Just One More Time

5 - This Is The Worst Outcome

Shuichi felt his body shake around violently, encouraging him to revive. "H-Huh?" Groaning, Shuichi opened his eyes in the dim room to see Monokuma standing over him with a glare.

"Sleeping before the big show?! Enoshima should punish you for this!" Monokuma snapped. I recognise that name, was it Enoshima Juno? "Get the fuck out there and cause some despair!" Before Shuichi could ask the robot bear any questions, the headmaster threw the male through a large, familiar door, closing it behind him.

Scrambling to his feet, Shuichi glanced around the familiar library. No... This is a mistake, there's no way! Holding back his tears, Shuichi regained his composure and left the library, knowing to make his way to the gymnasium for the future announcement.

-*_*⏳*_*-

"We should all introduce ourselves!" Akamatsu suggested, her body trembling in fear. "It'll take our minds off the situation!"

"I agree," Tojo nodded. Shuichi sighed, zoning out as he listened to everyone state their names and ultimate talents.

"What's your name?" Someone nudged Shuichi, snapping his attention back to the group. He turned to his side to see Shirogane smiling at him.

"Oh, uh, I'm Saihara Shuichi. The Ultimate... Chemist," he lied.

"Nice to meet you Saihara!" Amami waved with a smile. Shuichi nodded, not wanting to speak as his emotions bubbled in the cauldron of his stomach. I can't be the mastermind! As everyone left the gymnasium, Shuichi hurried towards the dorms, slamming the door to his room shut behind him.

"Monokuma?" He asked the room, knowing the Nanokumas nearby could hear him.

"What can I do for ya? Want a few love keys for the future?~" Monokuma cackled.

"N-No. Listen, I figured out I'm the mastermind here, but there's something wrong. I've been repeating games over and over and I just need it to stop," Shuichi muttered. Monokuma hummed, the robot seeming shocked at the revelation. "If I had to go through training or whatever as the mastermind, I don't know it anymore. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Explains a lot. Anyway, I can't help with that!" Monokuma shouted as he disappeared from view. Shuichi felt his body sink into the floor, wanting the fictional world to swallow him whole. Before he could fall into despair, a ringing from his pocket caught his attention. Pulling out his Monopad, Shuichi saw an incoming call on the screen. There's a call function?

Answering the call, an unknown face popped up on the screen. "Who are you?" Shuichi asked the person.

"Call me Asano, she/her pronouns. What's going on Saihara?"

"If I'm correct, you heard what I said to Monokuma, right?" Shuichi asked, trying to piece together the situation in his mind.

"You caught me. Anyway, some type of coding error? Let me look into it right now..." Asano muttered, glancing away from the camera and typing on a keyboard. The room behind her was filled with computers and monitors stretching to the ceiling. Random people sat around, monitoring the game. He could see a few of the other contestants on the monitors, including Iruma doing questionable things with Kiibo.

"Alright, I've found the error. From what I can see, it should be easy to fix for someone like you, especially with your advantages as the mastermind." Asano flicked her gaze between what Shuichi assumed were monitors. "It does entail dying at the end of the season, but according to your code, you have died four times, so that shouldn't be too hard for you."

"Don't remind me," Shuichi sighed, subconsciously rubbing his neck.

"Listen, if you win as the mastermind and remain undiscovered until the last minute, the error will be fixed. Does this all make sense to you Saihara?" Asano asked, turning her attention to the camera.

"Yeah, thank you, Asano," Shuichi smiled at the screen.

"One question," Asano cut in before Shuichi could hang up the call. "You introduced yourself to the others as the Ultimate Chemist. Why? You're supposed to be the Ultimate Detective. You'd made that very clear when you signed up, and you wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Uh, well I figured that if I'm the mastermind, it might be more difficult if I'm a detective. The others rely on me too much and I don't want to be too involved this time around. As a chemist, I think I'll remain undetected, but it's slightly similar to the knowledge I have," Shuichi explained.

"That's fine, just throws a spanner in the works now for us, but only temporarily. Remember that you're now the Ultimate Chemist, don't mess that up, got it? We'll change your lab to resemble your ultimate talent. You'll have to come up with a lie about your uniform if it comes up." True, my uniform doesn't resemble that of a chemist.

"Can I know about the murders that are going to happen?" Shuichi asked, wanting to prepare himself for what was to come.

"Might not be a good idea. The less you know, the more genuine your reactions will be and therefore the less suspicious you'll be," Asano informed the male.

"Makes sense I guess," Shuichi sighed. If only she could tell me all I needed to know. "Can't you change my code or something to fix the error on your end?"

"Trust me, if there was a way to do that, we would have by now. This is as fun for us as it is for you since now we have to restructure almost everything on our end. We put a lot of money into you and now we've been put back because of this error. I'll be here to help you through this. If you have any questions, there's an app on your Monopad which will call me, but keep in mind no one else has this app." Asano typed away on her keyboard, glancing at another monitor as she continued to talk to Shuichi through her black headset.

"Alright, thank you, Asano," Shuichi repeated, this time succeeding in hanging up the call. Throwing his Monopad on the bed, he followed it and buried his face in the pillow, hoping he could wake up from the horrible nightmare he kept repeating. At least Himiko is safe now... I wonder how Harukawa is and if she's escaped or not...

Gasping, Shuichi lifted his head from the pillow, kneeling on the bed as he stared at the wall with wide eyes. His grey cap had slipped off his head, allowing his ahoge to spring free as he trembled at the sudden realisation. I'm going to be killing everyone this time... Even if it's indirect, I'm going to kill everyone and execute another in my place...

This is worse than I thought...