(3rd Person's POV)
Komaru, now joined with Toko and Akira, made their way to try to get off the rooftop and out of the building. Thankfully the Monokumas on the rooftop were already dealt with, so the trio found a door and entered it as they made their way down the stairs and found themselves inside a hospital floor.
"Is this...a hospital?" Komaru mumbled.
"Dark and depressing... Just like me." Toko sighed to herself.
"Yeah, right..." Komaru lightly agreed.
""Right"!? Why didn't you deny it!?" Toko angrily huffed. "That means you agree, don't you!? Just as I thought, humans cannot be trusted..."
Komaru sweatdropped. "Humans...? You're having delusions."
"I prefer to call it imagination!" Toko replied before walking to a passage that was covered by a shutter. "W-Why's this shutter here? We can't even go down... This wasn't here when I was on the roof before! What's going on?"
"You can't open it?" Komaru asked.
Toko shook her head. "It's impossible, there's no power."
"Oh...now what?" Akira wondered.
"Oh, don't worry, there's a mystical spell that magically opens the door! Let's chant it together!" Toko suggested with a sarcastic tone.
"What!? Seriously?" Komaru widened her eyes while Akira facepalmed.
Toko groaned. "Of course not! Obviously we just have to look for the switch and turn on the power!"
"O-Oh. Right..." Komaru scratched her cheek awkwardly, sounding a bit disappointed that there wasn't a magic spell to open the shutter.
The trio then walked around the floor, seeing if there was a way to open the door. Komaru turned her head only to see two people laying in their own blood.
The three walked up to them. "H-He's...dead...right?" Komaru gulped.
"W-Well obviously! You can't tell just by looking!? What are you, dense?" Toko spat as she averted her eyes from the bodies.
"Wh-What're you doing...?"
"I-I'm trying not to look at the body! I... I have a fear of blood!"
"Oh... You with a fear of blood... Didn't expect that..."
"What? I'm not allowed to have a girly side just because my other personality is a serial killer?"
Akira sweatdropped. "I don't think having hemophobia counts as a "girly" attribute..."
"I-I wasn't trying to be insulting!" Komaru assured. "But if you're afraid, shouldn't you just stay away from it?"
Toko took a deep breath. "I can't just keep saying I'm afraid. I need to overcome my fear of blood. After all, you gain meaning in life through personal growth."
"Th-That's a surprisingly positive outlook..." Komaru looked at her in surprise.
"Surprisingly? I thought you said you didn't want to be insulting. But I was just repeating Master." Toko admitted before nervously placing her hands on her head. "Ah, I just can't stand it! Just the smell of blood is enough to make me faint! If Master wants, I'll give up on that whole personal growth thing!"
"So much for that..." Akira mumbled.
Moving on, the three continued to explore the floor before finding the power supply room. Like the rest of the floor, the room was dark.
"There's a power panel over there..." Toko pointed to it.
"O-Oh, I got it." Komaru said, shooting the panel with the "Move" setting on the Hacking Gun as the lights turned on while also hearing the sounds of the shutter opening.
"Okay then, let's go..." Toko said.
"U-Um, Toko?" Komaru spoke up. "About this gun... Wouldn't it be better if you used it?"
"...I'm...allergic. To machines." Toko made up an excuse.
"You can just tell us you don't wanna..." Akira said.
"O-Oh. Well, if you have allergies, then... I guess it can't be helped..." Komaru said.
---
After heading out of the room, suddenly a Monokuma robot appeared. "Ah! It's here!" Komaru screamed.
"Gah! Hurry up and shoot it!" Toko ordered frantically.
"O-Okay, okay!" Komaru fumbled to grab the Hacking Gun as she shot it down.
"Whew..." Toko let out a relieved sigh before turning to Akira. "You know, you could help."
Akira awkwardly rubbed her arm as she softly turned away. "Sorry...but I'm not that much of a fighter. I think I'm more suited for brawns than brain. B-Besides, the Monokumas are nothing. I'm sure Komaru can handle them for now."
"O-Oh alright, then." Komaru nodded before mumbling. "But still, to say that the Monokumas are "nothing"..."
They then carried on throughout the floor. A few Monokumas would show up every now and then, but Komaru would just blast them away. But with the power restored, the girls would just head down to the next lower floor.
"Which way to get out of here...?" Komaru wondered as they strolled on through the floor. Eventually, they would go into a room where a young child wearing a Monokuma helmet was waiting for them. Based on their clothing, the child seemed to be a young girl.
"..."
Komaru gasped. "I've seen this kid before!"
"No, it's probably just another one. Those brats are all wearing helmets like this." Toko informed.
"Yeah. Back when I was fighting in the city, I saw a bunch of kids wearing these while the Monokumas slaughtered everyone." Akira recalled.
"Huh? Really?" Komaru blinked in surprise.
"Tee hee..." The Monokuma Kid giggled.
"But why are they...wearing helmets?" Komaru cocked her head to the side.
"I-I don't know! These kids only ever talk to each other!" Toko responded. "Even at a time like this, they're playing around like a bunch of idiots! S-Stupid brats..."
"But isn't it dangerous? What if they get attacked by Monokumas?" Komaru asked.
Toko shook her head. "No, you don't get it. These brats are working with the Monokumas to kill all the adults."
"They're what!?" Komaru shrieked.
"Kids killing adults...it's completely insane! But we can't just attack these brats... It's so...frustrating!"
"Tee hee..."
"Anyway, Toko... What's that box next to that kid?" Komaru pointed at it.
"Who knows? Maybe you should open it."
"..." Komaru nervously went past the Monokuma Kid and opened the box, which gave Komaru extra ammo for her Hacking Gun. Once she got it, the Monokuma Kid ran off. "Is that kid...giving this to us? Why help us like this?"
"M-My guess is...they're carrying out someone's order." Toko guessed.
"Huh? Order?"
"Wh-Who cares, anyway...? No point wasting our time worrying about mentally damaged kids..." Toko said.
"Well, that might be true, but..." Komaru trailed off, looking a bit confused.
"It's fine!" Toko rolled her eyes. "Jeez, you're slow, hurry up already!"
"O-Okay..."
---
After that, the girls continued on their way across the floor. Many Monokumas came charging at them along the way, but they would get shot away by Komaru
While walking, Akira spotted a bulletin board that had a picture of a teenage nurse with uneven purple hair. Huh...wonder what that's about... She thought. After going through more robots, the three entered the diagnosis room.
"This place..." Toko mused before seeing Akira grab a book. "Huh? What're you doing...?"
Akira didn't answer as she opened the book with Komaru and Toko peeking over her shoulder and reading the book with her.
---
"High school senior Sae Sunakosaka has 24 split personalities. After an unexpected turn of events, she obtains 23 new bodies.
"But there's no need for 24 Sae Sunakosakas...the killing of me against me commences..."
---
Toko scoffed. "This book isn't even worth throwing into the fire."
"Really? I thought it looked pretty good..." Komaru nervously chuckled.
Toko made a "hmph" noise. "I'm sure an idiot like you would enjoy it, but I only acknowledge pure literature." She then let out a small growl. "I mean, look at this! He's using dissociative identity disorder as a plot point, the hack! Poking fun at his subject without even considering how they feel... This is not professional!"
"I don't think it's supposed to be professional..." Akira commented.
"I'm sure he's not writing about you, specifically..." Komaru said. "Oh, and speaking of dissociative identities, I wanted to ask you something... Genocide Jack isn't gonna kill me or Akira...right? We're totally safe, right?"
"No, she won't. She has a special thing about killing cute men." Toko informed. "When it comes to Monokumas, I think she sees it as "breaking" them, not really "killing" them..."
"But she threatened me and told me she'd kill me..." Komaru told her.
"Maybe it was just a threat... Or maybe you're actually a cute guy." Toko joked.
"I-I'm a girl!"
"Oh? I'm not so sure. You could be lying to me. There's no proof you're not a guy..."
"Wh-Why would I lie like that for no reason!? What, you want me to show you!? Proof that I'm a girl!?"
"Well, you could just take off your shirt to prove it...though your boobs look pretty real to me..." Akira chimed in before reaching for Komaru's chest. "But maybe I should check juuust to be sure..."
Komaru slapped her hand away. "Hey, cut it out!"
Akira let out a small chuckle as she shook her hand. "Calm down. I was just joking around with you..."
"Well sorry! We just met, I'm not used to your brand of humor yet!" Komaru defended.
With that, the three girls headed out as they continued exploring. They then found a pair of swanky doors as the entered inside.
"Woah!" Komaru exclaimed as she saw the room. "What is this place...?"
"Looks like a playground for those little b-brats." Toko assumed. "I've seen them playing around with that arcade machine before..."
"Arcade machine...?" Komaru mumbled as she looked at the arcade that was in the room.
Disregarding that, the girls headed back out to the floor.
"C'mon, we gotta hurry. We don't want to be caught..." Toko said as the three walked through the floor again.
"I think we're almost there..." Akira whispered as they walked through a corridor, went behind the desk with the three computers. There were Monokumas walking around, but they managed to avoid them as they saw the sliding doors.
"Look, over there!" Komaru said as they ran for the doors as they opened for them and exited the building.
---
Komaru let out a relieved sigh. "We're finally out, but..." She looked at her surroundings. "Where are we?"
"Wh-What!? You don't know? Don't you live in this city?" Toko asked.
"I wouldn't call it "living"..." Komaru looked downtrodden. "I was just imprisoned in an apartment the whole time."
"Same here." Akira nodded, raising her hand up.
"Imprisoned, huh? Th-That's an interesting backstory..." Toko mumbled.
"But how did you know I was living in this town?" Komaru asked.
"...Huh?"
"And while I'm at it, this has been on my mind for a while. You said something when we first met..." Komaru placed a finger on her chin in thought. "You said, "You must be Komaru Naegi." Not only that, but you somehow knew Akira, as well... Toko... How did you know about us?"
Toko suddenly got all defensive. "D-Don't get all detective mode on me out of nowhere! You've caught me off guard!"
"Well, I think we deserve to know..." Komaru said.
"I-It's not some big secret or anything. On the helicopter ride over, Master mentioned you and Akira and..."
"Helicopter? You mean Future Foundation's? You're a member of Future Foundation?" Komaru widened her eyes.
"I think I've heard that name before..." Akira mused. "They're this organization, right? Something about restoring the world?"
"Yeah, that's exactly it!" Komaru nodded.
"W-Well, I'm more like an...intern." Toko admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "That's why I don't have my own uniform yet..."
"Ahh, that's why you aren't in a suit..." Komaru pursed her lips into a straight line.
"S-Such a cheap-ass organization, they could've at least given me a uniform! Ugh, when will I finally get to change out of this old ratty thing?" Toko complained.
"You only have that one uniform, huh?" Komaru sweatdropped.
"Yeah, but...I'll endure it for a little bit longer... I made a promise with Master... He said...if I can prove I can control her, I get to be an official member..." Toko blushed as she hugged herself.
"What is she...?" Akira wondered.
"Uh no, here we go..." Komaru grimaced.
---
In Toko's fantasy...
"Haa...haa..."
"Toko... You must never leave my side. Protect me, always. That is your purpose. Your destiny."
"B-But, I'm not an official member...ah!"
"Shh... Enough with the excuses. You are my property. I own you like livestock."
"Y-Yes... I'm your livestock."
"My pig."
"Y-Yes! I'm your pig!"
"Hey, pig...repeat the promise you made with me."
"Uh, uh... Oink oink oink?"
"In English, fool!"
"I promise to never let Genocide Jack kill another human being! Then, I become an official member!"
"I...need...you... You must never...break...that promise!"
" ...Oink oink!"
---
"Oink oink oiiink!" Toko squealed out loud, before snapping back to reality a bit to late. "Ah!"
"..." Both Komaru and Akira gave her weird looks.
"Wh-What's with that face!? It's like you're looking at a...pig..." Toko cringed. "Did I look that weird?"
"N-No, not at all! You didn't look disgustingly gross at all!" Komaru gave her a dismissive wave.
Toko narrowed her eyes. "I didn't ask you if it was gross! I just said "weird"!"
"Oh...sorry?" Komaru half-heartedly apologized while Akira awkwardly coughed into her fist.
"Jeez, even these immature schoolgirls treat me like an intern! Grr, and even that occult moron and the swimming idiot bimbo are official members!" Toko grumbled. "And what's even worse is that Mistress doesn't even pay attention to me anymore! She's too busy with that detective bitch to even give me the time of day...! Now I only have Master to look forward to now..." She lamented.
"...Wow, you sure give your friends nice nicknames..." Komaru snarked.
"They're not my friends! My whole life I've never had a friend!" Toko growled. "...And now you go making me remember stuff like that! Stop prodding my mental wounds, girl!"
"I didn't mean to!"
Toko scoffed. "Hmph, anyway, who cares about having friends. I have Master Byakuya! And as long as I have Master, I don't need anything, or anyone else... It doesn't even matter that Mistress Sora doesn't love me anymore!"
"Sora...?" Akira blinked.
"To actually care about someone that much... That's a pretty amazing feeling." Komaru admired.
"But I got separated from my precious Master thanks to these damn riots! Now I'm all alone..." Toko sighed. "Of course, I did sneak onto the helicopter without Master or anyone else knowing..."
"Wait, so ever since then, you've been alone? Then who told you Byakuya was captured?" Komaru inquired.
"...Huh?" Toko froze before regaining her composure. "O-Oh, well, a lot of things happened... A-And more importantly! What are you going to do from here on?"
"Me?" Komaru repeated before sighing. "Well... I guess there's no choice but to escape. I'll be killed if I stay in this town, right?"
"..."
"Hey, if that's what you're worried about, I'll come with you." Akira offered. "I'm in the same situation as you are, remember?" She held up her wristband. "So I think it's good if we stay together..."
Komaru looked at her with a sad smile. "Thank you... But... Toko, you want to look for Byakuya, right? I know that's what you want, but..." She felt tears well up in her eyes. "But I'm just so scared... I can't help it, I...I feel so afraid... Even with Akira with me, there's no guarantee that we'll survive out here. I feel trapped. No matter what I do, I'll end up getting killed."
"..." Toko stayed silent, only looking at Komaru.
"So... Listen, I know this is...an unfair request, but..." Komaru tried to say.
Toko sighed, but nodded. "Fine."
"Huh?"
"You want me to tag along with you and Akira, right? Fine. I'll go with you."
"I-It's...okay?"
"Th-There's no other choice! As a member of Future Foundation, it's my duty to protect you." Toko said before getting caught in a hug by Komaru. "Ah!"
"Thank you so much, Toko!" Komaru tightened the hug as grateful tears poured down her face.
"H-Hey, what are you doing!?"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my heart, just... Thank Kami I met Toko!"
Toko pried Komaru off her. "Kami? Just thank me directly!"
"But... Are you sure about this? What about your search for Byakuya?" Komaru asked.
"Th-There's no need for you to worry about that. I've been thinking up a plan." Toko said.
"Oh, you're right. An amazing girl like you would have a plan for sure. No point in me worrying." Komaru smiled.
"Hmph..."
"But... I'm glad. Ever since I was imprisoned, I've been all alone. I couldn't depend on anyone else..." Komaru beamed. "So I'm really happy that you're with me. So, so happy!" She then turned to Akira. "And you too, Akira! I'm glad you're gonna stay with us, too!"
"...Aki."
"Huh?"
"Call me Aki." Akira offered as she folded her arms with a small smile. "We're friends, aren't we?"
Komaru nodded as she pulled Akira into a hug as well.
"Now, since we got that out of the way...do you know a way out?" Toko spoke up. "I don't know anything about this city, either. I don't know where we should go..."
"You're right. We have to figure out more about this town, first."
---
"This town is an island off the coast and controlled by a powerful IT corporation. It's commonly called Towa City."
---
Komaru's face lit up. "That's right, I heard this town is on an island! Which means... Hey, Toko! Do you remember seeing a bridge anywhere?"
"A bridge?" Toko repeated before slowly nodding. "I-If I-I remember correctly... I saw a huge bridge over that way..." She pointed.
"Perfect! If this town really is an island, we should be able to escape over the bridge!"
"Huh... I guess you're right."
"Let's go to the bridge! We have to at least try!" Komaru laughed. "Ah, what a relief. I was starting to lose hope!"
"I-I see... Good for you..." Toko said.
"Let's go. The sooner we find a way out this place, the better." Akira said as she took off, with the two following.
Chapter 2: End
To be continued...?