86Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or anything related to it.
Prologue: Live and Let Die
Everyone choked on air as the results were shown around the room. The deductions seemed perfect. Or, at least, they were as good as they could be, given the circumstances. Kyoko Kirigiri was the only one who could have killed the mysterious sixteenth student Mukuro Ikusaba.
And, yet-
"Man, you guys really blew it at the last second, didn't you?" The monochrome bear sighed mockingly. "The blackened this time was Makoto Naegi; who has now been granted the right to graduate!"
No one said anything. How could they? This just couldn't be real.
"N-no! That's not possible!"
Even Byakuya's voice was shaky. Truth be told he had not suspected any of his classmates, but Kyoko was the one with the worst alibi, so naturally the blame fell on her.
Had he actually made a mistake?
"Naegi, how could you!?"
Aoi's cries fell on deaf ears as the Ultimate Lucky student stood shell-shocked from the announcement.
'How…? How can this be…? I didn't do anything!'
Tears rolled down his cheeks as his mind attempted to catch up to the situation on hand. Of course, he wouldn't get any answers to his questions. Why would he? He had yet to receive any thus far in the 'game', why start now.
"Upupupu, 'how could he' you say?" Monokuma smiled gleefully. "Well it's rather simple kiddo's; he killed her. Nothing more, nothing less." He shook his head sadly. "Geez it's like you kids aren't used to this yet."
His grin was bloody.
"Well, I guess that doesn't matter anymore, now does it? Upupupu-!"
Makoto snapped out of it.
"BUT THAT'S WRONG! I-!"
"Okay that's enough stalling," the bear cut him off. "It's time for your graduation ceremony, Makoto-kun!"
The faces of his classmates in that moment, he could never forget. Aoi's expression of complete betrayal. Byakuyas' shell-shocked expression. He probably figured himself to be invincible.
Not here he wasn't.
Hiro was sitting in the corner praying to some non-existent deity to save him. It didn't help.
Toko looked to be convulsing as her personalities continued switching rapidly.
And Kyoko-
"I know it wasn't you."
He turned to stare at the still-emotionless mask of the pink-haired girl in front of him.
"What do you-?"
"You didn't kill Mukuro Ikusaba. I believe in you." She gave a small smile. "I don't need evidence to feel assured of that fact."
Within the span of a second she placed a key alongside a rolled-up piece of paper into his hand and leaned in close.
"You can fix this. I believe in you, Naegi-kun."
It was in this moment that five metal arms pulled the five unwilling students away. Makoto could only stare at the screen in front of him as his heart broke in two.
The last word ever spoken by Kyoko haunting his mind.
"Goodbye."
Game Over
Byakuya, Toko, Aoi, Yasuhiro and Kyoko have all been found guilty
Time for the Punishment!
…
…
…
The execution was horrible. No, it was worse than that. 'Horrible' was a nice word for something as impossible as what he saw. It was as if the mastermind pulled out all the stops; making the final 'event' the most despair-inducing thing he had ever bore witness to.
If that was in fact their plan, they succeeded. Whoever the hell they were.
His classmates' deaths weren't done in ironic fashion like they had been previously. Instead of giving their deaths some form of semblance to their talents, it was just a complete massacre of Monokuma robots. It was bloody, it was gruesome.
It was uninspired.
Makoto thought, as a self-deprecating laugh found its way through his throat. How else was he supposed to react? Was he supposed to wince when Byakuya's leg got impaled; or was he meant to wait and do that after he was dog-piled and torn apart. Was his sense of empathy lacking when he had no reaction to Hiro trying in vain to pull the bears off Aoi and Toko only to be overwhelmed and ripped limb from limb? Or maybe he was supposed to start sobbing when Kyoko, the final survivor, made eye-contact with the camera before being stabbed from every conceivable orifice.
Makoto didn't know, he couldn't tell anymore. He was fully numb now. It was as if he no longer felt anything really.
He didn't even notice the cameras powering off, nor did he hear the voice until it was directly behind him.
"Makoto-kunnnnnn! I hope you enjoyed the show!"
Turning blankly away from the screen Makoto was brought face-to-face with an unearthly beauty. Long pink hair tied down two separate ways, a buxom figure and the most plastic smile he had ever seen.
A spark of realization passed by his face.
"Enoshima-san…? You're the mastermind…?"
She looked surprised by the tone of his voice for a second before recovering.
"Yup, yup! That poor excuse for a girl that you met at the start was my sister Mukuro Ikusaba!" She grinned. "Of course, she was already dead so this trial held no real meaning."
Makoto stared at her, no sense of emotion passing by his eyes.
"I see. So then why was I chosen to be let go?" He walked up to her, standing a good deal below her in height. "Why me? Surely you could have spun it so someone else would have been the one to leave. Since you obviously don't give a shit about the rules-"
"Ah contraire my dear Makoto-kun!" Pulling glasses from seemingly out of nowhere she began to lecture him. "You see, it has come to my attention that out of everyone here, even above Kyoko-chan, YOU were the real issue here."
He cocked his head to the side.
"Me?"
Internally, Makoto realized that he should be feeling some form of anger towards the person in front of him. But… he just felt too gone.
Too done.
"Yes, yes!" the girl continued excitedly. "You with your hope-filled speeches, surprisingly effective deductive reasoning and that sickening never-die attitude… I needed you gone." Her smile grew farther. "Of course, this serves another purpose but before that…"
The mastermind went on a tirade. A laundry list of explanations behind her plan, an explanation of the world outside including the hostage situation in Towa City. For the first time during this whole mess Makoto felt a twinge of happiness at hearing his sisters' safety.
Though that ended quickly.
"And that is why I decided to keep you alive, and only you!"
Makoto was confused.
"How does that make sense? If anything, having more people to oppose your reign sounds like it would just be problematic to you."
She grinned.
"Ah, yes. On paper that would be true. However, this 'Future Foundation' I've been telling you about has been watching the entire broadcast up until the end of the execution. The camera's only shut off before I approached you, after all." She paused for dramatic effect. "What would they think of you now?"
Ah. That was her plan.
Simple really, but executed in a way that would leave no sign of her interference. Turning him into a martyr for both sides; someone who opposed despair but still fell for it at the last second. After all, to them, he killed his classmates to escape.
He would get no help from either team, then. He was screwed.
"As you probably figured out, they will never accept you and your friends are, of course, dead." She put a finger to her chin. "And if you're thinking about getting your little sister to safety, don't bother. I have a contingency plan in effect for her too. I wouldn't expect her to survive much longer, if I'm honest."
Makoto knew he should have asked for details, but it was pointless. There was nothing he could do about it after all. Komaru was just another person he inadvertently helped kill.
…
"Sooooooo? Have you fallen into despair yet?"
He considered the question, not realizing it was rhetorical. He had no way of knowing this, however. Junko had ensured that Makoto had been given maximum exposure to Ryota's finest work. So, there was simply no way that-
"No."
It was quiet, so quiet that Junko almost didn't hear it. She looked at him, expression barren from her face.
"What did you say-?"
"I said no. I have not fallen into despair." He paused as if to formulate his words. "I just don't feel hope right now either… it's empty."
A spark of intrigue entered the girls' eyes. 'An outlier, this late in the game…?' The second person to resist Ryota's videos. Interesting. Interesting… but not enough for her.
She shrugged.
"Well whatever. Truthfully I don't really care about you anymore Makoto-kun so I'll give you a friendly word of advice." She smiled brightly. "Get out of the city as fast as you can if you want to avoid the remnants and the Future Foundation. Like I said, I don't give a shit about you, but consider this warning an additional prize for clearing Hope's Peak."
A wave, "ja ne!" and she was gone.
Makoto stared at the spot for a while longer.
His mind was in disarray and the numbness had spread farther.
Now what?
It must have been a good ten minutes before the boy decided to leave the trial grounds and head back upstairs. As he walked down the hall he stared blankly at the two items he fished from his pocket.
The Monokuma key and some crumpled piece of paper…?
It looked like instructions.
'The headmaster's private room. Under keyboard.'
What…?
Well, he figured he still had a bit of time if he hurried. Picking up speed he reached the fourth floor and opened the door carefully. Half-expecting to find the pink-haired mastermind inside he was pleasantly surprised to find it empty.
However-
"It's not here?"
Did Junko find it first and dispose of it? For some reason, that seemed unlikely to the boy. Kyoko gave this to him as a last wish. If it were discovered immediately after being handed over, that would have been anti-climactic, to say the least. On top of that, he held serious doubts that the mysterious student had been discovered.
She always defied his expectations, after all.
"So, does that mean the Headmaster's private room is another place entirely?"
It seemed plausible. After all, the place where someone worked was generally not the place where they would relax.
If so…
"Perhaps it's in the one area I haven't explored yet."
While there were rooms he had yet to open; such as the control room and bio lab, Junko had already told him what they were used for so he figured they were irrelevant.
The second floor of the dorms on the other hand-
"Here. It's gotta be here."
An alien spark of excitement coursed through his bones as he trudged through the ruins and arrived at the immaculately kept door in front of him. Baiting his breath, he used the key in his hand to unlock it and was met with a room that looked far nicer than anything around it. Taking a quick scan around, he spotted the computer with ease.
Approaching it cautiously he lifted the keyboard up and was met with a small sticky note.
'2nd shelf, alcoholic cabinet.'
He had seen it when he walked in. A small cupboard in the middle of the room, with a variety of different bottles lining its shelves. Approaching it slowly, he unlatched the clasp and pushed some of them aside.
Behind them were two books, both incredibly lengthy, and both missing author names.
The concept of time traveling written by the Ultimate Physicist in partnership with the Ultimate Neurologist and the-.
The basics of survival and advancements, written by the Ultimate Survivor in partnership with the Ultimate Adventurer and the-.
"What the hell is this?"
If Makoto was honest, he had no idea what he was looking at. What was he meant to do with this?
Or in another manner of speaking, why did Kyoko specifically set these two books aside and why were they here in the first place?
He decided that at the present moment it mattered very little. He had to hurry and escape as soon as he could.
Picking them up a small note fall out of the top book.
'Under the couch.'
Sighing at the game of cat and mouse he decided to do as it says and looked underneath the piece of furniture. What met him, was a well-made backpack that looked to be designed specifically for hiking.
Opening the front pouch, he saw a lighter, canteen, and a survival knife. Things he would certainly need if he intended to survive long-term.
Did his luck finally decide to give him a break?
He chuckled mirthlessly. After everything he had gone through, his luck owed him a hell of a lot more than this, but it was a start at least.
Stuffing the books, alongside some of the expensive looking alcohol into his bag, he darted out of the room. If he was going to survive this, he should do his best to grab all the supplies he could before leaving the school.
Thinking ahead, before heading downstairs grabbed a couple packages of seeds from the greenhouse. Cities, if what Junko said were true, had all been overrun. As such, making it in the long-term would require him to make his home in nature.
Checklist still in mind, he darted towards the cafeteria and loaded up on as many non-perishables that he could stuff into the pouches, being sure to fill up his canteen as well.
His room was the final step before freedom. Taking a spare set of clothes into his bag he was impressed by the amount it was able to hold. Grabbing his toothbrush and other essentials he looked into the mirror one last time.
A spark of determination was there. A chance.
Hope wasn't lost.
It had been a few days since Makoto had left Hopes Peak academy. Thankfully, due to his small frame he was able to get away from the distant factions without concern. Furthermore, he was never one to gouge himself on food so the items he took should last him for a good while longer.
He hoped.
The survival book, thankfully, had a map of the areas surrounding Hopes Peak, and in quite exquisite detail too. It wasn't hard to get out of the city and into a forest-based area.
Finding a cave at the edge of his vision, Makoto sighed in relief before running towards it and holding himself inside. Thankfully, there were no wild animals in the area for him to worry about.
Another bi-product of his luck trying to help fix things? He found the concept laughable at best.
He was thankful once more that it was summer so he didn't have to worry about starting a fire in an area just outside the city. He did not want to alert anyone to his current location. Though, he already had a few close calls.
Taking a place by some rocks he began flipping through the survival book. A quick glance through the pages showed just how beneficial it would truly be to his success. Not only that, but it was laid out in a simple manner that even someone as painfully average as he could understand.
It was… good.
Not long after settling down, however, he heard the tell-tale signs of an alarm going off in the distance. The Future Foundation task-force was closing in on him it seems. Sighing to himself he put everything back in his bag and left the cave; preparing to head further off the map in the direction the book claimed to be less population-dense.
He could only hope.
A year. It had been one full year since the worst day of his life and he had become an unwilling refugee in a world that had ended. Today also marked four months since the last time he had heard that damned Future Foundation alarm. He assumed that meant the organization finally bit the dust. Which, while that was good for him as it meant fewer people chasing him; it was a double-edged sword since they were technically meant to be the good guys trying to counteract the end of the world.
Fat lot of good that did them.
Makoto snorted as he continued sharpening his knife.
"I gotta hand it to them, they were persistent while it lasted."
The area the Luckster had finally decided on was as secluded as one could hope for. Surrounded on all sides by trees, there was a small lake for baths and a small cabin he built nearby for shelter.
All in all, it was perfect for an introverted recluse like himself.
"Look at me, the world's ending around me and I've become a hermit."
The young man chuckled lightly in derision before sighing. He was almost nineteen years old now and finally reached his growth spurt he had been dreaming of for years.
'Though there's no one left to see such a thing, is there?'
He shook his head. No. There's no sense in worrying about what he could have changed. Because in all honesty, what could he have realistically done?
"Nothing."
That was always the answer he came back to each time. While he knew that he was no longer as optimistic as he once was, he wasn't someone to give up on things just because they were difficult either.
Still.
"What's done is done. Now, lets get some lunch ready."
He had decided to sleep in later today, resting after yesterday's workout session. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure why he continued to go through such rigorous training segments. There was no one left to protect anymore. He hadn't even been near another person in over half a year, a sane one far longer ago than that.
Still, his days were like clockwork, so why stop now?
Plus, looking down at the growing muscle definition, he could definitely see himself with noticeable abs within another year of this. Though, again, who would care by that point.
Certainly not him.
Starting a small fire, he began to cook some fish he caught the other day from a nearby stream. While not one of his favourites in the past, he had grown to appreciate the flavours when cooked properly as the survival guide instructed him.
The book was honestly a Godsend.
If he didn't have it, he would have died months ago. His basic instincts for survival would have only taken him so far and he was eternally grateful to the girl that inadvertently got him here.
"Kirigiri-san…"
Of course, there was another book he took with him. Though, he had yet to actually dive into it past the introduction. It was just so… far-fetched. Not to mention complicated. Plus, what was someone like him supposed to do about it.
He knew the idea, of course. He did understand what Kyoko intended for him to do. Or, herself, if she had managed to survive everything. Go back in time and stop Junko before anything happened.
Not for the first time, he wished his far more intelligent friend had been the one to make it. Not him.
Because in his mind, there was no way he could do it.
If he had been asked to do it, had he known about the situation, months ago; then he would have certainly considered it.
Now though?
"What's even the point." He muttered. "There is no way I could learn something as complex as the science behind time travel. And even… even if I could, I'm not… I'm not someone who could really make a difference."
It was an excuse. He knew that.
He was just scared.
Terrified, even.
Makoto was aware the chances of actually figuring out time travel of all things to be a nearly impossible task. He figured, it was better to not try at all than to get close but fail at the end. Plus, the amount of trial and error it would take was ridiculous. The amount of time required was astronomical. Impossible for him.
Right?
He scoffed and took a shot of alcohol from his shot glass, a bad habit he picked up from his months of isolation.
No, that wasn't right at all.
There is a good chance that he was one of the last sane people left on this God-forsaken planet and if that's the case then all he had left was time.
He flipped the book open.
Might as well make the most of it.
Two and a half years. A good year and a half since he threw himself into the basics of research, which was a year since he initially fled from Hopes Peak.
God, has it really been that long?
Gone was the naïve Luckster who just wanted to fit in. He died years ago, in his mind. Personality-wise he had become far more self-deprecating, but smarter. Far smarter.
The basics of science was no longer something he even considered a minor struggle. Gone were the years of mathematics being the bane of his existence. He almost laughed at the thought.
In fact, aside from his minor alcoholic problem, he was probably all the better for it.
It had been over a month, after all, since he managed to crack the code and finished the creation of his time machine.
It was a simple little thing. Nothing at all like the design of the grandiose air purifier Junko had tried to convince them of. No, instead it took the form of a small watch which fit snugly around his wrist. It was thrown together with scraps of metal and other minerals he found from scavenging far away towns and underneath the cave systems nearby.
Of course, he had yet to actually test it out but the fundamentals were all there. So theoretically it should work.
"Well… it had better, after all this time."
He looked around him. His luck was meant to run out eventually, he guessed. Somehow his peaceful secluded area had been tracked down by the remnants. He had no choice but to abandon it.
'After all this damn time, they're still chasing after me.'
He sighed. There was no use whining about it now, that was three whole days ago and he could only knock them out so many times before they start coming at him as a complete unit.
Though, Makoto couldn't keep the cocky grin from coming on his face at the thought that he had actually managed to best them all in one on one combat. Even Nidai and Owari had been beaten, albeit barely.
'Though, I'd rather not take my chances if they all came at me at once.'
On top of everything he had to leave behind his shelter, supply of water as well as his garden. This left him with little to no hope of surviving for any serious length of time.
Judging by the sounds closing in on his position, however, that was the least of his worries.
"Ah! There, you are Makoto-chan, it's been so long!" Junko cocked her head to the side in intrigue. "Damn boy you finally grew up. It's too bad I gotta kill ya! You look hella fine."
Opening his eyes, the Luckster stood up and raised an eyebrow at the approaching group, ignoring the fashionista's comments.
"Quite the colourful cast you've accrued for yourself there, Enoshima-san. Fits you and your multiple personalities quite well, I must say."
Blinking at his statement she could not stop the grin from appearing on her face.
"I suppose you're right. Though, we aren't here to chat as you could probably guess."
Looking at the others surrounding her, he narrowed his eyes at their expressions. Madness and anger being the only ones prevalent for him to see.
Lovely.
"Here to kill me, huh? The last remnant of hope left in this world?"
A smile stretched across her face.
"Yes, yes! Oh, you know me so well Makoto-chan." Her expression changed to a pout. "I'm amazed you managed to elude me for so long though. You really are lucky, you know that?"
He shrugged his shoulders with a mirthless smile.
"I suppose I am. Though you're really going to kill me? The last hope this world has?" He sighed.
"How boring."
Boring. The word Junko Enoshima hated above all else, and Makoto knew this very well.
"You say that Makoto-kun… but you are my final conquest. I simply cannot wait to rip apart any semblance of hope from you."
He grinned.
"Hm, is that so?" he asked mockingly. "Fine then. So, am I allowed any last words? For old time sake?"
Motioning for her group to stand back she studied him for a moment before nodding.
"I can grant you that before I give you my final execution." She paused as glasses materialized on her face. "I can promise you that it won't be pleasant."
Makoto laughed.
"Well, I suppose I'll limit myself to only two words then."
Holding up his watch he grinned as her eyes widened in stunned realization.
"Ja, ne!"
Makoto Naegi was no more.
A/N: And here is the prologue to a little plot bunny that's been jumping around in my mind for months now. I am far from abandoning my main story, The Ultimate Assistant, (that'll always have my focus), I just figured I could give you guys something extra to read as a birthday present from me to you X).
This story will purposefully have a lot of clichés in it, as a means to light up the darker overtones of the plot so don't worry if some aspects of it sound like things you've heard before. It's intentional :P.
Let me know what you think by reviewing! I love hearing what you have to say. Though I doubt this story will garner much of a response lol.
See ya next time! :D