-This is made by Starrshard on Ao3 and Wattpad, please check them out. I have been given permission to upload this to , as they do not have an account on this website-
"Yaomomo? Yaomomo, what's wrong?!"
In a flash, Yaomomo was suddenly back to standing in the trial room. The chandelier above her head cast an all-too-bright glow over her, over the floor she was staring at with its pristine, shiny, monochrome tiles; everything was too bright, too loud, really. Shouto was at her side, shaking her gently by the shoulder. She had hunched over her podium railing at some point, her hands over her head.
What... did I just..?
It was always just Tamaki and you, Momo. Just him and you and a knife and a note.
Oh, god, the voice was back.
"Cynthia..?" the Detective murmured, her voice shaky and strained in her throat.
"Yaomomo, what are you talking about?! Snap out of it..!" Shouto had one warm, steady hand on her shoulder. "Hey, talk to us here!"
"Y-Yaomomo... what are you doing?" That would be Tsuyu's voice to her left.
"I... I'm sorry..." The ravenette shivered as she stood up straight. Tsuyu was hovering awkwardly near her, intrigued by the scene but unable to fully empathize with it. Shouto was at her side, his hand having fallen from her shoulder. He was wearing a concerned expression. She tried to ignore them, instead scanning the few out in the circle.
Nejire was leaning over her podium, watching her with worry clear in her tense features. Denki was staring at his feet, arms still wrapped tight around his own torso. Hitoshi, having drifted back to his podium, met her gaze, expectant and slightly confused. "I-It's okay," Nejire spoke out. "We all... we all crack under stress sometimes, especially in these types of situations. It's fi-"
"No- no, that's not why I'm apologizing!" Yaomomo couldn't land her eyes on any one thing in the room, instead allowing them to dart from person to person, object to object, before she simply settled on closing her eyes and dipping her head. The image of Tamaki's dead body, wounds still dripping, flashed into her head again, but she tried to ignore it.
"Then... then what is this for?" Denki's words were meek; anxious. "What could you p-possibly be... sorry for?"
"I'm sorry I've lied to all of you." Yaomomo exhaled softly. "Sorry I dragged you all on a roundabout trip of suspicion."
"Y-Yaomomo! What are you saying?" Shouto sounded like he wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. "You can't mean-?!"
"I killed Tamaki."
A tense silence immediately fell over the trial room at those three words. Yaomomo opened her eyes, allowing the sight of her clutching a kitchen knife soaked to the hilt in hot pink blood to slip away from the forefront of her mind.
Everyone was staring at her, as to be expected. Nejire was stiff as a board, and Denki's golden eyes were wide. Hitoshi's face was contorted in confusion, Shouto's in distress; Tsuyu was unreadable, a perfect poker face, whether intentional or unintentional on her part.
"Yaomomo..?" The Swimmer snapped the quiet atmosphere like a twig. "What do you mean..?"
"I killed Tamaki Amajiki. What is there to understand? I killed him. I definitely did..!" The images were pouring into her head now, like polaroids raining on her in a downpour, flooding her with colors and scents and sounds and sensations she instantly despised.
Look here, Yaomomo! Kyouka. That was her voice. In her mind's eye, in the void where photos -snapshots of an adventure- floated around her and filled her mind with memories she'd tried to throw away, the Musician was standing in front of her. Yaomomo couldn't make out any of her features; trying to find them only made her disappear. The violette was perpetually trapped in her peripheral. Kyouka had snatched a polaroid from the storm and was brandishing it in Yaomomo's face. It's Tamaki's note!
Sure enough, the image she bore was of Tamaki leaning over his desk, scrawling something into the notebook. His hand shook terribly; tears slipped down his face and landed on the paper, blurring the edges of some of the words. What is this..?
You stood over him and watched him write that, my dear. Cynthia was suddenly on her other side, her voice tickling Yaomomo's ear. Beckoned into his room. You were already clutching the knife behind your back at that point. Ever so enthusiastic, even in murder, are we?
Here, here! Here's another. Kyouka had snatched another photo and shoved it in her hands, forcing her to drop the first to the ground in an ever-growing pile. Yaomomo stared at it. This one's important.
There was a pale hand gripping the handle of a knife. It was driven to the hilt in Tamaki's head. Blood sprayed in an arc from the freshly inflicted wound, splattering the killer's skin with pink.
The photo suddenly began to distort, printed pixels melting into each other and dripping through her fingers. Oh, a shame. Cynthia tutted. This was when your brain kind of shut down. That is why you can't remember anything. Do not fret, though, my darling. There was a quiet laugh, and then another handful of polaroid prints thrown over her shoulder into her hands. Yaomomo tried to catch them, although the majority fell through her fingers in her haste. Your eyes, your ears, your senses; they record all. We are merely here to help you recover everything.
Within the mindscape, Yaomomo shook her head, looked from side to side. She was alone in the darkness; even Kyouka and Cynthia were silent now. She turned down to the jumble of photographs in her hands, eyes wide with fear.
Blink. A picture of a knife slashing Tamaki's arms, the same pale, slim, blood-splattered hand gripping the handle.
Blink. The knife was on the floor, lying by Tamaki's hand. It was a simple shot of Tamaki's corpse; a pause where she had simply stepped back and looked over her work.
Blink. Her finger was against the wall, coated in pink, dragging against the tiles, painting words of regret and delusions.
Blink. She was standing before the sink, washing the blood from her arms and hands.
Blink. The photos tumbled from her cold hands and landed at her feet, absorbing into the walls of the cell she was trapped in, absorbing into her mind.
She was lost in her own brain, and she was alone.
It had all happened, all of the memories her brain had attempted to lock away flooding through the broken dam, in a matter of seconds. It had felt like hours, taking in all of the moments of a lost evening in a rush that left her dizzy.
A photo album was shoved in her numb hands. Alright! Let's put the pictures together in order, Yaomomo! She flipped the book open, and Kyouka handed her a photograph from next to the ravenette's place kneeling on the open ground.
Closing Argument : Begin!
"It's coming back to me..." The words slipped from Yaomomo's corporeal lips. Her silver eyes were blank, still lost in the scene within her skull, trapped in a birdcage with nothing but photos and two voices. "I... I think... my mind cut out the event before, but... something must've triggered the memory to return."
"Convenient." Hitoshi's speech brushed her ears, unable to fully register with her reeling brain. There was a tone of horror in his tone, though, betraying the fact that he believed every word she was saying. "Go on. What crucial evidence have you remembered for us?"
"It was... It must've been a few days since the Ultimate Punishment." Kyouka was sliding a photograph into the first empty slot on the tea-stained page of the album. It was a snapshot from her own sight, a still taken from her own eyes. She was looking up at Tamaki; he was leaning against the wall of a hallway. Judging by the crimson walls, red carpet, and yellowed lamplight, they were on either the fifth or sixth floor, amongst all of the dorms. "Tamaki caught me one night... and introduced me to his plan."
Suddenly, she found herself being sucked into the photo, suctioned into the memory, now playing in her brain like a movie, like all memories should be; pieces of life, of movement. "He told me he had an idea, an idea to get both of us out of the Game," she recalled. "I... I went with it without complaint."
The trial room was too stunned to say anything, to protest. Even Shouto was merely standing there, horror visible in his expression. Somewhere in her mindscape, Kyouka was shoving another photograph into the album, and Cynthia was whispering a tale woven out of despair in her ear.
"I went to his room last night. I watched him write his suicide note. He sat down in the shower and told me to go for it. I stabbed him in the head." Yaomomo was saying the words as the memories came to her, vivid scenes of silver and pink and dark blue. "That was when my brain began shutting down the memories. I slashed up his body and wrote on the walls, likely in hysteria, I assume. After that, I washed off my hands in the sink and returned to my room for the night. Everything's explained, see?
"The killer of Tamaki Amajiki, the Ultimate Florist, was me. Momo Yaoyorozu."
She let out a sigh, turning to stare at the floor tiles. "I killed him, and that's how."
"B-But... Yaomomo..!" Shouto was in disbelief, horror written all over his face when she looked up. His eyes were wide with shock. "You don't have to do this, sacrificing yourself like this! There's no reason to! Pretending you killed him isn't going to make a difference, anyway- it'll just be voted as an incorrect answer- there's no way you could've..!"
Yaomomo laughed bitterly. "Quit the denial already. I'm not lying, Shouto. I killed Tamaki. I did it." She couldn't bear to meet his eyes; she knew she'd never look away if she did. "I even detailed it all out for you. It makes sense, right? So just vote for me already."
"Yaomomo..." Nejire's voice was soft. "This... this is all so sudden..! Why..? Why would you work with him..? I don't believe... that you... that you have the potential to kill..!"
"I know it's sudden," the Detective murmured. "It all just sort of... came back to me. All at once. Like I said, something to do with trauma, or something." She lifted her right palm and stared at it. "Now I can remember every splatter of blood that touched my skin." The very thought made her nerves tingle, made her brain ache and sweat break out on her arms.
"If... if what you're saying is true..." Hitoshi almost seemed confused, still too taken-aback to really react in any other way. "Then why did you spend all that time suspecting all of us? Why..?"
"Reason escapes me." Yaomomo spun her hand around, still studying the lines in her skin. She gazed at her fingernails; how long had it taken to wash the blood out from under them? All concept of time was gone from her memory, but she knew she had run her skin red and raw under that stream of hot water. "Funny how brains work sometimes, huh? Now hurry up and get on with voting."
"W-We... we can't let you just do this!" Denki cried out. "You can't- you can't just die- not like this!"
"Yeah!" Tsuyu clasped her hands over her chest. "You can't die! You can't! There's been too much death already!"
"We won't let you do this, Yaomomo!" Shouto's voice was desperate; unreasonable, unable to be reasoned with. The ravenette lowered her hand and allowed her eyes to rake over his chest; in her peripheral, she could tell his jaw was set, fully determined to fight for his misguided belief in her. The rest of the students were following him, too. It was her against them.
But I have the truth.
I can't lose here.
I'm a Detective, after all.
I pursue only the truth.
Argument Armament : Start!
{Nejire and Tsuyu's Lines [N/T] Letters to Counter}
"Yaomomo... I may not know you well..." [N] (W) (D) (S) (A)
"But I know that you couldn't possibly kill someone..!" [N] (W) (S) (A) (D)
"Nejire's right! She always is!" [T] (W) (A) (S) (D)
"You can't die, Yaomomo! You can't! You can't!" [T] (W) (S) (D) (A)
"We won't let you do this!" [N + T] (W-A-S-D)
"You, killed... Tamaki..? It's impossible..!" [N] (S) (S) (S)
"I know you, Yaomomo..." [T] (W) (W) (W)
"I can't see you with a knife in your hand." [T] (A) (D) (A) (D) (S)
"There's no way it was you!" {N + T] (W-A-S-D)
Phase 2 : Advance!
{Hitoshi and Denki's Lines [H/D] Letters to Counter}
"Yaomomo, snap out of this!" [H] (A) (A) (W - Hold)
"Nothing you're doing makes sense!" [H] (W) (W) (S - Hold)
"If you're the killer..." [H] (S) (S) (D - Hold)
"Then why did you first jump to suspect us?!" [H] (W-A-S-D)
"Y-Yeah... he's gotta be right..!" [D] (D) (D) (S - Hold)
"You're... you're not like that..." [D] (S) (S) (W - Hold)
"I know... you only love this class..!" [D] (W) (W) (A - Hold)
"You care about us... surely, th-that's the truth!" [D] (W-A-S-D)
"You can't be the killer, you just can't be!" [H + D] (W) (A) (D) (S)
Phase 3 : Advance!
You can't see anything... anything at all..!
{Shouto's Lines Letters to Counter}
"Momo Yaoyorozu..." (D) (A)
"What are you doing..?" (S) (D) (A - Hold)
"Stop this right now!" (W - Hold) (S) (A - Hold) (D)
"Stop doing this!" (S - Hold) (W) (A - Hold)
"I don't get it... I don't get it AT ALL!" (S) (D) (W - Hold) (D) (A) (W)
"You didn't kill Tamaki! There's no way you did!" (A) (W) (D) (A) (W) (D)
"I believed in you... I believed in you so much!" (S) (A) (D) (W) (S - Hold) (D) (A) (W - Hold)
"I refuse to believe you, of all people, killed him!" (W-A-S-D)
Phase 4 : Advance!
You can't see... anything... anything at all!
{Classmates' Lines [N/T/H/D/S] Letters to Counter}
"Please, don't do this!" [N/T/H/D/S] (A - Hold) (S) (A) (D)
"I don't believe you could be the killer!" [N] (W) (S) (A)
"Th-There's got to be some kind of mistake!" [N] (D - Hold) (A) (D) (W)
"B-Because... no matter what..." [N] (W) (S)
"I can't imagine- imagine you killing Tamaki!" [N] (D) (A) (S) (D - Hold)
"She's right." [T] (W - Hold)
"Why would your memories get locked out?" [T] (A) (D) (S - Hold) (D)
"Why did nobody else have this issue before?" [T] (W) (A - Hold) (S) (A) (D)
"This is- I don't understand this at all." [H] (D) (A) (S - Hold) (W)
"Your actions clearly contradict!" [H] (A) (D) (W - Hold)
"There's got to be a misunderstanding." [H] (S) (A) (S - Hold) (D - Hold)
"What are you planning?" [H] (A - Hold) (W) (A) (W)
"I c-can't see you mur-murdering, either!" [D] (S) (A) (W) (E) (S) (W - Hold)
"Tamaki... Tamaki w-wasn't in his right mind..!" [D] (A - Hold) (A) (S) (D) (S) (W - Hold)
"Surely... you wouldn't..." [D] (D - Hold) (W - Hold)
"...work with him... right..?" [D] (S - Hold) (A - Hold)
"Yaomomo..." [S] (W - Hold)
"I... I can't let you die..." [S] (D - Hold) (D) (W) (S - Hold) (A)
"I love you..." [S] (W) (W) (W - Hold)
"N-Not in the way I loved Izuku, but..." [S] (W) (S) (A) (D) (S - Hold) (W)
"I love you, Yaomomo!" [S] (W-A-S-D)
"You can't die here, you wouldn't!" [S] (W-A-S-D)
"You're our detective, Yaomomo!" [S] (W-A-S-D)
"Surely you've just gone delusional, o-or something!" [S] (S) (S) (A) (W - Hold) (D) (D) (S)
"Your brain's making up memories under stress! Yeah, that's got to be it!" [S] (W-A-S-D)
"So- so come back to us!" [S] (D - Hold) (D) (A) (S - Hold) (W)
"W-We believe in you!" [N] (W-A-S-D)
"Yeah, I trust you, I think." [T] (W-A-S-D)
"I'm sorry if I ever upset you..!" [H] (W-A-S-D)
"Please... d-don't go..!" [D] (W-A-S-D)
"I love you! Please!" [S] (W-A-S-D)
"We're not letting you die..!" [N/T/H/D/S] (W-A-S-D)
Final Blow.
W = The
A = It's
S = Despairful
D = Truth
"We refuse to believe that you killed Tamaki Amajiki!" [N/D/S]
"But I'm not lying."
A-W-S-D : It'sTheDespairfulTruth : Break.
"E-Everyone..." Yaomomo felt drained, devoid of anything but the scent of blood returning to her databank and flooding all of her senses with it. She was growing dizzy with the overwhelming number of voices all crying out to her at once, begging fate to change hers and spare her sinful soul from the rightful punishment to come, the punishment she expected when she drove that knife into Tamaki's skull. "Please... stop. Stop fighting this."
"B-But, but Yaomomo-" Denki tried to speak out, but she cut him off.
"No! Enough!" the ravenette snapped, her voice rising. She immediately regretted it upon seeing the Electrician flinch in response, so she took a step back and sighed, looking down to her feet. "Sorry. But I don't want you guys all fighting me and trying to blind yourselves from the truth."
"There's no truth in anything you're saying!" Shouto protested, his voice cracking. She forced herself to drag her gaze up and meet his for a split second, ensnaring her in the hundreds of conflicting emotions that were within the shimmering, broken shards of blue and silver; she was drowning in regret, in self-blame, in anger, sorrow, grief, horror, desperation, hope, despair. "You can't... you couldn't have killed him! You're wrong! You've got to be wrong, this can't be true..!"
"I'm sorry, Shouto." She tried her best to offer him a small smile, but her lips were quivering, and she found herself unable to do anything but shakily curve them upwards. "I'm so sorry."
"Yaomomo..." Nejire couldn't say anything but her name. She clutched the podium railing so hard her knuckles were even whiter than white. "...you... you really did kill Tamaki, didn't you..?"
"Nejire?" Tsuyu's eyes were dazed; confused.
"Wh- Nejire! How could you believe that?!" Hitoshi sounded incredulous.
"Y-You wouldn't be arguing with us... if you were lying." The bluette tried to find Yaomomo's eyes, but the Detective looked away. "If anything, I... I know you that well."
Silence fell over the room, tense and thick as fog. Yaomomo could feel herself choking in it, strangling her with ropes tighter than those of a noose. She couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye, lest she feel their agony, their betrayal, their anger.
But you killed Tamaki, didn't you? Kyouka cooed. You don't really care about them, right? You only care about yourself, right? Right?
That was the very thought she'd been trying to convince herself of.
Why did she go with Tamaki's plan?
Why did she take his life?
The reasoning escaped her. She couldn't come up with any facts that proved her murder was justified, other than the fact that she simply didn't care. Even then, it sounded like a lie to her ears.
Maybe your care for them has been a lie all this time, too.
Maybe it was all just an excuse for your own pitiful survival.
"Please vote for me, everyone." That was all she could say. "The trial is over. It's all over. I admit to my crimes, so please... just vote for me..!"
Stunned into silence, not even Shouto had the heart to protest anymore.
Six oak levers all pointed to her.
The slots machine rolled through the faces of dead and alive alike.
All three landed on the pixelated face of a silver-eyed girl, her midnight hair pulled back in a ponytail, a stray lock draping over her eye like a drooping ahoge.
It's over.
Class Trial : End!
"Puhuhu! What a despairfully delightful outcome!" Monokuma smirked. Compress was jiggling his leg, forcing the bear to bounce on top of his knee. "The killer was Momo Yaoyorozu! Man, you guys've got a record of seven out of eight! How lovely!"
For once, the room was silent. Nobody could speak; nobody had the energy to. Everyone was simply staring at their blackened.
Staring at her hands, Yaomomo could feel the stares of her classmates burning into her skull, dazed baby-blue and shadowed viridian, wide indigo and startled electric-yellow, teal and silver shards of glass that she'd shattered with three words, likewise he'd shattered her heart in ten.
"I- I'm so sorry." She sliced the tension in the room in half. "I'm so sorry..!"
She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, hot droplets of liquid sliding down her cheeks. She clasped her hands in front of her chest. "I'm sorry, e-everyone..!"
"Y-Yaoyorozu... Momo..." Shouto's voice was hushed, her name seemingly foreign on his tongue. "Why..? I don't... understand this at all. Th-the... the Yaomomo I knew would never have touched a hair on any of her friends' heads. She loved her class and would fight for their lives even if they wanted to die. So... so why?!" There was suddenly the rush of footsteps, growing louder and louder, and suddenly someone was at her side.
She felt him grab her by the shoulder and spin her around so that she was forced to face him, and another hand swiftly but gently tipped her up by the chin so that she was locked in a staring match with him. Shouto Todoroki. The rhythmic name that once rang like bells and birdsong in her head only filled her with anguish. The boy standing before her had tears running down his face and desperate, mismatched eyes filled with anger. His cheeks were flushed and blotchy, and his mouth was set in a frown, teeth clenched in rage. "Tell me, Yaomomo, why did you kill Tamaki Amajiki?!"
Her silver eyes, overflowing with teardrops that fell down her face like jewels, held his frenzied gaze with unwavering certainty, despite the pain and guilt and regret and unfulfilled wishes that throbbed in her heart. "I..." His warm fingers were shaking against her jawline as she tried to speak, every word that popped into her mind sounding wrong. "I'm just... I'm just tired."
She reached up and removed Shouto's hand by the wrist. He let it fall to his side, watching her with wide eyes, drinking in every syllable she uttered. She would've enjoyed the attention, but not in this context. Instead, it only brought her pain to think that the only time she'd ever be listened to so intently, so caringly, would be after she murdered one of her own classmates.
"I'm just so t-tired..!" She couldn't help but feel a sob overflow from her throat, the choked sound ugly and bitter on her tongue. "I... I gave up!" she cried. "I gave up on this stupid fucking game!"
"Y-Yaomomo..?"
"I can't do this anymore!" Yaomomo ignored Shouto's surprised yelp of alarm. She wrapped her arms across her chest, allowing her tears to freely flow down her face. "I can't! Not when- not when there are no rules to play by! Everyone... k-keeps dying... even the people who were supposed to be safe! Like- like Cynthia, and Natsuo, and Su-Sumidare, and Ichika! P-People who weren't supposed to suffer a-anymore, like E-Eri... even they got hurt in the end!"
She swiped at the tears on her cheeks, only for new ones to replace them instantly. She met Shouto's wide eyes, searching for something to ground herself, anything but the sorrowful expressions of the rest of her classmates. Of course, Shouto wasn't much better, his face twisted with anguish and tears falling from blistering eyes, but he was something. "No matter what... no matter what, we only keep killing each other! I get that now! That's why I went with it... because why play the game when you can just end it?!"
The murder of Tamaki Amajiki wasn't going to change anything. The death of the Ultimate Detective was hardly anything, either, not when the other Ultimates could still think and breathe.
She knew that, and it hurt her more than it should've.
You just want to flee from this game, no matter what it takes or who you leave behind.
All was quiet after her final words were spilled from her mouth. She held Shouto's wide-eyed stare for a second longer before ducking away, crying quietly, her arms wrapped tight around her own body for there was nobody else to hold her.
Well, nobody until now.
A pair of warm arms suddenly wrapped around her, and she found her face buried in the rough but intoxicatingly rice-scented fabric of a blue tunic. Her eyes widened, her cheek pressed against his chest; Shouto was clutching her to his chest, arms snugly locked against the small of her back.
He's crying, she realized. Tears slipped down his face, a stray droplet falling onto her cheek and mixing with her own teardrops. "It's okay now, Yaomomo," he choked out, his voice distorted by sobs. "It's okay. You don't have to fight anymore."
"B-Because I'm about to die..?" The ravenette tried to throw a bit of humor in her voice, but fear quickly washed any traces of any other emotion out of it as a lead weight dropped in her stomach.
She was going to be executed.
She was about to die.
"Y-You... you won't die, Yaomomo..." Shouto's grip tightened around her, if that were even possible; he was holding her like she was someone important to him, someone he wanted to protect, and that was the singular beacon within her hurricane of a brain. She buried her face in his chest and tried to pretend everything was okay, her own arms snaking around his body, even when a certain robotic voice rang in her ears to announce her demise.
"Any last words, Miss Detective?" Monokuma cooed. His bearish laughs barely reached her mind, barely registered in her body. She forced a coherent reply out of her mouth.
"No." Her own voice was muffled into Shouto's clothes. She pulled back, hesitantly detaching herself from him. She wiped the last tears away from her face and looked up to glare at the villains on the throne, her silver eyes sharp despite the tearstains on her flushed cheeks. "I'm ready to go now."
"Excellent." Monokuma grinned. "Well, I have prepared a very special punishment..."
She turned back to look at her classmates, her allies, her friends in the trial room, just one final time.
There were tears slipping down Nejire's face, but that was to be expected; she was so sensitive, so meek, as soft as a lamb. Yaomomo was glad she didn't have to see her off, although forcing the latter to see her most esteemed Detective get executed wasn't much better.
Tsuyu was staring blankly at her, perfectly unreadable as always. Yaomomo tried to find sadness in her eyes, but was only met with confusion. Confusion at what? Herself? Or me..? I suppose I'll never know.
Hitoshi bore a wide-eyed expression, gazing at Yaomomo as if the entire experience were still surreal. He wasn't crying, but the way his fists clenched at her side betrayed his frustration with the situation. She could nearly hear his thoughts, ringing like a broken record- It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair.
Denki's face was cast in shadow. He was staring at his feet, arms wrapped around his torso as if he were agonizing over something. Over what? Another thing she'd never know. She hadn't realized how much information, how much knowledge she'd taken for granted. Being alive meant you could discover things and receive explanations; having unsolved mysteries in your head was a mere side effect of dying.
And finally, Shouto. Shouto, Shouto, Shouto. Yaomomo wished his name, his image, his voice could be engraved in her brain even when she was dead and the void had swallowed her whole. There were too many emotions in his face to read; it was just a jumble of confusion, of grief, of loss, of betrayal, of sorrow, of guilt, of regret, of pain, of despair. Yaomomo tried to offer him a smile again; this time, her lips curved as easily as a spoiled girl breathed.
"...for Momo Yaoyorozu, the Ultimate Detective!"
"Thank you, Shouto. Thank you, everyone." The smile fell from her lips as swiftly as it came, a flash in time, replaced only with dread and regret and pain. "In the end, I think..."
"Are you all ready..?"
No, no I'm not..! Yaomomo swallowed down her terrified thoughts, her racing mind, and tried to finish speaking. "I'm glad... I'm glad I fought for you all."
"Iiiiit's..."
"Sorry it ended with me betraying everyone."
"PUNISHMENT TI-"
"W-WAIT!"
...huh..?
Break!
...
...
...
The trial room went quiet. Yaomomo halted and slowly swiveled in place to see who had called out.
"Huh? Wait what?" Monokuma had whipped around as well. Behind where he stood on the crimson-carpeted stairs, Compress tensed, sitting up straight and fingering the glove covering his one usable hand.
Denki Kaminari stood at his podium, staring up at the throne with wide, petrified, golden eyes. He was shaking, clutching the railing as if it were his life support. "S-Stop this!"
"You, what are you raving on about?!" Monokuma glared at him, his crimson eye flashing dangerously. "Disruptions are not appreciated in the trial room, ya know?!"
"S-Stop this! You- You know what I'm talking about, Monokuma!" Denki's expression was stricken with fear, but he pushed onwards. "I-If... if you want to execute the most impure out of us... if you want to execute the truly blackened, the g-guiltiest... th-that... that wouldn't be Yaomomo!" He released his podium railing and stepped away from it, turning to face the throne, head tipped skywards to meet the villains' eyes, despite his terror. "It would... it would be me!"
"Denki, are you crazy?!" Hitoshi rushed from his own podium to the blonde's side. He grabbed Denki by the shoulder. "What the fuck are you doing?! I understand you don't want Yaomomo to die, none of us do, but... but we can't fight the villains! You should know that by now!"
"No, no I don't." Denki began to slowly but steadily walk towards the throne, gently brushing Hitoshi's hand away with a flick of his bandaged wrist- the gauze was as white as porcelain. He held Monokuma's glare the entire time. "This game has no true rules. The villains... the villains can bend them and lie as much as they want."
"Denki, what are you talking about?" Tsuyu spoke out, her tone frustrated. "When have the villains broken the rules of this game? Even when their own ally, Tooru, was convicted... she was executed."
"I agree with her. I appreciate your concern, really..." Yaomomo turned to him as well, but he didn't do the same for her. He was still stiffly, stubbornly glaring at Mr. Compress, hands clenched in fists. She continued speaking anyway, even if he wasn't listening. Her words were icy. "But I'm the killer. Don't insist that you're the blackened, because you know it won't work. I don't care if the villains would break their rules- I deserve to die, and you don't."
"I'm not- Oh, for god's sake, I'm not talking about the case!" Denki snapped, suddenly breaking his staring match with Monokuma. He whirled around to face Yaomomo. There was a certain sort of anger, of regret in his eyes, in the quivering frown on his face. "I'm talking about m-myself!"
"What's... that supposed to mean..?" Nejire whimpered.
"I... I made a deal with the villains when the game first started..." Denki hesitated, his eyes falling to the ground. "They needed a communication link in the game other than Tooru, since as the traitor there was a higher chance of her getting caught."
"Hey! Quit spilling!" Monokuma cried out, wildly waving his paws about. Silver claws gleamed in the amber light of the trial room. "I forbid you to! You know what happens if you spill!"
"I-I know! I don't care anymore, so shut up and let me speak!" Denki gave him a hefty glare and turned back to Yaomomo. His expression softened. "I... They gave me a phone, and i-its only function was to communicate with the villains. The... the deal was that as long as I maintained contact with them, they would inform me of deaths. I'd be told right when they occurred, even before the body discovery announcement. I was told all the motives ahead of time, too." He swallowed thickly. "Th-they also... they also promised the utmost protection of my family."
He visibly tensed, his knuckles whitening as he clenched his fists. His eyes clouded over as he looked down. "That... that was supposed to include Ichika..."
"Denki..." Hitoshi's voice was gentle. He approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I... I'm sorry."
"S-Sorry?" The Electrician's voice was incredulous. He looked up and met Hitoshi's cloudy, violet eyes. "Why... are you sorry for me? I've been p-protected by our gamemasters this entire time..! I was always kept up to date with who was dangerous, who was plotting something, updates from the outside world, th-that kind of stuff. I even broke Mei's device when Tooru told me to. I was a traitor... a tr-traitor to all of you..!" Tears welled over his wide, amber eyes, cascading down his face like raindrops tumbling from electric clouds. "You shouldn't feel sorry for me..!"
Suddenly, he pushed Hitoshi away and broke into a sprint, making a beeline for Monokuma. "I've had enough of this! I'm done with being a victim! I'm going to be a hero you can be proud of!" He grabbed the surprised robot by the neck, picking him up and throwing him as hard as he could towards the podiums. The monochrome bear hit the railing of Kyouka's podium, sending her portrait tumbling to the floor. The glass covering on the mugshot shattered on the ground. Monokuma hissed, hauling himself to his feet. Denki was standing, defiant as he hovered, now uncertain, at the foot of the stairs. Mr. Compress had jumped to his feet, hand now ungloved and poised to strike.
"DENKI!" Hitoshi shrieked as both Monokuma, whose jaw had unhinged to reveal a gaping maw of whirling machinery and metal fangs, and Compress dove for the ex-traitor. With lightning-fast reflexes, Denki darted out of the way, stumbling as he did.
The battle-honed villains arced on their feet, not missing a beat and tailing the Electrician as he dashed up the stairs, aiming for the throne. Yaomomo and Shouto leaped back to avoid being trampled, backing up to where Nejire was huddled by Ochako's podium with Tsuyu. The bluette was clutching the latter's hand. On the other end of the spectrum, Hitoshi was running after them at top speed, making a beeline to catch Monokuma.
"Call reinforcements! Quickly!" Compress yelled to the black and white bear, swerving as Denki darted around the throne instead.
"Got it!" Monokuma obliged, tapping one of his ears with one claw. "Ahem! Emergency! Emergency!" The sound was emitted from his body as if he had a speaker; his jaw was unmoving, metal tongue still writhing within his mouth. "Situation O-Seven! Student gone rogue, Subject Denki Kaminari! I repeat, Situation O-Seven! Student gone rogue, Subject Denki Kaminari!"
His red eye was flashing like a siren as he continued pelting after Denki like a rabid dog. Denki leaped over a podium and landed in the center of the circle, scrambling to his feet and just barely dodging Compress, who dove after him. Hitoshi ringed around the podiums, aiming to circle around and catch them head on. Denki bounded over another podium and kept running, Compress and Monokuma hot on his heels. Hitoshi reached to grab Monokuma, but the robot was still too fast for his fingers to even graze, and he snatched only air.
A portal opened up over the circle. "Reinforcements have arrived," Dabi deadpanned, landing nimbly on his feet on the black and white tiles. Blue flames sprouted from his raised palm, hovering in a glowing, cerulean ember over his scarred skin. Behind him, Toga landed as well; she was donning a new look, a fur-hooded, tan jacket thrown over her schoolgirl outfit. She twirled her daggers in her nimble little fingers, grinning like the maniac that she was. She didn't have her blood pack or needles, but the silver blades alone were deadly enough against a group of unarmed children.
"Hehehe! It's time for a little fun, Dabi! Who do we have to stab this time?!" The girl's golden eyes glittered with excitement.
"Calm down." Dabi waved his free hand dismissively at the blonde. "We're just here to settle a minor riot. Did you even listen to Monokuma's call?"
"Nope! You were the one who did that." She grinned and pointed one knife at him.
Dabi sighed. "We're here to... calm down Denki." He seemed in no rush, despite the chaos Denki, Compress, Monokuma, and Hitoshi were creating. The other four students had backed into a wall, staying as far away from the battle as they could. Shouto was clutching Yaomomo's hand, as if afraid that she'd slip away and drop dead at any moment. Nejire was hugging Tsuyu, burying the Swimmer's face in her chest and watching the chase anxiously.
Denki suddenly whirled around, catching Mr. Compress off guard as he arced right and dashed towards the masked man's left side- his prosthetic side. Compress stumbled to catch him, turning to grab Denki with his right hand, but missed by just a sliver.
Denki collided head-on with Monokuma, grabbing the robotic mutant and diving into a tumble with him in his arms. He landed against a podium and hesitated not even a second to throw Monokuma into the ground before him with as much force as he could muster in his thin, overstressed arms.
The creature hit the ground, and bones could be heard snapping. Monokuma's jaw seemed to unhinge even further as he wailed- in agony, or in alarm? Does he even have nerves after the surgery? Denki screamed and picked up the broken body again, slamming into the ground over and over.
"Denki!" Hitoshi had halted, stunned as he watched the blonde break the little monster against the monochrome floor tiles quickly splattering with hot pink. Denki was practically throttling the rodent, bones and metal and wires alike coming loose within his patchwork body, piercing skin and fur and flesh. Blood squirted from the wounds, splattering up Denki's arms and staining his bandages magenta, splattering his collarbone, his face, his neck, the floor, the rug, the podium they were next to. Tooru's podium, Yaomomo noted dully. A bloodstained podium for a bloodstained traitor.
She was mostly fixated on watching Denki's face, electric eyes wide with rage. He finally finished fully mutilating Monokuma's -no, Nedzu's, Yaomomo could see bone and organs in that mess, more animal than robot on the inside- corpse, letting the body drop to the ground. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving. He stared at his pink-stained hands, gaze flickering between the mangled mess of bones and wires and flesh and crimson glass, the robotic eye flickering as its internal systems shut down with the death of its host. There was blood everywhere, blood on his clothes, splattered across the floor, on his arms, on his neck, on his face, on Tooru's podium behind him.
Mr. Compress had backed away a healthy several meters, as did Hitoshi; however, the former seemed perfectly calm, casually standing with his arms crossed, while the latter's expression betrayed horror, staring at Monokuma's remains and his blood-covered friend.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. A high-pitched beeping suddenly filled the room. Yaomomo glanced around, trying to find the source of the sound, only for her eyes to land on Denki once more.
"Denki..?" Hitoshi's voice was tiny, especially compared to the beeping, which was rapidly growing louder and louder. The violette's eyes suddenly widened in horror; he surged forwards, stumbling, making to run for his friend. "DENKI! GET AWA-"
Too little, too late.
As always.
Monokuma's eye burst to life, glowing bright red.
The bloody carcass exploded in a blossom of blood, flesh, and flames, engulfing the room in a thick smoke bomb within a split second. Yaomomo flinched and jumped back, hitting the wall; Shouto clutched her hand as if it were a lifeline, which it kind of was considering the amount of smog now in the air- she couldn't see a thing. She coughed into her free arm, fanning her face as she waited for the smoke to clear so she could see what happened to the two closest to the explosion.
Well, you know what happened to one of them already.
Shut up, Cynthia. He... he can't be dead...
But as the air cleared once more, the scene was made clear.
Denki laid, perfectly still, next to a small, dark crater in the floor. There was blood everywhere, splattered over every surface imaginable: the podiums, the floor, the rug, the body, even the villains. The Electrician's face was charred, blood seeping through his soot-covered skin and running down his face. His eyes were shut, his mouth a slight frown, as peaceful as in sleep. His clothes were burned, dark fabric singed even darker by the flames of the explosion. His collar, the collar that had once matched Kyouka's, was lying on the ground next to him, the ashen cloth ripped at one width of it.
Hitoshi was lying on the floor, too, several feet away. He stirred, groaning, blinking open his eyes. His clothes were covered in soot, although his face and hair were only smudged with gray; he'd likely raised his arms to protect his face during the explosion. His eyes were wide with horror, with tears, as they landed on the body by Tooru's podium, which had been blown to splinters. He immediately began to run for the crater.
"Denki!" He stumbled, coughing, his voice raspy with smoke. Hitoshi staggered to the blonde's side and shook him by the shoulder. The body merely rolled limply. "Denki. Denki! No..! DENKI!" He sobbed, tears streaming down his face as he gripped the shorter by the arm. Crystals dripped onto Denki's bloody face, washing clean trails down his pale skin that were quickly painted over by fresh, pink droplets. "DENKI! Wake up..! Please! Denki!" He crumpled over the Electrician's dead body, ignoring the blood that was running all around the broken corpse, running from his face, from his eyes, from his mouth. Hitoshi hugged the ex-traitor against his chest. Denki's head lolled and leaned against his shoulder. "D-Denki..."
"Welp, looks like we didn't have to do anything after all." Dabi had extinguished his flame sometime during the smoke bomb. He brushed off his clothes. Behind him, Toga peered over his shoulder, arms looped around his midsection. Her knives were still twirling between her fingers. "Himiko, get off me."
"Sure, sure." Toga pulled back, carefully making sure not to cut the taller. "Well, can we go now? We kind of left Spinner and Twice alone on guard watch..."
Dabi shrugged. "Meh. They should be fine. I don't think they would have any problem if we got atta-"
BOOM.
There was the sound of another explosion above the ceiling.
"...eh?" Mr. Compress snapped his glove over his hand and tugged at his coattails. "What was that?"
Yaomomo stared at the shuddering chandelier, a tiny glimmer of hope building in her chest. Could it... be..?
"Himiko... I think we should go back up," Dabi said slowly, taking her by the forearm. He tapped something behind his ear with his free hand. "Kurogiri. Kurogiri. Do you copy?"
There was silence. Toga turned to watch his face, his subtly widening cerulean eyes. "Alright. Got it. We're heading up, open the portal, hurry."
He couldn't even finish speaking when a second BOOM echoed through the trial room, like the epicenter of an earthquake. Dust floated down from the ceiling; the chandelier wobbled, the lights blinking. "Hey, Dabi, in hindsight, I think leaving behind Spinner and Twice was a bad idea," Toga tutted, twirling one dagger as she stared at the ceiling. Dabi let go of her to ready a flame in his palm once more, teal petals erupting from dark skin.
"Yeah, probably." Dabi tapped the bud behind his ear again, paused, and grimaced. "Okay. Copy. Hurry up and get reinforcements for us." He turned to throw a glance at Mr. Compress; the illusionist had taken off his glove once more, taking a battle-ready stance. "Get ready to fight. The defense has been breached. Hold the subjects."
"The defense..?" Yaomomo couldn't help but echo the villain's words, her words painfully hopeful. Shouto squeezed her hand.
"...breached..?" Nejire held Tsuyu tighter to her, the green-haired girl returning the embrace and burying her face in the bluette's chest.
"..." Hitoshi continued to cry, ignoring the explosions, simply focusing on hugging his friend's dead body to his chest and burying his face in his soot-streaked, blonde hair.
There was a third BOOM.
The chandelier shattered as a massive chunk of the ceiling crumbled in.
"Gyahh-!" Yaomomo raised her free hand to her eyes to shield them, turning away as a cloud of debris billowed throughout the chamber as the rubble hit the ground.
When the dust cleared, Yaomomo looked out with watering eyes to see the one thing she'd been hoping for for weeks and months; what felt like years, a decade, a lifetime, a millennium, an eternity.
"Finally, we've found you!" Endeavor's blazing eyes of ice landed on Dabi and Toga. Behind him, an entire army of heroes rushed in after him. He held up a hand, a plume of amber erupting from his fingertips. "League of Villains, we demand the release of the students of U.A. High!"
The heroes...
They're finally here...
Chapter 8 : The End of the Beginning : The End | Surviving Students : 6 | To Be Continued
Item Obtained: Burned Collar