Haha, since aftermath chapters are short, you already have one here! It's not too long, but hopefully you enjoy!

TheRoseShadow21: "YES, SO MANY TEARS! I'M CRYING. Aww, thanks so much! Yes, she is a precious child. Please protect her."


Those tears were never going to end. Those sons were never going to end. Nothing was going to end, for time would only go on, leaving them behind in the dust to stand up and try to catch up.

Maybe it would've been better if time had stopped. If there was a mechanism to freeze time, then that would be greatly desired.

For, right now, all Watari could see around him were tears, sobbing. Those expressions of pure tragedy, pure sadness… It was too painful to witness, and the detective had no idea what to feel about any of this.

Especially towards Masako and Tomoyo. One can argue that it was Misaki that brought them together, causing them to form a trio- an almost unbreakable bond. That bond broke, and suddenly that godlike status of Misaki's fell to that of a normal, normal human being. One would've hoped for her to overtop everything and be declared as innocent. One would hope that she would've been brave and stand strong until death, yet she was only human.

She was only human, and it seemed like the two women finally understood that.

"Monokuma's gone, so you can chill, alright?" Kyatchi had finally released his hold on Masako. That didn't relieve him of anything for when he released her, she immediately fell to the ground. "Oi!"

"T-this isn't fair," Masako wheezed, out of breath. "T-this isn't fair… It's not fair at all…!"

Tomoyo gulped. She finally regained back her consciousness, her eyebrows furrowed as she worriedly looked at the survivalist. "M-Masako-"

"Stop! Don't talk to me!" Masako glared at the woman, teary eyes drowning her freckled face. "T-this is all your fault! I-it's all your fault!"

Kyatchi's eyes widened. The woman stood up, ignoring the juggler from behind whom she almost smashed her head into. He was unable to say anything as a brush of wind blew past him. "Oh my god- Woah, woah, woah! Masako!"

Akio gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Hey! Masako, stop!"

Masako was suddenly at Tomoyo's proximity, her shaky hands gripped onto the woman's shoulders. The survivalist was staring, glaring into the screenwriter's eyes, having almost shoved her into the wall. "E-everything! Everything was your fault!"

Tears were running down her cheeks. Tomoyo breathed heavily. She just couldn't help but lose her composure, shaking her head and crying, "I'm sorry! I had no choice!"

"W-what do you mean you had no choice?! You had plenty of reason to not accuse her!" Masako was wildly shaking Tomoyo, her grip tight. "S-she was our friend! A-and you just accused her and left her for the dogs! God! You're the same as everyone else back home!"

"No, I really didn't want her to die!" Tomoyo cried, trembling. "It was either us or her! I-I wanted to deny it so badly, but the facts were there! I can't just ignore them!"

"Y-you're just like Watari!" Masako screamed. She didn't even realize that the screenwriter froze, not caring at all as she continued to shake. "Y-you don't care about the others as long as you stand up as the hero of everything! I-instead of trying to protect Misaki, you just accused her like you were the stupid protagonist of a story or something! Just shut it already! You could've let Watari do it! H-he's the Ultimate Detective for a reason!"

Tomoyo's breaths began to shallow, becoming quicker. Her entire face was pale, lips pursed as she began to quiver. "I-I was just trying to help everyone… If we didn't find the killer, then…"

"Stop saying that! Y-you knew you could've just said nothing!" Masako was hyperventilating now, shaking her head and laughing. "I-I-I just don't know anymore, okay? I-I can't even begin to trust you anymore."

The screenwriter's eyes widened. "No, Masako, please, I-"

"I-it's over between us." Masako's grip on Tomoyo loosened. It was silent, and she took a step back. "I… I don't know about you, but right there it just looked like you wanted to compete with Watari in accusing Misaki first."

"Hey." Watari immediately took a step forward, staring at the survivalist. His arms were crossed, and his expression was far from playful. "You know that's not true."

Masako stared at him for a moment, then shook her head and looked back to Tomoyo. "... At least you have someone who cares about you."

Tomoyo was shaking her head, yet averted her gaze, unable to say anything with her stuffy nose and choked sobs.

"Masako, just stop it already." The detective bit into his lips. "I've been watching over the sidelines, and I think it's obvious you said too much."

"S-said too much, huh?" Masako's expression darkened. She glanced to the side, then bit into her lips. "Now, t-that's just hypocritical of you. You've been harassing people ever since we've met."

Watari's eyes widened. He couldn't counter the woman's words at all. "Yeah, so what? At least I haven't broken my own friend down into tears."

"... Y-you did that to Shinji, remember?" Masako frowned. "You mocked Hitomu, someone Shinji was deeply attached to."

Watari flinched. He couldn't counter that either. "I… Well, at least I'm not pathetic enough to compare others, like you're doing."

Masako's expression was immediately filled with hurt. "Y-you're just so unaware of yourself sometimes, you know? I-... Forget it. I-it's not worth the time." She smiled softly, painfully. "Y-you wouldn't know what it's like to lose someone you actually cared for and loved."

Watari immediately felt betrayed by those words. He felt anger, disgust. He should've kept his composure, he knew, but somehow those words stung him more than a dagger would through his heart. "Are you kidding me? You don't even know anything about me! I…"

The detective felt someone grabbing ahold of his shoulder. He looked back, finding Tomoyo shaking her head at him, mouthing, "Please don't."

Shit. Watari forced his words back. His body was shaking, trembling. He noticed Masako staring at him, and she was turning away, moving to where everyone else weren't. I need to apologize to her. I-

"How are you?"

Everyone immediately went up to Tomoyo, comforting her. Akio was busy asking the woman if she was okay, and Kyatchi and Yume were awkward as they stood by her. Shinjimae and Saki were comforting her as well, and it was obvious they wanted to comfort Masako- they can't, for they knew she would shove them aside. Everyone was throwing Tomoyo sweet words of comfort, yet all the woman could do was force a smile and nod her head.

Watari went silent. He watched everybody crowd around Tomoyo. He didn't know what to say- he was unable to provide support, after all. He turned to eye Masako, but she was curled up in a ball, separated from society. She refused to interact, and Watari found himself afraid to talk to her.

God, this is a mess. The detective frowned. I can't even bring myself to apologize to her… God, Tadaomi, I'm so stupid right now. I'm letting my own feelings get to me again. What… What would you do right now?

But he knew he wasn't going to be answered. Even if his brother was home, resting and watching over their parents, Watari knew the active older brother was not going to answer him. Tadaomi was just not going to answer him, and Watari knew he had to come up with answers himself.

I want to cry. And honestly, he really did. Everything was going haywire and he wasn't contributing anything to stop it from happening. He was only continuing the fire, and he hated it. He hated it so much, almost as much as he hated himself. He just wanted to curl himself up in his blankets and be forgotten for how useless he was- he wanted his older brother to comfort him again, as always.

Maybe Tadaomi would've been able to mend the situation between Tomoyo and Masako. Maybe Tadaomi would've been able to solve their dispute.

No, he was sure Tadaomi would've been able to do it.

Tadaomi would've been able to do it, and he'd be able to hold onto Watari in the process, comforting him like he always did.


"Hey there, squirt!" A young Tadaomi grinned excitedly as he saw a young version of Watari entering into the room, the door closing behind him. The toddler looked over to the dark redhead before smiling widely, causing the teenager to walk over and pick him up. "And here we go! Gosh, you're always here after school! Shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

"I like hanging out with you!" the toddler exclaimed, laughing as Tadaomi threw him over his back. "Mom and Dad are always busy with work, and you're usually here late, sooo I think it's a smart idea for me to stay here with you!"

"Watari, you're such a cutie sometimes, y'know?" Tadaomi chuckled as he ran around the room in circles, causing his brother to laugh and giggle. "How are you? I heard you want to form a detective club or something."

"Yup!" Watari bobbed his head. "I want to make a club for detectives like us! We'll be able to save the world that way."

"Geez, we're not superheroes, Watari." Tadaomi stopped in his tracks. "How's progress going along though?"

"Uh… I…" Watari buried his face into Tadaomi's shirt, suddenly finding himself worried and anxious. "Mm, I don't know if I can find anyone to join the club. I-I'm scared to talk to anyone."

"Aww, Watari." Tadaomi slowly brought Watari down, then urging him to take a seat. The older brother sat down first before throwing his younger brother to his lap. "You really need to learn to speak up more. You're a bright child, you know that? It's a shame no one knows how smart and kind you are- you're just too shy to talk to them, and so they don't talk to you in return because they think you're just quiet."

"I'm not friends with anyone though," the raven mumbled. "I only talk to Tsubomi, but only to greet her…"

"Yeah, I know. You're just a socially awkward little one." Tadaomi ruffled Watari's hair with ease, smiling sweetly. "It might be scary, but it's worth trying. Just try to talk to people. Say hi and ask some questions- simple questions. They'll answer you, and hopefully they'll begin to talk to you more. You just have to take the first step."

Watari blinked. "Is it really that simple?"

"Of course it is." Tadaomi easily embraced the little boy. "If you need help, I'll definitely come. Just give me a holler, okay?"

The raven would then smile, easily excited. "Okay! Thanks!"


That warmth of his had disappeared. Watari felt nothing but cold inside, and he wasn't even sure if it was because of the tense atmosphere inside the courtroom. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. He honestly didn't know.

Akio and Shinjimae were still trying to reach Tomoyo. Kyatchi and Yume seemed to have quit, though their eyes continued to stay on the screenwriter, and to the survivalist.

"This is such a mess," Yume murmured, groaning under her breath. "I hate this."

"So, you want to die? Great!" Kyatchi clapped his hands together. "I'll die with you. Help me out here, Yume."

The nihilist groaned. "No. No thank you."

Watari sighed, biting into his lips. He has no idea what to do now, unable to move or even say anything. He couldn't even respond when the floor began to fall, causing everyone to scream and tumble about until they were back, back in the building.

Although everyone was baffled and shocked by what had happened, Watari was still silent. He could hear everyone groaning in pain, but more than that he can still hear those words of comfort which didn't reach Tomoyo's ears. A tragedy. It was truly a tragedy.

"Hey, Tomoyo, are you okay?" Akio forced himself to his feet, reaching a hand out. He threw a smile at the woman, but she looked away and bit into her lips.

"... I can take care of myself. I'll… I'll head off to sleep now." Tomoyo looked away from the actor and moved up, standing. She brushed the dust off of her clothes before leaving, not even giving a glance to Akio and the others.

"P-poor Tomoyo…" Shinjimae was holding tightly onto Saki, breath shaky. "D-do you think she'll, erm, b-be alright?"

Akio sighed, scratching his head. "Well…" He then looked over to Masako who was silent, slowly making her way outside the room herself. No one was able to say anything to her- not to Tomoyo, not to her. A longer sigh escaped his lips. "... let's hope so."

Kyatchi stretched his arms out, yawning loudly. "Well, that was truly something. God, I'm tired."

"Are you going to sleep then?" Akio asked.

The juggler nodded. "Yup, going to take my beauty sleep. Even I have had enough of this despair for one day."

Shinjimae forced himself to form a small smile. "H-hope you have a good sleep then."

The taller man stared at Shinjimae for a moment, then smirked and waved. "Yeah, good night then." And without saying anything else, the juggler left the room.

Akio heaved another long sigh, then looking over to Yume. "How are you feeling?" he asked, unsure of where to start.

"Good?" Yume then frowned. "Not really, I feel bad."

The actor smiled softly. "Yeah, same… I don't know what to do anymore, honestly. Tomoyo and Masako…"

"I-I'm sure they'll be, erm, a-able to make up!" Shinjimae immediately jumped into a cheerful exterior, forcing a grin. "W-we just need to believe in them!"

Yume sighed. "Yeah, if they do, that'd be a miracle."

Shinjimae's expression saddened, but he didn't let it overwhelm him. The animal whisperer simply kept up his smile instead and nodded.

"I…" Akio shook his head, pursing his lips. "I think we should all rest up and go to sleep. We still have tomorrow to worry about."

The animal whisperer's doe eyes began to widen. "B-but what, uh, a-are we going to, erm, d-do about Tomoyo and M-Masako?"

"We'll figure that out tomorrow," Akio answered, bringing a hand over to ruffle the shorter man's hair. "You guys deserve to rest."

The animal whisperer blushed underneath the actor's touch, but nodded his head. "Y-yeah, erm, I-I guess you have a point."

Yume simply watched the duo with an unfazed gaze. "... I guess I'll head out now."

Akio smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, of course. Good night."

Yume left the room without giving Akio a wave or another glance. Now, only Akio, Shinjimae, and Watari were left.

Akio looked over to Shinjimae for a moment, then over to Watari. A worried expression escaped his face. "Are you alright? You didn't look good a while back."

Watari immediately looked away. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" The actor threw Watari a suspicious glance, but sighed and forfeited. He knew the detective was not going to say anything, so he simply stayed silent and pointed over to the door, eyes focused on Shinjimae. "I'll head out now. If you need anything, feel free to send me a message, alright?"

Shinjimae eyed the actor for a moment, then smiling and nodding his head. "A-alright! Erm, t-thank you so much."

Akio threw the man a thumbs up. He smiled softly at the animal whisperer, then walked out of the room. The door was left open.

Now, Watari and Shinjimae was left alone.

"Erm…" Shinjimae was eyeing the detective, nervous. Saki was by his side, nuzzling against him for support. The animal whisperer thought for a moment, then opening his mouth and softly saying, "I-if you're b-bothered about anything, p-please don't hesitate to tell me."

"I'm not bothered about anything, sweetie." Watari relaxed around the animal whisperer, eyeing him with a curious glance. He threw the man a playful smirk as he mused, "You worry about the silliest little things."

"A-are you sure? I-I'm, erm, w-worried about you still." Shinjimae awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I-if it's about, erm, M-Masako and Tomoyo, then…"

"It's nothing, really." Watari sighed. He then noticed the slight sadness in Shinjimae's eyes, and he couldn't help but shake his head. "Are you worried about them?"

"Y-yeah, I am." Shinjimae pursed his lips. "T-they're friends, b-but Misaki died… Erm, a-and their fight made t-things so tense, and t-they look mad at each other…"

"Ah, right." The detective crossed his arms. "Yeah, I'm confident those two won't talk to each other anytime soon."

"T-that's so sad though." The animal whisperer frowned. "I-it's not right. Erm, I, uh, want to h-help them!"

"I'm sure that's what everyone feels, cutie." Watari smiled softly. "I'm sure everyone feels that way, so you're not the only one here."

"Y-yeah, true!" Shinjimae forced a smile. Saki barked happily in response. "I-I want to help them. I-I'm sure they just w-want the, uh, the other to apologize… T-they're stubborn and afraid, s-so I want to help them re… reconcile!"

Watari's face brightened at this statement. He couldn't help but remember Tadaomi, especially with how his older brother always tried to help dissolve disputes and handle arguments. He's such an amazing brother. He'd be able to break up their fight. I… I can't even do anything.

Shinjimae grabbed ahold of Watari's hands. "I-I'll do my best to help them. Erm, I-I can assure you that."

The detective's eyes widened as he looked over to Shinjimae's hands. They were warm on his own cold hands, and his cheeks turned red. "Geez, you're a motivated one, huh?"

Shinjimae blushed in return and threw his arms around Watari, suddenly tightening his embrace around him. "Y-you really inspire me, y-you know?"

Watari's heart was throbbing, pounding. He couldn't help but feel flustered, crying out a soft, "Huh?"

"I-I really thought I, erm, l-lost it all when K-Keishi and Hitomu died," the animal whisperer began, nuzzling himself against Watari's head. "I-I'm so happy to have you w-with me."

"Shinji, you're so embarrassing," Watari mumbled, his entire face red. He forced himself to smirk at the man, all an attempt to hide his embarrassment. "Geez, what's with the sudden affection, sweetheart?"

Shinjimae giggled, slowly releasing his embrace on the detective. "J-just thinking about n-not being able to, erm, reconcile with you… I-it makes me r-really, erm, w-worried for Tomoyo and Masako. I-I want, uh, n-nothing more than for, erm, t-them to get along again."

"Ah… yeah." Watari slowly nodded his head. He wasn't sure what to say, only nodding his head and staring at the animal whisperer.

"Erm… hehe, I-I guess I'll go to sleep now." Shinjimae slowly moved towards the door. "I-I'll see you tomorrow, Watari."

Watari nodded, waving at Shinjimae before looking down to Saki who nuzzled herself against his leg. The detective sighed, scratching his head as Saki ran back to Shinjimae, the duo together now leaving the detective's line of sight.

Watari was now alone, like he usually was.


And that's the end of Chapter 3! Now, we will finally move on to Chapter 4! Let us hope Chapter 4 can be as interesting as I can make it! Ahem, other than that, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Here are the promotions:

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