The results of the vote rolled out. As expected, Teruteru had the overwhelming majority of all the votes.
"Correct!" Monokuma announced. "That's right! This time, the blackened responsible for the murder of Togami Byakuya-kun is... Hanamura Teruteru-kun!"
"N-no... nononononono...!" Teruteru cried.
Grim faces marked the appearances of practically everyone in the room.
Why? Nagito had set up the blackout, yet Teruteru had been the one to murder?
"A-Are you serious?!" Fuyuhiko said. "Are you saying a ponce like him is the one who killed Togami?"
"B-But... WHYYYYYYYY?!?!" Nekomaru cried. "WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?!?!"
"I-It was a mistake..." Teruteru pleaded, his voice weak. "I'm telling you it was just a mistake... I... was only trying to save you guys... I was only trying to stop Komaeda from murdering one of you guys!"
"...Huh?" Hajime furrowed his brows. "'Trying to stop'... What do you mean?"
Teruteru gulped. "I spent all morning in the old building preparing the dishes for the dining hall... a-and then... I heard a weird laughter in the dining hall... and when I peeked out there... I saw him. I saw Komaeda, in the middle of cleaning duty, putting the knife under the table...! I-I had a bad feeling about it... so I continued to watch what he was doing... And I saw him place the irons he brought in the storage room... and mess with the air conditioner timers... Plus, he was grinning... Just grinning by himself the whole time... S-So... I questioned him... Wh-When that happened, he...!
"He just shrugged it off! He shrugged it off so casually like he hadn't just been planning a murder! He just told me it was pointless to stop him, that he'd definitely start the killing no matter what, even if it wasn't now! I-I don't get it...! He just spouted a buncha stuff, that it wasn't because he wanted to leave this island... that it was somehow because he admired us... because... because he... wanted 'hope to triumph over despair', or something like that! He said something about the greater the despair, the greater the hope... that he wants to see the hope 'shine', so he'd be... a 'stepping stone'? I-I... still don't understand! I don't understand at all!"
"K-Komaeda!" Hajime shouted, "...what is the meaning of this? E-Explain it to me! I don't understand... anything about this story at all!"
"You see, if you have a favourite boxer, don't you want him to fight against a strong opponent and win?" Nagito answered.
"You better not compare us to that," Fuyuhiko growled.
Nagito blinked in wholehearted confusion. "It's a given that trials are necessary to become strong and the harsher the trial, the stronger you become, no? For mere humans, killings are simply a tragedy, but... It's amazing to me that someone as untalented as myself can become that trial! There's no point in someone like me surviving... It's far more significant for me to die as everyone's trial." An unhinged look appeared in his eyes. "There's no greater honour than becoming the foundation so that your values may ascend to brave new heights!"
Kazuichi trembled. "S-Stop it... You're seriously starting to piss me off..."
"Tch... All this so-called justification..." Katsumi's glare hardened. "In the end, it's all just nonsense you're spewing out of your mouth.."
"I-I don't understand it at all!" Mahiru cried. "Are you saying you basically wanted to commit murder for fun?!"
"It's not the same as someone killing for fun, but... I guess it'd look the same in your eyes," Nagito replied. "I have no intention of surviving and leaving you all to die."
YOU ARE READING
The Ultimate Biologist (SDR2 x OC)
FanfictionBOOK 1 OF MY DR OC SERIES Instead of attending her first day at Hope's Peak Academy, Hirata Katsumi finds herself trapped on an island in a killing game alongside her fellow classmates. They were given one basic rule as its cornerstone: to escape, o...
