Chapter Two: Mikan Tsumiki

There's water dripping down her back. Her hair is plastered against her face and grips her skin, not unlike the hand clenched around her wrist. It's fingernails are digging into her skin, and she can't do anything in her defense but whimper.

"Ahah! What a crybaby!" Tsumiki isn't even sure who it is who's laughing now; after a while, the voices of her tormentors began to sound alike. They weren't very creative and tended to echo each others' insults and names for her. She shudders and tries to pull her hand away, to hug against her chest. Her captor loosens their grip, but draws back their foot. It connects savagely with her side a moment later. Tsumiki yelps. In response, another water bottle is dumped over her.

"Why don't you crawl around like a dog, 'miki? Bark a little!"

It's three hours before she gets away from them. Her clothes are soaked, her skin is riddled by fingernail scratches, and she's never felt so low in her life. She draws her arm up against her chest and holds them against her chest, before covering her face in her hands.

She runs that way, fingers blinding her vision, the entire way back to her room. She collapses onto the bed and cries there for a long while. Tsumiki had known the moment that the group of girls appeared, twisted smiles on their faces, exactly what was going to happen and she's glad to be away.

They always wanted the strangest things. They delighted in watching her cry. Whatever made them happy. It was better than having them hate her, better than being ignored. Everything was better than being ignored. Living her life with no one ever acknowledging her being; at least they spoke to her, however mean their words! By snatching her arms, they validated her existence. Because they laughed at her crumbled form, she continued to exist. That was enough of a life for her. Like they always said, she didn't deserve any more.

It makes them happy, too. It keeps them from hating her.

"Right? Right?" Tsumiki cries to the air, before rolling over in a vain attempt at sleep.

The cycle continues. Every day people do the same things to her. At the end of each cycle of day and night, she crawls back to safety. But safety has no people, it's all loneliness, and she needs someone, anyone, and so she leaves solitude every morning.


One day, her room's solitude is broken. Tsumiki's clothes has rips in them, and her face is soaked by another day's tears. The chants of "pig" "animal" and "bitch" echo in her ears. She pushes open her door with a shaky hand, only to recoil back in fear against the far wall.

There is someone sitting on her bed. A girl.

"Tsumiki, why don't we talk?"

Tsumiki walks over, legs shaking madly the entire way, and sits on the bed next to the girl.

"Some people did more mean things to you today, didn't they?" The girl asks after a moment. Tsumiki watches as the girl's eyes look her over, before stammering out a reply.

"T-They were just having fun." Tsumiki insists, wringing her hands together.

"You must feel terrible. So very terrible. Like your insides are being twisted all around. Don't you?"

Tsumiki isn't sure what to make of this statement. But she nods.

"You're despairing, aren't you? You have such a despair filled life!"

Tsumiki nods again and adjusts her gaze on the ground. It was just another person who wanted someone to be lesser than them–

"I like you a lot, Tsumiki! You have a lot of despair!"

Tsumiki's eyes go wide. She doesn't understand and her gaze locks with the strange girl, who has a wide smile spreading on her face.

"Y-You like me?"

"We should be friends. I'm jealous of you! You get to experience so much despair. You should stay with me. The world needs more despairing people!"

The girl says more than that, but all Tsumiki hears is "I'm jealous." Someone, someone thought there was something, however tiny, that was desirable?

"I-I-I'd love to stay with you!"

Junko Enoshima smiles.


Junko is Tsumiki's first "friend." She first thinks the proposition was a joke - it's happened to her before plenty of times. But Junko show's up at her door in the morning and they go to classes together. Junko describes her despairs, Tusmiki describe hers, and she can't help but feel something warm inside her chest at the look of rapt attention her new friend has as she describes the latest things her tormentors have thought up.

Junko invites her along to a lot of things, unlike anyone else before. They see horror movies. Tsumiki watches as Junko sprays graffiti all about their shared despair on the walls. When Junko suggests they do something awful to their tormentors, a brimming, burning desire strikes her, and she has the most fun of her life.

After that event, Mikan Tsumiki is almost never seen anywhere but Junko Enoshima's side.

"J-J-Junko?"

"Yes, my favorite little despairing girl?"

The word 'favorite' makes a little blush appear on Tsumiki's face.

"You're my m-most b-b-belov- my f-f-favorite person." She manages to say. Junko gives her another one of those smiles that makes Tsumiki feel like the luckiest person in the world.

They attack a hope-filled student to celebrate.