The sun was barely up as Makoto was searching through the internet and a few pictures of old articles from the library he took with his phone. Leaks delivered from Kyoko's text messages allowed him to try and look up the two major victims of the yacht bombing yesterday. Information was scarce. All he could dig up was that they were researchers employed many years ago at Hope's Peak. Obviously any information pinning the exclusive group as the actual power behind HPA administration was not public. Somehow along the way their influence and reach was dug deep into the school that when Jin Kirigiri was appointed Headmaster, he was already subservient to them. The apartment was quiet despite the fact that there were now two people living there.
He stretches and yawns at his computer. He looks over and sees Mukuro sitting at the table behind him sipping on some freshly brewed green tea.
"There's really not a lot to say about these guys." Makoto sighs. "They definitely fit the role of a shadow administration…"
"Does it really matter what they have to say? They're dead."
"Mm. I suppose that's true." He stands from the table, rubbing his neck. "But just saying that two people from HPA died is pretty impersonal, I think. Everyone's got a story to tell."
Mukuro put down the small cup. "Is that why you became a reporter?"
"Er, well, I mean at first crazy stuff would happen around me like usual. Sometimes it was kinda my fault, but people got really interested in what I would say about them. I got paid sometimes for information, too. I figured I could take a crack at it myself since I don't exactly have something else to fall back on."
Makoto laughs nervously. "I might've ended up working at MgRonalds or something. But as I kept doing it, sometimes I'd run into times where people died for no good reason. Not everyone is lucky to afford a eulogy in the papers or on the news sites. I figured I could also be their voice for when it happens."
She stared at him for a few moments.
"That's…true."
She thought about her own death and how it was similar. She concluded that no one among the survivors knew her story at the end – and how could they? The only people who knew were either dead or Izuru Kamakura. She had remained distant from the rest of her class due to her personality and to protect her sister's machinations. All those precious memories she had with Class 78 would've faded away along with her.
It was a truly cruel fate… to be ultimately forgotten.
That world did still fade away from her. The Makoto she remembers was a naïve, quirky teen with a heart of gold. The young adult in front of her eyes, aside from the obvious growth from age, still had that same heart but cooled and tempered by the sadistic teacher of experience – something similar she'd have seen other mercenaries at Fenrir go through if they survived their missions. And all of it was from her sister's desire for despair.
Makoto yawns as he sits across the table from her.
"How are you? Everything alright? You look like you're focusing hard on something."
"It's nothing, Naegi-kun."
"Hm."
"Um…" Mukuro looks away.
"Well, whenever you want to talk about it I'll be here. Okay?"
"You really are perceptive."
He laughs nervously with a shy smile. "What kind of educator would I've been if I didn't even learn from my friends, right?"
She continues to mull over her current situation while Makoto slides something over to her. Her eyes peer over and it looks to be a key.
"It's one of my spares, Ikusaba-san. I mean, I'd imagine you'd like to go outside and stuff on your own, right? You're not a prisoner or anything."
Her face turns bright red. Being given a key, in her mind, seemed to be not only a sign of trust but also of intimacy. This is officially saying that she lives with Makoto Naegi. Her imagination starts to run wild, while the actual Makoto is just looking at her with a confused expression.
"You aren't coming down with a fever, are you?"
She snaps out of it. "Oh…no. I'm fine. I hardly get sick."
"Guess that's part of being the SHSL Soldier. But don't push yourself too hard."
"Alright. I'll be careful." She gives him a small smile, with him responding in kind.
Makoto's phone emits a small funky tune and he looks over. "Anyway, I've got a meeting with Kirigiri-san. I'll be back soon." He stands and moves to the door. "It's just a short walk from here, so you don't have to worry about it."
"Okay."
He leaves the apartment with Mukuro waiting a few minutes. Eventually, she makes her way to the door and walks out – locking it from the outside with her new key. Despite the crowd, she can spot Makoto's ahoge and starts to trail him.
Old habits die hard.
Kishine Park wasn't as grand as the portside Yamashita Park, but it had a tons of space and tons of trees. Sometimes you could find people setting up tents to enjoy the day here. There's a pond situated near the middle of it. The air is still cool with the colored trees adorning the sights. Kyoko is sitting on a bench at the side of aforementioned pond. Makoto makes his way over. The lilac-haired detective looks over and he smiles as he takes a seat next to her.
"Naegi-kun. Greetings."
"Good morning, Kirigiri-san. Has everything been alright over at HPA?"
Kyoko sighs. "It's been chaotic. Father lost contact with the remaining two members of the Steering Committee and it isn't as if he's going to be left untouched by those responsible for the bombing from last night."
"How about the students?"
"Day-to-day operations are the same. But I can only imagine that things will get worse – if Enoshima's antics were any historical implication."
Makoto pauses for a moment. "I don't think she's behind this."
"I actually agree with you. The bombing would terrify the general population, but it wouldn't exactly spread despair. The Steering Committee is unknown outside of HPA's topmost administration." Kyoko looks over at the pond. "People will talk about it for a short while and then return to their own lives."
"Any clues on your end? Or suspects?"
"Several suspects. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that they may be working together."
"Who?"
Kyoko looks back at him. "The Student Council."
"Wait, what? Why would they go against the Steering Committee?"
"I'm unsure. But considering they have elevated access to school funds and basically unlimited access of the school and its administration, I can't discount them as suspects yet. They could either be the masterminds behind the incident or just accomplices."
Makoto sighs. "This sounds like it'll become violent."
"You've been involved in something like that before, if that Danganronpa light novel's pictures are to be believed."
"It's just my luck as usual." Makoto chuckles. "I shouldn't…be as useless as back then, though."
Kyoko stared at him for a while. "You shouldn't involve yourself in this."
"Sorry. No can do. We're supposed to be partners, right?"
"Naegi-kun, you shouldn't take your life so lightly."
Makoto returns her stare with a gentle one. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you, Kirigiri-san?"
She's speechless. He gives her a sad smile. "If it wasn't for Kimura-san and Tsumiki-san, you would have…"
Kyoko recomposes herself. "If I had mentioned my NG Code, you—"
"I know! I know." He looks away. "Still, it was painful. Between what happened to you and Hina-san, I was close to losing more of my family."
The detective pauses for a moment. "I'm sorry. Though after hearing what you did with the Suicide Video..."
"I'll keep apologizing for it. But we've been through so much. Don't think something like this will scare me away."
She sighs in defeat. "Alright. I'll be counting on you again."
"You can count on me. Always."
Kyoko smiles at him. After a few moments, something catches her attention at the corner of her eye.
"Nee-sama…?"
Makoto looks over. It's a young brunette with red square glasses lacking a top rim. She's dressed in a green coat with short brown shorts and black leggings and brown boots. He doesn't recognize the young woman but Kyoko's eyes are uncharacteristically wide open in shock.
"Someone you know?"
The woman continues walking, adjusting her backpack as she walks on her way.
"Yui Samidare. She…was a detective I worked with when I was younger."
Makoto gives Kyoko an understanding look. "Do you want to talk to her?"
Kyoko looks at her gloves. She clenches her fists and looks at Yui, who walks farther and farther away from them. "No, she..." She looks over at Makoto now. "I'd never be able to catch up to you if I gave in."
"Catch up to me?"
"People always talk about how you instill hope in others, but I also admire you for another reason." She unclenches her fists. "You always move forward understanding the truth. That it's oftentimes painful and perilous. You don't take the easy way out or fall into temptations of lies."
"You taught that to me. Hey, you know, you've become a bit of a poet."
Kyoko smirks. "You taught that to me."
Makoto blushes in response.
"Naegi-kun, I saw it. When you were talking to Class 78. When you were talking to Maizono-san. You didn't treat them like old friends, even though they essentially are the same as the classmates we lost."
"I- we lost those friends. I'd feel like I'd betray those precious memories if I tried to turn those kids into them. They may not even be the same. They've gone through relatively peaceful lives without a trace of The Tragedy. As far as I'm concerned they're different people."
Kyoko nods. "Exactly. We all saw, heard and experienced those deaths firsthand." She sighs and takes one last look at Yui before she disappeared from clear sight. "It's painful, but the scars on my hands are reminders of what happened. That is the truth."
"Kirigiri-san." He smiles sweetly. "Thank you for sharing that with me. Those must've been some painful memories."
"They were. But just as I taught you how to think more critically, you taught me the importance of expressing myself. So, I should be thanking you." She takes a deep breath. "I wouldn't have gotten past this without you."
Flashes of the final showdown between the six survivors of Class 78 and Junko Enoshima played in Kyoko's mind. She looked straight at Makoto and saw the same fire in his eyes he had all those years ago, telling her to not lose hope and to move forward with him. Logically at the time, sacrificing Makoto and staying in the school building converted into a bunker would have been the right choice. But, she learned to stop thinking things completely logically as everything they experienced together allowed her to hope again.
Given what they learned about Junko, it turned out to be the right choice in her mind.
Makoto kept quiet as he just looked at her.
"Makoto-kun."
He perked up, shocked by the change of address. "Kirigiri-san?"
She doesn't respond.
He then thinks for a moment. "Kyoko-c…c…-san. Kyoko-san?"
She couldn't help but laugh softly. "That's fine, Makoto-kun."
Makoto sighs in response.
"I should be going." The detective stands up from the bench. "I'll let you know if anything new develops."
"Okay. Be careful."
"You too."
She gives him a look before walking off. Makoto picks up a pebble from the floor and throws it, with three skips the stone skates across the pond. He stands and hears a few rustles from a nearby bush. He looks at it for a few moments before walking off himself.
Mukuro's head eventually pops out of the bush. She frowns, finding herself in a similar situation when they were both students at the academy. She quickly moves back to the apartment while assessing her options. She knew she would have to ask him a few things, but she didn't want to alert his suspicions. After all, he's shrewder these days. Climbing atop a nearby building, she leaps across others in order to beat Makoto back to the apartment.
Makoto looks up among the crowd, seeing an electronic billboard advertisement for "Danganronpa V1 – The Ultimate [Virtual] Reality Killing Game." He shakes his head. Most of the people take a glance and ignore it like many other advertisements, but he could see a blonde high-school aged girl with an ahoge giving it a long look. He tries to walk toward her but the crowd is thick – by the time he makes it over there, the girl has moved on herself and is nowhere to be found. He sighs and continues back to his apartment.
The reporter returns back to his apartment and sees Mukuro sitting at the table.
"Took a walk outside?"
"Yes. I needed some fresh air."
"I'd imagine you'd like to stay pretty active."
She nods, keeping her face neutral as to not betray her intentions.
"How was your date with Kirigiri-san?"
Makoto stopped in his tracks. "D-Date?!" He turns completely red. "Wait, hold on… we… we aren't dating."
The soldier examines his face. It seems different than when he would talk about Sayaka all those years ago – it wasn't the same puppy love crush that he had when he was speaking. She wasn't sure what to make of it. But she knew that it was stronger than what he had with the idol.
"I mean, even if we were…we barely had time to even rest during our times in the Future Foundation considering how widespread despair was. Things were starting to settle down after reopening Hope's Peak and then this happened."
Mukuro kept looking at him, trying to probe for more information from his expressions and body language. He was still an open book when it came to relationships and he was being straightforward. Whether it was a stroke of (bad) luck that prevented the relationship from developing further was at the back of her mind, but she seemed content with what she found out so far.
"I see."
"Sheesh…I didn't take you for a gossip, Ikusaba-san."
Her face turns red. "Ah, erm, wait—"
"Why's everyone so interested in my love life?" Makoto grumbles.
She dared not answer.
Makoto walks over to the kitchenette. "How do you feel about eggs?"
"They're nutritious. Good source of protein."
"So I guess that's a yes? Something simple, like omelet rice." Makoto brings out some eggs while setting up his rice cooker. "Sorry, it's probably not as luxurious as what you would eat with your sister, huh?"
She shakes her head. "No, but I like this. It's closer to rations."
"I…I'm going to try to take that as a compliment."
"I-I meant it to be! Honest, Naegi-kun."
"Speaking of which, it'll be a late night tonight for me."
"More research on your article?"
Makoto shakes his head. "I'm going to go see Enoshima."
If looks could shatter glass, Mukuro's was intense enough to do so. Even after all that's happened, she couldn't bring herself to hate her sister. She wanted to reconcile if at all possible. Or at least bring her the despair she wanted through the happiness of Makoto and the others. But she knew full well that what he was saying right now was comparable to walking into a den of starving lions covered in gazelle blood.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"No. It's a very dumb and stupid idea. But ignoring her isn't exactly the right choice either. She might not be behind what's going on at Hope's Peak, but she's probably come up with something. I can't have Kiri—Kyoko-san do all the work while she's swamped with the HPA investigation herself."
"I'm coming with you."
He gives her a look. "…okay. But I'm going inside by myself."
"Why?!"
"Well, I imagine things won't really end well right now between you two. I also can't have her distracting herself, you know?"
Mukuro mulled over what he just said for a few moments. It was out of concern for herself and also out of something she didn't think of. In a way, Makoto was correct – Junko would use her as a way to avoid answering any questions by directing the conversation elsewhere. Probably to complain about her stink, which was totally a lie by the way. Her eyes widen as she looked at him prepping the rice to cook.
He really was reckless.
Dinner as well as the drive up to Junko's penthouse was both quiet and tense. After getting stuck in traffic for an hour, the cold night covered the hills overlooking the city. As they pulled into the street, they saw another car parked there. A dejected-looking woman got in as they arrived and the car speeds off – leaving some tire skid marks where it was parked. Makoto and Mukuro looked at each other with a confusing look for a moment.
The former lucky student gives a quick look at the property. No signs of crazy rockets, killer robots, property damage or even an ill-kept courtyard could be found. It looked relatively normal for a rich person's home.
"Alright. Ikusaba-san. If I'm not out in an hour…you can do as you please."
"30 minutes."
Makoto sighs. "Alright. 30 minutes."
He opens his side of the car and steps out. Taking a deep breath, he walks through the courtyard by himself. No attack dogs was a good sign, he supposes. He manages to make it to the front door. The house looks like a new paintjob was starting to be applied to it, the polka dots starting to be covered by a white in order to apply a brand new coat of paint on it. There was a note left on the door that was ripped off recently. He tries to find it, but he can't really see any signs of it.
He then rings the doorbell.
No response.
He tries again and again. There's no sounds of anything. No movement. No crazy laugh. Just the sound of the cool wind blowing through the street. He tries to go around the house and manages to find a ground-floor window unblocked by curtains. He peeks and the house inside is furnished but devoid of human life.
Junko Enoshima definitely lived here. Makoto even verified it with paparazzi that he knew from his work. But there was no crazy party going on, no strange sounds nor even a sign that the fashion girl even lived here. The furniture looked somewhat gaudy, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
Makoto started sweating. He decided to take a look at real estate websites and searched for the address.
It was listed for sale.
He'd lost their only way of checking on Junko.
He hurried back to his car with the raven-haired girl surprised that he came back as quickly as he did.
"She's gone."
"Hm?"
"She's moved out. Damn it. She basically abandoned her house."
Mukuro hid her sigh of relief, but looked sympathetic to Makoto. "She might've gotten bored of living here. Just like she probably got bored of that girl who was here earlier."
"Yeah. Probably. Still, where would she go?"
"I wouldn't know. Sorry."
"It's okay. It's just frustrating."
Makoto finished his article after they returned to the apartment. With a defeated expression, he submitted it to the agency that hired him then slunk to bed. Waking up to the heat from the window once again, he checked his phone. There was a notification for breaking news.
He opened it and saw a live updating article with words that struck fear into his heart.
"Mass Student Protest at Hope's Peak Academy" along with a livestream of what appeared to be Reserve Course Students marching toward the main course area with signs and posters with rebellious slogans.
"Damn it!" He jumped out of bed with Mukuro woken up from being startled.
"Naegi-kun?"
"I-I've got to go to HPA. It's the parade."
She rubbed her eyes and processed what he just said. "Why go there? We're not part of Hope's Peak."
"I can't abandon Kyoko-san. Not this time."
He sifts through his contacts and chooses one. "Hey, Hiro-kun? Can you bring your van over? Yeah. Yeah, Kyoko-san needs our help at HPA. I'll text you my address. Mmhm. See you later."
Mukuro stands up as Makoto texts both Hiro and Hina. "I'm coming with you."
He looks over at her. "…I thought you didn't want to go?"
"I won't abandon you. Not this time."
ANote
Shirokuma: did u see the announcement for V1? thats such a cool idea!
BlackCapPI: Involving the fans to a livestreamed version of a killing game? I'm intrigued but…I can only question the legality of it.
Shirokuma: please. it'll basically be like playing mafia. no harm no foul, right?
BlackCapPI: I suppose so. Though some of the tension might not transfer over well since people's lives aren't at stake. We'll just have to wait and see.
Shirokuma: oh by the way, since we're like friends now. you're a naegiri shipper right?
BlackCapPI: Well, I mean it is the canon ship. I may not be a big fan of Naegi-san, but they really do bring the best out of each other. How about you?
Shirokuma: um well i ship a lot of things! tokomaru, ishimondo, komahina, despaircest, naegiri, naekusaba, naeshima…
BlackCapPI: You ship Enoshima-san with people? That feels wrong.
Shirokuma: she may be insane as all hell but she can love! and hurt.
BlackCapPI: Right, right. Any unusual ones or crackships then?
Shirokuma: oh oh i really like Mondo-san and Tsumiki-san. i think they'd be pretty good together, you know? he's all about protecting and respecting women and she could tend to his wounds from fights he gets in. and you?
BlackCapPI: Actually, I do have a weird one. Hear me out. Komaru Naegi-san and Maizono-san.
Shirokuma: i have never ever seen that one before.
BlackCapPI: Yes, but Komaru-san has got the normal girl thing going on, she's also a Sayaker and a positive influence. Like if Tokomaru doesn't happen.
Shirokuma: actually that's not bad. not the worst i've heard.