Chapter 1: Part 16

Everyone felt awkward following the reveal of Junko's madness. While most of the group were lucky enough to break away from the mad woman and her brainwashed slave and sister, the others weren't so lucky. Chiaki, Rantaro, and Sakura had the less than pleasurable honor to monitor the three for the next few hours. They all grouped together to get some restraints (luckily there were some zip-ties ready to be used in the storage room), bond each "prisoner's" wrists together, then split off to their own rooms. It wasn't the best security. The lack of actual jail cells to put potential threats in was most definitely intentional. The damn bear couldn't make anything easy for them. All they could do is just lock them up in their rooms and keep an eye on them.

Chiaki shoved Junko into her room. While the gamer was trying her best to seem intimidating and tough, Junko met Chiaki's forceful nature with a sick grin. Chiaki's eye twitched with anger before she shoved the idol onto the bed.

"My, my," Junko giggled as she looked up at the gamer, "were you this forceful with Hajime too?"

"Shut up," Chiaki said simply.

Junko gasped and covered her mouth in a mocking manner. "My goodness. How could you be so mean to an old friend?"

Chiaki narrowed her brows as she glared at Junko. "I'm not in the mood to play games."

"That's a bit dumb to say for an Ultimate Gamer."

"Tell me what you're planning."

Junko raised an eyebrow. "What I'm planning? I kind of already did my plan. Those letters took a lot of time."

"I don't believe you," Chiaki said as she crossed her arms. "You triggered Mikan to revert back into being an Ultimate Despair-"

Junko rolled her eyes. "Look, I was trying to go for the long, seducing to the dark side thing, but the mastermind really put a wrench in that."

"How do we change her back?"

"Change her back?" Junko scoffed at the gamer's question. "The whole idea of turning them into Ultimate Despairs is so that they can't be changed back! Besides, you think I'd tell you if there was a way back."

"There's always a way," Chiaki responded. "The Future Foundation had done it before, and Hajime did it for the rest of the class."

"Then why do you need me to do anything?" Junko decided to lay down on the bed.

"Because I don't have them now."

Junko sat up on the bed and smirked. "Well, like I said, there's no way I can do it…but maybe I can tell you something."

Chiaki raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Maybe I can tell you all of the trigger phrases I came up with."

"How do I know I can trust you to tell me the real ones?"

Junko leapt up to her feet and smiled right in Chiaki's face. "You can't."

Chiaki sighed as she leaned up against the wall and crossed her arms. Junko realized what Chiaki's answer was. She was both thrilled that she got underneath the gamer's skin, but also saddened by the fact Chiaki wouldn't play her games anymore. Junko sat herself down onto the bed and swayed her feet back and forth. Junko would hum as off key as she could just to see how Chiaki would react. But Chiaki stood still, staring at Junko as if she was trying to strangle the fashionista with her mind. Junko came to realize her time with Chiaki would be long and arduous.

Hifumi had bunkered away in his room following the motive announcement. He rocked back and forth, or more so rolled back and forth, on his bed. So much had been revealed to him in such a short time. His family, his sister, they might be dead. Memories of his death came flooding back to him. He had lost everything. He wasn't going to risk it again. He had locked his door and pushed his desk up against it. Better safe than sorry. Better safe than sorry. Better safe than sorry. Better safe than-

A light knock echoed from the door. Hifumi's head perked up. He hopped off the bed and took a step towards it. 'No!' Hifumi thought to himself before slapping his own cheek. 'What have I just been doing?! I can't let anyone in here! No one!'

"Hifumi?" a female voice called out from the other side of the door.

Hifumi's ears then perked up. "Tsumugi?" he called out.

"Y-yeah," Tsumugi responded. "I was wondering if we were still going to do our cosplay project."

"Oh, of course!" Hifumi shouted with glee. He rushed over to the door, pushed the desk out of the way, then finally opened the door. When he opened said door, he noticed that Tsumugi was not wearing her usual garb. She had already gotten into her cosplay of Sailor Mercury. Hifumi would only known it was her because the blue wig she was wearing matched the color of her hair.

"T-Tsumugi?" Hifumi asked.

"Of course!" Tsumugi smiled brightly.

"W-wow," Hifumi gasped. "You look just like Sailor Mercury. The hair, the outfit…You look amazing."

"Why thank you," Tsumugi said with a slight blush. She picked up a backpack she had left on the ground. "May I come in?"

"O-of course," Hifumi said before stepping aside.

Tsumugi smiled at her nerdy friend before stepping into the room. She did glance over at the oddly placed desk by the door, but she simply shrugged it off. She moved over to Hifumi's bed and placed her backpack on it.

"So, I also got my Sailor Venus cosplay and your Tuxedo Mask cosplay," Tsumugi said as opened up her backpack.

Hifumi fidgeted with his hands a bit. "I still don't know if I'll look good."

"Oh, just have some have some confidence in yourself, Hifumi."

Tsumugi pulled out a nice, black suit out along with a white mask and top hat and neatly placed them onto the bed.

"Ok," Tsumugi turned and smiled at Hifumi. "You want to go change now?"

"I-I can go change in my bathroom," Hifumi responded, "but I'll probably take a while."

"That's fine. I'll change into my Sailor Venus cosplay in the meantime."

"Ok," Hifumi said before taking his outfit and heading into his bathroom.

Hifumi was correct in how long it would take for him to change. Trying to find the right angles to place his arms while he put on his shirts and jackets. A suit jacket was no different. In fact, it was more difficult. There was less movability in the sleeves which made putting it on even more difficult. Hifumi was impressed Tsumugi managed to sew an authentic tuxedo jacket. He figured she must have a lot of high-quality material. But once he got into his suit, he felt great. He couldn't explain why, but the suit felt slimming around his gut. And when he finally put on the mask and the top hat on? He felt like a completely different person. He actually took the time to do some poses in the mirror.

He smiled to himself before exiting the bathroom. When he came face to face with Tsumugi, she was in her Sailor Venus cosplay. She looked nothing like herself. She had completely transformed into her character.

"You look incredible," Hifumi said. "Did I make you wait long?"

"A bit," Tsumugi said. "I've gotten so used to changing costumes, I've gotten pretty quick at it."

Hifumi frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You look great in that suit."

"You really think so?"

"Of course! You totally got that Tuxedo Mask aura."

"Oh, well thank you," Hifumi said. "Hey, so…what do you think of all this?"

"The costumes?" Tsumugi raised an eyebrow. "I like to think I have a lot of good material to use-"

"Not that," Hifumi interrupted. "I mean about Junko being the mastermind…about her destroying the world…"

Tsumugi tapped her index finger against her cheek. "It is a lot to take in at once."

"I mean, why did she do all of it? Is it really just because she liked watching us suffer?"

"It seems like it…but I don't know if we should believe everything she says."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, the idea of a high schooler destroying the world is a bit silly."

Hifumi's eyes lit up. "Wait, so you're saying everyone's safe?"

"Maybe, I mean, we still don't really know what happened. But I do like to think positive. So, maybe when we get out of here, everything will be fine."

"Yeah, think positive," Hifumi said softly. "Maybe everything's fine. Maybe my sister is safe and all my work is still safe too."

That was when Hifumi blushed. "M-maybe…Maybe I can show you some of my work when we leave."

Tsumugi tilted her head to the side. "Really? You wouldn't mind if I read your fanfics?"

"I feel like you and I have similar tastes. I'd like to see what you think. I-If you're ok with that."

"Of course I would," Tsumugi smiled. She glanced over at the clock and gasped. "Oh! It's about time I take over on watching Junko."

"Oh, ok," Hifumi said. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Of course!" Tsumugi grabbed her backpack. "Just let me change and I'll get going."

Hifumi nodded as Tsumugi dashed into the bathroom. The moment she shut door behind her, Hifumi took a deep breath. He placed his hand over his chest and noticed how fast it was beating.

'I've never felt this way around a real girl before,' he thought to himself. 'Have I finally moved past 2-D?'

No one would ever really expect much talking from Mukuro and Sakura, but few could probably expect just how quiet it would actually be. With Sakura simply standing in front of the door with her arms crossed and Mukuro sat with her head hung down, the only sounds escaping their lips for the past few hours are some coughs and the regular breathing. Internally, both of the girls had a lot going on. Sakura had been thinking about her family, how her betrayal was meaningless if they were truly dead. She was revealed to hear that Hina and the others had survived the killing game, she had no clue what happened to them afterwards.

Mukuro on the other hand was busy wallowing in her own self-pity. She, like Sakura, was glad to hear that Makoto and the others were ok, but that only reminded her of her guilt. They wouldn't have been at risk if it wasn't for her. She could blame Junko all she wanted, but it didn't change the fact was complacent in her sister's plan. Hell, she couldn't even bring herself to out Junko.

'Junko was right,' Mukuro thought, 'I am pathetic.'

Mukuro finally looked up at Sakura and as expected, the giant girl was staring right at her. Mukuro took a deep breath and decided to speak up.

"You hate me, don't you?" Mukuro asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"Yeah, I imagined you would," Mukuro said before hanging her head back down. "I can't expect you to understand. I barely do. Family was just something I thought I needed to stand behind. If Junko needed something, I swore I'd get it done…and even after she killed me, I just…I couldn't bring myself to betray her."

Mukuro looked back up at Sakura. Again, the muscular girl just stared at her.

"You want to kill me," Mukuro said. "I can't blame you if you do."

Sakura took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not going to kill you. And I do understand you. I know exactly what it's like to do something vile for the sake of your family…I may be the only person here that does understand."

"Maybe," Mukuro nodded lightly.

"You know what I think you should do?" Sakura asked. "Take this second chance to heart."

"You really think I'm worthy of redemption?"

"You volunteered yourself to be put under watch. That's certainly something Junko wouldn't have done."

Mukuro was about to respond, but before she could even open her mouth, Gonta entered the room.

"Hello," Gonta gave friendly smile to Sakura. "It Gonta's turn now."

"Very well," Sakura said to the friendly giant. She stepped away from the wall and uncrossed her arms.

"Does Gonta need to know anything?" Gonta asked.

"No," Sakura answered. "She's been very cooperative, yet quiet. She won't bother you too much."

"Ok! Gonta will guard her well!"

Sakura smiled a bit before exiting the room. While Gonta moved awkwardly into Sakura's position, Mukuro was left to think about what the martial artist told her.

'A second chance, huh?' Mukuro thought to herself. 'Not sure everyone deserves that, Oogami.'

Leon knocked lightly on the Rantaro's door before cracking it open. Leon poked his head inside. "Yo, Rantaro," Leon said. "You still in here?"

"Yeah," Rantaro called out from the other side of his room.

Leon slipped into the room and walked towards the sound of Rantaro's voice. Once Leon approached it, he saw that Mikan was sat on the bed while Rantaro was sat across from her on his desk chair. He was gently caressing her hands as he hung his head down.

Leon scratched the back of his. "Uh, am I interrupting something or…"

Rantaro let go of Mikan's hands and lifted his head up. "No," Rantaro said. The lime haired boy stood and placed his hand on Mikan's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't stop her, Mikan," he said softly to the nurse.

Mikan huffed and shook herself away from Rantaro. "I don't need any of your lies," she hissed. "You just want to keep me from my beloved."

Leon's skin went pale. 'Shit,' he thought. 'She really did go crazy.'

Rantaro walked away from the nurse and approached Leon. "She should be fine," Rantaro said. "Just don't mention…you know who."

"Um, sure," Leon said.

Rantaro patted Leon on the back before exiting the room.

Leon took a deep breath. "Ok," he said. "Just don't mention Junko."

Mikan's eyes immediately lit up and she leapt up to her feet. "Junko?! Where is she?! Where's my beloved?!"

A bead of sweat dropped from Leon's forehead. "Aw crap."

When it was time for the group's designated lunch period came around, everyone was hesitant to leave their rooms. Even Teruteru was hesitant. He was usually in a hurry to begin work into the kitchen, but not that time. Yet, everyone's rumbling stomachs compelled them towards the dining hall. The friendly folks like Kaede, Kaito, and Taka tried their best to greet everyone with smiles, but the moment Junko walked into the room everyone went quiet.

"Aw, what's with all the long faces?" Junko asked in a mocking tone.

"C-can you try not to make everyone even angrier at you?" Tsumugi asked as she led the fashion model to her chair.

"Cut me some slack," Junko responded. "I'm just trying to cut the tension, you know? Everyone's so quiet."

"And we recommend you be quiet as well," Byakuya ordered.

"I won't be silenced!" Junko shouted. "I have my writes!"

Taka slammed his hands onto the table. "We won't give rights to a terrorist!"

"Now that's cruel," Junko pouted.

Just then, Leon entered the room with Mikan. He had just swapped guard duty with Rantaro. While everyone could understand the idea of taking precautions when watching after a brainwashed Mikan, but no one expected what he did.

Leon had tied up her legs, her hands, and covered her mouth in duct tape all the while dragging her around with a long rope. Leon seemed completely causal about the site. He simply waved to everyone and sat down.

"Sup, guys?" Leon said.

Mondo gave Leon a blank stare. "Kuwata, what the hell did you do?"

"What?" Leon threw his hands up in defense. "She was freaking me out!"

"Don't you think it's a bit weird to forcible bond a girl up?" Mahiru asked.

"She's a prisoner, ain't she?" Leon asked.

"I told you she'd be fine, Leon," Rantaro said. "The handcuffs were enough…You mentioned Junko, didn't you?"

Sayaka sighed as she began to tone everyone else. 'I can't take much more of this,' she thought to herself. 'Sitting next to Leon is one thing, but Junko…'

Sayaka glanced over at Junko. Just looking at her made Sayaka grind her teeth. She dug her fingernails into the table and scraped tiny bits of wood out. As if Junko could sense her anger, the fashion model shifted her gaze over to Sayaka and locked eyes with her. Junko took one look at the steaming pop idol and flashed a shit-eating grin at her.

'That's it!' Sayaka thought. She looked over to her side to see Tenko was in middle of chewing out Leon for daring to lay a finger on Mikan. Sayaka tugged lightly on her shirt and Tenko immediately spun around to face her friend.

"Yes, Sayaka?" Tenko asked.

"I'm going to make myself a sandwich," Sayaka said. "Do you want anything?"

"Oh, I'm fine right now," Tenko said with a smile. "Thank you though."

Sayaka nodded and rose from her seat. She made sure not to make eye contact with anyone as she walked towards the kitchen. Once she made it to the kitchen, she noticed that Teruteru had begun work on cooking everyone's food, yet he was sluggish and had a look of frustration on his face.

"Teruteru?" Sayaka spoke up. "Are you ok?"

Teruteru snapped his attention over to Sayaka and once the pop idol was in his sights, he threw up his "suave" persona and smirked at her.

"Why, hello there, beautiful," Teruteru said as he leaned back towards his grill.

"Um, careful," Sayaka said.

Just as she said that Teruteru stopped himself from placing his hand down on the sizzling grill. The chef let out a sigh of relief and winked at Sayaka.

"Thanks for watching my back there," Teruteru said. "I'd be happy to watch yours anytime."

Sayaka let some air out through her nose.

"So, what can I do you for- I mean, do for you?" he asked.

"I was just wondering if you were feeling ok," Sayaka said. "I mean, you looked less…cheerful."

"Oh, it's just…Nah, you wouldn't want to hear about it." Teruteru turned back around to continue working on everyone's meals.

Sayaka frowned a bit. She'd press him more if she didn't have something to do. She turned her attention back to searching.

'A knife,' Sayaka thought. 'There's got to be a knife…'

She stopped in her tracks when she found the knife block, but something peculiar caught her attention. While the knife block had plenty of knife handles protruding out, there were two empty slots where knives should be. Sayaka glanced over at Teruteru who was cutting away at some onions and peppers with a knife.

'Ok, so then where's the other one?' Sayaka thought.

She shook her head. 'That doesn't matter. I can just take another one.'

Sayaka stepped over to the knife block and grabbed a hold of one of the knives. Yet, she paused. A feeling of déjà vu flooded over her. Sayaka could feel water form in her eyes.

'What am I doing?' she thought.

She loosened her grip on the handle before letting her hand drop away from it entirely. Sayaka took a few steps away from the knife block before glancing over at Teruteru. Turns out, Teruteru had been looking over his shoulder and watching Sayaka. Once she caught him, he shifted his attention back to his grill.

Sayaka frowned before exiting the kitchen and returning to her seat. She noticed that they had removed most of Mikan's restraints but kept the tape over her mouth.

"You really should learn how to treat girls better," Rantaro said as he helped Mikan out of her leg restraints. "Don't you have any sisters, Kuwata?"

"I have a girl cousin and…you know what, shut up!" Leon shouted. "I was just trying to help! I'm pretty sure I'm in the right here!"

Sayaka toned out the rest of the conversation. She looked down at her hands. They were shaking.

'Why?' she thought. 'I know Junko needs to die. She deserves it. She took everything from me. From all of us…Yet why can't I do it?'

"Sayaka?"

Sayaka's train of thought was cut off when Tenko tugged on her sleeve. "Huh?"

"You didn't get your sandwich?" Tenko asked.

Sayaka tilted her head to the side before it clicked with her. "Oh, right. Yeah, no. Turns out I actually wasn't that hungry."

"Oh, ok. Well, if you do get hungry, I can get you something."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine."

Tenko nodded before turning back to the rest of the conversation. Sayaka's chipper demeanor shifted. She could feel sweat trailing down the side of her face as her eyes scanned across all of her colleagues.

'One of them took the knife,' she thought. 'Should I tell everyone?'

Sayaka's eyes stopped once again at Junko.

'No…No, she gets what she deserves.'

Eventually, lunchtime was over and everyone spent the next few hours doing what they have been doing all day, hiding away. Soon enough though, it was time for the guards to swap. Taka swapped out with Tsumugi, Tenko swapped with Gonta, and Kaede swapped with Leon. Taka followed Chiaki and Sakura's styled of guarding by remaining as silent as he possibly could, something Junko tried her best to break. She stomped her dirty shoes on the bed, belched loudly, and even popped a few more buttons to show more cleavage all for the sake of getting a reaction out of Taka. And boy, was she close. Taka so desperately wanted to just lecture her about the rules, but he just barely kept his composure together.

However, never assume Junko could run out of ideas. She smirked at Taka. "Hey, Takakakaka!" she shouted.

Taka just blew air out of his nose.

"You know something I find odd about you?" Junko continued. "Well, all of our class, but mostly you. You're face to face with me, I can answer any question you got, but you haven't asked a thing. Weird, right?"

Taka's curiosity couldn't be hidden as he raised an eyebrow and took a step closer to Junko.

"I mean, aren't you at least a little concerned for your dad?"

That finally broke through Taka's exterior. "What?"

"Your little pop-pop. You want to know if he's still around, don't you?"

"You're…You're lying."

"I'm lying? About what? I'm pretty much the only one that could know what happened."

"Th-there's Mukuro. She could know."

"Pssha! Mukuro doesn't know anything. But maybe you're right. Maybe you shouldn't know."

Taka leapt forward. "No, wait!"

"No, no, no, you're right," Junko said as she held her hand up. "You can't trust me. Whatever I say could be a lie."

"Junko, please tell me!"

Junko's ear perked up. "Oh? Was that a please?"

"Yes, please!"

"Ok. Beg."

Taka paused. "What?"

"Beg me. Get on your hands and knees and beg me to tell you."

Taka was stunned for a moment. He would glance down at the floor and even bend his knees a bit but would ultimately stop himself. He stood up straight and said, "No."

Junko pouted her lips. "Aww, really? You're no fun." Her pout then immediately morphed into a grin. "Ah, what the hell. I'll tell you anyway."

Junko hopped of the bed and looked Taka dead in the eye. "Your little pop-pop?" she let out a chuckle. "Come on, Ishimaru. He's a cop. You should've come to expect this to happen."

Taka's skin went pale. "N-no…"

"Oh, yeah. And it wasn't quick either. He was one of those resilient old fucks. He'd kick and spit, but soon all that bravado peeled away."

"No…"

"He started crying and begging. He begged for you to come save him. Too bad that never happened."

"No!" Taka cried out. He could no longer control his emotions. He collapsed to his hands and knees as he wept. His tears left damp marks on the room's carpet and he was just barely able to keep his snort from pouring out as well. "So…he's truly dead?"

Junko smiled and shrugged. "I don't know."

Taka's crying came to a complete stop. "What?"

"I don't know what happened. I got bored watching after him and I stopped following what happened, then I died, then I woke up here. It was a mess."

Taka's skin went from pale white to a fiery red as he leapt up to his feet and grabbed Junko by her shirt's collar. "What do you mean you don't know?! You told me you knew if he was alive or not!"

Junko was unfazed by Taka's anger as she responded. "No. I said I was the only person who COULD know if he was alive or not."

Taka growled before releasing his grip.

"But you know," Junko spoke up, "this is a way to find out."

Taka raised an eyebrow. "What? How?"

"Come on, you know. Kill me."

Taka froze. "Wh-what?"

Junko smiled and walked towards Taka, pushing him up against a wall. "Come on. I know want to. Not only to find out what happened to poppa and the world, but let's be honest with each other, I am the worst. I took everything from you, from everyone. No one would really blame you for it."

Junko grabbed a hold of Taka's wrist and guided his hand up to her throat, forcibly wrapping his fingers around her neck. "Come on. You got this, Taka. You're a strong young man."

Taka shook as Junko basically took control of the situation.

'She's right,' Taka thought. 'I have every right to do this. We all want to kill her. I should. Good lord, I should.'

Taka could feel his grip around Junko's neck tighten bit by bit. He gritted his teeth as he stared right into Junko's eyes. Yet, he relented. He let go of Junko and shoved her back onto the bed. Taka covered his heart as he took several deep breaths.

Junko sighed and shook her head. "Pathetic." With that, Junko laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"Honk, honk, honk!" Monokuma spoke over the intercom. "It is now 10 pm. The cats nestle close to their kittens. The lambs have laid down with the sheep. You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dears. So please, GO THE SLEEP!"

Finally got this part done. Probably would have gotten it out a day sooner, but covid made me super lazy one day. I do feel better though. Not sure I'm truly over it, but things are ok.

I'm mixed on this chapter. I feel my vocabulary is too limited at points. I make everyone sigh and raise eyebrows. I suck as at describing faces displaying emotions in detail. I also wished I have covered what more of the cast is up to, but whatever.

I have thought about spreading my fanfic skills to other series. Just to develop my skills more. Although, I also got to try and plan out more of my original story ideas. God, having ADHD is a nightmare at times.

Thank you for all the kind words the past few days. Hearing from you guys always cheers me up.