The Price of Naivety

Suzuki Minoru sighed, “Ah… this truly is a tragedy that stirs the soul…”

Suzuki Minoru continued, “But Amagasa-kun… have you ever stopped to consider that Furuhata-kun was merely an unwitting participant? Your act of intentional murder, however, is an undeniable felony. This very game of mutual slaughter truly began the instant murderous intent and hatred first took root within your heart.”

“Before you even realized it,” Suzuki Minoru added, “you had already walked straight into Monokuma’s cunning trap~”

“Indeed, everything you’ve said rings true,” Amagasa Gen admitted, his voice a low thrum. “Yet, with matters having reached this point, I find myself utterly unable to turn back.”

“It seems,” Amagasa Gen murmured, “that collaborating with you in the first place was an egregious error.”

“It’s already over, isn’t it?” Akahira Yuusuke interjected, a tremor in his voice. “Why… why are you still dwelling on this?!”

“Oh? And what precisely was the error?” Suzuki Minoru inquired, his tone deceptively mild.

“Didn’t you, in the end,” Suzuki Minoru continued, a chilling smile spreading across his face, “successfully take Furuhata-kun’s life? Hehehehe…” The sudden, uncanny mirth in his voice and expression invariably sent shivers down my spine.

“This isn’t just some pervert!” Katagiri Mimi cried out, her voice trembling with barely contained horror. “This is an absolute madman!”

“Amagasa-kun,” Suzuki Minoru mused, a glint in his eye, “you couldn’t possibly believe… that I was ever truly on your side, could you?”

“How utterly naive, hahahaha! I, for one, have no desire… to perish so easily!”

“And it’s certainly not out of fear of death, mind you! I’ve simply been so eagerly anticipating everyone’s performances on this grand stage… If all of you were gone, what spectacle would remain for me alone to witness?”

“Precisely! Your magnificent performances are the very impetus for my existence! And besides, I certainly don’t wish to witness the tragedy of beauties perishing prematurely…” He abruptly fixed his gaze upon my eyes, and the sheer intensity of his unusual stare made me profoundly uneasy.

“Which is why,” he announced, a dazzling, almost boyish smile gracing his lips, “I felt perfectly justified in stabbing you in the back~”

“What an utterly peculiar individual…” Amagasa Gen muttered, shaking his head. “Back then, what I truly should have done was make you…”

“Die obediently?” Suzuki Minoru finished his sentence with a chillingly malicious tone, catching us all off guard and leaving us momentarily speechless.

“Can you just shut the hell up?!” Akahira Yuusuke roared, his voice laced with fury. “Is it truly so entertaining to fan these flames?!” Yuusuke’s fist, clenched tight, was already arcing towards Suzuki’s face…

“Yuusuke, hold on!” Takagi Masahiko exclaimed, swiftly restraining Yuusuke.

“Hmph?! Hold it right there!” Monokuma interjected, his voice sharp. “Absolutely no acts of violence are permitted between classmates!”

“I was born with an inherent aversion to bullies, you see?! Anyone who dares to strike another right before my very eyes shall witness me extinguish evil!”

“Who’s truly the bully in this situation, anyway…” Ishii Yoshimi muttered under her breath.

“Everyone, please calm yourselves,” Chisaka Erin urged, her voice soothing. “Let’s hear Amagasa-kun’s response.”

“Amagasa-kun,” Takahashi Aki asked tentatively, “if Suzuki-kun hadn’t proactively offered his assistance, would you truly have gone through with killing him…?”

“No,” Amagasa Gen responded, “I am not so cruel as to commit murder to silence someone. My sole intention was to issue a warning, nothing more.”

“What’s this then…” Suzuki Minoru drawled, a smirk playing on his lips. “Amagasa-kun, you should have told me sooner! It seems I was merely overthinking things~ Ah, but… my ultimate decision, however, remains exactly the same.”

“Suzuki,” Takagi Masahiko interjected, his voice laced with an uncharacteristic severity, “could you perhaps refrain from speaking quite so much?” It was the first time I had ever witnessed such a chillingly sharp glint in Takagi’s eyes.

Suzuki Minoru remained silent, his gaze unreadable.

“Everyone,” Amagasa Gen began, his voice filled with profound regret, “I am truly sorry… Even now, at the very end… I still lacked the courage to confess my crime. A person like me truly is utterly worthless…”

“Enough…” Akahira Yuusuke choked out, his voice thick with emotion. “Please, don’t say another word…”

“Amagasa-kun…” Osakabe Nanase whispered, her voice faltering, “you mustn’t… blame yourself so excessively…”

“Ah… I truly don’t know what to say anymore…” Akino Atsushi sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Regardless, I certainly don’t consider you ‘the worst’ right now.”

“Indeed,” Habara Kazuhiro affirmed softly. “I still believe your original, gentle demeanor was your most admirable quality.”

“Hahaha… Everyone…” Amagasa Gen chuckled, a bitter edge to his laughter. “You are all far too kind…” Yet, the smile that graced his features was profoundly gentle, as if transporting him back to the very day they had first met.

“The one truly at fault isn’t you, Amagasa-kun…” Takagi Masahiko declared, his voice firm. “The one truly responsible… is *it*.” His finger, unwavering, pointed directly at Monokuma.

“Hmph?!!” Monokuma scoffed, its tone laced with disbelief. “You dare to claim *I* am the one truly at fault?! Honestly… I was merely revealing the secrets of your past, wasn’t I? You don’t actually believe you’re some paragon of justice, do you? Hupupupu…”

“No matter what nonsense you’re spouting…” Takagi Masahiko declared, his voice ringing with conviction, “I… no, *we* will never allow you to succeed! And then, we shall defeat you with our own hands!” He spoke with the fervent passion of a protagonist from a shounen manga, proclaiming words of righteous defiance.

‘Is this truly… the archetypal hot-blooded, yet somewhat foolish, hero…?’

“What’s the matter, little one? Are you perhaps feeling frightened…?” Amagasa Gen murmured, his fingers gently stroking the owl’s head.

“I’m sorry, little one…” Amagasa Gen whispered, his voice tinged with sorrow. “I won’t be able to stay by your side as I once did… You must take good care of yourself, understand?” The owl perched on his shoulder tilted its head, observing him silently. Amagasa carefully cradled it in his palm, then gently lifted it towards the window above, a portal to the open sky. With a soft hoot, the owl ascended, carrying his freedom and joy into the boundless blue. As it vanished from sight, Amagasa felt a profound sense of solace wash over him.

‘What an incredibly… poignant and heartwarming scene that was…’

****

“Alright, alright, that’s quite enough of that—” Monokuma declared, its tone sharp.

“Honestly, this prolonged, utterly tedious display has truly begun to make me drowsy…”

“It’s high time we moved on to the main course~”

“M-main course…?” Kitajima Kazumitsu stammered, his eyes wide with apprehension.

“Why, it’s none other than—! Everyone’s eagerly anticipated ‘Punishment Time’~!”

“Everyone, farewell,” Amagasa Gen said, his voice imbued with a desperate plea. “You must, *must* escape from this place…”

“Understood…” Takagi Masahiko responded, his voice strained. “I know…”

“Amagasa…” Akahira Yuusuke choked out, his voice raw with anguish. “You… you utter fool…” Overwhelmed by pain, he found himself unable to meet Amagasa’s gaze.

“We *will* get out…!” Katagiri Mimi vowed, her voice cracking. She hung her head, tears cascading down her face like rain.

“Yes…” Chisaka Erin murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “We promise you, Amagasa-kun, we will all make it out of here…”

“Without a doubt…” Kamimura Anko added, her voice barely a whisper.

“Then… let the festivities commence!” Monokuma announced with a flourish. “I have prepared a truly unique punishment for our ‘Ultimate Ornithologist,’ Amagasa Gen-kun!”

“Let’s throw ourselves into it with all our might—Punishment Time!!”

With both paws, Monokuma seized a hefty wooden hammer and brought it down with savage force upon the crimson button before it.

[GAME OVER. By unanimous vote, Amagasa Gen has been designated the culprit. Punishment will now commence.]

Within the pixelated animation, Monokuma mercilessly seized and dragged away the student—Amagasa Gen.

A colossal mechanical raptor, its movements orchestrated by Monokuma, snatched Amagasa Gen in its twin talons, then rocketed straight through the ceiling of the trial room, ascending rapidly towards the sky.

Amagasa Gen’s face, rather than pure terror, was etched with an overwhelming sense of shock.

He was subsequently suspended high above a conical rock formation jutting from the coastline. The mechanical raptor, however, then began to steadily lower its altitude, hovering some distance below the cliff face, before abruptly releasing its captive.

Amagasa Gen, however, refused to abandon his last glimmer of hope. He intended to seize this fleeting opportunity, to claw his way onto the cliff face above. A ferocious will to survive surged through him, igniting every ounce of his strength. He clung desperately to the jagged tip of the precipice, his fingernails gouging deep into the stone, some already mangled. Even as the relentless pull of gravity left raw, bloody trails on his skin, his eyes burned with an unyielding resolve.

Those teetering on the precipice of death, fueled by terror and an innate will to survive, experience a surge of adrenaline. Thus empowered, Amagasa Gen strained his arms, slowly hauling his body upward. In a split second, he clamped his teeth onto the jagged tip of the cliff, then shifted his hands forward. With a final, seemingly effortless heave, half of his body was finally draped over the cliff’s edge. Overwhelmed by a sudden, exhilarating rush of hope, he let out a jubilant, unrestrained laugh.

Yet, without warning, the mechanical raptor had materialized directly before him. With a brutal stomp, it instantly shattered the very tip of the cliff. In that fleeting moment, Amagasa Gen, as if caught in a dream, saw the spotted dove he had cherished since childhood. As his eyes fluttered closed, the smile that graced his lips was one of profound serenity, utterly devoid of fear, brimming with a quiet acceptance.

In an instant, numerous sharp, elongated stone cones erupted, impaling his body and leaving it riddled with wounds. Scalding blood began to steadily trickle from the tips of these cruel spikes. Even in his final breath, his serene smile remained, utterly unchanged…

Standing transfixed before the screen, we found ourselves plunged into yet another profound silence, one far more oppressive and suffocating than the last.

“I… I… feel utterly wretched…” Osakabe Nanase choked out, her voice barely audible. Unnoticed until now, tears of profound anguish streamed down her face.

“This young lady,” Amemiya Wakaba declared, her voice trembling, “also feels this pervasive agony throughout her entire being…”

“Even at the very end…” Suzuki Minoru exclaimed, his voice rising in fervent admiration, “Amagasa-kun refused to relinquish even a sliver of his hope to survive! It’s true! When individuals transcend their fear through sheer force of will, they truly become human!” Once more, he adopted a devout stance, as if solemnly declaring an oath to the heavens.

“You… feel no sorrow at all…?” Akahira Yuusuke demanded, a sudden fire of rage igniting in his eyes.

“How could I *not* feel sorrow…?” Suzuki Minoru countered, a hand pressed to his chest. “The demise of a comrade naturally plunges me into inconsolable grief! Precisely for this reason! I must uncover your true intentions. What… what exactly have you been concealing from us?” He pointed a righteous finger at Monokuma.

“What?? What are you even talking about? I don’t follow!” Monokuma tilted its head, feigning an innocent expression as it looked at Suzuki Minoru.

“Speaking of which… has no one else realized the peculiarity of the recent events?”

“Peculiarity…?” Takagi Masahiko echoed, his brow furrowed.

“What exactly are you trying to say…?” Akahira Yuusuke pressed.

“Didn’t Monokuma mention it before?” Suzuki Minoru elaborated. “It said it would send us a video of an unknown [motive]… Logically, Amagasa-kun couldn’t possibly have forgotten such a painful past, could he?”

“It certainly is difficult to comprehend…” Chisaka Erin agreed, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Could someone have tampered with him…?” Ishii Yoshimi mused, then shook her head. “No, that’s not right. Why would even I…?”

“Hmm… I’m the same…” Takahashi Aki added, her voice trailing off.

“How strange… I can’t recall such important past events at all…” Akino Atsushi murmured, perplexed.

“It feels as though a part of my memory is missing…” Kitajima Kazumitsu admitted, a troubled frown on his face.

“This young lady cannot possibly have amnesia… What on earth is going on?” Amemiya Wakaba exclaimed, clearly agitated.

“Ahahaha! So, everyone has finally realized the gravity of the situation!”

“Monokuma… what have you done to our memories?” Kamimura Anko demanded, her voice sharp with suspicion.

Indeed, as someone privy to the game’s storyline, I knew perfectly well that Monokuma had deleted a segment of our memories. But… when exactly did that memory occur?