Days of endless entertainment in the School Life of Mutual Killing had passed, each day proving to be more despairful than the last. Watching your fellow classmates drop like flies was fun—but watching the remaining handful panic over a new death, the horrified looks on their faces when they found out more of their friends had been killed, the screams that were heard when a bloody body was found… all of it was so deliciously despairful.
Classroom Trials were always interesting. Watching the culprit's defeated reactions was incredibly amusing. You had to admit, the group's detective skills were a lot better than you'd expected. You supposed you were lucky that you were the Super High School Level Actress. Your fake surprise, relief, and grief came so naturally, and nobody ever suspected you to be the culprit. (Of course, a little suspicion wouldn't have hurt. It almost saddened you that nobody realised you were only acting.)
Surprisingly, during your time as a fake participant, you'd somehow gotten closer to the others, whether you'd wanted to or not. You'd especially started to take a liking to Togami Byakuya. What was it called again? Oh, that's right—a crush, perhaps.
You couldn't even explain why you had a crush. Especially on this particular person. What did you see in him? No matter how long you thought about it, you always drew a blank. It was frustrating, really. But one thing was for sure—
You had a crush.
Hm. You hadn't expected that, but your crush was undeniable. You were lovesick—even during Classroom Trials, you found yourself hoping , with all your might, that he would come out unharmed.
Why?
It wasn't because you wanted him to survive.
Of course not.
It was because you wanted to kill Togami yourself.
You'd even considered taking part in your own killing game, just to achieve this goal—to kill your beloved with your own hands. You could imagine just how much despair that would bring you.
Yes, you'd fall into deep, deep despair. Just thinking about such deep despair excited you.
But you had to be patient, you told yourself. You'd gotten this far with your plan already, anyway.
And now, here you stood, facing the other six survivors, at what was supposed to be the final Classroom Trial. How sad. So very, very, despairingly sad. All of your entertainment was finally coming to an end.
"I think I know who the mastermind is!" Naegi Makoto interrupted your thoughts with his declaration. You looked at him, your eyes innocent and wide, feigning surprise. Did he know? No, no—he didn't. He couldn't. He didn't even glance at you, instead turning to face Monokuma, pointing at the bear accusingly as he yelled out,
"The mastermind is Enoshima Junko-chan!"
You blinked your widened eyes, bringing your hands to your mouth. "I-It can't be! Enoshima… Jun...ko…?" you stuttered quietly, faking disbelief.
You could hear them frantically discussing the possibility, but you didn't bother to listen in to their conversation. You didn't really care about their useless chatter, anyway—only the concluding statements mattered.
Enoshima Junko, huh?
Naegi was smarter than you'd thought… but of course, you were smarter. It was true, you'd used her for a while, but she'd gotten annoying, and you'd decided to get rid of her. How sad. So very sad.
"It looks like you all have an answer!" Monokuma called out, bringing you back to the present, and you allowed yourself a small smile behind your hands as you turned to look at the bear. "Use the switches provided to vote!"
You didn't know why you'd made it so the bear would always say that at the end of the trials. You'd be surprised if anyone forgot how the trials worked.
You quickly selected the person you knew everyone else would choose, pulling away your hands to place them on your podium as you watched the spinner land on Enoshima Junko's smiling face.
Monokuma paused for just a moment before saying, "Enoshima Junko? That is…"
You quickly glanced at everyone's faces—all filled with hope. How despairfully depressing—you vaguely wondered how they could still have so much hope after all that had happened. Oh well—it seemed you would simply have to show them true despair.
"...incorrect!" you yelled out suddenly, leaning forward with support from your podium, earning an amused Upupupupupu! from Monokuma. Your narrowed eyes swept across your stunned audience, taking in the different expressions that were portrayed upon each face—shock, terror, betrayal. You lingered on Togami's—a face of disbelief, you noted—and for a second, you made eye contact. You grinned a mad little grin, and he looked away with widened eyes.
The arrogant Super High School Level Heir—afraid of me?
Now that you thought about it, it wasn't just Togami— everyone's expression seemed to hold at least an ounce of fear. Even Kirigiri Kyouko seemed somewhat shaken by your sudden outburst.
So much despair!
"_-san?" Asahina Aoi mumbled shakily.
"What is it?" you answered carelessly, completely dropping your previous act as a quiet introvert. Asahina's eyes widened even more, almost subconsciously taking a step back, her hands reaching up to cover her mouth.
Betrayal. Her terrified eyes seemed to yell How could you?, and you giggled at the sight.
"Why'd you do it?" You glanced up to meet Togami's glare—his pale eyes, once full of fear, had already returned to their usual, cold look. You felt one corner of your mouth turn up, just a little, at his question.
What a silly thing to ask.
"Isn't it obvious?" you said, shrugging your shoulders ever so slightly. "For despair." You glanced at your nails, already bored of this whole I-can't-believe-you're-the-mastermind reaction you were getting. "Your constant hope is so boring , you know?"
"Hope isn't boring!" Naegi shouted, causing you to roll your eyes. Of course he would be the one to object. "It—"
"Yeah, yeah, save your speech. You all guessed wrong, so—guess who's getting executed?"
You leaned forward, nails digging into the wooden podium in front of you. A silence followed your words, and you could see dread slowly overtaking the six survivors. Despair.
"That's right! You guys!" you exclaimed happily, clapping your hands together. What a despairfully lovely scene!
Hagakure Yasuhiro seemed to be in full panic mode, a sight that only made your creepy smile widen. "H-Hey, wait, _cchi!"
"Upupupupu!" Monokuma had, somehow, during all the commotion, slammed his mini hammer down on the red buzzer, signaling that the final decision had been made. He pressed another, smaller button concealed on the armrest of his little throne, causing him to disappear in a small puff of smoke, leaving you to deal with the remaining six by yourself.
Game over.
You leaned back, amused, as you watched the chaotic scene unfold before your eyes. A collar, attached to an incredibly long, sturdy chain—similar to the one that had been used in the late Leon Kuwata's execution—was suddenly clasped around each of the remaining participants' necks. Terror overtook each of their faces, and you couldn't help but giggle at the overwhelming despair that came along with it.
"Bye-bye!" you called out, your voice scarily cheerful, waving at everyone as you watched them get pulled down different corridors to meet their impending doom.
Despair seemed to flow through you as you watched them get pulled down the corridors, as you listened to their terrified screams, as you watched the faces of the remaining survivors—it was a despairfully beautiful sight to behold.
Six people left—five—four—three—
Two.
You smiled. It was just you and Togami now—the last remaining survivors of this despair-inducing killing game.
"Isn't this nice?" you said with an innocent smile. You stood on opposite ends of the little Classroom Trial circle, which gave you a lovely view of his distraught face. "Just the two of us at the end, with nobody else left to bother us?"
Togami glared at you with his icy blue eyes—but even though they were masked with cruelty, you could still see the horror that hid behind them. Delicious!
"Aw, don't be that way!" You pouted, raising yourself from your podium to slowly walk over to where Togami stood. He glanced away from you, eyes refusing to meet yours even as you stood next to him.
"To-ga-mi?"
You said his name, breaking it up into three parts, and his eyes flew to you in what seemed like fear, if only for a second.
"Still won't respond?" you commented with a frown. "How rude. You should be punished."
As if on cue, the chain rattled just a bit, pulling Togami back maybe a foot or two from where he'd previously been standing. His eyes widened in surprise, and he grabbed desperately at the choker as soon as the chain let him stand properly again.
"There's more where that came from," you informed him innocently, shifting your position so that you were now exactly where he stood before.
...
You took another step forward, and another, and another—until you were standing right in front of him. Yet, he still refused to acknowledge your existence.
Why?
You were fed up with his cold attitude, deciding to take matters into your own hands.
You leaned forward, raising yourself onto your tiptoes, and kissed him.
On the lips.
It was a satisfying moment, you admitted—letting your lips press firmly against his, finally, finally , after days of this meaningless love you'd been feeling—but his reaction was even better. Absolute horror, terror, disgust.
How despairfully wonderful.
Togami shoved you back, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. His eyes shone with absolute hatred. Absolute hatred for you.
And you loved it.
"You—!"
"What? Do you hate me, Togami?" you asked, not in the least bit fazed by him pushing you away from him. "Do you?"
He didn't respond, but his glare was enough of an answer.
Being hated by the one I love—so much despair!
"...I do too."
You smiled cheerfully, stepping forward once more.
"I've decided that you have two options," you told him, and his eyes narrowed. "One—you stay here, as my lovely, obedient prisoner, or two—I kill you."
Your smile widened.
"So—which will it be?"
A brief silence followed your words, interrupted by the words you'd wanted to hear most. The words that you knew would bring you the most despair.
"Kill me."
"Eh? Me, kill you?" You feigned shock, exaggeratedly putting your hand to your mouth. "Why not choose the other option? Don't you want to live?"
"Staying alive as your prisoner is the same, if not worse, than being dead," he spat, filling your heart with absolute despair.
How sad. My beloved doesn't want to stay with me.
How despairfully delightful!
"I understand, I understand," you said sadly, placing your hand against your chest, your eyes averted to the ground. A second later, you giggled, reaching with your free hand into your pocket to retrieve the pocketknife you'd been saving for this moment.
"Then I shall grant your wish!" you announced, raising the pocketknife with a mad grin. You charged forward, and, upon reaching your beloved, you sliced downwards, slashing right through the heir's chest. Blood spewed out of the deep wound, and Togami staggered back, one hand grabbing at his now-bloody chest.
"This is giving me so much despair!"
You laughed maniacally as you continued to stab and slash, occasionally missing your target due to your uncontrolled laughter. Togami never screamed—sadly—instead, he let you do as you wished. When your insane rampage was over, you found yourself standing in front of a body, nearly unrecognisable thanks to the many, many cuts and wounds you had gifted it with. Blood was splattered all over the body, decorating nearly every centimeter of it.
"I killed him…"
The reality of the situation seemed to have finally set in, causing you to start to laugh again—a little giggle at first, slowly building up into an insane laughter that echoed through the wide room.
I haven't felt so much despair in such a long time!
The choker unlatched itself from the body's neck, letting it drop lifelessly to the bloodied floor. Smiling down at your hands—hands of a murderer, bloodied with the blood of your beloved crush—you turned around and marched out of the room, laughing all the while.