"...Ugh, my head."
Seriously, how many times have I said that line by now?
Why do I keep blacking out, collapsing, then waking up with some pathetic groan like "ugh..." every single time? I was sick of it. Absolutely sick of it.
"Huh? K, you're already awake? Impressive! If you'd gotten up just a little later, I was gonna kill you and make a trick out of it..."
Still not used to Oma's words even after a full year of teaching him, I pushed myself up and looked around.
"...Hey, there's an Exisal."
"You're right. I guess they normally keep it stored here!"
"Then... Oma, you know what to do, right?"
I said it while deliberately copying Kyoko Kirigiri's cool, commanding expression and tone.
'...I'd always wanted to say that line at least once. And now I finally got to use it.'
That magical line had power. The power to make the other person do all the legwork. I'd been the one getting jerked around more than enough already, so from now on, it was Oma's turn to squirm.
"Got it! I'll go see Iruma! You get the gist, right?"
"Yeah. Then I'll wait."
"Nishishi... you're seriously fun. How did you even figure that out? Hm?"
"...I have my ways."
"You don't seem like a genius... and it's not like your deduction skills are amazing either... other than being weirdly good at charming people, you're pretty normal! So don't tell me you really do have psychic powe—"
"...Please stop."
When I finally threw up both hands in surrender, Oma stared at me and snickered for a long while before speaking again.
"Then let's hold a strategy meeting tonight!"
"A strategy meeting? For what?"
"Huh? To plan how we're gonna kill Iruma, obviously. You're the one who said we should make her the target, remember?"
As he said that, Oma shot me a meaningful look while I stood there blinking in confusion.
'...Is that his way of telling me to play along?'
He was probably saying that to fool Monokuma, which meant I had to agree with him here.
"Right, now that you mention it, we were going to have a strategy meeting about how to kill Iruma from here on out, weren't we?"
"Exactly! Thank goodness you didn't forget!"
"Ah, but I've already got plans tonight... so if dawn works instead... hm?"
'Huh? That bastard... why's he making that face...?'
I was in the middle of nodding along when I noticed Oma wearing a distinctly playful smile. That smile. It was the one he always wore when he was cooking up something nasty. No way...?
"Hey. Get over here."
"Hm?"
Putting on a puzzled expression, Oma stepped closer—and I immediately shoved a hand into his pocket.
"...Thought so. When the hell did you even prepare something like this?"
"Nishishi... you predicted even that? You really are a prophet! Amazing!"
Sure enough, there was a portable recorder in his pocket. Where had he even gotten this thing?
"Next time I should ask Iruma to add an invisibility function too~! Or nah, maybe even that's impossible?"
So that was it. Iruma had made it for him. Well, for her, throwing together a simple recorder like this probably wasn't even worth mentioning.
'Still... I almost handed Oma a weakness he could use against me.'
I hadn't persuaded him, after all. I'd only managed to pique his interest. Which meant he was still wary of me.
So for the time being, I'd have to stay wary of him too. At least until he fully committed to cooperating with me.
"Oh, but actually, that's not a recorder. It's a walkie-talkie! By now, Iruma's probably in her lab, trembling after hearing your murder threat!"
"Please stop lying already. How is it that every time you open your mouth, lies come out that naturally?"
"You won't even fall for it anymore! Now I'm sulking! I'm not playing with K anymore!"
"......."
"That was a lie too!! I still wanna play with K more!"
"...Good grief."
At this rate, instead of smashing the killing game to pieces, I was going to collapse from sheer stress.
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Ding dong, bing bong!
It's 10 p.m. Time for all good little children to go to sleep.
"Ooh, Monodam! You're getting pretty good at your lines now!"
"Yeah! At this rate, maybe we can leave the announcements to Monodam from now on..."
After parting ways with Oma, I rested in my room for a while, and before I knew it, night had fallen.
'Come to think of it... Monodam's still alive?'
Monodam was supposed to die at the end of Chapter 3, but now the motive for Chapter 4 had already appeared and he was still around. That was honestly surprising.
Then again, with this killing game already warped beyond recognition, nitpicking that now felt ridiculous. Besides, I hated the Monokubs anyway.
Even when I played the game, whenever those idiots showed up and started their comedy routine, I'd skip through it with a dead-serious face. So with more than enough on my plate already, dwelling on them was a waste of energy.
'Right. Momota said to meet at the dorm entrance tonight, didn't he?'
Lately, just like in the original story, Momota had started holding nightly training sessions.
In the game, it had been a small little social circle made up of Saihara and Harukawa... but with me, Akamatsu, and even Amami added in, it had turned into a much livelier gathering.
Though now that I thought about it, would Harukawa even come? Her injuries were still there, and she probably didn't even want to look at me. Chances were, she wouldn't show.
Just in case, I stopped Ikusaba and Tojo—who had both narrowed their eyes and insisted on exercising with us—and instead had them stand guard quietly from a distance, but it looked like that precaution had been unnecessary.
'Then... guess it's about time I headed out.'
No matter what happened, building bonds was important. So I shoved aside the clutter in my head and stepped outside.
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"...Ghk."
"Momota-kun, are you really okay?"
"I don't think exercise is a good idea for you right now..."
"You're in enough pain to break out in a cold sweat?"
'Oh, shit... this is bad.'
I'd completely forgotten.
Momota Kaito was doomed to die soon, even if no murder happened. He was suffering from a fatal illness.
This killing game had changed in countless ways from the original, but somehow, rotten things like this always stayed the same.
And because of that, panic started creeping up my spine.
'What do I do...? What the hell am I supposed to do?'
I'd managed to stop people from dying up until now, one way or another, but this time I had no idea what to do.
'Damn it. I had connections to the Ultimate Therapist, the Ultimate Pharmacist, and the Ultimate Health Committee Member, and I still couldn't cure even one disease afflicting Momota? No, wait... that's not it...'
For a moment I blamed my past self, but then I remembered that in the memories of the year I'd spent as a teacher, Momota had been perfectly healthy.
If that was true, then Momota's illness really was another trick pulled by the Mastermind.
'Damn it... Monokuma's pettiness had toned down so much lately that I let my guard down... but no matter how you slice it, Monokuma is still Monokuma...'
I stood there sweating and agonizing over it for so long that the others eventually noticed and started speaking to me with worried expressions.
"K-kun, are you feeling sick too?"
"It seems like colds are going around lately. We should be careful too."
"H-hold on... K! Are you sick somewhere!?"
Among the worried voices, Momota jerked in alarm and asked me directly. He'd probably mistaken me for having the same illness as him.
"No, I'm fine. It's just a little chilly outside... I only shivered for a second."
"I-is that so? Then that's a relief..."
"......."
Even while sweating coldly, Momota relaxed at my answer and spoke with obvious relief. Seeing that made my heart drop all over again.
'I have to save Momota somehow... isn't there any good way...?'
I was sinking into thought over that when I suddenly sensed someone behind me.
"....!!!"
"Hm? Why are you guys—"
Akamatsu, Saihara, and Amami all stiffened at once, their expressions freezing so hard I thought maybe Monokuma or Oma had popped out behind me. So I turned around...
".....Huh?"
"Uh... hi."
Harukawa was standing there.
"Momota, you never said K would be here..."
"Uh... well, things just kinda turned out that way! Sorry!"
"........"
As Momota laughed awkwardly, Harukawa's expression began to turn glacial.
Rustle
That immediately made Ikusaba and Tojo—hidden in the bushes some distance away—look ready to spring out at any second, so I shot them a look telling them to stay put and managed to calm them down. Meanwhile, Momota spoke with absurd ease.
"Then... how about we ditch training today and just talk instead?"
"...Weren't you the one who said we were going to exercise?"
"Well, yeah, but... for some reason my stomach kinda hurts right now...! Let's start training again tomorrow!"
"...I'm leaving."
"Wait, Harumaki! Since you're already here, let's at least talk—"
"...Don't call me by that stupid nickname. Do you want to die?"
I'd used the nickname Harumaki plenty of times back when I was a teacher, but with the atmosphere like this, using it now felt like a great way to get a knife in my side. Best not to say it for a while.
"C'mon, c'mon! Don't be like that... sit down here!"
"...Haa."
Meanwhile, Momota stubbornly clung to Harukawa as she tried to turn away, and somehow succeeded in making her sit down. Thanks to that, Harumaki ended up seated among us with a deeply uncomfortable expression.
Of course, under normal circumstances, I should've been the one looking uncomfortable, considering it hadn't been that long since she'd tortured me. But with my memories as a teacher restored, what I felt was less discomfort and more... familiarity.
And not just with Harumaki. With all of them.
"So... what are we even going to talk about?"
"Hmm... then how about we talk about Harumaki?"
"...About me?"
"Yeah! Like... your favorite blood type, for example!"
"...Not my blood type. My favorite blood type?"
"Come to think of it, what is your blood type, Harukawa-san? Type A? No... maybe unexpectedly Type B... Saihara-kun, what do you think?"
"Hmm... I don't really believe in blood-type personality theories... but if we assume there's something to it, then Type A seems the most likely... maybe?"
"...I am Type A."
"Oh, as expected of a detective. Then would you like to guess my blood type too?"
"Amami-kun is active and cheerful, so... Type B?"
"Correct. They say blood-type personality theory has no scientific basis... but it does line up surprisingly well."
"...So you're saying I have a stereotypical Type A personality?"
"Yep, yep. I think so."
"......"
As someone who'd spent a full year watching this exact style of banter unfold in the classroom, there was no way I couldn't feel a strange warmth from it.
"Um... K-kun, what's your blood type?"
"Hm...? Mine?"
"Ah, wait, wait! Let me guess! Hmm... K-kun seems like Type A when you look at how timid he usually is... but sometimes he's weirdly bold, so maybe he could be Type B...?"
"I'll cast my vote for the possibility that he's unexpectedly Type AB."
"Come to think of it, K, you're impossible to pin down! I can't tell if you're timid... or bold... introverted... or extroverted!"
Now that I thought about it, whenever these idiots got into one of their comedy routines, they always dragged me into it too. Something about how I never looked like a teacher and just seemed like another kid their age.
"...I'm Type O."
"Ehh? Really? Me too!"
"I'm Type O too! There are three Type O people here!"
"Oh, that's interesting. Haha..."
Of course, I was a Danganronpa fanatic who knew every last scrap of character profile data, so I had all their blood types memorized already.
'Come to think of it, Kyoko Kirigiri was Type B...'
I was briefly recalling Kyoko Kirigiri's face with a pang of nostalgia when Saihara suddenly spoke up with a serious expression.
"Um... Harukawa-san, there's something I've been curious about."
"...What?"
"Why did you say your talent was [Ultimate Child Caregiver] at first?"
"Hey, Shuichi! You can't just dive straight into something that deep out of nowhere! We haven't even finished warming up yet!"
"Ah, sorry... I've just been wondering about it for a long time..."
"...I spent my childhood in an orphanage."
"...Ah."
Saihara had accidentally brushed against Harumaki's bleak past, and after making a flustered face, he turned to me and hurriedly opened his mouth.
"R-right, speaking of that... there were pictures of children posted in your research lab, K-kun. The edges had been cut out, so it kind of stuck in my mind... who were those kids?"
"Kids from the orphanage."
"U-uh?"
"I grew up in an orphanage too."
"........."
Trying to change the subject, Saihara had instead walked straight into a knockout punch. He froze on the spot, unable to say anything coherent.
Well, strictly speaking, I hadn't actually grown up in an orphanage... but if I'd transmigrated, then naturally I had to adapt myself to the past of the person I'd become, didn't I?
'And... I kind of wanted to see Saihara's flustered face too.'
I'm usually the one getting pushed around and toyed with. Chances to mess with someone else don't come often. So I felt a little bad for Saihara, but this was a perfect chance to relieve some stress—
"I was the one who cut that photo."
"H-Harukawa-san did?"
"...Because I was in it."
"What? Why...?"
"Because I'm from the same orphanage as K. It wasn't exactly something I wanted people to know. But if you want to know that badly, I guess I have no choice but to tell you."
"......."
Now Saihara was just staring at the two of us with utterly dead eyes. He looked so pitiful that I actually felt a tiny stab of guilt.
"...Akamatsu-san, I think I might start wearing my hat again after all."
"S-Saihara-kun?"
"...I'm kidding. For a detective, your mental fortitude is pretty weak."
"...I-it was a joke?"
"How are you such a coward and still a detective? A man oughta have enough guts to command the entire universe!"
Thankfully, before Saihara could spiral into a full-blown panic, the others rushed in to patch up his mental state, so our little chat session didn't come crashing to an end.
"Then... how about we talk about our own talents? Who wants to hear about being an astronaut?"
"Does anyone here like classical music? It's hard to find people our age who do... Ah, K! Come to think of it, I heard classical music can help during counseling sessions..."
"Given what my talent is, I have more stories than I can count. Enough to talk all night, in fact."
"...If stories about killing people are okay, I can tell some."
Before long, everyone started sharing stories about their talents one by one, and eventually the turn came around to me.
"K-kun, how did you use counseling to charm girls... I mean, help people? It feels like you'd have a lot of interesting stories..."
"Have you ever counseled a criminal? I'm curious how criminals look from a counselor's point of view..."
"More importantly, what's your relationship with that scary transfer student and that maid? Don't tell me those two also got wrapped around your finger through counseling..."
"...What kind of counseling did you give the orphanage kids?"
'Nothing much... though I do have stories about surviving situations almost exactly like this not once, but twice.'
I bit back the overwhelming urge to brag that I'd already survived two killing games through counseling alone, and instead gave them suitably vague answers as they bombarded me with questions about my talent.
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Meanwhile, at that same time, in Iruma Miu's research lab...
"Shit... fucking shit... I knew it... he looked like a creepy bastard... that goddamn counselor asshole..."
Terrified out of her mind, Iruma sat there trembling as she replayed something over and over.
"Right, now that you mention it, we were going to have a strategy meeting about how to kill Iruma from here on out, weren't we?"
"Exactly! Thank goodness you didn't forget!"
"Ah, but I've already got plans tonight... so if dawn works instead..."
Clutching a device identical to the one Oma had in his pocket, Iruma kept listening to the repeated audio until, at last, she hurled it far away and spoke.
"If that's how it is... then I gotta strike first... You think so too, right? This is, this is... self-defense, isn't it? Right?"
"......"
"Sh-shit... you're seriously useless, you bitch..."
Speaking in a trembling voice to Shirogane, who was locked inside the prison she'd built, Iruma realized that repeated experiments had caused her to pass out. She spat out a curse, then left the lab while muttering to herself.
"That virtual reality thing we found on the fourth floor... with that, I can kill that bastard safely..."