So, I haven't played much of Another Episode. I'm still on chapter two, but I wanted to write something with Komaru since I'm really liking her character. So I decided to write this small fic about her life in the apartment. While not very long, I hope you enjoy!

Date Published: 9/7/15
Word Count: 2,485
Page Count: 4

Beyond the Door

She follows the same pattern day in and day out. She wakes up to the sound of an alarm blaring by her bedside. She groggily raises her hand to turn the chubby, pink, magical girl styled clock off. Why it was a human clock of all things made no sense to her, but for all she knew it was just meant as some sort of joke. It wasn't like anything else made any sense to her about her current life style.

She arises, clad in her pink pajamas, and stretches the sleep out of her young body. The bright light of the sun invades the room from the window above her bed. It was something that was so simple and ordinary. Waking up, the sun reminding you it was morning, it's something that everyone in the world could be greeted with. She dresses in a school uniform, as if she was preparing herself for an average day in the life of a typical, normal high school girl.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

She walks through the empty two bedroom apartment before reaching the main living space. A green rug is under the dining table, a large TV on a nearby stand, and a small potted plant off in the corner. It was something that could be found in any normal home. The sun illuminates the room, yet no voices are there to greet her. There is no scent of her mother's traditional Japanese breakfast, no sign of her father reading the paper at the table, and no friendly greeting from her brother. The only thing that greets her is the dust floating around the space of a place that was meant to hold a lively conversation.

She sits herself down on a dining room chair, raising her head upwards towards the ceiling. It was horribly bland, an epitome of a typical color, yet it was something normal to find in a home. Dust flows by as her ears ring lightly in the silence of her seemingly sustained solitude. How long has it been again?
"That's right, today make 468th day I lived here," speaks the girl. It was easy to remember how long she's lived in this accursed place. She would mark the girly calendar daily. Even when she doesn't do so the moment she awoke, she would keep a mental note of it. She has nothing else to do in this accursed place, so remembering a number is a simple task. Even so, she keeps on wondering, day by day, week by week, month by month, if this very day will be the day she would be able to leave. To be able to see what fate has met the outside world since The Tragedy and finally be reunited with her family.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

She sits there for about a half-an-hour, her brain dancing with images of the freedom she yearns for daily. It has become ritualistic really, for as she waits she thinks of all the great things the world beyond this room has to offer. The things she wants to see once more, the things she never got to experience, and just the essence of a normal life that awaits her if she could just get past that accursed door.

That is of course if the world has calmed down since The Tragedy. The world, from what she remembers, had stumbled into despair since news broke of the murders at Hope's Peak Academy. Even seven of her own classmates died due to the accidents caused by despair. Yet since she has been stuck in here, she doesn't know what has transpired since then. All she can do is think that the world has returned to normal, and people are no longer obsessed with despair. That she could just go back to being a normal girl living a normal life with a normal family.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

She's pulled out of that thought process when the doorbell chimes through the living space. With a grunt, she stands and walks towards the entrance hall while yelling to the person, "Hey, you're late again! Why can't you ever come when you're supposed to?!"

She receives no answer, but that isn't anything new. Not once since her entrapment has she had someone actually talk to her. It would be nice if she somehow got a response to her quarry. Better yet, to have someone yell at her through the door that they were there to save her.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

The door before her is the very thing she hates to see every day. She swore that the accursed thing ridicules her, mocks her inability to pry it open and get to the other side. It would never open, no matter how hard she tried to force it open. It only stares at her while she listens to the person fiddle around with the plate of food. She tried to get their attention in the beginning, begged them to set her free, but her cries of desperation always fell on deaf ears. The person would never say a word to her. She doesn't know who makes it or delivers it, but what she does know is that they are to blame for her misfortune.

Next to the door is a latch that can be pulled open or closed on both ends. It's used to deliver the things she needs on a regular basis. Like usual, it was pushed out towards her with her breakfast. This is the only interaction she has with other people. Three times a day the mysterious person (or persons) would appear and deliver her meals, and she would always place the plates back in the latch when she's finished.

"Western styled again? I was hoping to have Japanese," she mumbles while grabbing the food from the latch and walking back in the dining room. She places the dish down like always before going to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. She eats her meals in solitude while her mind is preoccupied with worthless ideas of escape. If she doesn't at least try to think of a plan, she would surely go insane from the deprivation of human contact.

After her meal, she returns the plate to the latch before walking into her bedroom. It's a spacious room, and rather comfortable just for one person. While deprived of her freedom, she does have things to keep her entertained. A game console was on the floor is connected to a large TV screen. A variety of movies, shows, and manga are lined up in her large shelf by the TV. She doesn't have access to any TV stations though. Her only theory is that they don't want her to know what's going on in the real world. Granted, sometimes she's glad she doesn't know what's going on out there.

She spends the majority of her day like this. Sitting in her bedroom, playing some alchemy based RPG to keep her mind off the subject of her imprisonment. She tries her best to think her life is a typical one, and the game's generally cheerful attitude helps. Its bright colors and cheerful cast is a welcomed distraction. Yet she still can't help but believe that one day her brother would walk in to ask her thoughts on the latest volume of a manga series or anime they both like.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

"Mom…Dad…Makoto," she mumbles while placing her game controller down into her lap, "Where are you guys right now? Are you alright? Are you alive?" She feels her chest tightening as she recalls that dreadful day. She just got home from school and everything was normal. It was just a typical day before those despair filled men broke in and dragged her away from her parents. She screamed at the intruders, tried her best to get out of the grip of the man holding her arms all the while seeing the others attack her parents. No matter how much she struggled, she never stood a chance against them. She's just a normal girl, how could she have done anything to stop them? After that, all she can remember is the screams of her parents, the bizarre monochrome bear masks they were wearing, and an immense pain coursing through her skull before everything faded to black.

She doesn't recall a thing about what happened after that. When she awoke, she found herself in this accursed room. She can't say if her parents are in the same situation as her, or if they were killed by those bizarre people. Yet she can't escape the nightmares of reliving those moments. The break in and abduction was short, yet in those nightmares they seem to go on for an eternity.

Before long she starts to cry. She can't count how many times she broke down in tears while remembering that day. Again and again she envisions her parents being live, yet another part of her keeps of imagining them as nothing more than corpses left to rot in some god forsaken place. If only she could be told the truth. If only her kidnappers could have answered her when she desperately wailed out, "Are my parents alive or dead?!"

Then her mind travels to her brother. He was at the academy, the birthplace of The Tragedy, when it happened. So does he know what happened to her? Did the same thing happened to him? Was he safe? Was he caught up in those murders? Was he dead? That, and so many more questions ran across her mind.

Though they would fight over stupid stuff, she truly did love her brother. No matter how much they bickered, it wouldn't change the fact she would support him to the very end. She also knows he would do the same thing for her. Makoto is a kind brother who would never do anything to harm her or anyone else. Yet that kindness could be taken advantage of, and even his own talent would sometimes turn against him. She can easily recall many times when he would arrive home and would talk about how something bad happened simply because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

So when she learned he was accepted into the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy by pure luck, she began to believe that maybe his bad luck could be used for something good. That someone as ordinary as her could have a chance at something amazing. That even an ordinary nobody could pull through and rival those with pure talents. That's why…that's why…

"Makoto, that luck of yours has better kept you safe through all of this," she speaks through her sobs. He has a tendency of getting hurt, running into random people, and getting caught up in all sorts of messes. Yet not once had one of those events killed him. So that's way she believes that through this whole mess, her brother's mysterious luck has kept him safe.

"I mean, seriously. What type of Ultimate Luck would you be if you ended up dead or in the same situation as me?" she laughs lightly at that as her cries starts to diminish, "That wouldn't be very ultimate of you or anything. So you gotta be fine big brother."

She has no idea what happened to her family, but at least she thinks there is a chance. Despite The Tragedy and kidnappings, there is a chance. She won't hope for it, but she will think that somehow they are alive. Hope can lead to despair, but thinking that there is a point one percent chance is better than nothing.

Before the teenager realizes it, lunch passes her by and dinner has arrived at that blasted door. Of course it's a western meal, it isn't like her luck is that great. That's something she has in common with her brother, their luck is usually against them. Though she wishes she could tell her captors what type of food she wants. She gets sick of eating the same things every week.

If only that was a possibility. If only, if only.

For the third and final time that day she walks up to the door. She stares at it with pure detest. She blames that door for her situation. She blames it for keeping her away from her family. She blames it for not letting her go free. She even blames that stupid hunk of wood for The Tragedy. She can easily blame that door for everything that has happened, and no matter how childish it is, she will never stop blaming it. That door is something she'll never stop hating even after she gets out of here.

"Screw you, you stupid door," she mumbles in annoyance after she deposits her plate. She then returns to her room to settle in for the night. She takes off her uniform (sometimes she wonders what's the point of even wearing it) and sits down on her red couch with some shojo manga. She reads through a couple of volumes before sleep starts to invade her body. Not feeling the need to fight it, she gently places her bookmaker on her page before placing it back into the shelf. She then walks over to her bed and with one final stretch lays down and goes to sleep.

When the sun raises the next day, her routine will repeat. She'll think to herself of how much she wants to leave and see her family. She'll play a game, or maybe watch something if she feels like changing her routine slightly. Then after her final meal she'll settle in with a good manga. Depending on the day, she may even take a relaxing bath.

She'll continue to worry about her family, and occasionally cry. Sometimes she'll wonder if the world outside has calmed down with the violence, or if people are still killing each other over things she doesn't understand. She may even remember the good days before everything was destroyed. Maybe, just maybe, she'll have a happy dream where she is with her family and everyone is perfectly fine.

When morning comes, Naegi Komaru will continue to live a life that repeats itself again and again. A never ending cycle were she'll have to see the very door that keeps her ignorant to all that has happened. Komaru will continue to wait for the day she'll be set free and see her family again. She won't hope for it though. She'll simply believe that it'll happen. For if she starts to hope, then it could lead to the worst despair known to man.

It's going to be a possibility. Most defiantly, most defiantly.

So, that's it. Whenever I get back to the game, I hope to write more featuring Komaru. Hopefully they all won't be super dark and dreary like the game. So, I hoped you enjoyed this little story and please review!