この唄に意味は無いよ

All the sounds of secrets and personalised music have faded away. All that is left is... the dull trudge of the funeral dirge. As though this place couldn’t get any more depressing...

Should you happen past the foyer, there is once again a stack of what look like playbills sitting on a small table. Each one has a picture, and a very brief description. Is this really all they expect you to go off of, every time? And also... Melody seems strangely silent. Oh boy... That can’t be good.

He’d been out of his room for a while-- it was likely time to head back, as pleasant as his wandering had been. Nagisa turned away from the door to the theatre he’d been listening at, since the piece currently being performed was coming to an end, and he was fairly certain that was the polite time to either enter or leave. Not that he’d really been in the theatre, or that the performer would have noticed him, but Melody had mentioned it at some point in time. Best to go along with her rules, right?

Hikari came up alongside him as he began walking back to his room, the sudden silence more noticeable than anything. Instead of the distorted music and recitation of secrets growing more tumultuous with someone nearby, the world had abruptly gone silent around the two of them, instead. Confused, the two shared a look before wandering out into the hallway where all their rooms were. One door in particular was left wide open. Moving a bit faster now, the two of them hurried over to look through the door.

Before they had a chance to really process what they were seeing, an alarm sounded, only to be cut off partway through and replaced by an utterly mournful funeral dirge. That made it sickeningly clear. They weren’t looking at someone lying there asleep… no, this was a corpse. The corpse of…

“Oshiro Percival is blind in his left eye.”

“You’re really starting to run out of time,” Melody says softly. “It’ll only get worse from here, you know. If nobody kills... I’ll have to make it worse. Are you not already having a bad time...?”

“David Bernard stole his brother’s identity and fame, securing a spot at Hope’s Peak under false credentials.”

“So I’d say he’s the one to talk to if you still had any questions about how to steal a name,” Melody adds on, seemingly as an afterthought. Her voice sounds distinctly more melancholy than usual, for some reason. “That might just have been me...”

“Katakura Keiko’s abusive father forced her into a life of crime at a young age.”

"Kido Hanako almost dropped out of highschool before transferring to Hope’s Peak."

Again, not particularly weighty of a secret... compared to some of the others, anyway. And again, Melody doesn’t say anything about it. Though... you’re starting to feel a bit worse, secret notwithstanding. It’s not just the pressure of the motive, whether you’re struggling to cope with your secret, hoping against hope it isn’t released, or you generally really just don’t care. But it’s starting to get harder to sleep, with the distortions in the music feeling like they’re starting to slam into you with physical (and sickening) force, and the awful nightmares you’re starting to have if you sleep for too long at a time. Your heart is beating at a faster pace than it usually does, only adding to the sick feelings... or is it... fear? It’s so hard to tell... 

“Hui Lin once stole a stuffed animal someone else won as a festival prize.”

“I’d hoped that giving you an extra day and everything would encourage some of you to vote,” Melody says, sounding a bit unhappy with the current situation. “Really, your participation is quite important in this process! But... here you are, I suppose. Please do vote in this next one, dear children!”

“Akiyama Megumi’s father was controlling and abusive, forcing her into her career with no regards for her self or wishes.”

“Amarion Buenconsejo once lost his cool on the job and got into a fight with a gambler.”

“Karasuno Ikuo once watched a man die in front of him while doing absolutely nothing to help.”

“You know, dear children, that if none of you kill by the time all these secrets are released, it’ll have to become worse here, don’t you? Why, you have so many luxuries... well! I won’t ruin any surprises yet, but one of you really does need to die, I’m sorry, dear children. Think of it as a mercy, if it helps any. If you die now... you don’t need to keep suffering, hm...?”

“Toshiko Takumi was often physically abused by his father while his mother looked on and did nothing to prevent it.”

“Hihihi... that certainly was a decisive majority! Only a single vote for dear Keiko after all! I wonder how many of you can empathise with Takumi after hearing this♪”

“Yamanami Nagisa’s real title is SHSL Data Thief.”

“Hihihi...♪ so close, but it seems you’re safe for another day, Eugene! Savour it while you can, because people must be getting curious about you-- or should I say your lies♪~?-- by now!”

”Wuzhen Jiang has a tendency to watch people, often without their knowledge, and collects information on anything from their routines to their body language.”

Though, after a moment, Melody speaks up as well. “My, that was a close one! So very close... So I think I’ll give you darlings a little chance, just in case you really wanted to know...!”

“Miura Kyou represents a company that sells placebo drugs which create health problems other drugs from that company can solve-- drugs which killed his mother and are ruining his own health.”

The androgynous voice that announces this is loud enough you can all hear it clearly even over the cacophony of music and what’s being said all around you. Even Kyou would be easily aware that his secret was the one chosen.

“Kazehaya Rin was the last person to see the person she was dating alive before they disappeared entirely.”

It’s said calmly. A smooth, androgynous voice. The same one all of you have been hearing since this motive began. Certainly not Melody’s.

It’s only minutes after Melody’s gone quiet that you hear it. There’s a voice, filtering softly through the music-- another voice, one you don’t recognise. A smooth, perfectly androgynous human voice. And it’s saying one thing and one thing alone. Oh, it’s different for each of you, of course, because it’s about you. Your own secret they’re threatening to expose, played over and over on repeat, even as the music that surrounds is torn to shreds and makes you feel as if the same is happening to you. There’s no context provided. And unlike before... the music and voice don’t go away if you’re near someone else. If you get too close to someone else, you’ll be able to hear their distorted music, and to hear what’s being said to them... but they’ll be able to hear the same for you. Get too many people together in one place and you may not be able to hear each other speak over the awful cacophony at all.

In the foyer, if you do go there to see what’s being played on the screens, you see a split screen. Each half shows a picture of one of your classmates with their names below it. Today’s names? 

Kazehaya Rin and Kawaguchi Hikari.

Roseli has been out of Room 101 for no more than two hours before Melody speaks up again. Her voice sounds cheerful, despite the distorted sounds of static going through it. Static which... definitely wasn’t there before. Oh, dear.

“Hello, hello, dear children! How have you been? Terrible, right? But... even so, you’re not killing each other. Have you been enjoying the background music? I really hate it when it gets like this... I hate having to do this to you children... and to the music! Hihihi... would you like it to stop? It’s not hard, it’ll definitely stop if you kill someone... or if someone dies. Remember, dear children, if you really want to, you yourself can be the student you kill!”

There’s a bit of a pause, likely for dramatic effect, before she continues on. “Oh, but it’s not the motive, this isn’t. Not the official motive. I suppose it could be motivating enough-- certainly it provides psychological stress-- but no, you children tend to need something more. It’s been tested, you know. Just the symphony becoming like this, it usually isn’t enough to push anyone into murder. Do you know what does, though? Hihihi♪ It’s really simple! Each and every one of you has something to hide, don’t you?”

“Oh, certainly, dear children, you might not think that you do. Perhaps there’s nothing in your entire life you wouldn’t want getting out enough to kill someone to prevent it! Perhaps you’re smug, and thinking to yourself that you have nothing to hide, and that I’m wrong, and you’re fine. Hihihi... I think it’s really important to remember, dear children... if you think this isn’t enough to get you to kill at all, then this motive likely isn’t about you, now is it? That’s the beauty of having so many of you here...”

“Only one person has to break down and decide they’ve had enough in order for someone to die.” Her voice is softer, more personal, when she says this. It sounds like it’s coming from right behind you in a perfectly ominous whisper, audible even above the cacophony surrounding you.

“So! Did you know we’ve tried framing this motive in a number of ways? Just threatening to reveal everything, letting it be a scavenger hunt, sending people’s secrets to others in envelopes, revealing more than one awful thing but lying about some of it and making people guess which part was a lie... hihihi♪ There’s so many things to do with secrets. I think you’ll be finding out our favourite and most effective way soon... after all, why not make it absolutely clear to you what you have to hide and lose...?” There’s a soft giggle as she says this, and a pause, stretching on so long you think she’s done.