Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, let me start by saying I'm really sorry for taking way too long with this chapter. I didn't plan to take long. When I finished the chapter, after Lucky took a look at it, we both decided that it needed a rewrite. So I did, and sent it back to Lucky for him to look at. However, I'm assuming he got some major personal issues he's dealing with, or possibly Internet trouble, cause he hasn't taken a look at it as of yet, and when I'd sent him a few PMs about it, he didn't answer back. I'm not blaming him or anything, just explaining the situation currently.
So, after some time waiting for an answer, I decided to just post this chapter how it is and once Lucky gets the chance to take a look, I'll update the edited version. Again, apologies for taking so long and I hope this chapter is worth the wait.
P.S. I've been thinking about finding another beta-reader/editor for a while, in order to lighten Lucky's load, or be there whenever he's busy with something else. If there's anyone willing to help, and have the time to, we would appreciate it.
P.S.S. Remember the blog I mentioned a few chapters back? Well, I created it. It's called Galactic .com. There, I'm gonna be doing ranking posts, as well as some analysis, possibly the occasional reviews, etc. Three of my posts of the rankings of the Danganronpa 1, 2, & V3 casts, so if you would like to see who I ranked from worst to best, go check it out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Chapter 66: Break Chapter 3 Part 2
"What you saw on that note is true. I am working for the mastermind."
Mukuro's admittance caused Makoto to take a deep breath, before exhaling. He's not surprised. Not at all. After seeing the various reactions Mukuro had, it was clear that she was at least involved with the schemes. In fact, he's happy that Mukuro is telling him the truth, rather than try to lie.
Still, that didn't stop the hurt. The sense of betrayal he felt, similar to what he felt with Sayaka. "How long?" Was his next question.
"Right before I entered Hope's Peak." Mukuro answered, looking away from him. "Around the time I left Fenrir, and got back to Japan."
"Just…. why?"
"Cause I owe them." Was all Mukuro could say. "I owe them a debt that I can never repay."
Another shaky breath left Makoto's lip. "And… why does the mastermind want us dead? Why do they want us to kill each other?" The look in his eyes made it clear that he's desperate for answers. "Why us, of all people?"
Mukuro took a deep breath herself, knowing these questions aren't at all simple to answer. "There's two reasons for that." She started. "The mastermind wants despair to spread all across the world. And not only that, but they want Hope's Peak, the beacon of hope, to be the origin of that despair.
"Bringing any dark secrets to light, bringing the students down to their lowest, having some even join their side…" The soldier listed off. "Whatever they can do to bring despair through Hope's Peak, they'll do it. Having students of Hope's Peak, the young and brightest, kill each other could do just that."
Throughout her explanation, Makoto was getting more and more horrified. His face was ghostly white, eyes filled with terror, and his body shaking.
"As for why Class 78th specifically… I'm not sure." Was the lie that came out of Mukuro's mouth. "Could be just chance. Maybe our class was the easiest to grasp. Probably because they have the most information about you all… thanks to me."
'What am I doing?' The soldier thought to herself. 'Why am I still lying to him? Why am I hiding Junko's involvements?'
Thankfully, Makoto didn't take any notice of that particular inner conflict. "I see… so we're just unlucky." Letting out a shaky breath, he asked the next thing. "Who are they? Who is the mastermind?"
At this, Mukuro clammed up. Despite ousting herself as a spy, despite what the future Junko, and the current one, did and say… she couldn't bring herself to do it. She can't bring herself to betray her sister.
When he saw her being tight lipped again, he frowned. "Mukuro, please, don't be silent now. Who's the one controlling the mastermind?"
Again, silence was his answer. "Are you really still loyal to them?" The lucky student asked, anguish in his voice. "Even after seeing what they did? After seeing them kill you?"
Again, he was met with silence, but this time, the soldier looked away. Confliction and shame was written on her face.
"I… I see." She winced when she saw a flash of hurt on his face, but quickly, it was replaced with resigned understanding. "Look like it's more than just a debt then." A sad smile entered his face. "You don't open up to just anyone, but when you do, you give them your loyalty. That's one of the good things about you."
Taking another deep breath, the luckster stood up from his spot on the bed. "But, if everything you say is true… then you put your loyalty to the wrong person." Makoto faced her with a serious expression. "You know that the mastermind's goal is evil, no matter how you look at it. And you saw what they did to you, saw how they treated that loyalty. They don't deserve it."
His words earned a look of anguish from the soldier. If only it was that simple. If only she could just say that Junko doesn't deserve any loyalty.
"I meant what I said before; you're more than just a soldier that follows orders, that only fights till they die." Makoto continued. "You're a classmate, a sister, a friend; so please, don't stay loyal to that bastard. Not when they merely see you as a tool, that they can easily throw away." With that said, Makoto slowly walked away and head to the door.
However, right as he grabbed the knob, he stopped. "I won't tell the others. Not yet, at least." He promised her. "I'll let you have the chance to tell them yourself, if the future doesn't reveal that. But either way, I'll stand by your side if I have to." With that, he opened the door and left, leaving Mukuro to her thoughts.
And those thoughts weren't pretty. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' She thought repeatedly to the person who expanded her small world. 'BUt I can't. I can't betray her. Not after abandoning her once already.' Despite Junko's betrayal, despite knowing that it's probably the very thing her sister would want from her, she couldn't bring herself to dissolve all loyalty towards her. And she hates herself for it.
(With Chihiro)
After checking on Taka, Chihiro went to the rec room to see if he was in there. When he only saw Sayaka, Leon, and Hifumi, he was prepared to check upstairs again, maybe thinking he wasn't answering his door, when he noticed another door at the far corner of the room. One that doesn't lead to the bathroom.
Curious, he walked over there and opened to look inside. What he was met with was a gym, a fairly large one with various high quality workout equipment. As the programmer looked around, he quickly conclude that Spirit probably created. Whether he did it now, or beforehand, and the class just didn't notice it, he can't say for sure.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the sound of hard punching entered his ears. He saw Mondo, around the middle of the room, punching a punching bag of Monokuma. Even from a distance, he could see the rage emanating off the biker's entire body.
That made the programmer nervous to get near him. But he pushed back that nervousness and slowly walked towards his biker friends.
With each step, the punches got louder and louder, making Chihiro more and more tense. He stopped when he was around six to eight feet away from him, unable to someone the courage to get closer. Thankfully, by the time he got close, Mondo stopped to take a heavy breather.
"You're here to check on me?" Chihiro jolted a little at the fact Mondo addressed, having thought he was too focused on the punching bag to noticed him. Despite his surprise, he nodded. "Huh. Would've thought Makoto would be alongside you, at least."
"H-He's checking on some of the others." The programmer replied back, fidgeting a little. "I figured I could help. And I just wanted to make sure you and Taka is okay."
"How is bro?" Mondo inquired.
"He's pretty frustrated with what's happening." Chihiro replied, looking down sadly. "That he couldn't do anything to stop us from killing or getting killed."
The biker sighed. "That's just like bro to gripe over shit he can't control." He said softly. "He shouldn't blame himself. We made our choices. Some even made up their mind about it." The biker clenched his fist tightly. "And there's no way he could've predicted what that bitch would've done. Who the fuck would think that any of us would kill somebody for money?!"
Chihiro flinched at the angry aura Mondo was emitting. He didn't forget about what happened at chapter two, far from it. It was still very fresh in his mind. But he's not gonna abandon Mondo, not when he promised Makoto that he will help him.
So, steeling himself as much as possible, he spoke up once again. "Um, I understand why you're angry." He started off. "What Celeste did was wrong. And Hifumi shouldn't have easily believed her. But… you can't let that anger get the best of you."
Mondo gritted his teeth at that. "Should I forget what they did then?" He asked in retort. "Forget that fat bastard easily believe that Taka is scum? That the bitch was the one to frame him and set him up to die? Should I forget forget about all of that?!"
"N-No!" Chihiro stuttered out, shaking his head in denial. "You shouldn't forget anything we saw, and will see. But… you should forgive them." His last sentence caused Mondo to freeze. "You… should talk to them, work things out. The murders hasn't happened yet, and-"
"I should… forgive them?" This time, the programmer froze, hearing the sheer venom in the biker's icy tone. "Forgive them for framing my friend? For killing my brother?"
For a moment, Mondo just stood there, unresponsive. Then, right as that moment passed, he punched the floor under him; Forming a loud smash, as well as a large crack. "FUCK THAT!" He yelled in fury. "Fuck forgiveness! Fuck that bitch, and the loyal lapdog following her! She did something that she won't ever take back, for money! For a fucking castle! For a goddamn, empty dream! How the hell are you supposed to forgive shit like that?! I CAN'T EVEN FULLY FORGIVE MYSELF FOR WHAT MY FUTURE SELF HAD DONE!"
He then stopped, taking in deep, angry breaths. His eyes were bloodshot, and veins were popping out around them. When he heard nothing from Chihiro, he slowly turned. What he saw knocked him out of his angry state.
The petite boy was as white as a sheet, his eyes wide with terror. He was on his butt, with his arms propping himself up. The terrified eyes was staring directly at the formerly angry biker.
Guilt was then set into Mondo. He inwardly cursed himself for losing it. He saw the consequences of his anger, saw what it led to, even fucking punch Makoto when lost it, and this is what he does? But he couldn't help it. The thought of his bro death, of the ones that killed him, caused his unbridled fury to come up.
Slowly, he got up, drawing a flinch from Chihiro at the movement. He looked away from his small friend guiltily. "Just… go, Chihiro." He said softly, sounding defeated. "I just need some… time to myself."
At first, the programmer didn't do anything. Then, he slowly got up from the floor, his eyes not leaving Mondo. Before he left, however, he shakily said one more thing. "Forgiving those two… it's not for them." He told him. "It's… for you."
He flinched when the biker turned towards him, but forced himself to press on. "You can't let that anger, for them and for yourself, continue to grow." He said. "You need… to let it go. Or else, you'll be doing what the mastermind wants."
Saying what he wanted, he turned and quickly left. He would've stayed longer, to see Mondo's reaction to his word, but he couldn't stay around him any longer. Flashbacks of chapter two just kept showing up, whenever he sees Mondo's fury. He wished it didn't, he wished he could overcome it, but no matter what he does… he still gets terrified when he saw his friend so angry.
(With Makoto)
After his talk with Mukuro, he spent time in his room, lying on his bed, just… thinking.
He can't imagine why Mukuro would be so loyal to the mastermind. From what she said, and from what they saw of Monokuma, this guy is a bloodthirsty maniac, hellbent on burning down the world around them. How could anyone stay side-by-side with someone like that? Only someone with the same mindset would partner up with them.
And he very much doubt that Mukuro is like that. Call him naive, but while she is a soldier, she isn't someone that enjoys killing. None of her traits even indicates that she's the malicious type.
She's not a coward either. She wouldn't be the Ultimate Soldier if she was. She's probably one of the strongest girls he knew, alongside Sakura and Kyoko.
The only thing he could think of is that debt she mentioned. If it is, it's definitely not just a simple debt. Otherwise, Mukuro wouldn't be so reluctant to reveal the mastermind. So does it have something to do with Fenrir? Or with her and Junko? Perhaps both?
And speaking of Junko… 'I guess that explains why Junko wasn't in the killing game.' The lucky student thought. Most likely Mukuro asked the mastermind to keep Junko out of this. If her sister was in there, he couldn't imagine Mukuro sticking to the killing game. If there's something he's confident in, is that the soldier is devoted to her twin first and foremost.
Despite these thoughts, however, the conclusion he's coming to doesn't feel right. It's like trying to complete a puzzle with the wrong pieces. But if it isn't the debt, what else is there? Why would Mukuro align herself with Monokuma? As the luckster continued thinking, a gnawing feeling entered his stomach, one that was growing ever so slowly…
Thankfully for him, his train of thought stopped when he heard a knock on the door. He looked at the door curiously, jumping off the bed and walking over, thinking about who could it be. Is Sayaka or Leon checking up on him? Maybe Mukuro wanted to tell him something else?
But it wasn't any of those guesses. When he opened the door, he was face to face with Taeko, who not only had her pigtails unclipped from her hair, but is also wearing a black nightgown.
The sight of the nightgown surprised the luckster. 'How long have been just thinking?'
"Do you mind if I come in?" Taeko asked, her accent absent from her voice.
"Um, sure. I don't mind." Makoto moved to the side and let the gambler come in his room. "Is there something wrong? Do you need to talk about something?"
"I just… want to talk." Taeko sighed, taking a seat on Makoto's bed. Hesitantly, the luckster went over and sat beside her.
For a moment, there was just silence between the two. Taeko had a morose look on her face, while Makoto was nervous yet curious, wondering what she wanted to say. "You're right." Was the first thing she said. "About wanting control, wanting that sense of safety, my whole motivation…"
"I mean, who wouldn't want control when you're put in a situation like that?" She asked rhetorically. "Knowing that people would follow meant that I could sleep soundly at night. I didn't have to worry about anything. Is it really so much to ask for a sense of safety?"
It took Makoto a moment to realize that Taeko was coming back to their previous conversation. Despite the realization, he stayed silent, not wanting to disturb her train of thought.
"Its… its hard, Makoto." Taeko whispered in admittance, her voice low. "When you, who were so used to having everything under control, so used to being able to read the situation at any given moment, suddenly put into a scenario where you don't know anything anymore. When everyone just keeps doing their own thing. It felt like I was blind and deaf, and I didn't know what to do."
"No one's blaming you for that, Taeko." Makoto said, sympathizing with her. "We all felt the same."
"But it's different for me, ok?" The gambler retorted. "I can't say for sure how exactly I felt in there, but I can imagine that I was constantly thinking that I could become the next victim. People would do anything when they're desperate, and the money... when I saw the money, I couldn't help myself. I had to do something."
Once again, Makoto fell silent, to which Taeko continued on.
"I'm not fond with what my future self did. But I definitely understand why she did it." She sighed. "Even as I watched her, I felt more relieved that I had some control of the situation. The lies, the manipulation, the false accusations… all of it probably gave some sense of control. Something I desperately needed. Being in the dark, not knowing what could happen next… that was something I didn't want to put up with anymore. And everything was going perfectly. I had that control… at least until Hifumi coughed up my name. Then it all went wrong."
"Shit hit the fan and everything from there went south. All because I wanted some form of control. Even up to my execution." Taeko finished bitterly.
"Y-You're execution?"
"Yeah. After the trial was over, future me probably knew that things would be it for me." Taeko reasoned. "So I did the one thing I could, to at least be comfortable. Slipped back into being Celeste, and accepted my fate, burning at the stake. But even then, the fucking bear to ruin even that by throwing a firetruck at me!"
"I.. I think I understand what you're getting at..." Makoto said, not needing an explanation to an execution.
"Yeah. Just when you thought things were ending one way, he decides to give me a fuck you on the way out." She mumbled out angrily, landing on the bed with a huff. "That's all I wanted to tell you. I just needed all that off my chest."
"O-Oh. Glad I could help, I guess." Makoto responded, not sure if that helped or not. "But are you su-"
"I am." Taeko turned her head to give Makoto a fake smile. Her Celestia Ludenberg persona was placed back on. "No need to worry so much anymore."
Again, Makoto could see through that fake smile. But he can tell that Taeko, or rather Celeste now, probably isn't gonna budge, so he didn't call it out. He just hoped the gambler will be able to move past this.
He hopes everyone can move past all this.
(Morning)
Almost no one was able to get a good night's rest. Whether it's trying to figure out the mystery around Danganronpa, or just anxiety eating them from the inside, no one could sleep. Because of that, it took awhile for everyone to come downstairs for the next chapter.
The first students to come were Makoto, Sayaka, Leon, Taka, and Kyoko, with the first four looking weary or nervous. Chihiro, Sakura, and Hina came down soon after, with the martial artist being the only one with any sort of composure.
The eight were silent as they wait for the others. It was an uncomfortable silence, one that had the Ultimates squirming uncomfortably in their seats, and moving their eyes around the area.
Finally, unable to take it anymore, Leon spoke up, "Hey girls, I was wondering," He began, drawing the group's attention. "What was the punishment you made for Makoto? I was too busy nursing my bruises to hear anything."
For a moment, a few owlish looks was his answer, before Makoto blushed while Sayaka giggled. Hina also let out a giggle while Kyoko smirked a little. "We were planning to make him our maid." The idol blinked.
Now Leon was the one blinking owlishly. A few seconds later, he burst out laughing. "No way! Seriously?"
"Yep. And he would either have to wear a regular maid costume, or my pop idol outfit." Sayaka continued as Makoto's face got redder.
That got Leon to laugh even harder. "Blackmail material, right there!" After calming himself down, he asked, "So you plan on doing it now?"
At this, the smile on Sayaka face fell and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Or at least I think we shouldn't" She said. "It wouldn't be appropriate, considering everything we've seen."
"But it could relieve some tension." Makoto spoke up in surprising support of the idea. "I'm willing to do it, just so the air won't be so tense."
That brought a small smile back on Sayaka's face. "That sweet of you Makoto, really." She told him. "But I think you suffered more than enough punishment."
"I would have to agree with Sayaka." Kyoko voiced her own opinion. "Your future was put through the ringer quite a few times; one of those times being from me."
"Same here." Hina spoke up. "I mean, you got punched by Mondo just because you were trying to calm him down. I would feel guilty if I put you through another punishment."
Makoto rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what to say or feel about it. Though a small part is relieved that he didn't have to be in a skirt. "Th-Thanks." He decided to say.
Before anything else could be said, another person came down the stairs. That person was none other than Celeste, dressed in her gothic lolita outfit as per usual.
The slightly warm air went cold and tense as the eight regarded the gambler. Leon and Chihiro turned away uncomfortably, Kyoko, Taka and Sakura regarded her with caution or stoicism, and Hina and Sayaka just gave her slight glares.
Only Makoto was able to treat her with any sort of friendliness. "Hey Celeste," He greeted, trying to ignore the tension between everyone. "Had a good sleep?"
"I slept fine, thank you." The gambler then sat back into her recliner, stiff as a board. Again, the room was filled with tense and awkward silence.
Hifumi came next, and when he did, his and Celeste's eyes met for a moment. Quickly, they both turned away, both of them uncomfortable, though the gambler hid any awkwardness. Then the fanfic creator turned towards Taka, gazing at him briefly, before quickly getting back into his seat.
Makoto grimaced at the thin air around the room. From the looks of it, Hifumi hasn't talked to Taka or Celeste yet, and like he suspected, Celeste isn't completely okay yet. The others are either awkward, stiff, or hostile towards the gambler.
Speaking of those hostile to her, Mondo was the next to come down, looking pretty grumpy. When he saw Celeste, his already irritant look got even worse. However, he didn't say anything to her, and merely passed by her quickly before sitting down with Taka and Chihiro. The latter flinched when Mondo got near, but stopped himself from moving away.
Hiro and Toko was the next to come down. When they glanced at Sakura and Hina's couch nervously, the latter responded with a fierce glare. That brought a flinch from both and they quickly went to their seats. Right after, Mukuro came down, and went to her own recliner. When she glanced at Makoto, the lucky student responded with a small smile back.
Byakuya was the second to last to come down. Many eyed him with same awkwardness, stoicism, or aggravation as they did with Celeste, but he ignored them and sat down. Finally, Junko was the last to come down, looking like the only one who had a decent amount of sleep.
"Well, this looks awkward." Was the blunt of comment of the Ultimate Fashionista. "Everyone looks like a bomb is about to go off any minuted."
"Th-That an understatement." Toko grumbled bitterly. "You're lucky that your future s-self isn't in this k-killing game."
"Yeah, I guess I am." Junko then got onto her usual recliner next to Mukuro. "So, ready to start the next chapter?"
"Before we do, there's a few questions I want to ask…" Kyoko spoke up, turning her attention to their host.
In response, he shrugged. "Sure, ask away. No guarantee I'll fully answer them all."
"How many chapters do we have left?"
"Counting this one? Three more." Spirit answered. "Plus an epilogue."
That caused blood to run cold among the students. "B-But, there's only seven of us left." Chihiro pointed out fearfully. "Even if it's just one person, and one blackened for each chapter… at the end of it, there will only be one person left."
"Are… are all of us really gonna get killed?" Hina questioned, shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Are we going to keep killing each other until only one of us is left?"
The thought terrified the group, especially those who are left. Even Byakuya felt himself tense at the thought.
Kyoko, however, kept her feelings hidden easily. "And are you sure this watching will give us enough information on the future?"
"Plenty." Was the immediate answer of their host. "I'm not gonna go into specifics. But these chapters will give you more than enough to work with to prevent this future."
"I see." Kyoko inclined her head gratefully at this. "Then let's continue."
"Wait! Are we really gonna continue this?" Hiro cried out, holding his head. "We just heard that only one of us will survive! The rest of us will be murdered or executed! I don't wanna see myself die!"
"If we don't, then that very thing will happen fool." Byakuya retorted sharply. "You will have to live out that very scenario!"
"W-We know, but…" Chihiro clenched his knees tightly, a very conflicted look on his face. "Do we have to watch nearly all of us die? See us kill each other until only one of us is left?"
"The other option is our death." Sakura said quietly. "We may have gain some information, but not enough to defend ourselves from whatever the future may hold. We need to know all that we can, to keep the very thing from happening."
Everyone was quiet at that. None of them could find an argument to that, as they all know that what she said is true. Still, there were looks on several faces that says that they would rather not go through anymore of this.
This time, Makoto felt the need to speak up. "We can't give up now." He began, drawing the group's attention. "I know this is scary. Watching what our future selves do, seeing us being brought to our lowest points, seeing our own deaths… it just scary to even think about."
"And it's hard to hold on to the hope that things will get better for the survivors. That we'll get the information needed to stop all this from happening, and especially the hope that no one else would kill or be killed." Taking a deep breath, the luckster continued. "But just because we have three chapters left, doesn't mean death is gonna be the end result!"
"Can we really go through this with that naive viewpoint, Makoto?" Byakuya questioned, ignoring any glares given to him. "The first three chapters ended with a murder, trial, and execution. What makes you think this won't end the same way, especially with Sakura's questioned loyalty?"
"You think Sakura is a traitor too?!" Hina glared at the heir fiercely.
But he was unperturbed. "What I'm saying is that we've seen classmates, even the seemingly loyal ones, turn on each other." He said crisply.
"I agree, Byakuya. The last three trials did ended that way." Makoto reluctantly conceded. "And it's a likely chance that the others will as well. Still… I want to believe that the remainder of our future selves learned from others' mistakes."
"I know I would never kill anybody, no matter what is presented to me." The more he speaks, the more passion that was put to his voice. "Kyoko wouldn't either. Hina is one of the kindest people in our class, and despite what any of us think about Hiro, we all know he isn't the malicious type. Toko faints at the site of one drop of blood, while Jack only kills cute males. Sakura openly resisted the mastermind, despite aligning with him at the start! And Byakuya… while your future self openly supported the killing game, I know you're smart enough not to kill anyone. You would be the first to be suspected out of all of us at this point!
"So I believe, at this point, it's only getting harder and harder for the mastermind to get us killing each other!" The luckster concluded his reasoning. "But at the chance it does happen… that should only give us the incentive to stop this future; to stop the mastermind before they can even create their plan; to stop this killing game from ever happening!"
By the end of his speech, many of the students felt somewhat rejuvenated. They weren't as high spirited as they were in the beginning, but their eyes and faces held glints of determination to get through this.
At the same time, the group were once again amazed at their lucky student's never ending amount of optimism. They all can't help but wonder, how could anyone be this optimistic? Still have so much courage to move forward, despite what they saw? Be this… hopeful?
Junko is wondering the same thing. And once again, she was reminded of how dangerous Makoto is looking to be her plans of despair. 'No one can be filled with that much disgusting hope.' The fashionista thought to herself. 'Let see how long you can hold on to it… just a few pushes should lead you to the path of despair.'
As Makoto relaxed back into the couch, Kyoko gave a small, proud smile. 'That optimism of his never ceases to amaze me. Still though…' She gazed around the room, to see while everyone looks ready to continue, there was still some tension or nervous looks. 'I don't his speech manage to get rid of all the tension. There's still a lot of unspoken words between several of us.'
"So, are you all ready now?" Spirit asked them all. When he got nods all around the room, he played the TV. "Alright, then. Here is chapter four."
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Next up, we're finally gonna be starting the fourth chapter. And the next chapter will definitely come soon. Been working on it while I was waiting for Lucky, and I'm almost done, so you don't have to worry about a month or two month long wait. If that ends up happening for whatever, then I apologize in advance. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.
