Naegi didn't know how he could have been so wrong. All he'd wanted to do was ease some part of Byakuya's grief, to let him know that his pain wasn't necessary… but he'd forgotten how the truth would sound coming from Monokuma's mouth. Of course smart, cynical Byakuya wouldn't believe such an impossible story — not from someone he had every reason in the world to distrust. Naegi should have realized that it wouldn't work from the start, as soon as Junko agreed to his demand so easily.
But instead, he'd helped her hurt Byakuya more deeply than ever.
The consequences of his stupid decision were still there on the monitors above him, showing the dorm room now that Monokuma had left it. From most of the camera angles, it seemed to be an empty room… all but the one that showed the place beside the bed where Byakuya had collapsed. He still sat there now, huddled against the bed in an almost childlike posture that Naegi had never seen before.
No… he had seen it… just not on his boyfriend. It was the same way he'd found Sakura the morning after Hina's death, alone in the darkness and on the brink of despair. He hadn't understood the full significance of it then, with the Tragedy still wiped from his memory… but he'd still recognized it as something terrible, something that he had to stop however he could.
And they had. Somehow, the few surviving members of their class had pulled Sakura away from that precipice. She'd still grieved for Hina, and for all the others they'd lost, but the emptiness of despair no longer lurked in the depths of her eyes. She'd needed their help… and they'd found a way to give it.
But who was left to help Byakuya? With memories of their friendships erased and replaced by the suspicion-fueled killing game, who would be able to reach him? After they'd all argued in the cafeteria, after he'd refused to face them any longer… was there anyone he would still let himself trust?
Naegi had to hope there would be. The Byakuya Togami he'd known these last two years had found a way to trust his classmates and rely on his friends. That person couldn't be entirely gone… the person he loved so much couldn't have been erased from the world. He had to hope that enough of the man Byakuya had been still remained… enough to help him remember the way out of despair. Because if he couldn't believe in Byakuya any longer…
"Aw, what a disappointment he turned out to be!"
Shock jolted through Naegi at the sound of Junko's voice far closer to his head than it should have been. He craned his eyes upward as far as he could — and he could just see a flash of pink curls behind him. Had he really been so absorbed in watching the monitors that he hadn't noticed her leave her control, or had she deliberately tried to sneak up on him? He wasn't sure which possibility left him more unsettled.
"I mean, after you put all that effort into doing something nice for him, he didn't even appreciate it!" Junko laughed — but even though the sound was bright and cheerful, the fact that she stayed out of his vision sent spidery chills crawling down his neck. "Who wouldn't want to forget all about a guy like that, right?"
Forget…?
The way she said the word made it linger in Naegi's mind, echoing long after she'd finished speaking. And every time forget whispered through his thoughts, cold prickles of fear spiked across his skin. He couldn't stop thinking about all the precious memories the killing game's amnesia had made him forget —
No. The memories that Junko had made him forget.
Junko… who was standing behind him now. Who had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure he couldn't see her. Who still had whatever tools she'd used to erase memories in the first place.
Fingers slid through Naegi's hair, feather-light touches that he could barely feel. His breathing sped up instinctively, his body reacting to the threat without heeding the fact that it was only making his wounds hurt more. And it was so useless, so horribly useless, because there was nothing he could do even if adrenaline forced his tired heart to pound against his aching ribs. He couldn't do anything to stop her, not if she decided to —
To bend down and press her lips against his forehead with a loud smack of a kiss.
The terror swirling through Naegi's mind stuttered to a confused halt as Junko's laughter filled the air around him. She… she hadn't done anything to him? After acting so suspiciously that he'd thought… of course he'd thought…
"Well, that sure got your blood pumping!" Junko said brightly, spinning around to drop down beside him in a cross-legged position that was really not appropriate for a girl wearing that short of a skirt. "You looked so down when I came back in that I just had to find a way to pep you back up!"
Naegi stared blankly at her helpful smile, trying to keep up with everything that was happening. Junko leapt from one thought to its opposite so quickly that it made his head ache even apart from his injuries. And when everything she said was so superficially friendly, directly contradicting the facts he knew about the awful things she'd done to people she should have cared about… how was he supposed to understand any of it?
She'd terrified him on purpose, he knew she had to have done it on purpose… but she spoke like it had been nothing more than a lighthearted prank between friends. And she acted like she was concerned for his wellbeing after seeing him in distress… except that all his unhappiness had its roots in her actions. It made no sense… not even if she wanted to hurt him. He was trapped here with no way to defend himself — she could hurt him all she liked without the disguise of kindness. She definitely didn't have to go so far as to kiss him… a memory that still burned uncomfortably hot on his forehead. Why was she bothering?
"But I'm so relieved you're feeling better! What kind of friend could have fun by herself when her buddy is down in the dumps?" She beamed at him expectantly — like she was waiting for some expression of gratitude. And the impulse to respond with the thanks she wanted nearly had his lips parting before he realized what he was doing.
No… no, that wasn't right. He didn't owe her anything, not after all she'd done to their friends. And especially not after the terrible cruelty she'd just inflicted on Byakuya, for no reason at all. He couldn't let her distract him with all her confusing games… he had to remember who she really was.
"Your… fault." Naegi's ribs screamed out in protest with every additional breath it took to speak the words, but he knew he had to say them. He couldn't let Junko keep up her act of friendship… not when she'd almost started to trick him into going along with it. "You… hurt him."
"Huh?" She tilted her head from side to side, hair swinging back and forth. "You think I hurt someone — like me personally? But how could I do that when I've been locked up all alone with you?"
Naegi blinked, but the confusion only lasted a moment before he realized that she was just playing another game with him. Of course she hadn't forgotten the heartrending words she'd spoken to Byakuya just a few minutes ago. She just wanted to make him think she had. He didn't understand why… but he didn't have the energy left to try to track her inexplicable thoughts.
"B… Byakuya." Speaking his boyfriend's name now, to her, made Naegi's stomach churn as if he were sneaking around behind the other man's back… but he didn't know what else to do. "You… hurt him… on purpose."
"Oh… that." Suddenly, Junko's entire body drooped as she answered, chin falling, shoulders slumping, and even her hair losing some of its bounce. "That's all you meant? And here I thought you were going to say something interesting." She heaved a sigh, as though even those few words had taken too much energy out of her. "Of course I did it on purpose. I mean, obviously. I had to, you know?"
He had to admit she was right… he did know. He could see it now, all too clearly, and he couldn't stop the sour regret burning at the back of his throat at how stupid he'd been to think anything else would happen. He'd given her the opening to hurt Byakuya… he'd even confirmed that he wanted her to do it.
But she was still the one who'd chosen to go through with it. Naegi swallowed back the feelings of self-disgust, reminding himself that he wasn't the one who'd acted maliciously. He should have known better than to believe her… but she was still the one who'd done it.
And from what she'd just said, she must have been intending to do this from the moment she agreed. She'd never had any intention of following through on the spirit of what he'd asked. Naegi tried to glare at her, but he couldn't quite muster the strength the expression required.
"You… lied," he told her, reaching for words that had a chance of knocking that uninterested look off her face. It wasn't quite what he wanted to say, but it was the closest he could manage.
But it wasn't enough to hit the mark. She shrugged a single shoulder, like it wasn't even worth the full gesture. "Mm… not really. I did what I said I would… told him the honest to god truth about you. Kept my word and everything. Lies are too much work… it's so much easier to tell the truth. That's why I don't bother to lie to my friends."
She didn't lie? Naegi had to forced back the snort of disbelief before it caught in his throat and sent coughs shuddering through his body. "Lied… about me."
"Yeah?" Her expression didn't even flicker at the accusation. "When?"
"Said… I killed… Mukuro."
"Oh, right… guess I did do that, huh?" Junko sighed again. "Well, whatever. You're not dead or anything, so it's not like that one really counts."
What was he even supposed to say to a statement like that? Naegi had no idea. This weird depressed attitude she'd taken on had to be some kind of act, just as much as the bubbly facade of friendship… but he had even less of an idea how to respond when she acted like this. How was he supposed to treat someone who acted like nothing mattered to her?
"You know… I thought it would be more interesting if you were here." The sheer lack of emotion in Junko's voice filled Naegi with the desperate instinct to flee from danger. It wasn't the same as Kyoko's emotionless mask, the result of her detective's training to conceal what she really thought… no, this was as if there was nothing behind Junko's eyes that she needed to conceal. As if there was nothing inside her at all.
"But it's just the same as it always is. You know what I mean?" She shook her head a little, barely enough to disturb a few strands of her hair. "I guess there's no help for it. I mean, if you're gonna be here with me the whole time… we're gonna have to liven things up."
Naegi didn't like the sound of that at all. "What… do you mean?"
She looked down at him — and clapped her hands together with a child's hyperactive glee. "We should play a game!"
