Monaca Towa meets an interesting person.

Boooring.

Boring, boring, boring. Having to sit in school listening to the teacher go on and ooooon about stuff I didn't care about was maddening. It was almost enough for me to consider hanging myself, meow.

That was a joke. Really, it was.

What was Monaca doing right now you ask? She was hanging out with her "friends" in detention, and it was all because she decided to play a small prank on the teacher. All she was going to do was hide the teacher's car keys so she couldn't go home today. It was perfect; her toys would have distracted the teacher while Monaca took the keys from her purse. She would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling teacher pets.

So I was stuck here, sitting at my desk watching a clock at the top of the classroom. All of my toys were also at their desks, sprouting the same bored expression. The teacher in charge of us was busy on his phone; he too was clearly bored.

Nobody was doing or saying anything. There was nothing but silence for the last hour. It was only the tick-tock of the clock hands echoing in the room that kept me from screaming in boredom. I wouldn't be in this situation if my toys had done a better job at making a distraction.

They were so unreliable; perhaps I should replace them in the future?

The teacher stood up from his chair and said the magic words. "Detention is over. You can go home now."

I had a sneaking suspicion that detention was supposed to last another hour, but whatever. The teacher was already out of the door after dismissing us. We headed to the back of the classroom to pick up our bags.

"Monaca is so sorry that she got us into detention," I said to the others, picking up my bag in the process. "If she hadn't made such a suggestion we wouldn't be in this mess."

I didn't feel sorry in the slightest, but it would be beneficial if I took some of the blame for this. I need to act as a team player if I wanted to maintain my control over them.

"It's not your fault Monaca," the blue-haired boy replied. "Your plan was flawless. The ones at fault were the kids who blew the whistle on us."

There were nods of agreement from the pink-haired girl and the creep, except for one. The red-haired boy seemed to be in a daze. In fact, he wasn't acting like his usual annoying self since the start of school.

That piqued my interest, so I asked, "What's the matter Masaru? You don't look so well."

My question broke the red-haired boy's daze. He looked at us, and there was an expression I was all too familiar with. The kind you made when there was no way out of a beating, or when the last cookie in the jar was eaten by someone else.

Ah despair. Funny when it was happening to others, not so much when it was happening to you.

"Guys, do you want to keep on living?" the red-haired boy said.

The question was so stupid I thought it was some sort of joke. The seriousness on the red-haired boy's face, however, meant it was not.

"What are you saying Masaru?" the blue-haired boy asked, his face now filled with concern. "Of course we want to live."

"Yeah what kind of question was that!" the pink-haired girl replied, "If that was supposed to be a joke, well, I'm not laughing."

"I found it funny…" the creep muttered.

"It's not a joke," the red-haired boy said, "I'm serious about this."

The red-haired boy was trembling, his hands clenched on his pants and his face looking down at the ground. If I had to guess, this had something to do with his family.

"Did something happen again with your father?" I asked, making sure my tone had a bit of concern.

"No, he's been in a good mood this week," the red-haired boy replied, a hint of sadness on his face. "Still drinking and watching television."

"Then why are you asking such a question?"

"I-I'm just tired of all this; having to go home every day making my father miserable, all because I'm a failure of a son. Don't you all feel the same about your life?"

The atmosphere in the room became a biiiiit awkward. Everyone in the room had a solemn expression on their face as they pondered the red-haired boy's words. I couldn't tell them that my life right now was peachy, or else I'd lose my influence over them. For now, I'd play along and act all depressed.

"It'll get better," the blue-haired boy spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "We just need to endure it. Once we get into Hope's Peak Academy our family will be sure to change."

"How can you say that for sure!" the red-haired boy spat out the words. "We're in the troublemaker class; the class where not one kid had ever gone to Hope's Peak Academy. No matter how many times we prove ourselves to the other adults they never gave us the option to transfer to another class. How can you still say there's any hope for us!"

Before anyone of us could respond the red-haired boy stormed out of the classroom. There were tears in his eyes as he left; it was sooo pathetic. So much for the "hero" act.

The thre— I mean four of us stood where we were. The blue-haired boy was staring at the spot the failed hero was standing just a while ago, regret visible on his face. The pink-haired girl seemed calm, but from the way her legs are shaking, I'd make a guess and say emotionally she was not. And as for the creep, well, who cared about his feelings?

I guess that left me to act as the voice of reason. It was annoying when they get so emotional on me. I wonder if they could even function without me.

"Cheer up guys," I spoke with a cheer. "Masaru is just having a bad day that's all."

"It sounded a lot more than just a bad day," the blue-haired boy said. "He must have been suppressing those feelings for a long while…"

"He just needed to vent a little, and now that it's allll out of his system he'll be right back to normal! Trust me; Masaru will be fine tomorrow."

"… Yeah, you're right," the blue-haired boy replied. "Masaru is just overreacting a bit…"

"Of course Monaca is right," the pink-haired girl said. "Masaru will be back to his old dumb self tomorrow."

"Yeah, and when he does I'll let him lock me in the bathroom like the good times," the creep said.

The words that flowed out of their mouths didn't match the faces of uncertainty still on their faces. The words of that failed hero seemed to have hit them deeper than I imagined. Maybe I should give them a bit more encouragement to ease their worries.

Or not. I was tired at the moment and I couldn't be bothered to deal with this today. I'd deal with it when I felt like it. Besides, I was fairly confident that the failed hero would be back to his old self, as regrettable as that was.

"That's the spirit! Everything will be Okie-dokie!" I said. "Put all of your trust in Monaca's words."

I gave my toys a quick wave and a goodbye before making my departure to the school gate. Mentally, I was gagging that I sounded a lot like my slave.

Speaking of my slave, he was waiting for me outside near the school gate. I knew this since whenever I looked at the window showing the school gates, I could spot a hooded figure with a strand of hair poking out. There was only one person I knew with an awful hairstyle and drab clothes.

He was on his phone as I approached. The sound of my wheelchair made him look up at me.

"There you are Monaca," my slave said, walking to the back of my wheelchair. "What took you so long? I was worried that something happened to you."

He placed his hands behind my wheelchair, leaving my hands free to rest while he led my wheelchair toward his home. Since he waited this long for me I might as well give him a sticker.

What was I talking about? Well, I decided to ditch the punishment system since my slave wasn't learning from his mistakes. Instead, I created a rewards system to encourage good behaviour. For every good thing my slave does right, I give him a sticker and make a note in my diary. Once he reached twenty stickers I do one good thing for him. I surprise myself with how generous I could be sometimes.

"Nothing much, I just got detention that's all."

My slave placed a hand to his face. "What did you do this time?"

"I tried to hide the teacher's car keys."

"This is the tenth time you got in detention Monaca."

"Yeah, but that's only because my toys failed me. If they had done all of Monaca's commands perfectly she wouldn't be in detention in the first place."

My slave took his hand away from his face, giving me a full view of the frown sprouting on it. Oh boy, I could already hear the incoming lecture about to flow from his mouth. Whenever it was time for my slave's monologue of hope and friendship, I would try my hardest to zone out. I sincerely believed that if I actually tried to listen to my slave's lectures I'd become an idiot.

Your friends are not your toys Monaca.

Oh no, a very dangerous thought just invaded my head. I need to set up my mental barriers if I want my sanity to remain intact. Being near my slave for far too long was harmful to my intelligence; I might need to stop hanging around him so often.

Ever since that incident with the robber he had been nothing but annoying lately. Always asking about my time at school and how I was feeling, acting as if he cared, infuriated me more than anything. I would like it if he dropped the nice guy act and reveal what he really thought about me.

But, I must admit that I somewhat enjoy spending time around my slave. Despite how much I despised most of his views, he was the only person in the whole wide world who I could act naturally with. Around him, I didn't need to put up a phony act of kindness or act as if I valued him as a person. I could tell him exactly what I thought without any care for repercussions.

"Are you listening to me Monaca?"

"Of course not Makoto."

There was a sigh from my slave as I checked the time on my phone. Only two hours to go until we were at his home. How wonderful. I leaned back in my wheelchair and closed my eyes, smiling to myself. Now that my slave had finally shut up I could enjoy the rest of the trip in peace and quiet.

… At least I tried to before my slave opened his damn mouth again.

"Hey Monaca, I think I saw one of your friends running out of the school earlier."

I groaned. "What friend?"

"The boy with red hair in your class."

"You need to be more specific than that."

"But there's only one kid with red hair?"

"Well! Be! More! Specific!"

"The boy with red hair and white headphones?" my slave clarified.

"Oh, him." Now that my slave mentioned that detail I vaguely remembered someone like that. "What about him?"

"Did something happen between you two?"

"Nope, everything is fine and dandy." I turned my head and gave my slave a smile. That only caused him to look concerned. "So don't you worry your little brain over such trivial matters."

"Well if you say so…" He looked very unconvinced, but at least he knew not to push the matter any further. "If you need anything I'm always here to give you some advice."

I laughed; okay, that was a pretty funny joke. My slave simply hung his head down; not realising the hilarity of his words.

"Why do I even try…" he muttered.

I needed that laugh though; I was even more certain that everything would be fine tomorrow. That failed hero would return to normal, my toys would stop malfunctioning, and I'd be right back to using them as I please. The day I asked my slave for help would be the day the world ended.

After calming down I leaned back and closed my eyes again. My slave didn't talk for the rest of the trip, allowing my mind to rest and leaving me looking forward to tomorrow…

I might have been a tad bit too hopeful that things would return to normal.

I glanced at the empty seat to the right of me. It had been three days since that little outburst and the failed hero had not shown up to school at all. My toys were in a depressive mood because of this, leaving me to postpone all of the pranks I had planned for this week.

The past three days hadn't been so kind to me either. Having to act so positive around my toys was starting to grate on me, and the one to blame for this was nowhere to be seen. If he was going to disappear the least he could do was inform me first so I could replace him.

The bell rang throughout the classroom, signalling the end of this school day. What should have made me happy now only made me dread what was coming. Like the past three days, I headed towards the back of the classroom, meeting up with my group of toys.

We waited for a bit, watching the teacher and the rest of the students leaving the classroom. I wished I was leaving the classroom as well, instead of having to stick around for this.

When we were the only ones left the blue-haired boy finally spoke about the problem at hand. "This is the third day of school and Masaru still isn't here. I'm worried that something happened to him."

"Me too," the pink-haired girl said. "Masaru may be stupid, but even he would know not to skip out of school this long."

"Maybe we should go to his house?" the creep said.

"I wouldn't recommend that," I replied. "We all know how much of a temper Masaru's dad has. We should wait for a bit before we do something like that."

"But it's been three days and we haven't heard anything from him." The blue-haired boy leaned himself against the lockers. "You don't think he's—"

"Relax Nagisa," I reassured. "Masaru's dad may have a temper, but he wouldn't go that far."

At least, I think he wouldn't. That failure of a hero's dad had always been careful to cover his actions, but there was always a good chance that one day he would finally fly off the handle. If the failed hero kicked the bucket, well, too bad so sad.

"Still, I think we should all go anyway just to be sure." The blue-haired kid looked at the other two, who nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well if that's what you want Nagisa then we'll go," I relented, seeing as how the three of them had me outvoted.

"There's no need for you guys to go," a familiar voice spoke near the classroom door. "I'm right here."

We turned our heads towards the source of the voice, and lo and behold, the cause of my problem was right there. He looked almost the same since I last saw him, except his school uniform was covered in dirt, and he looked skinnier than usual.

"Masaru! Where have you been!?" The blue-haired boy dashed to the unkempt boy. "We were so worried, what happened to you?"

"I ran away from home," the failed hero answered. He rubbed the back of his head, a slight grin on his face. "Sorry to make you worried guys."

"This isn't funny you idiot," the pink-haired girl said. "You gave us all a massive headache in the past three days."

"S-Sorry."

"But at least you're okay." The blue-haired boy smiled at the failed hero. Aww, how touching. I would have shed a tear if I wasn't so angry at the red-haired brat. But now that he was back my toys could finally stop being so mopey.

"Now what are we going to do about your situation," the blue-haired boy said. "You can't just return to your home, not after the stunt you pulled."

"Maybe he should stay at one of our places…" the creep said. "If he stayed at my place he can wear a mask like mine; we'll be like mask brothers!"

"Yeah, there's no way I'm staying at your house," the failed hero said.

"Aw, now I'm all sad again…"

"Well, he can't stay at my house," the pink-haired girl said. "My family wouldn't have a use for you since you're a boy…"

"And my place is off-limits as well," the blue-haired boy said. "I don't want to give my parents another test subject. That only leaves…"

They all looked at me. Ahhhh, crap.

"Well Monaca, is your home suitable?"

Great, now I was stuck in a pickle. I hadn't been exactly honest about my home life; I might have slightly exaggerated my adoptive family to be a group of monsters to them. Which was true, they just hadn't shown their true colours yet.

If I said yes the failed hero would be fooled by the fake kindness shown by my adoptive family, and my control over my toys would crumble before me. But if I said no my toys would lose their trust in me, and that'd still end up costing me some control.

I didn't gain anything from this. This all happened because the failed hero had to just run away from his home. Damn brat; there was nothing he could do that could make up for this transgression!

"Actually guys, you don't need to do all that," the failed hero said.

I forgive him now.

"What do you mean?" the blue-haired boy asked.

"Well… I came back to school to say goodbye to you all."

"Goodbye?"

"Yeah, because tomorrow I'll be jumping off from the roof of the school."

… Well now, this was interesting.

"What the hell are you saying!?" the blue-haired boy shouted. "You're not seriously thinking of killing yourself!?"

"There's no hope for me Nagisa," the failed hero replied. "I can't go home because of what I did, and there's no place that'll accept me. I'm going to die either way, so why not make it quick?"

The failed hero spoke about his own suicide like it was the weather. I gotta say I was a bit impressed at how calm he seemed. I couldn't say the same about boy genius here though.

"You can't say that without even trying! I change my mind; you can stay at my place."

"But what about your parents?"

"I'll figure something out, so just try to hang in there Masaru. You just need to endure a few more years and th—"

"I appreciate the offer," the failed hero interrupted, "but I already made up my mind."

The blue-haired boy became frustrated. How strange; I'd never seen him get this emotional before, not even when he got a B on a test did he get this mad. I guess he really did care about the failed hero, for reasons I could not fathom.

"You guys agree with me right?" The blue-haired boy turned to us. "What Masaru is planning to do is insane!"

I must agree with the blue-haired boy; the failed hero's idea was indeed dumb. Out of all the places in the world to jump from you chose here? If it was me I would choose a location that was a bit more memorable for my death.

I looked at the pink-haired girl and the creep, and for some reason, they were avoiding the gaze of the blue-haired boy.

"Kotoko?" the blue-haired boy called out to the pink-haired girl, forcing her to face him. "You do agree with me right?"

"W-Well I… don't think it's a bad idea…" the pink-haired girl muttered.

"Wh-What?"

"I-I'm also tired of this life. I don't want to act anymore, but if I don't mum will be sad and…"

The pink-haired girl turned her head away from the blue-haired boy and me. He looked at the creep next.

"What about you Jataro?"

"Huh? You want my opinion as well?" the creep said.

"Yeah, I do. Are you okay with Masaru's idea?"

"I mean we're all going to die anyway. Like, Mister Pig can't do anything to stop himself from becoming bacon, so why not die young than become some old, shrivelled-up bag of meat? Although I am pretty shrivelled up already, so I guess becoming old might be an improvement?"

"I… see." The blue-haired boy turned to the last person he could ask.

"M-Monaca? Do you think our life is pointless as well?"

I could tell from the pitiful look on his face that he wanted me to do something to stop them. I didn't really understand why. If they wanted to jump then why try to stop them?

Buuuut maybe I should. I still have some use fo—

"I think it's obvious what Monaca thinks," the pink-haired girl muttered.

Hmm, was that an act of defiance against me?

"What did you say Kotoko?" I questioned the drama queen.

"U-Uh, well I mean Monaca always makes the right decisions of course!"

"And what would be the right decision here Kotoko?" I approached the drama queen, whose head was still facing away from me.

"I-I don't kn—"

"Look at me."

She finally managed to look me in the eye. She was smiling a little, but the little twitches from her mouth gave it away that she was nervous. What was she so scared about? I wasn't going to do anything bad to her of course. I was just going to give her a little bit of a talking-to.

"I hope you're not implying that my life was perfectly fine," I said, "that I've never suffered like all of you."

"N-No…"

"So what did you mean when you said it's obvious what I think? Did you want to hurt Monaca's feelings?"

"No! I would never dare to hurt someone as adorbs as you!"

"I see. Maybe Kotoko thinks Monaca is a liar, who lied about all of the things the orphanage did to her."

"Calm down Monaca," the blue-haired boy intervened. "Kotoko didn't mean anything like that."

I ignored him. "Did Kotoko forget the reason why Monaca is in a wheelchair? The carers at the orphanage were good at many things, but there was one thing they lacked. I think the word was, gent—"

The drama queen's eyes widened, her body already trembling before I could finish.

"—rification. They had so much money, and yet they couldn't be bothered to improve the neighbourhood. Isn't that so selfish?"

The drama queen nodded her head, the trembling in her body lessening a bit. Poor thing, she thought I was going to say the G word.

I enveloped the trembling girl in a hug. "There, there, Kotoko. There's no need to be afraid. Monaca wouldn't use that word to hurt you, because we're friends."

"Y-Yeah," the drama queen whispered.

"I'm very sorry. It just slipped out of my mind that you were sensitive to such a dirty word. But y'know, it was your fault that I forgot about it since you had to make such a comment."

The drama queen nodded again. What an obedient girl, I gave her a pat on the head.

"Did you say that because of my adoptive family?"

The drama queen muttered a yes. I see. My toys had met my adoptive family at school events, like the school play last week. That one was really embarrassing; I played a tree, and my adoptive family cheered the loudest out of the audience when I popped up on stage. I'd never felt such embarrassment in my whole life!

But the point was every time my adoptive family showed up they would act like the friendliest family in the whole wide world. I knew that it was all an act, but to my gullible toys, it would look as if all the stories I told them were a bunch of lies.

Could you believe it? Me, a liar? There was no way I was going to tolerate such slander to my good name!

"Monaca understands what you're feeling Kotoko," I said. "You see Monaca's adoptive family being all supportive and friendly to her that you start doubting her words. How could such a family like Monaca's be as monstrous as she said they were?"

I turned my attention to the rest. "Did all of you doubt me too? Did all of you think Monaca was some sort of dirty liar?"

The three boys didn't answer, guess that was a yes. To think that my influence had been diminishing under my notice; I'd been careless.

I guess I'd have to find new toys now. It was a shame, but what could you do? You couldn't build a house on bad foundations, so I might as well throw them away now. If I didn't have total control over them they'd betray me in the future.

"Even you Nagisa? I expected better from you, but that's okay. We've all been fooled once; adults show us one moment of humanity and suddenly we think that excuses all of the bad they've done."

I let go of the drama queen. "But it's all an act. They don't love us, and never will. How many times had your hopes been shattered, that one day your parents will become better people just because they made something nice for dinner?"

"Lots of times…" the drama queen said.

"So you'll have to take my word when I say my adoptive family is as cruel as I say they are. Sure they might not act like it now, but mark my words, they'll show who they really are in the future. Are we all in agreement?"

"Yes…" my toys uttered.

"Well, that's good!" I cheered, turning my gaze back to the blue-haired boy. "Now then, to answer your question Nagisa I don't think this life is worth living. I'm sure you want to give up as well."

"B-But if I give up now then everything my parents did to me would be—"

"Pointless. I know it's sad, but it's true. No matter how much effort you try to please your parents you will never, ever, ever meet their expectations. But you already knew that didn't you?"

The blue-haired boy said nothing; he just slumped to his knees. Such a miserable sight, it was about time I ended this topic so I could get out of here.

"You deserve a long, loooong rest Nagisa, so I've got an idea. Instead of letting Masaru die alone, let's all go with him. Friends together in life and in death, isn't that a happier ending to our tale?"

There were no objections from anyone.

"Is everything okay Monaca? You look worn out today."

"Everything is fine Makoto," I responded. "Just keep pushing the wheelchair."

It was about damn time I was free from that classroom and its suffocating atmosphere. Why was everyone so depressed these days? Always complaining about the little things, they should be like me and see the bright side in life.

"You took a long time to come out," my slave said. "Did you get in trouble again?"

"No. My toys wanted to talk about something."

"What was it?"

"None of your concern. Mind your own business Big Bro, or else you'll lose your sticker for today."

My slave opened his mouth, but he closed it. I felt a little proud that he was finally learning to shut up; this sticker system really was a success. There was no need for him to know about the big day tomorrow.

Ah, tomorrow. The day my toys try to fly into the sky and go splat on the ground. Of course, I had no intention of throwing myself off the school roof; I was just going to sit by and watch my prank unfold.

It'd be lonely for a while without my toys, but whatever. I'd always been alone for most of my life. I wasn't not going to kill myself just yet, not until I achieved my one goal in life. Once that was done I would have nothing left to live for, and I'd come back to the school roof to join the rest of my toys in the afterlife. I was going to die all alone with no one to mourn my death…

Sike! Just kidding! My life was far too important to just throw away.

But still, that didn't change the fact that I needed replacement toys. None of the students in my class met my requirements: they weren't as intelligent as the blue-haired boy, as athletic as the red-haired kid, as sycophantic as the pink-haired girl and as annoying as the creep. They didn't even have different hair colours; they all had boring black hair!

Maybe I was missing something, but I just couldn't find anything positive in my classmates. If there was someone naive enough to see the good in everybody I could ask them, but I didn't know anybody like that so it was useless.

… Wait, actually I did know somebody like that.

I turned around to stare at my slave, making him stop on the street.

"Is something wrong Monaca?" my slave said.

Damn it, I couldn't believe I was actually asking him for advice.

"Say Makoto… can I ask for your… your…"

"Uh, Monaca?"

"… H-Help?"

I closed my eyes, waiting for the world around me to end.

"… Why are your eyes closed?"

I opened my eyes, turning my head to check for any sort of disaster. Phew, looks like the world was still here.

"So what do you need help on?"

"I want to ask you a question."

"What's the question?"

"How can you determine the value of someone to be friends with?"

My question made my slave groan. "Monaca, I'm not going to answer such a ques—"

"Just answer it please."

The seriousness in my voice made him pause. He placed a hand under his chin, his face in deep thought, and he graced my question with the best answer possible.

"Do you enjoy hanging out with them?"

"… Really."

"W-Well what did you want me to say?!"

"I wanted you to say something useful!" I shouted. "You already know I don't like anybody other than myself!"

"There has to be something you like in your friends, why else would you hang around them!"

"Because! They! Are! Easy! To! Manipulate! Isn't there something else you can think of?!"

"No, that was it…"

"Whatever. I shouldn't have asked."

I turned back, leaning back in my wheelchair as my slave continued to push me. What a dumb answer, as expected from my slave. Still, he answered the best he could, so I was going to give him another sticker when we arrive at his home.

No need to rush in finding new toys, I'll take it easy today and wait for the big event tomorrow…

"T-The ground looks… a bit too high up here…" the red-haired boy muttered.

Tada! It was the day of the big event! That was quick, time sure does fly by when you were having fun, and the prank hadn't even started yet.

All of us were holding hands, looking down from the edge of the roof. In a minute the ground beneath me would have four spots of red scattered about.

"D-Don't tell me you're having second thoughts," the pink-haired girl said, her grip on my hand tightening. "After all the trouble you caused you're chickening out?"

"N-No way! I'm no chicken!"

"I heard that your life flashes before your eyes when you're falling…" the creep said, "and time slows down so much that you'll think you're falling in slow motion. I wonder if I can spot my house in that amount of time."

"Don't be ridiculous," the blue-haired boy replied, and like the pink-haired girl, his grip tightened on my other hand.

"How do we go about this?" I said. "Do we all jump now?"

"M-Maybe on the count of ten?" the pink-haired girl replied.

"That sounds good."

"Ten… Nine… E-Eight…"

The pink-haired girl was trembling again. I understand it was a bit cold on the roof, but she really shouldn't make us wait.

"S-S-Sev— "

"Let me count Kotoko," the blue-haired boy offered.

"Thank you, Nagisa…"

"I'll start over again."

Jeez, this was the longest group suicide I had ever attended.

"Ten…"

Finally, it was starting.

"Nine…"

They all looked so scared; I didn't understand why they were so keen on doing something they were obviously having doubts about. Their reasoning for this didn't even make sense to me; by getting rid of themselves they'd somehow make their parents' lives better? Wasn't it a bit weird to claim you hate all adults and yet you still cared for the ones that actually abused you?

Eh, at least I get to see something entertaining.

"Eight…"

I wonder what sort of faces they'd make when they realised I didn't jump, assuming they had time to look up to see me. I bet the blue-haired boy would look the most shocked out of them all, right before he goes splat on the pavement.

"Seven…"

… Y'know, my slave would be disappointed in me if he knew what I was doing today. He was standing in the same spot as always on the other side of the school, out of sight of what was happening here. When this incident appears on the news tomorrow, he'd know I had something to do with it no matter how innocent I act after.

This would definitely push him away from me, and with the blackmail material gone, I'd have no way to keep him on my side. I'd be abandoned by the only person who I could sort of trust in this world…

… Hmm, since when did I start to care about how he felt?

"Six…"

No really, why should I give a damn about his feelings. When his parents sell me out in the future he'd forget about me. He might even have a party with his friends to celebrate my removal. I might as well cut him off from my life right now than later…

"Five…"

… Argh, what the hell?! Had I been brainwashed or something?! His annoying face kept popping up in my mind that it was taking away any sort of fun from my prank!

"Four…"

Oh for the love of… I give up. Any sort of entertainment I could derive from this had been ruined by my slave's stupid face. Congratulations Big Bro; you ruined Monaca's biggest prank ever. Hope you were happy.

The only thing left to do now was to stop this, but before that, I need to examine what I could gain from doing that.

"Three…"

Let me see, what value do I get from keeping them alive? My slave's answer from yesterday was clearly unhelpful. As if I enjoyed hanging around with them. They were boring, gullible, annoying, forgettable… I could go on and on about their qualities.

However… under my leadership, the four of them worked remarkably well together. So well that without them my pranks would probably go from an eighty percent chance of success to forty percent. I doubt I could reach those numbers again with other students.

I guess if I put it that way I do enjoy their company; when they do everything I asked of them. I'd still rather not interact with them at all, but what could you do?

"Two…"

Now how do I prevent something like this from happening again in the future? For starters, I need to get them away from their parents and find them a place to stay. The only place that popped up was my slave's house. It shouldn't be hard to convince my adoptive parents to let them stay, especially when I tell them their sob stories. They might even serve as bargaining chips; why sell me off when you could sell these four instead?!

The bad thing about this would be the inevitable loss of my influence. They were still naive to the workings of this world, so I had no doubt they'd be fooled by the fake kindness given by my adoptive family. But if I manage to properly educate them, I might be able to keep them on my side, giving me even greater control over them!

And lastly, my slave would see how much of an angel I was when I bring these poor souls to him. He'd trust me more, and my control over him would grow too!

My adoptive parents were going to love me for bringing them more kids to sell off, my toys were going to love me for rescuing them from their miserable lives, and my slave was going to love me for my kindness. I gained so much for so little with such an ingenious plan.

Now to set this plan into motion. First, I'd give a little shout to get everyone's eyes on me. Once I had their attention I'd just regurgitate one of those "never give up hope!" speeches my slave kept giving me and voila, no more suicide! I had great confidence that my excellent persuasive skills will turn them over.

"One…"

Alright, time to give one of the greatest speeches you ever heard!

"Wai—"

"Now wait just one moment!"

What in the goddamn— who dared to interrupt my awesome speech!

We all turned around to see the intruder, and well…

I didn't expect to see her.

I never met her in person, but I knew who she was. I mean, how could you not? She was on the covers of magazines, billboards, beauty products, and commercials all over Japan. She was the role model for all young girls, the desire for all young boys; you would actually have to be stupid to not recognise her.

"W-Who are you?!" the creep said.

"Who am I? You mortals dare ask me such a foolish question?"

Yeah, that was a stupid question.

The woman in front of us struck a pose, her booming voice filling the rooftops as she responded, "Then listen well! For you, the day I graced you with my presence will be the most important day in your life!

"I am the light shining through the darkness! The one to bring hope in your despairful lives! The pretty soldier of love and Justice!

"My name is Junko Enoshima! And I'm here to rescue you."

"Is something the matter Monaca?" my slave asked.

"What? Oh, uh, it's nothing."

Well, that was… unexpected. Never would have guessed for the Ultimate Fashionista to show up and throw a wrench in my plan.

"Hey Makoto, what do you think of Junko Enoshima?"

"Junko? Why?"

"I've uh, met her recently when I was hanging out with doughnut girl."

"Her name is Hina."

"Yeah, I kno— Can you just answer my question?"

"When I first met her I thought she looked exactly as she does in the magazines," my slave said. "But her personality was… a lot different from what I read about."

"How so?"

"I'm just going to say that whenever she's around, be prepared for the unexpected to happen."

Yeah, no kidding. Not only did she steal the spotlight from me, but in just three minutes she managed to convince all of my toys to stop their suicide. Now they were staying over at her place, while I received an invitation to visit them tomorrow.

"Is it okay if I… go to her house tomorrow?"

My slave raised an eyebrow. "This is the first time you've asked to go visit one of my friends. Are you plotting something?"

"No, I'm not. First of all, she invited me, and second of all I'm not always plotting to ruin a person's day Big Bro. I can have fun in other ways as well."

"I doubt that, but I'm surprised she invited you over. Are you already friends with her?"

Well, I wouldn't know about that yet. The most interaction I had with her was for three minutes, and in those three minutes she dismantled the great plan I was about to initiate. I should have felt a bit of anger for that but…

Instead, I was a bit fascinated with her. How was she able to gain the trust of my toys in such a small time, when it took me three days just to get them to open up a little? I must find out.

"We're not, but I find her interesting enough that I might consider it."

"Well if you say it like that then I guess you can go," my slave said. "It's great that you're finally making an effort to connect with others. Just make sure to behave yourself okay?"

"Why of course. Monaca will be on her best behaviour!"

It wouldn't hurt to give her a little visit right? Even my slave here was encouraging me to go, and if I found her boring then I'll just leave right away.

I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

A/N: This is as dark as things get in this story. The following chapters will be lighter; at least, I think they will?

I think everyone in the fandom knows how detestable Monaca is, and I at least hoped that I managed to capture that aspect well. I enjoyed her character in Ultra Despair Girls, and while the Danganronpa 3 anime was disappointing to me in many aspects, her role in the show was interesting to me. She's still detestable, but oddly helpful. That's pretty much the reason why I'm writing this story, trying to turn a character like Monaca into a somewhat good person.

For the rest of this year, I'll be busy with life, but I'll try and write down what I can in my free time.