~ The Consequences of Happiness ~
Royal milk tea - tea brewed and simmered with milk. Smoking, steaming, whatever you call it. Monobear sighed.
"It turns out that Celes-san's idea isn't very off," he said in his trademark squeaky little voice, sighing with content after taking another sip. "Royal milk tea... Suits the gambler's personality well."
"Yeah." The girl with strawberry-blond hair in two ponytails sitting in front of him sounded nonchalant, probably because what she was drinking wouldn't be considered "royal milk tea" by the Super High School Level Gambler. "Whatever."
"So, how's the despair going?"
"Mm... Pretty well if I do say so myself. Touko Fukawa is almost drowned in despair - she wouldn't even go out of her room because she was afraid they might find out that she was Genocider Syo. Makoto Naegi is smack-dab in between, blown about in the current. I think he's still upset over Maizono's death. Hifumi Yamada is getting paranoid... He's left drooling over his two-dimensional girls. Byakuya Togami and Kyouko Kirigiri are probably the only ones who keep their cool."
"And the gambler bastard?"
"Ah, Celestia Ludenberg's sorta bullying Yamada to make her royal milk tea. She's generally cool and collected, but she lost her composure just yesterday. Probably it's because of the despair, don't you think?"
"Hmm, yes, yes... Despair..." The monochromatic bear smiled (if that was possible due to his mouth being divided into two black and white halves). The thought of the students despairing sent his heart pounding and himself breaking into a sweat. "Despair... Upupupupupu..."
Despair, sweet despair...
"Sweet despair," the girl in front of him giggled, as if she could read his cotton mind. "Uupupupupupu..."
"FORGET, FORGET, FORGETFUL BEAAAM!"
"What?" The two companions were suddenly jolted out of their delightful reverie by a loud voice. "What the heck was that?!" the strawberry blond snarled.
"The law enforcer bastard..." Monobear grumbled, turning to the screen behind him. It showed him what was happening in the cafeteria. There he saw a huge guy with a ridiculous pompadour, a somewhat shorter guy with spiky dark hair wearing a pristine white uniform, and a tiny brunette in a dark green school uniform top and a weird umbrella-shaped skirt. The one in the white uniform was doing weird hand gestures, while the other two were laughing. "Nice one, kyoudai!" Pompadour Guy exclaimed between laughs, clapping a hand on his back.
"The circus freaks!" the strawberry blond grumbled. "They're always sooo loud!"
But Monobear's main cause of concern was not the fact that they were loud - it was the fact that they were happy.
"What happened to the despair?!" he snapped. "I thought they'd all lost their hope."
"Everyone but those three, I guess." The girl sighed. "Although they're stuck in this school, they've managed to keep their spirits up, even that silly programmer girl who's always as pale as a dead vampire. Maybe it's because those three are friends, so they've been OK because they're together... Dunno, it's got something to do with "togetherness" or something. I don't understand..."
"Hmm. Friends? Togetherness, you say?" Monobear was silent for a moment, sipping his royal milk tea. "Hmm. Let me see if I can do anything about that..."
Still sipping their tea, both of them stared at the screen showing the cafeteria. They were silent. The only sound that could be heard was the laugh of the three friends... That is, until Monobear joined in.
"Upupupupupu..."
His one red eye shone in the dark.
"Upupupupupupupupupupu..."
»̶✽«
Just a bit before Night Time, all the students were in the cafeteria having dinner when the screen lit up to show Monobear.
"Good evening, you bastards!" he said brightly. "Night Time will begin shortly. Everyone is to finish their dinners and then retire into their own rooms. Remember the rule: anyone voluntarily falling asleep in another room besides their own will be punished!"
"Yeah, yeah." Togami mumbled under his breath as he swirled his spoon around in his soup. "Shut up, fool..."
But instead of disappearing, Monobear spoke again after a short pause. "Oh... But for tonight there is a special exception."
"Exception? What exception?" Aoi Asahina spoke up.
Monobear chuckled with anticipation. "After this, everyone should go into their rooms... Except for Mondo Oowada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and Chihiro Fujisaki. The three students I mentioned will go into the headmaster's room after dinner. In other words, MY room! Upupupupu! Got it? See ya round, young ones!" And with that, the screen went dark. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Huh? What are you guys going to do?" Aoi wondered.
"I don't know, but WE MUST RESPOND TO THE CALL OF DUTY," Ishimaru said.
"Hmm... Yeah." Mondo leaned back in his chair. "But I don't fuckin' like this... I don't like this at all."
"Wh-what if Monobear has planned s-something b-bad for us?" Chihiro whispered softly. "I... I'm s-scared..."
"Aw, don't worry," Mondo said with a small reassuring smile. "I won't let anything happen to ya, kid. I won't let anything happen to any of ya."
Togami smiled. "Starting the friendship game again, aren't you..."
Mondo didn't say anything - he only snorted and glared at Togami. Ishimaru was staring straight ahead, and Chihiro could only hope that everything would be all right.
...
Once the dinner plates had been cleared up, the other students all retired to their rooms. As for Mondo, Ishimaru, and Chihiro, they found themselves standing in front of a room with a name plate that read "MONOKUMA" on the door.
"Well... Here goes nothin'," Mondo said as he pushed open the door. The room was pitch-black. Chihiro gulped and could only go inside when he felt Mondo's reassuring hand on his shoulder. Ishimaru, meanwhile, strode in confidently like a soldier in a white uniform.
Once everyone had gone in, the door suddenly slammed shut on its own, and they heard the ominous sound of a bolt sliding into place.
"We've been locked in!" Chihiro wailed.
"That's right, you bastards!"
Suddenly a bright spotlight was turned on in the middle of the room, and under its glare on a red throne, sat Monobear.
"Welcome to the special event I set up just for the three of you!" he sang. "I personally call this event "The Consequences of Happiness", but you can call it whatever you want. Maybe you'd like to call it "One of Us Isn't Going to Come Out Again", or maybe "The Night of Brotherly Sacrifice", or "Our First Time Seeing Our Beloved Brother Die for No Significant Reason Right in Front of Our Eyes"... although that certainly isn't the case for Oowada-kun, since he has already witnessed his aniki's death a long time ago...!"
"What the fuck...? You're not making any sense!" Mondo spat out.
"All right you bastards, listen up," Monobear said sternly, standing on his throne. "What I said earlier is right. Someone has to go. One of you isn't going to come out tonight. Two of you will witness your blood brother's death right in this room. But who will it be? Who will die? Well..."
His bright red eye shone in the darkness as he stared them down.
"That's for you to choose, young ones! You will simply choose who is to die tonight, nothing else. After his execution, the other two will be able to return to their melancholic high school lives. I'm giving you the time until midnight, and if you haven't decided by then, I will blow up the whole school, so the deaths of every other student in Hope's Peak will be your fault! Upupupupu!"
"You fucker...!" Mondo shouted. He leapt forward, lunging to grab Monobear.
"Hey! Violence against the headmaster is forbidden and punishable!" Monobear cackled, and Mondo stopped in his tracks. Mumbling under his breath, he retreated as the victorious bear sat down on his throne with his legs up on the armrests. "OK! If you have reached a decision, you can simply press that green button to alert me, because I won't respond to anything unless you press that button first. But if you press it for any other reason besides having finished your discussion, I won't hesitate to punish whoever had pressed the button right then and there! Without further ado, your discussion time starts... NOW!"
"WAIT!" Ishimaru shouted, but by now Monobear had headphones covering his bear ears.
"Choose s-someone to d-d-die...? Th-there's no way..." Chihiro's voice was just above a whisper. Tears were beginning to gather at his eyes.
"Fuck you, Monobear!" Mondo shouted, balling his hands into fists, while Ishimaru tried to get the bear's attention. "WAAAIT! DAMN IT, YOU CAN'T TELL ME TO KILL MY KYOUDAI!"
Realizing that their efforts were futile, the three reluctantly went to have their discussion.
"I-I-I can n-never choose anyone between the t-two of you to d-d-die," Chihiro wept.
"Don't worry," Ishimaru said. "We may not have to go through this... Maybe we can find a way out! Keep your hopes up, Fujisaki-kun!"
"All right, let's find a way to escape," Mondo said impatiently. "The faster we get out of this fucking room the better."
...
30 minutes later
"W-we couldn't find a way out," wailed Chihiro. "We're trapped..."
"Then the only way out is..." Mondo said quietly. "Fuck... What a mess we're in..."
"I... I WON'T DO IT!" Chihiro burst out, falling to his knees. "I c-can't ch-choose! I w-won't ch-choose!"
Mondo's face softened. He went down onto his knees also, stroking Chihiro's hair. "Ssh... There, there... Don't cry..."
"But how else can we get out?" Ishimaru said. "There's no other way besides..."
Chihiro's sobs got louder.
Mondo glared sternly at Ishimaru. "Kyoudai... Don't say that! Hell, we'll get out of this place if it's the last thing we do!"
"But kyoudai..." Ishimaru began again.
Mondo's patience suddenly snapped. "NO BUTS!" he shouted. "We're gonna get out of this damned place, ya hear me?!"
"WELL AS A LAW ENFORCER I WAS MERELY TRYING TO TELL YOU THE BLEAK TRUTH," Ishimaru retorted.
"But can't ya see that you're fucking upsetting Fujisaki?!" Mondo snapped.
Still on his knees with tears streaming down his cheeks, Chihiro could only watch as an argument broke out between the two brothers.
I can n-never choose between the t-two of th-them...
Suddenly he got an idea.
It was a scary one, but at least it was an idea.
Balling his fists tightly so that his nails dug painfully into his palms, he stood up shakily. Neither Mondo nor Ishimaru even realized that he was slowly inching towards the green button.
It was Monobear's voice that finally interrupted them.
"All right, you bastards!" he exclaimed after having removed his headphones. "It seems that one of you has pressed the button!"
"WHAT?!" Ishimaru yelled. "WHO?!"
Monobear's eyes turned to Chihiro, who looked down at his girly shoes. "I... It was me. I pressed the button," he whispered.
"WHAT?!" Mondo and Ishimaru cried out.
"I... I know who will d-d-die tonight," Chihiro said quietly, "...and it's m-m-me!"
"WHAT?!" Mondo and Ishimaru shouted again. "Are you nuts?!"
"Oh, he's not nuts, all right!" Monobear laughed gleefully. "He wishes to give up his life so that you two can resume yours! That's quite something for someone so timid. Now, c'mere!"
Chihiro balled his fists even tighter. Now he could feel that his nails had punctured his skin for it stung painfully. However, he swallowed and took a step forward.
"Chihiro, you can't fucking do that!" Mondo shouted, grabbing his hand.
"But I can! I h-h-have to!" He turned to Mondo and Ishimaru. "You... You two have a life to look forward to. Ishimaru-kun..."
The hall monitor jumped, but never took his eyes off the floor. Tears and sweat were running inelegantly down his face, and he was sniffling.
"...Ishimaru-kun is a great law enforcer," Chihiro went on. "He's... He's a hall monitor right now, but someday... Someday he'll probably be the Prime Minister! He keeps our high school life from being too chaotic. He makes sure no one violates the rules. Th-that's why he has t-to live. And as for M-Mondo-kun..."
He turned to the outlaw biker, whose eyes were wide. "Mondo-kun is now the leader of the Crazy Diamonds. He's a n-n-nice leader, and he has to k-k-keep on leading his gang. He n-needs to keep his gang t-t-together. That's a promise he m-made with his aniki... It's a promise between men, so it mustn't be b-broken... That's why he also has to l-l-live... And as for m-m-me..."
During the pause, the room fell silent and anyone could hear a pin drop.
"A-as for me... I'm just a weak l-l-little programmer. Th-there's no way I can keep pretending to be a g-girl forever, so that's why... I have no life... to look forward to... That's why... I have to..."
There was another painful pause filled with silence.
It was a silence that Monobear broke.
"Ding dong ding dong!" he cheered, doing a pirouette on the throne. "What nice, thoughtful reasons! All right then, the one who has to go will be Fujisaki Chihiro-kun~!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ishimaru howled, tears running down his face in streams. "NOT FUJISAKI-KUN!" He threw himself at the side of Monobear's throne, all the while still yelling. "DAMN IT! YOU CAN'T DO THAT! HE NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG!"
Mondo gritted his teeth and jumped in front of Chihiro protectively. "You will not fucking hurt him! If you dare as much as lay a hand on him, I'll... I'll..."
"Upupu... Oh? What's this?" Monobear jumped onto his armrest and stood there on tiptoe. "Looks like your two friends don't agree with you, hmm? THEN WHY DID YOU PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON, HMM?"
He suddenly disappeared from his throne and reappeared right next to Chihiro, his red eye glinting. The surprised programmer gasped and let out a sob.
Monobear appeared on his throne again. "Hmm, you've still got one hour left. Looks like you still need to discuss it, eh?"
"YES!" shouted Ishimaru. "I MEAN, NO! Instead of going back to square one, let ME be the one who goes tonight!"
"KYOUDAI!" snapped Mondo. "Ishimaru-kun!" sobbed Chihiro.
"Don't... Don't say anything, brothers!" Ishimaru said dramatically, as if he was some hero in an epic movie (a hero with tears and snot running down his face, that is). "This is just the duty of a law enforcer! Like I always say, I must always respond to the call of duty! A good law enforcer doesn't only enforce the law... He will do anything in his power to keep everything running smoothly! This is how I do it, kyoudai...! Fujisaki-kun...!"
"STOP TALKIN' NONSENSE!" Mondo snapped. "I-I-Ishimaru-kun... Uuu... Uwaaaah!" Chihiro burst into tears.
"Woo-whoa!" Monobear clasped his paws excitedly. "That was awesome, almost as if he was reading from a script! That really set my little heart pounding! All right then, Kiyotaka Ishimaru-kun it is~!"
"NOOO no fuckin' NO!" Mondo screeched. "No..." Chihiro whispered, falling to his knees and crying into his sleeves.
Meanwhile, Monobear only chuckled. "Oh... The despair...! Upupupu...!"
"HEY!"
Monobear looked up to see that Mondo had stepped forward, his face red with anger. "You're not gonna do ANYTHING to kyoudai, because I'm gonna be the one you're gonna have to go up against!"
"Kyoudai, how many times do I have to tell you?" Ishimaru protested, glaring at him.
"Just get outta my way!" Mondo snarled, pushing him out of the way. "Like I always say, no one gets hurt when I'm around! It's now only me and that bastard Monobear!"
"Oh, come on. So who shall I get to execute tonight?" Monobear grumbled impatiently. "I don't have forever!"
Chihiro looked up with a start and looked at the clock. The long hand was dangerously about to point to fifteen minutes to midnight. "He's right! The clock... The time limit..."
"Upupu, that's right!" Monobear sang. "So who gets to go?"
"M-m-me!" Chihiro cried bravely.
"ME!" Ishimaru shouted, standing straight and tall.
"Heck, ME!" Mondo snapped, cracking his knuckles.
They paused.
"WAIT!" Ishimaru suddenly exclaimed. "I BELIEVE I HAVE AN IDEA!" He turned to Monobear, trying to swipe at his face so as to not look like a complete ball of snot. "Headmaster Monobear! May we have a private discussion?"
"Upupu! Of course you may! Just press the green button when you're done. Remember, you have fifteen minutes left!" Then the monochromatic bear put on his headphones again.
...
In less than fifteen minutes, an agreement had been reached. And in even less than that, the three of them found themselves sitting in a huge and posh-looking classroom. They were seated at one long table right in front of a blackboard that had the word "DETENTION" scribbled on it.
"Detention? I never have detention because I never break any rules!" Ishimaru had protested, but Monobear had ignored him. He was now sitting on the right, Mondo was in the middle, and Chihiro was sitting on the left.
Without warning, their table suddenly began to move backward as if they were on a conveyor belt. A miniature Monobear jumped in front of them, pointing a stick at the blackboard and moving his head right to left, right to left.
That was when they heard the CLANG.
Ishimaru looked over his shoulder and saw that they were headed straight for an enormous steel machine. A huge contraption made of steel suddenly slammed down onto the conveyor belt behind them, as if it was a giant stamp.
CLANG.
Ishimaru's whole body went cold. Tears and snot were once more running down onto his chin in torrents. He turned back to stare at the mocking Monobear miniature.
Damn, I'm about to be crushed to death.
Chihiro trembled more and more with each foreboding CLANG. He couldn't take it anymore; he was by now crying into his hands, and his shoulders shook each time he let out another sob.
CLANG.
Mondo saw that his brothers were in despair. He put his right hand on Ishimaru's back to soothe him, and his left arm around Chihiro's shoulders, drawing him close. The poor boy was now uncontrollably crying into his shirt, and although he was ruining his Crazy Diamonds jacket, he didn't mind at all.
CLANG.
They got nearer.
CLANG.
They were really near.
CLANG.
They were almost under.
CLANG.
The metal thing rose high, and their table went and stopped right under it. Mondo gritted his teeth, screwing his eyes shut. His arms pulled his blood brothers closer.
Please let this be over quickly.
The metal thing went down.
CLANG.
»̶✽«̶
...
There was a knock on the door, and Mondo opened his eyes. He was lying on his own bed in Hope's Peak Academy, but he was breathless and sweating as if he had been running laps around the school.
What kind of dream did I just have...? That was fuckin' terrifying.
There was another uncertain tap on his door. Mondo groaned and sat up. "Ugh... Who is it?"
"I-it's me, Chihiro..."
"Oh. Come in!"
The door opened, and he came in. His eyes were glossy, as if he was about to cry.
"I...I'm sorry Mondo-kun," he whispered, clasping his hands together. "I know I shouldn't have bothered you so early in the morning, but I just had a horrible d-d-dream..."
"That's all right, kid. C'mere. It was only a dream..."
"B-but it was so scary..." he whispered. "There was a giant machine..."
"There, there kid." Mondo stroked his brown hair. "It's OK..."
He was actually thinking. A giant machine? Sounds mighty similar to the dream I had last night. But he didn't say nor do anything but keep Chihiro close.
That was when there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" Mondo said again, and it turned out to be Ishimaru. On seeing that Chihiro was on the verge of crying, he asked Mondo what had happened, and he explained about the dream, at which Ishimaru's eyes widened.
"Kyoudai and Fujisaki-kun!" he announced. "I also had a dream just like yours last night! It was the most terrifying of nightmares, and you two were in it! It had things to do with death and DETENTION! It is the most far-fetched idea I've ever heard; there's no way I'll end up in detention because I've never broken any rules! Ever!"
"I know, bro," Mondo replied. "My gang would have broken up before you could end up in damn detention! In other words, never!"
"That's right, kyoudai!" Ishimaru agreed. He walked over to where Chihiro was still sitting glumly. "Fujisaki-kun! Do nor fear, it was only a nightmare! Today is a new day, and every day is a battle! Keep your head up! It was only in our imagination - it was unreal, so there's nothing left to do but put it behind us! FORGET, FORGET, FORGETFUL BEAM!"
Chihiro looked up and smiled between sniffles. "You're right, Ishimaru-kun," he said softly. "Th-thank you for cheering me up! It was a n-nightmare, it won't happen in r-real life!"
"That's the spirit!" Ishimaru exclaimed. "Now, shall we go and get breakfast? It is nearly time for the meeting with our comrades!"
"Yeah! I'm fuckin' hungry!" Mondo agreed. Taking Chihiro's hand, he led them out of the room.
...
Somewhere in the school, a single red eye shone in despairing darkness.
"Upupupupupupupupu..."
~END~
Author's Note: Ah yeah, Chishimondo! The reason behind the broken heart, the friendship that got ripped apart. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun writing this story. I especially loved making Chihiro act that way, how he wanted to give up his life for Ishimaru and Mondo, because I think the little guy is actually one of the most courageous Dangan Ronpa characters however weak he may see himself. That's why he's my favorite~
Welp, that's enough fangirling for now. And I'd really appreciate it if you left a review~!
