Makoto woke up in the bed he's had since he was seven, everything seemed normal, extremely normal practically emphatically so like the rest of the world was a bad dream and this was real despite its odd haze. The man got up and brushed his teeth, looking at himself in the mirror he to looked ordinary with his hazel eyes, chestnut hair and short stature of 5'3 but still crowning his classic ahoge on his head, it was all very nice one might say to nice but people who said that where overly paranoid. It was pouring cats and dogs outside but despite that, the sun was still outshining in spite of the rain. He explored the rest of his house which was empty, ghostly empty one might say until Makoto walked down and saw a familiar dog run towards him. It was his childhood dog lucky, he was a good soul though something was off with the dog. His eyes reminded Makoto of how old photographs would sometimes give people red eyes and said dogs have those very eyes as lucky to let out a bark. It was not one of a simple dog but it sounded like a warped and deformed bellow of something from a Lovecraftian tale. Makoto got up and tried to look for the exit of the house, but everything felt very liminal as he walked on and on to what seemed like an eternity there were photos framed on walls and tables, those were normal just simple family photos and childhood memories… but some memories he could have sworn there were no photos off but it didn't bother him too much… What did bother him were blatant photos of bloody memories he would rather forget, fallen friends, blackened deaths, the tragedy… but as soon as he realized the horror and turned to reexamine the photographs they turned back to normal pictures. When he felt he would never find the exit he finally did, this filled him with relief until he opened the door and saw the outside. It was a normal neighborhood of course there was nothing wrong with it besides the fact it was still empty, well besides the birds. There were snow white birds, they gave Makoto a strong glare but it was less frightening if anything Makoto felt calm by it but then he looked down the street and he saw what looked like if minor earthquake damage hit the road as there was a long crack across it and what looked like a fog of shadow as he looked at the sky and saw it to darkened the same way the path did as he looked down and across that side. More coarse, rough, and hostile. The white birds looked away from that direction as if urging him not to go down the path yet he felt as if something or someone was calling to him so he pressed on. He walked outside and walked straight for a while as the path was consumed in what seemed to be a forest that got thicker and thicker it became thin again he saw the sky was black but looking forward he saw what appeared to be a castle or maybe just a mansion but it was big and looming it reminded Makoto of where a final boss in a video game would live, but more distorted like an optical illusion or an M.C. Escher painting as if it were to say "leave all sanity at the door" he felt as if something was calling to him from in there something he had to go to but as he was about to take a step towards the castle he felt a hand on his arm and turned around to see the devil herself.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"Aaaaaahhh yourself! Are you trying to give us a heart attack!?"
Well it was actually Junko but she was basically the devil in Makoto's book

"Wait? Junko? How are you here aren't you in my body?
Wait, where is it here anyway?"

"Are you telling me your brain is so dull and normal that you didn't realize something was wrong?"

"Hey my brain isn't dull!
Wait, my brain?
WE'RE IN MY BRAIN!?"

"OUR brain. And yes! Though our two halves are more smashed into each other like a pathetic car accident it could take some time before they properly cleave together"

"But why am I just now seeing it?"

"Ugh please you probably have seen it before but barely anyone remembers their dreams so I doubt you would take it to mind, pun not intended
But yes welcome to a psychologist wonderland the mindscape where all the things that make you tic come to life, I know about this because unlike you I participate in the act of lucid dreaming, really helps the whole "plan to consume the world in despair thing" I had going on
Though knowing someone who specializes in the science of the brain also helped"

"So what's that?"
Makoto said looking at the castle

"Ah well that's the castle of nunya"

"Nunya?"

"NUNYA BUSINESS!"
Junko said giving Makoto a smack upside the head

"Your side of the world may be simple-minded but I'm a bit more complicated than that
The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma…."

As she said that milk appeared over Makoto's head and spilled all over his hair

"HEY!"

"Hahaha yeah right, but it's not like you'd last 5 minutes in there"

"I lasted over 3 weeks in your stupid killing game"

He said

"Hmmm, you got executed by your former bestie in like the fifth trial"

Junko said

Makoto raised an eyebrow

"Former?"

"You got me now, bestie!"

Junko squicked.

"You're not my bestie!"
Makoto spoke out

"Ouuuu lovers already? How bold makoto!"

Junko shot back

"In your dreams"

"Good Thing we are in a dream then!, cause you know… since we technically have separate bodies in the dream world we can do whatevvvvvver weee wannnnt~"
Junko said pressing her body on makoto before makoto pushed her away with rage

"You aren't anything to me! Maybe in our school years we were friends and we still could have been but you ruined any chance of that ever happening!"

"Oh my dear makoto, the despair that brings me, because you are so much more than that to me."

"Then start acting like it! please! junko... I believe anyone can be a good person if they just tried but the problem is you don't try at all! and I doubt with what you said you did anyone out there will forgive you but even with all that... I still care about you and I still believe you have a chance to be more than what you say you are… so while you're in my body, can we work things out?"

With that makoto tried to offer his hand to signify a truce looking at junko with his classic hopeful eyes

Then junko laughed

"Hahahah! There's my hopeful boy I love to hate and hate to love! Look here I'm playing the long game so you don't have to pee your pants about me forcing you to kill your friends now or anything but don't think this means I'm becoming a big softy cause the power of wooooovveee and rainbows and junk. So you do you and I'll do me and the world will be all the worse for it! That sound good?

"But-"

"That was a rhetorical question we're about to wake up so it doesn't matter anyway"

"Wh-"

And with that I woke up

END OF CHAPTER