Hifumi's body, discovered in the nurse's office... Taka's body, discovered in the equipment room... Two nightmares, one after the other, like a never ending hell in a coma. Yet this wasn't a dream or a nightmare... This was reality. 

Why...Why me?

Makoto, Sakura, Togami and I stood before Taka's dead body. Toko had apparently seen the body as well, but she was passed out on the ground from her fear of blood. A hammer, similar to the others we had seen, was on the ground. Looking at it, it had the number 4 on it.

"But...why is it Justice Hammer 4?", Sakura asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Makoto mumbled.

"Celeste was attacked with Justice Hammer 1 , then Hifumi was hit with Justice Hammer 2. But this time it was Justice Hammer 4. What happened to number 3?", Sakura explained. I looked down, grief written all over my face.

"About that..."

"... What's the matter?", Togami asked.

"Justice Hammer 3 was used... On Hifumi. Hifumi is dead.", I muttered.

"Wh...!? Hifumi's been killed!?", Sakura gasped.

 "Y-Yeah... ", Makoto muttered.

"Which is why you came to get us... Then we'd better go check it out.", Togami nodded.

"Of course! Come on!", Sakura led us all outside, rushing out the physics lab. But as soon as we were out of the physics lab, We ran into Celeste.

"...Ah--!"

"Celeste? Aren't you supposed to be waiting in the nurse's office?", Makoto asked. Celeste looked away, a little shaken from something by the looks of it.

"S-Something has...come up."

"Yeah, I heard. Hifumi is dead, right?", Togami shrugged.

How is he so calm...?

"Well...that is not all. It is...gone.", Celeste said vaguely.

"Huh? What's gone?", Makoto asked with a raised brow.

"It has disappeared..."

"Disappeared...?", I mumbled.

"Hifumi's body has disappeared!", Celeste revealed.

"What...?", Makoto gasped.

"What are you talking about? It's disappeared? Don't be ridiculous.", Togami scoffed. Celeste just met with silence. "...Are you serious?"

"Let's go back to the nurse's office!", I urged. We all ran to the nurse's office, busting the door open to find... Nothing. Hifumi's body was gone, leaving only the pool of blood behind.

"...Me and Celeste went to the bathroom... But we were only gone for like a minute! And then, when we got back...", Hina trailed off.

"This must be the work of the culprit. They must have come and carried the body away. They must really be enjoying this... Enjoying the sight of us standing around, frightened and confused... We're all going to die here. We're going to die, just like those guys died...", Celeste scowled, yet her fear was evident.

Fear, something I never thought I would see on Celeste's face.

"I don't believe this. I don't believe a body would just...disappear. First there were two murders, and now one of the bodies has been taken? This is...unnatural.", Togami stated. Hina gasped, looking at all of us confused. 

"H-Hold on! What do you mean, TWO murders!?"

"Taka's been killed. We found him in the equipment room.", Sakura stated, looking away.

"I-It can't be! Taka, too!? It can't be... It can't be... NooooooOOOOOOO!!!", Hina fell to the ground as she began to go into a panicked state. Sakura and I ran to her and did out best to calm her down. 

"Hina, calm down!", Sakura urged.

"Just try to breathe Hina, please...", I mumbled while rubbing her back.

"We're all gonna die... All of us... They're gonna kill all of us!", Hina muttered.

"Then who might the next target be? Toko?", Togami asked with a raised brow. 

"Huh...?", Makoto looked up at Togami with confusion.

"I completely forgot! She's still unconscious in the equipment room!", Sakura gasped.

"You left her at the scene of the crime!?", Celeste muttered in surprise.

"We didn't have a choice. She passed out, and she refused to wake up.", Togami shrugged. I didn't wait for them to finish as I dashed back to Toko to make sure she was okay. I heard Makoto call for me but I ignored him.  As soon as I got there, I found Toko still passed out on the floor, but... Taka's body was gone. The others ran after me, finding what I had saw.

"This can't be happening...", Togami growled, quite frustrated.

"Are we hallucinating all this or something?", Sakura huffed. 

No, I know what I saw. I know what the others saw. They were dead.

"No... it's not a hallucination.", Makoto mumbled.

"Wh-What!? Are you saying...Taka disappeared, too!?", Hina gasped.

"Stop saying "disappeared." It didn't just vanish into thin air. Obviously whoever did this has hidden the body.", Togami brushed off Hina.

"But why would they do that?", Makoto asked. 

"I couldn't possibly begin to imagine.", Togami muttered.

"Anyway, our costumed suspect is clearly continuing his crime spree.", Celeste stated.

"We gotta hurry up and catch him, before he kills ALL of us!", Hina declared, but Togami cut him off. 

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that."

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"Think about it... Who could possibly be responsible for killing and hiding these dead bodies?", Togami asked. 

"U-Umm...", Hina scratched her head then shrugged.

"When Hifumi's death cry went up, everyone here was together on the 3rd floor.", Togami began to explain.

"After that, we split up into two groups.", Celeste interjected.

"And now this time, you all came here as a group from the nurse's office. In other words, the only ones who could have done this are Hiro and Kyoko, who are still missing.", Togami hinted. Makoto, for obvious reasons, didn't like this.

"H-Hold on a second! Kyoko has an alibi for when Celeste and Hifumi were attacked! There's no question that she was in the dining hall with us!"

"Hmph. You seem very adamant about defending her. Perhaps you are...in love?", Togami smirked.

"Is this really the time for that?", I sighed.

"Th-That's not it at all!", Makoto denied, glancing at me for a second before turning back to Togami.

What was that for..?

 "Well, anyway. Yes, I do accept Kyoko's alibi.", Togami nodded.

"Which means, the suspicious individual we're looking for can be none other than...Hiro.", Celeste revealed.

No... Not Hiro... How could he?

"Which further means, there will be no more murders. The regulations are very clear about that.", Togami pointed out. 

"Oh, that's right...! There's a rule that says you can only kill a maximum of two people...", Makoto confirmed. 

"As long as that rule is in place, there will not be a third murder. If they were to break that rule...", At Togami's comment, Monokuma popped out of nowhere with a cackle. 

"I'd mince ya! Mince ya without a second thought! Mince ya, grind ya, turn ya into paste! By the way, did you know that fish paste can also refer to shellfish, like shrimp or crabs!?", Monokuma leaves with that odd comment. 

"...Indeed.", Togami finished right after Monokuma left. 

"So since two people have been killed, there is no possibility of any more.", Celeste muttered.

"You knew that from the beginning, didn't you Byakuya? Which means you knew Toko was never in danger...", Sakura sighed.

"I still meant it when I said we'd be better off without her, though.", Togami shrugged with a smirk.

Jerk...

"Anyway, with that in mind, we can now relax and search for the two missing bodies. Whatever. We need to find those bodies, or our little narrative here can't move forward."

The two missing bodies... Two people have been killed, and their bodies have been hidden. The only person who doesn't have an alibi... Is Hiro. But...is he really the killer? And where did Kyoko go? Is she... Involved?

"Very well. Then let us split up and begin searching.", Celeste nodded.

"B-But...", Hina stuttered, looking a little hesitant.

"There is no need to be afraid. No more murders will take place during this case.", Celeste pointed out, but Hina still looked scared.

"I-I know that. I mean, I think I do. But..."

"If you're still nervous, I'll come with you.", Sakura offered.

She's such a good friend... 

"O-Okay, thank you...", Hina sighed.

"No need to thank me.", Sakura nodded.

"Then let's get moving. Yell out if you find anything.", Togami advised. We all split up to look for the missing bodies.

CHAPTER 23, END!

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