Maki found herself wandering the hallways of the Tokyo HQ for the Alliance. It happened to not be too far away from Hope's Peak Academy nor the old location of the Diet Building. She was on standby – considering her talent of SHSL Assassin, she apparently needed the groups' advisor to be present before she could be sent out on missions. Even before the killing game, she hated being idle. She was restless. The group was separated soon after the ad hoc scrum debate.
At the very least Kaito was fine and not afflicted with a terminal disease for some reason.
Her heightened senses, combined with her general boredom, noticed Himiko trying to make herself as discreet as possible. The SHSL Magician was trying to avoid people despite her outrageous outfit. Keeping her face neutral as possible, she decided to trail the young teenage girl.
After all she might as well actually use her talent.
Following her was tricky. She was taking a strange path to her final destination – it looked to be formerly where a corner office used to be. There weren't any windows from what she could tell from the corner she was peeking from. Harukawa decided to wait a few more minutes before asking Himiko what she was doing there. Before her self-imposed time limit was up, a group of burly-looking men decided to waltz in. Her red eyes started to narrow and she prepared herself to attack them if needed.
"N-Nyeh." Himiko gulped.
One of the large men had his hair styled in a corn-like pompadour. "You Himiko Yumeno?"
"Y-Yeah." The SHSL Magician was nervous.
"Nice to fuckin' meetcha. Name's Mondo Owada. Kirgiri said you needed my help for something?"
"Yo, boss. We ain't some kinda mercenary group are we?"
"Shut it, Yukimaru! I made a damn promise. As a man, if my word ain't shit, then what else do I got?"
"E-Erm...well... I-I was wondering if you could help me with construction...?" Himiko squeaked.
The bikers all looked at each other, then toward Mondo.
Mondo rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh. I wonder how that secret got out? Hey, if the Yakuza can do humanitarian work, then we'd be able to too, right? C'mon men! So what exactly do you need from us Yumeno?"
Himiko gave out a long, tired sigh. She looked like she was confessing to a crime or something similar. "Here, nyeh. I have some...blueprints. I guess."
Mondo received whatever Himiko had in a binder and looked it over. "Uh. I know you're probably not an architect or something but if I'm looking at this right, it looks like a bar? The hell... I was expecting some sort of stage or something."
"I-It's a long story..."
"Looks like you got some secrets of your own, huh? I get it. Though most of what you drew doesn't really work."
"Oh..."
Mondo grinned. "No worries. I brought some extra help with me, since I figured I might need it."
The bikers made way for the two people he called in.
"H-Hello." A young man wearing a simple checkered shirt and pants showed up. He definitely didn't look like he would hang in with this rough crowd. Especially with the light mascara and small studded earrings he had. "I'm Chihiro Fujisaki. N-Nice to meet you."
Himiko smiled back.
"Let's get to work everyone!" Kiyotaka had his normal "uniform" on, perfectly pressed as usual. "We need to make some perfect measurements in order to create good, reliable blueprints!"
Some of the bikers groaned at the intense work ethic he had. Even the SHSL Magician found herself frowning.
"Hey, just leave it to us! This is our promise as men!" Mondo gave Himiko a thumbs up.
"Right..." Himiko was about to roll her eyes, but she stopped herself. "Thank you."
Maki was trying to piece together what just happened. She decided to hang back and watch the rabble work – she was both worried for her small friend as well as wanting to know what the secret behind the bar was.
Shuichi finally changed out of his Danganronpa clothes into a more neutral-looking black suit. Holding the case file near his chest, he looked over and saw Kaede coming along with something resembling her V3 outfit. Though she's added thin black stockings due to it being the middle of winter along with some black heels. Her tie, skirt and vest were all neutral black as well.
"We look pretty boring right now, don't we?"
"Kinda reminds me of the Future Foundation. But this is some serious stuff."
"Yeah. I can see why no one else wanted to do this investigation." Kaede sighs. "Are you ready, Saihara-kun?"
"As I'll ever be. Just got to get through it one step at a time."
"That's right! And I'll be right with you. No worries."
The two opened the large double doors to where the inquiry was happening. It used to be a normal middle management office, but things have been rearranged to make it similar to a courtroom. There were a few Alliance security officers posted throughout the room. One of the desks was occupied with two women standing behind it.
"Kirigiri-san mentioned that the inquiry room wasn't ready yet. I guess this was a surprise for everyone involved."
"Yeah...but we'll deal with it, right?"
"Right."
Shuichi and Kaede took their place at the unoccupied desk. One of the security members moved aside from a door and it opened up. Shuichi and Kaede's eyes widened when they saw Makoto walk out of it and sitting at another desk perpendicular to the makeshift "counsel tables."
"N-Naegi-san?!" Kaede gasped.
"Good to have everyone here. It's been a few days since I've seen everyone." Makoto sighed as he sat up straight at the table. "It's...unfortunate that something like this happened. But that's what the point of the inquiry is for. We try to find the truth of any major incidents that happen in our organization. And that's never been more important than now."
"So you're here as a judge?" Shuichi asked.
"Something like that. I'm the only high-ranking member that can really take the time to listen to these things. Don't worry, it's not a bother or anything." Makoto turned to the other duo. "Um...Ando-san, this is an inquiry for Kimura-san..."
"I'm here for my friend." Ruruka replied with a sickly sweet voice. "I'm a witness. That's allowed, right?"
"I guess it's allowed." Makoto nervously scratched his cheek.
Seiko looked happy to have her childhood friend next to her.
"Okay. It's my first time doing this so let's get started. Investigator Shuichi Saihara, go ahead."
Shuichi gulped. He looked over at Kaede for a moment, then stood up straight. "Alright. This inquiry is for the death of Sonosuke Izayoi. According to the police report, approximately one week ago he was found dead in one of the satellite bases in what was formerly in downtown Tokyo. There hasn't been any named suspects as of yet."
"Though you guys seem to already have one." Ruruka chimed in. "You guys really want to sweep this under the rug, huh?"
"I'll have to stop you there, Ando-san. That's not what this is about." Makoto replied. "Go ahead and continue, Saihara-kun."
"Right. I'll be asking you two some questions about the incident. I'd like for you two to cooperate."
Kaede had a bad feeling about the woman in a puffy coat.
A stony expression was came from the former SHSL Confectioner. "I'm ready to set the facts straight."
"You were still at Headquarters when this all happened, Ando-san." Shuichi began. "But you were probably the last confirmed person to see him alive."
"Not bad for a kid. But you're right. We were in a relationship."
"Please recount that last meeting you had with him."
She looked annoyed. "What's it to you? Are you some kind of pervert?"
Shuichi was slightly flustered. "J-Just stick to the facts, please."
An annoyed sigh escaped from the grieving girlfriend. "Fine. I just learned he was assigned to a mission downtown. Since he was the SHSL Blacksmith, he was also pretty good with weapons. My Yoi-chan couldn't lose. Or so I thought. I even packed him his favorite hard candies that I made for him..."
"Was he completely fine when you last saw him?"
"Of course!" Ruruka almost yelled. "There was no way he was going to lose to some no-name talentless losers out there!"
Makoto glanced over at her. "So you're not saying he was killed in the line of duty?"
"I know he was but...!" She grit her teeth. "He was one of Hope's Peak. A graduate! The only way he would've died is if the other person was another SHSL talent."
"I see."
"Alright, then..." Kaede looked at Seiko. "So you were in the area when it happened, right?"
Seiko looked down dejected. "Yes. I was. I was the first one to discover the body."
Shuichi thought he noticed something weird with Ruruka as she said that. "Go ahead and tell us what you saw, Kimura-san."
A tired breath came from the former SHSL Pharmacist. "He was still alive when I found him. He had a huge gash in the middle of his chest. Whoever did it was probably dead on the floor next to him, so I did what I could. I...couldn't save him. He lost too much blood by the time I found him."
"You did what you could."
Ruruka spoke up. "Hey, I saw the...body...that wound was like a big beast clawed him."
Shuichi took out a photo provided in the case file with the body at the scene. Kaede took a look at it and it looked like it was a diagonal swipe from some kind of oversized lion, or another beast with a claw, on the front side of the torso. The wounds ran really deep. There were also several other dead people strewn around him.
"Yeah, you're right. It does look like that."
Shuichi sighed. "But there wasn't any sightings of any big beasts in the area. That's a fact."
"It would have to be a person, then." Ruruka argued.
"That's the only other possibility, yeah." Kaede nodded. "But turning into a beast would be something else."
"Not for someone with a SHSL talent."
"Sure, I guess..."
Makoto raised his eyebrow. "Where are you going with this, Ando-san?"
"I want to find Yoi-chan's real killer!"
Kaede narrowed her eyes toward the candy-making woman. Seiko looked completely unaware of what was coming next.
Ruruka clenched her fist. "It was you wasn't it, Kimura?!"
"Wh—Ando-san, what are you saying?!"
"I wanted to believe you but when I saw that on his corpse, I knew it was you!"
"I didn't!" Seiko looked even paler than usual. "I just...no...!"
"I hate girls like her." Kaede said under her breath.
"We can't let her get away with this." Shuichi replied in a hushed tone. "Don't worry. Evidence is everything."
Makoto looked shocked. "That's a pretty crazy thing to accuse her of. Do you have any proof?"
"Of course I do!" Ruruka almost slammed the table. "Kimura knows how to make performance-enhancing chemicals. I saw her mix some together and she became some kind of...feral beast...!"
Seiko looked extremely worried. "I—I showed you that in confidence, Ando-san! I trusted you!"
"I trusted you, too! How couldn't you save Yoi-san?!" Ruruka sneered. "You were probably jealous of us, weren't you? You would never eat my sweets. I should have never trusted you!"
"I..." Seiko looked down as the guilt was washing over her face. "I'm sorry."
"No, that's wrong!" Kaede yelled out. Her yell and point quieted down the two women.
"The hell are you yelling about?!" Ruruka growled.
"We have proof that Kimura-san was not the one who killed Izayoi-san."
The former SHSL Confectioner rolled her eyes. "What? Because she didn't have any blood on her?"
"No. The autopsy file shows that his knives were coated in his own blood."
"Wh-what? How does that make sense."
Kaede smirked. "Well. Think about it. The guy had all those weapons on him. Why wouldn't the people he was fighting use his own weapons against him. They were probably better than anything they had on them, after all."
"Grrr!" The pink-haired girl didn't look too pleased with this development.
"That seems very likely. Anyone who came out of Hope's Peak Academy as a graduate was definitely at least known. The former SHSL Blacksmith's weapons were of the highest quality." Makoto concurred with Kaede's explanation.
Seiko snapped out of her funk. "Why are you so intent on pinning Izayoi-kun's death on me?"
"It couldn't have been anyone else. Besides, he didn't die from those wounds. He was still alive, like you said, right? So you killed him! My Yoi-chan!"
"I thought we were friends, Ando-san..." Seiko began to get angry. "Was that just some lie?! All because I couldn't eat your sweets? You already know—"
"You didn't even try! Couldn't you make something that suppresses allergies?!"
Makoto spoke up. "Um...excuse me. As much as I'd like for you two to work out your problems with each other, this isn't really the place for it."
"So knock it off already!" Kaede demanded.
"She's really gotten into the case." Shuichi thought to himself. "But this doesn't feel over yet...why...?"
"...maybe it isn't all your fault, Kimura." Ruruka's voice was a bit quiet, but strained. "The Alliance is to blame, too! Why would you send him on a mission that would get him killed?!"
She pointed straight at Makoto. He flinched slightly and started to sweat a little. "Wait, hold on!"
"Clearly you guys sent him out there to get rid of him!" She claimed with a venomous tinge in her voice. "Just so you could get to me, right?!"
"This is getting out of control again. This case was supposed to be simple with Kirigiri-san's dossier, right?" Kaede asked. "Why won't she just accept what happened?!"
"There has to be something in here that we can use." Shuichi skimmed through the files again. "Something that can finally close the case for good."
The SHSL Detective's eyes seemed a lot sharper than he remembered. It was just like in the killing game. Except he didn't have to fish for letters in an annoying gambit this time.
"You...you guys really are twisted! You and Kimura, too!" Ruruka proclaimed.
"No, that's wrong!" Shuichi pointed his finger and yelled back at her. She didn't look pleased at all with him. Swallowing his nervousness, he presented his definitive piece of evidence from the autopsy report.
"There was something else odd found according to the report. There was a round, organic material stuck in his windpipe."
"Wh-what?"
Shuichi raised his voice. "Now, Ruruka Ando, what do you think was lodged in there?!"
She started sweating profusely. "That's...no...wait, hold on, that has to be a mistake!"
"Evidence is everything."
Kaede smiled. "If it isn't clear, then we'll be happy to illustrate our point."
"P-Please don't try to draw a manga in here, guys."
"Don't worry, Naegi-san! Our words will be descriptive enough."
Shuichi nodded. "Here's our explanation of the case."
Kaede began. "After being assigned to a field mission, Sonosuke Izayoi met up with Ruruka Ando before leaving. She gave him a bag of hard candies as he left. Leaving his girlfriend in confidence, he took the small gift and left for downtown Tokyo."
"But little did they both know, he wasn't going to return. He most likely was in the middle of enjoying one of the hard candies as he was forced into a fight. During it, however, he accidentally swallowed it and started to choke. Being off-guard from the sudden pressure in his throat, his opponents took advantage of his unfortunate change in circumstances and used his own knives against him." Shuichi added.
"His body numbed from the pain, he finished off his attackers but started to succumb to both him choking as well as blood loss from the nasty wounds he was inflicted. Later on, Seiko Kimura found him dying and tried to save him. But she couldn't. It was basically already too late by the time she showed up." Kaede looked somber as she was explaining. "It wasn't a calculated murder, but a terrible accident."
Ruruka clenched her fists as she was listening to re-enactment of the events that lead to her boyfriend's demise. The sequence of events made sense. Even she couldn't find a more reasonable solution that fit her point. Seiko sighed and still had an angry glare toward her childhood friend. They couldn't see her mouth behind the mask, but there was probably an angry sneer behind it.
Shuichi and Kaede yelled in unison. "And that's the truth of the case!"
"...it was...my fault?" The former SHSL Confectioner grit her teeth. "Yoi-chan... dammit... you promised you would come back. And you...betrayed me..."
"It's not all about you, Ando-san." Seiko's voice was hoarse. "I can't believe I did a ton for you and you basically were willing to throw away your friendship with me over this."
"It doesn't matter." Ruruka's voice was tired. "I'm still alive. As long as I'm alive, I can make new friends. Right?"
"Hold it!"
The girl in a puffy coat moved her eyes over toward Kaede.
"Don't lie to yourself. You may be way too paranoid for your own good, but you're still mourning for him."
"...we know someone like that, don't we?" Shuichi asked.
"Yeah." Kaede sighed. "That's why I'm not going to let you make the same stupid mistake he did. You'll end up dying alone if you stay stubborn like that."
"Dying...alone?" Ruruka sighed. "...you're probably right, kid."
"If there aren't any more objections, I think I can say that this inquiry is over." Makoto announced. "I understand that you were put into a horrible position, but there still has to be some disciplinary action for what you tried to do here Ando-san."
"Might as well fire me right here, Naegi."
"I said disciplinary action. Not a punishment. I'd rather try and fix the problem itself, you know?"
"What the hell?" She spat. "What's your angle?"
"Eh? I don't really know what you're talking about."
Ruruka was shocked for a moment and then narrowed her eyes toward Makoto for a few moments and then only uttered a single word. "Weirdo."
Seiko rolled her eyes.
"We'll retrieve you when it's time to decide on how we want to help you, Ando-san. You can take the rest of the day off."
Ruruka gave a small smile and exited the room, not even giving Seiko the time of day.
"Hmmm. There's no way, right?" Kaede held her chin.
"Kimura-san. I'm sorry that you had to go through this."
"...it's alright. I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later." Seiko held her arm and looked down. "All I wanted to do was help people and make friends. But things just kept going wrong. Now I lost my two friends."
Makoto smiled. "If you want, I could be your friend."
"N-Naegi-san..." Seiko pushed her fingers together and her face started to become flush. "R-Really? Just so casually like that? D-Did you want something from me?"
"Huh? No. You're a wonderful woman and I'm sure many people out there are thankful for you. Why wouldn't I want to be friends with you? You're a good person."
"Um, I'm not sure what to say..."
Kaede groaned a little bit while Shuichi looked to her with confusion.
Makoto chuckled nervously. "Anyway, you're free to go. I'll see you later."
"Y-Yes. Of course! Thank you!" Seiko scurried out, trying not to look at the current spokesperson for the Alliance.
Kaede frowned. "You really shouldn't be so careless with your words, Naegi-san!"
"Wh-what? What did I do?" Makoto was as confused as his blue-haired counterpart.
Maki watched as Mondo and his crew exited out of the room for a lunch break. She noticed Himiko didn't leave with them, she was just idly placing her hand on the newly-constructed counter where drinks would be served and made.
"Yumeno."
"N-Nyeh!" Himiko was jumpy like a cat, her hat almost flying off with the rest of her. "Harumaki? I-I thought you'd be working."
Maki was still a little annoyed at her using that nickname, but decided to let it be. "Not yet. I'm on standby."
"Oh. Erm...I was just..."
"You don't have to lie to me. I've been watching for a while."
"H-Hey! That makes you sound like a pervert."
Maki pouted angrily. "Hey! I am not! Don't try to change the subject. This bar is yours, right?"
The SHSL Magician looked down with a disappointed face. "Yeah. You caught me. I didn't want to talk about it."
"I don't think you'd be able to hide the fact that you'll be running a bar from everyone else for very long."
"You're right." Himiko crossed her arms. "Still, I was in the middle of thinking about how I was gonna explain it to you all."
"You could start by explaining it to me."
"Do I even have a choice at this point? Yeah my family lived in Tokyo."
"So your family was affected just like Saihara and Akamatsu."
"Mmhm. You see my family has owned a bar for generations. But when whatever the heck happened, it was gone. Ruined. Before the killing game, my papa was training me to take over as the bartender."
"That doesn't sound like a bad thing."
"It is! It's...so boring. Even being a regular old magician would be way more interesting."
"You didn't like it?"
"Well think of it this way. Your path from your birth til you die was predetermined. I know some people are okay with that, but I wasn't! So I convinced my parents to let me go on Danganronpa by saying it'd help spread the word of the bar."
"So where'd the whole magic thing come from?"
"Nyeh. I just really like playing the mage in any RPG I play. But when they gave me a talent and backstory for the killing game, I guess Shirogane thought it'd be funny to give me what I ended up getting."
"Well..."
"I know what you're gonna say. That rebelling against your family is pretty reckless thing to do. But I had to try! I really did! How could I be happy if I didn't at least try something new?"
"No. I wasn't going to say that. I understand where you're coming from."
"Y-You do?"
Maki looked at her straight with her ruby eyes. "Yes. Because I never was happy with myself before the killing game."
"Really? B-But you got a cool talent and even a romantic subplot!"
"Sure. And they hurt all the same. But, well, the only thing similar to me and my fabricated backstory was that I'm an orphan."
"Oh. S-Sorry to hear that."
"Despite that, I had a pretty average life. I wasn't bullied and I wasn't part of the popular crowd. In fact I'd say I was invisible to most people."
"Nyeh! So that's why you were a natural at being the SHSL Assassin."
"Maybe. But I wanted to be something more. I wanted to stand out."
"Is that why your costume's all red? But it doesn't really make sense for an assassin."
The SHSL Assassin's eyes darkened as she found herself a little annoyed. "Noted. Remember that we didn't choose these outfits."
"U-Um. Yeah! Sorry. Forgot."
Maki sighed and had her eyes wander toward the ground. "But I guess I subconsciously didn't like what was happening to me. I watched the season when it finally aired and I seemed all over the place."
"That's okay! You can be the real you now!"
"...I could, couldn't I? But would you guys even still like me if that's the case?"
"But, wait, I thought you didn't get along with most of us anyway? Well, except for..."
Her peer only looked straight at her in a tense silence.
"Ohhh. Is that what this is about?"
"Yeah." Maki held one of her long twintails and played with it slowly.
Himiko sighed. "Er...maybe you should talk with Momota, then. You two might have more in common than you think."
"You think so?"
A nervous smile came from the small redhead. "I know so. Call it the maaaagic of intuition! Hii hee hee hee!"
"Guess somethings don't change." Maki's retorted.
The small girl twirled her fingers together and finally smiled. "I'm really glad I got to talk with you about this, Harumaki."
"...to be honest, me too." Maki's face became deathly serious. "Maybe we can figure out what we want to be now."
"Yeah! Though I still have to work in this place. Since our family bar is gone, my mama and papa gave the Alliance this condition so I could work here with everyone."
"Yumeno."
"Nyeh. I just really missed you guys."
Kaede sighed. "And here I thought we were going to have an easy time. But that ended up going all over the place."
"It's not that different from the class trials, isn't it?" Shuichi pointed out.
"I guess." She shrugged. "But it's not going to be so straightforward from now on, is it?"
"Probably not. It's not like we'll have Kirigiri-san's work to rely on. It'll be up to me."
"Don't be so nervous, Saihara-kun! You did great. Not bad for someone who hasn't done it in a while."
"Yeah. You're right. Maybe the stakes aren't the same, but it's still similar. I just needed to shake the rust off."
"That's right! And don't forget that you can ask any of us for help. Er... not to say that everyone's going to be willing to help, but you know what I mean."
A nervous laugh came out of Shuichi's mouth. "No, don't worry about it. I understand. But from this case, things sound a lot scarier than I realize out in the ruined cities."
"Mmhm. But we lived through it for a while didn't we?"
"I wouldn't want to drag you into danger if I could help it, Akamatsu-san."
"Yeah. But I'd be worried about you." Kaede had her fists in a hyped-up pose. "Don't worry. Don't think I'm some dainty flower."
"I really don't think that about you at all."
"Hehe. Thanks."
The two turned as Kyoko Kirigiri arrived on the scene with Maki and Himiko in tow.
"I take it everything went well, Saihara-kun?"
"Y-Yes. Of course. Your dossier was perfect." Shuichi bowed. "But I was about to head for your office, Kirigiri-san. Did something happen?"
"No. I just managed to take care of all I needed today." Kyoko explained. "That included these two."
"Seems like our advisor won't be here yet." Maki added.
"Nyeh. It's fine. I'm still in the middle of something magical!" Himiko smiled.
"You two look like you're in better spirits." Shuichi observed.
Maki kept her face as neutral as possible. "We just had some...girl talk."
"R-Really?" Kaede smiled. "Maybe we can have one too!"
"...don't push your luck." Maki replied with a defensive tone.
"Sheesh. Alright."
Shuichi looked over toward his superior. "I guess this is what you were talking about."
Kyoko placed her finger on her chin. "I had thought my own class was full of clashing personalities. But it seems you all have exceeded that level of disunity."
"That... doesn't sound like a good thing."
"No. It isn't. A shame. You have very potent talents among your group. Hopefully you'll all develop a minimum of a working relationship with each other."
"Yeah." Kaede replied. "I'm hoping too."
"But enough of that now. How did you feel about your first inquiry?"
"It was a little tough but we managed to get through it. Akamatsu-san was a good help."
"Thanks, Saihara-kun."
"Good. I take it you'll understand that you are essentially going to be on your own from here on out."
"I figured as much." Shuichi held his chest with his left hand. "I'll start to have to investigate myself in order to find the truth, right?"
"Indeed. Not only that, but you'll have to start using everything in your arsenal during future inquiries."
"Everything in my arsenal?"
"I'm sure you had to rely on some innate skills during the inquiry. Don't forget that others have ways to contribute."
"Yeah. Since I'm a pianist, and my name's not Beethoven, my hearing is actually pretty good. Even better now with a SHSL talent." Kaede boasted.
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Now." Kyoko continued. "Since I have time, I'd like to treat you all out."
"W-Wait. Really?!" Himiko looked excited. "I haven't had good cooked food in a while."
"Me too." Shuichi muttered. "It's all been canned goods and stuff from vending machines."
Kaede nervously spoke up. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't pin you for someone who'd be so generous Kirigiri-san."
"I don't take offense to that at all. And, perhaps, in the past you would be correct. But let's just say I had a very good teacher."
ANote
Makoto was busy finishing up the report on the day's inquiry inside his office. He wasn't usually in it – for one reason or another, usually something to do with Junko – but he had to complete it in order to finish processing both Ruruka and Seiko. The quiet taps of his chiclet keys was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Um. Come in." He looked up in anticipation of the unexpected visitor.
A familiar freckled face walked in, wearing a long brown overcoat over a leather jacket and a skirt with black leggings. Her eyes were covered by some American-style aviators.
"Ikusaba-san!" Makoto stood up. "It's been a while."
"...Naegi-kun." She smiled and took off said aviators. "It's good to see you."
He noticed that two guns were holstered at her sides beneath the large overcoat. "Have you been fighting all this time?"
"I try to avoid it as much as I can." She replied. "But it happens frequently enough that my skills aren't rusty at all."
"That's too bad." Makoto sighed. "Anyway, we missed you at the Christmas party."
Mukuro's smile faded from her face. "Did Junko-chan ruin it?"
"She didn't. Not for lack of trying." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Though, knowing her, she liked that outcome, too."
"Of course."
Makoto opened his desk and pulled out a small, wrapped present. "Here. I guess this was good timing."
Mukuro blushed slightly and took it. "Thank you, Naegi-kun."
She took a while to admire the little offering that he gave him until her eyes locked onto something on Makoto's neck.
"Hey. There's a mark on your...wait."
"O-Oh! Oh, geez. I thought it already went away."
Now her face was beet red and she started sweating a little.
"H-Hey. Listen. I get that you have, uh, complicated feelings about us but...are you...um...imagining—"
"S-Sorry! Ugh." Mukuro started muttering. "Maybe I am a pervert like she says..."
"Anyway." He quickly changed the subject. "What brings you here?"
"I got a phone call."