A/N: As a further note to my recent friend who's started reading this fanfic, when you get this message, HI STITCHTHEBEST36 ^^!
Enjoy!
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"Naegiiii?" Kirigiri called out through the hallways as she searched.
Nobody could explain it at this point. Naegi Makoto, the Super High School Level Good Luck, had virtually dropped off the fact of the Earth!...Well at least it felt like that to Kirigiri at the moment, but that was besides the point. For the last half-hour alone, Kirigiri, Asahina, Owada, Hagakure, and several others of Naegi's friends, including Leon and Yamada who still wanted to make it up to her after finding out she was a chick, have been searching for the missing girl who had suddenly disappeared on them.
Kirigiri couldn't figure out or explain it. After dropping into her bedroom for a quick check, noticing she had yet to come to class that morning, Kirigiri discovered the room to be completely empty! Not only that, but there were scratch marks on the side of Naegi's doors. From what little she could gather with the lack of evidence, someone had to have come to her room last night, and possibly abducted her. The idea for such a theory might seem a little odd, given the school-like setting at this time, but with so many students with extraordinary talents around, she couldn't say it was completely impossible.
But who would want to kidnap Naegi?
If anything, Naegi was the one who was a victim here, and much before her abduction two nights ago. Makoto Naegi was the pure definition of the average student within these grand halls. She struggled endlessly with tests and projects on a daily basis, worked all night until she practically passed out on her own just to finish something, and studied like crazy for the last several months, on the very exam that could literally "Make-or-Break" her future.
Beyond all that, there were horrific rumors spreading around the school as of late. Rumors pertaining to Naegi, more specifically how she managed to get into such a prestigious school like this. It was impossible to tell who had started the rumors or why, but all they did know is that whoever did start them, they apparently had to have some form of grudge against her.
As to what the rumors were about, it was some ridiculous and ominous lie about how Naegi ended up sleeping with someone with connections in this school, just to get accepted. It was a completely horrific lie to so much as think of, and even more horrific to have such a lie directed towards a girl like Naegi, who worked tirelessly day in and day out, just to keep her grades up in this school, make some friends, and more importantly, keep herself from being expelled from this school for a failing grade.
So the big question was why would someone create such a lie, and who had all this hatred directed at Naegi? She hasn't done anything to anyone within the school, heck, even Kirigiri and the rest of her friends only found out several days ago that Leon and Yamada were responsible for spreading them to begin with, but not the creators of said lie. If anything, Naegi should be the ones targeting whoever started these rumors or the people who've made her life harder, not the other way around.
And knowing Naegi, she couldn't have possibly summoned whoever was doing this to get revenge. She was a lot like Fujsaki at this time; shy, squeamish, quiet around others. It was easy for her to chat alongside her friends and all, but around other people she wouldn't know what to say, which was understandable in this case. After all, with nearly everyone shunning her due to her title alone, she couldn't figure out what to say without possibly damaging her reputation further, which is easier than it sounded.
A good number of Ultimate-Titled students belonged to some group or organization in one form or another. Even people with a title like the Ultimate Soldier, which was Ikusaba's in this case, no one would consider that she was an elite mercenary of Fenrir, a group of soldiers who were in the elite class like her. With no background knowledge of anyone's family or their relationships to multiple parties, it was hard to have a conversation without possibly insulting every student in one manner or another.
Which meant at this point, the only way Naegi could have offended anyone was by being absolutely quiet and shy in front of them- and that was just stupid.
"Kirigiri!" Asahina called from down the hall, running quickly to her with Owada in tow.
"Did you find her?" Kirigiri asked, slightly worried. The frowns on their faces said it all for her.
"Don't you think she'd be with us if we did?" Owada groaned rubbing his head.
*thump!*
"Ow!" Owada yelped, rubbing his stomach where Asahina elbowed it.
"You don't have to be so rude about it..." She grumbled.
"Hey, I'm just as irritated about it, alright?!" Owada yelped back. "And what about your end of things? Any idea where she went?" Regrettably, Kirigiri sighed as she shook her head.
"No. I can barely tell if she was abducted or if something else happened to her." She replied.
Asahina blinked curiously. "Barely?"
"There were scratch marks in-between the doorway, but I can't tell anything else about who might have abducted her or why."
"Ghhhh...Damn it!" OWada cussed, beating on the locker with the side of his fist.
*BAM*
"Why the hell would anyone want to mess with Naegi? She hasn't done anything to anyone!"
"Yeah, that's true..." It wasn't a clear sight, but with that sudden remembrance, some spark of thought suddenly flowed into Kirigiri's mind. Asahina was the first one to notice this, too.
"Something wrong?" She asked. Kirigiri remained silent for a few more moments, never losing her expression as she replied.
"Do you... suppose this is Naegi's fault to begin with?" She wondered. Asahina and Owada looked at each other with the same perplexed look in their eyes.
"What do you mean?" Owada rubbed his head trying to comprehend. "I mean, they abducted Naegi and all, so who else would they have a grudge against?"
"I'm not entirely saying they don't have a grudge against her," Kirigiri clarified, "what I'm saying is that what if one of us did something, and her abductor held her responsible because of it?"
"Oooooh, I see what you're saying." Asahina gave an assured nod as she tapped her chin. "If one of us did something to help her, someone might've taken it personally against her instead."
"Well that just sounds retarded," Owada mumbled crossing his arms, "if they wanted to take their anger out on someone, it should be the guys doing it for Naegi, not Naegi herself."
"You're saying you did something that might have caused this?" Asahina asked. Owada just shrugged.
"How should I know? Most I ever did for her was keep the creeps away from her but that's it."
"You didn't start a fight against anyone or anything?" Kirigiri added with concern.
"Not unless they bothered Naegi first in some way. Most of those creeps keep trying to get a glimpse of her...you-know...when her skirt gets pulled up by whatever."
"You can say "panties" in front of us you know, it doesn't bother us as long as you're just helping her." Asahina actually sounded a little more irritated that he would dodge the subject than say it directly.
"Speaking o' which, what's your deal?" Owada asked back to Kirigiri. "Your pop's the head of this school, isn't he? Can't he give you security access or something?"
The same question actually phased past Asahina herself. Now that she thought of it, being the daughter of the head of this school, Kirigiri should at least have some access to the things surrounding this school. It sounded like an easy matter just to ask her father for access to the school's security footage for a case like this. But all it did do was turn the violet girl away, brushing the hair out of her eyes with a sense of unease.
"I can't-...We, can't use the security cameras to check." Kirigiri's tone sounded a little tense.
"Why not? This could be an actual crime-related thing here, sounds like a good excuse to use 'em." Owada pointed out. The unease building up on Kirigiri's face seemed to be giving off an eerie vibe. There was something she had yet to tell the others that pained her to reveal.
"I mean...we really...can't." Kirigiri frowned slightly as she turned away. "I only found this out recently from my father, so make sure it sticks between the three of us." She paused for a few seconds to let out a cough, clearing her throat to speak clearly. "There's been a...breach...of the security lately. None of the security cameras have been working for the last several weeks."
As this was an expected reaction, Asahina's and Owada's eyes widened in shock. Several weeks without any security?! And this wasn't just some lame government-waste of money, this was a high-security measure that most schools such as this were required to have. And for the principal to go on for the last several weeks without ever informing anyone? What was he thinking?!
Out of this, Kirigiri was the one who was a little more upset with her father over the matter. Her reasons for coming to this school...changed, over time. She began to ignore the grand issue she once had with her father, and had warmed up enough to at least have a little chat occasionally every now and then with him. She still had yet to forgive him for what he did, but for him to suddenly go and hide something like this behind her back? That was uncalled for.
Even if he left his family, Kirigiri was a proud member of the Family's line of business. She wasn't just in this school because of her title as the "Ultimate Detective", she came to close loose ends in her life that continued to bother her without end. Yet, after all the time she spent bonding with him, she at least felt like there should've been some form of trust between the two. Because of this, she took it a little more than just personal that he would confide something of such a matter to himself without telling her, and possibly asking her for assistance.
"Dude, what the hell!" Owada yelled, squeezing his fist just to keep the rest of his anger inside. "Isn't there some law about this sorta thing? Your dad should've called someone or something!"
"I have to agree with Owada on this," Asahina added, rubbing her shoulders uneasily, "there's been a lot of weird things going on with this school lately, and I don't think it's just a coincidence anymore..."
"I know, I know." Kirigiri replied, sighing. "There's a lot of things I need to clear up with him lately, but right now, let's just focus on where Naegi could be-?" It took Kirigiri all this time, but she finally realized something was out of the picture. "Hey, where's Ikusaba?"
That same question just phased the other two as they looked around. Like Kirigiri, Ikusaba was a surprisingly genuine friend to Naegi. Despite her backgrounds and quiet origins, she surprisingly warmed up to Naegi within a relatively short amount of time for some reason. If anything, she should've been looking along with the other two this whole time.
"Wasn't she with you?" Owada asked.
"I haven't seen her since the classroom." Asahina tried to think." Maybe she went off to look for Naegi somewhere?"
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*creeeeea-*
The sudden noise sent shivers down the spines of both girls, knowing that their captor had finally returned. While neither of them could fully understand what he wanted with them, granted that Naegi had a fairly good assumption to a regrettable degree, they were not looking forward to anything this sicko was planning. isshiki Madarai, the Super High School Level Bodyguard, had wanted these two for whatever twisted reasons the mind could think of.
"Why does he want this Ryoko girl?" Naegi could never figure out as she kept asking. herself She didn't seem like anyone important, not to sound rude or anything, and she barely had any knowledge of her own history either.
From what little information Naegi could gather, Ryoko Otonashi was an amnesiac. She had no recollection of her short-term or long-term memory, being forced to keep everything down in a journal she had always kept with her from time to time. Whatever was written in that journal held the keys to Ryoko's past, and that was only if she believed it or not.
Half the time, Ryoko couldn't even tell if she was the actual one writing in this journal, feeling like it could be someone else's doing. Naegi was at least sure she was the one writing it, but it was hard to convince someone who forgot their name more than half the time. Heck, she couldn't even tell if she forgot her memory at all during the last half-hour alone, not understanding just how far her memory could go before she forgot it again.
"Sssso, so, ssso..." He hissed eerily as he walked in. Naegi's gaze froze at what he was dragging along with him- a sledge hammer, like the ones used to pile pikes into the ground, but small enough to actually carry. "How do we do this?" He grinned, glancing back and forth between the two girls. "Do we have some fun firssst," just staring at Naegi alone as he said that made her skin crawl, "or do we work up an appetite first?"
Naegi's eyes went hallow at that remark. She knew, deep down, what sort of dark twisted joke he just made under his breath. The thought of it alone was enough to tear up as she moaned.
"P-Please, j-just let us go..." Naegi whimpered, grabbing the captor's attention again. "W-We promise we won't tell anyone about this! Ju-Just let us go!" With a slippery approach, which greatly represented his lizard-like tongue, and an amazing speed, Naegi found herself staring right into the eyes of her captor in a split two seconds after. She shuddered with each breath he took upon her face, tearing up more as his disgusting tongue nearly licked the tears right off her face.
"Ooooh, Naegi," he chuckled quietly with a grin, "do you think I have a personal grudge against you for what you did?" Naegi was too frightened to ask about anything, especially the confusion of the topic. "It might seem hard to believe, my little Naegi, but as a matter of fact, I adore you." That was possibly the last thing Naegi would ever expect some psychotic captor to say.
"Ad-d-dore?" Naegi stuttered as she shook.
"That flawless skin, those fearful eyes...everything about you and your weak body...I just want it sssso bad."
"Hn-hnnhnmmghhh!" Naegi's eyes widened at the next following "gesture" he made.
Ryoko could never be more disgusted by such a sight, but even she wasn't as disgusted as Naegi probably was. For Naegi, it could be considered some pain of eternal torment with what he was doing; she felt like gagging endlessly. At this very moment, Naegi took back all previous statements and comments about feeling his tongue lick across her face- that opinion was replaced as she felt his tongue slide practically to the back of her throat.
She kicked and groaned with a pained blush across her face. It felt so disgusting to her, feeling Isshiki's long tongue stretching far enough into her mouth to make her wanna gag. The mere slime and strokes of it against her gums were far beyond disturbing, the saliva of his tongue scraping against her insides. No matter how hard she tried to turn her head away, or how much she shook, he wouldn't lose the grip he had within his hands.
She was his captive, and like he said, she was weak.
"Hnnghhhhghhh!" Naegi gargled as she tried to breath.
For what few brief seconds he did give her some air, he spoke, "I can't help it if you excite me so much, Naegi." He slurped his lips. "That helplessness about you, that utter loneliness you suffer constantly. No matter how hard you want to deny, you're alone without a single friend around here. And with all this time going off, you're constantly bullied, picked on, and ridiculed to no end. Just face it Naegi- you need someone like me to protect you."
Naegi had never been more disgusted in her life. Just what the heck was wrong with this guy?! She couldnt' tell if he had some sick obsession with her, or if he just took enjoyment from tormenting Naegi lie this.
And that unruly tongue that kept slithering against the back of her throat, it kept making her feel like she was about to gag and throw up. Was he now trying to suffocate her above everything else? With his face pressed tightly against her, whether intentional or otherwise, she found her airways through her nose being blocked against his skin, making it impossible for her to breathe easily.
She couldn't take it! It was wrong in so many ways! Just the feeling of it alone was enough to disgust her to no end! Worse yet, she couldn't even fight back in her current state, seeing how her wrists and ankles were bound tightly together, and even if she did manage to break free, Ryoko was right- there was no way she could overpower someone like him! She was helpless, yet, she still wanted her freedom.
It was at that moment, only one thought came to her mind.
*Chnk*
"Awwgughhh!" Isshiki growled in anger as he suddenly threw his head back, crawling back a foot or two away.
"Ack! Ouugh!" Naegi coughed as his tongue speedily slipped out of her mouth, allowing her to breathe again. She spat a little to the side, trying to get a disgusting taste out of her mouth.
It was the most disgusting plan she could even consider, and to some degree, horrific. She could still taste a small disgusting amount of blood within her mouth, making her wonder how much force she really must've used. It wasn't like she SHOULD be concerned for him of course, despite the fact she did. After all, he was the one forcing himself on her, and she was the one who was taken captive.
So it was only natural that Naegi bit down on his tongue, and rather hard at that.
Such a pain must've been unbearable to someone like Isshiki. Normally, if someone ever did bit their tongue, it would hurt to a great degree. It is, after all, one of their more sensitive parts of the human body, what with all those nerves coming from the taste buds and all manner of touch related to it. As such, for someone with a near foot-long tongue like Isshiki, the feeling of the base of his tongue must've been hell.
He still deserved it.
"Naegi!" Ryoko called out worriedly, seeing the coughing fit she was in. Ryoko was actually a little surprised by the development to be honest. Out of anyone, seeing how she earned the title of the Ultimate Analyst, she was surprised Naegi actually had the courage to bite down roughly on someone else's tongue like that. The girl appeared to be stronger than Ryoko ever thought. "Are you okay?"
"Geh- blek!" Naegi groaned in disgust as she spat a little more, the fresh blood still on her tongue. "That was disgus-"
*WHAP!*
"Mhhhhhh!" Naegi cried out in pain against the muffling hand, feeling the agonizing sting from Isshiki's slap that was still planted on her cheek.
"YOU V'ITCH!" He slurred, his tongue still writing in pain. He had his hand clamped around her mouth tightly, not willing to take anymore chances with her teeth. Naegi teared up immensely from the overwhelming rage beating off his eyes, followed by the stinging-pain across her face. She only just realized that she pushed him too far. "G'AT'S IT YOU 'UCKING V'ITCH!" His grip tightened with each slurred speech.
Naegi's fear doubled in size at that moment. If seeing his angered expression scared her to death itself, then seeing him grin slyly with his rage only made it worse. "'Ine! I was d'onna doe e'ay o'm yo've, vut 'ine!" He gripped her stomach tightly with his free hand, grinning sickeningly as the pain surrounding his tongue lightened at a slower rate. "Yo'u 'anna p'ay 'uff? 'et's pay ROUGH!"
"Nggghghhhhh!" Naegi cried out with a muffled shout.
Naegi's eyes glazed over in horror. This was the moment he was wanting all along, she could tell it just by looking in his eyes. If that didn't help her realize what he was doing, then feeling him pressing against her stomach with his free hand, and feeling as it slowly slid down closer to her waist was all the proof she needed. No amount of kicking her weak legs would get him to stop either, and no amount of muffled shouting would stop what he was doing.
She could feel it now as she felt him pulling at the side of her panties through the night shirt. He was going to rape her like he wanted, and she couldn't do anything about it. That was all there was to it. His intentions were direly obvious ever since abducting her like this, yet she was too frightened to realize it up till now to notice. She thought she was just some hostage if anything, and this might've been some form of revenge against her or her friends, seeing how they're the ones who became involved with Naegi's life, and ruining any chances for him to "do" anything to her in the past.
"Mmhhmmhmhmh!" Naegi cried out in terror as she tried thrashing about, with little luck unfortunately. There was only so much you could do to struggle with your hands and feet tied together, and your head practically locked in place. At the same time, when you watched someone sleazily pull your undergarments down to your feet, you couldn't help but do anything you could to struggle.
"Leave her alone!" Ryoko shouted angrily. She couldn't see it, but she could perfectly tell what he was trying to do. She didn't care anymore about getting into trouble herself, she knew she couldn't let him treat her like this. There would be no end to the mental scarring he could inflict upon her if something like this happened, and she had to do everything physically in her power to stop him.
"I already told you bitch," Isshiki grinned menacingly as he slowly slid his hand up her leg, nearing her waist, "you want to play rough, then I'll be sssssure to play ROUGH!"
"Mgnghhhh!" There was little doubt any amount of apologizing or begging could stop this lusty beast from what he was trying to do. Like an animal that tagged his prize, he was going to ensure Naegi knew that she was his forever.
No amount of pleading would stop him.
Naegi was nowhere near strong enough to save herself or Ryoko.
And nobody could stop him at this moment of his ecstasy.
She needed a miracle...
*BANG!*
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...
"...Mmmhh..." Naegi groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. The dream seemed to have come to an end after long last, thankfully before it could get any worse for her. She couldn't believe the fortune of what she woke up from, but at the same time, she couldn't help but lament the reality of things;
Everything that she's dreamed about up to this point were not dreams. They were memories.
And as if a scar-inducing dream like that wasn't enough to torment her, then the fact her memories still continued to flow into her head like that did. At least she didn't have to fear about the possibility of physically "remembering" what happened after, but for now, all she was concerned about was her current state of affairs. It was like awakening from one dream, only to enter a more-confusing dream than before.
She was stuck, and she couldn't see anything.
"Where am I...?" She muttered quietly to herself. Her head was still aching a little bit and her cheeks were still flushed. Out of all the possibilities, she could tell she must've been running a fever at this point.
That was the only thing she could recall at the moment. What she wanted to recall was "why was she here,"? She couldn't recall much of anything that happened before hand out of all of this, which wasn't too surprising seeing how she was out of it for at least two days.
From what little she could recall, she remembered just finishing up Oogami's trial for the murder of Celes. She knew Oogami was innocent in reality- she only did it to save Celes, and that made her a hero in a way, not a killer. As her best and closest friend, Asahina was torn up after the ordeal, seeing how one of her friends had sacrificed themselves to prevent Asahina from being a killer. Naegi can vaguely remember helping her back to her bedroom that night, having small chat with her during the time to help ease her nerves and tension. She was ensuring that Asahina remembered that not only should she let Oogami's death be for nothing, but also to remind her that she's still surrounded by close friends around the school itself.
Afterwards, that's when things got a little bit weird for Naegi. After leaving Asahina's room that night, she remembered briefly walking into Ikusaba on the way down the halls to her own room. Surprisingly to her, Ikusaba didn't appear to have any time to chitchat herself as she just passed Naegi, only taking a mere moment to claim that she had to go somewhere, but she would be right back as soon as possible. Being so late into the night Naegi was surprised Ikusaba wanted to go anywhere but back to the bedroom, seeing how they've all had a long and grueling day like today.
That wasn't the part that confused her.
What DID confuse her later on was, after making her way back to her bedroom, she found some note on her door from Ikusaba herself. It claimed she wanted to talk to Naegi about something really important in the lunchroom, ad only to come alone. Finding it confusing, seeing how Ikusaba just passed her entirely as opposed to either stopping at her to chat, or bringing her along with her to wherever she wanted to go, Naegi decided to just shrug it off, thinking it must've been something of grave urgency to be so secretive about it.
Along with all of this, she still had Alter Ego to show Ikusaba to as well. It would've been surprising to Ikusaba that she had Alter Ego to begin with, seeing how Kirigiri told Naegi to bring him/her around everywhere from this point, and keep her with the two of them at all time. She thought it would be the perfect time to fill Ikusaba on in Kirigiri's plan too, since the two of them would naturally be the best choice to guard her at the same time instead of just one at the time.
Because of this, Naegi had nothing to expect from the lunchroom, other than Ikusaba just being there waiting to chat. That's why she was surprised by the end of all things when she didn't see anyone in the lunchroom. Walking into it herself, she didn't recall seeing anyone else within the lunchroom either.
That's when it happened. With what little she remembers, she could recall something from behind her catching her attention. Following this, she also recalls hearing a loud noise from out of nowhere, then everything faded to back.
Next thing she knew, she was experiencing her dreams first hand again as she rested for the next two days, unaware of the immense fever she was running at the time. The next thing she knew, she awakens to find this sudden case playing out before her. She had no idea where she was, only that her limbs felt pinned down to the arms of something, perhaps a chair, and her eyes were shut tight. Either that or something was blocking her view as she couldn't see anything before her, no matter how hard she tried to open her eyes.
"Upupupu..." A familiar voice chuckled. It was strange to Naegi this time around. Usually, it would come in the form of some annoying bear who made everyone's life here miserable. This time around, however, it sounded a bit off to her. It had a sense of familiarity to her, but she couldn't tell why. "Well, well, well, wooks wike someone just woke up!" They spoke in a perky-lisped tone. With the layout of the room being what it was, Naegi had no idea where the sound was coming from. It seemed to practically bounce off the wall, echoing off all around her.
"W-Who's there?" Naegi asked timidly. She was scared, and she had the reason to be after what she narrowly experienced in her dreams. With her current issue presented to her, being immobile in an unfamiliar setting, it was a little too relatable to with her last memory she suffered. She jumped a little in fright as she felt someone grasp the sides of her face. It was a bit tender, to her surprise, also strangely...familiar again.
"D'awwwwww, you didn't forget about me, did you?" They asked. It was really strange to her. Something about this seemed familiar to her, yet she also couldn't tell who the voice belonged to. They were changing the tone of their voice too much for her to realize who it was. Why else couldn't she figure out who she was meeting? "I mean really, I can't say I blame you, all things considered, but I thought I was your faaaaaaavorite person?" They whined.
"F-Favorite?" Naegi wasn't scared that time she stuttered- she seriously had no idea who or what the person was talking about. She continued to shudder again as she felt the person lean Naegi's head forward closer to them. To her surprise, she felt them press Naegi's face against their chest, tightening their hold into a tender hug.
"Upupu, weeeeeeeeeeell all things considered, I guess it's understandable." They grinned, leaning Naegi's head up with the tip of their fingers under her chin. "After all, you're the only one who's come across the truth to a pint where you're dangerous, ya know?"
"Dangerous?" Every word the other person spoke surprised Naegi. Especially with the recent-most description used, Naegi, not once in her life, ever considered herself, or ever been told, that she was dangerous.
"Yea." The voice chirped as they twirled Naegi's hair at the tip of their fingers. "You went through all this trouble, and have experienced so much crap, and yet you continue on. You really are a danger to my plans, and this isn't even including the memories I took."
"Memor...!" Naegi's eyes lit up immediately, or at least they would have if they were covered at the time.
Memories. That's what all these "dreams" have been trying to tell her! These weren't dreams, these weren't hallucinations she was suffering, but pure and legit memories! She couldn't believe it, nor did she want to believe it, but it was the truth! Through means she couldn't understand yet, one way or another, somehow the memories of hers and all of her friends had come to be erased! And Naegi was the only one who knew it at this point!
Granted, she didn't have all her memories yet. What's more, she didn't even know who she was speaking to, or what was going on at the moment, seeing how all her memories had yet to return at the steady rate they did. But that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered from this point forward was that her memories were one-hundred percent real, and that someone else had known about Naegi's returning memories all along.
There was still just one issue Naegi was currently faced with, which she realized after a few seconds of thought.
"You're...the puppet master, aren't you?" She assumed with a firm tone.
"Upupupu! Kyeheheheh!" Their captor chuckled loudly. "Ding ding ding! Kudos to the gal that finally gets it! What else?"
"What...else?"
"What else do you know?" They specified. "Do you know why you're here, as in this Mutual Killing, not with me at the moment?"
Naegi was a bit hesitant to respond. She didn't want to truly give her the answer, but she felt like the only thing keeping her alive at this point was playing along with this creep's sick twisted game. "N-Not really. My memories are only returning at a steady rate, not all at once." She revealed. Every moment of silence coming from the captor's lips sent Naegi closer to the edge of worry.
"Hmm...you don't say?...Meh, that's a shame." They shrugged. "I was gonna have a lot more fun and all, maybe play with your insides a little bit and move around some organs, but this puts a hamper on things." Now Naegi was terrified again. The way they spoke about it, it was said with a strange mix of calmness, as if they were perfectly fine with saying all of this, and creepiness in that they had no problem revealing what they planned on doing to Naegi if they could. "Oh well, time for plan B!"
"P-Plan B?" Naegi shook a little as she asked.
"Yesiree! Plan B! Operation: Convert Naegi into Despair!" They declared. Something was immediately wrong about this. The way they spoke about despair, going into it and everything, it brought an unsettling familiarity to Naegi that she didn't want to think about. It brought her slowly closer to the edge of what she knew, but she refused to push herself any farther on her own. "Are you ready?"
Naegi gulped silently. Who knew what form of torture they planned to induce within Naegi?!
"Want to join Despair?"
"..."
"..."
"...What?" Naegi was taken aback a little. She was still waiting for whatever metallic instrument of torture would strike her flesh, but nothing came, except for said question.
"I said do you want to join despair, ya goof." They repeated in a perky tone, playfully tapping on Naegi's head with their knuckles.
"...Noooooo...?" Naegi replied questionably. She didn't know what to expect after replying in such a way.
"Pleeeeeease?" The voice begged in a whine.
"No." Naegi couldn't help but wonder if she was speaking to a small child. She knew she didn't of course, seeing how she felt her head pulled into the captor's chest a moment ago, but their methods of "torture" were beyond what Naegi had expected.
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"How about pretty, pretty, please?"
"No!"
"Pretty, pretty, CHERRy-ON-TOP, please?"
This was turning into an annoyance than it was a scare.
"Still no-..." Another thought suddenly caught Naegi's mind. "Wait, why do you want me to join Despair, and for that matter, what are you talking about?" Her captor grinned. This is what she wanted Naegi to realize after so long.
"Now we're getting to the real question." They stated. "Despair, despair, despair...What on Earth could it possibly mean?" They tapped their chin playfully. "Is it something tasty or that smells good? A type of fad or group of people? Well, no, no, no and...actually, yes. It's one of my most favorite words in existence, and right now, it runs the world!"
"R-Runs the...?" There was a way the person phrased that which threw Naegi off in an uneasy gesture. "W-What are you talking about?" Sighing silently to themselves, her captor grinned slyly as they leaned in closer to Naegi's face.
"Instead of telling you and spoiling the fun, why don't you just hurry up and join us already?" They suggested, leaning in closer.
"What are y- Nggh!" There was a full, pure, moment of deja vue for Makoto Naegi. With a simple flick of the captor's mouth, pulling Naegi's face closer to them, she felt the captor's tongue press against the outside of her lip, pushing it's way past her to enter Naegi's mouth.
An overwhelming sense of fear came back to her as she remembered everything that Isshiki did, to his sexual harassment to his forced-kissing of Naegi. Part of her began to wonder if this very same captor WAS isshiki himself, which she knew couldn't be the case. Aside from the fact the voice was way off for someone like him, being one of the most disgusting aspects that she wished she COULD forget, she didn't feel his long tongue practically stretching to the back of her own throat.
Naturally this wasn't any better of an alternative, mind you, but at least, unlike Isshiki, this person apparently pulled back after a few seconds as opposed to suffocating her with her face. Like before, from Naegi's memories, she coughed for a brief while after this, but it wasn't as suffocating as before, henceforth it only lasted about a second or two.
"Hack-ouggh!" Naegi coughed loudly.
"Now, as I said before," her captor said with wicked glee, "join Ultimate Despair, and everything will be okay." The captor grinned to themselves.
Obviously, Naegi had no idea who she was dealing with, and her captor, who was in all reality, Junko Enoshima, planned on keeping it this way. How could she expect Junko of all people to actually know it was her anyway? Even if her memories returned to a degree where she knew who put them all through this, and the one responsible for setting up this Mutual Killing game, nobody would expect Junko to still be the mastermind behind all of this, especially since she was "punished" early on at the start of this game for "breaking the rules", and executed by the headmaster.
Oh the joy Enoshima took from watching her own sister die at that moment, or at least experience a state near it. She refused to let such a feeling go to waste, but she also refused to let something she found interesting, someone like Naegi in this case, to get away from her grasp. At this time, the only thing she needed now was to hear those magical words that would fill her with an unbridled ecstasy.
"I told you no!" Naegi yelled again.
"..." Those were not the words Junko wanted to hear. The bitter expression on her face was all there to confirm that. "What...did you say?" She spoke in an irritant tone.
"I said no!" Naegi spoke loud and clear once more. "I don't know what your obsession with Despair is, and to be honest, I have no interest in any group of yours or the things you do. All I want at this moment is to get out of here with all my friends, and go home!"
"..."
*Whap!*
"Ack-!" Naegi yelped, tearing up slightly as she felt a firm strike across the face.
Once again, she found herself questioning if she was dealing with Isshiki Madarai again. This situation was way too similar to that experience, almost scaring her just from the memory alone. Fortunately, this time around, the slap she felt wasn't as painful to bear as the previous one she remembers experiencing, but it still stung quite a bit. Add that up with the fever that was still running through her system, and her whole head felt like it was rumbling.
"You know, you're really boring Naegi." Her captor complained. Naegi could hear what sounded like the sound of small wheels followed by the repeated clicking sounds from a computer. By her guess, her captor was sitting on a rolling computer chair, the really fancy kinds at that. "Once again, things just keep going the way I expected them to, and it made things even more boring." Without Naegi's knowledge, she grinned back to the captured girl. "Upupupu, but not to worry! That's what I love about you soooooooooo mush!" She lisped with sparkly eyes.
"You make things sooooooo easy fow me as of wate, and dat's why I'm not gonna kill you." She declared. Naegi couldn't tell if she should feel relief at that statement or not. Knowing her past self, she was sure there was a time she would've more than enjoyed to hear such a statement about herself being made, but as of this point, she couldn't tell how to feel. All she wanted was to get out. "All the trials, all the despair you brought for me, it's just sooooo adowable seeing you pway out d'ere wit evewybody, and having a good time wit evewyone!"
"Having a good time?" Naegi's brow tightened a little in anger, as much as she could muster without having the heated-fever reminding her of her current state. "You're out there forcing us to kill each other, and you call it fun?!"
"Ooohh, don't be a party-poo-poo," Junko gushed, "I'm not forcing you guys to kill anyone, I'm just...nudging, you a bit. Just like now with my current partner." She stated, looking back at the monitors which worked the cameras. The last word she spoke was unsettling to Naegi for reasons she couldn't explain.
"Pa...Partner?" She questioned. "What partner?"
"Ooooooh, that's right!" Junko chirped again. "You don't knoooow, you don't knoooow!" She teased.
"Know what?!" Naegi yelled angrily. She was angry, and she was confused. More importantly though, she felt herself panting a little as she breathed deeply. All this stress was making things worse for her fever.
"Oooooh, I don't wanna ruin the fun, so I'll just say this." She grinned mischievously as she stared back at the monitor. "In the next six hours, they'll end up having to kill Ikusaba, and then we'll have ourselves another fun-filled Class Trial!" She announced.
There was a heavy atmosphere crushing the already-exhausted Naegi. Throughout all the stress she's experienced up to this point, she hadn't realized all her stress was building up her fever over time, making it worse for her current condition. It started out slowly, but as she soon realized, the stress had a delayed reaction where it would affect her fever much later after experiencing the stressfulness of whatever was going on. Because of this, she could now virtually feel the fever itself taking a toll on her, her whole face being flushed red as she breathed heavily.
And this was before the latest comment Junko just made. Now, she felt like the air itself was thickening as she breathed heavily for air. Did she just hear Junko, the person she had yet to discover the identity of, right? Was Ikusaba going to die in the next six hours for whatever reason? And what about what she just announced before that about a partner? Was Ikusaba her partner? Were the two working together all this time? What was going on?!
She kept asking herself over again and again and again! She refused to believe it, even if Junko ended up bringing her any truth that she wanted to hear. Ikusaba was her friend! That was the honest and only truth Naegi had to know at this point!...And yet, some part of her found herself being somewhat concerned with her current reality. Something on the back of Naegi's mind egging at her, whether through a conscious or subconscious state.
The question was, what? Actually, with a little bit of thought, that brought another question to her mind.
"What does...huff..." Naegi paused briefly to take in a deep breath. The fever was taking a toll on her, and she needed to keep aware of that at all times. "What...does Ikusaba...have to do with this?" Junko grinned back at her, taking the moment to slide her chair back to where Naegi was.
"Dawwww, you still don't know and your head is all flushed. How sweeeeet." She chirped, patting Naegi's head. "You know, I will admit for everything I could get to work my way, you're the only thing that's been a delay on my plans."
"De...lay?" She still huffed with every breath, but she managed to get her breathing at a steady and constant rate by this point.
"Yup!" She chirped again, continuing to pat Naegi's head like a pet. "No matter how much I tend to plan things, you were one factor that kept making this just so much harder and harder for me. But that's okay, because I find you adowable, and at the same time, you're making things much easier for me, so I forgive you!" She cheered, rolling back to her monitors.
"What are you talking about?" Naegi was getting frustrated at the fact none of her questions had been answered, and the fact she COULDN'T let herself be frustrated at the same time, what with her fever and whatnot growing with each outburst.
"Before that, let me ask you something." Junko slouched in her chair as she leaned her hand under her chin. "What do you and the rest of the people all have in common?"
"Have in...common?" Naegi tried to think for a minute.
What did they have in common? They all had supposed "talents" which made them Ultimates, even Naegi's proclaimed title, but that was too easy for an answer. They were all, supposedly, students of her school, but that didn't explain much since she still had yet to understand what happened to everyone else. And they all had their memories erased at one point or another, so that definitely wasn't the case easier. Once again, too easy, and Naegi didn't have the means to explain what caused them to lose their memories in the first place.
That was when another thought crossed her mind.
"W-Well...they're all friends of mine, aren't they?" Naegi guessed.
"Woohoo!" Junko cheered excitedly. "Question one has been answered! Question two! Why am I putting you all through this?" Naegi gritted her teeth a little at the perplexing question.
"I... I don't know..." She muttered nervously. She had no idea what would happen if she failed to answer correctly, much less became incapable of answering at all.
"Mmh I guess I can't hold you against that one," Junko shrugged, "honestly, I'd be surprised if you did know for that matter. So let's skip to question 3-!"
"No more ques...huff...questions!" Naegi yelled. Once again, she felt her chest tightening as the fever overtook her briefly, forcing her to drag in and out a breath. "It's my turn to ask some...something!" She stated.
Despite the protest she was just receiving, Junko couldn't help but grin. She could fondly remember the ones tense girl that used to resemble the same one before her, one that would cry just from the situation that she was recently placed under. No matter who did or didn't notice the change themselves, Junko could easily tell Naegi had grown stronger. It was that ever-sickening hope deep within her heart, or wherever Junko planned on ripping it out of, that kept her from giving into despair and all it's glory.
At the same time, it was the same thing that brought immeasurable pain and anger to Junko herself. Naegi's hope was far beyond anything she'd experienced in the past. In the Past, she could easily manipulate someone with a single kiss, man or woman, and force them to do her bidding no matter how grotesque or complicated it became. Perhaps it had to go along with her title as the "Ultimate Super Model", but that was just a gimmick that she posed upon herself by now. At this point, she was Ultimate Despair, and nothing more!
But what did this make Naegi? Not once in Junko's life had she met someone so resilient to her charms and "personality". No matter what order of government, no matter how high in the world you were, Junko could easily bend one's will down all the way to the bottom of a cliff. Perhaps it was something that could drop you to the bottom of any bottomless pit, should Junko ever will it. So why didn't her "charms" work on Naegi?
Naegi was average. Naegi was simple. Naegi was the once sniveling girl Junko once met crying out in the hallways, one who claimed to have given up all hope for the world and thought her future was hopeless. Yet, no matter how hard Junko tried to push her at this moment, Naegi refused to budge. She refused to give up, she refused to see the end of hope in all things, and she never fell into despair like so many easy victims had in Junko's past.
It both surprised and infuriated the pink-haired girl! Why was she so resilient to Junko's charm?! Did she have some hidden talent that really separated her from the rest? Did she have some immunity to despair? Did she, perhaps, not understand how to fall into despair, or have a grasp on the very idea of how to fall under despair?! It confused Junko to no end, and only rose the anger within her mind!
And yet, part of her liked it. It was a challenge to her, and one that Junko would enjoy breaking, no matter how long or hard it was.
"Soooooo? What do you want to know?" Junko tapped her chin curiously.
"Why are you dong this to us?!" Naegi demanded to know. "We haven't done anything to you, and we don't even know who you are! So why did you pick us for all of this?!" Junko grinned slyly. Naegi was very direct, and that was good. It showed just how far her courage and strength had risen.
"Well, to answer all of those questions at once...nothing." Junko replied simply, rolling the chair so it was behind Naegi. Naegi jumped as she suddenly felt Junko squeeze her hands around her neck. It wasn't in a life-threatening case or anything, just tight enough to grip it and pull her back against the chair.
"You haven't done a single thing to me, or to anyone I know. That's what despair is all about!"
At the time, Junko took the liberty of providing a small "reward" to Naegi. With a delicate flick of her fingers, she untied the blindfold against Naegi's eyes. Being caught off guard by such a gesture, Naegi's eyes were immediately blinded by the bright lights reflecting off the monitors. It was to be expected from a girl such as her, seeing how she had her eyes shut for at least two days by this point. With the rest of the room being pitch black, having the only source of light directed right in front of you was the most obvious result to occur.
And that wasn't even half of what Junko wanted.
Before Naegi could make note of her surroundings further, she suddenly let out another muffled yelp as Junko tied the cloth tightly against her mouth, muffling any words she could utter as they practically crushed her cheeks together. This was actually a smart move for Junko's case. With the ropes being the only thing constricting Naegi's movement at this time, it would've been more than a simple chore for her to just yank the knots loose with her bare teeth.
Perhaps there was one point in her life where she would've been to terrified to think of such a plan, but Junko was smart enough to prevent taking chances.
"Mmmhhh!" Naegi let out a muffle shout, wincing slightly in pain from how tightly Junko tied the cloth against her face.
Staring at the bindings against her arms, she tried using all her power to break free of the bonds. Unfortunately, as planned, there would be no way for her to unbind her arms from chair's arms, especially seeing how the ropes tied from the base of her elbows, wrapping up all the way to her wrists. That didn't break the girl's will though, continuing to groan and grumble with each pull she used to break herself free.
"If I had a reason, my plans would be too simple." Junko continued, rolling back in front of her.
It didn't surprise her that her captor was now wearing a creepy mask in front of them, donning a white business-like suit as she sat in front of Naegi. Naegi was actually taken back a little by this sudden appearance, having believed her captor was a girl after feeling her face squeezed against their chest. What Junko couldn't mask, was the feminine voice though. That kept Naegi's mind thinking that it was a female.
"If I had a reason, you could find a way to counter any plans or idea I had against you or your friends." Junko took the liberty to roll back to the monitor, the back of her chair turned away from the struggling Naegi. "If I had a reason, you could try to understand me, and try to persuade me to stop my evil plans, make some cheesy crap where we end up being best of friends, live happily ever after in an enchanted castle, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff." It couldn't be shown through the mask itself, but like the mask displayed on itself, Junko grew a teethy grin as she stared back at the monitors.
"That's why, no matter what I do, you will never be ready enough to stop it. No matter what I do, I can easily manipulate you and all your fucking, lame-ass, friends to do whatever I please. No matter what I do, I can watch you scurry around back and forth like the rats you are, using your own morals and ideals to go about and brutally murder one another for the entire world to see." She grinned, leaning closer to the monitor with excitement.
"Mmhhhhh!" Naegi groaned. She had to limit how far she struggled- it wouldn't do any good for her if she ended up making herself too sick to fight back. This fever was rather uncommon compared to any past fevers she could remember, not counting the ones of her recent two-year-past she might've had.
"And because of that, I can perfectly predict everything that will happen."
Junko didn't have a care in the world. Even if Naegi somehow managed to break herself free, she could just kill her. Better yet, it would be off screen, so she could just post some sort of fake footage of some "accident" depicting Naegi's death. It was child's play for someone like her. That's why, she ignored Naegi, and only focused on the ongoing countdown displayed on the monitors.
While it couldn't be seen from this side of things, the monitor had turned off on all the other monitors throughout the school, at least that showed off Naegi in her periled-state. The only thing presented on the monitors that the students could see, was the ongoing countdown, that ticked away the seconds towards Ikusaba's or Naegi's eventual death. She knew that the students were fretting about their current predicament. Even though it stated it in the rules, there would indeed be a class trial by the time this countdown was over, but it would definitely never be for Ikusaba. She couldn't relish the despair as much if she had a trial for her "loveable" sister anymore.
It was for this reason, Junko lewdly rubbed her hand between her legs slowly. She got off from things like this, seeing everyone despair before her and seeing her plans going off to perfection. With both sides, this side consisting of Naegi herself, and the other side consisting of the 5 remaining students, she knew they were both despairing, and loved it, now matter how little it seemed.
Both sides knew that within 6 hours, specifically five hours, twelve minutes, and forty-two seconds at this point, there would be a class trial on their hands. The other side didn't trust Junko's word for it- they knew a class trial would occur if they killed Ikusaba. Technically speaking, they were right! It just wouldn't consist of Ikusaba like they all thought it would. It would just depend on whether or not Naegi would be around to participate in the "Special Trial"
"And within the next six hours Kirigiri will have finally killed Ikusaba..."
...
...
...
A/N: Dun dun duuuuun *dramatic reverrrrrb*! Well wellie-wellie-oh-well! Betcha never thought Junko would meet Naegi face to face before the grand finale, eh :P? Technically speaking, they actually did! Both in here, and in the game, before the final trial (and obviously not counting the bit where they've met in the past either XP!), I mean as in in her masked-appearance at the times. Fact is, she actually "met" Naegi once before meeting Naegi in his bedroom, the first being when she snuck up and struck Naegi in the secret room Kirigiri found, but let's stick to the actual notes XP
Yes, indeed, I've finally "Confirmed" the puppet master was Junko! *gaaaaaaasp* I BET NONE OF YOU EVER- ok seriously, i made it more than obvious half the time it was "Junko"- what a shock XP If you didn't read the past chp bonus of "Chibi Naegi" (SHAME ON YOU!), then the fact I did actually confirm it before after Naegi's death, albeit somewhat quietly, did. I don't know why, but for some reason despite announcing it, i always just felt compelled to keep the puppet master's identity "hidden" by this point, which is why i almost always referred to any of Ikusaba's "chats", at least the person she was referring to, as her "partner" half the time, and her "sister". Personally, after all of this, it bothered me, but I don't know why XP
Anyway, another graaaand chp, and a graaaand apology, for, once again, delays X/ At least I'm keeping a 1-a-week thing on, right : /? I mean honestly, look at someone like Klonoadreams'- she posts half of what I write half the time and more often than not, it takes like 3-4x longer : / same as everyone else I know X/ I'm sorry, and I hope to get back to my usual posting limit X/ on the bright side- I finally am free for the rest of the semester, so yippee ^^ No more (hopefully) delay excuses for the next month or so ^^
Also, a big SHOUTOUT/THANKS to EXPLOSIVEKINGDOM, seeing how he's the only guy to actually fulfill my birthday-request/wish by making a birthday-related fanfic for me ^^ If anyone else did, I need you to notify me since I have little-to-no idea if you actually did XP as the guy who followed all the rules though (and made it quite enjoyable to me despite it's short-size ^^), he wins the contest ^^! The secret to immortality, as promised, is-
*DATA CORRUPTION*
*DATA CORRUPTION*
See? Just like I promised ^^ Just make sure you mix the stuff right or it'll cause an eternity of agonizing pain- my great uncle learned that the hard way X/… Anyway, as for the other reward, like I promised, the next bonus episode is up for grabs, and anything of explosive's choice ^^ Like before, it can be of ANYTHING, and I'd like to see something as creative as your last requested piece, if you can ^^ I won't mind the size anymore, I need some more bonus stuff to get me writing again :P!
So without further ado, I hope you enjoyed the fanfic ^^ leave your thoughts or a like if you did, and hope I get back to a close-to-daily posting relatively soon XP