That video haunted Sayaka Maizono several hours after all her class mates were forced to watch their "motive video," and she'd seen a lot of things in her idol career. Suspicious gifts from fans, obsessive stalking, strange red stains on letters, the works. But they paled in comparison to the sheer horror she saw her idol group go through.
It took every ounce of strength she had not to vomit on the monitor.
She had switched rooms with Makoto Naegi, a kind, innocent, and naive classmate who didn't deserve to be framed for murder. But she needed to get out of here. She needed to go see her idol group. And she was willing to do anything. It was one life for all the others, right? If she escaped, she could rally a group of people to break the rest of her class out. Two lives sacrificed, and many other lives saved.
Walking out the door "her" room, Maizono quietly removed her and Naegi's nameplate. Then she switched them, making sure the glue was still sticky enough to stay on the door. Hopefully, Naegi didn't need to go out anymore. Or he was oblivious to his new nameplate. Putting on a calm, cheerful face, Maizono made her way to the kitchen. Two people were already there, making cookies. They were Asahina and Oogami, if her memory was correct.
"Maizono! Hi! Do you want to make doughnuts with us?" Asahina greeted.
"I'm just thirsty," she chirped back. "I'm going to go to sleep soon, it's been a long day."
"What? That's crazy! No one can be too tired to make doughnuts!"
"Asahina, we've all had a jarring day. Maizono may benefit most from resting," Oogami said.
"I appreciate the offer though!" She took a long gulp of water, waiting until both girls were occupied again with the dough. Slowly, she pulled out the second largest knife from a rack on the wall. It gleamed under the bright kitchen lights, the edge so fine the steel blade almost disappeared when she turned it sideways. She tucked it into her skirt, careful to not poke her own flesh. Maizono bid Asahina and Oogami goodnight in the sweetest voice possible.
As she was leaving the dining hall, she heard Asahina say, "She's such a nice person for such a big celebrity! I hope we can hang out while we're stuck in here." She felt a pang of guilt. All of this sweetness, the niceness, the high-pitched chirpy voice she used, was fake fake fake.
What a fraud she was.
Inside her head, a tiny voice nagged her to rethink her choice. Do you know what could happen if you're found out? This isn't right, Sayaka Maizono. An idol is supposed to be a role model. Idols don't kill.
"Shut up," she muttered to herself. If she "graduated," she could see her idol group again. It was for the best, even if it cost Naegi and a victim. She searched "her" room for a piece of paper and a pen. As she thought more about her plan, she remembered the boy with the red hair back in the gym where they had all congregated.
"Man, I hate being a baseball player," he had said. "I wanna be known as Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Rockstar!" Then he had pestered her for tips on the music industry. Unfortunately for Kuwata, his dream was his ultimate weakness.
She gripped the pen tightly as she wrote a note to him. Her head was filled with conflicting emotions as the words spread across the paper. Even now, she still wasn't sure if she wanted to do this.
It's now or never.
The letter was held tightly to her chest. Slowly, she slid her note under Kuwata's door. Loud music was just barely heard through the walls, along with a terrible voice-was that him singing? If things had been different, she would have broken down his door and given him a lecture on how to use his diaphragm correctly. The idol almost managed to laugh at the thought of it.
With Kuwata being distracted by his rock music, it would take him a while to notice her note. Maizono went back to the room, nervously twiddling her fingers. The knife was still in her skirt, and although her body was warm the knife still felt ice-cold. The plan was quick and simple. Engage Kuwata in a conversation, draw out the knife, and stab him while he's distracted by her lies. Talk, draw, stab. She was also much stronger than she looked, thanks to the rigorous training she received when preparing for her shows. If needed, she could hold him down for a few seconds, enough time to kill him.
Clean up would be much harder, especially if she sliced through his arteries.
Several minutes passed until a knock was heard. She practically jumped off the bed, a smile slapped on her face in an instant.
"Yo, Kuwata here. Leon Kuwata? I hope this is Sayaka...Maizono's room? Are you in there?"
Maizono threw the door open. "Hi, Kuwata! I've been waiting for you!"
"What's up? I've never had a celebrity ask me to like, talk with them. Sorry, this is just so cool! Am I being weird right now? Sorry!"
"You're fine! Come in! It's something really important."
Kuwata stepped in the room. Maizono ran her fingers over the handle, making sure it looked like she was casually placing her hand on her hip insted of preparing for murder.
"I heard you wanted to go into music," she started. His eyes lit up. Hooked.
"Um, yeah, I do," he laughed nervously. "But I'm just a baseball player. You're like, born into music. I don't have any training, unless the shower counts."
"Ha!" An actual laugh escaped her, which made her feel even worse. "Well, I was just going to offer to help teach you the basics of music. Maybe we can start a rock band when you're good enough."
"What?!" he cried. "A band? An actual band? With like, me in it?"
"Yep!"
"Holy crap, Maizono! Dude, you're the best person in the world!" he shouted. "Is this really happening? Oh God, this is just...wow!" His mouth stretched so wide, and his smile was so genuinely happy, Maizono had to close her eyes for the next step of her plan.
Swift as a fox, Maizono drew the knife. She lunged for his chest, but Kuwata wasn't rusty even after slacking off from his baseball practice. He just barely dodged the blade and fell to the floor.
"I need to see them again! I need to know that they're safe!" Maizono threw herself on top of him, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, but I need to do this!"
"Maizono!" He pushed her off before she could plunge the knife into his body. "What the fuck?"
"My group, I have to see them again!"
"Wait!" He deflected her swipes with the first object he could grab, a pole. "Stop, Maizono!"
But she couldn't. Her primal instincts, along with a flood of adrenaline, removed every mental restraint she had on her body. Am I even in control of my own body anymore? Am I even human anymore?
Kuwata made his first attack, bringing the metal pole down on her wrist. She screamed in pain and clutched it, still holding the knife, but the pain was enough to shock her out of her frenzied state. In a split second of reasoning, she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"Maizono!"
Maizono sat on the bathroom floor, gripping the knife in the other hand like it was her only hope. His strong arms had shattered the bones in her wrist with a single blow. She couldn't hold him down with two hands, and now she definitely didn't have a chance against him now. A pop idol with a broken wrist versus an all-star baseball player. It was clear who would be the dead one tonight. Which meant she only had seconds to live before he would punch down the door and kill her.
The doorknob jiggled violently, reminding her of what a death rattle sounded like. Would her life end pitifully, in a high school bathroom, covered in tears and blood, regret the last emotion she would ever feel? Such an ugly death for one of Japan's most influential celebrities.
How would Naegi feel? He trusted me, and I took that trust, twisted it, stomped on it.
I'm such a horrible person.
My group is probably dead anyways. But the only difference is, they'll be in Heaven.
Maybe I do deserve to die like this.
BANGBANGBANG
"No, please," she whimpered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kuwata! Forgive me!"
With a powerful yank and a kick, Leon broke the knob. It hit the floor with a resounding clang. The idol stared at the tall, muscular athlete that cast a shadow over her small, cowering form. Maizono screamed and waved the knife in front of her in a pitiful last resort against him. Kuwata grabbed her flailing wrist with such force and intensity, he might have crushed it if he had squeezed a little harder. Using his other hand, he yanked the weapon out of her loosened hold on it.
"I surrender! Please, let me die quickly! I'm sorry!" She shielded her red face with her free arm. "I'm sorry for everything, Kuwata! Naegi!"
"Maizono!" His hands gripped her shoulders, and in a voice that was surprisingly soft and gentle, said, "I'm not going to kill you."
Her arm was still held over her face. Kuwata took it and lowered it so his eyes looked straight at her.
"Calm down and tell me what you saw in the video. I'll listen to you, and I promise I won't hurt you."
"I can't live like this. I can't live without them. I need to see them. They're in danger."
"Your idol group?"
She nodded silently.
Kuwata suddenly embraced her, his arms tight but not suffocating around her body. A wave of emotions swept over her as she felt the warmth of his body against hers. Great heaving sobs filled the room, louder than any song she performed on stage.
"Why? Why are they being tortured? They did nothing wrong. What did we do to deserve this?"
"Shh..." he whispered. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get out of here alive, and you can see them again. We'll beat whoever's controlling Monokuma's ass to hell." He ran his fingers through her blue hair, not caring about the dampness of his shirt as her tears soaked into the cloth.
The two sat silently in the bathroom, until Maizono exhausted herself into a deep sleep. Kuwata carried her delicate body to the bed, gently tucking her in under the blankets. When it looked like she was going to sleep through the night comfortably, he quietly left the room and returned to his own bed.
He could only think about how things might change tomorrow morning.
The Next Morning
Maizono was the first one in the cafeteria aside from the girls baking last night. Her hand was stiff by her side. Kuwata had torn off a sleeve of his jacket for a makeshift cast earlier, when everyone was still asleep. He had still apologized for the injury, even when she tried to kill him.
"Hello early bird!" Asahina presented a tray of colorful doughnuts in front of her. "We have chocolate, blueberry, doughnut holes, and lots more! In a few minutes we should have a fresh pot of coffee!"
"I'll wait for the others before eating, thank you."
"Okay, but if those lazyheads don't get up within five minutes we're eating this whole tray!" She walked off, popping a doughnut with yellow icing into her mouth.
"Respect your classmates' sleep," Oogami's voice advised from the kitchen.
The second Maizono took a seat, Kuwata walked into the dining room. She stiffened when he noticed her sitting along and advanced towards her. He took the seat across from her.
"Good morning, Kuwata," she said softly without making eye contact. "Did you...sleep well?"
"I should be asking you that," he whispered so Asahina couldn't hear. "Feeling better?"
"I am. Kuwata, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to me last night. I understand if I have to be placed under close watch now."
"That video kinda screwed with me, too. But I know Kanon can survive anything, and your group probably can too. I'm still alive, and that's all that matters. Don't think about it anymore."
Others began entering the cafeteria. Naegi took the seat next to Maizono.
"Morning, Maizono and Kuwata. Sleep well?"
"Mhmm," they said in unison.
"Is that a bandage, Maizono? What happened?!"
"Oh, baseball," Kuwata interjected. "I asked her to practice with me and turns out, not everyone has wrists like me." He grinned like the events of last night never happened.
"Geez, no offense, but don't ask me to practice with you next time," Naegi winced. "You okay, Maizono?"
"Yep, It's nothing big," she replied with a small laugh. "Let's go get breakfast now."
Maizono and Kuwata shared a small, understanding smile before following the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Updated because I really like this ship and I wanted it to have more detail! I tried to keep Kuwata and Maizono in character as much as possible but since we saw so little of him I kind of went with my own interpretation.