When the smoke cleared, Junko Enoshima came into full view. Her hair was as pink as it was in the magazines, tied into two ponytails with bobbles that resembled Monobear. Her blue eyes were wide and her freckles were hidden by make-up. She wore a white shirt with two buttons undone and a red checkered tie underneath a black short sleeved cardigan. Her skirt matched her tie, but was small enough to make Eirik think that it would be better put to use as a belt or hairband.
Her high-heels made a deafening noise as they all stared at her in silence, unsure of how to act or of what to say now that the person they were talking about was in front of them.
"Are you stunned by my presence? You should be!" Junko proclaimed. She had got to the throne, and now Monobear was sitting on her lap, no longer talking or moving. Somehow, a crown had appeared on her head.
"It is most unpleasant that I have to face you all at this point-but I think it says something about my instincts. You truly are an interesting class. I am glad you embarked on this challenge."
"Excuse me? Embark?!We didn't choose this! You trapped us here, remember?" Arisa was the first to address her. She had always been a hot-head.
Junko laughed manically at that. Her imperious demeanour disappeared, as did the crown. It was as if she had gained magic appearing tricks from Monobear. But it was more likely that it was the other way around."
"Yeah, yeah, there's nothing you can do about it, nothing at all!"
"By your rules, there is." Janus said. "We've found you out. Our escape is imminent."
"Ahh, is that so?" Junko yawned. "How amusing. Is this your delusion talking? I would imagine losing your lover makes you lonely. You itching for another girl?" she laughed manically again.
Janus gritted his teeth. Keeping a mask in place was hard. Eirik, for some reason, felt just as angry. Someone who was pushed to the limits grieving for a sister should be the last to mock another's grief. He would know.
"That has nothing to do with anything." Kyouko said. "Let us talk about your loss. You're doing all this for your sister, Maiko Enoushima, correct?"
Junko nodded, suddenly composed.
"Yes. To be honest, the answers were all there. I can't believe you didn't realise earlier. How you could be so happy, wandering the site where an innocent had been murdered…" Junko trailed off sorrowfully.
"But we were only little when it happened. Some of us were only just born!" Emi protested.
"Whatever."Junko dismissed this, as though that was of little consequence. "You're all over-privileged bastards anyway, just like those…those…those UTTER PIGS!"
"I disagree! My family is just ordinary, like I am. And, I am sure not all of us are very rich anyway."
"Pfft. Over-privileged." Junko rolled her eyes.
"Ah. Now this makes sense. Well, it doesn't, but I've just got something." Akihito said.
"And that would be…?"Kyouko asked.
"That to her, we are the same as those high-school boys because we are in the age group, and attend this school 'rightfully.'"
Kyouko nodded thoughtfully.
"Impressive work, Watari-kun."
"Ah, no problem! Question is, think you'd be just as awesome as a thief?"
"If it is all the same to you, I'd rather stay on the right side of the law." Kyouko said wryly. "And also, I'd rather get back to business. Get this over and done with."
"Roger that!" Akihito grinned just a little too brightly for the circumstances, but that had a calming effect on all of them.
"So, why us, specifically? You could have picked any class, in any year." Kyouko questioned Junko.
The model regarded the detective in a patronizing manner.
"Do you know how long I worked to make this perfect? To butter up your pathetic father who didn't even recognise me-I mean, I picked my stage name with him in mind and all-so that I could visits here as much as I liked to get everything into place? By the time it all finished, you were the first years that were around at the time. And you were perfect, to boot! And now this!Why are so many of you alive?!" Junko was back to being manic again.
"We are better than you." Kyouko stated simply. Eirik expected Junko to rage at that, but instead, she burst into tears. The outburst lasted precisely 5 seconds, and then she looked cheerful.
"Well, we'll see, shall we?"
"So, have you been planning this since 1998? As talented as you are, and despite your reputation for trying new things, I cannot believe you've been planning this since the tender age of 8." Emi asked.
Everyone stared at her. She shrugged.
"What? I blogged about her once!"
"I know! I read it!" Junko grinned at Emi. "I really like your writing style! I felt so complimented." For a moment, Junko seemed like an ordinary young adult, and not a crazy person out for long-overdue revenge.
"Err…thanks. Think you could answer the question?" Emi fiddled nervously with the glasses atop her head, taken aback somewhat.
Junko put on a 'thinking face' and contemplated the question for a moment. Eventually, she said
"Well…obviously not since then. Although I confess, I've had these hairbands since I was where I got the idea for Monobear, as you may have noticed by now-a further homage to Nee-san, if you like. "Junko sounded as if she was answering questions in an interview for another blog post Emi might write in the future. "They were a birthday present from Nee-san. I got her boots with camouflage print! Anyway, I was just trying to put it all behind me, more or less…and we-I-had almost managed until late 2004."
"What was in late 2004?" Kyouko asked, sounding as if she knew the answer.
Junko immediately went back to being manic.
"ARE YOU BLOODY STUPID?!"
"It was a rhetorical question. I know that is when Hope's Peak opened. I also know that you were one of the first students to ever attend the school."
"HAHA!Not so stupid then?!"
Eirik was put in mind of two former classmates-Marvin Karin and Nanako Tamuro. Both were skilful at switching their mannerisms whenever appropriate-although Marvin's repertoire was just varying shades of flirtatious. But with Junko, it didn't seem so voluntary. But this wasn't the type of thing he understood, so for all he knew, it could be merely a scare tactic.
"Like Kirigiri-san said, we're better than you." Makoto said. This time, Junko merely laughed.
"And, pray tell, how is that true?"
"We did not resort to mass murder to avenge a loved one 16 years after the fact. And, even better, we stuck together and managed to get this far despite the despair you inflicted on us."
"Pfft. Shouldn't you be interrogating me now? Thought you wanted to live."
"We do. And we will." Kyouko regarded her with a steely gaze as she calmly took over again. "Two questions. The first is this: how did you get the resources for this entire scheme of yours?"
Junko's crown appeared, and she looked at Kyouko haughtily.
"Really? Are you aware of how wealthy and connected I am?!"
"I wish we weren't." Eirik couldn't resist muttering. Luckily, he was ignored.
"A question answered with a question. Wonderful. "Arisa glared.
"And my second question is this-who are you working with?" Kyouko asked.
The colour drained from Junko's face, and she looked horrified.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she said, her voice shaking. Eirik noticed some minor changes in the way she spoke-her accent the more notable of these.
"You cannot have done this alone. You yourself mentioned connections!" Kyouko said.
"In context of the resources, duh-brain!"
"Even so. You cannot have done this alone? Are you part of an organisation? An army? Did you use your 'connections' to help a criminal escape, and their payment is assistance?"
"NO!You really are stupid, aren't ya?"
"Insulting us won't make this go away. So tell me, who are you working with?" Kyouko's voice did not rise, but she was a force to be reckoned with all the same.
"No-one! Really, no-one!" If Eirik were to make an educated guess, he'd say that the accent Junko used now was the accent she'd had when growing up, before her world fell apart. Junko began to shake and shake as she insisted she was working alone.
"What is it about this question you cannot answer? What is it, about this, and the issue of the drugged students, that scares you?"
"Oh bloody hell. You can't let go, can you? How much hope do you idiots have left in you?"
"More than you'll ever know!" Makoto answered, bright-eyed.
"Answer the question, Junko Enoshima." Kyouko pressed "Who were you working with?"
"Nobody!"
"Junko, it doesn't matter anymore." A new voice said. "It's over now."
Everyone startled and looked in the direction of the voice. Somehow, three men had entered the room without any of them noticing. Two of them were in police-officer uniform, while the third was wearing jeans, a checkered shirt and a fedora, which partially obscured his face. It was this man who had spoken.
"I was the one who helped her." This man told them. Eirik could see that the man's eyes were blue.
Junko's mouth fell open at the sight and sound of the man in the fedora.
"Nii-san?"
The chapter turned out shorter than I'd thought, but this was the point I'd planned to end the chapter at, so I hope you do not mind. I am on a bit of a roll right now but I don't know how long that'll last so I doubt I'll get the next chapter up as quickly as this one.
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