Izuru Kamukura POV
The room was dead silent. Chiaki Nanami's body is surely growing cold at this point. Her blood pooled around her.
And yet... he's still cradling her as though it will accomplish anything. I know very well that F/N is close to breaking after witnessing the death of Chiaki. Even I can't say for sure what will happen when he does...
"You care more about comforting a deceased person than tending to your own wound?" I pointed out the stab wound he received on his abdomen. Mikan Tsumiki must have been the one to have done it, it was the only way to slow him down. I'm sure Chisa also attacked him to prevent him from saving Chiaki.
Still... I'm quite surprised he's still conscious after all this. I suppose Junko miscalculated heavily.
"F/N. You lied greatly about your physical capabilities to the entire school and made Junko underestimate you. Even when an entire class worth of reserve course students was sent to deal with you as a group, you still defeated all of them." His strength is nothing to ignore, for most people anyway. And yet...
"But no matter how strong you are, you are bleeding out. If you don't fix that wound soon, you will die." I pointed it out to him. I'm sure he understood regardless of my words.
"..." No response. F/N still held Chiaki in his arms. He was facing away from me, so I can't see his expression, but I'm sure he's wondering what he could've done to fix this.
For a moment, even I thought she could have actually survived, since F/N warned her about the final trap and about Chisa. Because of that, the spear that should have pierced through her very core simply went through her shoulder. She moved out of the way, so when she fell, the spikes of the floor only went through her left arm and leg.
And despite things going slightly differently, she still died.
As I was thinking about how close F/N was to overcoming Junko after all his scheming, I noticed something on the floor.
Chiaki's hair clip had fallen off her head and was now lying in her blood. I bent down and picked it up. Holding it in my fingers, I stood up straight and stared at this.
This hairclip is modelled after the space ship in... huh?
My vision became somewhat distorted, as though I was looking through a foggy lens. When I raised my hand and brushed my fingers under my eyes... I felt tears.
I'm crying? Me?
Why?
Is... is this the influence of my past self causing this? Is that why I'm...?
"Izuru." F/N finally spoke again. He was breathing heavily, likely from the pain of his wound.
"..."
F/N reached into his coat and pulled out a pistol. That was the same pistol he likely used to shoot Chisa. I'm sure he got it from one of the reserve course students when he fought them. They all were armed with numerous weapons when they came after F/N.
"You understand... how much I hate Junko... Enoshima, don't you?" I nodded in response to F/N's question.
"No matter what, she's the person I can't forgive more than anyone else..." F/N began.
"You know that this world... a world that can allow despair like this to exist... is something I hate." I was aware of that, yes.
"I want you to side with me from now on, Izuru." F/N pointed his gun at one of the many cameras. "Help me defeat Junko, Izuru. You have seen the things despair can do, and I understand that despair is necessary to right this world. But... hope isn't something we can overlook. It is the whole purpose of your existence after all."
"Do you believe the hope you can create won't be completely boring?" I asked.
"You did everything you could, but you still lost to Junko in the end. You're strong, but Mukuro is stronger. You have nowhere near as much influence as her, and the only pawns you had outside of your class are no longer on your side. All the reserve course students you manipulated into betraying Junko and slowing down her progress have turned on you. Juzo will likely lie about Junko's involvement in all this thanks to her blackmail, even though you offered him evidence against her. And now... the 77th class has fallen to despair." He knows this just as well as I do, but I'll still lay out all his setbacks in front of him.
"Even one of your closest partners during this, Nagito, has been driven to despair. Your class will likely be targeted next."
F/N... can you overcome the despair of your failures? Junko doesn't believe so, I'm sure of it, but I would like to see for myself.
You... are not a boring person, F/N. I'll admit that much. But let's see if you are able to show me what Hope is capable of.
"..." F/N didn't say anything in response to my words, but he pulled the trigger on his gun, and several shots rang out. He kept shooting until every camera and screen was disposed of.
It was just us two now. F/N must not want Junko and the rest of the 77th class to hear what he's about to say.
"It's just the two of us now... F/N must not want Junko and the rest of the 77th class to hear what he's going to say next.... Isn't that what you're thinking?" F/N dropped the gun and reached into his coat. He pulled his scarf out and wrapped it around Chiaki's body.
It's pointless, F/N. No matter how warm your sister's scarf may be to you, a simple strip of fabric will not revive her. All you've done is stain it with her blood.
F/N then stood up, still holding Chiaki in his arms. He turned around to finally face me. His face was pale, likely from all the blood he's lost. It is not ordinary for anyone to be still able to move around with an injury like that. He has a wound on his head from one of the reserve course students as well. His endurance is far greater than I originally anticipated.
"Izuru... what I want now is to destroy Junko Enoshima and everything related to her." F/N tells me.
"And that's why... I won't stop until she dies. I won't stop getting in her way until I win. This moment is proof of that... proof of my hope." He held Chiaki close to him, and brought my attention to her.
That's... when I noticed it.
Chiaki Nanami's chest... it was ever so slightly rising in falling. She was breathing. Despite what happened... She survived.
Chiaki Nanami is still alive.
"This is..." What is going on? Even after he seemingly failed at everything... F/N managed to defeat Junko in this way. Her despair hasn't truly won, since Chiaki is alive.
"I won't allow Junko Enoshima to do as she pleases. Even if I have to claw my way through every one of her pawns to get to her, I will." F/N declares. "Izuru, come with me, we're leaving this campus, it's not safe. Junko can't know about her existence until I can properly hide Chiaki away." F/N began to walk, I followed after him. He was forcing his body to stay upright to not drop Chiaki.
"She's alive now, but if she doesn't get medical attention soon, she will die." F/N reminds me. I knew this, and I know where he's going with this.
"You've realized it, Izuru. You're going to make use of your talents to keep Chiaki alive." F/N tells me. "If you don't, I won't let you off easily."
"You attempted to fight me before, and you lost that fight. Do you have anything now that will change the outcome?"
"I wonder?" He's playing dumb. Doesn't matter though, I already have the answer to my own question.
"Anyways... I've already anticipated what Junko plans to do with my own class." F/N spoke up.
I remained silent, waiting for F/N to tell me what he was thinking. I had a feeling I knew.
"Just like with the student council... Junko plans to create another killing game, I'm sure of it. My reasoning is that since she's spent time with everyone in our, it would bring despair to have her classmates kill each other. Especially if I'm there. She'll try everything in her power to bring me to Despair." F/N explains.
His logic is reasonable. I've also concluded that this would likely be her next major plan.
"Well, I have an idea of how to deal with that, as risky as it is. So for now, focus on helping Chiaki. You owe her as much for forgetting all about her... Hajime." F/N looked me in the eyes as he spoke.
Hajime Hinata... that's who he was referring to me as.
...
You've made me curious, F/N.
What will win between hope and despair this time? I now don't know the answer to that.
Well, I'll leave it to you to give an answer eventually. For you, F/N, I'll wait.
I'll wait to see you make good on your promise...