Well this is a surprise!

I never thought this would go past one chapter. This was originally meant to be just some sweet (sort of) Leosaya fic where they both survive and live happily ever after (as much as Danganronpa will allow). But then I got a case of plot bunny that would not stop GNAWING at me. Some ideas sort of stuck, so this is probably gonna be a big AU story now!

Also, I gotta give a bit of a head's up here- I KNOW Chihiro's a boy, but since this is mainly told from Leon's POV (because my Sparky baseball boi is underrated), I'll be addressing him as a girl. We all know Chihiro's a boy, but Leon and his fellow classmates don't. At least not right now :3

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The Aftermath

Leon snorted awake and sat up on the bed with a start. Holy crap, he hadn't expected to fall into such a deep sleep after last night's facade. Nor did he expect to be spending the night with Sayaka Maizono . . .

She sat up awake next to him, rubbing her wrist. Somehow, even when waking up after whatever the hell had happened last night, her silky hair fell perfectly in place. Leon gazed at her in admiration as she rubbed her sleepy eyes with her good left hand. His arm was still around her shoulders.

Out of everything that had happened, from the swinging knife to the sickening crack he'd heard on striking her wrist, to that rush of adrenaline (and there were still some traces of it in his veins), the biggest thing Leon remembered last night was the kiss.

That kiss.

Sure, it was sort of a desperate move to save his- their lives.

But everything had felt so perfect . . .

Leon's grey eyes lit up a little as he sat up on the bed.

Did this mean they were a thing now?

Was he officially in a relationship with Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation?

Leon's heart and stomach fluttered.

Sayaka finally opened her big blue eyes. But she didn't look lovingly at him. Instead, she stared pop-eyed out at the bedroom scene. Leon narrowed his eyes and glanced out himself. His stomach dropped at the sight of fallen katana and all the scratches on the floor and the wall. It all reminded him of really how much terror last night had brought them. Not only was the terror of the night hitting them . . . but so was the awkwardness of their new situation. Leon quickly slid himself away from Sayaka and rose from her- Makoto's bed.

"We gotta clean this up."

"Yeah."

What followed was the hastiest, most precise tidy up a teenage boy who hated cleaning and a pop idol with a broken wrist could manage. Sayaka had to (carefully) hide the knife back in her blouse. The scratched katana was put back on its rightful shelf. Leon even went as far as to roll away all of his distinctive red hair off the floor. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that could be done for the scratches on the wall and floor. Or the broken doorknob . . .

"You never had to break it, you know."

"What?" Leon looked up from rolling.

"The doorknob." Sayaka grimaced for a moment and grabbed her wrist. "Didn't Monokuma say the boys don't have locks?"

Leon cocked his head. Now that he thought of it: No, his bathroom door didn't have a lock. But then . . .

"How'd you lock it?"

Sayaka gave a small giggle. "Poor Makoto . . . He got a faulty door lock. He told me the trick to opening it."

"Oh . . ." Leon pouted. "Why'd you tell me that?"

Sayaka shrugged at him from the bathroom. "Just thought of saying it."

She probably was just saying it as a simple observation, but whether it was intentional or not, Leon suddenly felt pissed off. Way to rub it in his face how much of a dumbass he was.

Sayaka seemed to sense his irritation and quickly pushed the toolkit on the floor towards him with her foot.

"Don't forget to take that back to your room."

"Yeah, yeah."

Sayaka sunk a little as she watched Leon scan the room for any more traces of hair. As he sighed and reached out for his toolkit, Sayaka headed towards the door.

"Where you going?"

"I was gonna fix the nameplates. And then go to the dining hall."

"Right." Leon nodded, rising to his feet. "You want me to take you down?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Sayaka rubbed her wrist. "If everyone saw us together . . ."

Oh yeah. She had a point.

Leon suddenly felt all tense. "What are you gonna tell everyone?"

But Sayaka gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I said last night, I can talk to Makoto. I won't even mention you."

"Right." Leon relaxed a little, but only a little. "I'll . . . go back to my room then. S- see you in a few."

"See you."

Leon gazed longingly at the beautiful pop sensation before him. He watched on as she opened the bedroom door by herself with no problem . . . and no more words spoken to him.

She . . . was aware he could have killed her when he had the chance, right?

A "thank you for not murdering me" would have been nice.

Leon scowled and marched out of Say- Makoto's bedroom. Sayaka had already fixed the nameplates and disappeared down the corridor. Damn, she moved well for someone with a broken wrist. Leon checked both sides of the corridor to make sure no one was coming and walked hurriedly down to his bedroom. He never thought he'd feel relief to be back in his own bedroom. Not the best bedroom in the world considering the blocked windows, but still his bedroom.

The Ultimate Baseball Star dumped his toolkit on the floor and threw himself onto his bed.

He waited for a few minutes.

He waited a few minutes more.

He couldn't help but wonder if Sayaka could really talk to Makoto as easily as she claimed.

The kid did seem a bit on the naive side.

God, was it really worth going to that dining hall?

Leon's thoughts were interrupted by his ear splitting alarm that blared through the room. He smacked the thing to shut it up and allowed himself to sink down into his bed more.

Oh God . . .

He needed to get up.

If he didn't get up now, he'd be the last person in the dining hall and all eyes would be on him.

Fuuuuuuuck.

Leon groaned and heaved his heavy body off the bed, running his hands through his hair.

Who knew?

Maybe by the time he arrived, there would be so much attention on Sayaka, no one would even notice him enter the dining hall.

Leon took a deep breath as he stepped out of his bedroom and tried to walk down the corridor. His stomach lurched with each step. Honestly, he just wanted to turn back around, leap back into his bed and stay there. God, he felt sick . . .

No, he had to play it cool. If he entered the dining room in this state, everyone would see him and immediately bombard him with questions. And his mind was too much of a mess to answer any of them.

'Focus, Leon. You got this. Maybe Sayaka's got it all sorted already. Just play along and it'll all be over before you know it.'

Leon mustered a sickly smile as he finally made his way to the dining hall. Not everyone was there, but the people who were immediately glared at him. Leon froze and shifted away from their stares, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry! I oversle-"

"This is no time for pleasantries!" Taka declared, jabbing a finger in Leon's direction like a pistol. "There has been a violation of our school pact! A terrible crime has been committed!"

"What?" Leon cocked his head, trying to play dumb. "What happened?"

At one of the tables, Mondo growled, his head sinking into his large shoulders.

"Some fucker attacked Sayaka."

"WHAT?"

Leon nearly startled himself- his exclamation had come out more shocked than he had rehearsed in his head. But seriously-

"What the HELL?"

That was how it ended up being told? Sayaka was portraying herself as the innocent helpless victim? That . . . that wasn't the case at all! Sure, it didn't look like she had mentioned his name but- Leon tightened his lips, struggling to fight the urge to tell them right there right now that she had attacked him. The urge was made harder seeing how agitated his classmates were. They were all trying to hide it, but none of them were doing it successfully.

Taka's normally unshakeable figure was trembling with fury.

Mondo was shaking his clenched fist.

Hiro was praying to God Almighty, Buddha and other gods Leon had never heard of.

Chihiro was trying and failing to keep tears from escaping down her cheeks. "So- someone's plotting a murder already . . ."

"What did you expect?" Junko snapped. "Like that's why we were shown those videos." Naturally her rude remark only made Chihiro crumble more. Leon probably would have felt bad if she, and everyone else weren't siding with Sayaka.

"Little piece of shit gave in just like that!" Mondo cracked his knuckles. "Fuckin' coward had to pick on a woman weaker than 'em! Soon as I find out who did it, I'll beat their fuckin' face in! Big Bro taught me never to forgive anyone who'd lay a hand on a woman! Once I'm done with 'em, they won't fuck with anyone again!"

Leon gulped.

"Ha! What hypocrisy!" Taka laughed. "Accusing the attacker of cowardice when you so cowardly rely on your fists to resolve a crisis!"

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Taka stuck his nose in the air, blissfully ignoring Mondo who was almost snarling behind him. "One cannot expect to solve violence with violence!"

"Then what the fuck do you suggest we do, asshole?"

Leon, who was growing more uncomfortable by the minute (and understandably so) glanced away from the two bickering boys, trying to mentally block out what kind of punishments they could possibly suggest.

Maybe he should just tell them.

"A person who commits such a crime requires immediate discipline!"

"Yeah, I'll discipline 'em. With my fuckin' fists!"

Christ. Leon knew the threats weren't towards him, but they might as well have been. It was getting to the point even where his innocent classmates were getting uncomfortable. Especially Chihiro, who was shrinking smaller and smaller with each threatening word.

"Make it stop . . ."

Leon chewed his lip anxiously. If he told them now, Taka and Mondo would just turn that aggression to Sayaka instead. And yeah, while she'd started this whole shit show, the broken wrist was beginning to look like punishment enough for her. Though Mondo claimed he'd never hit a girl, Leon doubted he'd keep that word if he found out the truth.

Yeah, Mondo felt like someone he would have to keep his distance from. At least until things got sorted. If they got sorted. Leon gulped again.

"Ahh," smiled Celeste who had suddenly appeared behind the baseball star, making him jump. "I hear an incident occured?" Her calm tone somehow made Leon feel better and worse at the same time.

"Someone dared to break into Sayaka's room and viciously attacked her!" Taka yelled.

"No one heard anything?"

Leon nearly jumped again as his eyes caught a glimpse of purple behind him. But Kyoko remained unfazed, as did Celeste. What was with these bitches and popping out of nowhere? Well Celeste, Leon imagined, seemed to like pulling that shit for the whole "mystery goth chick" vibe. Kyoko on the other hand . . .

Celeste was being intentionally playfully "mysterious." Kyoko was just "mysterious" mysterious.

Her purple eyes were on Hifumi in the distance. It was then Leon remembered that he had taken on the role of janitor last night.

"How could I hear anything? I was too busy . . . doing a job no one else would do . . ." He chewed on his fingers, getting himself all hot and bothered.

Gross.

"And no one investigated her room?"

Everyone stared at Kyoko.

"Investigate?" Taka repeated, trying not to shudder. "A girl's room? That's a violation of privacy!"

"Ya think the sunovabitch gave a fuck when they busted in?" Mondo growled.

"My point is," Kyoko began. She and Celeste seemed to be the only composed people in the dining hall. "Instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe we can investigate and find out who attacked Sayaka. Then we can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't try it again."

The dining hall was filled with "ohhhs" as Kyoko's words sunk in for everyone. Leon grinned to himself, trying not to look too satisfied. It was about time someone got that idea. Would at least take some of the blame off of him.

But then . . . His grin dropped.

What would happen to Sayaka?

It was then Leon realized that he hadn't seen the Ultimate Pop Sensation since she had left her- Makoto's room.

"Where is she?" The question came out with a bit more urgency in it than he'd expected. It earned him a few looks, none of them approving.

"Where do you think?" Junko sneered. "In the nurse's room. Someone had to take care of her wrist-"

Leon had already taken off, ignoring Taka's protests about running in the halls. What was he gonna do? Chase him? Lecture him? Confine him to his bedroom? All things considered, at this rate, that last one would be a reward!

As he neared the nurse's room, his ears picked up on urgent squalls. The constant unintentional shrieks and cracks in the voice told him that these squalls belonged to Makoto.

Ohhh, Makoto . . . Of course he'd be in the nurse's room with her. Leon skidded to a halt outside the room and slowly peeped inside.

"Sayaka, that isn't nothing! Who did this to you?"

Sayaka was sitting comfortably in a chair as Sakura cast her broken wrist. For someone who looked so powerful, she did it with such care. Sayaka wasn't even flinching. But the frantic Makoto above her was probably distracting her from any form of pain. Even Hina couldn't calm him down for more than two seconds.

"Someone clearly attacked you! Who was it? W -we can hold a meeting and sort it out together!"

"I promise, Makoto." Sayaka looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile. Even when Sakura raised the pop idol's arm to continue casting her wrist, the smile stayed plastered on her face.

"It's alright now. Honestly."

"I don't get it," Makoto murmured, his voice croaking. "How can this be alright? You said yourself how scared you were. That's why we switched rooms . . . right?"

"Really?" said Hina. "I . . ." She hesitated for a moment, glancing at Sakura for reassurance before staring at Sayaka. "I thought I saw you take a knife last night . . . Is that why? Because you were scared?"

Leon's eyes widened a little. He saw Sayaka stiffen as well. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Leon watching them from outside the door. The fake smile on her face wobbled.

"A knife?" Makoto stiffened as well. His eyes swiveled frantically between Hina and Sayaka. "I- I'm sure it was just for self defense!"

"Now that you say it," Sakura began. Her voice was gentle but firm, almost to match how she applied Sayaka's cast. "You were acting rather strange that night."

"Yeah, you never really said much to us," Hina added. "You made us kinda worried."

'Ahh.' Leon almost felt an excitement about him. 'They're putting the pieces together . . .'

"You know," said Sakura as she laid Sayaka's casted arm down on a desk beside them. "Should you feel worried again, you are welcome to stay in my room."

'God dammit.'

"Uhh . . . That's very kind of you, but it's alright now," Sayaka giggled uneasily. "Everything's sorted! Really!"

Leon's heart sank a little. She actually sounded genuine, like she was almost pleading everyone to leave her alone . . .

Maybe he should step in and support her in saying that everything was alright.

But then they'd have to explain how Sayaka had started it.

Leon shuddered. If he could break Sayaka's wrist with a katana, he dreaded to think what Mondo or even Sakura could do to her with their bare hands. And that aside, Makoto looked distressed enough. Telling the truth would probably give the kid trust issues for life. He'd never speak to Sayaka again . . . Leon was so busy getting caught up in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice Kyoko who seemed to just appear in the room.

How and why did she keep doing that?

The purple girl barely acknowledged the baseball star as she strolled straight over to Sayaka and Makoto. The way she walked . . . Leon didn't like the look of it. He got the impression that Kyoko wasn't here to comfort anyone.

"Sorted?" Makoto was staring uncertainly at Sayaka. "What do you mean sorted? Did the attacker blackmail you? Is that why you're acting like this?"

"Makoto, I really am fine." Sayaka's voice wavered. Leon could hear her frustration in constantly having to repeat herself.

"Sayaka's bedroom certainly seems intact." Kyoko was eyeing Makoto who gave her a confused look.

"Well . . . That's probably because Sayaka and I switched rooms. Sayaka said she was scared. I was just trying to help."

"I see." Kyoko nodded, flicking a glance down at Sayaka. Though her face remained stoic, it still made Sayaka look down on herself.

"I noticed on the way out that all the dorm room doors were intact as well."

Makoto cocked his head. "Meaning?"

Kyoko locked her purple eyes onto his. "It doesn't look like someone could have broken in."

"Oh yeah," Hina murmured slowly. "I don't think our doors are really breakable anyway. Right?"

Kyoko nodded at her. "And they can't be picked either."

"But that means-" Makoto was beginning to tremble. He glanced hesitantly at Sayaka who was sinking into herself. "Did you let someone in? I thought I told you not to . . ."

Sayaka was gripping tight onto her skirt with her good left hand. She said nothing, leaving a tense silence in the air. Leon took a deep breath, trying to fight that urge to just burst in right now and tell them.

"Makoto," Kyoko began, as cool and calm as ever. "Have you seen your room since you two swapped?"

"No," said Makoto as Sayaka gripped her skirt tighter. "W- why?"

"If Sayaka was really attacked in your room-" Kyoko gave the pop idol another quizzing look. "Then it might do no harm for you to investigate."

"But-" Makoto watched helplessly as Sayaka struggled not to shake. "I can't leave you! Not like this!"

"Sakura and I can mind you!" said Hina kindly. "We'll make sure nothing happens while Makoto and Kyoko are investigating!"

"I want Leon to stay."

Leon stiffened as four pairs of eyes were locked onto him. He waved awkwardly at them and scratched the back of his head.

"Uhh . . . Was just seeing if everything was alright here!" The baseball star chuckled nervously.

"Mmm." Even with her straight face, Kyoko somehow looked less convinced than Makoto.

"Very well," said Sakura. "If Sayaka wishes for Leon to stay with her, I see no reason why he shouldn't." She picked up a cup of something and offered it to Sayaka.

"Drink this protein coffee. It will enhance the healing process."

"O- okay . . ." Sayaka weakly took the cup and brought it to her lips. Kyoko watched her take a sip before slowly heading off. Leon thought he saw her flash him a suspicious look as she left the nurse's room.

"Sayaka, I'll be right back. Leon will look after you." Makoto also gave Leon a look- a doubtful pleading one, as if to say "will you?"

"D- don't worry, man. I got this."

Makoto's face was sweaty and pale. For a moment, he seemed almost stuck to the floor. It was like he had to tear himself from the floor to run out the door after Kyoko.

"Right." Hina shook her fists in a thankfully more cheery non threatening manner. "Sakura and I will stay nearby in case anything happens!"

"Indeed," said Sakura warmly as she rose from her seat. "Though I trust Leon and Sayaka will be alright on their own."

"Yeah, yeah," Leon muttered, absentmindedly wandering into the room, towards the seat opposite Sayaka that Sakura had left. "I- I'll mind her. Don't worry."

The two females nodded and left the room with thankfully less hesitation than Makoto and Kyoko. Leon watched them, remembering to keep a smile on his face until they were finally gone and the coast was clear. He ran over to the door and slammed it shut, allowing him and Sayaka to release all their tension and anxiety through a duet of loud sighs and groans.

"Oh my GOD." Leon collapsed onto his back against the door and slid down to the ground. Sayaka dropped her head into her left hand and scrunched up her eyes.

"Leon, listen to me . . . I TRIED to tell them it was alright, I really did."

"I know. I heard." Leon tried not to snap, but even after taking that breather, part of him still remained somewhat pissed. And of course, Sayaka's psychic intuition seemed to sense it.

"Please don't be mad . . ."

Leon let out an agitated groan. His eyes flickered at Sayaka.

"Ya know what it's like walking into that dining hall and everyone's shit talking you? I know it wasn't towards me but-" The baseball star shuddered furiously. "It's not exactly comfortable hearing people say how they're gonna beat you up when they find out you broke your wrist!"

"I know!" Sayaka cried. "That's why I didn't tell them you did it!"

"Maybe if you hadn't started this shit, we wouldn't be in this mess! You couldn't just hold on a bit and see what mighta happened? You're not the only one with people you care about!" The angry words were out before Leon could stop himself. He silently cursed himself and watched as Sayaka shut her eyes and took a sip of her drink. She gulped it down hard, as if she was also trying to swallow back the tears with it.

"I'm-" Leon sighed and gazed down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're right," Sayaka muttered, staring at the wall ahead of her. Her normally sweet voice had a trace of bitterness.

"I should have waited instead of letting Monokuma get to me. I should have known better than to try to and kill you." She sniffed and glanced over at Leon.

"You . . . don't need to worry about what might happen to you. I'm sure Makoto and Kyoko will figure it out. When Makoto's bathroom door is picked but not his bedroom door . . . I wonder what Makoto will say to me." She laughed a laugh that was anything but happy and took another long sip of coffee to try and calm herself down. Again, her swallow was forced. Her face grimaced. She shuddered a little. And then she laughed again, a slightly more humorous one.

"It's not very nice."

"I- I mean . . ." At this point, Leon was so tired from all the exertions, he was only half paying attention. "I'm sure Makoto will forgive you-"

"I meant the coffee."

"OH." Leon immediately woke up and had to chuckle at his own stupidity. It made Sayaka giggle a little too.

"Who knows? Maybe he might," she decided, her voice a little softer and calmer. "He's always been that type."

Always been that type?

Wait.

They knew each other before all this?

Leon stiffened a little. Sayaka couldn't help but smile at how silly he looked. It was kind of cute . . . She allowed him to ponder like that for a moment, taking another sip of coffee before softly speaking up again.

"Thanks for not telling on me."

"Huh?" Leon snapped out of his thoughts. "Uhh, no biggie." In his head, it still kind of was, and he imagined Sayaka knew that too, psychic or not. But her gratitude made it a bit more worth all this trouble.

"Thanks for not naming me."

"You're welcome," said Sayaka, smiling sweetly, and Leon felt himself flushing. Oh Sayaka . . . He couldn't help it. She really was so adorable . . .

"So, uh," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. "If Makoto and Kyoko miraculously don't sus us out . . . maybe this should remain between us."

Sayaka nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Maybe if we leave it long enough, everyone will calm down about it."

Leon smirked and folded his arms. "I fucking hope they do!"

Sayaka let out the most cheerful laugh Leon had heard from her in a while. "I'm with you on that!"

The two teens chuckled together before Sayaka sighed, glancing away from Leon to finish her coffee. Leon gazed at her longingly, and suddenly felt a new urge inside him.

A urge to tell something different.

An urge to walk up to Sayaka and kiss her right there right now.

But instead, Leon stayed where he was.

He couldn't help but wonder what was the deal with this girl he really liked and the luckster kid she knew more than him.

Leon's heart sank a little.

God, he hoped, after everything they had been through last night, that Sayaka felt the same way he did for her.

Leon tore his gaze away from the beautiful girl before him. His eyes fell on the Monocam looming above them both. And Leon frowned in irritation and a little suspicion.

He certainly hoped that fucking bear wouldn't rat on them.


And, well . . . we all know the next killing motives :)

I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter! The tensions and character dynamics are proving really fun to explore. I've seen fanfictions exploring the whole knife fight scenario, where sometimes everything turns out a bit too okay and lovey-dovey. Yeah, I like those fics, but I'm not sure things would have been that straightforward if Leon and Sayaka survived all that! I'm also a sucker for angst so . . .

Anyway, please Read and Review and check out my other stories, and until next time, I am cackling over what I can put these guys through next. Does that put me up there with Monokuma and the mastermind?