Monaca Towa enters a competition!
She scanned the message on her phone. What just happened?
No seriously, what the fuck just happened?!
The message she got from Monaca was saying that she could no longer hang out with her due to a "severe loss of enthusiasm in the joys of human interaction."
What the hell did she mean by that?! She called Makoto earlier on in the day to find out what happened in the three days he didn't answer her calls and he only gave her a vague, "It's complicated."
But this wasn't even the worst of it. Just moments earlier before she got this text the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy was at her doorstep. It gave her a brief panic attack as she thought she had been found out, but he was here for something far worse…
She stared at the papers lying in front of her.
He asked her to officially adopt the four brats that were staying in her house. Apparently, Makoto told him about how she "rescued" the four of them from their terrible home lives, and now he wanted her to be their legal guardian. She should've tried to give them away to someone else but in the heat of the moment, she accepted the offer.
She scanned one of the papers. Now she was Junko Enoshima, caretaker of four children.
"… Fuck that!"
She got up and hurled her phone to the other side of the room, watching it smash through her television to reach the wall behind it. The phone broke from the impact, leaving a crater on its destination.
Ah, screw it. She needed a new phone anyway, and a new house while we were at it. This one was starting to bore her.
She collapsed back on her chair, staring at the ceiling above her. Damn that Makoto; he ruined things yet again. The first sign of trouble was his family adopting Monaca just when she found out where she was.
It made her mad at first, but she got over it. The girl was a bonus, an extra step in her master plan. Overall the girl had no use to her other than to serve as an extra bargaining chip, and she had plenty of those for dealing with the Towa Group.
But then she heard about the school event, an event every one of her classmates was looking forward to ruined by one little girl. Oh, how she wished she was there at the time. The chaos and despair caused by Monaca were impressive enough to bring the girl back to her attention.
For a month she spied on Monaca, waiting for an opportunity to introduce her gorgeous self. It was a trial for her sanity having to watch Monaca go about her everyday life. Like damn girl do something interesting! All the girl ever did was go to school and come back home. When she was a kid she fought a pack of dogs with a stick for a piece of meat. No wonder people say today's generation were a lost cause these days.
Where was the girl who caused her precious classmates so much despair? She almost gave up on Monaca again until finally, something happened.
One day, five kids were standing on the roof of Hope's Peak Elementary School. Side by side with their hands clasped together, they approached the edge of the roof and stared at the ground beneath them. Anybody with a brain could tell exactly what they were planning to do.
It was only then did she allow the mortals to gaze upon her visage. She needn't have spared them a glance to tell that they had fallen to the depths of despair, except for one. She commanded the despaired children to stop their foolish action, and offer themselves to her.
At the time it sounded like a good idea to gain her target's trust. If she knew she would become their caretaker in the future she would have dumped them somewhere else or just disposed of them in secret.
But there was no use regretting it now. Monaca had potential to become another tool; a sort of miniature and less cute version of herself that would spread despair to the world. Monaca just needed a little help from her big sister Junko.
She offered Monaca an invitation to hang out, and over time she managed to worm her way into becoming the girl's friend. Once their friendship had been established she began pushing the girl's buttons. In every single one of their conversations she would bring up something related to the Towa Group by "accident," and bit by bit the girl was getting angrier and angrier until she snapped.
Out of the blue Monaca asked her to take photos of the chairman of the Towa Group and his son. She said she wanted them for a research project, but it was obvious that the girl was planning something. She could still remember how overjoyed she was that day; finally, Monaca was stepping towards despair. She obliged and took the photos for Monaca just like she asked and…
… It was a fucking waste of time! She went through so much trouble to take those photos and what did Monaca do? She did nothing, absolutely fuck all with them and continued on with her life.
She knew Monaca wanted revenge on the Towa Group, but hooooly shit the girl could not make up her fucking mind! Whenever she gave her several opportunities to take it she would reply with that infuriating answer, "I'll think about it." She practically spelled it out to her that she was willing to help her with her revenge quest, but the girl still didn't do anything.
Something was making Monaca hesitate to take that final leap to despair, and she had a very, very good guess as to what.
Makoto Naegi. That pain in the ass had to be what was holding Monaca back. She tried to find out what kind of relationship Monaca had with Makoto and all she got was that he was her "servant" and she was the "master." That didn't tell her much at all, other than the fact that maybe Makoto was into some kinky shit.
Regardless of how Monaca described it, their relationship was a problem for her if she wanted the girl under her control. She gave a hint to Makoto to check out Monaca's room, leading him to find out the photos and straining their relationship. Next, she offered to let Monaca sleepover at her house for one week; one was enough time to let her convert the girl over to her side. If Monaca was still resistant to her charms then a little brainwashing should do the job.
Makoto said he needed some time to think about it, which pissed her off but you know what? It was fine, everything was fine. She'd just wait for him to give her an answer and she'd plan something accordingly.
… But then this bullshit happened! They disappear for three days and when they finally decide to talk to her they tell her this shit?! Who the fuck do they think they were talking to?! She was Junko Enoshima god damn it, at least respect her fucking time!
She picked up the combat knife lying on the table and threw it at a wall. What was the cause of this sudden change? Did Makoto know about her real self? No, it shouldn't even be possible for that herbivore boy to see that her personality right now was fake. If even Kyoko couldn't see through it then there was no way in hell that Makoto could.
Could Monaca have found out about it? No, that couldn't be it either. The girl was smart, but not smart enough to see that she was being used by her. If Monaca couldn't even figure that out then it was doubtful she even knew about her real personality.
Argh, there were too many unknowns! Without the proper context, it was too risky to convert Monaca to her side now. It had to be this week as well, arranging the first mutual killing game was no easy task despite her vast resources.
Should she just kill Makoto? He'd been proving to be more of a nuisance than she thought; he might derail things even further in the future. She'd disguise herself, sneak into his room, and stab him in the chest! But that sounded like so much work; maybe she should get her smelly sister to do the deed instead…
… Nah, she wouldn't kill him. Makoto might be a hindrance to her plan, but he was a precious friend. They all were; she loved every single person in class seventy-eight. That was why they had to go through her killing game; their deaths would give her a nice dosage of despair.
She started giggling, her voice growing higher and higher until she was cackling out loud. Oh, she could almost see them tear each other apart! Who would be the first victim? Probably Makoto, he'd be such an easy target since he was so weak and gullible.
She stopped laughing, and that familiar sense of boredom overcame her. That was the thing, wasn't it? Aside from this mishap, everything had been going as expected. Even then this problem wasn't going to affect anything at all in her plan. At this stage The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History was inevitable.
Besides, Monaca might still serve some use for her in the future. All she had to do was wait for an opportunity.
She sighed; it was boring knowing everything that was going to happen… The world was going to fall to despair, her friends were going to fall to despair, and she was going to fall to despair once everything was done… What would she even do once she was done with her life's work? Nothing in the future could ever bring her the same amount of despair…
… Eh, as long as it brought her or anyone else to despair it'd still give her some pleasure. Maybe she'll travel the world, bringing despair to anyone who had the misfortune to meet her.
Now then, what to do with the four kids?
She picked up one of the papers. The name "Kotoko Utsugi" was written on it, with a picture of the child attached at the top. Monaca was out of her reach now, but as for these four…
… Hmm, she got an idea.
He knocked on the door with his free hand, while the other struggled to hold the grocery bags.
"Monaca, I brought you the items."
"Come in," Monaca replied. He opened the door and was met with the smell of garbage emitting from the dark room.
"What the— I just cleaned this room yesterday!"
Monaca was on the bed, lying on her stomach playing with the game console in her hands. The floor was littered with cans, snacks, garbage bags, and a whole bunch of equipment he could have sworn didn't exist the day before.
"You did a bad job," she said.
"I know for a fact that this room was spotless yesterday. How can you even eat so much?"
"Monaca's a growing girl; it's only natural that she eats a lot. Now bring me the snacks."
He waded through the trash to Monaca's location. He took out a packet of chips and held it above her face. She reached out for the snack with one hand, but when she almost grabbed it he moved the snack away from her.
"What do you say Monaca?"
"Do I really have to?"
"I won't give this to you if you don't."
"Fiiiine. Thank you for bringing me the snacks nanny Makoto."
He held out the snack, letting Monaca grab it this time. She opened it up, placed it under her chest, and continued to play on her console. He reached for the curtains and opened them, letting in some light to illuminate the room.
Monaca winced from the light shining on her and threw a blanket over herself.
"Come out from there," he said. "You're going to damage your eyesight."
"But it's too bright outside!" Monaca whined. "Can't you turn on the lights instead?"
"It's a waste of electricity to do that. Come outside Monaca."
She didn't budge, forcing him to remove the blanket himself. With no blanket to protect herself from the light, Monaca turned off her console and burrowed her face into a pillow.
"You're sooo cruel Makoto…" Monaca muttered. "Ruining a child's playtime because she didn't want to follow your stupid orders…"
He scanned the mess of the room he was in. He judged that it would take him at least four hours to clean it. He groaned; he really did become Monaca's nanny didn't he?
"I'm going to leave the rest of the snacks in the kitchen," he said.
Monaca raised her head. "But how am I going to eat then?"
"You know you can walk right?"
"Have you forgotten about our arrangement? If it's just us two in the house then I'll walk wherever I want. But if your family are around you're going to have to carry me, unless you want poor Monaca to crawl on the ground?"
She said this, but that hadn't stopped her from forcing him to carry her when they were alone in the house.
"Just tell them the truth Monaca. My parents aren't going to sell you out."
"That doesn't matter. Maybe I was wrong about your family after all, but that doesn't mean they're all like you. There's still a possibility that they'll hate me after learning the truth, so unless you give me definite proof that they won't you and I will keep our mouths shut."
"Then at least fix your wheelchair. It's been four weeks already and you haven't even touched it!"
"I'm very busy Makoto."
"But all you do is eat and play games! You don't even have any homework!"
"Why are you trying to rush me Big Bro? Haven't you heard the saying 'slow and steady wins the race?' Monaca will finish it when the time's right."
She laid her face back into the pillow. His head was throbbing; was he getting a migraine? The event with Nagito had caused her to become so lazy and apathetic she sometimes wouldn't even bother to go outside and eat unless he brought her food. At this rate, she would starve herself to death if he wasn't around to look after her.
Could he even call this an improvement? It was saying something that he wished she was back to her old self; at least then she could take care of herself.
He waded through the sea of trash to the door. He needed a break from all of this, or else he might actually snap.
"Makoto, wait!"
He turned around; Monaca was holding her arms out to him.
"I need to poop now."
He had to contain himself from screaming.
He scribbled off what he wrote just now. Why did he even think that giving Monaca a pet was a good idea? Would it even survive for half a day?
He got up off the couch and paced around the living room for the tenth time today. He came up with forty ideas on how to get Monaca to become active again and he had to scribble out all but one of them. Even that idea didn't seem so good; the thought of leaving Monaca alone with a therapist scared him.
The doorbell rang. "Makoto, can you get the door?" his mum called out from the kitchen.
He went to the door and opened it, standing outside was a smiling Nagito.
"Ah Makoto, we meet ag—"
He slammed the door. He didn't mean to do it; his hand just sort of reacted on its own. He opened it up again; Nagito was still standing there unfazed.
"That was quite the reaction."
"Yeah… sorry about that."
"It's okay. I get that sort of reaction a lot."
He examined Nagito. The last time he saw him the guy was crushed by an entire bathroom. Now he was standing before him looking as if he never had a scratch in his entire life.
"You sure recovered fast."
"I sure did! I didn't even have to pay for it; the hospital fixed me up free of charge for the crash."
"Wait, what crash?"
Nagito let out a chuckle. "It's quite a funny story. You see right after the two of you left one of the neighbours came by to check up on me. He saw me in my sorry state and dug me out; taking me to his car so he could drive me to the hospital. We only managed to get out of the driveway until an ambulance crashed into us."
"Di-Did anyone get hurt?"
"I mean it was a pretty big collision. Everyone was severely injured, except for me. By a stroke of luck, I managed to avoid getting more injured than I already was."
"I-I don't see how that story's funny…"
"You don't? I would explain the joke, but I don't want to come off as if I'm insulting your intelligence."
"That's not— nevermind. So, what brings you here today?"
"I'm here to finish you off."
… He just stared at him.
"… That was a joke. I'm just passing by to see if things are going well between you and Monaca."
They weren't, but he wasn't going to tell him that.
"Yeah everything's fine," he lied. "We're all fine here now; you definitely don't have to help us anymore."
"Hmm, is that so? Well if you want to develop your bond deeper…"
Nagito took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
"Why don't you give this a try?"
He looked at the piece of paper. It was a competition being held at Hope's Peak Academy, where participants could present their talents to judges to get a chance to enter the school. From what he read it seemed that anybody could enter, but what was more surprising was that it was organised by the headmaster.
"I didn't think the school would have let him hold another event after… you know, what happened last time."
"I thought so too," Nagito said. "But it appears that the Steering Committee changed their mind."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Have Monaca enter the competition. I sense she has a great talent in her that just needs to shine, and what better opportunity was there than this."
"You can sense talent?"
"Something like that."
He examined the paper again; it didn't look like another trap… maybe it was a good idea to have Monaca enter the competition. The only problem would be getting her to do anything at all.
"I'll talk to Monaca about this. Thank you for telling me about this event."
"There's no need to thank me. I'm just doing my duty to help those with talent. I'll be taking my leave now."
"Don't you want to come in?"
"Oh no, no, I don't want to trouble you with my presence any longer. Have a nice day Makoto."
Nagito turned to leave, walking a few steps until he stopped.
"Ah, I almost forgot." He turned around to face him again. "Did you take anything from the house?"
"We took a duffle bag," he answered.
"And just that?"
"Yeah, just that. Why?"
"Nothing important, I just wanted to check. You can keep the bag by the way. I have plenty of spares."
Nagito walked away. That was odd, he was pretty sure they only took a duffle bag. Unless… Monaca took something else with her. He was going to have to question her when she was back to normal.
"Who was it?"
He turned; his dad was behind him.
"It was Nagito."
"Ah, your friend. Why didn't you let him in?"
"I asked but he declined, and I wouldn't really consider us to be friends…"
"Really? He seems like a nice kid."
His dad would change his tune if he knew about what happened at the house. Nagito had been visiting his parents when he and Monaca were "sleeping over" at his house. He hadn't told them the truth yet; he needed time to recover from the hardships he endured during their imprisonment.
"What's that in your hand?"
"It's a paper talking about a competition. I'm thinking of telling Monaca about it."
He could see the brightness in his dad's face disappear at the mention of her. His parents might be a little… distressed at Monaca's state if he was putting it lightly.
"Speaking of Monaca…" his dad said, looking more dejected than he had ever seen him before. "Can you come to the kitchen? We would like to discuss something with you."
"Uh, sure."
They headed towards the kitchen; inside his mum was already sitting at the dinner table. Much like his dad, there was a look of dejection on her face.
"Who was it dear?" his mum asked.
"It was that wonderful boy Nagito."
"Oh! Why didn't you invite him in Makoto?"
"He declined," he replied.
"That's a shame; I would have liked to hear more of his stories. He's quite talkative."
"Oh, I'm sure he is…"
"What was that Makoto?"
"Nothing."
His dad sat next to his mum while he sat in front of them. His parents fidgeted for a while, avoiding his gaze. Finally, his dad looked at his mum, and she gave him a nod.
His dad stared at him. "Son, I need you to be honest with us."
"Honest with what?" he questioned.
"A-Are we bad parents?" his mum said.
"What! No, why would you even say that?"
"It's just that our… our…"
His mother wailed out of nowhere, startling him. She placed her face into his dad's shoulder, sobbing as he tried to console her.
"Our precious Monaca became a failure!" his mum muffled out. "And it's all my fault!"
"No dear," his dad said. "It's our fault."
"It's nobody's fault!" he cried out. "Trust me; this has nothing to do with parenting."
"Then what else could have caused her to become like this?"
It was times like these that he regretted keeping silent about the truth, but if he told them that would only complicate things. How would they respond if they knew that Nagito kidnapped them for three days, or that their adopted daughter had planned something awful underneath their notice?
He needed time to figure out what to say and when to say it, and this was definitely not the time.
"I don't know," he lied, "but what I do know is that you two are the kindest, most wonderful parents someone like me could have."
"I-Is that true…" his mum whimpered.
"It is. Monaca's lucky to have the best parents in the world."
His mum removed herself from his dad's shoulders. There was a tiny smile as she wiped away the tears.
"Now you're just exaggerating," his mum said. "But I feel a little better hearing that from our son."
"At least we know we haven't failed two of our children," his dad said, a small smile on his face as well.
"Yeah, so don't worry. I'll do something about Monaca."
He had no surefire plan, but he didn't need one. He'd just do what he was good at; talk things out until they reached an understanding.
And he was going to do it today.
Okay, maybe he needed more time to think things out.
His hand was inches away from knocking on the door, but he pulled it back every time. What if he made things worse? Could he even convince Monaca? It was not like she even pretended to take his advice to heart in the past, so his chances were pretty low already.
He took a deep breath; he needed to stay calm. If he didn't at least try he was going to clean up her room tomorrow, and he didn't know if he could handle cleaning for four hours again. Even if it failed he'd try again and again until his words got through to Monaca.
He knocked on the door. "Who is it?" the voice inside answered.
"It's me," he replied.
"What do you want? It's too early to feed me."
"I'm not here to feed you. I just want to chat."
"No thanks. I'm busy at the moment."
"Come on Monaca, that wasn't even a good lie. I promise I won't talk for long."
"The last time you promised something we got locked up in a room for three days."
"Okay, this time I really will keep it. Can you let me in, please?"
"… Fine. Come in."
He opened the door and turned on the lights. The first thing that caught his eye were the two garbage bags lying on the floor, proving that all of his cleaning was meaningless in the face of Monaca's hunger. She was still where she was a few hours ago, playing on her console with a blanket over her head.
"You have seven minutes," Monaca said, not even glancing at his location.
He walked to her and held the competition paper over her head. She made a quick glance at the paper before looking back at her console.
"What is that?" she asked.
"It's a competition being held at Hope's Peak Academy," he replied. "Do you want to enter? It'll be a great way to show people your tal—"
"No."
"But aren't you getting bored playing video games all day?"
"Not really."
"Don't you have any dreams for the future?"
"Becoming the Ultimate Neet."
"You can't be the Ultimate Neet Monaca; that's already taken."
"Then I'll be the Ultimate Neet in Space."
"… Why don't we think of something a little more practical? How about becoming the Ultimate Engineer?"
Monaca sighed, placing down her console. She finally looked at him, an expression of disinterest plain on her face.
"What are you trying to pull this time Big Bro?"
"I'm trying to help you. You have so much talent and yet you're wasting it here doing nothing. You used to be driven in the past, even if it was for all the wrong reasons."
"You really need to make up your mind. First, you wanted me to stop being myself because 'I was hurting people with my actions,' but now you want me to go back to my old self?"
"I mean it would be great if you stopped trying to hurt people…"
"Sorry Big Bro, but Monaca's staying this way until the day she dies. Dreams are overvalued anyway; the majority of people don't achieve their dreams, so what makes me different? Once you become an adult you'll just work, and work, and work at an unfulfilling job until your muscles become weak and your memory starts to fail, and then you die. What's the hurry in rushing to such a sad fate?"
"Not everyone ends up like that Monaca. Yeah, there's a chance you might never achieve your dream, but you don't know unless you try."
"You're just too optimistic. Just leave me alone. Go out and enjoy your own life and leave me be."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I know for a fact that you have the drive to achieve whatever goal you set. It won't be easy for sure; you will absolutely hit a pitfall somewhere along the way. But as long as you keep the drive to continue on forward, no matter how hard it gets, you will grasp your dream."
Monaca's apathetic expression lessened; there was an intensity in her eyes that he hadn't seen for a long time. Did he do it? Had his words reac—
A sound rang out from Monaca's rear; the fire in her eyes dying as the noise diminished in volume.
"… Why do you have to be like this Monaca?"
She shrugged and went back to playing on her console. Now what? She made it very clear that talking it out would get him nowhere, but that was the only thing he was good at…
… Unless he took a different approach. "If you want people to act you gotta rile them up through any means necessary!" was something Monaca said to him a long time ago. Instead of giving her words of encouragement, he'd attack her pride by touching on a few of her triggers.
… He definitely needed to stop hanging around her so often.
"You know Monaca," he said, "I think you're the smartest kid I've ever met."
"Are you trying to manipulate me through flattery?" she asked.
"Uh…"
"If you are keep going. I like it when people recognise how superior I am."
He cleared his throat. "Anyways, it's clear that you're a lot more mature than most kids."
"Indeed I am."
"But lately, I'm starting to doubt if you're as smart as I thought you were."
"… I don't think I like where this is going."
"Whatever happened to the whole take revenge on your family? You said that it was your life's goal, and yet here you are wasting away in this room."
Monaca cringed. "Please don't remind me of that. I was young and stupid back then. Honestly, how did I even think my plan would work? It's like what that creep rambled on about; hope will always triumph over despair, so why go through with something that was bound to fail? I'll just wait for them to die of old age."
"I guess that makes sense. Doing something of that magnitude would have been impossible for someone like you."
It was subtle, but her fingers twitched a bit in response to what he said.
"I didn't say that Big Bro," Monaca said, with a bit of that familiar venom in her voice. "Since your hearing has obviously been damaged I'll repeat what I said. There's no point in going through with my plan since it was bound to fail."
"So you're a quitter."
Monaca's fingers twitched again. This time it was noticeable.
"… So what if I gave up? I can live my life however I want."
"True. But I guess you're going to have to live with the fact that while you're here doing nothing, your family is out there enjoying their lives without a care in the world."
"I think you should stop talking Makoto."
His plan was working; Monaca's uncaring disposition was cracking bit by bit from his words. He just needed to push her a little bit more.
"But I guess it was for the best really. You may be smart, but you're still just a kid after all. A plan like that would have been way beyond the abilities of someone like you."
"Stop talking."
"Now that I think about it, none of your pranks seem to be thoughtfully planned out at all. You get caught most of the time, and when things don't go your way you blame others for your own failures. You talk big, but you're really all bark and no bite."
"I said stop talking."
"Your family will continue on with their lives without ever acknowledging your existence, but that's okay. What can you do against your family who's obviously better and smarter tha—"
"Shut up!"
Monaca threw the console at a nearby wall. If there was any doubt about whether his words had any effect on her well, he could just look at the dent that was too close for comfort. On her face was the most emotion he had seen from her in weeks; a death glare directed straight at him.
As strange as it sounded he felt relieved. This was the Monaca he knew; the girl who had the face of an angel but the mind of a demon.
"Get out."
And he should probably listen to her.
He maintained his composure under her glare, walking towards her and placing the competition paper in front of her.
"Give it a thought okay?" he said, and turned around to leave while trying to look as calm as possible. Once he was out and the door was closed, he let out the breath he was holding in.
… Did he go too far there? Even if it was necessary he felt it was harsh to say all of that to her. He'd have to make up to her tomorrow whether or not his plan worked out.
He headed to the living room, and standing there crossed armed were his parents.
"Makoto, what was that sound just now?" his mum said.
"Well uh, I can explain…"
"Wakey wakey Big Bro… it's time to get up…"
"Ugh… give me five more minutes…"
"Oh for crying out loud…"
Something cold and wet splashed on his face, ending whatever nice dream he was having.
"What the— Couldn't you wait for five—"
He wiped the liquid off his face and opened his eyes. Peering down at him with a smile was Monaca, a revolver in her hand.
Now he was fully awake.
"Holy!" He leapt out of bed, placing his back against the wall as he eyed the little girl with the gun. "Put down the gun Monaca!"
Monaca giggled. "Now that's better!" she said. "You look so full of energy Big Bro."
"I said put down th—"
"Jeez, calm down Makoto. Have you already forgotten that this gun's a fake?"
She pointed the revolver at him and pulled the trigger. Instead of a bullet, a small spurt of water came out of the tip, landing at his feet and leaving a stain on the floor. He still flinched though.
"I modified the revolver we took from that creep's house into a water gun. Isn't that amazing?"
He didn't respond. He sighed and slumped down to the ground.
"Please don't scare me like that again… Wait. You're in a wheelchair."
"Why you're soooo observant. It took me all night, but I finally managed to rebuild my wheelchair. It's as good as new!"
Monaca lifted her hands off the armrests, and the wheelchair twirled on the spot… or it tried to anyway before it froze midway through its spin.
"… Almost that is."
She slammed a fist on one of the armrests, and the wheelchair completed its spin.
"How exactly can you do that anyway?" he asked.
"Monaca has several buttons inside her shoes," she answered, "that allow her to control the wheelchair remotely."
Huh, well that was interesting to know. Looks like Monaca was finally back to her old self. Now he didn't have to act as her caretaker.
… Wait a minute. She was back.
"What's with that look Makoto? Is something the matter?"
Oh no…
"Ah, I know! It's because Monaca's so cheerful after acting sooo gloomy for the past couple of weeks. It's too late to have any regrets now, especially since it's your fault y'know."
The grin on her face grew. Maybe it would have been better for him if she stayed lazy after all…
"So umm… Why did you wake me up?" he asked, getting up to his feet. "If it's about what happened yesterday then I'm really sorry for saying all of that. I'll make it up to you I promise!"
"Oh that," Monaca responded. "You don't need to apologise for anything Big Bro."
"… Wait really? You're not going to punish me or anything?"
"Oh don't be silly! If I did punish you it would alleviate some of the anger I'm feeling right now, and that would be bad for my productivity."
"Uh, Okay? So if you're not here to punish me then what?"
"I'm here to thank you Makoto, for bringing me back to my senses."
"Thank me?"
"Of course! I'm not heartless Big Bro; even I can say a simple thank you once in a while."
He examined the smiling girl. As much as he wanted to believe that this was just a simple thank-you visit and nothing more, he knew that Monaca always had some ulterior motive whenever she was acting nice.
"That doesn't mean I agree with everything that you said. I still stand by the fact that the majority of people will die having achieved nothing in their life; their dreams crushed by the big boot called reality… But you're right; I can achieve anything I set my eyes on because I'm perfect and better than everyone else in the entire world."
"I don't remember saying anything like that."
"Really? I'm pretty sure you said something along those lines. Of course I might be mistaken, so why don't you repeat to me exactly what you said yesterday."
… He decided that throwing his life away over a simple correction wasn't worth it. "Never mind."
"Good. As I was saying it was due to your…kind words that I realised my revenge plan still had a chance to succeed. So once again I must thank you, Big Bro, for reigniting the flames of vengeance inside my heart."
"You're welcome…"
"Mm-hmm. With that out of the way, let us discuss a guide on how to cause a familicide!"
He was getting far too comfortable hearing her say such dark stuff with so much positivity. Why couldn't she talk about something nice for once, like puppies?
"I'm not helping you hurt peo—"
"Now, now," Monaca interrupted, "it's not nice to interrupt people. Hear me out first before you make up your mind okay?"
Whatever plan she was thinking of someone was bound to get hurt, physically or emotionally. Still, he might as well hear what she was scheming this time than be left in the dark.
He walked and sat down on Komaru's bed, giving his full attention to the smiling girl.
"For the first step of my master plan I need to gain the attention of the Towa Group," Monaca said. "Thankfully for me, that won't be any problem at all because—"
She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket.
"—of this. Here's a question for you Big Bro; how does this competition help me with my plan?"
"Is it because the Towa group is at that competition?" he answered.
"Ding ding ding! You are absolutely correct! A bunch of companies are sending their representatives to this competition, with one of them being my target. All I have to do is put on a show, and the chairman will be begging for me to visit him."
"Is that it?"
"Yes, for this part at least. The rest of the plan is still a work in progress. You see Big Bro; nobody gets hurt in my plan."
"I'm still not sure about helping you…"
"Then how about this; if you help me I'll be sure to take your concern for human lives into consideration."
For her benefit, the plan sounded safe so far. But this was coming from the mouth of Monaca. Anything she said was "safe" should be met with scepticism.
"What if your plan fails?" he asked.
"Oh, it won't. I checked online to scout out the contestants and none of them come even close to my abilities. I'm guaranteed to win first place."
"From the sound of things, it seems like you don't even need my help."
"You're right. Any help you can offer me would be minuscule for my plan. But there is one tiny little thing you can do for me."
"And that would be?"
"You're friends with that programmer right? The one who cries a lot?"
"Her name's Chihiro, and she doesn't cry that much."
"Yeah, I don't care. Are you friends with her or not?"
"I am."
"Excellent! Can you ask her to build me an A.I?"
"… Why exactly do you need an A.I?"
"So I can build an army of robots and wipe out all of humanity."
… He narrowed his eyes.
"Come on Big Bro I'm just joking! Turn that frown upside down! I just need a simple A.I that can learn and adapt to its surroundings."
"Do you really need an A.I of all things for your invention?"
"Nope, but it'll get me huge brownie points with the judges. Come on Big Bro, won't you help your poor little sister out with a favour? I've already promised that no one will get hurt."
"… Alright, I'll help you." He knew she was doing some slight manipulation but damn it, the puppy dog eyes gets him every time.
"Perf—"
"On one condition."
For a second he saw her smile falter a bit.
"You have to apologise to Chihiro."
"What? But why?"
"Don't you remember? You made her cry at the school event."
"Oh that. It's a bit late to apologise now don't you think? I'm sure she's forgotten all about it."
"Maybe she has, but that still doesn't mean you shouldn't apologise for what you said."
"So all I have to do is say sorry and you'll help me?"
"I don't want you to just say sorry; I want a full apology. It has to sound sincere too, so don't try and make it sound sarcastic. Can you at least do that for me?"
"… Fiiiine, I'll apologise to your friend. I'll give her such a good apology that she'll have no choice but to forgive me."
Monaca extended a hand towards him. He observed her for a moment, his mind thinking up of any sort of loopholes that she could take advantage of. Once he couldn't think of anything did he extend his own hand in return, and they shook hands in agreement.
"Then we have a deal," Monaca said. "Can we meet up with her tomorrow? I want my A.I to be finished as fast as possible."
"I'm pretty sure she's free, but I'll give her a call to check first."
"Good. You do that while I start ordering the parts."
She turned around and moved towards the door. There was something about her statement that bothered him though…
"Hey Monaca," he called out.
Monaca let out a sigh before turning to face him again. "What is it this time? Are you going to demand something from me again?"
"It's not that. I just want to ask you something. You said you were going to buy parts?"
"Yes, that's what I said five seconds ago."
"With money?"
"No, with Gacha tokens. Where are you going with this Makoto, aside from wasting my time?"
"… How much money are you spending?"
"Does it really matter? All you need to know is that I have enough money for whatever I need."
He was the one to sigh this time. "How much did you steal from Nagito?"
"What? Now, why would you accuse your poor little sister of such a crime?"
"Please don't try and lie to me Monaca. Nagito came by yesterday and from the sound of things we may have taken a little more than a bag."
"Oh please, he could be lying. Besides I could have gotten the money from somewhere else, like your parents."
"Really? You wouldn't mind if I ask them now would you?"
"I mean I might not necessarily have gotten the money from your parents. I was just being hypothetical."
"Just drop the act already."
"Alright fine, I admit it. I may have taken a tiny bit of money from him."
"How much?"
"It's not a lot, just one million dollars."
"O-One million dollars?!"
"I know right? For a creep like him to proclaim he was rich I was expecting to take a lot more than one million dollars from his house."
"That's not the point! We have to return that money to him."
Monaca raised an eyebrow. "Why should I? It's my money now."
"No, it isn't. You stole it from him!"
"I didn't steal it; I found it lying around the house. Well technically lying inside of a sealed safe, but you get my point. And even if it does count as stealing he does kinda deserve it. I mean this was the same creep who locked us up in a room for three days, or have you already forgotten about that fact?"
"I haven't forgotten about it. But that doesn't give you the excuse to steal from him; you're not using that money."
If Monaca was trying to hide her annoyance during this talk then she failed. The smile plastered on her face dropped and was replaced with a scowl.
"Then how am I going to buy my parts now?!"
"You'll just have to find another way then."
"No! I refuse to comply with this unreasonable demand! That money was compensation for my mental health, and I'll be damned if I'm not allo—"
She stopped her tantrum, a look of realisation on her face. In a flash, the scowl was gone from her face and she was smiling at him again.
"On second thought you're right!" Monaca said. "I don't need to use my own money after all; I'll just get Big Sis Junko to buy the parts for me. You really should make it clear when you're joking Big Bro; you almost made me mad."
"I'm not joking about retur—"
"Y'know Makoto," Monaca cut in, "I don't think you quite understand the position you're in. You see Monaca is the one here who's graciously letting you in on her plan. She's even letting you make sooo many demands to keep you happy."
She approached him as she continued, "But it seems to me that you're trying to take advantage of my generosity. Now I could just be misunderstanding things, so I'm going to make it very clear to you about what's happening with the money. The money is staying with me and that's the end of it okay?"
She was right in his face now. The smiling girl may have sounded cheerful as she talked, but there was no mistake that she was threatening him underneath her words. She seemed intent on keeping the stolen money no matter what he said, so he relented.
"… Okay," he muttered.
"That's a good boy," she replied, standing up from her wheelchair and giving him a pat on the head. "Now is there anything else you want to say?"
"No."
"Then it's time for me to go. Have a nice day Big Bro, and don't forget about tomorrow!"
He watched as she left the room, humming a song all the while. While her vicious streak was still intact she was at least somewhat listening to him. So long as he kept a close eye on her he'd be able to turn her around for the better…hopefully.
He took out his phone. If Monaca did receive her A.I, he hoped she was not going to use it for anything dangerous…
"Hmm, something's not right. Let's go through it one more time."
"What! What went wrong this time?!"
"You didn't clap hard enough."
"Oh come on… Can't you show off your invention now?"
"I would have an hour ago if a certain someone can just do a certain motion. We're going through it one more time, and this time I want to hear some power in your claps."
He groaned, and clapped once more with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Hopefully, this would be enough to satisfy her. His body was getting stiff just sitting on this bed.
"Is that better?"
"…You don't need to go that hard just for clapping Big Bro. But I suppose it's satisfactory."
Monaca cleared her throat and began reciting her introduction. He wasn't really paying attention to her though; his attention was on something else.
That something was the object standing behind her, hidden underneath a white sheet. It was already covered by the time he entered Monaca's (his) room, but he could tell the object was big, almost the same height as him. He could also make out what he presumed to be ears poking out from the sheet.
This only intensified his curiosity and anxiety as to what Monaca had made. She managed to get her A.I after apologising to Chihiro two times. A second apology was needed since her first one somehow made her out as the victim instead of Chihiro, and so he forced her to start over. Once she got what she needed she locked herself up in her room for a week, only coming out to pick up the parts sent by Junko.
It was nice for Junko to help out with the competition. She was willing to buy whatever parts Monaca needed no questions asked, just as long as she got to look at the blueprints of Monaca's invention.
"—Are you listening Makoto?"
"Huh? Uh…"
"Well aren't you a great listener. Never mind; let's just go to the main event."
She moved to the side of the object, grabbing a part of the white sheet.
"Get ready to feast your eyes on my greatest creation yet!"
Monaca threw the white sheet off the object, and he finally got to see what the girl had made.
… It was a bear.
"So what do you think Big Bro? It's beautiful, isn't it? There's no need to answer; Monaca can tell from your expression that you're shocked by its beauty!"
Well, she was right that he was shocked at what he was seeing. What was standing before him right now was a robotic teddy bear with an unusual design; aside from the snout and belly the bear's body was divided into two separate colours and appearances. The right half of the bear was white and looked just like a normal teddy bear, so he had no particular complaints about that side.
But the left half of the bear was where he started questioning Monaca's design choices. The left half was all black, with a red glowing eye that was shaped very similar to the Hope's Peak Academy logo. Underneath the snout was a half-formed smile that seemed anything but friendly to him.
He didn't know why, but something about this bear… irritated him for some reason.
"Umm…can I give you my honest opinion?"
"Sure thing! Go ahead and gush all you want about my invention!"
"I don't like it."
With a few words Monaca's expression went through a mix of emotions, from happiness to surprise to anger until it settled on what he called the "smiling but wants to kill you" expression.
"Oh? Now please do tell me what you don't like about it," she said. She sounded calm, but there were little hints of anger in her voice.
"I don't know. I just don't like it for some reason."
"So you hate Monaca's invention just because? Wow Big Bro, are you trying to hurt Monaca's feelings?"
"Even if I don't have a good reason for disliking it I have to say that the design choices you made are really questionable. Like why is the left side of the bear so sinister looking? Why is it a bear in the first place?"
"Ah Makoto, it seems your little mind can't comprehend the genius of this design. You see the design of the bear is a very important feature for its purpose."
"And what exactly is its purpose?"
"Surely you can guess it just from its design?"
"…Is it a mascot for a kids' show?"
"…Well I mean you're not wrong that it's mascot material, but you're still off the mark! Come on, even a kid can tell what it's used for."
"…I really don't know."
"Damn it Makoto it's a domestic helper! Don't you even know a domestic helper when you see it?!"
"Please tell me how in the world is that a domestic helper?"
Monaca sighed and pointed to the right side of the bear. "I don't understand how you couldn't figure it out. You see this side represents the cute and cuddly side of bears; the side that calms you down and brings a smile to your face."
She then pointed to the left side of the bear. "And this side represents the dangerous side of bears; the side that reminds you that bears are big carnivorous animals that can rip you to shreds if you're not careful. The two sides of bears represented through such a simple design… it's genius!"
"I mean it's nice you put in so much thought for your design but…you didn't really answer my question."
"Listen if you have a problem with the design talk to Big Sis Junko. I didn't make it all up okay; I borrowed it from a sketch she made."
"No, it's okay. I guess I can see how it can be a…domestic helper in a way. Does it have a name?"
"A name? Of course it has a name. Its name is… Teddie!"
…Something about that name bothered him. It seemed Monaca agreed with him as well; as her happy demeanour had faded out by the time she placed a finger under her chin, confusion clear on her face.
"You know…that name sounded a lot better in my head," she said. "It doesn't feel right for some reason…"
"I agree," he said. "The name feels wrong. Can you think of any other names?"
"…Two-face."
"Still doesn't sound right."
"Ted."
"That's pretty much the first name."
"Winnie the Pooh."
"Are you trying to get sued?"
"Fine then! He's called Black and White Bear; because he's black on one side and white on the other! Happy now?!"
Monaca got up from her wheelchair and strolled over to him. She knelt down beside him and took out something from her (his) bed. She plopped down next to him on the bed; in her hand was a remote controller similar to those that control drones.
"Who cares about the design and name Big Bro? What's really important is what my invention can do."
Monaca moved one of the sticks on the remote up, causing one of the arms of the bear to move in turn. She pressed a button and claws appeared out of the uplifted hand of the bear, gleaming in the light of the room.
"Y-You added weapons to it?!"
"Duh, it's a bear. What, you wanted a bear without claws? How can my invention be authentic to the real thing if it can't violently shred something apart? Anyways want to see how sharp they are?"
She took out a carrot from her pocket, positioning it with one hand in front of her head while she talked to the bear.
"Black and White Bear, attack this carrot please."
She flicked it and the raised arm of the bear came down, slicing the carrot into little ribbons that littered the floor of the room.
"Wow, look at how fast it cut down that carrot! Doesn't that make you excited?"
"Not really…"
"Then how about this. Black and White Bear, tell me a joke."
The bear didn't respond to her; it stood in its place as if she didn't say anything. Just when he thought it was broken the bear finally spoke in a voice that contained no emotion.
"How do you catch a fish without a fishing rod?"
"How?" Monaca responded.
"With your bear hands!"
The bear and Monaca laughed. He did not.
"Come on Big Bro, that was one of my best jokes. It's the voice, isn't it? Don't worry; the voice now is just a placeholder until I can find a suitable one for it."
"It's not that. I'm still worried about the claws you put on it."
"Oh, just relax. The rules of the competition stated that it was perfectly okay to add claws to my invention."
"I really don't think you should add weapons to it." Especially if they were in the hands of a self-learning A.I and a girl with a severe lack of empathy.
"Jeez, do you have something against bears? Did a bear attack your family or something? The claws are just there for decoration, nothing more."
"But—"
"Trust me Makoto; everything is going to be fine. Did you know that you're more likely to be killed by lightning than by a bear? I'm sure no one is going to be mauled to death at the competition."
Monaca got up and sat back down in her wheelchair. She motioned to the door; guess it was time for him to leave. He still had some massive doubts about the safety of her invention, but surely no one would get hurt right?
"Three more days until the competition," Monaca said. "That's plenty of time for me to make some quick adjustments. You should also use those days to relax Big Bro. Stop worrying so much and look forward to what's coming."
"Yeah, you should be beary excited for my debut!" the bear said, causing the girl to giggle. He let out a sigh; this was going to be bad wasn't it?
I had to say, being outside after weeks inside a small stuffy room felt great! The sound of people around me chatting about useless things, the heat of the sun shining down on me, the constant paranoia of being killed by an assassin sent by Hope's Peak Academy, it was truly perfect…
I peeked at the stage again. Just how long was this girl going to talk? The host should do his job and get her off the stage so I could show everyone what a real show-stopper looked like. I mean growing an entire body from a single cell seemed great and all, but was it a robotic bear? I rest my case.
"If she keeps talking for another hour Monaca's going to file a complaint."
"Give it time Monaca; I think she's almost done."
I turned to the voice next to me. My sla—
…Hmm, I guess at this point he was not really my slave. A slave's supposed to obey everything I told them no questions asked, and he had failed in that regard.
Was he a friend? No, not really. A friend as given in the dictionary was "someone who you know well and like, but who is not related to you." Now to me, a friend was someone who I had complete control over; someone who would do as I asked of them and never, ever betray me. Some would say that was no different from a slave, but let us agree to disagree!
Ah, I know what to call him. He was my servant. A pretty terrible one at that, but he gets the job done.
"She better be," I said to my servant. "Have you swept through the area again?"
"Yes, I did Monaca," my servant replied, letting out a sigh in front of me. "I'm telling you no one is out to get us."
"That's what you think, but I like to consider other possibilities y'know. You just had to go tell the headmaster about what was happening at the orphanage, and now I'm checking my shoulder every minute so I don't get stabbed in the back."
"He said he'll be careful not to alert the Steering Committee."
"Oh, isn't that so encouraging. Why don't I take the word of a failed detective who got kicked out by his own family? Surely nothing could go wrong?"
I observed my surroundings again to check for any would-be killers. The backstage didn't contain any spots for a killer to hide in. The area was pretty empty aside from a few bundled-up tripods and theatre lights. The "competition" around me didn't look like they pose any threat; they were just a bunch of kids playing around as their guardians talked amongst themselves.
Of course, I shouldn't be careless just because they looked harmless. Maybe one of the adults in here was a trained assassin. Hell, maybe one of the kids was an assassin. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Steering Committee had some child soldiers in their care. Lucky for me I came prepared with some safety measures…
I examined the object behind my servant. If anyone tried to attack me at this instant my invention would emerge from that white sheet and bam, dead in a second! I was quite proud of it, although I wish I had enough room to add in a bomb and an eye laser. Oh well, I guess the claws would have to suffice for now.
The sound of clapping could be heard from the stage. I took another peek; the kid and her guardian were walking towards me, carrying their humanoid abomination in a wheelbarrow.
"Now wasn't that quite the show!" the host cheered. "Never thought I would see a half-man half-lizard hybrid but hey, it's not the strangest thing I've seen in my life. But the shows not over yet folks! There may still be plenty of surprises left in store for us. Let's give a warm welcome to our next competitor!"
The host gestured towards us to move onto the stage. He sure knew how to get the crowd excited. Wearing a white sports coat that contrasted with his black pants, an earpiece in his ear along with sunglasses even though we were indoors, he stood out among the crowd of drab suits attending the show. I must applaud the headmaster for hiring a good host; perhaps he was not as useless as I thought.
"Let's go Big Bro; it's time for my big debut!"
"Just don't try and cause any more trouble here please."
"Stop worrying so much. What can possibly go wrong here?"
I moved forward, my servant following close behind as he pushed the trolley holding my invention. The audience clapped when we emerged from the curtain and onto the stage.
"What's your name young girl?" the host asked.
"Monaca is called Monaca!" I answered. "And over here is my Big Bro Makoto!"
"Hello everyone…" my servant said, giving a little wave at the crowd. He didn't even pretend to sound enthused!
"Your friend doesn't sound so happy to be here."
"Oh, he's just a little nervous that's all."
"I see. And what wonderful invention are you going to present to us Monaca?"
I surveyed the audience in front of me; there was quite a crowd of suits sitting inside the gym, but it didn't take me long to find my targets. The Towa Group representatives were at the front; the perfect place for them to see me in all my glory.
There was someone else that caught my eye though. Near the very back there was a blonde woman in a brown trench coat and fedora, her face covered with a hygiene mask and black-tinted glasses. She stood out like a sore thumb; had I seen her somewhere before…?
Ah, whatever. She was probably someone insignificant that I saw on the street.
"Can I say something before I present it?"
"Go ahead."
I cleared my throat. "Imagine that you were a little kid again, full of energy and big dreams for the future. 'I'm going to be a professional baseball player!' you told everyone, and for your early years, you worked hard to achieve that dream no matter what. Even if no one believed that you could do it; even if your family told you to give up, you kept going until finally…you did it. You're in the big leagues playing against the best the world has to offer. 'Suck on that!' you thought, against everyone who had doubted you.
"But then things started to change. You start noticing that your pitches are getting slower. Your rest breaks are getting longer and longer. You're forgetting things more often…soon enough your own team realises what's happening and they kick you out for someone younger. Now you're living by yourself, alienated by your family and friends with no one to care for you, looking back on your glory days as you wait for the sweet embrace of death…"
My little story was working; nobody in the audience was looking at their phones or checking their watches. They're all focusing on me with curiosity in their eyes.
"So that's why I came up with a brilliant invention! Show them Big Bro!"
My servant dragged the sheet off my invention, revealing the bear to everyone. From the confused looks on the audience's faces, I could tell that they were clearly entranced by the beauty of my design.
"…Is that a bear?" the host asked.
"Yep!" I answered. "He's also a robot as well!"
"Well I…don't know what to say. I could have never guessed that it was a bear—"
"Robot bear."
"—A robot bear underneath the curtain. What does it do?"
"Surely you can guess from looking at it?"
"…Is it a mascot for a kids' show?"
Why did everyone keep giving me that answer?
"Close, but no. It's a domestic helper, designed to help out those who can't take care of themselves."
"Interesting! Does it have a name?"
…Hmm. I did have a name now thanks to Big Sis Junko, but I felt the name Monokuma didn't exactly fit with my invention. If I was going to commercialise it then it needed a name that was catchy…
Oh, I know what to call it!
"Its name is Kumadachi!"
"What the fuck?!"
We all turned our attention to the blonde woman at the back.
"Uh…I mean what the fuck, why didn't I think of that?"
The blonde woman laughed a little. Everyone turned their attention back to me. I could have sworn she sounded like Big Sis Junko…
"Anyways," the host said, "was there any reason as to why you made it look like a bear?"
"Well I mean who doesn't like bears?" I said. "They're cute and cuddly. There are more reasons as to why I made it look like a bear, but it's not really important."
I focused my attention on the audience. "The important part is what it can do. We all don't want to be a burden to others, but the unfortunate reality is that with age comes a variety of health problems. Sooner or later we will become so old that we can't even go to the toilet by ourselves. Who here wants someone to change their underwear for them?"
Several members of the audience shook their heads. Now that they had recovered from the shock of seeing my brilliant invention they were paying close attention to me again.
"Nobody wants another human to change their underwear; it's humiliating. That's why I created my little helper here; he'll obey your every order without any of that pesky human emotion. That doesn't mean you can't converse with him every now and then."
I motioned to my servant to bring the controller underneath the bear. He handed it over and I placed it on my lap while I talked to the bear.
"Hey Kumadachi, tell me a joke."
"Why did the bear dissolve in water?" the bear asked, his voice no longer monotone and lifeless. Thanks to Big Sis Junko's voice acting the bear sounded more like a cartoon character.
"Why?"
"Because it was polar!"
"See, he can tell puns. He has over one hundred thousand bear puns installed in his memory and can learn even more due to his self-adaptive AI. But wait, there's more!"
I pressed a button and claws popped out of the bear. "He's also good for self-defence. Someone's trying to rob you? Just say the word and your new best friend here will happily solve such a problem. Of course, if you don't trust the AI to handle it you can always take control with this handy thing."
I held up the controller for the audience to see and began to play around with the various sticks and buttons on it. With a couple of quick movements, I made my invention move off the trolley to stand next to me.
"With a little bit of practice controlling Kumadachi will become as easy as breathing."
To demonstrate my point further I took a carrot out of my pocket. Just as I had shown to my servant I moved one of the sticks on the controller up, raising one of the arms of the bear. I flicked the carrot towards the bear and pulled the stick down at the right moment, leaving nothing but tiny shreds of the carrot lying on the floor. I glanced at my targets; they were still focused on my performance, but now they were starting to write down notes.
It was almost enough to make me jump for joy. Finally, after years of waiting my dearest wish to meet my family was close to becoming a reality. I'd meet my real father, he'd welcome me back with open arms, and I'd repay him by destroying everything he had built over the ye—
"Hey, you!"
My happy daydream was ruined by a shout nearby. I looked and from the other side of the stage emerged a teenager, and judging by how he was staggering and swaying around he was drunk. From his clothes, I recognised he was a "student"—if you could even call them that—from the Reserve Course.
"Um, are you talking to Monaca?" I asked.
"Yeah you little shit!" the annoying drunk responded. "I haven't forgotten what you did!"
"I'm sorry, have we met before?"
"Don't act like you don't know! I almost got eaten by a lion at that event!"
Now that he mentioned it I think I did know what he was rambling on about. Why are people still holding a grudge against me for something I did months ago? Hadn't they heard the saying forgive and forget? Most importantly where was security? You'd think getting a gym blown up would have Hope's Peak beef up security but then this happens. If they had done their jobs this pest wouldn't be here ruining everyth—
…Wait. Perhaps I could benefit from this situation…
"Let's all give John here a huge round of applause!" I shouted, and started to clap. The audience, my servant, and the host looked confused, but they followed my lead and started clapping as well.
"Uh…what?" the drunk said, standing where he stood looking as confused as everyone else.
"My friend here is a Reserve Course student wishing to become the Ultimate Method Actor. I gave him the role of a student who had fallen on hard times, and he gave such a good performance I couldn't help but clap. Wouldn't you agree, Mister Host?"
"Uh, y-yeah!" the host replied. "He's giving such a good performance I thought he was legitimately drunk."
"I'm not acting!"
"And for John's next act, he will be playing the role of a criminal attacking a poor, innocent little girl who did nothing wrong."
"You damn brat! If that's what you want that's what you're going to get!"
The drunk actually charged at me. People could be so stupid sometimes.
"Kumadachi attack!"
With speed you wouldn't expect from a bear made of steel my invention tackled the drunk to the ground before he could reach me. The drunk tried to push it off him, but he, unfortunately, did not have the strength to lift a metric-ton bear.
"Get the hell off me!" the drunk shouted.
"You're doing a great job there John; I can really feel your anger!"
"My name's not John damn it! It's—"
"Let's give another round of applause!"
We all started clapping again at the drunk's "act." The drunk continued his useless struggle against the bear and swung his fist at it. The bear caught it with one hand while the other was still pinning the drunk down.
"Hey! Did you hear about the guy whose left side was cut off?" the bear asked. "I hear he's all right now."
"What does that have to with anyth—"
The bear began to pull on the drunk's caught arm, eliciting several yelps of pain from the boy.
"W-Wait! I give up! I give up okay!"
The bear didn't seem to care; he kept on pulling and pulling. Well, it was fun but I guess it was time to put a stop to this.
"Alright, Kumadachi that's enough. Let go of the nice boy."
…The bear kept on pulling. The drunk was starting to scream now, but that wasn't really important at the moment.
"Somebody help me! He's ripping off my arm!"
"Uh, little miss, I think you can stop with the act now…" the host said. I could hear noises coming out of his earpiece. I took my eyes off the scene to glance at the audience; they looked pretty uncomfortable at the moment.
"Let go of the boy Kumadachi."
My invention still didn't listen. Hmm, how strange. I was sure that I programmed him to obey the Three Laws of Robotics. Then again I did only implement the second law, and that law only applied to me and me alone. Good thing I still have the controller here. I was just going to move this and that and everything should be all—
—annnd it did nothing. I moved all the sticks and pressed all the buttons and the stupid bear still didn't back off. What was wrong with this damn thing! It was working perfectly just a minute ago so why did it break now of all times?!
…Oh. I think I knew why. I checked the back of the controller and my suspicions were confirmed. The light at the back was off; the batteries were out of power.
"…Say Mister Host, you wouldn't happen to be carrying high-voltage batteries would you?"
"Ah, crap…security! We have an emergency over here!"
"I should have known something like this was going to happen."
"Hey, don't blame me. If that idiot hadn't gone up the stage he wouldn't have lost an arm today."
"Your little sister is right! It's not my fault; I'm just an innocent bear following his programming."
The bear laughed as he continued to push my wheelchair toward my servant's home. My servant groaned.
"You stop talking. That guy went up the stage in the first place because of what you did Monaca. Maybe you should take it as a lesson; you know like think twice before you act or what comes around goes around."
"Monaca will be sure to take this lesson to heart Big Bro."
He didn't look so convinced. Why didn't he believe me? I made sure to put in an equal measure of sarcasm and sincereness in those words. I didn't believe in karmic justice of course, because if it did exist I would be dead a long time ago. I did believe in thinking long term, and so from now on I had to make sure to be more thorough in covering my acts.
"I sure hope so… It's surprising that you even won a trophy despite what happened."
He held up that trophy in his hands as he walked. Augh, I wanted to reach out and throw it right in the trash. I should have started with a sob story instead. I mean not getting first place was already insulting enough, but winning third place instead of second place?
"I should have won first place," I said.
"Monaca your invention ripped a boy's arm out and fought over fifty guards," my servant said. "If that girl didn't regrow his arm you would have been in big trouble. Just be grateful you won something."
I would be grateful to not get it in the first place was what I wanted to say, but I stopped myself. I shouldn't get angry over something as trivial as this. After all the competition was rigged from the start, that was why I didn't come in first place. Besides, I completed what I set out to achieve. All that was left to do now was wait.
We kept on moving towards his home. He tried to hand me the trophy, but I shook my head.
"You keep it Makoto."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! You deserve a reward for your efforts." And I wasn't saying that because I didn't want to see it in my line of sight, not at all.
"But I didn't do anything."
"But of course you did. Who was the one who made me restart my plans for revenge? Who was the one who introduced me to one of the best programmers in the world? It was you."
"Those were small contributions."
"Even the smallest of contributions can have a big effect. Come on Big Bro, give yourself some self-respect."
He hesitated, but my servant pulled the trophy away from me. He was turning the trophy around with a smile on his face.
I examined my servant from top to bottom. Makoto Naegi, my "big brother." At first, I thought he was nothing more than a boring and generic tool that I would throw away when I was done, but now I've taken an interest in him. Who in their right mind would continue to associate with me after learning about what I had planned on that rooftop? Something must be very wrong with him in the head; I should take him to a therapist sometime.
Everything I had seen so far pointed to him being a genuine kind-hearted individual and by extension his family as well. They seemed to have no plans to sell me out; a bit of a missed opportunity if you asked me.
But despite all of the evidence pointing out that I may be wrong in my judgement…a part of me still doubted him. Yes, it was stupid really considering how long I'd spent with him, but I couldn't shake off the thoughts that maybe I was being manipulated, that he was just waiting for me to drop my guard. If it does appear to be that then congratulations, he had out-manipulated me.
And if he was the genuine article, how far could I push him and get away with it? What would make him finally put down his foot and say that was enough? If attempted suicide didn't faze him perhaps murder would instead? So many possibilities, I was getting excited!
…But I should play it safe for now. Maintaining a good relationship with my servant was a priority. My servant's bonds with his friends were a redeeming quality of his, and through him, I gain access to some powerful and influential people. I play my cards right and I'd be set up for life with so little effort.
"Hey, Big Bro. How many stickers do you have now?"
"Uh, eighteen I think?"
"Well, now you have twenty. Congratulations Big Bro, you won a reward from me!"
"What did I win?"
"You get to punch me once in the face! If you ever find yourself in a bad mood you can come to me and knock me across the room."
"I don't want a reward like that!"
"Yeah, you're right. You probably can't even knock out a fly with arms like that. Then how about I sharpen up your manipulation skills? Agitating me out of my apathetic phase was an effective technique, but you need to be a bit more subtle about it. Under my guidance, you'll be the second-best manipulator in the world!"
"I don't want to be a master manipulator."
"Aw, but you have so much potential. Give it a try Big Bro. You might even like it."
"No."
"How disappointing… oh well. I guess I'll bake you some cookies instead. I won't put anything weird inside this time I promise."
"Really now…"
"Yes, really. Consider this as a token of my gratitude. As long as you stay the way you are I'll keep on being a good little girl."
… Probably.