Disclaimer: The Danganronpa franchise does not belong to me. The content affiliated with this fanfiction belong to Spike Chunsoft and Kazutaka Kodaka. The cover art belongs to the artist, Sakuya. This fanfiction is being cross-uploaded on Archive Our Own, and the authors notes are located at the bottom.
Chapter Three: A Heartless Journey Pt 14
Even though all the evidence was pointing to her being the killer, they still couldn't properly end this trial until receiving the confession. Ryota knew that all of the evidence he collected wasn't really going to help much in getting Kimura to admit her evidence...except there was one other particular piece of evidence found at the crime scene besides the candy lying on the ground.
"Quit beating around the bush already and admit it! You killed Yoi-chan! You're the person who murdered him!" Ando exclaimed.
"And I already told you! The answer is no! I didn't kill Izayoi!" Kimura barked. "The person that killed Izayoi was...you! You're the person responsible for this case! You admitted it yourself!"
Gekkogahara sadly looked to the pharmacist, realizing that she had already dug herself into an even deeper hole. "No, Kimura-san, she only thought that she was the person that killed Izayoi-san. The innocence of Ando-san was already proven the minute she revealed she was unaware of the bangle switch and the fake Cure W."
"...I told you before. I was never even inside the reception room before the body was discovered."
The armodafinil stimulants.
"It's over!" Ryota yelled. His words were able to break through Kimura's argument and attempts to play innocence, pretending that she had nothing to do with this case, after his exclamation, Kimura sheepishly and fearfully backed away in retreat. "Back when we first investigated Izayoi-san's body, it was kinda weird that Kimura-san recognized the spilled drugs on the drug...they were called armodafinil stimulants."
"She's a pharmacist. What's your point?" Sakakura raised an eyebrow.
The animator nodded. "Yeah, I know. The fact that she is a pharmacist means that she would be able to know a lot about the drugs, but would even the Ultimate Pharmacist be able to identify them by simply looking at them?"
Sakakura gasped. "I think I get it. That means that Kimura was already aware of the stimulants before the investigation started, meaning she had them with her back with she killed Izayoi."
"If I remember correctly, armodafinil stimulants are used to enhance energy and mobility. Maybe she was fighting against Izayoi-kun and attempted to use those drugs to her advantage?" Gekkogahara wondered. "Izayoi-kun was very strong and Kimura-san would need the upper-hand in a battle."
There wasn't any innate satisfaction from uncovering this truth, Ryota considered Kimura to be a friend and never wanted to accuse her of murder. It hurt him having to do something like this, especially since she had always dreamed of helping others with her talent and would never be able to do so now.
He soon realized that no matter how close of friends they had become, it wasn't going to change this fate. Even if she was the person who murdered Izayoi, he still wanted to believe in her no matter what. It was just like what happened with Yukizome and Bandai—even though both were murderers who killed their friends, Ryota just couldn't hate either of them, and with Kimura he felt the same.
Deep down, Ryota still couldn't eliminate the feeling that most of this was somehow all his fault. Maybe if he had just been a little braver than they wouldn't even be in this predicament.
In regards to Ando, she stood there frozen in a staredown with the guilt-ridden Kimura. Neither girls were saying a word about all that had just happened, it almost felt like they were the only two people in this courtroom. The Ultimate Confectioner quietly asked, "Why…? I just wanna know why you killed Yoi-chan? Nothing else matters to me."
"I never hated Izayoi. I didn't hold any grudges against him at all, I feel like I barely even knew him." Kimura softly admitted. "This was all because of you . I believed that you selfishly wanted to steal the Cure W potion for yourself. All I ever wanted to do was help people and save everyone , but you always ruined things for me and made it worse."
Ando gasped before covering it up with an agonizingly rolling her eyes. "Y-Yeah right! You're just trying to play the sympathy card to make yourself look innocent. And what the hell are you talking about that everything is my fault?"
"I never had a friend in my life before I met you. I trusted you and loved you more than anyone else." Kimura lamented. "The two of us used to do everything together, but in the end you were only taking advantage of me for your own benefits! You started to get more out of our friendship then I did."
Her downhearted eyes looked to the confectioner in anger. "I killed Izayoi...but I never wanted to kill him. I was forced to because of your actions."
Ryota was rather confused on what they were talking about. What did Kimura mean when she said first friend? "I'm not quite sure I understand what's going on."
Kizakura caught a glimpse of what Ryota was talking about and decided to answer the question. "Right, I guess you wouldn't know. While it may sound pretty strange, a long time ago Kimura-chan and Ando-chan were actually friends back in the alma mater... best friends as a matter of fact."
"They were best friends?" Asahina gasped.
"Pretty much up until they arrived at Hope's Peak Academy, that's kinda when there falling out had really begun." Kizakura confirmed. "There friendship ended after the two had a falling out that caused both girls to be expelled from the academy and the two considered each other traitor ever since."
"Those two were so close, they would have given Oprah and Gayle a run for their money." Monokuma cheekily added.
"It happened back when the two of us were still small children—only six years old. The two of us met after I witnessed two puppies involved in a car accident and tried to use my medical knowledge to provide her with first aid and one of my medicines to help ease the pain." Kimura explained.
Ando slowly nodded in sadness. "They were my puppies Fuji-chan and Heiwa-chan, but one of them didn't survive. After that, I became close friends with Kimura and the two of us did almost everything together."
"That was back when the world still seemed so innocent," Kimura added. "During that time it seemed like Ando and I sincerely were best friends, but before long, I started to get less out of it then I put in. Then again, maybe I'm just trying to deny this was partially my fault as well?"
"The two of us—and Yoi-chan too, were all enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy and joined up in the same class." Ando continued with their story. "Things seemed fine at first, but I think by that point our friendship was really taking its toll. It only got worse around our second year during a practical exam, something terrible happened and the two of us got into a huge argument and were expelled."
Tears already started streaming down her face and Kimura chuckled. "Ruruka-chan," the honorific was a little rusty for her. "I'm sorry for what I've done. It's because of my stupid actions that we had a falling out. I was so obsessed with validation and having a friend, that I was so afraid to lose the only friend I ever had."
Ando scoffed and turned her back away from them. "You idiot! Apologizing now after everything that's happened! Right when you're about to be punished? I guess that means you really are being sincere."
"Ruruka-chan, talk to me! Please say something!" Kimura begged. "We had been friends for years…I know you. You're just trying to pretend like there's nothing wrong!"
"Shut up!" Ando lashed out with tears already falling to her face. "What do you want me to say!? That you were my hero!? That I looked up to you!? That I thought you could never do anything wrong!? That being a stupid confectioner was all I was really good at!?"
She sniffled. "...I can't do anything right, I'm a lost cause. You could do anything , I always asked for your help because I was afraid to lose my best friend."
"You did…?" Kimura gasped.
Ando weakly nodded and tried to use the fur on her jacket to hide the remainder of her onset tears. "I never cared about the favors I asked you, or the fact that you never ate my sweets, I was just happy the two of us could be friends."
The sobs of Kimura turned into an amalgamation of pity laughter. "It's kind of ironic. The two of us were both simultaneously worried about ruining our friendships with each other."
"And in the process that's exactly what happened." Ando hiccuped. "I guess the two of us both betrayed each other in the end...we share the blame for this one, right?"
Oddly enough, at that very instance, the two girls both looked to one another and both asked in unison. "Where did we go wrong?"
"Hey Kimura— I mean , Seiko-chan. If our situation had been different, do you think we could start over and be friends again, for real this time?" Ando sadly asked.
"Maybe in another life that could happen. I'm a murderer and now I must be exposed for all of my felonies," Kimura pitifully laughed before turning to Ryota. "Mitarai-san, if I'm correct, wouldn't this usually be the part of the trial where you give an explanation on how everything came to be?"
"Kimura-san...why?" Ryota silently muttered, feeling powerless that his hands were completely tied in this situation. He didn't want to accept that Kimura was actually the killer and this case and didn't want her to die even more, but as her friend he needed to believe in her.
"This case was first conceived right after Monokuma announced the Cure W motive to everyone. While most of us unanimously agreed to steer clear of that stimulant, that didn't apply to Ando-san, who homed in on the idea of escaping the building by any means necessary and immediately started to devise a plan to secure Cure W without any effort needed."
"Being that she was unable to trespass the Monokuma Hunting Death Chamber by herself, she opted to seek help her boyfriend, Izayoi-san. Around this time, Munakata-san had overheard their conversation, but was knocked unconscious with a chloroform and locked in a supply closet, later Izayoi-san would do the same thing on me to steal the key to the death chamber and access the game."
"After winning, he received the Cure W potion, but he created a decoy as a failsafe just in case Ando-san were to betray him. Ando-san tried to secure the potion by setting off Izayoi-san's forbidden action and left with the decoy, except he was still alive since he never actually swallowed the candy. After Ando-san fled away, she learned the bottle was empty, then rushed to the chemistry lab and put a fake protein substance label on the decoy Cure W to hide the evidence, believing that she stole the real potion the whole time."
"Meanwhile, having survived his near-death experience, Izayoi-san was discovered by the killer who realized he was selfishly hoarding the Cure W. The two engaged in a battle together and the killer was able to use the candy to set off his forbidden action and kill him. In an attempt to hide their tracks, the killer used the Cure W to switch bangles with the deceased Izayoi-san to remove suspicion from themselves. After barricading the doors and escaping through the secret passageway, they probably relaxed knowing their plan worked. The only person who could've initiated this case was...the Ultimate Pharmacist, Kimura Seiko."
A foreboding silence filled the rooms again after finishing that closing argument. Ryota felt himself trying to think about any potential contradictions that could be found in this testimony, not because he wanted to be right, because he wanted to be wrong . With all of his heart he genuinely didn't want to believe that someone like Kimura would ever actually murder someone, except no amount of denial could ever change this fate.
"That's the truth of this case…Kimura-san was the person who killed Izayoi-san." Ryota reaffirmed to them.
"Shit. So Kimura was really the killer all along, I never would've expected someone like her to commit murder after all the times she helped us out during the game." Sakakura sighed.
"Despite all of that, Kimura-san was still trying to protect us all." Naegi acknowledged.
Monomi's ears started to droop in sadness, Gekkogahara followed his statement by nodding. "The same thing for Izayoi-kun, he was still loyal throughout everything, he risked his life to secure the potion for Ando-san even when aware that he could've been betrayed by her."
Munakata scoffs. "That means this whole motive was pointless since the potion was only used for an unnecessary murder and now its all gone."
"Yep, and I highly doubt that Monokuma is just gonna whip up another one of those freebie-potions so that we can bypass the effects of the bangles again. I have a hunch those are a one and done deal." Kizakura follows.
The teddy bear giggled. "Upupupu...you bastards are really catching on now! That's true, I had no intention of ever making another Cure W potion. You guys had the perfect chance to steal it and you blew it, guess you'll just have to find another way to end the game!"
"If that's the case, then let's just get on with the voting and execution, there's no point in dragging this case out anymore. We have already figured everything about by this point." Munakata stated.
"Boy, I thought you'd never ask! I wasn't getting bored of waiting." Monokuma eagerly responded. "Alright, looks like you've reached a verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes? You have a switch in front of you. Use it to make a selection! Who will be chosen as blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one!"
"But Kimura-san is our friend, there's no way we can just—!" Ryota was about ready to defend her until be interrupted.
"No, please don't try and stop me! As a friend I'm asking you to vote for me so that I can save everyone...so the rest of you guys can survive." Kimura humbly requests as tears start to form in her eyes.
Without a choice in the matter, Ryota sadly agreed and pulled the lever on his podium, making it the third time he was forced to sentence one of his own comrades to death. It made him feel selfish that his life would take precedence over another, but at the same time, he had to out of respect for Kimura's dying wish.
The roulette on the screen made a quick spin for a short minute and finally stopped after a while. The ever-annoying congratulatory song played with the Ultimate Pharmacists's face celebratory displayed on the jumbotron with streamers and balloons falling from the ceiling and the corks off champagne bottles popping.
"GUILTY"
"It's a wrap! Nothing more to say here!" Monokuma happily stated. "You bastards guessed another correct verdict, the culprit that murdered Izayoi Sonosuke was none other than...Kimura Seiko!"
The aforementioned Ultimate Pharmacist smiled in relief.
"That was close, for a moment there I was afraid that you guys would have accidentally voted for Ruruka-chan," with that in mind she respectfully bowed to her former best friend. "And another thing...I should say this before I go. Ruruka-chan, I'm so sorry for killing Izayoi. I know I don't deserve forgiveness after doing such a terrible thing and lying, but I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry regardless."
Tears had already started to spill out of Ando's eyes after hearing the sincere apology. "You dumbass! I'm not mad at you! I'm the one who killed Yoi-chan...you were innocent the entire time. Seiko-chan, you're a good person."
"You are too." Kimura tearfully gave a quivering smile.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a serious expression to her former best friend. "With that in mind...I have something to request before I die. Ruruka-chan can you please help out Mitarai-san, Naegi-san and their friends in finally escaping this godforsaken building and not let Monokuma have his way."
" Die ? Why do you keep saying that word!?" Ando hysterically demanded. "Why do you keep acting like you're about to be killed! You didn't do anything wrong! You're not going to die!"
Ryota felt it was pretty clear that Ando was in complete denial. Kimura ignored her friends turmoil and looked to the others in their respective podiums. "Everyone, I'm sorry to you all as well. I misused the Cure W potion for such a terrible reason and ruined everyone's chances of safely escaping this building."
Gekkogahara sadly nodded. "There's nothing to apologize about you're our friend no matter what."
Kimura respectuflly bowed. "I want to make it up to you guys for my actions, so I'm going to reveal something that I should have told you a while ago."
Her eyes opened slightly wider, almost like she were feeling some kind of hope despite her circumstances. "Over the past several days, I have been creating a potion that would return the missing memories of what happened before this killing game started, the event that happened after the sleeping gas grenade knocked us unconscious."
Ryota explicitly remembered her mentioning that a few days prior and wasn't as surprised as the others were. The first person to react to that was Naegi, "A drug that can restore our memories? Were you able to find anything?"
Kimura nodded. "My missing memories are still pretty foggy right now, I'm not sure the drug worked to its full capacity. Despite that...there was something strange I learned about the three participants rule of this killing game."
"And what would that be?" Munakata asked.
"I learned that something terrible is in store for whoever survivors of this game, something even worse than the killing game itself." Kimura gave a serious expression to them all. "Monokuma doesn't plan on simply giving you guys a happy ending once the game ends, there's something far more terrible in store. When that happens, you guys need to make the right decision and avoid despair at all costs."
The narrow eye of Munakata opened wider than ever before. "What are you saying? Have you found out who the mastermind of this killing game is?"
The Ultimate Pharmacist. "Yes, and I can't guarantee you're all gonna like the answer. Monokuma doesn't want you to know that the mastermind is —"
"Hey, don't go spoiling all the mystery of the game. It's too early for these bastards to know!" Monokuma purposefully interrupted. "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Kimura Seiko, the Ultimate Pharmacist!"
"No! You have to stop this!" Ando pleaded as she bursted into a stream of tears once again. "Seiko-chan please don't die! You didn't do anything wrong! It's all my fault, I'm the one who betrayed you! I can't survive all by myself!"
Kimura looked to her best friend with a teary eyed smile, it was rather beautiful smile, the first genuine one since her childhood. "Ruruka-chan, before I go can you do me one final favor? Instead of lamenting about the times that we were enemies, can you think about everything we did as friends instead?
"Let's give it everything we got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIME!"
With his handy dandy gaveled tightened in his maniacal paws, Monokuma showed no remorse to slamming down on the big red button. The bottom of the button displayed a short pixelated video of the bear dragging Kimura Seiko to her death with a noose.
GAME OVER
KIMURA SEIKO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.
TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!
After bizarrely blacking out for an extensive period of time, Kimura had finally woke up, slowly opening her eyes to discover that she was inside a hospital—the emergency room, to be more specific. Her body was crudely strapped to a stretcher that was being maneuvered by a sleuth of Monokuma robots that were all dressed in nurse caps and white dresses.
The bears were all moving at such an immense pace that could barely be kept up with, this comes to a halt when one of the wheels on the stretcher falls, immediately causing Kimura to fall of the stretcher and relentlessly tumble on the ground.
As she picked herself up off the ground, Kimura came to the realization that she was inside a long and narrow emergency room, possibly even the longest room she had ever seen, with only one exit door located on the far side of the room.
On the farthest side of that room stood the real Monokuma dressed up like a doctor, wearing all the essentials like a head mirror, lab coat, and stethoscope. In his dangerous paws, he carried a vaccine-launching gun which he didn't waste a single moment to remove the safety from before growing a sadistic smile.
Mörbidly Crüel —DR. KILLGOOD
Monokuma's finger hits the trigger, allowing a vaccine to shoot out of his gun and promptly stab Kimura in the leg. The Ultimate Pharmacist slightly winces at the pain of the shot before beginning to feel her body progressively changing before her eyes, her bones begin tightening and cracking sounds become palpable, her body starts transforming into a more muscular physique.
Kimura ignores this and continues carrying herself to the exit door, Monokuma calmly responds by pulling the trigger once more and shooting another syringe right into her forearm, her body visibly responds to this with the size of her fingernails increasing and become sharper by the minute.
It was right about that moment when Monokuma's face grew more impatient, dropping his vaccine-launching gun and replacing it with a vaccine-launching machine gun, with every painful shot that came from the vaccine, Kimura felt her body changing in more ways than one.
Little by little her body began shifting in ways that were never perceived possible before, her short pale hair began growing at incredible speed before it fell all the way down to her feet—her previously innocent eyes morphed into a purple sclera with catlike irises—trudging through the halls became even more difficult since her body became more quadrupedal and she started moving on four, instead of the normal two.
Despite all the blood that leaked on the floor, Kimura never ceased to prevail and made her way to the exit door were she was welcomed by the most beautiful sight in the world. A wonderful and serene garden where Kimura had the pleasure of greeting many smiling people that were blessed with all of the wonderful medicines she made that benefited the world.
It was like a dream for the pharmacist, finally managing to help everyone and be appreciated for her help by others.
Except it was merely an illusion constructed by Monokuma as part of the execution, the bear presses a button allowing a hidden trapdoor underneath Kimura to fall, where she fell to her doom and painfully, landing in a bed full of nothing but lethal syringes.
Monokuma made sure the debate of doctors putting the disease inside of vaccines had a very dreadful merit since he took the liberty of filling the entire room with vaccines that held a plethora of different fatal diseases.
The amount of syringes and amount of diseases that were inserted into the Ultimate Pharmacist proved to be far too much for a normal human to handle since she died instantly.
"Don't share needles, kids!"
What could be said about this execution that hadn't already been said? All that was left of the fallen girl was her repeatedly impaled corpse...Kimura Seiko was dead.
"Bawahahaha! I gotta admit I really outdid myself this time!" Monokuma cheered. "I managed to punish a beloved participant of the game without even thinking twice! It just goes to show that I really rule the Future Foundation with an iron fist!"
They had reached the end of the road once more and were reunited with the unwelcoming taste of despair. The fact that they were already forced to endure such a tragedy for a third time was nothing short of awful. Ryota started to tear up a little after watching the execution, though he quickly wiped them after realizing that the others weren't taking things very well either.
They weren't his closest of friends, but Ryota did grow to appreciate both Izayoi and Kumra overtime. He recognized that Izayoi was always a hardworking and passionate person that had nothing but respect towards his family traditions, most of all, he was a very loyal person and carried out orders even if he didn't morally agree with them.
Then there was Kimura, all she really desired out of life was to help other people, she almost kind of reminded Ryota of himself. Since the game had began she was nothing but helpful with providing autopsies and medical information on those who previously died. In the end, she finally managed to save everyone after the majority vote.
Except now, neither of those two would be able to make on towards the future and escape this killing game.
The person who was taking it the absolute worst was Ando. The girl just sat in the center of the courtroom bawling her eyes out about everything that just happened now, it made sense, having just lost the two most important people in the world to her and it being her own fault, she was all lonely without them anymore.
It was kind of ironic. Ryota had spent this whole trial feeling that Ando was the mastermind of this case and played a big hand in her boyfriend's death, but maybe that wasn't entirely the case. Maybe Ando too was a victim to all this madness? Deep down it seemed like Ando Ruruka didn't have a heart of stone after all.
"Yoi-chan...Seiko-chan...I'm sorry," Ando wept between her small hiccups. "I'm so sorry! This was all my fault!"
The others just looked to Ando who wouldn't stop crying no matter what, almost like she couldn't even hear them. Gekkogahara looked concerned and attempted to speak to her, "Hey, Ando-san. It's gonna be alright, we just have to work together and—"
She stopped in the middle of her sentence after seeing Kizakura gently place his hand on her shoulder. "I think it's better to just give the little lady some space for now. God knows she needs some time to be alone after all that's happened to her."
Munakata seemed more intrigued by what was later mention. "And what of was mentioned by Kimura? She said she managed to learn something about our missing memories and figured out a big secret that lies within the killing game."
"Oh, that? It's nothing important so you bastards may as well forget about it." Monokuma simply shook off. "You need to start thinking about what's really important right now...killing your friends until there are only three of you left."
"Wasn't that something Kimura-chan mentioned too?" Kizakura recalled. "She said that once the game ends we're in for something terrible and that Monokuma won't simply let us escape once it's all over. What does that mean?"
"What the hell could that mean?" Sakakura asked. "Don't we already have enough shit happening in this killing game without something terrible waiting for us on the outside?"
"That means that once this killing game ends we're gonna be in for something much worse than what's already happening right now." Ryota realized.
Asahina sighed and shrugged. "What could be worse than what's happening right now?"
"Maybe it could be the Mirai Holocaust that Alter Ego was talking about before?" Sakakura guessed. "Didn't he say that there was a second-coming of the Tragedy happening in the outside world?"
"I doubt it." Munakata denied. "I don't believe that program's testimony holds merit here. Kimura never said anything about the Mirai Holocaust being what was awaiting them in the outside world...it must be something else."
Ryota started thinking about the remainder of Monokuma's plan and just felt sick to his stomach at the idea of something worse than a mutual killing game awaiting them on the outside. Before her execution, Kimura mentioned something was in store for them and they would need to "make the right decision". What could she have meant by that? It seemed like there were still too many things that they didn't really understand.
They were already enduring so much and now had to face something even worse?
"What should we be doing right now?" Asahina questioned.
"It's been a long day and I'm sure everyone needs a breather after this trial." Gekkogahara stated. "Tomorrow, Monokuma is bound to unlock a lower floor on this building now that a murder has happened and perhaps we'll even be a step closer to solving the mystery?"
She was right, after all the stress and emotional turmoil of losing two friends and the exhaustion of attempting to solve the mysteries of this trial, Ryota was all tuckered out and needed a chance to catch his breath—they all did. He did still have some theories about what Kimura could have been talking about before she died, but the two deaths that happened today were still quite fresh in his mind and almost refused to exit his mind so soon.
It was a struggle to have a positive outlook on things after the death of those two, especially with Ando still sobbing on the ground while the others already boarded the elevator. Ryota thought about going to help her until Kizakura placed a hand in front of him. "It's better to just give her some space. Anyone would feel awful after losing their two closest friends."
Ryota agreed, feeling that he was just the same after the Chairman and Yukizome were killed, sadly being the last person to board the elevator before the shaft ascended to the higher floor. He felt bad leaving Ando in the courtroom sobbing by her lonesome.
The curtains closed like they always did and another trial had bitterly ended. Usually at times like this in a story, there would be some element of satisfaction from uncovering the truth behind a murder mystery, that didn't exist in this killing game. None of them felt satisfied with an ending like this, it only made them wish they never participated in that trial to begin with.
In the back of Ryota's mind there was also something explicitly on the surface of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about that potion that Kimura mentioned before dying. A potion capable of restoring their missing memories? It seemed too good to be true, although if Kimura managed to remember something important about the killing game, then it must work.
After all that transpired, Gekkogahara asked if Ryota wanted to return back to her office where they could have a short therapy session to talk about some things together. For once, he actually declined the suggestion. Mainly because the deaths of those two were still fresh in his mind and he still needed to come to terms with what happened, talking about things in therapy would be a little too painful for him right now.
She agreed without any questions asked and proposed they pay a visit to the gaming room where they can meet up with Naegi and his friends. Just like she had mentioned before the Ultimate Hope alongside Kirigiri and Asahina were already present in that room. Ryota wondered if this is where Naegi and his friends usually go after trials?
It made sense considering this place was possibly the most peaceful area in whatever building they're in right now. Even if that were true, Ryota still couldn't get a lot of things off of his mind on what had happened during this case and even started thinking a little about the relationship between Ando and Kimura.
"—Hey Naegi-san. Do you mind if I ask you something?" Ryota suddenly asked out of the blue. He had been unaware that the lucky student was already having a conversation with someone else and he accidentally interrupted him.
Naegi didn't seem to mind, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "No. What's wrong, Mitarai-kun?"
The Ultimate Animator shyly averted his gaze from Naegi for a brief minute. "Well...it's just, there's something I wanted to tell you…a confession that's always been on my mind. Ever since the two of us first met earlier in the game...well, I've always been kinda jealous of you."
He flinched and tried embarrassingly looking away. He wasn't really sure how Naegi was going to react to this, but after remembering what Gekkogahara once told him, Ryota felt it was something that he needed to finally confess. How what the Ultimate Hope react? Would he tease him or hate him?
Naegi blinked innocently. "You're jealous of me? But what for?"
Ryota swallowed. "Sometimes it feels like you're great at everything. I lost my classmates because I was too afraid to stand up to Enoshima. I couldn't save my classmates from despair or stand up to Enoshima, but those were two things you were able to do with ease, almost like there was nothing to it."
The animator laughed in low-spirited. "You're the brave hero that defeated Enoshima Junko with little effort. You managed to stay optimistic despite every situation that was thrown in your way...I guess that's probably why you're called the Ultimate Hope, right?"
Ryota frantically realized that know may not have been the best time to mention something like that and felt it was probably better to change the subject, "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have said something like that. I guess we can just forget—"
Oddly enough, Naegi started chuckling at his response. "I've never heard something like that before. Mitarai-kun, Ultimate Hope was a nickname given to me by my friends, honestly there's nothing really special about me. I was just an ordinary high school student that got involved in something much bigger than me, my only real quirk is that I'm a little more optimistic than most people."
"And I didn't defeat Enoshima all by myself," the lucky student corrected Ryota. "It was a team effort with all of my friends. I couldn't have done it without Kirigiri-san, Togami-kun, Asahina-san, Hagakure-kun, or Fukawa-san."
Ryota gasped, admittedly never hearing something like that before. He never really knew Naegi as a person and always just kind assumed that he was this untouchable hero that the media always made him out to be. Even if he was just an ordinary person, there was definitely more to him than what met the eye.
The Ultimate Animator smiled. "Thanks, Naegi-san...for understanding."
Naegi laughed a little. "Oh, and Mitarai-kun, you really don't have to keep calling me that either. I'm not even a Division Leader and you're my superior so you don't have to be that formal when talking to me."
Ryota was shocked since he normally wouldn't use that kind of honorific with anyone, but if they were really friends then maybe it was alright. "Okay then, Naegi-kun."
The hour was roughly around midnight, from what it seemed all the other participants were already fast asleep in their dormitories, which only made things more easier for patrolling about in the halls without anyone aware of your presence.
The location was the Ultimate Pharmacist's office, once an area used to help determine how the Chairman was drugged with alprazolam was now vacant and lifeless in every possible way. Most of the cabinets had been locked shut with a padlock by this point, except for one simply titled "Specimen A".
The person was Ryota, after hearing about a drug capable of restoring the memories of what happened before the killing game had began, he was immediately intrigued at the thought of helping in discovering the big secrets of the game and saving everyone from more terrible murders.
The Specimen A medicine had been sitting on her desk all by its lonesome. The slightly unscrewed cap and half drunk bottle was already a good indication that someone had already used this before. If what Kimura said was true, this specimen alone could actually contribute in restoring some of their missing memories.
She never actually specified the necessary doses for something like this and made it very unclear how much would actually help in restoring their missing memories. Obviously being that she was dead those questions couldn't be answered anymore.
Ryota genuinely didn't want to lose any more of his valued friends to this killing game anymore, without really thinking much about the potential consequences, he grabbed the bottle and drank every last drop until it was completely empty.
He blacked out after drinking the bottle.
SURVIVING PARTICIPANTS — 9
A/N: I think this was probably the saddest chapter that I wrote so far, but this one was a long time coming. I conceptualized this fanfiction back in 2017 and waited two years to finally have a scene where Ruruka and Seiko make amends and end their rivalry. Hopefully I was able to add the right amount of tearjerker moments and fluff between them.
DR3 kinda played up Seiko being the victim while Ruruka was the villain, in this fanfic I wanted to make it apparent that neither were necessarily in the right. In some ways, Seiko's death was inspired by Peko's death in DR2, I wanted her death to allow Ruruka to grow as a character.
I also liked the idea that by sadly voting for Seiko as the killer, she inadvertently saves the participants from being punished by Monokuma, which means that in the end: Seiko actually does manage to save everyone just like she always wanted.
The execution has a pretty interesting reference to it, it's called "Mörbidly Crüel —DR. KILLGOOD", a reference to "Mötley Crüe Dr Feelgood". I liked the idea since Monokuma already made the reference in his doctor persona.
Other scenes I liked where Ryota considering the relationship between Ruruka and Seiko to finally confess his jealousy towards Makoto.
Then there was the ending, a few chapters ago Seiko mentioned that she was creating a potion that can restore their missing memories and she learned some things before Monokuma prevents her from saying anything, I think the biggest shocker is that in the end of the chapter, Ryota strangely drinks the potion.
From here on out, some interesting things will be occuring due to Ryota drinking that potion.
