I'm who now?

by Clemerl

Being dropped into the killing game is always a dangerous place to be as a student of Hope's Peak, not knowing what will happen or who will kill whom. But what happens when the one in charge has a change of heart? Or rather, has the mind of someone else entirely who will stop at nothing to save everyone they can. Even if it dives them to Despair.

21. The children of Despair

"Hmm. Interesting. I wonder."

I pondered to myself as I looked through a few attention-grabbing entries of the journal of one Yasuke Matsuda once again, though this time it had been more out of boredom then desire then the times before. After I had finished my little meet-and-greet with Chihiro, I had decided to head back to the control room. It took a bit to escape from the little programmer, mostly because he insisted in helping me get down the stairs, but I managed to convince him to leave me at Mukuro's room to take a nap. He left me with a smile, promising to meet with me tonight, and I was finally alone.

Once he was gone, and I double checked to make sure no one was gonna come in after me, I quickly opened then shut the door, careful not to make a sound. Mukuro had apparently ended up falling asleep at some point while I was out, which was fine by me since I really didn't think I was quite ready to speak with her just yet. I still needed to gather my thoughts and make sure that nothing had gone wrong in my absence after all. So, after taking a second to pull the sheets up over her, I opened the hidden hatch and made my way back to the controls.

It didn't take all that long to get up there, about five minutes or so since I memorized the path I needed to take, and once I was in I quickly checked the cameras. Once I was certain that there wasn't anyone or anything that needed my immediate attention, I decided to pick up the book once more and see if I could learn anything new.

It definitely wasn't an excuse to try and forget how much more adorable Chihiro's smile was in person then on a screen.

'Damnit brain, cut it out!' I mentally chastised myself for getting distracted again. 'We've got more important things to worry about.'

I hated that I was so easily distracted, but I couldn't help myself. When your only company is a computer screen that can't even connect to the internet for anything other than communicating with people that you really don't want to talk to unless absolutely necessary, it can be rather easy to let your mind wander. That was one of the reasons that I was so willing to risk everything to join the others in Mukuro's place while she recovered. Self-imposed isolation can be surprisingly taxing on the mind.

Thinking about it, maybe that's part of the reason why Junko seemed so much more unhinged in the first game then the other instances in the series. She was locked up alone for around eighteen or so days if I'm remembering it right, only able to interact through Monokuma as an antagonistic sadist. That had to do some kind of damage to her psych.

Regardless, I felt glad that there was one little feature that made this whole endeavor possible. I would never be able to do this whole switch-a-roo without the ability to have the camera auto switch between one or more person.

One problem with my current position was the fact that I wasn't just being an antagonist, I was also hosting a show live for the world to see. That was part of the reason for all of the cameras throughout the school and why I had thought I needed to stay in the control room the whole time. If I didn't keep the camera that was currently live focused on the important events, then I risked losing my control over the crazed lunatics out there watching.

Think about it, if the cameras were only left on one room, then the show would be rather boring indeed. There would be no action, no suspense, no moments of drama to agonize over. If you were lucky, the best you would get would be a few snippets of info every other hour. No one would want to watch a show that you couldn't see what was happening.

Most of all, it wouldn't match what Junko set out to do. The game of mutual killing was something that was supposed to emphasize that hope will always give in to despair, peace will lose to chaos, etcetera. You can't do that when no one can see the times in between each tragedy. That would just cause the whole thing to drag on too much.

Plus, Junko maybe all kinds of crazy, but she was smart; too smart. She was a masterful manipulator of the highest caliber. If she had ever gone into politics, I don't doubt she might have eventually become the prime minister or some equally high position of power. Her only real weakness is her unhealthy obsession with not being bored and her fetish for despair.

She would never let the game become too boring if she had any say in the matter, which she clearly did. However, she was still human and would need moments that she would need to leave the confines of the control and monitor rooms. So, it's no stretch of the imagination that she would have some way to keep the show going even when she wasn't there.

In this case, it was a simple command that could be put into the computer systems to temporarily let the camera's do the work for her. It was a program simply titled, "Track".

It was simple. After activating the program, a simple command prompt would show up where you input one of the listed orders for the computer to operate on for the transmission to the outside world. These included, "Manual", the default setting that it would always revert to whenever it was left idle for long enough. "Shuffle", which made them switch randomly. There were also a few other settings as well, but the one I cared about the most was one called, "Track".

In the simplest of terms, it made it so that the camera would always be on which ever student I wanted to focus on. To do this, it kind of piggy-backed off of the signal of a person's E-handbook to find them and whatever camera was closest to them at the time. This in turn meant that I could decide whoever would be the star of the show for a while without needing to actively use the security cameras manually; for a short while at least.

The down side was that the track function required a person to have their handbook on them at any time. If anyone accidentally left their electronic pocketbook behind or worst, broke the damn thing in some manner, then I couldn't keep track of them. It was probably something that Kyoko found out and used to hide from Junko near the end of the killing game. This meant they couldn't be trusted to monitor the group of ultimate teens for too long.

But, as long as I was careful, then I could use it every once in a while, in my attempts to prevent Mukuro's revel. Two or three times a day if I'm careful. Maybe more if I absolutely need to.

"Dang it, I'm getting distracted again." I spoke aloud as I put down the journal, but I couldn't help it. It was so difficult to focus my mind right now because of what I'd read in the most resent entree in the book throwing me for a loop. Not only did it actually take up three pages, it read as such.

"I'm starting to notice the differences in Junko's little "Shifts" in attitude. During the times when she goes through these memory lapses, there's a noticeable change in her attitude towards others as well as a transformation to her movements. For example, recently I got to see her interact with one of the members of the 77-B class. I think he was supposed to be some kind of animal breeder or something, I didn't care to ask. The guy clearly has a screw lose. He was spouting all kinds talk about being the, "Rising emperor of darkness" or some such nonsense, so it was hard to tell for sure either way. Junko told me that he suffers from delusions of self-grandeur that stem from an inferiority complex and pseudo syndrome known as chuunibyou, something I fully agree with considering all of the insane ramblings of his.

Anyway, when he showed up he had this picture of a black cat in his hands that, apparently, Junko had "Liberated from the clutches of an agent of the wooden forest beast." Or in less crazy terms, rescued it from a tree. He had come over to tell her that he had, "Found a worthy master, willing to make the fledgling nekomata of the dark abyss their vassal." Translation, he had found someone willing to adopt the kitten. While I was still reeling from the complete asinine nature of this conversation, Junko went through her little shift thing and started talking just like the lunatic!

It was so surreal.

Yet, it was nothing compared to the time she dragged me to visit the school's elementary division. I didn't even know that the school even had an elementary branch. It bothers me when I'm left out of the loop. Still, I couldn't help but feel disgusted with the Steering Committee when I later learned that they had had it built to study goddamn children in another of their asinine "talent searches".

When I asked her why we were wasting our time in this, she told me straight out that she was here to see her, quote, "darling little brothers and sisters" and that she felt that I, of all people, should meet them. It didn't make sense to me at the time, hell, it still doesn't, but she was insistent and would only bother me more if I hadn't gone along. Of all the things that I expected to see though, I wasn't expecting her to walk straight past every main classroom. I had half expected her to head into any of the main rooms, point out one or two random kids, and then drag them out for some monotonous game before leaving them out in the street. I even expected to be kicked out when we stumbled upon one of these mindless excuses for teachers that infest these hallways. Instead, the old hag we met commented that she was surprised to see Junko come back to volunteer to watch the, "little hellions" again, and directed us to the detention hall.

In that room, I found the height of hypocritical idiocy. The second she walked through the door, all I could hear was a cry of, "Big sis Junko!" before she got bum rushed by four kids and one cripple, all of them laughing and giggling like a pack of hyenas as they all clamored for her attention and embraces. I just stood there awkwardly staring for a bit, completely dumbfounded by how…lovingly Junko took it too. It was a side I'd never seen of her, all warm and hugging, listening to their every word and responding in kind, thoughtful words of encouragement and respect. It was just so strange to see.

Then, she tried to introduce me to them. They instantly went quiet and gave me looks of apprehension, like they were expecting me to lash out at them or something. The first one she showed me was this blue-eyed redhead that looked like he had been in a fight or something because he had several bandages all over his body and one big patch covering a small bruise on the left cheek. Li'l Ultimate P.E. apparently, by the stupid system put in place here no doubt, who said he was the leader of this group of brats.

Then this blue haired boy with the dumbest haircut I'd ever seen, seriously it looked like he had two drooping cat ears on his head, came up to me and asked me what my relationship was with Junko. Then he introduced himself as their Li'l Ultimate Social Studies and wanted to challenge me to see if I was even smart enough to even consider looking at her. I wanted to tell the kid to piss off and bother me when he grew up a bit first, but I could feel Junko's glare on me that, for the first time ever, even made me reconsider.

Next was a preppy pink haired girl with a hairband that looked like devil horns that had a bow tied to one of the horns who looked at me like I had spat in her ice cream or something. Apparently, as I learned later when Junko wasn't looking, that little Drama Ultimate had a bit of a crush on Junko since they were both, and I kid you not, "Super adorbs" and she thought I was undeserving of her attention because I was, "A disgusting pig that was not fit to be in the presence of someone so wonderful". The only thing that made me refrain from insulting her back was that I was far more impressed that she had said all of this, not only while curtsying, but with the most professional tone of voice I had ever heard from a child.

The third one had to be coaxed out from behind Junko, and dear lord I had trouble not commenting on the hideous hodgepodge of a mask he wore on his face. Leather-face from that B-movie was the first thing that I could think of to describe it, it was covered in so many patches I couldn't even tell what it was supposed to have started out as. The only thing I could consider was the breathing tube, but even that could have just been added for all I could tell. Of all the things that this little "Artist" could have asked me to introduce myself, kid asked me if I hated him, and then looked like he was about to start crying when I told him that I didn't just yet. He started babbling about all sorts of strange and disjointed subjects as well, ranging from simply confusing, to outright disturbing. And then he only calmed down when the others stated that there were, "still plenty of people that hated him and his ugly face".

I mean, what the actual hell.

And finally, the only one I instantly recognized, the Chief Executive of Towa Group's Robotics Branch, Monaca Towa. Despite being crippled from the waist down, and only being in kindergarten, this insanely smart child had already secured her position in her father's company and was making thousands weekly. In a few years' time, she might even overtake her old man. Yet, here she was, clutching onto Junko's hand like a possessive viper that wasn't about to let go, yet sweetly smiling like she wasn't in anyway upset by my presence. Strangely enough, she spoke entirely in the third person, but it's sadly the most normal thing out of all of their little…quirks.

I planned to ask Junko more about how the hell she could get these kids so smitten with her later, and after watching them play and laugh with her, while also ignoring me, I only wanted to know more. It was only when we were walking back to the dorms that she told me that she'd show me later, promising that I would appreciate it more if I had time to internalize what I'd seen so far first. I didn't quite agree at first, but she was addiment so I had to let it drop.

Yet, it only proved more that this Junko was a lot more…approachable then the normal one. Though, I still had some concerns. Mostly, ones revolving around that guy that fell on her.

I'll admit, I was quite irritated for a while when I learned that they only just got the results on the guy's autopsy. I could have sworn someone with the title of, "Former Ultimate Forensics" would be actually capable at their freaking job. And when she told me that that there was no data on this guy, I was just about ready to take the next flight over to give her a piece of my mind about wasting my precious time. But, then she emailed me the results.

It made absolutely no sense, but she had been right. There was nothing. No dental records, no identifying papers, no fingerprints, no record of any kind. There were no signs that he had ever existed. Not just here either. She had checked with the new branch over in America, and they didn't have anything on him either. It was like he didn't exist before that day.

And more concerning, how he fell on her. There was far too much open space for him to have simply jumped off a building and there were no planes or helicopters flying anywhere near the school grounds that day, let alone on top of Junko. It was as if he had just appeared out of thin air. The Steering committee may have covered up the whole incident and kept people from finding out about the whole thing, but that doesn't change the fact that there had been no way for him to have fallen on her at those kinds of speeds or with that level of force.

This is going to keep me up all night, I just know it."

So much in that entry. So much to figure out.

For starters, I guess the bit in the beginning with Tanaka. The "Ultimate Breeder" if you will, was the most eccentric person that I could easily remember from the class of seventy-seven. The man was a walking, over the top, animal breeder that single handedly managed to save several species from extinction and was always seen with a small posse of cute little hamsters he lovingly called the "Dark devas of destruction". With his love of animals, and his own very untrue claims of being a demon, it wasn't hard to imagine that Junko, or even me for that matter, using that to earn his favor as an ally of the dark arts. He was so fun too, waxing lyrics to make things more epic sounding then it actually was. I could easily see why past me would go to him with a stray kitten.

However, as fun as that image was, I was more concerned with the other part. The one that took up the most room of it all. The part detailing the author's encounter with the "Warriors of hope".

That wasn't supposed to happen, like at all. The story said that Junko didn't find those kids until well into the Tragedy. By that point, they were so starved for love that they had been ready to end it all, and they had been planning to mutually leap off of the building, choosing to die together instead of dying alone. Junko found them right as they were preparing to leap from the top of their school, and convinced them to give their lives to her. Since then, she used their unfulfilled desire for love to twist them into being her unwaveringly loyal tools to continue her bidding along with minor help from the members Ultimate Despair.

That was a great choice on her part because of the little girl named Monaca. The Chief Executive of her families Robotics Branch was the one who was the one of the biggest supporters of Junko's despair, second only to maybe Mukuro. The little roboticist loved Junko, even knowing full well that Junko was manipulating her and the others, so much so that she used her connections to create the very favorite tools that Junko needed for her global plot of despair, the most notable being the very bear I controlled.

That's right, Monokuma and the hundreds of copies that helped run this school, the puppets that were so advanced that they were able to easily overshadow every robot in the world that wasn't from a sci-fi anime. These and so much more were made and produced by this single elementary school student. While I have no doubts that the design was made entirely by the queen of despair herself, the entire production line of the two-faced bear and any merchandise associated with it were all done through the hands of that little girl. Every piece of Junko's plan had hinged on that one little…I think she was a ten-year-old by now.

It's been a while since I first played "Despair girls" after all.

But these pages implied that she met them even earlier then I'd thought, well before the tragedy, and she already had them wrapped around her little finger and made them super possessive of her. She'd already wormed her way into their little hearts and made them love her. But then, when did this happen? How did this happen? Did the past me do this or was this something that Junko figured out from my past self's meddling? The beginning page implies the former, but I can just as well believe it to be the latter.

Then there was the bit at the end talking about how I had died and the results they had found.

To be honest, it wasn't that surprising. I knew very well that I didn't exist in this world before that day, it was idiotic to think otherwise. The fact that I fell on her from such a great height where by all logic I shouldn't have, only helped reinforce that.

Yet, while I was concerned about that, I was more focused on the fact that they'd given my old body an autopsy. It was…difficult to come to terms with my death, the fact that I was still technically alive literally through someone else made it harder to accept. Yet, as I glanced at the pages I saw one thing that prove it to be true.

Attached to the next page was a single picture with a data file listing facts about the person immortalized in the paper. Mostly the standard things like height, weight, gender, noticeable features, things like that. Unfortunately, time and ware had taken a toll on the report. It had clearly been gone over dozens of times as it was heavily crumpled along the corners, but there were also several stains of what I could only assume was either coffee or tea which ruined some of the inking. Strangely though, the part where the picture of the person detailed in it had the most damage of it all, the entire photo had been burned through leaving a sizable hole framed with blackened edges.

It was distressing and rather ominous to see that. To know that someone possessed enough of a grudge against me to burn the only picture of myself that existed in this world; that I knew of. I could only assume why someone would do such a thing. Yet, without any evidence, I could only speculate on the reasons.

From there, several pages were either damaged beyond repair, or had been soaked through to ruin a page or two below it. Trying to pull apart the crusty pages almost ripped them apart, so I had no choice but to leave it be. Not like it mattered really, the ink was ruined and the words were illegible anyway. The only thing I was able to get free from that mess was a part of one page saying something about a phone call Yasuke had with Junko about some apparel store called "Superior outfits, unbelievable prices", but while I chuckled at the reference past me must have made with him, it was too damaged for me to read beyond that small snippet.

Shame, but at least the next few pages past that were well enough for me to read.

"I don't. I can't. How is. Okay, I'm having a bit of trouble trying to rationalize what I'd just seen and heard, so I'm just going to try and just take it a few pieces at a time.

It had been a couple of weeks since Junko introduced me to the kids that call her big sis and for every two days, she would drag me away from my precious work to go play babysitter. Every time, I kept telling her that my time can't be wasted on a bunch of snot-nosed little brats, but as usual she didn't listen and dragged me along regardless of my wants.

Though, I have to admit, I was kind of interested in the talks I would get into with Nagisa, the blue haired one. It was clear that he was very well learned. Every time I thought he would be lost by a subject I would bring up, be it advanced trigonometry, surgical sciences, law, anything, he could follow along. No, no not follow. Understand and explain it back. Comprehend the concepts involved and even challenge them. All despite being in freaking elementary school. I'm actually surprised that he isn't in much higher grades.

Memo to me, stop rambling in these entrees.

Today, they were apparently supposed to be given a new teacher that would be helping them with their issues. Per what Junko claims, they all have a complete distrust in most every adult and this new chick was to be their therapist. Problem was, she was a greenhorn, fresh out of college. She had nothing but theories and simulations under her belt where experience was required, and she clearly never spoke with a child in her life. No matter what she said, no matter how nice she acted, the almost baby like talk she gave these kids was far too insulting to ignore.

Then, things took a dark turn. It started out fine, she just decided to read them a story to see how they reacted and responded. It's a common method for finding how a child will response to certain stimuli to understand why they act the way they do. It was a simple story too, one that you would read someone to sleep with, titled "Gentle Willow". It's an old book that was used to teach children about dying.

That was where things went wrong.

The second she uttered the title, all of them tensed up, like they were anticipating something. Then, the pink one started freaking out. She started hyperventilating, sobbing, and muttering something in a disjointed voice. It was as if she was having a panic attack. Junko was the first to react, rushing over and scooping the little girl up into a tight hug, clutching her smaller head into her shoulder with an iron grip that caused her nails to bite into the girl's scalp. I followed her, but before I could even ask what was going on, the other kids started shouting at the befuddled woman. The red-haired kid had to be restrained by Nagisa and the masked boy to keeping him from attacking her. Meanwhile, the Towa girl was trying to help Junko calm down the pink girl. I had to convince the women to leave before they could be reasoned with and start trying to figure out just what in the hell that was all about.

It took about an hour before they could pry Junko off the girl without her screaming and latching back on even harder, and during that time the Towa girl and Nagisa explained their situation to me. Junko went into more detail later regarding their background where the kids either didn't know about or were based on their own bias. The short of it, these kids weren't in this perpetual state of detention because they were disruptive or anything like that, it was because they were the ones being tormented. Each of them were living lives of suffering that went beyond sadistic.

Starting off was the pink one, Kotoko. She was a victim of something that I wouldn't wish on any kid. Apparently, she was repeatedly subjected to the sexual whims of random men, all of whom used the very same phrase, "I'll be gentle". This has since become her trigger word that causes her to become neurotic and unresponsive in defense, blocking the world out. As if that wasn't fucked up enough, the girls own mother is the bitch one who has been selling Kotoko body the whole time!

Outside of Junko, the only way the kids know how to get her to stop if she ever hears that dreaded word is to swear that they won't be gentle with her while beating on her or even just slapping her around. Otherwise, she'll just get progressively worst till she passes out.

The others aren't any better, as I learned from Junko later. Nagisa isn't as smart as he is out of choice, his fucking parents both weekly to daily force him to study far, far beyond what anyone should need. Worst, in the boy's own words, they treat him like he's not even a person, but rather a videogame character. Hopping him up with energy supplements through an IV whenever he started to flag, forcing him to stay up for several hours past what should ever be allowed. And you never want to put any form of expectations on him, because it causes him to flip out from the fear of abandonment that his ass father instilled on him.

Masaru's father is a drunken lout that is constantly beating on him for the dumbest of reasons; what fucking moron demands for a ten-year-old to go buy a crate of beer, and honestly expects them to get it? Jataro wears that abomination because his mother is a hag that hates him for looking so much more beautiful then she does, and his obsession with being hated over being loved stemmed from the same source. Monaca Towa was a girl born from an affair, whose so-called mother dumped her on the doorstop of her father completely out of spite, and has had it so bad growing up with her old man and half-brother that she must pretend that she's crippled just to get any form of sympathy. And only Junko has figured that part out.

For a moment, I thought that she was telling me this because she wanted me to help get this settled through the CPA, but she reminded me of just how high up on the ladder these sick freaks are. Even ignoring the red-head's dad, the others were so high up on the latter that they would be able to buy off the whole damn investigations district. And even if they couldn't, Towa was one of the highest paying supporters of Hope's Peak, and the steering committee would sooner drop their stupid rule on regular people not being allowed on campus then risk losing all that money.

Yet, Junko has apparently decided to pull a fast one on the adults. I hadn't noticed before, but all the kids are wearing the same red bow. Apparently, they were something Junko had made for them, and each one contained a hidden video camera that the kids were using to gather evidence to be used in court when they feel they have enough. In fact, the whole reason that Junko visits them so frequently, aside from brightening up their day, was to collect that data from them for storage. In a few short months, she believes that it will be enough to at the very least get the kids away from their abusers.

Though, the concerning part came when I asked what she would do if it failed. I don't need to imagine what she meant when she said she'd have her twin handle it."

Honestly, neither did I.

Ignoring the bit at the end, I didn't know what to feel about the information this presented me. On the one hand, I hated being reminded of what nightmares those poor misguided and suffering children had to go through. I might not like dealing with kids myself for very long, but that didn't mean that I thought any of them deserved to suffer such injustice.

Abused, abandoned, unloved, those poor kids had had it rough. No, that was understating it. Their lives were a level of hell all its own, a torture I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. For no reasonable purpose, they suffered everyday of their lives and were pushed down by the very people that should be helping them the most out of all others. It was sickening. I'm almost happy that their parents were dead.

No, you didn't mishear me. I was near glad that they all died in the story before, even despite how it was done. I could care less if it turned out that Mukuro or some other person took them out this time or not, I just didn't care about those monsters in any matter, whatsoever.

Yet, the thing I found strange was how Yasuke had written this time. Unlike the mix of flowing yet mess of letters that he usually wrote in, this set of pages was basically chicken scratch. It wasn't just the choice in words, I could tell just by looking at the rough lettering and thick ink that he had been digging trenches in the paper that he was furious. The amount of times he had to cross out his own words did nothing to prove otherwise. Even though it tampered back to his normal writing near the end, it still felt more like he had just settled down to a simmer.

I had never read the novel that he was introduced in before coming here, so I didn't know much about him aside from what I'd seen on the Wiki page, but I had never thought of him as someone who cares that much about others. Junko was the only exception to that, which wasn't surprising seeing as they were supposedly lovers. Yet, seeing just how much anger he put into the words on these pages, I was starting to reevaluate just how much he cared for humanity.

He put a lot of complaints about everyone in his entries, every other word felt like an insult for someone or something they'd done. The only time he was ever complimenting someone was when he was truly impressed with their intelligence, and even then, he had some way of being bitter. He was a rather backhanded with a lot of things.

Still, I guess even he has a soft spot for kids. Maybe it stemmed from the suffering in his own childhood that he didn't want something happening to others, or maybe it was that he had a bigger heart then he willingly let on. With how much time he spent growing up with Junko, it would be very likely either way.

Regardless, I still had much to think about. The Warriors of Hope, the five kids that practically worshiped the ground Junko walked on. They were one of the biggest pieces of concern for me. The Ultimate Despair were the biggest piece without a doubt, but these kids were still a very large part of her design. As long as they were active, they would be a problem.

In the future, once Junko died, these kids used an armada of Monokuma to take over one of the biggest refuges that had been set up to protect the survivors of the aftermath of the Tragedy. What remained of the world government put a lot of stock in the investment of the massive Towa city that if such a place fell, it would be devastating to the world at large; a part of the reason for the kid's takeover. They also wanted to make the place into a utopia for kids, but that was secondary for the mastermind of the kids.

Wait, no, it was third.

Their actions wouldn't go into play until after this Killing game though, so I shouldn't have to worry much about that. But I was concerned that they might be a problem in the now. Monika especially might be a problem since she not only built the Monokuma units, she might have a way to use them against me.

That blasted letter still had me on edge, the idea that everything would go to hell if I wasn't doing my best to do the worst, I still wasn't sure how exactly they would go about it though. Junko had been rather vague on how the people outside would, quote, "destroy the school", and that was one of the things I needed to understand. How exactly would that be carried out and how could I stop it from happening; if I can prevent it. Junko was a tricky pain in the neck, I would never doubt that she would have a backup plan to keep this game going.

But that left the how, and by whom? The Ultimate Despairs? I'd only seen two thus far purely out of necessity, and they were of the more…less then observant of them. I didn't dare consider risking a call to one of the smarter members on the chance they would see through it instantly. It could be one of their higher ups would be enough to take down this school on their own…maybe. Do I even dare considering their greatest and most powerful member Izuru Kamukura, the former "Ultimate Hope"?

Wouldn't put it past Junko to do that to be honest.

But the one who made the most sense was the little girl Monaca. This little girl made the damned Monokuma after all and filled this school with hundreds of the blasted things. If she had a way to control them from outside, or could override my own, then it wouldn't take much for them to destroy the place from the inside out. Worst, if simply mauling everyone inside wasn't despair ridden enough, the little brat could just have the entire Monokuma supply self-destruct simultaneously.

Possibly…Maybe…I'm probably overthinking it.

'But what if I'm right and that is what would happen.' I thought with a bite to the inside of my cheek. 'Then you would have ignored a potential threat on blind fate. That's not how you do things if you want to best the mastermind. Best this game. I could call the kids, check and make sure.'

I shook my head at that thought. "No, bad idea. Horrible idea. Worst idea ever! If there is anyone who would notice the cracks in my acting, it would be that little brat Monaca. There is no way I would ever…"

'Still, wouldn't it be better to check, just in case?' My thoughts betrayed me and I pressed my index finger to my temple in frustration. 'Who knows, maybe this was one of the edges you need to keep things going on the right track.'

"Yeah, but what is the right track?" I expressed my frustration aloud, irritated at the uncooperativeness of my own mind and my own lack of future predictive powers. "I have no idea what I'm doing half the time, and the times I do, I comes with all kinds of consequences I either miss, or don't want to consider."

I groaned as I all but threw myself into my chair, one of my legs propped up on the armrest as I crossed my arms in a huff. This wasn't like a game where I could look up the answers on the chance I got stuck on a choice of action. Not that I do, I'm just saying. I'm all alone in this, and every ally I have has the potential to ruin everything for me. There is no one I can turn to with my questions, only my own wits can be relied on. And even those were in question since I don't know everything I need or should. The only thing I have is my knowledge on the games, the people and places within it, and my own theories.

'…Then maybe it's time to stop asking what you don't already know, and start searching for the truth in places you don't.' My eyes slowly opened as I considered that thought. Maybe…maybe that is what I should do. I had no idea how to stop this game from inside it just yet, I knew this school from top to bottom and knew that there was nothing that I could do in here, so maybe I needed to search outside. I already dipped my feet in the idea with my call to Soda-can and Mikan-girl, maybe I should try a little bit deeper and try someone else.

What was there to really lose anyway, really? I already died once, why not try something a bit riskier?

As I straightened up in the chair and began inching the chair closer to the computer, I considered to myself that, this might actually work to my advantage. I mean, they're kids. This might be easier for me.

As I typed in the number for the kid's video-phone number from the contact list Junko had saved in the computer. I did my best to swallow my nerves.

Fingers crossed that this goes well.

---

"Come on, knock it off!" came the whining cry of a young girl as she ran around the room, trying to avoid the boy chasing after her with a wide grin on his face. "Keep that gross thing away from me~"

"What's the matter?" came the teasing remark of the boy as he continued to chase after the pink girl with his arms outstretched towards her, a large green bullfrog covered in mud and slime clutched in his equally filthy hands. "Don't you want to kiss it and see if it'll turn into a prince?"

"No!" She rebutted back with a glare of her angry pink eyes into his mischievous blue ones. "And even if I did; and I'm not saying I would, he would have to take me out to dinner first."

The boy couldn't think of a retort to that, so instead he continued his pursuit with a laugh. Disgusted, the girl could only continue her fleeing with a cry of outrage. Yet, if one was to look at her face they would see a wide grin betraying her amusement. Off to the side of the expansive room that the two were playing in, three other children watched the spectacle with their own looks as their cohorts continued their merry chase. Two of them, both male, carried a shared look of bemusement, but the one who had hair of blue hue also carried a gaze full of irritation at the tomfoolery going on before him.

"Ugh." He groaned as he placed his hand on his temple and began to rub circles on his temple in an attempt to relieve the growing headache he was starting to get from watching this larking around his fellow kids were partaking in. "Can't they be serious for five minutes?"

The other boy didn't really respond to the question, his thought's more focused on other things as evident by his murmuring question, "I wonder why witches would turn princes into frogs. Why not toads? Or maybe slugs? Or crabs? And why do lamas spit at people...?"

The third of their rank, a girl in a wheel chair, only continued to smile as she watched the others from her seat. Her expression was kind, happy to watch the others play around and ignore the incoherent ramblings of the masked boy as he went on and on, and the cries of laughter going on by the other two of her fellow kids. Her hand reached up to cover her mouth as she giggled a little bit. The other boy with blue hair turned to look at her, just to see if there was any need from him, but when she did nothing but smile back cutely he turned away with a small dusting of red on his cheeks.

Monaca couldn't stop the smile of hers from becoming a little more…twisted now that the others weren't looking. It was so pathetically easy to manipulate these idiots to her will. All it took was a little smile here and there, the threat of a tantrum every once in a while, it was so simple she couldn't help but wonder if a chimp could do it.

Her eyes focused on Kotoko and Masaru for a moment, the two arguably strongest members of their group, and she quickly stopped herself from scoffing from that. The only thing strong about them was they were the ones with the biggest tolerance to pain from their parent's abuse, sexual in the former and physical in the later. They weren't anything important otherwise. While the pink lover had some moderate intelligence about her, they were both equally useless in Monica's eyes for letting the thing that had tormented them become their own outlets of aggression.

Oh yes, Monaca was well aware of the things they got up too when they thought she wasn't looking. They had to get their implements of torture for the "demons" through Monaca after all. And honestly, who did Kotoko think she was fooling when she asked for a table that had several groping hands on it? She even called it a "motivation table" for crying out loud.

And Masaru, what a punk. Sneaking out at night to play "Demon Hunter" with his Hero robot she had made as part of the set they all had worked reluctantly together to design, and then trying to pretend nothing happened, and not once stopping to question why it was that all of the scrapes were buffed out every morning and it had been fully charged despite him forgetting to turn on the charging unit…again. It was pathetic how much of a whiny little weakling he really was.

Then her gaze turned to her masked "companion", a term she used very lightly, who had somehow transcended his murmuring questions to some kind of debate over if mud would taste better if it was full of sugar or salt. She shook her head in disgust. If the other two were worthless, then Jataro was pathetic. Always going on about the most disgusting or worthless topics, he never contributes to anything worthwhile to a conversation and he constantly hides in his room to work on his little art projects when he stops feeling content in the hatred everyone gives him; hate that he knows he deserves. And his rants, or "yawns" as he calls them. Completely rubbish wastes of time that do nothing and help nobody. If it wasn't for the fact that he made some of the best artwork for their group and of Big sis Junko she had ever seen, she would have him taken out back and shot years ago.

The only good thing she found in this group of imprudent idiots was Nagisa, the second smartest member of them. Even though he had that stupid belief that he needed to babysit them all because of his greater intelligence, he was the only one of them that actually knew what he was talking about eighty percent of the time. And that silly crush he had on her that he thought he was being oh so careful about hiding from her, if she had any interest in a relationship it might have been endearing, but it was so easy to manipulate him with it that Monaca couldn't care less about how pathetic it was. Now if only she could get him to drop that serious attitude he tried to make of himself.

If the youngest Towa was honest with herself, then she would say she hated them all. They were so pathetic, easy to turn against each other, and complete utter hypocrites in every sense of the word. True, the had their uses here and there, but those moments were so far and few that she couldn't be bothered counting them. They were bit players, unworthy of her attention, let alone big sister's love.

Yet, it was that very love that stilled her whenever her thoughts turned to the dark road of trying to get rid of them. If there was one thing that Junko made very clear, it was that she truly did care about them all, and while she eventually did plan to use Monaca's talent as the head of robotics in her father's company, she still loved all five of them like they were her own children. She was everything they had ever wanted in a sister, mother, and beyond. She was kind, she legitimately cared about their problems, had done her best to make sure they were all happy. She read them stories, she helped them with anything the needed. And Monaca knew that if anything happened to them on her watch it would absolutely devastate Junko, and if that happened she was certain that cause herself to break down as well.

It was why the only time the Warriors of Hope mutually agreed on something that Monaca didn't manipulate them into agreeing was when their beloved big sis had told them that she was going to be locked up in the high school with her classmates. The five kids had been completely distraught at the time, begging Junko not to go, demanding to know why they were being separated from her after she had done so much for them, pleading to let them come join her in the lock down.

Monaca quickly and discreetly wiped away the tear that was forming at the memory, making absolutely sure that none of the others had a chance to notice. That memory was arguably the most painful one she had in her time on this green earth. Remembering the moment Junko scooped them all into her arms, tears in her eyes as she gave them all a peck on the head swearing that she loved them, promising to return one day and begged them to be brave till then. It had broken all of their hearts to be separated from her, but in that moment of weakness, she had managed to convince Monaca to allow them all to live with her in her own private residence that she had been "gifted" by her father as a clear bribe to keep her from ruining him.

What a fool he was.

Still, it meant she had to endure moments like this where one or more of the others were doing something stupid and she had to tolerate it with a grin to keep things going where she needed them. Now that Junko's plan to start a killing game was in effect, it would only be a matter of time before their beloved big sister would return to embrace the green haired girl again.

Well, she would hug the others too, unfortunately, but that would only be a minor problem at best.

Just as she was thinking about all the fun things that she and her big sis would be able to do when she got out, she and her fellow kids were cut off from their various thoughts and chase when there was a sudden chiming from her computer, one that she had built so that she could be updated on the situation in the outside world. A frown came to Monaca's face at that sound, as she hadn't heard that sound for a long while now. It was one she had that only went off when she was receiving a video call from someone. Normally not a problem since she was the head of robotics in her father's company, but that didn't make much sense to her since the chime this time was from her personal private line that only a select few should know about.

Those few allowed to know of it were, in order of least important to most were, her father, the technician for her branch of the company, the second in charge of the same branch, her lawyer, and Junko herself. They were the only ones allowed to even think about calling her, though the first one was only able to know about it because he had been required to set it up in the first place.

The others though, it was something that she had made sure they knew to only call in case of an emergency, like the factory blowing up or something of that level of importance. That was the only time they were allowed to call her, never anything less. The only exception was obviously Junko, but the girl that Monaca loved had told them explicitly that she wouldn't be able to use it very often since there was a chance that it could be hacked and tracked; a very small chance since it was a computer Monaca had made herself, but there was still a chance.

There were so many things that constituted as a Super Highschool Level talent, and neither Junko nor Monaca had believed for a second that there wasn't possibly a Former-Ultimate Hacker of some sort out there that could screw up everything for them all at some time, despite the lack of most of the internet remaining. Because of that, they had both agreed that it would be best if they limit their communications till Junko was out of the school. It hadn't been a desired choice, but it was one they knew needed to happen.

So, it should come to no surprise that she and the others let out a sharp gasp when they saw the face of the girl they all loved like a sister or mother pop up on the screen with a big grin on her face. Masaru even tossed the muddy frog to the side without a thought as he and Kotoko quickly gave up on their chase to scramble over to see the only one who loved them.

"Big sis Junko!" they all chimed at once, completely shocked by her appearance. In their eye's she looked as beautiful as ever, her hair in the usual pigtails that they all knew she preferred, her smile they all loved on full display. However, the simple fact that she was even here was so surprising that all they could do was stare when she started to giggle.

"Hey there! How are my favorite kids doing today?" She spoke with such happiness in her voice, her eyes practically glowing to the five children as they looked at her in a mixture of shock and joy. They were unable to respond for a minute, unsure if they were seeing what they thought they were. Their most beloved person that they all treasured more than anything in the world was here, on the computer screen, in all of her high definition glory. The girl they had started to fear they would never see again for years.

Masaru was the first to recover, his brash nature finally coming in handy for something for once. "Hey! Big sis! Hey, you're here!"

Just like that, the spell of silence that had enveloped them all was swiftly broken, resulting in the others immediately clamoring for Junko's attention. Kotoko asked if Junko was okay, if she was wanting some girl talk, and she threw in a comment about how super adorbs the blond girl was looking today. Masaru, the lout was trying to tell their adoptive big sis of the various "brave" things he'd done, trying to overpower the others with his loud voice, and even gloating about a few of the various "pranks" he'd been pulling recently that she had missed out on. The wimp Jataro was practically drowned out in between the two of them, but he still tried to ask their precious big sister various questions, some about her wellbeing, but most of them were nonsensical nonsense; per the norm.

Their wonderful sister, always so much more patient and saintly then these chumps ever deserved, simply nodded along, giving compliments where needed, asking to know more about the matters that interested her or explanations where needed. She answered what she could, provided the three loudmouths gave her a chance to speak, and when she felt she absolutely needed to be heard she spoke very loudly and concisely. She held their attention flawlessly, as expected from someone as perfect as her, and never let either one of them feel left out of the conversation for long. It was so endearing of her to lavish so much care on them all and it was absolutely inspiring to watch Junko work her charm on these simpletons.

Sadly, or rather thankfully, there was always a wet blanket around to smother the flames of their fun.

"Hold on a moment everyone." Nagisa interjected, his stern voice demanding the attention of everyone in the room. "What's going on Junko? I thought you told Monaca that you wouldn't be calling us at all."

Junko blinked inside the monitor, her smile fading for a more concerned expression as she gazed at the blue themed boy. "What's the matter Nagisa, do you not want me to talk to you?"

Instantly, the boy with cat ear lost his thunder as he flinched back, and Masaru quickly jumped to defend their big sister. "Nagisa! Why would you say that!? She finally calls us after forever, and you want her to bug off? I ought-a punch you in the mouth for saying that."

Before the blue haired boy could say more than a startled "That's not what I meant!" Junko cut in with a depressed sigh. "No, I understand. You're growing up after all. It only makes sense that you wouldn't want to spend time with your big sister anymore. You want to be more independent and all that, it's fine. I get it."

Monaca knew their big sis was just messing around, just wanting to get a reaction from the boy, but it was the way the others quickly turned against him that made it much more interesting. The way he quickly lost his serious face for one of shock was absolutely hilarious, and the upset glares the others leveled against him only made it funnier.

Quickly realizing that he was in a bad spot, the bluenette ducked averted his gaze with an embarrassed blush as he pressed his index fingers together. "M-My apologies Junko. I didn't mean to offend you. I really am happy that you called, I was just concerned you were taking an unnecessary risk in calling us. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." Junko rebutted with a smile, cutting off any remarks from the other kids in the process. "I knew what you meant. Like you said, you were just concerned in my safety, nothing wrong with that. I just want you to think about how you say things like that in the future; you might accidentally make an enemy of someone you don't want to if you're not careful about that."

Nagisa merely nodded with a nervous statement of, "R-Right. Thank you, Junko." Then he stepped to the side a bit to let Monaca roll closer, his question forgotten in the wake of his being chastised. Without letting her adorable smile waver even slightly, Monaca moved her electric wheelchair closer to the screen, the others following Nagisa's lead and moving out of the way for her. Then after stopping just before the table the screen stood upon, the youngest Towa gave out a small giggle.

"It's so good to see you, Big sis Junko!" she stated with her hands balled up in front of her as if she was praying before throwing them up high in the air like she was on a decent of a rollercoaster. "Monaca is so happy to see you again! Please, tell Monaca you're excited to see us!"

There was a brief pause from her Big sis, so brief she almost missed it like the others clearly did, but then Junko smiled back in return and said, "You know I am! It's been torture being away from my little warriors, I tell ya. It's so good to see your smiling faces again."

Monaca continued smiling as the others blindly basked in her praises, but inside, she frowned. That momentary pause, it raised an alarm in her head. Junko never pauses during her intro, it wasn't like her. That also wasn't the line that she was supposed to say. It was close, but Junko's line was supposed to be "Darling warriors" not "Little". No, that was the line of the other Junko, the one that was better than the normal Junko. The better Junko who actually loved them, the one who had done everything she could to save them from their demon parents, and the one who wanted the best of them.

Mama Junko, the name Monaca liked to call her, was in every way the batter Junko in the eyes of the youngest Towa. A separate Junko that had easily seen through every last act of deception Monaca had tried, even figuring out that the little girl had been faking her state of being crippled, as well as why she was doing it, and had held her close instead of pushing her away afterward, like a real mother would. Mama Junko had been the one they all thought of as a mother internally, even if they refused to actually call her that out loud since they didn't want their own contempt for their own birth mothers to transfer over to her, as she was better than any mother they had before. As for Monaca, she loved both parts of Junko of course, but Mama Junko held a slightly bigger place in her heart.

The others didn't know about the fact that their beloved big sister had two sides to her, the two acted so similar that it wasn't immediately obvious which was which after all so it wasn't hard to see why their pathetic brains wouldn't piece it together. Monaca wasn't going to help them find out either, as she only called her Mama when in private, and only when she was sure which one she was speaking to.

But, there was only one way to be sure.

"Monaca has a question big sis." She started, her words spoken slowly to emphasize how important this was, something that Junko clearly caught as her own face became a bit more serious looking as well. With the knowledge that her sis was paying close attention to her now, Monaca continued. "Does big sis know the code for the new world secret?"

Junko blinked a few times in confusion, clearly not having expected that question, but just as she was creasing her brow in thought, that idiot Masaru groaned out loud. "Come on Monaca, I know you want to be sure and all, but why do you have to ask her that every time we see her?"

God, how she hated that moron. How many times had he asked that question only for Kotoko to interrupt with a sigh? Well, it would be at least one more time. "For the hundred time, it's Monaca's rule. With so many people trying to copy big sis Junko's super adorbs style all the time these days, we need to be careful not to let some imposter trick us."

He in turn, glared at her with a blush on his face, clearly forgetting that fact once again just like he'll forget right after the meeting once again. "I-I know that! I'm the leader after all, so of course I know all of the rules we made. I just meant that there's no way this isn't the real big sis because she called on Monaca's computer. I mean, who else could it be?"

Nagisa, ever so tired of having to be the thinker of the group, gave the ginger a condescending shrug and said, "Like Kotoko said, there are a lot of imposters out there trying to milk Junko's fame right now for all it's worth, and this wouldn't be the first time someone tried hacking Monaca's mainframe to do it."

Masaru still didn't seem convinced as he crossed his arms roughly and said, "Oh yeah! When!?"

"Last week," Kotoko answered in Nagisa's stead, her tone teasing as she did. "You don't remember because you were too busy trying to put a bucket of glue over Jataro's door."

Realizing that she had him beat on that, Masaru turned away with a grumble, completely ignoring his prank victim's muttering about how it felt like to be coated in glue. "I thought my skin was going to rip off when I took off my clothes. Hey, would that have meant that I would be wearing a skin suit when I put them back on?"

The others blatantly ignored that little yawn, more then used to disregarding what he said without a thought. But there was someone who answered him anyway. "Not really, it would still be your skin after all. It would just be a bunch of dead skin stuck to your clothes till you cleaned them."

Monaca had to pause at that remark from their big sis, the weirdness of the statement was something she hadn't expected so it threw her off for a second even when Jataro said that it made sense. It was yet another point to this being the Junko she called mama, she had been the only one who would take the confusing artist's yawns seriously enough to come up with a response. She always took all of Jataro's words so seriously, even when she really shouldn't, it was no wonder the small boy thought the world of her. She was the only one who listened to him.

Still, it wasn't what Monaca had wanted to hear. Clearing her throat, the green haired girl was about to start up the act of throwing a tantrum to get everyone to shut up so she could hear Junko answer her question from earlier, when Junko cut her off with, "Anyway, the passcode, right? It's one, one, zero, three, and seven, right?"

Outwardly, Monaca cheered for her big sis with a simple, "Yay! Big sis Junko remembered!" but on the inside, she was absolutely relieved. That was definitely the code of Mama Junko, the only code Big sis Junko would never be able to figure out. It required knowledge that the big sis side of her was completely unaware of, and unable to access herself. Monaca didn't know exactly where the code came from herself, but she knew that Mama had always used that code for anything she thought was important, so it only made sense that she would make it their passcode to identify her.

Now that that was out of the way, she didn't need to give Junko any more problems. "So, did you need something from Monaca, Big sis?"

"Nothing too important aside from seeing your smiling faces again." Mama Junko lied with an endearing smile that had the others fooled without a problem, so simple their thoughts that they didn't even notice. "But, I did have a question about Monokuma."

Monaca blinked, not having expected that. "What did big sis want to know?"

"I was wondering if you're able to control them from outside the academy at all." Junko stated with an inquisitive expression on her face. "I've got a new idea for a future motive involving Monokuma, and while I can give them orders no problem from in here, I wanted to know if you would be able to send in some program to them for me. You would know them better than I do after all."

Monaca beamed at the praise, ecstatic that she was being trusted with such an important task from her big sis. Big sis Junko had gone on and on about how important her motives for the killing game were for her, and had explicitly stated that she didn't trust anyone with setting them up but herself. The only time she made an exception was when she was absolutely positive that she couldn't do it herself. So, to hear that she was asking Monaca explicitly for her help filled the girl with a feeling of pride, joy…

And despair.

"I'm sorry Big sis, but Monaca wouldn't be able to do anything like that." The green haired girl pouted as she crossed her arms and turned her head away. "Monaca tried that already, but the programmer girl set up a firewall around the school mainframe. Monaca's magic is super strong, but her magic can't breach it no matter how much Monaca tries."

And hadn't that been the most infuriating thing the genius child had had to deal with. She had hacked into all kinds of government files, security, and all kinds of top secret organizations. She had infiltrated the most well founded and secure accounts of world leaders all over the world, and robbed them blind without leaving a trace of her presence behind. She had even hacked into the computer systems of the Future Foundation without breaking a sweat. Yet, somehow, that meek little girl little under twice her age had managed to build a wall that Monaca couldn't even scratch no matter how hard she tried

"So, you can't influence the Monokuma at all?" Junko asked, almost sounding relived, but Monaca knew she was disappointed in her. So, she quickly shook her head and explained, "No Monaca can, but that requires Monaca to send a Monokuma with a code into the building, but Monaca would have a lot of trouble doing that because of all the junk Monokuma would have to go through to get to the academy from here."

"I see." Junko looked disappointed, no doubt from Monaca's inability to help her in her plans. It made the green-eyed girl feel terrible, like she had betrayed her loving mother's trust by failing an exam she knew she should have aced. It broke the little girl's heart to see that and she averted her gaze to avoid looking at the fashion model's expression. She could hear the other kids trying to cheer her up, trying to make her feel better, but it was entirely white noise to her at that moment; a minor annoyance at best.

They didn't have more than the slightest clue how upsetting it was for her to fail her cherished Junko's high expectations like this, she only gave them a small amount of her expectations by comparison. Masaru was a brute, Jataro was a weirdo, Kotoko was a hypocrite, and Nagisa, for all his smarts, was the most childish of them. They didn't have even the slightest idea of what it meant to fail something that actually mattered. Monaca ran a company, she was in charge of hundreds of lives, each one worthless to her, but she had to make sure they were able and willing to work every day until she found a way to replace them on a more permanent basis. Each of these required her to stress, to fight, and to push herself beyond her limits to keep running, and no matter how much she wanted to quit, to go back to being a normal kid, she had force herself to keep pushing.

It wasn't for her father, he had given her the position to watch her crumble and fail. The robotics branch was barely five percent of the Towa corporation's revenue, and even if it failed, he could just swoop in and fix whatever she messed up and write it off as her trying to be more important than she had any right to be. True, that was just something Junko hypothesized to her, but it had been supported by the other Junko as well so it had to be true.

After all, whenever both sides of Junko agreed on something, they had yet to be wrong.

She did the work because Junko needed her too, she kept that part of the company in the green to help her adopted big sister's plans. She couldn't give a damn if it made her father proud or disappointed, he only cared about his public image. Junko was different, she loved Monaca, and she loved her back in turn.

But now, she was failing someone she actually gave a damn about, and that hurt more than anything else. She hated failing Junko even a little, and now she failed because of something she couldn't even control.

Just as she was about to break away from the others and roll back to her room to mope, Junko's melodic voice pierced the haze of despair looming over her. "It's alright sweetie, it's okay. I understand. There's nothing wrong with it, I just need to change my plans a bit. It's perfectly fine."

Now, Monaca wasn't a fool by any stretch of the imagination, on some level she could see exactly the manipulations Junko was trying to employ on her. The sweet tone to calm her down, the use of a term of endearment to make her feel happier so that she would respond to the tone better, and the dissociation of responsibility by using the word "my" instead of "our" so that she wouldn't feel like it was in anyway her problem. Yet, on another level, she had to admit that it was working.

It didn't help that Junko then said, "Oh, I wish I could just reach through this screen and give you all a hug." It was a tactic of promising the unfeasible to make them feel like she did love them and would be willing to do the impossible for their sake, which worked on the others perfectly if their touched expressions were to be believed. Even she felt happier after hearing that.

And then Masaru opened his big mouth.

"Don't worry about it, Sis! Once everything is set up we'll never have to worry about any of those stupid demons keeping us apart again." The others instantly tensed up at his remark, and Monaca herself cursed his name under her breath, when Junko looked at him with a glare laced in suspicion.

"Set up…?" she asked, but the look it the fashionista's eye told them explicitly that she was demanding an answer. The look spoke of the untold horrors that awaited them if they didn't tell her exactly what he meant by that. A collective shiver ran down their spines, and even Masaru seemed to catch on to their impending doom as his expression became far more forced as a result of his fear.

Almost as one, the others turned to their designated manager for quick explanations and alibis, Nagisa, who returned their looks with a deadpanned expression. "Seriously?" he didn't so much say so much as he proclaimed with his gaze, not wanting to try and risk upsetting their big sis. All they could offer in response was their own pleading gazes and begging smiles. He sighed in response, his own repeated experiences in this situation allowing him to turn that sigh into one that looked like he was trying to not to feel upset for a surprise being ruined instead of one of frustration as he turn back to the screen.

"It was supposed to be a surprise gift for when you got out, but I guess it can't be helped." He began to say in a disappointed tone, but they all could see it was in them and the fact that they threw him under a bus more than anything else. "We've been working on those adoption forms you were trying to get passed for the past few months now, the ones that'll let you take us in as your kids that we've been trying to get approved of for the last few months, and Monaca finally found a lawyer that was able to get most of it finished without your need to be there."

"Y-Yeah, that was the biggest problem we kept having trouble with." Jataro picked up with his slow speaking voice without the need to be told. "They kept telling us that you needed to be present to sign the paperwork, and that you needed to have a lot of money, and that you needed to own a house and stuff. It was a real hassle. Um, also why do they call a horse's and a donkey's child a mule? Why not a horkey?"

Kotoko quickly picked up to prevent the conversation from getting any further off the rails. "So, Monaca went and found some better lawyer guy that would get most of it done in your name, and would hold the papers off until you were able to come out and sign the papers. She even went and used some of the money in her bank to get us all a house and a grant from the sleazy perverts in the government that give you money to help with our adoptions. Also, isn't it super adorbs that some animals will take in other animal's babies when they find them lost and alone?"

Monaca quickly took the reins before she could devolve into an equally pointless discussion as Jataro's. "All that's left is for Monaca's father to pass on and for Big sis Junko to sign the documents and we can start being a real family. And then Big sis Junko will become Mama Junko; the best mother in the world! And nothing like the bad mothers."

The best part was, it wasn't an actual lie. They actually did do all of that and every last bit of it was true, the only things that were a sort of lie was the fact that they had actually had the papers signed, the date they were planning to announce it, and that they hadn't used just a lawyer to make it all possible. Her father wasn't the only one who could use their money to make things happen that they shouldn't legally be able to after all.

But it got the aim of their attempt to distract their big sister from Masaru's slip up and focused on something unrelated. She had been rendered speechless at the news, her expression constantly shifting between a mix of shocked, happy, terrified, excited, and distressed. All emotions Monaca had expected to see flashed across their eventual mother's face.

She had to compliment Nagisa for his quick thinking. True, they were planning to announce it when Junko's birthday rolled around this year if her killing game took that long since they knew it was her most hated day of the year bar none. Even the other side of her hated it, even if for different reasons. They all wanted to do something to make her feel even just a bit happier on such an important day. But seeing the look on her face in this moment made that bit of disappointment in telling her early fade like mist in the wind.

"I…I-I don't know what to say." Junko admitted, and Monaca couldn't have stopped the thrill she felt at finally shocking the once thought of impossible to surprise into being unable to respond. With how easy it was for the strawberry-blond to figure out everything at a moment's notice, it made it this moment one that Monaca knew would be treasured for years to come by her and the other warriors of hope.

"You don't have to say anything." Masaru told Junko with his chest puffed out in undeserved pride as he rubbed the area under his nose like that one manga character he really liked. "As the leader of the Warriors of Hope, I can already tell how excited you are. I bet you can't wait to come out of that stuffy, boring school to hang out with us!"

"Yeah…yeah, I can't…wait." Junko stated as tried to process the information she'd been given. However, the last word of her statement had come out with a look of realization and suspicion as she turned to look at the blue eyed, roughhouse lover "Leader?"

Always excited to brag about himself, and completely unable to tell when someone was using that attribute to blatantly change the subject, he puffed out his chest even harder and explained. "Yep! I'm the super awesome leader that unites the Warriors of Hope with a bang. I used my amazing skills to rise to the top to claim this title as the Hero class and because the one who will stand bravely on the front lines like a real leader should; not like those stupid adults who hide in the back and make the others do the work for them. Pretty cool, right?"

"You beat them in Roshambo, didn't you?" Junko deadpanned at his exaggerations and effectively removed the wind from his sails and left him a stuttering, blushing mess. Monaca had a feeling that if any of his fellow warriors had done that he would have whined about it, but Junko was someone he could never find it in himself to do such a thing to since he knew how much their big sis hated it when people whined.

"…Yes." He muttered as he ducked his head and started fiddling with his headphones in embarrassment at being called out. His cheeks had also grown a shade of red as he refused to look Junko in the eye. She in turn sighed and placed a hand on her cheek in thought.

"Still, you were made the leader in the end, so I have no reason to complain. But are you sure your up for such a position? It's a lot of responsibility after all." Her tone was full of concern for him, and it clearly threw the sporty boy off of his game. He wasn't even able to respond before she continued, "Do you even know what a leader is?"

"Yeah, of course I do." Masaru replied, but the bravado he usually carried was noticeable absent in his voice. "They tell people what to do, and they're really liked and respected, a-and they don't have to be afraid of anything, because they have everyone's support."

"Ah, but that's only part of it. You'll not only be the one in charge, but you'll also be responsible for everyone else. If something happens then you'll be the one held at fault; even if you weren't responsible. As the leader, that means you'll basically have to be the big brother of the group." Junko's expression changed ever so slightly a small smile worked its way into her caring face. "You know what that means right?"

"N-No, what?" Masaru asked her, and that smile on her face grew just a little bit more when he lifted his head to look to her.

"It means that you'll be everyone's protector, their guardian, and you will have to be willing to help them with their problems. You'll need to put everyone ahead of yourself and be their guiding light leading by example, to make sure that they will always someone to talk. Everything about you will be for others, your strength will be their strength until they're strong enough to act on their own, you will be their shield until they can defend themselves, and you will be their sword until they can fight for themselves. Do you think they can do that?"

Monaca was impressed by Junko once again. Ever since that smile appeared on the fashionista's face, Masaru had slowly perked up, becoming more and more stunned as she went on. Monaca couldn't remember the last time she had seen the redhead rendered so deep in awe that he couldn't even speak, his jaw hanging limply as the weight of his title finally hit him. She could see tinges of doubt in the back of his eyes, wondering if he had what it takes to hold such an important position as the sword and shield of the Warriors of Hope, questioning if he could do all of that with his own weaknesses weighing him down. Then Junko asked him that and despite the overwhelming fear he no doubt felt, he swallowed his rising fears, and spoke as clearly as he could.

"Y-Yeah, I think I can…No, I know I can do that! I'll be everyone's hero big brother, just you watch Big sis Junko!" He spoke with such conviction that she almost believed him for a moment, but Monaca could see the small shakes in his hands and the sweat forming on his brow that proved him to be a liar; both to himself, and Junko.

There was no doubt that Junko saw as well, but she clearly wasn't going to comment on it, so Monaca decided she wouldn't either. Instead, Junko said, "I know you will, because you'll have the support of all of your other Warriors as well."

That remark had been completely unexpected, and none of them were able to form a proper response besides the traditional Huh, What and Eh. So, Junko started again. "Well, you are the Warriors of Hope after all. That means you are a team, a whole unit, and you have to work together. Let me ask you something. If he's the leader, who's the second in command?"

"Uh, that would- that would be me, Junko." Nagisa admitted, momentarily stumbling over his words at being so suddenly called out. Junko did nothing to chastise him for his mistake, instead smiling in his direction.

"I figured as much, you are the most levelheaded one hear after all. That being said, your duties are just as important as Masaru's. While his job if to protect everyone he can, there will be times when he won't be able to get to everyone, so as the smartest one, your job is to strategize and plan for everything. There will be times when the others will struggle, and times when the enemy will come at you with everything they got seeking to overwhelm you. So, when they do, it will be your job to work with your leader to outwit and overpower them."

The two boys turned to each other in thought both holding looks that said very clearly how much they didn't like the idea of working together, but Junko continued regardless. "I know you two don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but for everyone's future, you'll need to be willing to work together; even when you don't like it. I'm not asking you to agree on everything, but try to listen to each other to come up with the best plans that you can. Okay?"

Both were still reluctant to agree, and none of them needed any thought about why. The two boys were very different in everything and rarely agreed. Even when they did, they always bickered about it. Monaca had barely managed to restrain her laughter at the thought of these two ever getting along. Then Junko's next words nearly caused her to break.

"Of course, Jataro, Kotoko, and Monaca shouldn't be forgotten about either. They're your teammates as well after all and they are just as important to listen too." The two boys looked at her in confusion while the other two were just like Nagisa had been when she had called on him.

"Really?" Kotoko asked alongside the three boys, but she continued without them. "I mean, I can totes believe that you would include me and Monika in this because we're both super adorbs girls, and girls are said to be bunches smarter than boys…" She purposefully ignored the affronted glares the two male leaders gave her at that remark. "But, why would you include smelly old Jataro in this. Aside from his paintings and sculptures, he's worthless."

Monaca had to dig her nails into her thigh to avoid laughing at the distressed face the masked boy from the verbal lashing he had just taken and the depressing murmurings of some sort he'd fallen into over it, babbling something about wondering if it was possible to make himself into a painting without losing all of his body parts in the prosses. The sad sack really should be used to those kinds of comments anyway, it's not like it was the first time they'd insulted and belittled him after all. And even the ones of them who didn't still ignored or interrupted him on the regular. Really, Kotoko was right, he was pointless.

So why was Junko now giving them such a disappointed glare?

"Kotoko, let me ask you something." Junko stated with a tone that sounded kind, but it carried a deathly sharp edge that even had Monaca feel like her life required her to stay silent…or else. "Do you know what the most important aspect about all of my plans are and why no one has been able to stop me?"

Kotoko wasn't able to answer, the look on Junko's face had completely thrown her off her game. Understandable really, Junko had never glared at any of them before, at least not like this. Yet Junko was patient and waited for her response; another flag to be concerned about. The pink colored girl turned to look at the others of an answer, but none of them were any help which forced her to turn back and stutter out her best guess.

"U-Um, it's because you…you, um. It's…because you're super-duper smart? A-And because adults are complete idiots?" she tried her best, but it was clear on her face that she had never even considered such a thing. To them, Junko was a perfect being, flawless.

"You're not wrong, Kotoko." Junko started with a sort-of confirmation, "However, most of my best work is because of my creativity and imagination. Any old yahoo can stab a person and blame it on someone else, but they are caught most of the time because they don't think of everything they need to hide the facts. Anyone can pick up a game of go and eventually master every strategy you can think of, but without a creative mind that just becomes as boringly predictable as it gets. It takes a creative mind that thinks outside of the box to win anything important in life, to think in ways no one would ever be able to in the heat of the moment. A master killer will go out of their way to make the crime so convoluted that only a Sherlock Holmes level of Ultimate Detective could stand a remote chance at figuring it out. Without creativity, games like go wouldn't even exist. And if I wasn't so imaginative, I never would have stood a ghost of a chance at saving you all from those demons."

She gestured towards the stunned Jataro next with a wave of her hand, even as the others cringed a bit at the memories of their very much former parents. "He might not be as articulate as you all are, but he more than makes up for it with wild ideas no one else would be able to think of. That's why he's part of this as well. Whenever the other two can't out-wit the enemy and fail to be stronger than them, it falls to Jataro to be more creative than them. To come up with plans that a demon would never consider, the wildcard that throws off every possible contingency they could ever think of. That's why he's there to help you; whether you want it or not."

None of them had a response to that, to stunned they were to do so. They had always just assumed that their beloved Junko had only brought Jataro along out of pity, a whim even would have been more likely than the idea that it was because she thought he had something to offer the group. So, to have that expectation shattered like all of the other ones that had been taken down today and completely shut down, it left them all silent. Even the very person they were talking about had been rendered silent by the support of their big sister. Monaca could see that Jataro's eyes had even started to flood over with tears of gratitude at being given so much kindness at once, he wasn't able to process it all and had become a crying mess as a result.

Yet, now that it had been said, Monaca could see what Junko was talking about. There had been a few times in the past that Jataro had come up with some ideas of worth…sometimes. He had been the one to tell Junko that they had no way of safely catch their parents in the act, and then she had come up with the camera bowties in response. It had also been one of his yawns that had helped her come up with the plan that would bring them together with their treasured Junko again; no matter where she was. She had just written it off as her own plan because it had been from his yawn that it formed and he barely ever remembered those anyway.

Maybe there was more to him then she first thought.

That would have to wait though, because Junko wasn't done yet. "Kotoko, you're a fighter as well, the backline that the others will count on whenever something goes wrong. You're also the stealthiest and can find ways into locations none of the others can. You're the jack of many trades that can be relied on in an emergency and the most adept at trickery for fooling even the savviest of demons. You're also the best at reading people and finding what to say to trick them into trusting you. When there comes a time for figuring out how someone is thinking, there is few that they could ever do a better job then you. Not to mention, you are super-duper, extra adorbs."

Kotoko blushed heavily at the compliments and was twisting on her heels with her fingers laced behind her back. A happy smile had been slapped across her face at Monaca doubted there was much that could be done to take it away from her in this moment. She was almost tempted to try though.

However, she restrained that urge quickly as Junko had saved the best for last. With a grin rivaling the Grinch, the fashion diva turned to Monaca with words of praise. "Finally, Monaca might not be able to fight herself, but I think we all agree that she's the backbone of the entire group. She keeps you guys from killing each other on the regular, and is the sole person responsible for your finances. Without her, the Warriors of Hope would have never stood a chance against the nasty demons out there waiting to hurt you all again and again. She's the heart that keeps you all going when I'm unable to be there, so don't forget that."

Monaca beamed brightly as the others nodded in agreement to their big sister's claims, not a single one of them able or willing to argue against it. They were all there because of her, even if Junko had swooped them off their feet and saved them where Monaca could not. The smallest Towa had been the one to start this all, and was the one keeping it together under one united banner.

"You all are the Warriors of Hope, the defenders of kids from the evils of the demons in the world. Your strength comes from each other, just as much as it comes from yourselves. I'm not asking for perfection, or for you to blindly agree with everything the others say, but I do want you to never forget to accept each other and work together to bring out the best in one other. Remember that, because when I do get out, we'll be a family, and family stays together, stands up for each other, and fights together. Can you promise me that?"

The entirety of the Warriors of hope nodded in agreement, though Masaru had actually shouted his agreement for them all to hear. Even Monaca nodded along, though she and Junko knew very well that she didn't really mean it much. Yet, she knew it would be best for her to play along with to keep the others happy, so with practiced ease she swallowed her disgust and stated in the cutest tone she could, "Absolutely Big sis Junko! Monaca promises that we'll always get along!"

Junko was far from convinced even when they all spoke words of agreement, but before she could say anything, her attention was suddenly grabbed by something off screen and it made her frown. Monaca could hear the angered mutterings of the fashionable women sounding something like, "Oh, now what does that prick want?" before she turned back to the screen with a cringe on her face.

"I'm sorry guys, I gotta go. Work's calling." The kids whined in disappointment, not wanting to be separated from their big sis again, but she wasn't having any of it. "Now, now. None of that. I've already given you guys far more time then I should have, and if I don't go now, then we all might be at risk."

The others reluctantly nodded along, knowing she was right but wasn't something they wanted to agree with. Still that didn't stop Jataro from asking her, "Will you call us again soon?"

"I'll have to see. It might not be for a while though." Junko said with disappointment in her voice, and Monaca could easily tell that it was because she wouldn't have time to do so in the imminent future and that made the green haired girl feel sad. She had really enjoyed this short time with her, even if she was sharing it with the others.

Sadly, this call was over. With a spoken goodbye followed by an, "I love you." Junko cut the connection leaving them looking at themselves in the blackness of the screen. They were silent for a moment as Monaca reached forward to turn of the monitor, and stayed in that silence for a time to process everything that had happened. Occasionally, one of them would glance at one of the others, contemplating the words said about whomever they glanced at, before resuming their depressing staring at the blank screen.

One thought that they kept returning to though, with or without the others knowledge was up for debate, was the surprise that Junko had even called them in the first place. They had just started to believe that they might never see her again aside from her appearances on the TV, and had just started to accept that. It hurt, ungodly so, to think that she might have abandoned them so that she could play her killing game, but it made her happy so they let her go through with it. They were willing to put their happiness aside for her sake.

But that raised the question. "Why now?"

The others turned to the blue haired boy when he asked that, but with his gaze down in thought, he didn't notice. "Why would Junko call us now, when she told us that she wouldn't be able to? Junko had quite a bit of time between getting placed in the academy, and now well into her game. So, why did she wait until now?"

They had no answers for him, they had no ideas to begin with. Junko had always been a confusing person, even they, the Warriors of Hope who knew her the best, didn't understand her methods or motives sometimes; a lot of the time actually. She was perplexing, bewildering even. She was one that destroyed expectations wherever she could, and turned ideas on their head all the time. She devastated plans on a whim, always in the name of keeping things entertaining. They couldn't even try to understand her, not even Monaca could hope to try.

But before they could even try to think of a reason…

"Hehehehuu."

A very annoying voice cut through the silence like an arrow through the air, and caused all of the children's faces to drop straight into annoyed and irritated. As one, they turned to look at the only corner of the room that had been left unlit and stared at the figure waddling about and gave a frustrated glare at the source of that laugh as they stepped into the light.

They walked on plush like feet that lightly plopped down with a soft pouf their whole body split down the middle with pitch black on their left and a dark-grey, almost black tone on the other. Every step was further emphasized by the thick, golden chain wrapped around their neck, the golden padlock and star shaped charm that hung off of one side, bouncing against their black tie decked out with both a stylized crown and heart emblem on it that hung over their white belly. With one paw, they reached up to adjust the dark gray fedora and the red tipped, white feather trapped in its band, before moving to knock off some of the ashes off of the Cuban cigar that they held in place with their golden teeth, as a ring of smoke wafted forth from their mouth. They gazed upon the kids with a ruby red, jagged eye, the other one covered with an eye patch with a heart shaped decal embroidered on the patch, and chuckled lightly once more.

"Who's ta say, sweet-cheeks. Who's. Ta. Say."

---

Hello everyone, it's me again. Have you missed me? Sorry about how much later this update was then usual, but work decided that I needed to work with it fulltime during the month in anticipation of the holidays, plus I caught a flu two weeks ago on the only days I had off to work on this, and writing wasn't really anything I could do with the sinus headaches flaring up whenever I sat up for long. Still, I managed to finish it before Christmas, so I'm still counting it as a victory.

Happy holidays everyone, and hope that things go well for everyone else out there. This was a long wait coming, so now the question is, what have we learned from this?

See you next month.