"Did you find her?"
"I had better luck this time---Monokuma showed his short ugly tail for once."
"What color was his tail again? White or bl---arghh!"
"Which season?"
"--. She had a loyal follower put a parasitic virus into herself and changed the script largely from the original. And made it a lot better, in my opinion."
"That's not the point! The point is that if she's here, this is our last chance to get rid of her, once and for all."
"Is there any point, really? You've seen how people on the streets are like, quoting her, dressing like her, their life's ambition to join the hell we escaped from just for the despair."
"<em>Homo sapiens</em> really have gone weird."
"What's so special about this season then? Was there a gaping opportunity or something?"
"The metaverse had gotten so messed up and flawed that the security systems were about ten times more lax then when the series first started. The official mastermind quitting in Chapter 1 was probably an added bonus. Besides, ̵̥͋̒̀̐̍̊͊̐̕͘̚̚J̸̲̲̗̤̠̦̦͔̖͇͔̣͎̎̏̆̐͊̆̀̔͂̄ư̶͉̺̺͉̍͌̾̏͐n̴̖̥̞̗̯̤͉̠̰̰̻̖̊̂̂́̀̐͒͌̋̔͊̈́̂͑̕k̵̫̤̑̀̀ò̷͓͕̖̗̹͔̖̎ has had experience in slipping inside of simulations before. This one would have been easy for her."
"How many goddamn generations are we going to have to deal with this woman?"
"It's your fault, really H̷̨̘̝̞͍̜̟̫͍͓̲̫̟̣̍̓̑̈́̊̅̑͛͛̓͊͜͠ą̸̤̟͚̹̦̬̫̦̻͎̦͍̪͚͉͋͊̅̌ͅj̶̡̲̋̈̍͊̀͊̽͊̃͊̆͐̀͋͌͠͝i̷̥̣̫̰͛̀̆̅̈́͒̊͘͝͝͠m̴̡͙͇̹̝̻̲͍̼̖̙̪̐̐̒͌̃̇͐͐̎̀͌̑̃́̈́̕͝ͅę̶̧̥̖̜͈͔̭̜͖̳̪̝̠̺͈̬̀. The remnants of despair were important factors in immortalizing her."
"Right, right, don't remind me."
"What do we do then, A̸̡̛̛̖̗͙͓̞͂̂͑̃̔̿̐̈̂̍̑̀̕̚ͅļ̷̨̨̧̫̝͍̞̲̮͙̣̗̙͉̀̔̋̽̐̒̆͘̕ṱ̶̛̀̓͌̑͆̀͊̈́̏̅̅̍̕̚ͅe̸̡͍̰̮̘̣͙̗̞̼̜̍̊̅r̴̨̺͚̲̠̱̥̺̠̥̲̦̰͖̱̈́̓͂́͊̄͌̚̕͝͝ ̷͚̼̬̣̘̝͓͔̰̞͈͇̍̈͒͜E̸͕͉͕͗̈́̅̾̀͆͂͊̒̈̐̊̈̆̕͘g̴̡̛̟̫̬̞̟̝̗̺̲̀̊͐̄̀̊͆͛̔̄̓͝ͅo̷̲͈̠̰̫̾̎͆̏̎́̽̊̄̊͆͂͘͜? Can you get rid of the virus and get them all out of there?"
"It'll be difficult--Junko hasn't embedded herself in Monokuma or the environment this time, she's in the core of one of the participants. There's a firewall around the code creating the characters themselves, so I can't go in and delete the virus, "
"Clever."
"What is the show saying about all of this? Now that the killing game is going crazy?"
"They're smiling and pretending that this is all under their control, and the public sure believes them. Apparently they edited over the footage where the previous mastermind took control of the first blood perk and made her look like a weak, pathetic girl with no backbone. Just like how she was supposed to act."
"DO we even know who the real mastermind is at this point? There are only six people left now, you know. Our killing game had six survivors."
"Can't you get it into your fat skull that it's still Chapter 4? At least two more people will die, she'll make sure of it."
<hr>
"Gah!" Kaede sat up upright in her bed, surveying her room. Nothing seemed to have been moved, out of place. She sighed, turned over, and covered herself with the blanket. This had been the sixth or seventh time that she had woken up in the night.
The shadows of the furniture seemed to threaten her, with their large menacing shapes. Despite a large chunk of what had happened in this killing game, she had always been able to fall asleep. What made this any different?
<em>Shuichi.</em> The fact that he wasn't breathing soundly in the dormitory just didn't let her rest. Shuichi was dead, stamped down with the stupid golden block, his blood covering the trial room.
And Kaede was alone. So, so, alone.
Kiibo seemed to blame himself for the fact that <em>he</em> had died, but Kaede just really couldn't blame him and move on. Kiibo wasn't to blame for this---all he did was live, and Kaede was glad that he did. Besides, Kirumi pointed something out the moment they returned to the surface.
"Even if Kiibo's execution went smoothly, there was a chance that Monokuma disposed of Shuichi, seeing him as a threat,"
Kaede didn't want to lose Kiibo. There was already one extra victim in this case.
<em>Kokichi...</em>
No one really seemed to have any words for the Ultimate Supreme Leader's death. Sure, it was a bit pathetic, but he really didn't deserve it. He hadn't really done anything wrong, after all, other than being a huge jackass. If he wasn't lying about having a super large evil secret organization of over 10,000 members that was responsible for tons of blood, pain and suffering.
Kaede wanted to believe something bout Kokichi. That he was a functioning human being under all the lies. And the fact that maybe, just maybe, they could have been friends once they left this hell.
If they had more time.
The room was getting stuffy, hot imaginary air filling Kaede's lungs, suffocating her. She didn't like the feeling of being breathless. It seemed to evoke a sort of panic in her brain, like a trained reflex from years of trauma, which was weird, because Kaede had never been suffocated before. Maybe it was deja vu. Her mind played Clair de Lune to try to calm her down, but the recent short and horrible feeling of it being devoid of any music chilled her to the bone.
She took the spare vest out of her backpack and pulled it on, before reaching for the doorknob. Someone might be on the other side of the door, waiting to ambush and kill her. Monokuma might be on the other side of the door, ready to announce a sick new motive. The <em>mastermind</em> might be on the other side of the door, ready to--- uh, you know, mastermind stuff.
She didn't give a damn about all the risks anymore. She just needed some air.
Just as she stepped out into the dark, steamy night, she felt her foot squish something.
Something soft and black, around 40 centimeters in diameter, adorned with a simple pattern of white lines that stood out in the darkness.
.
.
It was his hat.
It was Shuichi's hat.
<hr>
"What's wrong with Kaede? She's just been... sort of kneeling in the doorway of her room all day. Should I escort her to breakfast?"
"Shh... leave her alone, you heartless freak! She's obviously feeling down because that emo degenerate male stole her heart and died holding it!"
"I didn't know you could be so poetic, Tenko,"
"SHUT UP!"
"..."
"You're making the most noise out of all of us, Chabashira-san."
"Right...so what does everyone want for breakfast?"
"DOUBLE DIBS ON HOTPOT!"
