I don't know much about canon UD and FF bases and locations, so I just loaded up a map of Japan and chose a couple spots that worked with what I've previously said… All buildings, like the prison, and other miscellaneous locations, are fictional.
"So what you're saying, is that we have no new information on Naegi?"
She sighed, placing her pen down and closing her favourite notebook, the one she was holding all of the important Naegi-based details in. Bringing her fingers up to lightly rub at her temple, Kyoko tried her best not to roll her eyes in pure annoyance.
The man in front of her was incompetent, that much was obvious. His confidence had been torn to shreds, and he was obviously hiding something from her. At the very least, he was withholding information.
"No, no! I'm not saying that at all, Miss. Kirigiri!" the man floundered, trying his best to regain his poise. It wasn't working.
Kyoko sighed for the second time that hour.
"Then what information do you have?" she asked, this time not suppressing her urge to roll her eyes.
The man squeaked, clearly noticing. He was an intelligence agent from the fifth division with mousy brown hair and a small presence. Kyoko understood the importance of recon, but didn't understand why the fifth division only made her work with people who would be… Better assigned somewhere (anywhere) else.
Information was vital at this stage in development.
It had been a week and a half since the capture of Naegi Makoto, and yet they only had vague information that he was indeed alive.
There was a beep just as the man was about to shoot off what Kyoko knew was going to be yet another excuse. Recon seemed fond of holding her at a stalemate. There was enough information to keep hope of a rescue mission, but never enough that they could actually launch one.
She was beginning to suspect a ploy.
The information they gathered seemed to be either false, or in short supply. In fact, they had only just recently found the newest location of Ultimate Despair, and supposedly, Naegi.
It seemed like the group often moved from place and place, and had multiple bases in which their forces were spread. Usually, there would be at least one member of Ultimate Despair running a base… But at the moment they all seemed to pool at a prison in the Aomori Prefecture. The closest Future Foundation base was at the Akita Prefecture.
Close enough to monitor the, yet far enough away that an attack would be easily seen and countered. Once more, Kyoko suspected a ploy within her own organization.
She added Ultimate Despair's Base Location to her notebook.
"I-it appears that we've just been updated on the situation!" the man suddenly said, turning off his communicator. "This information is only a few hours old!"
Kyoko raised an eyebrow, silently prompting the man to continue. It would be best to get any and all information she could before the higher ups blocked her from it. Since they definitely were trying to withhold things from her...
He nodded feverishly, "Naegi had been spotted at one of the Ultimate Despair Execution sites!" Kyoko felt her heart stop at the words, "It appears he had been taken there by Queen Nevermind."
Queen Nevermind..? She was one of the organization's greatest assets. With her diplomatic skills, expertise in manipulation, and sadistic personality, she was the perfect leader that Ultimate Despair could've asked for - aside from Enoshima, of course.
"What were they doing there?" she asked, hoping to God that it wasn't what she thought it was.
The fifth division man shuffled uncomfortably in his chair for a second, "We're not entirely sure, but it looks like Queen Nevermind was attempting to have Naegi execute a group of our captured soldiers…"
Kyoko huffed a silent sigh of relief, that was better than the alternative.
"And…?" she promoted.
"He didn't, at least that's what it looked like to the scout. Apparently, Naegi tried to resist and escape before passing out for an unseen reason…"
Kyoko nodded. "Is that all of the information?"
The man sighed, "Naegi was placed inside a vehicle and taken to what we highly believe is the current Ultimate Despair base. That is all we have until we can get the information to the analysis team."
She added Fifth Divisions Account to her notebook.
Kyoko hid her smirk, she didn't need help from the analysis team. She was probably the best person at analysing real-world data like this in the entire foundation.
With a flick of her wrist, she excused herself from her office.
She had to speak to the others.
Kyoko nudged her way into the room, nodding a small greeting to the others. Togami returned it sternly, Asahina gave a small wave accompanied by an even smaller smile, Yasuhiro gave her a curious look, and Fukawa sniffed vainly.
"Everyone," she greeted verbally this time, "I called this secret meeting because I have just received some very recent information about Naegi's status."
That got everyone to perk up. Even Togami (who seemed to secretly value Naegi) and Fukawa (whom Kirigi couldn't make sense of her opinion of him) looked a mixture of anxious and relieved at the news.
"The good news is that Ultimate Despair doesn't seem keen on killing him for whatever reason, and he also seems to still be resisting, but the bad news…' she paused for a moment, taking in the faces of everyone in the room, they looked initially happy, but now they had turned far more anxious, as expected, "Is that, from what I gather, they seem to be trying to convert Naegi to despair."
There was an influx of unintelligible sound as everyone began speaking at once. Yasuhiro and Asahina seemed to be the loudest of the two, and the most distressed. Togami was, surprisingly, not far behind.
The violet-eyed girl held up her palm. "Everyone, we need to think rationally about this. Please, calm down before we further discuss things."
Everyone did as she told, and a silent hush flew through the room. Asahina raised her hand, and Kyoko nodded, allowing her to speak.
"Do you mean they're making Makoto a member?" she asked, looking rather confused.
"That is my hypothesis, yes." Kyoko agreed.
"But for what reason?" Togami butted in, "Why would Ultimate Despair want someone like Naegi to become a member?"
That was exactly the question on Kyoko's mind. It really didn't make sense… Then again, they were all logically thinking people. The minds of those fallen to despair and insanity probably worked differently. Sadly, enough, they probably wouldn't ever be able to truly understand their motives...
She wished that she could think about it from that angle, but sadly enough, she was sane.
Sanity seemed to have more downs than ups, as of late.
Eyeing a certain braided intern, Kyoko had an idea.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think there's someone here who might be able to give us some insight on the situation," everyone's eyes followed her own, landing on the now stuttering author, "Fukawa, would you mind turning into Jack for us?"
"W-why would you want to talk to that l-lunatic?!" she asked biting her nail angrily.
"It's exactly that," Kyoko answered, "Only a 'lunatic', as you say, would be able to understand Ultimate Despairs' motives."
Fukawa looked like she was going to retort when Togami hissed, "Just do it already. We don't have all day!"
There was a quite eep before the girl caved in and sneezed, giving everyone in the room the pleasure of listening to the insane giggling of a mass murderer.
"You called?!" Genocide Jack asked, sticking her tongue out to impossible lengths.
Kyoko took the few minutes to fully explain the situation to the rouge genocider. Jack seemed fairly interested in the situation and took to listening with needing a prompt from Byakuya. Finally, the girl spoke.
"Well, despair makes people have messed up logic right?" she asked, spinning a pair of deadly sharp scissors lazily, "It makes them always do the opposite of what they want, or whatever. Wouldn't that mean they have all the more reason to want that hopester Big Mac to join their little group? Personally, if I were them, I would have cut up the little guy already!" she ended on a twisted giggle-snort combo.
Kyoko blinked.
…. Did Genocide Jack just make her feel stupid?
Of course, she had underestimated the twisted logic of despair.
Despair seemed to give people an 'opposite day effect', as Jack said. They always do the opposite of what they want, like killing a person they love, in order to induce despair.
That meant… They saw Naegi as a challenge. It was despairful to them to have to accommodate someone who was their natural enemy, they saw it as pleasurable to watch the brightest hope in the world fall into despair.
Despair was something they yearned for, and so they would easily go to the lengths they have in order to get it. Especially if it gained them a powerful ally in the process.
The truth was finally making itself known to her.
She added Genocide Jack's account to her notebook.
She put her hand to her chin. "Yes, that makes perfect sense."
Before anyone could have the chance to question her, Kyoko explained her logic. "Despair and Hope are natural opposites. That means that those inflicted with despair would take pleasure from breaking the hope of other people… In Naegi's case, they might see it was a challenge, or a sick gift, to have the chance to break the Ultimate Hope and turn him into Ultimate Despair."
That theory got a lot of approval from those in the room. There was a low rumble of agreement as Kyoko inspected the semi-panicked faces.
"Now we don't have to worry about him dying," Togami chimed in, smirking, "Now I can have the pleasure of doing that myself."
That got a laugh from a few members of the group… Well, it was mainly Jack talking about… something involving the word gay? Kyoko didn't care to listen much. Even if she was thankful to the murderer for clearing up one of her biggest questions.
"So… How are we going to rescue the little guy?"
Surprisingly, it was Yasuhiro who spoke up. He had been surprisingly quiet since the capture of Naegi, so it was strange to hear him taking initiative like this.
Kyoko smirked, holding up her notebook. Now was the fun part.
"You guys up for another investigation?"
Wham!
Kamukura didn't even register the pain as his fist pounded against the wall.
Wham! Wham! Wham!
He didn't even know what was coming over him.
He didn't have fucking emotions! That part of him died the same day Hinata did!
The same day that she did...
Except… It no longer felt that way. She didn't feel… Dead… Anymore. Not fully, at least. Her will, her mission, it was coming together through the power of Naegi Makoto. Ultimate Lucky student. Ultimate Hope.
Ultimate Underdog, more like.
He grunted, this time slamming his forehead down against the wall. He just wanted it to stop.
Kamukura didn't know how much longer he could go on living like this. The apathy. The boredom.
…
Emotions.
As he stands there, the only sound apart from his laboured breaths is the constant beeping of a heart monitor. Makoto's heart monitor.
He had been comatose for three days so far. Nevermind's orders, with Kuzuryuu backing her up of course.
They wanted to kill him. At least a part of them did. Maybe it was the despair, trickling through their systems like poison and lashing out at anything opposing it… Or maybe it was the real them, the version that hadn't been corrupted by her influence.
The part of them that hadn't been saved by her.
Maybe this part of them saw Makoto's death as a mercy. Then, the despair part of them won over and forcibly kept him alive and trapped here.
Kamukura let out a shuddering breath.
Nanami Chiaki. The Ultimate Gamer. The only other person who had entered this wasteland of despair and murder with the intent of bringing hope.
He's… He's so much like her. Almost exactly so…
And it hurts.
Kamukura had no idea why. The logical part of his brain (all of it) was flickering and confused. Such sediments were beyond him.
Every since he became Kamukura Izuru.
But… He wanted Makoto to succeed where Chiaki had failed.
He…
Maybe he was using Makoto as a replacement, just as all the others were. Instead of Junko, it was Chiaki. Instead of the new bringer of despair, he was the indeed the new bringer of hope.
He wasn't the successor of Enoshima Junko… But instead the successor of Nanami Chiaki.
And he… Godammit! A part of him that didn't (shouldn't) even exist was telling him that he had to do everything in his power to keep it that way.
His steps were silent - perfect. Only hear when he wanted them to be heard.
Kamukura Izuru was the Ultimate Ultimate. He was beyond words. He was perfect in absolutely every way imaginable.
But… As he held his hand over Makoto's throat, shaking and reluctant to close around it. To end it… He felt an emptiness…
No… That was pain.
If he were perfect… Then why was he feeling such torment and confusion? If he were a flawless, unemotional being, capable of anything and everything…
Then why couldn't he understand one measly high schooler?!
There was a swoosh as the door was opened, and Kamukura immediately dove to the shadows of the room, concealing his presence perfectly.
Sonia Nevermind, the person who had been the cause of all of this, walked into the room. The last fading light from the hallway was vanquished as the door shut softly behind her.
The room was dark, but not immensely so. Kamukura could see everything perfectly - as he was indeed perfect…
Sonia's poise was… Different from usual. Less rigid and perfect. More… Hesitant.
Pained, perhaps?
She had a look of confusion as she stepped closer to the door, eyeing him in a way Kamukura had previously thought impossible for someone fallen into despair.
"It's your fault you were betrayed." the words were harsh, yet only a whisper, "You should come to expect such things… No one is your friend… No one is to be trusted."
She glared down at the young man, despair present in her eyes.
She reached out to his throat, and unlike Kamukura, her hand squeezed tightly around it.
The heart monitor sped up.
Kamukura vaguely wondered if he should make himself known, simply to stop this from occurring… But quickly threw away the idea. He wasn't one to sacrifice himself for others. There was simply no need.
He was only here to witness the interesting. To escape from his boredom.
Makoto simply satisfied that need. There was no other purpose or place for him other than to be a mild amusement until he eventually expired.
No one could survive here - no one can fix something as broken as these people. These things.
Then… Why was Nevermind letting go?
He watched, confused and more interested than ever, as the Queen of Despair herself lifted her hand and… Let someone who defied her live.
With a scoff, she left the room.
Kamukura stayed silent, his interest peeking.
What was so special about this boy… That he could grant mercy from a despair fallen woman he had known for only a day?
Note:
Ooh, now we're getting to the fun parts!
I'm trying to have a little less FF stuff than UD stuff, simply because I know where a majority of interest for this story is held… Though I am excited for what I started setting up with Kyoko and the gang!
I actually thought of the truth bullet idea in the middle of editing this chapter, but now I'm actually really excited for what it's leading up to! (cue evil laughter)
I'll probably update Tuesday! Cya then! :)
Next time:
Makoto wakes up to a bad situation, but don't forget that the road to recovery is paved with friendship! *sparkle sparkle rainbow shonen anime sparkle*