Leader?"
"No... but... what exactly do you mean by Cult Leader—"
Crunch!
"Aaaagh! Ah... ughblbl—"
"Do you want to die? If you want to die, feel free to scream."
"Please... ask... the first question..."
When K looked at her with dead, hollow eyes and forced those words out, Harukawa took a deep breath and finally asked.
"...Why was it me and her?"
"What?"
"Why... why, out of all those children in the orphanage... did you choose me and her?"
".....?"
"Why the hell!?"
Harukawa's voice was drenched in killing intent more terrifying than ever before, but K could only stare back in blank confusion.
"...Um, could you listen before getting mad?"
"..."
"I've been trying to say this for a while, but every time I open my mouth, you stab me, so I haven't been able to... I have amnesia."
"...What?"
"No, seriously! Seriously! I really have amnesia! I mean, sure, most of the people here have memory problems, but... I don't have any memories at all. At first, I didn't even know my own name or talent!"
"Ha. Funny."
"What?"
"That silver tongue of yours may have worked on the people around you... but not on me."
"No! It's true! Please, you have to believe me!!"
"Well, everyone I've tortured says that at first."
Harukawa pulled several more knives from her clothes and spoke with a frigid expression.
"But... after a little time passes, they all start spilling information so easily. Honestly, maybe amnesia is a condition you can cure with knives."
"....."
Harukawa stared at K as he once again looked back at her with those dead fish eyes, then began walking toward him with a knife in hand, muttering under her breath.
"...Then it's treatment time."
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.
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.
.
Meanwhile, at that same moment...
"Monaca, was that part of your intended scenario too?"
"...Maybe?"
In a dark room, Monaca and Matsuda watched K being tortured through a monitor as they spoke.
"Well... I'm sure you have your reasons, but did you really need to manipulate the information like that just to get him tortured?"
"Matsuda big bro, you've been getting awfully sensitive whenever K comes up lately... why is that? Is there some reason...?"
"...I only asked because I was worried it might interfere with your objective."
"It's fine~! I told you, I know what I'm doing, okay?"
"......"
"And what do you mean, manipulated information?"
Monaca tilted her head and looked at Matsuda.
"...There hasn't been a single piece of false information so far, you know?"