Yeah, apologies for abandoning Kokichi's Fun Times so quickly. I don't want to completely blame the lack of response for that. Really, it's only partially the reason. The other part was that I managed to think of something better (and more original) to do. Sure, there are some other fics I've seen where the three survivors were affected by the game worse than you would think, but I wanted to make it a little more realistic…not to mention making it appear like a sequel of sorts to the game. Anyway, please enjoy!
P.S. Just to warn you guys, the first small chunk of this story comes from the epilogue, as I couldn't think of a better way to segue into the new stuff. Thankfully, it's relatively short, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Shuichi, Maki and Himiko stood in front of the giant hole in the skylight, bright white light streaming through it as they prepared to make the journey to the outside world.
"Come on. We can't stay in this fictional world together." said Himiko, finally breaking the silence that had pervaded between the three of them. "We gotta take all of the experience we earned in this world and go on to the next."
"Yeah. Let's go." said Shuichi, smiling. "We'll see what this world gained, and what it lost, and all the rest."
Pausing for a second, Shuichi turned his head back towards the two girls, the warm smile still evident on his face.
"Let's find out…together."
Nodding in agreement, the three survivors finally took their first step towards the opening to the outside, carefully maneuvering their way around the rubble of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.
Unfortunately, getting out of the dome was going to be trickier than they thought, as when they came closer to the wall that separated their fiction from the reality, they soon realized just how high the hole was.
Thankfully, though, their luck held out, as after they picked their way out of another building Shuichi didn't recall ever going to during the game, they found that there just happened to be a giant pile of rubble up against the side of the dome.
"Hey, it looks like we might be able to reach the hole if we climb up this rubble!" said Maki, shielding her eyes from the light the hole was giving off.
"Oh, I knew Keebo was looking out for us!"
"I'm pretty sure this is just luck more than anything, Himiko." said Shuichi. "Still, we should at least thank him for saving our lives."
"How, though?" asked Maki. "I saw the explosion. I'm pretty sure Keebo's scattered around here in a thousand pieces."
This suggestion ended up depressing Shuichi and Himiko a bit, their expressions faltering as they looked towards the ground.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into that kind of detail." she said, realizing that she was ruining the mood.
"It's okay. I'm sure we'll find some way to thank him for that, even if he isn't really around to hear it."
The three of them grew quiet once more, the sacrifice of the "Ultimate Robot" not forgotten by any of them.
Eventually, though, the three of them returned their focus to the task in front of them, and with determination on their faces, they began to make the climb towards freedom.
Unfortunately, it was too late for them to realize just how steep the pile turned out to be.
"Nyeh, why is this so steep?" whined Himiko. "Someone give me a ride up to the top!"
Both Shuichi and Maki were getting tired as well, although the former was more tired than the latter considering she was much more athletic than he was.
Speaking of, a thought crossed Shuichi's mind as the three of them continued their climb up the rubble.
"Say Maki, I'm curious. I know you said before that your assassin training helped you move as fast as you do, but…since we know that's a lie…"
Maki was admittedly a little puzzled by Shuichi's question, especially considering how he trailed off as if leaving the rest of the question vague.
"Where did this all come from?" she asked, somehow still managing to climb up the wreckage with barely a sweat.
"I don't know, I just…I was just looking at you climbing this pile of rubble, and it kind of reminded me of when you, me, and Kaito would train."
Despite all of the days spent participating in the killing game melding together at this point, Maki could still pretty clearly remember her training sessions with Shuichi and Kaito, especially how she easily outpaced the both of them (even Kaito, who barely even did any work).
"Well, it must be the Flashback Light, right? Tsumugi did say that it was impossible for them to bring back the memories we had from before we participated in the show."
"That seems about right." said Shuichi, although being reminded about their inability to return to their normal lives did bring him down a little. "We must still have at least some remnants of the talents we were given."
"Ooh, does that mean I can still do some of my magic?" asked Himiko, having caught Shuichi's words despite her being a few feet under them in terms of progress.
Both Shuichi and Maki traded looks, neither one of them wanting to break the news to Himiko after she seemingly got her hopes up about nothing. However, to their surprise, Himiko instead giggled.
"Don't worry, you two. I'm just joking."
Smiling, Shuichi shook his head before returning his focus to the climb in front of him as they almost managed to reach the top.
"Still, it was kind of fun being an Ultimate, even if the context was kind of messed up." said Himiko. "I'm going to miss it."
"Me too." said Shuichi.
Maki simply nodded, choosing to remain silent as she couldn't really think of anything else to add.
Eventually, the three of them finally managed to make it to the top, pausing at the top of the rubble pile as they looked at the giant hole created by Keebo's self-destruction.
"Ugh, that was so tiring." commented Himiko as she worked on catching her breath. "Can one of you give me a piggyback ride out of here?"
Despite asking nicely this time (compared to when she demanded it during their walk up the staircase to the academy's sixth floor), neither Shuichi nor Maki wanted to have to deal with Himiko's extra weight during their climb through the hole. So, after some silent arguing between the two of them, it came to Shuichi to let her down easily.
However, before he could even say a word to the fictional Ultimate Magician, Shuichi's eye caught a shadow on the pile below them.
Puzzled, he looked at his two fellow survivors and noticed that, with the light from the hole, the two of them were also giving off shadows as well. This one, however, was much bigger, broadcasting over almost the entire pile as well as a few inches of the ground below them.
Looking up at where he assumed the creator of the shadow was coming from, his eyes widened when he saw just what was lording over the three of them.
"Look!" he shouted, pointing up towards the hole.
Both Maki and Himiko did as Shuichi asked, an excited look appearing on the red-haired girl's face as she saw what was up there.
"We're saved!"
Maki wasn't exactly as excited about the prospect of this newcomer as Himiko was, considering she could barely see the look of dismay on his face, but she was going to take what she could get, especially since she doubted that getting out of the dome they were in once they went through the hole was going to be easy.
As the three survivors looked up at the hole, the man looked down at them, looking like he was briefly considering just leaving them to get out of their predicament themselves. Thankfully for the kids, though, he reconsidered, reaching over the railing of the lift he was in and stretching his hand out as far as he could into the dome.
The first one to grab his hand turned out to be Himiko considering she was the most eager to actually leave, and thanks to her petite figure, getting her out proved to be pretty easy.
After Himiko was pulled out into the lift, the man returned to his original position, reaching out for the next person to grab on, and after some silent discussion between the two, Shuichi ended up becoming the next one to go.
However, as he was pulled up by the man, his expression darkened when he noticed the telltale logo of Team Danganronpa emblazoned on his shirt and nametag.
Of course, Shuichi was well aware that being rescued by someone outside of the people who trapped the sixteen of them inside the academy was wishful thinking more than anything, but seeing that logo quickly brought back the painful memories of the past month.
As much as he wanted to give the man a piece of his mind, he decided against it. For one thing, he really believed that he'd said all he'd needed to say during the final class trial, and he wouldn't have been surprised if they were all watching as well.
There was also the fact that judging from his appearance, he was most likely low-level, and he didn't really deserve all of the blame as to why they were put through this.
Lastly, there was the fact that Maki was still waiting her turn, and he knew quite well just how she would react if he held up her getting rescued.
So, he remained silent, allowing himself to be pulled into the lift. As he picked himself up off of the metal flooring and went to rejoin Himiko, the man reached down into the dome to pick up Maki and Shuichi couldn't help but notice the outside of the dome they were in, mostly due to the fact that it was plastered with Team Danganronpa logos.
"These people really need to redecorate." commented Himiko, having noticed Shuichi look at the same thing she was looking at for the past minute or so.
The ex-detective chuckled a bit at Himiko's sarcasm, although in reality it was more half-hearted than anything, mostly because at this point he just wasn't in it.
Eventually, Maki came to join them, and the lift pulled away from the dome, traveling in the opposite direction before retracting down to the ground once they had some clear space.
Once they came to a stop, the man released a latch, pushing open a part of the railing that served as a doorway before hopping off and landing on the ground. He then turned around before offering a hand and assisting Himiko down to the ground as a courtesy.
Maki and Shuichi were a different story, though. The man did offer his hand to them, but the latter politely declined the offer, while the former simply glared at the man before hopping down herself.
With all four down on solid ground (and three out of the four treating it as the momentous occasion it was), the staff member took a few steps off in one direction before turning back to address the survivors.
"Follow me." he said. "The CEO wants to see you three."
"The CEO?" asked Maki, surprised. "Why would he want to see us?"
"I'm just an employee here, miss. The higher-ups don't tell us anything unless it's important."
Shuichi could definitely see the man's point, considering nobody's required to tell people everything. Still, he would have appreciated at least knowing what they were getting themselves into, especially since the three of them and Keebo were the ones who'd destroyed what was essentially the life's work of Team Danganronpa.
As for Maki herself, while she didn't look too happy at being left in the dark, she also was aware that it was best not to make a scene, so she remained silent as well, gesturing towards Himiko as the three of them made their way out of the cavernous room that held their fictional prison.
As the three ex-Ultimates made their way through the studio, staying close to the staff member who rescued them, none of them could really resist taking a look around them, listening to see how the real world worked after so long spent being for all intents and purposes a fictional character.
Unfortunately, even though the three of them knew that finding out how much of what Tsumugi said was true or not wasn't going to be easy, they were all pretty disappointed by what they'd heard.
For the most part, most of the interactions between staff that they've managed to catch through the noise proved to be simply defeat. The three of them continued to hear some form of the fact that they were soon going to be out of a job, although some groups took it better than others, which came as a bit of a surprise to the ex-Detective.
Even though Shuichi knew that morality wasn't as black and white as he thought it was (especially considering all of the time he spent with Monokuma and the Monokubs), seeing the way that the staff was acting was surprising to him. He'd managed to build up so much anger towards them over the course of the final class trial and their exodus towards the real world; he completely forgot that there were people who were simply more concerned with just making entertainment.
After managing to pull his attention away from a small group of people discussing where they were going to go next after production of the show shut down, Shuichi turned towards the rest of the group only to find that they'd managed to reach a large set of double doors.
Taking a glance at said doors, Shuichi couldn't help but notice just how elegant the design of it was compared to ones around them, and while he didn't feel it was right to use the talents of the fictional version of him, it was easy enough to deduce that they must have reached the CEO's office just as planned.
Coming to a stop, the man turned back around to face the three survivors, his expression unreadable.
"The CEO's right inside. There is one thing I must ask of you three, though."
"And what is that?" asked Maki, not liking where this is going.
"Please be courteous to him."
"Why should we?" asked Himiko, annoyance in her tone. "He's just as at fault as everyone here for what happened inside that dome."
"That's because he's only letting you guys walk without any consequences out of the goodness of his heart. I know you guys don't remember anything about the contracts you've signed, but Team Danganronpa reserves the right to take any of you to court over the damages that you three have caused to the brand."
Himiko cowered almost as quickly as Miu did after hearing what the staff member said, wanting to avoid causing any problems. Shuichi and Maki were a little more brave, especially Maki, as the ex-Assassin stood her ground, staring down the staff member to show that she wasn't going to be intimidated.
The man, however, wasn't in the mood to try and get through Maki's defenses, so after sighing heavily, he gestured towards the door with one arm before stepping around the three of them, presumably to return to his original work.
"Ready to go?" asked Shuichi, a slightly nervous look on his face as he turned his head towards Maki and Himiko.
The former nodded, her confidence not wavering in the slightest since her little episode with the staff member. Himiko, however, was shaking like a leaf, looking almost like she did before the little magic show she did in the gym.
This time, however, instead of letting her stew, Shuichi stepped forwards, placing a hand on her arm and giving her a confident smile as she looked up torwards the male.
While this wasn't a hundred percent fail-proof method, Shuichi's method of reassurance did brighten Himiko's disposition a little, and with a new vigor, the three of them made their way into the CEO's office, ready to confront the leader of Team Danganronpa.