R
Rapping-Monster
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A short while after leaving the laboratory, Yasuke Matsuda stood in front of a large door that exuded a solemn atmosphere and straightened his posture.
What are you so nervous about? He wanted to mock himself, but at the same time realized nervousness was inevitable. It was the first time he'd ever stepped into Hope's Peak Academy's inner sanctum, the staff building. It was the only building on the campus' east quarter that students were forbidden to enter, and sure enough - once he did he ended up having to explain the situation to several teachers who stopped him along the way. That wasn't enough, though - his final destination was itself a special place, even inside this forbidden building.
Yasuke Matsuda raised his head and stared at the door in front of him.
It was a pretentiously decorated wooden door that gave him the feeling visitors weren't welcome. The metal plate set in it read "Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee Meeting Room". This was the inner sanctum's inner sanctum. Even the teaching staff could not just walk in uninvited. Nervousness really was inevitable for someone about to enter such a special room. But, nevertheless –
"This really isn't like me…"
Matsuda cleared his throat. He tried to cheer himself up before he ended up swallowed whole by the oppressing atmosphere. Then, he raised his fist and knocked twice on the door.
"This is Yasuke Matsuda, from Hope's Peak Academy's 77th class", he announced, slowly pushing the heavy door open. "…Excuse me."
The room was as different from a classroom as a room could be. The ceiling, pillars and walls were excessively decorated, in a way that Matsuda found gloomy. He stepped forward, the sound of his footsteps swallowed by the thick carpet.
"We apologize for calling you here on such a short notice". The voice was surprisingly light and cheerful. It belonged to Hope's Peak Academy's headmaster, Jin Kirigiri. Every time Matsuda saw the man he couldn't help but be astounded how young he was. In his mind, a headmaster was a middle-aged man with white hair, a mustache and a drab suit. Kirigiri, still in his thirties, was just too young for the job.
"Please sit down. It would be easier to have a conversation that way."
A large circular table stood in the middle of the room. Antique chairs were lined up all around it. "Excuse me", said Matsuda as he sat on the nearest chair, placing him exactly across the table from Kirigiri. The moment he sat down, he felt several pairs of eyes staring intently at him. They belonged to four old men who sat around the table at set intervals. Every one of them wore a pitch-black suit, as if they were on their way back from a funeral. Their ties were the same color. Their appraising glare felt to Matsuda as if someone was breathing their hot breath down the back of his neck.
"Do you know who we are?"
The voice was rusty, and Matsuda couldn't tell which old man it belonged to.
"You must be the members of Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee."
"You have our sincere gratitude for all your help with that incident".
"……I don't know what you're talking about."
The wrinkles on the old men's faces deepened. They didn't like dodging around the topic of the conversation.
"There is no need to be cautious here. We know everything", one of the old men said. "You helped us with the interrogation of the student who first discovered the crime scene, didn't you?", said another.
The student who first discovered the crime scene. The second Matsuda heard those words, his heart began to beat faster. He tried to hide it by asking a question of his own. "…Do you intend to try and get more information out of that student?"
"Not at all", a different old man shook his hand. "This time, we are dealing with a different student. We have a problem, you see. A problem that someone with your skills can solve. We are looking forward for your help". He talked as if the matter was already settled. That was worrying.
"…What if I refuse?"
A few seconds of silence later, one of the old men started to laugh. It was a quiet laugh at first, but soon the second, third, and then the fourth old man joined, filling the room with scornful laughter. Their voices descended on Matsuda from every angle.
"So, Matsuda-kun", the laughter suddenly stopped. "Do you really believe you have a choice in the matter?" The old man spoke in a condescending tone of voice. "That girl you've been treating… It seems she's on temporary leave from the school, yet there aren't any signs that she's going to be cured."
This time, it was Matsuda's wrinkles that deepened as he frowned. "…What are you trying to say?"
"You are also still a student. We can't have you wasting your time on a dunce with no hope of recovery". His words were overflowing with contempt. "The way we see it, we can't keep extending a student's temporary leave when we don't even know when she'll be able to return. This faculty's purpose is to nurture talent. Those who are too much of a failure to use it should simply step down, for the other students' sake… That said, if you agree to help us…"
"Shut the fuck up, old man."
"…Wha–!"
"Your dirty mouth talks too much."
The room's atmosphere changed in a second. The air pressure jumped all at once.
"Y…You bastard…!"
Matsuda stood up and the old men froze. He looked at them as if they were worms. No, his stare was much more angry and full of contempt – he looked as them as if they were worms he was about to trample.
"Dunce? Failure? I should've warned you. I am the only one who's allowed to make fun of her. No one else has any right to."
"H…Hey! Who do you think you're talki–"
"I told you to shut up."
His tone really did shut them up. He continued speaking in a low voice.
"That girl… Even when people make fun of her, she swipes it off because she thinks it has 'nothing to do with her'. That's why I have to speak up for her. I won't be able to live with myself if I don't."
To the ears of the Steering Committee members, his words carried an indescribable sense of intimidation. How can we be so overpowered by someone not yet in his twenties? They did not know the answer.
They did not understand the power someone who possessed talent had. The power Hope's Peak Academy called "Hope".
"…Um, may I interrupt?" A slow voice forced its way into the conversation. It was Kirigiri's voice. Matsuda turned his coercive stare towards him.
"It's just that I think It's time for me to say something…" Kirigiri smiled bitterly and scratched his head. Despite the nervous atmosphere that filled the room, he seemed completely calm. Matsuda, having lost his momentum, closed his eyes slowly, let out a heavy sigh and sat back down. As soon as he was done, Kirigiri continued in a quiet tone.
"Matsuda-kun, we are merely asking for a favor. Not a favor just for us – you can consider it a favor to every student of Hope's Peak Academy. Would you please at least consider listening to what we have to say?"
Matsuda stayed quiet and looked at Kirigiri, unable to judge what the man's true intentions were. Kirigiri, on his part, tried his best to take back control of the situation. "I won't ask you to do anything other than listen. If you decide to refuse, we will accept your decision". With the preliminaries done, he moved straight to the topic on hand.
"I probably do not have to explain to you about that incident, but we should probably still begin there anyway". Kirigiri cleared his throat, clasped both his hands in front of himself, and continued. "It's been a month and we still can't believe what had happened. Such a gruesome incident taking place inside Hope's Peak Academy… I still feel like we're living in a nightmare."
"But, it really did happen!", yelled one of the old men.
"Thirteen kids!", screamed another. "Thirteen victims, and the details of what happened are still unclear! Why did such a terrible thing happen in our school?!"
When the screaming voices stopped, Matsuda said what has been on his mind. "So… you never informed the police?"
"Of course we didn't! What do you think would happen if we did?! What would it solve?! This is not a problem that can be taken care of by arresting a culprit!"
"But… what about the victims' families?"
"We're taking care of that!" yet another old man yelled without skipping a beat. "You don't have to worry about such things!"
Judging by the way he spoke, the academy had already taken measures for dealing with the families. They must have asked some favors from previous graduates. Many of them rose to high positions on the strength of the Hope's Peak brand - if that brand falls from grace, they will also lose it all.
"…You're right, I shouldn't have to worry about that. So, what is it that you want me to do? This 'other student' you were talking about – they must have something to do with this incident as well, right?"
"We want you to extract information out of that student that will help clarifying the truth behind this incident", answered Kirigiri.
"Clarify the truth…? Isn't that a contradiction? Didn't you decide to cover up the incident?"
The cover-up. Matsuda was the only student the faculty trusted with the secret. In exchange for his cooperation, he was awarded a large research grant and equipment for his lab. That was probably another proof that he was a true scientist.
But, that wasn't the only reason he agreed to cooperate. No one but Matsuda himself knew the other reasons.
"Yes, it does sound like a contradiction, doesn't it", answered Kirigiri after a short hesitation. "But, this is a necessity. We strongly believe that hiding this incident is necessary, but there is too much we still don't know about. We can't hide something we don't completely understand. That's why we think we must find the entire story regarding what happened back then. In order to protect Hope's Peak Academy… this cover-up has to be perfect."
Kirigiri said all that without the slightest sign of doubt. He would do anything to protect Hope's Peak Academy. He's just like me, isn't he?, Matsuda thought.
Sacrificing something to protect something else - That's exactly what I'm also doing right now.
"…So who is this student you want me to interrogate?"
Kirigiri licked his dry lips, and gave Matsuda a cautious answer. "We didn't tell you this before, but other than the first discoverer of the crime scene, there are two additional survivors."
Two survivors… Sure enough, that was the first time Matsuda heard about them.
"They are indispensable for discovering the truth about the incident, of course. Had all been well, we should've questioned them immediately after we were done with the crime scene's discoverer… But, because of certain circumstances, we couldn't do that."
"…Circumstances?"
"One of them has been in a coma since the incident. The other, thankfully, came out unhurt, but… went missing soon after. We do not know where that student is right now."
One comatose student, and one missing student. The circumstances were indeed severe. But, there was still a possibility –
"You want me to try and get information from the comatose student, don't you?"
Kirigiri nodded. "Exactly."
Finding the truth in order to hide it. It was certainly a twisted thing to do, but it was also very convenient for Matsuda.
This is probably my chance. My chance to protect her.
"I understand", he said. He had no other choice. "I'll see what I can do."
"Do you think you can do something?" One of the old men quickly relaxed and tried to regain authority.
"It's still too early to tell. It depends on the student's exact condition. I will try my best, in any case", Matsuda answered bluntly, and returned to face Kirigiri. "But, what about the missing student? You aren't going to just sit here doing nothing, are you?"
After a short silence, Kirigiri bent forward and looked straight into Matsuda's eyes. "…Is something worrying you?"
His gaze was sharp, and Matsuda felt as if it could read his innermost thoughts. Wanting to escape it, he retracted quickly. "No, I was just curious". His voice was shaky, and he continued in an effort to hide it. "I mean, a missing student is far too suspicious, isn't it? Don't you think they could be the culprit who killed thirteen students and left one in a coma?"
The old men immediately started rustling, their whispers reverberating through the meeting room. Kirigiri alone kept his cool.
"It's just as you say. The way things look, that student is extremely suspicious."
"In that case –"
"In that case, what?" Kirigiri interrupted forcefully. "It just justifies covering-up this incident even more. If we don't… it's going to be the end of this school."
The end of this school…?
Matsuda was intrigued by Kirigiri's expression.
Does that mean that the student who has gone missing is someone special?
A certain name suddenly found itself floating in the back of Matsuda's mind. He had heard that name only in rumors and in occult stories he always thought were urban legends. But, if that person really exists, they may very well be involved in this incident.
If that's the case, it all makes sense. It even makes sense calling this incident "The Worst Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History".
It makes sense, but it's also terrible.
A single drop of sweat fell down from Matsuda's temple as he whispered those words deep inside his heart.
What are you so nervous about? He wanted to mock himself, but at the same time realized nervousness was inevitable. It was the first time he'd ever stepped into Hope's Peak Academy's inner sanctum, the staff building. It was the only building on the campus' east quarter that students were forbidden to enter, and sure enough - once he did he ended up having to explain the situation to several teachers who stopped him along the way. That wasn't enough, though - his final destination was itself a special place, even inside this forbidden building.
Yasuke Matsuda raised his head and stared at the door in front of him.
It was a pretentiously decorated wooden door that gave him the feeling visitors weren't welcome. The metal plate set in it read "Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee Meeting Room". This was the inner sanctum's inner sanctum. Even the teaching staff could not just walk in uninvited. Nervousness really was inevitable for someone about to enter such a special room. But, nevertheless –
"This really isn't like me…"
Matsuda cleared his throat. He tried to cheer himself up before he ended up swallowed whole by the oppressing atmosphere. Then, he raised his fist and knocked twice on the door.
"This is Yasuke Matsuda, from Hope's Peak Academy's 77th class", he announced, slowly pushing the heavy door open. "…Excuse me."
The room was as different from a classroom as a room could be. The ceiling, pillars and walls were excessively decorated, in a way that Matsuda found gloomy. He stepped forward, the sound of his footsteps swallowed by the thick carpet.
"We apologize for calling you here on such a short notice". The voice was surprisingly light and cheerful. It belonged to Hope's Peak Academy's headmaster, Jin Kirigiri. Every time Matsuda saw the man he couldn't help but be astounded how young he was. In his mind, a headmaster was a middle-aged man with white hair, a mustache and a drab suit. Kirigiri, still in his thirties, was just too young for the job.
"Please sit down. It would be easier to have a conversation that way."
A large circular table stood in the middle of the room. Antique chairs were lined up all around it. "Excuse me", said Matsuda as he sat on the nearest chair, placing him exactly across the table from Kirigiri. The moment he sat down, he felt several pairs of eyes staring intently at him. They belonged to four old men who sat around the table at set intervals. Every one of them wore a pitch-black suit, as if they were on their way back from a funeral. Their ties were the same color. Their appraising glare felt to Matsuda as if someone was breathing their hot breath down the back of his neck.
"Do you know who we are?"
The voice was rusty, and Matsuda couldn't tell which old man it belonged to.
"You must be the members of Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee."
"You have our sincere gratitude for all your help with that incident".
"……I don't know what you're talking about."
The wrinkles on the old men's faces deepened. They didn't like dodging around the topic of the conversation.
"There is no need to be cautious here. We know everything", one of the old men said. "You helped us with the interrogation of the student who first discovered the crime scene, didn't you?", said another.
The student who first discovered the crime scene. The second Matsuda heard those words, his heart began to beat faster. He tried to hide it by asking a question of his own. "…Do you intend to try and get more information out of that student?"
"Not at all", a different old man shook his hand. "This time, we are dealing with a different student. We have a problem, you see. A problem that someone with your skills can solve. We are looking forward for your help". He talked as if the matter was already settled. That was worrying.
"…What if I refuse?"
A few seconds of silence later, one of the old men started to laugh. It was a quiet laugh at first, but soon the second, third, and then the fourth old man joined, filling the room with scornful laughter. Their voices descended on Matsuda from every angle.
"So, Matsuda-kun", the laughter suddenly stopped. "Do you really believe you have a choice in the matter?" The old man spoke in a condescending tone of voice. "That girl you've been treating… It seems she's on temporary leave from the school, yet there aren't any signs that she's going to be cured."
This time, it was Matsuda's wrinkles that deepened as he frowned. "…What are you trying to say?"
"You are also still a student. We can't have you wasting your time on a dunce with no hope of recovery". His words were overflowing with contempt. "The way we see it, we can't keep extending a student's temporary leave when we don't even know when she'll be able to return. This faculty's purpose is to nurture talent. Those who are too much of a failure to use it should simply step down, for the other students' sake… That said, if you agree to help us…"
"Shut the fuck up, old man."
"…Wha–!"
"Your dirty mouth talks too much."
The room's atmosphere changed in a second. The air pressure jumped all at once.
"Y…You bastard…!"
Matsuda stood up and the old men froze. He looked at them as if they were worms. No, his stare was much more angry and full of contempt – he looked as them as if they were worms he was about to trample.
"Dunce? Failure? I should've warned you. I am the only one who's allowed to make fun of her. No one else has any right to."
"H…Hey! Who do you think you're talki–"
"I told you to shut up."
His tone really did shut them up. He continued speaking in a low voice.
"That girl… Even when people make fun of her, she swipes it off because she thinks it has 'nothing to do with her'. That's why I have to speak up for her. I won't be able to live with myself if I don't."
To the ears of the Steering Committee members, his words carried an indescribable sense of intimidation. How can we be so overpowered by someone not yet in his twenties? They did not know the answer.
They did not understand the power someone who possessed talent had. The power Hope's Peak Academy called "Hope".
"…Um, may I interrupt?" A slow voice forced its way into the conversation. It was Kirigiri's voice. Matsuda turned his coercive stare towards him.
"It's just that I think It's time for me to say something…" Kirigiri smiled bitterly and scratched his head. Despite the nervous atmosphere that filled the room, he seemed completely calm. Matsuda, having lost his momentum, closed his eyes slowly, let out a heavy sigh and sat back down. As soon as he was done, Kirigiri continued in a quiet tone.
"Matsuda-kun, we are merely asking for a favor. Not a favor just for us – you can consider it a favor to every student of Hope's Peak Academy. Would you please at least consider listening to what we have to say?"
Matsuda stayed quiet and looked at Kirigiri, unable to judge what the man's true intentions were. Kirigiri, on his part, tried his best to take back control of the situation. "I won't ask you to do anything other than listen. If you decide to refuse, we will accept your decision". With the preliminaries done, he moved straight to the topic on hand.
"I probably do not have to explain to you about that incident, but we should probably still begin there anyway". Kirigiri cleared his throat, clasped both his hands in front of himself, and continued. "It's been a month and we still can't believe what had happened. Such a gruesome incident taking place inside Hope's Peak Academy… I still feel like we're living in a nightmare."
"But, it really did happen!", yelled one of the old men.
"Thirteen kids!", screamed another. "Thirteen victims, and the details of what happened are still unclear! Why did such a terrible thing happen in our school?!"
When the screaming voices stopped, Matsuda said what has been on his mind. "So… you never informed the police?"
"Of course we didn't! What do you think would happen if we did?! What would it solve?! This is not a problem that can be taken care of by arresting a culprit!"
"But… what about the victims' families?"
"We're taking care of that!" yet another old man yelled without skipping a beat. "You don't have to worry about such things!"
Judging by the way he spoke, the academy had already taken measures for dealing with the families. They must have asked some favors from previous graduates. Many of them rose to high positions on the strength of the Hope's Peak brand - if that brand falls from grace, they will also lose it all.
"…You're right, I shouldn't have to worry about that. So, what is it that you want me to do? This 'other student' you were talking about – they must have something to do with this incident as well, right?"
"We want you to extract information out of that student that will help clarifying the truth behind this incident", answered Kirigiri.
"Clarify the truth…? Isn't that a contradiction? Didn't you decide to cover up the incident?"
The cover-up. Matsuda was the only student the faculty trusted with the secret. In exchange for his cooperation, he was awarded a large research grant and equipment for his lab. That was probably another proof that he was a true scientist.
But, that wasn't the only reason he agreed to cooperate. No one but Matsuda himself knew the other reasons.
"Yes, it does sound like a contradiction, doesn't it", answered Kirigiri after a short hesitation. "But, this is a necessity. We strongly believe that hiding this incident is necessary, but there is too much we still don't know about. We can't hide something we don't completely understand. That's why we think we must find the entire story regarding what happened back then. In order to protect Hope's Peak Academy… this cover-up has to be perfect."
Kirigiri said all that without the slightest sign of doubt. He would do anything to protect Hope's Peak Academy. He's just like me, isn't he?, Matsuda thought.
Sacrificing something to protect something else - That's exactly what I'm also doing right now.
"…So who is this student you want me to interrogate?"
Kirigiri licked his dry lips, and gave Matsuda a cautious answer. "We didn't tell you this before, but other than the first discoverer of the crime scene, there are two additional survivors."
Two survivors… Sure enough, that was the first time Matsuda heard about them.
"They are indispensable for discovering the truth about the incident, of course. Had all been well, we should've questioned them immediately after we were done with the crime scene's discoverer… But, because of certain circumstances, we couldn't do that."
"…Circumstances?"
"One of them has been in a coma since the incident. The other, thankfully, came out unhurt, but… went missing soon after. We do not know where that student is right now."
One comatose student, and one missing student. The circumstances were indeed severe. But, there was still a possibility –
"You want me to try and get information from the comatose student, don't you?"
Kirigiri nodded. "Exactly."
Finding the truth in order to hide it. It was certainly a twisted thing to do, but it was also very convenient for Matsuda.
This is probably my chance. My chance to protect her.
"I understand", he said. He had no other choice. "I'll see what I can do."
"Do you think you can do something?" One of the old men quickly relaxed and tried to regain authority.
"It's still too early to tell. It depends on the student's exact condition. I will try my best, in any case", Matsuda answered bluntly, and returned to face Kirigiri. "But, what about the missing student? You aren't going to just sit here doing nothing, are you?"
After a short silence, Kirigiri bent forward and looked straight into Matsuda's eyes. "…Is something worrying you?"
His gaze was sharp, and Matsuda felt as if it could read his innermost thoughts. Wanting to escape it, he retracted quickly. "No, I was just curious". His voice was shaky, and he continued in an effort to hide it. "I mean, a missing student is far too suspicious, isn't it? Don't you think they could be the culprit who killed thirteen students and left one in a coma?"
The old men immediately started rustling, their whispers reverberating through the meeting room. Kirigiri alone kept his cool.
"It's just as you say. The way things look, that student is extremely suspicious."
"In that case –"
"In that case, what?" Kirigiri interrupted forcefully. "It just justifies covering-up this incident even more. If we don't… it's going to be the end of this school."
The end of this school…?
Matsuda was intrigued by Kirigiri's expression.
Does that mean that the student who has gone missing is someone special?
A certain name suddenly found itself floating in the back of Matsuda's mind. He had heard that name only in rumors and in occult stories he always thought were urban legends. But, if that person really exists, they may very well be involved in this incident.
If that's the case, it all makes sense. It even makes sense calling this incident "The Worst Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History".
It makes sense, but it's also terrible.
A single drop of sweat fell down from Matsuda's temple as he whispered those words deep inside his heart.