Kyoko doesn't believe in ghosts. She never had, not even as a small child. They were such trivial things to believe in, after all. Silly superstitions. If the dead could truly come back to life, why would they waste time haunting mirrors and dressers instead of trying to contact their loved ones?
"I think you're a really great detective! There's nothing you can't figure out!"
Kyoko Kirigiri doesn't believe in ghosts.
#############
She was the first one to give birth only a few short months after they begun working for the Future Foundation. She had actually gone into labor a month early, and everyone was scrambling around, trying to secure a room in the infirmary for her and making sure was comfortable and healthy. The words of her grandfather rang loudly in her head, scolding her, telling her she would die in childbirth. She closed her eyes as Makoto held her hand, softly encouraging her as she pushed and pushed, not thinking of anything else at that moment.
All of them were present for the birth, of course, but nobody was more proud of the messy-haired infant than Makoto himself. The baby was sleeping soundly in her arms, light brown hair on its head and wrapped snugly in a blue blanket to indicate its gender. The birth was long and somewhat difficult, but both the baby and mother were declared 'healthy enough' by the annoyed doctor.
"The first baby born after we escaped," Touko spoke up in a huff, her tone making it impossible to detect if she meant that as a good thing or a bad thing.
"He's so cute! What will you name him?" Aoi asked eagerly.
Kyoko glanced out the large window and saw a few light flakes of snow falling. At that point, they were well aware that practically nothing would stick and most droplets melted while still in the sky, but some still enjoyed the spectacle anyway. It reminded her specifically of that afternoon, that cold, bitter afternoon back at the school, his gloved hands gently holding her own ones as they made literal steamy love on the freezing tiles of the kitchen floor, wrapped in their blankets.
She was sure snow was falling when they had finished, little flakes piling up on the roof. And how appropriate that their son was born on a wintry morning; fate truly was interesting at times.
"Yukine." She said simply. Yasuhiro gave a nod of understanding, approving the name. As usual, Byakuya was stone-silent, staring at her.
"It's a beautiful name. It fits him so well!" Makoto voiced his approval, gently taking her gloved hands. Yukine was breathing quietly as he slept.
One by one the survivors all left the room, leaving Kyoko and Yukine alone. She was glad that Makoto was so excited over the birth of her son. She was even more glad he didn't comment on the baby's appearance, for he had the appearance of a ghost.
Kyoko didn't believe in ghosts, but staring into the infant's eyes nearly made her start believing right then and there.
###########
After a few days of rest in the hospital wing, Kyoko was declared healthy enough to begin her work again and so she did so, commissioning Kyosuke to build simple furniture for Yukine and Izayoi and Ruruka to decorate the nursery; when Ruruka was finished the room looked like a lavender cream-puff.
"When he gets older, maybe we should put snowflakes in here as decoration!" Makoto chuckled as he walked in. Kyoko had just put the newborn to sleep after a feeding. "Fake ones, of course," He looked at the baby briefly before glancing at Kyoko. She still wore her old uniform except it didn't have the leather jacket attached anymore. Her hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail to keep it out of her way when she nursed. She caught him staring at her, which made him blush and quickly look away.
"Do you know what jobs you have been assigned yet?" She asked curiously. They had recently finished their apprenticeships and were all assigned to various branches independent of each other.
"Oh...I have to take care of any survivors we come across in the wastes. I'm also in charge of the Neo World Program. I make sure things are running smoothly and that Alter-Ego is up-to-date," Makoto explained, a bit proudly. He felt like he had the two most important jobs of the foundation aside from actually reconstructing. Kyoko nodded and walked out of the room.
"You work for my branch then."
"Aren't you the head of your branch?"
She nodded again, looking at him. She smiled lightly when he blushed, suddenly realizing the implications.
"Come on, I think there's a meeting today," She held out her hand for him to take, and he did so, giving it a gentle squeeze while he was at it. The two then walked into the meeting room together.
###########
"He's so adorbs! He has his father's hair colour, hm?" Komaru gushed as she held the squirmy baby in her arms. Yukine was now a few months old and was extremely active already, always wanting to crawl after people and see what they were up to.
"He does." Kyoko said simply with a nod. Her engagement ring sparkled on her finger.
"Big Brother told me his name was Yukine. Can you talk yet? Can you say 'Auntie Komaru' yet?" She laughed. Yukine giggled in response and tugged on her pearl necklace. "Wait until he's a little bit older. Then I'll introduce him to those children Touko-chan and I rescued in Towa City. I think they'd like to meet him too," She finally handed Yukine back to Kyoko, who rubbed the baby's back.
"Let them know I'll probably need some babysitters. It's been harder and harder to find reliable ones lately. Chisa-san used to be my go-to, but she's been preoccupied lately,"
"Will do! Nagisa-kun seems like he'd be good with children. Or maybe Kotoko-chan? Maybe I'll have them draw straws," She thought about it, her head tilted in a thoughtful pose. She had on a dark green business suit with a ruffled white blouse underneath.
"Su-Su!" Yukine babbled from Kyoko's shoulder, and she ceased rubbing his back and instead placed him down on the floor to let him crawl around some more. He immediately crawled over to his play-area and picked up a rattle, sucking on it. He was dressed in a dark purple sweater with black pants and socks.
"So he's babbling," Komaru said to herself.
"Komaru-chan! It's time for your shift!" Touko loudly announced from the hallway, making Komaru look over at the door.
"Right! I'm coming! See you later, Kyoko-chan! And Yukine-chan too!" She waved happily and rushed off.
Kyoko didn't have anything planned for that day for once and so she sat on the rocking chair and watched Yukine crawl around. He just played silently for most of the day, which made Kyoko happy.
She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but despite the circumstances of his birth, she was genuinely proud of him. Her grandfather often told her even when she was young that she would never get married or have children due to her career, and even if she did try to have kids, her body would be too weak to handle the process. And she believed that.
She loved her grandfather, but this once, she was happy she had something to prove that he was wrong. Makoto and her had a lovely baby boy. And, after their marriage, hopefully, they would have more. She was sure Yukine would love having little siblings to play with. His birth had been unexpected, the pregnancy even moreso, but it was worth it.
That was what Kyoko kept telling herself.
She didn't believe in ghosts.
###########
"You've never had cupcakes before?" He asked in amazement. Somehow, whenever he talked to her, his usual nervous nature disappeared and he spoke normally, almost confidently. A few stutters were here and there, but it was to be expected. It was a hard habit to kick, and she never judged him for it. "T-Then...you should try some of mine! I've been told by a lot of people they taste really good...would you like chocolate or vanilla?"
Despite the deafening noise in the cafeteria, she could still hear his voice perfectly. She focused on that. "No, I've never had them before. I was always too busy with work. And sweets like that were never really part of my diet." Kyoko explained, starting to look away. "Make whichever one you want. I don't mind."
"Alright!" He nodded eagerly, continuing to eat his lunch.
The next day, she woke up to find a platter of chocolate cupcakes frosted with purple frosting outside of her dorm door, waiting for her. There was even a note, which she only read part of.
They truly were the best cupcakes she had ever tasted.
############
The nightmares had been going on for several weeks, but to Makoto, they felt like eternity. He was still sleeping alone at that point, but every time he woke up screaming, one of them only took a few seconds to arrive to comfort him. Aoi and Yasuhiro came occasionally, Touko and Byakuya even less so. Kyoko came the most, and despite her silence Makoto always reported feeling the best after her visits.
The nightmares were always changing. Most of the time, they just replayed the gruesome body discoveries with Monokuma's laughter in the background at a deafening volume. Makoto was nearly numb to those. The ones that got him were the newer ones, the ones where their corpses grinned and pointed fingers at him, accusing him of living a happy life while they permanently rotted in Purgatory. The worst ones were the ones where they smile and entice him to join in on their fun, only to have their flesh melt away and reveal horridly-rotten faces. And in a select few, the victims became the suspects; Sayaka stabbed Makoto brutally in the shower, Chihiro happily hung him on the exercise equipment, blood dripping down his face, Hifumi took a large comic hammer to the back of his head and left him for dead.
Makoto wondered if any of the others experienced similar nightmares. He wondered if Kyoko experienced some.
She would never say, but every so often, she'd have one. She was human, after all. And the nightmares she had were short and blunt: the father of her son, stretching out his arms for a hug with a big grin on his face. A grin that slowly turned sinister until it turned into his death face.
She would never admit it, but she woke up in a cold sweat every time.
#############
"Mommy, can't I go out and play today?" Seven-year-old Yukine fussed, pouting as Makoto made him sit down on the examination table.
"It is time for your weekly check-up. Then you can go play with your aunt." Kyoko said sternly, not looking up.
Seiko walked into the room with her medical kit, softly placing it on her desk and rummaging through it for the tools she would need. She pulled out a thermometer and motioned for Yukine to open his mouth, which he finally did.
"This is stupid," He grumbled before Seiko stuffed it into his mouth.
"You have your father's weak immune system. If you are going to blame anyone, blame him," Kyoko stated. Yukine flashed a glare to Makoto, who chuckled and held his hands up in surrender.
"You'll grow out of it! Believe me, I did!" He tried to reassure him.
"No fever," Seiko announced, taking the thermometer out of Yukine's mouth. "How are his lungs doing when he runs?"
"It's hard for him to catch his breath when he runs. A lot of times he ends up stumbling and falling," Makoto replied seriously. Seiko nodded.
"As Kyoko-san told me when he first showed up for his check-up, it's a family thing. If his father outgrew it as he got older, than he should too. But right now, he's fairly weak and delicate. Keep a close eye on him," She explained in her usual quiet tone. She started cleaning her thermometer off.
Yukine pouted even more. "I hate how I can't play with everyone else. It's not fair, Mommy!"
Kyoko winced slightly. "It is the way it is," She said simply. Yukine's hair had lightened slightly and was often hard-to-manage because it stuck up everywhere.
"Just wait, soon you might have a little sister or little brother to play with! Wouldn't that be exciting?" Makoto helped Yukine off the table, and he perked up, nodding.
"I hope I get a little sister like you have, Daddy. I want her to be just like Aunt Komaru!"
"Well, she'll have your aunt's genes too, so perhaps she will be," Makoto nodded, walking Yukine back to his room. It was still lavender, but was starting to resemble a little boy's bedroom. Toys were strewn everywhere. "Have you broken in that new computer she got you for your sixth birthday yet?" He motioned to it.
Yukine shook his head. "Not yet. It looks really cool, but it also kinda intimidates me,"
"I understand. I'm not the best at computers either." Makoto chuckled awkwardly. "When you grow up, you'll likely have your mother's talent anyway,"
"Being a detective, huh?" He tilted his head slightly in thought. Makoto's smile never wavered, not even when he recognized that expression.
It had been years at that point, but he remembered that expression well. Oh, how the owner of that expression often haunted his dreams now.
"Would I be good at that?" Yukine asked, making Makoto nod.
"Yeah! You have Kyoko-chan's genes in you. And she's the best detective that I know!" He rubbed Yukine's head. "How about you try out that computer? I'll watch you to make sure nothing bad happens,"
"Okay..." Yukine walked over to it and sat down at the green stool, still sounding uncertain. He booted it up and stared at the dark blue homescreen, unsure of what to do.
"Try coding," The suggestion was out of Makoto's mouth before he could stop it. Yukine stared back at him in confusion, blinking. "There's likely a coding program on the computer already built-in. Go ahead," He looked for it on the menu and soon found it and clicked on it, bringing up a blank white page. "Just try it,"
The little boy nodded again and slowly typed out a few things, watching the screen. He then typed in a command and made the text turn blue, which made him gasp. "It changed colours! Is it magic?"
"No, just complex commands on the computer," He stood there for a few more minutes, watching Yukine tap out a few other simple commands before Kyoko reappeared and told Makoto it was time for them to go to work.
Kotoko showed up a few minutes later to watch Yukine; though most of her time was just spent dancing to music on his radio. It was all kids' stuff, but she didn't seem to mind. Her pink braid danced in time with her movements, and her baby-blue lolita dress was surprisingly low-cut. She had blossomed into a young woman, but her personality had changed little in spite of that. She made cheese crackers for a snack and gave Yukine the leftovers with some milk. As he ate, she flopped down on his bed and pulled out a cell-phone, glancing at her nails as she chatted happily with Masaru.
Yukine just spent the day coding, and by the time it was time for him to be put to bed, he had already cracked a lot of the basic codes, including some stuff most middle-schoolers would struggle with when they first started out.
Kyoko looked curiously at the computer, then back at Yukine. She didn't look at Makoto once as she left the room, silent as a ghost.
#############
"I can't wait for my little sister to arrive!" Ten-year-old Yukine beamed happily, helping Makoto pack for a picnic the three were going to go on. It was only a few months after their wedding, and Makoto had been positively giddy ever since. Afterwards, they learned from an ultrasound that Kyoko was pregnant once more, this time with a girl, and everyone's focus had been on getting things ready for her.
"Neither can we," Makoto rubbed Yukine's head again. "Why don't we pack cupcakes for a desert? Ruruka-san made a large batch of them earlier."
"Are you sure she won't mind us taking them?" Yukine asked nervously, blinking his hazel eyes.
"...We'll only take a few." Makoto answered quickly, making the boy giggle. Kyoko walked into the kitchen at that point, wearing her business outfit. She had a large baby bump that she supported with one hand.
"Mom!" Yukine ran over to her eagerly. "Are you excited for our picnic? Oh, and is she excited too?" He spoke to her baby bump, gently rubbing it. Makoto giggled and finished packing everything up, closing the cooler and giving Kyoko a quick kiss on the cheek before he left the kitchen.
"Don't forget to wear your jacket," Kyoko called after Yukine when she spotted him trying to leave in just his polo shirt and slacks. He shot her a pout, but she was unfazed. He finally sighed and put on his dark red hoodie, starting to run to catch up with Makoto again. His breathing grew heavier and Kyoko kept an eye on him as she tightened her gloves, making sure everything was in order before she left as well.
She found herself looking forward to eating Ruruka's cupcakes. She knew they wouldn't compare to his, but having second-best cupcakes wasn't always a bad thing.
###########
"We're going on a date!" Makoto announced loudly, making Yukine look up from the computer he was playing on. Two-year-old Karin bounced happily in her little swing, seemingly not needing to be pushed.
"When will you be back?" Yukine asked, slightly nervous.
"Later tonight. You'll both be in bed by then. So be good to the babysitter, alright?" He smiled slightly, placing a hand on Kyoko's own. Her hair was tied up in a fancy bun, a few strands hanging loose. Her dress was a strapless violet that went to her knees, black heels, lavender gloves, and a small purple purse on her arm. Yukine didn't think it was very wise for them to go out while she was so heavily-pregnant, but it ultimately wasn't up to him. Her dress looked ready to burst from how big she had gotten.
"I'll be good!" Yukine promised, smiling back.
"Good!" Karin mimicked, throwing up her hands.
"Those are my wonderful children!" Makoto teased lightly, gently tagging Kyoko's hand and walking out the door.
The babysitter ended up being Nagisa, who spent most of the day in Makoto's study, filling out his own paperwork. He only left the room once to put Yukine and Karin to bed.
Yukine was already sound-asleep when Kyoko and Makoto returned home from their date and Makoto started to rummage around in the storage unit, which was a random mish-mash of things saved from Hope's Peak Academy before it was ultimately destroyed. He gasped slightly as he pulled out an extremely dusty book that had a black leather cover on it. He pushed the dust off and showed it to Kyoko as well, whose eyes widened when she recognized it as Class 78's old yearbook.
Kyoko doesn't believe in ghosts.
##############
Karin was born with lavender colourings, looking just like a younger version of her happy mother. Two years later, her younger brother Karou followed, with dark purple hair and forest-green eyes. As usual, Makoto was the proudest that he now had three children to dote on, and nobody bought more gifts than Komaru. Yukine was also thrilled and seemingly never slept, constantly helping Kyoko take care of his siblings. She couldn't fight the small smile that always came to her face whenever he offered to help her out with something.
What did wipe the smile off her face was when twelve-year-old Yukine questioned her over the dishes being washed why he had brown hair and eyes but his siblings didn't. She winced and refused to look at him, keeping her focus on the dishes she was washing.
"You look like your grandparents. Have you ever seen a picture of your father's parents? They have your colourings," She finally said. Yukine pouted, seemingly not satisfied. After he dried the dishes, he left the room and returned to his own, the only sound that was audible being him typing away noisily at his computer.
"I think he's starting to suspect something," Kyoko said later when Makoto and her were getting ready for bed. "He asked me why he doesn't look like Karin and Karou,"
"Siblings usually don't look exactly alike," Makoto replied quietly, pulling a white T-shirt over his head.
"He has my facial features, but nothing else." Kyoko sat down on their bed. "I told him he looked like your parents and that seemed to satisfy him for a little bit. But he'll likely dig something up,"
"Why is it so bad that he might find out?" Makoto sat down next to her. "After all, it's not like it would destroy the world if he learned the truth. And he would want you to tell him," He gently took her hands with a smile.
"It might break his heart. To have believed for his entire life that we were his true parents..." She looked as if she had more to say, but remained quiet.
"But it would hurt him even more if he never learned, right?" He lifted up Kyoko's chin to make her look at him. She finally nodded, holding his hand. "Maybe wait a few more years. He's still a bit young. Let's tell him after he graduates from high-school,"
Kyoko nodded in agreement.
################
"Look what I found!" Fifteen-year-old Yukine announced happily to his parents, bursting into their bedroom. Kyoko was reading something while Makoto was playing with five-year-old Karin and three-year-old Karou. Karin giggled when Yukine came into the room and toddled over to him, her purple hair tied up in long pigtails.
"You're excited, Big Brother! What did you find?" She asked curiously, eyeing the large black book in his hands.
"This!" Yukine held it up triumphantly, sitting next to Kyoko on the couch. She put her book down and ran her hand along the title, her eyes widening.
"That's our old yearbook! I wonder how he found it?" Makoto noticed, scooping up Karou in his arms and sitting next to them on the couch. Karin decided she didn't want to be left out either and climbed into Kyoko's lap, who placed a hand on her head.
Yukine pulled open the book and looked through it, find the pictures of Class 78 going about their daily lives. "I've been looking at this for the past hour..." He admitted sheepishly, turning the page to reveal a large picture of the class after they won a particularly intense game of Capture the Flag. It was obvious who won, but everyone still sported huge grins on their faces and many were also posing for the unseen photographer. Even now, smiles returned to Makoto and Kyoko's faces, matching the ones they had in the picture.
"I remember that!" Makoto announced. "Someone accidentally pushed into me and knocked me into the mud and I had to complete the rest of the game in stained clothes..." He laughed awkwardly. "It was worth it though,"
"Yeah, you and Mom both look so happy," Yukine nodded, running his finger along the image. He then frowned slightly. "I wish I could've met them all...I mean, I love Uncle Byakuya, and Uncle Yasuhiro, and Aunt Aoi, and Aunt Touko, but...I wanted to meet them all. All I know comes from Dad's stories, and...that's just not the same, in my opinion,"
"Can you recognize them all?" Makoto asked, his voice lowered. Yukine nodded and pointed to each classmate, naming them all in succession.
"That's Mukuro Ikusaba. And Junko Enoshima. Aunt Touko, of course! Cel-I mean, Taeko Yasuhiro. Sayaka Maizono. Leon Kuwata. You and Mom, obviously! Sakura Oogami. Aunt Aoi is on her shoulders. And that's Mondo Oowada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Hifumi Yamada, Chihiro Fujisaki, and Uncle Byakuya. Oh, and Uncle Yasuhiro too!" He finished listing them all, looking a bit proud. However, his voice sounded detached when he named students he knew in name only, as opposed to how lively his voice sounded when he recognized one of the survivors.
"We would've saved them all if we could've," Makoto said quietly. Kyoko suddenly slammed the book shut, startling everyone.
"Want to help me cook dinner?" She asked her children, and Karin and Karou nodded instantly, jumping off the couch and running over to the door. She stood up. "Want to help too?" She addressed Yukine, who finally nodded.
"Might as well," He stood up and followed his siblings and mother out of the room into the kitchen. Makoto braved another peek at the book and opened it to a section that had a full profile photo of a certain student, along with their name and talent. Since the book he had was actually his own, his own page was filled with everyone's thoughts and comments, as well as wishes for the future, but the further he went, the fewer comments there were. People like Mukuro and Leon only had one comment each, both by him. They had died before the yearbook was out, after all.
He finally closed the book after he went through everyone's profiles, feeling chilled. There was something extremely uncomfortable about staring at their photos, where they were all frozen in a permanent smile.
He meant it. He wanted to save all of them.
He heard Karin call out that dinner was ready and stood up, leaving the yearbook closed on the coffee-table behind him.
###############
Yukine had finally turned twenty-two and was recently made a member of Miaya's division due to his impeccable computer skills. Much like Makoto had predicted, he was a detective like Kyoko-a cyberdetective who busted criminals who worked in cyberspace. He had already apprehended twelve that month and was congratulated by Chisa herself at his ceremony.
One day after work, Kyoko called him into her room, and he went, curious as to what she wanted. She was wearing her dark red business dress, it had become a favourite of hers lately.
"It represents hope," Makoto jokingly said one night when ten-year-old Karou crankily questioned why she was so obsessed with it.
"You wanted me?" Yukine asked, sitting down on the couch. Kyoko nodded, gripping the yearbook in her hands. Makoto crossed his arms over his chest.
"There's...no easy way to say this," He started, sighing. "For years now, you've probably noticed you don't really look like any of us. You have Kyoko-chan's facial features, but nothing else,"
Yukine nodded, already having an idea of what they were implying. "I don't have your hair or eye colours...I always imagined I was adopted," He laughed.
"You are. By me, anyway." Makoto confirmed. Kyoko flipped open the yearbook. "When Kyoko-chan was still at Hope's Peak, she...messed around and got pregnant with you. Of course, I adopted you because your father...your real father, was a close friend of mine and I knew he would've wanted me to adopt you,"
"Who..was my real father?" Yukine questioned, and Kyoko handed him the book.
It was open to a page that sported a smiling picture of Chihiro Fujisaki, nervously clutching the bottom of his jacket. The picture had faded, but it was still easy to pick out his hair and eye colours. Yukine's eyes widened.
"No way. No way! T-This is my father?!" He asked in disbelief. "He looks like a girl! I think he has a dress on in that picture!"
"It was a personal choice of his," Kyoko explained. "And yes, Chihiro Fujisaki is your real father. You look almost exact in physical appearance, and you have a gift for computers, just like him. And your weak immune system...came from him as well."
"B-But how? How did I...come to be?" Yukine demanded, throwing the yearbook on the table.
"I'll tell you." Kyoko said simply, and with a deep breath, she started to tell the story. It was a story she hadn't told to anyone in its entirety; even Makoto just got the abridged version.
But she wanted everything that had happened that day to finally come out into the light, and perhaps then, only then, she would finally be able to rest.
After all, she didn't believe in ghosts.
##################
"Kyoko-san!" Chihiro greeted in surprise, not expecting her to be in the gym already. She gave him a brief look of recognition, then went back to gazing at the floor. He nervously continued to stand there, just taking in her mysterious yet mature beauty. "Do you know where Makoto-kun is?"
"I think he's still in the cafeteria, talking to Sayaka-san," She responded.
"Do you know why we were called in here?"
"No."
"Oh..." He blushed and looked down at the ground, clasping his hands together. He trembled.
After a few minutes, everyone pored into the gym, all having the same question as Chihiro. The cold air was getting to some of them, she could tell. They were more irritable than usual.
"Good morning, everyone!" Monokuma greeted them happily, sitting down on his usual throne. "You're likely wondering why I called you all here. Well, that is because...I wanted to inform you of something bear-y important! It's winter!" He cheered, throwing his arms up.
"It is?" Makoto asked in surprise, starting to look over at the windows before he caught himself.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Sayaka said happily, shivering slightly.
"And that is why I have shut off the heater! No warm air for any of you snot-nosed brats!" Monokuma chuckled.
"So that explains why it's been so cold in here this morning..." Aoi said, smiling uncomfortably.
"Are you absolutely ludicrous? You cannot just shut off the heating system like that," Celestia demanded in annoyance, marching over to Monokuma. "By my command, you shall turn it back on! Now!"
"Nah...I don't really feel like it," Monokuma yawned, leaning back in his seat. "You guys were all getting on my nerves anyway. Not wantin' to kill each other despite the reward..so I thought I'd punish you,"
"By making us freeze to death? That's crazy. You better turn the heat back on before I fucking rip you in half!" Mondo demanded.
"I'll turn it back on...if someone kills somebody," His eyes glittered dangerously, and the room was shocked into silence as they all looked at each other. "It's reaching the negatives out there...!"
"I-I hate this..." Touko grumbled, seemingly not bothered by the drop in temperature.
"Those are your two options! Kill someone, or slowly freeze to death! Either way, this should be bear-y interesting, hm?" Monokuma chuckled again before walking out of the room.
The second he left, everyone broke into an argument, yelling at each other. The few people trying to calm others down were just met with more rage and soon gave up. Some things were even thrown, and some people had to be held back to prevent the arguments from turning physical.
"Someone like you wouldn't even be bothered by the cold! Look at you, all dressed up in your evening gown! I bet you planned this so you can kill someone with no problems!" Junko pointed a finger at Celestia, who quickly flipped her off before using the finger to smooth out her hair.
"You are only upset because a whore like you is not allowed to wear heavier clothes,"
"Come on, you two," Sayaka tried to calm them down, but Celestia giggled.
"Look at your lips, Sayaka-san! They match your hair! Why don't you put your best talent to work and go find a male classmate to screw? After all, it would warm you up very quickly!"
"You bitch!" Sayaka lost her usually kind composure and tried to charge at Celestia, only to be held back by Leon. "Let me go!"
"No way!" Leon snapped back, though it was blatantly obvious to pretty much everyone that he was only holding her back so he could subtly grope her.
"This is getting out of hand," Sakura stated, and Aoi nodded in agreement. The two girls left the room, Aoi pulling her jacket closer to her body.
Makoto hurried over to Kyoko and Chihiro, who was holding back his tears from the pain of being hit in the head by someone's shoe.
"Why don't we go look for the heater? We don't need Monokuma. We can go turn it on ourselves and prevent anything super bad from happening," Makoto suggested to the two of them, having to yell over the chaos. Kyoko and Chihiro nodded.
"But we don't even know where the heater is!" Chihiro hugged himself, already starting to feel cold despite his outfit.
"Downstairs is the most likely place for it. Split up and look," Kyoko suggested, scooting closer to Chihiro.
"Right! I'll bring Aoi-san as my partner!" Makoto nodded in agreement, hurrying out of the gym.
"Chihiro-san is mine. Come on." Kyoko stated, already standing up and leaving. Chihiro blushed heavily and nodded, hurrying after her.
Kyoko decided to look downstairs first, pulling on the door that she figured led to the basement, only to discover it was locked. She tugged on it harder, only to gasp when the door shocked her lightly.
"The heater is likely in there..." She said, more to herself. She glanced back at Chihiro, who was starting to shiver violently. "If we cannot turn it back on, then no matter. We'll just have to warm ourselves up," She gently tugged on Chihiro's arm, leading him back upstairs into the kitchen. "I'll get us some blankets. You stay here. If you want, you can make some soup,"
Kyoko left, but returned in what felt like only a second to her. She was awfully quick on her feet, after all. In her arms were two blankets; one pink and one blue, from their rooms. Chihiro seemed to stiffen at the sight of his blanket, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. He slowly took it from her and wrapped himself in it, still shivering. He sat down on the floor.
"I brought these as well," She continued, pulling out a small pair of black leather gloves. "They're like mine. Not as girly as you're likely used to, but still,"
Chihiro nodded and took the gloves from her, slowly pulling them onto his own hands. They were fingerless, so they only helped a little. He huddled further into his blanket.
"It is also a good idea to share body heat," She wrapped herself up in her pink blanket and scooter closer to him on the floor, easily picking him up and settling him on her lap. To her, there was nothing awkward or intimate about it, it was just a common survival method. One Chihiro desperately needed, judging by the chilliness of their body.
Chihiro, on the other hand, blushed heavily at the fact he was sitting in the lap of one of the girls he crushed on hugely. Sure, she was out of his league, but she was just so smart and beautiful that he couldn't help it. And now they were so close! He silently willed the blood in his body to circulate around instead of congregating in that place.
"You're awfully calm about this, Kyoko-san," He blushed more, trying to make himself feel less awkward. "Did you do this often as a kid?"
"No. I am just knowledgeable in such topics. I read in a book that this is an effective way to share body heat and assumed I might need that knowledge one day. It seems I was correct." Kyoko pulled Chihiro even closer to her body, making his breath catch in his throat when he felt her chest. Her breasts were so small and cute! He preferred bustier girls, but somehow having a smaller size suited Kyoko perfectly.
"I feel like a lot of people know it though. It's pretty common knowledge..." He continued to shiver, gasping when he saw his breath fall out of his mouth in wisps. "T-That cold already? I-I don't b-believe it..." He buried his face in Kyoko's chest, trying to make himself warmer, his teenager lust desires be damned. He was starting to get too cold for that.
"I went into your room to get your blanket. You have a blue blanket," Kyoko said quietly without missing a beat. Chihiro suddenly snapped back into attention. "And a blue bed."
"T-there was a mix-up when we received our rooms and I've never h-had a chance to get that f-fixed...s-so I have a boy's room and not a girl's," She couldn't tell if they were nervous or just shivering some more. She then looked at their figure more closely, then looked into their eyes.
"Chihiro-san..." She pulled the brunete closer to her and whispered: "You are not a girl, are you? You are a boy."
Chihiro's horrified expression and quick glance down confirmed her thoughts. Him dressing in that way wasn't an issue for her at all; she knew it was best to just let certain people live their lives.
The pair were silent for quite some time, Chihiro huddling even closer to Kyoko, his skin taking on a paler colour. She glanced around the room and shifted her position, causing her to accidentally fall on top of Chihiro. His whole face turned red from their position and a certain bulge on her stomach told her he wasn't entirely embarrassed by their current situation.
"You're still very cold," She pointed out, her breath forming in the frosty air, their warm faces dangerously close to each other.
Chihiro nodded numbly, rubbing his gloved hands together. He had a confused look in his eyes, but Kyoko could see the lust of a teenage boy hidden deeper within the hazel colour.
Before either of them were fully aware of it, their lips had touched, the blankets tangled with each other, and their hands tightly gripped one another, afraid one would disappear if let go prematurely. Their lovemaking was quick and silent, yet somehow steamy in spite of that. And after they were done, they hid underneath the blankets, somehow feeling much warmer than they had before their bodies joined together.
"Monokuma said it was winter," Chihiro said softly. "Do you think it's snowing outside?"
Kyoko nodded. "It is probably piling on the roof right now. Perhaps Monokuma will gather some and make us snowcones,"
His eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful! I'd love some snow-cones!"
The heater turned back on later that day. Half of the class believed Makoto and Aoi found it and turned it back on manually, the other half believed Monokuma grew bored and turned it back on himself. Nobody ever found out the truth, and nobody questioned why Kyoko and Chihiro randomly grew closer in the weeks following said incident. Mondo briefly joked that they had 'girly bonding time', an expression that made Chihiro blush heavily and leave the room in a flurry and Kyoko to flip her hair boredom, never letting on about what truly happened.
He made her cupcakes and praised her profusely, even writing her a love letter that confessed to her all of his intimate details, including his love for her and his backstory. She locked the letter in her drawer.
When he died, she had to feign surprise when his secret came into the light. And she had to feign lies about investigating during the following trials when she had numerous bouts of morning sickness. Her clothes became more loose-fitting as time went on and her belly grew, filled with the offspring of a long dead student.
Once they escaped, Kyoko admitted to everyone that she was pregnant and stopped hiding it. Her clothes became tighter. Despite her pregnancy, she was always on the move, helping the survivors with whatever they needed. And when they finally had time to congratulate her properly, she came out and revealed the child was not Makoto's, it was Chihiro's.
Makoto just congratulated her more. She knew deep down he was disappointed that she wasn't carrying his, but ultimately he would never ask her to abort the child of his old friend.
"They are the first child born in this new world. Proof that we went through that ordeal," He reassured her one night, tightly holding her hand.
She scared everyone by going into labor a month early, and though she hid it well, she was the most terrified of all, assuming she would die in the process, or deliver an incredibly-weak baby.
But somehow, everything worked out fine. She named her son 'snow' to match his conception date. She assumed he was born on December 15th. And she promised herself that she would never tell a soul the story of his conception. Only two people would ever truly know the full details, and one of them had been dead for almost a year.
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Kyoko took a deep breath as she finished speaking, the room stone-silent. Yukine blinked, trying his hardest to process everything he just heard. His mother's story was both intimate and vague, detailed yet simple. She explained nearly nothing about his true father's personality, yet he felt as though he had known him personally. He looked down at the picture for a few more minutes before finally closing the yearbook.
"Chihiro Fujisaki..." He whispered to himself. Makoto looked at Kyoko, absorbing the details of her longer story. Before, she had only told him she was carrying his child and left it at that. He wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Chihiro evidently had a crush on her for a long time, that Kyoko knew his secret before any of them even had a clue, and that her random disappearances were due to morning sickness. It was all so obvious back then and he was kicking himself for not realizing it earlier.
"But he's dead...right? So I can never properly pay my respects," Yukine sighed sadly, looking up at Kyoko.
"That's not true. When we rebuilt the school, we set up a shrine for our classmates. In the back of this building. We...visit it quite often," Kyoko explained slowly, a far-away look in her eyes. "You may visit it after dinner, if you'd like. With some flowers," She then rose and left the room in silence.
She also recalled the construction of the shrine. Before they demolished the school, Aoi suggested they move the bodies of their classmates out of the biology lab and give them a proper burial, and everyone agreed, even Byakuya, much to everyone else's surprise. Makoto and Kyoko were the ones who went inside and slowly pulled open the drawers, Makoto loudly gasping and tearing up every time a new drawer was pulled open.
The bodies were frozen, small pieces of frost clinging tightly to their clothes and hair. Kyoko was surprised Makoto didn't vomit at the sight; perhaps it was truly a numbing experience for him. Not even the murdered looked peaceful, and their figures were too stiff to force a proper smile onto them.
Seiko helped them move their bodies once they brought them back to the headquarters, gently lying each one out on the examination table. She asked if they wished an autopsy to be performed, but they all vehemently declined.
Stabbing impalement, stoning, several blows to the back of the head, liquefying, burning, suicide.
The causes of death were all-too-familiar with the six by now.
They did agree to have the dead changed into nicer outfits that matched their talents better; it somehow felt wrong to bury them in their old school uniforms. The new outfits were sewn by two former Remnants of Despair; two woman named Sonia Nevermind and Ibuki Mioda. Makoto dressed the guys and Kyoko dressed the girls, being extremely gentle as they handled their stiff, doll-like limbs.
Sayaka got a bubble-gum pink evening gown with all of the fixings, perfect for a girly pop star. Leon was dressed in a punkish version of a baseball outfit to combine his two dreams. Mondo got a newly-made leather jacket fit for the leader of a motorcycle gang. Ichimaru got a traditional Japanese kimono, which Makoto was careful about folding properly. He could almost hear Ichimaru's voice scolding him for not doing it properly the first time. Sakura got a martial-arts outfit that was tinged a light pink; Aoi requested to do the honors of dressing her and Kyoko allowed her. Hifumi was dressed in a business suit; they were unsure of what to dress him as so they finally decided on that as he was a business man, in a way. Celestia got an even grander Victorian gothic outfit, a black veil covering up her face. Mukuro, as she was now called instead of Junko, was buried in a cameo top with a short plaid skirt. It felt right to combine her true talent with her fake one, and they even took off her wig and placed the barrettes on her real, black hair. And Chihiro was buried in a brown overall outfit that looked like an old-fashioned playsuit.
Byakuya was the one who suggested it, the only comment he made throughout the whole process. Touko agreed, and so did the others. It would be the last piece of dignity they would grant Chihiro, to let him be buried the way he wanted others to see him as.
After they were all dressed, the six helped Chisa to bury the remaining ten, then Izayoi made a special marker from steel and placed it down on the site, engraving their names into it. The six had their moment of silence, mourning the ten that they loved and cared about, the ten they would've brought with them if they could, the ten who were unfairly killed as the result of Junko's obsession.
Byakuya and Touko soon stopped visiting the grave, wanting to focus more on their own lives, then Yasuhiro and Aoi stopped as they had less time. Makoto eventually stopped as well as he needed to focus on his three children. Only Kyoko continuously visited the shrine, always bringing a bouquet of flowers with her.
She didn't believe in ghosts, but somehow, she felt like her old classmates were watching over her, happy she hadn't forgotten them. If she ever missed a day, it made her sick with guilt. So she made up as many excuses as she could to visit the grave.
But Kyoko doesn't believe in ghosts. Even though both her former friend and her current son were both ghosts in every sense of the word.
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After dinner, just as she promised, the three paid a visit to Class 78's shrine, as Byakuya referred to it; ten names were all engraved on the steel plate. Yukine ran his fingers down a few of the names, clutching his tiny daisy bouquet.
At Makoto's gesture, he kneeled down and placed the flowers in front of the grave, sighing. "Hey Dad. If you can hear me...well, at this point, you'd already know who I was. I love you and miss you, though I've never even met you. Life was pretty unfair to you, huh? Well, I hope you're living a good life now," He stumbled over some of his sentences from his nerves, walking back over to Makoto. After he placed his own flowers down, the two walked back into the building, leaving Kyoko all by herself.
She tightly clutched her own bouquet of roses; his favourite flowers. She stepped closer to the grave, suddenly smelling a strong scent-too familiar of a scent, of her usual body spray that she hadn't even put on that morning.
She didn't believe in ghosts, not even when a familiar voice laughed and praised her for doing an amazing job with raising their son, not even when he smelled the roses happily, not even when he placed a soft yet cold kiss on her lips. She looked down and saw his shoes, once bloodied and broken, now pristine and shiny.
She glanced up and saw for a brief moment the image of the ten students bathed in a blinding white light; Mukuro in her disguise with a hand on her hip, laughing, Sakura standing with her arms crossed with her usual proud smile, Mondo and Ichimaru with their arms around each other's shoulders, Leon pulling a visibly-uncomfortable Sayaka closer to his body, Hifumi standing with his camera at the ready, and Celestia, smiling politely with her hand stretched out. Chihiro eagerly ran over and took her hand, squeezing it tightly as the ten of them turned around and soon vanished, going back to the afterlife. Not a single one of them even turned back to look at her, not even him. They all had moved on, seemed genuinely happy now that they were all together again in death. How ironic, in a way. They vanished so fast it was as if they had never been there at all. Kyoko believed she had imagined it all.
"Yukine is a beautiful name!"
The flowers fell at her feet with an audible gasp.
Kyoko Kirigiri does not believe in ghosts.