It was colder.
Hajime realized his hands were shaking ever so slightly as he gripped the stainless-steel spoon. He placed his left hand against the edge of the hot bowl, helping to warm himself up.
He looked to his right from where he was sitting out of the restaurant and towards the ocean. The dark clouds were drawing closer, it had been less than an hour, but they had already made significant progress.
He looked back down to his bowl of black beans with little appetite.
"I'm already sick of this…" Hajime twirled his spoon mixing up the black sludge.
"If only we had someone who could cook…" Fuyuhiko grunted before taking another bite.
"Oh, come on… Now I'm sad again…" Akane sighed.
"Sorry…"
Hajime hated this atmosphere. He had experienced it so many times. Everyone meeting up to have breakfast the morning after someone's death. Although in this instance, it was only a few hours ago. He could feel the anxiety swell up and poke his insides.
"Yeah…" Hajime picked up his bowl and headed for the kitchen. "I'm really not hungry."
"Don't throw it out, limited food and all that." Kazuichi stretched out his arms and legs at the table, seemingly unbothered by everyone's gloom.
"I know." Hajime went to grab a plate from the cupboard to cover his bowl with, but he realized there were none there. He looked atop the bench to see a pile of dirty dishes that had been steadily building over the last few days.
"Anyone want to clean the dishes?" Hajime yelled towards the group.
Everyone looked at each other with hesitation apart from Sonia who leapt at the opportunity.
"Oh, yes! Now is the time I can finally do the commoner activity known as 'dishes'! I shall get wet and slippery!"
Everyone looked toward Kazuichi expectedly, ready for the inevitable sly comment at Sonia's remark. Kazuichi simply lifted his arms in the air with a shrug.
"Yeah okay, that's what she said and all that. But I mean honestly, Sonia's just too easy when it comes to that kind of thing."
"I am easy!?" Sonia shouted in baffled confusion.
Kazuichi held his arms out with his palms facing each other, pointing at Sonia. "See!"
"Yeah okay point taken…" Fuyuhiko scratched at his chin and smiled.
"Sonia, we're going to go wake up Mahiru after breakfast, right? Maybe now's not the best time." Hajime sighed as he grabbed a dirty plate from the pile and covered his bowl with it before placing it in the fridge.
"I suppose you are right…" Sonia looked toward the ground dejected, rubbing her shoulder.
"I gotta fix that FUCKING alarm! So, I can't at the moment." Kazuichi foamed at the mouth while speaking.
"You okay?" Yuki asked concerned at Kazuichi now stabbing his fork into his food.
"Oh, I just have to fix something with no tools, so I'm grrrreeeaaatttt!" Kazuichi ground his teeth together.
Yuki cringed at Kazuichi's evident frustration; "Hey… why don't I help you out? I mean I don't know a lot about machines, but an extra set of hands should be something, right?"
Kazuichi continued to stab his fork into the food.
"I will take that as a yes…"
Akane and Fuyuhiko looked at each other and sighed. Fuyuhiko raised his hand alongside Akane.
"We got it…"
"Oh, really? Thanks." Hajime exited the kitchen while drying his hands with a towel. "Sonia, you almost ready to go?"
"Yes, I am! It is time Mahiru stops pressing the snooze button!" Sonia spun around - off her seat and toward the kitchen.
"Wait! Before everyone goes, I need to…" Kazuichi hesitated, biting at his nails. "Actually, don't worry, it can wait. I need to make sure I'm right first."
"Everything okay?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Let's go Yuki." Kazuichi shuffled down the stairs scratching at his head with visible frustration. Yuki nodded at everyone before leaving also.
"The fuck got his panties in a twist?" Fuyuhiko scoffed.
Hajime was also concerned but figured now wasn't the time to worry, he could always talk to him later. He felt Sonia press against his arm and smile.
"Shall we go?" Sonia asked.
"Yeah, catch you guys later!" Hajime and Sonia waved goodbye as they left.
Fuyuhiko and Akane were left in awkward silence, staring at each other.
"Should we get started?" Akane sighed.
Fuyuhiko nodded with a sigh as he got up and headed towards the kitchen.
Hajime and Sonia
"You nervous?"
Sonia stared down at Mahiru's pod. Any second now, her eyes would open, and she would be back.
Sonia bit at her bottom lip, "terrified."
"We won't let what happened to Teruteru happen again." Hajime stared down at the pod with a confident assurance, which helped calm Sonia's nerves slightly.
Sonia caressed the top of the pod and whispered; "please come back to us."
"The fact that your sister was killed is terrible... It's unfortunate...but... You shouldn't have killed that girl! You had no right do to that! Nobody has the right to judge others for their crimes! Revenge...is just wrong!"
'He killed someone… how could he do that? She may have killed his sister but still…'
"And- "
Black.
'What just happened? Where am I?'
Mahiru panicked trying to look around, but she couldn't move her eyes, she couldn't move her head. She didn't have a head! She didn't have a body, there was nothing in this place; nothing surrounded her, an endless void in all directions.
She tried to think back at how she suddenly ended up here. She was arguing with Fuyuhiko and then… nothing.
None of this made sense, she went to scream but had no mouth. She went to breathe but had no lungs. She was just a ball of thought, endlessly drifting nowhere. She tried to cry but had no eyes.
Her mind was beginning to break, cracks starting to form in her consciousness as it struggled to make sense of her environment. The more it tried to justify its existence in this void, the more cracks formed.
Slowly…
Ever so slowly, she felt… something.
Wet hair stuck to her neck.
A drop of sweat careening down her leg.
A slight aching in her elbow.
A dry throat.
The scent of the ocean.
Finally, she realized, she felt herself again. She could see a cacophony of colours dancing in the back of her eyelids. She could open them and find out where she was, what happened, but a part of her screamed not to. To keep her eyes closed and never open them.
That part of herself refused to explain it's reasoning though as if it was an irrational fear.
Mahiru ignored it, tossing its suggestion aside as nothing more than being nervous.
She would soon come to realize… she should have listened.
…
Carefully and slowly, Mahiru parted her eyelids, repeatedly blinking as her eyes struggled to adjust to the limited light filtering through some kind of glass in front of her.
She abruptly gasped for air as she realized she didn't have any air in her lungs. She continued to breathe in and out frantically as if she had been holding her breath.
Now that she felt her person again and was breathing questions started to build up in her mind.
One she focused on though was simple; 'where am I?'
Once again, she thought back, trying to make sense of what had happened. Trying to find answers for her immediate surroundings.
As her consciousness reached out for those memories, it was interrupted by a tapping on the glass in front of her.
It was… a person.
No, it was two.
She could make out two shadowy figures on the other side of the glass as the sun backlit them.
Mahiru squinted, trying to focus on the limited details of their faces she could make out.
Finally, she realized who they were.
'Hajime and Sonia? What are they doing here?'
She could see Sonia's delighted smile as she tapped at the glass and waved. Mahiru couldn't help but smile back at how happy she seemed to be seeing her.
'But why is she so happy to see me?'
Mahiru's mind started to race to try to find an answer to that question. But before it could begin forming one, she looked down to see her nude body. It was bruised, sickly, scarred and malnourished. She went to scream, but her voice box fought against her, letting only a few crackles of sound leave her throat.
'W-what happened to me!?'
The glass of the pod lifted. To reveal the warm smiling faces of the two individuals she recognized.
Hajime crouched down to her level and whispered, "Hey, Mahiru. Welcome back."
'Welcome back? Welcome back from what?' Mahiru went to sit up. As she did, she noticed Hajime was averting his gaze away from her.
She strained her back, sitting up. She could feel her spine poking at her skin.
Mahiru tried to form a sentence, but nothing but a raspy moan left her mouth. Sonia leaned down and handed her a blue gown with white polka dots. "It is alright. Hajime and I struggled to speak for some time as well."
As she felt the cloth of the gown in her hand, she realized why Hajime was averting his gaze. She remembered; she was naked! She went to lift her arm to hit Hajime on the shoulder but felt her muscles strained even to lift her arm.
"w…w..ot…" Mahiru managed to murmur.
"I know you are disoriented right now. But please know we are here for you. We always will be." Sonia grinned and rubbed Mahiru's forearm before helping her into the gown.
"Can you stand?" Hajime asked as he helped her out of the pod and onto the ground. She collapsed to the floor without the slightest resistance. "Oh man… you got it bad."
'Got 'it' bad?' Mahiru struggled to think. Her thoughts were hazy and mixed up.
"Hajime, the room with the beds next door. Let us take her there."
"Good idea."
Her entire body felt weak, as if she was struggling just to stay alive. She couldn't keep a train of thought going. It was as if her mind was trying to forget something, trying to block her conscious from something. She just couldn't figure out what.
"I…" Her voice just managed a syllable but nothing more.
"Upsy-daisy!" She felt Hajime's arms wrap around the bends of her knees and underneath her shoulders.
…
Mahiru found herself in a room with beds and a bay window.
As Hajime placed her down into a bed, she could feel her entire body ache. She melted into the soft fabric as Sonia tucked her in.
Mahiru realized she was starting to feel tired as the temptation of sleep as an escape from this confusion became more and more alluring. She knew, though, she couldn't go to sleep yet, she wanted answers.
Hajime rustled around in a backpack he was holding and handed her a bottle of water. She could feel the dryness of the back of her throat and realized just how thirsty she was. So, without hesitation, she started chugging it down. Almost half the bottle was gone before Mahiru wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand.
Her dry throat now felt a little better, and she finally felt ready to speak, albeit in a whisper.
"W-what's going on?" Mahiru managed to stutter.
Sonia and Hajime both sat on opposing corners of her bed with heavy shoulders. She saw them briefly exchange a glance, before looking back toward her expectantly.
'Are they expecting me to know the answer that question? How could I possibly!?'
"I don't understand…" Mahiru whimpered. She was so sick of this feeling of bewilderment.
"Mahiru…" Sonia kneeled next to her and carefully placed Mahiru's left hand in hers. "It is impossible to express what we have done in a positive manner… so I am going to say something, and then you should understand."
Mahiru's entire body tensed and her head ached. That small part of her screamed again. To run, run as far away as she could and never look back. But…
Mahiru was a photographer, she had an insatiable curiosity just like her mother. Her mother had seen war and violence, yet she continued to take photos.
'I've got to be brave like her!'
Even though she felt her shoulders shaking and this unbelievable fear contort inside of her she knew…
'I have to know.'
"Yes?"
Sonia's face darkened as she looked toward the ground and spoke.
…
…
…
One word.
That's all it took.
Like a key unlocking the floodgates, memories crashed into her mind, memories she couldn't even begin to comprehend the cruelty and venomosity of.
Suffering.
Pain.
Death.
Nothing but memories of those three things sored around in Mahiru's mind. All of these memories that were so impossibly awful that Mahiru couldn't understand why she had them in her head in the first place.
And all these memories were unlocked with the uttering of one mere word.
Despair.
-8 Students Remain-
Kazuichi & Yuki
"ONE
TWO
THREE
HIT IT!"
Yuki flipped a massive switch on the wall as a bunch of machinery sparked to life. They both froze listening carefully over the churning of gears.
They could hear it.
A loud siren was going off, one that rose in pitch before descending.
"FUCK YES! I am a goddamn genius! Yesyesyesyesyesyes… YESSSSSS!" Kazuichi jumped up and down raising his fist in the air triumphantly, before going over to a panel and pressing a couple buttons; which switched the alarm off.
"Incredible work Kazuichi! You never fail to impress!" Yuki cheered.
"Thanks, man! Having you around was a big help!" Kazuichi slung his arm around Yuki and gave him a massive grin. "Now we just have to make sure everything is up and running across the whole island."
"Oh, no does that mean what I think it means…" Yuki shuddered.
"More walking? You bet!" Kazuichi smirked before pushing him out the door.
Hajime, Sonia & Mahiru
"In the simulation, you met up with Fuyuhiko to discuss Monokuma's motive and while you were arguing- "
"Stop."
Mahiru was staring forward with an unblinking expression. Motionless.
"It doesn't matter, I don't care. Just tell me the truth. These memories… Are they real?"
…
Neither Hajime nor Sonia had the guts to answer her question. Their absence of an answer, however, was a response in itself.
"No…"
"Mahiru…" Sonia squeezed her hand tightly between hers. "I know it's difficult… I know it's..."
"That's not me! That isn't… I would never… ever!" Her voice began to crack, and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
"Mahiru…" Hajime sighed under his breath.
"No, you have it wrong! … I didn't I…"
Both Hajime and Sonia stared back with sympathy.
"I didn't… stop… stop looking at me like that…" Mahiru's mind couldn't comprehend that she would be capable of such vile acts. She was so convinced of this that she simply dismissed them as delusions. Dreams. False memories.
Mahiru started taking comfort in this fantasy world as she separated herself further and further from reality.
'I'm like this for another reason.
I had a bad dream is all.
I'll go home soon and forget any of this ever happened.
Everyone I love is still alive.
Everything is going to be okay.
I'm just… misremembering. That's all.'
Like an alarm clock breaking a person out of their slumber, an air siren could be heard echoing throughout the building. It was loud and obnoxious as it screamed at imminent danger, an imminent threat. Alongside harrowing screams and cries, Mahiru realized she had heard it before. Many times, in fact. Warning anyone nearby not of an incoming storm or natural disaster, but of a person. A terrorist, a psychopath, a monster so dangerous that it warranted alarming everyone in its proximity.
This sound was so engraved in her head that it was casual. Just a regular part of her day, like a school bell or the sound of passing cars. While she wished to deny her reality, there was no denying that sound. How many times she had heard it, how many times she warranted it.
Warning that Mahiru Koizumi an ultimate despair was approaching.
The alarm promptly stopped after only a few seconds.
Her face must have displayed her realization as Sonia gripped her hand tighter. "It is alright. You are alright."
She felt Sonia's hands in hers. They were warm and slightly sweaty, most likely from the hot climate around them. But as Mahiru looked up to face her friend she saw someone… different. It was no longer the optimistic, naive princess she had come to know but now it was the genocidal maniac who she accompanied in her slaughter of millions.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" In a fit of pure horror, Mahiru palmed Sonia's face away and dove off the bed. She fell onto her right shoulder with a hard thump.
"AHH!" Sonia shouted in pain at suddenly taking a blow to the face as she fell backwards from where she was kneeling.
In a fit of desperation, Mahiru started to drag herself towards the door of the room to get away.
"Sonia! Mahiru!" Hajime panicked unsure of who to do. Sonia rubbed her cheekbone from where she was hit in a daze, but when she realized what was happening, she ran around the bed and dived on top of Mahiru.
"Get off me! Get the hell away from me! HELP ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!" Mahiru cried out in desperation.
"Mahiru! It is us! We are your friends; it is I, Sonia!"
"No, you're not! No! NO! Get away from me! You'll kill me too!" Mahiru resisted Sonia's grasp desperately trying to fight her off. Sonia had her pinned down underneath her as she tried to stop her from crawling away.
"Mahiru!" Hajime cried. "Come on, it's us! We won't hurt you!" Hajime ran in front of her and lay down onto his belly, doing his best to maintain eye contact.
"Hey, remember me! Unreliable Hajime, we spent time together on the island."
"NO! NO!" Mahiru shook her head furiously.
"Look at me." Hajime grabbed Mahiru's chin to stop her from flailing around and made her face him. "You are Mahiru Koizumi, I am Hajime Hinata, and that is your friend Sonia Nevermind. We promise… no one is going to hurt you. We care about you, we're your friends. We want to help. Please."
"I…" Tears rolled down Mahiru's cheeks as she was finally starting to make sense of their awful reality. "Hajime, please no… please… please tell me I'm wrong! That this is all some messed up joke. Please tell me that my family is still alive, that my friends are still alive… that… that I'm still a good person. Please… please… please… ahhhhhhh…"
Mahiru began sobbing into the carpet and relaxed her entire body. Sonia climbed off of her and helped her sit up before Mahiru wrapped her arms around Hajime's waist and cried into his stomach and chest.
Hajime was a little shocked at the sudden interaction but was happy Mahiru was finally coming to accept the situation. He patted the top of her head and ran his fingers through her tangled hair.
"I'm so sorry Mahiru, please know, we're all here for you."
Mahiru continued to weep into Hajime's shirt with unbridled sadness.
Fuyuhiko & Akane
"You alright?"
"…"
"…"
"You think she'll hate me?"
"Maybe."
"…"
"…"
"What should I do?"
"I don't know."
Akane and Fuyuhiko washed and dried the stack of dishes together anxiously, waiting for the inevitable confrontation between Fuyuhiko and Mahiru.
Fuyuhiko felt the warm soapy water beneath his hands, noticing how they started to wrinkle.
"You're a killer!"
"You're responsible for my death!"
"I hate you! I'll never forgive you!"
Fuyuhiko ran through different scenarios in his head of how the interaction would go. All of them ended poorly. He could feel his heart swell with guilt and trepidation.
"Hey, Fuyuhiko." Akane suddenly spoke up, breaking Fuyuhiko out of his downhill train of thought. She carefully dried the cutlery she was holding until she could see her reflection in the metal. "I honestly don't know Mahiru super well, I mean neither of us do, right?"
Fuyuhiko nodded in confirmation.
"So, I don't really have any advice to give or guesses on how she'll react. Sorry."
Fuyuhiko bit at his bottom lip and started brushing a plate under the water with ferocity and frustration.
"But I like you. So do the others. I mean, since when were you a people pleaser? Who cares what one person thinks of you?"
Fuyuhiko paused.
"I appreciate the thought but honestly… the problem isn't whether or not she hates me… it's…"
Akane looked toward him, curiously, "what?"
"She was right."
"Huh!?"
"Actually…" Fuyuhiko ran his hand over his head and down the back of his neck with visible anxiety. "Don't worry about it…"
Akane sighed as she picked up another dish off the rack and began drying it. She's never been good at cheering people up, and she didn't know what to do here. The best thing she could come up with was to change topics.
"You know… I heard from Kazuichi that you guys used to talk about me in the locker room. That true?"
"Huh!? What!? I umm…" Fuyuhiko panicked pretending to be solely focused on the task at hand.
"Holy shit! It is true! You're all massive perverts! PERVERT PERVERT PERVERT!" Akane rammed her index finger into Fuyuhiko's cheek and twisted it left and right in jest.
"Fucking stop!" Fuyuhiko snapped, slapping her finger away. "Yeah okay, maybe on occasion we talked about some of the girls in our class, but what do you expect we were horny fucking teenagers."
Akane laughed uproariously, loving Fuyuhiko's evident discomfort.
"I mean hey… it's not like we didn't talk about the boys now and then." Akane admitted.
Fuyuhiko chuckled, shaking his head in amusement, clearly more relaxed than he was before.
"Oh yeah. Guess you were all horny teenagers as well." Fuyuhiko elbowed Akane in the ribs lightly.
Akane continued to laugh, "guess we're all perverts then!"
"Guess so!" Fuyuhiko agreed.
They both started to calm down as they continued washing the now ever decreasing stack of dishes. A small silence followed before Fuyuhiko spoke up.
"You know Akane, I… I'm glad we became friends."
Akane was about to say something before stopping herself. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts.
"We never really talked that much back in high school, huh?"
"Na…"
"You uh… you're actually a pretty cool guy if I'm being totally honest." Akane blushed slightly, Fuyuhiko blushed even more so.
"I uh… thanks… you too."
They both continued to wash the dishes in silence for a few minutes with visible tension now between them.
"Who was talked about the most?" Akane squinted at Fuyuhiko with scepticism.
"W-what!?" Fuyuhiko stammered at the sudden inquiry.
"You heard me! Which of us did you guys talk most about in the locker room, anything good I would want to hear!?" Akane chuckled.
Fuyuhiko huffed, "I ain't no snitch!"
Akane groaned with audible disdain before thinking up a plan.
"Well, you know… I remember one-time Peko talked about you and well…"
Although Fuyuhiko was trying to hide it, it was clear he was interested in what she was saying.
"Oh, never mind…."
"Heh." Fuyuhiko shook his head. "You want to play it like that, huh? Trying to bribe me?"
"Maybe… did it work?"
Fuyuhiko faced Akane and nodded approvingly. "Alright, alright. You're on."
They both smiled with devilish grins as they shook hands.
Hajime, Sonia & Mahiru
After Mahiru had finally started settling down, they helped her back into the bed. A long silence followed as Mahiru sat up against the headboard, lamenting over everything that's happened.
As she did Hajime couldn't help but notice Mahiru's new appearance. Among the typical traits they all seemed to share; such as being pale, gauntly, sickly, with dark rings surrounding their eyes. She had long hair that reached just past her shoulders and covered the edges of her face. A nose ring that she promptly took out and threw across the room as well as plenty of scars across her body.
Eventually, she finally looked up and faced Hajime and Sonia with a sad smile.
"I'm glad you guys are okay… I'm sorry I freaked out earlier."
"Mahiru!" Sonia cried as she rose from the bed and hugged her. "I am so happy to have you back!" Sonia kissed her cheeks repeatedly before putting her head back over her shoulder. Mahiru carefully wrapped her hand around Sonia's back and rested her head on Sonia's shoulder, whispering, "sorry I hit you…" Sonia sighed with relief and kissed her on the cheek again.
After a few moments, Sonia finally let Mahiru go and relaxed back down on the bed.
Mahiru eyed Hajime up and down with a slight air of confusion visible on her face.
"So, you're Kamukura?"
"Ah, yeah… I guess." Hajime scratched at his head. "I know everything is confusing right now but… Sonia and I will answer any questions you have."
Hajime and Sonia decided to adjust their method when waking someone up. Instead of dumping them with a load of information, they would let them hear it at their own pace. Mahiru thought for a few moments, biting at her long nails.
"What's going to happen to us? Are we going to prison?"
Hajime and Sonia looked at each other with surprise. Neither of them expected a question like that to be her first.
"I don't think prisons really exist anymore, he heh." Hajime tried to lighten the mood with dark humour, but it clearly didn't work.
Mahiru shook her head in reply, "no I mean… how are we being punished?"
"Punished?" Sonia asked inquisitively.
Mahiru replied with a befuddled expression.
"Are we being put to death then?" The corners of her eyes started to fill with tears again.
"Mahiru!" Hajime shouted. "No one is being put to death. What happened as despair, it wasn't our fault!"
"How could you possibly say that! We hurt so many people! We deserve whatever punishments the future foundation put us through!"
"No, we don't we were brainwashed! I know it… doesn't feel that way but-"
"Brainwashed? Maybe but… it was still us."
Both Hajime and Sonia almost recoiled at that thought.
"What are you talking about Mahiru! We had no control over ourselves as despair, I… I wish I did not do the things I did." Sonia retorted.
Mahiru didn't reply, looking down at the palms of her hands. It was a strange experience looking at your own hands yet barely being able to recognize them.
Mahiru considered what Sonia was saying but could not accept it. She was not sure if "brainwashed" was an accurate description of how she felt during despair. She considered her feelings and thought that it was more accurate to say that she lost all inhibitions, that the darkness she was overcome with during despair was in some way inside her the whole time. It was just unleashed.
Mahiru closed her hands into fists, noticing her swollen and bruised knuckles. Mahiru steeled her resolve and looked Sonia directly in the eyes while speaking.
"No. We deserve to be punished. We should be punished. We are terrible people, all of us."
Hajime noticed the interaction between the two. He watched as tears began to swell in the corners of Sonia's eyes as she gritted her teeth and began breathing faster. He realized he should step in.
"Hey w-"
"Hajime, can you please give Mahiru and I the room for a moment?"
Hajime furrowed his brow, confused at the sudden request.
"Please."
Hesitantly, Hajime stood up and began making his way out of the room. "I'll be right outside, okay." Hajime closed the door behind him.
A brooding silence filled the room as they bemoaned over each other's attitudes. Finally, Sonia spoke through gritted teeth.
"Oh, great Mahiru…" Sonia mumbled. "How much suffering must I endure until thou art satisfied?"
"Excuse me?" Mahiru spat.
"Well, apparently you are the judge on my humanity so I would love to know!" Sonia slammed her fists on the bed and stood up. She began pacing around the room while fiddling with a knot of her hair.
"I was with you, Sonia! I saw the things you did!"
"Yes, and they were awful! Do you really think I will ever be able to forgive myself for what I've done?"
"Then, you agree!"
"No, I do not!" Sonia began to yell through her tears of frustration and anger. "Mahiru do you truly think so poorly of me that you believe I would have wanted to destroy my kingdom?"
Mahiru clutched her hands close to her chest. Unsure of how to answer such a difficult question.
"That I enjoyed killing all those people! That I took satisfaction in my parent's deaths? Do you believe I take comfort in knowing that I have disgraced the Nevermind name and destroyed the hard work of all my ancestors?"
"I doubt you do Sonia! But you still did those things! And… and…" Mahiru hesitated, biting at her bottom lip.
"Say it," Sonia said with more hostility Mahiru had ever heard her muster.
"You should be punished for your actions," Mahiru whispered.
Sonia ran forward toward the bed she was lying on. Mahiru flinched thinking Sonia was going to hit her, but instead, she stamped her leg onto the bed and pointed toward her burns.
"IS THIS NOT ENOUGH! THAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH THIS! No? That everyone I love is dead and the world destroyed! How much must I go through Mahiru?! HOW MUCH MUST I SUFFER UNTIL YOU ARE SATISFIED?!"
Mahiru was so frustrated and confused, still coming to terms with her own thoughts, but she had enough of being yelled at and began to fire back.
"You did those things to yourself! We all did… Do you really think because you screwed yourself over that justifies your actions!"
"Justified!? Do you believe there is any justice in this world where some innocent teenagers are forced to do those things!?"
Mahiru began to yell back, although her voice was gravely and croaked as she did so as her voice box struggled to keep up. "News flash princess! The world is an unfair and shitty place!"
"How!? How can you be so insensitive!?"
Mahiru counted with her fingers listing off everything that she had seen Sonia do. "Murder, genocide, torture, dismemberment! I've seen it all! I was there for almost all your awful and fucked up deeds! Documenting everything! I've seen what all of you have done! We deserve everything that's happened and what's going to happen! We should have all died in the killing game!"
"HOW DARE YOU! You have no idea what we had to go through time and time again! Peko, Ibuki, Hiyoko, Mikan, Gundham, Nekomaru, Nagito, Chiaki… AGAIN! We had to watch all of our friends die! How could you believe we deserve that! Do you think Chiaki deserved that!"
Mahiru's face grew dark as rage and misery boiled inside of her, without thinking about it. Mahiru spoke.
"Do you think Chiaki deserved her parents being killed? Do you think she would ever forgive you for that?"
Sonia's anger dissipated as her whole body relaxed. No longer did anger and frustration fill her but hatred as she began to fall victim to the poison of Mahiru's words.
"If she was here right now… she would hate you."
…
…
Sonia stopped pacing and stood in front of the foot of Mahiru's bed. Her eyes were distant and sad. Sonia bit at her bottom lip, covering the top half of her face with one of her hands attempting not to show Mahiru any more of her vulnerable side.
"I tried to prevent their deaths…"
"Yeah well…" Mahiru was starting to regret what she said, "you didn't."
A long silence followed.
…
…
…
…
Finally, Sonia no longer had the courtesy to ignore the elephant in the room.
"You filmed what happened to me, didn't you?"
"She… she asked me to."
"…"
"…"
"Remember when I begged you for help, but you didn't come?"
"…"
"You want to know what I think? Chiaki's parents' blood is on your hands. Not mine."
"They were there in the first place because of you."
"I tried to save them. What about that, do you not understand?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"It doesn't matter. In the end, we are both terrible people who deserve to be punished."
"How are you so focused on the concept of justice that you forget to consider others humanity?"
"We killed people Sonia. We have to answer for that."
"B-R-A-I-N-W-A-S-H-E-D, two syllables, verb, how much must I explain this to you before you understand?"
"It doesn't matter. That's what I'm saying."
"It does not matter?"
"No."
"..."
"…"
"And even though we have all been through so much, we still deserve more torture. Is that correct?"
"…"
"…"
"Yes."
Sonia simply blinked in Mahiru's direction. There wasn't the slightest bond anymore, their two clashing ideologies severing any ties they once had. Sonia simply walked off without saying a word, leaving Mahiru alone.
Mahiru sunk her entire body into the bed, trying to fight off tears. She turned to her side and fell asleep.
Kazuichi & Yuki
"Come on get up! It's not that much further!" Kazuichi yelled toward the exhausted Yuki, who was lying on the ground panting for air. "Oh jeez…" Kazuichi scratched at the side of his face.
He walked over to Yuki and leaned down, offering him a helping hand. "If we're gonna take a break, let's at least do it in the shade." Yuki smiled at his understanding and accepted his offer.
With a heave, Kazuichi helped Yuki up, and they sat down beneath a nearby tree. After they rested, Kazuichi pulled out the map him and Sonia made.
"Alright, we checked the farm, now we need to look at the dock, then the storage area."
"There's no speaker for the alarm system at the meadow?" Yuki asked.
"No. I mean it's just a field, why bother."
"Yeah, guess you're right." Yuki chuckled. He noticed Kazuichi looking at the map with a strange intensity as he traced over it with his index finger.
"What's up?" Yuki wondered.
Kazuichi didn't react. Being completely absorbed in what he was doing.
"Hey, Kazuichi!" Yuki called out. He still didn't respond.
Yuki sighed and then let out a loud audible gasp. "Woah, Akane's in a bikini!"
"Huh!?" Kazuichi looked around, not seeing anything of the sort. He frowned and looked toward Yuki, who was smirking.
"Listening now?"
"Ah, you got me!" Kazuichi shook his head, giggling to himself.
"You've been acting strange today. What's up?" Yuki patted him on the shoulder.
Kazuichi sighed and pulled down the sides of his face. "Alright, I'll tell you but… it's just a theory, a pretty outlandish one at that."
"A theory?" Yuki cocked his head to the side.
Kazuichi huffed and laid out the map in front of them.
"Okay, so this is the basic gist of the island, right?" Kazuichi circled the island with his index finger, smudging dirt on the edges of it.
"Right."
"Well… look at how this is laid out. It just doesn't make sense."
Yuki examined the map closer, trying to figure out what he meant. Kazuichi noticing he wasn't understanding, began to explain further.
"Alright look. You have the cabins, the lab and the hotel all on the North-East side of the island, yet the dock is south. Wouldn't it make more sense to have those two things closer together?"
"Huh…"
"The coast of the beach stretches across the entire island apart from the meadow… which means they could have easily put the dock closer. Furthermore, the storage area. It's even further north! Without a doubt, that should be closer to the dock."
Yuki rubbed at his chin, now equally entranced by the curiosity of the map. Everything Kazuichi was saying made sense, but the question was…
"Why?"
"Exactly, that's what I was thinking!" Kazuichi's face lit up at Yuki's agreement. "Once I noticed that oddity, I started noticing a bunch of strange things around the island."
"Wait, really? Like what?" Yuki could feel his heart thumping with excitement as the possibility that they were starting to uncover some kind of conspiracy.
"Have you noticed how none of the doors have locks?"
"What!?" Yuki shouted, utterly gobsmacked.
"I'm fuck'n serious! Only the cabins have locks, but the barn, hotel, storage area. None of them have any locks. In fact, I looked around all the door handles to see if the locks had been removed. But as far as I can tell, none of them have ever had any. You would expect some chipped paint or differences in colour if a lock had been there but nope! Nothing like that!"
"I mean… okay, that's a little weird. But neither of those indicate much. Could just be that the people that designed this place were incompetent."
"If that's the case then shouldn't the lab building have locks then? We were told it was recently built by the future foundation. Sure, we're on an island so security wouldn't usually be a massive issue, but it has a lot of expensive equipment in there. Why wouldn't they invest a few bucks in some locked doors?"
…
…
…
"What the hell!?" Yuki yelled after an extended silence.
"RIGHT!"
"Wait…" Yuki stood up, wiping the sweat off his face and began pacing back and forth, thinking this whole thing through. Any fatigue he once had vanished now enamoured by this mystery.
"Yes, yes…" Kazuichi almost giggled with delight seeing someone becoming just as obsessed as he was with this.
"Naegi told you guys that they renovated this place from what used to be a resort, correct? They said they only added the lab?"
"Yes."
"None of the doors have locks. Apart from the cabins. Which being honest, someone could break into rather easily with a rock to the window."
"Sure."
"But buildings which presumably were here before they arrived like the storage building, the hotel and even the barn don't have, nor expected ever to have had a lock at any point. Correct?"
"Yup."
"Even if the original owners weren't done building this place, they would have at least put a lock on the storage building to keep their stuff safe!"
"Almost certainly, but there isn't even a place for a padlock." Yuki was pacing back and forth quicker and quicker as he began figuring out the lie of the island. Kazuichi got such a big grin that it went from cheek to cheek. "You figured it out?"
Yuki stopped, with an evident 'Eureka!' expression concreated onto his face with his mouth gaping open. "I think so… but… if that's the case then. What does that mean?"
"Oh, my friend!" Kazuichi stood up brushing lose sand off his lap and slung his arm around Yuki's neck. "There's more!"
"There's more!" Yuki shouted. Before Kazuichi could reply, Yuki started jogging ahead towards their next destination. "Tell me on the way! If what we think is true, then we need to see if the alarm is really working across the island!"
"Right!" Kazuichi jogged after him, with equal determination to figure this whole thing out.
Hajime & Mahiru
*Squeak*
Mahiru stirred, hearing a mattress next to hear squeaking. She started drifting back out of consciousness again when she heard the squeaking again. She looked over to see Hajime lying on his side on the bed next to her's while looking at her.
She turned over to face him, clearly annoyed. "Were you watching me sleep?"
She watched Hajime squint his eyes in thought before replying. "More like waiting for you to wake up."
"Still creepy." Mahiru rolled over, facing away from him.
"Sorry. Wasn't my intention." Hajime's voice was sweet and soothing. He didn't sound upset or angry if anything he seemed content. Mahiru could hear Hajime's steady breathing and could feel him staring at her back. She realized he wasn't going to leave anytime soon but didn't care. She just wanted to rest.
"I've been thinking about what you were saying."
Mahiru could feel tears start to form once again, wiping them away with the blanket and covering her head under the covers. "You heard us?"
Hajime continued, ignoring her question. "I think I get it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I've found a summary for your sentiment: Whether or not we were brainwashed or manipulated is irrelevant. In the end, we did those things with our own hands, so we're responsible for our actions. Is that about right?"
Hajime could see her shrug under the covers. He figured that was the closest thing to a "yes" he was going to get. He flipped the pillow he was lying on to its other side, adjusting and fluffing it while doing so. "Okay."
Mahiru wondered what he was trying to do.
"I really missed you. Did you know that? At that point in the simulation, I wasn't that close to Chiaki or Sonia, and I felt alone. Sure, you were kind of annoying and bossy sometimes, but…" Hajime chuckled. "Even now, it just feels so easy to talk to you. Even with your back to me and under a sheet. It's kind of hard to explain… I guess. You're normal? Ah jeez…" Hajime scratched at the side of his face. "That makes it sound like a bad thing, but I mean it in the nicest way possible. Everyone is so…" Hajime struggled for a few moments to find the right word. "Intense? I guess. It can be a little exhausting talking to them sometimes. But I don't know with you… I feel relaxed."
This entire time Mahiru didn't flinch, she didn't say a single word. His words were kind but with everything happening right now, meaningless. She continued to listen, for the sole reason that it would be more effort not to.
"Oh, screw it…" Hajime groaned. "Can I be honest with you Mahiru?" She heard a squeak and felt the mattress shift as Hajime sat down on the edge of her bed.
"What?" Mahiru whispered. She could hear Hajime deep, calm breaths as he sat. She was now wondering what was so vital that it called for so much suspense.
…
"Promise not to tell Sonia what this, okay?" She noticed Hajime get off the bed and heard the door creak close. Now very curious at what was happening, she unwrapped herself from the covers and sat up. To find Hajime leaning against the door handle, holding it closed. He looked toward her with wide eyes, no longer composed like before.
"What's going on?" Mahiru wiped some loose hair from her face, letting her see him easier.
Hajime took a deep breath in and out, readying himself. He marched over to Mahiru's bed and sat back down, bouncing Mahiru up and down somewhat at the sudden shift of weight.
"Mahiru, give me your hand."
Mahiru gave him a sceptical yet equally disgusted look as she rose a cover from around her waist up to her chin. "W-what's the deal!? Now's really not the time to be hitting on me, you creep!"
"No! I'm not…" Hajime facepalmed and forcefully grabbed her wrist. Mahiru was scared and was he was going to do, knowing that she was in no condition to fight him in her current state. Suddenly, she felt Hajime yank her wrist as her hand rush forward and smacked Hajime right in the nose. She could feel the cartilage contort under her knuckles as it strained to stay together.
"FUCK ME! OW!" Hajime coiled over in pain letting go of Mahiru's wrist and rubbing his nose furiously.
"H-hey! What the hell! Why'd you do that!" Mahiru yelled. "A-are you okay!?"
"Dammit! I meant for you to hit my cheek, not my nose! Wow, this hurts!" Hajime filtered air through clenched teeth as he worked through the pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you Hajime?! Have you lost your mind?!" Mahiru let out a begrudge groan. "Let me see."
Mahiru now grabbing onto Hajime's wrists moved his hands from his face to examine his nose. It wasn't bleeding, the only noticeable difference being now a pinkish shade of red. "You're fine! Quit whining! You are a man, right!?"
Hajime couldn't help but giggle at what seemed to be the old Mahiru. She pouted and turned her head away, frustrated with his actions. "So, want to explain to me why you did that, you idiot!"
Hajime sighed, tugging at his nose one last time with his index finger and thumb before placing his hands in his lap. "Why are you asking me to explain? You're the one who hit me." Hajime smirked.
"Excuse me! You're the one who grabbed my hand and rammed it into your face!" Mahiru had a hand on her hip and wagged her finger while speaking. Like she was telling off a child.
Hajime's face darkened slightly, he now took a more neutral tone. "Doesn't matter though… still your hand. You're responsible. Apologize."
"What!? Are you kidding me!? You're the one who controlled my hand and-" Mahiru paused mid-sentence, discerning what he was getting at. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "That's not an equivalent for what we were like as despair."
"Why not?"
"It's not that simple…" Mahiru sighed, recognising she was about to get into another argument. She covered her face with her hand, now wanting just to go back to sleep.
"You might be right."
Mahiru paused for a second, making sure she heard him right. She removed her hand that was covering her face and noticed Hajime was hunched over, with his shoulders trembling slightly. His interlocked hands sat on his lap as she saw he was trying to stop his hands from shaking as well. His eyes were wide and teary as if he was on the verge of tears.
"Hajime?" Mahiru spoke without realizing, now seeing how Hajime truly felt. Was he hiding this the whole time? Mahiru wondered.
"I know you probably don't want to talk about this anymore but please… just listen." Hajime's voice was crackly just like hers had been.
"O-okay." Mahiru was concerned for him now.
"We have been saying over and over that we were all brainwashed. Made to do Junko's bidding and spread despair like the plague but… it doesn't feel that way. Honestly… I have to wonder just how much of ourselves were in our actions as despair. How much was Junko and how much were our own choices." Hajime paused to look away and compose himself before continuing.
"I… that's what I've been saying…." Mahiru commented.
Hajime now turned back to face her, a tear rolling down his left cheek. He quickly wiped it away with the palm of his hand. "And you might be right."
"Then…" Mahiru grabbed onto her arm now also trying to fight off tears, "what do we do?"
"It can't be. It… just can't," Hajime stuttered.
"What?"
"You agree right, when you hit my face, it was my fault. Because I grabbed your wrist and made you hit me!"
"Yes but…"
Hajime slammed his fist onto the bed, the mattress making a painful squeak. "Then that's the truth. It HAS to be the truth. We were operated like puppets by Junko Enoshima, completely and utterly devoid of all influence from our true selves. That's the truth, okay?"
Mahiru wasn't sure how to respond.
"Mahiru, if what we really think is correct then... more people will die," Hajime admitted through gritted teeth.
"What are you talking about?"
Hajime shook his head. "Teruteru… he committed suicide a few hours ago. Shortly before you woke up."
Mahiru let out a small gasp and covered her mouth. "That can't be true! That just…"
"It is! He gave up on life, claiming that he no longer had anything to live for."
Mahiru was still trying to process his death as Hajime continued.
"Not everyone is strong enough to get through this. This… f-fucking hell." Hajime stood up and began yelling, tears starting to fill his eyes. "I can't lose her, okay!"
"Can't lose who?" Mahiru backed closer to the headboard slightly frightened by Hajime's outburst.
"Sonia…" Hajime collapsed to his knees, placing his forehead on the ground in front of him. "I am asking you, no I'm begging you Mahiru. Please don't take her away from me."
Mahiru began to yell back, with as much force as her voice box could muster. "What are you being all dramatic for!? I'm not going to do anything to Sonia!"
"Listen to me…" Hajime raised his forehead from the ground but continued to kneel. "Teruteru said he had nothing to live for… that's why he took his life. Well… I was thinking. What does Sonia have to live for now? Everything she once loved is gone, her people, her kingdom, her family. All of it destroyed by her own hands. If what your saying is true and were partly responsible for our own actions, then…" Hajime gulped. "I don't think Sonia could live with the guilt."
Mahiru was silent for a long time, going through a range of emotions - from sad to angry, confused, hurt, frustrated among many more as she considered what Hajime said.
"The only reason she's still going right now is because of the belief that our actions were not our own. That's why she disagreed with your notion so vehemently. Because… it CANNOT be true."
Mahiru bit at her bottom lip clearly still not convinced.
"I know… okay. I'm not sure it's true either, I said I'd be honest with you, and I am. But that's… that's the only way we can keep going." Hajime shimmied down the side of the bed, still on his knees so he would be closer. "Look, if we were puppets. If none of our actions were our own. Do you think you might… maybe… be able to live with yourself then?"
"But Hajime…"
"Yes or no."
Mahiru looked toward Hajime's desperate and pleading eyes. She truly did not feel like a puppet while despair, she believed that a part of her was vindictive and cruel. That she is partly responsible but… considering the exact way, Hajime described it. Thinking back to his example of him getting her to hit him, she contemplated if that was the truth… could she live with that?
Mahiru nodded.
"Then it's the truth, okay? I know you don't believe it is, but… it just has to be. Please. For your sake, for my sake, for Sonia's, for all of us. I'm asking you to believe this convenient truth."
As Mahiru heard those words, she felt her sense of justice skew. She wondered if it was a good or bad thing, that by believing Hajime, it made her a bad person? She realized though that she was tired, hurt and scared, and she just didn't care anymore.
She smiled warmly in Hajime's direction feeling the shackles of her conviction finally coming loose.
"Alright. It may be a convenient truth; it may not be the truth… but I'll hope that it is." She held out her hand to shake Hajime's.
She could have sworn she saw Hajime's eyes sparkle just like Sonia's sometimes did. He whacked her hand away and practically leapt on her, hugging her.
"Gah!" Mahiru shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
"Thank you, Mahiru… thank you." Hajime whispered through his tears of relief.
"Jeez…" Mahiru relented, wrapping her arms around him and patting him on the back. To her relief, Hajime finally let her go. Hajime couldn't help but notice her bright red cheeks.
"Getting cheered up by a boy isn't like me at all!" Mahiru pouted.
Hajime couldn't help but smile at her comment.
"Well… what now?" Mahiru asked.
Hajime breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the bed next to Mahiru. "Well… you still need to get caught up on everything that's happened, you should probably talk to Sonia, and we need to go give everyone else the good news! But first…" Hajime leaned behind him, picking up a backpack. He sifted through it before pulling out a yellow beach towel.
"Go take a shower, you stink." Hajime threw the towel next to Mahiru with a cheeky smile on his face. He was ready for the onslaught of remarks about his comment, but rather, Mahiru smiled.
"You know… you've changed Hajime."
"Huh?"
"I can already tell. You have more confidence in yourself."
"You think so? Thanks…" Hajime was now the one with red cheeks.
"Oh, but don't think I didn't hear your comment. I'll make you pay, just you wait!" Mahiru wore an evil grin. Hajime couldn't help but gulp.
"Shall we go? The shower isn't too far."
"Yeah." Mahiru picked up the towel and folded it over her forearm. "A shower actually sounds perfect right now."
Hajime wrapped her arm over his shoulder and helped her limp towards the bathroom. Once there, he sat her down next to the bathtub.
"Alright. I'll wait outside. Just give me a yell when you're done." Hajime went to walk away, but Mahiru tugged at the edge of his shirt. "What's up?"
"Before… when you said, you missed me. Were you…" Mahiru tilted her head up, facing him. Hajime smiled back. "I was serious. I'm really happy to have you back Mahiru."
Hajime could have sworn that her face went so red that she wouldn't have any blood left in her feet. "Yeah, whatever... Get out of here! I'm trying to take a shower you know!"
Hajime giggled and closed the bathroom door behind him.
Mahiru leant over and turned the dial of the shower to its max setting. The cold water stung her skin slightly, and she flinched at the sudden shock.
Before she started getting changed, however. Now confident the shower would mask the sound. She hugged her legs and buried her face into her knees, whispering; "I missed you too."
Authours Notes:
Hey everyone! Long time, no see!
Sorry this chapter is a little late! Exams and everything... but the good news is I'm on break at the moment! So I'm hoping to have another chapter out this week, although I'm guessing it will be a little shorter compared to the others. In any case, expect more from me soon!
Anyway, as for this chapter, Mahiru! Our little cupcake is finally back!
She's still got a long way to go before she is as recouped as the others, not only that... she's still got a confrontation with Fuyuhiko to come. But I'm so happy she is finally awake!
Thanks so much for the kind reviews, they mean the world! Seriously! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! It really gives me the drive to continue!
Alright, that's about it! See you soon!