Ugh. Not going to lie, it was a bit tough to write this. Oh well. I get the weekend to write the next chapter, so I'll probably be posting that on Monday or Tuesday!

Anyways, happy Friday, everyone!

Makoto groaned, wishing that the wet, annoying hindrance would just go away.

Much to his grievance, the cold, wet thing pushed further into his cheek.

He tugged his blanket higher, wrapping it around him like a cocoon. There was another poke at his cheek, causing him to grumble angrily. After a few more pokes, the boy finally conceded with a sigh.

He cracked open his eyelids, only to be met with a shocking white ball of fluff.

The dog looked surprisingly smug to see him awake.

Makoto lazily shifted, bringing his hand out of the sinfully fluffy blanket to rub at the wet spot on his cheek.

"Did you have to wake me up?" he asked, glaring down at the canine.

The Pomeranian yipped happily as if he was laughing at his pain, before flexing it's hind legs and gracefully soaring off the edge of the couch.

Wait… Couch?

Makoto yawned lightly as he forced his eyes to fully open, feeling a hot stab of pain as the low light invaded his pupils. The blanket fell from the front of his body as he disturbed its resting place.

He looked around, seeing the pattern-covered ground and empty dog bed.

Had he… Fallen asleep? In Tanaka's room?

He eyed the back of the breeder, seeing that he was awake. It must have been morning since it looked like he was feeding his hamsters and lizard breakfast.

"Good morning," he said, trying to catch the older man's attention. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to push past the drowsiness pulling them downwards.

Tanaka whipped his head around, surprised. Though, he calmed rather dramatically at seeing that it was just him. The older man nodded, to return his good morning.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. The two of them turned, and Makoto watched as Tanaka stridden forward and crept the door open.

It was Soda. His fluorescent magenta head peeking through the crack.

"Yo, Tanaka! Have you seen the…" he trailed off, his crimson eyes sweeping the room.

His eyes locked with those of Makoto, and suddenly he stopped on his sentence altogether.

Had Soda been looking for him?

Makoto blinked, not quite sure what to say. After a moment of awkward staring, he decided to just wing it, "Good morning, Soda."

Well, it wasn't the worst thing he could have said. Actually, from the look on Soda's face, it was a good thing.

The mechanic had a stupid grin on his face, "Morning kiddo! You coming down for breakfast?"

Naegi nodded and flashed a bright smile before hopping off the couch. Something felt… Off. He looked down and sneered at the sudden realization that his clothes were wrinkled and gross. That definitely had to be fixed.

"Let me just go to my room real quick," he said, "I need to get changed."

The two despairs nodded, seemingly satisfied by the request. They moved away from the door, allowing Makoto passage into the hallway.

Much to the brunette's displeasure, Tanaka and Soda began trekking after him. He didn't really like the feeling of eyes on the back of his head, nor did he enjoy the sets of footsteps echoing his own.

Most of all, he didn't like their obvious distractions whenever the group moved towards one certain area of the base.

Makoto sighed. They probably didn't want him snooping around today, either. He wondered why there was such big importance on keeping him away from the security upgrades. But that didn't make sense… They would have felt the need to keep him away from simple window coverings and reinforcements.

Soda plopped a hand on his shoulder when he tried to turn down a hallway. Instead, he not-so-subtly leads him onto a detour-path. Looks like they were taking the long way towards his room.

"What's with you guys?" he asked, squinting up at the man. Soda was always the easiest to get information out of.

The mechanic grinned sheepishly, "Some of the security stuff we're putting in is a little dangerous. You shouldn't be around it until we're sure it's safe."

Well, that answered that. Probably. If he were telling the truth, though Makoto had never known Soda to lie, so it was safe to say that he was being honest. What was dangerous about the new security system? Did it have to do with what Kuzuryu and Peko were doing last week?

Makoto pouted slightly but didn't ask any more questions when he saw that they were approaching his room.

"Can you guys just wait out here for a couple minutes? I need to get changed."

The two older men nodded. Makoto went to open the door… Expect the handle turned on its own before the boy could even put his hand on it.

He jumped back, eyes flying open. He didn't even risk looking backwards at Tanaka and Soda. Instead, his vision was focused entirely on the handle eerily turning on its own right before his eyes.

The door creaked open, the eerie sound scratching at his eardrums and his heart thumped in anticipation. Finally swinging open, the trio got a good look at the person opening the door.

It was… A monokuma..?

Makoto blinked, his mouth opening but words failing to tumble out.

"Hey!" Soda snapped from behind him, seemingly not caught up in a stupor. "What are you doing in his room?"

The monokuma also blinked, tilting its head to the side in a mock attempt at being cute. It didn't fool Makoto.

"My mission is to deliver a message to Naegi Makoto."

Makoto coughed uncomfortably, not liking the way it started solely at him. Makoto turned towards the despairs, a questioning look on his face. Did they know something about this?

Tanaka looked impassively at the robot, but there was a spark of something in his eyes. Something Makoto couldn't distinguish. Meanwhile, Soda looked mildly amused.

"He was probably just sent to get you for breakfast," the mechanic reasoned, seeing Makoto confused expression. "Monokuma, you're dismissed. Patrol mode."

Makoto mentally reasoned and accept that answer before stepping back, allowing the robot to pass by with overly-jerky movements as he followed out the command dealt by Soda. Those movements were nearly as fluid as usual… Maybe he was dysfunctional or something…?

Definitely. No monokuma had ever started at Makoto liked that before… It was almost as if the robot's eyes had latched onto him like a predator watched its prey. He shivered at the thought.

He had seen the damage a monokuma could deal.

Needless to say, Makoto was more than comfortable running away to his room. Once he was inside, he tightly closed the door and breathed a small sigh of relief.

He was alone.

Even though it was just yesterday that he had last been alone (and begging to be in someone's company) right now it was… Nice. It was a little smothering to constantly be in the smouldering gaze of the despairs.

He stepped into the room, quickly grabbing some grey sweats and a black shirt from the closet before skittering into the bathroom like a frightened animal. After finding out about the cameras, he knew he could never bring himself to change out there.

Though, when he stepped into the lavatory and finished his rabbit-quick change, his eyes caught… Something. Something that he hadn't seen, and certainly didn't place, in his bathroom before.

He walked over to the granite countertop, eyeing the small, folded piece of paper suspiciously. The small object beside the note appeared to be a small black USB. His hand stayed safely away from the USB, and once he determined that, indeed, the piece of folded printer paper was harmless, he grabbed it and unfolded it. The USB would have to wait.

Delicate handwriting in prestigious black ink scrawled across the page.

Naegi Makoto,

We, the survivors of the killing school life and members of the Future Foundation, have finally formed a successful campaign to aid in your escape. The monokuma sent to deliver this message had been given the mission by us and has temporary access to the despair database, but we believe the program will be overided and our ability to communicate with you will be lost. Instead of aiding your through the monokuma, we have decided to deliver to you this USB. Connect with it a computer to receive further instructions.

Do not mess this up.

Togami Byakuya.

Makoto carefully read over the entire letter. Then, his eyes latched onto the graceful and intricate signature that he knew authenticated this as Togami's doing. Maybe the Ultimate Calligrapher could perfectly copy the heir's signature, but Makoto doubted that anyone else would be able to.

Feeling a little more assured of his safety, Makoto reached out to palm the USB. It seemed to be just a normal memory stick, the kind that could be bought in dollar stores. Nothing seemed outwardly special about it… But Makoto could be sure that if Togami and the others risked getting it to him… Then whatever it stored had to be important.

Makoto jumped as there was a sudden pounding on his door.

"Hurry up kiddo! The food'll get cold!" Soda barked, once more pounding on the door for effect.

Makoto squeaked, eyes going wide. He couldn't let anyone see this! It would get taken away without a doubt!

He hurriedly threw open the cupboard underneath the sink. It was there that he had hidden the cell phone Kamukura gave him since he didn't think the despairs would appreciate him having a communication device.

Makoto stuffed the note and USB underneath a few spare hand towels before jumping to his feet, satisfied for the time being that they wouldn't be discovered.

It didn't matter much that he didn't have them on him, anyway. The contents of the note had already been ingrained in his mind.

Get the USB to a computer. Receive further instructions.

The only place he knew had computers was the security room… And that was under lock, key, and camera. Oh, and robotic army. Maybe this was more difficult than he thought...

"Eh. I'm sure we'll find a way, right kid?"

Makoto whipped his head around, seeing a smug looking Junko.

Makoto squinted suspiciously, edging towards the door. He could hear Soda yell from the other side, threatening to come in.

The girl rolled her eyes before sending him a look, "How about instead of looking like you're about to wet yourself, you start using those detective skills of yours to find the contradiction."

Contradiction?

He was about to ask Junko what she meant when he saw Soda barge into the room, giving Makoto an angry and confused look.

Makoto walked out the room silently, not bothering to tune in the mechanics mini-rant on how long it took him, and that he took as long as a girl, or if he was going number two or whatever. Instead, he pinched his eyebrows and thought.

What… What contradiction was there?

His brain chewed on the words. If Junko had brought it up, then it must have been entertaining enough for her to care about, right?

He thought over the contents of the letter, word for word. Then, he abruptly stopped, causing Soda to halt in his rants and Tanaka to look at him with concern. He ignored them, instead, he felt like a lightbulb had just gone off overhead.

Byakuya.

Byakuya had been inside of the base, right? Then, it really didn't make sense as to why he had to send a monokuma to deliver the note instead of just doing it himself!

I… I need to find Byakuya!

The last two days had been weird.

Really weird.

After breakfast, he had spent the day parading around looking for Togami. At this point, Makoto was starting to consider Togami having been a hallucination. Just like Junko had been.

It made sense since Junko was the only person who had ever even hinted at him being here. It was starting to make Makoto go crazy.

Not to mention how the remnants of Despairs seemed a little touchy whenever he talked to them.

They always avoided his questions, their eyes were constantly looking around for threats, or locating the nearest exit. Their toughest lasted a tad longer than normal as if they were preparing themselves to grab him and bolt at any given moment.

They were definitely taking whatever threat they received seriously. Maybe a little too seriously, since they were practically going paranoid. Did they really expect the Future Foundation attack to be that bad? From the looks of Togami's note… It almost seemed like a covert operation, rather than an all out battle.

Well, at least he was able to walk around once again.

Just like Kamukura had said, all of the windows on the two floors he had access to were blocked off, just like his room's window had been. He remembered Kuzuryuu saying something about the possibility of snipers or something like that.

Not that Makoto believed the Future Foundation would try to kill him. The note had said Togami and the others were part of the Future Foundation… And that they had launched a rescue mission for him!

That… That meant that they were on his side, right?

They must have been a serious threat, too, considering all of the other security measures taken. There were now machine gun turrets hanging outside of all the stairwells. That was probably the dangerous thing Soda had been talking about. He must have been scared the guns would malfunction and shoot him.

(Though he was warned by Kuzuryuu that trying to go to different floors without a despair accompanying him would get him tranquillized. The yakuza still didn't seem to trust him.)

The doors themselves had been upgraded and looked sturdier than ever, not that they were ever lacking in the first place. A monokuma-helmet wearing soldier had been armed and positioned at each door… And Makoto was also fairly sure that some of the hallways had been fitted with some kind of booby trap.

Honestly, Makoto was a little scared for his friends.

Every new security measure dwindled his chance of escape… And his chance to find an actual computer. Though, the idea of the security room was always open…

"I don't see why you don't just go for it." Junko appeared beside him, pushing up a pair of glasses, "I'm disappointed, Makoto. As my student, I expected you to have already figured this out."

Makoto gave her a look. "What so bored of following me around that you have to change personalities?"

"Afraid so!" the girl giggled, curling her hands like paws.

Makoto rolled his eyes and continued his walk down the hallway. He didn't exactly want to be caught talking to her again, especially when he wasn't drunk enough to use that as an excuse.

Actually, he didn't think he wanted to get drunk here again ever.

Which meant that conversations with Junko were to be kept private.

"You know I can read your thoughts, right? You don't have to verbally reply to me."

He felt a little bit dumb but nodded in thanks at the idea. Instead of replying, though, he continued his trek down the hallway, looking for either Togami or Kamukura. Since neither of them seemed likely to pop up, he instead let his mind wander.

He found himself feeling… Conflicted.

Despite every instinct ingrained in his genes… He wanted to stay. Ultimate Despair had been his friends… And dare he say it, his family.

Komaru was… He didn't know. Nor did he know the location of his parents.

In fact, he didn't even know if they were alive.

No matter how scary that thought was.

But Ultimate Despair… They had taken him in. Yes, it hadn't been willingly, but in their twisted, brainwashed way… Well, they had good intentions. So, Makoto had good intentions towards them.

Then there were his other friends. The survivors. From the sound of Togami's letter, they had worked hard to get the rescue mission approved. Now, they were risking their lives in order to help him escape.

If they really did pull it off… Would he go with them?

He already knew the answer.

Why else would he be looking for Togami? Be looking for a computer, like the note told him?

He… He would go with them if they came.

But if he didn't… He would stay.

"That's a cheap answer."

Makoto stiffened on the spot.

Was it?

Was he avoiding the decision?

He just... He couldn't choose. How could he choose between his old friends and his new friends? They were both important to him, so he was letting fate decide.

He turned and locked eyes with Junko. She looked like she was going to say something, only to freeze on the spot. She perked up like she was listening to something.

"Wait… Stay here, Makoto."

"What are you doing?" he mentally asked, eyes wide.

"Helping you." she replied, starting to walk to the end of the hallway.

"... Why would you help me?"

There was a soft sigh from the girl as she turned the corner, but Makoto, for some reason, could still hear her like she was speaking directly beside him. It was creepy.

"Did you forget? I want to get out of your head. And since I can't seem to physically interact with anything, I need your help to do it. If I help you now… Then you can just think of it as returning the favour?"

Does she actually mean that, or is she manipulating me into helping her?

(Or is she helping me of her own free will and trying to cover it up?)

If Junko was actively listening to his thoughts, she didn't comment. Makoto wasn't too sure just how far ahead she had gotten, and he was starting to get antsy.

He rolled from his toes to his heel, trying to work off some of that nervous energy.

"Makoto!"

He jumped at the sudden exclamation of his name.

He saw Junko speed walk around the corner, grinning almost devilishly. If she hadn't said she was helping him, then he would be scared…

Scratch that, he was still scared.

"I think I found someone you wanna see!" the girl gave a giddy little chuckle, her face never once changing from the demonized grin she held.

Makoto tensed. Someone he was looking for? That meant either Togami or Kamukura, right?

True to what he had thought, the chubby-Togami stepped out from behind the corner.

Makoto, while he had been activating this encounter, found himself completely frozen solid.

The heir, too, went stock still and as white as a sheet when he saw Makoto.

"T-Togami!" Makoto stuttered, forcing himself to take a shaky step forward. He ignored the way Junko giggled knowingly, and how his legs wobbled and threatened to give out, "Is it… I-i it really y-you?"

Shockingly enough, the blond teen furiously shook his head now, taking a step backwards.

"No…"

Makoto paused in his pursuit, only now realizing that he hadn't just taken one step, but multiple. He had pretty much crossed half the hallway without knowing it.

"No… I'm…"

Were those…?

Makoto felt his whole world crash.

Was it just him, or was the entire world coloured with grey…?

He looked into Byakuya's eyes, heart clenching as the despair swirls began to loop into existence.

"C-can't you tell that I'm a fake?!" the man stutter-yelled, backing away slowly. A look of horror slowly dawned on his face, "The quality of the latex is horrendous! The seam is so visible! Look at the quality of my wig… I'm…"

Why?

Why were the swirls getting worse?

They… They were spinning in his head like his eyes were no longer attached to his skull.

What did he mean by fake?

"I'm horrible! Terrible! I-I'm not worthy of… Of being called an Ultimate…"

"Togami!" Makoto shouted, unable to stop himself.

The heir looked like he was about to bolt again. Instead, he harshly grabbed at his stomach.

"Just look at my form! It's all wrong I say! I'm nothing but a two-bit imposter I say! Everything is wrong. Wrong, wrong… Wrong!"

The man pulled at his hair, ripping out blonde chunks in a painful display. Makoto winced, squeezing his eyes shut as a sob broke loose. Finally, he managed to get the courage to open them.

He nearly threw up.

Byakuya was holding up a piece of his skull, hair and all, in disgust. He looked like he wanted to spit on the piece of his own flesh and blood.

Actually… There was no blood. It was strange, seeing a chunk of flesh without the familiar red oozing of blood… But all there was in place of the missing chunk was a black hole, no brain or blood, or anything.

What the hell?

Just before he could say something, Byakuya stepped back from Makoto. His despair swirls were worse than anything Makoto had seen before.

"... Never again."

Makoto blinked.

"Never again call me by that name. I am not worthy of being his imposter… I am nothing."

The man ran.

This time, Makoto didn't bother chasing after him.

"I believe you just met the Ultimate Imposter." Junko gave a small sigh, "He used to be such a perfectionist that it made me sick. He's so much better now, though!"

Ooh. It's the USB briefly mentioned in All Rise, if anyone is wondering. (Though I forgot about it in the first draft and added it a bit later, so many of your probably didn't know it existed. So, just a heads up that Kyoko has used it to break into Munakata's computer in the past.)

Finally starting up the arc that we (or at least I) have been waiting for! Though it'll be a little slow for another chapter or two before I can get things moving.

I'm excited!

Also, I guess italics are Makoto mind speaking. So just keep that in mind for the future.

I hope you liked the Imposters despair~~

Next time:

Ibuki time! Oh, and we get to see an old friend!