Killing Game Busters

With A Step Back

Tsumugi Shirogane had been fretting ever since last night's events.

'It's just... one failure after another,' Tsumugi thought.

She knew this, ever since Kaede and Rantaro... the one thing she couldn't fail due to their... history. She had tried her best but there was no denying that she had stumbled at the very beginning, no matter how satisfying the results were. She even thought that her mistakes were over once the rest of the murders simply went smooth sailing without any need of her interferences but then the whole VR thing happened and things went downhill even worse than her first blunder.

With the days ticking by and no murder in sight, she had to act. She certainly did not want to be disposed of, but that too was a failure and when the time was ticking closer, as she looked on her stubborn enemies who were preventing murder like they were unaware of the consequences that would happen if no murder takes place by tomorrow... which Tsumugi full well knows how aware they actually are.

So when the KGB (she knew of that silly name of theirs), or more specifically Kokichi, gave an offer, Tsumugi was desperate enough and burdened by her failures to hear him out especially after the gentle coaxing from Gonta, where she felt like she wasn't alone for the first time in a while...

What Gonta had said was nice, warm and believable. Truly befitting of a character she could lean on. That caused her to let out a show of weakness, which by the way, should have never happened.

Unfortunately, she was truly weak for characters like Gonta. Honestly, she wanted him to survive until the very end, if giant characters were even allowed to. But she really wanted it so, just for his comforting presence in this dark and dreary killing game.

Just too, for what may come at the aftermath of the killing game with all the survivors.

Tsumugi's momentary weakness, letting her walls down, allowed her to even momentarily comply with Kokichi's request. Of course, he did not want her to just simply turn a blind eye. It was that question... that stupid question.

What did I want to believe?

When it came to Kokichi's supposed murder plan, Gonta and Miu had adamantly believed it a lie while Tsumugi...

"How very realistic of you. Why don't you die right here and now?"

Honestly, she was suspicious but by Tsumugi's own logic, it matched with Kokichi's. A day to find out how to save everyone is more impossible than finding out after giving themselves more time by sacrifice.

For some reason, she felt her answer was the tipping point of whatever scheme they... no, Kokichi concocted. He took one long look at Tsumugi, smiled in a knowing way that irritated her to the core and then knocked her out before she knew it.

It was the next morning that she had awoken to Monokuma, who was finally back in commission, by the KGB nonetheless and demanded what she knew of the official challenge offered by them to Monokuma and what involvement she had about it.

"What official challenge?" Tsumugi asked.

"So you really don't know...?" Monokuma asked, his red eye glinting too long at her for her liking before continuing, "Just imagine. Right after I was rudely put to sleep, they rudely awaken me to prattle on about challenging Danganronpa, giving interesting exchanges and gambling for Danganronpa's fun, like they can do anything like that."

Tsumugi remained a blank state, even as Monokuma continued on, "Like they believe they can make an unsolvable mystery right up until their eventual deaths."

Tsumugi only raised a brow in question but did not ask it, for Monokuma to answer anyway, "Well, you know because of certain circumstances that I was out of commission and during the hours that we were both out like the light, they were preparing the motives for their eventual crime scene, their mystery and this time, we 'have to figure it out on our own instead of being total know-it-all', their words. Can you believe it?"