Alter Ego was destroyed. Executed. No more were we able to connect with him anymore... Monokuma's grin was wider, more sinister than ever.

"Y-You...!", Makoto looked like he was going to punch something.

"You suck, man! You turned him into a mangled hunk of junk!", Hiro yelled in despair.

"Whew, that really took it outta me! Maybe I'll go grill up a plate of chicken! After all, they say for post-workout grub, chicken's where it's at! And I'm all about the grilled goodness! Fried? Broiled? Gimme a break! The color, the smell, the succulence... Grilled is where it's at! Ahh-hahahaha!", Monokuma laughed.

"How dare you...? That was my friend! How dare you kill him!?", Makoto shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Huh? You were friends with a laptop? That's pretty pathetic. What's next, friends with a basketball!?"

"Shut the hell up! He wasn't just a laptop. He was my friend! And you killed him!"

"Is this what you call animism? Where a soul dwells within all thing? Even, like...laptops? Well, you can call it whatever you want. Bottom line is, it got in my way. It was trying to find things out all sneaky sneaky."

"So...you finally noticed him.", Kyoko hummed.

"Finally? No no no, I knew about it from the very beginning! I knew Chihiro was doing something with the laptop. And I knew you were using it to analyze data. I knew exactly how it was all gonna play out from the start!"

"You did...?", I muttered.

"You knew, and you were still cocky enough to let us take the plunge...?", Togami asked with a scowl.

"Well, I mean...the data in that laptop? It was...I guess you could call it a gift, from me to you. Or maybe more like a reward, in honor of you being able to unlock something so difficult. So of course I didn't care if you got access to that. But sneaking into the network was just too personal! So I had to do a little, ya know, reformatting!"

Alter Ego tried to get into the network... That was what Kyoko had mentioned in her plan with Makoto...

"Puhuhu... Yeah, the punishment time has made me feel a billion times better! Experiencing a meaningless death is so soothing! It makes me remember that every low can get even lower!"

"No...his death wasn't meaningless, either. Everybody who's died so far... The deaths of each and every one of our friends... They all make us stronger! I swear to God...someday, you WILL pay for this!", Makoto declared.

"Holy moly! You're super mad! Like, just unreasonably upset! Okay, time to bring things to a close! Oh, but before that--! I need to read the post script."

"Post script?", I echoed.

"Yeah, there's still a bit more left of Sakura's note."

"Huh...?", Hina's attention was peaked, as well as the rest of us.

"Puhuhu... Do I have your attention? Okay then, here we go... Prepare your ears for the dulcet tones of yours truly!"
---

" ...One other thing, Hina. There's something I'd like you to tell the others. Hopefully it will act as a clue to help you unravel the mystery of this school. I've spoken with the mastermind off and on the whole time I've been here, and so I've learned one thing... Which is...the mastermind has done something to us. I think what they've done is--"

---
"Oopsie daisy! That was a close one! Another word and we would've been hip deep in spoiler territory! Okay, I don't wanna ruin the surprise, so book club is dismissed for today!"

"What!? You can't just stop at the most important bit!", Hiro huffed.

"It makes your brain rumble and tumble, huh? It makes you so mad you don't even friggin' know, huh!? That's the whole point, STUPID! It's to get back at all of you for hardening your resolve!"

"Fine, but at least... Sakura's note...", Hina held her hand out, her glare strong, but it didn't deteer Monokuma.

"Like I'd ever let any of you greaseballs have it!"

"B-But..."

"Heh-heh-heh. Sucks for you, loser! ...Wait, what's this?"

"What is it now...?", Kyoko asked.

"There's one last line in the note!"
---

"And let me just say this to the mastermind. I'm not going to just lay down and die. I *will* fight you , you bastard. No matter what."

---
"...And that's seriously it! Huh. Wow, what a stubborn loser, huh!?"

She won't lay down and die? She'll fight you...?

"Well, whatever. Who cares what some dead musclehead has to say? Okay, I'm outta here! You guys should try to get some rest, ya know? And maybe take some time to reconsider how you approach this school life of yours... Are you sure you don't want to graduate? Can you really cut free from the regrets of the outside world? Puhuhu... Think about that. Think long, think hard...",Those were his parting words to us, before disappearing.

But what was that all about...? Sakura's final message, her last clue to help us solve the mystery of this school... The mastermind...did something to us? Kyoko said something like that before, didn't she? It was after Taeko's trial was over... The mastermind did something...to our bodies... What are they saying the mastermind did...? What did the mastermind do to us? I mean... Did the mastermind plant a bomb in us or something? And if we try to leave the school, a sensor goes off...and the bomb explodes!? I've seen stuff like that in movies and comics and stuff. So it's not totally unheard of... No...! I feel awful just thinking about it! I can't afford to acknowledge thoughts like that.

"So the class trial is over and Monokuma's gone... So...now what do we do?", Hiro muttered.

"What else is there, other than to head back up?", Togami stated.

"Oh, yeah! Okay, let's get out of here."

"B-But... I, um... ...", Hina muttered, looking down in guilt.

"Hmph. Dial back that ego a bit, girl. The kind of mystery someone like you could pose is absolutely no threat. I would never have lost to that kind of challenge."

"What are you talking about? Kyoko, Kuno, and Makoto are the ones that figured everything out.", Hiro mentioned.

"Thank you for seeing our efforts, Hiro.", I grinned, him giving me a thumbs up and happy wink.

"Shut up...", Togami grumbled.

" ...Seriously...I'm sorry...", Hina sighed.

"How many times do you plan to apologize? How about you make that the last one. I haven't reached a point where I need someone apologizing to me more than once..."

"As much as I don't like Togami's tone, he's right. You don't have to apologize... We don't hate you for what you did, not one bit. So, chin up! Sakura would want you to smile!", I grinned.

"O-Okay, I see what you mean... Th-Then... I'll...try...", Hina smiled up at me, her spirits lifted.

"H...u...h...? Th-That totally wasn't normal, right!? Did she just c-capture her flag...? No! No no no! I cannot suffer the existence of someone who would disturb the romance between me and Mistress!", Genocide Jack yelled, running up to me and hugging me from behind protectively.

"R-Romance!?", I sputtered, my face going red.

"Wh-What are you talking about!? That's NOT what's happening here! W-We're just friends!", Hina stuttered.

"Friends...?", I muttered.

"O-OR BEST FRIENDS! Yeah, Besties! Amigas! Whatever you want, hehe!"

"O-Okay, you can let me go now...?"

"Never! You are *MY* Mistress, mine!"

"Ohh, more biting sarcasm? No wonder you don't have any friends!", Hina scoffed.

"You're making me jealous! *I* want the abuse give-and-take! ME!"

"Abuse...!? H-Hey, if it's abuse, I don't want to give OR take!", the others laughed at my predicament, giving us a more relaxed atmosphere. Nighttime descended, and pulled me down along with it, down to my dorm. But the night still wasn't over for me. Just as I was about to lay my head down, I found a note on my bed. I picked it up and read it; it was from G. It was much shorter than the others are directed to me.

Hello Kuno. I hope you are well. Things are going to open up soon, and more mysteries will be open to us... Be prepared for any more notes in the future.

I sighed, threw the note in the fire quickly and went straight to bed.

CHAPTER 5 : 100 MILE DASH; PAIN OF A JUNK FOOD JUNKIE (7 STUDENTS REMAIN) (DAILY LIFE)

CHAPTER 35, END!