The Swear Jar
Epilogue

Junko Enoshima was in despair.

The whole "class project" setup had been dreadfully boring from the very start, too free and happy and... hopeful. Necessary though it was, it was all enough to make her sick... And then Ishimaru had pressed the Escape Button, and everything was looking up again.

But Ishimaru hadn't fallen to despair.

Junko had no idea what had transpired between Ishimaru and Owada in the bath—had they rekindled their friendship from their time at school? Ooh, or had they brought it even further? She was really cursing the inability to install cameras within the bathhouse! She could have missed out on the juiciest incident so far! It was so... so vexing! So distressing, so frustrating, so wonderful!

Indeed, when the two had exited the bathhouse, it was with smiles and laughter, arms thrown across each other's shoulders. It was such a far cry from the despair Junko craved... which was such a shame. All she wanted was for her beloved classmates to feel that same wonderful despair, but they were just so intent on running from it.

It was only a matter of time, though. Once there were enough Monokuma backups, the real game could finally begin... and though he had found temporary respite in his friendship with Owada, Ishimaru had activated the escape process, so he could only ignore the slow return of his memories for so long.

Junko looked over at her sister, seated at the other end of the control panel and fiddling with her wig thoughtfully. Mukuro had been present for the events leading to the two bozos becoming friends the first time—something about Ishimaru taking over her cleaning duty with Owada, somehow resulting in an all-out fight between the boys and Junko had shut Mukuro up at that point because she didn't really give a shit about the story.

The fact of the matter was that it was entirely possible that Ishimaru would recognize Mukuro far too prematurely, so Junko had ordered her retreat—her older sister was an important trump card for the killing game, after all, and it wouldn't do to throw her away before the main attraction even began. But if Ishimaru was so intent on disregarding the memories that didn't suit him... "Hey, you can get back out there tomorrow, sis."

Mukuro looked up, a questioning look crossing her cool gaze. "Are you sure? But I thought—"

"Hey now, don't tell me you ran off and joined the military for all those years and all you managed to learn was how to defy orders?"

Mukuro's face fell. "No, of course not... If that's what you command of me, Junko-chan, I'll do it."

"Good." Junko slumped back in her chair and stared up at the monitors, glowering at Ishimaru and Owada laughing together. "Man, they're such fucking idiots, I should have known nothing interesting would have come from this. It's so disgusting, I think I might barf. Yeah, I'm gonna barf."

"Please don't barf on the machinery, Junko-chan."

"Oh man, did you really think I was gonna barf?!" Junko cackled madly. "You're a hoot, sis! You're so serious all the time, it's, like, totally insane!"

Mukuro's cheeks flushed slightly. "I— I'm sorry, I just..."

"Man, you're just worthless." Junko sighed and slumped further down in her chair. "So can you at least manage to keep an eye on Ishimaru for the time being? It's not looking like he's taking his memories too seriously for now, so you should be clear, but tell me as soon as anything changes, all right? Surely you can do that much."

Mukuro nodded, standing from the swivel chair. "I'll make sure to do so. I'll see you later, then, Junko-chan."

"Yeah, yeah." Junko raised a hand in dismissal as her sister headed towards the exit. She stared up at the monitors again and frowned. "Maybe Naegi'll get the Escape Button next. Now that would be interesting."

Mukuro's footfalls came to a halt, and Junko swiveled in her chair to grin across the room at her.

"Don't you think so, sis?"

The soldier was clearly trying to keep a neutral expression, but Junko could read the uncertainty in her eyes as plain as day.

"I said, don't you think that'd be interesting?"

"...If you think it will be, Junko-chan, then I'm sure it will."

"Well duh," Junko spat, turning back to the surveillance monitors. "Why would I need you to validate me? You're fucking worthless."

There was a brief silence, punctuated only by the whirring of computer fans. Mukuro didn't seem to be making any move to leave.

"Junko-chan, don't you think—"

"You better not tell me to pay Ishimaru's dumb Swear Jar."


Notes: And there we have it! After all these months, I've finally finished up this story!

It's left kind of open-ended, but I hope that's not too much of a disappointment. I don't have any plans to follow up any further, so sorry if anyone was hoping for something more concrete!

Finally, I want to leave a shout-out to Dixxy Mouri and hunterofcomedy; they were waiting patiently for the update, and if they hadn't reached out to me about the continuation, I might very well have given up when this story was giving me such difficulty. But I'm so glad I finally pushed through and completed it, so I'm very grateful for their support!

And of course, thank you to anyone who read this fic through to the end, and I sincerely hope you found some enjoyment in it!