Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or Miraculous Ladybug. They belong to Spike Chunsoft and Thomas Astruc respectively. I only own the OC characters.

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The next day, Juleka seemed ill. He had almost completely forgotten that he had seen her discussing something with her sibling the night before, but he believed that this wasn't connected to that. She was pale and shaking. By the time lunch rolled around, she was coughing incessantly. "I'm fine," she told everyone when they asked. "I think it's just the stress finally catching up to me."

No one was convinced in the slightest by her words, but there seemed to be no other explanation. Luka took the responsibility of caring for her throughout the day, like any older brother should. Naturally, Juleka tried to shrug him off politely and casually, but he was insistent, and she eventually gave up. At this point, there was nothing else that could be done, really.

At dinnertime, Juleka still wasn't better. In fact, she appeared to have gotten worse. She idly picked at her food, as if it were unappetizing, and the sight of it alone would make her vomit. None of the medication in the infirmary seemed to be working. The students would normally take this matter to the principal, but they doubted the egotistical bear would do anything about it. It wasn't like he was concerned about their health, no matter what he might say.

"Ahem! Attention, attention! Hey, I'm talkin' to you, you brats!" Speaking of which, there was the menace now. Adrien had gotten used to the feeling of cold dread pooling in his stomach whenever Monokuma announced another mandatory assembly. It usually meant the psycho had another motive for them.

Sure enough, the monochrome bear was waiting for them in front of the Jumbotron out in the courtyard, greeting them as they all gathered. "Now, I'm sure at this point you all get the gist of what happens," Monokuma began, clutching at his rotund belly in amusement. "I have a special motive for you all today. Are you excited? Get ready!" A steady drum roll began to play in the background, building up suspense once more.

At around the same time, Juleka's coughing got even worse, becoming loud and obnoxious. Adrien was worried that she was going to hack up a lung. He could see her desperately try to quell the spasming in her chest. Monokuma ignored this, continuing on. "Ladies and gentlemen, he said, "I've got bad news for you-"

He was interrupted by another hacking cough, wet and sludgy. Juleka was doubled over now, one arm wrapped around her middle while the other was raised to cover her mouth with her hand. Everyone looked over in concern, Luka placing a gentle hand on her back. Monokuma's eye seemed to twitch as he tried to move forward with his announcement. "I regret to inform you that-"

Juleka suddenly fell to her knees then, the sound of her hacking and choking filling up the large space. "Hey!" Monokuma protested. "Could you keep it down over there? I'm trying to give a presentation here!"

"Would you shut up?!" Alix shouted at the bear. "Why don't you make yourself useful for once and help her? Something's clearly not right."

It was at that moment that Juleka's whole body shuddered with a particularly violent cough. However, unlike the ones before, this time bright crimson spewed from her mouth, staining the front of her shirt and the ground in front of her. Time seemed to stand still then, the entire class enraptured by the scene. Juleka continued to choke on her own blood, her entire body trembling. Luka bent down next to her, trying to pull her to her feet. "Juleka!" he exclaimed, panic rising in his tone. "We have to get you the infirmary!"

Juleka violently hacked up another glob of blood. Her body suddenly stiffened as she croaked, as if something had grabbed ahold of her. Then, to everyone's horror, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she slumped forward, her face landing in her coughed-up blood. Everyone seemed too scared to move, until Maddie rushed up to her concerningly still figure, pressing her fingers to her throat. After a moment, her face scrunched up in frustration as she shook her head, confirming what Adrien already feared.

Juleka was dead.

"My, my, isn't that startling?" Monokuma cackled in the background, and everyone was too shocked to yell at him. "Time to get things underway." With that, he vanished, a familiar tone ringing out around the school once he did.

*Ding dong bing bong*

"A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, blah blah blah, there'll be a class trail, yada yada, you know the rest. Get crackin'!"

How could this have happened? They had only recently lost Nathaniel, and now Juleka too? And it wasn't Monokuma's fault this time. Which means one of them did it. Another one of their friends had been murdered. Adrien recalled telling Juleka about how they all had to survive. "But I'm sure, most of all, Rose would've wanted you to live." The world seemed to fall away, leaving nothing but the echo of his false promise. He couldn't take it anymore; he clutched at his head, falling to his knees, screaming in agony. Curled up in a ball, the distraught boy barely registered Marinette wrapping her arms around him.

Chapter 4: Deadly Life

Naturally, Luka was beside himself with what had happened. He was choking out silent sobs over Juleka's dead body. When the Monokuma File was brought out, he rubbed at his eyes, sniffing a few times, to join Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Maddie in reading it.

The victim is Juleka Couffaine, the Ultimate Make-up Artist. She was found dead at approximately 6:30 PM in the school courtyard. Cause of death was consumption of lethal poison. There are no external injuries on the body.

"Monokuma File #4" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

"That's it?" Adrien muttered to the group gathered around the tablet. "She just drops dead and that's all there is to it?"

"At least we know that the killer slipped her poison as part of their plan," Maddie said.

"No killer did this." The group lifted their heads to stare at Luka, who wore a somber and tormented expression. "I've known Juleka for a long time. This..." He glanced over at his little sister's unmoving cadaver still sprawled in the center of the courtyard. "She committed suicide, I'm certain of it."

The group gasped. Even Maddie and Alya raised their eyebrows in shock. "What?" Marinette exclaimed. "Why would she do that?! She was totally fine yesterday!"

"It may have seemed that way." The cyan-haired boy kept his gaze cast to the ground. "But she's always been insecure about her appearance, and what others would think of her. It got even worse when Rose died." A moment of silence hung in the air between all of them. "I thought I was doing a decent enough job of helping her, but I guess I was wrong."

"If that really is the case, and Juleka committed suicide," Marinette spoke up, "you shouldn't beat yourself up for it. There's no way you could've known." Luka cast her a grateful smile, one that made something ugly begin to shift around in his belly. It was gone in a flash, however, so he couldn't figure out what it was. It only happened when Luka and Marinette looked at each other for that brief moment.

"This still requires a full investigation," Maddie interjected. "We can't make any definitive conclusions. Too much is at stake for that."

"I agree," Luka said.

"Luka's Account" was added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

The thorough search had begun. After some time, an empty flask that was labelled as cyanide was dug out of the trash bin in the kitchen. Someone was sent to go confirm that it had come from the science classroom's storage closet. Sure enough, there was a flask missing from the shelf.

"Discarded Cyanide Flask" was added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

"Missing Flask" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

The one thing that nagged Adrien was last night, when he observed the siblings talking to each other in hushed tones, as if making sure no one heard them. They didn't appear to be angry or arguing, but the blond recalled that Luka especially had looked frantic and desperate. Had Juleka been calming him down? He couldn't tell since she was facing away from him. He thought about asking the composer about it, but the situation was so delicate already. He didn't want the teen to get triggered over him being so insensitive. It would practically be admitting to Luka that he was suspicious of him.

"Siblings Talking The Night Before" was added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

"There's just no way Juleka committed suicide," Marinette mused out loud, still trying to wrap her head around the concept. "She seemed so confident yesterday after we talked to her. Why would she do this if she was already assured that she would live?"

"I don't know," Adrien said. "Something's weird about all of this. She didn't seem like she wanted to die. I may not know what she was feeling, but this change seems too sudden for someone like her."

"Not to mention she was sick all day," Marinette pointed out. "That suggests the poison was fed to her in small portions over time. If she wanted to kill herself, wouldn't she have drunk the whole thing in one go?"

Marinette had an interesting point. However, that didn't narrow down any suspects. All of them had been around Juleka at some point today. Any one of them could have done it. That brought them back to the possibility that this case is a suicide, but he was positive that Juleka wouldn't prolong her own death like that.

*Ding dong bing bong*

"Time's up, snot bubbles! Youguys know where to go. Try not to keep me waiting~" The loudspeakersclicked off. "What, already?" Adrien questioned out loud. "These investigationsfeel like they're getting shorter and shorter." This was bad. He had no idea ifthey had enough evidence to prove that someone else had killed Juleka. Luka wasconvinced it was suicide, but that didn't sit right in Adrien's gut. He had to figure this out quickly, or theywere all going to die.

-------

Another trial, another student down. Juleka's memorial portrait stood in her place. Adrien could hardly believe that she was gone. She had lasted for so long, even after Rose's and Ivan's trial. Monokuma lounging back in his plush chair snapped him back to the reality at hand. The bear's nonchalant behavior made anger flare up inside him, but he pushed it down. Now wasn't the time for that; they had a murder trial to survive

"Surprise, surprise, the victim this time was Juleka Couffaine, who died right in front of you all!" Monokuma chuckled to himself. "I have to say, that's the first time that's ever happened. Nyeh, nyeh nyeh!"

"This murder is no mystery," Luka spoke up, prompting the monochrome stuffed toy to turn to him with an incredulous "Oh?" noise. "That's because this isn't a murder at all. It was a suicide."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Alya speculated, doubt written all over her face. "There was no indication she had any suicidal tendencies."

"Trust me, I know my own sister," Luka explained. "She was always good at hiding what she truly felt. She was always insecure about herself; hell, Chloé bullied her relentlessly because of how 'depressed' she looked." Luka emphasized that word with air quotes, pointedly looking at Adrien when he did. The model could feel the guilt that was aimed directly at him for him to carry, and he couldn't blame the older boy for doing that. Chloé often harassed those who didn't meet her standards; he was hoping that one day, he would get her to change her ways, but...

"Therefore," Luka continued, breaking the tense moment of silence, "Juleka's self-esteem was already at an all-time low. After Rose died, it's gotten worse, what with her being the only one who knew about Rose's secret. The social abuse and the guilt must have been eating her alive." The cyan-haired boy squeezed his eyes shut, as if in pain. "If only I had seen the signs earlier, maybe... maybe I could've prevented this!"

"No, Luka, you're wrong!" To Adrien's astonishment, it was Marinette who had spoken up, piercing Luka with her blue eyes. "M-Marinette?" Luka stuttered, just as taken aback by the usually quirky girl's outburst. Adrien himself was just as captivated; her confidence, her unwavering resolve, her desire to help her friends... To him, it was beautiful. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was beautiful, in his opinion.

"Juleka wasn't suicidal at all!" The blunette plowed forward with astounding vigor. "Adrien and I talked to her two days ago after Nathaniel..." She stopped herself there, noticing that Marc, who hadn't spoken a word since the comic book artist's death, violently flinched and whimpered. Marinette ignored it, but it was clear that it affected her. "She was sad, sure, but she was tired of all this death." She took a sweeping glance around the room. "I'm positive that she was afraid to die and wanted to escape with the rest of us!" She turned towards the young model next to her, her smile dazzling him. "Right, Adrien?"

The teen cleared his throat to get himself back to the task at hand. "Yeah, Mari, you're right." Was it just him, or did the pig-tailed girl blush a little at the use of the nickname? He wouldn't be able to tell, since he addressed the others, making him turn away from her shining face. He shoved down the twinge of disappointment that came with it. "We brought up Juleka's spirits by telling her that Rose would've wanted her to live. There was nothing in her character, or behavior, that suggested she was suicidal."

"I personally witnessed you two talking to her after... what happened." Maddie, her chin resting on her hand that she lifted from her crossed arms, appeared at ease. "I didn't know what was said, but I knew that Juleka looked happier because of it."

"Another thing," Alya piped up, holding out the empty flask they had all found as evidence. "Take a close look at this." The others peered intensely at the bottle, as if it was going to do something. "Notice that the top half of the inside is completely dry. But the bottom half still has traces of the poison." To demonstrate her point, Alya stuck her finger inside the bottle to run the pad of it over the top part. It came away dry. She delved in deeper to get closer to the bottom of the bottle. It came away wet. "The rest of the contents were most likely disposed of down a sink drain." Alya held them in place with her stoic gaze. "If Juleka really wanted to kill herself, she would've just drunk the whole bottle. But this evidence suggests that the poison was fed to her in increments over a period of time." She closed her eyes, as if resting her case. "A rather grueling and drawn-out death for one who wishes to commit suicide. No, ladies and gentlemen, Juleka was killed, while her, and all of us, were none the wiser."

"So, someone here did kill her." Alix muttered it as more of a confirming statement than a question. Maddie inclined her head. "Yes, it's quite certain." Her eyes flicked over to Luka. "Unless, you have any more objections?" The composer didn't meet her eyes. To Adrien's befuddlement, the boy was beginning to sweat. Something was happening between the two that he couldn't quite see.

"In fact," Maddie continued, "the sloppiness of this crime was to make it seem more like it was a suicide." Her eyes didn't leave Luka, who was still afraid to look her in the eye. "Since the killer was feeding her the poison over time, they would have to stay close to Juleka at all times."

Everyone gasped, Adrien included. What Maddie was saying made sense. He just didn't want to believe it. "Luka..." Alix wavered. "You were hovering around Juleka all day."

"What?! You're just making assumptions!" Luka looked rightfully pissed off, pointing his finger at Maddie. "You're gonna believe an outsider over me? Her argument is weak! Besides, there's no way I would kill my own sister!"

"That may be true, but you've lied to us about yourself before." Alya adjusted her glasses, lenses flashing in the light. "Your age, for example."

"That was just so you guys wouldn't treat me differently! You all remember, don't you? How I told you that my dad is Jagged Stone?"

The class faltered at that. Even Alya appeared at a loss. However, Maddie maintained her stagnant pose. "There's got to be evidence that suggests you would kill your sister." Maddie opened her eyes, narrowed and cool. "You only found out Jagged Stone was your father when Monokuma introduced that motive." Luka's flinch proved her deduction to be correct. "That would've been enough of a motive for you."

While Luka began shouting and spitting out his rebuttal, something in Adrien's mind clicked; the siblings had been discussing ferociously amongst themselves the night before. Maddie seemed to sense his revelation, as she smirked in that knowledgeable way. "I see you figured it out, Adrien," she said calmly. "Why don't you share with the class?"

"Y-You..." Adrien could hardly find the words as he slowly lifted his green gaze towards the agitated composer's. "You two were talking to each other last night. I saw you." The implications raced through his mind at breakneck speed, so fast he couldn't get ahold of any of them. "What were you talking about?"

"Were you two scheming something?" Alya inquired, pushing up her glasses again. Luka's expression was a hearty mix of appalled shock and pure anger. "What?! How could you say something like that?!" He stepped forward, channeling all his emotions in his statement. "I have no idea what he's talking about! He's lying. I'm telling you, Juleka committed suicide!"

"Adrien wouldn't lie about something like that," Marinette retorted, Luka choking on his breath in his surprise. Adrien was just as confused as to why she was standing up to defend him. "In fact, all the evidence points to you being the prime suspect, Luka." The teen sputtered, his limbs flailing around jerkily. "The bottle of poison, Juleka's behavior, Adrien witnessing you two last night and Juleka dying the next day." Marinette took a deep breath as she finished reciting, as if to deliver the finishing blow. "It all makes sense that it was you."

"No, it doesn't!" Luka protested. "What's wrong with you, Marinette? I thought you were different than the others. Don't let them corral you into a conforming decision!" The blunette shied away from him, as if struck by his words. Luka realized too late that he had made a mistake, as Adrien rose up to put the final nail in his coffin. "Juleka was sick all day today, Luka," he pointed out. "All that time, you were stuck to her like glue. And Juleka only got worse as time went on." His eyes narrowed at the composer, that proverbial bullet shattering the composer's defense. "If you think that's a coincidence, I'd like you to prove it to me. But I don't think you can." In a dramatic flair, Adrien directed his accusation towards the other Ultimate. "The truth is that you steadily fed her poison in her meals throughout the day. She would've been none the wiser. And so would we." His arm lowered, his previous gusto deflating. "You wanted to try and pass it off as a suicide so that you could be the one to escape and look for your father. You chose Juleka because you believed that no one could possibly suspect that it was you who killed her." Adrien's heart withered as he continued, that ache taking up residence inside his chest. He could relate to Luka, in a way; a father who always seemed nonexistent, keeping you at arm's length. He didn't want to finish this trial anymore.

Luka had nothing to say. The truth settled over them like a heavy cloud. "Why?" Alix questioned. "Why would you kill your own sister?! Why would you do something so cruel, huh?! Answer me!"

"It's not like I wanted to!" Luka seemed to crumble in front of them, tears flowing freely down his face. "I had no choice! If one of us was ever gonna see our dad, the other had to die!" Adrien recognized that behavior: fear and bitterness. Luka was scared. "I grew up my whole life without a father. I never knew who he was. Not until recently." The Ultimate sniffed loudly. "I couldn't die a meaningless death in this shithole without meeting him. But now, I guess that'll never happen. Makes sense; none of my dreams come true anyway." He lowered his head, his eyes lost in shadow. "Just start the vote, Monokuma. There's no point pretending anymore."

"Happy to oblige, killer king!" The psychotic bear clutched at his belly in laughter. "Although, you kinda rolled over too easily for my liking, but, oh well. Lock in your votes everyone!" The slot machine's dials spun until finally landing on Luka, coins flowing out in a cascade. They had gotten it right again. It left a bitter taste in Adrien's mouth.

"There's still one thing that has to be cleared up first," Monokuma interjected, drawing everyone's attention in confusion. "You're about to die, Couffaine. At least be honest with them in the end." It was more of a mocking leer, the students' shocked expressions snapping back to the young composer. Luka seemed equally as shocked by Monokuma's declaration, but more in the sense that he had been caught red-handed. "You two weren't plotting to get one of you out to go hunt down dear ol' Pops." The bear lazily swung his tiny legs from where he was stretched out on his stomach in his seat. "Juleka was actually trying to talk you out of it."

More gasps. Adrien felt coldness grip him. "So, you guys were arguing." The words seemed far away to him, echoing through a spacious, acoustic room. Luka looked haunted, no doubt panicking at what he now had to admit. "It's true." The composer's words were almost too quiet to hear. "She did try to persuade me not to go through with it."

"And you killed her anyway?!" Nino exclaimed. "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"She didn't understand!" The force of Luka's shout forced everyone into silence. The composer's fists were clenched, trembling. "Our mom worked so hard to raise the both of us on her own. I could tell how much it was stressing her out. So, when Juleka was born, I took it upon myself to care for her. Be the father I never had. She never had to wonder who our empty chair at the dinner table belonged to." This was what the Ultimate had kept locked away for so long. Now that it was out, he couldn't stop. "I want to blame him so badly! I hate him more than anyone else in this world!" The boy physically sagged. "But I know this is my fault. I was too selfish, and I let my ego get the better of me." Luka covered his ears with his hands, falling to his knees. "He's not here for me to hate. There's only me. I'm despicable, a monster. I deserve to die."

"Luka..." Marinette was shaking, her hands over her mouth as she sobbed. Adrien couldn't help but let his own tears trickle down. This was not the sort of emotional tidal waves he was expecting from this trial. He wanted to tell Luka that he was wrong, that there was only one person to hate for all of this. But he knew that the words would ring hollow for the boy. He killed his own family; Adrien had no idea how to convince someone that it wasn't their fault.

"Don't mind if I do, Coltrane!" The affirmation from Monokuma made Adrien jump into awareness. That's right. The execution. Luka was going to be executed. "Wait!" Marinette's shout went unheeded, the egotistical animatronic leaping to his feet. "I've prepared a special treat for Luka Couffaine, the Ultimate Composer. Let's give it everything we've got! IIIIIIT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!"

"No, don't! He doesn't deserve this!" But the button was already displayed in front of Monokuma, the gavel slamming down on the button:

Luka has been found guilty!

Time for the punishment!

Luka fell into the pit below. The others couldn't see where he went. Everything was dark, and what sounded like an orchestra tuning up resonated all around them. Suddenly, spotlights illuminated a grand concert hall. Every seat was occupied by a Monokuma clone. The actual bear that they had spent much of their time living under was stood at the conductor's podium, arms poised, and baton raised, ready to begin. Directly behind Monokuma, facing the audience, was a pole who Luka was tied to. No matter how much he wriggled around, his bonds held fast.

Luka Couffaine's Execution: The Orchestra & The Pendulum

Status: Executed

Monokuma counted the beat, and the orchestra was off, playing their own version of the Can-Can. However, there was no one playing the instruments. They were playing themselves. Adrien couldn't fathom how this was possible unless this was some high-tech stage technology. Regardless, the tempo began to accelerate rapidly, frantic and bouncing all over the place. The audience of Monokumas began to boo, some throwing tomatoes. They all seemed to be directed at Luka, a few actually making their mark. This was extremely humiliating, and it was hard for Adrien to watch. He could only imagine what Luka was experiencing right now.

The music abruptly came to an end with a flourish of the baton, Monokuma appearing sweaty and out of breath. All of a sudden, the pole Luka was tied to fell backwards, the boy landing on his back, covered in tomato juice and other bits. The entire room seemed to hold its breath as Luka stared wide-eyed at the ceiling of the concert hall, no doubt wondering what was going to happen.

Kerchunk! A massive axe blade swung like a pendulum across the stage, heading straight for Luka. It sliced through the Ultimate as if he were butter, splitting him in half. Luka died with a horrified expression on his face, fallen prey to a comically simple booby trap. His insides were on full display for them to see, his blood soaking into the wood floor. The audience of Monokumas cheered voluptuously, raucous and wild.

Adrien felt sick to his stomach. The sound of Marc vomiting off to the side almost made him join the writer, but he held fast. Monokuma, who had disappeared from the stage when Luka was set in place for the swinging axe blade, laughed out loud behind them. "You know, Luka was originally going to be the one who was killed, not only to give Juleka the chance to see her dad, but also for the hope of ending the killing game." Monokuma sighed in bliss, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh well, guess it meant nothing in the end. Nyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh nyeh nyeh nyeh!"

"No, it wasn't for nothing!" Monokuma tilted his head at Adrien, puzzled. "Juleka wanted to stop the killings too. They both died so that no one else has to." The young model faced the bear head-on. "And that's exactly what's going to happen. No one else is going to die. Your sick game ends here."

"Yeah," Marinette joined in, taking up his hand in her own, much to his surprise. He did his best to play it cool, though. "This senseless violence is over. We're not going to take it anymore!"

"What's gotten into you chumps?" Monokuma exclaimed exasperatedly. He was interrupted, however, by another student. "Hmph, emotions did play a huge role in this," she mused to herself. Adjusting her glasses, she faced the stuffed toy as well. "Monokuma, your game no longer has any appeal. I quit."

"I second that," Nino added.

"Me too," Alix growled. "This has gone on for too long. It ends here."

"I-I don't w-want to play a-anymore either." Marc shuffled forward as he raised his hand, having recovered from being sick. With all of the students banded together, Monokuma faced a solid wall of defiance. He looked ready to burst at the seams, steam shooting out of his ears. Maddie tilted her head at him, recognizing that he had nothing to say. "Well, Monokuma?" she inquired mockingly. "Do you still believe their deaths were for nothing?" The principal in question seemed about to flip his lid. "Grrraaahh! Do you kids have no respect for your authority figures? Whatever I say goes, remember?!"

"Sure, in this school." Maddie cocked out her hip, placing her hand on it. "But what will happen to your ratings if no murders occur? People hardly want to watch high school students live out their boring lives."

To Adrien's astonishment, the bear had no witty comeback for her. He just stood there and stewed, probably wishing he could set the brunette on fire with his glare alone. But it was with that observation that the fourth murder trial came to a close. As they rode the elevator back up, the sharp pain from earlier flared up in Adrien's skull. His vision went blurry for just a moment before clearing. I must really have a concussion.

Before he could escape to the dorm, Marinette pulled him aside. "Meet me in the rec room on the first floor. There's something I have to tell you." She briskly walked off then, leaving the young model dazed and confused. But he did as he was requested, arriving to the rec room on the first floor. It was generous to call it a rec room, really; there was one shelf of weights set against the wall, a couple of exercise balls, and a treadmill or two. And all the equipment here looked extremely old.

Marinette came bursting into the room about thirty seconds after he did, perking up to see that he had made it, just like he promised. "Ah, good, you're here!" she said, striding up to him deliberately. She got extremely close, their chests mere inches from each other. "Uh, so, what's going on, Marinette? You had something to tell me?"

"Yes, I did." The fashion designer leaned forward then, grabbing the lapels of his designer shirt to make him bend down so that his ear was right next to her mouth. Her hot breath on his ear was enough to make him flustered, and he was tense in anticipation of what Marinette had planned. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, his face heating up.

However, what she whispered to him was not what he expected. "There's a traitor among us," she murmured. "I don't know who it is, but it could be the mastermind themselves. Don't ask me any questions, not here." She leaned back to look him in the eye, her brows furrowed in desperate assurance. "Promise me that you'll watch your back."

"I... I promise." They stood staring at each other, not willing to break eye contact. Adrien's thoughts wandered again to how close they were. If Marinette took even the tiniest step forward, her chest would be pressed flush against hers.

"What are two doing?" They both jumped, facing the monochrome bear who had appeared in the doorway. "It's past curfew. Go the eff to sleep!" He eyed them suspiciously. "I don't care about you doin' the deed, but not in a place with public access. That's just beyond indecent, even for me!"

Marinette regained her composure much quicker than Adrien thought she could. "That's alright," she said calmly. She took his hand again and he did his best not to yelp. "Adrien's just going to walk me back." Monokuma didn't say anything else, letting them shuffle past him to the dorms. Once in front of the girl's dorm, the pig-tailed girl squeezed his hand and said, "Remember what I told you," then slipped inside.

Marinette's discovery crashed back into him. One of them was a traitor? And it could be the mastermind. If that's true, would they remember that they were the mastermind? It was too much for him to wrap his head around right now. He had to try and get some sleep, otherwise he would have no energy to deal with this in the morning.

Chapter 4: End

Students Remaining: 7

To Be Continued

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Author's Note: I'm so sorry, I forgot to update last night! I had bought Metal Hellsinger and I lost track of time playing it. I have to get up at 7:00 in the morning for class. I'm uploading this in the middle of class right now, which I shouldn't be doing. Anyway, here's the rest of Chapter 4, which I think is my longest chapter yet. Thought it would be interesting if Luka ended up killing Juleka, even though it would be super obvious.

Luka's execution was originally going to be called Opening Night, but I decided to change it for the subtle Poe reference. The Pit & The Pendulum is one of my favorite works of his.

So, now we know there's a traitor among them. And they might be the mastermind. If that's the case, who do you think it could be? Let me know in the comments below.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower