Entertaining a Small Thought

Arc 6 Part 5 Hated Well by Life Itself

Everyone was silent even now that the motive video had ended. It was as though time had frozen as they desperately tried to process the information they had just gained. This was, in truth, the most they had concretely learned about Rin Wakuri since this killing game had begun. They should be happy that they knew more about him now, as he had always been a mystery.

They were not happy. In fact, they were anything but.

Eventually, the words sank in enough for someone to stagger and finally speak, breaking the deafening silence.

"What...was that?" Kaede asked, still at a complete loss as she stared off at nothing, failing to register anything else besides the bare minimum. "Is...Is that video real? Did that...really happen to Rin?"

"...I don't know." Shuichi managed to answer as he suppressed the rising bile threatening to come up from his throat. "I don't remember anything about Rin before he became the Ultimate Hope."

"This must be what he was before gaining that title, then," Rantaro said, his face hardening as a deep frown formed on his lips. "Rin Wakuri only became the Ultimate Hope as an adult when he became the leader of the Future Foundation, and that was after he had led the battle against the Remnants of Despair. This must have been his Ultimate Talent when he was our age."

"The Ultimate Attorney. A master of the law. One who can play the part of defense, prosecution, and judge with ease." Kirumi surmised as her fists shook. "That is what we can assume from the title alone...however, the way he gained that title..."

"Terrible doesn't do it justice," Tenko growled as pure fury began to roll off her form as she shook. "His parents were murdered, and his life nearly ruined, and people come in and rip away any choice Rin had in the matter?! How utterly cruel! No wonder Rin said he hated his talent!"

"This answers quite a bit about our favorite deceased amnesiac, though, doesn't it?" Kokichi asked as he put a hand to his chin as he thought. "No wonder he was so skilled in the trials. He was a damn lawyer. This place makes sense now, too."

"Yeah. A judgment hall for a judge. A place where sin is punished. That was the feeling we got when we entered. It makes sense for a place so heavily drenched in a righteous and virtuous atmosphere to belong to the Ultimate Lawyer. It's designed to be like a real courtroom." Shuichi nodded.

"I think there are more important things to discuss," Kirumi told them as she turned to face them, a severe new look aimed right at them before she spoke again. "What we should discuss...is the purpose of that video."

"Right... It certainly was a motive video. No doubt about that." Kaede shivered as she recalled the cruel, calculated words of pure malice and deceit spoken by the video's narrator. "It was different than the videos we got, right?"

"Definitely. The voice wasn't Monokuma, and that video wasn't a simple memory like Rin had been promised originally. Maybe the first video was the memory before it got corrupted, but this second video is nothing more but a motive to kill." Shuichi frowned.

"It wasn't trying to get Rin to kill any of us, though. It was trying to get him to...kill his friend, Yuna Tamura." Tenko pointed out before she bit her lips nervously. "The same Yuna Tamura...that case filed said was killed by Rin."

"Then shouldn't it be obvious what this video is?" Kokichi asked, a forced, wicked smile showing as he spoke. "That was a motive video, but not for our killing game. Something not made by Monokuma but by someone else. What do you think that means?"

"You don't have to spell it out. It's as you said. It's obvious." Rantaro tightened his fists. "Rin was like me. He must have survived another killing game before this one. Not only is he the Ultimate Attorney, and he isn't just the Ultimate Hope. He's also an Ultimate Survivor."