EDIT 08/10/2022: Mayor polishing in grammar and typos.


Waking Up from a Despairful Nightmare.

Pain

Absolute pain.

That was what Mukuro Ikusaba, also known as the Ultimate Soldier and one of the nefarious Despair Sisters felt at this moment.

"…Wh…?"

It didn't help at all that not even once in her life she has ever suffered an injury, and that in consequence, made her develop a poor pain tolerance.

"…H-Huh?"

But even considering that the physical pain she was feeling right now was by far the lesser of the two.

Besides the agony that traveled all around her body, there was also another one, one that made the other pale in comparison...

Such pain…was of the emotional kind.

"…T-This…" This emotional anguish originated from the spears that have impaled her body, just like the physical one, true, but this worse oh so much worse torment was more so because of what being perforated by these spears means than the spears themselves…besides an inevitable death, that is.

It means she has been betrayed.

"…This wasn't supposed to…" This wasn't supposed to happen, no it wasn't. The plan was that once Monokuma finished explaining the rules for the class trial, she was to make a fuss over it and then be thrown by a trap door that would've led her to a secret passage from which she would help the mastermind, the mind behind the monochrome bear, for the rest of the Killing School Life…

The mastermind, Junko Enoshima, her sister, her very own blood.

Her very own blood who has just murdered her, or at least, it was just a matter of seconds before such was the case…

That by itself wasn't what was making her feel such…such despair. No, as weird as it could seem for other people, she was used to her sister attempting such violent acts on a constant basis, under the excuse of wanting to feel the despair of killing her own family…and in her own weird way, she actually appreciated it, not only because it kept her body and instincts in shape, but also because she understood that despair was what her sister desired the most, and if killing her could bring such despair to Junko, that means that was her way of expressing how much she meant to her. Under that logic, Mukuro couldn't help but think that if one day, by any chance, she was to die at her sister's hands, she would die happy, because that would bring Junko despair, and that would mean her sister loved her.

But out of all the possible methods of dying, getting herself killed because of treason, because her own sister backstabbed her…that's just simply the only one she never saw coming, and living it in the flesh, she can confirm without a doubt…that this is the most despairing way to die she could've ever imagined.

She always wondered what Junko found so fascinating about despair, she herself never felt it, or at least not that she remembered, and that made her curious, made her question that if she were to one day feel despair, would she enjoy it as much as her?

The answer is no, she has found in the worst way possible that despair is not something to be enjoyed at all, and now she questions how her sister can rejoice in such a terrible feeling…but it's too late for that now…

Under this premise, she couldn't help but ask herself…

"…Why…me…?" A vast number of different meanings came to her when she whispered that question. So many indeed, that she couldn't think of being capable to count them all.

Why her own sister did this to her?

Why Junko betrayed her?

Why did she allow this to happen?

Why she kept following a dream she no longer believed in? 'Could it even be called a dream at this point…?'

Why did she betray her classmates?

Why is she to die forgotten?

Those last two were the ones that made the grief intensify.

Mukuro knew she had become attached to her class. Even if at first, she thought it would be impossible to appreciate the company of someone else besides her sister, the two years she spent with all of them proved her wrong. Some were harder to get used to, that is true, but each of them had a quirk that she couldn't help but feel made them unique in their own special way.

And now? Just as the Idol already did, they are to slowly but surely die one by one at Junko's machinations, either by killing each other or by falling prey to the execution grounds her sister has prepared for each of them, none of them remembering the precious memories they made, none of them remembering the special bonds each of them forged…none of them remembering her at all, and if by any lucky miracle, some of them were to survive, they would live without knowing she even existed.

Truly…this is the most despairing way for her to go.

The small mercy, if it could even be called that, is that she was already feeling the vanishing of her consciousness.

She momentarily thought of what if's or second chances, but such thoughts were gone just as fast, as a soldier who has lived the worst of hells, she knows that is just wishful thinking, once you die, there is nothing else you can do, there is no coming back, such was a fact of this world.

Either way, any more self-reflection she could have was no longer possible as the spears retired to their hidden spots, and with nothing to 'support' her body, she fell to the ground, giving one last breath, and, and, and…

And at last, Mukuro Ikusaba left a cruel world full of blood and death, feeling nothing but regret…and despair.

And at last, the abysmal darkness of death consumed her.


…Darkness…

…There was still darkness, but…

…Now she was feeling something else, well, two different feelings if she was being specific, which was weird, she was sure she lost all of her senses just a few moments ago, but right now, if she were to describe it, the first is the numbness one feels when just beginning to wake up.

The new other feeling was…soft, like a gentle caressing that surrounded her entire body, she recognized it, even if it has been so long since she last felt it.

It was the feeling of the wind blowing.

Such relatedly forgotten experience led her to another discovery, and was that the air she was breathing was fresh and pure, something she was sure ceased to exist at least a year ago when the tragedy 'That I assisted with…' began.

…Breathing.

…She was still breathing.

What!?

That discovery made her eyes to shot wide open and gasp, not without still taking in the air greedily as if it were the most precious thing in the entire world and it would disappear at any second.

Once she was satisfied to return to a steadier intake of it, she noticed another relatedly forgotten sight.

The sky.

Not only that she was seeing the sky and that was a 'Kind of…' novel experience, but also how it looked. It was blue, clean, and full of white clouds, even more so than she remembered, she could even hear birds in the distance, an absolute contradiction to the red, contaminated, full of dark clouds, and completely dead one she last saw.

Again, it was something I assisted with…

For some reason, seeing such a sight that had become something she could only imagine about, made her enter into a trance, a transfixion in which she just kept herself there, lying on the ground, staring intently at the blue and white marvel she long thought it ceased to exist.

She stayed that way for a few minutes that felt like an eternity, staring blankly at it, until finally, a fact hit her like a brick and made her eyes widen again.

A fact that she refused to believe was real, and could only think of it as some kind of experience someone sees before leaving the world. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, as people often say.

"…I'm…I'm…I'm alive…?" She questioned in a barely audible whisper, with neither positive nor negative emotions in such an interrogative, but that was because she was genuinely asking herself that.

Was…was she alive?

If so, that immediately brought another question.

Why she was still alive?

Mukuro also wondered why her voice sounded a bit pitched when she said that…and also things like the fact that she was able to see the sky or why she was on the exterior of all places. All of those things were a mystery right now.

Even, priorities were essential.

It is a fact that besides some kicks and slaps J―…J―…th…that person inflicted upon her, she had never received an actual injury, by consequence, although she had some training in first aid, she was not an expert in the area, even so…she was sure that being impaled by multiple spears, which some of them perforated important areas like her chest, stomach, lungs and her ribs, plus the blood loss, led to a secure death.

So, again, why she was still alive?

If she had her senses again, why she wasn't feeling any of the metal roads in her body? Why she wasn't feeling anything but complete agony? Why she isn't feeling any injuries as if the despairing experience of just a few moments ago didn't happen at all?

Why Why Why Why Why Why WhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhyWhy―

Why. She. Was. Alive?

So many why's, and even so…maybe it was thanks to a combination of her instincts and her rough training as a soldier that has made her see the worst of it, maybe she wasn't still catching on with the reality of the situation or maybe she has gone truly mad, but even so…

…While it would be an absolute exaggeration to say that she was fine 'I almost one hundred percent sure that a mental breakdown is going to come at some point…', she was confident that getting out of the…dirt? She used her right hand to feel the ground, and indeed, it was dirt, so yes, getting out of the dirt and doing a reconnaissance of the area she was in would be a safe next course of action.

And so, she did. Mukuro got up on her feet and didn't waste any time doing a quick scan of her surroundings.

The results of it did nothing but confuse her even more.

She was surrounded by what looked to be the walls of a bunch of houses and in the middle of a narrow hallway. With wood planks, boxes and barrels scattered around.

She recognized what this was.

It was an alley.

…Why she was in an alley?

As much as she tried to find any logic in any of this, the Ultimate Soldier couldn't find any possible explanation from one moment being inside Hope's Peak Academy 'Which was blocked in its totality from the outside world and in the middle of a Killing Game along with my classmates', then being murdered by…murdered by…by…being murdered and then waking up unscathed in a completely different place, in the exterior no less…

…She truly was experiencing a life-recall thing, just in a weirder way, wasn't she? Or could it be that in a turn of practically impossibly lucky turn of events, she survived, fell into a coma, and she was dreaming all of this?

With so many strange things happening at the same time, she couldn't help scratching her head with the growing headache this was causing her.

While doing that, she noticed another pile of weird things to add to the list.

Instead of feeling the blonde wig that was part of the disguise used to interpret…that person, she could sense her natural, bob-style raven hair. She even brought a lock of it in front of her eyes to confirm that, indeed, the wig was no longer there.

She really must have her priorities messed up, because Mukuro couldn't avoid beginning to look around in the ground, searching for the fake hair. Why? She doesn't know, she just did it and while doing so, she saw something that, again, threw her for a loop.

Her boots.

More specifically, her black boots were gone and instead of it, she was wearing normal dark-brown shoes. That led to a chain reaction in which she noticed that instead of the red skirt, she was using grey trousers, and rather than the black cardigan with the white dress shirt and all of its accessories decorating her plain body, she only had a black shirt.

"…What…what the hell…?" There was again that pitch-sounding voice…

The Ultimate Soldier proceeded to look at her hands, and…the fake nails were no longer there, while the make-up she used to hide the tattoo on her right hand was gone too. There was also something else with her hands, but she just couldn't point out what was it.

While on one hand, she's glad of getting rid of that while using instead an attire she was more comfortable with, on the other…

…Unknown circumstances…

…Unknown location…

…Unknown reason as for the changes in clothes…

Unknown reason as for why I am still alive…

So many unknowns made it impossible for Mukuro to avoid narrowing her eyes. Coma dream, a light at the end of the tunnel, or whatever this is, it doesn't matter. This was way too weird and full of unexplainable events for her to feel nothing but wariness.

Not only that, but something has been nagging her since a few moments ago.

Besides the sounds of birds and the wind, she has been hearing another sound. Said noise was ringing a few alarm bells in her head.

As it belonged to…voices.

They were muffled, most probably because of her location, but she could at least distinguish that they were of all kinds: Young, old, male, female, and it was in an amount that she could ascertain it belonged to a far from short amount of people.

Besides, considering that she was outside, then…in the almost impossible chances that this…this…I can't believe I'm actually considering the possibility'…this was real, then she's in the middle of…well, she doesn't know where she is, but one thing is for certain, outside of this alley, the only thing that could await her are killing machines in the form of a bear and people who lost their sanity by the despair, and she will have to confront all of that unarmed, as she couldn't feel her favorite combat knife 'Or any other weapon at all…' in these clothes and neither could see it anywhere on the ground.

Although this isn't her favorite way of 'waking up', overall, these weren't the worst circumstances she has faced.

With those thoughts in her head, she finally decided to move out of this alley, to move past the wood planks, the barrels, the boxes, and the window which only showed the reflection of the upper half of her head.

Wait, what?

Mukuro quickly took a few steps back to confirm that indeed, the only thing she could reach to see of her reflection was only from her eyes and upwards.

That was enough for her to notice something was terribly wrong.

Immediately, she went to pick up one of the boxes lying around and used it as a platform to get a better look at herself, and once she did…

…She couldn't help herself.

"W…W-Wha…Wha…What is this!?" Mukuro cried out as she saw her more detailed reflection.

It's not like she looked like a completely different person or as if she grew an extra eye or arm, no, nothing like that. Her hairstyle and color were still the same, her eyes were still as light-violet as ever, her nose, her freckles, everything was in all its plain glory as ever.

…But…but…at the same time, they weren't what could be considered the same. After all, there was a single, though radical change in her body.

She was smaller, considerably smaller.

…More specifically…

…She…

…She was younger, considerably so.

She doesn't think she can determine which age exactly, but between ten and eleven years old was a safe bet.

…Between ten and eleven years old…

…Between ten and eleven …

…Between ten…

…Between…

…A kid…

…She's a k―!

Any chances of this being real can be discarded, so she will go with the next best 'But just as impossible…' possibility: She's in a coma and this was a dream, simply as that.

A dream, just that.

Either way, once she was done looking at…that, her curiosity won over, and made use of her current position to look through the window and do a scan of the place.

What she saw was…unusual, yes, but it was far from the weirdest thing she has seen so far.

It was a dining room and a kitchen mixed into one, with an oven, a very old one at that, along with some firewood and old-fashioned cookware equipment in a corner, while on the opposite corner there were plates, cups, and wood cabinets. In the middle of the room, there was a wood table with chairs around it…which again, were made of wood. Besides that, there were some wood containers too.

She could also notice that in some specific places there were candles, and even a candle lamp as a center point of illumination, all the while, there wasn't any sign of any kind of device that made use of electricity, nor for luminescence or any other thing.

Basically, this place looked outdated, way too outdated.

But beyond that, she didn't give it much thought. Yes, it looked old and it was strange to not see anything that could be considered 'modern', but that was nothing to fuzz about, less so because it's far from the first time Mukuro has seen a place of similar appearance.

Back when she was a kid 'A real kid, not…whatever this dream was showing her as…', after she stopped living in the streets, but before she joined the mercenary group known as Fenrir, she used to participate in competitions with thematic about survival, and some of them involved living in the forests, disconnected from the outside world, sometimes it was a complete outdoors experience, while in others, it was inside cottages, which were no different from what she just saw inside this house.

So yeah, nothing out of the ordinary.

In any case, after deciding that she had procrastinated getting out of this alley enough, she jumped out of the box and moved to the corner that showed a possible exit out of this place.

While she is sure this is a dream, a very strange dream that gave her way too much liberty and consciousness, but a dream nonetheless, she didn't have any desire of challenging the possibility that dying here would give her comatose body so much trauma that she would die for real. So, as she previously planned, she will keep her guard up against every possibility.

And this time…Mukuro meant every possibility.


As she moved through the passages that connected with the alley where she 'woke up', she could notice how the voices became less and less muffled, to the point that she was beginning to make some sense of what was being said.

"…Come…bread…Come!"

"…Best meats…Karanes!"

"…Hey, bastard! Don't…noticed…steal…fish!"

"The entire…price…roses!"

…Well, not much sense per se, but so far, she hasn't heard any cry of agony, sounds of chaotic destruction, or anyone making claims about despair or any worship to…that person.

But that didn't make Mukuro lower her guard even a bit. Until she could confirm as otherwise, it is possible that those sounds are nothing but pre-recorded audio to work as a trap for some naïve fool with the hope that he had found a safe haven instead of another hen full of lunatics.

Mukuro moved forward scanning every single space with scrutinous detail, searching for any hidden traps or an ambush laying in her way. The Ultimate Soldier kept at it for less than a minute until she finally found an exit. Preparing herself both physically and mentally, she took one last step, finally leaving the alley to see…

To see…

…Huh?

"…What the…?" She doesn't doubt she had a dumbfounded look on her face as she said that.

It definitely wasn't the post-apocalyptic wasteland she expected to see, but that didn't make what she was seeing any less strange.

If Mukuro were to describe it, she would say that she was in the middle of a market. The place was bustling with people, and all around the street, she could see shop stands selling a variety of products. There were some crowds among those selling food like fish, meat, and vegetables, while others who sold things like jewelry, clothes, toys, and the like, had a diminished number of customers.

Just as she previously guessed, it was full of people ranging of all ages, from kids up to the elderly.

Under other circumstances, she probably would've been paying more attention to some other worth-noting details she could see in the corner of her eye…

…But no, what had her full attention the moment Mukuro stepped out of the alley, was the most noticeable structure in this place, and she could admit that saying it was noticeable was an understatement.

In the distance what she saw was…

…A wall.

But it wasn't an ordinary wall, far from it, besides the impossibly high height, which she estimates reached between fifty to sixty meters, what made it even more impressive was how large it was. She can't see the entire thing thanks to some buildings blocking the sight in her current position, but from what she actually can catch, the Ultimate Soldier doesn't doubt that this…this gigantic wall encircled the entire city.

The private mercenary company she worked with for a few years was of the international kind, accepting contracts from all around the world as long as the pay was worth it, thanks to that, she has experience traveling all around the globe, experiencing all kinds of sights 'When she wasn't busy killing people…', and she wasn't talking only of the natural kind, she was also referring of all types of constructions.

Pyramids, arenas, temples, she has seen it all…and even so, none of them compare to what she is witnessing right now, neither does she remember hearing of something similar to this. The Great Wall of China immediately comes to mind, but as far as she remembers not even that was of this scale.

Although as much as she would marvel at the sight for quite some more, Mukuro shook her head to bring herself out of the stupor. She had other things to do, like…um…

…Huh.

She left the alley expecting to go past through a living hell, and while she's not a fan of the crowds, even she has to admit that this is far from what she expected.

"Hahaha! Catch me if you can!"

"Fish! Get your fish here!"

"My, today's weather sure is perfect for a walk~"

Very far from what she expected.

…W-Well, even if things look peaceful, scouting the city surely was imperative, right? Yeah, and there's still the chance that there are dangers hidden somewhere, isn't that true?

With that new mission established, Mukuro proceeded to do a more thorough exploration of this place.


As she moved through the streets at a steadier pace, she finally began to pay attention to another thing that has been nagging her about this place, and that was that everything around her looked…old, considerably so.

First of all, the buildings.

Mukuro may not be the Ultimate Architect, but even she can see that no matter where she looked, everything seemed to resemble the kind of structures you would only expect around two or three centuries ago. She also was beginning to think that the insides of the house from where she woke up weren't as much of a coincidence as they appeared at first glance.

That was not all, there were also the clothes everyone was wearing. Mukuro couldn't help but think that they fit the term 'plebeian' the Affluent Prodigy liked to catalog everyone as. Just like the houses and other buildings around, they appear to be from a few centuries back, and that includes what she was wearing. At the very least, the material felt different, less comfortable would probably be the correct description, but she didn't mind it. It's flexible enough and her maneuverability didn't seem to suffer in any way using this, and that was good enough for her.

Besides all of the previous points, there was the matter of the technology of this place. It seemed outdated too. Mukuro would be lying if she said she was an urban person, or that she was up to date with all these kinds of things, but even she could recognize that something doesn't fit here, even more so because the only means of travel she has seen so far was a carriage pulled by a horse.

All in all, there were the buildings, the attires of the people, and the lack of technology.

…So, was she dreaming about traveling to the past? That wasn't the kind of dream Mukuro thought would have at any point of her life, but…when compared to the…the nightmares she could 'Should…' be having right now, this was something she would take with no complaint.

Either way, any chances of this dream not getting any weirder were discarded by what she witnessed next.

"Heed my words! For this is nothing but the absolute truth of this world!"

She turned to the origin of the voice. In the middle of a plaza, she saw a man surrounded by a few curious passersby. He seemed to be around his late forties, wearing a brown robe and around his neck, he had a golden band with three figures grabbed into it.

More importantly, though, what caught her attention the most was what he was saying.

"Brothers and sisters! We have grown weak! Weak in the faith of our grand saviors! For they who have protected us since their conception have been betrayed by our greed! The greed that has led us to sin as we commit nothing but acts of transgression against them!"

All around her she could see different reactions to the speech of the…preacher?

"…*sigh* It's these people again…"

"Another of their speeches, huh? Can't believe they don't get tired of it…"

"But they kinda have a point, don't you think…?"

"Are ya serious!?"

"No way, no matter how you look at it, these guys of the church aren't right in the head!"

But even among those comments, the preacher continued his speech.

"We shall no doubt the holiness of the great walls! We must seek redemption and recover our trust in such divine creation! As the faith in them is our strength! Said faith shall make the walls, created by the hand of God himself, stronger!"

The priest continued rambling about how much of a blessing the wall was, he also began to talk about some 'impurities', referring to things like giving maintenance, the installation of defenses, and even as much as touching the wall as some kind of blasphemy.

By then, most people left the area, with only people just as faithful as that priest staying, giving their own words of adoration towards the gigantic structure.

…Was her dream including people who worships that giant wall, then? Surprisingly, that wasn't the strangest thing she had witnessed in her life.

After all, outside of this illusion awaited her an entire world full of individuals who adored with fervent fanatism a single high school girl.

…Although it's not like I could truly be set apart from those individuals, though…


A few hours have already passed since she began the scouting of the city, and even with that, she hasn't managed to explore the whole place. That alone was proof enough that this place is huge, considerably so, making the surrounding wall an even more impressive feat.

And this dream weirder, I didn't know they could be this complex and lasting in the first place…

The blue sky has changed to one of orange tonality, signaling the approaching end of the day. By now, Mukuro had concluded that this place was relatedly peaceful.

At the very least, more so than what she's used to.

She hasn't explored the slums or any of the areas that looked poor yet, but she is sure they will be full of problems. Mukuro had enough experience with places like those to know that for a fact.

But overall, putting aside that, this wasn't what she expected at the beginning. Besides that fervent priest, things seem to be pretty ordinary. The elderly strolled around peacefully, adults contently talked with each other, and kids were playing and laughing wherever she looked.

It was…it wasn't a bad sight.

Right now, she was in the main street leading to what appeared to be a gate that allowed both the entrance and exit between the wall. This was also her last stop before…

…Before…

…Huh, she didn't know what to do after this…

…Then…

…That…

…That means there's nothing else to do…

…That means that soon enough, her surroundings are going to be in absolute silence…

…That means being alone with her most inner thoughts…

…That…That means thinking about Jun―

! ! !

"N-No!" Mukuro cried out as she furiously shook her head in negation.

I-I don't have to think about her right now! There has to be something else to do r-right!? Something…something to distract myself with! Anything, right!? Like, like…ah! The gate!

Immediately, the Ultimate Soldier focused her gaze on it, doing her best to put all of her thoughts into the stone entrance instead of…of that.

While Mukuro began her inspection, she took notice that this section of the wall seemed to be different, in more ways than one, from the rest of it. The first discrepancy she took note of, was that it appeared that instead of the concrete that characterized most of the wall, here it was replaced with bricks.

On its sides there were a pair of doors, most probably to get inside and use whatever mechanism they may have there to lift or lower the gate, as she can't see anything from outside that could work for that.

As for the gate itself, the only thing of interest she could point out was that in the middle of it, there was the figure of a woman, well, only it's head more precisely.

Gazing at the gate made her mind drift towards other thoughts, something she was grateful for. Right now, Mukuro…all she truly wanted was to stay distracted as much as possible.

Such thoughts related to the preacher of a few hours ago, specifically, the fact that he kept talking of 'Walls' instead of a 'Wall'.

That implied that besides this wall in front of her, there were others, which in consequence, it meant that this place was even bigger than what she thought at first.

Seriously, just how big this place is?

From there, her curiosity piqued, making her wonder, were those other walls the same as this one? If not, what differences it could have? How many of them were out there? And most important of all…

What was outside of these walls?

Ding Dong!

Ding Dong!

Ding Dong!

Ding Dong!

Any more internal musing Mukuro could further think of was interrupted by a ringing sound. Instinctually, Mukuro followed the source of the noise until noticing that it came from the top of the wall. Following that, it took her even less effort to find exactly what it was.

It was a bell, moving back and forth while being loud enough that Mukuro didn't had a grain of doubt that it could be heard all around the city.

The ringing lasted for a few minutes in which a multitude of people gathered around the street with curious looks as they paid attention to the gate. No different than if they were about to receive an unexpected guest that was about to come through the entrance.

Soon after, Mukuro saw that was indeed the case, as the noise of the ringing was replaced with the rattling of the chains connected to the gate as they began to lift it and grant access to what looked like a tunnel, and once they did, Mukuro managed to hear what it appeared to be hooves hitting the ground, the noise got closer and closer…

…When suddenly a man wearing a uniform with some strange equipment around his hips came out of the gate riding on a horse, screaming with all of its lungs.

"THE TITANS HAVE BREACHED SHIGANSHINA AND ITS INNER GATE! WALL MARIA…WALL MARIA HAS FALLEN!"

"…Titans?" The Ultimate Soldier questioned with a confused tone of voice.


A/N: So…a Danganronpa x Attack on Titan crossover, huh? Bet nobody saw that one coming.

Or at least I think so. If I am honest, it has actually been nagging me for quite a while that no matter how much I searched I couldn't find any fics between those two universes. It got to the point of me wondering if it just couldn't work? Would it be too weird? It is a recipe for disaster? I don't know, maybe it is all of those, but the idea has been stuck in my head for long enough to think about giving it a try.

And in case someone is wondering: What does this mean for my other work? Well, besides a delay of the next chapter because of this sudden whim of mine, nothing much. I wanted to upload this to, sort of, lift a weight off my shoulders, but I will still keep my focus on my other fic, while the updates for this one will be much more occasional.

Either way, I hope you guys give it a chance, and as always, any comment or constructive feedback is appreciated, see ya!