"Hey, wake up."
A man with pale white hair and wide gray eyes peered down from the top bunk of the bed. His white t-shirt had a twisted red insignia on it, and was rumpled from having being slept on.
"Nghhhhh..."
A tired girl's voice sounded from the lower bunk.
"Monaca, there's no time to waste. You should really get up."
The man sat up in bed and started walking down the creaky, wooden ladder, his messy hair bobbing with every step. After reaching the bottom, he reached over to the girl sleeping on the bottom bed. She had neat, green hair, surprisingly preserved through her slumber, and a small face with metallic green eyes. She was wearing a yellow nightgown, with a single green star on the front. The man grabbed her side and began shaking the girl awake.
"Nooo- Monaca- wants- to sleep-"
Monaca began tossing herself about in a fit, attempting to free herself. However, the man didn't budge, and he continued to shake her.
"Monaca, we've went over this. In order to be Ultimate Despair, you have to experience Ultimate Despair. And that includes waking up early."
Monaca, getting increasingly fed up with the man's antics, began yelling.
"Grrr... Servant! Stop- shaking- Monaca- right- now!"
"I'm not your servant anymore, remember? I saved you, so now we're even. To you, I'm simply Nagito Komaeda. Someone who wants to help you realize your Despair..."
"Go away, Monaca's tired..."
Monaca grumbled and rolled over in bed, neglecting to move, stiffening to a stone whenever Nagito tried to move her. After a couple seconds, Nagito gave a deep sigh and walked towards the kitchen counter.
"Well... Looks like I'll have to threaten you again..."
He opened a drawer, pulled out a sharp, silver knife, and stepped back towards the bed. Monaca, catching on, let out an angry sigh.
"And who knows? With my luck, I'll probably drop the knife in my hand and slit your throat... We don't want that, do we..."
Before letting him get any closer, Monaca turned around and started to pull herself out of bed.
"Grr, fine..."
Nagito smiled, and started walking into the kitchen.
"Good, good... Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes."
Monaca walked over to the bathroom, as Nagito began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, looking high and low for-
"OW!"
Monaca stopped, startled, as one of the frying pans from the top cabinet fell out and hit Nagito directly on the head. He began rubbing his head as he looked towards the pan.
"That hurt... Hey! I was looking for that!"
He quickly snatched up the pan, grabbed some things from the fridge, and began cooking, as Monaca entered the bathroom.
The building they were in was simple and dull, a deep gray covering the walls. It consisted of one large room, save the bathroom. The kitchen was minimal, with a small, square dining table in the center and two chairs. There wasn't nearly enough counter space; there was barely enough room to fit the fridge, sink, and stove.
The living room was small as well. In order to conserve space, Nagito opted for bunk beds, sitting on one side of the room. The heavy brown drapes were closed at all times, and the single, flickering lightbulb gave the room an air of hopelessness. In the center of the wooden floor was a somewhat large Monokuma face rug, positioned facing the small television in the room. Next to the television was a tall stack of videotapes, and above them, was a colorful poster of Junko Enoshima during her modeling days.
On the other side stood an authentic, immobile Monokuma robot, salvaged from Towa City before Monaca was defeated and the Future Foundation took over. The Foundation was now roaming the streets, looking to capture any Remnant of Despair they could find. Nagito was pretty lucky he was able to bring Monaca here without being detected. And he was also lucky that a week has passed and the room hasn't been investigated.
Nagito knocked quietly on the bathroom after placing breakfast on the table.
"Breakfast time, Monaca."
Nagito then sat down in front of his plate, and after a minute, Monaca came out of the bathroom, in her usual black dress, and sat down as well. On the table sat two simple, rounded plates, with an egg on each of them, sunny side up.
Monaca looked at the plate, and then looked at Nagito, somewhat confused.
"Eggs?"
"Yeah, a bit lavish for our situation, right? We're running out of food, so I decided to cook these eggs we had here. I'll have to leave the hideout to restock in a couple days. It'll be dangerous, with all the Future Foundation men outside... Anyways, I've never cooked eggs before, so let me know how it tastes!"
Monaca gave Nagito a slightly disgusted look, which sparked something in his mind. His face lit up, and he raised his right pointer finger.
"Oh, right! I forgot! You can't have eggs without these."
Nagito got up and grabbed two shakers from the counter - one white salt shaker, and one black pepper shaker. He set them on the table, much closer to Monaca than to himself, and gave Monaca an ominous smile.
After a couple seconds, Nagito's expression did not change, and Monaca gave him a glare. She picked up her fork and knife and began to cut up her egg, but before she got the chance, Nagito spoke up.
"Don't you wanna... season that egg?"
"No? Monaca likes her eggs plain."
Nagito, with his smile still plastered on his face, continued to speak in an eerie tone.
"Are you sure?"
He then inched the two shakers even closer to Monaca.
Monaca gave Nagito a pleading look, but once she realized that smile wasn't going anywhere, she turned her attention to the shakers.
Monaca slowly picked up the pepper shaker, and shook it once over her egg, sprinkling black flakes over the yolk. She then looked back at Nagito, who was still displaying the same smile. Monaca gave him an unfazed look as she shook the pepper shaker again, and continued to shake it until the egg was almost pitch black.
At that point, Nagito finally decided to speak.
"Good job, Monaca. You're catching on pretty quickly."
He then waved his hands in the air, his gray eyes swirling.
"The egg is a metaphor for you, and you chose to season yourself with Despair."
Monaca sighed, giving him a jaded look as she sliced up her egg and put a heavily peppered piece into her mouth.
"Hmpf. Monaca doesn't wanna hear it, Servant."
"I know, I know. I'm just glad you didn't choose the salt. Because it was actually arsenic."
Monaca swallowed what she was chewing, and she gave Nagito another disgusted look.
"Why do you do this to Monaca? Monaca doesn't want to die."
"I don't want that either. But I have to make sure the one who succeeds her... is the one who can engulf the world in a much larger Despair than she did... And maybe then, the world will respond with an even greater Hope! Hahahahaaaa!"
Nagito's eyes swirled with passion, as he began convulsively laughing. Monaca couldn't help but sigh and continue eating.
"Whose side are you on anyways..."
"Your side. Anyways, I'm taking a shower. Finish your breakfast."
Nagito got up, leaving his egg untouched, and walked into the bathroom, leaving Monaca attempting to eat the unreasonably seasoned egg. She slowly chewed it, repulsed by the taste.
Suddenly, Monaca heard the shower turn on, as a somewhat erotic scream came from the bathroom. She jumped in her seat, swallowing the egg she was chewing.
"AAAAAAGH... So... Cold..."
Monaca rolled her eyes.
"Every time..."
Monaca shrugged, and walked over to the garbage can. She covertly swept the pepper off the egg with her knife, and ate the rest quickly before Nagito was finished showering. After putting her dishes in the sink, she sat back down at the table and waited.
"Ahhh, the feeling of warmth after a cold shower..."
Nagito emerged from the bathroom, wearing the same clothes, casually rubbing his white towel over his hair. Monaca turned towards him and gave him a confused look.
"But it's too cold."
"Ah, but the colder the shower, the warmer you feel afterwards. Who wants to have to look forward to being cold?"
Monaca rolled her eyes and shrugged again, knowing better than to argue with someone so oblivious, while Nagito got back in his seat and began eating his now cold egg. After a couple bites, he spoke to her, still chewing.
"Monaca, it's video time now. Go get the TV ready."
Monaca nodded her head, finally displaying some sort of smile. She got up from her seat and began walking over to the round Monokuma head carpet in the center of the room.
She stopped before she set foot on the carpet, and a mischievous expression appeared on her face. Monaca looked at Nagito, who was watching her intently, and slowly crept her left foot towards the white section of the Monokuma rug.
Nagito's expression didn't change. His face wasn't displaying his typical cheerful delusion. He looked more serious, even though there was no emotion in his face. He continued eating his now-cold egg, surprisingly unfazed by the fact that she was about to choose something that correlated with Hope.
Monaca's left toe inched closer and closer to the rug, almost grazing the surface. She pretended to step on the carpet, moving her leg slightly, taunting Nagito. Yet, he didn't budge. Monaca eventually sighed out of boredom, bringing her leg over to the black section.
"You're no fun..."
She took two steps in and plopped down, her green hair bouncing like springs, her legs forming a pretzel.
"Knowing you, there's probably a trap hole over there..."
Nagito finally chuckled as he finished his egg, shaking his head lightly.
"Well, it wouldn't be any fun if I told you now, would it?"
Nagito put his dishes away and grabbed the black coat that was hanging on his chair. He slipped it on as he walked towards the television. Nagito knelt down smoothly and grabbed the videotape on top of the stack. After putting it in the video player and turning on the tv, he took two steps back and sat down next to Monaca, albeit off the rug.
The video began with black and white static, and not long after a picture appeared. It seemed to be of a catwalk, and a lone woman was walking on it... It was none other than Junko Enoshima.
She was at the height of her modelling career. She was wearing a glamorous leopard fur jacket, with huge pink sunglasses and tight white jeans. Her hair was natural and combed, sliding down her back in golden long strands. Millions of lights were shining on her from the catwalk. And as Junko posed, even more lights flashed in the crowd, the paparazzi's pictures almost like fireworks. They were standing so close to each other that they could barely move, wanting to get as close to the idol as possible.
Nagito clenched his hands into fists, an angry expression crossing his face.
"Junko Enoshima... the Ultimate Despair..."
His face then grew surprisingly light.
"Watch what she does next."
Monaca rolled her eyes and grumbled.
"Monaca knows..."
Suddenly, the lights went out for a second. Gasps could be heard in the crowd, as people shuffled around in the confusion. When the lights turned back on, everything seemed normal, until Junko looked up. Her face jolted into a look of terror, as she jumped back a few steps.
Not two seconds afterwards, the light fixtures above the crowd fell, crushing many attendees, and just barely missing Junko herself. Screams erupted from the crowd as some members tried to help those who were crushed, and others tried to push and shove their way to safety. Junko just stood there, wide-eyed, a false look of disbelief on her face. She then turned around and started running down the catwalk. Before her face left the recording's view, a slight smirk appeared on her face.
"You see that? Such Despair... Such distress... And no one even suspected her!"
Nagito's expression was a mix of passion and disgust, his swirling eyes still glued to the screen, which was displaying static again.
"As expected of the great Junko Enoshima..."
Monaca giggled near the end of the video, when Junko walked away unsuspected. Her giggling grew louder as the static crackled on the screen. Nagito looked at her, perceiving her laughter in the face of death as a sign of Despair, and nodded. He then crawled forward and selected the next video in the stack.
Monaca's giggling fit soon ended as she came to her senses. She watched as Nagito patiently removed the video and inserted the next one. Not soon after, Monaca asked him a question.
"So Monaca will have to do things like that?"
Nagito looked at her, still kneeling down in front of the tv. He gave her a genuine smile, his pale yellow hair shifting as he moved his head.
"No. You'll have to be better."
Monaca nodded her head slightly, as Nagito got back to his seat to watch the next video.
"Junko wasn't perfect. She made many mistakes. It's our job to observe them. And your job to fix them. We need to create a Despair so flawless that an equally flawless Hope must arise to defeat it..."
Monaca tuned Nagito's ramblings out yet again and focused on the next video, which took place in an airport.
Junko Enoshima emerged from a large, silver plane and walked off, surrounded by bodyguards. A red carpet was laid out to greet her, and theater-like stanchions were lined on the sides of the carpet to prevent the press from getting through. They were entirely necessary - the crowd was practically pushing each other out of the way in order to get a closer look. Junko was waving to them as she passed, the cameras flashing constantly. She was wearing her classic black top and short red skirt.
The scene seemed almost normal, until a huge explosion appeared behind everyone, taking the plane up in smoke. Junko jumped and looked behind her, and the crowd's eyes widened, stirred by the noise. They hurriedly-
KNOCK KNOCK
Monaca bounced in her seat, startled by the knocking. It sounded a lot closer than what was happening in the video.
"Wh-what?"
Nagito got up quickly and looked around, his hoodie swaying. He was clearly surprised, displaying a rare panicked expression.
KNOCK KNOCK
Monaca turned over to Nagito, partly scared, but mostly confused.
"Open up! This is the Future Foundation!"
The knocking transitioned into a banging. The creaky wooden door wouldn't last much longer under this type of pressure.
Nagito's eyes widened, and then he jolted around towards Monaca. Even now, Nagito's liveliness showed through, giving Monaca another smile.
"Oh no, what terrible luck! They've found us already!"
Monaca got up quickly and looked around. The sounds of breaking and splintering wood could be heard from the door. The room jumped in time with the sound, causing both the salt and pepper shakers to be thrust off the table, spilling their contents onto the floor. Yet, Nagito wasn't doing anything to stop the Future Foundation from entering the building. Monaca could only tilt her head.
"Soooo, what're we gonna do?"
Nagito chuckled lightly to himself, prompting for Monaca to walk off the Monokuma carpet. After she did, he knelt down near the white section and grabbed the edge of the carpet.
"Luckily for me, I built this just in case."
Nagito flipped the carpet up, revealing what looked like regular flooring. However, there was a lone piece of rope lying on the ground. Nagito grabbed it and pulled it upwards, a square part of the floor rising with it, revealing a dark hole and an old, wooden ladder to walk down. Monaca let out an impromptu smile, which caused Nagito to give her an even bigger smile, despite the constant cracking of the door a few feet away from them.
"Monaca was right!"
"No, silly. It's more than a trap hole. It's a secret passage."
Nagito motioned for Monaca to enter first, and she did, grabbing the ladder tightly as she stepped down as fast as she could. Nagito was next, looking at the door in the last seconds of its life to ensure the Future Foundation didn't discover the passageway. Before he closed the trap door, he pulled the rug back over it to hide it again. The ladder became shrouded in darkness, just as Monaca reached the bottom. She barely moved, as it was dark enough that getting lost was almost guaranteed, and patiently waited for Nagito to make his way down.
The door to the building busted open, wood pieces flying everywhere as light flooded into the dark, dingy room. Five men in suits, wearing black sunglasses, stepped in slowly, holding their guns upwards in anticipation of a threat. As they looked around, they saw nothing moving. The single lightbulb continued to flicker constantly, and the only sounds to be heard were the footsteps of the men's black shoes on the hardwood floor. They began searching the place for any signs of Remnants.
"Hm, nothin..."
One of the men stomped on the floor hard, audibly cursing.
"Damn, and I thought we had 'em..."
The men let their guards down slightly, considering the place was devoid of life. Not soon after, something stirred next to the television. The disabled Monokuma robot's eyes lit up a bright red as it sprung to life, raising its arms dramatically.
"Thrills, Chills, Kills!"
The robot yelled as claws shot out from its paws. It began running towards the intruders, who were aghast at the sight of something actually dangerous in this room. They hurriedly readied their guns and shot at the robot, blasting off round after round, the room roaring with bullets.
However, they had no effect on the robot. The bullets just bounced off, doing no damage to its pristine black and white shell. The Monokuma was crossing the carpet, rearing its claws back to attack the men.
Nagito stepped down off the ladder and onto the cold, hard stone floor of the secret passageway. Without thinking, he reached down next to the ladder and picked up something. He turned a knob, and the whole area was washed in an orange-yellow light. Monaca's face lit up at the sight, her eyes widening and her open mouth transitioning into a smile.
Nagito held the lantern outwards, shining the light in the direction of the passageway. The cave seemed to extend endlessly, and there was no sign of what was at the end. Yet, Nagito began walking, and Monaca hurried after him, not wanting to fall behind in the darkness.
"That was close. If the new Ultimate Despair was caught so easily by the Future Foundation, Hope would never grow, which is truly Despairful."
Monaca sighed again at Nagito's cryptic logic, knowing better than to contest his delusion. After looking at Monaca for a second, Nagito spoke up once more.
"The Monokuma robot should be able to deal with them. It turns on in the presence of strangers."
Monaca nodded her head with conviction, "Monaca knows, Monaca built that robot."
"Right, right. Maybe you should have built us more."
Nagito grinned, taunting an increasingly furious Monaca as they continued walking.
"Monaca- did!- But- someone- had to- destroy them!"
Monaca threw her arms in a fit, and Nagito could only chuckle.
"Whoa, quiet down, Monaca. They might hear us. You don't want that, do you?"
Monaca instantly lowered her voice and covered her mouth with her hands, eyes getting wider. But upon realizing that Nagito was toying with her again, she gave him an angry look.
"Monaca hates you..." she said through her fingers. She looked away from him, while still managing to keep up with the lantern's slowly dimming golden light.
After that, the cave fell silent, save the quick, sharp footsteps of the two escapees. The sound echoed through the passageway, compounded by the constant dripping of water from the damp, rocky ceiling. A few long seconds passed, with Nagito leading the way, and Monaca following. She was still mad, but her expression eased into one of confusion after a while.
"But... Monaca also... doesn't..."
Nagito looked down at her and gave her a genuine smile, but Monaca continued to look away, clearly distraught by her emotions.
Suddenly, a large blue energy blast buzzed across the room, hitting the Monokuma directly. The electricity surged around the robot, as it convulsively fell on the floor and began speaking again.
"Why, you little-"
Not long afterwards, the robot exploded in a puff of smoke, causing everything in the room to rattle. The men dove down and away from the robot to avoid the blow, which luckily for them, wasn't that large. Within a second it was over, and the intruders started coughing from all the smoke, escaping with only minor bruises.
They took a couple seconds to recuperate, and then they turned towards the door and the figure that saved them.
The man standing there was tall, and had a rounded head of yellow hair. He was sporting his usual black suit and green chestpiece, and a brown pair of glasses framed his face. He was still holding his gun out, pointing towards the Monokuma, unmoving.
It was Byakuya Togami, who was controlling the Future Foundation troops in Towa City.
"Mr. Togami, sir!" one of the men said, standing upright quickly. "We've searched the room and found nothing!"
Another man joined in, saluting Byakuya Togami as well.
"Yeah, they're not here. We better hurry and search somewhere else, before they find a way to leave the city."
Byakuya could only scowl at them, turning way.
"Tch. And I thought you all were competent..."
The men, stunned by Byakuya's bluntness, remained motionless. After a couple seconds, one of them decided to speak up.
"B-but sir!"
"Didn't you hear that?" Byakuya glared at them. They turned around and looked amongst themselves, all with very confused expressions on their faces.
"S-sir, hear what?"
"Something unusual near the center of the room. Two pieces of wood slamming against each other."
Byakuya began walking towards the Monokuma carpet, which was covered in black due to the explosion from earlier.
"There's nothing in that area of the room that could have made that sound. Unless..."
Byakuya bent down and thrust the carpet away, revealing the wooden floor underneath. He felt around, and upon finding the rope, pulled on it, opening the door to the passageway.
The men all looked at Byakuya with admiration, however Byakuya's face repaid them with disgust. He shook his head softly, and then spoke up.
"Well, carry on. We've got no time to lose."
The men, nodding to themselves, quickly formed a line and began climbing down the ladder, turning on the flashlights they carried with them. Byakuya entered last, finally deciding to smirk at his discovery.
"Monaca, I know how you feel. Feeling both love and hatred for someone... That's how I feel about Junko. She caused so much Despair... But she was able to foster such a powerful Hope in Makoto Naegi! So I can't completely hate her..."
Monaca turned towards Nagito during his speech. He continued to look forward, displaying another honest smile. Monaca looked a bit unsettled at the mention of 'Naegi', but she continued to listen.
"Emotions are inconsistent. Emotions can change, and fluctuate based on experiences. After a while, I realized that they don't mean anything. There are only two things that are concrete in this world: Hope, and Despair. I know that as long as I'm walking down the path of Hope, I'm helping to create a better world for everyone else. And that's all I need."
Monaca nodded her head slowly, seemingly understanding Nagito. Then, suddenly, Nagito turned towards her, his eyes wide open, stopping in his tracks. Monaca was forced to stop short as well.
"Let go of your emotions! You can't depend on them. Depend on Despair. Let it take you over. Let Despair be your one source of truth! Let-"
Nagito's eyes began swirling a dull gray again, before he instinctively stopped himself. He shook his head quickly, snapping out of his self-induced trance.
"Oh, sorry about that. I shouldn't take it too far right now. Especially in this situa-"
"Over there!"
Nagito turned backwards, and saw the faint light of a flashlight. The sound of rushing footsteps filled the cave and echoed down the path. Nagito flashed the lantern forward, and unfortunately revealed a dead end. He then panicked, looking around quickly in the hopes of finding something that would save them. His eyes instantly rested on a small boulder to the side of the cave.
Nagito shoved Monaca in that direction, pushing her behind the boulder. Monaca instinctively screamed, but she silenced herself quickly, remembering the situation. She fell on her butt, her back hitting the wall of the cave hard. Nagito then turned off the lantern and tossed it towards Monaca, landing it against her stomach but taking the breath out of her in the process. Monaca looked very annoyed, but her emotions were the least of her concerns right now.
The Future Foundation men approached Nagito with their flashlights, shining their lights on him. He was simply standing there, his hands raised in the air, giving them a regular smile, almost as if this didn't bother him at all.
"Oh, what terrible luck, to be caught red handed at the end of a tunnel with no one to help me."
One of the men began walking forward slowly, pulling his handcuffs out.
"You can say that again."
"Oh, what terrible-"
"D-don't. Actually."
The man interrupted Nagito and gave him an annoyed look as he snapped the handcuffs over his hands and started shoving him towards the tunnel's exit. The man shot a thumbs-up in the air, so that Byakuya Togami could see it from his lookout position about a hundred feet away.
"Welp, we got 'em. Let's move."
The other men shined their lights down the path, and upon seeing it was a dead end, didn't move any further. The boulder conveniently diverted any light away from Monaca, hiding her from their view. The five of them began walking back towards Byakuya and the tunnel exit.
"The Future Foundation must be strong, discovering my secret passageway. I thought I hid it pretty well..."
"Nothin' gets past Mr. Togami. He accounts for everything."
"Yeah, he's got backup plans for his backup plans."
"As expected of the Ultimate Affluent Progeny."
After Nagito spoke, none of the men responded. They were too close to Byakuya at this point. Nagito got a good look at Byakuya's determined face before he turned around and led the way out.
"So it looks like in the end, Hope won today. And that's exactly what I wanted!"
One of the men gave Nagito a confused look, "Quit blabberin' nonsense."
"This isn't nonsense. I'm on your side! I too want Hope to grow, and by finding and capturing all the Remnants of Despair, maybe your Hope will grow stronger! Don't you see? I'm helping you!"
Nagito began convulsing again, his gray eyes getting more animated by the second. He started maniacally laughing, as his captor struggled to shove him in the right direction. The man eventually decided to toss Nagito over his shoulder.
"HAHAHAHAAA!"
The six of them made their way up the ladder, with Nagito still laughing uncontrollably. As they began walking out of the building, the men struck up conversation again.
"So that's one more down... How many are there left here?"
"Um... Over here? I think it's just the one. Monaca Towa."
"Yeah. That Naegi girl shoulda just killed her. One less threat to worry 'bout..."
Byakuya turned behind him and gave them a glare, instantly silencing the lot of them. They continued their walk without speaking.
Nagito continued to laugh loudly, almost as if he was mocking them.
After spending a minute in complete silence, Monaca Towa raised the lantern she was holding and turned the knob to activate it. The cave walls were instantly basked in golden light.
Monaca stood up and started walking back down the path towards the exit. It was unnaturally quiet in the tunnel, as only a single set of footsteps could be heard. Monaca let out a sigh, but continued walking.
She made her way up the creaky ladder and up back into the room she spent the past week in. After repositioning the Monokuma rug, which was dusted with ash from the explosion, she stepped back a few feet. The room looked different somehow, and it wasn't just the natural lighting coming from the doorhole.
Bullet holes were everywhere. The explosion's imprint could be seen across the walls and bed. The kitchen was a complete mess. And, not to mention the wood from the door was spread out across the room.
Monaca let out another sigh, much deeper than before. She slowly made her way over towards the television and knelt down next to the pile of videos. She picked one up, and read the title, written in Nagito's handwriting.
"Junko brainwashes High School Students"
Monaca stared at the caption for a while, clearly deep in thought. After a couple minutes, Monaca gripped the video tightly, reached over to the television, and inserted it into the video player.
After pressing play, Monaca sat back down on the carpet, ready to watch the video, as if nothing had ever happened.
A/N
Thanks for reading! I've written some other pieces, but I'm focusing on oneshots now. This is my first time trying third person limited, so I hope you liked it.
Until next time!
