Precious Cinnamon Roll.

Timaeus Woodworth had had enough of the swingset for now– his sister enjoyed pushing him off the swings far too much. He stood up and wiped the dust off of his jeans with a sigh as little Penelope cackled wildly.

It was then that he noticed the kid standing by themselves at the edge of the playground. Looking back for an encouraging nod from his mother, he took off towards the new arrival, sister in tow.

“Hi! Um, I’m Tim and this is Penny!”

“Hi!” She nodded emphatically.

She didn’t realize that anyone had noticed her, and sure as heck didn’t note that they were approaching her until they spoke up. She gave a small scream, backing up a little.

“Huh?”

She calmed herself down just enough to process that there were two children in front of her. She fumbled with her fingers nervously. It wasn’t as if she could just refuse to play with them.

“... O-Okay...?”

“Tch.”

Almost immediately realizing her own actions, she looked startled with herself. She never got angry with anyone, especially for no reason. She tried to stop tears bubbling over, to no avail. Her hands shook and she was forced to put the pan down before she burnt herself or worse. Once she stopped shaking, she murmured an apology, picking the pan up once more. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, sniffing. 

Her legs came as a shock. They were completely and fully healed, like nothing had even happened. As he mentioned the mask and new outfit, she turned around. She would be lying if she said that she wasn’t interested in the outfit that Tomo had made. She had never gotten to wear it, and maybe never will, but she could definitely go for the mask right now. “Ah, um, Monokuma fixed m-my legs after the trial. I still do not know why myself.” She flipped the now finished pancakes onto a plate and turned the stove off before spinning to face him. She walked over to him and gently took the mask and put it on, before taking the outfit.

“…”

All this week, Timaeus had been running on fumes– this motive was hell on everyone, including him, but he’d been one of the few who wasn’t actively hurting themselves so he’d been rushing back and forth trying to help where he could and keep people hanging onto life and now two people were dead and he couldn’t do a thing about it. 

What was the fucking point? he wondered as he staggered back to the first crime scene. Most everyone was still crowded around Kukuru’s body in the freezer, so he might have a few moments to himself back in the ski shop, to… investigate. That was all he was good at, all he could do. He’d been too much of a pussy to investigate the first murder, and he’d been incapacitated for the second, but this time he was going to find out who the hell was responsible for this, and more than that, he would scour every inch of this godforsaken mountain and incriminate the monster who had trapped them here, the man behind the Monokuma, and… well, he wasn’t quite sure what exactly he’d do, but goddammit he had to do SOMETHING.

“…”

Caren couldn’t help but scream upon seeing the body of Nao in the ski shop. He had been so kind to her, and what had happened to him? He was dead, murdered by someone else here. But something in her gut told her that this wasn’t quite over yet. She had hobbled around the mountain, walking into the freezer and noticing something out of the corner of her eye. Swallowing even though her throat was completely dry, she limped over, ignoring the dull pain in her foot. She moved the clothes hesitantly before her sight locked onto the body. Silence. Her mouth opened, before she let out a scream. Tears poured from her mask as she shook violently, gripping onto her arms as she sobbed. Kukuru too..? Why was... This...?

She could see Timaeus leave from the corner of her eye, and turned, deciding to follow him. It hurt to step on her foot, but thankfully it didn’t seem to be so bad. She always had been a quick healer, and the rest she had gotten had helped a little. But hey, she wasn’t putting much weight on it, and maybe she could even ask Monokuma for help. She walked inside the ski store, walking up to Tim and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“... A... Are you going to be alright...?”

Anyone passing by in the hallway would have witnessed a very strange scene– Timaeus Woodworth wearing an elegant purple dress over his skinny jeans and red sneakers, knocking quietly on the door to his own room before shuffling in. It did make a little more sense in context of the crazy events of the last couple of days, but either way Tim was past the point of caring about aesthetics.

Azaki– God bless him– had helped him carry Caren inside from that horrific fall, and they’d elected to bring her to Tim’s room so he could keep an eye on her. Her leg didn’t seem to be getting any worse, that was something, but she certainly wouldn’t be walking around anytime soon. And when she heard the announcement of the event over the intrusive monitor in his room, she sounded a bit disappointed about not being able to participate…

So he’d joined Ren in a crossdressing adventure to get to the chocolates, and had just now returned to the room, a basket of undecorated chocolates and tubes of icing in hand. He waved quietly at Caren before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

She couldn't remember how long it had been. How... How long had she been stuck here? She didn't want to be here anymore. Why couldn't she just leave? Mumbling to herself in German at the announcement, she frowned, closing her eye. As soon as Timaeus left, she opened it, sitting up. Grabbing the blanket, she pulled it off and stared at her leg. Hm. She looked around, before swivelling her good leg out of bed, before picking up the bad one and moving it, despite the pain. It couldn't get damaged anymore by just standing, right?

Caren, in a short matter of time, managed to construct a fort out of the blankets and pillows that she had, before gently and cautiously getting in, making sure not to mess up her leg. She heard the door and poked her head out, blinking at him. What...?

Instead, she started panicking. The air had been knocked clean out of her lungs as she lay as breathless as a fish out of water, gasping and choking, trying to get precious air. She tried to reach up to cover her face, only to find shards fall into her hand. Her mask. The impact hit more than the fall upon the realisation that her mask was broken.

She was going to die here, wasn’t she? Alone, unwanted and in agony. That was just what she deserved, wasn’t it? A choked laugh escaped her, which soon however turned into a series of coughing that made her vision blur even more than it already was.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a comforting voice started to talk to her. She couldn’t make sense of what they were saying, but once she heard the word ‘inside’, she had a good feeling. She started trying to move away, practically dragging herself along with tears in her eye.

“… No… No, let… Let me die…”

The moment she tried to move her leg, she gave a scream, tears bubbling and spilling over as she curled up in as much as a ball as she could manage without causing herself even more pain, shaking as she cowered. She felt the fabric fall over her torso and looked down, a startled expression on her face. Caren went silent for a second, before giving a gentle laugh.

“… Haha… Why do you… Even bother trying…? I’m going to die here anyway…”

Whatever happens, this isn’t your fault.

Running on his last fumes of adrenaline, he returned to the building and immediately made for the ski shop on the second floor. Splints were long and thin and rigid… So were skis, right? He grabbed a pair of wooden ones, ski poles too, and as many scarves and blankets as he could carry- they could tear those up for bandages, he thought. He also picked up a roll of tape and some scissors from the library, then headed back downstairs and ran outside once more.

He saw where Azaki had made his way down the cliffside, but he didn’t want to push his luck trying to climb down while carrying so much stuff; instead he leaned over the edge with a yelp to get the boy’s attention.

“You look… dire, and I know firsthand how much it hurts, but I’ve never heard of someone dying from a broken leg. Besides, Mader-san,” he said, smiling, “you’re worth the effort.”

Azaki locked eyes with her scars for only a moment before he looked away, eyes filling with water. This girl’s life had doubtless been saturated with hardship even beyond what the headmaster revealed, and that broke his heart. In the interest of efficiency, the counsellor bit back his tears and tucked his questions away for later.

“Maybe we can, ah…” He cleared his throat. “We can ask Tomomi-san to fashion you a new mask, if you’d like.” He tensed, eyes still fixed on the horizon, and added quickly, “That’s not to say I think anyone should find you unsightly, I’m just— I’m trying to consider your comfort, that’s—”

The librarian’s yelp prompted a flinch, and Azaki craned his neck to look at him, pulling on the most encouraging smile he could muster.

“Thank you, Woodworth-san,” he called up to him, rising unsteadily to his feet. “I’m, ah… ready, I think.” He reached up and caught the first bundle, setting it carefully beside Caren. A few minutes later the rest of the supplies followed. He peered uncertainly up at Timaeus. “Careful on the slope, alright?”

"... Worth the... Effort...? H-Ha... Haha... That's a funny joke. I... I don't deserve any h-h-help or pity after what I said to... Nnhhh..."

She raised an arm to half heartedly cover her face, violently shaking as she cried even harder. She felt awful. The one person who genuinely cared about her, and what had she done? Screamed in his face and attacked him. God, she was pathetic. She gave Azaki a weak shove in an attempt to get him away, giving small hiccups and whimpers of pain.

Hearing the librarian's voice, she cowered even more, covering her face with both hands as she shook. "Hnnk- I don't deserve anything of the s-sort... Why would he waste that sort of time on me...? I don't d-d-deserve... A-Anything... And it's fine, I already know they're u-ugly... Like the rest of me..."

A shiver shot down her spine as she realised what was going to happen next, squirming. "N-No! No no no, please no... No... It hurts..."

She kept a tight grip on his arm, still protesting as she stared at the skis in fear. The last time something like this had happened to her, it had hurt so, so badly. She didn't want that again. She didn't want to hurt. Caren lay there, her protest fading slowly as she began to calm down, even if only slightly. She looked up at Azaki fearfully.

Something seemed to flicker and die in the girl’s eye as she pulled herself away from Timaeus, staring at the floor. She was shaking, but not with fear. Oh no, this was anger. Pure, unbridled anger. Seeing her mother in that cage after all this time had triggered something inside of her, something that even her own consciousness couldn’t control. And unfortunately for Timaeus, he was in her way, and right in the line of fire.

“Not going to lose me? Ahaha. What am I, your pet? Your little trophy?!” She spat the words out like venom, still refusing to look at him. “Stop acting like you actually care about me! That’s what everyone does, and then they j-just use me and t-t-throw me away! But… But I’ve had enough.”

She turned, raising the knife towards him as she walked forward, forcing him to move backwards so he wouldn’t get skewered. 

“Stop acting like you care. Stop acting like you can understand me. STOP ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW WHO I AM!”

They reached the wall, and she paused, fists balled.

“JUST WHAT DO YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT ME?!”

She raised the knife and brought it down onto the wall just centimeters away from his head, the splintering of wood the only sound in the room. Her anger immediately melted away as she tried to form words, say something, anything. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she backed away, horrified and terrified of what she had done. She shoved past him and ran, ran all the way to the door outside. Flinging it open, she threw herself into the snow and kept running. Ruka- No, Ren had fallen here before and nearly died, hadn’t he? He was only saved because Tomo and Monomi had helped, right? Well, Monomi wasn’t here to save anyone anymore. 

Oh god oh god oh god he hadn’t meant to yell again?? He was just so scared and he didn’t want anyone to die especially not her but he saw the fear in her eyes and- and god it was all his fault he’d triggered those horrible memories again and he deserved every word she spat at him as she pinned him against the wall with that sharp, bloody kitchen knife. The words still hurt– no he didn’t know her all that well but he genuinely cared about her, about everyone, he would never use anyone or throw them away– but what hurt him the most was her conviction that no one could care for her.

Timaeus’s life flashed before his eyes as the knife slammed into the wall behind him, just inches from his face. He couldn’t move, his joints had frozen in fear, he just cowered there helplessly as tears and horror flooded her face and she turned and ran once more. Ran for… the doors to the outside she was going to freeze herself to death with that open wound! He had to do something… he couldn’t give up on her now.

He forced himself away from the knife and from the wall and staggered out of the kitchen, looking around desperately for help– help with what? He didn’t know, but he could barely stand at this point and he was sure he’d need help with something.

And there he was– the blue-haired grief counsellor, pausing for a moment in the lobby to glance at the crowd in the cylinder. Tim felt terrible burdening him with something like this when he barely knew him, but on the other hand… if anyone could get through to Caren, it would be him.

His eyes darted between each of his classmate’s. The librarian’s panic said more than his words did, and the counsellor ran after him without question. It was a firm reminder that in circumstances like these, crises could erupt out of no where.

Outside, the wind bit through his blazer. The chill was paralyzing, and though Azaki tried his damnedest to keep up with his classmate, closing the gap between them was beyond his capabilities. He slowed to a stop beside him nearly half a minute later and peered over the edge of the cliff.

“Oh… god,” he breathed, clamping a hand over his mouth. The ten foot drop had left Caren in a poor state. Her limbs seemed to be lying unnaturally, and there was certainly no shortage of blood.

“I’ll… I’ll find a way down, alright?” He looked at Timaeus. “Can you get something to use as a splint?” Azaki shifted his gaze to Caren, but a thought brought his attention back to his taller classmate. He gripped the side of the librarian’s shoulder.

“Whatever happens,” he added, “this isn’t your fault.”

With a final smile, the counsellor turned to study the cliff. It was impossible to tell under the snow, but there seemed to be a steep, notched slope that led down to where Caren laid. Navigating it sent Azaki’s heart leaping into his throat, but eventually he made it to the ledge.

Instead, she started panicking. The air had been knocked clean out of her lungs as she lay as breathless as a fish out of water, gasping and choking, trying to get precious air. She tried to reach up to cover her face, only to find shards fall into her hand. Her mask. The impact hit more than the fall upon the realisation that her mask was broken.

She was going to die here, wasn't she? Alone, unwanted and in agony. That was just what she deserved, wasn't it? A choked laugh escaped her, which soon however turned into a series of coughing that made her vision blur even more than it already was.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a comforting voice started to talk to her. She couldn't make sense of what they were saying, but once she heard the word 'inside', she had a good feeling. She started trying to move away, practically dragging herself along with tears in her eye.

"... No... No, let... Let me die..."

The moment she tried to move her leg, she gave a scream, tears bubbling and spilling over as she curled up in as much as a ball as she could manage without causing herself even more pain, shaking as she cowered. She felt the fabric fall over her torso and looked down, a startled expression on her face. Caren went silent for a second, before giving a gentle laugh.

"... Haha... Why do you... Even bother trying...? I'm going to die here anyway..."

Timaeus would be sad, yes, but he’d move on. Once she finally gathered enough strength, she immediately pushed him away from her, wiping the blood off her face.

“…”

“Caren… what are you… doing?” He knew exactly what she was doing. He forced himself up onto wobbly legs and stumbled after her, following the trail of blood drops from her head faster and faster praying he wasn’t too late again. He opened the door and their eyes locked and she had a knife and…

“…”

And with that, Timaeus snapped.

He lunged forward, grabbed the blade of the knife and forced it away from her chest, ignoring the blood gushing from his fingers. In between sobs he managed to grate out a few words:

Something seemed to flicker and die in the girl’s eye as she pulled herself away from Timaeus, staring at the floor. She was shaking, but not with fear. Oh no, this was anger. Pure, unbridled anger. Seeing her mother in that cage after all this time had triggered something inside of her, something that even her own consciousness couldn’t control. And unfortunately for Timaeus, he was in her way, and right in the line of fire.

“Not going to lose me? Ahaha. What am I, your pet? Your little trophy?!” She spat the words out like venom, still refusing to look at him. “Stop acting like you actually care about me! That’s what everyone does, and then they j-just use me and t-t-throw me away! But… But I’ve had enough.”

She turned, raising the knife towards him as she walked forward, forcing him to move backwards so he wouldn’t get skewered. 

“Stop acting like you care. Stop acting like you can understand me. STOP ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW WHO I AM!”

They reached the wall, and she paused, fists balled.

“JUST WHAT DO YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT ME?!”

She raised the knife and brought it down onto the wall just centimeters away from his head, the splintering of wood the only sound in the room. Her anger immediately melted away as she tried to form words, say something, anything. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she backed away, horrified and terrified of what she had done. She shoved past him and ran, ran all the way to the door outside. Flinging it open, she threw herself into the snow and kept running. Ruka- No, Ren had fallen here before and nearly died, hadn’t he? He was only saved because Tomo and Monomi had helped, right? Well, Monomi wasn’t here to save anyone anymore. 

No. No no no. Why… How…? This couldn’t be possible, it really couldn’t. She hadn’t seen her mother in years, so… It wasn’t true. Caren kept her gaze averted for as long as she could, hearing distressed cries and screams from the other students. When she finally raised her head to look, she instantly regretted it. She was there, chatting away casually to other people like this was completely normal for her. It was Adelina.

“…”

She stood up without a word, multiple thoughts running through her head. She could beat the wall with her fists, but that probably wouldn’t do much. She could get a chair, hammer, anything to break it, but she’d probably be punished by Monokuma for it. It wasn’t like she minded, but she knew that other people would. Instead, she decided to do the most responsible action. Walking up to the nearest wall, she started ramming her head against it. After only three blows, she staggered backwards and hit the ground, blood gushing from her head.

He wasn’t fast enough to stop her from hitting the floor, but he ran over as quickly as he could, pulled her close, and cradled her head against his bony shoulder with a sob.

“…No…no no nononono please… say something…”

Timaeus would be sad, yes, but he'd move on. Once she finally gathered enough strength, she immediately pushed him away from her, wiping the blood off her face.

"..."

It had been two days since the students had been granted access to the new building. Many seemed to have migrated there, drawn to the comfort of showers and private suites. Part of Sekai missed the barracks—it had been a lonely first night without the other boys, but the thick, fluffy mattress of his new bed had put him quickly to sleep.  In the early morning, Sekai could be seen taping a piece of paper to the lobby wall. He had already put up six others—one in the library, one in the gym, one in each washroom and another in the upper lobby. On each paper was a crudely drawn poster, advertising ‘Felix Cafe’ in a shaky attempt at cursive. Surrounded by colourful pictures of mugs and dishes was a written blurb.  ‘Come and dine at the newly opened Felix Cafe. All proceeds go to sock puppets in need (of $$$). Opening: 12PM Menu:  -Coffee  -Tea -Hot chocolate -Freshly squeezed juice -Dessert Burger -Dessert Fries -Standwich -Delicious (note: this is written in english) -Boring Salad -Maximillian Special

“There … that’s the last one …” Looking weary, Sekai stepped back to look at the poster one last time before shuffling away, avoiding the attention of anyone who might pass by. 

“To the cafe, Sekai-tan! ♪ It’s my time to shine, kyahaha!”  That afternoon, Felix (and Sekai) stood behind the cafe counter. It seemed the puppet had staged a takeover of sorts, eyeing the doorway with his button eyes. Not one second after a prospective customer had set foot in the cafe, Felix blurted out a greeting. 

Oh, was she glad that she checked. With a library, gym and a cafe, this was pure heaven. Though, she had started to see Timaeus less and less because of it. She started to notice the flyers posted around, and gave a soft laugh at the thought. Caren headed to the library with a flyer in hand, gently tipping Tim's chair over convincing the librarian to accompany her to the 'Felix Cafe'. Hey, it sounded nice enough, and it would be good to lighten the mood.

Humming, the girl gently opened the door to the cafe, holding it open for Timaeus along with a giggle and a small 'ladies first' before walking in after him. Giving a small smile at Sekai, she walked over.

"A-Ah! Hello, Mr Felix, Mr Sekai and Mr Maximillan! This is a rather nice cafe, hehehe!"

She glanced over at Timaeus, giving a smile, before looking back at the trio with a quick glance at the menu.

"Hm... What would you suggest?"

It had been a few days since the untimely reveal of Caren’s haunting secret, and Timaeus still wasn’t quite sure what to think. Something felt a little strange about her story and he couldn’t quite pin down what it was… on the other hand, the physical evidence was right there, and what would she have left to lie about after admitting to murder of one and manslaughter of two? It wasn’t really his place to question further.

This was all in the past, anyway. What mattered to him right now was getting out of this place alive, and until he knew more about what was going on, that meant playing along with Monokuma and his… fashion show? He wasn’t sure what the hell that had to do with anything, but it was better than being slowly suffocated so he wasn’t going to complain. And it would give Caren something to focus on that wasn’t murder, past or present.

He just wished that their fitting times weren’t so early! Well, he was used to getting up early, but that didn’t seem to be the case for Caren, who was still curled up next to him and snoring a little… so now he had to wake her up and feel needlessly guilty about it, great. He prodded her shoulder gently.

However, she didn’t care. Her mindset was focused on guilt tripping herself every hour of the day. Her smile was rare, and the twinkle in her eye had long faded. Throughout the day she had gone around wherever Timaeus had wanted to go, or done whatever he wanted to do, all with a pained expression on her face. She was frightened. Frightened that Timaeus hated her. Terrified that he would turn on her, just like he had done.

She had spent most of the night staying awake, her body refusing for her to fall asleep. Instead, she had stayed as still as possibly, afraid to wake the librarian fast asleep next to her. It wasn’t until the early hours in the morning that she finally passed out, only to be prodded awake. Too soon.

“...”

No. No no no nonono-

Caren froze, her throat drying up. This was it. They were all going to hate her, despise her, for her own weakness. She wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out. She pressed her lips together, letting the tears fall, as she wrapped her arms around herself. The brunette refused to look Timaeus in the eye as she quietly sobbed to herself, hands gripping at the fabric of her dress.

Stupid fucking brat. You can’t do anything right! You’re a fucking mistake, and everyone knows it!

The voice rang through her head loud and clear, like he was standing right in front of her, and she gave a cry of terror, flattening herself and covering her head with her hands. Her mask slipped off and clattered against the floor, as the nail marks in her arms broke skin and bled. When she finally turned to look at Tim, her expression was calm, but sorrowful.

”…”

WHY? was what he wanted to say, but words were not wanting to come out of his mouth right now. He just stared, terrified, at the girl on the other end of the handcuffs, wondering what the hell could have happened to drive his friend to murder… He didn’t have to wonder for long, though, as Caren’s panic attack knocked her mask away, revealing the awful scars and burns that slashed across her face. Timaeus whimpered audibly, and cursed himself for not connecting the dots sooner, for even thinking she would do such a thing in cold blood.

"Heheh... Is... Is it r-really that obvious...? I... It... It wasn't them... N-No, just my... Dad. I... He would... Throw things... And scream... And... I j-j-just... I just wanted t-to make him s-stop. M-My... Mom always told me that... I had to be careful with his medicine otherwise he would sleep for a v-very long time... S-So... I mixed them, because I thought he would just... S-Sleep... B-B-But... No. And then... And t-then... John and… Peter… They were… T-Taking medication too and… They… they…"

No. No no no nononononoNoNonOnOooNO-

“.  .  .”

Silence. It was like she didn’t even realize that she was cuffed to Tim as she sank to her knees, shaking violently. Why? Why was this happening? No, she… She had made sure that… There was nothing there… Why…. how… This was impossible…

“No… No no no no no no no… This isn’t real… This… No… I… I refuse to believe it…”

His train of thought derailed as Caren hit the floor, dragging him down with her. She was… not taking this well, to say the least. A knot began to form in his stomach as he watched her huddle in fear– she was so good-natured and kind, what could she be so afraid of?

Before he could say anything, Monokuma’s ugly laugh pierced his ears again as he began going down the list. Bianca, Yoshi, Nao, Ruka had already had their secrets exposed… and now–

“Today’s secret is courtesy of our own Caren Mader!”

No. No no no nonono-

Caren froze, her throat drying up. This was it. They were all going to hate her, despise her, for her own weakness. She wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out. She pressed her lips together, letting the tears fall, as she wrapped her arms around herself. The brunette refused to look Timaeus in the eye as she quietly sobbed to herself, hands gripping at the fabric of her dress.

Stupid fucking brat. You can't do anything right! You're a fucking mistake, and everyone knows it!

The voice rang through her head loud and clear, like he was standing right in front of her, and she gave a cry of terror, flattening herself and covering her head with her hands. Her mask slipped off and clattered against the floor, as the nail marks in her arms broke skin and bled. When she finally turned to look at Tim, her expression was calm, but sorrowful.

Caren miserably let the tears flow down her cheek, as she stared at the ground, avoiding his stare. He definitely hated her. Good. She deserved it. Taking a shaky breath, giving small whimpers at his words, she spoke, tears flooding like a waterfall.

“... I... I... M-My dad... H-H-He... He caused all these... Scars. A-And burns. I... I don’t even remember half of it... He hit my head real hard, so... B-B-But I know that he threw plates at me, and he... He grabbed a candle once when he was feeling... Particularly nasty and... Well, you can see for yourself how that... Turned out. I-I... There’s only s-s-so much you can take, y’know...? I... I w-wasn’t thinking s-s-straight and... I swapped his pills around. B-But... I didn’t... I didn’t mean t-t-t-to kill... John and... Peter... They were... T-Taking medication too and... They... they...”

Hoshi could only stare blankly at Caren. He couldn’t bring himself to move. He could barely bring himself to speak. This girl’s whole family - dead, because she wanted it that way. Caren. Caren, one of the sweetest people - no pun intended - on this mountain. He needed to process it, but he couldn’t. When he sorted through all of Monokuma’s blather about making murder more ‘interesting’, it only came down to one thing - she was a murderer. And not just any murder, familicide. Did she even care? Did her family do something to deserve it? A million questions formed in his mind, but he himself couldn’t answer any of them. 

He felt some sort of emotion boiling inside of him. Betrayal, maybe? But it wasn’t like when Yoshi had killed Bianca. He wasn’t even close to Caren, and definitely didn’t know anything about her family except that they were apparently dead by her hand. This made him feel something different. Some sort of anger, maybe, at the concept that somebody could kill their family and not look back. He remembered watching the news when he was little. He heard about families killing families. Children killing parents, and vice-versa. Sisters killing sisters. Brothers killing brothers. He wasn’t sure why he remembered these reports specifically, but he did. And Caren, whether her family had been on the news or not, was one of those people. 

“…Why? Why would you do something so…so…why? I can’t understand. That– that was your family…” 

Caren was silent, tears falling down her cheek as nothing but chokes and sobs escaped her. Why? How? How had Monokuma even found out? It was impossible. How... How. She could feel them all staring at her. Glares and shocked looks alike, boring into her like daggers. Her hands went up to her hair, gripping on tight as she became more audible, until she was bawling out loud. Nonono. She didn’t want this. Make it stop. Make the staring stop. She wrapped her arms around herself, whimpering things such as ‘Stop’, ‘Forgive me’, and ‘I didn’t have a choice’.

A certain voice spoke up, directed at her, their words laced with venom. Looking up through her mask, her eye brimmed with tears, Caren tried to summon up the words to tell him. It’s a misunderstanding. It wasn’t her fault. It was his fault. She wasn’t... She didn’t... Caren ripped the mask from her face and flung it down, tears pouring down her cheek as she stamped on it as hard as she could. She continued to hug herself, nails digging into her arms so that that it drew blood. She gave a wince, but ignored the pain, until she smiled through her tears.