"How's everything going, Hajime?" Hilda asked while eating a bag of potato chips.
"I've been checking up on Natsumi. She's been...oddly quiet today." Hajime explained, sitting with her, Izuku, and Chiaki.
"Ever since me and Hajime talked to her the other day, she's been more...subdued," Izuku added. "I've had Ben and Penny keep an eye on her."
Chiaki was playing through Wario Land 4 on her Gameboy Advance when she noticed Sato walking by, a nervous look on her face. The Ultimate Gamer didn't know what was up with her but maybe she'd ask Mahiru about it later.
Speaking of the devil, Mahiru herself came by not a moment later.
"Hey guys, I heard about what happened with Natsumi the other day. I'm actually really surprised you got her to listen to you."
"Midoriya and I just told her that acting this way wasn't going to get her anywhere and she needed to cut it out, otherwise she was going to get herself kicked out of school." Hajime clarified. "Honestly, I think she listened to us. She is way too proud to apologize, but I don't think she will be causing any more problems for you."
"Geez… this is kinda hard to believe. It's about time someone talked some sense into her… umm… thanks for doing that." Mahiru smiled gratefully. "This has really been weighing on me. Oh, and Sato too. In fact, you should tell her what you told me. She's been stressing out over it and I'm worried about her."
"Oh yeah. I just saw her. She should still be in the building. We can go talk to her together." Chiaki said. "She looked really nervous about something."
Hajime couldn't explain it but he suddenly felt the hairs on his neck were sticking up. All of his intuition was telling him that something really bad was about to happen.
As if to confirm Hajime's fears, Izuku suddenly got a call on his phone and answered. He couldn't even get two words in before his eyes widened at what he heard.
"Everyone! We need to get to the music room, stat!"
Natsumi stood in the music room, with crossed arms. She tapped her foot impatiently, staving off the jitters that were fluttering through her body. For some reason, her hand wouldn't stop shaking. She clenched it tightly to keep it still.
Soon, Sato entered the room, her eyes narrowed as if she was anticipating Natsumi planning to attack her or something. The younger Kuzuryuu sibling just huffed, trying to keep a tough face.
"You actually came. After what happened yesterday you'd have to be either brave or stupid."
"I only came because I wanted to end things between us once and for all," Sato said angrily. "Don't ever come near me or Mahiru again."
"Wait, Honami!" Natsumi fidgeted, looking off to the side. "I just wanted you to know that you don't have to worry about Mahiru anymore."
Sato narrowed her eyes. "What exactly are you saying?"
"Mahiru won't be any kind of threat or competition to me anymore," Natsumi answered, still looking at something else. "I'm going to personally make sure of it."
Everything seemed to become deafening for Sato, her eyes widening as many ugly thoughts entered her head about what Natsumi could possibly mean.
"What is that bitch saying? Is she going to hurt Mahiru? Or maybe even kill her?!"
"And so I called you here to-" Natsumi stopped as she felt Sato's hands close around her neck. She hadn't even noticed her move. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
"I'm putting an end to you! So you can't hurt us ever again!" Sato screamed, tightening her grip.
"Wait, you don't understand!" Natsumi cried out, panicked.
"You can't lay a finger on Mahiru ever again!"
"Woah, wait. What the fuck?! What the hell are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Natsumi cried, trying to pry Sato's hands off her.
"What happened to that cocky attitude of yours?! You look scared, Natsumi. Are you just now getting a taste of what fear and powerlessness feel like?! It's not so sweet is it?!" Sato snarled out.
The two struggled, Natsumi trying to push Sato off of her. The two ended up stumbling into a nearby fish tank, spilling fish, rocks, and water all over the floor. Natsumi scrambled to crawl away, though she ended up slipping around on the slick floor.
"Help! Someone help me! She's trying to kill me!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, as tears welled up in her eyes.
Sato regained her bearings, still running on a panicked high herself. Nothing else mattered to her right now, she needed to protect her friend from this bitch before she killed her.
"Sato, listen! Whatever you think I was planning on doing, I'm not gonna hurt Mahiru!" Natsumi pleaded as Sato picked up a particularly large rock in her hand, intent to bash her head in. "Fucking shit, Sato! Please don't do this! I don't wanna die! We were friends, remember!?"
"Shut the fuck up, Natsumi! Don't give me that crap! You were never a friend. You're just a vile evil, piece of shit. And I'm going to put a stop to you! Forever!" Sato screeched, but as she did, Natsumi grabbed a stool and threw it at her. In the moments it took Sato to guard from the incoming object, Natsumi was able to slip away and make a break for the door. She grabbed the handle frantically.
"Fuck! Open, open!" She screamed in her mind. Her thoughts were interrupted as Sato caught up to her and swung for her head. Somehow Natsumi instinctively ducked and caused the rock to shatter the glass window of the door.
Sato winced as some glass dug into her hand, giving Natsumi the opportunity to elbow her in the ribs. Natsumi took the chance to lean forward toward the broken window and scream the loudest she could.
"HELP! SATO'S GONE-!"
Sato quickly clamped her hand over Natsumi's mouth, muffling her voice before wrapping her other arm over Natsumi's neck in a lock and squeezing tightly, choking her. Natsumi's eyes widened as her windpipe was constricted. Sato's tight grip began to cut off the blood supply to her brain. She choked and sputtered as she struggled against her attacker. She made desperate gurgling noises, her hands flailing around. Her attempts to pull free herself from Sato's grasp failed miserably. Her face was beet red and her tears streamed down her cheeks. Her struggles gradually weakened, however. The lack of blood flow made her head increasingly light and dizzy.
Finally, Natsumi's hands fell to her sides and she lost consciousness. Sato loosened her grasp and her victim collapsed to the floor, banging her head on the floor. Sato took a few deep shuddering breaths to process what she had just done, looking at her hands and pondering if she had just killed another living being before hearing Natsumi's raspy breaths, indicating she was still alive.
"There is no going back now...This is for Mahiru."
Sato looked around for anything she could use, eventually finding a swimsuit peeking out of Natsumi's backpack and plenty of stray rocks from the fish tank on the floor. She quickly moved to gather the rocks into the swimsuit to create a makeshift blunt instrument and rose to her feet, moving in a zombie-like state toward Natsumi's prone body.
Suddenly, before she could raise the weapon to strike down with, water from the fish tank sprang to life and became solid chains that wrapped around her wrists, holding her back as Mipha came in, holding her hands out as Nia and Nimona rushed in as well.
"We came as soon as we heard the sound of glass shattering!" Nia exclaimed. "What the hell is going on?!"
"Don't get in my way! I have to do this!" Sato cried as Nimona transformed into a gorilla and held her in a neck hold.
"No, you don't! You don't have to do this! This is wrong! Think about what you're doing!" Mipha pleaded.
"I have thought about it! I've known her way longer than you have! She's a scumbag who does nothing but hurt the people around her! Get out of my way!" Sato cried. "You're supposed to be some of the greatest Heroes at UA High! Why are you defending this evil bitch?!"
"Because you're just gonna be throwing your life down the toilet if you do this!" Nia snapped.
"I HAVE TO PROTECT MAHIRU!" Sato screamed before grabbing Nimona, making her groan as she suddenly turned back to her normal form.
"Whoa...what the heck...?"
Sato had used her Quirk, [Power Predator], which allowed her to drain energy from people she touched to weaken them and empower herself. As Nimona let her go, Sato used her newfound strength to break the water chains Mipha had restricted her with and lunged with savage fury toward Natsumi's prone body.
Suddenly, a burst of ice wrapped around him, freezing her to the spot as Shoto came in along with Himiko, Katsuki, and Hitoshi. They had also been alerted to what was going on and had rushed in as quickly as they could to see what was happening.
"We heard the commotion and came to see what was going on. Imagine our surprise to see our classmates trying to stop a student of the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy from attempting to assault another." Shoto calmly said.
"Stop defending her, you fucking idiots! " Sato cried out, struggling in the ice. "She has to die! Please, just get out of my way!"
"SATO!"
Mahiru had also run in, followed by Izuku, Hajime, Chiaki, Hilda, Ben, and Penny. Nia had already alerted everyone on her phone and they had come as quick as a flash to the scene before them.
Just like that, all of Sato's willpower died out as tears began spilling down her face, breaking down into sobs as Mahiru ran over to embrace her while Hajime moved to check on Natsumi.
"Thank god we got here...that could have been a disaster." Katsuki muttered as he helped Nimona to her feet.
Peko slammed her fist into the wall hard enough to draw blood. Natsumi had been rushed to the hospital while the police had detained Sato and took her in for questioning.
"Peko, I'm upset too but we need to be there for Natsumi when she wakes up." Fuyuhiko said.
"I should have been there to protect her..."
Fuyuhiko sighed. "I told you before, I only want you to be a normal high school girl while we're here. That's not an order, it's a request. We grew up together, and I've come to care for you a great deal in that time. To me, you're more than just a bodyguard or hitman."
"It touches my heart to see hope blossom between you two. And we must surely give our thanks to our dear friends from UA High." Nagito said as he came over. "If it weren't for them, Natsumi's death would have rocked you with despair."
"Fuyuhiko, I'm so sorry..." Mahiru apologized, bowing her head. "I should have gone with Sato. Maybe...if I could have just reeled her in..."
"There's no way you could have known, Mahiru. It's not your fault." Fuyuhiko said. "That friend of yours was on edge and my stupid sister just had to push her buttons one too many times."
"But why did Natsumi want to see Sato in the first place?" Sonia asked worriedly.
"Moreover, why did she want to meet her in the music room of all places?" Kazuichi added curiously.
"Natsumi had recently taken up piano playing..." Peko spoke up. "Perhaps...Natsumi wanted to tell Sato that she was going to try her hand at becoming a pianist, become an Ultimate Student with her own merits instead of trying to threaten Mahiru."
"Are you sure that's possible?" Hiyoko inquired.
Peko crossed her arms, her expression pensive. "Perhaps. No one can ever say for sure what Natsumi might have been thinking."
"Right now, Izuku and Hajime are confronting Sato," Chisa said. "I can only hope that things can be resolved peacefully."
"I doubt that Sensei..." Fuyuhiko said bitterly. "My family isn't going to take this lying down."
"Sato, you do realize you committed a serious crime against the Kuzuryuu Family, right?" Hajime pointed out gently as he and Izuku visited the girl in her holding cell. "You tried to murder the daughter of the Oyabun, do you have any idea the gravity of your actions?"
"She... She was planning to do something something terrible to Mahiru! I couldn't let her go through with it!" Sato argued.
Izuku had checked the messages from Class 77-B and frowned before turning to her.
"I got a message from Natsumi's brother, Fuyuhiko. He told me that Natsumi had recently taken up piano playing."
Sato's eyes widened as Hajime seemed to piece together what Izuku was getting at.
"So the whole reason she brought you to music room was..."
Izuku nodded. "Considering what Sato claims Natsumi said, I think the meeting was for a different reason. I think she wanted to tell her that she wasn't going after Mahiru and was going to become a pianist. That's the only reason Natsumi would want to meet in that specific room."
"You can't know that!" Sato cried out. "You can't say for sure what Natsumi might have been thinking!"
"Trust me, I know her," Hajime said. "I talked with her after that fight you two had the other day. She wasn't going to go through with it anymore. You attacked her for literally no reason."
Sato let out a choked cry, sinking onto her knees. "...You idiot. You should have just said what you wanted in the first place…"
Izuku and Hajime shook their heads sadly, standing up and leaving Sato as she brokenly wept over her mistake and how she couldn't take it back.
"Are you feeling better, Natsumi?" Mikan asked as she and Mipha tended to the younger Kuzuryuu Sibling.
The girl's eyes were puffy and red. It was clear she had been crying a lot. Chiaki was also there, waiting for Hajime and Izuku to get back.
"Well, go ahead… Lay into me. Tell me what a fucking idiot I am," She managed to get out, holding back her tears of impotence and shame.
"Well, actually we're just asking if you were alright, but-" Mipha was interrupted by a sobbing yell from Natsumi.
"Shut up! Just shut up!" she screamed, as tears began to streak down her cheeks. "Why… why are you still acting all nice?… What the fuck is wrong with you?"
She asked, in an almost whimpering voice, covering her face with her hands, to hide her crying.
"I'm… I'm just a fuck up! That's all I am! This entire thing is all my fault!"
Chiaki sighed. "Yeah, I can't argue with that. This is pretty much all your fault. This all happened because you kept running your mouth and threatening people. You couldn't stop escalating the situation and it almost got you killed."
"You made a mistake and you'll have to live with it, but..." Mipha smiled gently. "That doesn't mean you deserve to die. It doesn't mean you're an evil person. You can still learn from this."
Mahiru had been watching nearby, not exactly trusting herself to talk to Natsumi, lest it make everything worse. However, she had never seen her this dejected and meek. It was as if every ounce of her smug, self-absurdness had just been crushed, leaving her as a broken shell of her former self.
"I just hope...maybe we can ALL move on from this..."
Shanks was later speaking at a press conference concerning the murder.
"Despite what certain members of the school board are suggesting, I do not intend to sugarcoat the situation. One of our students attempted to murder another. Miss Honami Sato was arrested for assault, vandalism, and attempted murder. I wish to reassure the public in regard to this, that both parties were part of the Reserve Course, and that our investigation shows this case is largely due to misunderstandings, misconceptions, and a general hierarchy gap between the Main Course and the Reserve Course. It is our hope going forward that all these problems can be addressed and corrected."
"We will be sure to keep you informed as we make progress." Inko finished for her husband.
Meanwhile, Chisa was with Juuzo Sakakura, the Former Ultimate Boxer.
"It seems clear that the old Steering Committee doesn't want to give up power. The Captain mentioned some of the school board wanting to cover up the incident." Sakakura noted.
Chisa sighed. "And here I thought we wouldn't need to continue our investigation. Is it really going to be okay with just the two of us?"
"Kyosuke is busy with the overseas academy set-up and Old Man Tengan is discussing plans with Nedzu over at UA." Sakakura pointed out.
"Let's just hope things work out..."
Sato was curled up in the corner of her prison cell. She had just gotten a call from her parents to tell her they had disowned her from the family. Because of her assault on Natsumi, the Kuzuryuu had put them into severe debt and they could only express their absolute disgust toward her.
The girl had already cried more than she ever cried before, tear marks staining her face and her eyes red and puffy before a police guard came in.
"Honami Sato? You have a visitor."
Stepping in was one of the former members of Hope's Peak's Steering Committee as well as a mysterious man in a black hooded cloak.
"What do you want?"
"My associates and I require a subject for an important experiment," The Steering Committee member explained, "Unfortunately our primary staging area was taken from us, but luckily we have other resources. I can pull a few strings to have you removed from this cell... Provided you are willing to become our test subject..."
"Yeah, and we're collaborating with a project of our own." The cloaked man said, pulling his hood back to reveal Tomura Shigaraki himself. "What say you help us kill two birds with one stone?"
Sato sighed. "What more do I have to lose at this point? I've lost my friends... I've been disowned by my family... I'm pretty sure the Kuzuryu family wants me dead..."
Tomura smirked. "It looks like we have an agreement then..."
Suddenly Spot came in through one of his spot holes and beckoned for Sato to follow him inside. With nothing left to lose, the broken girl walked into the portal as another spot hole teleported Tomura and the Steering Committee member away as well.
Oh yeah, it's all coming together.
Also, hope you like how I saved Natsumi in this fic! Thank Danganronpa Yakuza Arc for inspiring it!