DAY TWO ; 5:27 A.M.

Hajime Hinata was in too much pain to see Celestia Ludenberg until she nearly ran them over. She plowed into Mioda, sending her and, as a result, Hinata, to the ground. Immediately afterward, she stood up, pointed her gun at them, apparently decided that they weren't worth the bullets, and kept running. She left a trail of blood behind her.

"What was that about?" Sonia asked. She frowned. Naegi scratched his cheek and shrugged.

They were near the warehouse – it had been Sonia's idea to check it out, but the blood trail left by Celestia Ludenberg most definitely came from that warehouse. A high, keening wail came from the warehouse, and Hinata's heart dropped into his stomach.

Komaeda.

"He's hurt," Naegi said. He looked at the group. "He's hurt, we have to help him."

"Naegi-" Hinata said, but he was on the ground and he couldn't do much more than reach out his hand. Mioda pushed him off of her and jumped to her feet to help him up.

Naegi's gaze passed over all of them before he turned and ran. And maybe the screaming was too loud for him to hear it. Maybe there was blood pounding through his ears or maybe his heartbeat was staggering to higher decibels. But Hinata saw it, Sonia saw it, even Mioda saw it.

The slight glow of Naegi's collar as he crossed over into a danger zone. They couldn't hear the beeps, but they saw the reflection of the glow off of the grass and the trees and the earth. And they saw the collar explode.

And they saw Makoto Naegi's body take a few more steps, like it wasn't aware that it was dead yet.

And they saw Makoto Naegi topple forward.

And they saw Makoto Naegi die.

Mioda shrieked. Hinata did, too, though everything was going fuzzy. He didn't know if it was the sight of Naegi's lifeless body lying just a few feet away from them, how had he crossed into a danger zone without noticing, how close had they been to doing the same thing?

Komaeda's shrieks still gave backdrop to the scene.

Hinata tried to breathe in, tried to breathe out, but it was like his lungs refused air. His leg throbbed at the back of his mind, and his screams harmonized with Mioda's and Komaeda's. Only Sonia was silent, standing stock-still, staring at Naegi's body.

"I did not expect-" she said. She broke off. "Fuck."

If there was any shock in hearing a princess swear, Hinata didn't feel it.

"We must help Komaeda-san," Sonia said. Her voice was shaky. She hadn't looked away from Hinata's body. "M-M-Mioda-san, can you handle Hinata-san on your own?"

Mioda's screams paused enough for her to heft Hinata to his feet, causing a fresh bolt of pain to stab through his body. He took in a great deep shuddering breath and wiped at his face with the back of his arm. They didn't say anything else as they walked a few feet away from the danger zone that Naegi had died in. Sonia was a few feet away from them, just to check for more danger zones. They didn't run into any.

Naegi must have just run into the corner, then. Taken a shortcut that wasn't allowed.

It didn't make Hinata feel better.

Sonia was first into the warehouse, too. She held her crossbow in front of her, ready to shoot. Mioda dragged Hinata in after her. The scene inside made him want to throw up everything in his stomach.

Komaeda was hoisted in the air by three ropes –one around his leg, one around his arm, and one around his stomach. He was surrounded by corpses – Teruteru Hanamura on one side, Touko Fukawa on another, and his stomach was pressed into the late Imposter. Blood dripped from him and onto the floor, making a considerable puddle. His head hung back, neck lolling almost bonelessly, and his eyes whirled from side to side, either from pain or fear, Hinata didn't know.

"This is getting easier," someone said from behind Komaeda, and Hinata's vision focused in on Byakuya Togami. He was holding a knife and a gun. The knife was partially in Komaeda's leg, and Togami ripped it out. Komaeda let out another gasping scream. "I knew using him as bait would be a good idea."

"Hinata- kun-" Komaeda managed before Togami stuck the knife in his stomach. Blood gurgled up from his throat and he choked on the blood. And then Nagito Komaeda died, strung up with a knife in his stomach and various other wounds peppering his body.

And Hinata blacked out.

15 STUDENTS REMAINING

come on you have to have at least one death-by-danger zone. togami and celestia were sure toeing the line a couple of times i had to do it.

also bye komaeda