The group of seventeen cooperative students met back in the gym once they were done investigating around the entire school. After briefing each other in on the important details, more and more questions were thrown around. It seemed that their little trip to understand their environment had only ended up with more confusion.

"So it can't be a coincidence that we all feel like we're missing memories," Hajime crossed his arms, evidently skeptical of the sketchy position he was placed in. "Just like how our heads were all hurting so terribly. Someone has got to be behind that, there's no way that's just a coincidence!"

"Did...we get our memories wiped like what happens in horror movies?" Sonia questioned, her blue eyes wide.

"...That can't be it," Maki shot that suggestion down quickly as she played with one of her ponytails. "I still remember my time at my orphanage, and what happened after that. If our memories had been wiped, I wouldn't remember a thing."

"Not necessarily," Kyoko's lavender eyes were once again focused and unfettered as she tried to make sense of the mystery. "...No...not necessarily at all."

"What do you mean?"

"...Think about it," was all Kyoko replied with. "If we lost our memories, that doesn't mean we necessarily lost everything we know. They could choose to only wipe certain parts of our memory."

"Who cares about our missing memories? As long as we're all friends together, nothing can stop us!" Lyra exclaimed, her cheery voice and smile as present as ever. "We don't need those memories."

"Yeah! Who needs stupid memories if we're all going to be stuck here!" Aoi placed both hands on her hips. "We should just be getting to know each other better!"

"Well, wait a second," Makoto interjected. "Those memories are still important...because if something happened to us, we need to know. It might be a clue to getting us all out of here."

"I agree with this," Janelle fidgeted with the end of her dress. "Even though we shall not murder anyone else, our memories are still something we should know and remember."

"...But what would even be the point of wiping our memories anyway?" Tanya shrugged. "I think we're all getting ahead of ourselves! Honestly, I don't think I've forgotten anything. Here, let me tell you why! I remember coming to Hope's Peak, going to bed, and then waking up in that classroom. I mean, sure, my head hurt, but I remember why! It's cause I got hit in the head with a baseball!"

"But...I certainly don't remember getting hit in the head or anything," Soda laughed nervously. "And, um. Tanya, are you okay...?"

"Yeah, no worries!"

"...There's no way the headaches were a coincidence. I think we might be onto something with the memory idea," Shuichi agreed, his eyes focused on Kyoko. "Why would they want to wipe our memory...? Is it because of what Monokuma said?"

"W-What did t-that dumb bear s-say?" Toko stuttered curiously as she continued to play with one of her braids.

"He said something about us 'already knowing the drill' when he was explaining the rules of the killing game," Shuichi explained. His sharp mind was thankfully good for remembering the words exactly as someone said it, even long after said event had occurred. "Maybe...we've already had this explained to us before."

"I mean, for serious? That sounds ridiculous," Hiro pointed out, his brown hair sticking up everywhere. "How would that have happened? If Kyoko's right about them wiping our memories, then Monokuma probably just explained them, wiped our memories, and then explained them again?"

"...What would be the point in that?" Janelle fidgeted with the end of her dress, an irritated look by the display of stupidity Hiro portrayed. "It is more likely that a certain part of our memory was wiped-"

"Well, it doesn't matter," Lyra interrupted, a cheery smile on her face. Everyone stared at her, dumbfounded as she had completely just interrupted Janelle.

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. We won't be able to figure out what we've lost, considering no one found any clues around the gym, so why bother wasting energy trying to figure out something we have no chance of understanding?" Lyra placed her hands behind her head nonchalantly. "We should be more focused on Byakuya. We can try to understand just what his plans are...which I'm assuming are murder!"

"Nyeh-? You think he'd actually try to kill one of us...?" Himiko immediately panicked, her small stature trembling.

"...You d-don't?" Nico murmured before pulling her hood even farther over her head. "H-He d-didn't even seem i-interested i-in w-what w-we were t-talking about a-at all..."

"That's right, but he's most certainly interested in what we can do for them. He certainly has a plan, that's for sure," Maki said. "With how he was talking, I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning on partaking in the killing game."

"That bastard!" Fuyuhiko scowled before he gripped his hands into tight fists. "Dammit...He's gonna fuck everything up here!"

Fear began to fill the room once more as the reality of an actual murderer within their midst began to sink into their minds. All of a sudden, their friendships they had recently built seemed to break as everyone began to stare at each other untrustworthily.

"That's certainly not good," Lyra shrugged, her smile still wide. "His very existence is already ruining our trust in others. We need to stop him, whatever means necessary."

"We should restrain him," Hajime declared. "That's probably the only way to stop him from interfering with us."

"...I can help with that," Maki volunteered herself without much hesitation. "He may talk big, but I won't let anyone hurt you guys. I might not know you all very well...but it's like Lyra said. We can all be...friends. I've only had a couple, and...it's a nice feeling. I'd like to keep it forever..."

"So then this is settled. We will have to detain him," Janelle said seriously.

"...Is it really alright to restrain him in such a fashion?" Sonia piped up timidly, her blind belief in optimism shining through. "He has done no wrong yet, perhaps we should give him a chance to see that we are all wonderful people who have no plans of killing."

"I don't think it's a good idea to risk someone dying when we can prevent it right now," Shuichi disagreed. "I would love to believe in that guy, but in our situation...I don't think it's right to put someone's life on the line."

"Nyeh...I agree..." Himiko said. "We should be mastering the art of friendship and safety with each other, not worrying about that boy..."

Something suddenly clicked.

"...Master...?" Toko suddenly perked up as the word was still fresh in her mind when discussing the boy that had disappeared. "Master..."

"What? What's wrong?" Makoto questioned, a worried look on his babyish face. Toko fidgeted with her glasses before spitting it out.

"T-That's M-Master...Byakuya..." Toko's face suddenly morphed from someone shy and meek to someone in complete bliss. "Oh, Master Byakuya...How have I betrayed you-?"

"Betrayed-wait, that blonde dude?" Tanya suddenly realized. "You betrayed him? You knew him? Wait, what!?"

"I-I...n-need to go find him!" Toko suddenly dashed off, almost running into a ladder, before leaving the rest of the group in stunned silence. However, one of them was calmer, collected, and already analyzing the mystery. She had already figured it out.

Of course she had. She was Kyoko Kirigiri, and she knew everything as soon as it happened. It was part of her.

But it was because of the information that she knew that she already could fathom Lyra's plan of friendship was doomed to fail. 

"...Think about this. Soda and Sonia said they remember a connection, and Toko now remembers...Byakuya," Kyoko had a slight, smug smirk on her face. "The answer is right in front of you."

Without another weird, Kyoko disappeared from the gym. With everyone beginning to separate, the harmonious mood began to slip away. More and more people were beginning to fear; with three people away, murder could happen at any time to any of those three! Not to mention how anyone in the gym currently was in danger just because those three left...

"We can't give up now...We'll be perfectly fine," Makoto tried to encourage his comrades. "Hope will never die. We've got to keep pushing forward, we'll never kill! That's what the bear wants!"

"He's right!" Aoi nodded. "We can't give up on our friends now!"

"We'll never give up. I just have so much faith in all of us!" Lyra smiled. "With our power, we're unstoppable."

"Ah, just a precaution though...we should not venture out at nighttime," Sonia proposed, her blue eyes pensive. "With um...Byakuya...running around with who knows what goals, we don't know who is capable of what."

"Okay, that sounds great," Akane stuck her finger in her ear absentmindedly. "Well, are we good to split?"

Unease flowed through the room. Regardless of what everyone thought about each other, there was at least one confirmed ready-to-go murderer. Regardless of the newly found friendships, they were all still terrified of what could happen...

"...Just make sure to lock your doors once it's nighttime!" Lyra smiled. "It's only our first day here. Nothing will happen if we all follow the rules."