The next day has been very unsettling for the fifteen students. Makoto stumbled around the school after escorting Sayaka back to her room, shaken from the DVD motive that Monokuma had presented. He was shaken himself as well since he was also very worried about where his family is or if anything had happened to them. He tried his best not to show his worry to the others to prevent further panic, but his honest nature rendered his efforts somewhat ineffective.

Makoto headed past the AV room towards the entrance hall again with a slight desperation to find a way out. However, as he rounded the corner, something within him nagged him to walk the other way. Not thinking entirely straight, he followed his instincts and instantly spun around, and for the second time, walked into another person. A groan of pain and a soft "oof" followed the sound of two bodies colliding.

"You need to be more careful in a place like this."

Makoto stopped rubbing his head and looked down at the voice below him.

"O-Oh! Sorry Kirigiri-san! Here." He extended his arm towards her.

Kyouko stared at his hand for a second before grabbing it with her own gloved one. Although Makoto eventually managed to pull her up, it required him to use both his arms and his weight to do so. Kyouko raised a brow in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Ahaha… I'll just ahh… chalk that up as unlucky…"

"Hmm..That's contradicting isn't it?"

"Erm… what?"

"Your talent. It would be wrong to say that the SHSL Lucky Student was actually quite unlucky."

"Well, my whole life has been a pattern of bad luck followed by good luck… I honestly don't know how that works though. Even on the day I was admitted to Hope's Peak, a lot of things happened that day."

"Hmm…" Kyouko took out a notebook and quickly wrote something down.

"Say, what's that for?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you."

"Ahh… well… I suppose you don't have to if it's private…"

Kyouko didn't reply and started walking away.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?"

His question caused her to stop, but she didn't turn around to face him.

"Why do I need to tell you?"

"Er.. Well… I suppose you can say I'm concerned about you? I noticed you're always doing things by yourself and I just thought having a friend around would kind of make things easier for you."

Kyouko stood silently for a second before turning around and crossing her arms, her face completely expressionless.

"You're too kind for your own good Naegi-Kun."

"Wha?…Er..Well…"

"You should be more careful with your trust. You won't know who's going to cross you in the future."

"But we shouldn't be killing each other! We should be –"

"I'm just saying that's a possibility you shouldn't ignore. After all, you wouldn't want to be the first victim, would you?"

Makoto couldn't find a reply to her words and he knew she was right, but it didn't mean he wanted to think that way. Sensing his silence, Kyouko turned around and began walking away again.

"Don't take it to heart though, you just haven't earned my trust yet. Farewell Naegi-Kun."

He wanted to follow her and ask how but the nagging feeling from earlier kept his feet rooted. Makoto felt both confusion and irritation as he turned to the source of the feeling: The School Store. It seemed to be calling to him the more he stared in its direction. Before Makoto could make sense of what's happening, he found himself right in front of the doors to the school store.

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Mukuro placed her hand on the glass counter, studying the individual items that were housed within. Her eyes were captured by a figure that resembled a mascot from one of Makoto's favourite video games. Pins and needles poked at her heart as she relived an embarrassing memory from the past.

"Hey Mukuro! You should try this game too! Its pretty fun, and you've been watching me play for a while now.."

"I.. If you insist…"

"….So umm… how does this work?"

"Mukuro, you have to jump onto that platform, then jump onto the other one before it disappears!"

"I'm trying!"

"Jeez Mukuro, you're horrible at everything that's not a first person shooter!"

"Sh-shut up! Its my first time okay?"

"Ow! Okay! Alright! I'm sorry! We can do something else if you want!"

"Hmph… alright."

Mukuro's eyes continued to scan the items within the glass counter. There were toy bikes, a boxing glove key chain, a miniature rock band set, a monochrome deck of cards, all of which Junko had decided to put in the store to tease at the student's memories. Her eyes then fell onto the Monomono Machine that sat on top of the counter.

She didn't know exactly how it worked, but she knew how to operate it. It was one of the few things Junko had added to the school to make things less boring for the participants. All one had to do was to find some of the stray Monokuma tokens hidden around the school, insert it into the coin slot, and a random prize will come out.

Mukuro instinctively grabbed a coin from its hiding spot within the store and put it into the machine. After a couple clicks, a small black capsule containing her prize popped out. It turned out to be a small compact mirror.

"Useless." She thought as she opened it.

She looked into the mirror, her sister's face staring right back at her. The makeup taunted her, a reminder that she is just a plain girl amongst everyone else. She inspected every detail of the makeup on her face, all done to the specific instructions of her sister. The more she looked at herself, the more she hated it.

She looked down onto the back of her free hand, the tattoo that would reveal her identity to everyone else hidden by a thin layer of foundation. Despite being completely invisible to everyone else, Mukuro was still able to see the tattoo perfectly as if it wasn't covered at all. The eyes of the wolf stared back into her light blue eyes the same way a loyal dog would look back at its owner.

The tattoo raised many questions within the disguised soldier about herself. She wondered why she played a part in everything, her purpose, her reasons. While she had answers to those questions, it still didn't feel satisfactory for her; it wasn't complete.

Mukuro turned to look around the store. So much has changed in the old building's storage room since the Tragedy has happened and Junko decided to redecorate the place for the killing game. This room used to be Mukuro's favourite spot to cool off during the chaos of the Tragedy. No one would be able to disturb her since no one really wanted to be in the cramped storage room anyways, except for Makoto.

It happened by chance one day. While she was sitting on atop one of the many boxes in the room and a coin came rolling under the door towards the one she was on top. Makoto followed into the room shortly after, looking for the coin and after he figured that she was often in here alone, he would join her in silence, often falling asleep.

Mukuro liked the tightness of the storage room then. It was comfortable. It was as if she was in a trench or sitting behind some sandbags, taking cover from enemy fire. When Makoto joined her in the room, it felt better since he makes everything better for her, and it also reminded her of the presence of her comrades. She sighed as the nostalgia in the room made her feel more and more uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Mukuro noticed movement outside the doors across the room. She quickly reopened the compact mirror and leaned against the counter, taking a quick breath to return to her sister's persona. However, as the door clicked and slowly swung open, the person that Mukuro has last expected to see walked into the store.

"E-Enoshima-San?"

"O-Oh hey Naegi-Kun! What's up? What brings you here?"

"I.. I'm not sure to be honest… my legs just kind of carried me here.."

"That's a silly thought! Bet'cha came here 'cause you followed me didn't you~?"

"Wha—What? I—No! I swear! That isn't the case!"

"Really now? Are you saying I'm not good enough for your standards?"

"N-NO! That's not what I meant! You see, I—"

"Hehehe! You're so funny Naegi-Kun, I was just teasing you!~"

" *Sigh* So then.. What are you doing in the school shop?"

"Oh nothing. I just thought I might be able to find something useful in here considering it's a shop. And I did! Look at this!"

"That's a mirror… well I suppose it is useful for you. Where did you get that?"

"From this machine. That stupid bear popped up and told me that you needed to find these coins hidden around the school, then use it here. Apparently, it's got all sorts of stuff inside it."

"Huh. I suppose I'll give it a try."

"Who knows? With your luck as a talent, maybe you'll find us the escape switch or something."

"I.. really don't think whoever is behind this put that in there haha…"

Makoto proceeded to put a coin into the coin slot of the machine. Mukuro watched as the machine clicked a couple of times before producing a medium-sized golden capsule. When the lucky student opened it, Mukuro immediately recognized the prize. Out of all the possible objects one can get from the machine, this one was the only one without a duplicate; the fake escape button designed to give the winner false hope in the form of an electric shock. Makoto looked at his prize with a mix of surprise, confusion and disbelief.

"What the—N-No way!" He cried, nearly dropping the button in his surprise. Mukuro was also surprised that he has managed to get the one-of-a-kind prize out of the god knows how many Junko put in there.

"Wow! You know, I was joking when I was said it earlier but now, maybe you can really get us out of here!"

"I.. I don't know… I still don't think this is real…"

"Hey, aren't you the SHSL Lucky Student? Maybe your luck really worked out this time!"

"Well… you think?"

Makoto looked down at the button. It had a black rectangular body with a single red button in the centre, the word "escape" written under it in red text, and an antennae protruding out of the top side of the body. He hesitated to press the button as he palmed the controller in his hand. He looked over to he disguised soldier who has returned to looking at her mirror.

When she looked up and they met eyes, Makoto's body was overwhelmed in a feeling of familiarity, but he himself couldn't identify it. He felt a little bit sick when he looked down at her right hand, his body telling him something should be there, but his eyes told him otherwise. Makoto's brows furrowed in concentration as he searched for the missing link.

Mukuro watched him try to piece things together. It pained her to see him try so hard to reach the answer that's right in front of him, yet couldn't grasp it. She also knew that if he did figure it out, it could potentially compromise the entire killing game, something that would infuriate Junko. Figuring that it's best not to let that happen, she decided to speak up against her instincts.

"Hey hey! You're not checking me out are you~?

Makoto, caught by surprise again, attempted to defend himself; his arms waving wildly before him.

"WHAT? Er, Sort of? WAIT! I mean No! Not exactly! No wait… that's not helping…"

"I mean… you HAVE been looking for a while now"

"No! That's not it! Let me explain!"

"Ahahahaha! Oh my gosh Naegi-Kun! I'm just messing with you! I just didn't think I would be more interesting than the escape button you just managed to get."

"I—er.. oh right. The Button."

"So… what are you going to do?"

"Well.. I still think it's a fake… but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try… maybe my luck really did work out…"

Every bit of Mukuro was yelling at her to stop him as she watched as his finger slowly descend onto the red button. She had to actively concentrate just to resist the urge to smack the controller out of his hand.

"No wait, Makoto don't—" Mukuro couldn't finish her thought. The click of the button was heard, followed by a low buzzing sound and a scream of pain.

Makoto felt the electricity course through him. His muscles tensed up, which made him unable to drop the button. Along with the excruciating pain he was experiencing, his mind was also blasted with many different images and visions. Everything he saw was hazy. Blurred visions of a destroyed city, silhouettes and shadows of people rioting in the streets and clouded images of what seems to be a school.

However, in the midst of the images, he recognized one shadow out of the sea of silhouettes: A tall athletic girl with short black hair, wearing a tactical vest on top of a school uniform and donning a wolf tattoo on the back of her right hand. The figure had her back towards him, but the initials "IM" struck him in the face.

Mukuro watched as Makoto screamed in pain throughout the two seconds that he was being electrocuted. When he finally dropped the button, he started tilting forward to which Mukuro could no longer hold back her instincts. She wrapped her arms around his smaller body as he landed onto her.

"Mak—Naegi-Kun! Hey! Are you alright?"

"Nnn.. It… hurts…"

"Ok c'mon. Let's get you back to your room. You need some rest." Mukuro crouched a bit and slung one of his arms around her shoulder, supporting him as they made their way back to his room. They passed by a few of their classmates who had concerned looks on their faces, but Mukuro just told them he wasn't feeling well and needed some rest. They were just about to arrive at his room when someone came running down the hall.

"N-Naegi-Kun!" Sayaka cried as she ran towards the couple.

"M..Maizono-San?"

"Naegi-Kun, are you alright? What happened to you? What did you do to him?"

"H-Hey! I didn't do anything alright? I'm just helping him back to his room!"

"Maizono-San… it's alright…. It… it wasn't her fault…"

"Hmph. Fine. Here, get some rest alright? Come find me if anything happens."

Mukuro watched as Sayaka helped Makoto into his room. She knew that Sayaka had a small crush on him after their reunion at Hope's Peak, and it was only natural for it to resurface after erasing her memories. However, it pained her to see Makoto in the arms of another girl. "I-Is this jealousy?" She thought as she watched Sayaka help Makoto into his room. "He… He should be fine. I shouldn't let this affect me too much." She thought as she made her way back to her room.

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Makoto sat upright on his bed. It was well past the nighttime announcement, and he was trying to process everything he saw in the two seconds of excruciating pain. The images of destroyed cities and people rioting made him restless. It shouldn't be possible, yet it felt so real. He tried to sift through the images individually to the best of his memory. He recognized some familiar landmarks, but the rest were too blurry to recall. It also hurt a lot if he tried to grasp for the details that he couldn't make sense of.

He laid down onto his bed, needing a break from the pain and feeling exhausted from trying to make sense of these images. When he closed his eyes this time, he saw what appears to be the interior of some building. The floor had a checkboard texture to the tiles, there were two rooms side by side labelled 3-A and 3-B, and what appears to be a rec room of sorts based on the sign outside the door. Though he couldn't quite remember what the rest of the hallway contained, he was oddly certain that there was also an art room and a physics lab somewhere too.

Makoto took a breath and opened his eyes. He almost screamed when for a split second, he saw a face smiling back down on him. It was the same black haired girl that he recognized from the sea of shadows during his visions. This time however, he managed to see her face. Even though Makoto was certain he has never met this girl before, he was able to distinguish every feature of her appearance. He was able to recognize the freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose, the pale blue irises of her eyes, and her bobbed black hair. Everything about her was familiar.

Suddenly, his arms shot up towards his head due to a sudden intense migraine. Makoto rolled around his bed in an attempt to subdue the pain, all the while the girl remained clearly in his mind. The pain had no signs of stopping, draining all energy from the lucky student who has now stopped rolling around and instead, twitching and shivering in pain. Eventually, the cold darkness of the unconscious mind liberated him from his misery.

…

…

…

…

Makoto lazily opened his eyes, awakening to a sound that rang throughout his room. He sat up, one hand clutching his head for a couple seconds before realizing someone was ringing his doorbell. Despite feeling as if he had been drained of all energy, he managed to stumble towards his door with little thought about his security. "Who.. Who's visiting … at this time?" He thought as he fumbled with the doorknob for a few seconds before managing to open his door. When he finally opened it, Makoto found himself facing Sayaka Maizono.

"M-Maizono-San?"

"Hey, I-I'm sorry for bothering you this late…"

"Wha…. What are you doing… at this time?"

"W-Well… Something weird happened and—Naegi-Kun? A-Are you alright?"

"Alright? I… I think I am…"

"Um… if I'm bothering you… I can come back another time…"

"It's… fine… just…. Hngh!" Makoto grabbed his head with both arms as the pain returned. His cries of pain has been substituted for panting due to his lack of energy.

"N-Naegi-Kun!" Sayaka cried as she stood there, clueless on how to help.

"I….. don't…. thieerrrgh….." He didn't finish as he collapsed onto the floor unconscious leaving Sayaka screaming alone in the hallway.

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Mukuro leaned into the chair beside the bed in the infirmary and sighed. She has been restless ever since the news of Makoto "falling ill" has reached her ears. Junko had opened up the infirmary to allow him to properly recover since she said it would be "unfair" if he were to die of "natural causes". She looked up at the clock. It has been a day and twelve minutes since the morning announcement and Makoto has yet to show signs of waking up. According to Sayaka, he looked like he was already in pain two nights prior. She could only imagine the amount of pain he had been in before he blacked out.

Makoto finally started shifting in the bed beside her. Mukuro stood up from her chair to allow him to see her more easily. She started waving with one hand and made a peace sign with the other.

"Oh hey! You're awake! How're you feeling? Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up?"

"Nnnnn…. E-Enoshima-San?"

"Gee, you sound so unsure of yourself! I'm hurt!"

"O-Oh… I'm so—"

"Nah I'm just kidding with you! Jeez, you're so serious! I guess I gotta take it easy with you for now though."

Makoto looked around the room in an attempt to recognize his surroundings. The room gave off a hospital vibe, with three beds, medical cabinets and IV stands all around. Taking in everything he saw, he came to one conclusion.

"So… were we… rescued?"

"Of course, that's the first thing you would think Makoto. That's so like you." She thought.

"Psshh If only. After you went out, that stupid bear opened this place up saying it wouldn't be fair if you died before his game started."

"Oh…. That's unfortunate… Erm, actually, pardon my rudeness but… what are you doing here Enoshima-San?"

"Ah me? I just took over looking after you some few minutes ago. If you wanna thank someone, go thank Maizono-San. She was here since this place opened."

"Maizono-San?"

"Yup! Then afterwards, Ishimaru-Kun got all fired up about taking care of you and proposed that we all take turns. I just happened to be here when you woke up."

"I… I see… How long was I out?"

"You were out for a full day. That bear said that the game would be postponed until you woke up for the sake of 'fairness'. Anyways, Maizono-San has been with you for nearly the whole day. Fujisaki-San took over after she nearly fainted from exhaustion and now, here I am!"

"Oh man… I… I should apologize to Maizono-San…"

"Heeeey, don't worry about that. It wasn't your fault you ended up like this. I mean, I guess if anyone were to blame… blame me. I guess I did kinda… you know. Convince you to push that button."

"Ah right… the button… *groan* "

"I chucked it after I went back to the store yesterday so we won't be seeing that anymore. Don't worry. No one else is going to get hurt!"

"That's good to hear. I – We need to… huh?"

Makoto stopped talking when he finally realized why something felt off the entire time. He strangely felt much safer than when he was last conscious. Even though the bear's sick game announcement was still fresh in his mind, the fear of betrayal and being killed by one another has mysteriously vanished and replaced with a feeling of trust and safety.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?"

He turned his head to face the Fashionista. For a split second, he was able to see a girl with short black hair underneath the strawberry blonde pigtails, pinpoint every freckle that dusted the bridge of her nose, and also see the wolf tattoo on the back of her hand. He squinted at the wolf. Perhaps he may be imagining this, but he swore he could see the wolf calling to him, as if trying to tell him that everything he was looking for was right there despite being a static image embedded on flesh.

"Hey! Don't faint on me here!" Her voice brought him back to reality.

"Oh… sorry.. I felt as if… something just struck me…"

"Huh? Should I get Asahina-San? She's a swimmer right? So that means, she should know some first-aid…."

"Ah Thanks but… I-I don't think that will be necessary… Actually… d-do you mind if I ask you a weird question?"

"Uhhhmm… sure. What is it?"

"Ok. Um… we er… we haven't met before…. Right?"

Time seemed to stop when Mukuro registered the question. Her eyes widened as a wave of fear, excitement and confusion amongst other feelings hit her. Every inch of her body wanted to say yes and to embrace his return, but the fear of her sister's wrath kept her from doing so. She quickly recomposed herself as time started returning to normal and feigned laughter.

"Ahahahaha! Wha-What're you talking about? Is this your way of hitting on me? I mean, I may be a model but that doesn't mean I don't value my virginity!"

"What? No! I didn't mean to –"

"Of course you don't! You're obviously an herbivore man!"

"H-Herbivore?"

"Yea! You know, the submissive and innocent kinda type? Like you'd get all flustered if you so much got a peek if you know what I'm saying~"

"Wait, WHAT? Where is this going?"

"I'm just saying that, you need a carnivorous woman to look after you! Tee hee~"

"C-Carnivorous?"

"That means you should find someone who's aggressive and bold!"

"W-Why?"

"C'mon, lets be real. Someone like you probably wouldn't have the guts to make most of the moves sooo, it's better if you find someone that will, right?"

"Erm.. Enoshima-San… C-Can we change the topic?"

" *Sigh* Fine fine. Just don't come crawling back to me when you have girl problems."

"I.. That won't be necessary…"

"I'm joking! Alright. What do you want to talk about? Something bothering you? Your DVD?"

"Well.. Yeah… I mean I'm sure everyone is pretty shaken too but…. I just can't stop worrying myself.."

"So… what was in your DVD if you don't mind me asking?" Mukuro internally cringed upon asking this question. Though she didn't know what was in the DVD, she could easily guess its contents.

"Um.. My family. I mean, I'm sure we all had someone or something important in those DVDs, but I just don't know what I'd do if something happened to them. They've been my only support throughout my life…"

"Oh jeez. That sounds rough. What were they like?" It hurt Mukuro to ask this. She knew very well what his family was like, and to see him distraught over his family made her think if there were more than two people in her world. It wasn't until this moment that she realized she has also been quite fond of his family as well. Although, she felt slightly better knowing that they were only being held hostage in Towa City.

"Well, we were pretty much the average family you can find anywhere really. Mom was protective and understanding, Dad was strict in his own way but he's light hearted most of the time and my sister…. Well… She's a cry-baby but she's strong and independent in her own way as well." Makoto smiled as he told his account of his family, but it quickly faded as he continued.

"But after that DVD, I don't know anymore… I just.. feel lost…."

"Hmm, I think I get what you mean. My DVD showed my sister and she's the only family I got."

"Um, hey, you don't need to tell me what's on your DVD… if you don't feel comfortable…"

"Nah, it's fine. You told me yours, so it's only fair if I tell you mine too." At this point, Mukuro wasn't sure what she was doing anymore. She wasn't completely lying either since her DVD was actually a recording of her sister testing the serum on a reserve course student, but she kept going anyways.

"So, I got this sister of mine, and she's the only family I know. Don't ask, just know that I never knew my birth parents."

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry. Its fine. Anyways, we grew up on the streets too. Again, don't ask. It was a rough time for both of us, we were harassed by other homeless and I had to fight for resources." Mukuro turned to stare emptily at the wall. Makoto quietly listened as Mukuro told her tale in mechanical fashion of the homeless twins who fought homelessness and found themselves talent.

"… and so, that's where we are today. I..er my sister became a soldier and I'm a model. Though, it concerns me I don't know where she is, I'd like to believe she's fine."

Makoto watched her tell the story of her childhood the whole time. He didn't mind that she seemed like a different person talking, or the times she'd mix up the sisters when she brought it up. In fact, he didn't mind because this felt natural coming from her, as if she's trying to tell the story from another person's perspective. Makoto didn't object to this unnaturalness though, his brain was still quite exhausted from all that's happened. He said the only thing he could.

"I'm sorry."

"Hmm? For what?"

"Well… for kinda forcing you to tell me all that. I mean, because I told you what was on my DVD, I feel like that kind of obligated you to tell your story and, I didn't want you to tell the story just bec—"

"Hey hey, like I said, it's no big deal alright? Besides, I actually gotta thank you."

"Huh?"

"In return, if I ever decide to kill someone, I'll make sure it isn't you!"

That last statement should have raised a bunch of red flags inside Makoto's brain, but he simply brushed it off and spoke out of instinct:

"I see…. Thanks but… I still don't want you to kill anyone…"

Mukuro finally realized that she wasn't entirely acting anymore and stared wide eyed at Makoto. Thinking quickly, she feigned surprise and tried to play it off.

"Wha- I was joking! J-O-K-I-N-G! Joking! It was a joke!"

"O-Oh… sorry…"

"Oh nah, it's nothing! Let's just chalk it up as your exhaustion kicking in again!"

"Well, now that you mention it…. I still feel a bit drained…"

"Alright. You rest here now ok? I'm gonna go get the next guy to look after you so try and stay alive until then!"

"Ok. Bye Enoshima-San…"

Makoto watched as she stretched for a bit before leaving the room and then, it hit him again. He didn't see Junko Enoshima exit the room, but instead, he saw the same black haired, freckled girl that has been teasing his brain for a while. He wanted to cry out and ask her a question, but a sudden migraine caused him to slump back into the softness of the pillow. Before Makoto could attempt to recall her identity, a tone blasted throughout the room before Monokuma spoke.

"Ah, testing testing! Is this thing even on? Whatever, this is a school announcement!"

Though the voice belonged to Monokuma, Makoto had the faintest feeling that it also belonged to someone else.

"Now that Naegi-kun has awakened, all students must assemble in the gymnasium. Failure to do so will result in punishment!"

The more he thought, the more his head hurt. Makoto limped towards the gym with one hand clutching his hair, and the other using the wall for support. Step after step, he slowly followed the designated path before stumbling through the doors to the gymnasium.

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"Oh my gosh! Naegi-kun! Are you alright?"

Sayaka rushed to Makoto's side as soon as he entered the gym. He looked around the gym. The other thirteen students also seemed to be relieved in their own ways upon seeing his arrival. Although, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the SHSL Moral Compass was walking towards them.

"You're late Naegi-kun! Explain yourself!"

Mukuro winced at the question and was about to object before Sayaka beat her to it.

"Are you kidding me? He was sick for a whole day! What do you mean late?"

"Yea! Give him a break!" Aoi chimed in near the stage of the gym.

"It's fine guys… I was sleeping in the infirmary because I wasn't feeling well… could you put that on the class note for me?" Makoto sighed.

"Ah yes! Of course! You are completely excused Naegi-kun!" Kiyotaka happily replied, ignoring the upset comments from Sayaka and Aoi. Makoto smiled towards them, appreciating the gesture to which Aoi returned a thumbs up and a pat on the shoulder from Sayaka. Then all of a sudden, Celeste spoke from behind them, startling the two.

"Are you sure you haven't met before? Your response sound awfully used to his demands."

"Wha! I… oh. Huh?"

Shrugging off the surprise, Makoto realized that what she said was true. And then he realized, he also noticed how everyone else was slightly relieved when he entered the room and for as long as he could remember, he barely just met everyone. But the more he looked around, the more he saw the little details that showed on everyone.

Byakuya's fingers in his usual crossed-arms pose gripped the clothing a little more tight than usual, Kyouko tried to hide one hand that was bawled into a fist on the opposite side of her body and even Celeste had slight twitches in her otherwise neutral expression. Makoto's eyes widened upon seeing these details that would normally take years of friendship to notice.

"What the… how am I noticing these things?" He thought. He wanted to just chalk it off as him overthinking things but as he looked towards Touko and able to spot the outlines of the scissors under her skirt like he already knew it was there, he couldn't deny that these observations were second nature to him. Before Makoto could begin to fathom why, a monochrome bear popped up onto the podium and spoke.

"It seems everyone has arrived! Thank god I don't have to punish any of you idiots before the game starts!"

"Hey! Who're you calling an idiot?" Yasuhiro angrily shouted while pointing an accusatory finger towards the bear.

"Alright, so far, I have only explained half of the game to you kids…."

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"…it's not as simple as just killing someone, you have to get away with it as well."

Monokuma began explaining the second part of the game: The body discovery announcement, the investigation, the class trial and the verdict. Makoto paid little attention to the explanation due to the pain and exhaustion so instead, he directed his attention to his classmates. The introduction of the class trial and investigation seemed to ease the majority of the students, since knowing that the killer also had to get away with the crime, would likely lessen the chances of a killing.

When Makoto looked over to Sayaka however, he could tell she was very distressed. She was trembling slightly and her eyes were also somewhat out-of-focus. When she caught his look, he immediately recognized the fake and practiced smile she sent his way, making Makoto feel very uncomfortable with this new information.

"N-No way… w-was she really planning to—" His thoughts were interrupted by a new voice that erupted from the student body.

"H-Hey! Wait a second!"

Makoto turned to the commotion, and saw Junko a few feet away from Monokuma with a raised fist.

"Everything you just said! That's messed up!"

"Huh? No it isn't. It's completely fair!"

"That's not what I meant!"

The Fashionista and the monochrome bear quickly got locked into a back and forth argument. Makoto felt a pulse go through his head and all of a sudden, the headache felt different. The more he watched the two go at it, the more he felt as if the whole thing was scripted.

He clutched the side of his head right after that thought entered his mind, feeling as if something has burst open and a rush of information came flowing in. He opened his eyes to try and focus on the situation happening in front of him, but instead, only grew to be more confused upon seeing the scene. His eyes may be seeing Junko Enoshima angrily stating her position towards the game, but his mind saw a different girl.

"M—Mu….Muk…" The syllables slowly formed in his mind.

"Muk…. Muku… Muku? Muku-!" His other hand shot up towards his head as another pop registered in his mind. Makoto tried to focus on the syllables that formed in his head, he could see the letters and the blank spaces as if he was playing hangman. Only four of the thirteen blanks were filled and yet, he could hear a familiar voice sing the first four letters.

"Muku~!" played over and over before he instinctively mouthed "ro."

"Muku…ro… Mukuro… Mukuro." The first set of blanks were filled, leaving one more set in his mind. Makoto's eyes turned to dinner plates when he opened them again, seeing Monokuma now wagging its finger towards Junko.

"If you don't cooperate in this game, I'm going to have to punish you!" It was saying. The word 'punish', left a sense of dread within Makoto. Another pop went off and he dropped to one knee, clutching his head in pain. Sayaka noticed this and immediately went to support him.

"N-Naegi-kun! Are you ok? Do you need help?" She urgently whispered, but Makoto didn't hear her at all, his mind too occupied with both the scene happening in front of them and his internal struggle.

"Mukuro… I-….I-… Ik…" The letters continued to slowly form, but the sense of urgency was becoming overwhelming from his body.

"Punish.. I'm going to have to punish you!" For an instance, Makoto saw multiple Monokumas on a street slaughtering everyone in their view. Then, he pictured Monokuma slashing the black haired girl that he has become familiar with and for a second, he felt as if he shared her pain. He opened his eyes the moment the claws made contact with girl, taking in a deep breath as if he was the one who was struck.

"Satisfied?"

This time, he saw Junko stomping her foot onto Monokuma. Every sense in his body told him that something dangerous was about to happen.

"That's what I should be asking you."

Makoto watched as Junko's shoulders slightly dropped and despite watching from behind her, he could see the confused expression on her face; it was one he had seen many times himself.

"Mukuro….Iku…." The letters continued to fade into the blanks, but there was no time left.

"She's in danger…. I have to do something…. I… have to save her…"

The next thing Makoto registered was that he had stood up and started running towards the fashionista. Even though the girl looks like Junko, Makoto was now certain that she wasn't Junko. Sayaka fell backwards onto the floor from his sudden burst of movement.

"N-Naegi-kun!"

"Heed my call, O spear of legend, Gungnir! Come to thine master's aid!"

"Mukuro Ikusaba… I think that's a cool name!"

"Mukuro! Look out!"

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Mukuro looked down at Monokuma in confusion. She has followed the script perfectly yet Junko was now saying things that wasn't in the plan. As far as she knew, she hasn't done anything wrong and now, she was too focussed on trying to process what was happening to register the footsteps rushing towards her.

"Heed my call, O spear of legend, Gungnir! Come to thine master's aid!"

"Huh?"

"Mukuro! Look out!"

"Wha—HMPH"

Everything became chaotic as Mukuro's instincts kicked in, slowing down time so she can process her surroundings. However, unlike all the other time her instincts were in effect, this time, she wasn't able to comprehend what was happening.

She had barely turned her body to the voice that had called her name, something that only Junko should have been able to do. The next thing she registered was the impact of a soft, smaller body, coming from the side and a blur of olive green and thin black lines. Her head wasn't oriented correctly to properly identify what had just collided with her but she felt something wet drip onto her face.

Mukuro now found herself looking at the ceiling of the gymnasium, her shoulders about to make contact with the ground. She saw a couple of spears now falling back towards the ground and her legs prevented her from identifying the green blur from earlier. The hard surface of the gym floor made contact and she slowly felt her body land in similar fashion. She immediately sat up to see what it was and her mind went blank upon identifying the object, or rather, person.

Makoto laid down face forward with his arms outstretched in a pool of blood. Her eyes quickly darted around and found the culprit: A solid black spear with blood coated along its entire length. There were bits of flesh on the tip as well, clearly indicating that it went straight through him. She could feel the blood draining from her face as she watched him struggle to lift his head so he could see her.

"M..Mukuro…? W-Why… are you… dressed like… Enoshima-san?"

"M-Makoto?"

"I'm….glad that… you're not hurt…. Mukuro…."

"N-no…No…No! NO! MAKOTO!"

…

…

…

…

…

"This…This wasn't supposed to happen…."

…

…