"Well, from what I could tell, they didn't plan on participating in another class trial. Maybe it's because they thought the next trial.. would be theirs." Kokichi's shoulders dropped. His lips went dry, his knees trembled, and his hands shook. "So you're saying... they killed themselves?"

"Th-that can't be!" Tsumugi yelled. "Y-you've gotta be joking, Shuichi!" Shuichi looked down. "It's... it's not really definite, but right now it's what I believe." Kokichi gritted his teeth. Did I miss something? Were they actually not happy? He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Kokichi, I know that look. It's not your fault." He looked at Himiko, who was trying her best to be comforting. He smiled and looked straightforward.

"What would cause them to do such a thing?" Kirumi wondered. Ryoma closed his eyes. "They seemed to be just fine, but much can be hidden by a smile." Kaito clenched his fists. "If they were upset, they would've told us! They also would've died a long time ago, right?" Maki bit her thumbnail once more. "I don't think they were sad..."

Shuichi tilted his head at Maki and thought back to everything they had investigated. Your body was positioned... rather specifically. "They definitely planned their death, seeing as there was a note under their body, with a riddle." Rantaro's eyes lit up. "Oh! Maybe it was there so no one would try to take it. The riddle did seem important." Shuichi nodded. You had a huge hole in your chest. And your eye... "Oh! Is it because of their eye?" Maki nodded. "Who would take the time to dissect their own eye?"

"S-so, they didn't kill themselves...?" Himiko asked. Tenko raised her eyebrow. "But, how did the door lock, then? The wall wasn't knocked down like some of the others in the academy, so that was the only exit, right?" Maki turned to Kokichi. "Did you check the other eye?"

Kokichi shook his head and put his hand on his arm. "I-I was scared to." Rantaro nodded. "I get the feeling." Shuichi remembered something that they had found in your room. "Kokichi, do you have the Necronomicon from Y/N's room?" Kokichi nodded and pulled it out. "But none of us could open that." Kaito said.

"Ooh! Let me try!" Angie offered. She was handed the Necronomicon and tried to open it. When it wouldn't open, she sniffed the pages to smell for glue. "Hm, odd. Atua has not told me what is wrong." Kiyo spoke up. "Possibly, it was already used." Everyone turned to him. "What do you mean?" Rantaro asked. "Well, when a Necronomicon is used, there is a certain condition so that it cannot be used again. Like the Necronomicon Angie had. You had to burn it."

"Nyeh? But who used it?" Himiko wondered. Angie raised her hand. "Ooh! Was it the mastermind?" Shuichi shook his head. "Why would it be in Y/N's room?" Gonta had a concerned look on his face. "Shuichi is not saying what Gonta think he saying, right?" Shuichi nodded. "I think Y/N used it."

Monokuma giggled. "If it's important evidence, then I can open it for ya! Gimme!" It was handed to him and he opened the Necronomicon without any trouble. He gave it to Rantaro and he read it aloud.

"When doing the ritual, you must have at least one belonging of the deceased. You must place them in a circle, and cover them, so they are no longer visible. Once that is done, place a living creature, such as a dog, cat, or even person. Then, the living creature may feel a tug from their inside. This is because different parts of their soul will..."

Rantaro covered his mouth. "W-what?" Kokichi asked, desperately. Rantaro took a deep breath. "Th-this is because.... because different parts of their soul... will leave their body. A-and be provided to the deceased. Th-this may cause bleeding d-depending on how many people you... you're planning on bringing back." Rantaro's eyes filled with tears. "B-but anywhere o-over 10 people will certainly k-kill the creature, so be cautious."

Everyone was silent. "Y-Y/N... did that for us...?" Tenko asked herself. Rantaro took a deep breath and continued reading. "This will be incredibly painful, so it is not recommended to use on yourself. Once it is finished, the Necronomicon will be shut, and no other living being will be able to open it." Rantaro looked at Monokuma. "And that's why you could open it, huh?" Monokuma nodded. "That's right! Thank me later!"

Miu gritted her teeth. "Thank you? You're the reason Y/N's dead in the first place!" Monokuma giggled. "Of course I'm not! I told them the risks of the ritual, and this is what they said:"

"This is super dangerous, you know." Monokuma told you as he handed you the Necronomicon. "I-I know..." You clutched the book in your trembling hands. "You might die." You looked back at Monokuma as you walked away. "I know."

Kaede covered her mouth. "They... knew?" Everyone was anguished to hear of this, but not as anguished as a certain purple-haired high schooler. "Kokichi... are you alright?" Kirumi asked, her face evident with concern.

"No, no, I'm fine!" He said with a pained smile on his face. "The-the only person that ever believed in me, ever cared about me, ever saw through everything I put up, the only person that I ever truly wanted to keep safe, just died. Why wouldn't I be alright? All they did was hold me up when I felt like I would just collapse when everyone else just pushed me down further. It's not like they were that important, you know? I lived a life without them before, h-how's this any different? Their smile lit up my day, but how is that any different from other smiles, right? Like you said Shuichi, I'm alone, and I always will be!" Shuichi peered at Kokichi. "Kokichi, I-" "No, no, I just told you, I'm alright. They were just like e-everyone else... the only difference... was that they meant the world to me... that's just a small difference, right?"

The smile that was "hiding" his pain had fallen a long time ago. He was inches away from collapsing on the floor from the weight of the words he had just let escape from his mouth. "I loved them so much..." He whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Of course I wouldn't care..." He shut his eyes, and the tears swelling up in his eyes were finally set free. "OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" He yelled, loudly, making everyone flinch.

"They were one of the only people that made me genuinely smile, the only person who actually took time out of their day to try and help me. Y/N was the first person to ever try to see past my lies, to ever actually try to get to know me. DICE was my family, but they weren't as close as Y/N! Y/N saw the me that they saw, not the me everyone else did, or even the me that I wanted everyone to see! When I lied, they judged me for my truth. When I laughed, they saw my tears. When I smiled, they noticed the pain hiding behind it. Their smile gave me more comfort than my parents ever could. They were there when I was sure I was going to break, and acted as the glue to hold me together. They've been through so much, but they stopped to help me- no everyone with their little problems. They were my everything... THEY WERE MY EVERYTHING AND NOW THEY'RE GONE! I PROMISED TO PROTECT THEM AND I FAILED!"

The room went silent. "Kokichi..." Kaede whispered as her hand was placed over her mouth. Before today, in everyone else's eyes, Kokichi was a liar that only got to where he was through deceitful remarks, and half-baked lies. But seeing him like this... was a whole different scenario.

"Why don't you give us a rundown on what happened, Shuichi?" Monokuma asked, with nor remorse. Shuichi gritted his teeth. "You disgust me." Kokichi shook his head. "I-if you don't, then we won't be able to continue." Shuichi's eyes softened and he began the closing argument.

"Y/N had been planning to bring everyone back a long time ago. However, they had to keep it subtle, so they never got the chance to. After Kokichi and Kaito's death, it was decided that they would perform the ritual before another class trial. Once they learned about key evidence about who the mastermind could be, they quickly went to their room to give us hints about the mastermind on their white board, and gather all the items they had gotten from the deceased. Then, they went outside to where Monokuma, the Monokubs, and Kiibo were battling. They managed to get Monokuma's attention and aske Monokuma if there was any way to bring the deceased back. He handed them the Necronomicon and told them the risks of performing the ritual. They paid no mind to Monokuma's warnings and searched for a secluded room, which is when Kiibo saw Y/N walk by. Following the Necronomicon's instructions, they laid out everyone's belongings in a circle and covered them with rocks that had fallen from the ceiling from the constant impact cause by the battle between Kiibo and the exisals. Then, they placed the living creature in the centre of the circle, and that living creature happened to be themselves. But before lying down in the centre of the circle, they had written a riddle and kept it clutched in their left hand behind their back for us to find. This would prevent blood from staining it and covering the words, and the riddle was just in case the mastermind found it before us. Once they did so, the ritual had finally begun. To muffle their pained screams, they used their hand to cover their mouth as their soul slowly left their body, leaving a large hole where their heart is."

"And that... is how all of you are here, and how Y/N L/N, the Ultimate Psychologist, died." Shuichi hesitantly concluded. Tsumugi wrapped her arms around herself. "I-I can't imagine Y/N in so much... pain." Gonta nodded. "Gonta... no can protect someone... again!" Miu and Kaito had similar reactions, both ending in "dammit." Kirumi was silent, as was Ryoma. Rantaro had started crying a long time ago, as well as Kaede, Tenko, and Himiko. Angie's normal, passive-aggressive happiness was now shaded with sadness. Kiyo pulled down the bill of his hat over his face. Kiibo was full of regret. "I should've stopped them when I saw them." He repeated. Maki had her eyes shut and was facing the ground. Kokichi was on his knees, crying a river. Nonetheless, your death had caused so much despair.

But, you didn't let it slide. You had noticed that everyone was upset, and it was after Shuichi spoke for about ten minutes. "I guess they figured it out." You mumbled to yourself as you descended and landed on the floor. "Hey!" Everyone looked up and around. "Are you really going to let something like this discourage you? Come on, you know better! Life goes on! You can't let Y/N's death be the wall that blocks the road! You're going to let despair take over now? When you're so close? Keep your heads up! And Y/N will be right there with you."

This seemed to cheer everyone up. "Why won't you tell them who you are?" Kiyo's sister asked. You smiled. "I want them to go forward on their own... my identity isn't necessary if all I'm giving them is a little shove in the right direction." You mimicked a push with your hands as you flew back up in the air.

"Who is... even saying these things?" Maki wondered. Everyone shrugged. "Well, whoever it is seems to be guiding us out of the despair we feel or on the brink of feeling." Kirumi pointed out. "It is most likely someone helpful." Kokichi let the voice echo through his ears. It was no more than a whisper in everyone's ears, but he recognized it. You flew up in front of him and kissed his cheek, the same cheek that he kissed on you. He looked around and grazed his finger over his cheek. "What's wrong, Kokichi?" Himiko asked, looking up at the already small boy. "N-nothing, I just thought I... never mind."

"Alrighty, it's time for the awaited Voting Time!" Monokuma chanted. As always, the screen on each student's podium lit up. It was already set to your button, as Kokichi's eyes lay upon your happy smile, while sitting on your chair with a clipboard. Kokichi raised his hand and his finger hovered over your button to vote. He had seen you do this same action before, but he never thought he would have to.

But it didn't seem like he was alone. Everyone was staring down at the screen before them, most likely taking in all your features before they'd never see you again. He felt a slight push at the back of his hand, making his finger fall onto the voting button. Finally, once all the voting was done, the monitor descended from the ceiling, revealing that everyone had voted for you. The spinner that determined the blackened spun, as if it were in slow motion. It landed on the photo of you, and confetti sprang out of the digital machine.

"Y/N was so worried about all of you. To be honest, they were kind of dragged down by you guys. But they decided to keep the dead weight, and that resulted in all this!" Monokuma remarked. "But as you can see, you do not remember anything you observed when you were watching from the afterlife! At least, I think that's what you were doing."

Monokuma suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as he and everyone else heard, "If you talk about them like that again, I will haunt you until the day someone finally brings you to the garbage dump... and there... I will tear you limb from limb. Understand?" Everyone looked at Maki. "I-it wasn't me, I swear!"

"It sounded too breathy to be Maki." Himiko pointed out. "It kind of sounded like someone was whispering right into Monokuma's ear." Kaito felt a chill down his spine. "W-what?" Maki rolled her eyes. "You talk a big game, but you definitely don't play one."

Monokuma giggled. "Since I have no one to punish, I guess you can move on to finding the truth and ending the killing game, or whatever you wanna call it." Shuichi looked over at Kokichi. "You'll... be able to participate, right?" Kokichi nodded and looked up with a forced smile. "Of course!" Kirumi tilted her head in concern. Kokichi let out a pained laugh and looked at your portrait, letting his eyes travel down the lines that made the 'x' over your face. "They... wanted me to keep my chin up and move forward. So that's what I'm gonna do..." He looked down once more and barely whispered.