Fanfic / Blackened Skies

A joint Danganronpa project by CSpratt and Mr Cynical, Blackened Skies takes the culprits of the various murders in the original game, its sequel and V3. As such, it naturally contains Late-Arrival Spoilers for all three games, so tread carefully.

Death should have been the end of it. A brutal execution, tailor-made for them, at the paws of a demented robotic bear. Yet sixteen students find that for each of them, the horror hasn't quite ended yet, as they awaken to find themselves stuck on a cruise ship run by none other than Monokuma himself. And each of them earned their position here, he declares, as in order to board this ship, they had to kill somebody first.

Naturally, if they want off this little pleasure cruise, well... they already know what they'll have to do, right...? Protest all they like, all of them have already been blackened by their deeds... Can any hope be found on the Despair of the Seas?

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Accentuate the Negative: Monokuma's introduction of Felony Funland has him practically raving about all the worst aspects of amusement parks. After all, as a connoisseur of Despair, those are the sort of aspects that appeal most to him.
  Monokuma: It has everything you could ever want in a park; rigged games, knick knack prizes you get bored with after an hour, overpriced food, rides operated by people who would be just as happy to get hit by the thing as they would to ride it themselves, and all with a wonderful Monokuma twist!
• Accidental Innuendo: In-Universe: During the first trial, Teruteru is deeply upset when Chiaki mentions that she checked all the meat in the kitchen by pulling on the bones, going on a rant about how unsanitary that was. Chiaki didn't intend any double meaning; Kaede is left wondering whether Teruteru did, or was so genuinely outraged that he didn't even notice his poor phrasing.
• Accidental Murder: As it turns out, Celeste was unaware that the parasol she'd bought contained a hidden blade until it came out during the struggle with Hifumi.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Given the prevalence of Laser-Guided Amnesia and the story focusing on Kaede's POV, it is unclear precisely how much each of the other students remembers about their respective games. Given that they were restored by a Flashback Light, it's not even clear whether what they do recall can be trusted.
  • Tsumugi's situation is especially cloudy, given their rather distinct position in their original game as V3's mastermind under Team Danganronpa and the one really responsible for Rantaro's death.
• Amusement Park of Doom: Felony Funland, which serves as the staging grounds for Chapter Two.
• Animal Motifs: Korekiyo is frequently described in fashions comparing him to a snake, in both appearance and mannerisms.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • When everyone's reeling from their restored memories, and Monokuma gloats about how all of them committed murder, Chiaki turns the tide starting with a simple question: "Does it matter?"
  • Celeste then counters the attempt to rally with a question of her own:
    Kaede: We might've been weak before, but no one's going to kill again!
    Celeste: ...Are you certain of that?
    • Followed by the similarly haunting "What good is a killer's promise?"
  • Gonta unintentionally snipes Kaede with one while she's trying to talk him through his guilt. Effectively responding to her telling him not to blame himself for what happened by asking whether she blames herself for the life she accidentally took.
• The Atoner: Several of the students feel this way regarding their crimes from their previous games. Particularly Kaede, who is determined to do this right this time around, and Sakura, who's deeply troubled by the idea that she buckled under Monokuma's demands.
• Awful Truth: After the Internal Reveal that closes out Chapter 1, Kaede worries that Chiaki is setting herself up for disappointment - that said revelation was actually false, and that her firm belief that Kaede didn't kill Rantaro is just playing into Monokuma's paws. Later, she admits to herself that she's afraid of learning whether or not it was real... as either way, the revelation will hurt. Either the video is fake and setting them up for a much worse reveal, or it's real and she was successfully framed for murder.
• Bait-and-Switch: Part One of Chapter 1's Deadly Life ends with Mondo seemingly killing Kaede by hitting her with a dumbbell in a blind rage, only for the next part to reveal that he missed her and hit the wall while she fell to the ground in terror.
• Baseball Episode: Well, not baseball, since Leon pointedly wants nothing to do with the sport anymore, but Kaito is able to coax him and the other Ultimates into playing a friendly 6v6 soccer match that lasts for a couple of chapters.
• Batman Gambit:
  • Celeste is quite fond of using these. Her decision to have Gonta swipe furniture from Kirumi's lab, for instance, hinges on the notion that the maid won't hound her for the stolen furnishings to be returned, and that Gonta will take her word for it that Kirumi won't mind.
  • During the first trial, it comes out that Celeste chose to lie about not recalling who she killed or why as part of one of these. Specifically, she was banking on the idea that Hifumi and Sakura would back her up - the former following her lead, while the latter hoped to avoid provoking anything by calling her out.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: On their first night on the ship, while Kaede and Kaito are discussing how they managed to come Back from the Dead despite being executed, bringing up the possibility that Monokuma might have faked their memories of their murders and executions, Monokuma pops in with a "NO, THAT'S WRONG!"
  Monokuma: Heh, whaddya know, that's actually pretty fun to say!
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Poor Hifumi suffers this after receiving a video from Monokuma that reveals how Celeste played him like a fiddle during their last game.
  • In the wake of the first trial, Kaede finds that her standing with the rest of the survivors has taken a severe hit, to the point that five vote against the idea of her continuing to be their leader.
• Buffy Speak: When Mondo admits to her that he's never been to a real amusement park, Kaede describes them as "a lot like [Felony Funland], but less... Monokuma-y."
• Call-Back: Naturally, the students make several references to the events of the games they were involved in.
  • Monokuma demonstrates the consequences of breaking his rule about not confessing the students' motives as mentioned below under Exact Words by using his own murder of "Junko Enoshima" as an example.
  • Monokuma's opening speech before the first trial includes references to the first executions of each of the previous games.
  • When the first trial begins, Leon wonders about the chances of the victim having left a Dying Clue behind to make their jobs easier.
  • Chiaki brings up the possibility of a weapon being concealed within something innocent-looking, like inside the bone of a slab of meat.
  • The robotic backup dancers that appear during Monokuma's big song and dance number introducing Felony Funland are dressed to resemble the Student Council members who were victims of the prototypical killing game.
  • Felony Funland itself is positively brimming with these, by virtue of being an Amusement Park of Doom themed around the mutual killing games:
    • The bangles that serve as their entry passes into Felony Funland resemble the ones used in the DR3 anime, complete with poisonous injectors.
    • The menu at 'Death Row Delights' features dishes based off of various executions, including one inspired by the first punishment of this game. In particular, Kiyo decides to try some of the "Shinguji Stew" and dryly notes that it's a bit too salty for his tastes.
    • Monokuma's new game system is called the 'Mono-Station 11037', and he promotes several DR-related games as its main offerings.
    • The 'Hammer Happy Havoc' whack-a-mole machine features the Justice Hammer, and the moles are modeled after all of the victims who died via head trauma. The other games featured in the Carnival of Carnage area are similarly themed around the various murders.
    • Similarly, the prizes offered at 'Slayer Souvenirs' are modeled after the victims of the mutual killing games.
    • A section of the park called 'Lil’ Jabberwock' is based off the Jabberwock Island amusement park, including the roller coaster and funhouse. Chiaki and especially Gundham freak out a bit after hearing about the latter.
• Captain Ersatz: According to Tsumugi, the series Notes of Nevermore originally had the protagonist working for the Kuzuryu clan. Said group took offense to this, leading to the characters being replaced with Expies like Mafia Princess Kuzuhiko.
• Cassandra Truth: Hifumi feared being saddled with one thanks to Monokuma, believing that if it came down to their word versus Celeste's, nobody would believe them.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: During the Prologue, Gundham cheerfully greets Chiaki despite the fact that Celeste was in the process of attempting to strangle him with his own scarf when she arrived.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • When introducing the first motive, Monokuma mentions that one of the videos he's going to distribute detailing each of the students' past crimes is going to be fake. This has come up twice thus far: its mere existence left one student convinced that nobody would believe them if they revealed Celeste's crimes despite having their video as evidence, and Kaede rejects the video asserting that she didn't kill Rantaro for similar reasons.
  • The Flash-Blackout Light, one of the special items in Monosuke's store, seems to have been used on Gonta to incapacitate him in some capacity.
• Clear Their Name: The first murder victim is found inside the lab of Kaede Akamatsu, making them an obvious suspect. Complicating matters further is that Mondo Owada also had a clear motive, with evidence potentially pointing to each of them involved in the trial. On top of all this, the back end of the trial revolves around furious debates concerning the innocence or culpability of Kirumi.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror:
  • The first time she wakes up in her room on the ship, Kaede is momentarily confused and disoriented until she recalls "Oh, right, I'm in a killing game." She immediately hates how normal that sounds to her.
  • When Kaede sees hanging plushes modeled after Ibuki and herself in 'Slayer Souvenirs', she's surprised to find that she feels little more than vague annoyance at the mocking display.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Each of the participants suffered through one with their respective executions; anyone who's caught as a culprit naturally faces another horrible demise.
  • The first punishment involves Celeste being crushed, followed by Monokuma presenting her splattered remains to the rest of the survivors proudly displayed on a giant playing card.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Kaede's first experience with Gala Omega, when Chiaki introduces her to the game.
• Cutting the Knot: Faced with a locked box, Mondo solves the problem by giving the lock a swift kick across the room.
• Deal with the Devil: In exchange for Celeste's cooperation, Kaede offers to do her a favor in return (so long as it doesn't involve hurting anyone). As they agree upon the terms, she can't shake the sense that she's making a serious mistake.
• Declaration of Protection: After the three of them wake up in the same room, Mondo decides to take point in front of Kaede and Chiaki, insisting that he'll protect both of them.
• Disappointed by the Motive: Mondo is fit to be tied after learning that Celeste manipulated Hifumi into killing Taka, then offed him as well, all for the sake of what he calls "a fuckin' fairy tale castle".
• Double Entendre: Teruteru is very fond of these, frequently making such comments despite the others' displeased reactions.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Since she was taken out of her game so early on, Kaede naturally isn't aware of anything that came afterwards, including the fact that she didn't actually kill Rantaro. When presented with evidence of that, she immediately rejects it as a lie.
  • Sakura is deeply tormented by her inability to recall who her victim was, lamenting her lost honor while completely unaware that she was Driven to Suicide in order to avoid innocent blood on her hands.
  • Kaede describes having a purpose to Gonta as 'something you want to do so badly that you're willing to give up your talent for it'. Which she herself has done, in a sense - involuntarily.
  • At the start of the first trial, Leon asks whether the victim might have left a Dying Clue like the culprit's name, with Celeste cheerfully mocking him for this. The irony kicks in with the reveal that the case parallels his in other ways - namely that just like him, Celeste ended up killing her assailant and scrambling to cover up her crime.
  • Another irony with the first case is that despite being thrust headlong into that situation rather than going in with a plan, Celeste actually comes far closer to pulling it off, sowing significant doubt and nearly running out the clock for the debate.
  • The fact that Tsumugi takes point when calling out Kaede for her actions during the first trial is especially ironic given how she successfully framed Kaede before.
• Driving Question: Given the fact that all of the participants were summarily executed in their original games... just how the heck is it even possible for them to be here?
• Elephant in the Living Room: The fact that each of the students is there partly because they murdered somebody during their original game naturally makes building up trust between everyone difficult. Kaede strives to push this to the back of her mind as much as possible.
• Exact Words: Monokuma instates a temporary rule banning everyone from confessing their original motives until the first murder is committed. Naturally, this comes up during the first trial.
• Face Death with Dignity: Zig-Zagged with Celeste, who argues well past Implausible Deniability and almost runs out the clock, but ultimately makes a bid for this in their final moments.
• Flat "What": Kaede's reaction to Monokuma introducing Felony Funland with a destructive song and dance number. She clearly isn't the only one; even the more stoic students are visibly puzzled by the display.
• Foreshadowing:
  • During the Prologue, Monokuma blames the students' messed up memories on the Monokubs, who don't appear in person until Chapter 2.
  • While reviewing the prizes that can be obtained through the casino's exchange counter, the investigators note the oddity of two unrelated items being so close to each other. This makes more sense with later revelations about the more innocent-looking of those items having a hidden blade.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Zig-Zagged in the aftermath of the first trial, as the survivors fall all over the spectrum when it comes to the matter of how to deal with the knowledge that Kaede kept critical information from them. Some reject her apology outright, while others hew more towards this.
• Gilded Cage: The Despair of the Seas naturally serves as one. Kaede initially marvels at their extravagant surroundings, but quickly reevaluates after being stuck wandering around searching for an unlocked door for a while.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: The moment Kaito introduces himself to Gundham with one of his signature bombastic speeches, it's off to the races.
  Kaede: Are you guys seriously having a monologue-off?
• His Story Repeats Itself:
  • During an argument with Kaede, Mondo gets his Berserk Button pushed and nearly brains her with a dumbbell in the resulting blind rage. Once he registers what's happened, he takes the realization poorly.
  • After receiving a Tap on the Head, Monotaro starts thinking that Kaede's his mother like he did with Miu.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Celeste takes it upon herself to give Kaede a few pointers on bluffing and recognizing/concealing tells after their poker game. Kaede would take the Ultimate Gambler’s advice to heart and later use it against her during the first trial, delivering a stone-faced bluff that catches Celeste off guard and tricking her into contradicting part of her alibi.
• Hope Spot:
  • Kaede's Rousing Speech during the Prologue about how none of them would give in to Monokuma's demands gets turned against them when he restores their memories, gleefully revealing how each and every one of them already gave in and killed in the past.
  • Sakura's lab appears to be outdoors, complete with cherry blossom trees and a dazzlingly blue sky... which is nothing more than a pretty paint job.
  • Used to Yank the Dog's Chain during the first execution: the ball actually lands in the 'LIFE + ESCAPE' slot, only for Monokuma to smash his paw down and send it flying back into the air... causing it to crush the culprit.
  • Kaede also interprets her motive video as a particularly cruel instance of this, offering false hope that she doesn't have blood on her hands.
• Hypocrite:
  • One of the biggest challenges when it comes to uniting the students is the fact that, while the amount of knowledge of any of the specifics varies, all of them are aware of the fact that they are 'blackened', and that each of them murdered somebody in their previous game. This makes taking a firm stance against doing so again tricky... at least, so far as Celeste is concerned.
  • Celeste also criticizes Kaede for acting as though she's morally superior when both of them lied to everyone and deliberately concealed their knowledge of various crimes.
• Implausible Deniability: During the first trial, Celeste delivers a series of Breaking Speeches wherein she upbraids Kaede and her allies for rejecting the sheer amount of circumstantial evidence piling up against Kirumi simply because they don't want that to be true. Later, once the culprit has been ferreted out, they continue arguing against the evidence well past the point of this, much to everyone's annoyance.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Celeste still ends up killing Hifumi and becoming the blackened.
  • Peko still dies in Chapter 2, albeit as a victim this time.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Gonta unintentionally insults Kaede when he asks her if she still feels guilty about the life she took during their first mutual killing game.
  • A slightly ambiguous case happens at the 'Death Row Diner'. Alarmed by the distress of most of the students gathered there, Monodam attempts to soothe things over by offering them free food... but all of the dishes are based off of their executions, and the offering he chooses is the latest addition to their menu, reminding them of how Celeste got splattered.
  • Upon noticing a motorcycle stunt cage among the attractions at the 'Carnival of Carnage', Kaede asks Mondo if he's interested in trying it out. Mondo, meanwhile, is frozen at the sight.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Monokuma's first motive involves videos summarizing the crimes committed by different students, distributed randomly. This leads to Mondo learning that Hifumi killed Taka and Hifumi discovering the full scope of Celeste's deception.
  • At the very end of Chapter 1, following the conclusion of the first trial, Kaede learns that Rantaro was not killed by the trap she set for the mastermind.
  • In Part 20, Mondo learns from Kaede that she nearly killed him while he was freaking out over nearly killing her.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia:
  • During the Prologue, while the students remember who they are and recognize their classmates, their memories of the killing games they originally participated in are absent, along with the memory of their respective crimes and punishments.
  • Several of the culprits find themselves with missing memories even after Monokuma restores them: Mikan, Korekiyo and Kirumi cannot remember their respective motives for murdering, while Sakura, Celeste and Hifumi can't recall their motives or victims. Though the latter two lied about the full extent of their memory loss, and Sakura backed them up by pretending she couldn't recall either. Those who participated in the same games find that they can't recall that information, either.
  • One of the prizes offered at Felony Funland's Carnival of Carnage is a "Flash-Blackout Light," which works opposite to the usual Flashback Lights in that it wipes out the memories of the user's target from anywhere up to an hour.
• Literal-Minded: Monokuma pretends to be this when Kaede calls their 'rewards' for passing the first trial 'blood money'.
  Monokuma: Trust me, I tried making these things just out of the iron in people's blood, and it just isn't worth it. I'd have to kill seven people just to make one coin! So rest assured, these coins are one-hundred percent not blood!
• Meanwhile Scene:
  • After Mondo attacks Kaede, the next scene follows Kaito's point of view up until he comes across the resulting tableau.
  • "Initium" follows somebody investigating rumors of a new killing game, initially passing them off as a hoax until they discover that their access to the relevant information has been denied, as opposed to there being nothing to find.
• Milestone Celebration: Played for Drama In-Universe: Monokuma claims that the second murder is the 50th murder he's overseen. To commemorate this, he gives the killer an extra advantage by knocking everyone else out for fifteen minutes.
• Moment of Weakness: A mutual one accompanies Mondo's His Story Repeats Itself moment: he nearly kills Kaede, and Kaede nearly kills him while he's reeling from the realization.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • The students all have this reaction when Monokuma uses a Flashback Light to restore most of their memories of their experiences - and crimes - during their last killing game.
  • Mondo suffers another major BSOD upon realizing that he nearly killed Kaede in exactly the same way he killed Chihiro.
  • The first murderer combined this with Oh, Crap!: she didn't intend to kill Hifumi, and is left with blood on her hands, scrambling to throw together a plan after the fact.
• My Greatest Failure: Naturally, Kaede feels this way about how her attempt to stop the Mastermind in her previous game turned out.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Kaede's determined to ensure that this game doesn't go as disastrously as the first mutual killing game she was involved in did. This time will be different! It has to be—!
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kaede's decisions to lie and deliberately withhold key evidence naturally complicate the first trial to the point that Tsumugi nearly gets falsely convicted, and they almost run out of debate time. This also does a number on her standing with the other survivors.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
  • Unlike her previous game, Kaede is forced to face the natural consequences of lying to everyone after the first trial, as her reputation takes a severe hit. She also finds that others can understand why she chose to lie without necessarily agreeing with her decisions, or believing that she made the best choice.
  • Kaede continually runs up against this as she continues her campaign to unite everyone. While she attempts various approaches, the underlying methodology remains the same - as does her willingness to lie and deceive in the process. This undermines her efforts, especially when it's obvious that she's still pushing the subject even when directly asked to stop.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Celeste claims this about herself and Kaede after both are exposed as having lied to everyone during the first trial.
  • Mondo compares Kaede to both Celeste and himself in this fashion, while trying to explain to her why learning about her Moment of Weakness actually makes him trust her more: because he can relate to that better than her acting unaffected by the stresses of Monokuma's games.
• Obvious Rule Patch: Since this killing game is set on a cruise ship, one of Monokuma's new rules is that no bodies or evidence can be disposed of overboard.
• Railroading: Any time Kaede or the others try to head off any potential killings and disrupt the killing game, Monokuma will pop in to introduce a new rule to stop them from taking any such initiative:
  • Kaede initially tries to defuse his first motive by having everyone just confess their past crimes with each other so everything is out in the open, but Monokuma nips that in the bud by forbidding them from discussing their original motives until the first murder happens, forcing everyone to stay secretive and allowing distrust and paranoia to spread amongst them.
  • When the Late Night Training Group discovers an amnesiac Gonta wandering the halls of the ship, both Kaede and Mondo realize he was probably hit with a Flash-Blackout Light from Monosuke's shop. After informing Kaito and Peko of their suspicions, they are all set to investigate the amusement park when Monokuma pops in to announce that the Funland will now be closed and off-limits at night, leaving the group with no choice but to return to their cabins and allow Gonta's assailant to operate unimpeded.
• Recurring Element:
  • As in the source material, Chapter 1 involves the death of somebody who looked as though they were going to be much more important/survive for longer than they actually do. In this case, Celeste, whose rivalry with Kaede is cut short.
  • The first murder mirrors the first one from the original game: both culprits were attacked by their victim, though circumstances were slightly more complicated than simply killing in self-defense.
  • Another Plot Parallel with the very first case is that the would-be-assailant turned victim leaves behind information pointing directly at their murderer... and one with the second game's first case is that a concealed weapon is involved. Another long, thin blade, to boot.
• Rejected Apology:
  • Tsumugi rejects Kaede's apology for her actions during the first trial outright, calling her on how she nearly caused a mistrial.
  • She does so again during the soccer match's halftime break, making clear that she's still not ready to forgive her and requesting that she just... stop trying to make her accept it before she's ready.
• Revealing Cover-Up: In "Initium", the mysterious investigator is ready to dismiss rumors of a new killing game as being nothing more than that... until they run a cursory check for information and find that their access to it is being denied. As opposed to there simply being nothing to find, which was what they expected.
• The Rival: Celeste and Korekiyo both quickly take on this role for Kaede. Celeste is the more overt rival, openly challenging her, while Korekiyo is relatively more subtle in how he questions and undermines her efforts.
• Rule of Symbolism: The elevator to the trial chamber is inside the ship's boiler room, and ascends rather than descends. Gundham compares it to rising from the underworld to purgatory.
• Rule of Three: Kaede doles out three slaps before making clear to Teruteru that he needs to scale back the wannabe Loveable Sex Maniac schtick.
• Saying Too Much: This is what ultimately ensures that the first murderer is caught: Celeste accidentally lets on that she lied about not recalling her crime, then gets baited into revealing that she lied about never being in Kirumi's room, when Kaede claims that Kirumi's floors are scratch-proof and Celeste corrects her.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Kaede and all of the other participants have been traumatized to various extents by their experiences, developing various coping mechanisms.
• Ship Tease: Kaede Akamatsu and Mikan Tsumiki get many ship tease moments throughout the story, beginning with Mikan's introduction and during the first trial. CSpratt even said that they were teasing this ship as a part of the story.
• Shout-Out:
  • Monokuma scares the hell out of Kaede by ambushing her in the boiler room while dressed up like Freddy.
  • While Kaede and Kaito are looking for Hifumi's Monopad during the first investigation, Monokuma, while explaining that dead students' monopads are taken away upon their deaths, states that it's "gone...reduced to atoms" and that he "used the pad to destroy the pad."
  • During Celestia's Villainous Breakdown near the end of the first trial when elements of Taeko Yasuhiro start popping up, we get this bit from Tsumugi:
    Tsumugi: It's like she has two completely different personalities! But which one is Diavolo and which is Doppio...?
  • Monokuma presents the parasol-concealed blade that proves Celeste's guilt in the first trial by floating down with it while calling himself "Mono Poppins" and singing his own despair-themed version of "A Spoonful of Sugar".
    Kaito: I swear, if he starts saying anything about how he's practically perfect in every way...
  • Tsumugi notes that the concept of a theme park inside of a prison seems awfully familiar for some reason...
  • The name of Nanami's arcade-themed lab, Eight-Bit Zoners, doubles as a reference to one of the fic's regular commentators, 8BitOwners.
• Stress Vomit: Kaede suffers through this after the first body turns up. Kirumi later cites this as proof that she couldn't possibly have been the culprit, as she doubts her ability to convincingly fake such a severe reaction.
• Tell Me How You Fight: After a long sparring session together, both Peko and Sakura gain a read on each other's personalities from their fighting styles and, from that, form a bond of mutual trust between them.
  Sakura: Studying combat gives a certain insight into people from how they fight. Offensive or defensive, a preference in how or where they strike, how they adapt to your own tactics, the look in their eyes… all of these serve to paint a picture of who a person is. In normal situations, people can lie about their nature, but when they put their all into combat, that is when their true selves shine the brightest.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • The alumni from V3 react this way when Monokuma realizes that the group's been split in half during the first trial, triggering a Debate Scrum. The students from the first two games, meanwhile, have no idea what he's blathering on about.
  • They have a similar reaction when the Monokubs make their return — or, for most of the students, their debut.
• This Is Reality: Inverted after Kaede sees the video revealing that she didn't kill Rantaro, as she distinctly thinks that 'This... this was fiction' and rejects the idea that it could be true.
• Title Drop: The mysterious investigator featured in "Initium" uses the fic's title as a search term while looking into rumors about a new killing game.
• Touché:
  • When Monokuma is dancing around confirming the veracity of the sword from the casino during the first trial, Chiaki points out that if he doesn't give them a straight answer, the trial will never get anywhere, and "That wouldn't be very fun for you, would it?" He completely drops his usual cheerful demeanor to concede the point.
  • After Kaede criticizes his big song-and-dance number introducing Felony Funland, Monokuma angrily demands "What do you know about music?!" He can't come up with a retort to her reminder that she's the Ultimate Pianist.
• Tragic Keepsake: Right before they're dragged off to their punishment, the first culprit gives Kaede a token to remember them by: a pack of playing cards.
• Trauma Button: Thanks to the nature of her execution, Kaede is no longer able to play the piano. Even listening to music can trigger painful flashbacks and panic attacks, as Monokuma cruelly demonstrates in order to solidify her alibi... and torment her, naturally.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Played With: while Kaede tried to protect them during the trial, Mondo has very legitimate grievances with how she conducted herself... and also makes some effort to pay her back afterwards, despite said concerns.
• Unreliable Expositor: While the first victim leaves behind critical information regarding their killer's identity, the survivors run into a roadblock due to this: it's clear that they considered the culprit as a trusted friend. But that was from their perspective; that didn't mean that sentiment was shared, and they debate about what might have qualified as such in the victim's eyes.
• Villain Respect: Following the first trial, Kaede finds that she has earned the respect of Celeste... as she goes off to her execution.
• Was It All a Lie?: Kaede finds herself second-guessing Kirumi's motives over the course of the first trial.
• Wistful Amnesia: Throughout the Prologue, Kaede keeps being struck by moments of this, such as wondering why Chiaki's sleepy demeanor or the name on the back of Mondo's jacket seem oddly familiar.
• Wham Line: When the second body is discovered, Monokuma drops an even bigger bombshell: he's giving the killer an extra advantage, supposedly because "This is the 50th murder case I've ruled over here!"
• What the Hell, Hero?: The morning after the first trial, Kaede faces judgment from her peers for the lies she told during it. In particular, Tsumugi calls her out for how she convinced everyone that they were lying, despite how they were telling the truth.
  Tsumugi: You didn't just lie to us, Kaede. You convinced everyone I was lying when I was telling the truth. Do you know how horrible it is to have no one believe you when you're not doing anything wrong?
• You All Meet in a Cell: Much like in V3, the students wake up to find themselves trapped in lockers, having been sorted into small groups. Each group contains one representative from each of their games; for instance, Kaede finds herself in the same room as Mondo and Chiaki.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Kaede does her best to reassure Mikan, and comforts Gonta in this fashion when she finds him having a breakdown.
  • In the wake of the first trial, Chiaki visits Kaede to offer comfort, trying to prove her point by sharing her video indicating that she didn't kill Rantaro.
  • Mondo also winds up reassuring Kaede after learning about how she nearly wound up killing him right after he attacked her.
• You Just Told Me: Teruteru pulls this off on Kaede concerning, of all things, the color of her panties.
• You Remind Me of X:
  • Gundham indicates that Kaede reminds him of Sonia after she starts figuring out how to translate his distinctive speech patterns.
  • Deconstructed with Leon towards Kaede: Her similarities to Sayaka reminds him of how the idol tried to kill him, causing both of their deaths. As a result, he's naturally inclined not to trust Kaede. He's also adverse towards Tsumugi due to her blue hair and eyes.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Monosuke compliments Mondo for beating up the Hammer Happy Havoc table, noting that his angry venting got around their rigging... though he follows it up with an Implied Death Threat.

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