Kyoko looked down at her cell phone while she was walking toward Makoto's apartment. Six unanswered calls that never even rang – wherever he was, there was no signal. It only solidified where she believed he was along with the current status of said place. Knocking on the door, it took exactly one-and-a-half minutes for it to open up. Facing her was current lone occupant. She looked spaced out and there was a sad air about her.

"Ikusaba-san. Did you sleep at all?"

The freckled woman slowly moved her head from side to side.

"May I come in?"

Mukuro looked disinterested and retreated back into the flat. Kyoko kept her composure and let herself in. Her eyes shift to the right and she could see the bathroom was left open and her own reflection – instead of wearing her red suit set, she was wearing something resembling what she wore back in the Future Foundation. A plain white blouse buttoned up with a black skirt while wearing black boots.

The detective sat herself down across from where Mukuro was sitting, back on her bed. She kept looking toward the unoccupied bed as if expecting Makoto to pop out of there any moment. Kyoko kept looking toward her, studying the former mercenary's inaction. This was someone who looked like their will to live was ripped out from them. It made sense. Whether it was from her handlers in Fenrir, her younger sister or even Makoto as a guiding mentor, she looked absolutely lost.

Whether or not the former SHSL lucky student knew or not, he was helping her correctly. He was trying to get her to become more independent. And knowing Enoshima, her plans and schemes had the additional effect of stopping and undoing some of that progress. The former vice headmistress knew they were short on time. While Kyoko was no slouch in a fight and was even able to overpower Junko, what Hiro revealed about his mission required someone of Mukuro's caliber.

"Are you still worried about Makoto-kun?"

Mukuro's eyes didn't move from the bed. "Aren't you?"

"Well, yes. Of course I am."

The freckled girl's voice wavers slightly as some anger leaks into it. "It doesn't sound like it. He's with Junko-chan."

"Believe me. I know." Kyoko continued to keep her cool. "But unlike you, I have faith in Makoto-kun."

"Faith? Do you think that would stop him from falling into despair?"

"Knowing Enoshima, she's imposed some rules on herself." A few silence moments pass. "I'm unsure if you already knew, but the one and only time he fell into despair was through a suicide video."

Mukuro's eyes widened. "W-What?!"

"I know it sounds unrealistic, but he's a man who kept going on even though he knew two of his closest friends were on the cusp of death. He walked right into a situation he needed to get through despite the high chance of dying."

"But he's—he's just a normal guy. A kindhearted soul who would just get overpowered."

Kyoko shakes her head. "He's just being modest. When it came down to it he turned out to not be normal, either. A truly normal person would have quit a long time ago."

The former SHSL Soldier's eyes finally looked back at the older woman.

"I'd imagine many people worldwide wanted to see him fall into despair. There are people who thought he shouldn't have been able to push through despite the odds. But he did. It may not have been a spectacular or flashy victory, but he did it. Know this: Makoto Naegi's own body would give out before his will would. Despite the fear and despair that would grip his heart, he would not allow himself to fall."

"That sounds self-destructive."

"But it was what was needed. Enoshima caused so much damage to the world mentally that he took it upon himself to truly be the SHSL Hope. That's why the rest of us wanted to take some of that burden from him. Because he showed and gave us that hope in the first place."

A guilty expression washed over Mukuro's face.

"Makoto-kun wouldn't want to see you like this."

"But I…why do you even care?"

"Because I know what happens when you lose a light that guides you. You may not be a morally upright person, but seeing how he's affected you made me realize that you could've used someone like him a long time ago in your life." She removed a glove, showing the burn scars on her hands. "I was lucky enough to have someone in my life like that during my early teenage years. But when I lost her…I looked like you."

"…I look pathetic now, don't I?"

Kyoko shook her head. "No. You just haven't experienced this before. And I want you to not make the same mistake I did. Because of what I did to my own emotions, I almost sacrificed Makoto-kun just to protect myself from Enoshima. He may have forgiven me but I cannot."

"The killing game, right? You didn't remember who he was. We made sure of that."

"Despite that, he was always believing in us and trying to keep us all alive and together." She puts her glove back on. "I was petty. It's no way to act toward someone who had been constantly trying to help."

The younger woman paid her full attention now, which prompted a continuation.

"And when we were thrust into another killing game situation I knew what I had to do. I was ready to lay my life on the line to repay him. And it came to that."

Mukuro moved over to the table. "You sacrificed yourself?"

Kyoko nodded. "Had it not been for some luck, well…we'd be having a different conversation now, I'd imagine. But that's not the point. If his life is on the line, are you willing to do the same for him? Even if it's against Enoshima?"

Several minutes passed in silence. Kirigiri continued staring straight at her while she was pondering that conundrum.

"…I don't want go against Junko-chan but…I don't want him to die either."

The detective mentally made a note of how she did not mention or weigh her own life in the answer. "I suppose it was an unfair question to ask you. I apologize."

"No, it's not that." The raven-haired girl exhales sharply. "I can see how Naegi-kun became really good at posing questions to others."

"He always had that gift of peering into someone else's heart. I would say the killing game itself taught him more than I did in terms of having to interrogate a person. The only thing I taught him is that the truth, despite everything, is still important."

The former half of the despair sisters sighs, but still appeared to have snapped out of her self-inflicted funk. A knock against the door occurs and Mukuro immediately stands to open it.

"Gooood morning!" Hina's smile beamed along with the sunrise. "I got some breakfast for us."

Mukuro simply stepped aside and let the former SHSL Swimmer inside.

"So what's the plan, Kyoko-chan? You got this all figured out, yes?"

"From Hiro-kun's scrying and Makoto-kun being unable to receive my calls, I suspect they did indeed go to Towa City. Of course, we have two problems: one, we'd have to gain access into the city somehow and two, judging from the lack of cellular signal from a normally popular tourism city, I am assuming the worst."

"Eh? So all those ruined buildings that Hiro saw…"

"Indeed. The description sounds reminiscent of a post-Tragedy Towa City."

"Gee. That brain of yours really goes into overdrive, does it?"

"I'm…afraid not. Deducing this mystery was not very difficult. Though I doubt Enoshima took the talents of the SHSL Shaman into consideration. But the important part is that we go into this prepared."

"Yep! I'm going to be all energized from a dozen of these babies and I can go on forever after that!"

"That's not the type of preparation I was thinking of..."

Makoto woke up plenty warm from his slumber. Despite the bed being comfortable, he wasn't – unsurprising as he fell asleep dressed in a full suit. He looked to his left and saw a face too close for comfort. He almost fell out of the bed in surprise, but saw that Junko had fallen asleep herself.

"…you're thinking about how cute I am when I'm asleep, huh?"

Or so he thought. Now shocked again, he actually fell off of the bed and groaned in pain while being on the floor.

She grinned while looking over at him. "You're so jumpy in the morning! It's good that you're so energetic in the bedroom."

"What?" He sat up and just looked at her, dumbfounded.

"Seriously, Makoto. You wouldn't take off your hoodie back in school and now you're sleeping in your suit. Are you really trying to get heat stroke?"

"Hey, I was just really exhausted okay?"

Junko smirked in a childish manner with a mocking voice. "And you decided to sleep next to your greatest enemy. Wow! You really are bold!"

"But you didn't do anything, right?"

She leaned forward toward him from the edge of the mattress. "Ohohoho, did you want me to do something…? Who knew there was a deviant mind behind that innocent face of yours?"

He narrowed his eyes and stood up, dusting off his clothing.

"I'm just going to figure out if there's anything to eat in this place."

"Good! You'll get to try my cooking. Despair at how you'll never reach my level."

"Uh…"

"What? Want to starve?"

"Well, I've only seen you cook once and it almost ruined curry for me…"

"The curry was good!"

"It also involved someone's eyeball!"

"Did you want some in your dish, darling?"

"No!" Makoto, finally frustrated, begins to walk out of the room. Junko snickers right behind him, following close behind.

The two eventually find themselves back on the ground floor. While looking for something resembling a kitchen in the long-abandoned building, they could hear a loud clang from outside the building and feel a large shake soon after. It was the sound of the building being caved in from something. They both ran toward where it was and were greeted by the rays of the rising sun. Makoto looked over to an Exisal that fell onto the entrance of the building and it crushed the hotel kitchen.

"Tch…just my luck."

A young female voice called out to them. "Hey! Are you two okay?"

The former SHSL Lucky Student had his eyes widen. He instantly recognized that voice.

Another female voice called out. "Who knew there were still a couple of idiots still out here?"

Two young women approached from over the dusty corpse of the monkey-like robot.

"Don't worry! You guys are safe now." The girl with an ahoge, wearing a torn up coat and jeans with a white v-neck and grey sneakers struck a magical girl-like pose. "The ordinary girl, Komaru Naegi, is ready to guide you guys out of here! Hehe. I always wanted to say something like that."

Komaru's friend and partner stepped forward with her trademark red eyes and long tongue, wearing a long torn up skirt like her former school uniform along with a buttoned up long-sleeved white blouse. "And don't forget your neighborhood friendly serial killer, Genocider Sho! Though don't mind me if I get a little snippy. Kyeeehahahaha!"

Some beads of sweat fall from Makoto's forehead. "K-Komaru and Fukawa-san…"

"E-Eh?!" The younger Naegi became far more self-conscious. "M-Makoto? You're here…!" She becomes a little bashful due to her eccentric entrance moments prior.

"Big Mac!" Sho smiled for a moment until she saw who was right behind. "Ugh. I may be an ugly sewage bitch, but I'm definitely still way better than that fake tramp that's lurking right behind you."

"W-Wait…" Komaru started to panic. "Hold on, that can't be…?"

The SHSL Murderer crossed her arms and huffed. "Yeah. There's no mistake. That's the Super High-School Level Disaster herself!"

Junko grinned right at them.

"Toko-chan was right about her."

The Naegi with her trusty hacking gun raised it slightly, staring the fashionista of despair down. After a few tense moments of silence she blurted out the rest of her sentence.

"She really does have huge breasts."

Makoto's eyes shot wide open. "W-What have you been telling Komaru?"

Sho looked uncharacteristically serious. "They're too damn perfect to be real. Bet her and donut tits went to the same plastic surgeon."

"Oh?" Junko turned her grin into a crooked smile. "Think they're fake, do you? My darling here can attest to how real they are."

"Wait. Darling?! Makoto!" Komaru puts her free hand on her hip.

"Yeesh. Seriously. Have some standards, Mac n' Cheese."

He finally responds. "We're not!"

"You're so cruel, Makoto! After you've felt my chest and slept in the same bed as me…"

Komaru really starts to panic. "Makoto! Seriously!"

The aforementioned Makoto already realized he was put into a losing situation. "C-Can we not discuss this out here? Aren't there still Monokumas and Exisals roaming around?"

"Exisals? Anyway, yeah, you're right. But you better explain what's going on! Come on!" Komaru leapt away, with Genocider keeping up with her pace. Stifling a groan, Makoto follows in a dash with Junko right behind him.

The two fire-forged friends lead the way, clearing their path of wanton Monokumas with hacking gun bullets and strikes with specially-crafted scissors. Carving a path through the masses of ursine robots, they eventually make it to an inconspicuous manhole. Lifting it up, looks around and motions to Makoto and Junko as they arrive right after.

The fashion girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I was an ugly sewage bitch! Kyeeehahaha!"

"Come on. Before the big ones show up." Komaru hopped in right after her words, with Genocider right behind her.

Makoto showed a small smile on the corner of his mouth as he thought about the two. "Too good for you, Enoshima?"

"Psh! The horrible stench and grossness of a sewer…the despair of it ain't bad. Maybe I can dunk you in the sewage too!"

Makoto rolled his eyes and began climbing down into the sewer. When he finally reached the bottom, he looked up and saw the outline of the fashion girl's body coming right for him. Instinctually, he extended his arms to catch her. She was surprisingly light, but even despite that he almost toppled over from the force of the drop. The mean-spirited woman giggled while the two girls just watched in bewilderment. Genocider suddenly sneezed and an annoyed expression with her tongue back inside her mouth appeared on her face.

"H-Hey, you two horny idiots! W-We're still not safe here, you know!"

"Fukawa-san, you can remember what Sho does now?"

"Only somewhat. I don't have time to explain! Hurry up, already!" Komaru and Toko moved on ahead.

"Can you get off already?"

"No! Carry me. I kinda wanna see when your noodle arms give out…"

"Hgh! I should just drop you."

"But are you going to?"

Makoto bit his lip while Junko smirked and wrapped her arms around his neck as he struggled to catch up with the others. Wading through the leftover wreckage of old Monokuma units from Komaru and Toko's adventure, they eventually reach a ladder going upward.

"This leads to our hideout. We'll be safe in there. After all, all the adults used to hide here too."

"Used to, Komaru? Where is everyone?"

"I'll explain when we get into the hideout. Come on, Makoto!" She starts climbing up.

Toko just glares at Junko for a few moments and climbs up as well. "Y-You better not peek!"

"O-Oh, right." Makoto looks down to avoiding seeing whatever she was wearing under her skirt but can only see Junko looking straight up. "Seriously?"

"Just curious. Don't be so jealous."

"Sure. Whatever you say. Ready to get off me now?!"

"Fine, fine. For now." She leaps out of his arms. Winking at him, she starts to climb up. "Feel free to look~"

Makoto just rubbed the temples of his head and waited for her to climb up before going up himself.

The warehouse itself was extremely big, large enough to hide a village of adults. There were makeshift houses all over, presumably built by the previous inhabitants of the hideout. Other than the four there was no one else that Makoto could see.

Komaru yelled out. "It's just us, guys! No need for an ambush!"

As if on cue, there were four other figures that appeared from behind one of the shelters. They were slightly older, smack dab in the beginning of their teenage years. Wearing similar clothes to what they had before, Makoto recognized them as the former Warriors of Hope: Masaru Daimon, Nagisa Shingetsu, Kotoko Utsugi and Jataro Kemuri.

A maskless Jotaro stepped forward. "W-Welcome back, big sis Komaru."

"Hey!" A large smile showed up on Masaru's face. "That's him, isn't it? The SHSL Hope!"

"You should wipe that smile off your face. Look who's right next to him." Nagisa lectured.

Kotoko looked nervous. "E-Eh?! Big sis Junko is here, too? B-But…she's totally adorbs and not dead!"

"Huh. They're still alive." Junko looked deep in thought. "Did they somehow survive Monaca-chan…?" The four youths winced at the mention of their former leader.

Makoto looked at her moments, keeping his thoughts to himself. Finally, he blurted out, "Hey, what's going on here? Where's everyone else?"

"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us." Komaru replied. "Those strange robots appeared out of nowhere and started making a bigger mess of the city!"

Toko pointed her finger straight at Junko. "Y-Yeah! D-Did she do this?! How the hell is she alive, anyway? We all saw her turn into paste!"

"Too bad, I'm back bitch!"

Makoto interrupted. "I wanna fill you guys in, but I need to know what you guys know first. What happened here?"

"Well, Toko-chan and I went back to Towa City. After freeing the last of the kids from the Monokuma helmets, we talked to everyone. No one wanted to stay, so we were helping everyone leave the island. We pretty much got everyone out and we went to go looking for these four. Since staying at the hotel would mean they would be spotted, they hid themselves here where the adults used to hide. We were about to leave when a huge earthquake happened. It was like…over a minute long!"

A look of realization appeared on Makoto's face. "Go on."

"When it finally stopped, we decided to leave. We got to the streets from the sewer and saw those giant monkey robots—"

"Exisals." Junko interrupted.

"Sure. Whatever. The Exisals showed up and started destroying everything! We couldn't leave."

"Y-Yeah. These kids are dead weight without their fancy Monokumas…"

"Toko-chan!" Komaru put both her hands on her hips.

"What? It's the truth! They can't fight those Exisals or whatever! They'd j-just be turned into paste."

"Anyway. We've been hiding out for the past month or so."

"Only a month, huh…?" Makoto placed his hand on his chin. "But it all makes sense now. I remember reading an article on a 5.5 Earthquake that originated from Towa City. That's when the Towa Corporation stated they were doing a product test and had the military help them with a blockade."

Komaru looked panicked. "Eh? But, Makoto, the Towa Corporation doesn't exist anymore!"

"Now I know how to fill you guys in. It's going to be a long story…"

Kyoko's own purple eyes stared deep into a pair of binoculars she was holding, looking over her parked car. Hina was doing a few stretches outside while Mukuro was sharpening her knife.

"An armed guard on the bridge, several destroyers patrolling the waters and dozens of patrol boats roaming the area." Kyoko put away the binoculars. "Togami-kun wasn't kidding. It's been shut tight."

"Then we have no choice. We go in by force. One guard is nothing." Mukuro replied.

"No doubt he would have access to an alert system if we tried to force our way in. Even you can't handle heavy ordinance coming from destroyers."

"If I had a rifle, this would be over already."

Hina sighed. "Can we not try and kill people, please?"

"I agree with Hina-san." Kyoko affirmed. "I have an idea. I'll need your cooperation, Ikusaba-san."

Kyoko and Hina went back into the car while Mukuro crawled underneath it. She pulled up to the guard station. The guard began to question the purpose of them being there, while Kyoko decided to distract him with a long, convoluted story.

Mukuro let go of the car, covered in some dust and oil, and quietly went prone on the asphalt and crawled to the other side of the station box. Kyoko counted in her head the seconds she kept talking.

Eventually, after a minute and a half, she stopped talking which prompted the guard to continue questioning them – immediately, he was struck behind on the head by Mukuro. The guard fell forward, knocking his head on Kyoko's car, knocking him out.

Hina cringed at the sound of impact. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"Possibly. Good work."

Mukuro just nodded, kicking the roadside barrier out of the way. She re-entered the vehicle and Kyoko hit the gas. Not even 10 minutes elapsed and they eventually found the barrier of cars at the end of the bridge.

Turning off the ignition, her eyes immediately darted to a familiar car. "They were definitely here."

"What the heck happened here?" Hina pointed at the wrecked horde of Monokumas covered over the corpse of an Exisal.

Mukuro stepped out of the car and looked all over. "Tch. There's too much scrap and oil everywhere. But this all looks to have happened over 12 hours ago."

"It's doubtful those two did this by themselves." Kyoko fixed her gaze at the pile of broken robots. "They most likely went somewhere for shelter."

Hina looked surprised. "Uh…is there any kinda shelter in this wasteland?"

"The buildings may be ruined, but they're mostly intact. Let's continue our search before it gets dark."

Hina and Mukuro moved on ahead. Kyoko could spot from the corner of her eye someone watching from the rooftops. The only thing she could make out from the distance was some sort of strange looking hairclip.

The six remaining denizens of Towa City each had different reactions to what Makoto revealed about the world to them. While they were cut off from the rest of it, outside was a world that was untouched by the Tragedy. Komaru herself was deep in thought, Toko looked unhappy, Masaru looked like he didn't understand at all, Jotaro was indifferent, Nagisa had his eyes narrowed and Kotoko looked strangely happy.

"D-Damn…we're in a whole different world…that's not good. W-What if I relapse?!"

"Toko-chan! Don't worry. You won't. I promise that." Komaru placed her hand on Toko's, which seemed to calm her down a little.

Junko noticed this and smirked, not saying anything.

"There's something that's been bothering me, though."

"W-What?! You tell us a crazy story like that and only one thing bothers you, Naegi?"

"Yeah. What happened to everyone that was in Towa City before this place showed up a month ago?"

A deafening silence filled the room. None of them had an answer.

Komaru finally spoke up. "You two have been the only ones we've run into for the past month. There haven't even been any new corpses either."

Nagisa went deep in thought for a few moments, then added, "They must have disappeared somehow. There's been no trace of anyone else before you two arrived."

"I figured as much but…why and how?"

The blue haired boy crossed his arms. "You're an adult aren't you? Figure it out yourself."

Masaru looked over to his pink-haired peer. "Hey, Kotoko-chan, why do you look so happy?"

"I mean…no one knows what we did, right? We can totally live normal lives now! And Big Sis Junko is back! This is really great!"

"Aw, see? They missed me."

Komaru and Toko did not look amused.

"Why couldn't you be happy about me being back?!" She leered over at Makoto.

"Do I really need to answer that?" He crossed his arms in response, while she pinched his cheeks.

"You're so cute when you're pissed."

"Can you stop harassing me for two minutes, Enoshima?"

"Nope! Request denied."

"Um…" Jataro finally piped up. "Is Naegi-san together with Big Sis Junko?"

Both replied immediately. "No." "Yes!"

Komaru frowned. "So can you explain what's going on? She is really Junko Enoshima, right? The one who ended the entire world?"

Makoto began to reply. "W-Well…hey, stop pinching me already!"

The diva of despair finally releases his face from her fingers.

"It's all thanks to her that we managed to get into the city in the first place."

"She belongs in a prison, though!"

Junko smirked. "Do you really think a prison can hold me? You're somehow more naïve than your brother."

"A Future Foundation one should be able to hold you! Probably! Because of you everything was wrecked!" Komaru stepped forward.

"…and because of her we were given some hope in our lives." Nagisa countered.

She looked at him in surprise. "Shingetsu-san…"

The four former Warriors of Hope stepped in between Komaru and Junko.

Masaru spoke first. "Hey, don't think we aren't glad that you helped us. It's just we don't want you two to fight."

"Tch. F-Figures." Toko groaned. "Whatever. But I-I'll be keeping an eye on her. She definitely hasn't changed at all!"

"Go ahead and eye me all you want. Can't help that you're jealous of me."

The former SHSL Writer glared at her in response.

Makoto clears his throat. "It'd be best to get out of here first."

"I'm sorry, Makoto. I can't leave yet."

"Eh? Why's that, Komaru?"

"Someone restarted the production of Monokumas at Towa Hills. It could mean Monaca Towa is back. And if they and the Exisals start to fight outside of the city, a lot of innocent people could get hurt!"

"Are you planning to fight her?"

"I want to know why the Monokumas are back. And since I'm here, I can do something about it."

"I…see. Well, since I'm here, I'll do what I can to help you."

"No offense, Makoto, but you're not exactly the first person I think of if I need help in a fight."

He laughs nervously in response. "I know. But I'm no good at sitting around and doing nothing. You two aren't alone, you know."

Komaru smiles. "Thanks. Though…the person playing with your hair still makes me nervous. But if she isn't trying to blow up the world this time, I guess I can let it slide. For now."

The younger Naegi gives one last look at Junko then looked back at her partner. "We should get them some food."

"Do w-we seriously have to feed her?"

"Yeah. We do."

"Ugh…fine. You're too soft-hearted f-for your own good, Komaru."

The duo left to go inside one of the makeshift structures while the four young teens looked at Makoto and Junko. The strawberry blonde woman was still messing around with his hair. The teens, feeling awkward in the silence, scattered to separate parts of the warehouse.

"You're too serious for your own good."

"Kids have a weird way of making people around them a lot more honest about themselves."

"Oh yeah. Their moms and dads really were honest with them, weren't they?" She smirked.

Ignoring her snide comment, he continued. "Regardless of why you did it, you still gave them the hope to live on." He sighed. "It's saying something when you happen to be the better alternative to whatever they've been through."

She stops idly playing with his hair. "Are you seriously placing your hope in me? Ew! I thought your little sister was a little dim, but you're definitely way dumber."

Makoto turned around and faced her. "So you're denying what you did for those kids?"

"All I wanted was to use them to spread despair."

"You only needed the Towa Corporation for that – you only needed Monaca Towa. But you saved the other four. It was you who said they could build a paradise for kids."

"My little fan needed some loyal pawns of her own, you know. Seriously, are you trying to whitewash the whole thing? I thought you were better than that. Or are you still as nauseatingly naïve as I thought you were?"

"So why give them hope? They're not guilty over what they did. They know full well what they got into and that they were used by you. When you found them they were already in the deepest despair!"

"Well I…" Junko was surprisingly tripped up by his point. "You—you're using my own strategy against me! I take back what I said about you being stupid. You're just a smartass."

He crossed his arms and just smiled at her.

"Ugh! That defiance of yours…" Her face darkens. "It pisses me off! What the hell?! Not even Yasuke-kun was this stubborn."

"Are you really that surprised when I fight back?"

"Being smug, huh?" She steps forward right into him. "I'll wipe that smile off of your face."

"Don't throw a tantrum just because I was able to point out the flaws in your logic."

Komaru and Toko eventually returned back to the duo, each with a plastic tray steaming hot with the plastic peeled back slightly.

"There's some vending machines that had instant food in them! It's not the best, but it's definitely better than eating out of cans—" She stopped when she finally actually looked at them. "What are you two doing?!"

"I-I knew it. Horny idiots."

Makoto's face was shocked as he was in the middle of a surprise deep kiss with the SHSL Despair. He looked over and was trying to say something, though all they could hear was panicked and muffled speech.

"Seriously! Stop!"

Junko pulled away but kept looking at Makoto. "Or what?"

"Or you're not getting lunch."

Toko grimaced. "S-She'd probably get off on being starved."

"Why?!" Komaru was so shocked even her ahoge was affected.

"Get off me already…!" Makoto wiped off some sweat from his forehead.

"Aw, sounds like you don't really want me to. What can I say? I'm a pretty good kisser." She sticks her tongue out at him.

"C-Could you two stop flirting and just take your damn food already?!"

"Fine, fine. We'll continue this later." Her wide grin shows itself while Makoto just narrowed his eyes.

"You guys can, um, choose any building to stay in. No one else is around after all."

"Komaru, we seriously aren't together."

"Sure. Whatever you say." She continued under her breath. "Flashy girls were always your type, weren't they?"

Makoto didn't hear her additional comment and finally took the plastic tray from her hands. It resembled a microwaved meal.

ANote

BlackCapPI: Only a day into V2 and a murder already happened. The cast is pretty bloodthirsty this time, huh?

Shirokuma: if i were to guess, since they're doing a live killing game, you can only stretch out the budget so much

BlackCapPI: I suppose. Though next season I'd like some more…slightly more normal…figures.

Shirokuma: well since the second entry, the casts have always been colorful characters you know?

BlackCapPI: Still…how can you connect with the cast when the people can be described as caricatures? The first title had some trope-y characters in them, but they definitely felt like people you could meet in real life.

Shirokuma: no i definitely see your point. plus you don't want to do the same things over and over again. personally, i'd like to see some more throwbacks to past titles for the next season.

BlackCapPI: Yeah. Danganronpa shouldn't forget its roots. That's probably a good call.

Shirokuma: though actually i heard a rumor about this season. its actually supposed to be more realistic.

BlackCapPI: Realistic? I mean they're not using paid actors like they did in V1.

Shirokuma: no i mean there's really no script this time. they're all just competing.

BlackCapPI: Oh, right, there's a cash prize for the winners. Still for a game, all the contestants act like they're in the real thing.

Shirokuma: maybe that's part of why it's supposed to be more realistic

BlackCapPI: Wonder how they're doing it?

Shirokuma: probably a trade secret. its legal, though! otherwise the government would've stopped it from happening in the first place.

BlackCapPI: There is still a difference between being legal and being right, though.

Shirokuma: haha, you're quite a thinker, Shuichi-kun