A/N: The story is going to advance without stopping from here on. This chapter alone, a new character is going to be introduced. One that will make life very difficult very fast for our heroines. For now, it's time for femslash!
Chapter 11: Needlessly cruel choices
"Come again, Koko?" Hiroko asked, wanting to make sure that she heard Komaru correctly.
"If possible, I want you to contact the Warriors of Hope," Komaru said. "Kyoko told us that we need firepower to get into the hospital. And the mechs that they use are powerful. I know that from experience."
"Then I'm sure that you remember that those brats don't listen to us 'demons'," Hiroko said, shaking her head. "Even after the end of the war, those kids are still patrolling to 'prevent the rise of Demons'."
"Having read the reports of the Towa city incident, I find I cannot entirely blame those children for their actions," Kyoko said. "Still, that does mean that they are not an option."
"There's still a way," Komaru said, pumping her fists. "If I'm the one that talks to them!"
"Wh-what?! But the first time you encountered them, they nearly killed you!" Makoto exclaimed, his face pale. "Is it really okay for you to see them again?"
"It's going to be fine! If the Warriors of Hope will listen to anyone, it's going to be me," Komaru said. "I'm not an adult. And I did get to know them over the course of my encounters with them!"
"But you don't know where these kids are," Makoto pointed out. "How are you going to find them?"
"That why I need Miss Hagakure's help," Komaru said, turning to the older woman. "Tell me where their base is. I'm going to talk to them, and if things go well I can convince them to help!"
"Nothing we say is going to convince you otherwise, is it?" Hiroko smiled fondly. "That perseverance is probably how you survived everything that you did."
"The longer this goes on, the longer that Toki is in danger." Komaru's eyes were serious. "And if Hina is her friend, then she's my friend too! So I want to save them both!"
The words echoed in both their heads. "The key to the exit is inside you."
To be more precise, the key had been split in half and put inside their bodies. A part of Aoi wanted to deny this, to shout at their captor to tell them the truth.
But then Aoi remembered that when they woke up at the beginning of all of this, her gut hurt, and so did Toko's. And then there was the Director's claim that she operated on them.
Aoi knew that she wasn't as smart as Kyoko, or even Toko, but all the previous clues pointed to one conclusion- that the Director was telling the truth.
The news had hit Toko hard too- her body was shaking, and she hadn't spoken a word since the Director's declaration.
So Aoi took it on herself to confront their captor. "Why? Why did you put the key halves inside of us? In fact, why did you trap us in here in the first place?"
"Since you made it to this floor, I suppose I can tell you," The Director said. "The reason I decided to seal you inside this special hospital is because I wanted to try something."
Those words made Aoi's entire body go cold. Something about this seemed terribly familiar. If their captor was really a Remnant of Despair…
"The truth is, I am putting you two in a killing game," The Director said. "I know it's not much of a killing game with only two people. But someone like me can only make a pale imitation compared to what my beloved can do."
"Y-your beloved? If you're a Remnant, does that mean it's Junko?" Toko asked, finally finding the words to talk.
"Of course you'd know who my beloved is. After all, you're the ones that helped kill her," The Director said.
"Then is this your idea of revenge? Trapping us in here and killing us? Because you could have done that a long time ago!" Toko yelled.
"It's amazing. Everything you said is wrong," The Director said. "This isn't about revenge! In fact, I'm jealous that my beloved got to experience the ultimate despair of death. I wish I could join her, but I can't. Not yet, at least."
"What is wrong with you? Are you saying you want to die?" Aoi asked, covering her mouth in horror.
"We're getting off track here. I believe that author accused me of wanting to kill you. That's simply not true."
Director Monokuma popped up from the ground. "I'll take it from here! This is going to be a simple killing game with simple rules. As stated previously, breaking critical hospital equipment is against the rules. That includes myself. However, the locks in the exits are not allowed to be forced open either! They must be unlocked with the designated key."
Aoi let out a frustrated groan. In fact, she had been considering asking Genocider Syo if she could destroy the locks now that they had both the taster and two pairs of scissors.
"And how are you g-going to enforce these r-rules anyways!" Toko shouted, pointing at Director Monokuma.
"It's simple. The moment one of you breaks a rule, both of you will be hit with knockout gas. After that… well, you won't be killed. But after you get operated again, you might no longer be able to recognize yourselves."
Toko's face turned green, and Aoi could feel her legs become weak. They still knew nothing about the person behind all of this. They could be capable of anything.
"Now let me finish telling the rules. The moment one of you kills the other to claim the missing key half, the killing game ends. However, as you noticed, the Director isn't the only human besides you ladies. So another rule- you are not allowed to kill the Director or their associates."
Not that Aoi had been planning to kill anyone anyways. But given the presence of Genocider, it was possible that the Director had planned all this out from the beginning.
But that was enough. Before Monokuma could say anymore, Aoi stepped forward. "So this was your big plan? How pathetic!"
"Oh? What makes you say that?" The Director asked.
"We will never fall for your 'killing game'!" Aoi declared. "I won't kill Toko under any circumstances, and I know Toko would never kill me either!"
At those words, Toko looked over at Aoi, her expression shocked.
"I suppose as survivors of my beloved's killing game, you can afford to be confident. Especially you, Aoi Asahina. I wonder… how long will that last? Can I take that spirit that's survived so much… and break it?"
"Of course you won't! In fact, I dare you to say that to my face!" Aoi yelled. "But you won't, because you're just a coward!"
"That's right. I am a coward. A pathetic, unlovable coward that can't bring herself to join her beloved." The Director sighed. "All I can do is hide in here, and toy with you girls…"
The intercom fell silent, and Director Monokuma disappeared. "Honestly, a killing game? These Remnants of Despair certainly aren't original," Aoi said, shaking her head.
Toko smirked at this. "You really aren't scared of anything, are you?"
"No, that's not true. I get scared a lot," Aoi admitted. "But what matters is to push on no matter how scared you get!"
Toko didn't say anything at first, folding her hands together. "So y-you really believe th-that? That I won't ever k-kill you, even knowing about h-her inside of me?"
"I… admit that I didn't trust Genocider Syo for the longest time. Heck, I still don't entirely trust her." Aoi reached out, then hesitated for a second, before grasping Toko's hands. "But I do trust you!"
Toko's face turned red, but she didn't pull away. "L-like I'm going to give the s-sicko keeping us here the satisfaction of g-going along with their s-scheme."
"Our goal hasn't changed. In order to stop this killing game and escape, we need to locate the mastermind keeping us here." Aoi let go of Toko, then motioned the other girl to follow her.
Aside from the grate covering the stairs to the rooftop, this floor didn't seem to different from the last one. Then as they went down a corridor, they saw a Monokuma.
But not just an ordinary Monokuma- a giant, grotesque, shambling creature, with a bulging eye and fluids leaking out everywhere. This Monokuma was so huge it blocked the entire corridor.
"What the heck is that?!" Aoi exclaimed, stopping dead in her tracks.
"Th-that's a Beast Monokuma. Looks like we're not being allowed to go any further," Toko said. "Even Komaru has a hard time taking down these things. So whatever is past it must be important."
"It might even be even be our captor! So if we want to escape, we need to-!"
"Do what? I doubt that anything you say would be worth listening to."
"That voice!" After spending so many days in this hospital, Aoi had almost forgotten the reason they ended up in here in the first place. But Aoi could never forget that irritating, condescending voice.
Walking down the corridor behind them, Byakuya Togami approached the two girls. Toko's eyes widened. "Master? So you really were here the entire time?"
As Aoi got a second look at Byakuya, she noticed something distinctly… off about his appearance. "I know it's been a while since I've seen you, Togami. But I don't remember you being so big."
"Hmph. I suppose I shouldn't have expected you to appreciate a form as perfect as this," Byakuya said, scoffing.
"Y-yeah! It doesn't matter how Master looks like! Having a bigger body means that he has more noble blood!" Toko declared.
"Get a grip, Toko! How on earth would he change this much in such short time?" Aoi glared at "Byakuya". "You aren't him! So who are you really?"
"Byakuya" crossed his arms. "It doesn't really matter who 'I' am. After all, for the time being I am 'Byakuya Togami', and I am here to help enforce this killing game. Isn't that right, Toko?"
Toko's eyes glazed over, as they usually did whenever Byakuya was involved. "Of course, Master! Whatever you say!"
"Toko? You do know that isn't really Byakuya, right?" Aoi asked nervously.
"I tire of hearing this girl run her mouth. Shut her mouth for me, Toko!" Byakuya commanded.
"Right away, Master!"
A/n: Yeah, I decided to leave things off on a cliffhanger. This intimate killing game is going to test Aoi and Toko to their absolute limits. Do you believe they'll be able to pull through? Let me know. Until then, this has been Orion Fowl and thank you for visiting my Corner of Romance!
