Ben awoke to find himself gazing in front of bright light. Realizing he was lying down, he slowly got up, only to wince when he felt his arm, which he slowly realized was in a cast.

"Ow, what the hell...?" He thought only to remember what had happened. "Oh yeah, I stopped Sato from trying to kill Natsumi...damn, that hurt."

"YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Ben yelped when a pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him into an ample chest as he blushed, realizing it was Mikan, who was currently crying her eyes out. He also noticed that Hajime, Mahiru, Fuyuhiko, Makoto, Komaru, Junko, and Mukuro were all present as well.

"Oh thank god, you're okay..." Hajime sighed, relieved at the sight of his best friend finally back in the land of consciousness.

"What happened while I was out? Is Natsumi okay? What about Sato?" Ben asked after Mikan let him go. It was then Fuyuhiko stood up and approached him.

"Shigura...that had to be the ballsiest move you ever did...but you also saved my little sister's life." The Ultimate Yakuza said softly in a thankful tone. "As such, after I relayed the information to my parents, they told me that you now have are owed a debt or service to repay your actions."

Junko giggled as she hugged Ben from the other side, pressing her cheek up to his. "Ain't you a lucky dog? First, you get to hang out with us talented folk and now you're owed a debt from the biggest Yakuza clan in Japan!"

"That's pretty crazy, huh?" Komaru laughed. "What do you think you'll use it for?"

Ben thought long and hard about what Fuyuhiko was offering him. He could literally ask for anything, money to set him for life, an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland or Universal Studios, the best computer in the world, BOBA TEA!

But then he remembered Sato, the look of fear, distress, and pain on her face. Even when she was trying to kill Natsumi, Ben could tell she had been pushed to her breaking point at that time.

"Sato...where is she right now?"

"She...She's been expelled from Hope's Peak for the attempted murder of another student. Headmaster Kirigiri acknowledged that she was suffering from psychological issues and had her sent to Yoshigahara Medical Treatment Center." Mahiru explained, a look of sorrow on her face. "And considering she tried to kill Natsumi, who's the daughter of the biggest Yakuza Oyabun in the whole country..."

"Yeah, it's not pretty." Fuyuhiko shook his head. "After she is released from there, who knows. But I can say that she is going to face real repercussions. Not just her, but her family too. They'll probably be forced to pay up."

"U-Um, actually..." Mikan nervously spoke up. "I-I tried to get in contact with her parents...b-but I couldn't reach them. I-I then realized that their number had been canceled."

"What?" Mahiru asked as she stood up. "D-Did you check their house at least to make sure?"

"I-I did! I asked Togami-Kun to have some of his contacts search up their house and he found that...t-they moved out. They took all of their belongings and left the country entirely."

"Son of a bitch..." Fuyuhiko whispered. "They just fucking went and left their daughter to dry, didn't they?"

Ben was listening to this all with growing horror. He turned to Hajime, who had just as much of a horrified expression as he did. Sato had just been essentially disowned by her family and left to suffer the repercussions of her actions all by herself. Both boys could easily imagine the kind of things she might be forced to do in order to repay her debts.

"Fuyuhiko...I know what my request is gonna be." Ben said, his face gaining one of steeled finality. Fuyuhiko himself recognized the look in the Reserve Course student's eyes and widened in realization.

"Oh shit, don't tell me you're not gonna request what I think you're gonna request..." It was then the Ultimate Yakuza thought it over. "Well, actually, I guess I can understand it a little. I don't like it, but I understand it."

"Sato already has an expulsion and attempted murder on her record. She has mental health issues that none of us knew about until it was too late and she's just been abandoned by her family to basically die alone. Right now, she doesn't need your family going after her head on top of all that."

"Look, to be totally honest, Natsumi did a lot to instigate this whole problem," Hajime said, vouching for Ben. "And yeah, that's an understatement, I know, but this is just one big messed up situation that should never have happened. But everything is fine, right? The tragedy was prevented, everyone is okay. Please...Sato is a friend of ours."

Fuyuhiko sighed. "You guys are fucking insane...but fine, we won't go after Sato but we WILL be keeping an eye on her. We take these matters seriously in our family, y'know?"

"Thank you, Fuyuhiko..." Mahiru breathed out thankfully as Komaru and Mukuro gave her comforting pats on the back. It was clear that the situation was weighing just as heavily on the Ultimate Photographer as it was on Ben and Hajime.

"Hey, it's not my call." Fuyuhiko shrugged. "Besides, we're classmates, right? Gotta look out for each other somehow."

"How's Natsumi doing anyway?" Hajime asked.

"She's been checked for minor injuries but nothing too severe. She's been asking about you nonstop, actually."

Ben slowly climbed out of his bed, wincing as Mikan moved to keep his arm supported in its cast.

"Can I see her?"

Ben made his way to Natsumi's room, where he saw just how much of a total mess she was right now. She had a bandage wrapped around her head for when she slipped and hit her head but other than that, there were no serious injuries on her to speak of. The main issue was her eyes, which were red and puffy and her hair was disheveled.

"Natsumi?"

The younger Kuzuryuu turned to her fellow Reserve Course student, a fresh stream of tears coming out of her eyes as she looked at him before bowing her head.

"Well, go ahead… Lay into me. Tell me what a fucking idiot I am."

"Well, actually I was just going to ask if you were alright, but-" Ben was interrupted by a sobbing yell.

"Shut up! Just shut up! Why…why are you still acting like nothing's wrong?!… What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She asked, in an almost whimpering voice, covering her face with her hands, to hide her crying. "Im… I'm just a fuck up! That's all I am! This entire thing is all my fault! I mean, look at you! She could have killed you and you were her friend, right?!"

Ben sighed. "I won't sugarcoat things, this was pretty much your fault. I mean, you just kept antagonizing Sato and Mahiru and it almost ended up getting you killed. You made a mistake and you're gonna have to live with it."

"I-I never wanted things to go the way it did..." Natsumi whispered as Ben sat down beside her. "I-I was going to tell her...that I wasn't going to go after Mahiru anymore. I was going to try and become an Ultimate Student the authentic way..."

"How so?"

"Well...I'd taken up shogi with my mom a while ago. I figured if I could get better at it with her, I could maybe become an Ultimate that way instead."

"Damn, so it all escalated from a big misunderstanding..." Ben sighed. "Damn, that...that's not gonna be good on Sato's conscience when she finds out about it."

"Yeah...I should've realized how messed up in the head she was..." Natsumi sadly said.

"We ALL should have. We could have done more to help her in the end." Ben admitted. "The thing is...her parents disowned her. They packed up their things and left the entire damn country."

"What the fuck?!" Natsumi asked in shock. "I mean, that crazy bitch tried to kill me but that's just..."

"Fucked up? Yeah, Hajime, and I think so too." Ben sighed before inching closer to Natsumi and leaning his head on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to comfort you in some way. I can't exactly hug you what with my busted arm and all that."

Natsumi scoffed and got up before moving to Ben's uninjured arm and pulling it up, wrapping it around herself and sitting next to him.

"You know...you're not too bad a guy."

"Yeah...wait till I put on the Mask again."

Next Time: A Friend in Need!

Ben and Mahiru have a heart-to-heart, followed by seeing Sato and telling her the news of what's happened and what's to come.