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TellThemNaegi - AO3
So this is a miracle you won for yourselves, isn't it?" A pink-haired girl held a stuffed rabbit tight to her chest.
"A miracle, huh?" A boy with heterochromia replied. He took solace in the gentle sound of the ocean waves beneath the moving ship. "This isn't a bad ending, is it?"
"Of course not! It's what I lived, fought and spent my life for. Now let's go. We're all going to make our future together!" Her words were filled with blinding hope and optimism yet he couldn't stop smiling sadly at the bittersweet meaning behind them. She spoke of togetherness but that was...
"Hajime. If you don't hurry, the food will be all gone." A raspy voice called out to him...only him.
"Yeah, I'm coming." Hajime responded and joined his classmates. The girl beside him turned ephemeral and soon faded to nothing.
He was tired of lamenting weakness. The despair of the past was over, now they all had a future filled with hope.
﹝•••﹞
A large screen played the events as they transpired. Sitting in the middle of the cinema, Chisa Yukizome watched the scene with a great degree of pride for her students. All of them had lost their way but they managed to recover onto the right path while "she" had failed. That was fine though, for what could make a teacher happier than watching their students surpass them?
She shook her head. What she regretted was the scene unfolding in front of her. The love of her life had chosen to devote himself to carrying the burden of her own mistakes. Knowing the type of person Kyousuke was, Chisa knew he would never truly forgive himself. How she wished to apologize, to tell him it wasn't his fault. Unfortunately, that was impossible. After all, the Chisa Yukizome of that world was already dead.
She could only trust in Kyousuke to find happiness in his own way. He had never betrayed her expectations before and he certainly wouldn't start now. Not after Naegi had saved him.
Not after hope had finally won over the despair in the final killing game.
A fact she wished to confirm with the other individual present. "I told you, didn't I? True hope will never lose." She said. During her short period as a teacher, she had always believed that even the worst students or rotten oranges as she called them, could be saved with proper guidance. The tragedy had proven her wrong. This person was utterly hopeless.
Chisa had expected a response in the form of ridicule, disgust or an outright dismissal of their victory. What she hadn't seen coming was silence.
Junko Enoshima's attention was glued to the screen, as if not registering the teacher's proclamation. Her expression was one Yukizome was unable to make out. Chisa had thought she had seen all the faces of the ultimate despair. Crass, Childish, Intellectual, Depressed, Coy, Pretentious and Empty. What the initial six had in common was an intent at mockery...all of them were far from genuine but the last Chisa believed to be Junko Enoshima's true nature; an emotionless husk who saw all others as sub-life forms. A monster little different from the Izuru Kamukura she had first met.
So what was this? The expression the fashionista currently wore looked to be a mixture of resignation, amazement and...longing. Like a person at the end of their long life had suddenly been reunited with an object defining their youth.
As if snapping out of a trance, Junko's eyes widened and her expression was replaced with a Cheshire grin.
"Chisa. Honey. You say something?" The blond faced her. From her position, an odd-looking book could be seen on her lap beneath a bowl of popcorn.
"You lost." Yukizome's momentary interest had faded to the back of her mind she addressed the fashionista despondently. Just sitting next to the despair made her skin crawl
"Lose? Us? We haven't the slightest idea of what you mean, harlot! What we just witnessed wasn't Hope vs Despair. It was Hope vs Crazier Hope that just looks like despair." A crown somehow found its away onto Enoshima's head.
"Regardless, your influence over that world is gone. I don't see what more you can do so why not just fade away somewhere and never be heard from again?" Chisa smiled innocuously. Passive-aggression was probably the limit of civility she could show this demon and even that was solely because Chisa was in the same boat for helping in bringing about the tragedy, willfully or no.
"Whoa! Don't just ambiguously tell someone to die; it could actually happen ya know!?" Junko's mood turned depressive "Ah wait that was a joke. Since we're already dead and all."
"Indeed, so why am I here when I should be dead as well? Or did your parents never even teach you to let the dead rest in peace?" She cocked an eyebrow
"Uwaah, what's with this sassy teacher? I brought you here out of the goodness of my heart you know." Junko faked cuteness
"This way you'd get to see how things turned out after you died. Wouldn't it have sucked if you just bit it and never knew whether Muna-hottie would go batshit? Like your favorite show being in its last season and some douchebag pops you before the final episode."
She felt a headache coming on "Then you failed spectacularly. Despite certain losses, it had the opposite effect on me." Her thoughts were of her friend and newly discovered rival, Juzo.
"Yes...that didn't develop as I predicted." Enoshima's gaze returned to the screen.
Chisa did the same and noticed the remainder of class 78 (besides Fukawa) together. All five of them. Apparently Kyouko Kirigiri had survived a close dealing with death. A genuine smile crept onto Chisa's lips. Not simply because the detective was alive nor due to the happy expressions on the faces of her friends but knowing that her former colleague's sacrifice had truly been worthwhile. Chisa had always thought of Koichi as a slacker, both as a teacher and a director at the future foundation but his actions in the killing game had changed all that. She was glad to have had such a courageous person as a senior.
"Aight, enough of this shit!" Punk Junko snapped her fingers and the screen paused. The lights in the overly spacious Cineplex had also illuminated.
"That'll be all for now, Tits. I'll be sure to call again when I need ya!" She slapped Chisa on the back repeatedly.
The former ultimate housekeeper stood up from her seat. With her back turned she asked "Junko...where are we and why did you really bring me here?"
"Hm? You mean this dusty old place?" Even with her back turned, Chisa knew the blond was wearing a condescending grin. Of course, the chance of receiving a direct answer to even the simplest question was slim. Nothing was ever simple with her.
"As far as you're concerned, you can call it purgatory...or maybe its heaven." Laughter ensued from both women. It was the sort of morbid joke that one couldn't help but marvel in sheer incredulity. Neither of them would ever be allowed to set one foot in such a utopia. No, if they were destined for anywhere in the after-life, it was obviously hell. Is that where she was?
"It doesn't really matter in the end, you know. What's interesting here is that we have both ascended the realm of the living. In which case don't you think where isn't nearly as relevant as what we are?"
She begrudgingly nodded. Unfortunately, it was a good point and she had an equally good idea of where Junko was going with her logic. After transcending the bonds of flesh and looking down at humans from above. There were only two words describing such an existence, from a human's perspective. Therefore the question shouldn't have been of heaven or hell but whether they were of the divine or the demonic. Unrest grew within the housekeeper.
"You...Have you really given up?" Chisa inquired. This time, she turned to face Junko.
"Who knows?" Junko didn't say another word beyond that ambiguous statement and clutched the book to her chest.
Typical, Chisa thought
There was nothing she could do any further, so she left. At the exit, Yukizome opened two enormous doors separating the theater from that place. As she walked out, she took in the familiar scenery. How this place could be here was beyond her ability to comprehend but the nostalgia was undeniable.
Naturally, as the halls of Hope's Peak were like a second home to her.
﹝•••﹞
The pest had finally left. Hmm, pest might be pushing it a bit. Another presence was welcome in this deserted space and Chisa was intelligent enough for them to hold a decent conversation...her looks weren't bad either. Chisa was stacked, just how much silicone did that broad force into those things!? Well not like she was one to talk. Even more impressive however, was how she could maintain such composure. Most people wouldn't be able to hold back from losing their shit to idiotic emotions after being within 3 ft of the person responsible for ruining their lives.
Yes, she had made a good choice of selecting the housekeeper as one of her useful members of Ultimate Despair and for bringing her here. Chisa had been able to maintain contact with the despair faction even as a sleeper agent in the future foundation and was the mastermind behind the final killing game. That was worthy of praise, moreso than some of those useless ass-hat students of hers.
Oh dear, she shouldn't think of poor Komaeda like that, he was her upperclassmen. Nevertheless, It wasn't like the older woman could resist her [Authority] anyway.
She remembered the words Yukizome had spoken and Junko's response was genuine. The events of the final killing game surpassed her wildest expectation. All members of the future foundation but Mitarai were supposed to have died in the initial killing game and he would then have committed suicide after witnessing firsthand what a hopeless world he had created. Nobody would mourn that retard of course. People who can't feel despair also don't know what it means to be sad. Even a child could understand that. The despair he felt in his final moments would have been orgasmic and yet, this was the end result?
At some point the screen had continued playing.
Impossible...
Even Kiri-fucking-giri had lived! Yukizome had made a perfect set-up. The detective would be too caught up in her failures during their entrapment at Hope's peak and would most definitely sacrifice herself. This would throw Makoto into despair and-or have him killed at the hands of Munakata. Of course, Junko had also anticipated he would succeed and fill the vice-chairman with hope (blergh!)
He always managed to beat the odds like that but for bacon-hands to survive too? Ridiculous, the probability of Mikan arriving at her location in time and finding her was astronomically low. To begin with, the remnants shouldn't have even been there. This was a battle of hope...with that cute brat Monaca on the side.
Certainly. Certainly Izuru Kamukura was a man whose talents far surpassed even her own. Give him a few weeks and he alone could have reversed The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. However, there was an insurmountable gap between capability and will. She had indoctrinated Kamukura and took away his will to act in a way detrimental to her own plans, whether he knew it or not. All the man could do was satiate his interests, she merely helped guide the way to despair and he followed her without question. Even implanting the A.I of that worthless Chiaki Nanami was well within acceptable deviant parameters and that alone would not have any true impact on her own A.I's agenda.
The problem was Naegi. He unleashed the will that she had kept suppressed in the original Ultimate Hope and her plans were shot from there; afterwards, it was evidently a simple task of reviving the other remnants. That snow-ball effect spiraled into an avalanche of good fortune for them and the worst of the final killing game was avoided.
How did he do it?
The ultimate despair stared down at the floor. The popcorn on her lap spilled and the book she had been holding with care fell with it. Junko clutched at her temples with both hands, nearly causing her head to bleed as her long nails dug into the skin.
A goddamn manlet whose specs were so low that she had paid him no real attention during their time as classmates. All he ever did was prattle on about friendship and perseverance like some shounen protagonist while the whole bloody game was seinen material at minimum! How could they just get over all the suffering? What about all the death!? Ohohoho and let me tell you, there was a LOT of dying!
She didn't understand...
He had defeated Despair and triumphed over false hope. He had won and she lost. Junko Enoshima had lost. It was a word she had never even considered before the killing school life but here she sat, a three-time loser, and to the same person.
She couldn't understand...
As the Ultimate Analyst, she was supposed to know everything. Her predictions would always be accurate unless they were pit against someone with comparable or greater talent...but this was merely random luck. Even Komaeda would be a more respectable individual for despite his protests of inferiority to the Ultimates, he retained a higher degree of competence than the lot of them. Before The Tragedy, none had come as close as he in unraveling her plans and almost did in a few moments what Kirigiri couldn't in months. In addition, he mastered his luck in a way that offset extreme amounts of fortune and misfortune. Naegi had neither Komaeda's intellect nor skill so why did she lose to him instead?
What was it about him? He was unpredictable. He was...
It could that his successes were in part her own fault. Whenever she orchestrated a plan, she did so with a minute probability of failure. Doing so was symbolic of despair, the characterization that defined Junko Enoshima. A plan with no probability of defeat, for the express purpose of defeating one person would be tantamount to denying herself and worse, acknowledging him. That in itself meant defeat.
A warm liquid slid through her fingers. Evidently she had dug deep enough to cause bleeding and soon a thick stream of blood trickled down her forehead and slid off her chin in droplets.
Junko Enoshima returned her gaze to the screen and froze at what she saw. At some point, Fukawa and the little Naegi sibling had joined the five. They were now locked in a group embrace with Makoto and Kirigriri in the center. Even the normally reserved Togami had joined in on the display of affection and relief.
At that moment, Junko felt a surge of emotion flowing through her. She couldn't pin down what it was nor could she pry her eyes away.
What she felt wasn't despair. That was an emotion she had grown accustomed to for longer than she could remember...then there was something else that came close to despair? Whatever this feeling might have been, it was...
He It was Interesting .
For Junko, the word interesting was on a different scale of extremity than for an ordinary person. She was someone who had experienced everything the world had to offer and grew bored of it. It was like comparing the thirst of a marathon runner to someone who had been stranded in the desert for days without water. All she had was despair so for an emotion to rival it was nothing short of miraculous. A miracle that she wasn't about to let slip away.
She ignored the blood covering her face and stared at Naegi's now lone figure. He stood there smiling. Not at her of course but at the beautiful sight of the sun setting over the ocean.
Junko watched him with renewed vigor.
She couldn't let it end this way. She wanted another chance to get back at him but she also recalled the most important words Chisa uttered. All physical trace and influence Junko had over that world really was at its end therefore she could never go back there in any form.
However that didn't mean there weren't other ways. She had the means to achieve her goal...along with the instructions on how to use them. Her eyes momentarily darted to the book on the floor and then back to the screen.
Aquamarine eyes burned with crazed passion. She stretched out her arm as if it could reach the screen, much less the figure it projected.
"If I can't come to you then I'll just have you come to me!"
Schemes were already circulating in her head, it was possible for her to make this work...but she would need a test before the real thing. Something that could suffice as an experimental run...
An idea clicked almost immediately. Junko remembered the day The Tragedy began, where she looked down on reserve whelps falling to their deaths. The last time she ever saw Mr.Tall-Dark-And-Handsome, Izuru Kamukura.
They may have never got to meet again but she was the type of person to keep her promises....whenever she felt like it anyway.
"I said it, didn't I? I will always have a use for you, I-z-u-r-u...or should I call you Hajime Hinata now? Upupupu!"
2996 words
«Insane. This is Insane. In a good way.»
-Boo