Hi everyone! This is the last chapter of Akuma no Ronpa. Thanks everyone for your support, and I hope you'll like the ending!
A sinister grin appeared on the fake Haru's teeth, which were now sharp. Her appearance suddenly changed, showing her true identity.
"You guessed right, Azuma-san. I'm the traitor you were looking for, or the ringleader as Shuto-san called it. Personally, I prefer to view myself as the arbitrator of Class Black." Nio replied.
Tokaku could barely believe it. Nio was still alive. Even if she was the one who deduced it, the blue haired girl was still confused by the fact that she wasn't dead.
"How…we saw your corpse! And Shuto…she killed you, she was executed because of that…"
"Indeed, Shuto-san was executed for real, she's dead…but she never murdered me." Hashiri replied with a somewhat sad smile.
It took a moment for Tokaku to understand what actually happened.
"I see, you worked with Monokuma to frame Shuto because she was in your way. Your corpse, nobody actually examined it. Monokuma even confirmed the cause of death, to refrain us from looking at your body. He claimed that it was because he wanted to save us time…it was in fact a trick to hide the fact that you weren't dead! You must have used an illusion to fake your death!" Tokaku declared.
"Ah, so you aren't a meathead like I thought! You've got some deduction's skills. You found out the truth, but at this point, it doesn't really matter doesn't it?"
Nio approached from the wall with the portraits and flowers of every Class Black's students.
"Those flowers…you were the one behind them…"
"Well, of course. Who else could it be? I'm also the one who put the corpses in the coffin for the class trials and gave you the motives." Nio confirmed.
"Why…did you do this?!"
"The flowers? It was my way to honor the memory of my deceased classmates. I was really glad to see that Shuto-san also knew about the language of flowers…"
"I'm not talking about that! Why did you help Monokuma?! Why did you contributed into this killing game!? You…we were all classmates. I retrieved my memory. I know that…they were your friends!"
Tokaku had remembered their school life. Even if she never liked Nio, especially when she learned she was a Kuzunoha, but she always thought that the blonde girl got along with everybody else. She seemed quite friendly with almost everyone in the class.
"Friends? You thought that I view them as my friends? Haha, you must be kidding me…" Nio began to say, the basil flower in her hand. She then showed a furious expression, her eyes full of hatred. "I hate them all! This is why I did all of this, because I wished for all of them to just die!"
Tokaku was surprised and shocked by Nio's expression. She never saw her being so angry, it was kind of frightening. The blue haired girl noticed something other than hate into Nio's vermilion eyes. It was despair. She then remembered something Shiena told her.
"The brainwash video…Kenmochi told me if you watch it, you become obsessed with despair. Don't tell me…you saw it!? Which means…you are the SMSL Despair?!" Tokaku exclaimed.
Nio's face suddenly became emotionless, before a sudden cat-like smile appeared on her lips.
"Uh, brainwash video…well, maybe I've seen it, maybe not. In any case, I am indeed the one who's referred as the SMSL Despair. But you know, speaking of despair videos, you are currently under the influence of one of them, do you realise that?"
Tokaku didn't know what she meant. It was the second time Nio mentioned a despair video.
"You look confused. Let's me refresh your memory. You saw a weird flashing screen and heard a disturbing noise, don't you? When you found those pictures? Well, it was in fact a despair video you were watching. But this one isn't the brainwash video. It was only meant to increase the feeling of despair in you. It seemed that it work perfectly. You were so despaired that you even killed your girlfriend. How pathetic…"
The blue haired girl was shocked. She was under the influence of despair? She killed Haru because of a video? This truth was too painful to accept. How could she have done such a thing only under the influence of some video? She murdered the girl she loved over a stupid video! She could never forgive herself for that.
"You know Azuma-san, you're the one I hate the most in the class. I thought that you would have regained your common sense before doing something irreparable, but I was wrong. Even though you loved Haru-chan, even if you viewed her as your queen, you still killed her with cold-blood. It's…unforgivable. Even I wouldn't have done such a thing, I would never hurt my queen! This is why I'm better than you. This is why I'm going to make you fall into a deeper despair!"
Nio genuinely seemed mad at Tokaku. The blue haired girl wondered who her queen was and why she looked so offended. The blonde girl let the basil flower fell on the ground and she approached from Banba's picture. Shen then began to smile friendly.
"You are still under the influence of the despair video you saw. Well, Haru-chan's death and the fact you retrieved your memory seem to have temporarily stopped it effects on you. But I saw it, you were really aroused when you killed your girlfriend. The despair turned you on. So I wonder, what would happen if I increase your despair? Will you be brainwash and become one of those despair's lovers? Or will you commit suicide like those who have seen the suicide brainwash video? Either way will be entertaining, I can't wait to see how you'll react to despair!" Nio exclaimed cheerfully.
The illusionist grabbed the flowers under Banba's portrait and suddenly, her appearance changed, much to Tokaku's concern, who began to be worried about Nio's intent.
"I…I received a relic from Ichinose-san, but I failed to make it holy. But…I don't care anymore, since she became my friend." the fake Mahiru said, before turning into a fake Shinya. "I finally managed to make Mahiru appreciates her normal school life and helped her to make friends!"
"What…what are you doing!?" Tokaku shouted.
The fake Banba threw the moonflower and bindweed on the floor, before grabbing another flower and changing her appearance.
"I was in love with Banba-san. I confessed to her after Ichinose-san defeated me, I gave up the idea of being a queen to be with Banba-san. A also dreamt to open a tea room with her." the fake Sumireko said, before throwing the Iceland poppy.
"I forgave Kirigaya for being Angel Trumpet because I love her. But I had tried to kill her and to commit suicide, which failed. Even if it's pained me to be with the girl who killed my teacher's daughter, I still want to remain at Hitsugi's side." the fake Chitaru said, before throwing the red rose.
Even it was only Nio disguised, it really caused sorrow to Tokaku to see Namatame again. She was one of the only people the blue haired girl considered as a friend.
"I renounced to my serial killer's life because of a promise I made with Shiena-chan. I was supposed to kill her when she grow up to be more my type, but…I think that I like her more alive." the fake Otoya said while throwing on the floor the mountain lily.
"All I want was to be cured of my illness and aged like anybody else and died from old age. I wanted it even more when I met Kouko-chan. The thought of seeing her growing and leaving me was unbearable…" the fake Suzu said. She then threw the red tulip and took another flower.
"I accepted to attend Class Black because I thought it would allow me to go to Hope's Peak Academy. Thanks to that I would have find a good job to support my family. Unfortunately, my mother died from her illness, but I still decided to stay at Myojo and find a job to help my younger siblings!" the fake Haruki said while throwing a verbena flower.
"I wished to attend Hope's Peak Academy to make my dream come true. I wanted to become the greatest dramatist ever and spread hope with my plays, especially for those who are bullied." the fake Shiena said while letting the thistle flower fell on the floor.
"Before I was a ruthless assassin, but when I met Chitaru-san, I decided to change. I quitted my group because I loved her. I let her tried to kill me because I wanted to make her wish come true, and I saved her when she poisoned herself. I want to stay by her side and make amends for my past crimes to have her forgiveness." the fake Hitsugi said before throwing the white rose.
"At first I viewed Myojo and Hope's Peak as a way to escape from my group, but now, I honestly want to become a better leader and class representative for my classmates and help them developing their own talents. I also want to become a scientist and find a cure for the Highlander syndrome." the fake Kouko said while throwing the red spider lily.
"I didn't really care about Myojo or Hope's Peak, but I must admit that I've met someone interesting in Class Black, someone that I fell in love with…Haruki. I've to admit that I kind of admire her devotion for her family. This is why I want to become a professional kick-boxer, to gain a lot of money for my own family, and maybe…helping hers…Unfortunately, my mama ended up executed." the fake Isuke declared while throwing the red carnation
"Yamete (Stop)!" Tokaku yelled.
The blue haired girl fell on her knees and grabbed her head. The despair was too strong, she was about to succumb to it. She never really gave attention to her classmates so she didn't know about more than half of what Nio said, but it was really despair-inducing to learn about it after their death, especially since the circumstances.
"How pathetic. You almost make me having pity of you."
Tokaku raised her head, discovering a fake version of herself.
"Our classmates died, they killed each other over motives and wishes they couldn't or already had. Isn't ironic? Laughable? Totally despairful? They died not knowing they were all actual classmates, and they murdered their friends. They died and killed for nothing, all they did was in vain! How miserable, how…despair-inducing!" the fake Tokaku said.
"S...Sh…shut up…!"
"But it's the truth. And you're not better than them, you're even worst. You didn't even have an actual motive, but you still killed Haru-chan. You let despair win. The others did what they do for hope, but you…you killed your hope! You're now on the despair side, you have no hope anymore!"
Tokaku felt tears rolling on her cheeks. It was true. She had no hope, since Haru was dead. And she killed her herself, in a fit of despair. She was really on the side of despair now. The fake Tokaku let the heliotrope flower fell and grabbed the lily flower, before changing once again her appearance.
"No, please…don't do that!" the blue haired girl pleaded with panic.
The fake Haru showed her a sweet and friendly smile.
"Why do you look so afraid, Tokaku? Isn't because you feel bad to have killed Haru? If it's the case, surrender to despair. You'll feel better, because if you accept despair, you won't feel bad about killing me. In fact, I know you felt pleasure when you shot Haru right into the heart. It felt good to kill me, right? You want to feel good again? Feeling bad sucks, right? Then accept the despair, trust me you won't feel pain anymore…"
'Haru' approached from Tokaku and kneel near her, before putting the lily flower into Tokaku's hair. She then gently stroked her hair.
"Don't worry, Tokaku. Just let despair ease your pain. Trust me, you'll feel better after."
Brusquely, the blue haired girl pushed the fake Haru away.
"Shut up! You're not Haru! I'll never allow to feel pleasure over the death of Haru! I feel despair, I've no hope, but I won't become like you, Hashiri!"
The fake Haru looked at her with an extremely displeased expression.
"I see. How disappointing. It seems that the video wasn't enough, you are no longer under it influence. Haru-chan's death and your memory stopped it affects. Well, it's not funny anymore to bully you. You're just a sad and pathetic girl who is mourning the death of her girlfriend. I kind of feel bad for you…this is why I'll be merciful and end your sufferance!"
'Haru' raised her arm, revealing that she was armed with a knife. She tried to stab Tokaku, but the blue haired girl was faster. Tokaku grabbed her armed hand and made the fake Haru stabbed herself, right into the heart.
"Aa…you…I did well to put a flower under my portrait then…two kills in few minutes, you aren't as bad as an assassin as I thought." Nio said while coughing blood. "You are now…alone. And outside…the world had fall into despair. It only a matter of time until…you succumb to it too…"
The SMSL Illusionist regained her normal appearance and fell on the floor, face down, right on the flowers she had threw. The lily flower in Tokaku's hair fell next to Nio and suddenly, everything became pitched black around her.
Tokaku noticed that she was surrounded by her dead classmates. They were all standing near her, wounded. Kouko had a hole in her stomach, Otoya had multiple stab wounds, Hitsugi had her hand bleeding, Chitaru had claw marks and blood coming from her mouth, Haruki was heavily bleeding from her scalp, Suzu's body was wet with some injures, Banba had a bullet wound on her chest, Isuke had her head twisted in a unnatural angle and Nio had a hole in her heart.
"You don't deserve to be alive while we all died. We believed in hope, while you killed your hope. You are despair now. You should be dead like the rest of us." the dead classmates said in unison.
"No…I didn't mean to…I loved her…" Tokaku mumbled.
"Die, die, die!" they repeated all together.
Suddenly, Chitaru approached from her, showing a friendly smile.
"Namatame…"
"Azuma, you are like me. I also have killed the person I loved the most. This is why I deserved to die, this why you deserve to die. Thanks to that I could be reunited with Kirigaya. Die too, join us, so you could be together with Ichinose." Chitaru proposed.
"Join us, join us, join us…" the others mumbled in background.
The fencer suddenly took out a gun and aimed at Tokaku with a stoic expression.
"Tokaku-san…"
The blue haired girl recognized the voice. She immediately turned back, to discover Haru. Tokaku then realised that everybody else had disappeared and that the gun was now into her hand.
"Haru…!"
"Tokaku-san, you are a murderer. You are my murderer. You shot me, you killed me, even though you loved me, even though I love you, we were a couple…
"I'm sorry! I didn't want to, it's the video…"
"Don't try to blame a video for your own action! Take your responsibly for what you have done. Take that gun, put it next to your head, and pull the trigger!"
"You want me to…kill myself?"
"Yes, this way you could come and join me. You could apologise to me in person. So kill yourself Tokaku-san, it's the only way you can redeem yourself."
Mechanically, the blue haired girl approached the gun from her head and put her finger on the trigger.
"Yes, that's it, you're doing it good. Now you just have to pull the trigger, and we'll be reunited." Haru said.
Haru was gazing at her with red eyes, full of despair, and a maleficent smirk.
"Yes, you are right. I deserve to die. I've no hope anymore, I've no reason to live…" Tokaku said.
"No, Tokaku, don't do this!"
Tokaku blenched. This voice, it was…Haru? Another Haru? The Haru in front of her looked angry.
"Don't listen to it Tokaku-san. I'm Haru. You killed me. This is why you need to die!"
"Yes, I should kill myself…"
"Tokaku! Put that down! If you love me, listen to me! No, you have to obey me! I command you to stop right now!"
Again with this voice. Tokaku was convinced now, it was the actual Haru's voice. Was she talking to her from heaven? Suddenly, the blue haired girl smelled a sweet smell of honey, and heard some kind of buzz noise, like the one bees did. She then looked at Haru. She didn't look the same. Her eyes were normal, she was looking at her with a hopeful gaze.
"Haru…"
"Tokaku, it's time to wake up. You are supposed to protect me, you are my knight, my prince. I forbid you to die!"
"But I killed you…"
"Snap out of this! I'm here. If you don't want to listen to me, I'll make you mine. You'll be my captive, which means you are not allow to die. You'll stay by my side forever and protect me! Now throw away your gun and come back to your sense! Don't lose to despair!"
Suddenly, Haru kissed her on the lips. Tokaku could taste blood, but also something else. It was a slight taste of honey. It tasted good. The blue haired girl wanted this moment to stay forever.
Tokaku finally came back to reality. She felt that something was pressed against her lips. It was another pair of lips, and they were soft. The blue haired girl suddenly recoiled, to discover that Haru was standing in front of her. They were kissing. The red-pinkish haired girl showed her a warm and kind smile. Some blood was coming from her mouth and she had a bleeding wound on her chest. Tokaku noticed that she was holding a gun and she immediately threw it away.
"Haru, you are…"
"Tokaku, I…I love you! My memory…came back, after you shot me…"
Haru suddenly fell. Tokaku managed to grab her and softly put her on the floor while still holding her. Haru's face was terribly pale, she was in a terrible shape. Haru then began to cry.
"Tokaku, I'm sorry…Haru isn't sure, but…I think that I used the queen bee ability to control you. You were about to kill yourself, you didn't seem well, so I was scared…and I commanded you to stop. I'm sorry…"
"Don't apologise! It's my fault! I tried to kill you, I was about to kill myself, you did what you needed to do to save me. So don't feel guilty about this."
The blue haired girl did feel different. She didn't feel any despair anymore. But her love for Haru and her desire to protect her seemed to be the same. Tokaku removed Haru's vest to examine her wound. Strangely, it was really where her heart was that the wound were. Tokaku teared up the cloth and used it as a bandage to stop the wound from bleeding.
"Don't worry, Tokaku. Haru won't die. We will survive together, because it's our wish. Because we love each other."
"Yes, I swear that I'll make us escape from here and save you."
"About our classmates…they didn't die in vain. Even without their memory, Kouko-san, Suzu-san, Shiena-chan…they tried their best to protect everyone. Kouko-san and Suzu-san died to save us, without them we won't be alive…it wasn't in vain…"
"Wonderful. You two are truly interesting." An unknown voice suddenly said.
Tokaku looked at the screen. Someone was on it. This person was wearing the same hoodie as Monokuma, but it wasn't the same voice. It was in fact a normal voice, a female one. She didn't have the mask, but her face was hidden by the hood.
"You are…Monokuma!?" Tokaku asked.
"Indeed my dear, I'm Monokuma. Allow me to reveal myself." She said before removing the hoodie.
Monokuma revealed to be a woman in her late twenty or early thirty. She had long brown hair and pink-violet eyes, and she was wearing a business suit. The woman was smiling at them. Tokaku recognised her.
"You are…the chairwoman…"
"Yuri Meichi!?" Haru added.
"Yes, my name is Yuri Meichi. I'm Myojo's chairwoman, as well as the headmaster of Hope's Peak. It's nice to meet you face to face, Ichinose-san, Azuma-san."
It was in fact the first time they both met the chairwoman. They never saw her during their time at Myojo Academy.
"So all this time, Monokuma was you!?" Tokaku exclaimed.
"Yes. And Nio-san was my ally, the ringleader, while I was the mastermind. I also have the queen bee ability, so she was forced to obey me, as my loyal worker bee."
"Why…why have you done that!? You erased our memory and forced us to kill each other! We were classmates, friends, and you forced us to participate into this killing game…" Haru exclaimed.
"You should know why. It was you initiation, Ichinose-san. To see if you were worthy of be part of the clan. And you are, congratulation. Azuma-san, it seems that your wish come true. You are both the two survivors of the game, the winners. As your prize, you'll be allowed to leave."
Tokaku remembered that she indeed once wished to be one of the two survivors with Haru, but now that she had recovered her memory, she regretted to have once desired that.
"You graduated, you are now no longer middle school students, but high school students. You'll received new title…hum…Azuma-san will now be the SHSL Bodyguard, and Ichinose-san…the SHSL Queen." Meichi declared.
"Wait! Do you really think you'll get away with this? You caused the death of all our classmates!" Tokaku shouted angrily.
"As I thought, you won't forgive me. Very well. I understand."
Suddenly, the exit door opened.
"Here, you can leave. If you are brave enough to go in the outside world, were despair is everywhere." the chairwoman said with a stoic expression.
"Despair…so the world really have fall into despair." Tokaku mumbled.
"I can't still believe all of this was…for my initiation. You must have another motive…" Haru said weakly.
"Oh, you think so? Well then, if you managed to survive and to find me, I'll tell you the truth." Meichi declared with a calm voice. "You have to live, Ichinose-san. You have to live because you are hope now."
"Hope? No, that's wrong…Haru…doesn't have hope…Haru has faith into…herself, into Tokaku and…into a better future."
The red-pinkish haired girl suddenly felt unconscious.
"Haru!" Tokaku exclaimed, worried.
"Don't worry, she won't die from such a wound. The hospital of this school is near outside, take her there and you should be able to take care of her wound. The rest is now up to you, Azuma-san. As Ichinose-san's worker bee, her bodyguard, you'll have to protect her. And I warn you, the outside world is far more dangerous than before. The despair is strong, you'll need a stronger hope to survive."
"Hope? Did you hear Haru? It's not hope we need, it's faith. Haru has faith in me, this is why I will never fail my duty. I'll protect her no matter what!"
Tokaku took Haru into her arms and rushed toward the exit. When she saw in what state the world was, she stopped. It was worse than she thought. Even the air was hard to breath. The world was completely destroyed. She knew about the riots because of the Tragedy of Hope's Peak, but she didn't know about the Tragedy that made the world fell into despair. Despite that, Tokaku didn't feel any despair, because Haru forbid her to lose to despair.
With a severely injured Haru into her arms, Tokaku left the school, running without hesitation, determined to save her life and to survive into this despairful world.
The end. An epilogue will come eventually to clarify a lot of details that are still unknown. The offical number of survivors will also be reveal in the epilogue.
Just to clarify: Nio never had her memory erased, Tokaku's curse was broken during her time at Myojo, and they never experienced the Tragedy because they were kidnapped before.
Trivia: In the original draft, the first class trial was supposed to be entirely different. Since Suzu was originally supposed to die in the fourth case, the fifth case was supposed to be Banba as the victim and Isuke as the culprit, before I changed for Mahiru being the culprit and Isuke the victim (an accidental and unexpected murder), and it would have been Shinya who ended being executed rather than Mahiru, and it would have cause Sumireko to lose her mind. Nio would have fake her death in the sixth case to avoid being killed by Sumireko, who would have tried to kill everyone, and the rest would have been similar to how it end in the final story. Nio was also supposed to fake her death be decapitation rather than her throat being slice.
Thank you everyone again for all of your support, I wouldn't have made it so far without you. It's my biggest fanfiction. So, what did you think of the story in general, and the ending? Are you satisfy? What do you think will happen in the epilogue? Is everything that was said in the last chapter was the truth? Tell me in a review! Don't hesitate to follow or fav this story if you liked it!
I'll take a little break before writing the epilogue to continue some other stories, but the epilogue should be written soon. See you next time! Don't hesitate to ask me questions!
