Hi. If you haven't read the author's note at the end of the last chapter, please do. I haven't decided to throw this current storyline away just yet and with the very supportive reviews (and I can't thank those who left those enough), I'm inclined to keep it. It's just for future reference, if anything.
Right, enough boring shit from me. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
''Celeste?!''
The goth girl was aghast. ''You-You didn't get executed?'' Makoto shook his head vehemently. He was too stunned to get any words out. Celeste leapt forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. She was softly bouncing as she clutched his jacket tightly. He let her. She deserved at least this.
He heard sniffles and the occasional quiet sob after a few moments. ''Did I do something wrong?'' He asked with the grace and subtlety of a raging bull in a china shop. She raised her head and beamed at him. ''Tears of joy, Naegi.'' Her forehead met his chest again. ''I hadn't seen anyone until today.''
Makoto looked around the dining hall. The tables were stacked and forced against the doors. A futon was rolled out in the center of the room, surrounded by food wrappers and empty water bottles. An open book lay face down at the foot of the bed. His eyes bulged when he spotted an enormous dry blood trail that snaked around the room gradually seemed to lose colouration.
''How did you survive this long?'' He asked as he pushed her away to study her body in an effort to find wounds. He couldn't see anything around her chest or arms. She mulled over her words. ''Well, it's a long winded story for sure…''
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Her eyes flickered open. She was staring directly up at a ceiling that lay only a few feet from her. Junko had sent her through that trap door. Where had she ended up?
She sat up. And faced instant regret. A pain unlike anything she'd experienced shot through her leg. ''No, no, NO!'' She yelled, throat dry and coarse. Whimpering, she reached out to her left to assess the damage. A spear was jutting out from her thigh. It was similar to the spears that had almost killed the fake Junko a few weeks ago.
The spear was very wide. A few inches in diameter she would estimate. It wasn't all that painful if she didn't move; there was a numb, buzzing sensation shooting all the way up and down her left leg on a loop. Nothing else hurt, at least nowhere near as badly as when she shifted her legs.
She couldn't sit around here. She hadn't survived all the way up until the final trial only to die under the floorboards. She slowly moved her leg up a few inches, to inspect how much of the weapon was yet to have moved through. ''Oh, thank god….'' She huffed in relief. There was maybe millimetres left below her leg. Though that presented another problem. The spear was attached to the floor.
''You MOTHERFUCKER! ARRRRRGH!''
She needed that. To vent frustration, as one would.
Now was not a time for panic. Was there anything around her that could cut through the spear? Or even break the floor around where it was screwed in? That would be fruitless. She wasn't able to move around enough to search regardless. She searched herself for anything useful. Nothing in her pockets. Maybe her finger ring? Could that turn the screws? It wouldn't hurt to try. Well, it would, just not in terms of morale.
She was glad that her affection for gothic apparel had come in handy. And she was glad that the ring was well made. She slipped the metal jewellry off her index finger and placed it's point into the closest screw and turned. To her excitement, it did budge. Slightly. This would likely take a long time.
…
The first two screws were simple enough. She could lean forward and reach them. But there were still two on the other side and there was next to no light with so little coming through the cracks in the floorboards. She would have to shuffle around to pry the next two out of the floor. That would mean spinning around with the spear still in her leg.
''Fuck it.'' Celeste took a deep breath and placed her hands on the floor, palms facing down. She slowly sidled anti-clockwise whilst trying to keep her leg as central as possible. She couldn't stay flawless at all times; the 3 or 4 times loose flesh or exposed nerves brushed the metal was agonising. But she did it. Her rear touched the floor and she allowed herself to lay back and recuperate.
Her few minutes of rest came to an end. She got back to her escape plan and managed to remove the last two screws. Thankfully, the spear itself wasn't connected or welded to the clasp that held it to the floor. The spear slipped out of the clasp, leaving Celeste with the difficult decision to remove the spear now and risk heavy bleeding or try and find a way to patch herself up first. Another question snapped her out of her thoughts.
How was she going to get above the floorboards?
The hatch that she'd fallen through wouldn't budge and she didn't have the energy to crawl around, even if the spear wasn't such an inhibitor. Was the spear strong enough to break the floorboards? She didn't imagine she had many options besides that.
Once again, she took a deep breath. She held the length of the spear in both hands… and tugged upwards. Whilst the spear didn't catch came out smoothly enough, the discomfort and sharp pain caused her to scream again. 'Use that adrenaline, dipshit.' She heard a voice in her head say. She had no reason to dispute it.
She took the spear in hand again and repeatedly thrusted upwards with as much force as she could muster. ''Come on, come on…'' After about 30 seconds, a board cracked and Celeste experienced more light hit her retina. That was all the motivation she needed to keep chipping away. She forced an entire board to split. She spun the spear around and used the broader end as a makeshift battering ram. The board flew up into the air and out of sight, leaving a gap big enough for her to squirm through.
Celeste dragged herself up and out of the floorboards, ring in hand. Her leg wasn't bleeding as profusely as she had expected. Not that she was complaining. She leant as far forward as she could and unclipped her heels. It would be difficult enough to walk without stilettos on. The trial room was empty as far as she could see from her perspective of about 2 feet high.
The Gambler scooted over to the podiums and heaved herself to her feet. Or foot, more accurately. She didn't dare put pressure on it yet. She took in her surroundings. As she suspected, there was no sign of the others. Monokuma lay face down in the empty space between the podiums. ''Hey, bear!'' The two-toned bear offered no reply. She couldn't be bothered to wait any longer. She carefully turned, leg slightly raised, and hopped over to the elevator, praying it was still working. She had no idea how long she'd been unconscious. How long did people stay out for if they passed out from shock?
She called the elevator down to the trial room. That alone gave her hope. If the elevator was on the top level, that might mean the others had escaped. That Aoi had escaped. The all-too familiar hum of the elevator gradually trailed down. She clambered inside, inspecting the interior and looking for clues as to the others' whereabouts. She pulled the lever and realised how much strength she's lost in the last few minutes alone. As she turned back to face the courtroom, her eyes bulged out of her head.
There were Monokumas everywhere. One standing on every podium. One in the throne where it had been for every previous trial. She hadn't heard anything. No movement. No annoying laughter. She swallowed hard and mentally begged for the shutters to close faster. Whatever god was listening corresponded and the shutters slowly drew in and locked the room away from her.
Just as the elevator whirred back into life, Celeste went against her better judgement and hobbled over to the metal fence to peer through. The Monokumas were all facing her now, the default expression the bear usually had plastered on their faces. The mechanoid was far more intimidating when it wasn't speaking. Celeste backed away as quickly as she could with a single leg and hoped the ride upwards was quick.
…
The grated doors opened and Celeste stumbled out. The blood flow in her leg was so extreme that it felt as if she'd developed a second heart. The wound had pulled itself shut slightly but blood was still leaking when she hopped towards the nurses office.
She twisted the handle and lightly pushed the door into the room. There were no sheets on the beds and the cabinets were open and picked clean. Celeste sighed. Maybe the Mastermind had killed the rest of them and taken everything to the higher floors. That would explain why the Monokumas were still active.
She hopped into the room and opened the large lockers towards the back as they weren't obviously empty as the cabinets were. ''Any peroxide?'' Celeste threw the first open. Then the second. Then the third. ''Anything?'' She said exasperatedly. She grabbed the handle of the fourth and final cabinet. It didn't budge. She turned and looked for something that could prise it open.
''Ah, nice.'' She used the wall for support as she gingerly placed the toes of her left foot on the ground to relieve the enormous pressure in her right leg. She winced, but made her way to a fire extinguisher that sat just next to the door. She gripped it in her left hand and held her arm out from her to avoid hitting her leg. She placed the extinguisher next to the locker and dragged a chair over from beside the beds.
She took a seat and picked up the heavy, red extinguisher and began slamming it into the face of the locker. To her surprise, the door caved in after just a few hits. She reached up from her seated position and tore the door off its hinges with a feral growl. ''YES!'' She threw her arms up in celebration. A pair of crutches and some gauze was visible on the right hand side. The only thing to put a damper on the situation was that she still couldn't see any disinfectant. At least getting around would be significantly easier.
…
She wished that her socks weren't so slippy. The crutches certainly made it less of a pain to move, but she was infinitely more vulnerable in this state. Dragging an IV stand by a cord wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do whilst essentially walking on wooden legs. She made her way past the school store, ignoring the very blatantly open main door; after all, if the world was as destroyed as Junko said it was, she'd have far higher chances of survival inside.
She emerged at the door opposite the 1st floor dormitories. Would the laundry room have anything she could use as a steriliser? That could have awful side effects and she wasn't knowledgeable to know what.
She pushed the doors to the dining hall open and slammed them shut behind her. She slid the IV stand between the large handles. With all those Monokumas downstairs, she couldn't take chances.
The dining hall was practically untouched. A single crystal ball lay on the table. She rolled her eyes. 'Fucking Hiro. How'd you even get that far, dumbass?' She grasped the ball and stared at her reflection.
She looked exhausted. Her face dropped as she finally stood as still as she could. The only sensation she felt when she wasn't moving was the dull stinging of her wound.
Yes, she was exhausted. Yes, she had gauze and crutches. However, her leg would certainly get infected if it wasn't sterilised or cauterised. Her eyes darted around the kitchen. Well, at least they'd left the kettle.
…
The water was boiled. The gauze was sitting next to her, ready to be applied as quickly as possible. And she had the nerve. She laid her leg out as straight as possible and preemptively grit her teeth. She slowly peeled her thigh high down to below her knee and truly looked at the wound. Nope. No more looking. That would only act as a way of scaring her into the procedure she was planning.
She leaned forwards and pulled the long sock off completely. Her foot was purple. Like, grape purple. She wiggled her toes. Well, she thought about her toes wiggling. She couldn't seem to make them move more than a few nanometres. Well, at least she had a way of tracking her recovery. If she didn't die of an infection overnight. She took off her drills and unfurled, well, more like bent, the metal loop that attached the extension to her real hair. Luckily the loop, which could now be described as a rod, was roughly the same girth as the hole in her leg.
She wasted no more time. She quickly submerged the rod into the kettle, hoping that the metal wasn't able to melt. After a few seconds, it became apparent it wouldn't. She pulled the rod back out and forced it into the wound, the cauterization process beginning with a soft hiss.
Not that you could hear the hiss.
Celeste screeched in agony. The banshee-like vocal performance carried on until she ripped the instrument from her leg twenty seconds later. For extra measure, she shakily took the kettle and poured more water onto the upper exterior of the wound then took a dish cloth soaked with hot water and did the same to the underside of her thigh.
Tears clouded her vision as she reached for the gauze on the tabletop. She cut a rough amount off with a kitchen knife and wrapped her leg with surprising accuracy and skill, considering her shuddering body and impaired sight. She lay back, still writhing. Tomorrow, or whatever time she woke up, she would search her room and grab anything useful.
She glanced back towards the crystal ball. 'Hiro, you fucking dumbass.' She closed her eyes and tried to breathe rhythmically. 'At this point, I'd wish you were here…'
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''I'm just so glad you came back for me!'' Celeste hugged him again. He'd seen 'Taeko' before but he wasn't used to seeing the goth girl so willing to discard her well-spoken and sarcastic personality. ''Oh, uh…'' She looked up, awaiting a few words. ''We didn't actually come back for you; we thought you were dead.'' Celeste's smile faltered for a moment. Then it brightened even more.
''So you didn't just leave me?'' She asked with a face that certainly didn't fit the question. Makoto smiled back. ''Of course not, if we'd known, we'd have tried everything to take you with us.'' She used his shoulder as a grip as she slowly rose off the floor. ''I'm just surprised that those spears only punctured your leg.'' Makoto got up too and dusted off his jeans.
''I am too.'' Junko's head poked through the opening. Had she really stood in silence for 10 minutes to hear how her own traps had failed? Celeste stumbled back into Makoto's arms. ''YOU!'' She reached for a knife she had tucked in her right thigh high and held it above her head, preparing to plunge it into Junko's face, which sat invitingly at the edge of the opening.
''No!'' Makoto wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around. ''What're you doing?! Why, Makoto?'' He pushed her arms down. ''She's with me. Without her we wouldn't be here.'' He placed both his hands on her cheeks. She didn't seem thrilled with the somewhat condescending stance he was taking but let him explain.
''We came to get food and supplies. We didn't know you'd still be here.'' He craned his neck down to make sure she was truly paying attention. ''She's useful. She knows things I don't. And, as much as it pains me to admit it, she isn't as bad as she once was. Without her, I wouldn't have had the resolve t-to kill the man outside.'' He whispered that last part to her. He didn't know why. Junko almost definitely heard it anyway.
Celeste looked at him with a mixture of disgust and resignation. ''And what about all the people she killed? Our friends? Our families? You want me to just forgive her for everything she did?''
''Of course not. We won't forgive and we won't forget. But we, in terms of us as Ultimates, can force her to make up for her actions.'' Makoto said sternly. He had no intention of budging on the matter.
Celeste sighed. ''By 'us'... you don't mean you and I, right? Surely you weren't the only survivor?'' She stared expectantly. He looked at her quizzically. ''I just want to know if everybody's okay, alright?'' She was unnecessarily embarrassed for such an honest question.
''We're all okay. I mean, I got shot a little while ago but everybody else is okay.'' He chuckled nervously. ''And Aoi's extra fine too!'' Junko piped up as she finally decided the time was right to set foot in the dining hall. Celeste silently scathed but held her tongue. ''Let's just get these tables out of the way and drag Gundham in here.'' Makoto attempted to distract her. She simply nodded and tried to forget that the woman who crippled her was sharing the same air as her.
Despite her insistence on helping shift the heavy furniture, Makoto told her to sit it out as he and Junko worked in tandem to drag the barricades away. The time it took and the strain from simply moving one made him wonder just how long it had taken Celeste to do this by herself. Eventually they gave the doors enough space to open wide enough for them to get in and out and promptly dragged Gundham's unconscious form inside.
…
''So he is one of our upperclassmen?'' Celeste asked as she lowered herself to the ground slowly. ''I certainly hope you have an Ultimate Doctor in that shelter.'' Makoto laughed dryly. ''I'm sure Hajime can help with your recovery.''
Celeste wriggled slightly on the top of her futon, trying to find a comfortable position that didn't bring any pain or itching. She looked over to Makoto and caught him staring at her leg. ''Uhhhh, Makoto?'' He was snapped out of his trance. ''S-Sorry.''
''Would you like to look at it?'' Celeste asked, with no suggestion of malice. ''I can promise you it isn't pretty.'' She gripped the edges of her dress.
''I'm just curious about how bad it really is…'' Makoto walked over and sat cross-legged next to her. Her left leg was bare, but her long dress covered her thigh entirely. She tugged the dress back slightly but stopped to meet his eyes. ''Don't even think about looking at my panties.''
''I-I would never do that!'' Makoto spluttered as his face reddened. ''Yeah! He has mine to look at!'' Junko teased as she strode up behind him, also interested in the state of the injury. Both The Gambler and the Luckster groaned at that comment. Celeste mentally chastised herself for giving Junko a reaction of any kind before slowly peeling her dress upwards.
''Oh wow. That is not looking so hot, girly.'' Junko's voice suggested disgust, but her face suggested fascination. Celeste kissed her teeth. ''Try not to drool too hard, freak.'' Junko seemed to be taken aback for a moment, before grinning devilishly. ''I almost forgot how feisty you were. And to think you were the voice of reason during the whole Killing Game.''
''What are we waiting around for?'' Celeste asked. Makoto sharply stood and entered the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers. ''We just wait for the others to show up. When we don't meet up with them, they'll know something's up and come looking.'' He unzipped his backpack and began piling in food. ''In the meantime, I'll just grab whatever I can. There's a surprising amount of canned food just in the kitchen alone. The storeroom is probably full to bursting. And… I could really use a distraction.''
A light groaning drew their attention as Gundham stirred. Celeste cleared her throat. Gundham sat up and took in his surroundings. He spun around several times, looking for Makoto. He stopped when he met the Luckster's eyes. ''For how long have I been in this deep slumber?'' He rubbed the back of his head.
''About 45 minutes, give or take.'' Makoto rounded the counter and approached with a bottle of water. Gundham accepted graciously. ''Gree-'' Celeste began, before coughing and clearing her throat a few times over. ''Greetings, I am Celestia Ludenberg. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.'' She placed her hands in her lap and gave him her trademark, sickly-sweet smile. She had relapsed into her in-game persona. Cold, harsh, calculating. She was no longer Taeko Yasuhiro.
''I am Gundham Tanaka, master of the All-Seeing Eye. You need not take that tone with me, deceptive one. I know of your true nature.'' Celeste's smile fell and formed a straight line. ''I do not know what you imply.''
Gundham furrowed his brow. He clearly wasn't pleased with Celeste's false ignorance. ''She's just nervous around you because you're a stranger, emo.'' Junko had her eyes closed as she leant on the far wall, but was still finely tuned in. ''She does that shit when she's scared of how people would react if they knew who she really was. Isn't that right, Taeko?'' Junko's eyes were still hidden behind her eyelids, but the prideful, confident grin on her face spelt everything out as clear as day.
…
Celeste chose not to speak again. At least then she wouldn't feel the need to speak and act as she so compulsively wanted to. However, she was still subconsciously appearing as Celeste physically. Her movements, hand motions and facial expressions all screamed that she had little idea how to react; that Junko was right.
After roughly an hour of impatient waiting and scavenging, they heard a familiar voice call out in fear. ''Oh my god!'' Mahiru was clearly taken aback at the state of the bodies outside. Makoto jogged to the door and pried it open again.
''Guys! We nee-'' Makoto looked down at the corpse on the ground. The man he shot was still lying motionless on the ground. Not that he could've moved regardless. Hajime and Kyoko were crouched next to the other body but had both turned in reaction to his voice. Kyoko stood and strode over, averting his eyes and giving him a soft push back through the doors.
''Oh my.'' Kyoko's mouth gaped for a brief second upon seeing Celeste's sprawled out form. The dark-haired girl sat up and laughed dryly. ''Hello, Kirigiri. I wish we could've met again under better circumstances.'' Hajime sighed deeply as he entered. ''Is he the one who can look at this?'' Celeste asked Makoto whilst gesturing to her leg. ''This is what I was afraid of.'' Hajime turned his body to allow Mahiru and Chiaki in. Mahiru felt her face heat up as she brushed against his chest but if Hajime noticed, he was too conflicted to care.
''What do you mean?'' Makoto nervously rubbed his chin. ''This was Junko's plan, Makoto.'' Kyoko answered. ''We searched every inch of the new building and even checked the Headmaster's office again before coming here. We found nothing related to an Ultimate Neurologist's work.'' Chiaki cut in. ''Though we did find records that proved he was a real person at least.''
''So, Junko's real motive for getting us to come back was so-'' ''So we could find your friend.'' Hajime interrupted Makoto. The Lucky Student seemed confused. ''But why? This doesn't help her make us despair at all!'' Makoto spoke of her as if she wasn't there whilst staring right at her. Junko remained straight faced as he did. ''Because she knows that I was planning on moving us soon.'' Hajime didn't stutter. But he knew that his admission was a dangerous one.
''We already knew that.'' Kyoko seemed genuinely perplexed by Hajime's sheepishness. ''You've been preparing for our move for weeks. I thought everybody was well aware of this.'' The Detective looked around and was relieved to see that most of their roommates had jumped to the same conclusion. Hajime reeled in surprise. ''Maybe I wasn't appearing as calm and collected as I'd have liked you to view me.''
He breathed a sigh of relief. ''Well now that I know I'm not just springing it on you suddenly; yes, we are moving in a matter of weeks. Or we were.'' ''What's stopping us? Celeste?'' Makoto grit his teeth and instinctively stood in a defensive position in front of Celeste. ''She treated herself. She's fine.'' He gulped and realised he was just guessing. Mahiru walked past him and crouched next to Celeste. ''May I see it?'' The redhead asked politely. The Gambler hesitated momentarily before lifting her dress back. Mahiru studied it for a good two minutes while the others shifted in an uncomfortable silence that Junko seemed to be overjoyed with.
''Well, I don't know how to phrase this delicately.'' Mahiru stood and traced her brows with her forefingers as if warding off a headache. ''She has a lot of gangrenous tissue.'' Hajime winced. ''W-What does that mean?'' Celeste trembled at the sombre tone of her voice. ''It means-'' Mahiru crouched again and placed a hand on her shoulder. ''It means we'll have to amputate your leg.''
If Celeste wasn't so pale, they might have seen all the remaining colour leave her face. ''Che-Check it again.'' Mahiru's mouth became a straight line. ''Listen, I know that was a shock but-'' Celeste boiled over, her face reddening with anger. ''Check it again! You must be wrong!'' Mahiru scooted away to avoid the gothic girl's flailing arms. ''I am the daughter of a war photographer; I know quite a bit about medicine and-'' ''I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKING LIFE STORY!'' Celeste screeched over her. ''Check. It. AGAIN!'' Mahiru conceded and motioned for Hajime to examine her.
The Ultimate Ultimate popped off the wall he was leaning on and clasped the red-eyed girls shoulders tightly. Her face was still burning with rage but she stopped her writhing. ''I have every medical talent Hope's Peak ever saw. If I find the same thing Mahiru did, you will apologise and you will thank her for diagnosing you. Because if we weren't here, you would lose a lot more than your leg.'' He didn't appear angry physically, but his tone betrayed him. ''Now lift your dress, please.''
…
Hajime took only a few seconds longer than Mahiru and checked the entirety of Celeste's leg. ''I'm sorry. Mahiru was right.'' Celeste's eyes looked everywhere but the Photographer. ''In fact, you're lucky if it hasn't spread further up your body. But I won't make you strip in front of everyone to check. We can check at home.'' Hajime clambered to his feet. He turned to the others in the room who were unusually silent. ''Right, if we can just, uh, grab the food Makoto couldn't fit in his pack or whatever. I'll carry it. Any volunteers to carry Celeste?'' Chiaki raised a hand. Knowing that the girl couldn't carry her alone, Mahiru also raised her hand. Hajime wasn't pleased at the idea of his wife carrying someone prone to bursts of violence but didn't want to outright deny her. ''Okay, everybody else in the kitchen.'' Hajime commanded with a shrug.
Chiaki began gathering Celeste's belongings around her futon. Mahiru squatted down to meet her eye level. ''Anything you want us to grab from your room?'' Celeste begrudgingly met her green orbs. ''Nothing important.'' Mahiru bit her lip in frustration. ''That wasn't what I asked. Do you want anything?'' The Gambler sat quietly as she stared at her carer. ''I-I packed a bag with hair extensions and some clothes I like. It's on my bed.'' Mahiru's expression stayed neutral as she stood and sped out the Dining Hall.
…
Chiaki had scooped everything up and organised it into groups of what Celeste confirmed she wanted and what she didn't. Mahiru strode in with a messenger bag. She plopped it down in front of the two girls and opened it.
''Right, so… hair extensions, fashion and sewing magazines, 2 dresses, sneakers and 2 pairs of socks.'' Mahiru held each item up as she listed them, earning a nod from Celeste for each one. ''Oh! And I grabbed the black nail polish from your nightstand on the way out. I noticed that it'd kind of chipped away on your hands.''
Celeste was stunned. And whilst she hadn't spoken much due to the shock, she found herself speaking involuntarily. ''Why are you being so kind? I literally swore and screamed at you not even 10 minutes ago…'' Mahiru giggled. ''Because I've been in a similar position to you, silly; you know, when you're going to lose something. For me, it was my best friend. For you, it's your leg. I know it's a weird comparison, but I couldn't imagine living without her. And I'd think you can't imagine living without your leg. And when you know you're going to lose them, you go through this massive rollercoaster of emotions.'' She felt tears well in her eyes as she spoke. ''That's why I can't be angry with you. You're just scared of missing something.'' Mahiru blinked away her tears, but noticed that Celeste was struggling with her own.
''Oh, damn it.'' The goth girl palmed at her eyes. ''You okay?'' Chiaki asked as she walked back from the kitchen. ''Yeah, I think I'm just so relieved that you people are actually nice. It's been so long since I last cried, too.'' She mentally scolded herself. ''I think being alone so long has made me go mad. Why am I telling you this?'' Chiaki slung the bag over her shoulder. ''Because you know you can trust us. Because if Makoto can, you can too.'' The Gamer's sleepy expression was pushed back to allow her to smile. Celeste couldn't bring herself to return one of her own.
Hajime exited the kitchen, his backpack noticeably wider and fuller. ''Right. That's that, then.'' Celeste lifted her arms and wrapped them around her chaperones' shoulders. ''Tell us if you need to stop, okay?'' Chiaki was only a few inches from her face but Celeste's teary vision obscured her somewhat. ''We're going back the way we came so expect to be jumped or shot at.'' The Prodigy drew his pistol as he pushed the doors open. He held the doors for Gundham to dash through, his now bandaged head turning rapidly in search of assailants. Once the Breeder was through the two elder girls dragged Celeste through the gap. Kyoko ushered Junko through and Makoto followed. Hajime allowed the door to gently shut behind him. ''Oh!'' Makoto snapped his fingers. ''Can we quickly stop by the library?''
…
The journey back was even quieter than the first trip. They were back in the subway faster than they'd realised. Makoto finally lacked even the smallest of distractions and was stuck in his own head, replaying the face of the man he murdered. Kyoko couldn't help but sympathise. She, too, had killed today. But she hadn't been so unfortunate to be next to the man she shot.
Of course, her boyfriend hadn't confided his worries in her yet. She was simply guessing based on the clumsy methods used to kill the man in the hall. The other was clearly killed by Junko. No one else had the mental fortitude nor the natural cruelty to decimate a person in such a way. Kyoko eyed Makoto again. The faint lipstick stains that covered his bruises were clearer in torchlight. Without his story, what was she to think? Had Junko taken advantage of his frantic and threatened position to show affection? Or had he invited it? There were no clues to follow. No traces or hints from the Fashionista. But maybe that's what she wanted.
…
It had been 7 hours since they'd left. Hajime pried the hatch open again and pushed the wall panel out. He set foot in the kitchen and breathed in the soft aroma of coffee that occasionally wafted in from the storeroom. The other filed in and Kyoko sealed the entryway back up. Celeste leaned against the countertop and squeezed her eyes shut. ''I'll let everyone get themselves in order, yes?'' The injured young woman said with an exaggerated smirk. Mahiru wasted no time in going to find Ibuki. As the others set down their bags and masks, Mahiru let out a blood curdling shriek.
The group rushed into the living room to find chaos. The furniture was turned and torn, there were gashes and bullet holes everywhere. But the source of the screaming must've been the corpses strain about the room. Upon inspection, none of them belonged to their friends but that was simply more confusing. ''Ha-Hajime, where's... '' Chiaki rummaged around the room in desperation as she hyperventilated. ''Where's Hiyoko?!''
Hajime rushed to her and held her in a comforting embrace as she sobbed into his chest. ''Genocide Jack did this.'' Kyoko pulled a pair of scissors from a body that lay upon the upturned couch. She held them up to the light and inspected the blades. ''Damn right she did!'' The Ultimate Serial Killer said as the door to Ibuki's room flew open, revealing the Rocker herself, who cradled Hiyoko in her arms.
The two slowly walked into the main room and, to the relief of the expeditionary group, the others followed behind them. Chiaki was still crying but practically screamed in relief. Byakuya, who had seemingly aggravated his back injury, was supported by Peko and Fuyuhiko. Gundham flipped the ouch back over to allow the two yakuza to place the Affluent Progeny down. ''What the fuck happened?'' Junko asked, someone finally throwing out the magic question. Aoi and Hiro winced at the question, but before they could say their piece, Celeste coughed to gain attention from the doorway.
''I take it these conditions are not the norm?'' She peered around the room. ''Celeste!?'' Aoi exclaimed as she slowly approached her. The Swimmer couldn't speak. Her mouth moved but no sound left it. ''Yes, Hina, dear. It's me.'' Celeste smiled genuinely at her. Aoi went to jump at her and pull her into a hug but felt a hand clasp around her wrist.
''Don't be too rough. She's badly hurt.'' Kyoko loosened her hold and Aoi studied the Gambler, who raised her skirt to show her wound clearly. Aoi gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. ''Oh my god…'' She turned back to Kyoko. ''She'll be okay though, right?'' The Detective audibly gulped, to her own surprise. ''Hina-'' ''I'll be fine.'' Celeste gave the lilac-haired girl a telling look and both mysterious girls had an understanding. Hina was still waiting for Kyoko to finish and had luckily missed the exchange. ''It's as she says, she's okay for now. We need to have a look when we've got all this figured out.''
Hina seemed to accept that. ''Can I hug you anyway?'' The tanned girl chuckled nervously. Celeste lifted an arm and Aoi basically fell into her. ''You're really sweaty.'' Aoi said, slightly muffled by the frills of the dress she had buried her face into. ''Hina.'' Celeste rolled her eyes. ''Sorry.'' The Gambler laughed lightly. ''No, I just need to get used to your uniqueness again.'' Aoi pulled away and jogged back over to Hiro. ''So, uh, guys?'' Hiro drew attention. ''I'll just take you through what happened real quick…''
Except it won't be quick haha. It'll be the next chapter. I really hope you enjoyed. It had always been my plan to reintroduce Celeste since I included her in the final trial flashback. She has so much room to grow and develop in this story that I think it was worth it.
I really hope I did her character justice; Taeko Yasuhiro is very different from Celestia Ludenberg, after all. I want to find a balance and a way of displaying which persona she's using without directly saying.
I apologise for this chapter taking so long. It was college exam results day in the UK a few weeks ago and our government fucked everybody over and dropped our grades enormously. I spent a good few days in a horrible mood and actually deleted this in frustration, only to rewrite it basically word for word. I am a childish person.
Now as for the rewrite; I think I'll hold off on it. I had a better look at the story features and we're getting a few hundred people actually keeping up with this story and reading every chapter and about 11,000 views over all. Obviously I'd prefer if more of that 11,000 wanted to read the rest but hey, I'm just happy to have those few hundred considering how inconsistent and awful my writing style can be.
I also wrote out a big old script for a My Hero Academia story about 6 months ago… but I haven't even started an opening chapter for that yet considering how badly my Persona story did. So this story is all I'm currently working on, so expect more chapters soon. Thank you for reading this. I appreciate you so, so much.
