i found myself crying by your grave
A Kingdom Hearts and Danganronpa Crossover

Notes: Kingdom Hearts-wise, this fic is set during the timeframe of Kingdom Hearts III and follows continuity from one of my other fics, Another Side, Another Friend (which should be read first). Sora and Kairi have, at minimum, cleared both Toy Box and Kingdom of Corona. No explicit spoilers for the game are featured.

Danganronpa-wise, this fic is set midway through the events of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, diverging a day or so prior to the beginning of Chapter 3's Deadly Life. Both the victims and the blackened of said chapter are still alive at this point. Spoilers for both Chapters 1 and 2 are featured, as well as several massive endgame ones for Chapter 6. Reader discretion is advised.

"By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us, and see someone… that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was for someone to see them, connect with them."

– Joshua, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]

[Shuichi]

Ultimate Academy (for Gifted Juveniles)
The Interior – Final Hall to Despair

We were standing in front of Kaede's door.

Kaede's door to her Ultimate Research Lab.

Kaede's door, the top half mostly black except for the image of a music scale, the bottom half themed after the black-and-white scheme of piano keys; boxed in with a pink doorframe, condensing all that was Kaede into one simple shape.

Kaede's door, except it was tainted and emanating darkness and just making me feel all nauseous inside because this isn't what it should be, it's Kaede, it belongs to Kaede, and just anything of hers stained like this is an insult to her memory, because it's sweet, lovable, optimistic Kaede Akamatsu—

…I'm sorry. There I go again about her…

"Well, this is it," Sora said next to me, his Keyblade (what a weird weapon, honestly; what's with it looking like a cactus with a cowboy hat?) in his hand, his normally happy-go-lucky, just-as-optimistic-as-Kaede demeanor replaced with something far more serious than I could've honestly expected out of him. "The end of the road, everyone. Whatever's beyond here… I can't promise it'll be pretty."

"It never is, when Organization XIII is involved," Kairi—Sora's best friend and totally girlfriend (no amount of denial on their part can make us think otherwise)—interjected, her own tower-and-flower-themed Keyblade clutched with both hands and looking about equally as sickened by the entryway ahead of us as I was. "There's… way, way too much darkness here. There's so much of it concentrated in one spot, it could fill, like… several glass bottles and still not be enough. It reminds me of that weird place Xehanort was keeping Buzz trapped in." (I don't really have much of an idea as to what she's referring to, by the way.)

"You're not talking about Toy Story, are you?" Tsumugi excitedly piped up. "Oh, oh, I didn't know you guys got to see that world as well! What was it like, what was it like?"

"Stay focused," Maki interrupted her, a combat knife nestled comfortably in her grip. "We can't afford to get sidetracked now." I have to say – she really knows how to use the weapons in her Research Lab a little uncomfortably well. No wonder she hid her talent from us—'Ultimate Assassin' is not exactly something you'd want to put on your resume. "You've all seen the things that this place has tried to throw at us before; there's no reason for them to let up when we're this close to uncovering the mystery of this labyrinth." She gave a cold glance toward the rest of our compatriots—and me. "Are you all prepared?"

I waved a hand in front of myself – and in what had become second nature to me, a rotating azure gear shimmered into place; the holes in its form loaded up with equally-as-blue Truth Bullets, ready to fire by my command. I have to say, it's been… weird, to say the least, to have these 'magical' powers to summon at will – and also kind of irritating, because now Himiko won't stop bothering me about it – but… they've been helpful in clearing out those waves of Heartless, so I don't particularly mind. I spun the cylinder around, replying, "Yeah. I'm ready."

"I'm just as ready as you are, Maki Roll!" Kaito loudly declared, pumping his fist triumphantly in the air. ("Don't call me that," 'Maki Roll' grumbled.) For someone who's both more-or-less unpowered and scared of ghosts – which Sora and Kairi have an abundance of, surprisingly enough – he's managed to hold his own in this darkness-infested maze. (So has Tsumugi, though for… incredibly bizarre reasons. Since when did being the Ultimate Cosplayer equivalate to being able to perform crazy fighting moves from anime…?) "It doesn't matter what comes our way, it'll never be able to match the might of Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!"

"Wak! Who cares if you're a space wizard or something!?" Donald Duck squawked. Yes, seriously, that is a talking cartoon duck (and dog) standing by our side and not a weird robot animal concocted by Monokuma. "Let's just get this over before we break even more of the world order than we already have!"

"But, gwarsh… doesn't it scare you, to think of what might be beyond that door?" Goofy asked, a look of concern on his face. "Ansem did say somethin' about you guys' memories—" I frowned. I remember that. There's something he knows about the memories we're missing that we don't… but what? "—and how a manufactured bond can be nothing but fragile and fake." (Kairi's 'ghost'—Naminé—visibly showed up for a few moments just to grimace. Does she know something about that?) "That's why he tried kidnapping your friends and putting them here earlier. Do you think we're gonna find out what he means?"

"It could just be him saying things to try and make us slip up," Sora suggested, though it was clear he didn't quite believe that. "Wh-What more could there be to it…?"

"You know he's not like that, Sora," Roxas said. He, and his other ghost friend Xion, were two of the residents of Sora's… 'Heart Squad™'. The two of them have been… therapeutic, in a way, seeing as they both lost each other at one point. Sometimes, I feel like I can just spill all my worries to them, all the ones I have to keep bottled up – because Monokuma would know how to exploit it. "He's got something planned – and we're definitely not gonna like it."

"It's gotta have something to do with this 'killing game' thing," Xion surmised, a hand tentatively placed under her chin. "Remember what those weird bears said; something about breaking bonds and creating despair?" I reflexively turned away at her statement, closing my eyes in grief. Kaede… "That's definitely something the Organization would be interested in. There's no way they'd pass up the chance to 'study' this, no matter what."

"And it doesn't help that they've got the Necronomicon in their hands…" I mentioned. I know Monokuma claimed that it would bring someone back from the dead, and logically, that's something that's physically impossible to accomplish. But when you factor in what Sora and Kairi can do, and everything else about them…

…I'm scared.

I'm really, really scared.

"T-To be honest," I admitted, "I'm… kind of frightened to find out what's waiting for us." I stared at the floor, ashamed. "We've already been tormented enough with this whole killing game. What if… What if there's something even worse out there? Something—" My breath hitched. "…s-something that we can't fight against?" Something I can't bring myself to face, I didn't say.

Like another dead body. Another dead friend.

Another Kaede.

I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Detective; someone who can uncover the truth, who can confront lies head-on and come out all the stronger for it – and yet, here I am, wavering at the very end, unable to take that last step forward. We've—we've taken care of everything together, so far—so why am I so t-terrified to open one simple door, even if it is Kaede's?

This isn't like with the first Class Trial, where we're all divided and having to suspect each other (at least, that's what I'm hoping for). I'm not about to condemn my closest friend to death, just because she made a mistake trying to help us all (and yet, something about the aura here… it feels so much like…). I'm not practically alone, no one else really by my side except her (but has that really changed, or am I just deluding myself?)—and—and—

…

…she said she believed in me, that I could fulfill her final wish.

I promised her I wouldn't be afraid anymore, that I'd face the truth for everyone.

But… can I really do it…?

Look at me, coming to tears over just seeing her lab again, down in this labyrinth of devastation and despair. I can barely even stomach it, let alone challenge a villain who's so much more capable than all of us Ultimates combined.

…is it possible she put her faith… in the wrong person?

(I'm not worthy of her time, I'm not worthy of her friendship, I'm not worthy of even her smile)—

…

Somebody put a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to look at them.

"There's no reason to doubt yourself now," Maki said, a surprisingly sympathetic tone coming out of her mouth. Her normally hardened red eyes had softened significantly since I last saw them, her grip not as stiff as you'd expect from an emotionless, almost heartless assassin. "This isn't a Class Trial. There won't be any dead bodies when we open the door. You don't have to worry. Just focus on taking care of things, and you won't need to worry."

"That's right, Shuichi!" Kaito's boisterous voice practically boomed in my ear. "Don't make me punch some sense back into you again!" He was grinning ear-to-ear, sticking out his hand in a thumbs-up position close to my face. "You're not alone, so you've got nothing to fear! It's like I say, there are no walls in this world that you can't climb over, so long as you've got your friends by your side!" ("You tell him!" Sora cheekily agreed.) "So let's make march onward and show that Ansem guy who's boss! You're my sidekick, after all – who else could help me with this?"

"I may be plain," Tsumugi added, having approached our little trio as well, "but I'll be with you guys all the way through! Kaede, and Rantaro, and Ryoma, and Kirumi, they all sacrificed so much to get us here where we are now." She closed her eyes, her expression bright and bubbly. "This is just one step closer to being able to escape this killing game – so let's give it all we've got! You can do that, right? You just gotta remember to let your heart be your guiding key!"

("How does she know that phrase?" Roxas muttered. "I thought only Yen Sid said that… and a couple of other people…"

Kairi shrugged. "Maybe it's just been passed around a lot and we never noticed. Hey, it's not like it's doing any harm!")

"That's right," Goofy jumped in, even though we've known him even less than we've known each other. "It's like Sora says: your friends are your power, and together, there's nothing you can't do. Now, let's get in there and mess up Ansem real good!"

"Yeah!" Donald agreed. "We'll show him he messed with the wrong group of heroes today! We're gonna magic that big palooka until he can't find his head from his shoulders!"

I breathed in and out. "…thanks, guys," I whispered, smiling genuinely. I guess nothing really starts until we take action. Tainted with darkness or not, whatever's behind Kaede's door – we'll face it head on. I confidently walked up to her door and wrapped my hand around the knob… only, the only thing it was doing was jiggling. "…you have got to be kidding me," I said, exasperated. "It's locked."

"Well, we can take care of that easily!" Sora announced. I stepped back toward the group and watched as he held out his Keyblade to the entryway, light circling around its tip in a glaringly shiny fashion, before it burst forward and hit the door. Slowly, and with an unsettlingly heavy rumble, it creaked open, darkness seeping through the cracks as if it had been close to spilling out prior to it being locked. It slammed into the wall shortly afterward, revealing a swirling, violet wormhole sitting within the doorframe.

"Ta-da!" the sixteen-year-old(?) proudly said, his hand outstretched in the direction of the gate like he was showing us a surprise birthday party for us. "Don't see any locks 'round here! The way forward's perfectly clear!"

…something about that face… lightens my heart, somehow.

Kairi giggled. "You just can't resist showing off, can you, Sora?" she teased him, walking closer to her totally-not-boyfriend with her hands on her hips. "I get it's cool and all, but you don't need to do it every chance you get."

Sora swung both his arms behind his head, swishing back and forth as he continued to smile widely. "I don't see what the problem is!" he replied brightly. "Who doesn't like being able to open any lock anytime, anywhere? Besides, there's a lot of fun you can do with it!"

"Like accidentally locking yourself in your own room and forgetting how to open it?" Xion suggested, hands cuffed around her mouth. Don't tell me he actually did that…

And then Sora's face became far more sheepish. Oh my god, he actually did. "Uhh… Nooooooo…? Maybe…? …it was only one time, I swear!"

Maki facepalmed.

Kairi shook her head, a lighthearted smile touching her lips. "Oh, Sora," she said, in a way that painfully reminded me of Kaede, "never change, you delightful dork."

"Yeah!" Tsumugi chimed in. "I want to be there when you two finally kiss and get together and make all of my ships come true!" (…uh, are you kidding me, Tsumugi? Now is not the time)—

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-WHA—!?"Sora and Kairi simultaneously stammered, their hands flailing all about and deep red blushes coloring their cheeks. I don't have to be an Ultimate Detective to tell you they're definitely in love. The evidence is literally right there, sitting in front of everybody with very little effort to keep it hidden. …they should really talk it out, sooner or later. I wouldn't want them to be unable to… "Y-Y-You—It's—it's not like—! W-We're just—!"

"Hey, why are you guys panicking?" Kaito asked, his head tilted in confusion. (Oh, Kaito.) "Is there something you're worried about? Do you need us to come fix it?"

"He can't be that blind, can he?" Roxas muttered under his breath. "Even I can see it, and I was a confused zombie my first few weeks of existence…"

"N-No, it's nothing, j-just—" Sora, whipping his face away from us, suddenly went off track and changed the subject, finger in the air: "Oh, hey, would you look at that, everybody! It's time to go and beat the bad guy! L-Let's go do that! N-Nothing else to do but that!" He rushed into the door as rapidly as he could, his speed actually seeming to reach the rates of his 'Flowmotion' for a split second.

"Y-Yeah! What he said!" Kairi loudly exclaimed, the edges of her mouth visibly and nervously shaking. "No point in just sitting around twiddling our thumbs and all! H-Here we go—!" She dashed into the entryway rather ungracefully, practically tripping over herself, clearly and completely having been thrown off by Tsumugi's statement.

Kaito blinked, before he just shrugged. "Well, if they don't have problems, then I guess we'll be just fine! What do you think, guys?"

"Don't drag me into this," Maki said. "Do you want to die?"

"We're definitely gonna be A-OK!" Tsumugi beamed. "It's gonna be a great day to be a shipper."

(Something sad gnawed away at me. Once upon a time, Kaede and I looked like Sora and Kairi…)

Roxas and Xion walked in after her, the former sighing and putting a hand to his forehead. "C'mon, guys," he groaned, "she has a point. We've gotta take care of business as well. Can't just sit on our butts all day…" And with that declaration, the rest of us followed in with them, a determination nestled deep within all of our wills.

We're almost there.

It's almost over.

Whatever happens here—

…I just hope we really are ready for it.

And if we're not…

…then I don't know what to do.

The Interior – Ballroom of Hopeless Melodies

A humongous room, seemingly built for a recital to a crowd, awaited us at the end of the labyrinth the Ultimate Academy had become. The floor was checkerboarded with black and white tiles, each of them having a thin yellow rectangle close to their rims, accompanied by absolutely rows of toweringly wide windows sitting on every wall, red curtains wide open and letting light into the room alongside these tiny spotlights. A curved ceiling made way for glass chandeliers to hang, doing very little to actually illuminate the area—but they complimented the rest of the interior design fairly well. Though the rest of the room was decidedly empty… it didn't stop me from feeling like this place was… familiar. Like… I've been here before, despite the fact that—at the same time—I haven't.

…you get what I mean, right?

"This place is huge," Kaito gawked. "You could fit, like, a dozen Exisals in here and it still wouldn't be filled up!"

"It's like the three other rooms we saw on the way here," Maki mused, "the ones with the Heartless themed after our deceased classmates' talents." Rantaro, Ryoma, Kirumi… "What could it all mean? It can't just be to torment us – Monokuma was already doing enough on that front…"

"How very astute of you."

Our senses perked up – and immediately, our combined group of eight (ten, if you count Roxas and Xion) got into something resembling battle stances. From the middle of the room, Ansem hovered down, a curious smirk on his face seeing us here.

"Ansem!" Donald and Goofy shouted, staff and shield at the ready.

"You again," Roxas glared. "You just don't know when to quit, do you!?"

"Enough playing around already!" Sora called out to him, Keyblade raised in his direction. "What is it that you want here!? Can't you see everyone's already been through all the grief you could ever want!?"

"Hmph… I've told you before, and I'll tell you again: the festering darkness in this prison cannot just go uninvestigated by us," Ansem began to explain, in his typical baritone. "Look at this 'game', and all of its participants." He cast a hand toward us—specifically, us four Ultimates who were standing against him. "At any moment, they could descend from their pillars of light, and take another's life for their own selfish desires, crumbling in spite of the resolutions they give themselves. And they're willing to sacrifice all of their 'friends' in the process. How could we, the seekers of darkness, not seek to acquire such a power for ourselves?"

"Just because a few of them gave in doesn't mean everyone else will!" Kairi argued. "Their lights are stronger than you think they are! And we're with them, there's no way we'll ever let them fall!"

"Yeah! The only good thing you've done is get Monokuma out of the way!" Kaito added. "And once you're out of the picture, there won't be anything stopping us from getting out of here with the rest of our friends intact!" He pumped his fist into his palm. "Now get down here before we have to force you into doing so!"

I let a wheel of bullets appear with my hand. "Kaito's right. We're not gonna bow to you. Give us your worst – we'll face it with all we've got."

Maki pointed her knife at him. "Now hurry up and get this over with. You're wasting my time."

"Yeah!" Tsumugi chimed in. "There's no way we'll ever succumb to killing anybody, not after what we've been through! We'd never want that!"

Ansem snorted. "Funny, how you four can say that. You four, of all the people… You come into this room, and yet you refuse to even consider the flaws in your conscience—the flaws of your own making." Of our own making…? Wha? "But I've got no more time to spend on your delusions. The second Keyblade War is nigh – and this world has long since lost its purpose." He held up his hand, revealing the Necronomicon, still in his grasp. "It's a shame your memories have been lost to time – but I won't need them in their entirety to bring you down to darkness. I'll just need the memories of the one you—" His gaze seemed to pierce directly into my soul. "—cherished the most."

"The Necronomicon…!" I gasped.

"Wh-What do you plan to do with it!?" Tsumugi demanded to know, somewhat forcefully.

He snapped his fingers, and a turbulent, almost unstable sphere of darkness formed into place behind him, the sheer strength of its aura forcing us backward a few steps. Appearing immediately afterward was the four effigies Angie had made: that of Kaede, Rantaro, Ryoma, and Kirumi. What the hell!?

Kaito screeched (must be from their lifelike appearance—too occult for him?), and Maki grimaced, tightening her grip on her knife. "Angie's wax models…!" she breathed.

"Those are—those look so… real…!" Xion mentioned. "Just—Just like a Replica…!"

Soon, they too were covered in darkness, to the point where we couldn't make out their features anymore. "The actions you've taken within this dungeon have helped me to understand the darkness that lurks all about this world," he said. "And now, using that knowledge… I shall show you the fate that will inevitably befall you. And when you see for yourself the damage your manufactured bonds can create… you'll wish only for darkness to save you from destiny's hand."

He carelessly tossed one of the effigies and the Necronomicon into the swirling black orb, savoring in the way it intensified its power. The other wax dolls were promptly discarded, disappearing into the darkest corners of the room. "It will do you well to heed my advice. After all…" His smirk became even more sinister than it already was, as he extended a hand in our direction. "…darkness is the heart's true essence." And with that, he allowed a corridor of darkness to wrap around him – and before we knew it, he was gone.

I brought an arm up to brace myself for the impact. "Be careful, everyone!" I warned. "Whatever he just did, we can't afford to treat it like we did everything else!"

"You can say that again, sidekick…!" Kaito said, a hand over his widened eyes.

"What kind of Heartless is going to spawn this time!?" Kairi wondered. "Is it going to be a giant man-eating piano or something!?"

"Hold on…" Xion's eyes narrowed. "Something about this is giving me déjà vu… A—A lot of it, for some reason…" And then realization struck her. "Wait—don't tell me…!"

Roxas looked the same. "He didn't actually…!"

I couldn't ask what they were talking about, however – for that was when the thing exploded, sending waves of darkness spiraling about the room, darkening all the windows and leaving a much more ominous light left illuminating our surroundings. Gusts of winds nearly sent us reeling all the way back toward the wall – but despite that, we managed to stand our ground, our respective weapons still clenched tightly in our hands. This can't be anything we can't handle. So what if Ansem thinks our bonds aren't strong? We've made it this far; short of a Class Trial, our faiths can't be shaken now—

The darkness receded.

I caught a glimpse of the creature—

N-No, that's not right. The personbeneath the storm.

My grip loosened in shock.

My hands became slack and paralyzed.

My cylinder of Truth Bullets began to glitch out.

My body began to shake uncontrollably.

"No… This can't be…!"

I'm—I'm j-just—d-dreaming, r-right…?

I'm not—not actually s-seeing her there… a-am I?

Maki's eyes sharply turned to me. "What? Shuichi, what is it? What did you see?"

"Hahahahahahaha… So this is what it's like to feel despair."

The Ultimate Assassin flipped her gaze back forward. "Wh-Wha—!? Was—Was that…!?"

We could finally see her.

Kaito screamed.

Tsumugi's jaw dropped.

Sora and Kairi gripped their Keyblades harder.

Donald and Goofy just looked confused.

"Wah!?" Donald squawked. "Wh-Who's that?"

"Hey, it kind of looks like that girl we saw on those Monopads!" Goofy pointed out. "I think her name was—"

My breath hitched. "K-K-K-Kaede!"

I couldn't believe my eyes.

This couldn't be reality.

She couldn't be reality.

And yet, she was real, she was here – and she was no longer herself.

That golden hair, that persistent ahoge, that beautiful face, and all the rest – but there was decidedly something more menacing about her gait, her smile, her features, her steely gaze—

And that dress… A fancy purple dress, with frills and thrills of all kinds, hung from her body, starting at her chest and covering up to the top of her feet, billowing in the breeze presumably made from the darkness. It was suitably accompanied by short purple heels, long purple gloves, a fairly sizable purple bow tie—and, for whatever reason, there was a white flower attached to the side of her hair.

A long, twisting, bending road of piano keys wormed around her whole body, too, rising and dropping like the waves of the sea, like a passionate red maple tree would in the spring breeze, a melodic medley colored like a rainbow hovering over it and seeming to shield her from all harm – and it wasn't lost on me that this was her own weapon, something akin to my own Truth Bullets and Truth Blades and et cetera.

But that wasn't the part of her that gave me pause. A strange, ornate mask adorned her upper features, rather fit for a masquerade ball, to conceal her true nature (and boy, did thinking about that physically hurt)—and beneath it, were two harsh, nightmarish, golden eyes of twilight, gleaming at us as if we—a-as if we w-were—

…mere ants for her to crush.

…oh—oh god…

Wh-Why—Why is this—Why can't I—

Wh-Wh-Wh-Why—

…

'It may be the end of me, but I want my wish to… I'm giving it to you, Shuichi. From now on, you're going to carry on mywish! You're going to protect everyone!'

…

…I want to, Kaede.

I really, really want to.

I want so desperately to make your final wish come true, for your sake.

But how can I possibly fulfill it…

…when I couldn't protect Ryoma—couldn't protect Kirumi—

…when I couldn't protect you from—from this…?

…what sort of painful truth… is this…?

…why, Kaede—why?

"Hey there, Shuichi," she greeted me, eyes glinting evilly and gazing right into my horrified stare, a distorted voice that echoed with apathy and emptiness. "I'll be taking back my wish now, if you don't mind."

…I could feel my heart break just from that alone.

"Wh-What the hell is this!?" Kaito shouted, sweat pouring down his head. "K-Kaede—you can't be telling me… That's not actually you, is it!? It's just—It's just a prank you're playing on us, to get us to lighten up, right!? That's just like you, to try and keep our spirits alive, doing stuff like this…!"

"Oh no," Kaede corrected him, "this isn't a prank. This is very real. It's me—Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist." She spun around, something resembling a teasing—no, a disdainful smile on her lips. "The protagonist of this crazy story. Well… maybe something a little different than protagonist, now. But let's face it… does it honestly matter?"

Maki grit her teeth. "It wasn't enough to kidnap our classmates and trap them here… It wasn't enough to torment us with demented images of those who died in the killing game… what kind of monsters are we up against, to so callously bring back somebody like this, and turn them into somebody they shouldn't be?"

Tsumugi nervously laughed, probably to try and relieve some of the stress and shock she was feeling over there. "I thought this type of stuff only happened in anime, in fiction. Like that moment in my favorite game series when an evil fashionista convinced others to join her side…" That laugh and that smile promptly dissipated as an utterly dismayed expression overtook her. "Wh-who could do such a thing, and make it a reality…?"

I still couldn't respond, just helplessly looking up at her while my hands fell to my side, Truth Bullets disappearing entirely. I… I still can't believe…

"Funny you say that now…" She held a finger up in the air. "There's a lot of people willing to put in the power to make things like this a reality. Things like this, which give me so much joy, so much life. Honestly, I can't believe I forgot about these feelings when this game started – being a perky, kind, optimistic loser just isn't me. How can it be, when I don't have any faith in humanity? Clearly, somebody made a mistake down the line on that."

"…this can't be you," I whispered, trying so desperately to deny this—this living nightmare in front of me. "This isn't the sweet, hopeful Kaede Akamatsu I knew—that I know still exists in you, somewhere. If—If you didn't have any faith in humanity, then—then you w-wouldn't have tried to help us all. You wouldn't have s-sacrificed yourself, s-so we might've been able to escape." I clenched my hands into fists, tears streaming from my eyes. "So tell me – h-how can you just say that person – that oh-so-l-lovable person, the person that you are – was a mistake? You lifted me up in my darkest hour, helped me to seek the truth—even when all I wanted to do was run away. How—How is that bad!?" My voice began to crackle as my strength began to fade. "T-Tell me, Kaede… h-how can you…?"

She raised an eyebrow, as if in recognition of something. "…that's right. You don't know the truth." And then she shrugged, so callously, so dismissively; I found myself only growing more nauseous. "I guess there's not a whole lot I can do about that. Good thing I'm here to take responsibility, then."

"What kind of truth are you talking about!?" Kaito yelled. "What don't we know that could make you so—so—so not like yourself!?"

"Y-Yeah!" Tsumugi jumped in, a hint of fear in her throat. "Please—I don't understand. I don't understand this at all!"

"The me that you knew several days ago—the me that was executed, made specifically for this killing game—that wasn't who I was before this all started. In fact, nobody here – not you, our friends, the other dead people – is the same as who they used to be. Because we're all just manufactured identities, penned from a script and transplanted to us using those Flashback Lights. This is me, my true self reborn, free from the influence of all that useless clutter in my brain. And everyone's got a 'pre-season' self just like me."

Maki's grip on her combat knife began to slacken as well, as she seemed to come to terms with the things Kaede was revealing. "What are you talking about?" she hissed. "I can remember my own identity just fine. My past, my motivations, my talents—you can't fake something like that. There's no type of technology in the world that can do that – or an organization who can develop it into existence, either. It's just—not possible."

"Oh, Maki… I didn't think you'd be this naïve. Let me counter with my own question: how can everyone recall having the exact same memory, at the exact same time, with absolutely no differences at all?" Maki's glare become more venomous. "Do you get it now? Everything that you know is wrong, simply the creation of a team whose sole purpose is to tell the same type of story, over and over. Our relationships, our interactions, our actions, our lives – none of it was decided upon by us. It's all a tale of fiction!" Kaede extended her arms wide, an almost sociopathic grin touching the edges of her cheeks. "Doesn't that make you feel just so, so much despair!?"

…we're not real?

We're… not real?

We're just… just pieces of fiction, brought to life?

Kaede and I, Kaito and Maki, all the times we've had since we woke up in this hopeless world—

All the turmoil, the tension, the trials, the terror—

The deaths and the despair we suffered through—

It all… meant nothing… in the end?

And Kaede—the girl I knew—

The sweet, lovable, optimistic girl I knew—

She was… She was nothing but a lie all this time?

…nothing more than a puppet, controlled by someone else for their own amusement, just to torture us?

(…to torture me?)

"I… Kaede…" I murmured, slouching deeply into depression. "You… There's…" I didn't even know what I was trying to say anymore—I was just… lost. Completely lost.

…because it was all meaningless.

"…you're lying," Maki accused, seething. "There's—There's no way that can be the truth."

"What Maki Roll said!" Kaito chimed in, looking ready to start a fight, regardless of who it was we were facing. "E-Even if that was true, and I'm not saying it is—wh-what does it matter!?"

"And you know what the best part is?" Kaede asked, seeming to relish in the way we were practically falling apart at her words. "This isn't even the first killing game of its kind—it's the fifty-third!" Kaito and Maki gasped, and Tsumugi just seemed to… shut down entirely, a horrified expression all over her face, as if she had finally begun to comprehend something. "We're being not the first group of people to be subjected to this – and we're definitely not gonna be the last. We're being broadcast to the whole world, and they—and I, and you guys once upon a time—eat up this type of stuff like junk food!" No… No way… D-Don't tell me… Don't tell me we asked for this…? "We're pure spectacle, nothing more – and this cycle will continue for as long as Team Danganronpa will make it! They're never gonna let you go, even if you do end up 'winning' this killing game. But I can give you guys something better." She offered a hand to each of us. "You won't have to worry about a single thing… if you join me in my despair. There won't be a light of hope to trick you – all there'll be is a comforting darkness, like Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'. Well? What do you say… Shuichi?" She cocked her head, expectant yellow eyes peering in my direction. "No more pain, no more broken promises, no more deaths… it'll be me and you, together again. And we'll protect everyone, with the sweet embrace of despair."

I stared longingly into her gaze.

…I… I didn't want to think about this anymore.

If… If our whole struggle was all for nothing anyway… if there's no hope to be found at the end of the tunnel…

…then… is there… any reason… to go on like this…?

And besides… I'll…

…

…I'll get to be with her again…

…isn't that what I've wanted all this time…?

…

…

…

…

…

"There's no way we're gonna let you do anything like that!"

Suddenly, a Keyblade—the cactus one—slammed into Kaede's face, and she flinched backward, gritting her teeth and actually growling with anger. "Who was that?" she hissed.

A flash of light alerted her to who it was – and I wearily turned my own head to see Sora standing behind me, Keyblade back in hand, glaring at Kaede with all the determination he could muster – which was a lot. Roxas and Xion were right by his side, too, something unyielding in their eyes. "So what if the life they know isn't as real as they want it to be? That doesn't mean who they are now doesn't matter! They're real, they're here—and they're our friends, above everything else!"

"Yeah!" Donald agreed, looking ready to cast a Thunder spell any minute. "Who cares about all this memory junk and killing game nonsense!? If you're gonna be a roadblock on their way to being happy, then we'll scramble you 'til all the baloney is knocked from your head!"

Kaede scrunched her nose grumpily. "And who would you be? You people don't look like any Ultimate I've ever seen."

"We're Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy—and Roxas, Xion, and Naminé, too!" the Keyblade wielder introduced his crew, each of the people he mentioned in their own different battle stance—and yes, that was definitely Naminé there, holding Kairi's Keyblade alongside her host and sharing her sympathetic glare. "And don't you forget it!"

"And, now—I'm not entirely sure what you're talkin' about, when you say their memories aren't real," Goofy said, "but like Sora said, that doesn't matter! We'll protect our friends from anythin' that'll come to threaten them – and that includes whoever this 'Team Damgumrompa' is!"

"Ha! You think you guys can protect them?"Kaede scoffed (Oh, how it hurt to see her make those faces…). "Your hopes are too flimsy to ever bring them where they need to be! Despair is their only salvation; darkness, their only calling – why can't you realize these truths for what they are?" She was beginning to look angered now, the piano keys surrounding her moving about with a greater intensity. "Are you that willing to allow them to sink further into a painful lie!?"

"Look at yourself!" Kairi spoke up, her tower Keyblade held tightly in her hands. "Ansem's turned you into a shadow of yourself, and you haven't realized it! Shuichi's said a lot about you—and I know that if you were in your right mind, you'd never say stuff like this." She closed her eyes for a minute. "Right now, you… remind me of what happened to a friend of ours. How he became trapped in the darkness, and couldn't see out of it without help." Sapphire eyes glinted at our distorted Pianist in firm resolution. "…we're gonna help you, Kaede. We're gonna bring you back into the light. We're gonna give you the happy ending you and everyone else deserve!"

"Your sleeping memories may have awoken," Naminé threw in her own two cents, "but that doesn't mean you can't still be you—the you that I know you still want to be, somewhere deep down inside of your heart! And so long as there's a possibility you can be brought out from this darkness… we'll never stop fighting to make it our reality."

"Kairi and Naminé are right!" Kaito pumped his fists together, himself as confident as ever. "Who cares if this is just a reality TV show or whatever? You're our friend! And if you're neck-deep in this 'despair' thing, we're gonna have to knock it all out of you, plain and simple! Me and my sidekicks, we still believe in you – and so long as we do, we're gonna save you!" I felt one of Kaito's hands slap me on the back, and I looked up to see him flashing one of his signature grins at me. "Isn't that right, Shuichi?"

My despondent face began to fade, and I could feel a sense of hope coming back into my heart. "Kaito…"

"…our lives thus far may have been one big lie," Maki conceded, holding her combat knife up, "but I don't care. Our decisions, our feelings, our beliefs—all of them still have meaning. And if these idiots believe you can be saved… then it's up to me to at least give it a shot, no matter how little of a chance we might have at succeeding. They've whittled me down enough into friendship… so I'll be repaying the favor, in my own way." She glanced at me with her own tiny smile. "…just don't bring this up—okay, Shuichi?"

Her, too… "Maki…"

"I'll—I'll help out, too!" Tsumugi interjected with a declaration of her own resolve. "I… I can't say I'm the best person for this job, or that I can tell you anything better than Kaede just did—" …huh? "—but… if—if Kaede's still here in spite of everything, and she's in all this despair, it's up to us to get her back to normal, right? I may be ordinary—but that doesn't mean I can't try my best! Let's give each other strength, Shuichi, and show her the meaning of hope all over again!"

"Tsumugi…"

Everybody here…

…they haven't given up yet.

They haven't given up on themselves – and they haven't given up on Kaede, either.

…they think she can be saved.

They think she can be purged of the darkness Ansem put her in.

They've got faith.

…I want to have faith, too.

Roxas caught my gaze, as I looked around at all my determined friends. "Don't worry, Shuichi," he reassured me, "Kaede'll be fine. We've just gotta give her back the light that she lost."

"She's your friend, right?" Xion smiled. "Then you shouldn't hesitate to fight, in the memory of the friend you still remember—and keep that hope in your heart that this time, there won't be any tragedy. Roxas and I, we've been through something like this, and—well, we're something close to okay now. So I'm sure you and Kaede can make it out fine!"

"Yeah! You just gotta believe!" Kaito exclaimed. "No more moping around—it's time to get up and get into action, for Kaede's sake! Let's go, everybody!"

…they're… they're right.

Everyone's right.

Despair and darkness… they're not permanent diseases, not by a long shot. And I don't want—no, I can't let Kaede stay under their spell like this.

She's my friend.

She's my best friend.

(And if I have the chance—maybe something even more.)

She's the one that kept us together—kept me together—those precious first few days at this Academy.

And she died, all because of Monokuma and his cruel, unbending rooms.

And now that she's finally back, after everything we've gone through… I'm not gonna let it be stolen away from me, just because Ansem wants to drive us to the depths of darkness alongside whatever he did with her!

They say 'nothing starts until you take action.' And—well, Kaede won't get back to normal unless I show her the way back to hope. Back to us.

…I won't let Monokuma or Ansem win. Not here. Not while my friends are by my side.

A little more confident now, I brought my head up toward Kaede and stated, without trembling, "…I'm sorry, Kaede—but I can't accept your offer. You gave me your wish—to protect everyone, as best as I can—and… that includes protecting them from you—and protecting you from the darkness." I spread out a hand, and let my cylinder of Truth Bullets reform. "As the Ultimate Detective, I'll cleanse you of the lies that have infected your very being – and I'll bring back the Pianist I loved, manufactured bond or not." I looked straight into Kaede's increasingly more furious eyes. "…and that's a promise."

"…really, Shuichi? You're going to cling on to this feeble hope, even after I offered you escape into despair?" Kaede let darkness manifest all over her, practically engulfing the whole room in its vast enormity. "…fine, then. I'll just have to take back the reins as protagonist and force you to see things my way." A circle of her own bullets—colored pink-and-black instead of blue, the embodiment of lies over my truths—orbited around her, all of them facing us and appearing especially strong. "You're too weak to show everyone the way—so I'll be the one to do it for you! Get ready, Shuichi – you're going to drown in darkness!"

"No—that's wrong, Kaede!" I shouted. "You're going to swim into our light! I'll keep reaching out to you—and whatever it takes, I will save you!"

All of us tensed up—and as the bullets all fired directly toward us, we hopped out of the way—and the trial of life and death, and of hope and despair… began. Let's go!

This is what happens when you write both a Kingdom Hearts fic (angels in flight) and a Danganronpa fic (Harmony Never Really Dies) around the same time period: your mind starts thinking about how well the both of them can be mixed together. And, well—I remembered two things right afterward: A) that the people of Danganronpa would be very, very susceptible to falling to darkness, and B) that I am very, very good at making people cry their lungs out.

So, the basic premise: Sora and co. crashland into the Ultimate Academy, a couple days after the Necronomicon motive is revealed. The Gummi Ship requires maintenance—which is… 'easily' provided by Miu, somewhat thankfully enough—so they're stuck there for a while. And to make things worse, Organization XIII is here and investigating the darkness inside everyone's hearts, which the Killing Harmony crew have more than their fair share of.

I'm fairly certain the members of Organization XIII would be able to transform the Ultimate Academy into the labyrinth depicted in this fic; Young Xehanort somehow managed to split Toy Box in two and Larxene constructed a massive labyrinth that's three-floors-and-counting entirely out of ice, so it's not too out-of-the-ordinary to think it would be possible. Danganronpa's much more of a grounded world than the typical Kingdom Hearts fare, so it was the best way to implement the plot.

My ideal partners for this world would be Shuichi and Maki. Shuichi, because bullshit magic powers affect him too now and he's the protagonist, and Maki, because she can actually fight properly (unlike Kaito, who… would have a few issues, let's just say) and is basically the deuteragonist of Killing Harmony following Chapter 2. Shuichi would fight in a way very reminiscent of the Class Trial's mechanics and minigames (i.e. Truth Bullets, Hangman's Gambit, Mind Mine, etc.), and Maki would basically put her skills as the Ultimate Assassin to use. And their Situation Command would totally be Psyche Taxi, because hell yeah.

Five guesses what the 'Ballroom of Hopeless Melodies' and Despair!Kaede's outfit are referencing, and the first four don't count.

I'm not going to apologize for making you all cry. That's, like, kind of my job at this point – and we all know Kaede isn't squeaky clean; I mean, did you not see what happened in Chapter 1? We can't forget the audition tapes in Chapter 6, either. All I can say… this would probably be the worst boss fight for everyone to face, because no one would be able to see anything past their own torrent of tears. Fight would be a lot like Anti-Aqua, now that I think about it… shit, now I think I'm crying, too.

Well, that's all for now – see you guys around!