Slow Hope

The last time Komaru had seen Monaka, she’d been a fourteen-year-old girl throwing her life away. She was older now, but apparently she still hadn’t grown up.

‘I give up,’ Monaka said.

‘Monaka-chan?’ Komaru was too stunned to do anything but let her roll by.

Harukawa looked at Komaru, startled. ‘You know her?’

Genocider started to laugh.

Shingetsu said, ‘We all know her.’

Monaka’s eyes crinkled up on hearing him. ‘Shingetsu-kun!’ She rolled over to him. ‘It’s been a while. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you guys to show up ... I thought for sure you were all dead.’ She brought her hands together and exploded them out, miming the asteroid strike.

‘You’re the one responsible for this?’ Momota said. He walked forward, wearing a fierce expression.

‘Momota-kun.’ Harukawa’s voice was a warning.

‘Sure seems that way,’ Monaka said, and let out a dramatic sigh. ‘But whatever, I give up. You got me.’

‘People died because of you,’ Saihara said.

‘Well,’ Monaka said, ‘it’s not like that’s anything new.’ She held her hands out toward Saihara, wrists together. ‘Why don’t you arrest me, Mr Detective?’

Saihara looked away.

‘Yumeno-san,’ Harukawa said. ‘You have handcuffs, don’t you?’

‘Huh? Yeah, but ... what’re we gonna do with her? If it’s her fault Tenko and Angie are dead ...’

‘What’s that?’ Monaka leaned forward, her eyes big. ‘Monaka didn’t kill them, you know. It’s that Shinguji’s fault those two copped it.’

‘Maybe we should have another trial,’ Oma said.

‘Whadda we need a trial for?’ Genocider asked. ‘You might not be a pretty boy,’ she said to Monaka, ‘but I’ll try and enjoy killing you anyway.’

‘Don’t,’ Komaru said. ‘You’re going to be a mother.’

Genocider was stunned for a moment. Then she shrugged it off, like a cat shrugging off water. ‘So Fukawa got herself knocked up,’ she said. ‘Big deal. If we’re gonna bring a kid into the world, all the more reason to make sure a rat like her isn’t in it.’

‘Gee,’ Monaka said, ‘are you guys gonna fight about little old me?’

‘We’re not going to fight,’ Shingetsu said. ‘No-one’s killing anyone.’

‘That’s right,’ Momota said. ‘We can’t kill her. We gotta be better than that. Right, Harumaki?’

Harukawa looked surprised. ‘I’m okay with killing her,’ she said.

Crestfallen, Momota turned to Saihara for support.

‘Maybe we should just lock her up for now,’ Saihara said. ‘Until we can work out what to do.’

There was some more grumbling, but in the end they went along with Saihara’s suggestion. Momota and a few of the others escorted Monoka away. Komaru was relieved to see the back of her.

‘She decided to become Enoshima after all.’ Genocider sounded disgusted.

‘I really thought she’d grow up,’ Komaru said. Maybe ‘grow up’ was the wrong way to describe it – even if Monaka had been a child in Towa City, what she’d done wasn’t childish pranks. Shingetsu and the others had worked that out, and tried to atone for what they’d done. But Monaka ...

‘We should check her room,’ Shingetsu said. ‘If she was making Monokuma here, we need to destroy the equipment.’

Genocider’s eyes lit up. ‘Now that, I can get behind. You with me, Dekomaru?’

‘Let’s do it.’

---

The room Monaka had come from was was dim, and the main light came from the giant head of a Monokuma. Its eyes glowed and pulsed, and as they walked in, the Monokuma began to laugh. Genocider pulled her knives out preemptively.

‘What the hell is that?’ Oma had stayed with their group, and he bounded ahead now.

‘Show a little more respect,’ the Monokuma said. ‘Don’t you know I’m the final boss?’ It’s laugh was distressingly loud. ‘Congratulations on making it this far.’

It talked, but it didn’t move. It was attached by a large number of cables to a machine behind it.

‘Hey, Komaru-neesan, do you think that megaphone of yours can do anything about this?’ Oma asked, and he patted one of the cables.

‘Wait!’ said the Monokuma. ‘Let’s not be hasty. Don’t you want to see me birth more Monokuma?’

‘Like anyone wants to see that!’ Genocider said. She hefted one of her knives and threw it straight at the Monokuma, hitting its red eye with a crack.

Komaru followed Genocider’s lead and attacked, blasting the Monokuma with the hacking gun.

‘Well, that was disturbing,’ Iruma said, once Komaru was done. She went over to inspect what was left of the Monokuma. ‘Someone get the lights.’

‘It’s strange that it didn’t make more Monokuma,’ Harukawa said. She found the light switch, and flicked it on.

‘Maybe it couldn’t without Monaka here,’ Oma said.

At Monaka’s desk were a large number of monitors. Komaru went to see what was on them: Momota and the others arguing outside a classroom; Monaka shut up alone. That one disquieted Komaru – she expected that at any moment, Monaka would look up and speak.

But the moment never came. Instead, Iruma leaned over her shoulder and said, ‘The little bitch was perving on us the whole time, huh?’

‘It makes sense,’ Harukawa said. ‘If she was the one behind it all ...’ She frowned, looking at a chippie packet Monaka had left on the desk. ‘What has she been living off this whole time?’

‘Probably the Monokubs were bringing her food,’ Oma said.

‘Maybe,’ Harukawa said. They kept picking about the room, though no-one was sure what they were looking for. An explanation, perhaps. A reason for the hell Monaka had put them through.

There was no reason, Komaru knew. Monaka was Monaka. A hundred years later and she still hadn’t changed.

Harukawa dropped to her knees in front of a rubbish bin, her hand brushing off a layer of lolly wrappers.

‘Did you find something?’ Komaru asked. ‘Is that –?’

‘It’s a shot put,’ Harukawa said. She turned it over in her hand.

‘What kinda weirdo keeps a shot put with her?’ Genocider said. ‘Girl needs a hobby.’

Harukawa straightened. ‘Saihara should see this,’ she said.

‘Eh?’ Iruma said. ‘You don’t think it’s got anything to do with that.’

‘What’s that?’ Komaru said.

‘The first murder,’ Harukawa said. ‘The weapon was a shot put. But we already found the murder weapon ...’ She bit her lip.

Komaru didn’t know the murder they were referring to. It was like with Fukawa – there were some traumas she could never truly understand or share. It wasn’t that she didn’t have her own traumas. But they were hers, just as Fukawa’s were Fukawa’s. Or Harukawa’s were Harukawa’s.

Komaru heard a sneeze behind her; when she looked, Fukawa was there again, looking bewildered.

‘You found it!’ Komaru said. Fukawa had pulled back a curtain, and was standing in front of another door.

‘Did we get in?’ Fukawa said. She looked around the room, trying to orient herself.

‘We did,’ Komaru said.

‘Is she alright?’ Iruma asked. ‘Seems a bit cuckoo.’

Fukawa scowled. ‘Wh-what, is there something wrong with having a split personality?’

‘Well, duh,’ Iruma said.

‘Ignore her, Toko-chan,’ Komaru said. ‘We found out who was responsible here.’

Fukawa allowed the subject change. ‘Who?’

‘Monaka,’ Shingetsu said.

---

The argument about what to do with Monaka took a long time, and they still hadn’t come to a conclusion when Saihara went back to his room, feeling overwhelmed.

They’d found the mastermind, but they’d also found out that the world had really ended. The killing game was over and they still couldn’t go home. They’d never be going home again.

He’d drifted off to sleep when there was a knock at the door. When he stumbled to open it, Harukawa was there.

‘Is it time for training?’ Saihara wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep. ‘Where’s Momota-kun?’

‘There’s something I need to talk to you about first. Come on.’ She turned so sharply that he had to hurry to follow her.

‘Harukawa-san? What do you mean?’ He caught up to her as she left the dormitory. Outside, the sky was beginning to darken into evening. Strange, to think that all the world outside was wilderness. Even when Oma had said so, Saihara hadn’t been able to believe it. Or was it because Oma had said so that he hadn’t been able to believe it?

‘Where are we going?’

Harukawa headed toward the school building, her shoes making a sharp clip against the pavement. ‘There’s something in that room I think you should see.’

They made their way to the library, and through the door Monaka had come from. Saihara hadn’t been inside yet, and it was unnerving to enter it now. So Monaka had been watching them from here ...

‘Over here,’ Harukawa said, and beckoned him – toward the rubbish bin?

There were a lot of lolly wrappers, but underneath ... ‘A shot put?’ He crouched down to pick it up, the weight heavy in his hand. Harukawa stood over his shoulder.

‘What do you think?’ she asked.

There was some fibre clinging to the shot put. Pink fibre.

Saihara knew that shade of pink.

‘This ... isn’t the shot put that killed Amami-kun,’ he said. He wanted to make it a question, but he had a sick feeling in his stomach. This wasn’t the murder weapon. It couldn’t be – there was no blood. But if it had been cleaned, how could the fibre still be on it? ‘Why would there be another one down here?’ He thought of Akamatsu during the first trial – she’d been so determined. Wanted so much to save everyone.

But the mastermind had never been one of them, and Saihara’s plan never could have worked. It couldn’t be possible that Akamatsu’s plan hadn’t worked either.

But there were two shot puts.

Saihara didn’t want to think about it. Because if he thought about it, he might have to conclude that someone else, not Akamatsu, had killed Amami. And that the two of them had died for no better reason than to get the killing game started.

Because Monaka had wanted the killing game to get started.

‘I didn’t want to show Momota,’ Harukawa said, ‘but what do you think?’

‘I think ... maybe you were right, Harukawa-san.’

‘Of course I was right,’ she said, automatically. ‘What was I right about?’

‘Monaka-san. She deserves to ...’ He couldn’t say it.

Harukawa looked at him. ‘I’m disappointed,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘You think that girl could have killed Amami?’

‘But if the shot put Akamatsu-san used is here, then she must’ve ...’

‘She had to have taken him by surprise,’ Harukawa said, ‘but a wheelchair isn’t quiet. And Amami was hit in the head, right? Do you think she could have thrown something as heavy as a shot put that high?’

‘What are you saying, Harukawa-san? She was in here, and everyone else had an alibi.’

‘I think we need to consider all the evidence before we make any decisions,’ Harukawa said. ‘Like whether she lives or dies.’ She looked away, her face troubled.

She thought Monaka had an accomplice. ‘Alright,’ Saihara said. ‘I understand.’

She looked back at him.

‘You don’t want to worry Momota-kun about this. If one of us was working with Monaka-san ...’

‘He wouldn’t like it.’

And Momota was stubborn enough to not hear what he didn’t like.

‘I won’t say anything,’ Saihara said. ‘But I’ll keep investigating.’

Harukawa nodded.

The mastermind had been revealed. But maybe that wasn’t all. Maybe that wasn’t the whole truth.

Maybe Akamatsu had only been guilty in intent, and not in action.

But he’d have to prove it with more evidence than this. If Monaka had killed Amami – or someone else had – he wanted it to be incontrovertible.

He could do it. For Akamatsu and Amami’s sakes.

---

‘What are we going to do?’ Monophanie said. ‘They’re going to forget all about Papa’s game! And that girl ... can’t she be punished?’

Shirogane wasn’t listening. She was finishing the details on the hairpiece for her latest project.

‘Hey! Aren’t we going to punish her? We can still get things back on track.’

‘Hm?’ Shirogane cut the end off a thread, not paying attention.

‘Are you really gonna let it end like this?’

‘Well ... it’s not like we can keep it going now,’ Shirogane said. ‘No-one’s scared of you.’

Monophanie quailed. ‘No-one’s scared? I ... I can try harder.’

‘Don’t bother,’ Shirogane said. She smiled, but the expression wasn’t for Monophanie’s benefit. ‘I’ll just have to take a different approach.’

She’d stayed up late in the lab to finish the costume. Of course, she was angry at Monaka for giving herself up, but she had to think positively. A classmate of Enoshima’s was here, after all. Shirogane would never have had the opportunity to wear this costume as it was, but now ... wouldn’t that be despairful? To confront one of the survivors of Hope’s Peak, dressed as Enoshima herself?

Shirogane was so excited, she struggled to rethread her needle. She had to stop and compose herself.

If Monaka had only called for more Monokuma, this could have gone even better. They could’ve had Fukawa relive the game ... they could’ve had the Ultimate Hope’s little sister play it ... but Monaka had had to go and give herself up. Shirogane couldn’t understand it.

Better Monaka than her, of course – Shirogane was still innocent, in the minds of her classmates. But she couldn’t let it end there.

‘You don’t need Monophanie any more?’

Shirogane looked up. She’d forgotten Monophanie.

‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I don’t need you. You’d just make it more suspicious.’

‘Nooo,’ Monophanie said. ‘You didn’t have to say it.’

‘It’s a shame,’ Shirogane said. ‘After Monaka put all that effort into making you guys.’

But they were only tools, after all. Monokuma, the Monokubs ... they were only the props Shirogane had needed for the game.

And she needed a new role now.