The shadowy figure charged forward, pinning Kirigiri onto the metal door with one hand on her neck and the other waving a gun in her face. Kirigiri choked on the sudden impact but soon regained enough composure to carefully scrutinise the perpetrator's face.

A smile… that was the first thing she noticed on the perpetrator's face… An eerie, mysterious smile that was Nagito Komaeda's trademark.

'It's playtime, Kyoko Kirigiri…' Komaeda whispered in her ear. 'Now be a good girl and follow me…'

…

Sonia sat opposite Gundam Tanaka in one of the empty classrooms. On the table between them, Tanaka's Four Dark Devas of Destruction munched happily on the seeds that Sonia is feeding them.

'A penny for your thoughts?' Sonia asked as she caught sight of the brooding Tanaka. Not that Tanaka was ever any different, but she could always tell in her own way when something was bothering him.

'I'm trying to figure out a way of getting out of here,' Tanaka replied, his eyes darting from the walls to the ceilings.

'What about the weapons room?' Sonia suggested hopefully. 'Is there anything that we might be able to use to escape? Maybe a grenade or something?'

Tanaka shook his head. 'There are no explosives in that room. And none of the chemicals in the chemicals room can be used to make explosives either. This demoness… she has definitely thought this through.'

Sonia looked downcast.

Just then, the door to the classroom opened, prompting the pair to reflexively jump up from their seats.

'Yoo-hoo!' Mioda's ever-energetic voice sounded from the doorway. A couple more shadows could be seen behind her although the corridors were too dark to make out who they were. 'We won't be a sec but have you guys seen Mikan?' she asked.

Tanaka and Sonia both shook their heads. 'We've been here for quite some time,' Sonia replied, 'And she's never been here.'

'All righty, thanks!' Mioda said, sounding a little less cheerful than before. 'Look, we're in a hurry to find Mikan but if you guys are interested, go to the classroom in the corner of the first floor.' Without any further explanation, Mioda had slammed the door shut behind her.

'Interested in… what?' Sonia asked, bewildered.

'Let's have a look shall we?' Tanaka said, scooping up his Four Dark Devas of Destruction. 'It's better than waiting around.'

…

Tanaka warily opened the door to the classroom that Mioda had referred them to with Sonia peeking over his shoulder. They were uncertain if this was a trap, but the moment the door opened wide enough for them to peek at the classroom's interior, both Tanaka and Sonia breathed a sigh of relief.

Chihiro Fujisaki sat in the far corner of the classroom, seemingly in deep conversation with Mondo Owada and Kazuichi Soda. Kiyotaka Ishimaru was preaching about something to the poker-faced Peko Pekoyama whilst Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu watched from the sides, glaring at Ishimaru without the latter realising it. Teruteru Hanamura and Hifumi Yamada were huddled up in one corner, whispering to each other. Naive as she may be, Sonia could sense the danger of the contents of their conversation and she quickly made a mental note to stay away from the snickering pair. Celestia Ludenberg, Mukuro Ikusaba and Yasuke Matsuda sat around a table nearby the entrance and were the first to turn around upon Tanaka and Sonia's entrance.

'W-We were told to come here,' Sonia stammered a little under the sudden intensity of the gazes that Celes, Ikusaba and Matsuda cast upon them. 'Ibuki told us to.'

'Ibuki?' Ikusaba asked.

Sonia nodded. 'Ibuki Mioda. I believe she was with a few other people, but it was too dark to see their faces clearly. Most probably Mahiru and Hiyoko. They were looking for Mikan.'

'I see…' Ikusaba said thoughtfully. 'They may have heard about this place from Asahina and Maizono then. They set off together to look for Mioda earlier.'

'Well, Ibuki didn't really offer us any explanations,' Sonia said, 'she said she was in a hurry to look for Mikan…'

'Come in and have a seat,' Ikusaba offered. 'We'll explain it to you.'

Once the explanations were all done, Sonia breathed a huge sigh of relief. 'That's most wonderful isn't it?' she said, turning to Tanaka. 'As long as we do not kill anyone, this will all be fine.' Even Tanaka was unable to hide a satisfied smirk beneath his muffler.

'We've dispatched people to recruit every last person in your group, the group that Junko is targeting to recruit.' Matsuda said. 'Right now, out best chance is to hope that all of them cooperate and that no murder takes place before we succeed in that regard.'

'I'll do whatever I can to help,' Sonia said, her strength of will showing through. 'My people depend on me… If I give up now, it'll look bad for them too right?'

Tanaka too nodded firmly beside her. 'Heh… I'm the Dark Lord… I can't forgive someone who defies me. Junko Enoshima shall know the meaning of true pain! She'll burn in hell, that I guarantee.'

Ikusaba, Celes and Matsuda all smiled at the pair's resolve. They knew then that the two of them would have no problems whatsoever dealing with despair. But there was hardly anything that could be done at that present moment. All they could do was to wait until those who were out looking for people or investigating the place came back…

…

Nekomaru Nidai punched his large fists on the front door. Loud clanging sounds could be heard but the door did not budge.

'Oi, Nidai, let me have a go!' Akane Owari stood beside him, looking all pumped up. As Nidai retreated from the door, Owari launched kicks after kicks on it but the end result was the same.

'Why…?' Owari moaned, looking crestfallen. 'Am I not… strong enough?'

'Nah! You're strong alright!' Nidai said, encouraging her, 'The door just happened to be stronger. This is no ordinary metal door…'

'Ughhh!' Owari growled as she furiously launched another kick on the door.

'I would stop doing that if I were you.'

The pair turned around at the sudden intrusion of a third voice in their midst. They saw Leon Kuwata walking towards them with the large, hulking body of Sakura Ogami right behind him.

'You're just gonna hurt yourself,' Kuwata said again. 'Sakura has tried it before, haven't you?'

Ogami nodded. 'I did,' she said, 'And so did Ikusaba. It would seem that this door was designed to prevent people like us from breaking it down by force.'

'Hmmm… If not by force, how would we get out?' Owari asked in bewilderment. 'Can I challenge Junko Enoshima to a duel?' She suddenly looked all fired up at the thought of a duel. It did not seem to occur to the gymnast that there are other options that do not involve fighting.

Ogami smiled amusedly at her enthusiasm. 'No, I fear that wouldn't be wise. You never know what she has up her sleeve. You might get killed for it.'

'Look,' Kuwata said, 'the reason we're here right now is to request that you join our cause. If all goes well, we'll be able to get out of here-'

'YOU WANT ME TO MURDER SOMEONE!?' Nidai bellowed, misunderstanding the situation before Kuwata could finish his explanation.

'Gosh Nidai, STOP SHOUTING!' Kuwata snapped at him. 'I'm not done with my explanation! We're all gonna get out of here, alive! The main point of this is, if no one sets the game in motion and no one kills anyone else, we can maintain everybody's hope… And if we work together, we might be able to lure Junko Enoshima out somehow. That's why we need everyone's help.'

'Working as a team, eh?' Nidai smirked happily, 'I'm proud of you! I'll act as your manager, all of you! To beat this "game" and leave this place. SO COUNT ME IN!' Kuwata once again clasped his hands on his ears to block out Nidai's sudden outburst.

'But I don't really get it. What do you mean by "maintaining everybody's hope"?' Owari asked.

'The mastermind, in this case Junko Enoshima, wants us to fall into despair,' Ogami explained. 'She wants us to feel the hopelessness of being stuck here. Of not being able to trust anybody. If everybody starts killing one another, feelings of doubt will start to cloud your judgements. Even your closest friend will seem like a foe. And with that doubt comes loneliness and with that loneliness comes despair. That's the whole point of this "game".'

'But!' Owari looked horrified. 'But I can't imagine not being able to trust you or Nidai! I… I don't know… I just get the feeling that with people like us, if you're unhappy with me about something, you'd just challenge me to a duel! And when that's done, we'll go back to being friends again.'

Ogami smiled gently. 'People like us who tend to fight our way out of everything might be more simple-minded after all. But not everyone's like us. And this game hinges on everyone's support, not just our fighting skills.'

'Well… I'll trust whatever you say then, Sakura,' Owari said, finally reverting back to her bubbly and energetic personality as she grinned at her friends.

…

The Impostor let his feet carried him around as he remained lost in thought over the day's earlier events. Murder… No… Not simple cold blooded murder but mutual killings. His thoughts drifted off to his friends, the friends he has spent the past two years knowing. They had realised by the end of their first year that he was not the real Byakuya Togami when they saw a newspaper column about the real Byakuya Togami, but they had still accepted him anyway. He has always acted as their leader. Even though his condescending attitude mimicked that of the real Togami, his friends knew that deep inside, he cared more about their wellbeing than anybody else in the class.

I wonder why I cared so much in the first place, he thought. But deep in his subconscious, the answer was clear all along. He who had spent his whole life flitting from one identity to the next never knew what it felt like to have proper friends. All his 'friends' liked was the identity that he was impersonating. Yet it was different this time… They found out that he was an impostor but continued to treat him the same anyway. That gesture touched him. 'I… I'm not gonna let anyone die!' he whispered to himself. 'It's my duty as the heir of the Togami family… No…. It's my duty as the person that I am now. A duty to my friends…'

As he turned round a corner, he very nearly bumped into a distressed looking Toko Fukawa.

Fukawa immediately threw a disgusted look at the Impostor. 'Grrrhhh… What're you doing here!? Are you trying to trick me!? Cause that won't work! The real Byakuya Togami's my one true love! I wouldn't mistake someone else for him!'

The Impostor blinked curiously at the angry girl. 'I didn't know the real Byakuya Togami has a girlfriend?'

'O-Of course you wouldn't know!' Fukawa spat back. 'Our love is pure and understated! Someone like you who impersonates people… you'd never be able to understand such a pure and beautiful emotion! Y-You'd never understand what it's like to give yourself up, as you are, completely to another!'

'I see…' the Impostor said thoughtfully. 'Then it is my job to keep you safe. It's dangerous for a girl to be walking around alone, especially under such circumstances.'

'I-I wasn't alone!' Fukawa said defensively. 'I was with Byakuya-sama… But he disappeared round a corner and I wasn't able to find him again!'

'Disappeared round a corner?' the Impostor asked perplexedly.

'H-He… Oh I'm sure he's just teasing me!' Fukawa's expression suddenly changed drastically. Her face blushed furiously and her eyes turned dreamy and distant. 'Playing hide-and-seek… that's what Byakuya-sama likes to do.'

'Hide-and-seek…?' Suddenly the situation clicked in the Impostor's head. Togami was not playing with this girl — he was avoiding her. 'Hmm… Well,' the Impostor said as after clearing his throat, 'in any case, I can't let you wander around by yourself. I shall accompany you until you find…er… the real Byakuya Togami.'

Displeased as she was to find herself with an impostor, Fukawa grudgingly accepted his offer. Not that she needed the protection, she had Genocide Jill for that. But in her head, she continually fantasised about the real Togami praising her, in 108 different ways, for her efforts in capturing the Impostor.

'So,' the Impostor said, breaking the silence, 'what made you attracted to Byakuya Togami?'

Fukawa scowled before replying, 'H-He's a perfect human being! Perfect in every way. Looks, intelligence… Who wouldn't fall in love with someone so perfect?' Her face, however, displayed a gentler expression as she talked about Togami.

'I see…' the Impostor said.

'W-What about you?' Fukawa growled, evidently torn between wanting to know why the Impostor chose to impersonate Byakuya Togami and wanting to maintain her contemptuous attitude towards the bastard who stole her beloved's identity.

'I agree with you, he is a perfect human being,' the Impostor said much to Fukawa's surprise. 'Not in a romantic way of course!' he added quickly. 'But as you said, he's got everything… the looks, the brains, the status, the money… In a funny way, I guess I admire him and respect him. He hasn't become the heir of the Togami Corporation through sheer birthright, he had to fight all the other potential heirs for it. That's what makes him great, I guess.'

Fukawa's disgusted look disappeared. In its place was a look of surprise. She had obviously not been told of Togami's past before and she had evidently not expected this sort of reply from the Impostor.

'I… I was born with nothing,' the Impostor said again. 'Not even a name or a birth certificate. Much less a family or a home. I was denied even such basic rights… So from a young age, I learnt that the only way to get the warm acceptance that others receive from their loved ones, was to impersonate them. In time, it became a habit… no… an addiction. When I grew bored of one identity I would research my next target and become them. Around the time before I entered Hope's Peak Academy, there was news about the picking of the new heir of the Togami Corporation. That's when I first heard of Byakuya Togami. The more I researched on him, the more fascinating he gets. So much so that when I enrolled into Hope's Peak, I decided to start my life anew as "Byakuya Togami"…'

'Well… when you've got so much admiration and love for someone… you can't help but do ridiculous things…' Fukawa said, shocking even herself.

'But I've been thinking about it for quite some time, and I think the announcement for the mutual killing game spurred my brain even further,' the Impostor said. 'And I've decided that once we manage to escape from this place, I'll try to live my life as who I am!'

Fukawa turned her head towards the Impostor, eyes widening in shock.

'All these made me think how fortunate it is for me to have friends who accepted me despite knowing that I was a phony,' the Impostor continued, a gentle smile forming on his face. 'And I begin to think, that maybe… just maybe… they'll accept the real me too. The one who's not "Byakuya Togami".'

Fukawa remained silent for a few seconds before softly saying, 'They're always saying ridiculous things, aren't they? About being friends no matter what… If they can accept a serial murderer as a friend… I guess they won't have any problems accepting a phony…'

'A serial murderer…?' the Impostor asked in bewilderment.

'Gahhhh! Never mind!' Fukawa said, snapping back to her usual demeanour. 'That's a story for later! Let's just head back to the headquarters, Byakuya-sama might have went back after all.'

…

Nagito Komaeda stepped into the dimly lit room. Like any other classroom, it was dirty and scruffy. But at least this one contained what he was searching for. No… Not what… Who.

He walked past the broken tables and chairs until the person he was looking for came into his full view. If one did not look carefully, he could have been easily overlooked. His dark hair flowed all the way down to the floor, his pale face barely visible from beneath the pile of hair. He wore a dark suit which further accentuated his grim and ghastly appearance. His scarlet eyes sharply pierced Komaeda as he closed in.

'I've been looking all over for you…' Komaeda said, his voice calm. He paid no heed to the intensity of the gaze that Kamukura was casting at him.

'….go away…' Kamukura whispered flatly. 'You're boring. I can already tell what you're up to. You want to use me to get to the mastermind. You think you know me. But really you don't. You're not fit to talk to me. You don't have any significant talents…'

'Hahaha!' Komaeda laughed aloud, 'That I don't need you to tell me. No… you don't have to tell me anything. But on the other hand, I would like to tell you a few things…'

Kamukura's gaze doubled in intensity. Apparently he did not like an "insignificant", "talentless" person to disagree with him. But again Komaeda ignored his gaze. 'I know who you are… That's something even a talented person such as yourself don't know, isn't it? I've been lucky… overhearing things and having the mastermind herself tell me a significant portion of your history…'

Kamukura remained silent as Komaeda continued, his eyes now wild with exhilaration. 'You're not special at all… That's the truth, Izuru Kamukura… You, the so-called Ultimate Hope, is nothing but a reserve course student. Someone whose parents used money to get their child into Hope's Peak Academy. You said I was talentless, that I was insignificant… Guess what? I'm more significant than you!

'Pathetic… Your very existence is pathetic… You who so desperately wants to be special let the researchers cut open your brain… the Ultimate Hope… Using such a title is a blasphemy towards hope itself! Artificial stuff like you don't deserve to be an "Ultimate".'

This time, Kamukura finally reacted to Komaeda's taunts. 'What's the point in you telling me all these?' he asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously, but a glint of fear could be seen in them for the first time since his first conversation with Matsuda. The question of his true identity and his lack of memories seemed to be the only thing that Kamukura feared… after all, it is the one question to which he does not have an answer.

'I want to eradicate you,' Komaeda said, softly but dangerously. 'You who bear the title of "Ultimate Hope"… You who don't deserve that title… You who act in the name of "hope" when your very existence stinks of despair…' Then from behind his back, Komaeda pulled out a gun and pointed it at Kamukura's chest.

'Sleep tight… Izuru Kamukura… No… Hajime Hinata.'

Merry X'mas and Happy New Year everyone!