A.N. Sorry for the delay, and sorry for the relative shortness of this chapter. School, not to mention life in general, has kept me pretty busy. But I was able to pull myself away from watching my country implode long enough to finish this chapter up. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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The smell of gunpowder and burning flesh overpowered everything else. It clung to her clothes. To her hair. To her soul.

Mukuro stood on the cliff that overlooked what had once been Kelusha Village. Smoke drifted up from the burning houses. A cloud hung over the valley, so thick that it blotted out the sun. She wrinkled her nose, tightening the bandana that covered the lower half of her face. It didn't help.

The crunch of gravel made her turn around, only to find herself staring down the barrel of a rifle. It was a cheap, assembly-line model that was held together with more tape than screws. The rifle was clutched by an equally pitiful looking boy. He couldn't have been older than thirteen. Mukuro could see the bones of his ribs and hips jutting out from beneath his patchwork clothing.

"My f-family was down t-there! I s-saw y-you push th-that button! You k-killed them!" Tears cut tracks in the grime that covered the boy's. His whole body shook as he screamed, the barrel of the rifle swinging wildly.

Mukuro's Arabic was rusty, but she could understand what he was saying. "Yes," she replied. "I planted the explosives and I pushed the button that detonated them."

The boy glared at her. "I-I'm going to k-kill you!" he screamed, his trembling fingers gripping the rifle's weathered stock. "I h-have to a-avenge them!"

The corner of Mukuro's mouth twitched into a smirk. "You can't kill me, kid. Even if that rifle could fire I'm willing to bet you don't have what it takes to pull the trigger."

"You're a m-monster! W-why!? Why d-did you destroy my village!?" His body was shaking so badly that he appeared to be vibrating.

Mukuro shrugged nonchalantly. "Some politician paid my boss some money to take care of a problem. He ordered me to kill every villager I found in the valley. And as far as I'm concerned I've fulfilled my obligation." She stared at him over the barrel of the rifle. "Put the gun down, kid."

"H-how!? How can y-you talk about what you d-did like it's nothing!?" Mukuro could feel the rage radiating from the boy. "M-my sister w-was two y-years o-old! My o-older brother w-was studying to b-be a doctor!"

Mukuro sighed. "A job's a job, kid. It wasn't anything personal."

The boy's finger twitched on the trigger and Mukuro reacted. She batted the barrel away and drew her sidearm, firing one bullet between the kid's eyes. His blood splashed back, painting her uniform with pink speckles. He fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

She holstered the pistol and turned her back on corpse. Drawing a handkerchief from the pocket of her vest, she wiped the boy's blood off her face. It was a shame that she'd had to kill him, but he hadn't left her much of a choice. Mukuro excelled in combat, but she didn't enjoy killing people.

"Mukuro…" a weak voice groaned from behind her.

Mukuro swung around, her eyes frantically searching for the speaker. She knew that voice! Her gaze settled on the crumpled form of Makoto Naegi. He was lying in a heap where the boy had fallen, his blood pooling on the floor around him.

"Makoto!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the deserted gym. She sprinted over to where he lay. She fell to her knees next to him, staring down at his body. His chest was riddled with gunshots; his shirt was stained a horrible shade of pink. Had she done this? "Makoto! What happened?"

Makoto looked up at her, his gaze confused. "Mukuro?" he coughed, and blood once again splattered Mukuro's face. "Why…?"

Tears formed in Mukuro's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I thought…"

Makoto took a rattling breath then lay still, his eyes staring past Mukuro's ear.

"Makoto!" Mukuro screamed, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Makoto, please! Please wake up! I didn't mean it!" She pulled him up from the ground and clutched him desperately to her chest. "You can't die," she sobbed. "Please!"

"Upupupu, this is just so wonderful!"

Mukuro's eyes opened wide and she turned her head to glare at Monokuma. "Shut-" The words died in her throat.

It wasn't the monotone bear that she'd expected. Instead, she was staring at a pink-haired girl. She wore a low-cut shirt and a red skirt; her lips were twisted into a wicked smile. "After all that work you put into keeping him alive," she giggled, covering her mouth. "How perfect!"

Mukuro slowly lowered Makoto to the floor. "You're behind this, aren't you?" Mukuro wasn't sure where she knew the other girl from, but she was familiar. Something about her scared Mukuro.

"Upupupu, of course I am!" She advanced a few steps. "Stupid little mutt. You can't do anything right, can you? When are you going to wake up-"

Mukuro launched herself at the pink-haired girl, tackling her to the ground. She wrapped her fingers around the girl's slender throat. "It's your fault! You're the reason Makoto is dead!"

The pink-haired girl grinned, her teeth flashing. "You can't kill me. You're dreaming, Mukuro! Wake up!"

"Why!? Why are you doing this!?"

Her captive reached up, gently cupping her face. "Mukuro. You need to wake up."

OoOoOo

Mukuro blinked, Kyoko Kirigiri's concerned face slowly coming into focus. It took Mukuro a few more seconds to get her bearings; when she did, she realized that she was sitting on Kyoko's chest, her hands wrapped around the other girl's throat. Mukuro's fingers relaxed and Kyoko took a grateful breath of air.

Kyoko stared up at Mukuro, her gloved hand still pressed against Mukuro's cheek. "Are you awake?"

Mukuro's face turned pale as she realized what had happened. She scrambled off Kyoko, stammering out an apology. Mukuro offered Kyoko her hand and helped her to her feet. "I'm sorry," she repeated. Her heart hammered in her chest. She could have killed Kyoko if she hadn't woken up. "I don't know what that was. Are you okay?"

Kyoko tried to reply but only managed a dry cough. She rubbed her throat and tried again. "I'm fine." She winced. "You were having a nightmare. When I tried to wake you…"

Mukuro sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "I can't believe I did that. I'm sorry."

Kyoko smiled, shaking her head. "You don't need to keep apologizing. No harm done." She coughed again. "Though you'll excuse me if I refrain from waking you in the future."

OoOoOo

The mood in the cafeteria was somber. No one wanted to address the elephant in the room; two of their classmates were dead, and there had been nothing they could do to stop it. Makoto appeared to be taking it the hardest. He sat next to Mukuro, chin resting on his palm, and stared blankly across the room.

Mukuro reached out to touch his hand but stopped, letting her arm fall into her lap. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Makoto looked at her. The dark circles beneath his eyes stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin. He must not have slept last night. "I'm fine-" He broke off, shaking his head sharply. "No, I guess I'm not. It was hard finding Yasuhiro's body…But watching Toko being executed was worse."

Mukuro nodded. She could still hear Toko's screams. "I understand…" She swallowed the lump in her throat and touched his arm. "The whole situation was horrible. But we can't give up. We have to trust each other." Mukuro didn't know where the words had come from; they just seemed to bubble up from nowhere. "We can't lose hope."

Makoto smiled. "You're right. We can make it through this."

"Yeah!" Aoi yelled, banging her fist on the table. "As long as we work together we'll be fine!"

Byakuya sighed audibly, rolling his eyes. "Stop spouting such nonsense. Your words are hollow."

Mondo glared at him. "I'm getting real tired of your mouth, pretty boy!"

A petty part of Mukuro wanted to see the biker lose his temper and knock the shit out of the Togami prodigy. "What are you talking about?"

"After all that time you spent building comradery before, look what happened." He folded his arms across his narrow chest. "Face it, trusting each other isn't the answer. Someone else is going to die soon if you keep deluding yourselves."

Aoi's expression hardened. "We should work together to take the mastermind down!"

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Byakuya said.

"What do you mean?" Leon asked.

"We're not dealing with an ordinary criminal. Look at everything he's done." Celeste said. "The fact that he's taken over a school as well-known as Hope's Peak. Not to mention he has the means to power it and stock it with food." Her gaze raked over the others. "And then there's the execution…All of those animatronics. We're dealing with a very powerful individual or group."

"So what?" Makoto said. "We've known this guy had a lot of power from the start. If we trust each other and work together we can make it out of this!"

Byakuya glared at him. "You're being ridiculous. The only way to ensure survival is to fight for yourself. Trusting others is foolish. We have no choice but to continue playing his game. It's the only way to escape."

"I can't kill anyone else!" Mukuro was startled to hear the exclamation come from Chihiro.

Mondo looked across the table at Chihiro. "What are you talking about? You ain't killed no one."

Chihiro's hands curled into fists. "Yes I did! W-we did!" She dropped her gaze. "If w-we hadn't voted, T-Toko would still be a-alive…"

Mondo banged his fist on the table, making everyone jump. "Bullshit! We aren't to blame for that shit!" He jabbed a finger at the large monitor that hung on the wall. "Everything that's happened is on that motherfucker's head!"

"Well said!" Monokuma's sing-song voice filled the cafeteria. "But so wrong!" The monotone bear scrambled up onto the table and spread his arms grandly. "Make no mistake! You are the ones who killed Toko Fukawa!"

"No, that's wrong!" Makoto protested, glaring at Monokuma. Mukuro was surprised by the open hostility in Makoto's words. She'd never seen him angry, but now she could feel the rage radiating from him in waves. "You're the one who made us vote!"

"That's right," Mukuro said. "You threatened to kill us all if we didn't vote!"

Monokuma threw his head back and cackled. "That doesn't absolve you of your actions!" He held up his paw, the claws glinting in the light. "You were free to choose! You could have sacrificed yourself to let Miss Fukawa go! You could have refused to vote on principle! You didn't." He turned in a circle, pointing at each of them in turn. "You are all guilty of this."

Mukuro's eyes scanned the group, gauging their reactions. Chihiro was hiding her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Aoi had leaned over and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl; she was speaking to her in a soft voice. Sakura was staring at her hands, which were folded neatly on the table in front of her. Sayaka's face was downturned, her eyes hidden behind her bangs.

Mondo and Leon were both glaring at Monokuma, their faces a similar shade of red. Hifumi's shoulders were slumped, and he appeared to be staring at nothing. Kiyotaka was trembling, his hands were gripping the table so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

And then there was Byakuya. If he was affected by Monokuma's accusations, he gave no indication of it. He looked as though he was bored with the entire situation.

"You can talk all you want," Makoto said, his voice like a gunshot in the silence that had fallen over the room. "It doesn't change anything. You're behind all of this." He pointed at Monokuma. "You're the only murderer here!"

Monokuma stared back at him for a moment, not making a sound. Then he started to giggle. The laughter slowly turned into the same cackle that had interrupted them before. They could only watch in shock as Monokuma laughed, gripping his sides and shaking his head as tears of mirth rolled down his furry cheeks.

"Hey! What the fuck are you laughing at!?" Mondo yelled, climbing to his feet.

Monokuma waved him away. "I'm laughing because this kid is so naive!" Monokuma's voice took on a mocking tone. "You're the only murderer here, Mr. Monokuma! How rich!"

"It's true!" Aoi exclaimed, glaring at him. "We're just a bunch of high schoolers! You're the killer!"

Monokuma shook his head, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Pupupu. You really believe that, huh? I guess it can't be helped. I was gonna give you kids some time to stew on what had happened, but I think it's time I provided the next motive. Tada!" Monokuma produced a stack of folders and waved them in the air.

"What the fuck is it this time?" Mondo asked.

"Each and every one of you has a dirty secret or two." His eyes scanned the room. They seemed to stop on Mukuro for a fraction of a second longer than anyone else. "Some of you more than others." He began handing out the folders, stepping over food and dishes with a gracefulness that didn't match his appearance.

Leon opened the folder when it was handed to him. "And why are you giving us these?"

Monokuma giggled. "Just so that you're aware of what I know." He paused. "And what I'm going to reveal if someone isn't killed within the next week."

The room fell silent once again. There it was again. The distrust.

When he got to Mukuro, Monokuma grinned, his teeth flashing. "You get an extra-long file, Mukuro Ikusaba."

Mukuro took the folder and stared at it. Her mouth was suddenly dry. A cold sweat rose to her skin, and she was acutely aware of the blood thrumming in her ears. She didn't know what was in the file, but she knew that it was bad. She knew that it was going to change everything.

She took a deep breath and opened the file, bracing herself for what was to come.

Name: Mukuro Ikusaba

Age: 16

Blood Type: A

Talent: Super High School Level Soldier

Background: Served for three years in the mercenary group known as Fenrir. During this time, she accumulated a confirmed kill count of 232. This count includes soldiers as well as civilians. After returning to Japan she was accepted to Hope's Peak Academy, where she assisted the mastermind in kidnapping and imprisoning the 78th class.

Mukuro stared down at the words, unable to speak. It was true. It was all true. She had no memories of what was listed on the page in her hand, but she couldn't deny how the information resonated in her mind. She had done all of it and more.

She raised her gaze to look at Makoto and that was when Mukuro realized that she couldn't breathe. Mukuro dropped the file and hit herself as hard as she could in the chest. It didn't work. She did her best to fight the panic that was rising in her chest. She grabbed Makoto's shoulder and shook him.

Makoto turned to her, his expression changing from confusion to panic as he realized what was happening. "Mukuro!" His shout drew the attention of the others. He slapped her on the back, but it did nothing to restore her control over her breathing. "Sakura! Help! She's not breathing!"

Sakura's strong hand hit Mukuro between her shoulder blades. She rocked forward, almost hitting her face on the table. She desperately tried to inhale, but the blow hadn't cleared her airway as it had before. Her vision was growing dark. How long had it been? Sixty seconds? Eighty?

What did we do!? Why are you killing us!?

That village had at least thirty kids in it, ya know? Don't feel even a little bad?

My baby! No! How could you!? You're a monster!

You were a great investment, Ikusaba. Hate to see you go.

She turned her gaze to Makoto. She was dying. She knew it in the same way she knew that the file wasn't falsified. There was no denying it. Everything was dark except for Makoto's terrified face. He was all she could see, but that wasn't anything new. He was the only thing she could rely on. He was her rock. He was her lifeline. He cared about her.

And as soon as he found out everything that she'd done he would hate her.

The fact that she was dying paled into comparison to this revelation. Tears filled Mukuro's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. I'm a monster. This is for the best. I'm so sorry, Makoto.

As the darkness enveloped her, Mukuro Ikusaba did the only thing that made sense; she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

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I hope everyone enjoyed! Please let me know what you think!