Mukuro sighed as she sat down next to the tree. They'd been walking for hours without finding anyone. She wasn't tired at all, but Chihiro had looked like he was about to collapse by the time he'd timidly asked for a rest. She glanced over at him. He was sitting next to a tree as well, breathing heavily. 'Take a drink', she said, pulling out her own drinking tube and taking a sip. 'You need to stay hydrated.' He did as he was told without a word, and started gulping down water. 'That's enough!' she ordered sternly. He froze, staring at her with fear. 'Your body'll get more out of it if you just take small sips regularly instead of just gulping it down every now and then', she explained, her voice softening somewhat. He nodded, but still looked afraid.

A few minutes of silence passed before they were broken by Chihiro's voice. 'I'm sorry… I'm sorry I'm so weak', he whimpered, looking down at the ground. Mukuro stared at him for a few moments. 'Why?' He looked up. 'Huh?' 'Why are you so weak?' she asked matter-of-factly, looking him dead in the eye. She'd known him for two years, but had never thought to ask why he was the way he was. He stared back at her, terrified. 'B-because…' he stammered. 'It's not like… I do want to be stronger. But what… what will h-happen if I do, and e-everyone finds out that… that I'm a boy? Th-that I was so w-weak and l-lying to them for so long? I want to live as myself, but… would anyone like the real me?'

Mukuro looked down at the ground, ashamed. After a moment of silence, she spoke. 'You… you told everyone. Before we… took your memories. You told everyone that you were a boy.' Chihiro's mouth dropped open. 'What?' 'Everyone was fine with it,' Mukuro continued, still unable to meet his eyes. 'And Mondo said he'd help you get stronger.' She glanced up at Chihiro to see a strange mix of sadness, relief, fear, and anger on his face. 'Why… why did you take away my memory of that?' 'Because… Junko told me to' she replied sheepishly, knowing how pathetic she sounded. Chihiro continued to stare at her. 'You… that… that was the one thing I ever wanted for my entire life, and you took it from me because Junko said so?! You took two years of my life and tried to make me kill my friends and… and… destroyed the world, because Junko said so?! What's wrong with you?!'

Mukuro, who had fought in countless battles, flinched at the sound of Chihiro's screams. 'She… she's my little sister. I thought she loved me. I thought… I thought that I was all she had, and she was all I had. I thought I understood her! I thought that as long as I helped her, I'd make her happy! And… and that if I helped her spread despair, we could… I could… I thought that everything would be perfect!' Hot tears ran down her face. She clumsily wiped them away, disgusted at herself. 'But… I was wrong. She tried… she tried to get rid of me. Makoto was the only person who… who… valued me.' Her voice petered out into a pathetic whimper.

There was a long, painful silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, Chihiro broke it with barely controlled hysteria. 'I… I know what it's like to want to feel loved, but… how could you think that doing that to us was worth it?' Mukuro didn't know what to say. She'd never felt so vulnerable. She could easily kill Chihiro with her bare hands, but she felt completely defenceless before him. She couldn't get out of this by lying, he already knew too much. All she could do was tell the truth. 'But… I don't even know what the truth is.'

Mercifully, a gunshot rang out.

The two whipped their heads around to stare in the direction of the sound. 'If they were aiming at us, they're a terrible shot. There must be someone else nearby!' Mukuro raised her rifle, feeling a sense of calm come over her as her instincts took over. 'Stay here', she ordered. Chihiro nodded, fear creeping over his face. Several more gunshots rang out as she jogged towards them. Suddenly, a dark purple shape ran through the trees ahead. Mukuro instantly dropped to a prone position, put her finger on the AUG's trigger, and took aim at the shape. It was Kyoko.

The Ultimate Detective ran behind a tree, only for the other side of it to explode into fragments as more gunshots rang out. The fire came from two Novoselic soldiers advancing on her, their heads again covered with Monokuma helmets. Mukuro felt a spark of anxiety and rage as she watched them through the rifle's sights. 'Relax. Focus on the fight. I just have to double tap the centre of mass then make sure they're dead with a headshot. I've done this a million times, just relax.'

She bought the rifle's stock up to her shoulder, looked at the leading soldier through the scope, exhaled, and held her breath. They were advancing with the swift but measured movements of an alert soldier, a far cry from the ones Mukuro had already killed. They disappeared behind a tree for a moment. As soon as they passed it, she squeezed the trigger twice and sent two 5.56x45mm rounds tearing through their chest. They collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Their comrade quickly took cover behind a tree. Mukuro trained the scope on the tree and waited. Sure enough, a Monokuma head peeked out after a few seconds. She instantly aimed and fired, painting the snow with the soldier's brains before turning back to her first victim. They were slowly, desperately crawling to the nearest tree in front of them as the snow beneath them turned red. Mukuro placed the rifle's sights over their head and put them out of their misery. She sighed with relief. Putting rounds on target always calmed her down.

After scanning for any more threats, she stood up and cautiously headed towards Kyoko. The detective was peering out from behind her tree at the corpses that had been shooting at her moments ago, then turned and caught sight of Mukuro. 'Makoto's down there', she said calmly but urgently as she pointed across a road bisecting the forest. 'There were soldiers chasing him too.'

Mukuro's calm evaporated as images of Makoto's crushed head flashed before her eyes. 'I need to save him, I need to save him, I need to save him!' She ran past Kyoko without a word, throwing caution to the wind. It didn't matter if she was heard, seen, or even shot at, only saving Makoto mattered. The forest was a blur as she tore through it. Her heart pounded faster and faster in time with her feet. A loud crack came from the right and she instantly made a beeline for it, her heart feeling like it would explode.

Two soldiers suddenly appeared ahead of her, their backs turned. She bought the AUG up and perforated the one furthest away from her. Before they even hit the ground, she drew her knife and opened up their comrade's throat. They fell to the ground, revealing a third figure on the ground behind them, its back against a tree. It was Makoto.

Mukuro's heart suddenly stopped.

'What am I supposed to do now?'