Reversal

SUMMARY: Yukiteru is Yukiyori, and Yuno is Yuto. Snippets of each episode to show how much a gender switch really does make a difference.

Chapter 2: Episode 2

They had a substitute teacher today. The man upfront was starting lessons…or was explaining Hiyama-sensei's reason for his absence. Yuki didn't know; she wasn't listening; every word that the teacher drawled, every screechy scrape the chair-legs made against the floor, and every yawn the students produced were just simply white noise for her troubled state. After what happened the other day, her mind refused to think straight and has been running all night along. It especially didn't help when Gasai bombarded her inbox with text messages, thoroughly frightening her. Just how did he get his hands on her number? She never gave it to him…or to anyone, for that matter.

Yuki was tired—so very tired. She didn't sleep at all last night. Apart from knowing that the serial killer—the third diary owner—wouldn't be the last person to try to have her dead and receiving a plethora of (creepy) messages from her stalker, she attempted to reconnect herself to the Cathedral of Casualty for hours in hope (and desperation) that she could change Deus's mind about the game, yet, despite her endeavors, she couldn't get in; it was as though something was blocking her entrance.

She slumped in her seat, her exhaustion taking a tighter reign on her. Why did she bother going to school? What was the point if she was going to end up dead? Not to mention how she could do without the girls in her class giggling behind her back (yes, the bags under her eyes were something horrendous, so what?). Maybe she should go home—go home and curl into her bed.

It wasn't like she could consult someone about it either: anything about the survival game, about the dangers, about Deus literally pushing the other twelve contestants to kill her when he outright said that she was the favorite. Seriously, Deus? She thought that they were friends…

Wait, not all twelve… Didn't Gasai say something about protecting her? And that other guy, one of the shadowed figures that stood amongst the rest, said something similar as well before disappearing when Deus adjourned the meeting. A tall and broad-shouldered person. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," was what he said. Yuki was undergoing a turbulent of feelings—apprehension, anguish, horror, panic—so she couldn't register whether he was actually mocking her or not. She hoped dearly that it would be the later.

Yuki flickered her eyes upwards from her desk, and the first thing they landed on was none other than Gasai. Knight in shining armor, huh? She didn't want to talk to him, not even come near him, but she needed to speak to him. She needed to know what his intentions behind protecting her were. A guy couldn't just throw down his life without expecting compensation, right?

So, when the bell rang, Yuki immediately got up and quietly strode to Gasai's side. "G-Gasai-kun," she forced out, pushing back her nervousness before it could take her, "would it be alright if…if I had a minute with you?"

He shot her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Amano-san, but we have PE, don't we? I'll make time for you later, and then we'll talk." With that said, he exited the classroom.

Now, it was just her alone in the classroom. After standing around for a moment or two, Yuki gave a resigned sigh. Just what was she thinking? Going up to Gasai? She wasn't sure what she wanted from him anymore. (She thought that he would be ecstatic by her confrontation given the number of messages he had sent to her. Kind of a disappointment.)The girl was starting to reconsider her choice when someone knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, may you help me?" Turning around, Yuki found a rather beautiful woman standing by the doorway. Strangely, she was garbed in a theater gown and her hair was done in an elaborate way. Perhaps she came from a drama production? "How do I get to the teachers' room? I want to find out about Hiyama-sensei."

"Okay," Yuki said hesitatingly. Who was this person? She wanted to know the whereabouts of the aforementioned man? She was probably his girlfriend or something, but Yuki wasn't quite sure. Hiyama-sensei never disclosed anything about himself to the class; he was a very private man, after all, but it was apparent that he wasn't married. For one thing, he didn't wear a ring, and, for another, he didn't act like he had a wife waiting for him at home.

"He's your homeroom teacher, isn't he?" the woman commented. Unexpectedly, she threw out, "My sources tell me that he's the street killer."

Yuki, startled, reared her head back and released a slight gasp. Just what did she say?

"By the way," she continued on, casually waltzing inside the classroom, "I heard that your grades were suddenly improving. It's as if you turned into a whole new person." She smirked. "Oh, and you know how Hiyama-sensei is absent today? He was killed. The street killer, that is."

Didn't this lady wanted to know how to get to the teachers' room? And why was she jumping from one topic to another? Yuki warily watched the woman approached her. How did she know about her grades? And what was she going on about Hiyama-sensei being the street killer? The memory of the masked man forced its way to replay when she briefly considered her teacher. Now that she thought about it, Hiyama-sensei and the murderer's body structure and height were uncannily the identical, and they both had long hair; needless to say, the timing of the third diary owner's disappearance matched with the teacher's own.

Cold awareness shook her nerves. The girl bit down her lower lip to prevent from grimacing openly; she couldn't afford to display her emotions, not when this woman was possibly a diary owner…

For a second, Yuki thought that she was perhaps being too paranoid. For all she knew, this woman could be affiliated with the police (in that case, why was she dressed like that?). For the next second, Yuki's speculation was consolidated when she heard, "His Future Diary was the Murder Diary."

Of course. Who else would know about the diaries?

"He cornered First, but the tables were turned and ended up getting killed instead," the woman chuckled, probably finding wry amusement in the ironic shift of one who clearly possessed the advantage could be brought down so low by the weak. Yuki unconsciously stepped backwards as the person before her drew nearer and nearer. "That's right, Hiyama Takao was Third."

Yuki's lips trembled. The next thing she knew, she had erupted into wails. Tears streaked down her now flushed cheeks, and her throat felt constricted and thick. She tried to muffle her cries, she really did, but fear seized her more violently than it had when she confronted the Third. Perhaps it was because she was vaguely comforted by Gasai's presence and his oath at the time; however, here she was, alone with this woman who was likely to send her to her demise.

The woman obviously wasn't expecting such a reaction when she reared her head back, her widened eyes and surprised jerk all portrayed promptly at the first sob that broke out. "H-hey, why are you crying?" she demanded, now adopting a frown. "Stop that!"

The girl wished she could, but she just couldn't.

"Geez, are you serious?" the woman groaned aloud, smoothing her fingers across the headpiece that sat on her head. "I figured that First was a weakling, but a crybaby? Well, I guess it just makes my job easier if there's no resistance."

Hearing that just made Yuki cry harder, which elicited a grouse from the other diary owner.

Through bleary eyes, Yuki didn't take notice of anyone entering the classroom until a figure rushed in towards the woman. "Yuki!" she heard Gasai exclaim. He swung both arms into a fast descent and aimed the fire hydrant in his hands at her. However, the woman leapt away in time, knocking down chairs and desks in the process. Gasai took a defensive stance in front of Yuki, and, stunned by the sudden course of events, she finally calmed down to watery hiccups.

"Whether you're First or not, I'll take you down either way." The woman pushed open the window behind her and gracefully hopped onto the sill. She favored them a dark smile. "Know this: I'm the ninth diary owner, Uryuu Minene! I won't go down like Third."

The moment lasted ephemerally: Yuki watched, even with Gasai's firm grasp leading her out of the room, the woman dived from the building. And then followed the explosion.

She must have sobbed loud enough for her to not hear the strange distorted sound that her phone made whenever she received an entry. Dead End, was what her phone read. Once the hours, minutes, seconds were gone, Yuki would be dead. She tried not to think about it, but it was too hard not to. Even Gasai's—no, even Yuto's reassurances and soft smile couldn't settle her craven spirit.

Yuki tried to muffle her returning bouts of tearful whimpers; she wasn't successful. So far, both Yuki and Yuto had evaded Ninth's explosions thanks to the combined forces of their diary predictions. She still had reservations about teaming up with Yuto, but what else could she do? Despite how she hated using the boy like this, she desperately didn't want to reach death's door so soon.

Yuto helped her down a large hole that was formed in the middle of one of the classrooms. There was a smell of smoke and something sour—gasoline? There were piles of rubble everywhere, and everything was in ruins. Sadness tinged her heart when she saw a chalkboard snapped in half, and she dejectedly wondered if the prior blasts managed to wipe out the teachers and students of this wing of the building.

"What's next, Yuki?" Yuto asked, not yet (or was he ever?) relinquishing his hold on her arm.

Yuki took a look on the screen of her phone to see any updates, but, just as she was, another burst of conflagration proceeded right behind them. Yuto's hand released her arm and then snaked around her waist, holding her tightly to his chest as they sailed across the floor. The two landed with a thud, Yuki bearing little impact as she was on top of Yuto.

"Y-Yuto!" Yuki pulled away and quickly helped him up. "A-are you okay?" she asked concernedly.

"Don't worry about me," he said, returning her stare through a veil of dust. "You have to see what happens to you in addition to the explosions."

"I…" She glanced back at her phone, but the boy's words distracted her. What would happen to her… These entries weren't about her, but the things that occurred around her. She knew that. She knew that the predictions reflected on the diary entries she once recorded. Random predictions, random entries… Only predicting what happened around her. Regardless, this pained her because, for just being a bystander, she was dragged into a mess like this. And, not only that, because it wasn't about her.

"Yuki? What's wrong?"

Yuki blinked a couple times, teardrops falling off of her eyelashes. "I… I can't tell what will happen to me," she stammered. "Nothing in this Future Diary is about me."

Yuto didn't say anything. He took a glance at his own phone, and his face contorted into that of shock.

"Yuki!" Yuto threw down his body over hers, encasing her protectively. There was another explosion, one that they narrowly missed. The floor beneath her trembled, and dust flew above their heads. Then, there was a crack.

"Aaah!" Yuki screamed, frantically gripping onto Yuto's shoulders. The floor had given out due to their weight, which resulted with them falling. The blow of the drop was an aching pang on the back of her skull and a bruising on her shoulder blades and lower back. She moaned dizzily and her grip loosened. Through squinted eyes, she briefly observed that they were now in the stairways. How far did they fell, it was beyond her mildly dazed comprehension.

This is not my day, Yuki thought tiredly, not my day at all.

"I'm not interested in becoming a god," said Fourth, "but I don't intend to let murders happen when I can do something about it."

"I don't know what you're trying to say," Ninth spoke amusedly into the megaphone, "but can I make my demands now?" A pause. "Well then, Fourth, I want you to kill First and then kill yourself! I will win the game and become a god!"

Fourth cocked his revolver at Ninth. "I won't let you—"

"Then!" The woman raised her arm in the air, holding a device with a red button—the trigger—high for all to see. "Everyone will die!"

Another pause.

Fourth gave Yuki a happy smile, and Yuki gave him a hopeful look.

Fourth promptly positioned the revolver at her head.

"Sorry, First," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "The situation's changed. If I had to choose, this would be the obvious choice."

It was her or a building full of people. Of course this was the obvious choice. Nevertheless, it was a surprise that she had made it this far, a failure like her… If it weren't for Yuto, she would be a goner long ago. Yet, despite Yuto's efforts, it came down to this. It wasn't so bad, Yuki supposed. She was nothing more than a bystander; she never did anything for herself. This was the best option, to save everyone...

Yuki tried to tell Fourth to make a good use of her death, but she couldn't even form the first word because she was crying (again).

Fourth looked rather uncomfortable.

"Well?" said Ninth impatiently. "What're you waiting for?"

"She's…crying," Fourth said, still looking uncomfortable.

"Don't mind her. First is just a crybaby."

"But… You want me to shoot a crying girl?"

"Do it or everyone will die!"

"But… She's a girl. And she's crying."

"You weren't this reluctant when you aimed the gun at her!"

"That was before she was crying!"

"Yeah, well, a whole ton of girls will be crying at your feet if you don't shoot her right this minute!"

Fourth looked really uncomfortable. "Oh, that would be bad," he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, Yuto crashed down from a window and attacked Ninth. Yuki didn't get shot that day.

NOTES: In the original series, Yukiteru is a crybaby and cowers in battle, usually relying on Yuno to get things done (according to the Future Diary Wiki). He lacks confidence and is submissive to confrontation. He becomes cunning, vicious, and willing to kill when the desire to revive his parents is his drive. Yukiyori is a bigger crybaby and is indecisive; she can be a quick thinker and pensive, but sometimes slow to respond to her thoughts, so her actions may equate to Yukiteru's. Moving along, Ninth, AKA Uryuu Minene, was able to confirm that Yukiteru was the First because he was protective of his phone, especially when it made that distorted sound whenever there was a diary update. Initially, Ninth wasn't sure because she was distracted by Yukiyori's sobs.