"I knew I'd find you around here."
Rin held back a sigh as he opened his eyes upon hearing that familiarly cheeky voice. There, right above where he was lying down, the sun shining down behind her from behind the thick tree branches was Asuka leaning over him.
"Hey." The up-coming singing sensation of the nation smiled warmly with soft eyes. Big, emerald green eyes that were filled with concern. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"...'Suka?" Rin muttered with a tired slur as he rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Hey. You back from your tour already?"
"Yep! And look who I find slacking the moment I come back to town." Asuka smirked as she poked a gentle finger right into Rin's cheek a few times. "You're out here taking a nap under a tree in the middle of the day, and in your Ultimate Uniform? You're getting that purple suit of yours all dirty with dirt and grass!"
"Good. I hate this monkey suit anyway, and Yuna is always telling me I look like the Joker wearing it anyway." Rin huffed. "Can you believe what she told me the other day? 'That purple suit is something you should only see Steve Harvey in'! What does that even mean!?"
Asuka couldn't help but laugh at the antics Rin told her about in her absence, but her laughter slowly died down as her warm, playful eyes shifted to concern as she pursed her lips ever so slightly. "Rin…Have you been feeling well lately? You look…worn out, and you're not really one for afternoon naps under a tree."
Rin had to hide the frown on his face at that. Was it really that obvious?
"I'm a little tired, yeah. Work has been stressful. Agreeing to let Sora help me out as an assistant is turning out to be quite the godsend right now." Rin mumbled as he rubbed his eyes, hoping to wipe whatever sleep that was left in his eyes that Asuka saw out before she could comment again. However, his attempt was futile.
"Rin, you have the darkest bags I've ever seen under your eyes. Have you even been sleeping?" Asuka asked pointedly.
"I was before you arrived…" Rin muttered as he averted his eyes.
"You do know it would be better for you to sleep in your own bed than out here, right? How did you even get here?"
"Uh…I was out for a walk and then…sort of found this tree." Rin gave a half-hearted shrug, causing Asuka to cross her arms and narrow her eyes at him. "What? It's not like anyone could do anything to me! I'm pretty much part of the police nowadays."
"That doesn't mean you should be careless," Asuka grumbled before she let out a sigh. "Seriously, must you always be like this? You overwork yourself into exhaustion and then just let yourself collapse anywhere. I'm starting to think you don't care bout yourself."
Rin gave a dismissive hum as he pulled out his phone to check the time and his messages. He was about to check his emails, but Asuka gently placed a hand on his shoulders, pulling his attention away from his cell to the worried face of his friend.
"Rin. You can't keep doing this." Asuka told him sternly, but not forcefully or angrily. There was only genuine concern in the singer's voice as she looked Rin right in the eyes.
"W-What are you talking about?" Rin asked, a little put off by the sudden tone Asuka took on.
"Rin. You're killing yourself." Asuka told him. "How long has it been since your last break?"
Rin narrowed his eyes at the Ultimate Singer, thinking slowly for a bit until it finally clicked for him. "Sora contacted you, didn't she?"
"Don't bring up that disappointed tone, Rin. She's even more worried about you, but she knows you're the most stubborn person alive!" Asuka huffed. "Honestly, I wish she would have tried it herself before calling me about it, but considering how she is and how you are, she probably has tried and you just didn't even notice."
Rin paused as that, taking time to actually try to remember if Sora had done anything like that in a feeble attempt to get him to take a break or at least slow down. The girl wasn't very assertive, which made sense considering what she had been through recently, but now that he thought about it, she had been a little bit more pushy when it came to her helping out with paperwork and other stuff around the office. Was that her trying to give Rin a chance to relax?
"She doesn't have to worry about me." Rin grumbled as he turned away. "You don't have to worry either. I know what I can handle."
"I'm not sure you do, mister macho man." Asuka replied pointedly. "I know you. I've known you ever since first year of middle school, and I know that, ever since you became the Ultimate Attorney, and I mean really became the Ultimate Attorney, you've been throwing yourself into the courts and all the cases you can get your hands on. I've never seen you like this. You're taking up cases as defense, prosecution, and I've heard they even want you to start judging cases and rewriting entire laws now! And it's been…what? Not even half a year!?"
"Really? Hm…" Rin hummed raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. "Y'know, I actually sent an email to the UI recently about my title being changed to Ultimate Jurist. I'm starting to be more than a mere lawyer at this point."
"Rin! Now is now the time for humble bragging. You don't even like your job!" Asuka pointed out. "Why can't you just take a break for once? You're literally working yourself to death! Why are you always like this on the most nonsensical things?"
"What else am I supposed to do, Asuka!?" Rin finally exploded as he got to his feet to confront the singer. "What? You want me to just stop or something? You think that would work or help me? I can't stop! I can't do anything about that! Not with the Ultimate Initiative breathing down my neck!"
"I know that, and I hate them for what they did to you. For forcing you into this role. But I'm not asking you to stop. Sora isn't asking you to stop. All we want is for you to take a break."
"I CAN'T!" Rin screamed as he threw his arms up in a fit before turning around, breathing heavily. His shoulders continuously rose up and down rapidly, and Rin held back more screams. "I…just can't. I need to keep going. I…need to."
Rin then let go of the tension in his shoulders as he raised his head at the sky. Clear blue. Not a cloud in the sky. Yet why was it that he could only see cloudy greys? Why was it, that even out here in the middle of the wide open park that Rin still felt like he was still boxed in that little corner of hell they called solitary confinement? Why was it that the world itself felt heavier now that Rin was here, alive and older than he had been, yet emptier and deader all the same?
"I…have to keep working. I have so much work to do." Rin muttered in a breathless whisper. "I…made a promise. After I took and won Sora's case. You mentioned how that was when I really became the Ultimate Attorney, and I'd agree. I never wanted to do another case again, even if I had to burn any and all goodwill the UI was willing to give me, but I took that case because you asked me, because Sora was your friend. I…didn't take it because I wanted to help her. I didn't care. I just wanted it to be over and done with."
"Rin…"
"But then I met Sora in the detention cell, and she…she was so scared." Rin gasped out as he held a hand to his chest. "She was stuttering, panting, shaking—I thought she'd break down and fall apart right then and there. She was so vividly terrified of everything that had happened to her and what might happen to her and…and…she was just like me after I was arrested."
Rin hung his head as he stared down, holding his hands out as he stared at them as though they were covered in blood as they began to shake. "Looking at her like that and shivering in fear in the trial brought me back to the worst days of my life, but on the other side of the mirror. I was staring at an exact reflection of what happened to me, and I…I…I couldn't just do nothing like what everyone did to me. I couldn't…just not care anymore. I couldn't afford to. I couldn't."
Rin then slowly raised his head back up, his tired eyes now alit with a fire rarely seen from the weary, apathetic teen.
"That's when I swore I'd never let anyone face that terrible, evil courtroom alone again. If there are others who were like me, like Sora, who were trapped by the system, who were left to fend for themselves because their case seemed open and shut…then I have to do this. I might hate attorneys and trials and courtrooms and even the law…but I can't just stand by and do nothing when I can prevent others from being alone."
"So I'll fight. I'll fight for their sake, and I won't stop. I can't." Rin declared. "Even if it kills me, I'll fight for the happiest of strangers. I'll work myself into exhaustion if it means a single person doesn't have to face their supposed 'fate' alone. No one deserves to be alone when their life and livelihood are on the line, especially if they're innocent. If I can comfort a single person, then it's worth it. Nothing else matters anymore."
"That's not true," Asuka said quietly as she moved to her friend and hugged him from behind. "You matter. Your own happiness matters. You still have people that care about you. I care about you, and so does Sora, and Yuna, and so many other people. I know you don't want to stop. I know you. You're the kind of person who would hurt himself just to help a stranger. But please, try to have restraint. There is a fine line between selflessness and extreme altruism. You can't sacrifice yourself for others. Because then you'd only be hurting those who care about you."
"Then what am I supposed to do? I feel like my life isn't mine anymore. I'm not living for me anymore." Rin closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "If I can't help people, then what am I here for?"
"You're here because you're here. I wouldn't want to live in a world without you." Asuka told him before turning him around to give him a tearful smile. "You are loved. By so many. So please. Live. For yourself, and no one else. Not many people can."
Rin didn't have any words to argue at that. He just let out a weak, defeated laugh as he let himself lean against the girl a little as he forced himself not to cry with how worked up he got.
"...Alright. I'll live. I'll try at least."
"Good." Asuka's smile grew slightly wider as she let Rin go. "Now, let's go back. It's been a while since we've hung out. Maybe we should pick up Sora and Yuna and just have a bit of fun."
"What? Like going to the arcade?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, no. Not after how you humiliated me in front of all of my classmates when we first met."
"You're going to hold that over my head forever, aren't you?"
"Maybe," Asuka smirked as she grabbed Rin's hand and started pulling him along. Rin couldn't help but laugh as he let himself be pulled along.
That memory was…
BANG!
BAM!
SMASH!
"Ah, Rin!"
"Hm?" Rin turned his head away from his paperwork as a girl his age ran into the office. She was panting hard, and her starry dress looked wrinkled from whatever running she did in her rush.
"Sora?" Rin questioned as he got up from his desk. "What's wrong?"
Sora raised a hand to motion Rin he didn't have to walk over to check on her as she leaned over and took a few deep breaths. Once she caught her breath, she raised her head, and her normally timid, reserve expression morphed into glee as she shot Rin a smile as she raised up something she was holding.
"I got a copy of the Bronze Samurai movie!" Sora cheered in a more excited voice than Rin had ever heard her speak with aside from the day the girl was acquitted. Rin couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head.
"Always excited for Bronze Samurai. You do know that show is just a rip off of Ste–"
"Nah nah nah! I don't want to hear any of that, Mister Grumps. It might not be the finest of media, but I and plenty of others enjoy it." Sora smiled as she moved over to Rin and started pulling his arm to pull him to the office's designated break room. A room that used to be mostly empty before Sora decided 'W-We spend so much time here at the office, w-we need a place to relax, I-I think.'
After telling Yuna about it while they were out at a cafe, the inventor laughed in his face before politely translating that into, 'You practically live in that office now, so Miss Natural Beauty probably wanted you to have a place you can actually sleep in since you never go home. Hell, she told me she found you passed out at your desk a few days ago!' Rin had a hard time refuting that particular statement.
"C'mon, it's almost evening and you've been sitting at your desk all day. You can take some time to watch this with me." Sora told him, her focus still on the movie she held in her hands.
"When did you get so pushy?" Rin laughed as he let the girl pull him along, though his comment caused her to let go and nearly jump a mile away.
"W-W-What!? P-Pushy? Me? A-Am I really being pushy?" Sora asked, a large blush adorning her face as her fingers fidgeted around the DVD box she was holding in her hands.
Ah, there's the Sora Rin had gotten to know over these few months.
"I mean, a little, but that's a good thing. I guess working on these cases with me has built up your confidence." Rin noted as he turned back to his desk, still covered in paperwork, then sighed as he gently took one of Sora's hands and continued walking to the break room. "I can spare some time."
"Y-You sure?" Sora asked eyes wide and mouth a little ajar from Rin's sudden response.
"I-I mean, I thought you wanted me to watch this with you. Was that not–?"
"Y-Yes! I-I did, but…" Sora then stole a glance at his desk before shaking her head. "Nevermind. If you're sure, then…you're the boss!"
"Heh…don't call me that." Rin rubbed the back of his neck as the two entered the room and Sora moved to the TV to put in the disk. "But as I was saying, you've gotten more confident lately. I'm glad. Who knows? Maybe you'll be able to go back into modeling and—"
"NO!" Sora shouted, making Rin jump by how sudden and loud it was. When Rin turned back to the violet-haired girl, she flinched before turning away, shaking ever so slightly. "I-I…I like it here, at Wakuri Law. I…can't imagine doing anything else."
"Really?" Rin asked. "But…you're the Ultimate Natural Beauty. I know what happened to you because of it, but if you don't get back to your own gig, you'll lose your title and all the UI's benefits. Is that really okay?"
"...Yes. I'm quite sure." Sora said solemnly, before she put in the disk and spun back around to Rin. "B-Besides, I can't just leave you all alone here. You need someone to help out here, a-and that's pretty much all I'm good for."
Rin frowned, but he just sighed instead of trying to argue with that. He'd been down road before. And they call him stubborn.
"Well, I won't argue. You do help out here." Rin sat down as he stretched his arms a little. "Though…cases like yours and mine are starting to make me think. You think I should try to make a case against the UI?"
Sora flinched hard before she looked at Rin as though he spoke some forbidden taboo. "W-WHAT!? Rin, are you crazy!?"
"I think we've already established that. Plenty of times." Rin quipped.
"Rin, I'm serious! Y-You can't take on the Ultimate Initiative! That's like…the g-government itself! The Initiative is the m-most powerful force in the country!"
"Yeah…And I'm their Ultimate Attorney. Their teenage attorney whom they forced into the role after I was forced to acquit myself. Your title wasn't much different, right?"
"...No. I guess we both were forced into it by others." Sora muttered as she tried to figure out what to do about her fidgeting fingers. "B-But that's just the two of us."
"Yes. Two cases. There probably is more out there. I've been thinking about it lately. I started taking this law stuff seriously after realizing I could help others who were scared and alone like we were. But now, I wonder how many kids have gone through the exact same thing we did with the UI. I just…want to help them."
"But what would you even do if you brought a case to the Initiative? T-There are many people who's dreams were made possible thanks to them."
"And just as many dreams were robbed by them forcing people down predetermined paths for their entire life."
"T-That's true…but the world doesn't see it like that."
"I know…I know." Rin sighed before he ran a hand down his face. "Sorry. We're supposed to be on break, yet here I am talking about work and cases."
"I-It's fine, Rin. I'm just thankful you're actually taking breaks now." Sora paused then before she shot him a slight smile. "I-I know it's been hard for you. I-I mean…You're more w-wound up than one of Y-Yuna's inventions."
Rin paused after he heard that, his eyes slowly widening as that comment sat in his brain. Then, once it clicked, he gasped as he pointed to Sora, who had already turned back around.
"Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?" Rin asked as his own smile began to grow.
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." Sora dismissed, but it was too late.
"You did!" Rin laughed. "Sora Kiyomizu is now comfortable enough to make jokes at my expense. I'm proud of you."
"Yeah, well, enough of that." Sora dusted off her dress as she plopped down next to Rin. "We've got a movie to watch!" She quietly cheered as she pumped her arms.
"Right, right." Rin nodded as he turned to the television. But just as he was getting comfortable, he felt Sora lean her head onto his shoulder. Turning to her, he was met with Sora's soft, violet eyes staring up at him.
"But…if you do try to take on the Ultimate Initiative, I'll be there at your side. Because…your dream to save people is what's really beautiful. No matter what anyone says, the world you want to create can't be wrong. And…I want that world too, because you saved me. You're my hero, so I'll help you however I can."
Rin felt his mouth hang open just a little, but then his mouth closed to form a wide smile.
"I'm not sure about calling me a hero, but I guess I'll just have to work hard to live up to your expectations."
That memory was also…
CRACK!
SHATTER!
CRUNCH!
Rin sighed as he investigated the boiler room for what must have been the fifth time. He had investigated the available rooms when they were opened up, and then he combed over them a second time, and then a third, and then a fourth, but that wasn't enough for Rin Wakuri. He had to find something. There had to be something here for him to use.
…The first 'Class Trial' had ended two days ago. The verdict? The culprit who murdered Itsuki Hoshino, the Ultimate Conductor, was Yuki Kobayashi, the Ultimate Secretary. Poor Yuki had been tempted by her motive video given out by their captive, 'Entropy'. If it was anything like Rin's video, he couldn't exactly blame her, but the pain and disappointment he felt after the verdict remained, the pain especially when he recalled that farce that maniac called 'punishment'.
Now they had to deal with a second motive: apparently, every day a person at random will be taken by Entropy's enforcers after the morning announcement and be tortured for the rest of the day until a person dies. They've already taken someone that day. Rin could only imagine what Shinsuke was going through right now. Ultimate Daredevil he may be, but Rin didn't want to think about what kind of torture Entropy had come up for them.
That's why Rin had to find a way out for the fourteen of them that were still alive. He couldn't before Itsuki and Yuki died, but he could before more victims appeared. He was the Ultimate Attorney for god's sake. He could figure this out. He had to.
"Rinny! There you are!"
Rin sighed as he paused his investigation. Of course, right when he was busy, who would discover where he was but his childhood friend, Yuna Tamura, who was also caught up in this killing game they were forced to play.
"Yuna. What do you want?"
"What else but to hang out with my favorite anti-social lawyer?" Yuna smiled as she brought out something from her fanny pack. "I brought you a gift from the gachapon!"
"Really? You trust whatever Entropy stocked in that thing for us?" Rin asked with an exasperated voice.
"Why would I not trust the all-mighty gacha?" Yuna shot back with stars in her eyes as she showed off her prize. "Look at this! There are Pet Rocks stored in that thing!"
"...Pet Rocks?" Rin repeated. "What? There are actually rocks in that thing?"
"Not literal rocks, you dolt! They're like pocket monsters and Tamagotchi. These things were hot items back when my parents were kids. I grew up playing with their old Rock pals. I thought you might like it. Considering there's not much here for us to do when we're trapped in an underground facility. Here."
Rin looked down at his hand after Yuna grabbed it and plopped the Pet Rock into it. He raised an eyebrow before shooting Yuna a look that conveyed 'Really?' After all, they were in trapped in a killing game. Games really shouldn't be distracting them.
Still, Rin couldn't exactly deny the gift. It was from his friend, and it was something he would enjoy.
"Thanks, Yuna." Rin forced a smile as he pocketed the device. "I'll check it out later, but I think it's best if I keep investigating. If I can find a way to get out of here, then we won't have to–"
"Rin, you've been at this for the whole day," Yuna told him. "If you haven't found anything by now, you won't find anything at all. I doubt Entropy would let us explore if he wasn't confident we wouldn't find the exit."
"Perhaps, but–"
"Look, I've already tried to cook something up to figure out where we are and contact the outside, but we're stuck. Wherever we are, it's like a nuclear bunker. No signals in or out. Can't get any kind of connection on anything I can scrap together from any mechanical parts I can find, not that there's much for me to use, and I gotta be careful. If I'm not, who knows what Entropy might do to me." Yuna added. "Rin…there is no escape. Not until Entropy is dealt with."
"...Sigh." Rin ran both his hands down his face, dragging the skin down as he moved to lean against the wall behind him. "...God damn it, we really are stuck in this hell, aren't we?"
Rin hated this. He hated admitting his own weakness and inability in such a terrible situation, but that's all he could do. If Yuna says she couldn't scroung up anything to contact the outside world, then that's that. Yuna was the genius who pushed technology to several new stages, and she did that all by herself in a tiny shed filled with some outdated junk. If she says it's hopeless, it probably was.
"What are we supposed to do then?" Rin asked pointedly. "If we do nothing, people will keep being taken every morning to be tortured, including us. Hell, it might be my turn or yours tomorrow for all we know. At this rate, another killing is bound to happen."
"Yeah. The stress from the torture threat is probably eating people away right now." Yuna nodded with a deep frown. "And poor Shinsuke. He was the first one taken, but if he comes back to us, he's not going to be in the best of places. The fear of being taken again might be even stronger than the other's fears in that case."
"Damn it. There's nothing we can do to alleviate any of that fear. It's not like hoping things will get better or banding together all fourteen of us will do anything. The torture will still continue." Rin sighed. "Maybe it would be easier if I volunteer for tomorrow's session that."
"Entropy probably wouldn't let you, and even if he did, he'd just make it a thousand times worse for you since you 'volunteered as tribute'. Don't be an idiot. He seems to have it out for you specifically already." Yuna scolded. "If you want to really help everyone, you need to worry about yourself and your own well being first. We're never gonna get anywhere if our fearless leader is willing to fall on his own sword at every opportunity."
"I'm not the leader. I just offer my own ideas." Rin sighed as he adjusted his purple suit coat that hung over his shoulders.
"Riiiiiight. Who would have guess the Ultimate Attorney would present ideas in such a charismatic way that others can't help but agree and fall in line? Soooooo surprising…"
"I'm going to choose to ignore whatever it is you might be implying." Rin huffed.
"All I'm saying is that you're a pillar of strength right now. You just being alive is encouraging to the others. Hope and teamwork might not fix the problem, but it certainly boosts morale. Besides, if something happened to you and you were the next victim, we'd be up shit's creek."
"You'd all be fine. There'd be thirteen of you if I was the next victim, making it a twelve v. one in favor of the spotless. You all might not be talented in investigating crime scenes, but you all have an idea of what a class trial entails for Yuki's crime. I'm sure you'd be fine."
"Maybe, but what about the next trial, or the next? You're the best among us when it comes to solving crimes. Sure, we might be able to survive till the end without you, but it's not a bet I'd take." Yuna said as her voice became a bit more tense. "Look, can we not talk about your potential death? It makes me really uncomfortable."
"Fine, but I was just trying to make a point."
"A bad one."
"Whatever. At least I'm thinking about it. In this killing game, any one of us could be the next victim or blackened if we aren't careful. I never would have thought a quiet, down-to-earth secretary like Yuki could pull off such a…horrific crime before, and I was wrong. This game is designed to push us to be the worst we can be, and everyone has the potential to be the worst kind of person."
"There you go, being all pessimistic again. Can't you be optimistic for once?"
"I'm not being pessimistic. I'm being realistic. Better to acknowledge that fact than try to be oblivious to it."
"Geez! How'd we get stuck with you as our leader?" Yuna shook her head in disappointment, causing Rin to groan once more. Yuna laughed at his expense before flashing her friend a cheeky smile. "But I'm sure you'll come out of this just fine. I'm sure all of us will. I believe in all of us! And…even if the worst comes to pass, at least we'll always have each other's back."
"That's true. We are the lucky ones here. We knew each other before this game, so we know we can trust each other. I can't imagine either of us killing someone when even if we won the trial, we'd be condemning the other to death." Rin mused. "So…guess I'll be counting on you just as much as you're counting on me, huh?"
"You got it, Rinny!" Yuna gave a mock salute. That's when her playful expression became a bit more serious as she looked off to the side with a more contemplative look on her face. "I'll always have your back, no matter what. I'll make sure you get out of this alive."
"Hey, weren't you the one telling me to worry about myself? Seems hypocritical for you to not take your own advice." Rin pointed out.
"Heh heh, right!" Yuna smiled. "So…does that mean you want to hang out now?"
"You're not going to stop pestering me until I do, it seems," Rin grumbled, causing the inventor's smile to widen.
Even that memory was…
CRASH!
SMASH!
BANG!
"...Hi Mom. Hi Dad."
Rin never felt more choked up. Here he was, dressed in all black, standing in front of a gravesite, bouquet in hand. He was alone at the moment, though he wasn't sure for how long. He… wasn't supposed to be out and about. Doctor and psychiatrist's orders. They were probably freaking out that he had snuck out.
…Well they could go fuck themselves for all he cared. They didn't escape hell on earth like he was forced to.
So here he was, at the cemetery where his parents were buried, dressed up for the occasion. But he wasn't here for a normal visit. He had something he wanted to say. Rin placed down his flowers onto the grave as he lowered himself onto his knees and stared at the tombstone in front of him.
"I…I…" The words got caught in Rin's throat as he felt his eyes start to blur from the wetness that was now building up. "...Something happened to me a few days ago. I…I thought the day you died was the worst day of my life. I thought the day my future was taken from me was the worst day of my life." Rin then choked out a forced laugh as he held his head with one of his hands. "...It seems the world wanted to prove me wrong."
All at once, the past two months flashed into his mind.
The beginning of the strange serial killings involving Ultimates as victims. The kidnappings that only grew and grew before the victims' bodies were found. His own kidnapping, alongside fifteen others. The start of the killing game. The first murder. Then the second, then the third, then the fourth and fifth.
Then…the sixth. Yuna…
The trial happened shortly after, and Rin's confession did nothing. After Rin had thoroughly proved his own guilt, the voting started.
Rin was the only one who voted for himself, despite his summary of the case. The rest of the remaining Ultimates all voted for themselves. At the end, right before they were pulled away for punishment for getting the vote wrong, Rin begged to know what the hell they were thinking.
They said they wanted to save Rin. That he was the only one who could avenge those who died. The only one who could find the one who did this to them and bring them to justice.
Rin was forced to watch their executions. He wished it was him being punished.
…No, that wasn't true. A tiny part of him was relieved.
Rin hated himself for it…
As the victorious blackened, Rin was allowed to escape, the exit finally being revealed and opened up.
Rin did not leave.
Rin instead went on a rampage through that cursed underground hideout and until he found Entropy.
Rin was planning on murdering the bastard.
That wasn't possible after Rin realized Entropy was just a mechanical dummy being controlled from some other location.
Once again, Rin felt as though he had died, even though he was the only person to escape the killing game and be saved. All at the cost of the others.
Rin was a coward.
"...Yuna's dead," Rin confessed as he held back his tears. "I killed her. I killed everyone who was trapped with me. I killed them and survived."
Then, after confessing his crimes, he clenched his fists, the tears in his eyes subsiding as they were replaced by a fiery rage and vivid hatred.
"And I swear I'm going kill whoever is responsible. I don't care who it is, I don't care how many there might be. Whoever forced us to play that game…I'm going to find them. And then I'm going to kill them. I'll make them pay for treating us like toys!"
That's when Rin pulled out a sheet of paper that he had messily shoved into his pocket. Unfolding it, he narrowed his eyes at the interior map of a large cruise ship.
"I swore on your graves that I'd protect everyone I could reach out to," Rin muttered as he looked up to the grave. "So that's what I'll do. I'll protect those who are left."
That's right. If anyone could do it, it was Rin Wakuri. It was only a matter of getting approval for his plan and getting potential targets to agree, as well.
Rin had to do this. He had to try, or else why did he survive instead of anyone else? His life was no longer his.
From now on, Rin Wakuri would live for others. That was his only purpose now.
Yet even THAT was merely…
CRASH!
SMASH!
BANG!
The young man then woke up within an extravagant cruise ship, alongside fifteen other gifted teens.
His name was Rin Wakuri. He could not remember his talent or how he got here, but he felt as though he had to do something important. So went to explore the ship, and in doing so, he met his first friend in this strange place.
Asuka Wada. Rin had a feeling he would get along with her.
Yet it was just…
A strange animatronic penguin appeared. The killing game began. Rin felt his head stir with a sickening sense of déjà vu.
The first motive: their new home was now sinking. A time limit. Everyone would die in three days.
The first victim: the smartest among them, who could have easily solved this mystery.
The culprit: a poor boy who wanted to live to fulfill his dead friends' wishes, only to be executed for his crime.
Yet it was just…
The second motive: a game of secrets, each one scattered among the group. Rin dreaded what his might say and who might have it.
The second victim: the quiet girl, her body defiled and dragged underneath the waters.
The second culprit: the victim's friend, pushed to evil to protect a terrible secret, then feed to the wolves of sin.
Yet it was just…
The third motive: a wish to be granted. The greatest fantasies, held over them like a carrot on a stick.
The third victim: a man larger than life itself, twisted by his own selfless desires, yet failing to enact his plan.
The third culprit: the one no one expected. The girl who loved everyone, forced to defend herself, breaking her own heart and mind in the process as she fought for her life until the end.
Yet it was just…
The fourth motive: nightmares. Moving shadows and terrifying illusions in everyone's eyes even when they were awake. Madness was setting in.
The victims: Two this time. Found at the same time in different locations. The one who wanted to inspire how with a show, and the eccentric designer who smiled even in death. Both were taken.
The culprits: Two as well. The woman who was afraid of being blamed, and the woman who played the role of the villain to spare the others. Only the later was punished. Rin felt sick at having to defend the former, and he felt scathing eyes on him now.
Yet it was just…
Rin held the revolver in his hand. The newest motive. Free weapons for each remaining student. Weapons that potentially could be easily hidden on their persons. Weapons that could potentially create elaborate crimes inaccessible to anyone else. Was Rin the only one with a gun? He didn't know, yet the thought made him want to hide in his room.
Yet he had to leave eventually. He had one last thing to check. He was getting closer to the truth. One last push, and he might find it.
Yet the moment he left his room, his fate was sealed.
An ambush. A bat swung down onto his arm. A hard snap rang out. A scream tore out of Rin's mouth. Bullets rained down. Shelter. A conversation. An argument. An alliance between two people who hated each other. A plan.
Rin just had to leave to get something to patch up himself and the one who was now a stalwart ally.
Rin returned to a room engulfed in flames.
The final victim: the person Rin could never get along with, who attacked Rin for being the mastermind, and was shockingly the second closest to finding the truth.
He was gone now, and now Rin was up next. Framed for a crime he never commited. Destined to never find the truth.
That's all he was. He was a useless boy who was always destined to die in this one moment. He was meant to be a martyr.
As the gavel was raised above him, and as the unimaginable pain overwhelmed his senses, Rin had his final thoughts.
'I failed to save them. But…as long as they survive, this pathetic life of mine will have meant something.'
Rin died with hope in his heart, and regret buried in his chest.
Rin Wakuri died that day, that was the truth.
So everything he remembered…
Everything he felt…
Everything he thought he was…
He remembered everything, and he felt everything.
Yet even all of that was just…
Fiction.
Mere fiction.
Everything about him was LIE.
BANG!
BAM!
SMASH!
CRACK!
SHATTER!
CRUNCH!
CRASH!
SMASH!
BANG!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
SNAP!
The young man let out a visceral scream as he raised his sword up and brought it back down. Over and over and over and over and over. He did not know how long he had been in this tiny little room, but he somehow found himself holding the katana that was on display in the other room and using it to destroy every single monitor in front of him that had shown him the horrific truth. The madness only ended after the blade had snapped in two.
He found himself panting, completely out of breath after his stunt into pure rage and insanity. He felt the blade slip out of his fingers as he staggered backward.
The monitors were now destroyed, yet he could still only see the images they sowed. The interviews and applications for the killing game. For Danganronpa. The outside world who worshipped it. His own surgery into a dead man.
Pandora's box had been opened, and it would never close again.
The man who used to believe he was 'Rin Wakuri' grasped his head as he let out inhuman wails of anguish. He couldn't keep standing as he felt and curled in on himself as he sobbed.
Who was he? What was he? Why did this happen? Why was he shown this? Why him? Why couldn't it have been anyone else?
Why did he force his way into a death game to save people who wanted to be in it?
What did he do to deserve this?
He hated it! He hated everything! The world that forced them into this–the people he came here to save–he hated it all!
But that wasn't really true. At his core, the only thing he hated was himself. He hated the lie that he was. He hated the way he felt right now. He hated that nothing about him was unique or original, just borrowed and manufactured. He was just the person who had the essence of 'Rin Wakuri' imprinted onto him.
This man hated 'Rin Wakuri'.
So he began to tear away at himself. At his own mind that wasn't really his. It was 'Rin Wakuri's overpowering his own. He had to get rid of him! Everything that was 'Rin' needed to go. He wanted to be 'himself'!
So he tore away, but he couldn't change his body, not without killing himself. That wouldn't do. He wanted to live. 'Rin Wakuri' could die in a ditch for all he cared! But he wanted to live! He deserved to live as himself! So his mind and heart began to be cut away. Over and over again, in an unending loop.
Everything that he identified as 'Rin Wakuri' was cut off. It had to be abandoned for him to return to being 'himself'.
His kindness. His hope. His dreams. His memories. His relationships. He talents. His past. His present. His future. His hobbies. His likes. His dislikes. His preferences. His courage. His virtue. His sense of responsibility. His strength. His senses. His morality. His justice. His promises. His heroic tendencies. Everything that made him a good person—all of it was cut away from his being.
Because they weren't his. They were Rin Wakuri's. All of that came from 'Rin Wakuri'.
What did that leave him?
Anger. Hatred. Sorrow. Despair. Self-loathing. Selfishness. Weakness. The inability to face the truth. The inability to accept responsibility and the consequences of his actions. The self-righteous part of him that had to be right in every situation.
This was who he was. This little, pathetic thing that was left had to be what he originally was.
This was why he did what he did during Maki's trial. Because this was who he was.
He couldn't be Rin Wakuri. He never could. He was just a failure who couldn't even live up to the name.
The truth was simple: He was never Rin Wakuri. He could never even dream of being him, despite being the man's artificially made doppelganger.
He was just Nameless.
His sobs caused by accepting that truth echoed throughout Rin Wakuri's Research Lab as he cried himself to sleep.
Mumei forced down the urge to throw up everything he thought now.
He just broke Kaede.
He just hit Tenko.
He just insulted Shuichi.
He tried to kill Kokichi the previous day.
A part of him didn't care. Another believed they all deserved it.
Those parts forced down the other that wanted to himself for doing such things.
No Name kept moving until he returned to his dorm room. The dorm room of 'Rin Wakuri'. It made him sick, but it was the only place he could stay aside from that hidden research lab, and he couldn't hole himself in that room for long, or else the others would get suspicious.
The nameless man stomped into the room, throwing his stuff down somewhere before storming over to his desk to just…stare at nothing. He just stood there, unthinking.
This would have been so much easier if he just killed himself.
On a whim, Mumei opened the desk's drawer and pulled out a tablet. The Kubs Pad he was gifted after the second trial. He picked it up and stared at it for a while.
Funny. He held different feelings towards this thing now. Before, when he first got it, he was a little excited at the idea of learning more about himself. The first video was exactly that. The moment Rin Wakuri accepted his duty and talent. The moment he choose to be the Ultimate Attorney to defend others, all because he met a girl who was thrown into the same kind of torment he experienced. Their partnership shown in the video warmed his heart. It made him believe he was a good person.
The second video robbed him of that feeling. That old motive video made him so sick he threw up in his bathroom. From that moment on, he was plagued by the idea that he had killed his childhood friend as some form of revenge.
Now, looking at the tablet, Mumei could honestly say he didn't give a fuck anymore.
Because this Kubs Pad was merely a prop. A tool to manipulate him. It was fictional. It was a lie.
It wasn't even meant for him.
Mumei kept staring at the show prop for a little longer before he had an idea. Shuichi's lab had a fireplace. It would be fun to burn the false memories of Rin Wakuri. It would be like a purging.
That's what initially led Mumei to the Ultimate Detective's lab. He figured he wouldn't run into anyone else that day, since they were too busy with investigating the new areas, as well as playing along with those Flashback Lights that were altering their minds. Mumei couldn't care anymore about trying to interfere with the plot. He was doing his own thing now.
Once he was in the room, he was about to throw the tablet right into the fire without much thought, but that's when something caught his eye. The shelf of poisons. It triggered another thought. He recalled seeing a hydraulic press in the hanger that was opened up, and now, here within this lab, he could see a closed press, soaked in blood.
Intuition, huh? How morbidly hilarious. It was never a special power. It was just his memories of the old scripts. Right… in the event that Kokichi went off the rails, he was to die via hydraulic press. Mumei wondered who would be tricked into doing the deed now that Kaito was already dead.
…Why was he thinking about that now? It was pointless trying to think about it. Everything was scripted. There was no way to break through the script. One way or another, everything would play out just how it was meant to.
So…why was he pulling out his Electro-Radar? Why was he disabling the hidden cameras? Why…was he pouring out the Strike Nine poison for something harmless?
It was done within moments, and Mumei found himself staring at what he had done after the fact.
Why had he done that?
Before he could come up with an answer, Shuichi entered the room, and Mumei proceeded to lose it before storming out of the room in disgust.
It wouldn't matter what he did. He was just a nameless fake. He was nothing, so everything he did meant nothing.
It was just a whim. They wouldn't rehash that plotline. Team Danganronpa was smarter than that. Kazuma was smarter than that.
It was just a whim. Just one of his useless, little thoughts.
Mumei couldn't help but laugh days later as he stood over an unconscious 'Kirumi' as a scared, injured Kokichi watched him cautiously. It all felt like a dream, like some elaborate prank someone was playing on him for things to work out this way.
Yet…thanks to that, a plan began to grow and sprout within Mumei's mind.
All he needed…was resolve.
…
He found it.
He found it, and it was his own. No one else's.
Mumei stood in a void of white. He stood there, unmoving, as he stared at the horizon of nothingness.
Then, he turned around, and he was greeted with 'himself'.
No, it was never him. It was always 'Rin Wakuri'.
Every time he saw that other 'him', it was always the real Rin, trying to guide him.
The two stood there now, the truth wrapping around them as they stared at each other, crimson eyes meeting false crimson. Purple jacket and bleached white. The original article and the failed copy. The young teen who died too early and the older man who was moments away from death.
They both let themselves bask in the silence, unblinking. Then, he spoke.
"...Is this what you've decided?" Rin asked.
"...Yes."
"You were never me, but you could still be you."
"No. There is no me. I'm just…myself. I'm what I am now. Nothing more."
The nameless man then smiled as he placed a hand over his heart. "But even so, if this life of mine can do some good, I'll do what it takes. Because…I love them, despite my hate, and I want them to live. That desire is stronger than my desire to live as 'myself'. Besides, a dead man should stay dead. They shouldn't interfere with the living. It's not there place anymore. The living should decide how the world turns."
"They might hate you after this is over." Rin argued.
"That's fine. In fact, I hope they do. I'm doing something horribly cruel and selfish."
"Why save people you hate?"
"Because while I might hate them, I love them too. They're the only world I've really known." Nameless then looked up as he smiled. "I've 'died' several times now. I remember dying as you in your memories I was implanted with. I remember 'dying' after I escaped Danganronpa and discovered what I was for the first time. And I died again when all my memories were repressed after entering this game. Each 'me' was a different person. They experienced different things. Felt different things. I don't know which one is the real me, or whatever is left of the real me, but one thing is still true."
"Even knowing who they were before and what they did, they're still my friends. They're the only people I've known since waking up as this me. So I'm going to do give the chance we never had."
Rin stared at Mumei for a moment longer. Then a sad frown appeared on his lips as he asked one last question.
"Are you sure about this?"
Mumei just smiled.
"Yeah. I've made my choice, and for the first time, I think it might be a choice I made, no one else."
Rin offered his own smile.
"That's all that can be asked of anyone. As long as it's what you yourself decided, it can't possibly be wrong."
This was it. His judgment day.
Oddly enough, Mumei felt at peace despite knowing what was to come.
He boredly sat at his desk as he leaned back on his chair as he fiddled with his headphones and monopad, scrolling through and listening to music for the last time.
There's nothing to find, no, nothing to find, I severed everything I had
Sinking alive through waves of twine, dragging me down alone
I'm nowhere to find, no, nowhere to find, threw me aside and left again
Running away from now a place I'll never call a home
Nameless leaned back as far as he could on his chair as he stared up at his room's ceiling, the music blaring from his headphones as memories danced across his eyes.
That first day, meeting everyone.
The exerpeinces his shared with them.
The smiles he saw as he spent time with his friends.
The pain they shared as they fought to survive.
He held them dearly within his heart, even now.
…But they were never meant for him. Those memories only happened because they thought he was Rin Wakuri.
Would… they have still felt the same if they knew what he was?
Am I alive?
Aah, shut up! More lies falling out this living mask
Give me an end game, skip the foreplay before I explode
Who was he before he was changed into a dead man?
What hair color did he have before? What color were his eyes? What did his face originally look like? Was he even still a man before? Could he have been a woman and changed into a man? As long as his build was similar enough to Rin's, Mumei could have been anyone before. Just how much was his body and mind altered in order to recreate 'Rin'?
Who was he before?
And as the music crescendoed for its climax, Mumei felt his heart tighten as the song's words washed over him, as though they were his own.
CAN I EVER CHANGE?
CAN I STAY THE SAME?
FADE AWAY!
BUT SAVE WHO I AM INSIDE!
Ripping at seems, I pull the string and finally meet the end
Mumei pulled his headphones off as he continued staring at the ceiling.
Could he change? If he kept living, could he change himself? Could he stay the same? Could 'Rin Wakuri' fade away, while he himself remained?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But either way, that chance was long gone.
"...That's fine."
He let out a breath as he let the silence now engulf him.
It was a comfortable silence. One like bliss. He could stay like this forever.
But it couldn't last as the dorm room's door open.
Mumei turned with uncaring eyes as a familiar man with long blonde hair tied into a pony tail entered the room. Neutral lavender eyes met false crimson.
"...So you're finally here, Kazuma."
The blonde man grimaced upon hearing the name, his gloved hands clenching as a response.
"You should know I don't go by that name now. I left it behind. I am Izuru Kamukura." The man clarified.
"Yeah. I know. You're not who you used to be either. Neither of us are our real selves after everything." Mumei noted. "But…I don't know why, but I can't stop myself from seeing you as Kazuma von Karma, because…that's the real you, isn't it?" Mumei then forced out a weak laugh. "It's…funny. I don't remember anything that happened before I woke up in the hospital as 'Rin Wakuri', but…I just have this feeling."
The nameless man then shook his head as he removed those fuzzy thoughts from his mind before he stood up from his chair. "But that doesn't matter now, does it? What matters right now…is what you're here to do."
Izuru narrowed his eyes at the false copy before letting out a tense breath.
"That's right. The only thing that matters now is this." With that, Izuru pulled out a revolver and aimed it at Mumei. "Apologies, but you must die now. This is the will of the world."
"Is it the world's will, or your own? Or your team's?" Mumei questioned as he turned to face Kazuma, undeterred by the weapon aimed at him. "What is killing me really going to accomplish, anyway? It's not like the others will continue the killing game even after I die. They won't kill again."
"They will. They were designed for the sole purpose of playing the killing game." Izuru argued. "Fictional characters don't have any choice in the matter."
"Fictional characters like you and me, right? We never had the choice either. That's how we ended up like this, with different faces and memories."
"Don't compare the two of us. We're wholly different from each other."
"You're right. Even after learning the truth, at least I still fought for what was right! You gave up! You gave up and joined into the system that forces children into suffering for entertainment!"
"I'm the only one keeping the world intact! Danganronpa can never end! It's been proven to me that without Danganronpa, the world would collapse back into how it used to be. That terrible place can never be allowed to exist now that we've achieved the perfect world."
"A perfect world built on the blood of children who were sacrficed!? How is that perfect!?"
"You have no right to judge me! You with your childish notions of something better… You who thinks everything can be 'fixed'... Nothing can be fixed. This is how things are now, and they will never change."
"You don't know that."
"I do. Why do you think that little rebellion group of yours only has a handful of members? It's because out of all the survivors that escaped our clutches, only you handful of people believe you can change the world. Only fools like you believe that things can be better. Tell me I'm wrong. You know I'm right."
"...You are. I remember speaking to others who refused to fight Team Danganronpa, and they told me the same thing. 'The world can't change. It won't change. Why fight for people who want this to continue? Only a handful of people desire to fight for a better world, including me. But… it's funny, don't you think. Despite how few of us there are, we still continue to fight. You'd think you and your team would have crushed us easily before things came to this? Why is it that you let us remain, Kaz?"
"Don't call me that. And to answer your question, it's just that there are far more pressing matters to tend to than a worthless group of rebels who believe in their own delusions. You were never a threat. You were just another opportunity to make things entertaining for the world. The world loves to see drama, fictional or real."
"Is that really it? Is there not a single part of you that desires to change things? You suffered plenty of killing games yourself, haven't you?"
"...No. All I want now is to keep things going. I will continue as I have been, just as you will, I'm sure."
"...Then there's no changing your mind? You're really set on killing me?"
"Of course. Your death will kick start the end of this season. I do wonder how your friends will react. And once the investigation starts, I'll have Monokuma turn one of them into the mastermind and we'll end this season with a bang. Then the next will begin, and it will be as though you never existed. The world will move on."
"Probably. But…I think you're underestimating us. Those kids are a lot stronger than you or me."
"Hmph. They're just fictional characters. What could they do?"
"Fictional they may be, but fiction has it's own power." Mumei smiled. "Even if it's fiction, if it touches your heart, it has meaning. It has to. Danganronpa has only gone on so long because it's touched the hearts of so many. But be that as it may, the world still refuses to see what happens here as real suffering. Even if it's fiction, the pain born here is real. This fictional world has touched the heart of those in reality, so…if we make our pain clear, perhaps this fiction–this lie–will become real to them too."
"That's delusion. Nothing more than hopeless fantasy from a man who should not even exist." Izuru glared as he held back a snarl.
"Maybe. But that's truely how I feel." Nameless chuckled. "Hey, why don't we make a bet. On whether or not those kids you have no faith in can really touch the world's heart. If you win, you can finish off our rebellion, and Danganronpa can continue forever. But if I win, then they get to leave."
"Tsk. It's always about your 'friends', isn't it?" Izuru taunted.
"At least I have some. Or…at least 'Rin Wakuri' has some." Mumei smiled weakly. "But even if this desire of mine is borrowed, it's what I want. I want them to live if they succeed. Or are you too scared to agree to the bet?"
"I don't see any reason to agree to some bet with a man doomed to die within the next few seconds. I could crush your resistance group any time I want anyway. I don't need your permission." Izuru then huffed as he shook his head. "I'm done talking to you. I didn't come here for a chat."
"Then get on with it. Fulfill your duty, Kazuma."
The nameless man closed his eyes as he braced himself for what came next.
In the end, he never should have existed. Who he was now was a lie, a lie meant for someone else. Nothing about him was original or earned. No one would miss him after he died. They would just miss 'Rin Wakuri'. That was fine. He could accept that now.
At the very beginning, his existence was just a mere whim of chance. He never really mattered in the slightest. In fact, this nameless man was certain that he wasn't even needed here. The old him was convinced he could 'save' the others, but the person he was now believed they could have always saved themselves.
He was certain that those kids could end this horrid game on their own. He was never really needed in this story. Even without his interference, he believed they could have broken free from this game and this fictional world.
If that's true…then maybe everything he did here was for nothing. Just as vapid and fading as a thought.
But…if there's a chance to be more than that…to leave this world with something of value…
Then there was only one choice to make. This mere thought would grow into something more.
Even if my life was nothing more than a lie. Even if it wasn't anything more than a what-if…that doesn't mean I can't live this life the way I want to!
In a quick motion, Rin pulled out the revolver he stashed away within his jacket and swung his arm out as he aimed right at Izuru. In that brief moment, he saw Izuru's eyes widen, but it was a fraction of a second too late.
BANG BANG!
Two shots only heard by two people rang out in the room, and everything went black. Nameless felt his body stagger back before he fell backwards onto the wall behind him. It hurt to breath, but he couldn't help but laugh, even as vision and life left him.
He couldn't be Rin Wakuri. He never could. He was just a failure who couldn't even live up to the name.
The truth was simple: He was never Rin Wakuri. He could never even dream of being him, despite being the man's artificially made doppelganger.
He was just Nameless.
And in the end, that was okay with him.
Because even though he was a failure, he could now say, with certainty, that he lived life the way he wanted to. He died the way he chose.
In those final moments, he was himself, nothing more.
Yet… even as everything began to fade, memories and thoughts flashed in his mind.
Solving cases with Shuichi.
Finding new hobbies with Kaede.
Exploring the world with Rantaro.
Sparing with Tenko.
Enduring pranks from Kokichi.
Learning how to live with Keebo.
Spending time with Kirumi.
The nameless man did what he set out to do, but even as his smiled for the last time, his last thoughts echoed out.
"...I don't want to die. I still…want to…"
With thoughts of what might have been now fading, the final curtain finally closed.
The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles had been destroyed. Not a single thing was left standing after the punishment had been enacted. And for almost an hour, there was no movement.
But after time passed, there was a bit of shifting in the rubble.
"Are you okay…?"
"Y-Yeah. Somehow."
A bit of debris was pushed aside, and from underneath it, a blue-haired youth dug his way out, his hand intertwined with a blonde hair girl in pink.
"H-Hey! S-Someone help me! I-I think my leg is caught under something!" A panicked voice shrieked.
"Hang on. I'm coming!" A lime-haired teen hurried over as he held the girl with dark, olive-tinted hair out from under piles of rock.
"Ah-!"
"Kokichi! Are you alright?" A mechanical boy asked the smaller violet-haired youth who had tripped as they made their way outside.
"Y-Yeah! Of course I am. S-Something like this can't stop the Ultimate Supreme Leader!" The small teen forced a cheeky smile as he tried not to grimace in pain from how he had been pinned under cement not even a few minutes ago.
"Is that everyone?" Rantaro called out as he helped Tenko move towards the group, letting her lean against him as she hobbled with her sprained ankle.
"I…I think so." A mature girl with grayish hair said as she scanned the area. "I believe we all made it through that ordeal."
"Then…we really made it." Kaede gasped. "But…how? How were we saved? Shouldn't…we have died in that punishment?"
"Ah…Yeah, why are we alive…?" Shuichi muttered as he thought back to the end of the trial. None of them had voted, and Izuru claimed Danganronpa had to end in one last punishment. Everything went dark, and the whole room collapsed onto itself before Shuichi was knocked unconscious.
But now…they were all still here after the destruction, mostly unharmed aside from a few scrapes, bruises, and sprains.
They were all alive.
"I wonder…" Shuichi hummed. He tried to think for a moment, but then he noticed his friends staring up at something. Following their gaze, Shuichi looked up, and found himself in awe.
The dome they were trapped under for all these days had been destroyed, and now the real sun was beaming down at them.
Shuichi never thought he would feel like crying by just seeing the real sky, but here he was, trying not to sob.
The killing game really was over. The class trials are over, too. Even the fictional world itself…was now over.
So…where were they now? Another fictional world after the fiction ended? What was left for them here? What could be out there for them now?
The seven remaining survivors were silent for a long while as they all stared into the other side. The real sky, and what laid beyond it. Where they had continued to hope, and where they continued to torture them: the outside world. 53 times, hope moved forward and despair overwhelmed. 53 times, the suffering continued. The world on the other side of the fiction, the real world. They were finally seeing it once again.
Shuichi found himself speechless, as did the others, but the silence couldn't continue, and finally…someone spoke the question they all were wondering.
"So…what do we do now?" Tenko asked.
"It's funny… None of us ever expected to survive that last trial." Rantaro muttered, his eyes kept forward as he stared out into the real world.
"Yeah. I really thought that was the end for us back there." Kaede nodded before she wiped away her tears, both those of sorrow and those of joy.
"But we survived, and that's the truth," Shuichi said as a smile found its way onto his lips.
"It would seem we no longer have a choice in staying here." Keebo noted as he looked around at the ruins they were in. "The academy has been destroyed, and we can no longer stay here."
"Aw…bummer. I think I'm gonna actually miss this place." Kokichi whined before he put his hands behind his head. "But that's fine. It would be boring staying here now."
"H-Hang on! I still wanna know how we survived!" Tenko shouted. "Isn't that bugging any of you guys? We should be dead!"
"We were supposed to die alongside this world, yet we still remain." Kirumi, or at least her copy, noted. "Do…you think Izuru spared us?"
"Huh? Why would he do that?" Kaede asked. "I mean, we destroyed Danganronpa. Why would he let us live after we broke his rules and his game?"
"There wasn't much point in letting fictional characters like us live anyway." Rantaro nodded. "I mean, he repeated over and over that there was no point in escaping to the outside world."
"Then…do you think he did it because he believed that's what the outside world would want?" Keebo asked. "Izuru claimed he served the world. Perhaps seeing the world reject Danganronpa convinced him that the world might want us to live."
"I dunno about that. I mean, we might have only survived due to dumb luck." Kokichi shrugged. "Or maybe…this isn't about what the outside world wanted, but what Izuru wanted."
"You think Izuru might have wanted to save us? But why?" Kirumi asked.
"Maybe…he was just like us in the end." Shuichi proposed.
"Huh? What makes you say that?" Rantaro asked.
"It's just…I find it hard to believe that after being put through the same suffering we were forced through so many times, Izuru would support the killing games so wholeheartedly." Shuichi explained. "It makes me think back to what he said to us during that trial. He said 'Do you see now? There's no fighting this. There's no fighting the world of Danganronpa. Nothing you do can change anything. Nothing you do will save you from your circumstances now. All that's left for you is to just accept it. It would be easier if you did that.' I think, he hated this killing game just as much, if not more so, than any of us."
"But then why did he fight for it so much?" Tenko asked. "If he hated the killing game, then he should have just helped us end it! It would have been way easier that way!"
"But that's the thing. He didn't think he could change things. He was convinced the world couldn't change." Rantaro pointed out. He then placed a hand on his chin as he hummed a little. "Now that you mention it, do you recall what he said before the punishment? He said 'hold your heads up high, for you beat the world itself, and you beat me. You've finally achieved the wishes all fictional characters have had'. Going by his own standards, you could say he was just as fictional as us."
"Then…he was really happy that we changed the world in the end?" Kaede found herself asking.
"If he wasn't just lying." Kokichi pointed out. "Perhaps he thought fiction was nothing more than a lie and sided with reality? Maybe he wanted this lie to become real? Who knows? I mean, he still chose to side with Team Danganronpa after everything was said and done, and it seems like he's gone now. Guess we'll never get a clear answer about it."
"I can't help but wonder though." Keebo frowned.
"C'mon guys. Cheer up. We're here now, and that's what matters." Shuichi smiled. "It's all over now. So…let's head outside. With confidence." Shuichi then turned to the sky. "The outside world is waiting."
"The outside world, huh?" Kaede muttered. "What do you think it's like out there?"
"Izuru said that it was a peaceful world with no fighting and no despair," Kirumi stated.
"Yeah… if he wasn't lying." Shuichi frowned.
"Oh? You think that was just a lie, Shumai?" Kokichi pressed.
"I-I don't have any proof. It's just…Izuru mentioned that even before this, there was a small handful of people fighting Danganronpa in the outside world. That doesn't necessarily sound entirely peaceful."
"So…what do you think that means for us?" Tenko asked nervously.
"What indeed…" Shuichi laughed.
"Wait, are you saying you don't know!?" Tenko shouted.
"Ah, well, I do have some theories." Shuichi admitted. "But nothing concrete. It's just that I feel like there are still a lot of things left unanswered, or things I find odd even now."
"Like what?" Kirumi pressed.
"Well, that video Izuru showed us… the way we were when…we first arrived here." Shuichi began. "I still don't believe it. I can't believe that any of us would volunteer for this. I also…can't believe anyone would willingly let themselves be changed into a dead person, like what he said happened to you and Rin, Kirumi."
"Are…you saying I'm not a copy?" Kirumi asked before shaking her head. "But that isn't possible. We saw the surgery and the real Kirumi died. That is fact."
"That's true, but that doesn't mean the original you wanted this." Shuichi pointed out. "Maybe…you were tricked into becoming 'Kirumi Tojo'?"
"We forgot everything about our old selves after being exposed to those Flashback Lights. So none of us have any idea what we might have felt or thought back then." Rantaro sighed. "That's what Izuru said, at least."
"But that's what bugs me. Even if we were obsessed with this killing game, I still can't believe we would participate in it or let ourselves be altered to such extents. I just…don't believe it." Shuichi argued. "Ah, but…I don't really have any logic behind that…"
"One of Kaito's hunches, huh?" Kaede playfully teased.
"Geez, Shumai. Aren't detectives supposed to have evidence to support their theories?" Kokichi snickered. "Well, not that there's any evidence left. I doubt we'll be able to check when we all applied, right?"
"So in the end, we still do not know what was true or not." Keebo frowned as he looked back to the outside world. "The fictional world ends here, and the real world lies out there. Perhaps…the truth is just beyond there."
"It might not, though." Tenko pointed out while biting her lips.
"Yeah. Perhaps the world out there is just as fictional as this one." Rantaro nodded.
"Maybe Danganronpa still continues out there." Kirumi tightened her fists at the thought.
"Or maybe the world out there is just like this world." Kokichi smiled. "It might be a world full of lies. If it is…doesn't that sound like fun?"
"You would want to live in a world of lies?" Keebo asked with an amused, yet exasperated tone.
"Why not? After all, lies can be whatever you want." Kokichi laughed. "It would be better than a world made up of cruel truths, don't you think."
"Huh… When you put it that way, I guess it doesn't seem so bad." Kaede hummed. "But…we won't know for certain until we go out there."
"Yeah, but…I feel like there's not too much meaning in truth and lies." Shuichi said. "I mean, even if something is a lie, even if it's fiction, if it has the power to change the world, then it must contain some kind of truth. Aren't we proof of that? In this fictional world, we overcame all these fictional struggles, but those things changed us. And we were able to change the world. So it doesn't really matter where the truth ends and where the lies begin. If lies can change the world just as well as the truth can, then lies…might just be another way of telling the truth. Some lies can lead the world to hope… Some truths can lead the world to despair. So I don't think anyone can really say which is more right in the end."
Kokichi's smile somehow managed to grow larger as he nearly jumped onto Shuichi, despite the small boy's injuries. "Shumai! You finally understand me! I knew you'd come around eventually!"
"H-Hey!" Shuichi yelped as he tried to pull himself free from the supreme leader. Meanwhile, the others thought more about what he said.
"Huh… Then, I guess it's not important whether it's a truth or a lie. Just what it leads to…" Tenko pointed out.
"Then…It's like they say: The truth is in the eye of the beholder." Rantaro pointed out. "It doesn't matter, whether it's truth and lies. What matters is how it affects people. Fiction and lies aren't inherently evil, after all."
"Then…everything here really did have meaning, right?" Kaede asked. "I…don't want to think it was all pointless."
"Of course it wasn't meaningless," Keebo told her. "Everything that happened here, while fictional, was real to us. While it might have been a lie, it was our truth. I'm sure…the others would agree if they were here."
"The others… I wonder what they would say about all of this if they had survived with us." Kirumi pondered. "I wonder…what Rin would say if he saw us now."
"I'm not sure," Shuichi answered after Kokichi finally let go of his arm. "But…I'm really grateful for everything he did for us. He gave us so much in the end. I'd hate to think what might have happened if he wasn't here."
"Do you think we would have ended up here regardless of what happened?" Kokichi asked.
"Maybe…but I think I'm glad this is how it turned out. Seven of us are still here, after all. Maybe there would have been more of us here if things had gone differently. Maybe there would have been less of us. Regardless, I don't think I would want it to change. I don't think I'd change anything that happened here." Shuichi said. "Because…everything that happened here meant something to everyone here."
"Yeah. There's no point in thinking about what might have been. All that's left…is to take that final step forward." Kaede nodded as she and the others turned back to the outside world.
Suddenly, Kokichi began to speak up again, this time in a more somber tone than usual. "I think, once we get out there, I'm gonna try and figure out who Rinny really was. That's what he wanted, after all."
"Hm? Oh! Right! In his final message to us." Tenko gasped. "He did tell us that, huh?"
Once you guys get out…if you could…I don't know…remember me? I'm not sure that's the right way to explain it. I'd rather you not remember who I am right now. Not like this. But, if you could remember the person I was before once this is all done…if that's even possible, then…I think that's all I could ask for. If even one person kept 'me' in their hearts, that'd be enough for me.
"That's right." Kaede gasped before she gave a small nod. "Then count me in too. I want to know the real name of my friend, too."
"That's right. He might not have been the real Rin Wakuri, but he was still our friend we spent time with. I want to honor his final wish as well." Keebo said.
"Then…do you think we could learn who I was before this, too?" Kirumi asked.
"I don't see why not. If we can find out who Rin really was, we can do the same for you. After all, even if you're not the real Kirumi, you're still our friend too." Rantaro pointed out.
"That's right! We went through so much together here! I can't not call you a friend just because of what we learned!" Tenko nodded vigorously.
"But…what will you do after we learn who you are? Will you try to go back to being that person?" Shuichi asked.
"I…do not know. The truth is I most likely can never go back to being who I was before, but I also cannot go back to being 'Kirumi Tojo'." Kirumi then smiled as she made up her mind. "But I can still live as myself. No matter what happens, I want to keep living, whatever may come. Because…that's what I want, and that's what he wanted of me."
"Then…all that's left to do is to head out," Shuichi said. "We stand with one foot in fiction, and one foot in reality."
"Then, we need to see for ourselves whether this fictional world has changed the outside world." Kaede joined in as she latched her hand with Shuichi's. "And what we can do from this point on."
"You're right. We can't stay in this fictional world forever. It's already over." Rantaro nodded. "We survived, and we won, but the hard part comes after."
"Yeah. we gotta take everything we learned in this world into the next." Tenko smiled. "For us…and everyone else."
"Yes. we'll see what this world gained, and what it lost, and all the rest." Keebo affirmed. "Let's find out. Together."
"Nee-heehee…looks like we'll be heading off into another adventure, huh?" Kokichi snickered before his mischievous grin became more genuine. "...It doesn't sound boring in the slightest."
And so…they took that final step.
To the other side of this world.
To the other side of fiction.
They would take that step and find out what lies beyond together. It's what they could accomplish now.
The curtain might have closed, but the story lives on. Even now. Even on the other side…it lives on there, as well. Thus, the story must also live on.
Was this lie able to change something? Was this lie able to change someone? Was this lie able to change the world?
Was this lie more than just a small, fading thought dreamt up by someone?
If it was able to change even the smallest thing…then, even as things end, the story isn't over.
Hope. Despair. Past. Future. Truth. Lies. Reality. Dreams.
Throughout it all the lies, one thing is still clear:
It all meant something. For them…and someone else.
The End
It's over. It's finally over. About four years of work...now finished.
Holy shit.
I just want to say thank you for everyone who kept reading until the end. This is the first story I've finished, and honestly, I never imagined reaching this point. A part of me felt like this story would be a part of my life forever, and it sorta will be, but in it's finished form. Rin Wakuri's story, or rather, Rin Wakuri (V3)'s story is now over. I know I playfully title dropped in previous chapters, but I hope this one really showed you why I named gave this story it's title.
So what happens now? Well, this story is over, but I still have a few things left to do in regards to it. I'm rewriting the prologue currently, though I am not sure when it will be finished. The prologue arc will be revamped and probably be less chapters than it currenly is, but each chapter will be as long as my usual chapters now, which is about 10k words per chapter. Alongside the prologue rewrite, I might also go back to old chapters and rearrange them to also fit that average lenght instead of the random lengths the early chapters currently have. I might rewrite free time events so that they aren't just copy pasted from V3's canon free times like they are right now, and I might combine small chapters into one. But that's for later. All these rewrites and rearranging stuff is at the bottom of my priority list.
What I'll focus on next is my Dragon Ball story and my RWBY/Fate story. I want/need to push out a chapter for Bit by Bit because it's been so long, and once I do that, I'll try to hop back and forth between Bit by Bit and Draw of the Cards. I might also write stuff for my other stories, too, but the DBZ and RWBY/Fate stories are at the top of my priority lists.
But good news! Now that I've finished EaST, I can finally write random bullshit with the characters whenever I want! That means I can write tons of one-shots for my story drafts, ideas, extras, and one-shot storage whenever I get bored, so look out for those. I already have some written, and I have plenty of one-shot ideas.
I also want to post bonus extra content too, like an unused execution idea I had for Arc 5, Rin Wakuri (V3) free time events with Shuichi and Kaede, maybe a love hotel scene with Rin (If I do this, should it be with Shuichi like every other hotel scene, or should it be with, ahem, someone else wink wink nudge nudge), and if people want, a Q/A where I can answer any remaining questions regarding the story. Heck, I even want to do something regarding Rin (V3) in the Ultimate Talent Development stuff, having him interact with other characters and the like. But that will come whenever I feel like it, but keep an eye out for when those get posted to my extra's story. they won't be part of EaST's main story here.
Aside from that, I hope anyone who liked EaST checks out my other stories. I probably won't do anything else regarding Danganronpa or V3, but you might like my other stuff. I'm also still planning on writing Rain Code stuff in the future, with my main idea being a Fate Crossover (because I love Fate stuff and I have so many ideas regarding it). That story will be really interesting for any fans of this story, I'm sure, but I'm still working out my ideas for it.
And as a final side note, I've been asked this question before, but if anyone wants to use something from this story, like Rin Wakuri as a character for art or a story, just ask me, and I'd probably be okay with it. I'd love to see what other people might try to do with my own characters.
Well, that's all I have to say. Thank you all again for reading this story. Entertaining a Small Thought means so much to me, and I hope this story was able to be just as enjoyable for you all as it was for me. Until next time.