It was obvious that this city has been under siege, or perhaps it went through a riot, or even war. Not a single part of this cesspool of a city was clean. Everything around them gave off the same vibe, either everything was destroyed and useless... or everything was out to kill you.
Kazuichi: "Geez, there never seems to be an end to this." Kazuichi and Akane were still carefully roaming around the alleys, mostly focused on avoiding the main streets. From what Kazuichi has said after reuniting with Akane, he hasn't encountered those Monokuma bots yet, not like her. If anything, he dodged a bullet. If possible, Akane would love to forget seeing a civilian getting killed right in front of her.
Akane: "All we can do is keep moving and hope that the others are here somewhere."
Kazuichi: "Hey... I think I have an idea of where we are."
Akane: "Huh?"
Kazuichi: "I do recall reading an article about a certain city located on an isolated island. There was only one way to access the island, and that was by crossing a bridge. Of course, you could just ride a helicopter there, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. It's possible that we're in... Towa City."
Akane: "Towa City? Huh, I feel like I've heard of that before."
Kazuichi: "Towa City is an island off the coast of Japan. Towa Group and their cutting-edge technology used to run the show here. I remember finding many notes that Makoto and his friends left behind, I found them on that ship we captured."
Akane: "You mean the ship we used to get to the Future Foundation's headquarters?"
Kazuichi: "Yep, that's the one. Ever since the world went to shit... thanks to us, air pollution has made a lot of the planet uninhabitable. But Towa Group developed an air purifier that can clean massive quantities of air at a time. I'm pretty sure Towa City suffered far less damage than most cities around the world. The Future Foundation took immediate interest in claiming this city, but they ran into a few roadblocks."
Akane: "Like what?"
Kazuichi: "From what I found on the ship, there was a group of children dead set on continuing Junko Enoshima's work. I think they called themselves the 'Warriors of Hope'. They wanted to make a paradise just for kids, and that involved... killing all the grown-ups. If we were sent here, could those brats be behind this?"
Akane: "But... how did we get here in the first place?"
Kazuichi: "Well... remember how we were taken to Jabberwock Island? We were in a classroom before that happened, maybe the same applies here."
Akane: "But we weren't in the real world when that happened, remember? We were put in the Neo World Program, that's how we went from one place to another so quickly. I don't think the same rules apply here."
Kazuichi: "Wow... that was pretty smart of you."
Akane: "Huh!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
Kazuichi: "It's just that I... usually don't hear you say smart things." All that response did was piss her off, it made her want to sucker punch him in the jaw. Sensing the danger, Kazuichi has no choice but to try and explain himself again. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean."
Akane: "...No, I guess you have a point. I wasn't really that smart during the killing game, but I tried to help everyone during the trials."
Kazuichi: "...Yeah, I can relate. During our time waiting for the others to wake up from the Neo World Program, I had a lot of time to reflect on what happened during the killing game. I was helpful at times, but I mostly spent my time admiring Miss Sonia... no, I mean... Sonia. I treated her like a princess, but she didn't want that at all. Everyone else treated her like a normal person, but I insisted on putting her on a pedestal. Every time I treated her like that... the more she began to avoid me. Damn, now's not the time for that. I can't just complain about it and expect things to change on their own, I need to be the one to make that change."
Akane: "..." It did surprise her that Kazuichi was aware of his idiocy, and he believed that he needed to be the one to fix his relationship with Sonia.
During their talk, Akane and Kazuichi kept moving. The only time they stopped moving was when they had to look around a corner and see if the coast was clear. With the information Kazuichi told Akane, it was believed that they somehow ended up in Towa City. It was located on an island off the coast of Japan, almost similar to Jabberwock Island, but Jabberwock Island was much further away. They still don't know how they got here, but now they have a possible culprit behind all this. The Warriors of Hope.
Kazuichi: "Let's keep moving, I'm sure we'll find something useful if we just keep our eyes peeled." Thanks to her amazing hearing, Akane heard a noise coming from above her. When she looked up, she saw a piece of debris falling from the top of a building. With little time to act, Akane immediately grabbed the back of Kazuichi's jumpsuit and pulled him towards her. The debris fell right where Kazuichi was standing, and he would've been hit if Akane didn't move him out of the way. "Holy shit!"
Akane: "That was way too close." Focusing her attention on the building where the debris came from, Akane got a quick glimpse of someone standing by the edge of the roof. This person must've been watching her and Kazuichi talk, but while watching, they must've accidentally stood on a piece of loose debris, which is what caused it to fall. "Hey! Who the hell are you!?" Sadly, she didn't get a response. The figure disappeared right after Akane demanded them to present themselves. The very idea of being watched just made her angry. "Dammit."
Kazuichi: "Look, let's just focus on finding a safe place to hide. If that weirdo did that by accident, then I guess they aren't gonna attack us. But if that was intentional, that would be a different story." While looking back at Akane, Kazuichi didn't see a certain black and white machine appearing in front of him.
Akane: "We really need to be more careful, or else we'll be-" Her focus was on that individual she briefly saw, but once she looked ahead of her and saw that machine, she was immediately shocked. "L-Look out!"
Kazuichi: "Huh?" When Kazuichi finally turned back around, he saw a Monokuma bot leaping into the air. The Ultimate Mechanic's expression showed that he was terrified, which was understandable. "AAHH!!! WHAT THE HELL!!!?" Once again saving him, Akane tackled him to the ground. The Monokuma bot went over them and collided with a dumpster. "W-What the heck was that!?"
Akane: "No time to explain, we need to run!" After tackling him again, Akane found herself landing on top of Kazuichi, she was laying on his back while he landed on his stomach. But after saying that they needed to leave, Akane quickly got up and grabbed Kazuichi's arm. She pulled him along while running down the alley, hoping that the Monokuma bot wasn't following them. "That debris falling must've made too much noise."
Kazuichi: "Forget that debris, tell me why I was almost killed by a giant Monokuma!"
Akane: "Those things are everywhere. I saw some of them before running into you, and I watched as they ripped someone apart."
Kazuichi: "Seriously!? So you're saying that if we get caught by these things, then-" He stopped talking once he saw what was in front of him. He and Akane stopped dead in their tracks after leaving the alley, and the thing that stopped them... was a bunch of Monokuma bots. Akane and Kazuichi were now standing in the middle of a street, and these machines were surrounding them.
Akane: "...They could kill us."
===========Meanwhile===========
The image of Ryota and the Ultimate Imposter's hanging bodies easily made a permanent home in Sonia and Fuyuhiko's memories. As depressed as they felt, they needed to keep moving. In Fuyuhiko's case, he was still worried that Mahiru and Hiyoko were still looking for him. But in Sonia's case, believing Fuyuhiko was a difficult thing to do right now. When you're told that your friends are dangerous without much prove, can you really believe it?
Fuyuhiko: "Sonia, you need to listen to me. Follow my lead and stay close, I'm still not sure if Mahiru and Hiyoko are the only threat out there." Reluctantly, Sonia began following Fuyuhiko out of the alley where the hanging bodies were located. No longer alone, Fuyuhiko didn't have to watch his back anymore, but at the same time, he now had someone to protect. He was starting to feel like he was Peko in this situation, and Sonia was playing the role of Fuyuhiko.
Sonia: "I believe that if we stay off the streets as much as we can, we will lessen our chances of being discovered by anyone who might want to harm us. And if what you say is true, then I will follow your lead." She looked determined, Fuyuhiko couldn't help but feel reassured.
As they slowly walked up a street, Fuyuhiko and Sonia started hearing weird noises. Fuyuhiko quickly looked towards Sonia and placed his finger against his lips, signalling her to be quiet. After she nodded, showing him that she understood his hand gesture, Fuyuhiko refocused his attention to the path ahead of him. He and Sonia started moving slower as they were about to pass a corner, and once they did, both of them could see a black and white machine leaving a building.
Fuyuhiko: "I-Is that... Monokuma?"
Sonia: "No... we must be seeing things."
Fuyuhiko: "After what we've seen already, I don't think that's the case." They watched as the Monokuma bot entered a building close by, giving Fuyuhiko and Sonia an opportunity to run past. They did so without any hesitation, they didn't even look behind them to see if the machine was following them.
Sonia: "Was that Monokuma machine making that noise you heard?"
Fuyuhiko: "Well... no. I did hear light footsteps, which I believe was from that Monokuma robot. But the actual sound I heard was-" Interrupting him, the same sound he heard earlier made itself known again. This time, Sonia heard it as well. It sounded like something getting hit very hard. Robotic sounds were heard after the hitting sound, maybe a Monokuma bot was getting struck by something. "Come on, let's see what it is."
Sonia: "Um, okay." Even though Sonia thought it would be smarter to avoid the sound, Fuyuhiko was already moving towards it. The sound was getting louder and louder the closer they got to it, all they have to do was pass one final corner. Now that they were closer to the sound, Sonia and Fuyuhiko began hearing grunting noises. It sounded like someone was struggling. "Are we sure we want to look?"
Fuyuhiko: "We've come this far, there's no point turning back now." Before passing the corner, Fuyuhiko noticed something sticking out of a pile of trash located behind them. After a closer look, he saw that it was a metal pipe. With a weapon, he would stand a better chance against the enemy. With a sick smile now present on his face, Fuyuhiko grabbed the metal pipe and pulled it out of the pile of trash. "Let's do this." Ready to step up against whatever's threatening them, Fuyuhiko was about to head out into the street where he heard the noise. But before he could place a step out into the street, a Monokuma bot was sent flying into the wall near him and Sonia. "What the fuck!?"
Sonia: "H-Huh!?" The Monokuma bot broke the moment it hit the wall. It looked like it was hit pretty hard. Looking at what caused the bot to go flying, Fuyuhiko could see someone in the distance. Sonia was looking as well, and she could see the person putting up a good fight. "Who is that?"
Fuyuhiko: "No clue, but they're kicking ass." This person that Fuyuhiko and Sonia saw was just punching and kicking the Monokuma bots, but their hits were causing a lot of damage. When the person fighting the bots fully came into view, Sonia and Fuyuhiko's eyes widened. "...No way."
Sonia: "Is that... Akane!?" Their eyes weren't lying to them, they actually saw their friend taking out these machines. With one final punch to the right eye, the last Monokuma bot was defeated. Akane's fist went straight through the Monokuma bot's face, she even pulled out some of its wires.
Kazuichi: "Woah! That was awesome!" Another voice made Fuyuhiko and Sonia look towards Akane's position, they could see Kazuichi running up to Akane and making sure that she was okay. Akane and Kazuichi were surrounded by Monokuma bots earlier, but Akane was able to fight them all off without the need of a weapon. It seems that she told Kazuichi to run and hide until it was over. "I wish I could've helped, but I sadly don't have any of my tools."
Akane: "Well, that was a good workout. To be honest, I expected those things to be stronger." Happy to know that the threat was gone, at least for the time being, Akane and Kazuichi smiled at each other. Fuyuhiko wasn't sure if he should reveal himself, but it didn't look like Sonia was willing to wait.
Sonia: "Akane! Kazuichi!"
Kazuichi: "T-That voice! Could it be!?" Shifting his gaze from Akane, he could see Sonia leave an alley and run towards them. "It is! It's Sonia!" When she was close enough, Sonia wrapped her arms around Akane and embraced her as tight as possible. That would usually hurt, but Akane was tough, and Sonia wasn't exactly the strongest person in the group.
Akane: "Hey, I can't believe you found us!"
Sonia: "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" Once again, Sonia couldn't help but cry as Akane embraced her. Kazuichi didn't even feel left out due to Sonia not hugging him, he was just happy to see her. "Kazuichi, are you okay?"
Kazuichi: "Besides taking a nasty fall, I guess I can't complain." Upon watching Sonia interact with Kazuichi and Akane, Fuyuhiko was happy to conclude that he wasn't dealing with a situation similar to seeing Hiyoko and Mahiru earlier. With a relieved expression on his face, Fuyuhiko left the alley and walked towards the rest of his friends.
Fuyuhiko: "Well, it's good to see you guys aren't dead yet." Seeing another one of their friends alive, Kazuichi quickly grabbed Fuyuhiko and embraced him.
Kazuichi: "Holy shit! Fuyuhiko! You're here too!"
Fuyuhiko: "Okay, okay. I'm fine, now let go of me before I punch you." With a smile, Kazuichi willingly let go. He didn't care that he was just threatened, he was just glad that Fuyuhiko was okay.
Akane: "Baby Gangsta! It's good to see ya!" Immediately after Kazuichi let him go, Akane reached out and pulled Fuyuhiko into another embrace, now hugging him and Sonia at the same time.
Fuyuhiko: "For fuck's sake, stop calling me Baby Gangsta!" Giggling while hugging him, Akane just smiled as she tightened her grip on him and Sonia. All Fuyuhiko could do in response was sigh, but he was also smiling as he returned the embrace.
Kazuichi: "So..." Hearing Kazuichi's worried tone made Akane let go of Sonia and Fuyuhiko, it sounded like he was about to say something depressing. "...Hajime's not with you?"
Sonia: "No, he is not. I was hoping that he was with you two."
Akane: "...I haven't seen him since we got here." The four of them felt incomplete without their de facto leader, but they couldn't just give up on finding him. If all four of them are here, then Hajime must be here as well.
Kazuichi: "Since we're together again, should we go over what happened before we reunited?"
Fuyuhiko: "Not until we find a safe place to hide. All these damn buildings look like they're about to collapse, and it's pretty obvious that the alleys aren't as safe as we thought."
Sonia: "What about that?" Sonia seemed to notice something in the distance, just a few meters down the street. Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and Akane directed their attention to what Sonia was referring to, and they could see a path leading underground. "Would that happen to lead down to a subway?"
Kazuichi: "Hmm, I'm not exactly a fan of being underground, but it seems safer than being out in the open like this."
Fuyuhiko: "Then it's settled." Fuyuhiko, as well as the others, decided to run towards the entrance to the subway. There was a staircase leading underground, and they made sure to watch their step as they descend. Unbeknownst to them, outside their field of vision... two people were watching them the whole time.
Akane: "Dammit, there's barely any working lights down here." She was right, most of the florescent lights hanging above them were broken, but there was luckily enough to light up the path ahead.
Kazuichi: "Now that we're safe... for now, can we please talk about all the shit that just happened to us?"
Fuyuhiko: "By all means, you can go first."
Kazuichi: "Uh... okay. I was in the restaurant enjoying the welcoming party we set up for Ryota, but then my surroundings started to shake. I wasn't able to warn anybody because I somehow found myself falling, and I ended up colliding with a dumpster. I noticed that I was in an alley, and I started walking around. I didn't see anything or anyone during that time, but then I literally ran into Akane. We stayed together while traveling through the alleys, trying our very best to avoid the main streets. Akane saved me from getting crushed by debris, and some robots that resembled Monokuma started to attack us."
Akane: "Since he wouldn't really be helpful, I told Kazuichi to hide until I was done with destroying those machines. After that, you guys showed up."
Sonia: "So Kazuichi fell and hit a dumpster? I do remember falling as well, but I do not recall colliding with anything."
Fuyuhiko: "Huh, lucky you. I fell through a glass ceiling and found myself in a library. Now listen, this is when things get confusing and hard to believe. As I was trying to find a way out, I heard voices coming from the entrance. When I went to see who it was... I saw Mahiru and Hiyoko."
Kazuichi: "Wait, really!?"
Akane: "They're here too!?"
Fuyuhiko: "But... they weren't acting like themselves. I eavesdropped on them before I escaped, and all they were talking about was... finding and killing me."
Akane: "Huh!?"
Sonia: "I still cannot believe it, our friends would never do something like that."
Fuyuhiko: "But you forget... we killed a lot of people while under Junko Enoshima's influence. Maybe Mahiru and Hiyoko reverted back to Ultimate Despair. Either way, I escaped the library and eventually found Sonia."
Sonia: "Ultimate Despair? But... even if that is true, then why are we different?"
Kazuichi: "Too many questions, and not enough answers. Dammit, that seems to be a reoccurring thing."
Fuyuhiko: "That's not all. After I found Sonia in an alley... we also found some bodies."
Akane: "Wait... you too?"
Fuyuhiko: "Too?"
Akane: "I saw... a pile of dead bodies lit on fire before I found Kazuichi."
Kazuichi: "S-Seriously!? Damn, maybe Sonia isn't the only one that's lucky." When Kazuichi thought about how he never once saw the Monokuma bots before reuniting with Akane, he did think of himself as lucky. Well, only when he ignores the part when he hit a dumpster during his fall.
Sonia: "...I would not call myself lucky."
Kazuichi: "Huh?"
Fuyuhiko: "Sonia and I... saw two hanging bodies in the same alley where I found her. We saw... Ryota and the Ultimate Imposter." Hearing that made Akane and Kazuichi stop walking, they started losing strength in their legs. Akane was able to remain standing, but Kazuichi fell to his hands and knees.
Kazuichi: "You... you can't be serious."
Sonia: "I am sad to say that it is true, I saw it with my own eyes."
Akane: "They're really... dead?"
Fuyuhiko: "Consider yourselves lucky that you haven't seen them in the state they're in. But located underneath their bodies, there were some words written in blood. Ryota had the word 'coward' written underneath his body, and the imposter had the word 'traitor' written underneath his body."
Kazuichi: "Traitor? Coward? Could that maybe... lead to how they died?"
Akane: "If they were hanging, then they didn't just die... they might've been murdered."
Sonia: "If what Fuyuhiko says is true, then maybe Mahiru and Hiyoko did it."
????: "Well, that's not entirely true." Hearing a familiar voice, Fuyuhiko quickly turned around and saw who that voice belonged to.
Fuyuhiko: "Oh shit... it's her." Kazuichi, Akane, and Sonia looked behind them and saw the same person Fuyuhiko could see.
Kazuichi: "Hey, it's Hiyoko!"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "That's right, it's the loveable Ultimate Traditional Dancer herself!" While presenting a gentle smile, Hiyoko bowed at the four survivors in front of her. "It's a pleasure to see you guys again."
Akane: "W-What the hell?"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "By the way, why are you guys in the subway? There's no point trying to travel down these tunnels. Any exit out of this city is completely cut off."
Sonia: "W-What do you mean?"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "I mean that the tunnels are blocked with too much debris, all the roads leading out of the city are destroyed, and the only bridge out of here was blown up a long time ago. There's literally no point in trying to escape."
Sonia: "T-That cannot be true."
????: "She's right. No matter how much you try to escape, there's no way out of this city." As if Hiyoko being there wasn't bad enough, another person presented themselves to the group.
Kazuichi: "Mahiru too!?"
Mahiru (Remnant): "Yeah, it's me. I might not look the same, but I'm still the Ultimate Photographer you know and love."
Fuyuhiko: "Don't fuck with me!" Fuyuhiko's sudden outburst put everyone there on high alert. The others might not see it, but Fuyuhiko can see right through their charade. "I refuse to believe that you're here to help us!" Seeing that Fuyuhiko wasn't fooled, Mahiru and Hiyoko decided to drop their sweet demeanour, now they looked menacing.
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Hahahaha! Seeing you here is pretty surprising. I can only guess that you're the one that was hiding in the library. You heard what we said and left before we could find you, but we did see you running away into the alleys."
Akane: "Wait a minute, what did you say about killing the imposter and Ryota?"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Oh, you wanna know who killed the coward and the traitor?" She and Mahiru smiled as they started giggling. Akane was starting to clench her fists, Sonia moved back until she was hiding behind Akane, Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi just kept their eyes locked on the photographer and traditional dancer duo. "You're not just curious about the bodies, you're also curious about why those words were written underneath their bodies, right?"
Mahiru (Remnant): "It's pretty simple, and I'll gladly explain it to you. After the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history took place, we Remnants of Despair took the world hostage. So many people died, too many to count. Junko Enoshima decided to stay at Hope's Peak Academy and begin to set up a game, a game where the academy's only survivors would be contestants."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "A killing game, I believe she called it the 'killing school life'... or something like that. I honestly thought it was pretty dumb, but I would rather throw myself into oncoming traffic than disagree with Lady Junko."
Sonia: "Lady... Junko?"
Mahiru (Remnant): "During our time at Hope's Peak, Ryota Mitarai was helping Lady Junko with creating a killing video, a video that could brainwash people into becoming Lady Junko's followers. It felt uncomfortable at first, but it became second nature eventually. We all scattered across the globe and did our own thing, which mostly involved killing people and claiming multiple territories. Eventually, we were able to turn the entire world into our little playground."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "But the Future Foundation was still a problem to deal with, the very idea of them trying to fix the world made us sick. After some struggling, we were able to put an end to the Future Foundation, and we had a lot of fun while doing it."
Kazuichi: "You defeated the Future Foundation? No, that can't be true! The Future Foundation was still around not too long ago, we were the ones who saved them!"
Mahiru (Remnant): "Perhaps... but things went differently for us. Apparently, Ryota Mitarai escaped Lady Junko's grasp, but only because she let him go. He spent a handful of years on the run, and it did take a while to find him. But when we did... he looked terrified."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Seriously pathetic. Someone like him didn't belong in the Remnants of Despair in the first place, not to mention that he outlived his usefulness a long time ago. If he were still alive, he could've made a video that could reverse the effects of Lady Junko's killing video."
Fuyuhiko: "That's EXACTLY what Ryota did! He tried to make everyone in the world watch a video that would spread hope like a virus, something to reverse the effects of the brainwashing."
Sonia: "But instead of feeling nothing but despair, everyone would of felt nothing but hope."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "A world filled with hope would've been boring, not to mention it would ruin everything we worked so hard to build... so we took him out."
Mahiru (Remnant): "Well, Hiyoko and I weren't the ones who killed him. We did get to watch him get pushed off a roof, and we watched as his soul slowly left his body."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "But I'm so jealous! Mikan was allowed to push him, it should've been me!"
Akane: "M-Mikan... killed Ryota?"
Mahiru (Remnant): "And that brings us to the Ultimate Imposter. He was a member of the Remnants of Despair, just like us, but he slightly changed once we found Ryota."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "That bastard actually tried to help Ryota, so we acted quickly and hanged him too."
Fuyuhiko: "A traitor... and a coward."
Mahiru (Remnant): "Yep, it's always depressing the first time you hear it. It's almost as depressing just saying it so many times."
Akane: "So many times?" She couldn't really pin it down, but in Akane's opinion, it sounded like Mahiru has explained all this many times before. But why would she?
Sonia: "Did... Mikan kill the imposter as well?"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Nope, I got to kill Mr Ham Hands myself!"
Mahiru (Remnant): "You got to kill the imposter, but you're still annoyed that Mikan got to kill Ryota? You're just greedy."
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Yeah, I guess I am. But things are different now... we both have two victims each right now."
Sonia: "V-Victims!?"
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Yep! Hate to break it to you, but you four are next!" Hiyoko reached into her kimono and pulled out a knife, Mahiru was holding a similar knife, one that she was hiding on her person. Acting out of instinct, Akane grabbed Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko's arms and pulled them towards her, she then stood in front of them.
Akane: "I won't let you lay on finger on anyone here!" Even though Fuyuhiko was still carrying the metal pipe from earlier, he was still being protected by Akane.
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Very brave of you, Akane. I expect nothing less from you. But this isn't the first time you stood up to us, and the result will always end the same way." Her creepy smile refused to leave her face as she continued to walk towards Akane and the others. Mahiru was about to do the same thing, but for some reason... Mahiru stopped moving forward.
Mahiru felt something penetrate her from behind... get your damn minds out of the gutter. Unimaginable pain was coursing through her body, but mostly her chest. When she looked down, she saw a big knife sticking out of her chest. In fact, it wasn't exactly a knife... it was a machete.
Hiyoko (Remnant): "Time for the bloodbath to begin. Mahiru, get ready with your camera. I want some photos to-" She stopped talking once she turned around to look at her accomplice. When she saw the machete sticking out of Mahiru's chest, she started to feel nothing but rage. "W-What the hell!?" That was when the machete was pulled out of Mahiru's body from behind, the one responsible for the attack was standing right behind Mahiru, and everyone watched as Mahiru's lifeless body fell to the ground. "Y-You... you killed her? Who the hell are you!?" Sadly, Hiyoko never got a verbal response. This person who killed Mahiru without remorse was a male, someone who looked to be around the age of seventeen. Why didn't Hiyoko get a verbal response? Because this guy chose to strike Hiyoko next. He didn't just have a machete with him, he also had a pistol. "I don't know who you are, but you better-" That was all she could say before this guy pulled the trigger and shot her. He landed a perfect headshot, and what was left of Hiyoko fell to the ground.
Fuyuhiko: "...W-What?" Seeing Hiyoko and Mahiru get killed right in front of them made Sonia start to cry, even though they were about to try and kill her. Kazuichi couldn't believe that he just watched someone kill his 'friends' so easily, Fuyuhiko just shook from nervousness, and Akane had no idea how to act. "Who... are you?"
Minato: "The name's Minato Kasaki, and I want someone here to explain what the fuck is going on!"