[ What if ] Ishimaru died before Mondo

Chapter 4

The morning after appeared only like a strange illusion as if the day before had by no means take place. Makoto woke up, got dressed and exited the door of his room. In the lobby, he looked to his surroundings to check others' dormitories. Just as he suspected, the existence of Ishimaru's, Hifumi's and Celestia's plates indicated that the events he thought he had dreamed were the crazy and raw reality he had awoken to.

He went to the dining hall to realize he was the last one to appear. Makoto was surprise to even see this person present. The majority of his classmates were repeating their morning routines. I consider their oddly calm behavior to be a copying mechanism to deal (or not deal) with the situation they witnessed hours before... And who can blame them? The only 'odd' person that he met that morning was the most solitary one. Mondo was seated near a corner; the furthest he could from the others, in front of an untouched plate of fruit distracted looking at bolted window that was at his right side. Basically, he was looking at naught, just his distorted reflection on the metal.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I am ok. I guess Ishimaru's death hit me harder than it should have."

"It's ok. You guys were awfully close. It's only understandable!"

"Oi, oi. I hope you are not insinuating something!"

"What? No! NO!"

"Ha-ha-ha. I'm just messing with ya' kiddo. And I apologise for my attitude last night. I just need time to process. "

"No need to apologise. If you ever need to talk-"

"Thanks."

Makoto nodded. The same routine endured for two days. At breakfast he went to the same spot to remain in silent, look at his food and holding Ishimaru's medal at all times. Makoto heard him spoke a total of 2 words during that time.

At the third day, Monokuma presented a new, disgusting motive. Chihiro was found dead the morning after. Mondo was the culprit. The events which lead to the current verdict are pointless... at least that's how Mondo felt. A side of him wanted him to raise his arm and admit his guilty conscious the instant everybody discovered his body. Yes, Chihiro was a boy. The other half wanted him to lie with all of his teeth. He cared about no one present and only wished to return to his gang. His eyes shifted of to the side, to avoid eye contact and hide his shame. What he did to Chihiro is unforgivable.

He fought his case on trial, presented false testimonies and attempted to pass the guilty veredict to the most convenient but in the end... like many others who tried before him, he failed and he accepted it. It was unusual to see the glorious and the ultimate gang leader so calm. Common was to listen to his crude and loud convictions, empty threats and screaming something 'manly'. At all time, he had to perceive a 'manly' image to not let anyone consider him as unfit to be a chief. Now he let that image shatter in front of his classmates.

He resumed his crying. Not even he was longer sure about its cause for the uncontrollably crying. "Hahahah- how embarrassing..."

"Why... Mondo?"

"Puhuhuhu! It's my time to shine since Mondo has decided to take a vow of silence! The foundation of this murder highlights the sad story of two men. There was once a young boy and his name was Chihiro Fujisaki. He had an extreme inferiority complex regarding his own lack of strength. He was bullied and abashed as long as he could remember and wasn't able to overcome his weakness so he metaphorically drown in that weakness to take on the fragile form of a petite young girl. Once the killing game started, he saw that inferiority complex as a huge and easy target for murder plus the lovely and hattteeeefuuuuul Monokuma announced embarrassing secrets as the motive for the next trial. The revealed secret meant the fall of the cracked armor he wore. Surprisingly (and annoyingly), he used the threat as a motivation to become stronger! In that eventful day, he made the commitment to begin exercising in order to retrain his mind and body. Sadly, his opportunity did not concretize because he made a fatal mistake. He decided to confide his secret to one and worst person he could ask for help..."