Hello hello, you have reached the beginning of the first multichaptered fic I've written in ages! And yep, it's a nice and slow KuzuSouda relationship development fic. Or I hope it's nice and slow, anyway XD

So this fanfic starts at the beginning of Chapter 3, and will progress all the way up to the ending of the game. As a result, spoilers will be present for SDR2 - if you haven't finished the game and don't want to be spoiled, I'd suggest saving this fic for when you do. There will be no major canon alterations in this fic except for some significantly minor additions I've added in for Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi's relationship to develop as friends and, of course, lovers.

I'm also going to refer to all the characters by their first names by default, since I'm more used to the official English translation of the games than the Japanese.

One more thing: the prologue and the first chapter are both in the same entry because the prologue was written after a few chapters were already published, and I couldn't figure out how to make a separate entry for it that took place before every other chapter of the story. So please bear with me on that one.

With all that aside, please do sit back, relax and enjoy. :)

Prologue: The Fallen

He watched, with bated breath, as the Ultimate Swordswoman flitted across the landscape, effortlessly slicing through the wooden dummies with her trusty sword. Beneath her clouded glasses, her eyes were glued to the Ultimate Yakuza in the small audience who stood nearby, his fists clenched and tear tracks evident on his cheeks.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. The boy he'd feared, up until now. The boy he'd ridiculed, as a means to compensate for his own weakness. The boy he never knew could possibly have a more vulnerable side to him.

The boy he now pitied, and yearned to understand.

Possessed by the strings of a marionette, Peko continued to tear down her opponents in one full swoop, her eyes still trained on her childhood friend. She was seemingly unfazed by the harsh reality that her life was about to come to an end, right here, right now, and the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi, desperately wished that he could look at the face of death without fear.

Beside him, Fuyuhiko couldn't take it anymore. Without warning, he burst out onto the battlefield and never looked back despite the other students' pleas for him to stop. By then, Peko was preoccupied with a small group of dummies, and so her back was turned to Fuyuhiko - until she turned around, just as he'd caught up to her, and her sword created a clean cut across his left eye.

Peko's eyes widened in horror, and Kazuichi's heart sank.

Now free from her strings, Peko held Fuyuhiko close to her, using her arms to shield him from any oncoming dummies. Solemnly, she closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek - and the next thing they all knew, the battlefield was speckled with her blood, with some of Fuyuhiko's mixed in.

"If you didn't have that big Yakuza title, you'd be nothin' but a midget!" the Kazuichi of the past jeered at him, instantly reminding him that this insult was much harsher in hindsight - because it was true. Fuyuhiko wasn't the stereotypical Yakuza. He was a human being, just like the rest of the students. But did that mean that he was weak? Or was Kazuichi still the weaker one?

Upon Monomi's announcement that Fuyuhiko was still alive, Kazuichi and the rest of his living classmates scrambled to his side, where he lay beside the lifeless body of Peko. His face was coated in blood, most of which was sourced from the deep gash in his eye, and he gurgled quietly in nausea and pain.

"Y-you can save him, right!?" Kazuichi shouted at Mikan as she knelt down and gently placed Fuyuhiko's head on her lap. "You're a nurse, aren't you!? D-do somethin'!"

"I-I-I'm trying my b-best!" Mikan stammered as she examined Fuyuhiko's facial features. "B-but I think I n-need extra equipment t-t-to take c-care of this!"

"GODDAMNIT!"

"H-hey, Monokuma needs to save him himself!" Monomi pointed out. "After all, if he doesn't, he'd be breaking one of his own rules! "Only the blackened must die during an execution."

"Urgh, that's true…" Monokuma sighed. "Don't worry! Fuyuhiko will be safe in the paws of Doctor Monokuma!"

Somehow, Kazuichi doubted that. And yet, he was hopeful that Fuyuhiko could, in fact, be saved. He wanted to understand him more. He couldn't deny that he and Fuyuhiko hadn't figured out the right footing with one another, but maybe, just maybe, they would come to respect each other.

As Monokuma drove away from the trial room with Fuyuhiko in an ambulance that had appeared, Kazuichi resolved that the time to at least be cordial with Fuyuhiko started now.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu woke with a start, his face flushed as beads of sweat raced down his temple. He heaved a loud gasp, squeezing his eyes shut in a futile attempt to keep the tears at bay regardless of the otherwise empty hospital room he lay inside.

He took several moments to control his breathing and slow down his racing heart. His eyes remained closed as he forcibly shoved the images of bloodied corpses out of his mind - those of his sister, the girl involved in her murder, and… and-

His mechanism failed as he trembled at the thought of her. The realisation that she was dead, and it was all his fault, made him break down all over again, shivering and whimpering helplessly on the hospital bed.

The voice at the back of his head was telling him to snap out of it and act like a Yakuza for once, but it was ignored and outnumbered by the overload of grief and trauma Fuyuhiko had suffered in just one day. Much as he tried, the recollection of her brutal execution would not leave him alone. It haunted him, how after everything she had done for him, this was how he'd paid her back. It should've been him who'd gotten executed. It was his fault Mahiru was dead, and it was his fault she was dead now too. So why wasn't he dead? He was the scummiest out of everyone involved in the Twilight Syndrome incident and the second murder trial on this School Trip of Mutual Killing. If he'd succeeded in stopping her from killing Mahiru… maybe she'd still be alive right now. Maybe she'd be right here, kneeling beside him, letting him pour out all his worries to her. She was the only one who listened to and understood him. No one else was interested in doing that.

Right?

He'd barely noticed the door opening, and he'd failed to notice the figure who had walked in until they came to rest beside his bed. He hastily quieted the pathetic noises he was making as he used the sleeves of his hospital gown to dry his eyes, scowling at his visitor. "Wh-whaddaya want?"

"There's no need to be like that! I only came here because I wanted to see how you were doing!"

"Well, I'm doing just fine thanks, ya happy?" Fuyuhiko snapped in irritation. His vision cleared as a result of the disappearance of his tears, and he glanced around at his surroundings. The sun was shining brightly through the drawn curtains of the hospital room, casting light upon everything contained within - from the crumpled blanket covering his body to the medical equipment hastily tossed to the side to the form of his companion, a young man dressed in such vivid colours he was sure to blind Fuyuhiko's remaining eye.

Said man - Kazuichi Souda - frowned, unsatisfied with the meagre response given to him. "Look, y'don't need to maintain this whole Yakuza image, y'know? It's okay to feel vulnerable sometimes." He paused, and Fuyuhiko wondered if he was trying to convince himself by saying that. "I… I do understand, though, how what happened yesterday would be enough to make you wanna give up on everything. I mean… it seemed like the world was out to get you, huh?"

Fuyuhiko snorted. "You suck at helping," he muttered, narrowing his eye.

Kazuichi chuckled half-heartedly. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that, but hey, I can't just pretend my friends aren't suffering, y'know? I'm sure we're all still a little shaken up, no matter how hard we try to hide it."

Fuyuhiko wanted to retort that he was perfectly fine and that he really didn't care about anyone on the island, but the words got caught in his throat, rendering him unable to spit them out as a result. He remained silent, staring into space, deciding to ignore Kazuichi for now.

It didn't stop the Ultimate Mechanic from speaking again, however, and the next thing he said caught Fuyuhiko's attention: "Hey, you remember the original point of this school trip, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"We were all supposed to make friends with each other, form bonds, all that sappy shit. It sounded stupid to me too, trust me, but I wonder… maybe Usa- Monomi was right. Maybe, as long as we all work together, no one else will get killed, and we'll all be able to get off this island."

"Tch." Fuyuhiko glared out the window overlooking the newly-discovered third island. "There's no way I'll be taking part in that. For all I know I'll end up being the next victim."

Kazuichi groaned in frustration as he reached up and pulled his beanie down over his eyes. "D-don't tempt fate, idiot! And don't go actin' like Komaeda, either! We're all gonna survive this trip and escape this island. Sure, we lost Byakuya, Teruteru, Mahiru and Peko-" Fuyuhiko couldn't help but shudder again as his childhood friend was mentioned "-but we can't let them die in vain, y'know? Let's do something amazing that'll make them proud!"

Fuyuhiko clammed up again. He began trembling once more, closing his eyes as his vision once again clouded up.

"H-hey, Fuyuhiko, are you okay!?" Kazuichi inquired, alarmed.

He heard a sniffle from the boy beside him, informing him that he had successfully applied further damage to Fuyuhiko's mental barriers. He glanced over to see that Fuyuhiko had his head in his hands. His heart sunk at the realisation that the second trial had affected the Ultimate Yakuza far greater than he'd anticipated.

Fuyuhiko bit his lip hard enough to draw blood from it. No. He wasn't going to cry in front of someone other than her again. He wasn't going to further taint his image as the Ultimate Yakuza. And most importantly, he wasn't going to rely on anyone else.

He felt the added weight of the hospital bed that signaled that Kazuichi had sat down beside him. He stiffened as he felt the other boy wrap an arm gently around him in something of a half-hug, and couldn't help but yell a muffled, wavering "get offa me!". But nonetheless, Kazuichi didn't take back any of his actions, and instead opted for carefully pulling Fuyuhiko closer to him, smiling down at the shorter boy.

"Hey now, it's gonna be okay," Kazuichi told him quietly.

"N-no it's not… ugh, go away…" The "tough guy" act was withering away more and more as time passed, and before Fuyuhiko knew it he was sobbing in the company of a fellow Ultimate - just as he did immediately before her execution, only it was one Ultimate now, instead of thirteen.

The two of them just sat there for a few minutes, Fuyuhiko chi weeping and Kazuichi murmuring comforting platitudes to him, continuing to half-embrace him. Finally, Fuyuhiko gradually began to quiet down again, as his trembling decreased and fewer tears escaped his eyes. Kazuichi instinctively pulled the small man closer to him, as eventually, the only sounds to be heard from him were quiet sniffles.

Shortly afterwards, Fuyuhiko pulled away, glancing up at Kazuichi with a red, puffy eye. He grimaced - his left eye was stinging from the tears now; he hadn't expected his left tear duct to be functional still.

"I…" He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm sorry. For everything I've done. Everything that's happened was my fault… if it weren't for me… they'd still be here… right?" He looked away and bit his lip. "I bet they're all ashamed of me now. I bet she…" He trailed off, staring out the window, suddenly finding the overhead view of the third island very fascinating.

Kazuichi sighed in resignation. "I dunno man, I'm pretty sure the other guys in the Yakuza have done things a lot worse," he commented. "Haven't they murdered whole families without batting an eye or somethin'? N-now that's pretty horrific!" He shuddered, reaching up to pull his beanie down again.

"Coward," Fuyuhiko muttered, though something in him somehow mustered the ability to smirk. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, however, and his expression reverted back to seriousness. "But, I guess you're right. Doesn't mean I don't have regrets, though."

"Guess what, you're human," Kazuichi pointed out after regaining his composure. "We all do."

Fuyuhiko dismissed his statement with a "no shit," and Kazuichi chuckled a little. "It looks like you're feeling a little better now, Fuyuhiko. Doing alright now?"

Fuyuhiko only grunted in response.

"...Listen, I won't deny that I didn't know Peko that well at all. If anything, she kinda freaked me out at first, so I kinda kept my distance from her… but… I don't know if you saw it in that class trial, but to me, it looked like she… really cared about you. Hell, she's utterly devoted to you. Why wouldn't she forgive you?"

"Because I sent her to her death!" Fuyuhiko snapped, glaring at Kazuichi as though the answer was so obvious that even a five-year-old would know. "I asked her to kill that Mahiru chick, and… and…" He swallowed and bit his lip.

"Okay, did you actually force the bat into her hands and threaten to kill her if she didn't go through with the order? No? Then she did it out of her own free will. She wanted to make you happy. She wanted to be this protective chick to please her young master, I'm sure…" Kazuichi trailed off, most likely thinking of how wonderful it'd be if Sonia Nevermind was this protective of him.

"It's still my damn fault she died!" Fuyuhiko snapped. "If I hadn't played the damn game, if I hadn't confided to her about my feelings about it…"

"Look, if you wanna find someone to blame so badly, I'd suggest blaming Monokuma. He's the entire damn reason why we're stuck in his stupid little killing game in the first place. He's trying to provoke us, isn't he? He's trying to hit out weak spots to spur us to kill each other… I dunno about you, but I'd rather not let him keep doing that!" Kazuichi took a deep breath, staring directly into Fuyuhiko's eye. "I… I hope you'll be outta here soon, Fuyuhiko. The rest of us do too. You're one of us, you're our friend. Don't forget about that, man."

"What, I'm the little blonde pipsqueak's friend too?" Fuyuhiko snorted in disbelief. "That's a great joke, I'll give you that."

"Hiyoko will come around soon, I hope. She's just… learning to cope, really. I mean, you're not so different from her, are you?"

It then dawned on Fuyuhiko that Hiyoko was in the same boat as him - she, too, had lost someone she'd deeply cared about. Her closeness with Mahiru had not quite reached the intensity of his bond with Peko - she'd only known her for… a week or two? Nonetheless, he knew that Mahiru's death had saddened her deeply as well, although she had an odd way of showing it.

"You should probably apologise to her once you're discharged," Kazuichi continued. "And for that matter, everyone else, too."

"Well… it's not like there's anything else I can do, right? It's not like I can ever bring Peko back, right?"

Kazuichi slowly shook his head.

Fuyuhiko realised that he was actually feeling a lot better now. He didn't know what had possessed Kazuichi to come all this way to talk to him, but… all his admittedly sappy words about getting closer with everyone else and making the now-deceased Peko proud had actually made a positive impact on his emotions. For now, at least.

"So why'd ya come down here to check on me, anyway?" He decided to ask.

Kazuichi shrugged. "I dunno man, I guess it's because I never got to talk to you much at all. You were antisocial as fuck and I wondered what the hell was up with that. I guess I just wanted to come help a man out. I mean, if no one else can, then who will?"

Fuyuhiko smirked. "You suck at comforting people." I'm only kidding, bastard. Thanks a lot, really.

Kazuichi laughed. "Well, I'd better get going now. It's almost lunchtime. When does Mikan pop by, do you know?"

"She said she'll check on me later tonight," Fuyuhiko replied.

"Neat. Well, take care, get well soon." Kazuichi smiled and waved, before heading out, leaving Fuyuhiko in his lonesome once more.

Fuyuhiko smiled as well - but only once Kazuichi had left the room.