#it's possible he tried to set up hagakure to be the suspect all this time but had always planned it to be aoyama | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zenonaa · 5 years

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Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya, Fukawa Touko & Naegi Komaru, Togami Byakuya & Naegi Komaru Characters: Togami Byakuya, Fukawa Touko, Naegi Komaru Guest Starring: Asahina Aoi as herself, Masaya Matsukaze as Hagakure Yasuhiro, Kirigiri Kyouko as herself in spirit, Naegi Makoto as himself

Summary:

'“Didn’t you know about it, Togami-san?” she asked him. Byakuya eyed her and slowly said, “I did not know about it.” Komaru balled her hands into fists, grinning excitedly. “That’s because it wasn’t on your list, but you definitely have to see it,” said Komaru. “It’s the first one of its kind.”'

Togami, Fukawa and Komaru visit Towa City. Komaru may or may not have ulterior motives. Set after Fine Dining.

Comments: My part of a trade with the talented @otomegrandma. <3 Her art is here and here.

***

When Byakuya woke up, he felt like he hadn’t actually slept. His head throbbed and as he tried to move, his body was impossibly heavy. Sitting up proved too difficult to accomplish at the moment - all he could manage was a twitch as he lay on his side, and doing that caused the arms around him to tighten.

He froze.

Those weren’t his arms.

This wasn’t even his bed.

Memories of last night seeped through the cracks in his congested mind. Byakuya had gone out for dinner with Makoto, Kyouko and Touko, to a restaurant for a social engagement with the purpose of evaluating a particular individual. They had drank during the night... then Yasuhiro or someone came to drive them home... and they had all arrived back at their apartment block, and Byakuya had gone with Touko to her apartment.

Ah.

He felt behind himself, patting around until he found a curve of flesh, and gave Touko’s shoulder a shake.

“Hey. Fukawa,” he drawled, and he breathed in through his nose, but his head was so full of fluff that he couldn’t even smell anything. She groaned and cuddled him more firmly.

Byakuya gritted his teeth, and squinting against the harsh light of the pale morning, he wiggled, trying to turn to her. Touko whined but relaxed her arms around him, just a little. He propped himself up, leaning back on his elbows with his bare chest on full display, and looked at her.

The bun that had trapped much of her hair the evening prior had collapsed, and her curtain of aubergine pooled around her, tangled in places, strands sticking out like reed breaking through the surface of a body of water. Its rich colour stood out against Touko’s pale skin, and with her indigo dress on the floor somewhere near her red underwear, there was a lot of her on show.

She fluttered her lashes and stared up at him tiredly with her lips curled in a cute pout. Without her glasses, her face seemed too bare, even with the grey smudges by her eyes.

“Fukawa,” he said again.

“Wazzizit?” she went, lulling her head. Purple-grey teased him from the small slits made by her eyes.

“It’s morning,” he told her.

Judging by the gradient of blue outside, late morning. He reached into his back pocket, only to not find his phone there. The world swayed as he shifted about, searching around him until he spotted his phone on the carpet within arm’s reach.

Byakuya made a swipe at it and picked it up.

Past eleven ante meridiem.

Very late morning.

His frown tightened.

Did he really refer to her pout as cute?

“We need to get moving,” he said.

“We dun hath walk,” she mumbled, draping her hand over her forehead, palm facing outward.

Byakuya was fluent in many languages, including all of hers by this point. He made to push up his glasses, only, he wasn’t wearing any, so his fingers pressed against the bridge of his nose. His brow furrowed.

“We’re supposed to be meeting the others for lunch,” he told her, lowering his hand to his lap. “Therefore...”

Too much time passed. Touko lifted her head.

“Therefore...?” she prompted, peering up at him blearily.

He knew that without her glasses, her vision was incredibly poor, so he suspected she could make out his frame, slouched forward, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t see how he averted his eyes, how tousled his hair was, what the dull ache on his neck looked like from last night’s makeout session that ended with them falling asleep instead of with them having intercourse, tangled in each other’s limbs.

“Therefore,” he said, feeling fingers claw at the inside of his head, “I need to go back to my place to get ready.”

Her chest rose, then fell. Rose, then fell.

“... All right,” she said quietly.

Byakuya found his glasses at the foot of his bed. When he put them on, the world refocused. Now, when he turned back to her, he could see each of her eyelashes, every crevice in her lips and the reflection of his face in her eyes. He grimaced, shuffled to her front door and cracked it ajar. No one was there, so he strode over to his door across the landing, unlocked it and then slipped inside his apartment.

The door clicked shut behind him. Byakuya heaved a sigh and slumped his back against the door.

At this stage, no students had enrolled at the new Hope’s Peak, unless one counted Komaru Naegi and four of the former Warriors of Hope. Though, with the amount of studying Komaru actually did, including her was debatable.

There were no structured lessons, anyway.

Despite the school’s original purpose, the plan was not to have the school function the same way as it did before. Any student could attend with no extra fees. No students would be scouted for their talents. Here, they would be allowed to explore different fields and work on various skills of their choosing alongside mandatory work. While a lot had been done in rebuilding the school so far, more work was needed before students could enroll. Right now, there were seven staff members if one was to include Hiroko, who had offered to be the school nurse when the school officially opened. Other than her, none of them had much culinary experience, and together with Komaru, Byakuya and the others had complied a roster detailing who was meant to make which meal and when.

By the time Byakuya arrived at the cafeteria, his head had cleared considerably, and the clash of mustiness and what smelled like hairspray in the corridors became tinged with a waft of fresh food. He spotted Makoto, Komaru and Aoi at one of the tables. Rice, soup, salad and wonkily-shaped donuts sat at the centre, available for anyone to help themselves to, and Byakuya didn’t need to guess who had made lunch. The donuts gave it away.

“Good afternoon, Togami-kun,” said Makoto as Byakuya joined their table. “How did you sleep?”

Byakuya shot him a hard look.

“Kyouko’s not feeling well, so I’m going to take some lunch to her a bit later,” said Makoto, seeming to accept Byakuya’s silence as an answer. He pushed out a small smile and scratched at his cheek. “She already missed breakfast...”

Crockery clunked and cutlery clinked as Byakuya put his lunch together.

“You can just say she had too much to drink,” said Byakuya without looking up. Some rice, some soup, a bit of salad... the donuts, as asymmetrical as they were, reminded Byakuya of the bagels that he sometimes had for breakfast when he lived with his mother, so after a few moments of deliberation, he plucked one and set it onto his plate, even if it lacked seeds and the trout that would typically be inside of it.

“I’m surprised you’re here, Togami-san,” said Komaru. “I mean... if you’re really here, that is. You look like a zombie. A freshly shaven zombie.” He heard her chair creak and glanced up. She leaned forward, sniffed, and added, “With cologne.”

“What part of me is supposed to resemble a zombie then?” asked Byakuya, quirking his brow.

“Your face!” Komaru nearly thrust her finger into his eye. He flinched back, just a bit. “Your eyes are like, dead. Did you get any sleep at all?”

Byakuya pulled a face and bit into the donut. It was sweeter than a bagel, lighter and fluffier. She withdrew her hand, settled back into her seat and picked up her fork. He decided to leave the donut for now, and he was part way through the salad when Yasuhiro came in, ponytail of dreads bobbing energetically behind him.

Yasuhiro, who had been a sober spectator to the tailend of last night’s events, grinned way too much as he slid into the chair on one side of Byakuya.

“Good afternoon, guys!” he said, and he turned to Byakuya into particular. “It’s nice to see you, Togami-chi! Sleep well?”

“Well enough,” said Byakuya. Yasuhiro jerked his head back and let out a bark of laughter.

“That’s good!” he said. His eyes bounced between everyone and then skidded over to Byakuya. “Hey, where’s Fukawa-chi? Didn’t she come with you?”

Byakuya didn’t reply, postponing for as long as possible in case they decided to move on to another topic, but all eyes were on him. He frowned.

“She should be here soon,” said Byakuya. “But why are you looking at me? Kirigiri isn’t here either, you know. Remember her? Your old boss?”

Yasuhiro rubbed the underside of his nose, unperturbed.

“‘Course I remember our old boss,” said Yasuhiro, emphasising ‘our’. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at him but Yasuhiro took little notice. He began assembling his lunch, being generous with his helpings, and not meeting Byakuya’s eyes, Yasuhiro added casually, “After your double date, you went back to Fukawa-chi’s place, ‘right? And obviously, you spent the night together, didn’t you?”

So did Kyouko with Makoto. Byakuya wanted to say that, but when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Aoi tensed and Komaru stared at him, but neither of them seemed shocked, and neither did Yasuhiro and Makoto.

“Why is it ‘obviously’?” asked Byakuya slowly.

Everyone exchanged looks. Yasuhiro rested his cheek in his palm, pinching his lips together.

Aoi pulled out the metaphorical shortest straw and flicked her wrist. “I mean... you’ve both become closer.”

“We’ve become closer to everyone.”

“But not like that,” said Aoi in a smaller voice.

“Kirigiri and Naegi went home together,” Byakuya pointed out.

“And they’re dating,” said Yasuhiro, his countenance the most serious it had been for a long time, bordering on frustrated despite how he tried to hide this with a lopsided smile.

“It wasn’t a double date,” said Byakuya, raising his voice a bit. “It was...”

“... a social engagement with the purpose of evaluating a particular individual in a comfortable environment,” finished Touko from the doorway.

Byakuya froze.

“Ah, good morning, Touko-chan!” Komaru piped up, lifting her butt off her seat and waving with her whole arm. Her other hand pressed flat against the table.

He stiffly turned around. Touko trotted over with her head slightly bowed forward, facial features too blank to not be deliberate, dressed in a clean blouse and long skirt. Not what she had worn in high school, and for a while past high school, but a white blouse that buttoned up at the front. A work blouse. She hadn’t reined her hair into braids but she had made a notable attempt at brushing it. Her hair had puffed out and resembled a cloud. Stray hairs grazed his suit as she sat on Byakuya’s free side.

His eyes stayed forward now. Touko acquired a bowl for herself and served herself a light lunch. Some bland salad that could do with dressing, an asymmetrical donut and satisfactory rice.

“Sorry, I burned the mackerel,” said Aoi. All Touko did was shrug and grunt.

They all ate some more.

“Are you both going to be up for going to Towa City today?” Makoto asked Byakuya and Touko. Like the others, he must have began to feel an awkward silence start to settle, and he slapped on a smile as he waited for their answer.

“Of course,” said Byakuya calmly. He gave his glasses a small nudge upward. “We’ll leave early evening - that is much after the eight hours stipulated for being legally able to pilot after consuming alcohol, and we’ll be back some time tomorrow.”

There was a reasonable explanation for Byakuya and Touko going together. Of the seven of them, Byakuya knew how to operate a helicopter, and of the seven of them, Touko and Komaru knew the layout of Towa City, including its shortcuts and the people there, the best. Though lately, Komaru had been skipping her turn to go to Towa City, and Touko had been accompanying him instead on those occasions.

Komaru set down her fork. “Hey, can I come?” she asked.

Touko paused, her blob of rice hovering close to her lips, and she eyed her with a frown.

“Instead of Fukawa-san?” asked Makoto, raising his eyebrows.

“No, with,” said Komaru. Her mouth twitched into a smile and she stroked behind her ear. “There’s something I want to do, but I need Touko-chan and Togami-san with me. So I’ll spend some time with you guys, and then I have some errands to run by myself.”

“Errands? Like what?” said Byakuya with a faint squint.

“Like... um, buying panties, and stuff,” said Komaru, mumbling herself into a flatline by the end.

Byakuya thought that was fair enough and there was no cause to pursue this. Judging by Makoto’s face, he agreed, while most of the others seemed to be pretending that they hadn’t heard, too interested in another part of the room.

“So have you finally developed some modesty then?” asked Touko in a low sneer. “Usually, you don’t have any qualms flashing them to anyone and everyone while you dart about like a fly trapped in a jar... or are they special panties for Nakajima? Who you’re still too cowardly to ask out...”

Touko’s stubby nails bit into her palms as she clenched fists. Byakuya glanced down. She had enough pressure down there to snap a neck. He looked away quickly, betraying nothing with his face.

Komaru puffed out her cheeks. “Hey, I’m one of the most modest people around. Now that I’m not rushing everywhere like a video game character, I can think about this sort of stuff, and there’s some other stuff that I have to do, alone, okay? Like buy you Christmas presents... but I also want to spend some time with you guys. We’re like The Towa City Trio!”

She punched the air. The others stared.

“Or the Another Episode Unit!” Komaru whooped.

They blinked. Byakuya thawed first and cupped his chin. It was approaching that time of year...

“Fine,” said Byakuya, and Komaru beamed, positively sparkling. Meanwhile, Touko picked at her food, and now it wasn’t just her hair that was like a dark cloud.

However, when Touko came into the teachers’ room an hour later, a cup of luwak coffee on her tray, she grinned as she presented it, seemingly returned to better spirits. Byakuya braced himself, but she didn’t even bring up last night, and he dismissed her strange mood before as Touko still getting over her hangover, and after she babbled her greetings, she seemed more than content sitting at his desk with her laptop. Most people would occasionally break out into small talk, but not her, not him. They both hated that. With just the two of them there for the remainder of the afternoon, working in peace, no one saw his glances, even the ones that developed into looks longer than that, but he still felt a quiver of unease whenever he caught himself doing it like someone would catch him and whack him with a cane.

Or worse. Look down on him. He pursed his lips rather than chew on them like she did.

That evening, the three gathered in the helicopter. Soon after he listed the places that they were due to inspect, and very soon after they took to the air, Komaru seemed to fall asleep on Touko’s shoulder. Touko’s face shriveled like she had taken a long draught from a lemon, but she didn’t shove Komaru off, spending the rest of the uneventful ride reading a book, though Byakuya only noticed after he landed the helicopter and saw her slip the book into her satchel.

After the rotor blades stopped whirling and it was safe to get out, they stepped onto the roof of one of Towa City’s skyscrapers where armed guards were waiting for them, all with the same uniform, same stature and same bulk and only slightly different facial characteristics, like thicker eyebrows or thinner lips behind their identical helmet shields. The guards checked the new arrivals over, with Byakuya being searched away from his companions, but once they were deemed safe, they were reunited and escorted down through the building.

To think there had been a time in Towa City when the sky had been a constant red and Monobear units roamed the streets, tearing to shreds any human in their line of sight. A corpse had been as commonplace as a broken window, or a rubbled pavement. Now, the sky had mellowed into a deep blue as night began to settle, drained of its bloody hues, and large parts of the city had been rebuilt by the now largely defunct Future Foundation, sleek and modern.

Despite the amount of progress, at least two armed guards patrolled a street at all times. From where Byakuya stood, he could see a pair of them, armed with a firearm each, though none had been specifically assigned to Byakuya and his two companions.

“Let’s start the inspection,” said Byakuya. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and began to unfold it. “The city hall...”

“ - Yoink!” Komaru snatched the piece of paper from his hand and danced back.

Byakuya whipped his head up and made a feeble grab at it, but she dodged him with ease, grinning openly.

“If we want to check how the city is doing, we should pretend to be one of the citizens, shouldn’t we?” said Komaru, coming to a stop a short but safe distance away. She positioned her hands behind her back, peering up at him excitedly.

He did not share her enthusiasm.

“How do you propose we do that?” he asked while Touko wrung her hands beside him.

“Cool!” Komaru said, even though he hadn’t actually promised to do anything, and she pressed one hand against her hip. She brought her other hand forward and wagged her index finger. “I was thinking, how about we whizz around the shopping district? Ordering stuff online is fine, but it’s not the same as experiencing a real life shop.”

Before Byakuya could respond, she tucked the piece of paper into her blouse pocket and squeezed between him and Touko. Komaru hooked her arms around their elbows and pulled them along with her. Despite how casually she skipped, the grip with which she held their limbs hostage was surprisingly firm, and they had two choices - be dragged or reluctantly keep up. Touko and Byakuya opted for the latter, though they walked quickly, not skipped.

They steered into an alleyway between two austere buildings. The narrow passage could barely accommodate a width of three people. On both sides of them, signs glowed, some above their heads, some that they had to maneuver around to avoid walking into them, and others in a spectrum in between those heights. Some were paper lanterns, radiating soft warm colours, marked in black paint, while others were boards with straight edges and neon lighting. Where the light didn’t reach, shadows were tinted purple by the maturing hour. Storefronts for various bars and cafés boasted heat, not just inside, but outside too with small heaters under the tables, and strong flavours crooked ghostly fingers at passersby, cutlery and glasses clicking like a tongue, all trying to entice potential customers. Byakuya pinched his nose to keep out the stench of hot, sizzling food and alcohol.

Komaru hesitated by a window, staring in. Some way inside, silhouettes of people hunched over a bar, their backs to the outside world, bled into the pale light in front of them, and they didn’t seem to be moving much.

“You’re not old enough,” chided Touko, following Komaru’s gaze, and she stuck up her nose. “And I’m not buying you any, before you ask.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Komaru pouted at her. “Besides, I don’t want anything from here. I’m just taking a shortcut.”

Her shortcut led them through a maze of other alleyways until they finally emerged into a shopping district, with wide streets and open space.

“See? I knew where we were going,” said Komaru. She rubbed her nose, having to stoop her head as she lifted her arm rather than do the obvious alternative and just let go of Byakuya’s arm. “I got a bit rusty. That’s all.”

Touko gave her a sour look. “And whose fault is that?”

While those two bickered, Byakuya surveyed their surroundings. Many vibrant colours popped out at them, to the extent that certain buildings looked like they had been splashed with luminescent paint. The alleyways had contained several signs but couldn’t compare at all to the vast number here, stacked one on top of the other, some in English, most in Japanese, bright and drawing attention away from the black void of sky high above their heads.

And it worked, going by how many people were still here, browsing, buying, or standing around and talking.

To be fair on Komaru, Towa City was huge and a lot of establishments had been shuffled around to different buildings. Off the top of his head, in this district, the library had been moved somewhere else while its original building underwent reconstruction, for example. Towa City had five notable shopping districts. Touko and Komaru had spent the most time in Towa Riverside, which ran across a river leading into the city.

“Makikawa-ku,” said Komaru in awe, gawking at everything around her. “A magnificent shopping and entertainment complex with over three hundred shops and restaurants, specialising in unique souvenir shops and fashion.”

“Are they paying you to publicise this place?” asked Touko accusingly. “Is this conversation being recorded to be used for advertisements?”

When those two worked together, they could accomplish great things. Other times, however...

Byakuya slid his arm free from Komaru’s loose hold and folded his arms over his chest. He glared at them. “Focus, you two. Komaru, as this was your idea, I will trust you to show us the way.”

Touko and Komaru turned to him at the same time.

“Eh?” blurted Touko, unable to do no more than stare.

Komaru started to smile. He pushed up his glasses.

“... Besides, you’re the most common out of the three of us, so you will be able to give us the most authentic, ordinary experience,” he finished.

That wiped Komaru’s smile off. Now came Touko’s turn to remove her arm from Komaru. She put one hand on her hip and pointed at Komaru with the index finger on her other.

“You can’t sell Byakuya-sama’s trust on My Figure Collection dot Net, so you better not waste it!” Touko told her. Komaru huffed.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Komaru. Her pout lasted a little longer before softening into a smile. “You can count on me, okay? So first, I read that there’s a bookshop here. You both like books, so you’ll enjoy that.”

Komaru motioned for them to follow and then broke into a jog. Behind her, the other two set off, with Touko the closest to running after her, though Touko managed to restrain herself to an awkward stagger. They kept their eyes on Komaru, trying to not lose her among the clusters of shoppers milling around, but at the same time, they had to avoid bumping into anyone, twisting their bodies this way and that as they avoided elbows and bulky shopping bags. Apparently, their pace didn’t suit Komaru, who darted back and grabbed their hands, wrenching them after her. She led them down a street, then another, and then, when they arrived outside her chosen destination, she released her hold, and they raised their heads.

The storefront ahead of them was all glass panels with straight black frames that connected at right angles. Komaru stepped up to the doors, which opened for her, and they walked inside. Though the colours became more muted, with wooden flooring and neutral lighting, there was no less to see in here than outside. Displays and cases brimmed with books with glossy covers, creating a labyrinth for shoppers to explore. By the entrance was a noticeboard with a map of both floors, detailing which section of the stop that certain genres were in.

Predictably, Komaru scanned it for the manga section, and jabbed her finger against it when she located it.

That girl really was Makoto’s sister.

“I’m going to the manga section,” said Komaru, like she thought they wouldn’t have figured this. She turned to them. “I don’t suppose either of you want to tag along with me?”

“No,” said Touko and Byakuya simultaneously. Komaru smirked.

“You’re not so different, huh,” said Komaru, and she made her expression a little more serious. “But you know, manga isn’t so bad.”

Byakuya wrinkled his nose. “We may share this in common, but that’s just having taste. A lot of manga is contemptible, and there is a filthy culture around much of it... but Fukawa busies herself with romance, while I hold much disdain for that too. The similarities only go so far.”

Touko’s eyes flashed wide and she spun around to face him, chin up, shoulders back, and though she drew herself to her tallest, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders, but despite her short height, her presence, the gleam in her eyes, every minute detail, they demanded his full attention.

“I’m a romantic, but that doesn’t mean I’ve only delved into that genre,” she told him, wiggling her fists. “As an author and a keen reader, I’ve dabbled in reading and writing for other genres. Fantasy, adventure, mystery, detective, even science fiction...”

One of her passions was Byakuya, but her other was literature. Byakuya tried to tame the curiosity that parted his lips as he studied at her. Pink had flushed into her cheeks, and her glasses were very slightly askew. While he knew that she was capable of writing for other genres - he had read her I-Novel, some of what she listed caused his lips to faintly pucker.

“Oh?” he said quietly, his eye contact just as strong. The lack of volume helped smooth his tone. He raised his eyebrows and spoke louder, but kept his voice casual. “As you know, I like reading, and detective and mystery novels have always captured my interest. Which have you read?”

“Well, I’ve read some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie, and Kanae Minato and Natsuo Kirino...”

Komaru shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“Yes, yes. I’ve read their works. What about Seichō Matsumoto? Do you know his works?”

Komaru picked her nose.

“Of course! Someone who made such an impact on the genre... how could I not? Have you read anything by Soji Shimada?”

Komaru turned away.

“What did he write?”

Komaru walked off.

“The Tokyo Zodiac Murders.”

Byakuya held his chin. “No, I don’t believe I’ve read that.”

“You should read it, Byakuya-sama!” Touko said, almost bursting with excitement. He couldn’t look away. “It contains a locked-room mystery, and I think that it might challenge even someone with your incredible intellect. It’s fairly gruesome, but that shouldn’t be a problem for someone of your composure...”

She waited for a response, eyes wide in anticipation and her breathing fast but shallow. His skin prickled, but his features hardened.

“Oh, really?” He tore his eyes from her and moved slowly to examine the map on the noticeboard and tapped the mystery section. “I will be able to stomach it, don’t concern yourself about that. Let’s see if they have it stocked here, shall we? I will have to find out for myself if it is as good as you claim.”

“It’s was published in the early eighties, but it was a bestseller and nominated for a prestigious award, so there’s a chance that you’ll find it here,” she said. Byakuya gave a single nod.

He checked the map again before striding off. Touko hurried after him, and when she was by his side, she kept with his pace. They wound through bookcases and passed faceless shoppers until they arrived at some shelving units crowned with a sign each, all with ‘MYSTERY’ written on them. On the shelves themselves, small labels had been taped on with different author names.

Old books tended to have a sweet, musty stink, but ultimately that came down to their previous owner. Byakuya avoided aged books - he didn’t know whose sweat had streaked pages, or whether the previous owner washed their hands before touching them, and the information could have been out-of-date. Newer books, if they had a scent, were that of paper and ink. When he breathed in through his nose, he couldn’t smell one particular book, just a plastic aroma that wasn’t exactly unpleasant which seemed to exist throughout the whole place.

As he cruised through the section, hunting for the book that Touko recommended him, he could hear her footsteps as she drifted after him. He stopped and straightened up.

“Seeing as you’re here, you can find it,” he said.

“Y-Yes!” Touko squeaked, more than happy to do so. Byakuya stood nearby, and his gaze flicked up when she rose with the book in her hands.

She gave it to him. He inspected it with a slight frown. It wasn’t brand new, but it wasn’t scuffed or marked. At least, not at first glance, but in any case, he stowed it under his arm.

“Are there any books that you intend to purchase?” he asked.

Her forehead creased.

“I don’t have any in particular in mind,” she admitted, wringing her wrist. “But I’ve been meaning to find something new to read...”

“Then I will repay you by recommending you a book,” he announced.

Touko’s breathing suspended for a moment or two. She clumsily laced her fingers together. “A recommendation... from you? From Byakuya-sama?”

A grin spread across her face. Touko wrapped her arms slowly around herself. The shape of his mouth distorted and warped at the sight of her being so open, so emotional and unashamed. He turned away and tried to focus on the different books around him.

It should have gone without saying that he wasn’t going to recommend her a romance novel. The only books belonging to that genre that he had ever read were actually written by her. Why not? Byakuya had been soon to enroll at Hope’s Peak, he liked reading, and one of his classmates was a writer whose works frequented the bestsellers. Of course, he had been curious, and of course, though their romance had rolled through him in waves of nausea where others would have shuddered with glee and swooned, he couldn’t not admit that she had talent.

“Have you read Points and Lines?” he asked, keeping his eyes forward.

“Yes,” she said.

“The Tattoo Murder Case?”

“No.”

He glided his finger across book spines. Fortunately, he located a copy of the book, and he presented it to her, though she didn’t retrieve it from him right away.

“We can discuss these books later,” he said, and when she still didn’t accept the book, he flourished it at her. Touko took it from him now and cradled it against her chest. “Points and Lines ended somewhat anti-climatically, in my opinion, and I prefer to try to work out the mystery rather than have pages of explanatory monologuing. This book is more reader-orientated, so it’s more satisfying.”

Touko nodded.

“I’m sure I’ll enjoy it,” she said, holding the book close to her, like a mother with their newborn child. She gave him another smile, full of teeth, blushing softly.

Byakuya felt a shiver in the warm shop - Touko had stared at him too long. No. It was that he had stared back for too long. He pushed up his glasses. “I suppose we ought to locate Naegi’s sister,” he said, eyes trained on the rest of the shop, but his mind very much focused on something, someone else.

***

To the surprise of neither of them, they found Komaru in the manga section. She had sank into a large cushioned seat and had a light novel in her hands, which she must have obtained from the section next to the one for manga. A few volumes of manga rested on her lap. Her eyes eagerly lapped up the words on the pages, and she hadn’t seemed to have noticed them.

“Oi, Omaru,” said Touko with a dull glare.

“Ah!” Komaru’s head snapped up, even though Touko hadn’t spoken loudly at all. She tucked her finger between two pages and showed Touko the front cover of her book, which depicted a young girl with big eyes, wearing a loita dress. “Hey, Touko-chan, did you know that Endō-sama released another volume and I didn’t realise until today?”

Touko gave a quiet scoff and rolled her eyes up deliberately.

“I didn’t, because I don’t care about that trash,” replied Touko, hugging the book from Byakuya tighter.

Komaru extended her arm and jiggled her book. “I’m telling you, you’d love it! It’s full of action, and suspense, and drama! And girls kicking butt!”

Despite Komaru’s best efforts, the scorn on Touko’s face sank in deeper.

“I don’t trust male writers who dedicate so much time to works like that. It’s not so much a deconstruction as taking a genre for young girls and perverting it and making it twisted. Besides, if I wanted to read about girls suffering and killing each other, I’d read my I-Novel,” said Touko, in a tone that very much indicated that she considered this conversation over. “You’re fortunate I read as much as I did. Now, hurry up. We’re supposed to be working, remember?”

“Hey, I was waiting for you, okay?” said Komaru with exaggerated petulance. She added the book to the top of the pile on her lap, picked the entirety of it up and then lurched to her feet. “I thought you two had forgotten about me, and that I’d have to ask an employee to call your names over the intercom to come collect me.”

Touko’s face screwed up. Komaru jutted out her chin, smirking, on the verge of sticking out her tongue. They could have gone on like this for a while. Byakuya felt his features darken.

“We’re wasting time,” said Byakuya curtly.

The tension flooded out of Touko’s face. She yelped and stood to attention, while Komaru blinked before looking over at him with a much calmer demeanour.

He turned away from them. “Let’s go already.”

They headed to the checkouts, with him walking a little ahead while the other two talked quietly behind him. This section, in the centre of the floor, resembled a grocery shop. Where people lined up to pay, best sellers had been arranged in wire racks on wheels in an attempt to entice shoppers to buy one more item before they were called up.

If there had been a longer queue, then the shop’s scheme may have worked better, but Byakuya glanced at their covers as he passed them, going straight to pay at one of the tills. The cashier scanned his book.

“Anything else?” the woman asked.

Byakuya looked over his shoulder. Touko and Komaru had stayed a short distance behind. Short, but notable.

He faced the cashier again. “I’ll pay for the both of you.”

Komaru didn’t question him and darted forward. Not hearing Touko approach, he checked behind him. Indeed, Touko hadn’t moved, clutching the book that Byakuya had recommended to her, had chosen for her.

“You too, Fukawa,” he said.

Touko dragged her feet over and passed him the book. His gaze lingered on her as he gave the book to the cashier. She didn’t meet his eyes, fixed on some point below that he couldn’t deduce. His chest, perhaps? He narrowed his oceanic blue eyes and turned back to the cashier. After he made the payment and was bid a chirpy good day, he strode toward the exit with the other two close behind him.

The exit gradually grew larger in his vision, and when it loomed over him, instead of stepping outside, he stood still.

“Fukawa?” he said bluntly, making her twitch.

“Huh?” she went.

Byakuya peered down at her with what he meant to be a blank, if not stern expression. “... Are you feeling alright?”

She cringed, then drew herself up and out of her hunched posture.

“I’m fine!” she assured him.

He didn’t believe her.

“I don’t believe you,” he said. She squirmed.

“Being with you makes me incredibly happy,” she told him, and nothing in her tone suggested she was lying, but then she seemed to hesitate.

It sounded like she had more to say, like her tongue had curled around a whole other sentence, but the words dissolved in her mouth, leaving a foul taste. Touko swallowed uncomfortably and said nothing more, but Byakuya refused to waver. Refused to back down. He continued staring at her.

“Can we get ice cream?” asked Komaru, her light voice trickling in between Touko and Byakuya. “There’s a cute little place that makes them here that I really want to visit.”

Byakuya squinted at Touko, who didn’t reply. Komaru’s eyes flickered between them. It wasn’t that she hadn’t picked up on the tension in the air prior to now. Quite the opposite.

“Touko-chan hasn’t been feeling well since yesterday,” explained Komaru. She put her hand on Touko’s shoulder but looked at Byakuya. “Since last night, I’d wager to say.”

Ah. Yes. Then. That. Was after the meal at the restaurant, which he invited Makoto and Kyouko to, as well as Touko, for a social engagement with the purpose of evaluating a particular individual in a comfortable environment. Touko had been that particular individual.

She still was.

That thing.

“I think she’s still hung over,” said Komaru. She bumped her hip gently against Touko. “But you know Touko-chan... she can’t pass up the chance to spend time with you! And I can smile for the both of us.”

Komaru prodded Touko’s shoulder blade with her free hand, grinning, but rather than grinning enough for the both of them, it just highlighted Touko’s downturned mouth.

“... I see,” said Byakuya. He frowned. “Fukawa, if you were still feeling unwell, then you shouldn’t have come.”

Touko’s shoulders shot up, then dipped. So did her chin. Byakuya knitted his brow, and in his chest, he felt a twinge. Years ago, he would have thought this a pathetic sight and not thought about it anymore. His lips felt dry, too dry, and they stuck together as he tried to open his mouth, but even after he peeled them apart, he didn’t speak. Just stared until he couldn’t bring himself to do so anymore.

It wasn’t with disgust that he looked away.

“If you’re feeling so unwell, we should find a hotel for you to retire to for the rest of the evening,” he mused. Komaru’s eyes flew wide open.

“But then she would miss the light parade!” Komaru cried out.

Her exclamation lasted a few seconds before disappearing from the shop, but it rang on in Byakuya’s ears. He blinked. Next to Komaru, Touko lifted her head a bit. Judging by her face, she was as confused as Byakuya.

“The what?” asked Byakuya.

Komaru winced. Her expression softened, became pensive.

“All right, I have a confession to make,” she said, and she held her hands in front of herself. “The reason I wanted to come wasn’t just to help Touko-chan... or buy manga... and I didn’t even plan to buy panties. It was to see the parade!”

There was a pause, like she expected them to say something. No one did, and Komaru tilted her head a little.

“Didn’t you know about it, Togami-san?” she asked him.

Byakuya eyed her and slowly said, “I did not know about it.”

Komaru balled her hands into fists, grinning excitedly.

“That’s because it wasn’t on your list, but you definitely have to see it,” said Komaru. “It’s the first one of its kind.”

“How did you find out about it?” he asked, but not with any urgency to know the answer.

“Because I search for certain things,” explained Komaru, and he could tell she was getting impatient by how her legs jigged. “Like... on social media, and stuff. It’ll be starting in this district in the next half hour, so if we hurry, there’s enough time to buy ice cream. Come on!”

She sprinted off, and Touko groaned before chasing after her. Byakuya pressed two fingers against his brow, gave himself a quick massage and then followed after them at a brisk pace. Thanks to the bright eyes of shop windows and the luminescent signs that their buildings adorned, as well as the artificial glows of lamp posts, he could see the pair from a fair distance away despite the deepening darkness of the night drinking up the finer details of his surroundings.

However, when he arrived at the plaza, it was filling with people. Clumps of citizens were scattered about, decorating the plaza like lint on a well-worn sweater. He hesitated, unable to see them. They couldn’t have gone far. Komaru had even told them that she wanted to buy ice cream. That limited the number of places. Only, that still left a lot of places that sold ice creams, and he didn’t know the locations of each one.

Library? Yes. City hall? Yes. Police station? Yes. He could find those easily. Everywhere that sold ice cream? No. Why would he?

“Byakuya-sama!” Touko cried out, and he turned sharply. She staggered over to him, spat out from a crowd of people who threw her dirty looks, and she rested her hands on her thighs, panting. “S-Sorry. Omaru was too eager, and... went on ahead. I know where she is though.”

“Whatever,” he replied, and he glanced around. No one was paying them any attention, and his gaze slunk back to Touko, who was giving him her full attention.

With so many people wrapped up in the event and their own lives, bundled up in the same layer of darkness as him and Touko, the two of them were no more, no less, than anyone else, a silhouette on the street. To some, the darkness hid the unknown, but what it hid wasn’t always dangerous. Sometimes, it protected the unknown.

Byakuya clicked his tongue and reached for her hand. His heart skipped as his fingers scratched lightly against her cold skin, but with a deep breath, he steadied himself and gripped Touko firmly.

“I have no choice. I’ll have to keep you close to me, so I won’t lose you,” he said, barely audible above the rumble of the crowds.

Holding hands was something that Touko did with Komaru without thinking, a facet of their friendship, but this innocent touch made her stiffen, made her breathing falter. Byakuya wasn’t a hand holding person. He shook hands, but that was the limit, and they both knew this.

“This way, we won’t get separated,” he said. That had happened enough times to them. “Now, let us find Komaru. You said you know where she is?”

“Right.” Touko’s hand shifted, but she didn’t pull away from Byakuya’s grasp. He could feel her trembling, and her voice quavered, but she could still talk, could still talk coherently. “I left her at a milkshake parlour, so I’ll... take us... her... to her, I mean.”

She tugged on his arm and he followed after her. More people were gradually dribbling into the plaza from all directions. Byakuya moved closer, shrinking the gap between their bodies, in case someone barged between them and broke their hands apart. This way, they stayed together.

He furrowed his brow, letting Touko take charge of navigating while he stewed in his thoughts.

They arrived outside of a modestly sized shop, which according to the cursive text on its storefront, was called ‘The Sweet Corner’, spoken in English. A bell jingled as they slipped inside. The interior had a pastel colour scheme, and in front of them was a queue of half a dozen people, with Komaru third from the front. Komaru spotted them almost instantly and waved them over. Byakuya and Touko sidled up.

“Sorry for ditching you, Togami-kun,” said Komaru, not sounding particularly apologetic. Or apologetic at all. She sounded chipper. “I wanted to place our order as soon as possible, because they take a bit of time to make. But Touko-chan found you quickly, so we’re going to have to wait after all...”

Komaru trailed off. At first, Byakuya thought that she just didn’t know how to end her sentence, but then he followed her gaze. His eyes fell onto his hand, which was still holding Touko’s hand, their fingers entwined.

Byakuya’s chest jolted. He jerked his hand away and then casually pushed up his glasses. Touko jumped at the sudden movement, then drew her elbows into her sides and fidgeted her hands, eyes downcast. They stood around quietly, waiting. As the line in front of them shortened, Byakuya studied the decor. Paintings of cartoon animals hung on the walls, and there were sofa seats of single block colours arranged around simple tables. In a wooden holder on the counter were laminated menus with small images of certain items, and further back, overhead, was a less extensive menu displayed across several boards like in a fast food restaurant. Other than milkshakes, the establishment also sold ice cream, hot drinks, waffles and pancakes, as well as other sweet treats.

They reached the front of the line, where they had a better view of the kitchen area behind the counter. Boxes of different chocolate and biscuit brands sat on shelves on one of the walls. Komaru sprung into action immediately, smacking her hands onto the counter.

“Yes, hello, I would like an Apollo milkshake, the ones with strawberry,” she said, pressing close, and the edge of the counter dug into her.

While the cashier made quick note of the order on a piece of paper, Komaru turned to Touko.

“The milkshakes here, you can ask for them to be made from different chocolate bars,” said Komaru. “But they can use chocolate biscuits here too. I was thinking, you could have Kinoko no Yama?”

Touko’s face drew into a look of disgust.

“Those are the ones shaped like mushrooms. I don’t want those,” she said in a sour tone. She craned her neck to better examine the chocolates available, and in the end, after some deliberation, she said, “I’ll have a milkshake based with Black Thunder.”

Byakuya didn’t know the chocolate biscuit brand that Komaru recommended, but he recognised the name of Touko’s suggestion. Not because he liked it - they were inexpensive chocolate bars with rice puffs that he wouldn’t go near willingly, but in the business world, Black Thunder bars were seen as a modern rags-to-riches story, persevering despite their unpopularity until they received better endorsement and marketing. They were a hit with university students and young women.

The cashier scribbled Touko’s option down, and Komaru turned to Byakuya. Despite his lack of answer, she wouldn’t avert her eyes. He restrained a sigh and skimmed through the menu behind the counter.

“... Coffee,” he decided. He glanced at the cashier. “I don’t suppose you have luwak coffee here?”

Behind the counter, the cashier shook her head. Just as well he didn’t get his hopes up, then.

“Give me your finest, black,” said Byakuya. He turned to the other two. “Who’s paying?”

“Me!” Touko blurted, before anyone could volunteer themselves. She pulled up her small satchel, slung over her shoulder with a strap, and got out her small purse.

After Touko paid, the drinks needed a bit of time to be prepared, so Komaru claimed them a table by the window and sprawled herself across an entire sofa seat. Byakuya and Touko sat opposite her, next to each other. Pop music played over speakers, the sort of track that Komaru and her brother would be able to give the name of, that Touko and Byakuya didn’t recognise and listened to for probably the first time.

They might have heard it before. If so, it was a forgettable tune.

“Do you like the music?” asked Komaru, glancing out of the window before smiling at them. “It’s a banger.”

Small talk. A spasm quaked in his cheek. Byakuya folded his arms over his chest and looked away.

“It’s not a genre of music that I care for personally,” said Touko in a low voice, resting her arms on the table. “Pop music... is created to appeal to a general audience as opposed to certain sub-cultures, though it can take elements from different genres. They’re usually short pieces, with basic, predictable structures and hooks. They’re the sort of music that people like you,” Komaru, “would dance to. The themes and topics are often basic, and it’s too commercial... I don’t care for it at all.”

“I know that’s what you think,” said Komaru. She cocked her head. “Togami-san, what about...?”

“I’m of the same mind,” he said.

Komaru took a moment to process what he said, and with two against one, she sulked, but her features weren’t hard enough to suggest anything other than temporary indignation, and she stared out of the window.

“I much prefer instrumental music,” said Touko. “Good instrumentals are able to bring about emotion without a single spoken word. When I write, think about writing, or want to get into a certain mood, I listen to that. I let it fuel me. It’s that sort of power that I wish to evoke with my written art...”

Byakuya propped up his chin in his hand, not just listening but also watching her with interest. Yes. Interest. He allowed that adjective. Her eyebrows squished in concentration, and she moistened her lips before curling them into her mouth, only to relax her lips moments later so they popped out again. As if to compromise their state, she pursed her lips and kept them like that. She drew him in, and when he realised, he lowered his gaze to her fidgeting hands.

One of the employees came to their table with their various drinks. Komaru slurped loudly through her straw. Touko gritted her teeth, and noticing, Komaru tried to gulp less conspicuously. Byakuya sipped his coffee and deemed its taste acceptable.

Another track played over the speakers that he didn’t recognise.

“While I can’t say I listen to that music for the exact same reason as you, Fukawa, I too prefer instrumentals,” said Byakuya, reviving the conversation. He held his cup with his fingers hooked around its handle. “I find them less distracting. However, there is some music with lyrics that I don’t mind listening to. The voice is an instrument too, after all.”

Touko’s cheeks had hollowed as she tried to suck out some of her thick shake through her straw. At the sound of his voice, she relaxed her muscles and lifted her head, then sat up straight when he said her name.

“You’re right, Byakuya-sama,” she said, oozing a smile. She placed a hand over her heart. “I have to admit that a few times, I’ve found a song with lyrics that resonate with me. Most of them aren’t mainstream. I don’t care who it’s by, or how many fans they have... like there’s a song called Save Me by Aimee Mann, which was in the soundtrack of a movie I once watched. It’s in English, and...”

The rest of her sentence played out in her head and she mouthed some of it, but he couldn’t read her lips. She lost steam and her lips ground to a stop. Even so, he continued looking at her.

“... I may investigate,” he said. “Your works have been known to be powerful enough to create trends in society. Fishermen became incredibly popular with women and young girls due to one of your books... and butlers with another of your releases.”

He could recall Aloysius being given phone numbers by a variety of women for a period of time.

“Therefore,” Byakuya said, under her intense gaze, feeling like he was walking against a gale, “I would be interested to see what fuels you.”

Touko gasped and clasped her cup of milkshake tighter, causing the plastic to crackle. The corners of her lips threatened to tear through her rosy cheeks as they soared upward.

“I’ll clear my schedule!” she promised, face shining. “We can share our recommendations together... together!”

Byakuya clucked, but he almost smiled. For a short time, they quietly enjoyed their drinks, until one of Komaru’s frequent glances to the window eventually prompted her to jolt to her feet.

“It’s starting!” Komaru yelled. Touko nearly tossed her plastic cup into the air, and even Byakuya, as unshakeable as he thought himself to be, tensed. “Come on!”

Komaru gestured wildly for them to follow and without explanation, she hurried to the door and wrenched it open. Byakuya rose. Then Touko, with a mix of annoyance and confusion sculpting her features into a glare, the cup in her hands bent out of shape.

“Come on!” Komaru whined, bobbing restly as she held the door open, and then her impatience boiled over and she disappeared outside. The door jingled casually, and everyone in the parlour stared after her.

Through the glass storefront, they could see the outside world. Byakuya had left behind a sponge of darkness that oozed light from its pores when he entered the parlour, but now the whole street seemed aglow. He abandoned his coffee cup on the table and crept to the door, with Touko close behind him. When he opened the door, he could only take one more step before being forced to a standstill.

Strangers swamped the street, tightly-packed, confining him and Touko to the doorway. Strings of lights stretched over their heads, hanging over the empty plaza, one end attached to the shops behind them and reaching all the way over to the shops on the opposite side of the plaza. Orbs of hazy light speckled the sea of people, and on closer inspection, Byakuya discovered that they were phone screens.

“What’s going on?” asked Touko, though he could barely hear her over the noise of unseen speakers belting out another pop song that he didn’t know, and the excited twittering of those around them. Perhaps by accident, she pressed into his back lightly and clung to his jacket.

The touch, as indirect as it was, spluttered sparks up him. He shifted but she kept hold of him. His face twitched but he didn’t say anything, forcing himself to focus on his surroundings. A thick crowd had collected in front of the shops, spanning the entire row of buildings, and another swarm of people had gathered on the other side of the plaza. However, they didn’t seem to have any interest in the shops, instead looking into the unoccupied plaza.

Everyone here must have been spectators of what Byakuya presumed was the light parade that Komaru had mentioned.

He scanned the crowd for Komaru, but the mass of people had swallowed her up. Komaru was nowhere in sight. Despite her young age, she could take care of herself in a place like this, so he wasn’t too concerned. She must have tried to wiggle her way toward the front, to give herself a better view of the parade when it passed through.

While he wasn’t particularly interested in the parade, he definitely didn’t care for being trapped inside of a milkshake parlour, so he felt around behind him. Byakuya found Touko’s wrist and seizing it securely, he began to push through the crowd, worming through until they resurfaced in a small pocket within the crowd, big enough for the both of them to breathe their own air.

“Do you-?” Byakuya started, only to pause because he couldn’t hear himself. He turned to Touko. When he spoke next, he raised his voice a few decibels below shouting. “Do you know anything about this parade?”

Touko’s brow crinkled.

“No,” she said, watching his lips, but she may as well have mouthed it.

He looked around and glimpsing a certain combination of black and white, he did a double take. Two small figures of child height stood nearby, and though their bodies seemed human, their heads seemed smooth, like helmets, with ball-shaped ears stuck onto them, the right side of the head white and the other black.

A roar rippled through the crowd, nearly yanking his soul from his body. The mighty bellow echoed, trembled, causing everything to vibrate, and Byakuya tightened his hold on Touko as he searched frantically for the cause. In the distance, approaching the plaza, was a cluster of lights. Thanks to his height, he could see over most people’s heads, and as the lights drew closer, he could see that they were worn by people in costumes, and he flinched. His mouth was agape.

Their outfits were large, mascot-shaped, lacking fingers, instead boasting paws, and the right side of their bodies were white and the other was black like the children’s were.

And they were spilling into the plaza.

“There you are!” cried out Komaru from nearby. She practically popped up beside them.

“Why are they here?” he asked, voice rasping dry. He coughed.

Touko had managed to spot the costumed people invading the plaza through gaps in tangles of limbs, and she stared wide-eyed at the progression, lips quivering.

“It’s the parade! They’re not really Monobear units, just people dressed as them,” said Komaru. She flapped her hand, directing his attention elsewhere. “See, some of the kids are dressed up too.”

His eyes wandered. Not only were there the children that Byakuya had stumbled upon recently, but others too. In fact, not all of them were kids, but some seemed to be teenagers or even adults, wearing Monobear’s likeness. Some waved glow sticks. Some waved their phones. Some waved hotdogs or cotton candy, and some waved a combination of these things.

“But why!” Byakuya snapped, temperature rising to his face that had gone cold.

Komaru was unfazed and flung out her arm. “Look!”

He wasn’t in the mood for guessing games, but he followed where she motioned toward. A fair distance behind the marchers dressed as Monobears, who travelled in two lines, one after the other, was a parade float towed behind a plain white van that blended into its surroundings, tinted with shadow in places but blushing light in others. His breathing hitched as he tipped his head back and comprehended the float.

Beads of light decorated the platform, and on it stood two effigies that towered over everyone. One had a short brown bob of hair, saturated green eyes that glowed from within and a sailor fuku with a white blouse, red tie and blue skirt, and in two hands, grasped a megaphone that was held out like a gun. The other effigy had wild hair, circular-framed glasses and a purple sailor fuku, only this skirt didn’t go halfway down the thighs but could reach near the ankles had it not been sculpted to be flying up, showing off scars on the thigh. Spotlights at the feet, pointed upward, washed them in colour and definition.

“That’s... us,” said Touko, almost rendered breathless as she stared into her own violet eyes.

“Yep! It’s a parade... in our honour!” explained Komaru, sporting a wide grin. “Cool, huh?”

Touko’s lips trembled. She swallowed and then turned her head, narrowing her eyes at Komaru.

“What did you search to know about this event? Don’t tell me you googled yourself,” said Touko with distaste.

“We look so cool, don’t we?” asked Komaru, looking up at the effigies like a proud mother.

As the float drew closer, approaching at a slow but steady pace as performers danced and spun ahead of the van, Byakuya drank in the face of Touko’s likeness, its features sharp and deadly. Yet, he remembered the real thing this morning, which had been soft, which had been pressed into his bare back, which had scrunched when a tired mewl escaped, which had been caressed by his hands when they kissed on her bed the night before.

They were the same person. He shivered slightly. It was getting cold. Yes.

“They’ve made me wield scissors,” grumbled Touko, sticking her chin up as she took evident umbrage at this detail. “Don’t they know... that’s my alter’s thing?”

The float passed them slowly. More costumed marchers pranced around behind it, and after them drove another float with different effigies. This time, there were three, and the one in the middle caught Byakuya’s attention first. That one was bound to a cross with rope at the wrists, its defined chest bare and dangling legs contained within ripped, black suit trousers. Byakuya’s gaze climbed up the body, from the polished shoes that overlapped, all the way up to the face. Blond hair, slightly windswept, framed the head, and blue eyes behind familiar white-framed glasses stared out from an expression contorted with pain but hardened with determination, perseverance.

Either side of the effigy were two women who had the same billowing hair, the same torn sailor fuku and the same mole by their lips, but on his right side, the effigy sat slumped by his likeness, arms wrapped around the blond’s legs. On the other side, the left side, the effigy had red eyes and a long tongue hanging out of its mouth. This effigy stood tall, one arm wrapped around Byakuya’s likeness’ middle and the other arm holding a pair of scissors to the underside of his likeness’ chin.

Phones flashed as people furiously tapped them, snapping photos.

“I’m going to take a better photo of the first one,” Komaru shouted. The wind and chatter and music smothered her voice before it could carry far. Not waiting for a response, she slipped away, chasing after the float that had her and Touko on it.

Byakuya turned back to Touko, who ogled the second float with more interest than the one prior.

“They got your physique right,” she said, in reference to the abs, and Byakuya quirked his brow at her. Though reluctant, she tore her eyes away from it and hunted for her phone. By the time she found it, the float had passed them.

She shrieked and staggered through the crowd to catch up to it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and walked briskly after her, ignoring the next group of dancers and the next float - a large structure, that of a whack-a-mole game with nine holes, where instead of moles, five holes contained different sausage-shaped cushions painted to resemble the disbanded Warriors of Hope, while the remaining four corners housed a Monobear cushion in them. There were more floats, further and further away, of Haiji Towa in the midst of being torn apart by featureless blue people, and another of Taichi Fujisaki floating on a cloud of binary while meditating, and Hiroko surrounded by featureless blue children.

People shuddered and hissed, scowling at him as Byakuya forced his way through the crowd. He glimpsed Touko up ahead and flitted between slithers in the crowd. She hadn’t noticed him yet, distracted by the float of her, Byakuya and Genocider Syo. When he reached her, he put a hand on her shoulder.

Touko whirled around, brandishing her phone like a sword. Byakuya blinked, almost going cross-eyed as he tried to look at her phone.

Her face relaxed, and her hand wilted. He exhaled and took his hand off her, tucking it away as he folded his arms over his chest.

“To think that it used to be that you were chasing after me,” he mused in a quiet tone, peering down at her.

Now he was chasing after her.

But it wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t.

“Sorry, I got excited,” said Touko, flashing a nervous, apologetic smile that didn’t budge his frown. She turned her phone toward herself and tapped the screen a few times. Her eyes flickered. “Komaru says she’ll meet us at the top of a tower closeby. I think it’s that one.”

Touko raised her head and pointed a finger at a lattice tower in the distance much like Toyko Tower in structure. During the day, its body was red, standing out against shades of blue and grey, then, once night fell, as it had done today, it lit up with a gradient of brilliant light, glowing hot yellow at its centre and spreading out into a blazing red toward its edges.

The tower was open to visitors but in the daytime, the queues to even go into the area underneath it were hours long. However, at night, the queues dramatically shortened, and it took Byakuya and Touko longer to burrow through the crowd than it did to reach the front of the queue. Once there, they were objected to two security checks, with the first one resulting in the confiscation of the scissors in the holster on Touko’s thigh, which would only to be returned when they left the premises later.

Then, finally, they were let in through the gates, and they walked onto the paved area below the tower.

Stalls selling foods were dotted here and there around the edges. Byakuya ignored them all and went straight to a booth to buy tickets for a ride to the top. While the tower offered the option of taking the stairs, which didn’t cost anything, he didn’t feel like climbing up so many, so he paid extra for the luxury of a lift.

Each lift was located in a different leg of the tower. Touko stood close to him in dim lighting as the lift ascended, stopping about halfway up the tower. Cold air smeared across their faces. Wire fencing enclosed the area, with big enough gaps that the city could be seen through it if one brought their faces near enough. There were also telescopes, available at a fee.

Touko and Byakuya approached the fencing together. The city twinkled in places. Steadily shone pinprick light in others. Everything else was hidden in a blanket of darkness, way below them.

“You can see the parade,” said Touko, pointing. Her finger trembled. She drew her hand back so she could squeeze and rub her hands together. “The lights are all congested there... Everything seems so small from up here. People aren’t even ants. They’re not perceptible... like they’re not there.”

Her breaths were short and shallow.

“Even with all the lights down there, it’s so dark,” she said, shaking. It was cold. It was dark. “Who knows... what’s hiding in there...”

Byakuya raised a hand to the fencing and fitted his fingers through the gaps, hooking his digits around the thin lines and feeling the metal press against his skin. He thought to himself how while they couldn’t see a single human on the ground, all of those people surely wouldn’t be able to see them up here either. They could see the tower, sure, but not the man in his grey pea coat or the woman beside him, huddled up in her coat.

“The dark doesn’t always hide danger,” said Byakuya. “Sometimes, it can hide you from danger.”

Touko’s face looked like it had been carved out of marble, pale and smooth. She didn’t say anything as she considered what he said, or even move, like she hadn’t heard him, but seconds later, she let out a quiet laugh and turned to him.

“You always say such inspirational things, Byakuya-sama,” she said with a smile, with quivering light in her eyes that very much indicated she wasn’t a statue but real, and she blinked, and the light was still there afterwards.

“I say my truth,” he said, and he knew she liked that about him, and he realised that his mouth had widened into its own smile without him realising. He tried to pull it back in, but his lips resisted, fighting the whole way.

Then the fireworks started, distant but flying as high as them. Touko widened her eyes at the bounty of colour they threw up, and Byakuya watched too. Some didn’t bang but sprayed glitter. Red. Green. Blue. Some started dazzling gold and when they exploded, they spread wings of purple stars that crumbled away before their very eyes. Byakuya absentmindedly touched his blond hair and thought of braids, thought of long wild hair beside him. As yellow disintegrated into purple, more fireworks shot up. Lights pulsed in and out of existence, replaced by another display, and as the show progressed, smoke began to build. There was a flash, and Byakuya saw a smoky figure, tall, who pressed into another smoky figure, shorter with a long skirt, and the two joined together into a gnarled embrace until they became unrecognisable.

“Without the dark... you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the light,” said Byakuya.“It’s beautiful,” murmured Touko, agreeing.Light whipped against her face. The sky sputtered.“It is,” he said.

She looked at him, meeting his gaze, and feeling his face start to tingle, he turned back to the firework show first. It was cold. For the next fifteen minutes, neither spoke, and then the last batch of fireworks dissolved in their eyesight. All they could hear now was the wind whistling and other visitors to the tower talking amongst themselves somewhere behind them.

Byakuya removed his fingers from the wire fencing. He faced Touko, and she gazed up at him, and he inhaled to speak, only to pause, tongue scraping against the back of his teeth.

A beat of silence passed between them. Something about how she stared at him caught him off-guard. Something about her face, her eyes, all things that he had seen plenty of times, focused on him, but now was different somehow, and he could feel her reeling him in. That had to be it, because otherwise, he was slowly leaning in on his own accord.

“Byakuya-sama,” she said, her brow creasing, and she dragged a foot forward, setting off an imaginary tripwire.

“Let’s go up,” he said, straightening. His stomach gave a strange flutter, like he missed a step, like he said the wrong thing. The dark would help mask his expression. “Komaru might be expecting us on the top.”

She gaped at him and then nodded, wringing her fingers. “Right...”

They took another trip on the lift and arrived at the very top of the tower. A large mesh dome surrounded them, protecting them from the wind and accidentally falling off. Much like the previous floor, if one wanted to take a photograph of the city without any wire blemishing the picture, they were required to place their camera right against it, with the lense positioned in a gap.

Touko hugged herself, staying a short distance back from the wire dome.

“Where is she?” asked Touko, looking around. She grimaced. “I bet that fool is still down there taking photos...”

Byakuya padded over to the wire meshing. Even the tallest buildings, not including this structure, struggled to be as big as a fingernail in his vision. Over the howling of the wind, he heard Touko sidle up to his side, glimpsed her shadowy figure, but he didn’t turn. His eyes traced over freckles of light way, way down on the ground. The tower was in this city, yet he felt like he was in another place entirely.

“I suppose we should find Komaru,” he finally said. He made to turn, but then she grabbed him, and he wavered. “Fukawa?”

“I can’t take it anymore. I need to know,” she said, striped in light and shadow like war paint. She clutched his arm harder. “I need to know what we are.”

It should have been easy answering her.

“Are we... together?” she asked, her tone restrained, but he could hear the rawness in her throat, the power she was holding back that she couldn’t hide in her large eyes.

One word. Two options. Byakuya should have been able to answer right away.

“This isn’t the time,” he started.

“When is the time?” Touko asked, voice cracking.

She gulped noisily. He could feel her shaking.

“I don’t want to keep on second-guessing. I want to know,” she pleaded. “It’s fine... when I’m making it up in my head. I know where I stand. But all this... today... last night... as far back as that night before we lost our memories so long ago... it’s making it hard to know what’s real and what’s not.”

The person standing in front of him wasn’t a girl who muttered and fiddled with her skirt, but someone who muttered, fiddled with her skirt and could also stand tall, who knew what she wanted and had the determination to back it, who could cry and smile and both and was brave enough to hold out her heart with her fingers spread, who would risk herself for those she held dear.

One of those people was him. Him, someone who caged his heart, who thought that made him stronger, but who she had shown wrong. Who had taught him otherwise.

His heart raced. His throat thickened. Her strange behaviour today began to make sense.

“People say life is short, but it’s the longest thing we have and it’s our only one,” she said. “And I know... we’re still young, but we don’t know how long we have left, and even if we have the rest of our lives, I don’t want to waste any more time. Our time apart before... was difficult, even with our video calls and my best friend beside me. I want to make the most of it.”

Byakuya shook. It was cold. It was cold. It was cold.

But his face was growing unbearably hot.

“Komaru’s right, even if how she compared it to anime... I want a resolution, darling,” she said with wide, determined eyes brimming with tears. They must have had that conversation when he wasn’t paying attention. “Even if you say ‘no’, I will respect that, but my heart will always be for you. As your partner, or even as a friend... I’m loyally yours. You don’t have to be afraid.”

She reached for his shoulder and gripped it tightly and though her tug was small, Byakuya’s head swooped down like an avalanche. Without thinking, he placed a hand on her hip, and without thinking, he cupped his palm against her cheek, and without thinking, he kissed her.

Well, the corner of her lips. They bumped together and receded, just a little, just for a moment. Wordlessly, they adjusted their angle, shifted their feet, modified their holds on each other, and then they kissed again as Diamonds by Rihanna played through the city streets far below. But here, they heard the wind, the ruffling of clothes and their hushed breaths, smoky figures joining together.

He didn’t feel weak. He felt powerful.

Other people on the tower turned to them. Some politely pretended not to see them, others grinned at the show of love, but none grinned quite as much as Komaru, who watched the screen on her phone as she recorded them.

#togafuka #touko fukawa #byakuya togami #komaru naegi #danganronpa #fanfiction #one shot #dr3 #other characters are her too but like one scene

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pyropsychiccollector · 6 years

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“Just… why did you do it, Komaeda?” Makoto asked, voice filled with anguish. “Why kill Fujisaki?”

The trial had concluded, and now they were all forced into the inevitable confrontation with the “villain”. None of them had expected the trial to go so “easily”, but Komaeda hadn’t put up much of a struggle to begin with. Deflected accusations at first, but never outright said, “I didn’t do it.” It was just very… bizarre. Even with Komaeda’s eccentric personality.

“Did you do it because you wanted to go home…?” Togami asked skeptically, an index finger touching his temple shrewdly.

Nagito spread out his arms, a massive grin going from ear to ear.

“That’s not it at all! I couldn’t care less about my own life! I would rather all of you somehow find a way to escape – even if it took sacrificing me. I’m nowhere near as indispensable as you amazing Ultimates…”

“Then…?” Kirigiri trailed off leadingly, expectant eyes on the white-haired boy.

Nagito gave that raspy laugh that set them all on edge…

“If I had to boil it down to one reason… I just wanted the killings to start! There’s nothing more to it, really!”

Celes’s brow furrowed.

“Then… you are a sociopath…?” He didn’t seem to fit the profile to a T, but appearances could be deceiving…

Nagito hugged himself as he looked down with a gleeful expression.

“No, no… I just think you’re all so amazing…! Even Makoto, with the same talent as me, has found a way to emit a beacon of Hope like the rest of you… From the bottom of my heart, I just wanted your Hopes to shine as brightly as they possibly could!” Nagito giggled to himself.

Hagakure ran a hand through his hair and grinned nervously.

“We can’t ‘shine’ if we’re dead, dude!”

Nagito made a gesture with his arm casually, beaming pleasantly.

“You think so? It’s true that deaths are tragic, but aren’t they just another struggle to overcome? For survivors to become stronger? Think about it! You’re all amazingly strong in your own rights, so just think how much stronger you can get, after overcoming trials of life and death! If you can overcome these trials… your Hope will be powerful enough to eradicate all Despair…! That’s the kind of Hope I wanted to bear witness to, even if I had to become a stepping stone to do it!”

Asahina whirled on him, tears brimming at her eyes.

“You’re insane…! I can’t believe Fujisaki got killed by a jerk like you! You’re just the worst!”

Nagito sighed wistfully, a hand on his waste as he looked down longingly.

“I am… I’m utter trash. I’m terrible with calculations, but I never anticipated Fujisaki would be the one to die… In truth, he was never a target! I sent that letter to Ishimaru to see how far he was willing to go… And if he hadn’t been prepared enough, then I simply would have tried to kill the person standing closest to me… A bit impromptu, I know, but if they were somehow able to overpower and kill me in the darkness, just think about how big the mystery would have been! They wouldn’t have done any of the preparations, and you might not have discovered all of the evidence that you did! My death would’ve been so peculiar! And yet… the winds of fate decided I would live…”

Sakura’s frown deepened, the more Nagito spoke. He was already a dead man walking, but he was talking as if he should be praised for this incident… Nothing of this was worthy of praise.

“Then why did Fujisaki wind up dead…? He acted as if he knew Ishimaru had night vision goggles in that duralumin case…”

“And he ran over to Komaeda, at that…” Leon grimaced as he tried to puzzle it out. “Are you sure you didn’t send Fujisaki a letter or anything?”

Nagito just laughed as he received glares of suspicion.

“I don’t blame you for suspecting me… I’ve proven I can’t be trusted.” The older Luckster then took an arrogant stance. “However, I was surprised as all of you that it was Fujisaki who tried to stop me… I thought for certain Hagakure had stumbled back into me, or that Ishimaru tripped. Either way, I knew someone had gotten killed… I could feel a great deal of blood splashing onto me, and there was that sound of a body collapsing… I made a calculated decision in that moment… Based on the sound of where the body fell, I suspected the person had neatly fallen beneath the table… I didn’t want to be caught with a bloody tablecloth after the lights came back on, so I managed to replace the cloth already on the table… In the end, a bit of blood ended up on the cloth I took with me back to the storage room, but it didn’t matter since no one searched me.”

Nagito shook his head side to side.

“I find it so strange Fujisaki charged me in the darkness like that… He didn’t say a word. One moment I could feel the fast approach of someone, and the next I could feel the blade tearing into sensitive, warm flesh… He didn’t even have time to cry out in pain, I suppose. Was he trying to disarm me? Commit a murder himself? Unless he wrote down his intentions somewhere, we’ll probably never know. In the end, I still killed him.”

There was a lengthy silence that followed Komaeda’s perspective of events… Naturally, he didn’t sound sorry at all, and no one could pity or sympathize with him… Even with him explicitly stating the reasons for his actions, no one could understand his fanaticism with hope… To a fair number of them, he was just a crazy psycho that they were glad wouldn’t be living with them anymore… They wouldn’t have to worry about him planning any other murders.

Getting along would be much easier to do without him around…

“Erm… Just to clarify, Mister Chihiro Fujisaki did not commit suicide… right…?” Yamada awkwardly asked. At that query, a number of them stiffened; if it had been a suicide, they would have gotten the vote wrong…

“Not to worry!” Monokuma cheerfully reassured the otaku, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. “Accident or not, Nagito Komaeda is the blackened, so only he will be executed! The rest of you will get to live your happy island lives~!”

… Why didn’t this feel like much of a victory…?

Nagito sighed dejectedly.

“Is it going to be time for me to say my farewells, then? It’s so disappointing that I won’t get to watch these beacons of Hope survive the trials to come… But I suppose it’s enough that I got them started on the right path.”

Mondo’s face grew purple out of rage as he roared at the older Luckster.

“The right path?! Like hell we’re going to start killing each other just ‘cause your punk ass killed Fujisaki…!”

Nagito chuckled lightly.

“Well, the ‘right’ path isn’t always the easy one… And you can strive to make sure there’s no more deaths, but you might not be able to keep up the resistance when Monokuma keeps presenting motives… But do not Despair! Death is natural, and you’ll only become stronger with each enemy you defeat! Future victims will be mere stepping stones…!”

“Shut up!!!” Mondo bellowed, having heard enough from the older Luckster. They all had.

Composing himself a little, Nagito straightened up and smiled… plainly. Like he wasn’t about to die.

“I really did enjoy our time together, short as it may have been… May we meet again in our next life.” Nagito sighed contentedly, leaving a good number of them frustrated that he wasn’t more panicked or regretful… This would be their last memory of Komaeda.

With nothing left to say, Monokuma smacked a big red button with a gavel, and an 8-bit pixelated version of Komaeda was dragged off by Monokuma on the screens above them. The real Komaeda was ensnared by a chain around his neck, and he was yanked into the elevator shaft before being dragged up… and up… and up…

~*~

Hajime stared at the computer screens with an empty expression as Nagito’s execution came to an unmerciful end. Beside him, Komaeda’s classmates were just as disturbed. The Luckster was fired up in a rocket that had a boomerang design to it… The rocket had all sorts of malfunctions during takeoff, but in spite of them, Komaeda cleared the stratosphere. That was when the rocket’s nonsensical design kicked in… and brought Komaeda hurtling back down to earth… And in spite of the crash-landing, Komaeda had somehow survived it through sheer luck…

Only for a Monokuma-shaped meteor to come crashing down on him. And the damn thing was on fire.

Hajime could see Mikan, Chiaki, and Miss Yukizome were crying. Fuyuhiko and Natsumi looked frustrated and angry. And Peko, Tanaka, Mitarai, and the Imposter all looked disturbed. Hajime himself felt disturbed by the bizarre execution that was, quite frankly, overkill. He didn’t know Komaeda well enough to be angry or sad like the others, though he’d comfort them in their grief.

Now more than ever, they needed to stick together.

“… I guess that’s it, then.” Fuyuhiko growled out through gritted teeth. He kicked the computer terminal next to him. Violently.

“H-He’s not… There’s not going to be any more executions like that, are there?” Mitarai whispered feebly, shrinking in on himself. Though they all wanted to answer in the negative… They knew it’d only be a matter of time now. Monokuma was skilled in exploiting weaknesses. They knew this.

“We just… have to retake control before the next motive happens…” Nanami mumbled dejectedly, returning to her workstation and try to communicate with Usami. Gekkogahara-senpai was trying everything on her end, even as the trial and execution were going.

“I’m going for a walk, then.” Fuyuhiko decided bitterly as he stomped out of the room, Peko at his heels.

The rest of them weren’t too sure what to do, so they stayed and watched the post-trial interactions. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Monokuma decided to not restore Class 78’s memories just yet, but it was also a relief… Because once the bear did restore their memories – if he could – then they would have a new set of problems…

~*~

Whether they liked it or not, life moved on after an uneasy night of rest. The fourteen survivors met up in the cafeteria shortly after the morning announcement, like they had in previous days. The morning greetings were reserved and awkward; it was clear no one was in the mood to talk.

Even if Komaeda had ‘deserved’ to die, there was still Fujisaki’s death weighing on all their minds.

Well… most of them were grieving, anyway.

“I see you’re all still moping.” Togami deadpanned, being the last to arrive. Mondo stood up aggressively as he raised his fist.

“What’d you say, you son of a bitch?!” The biker growled, temple throbbing.

The heir rolled his eyes.

“Come on. Are you seriously dwelling on either of them? Komaeda fired the first shot, and it’s clear Fujisaki had been up to something suspicious. Constantly thinking about that first murder, you can’t tell me not a single one of you is worried the person right next to you could snap next.”

That got more than a few of them to clam up. Asahina was quick to reject Togami’s pessimism, though.

“What the hell?! Two of our friends are dead, and you’re acting like they deserved it!”

“Didn’t they?” Togami asked mockingly. “Komaeda committed murder. Fujisaki did something as reckless as stealing night vision goggles, and then charged a man with a knife. You can’t even deny the possibility that Fujisaki wanted to leave this island!”

Makoto shook his head and looked down sadly.

“Even if it’s ‘possible’, I don’t think that was the case… There’s no way we can know what Fujisaki was trying to do. Not now. All we can do… is keep their memory alive. The kind of people they were before Monokuma came along.”

Togami just rolled his eyes, while everyone else seemed to lighten up a little from Makoto’s determination. While they did have doubts, Makoto’s optimism was much more appealing than suspecting everyone around them. It made life on the island… more bearable.

And then, like the optimism had summoned him, Monokuma appeared…

“I haven’t caught you all at a bad time, right? Good. One of my Monobeasts is missing!” The bear angrily grumbled.

Hagakure scratched his head in confusion.

“Huh…? You mean one of those gigantic robomonsters? How’d you lose one of those…?”

“Could it be… they were destroyed?!” Ishimaru asserted boldly.

Monokuma huffed in annoyance.

“I don’t know! But if you guys see it, tell it to return to its post! Geez… So undependable… If you kids don’t know, what could have happened to it…?” Monokuma muttered incomprehensibly before leaving as abruptly as he had appeared.

Leon grinned nervously.

“Could one of ‘em really have been destroyed…?”

Kirigiri ran a hand through her hair.

“That was clearly a façade. The bear’s shown he can be serious, and I doubt he’d take the destruction of his ‘beast’ so lightly. He wants us to check out another island…”

“That would seem to be the case…” Celes concurred, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

“Could it be some ‘reward’ for surviving the first trial…?” Mukuro mused.

Nobody was sure how to respond to that. If it took a class trial to open up one of those islands…

“Oooh… Don’t tell me you all worked it out so soon!” Monomi pouted as she appeared before them. Her paws were over her head fearfully, ears drooped down. “Let’s all get along…!”

… Well, that answered that question. Yet it raised so many others.

~*~

With a new island opened up, it didn’t take long for everyone to agree to explore the new island. About the only holdout was Fukawa, who decided to stay behind in her room. Everyone else went to investigate with the hopes of finding a way off of Jabberwock or of finding a clue behind the mastermind’s identity.

“So this is the new island…” Sayaka mused as she, Makoto, and Mukuro paused on the bridge and looked out at the second island. Some ruins could be seen, as well as an older-looking modern building, which gave this new island a different ambience from the one before it.

“We gain nothing from standing here, let’s move.” Mukuro remarked, and the three trudged on. Though the ruins had them the most curious, they decided to save those for last, instead checking out a diner and parking lot area first. Mondo was in the parking lot and looking around; they decided to let him be for now and peek into the diner, where Celes and Yamada were.

“You’re telling me… there isn’t any tea here, either…?” There was an edge to Celes’s tone that made Makoto and Sayaka nervous. Yamada, though, seemed unperturbed by the dark aura Celes was giving off, as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“This state of affairs is unacceptable!” The gambler roared, finally making the otaku reel back in terror… and Makoto and Sayaka, as well.

Celes could really change personalities on a dime, huh.

“N-Now, now, Miss Ludenberg… I’m certain if we searched the supermarket again…”

“They do not have the equipment to brew the milk with the tea! It must be royal milk tea!”

“Aiiieee! Y-Yes, Ms. Ludenberg…!”

Mukuro was left staring at Yamada and Celes’s antics for a while, before she realized Makoto and Sayaka had slipped out as quickly as they had entered. Feeling slightly annoyed the idol had gotten one up on her, the soldier hurried to catch up. It looked like their next destination was Chandler Beach, which was further up the small road leading to the diner, through a tunnel.

Unlike the beach from the first island, this one had a beach house, along with a few chairs and umbrellas spread throughout the beach. Sakura and Asahina were already out there, and Hagakure and Leon were in the beach house. Though it was a nice area, it didn’t offer any clues to the mastermind or a way off the island, so the trio moved on after a little investigating.

The next building they found was a pharmacy. Ishimaru seemed to be looking into it, taking stock of what was there. Nothing seemed out of place, so they moved on to the library, where Togami was… as well as Fukawa, who had claimed she was going to stay in her room…It became clear she was trying to follow Togami around, though.

The interesting thing about the library, aside from the books about serial killers that Fukawa seemed especially wary of, was the guidebook about Jabberwock Island. Within its contents, they found a number of contradictions – according to it, the five islands were supposedly furnished to be resorts, while the central island supposedly had an administrative building; the bronze statue of five animals in Jabberwock Park had been in the lobby of that administration building; and finally, according to the guidebook the only way to travel between the islands was by boat, as the plans to build bridges were scrapped due to environmentalists.

They relied on Togami to read the guidebook, since it was in another language. And they all assumed it was just an old one, since everything they’d seen contradicted it. Of course, Monokuma took that opportunity to show up and hint at the sinister group that had brought them to the island and stolen their memories, but he wouldn’t explain anything.

Once they were finished up examining the library, they all moved on to the ruins, where Kirigiri had called everyone. It sounded like she discovered something…

#Danganronpa #Hajime Hinata #Neo World Program #AU

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pyropsychiccollector · 6 years

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Danganronpa: Another IF (Chapter 1, Part 3 - Final)

‘Well, we finally get to find out what’s behind these doors…’ Naegi thought to himself as he, Sayaka, and Asahina made their way through two ornate red doors in the school zone of the academy. It was a small room with an elevator directly across from the doors, and nothing else.

They weren’t the first ones there. Ishimaru, Togami, Junko, and Chihiro were present, and it didn’t take long for the rest to trickle in. Once Sakura brought up the end of the pack, it became obvious that many were wary of each other as they stood there in that compact space. That trust they all possessed in the beginning had been shattered like glass. One of them had succumbed to Monokuma’s motive. One of them had become a murderer.

A lot of suspicious glances were directed at Celes and Togami, and Kyoko got her share as well. No one said anything outright because, at least how Naegi understood it, there hadn’t been a clear “most likely suspect”. He knew Asahina wanted to say something to Togami just by looking at the glare she was sending him, but even she kept silent. Leon appeared irritated, indicating Ishimaru’s alibi probably checked out. And some, like Yamada, Chihiro, and Hagakure, looked as though they were weighed down by the oppressive atmosphere.

Unsurprisingly, Monokuma was the one to shatter the uneasy silence, appearing on the screen next to the elevator.

“Upupu, you all here? In that case… Please board the elevator at the front of the room. That will take you to the courtroom. The courtroom will determine your fate. Upupu… I’ll be one step ahead of you, waiting for your arrival!” The screen went dark.

“A courtroom? They’ve even gone so far as to prepare a goddamn courtroom?” Mondo muttered under his breath. Next to him, Hagakure sighed morosely.

“Come on, dude… They’re seriously holding a Class Trial?” He held a palm to his head and smiled shakily. “If the killer’s gonna come clean, they better do it now!”

Naturally, no one came forward. Fujisaki bowed her head shamefully.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t any help during the investigation… Do you think Fukawa would want her killer to be exposed like this?”

Junko scoffed next to her, examining her nails.

“Kinda, yeah… I mean, she was always petty like that.” The blonde looked at Fujisaki strangely. “And what’re ya talkin’ about? You were loads of help!”

Celes folded her hands in front of her face as she addressed Kirigiri.

“How did it go? I trust the crime scene was illuminating.”

Kirigiri ran a hand through her lilac locks, face betraying no emotion.

“… Let’s go.”

“It’s time.” Togami concurred.

“I did what I could, I’ll leave the rest to you guys!” Leon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

With all of that said, the teens began boarding the elevator. Sayaka took one of Naegi’s hands in hers at the last moment and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The Luckster smiled gratefully, and they got on the elevator after Celes before Mondo got on last. They then began their descent…

~*~

The “courtroom” was comprised of sixteen “witness stands” arranged in a circle – and the room itself had a gaudy interior that, quite frankly, made Makoto feel physically ill. It’s not like he was expecting Monokuma to respect Fukawa’s death, but this was downright treating her sacrifice like it was an amusing affair. When prompted, the fourteen of them took their assigned places; Yamada and Sayaka were to the right and left of him respectively. On the other side of Yamada was a crossed out headshot portrait of Fukawa, which Naegi deduced was her place to stand, had she lived. Were they all going to be subjected to the same humiliation, if they died?

“Let’s start off with a simple explanation! Your votes will determine the trial’s outcome. Finger the true villain, and only the villain gets punished! But make the wrong accusation… and everyone else gets punished, leaving your deceiver freeee and cleeear!” Monokuma declared in a singsong voice.

“Is one of us… really the culprit?” Naegi grimaced. He still didn’t like to consider that possibility.

“You betcha!” Monokuma tauntingly answered back.

Crossing his arms proudly and with quite the serious face, Ishimaru addressed the whole group.

“All right, everyone, close your eyes! Then, raise your hand if you’re the culprit!”

Mondo rolled his eyes.

“You a dumbass? Who’d raise their hand?”

“Can this wait?” Kirigiri broke through the banter. “There’s something I’d like to ask before we begin… What, exactly, is the purpose of that?”

As one, the group looked to the crossed out portrait of Fukawa. Monokuma giggled.

“Isn’t it sad to be left out just ‘cause you’re dead? Friendship overcomes life and death!” The bear’s words were of no comfort.

“Coming… over… friendship?!” Yamada exclaimed.

Hands on her hips, Celes spoke next.

“In that case, what about that empty seat? There are fifteen of us, so why are there sixteen seats?” A reasonable question, and one that the bear deflected rather unconvincingly.

“No reason in particular. It just means the courtroom can accommodate up to sixteen people. Welp, that should do it for the intro… Let’s get this party started! First, how ‘bout a summary of what went down! Go on, get crackin’!”

Forced to set aside that matter for now, the students reluctantly collected their respective thoughts together. Apparently, this “trial” would be a series of nonstop debates where anyone and everyone could speak up. It would be quite easy for the culprit to steer them down the wrong path at any given moment, so Makoto resolved to stay attentive. If he didn’t, they could all be killed.

“Let it be known, Touko Fukawa was murdered!” The Ultimate Prefect started things off.

“Dude, we know that much already…” Hagakure groaned.

Togami held up a pointer finger to his temple arrogantly.

“The body was found in the laundry room. This begs the question: Was she killed there, or was she brought there later?”

“Well, if she was killed elsewhere, it wasn’t in her room.” Junko asserted with conviction.

“Why do you say that?” Yamada questioned, stroking his chin.

“Because there weren’t any signs of a struggle in her room… Me and Junko checked real thoroughly.” Fujisaki replied, looking down sadly.

“So the killer might’ve cleaned up any evidence, that’s all!” Leon rebutted. Hagakure sighed again.

“You seriously think Fukawa would let anyone in her room, dude?”

“So the killer forced her into their own room! No one saw her go near the laundry room!” Mondo snarled. And that’s where Naegi cut in.

“You’ve got that wrong!” The brunet tried to not come across as too forceful. “Asahina, you saw her, right? She was carrying some laundry, and trying to stay far away from you and Sakura?”

The swimmer blinked in astonishment before nodding quickly.

“O-Oh, yeah! While we were taking a break!”

“True… she did leave her room.” The Ultimate Fighter concurred.

“But did she ever go back to her room?” Leon pressed. “Just seein’ her go to the laundry room doesn’t make it the crime scene!”

Asahina appeared downtrodden at being asked that.

“Oh… We wouldn’t know. We went to the school zone to continue our exercises. We didn’t stay near the dorms.”

The Luckster hadn’t known that, nor had Sayaka; naturally, they were disappointed with this revelation. Sakura hummed thoughtfully.

“It was only after completing our exercises did we go to the laundry room and discover the body… I hazard it was maybe fifteen minutes after we saw her in the hall? Twenty minutes at most.”

Despite the setback, Naegi maintained his usual bright optimism.

“W-Well… That narrows down her time of death, at least! Most of us hadn’t seen her since breakfast!”

“And yet, fifteen minutes is still a rather large window…” Celes pointed out. “To suffocate a person to death, one must hold their breath for at least three minutes. I would think twelve minutes would be more than enough time to tidy up, and give themselves an alibi. That is, of course, setting aside the matter of the crime scene, which is still up for debate.”

Kirigiri was tilting her head in thought, with her eyes closed.

“… For the time being, let us assume the crime scene was the laundry room.”

“Why?” The Ultimate Affluent Progeny’s tone made it sound like more of a demand than a casual question.

“There are at least three reasons.” The mysterious girl explained smoothly. “The first two sort of run hand-in-hand, but I will explain. The first is that forcing Fukawa to enter their room would have been far too suspicious. Anyone could pass by at any moment, and they immediately would have been suspected. The second is that transporting the body, while possible if you wrapped it in a bedsheet, would have drawn attention to them as well. In addition, if the crime scene was elsewhere, there would have been little reason to place the body directly in the washing machine; they could have just dropped the body in the laundry room, and then left as if nothing had happened.”

“What’s the third reason?” Sayaka asked curiously.

“Fukawa did not have her dorm room key on her.” Kirigiri revealed. She didn’t really need to outline why that was unusual. Even if you were planning to your room right away, leaving it unlocked for a few minutes would’ve been just asking for trouble, especially after the motive videos that Monokuma forced on them. Fukawa was not the type to be reckless like that.

Junko nodded her head.

“That is weird! ‘Cause the key wasn’t in her room either!”

“And it wasn’t anywhere in the laundry room… Me and Sakura had a good look around.” Mondo corroborated them both.

Ishimaru clenched his jaw as his eyes narrowed.

“Okay… So the killer must have taken Fukawa’s key with them, but why would they do that? They could have just left the key in her room, if they had to access it for something.”

Kirigiri hummed.

“And what if they were afraid that would have drawn suspicion to the room itself? Say, for example, that the killer left some evidence there that they didn’t want found on their person. They had to know we would investigate that room. But what if we knew something was returned there...?”

“You’re saying… the killer took something else from Miss Touko Fukawa?!” Yamada sounded a little too excited than the situation warranted. Leon groaned exasperatedly.

“Not now, sleezeball! Can’t you keep your mind out of the friggin’ gutter for thirty seconds?!”

“Well now, I think that would depend on the gutter’s contents.” The fanfic writer unashamedly admitted. Leon, and several others, was simply at a loss with how perverted the otaku was.

“Um… anyway…” Naegi scratched his cheek. “To answer your question, Kirigiri, I would guess we would specifically look for stuff that might’ve been brought there from the laundry room. But what are you thinking about?”

The mysterious girl cupped her chin in her gloved hand.

“I wonder… Fujisaki, Junko, did you find any small blades? Anything small with a cutting edge.”

Junko crossed her arms and cocked her head in thought. A flash of revelation crossed Fujisaki’s face first.

“Ah! There was some scissors on her dresser!”

The Ultimate Fashionista nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! There were four of these totally small weird scissor things! You think she cuts her own hair?”

Realization dawned on Sayaka’s face, just as it did Naegi’s.

“Scissors… so that’s it…”

Togami gritted his teeth as his hand gripped his elbow in frustration.

“Would someone mind explaining? Fukawa was suffocated, not stabbed!”

“Before she died, Fukawa managed to injure her attacker.” Kirigiri intoned. “How badly she hurt them is unknown, but there were traces of blood left on her hand, her body, and the bedsheet. Since Fukawa suffered no other injuries, only the killer could have left that blood.”

Asahina looked at Junko skeptically.

“When you saw bloody scissors, you didn’t think they were related somehow?”

“There wasn’t any blood on ‘em!” Junko snapped. “The killer probably cleaned ‘em off!”

Celes had her hands on her hips again.

“This is all very interesting, but I have a question of my own. Why was the killer so reckless? Instead of attempting this at nighttime, when we all should have been in our rooms, this murderer waited until after breakfast to try and escape. If they were after Fukawa alone for her frail body, that might make sense, but they could have targeted anyone else, if they were foolish enough to break the curfew.”

Mondo rubbed the back of his head, looking down.

“Maybe because at night, their alibi couldn’t checkout? Like… We were all ‘supposed’ to be in our rooms, but that doesn’t mean jackshit when everybody suspects everybody.”

“That, and I am starting to wonder if Fukawa’s murder was premeditated at all…” Kirigiri mused. “The crime scene, the method of killing her, even the cleanup afterward… All of it seems to be done in haste.”

“If the pressure got to ‘em after watching their video, I’m not surprised!” Hagakure laughed hollowly.

“Does anyone have any ideas who the killer could be?” Fujisaki asked, her voice quivering. Of all the things they talked about until this point, not a single name had been dropped as a suspect.

“Well, I’d say since Asahina ‘n Sakura were the last to see her, and the first ones to find the body, I’d say it coulda been one of them, the other bein’ an accomplice.” Leon asserted, crossing his arms and scowling.

The swimmer, understandably, took a step back, aghast.

“What are you saying?! There’s no way I’d kill someone, even if she was a jerk to me!”

“I can vouch that we did not go to the laundry room until we discovered the body.” Sakura folded her arms and glared straight back at Leon.

Before the three could start arguing heatedly, Sayaka played peacekeeper.

“Guys, guys! Before anything else, we should ask Monokuma if it was even possible for there to be an accomplice!”

Naegi nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! ‘Cause we don’t even know if the accomplices would become ‘blackened’, too!”

Unsurprisingly, Monokuma didn’t sound too thrilled to be put on the spot like that.

“Alright, alright! If you all must know, it is always possible for a blackened to bring in an accomplice, but only the killer themselves would get to graduate! So there’s no sane benefit for the accomplices.” The monochrome bear paused thoughtfully. “Besides, there wasn’t any accomplices in this murder. … Whoopsies.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Monokuma meant to let that slip. Though he did want to keep the game “interesting”, he probably also wanted to make the killer sweat. That was just how the sadistic bear operated.

“I suppose our first order of business would be to look into the people doing their ‘laundry’ today…” The Ultimate Gambler mused. “If this was spur-of-the-moment, then it is likely sheer coincidence they went to the laundry room the same time as the victim…”

“Wasn’t there a bunch of people doin’ it today?” Leon scowled.

“Other than me, Sakura, and Fukawa,” Asahina remarked, “there was Togami, Yamada, Mondo, and Hagakure. Yamada and Mondo stepped in there with stuff before breakfast, and Togami and Hagakure went there right after breakfast. I wouldn’t know if any of you guys returned there after me and Sakura went to the school zone...”

“Kuwata and I were in the entrance hall killing time.” The biker grunted.

“Aye, and Mister Kiyotaka Ishimaru escorted me to the school zone after Miss Touko Fukawa said some… rather unsavory things…” Yamada’s eyes darted back and forth unhappily.

“That still leaves Togami and Hagakure~…” Junko sang tauntingly as she leered at the two of them.

Obviously, it was the clairvoyant who spoke up in a panic first.

“H-H-Hey! My laundry wasn’t set to be done ‘til another hour! I killed some time goin’ to the gym!”

Ishimaru nodded firmly.

“As my patrol route took me to the gym, I can confirm that Hagakure was indeed leaving there!”

It did not go un-noted that Ishimaru said ‘leaving’ the gym, but no one else pointed that out, in favor of turning their attention to Togami.

“After placing my bedsheets in the washer, I returned to my room.” The heir coldly answered the suspicious glares “I did not even see that repulsive bookworm, and I haven’t had the chance to retrieve my bedsheets yet.”

“Hmmm… Could it be… Mister Byakuya Togami used his own bedsheets as a red herring?!” Yamada accused the wealthy progeny.

Togami coldly turned on the otaku.

“Philistine. When I make my move, there will be no sloppiness. There won’t even be an atom-sized piece of evidence that will implicate me!”

“What about other people, dudes?” Hagakure nervously chipped in. “I mean, does Celes-chi or Kirigiri-chi have alibis?!”

A dark aura surrounded Celes as she smiled pleasantly. Too pleasantly.

“I was in my room the whole time after breakfast. I had no business with any of you.”

Hagakure did not give up so easily.

“W-Well, yeah… But maybe-”

“I did not have any fucking business with anyone, shithead!”

… That was the end of that line of questioning…

“Umm… How about you, Kirigiri?” Sayaka tentatively asked to get the conversation moving along again, now that Hagakure was scared shitless of the snarling gambler.

“… The entrance to the gym.” The mysterious girl answered simply. She had been aware of Hagakure, Ishimaru, Sakura, and Aoi all passing by her at various points, but right now her mind looked to be elsewhere.

“W-Well… I guess that still leaves Togami and Hagakure…” Naegi nervously scratched his cheek, and again Togami spoke up haughtily.

“I think not. What about Fujisaki?”

The poor girl seemed on the verge of tears at his accusation.

“M-Me…? There’s no way I…”

“Togami, you jackass! Do you really think Fujisaki would be able to suffocate Fukawa?!” Mondo roared. “Obviously, it was a fucking guy that did her in!”

“And before you suggest it, me, Naegster, and Sayaka were all in the A/V room.” Junko growled out. Sayaka scowled a little at Junko giving a nickname, but did not contradict the fashionista.

The heir harrumphed before proposing another theory.

“Very well… then how about this. Ishimaru’s patrol route brought him back to the dorm area, where he cornered Fukawa and killed her. That is certainly possible, correct?”

“No.” Kirigiri ran a hand through her lilac hair. “Ishimaru tried to stop Sakura and Asahina from being too disruptive in the gym.”

“That is correct!” Ishimaru affirmed, arms crossed. “That ate up much of my time, and I had to make haste back to the hallways to make up for it, but I did not set foot back in the dorm area of the academy until Fukawa’s body was discovered!”

“In other words, you and Hagakure are still our prime suspects, Togami.” Leon taunted the heir, who looked none too happy.

“I did not lay a finger on that disgusting cretin!”

“It wasn’t me, dudes! True as truth!” The clairvoyant was clutching his head fearfully.

Celes was scowling as her hands were back on her hips.

“This is getting us nowhere… We could try to guess which of them it was by majority vote, but there is still a fifty percent chance of being wrong.” Not even she would make a bet on those odds.

Sayaka frowned and looked toward the Luckster next to her.

“You’ve been quiet, Naegi… Can you think of a way to break this stalemate?”

Naegi raised an index finger to his lips in thought.

“If we could find out what the killer used to suffocate Fukawa, that might tell us something… ‘Cause, I don’t think they used the bedsheet. It’s a little too… big…”

“How about the killer’s wound?” Sayaka proposed. Monokuma butted in on their conversation at that point.

“Ah, I hope you aren’t thinking of having the suspects strip down~… Because if you propose that, then I will immediately call for voting time after your search, regardless of what you find out!” The monochrome bear cackled at all their uneasy expressions.

The general consensus was… they couldn’t risk it. They could try and call Monokuma’s bluff, but if Togami and Hagakure both had relatively fresh wounds, nothing would change.

“Let’s go over the crime scene one more time, and elaborate on our reasons for suspecting these two.” Kirigiri decided. They wanted to leave as little room for doubt as possible.

As they started going around the room again with everyone talking, Asahina kicked things off.

“I think it’s Togami! He hated Fukawa!”

“If that’s your only basis, you sign all of our death warrants.” The heir scoffed.

“There’s the issue with the bedsheet, too!” Asahina growled. “Hagakure just had some of his clothes!”

“And it doesn’t strike you as possible that the killer rifled through a random washing machine to find something to use to pin the crime on someone else…?” Togami condescended.

“It would be quite the extraordinary coincidence that the killer would have pinned the crime on you, who has no solid alibi…” Sakura intoned.

“Celes does not have a ‘solid’ alibi either, if we are saying those who stayed in their rooms cannot be trusted.” Togami argued.

Junko hummed noncommittally.

“Y’know, while I can see why you guys think it was Togami, I’m startin’ to think it was Hagakure who flipped. I mean, you wanna talk about ‘desperate killer’, that guy would do something crazy like shove Fukawa in the washing machine after he was done...”

“Junko-chiii! I didn’t kill her!” Hagakure whined.

“That’s not a convincing argument, dumbass!” Leon grunted.

“Well, how about this! If I was the killer, I’d have gotten some kinda scar, right? But I didn’t have any on me when I came to check out the body with you guys!” Hagakure cupped his chin and nodded firmly.

“If the killer used their own jacket to suffocate her…” Kirigiri argued. “… Then when Fukawa wounded you, the cut could have been on your upper arm, and all you would have had to do was resume wearing your coat. Lack of a visible wound does not clear you.”

This obviously applied to both teens in question.

“Are there any other clues…?” Fujisaki asked sadly, fearing there wouldn’t be any.

“Glasses.” Togami answered crisply.

“Say what now?” Mondo growled at the heir.

“Fukawa’s glasses were broken right outside the washing machine she was stuffed in.” Togami clarified. “I do not think we have established that yet, let alone how they came to be broken…”

Hagakure nodded sagely at the blond’s input.

“Oh yeah… They looked like they were broken clean in half, dudes!”

Naegi sucked in a breath as he heard that claim. He knew the glasses would come up at some point, though he never would have imagined they would actually be “case-breaking” pieces of evidence… But it was too late to feel any regrets, and he needed to point out the contradiction…

“You’ve got that wrong!” The Luckster shouted out. Hagakure blinked in surprise at him.

“H-Huh? What is it, Naegs?”

“The glasses were broken, but the way you described them…” Naegi clenched his teeth as he looked down in shame. When he looked back up, he gazed around at everyone. “Can you guys recall what state the glasses were in when we saw them?”

Fujisaki poked her index fingers together.

“Th-They were… shattered… “ She gasped as she realized the same thing that everyone was just now seeing.

“S-So I misremembered the crime scene! Happens all the time!” Hagakure laughed loudly.

“That’s not the only thing.” Kirigiri coolly contradicted the clairvoyant. “Those glasses were broken twice. We all saw the state they were in the second time they were broken – after Asahina had accidentally stepped on them – but there was a bit of tape on the bridge piece. This implies they were cleanly snapped in half at some point; we just never worked out how or why, because Fukawa’s glasses were fine at breakfast.”

Togami’s index finger was on his temple again.

“I see… Those of you who investigated the crime scene only figured that out by closely examining them… The rest of us shouldn’t have had any idea about the ‘first’ time they were broken.”

Hagakure was clearly sweating now.

“I- Of course anyone with eyes could see they were broken twice, dudes! I couldn’t look at Fukawa’s body for long, so I ended up lookin’ at the sh-shattered glasses closely! Yep!”

… No one was buying that.

Deciding to put an end to everything, Naegi made a closing argument that would attempt go over all the events that happened. First, after they all broke off after the breakfast meeting, Hagakure decided to do some laundry, and then kill some time by hanging out in the gymnasium. While that was going on, Fukawa was having an altercation with Yamada over his doujinshi, which was swiftly broken up by Ishimaru, who guided Yamada to the school zone. A short while later, Fukawa decided to do some laundry of her own, warily passing Sakura and Asahina in the hall. Sakura and Hina would move onto the school zone after this, and Hagakure would likely pass them by, as he had since left the gym by that point.

For whatever reason, be it coincidence or boredom, Hagakure headed for the laundry room. That was where he encountered Fukawa. Now, having walked through the school and dorm zones, Hagakure happened to have a general understanding of where everyone was and what they were doing. Monokuma’s motive video must have been plaguing his mind, because the clairvoyant inevitably snapped and used his jacket to try and suffocate Fukawa. However, Hagakure had no way of knowing that Fukawa carried some scissors on her; whether they were her personal possessions or something that Monokuma gave to her, it didn’t really matter. She struggled against Hagakure, and managed to wound him… But it wasn’t enough. Hagakure still overpowered her, and he managed to suffocate her.

Wasting no time, Hagakure started rearranging the scene. He looted through Fukawa’s clothes, making sure to take all the scissors and her room key, and then he shoved her body in the washing machine in case anyone else came in after he’d left. In his haste, or perhaps it was Fukawa during their struggle, Fukawa’s glasses were broken in half. After cleaning off the scissors and planting them in Fukawa’s room, he returned to the scene and hastily taped Fukawa’s glasses back together, likely forgetting in his frenzy that he didn’t need to bother since they were broken and Fukawa wouldn’t be needing them anymore. Still, the mistake was made, and he did one other thing to try to obfuscate the events. He took what was likely Yamada’s bedsheets out of the washer, in the hopes of pinning the crime on him and making it look possible that the body was transported to the laundry room. In the end, Togami wound up being the one most suspected, but that worked to his advantage as well.

What proved to be his undoing, however, was the fact Asahina would step on the glasses, as well. Whether he was trying to draw an eventual witness to the washing machine Fukawa was in, or if it was a genuine mistake that he left them on the floor, it didn’t really matter. Hagakure still made that ‘slip of the tongue’, and let everyone in on the “first” time the glasses were broken.

“Yasuhiro Hagakure! You killed Touko Fukawa!” Makoto accused the clairvoyant with conviction. Yasuhiro was quivering like a leaf, and yet he looked like he was going to blow up at any moment. That moment came shortly after the closing argument was presented in full.

“Naegs! I can’t believe you doubt me that much, dude! There’s no way in hell I killed Touko!” Hagakure raised his pointer finger and gnashed his teeth. “It mighta hit me real hard that this isn’t some sick joke set up by the school, but there’s no way I’d stoop to murder! And you don’t have a shred of evidence to say otherwise! All you got is one measly little ‘slipup’ I said!”

For the first time throughout the Class Trial, Kirigiri grinned, her eyes closed.

“I’d say he has a lot more than that… But if you’re really so eager to prove your innocence, take off your coat. And I do mean both of them.”

Hagakure winced, his eyes darting about.

“Don’t forget, once you do that, voting time happens~.” Monokuma chirped. Hagakure gaped at him, dumbfounded.

“I don’t even get a chance to explain?!”

“Nope!” The bear immediately shot him down.

“What’s the matter? You’re talking as if you’ve already folded…” Celes said as she leaned forward intimidatingly.

Hagakure took a step back, eyes wide and mouth desperately trying to work.

“N-NO! I…!”

“Man the hell up!” Mondo roared. “If you killed her, ‘fess up!”

Hagakure could do nothing as he stood there, rooted in abject terror. This wasn’t the fear of someone being misunderstood – it went beyond that. Hagakure had the face of the damned, and he knew he wasn’t going to get out of this no matter how hard he tried. In the end, Monokuma had to get things moving again.

“Oh well, time’s up~. It appears you’ve reached a conclusion. All right, then! Let’s begin ballot time! Please cast your ballot using the switch in front of you~! Ah, and just for the record… Make absolutely sure you vote for someone! You don’t wanna get penalized for something so silly~. Alrighty. Let’s end this with a bang~! What’ll your verdict be? Who’s tonight’s villain?! Will you be right, or oh so wrong?!?!”

Once all the ballots were entered, a slot machine activated, spinning all the faces of the students until three faces of Hagakure lined up, and Monokuma Coins poured out in droves.

While the students stared horrified at the correct result, Monokuma chuckled and jumped off of his throne.

“Ohoho! You’re absolutely correct~! The villain who killed Touko Fukawa… was Yasuhiro Hagakure!”

The Ultimate Clairvoyant backed up nervously as all eyes had turned to him expectantly.

“Wh-Wh-What?! H-Hold on… a sec…”

“Hagakure… You really… murdered… Fukawa…?” Naegi grimaced as he looked down miserably.

Asahina covered her mouth in horror.

“H-How could you…?!”

“You son of a bitch!!! The fuck did you do that for?!” Mondo expressed righteous anger.

Hagakure’s mouth opened and closed, like he were a fish on dry land.

“I…! I had no choice!” The clairvoyant whispered. “I… She was gonna kill me! She pulled those scissors out of nowhere! So… So I had to kill her! One wrong move, and this coulda happened to any of you guys! Fukawa just happened to target me… Just my luck…”

Hagakure sounded righteously angry as well, toward the end. Naegi honestly didn’t know what to think. It was true they didn’t know ‘who’ attacked first… They just assumed it was Hagakure because he’d been prone to panic in the past, but if Fukawa really had tried to kill him first…

“On the contrary.” Celes replied, stunning everyone. “Even if you could make a case that she attacked you first, you had a choice to make, Hagakure. You could have just suffocated her until she blacked out, but you went all the way. You murdered her. You could not possibly argue a case for justified self-defense.”

Hagakure trembled as he clutched his head, moaning. Apparently, he had no rebuttal to give to that.

“No…” Makoto muttered as he looked back up, clenching his fists. “We shouldn’t blame Hagakure. After all, the catalyst behind all of this… was those videos, right? They made Hagakure, and maybe Fukawa, act irrationally! They never would’ve attempted murder if you hadn’t forced those videos on us!”

Hagakure seemed to regain some color from the Luckster’s impassioned speech. He gestured toward Naegi emotionally.

“Y-You… You get it, Naegs!” The clairvoyant looked down shamefully. “The truth is… when I saw my video, I was scared. For as long as I’ve been fortunetelling, I’ve been chargin’ people a ton of money to tell their fortunes.”

“In other words, you extorted them for your lousy fortunes.”

“I might cheat them out of their money a bit…” Hagakure pointed at her crossly. Then he sighed somberly. “… But yeah, people weren’t too happy to get fortunes that were at least thirty percent right. Even though that’s way better than any fortune they could get elsewhere!”

Togami clenched a fist.

“Could you get to the point?”

The fortuneteller held up his hands.

“Okay, okay! So, I made a lot of enemies with my business… some of whom may or may not have been with the yakuza. When I saw my video, and that somethin’ might have happened to my mom, I freaked! ‘Cause it looked like the yakuza had gone nuts in my house, and my mom was just… gone. I… I needed to get out of here and find her! She’s the one person I love most in the world, and she puts up with all my quirks… my faults… If the yakuza were taking her as collateral for the money I took from them, I needed to get her back! But…”

Monokuma simply giggled.

“Killing someone over interpersonal relationships? Scaaary! He played the part of a bumbling adult who got held back several times, but when you get down to it, Hagakure was mad as a hatter~. And Fukawa wasn’t much better!”

Sayaka just stared at the monochrome bear.

“Wh-What…?”

Monokuma rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah~… I’m kinda bummed she got killed off so soon, but there was a part of Touko Fukawa that you guys never got to find out~. Maybe you’ll discover it later, but it’s not quite the same as experiencing it… y’know? Ahh, never mind me. Just talking to myself here.” Monokuma cleared his throat irritatingly. “So! The tribe has spoken. You guys found the villain in splendid fashion. So it’s time for this round’s villain, Yasuhiro Hagakure, to receive his punishment!”

“P-Punishment?!” Hagakure yelped. He clutched his head desperately. “Y-You mean… execution?!”

“That’s right~! You disrupted the order, so now you must suffer the consequences! There are no excuses! Those are society’s rules~!” Monokuma unmercifully replied.

“Please! At least tell me what happened to my mom!” Hagakure tried to make one last plea. However…

“Nope, nope, nope! I do believe I said you only get that information after graduation! There’s no prize for second place~…”

“PLEASE, STOP…!” Hagakure bellowed.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

“No, no, no, no, nooo…!” Hagakure screamed.

“Let’s get the ball rollin’! It’s punishment time!”

“NOOOOOO!”

Monokuma plopped back down on his throne, and a big red button appeared before him. Monokuma raised a hammer and smacked the button hard, initiating an 8-bit screen that showed Hagakure getting dragged off by Monokuma, with the words announcing he had been found Guilty and that it was time for his punishment. In the real world, Hagakure was shifty-eyed as he looked around the courtroom, surrounded by all of his classmates. Abruptly, a chain came flying from the elevator, and firmly clamped down around his neck, before dragging him all the way back up. Hagakure struggled to get free, but he was forced all the way to his destination, which turned out to be a makeshift fortuneteller tent, where his classmates watched him through the entrance to the tent, and he was flooded by a surge of Monokuma “customers” that were dressed in yakuza suits. They were piling so much money on the table, Hagakure honestly didn’t know what to do, except try to appease them all by telling each and every one of their fortunes.

However, it soon became clear that only a third of Hagakure’s “customers” were content with his services. The other two thirds were bringing out machine guns and other such assault weapons, and Hagakure knew he was in for it. He tried to make a run for it, but the clairvoyant didn’t get far before the Monokuma “customers” opened fire, and his whole body was mowed down in mere seconds, thick streams of blood spurting everywhere. With a meaty ‘thump’, his corpse collapsed to the floor, his head shot clean off, and the rest of him was barely identifiable. Hagakure’s classmates stared in absolute horror and despair at the grim scene as the Monokuma “customers” stalked off with their money, and set the tent and corpse ablaze as they left.

There were… no words. Just like that, Yasuhiro Hagakure was gone, and his remains were being treated even more disrespectfully. They were swiftly returned to the courtroom, but all that some of them could manage were screams and shrieks. What they’d just borne witness to… it could be only called Despair. There was no other word for it.

“YAHOOOO! That was EXTREEEME! I’m DROOOWNING in ADREEENALIIINE!” Monokuma was, obviously, the only one remotely happy with the execution… hell, he was orgasmic.

Sayaka was wordlessly clutching Naegi’s sweatshirt, and she was burying herself in his shoulder as she cried her heart out. Yamada’s hands were twitching around his mouth in terror.

“Ahh… AHHHHHH….!”

“Wh-What is this?!” Junko shrieked.

“I-I can’t take it anymore…” Fujisaki sobbed. “Do we really have to continue this…? I can’t do it!”

“If you’re not a fan of this…” Monokuma said. “… then completely disconnect yourself from the outside world and accept your new lives here! That is, if you guys can do it… Upupupupupu…”

“Y-You bastard…!” Mondo snarled. “What’s your objective in all this?!”

“What’s my objective?” Monokuma tilted his head. “Talk about a guy like he’s an evil secret society… Or, in this case, wouldn’t it be, ‘Talk about a bear like he’s an evil secret society’?!”

“Ummm… Why must such an upstanding citizen such as myself be subjected to this?” Yamada asked.

“Becaaause, how else would you turn something common sense says is impossible into common sense?” Monokuma shot back nonsensically. “That’s like using a scale to measure length. Well, it’s not like you couldn’t do it, but…”

“Whoa, whoa… I don’t think we’re on the same page here…” Leon said with a shaky, nervous grin. Mondo’s hand twitched furiously.

“Damnit…! I dunno who the hell you are, but I’ll have your fuckin’ head on a pike…”

“Upupu~… You’re so mad… Do you hate me? If you wanna hate on someone, you’ve got the wrong bear, bro! I mean, this murder only happened ‘cause you guys want out, right?! It’s your fault ‘cause you can’t let go of your attachment to the outside world!” Monokuma lectured the biker.

“Of course we can’t just ‘drop’ those attachments…!” Junko exclaimed. “We were suddenly dropped and trapped in this screwed up place…”

“Hmm…” Monokuma hummed. “’Trapped’, huh? When you guys uncover all the academy’s mysteries, you’ll most definitely be saying… ‘I’m so lucky I get to live my whole life here!’”

“Wh-What do you mean… by that…?” Ishimaru asked.

“There’s a lot of meaning buried in your words…” Kirigiri mused. “Like earlier, when you said ‘everyone’s waiting’. Just who is this ‘everyone’ you speak of?”

Monokuma just laughed.

“Well, I’ve said everything I’ve can! It’s not as much fun if I don’t save some for later! Bahaha!”

With that last declaration, Monokuma took his leave, and the thirteen remaining teens stood there rigidly, unmoving for quite some time. Naegi was clutching onto Maizono with just as much desperation, as he feared that if he ever let her go… she would suffer a similar grizzly fate to the one that Hagakure did. And Maizono, being so distraught, just buried her face in his shoulder even more, leaning into him as much as possible.

Despite everything that had happened, despite everything that was likely to come, Makoto recalled the promise he had made in the classroom, after comforting her when she had watched her video. And he felt all the more determination to keep that promise. He would not sacrifice anyone, but Naegi would make damn sure Maizono got out of there. No one else deserved to die, and he was going to protect Maizono with all that he had. He could only hope they could stand united against Monokuma… against the mastermind...

Students Remaining: 13

#Danganronpa #Makoto Naegi #Sayaka Maizono #Mukuro Ikusaba #Makoto x Sayaka #Makoto x Mukuro #Naegi x Maizono #Naegi x Ikusaba #Naezono #Naekusaba

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