I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Dangan Ronpa.

Alright, this takes place after the Final Killing Game, so I hope you all enjoy it. It was a tough write, but I still hope you like it! Oh. Also, Celegiri. It totally exists.


Kyouko sighed. She could hear him following her. After surviving two Killing Games, she had grown accustomed to making certain she was aware of all of her surroundings at all times. Despite his attempts to remain quiet, she could still pick out his footsteps among her own and the sounds of the pipes. Not only that, but the cloak he insisted upon wearing rustled lightly with each movement. If he was going to try to be sneaky, the least he could do was wear tighter clothing. His underestimation of her skills insulted her.

Kyouko was no fool. She had noticed the way he watched her ever since they had all returned to the main Future Foundation headquarters. The glares he sent her way, the tight way his mouth set any time she walked into the room. He wasn't very good at hiding his utter disdain for her very existence and Kyouko had a few ideas as to why he was acting in such a way. While the Killing Games had given her an aversion to confrontation, the detective also knew that she would not be able to get answers from him any other way. Therefore, she had waited for him to make the first move. It seemed he was about to do so.

Coming to one of the conference rooms, Kyouko strode over to the large wall-length window opposite the door, staring out at the land. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted him slip through the door and sighed. "Are you going to continue following me silently?" she called, not turning to him.

He made no comment about the fact that she had known he was following her. She knew that something akin to 'as expected of the Ultimate Detective' was going through his mind along with whatever he finally wanted to confront her about. Slowly turning, she pinned him in her gaze and waited.

Kyousuke glared at this woman, this woman who had defied all odds against her, not by luck as Makoto Naegi had, but by her analytical ability and talent. And that infuriated him. She should be dead. She had defied her NG code, which meant she should have been one of the corpses retrieved from the underwater Killing facility. Instead, here she stood, healthy and pale in comparison to the veiny purple her skin should have been. It was outrageous that one person could have such unbelievable chances against death and still survive. Even Junko Enoshima had eventually succumbed to death, regardless of the damage she had already caused and how many followers she had acquired.

Not Kyouko Kirigiri, though. She refused to die, refused to stay down, to allow her life to finally end, even if it meant furthering the life of someone else. Juzo and Chisa were both dead, killed off by the Final Killing Game that Tengan had set up. Kyouko Kirigiri was supposed to be one of those casualties and the fact that she stood before him, the ever-present blank yet somehow smug expression on her face, made him wish he had gone after her instead of Makoto Naegi. Knowing that the detective wouldn't speak until he did, or even move, Kyousuke grit his teeth.

"You should be dead." He snarled, his good eye glaring at her.

Kyouko simply waited for him to continue. Technically, if she should have been dead, she would have been dead. That's as simple as that. However, saying such could cause Munakata to attack before his full motive was revealed to her. Refraining from using her sharp tongue, Kyouko kept her eyes trained on the man before her.

"Your life was meant to be sacrificed to further Makoto Naegi's hope, and yet, here you stand, completely alive when the rest of us lost so many down in that prison." Kyousuke saw no reaction to his words and his fists clenched, wondering if this woman even knew how much he had lost in that underground hell.

My death was meant for Makoto to finally succumb to despair. Kyouko thought, not bothering to correct Munakata on his misinterpretation. That was the point of everyone's death. But I had a job to do, and I needed to do it. Coming back to herself as Munakata began speaking again, Kyouko blinked at him.

"Chisa Yukizome and Juzo Sakakura were my best friends." Kyousuke snarled, gripping the handle of one of the swords that had not left his side since they had escaped. "We went to school together, we vowed to change Hope's Peak into a wonderful place for both talent and non-talent students. Thanks to Junko Enoshima, that dream was crushed, but at least we still had each other. And then the Final Killing Game was initiated…" Kyousuke closed his eyes, remembering his dear friends, the knife in Chisa's chest, the smile on Juzo's face… he would hold them dear for as long as he lived. Turning his good eye to the purplette, he snapped, "They died for the cause, but you stand before me, unfazed by anything that went on down in that hell. You don't even care that Seiko or Bandai or even Gozu died. All you care about is that you got to live and have your life with Makoto Naegi and your friends."

Kyouko's eye twitched just slightly, not enough for Munakata to catch it, though. He was accusing her of such false things. Of course she cared about Seiko, Bandai, Gozu and Kizakura. She even cared about Miaya, but more than anything, she had a reason to live, a promise to fulfill. Looking down to her gloved right hand, she remembered black painted nails and red eyes that had closed in final defeat. Even now, months later, she could feel the weight of the key in her hand, the warmth of the soft skin through her leather gloves. She cared about those who had died (barring a select few who had made it their mission to kill her), but she also knew that if there was a way to prevent her own death, her promise dictated she use it.

And she refused to allow this angsty, emotionally unstable, axe-crazy 'leader' to continue getting that fact incorrect.

"You're wrong." She stated simply.

Kyousuke's eye widened at this, rage boiling in his stomach. How could he be? Here she stood while his best friends were dead, their funerals being planned as they spoke. "How do you come to that conclusion?"

"Because you know nothing about me." Kyouko responded calmly, her eyes pinning him in place, their increased intensity the only sign that she was becoming very upset by the conversation. "You know nothing of what I have gone through and what I have also sacrificed for those around me. I don't stay alive for Makoto's sake. Though he would be devastated at my death, I know Byakuya would keep his head on his shoulders. I have my own weight to bear and I don't need you trying to give me yours to relieve your own burden."

Kyousuke's fist clenched furiously, his body shaking as the woman opposite him crossed her arms challengingly. "How could you possibly say that?" he snarled, finally raising his voice. "How can you say that when you are still surrounded by friends? When you still have support? My closest friends are dead!"

Lavender eyes finally narrowed, even if only slightly, as Kyouko snapped, "The death of one of your friends could have been prevented had you listened to reason, but you refused and turned on him. The death of the other involves circumstances I am unaware of, though. You are without friends due to your choice not to trust those by your side and stay with them. You are not a martyr, nor are you the only victim of what has transpired. I have suffered just as you have-."

"Don't." Kyousuke growled, removing his swords from his sides and dropping them to the side. "Don't you dare compare your friends' deaths in Hope's Peak Academy to my pain!" Rushing forward, he sent a blow for Kyouko's head. "You know nothing of my pain!"

"I know more than you think." Kyouko responded, ducking the first punch and dodging the next. Dodging punches was certainly easier than dodging a chair, and there was no Ryouta around to sprain her ankle, so she was able to move more freely. She would not allow this to happen. She needed to get out.

"You know NOTHING!" Kyousuke shouted, swiping sideways and grasping the pale throat of his adversary. Kyouko gasped slightly as his hand closed around her neck, her hands immediately lifting to attempt pulling his hand free. Kyousuke watched her struggle for a moment, lifting her from the ground to lower her chances of getting free.

"You will die." He stated, chillingly calm. "Just as Juzo and Chisa did."

A lavender boot shot forward, nailing the ex-student council leader in his ribs. Grunting, Kyousuke glared at the purple-haired woman, his grip loosening slightly. Raising his fist, the whitette slammed a hard blow to Kirigiri's cheek, whipping her head to the side. Coughing harshly, Kyouko glared at him, still struggling for breath.

"I won't let my friends die for nothing." Kyousuke snarled, slamming the struggling woman against the window of the back wall. Kyouko felt the glass crack beneath her jacket and a chill shuddered down her spine at the memory that they were on the third story floor. Her gloves changed initiative instantly, clutching at Munakata's arm instead of pulling at his fingers. He seemed not to notice, his one good eye trained solely on her.

"If they had to die for my hope, then so should you for Makoto Naegi." Pulling back once more, Kyousuke sent another blow to the detective's head, further cracking the glass behind her. The breakage was far more noticeable now, Kyouko was sure, but Munakata had no intention of letting her go, even if it meant property damage to his beloved building. Another punch to her head made the violette's vision go fuzzy as a faint ringing sounded in her ears.

The next punch smacked her head into the window and shattered the glass. With nothing against her back to protect her from the ground below, Kyouko clutched tightly to Munakata's arm, lavender eyes staring into his golden one. Easily pushing the weakened woman backward, Kyousuke suspended her above the ground, her boots hanging in the air above the front walk. Now, Kyouko was truly starting to panic. There was no way she could get out of this without attaining serious injury.

Mustering up what breath she had now that Munakata was holding her as a means of subduing her rather than strangling her, Kyouko stared into the one eye glaring at her and said, "You are always saying we don't know what hope is. Tell me, can someone so absorbed in despair really understand hope himself?"

Kyousuke bared his teeth in rage at the comment, glaring into the lavender eyes that watched him challengingly. Did she seriously believe he wouldn't drop her? No, Kyouko Kirigiri was too intelligent and observative to think such a thing. But the look in her eyes did not waver, she did not fear for herself right now. Is that what Juzo and Chisa had looked like? Had they not been afraid of death? Closing his eye for a moment, Kyousuke grit his teeth before making up his mind.

He opened his hand.


I know what you're thinking. If you've read Mute, I'm not going to make you cry any more. Still, I hope you enjoyed this and leave a review.