AN: For the few people who read this here rather than ao3
Summary: You've chosen your path, of your own free will. It will be long. It will be treacherous. But in that dark abyss…perhaps you will find yourself.
He nearly collapsed when he was left alone, only staying on his feet through sheer willpower (and of course, the bat turned walking stick). Naegi Makoto breathed heavily, limbs shuddering with a mix of adrenaline and utter fear as his throat stung with the indents of five sharpened blades. His blood was cold against his skin, and the boy absentmindedly made a note to change out of his shirt before he started looking like a horror movie extra. That had been a gamble of monumental proportions. There had been a significant chance that Monokuma would have chosen to simply kill him right there and then, especially considering there was no one left in the room that could verify it wasn't an assisted suicide. Far too close for comfort. Not something he would normally do.
However, it had given him an answer to a question he didn't know he had, and it was perfectly reasonable for an average high school student to break down after the sheer hell he had been put through. In fact, he wasn't surprised that he needed some time to himself to sort through the emotional turmoil still roiling in his gut. There certainly wasn't anything wrong with his admittedly over the top reactions to the being directly responsible for the majority of his suffering. It was simply luck that he had gotten off with nothing more than a nicked throat and reopened wounds.
Carefully sheathing the baseball bat through a loop in the hoodie tied around his waist, he adjusted it slightly for ease of walking before, against his better judgement, walking back to the aftermath of [The 1000 Blows] . Stepping around the various baseballs, he made his way through the mess on the floor to come face to face with the no longer breathing Kuwata Leon. Naegi felt a flare of sympathy at his untimely fate, intertwined with a resurgence of anger at the perpetrator of Maizono's murder. And yet…he hadn't been the one to fire the first shot. It had been Monokuma who set down a loaded gun, but it was Maizono Sayaka who picked it up. He sighed, hanging his head slightly. So many people were to blame, including himself. But he couldn't find it in himself to disrespect the dead. Instead, he would take that anger and direct it onto the ones still lurking in the shadows.
The Mastermind. That was his ultimate goal. The person who had been twisted and cruel enough to set up this farce of a game, pitting students against each other in a Battle Royale. How would the next person die? What would be the next motive? He had a nagging suspicion that things would die down for just long enough in order to get them back into the School Life mindset. Monokuma had given them a couple days to explore the admittedly limited school before he gave them those tapes, after all. Shaking his head at the thought, Naegi's mouth tightened into a scowl that would shock his classmates if they had been there to see him, but with no one around, the ugly expression was free to stay for the time being.
Motives for murder. Contrary to popular belief, it was rather easy to push someone to kill another person. Put a gun to their family's head. Threaten what they hold dearest to their heart. Expose something that they would rather keep hidden. Or, most obviously, simply bribe them to do it. There were so many ways to push someone over the edge, and he wasn't quite sure which one the Principal would choose next. Whatever it may be, it was his duty to stop it in its tracks. But what if he couldn't do it? After all, he was just a measly Lucky Student up against the best and brightest the nation (and even the world) had to offer. He frowned at that reminder, hand straying to the ribbon around his wrist. Brushing the fabric almost reverently, an idea surfaced in his mind. An unpleasant thought. A suicidal plan.
His lips twitched upwards as he reached for cold fingers, gently pulling a ring off one of them and slipping it onto his own. Twisting it slightly to make sure it wouldn't slip off, he patted the dead man on his arm, eyes glowing in the dim light with unholy fire. Pivoting on a foot, he made his way to the elevator, footsteps near silent against the floor. It was part and parcel of teenage life to make terrible decisions in the end. He supposed it was about time he hit his own rebellious phase. Chuckling at the bad joke, the Luckster stretched slightly, body twinging with the numerous bruises Owada had beat into him along with the freshly bleeding cuts that he needed to patch up at some point.
Stepping into the elevator, his hand lingered on the bat at his side, wondering what to do with it. It had been instinct that led the teenager to pick up the very thing that Monokuma had used as an accessory in Kuwata's execution. Some sort of poetic retribution, to threaten the Mastermind with their own weapon. There were definitely advantages in keeping around something that was basically a metal pipe, especially if he got into a fight anytime soon (and it seemed less like an if and more like a when at this point). But then again, he didn't want to give his classmates any excuse to think he was planning a murder. Especially after they were ready to send him off to an early demise over a single shred of evidence.
( Plus, he mused, if someone wanted to frame me, they could just kill someone else via blunt-force trauma. It wouldn't be difficult. )
Shrugging to himself, Naegi tapped the button and dragged the gate shut with a metallic rattle that reminded him all the more of the cage they were all trapped in. Shivering slightly, he stood there in silence as the old contraption creaked and groaned, shaking as though it was about to drop at any moment. Another oddity of the school. Considering the resources and funding that Hope's Peak Academy possessed at their disposal, what exactly was such a ramshackle machine doing here? Everywhere he looked, there seemed to be more questions and not enough answers to go around. Glancing up into the corner of the lift, he grimaced at the blank lens of a security camera aimed right at him. Ah yes, that revelation.
It was unpleasant enough to think about the fact that there was a Mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scene, laughing as they killed each other and suffocated on the paranoia and stress of the whole situation, trying to hold out Hope that they could escape the prison they had been locked in. But that there was an audience watching them? The very thought made his skin crawl with the unseen gazes of hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals gaining some form of joy from their agony. Not that he was particularly surprised. A normal person would believe in the good of humanity, and that no one would stoop to such lows, or enjoy anything as macabre and cruel as this. But with the amount of trouble he had gotten into over the past few years, even someone as average as Naegi Makoto knew better. Humans were not inherently good or evil, but everyone had some sort of disposition that they gained from their environment. And unfortunately, it seemed as though for every bright spark, there were a hundred dark stains to counterbalance them. Glaring into the camera, he fought the urge to smash it with a well-placed swing. It was against the school rules after all.
Clenching his fists hard enough to leave indents in his skin, the Luckster quickly exhaled in an effort to relieve his body of the growing tension in his soul. It helped. A little. Shaking his hands slightly to lessen the sting of sharp nails against soft palms, Naegi blinked when the elevator jolted to a halt, swaying on his feet. Well, it was probably close to night time by now. Not that they could figure out the exact time and whether the clocks were true to their words. It didn't matter anyways. Pulling the gate aside with a swift tug, the Luckster stepped out and immediately halted in his tracks when he noticed the flash of blonde hair in the corner of his eye. Turning slightly, he met the stare of an unimpressed Fashionista and offered a timid wave.
"I didn't expect anyone to be waiting for me." In fact, if he had known that Enoshima was idling there, he wouldn't have spent so much time lingering after Monokuma was done with him. Naegi smiled helplessly, Hoping that she wouldn't notice his new accessories. Considering the way her eyes flickered to them however, it was a futile wish. She shrugged, looking almost bored.
"I'd like to think I have some basic decency, especially after Pompadour roughed you up like that." She closed her eyes briefly, an emotion flickering across her face too quickly to read. "Besides…can't let you die on me just yet, herbivore."
He grinned despite the half-hearted jab, feeling much more attuned with himself after the show of concern. "Didn't you say that I'd be the last one you would kill if you wanted to do it?"
"T-that's not part of this discussion!" Her face flushed with embarrassment before immediately sobering. "He did quite the number on you, Naegi. I was worried."
"Yeah…sorry about that." He swatted away a stab of guilt at the softly spoken words, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't exactly know how bad it looked from an outsider's point of view.
"Heh. Only you would apologise for getting beaten up, Lucky Boy." She invaded his personal space without a care in the world, and he tried not to focus on the floral scent in the air as Enoshima clapped him on the back playfully.
"Plus," he began awkwardly, "you did save me from him in the end, so that makes us even now, no?"
The blonde teenager chuckled, shaking her head like she had just heard an amusingly naive response from a child. Her hand hovered briefly on his shoulder before tightening, dragging him close enough to count the freckles scattered like stars across her face. Her eyes were serious, a stark contrast to the almost ditsy way she interacted with other people and for a moment, he was struck by the knowledge that this might be the real Enoshima Junko, the person behind the celebrity.
She leaned in even closer, close enough for him to feel the heat of her breathing against his skin. "Not even close." The Fashionista shook him slightly. "You hear me?"
He stiffened like a soldier being yelled at by his drill sergeant. "Crystal clear, ma'am!"
"Good~" Releasing him, the other teenager looked as though nothing had happened in the first place, skipping ahead a couple steps. "You coming or what?"
Naegi blinked slowly, before letting out a short bark of a laugh. "Yeah yeah…"
He bid farewell to the Ultimate Fashionista after they got back to the main lobby. Originally there was supposed to be a meeting with the other survivors in the dining hall, but considering the last time he had interacted with them involved a lot of screaming and more than a little bodily harm, it was best that everyone got some time to calm down (himself included). The blonde teenager looked somewhat concerned, but after a short disagreement, she folded and told him that she'd fill him in on whatever happened at the meeting before softly wishing him a good night.
He unlocked the door and stepped through, making sure to lock it shut behind himself afterwards. The room was perfectly pristine, but his mind still conjured an image of scratches and disarray before he shook his head to banish the thoughts. Briefly, the Luckster contemplated leaving the key in the door so he didn't lose it, but changed his mind and left it in the drawer next to the toolkit. Leaving the bat resting against a shelf, he untied his damaged hoodie and folded it neatly, making a mental note to switch to another one in the morning. Yawning as the day finally caught up with him, Naegi stumbled slowly to the bed before pausing and turning to the slightly ajar bathroom door.
Considering the rest of the room was completely spotless despite the carnage that had occurred, it was more than likely that Maizono's body was already long gone. Still, he hesitated. With a quivering hand, he lifted the door knob slightly before twisting it, flinging the door open with far more force than necessary. His brain superimposed the scene he had stumbled upon in the morning, and for a fraction of a moment, he could smell blood in the air before the door came swinging back, crashing into his elbow and jarring him out of his thoughts. Blinking slowly at the pristine room, he slumped. The taste of bile in the back of his throat was acrid and terrible, but he didn't have the heart to stay any longer in that bathroom. Hopefully that bath house on the first floor opened up soon. Eyes trained on where he last saw her, the boy carefully inched backwards before hurriedly closing the door shut with a click.
Naegi sat down on his bed, bringing a trembling hand to cover his face as he sighed, honestly at a loss for words. Slipping his shoes off, the Luckster swung his legs onto the bed before turning on his side, eyes glued to the last trace of his first friend, still stained with her blood. Curling in on himself ever so slightly, he tried not to think about the way the room still smelled like her, something that made his gut twist harder than one of Owada's punches. Exhaustion took hold, gently sapping the strength from his limbs as it got harder and harder to keep his eyelids from sliding shut. His last thought, as he drifted off, was a silent prayer that his sleep would be peaceful and dreamless.
Naegi woke up to a new day not to the booming voice of Monokuma echoing over the speakers in the room, but a sudden adrenaline surge, a scream he choked back before it could escape his throat and the not entirely new feeling of crashing face first into the floor. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back, raising his head slightly before dropping it back onto the ground with an audible thud. Nothing was really worth the effort at this point in the day, much less after what the previous day had done to him.
The intercom crackled to notify him of an incoming Monokuma message/taunt/announcement, but considering he was groggy and stressed out, he elected to ignore whatever was about to happen and closed his eyes. Hopefully he could catch another few winks of sleep before the breakfast meeting. Although considering the somewhat awkward situation of sitting with someone who had beaten him black and blue, maybe it was a better idea to just skip it entirely? Halfheartedly tuning in to Monokuma's message (which was certainly a monumental struggle considering he wasn't even fully awake yet), he managed to hear something about a meeting in the gymnasium before the urge to sleep overtook him once more. Naegi sighed, sliding his arms underneath his head as a makeshift pillow.
He could deal with it later…
…or that was what he had thought, but it seemed like he had barely drifted off when someone began to hammer on his door. Muttering a single curse, Naegi hoped against hope that the person behind it would assume he was somewhere else, but no dice. As the knocking became more frantic and forceful, he absentmindedly recalled that the Ultimate Martial Artist was a classmate, and while she couldn't pry off the industrial grade metal plates bolted to the windows, she could most certainly break down a flimsy wooden door. Defeated, he got to his feet, not bothering to change out of his clothes, much less freshen up, before retying his hoodie around his waist and securing the baseball bat to it. Giving the room a once over, he tugged his key out of the open drawer (he should really close that, if he had fallen off on the wrong side of the bed, it could've easily resulted in a head injury) and quickly unlocked the door.
Swinging it open just after the last in a series of rapid knocks, he came face to face with Ishimaru, who was clearly unprepared for Naegi to answer despite the fact that it was his door that was being knocked on. The Ultimate Moral Compass was about to belt out something but, not in the mood for a spiel from a rule-stickler right then, the Luckster cut him off with a raised hand.
"Let me guess," he deadpanned, eyes still heavy with fatigue, "Monokuma needs all of us in the gym for whatever it is."
"Indeed! I was sent here to get you! We talked about this Naegi-san—"
He brushed past his classmate without a second thought, not exactly feeling a hint of guilt for doing so. It was too early for this. "Yeah, tardiness and all that. I'll make sure to show up on time for things that seem important. Ishimaru sputtered, probably not expecting the normally docile Lucky Student to act like a delinquent, but recovered quickly enough to catch up with him despite the head start. Seemingly getting the hint that Naegi was barely equipped to string words together, much less hold a coherent conversation, the prim and proper teenager remained quiet for the majority of their journey.
Just as they were approaching the entrance to the gym however, Ishimaru cleared his throat in an uncharacteristic display of timidity. And considering he had pretty much woken up at this point, Naegi decided to humour him, stopping in his tracks and turning his head slightly to look the other student in the eye. He waited patiently for the teenager to say something, and was soon enough rewarded with a response.
"You do not need to accept my apology…but I would like to give it nonetheless."
"Oh?" The Luckster tilted his head slightly, concealing his mockery beneath a facade of surprise. "What's there to apologise for?"
Ishimaru shuffled his feet, suddenly unable to look him in the eye. Still, the Moral Compass had enough of a spine to look back up after a short moment of silence. "My accusations were completely unfounded. It was cruel and unjust of me to pin Maizono-san's death on you, especially considering I had not done my due diligence and investigated the issue thoroughly. If you had not revealed the truth…" He looked to the side, shame apparent in his features. "I fear what could've occurred."
The shorter of the two resisted the urge to spurn the apology with a bitter comment, pinning Ishimaru in his place with an impassive stare. He fidgeted, but remained still. Naegi considered him carefully, before sighing. It would be massively hypocritical of the Lucky Student to not offer him a second chance, especially considering the insignificant scale of his deed as compared to Maizono. Huffing, he gave an almost nonchalant shrug.
"No harm done, in the end. And you owned up to your mistakes, so that's better than most, Ishimaru-san." The Ultimate Moral Compass smiled in relief, nodding gratefully before pausing, as if struck by a sudden realisation.
"Ah, yes, I didn't get the chance to ask you earlier, but is your room back to normal?"
"Thankfully."
"Ahahahahaha, naturally! It would certainly be inconvenient to sleep with a corpse in your bathroom!"
…and all traces of goodwill he had ekked out with that apology had been immediately scattered to the wind.
Naegi fell silent, a surge of hatred tracing through his nerves, coursing up his spine and firing every synapse it touched with an icy clarity. His face twisted, very nearly displaying the urge to act on his rapidly darkening feelings before he clamped down on his expression, hard . Without another word, he turned away, crossing the distance to the door in three long strides and pushing the doors open with a harsh shove.
The noise must have alerted the others, because the first thing he met when he stepped through were the gazes of those in the gymnasium. Ignoring them for the time being, he made his way to the front of the crowd, mouth twisting briefly into a grimace when he noticed the black and white bear standing at the front. Monokuma, looking surprisingly curious considering the numerous cameras around the school that he most definitely had access to, grinned unpleasantly at Naegi, who stared back impassively, hoping that the absolute fury running through his veins wasn't as obvious to everyone else as it was to himself.
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Bad dreams, Naegi-kun."
"What do you want?" He heard several muffled gasps from behind him at the clear sign of disrespect to their jailor and tormentor. "A new motive?"
"Oh no, now why would I do something like that right after you got done with your first taste of blood?" Monokuma squirmed in place, as vile as usual. "Maybe when things start to get boring again though~"
There was a strong temptation to bludgeon this Monokuma with his bat, but considering it was likely to blow up in his face (literally), he perished the thought. "In that case, some sort of celebration? A prize for surviving?"
"My my, Naegi-kun~" He hated the way his name rolled off the tongue of the demon in bear's clothing. "I didn't realise you knew what was going on. Are you sure you're not the Ultimate Seer or something?"
That urge was getting much more tempting by the second.
"The point. Now. Or should I start making wild guesses about the nature of this death game you've trapped us in?"
"N-now t-there, there's no need to be hasty!" Was the robot…sweating? Was that even physically possible? "As you might've figured out, with each successful trial, a new layer of the school is unlocked for you! Consider it an incentive! After all, we're just barely scratching the surface of the mysteries of this school! Make sure to check out what's new~" Monokuma tried to make a cute expression, but it only made Naegi even more disgusted. The Principal held his pose for a couple seconds, before dropping it completely.
"Remember to enjoy the brave new Post-Trial world as much as you can! In fact, maybe you'll figure out that this place is far better than the outside world." On that ominous note, the bear waddled behind the podium, done with whatever information he was here to give.
Naegi sighed, shaking his head slightly at the antics of their Principal. It was far too easy to forget that they were stuck in here, waiting out each day for someone to finally save them…or for another murder to occur. Lips twisting into a brief snarl, he made sure to smooth out his expression by the time he turned around. Surprisingly, no one else had said a word. Perhaps it was Monokuma's announcement, or the fact that Naegi himself was present. Nonetheless, he walked past them without a single acknowledgement, only pausing when someone called out.
"Naegi-kun…" Asahina looked completely at a loss for what to do, but managed to get her thoughts out before he just left the room. "...is that Maizono-chan's ribbon?" As if on cue, those who had been distracted zeroed in on his form, tracing his body before locking onto the pink fabric trailing from his wrist. He flicked it slightly, somewhat amused by the way their eyes tracked the motion, before nodding. The Ultimate Swimmer swallowed, a flash of something like revulsion crossing her face before she opened her mouth once more, probably with a condemnation that she wasn't able to get out before he shut her up.
"Whatever you're about to say, don't bother." Her jaws clicked shut with an audible snap, and the normally bubbly girl stepped back with an emotion akin to fear in her eyes. His gut twisted, but that wasn't exactly important right now. "I'm injured, I'm tired, and all I want to do now is check if the infirmary is open so I can patch myself up. So if you'll excuse me—" He made a slight gesture with his injured arm. "—I'm going to go now."
She nodded slowly, still looking at him like he was a fox she had found in a bear trap, ready to chew off its own foot to escape. Taking a sweeping glance, she wasn't exactly the only one. Naegi smiled, eyes glinting with something cold and furious when no one protested his decision.
"Good." He stalked off, ribbon fluttering with each movement and newly acquired ring glinting in the light. The sensation of stares boring into his skin was beginning to become unpleasant, but he thought nothing of it.
It was probably something he had to get used to soon, after all.