"AHAHAHAHA! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!"
Flicking off the blood from a freshly made scar, Y/N stood in the midst of dozens of Monokuma heads, having defeated them all. Extremely tired, she slumped her back on a wired fence and her body slowly slid down to the floor in a sitting position.
"So cold..."
The queer group of children had without any objections, allowed her to play in the game they were so fond of, certain she would get killed within a minute of her foolish insisting. But here she was, having the time of her life.
Walking around, she saw that there was somebody else here, two girls about the same age.
Y/N noticed the older girl had long, braided dark purple hair and was wearing a long dress the same color. She looked extremely disheveled and jittery, her irritable high pitched voice ringing out when she saw her.
"Who- who are you??" She demanded, pulling out a taser gun immediately.
"Woah, woah there!" Y/N exclaimed, smiling to appear friendly. She quickly tried to come up with an alias, saying the first name on her mind.
"My name is...Chiaki. I assure you that I am not an enemy!"
"Toko, wait!" The younger girl said, grasping Toko's wrist. She had short, olive green hair, who was dressed in a dirty but formal skirt and shirt.
"She must be stuck in this game just like us! We shouldn't try to attack her!"
"That is correct," Y/n said, hiding her metal bat behind her back. "I'm so glad I found some other normal people! It was so frightful out there..."
"Really?" Toko said, not convinced. "I'm not as naive as Komaru is...tell me, why does your weapon have blood on it?"
"Because I defended myself from those crazy children!" Y/N's voice was beseeching to attract sympathy, as she got the bat out.
"Anyways, what brings you guys here?"
"You say it like we want to be here..." Toko muttered, putting the gun away.
Before Y/N had come, they had been gazing into the large water body that extended further than her vision could see. With a jolt, she realised there was a boy swimming at full speed to the other side.
"What the- get that child out of there!" She yelled, without thinking.
Komaru and Toko looked at her, surprised by her sudden outburst. But it was too late, there was a huge explosion at the exact spot where the boy had been, an enormous tsunami-like detonation spurted huge walls of water all around, making it rain as it splattered back down.
As a weak-kneed Komaru was being consoled by a shaken Toko, Y/N was shocked at her own response at realising a child she had never known was about to die. She had been given the bracelet too; which made sure she could never escape from Towa City. So she knew...swimming wasn't an option.
Why did I care?
She seethed, her nails clawing into her head.
I am a Remnant of Despair. I am supposed to be cherish this misfortune. I am supposed to-
"Hey, you're really s-suspicious," Toko said. "How did you know Yuta was in danger?"
"That is...that is because..." Y/N retaliated, trying to suppress the war her own mind was waging on her.
"I- I saw that happen to somebody else..."
"W-Well, let's get out of here," Toko said, helping Komaru up. "We have to find a way to get to the Adults' secret base and escape. You coming?"
She looked at Y/N, who was still struggling to keep her mind calm.
I could kill both of these girls right now, if I wanted to,
She thought. Even if she has a taser...I can fight too.
But why am I hesitating?
Ever since I was a child, I've always been defaultly cheerful. That's because I thought I owed this world a smile.
When actually, all my life, I've always been so angry.
But I've never let it show. I always hoped on, I've never said a bad word, I've never yelled at someone.
Perhaps...even after all this time, could it be possible that I were still a little human?
"Y-Yes," Y/N said, following Toko and Komaru.
"I'll...come."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Okay. We've figured out that the cause of death was blood loss. Nagito was stabbed on both of his thighs, on one hand, and on top of that, a spear impaled him through his middle." I say, glancing over at everyone.
I managed to bring Y/N along too. Her hands were folded on her lap and her clothes were still stained with Nagito's blood. It didn't seem she was actually present here and listening, a thousand yard stare on her face.
"The killer's pretty obvious here," Kazuichi said determinedly "As much as I hate to say it, I know my deductions are correct! Watch me, Miss Sonia!
"The killer..." He said slowly, pointing a finger to the accused. "-is Y/N!"
Everyone gasped in shock, but I only frowned. Y/N didn't seem to notice. She stared down at her lap, mouth in a thin line.
"She was the only one who wasn't present when we were searching for the bombs Nagito set up! She must have lured him to the warehouse and killed him, before pretending to be asleep the entire time!"
"No, that's wrong!" I say loudly, interrupting him.
"Y/N couldn't have travelled from one island to the other. She would need someone to steer her around!"
"But she walked back to the beach just fine," Chiaki said. "In fact, she was walking fine even while carrying Nagito's body."
"That's true, but she genuinely discovered she could walk after I carried her to the warehouse. And as for carrying a body across islands..."
How would I justify that? If I said it was through sheer will power, no one would take me seriously.
"See? Even Hajime can't refute that!" Kazuichi yelled.
Y/N's silence was not helping her situation. Her eyes were narrowed down to her sullied hands.
"Y/N, say something," I appeal gently. "If you don't, I won't be able to defend-"
"Go ahead."
She had spoken for the first time but her gaze was still averted downwards. Her voice was thin and monotonous.
"Vote for me if you want. I do not care. Excuse me for wanting to ignore a discussion which requires people to say the words, 'Nagito's dead body' over and over again. Don't pretend you truly care about who the blackened is."
Her voice turned to a lower and deadlier tone, the voice of a human who had nothing more to lose.
"You want to find out who the culprit is to save your own skin. You accuse me with no more than pathetic guesses and whims. I would rather pass on being a part of this any longer."
Kazuichi was about to retaliate, but I gave him a look which made him keep mum.
Our contradictions, refutations, arguments, and agreements travelled back and forth until at least two whole hours. Thankfully, we could deduce some solid conclusions.
Nagito set up the fire himself to happen whenever we broke into the crime scene; where we would run into the storeroom in shock to grab fire extinguisher bottles.
One of the fire extinguisher bottles contained the poison gas, which killed him immediately.
But only one of us had thrown the killing blow. How could we possibly guess who had thrown the bottle with the poison inside it? Even the killer wouldn't know.
"How does this even count as a murder?" I demand to Monokuma. "This was an accident!!"
"Tee-hee, too bad a murder is still a murder!"
"Hey...cut the shit," Fuyuhiko whispered, utterly aghast. "How the fuck are we supposed to know who-?"
"Nagito's luck." I say softly. "His luck. He might have deduced, planned, set up the entire crime scene himself, but the heart of his plan was entirely luck. Even if he couldn't live to see the day, he made sure the person who killed him was the traitor."
"Then why did he make it so impossible to find out who the traitor was?"
"Because-"
Could I bear to say it in front of Y\N? But this was the only way to save her life. To save all of us from being executed.
"Because he didn't want the traitor to die. If we vote for the wrong person then, we'll all be executed, except for the killer. That's what he wanted."
I clenched my teeth in despair. "We have to rely on Nagito's luck!"
"Say what now?" Akane said, taken aback. "Nagito wanted to kill all of us...and now we have to depend on his luck...why did he hate us so much?"
I swallow hard.
"Yes...seems like...the traitor was the only thing he ever cared about."
Y\N still remained quiet. I wish she would have yelled instead. At least I would know what to do.
"It was me."
I turn around. I dont want to believe my ears, my eyes, my brain which was decoding her words for me to understand despite me wishing to remain ignorant...
"No!" Sonia yelled defiantly, her voice echoing all around the walls of the trial ground. "First it was Gundham...now you?! I do not believe it! I refuse to believe it! Hajime, let's prove her wrong together!"
"It's true I'm the traitor. I promise I never thought I would end up killing him...never in my wildest dreams. But I had to come forward because if I didn't, all of you would die after choosing the wrong person."
Chiaki held her hands together, tilting her head fondly.
"And I'll never let that happen. After all, you're my dearest friends."
Every eye was focused on Chiaki, all except for two. We were so absorbed paying attention to Chiaki that we had completely missed Y\N quietly sprint up to her, before it was too late.
Y\N had ran right into Chiaki's podium when we noticed her, holding a blade in her hand, preparing to plunge it into Chiaki's chest. Right before she was about to strike, I darted across the trial floor, skidded into a halt right before Y\N and grabbed her wrist, steering her away with force. I could not snatch the blade away from her in time and she still held on to it tightly, preparing to advance to Chiaki again.
"STOP IT!"
I bellow, clutching at both of her wrists, the sharp tip of the knife inches away from my face. "WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?! STOP IT!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! WHY DIDNT YOU COME FORWARD? WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO, SAVE YOUR SKIN LIKE THE PATHETIC BITCH YOU ARE?"
"That's...that's not...I didn't mean to-"
Y/N's feet began to bleed again as she fought tooth and nail to wrench herself away from my grasp. All that bottled-up rage of unfairness and bitter sorrow she had only let out in drops when she first saw him like that...it turned into a whirlwind of hatred at the killer's confession.
"WHO CARES IF YOU DIDNT MEAN IT?! YOU STILL DID! YOU EXPECT ME TO FORGIVE YOU WITH THAT LITTLE APOLOGY YOU JUST GAVE US?! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!"
Chiaki looked shocked and extremely remorseful, her eyes upturned while trying to explain.
"Y/N, Nagito was-
"GET HIS NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT! ALL OF YOU ALWAYS TREATED HIM LIKE HE WAS SOME KIND OF A CONTAGIOUS DISEASE! YOU TIED HIM UP AND ALWAYS REMAINED SUSPENSEFUL OF HIM! ALL HIS LIFE HE'S BEEN ALONE...ALWAYS! I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN-"
"Y/N!"
I smack my forehead against her face, making her stumble backwards and clatter to the floor. A bruise formed at her forehead as she raised a hand to it, too shocked to speak.
"I know it hurts! You think it doesn't hurt us too? I've lost...too. I've lost Byakuya, Teruteru, Mahiru, Peko, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Mikan, Nekomaru, Gundham, and Nagito. And now I'm about to lose somebody else.
"The whole reason they died was to escape from this place! But that doesn't mean we were never friends! With every person who's split the blood, we've gotten closer to the truth!"
"On top of that, I learnt I didn't have a Talent. But you fought for me in this very Trial Ground. You stood against the person you loved for me. All for our friendship...right?
"For their sake, please..."
Pain stung the corner of my eyes, it took everything I had to not start choking up myself. I sat down on the ground next to her, her face glistening with tears.
"For the sake of those people...let's believe in Chiaki. I know it won't be easy...but-"
I don't know what to do, what to say to her to make it alright-
Suddenly, I know what to do.
Maybe this is too much but-
So what if it's too much? She deserves it.
After all this time...all this despair we've shared amongst ourselves...
They might as well have been my family.
I hug her without thinking as she still clutches on to the blade, but I know she won't use it anymore. She's no longer fighting, her eyes are closed in resignation and her face is streaked with pain. I knew it was excruciating inside. Her entire body shivers in agony, a tiny soft gasp escaping her mouth...but her arms clasp hopelessly around me too, as she screams his name in shrilling suffering.
"But we've got to try. For Nagito."
Slowly, everyone moves towards us. Sonia is the first one to join, followed by Akane, even Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi.
Chiaki stands at a distance, staring down at us with pride and happiness, like this sight was everything she had ever hoped for, even at her impending doom.
Sonia extends a hand towards her. "Come," she whispers.
The seven of each other hold on to each other, some crying, some standing strong for the rest.
Underneath me, I can feel Y/N's chest shake with her weeping.
But it's not possible for us to be together forever. Even if it hurts...I have to understand.
"Goodbye, guys," Monomi said, winking brightly. She waddled over to Y/N and tapped her lowered head with a soft pink paw which was drooping down as she lay quietly on the floor. Her eyes were wide open through the strands of hair as tears streamed down her face.
"It'll be alright," Monomi said, stroking her hair.
"Sensei loves you all. Never forget, okay?"
And with that, our teacher and our classmate were gone.