It was almost hard to believe that it had been a week since the last Class Trial. Makoto made his way to the bathhouse, stomach satisfying full of toast from breakfast, just as he had done for the past few days. Ever since Chihiro revealed her 'Alter-Ego' creation, the traffic in and out of the bathhouse had drastically increased, with many asking the AI questions or simply popping up to see how the hacking progress was going.
The fact that Monokuma hadn't noticed something was going on yet was as amazing as it was alarming.
That, and the fact that Mukuro's words still hung over the class like a dark cloud. There was a mastermind, she had said – someone controlling the game and responsible for Monokuma. The mastermind, she told them, was among them. One of them. The mastermind was a fellow student.
Every student in the class was now well aware of Alter-Ego's existence. If Mukuro's words were true – and surely they weren't – then that meant the mastermind was aware of the laptop. The mastermind was aware of Chihiro and Alter-Ego's attempts to thwart their plans.
That would be a disaster.
There was even a chance that Chihiro herself was the mastermind, but… no. That was crazy talk.
Makoto had mentioned it all to Kyoko a couple of days ago.
She had already considered every option, she said.
She said nothing more about it.
For now, all Makoto could do was hope and pray that Mukuro's calculation was wrong. There was every chance that it was, of course. The mastermind? One of them? Impossible!
Right?
"Oh, Makoto!"
"Hello, Chihiro," the Ultimate Lucky Student replied as he entered the bathhouse.
A few others were assembled in the room. In the corner stood Kiyotaka and Mondo, practically joined at the hip, just as they had been ever since that night in the sauna. They chatted quietly to each other, the happiest grins on their faces, their words inaudible save for the occasional 'bro'. Celeste, completely silent, was also present and watched Chihiro eagerly. The Ultimate Gambler had been caught last night asking Alter-Ego if the laptop had Solitaire installed. Indeed, it did. Alas, she hadn't been given permission to play it.
There she stood, still watching, almost as if waiting for her moment to strike and load up the program. She was the Ultimate Gambler, yes, but right now, Makoto thought, she was acting more like the Ultimate Gambling Addict.
"Making progress?"
With a sigh, Chihiro turned to look at Makoto directly. "S-Sadly not," she said sadly. "Alter-Ego's trying his best, but he's having trouble breaking through the school network's firewalls. They're some of the strongest I've ever seen. It'll take a while to crack it, I think… only a genius could build something this hard to break."
"No!"
Makoto, Chihiro and Celeste turned to the back of the room to the source of the sudden outburst, finding it belonged to none other than Kiyotaka.
The prefect cleared his throat. "I mean. No. The Mastermind isn't a genius. He's evil, and… and it's as simple as that! Don't compliment him like that."
"Yeah, my Bro's right," said Mondo. "Don't flatter a piece of shit like that! But… who's to say that the Mastermind is a 'he', Bro? There's every chance it could be a chick, right?"
Kiyotaka gasped. "Oh! You're right, Bro! I never thought of that! The Mastermind could be a girl, after all!"
"Look at us go," said Mondo with a chuckle. "We don't need no fancy computer programs. We'll get to the bottom of this mess with just our wits alone."
"Of course we will! True Bros can do anything they set their minds to!"
"Damn straight they can!"
The pair laughed together, apparently missing the genuine seriousness of the situation at hand. It was interesting to see how much the pair of them had relaxed ever since that night in the sauna. Where Mondo had been aggressively confrontational, he was now much more affectionate. Where Kiyotaka had been obsessively punctual, he now seemed to be learning how to actually have fun.
How could one night in an over-heated room bring about such massive changes so quickly?
Makoto realised he would never understand.
As Mondo and Kiyotaka continued their back-and-forth, Makoto paid attention to Chihiro and Alter-Ego again, spending a while talking about all the technical details of the task at hand (none of which he really understood).
Upon leaving the bathhouse in a bid to try and find Sayaka, Makoto took note of the pair of bros, who were leaving at the same as him. Kiyotaka quickly made his apologies, saying he had to use the bathroom and insisting that he go alone, before leaving without his (already lonely) biker bro.
Aha!
This gave Makoto the perfect opportunity to ask what was on his mind.
"Mondo."
"Huh? Oh. Hey, Makoto," he replied, seeming to snap out of some sort of self-induced trance.
"I've gotta know – who won in the endurance contest? It's been bugging me all week."
The biker glanced down at him like he was some sort of alien, and as if he had just asked the question in a completely different language.
"The contest? Shit. Man, I don't even remember now. Does it even matter? We both proved our worth, and that's all I care about."
Damn it. He had been hoping for a definitive answer.
"Ah, I see," said Makoto. "I was just curious. You and Taka have gotten pretty close, huh?"
Mondo chuckled at that, gingerly rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh. Uh. Yeah. Yeah, he's great, ain't he? A bit uptight at times, sure, but his heart's in the right place. Feels like I've known him for years."
"It's funny how quickly you've both changed," said Makoto. "You've gone from almost fighting each other to becoming best friends overnight!"
"We ain't best friends," said Mondo, rolling his eyes. "We're more than that. We have a friendship that only true men could ever understand. We're not friends or buddies – we're bros. He… he means a lot to me. I can't believe we ever fought in the first place. He's a great guy. He really is."
Makoto wasn't sure how to reply to that. Even for 'bros', that was quite the affectionate description to give a guy he had almost come to blows with less than a week earlier.
The biker stared off into space, apparently deep in thought, before he blinked, clearing his throat to break the silence that had descended onto them. "Uh. A-Anyway. I should get going. See you around, Makoto."
With that said, Mondo made his way down the hallway, turned the corner, and vanished from Makoto's view.
Well.
That was interesting.
If there was one thing that Makoto was quickly coming to learn about Hope's Peak Academy, it was that whenever Monokuma summoned the class to the gymnasium, things weren't bound to end well. Such was the current situation; each member of the class standing spread-out in the polished hall, waiting on their so-called headmaster to make an appearance.
It wasn't long until he bounced up from behind the podium, perching himself on top of it as he surveyed his students.
"Good morning, everybody! I hope you're all well-rested and wide awake, because I've got breaking news for you! Real headline-grabbing stuff!"
Makoto and Sayaka exchanged glances.
The glee in Monokuma's voice didn't bode well for them.
"It's been so long since someone died," the bear whined. "The first killing was fantastic – ol' Hifumi wasted no time in killing his victim to secure his escape! The first day wasn't even over yet and he'd already strangled someone!"
That was a gross oversimplification, Makoto thought, telling himself that it wasn't worth getting angry over. Anger and bitterness and despair were all what Monokuma wanted, anyway. He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of reacting.
"The second murder happened pretty soon after the first, too, and even had two victims! Genius! True, artistic mastery of the murdering craft." Monokuma sounded borderline nostalgic talking about the events he described, in spite of them being fresh enough in the minds of the class that they still hurt to think about. "It was all going well… until now. We've had a depressing slowdown. Everyone's alive and well and I'm getting bored! You folks just don't wanna kill each other anymore, huh?"
"Of course we don't!" Asahina exclaimed. "We just want to go home!"
"If you want to go home," said Monokuma, "then you know what to do! Kill a fellow student and graduate. Otherwise, buckle up and accept your new life of communal living, sister. The choice is yours!"
"I-I'll never do that!"
"Your (wrong) choice, then!" The bear chuckled. "Aaaanywho, I should get straight to the point. It's been so long since someone dropped that I'm getting bored. I need some action! Drama! Passion and horror and plot twists aplenty! Which is why… I'm giving you a motive!"
Celeste blinked. "A motive?"
"Yeah, Morticia Addams, a motive! You ain't killin' each other anymore, so I thought it'd be best to give you a little nudge in the right direction. I've spent so long choosing juuuust the right one, but I think I've got it at last!"
Byakuya grunted to himself. "Well? Out with it. We don't have all day."
"What?!" Kiyotaka was quick to raise his voice. "D-Don't encourage him!"
Monokuma sighed, paws forming a heart-shape over his chest, only for them to split apart. The perfect way of expressing his heartbreak at being rushed by Byakuya and rejected by Kiyotaka.
It was hard to feel pity for him.
"You know, I almost don't wanna reveal it now that you've treated me like this…" The little bear sighed again, shaking his head. "Still, I've got a job to do, so here goes nothing I guess..."
He made it sound so casual. Like he was about to announce something harmless and simple. Almost as if announcing it wasn't worth his time. Yet he was about to announce something that he believed would convince the class to all to start killing each other. Makoto refused to believe it. After the hell the last trial had put them all through, there was no way the killing would start again.
They were all too scarred to even consider another killing!
...Right?
"From tonight until the day someone dies," the headmaster declared, "you'll all be getting nightmares!"
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Wait," said Touko, joining her peers in their chorus of confusion, "t-that's not p-possible, you idiot! You can't… you can't control our dreams!"
Touko (and Byakuya alongside her) may not have been the most popular person in the room ever since the last trial, but for once the rest of the class seemed to agree with her. Their shock quickly turned to confusion, which then swiftly turned to doubt.
"Oh, I can," Monokuma replied with that permanent smile. "I can promise you that! These won't just be normal nightmares, either. We're talkin' real horror movie stuff right here! The type that leave you shaking for days after. Only they'll happen every night. Night after night after night after night, until one of you finally snaps and kills someone!"
"How?!"
"No! That's impossible!"
"E-Even if it were possible," said Kiyotaka, "it would just be the power of suggestion! A placebo effect! So long as we refuse to believe it, he can't do anything to our dreams!"
Monokuma snickered at that, positively delighted at the onslaught of refusal he was currently receiving. "Keep telling yourself that, buster, but you're wrong! In this school, I am the headmaster. I see everything. I control everything. So long as you're here, not even your dreams are safe from despair."
The bear's words had their usual malevolent delight woven throughout each and every syllable, but there was something else to them. Something terrible. Something filled with malice. Something that made Makoto feel dizzy just listening to it. Monokuma controlled everything. Even their dreams.
How was that possible?
"Anyway," said the bear, "I'm already bored of this. Believe me, or don't. It doesn't matter. Either way, you're all about to have the worst night's sleep of your life. Even worse than the nights Makoto used to have when he wet the bed!"
Makoto couldn't control the gasp that burst from his mouth. How did he know? How did Monokuma know something like that?!
"H-Hey! I never wet the bed! Never! Not even once! Of course I didn't, I-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said the headmaster, batting the air with the back of his paw nonchalantly, "we get it. You're gonna deny it till you turn blue. Doesn't change the truth!"
Makoto could feel the eyes of the room burning into him. Or maybe the source of the heat was the redness of embarrassment currently coating his face.
Damn it.
Damn it!
Damn this school!
Damn that horrible, terrible demon of a bear!
"That'll be all, kiddos! Don't forget to enjoy the rest of your day, 'cause you definitely won't enjoy what awaits you in your dreams tonight!" Monokuma laughed aloud to himself. The class watched on. Silent. Helpless. Already terrified. "Goodnight! Sleep tight! Don't let the bed-bears bite!"
With that, Monokuma vanished into thin air, just as quickly as he had appeared.
The gym was plunged into silence.
Makoto was as anxious as he was humiliated.
Something told him that tonight wasn't going to be fun.
Makoto had been lying wide awake in bed for quite some time now.
The thought of earlier, when his secret was exposed to the class – to Sayaka – was enough to make his stomach churn. Monokuma had done it so casually. So randomly. He hadn't shown a single flicker of hesitation or mercy. Then again, when did he?
All of that paled in comparison, thought the Ultimate Lucky Student as he put his head on his pillow, compared to the threat of the motive that their headmaster had given them. He struggled to believe it. Maybe Kiyotaka was right. It was all just the power of suggestion. It had to be. It simply wasn't possible to control dreams.
Not possible…
Not possible…
Not possible…
They were the last two words in Makoto's mind before, finally giving in, he drifted off into slumber.
The transition from reality to dream was near-seamless. One moment he had been lying in bed, struggling to fall over, and now he was standing alone in the darkness. Nothing existed around him, no matter where he turned his head…
...apart from the light switch placed right beside him.
His dreaming hand flipped it, turning it on, bringing light flooding into the room. He re-examined his surroundings again, now visible, realising instantly that he recognised them.
He was home.
In his living room, to be exact.
It looked exactly like he had left it. Warm and welcoming. Cosy and comfortable. His spirits were raised, a smile coming to his face. He had done it. He had escaped Hope's Peak Academy, and now here he was, right back where he belonged.
"Makoto?"
The voice behind him was just as familiar as the room. As he turned his head to see its source, his smile grew wider.
"Komaru!"
His sister. Smiling. She looked as healthy as she did happy. What a relief. What a fantastic, wonderful relief!
"It's been so long, Makoto," she cried, running to him and embracing him in a hug. "I'm so glad you're safe! We were all worried sick. We thought you would never get out of that horrible, horrible place."
"Me neither," he confessed, holding her tight, the warmth of blissful reassurance washing over him. He was safe here. He was with family. He was home. "I don't know how I got out in one piece."
That was a good question, actually.
How did he get out of Hope's Peak?
"I know it must have been tough," said Komaru, "but you did what was right. No-one ever has to know what you did. Killing someone couldn't have been easy – but you didn't have a choice!"
Killing someone?
Makoto backed away from the hug.
"What do you mean 'killing someone'?"
Komaru seemed confused. She cocked her head, eyes narrowing. "You… don't remember?"
Makoto shook his head.
Komaru's puzzled, slightly concerned expression suddenly developed into one of amusement. A light, happy giggle escaped her. "Makoto, how could you forget? You killed someone and got away with it! You're the winner of the game! You embraced despair and now you're home! Isn't it fantastic?"
No.
No, that wasn't right, was it? Did he really do that? Did he really kill someone? Why couldn't he remember? Surely he would remember something as awful as that!
"I would never embrace despair," he replied quickly – the only fact that he knew. Despair was Monokuma's thing. It would never, ever be his.
Komaru looked confused again.
"No. No, you did. You had to, Makoto, it was the only way!"
"There's another way, Komaru. There's always another way. I… I could never kill someone!"
"It sounds like you've forgotten how good it feels."
"How good what feels?"
"Despair, Makoto. How good it feels to relish in the sweetness and the agony of despair."
Komaru took a step toward him.
Makoto backed away.
He suddenly didn't feel safe anymore, and it seemed she could sense it. Her smile grew wider – wider than was biologically possible – growing and growing until it took up most of her face, her jagged teeth on show. Almost like a certain teddy bear.
"Embrace despair, Makoto."
Makoto backed away from her again.
"Get away from me, Komaru."
"Embrace it, brother."
"I said get away!"
"Embrace it."
The lights in the room began to flicker and fade until, all at once, they burst into darkness once again. Makoto was stranded in the same void he had first appeared in, and the only thing that still existed was Komaru. She kept coming closer, stalking him step-by-step like a predator.
Makoto kept walking backwards, heart starting to race, panic setting in.
Komaru giggled once more, just as she brought her hand to her grinning face.
"Despair is wonderful, Makoto." she said, before digging into her flesh with her fingernails. She tore off a chunk of her flesh, removing it as swiftly as a band-aid, before placing it in her mouth. She chewed on it, swallowing it down like it was candy, just as her freshly-made wound started to bleed. "Despair tastes delicious, too."
Makoto couldn't retreat any further. His back was pushed up against an invisible wall, all the while his bleeding, self-cannibalising sister came closer and closer and closer.
"S-Stay back! Stay back!"
"You should taste some too."
"I'm warning you, Komaru!"
She reached for her shoulder, tearing off another strip of flesh, finally closing in on him. Her bloody hand brought it up to his mouth, which he instinctively closed.
"Try it."
He refused.
"Try it!"
He wouldn't.
He suddenly realised that Komaru smelled awful. Almost like burning garbage. Almost like the scent that had clung to Yashuhiro and Leon when everyone had found them. The smell of rotting flesh.
She brought her face to his, eyes bulging out of her head, features borderline skeletal. She parted her smile, jagged and pointed teeth proudly on display.
"TASTE THE DESPAIR, MAKOTO."
Without warning, Komaru sunk her teeth into her brother's face.
She quickly began her feast.
Makoto finally snapped awake, hands clutching his bedsheets, eyes wide, forehead and neck coated in sweat.
He was screaming at the top of his lungs.