The Ultimate Biologist (Danganronpa 2 x OC)

Chapter 4 (VI): Why?

Hajime had finished summarizing the case.

"Kehehe... you did well..." Gundham said. "Fuhaha! That was splendid! For a mere human, you did quite well!"

"Stop... Stop it already..." Akane said weakly. "Stop using weird words to avoid the truth... Or, I'll friggin' kill you myself!"

She was furious.

"I cannot believe it... I just... cannot believe..." Sonia said in disbelief. "You... You killed Nidai-san... I cannot believe something like that!"

"...You do not wish to forgive me?" he said. "Do you feel regret? Then... cast your impure votes for Tanaka Gundham! My beloved deadly foes! Let the voting time begin!"

"Now then, please pull the lever in front of you and cast your vote!" Monokuma announced. "Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? Let's go!"

—

"You guys were correct once again!" Monokuma announced. "Getting four in a row without any mistakes is a splendid achievement. The one who killed the robotic Nidai Nekomaru-kun in the amazing Funhouse... was Tanaka Gundham-kun!"

"Now that we've decided who the killer is, let's do the execution already and get this over with," Nagito said.

"Hold on..." Hajime said. "It's true that the class trial is finished, but that doesn't mean the incident is over. We can't finish yet until we hear it from Tanaka!"

Nagito sighed.

"Hmph, no matter what he says, it won't change a thing... Well, I have no right to stop you, so do whatever you like..."

Everyone's gaze went to Gundham.

"...Why do you want to talk to one who has lost?" Gundham asked. "The loser merely leaves... it would be unnecessary for me to say something... is what I would like to say, but for honour's sake, I must correct one thing!"

What?

"...Correct?" Hajime said.

"You said I made Nidai powerless without fighting him... That, however, is a great mistake. Nidai did fight... that is no mistake... And because he fought, he lost... and died."

"L-Lost and died?" Akane said, still furious.

"If he was just trying to cling to life, there would've been many ways he could have done so. However, he did not allow that."

"Wh-What do you mean...?! Explain!"

"Fine then... I shall reveal it all... Within the Final Dead Room, I discovered the secret of the Funhouse... And I devised a killing plan using that secret. After succeeding to lure Nidai into the tower, we were alone in the tower, standing face-to-face with one another..."

Nekomaru had realized his killing intent, but instead of running away, which would've been easy, he chose to stand and fight, with the same killing intent.

Both were ready to kill each other...?

"Why?" Sonia asked, close to tears. "Why did you fight? We are all friends! Why couldn't you stop this?! Even if both sides agreed, it was still wrong!"

"I will not force my values upon you, but I must say this!" Gundham said. "What's the point of living if you're just waiting to die? There's nothing courageous about that!"

That's right, either we all starved to death or a murder occurs...

"Giving up on life... That's just an insult to life itself!" he said. "That man... had the courage to die when he needed to die. That is why he challenged me to our battle. Regardless, I have still betrayed you all... That is the absolute truth... Then again... don't you think it's a better alternative than slowly dying of starvation?"