A Dance of Trust, Lies, and Betrayal

BEEEEEEP!

An alarm rung throughout Hope's Peak Academy, signalling the end of the day. Students left and right packed up their books and started leaving the classroom, ready to enjoy their weekends in their own different ways. Makoto had just finished packing his textbook into his bag when Yasuhiro came up to him.

"Hey, you didn't forget about yesterday r-right?"

"No! Well, I am nervous about it since you didn't tell me anything, but I did promise to come"

"Woah Naegi-Chi! I can't have you be nervous about this too! Who's going to help me stay calm then?"

"Alright alright! But can you at least tell me who we're meeting?"

"Ugghh fine. It's just some girl. You really don't need to worry about this. You're not the one who owes someone."

If Makoto was in any other normal school, he wouldn't have worried. But since he's attending Hope's Peak Academy, where girls happened to be soldiers, detectives, and kendo masters, that last statement really didn't help calm his nerves. Heck, even the senpai who was shorter than him known as the SHSL Traditional Dancer scared him and her talent had nothing to do with it.

"Weeelll… that's not saying much, but I'll try." Makoto scratched the back of his neck, obviously still a little bit nervous.

"Okay! I'll see you in a bit then! Meet me at the front gates in about an hour. Later Naegi-Chi!" Yasuhiro quickly fled away from the classroom as Makoto barely waved "good-bye".

Makoto let out a sigh of relief as the final class has ended, and yet for some reason, he still feels tense. Usually, SOMETHING would have happened to him by now but for some odd twist of fate, his luck has yet to betray him today. "This can't be good…." He thought as he noticed that his day has been flawless save for his academic struggles.

As he finally stood up ready to leave the classroom, Mukuro was already waiting by the door, ready to 'escort' him back to his room. He smiled at her as he left the class and started walking beside the soldier. They continued in comfortable silence until Mukuro decided to speak up.

"Odd. Nothing's happened to you yet Naegi-Kun." She commented.

Makoto winced at her comment. "Well, I suppose even I have my lucky days. I'm honestly surprised myself that nothing's happened to me yet. Not that I want something to but it is a nice change of pace." His ahoge twitched as he spoke those words.

Mukuro turned and raised a brow. "Is that even possible?"

"Yea of course! My luck doesn't haunt me all the time" Makoto lied again, feeling guilty that Mukuro was still looking out for him.

Ever since he had received the letter of acceptance into Hope's Peak Academy as the SHSL Lucky Student, his life has been anything but lucky. While most of the time his luck only caused minor inconveniences, there were rare moments where his 'luck' would "build up" as Makoto would put it and something really bad would happen. Today would be no exception to this phenomenon and Makoto knows that sometime later today, he's going to get hit hard.

Mukuro didn't reply as she looked at him as if she caught his lie. Makoto's palms started sweating and his ahoge twitched again at the sudden tension he's feeling from her gaze.

Finally, she turned to face the front again. "If you say so then. I suppose it is possible for you to have a normal day once in a while." She spoke with her usual cold voice.

Makoto felt his insides relax a little bit, but still feeling extremely guilty for lying to his best friend. Mukuro has been constantly looking out for him and for once, he wanted to try to prevent disaster by himself. After all, he didn't want to become a burden to someone else.

Mukuro suddenly started to walk a little faster, causing Makoto to speed-walk in order to stay by her side.

"I-Ikusaba-san!"

"Hmm?"

"A-Are you in a hurry?"

"…" Mukuro stared blankly ahead, still slowly increasing her pace.

"Um, I suppose you don't have to ans-" Makoto was then interrupted.

"Remember how I promised Junko to accompany her on her outfit shopping?"

Makoto simply nodded, slightly out of breath for words as he struggled to keep up with the pace.

"She also has a tendency to spontaneously change the meeting time. I just have a feeling that she's going to do it again."

"O-Oh *breath* I see…"

They continued in silence until they finally arrived in front of Mukuro's room.

"I'll need to prepare for the outing Naegi-kun. I'll see you later."

As Mukuro reached for the door, Makoto suddenly asked:

"Is something wrong Ikusaba-san?"

"… Why do you think that?"

"I—It might just be me, but you seemed a little bit off just now… Did something happen?"

"It was just your imagination. You should get ready to meet Hagakure-kun as well."

"Um alright. I'll see you later then."

Makoto watched as Mukuro entered her room and closed the door behind her. Guilt stabbed at his heart from the lie he told earlier. He turned and started making his way back to his room down the hall, his mind flooded with doubt, shame and regret. "Was she mad at me?" "Did she catch my lie?" were some questions that immediately filled his head as he put his bag down next to his bed.

"What if she knew I lied?" "What if she hates me now?" He continued as he changed out of his school uniform and into his trademark hoodie.

"Did I ruin our friendship?" He paused as he reached for the doorknob, ready to leave. The pain in his chest seemed to increase tenfold at this thought.

"That's not going to happen is it?" Makoto attempted to shake this feeling off as his tried to command his hand to open the door.

"She doesn't deserve me lying to her like this… I think I need to tell her" He thought as his hand finally complied and turned the knob. However, Makoto's plan was quickly forgotten as he found Yasuhiro in front of him with a raised fist and surprise written all over his face.


Mukuro bit her lower lip as she sat on her bed, one hand gripping the hem of her skirt and the other bawled into a fist by her chest. A dreadful feeling clouded her mind and made her heart uncomfortable. It was a similar feeling to whenever one of the highly-valued-individuals she escorted during her time in Fenrir, lied about information. Except this time, the feeling was overwhelming.

She was conflicted on how to feel about Makoto lying. If Mukuro was honest, she wasn't even sure if that could be a lie. Statistically, it wasn't possible for Makoto to have a day without something happening to him, no matter how minor it may be. But at the same time, it also wasn't impossible that one day, he would have nothing extraordinary happen to him.

The thought of Makoto keeping something from her however, made her think about her decision to trust him and dismiss the lie. If she decided to trust him, why did she still feel so insecure? Mukuro was well aware that everyone has their own secrets to keep, and while Makoto has been honest at just about anything, she still couldn't dismiss this feeling of dread that boiled inside her.

Mukuro pulled out her favourite combat knife. Whenever she started fidgeting with and twirling the knife, it always helped calm her down. The dreadful feeling subsided a little as she continued to skillfully flourish her knife. It danced around her hand as it spun and rolled gracefully through the air as if it possessed a soul of its own.

After a couple minutes of playing with her knife, she realized that her insecurities still weren't satisfied. This has only occurred once before, Mukuro realized. It happened when she first joined Fenrir and wasn't sure about the safety of Junko until she received news of her twin becoming a famous model. Now this time, it was with Makoto.

She couldn't help but think that what if, something does happen to him and she's not there? Mukuro remembered one day when Makoto almost had a normal day without his luck interfering. He had decided to join Mukuro and Junko on her usual shopping spree when eight random thugs tried to attack him.

Mukuro later found out that, there were plans for an assassination, and the target's picture has been swapped with Makoto's after the target gang managed to tamper with the plans. The eight thugs were just doing a routine patrol when one of them recognized Makoto as their 'target' and they decided to take their chance, not knowing that there was an ex-Fenrir member with him.

Before she could start considering what could possibly happen to Makoto, Junko busted into her room, leaving a wide-eyed Mukuro staring at her twin.

"ALRIGHT Mukuro-Nee! Are you excited to come with the magnificent Junko on her shopping spree? My fans would kill for this chance and I'm offering it to you for free!"

"H-How did you get in here?"

"Silly, you left your door unlocked! So I took my chance to make a grand entrance here. You should be blown-away by my presence! Not sitting there complaining about how you forgot to lock your door!"

Junko sighed as she adopted a slightly more serious face.

"Its rather rare for you to forget to leave your door unlocked sis. Lost in thought again?" She asked

Mukuro stayed quiet, her eyes now stared at the floor as her doubt continued its assault. This was one of those times where Mukuro wished Junko wasn't so inherently good at analyzing things.

"Still thinking about him?"

"Huh? N-No I—"

Junko suddenly grabbed Mukuro by the arm and started dragging her out.

"C'mon Muku! As much as I'd like to let you sit there and sulk all day, there are much better things to do! Those clothes are waiting for me to come liberate them from their despair!"

Mukuro sighed as she nodded her head. She followed Junko as she was already out of the room, eager to "save the clothes from despair". They walked down the crowded halls of Hope's Peak Academy with Junko leading and ranting, and Mukuro silently followed behind. As they rounded the corner leading to the front gate of the academy, Mukuro spotted the familiar clairvoyant and the source of her internal chaos.

She froze when her eyes made contact with his. A mixed feeling of dread and relief returned as blue-eyes met hazel ones. Makoto stiffened for a second from the contact before giving her a wave and a forced smile. Mukuro didn't react, her mind occupied with uncertainty and her heart in a conflict of its own.

She then looked over at Yasuhiro, now looking at his phone for what she assumed to be directions to their meeting. His hands were shaking, his shoulders tensed up and… was one of his dreadlocks dripping with sweat? How does that even work?

Junko approached the two boys still standing just outside the school gates talking about their meeting as she never stopped walking.

"Yoo-hoo! Hey boys! What are you two up to?" Junko asked.

Yasuhiro jumped as Junko made her presence known. Makoto simply waved at her, though his eyes still darting between Junko and Mukuro.

"A-Ah! Naegi-Chi here was just going to help me with more school work today! R-Right?" Yasuhiro turned to Makoto with pleading eyes.

"Wait, huh? I thought we were—"

"Yea! That's it! A normal study hangout! Hahaha!"

"Hmm? You guys always study in one of your dorms like boring people though. Not to mention, that location you have on your phone is a rather weird spot for a study session…. Unless…. You two were thinking of something else~? Planning to get naughty~?" Junko winked.

Makoto recoiled and backed away from Yasuhiro, who simply gave an awkward laugh, oblivious to what Junko had just referred to.

"Something else? Nah! Like I said! Just a study session! I just made a mistake on my phone haaah!" Yasuhiro said nervously.

Junko, obviously not convinced, inched her head closer to Yasuhiro who looked like he was having an anxiety attack from her stare.

"R-R-Really!" Was all Yasuhiro could stutter.

Junko looked over at Makoto, hoping that he would confess what was going on. He returned the look with a sigh and simply nodded. Junko's eyes narrowed as her gaze returned to the clairvoyant.

"Fine. Go enjoy your study session then. Muku and I also have plans and we're going to have fun. Right Muku? … Mukuro?"

Junko turned around when she noticed that her twin was no longer behind her but instead, still standing by the door with an intense look on her face. She followed her gaze and saw the sight of Yasuhiro now dragging Makoto by the arm as he hurried away. When Junko turned back to Mukuro, her brows were slightly furrowed and her hands bawled into fists as she stared at the empty spot that Makoto had just occupied.

Understanding swept through Junko as she analyzed the situation. While she doesn't know all the details that were going on, she was at least able to understand that her twin was conflicted about something concerning Makoto. She walked back and started dragging Mukuro in the opposite direction of the two boys.

"Let's go Mukuro-Nee! Those clothes can't wait forever and I know just the perfect thing for you~! " She teased.

Mukuro walked in silence as her sister continued to spew out nonsense. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Makoto, only to be met by several groups of other students going their own ways. Her mind was full of conflicting feelings fighting each other, and for once, she couldn't predict the outcome of the battle.

They had arrived at the shopping district that was closest to Hope's Peak Academy, and Junko instantly started darting in and out of shops, the amount of bags increasing at a rapid rate. Mukuro didn't care much as she absentmindedly nodded whenever Junko asked her a question, completely absorbed by the war that occupied her mind.

Doubt and concern would strike each other down, trust and betrayal engaged in their own dance of death. Her consciousness fighting to calm herself down as her body tensed up, ready for action. Hatred pulling on one side of her heart while a certain feeling of yearning tugging on the other.

She looked back at Junko, now standing in front of three stores, deciding which to visit first. Mukuro bit her lip as she hesitated to speak. In all her life, Mukuro wasn't one to make decisions, but a certain nagging feeling that she wasn't able to control was now telling her otherwise.

"Junko…" Mukuro started.

"Hmm? Did you think of a place you wanna check out? That's not like you Mukuro, but I'm all ears!" Junko beamed.

"Actually, I—" Mukuro stopped. She really wanted to continue, but selfishness held her back.

Junko sighed.

"Look, if you're really that concerned about him, you should've just followed him. I was totally fine by myself anyways."

Mukuro looked up at Junko with raised brows and her eyes scanning her twin trying to judge if this was a façade or not.

"You've been looking like that the entire time we've been walking. Your face was soooo despairing even I can feel it from here. So just go. Leave. I won't hold it against you" Junko said.

A small glimmer of hope shimmered in Mukuro's eyes, but she still didn't give in yet. Was Junko testing her? Would she later explode at her for abandoning her again? Mukuro did promise to go with Junko but never before has it felt so conflicting to decide between two people.

Junko raised a brow as Mukuro still stood in front of her, conflict and uncertainty riddled on her face.

"Mukuro~, the longer you stand there, the longer little Naegi is going to be by himself you know."

The small look of hope that Mukuro had was instantly replaced by fear and concern. It was almost enough to make Mukuro move, but she needed to be absolutely sure that this wasn't just another one of her sister's tests. There was still a chance that this was an assessment of loyalty and Mukuro was not willing to betray her a second time.

Junko then placed her hands on her hips and with a voice of authority, yelled:

"Look Soldier! I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it! There is ZERO tolerance for disobedience so what the FUCK are you still doing standing there?"

Mukuro finally relaxed and gave a small smile, hope now gleaming in her eyes.

"Yes sir!" She replied as she turned and sprinted away. Mukuro's soldier mindset instantly kicked in as soon as she started running. She formed a plan in her head as her feet continued to carry her towards her objective.

Junko's face was instantly filled with disappointment as her twin was now two blocks away.

"Seriously? Only two words? God…. She could've at least thanked me. What a let down." She ranted. However, a small smirk formed on her face as she muttered:

"Go get em sis. Don't disappoint me."


Makoto spent most of the time walking with Yasuhiro in an uncomfortable silence. Yasuhiro was visibly anxious, more so than yesterday and the fact that they were speed-walking didn't help him either.

Any question Makoto threw at Yasuhiro concerning their meeting was met with "You'll find out later!" or "Don't worry about that!".

He looked over at the clairvoyant, who had one hand fidgeting with a beaded-necklace while the other constantly rubbing his fingers against his palm. Makoto also noticed that his temples were rather damp, and some of his dreadlocks were dripping in sweat.

"Ew, that's… disgusting.." Makoto thought as he watched a drop of sweat roll off one of his dreadlocks. "How does that even work?"

As Makoto pondered about the physics of his hair, Yasuhiro finally stopped and pulled out his phone to check the directions again.

"Ok! We're just about there Naegi-Chi. Whew!" Yasuhiro breathed as he ran a hand through his head. He instantly realized how sweaty he was and wiped his now moist hands onto his pants.

"You still haven't told me anything aside from meeting a blonde girl…" Makoto voiced his concern.

"Look, you just gotta trust me on this ok? I may have let you down before, but this won't be one of them!" Yasuhiro now had a small towel that he used to wipe his head. Where was he hiding that?

"*sigh* Hagakure-san, that's not really helping though."

"Please Naegi-Chi! You've walked this far already, you're not going to back out on me now are you?"

"Well…I mean, you did practically drag me here… so I suppose I might as well…"

"How about this? I'll give you a free fortune after we're done!"

Makoto wasn't sure if that was supposed tempt him, after all, his success rate was only 30 percent.

"Tha-That won't be necessary, but lets just get this over with. How close are we?"

Yasuhiro looked at his phone again before pointing into the alley that was in front of them.

"We need to walk in there, and then take the first right. There's supposed to be a door marked with a dragon. The girl told us to knock on it four times."

"W-We're walking into that alley?" Makoto almost screamed, scared from the idea of an arranged meeting in an alley. There are so many things that can go wrong considering that the two were rather defenseless.

Makoto now secretly wished that Mukuro was here with him. Guilt and regret invaded his mind again as he remembered the lie that separated them today.

"She just wants us to meet her through the back, it'll be quick! C'mon!" Yasuhiro said, oblivious to the obvious red flags of meeting in an alley.

The two walked into the darker path, Makoto's eyes darting around looking for potential dangers while Yasuhiro stared at his phone, ignorant of the fact that they could be kidnapped or worse.

When they took the turn on the right, they were met with a few doors along the walls to the side, a dumpster and a dead end. Confusion clouded Yasuhiro and fear swept through Makoto as they realized that none of the doors were marked.

"Huh? I swear, I got the right place." Yasuhiro said as he looked at his phone yet again, trying to confirm their location.

"M-Maybe we should leave before something happens to us Hagakure-san."

"Yeah, but the location is right though. See here? This is definitely the place. Just that, none of the doors are marked. Which one do you think we should try?"

"L-look Hagakure-san, I think we might have made a mistake somewhere. I really don't think this is the right location."

Suddenly, a feminine voice spoke from behind them.

"Oh, I assure you that this is the right location."

The two boys turned and saw a young blonde girl accompanied by eight men, one of them a lot bigger than the rest. For a second, Makoto thought that the girl seemed to resemble one of his upper-classmen but as the reality of his situation sank in, he quickly dismissed that thought.

The girl and her men quickly blocked off their only route of escape, leaving the two boys to slowly backtrack towards the dead end.

"And this time, you're not getting away weedman." The girl said as two of her men approached Yasuhiro.

Yasuhiro was thrusted onto the wall next to the dumpster by two men while two more zoned Makoto into the far wall. One of the glared right into Yasuhiro which left him begging.

"W-Wait! Hold-on! This wasn't part of the arrangement!"

"Are you really in a position to be complaining about the meeting now? Tch, you're fucking stupid. After that stunt you pulled off last time, I'm not taking any chances."

Makoto only grew more and more confused at their situation. Was this the girl they were supposed to meet? Why did she bring eight men with her? Why does she have eight men in the first place? As the girl approached Yasuhiro and reached into her pocket, Makoto decided to try and make some sense of why this was happening.

"W-Wait! What is going on here? Why are you doing this? W-We could talk this out!" He pleaded.

The girl paused, her hand still in her pocket as she turned her head to face him. She analyzed Makoto's figure and noted that his appearance seemed to resemble someone her brother has once spoken of, but she dismissed that thought when she failed to recognize him.

"And who the fuck are you?"

"I-I'm his friend! Please! Don't—"

"Oh? This loser has friends? How stupid of you to have made friends with this braindead fool. I guess similar people attract each other"

"That's not important! You don't have to do 'this' to him!" Makoto vaguely motioned at the two men pinning Yasuhiro onto the wall.

"Shut up. You don't know how much this fuckhead owes me."

"Wha-H-How much does he owe you? A-and what did he do?"

"Huh? Are you sure you're friends with him? Considering that you two dumbasses are friends, I'm surprised he didn't tell you anything. Fine. I'll tell you."

The girl turned and walked over to Makoto. From under his fear of the situation, he was rather surprised that the girl was just barely taller than he was. She looked him in the eyes with a look that would instill fear into most people.

"Simply put, he lied to me and ripped me off. Apparently, I made my first mistake when I decided to go to him looking for a fortune to entertain myself with. For someone as brainless as him, I would have never expected to be scammed. So before I knew it, I was throwing in more and more cash until he left me with an envelope."

Makoto gulped, but still found the courage to ask

"Er-S-So was the fortune?"

The girl looked over her shoulders back at a shaking Yasuhiro, eyes filled with more anger than what seemed possible for a girl her size.

"That 'fortune' he gave me, said this:

'At true noon, Wisteria's flowers blossom near springs of harmony. Its protective vines intolerant of disruption. Stay vigilant and avoid chaos in its presence and peace will be preserved.'

Like all fortunes, they don't make sense. So when I asked him about this, he said he'll clarify it for another ridiculous sum of money, and you know what he said to me?"

The rage built inside the girl seemed like it would explode any second now. Makoto simply shook his ahead, afraid that his words might cause him to become her next victim.

"He said I was going to fucking die if I didn't watch my actions! Like who the hell does he think he is? He started laughing like it was fucking joke! As I was about to beat his face in, he disappeared! For someone with hair like that, it doesn't fucking make sense for how that was even possible!"

She turned and walked back to Yasuhiro, finally pulling out her knife and sticking it under his chin. Makoto stood paralyzed while Yasuhiro stopped shaking as he could feel the tip of the knife at his throat.

"Can't disappear now can you? Now gimme that refund. Where's the money?"

Yasuhiro almost turned blue. "I-I don't have it!" He confessed.

If this was a normal situation, Makoto would've slapped his palm into his forehead. How could you meet someone to repay a debt and not bring the money? Especially if that someone was this girl? However, it seemed that Yasuhiro had something else in mind.

He nervously looked over at Makoto, a hint of despair in his eyes.

"B-But organs sell for a lot on the black market r-right?" Yasuhiro continued.

Makoto now looked confused. "O-Organs? What is he thinking? He's not going to—"

"A-and that's why he's here! It-It's got to be worth more than the money r-right?" Yasuhiro managed to point towards the Luckster as he made his proposal.

Both Makoto and the girl was shocked at his proposition. He felt both fear and betrayal as he realized the true purpose for why Yasuhiro needed him. Part of his self preservation instincts kicked in and wanted to defend himself. However, another part of him thought that Yasuhiro was simply consumed by fear and was spouting non-sense. After all, they were both in a very delicate situation. One wrong move could mean the end of either of them. Fear instantly drowned Makoto's thoughts as one of the men started approaching him but stopped as the girl raised a hand.

Makoto looked back at the girl and was even more scared as she seemed to be more angry than humanly possible.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! You brought along this 'friend' of yours just so you can offer his organs to save yourself?" She exploded.

"Wh-Huh? I— I thought it would be enough!" Yasuhiro wailed, despair and fear growing in his eyes

"Do you want to know what I hate the most? Traitors, fakers and fucking cowards!"

"AAAAHH! PLEASE! STOP!"

"And you just tried to fucking sell him out! Now you're acting like a coward to save yourself?" She slowly traced her knife down his throat, now on his chest.

"ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY! I JUST DON'T HAVE THE MONEY ANYMORE! PLEASE! LET ME GO!"

"People like you don't deserve to live in this world! You know what? I'll take you on your offer."

She brought her knife down to his stomach.

"We'll take your organs instead."

Makoto froze in horror. Was Yasuhiro going to die right in front of him? Part of him wants to do something about it, but his entire body was paralyzed with fear. Only luck would save him now and Makoto knew that this wasn't going to happen given his track record.

However, he was proven wrong when suddenly, Yasuhiro went limp from passing out in fear. The two men that were holding him down let him drop to the floor with a small thud.

"What a fucking disgrace." She spat as she knelt down, ready to turn him over.

When the girl started kicking Yasuhiro to turn him over, Makoto couldn't take it anymore and decided to hopefully talk her out of this. He reached out and cried:

"W-Wait! J-Just hold on f—OOF" He was quickly met with a punch to his gut.

As Makoto doubled over, he felt another blow to his face, knocking him onto the ground. The girl didn't slow down as she flipped Yasuhiro over and started to take off his jacket.

"Don't interrupt me. You have nothing to do with this."

Makoto struggled and managed to get to a crouching position, one arm still clutching his stomach and the other weakly pointed a finger at the girl.

"N-No! That's wrong!" He said with sudden conviction.

The girl paused and raised a brow at his spontaneous objection. Makoto didn't know what made him say that but he knew he couldn't back out now. He wasn't just going to sit there knowing that Yasuhiro was going to lose a kidney or maybe more. He may have betrayed him, but Makoto still didn't want him dead.

"We're…We're Friends! … At least … I consider him… my friend still! So… I do... have something... to do with this…" Makoto managed to squeeze out in between his pained breaths.

"You still consider this traitorous coward your friend? He offered your organs to us in exchange for his safety." The girl remarked.

"But even still! …. I …I Don't want you to hurt him!"

The girl paused and thought for a second, bringing the knife away from Yasuhiro in the process. Makoto let out a small sigh of relief as he managed to stall the girl for now. Unfortunately, her eyes flashed a hint of deviltry and her lips curved into a sly smile as she seemed to get an idea.

"Hmm, you've got guts kid. We could use those too. In more ways than one." She made a hand motion to the man still in front of him.

"Wha-What?" Fear suddenly consumed Makoto as he now felt himself hoisted into the air by the collar, the pain in his stomach burning intensely from the sudden grab.

"Wait! I- What do you – ARGH!" Makoto felt another blow to his abdomen, knocking out the last of his resistance within him as he attempted to bend over in the air.

"You should just be quiet. It'll be over soon." The man said. He then threw Makoto against the far wall of the dead end and his consciousness started to struggle with keeping track of the events that were happening. What he felt next was a sharp impact to the back of his head and his shoulders before being greeted by the cold, hard pavement.

The pain slowly started choking out Makoto's consciousness. He instinctively curled up into a fetal position in an attempt to lessen the pain, both arms clutching his stomach and him struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Is… Is this it? I'm going to die…?" He thought as he watched the man slowly walk towards him and his sight slowly blurring. From his position, Yasuhiro was no longer in his thinning field of vision. Makoto wasn't sure if it was because he was fading out or if the man was blocking his view.

"This…. No…. I Can't…. Not …. …. Now …" He tried to fight, clawing for ground as he tried to make a final stand against the demands body. Unfortunately, Makoto's stand didn't last long as his eye-lids were getting heavier by the second, and it wasn't long until he finally gave in.

The last thing he registered before closing his eyes, was a sudden flash of light, followed by a scream of sorts and the sound of two thuds.

Using the last of his energy, he re-opened one eye and saw a new pair of legs in front of him, wearing an oddly familiar pair of boots, and the man from earlier grabbing his foot with a look of horror on his face.

Makoto never responded to the concerned cries of his name as he slipped away into the comfort the darkness offered him.