Never Say Never
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or the characters associated with it.
Ch.1
Act 2
"Okay then, we'll see you tomorrow at the food court!" Asahina shouted as she and Sakura began walking away from 'Junko's' room.
"I'll totally be there! Laters!" the disguised Mukuro replied, waving her hand enthusiastically to hide her growing need to be separated from them.
Before either of the girls were out of sight, Mukuro swiftly unlocked her door and stepped inside, closing the door shut and immediately locking it. Making sure it was bolted tightly, the Ultimate Soldier let out a sigh before turning around. It wasn't any kind of fear that made her lock the door. Rather, she was certain that 'someone' would want to speak with her the moment she entered her new dwelling.
And just as she predicted, as she walked into the main area of her room, she found Monokuma playfully juggling an assortment of combat knifes.
"Welcome home!" the bear proclaimed, barely taking its eyes from the difficult task. "Are your accommodations to your liking, dear sister?"
Hearing Monokuma address her so flippantly, Mukuro folded her arms and glared down at the automaton.
"So, I'm not required to keep up the act when I'm alone with you?" the Ultimate Soldier questioned, feeling that her sister was testing her again.
Junko often said, and did, contradictory things, mostly to combat her constant boredom. But there was more to it than that. The despair loving twin simply adored pushing people to their limits, testing the very reaches of their sanity, and her own sister was no exception. In fact, Mukuro found her sister 'testing' her more often than any other.
For the most part, Mukuro didn't blame her. After all, the Ultimate Soldier had practically abandoned her once before, joining Fenrir without even speaking to her sister about it. It was only natural that Junko would wish to be certain her sister wouldn't betray her again. Even though Junko hid it rather well, the older twin knew that her younger sister did truly care for her and didn't want anything to come between them again.
Because of that, Mukuro knew she would do almost anything for her sister. After all, Junko was all she had left in the world; especially after all they'd done in the last few months. She had destroyed the only place she could have called home…all for the sake of her sister's ambition of world-wide despair.
A deep chuckle escaped Monokuma and as it did, the voice resounding from the automaton shifted and became more and more feminine and familiar. Soon, only Junko's almost-mocking tone came through the bear's mouth. However, the bear still continued to juggle the deadly blades all the while.
"Oh, Mukuro, why would you need to keep up the charade here? The one place where none of our classmates can hear us? Or do you really think so little of your own sister?"
Another test, like so many others Mukuro had endured before. Luckily, it seemed that this was a simple one and she already understood her sister's meaning. With little more than a huff, the Ultimate Soldier unclipped the hairpins beneath the pink haired wig and pulled the almost suffocatingly huge lock of pink from her head.
Running a hand through her slick, sweaty black hair, Mukuro set the mass of pink fluff on its wig form on her nearby dresser.
"I'm just surprised, is all. I know how desperate you are to keep your identity hidden," the black haired twin chided, before a glint of light flashed at her.
Her reflexes kicked in and her hand shot up and grasped an object that had been speeding toward her face, stopping it only moments before it would have grazed her cheek.
Mukuro's sky-blue eyes narrowed as her hand slowly retracted and she glared at Monokuma. Clutched tightly in her palm was one of the combat knives the bear had been juggling only a few moments ago, the rest lying scattered on the floor at the bear's feet.
"Impressive," Junko's voice spoke through the bear, "I'm glad to see that you're still as spry as ever."
Even though she couldn't see her, Mukuro was certain that her sister was grinning at her. And despite the fact that she should have been more angry with her sister for throwing the knife, the Ultimate Soldier couldn't help but smirk at her sister's aggressive jest.
Junko knew that something as weak as that would never be able to take her sister down. There was a reason Mukuro still had perfect skin, free of scars, bruises and blemishes. She could see an attack coming a mile away. And Monokuma's obnoxious juggling of the deadly blades had been the clearest giveaway. Even a civilian could have predicted the oncoming attack.
Flipping the knife up and gripping the tip with two fingers, Mukuro snapped her wrist toward the bear and sent the knife flying back at it. Monokuma almost seemed to tense as the blade whizzed past his head and became deeply embedded into the wall behind him. Slowly turning its head back, the bear stared at the knife for a moment before snapping back toward the Ultimate Soldier.
"Hey! Watch it with those! You almost violated the rules and attacked the Headmaster!" Junko shouted, changing her vocal tone to sound more like Monokuma without actually switching back to the bear's voice. "And the punishment for harming the Headmaster…is death!"
A light chuckle escaped Mukuro for half a second, believing this to be a joke. However, an instant later, she took in the nasty glare Monokuma was giving her. As if she could see through the bear's eyes, she could have sworn that Junko was glaring at her just as fiercely. The Ultimate Soldier fought the fear that began to seize up her entire body, a deep frown settling in on her face.
Junko has spoken at length about how the rules of the game would need to be enforced, but she failed to mention if those rules applied to herself and Mukuro as well. The black haired twin had assumed that since they were in control of the situation, they were above the rules…but perhaps she was mistaken.
She began to wonder if possibly, just maybe, if that knife had hit Monokuma…would she face 'punishment'? Would her sister truly enforce the rules on her as well? Even though she was needed to realize Junko's plans of bringing ultimate despair to the students? Was her life in as much danger as her classmates?
As her complexion paled and her frown slipped into a worried expression, the sound of her sister's laughter shattered her thoughts.
Mukuro was shocked as she swore that Junko's laughter sounded positively jovial…which was practically unthinkable! There was always a darker and more sinister tone to her chuckles or giggles but there wasn't a hint of that now! It wasn't until the laughter slowly subsided into a few amused huffs that this oddity was made clear to her.
"That's hilarious!" Junko's voice called out as Monokuma pointed at Mukuro, "The look on your face was priceless! Oh…I haven't laughed that hard in years!"
Another spontaneous bout of feminine laughter roared from the mechanical bear and Mukuro found herself breathing a huge sigh of relief.
The Ultimate Soldier shook her head and let a melancholy smile overtake her lips. This had just been another of Junko's tests. And it seemed that, even though she apparently failed, her sister was more than amused with the situation. But more than that, it put Mukuro's mind at ease, knowing that her sister had only been playing mind games with her, as she always did.
"I'm pleased I could bring you some amusement," Mukuro said swiftly as she moved over to the bed and sat down, feeling exhausted from the long day.
All at once, the sound of Junko's laugh ceased and Monokuma looked up at her as she sat there.
"Anyway, you spent a lot of time with Milk Jugs and the Ogre. Did you manage to find out anything useful?" Junko asked through the bear, amusing herself by giving nicknames to her former classmates.
It kept her increasingly deadly boredom at bay, and Mukuro was pleased that, so far, the game was entertaining her sister enough for her not to interfere.
One of the greatest threats to this game was actually Junko's flippant personality. She technically could shut off the air purifier at any time and kill them all, if she decided that the game was becoming too boring for her. Mukuro was fairly certain it wouldn't come to that, but then again, considering that the reason Junko decided to host the Mutual Killing Game was to alleviate her boredom, it wasn't inconceivable.
Sure, the game served the purpose of spreading more despair, but the original intent had simply been to give Junko something to distract herself from her own "lameness", as she called it. In addition, it fed her need to be surrounded by despair…almost drowning in it as she would watch her former classmates attempt to kill each other in a live broadcast.
Because of this, Mukuro remembered that there had indeed been a purpose to her accepting the girls' invitation earlier. Junko had instructed her to gather any information she could out of their classmates, to see how much their personalities would change without certain memories. Not only that, she also wanted to see how much they remembered about their school lives. As in, if they remembered anything at all, it would pose a problem. Plus, she also wished to gauge who among them might be more easily manipulated, if need be.
And that information would hopefully be enough to sate Junko's thirst for something that didn't bore her.
"There wasn't much to garner from either Sakura or Asahina, aside from them rekindling their friendship almost immediately," Mukuro explained, standing up and beginning to move toward the make-up dresser that Junko had gifted her with.
"Lame. But that makes sense. Those two became friends almost immediately after they met the first time. So, no surprise there," Junko answered through Monokuma, the bear waddling after her sister. "What about the time you spent in the dining hall with everyone? Learn anything interesting?"
"From what I've gathered, none of them have any recollection of the two years we all spent together. It seems that the Memory Eraser you perfected worked just as expected," Mukuro continued, sitting down at the stool in front of the dresser.
"Well, of coooourse it worked perfectly! We couldn't have the damn thing screwing up like it did the first time!" the voice of Junko responded before falling eerily silent, although Mukuro knew why.
Junko absolutely refused to even mention the time she had spent as Ryoko Otonashi. Whether it was because it was the single most embarrassing moment of her life, because her amnesiac state made her embrace hope rather than despair; or because it brought up memories of someone that she actually wished to forget, no one could be sure.
Either way, Mukuro didn't wish to discuss the matter any further. It had been a hard time for her too, believing she had lost her sister to a memory wipe that she agreed to.
And ever since regaining her memories and murdering the Ultimate Neurologist, Junko had been changed. She was still the despair-addicted woman she'd always been, but something far more twisted had awoken. And although she wasn't sure what it was, Mukuro knew it had to do with the despair her sister had reveled in as she had killed the only man she could ever have loved.
Pushing that thought away for the moment, the Ultimate Soldier cleared her throat and continued, "In any case, there wasn't much to gleam from most of the students. The only exception would be Taeko Yasuhiro, or rather, Celestia Ludenberg. She imposed a night-time rule upon everyone, even though most of them believe they agreed to it willingly. She's a frighteningly intelligent adversary—".
"I already know all that. Or did you forget I've been watching?" Junko cut her off as Monokuma pointed to the camera, her tone rife with disappointment. "I want to know if you found a suitable…target, for the first murder."
Simply using the word 'target' was enough to get Mukuro's attention. The Ultimate Soldier couldn't help the rush of excitement that abruptly coursed through her veins.
"Out of all of them, the one who will break first and try to 'Graduate', will undoubtedly be Celestia Ludenberg," Mukuro answered with utter conviction as she picked up a sheet of make-up remover.
Monokuma tilted its head at her response. "Oh? I'm surprised you'd think that. Especially considering that we haven't revealed the first motive to them yet."
Feeling confident for the first time since the game began, Mukuro rubbed off the layers of foundation that caked her face as she continued, "Celeste is the Ultimate Gambler and the one who is the most desperate to get out of here. She knows the risks and will evaluate them accordingly, but she also doesn't believe she can lose. Not to mention her initiative of installing the nighttime rule, which will allow her to move around freely during the evening."
"Hmm. Hmm." Monokuma nodded its head in understanding before lifting a hand up to silence her. "I have no doubt that 'Celestia Ludenberg' will attempt to Graduate at some point. However, she's far too careful to let herself fall into the trap of being the first murderer."
Finishing expunging the make-up from her freckled face, Mukuro turned toward the automaton with a raised brow.
"Why do you say that?" she questioned, pulling the loose tie around her neck over her head and tossing it aside. Monokuma's eyes flickered to the discarded accessory for but a moment before settling back in on Mukuro.
"Victory isn't something she leaves to chance and there are too many things she doesn't know, including most of the conditions of this game. Because of that, she's going to let someone make those mistakes for her, so that she can learn from their failures and perfect a method of committing her own crime without raising suspicion."
Resting a hand on her chin, the Ultimate Soldier considered her sister's observation.
"That is a definite possibility. But if not her, then I can't imagine who might be tempted to commit murder. As far as they know, the world outside is just as it was before the World's Most Despair Inducing Incident. Because of that, none of our classmates truly have the will to kill. At least not yet," she speculated aloud, waiting for her sister's input.
"Are you so sure?" Junko implicated, the menacing grin on Monokuma's face giving away her glee. "Trapped in a building they don't recognize, with total strangers that could slaughter them in their sleep; combined with the knowledge that they may never see their family and friends again, it makes for a quite a desperate plea to leave…by any means necessary."
Now it was Mukuro's turn to huff. "All of them still believe the world is as it used to be. Meaning that they still believe the act of murder will be met with harsh punishment. And aside from Byakuya, none of them believe they could get away with it. The lack of knowledge is acting as a deterrent for them."
"But if that's true, what about Byakuya Togami?" Junko immediately countered with skepticism, "Your theory doesn't apply to him, considering he still believes his family controls the world from behind the scenes. Doesn't that make him the most susceptible to giving into the temptation?"
That stopped Mukuro for a moment, but it didn't last long before she shrugged nonchalantly
"It would, if he was motivated enough to leave here immediately. At present, however, he seems far more interested in the situation he's found himself in. And until he is given a proper motive that outweighs his curiosity, I can safely speculate that he will continue to be nothing more than an observer until he finds the perfect time to attempt his 'graduation'."
"That's true, I suppose. A proper motive is the key to everything," was Junko's only response, strangely quiet as her sister kept speaking.
"Celeste, on the other hand, desires to leave more than anyone else," Mukuro said plainly, earning a curious gaze from the automaton bear.
"I'm surprised you came to that conclusion. Her façade of encouraging everyone to adapt almost fooled me…until I saw her rampaging in her room, flinging her pillow and kicking the walls out of sheer fury at being forced to stay here," Junko spoke through the bear.
A confident smirk crept over Mukuro's lips as she answered, "It's precisely because she puts on such a façade that she gives herself away. Besides, her advice on adapting to her surrounding is more for herself than for the others. Like a child desperate to convince an adult that they didn't steal the last cookie or something to that effect."
Mukuro expected her sister to counter her, perhaps provide a different theory on who might attempt to 'graduate' first. But much to her shock, Junko opted to remain silent, something she rarely ever did. Although perturbed by the new silence, the Ultimate Soldier decided it was best to finish explaining herself.
Moving closer to her bed, Mukuro tugged at the collar of her shirt to cool down before she continued.
"To that extent, Celeste would still desperately hold onto her dream of having the European castle with vampire-esk servants. If she was Taeko instead of Celeste, I wouldn't think she'd be capable of turning on everyone. But since she's forgotten the level of trust she put in everyone to keep her name secret…then out of all of our classmates, she's the one who has the highest susceptibility to giving in to the pressure of 'Graduation'."
"Hmm. Hmm," Monokuma nodded, as if conceding a point before Junko's voice said, "Then, would you like to make a bet on it? I'm dying to know whose gonna crack first and a little wager is just the thing to tide me over."
Mukuro gulped on reflex, realizing that her sister was already becoming bored with their little killing game. If she was already having to invent little events like this to entertain herself, then it wouldn't be long before Junko decided to interfere with the game…personally.
Hiding her anxiety with a smirk, Mukuro shook her head and answered, "I'm afraid not. Unlike you or Celeste, I have no interest in gambling. Besides, isn't the idea of betting on an unsuspecting person's life more than enough to bring you despair?"
"Upupupupupupu! That's interesting! I never considered that!" Junko announced, imitating Monokuma's signature laugh.
"I'm sure you didn't," a disbelieving Mukuro muttered under her breath but said no more. For the time being, she'd pervaded her sister boredom and shifted the conversation to keep her entertained.
Taking a moment to unbutton her blouse, she pulled the top half of her outfit from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Unhooking the clip on her short skirt, the Ultimate Soldier shed the garment and was left only in her undergarments – the lacy bra and pretty pink panties her sister had assigned her to wear.
Letting a relived sigh escape her as she plopped down on the bed near Monokuma, Mukuro stared up at the ceiling for a moment before she heard her sister calling out to her.
"So, how did it feel?" Junko abruptly asked, making her sister turn toward the bear.
"How did what feel?" Mukuro said with a raised brow, to which she received a scoff.
Hopping up onto the bed and spinning around to stare at her, Monokuma continued to speak for Junko, "The despair, the despair, silly! The despair at being completely forgotten by all of your former friends and having to develop a persona that you have little to no experience understanding? How is the despair of being erased from this world?!"
For a moment, Mukuro didn't speak…No, she couldn't speak.
Until those words reached her ears, not once had the Ultimate Soldier even considered the implications of what her sister had said. She hadn't even registered that her existence had, for all intensive purposes, been erased. She had so completely thrown herself into the role of Junko that she had failed to realize that she had effectively killed Mukuro.
The Ultimate Soldier had willingly severed ties with her former friends, the mercenary unit that she'd called family, the school she'd called home, and now even her true self; all to fulfill her little sister's desires. However, it wasn't until this very moment that she realized that she had, of her own free will, discarded all of the things that made her into who she was today.
Only now did a deep pain sting in her chest as she fully comprehended what she'd done.
And even though she knew she couldn't hide it, Mukuro still put on a stern and unaffected visage as she answered, "Honesty, I never thought of it until now. So, this is the despair of being completely cut off from you own identity…"
"Exciting! Isn't it?!" Junko's voice resonated from Monokuma as the bear hopped up and down with utter glee.
"Exciting? Is that what I'm feeling?" Mukuro asked herself as her sister's words sank in. "No…no, that's not it. This isn't excitement or any kind of joy. It's more like…a feeling of… emptiness…"
A deep hollow pressure ached in Mukuro's chest as the despair began to engulf her. Her sister had described this feeling to her before, this pain that came from deep within and threatened to consume you. However, something was missing from her sister's explanation…
Junko had spoke of a feeling of unparalleled ecstasy that would give the body and mind more pleasure than you could possibly imagine. It sounded heavenly and Mukuro indeed wished to experience it. She had joined Fenrir in pursuit of this and fought through so much hope to reach despair. And yet, even now when she was threatened with non-existence and despair closed in on her…she felt only the pain and none of the pleasure.
Why, then, was it not coming to her? Why had it never come to her, no matter how much despair she inflicted on herself and others? Why was she denied that immeasurable feeling of excitement and contentment when her sister could revel in it practically every day?!
"I see that you're enjoying yourself," Junko's voice resonated through the half and half bear, filled to the brim with a mixture of elation and jealousy. "I wish I could be the one to be forgotten, unloved, throw away like filthy garbage! Ahhh, just imagining it sends shiiiivers down my spine!"
Mukuro's teeth sank hard into her lower lip, a trickle of blood emerging a moment later as she fought to keep from breaking. She wanted nothing more than to question what her sister found so pleasurable about this but knew the consequences of such a foolish action. If her sister discovered that she felt absolutely no satisfaction while in the throes of despair, then it would only serve to give Junko yet another method to torture her with.
And more horrifying, it would utterly disappoint her despair loving sister and Mukuro would do anything to keep that from happening.
Swallowing the guilt and pain, the Ultimate Soldier widened her lips into a lustful grin as she said, "Ahhh, this…despair! It's more than I ever imagined…I…Ahhhhh…"
Shame overtook Mukuro as she was forced to fake arousal at this monumental agony. She wrapped her hands around her semi-nude body and gripped herself tightly, a hint of drool mixed with blood running down her chin. Her fake crimson nails dug deep into her sides, holding in the torment as best she could while keeping up appearances.
However, it seemed that her actions had been successful as Monokuma chuckled to itself before it leapt off the bed and began waddling toward the door.
"I'll leave you to your business," Junko's voice echoed in the room as the bear approached the door. "You deserve some private time…"
A momentary feeling of relief washed over Mukuro as she heard that, ready to end the charade. However, as Monokuma reached the door and stood on its toes to reach the handle, he abruptly spun around and extended its claws menacingly.
"I certainly hope you enjoy this despair to its fullest. You may not have time to revel in it for much longer," the voice of Junko warned as the bear angrily stared toward Mukuro.
The harsh and deep jealousy in Junko's voice sent a fearsome chill down the Ultimate Soldier's spine.
"W-What do you mean—?"
"Sorry! No more time! Gotta go!" Monokuma cut her off sharply, suddenly returning to his usual cutesy bear voice. Opening the door and slipping out, the demented bear stuck its head in one last time to say, "And just to let you know…I enjoyed your little performance tonight and can't wait to see what you'll do next!"
Mukuro froze at those words, unable to move a single muscle. The implication the bear had just spoken left her breathless as she tried, in vain, to assure herself that her sister hadn't seen through her ruse, hadn't discovered that the despair she was feeling caused her nothing but agony and pain.
And in all honestly, she wasn't even sure if Junko cared if she had felt that pleasure in the first place. The maniacal grin on Monokuma's face reflected how elated her sister had to be at that moment and it was in this state of humiliation that Mukuro realized that she had just failed another of Junko's tests.
Before she could say a word, Monokuma slid out of the room and slammed the door loudly, leaving the distraught and shaken Mukuro to wallow in the despair of uncertainty and fear.
"What…what the hell is this?"
Kyoko sat on the bed in her room, her face wrapped in confusion as she stared down at her hands. Her gloves unceremoniously tossed aside in shock, she felt bile rising up in her throat at the sight of the horrific burns that covered every inch of her hands.
She rubbed her charred skin with her singed fingertips but didn't wince in pain. In fact, it felt numb to the touch, as if her hands could run over anything and not feel even a tingling sensation.
"…At least these wounds aren't recent," she surmised as she continued to examine her damaged hands. Strangely, the more she investigated, the calmer she began to feel.
Judging by the extent of the scarred tissue, it was obvious that her hands had suffered third degree burns, possibly even worse. The damage was extensive but didn't seem to hinder her mobility much, flexing her fingers as quickly as possible to test the severity of nerve damage. More than likely, these wounds were treated not long after being inflicted, or else there would have been more hindrances.
Unable to tear her eyes away from the horrific burns, a single thought was burned into her mind.
"How…could I ever forget this?"
Over the course of the next few days, everyone spread out into their own separate groups to investigate the school. Being limited to only the first floor, everyone became familiar with the layout of the school rather quickly. However, that also showed them how small their world truly was.
Despite that, everyone was determined to keep their hopes up by preoccupying themselves with something or another. Behind her guise as "Junko", Mukuro watched on as her classmates prepared for an ordeal they had no idea how to handle.
She watched Makoto, being led around by Sayaka as his 'assistant', take a decorative sword back to his room. She overheard Yamada requesting to be named the one to take out the trash, for ulterior motives no doubt. She observed Leon, Kiyotaka and Mondo as they continued to test the doors and windows, hoping to find a weakness.
At one point, due to keeping up appearances, Mukuro had a cup of tea with Celeste and they were soon joined by Sakura and Asahina, who couldn't find anything useful to help them escape. She held back a groan of discontent as Yasuhiro continued to foolishly believe the whole ordeal was merely a joke arranged by the school.
In fact, the only people she seemed to see so little of were Kyoko, who spent her time off alone and possibly investigating the school, Byakuya, who elected to stay as far away from the others as possible, and Toko, who mainly stayed within her room unless called upon.
Due to the lack of motivation her fellow classmates had to give into murderous temptation, Mukuro found herself becoming quite anxious and decided to separate herself from her classmates for a time. To that extent, she decided to spend her time in the laundry room today, washing her unmentionables that she felt uncomfortable wearing.
All the while, Mukuro couldn't stop thinking about her sister's words from that night:
"I wish I could be the one to be forgotten, unloved, throw away like filthy garbage!"
Simply recalling the memories of those words cut her to the core. The strange thing was, she wasn't quite sure why. She had willingly chosen the path of despair, betrayed all who trusted her to follow after her sister's ambition. She was one of the Ultimate Despair Sisters, she should be reveling in all the lovely despair surrounding her.
Instead, all she could feel was that suffocating pressure in her chest that made her want to scream with frustration. To make matters worse, the notion of being completely forgotten had never upset her until Junko mentioned it.
"Dammit…why did she have to bring that up now?" the Ultimate Solder whispered to herself. "If she had just kept quiet…then maybe…"
Mukuro sulked as she knew the answer to her own question. She hadn't felt any such despair since the Mutual Killing Game began, having been too busy throwing herself into the role of 'Junko Enoshima'. Obviously, her sister didn't want her to forget the reason they were going through so much trouble.
They were the only ones capable of spreading Ultimate Despair to the world…and to each other. It was a duty that only she and Junko could accomplish. She should feel proud of her work…but she didn't! Bringing despair to anyone, even herself, brought no such feelings of accomplishment or pride…only that crushing pressure that threatened to consume her.
Just like the laundry spinning in the machine before her, there were so many questions piled up in her mind, swirling around in a flurry of unexplainable frustration. Watching her wet clothes slosh against each other, she did her best to conceal her rage as she felt her mind going in even more circles than the laundry.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the washer dinged and the spinning clothes came to an abrupt stop. However, unlike the laundry, Mukuro wasn't finished discovering the answer to her questions and for some unexplainable reason, she felt as if the washer was mocking her.
"Dammit all!" she shouted as something inside her snapped.
Without thinking, she slammed her fist into the window of the washing machine, the loud clacking echoing all around the small room.
She breathed heavily through gritted teeth as she seethed, "Why is this happening to me?! I never asked for any of this crap! Why the hell do I have to be feeling like—?!"
"H-Hey, Junko…?"
Mukuro's eyes bulged and she quickly spun around to see Makoto Naegi standing in the doorway. As she would expect, he wore a nervous smile that did little to hide his concern.
Immediately she resumed her sister's flippant persona and said, "What?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
She almost cursed again as she realized she couldn't control her anger and was lashing out in a way that, if Makoto had recalled the real Junko, he'd have been able to see through her guise. Luckily for her, the herbivore boy merely flinched at her words before cautiously inching his way into the laundry room.
"Y-Yeah, I can see that but…I heard a loud bang and thought that, you know, something might be wrong…?" he answered carefully, obviously trying not to probe too far into her business.
Mukuro gritted her teeth and averted her gaze. Of course Makoto would come running if he thought someone was in trouble. Even though he could barely defend himself if need be, he still found ways to butt into other people's business.
It might have been endearing, if it wasn't so incredibly reckless and stupid.
Forcing herself to be composed, the disguised girl took a deep breath before letting out an even deeper sigh. She shouldn't have been surprised that nosey, friendly, Makoto would be the one to find her like this. After all, he had a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time.
"Right, that makes sense. I guess I was being a bit too loud," she shamefully admitted, hoping that statement was enough to satisfy him.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"So, what happened? Did you throw a red sock in with your whites?" Makoto purposefully joked, giving one of his signature pleasant smiles.
"…Something like that," she grunted, keeping her eyes away from him. "What do you want anyway?"
Nervously scratching his head, Makoto answered, "I, uh, just wanted to see if everything was okay."
"Well, I'm fine. Are we done here?" she dropped another hint at wanting to be left alone but he didn't seem to register it.
"Actually, I was kind of hoping we could…you know, talk for a bit. Get to know each other and stuff," he hopefully suggested, obviously not accustomed to asking to talk with other people.
If she wasn't in the position she was in, she might have appreciated this trite attempt at cheering her up. However, at the moment, his upbeat and pleasant attitude only grated on her nerves.
Didn't he realize how desperate his situation was? Was he really so stupid enough to put his faith in people he had 'just met' the other day? And did he honestly believe that no one was willing to kill to get out of his hell hole?!
Strangely enough, she got her answer to these questions quicker than she would have thought.
"I know it can't be easy for someone like you to be cooped up here. I mean, it's not easy for any of us and I bet you're worried about your responsibilities as a model…but you can't let that get to you," Makoto insisted, his tone tempting her to gaze toward him.
However, she fought off that urge and kept her eyes focused on the laundry machine in front of her, mockingly scoffing at his comment. Makoto either didn't notice her distain or simply chose to push past it, because he decided to continue nonetheless.
"I know it'll be hard, but we all have to work together and just tough it out for now," he suggested, obviously doing his best to cheer her up. "I mean, I know it's no walk in the park but, at least living here isn't as horrible as—".
"Are you for real?" she harshly interrupted, earning a light gasp from him. Finally, turning toward him, she scowled fiercely and shouted, "How can anyone live like this? I'm going freaking crazy from boredom here and you're telling me to just tough it out?! It's impossible!"
Mukuro watched as the Ultimate Lucky Student flinched at her words, immediately falling silent. Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure if her frustration was born out of her desire to keep up her 'Junko' act or if she was still bothered by what she'd been thinking about before. Either way, she was in full-throttle and wouldn't let anything stop her now.
Pointing up at the nearby camera, she shouted, "Hey, whatever dumb bastard trapped us here! Let us out of here! Just tell us what we have to do to get out! Are you listening?!"
Silence filled the room after her tirade until she let out a deep sigh.
"Nothing, huh? That pisses me off!"
Her eyes flicked over to a round object sitting on the nearby table. It appeared to be a glass ball, probably belonging to Yasuhiro, resting comfortably on a decorative pillow. An idea formed in her mind and without hesitation, she reached out and grasped the ball.
Out of the corner of her peripheral, she saw Makoto's eyes bulge as she reared her arm back to throw the glass orb at the camera. A smirk spread over her lips as she felt a surge of satisfaction. This would teach that hopeful little boy that just having a positive attitude and kind words wouldn't be enough to—
"You can't!"
Suddenly, something wrapped around her arm and a great weight pulled it down, causing her to let the glass ball slip from her grasp. Caught off-guard by the abrupt shift in weight, she felt her body fall backward toward the floor. Mukuro reacted instantly and spun around, using the force of the fall to slam whatever had latched onto her arm into the floor.
On instinct, Mukuro was about to twist her elbow and inflict more damage when a weak grunt reached her ears. Her sky-blue irises bulged as she saw that she was now pinning Makoto harshly to the ground. Despite the obvious pain he was experiencing due to her joint pressing against his abdomen, he still desperately held onto her arm.
"Wh-What are you doing?!" Mukuro shouted at him, trying to free her arm. However, Makoto tightened his grip and furiously held on.
"Y-You need to calm down, Junko!" the Ultimate Lucky Student insisted, grunting from her continuous attempt to retract her arm. "Remember what happened to Mondo! I don't want you to get hurt!"
All at once, Mukuro's struggles ceased and she stared, wide-eyed, at the boy restraining her.
Was he…trying to protect her? Why the hell would he do that? Even considering Makoto's soft-hearted nature, she'd never seen him act this desperately before. At least not since they had arrived here. Jumping in between Mondo and Byakuya on their first day, and now physically tackling her to stop her from violating a rule…it didn't make sense.
He'd never been so reckless when they were at the Academy, so why now?
Could it be that the explosion that occurred when Mondo attacked Monokuma instilled something in him? Did the threat of their lives actually being in danger cause him to have a radical change in behavior?
If so, it was the exact opposite of when Mukuro had first been exposed to life-threatening dangers.
The first time her life was in danger, she thought only of her own survival, killing her attacker with the knife they had planned to end her life with. At first she was surprised at how easy it had been to take a life, but now, it was second nature. To her, to live meant for others to die…it had always been that way. It was a fact of life that absolutely everyone understood.
Then…why did Makoto, whose life was threatened by the killing game, continue to put other's ahead of himself? Why did he have the strength to try and help others but didn't have the drive to protect himself?
These thoughts left Mukuro in a state of utter confusion for nearly an entire minute as she stared blankly at Makoto as he continued to grip her arm.
Seeing that she had calmed down somewhat, Makoto finally felt confident enough to release her. The moment he did, the disguised woman finally came to her senses and pushed herself away harshly, causing him to groan as her elbow dug into him moment longer before being retracted. Propping himself up onto his elbows, he could only watch as "Junko" quickly rose to her feet.
"W-Why do you care?" Mukuro insisted, fixing her clothes and glaring down at him. "It's not like we're friends or anything. So, what if I decided to break a rule? It's my decision and no one else's!"
A hint of shock registered on Makoto's face at those words and he lowered his gaze away from her. Mukuro almost smirked, realizing that he had finally begun to understand how powerless he truly was here. Maybe now he would get that no matter how hard he tried, he'd never be able to stop the—
"Maybe so," he interrupted her thoughts, his hazel eyes looking up at her with such resolution that she almost felt her heart skip. "But if I just stood by and let you do something that I know will get you killed, then it would be the same as if I killed you myself! And I won't let that happen! I'll do whatever takes to help everyone! I won't let any of my friends die!"
…
…
…
If anyone other than Makoto Naegi had said those words to her, Mukuro would have swiftly countered them with verbal jab before briskly walking away. She would have kept up her guise completely, not letting even a hint of shock show through. And she certainly wouldn't have felt that strange stinging sensation in her chest return…like it was right now.
However, because it was Makoto and because of how determined and hopeful he appeared, Mukuro couldn't stop herself from letting out the tiniest gasp. And an instant later, a perplexed looked overtook her features, unsure of why that confusing chest pain had resurfaced upon hearing him call her his friend.
Makoto, the boy who smiled at her even back during their academy days, was still able to smile at her and make her feel like it was okay to reciprocate.
Only it wasn't.
In front of her, she could see the security camera pointed down at them, fixated on them as if the mastermind wanted to get a closer look. As if a cold bucket of water had doused her, Mukuro's senses quickly reset and she managed to pull herself together. A deep frown formed on her face as she glared down at the still smiling boy.
"Idiot. We're not friends. So don't act like it."
Her cold, harsh words instantly shattered the warm smile that Makoto had given her, making his features sink into a perplexed and hurt expression. Without even letting him say another word, Mukuro turned on a heel, abandoning her laundry as she practically sped toward the door. Furiously flinging the door open, she paused only for a moment to glare at him one final time.
"From now on, just stay away from me!" she shouted as she moved into the hall, slamming the door behind her. She thought she might have heard him calling out for her to stop but she hoped it was merely her imagination.
As she made her way down the hall toward her dorm room, she clutched her chest and gritted her teeth, willing that ache in her chest to pass quickly. All the while, a single thought consumed her mind.
"Stupid Makoto! All of your friends will be dead soon anyway…and so will you."
Sitting in the monitoring chair and watching as her sister sped into her room, Junko held a very shocked expression. Before long, it slowly morphed into a frown and from there it shifted into angrily grit teeth.
"Okay…what the hell was that, Mukuro?!"
Her sister had completely lost it, the guise had almost completely slipped and if anyone but Makoto had been there, they would have noticed in a heartbeat! Flying into that rage earlier and nearly throwing something at the camera was totally something the real Junko might have done but storming out into the hall while shouting made her look like a drama queen!
And while many would expect the Ultimate Fashionista to be a drama queen, Junko knew that she was far above that kind of petty crap and would have simply put that pathetic little herbivore boy in his place with a few choice words.
If Junko had been there herself, she might have given him a serious look and warned him about how she could have smothered him with her undergarments and no one would be the wiser. Then she would have pretended it was a joke for a second, but then would actually do it just to get the game going!
Hell, Mukuro could have done that or even something better!
But what did she do? Ruined the perfect opportunity to either start the killings or at the very least, make Makoto fear for his life so that he either was tempted to kill later or would get himself killed! And to top it off, she let her disguise slip and that could cost both of them the entire—
Suddenly, Junko unclenched her teeth and let out a great sight.
"Ahhh, I'm tired of being angry…"
Getting up from her chair, Junko's hips swayed as she walked over to a box sitting on a desk only a few feet from her. Pulling the top open, a large number of DVD cases, all labeled with a student's name, were now visible. Reaching in, she fumbled through them until she found the one she was looking for – "Junko Enoshima".
A malicious grin spread over her face as she said, "I think I'll make some…modifications!"
To Be Continued…
Greetings everyone! This chapter was a mainly about fleshing out the relationship between the Despair Sisters. And this certainly won't be the last time they butt heads! Also, my beta Dixxy Mouri (or just Dixxy) should be updating her story, Haunted, around this time as well. Please check it out, she's been a great help with my story…plus now I will never see mashed potatoes the same way ever again…(read her fic to understand).
I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you all in the next update!