A/N -

Bit of a shorter chapter today! This chapter was initially much beefier, but - it was riiiight up at my max per-chapter word count of 2000 words.

Okay, I know that's not a lot, but I write for one person: Me, and my AuDHD riddled brain. It's why I use such frequent line breaks and small paragraphs.

However, I do hope it's still enjoyable for others. Much love, everyone.

The ragtag group stayed seated in the cafeteria for a few minutes longer - they weren't going a single room over until Akane was full! And, by god, did she have a seemingly bottomless stomach. She ate so much for a multitude of reasons - but primarily? Because of her exercise habits. She regularly burnt off more calories than she could consume!

Anyway, once she'd eaten precisely ten times the amount of everyone else in the office, combined, they all made their way to Yasuhiro's office. The place where he kept his trusty crystal ball set up! N-not because he tried to get customers during business hours - but because it was a special object he had a spiritual bond with. Anyway, his office was a biiiiit tight fitting in four people, especially with one of them in a wheelchair. It was a corner office designed for a maximum of like…two people. Oh well… Just made this awkward situation that little bit worse.

"Monaca, Give me your hands." Yasuhiro requested. As she did - he guided them to either side of the crystal ball. Once she was in place, he sat down in his office chair and exhaled a deeply held breath. Relaxing the entirety of his body in an effort to open his spiritual third eye - which would allow him to see drops of water leaking out the stream of time. He held his hands over Monaca's, creating a sort of circuit - this energy transfer was consequently what caused the image to show up on the crystal ball.

Almost immediately, an image came in loud and clear. Yasuhiro blurted out, "I see… I see you, Monaca! It looks like you're on some sort of beach…"

"Looks like Jabberwock!" Gasped Akane, as she leaned over to get herself a better look. Conversely, Hiroko stood in the corner with her back against the wall. She got a fiiiine view…Of the Gymnast's body, not the ball. She couldn't give less of a fuck about that little cunt's future.

"I can't help but notice that wheelchair, it looks hand-made! Or, at least hand customized. It has a pretty wiiiicked design-" Yasuhiro continued, trying to ignore the obvious elephant in the room.

The image he was getting was so clear, that somehow sound reverberated out of the ball. Due to a mix of not paying perfect attention and it just being kind of muffled, people were only able to make out individual bits and pieces.

"Let you hurt anyone-"

"the Warriors of-"

"Stop you, for once-"

Eventually, the sound cut out - leaving the room with an awkward silence. Yasuhiro spoke up again to try and break it. "It looks like you're about to get into a fight…I see four figures… The first one was the one making the speech, he has- blue, spiky hair. They all look to be young teens at most, but he's speaking like a professional scholar. It's amazing."

Monaca was frozen with a horrified look on her face. She recognized that voice, that face immediately. The Warriors of Hope's sage, Nagisa Shingetsu.

"There looks to be another boy grabbing his arm. He has a surgical mask on his face, light brown hair, and looks to be wearing rags? Like a potato sack ten sizes too big for him…" He said, sighing. "Standing beside them is a red-haired boy, wearing a sports jersey with some sort of pinny over it. Lastly is a girl, with- long, really messy pink hair. All of them are wearing some sort of star badge on their persons, and- man, they all look pissedddd…"

More and more of the color had drained from Monaca's face as Yasuhiro kept speaking. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "The Warriors of Hope." She flatly stated. After she spoke, she lowered her head - and as she did, A shadow fell over her eyes. All of this made her look like a freshly killed corpse. "No, no, this- this isn't right…"

"Monaca?" Squeaked Akane, putting her hand on the little girl's shoulder. Trying to be supportive.

"No, no, no…" Monaca kept repeating, almost like she was begging. As she did, one of her hands tightly gripped the armrest of her wheelchair. "No! There's no way this is real… I watched them die! You're- you're lying! And Liars go to hell!" As she spoke, more and more emotion leaked into her voice. Tears welled into her eyes, as she desperately tried to hold off a breakdown.

"Monaca..." Akane soothingly coo'd, heart full of concern. "It's gonna be alright. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.."

Yasuhiro even tried some diffusion. "Yea, yea- I! Uhhh…It's entirely possible it could have been a dream? Or a hallucination. Not real!" That being the case wasn't…impossible. After all, he was just seeing events that made a big impact on Monaca, so…maybe it's a stress dream?

But, Monaca's emotions were all over the place right now. She had juuuust barely started the grieving process, and now- there was a chance they were still alive? How? The Monokuma Kids were programmed to kill the Warriors if they failed in their tasks. It was Big Sis Junko's idea. Something about making them feel the ultimate despair that comes in those few seconds before death. Monaca just… went along with it. They all went along with Big Sis' will.

Had the kids failed? Was there a bug in their software? Really… She should be delighted! With them alive, there was a chance they could reconcile. But… No, no… she saw them having a fight. They would hate her now, after all the things she's done…Especially if they had a change of heart. She didn't want them to be enemies! They were the only people who were unconditionally her friends…

She didn't understand her emotions. She didn't understand where they were coming from. She wished she could go back to the way she was before, able to completely ignore what her heart was telling her… Why couldn't she do that anymore? Where had that ability gone?

"I wanna go back to my cell now…"