Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

DISTRUST: THE FLOWERS OF ROMANCE

~Lonely Boy~

It was not unusual for Leon Kuwata to be nodding off at the back of a classroom. There had been many times where he had been nudged awake by a fellow student or a teacher, and usually he could hear the giggles of his classmates as he came back to the world of reality.

This time, though, was different.

“Excuse me?”

Such a soft and gentle voice…

“Huh?”

Leon stirred awake, and he could practically feel his own drool dribbling down his chin. He looked up at whoever was standing over his desk, still groggy from having his sleep disturbed, but as soon as he saw who it was, he almost jumped straight out of his seat.

Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation.

“Ah! I'm up, I’m up!” he exclaimed with pure panic in his voice, bolting upright; he could already feel his cheeks heating up from the embarrassment.

Sayaka just softly tittered behind her hand, as if amused by how flustered Leon was.

“Don't worry,” she assured, “you're not the only one who woke up in here. The others have gathered in the main hall already, but I didn't want anyone to get left behind.”

She almost didn't seem like a real person. She was wearing a regular school uniform, yet somehow on her it looked like an expensive outfit only she could wear. Her hair was long and straight, looking like a fine silk with no imperfections. Her skin was like untouched porcelain, and as far as Leon could tell, she wasn't even wearing any makeup.

Even her voice sounded like it belonged to an angel; he could only imagine what her singing sounded like in-person.

Leon realised he must have been staring without saying a word, so he quickly snapped himself out of it and stood himself up quickly, resting his hands on his desk.

“Uh, yeah! We shouldn't keep the others waiting, huh?”

He had never said such a sentence in his life.

Even worse; his voice cracked as he spoke.

Yet Sayaka just continued to smile as she nodded her head in agreement.

“Come on, let's go,” she said to him, her voice full of energy.

Leon stretched his arms before moving away from his desk. He followed after Sayaka, still feeling the redness in his own face; he watched her from behind as he walked, clearing his throat.

“Wait, did you say that I wasn't “the only one” who woke up in that classroom?” he asked.

Sayaka turned her head to look back over her shoulder briefly; the cheery smile on her face had softened into one riddled with confusion, and perhaps even a hint of concern.

“I'm not sure what happened,” she explained, “but I remember walking into the main hall, and then suddenly I was in that classroom. Some other students were there, too.”

That was weird.

“Huh,” was all Leon could vocalise in response.

It wouldn't have been strange if only one student passed out in the main hall and woke up in a classroom, but multiple?

“Hopefully, we can find out what's going on soon,” Sayaka went on, “but something doesn't feel right. First, multiple students faint in the main hall, and then we wake up in a classroom with boarded windows. It just… feels wrong.”

Boarded windows?

Leon hadn't even noticed that.

As they walked down the hall together, it suddenly became noticeable; there was no sunlight seeping into the building. He couldn't tell if it was night or day; the halls were illuminated only by electricity.

“Boarded windows, huh?” he muttered, mainly to himself.

“Yeah,” Sayaka answered, swallowing a lump in her throat, “and it doesn't look like anyone can just remove them, either. They're boarded with huge metal plates that are bolted in place.”

That was definitely not right.

Leon had only been awake for a few minutes, yet somehow, the world in his dreams made more sense.

“A-Anyway, here we are,” Sayaka announced as she forced herself to smile again.

Sayaka walked through the doors first, entering the main entrance hall of the school. Leon followed right after her, and he could see a gathering of other students.

The thing that caught his attention more, though, was the huge metal door which definitely wasn't there when he first arrived at the school.

Yeah. Something definitely wasn't right.

“Hmph. That should be the last two, then,” came the voice of a blond young man wearing glasses.

“Can we be certain?” asked a gothic girl with long, twirly black pigtails. “Perhaps there are others in other parts of the school, no?”

“Only fifteen of us, huh?” asked a tall tough-looking guy with a unique style to his hair.

“A-Are we really the only ones here…?” asked a quiet girl with short brown hair.

Even if the class was only supposed to consist of fifteen students, where was everyone else? There must have been other classes, and staff, yet nobody else had been seen at all.

One more student made his way through the doors, just after Sayaka and Leon had arrived together.

“Whoa, hey! Another new kid?” came the voice of a tall young man with wavy, upright brown hair.

The way he said it made it clear that everyone in the hall was new to the school. 

“Huh?” came the confused voice of the boy who had just entered the hall. “Then you guys are all…?”

“Yeah,” the quiet girl answered, “we're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class.”

“So counting him, that makes sixteen,” came the voice of a larger boy wearing glasses. “Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone…”

Leon looked around at everyone, still having not processed that these were his classmates. These were the people he was supposed to be spending his school life with. The only person he knew was Sayaka, because everyone knew her, and quite frankly, she was the person he wanted to get to know the most.

There were other girls, too, and guys he could see himself getting along with, though there definitely were some… characters.

“Just a moment!” boomed the loud voice of a young man with the neatest uniform ever seen upon a student. “There's something else we must address!”

His voice had brought Leon back to the conversation, which he had already tuned out of. 

“Makoto! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8 a.m. sharp! To be late on your first day is unspeakable! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!”

Leon could already tell that this guy was going to be a pain in the ass.

“What's your problem?” defended a girl with her blonde hair tied into high, puffy pigtails. “It's not like he wanted to be late. He didn't have any control over it.”

“Everyone just calm down!” called the voice of a brown-haired athletic girl. “Listen, why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves?”

“The hell?” huffed the tough guy from before. “Now's no time for friggin’ introductions!”

Leon was inclined to silently agree; who cared about names and introductions when there was something so obviously wrong with the school and what was going on?

“Maybe, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here,” countered the gothic girl, “I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other's names?”

“That's a good point…” agreed the quiet girl.

“Okay,” Sayaka chimed in, immediately making Leon listen, “so, let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?”

If Sayaka was suggesting it, then Leon was suddenly happy to agree. But he hoped the introductions would be over and done with soon.

The newest student, Makoto, approached where Leon and Sayaka were standing first, though they were among a few other students. Leon decided to get his introduction out of the way first.

“Yo!” he called out to Makoto, “the name’s Leon Kuwata! What’s up?”

Makoto seemed taken aback by his tone, looking him up and down with judgement in his eyes. He seemed to be deep in thought about something.

“You? Seriously?” he suddenly reacted.

What kind of response was that?

“Huh? What's wrong?” Leon asked him.

“N-Nothing,” Makoto stuttered nervously, “I'm just… surprised. I figured with you being the Ultimate Baseball Star and all…”

“What, were you expecting some kid with a shaved head?” Leon scoffed.

“Shaved head…?” Makoto echoed. “No, I was just expecting more of a, you know, sporty-looking traditional baseball player type. I mean, when I found that article and picture of you online, that's how you looked then.”

Makoto was saying this right in front of Sayaka.

This was embarrassing .

“What?” he laughed nervously. “Aw man, you found that picture of me playing baseball? Seriously?! I hate that picture!”

Leon folded his arms, looking away to the side.

“This is not cool. This is SO not cool… Seriously, I'm like, mega embarrassed right now. I didn't have a choice, okay? Shaving your head like that is part of national championship regulations!"

He stood firm, quickly casting Sayaka a glance to make sure she could hear what he was saying.

“But now I refuse to cut my hair! And I'm not gonna dye it back to normal, either!”

Makoto was definitely getting overwhelmed by his passion, so he reigned in his volume.

“Actually, can I be totally honest with you?” he asked, though he answered before Makoto could speak. “I don't like baseball. Like, at all. I've never gone to a single practice.”

Well, he practiced by himself at home, but he wasn't going to admit that.

“And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good! I have my own dream for the future!”

Makoto scratched his cheek.

“A dream… for the future?” he repeated.

Once again, Leon was making sure Sayaka was listening.

“My only path in life is getting into music! You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right? I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar, and we're set!”

Makoto was already preparing to leave to speak to someone else.

“This new version of me that's chasing after my dream is, like… super cool! To the max!”

He was trying to convince Makoto, trying to convince Sayaka, and trying to convince himself.

Yet both Makoto and Sayaka were already talking.

Sayaka was being so friendly with him, and Makoto was blushing like an idiot, too - what guy wouldn't when in the presence of Sayaka Maizono herself?

Leon folded his arms and huffed. It's not like he was jealous or anything. He wasn't listening to what they were talking about, either; he already knew their names, so he didn't need to listen.

The next person Makoto spoke to, after having his lengthy interaction with Sayaka cut short, was another girl student. 

“What's up?” she grinned. “The name's Shiho. Shiho Nakai.”

Leon glanced over, seeing a girl with dark blue hair tied behind her head in a pair of puffy pigtails. She had red eyes and snakebite piercings under her bottom lip. She wasn't super skinny, instead having an athletic build, and she wore a black baggy crop top with some stylised red skull graphic on it. She wore a matching pair of black denim hot pants, too, with a decorative chain attached. Not that Leon intended to look, but she also had a belly button piercing, which could be seen just above her red belt lined with metal studs.

Makoto was studying her the same way he had studied both Leon and Sayaka; obviously, the most boring student had done his research on who his famous classmates were going to be.

“So, like, do you shred?” Shiho asked.

“Huh?” Makoto replied with confusion.

“Do you shred? Or do you bail before you can even pull off an ollie?”

Makoto was visibly getting more and more confused by her words; Leon, too, shared the feeling, and was grateful he was not involved in the conversation.

“I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about…” Makoto admitted before his eyes lit up. “Oh! Right! You must be the Ultimate Skateboarder!” 

“Well, duh ,” Shiho mocked. “Seriously, do you not know a single thing about skateboarding?”

“I can't say I do…” Makoto nervously confessed.

“Ugh, never mind,” Shiho groaned, “anyway, where the hell did you wake up? Were you in a classroom, too?”

“Uh, yeah,” Makoto replied awkwardly, “I'm guessing it was the same for all of us.”

“No!” Shiho shouted, dramatically clutching her head as Makoto flinched. “I woke up right here in the main hall! I thought I'd just passed out right on the spot, y'know?”

“You woke up here?” Makoto immediately responded. “Were you the only one?”

“Damn right!” Shiho confirmed aggressively. “Whoever moved everyone to the classrooms clearly doesn't like me, and when I find out who did it, I'll give ‘em a piece of my mind!” 

Shiho was certainly an intense girl. Makoto seemed eager to get away from her, though both he and Leon considered what she said about being the only one in the main hall. 

Maybe everyone else managed to reach a classroom before passing out, and she simply dropped on the spot? That was a possibility.

Makoto went and introduced himself to everyone else, and as he did so, Leon also listened out for their names. He stayed standing close to Sayaka, though not too close.

Once everyone had introduced themselves, Byakuya Togami quickly encouraged everyone to get back to business. Everyone still had no idea what was going on; it had already been made clear that everyone else woke up in a classroom, aside from Shiho Nakai, just after passing out upon entering the main hall of the school.

“Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know… crime or something?” Junko slowly theorised.

Crime?

Hell no .

“What, like… a kidnapping?” Leon nervously asked her. “You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?”

Considering that the giant metal door definitely wasn't there upon entering the school, and the windows were all blocked by metal plates, it was possible that this was not the real Hope's Peak Academy.

“Come on, don't think like that!” eased Yasuhiro Hagakure. “Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation procedure.”

That had to be it.

This was one of the most famous schools in the world, after all; there was going to be something unique and different about it.

“Yeah, I'm sure that's it!” Yasuhiro continued with an optimistic smile. “So, I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit.”

Chihiro also looked relieved, despite how nervous she had been up until this point.

“Oh… So, you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?” she asked.

The relief was kicking in, and Leon felt like an idiot for not assuming such a thing sooner.

“Huh,” he murmured, “well, if that's all it is, it's nap time for me! I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shut-eye.”

He was already making his way out of the hall, hearing the others behind him coming to similar agreements, but a sound suddenly made him stop in his tracks.

Ding dong, bing bong.

The monitors flickered to life, showing nothing but static and some kind of silhouette.

And then, a voice came through the speakers - a voice so out of place, like something out of a cartoon.

“Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...!”

Everyone had frozen in their tracks before they could leave the main hall, listening to the strange voice. There was no way it could belong to a teacher or any kind of professional member of staff, or even another student, for that matter.

“Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at… right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. ...That's all. I'll be waiting!”

And with that, the monitors flickered off, back to displaying nothing but a black screen.

Silence followed, until a freaked out Junko chose to fill it.

“What. The. Hell was that right now?” she asked with a trembling voice.

Meanwhile, Byakuya did not seem concerned at all.

“Well, then, if you’ll excuse me…” he grumbled as he left the hall first without anything further to say.

“H-Hey!” Junko called out after him. “What, you’re gonna take off just like that?!”

Yet Byakuya was already gone, presumably making his way to the gymnasium. The others had all watched him leave with confusion, unsure what to say until Yasuhiro spoke up with a relaxed and relieved tone of voice.

“Ohh yeah, now I get it!” he exclaimed as if solving a mystery. “This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank god it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was real!”

He began to make his leave, following after Byakuya.

“Alright, guess I'll head out too,” he added as he approached the doors. “Wonder what they got planned for us next…”

Leon figured that there was no point standing around and doing nothing, though he did let out a mildly irritated huff as he rubbed his hand through his hair.

“Damn, I was totally looking forward to that nap, too,” he grumbled as he started walking. “Why'd they have to go and kill the mood?"

“W-Wait for me!” Chihiro shouted (as loud as she could) after him and the previous two who had left. “I wanna go with you!”

“The quicker we get this over with, the quicker we can get some answers,” Shiho could be heard grumbling to whoever as she marched just behind Chihiro, who had practically ran to catch up with the others. 

Surprisingly, Shiho’s marching was faster than Chihiro’s little dash, and she overtook the smaller girl quite easily. Considering Leon was walking at a slower pace, Shiho also went straight past him, as well, and as she steamed ahead, she even caught up to Byakuya, who had hastily left before anyone else.

At first glance, Leon wouldn’t have guessed what her talent was, though the little details in her appearance now made it obvious. She wore a pair of laced sneakers, with the left one being black with red stripes, and the right one being red with black stripes. What appeared to be light grey leg warmers were tucked into the shoes, unless they were just really thick socks. On her right wrist was a thin black and red bracelet, and on her left wrist was a red sweatband, suitable for anyone who was looking to workout.

Leon looked back over his shoulder, deliberately walking a little slower. He was hoping maybe Sayaka would be next to follow, but he only saw Toko Fukawa and Celeste. Nobody else seemed to be hurrying after them, presumably because they were hesitating. Leon debated lagging behind just a little longer, but he didn’t want to make himself look weird; he just picked up the pace and sighed to himself, mainly keeping pace with Chihiro.

Chihiro looked nervous, so Leon chose not to just walk too far ahead of her. They didn’t speak to each other, but he at least wanted to be the type of guy who would look out for the girls and protect them when they were feeling scared.

Although, certain girls were clearly not letting themselves appear afraid.

As Leon and Chihiro entered the gymnasium, Byakuya was simply standing with his arms folded, waiting for everyone else to arrive so that the entrance ceremony could begin. Yasuhiro was awkwardly standing nearby him, though not close enough to look like he was with him; he was watching the gymnasium doors as people began to enter.

“What’s taking everyone so long?” Shiho asked impatiently as she tapped her foot against the floor. “Jeez, do I need to go back and drag ‘em here?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Byakuya answered with a roll of his eyes, clearly already fed up with the girl, “they are not complete imbeciles. They will know that it is compulsory for them to attend this ceremony, regardless of what it entails.”

He spoke in such a condescending tone that visibly seemed to bother Shiho, as she had no problem expressing her dislike for him with her facial gestures. She paced back and forth on the spot; she was agitated, and perhaps also as scared as some of the others while trying to hide it behind her impatience and anger.

The others were definitely taking a little longer to arrive at the gymnasium, which gradually made everyone share Shiho’s impatience. The gym was quiet, and nobody could be seen; not even a teacher or headmaster could be seen standing upon the stage in front of the empty red chairs.

In fact, nobody had been seen on the way to the gymnasium, either.

There really wasn’t anybody else in this school.

Leon wasn’t even aware that he had also started pacing, though he was moving slowly and watching his own feet. He just wanted this ceremony to be over and done with, and once everything was explained, he would just go and find somewhere to sleep, because he definitely felt like he needed it.

He must have been tired, because as he moved to stand closer to the stage, he didn’t even notice that Shiho had moved there, as well. She had jumped up on the stage, looking around for any sign of a teacher.

“S-Should you really be up there?” Chihiro asked nervously as she walked a little closer to the stage. “You could get in trouble…”

“Well, it doesn’t look like anyone’s even around to scold me,” Shiho pointed out as she gestured widely with her arms, “unless you snitch, of course.”

“I-I wasn’t going to,” Chihiro nervously stuttered, “but… did you not notice all the surveillance cameras?”

Shiho looked as Chihiro pointed towards a camera, and she stood for a moment in silence.

“Ah,” was all she reacted with, quickly jumping off the stage and landing with precision. She knew exactly how to bend her knees to make sure she didn’t stumble or hurt herself, and she landed right next to Leon.

This was the first time the pair actually met each other’s gaze, as if finally acknowledging that the other existed.

The same way Makoto had done, Shiho looked Leon up and down as if analysing him, though she was making no effort to hide it. At first, she seemed to have a judgemental look of her own, before her expression shifted.

“Huh?” was all she said.

What was that even supposed to mean?

“...Huh?” Leon reacted after a pause, folding his arms tightly.

“ Huh ?” Shiho repeated with more emphasis; she still sounded like something was on her mind, yet she now sounded more like she was mocking him.

“Huh?!” Leon echoed without even realising it, sounding offended and guarded as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“ Huh?!” Shiho definitely ridiculed, having increased the volume of her voice.

What was her problem?

“Tch, do you imbeciles even know how to speak?” came Byakuya’s voice; since nobody else had arrived, it was easy for everyone present in the gymnasium to hear their interaction.

Shiho was much quicker to react to Byakuya’s words compared to Leon, who was still trying to process Shiho’s behaviour towards him. 

“Wanna come a little closer and say that to my face, four-eyes?!” she snapped, immediately turning away from Leon and beckoning for Byakuya to come closer with her hand.

“Please, come up with a more creative insult,” Byakuya huffed. “We are not in grade school.”

Shiho immediately started marching towards him, clenching her fists as she grinded her teeth together. She looked like she was definitely going to get physical with Byakuya, meanwhile the blond young man just stood there with his arms folded, unmoving.

“I’ll hit you so hard that you won’t be able to speak,” she threatened.

Leon definitely wasn’t going to encourage her to stop; he already hated Byakuya, so it would be nice to see someone shut him up. He wasn’t usually one who’d let a girl get violent first, especially towards a man, but between the two, Shiho looked like she could stand a chance against Byakuya.

Before she could even throw a punch, though, the doors swung open, and the others began to enter the gymnasium one after the other.

Leon’s attention was immediately on Sayaka, who had walked in beside Makoto, though Junko was also close to them.

“Oh,” Makoto spoke up. “It really does look like an entrance ceremony.”

“See?” came Yasuhiro’s chilled voice. “Told ya” It’s totally normal entrance ceremony stuff.”

The gymnasium was certainly decorated in a way which looked fitting for an entrance ceremony. The other circumstances may have been strange, but so far, this seemed like the most ordinary setup.

That was until that strange voice was heard again.

“Hey there, howdy, hello!” it called out, though nobody could be seen. “Is everyone here? Good! Then let’s get things rolling!”

Everyone was now paying attention to the stage; even Shiho, who had seemingly forgotten that she was on her way to attack Byakuya.

Was the headmaster going to show themselves, at last?

Was everyone finally going to get an explanation?

Was everything finally going to begin making sense?

…No.

Because what hopped up from behind the speaker’s stand was not a person at all.

Instead, it was a black and white teddy bear.

Leon stared at it in disbelief, as did everyone else; everything just became so much more confusing.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Butcher~

A bear.

Leon was beginning to think he was still asleep. The school was weird, his classmates were weird, and now there was a teddy bear standing upon the stage.

“Huh?” Chihiro spoke up. “A teddy bear?”

She had said what everyone else was thinking.

“I’m not a teddy bear!” the bear snapped, which came as even more of a surprise. “I… am… Monokuma! And I am this school’s headmaster! Nice to meet you all!”

This had to be a joke.

Hifumi let out a loud, terrified scream.

“That teddy bear can talk!” he cried out fearfully.

“Calm down!” Taka tried to ease, though he looked nervous himself. “I’m sure there’s just a speaker inside it.”

That explanation would make sense, but the bear, calling itself Monokuma, almost seemed… angry.

“I told you already, I’m not a teddy bear…” he growled, “I’m Monokuma! And I’m your headmaster!”

“Waaaah!” Hifumi cried out again. “It moved!”

“Seriously man, calm down!” Mondo tried to ease, though in his own, aggressive way, despite also seeming a little unnerved. “It’s prolly just a remote control toy or somethin’.”

“How dare you compare me to a child's plaything!” Monokuma argued, though he sounded depressed, all of a sudden. “You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench…”

But the bear’s energy quickly returned.

“My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!”

Celeste was the first to call out the pun which Monokuma had made.

““Bear” that?” she repeated. “Really? You are… unfortunate.”

Monokuma ignored her words.

“Now then, moving on!” he practically interrupted. “We really must hurry and get started…”

“Giving up already?” Junko asked, though she sounded more concerned that there would be more puns than actually worried about the events happening. “No other stupid bear puns?”

“Quiet down now, quiet down,” Monokuma replied, dismissing her. “Ah, okay, so...!”

“He has abandoned the gag…” Sakura murmured, noticing the way Monokuma dodged Junko’s question.

“Good,” Shiho scoffed from where she stood, though Monokuma actually reacted to her.

“I said quiet down!” he repeated loudly. “Especially you! Don’t think I didn’t see you up here on the stage before; next time you pull a stunt like that, I will have you punished in the most UNBEARABLE way!”

Well, it didn’t seem like he had abandoned the gag completely.

“Now!” Monokuma continued. “Everyone stand at attention and bow! And… good morning!”

“Good morning!!” exclaimed Taka with more enthusiasm than anyone else could muster; even in this strange scenario, he was being such a teacher’s pet.

“Y-You don’t have to s-say it back…” grumbled Toko as she fidgeted with her fingers awkwardly.

“Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony!” Monokuma continued. “First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake--you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope…”

What he was saying sounded like typical introductory stuff, before he followed it up with something horrifying and unexpected.

“...you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school.”

Live a communal life together? Solely in the confines of the school?

Maybe that was just Monokuma’s unusual way of describing boarding school. After all, everyone was going to be assigned dorm rooms; Leon remembered packing some things to bring with him.

“Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life…” Monokuma went on, his words slow and deliberate to keep the students on edge.

And what he said next didn’t ease the tension at all; in fact, his words only worsened everyone’s anxieties.

“There isn't one!” he enthusiastically revealed. “In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned.”

That definitely was not the agreement Leon, or anyone, remembered accepting.

“Wh-What did he just say?” Toko gasped fearfully. “Until the day we d-die...?”

“Oh, but fear not!” Monokuma continued. “We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences.”

Sayaka’s voice filled the air, sounding as scared as the others who had been speaking up.

“That's the least of our worries right now!” she exclaimed with mild panic in her voice.

“Yeah!” Shiho could be heard shouting in agreement. “How the hell am I supposed to practice my skills on my board?!”

Not that that was the main concern at the moment…

“Yeah, what the hell?” Junko reacted in addition. “You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?”

“I am not screwing with you!” Monokuma shouted back at her. “I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure.”

Somehow, that was doubtful.

“Ah, and just for your information…” Monokuma went on, “you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!”

So, they were trapped in the school, and also had no way of contacting anyone on the outside? Or seeing what was happening outside?

“Cut off…?” Makoto reacted slowly with dread in his words. “So all those metal plates all over the school… They're there to keep us trapped in here?”

“That's exactly what they're there for,” Monokuma confirmed. “No matter how much you may yell and scream for help… help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!”

That wasn’t reassurance at all.

That was so much worse.

“Come on, what the hell is this?” Leon found himself nervously asking through a forced grin. “I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke.”

A joke.

It just had to be a joke.

A test, perhaps, for the students.

“Yeah!” snapped Mondo. “Cut this shit out! It isn't funny anymore!”

“You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke,” Monokuma sighed. “A bunch of skeptics, all of you. But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbour... Well you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth.”

“Having to live here forever would be… quite the problem,” Celeste murmured in an oddly calm tone of voice, as if this was all a mere inconvenience to her.

“A problem?” Shiho repeated in disbelief. “This is way worse than just a problem! We can’t go outside at all?! We just have to stay here in this school, even as we grow old?! What kind of life is that?!”

“Come, now,” Monokuma huffed. “What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave? Oh but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school…”

His tone of voice was once again playful, yet taunting, like he was about to say something horrendous once again.

“R-Really…?” asked Toko with nervousness and curiosity; like anyone, she wanted to know if there was a chance of escaping these circumstances.

“As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave!” Monokuma happily explained. “I call it...the Graduation Clause! Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!”

Byakuya was next to speak up, not sounding nervous but instead sounding impatient, as if he just wanted Monokuma to get to the point.

“What do you mean by “disrupt the harmony”?”

Monokuma seemed far too gleeful to say his next words.

“Puhuhu…” he chuckled. “Well, you know... If one person were to murder another.”

Murder.

There was emphasis on the word “murder”.

“M-Murder!?” Makoto gasped with horror, in as much disbelief as everyone else upon hearing the word.

“Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter,” Monokuma listed. “You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible. ”

How could anyone, let alone something claiming to be a headmaster of a school, say such a thing with so much joy in his voice? And in that happy, animated voice? It was so out of place that Leon could feel his blood running cold.

“Puhuhu,” Monokuma chuckled again with a little more malice. “I bet that got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know... Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And I just find that so… darn… exciting!”

Leon took a step back where he stood, trying to prevent everyone from seeing that he was trembling.

“What the hell are you talking about!?” he yelled. “To kill each other is… It’s!”

He was struggling to find the right word for it, stumbling over his own words.

“To kill each other is to kill each other,” Monokuma interrupted in a patronising tone. “I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it.”

“We know what it means, that's not the problem!” exclaimed Hina. “Why do we have to kill each other?!”

“Yeah!” cried out Hifumi. “Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!”

Hifumi’s words had brought a shift in Monokuma’s attitude.

“...Blabbering?” Monokuma repeated after a pause, before suddenly he once again became aggressive. “Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it do you? “Let us go, let us go!” You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!”

Everyone in the gymnasium must have been feeling the fear now.

Monokuma had made it extremely clear what he wanted to see; he wanted to see these students, who had only just met, murder each other.

There was a small silence, before Yasuhiro, once more speaking in his relaxed tone of voice, spoke up.

“Alright, come on…” he chuckled. “How long are you gonna keep this up?”

“Eh?” Monokuma reacted; even someone like him was confused by Yasuhiro’s words.

“You got us, okay?” Yasuhiro went on. “You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now.”

“Reveal the trick…?” Monokuma repeated, still with confusion in his voice.

“Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right?” Yasuhiro answered. “So uh, like…”

Before Yasuhiro could keep speaking, Mondo shoved him aside.

“Dude, shut the hell up and get outta my way,” he snapped before marching straight towards Monokuma. “Listen up, asshole! This shit’s gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this!?”

“Joke?” Monokuma replied. “What, you mean like your hair?”

The response would have been funny, under any other circumstance.

“FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU--!” Mondo roared suddenly, enraged by the bear.

He was consumed by the rage he was feeling for Monokuma, and did what the others did not have the courage to do. He locked his focus onto Monokuma, launching himself towards him at a speed nobody would be able to react to fast enough. He grabbed Monokuma by the neck, lifting him high into the air.

“Gotcha, you little piece of shit!” he hollered. “I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!”

In all honesty, everyone was hoping he would do just that.

“Waah!” Monokuma cried out as he flailed his arms. “Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Mondo yelled in his face. “Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ…”

Suddenly, Monokuma fell completely silent.

The only thing that could be heard was a faint beeping sound coming from within Monokuma.

“What, no smartass comeback this time!?” Mondo grinned widely.

But the beeping was only getting faster.

Leon narrowed his eyes warily, taking yet another step back, and others were equally as cautious.

“Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!” Mondo snapped, not sharing the same wariness as the others.

Kyoko Kirigiri, however, was the one to speak up.

“Watch out!” she called out to him. “Get rid of it!”

The beeping from within Monokuma was getting even faster.

“Huh…?” Mondo slowly reacted.

“Hurry up and throw it!” Kyoko commanded firmly.

Mondo didn’t even seem to be thinking. Without a word, he did as Kyoko instructed and threw Monokuma high into the air.

Just in time, too, because what followed…

KABOOM .

Monokuma… exploded.

Not into a cloud of fur or stuffing, either, or like a balloon.

It was a real explosion.

Leon had to cover his ears at the sound, which had already caused a ringing in his ears, and he saw other students doing the same as the panic once again began to set in.

“The hell!?” Mondo exclaimed, with panic riddled in his words. “Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up…”

Chihiro spoke up next, despite being startled by the explosion.

“But you know... This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?” she pointed out.

Before anyone even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, Monokuma reappeared once again, as if nothing had happened to him.

“I told you, I'm not a teddy bear!” he repeated again angrily. “I'm Monokuma!”

“Uwah!” Leon vocalised, almost choking on the sound. “There's another one...?”

How was that even possible?

“But… didn’t he just blow up?!” Shiho exclaimed with confusion from where she was standing. “Thank God you didn’t throw it over here, dude…”

“You son of a bitch!” Mondo yelled at Monokuma after recovering from his shock. “You seriously tried to kill me just now!”

“Well, yes,” Monokuma confirmed as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but you’d better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won’t get off with just a little swat on the butt.”

“H-Hey…” Junko spoke up slowly. “So, does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you around here somewhere?”

“Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes,” Monokuma clarified. “Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right? Puhuhu... And I won’t be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don’t let it happen again!”

“Th-That's not even punishment,” Hina murmured shakily. “That's just… wrong…”

Yet Monokuma didn’t even respond to her.

“Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you…” Monokuma continued as if this was just a regular ceremony. “This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it’s fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The e-Handbook!”

Nobody laughed at the name or praised how clever it was; everyone was just silent.

“Ahem. Yes, well, moving on…” Monokuma went on. “This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one!”

Leon reached into his pocket, finding that he did, in fact, have the e-Handbook on him. He didn’t switch it on, instead choosing to examine it.

“Now, this is not your everyday notebook,” Monokuma described. “It has so many more uses than that! Also, it’s completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!”

Monokuma’s demeanour changed once again as he emphasised the severity of breaking the rules.

“You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated,” he repeated. “Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators.”

He returned to appearing amused.

“Okay, well… that brings our entrance ceremony to a close!” he declared. “Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And… see ya!”

And with that said, he vanished.

Nowhere to be seen.

Monokuma was gone, leaving his words behind so that they could sink into each and every student.

“So, guys... How would you define what we just experienced?” Taka then spoke up after clearing his throat, filling the dreadful silence that had followed Monokuma’s departure.

Leon couldn’t even find a way to reply to him.

“How...?” he whispered, mainly to himself. “Why...? I don't understand any of this…”

“We have to l-live here forever...?” came the nervous stuttering belonging to Toko. “Or...k-kill? Wh-What...? What just happened!?”

“Will we ever breathe fresh air again…?” Shiho asked nobody in particular, suddenly running towards one of the surveillance cameras. “Hey! You can’t keep me in here! It’s… it’s inhumane!”

As everyone was slowly beginning to panic, Kyoko’s voice quickly filled the air again.

“Everyone, we need to just calm down,” she stated. “First, let's just take a second to summarise everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a "communal life" together until the day we die. And the other choice is... “

Celeste finished the sentence for her.

“If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?”

She said it so calmly, while everyone else was struggling to keep their cool.

“But… killing someone... That's…” whimpered a tearful Chihiro.

“We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school,” added a nervous Hifumi. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is… This is… this is just...! What IS this!?”

“A lie is what it is,” Taka answered, mainly sounding like he was trying to convince himself. “All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!”

And then came Byakuya’s emotionless voice once again.

“Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake,” he stated. “What matters is… Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?”

He had asked those words to everyone present in the gymnasium, eyeing them all one by one.

Everyone was looking at each other, without answering his question.

Nobody said they would do anything to hurt someone else, yet nobody denied it, either.

Leon didn’t want to think that he was looking at people as potential targets, if he wanted to escape.

He didn’t want to think that he was looking at people who would be out to kill him, either.

This whole situation just got a whole lot worse for everyone, and it was only just beginning.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Shiho Is A Punk Rocker~

Everyone began to go over the rules together, looking at the e-Handbooks to find out as much information as possible. Things began to escalate rapidly as discussions continued, ending with Mondo throwing a punch towards Makoto and knocking him unconscious (although the punch really should have hit Byakuya; it seemed as if everyone wanted to hit that guy).

Once Makoto had been taken to his dorm room so that he could recover, everyone had decided that it would be best to split up and explore the school. Leon wanted to take this chance to ask Sayaka if she would go with him, now that Makoto wasn’t around, but she was already gone by the time he wanted to ask her.

What if she was on her own?

Surely that was dangerous?

Others were already walking off, too, having split into their groups. Leon looked towards Chihiro, Junko, and Hiro; he figured he may as well tag along with them, but before he could approach them, he was stopped by somebody immediately stepping in front of him.

Shiho Nakai.

“You,” she pointed, finally actually saying an actual word to him for the first time.

“Huh?” Leon reacted awkwardly. “What? What do you want?”

“You’re with me,” Shiho bluntly insisted.

That was incredibly direct.

Leon scratched the back of his neck, looking for anyone else he could go with while also silently praying to spot Sayaka.

“Uh, do I have to be?” he practically groaned.

Shiho tilted her head. “I mean, I can totally go off on my own,” she responded. “If anyone tries to mess with me, I can take ‘em.”

By the time she had said this, the others had already wandered off to do their own investigating, so it was too late for Leon to quickly join one of the other groups. Even then, it would look particularly uncool for him to run away from a girl who was asking to spend time with him, even if that girl was Shiho.

Leon let out an exasperated sigh, slumping his shoulders.

“Fine, I’ll go with you,” he relented before looking stern, “but I’m in charge, ya got that?”

Shiho scratched her head, baffled.

“Huh? In charge?” she echoed.

“Yeah!” Leon insisted. “You gotta do what I say, and if you’ve got a problem, you can go and find someone else to investigate with. Got it?”

Shiho nodded her head and started walking. “Got it,” she agreed, “now, come on; we should check if those metal plates really are impossible to remove.”

Leon followed after her immediately, not even realising that he was, in fact, not in charge.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he mumbled as he strolled behind her.

The pair headed for the classroom Leon had originally woken up in, with Shiho approaching one of the windows. She examined it as she rubbed her chin, while Leon looked at another window.

The bolts were large and looked extremely secure. Beside him, he could already hear Shiho grunting and growling as she was trying to unscrew the bolts with her bare hands before resorting to simply kicking the plates as hard as she could.

“Damn it!” she rasped. “These things aren’t budging at all!”

“Let me try,” Leon offered, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. 

His arms should have been stronger than Shiho’s, considering that he was a baseball player, though he hadn’t exactly done anything to keep in shape. Even if he couldn’t do much, perhaps he could budge the bolts by a tiny amount; doing that would make him look strong, and like he tried his best.

Leon’s hands practically slipped straight off the bolts as he tried to turn them, and he stumbled backwards, almost falling over.

“Damn, you’re right,” he grunted, then making his own attempt to kick the plating.

If he had kicked any harder, he would have broken his foot.

“OW!” he yelled as he hopped back again, clutching his foot. “Shit, that hurts like a bitch!”

Shiho scratched her head as she watched his reaction to kicking the plate.

“How hard did you kick it?” she asked him, more confused than concerned.

“I dunno, about as hard as you did?!” Leon snapped, leaning against one of the desks to support himself. “How come you’re fine?!”

Shiho shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Guess I’ve got stronger legs?” she assumed.

That would make sense, but Leon grumbled to himself, not wanting to admit it.

“Whatever,” he huffed, “these things clearly won’t move no matter how hard we try. I say we take a break and grab some food; I’m starving.”

“Sounds good to me,” Shiho agreed as she strutted to the classroom door, holding it open so that Leon could hobble out on his throbbing foot.

Leon limped for the first few steps, but gradually regained his ability to walk normally as he headed through the hall back towards the cafeteria near the dorm rooms. Shiho was behind him, but before they could enter the cafeteria, someone else walked out and almost bumped into them.

“Oh!” Sayaka jumped as she left the cafeteria. “Hi, you two!”

“S-Sayaka!” Leon stuttered, trying to regain his composure in her presence as he scratched the back of his neck, grinning. “How’s your investigation going?”

“So far, so good!” Sayaka smiled. “I already checked the cafeteria and the kitchen. There’s a fridge filled with all kinds of food in there, and from what I heard, it gets restocked every day automatically.”

Shiho folded her arms, appearing thoughtful.

“Huh,” she reacted, “so, at least we don’t gotta worry about food…”

“How about you guys?” Sayaka asked. “Have you managed to find anything?”

Shiho was about to answer, but Leon spoke up first.

“Yeah, we were working real hard trynna see if we could remove those metal plates on the windows,” he explained, “but they wouldn’t move, like, at all. Whoever put them there really wants to keep us trapped here.”

Sayaka gave a nod of understanding.

“I see,” she murmured, rubbing her chin, “well, I’m gonna go back to my room for a bit, and then see how Makoto is doing.”

“You sure you don’t wanna come grab food with us?” Leon asked her almost desperately. “We’re taking a break from investigating.”

Sayaka shook her head, her gentle smile still on her face.

“I may have already treated myself to something,” she confessed with a giggle, “but thank you for asking.”

Leon felt crushed, but didn’t let it show.

“Ah, it’s whatever,” he tried to say casually, “but be careful, alright? Walking around on your own and all…”

“I’ll be fine!” Sayaka assured confidently. “I’ll meet you guys later in the cafeteria when everyone meets up together.”

Leon gave a nod, forcing another grin. “Yeah, I’ll see ya then,” he waved as Sayaka went on her way back to her room.

Shiho waved at her, too, noticing the way Leon’s grin quickly shifted into a disappointed frown as he made his way through the cafeteria doors. She followed after him again, this time with a cheeky, smug grin on her face.

Leon noticed her expression as he headed towards the kitchen, raising his brow at her.

“What?” he questioned. “Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?”

“No reason,” Shiho grinned, prancing into the kitchen in search of the fridge Sayaka had mentioned.

Leon just let out a sigh and rolled his eyes as he followed her.

Shiho opened the fridge, rummaging around to see what food she could have. Her eyes were practically glimmering as she looked in the fridge, and after spending so long examining everything, she simply pulled out a couple of glazed ring donuts.

“Seriously?” Leon reacted, scratching his head. “You spent that long lookin’ at all the food and you only wanted donuts?”

“Yup,” Shiho smiled without taking her eyes off the donuts, happily leaving the kitchen to enter the cafeteria.

Leon just shook his head, taking a look in the fridge himself. Sayaka wasn’t lying, the fridge really did have all kinds of food in it. He didn’t want anything too complicated, so he just helped himself to some instant ramen, and once it was prepared, he brought it out into the cafeteria.

The star baseball player sat by the same table as Shiho, who had also made herself a cup of coffee while Leon was making his ramen. She hadn’t even touched her donuts yet, presumably because she didn’t want to eat her food before Leon had the chance to sit down.

“What’d ya get?” Shiho asked curiously as she finally picked up one of her donuts.

“Just some instant ramen,” Leon answered simply.

Shiho nodded, having nothing else to say for once. The donuts seemed to shut her up for now, giving the pair a few minutes of eating in silence without even looking at each other.

“So,” Shiho eventually spoke up with her mouth full, “you’re the baseball guy, huh?”

Leon frowned as he slurped up some of his ramen, swallowing before he answered.

“If you mean the Ultimate Baseball Star , then yeah, that’s me,” he corrected, “but there’s more to me than just baseball, y’know. I’m actually trynna get into music.”

“Uh-huh?” Shiho reacted with slight intrigue.

So far, this was the first time anyone seemed remotely interested in his passion for music.

“Yeah,” Leon grinned proudly, “I wanna form a band, actually.”

“What kind of band?” Shiho queried as she finished her donuts.

Leon hesitated, as if unsure.

“Well, uh, a rock band, of course,” he answered stiffly. “I’m gonna be totally famous one day, so you should consider getting a free autograph from me before I make it to the top, y’know?”

His words only made Shiho laugh loudly, and admittedly, that hurt his ego.

“What’s so funny?” he dared to ask her, though he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to hear her answer.

“So, you wanna be a famous rockstar, is that it?” Shiho laughed. “You wanna chase rock music for fame, maybe even fall in love with a famous singer?”

Leon could already feel his face heating up as he scratched his ear.

“Well, obviously,” he scoffed, “musicians usually date other musicians. I’d probably get with plenty of celebrities once I’m famous.”

Shiho was laughing even more, and this time, Leon slammed his hand against the table.

“Why’re you laughing?!” he snapped. “I’m being super serious here!”

“Oh my god, you’re a total poser!” Shiho mocked.

Poser?

She really went ahead and threw such an insult at him.

“I’m not a poser!” Leon defended, gritting his teeth. “I really do have a passion for music! Once I’m outta this place, I’ll be singing songs about my rage and what I’ve been through, y’know?”

Yet Shiho was still laughing at him, holding her stomach as she did so.

“Ah, whatever, man,” Leon huffed as he finished his ramen, “you wouldn’t understand.”

“No no, enlighten me,” Shiho encouraged after letting her laughter die down. “Aside from your crush on a certain famous musician who you want attention from, what inspired you to pursue music? Anyone in particular? Any bands?”

Leon felt his face going red at the mention of a crush, which he absolutely didn’t have. He was the one people were going to have crushes on; he was going to be on posters, admired by various young people across the world.

He leaned back in his chair, attempting to appear casual.

“I’m inspired by punk rock in particular,” he answered. “I want my band to be like all the punk rock legends.”

“Like which bands?” Shiho interrogated, leaning in a little with further interest.

So many questions.

“Well, uh, there’s a few, but I dunno if you’ve heard of ‘em,” Leon replied, folding his arms. “Y’know, like, The Damned, Sex Pistols, The Clash…”

Shiho scoffed as she folded her own arms.

“Total poser,” she repeated with a smirk.

“Seriously?!” Leon snapped with disbelief. “Do you even know any of those bands?”

Shiho rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat.

“Of course, I do,” she confirmed, “I listen to them.”

“Huh?” Leon reacted, his eyes widening with surprise. “No way.”

“Uh, yes, way,” Shiho responded with a mocking tone of voice. “I’d say The Clash is one of my favourite bands of all time.”

Well, now, he might look a bit stupid.

“One of your favourites, huh?” he noted. “Who’s your number one?”

Shiho shrugged her shoulders.

“I like a lot of bands,” she stated, “but I’d probably say it’s between Killing Joke or The Ramones. Maybe even Siouxsie and the Banshees, too.”

Now she was just naming bands that he hadn’t heard of, and as he sat in stunned silence, Shiho clearly noticed his confusion.

“Yeah, definitely a poser,” she concluded. “I bet you don’t even know about The Flowers of Romance, either.”

“The who?” Leon reacted, tilting his head.

“No, not The Who,” Shiho corrected even though that wasn’t what he meant, “The Flowers of Romance.”

“Yeah, that’s not what I meant,” Leon huffed with a roll of his eyes, “what is that, anyway? A band, I’m guessing?”

“Uh-huh,” Shiho nodded.

“Alright, well, do they have any good songs?” Leon pressed.

“They did, probably,” Shiho replied.

Probably?

“So, you don’t even listen to them?” Leon pointed out.

“Nobody can listen to them,” Shiho explained, “they never released any recordings.”

The more Leon spoke to Shiho, the more he just found himself unable to keep up with her.

“Right, so, of course I’ve never heard of them,” he grunted.

“But the members of this band went on to become legends in the punk scene,” Shiho explained with passion in her voice. “The Clash, Sex Pistols, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, just to name a few bands who had members in The Flowers of Romance.”

“Okay, but if they never recorded anything, and existed, y'know, way before I was even born, how am I supposed to know about them?” Leon sighed. “And, like, why should I care?”

Shiho let out a scoff as she sipped her coffee.

“Sometimes you can still care about something even if you don't personally remember it existing,” she told him.

Leon just scratched his head.

“Y'know, that sounds like some super deep shit that I don't feel like thinking about,” he said before yawning into his hand. “Man, it's already making me wanna go back to sleep just trynna get my head around it.”

Shiho puffed out her cheeks, looking offended.

“It's not super deep!” she argued. “It's just something to think about, especially if you wanna try so hard at cosplaying a punk.”

Leon glared at her, gritting his teeth.

“It's not “cosplay”, it's my actual style!” he defended. “See? I studded my own uniform shirt and everything to show how rebellious I am! I'm a total rule breaker!”

“And you're only doing that because you wanna look cool,” Shiho smirked, sipping her coffee again.

“Well, why else would anyone wanna do it?!” Leon snapped. 

Shiho stood up from her chair all of a sudden as she made her passionate declaration.

“Because you should want to do those things no matter what people think!” she loudly expressed. “Even if it meant everyone would hate you, if you wouldn't be seen as cool, you go punk to express yourself and how you feel towards the world.”

Leon just stared up at her, silent.

He was only just realising that she was a punk, even though it should have been obvious.

“I don't give a shit who thinks I'm cool and who thinks I'm a freak or whatever,” Shiho rambled, sitting back down, “what matters is that I'm being true to what I wanna be.”

Leon was certainly willing to believe that. He had barely known Shiho for a day and had already seen her making enemies and causing scenes where she shouldn't. He even found himself wondering what she would look like if she dressed a little more feminine, or maybe if she took a few notes from the Ultimate Fashionista herself, Junko Enoshima; it was hypocritical for him to think that about her, wondering what she would look like without the punk aesthetic despite dressing in such a way himself.

In a way, it was nice to be around someone who was so sure of who they were. She was passionate about her talent while also being passionate about herself; Leon, meanwhile, felt that he had to choose between one and the other. That made Shiho unpleasant to be around, too; it was like she could see through him, and if she spoke too loudly, girls like Sayaka would probably start to think he was a total loser.

One more thing Leon noticed about Shiho's attire was her necklace. It was a thick chain, with the pendant being a silver key.

It seemed vaguely familiar, but that was probably because it looked so much like his own padlock necklace.

“Where'd you get that from?” he chose to ask, pointing.

“Huh?” Shiho reacted, confused by the change in topic. She looked down at her necklace. “Oh, this? Hell if I can remember.”

Leon just scratched his head, and after a pause, Shiho pointed at him.

“What about yours?” she questioned.

“Oh, mine?” Leon sheepishly smiled. “Uh, I can't remember, actually.”

“You probably bought it from a mall,” Shiho scoffed, earning another frown from him.

“Yours looks practically the same!” he pointed out angrily.

“Nah, it doesn't,” Shiho countered, “mine has a key on it, not a padlock.”

Leon slumped back in his seat, letting out an angered grunt.

“Whatever,” he groaned, “we should just get back to exploring this stupid school before my brain totally melts.”

Shiho nodded as she finished drinking her coffee.

“Yeah,” she agreed, “I've got something I wanna check out, actually.”

She was the one to stand up first, with Leon reluctantly doing the same as he dreaded what her next idea was.

“Are you gonna try to kick down the giant metal door in the main hall?” he sarcastically commented.

Shiho huffed, offended.

“No,” she answered, looking away to the side as she scratched her neck.

Without a doubt, she probably did want to do that.

“I just wanna get a closer look at the surveillance cameras,” Shiho then stated.

Leon let out a sigh, noticing that Shiho had already locked her attention onto the camera at the back of the cafeteria.

“Wasn't there a rule about the cameras?” Leon vaguely recalled as he followed her slowly towards where the camera was located. “Like, something about how we can't break them?”

Yet Shiho was already pushing a table directly beneath the camera, picking up a chair, as well, to put on top of it.

“Stand right there in case I fall,” Shiho instructed, pointing nearby the table as she climbed on top of it.

Leon begrudgingly stood right where she instructed, a hint of a smug little smile curving upon his face.

“What, want me to catch you when you fall?” he asked her, with the “when” implying how he saw her falling as an inevitable outcome.

Shiho looked down at him with a sincere expression.

“Well, that would be nice,” she said, “but I was hoping you'd just break my fall instead.”

She was using him to cushion her landing?

“I could totally just catch you!” Leon insisted.

Shiho laughed, and it was a mocking sound as she climbed up onto the chair which she had placed atop the table.

“You don't seem the type,” she responded, wobbling slightly before regaining her balance.

Leon was tempted to just step back and watch her fall, but he didn't want to gain a reputation among his classmates as the guy who let a girl get injured on purpose.

Shiho was surprisingly good at keeping her balance as she studied the surveillance camera, once again proving that she was the Ultimate Skateboarder. She reached into her pocket, pulling something out; it looked like some kind of T-shaped tool.

“Where'd you get that?” Leon asked curiously; his main concern was it being used as a weapon.

Shiho looked at the tool in her hand before grinning down at him.

“Oh, this?” she asked. “It's my T-Bone. Y'know, a tool I use for assembling and disassembling my skateboards.”

She leaned up, examining the bolts on the camera.

“I made this tool myself,” she proudly declared, “so, I can adjust it to any screw or bolt or whatever I want.”

That actually did seem like a useful thing to have.

“Now, there may be a rule about destroying the cameras…” she murmured smugly, holding her tool up to one of the bolts, “but does dismantling a camera count as destroying it?”

“Dismantling a surveillance camera ABSOLUTELY counts as destroying it!”

There came the loud voice belonging to Monokuma.

Leon took a step back, surprised by his sudden appearance, while Shiho let out a startled yell, losing her balance. She came crashing down with a loud thud , landing hard on the ground right beside Leon.

“OW!” she yelled, quickly getting back up and shooting a glare at Leon. “Thanks for the save, dumbass.”

Leon just pointed at Monokuma, directing Shiho's attention to him as the bear furiously stood with his arms folded.

“Altering the state of the surveillance cameras is completely against the rules!” Monokuma scolded. “You absolutely cannot break them, dismantle them, upgrade, downgrade, or even cover them!”

Shiho just rubbed her arm, which she had obviously hurt from her fall, and pouted.

“Well, that wasn't very clear in the handbook…” she grumbled.

“I thought maybe it would be obvious!” Monokuma barked. “You're high schoolers, not grade schoolers!”

“So, we can't take these cameras apart, and we can't even cover them?” Shiho asked him.

“Students may not do anything to prevent the surveillance cameras from monitoring the school!” Monokuma clarified. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got other matters to attend to besides babysitting some delinquents! Seriously!”

And in a flash, Monokuma was gone, leaving the pair alone once again.

“Looks like you got your answer,” Leon observed as he folded his arms.

“Shut up,” Shiho grunted. “Stupid bear could've said so without almost making me break my neck.”

“Aren't you used to falling?” Leon questioned as he raised his brow. “Being a skateboarder and all, I mean.”

“Well, yeah,” Shiho huffed, “which is why I fell without breaking any of my bones. Falling at the wrong angle could be the end of anybody, y'know.”

“Right,” Leon reacted awkwardly, stretching his arms. “Well, all this investigating has made me super tired, so I think I'm gonna nap in my room for a bit before meeting with the others later.”

Shiho folded her arms, almost looking like a disappointed parent.

“We've barely done anything,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, well, we've done enough,” Leon countered as he started dragging his feet towards the doors. “We figured out the metal plates can't be removed, and we know not to screw with the cameras.”

“So, you're gonna leave a girl all on her own to defend herself?” Shiho guilt-tripped.

“You can go to your own room if you're so worried,” Leon pointed out, passively waving his hand without turning to look back at her. “Hell, maybe the room’s worth investigating.”

He heard Shiho’s rapid footsteps catching up to him as she followed him out of the cafeteria.

“Fine, I'll go back to my room, too,” she decided, “but don't oversleep, alright? Everyone's meeting at seven p.m. in the cafeteria.”

“I know, I know,” Leon sighed, taking her by the shoulders and directing her towards the room with her name plate on it. “I'll see you at seven, okay?”

“Hey, hey, quit shoving me!” Shiho complained. “I can use my own damn legs probably better than you can use yours.”

Leon only let her go once he was by her door.

“I’ll see ya later,” he said to her firmly.

“Whatever,” Shiho mumbled as she turned the key which was already in the lock, unlocking her door, “hope you enjoy your beauty sleep.”

She had entered her room and closed the door behind herself before Leon even had the chance to respond.

Leon let out the loudest sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He hadn’t even lied about being tired; being around her made him exhausted.

Without wasting any more time, Leon headed further down the corridor, turning a corner until he reached his own room. He wondered if anyone else was doing the same as him (aside from Makoto, who was resting in his room not entirely by choice), and like Shiho had done, he used his key to enter his dorm room.

Leon’s room contained a few of the things he remembered bringing with him to Hope’s Peak. He could see his microphone and his electric guitar plugged into an amplifier, and a whole rack of CDs with a stereo on his desk.

In all honesty, he didn’t listen to half of these CDs; they were ones he had bought with the intention of listening to eventually.

He scanned the rack of albums until his eyes landed on one by The Ramones, titled “Rocket to Russia”.

Leon chose to put the disc into his stereo, falling back onto his bed. Not many people could easily fall asleep to the sound of loud music, but he considered himself to not be like most people.

So, for the remaining few hours before it was time to gather back in the cafeteria, he let himself drift off to sleep.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Follow the Leaders~

“I’m tellin’ ya, dude, you should totally ask her out!”

Mondo had his arm around Leon’s shoulder, his grip firm.

“Yeah!” came Shiho’s voice as she stood on the bench next to them. “C’mon, she’d totally say yes!”

A guy with red hair and bright orange eyes grinned; he was sitting on the bench beside Shiho, not appearing wary of the way she was standing up on the seat.

“Don’t be afraid of being yourself,” the unfamiliar guy said in a chill voice. “Believe me, Sayaka’s one of my closest friends; she totally has a thing for you, too.”

Leon folded his arms, not wanting to admit that he was struggling to muster up the courage to ask Sayaka out.

“I swear, you guys better not be trynna make a fool of me,” he grumbled, with Mondo only tightening his grip around his shoulder.

“Nah, bro, we just don’t want ya to miss your chance!” he grinned. “Sayaka’s crazy popular. You should shoot your shot before someone else does.”

“Oh, c’mon, Sayaka wouldn’t say yes to just anybody!” Shiho huffed, jumping down from the bench to be in front of Leon. “But she’d definitely say yes to you, dude; whenever we’re all in the girls’ locker room, or using the bath, she has that smile whenever we bring your name up! Y’know, the smile of a girl who has butterflies in her stomach!”

Leon was flattered, but then quickly gave a bashful smile.

“Wait, you girls talk about me that much, huh?” he noticed.

“We talk about everyone, dumbass,” Shiho huffed with a roll of her eyes, “but that ain’t the point! Now, get your ass in gear and ask Sayaka out before she goes for some boring dork like Makoto!”

That was an extremely vivid dream.

Leon was disappointed that it wasn’t real; he opened his eyes and let out a disheartened groan. It had been like a scene from a romantic movie, with his friends hyping him up to get with the girl of his dreams. Shiho and Mondo seemed oddly in-character, too, as if Leon already knew them well enough for his brain to portray them in his dreams.

The third guy wasn’t someone Leon knew at all, presumably just someone that his mind had created for the dream.

Leon checked the time and noticed that it was already seven p.m., so he had to get moving. His stereo had stopped playing the album he had put in it, likely because it had played all of the songs. He dragged himself from his bed and stretched, yawning as he did so. He also quickly made sure that his hair was in shape, fluffing it up to make sure it was properly spiked before finally opening the door and leaving his room.

On his way out, as he headed down the corridor and towards the dining hall, he spotted Shiho leaving her room, too. She was rubbing her eyes, as if she had also just woken up from a long nap.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Leon taunted as he strutted past her, his walking pace faster than hers.

“Wha--?” Shiho reacted as if surprised to see him with more energy than her. “Who’re you callin’ sleepyhead? You’re the one who whined about wanting a nap!”

Leon just grinned to himself as Shiho caught up to him; while he was disappointed that his dream was not reality, he did take it as a sign that maybe he should ask Sayaka out. It would be good to form a relationship in this environment, because he could have someone to trust and protect. 

Shiho was definitely still waking up, because she was not as energetic as before. She wasn’t even bothering to speak to Leon, instead simply walking at his side with a grouchy look on her face. 

“There!” came Taka’s voice as soon as Leon and Shiho walked through the doors. “That's everyone present and accounted for!”

So, they were both the last ones to enter the dining hall.

Everyone was already sitting around the long table in the centre (aside from Byakuya and Toko who, for some reason, were alone by a smaller table), so Leon and Shiho could only sit at the end of the table beside each other. Luckily for Leon, he was actually also right beside Sayaka, while Shiho was beside Taka.

“Okay! It looks like everyone's here,” Taka declared as he stood up, slamming his hands onto the table. “Time to start the meeting! Let's all go around and share what we found during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we get out of here!”

“Wait, hold on a sec!” Junko interrupted.

“What’s wrong?!” Taka snapped as if irritated at the interruption.

“What about, uh… what’s her name? You know, the silver-haired girl. Uh… oh yeah, Kyoko!”

Taka seemed confused.

“...What about her?” he asked after a small pause.

“She’s not here,” Junko pointed out.

Leon looked around with wide eyes; he hadn’t even noticed that someone was missing, though then again, he barely knew anyone.

“What?!” Taka exclaimed with shock.

“I wonder where she went,” murmured Hina with a hint of worry. “Has anyone seen her?”

Leon hadn’t seen anybody aside from Shiho on his way out of his room, so he shook his head, as did Shiho and everyone else in the cafeteria.

“Wait, so nobody’s seen her?” Chihiro asked with concern.

Perhaps something had happened to her.

Perhaps another student had…

“Darn it, Kyoko!” cursed Taka. “You're really going to be late like this on the first day of school?! Not only is she late, she didn't tell anyone she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait…”

That was not the concern anyone else was having about Kyoko’s absence.

“You’re being a real jackass right now, you know that?” Junko told Taka bluntly.

“Well what do you want me to do?!” Taka snapped passionately. “Punctuality is everything! Now then, I declare that the first session of the Hope's Peak Academy briefing meetings has begun!”

Sayaka leaned over the table to say something to Makoto, though Leon didn’t hear what she was saying. He did overhear the word “assistant”, and even caught a glimpse of a blush on Sayaka’s face as she smiled.

Yeah, this was definitely nothing like the dream Leon was having before he woke up.

Taka pointed his finger dramatically towards Shiho.

“Shiho Nakai, since you and Leon Kuwata were the last to arrive, you must present your findings first!” he decided forcefully.

Shiho sank further back into her seat, practically sliding off it as she let out a long groan. She quickly sat herself back upright, leaning forwards closer to the table.

“So, me and Leon tried removing those metal plates from the windows, and they wouldn’t budge,” she explained to everyone, “and we’ve learned that the surveillance cameras can’t be messed with, like, at all.”

Leon just nodded along with everything she was saying.

“No messing with the cameras?” Makoto questioned from where he was sitting. “So, does that even mean covering them up?”

“Pretty much anything that involves touching or obscuring the cameras, yeah,” Shiho clarified, “so, just don’t mess with ‘em or else we’ll have another explosion to worry about, probably.”

She didn’t go on to say that she discovered anything in her room, implying that she probably just went straight for a nap instead of investigating in there.

“Excellent observations,” Taka praised, “now, onto whoever’s next!”

Shiho sat back in her seat, letting out a sigh of relief as she could take a break from speaking. Honestly, she looked as though she would fall back asleep at any moment; at some point, Leon even had to nudge her to make sure that she was still paying attention, even though he wasn’t focusing entirely himself.

As expected, Byakuya had nothing to add to the investigation, claiming that he was trying to investigate whoever imprisoned them in this scenario.

Taka loudly explained how he had discovered the dormitories, even though most people had already found the rooms for themselves. Junko and Chihiro at least added that the rooms were entirely sound proof, which was great news for Leon; he could blast out his music as loud as he wanted, and nobody would be able to hear him. 

Celeste added that the bathrooms had locks on them, although Junko pointed out that only the girls’ bathrooms could lock, which seemed unusual.

Mondo went on to explain that there was no way out through the main hall, even though he tried everything in his power to get the door open (a description which made Shiho’s eyes twinkle back to life).

Sakura also added that, while their search failed in making contact with anyone on the outside, she discovered that some stairs leading to the second floor were blocked off by a metal gate, confining the students to the first floor.

Sayaka repeated what she had already told Leon and Shiho about the dining hall and the kitchen, though things did begin to escalate when Sayaka revealed that Monokuma was the one who had informed her about how the food would be restocked every day. 

The escalation was silenced, however, by a voice.

“You're all spending an awful lot of time yelling and carrying on.”

Everyone fell silent, turning to see that Kyoko had returned, safe and well.

“Do you really think you can afford to do so?” she continued. “Have none of you accepted the reality of the situation?”

Naturally, Taka reacted first to her presence.

“Kyoko!” he snapped. “Where the heck have you been!? We already started the meeting without you!”

Yet Kyoko said nothing in response to him, merely dropping a piece of paper upon the table.

It was a map of Hope’s Peak Academy, and through some back and forth discussions, it was made very clear that this was, in fact, the real school and not some imitation like some initially believed.

Tensions had risen once again as everyone came to accept that they would be spending the night in this place, and they would probably be staying for a while.

Leon despised the thought; it wouldn’t have been terrible, if not for the whole graduation rule. There would be less tension if people didn’t have to worry about one of their classmates betraying them.

Celeste calmly spoke up among the chaos and suggested a rule of her own, proposing that all students stay in their rooms at night time. So, from ten p.m. until morning, students were to stay in their rooms no matter what.

It was a good rule, but there was no way to truly enforce it.

And with that decision made, night time was already close, so the students returned to their dorm rooms. Leon was eager to get back to sleep, hoping that he could return to his dream about confessing to Sayaka. He took a quick shower before the water supply was turned off for the night, changing into a baggy shirt before falling back into his bed.

Within minutes, he was fast asleep; a sleep so deep that he saw no dream this time, instead only seeing darkness.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and night time is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

The voice belonging to Monokuma penetrated Leon’s ears, disturbing him from his slumber. He grumbled to himself as he threw the covers off his body; he was not a morning person, so to wake himself up, he played another one of his CDs, this time an album by The Damned, while he got himself dressed and ready.

Leon left his room, unsure of what to do for the day. He aimlessly walked the halls, passing by the few other students who were already up. His pale eyes were mainly searching for Sayaka; she seemed the type to get up and ready early in a morning, so he thought he would see her, but he didn’t see her anywhere, much to his disappointment.

He was about to make his way to the gymnasium when he heard the sound of an aggressive female voice rasping and cursing, followed by the clanging of metal.

Realising that the sound was coming from the entrance hall, Leon groaned quietly before following the noise, seeing Shiho repeatedly kicking the giant metal door. She was not alone, either; Mondo was with her, shaking his head at her actions.

“It ain’t gonna work,” Mondo told Shiho, “we’ve already tried everything to open this friggin’ door.”

“If it’s a door, it can open!” Shiho yelled; she had way too much energy for such an early hour.

Leon strolled over, putting his hand on his hip as he, like Mondo, watched her kicking the door.

“So, you really are trynna kick down the door,” he sarcastically commented, referring to something he had said to her the previous day.

Shiho stopped what she was doing, turning around to face him with a glare.

“Oh, ha-ha ,” she droned. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Leon raised a brow at her attitude, folding his arms.

“I was gonna check out the gymnasium,” he told her, “but I could hear you from the hallway.”

“She’s been doin’ this for five minutes straight,” Mondo told him. “I gave up ages ago.”

Leon nodded his head at his words, watching as Shiho’s face reddened with anger at them both.

“Hey, at least I’m trynna get us outta here!” she huffed. “Maybe if all three of us tried to open the door, we’d actually make some progress!”

Mondo rolled his eyes. “I doubt even that martial artist chick could open this door,” he told her, “so, quit tryin’.”

Meanwhile, Leon walked closer to the giant metal door, examining it closely. He didn’t want to resort to Shiho’s method of just kicking the door, instead trying to see if there was something in particular that could be broken, like a hinge or a lock. It didn’t seem that way, however; it made him wonder why a door like this was even made for a school.

“Man, what the hell is with this metal hatch thing?” he murmured mainly to himself, frustrated at how secure the door was. “It's really on there, that's for damn sure. Anyways, there's nothing to do around here. Gonna friggin' die of boredom…”

From the corner of his eye, he saw two more people entering the main hall: Sayaka and Makoto.

Trying his best to sound cool, he continued talking as he leaned casually against the giant door. 

“And being stuck in here is keeping me from racing toward my dream, too,” he complained.

Sayaka curiously tilted her head upon hearing his words.

“Your dream…?” she repeated.

She seemed interested!

“Yeah!” Leon grinned happily. “To become a musician! You can sense my aura, right? The strongest vocals of the century right here!”

Shiho was trying not to laugh, which Leon ignored.

“God, I feel so cool getting to say that in front of a national celebrity…” he said next, though Sayaka didn’t seem to be listening.

“Dreams…” she murmured to herself, catching Makoto’s attention.

“Did you say something?” Makoto asked, having not heard her despite being right beside her.

“Oh, sorry,” Sayaka apologised with a sweet smile. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go.”

Leon felt his cheeks redden again as he scratched his head, watching Sayaka approach Mondo with Makoto. Shiho came and stood right beside him, putting her head on his shoulder as she grinned mischievously.

“Someone likes Sayaka~” she sang quietly in his ear.

Leon immediately pushed her away by her face, shushing her aggressively as he kept his eyes on Sayaka. He forced a grin and waved as she and Makoto left, and the moment she was gone, he shot a deadly glare at Shiho.

“I swear, if you say anything like that again, I’m gonna kill you,” he warned, but Shiho was just smirking.

“Not my fault you make it so obvious,” she retorted.

“Make what obvious?” Leon questioned defensively, his mouth curving into a nervous grin.

“Your crush on Sayaka,” Shiho pointed out, loud enough for Mondo to hear. “You look like a tomato.”

Mondo could be heard laughing. “Holy shit,” he chuckled, “she’s right; your face is bright red, bro.”

“Shut up!” Leon snapped at them both, his voice cracking. 

That only made them both laugh even more.

This was like a worse version of the dream he had woken up from the day before.

“You guys are the worst…” he grumbled, folding his arms.

Shiho just chuckled, putting her arm around Leon roughly.

“Ah, don’t be like that!” she chirped. “Come on; why don’t the three of us hit the dining hall and get some breakfast?”

Leon grumbled something inaudible; this was going to be another day of him being forced to spend time with Shiho, but at the very least, he had Mondo with him, too; Mondo seemed like a cool guy.

“Hell yeah, I’m starving!” Mondo agreed with Shiho. He was the first to leave the main hall, with Shiho jogging after him, leaving Leon to trail behind the pair.

It was a good idea for the trio to get some food; Leon was definitely hungry, and he began feeling much better after a bowl of porridge. Shiho was, once again, eating some donuts, and all three of them had a cup of coffee.

“This place is so fuckin’ weird,” Mondo complained as he slurped his coffee. “It’s fucked up that they think we’ll just… start killin’ each other, y’know?”

“I get what you mean,” Shiho nodded, staring thoughtfully into her cup. “Like, we’re all practically strangers here. Does anyone know who they can really trust?”

“Prolly best not to trust anyone right now,” Mondo told her firmly. “Hell, the three of us can’t even trust each other.”

That was true.

Leon looked between them; if Mondo chose to try killing him, Leon would stand no chance against his strength. If Shiho tried to kill him, he’d have to be wary; she might try a more cunning method, like finding a way to poison his coffee, or sneaking up on him from behind.

Shiho seemed to be looking between him and Mondo with similar thoughts in her eyes; either that, or she was trying to decide who would be easier to kill, if she resorted to doing such a thing.

Mondo was also looking between Leon and Shiho, his eyes intense. He was likely also thinking the same thing to himself.

It was Shiho who then spoke up with a grin.

“Y’know, you guys seem cool,” she complimented out of the blue. “I reckon we’d still be hangin’ out like this if this school was a normal one.”

Mondo laughed heartily, perhaps even sounding relatively forced.

“Damn right!” he agreed. 

Maybe he was just saying that to ease the tension, or as a way to make Shiho feel safe around him.

The mention of hanging out together reminded Leon once again of the last dream he still remembered vividly. It involved Mondo and Shiho spending time with him, presumably in an ordinary school setting, so maybe Shiho was right.

He wasn’t gonna bring up his dream, though, in case they mocked him for dreaming about asking Sayaka out on a date.

Shiho pushed herself out of her seat suddenly.

“I'm gonna grab some more donuts,” she declared. “Do you guys want me to grab anything while I'm in the kitchen?”

Leon thought about the brief seriousness in the conversation, and how the three weren't even supposed to really trust each other. What if Shiho tampered with whatever food and drink Leon asked for?

Then again, he had Mondo as a witness.

Still, he would rather get his own stuff just to be safe.

“I'm good,” he told her.

Mondo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too.”

Shiho nodded, running from the table and towards the kitchen. The two guys watched her leave, having a moment of silence and peace between them.

“So, bro, got any plans for today?” Mondo then asked him before giving a small grin. “Besides fawning over that pop star chick.”

“I don't fawn over her!” Leon defended angrily, sitting up stiffly in his seat. “If anything, she totally fawns over me!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mondo sarcastically scoffed. “Gotta say, though, I'm surprised you can even think about things like that, y'know, given the circumstances.”

“I'm a guy, what do ya expect?” Leon huffed before quickly looking at Mondo. “Hold up, do you not have a thing for any of the girls here? Like, at all?”

“Can't say I do,” Mondo answered as he scratched his ear. “They ain't really my type.”

On one hand, Leon understood that; all of the girls were definitely unique and strange in their own ways, but on the other hand, most of the girls were at least physically attractive.

Like Sayaka .

How could she not be a guy's type?

“Also, I don't really care about gettin’ with chicks right now,” Mondo went on. “I just wanna get the fuck outta here and get back to my boys.”

Leon leaned back in his chair, shrugging.

“If we're stuck here, we may as well find a way to keep ourselves occupied,” he pointed out. “Might not be so bad, y'know?”

“For you, prolly not,” Mondo responded, “but even if I did like one of the chicks, why would I wanna start anything serious in this friggin’ place?”

That did make Leon think, only for a moment.

But he really was a simple guy.

“Guess you and I are just different,” he concluded as he heard Shiho's rapid footsteps coming closer and closer.

“I know you guys said you didn't want anything,” she spoke up, “but there was a welcome cake, so I got you guys a slice each.”

Shiho placed the plates down, having carried them all with expert balance. She placed one down in front of Mondo, one in front of Leon, and one by her own seat before she sat back down (also with another couple of donuts).

The cake slice certainly did look delicious. It was a marble cake, probably a deliberate choice made by Monokuma himself as it reflected his own dark and light aesthetic and nature, with the icing being an even divide of black and white.

Leon was wary of it, and Mondo seemed slightly cautious, too; this could easily have been a trick of some kind, especially with Monokuma being involved.

But Shiho was eating her slice like a starved dog.

“Hey, aren’t you worried about it being a trick?” Leon asked her with a faint hint of worry in his voice. His question seemed to surprise Shiho.

“A trick?” she echoed with her mouth full. “It’s just cake, dude.”

“Yeah, put there by Monokuma,” Leon pointed out. “What if it’s, like, poisoned or something? Or if there’s some weird secret ingredient?”

Shiho just shrugged as she finished wolfing down her slice.

“If Monokuma wanted to kill us, I think he would’ve done it,” she assumed, “otherwise there would be no point with all the rules about us killing each other.”

Mondo gave a slow nod as he rested his feet atop the table.

“I mean, she ain’t wrong,” he reluctantly agreed. “As much as I hate that fuckin’ bear…”

“I think he’d rather mess with us,” Shiho went on, taking on a slightly more serious tone. “He wants to have fun watching us squirm. Like some kid watching the bugs he’s caught in a box…”

It was an oddly specific comparison, yet an accurate one.

That was how it felt, being trapped in this school.

Shiho’s seriousness vanished, though, as she grinned brightly.

“The cake wasn’t bad, though,” she stated, “so, if you guys don’t eat your slices, I’ll happily take ‘em.”

Seeing that Shiho definitely hadn’t been poisoned by the cake, Leon figured that it would do no harm to eat it. It reminded him of the birthday cakes he used to eat at parties in his childhood; for a moment, he was overcome with nostalgic warmth, only for that same nostalgia to remind him of the world he was now isolated from.

A world he may never return to.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~One Way Love~

After eating in the dining hall, the three had parted ways. Shiho had mentioned something about working on a skateboard back in her room, while Mondo had just gone to explore the school again. Leon, meanwhile, had gone to the gymnasium to kill some time by himself for a few hours, mainly throwing a baseball at the wall for a few hours while nobody was watching.

Baseball wasn’t cool; if anyone saw that he actually did practice, or even enjoy the sport, he would be seen as such a loser.

To be cool was to be a famous rockstar, idolised by many.

That’s what he had to become. He had to become famous; famous enough to have even celebrities like Sayaka blushing whenever he walked past.

As soon as Aoi Asahina and Sakura Ogami entered the gymnasium together, Leon immediately stopped what he was doing and made his leave, loudly declaring that he was “done exploring the gym”.

Nobody could see that he enjoyed baseball.

Leon returned to the dining hall alone, once again simply helping himself to some instant ramen. Nobody else was there, so he couldn’t sit with anyone as he ate, meaning he just finished his food as fast as possible.

As he decided to head back to his own room, he spotted Makoto and Sayaka in the hall, talking together with enthusiasm. He had to pretend not to care, but it was becoming noticeable just how much time Makoto and Sayaka were spending time together.

How could she like a nobody like Makoto Naegi?

There was nothing special about him. He wasn’t even an Ultimate like everyone else. He was just an average, boring guy.

He wasn’t cool.

Leon didn’t want to let it bother him too much, casually making his way down the corridor and towards his own room. He decided to have a quick shower, reminiscing on the day’s events as he stood under the hot water for far too long.

There was still no way out of this school, with no clues being discovered about what was going on.

How did this even happen?

Is this what Hope’s Peak Academy really was - a place where students had to fight to prove their worth?

He craved closeness, particularly with Sayaka, yet the other part of his mind was too wary to get close to anyone. He wanted one special person to be with, that could trust him while also being someone he could trust, too. He also feared what getting close to someone could do; someone could betray him and kill him to escape, or someone could kill whoever he got close to.

This wasn’t what his high school life was supposed to be.

It was supposed to be about kicking back, ditching class, and getting with girls. He was supposed to be the popular guy who all the girls wanted to be with. He was supposed to be bragging to his guy friends about his activities, and being there to help the other guys ask girls on dates.

The paranoia was beginning to sink in even more for him.

He was scared of being alone, in case someone caught him by surprise and killed him, but he was scared of being with other people in case they tricked him into feeling safe before killing him.

All of these paranoid thoughts were making Leon feel tired, so once he was done with his shower, he went straight to bed even before the night time announcement played.

“She said yes?!”

Shiho practically cheered for him while Leon sat smugly eating his lunch in the dining hall.

“Of course, she did,” Leon replied proudly. “I mean, c’mon. Ain’t I just the coolest guy in school?”

Shiho hummed judgmentally, casting a glance towards the other red haired student sitting beside her.

“Well, I think this guy right here is the coolest guy in school,” she smirked as she put her arm around him.

Leon pouted, folding his arms.

“Well, of course you’re gonna think Kairi’s the coolest,” he grumbled, “considering he’s your boyfriend and all.”

The other student, Kairi, just smiled awkwardly and shrugged, leaning into Shiho.

“I mean, I still think you’re cool, Leon,” Kairi then said to him.

Leon smirked, glancing back at Shiho as he sat back in his seat.

“See?” he chuckled. “Kairi can admit that I’m still cool.”

“Didn’t say you weren’t cool,” Shiho corrected, “you’re, like, probably in the top five of our year.”

Top five?!

“Wait, hold on,” Leon immediately responded, “who the hell is cooler than me, huh?”

“Well, Mondo is definitely the coolest guy in 78-A,” Shiho explained, “so… maybe you’re the second coolest in your class. But we got some cool guys in our class, too.”

Leon looked offended; even when he had won Sayaka’s affections and successfully asked her out on a date, he still had his insecurities, which Shiho still laughed at.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and night time is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Monokuma’s voice awoke Leon once again, though this time, he was waking up from another vivid dream. It should have been a happy one, since it was about him dating Sayaka, yet he still woke up feeling irritated, because Shiho was there again to mock him even in his dreams.

It was weird that the same redhead had appeared in the dream, this time with a name. Maybe he was a real person; perhaps Shiho had mentioned him somewhere in passing. At some point, Leon considered asking her about it.

Also, another strange part of the dream was the mention of different classes. With how the conversation seemed to go, it implied that Shiho and Kairi (even if he wasn’t a real person) were from a different class, and not the same as Leon’s, with Mondo being part of Leon’s class, too.

Leon simply shrugged it off as just another dream, getting himself dressed and ready for the day.

Today was going to be another day of trying to find a way out of the school. If he was the one who found the way out, or at least found a useful clue, he would be viewed as cool and even as a hero to his classmates.

As he left the corridor, he bumped straight into Makoto, who had also just left his room.

“What’re you doing, Makoto?!” Leon snapped at him. “We gotta hurry up and find a way outta here!”

Makoto scratched his face nervously.

“S-Sorry, Leon,” he apologised. “Wanna do some exploring together, actually?”

Leon immediately felt his guard go up; he barely knew Makoto, yet he was asking to spend time with him.

“Y-You're not trying to get me alone so you can kill me, are you...?” Leon nervously asked before clenching his fists aggressively. “My fans will all go psycho on you if you do! I'm as popular as any international superstar!”

Makoto raised his hands in a placating gesture, looking wary of Leon’s aggression, and upon seeing this, Leon figured that Makoto probably wasn’t planning on killing him (and even if he was, Leon was convinced he could easily fend off someone like Makoto).

“But if you're NOT gonna murder me, then let's hang out,” he offered with a smile. “I don't really wanna be alone, anyway…”

Nobody else that Leon knew seemed to be around; Sayaka looked like she was on her way to the cafeteria with some of the girls, Shiho was probably still getting out of bed, and Mondo was nowhere to be seen.

Besides, it was probably a good idea to get closer to Makoto, because that meant he could also get closer to Sayaka and maybe even understand why she always spent so much time with Makoto.

The two walked around together, though Leon had to admit that he felt a little embarrassed being seen beside someone as boring as Makoto. The two barely had anything in common at all, though Makoto was trying to make conversation.

“So, uh, you like video games, right, Leon?” Makoto awkwardly asked.

Leon ran his hand through his hair, raising a brow.

“Uh, sure,” he answered, “but, like, only the super cool violent ones.”

“Oh! That’s great!” Makoto exclaimed. “I got something that you might like, then.”

Makoto pulled out a copy of “Project Zombie”, a mature game about a former runway model taking zombies as slaves in a post-apocalyptic world. It was an incredibly rare game to come across.

“Are you shitting me?” Leon asked with surprise. “I can have this?!”

Makoto nodded with a smile, handing it to him.

“This is cool,” Leon grinned. “Super cool! I feel like maybe I don't even hafta get outta here anymore!”

After all, he could just sit in his room, undisturbed, and enjoy the game.

But there was far more to his life than just sitting cooped up and playing video games, especially in this kind of environment.

“Hah!” he snapped. “Yeah, right! I still totally hafta get outta here.”

Makoto just nodded in agreement, leaning against the wall beside Leon.

“I'm not even afraid anymore,” Leon then admitted. “Now I'm just pissed off. Why?! Why is this happening to me?! This isn't fair, man! I mean, am I wrong?”

Makoto was visibly struggling to keep up with Leon’s aggressive personality.

“Oh, um… yeah, it really isn’t,” he agreed nervously.

“Right?!” Leon passionately yelled. “Totally unfair. Ultra unfair! Just like having to shave my head right before every baseball game!”

Makoto scratched his cheek, confused.

“Well, I mean… you chose to do that, right?” he hesitantly questioned.

“C'mon, man!” Leon growled at him. “Are you against me now, too?! I didn't even wanna play! But the coach and all the teachers begged me, so I did it! And then they made me shave my head, just cuz it's "tradition." How's that fair?!”

Makoto tilted his head, intrigued.

“You really hate baseball that much, huh…?” he realised.

“Damn straight I do!” Leon confirmed. “Who has fun running around on a dusty field for three hours?!”

Leon tapped his foot against the ground, folding his arms.

“But it's so not cool!” he went on. “Spending all that time at practice, getting covered in sweat and dirt… It's just baseball, right? It's easy! Who needs practice?!”

He then looked at Makoto, who just had wide eyes as he listened to Leon’s rambling.

“Still… I gotta admit, baseball wasn't all bad ,” Leon quietly admitted. “It did have a few things going for it…”

It did. It really did. Maybe he was even starting to miss it, but…

“Yeah, right?” Makoto smiled. “Like the feeling of camaraderie between you and your teammates!”

Leon scoffed at his words.

“Nah, nothin' like that!” he reacted with disgust. “I can't stand being around a bunch of sweaty guys. So totally uncool!”

Makoto just scratched his head again, his smile fading while Leon grinned.

“Then… What did you like about it?” Makoto asked with confusion.

“Well, I hate studying, right?” Leon answered with a wider grin, a hint of mischief in his voice. “But I still got into this super fancy school on a sports scholarship. As long as I kept playing, I never had to study! And besides that, it made me super popular with the ladies! Booya! Ya jealous? I got to third base in more ways than one, if ya know what I'm sayin'! ...Just kidding!”

Makoto was just stunned into silence. He looked uncertain if he wanted to believe Leon or not, or if he even understood what he was saying at all.

“Heh-heh,” Leon chuckled proudly. “I got plenty more where that came from! I'll tell ya more about it next time. Anyway, let's hang out again sometime! Talking to you helps me keep my mind off this place…”

Without any further words said between them, Leon strolled away with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Makoto was certainly a good listener, so no wonder Sayaka enjoyed spending so much time around him. He was still a total dork, though, which at least made Leon feel confident in himself being cool.

As he went to the first floor of the school, he decided to head for the gymnasium again. If it was empty, he wouldn’t mind practicing his pitching once more, but if anyone was inside, he would just have to join with whatever they were doing.

He opened the doors, and found Shiho with a tennis racket in her hand, hitting a tennis ball against the wall repeatedly. Nobody else was there; it was just her.

She grunted passionately each time she hit the ball, and her expression was one of anger.

“What’s got you riled up, huh?” Leon asked her; she hadn’t even noticed his presence until he spoke up.

“Huh?” Shiho reacted with surprise, immediately stopping what she was doing. “Oh, nothing. I’m just mad that we’re still stuck in this stupid school with no way out.”

She picked up the tennis ball again, bouncing it on the floor.

“Like, it wouldn’t be so bad if we could just go outside for some fresh air,” she confessed, “even if we were trapped in a little courtyard or somethin’. I just wanna be outside, dude!”

She threw the tennis ball into the air and hit it hard with her racket, watching it bounce off the wall without even trying to hit it again.

Leon could see just how angry she was; it was driving her insane, being trapped in this school, the same way it was starting to get to everyone else.

He noticed a pile of rackets near the wall, which Shiho had probably brought herself from storage. He picked one of the rackets up and gave Shiho a smile; he was, after all, still in a good mood after spending the morning with Makoto.

“Rally?” he asked her; there was no net to use, but they could at least just pass the ball between each other to kill some time.

Shiho shrugged, ambling over to where the tennis ball had rolled to and picking it up. She made sure there was some distance between her and Leon, bouncing the ball against the floor.

“Whatever,” she murmured, serving the ball without much force.

Leon hit the ball back towards her, also making sure not to put too much power into his swing. Maybe if they were outside, on a real tennis court, they would turn this into a competition and actually go all-out, but neither of them were in the mood for that.

“Not hangin’ out with Mondo today, huh?” Leon noticed as he hit the ball back towards Shiho.

“Nope,” Shiho replied, watching the ball come towards her before striking it towards Leon. “Spent this morning with Hina and Sakura, though; so, that was nice.”

Somehow, Leon was surprised to hear that Shiho was spending time with some of the other girls. 

“Really, huh?” he responded as he hit the ball. “Well, I spent this morning with Makoto.”

Shiho snorted, almost missing the ball because of her genuine surprise.

“Makoto?” she laughed. “Lemme guess; he was with Sayaka, and you were trynna get to her.”

Leon hit the ball a little harder without realising.

“No,” he defended irritably, “I was just hangin’ out with Makoto. He even gave me a copy of “Project Zombie”.”

Shiho’s eyes lit up as she heard the name, again almost missing her swing.

“No way!” she gasped. “He gave you that?! Where the hell did he get it?!”

“No idea,” Leon shrugged, hitting the ball with less force this time, “but I don’t think he knows how much it’s worth.”

“Aw, dude, you’ve gotta show me!” Shiho practically pleaded as she hit the ball back.

Leon chuckled at her enthusiasm as he continued the rally. “Maybe later, yeah,” he agreed, “but I wanna play it first before I show ya.”

“Fine,” Shiho huffed as she sluggishly hit the ball back.

The rally continued in silence, with neither of them seeming to grow tired. After a few minutes of nothing being said, Leon decided to speak up again.

“Yo, Shiho,” he called out to her, “you don’t have, like, a boyfriend or somethin’, do ya?”

Shiho just laughed cockily at the question.

“Who’s asking?” she responded. “What, given up on chasing Sayaka, huh?”

“That’s not-- No,” Leon groaned defensively, striking the ball again. “Look, just answer the question, will ya?”

“The answer’s no,” Shiho replied, her voice shifting from playful to curious. “Why are you asking, though?”

Leon didn’t want to mention his dreams to her.

“I dunno, maybe I’m getting mixed up with someone else,” he excused, “but does the name Kairi ring a bell?”

Shiho hit the ball with as much force as possible, all of a sudden, and Leon had to dodge.

“Hey!” he shouted at her. “You trynna kill me or something?!”

Shiho was just standing there, though, with her eyes wide.

“I… don’t know anyone called Kairi,” she responded in a loud whisper, “but… it sounds so… familiar.”

That didn’t make sense.

“So, you recognise it, but don’t know anyone with that name?” he tried to clarify.

Shiho just shook her head, her eyes looking distant.

“Kairi…” she murmured to herself. “Kairi, Kairi, Kairi…”

Leon could practically see her digging through her own memories, trying to see why that name sounded so familiar, but she only let out a frustrated growl.

“Gah!” she exclaimed with annoyance. “I dunno why that name’s so familiar. Do you know someone called Kairi? Someone who says they know me?”

Leon shook his head.

“Nah, I just… thought you mentioned him before or something,” Leon lied. “It doesn’t matter. Seriously.”

Shiho still looked like she was thinking heavily about it, though.

Leon sighed, picking up the tennis ball and throwing it in Shiho’s direction. She immediately snapped out of her thoughts, hitting the ball back at him with her tennis racket, though it only went past his head.

“The hell, dude?!” she shouted at him.

“I told ya, it doesn’t matter,” Leon repeated to her. “Quit lookin’ so freaked out.”

Shiho folded her arms, defensive.

“I’m not freaked out,” she grumbled.

“Totally freaked out,” Leon grinned, which only made Shiho’s anger grow.

“Hey, drop it,” Shiho warned, then smirking mischievously, “or I’ll tell Sayaka you like her.”

Leon felt the blood drain from his face, horrified.

“No, you seriously won’t!” he reacted, offended at the thought.

Shiho’s smirk remained on her face as she began to strut slowly, feigning an innocent expression.

“Don’t worry, I definitely seriously won’t,” she assured dramatically. “...Maybe.”

And after that, she broke into a sprint faster than Leon had ever seen, dropping her racket; so fast that she went straight past him before he could process that she was even running.

“Hey!” he hollered, trying to grab her as she went past him, but she was already out of reach and heading for the doors.

Leon had no choice but to run after her like his life depended on it, dropping his own tennis racket. He burst through the doors, seeing that she was running through the first floor hallway. He darted after her, breezing past Taka as he did so.

“No running in the halls!” Taka could be heard shouting after him, but he didn’t slow down.

Shiho had pushed her way past Byakuya, too, while on the way back to the dorms, and as Byakuya recovered, Leon also barged past him.

Byakuya definitely would have said some condescending remark about them both, even if it was only to himself, but neither Leon or Shiho cared.

Shiho was a fast runner, but Leon was fast, too; he had to be, when running the bases during baseball games.

Leon picked up the pace, and while he looked scarily determined to catch her, Shiho was just laughing.

It looked like she was running straight to Sayaka’s room.

Shiho looked back over her shoulder, spotting that Leon was actually gaining on her fast. Shock was upon her face now, yet no matter how desperately she tried, she couldn’t increase her own speed.

“Uh-oh,” she could be heard gulping.

Leon managed to reach out his hand and grab the back of her shirt, causing Shiho to yelp as she was jerked backwards. Leon didn’t slow down in time, though, so he just crashed straight into her, seeing flashes of light in his eyes for a moment as the two of them tumbled to the ground.

“OW!” Shiho cried out. “Okay, okay, I’m kidding, I ain’t gonna say shit!”

Leon, meanwhile, was cursing under his breath as he rubbed his head.

“Damn right!” he yelled back at her, nudging her with his elbow. “You’re a total pain in the ass, y’know that?!”

Shiho dramatically pouted as she rubbed her neck.

“What kinda guy lays his hands on a lady, anyway?” she huffed, yet again feigning innocence.

“I’d never lay a finger on a lady,” Leon declared, “but you barely count as a lady.”

“Oh-ho, you wanna see unladylike, huh?” Shiho grinned, reaching out and grabbing Leon by his goatee. “I’ll show you unladylike!”

“Ow ow OW!” Leon yelped as Shiho pulled on his goatee. “Let go!”

“Are you two alright…?”

Both Leon and Shiho froze upon hearing Sayaka’s voice, who had just entered the corridor, presumably coming from the cafeteria.

Shiho immediately let go of Leon and put the back of her hand to her forehead, leaning back dramatically.

“No, Leon’s gone totally crazy!” she fibbed. “He’s trynna totally murder me right now!”

Leon laughed nervously, immediately moving away from Shiho without standing up.

“Don’t listen to her,” he chuckled bashfully, “we’re just… uh… practicing what to do if we get attacked!”

He gave Shiho an incredibly, almost painful, pat on the back.

“Crying for help is a good idea, Shiho!” he laughed forcefully. 

Sayaka watched the exchange between the two, at first with surprise, before she tilted her head and smiled at them. Leon immediately stopped laughing, and even Shiho fell into confused silence, but Sayaka said nothing else, simply entering her room without another word.

Leon and Shiho were just sitting on the floor for a moment longer in silence, slowly turning their heads to look at each other, before Leon bared his teeth angrily.

“Oh, you are so dead,” he warned, while Shiho only laughed, getting back up to her feet.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she chuckled, offering her hand down to Leon to help him up. He didn’t accept her help, getting back up on his own instead. 

As the pair returned to standing, they heard that sound through the speakers once again.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially night time. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…”

Monokuma’s voice had once again made the announcement for night time.

Leon folded his arms upon hearing this, glaring at Shiho.

“Go on,” he commanded with a wave of his hands, “get back to your room.”

Shiho just laughed, turning on her heel.

“Yeah, goodnight, dumbass,” she grinned back at him, walking towards her room.

Leon waited for her to actually enter her room before making his way towards his own. He was annoyed and flustered, but admittedly, he was somewhat relieved that Shiho was back to acting like her usual self.

It was strange; she, along with some of the others, seemed like someone he had known for a long time. He had only known her for a couple of days, yet it felt as if he had known her for at least a full school year. The same could be said for people Like Mondo, Sayaka, and even Makoto; there was definitely something familiar to them all.

He didn’t want to think about it too much, though, so just returned to his room for the night.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Complications~

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and night time is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Leon yawned, stretching his arms at the morning announcement. Once again, he couldn’t remember his dream, so just dragged himself out of bed. However, before he could even begin putting his day clothes on, he heard the sound of his doorbell.

It was far too early for someone to be ringing his doorbell.

His tension eased slightly, though, as he let out a heavy sigh, coming to the conclusion that it was probably Shiho.

Leon dragged himself towards the door, unlocking it as he tiredly rubbed his eyes, but in front of him wasn’t Shiho; instead, it was Taka.

“Good morning!” he shouted in Leon’s face.

“Huh?” Leon reacted with surprise before frowning. “What do you want? I’m not even dressed yet…”

“Unacceptable!” Taka scolded firmly. “You must get dressed and come to the dining hall at once!”

Leon was still waking up.

“Why?” he questioned, yawning into his hand again.

“I am establishing a new rule for everyone to follow!” Taka announced. “From now on, every morning after the morning announcement, all students must meet in the dining hall and have breakfast together!”

Leon blinked slowly, processing his words, before just closing his eyes while standing.

“Sure, whatever,” he agreed, “just let me get dressed, man.”

“I will inform the others!” Taka responded, hurrying to the next room.

Leon closed the door once Taka had left, getting himself dressed without much urgency. He left his room, looking slightly more rough than usual, grumbling as he walked down the corridor.

“Ugh, so freakin’ tired…” he complained to himself, catching sight of a tired-looking Makoto nearby. “The hell's wrong with that guy...? Did he wake you up, too?”

“Yeah, he sure did,” Makoto confirmed with a yawn. “I guess he's going around waking up everyone.”

“It’s seriously annoying,” Leon huffed, glancing back towards his own room. “I'm goin' back to bed. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room.”

He wasn’t hungry at this moment, anyway, and really wasn’t in the mood to sit with everyone else while he had such little energy.

“I don't think it'll do any good,” Makoto warned. “I'm sure he'll just come bug you again.”

“Yeah, prolly,” Leon sighed. “Dammit... I guess we'd better just go, then.”

As he began to drag himself back towards the dining hall, he spotted Shiho on her way, too, looking even more exhausted than him.

Leon sat himself down in the dining hall by the large table, and Shiho sat beside him without saying anything. She looked like she could pass out any second.

Everyone else began to enter the dining hall, and soon enough, the whole group was present.

“Okay, looks like everyone's here,” Taka observed. “So then, let's begin our very first "breakfast meeting"! Everyone, thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come together.”

Leon rolled his eyes. “I didn't make time for shit,” he complained. “You dragged me here…”

Shiho nodded her head in silent agreement, her eyes fluttering closed. She rested her head against Leon’s shoulder, using him as a pillow as she presumably attempted to get some extra shuteye. For the moment, Leon didn’t feel like bothering her.

“I know I already mentioned this earlier,” Taka continued, “but in order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other. And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust! So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!”

Toko nervously tapped her fingers together, her cheeks red.

“You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people?” she asked for clarification. “I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure…”

Leon awkwardly nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a while for me, too,” he added.

He felt Shiho nodding in agreement, so she was still somewhat awake.

“Well anyway…” came Junko’s voice, “did anyone happen to come up with any clues?”

But only silence followed from everyone.

“Seriously? Nothing at all?!” she reacted to the silence. “Anything, it can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything?!”

A voice did fill the silence, though, and instead of suggesting any clues, it only sent chills down everyone’s spines.

“You are going to die.”

It was Celeste, her gaze being an intense one.

“Huh…?” Junko questioned nervously.

“If you can't stop yourself from showing weakness in front of others… you will die,” Celeste emphasised. 

“Wh-What the hell?” Junko gasped, growing angry. “Don't even freaking joke about that!”

“I am not joking,” Celeste calmly corrected. “Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and adapt to your new life here.”

“Have you gone completely insane?” Junko responded to Celeste’s words. “Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?”

“Yeah, sounds like the girl wants to live here,” Mondo grumbled. “And hell, more power to her. But shit… No way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' outta here, I don't give a shit!”

“Hmhm. Sure, feel free,” Celeste replied with an air of confidence and smugness.

Leon sighed at the interaction. “Okay, so… nobody has any clues?” he asked the others.

“One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this,” came the voice belonging to Hina. “Someone who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped in here in the first place?”

“Well, sure, it could be something like that,” Leon said to her, rubbing his head. “But for right now, actual clues are…”

“U-Umm…”

Leon noticed the timid Chihiro trying to speak up, drawing attention to her since he was the only one who noticed that she wanted to say something.

“Huh? What’s up?” he asked her.

“If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre... Do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend...?” Chihoro theorised once everyone was paying attention to her.

“A murderous fiend…” Makoto echoed. “Chihiro, do you have some idea who might be behind all this?”

“Well… maybe. I mean, I can't really be certain, but…” Chihiro hesitated, until Taka spoke up.

“Certainty is not a concern right now!” he encouraged. “I'll allow whatever remarks you may have!”

“O-Okay, well... Have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?” Chihiro asked.

The question briefly brought silence to the room before Makoto spoke up.

“You mean that serial killer that's been in the news and all over the Internet?” he queried.

Before Chihiro could answer, it was Byakuya who spoke next.

“The monstrous villain who's murdered scores of victims in a brutally bizarre fashion…” he recalled. “The word "bloodlust" was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood. Whoever he is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the Internet, they started calling him… Genocide Jack. That about covers it, I think.”

Yasuhiro gave a nervous smile at the information. “They say he's claimed over a thousand victims…” he remembered.

“That's just an urban legend though, right?” Junko responded. “I mean even like, ten people would be totally insane.”

Again, silence briefly followed; considering their circumstances, most students were willing to believe that anything was possible.

“Anyway, whoever Genocide Jack really is, he's obviously some kind of super crazy killer,” Chihiro went on.

“And if he really is this "ultimate" psycho, I wouldn't be surprised if he put together something like this,” Mondo agreed with Chihiro, growing more tense.

“But like I said, I can't be certain,” Chihiro reminded. “I don't have any evidence or anything. It's just a thought…”

Leon scratched his neck nervously, nudging Shiho slightly to make sure she hadn’t completely fallen asleep; this sort of revelation needed to be heard.

“But if they're the killer, isn't that like a killer of a problem for us?!” he exclaimed fearfully.

“It's okay!” Hina reassured. “Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay! Cuz help's gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!”

“Huh…?” whispered Toko. “H-Help…?”

“We've been stuck in here a few days already, right?” Hina reminded them all. “Nobody's been able to contact us, so I'm sure they're getting worried. I bet they called the police already!”

She had a point, which almost eased the tension in the room.

That was until a familiar voice filled the air with laughter.

“AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Out of practically nowhere, Monokuma appeared before everyone in the dining hall.

“The police? You're putting your faith in the police?!” he mocked. 

“What are you doing here?!” Sakura reacted warily, her gaze intense.

“You guys, seriously…” Monokuma rambled. “Do you understand what role the police exist to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organisation. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers? I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!”

His words were chilling, yet Yasuhiro laughed in response.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” Leon asked with wide eyes as he jolted upright in his seat, the movement definitely waking Shiho up fully.

“I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act,” Yasuhiro smiled.

“...You're still going on about that?” Junko asked slowly after a pause.

“So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard…” Mondo growled, “what the hell do you want?!”

“Mr. Serialkillerpsychofreakbastard, huh?” Monokuma repeated with a tilt of his head. “That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?”

“We know who you really are!” Mondo shouted, but Monokuma didn’t seem to even care about his aggression.

“Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away…” he reacted, turning away from Mondo.

“Hey!” Mondo snapped, cracking his knuckles. “Don’t ignore me, asshole!”

“Okay, okay, let's get back to business,” Monokuma stated. “Your life here has already begun and a couple of days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody! I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together. But I'm totally bored!”

Makoto frowned as he spoke up.

“There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other…” he declared confidently.

“Wait, I think--yes! Ding ding ding! I figured it out!” Monokuma loudly announced. “All the mystery ingredients are here--right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realised there was one very important piece missing!”

“Wh-What are you...?” Makoto reacted, sharing the same dread the others were feeling.

“If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive! Puhuhu!” Monokuma revealed, bringing even more tension to the atmosphere. “It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!”

“Motive?” Mondo repeated. “What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“Oh, by the way!” Monokuma talked over him. “There's something I wanna show you guys!”

“Stop changing the goddamn subject!” Mondo shouted at him ragefully.

“I have a little video I'd like you all to see,” Monokuma continued, still ignoring Mondo. “Oh, but don't worry. It's not some pervy "adult" video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that! It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school.”

Outside the school.

“Outside the school…?” Makoto echoed. “What are you talking about?”

“Heh-heh! Ooh, Master's so impatient today!” Monokuma taunted. “Why don't you just watch it and find out? Here in the school, there's a specific place you can go that has everything you need to watch the video.”

The next to speak up was Kyoko, who had not said a word so far.

“Good, then we can go watch the video right now. But before we do that, I'd like to know… What are you? Why would you do something like this? What do you want from us?”

Monokuma looked towards her, processing her words.

“What do I want from you...?” he replied as though deep in thought. “Well, if you must know…”

His answer was so simple, yet it was once again a chilling response.

“Despair. That’s all.”

Despair.

He just wanted despair.

“If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves,” he then said. “Do whatever you need to to uncover the mystery hidden within this school. I won't try and stop you. Cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for an answer! So I guess I want amusement from you, too.”

With one final laugh, Monokuma was gone, leaving everyone in the dining hall silent and tense.

Shiho sat herself up and stretched her arms, yawning.

“Did I hear that right?” she asked, mainly to Leon. “That stupid bear thinks he’s got some kind of motive to make us kill each other?”

“He sure seems to think that, yeah,” Leon nodded, watching intently as the students talked amongst each other, with Mondo begging Makoto to check what this “motive” was since he was closest to the door. Sayaka went with him, too, much to Leon’s disappointment.

“What do ya think it is?” Shiho questioned, both curious yet also afraid.

Leon just shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure,” he admitted, “and I don’t think I wanna find out.”

“Neither,” Shiho agreed. “I don’t wanna worry even more about staying in this place, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Leon nodded, yawning. “I might just… go back to bed for a couple of hours, pretend this ain’t happening…”

Shiho nodded in agreement. “Same,” she replied as she pushed herself out of her seat.

“Hold on!” Taka bellowed, making Shiho flinch. “This meeting has not yet concluded!”

“Yeah, you can't just chicken out and leave the rest of us to see what this video is,” Mondo added, surprisingly agreeing with Taka. 

Shiho frowned, sitting back down. “Fine, whatever,” she grumbled, “but whatever this video is… I ain't fallin’ for it.”

“Don't sound so certain,” Byakuya's voice said with an air of smugness. “You have no way of knowing how you'll react to what he's about to show us, or how it will make others react.”

Shiho just glared in his direction from where she sat.

“And why are you acting so smug, huh?” she challenged. “What makes you think you're so immune to a motive?”

“I never said I was,” Byakuya smirked. “Perhaps this will serve as my motive to escape, or perhaps it will show me which one of you to look out for depending on how you react to this so-called “motive”.”

As usual, Byakuya was being insufferable, and nobody had energy to deal with him.

Sayaka had soon returned by herself, hurrying through the dining hall doors, and her voice immediately caught Leon’s attention.

“We found what Monokuma was talking about!” she announced. “There are a bunch of DVDs with our names on them in the A/V room!”

Leon got up from his seat abruptly.

“DVDs?” he asked her, watching her nod in response.

“Makoto’s in there now,” Sayaka explained. “Come on!”

She was in a hurry to get back to the A/V room, clearly expecting everyone to follow her without question. Leon did just that, but as he was leaving, Shiho grabbed his arm firmly to stop him in his tracks.

“Huh?” Leon reacted, looking back at her. “What’s up?”

“I just… have a bad feeling about this,” Shiho mumbled with conflict in her eyes. “Whatever those videos are… we shouldn’t watch them.”

Chihiro had overheard her, giving a shy nod of agreement.

“I understand how you feel…” she murmured. “But… what if there’s some kind of clue…? Monokuma said the motive involves showing what’s going on outside the school…”

Shiho just shook her head, letting go of Leon’s arm as she looked at Chihiro. “He’s trynna drive us nuts,” she reminded her. “He made it pretty clear that this is meant to motivate us to kill each other, right? Why should we listen to him?”

She did actually make a good point, but it didn’t stop the others from leaving the dining hall.

“Who knows what Monokuma will do if we don’t listen to him…?” Chihiro muttered with worry, fidgeting with her fingers. “We should just go…”

Leon folded his arms, nodding in agreement. “Look, whatever’s on those DVDs ain’t gonna make us kill anyone,” he tried to comfort them both. “C’mon, let’s just get this shit over with; besides, I’ll protect all of you ladies if anyone tries anything, okay?”

Man, he felt so cool and heroic saying that.

Shiho just huffed and frowned as she started following him out of the dining hall.

“My hero,” she sarcastically grumbled as Chihiro trailed nervously behind her.

Leon led the two towards the A/V room, with the other students walking through the hall, too. As Sayaka, who was in front, opened the door, however, Makoto’s voice could be heard shouting in distress.

“I need to make sure everyone’s safe!”

Leon had never heard Makoto sound so upset, and hearing the horrified exclamation made him briefly stop in his tracks.

“W-Was that Makoto…?” Chihiro hesitantly asked, standing close to Shiho with dread in her eyes.

Shiho put her arm around Chihiro, her own body tensing up. She didn’t say anything, but she did have an air of protectiveness to her as she headed into the A/V room with Chihiro. Leon followed after them after snapping out of his brief freeze.

“What happened?” Sayaka could be heard asking a pale Makoto. “Make sure who’s safe?”

Hina also looked at Makoto with worry. “Wh-What’s going on?” she hesitantly asked.

Makoto couldn’t even find the strength to speak, shakily pointing towards the cardboard box. Leon followed the direction his finger was pointing in, peering into the box and spotting the various DVDs.

“Is that what Monokuma was talking about?” he questioned, trying to hide his own growing worry.

“What’s on them?” asked Taka, unable to hide his own nervousness.

Shiho reached into the box, fishing out the DVD with her name written on it. She stared at it for a moment, her own face going pale as she tried to remain calm on the outside. Leon watched as she approached a monitor, putting her DVD inside the slot.

Leon followed her example, as did many of the others who were anxious to see the contents of the DVDs. He hurried over to a monitor with his own DVD without hesitation, trying not to look worried at all.

Leon felt his heart racing in his chest as he watched the monitor flicker to life, and he felt his throat go immediately dry at what he saw.

His cousin, Kanon Nakajima, was standing in front of the camera with a bright smile on her face, waving happily, and behind her was the rest of his baseball team. They were in a baseball stadium, having propped the camera up to film this makeshift video.

“Hey, Leon!” she waved, with the team waving behind her enthusiastically, trying to fit into the frame. “We wanted to congratulate you on being chosen to attend Hope’s Peak Academy! We always knew you could do it!”

She looked so happy for him, as did the rest of his team. Even though attending Hope’s Peak meant quitting the team and even quitting baseball altogether, Kanon and his teammates looked full of joy; Kanon had been the manager of his team in the past, working hard to make sure he gave his best performance even when he sulked about having to play the sport.

In the video, Kanon put her hands on her hips, her expression becoming stern.

“I know you said you wanted to quit baseball for good,” Kanon said firmly, “but you’d better keep up with practicing! Cuz we’re all working extra hard without you!”

“Yeah!” exclaimed one of his teammates with a grin on his face. “We’re all trynna get just as good as you; hell, we might even get better than you if you give up for good!”

Hell no; Leon was determined to be the best.

Kanon’s expression softened into a warmer smile.

“But just know, whatever dream you pursue…” she murmured softly before looking determined. “I’ll always have your back! Whether you come back to playing baseball or become a famous rockstar… I’ll always support you, even if no one else will!”

Leon almost smiled at the fire in her eyes; she was the same as ever, so there was no way this was some fake video.

The video cut, all of a sudden, and while at first he believed it wasn’t fake, what he saw next made him wish it was.

The stadium was completely destroyed, with only a single baseball being visible on the ground among the debris.

Nobody could be seen.

His team wasn’t there, and neither was Kanon.

Leon felt the air being sucked out of his lungs as he struggled to take in a deep breath. The video was completely silent, only displaying the hauntingly still image of the destroyed baseball field.

Then, to fill the silence, came the familiar voice of Monokuma.

“Leon Kuwata, the promising baseball star blessed with so much professional talent…” he described. “He never did appreciate the ones who worked so hard to support him - not even his own little cousin, who worked night and day to manage him and the rest of his team. Leon only ever dreamed of becoming a famous musician, right? So, would he even care if something so terrible happened to his teammates and cousin? Is he curious to know what might have happened to them?!”

The screen suddenly cut to a simple phrase.

“Look for the answer after graduation!”

Leon took a shaky step back from the monitor, staring at it with horror. He heard the others reacting with fear, too, hearing Hina let out a fearful cry.

“Th-This can’t be real, right?” she gasped. “It has to be fake, right?!”

“Yeah, no way it’s real.” Leon nervously chuckled, feeling his blood running cold. “Haha… no way.”

Toko screamed, clutching her head.

“I can’t t-take it anymore!” she howled with distress. “I c-can't take this anymore! Let me out of h-here!”

Kyoko’s unusually calm voice spoke up, her expression barely readable.

“I see... So this is what he meant by motive,” she observed. “He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other.”

“It is the classic "prisoner's dilemma."” Celeste added, also unusually calm.

“...Huh?” asked a confused, yet still startled, Hifumi.

“Let me use an example,” Celeste began to explain matter-of-factly. “Imagine two countries are on the brink of war. But both countries want peace, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces and they both end up betraying each other. In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability.”

“That kinda sounds l-like us right now…” Toko noticed. “Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us…”

“Don't put those awful thoughts in our head!” Taka shot back at her. “That's exactly what they want us to do!”

Leon clenched his fists, growing extremely wary and defensive of everyone in the room.

“You can say that,” he growled at Taka, “but maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just…”

“What?!” Taka gasped with complete horror at the suggestion. He looked like he was about to argue back against Leon, but Sakura interrupted the rising conflict.

“This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants,” she pointed out. “They want us to fight. Don't you see?”

Chihiro gave a solemn nod of agreement. “Yeah, you're right,” she agreed. “We all need to calm down…”

“Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just… talking,” Junko suggested. “Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system. Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?”

In a morbid way, Leon was indeed curious. Did anyone see something worse? Were the circumstances different?

He instinctively turned to look over in Shiho’s direction, since he hadn’t heard a word from her at all. Not even a sound had come from her since she watched her DVD.

The expression on her face was one he never imagined she could have.

Her face was pale, drained of all colour. Her mouth was hanging open, and her eyes were wide and unblinking, almost looking completely dry. She was just staring at her monitor, even though her video had ended, and the faintest tremble could be seen as she stood in the same unchanging position.

The others hadn’t noticed her, instead having their attention turned to Sayaka.

“What was in your video, Sayaka?” Makoto was asking her warily, but Sayaka remained silent; she, too, was stunned into a similar silence.

“What's wr-wrong?” Toko pushed impatiently. “Just hurry up and t-tell us…”

Yet Sayaka’s expression only seemed to grow more horrified.

“Sayaka?” Makoto asked softly, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. The moment he made contact with her, though, was the moment Sayaka suddenly pushed his hand away and cried out.

“Stop it!” she shouted fearfully, pushing past everyone and hurrying out of the A/V room.

Leon watched her with wide eyes of his own; Sayaka had never looked so terrified, always usually being the one with a kind smile on her face and a warmth to her.

“Sayaka?!” Hina exclaimed as Sayaka left the room.

“Let her go,” Byakuya responded with indifference, folding his arms.

“I-I can’t do that!” Makoto defended. “I have to go make sure she’s okay!”

“I h-hate romantic comedies like this,” Toko grumbled, as if on Byakuya’s side. “I don't care what h-happens to her, personally…”

“That's because you're totally thoughtless!” Junko snapped at her; good thing, too, because Leon felt his own anger rising at Toko’s words.

“I’m… really worried,” Hina admitted quietly.

“Then why don't you go do whatever you think you have to?” Celeste suggested. We don't all have to stick around together, right? Speaking of which, I have my own things to take care of. Goodbye.”

Celeste barely seemed bothered, leaving the room calmly.

What if she was preparing to kill someone?

The paranoia was already setting in.

Makoto didn’t seem fazed by her oddly calm nature, his priority obviously being Sayaka. He ran out of the room without saying anything else, and as much as Leon wanted to be the one to make sure Sayaka was okay, he knew it would be a bad idea for multiple people to crowd around her when she was in distress.

Everyone began to go their separate ways, leaving Leon alone in the A/V room. The only people left with him were Shiho and Chihiro.

Though, without a word, Shiho finally started to move, walking like a ghost towards the door.

“Sh-Shiho?” Chihiro called out after her. “Are you… okay?”

Shiho’s voice, in response, was quiet as she didn’t even turn to look back at Chihiro.

“I’ll be in my room,” she barely whispered, exiting the A/V room and closing the door behind herself.

Leon watched her leave, before he and Chihiro slowly looked at one another.

“U-Um… Should we go with her…?” Chihiro asked hesitantly.

Leon just shook his head.

“I think we all need some time alone,” he pointed out. “I’m gonna go sleep in my room for a bit.”

“Oh, o-okay…” Chihiro replied nervously. “I’ll… probably do the same…”

Leon nodded his head, being the next to leave the A/V room, and Chihiro followed after him. They headed in the same direction, only parting ways once they reached the halls of the dorm rooms. Leon entered his own room and made sure the door was locked behind him, and once he felt safe enough, he fell onto his bed, burying his head underneath his pillow.

Everything had just got so much worse.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Should I Stay or Should I Go~

Ding dong.

It wasn’t the night time announcement which awoke Leon from his sleep.

Someone was at his door.

Leon looked at the clock, seeing that it wasn’t even 10 p.m. yet, but he felt a horrible feeling in his stomach.

Who was at his door?

The rooms were all soundproof, so if he opened the door to someone, they could easily barge in, close the door, and nobody would be able to hear Leon if he screamed for help.

He didn’t want to answer it.

Leon hoped that whoever it was might go away, so he buried his head back under his pillow, but the sound rang again.

Ding dong.

Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong.

Whoever it was, they were damn persistent.

Leon sighed loudly as he sat himself up, ruffling his hair so that it didn’t look completely messy. He looked around his room, looking for something he could use to defend himself with in case the person outside did have malicious intent.

His eyes glanced towards the drawer, and he dragged himself over to it, pulling it open. Inside was the toolkit which Monokuma had gifted to all the male students. There was a screwdriver inside, so without thinking, he ripped the film off the toolkit and opened it, wrapping his fingers tightly around the screwdriver. 

He was confident that he had fast reaction times, learned from his time playing baseball. If anyone tried anything, he could easily stab them with the screwdriver, and if he had to, he could aim a fatal strike. Not that he wanted to kill anyone, but if he could attack someone who attacked him first, he wouldn’t feel so bad.

Ding dong.

The person was still there, and they were likely not going to go away.

Leon clutched the screwdriver tightly, taking in a deep breath before approaching his door. He unlocked it with the key, partially opening it with caution.

The one standing there was Shiho.

Leon’s eyes widened with surprise as he opened the door a little more, leaning against the doorframe. She still had a look of horror in her eyes, yet she didn’t look completely in shock anymore; instead, she just looked conflicted, maybe even tired.

“Shiho?” Leon reacted to her presence. “What’s up? Why’re you here?”

He still was cautious, holding the screwdriver tightly behind his back.

Shiho was rubbing her arm nervously, casting her gaze towards the floor. She struggled to speak for a moment; Leon really wasn’t used to seeing her this quiet.

“Can I…” she hesitated. “Can I… come in for a bit?”

Leon remained guarded, keeping the screwdriver held tightly in his fist.

“Why?” he defensively interrogated, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Don’t you think it’s a stupid idea, going to someone else’s room after…?”

“Yeah, I know,” Shiho rapidly responded, a flare of anger behind her eyes as she still couldn’t make direct eye contact with Leon. “I know I shouldn’t trust anybody. But I’m scared shitless; I… I don’t wanna be alone right now.”

She was shaking more and more as she spoke, her gaze returning to looking lost.

“I’m scared someone’s gonna do something,” she wavered, her lips curving into a nervous, stressed grin. “Someone’s gonna do something, and I don’t know who I can trust. Hell, I don’t even trust you, but… I feel like I distrust you the least.”

Leon could see the panic in her expression as it began to consume her, similar to how she looked in the A/V room. He reached out with his free hand, placing a hand on her shoulder, feeling the way she jolted at his touch.

“I’m not gonna leave you freakin’ out in the hallway,” he decided. “Come on.”

This could have been an act. This could have been Shiho acting scared, only to catch him off guard the moment he closed the door, but the fear in her expression seemed genuine. He wasn’t even sure if Shiho could pull off such a convincing performance even if she tried.

Leon stepped out of the way, letting Shiho shuffle inside, and he closed the door behind her, though he didn’t lock it just in case he needed to get up and run. He kept the keys in his pocket, too, along with the screwdriver, which Shiho thankfully didn’t notice.

Shiho was just stood shaking, her knees almost looking weak. She still struggled to look at him, rubbing her arm more and more nervously.

“You should sit down,” Leon instructed, gesturing towards his bed. “There; go and sit on the bed.”

Shiho actually did manage to shoot him a glare, which almost looked like her spark was back for a brief moment. He let out a sigh, scratching his head.

“Look, I’m not gonna do anything weird,” he assured her, folding his arms. “I’ll even stay right over here, okay?”

Shiho watched him warily, even as she moved slowly towards the bed. Her eyes were locked onto him, as if wary that he actually would suddenly lunge towards her, but she did seem to drop her guard as she finally took a seat on the edge of the bed. Meanwhile, Leon just leaned against the wall, close to his door.

“You’ve been freaked out ever since we watched those videos, huh?” Leon observed.

Shiho was looking down again, and she nodded her head nervously.

“...Yeah,” she confirmed quietly. “Hasn’t… everyone been freaked out?”

Leon was thoughtful, remembering his own video and what happened to his cousin and teammates.

“Yeah,” he answered, “it seems like it.”

“You, too?” Shiho pressed, looking up at him with large, vulnerable eyes.

Leon stared at her for a moment, seeing the genuine fear and worry in her gaze, and in response, he nodded.

“Yeah,” he replied, his own voice now quiet. “I… I saw my cousin. She’s like a little sister to me, and… she was with my old baseball team.”

Shiho’s trembling eased as she listened to him, staying silent.

“They were all just… congratulating me on getting here,” Leon explained as he practically saw the video playing before his very eyes again. “They were all happy for me, just… being themselves. Then… they were gone, and all I could see was the stadium, totally wrecked.”

There was a chilling silence that followed his words. Leon almost regretted admitting what he saw; what if he had just given Shiho ammunition to use against him?

Shiho, though, just spoke up quietly.

“I… saw my parents,” she revealed, “and… my little brother. Same sorta thing, really; they were wishing me luck, and my brother was saying some dumb shit about how he’s practicing to be as good as me on a skateboard. Then… they were gone, too.”

Could something really have happened on the outside?

Had a war broken out that the students were completely unaware of?

The only way to find out would be to graduate, and graduating meant…

Leon had to shake the thought out of his mind. He wasn’t going to kill someone. Even if the darkest part of his mind was telling him that he could do it right now, he felt nothing but disgust at the thought.

Shiho looked towards him again with desperation behind her eyes.

“Leon,” she called out to him, getting his attention, “please, tell me you won’t do anything stupid.”

Leon was surprised by her words, feeling his eyes widening.

“Huh?” he reacted. “What, you think I’m gonna kill someone?”

“I don’t know,” Shiho admitted, hugging her knees close to her chest. “I wanna trust you. I wanna trust the others. I wanna have at least one person I can feel safe around in this damn place.”

Leon stared at her in silence, processing her words. She really did look scared.

Scared for her life.

Scared for her loved ones on the outside.

Scared for the friends she was only just beginning to make on the inside.

Maybe she was so shaken because she herself was considering killing someone to escape, and the very thought sickened her.

Leon’s voice was quiet, and even careful, as he finally responded to Shiho’s words.

“Look, it’s almost night time,” he pointed out, “so, I’m gonna have a shower, okay? You can stay here as long as ya want.”

Shiho didn’t drop her guard, looking at him warily, and Leon put his hands up defensively.

“I already said I won’t do anything weird,” he repeated. “Just don’t come peekin’ into the bathroom or anything; the boys’ bathroom doors don’t lock.”

Shiho pulled a face at his comment, once again with a hint of her usual self shining through.

“Ew, I’m not some perv like you,” she insulted.

Leon pouted, almost in a way that mocked the way Shiho would usually pout since he did appear more playful.

“Damn, that hurts,” he grumbled. “At least you’ve got nothin’ to worry about; you’re totally not my type.”

Shiho gave him another warning glare.

“Quit being weird!” she snapped at him. 

Leon only laughed at her reaction, heading into the bathroom.

“I’ll be done in, like, five minutes,” he told her, “so, just… I dunno, find somethin’ to do. Oh, but don’t touch my guitar! That shit was expensive.”

He caught sight of Shiho looking towards the guitar in question, as if considering messing with it, but he didn’t bother to warn her again. He closed the door behind himself, taking in a deep breath.

This, for both of them, was a test of trust.

Shiho could leave, if she wanted, since Leon had left the room door unlocked, and if she did that, he would actually be vulnerable. She could even leave and find a weapon of some kind for herself before coming back to kill Leon, and she could flee the scene without anyone knowing she was the one to do it.

Leon could also have been up to no good. He could easily take Shiho by surprise after his shower, either by using the screwdriver or by hitting her hard over the head with something. Granted, it would look highly suspicious if she was killed in his room, but if he waited for later in the night, he could move her body back to her own room by taking her keys.

It was an intense scenario for both of them, and while it was unwise to put trust in anyone, Shiho had made a valid point. She wanted just one person she could rely on, and Leon wanted that, too. Having a girl rely on him also made him feel cool and strong, and as he cleaned himself in the warm shower water, he smiled at the thought of all the other girls looking up to him as a protective figure.

Leon didn’t take long to shower, and once he was done, he just put his day clothes back on, making sure that his room key and his screwdriver were still in his trouser pockets.

As he was finishing running his towel through his hair, making sure it was spiked back up, he heard the sound of loud music on the other side of the door. He jumped slightly as the music started playing, but rolled his eyes upon realising that Shiho had obviously been going through his CD collection.

Leon turned the doorknob and opened the bathroom door, seeing that Shiho was singing along to a song on the “Combat Rock” album by The Clash, and it was a song he knew, too.

“Well, come on and let me know~” Shiho sang, lost in the moment. “Should I stay, or should I go~?”

Leon just stood with his arms folded as he watched her, smirking. He was waiting for her to notice his presence, but she just continued to belt the words out like nobody could hear her.

“Should I stay or should I go now~?” she chanted. “Should I stay or should I go now~? If I go, there will be trouble~”

“And if I stay, it will be double~” Leon interrupted, and his voice made Shiho cry out in panic.

“AH!” she exclaimed, quickly grabbing a pillow from the bed and throwing it right towards him.

Leon didn’t even try to dodge or catch the pillow, just letting it hit him right in the face as Shiho stood there with her fists raised.

“Real good defence,” Leon taunted.

“Shut up!” Shiho snapped at him, still keeping her fists raised. “I didn’t think you were trynna kill me, you just… startled me!”

Leon picked up the pillow, tossing it back onto the bed from where he was standing.

“Well, good to see you’re back to normal,” he responded. “Whatever “normal” is for you…”

Shiho folded her arms tightly, gritting her teeth as her face went red. “I’m trynna take my mind off things, alright?” she stated aggressively. “I don’t wanna have to worry so much. I don’t wanna think my friends might betray me, or my friends might hurt someone, or someone might hurt my friends…”

She fell back onto the bed, clasping her hands over her face with frustration.

“Urgh!” she exclaimed. “I hate this! I just… I just wanna wake up from this nightmare, dude.”

Again, Leon stared at her in thoughtful silence for a moment, seeing the evident distress that Shiho couldn’t get rid of. 

This time, Leon did move a little closer, seeing the immediate defensive position from Shiho.

“Like I already said, you can stay here as long as ya want,” he repeated, “and if ya wanna stay the whole night… sure.”

Shiho gazed up at him cautiously, though with a glimmer of hope in her stare.

“Like… a sleepover?” she reiterated.

Leon raised his brow at the comparison; sleepovers were more of a thing girls did with other girls.

“...Sure,” he answered after a small pause, “like a sleepover. And to make it less weird, I'll sleep on the floor.”

Shiho loosened her posture as she sat upright on the bed.

“I mean, I guess if you kill me, people will know you did it,” she realised, “since we’re in your room and all.”

Was that her way of saying she was feeling more safe around him?

“I’m not gonna try killing you,” Leon tried to ease. “I don’t wanna kill anybody, dammit.”

Shiho gave a slow nod, and finally, she smiled with a big grin.

“I could totally beat your ass if you tried, anyway,” she joked.

Leon didn’t even want to argue with that; at this point, he just wanted to keep her in a better mood so that she wasn’t worrying too much about the motive videos. Keeping her in a good mood kept him distracted, too.

“Let’s not talk about killing each other, alright?” he suggested. “I tell ya what; you can watch me play “Project Zombie”, since I haven’t even tried it out yet.”

Shiho’s eyes widened with interest, her guard completely lowering now as she fully returned to her usual attitude.

“Seriously?!” she gasped. “You’ll let me watch your first playthrough?!”

“Hell yeah!” Leon grinned. “We can stay up all night, and we can blast whatever music we have as loud as we want since the room’s totally soundproof!”

Shiho jumped off the bed, looking excited.

“Well, what the hell are we waiting for, huh?!” she exclaimed. “Set it up already, dude!”

Leon chuckled as he took out the game Makoto had gifted to him, and as he was setting up the Funplane to play it on, a familiar sound played over the speakers.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially night time. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…”

Monokuma’s night time announcement had played, meaning that all of the students should stay in their rooms, as recommended by Celeste.

Leon and Shiho barely seemed to care, though; they were so focused on the video game, sitting beside each other on the floor at the foot of the bed. “Project Zombie” was certainly made with a male audience in mind, and there were moments that made both their cheeks go red, but it also seemed fun and addicting. Shiho was definitely jealous that Leon owned the game, though she never demanded he let her have a turn.

Well, that was until he died in the game, and she declared that it was her turn, so he handed her the controls.

As Shiho played the game, Leon watched her, though his eyes suddenly noticed something near his door.

A piece of paper was being shoved under it - a letter.

Leon’s eyes widened and he immediately got up, with Shiho not even noticing as she continued to focus on the game. Leon bent down and picked the letter up, and upon seeing the signature, his heart skipped a beat.

There's something I want to talk to you about, just us two. In five minutes, come see me in my room. Check the nameplates to make sure you don't get the wrong room, okay?
-Sayaka

This definitely wasn’t fake.

Without a doubt, the message was from Sayaka; that signature was definitely hers.

Leon was just staring at the piece of paper which he held tightly in his hand, his mind racing with possibilities.

Was Sayaka… going to confess to him?

Had Makoto said something to her, maybe something good to make Sayaka show more interest?

Was Sayaka seeking comfort, just like how Shiho had reached out to him?

“Yo, what’s up?” Shiho could be heard calling out while she remained focused on the game.

Now, this was awkward.

Leon had told Shiho that she could stay in his room for the night, knowing that she was in need of company, but now Sayaka was asking to see him in five minutes.

Sayaka Maizono wanted to see him alone.

This was like one of his dreams coming true.

Leon scratched his head awkwardly as he walked back over to Shiho.

“Uh, listen,” he began, “I, uh, might have to go for a bit.”

He could see Shiho tensing up as she paused the game, looking up at him.

“Why?” she asked with growing panic in her voice. “You’re not gonna do something stupid, are you?”

Leon shook his head. “Nothing like that,” he assured her. “Someone wants to meet with me, that’s all.”

Still, Shiho looked suspicious.

“Someone’s invited you out for a chat?” she guessed. “And you’re sure they’re not gonna try and kill you?”

“Well, they’ve invited me to their room, so probably not,” Leon pointed out, which made Shiho raise her brow.

“Oh?” she reacted. “An invitation from a girl, huh?”

Leon’s cheeks flushed as he stuffed the note into his pocket. 

“Look, they want me there in five minutes,” Leon explained, “and I don’t know when I’ll be back. You can still stay here, though, but I’ll have to lock you in.”

Shiho got up, stretching as she did so.

“Hell nah,” she refused, “if a girl’s invited you to her room, you might not be back until morning.”

Leon scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Why do ya keep assuming it’s a girl?” he mumbled.

“Because you’d be too scared to meet with a guy at this hour, all alone,” Shiho smirked, folding her arms, “so, it’s gotta be a girl.”

Leon just shook his head in disbelief as Shiho began to walk towards the door, near where he was standing. She stopped right beside him, however, and her expression went back to being worried and serious.

“Just be careful, alright?” she warned him. “I’d seriously hate for somethin’ to happen to you, dumbass.”

“Trust me, I’ll be alright,” Leon assured her, “now, get back to your room, and don’t forget to lock your door.”

“I ain’t gonna forget,” Shiho huffed as she opened Leon’s door, “I better see you at the breakfast meeting tomorrow, idiot.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Leon informed, practically shoving her out the door as he also left. “I’ll see ya in the morning, okay?”

Shiho nodded her head, still with concern on her face, which she was now trying to hide.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, turning and waving passively back at him as she headed towards her own room. “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Leon watched her, making sure that she safely entered her room before focusing on his own situation. Five minutes had definitely passed by now, so he didn’t want to keep Sayaka waiting.

He wandered down the corridor, checking every single name plate until he got near the end of the hall. He stopped in his tracks when he finally reached Sayaka’s room, and he could feel his heart racing.

He had to keep his cool.

So, after taking a deep breath, he reached for the door handle, letting himself into the room which Sayaka had left unlocked.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Liar~

“Sayaka?” Leon called out after entering the room, trying to put on a confident façade. “You asked to see me privately, huh?”

But Sayaka couldn’t be seen.

The room was dimly lit, too; Leon wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be romantic or ominous.

This was Sayaka, so it had to be the former.

Leon walked further into the room. It was possible that Sayaka was in the bathroom, so he considered just sitting over on the bed, but as he stepped closer, he barely had time to react to what happened next.

Sayaka lunged from the corner, near the bathroom door, with a kitchen knife in her hand.

Leon narrowly avoided being struck with the knife, feeling his heart stop for a moment as he sharply took in a breath.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing; Sayaka Maizono had a wild look in her eyes, her gaze fixated on him as she clutched the knife tightly.

“Sayaka…?” Leon gasped with betrayal in his quiet voice. 

His blood ran cold as he stared at her with large eyes, yet she was panting with rage, keeping the knife pointed at him. 

Leon glanced towards the door, but the moment he took his eyes off Sayaka, she ran towards him again. Leon let out a shout as he jumped out of the way, but now Sayaka was blocking his only exit.

“Sayaka, what the hell?!” Leon snapped at her, unable to hide the hurt in his voice. “I’m not gonna hurt you!”

Maybe this was a misunderstanding.

That made sense; maybe Sayaka was just freaking out, mistaking Leon for an intruder.

She would snap out of it soon, and see that it was just Leon, who she had invited to her room.

But instead, she stepped closer, keeping the knife held up.

“Stop talking!” she snapped at him shakily. “I have to do this!”

Those words confirmed what Leon feared.

It was the truth he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Sayaka Maizono had lured him to her room, intending to kill him.

She had chosen him as her target.

She could have chosen someone detestable like Byakuya, or another girl like Toko, but she chose Leon.

Sayaka must have known about Leon’s feelings for her, knowing that he would come running to her, given the chance.

Leon was still backing away, unsure of what to do. Sayaka was fast due to her training as an idol, and he had no way to run for the door without risking being struck by her knife on his way past her.

What was he supposed to do?

As he was backing away, he bumped into a table with something on top of it, which Leon had almost knocked over. Instinctively, he glanced towards it, but once again, taking his eyes off Sayaka proved to be dangerous. She dashed towards him again, screaming, giving Leon limited time to react. He reached for the golden sword replica which he had bumped into, holding it up with both hands to block the attack from Sayaka.

Leon wasn’t even thinking.

In a blind panic, he raised the sword quickly, swinging it at Sayaka with the same force he would swing a baseball bat.

Too hard.

Leon had managed to disarm Sayaka, his heart pounding in his chest as his body shook with the adrenaline rush. Her scream of agony pierced his ears as the knife clanged against the floor, but a different sound had almost been heard as Leon struck her.

A snap.

Sayaka had stumbled back towards the wall, clutching her right arm. She was trembling and breathing heavily, and instead of looking towards Leon with the determination to kill, she was now looking at him with pure fear, her face paling.

Leon stood completely still, his own body trembling as he held the replica sword.

His heart was still beating hard against his ribcage, and his breathing was shaky.

Sayaka had tried to kill him.

She had tricked him, lured him into her room knowing that he had feelings for her, and she had tried to murder him.

She wasn’t going to stop, either, and had only stopped because Leon had retaliated and disarmed her.

If he left her now, would she just try again?

Would she go after someone else?

Would she lie to everyone and say that he attacked her first, encouraging others to attack or turn against him?

His mind was racing with what could happen if he didn’t do something to stop her once and for all.

This was his chance.

He could turn this situation around, and he could kill her.

All he had to do was kill someone and not get caught, and at this hour, there was no one around to catch him, especially since everybody had agreed to stay in their rooms for the night.

If he killed her, he could “graduate” and see what happened to his cousin and his old baseball team.

Hell, he could alert someone about what was happening within the school and save everyone else.

The fact that he was considering this was terrifying to him, but his breathing became less rapid as he found himself accepting that this was all he could do.

To save himself, to save his cousin, to save his teammates, and to save his classmates…

He had to murder Sayaka Maizono.

As if seeing his shifting expression, Sayaka suddenly sprinted again, but this time, she wasn’t running towards him. She had darted into the bathroom, slamming the door behind herself.

Shit.

Leon dropped the sword and immediately ran towards the door, trying to barge it open, but it seemed as though Sayaka had already locked it. He rattled the handle aggressively, but it was no use; the door wasn’t opening at all. In his frustration, he let out a yell, punching his fists against the door.

That was when he remembered something.

In his pocket, he still had his screwdriver.

Even if the door was locked, he could still get inside just by dismantling the lock itself.

His hand fished the screwdriver out of his pocket, and for a moment, he froze.

Was he really doing this?

Was he really doing everything in his power to murder Sayaka Maizono?

He could hear her on the other side, crying her eyes out, but whatever she was saying was inaudible to him.

Was she begging for him to spare her, after she had tried to kill him?

How dare she.

Was she suggesting that they forget this happened?

How could he forget that she had tried to kill him, knowing that she still had that murderous intent?

Leon couldn’t hesitate.

He used his screwdriver, his hands trembling as he worked, and he began to loosen the screws. He felt the beads of sweat rolling down his face, and once the screws were loose, he kicked the lock as hard as he could, yet still, the door wasn’t opening.

Shit!

How the hell was he supposed to get the door open?

Sayaka must have been blocking the door with the weight of her body.

Leon was growing more and more impatient. He stepped away from the door after slipping the screwdriver back into his pocket, and he dropped to the floor to reclaim the knife Sayaka had dropped.

With the knife now in his hand, Leon returned to the bathroom door, now deaf to whatever crying and pleading Sayaka was attempting. He kicked the door over and over again, rattling the handle to the point where it felt like he was physically lifting the door itself, and suddenly…

It was open.

The bathroom door was open, and Sayaka was cornered, with nothing to defend herself with.

This was it.

He couldn’t stop now.

Leon pushed open the door, forcing his way into the bathroom where he saw Sayaka cowering in the corner of the shower. Tears were streaming down her face as she clutched her wounded wrist, and her knees were weak as she trembled more and more.

She was continuing to plead. She was saying his name, begging him not to kill her, but it was just noise to him at this point. He had practically disconnected himself from his surroundings as he rushed forward…

Sayaka let out a harsh, choked gasp.

The knife was buried deep in her abdomen - so deep that some of her blood had seeped onto Leon’s sleeve.

Leon held the knife there for a moment, his eyes wide. Him and Sayaka met gazes for a moment; he had never seen for himself what it looked like when the life left somebody’s eyes. 

The blood was on his hands. It felt warm and thick…

It was disgusting.

Leon let go of the knife and staggered backwards, staring as Sayaka slid down the wall, followed by a trail of her own blood. 

Her breathing was ragged and shallow. 

This was it for her.

She was staring at him with unblinking eyes; he was going to be the last thing she saw.

Her eyes snapped open wide, all of a sudden, as she gasped a final time.

Then, in total silence, her body fell limp.

No more trembling, no more crying, no more breathing.

Sayaka Maizono was dead.

Leon’s heartbeat began to slow down as he panted heavily, leaning against the wall. The more he stared at her, the more he felt the urge to throw up growing within his gut.

Sayaka was dead, and he had killed her.

He could feel hot liquid dripping down his cheeks again, but this time, it wasn’t sweat.

Tears were dripping from his eyes, and he hadn’t even realised it.

Yet as he accepted that he was, in fact, crying, his lips quivered, curling into a shaky smile.

As the tears dripped down his face, he wasn’t able to vocalise any sobs.

Instead, as his quaking grin widened, he could only let out a hoarse, broken laugh.

He leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling as the tears continued to fall down his face, and his laughter echoed in the bathroom.

It was the only sound he could hear.

His voice, which he could barely recognise as his own, howling with unpredictable laughter.

He couldn’t undo this.

He couldn’t bring her back and forget this happened.

All he could do now was make sure he didn’t get caught; he had to do everything in his power to make sure nobody could link him back to the crime.

So, with his numb legs, he finally left the bathroom.

The first thing he did was strip off his shirt, leaving him only in the T-shirt which he wore underneath. He would have to wash it or dispose of it somehow, along with the letter which he removed from his pocket.

Leon spotted a lint roller, and figured that just to be safe, he may as well clean up the entire room and make sure that not even a hair was left behind. He got on his hands and knees, making sure the whole room was spotless; after all, there was plenty of time left before night time was over.

He folded up his shirt along with the letter, and he quickly made his exit after making sure the hallway was clear. Nobody could be seen, so he headed towards the trash room, though much to his misfortune, there was no way to get past the gate without the key.

His next plan was to head to the laundry room, where he intended to simply wash the shirt and make sure the letter disintegrated in the water, but upon spotting a certain item, a new plan suddenly came to his mind.

A plan only a true baseball star could think of.

Leon picked up a glass ball, not caring who it belonged to or what it was for. He hurried out of the laundry room and into the trash room, where the large gate still separated him from the incinerator. There was seemingly no way for him to access the incinerator…

Seemingly.

Leon clutched the glass ball tightly, focusing on the button which would turn on the incinerator. He stared at it for a moment, before letting out a deep exhale. Then, in one smooth motion, he pitched the glass ball as if it were a baseball, throwing it through the gate and targeting the button.

The ball crashed against the button, shattering, and the incinerator roared to life.

Balling up his shirt along with the letter Sayaka had given him, Leon threw those items past the gate next, and like with the glass ball, they landed right where he wanted them to land.

Perfect.

Leon had destroyed the main pieces of evidence connecting him to the crime.

All he had to do now was wait until morning to wash the gold glitter off himself, along with the rest of Sayaka’s blood which had stained his hands.

Leon marched away from the trash room, his heart racing once again.

He had done it.

He had killed someone, and there was no way anybody could accuse him.

He was laughing to himself as he walked, realising that soon, he would be free from this school.

Soon, he would go back to the outside world, and reunite with everyone he cared about before becoming the hero who went to get help for the other students.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

 ~Damned~

Leon barely got any sleep after returning to his room.

He had returned, seeing the room in the state he and Shiho had left it in.

To think, just hours before, he was sitting with Shiho at his side playing a video game while music played through the stereo.

Hours before, he only saw Sayaka as a sweet girl who could do nothing wrong, and he was excited to be meeting with her.

It was a good thing Shiho hadn’t stayed in his room like he had offered, otherwise he would be returning to her with blood and glitter still staining his hands, and he would have no way to explain himself.

Leon was haunted by nightmares throughout the night; visions of Sayaka covered in her own blood plagued his mind, as did her dying screams.

He was going to have to face his classmates in the morning, and they would find out that Sayaka had been killed.

He had to lie to them all.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and night time is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Leon was grateful to be woken up from his nightmares, but he still felt groggy. For a moment, he was convinced that the events of the previous night were just a dream, until he saw that he was still covered in dry blood. He jumped straight out of bed, yelling out as the memories came flooding back to him of what he had done.

He was going to be late to breakfast.

Leon showered himself as quickly as he could, roughly scrubbing his arms clean to make sure not a trace was left on him. Once he was certain that he was fully clean, he jumped out of the shower and threw on his clothes, feeling the screwdriver still in the pocket of his trousers. He decided to take it out of his pocket and place it on a table before finally leaving his room.

Most of the other students had already headed to the dining hall, with a few still making their way. Leon acted as casually as he could; he was the only one among them who knew that another student was dead in their room.

Leon walked through the doors, nervously scratching his head.

“My bad, guys!” he apologised with a forced grin. “Slept right through my alarm!”

He scanned the hall with his eyes as a few of the other late students gave their excuses, and he saw that almost everyone was there.

Only Sayaka was missing, as was Byakuya, and also Shiho.

“Wait, aren't we still missing some people?” asked Taka as he, too, noticed the absentees.

Leon’s heart raced again; they were going to find out that Sayaka was dead.

How long did he have to wait until he could graduate?

“Yeah, Sayaka, Shiho, and Byakuya aren't here yet,” Hina observed, but as if on cue, Byakuya came through the doors.

“...What's going on?” Byakuya questioned as he saw everyone’s concerned expressions. “Did something happen?”

Mondo took his feet off the table.

“Hey man!” he called out to Byakuya. “Have you seen Shiho or Sayaka?”

“Why would I have?” Byakuya questioned with a raise of his eyebrow. “I just came straight from my room to here.”

“Maybe they’re together somewhere…?” Hifumi guessed. “Doing… girl stuff?”

Leon felt a sense of dread washing over him.

He was already dreading what would happen once the others found out what had happened to Sayaka, but he was also worrying more and more about Shiho. It wasn’t unusual for her to be late, but what if…?

Leon pushed himself out of his seat suddenly.

“I’m gonna go check on Shiho,” he told everyone. “She’s prolly in her room.”

He didn’t wait for anyone to question him. He marched right out of the dining hall, heading down the dorm corridor towards Shiho’s room, picking up the pace more and more as he approached.

What if something had happened to her?

What if another student had attacked her while he was busy with his own attack?

If something like that had happened, how would he forgive himself; he had left one scared girl on her own just to go and end up killing another…

Leon stopped right in front of Shiho's door, his heart rattling in his chest.

Behind him, he could hear the footsteps of someone running. He didn't even look back; whoever it was, it sounded like they were going to Sayaka's room.

Leon rang the doorbell, his hand trembling as he did so. He even impatiently tried the handle, just in case the door was unlocked.

The door didn't budge, so there was no way anyone could have got inside.

But, in a moment that felt slower than it really was, the door clicked and was pulled partially open.

Standing on the other side, tiredly yawning, was Shiho.

“Huh…?” she groggily reacted. 

Her eyes went from tired to fully awake, and she pulled the door completely open upon realising that it was Leon standing there.

“Dumbass!” she greeted as though it was his actual name. “Why are you up so early?”

Leon scratched his head, baffled.

“It’s, like, way past seven,” he pointed out to her. “You’re one of the only people we’re still waitin’ for.”

Shiho tilted her head.

“One of…?” she repeated.

Just as she asked that, a scream could faintly be heard coming from Sayaka’s room. The door had been left open by the one who had obviously gone to check on her.

That was the scream of someone who had found her dead body.

Shiho gasped, and Leon reacted quickly, putting his arm in front of her as if protecting her.

“Sounds like someone’s in trouble,” he lied to her.

“Makoto!” Shiho realised. “That sounded just like Makoto, didn’t it?!”

She pushed past Leon without even thinking, hurrying down the corridor towards the room where the scream had come from.

“Hey, wait!” Leon shouted after her.

He had to act like he was worried about her running into danger, but in reality, he knew exactly what she was about to see. In a way, he didn’t want her to see such a sight, though there was realistically no way to stop her or anyone else from facing what he had done.

Leon ran down the corridor after her, and he could see some of the others rushing out of the dining hall, too, having likely heard Makoto’s scream. The door to Sayaka’s room had already been slammed open, yet nothing could be heard aside from the footsteps of all of the students hurrying to the scene.

A part of Leon still hoped that when he stormed into the bathroom, everything would be back to normal.

But that wasn’t reality.

As he entered the bathroom, he saw that Sayaka was still exactly where he had left her, and Makoto had collapsed to the floor.

Shiho was standing in total silence, staring down at Sayaka’s body with a ghostly expression.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Ahem! A body has been discovered!”

Monokuma’s voice said the words with so much excitement as the other students pushed their way into the room, trying to see what Leon, Shiho, and Makoto had stumbled upon.

“Please, could all students proceed to the gymnasium for an explanation of the graduation process! I’ll be waiting!”

The monitors flickered off, and once again, Leon’s heart jumped.

Was he going to graduate right now?

That must have been it.

Monokuma was going to host a graduation ceremony, and Leon was going to be allowed to leave.

Mondo’s angry voice spoke up in response to the announcement.

“Like hell we’re gonna do what that fuckin’ bear says!” he yelled.

“R-Right!” a nervous Taka agreed, fighting against his urge to follow the rules. “One of our classmates is dead! We must… We must resist!”

“Is she… definitely dead…?” came the shocked voice belonging to Hina.

Kyoko pushed through the crowd wordlessly, heading into the bathroom and stepping over Makoto’s unconscious body. She crouched down and checked for Sayaka’s pulse.

Everyone held their breath as she did this, and after a moment, she closed her eyes, standing back up.

“She’s dead,” she confirmed, “and I believe we won’t get an explanation until we all head to the gymnasium.”

“N-No way!” Toko screamed, standing right at the back of the crowd so that she didn’t have to look at the crime scene. “W-We can’t just d-do what that bear says anymore!”

“We must,” Kyoko insisted. “Defying him might only make things worse. Besides, don’t we want to find out what happened to Sayaka?”

Chihiro tearfully spoke up.

“Sh-She makes a good point,” she agreed, wiping away her tears. “I wanna know what happened to Sayaka…”

“Then, let’s go,” Kyoko decided, heading out of the bathroom and past the gathering of students.

“Hey, what about Makoto?” Hina asked with worry. “H-He’s just on the floor… We can’t leave him here…”

“I can carry him,” Sakura suggested, but Yasuhiro intervened.

“I’ll do it!” he decided, laughing as if still in denial about what was happening. “You just go on ahead with the girls, Ogre!”

Sakura simply nodded, leaving the area with Hina and a hesitant Chihiro following. Junko and Celeste joined them next, as did Toko, who was hurrying to make sure that she didn’t accidentally glance at any blood which had been left behind.

That left Shiho, who was still standing over Sayaka’s corpse, even as Yasuhiro started heaving Makoto into his arms.

“C’mon, Shiho,” he said to her, “we gotta go.”

He had lifted Makoto onto his back, exiting the room. He was followed by Taka, Hifumi, and Byakuya.

Mondo leaned into the bathroom, trying to keep his cool even as his eyes fell upon Sayaka.

“We’ve gotta go,” he told both Leon and Shiho. “Maybe Monokuma will tell us which bastard did this…”

“Yeah,” Leon slowly nodded, finally leaving the bathroom to follow after Mondo.

Shiho said nothing, but she did follow the two boys. She scurried after them, grabbing Leon by his sleeve tightly. Leon stopped walking to look back at her, and when his eyes met hers, something felt… wrong.

Her gaze was practically burning into his own, and she looked like she was staring at a ghost.

For a second, Leon felt a chill run down his spine, but he had to shake off the feeling.

Shiho was just scared.

So, he tried to relax his already tense expression.

“We’ve gotta go,” he reminded her, continuing to walk even as Shiho kept her hold on his arm. “Hopefully… we’re gonna get some answers.”

The answer he was looking for was graduation.

It meant leaving everyone behind, and forever living knowing that he had killed someone, but he had to make sure his loved ones were okay. And again, he was determined to at least try to get help.

Mondo walked ahead, with Leon and Shiho walking behind him. As Mondo led the way towards the gymnasium at a fast pace, Leon and Shiho both dragged their feet.

Leon found himself glancing at Shiho, who had her eyes focused ahead of herself. She was practically clinging to him as if seeking his protection, because as she had said the night before, she just wanted one person to rely on.

And she had chosen him, the one who was the first to take a life.

What if Shiho had been the one to attack him the way Sayaka did?

Would he have been able to take her life, too?

How easy would it be to murder Shiho?

The thought made him feel unwell; he didn’t want to look at anyone like that ever again, especially not a girl who was depending on him to protect her.

But it would be easy to kill someone who dropped their guard.

Once he graduated, would someone else be able to kill her as easily as he had killed Sayaka?

Mondo, perhaps?

The two arrived together at the gymnasium, where everyone else was waiting. Yasuhiro had laid Makoto down on the ground, with many of the others gathering around him and nudging him to wake him up.

Within moments, Makoto’s eyes had snapped open as he quickly sat himself up.

“Ah! You’re awake!” Hina exclaimed with both relief and horror. “Finally! Are you okay?”

Mondo wasn’t as patient as her, clenching his fists.

“Now’s no time for sleeping,” he snapped. “Get your ass up!”

“Huh…?” Makoto reacted slowly as he looked around.

“You were unconscious, dude,” Yasuhiro informed him, smiling awkwardly. “I had to carry you back here.”

“It’s no surprise,” came Sakura’s voice, “considering what happened.”

Makoto was processing her words. “What… happened?” he echoed, and the memory must have flooded back to him.

“Gh--! Grraaah!”

His exclamation had worried Hina.

“H-Hey,” she said softly, “are you okay?!”

“So it wasn’t a dream?” Makoto asked fearfully. “What I saw… It was real…?”

Byakuya’s cold voice was next to fill the air as he stood with his arms folded.

“That’s right,” he confirmed. “It really did happen. Sayaka… is dead.”

Makoto, still in shock, turned on his heel suddenly, starting to run towards the doors.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Byakuya called out after him.

“I have to see for myself!” Makoto yelled without slowing down. “I have to see if Sayaka is--! If Sayaka is...!”

“You can check once, twice, a thousand times,” Byakuya grumbled. “Sayaka is completely and irrevocably dead.”

“No!” Makoto hollered. “I have to see for myself!”

“Listen to us, man!” shouted Mondo, finally getting Makoto to stop in his tracks. “Whaddya think's gonna happen if you go out there?”

“Well what good is it gonna do just sitting around here?!” Makoto snapped back at him, shaking as he held his head. “I mean, why are we all hanging out in the gym at a time like this?! Our friend… Sayaka… she's... She's dead!”

The panic was setting in once again for him, and some of the others looked away after his outburst.

“None of us want to be here right now, either,” Kyoko calmly confirmed.

Makoto looked at her tearfully.

“Then… why?” he asked her quietly, his voice wavering.

“Sh-Shouldn't it be obvious?” stuttered Toko. “Monok-kuma… he told us all to c-come here…”

“Well, hold on!” Taka protested. “Don't talk like that. We all protested it! I mean, we remember the terrible price Sayaka had to pay… B-But…”

“I'm the one who convinced them to come,” Kyoko proclaimed. “Right now, we need to do whatever he says. We're his prisoners, right? It's not a good idea to defy him without reason. We don't need to make any more sacrifices than we already have…”

“...Why should we listen to anything he has to say?” Makoto growled out as his anger grew. “It's obvious he's the one who killed Sayaka!”

Just then, Monokuma appeared out of seemingly nowhere, revealing himself to the group.

“I would never do that!” he gasped, sounding offended. “If you can believe anything, you can believe that!”

Leon narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth, feeling Shiho hold onto his arm tighter.

“He’s here again…” he snarled irritably.

“Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere,” Monokuma continued to explain. I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here. I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the "Bear-Times-One" rule!”

Chihiro was next to nervously speak up.

“Then… who did it?” she asked softly. “Who killed her?”

“You already know the answer!” Monokuma chirped as if it was such a joyful declaration. “The one who killed her is… one of you!”

Everyone was stunned into silence.

Shock.

Nobody wanted to believe his words.

Yet only Leon knew just how true that was.

“Hmm?” Monokuma hummed curiously. “What's the matter? You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling gun! Don't you remember what I told you when this all began?”

He began to laugh with amusement.

“One of you decided to kill Sayaka so that you could graduate!” he reminded them all. “Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!”

When was the graduation supposed to happen?

“Y-You're lying… right?” Hifumi nervously asked as he bit his fingernails.

“Of course he’s lying!” Makoto yelled. “I’m telling you, he killed her!”

“Nope, sorry,” Monokuma replied. “One of you is now a bona fide killer. If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify to that little fact.”

“What…?” Makoto reacted slowly.

Everyone was looking at one another with a combination of fear, suspicion, and confusion.

“A-Are you serious…?” Chihiro questioned timidly.

“Someone… Someone killed someone!” Taka exclaimed with horror in his loud voice.

“It is amazing what some people are capable of,” Celeste reacted, oddly calm.

“Hey, hold on!” Mondo snapped. “Don’t just assume he’s telling the truth!”

“That's enough,” Byakuya interrupted. “Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here. If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?”

Leon’s eyes widened at the question as he listened intently.

“...Huh?” Monokuma replied as if he had forgotten about the rule, tilting his head with false innocence.

“Don't play dumb!” Byakuya scolded. “That's what you said, isn't it?! If you kill someone, you get to leave!”

But Monokuma’s reaction to the question only made Leon’s excitement turn to dread.

“Puhuhu…” Monokuma began to laugh. “Puhuhu! Poohohoho! Bwaaahahahaha!”

Leon nervously spoke up in response to Monokuma’s outburst of laughter.

“Why are you laughing?!” he asked him; surely, there was not some twist in the rules… was there?

“Puhu…” Monokuma chuckled. “it's cuz… Naive... You're just so naive! You think it's really that easy? You can just kill someone and waltz on outta here?”

That’s how it had sounded when stated in the rules.

“You're super naive!” Monokuma mocked, as if laughing at Leon directly. “Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE! No no no, the real thing has just begun.”

Leon stiffened at Monokuma’s words, and without a doubt, Shiho felt his tension.

“The… real thing?” Makoto queried hesitantly.

“Are you ready?!” Monokuma announced dramatically. “Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However… even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to uphold, remember?”

“You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations…” Celeste recalled, repeating it for everyone. “If you are the "blackened" that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you are talking about, is it not?”

“Bingo!” Monokuma grinned. “It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with! So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin!”

Leon swallowed hard upon hearing this new detail.

A class trial?

He was going to have to keep up the façade through some kind of trial?!

“Yup!” Monokuma continued. “It'll begin a few hours after the murder! Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown!”

Leon was so glad that nobody was focusing on his expression, because it must have been a deathly pale one.

“During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is,” Monokuma explained in detail. “And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct… only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life.”

Punished…?

“However…” Monokuma went on, “if you choose poorly… then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go… that's all there is to it!”

“So, um…” Hifumi spoke up, “what exactly is this "punishment" you keep talking about...?”

Monokuma was far too delighted to answer his question.

“Oh!” he chirped. “Well, to put it simply… It’s execution!”

Leon’s heart almost stopped upon hearing those words.

“E-Execution?!” Hifumi shrieked.

“And by execution, you mean…” Chihiro nervously questioned.

“Execution is… execution,” Monokuma gleefully clarified. “Ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!”

Leon was frozen on the spot, and he could feel Shiho holding onto his arm tighter.

She was absolutely terrified, even more than she was the previous night.

Naturally, anyone would be at the thought of a possible execution…

“S-So, to make sure I understand…” Taka spoke up after clearing his throat. “If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong… all the rest of us get… executed?”

“What a smart little chimpanzee you are!” Monokuma praised in a condescending tone. “Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So it's basically what the outside world calls a "lay judge" system, or an inquisition type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is. But judge carefully, because all your lives are on the line!”

So, if Leon got away with the crime, all of his classmates would be killed.

All of them.

Even Shiho, who was holding onto him like he was the only person she could put any trust into.

Even everyone he was beginning to warm up to, like Mondo and even Chihiro.

Would he have to watch that?

Would he have to watch them all die, and stare at their faces as they realised he had betrayed them?

And if he let them figure out that he did it…

He would die.

“Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook,” Monokuma then said. “Make sure to keep it in mind!”

A small beep confirmed that the rule had indeed been uploaded to the handbook, which only made Leon’s anger grow.

If he had known about this rule… he wouldn’t have killed Sayaka.

Hell, Sayaka probably wouldn’t have tried to kill him, either.

“W-Wait, hold on a second!” Junko suddenly shouted. “You're freaking insane, you know that?!”

“Hmm?” Monokuma responded as if completely confused.

“A class trial?” Junko questioned. “What the hell is that?! I don't want anything to do with it!”

“Why not?” Monokuma asked her casually.

“Whaddya mean why not?!” Junko snapped at him. “Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone?!”

If everyone thought like that, maybe they could all resist the class trial, and maybe Leon could just graduate without anyone having to suffer a punishment…

“What?!” Monokuma gasped in disbelief. “Are you saying you're not gonna participate in the trial?! Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!”

“What?” Junko questioned. “Punishment?”

“I might… I dunno, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!” Monokuma threatened, which was surprisingly not as brutal as the other punishments he had been describing.

“Shut the hell up!” Junko angrily yelled. “Say whatever you want, I'm not gonna be part of this!”

“Don’t be so selfish!” Monokuma scolded.

“You're the one being selfish!” Junko pointed. “Kill whoever you want, it's got nothing to do with me!”

“The evil standing here before me... I'm trembling with fear...!” Monokuma mocked her. “But I won't give in to such evil! It's my style to stick it out and resist till the very end...! If you really wanna get out of here… You'll have to go through me first!”

This could be it.

Everyone could fight back against Monokuma, now that Junko had stood up to him.

Monokuma charged towards the students, though it was better described as a waddle. As he approached, however, Junko stormed forwards and kicked him to the ground.

The whole class was stunned into silence as Junko pinned Monokuma beneath her boot.

“Gyumeh!” Monokuma exclaimed with genuine surprise at the action.

“Are you enjoying yourself now?!” Junko shouted down at him, her eyes wild with fury.

“Are you?” Monokuma ominously asked in response.

“Huh?” Junko questioned, confused yet still full of rage.

“Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed,” Monokuma reminded her. “You've violated a school regulation... I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!”

Junko didn’t move from where she stood, and nobody had time to react to what happened next.

As if Monokuma truly had cast a summon spell, spears actually did come to his aid, all of them piercing through Junko’s body.

Blood exploded from her body, yet she still stood there, with her eyes wide and her body twitching.

A pained, shocked smile formed on her face.

“...Wh...? H-Huh?” she reacted shakily, as if her body hadn’t even registered the wounds yet. “This wasn't...supposed to… Why...me...?”

Her eyes shot open wide as she let out a pained, hoarse gasp, suddenly collapsing to the floor.

After that, she never moved again, lying in a pool of her own blood.

“Wh-What the…?” gasped Hina, covering her mouth.

“I don’t…” whimpered Chihiro tearfully.

“Th-This can’t be real,” Leon denied, and for the first time since arriving at the gym, he heard Shiho’s voice as she held onto him tighter.

“This isn’t…!” was all she barely managed to whisper, trembling more and more.

“NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!” cried out Hifumi.

“Now I am painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise... I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping up for no good reason, ya know?” Monokuma then spoke, raising his claws warningly to the other students. “But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all. Ahh, what an amazing promise! But now you guys understand, right?”

He lowered his claws, and everyone was focused entirely on him, wary of what he might do next.

“Now you see just how serious I am... Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated… et cetera,” Monokuma made clear. “So if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey those school regulations!”

The others glanced towards Junko as he spoke, seeing her body still filled with the spears Monokuma had impaled her with.

“It's really not all that shocking,” Monokuma then went on, seeing the shock in everyone’s expressions. “She just died, that's all. Just went and died. It's no more remarkable than the inevitable demise of the entire human race. It's just as natural as the eventual end of the world itself.”

He said it like the end of a life was just so simple, like it shouldn’t mean anything at all to anyone.

“This isn't some superhero comic,” Monokuma laughed. “So it's not like when you die, you didn't really die. This is reality!”

“...Why did you have to kill her?” Kyoko questioned, her emotions unreadable. “Didn't you say you would put her in prison or something?”

Kyoko was right; he did threaten her with prison.

“I changed my mind,” was all Monokuma replied with.

“No, you've been wanting to kill this entire time,” Kyoko accused him coldly. 

“Kill this entire time...?” Monokuma questioned as if surprised by the accusation. “Don't be silly, you can't kill time! Or are you being metaphorical? Are you saying I wanted to waste time this whole time? Come on, what do you take me for? I'm Monokuma!”

His words had only confused Kyoko and the others, and after his little outburst, he went back to speaking nonchalantly.

“Anyways, none of that matters right now,” he dismissed. “I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!”

Something to help everyone search for the blackened.

Something that could help the others send Leon to his execution.

The handbook beeped again as a file was uploaded to it.

“This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question,” Monokuma explained. “I like to call it... The Monokuma File! I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death.”

Leon narrowed his eyes as Monokuma explained this; it was as if he was trying to make sure that Leon didn’t graduate.

This just got so much harder.

“What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask?” Monokuma rhetorically asked. “Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!”

Leon figured as much; those surveillance cameras had to be used for something, after all.

Even so, that meant that Monokuma simply watched as another student was murdered.

He had watched Sayaka lure him to her room and did nothing to prevent the struggle from happening.

“Wait, so then…” Kyoko spoke up, “you know who killed Sayaka?”

“Of course I do!” Monokuma answered. “If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair and accurate judgment during the trial, now could I?”

“That's a good point,” Kyoko thoughtfully admitted. “The judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That's… somehow comforting.”

“Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation!” Monokuma encouraged. “After all, you don't have any choice but to give it your best shot! Seriously, you don't have a choice! Okay, so we'll meet up for the class trial… in a little while!”

And with those parting words, Monokuma disappeared.

He left everyone in silence, standing in the gymnasium with Junko’s dead body only getting colder and colder.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Stab Your Back~

Nobody was saying anything at all.

Everyone was just looking at each other with suspicion.

They were trying to figure out who had killed Sayaka, just by examining everyone’s expressions.

Sayaka was dead, and so was Junko, and soon, either the entire class would be executed… or just the culprit.

Leon couldn’t even beg Monokuma to consider him as an exception to the rule, because if he was seen doing that, it would only give away that he was the murderer.

“Now's no time to wallow in your depression,” Kyoko said to break the silent tension in the air. “The worst thing we can do right now is lose all faith in each other. That would lead to the same disastrous result as having total faith in everyone else.”

“Huh…?” Leon reacted to her words, confused.

“Cooperation is absolutely key at this point,” Kyoko explained simply. “Who you decide to trust or not trust is, of course, up to you.”

Indeed it was.

“Continuing to think about and talk about the deceased certainly isn't going to help anything,” Celeste added heartlessly.

“S-Saying stuff like that is just--!” Hina exclaimed, but Celeste interrupted her.

“How many times have I told you?” she spoke. “Anyone who can't adapt… will die. Death is the only thing awaiting those who are unable or unwilling to adapt. If that happens, you only have yourself to blame.”

“What an awful thing to say!” Hina argued. “Especially after what's happened!”

“Right now, exposing the killer is the most important thing,” Kyoko reminded the other two girls. “Because if we don't, we're all going to die here.”

“...She's right,” Byakuya surprisingly agreed. “We need to begin our search right away.”

“Either way, we can't run away from the situation, so we have no choice but to move forward,” Sakura added.

“We just hafta do it, I guess,” Hina reluctantly agreed. “What other choice do we have?”

What other choice?

Leon was thinking the same thing.

Either he died, or they died.

“No way in hell am I letting someone kill me...!” he exclaimed without realising it. “Alright, dammit! Let's do this!”

Shiho spoke up again, her voice still quiet as she refused to let go of Leon’s arm - something that certainly must have been noticed by at least a few of the others.

“I don’t think I can do this…”

Seeing her so afraid and reluctant was weird.

Leon wasn’t surprised to see her in shock after witnessing the death of a classmate and finding Sayaka’s dead body, but he did expect her to at least have some fire in her.

Some determination to catch the killer.

If she had that determination, that anger, then Leon wouldn’t feel so bad about having to lie to her.

“Why not?” Byakuya questioned her, his expression serious yet still with some smugness to it. “Unless you’re the culprit, you should have nothing to worry about.”

Shiho didn’t even argue with him.

Shiho, who seemed to despise Byakuya and always retaliated to his targeted arrogance, was just… silent.

She wasn’t even that close to Sayaka, so she can’t have just been in shock at losing a close friend.

Everyone else was still somewhat behaving like themselves, yet she remained with that look of horror on her face.

Was something else going on with her?

Leon wanted to ask her, but before he could, he heard Makoto speaking up after checking Junko’s body.

“...She… really is dead,” he quietly announced, mainly talking out loud to himself.

“I don't know why you even bothered to check,” Byakuya huffed. “After those injuries, and losing that much blood... Frankly, I'd be shocked if she did survive something like that.”

Yasuhiro was next to react, sweat beads falling down his face almost immediately.

“H-Huh…?” he gasped as he began to hyperventilate. “H-Hold on… H-H-H-Hold o-on! J-J-Just w-wait a second! Sh-She's...dead?! Then that means...! That means everything that's happened so far is real?! It's not a joke or whatever!? It's really real?!”

He let out a terrified, distressed howl.

“Hell no!” he shouted. “S-Someone save me! Let me outta here! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!”

“You're j-just now accepting that...?” Toko questioned, having to make sure she wasn’t looking at Junko’s body.

Makoto had stepped back over to Kyoko, looking like he was ignoring the outburst from Yasuhiro.

“Before we start searching for Sayaka's killer, we need to decide what to do about securing the crime scene,” Kyoko told him, though she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

“What do you mean…?” Makoto questioned.

“You're thinking of putting someone on guard duty so nobody can disturb the area, aren't you?” Byakuya predicted. “After all, if the culprit decides to destroy the evidence, we're pretty much screwed.”

Luckily, Leon had already destroyed as much evidence as he believed was necessary.

“In that case, I don't mind doing it,” Mondo volunteered. “I don't like havin' to think, anyway. I'll let you guys figure out who killed that chick.”

“Okay, then we can let Mondo look after the scene,” Hina agreed, but Byakuya shook his head.

“Well, no… we can't just leave him there alone,” he pointed out, enraging Mondo immediately.

“What?” Mondo reacted. “Why the hell not?!”

“Isn't it obvious?” Byakuya scoffed. “If you were the culprit, what's the first thing you would do? By volunteering for guard duty, you're in a position to destroy all the evidence you want.”

“Wh--?! Fuck you!” Mondo barked angrily at him.

“Fine, then I'll stay there on guard duty as well,” Sakura offered. “That way there's no problem.”

“2-player co-op base defense with the two of them…” Hifumi commentated. “With their stats, they're totally OP!”

“Since we won't be able to help investigate, we're putting our faith in the rest of you,” Sakura told everyone, folding her arms.

“I'm still pretty freaked out, but… I'll try,” Hina nodded, trying to gain her confidence after hearing Sakura’s words.

Makoto nodded, but he could see Celeste looking at him oddly.

“Hmm?” Celeste reacted with a smile, noticing Makoto’s stare. “Heh heh… so you finally noticed.”

Leon scratched his head, confused by her words.

Had she caught onto him?

“Huh?” he questioned. “Noticed what?”

“I was looking through the Monokuma File we received,” Celeste explained. “And I noticed something very obvious, and very unusual.”

Her eyes were on Makoto as she spoke.

“Huh?” Chihiro asked. “What are you talking about…?”

“Go ahead, take a look,” Celeste encouraged. “Notice anything interesting about where Sayaka died? She died in Makoto's dorm.”

Hina gasped, placing her hand on her chest. “Wh--? She's right!”

“Then, could it be…?!” exclaimed Hifumi, his mouth dropping wide open.

Everyone was shifting their focus to Makoto.

Makoto’s room?

Leon could’ve sworn that he had entered Sayaka’s room…

Either way, all that mattered was that the suspicion was completely off him.

“H-Hold on a second!” Makoto tried to defend. “You've got it all wrong! F-For just one night, I… I traded rooms with her. I did it because… she was afraid.”

Traded rooms?

So, if they had traded rooms, that must have meant that Sayaka switched the nameplates…

Had she been intending to frame Makoto for Leon’s murder?

“Y-You expect us to b-believe that?” Toko stuttered angrily. “Just tell us the t-truth!”

“Are we all done talking?” Kyoko spoke up, once again to defuse the situation. “We need to begin our investigation soon. At this point, we should split up. We need to get to the bottom of this and find out who killed Sayaka. We'll have to collect clues to form a foundation, then construct an argument to come to a final decision. If we get this wrong… Well, do I really have to say any more?”

Hifumi drooped his shoulders. “I'd rather you didn't, no…” he admitted honestly.

“Everyone pray for good luck,” was the last thing Kyoko said before she swiftly made her way out of the gymnasium.

“I’ll be going, too,” added Byakuya as he also left.

“Oh yeah, I'm on guard duty, huh?” Mondo remembered. “I'd better head to the scene of the crime!”

“Ah, that’s right,” Sakura nodded.

Before they left, though, Mondo’s eyes scanned the room dangerously.

“...Lemme just say this right now!” he loudly announced. “If whatever son of a bitch did this is here right now, and they're thinking of destroying that evidence… They'd better not let me find 'em! I'll skip the trial and cave their goddamn skull in myself! I'm serious! I will fuck them up!”

With those words, he and Sakura left the gym together in a hurry.

Leon had to hold himself back from shuddering at Mondo’s words, fearing that Shiho would feel the guilt radiating from him.

“But… I mean, we're not detectives or anything y'know?” Hina spoke up nervously. “And we're gonna investigate a murder? How do we even do something like that?”

“We don't r-really have to do anything in p-particular,” Toko pointed out, glancing towards Makoto. “W-We already know who k-killed Sayaka…”

Makoto widened his eyes at her accusation.

“What are you implying...?” he barely managed to question.

“It was y-you,” Toko answered with as much confidence as she could muster.

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t me!” Makoto desperately defended.

Leon was watching him panic, hating how relieved he felt that the suspicion was on Makoto. This would make the trial easy; he just had to get everyone to believe it was Makoto, since they already believed that so far.

“D-Don't come any c-closer!” Toko screamed at Makoto. “Are you g-gonna kill me next!?”

“W-Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot,” Hina admitted. “It's not for sure Makoto's guilty yet.”

“That's true,” Hifumi agreed. “We may as well at least check just to check.”

Hina and Hifumi still believed in Makoto, at least to an extent.

“Even if I w-wanted to, I c-couldn't help inv-vestigate…” Toko grumbled, which admittedly made Leon curious.

“Wait, why not?” he questioned; it would’ve been nice to have someone investigate who was determined to accuse Makoto of the crime.

“I'm not g-good with...b-b-blood,” Toko awkwardly confessed. “All it takes is o-one glimpse and I b-black out.”

That explained why she was avoiding looking at Junko.

“Well, whatever,” Leon reacted, scratching his head. “I don't think anyone was expecting much from you, anyway. Alright, I guess I better get going; you comin’, Shiho?”

Shiho nodded, finally letting go of his arm.

“...Yeah,” she replied, “let’s go.”

They started leaving the gymnasium together, and Leon had to ignore the way Makoto called out after him.

“W-Wait, don't go yet!” he cried out desperately. “You have to hear me out!”

Leon just walked through the doors, grumbling to Shiho.

“Why does he want us to hear him out so badly, anyway?” he huffed. “I don’t believe him; he prolly did it.”

Shiho didn’t agree or disagree, instead just silently following him.

This was really weird.

“If you don’t wanna come with me, you can go do somethin’ else,” he reminded her as he walked. “It’s prolly best to split up to investigate, anyway, right?”

“No,” Shiho refused immediately, looking shaken up by the suggestion. She grabbed Leon’s wrist firmly, stopping him in his tracks for a moment. “I wanna come with you.”

Leon was just more confused, but he sighed, rubbing his temple.

“Fine, whatever,” he responded tiredly, continuing to walk.

Shiho went quiet again, so before heading to the dorms, he pulled her into one of the classrooms on the way through the first floor, catching her by surprise.

“What’s up?” he asked her after closing the door behind himself. “Something’s bothering you. Like, really bothering you.”

Shiho folded her arms defensively, leaning against the teacher’s desk at the front of the classroom. She was still visibly shaking.

“Oh, really?” she asked sarcastically. “Are you forgetting that Sayaka was murdered? And that Junko was killed right in front of us? Or are you stupid?”

Leon frowned at her attitude, crossing his own arms.

“Hey, I’m freaked out too, alright?” he defended, knowing that it was a lie.

Shiho looked away from him, forcing herself to calm down.

“...Sorry, dude,” she apologised quietly. 

Leon just let out a sigh again, leaning against the wall.

“Look, we need to go investigate, okay?” he pointed out. “We gotta make sure that we don’t screw up in this class trial or whatever.”

Shiho nodded, still not looking at him.

“...Right,” she agreed faintly, still appearing shaken.

Leon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, though he did speak in a softer tone of voice.

“We’re not gonna mess this up,” he assured her, and he felt cruel by saying it. “We’re… gonna find out who killed Sayaka.”

“And sentence them to death,” Shiho added with a shudder.

The words made Leon shudder, too.

“...Yeah,” he murmured, “whoever they are.”

Shiho nodded again, pushing away from the desk. She moved to where Leon was, giving a very light punch to his shoulder. Then, she finally lifted her head to meet his eyes.

“If we’re both alive tonight…” she mumbled, “I’m coming over to play “Project Zombie” and I ain’t letting you have a turn.”

Leon stared at her, silent for a moment, before forcing himself to smile, patting her back.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he responded, moving to open the classroom door. “You can stay and play it all night.”

It physically pained him to say that to her, because he was determined to get out alive.

Getting out alive meant that Shiho, along with the others, would have to die.

Leon left the classroom, and Shiho followed after him. She still had her unusually quiet demeanour, but she did seem to be slightly more energetic.

The pair headed to the dorms, noticing the students coming in and out of the room where Sayaka’s body remained. Leon took this as his chance to examine the door itself while Shiho leaned against the wall quietly.

As Leon was investigating, Makoto had entered the hall, preparing to revisit the scene of the crime.

“Something doesn't seem right,” Leon said to him. “The Monokuma File said Sayaka was killed in your room. I just can't stop thinking about it. Could it be… the nameplate?”

Surprised, Makoto looked at the door, then at the one beside his room. His eyes widened more as he looked between them both.

“The nameplates on my room and Sayaka's room were switched?!” he exclaimed with surprise.

Leon just shrugged, scratching his head.

Before Makoto headed into the room, however, he turned to Shiho, who was just standing in complete silence.

“How are you feeling, Shiho…?” Makoto asked, but Shiho remained completely silent as she looked away from him. “Come on, you don’t think that I…?”

Shiho glanced at him, only able to whisper a couple of words.

“I’m sorry.”

Makoto was confused by her words, trying to figure out what they meant.

“Huh?” he reacted, but Shiho said nothing further.

Makoto shook his head, probably wary that even more students may have viewed him as suspicious. He took a deep breath, entering the room which had Sayaka’s nameplate on it - his room.

Shiho spoke up quietly once Makoto was gone, staring at the ground.

“Why do you think the nameplates are switched?” she asked.

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

“If Makoto is the killer, maybe he thought he could disguise it as her room?” he pretended to guess. “He prolly didn’t think Monokuma would reveal that it was actually his own room.”

Shiho gave a slow nod of her head, appearing deep in thought.

“Makes sense,” she muttered.

She went back to being quiet again, and Leon ended up doing the same. They just stood together, leaning against the wall outside Makoto's room.

“Should we… investigate in there?” Shiho asked quietly. “Investigate… Sayaka's body?”

“Hell no,” Leon refused, quickly giving his excuse. “You're in no condition to look at a dead body. I'm staying with you.”

“So, we're just not gonna investigate at all?” Shiho queried, looking at him oddly. 

Leon couldn't afford to stray too far from the crime scene, and he definitely wanted to keep his eyes on his room. If someone went in and saw his opened toolkit, or his recently used shower…

“What's the point?” he asked Shiho. “The others are already doing it. I don’t wanna get in their way, y’know?”

Shiho gave a nod of understanding.

“Right,” she murmured, “so, we’re just gonna watch the hallway, then?”

“May as well,” Leon answered, running his hand through his hair. “We can make sure nobody sneaks off to their rooms.”

“Good point,” Shiho agreed.

They stood in silence once again, with Shiho being unusually close to Leon, but he didn’t say a word.

Makoto could be seen leaving his room after a few more minutes, and he headed next door into the room that was really Sayaka’s. Leon raised his brow curiously as he watched him enter the room.

“Wonder why he’s goin’ in there,” he murmured. “I mean, if he did swap rooms with Sayaka, then he stayed in there all night, right? So, what kinda stuff is he lookin’ for? Unless he’s gonna destroy some evidence?”

Shiho pushed herself away from the wall.

“I’ll keep my eye on him,” she decided.

Leon watched as Shiho followed after Makoto. Now, he was on his own in the hall, making sure nobody went to his own room.

Time was passing, and he knew that the class trial was inevitable. In a way, he just wanted to hurry up and get it over with, but at the same time, he also wanted to delay it for as long as possible. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to lie to everyone and sentence them all to their deaths.

If he failed, he wasn’t ready to face his own death, either.

With how excited Monokuma seemed about the whole thing, there was no way Leon could know what “punishment” Monokuma would have prepared.

Makoto left Sayaka’s room a lot quicker than when he left his own, so whatever he was doing, it didn’t require as much time or focus. Shiho followed after him, and while Makoto wandered further down the hall, Shiho stayed close to Leon once again.

“What was he doing?” Leon asked curiously.

“He was just grabbing Sayaka’s DVD,” Shiho answered, her voice quiet as she leaned back against the wall. “I made sure he didn’t stay in there longer than he needed to.”

Leon actually laughed, grinning.

“Yeah, he might’ve done some creepy shit,” he responded, “especially since he’s prolly the one who killed Sayaka.”

Shiho didn’t laugh or agree with him, though, just falling back into her strange silence.

Leon let out a quiet sigh, walking further down the hall where Makoto had gone; he had turned the corner near Leon’s room, so Leon wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to sneak inside. Shiho followed him, too, still saying nothing.

Makoto came back around into the hall, stopping to talk to Hifumi, who was the first person he bumped into.

“Umm… I'm looking for whoever's on cleaning duty,” he awkwardly asked.

“Cleaning duty?” Hifumi responded, smiling proudly as he put his hands on his hips. “As a matter of fact, that's me. Why do you ask? It just so happens Monokuma talked to me yesterday and asked me to take care of it. Without someone on cleaning duty, the school would be flooded with trash in no time.”

He looked even more proud and confident as he spoke.

“So I formally applied for the position!” he stated. “I was gonna start this morning, but after what happened, I haven't had a chance to get started.”

“And since you're on cleaning duty, you can open the gate in front of the trash room?” Makoto asked him,

“Of course!” Hifumi cheered. “It's my job to gather up all the garbage and toss it in the trash room. And to do that, they gave me the key for the trash room gate! But we're supposed to rotate once a week, so eventually you'll be in charge.”

Byakuya had been listening in from where he lurked in the hallway, finally deciding to join the conversation.

“Wait, hold on,” he spoke up, in thought. “You need a key to get in the trash room? And only the person on cleaning duty has access to the key? What's the point of going to all that trouble? Why not just leave the trash room open all the time so we can all throw things out whenever we want?”

“That does seem more convenient,” Makoto agreed.

“Actually…” Byakuya realised, opening his handbook and smiling smugly to himself as he went over the rules again. “That must be why. If anyone could go in and out of the trash room whenever they wanted, then destroying evidence would be easy. The thrill would disappear, and things would become boring.”

“B-Boring?!” Makoto exclaimed with shock at Byakuya’s words.

Leon spoke up next, since he had been standing nearby the conversation the whole time; plus, he wasn’t happy to hear that Makoto was investigating the trash room. It wasn’t like there was anything particularly damning that could be traced back to him, but annoyingly, Makoto was definitely on the right track.

“Anyway, more important than that…” Leon began before looking at Hifumi aggressively. “Hey fatty! Why'd you want the cleaning duty gig, anyway?!”

Hifumi seemed startled by Leon’s sudden aggression. “I-I just decided to volunteer for something I knew no one else would wanna do,” he explained. “What's the big deal?!”

“Liar!” Leon accused. “I know why you did it. You wanna dig through all the girls' trash! Looking for… y'know… and poking around at it!”

Shiho’s eyes widened at his words; it looked as if she hadn’t even been paying attention to the conversation, but had focused back on it at the worst time. Her cheeks went red, too.

“Huh?!” she found herself exclaiming, sounding like her usual self again.

“What are you talking about?!” Hifumi reacted, offended. “All my love is for 2D!”

“But there's all kinds of trash diggers like that!” Leon pointed out. “Maybe you'll get tired of 2D, and then turn to–”

“I would NEVER get tired of 2D!” Hifumi interrupted passionately. “After spending a significant amount of time comparing 2D and 3D, I voluntarily chose 2D! The only thing 3D is good for is to shower love and affection on 2D! Oh, and PVC figures!”

“How are you not totally embarrassed to say stuff like that?!” Leon questioned him, surprised until he suddenly felt his ear being pulled on. “OW!”

“How are YOU not totally embarrassed to say stuff like YOU just said?!” Shiho snapped at him, pulling his ear hard enough to lower him slightly so that they were even in height. “Trash digging, huh?!”

“Ow! Hey, I didn’t say that I do it!” Leon defended before mumbling under his breath. “Nobody would want yours, anyway.”

Byakuya cleared his throat over the arguing.

“If you're so worried about the guys’ questionable morality, there's a very easy solution,” he explained. “Whenever a guy has cleaning duty, Sakura can accompany them, from picking up the trash to disposing of it.”

“Whaaat?!” Hifumi exclaimed with horror, and Byakuya only smirked in response.

“If you're as innocent as you claim, where's the harm in it?” he asked him.

“Kh--! That's not how it's supposed to--!” Hifumi complained before Makoto spoke up.

“Anyway, on another topic... Hifumi, since you were on cleaning duty, I have a favor to ask you,” he requested.

“What, so now you suddenly want to join my party?” Hifumi asked him. “Sorry, but you haven't triggered that flag yet. I mean, you haven't helped me recover from a past trauma, or save a village, or beat a boss.”

“No, nothing like that,” Makoto corrected. “I was just hoping to get into the trash room and look around.”

“Oh, okay!” Hifumi smiled, already heading down the corridor towards the trash room.

“So easy…!” Makoto reacted as he followed after him.

Leon watched with worry as the two disappeared together, unsure if his little outburst had shifted any suspicion from him. If Hifumi was the one on cleaning duty, perhaps Makoto would start suspecting him, if he did find any evidence connected to the crime.

Shiho had let go of his ear, standing with her arms folded. She definitely seemed to have perked up a little more, but Leon wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse about that. 

Maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad about letting her and the others die if he kept pissing her off.

“You’ve been quiet all day, and trash digging is what got you talking again?” he smirked. “Lemme guess; you wanna dig through the guys’ trash, huh?”

Shiho appeared completely offended by the remark, folding her arms.

“I’d rather gouge my own eyes out than see whatever the guys put in their trash,” she declared. “And I definitely don’t wanna think that you guys are goin’ around looking at our trash!”

“Like I said, you’ve got nothin’ to worry about,” Leon grinned, though he suddenly felt his goatee being yanked on. “OW!”

“So, is my trash not good enough, huh?!” she yelled at him. 

Maybe pissing her off wasn’t the best idea.

“Whaddya want from me?!” Leon cried out. “Do ya want guys to go through your trash or not?! Man, girls are confusing as hell!”

During their squabble, Byakuya could be heard chuckling smugly to himself, which made the other two fall silent and also allowed Shiho to release her grip on Leon’s goatee.

“I see,” was all he murmured to himself.

“What?” Leon defensively questioned. “What’s up?”

“I’m not talking to you,” Byakuya immediately shut down.

Leon folded his arms, frowning.

“Are you some perv, too?!” he accused. “I bet you are! I bet you wanna look through that Toko girl’s trash!”

Byakuya just stared at him in total silence, with his gaze being entirely judgemental and disgusted, before he went back to looking smug again.

“I’m not wasting my time talking to delinquents like you,” he decided, turning away and walking further down the hallway without another word.

Leon was in disbelief, but at this point, this was the attitude everyone expected from Byakuya. The baseball star folded his arms, mumbling.

“I hate that guy,” he grumbled, glancing down at Shiho to see that she still looked angry. “Seriously? Are you really that pissed off about what I said?”

“Sometimes I just remember that you’re a guy,” Shiho huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, and sometimes I remember that you’re not,” Leon murmured under his breath, earning a deadly stare from Shiho. He flinched immediately, expecting her to attack him in some way again, but she just stayed put.

He sort of wished that Shiho had hurt him more, just to give him more of a reason to not feel bad about what he was about to do to everyone.

They went back to standing in silence beside each other, leaning against the wall with their arms crossed. Leon watched the hallway intensely, still making sure that nobody went into his room, and he also focused as Makoto scurried back and forth. He certainly looked like he was working the hardest, which was probably because he was desperate to prove his innocence.

Leon let out a tired yawn, but as he did so, a sound rang through the speakers which made his heart stop for a second.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Erm, so ah… I'm getting tired of waiting,” came Monokuma’s voice. “What say we just get started, hm? It's time for the long-awaited Class Trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the first floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!”

The monitors, which had briefly flickered to life, switched off.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen to the announcement.

This was it.

It was time for the trial, where Leon’s fate would be decided; either he would leave, or he would die.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and Shiho must have noticed his tension because she grabbed onto his arm again, staring up at him with large, worried eyes.

Leon stared back at her in silence, feeling the way she practically dug her nails into the sleeve of his shirt.

He looked away from her with a roll of his eyes.

“We’ve gotta go,” he told her, pulling his arm away. “Come on.”

He started marching down the hall, with Shiho following after him. Other students were making their way to the first floor, too, towards the ominous, large red doors.

Leon’s heart pounded loud enough that he could hear it in his own ears. The closer he got to the doors, the louder it got.

He and Shiho walked through them together, and only he knew that they both couldn’t possibly walk back out alive after the trial concluded.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~I Don’t Want To Go Down To The Basement~

Leon and Shiho stood waiting by the elevator doors with the other students. The last to arrive was Makoto, who looked so tired from all of his work during the investigation.

“You're late, Makoto!” Taka yelled as Makoto arrived. “We've all been waiting for you!”

“Hmph. I bet y-you were afraid you would be discovered as th-the murderer you are…” Toko accused.

“Let's not jump to conclusions just yet!” Taka commanded. “Save that for the class trial! There we can all reveal the details of Makoto's crime!”

So, despite trying to sound unbiased, Taka accidentally let slip that he, too, believed Makoto was guilty.

The monitors flickered to life once again, displaying Monokuma as always.

“Puhuhu... Is everyone here? Okay then... Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom… where all your fates will be decided. Puhu. I'll meet you all down there. I'll be waiting…”

He said nothing more as the monitors switched off.

Leon stared at the elevator, his heart racing again. Shiho took him by the arm once more, and after the two exchanged glances, they stepped together into the elevator, followed by the other students.

Makoto was the last to enter the elevator, as expected, and everyone was looking at him with suspicious gazes. As soon as he was inside, the doors rattled closed, and the elevator began to descend.

Leon felt Shiho rest her head against his shoulder as she held onto him, and without realising it, he was resting his head back against hers.

It was a silent goodbye.

A silent apology for what he was about to do.

“I wonder if this is how a death row inmate feels when his time finally comes,” Makoto said to fill the tense silence.

“Rather than that, is it not more like a defendant waiting to receive his judgment?” Celeste corrected.

Silence followed once again as the elevator continued to clunkily descend towards the school’s basement.

Soon, it had come to a stop, and everyone stepped out together into a room decorated with red curtains and candles upon the blue walls.

“Nyohoho!” Monokuma laughed as he popped up. “You've finally arrived! What do you think? Doesn't it feel just like a real courtroom? It's like a Hollywood movie set, right?!”

“Not even close,” Mondo snarled angrily. “It's total shit.”

“Okay, okay, everyone find your assigned seats and sit down!” Monokuma instructed as he climbed upon his own seat. “Hurry up now, hurry up!”

The students did as they were told, heading towards the circle of podiums at the centre of the room. Leon stood between Celeste and Toko, while Shiho stood between Yasuhiro and Hina after reluctantly letting go of Leon’s arm. He did give her a worried stare, but tried not to focus on her too much; his priority was to make sure he got away with what he did.

“Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!” Monokuma began. “So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!”

“And the killer really is one of us, right?” Makoto asked hesitantly.

“Of course!” Monokuma confirmed joyfully.

“Okay then… everyone close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!” Taka instructed, closing his eyes.

“Don't be a goddamn idiot,” Mondo tutted. “Why the hell would they raise their hand?”

“Before we move on and start the trial, can I ask a question real quick?” Kyoko queried, gesturing towards the portraits of Sayaka and Junko at their respective podiums. “What's going on with… those pictures?”

“I'd feel awful if they got left out just because they died,” Monokuma explained dramatically. “Friendship penetrates even death's barrier!”

“Friendship… penetrates?” Hifumi repeated, his mind having gone elsewhere upon hearing the word. 

“Okay, that about does it for the preamble,” Monokuma interrupted. “Get ready to get started! First up is the case summary. Now, let the class trial… begin!”

Leon had to pay close attention to what everyone was saying. They were about to go over the case to figure out what had happened to Sayaka; he chose to stay quiet while they discussed, and it appeared as if Shiho was keeping quiet, too.

“I assert that the one who was murdered was Miss Sayaka Maizono!” Taka declared confidently.

Yasuhiro sighed. “...Yeah, we know that part already.”

“And the murder took place in Makoto’s room,” Byakuya added, adjusting his glasses.

“In the bathroom…” Hina specified.

“So it seems most likely that…” Chihiro began to speak up. “The killer must have taken her by surprise while she was in the bathroom. She didn't even have a chance to resist…”

That’s what everyone believed happened.

The killer caught Sayaka, the poor victim, by surprise.

But Makoto suddenly spoke up to counter Chihiro’s statement.

“Just a second, Chihiro,” Makoto began. “Try to remember how my room looked… With the way things had been damaged, I think we can definitely assume there was a struggle.”

Leon’s eyes widened; Makoto was already onto something.

“A struggle?” Chihiro questioned. “Between who… and who?”

“Between Sayaka and the killer, of course,” Makoto answered.

“So you're saying… Sayaka wasn't caught by surprise in the bathroom?” Chihiro reiterated.

Celeste joined the discussion next.

“She must have been attacked in the main room first, then she ran to the bathroom to try and hide,” she guessed. “The killer followed her in, and that's where they finished the job…”

Leon felt sweat forming on his forehead already; the assumption was accurate so far, and he feared the others might only get closer to the truth.

He had to remain calm; they only knew the circumstances, not who was involved.

“That much should have been obvious after taking one look at the scene,” Byakuya scoffed. “It shouldn't even need explaining.”

“S-Sorry… Chihiro apologised, bowing her head.

Yasuhiro scratched his head. “Okay, so what’s next?”

“Next is the subject of the murder weapon,” Sakura answered.

“Wow… this is starting to sound like a real trial!” Hifumi nervously remarked.

“So what was used to kill her?” Sakura asked, looking between the others for an answer.

Taka was next to speak. “There was some kind of sharp object thrust into her stomach…” he described. “Without a doubt, that is the murder weapon!”

Mondo grit his teeth. “So the killer used some random knife they had on 'em... How could anyone do something like that? That son of a bitch!” he angrily snapped.

If there was one thing Leon feared more than execution, it was what Mondo might do to him if he discovered the truth.

“No,” Makoto then spoke up in thought. “I do think it was a knife--but not just any knife. I'm almost positive it was a kitchen knife.”

“Huh?” Mondo reacted with confusion. “A kitchen knife?”

“After the murder, we discovered that one of the knives from the kitchen was missing,” Makoto explained.

“Which means that knife must be the murder weapon,” Sakura concluded.

“Ohh… yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Mondo nodded slowly. “You could sorta see the weapon stickin' out of her stomach... And if you look real close, I could totally see that being a kitchen knife.”

Leon had to intervene; he didn’t like how close everyone was getting to the truth.

“Okay, so the murder weapon was a kitchen knife,” he recounted. “But where does that get us? I mean, we all know Makoto killed her, right?!”

Makoto stared at him as though feeling betrayed, while Leon only glared at him coldly.

“That's r-right…” Toko spoke up in agreement. “Makoto's room was the s-scene of the crime. What more proof do you n-need?”

“H-Hold on a second! I'm--!” Makoto stuttered.

“Let's draw our conclusions after we've presented our arguments,” Kyoko decided. “Otherwise, what's the point of the trial?”

Leon rubbed his head, trying to act casual. “Well we can talk all we want, it's not gonna change that conclusion,” he grumbled.

“I don't think that's true at all,” Kyoko disagreed. I'm sure if we keep at it, something new will reveal itself.”

She said it in a way which made Leon’s skin crawl.

She said it like she already knew what the truth was, and just wanted the others to come to the same conclusion as her.

“So I guess there's no question that the kitchen knife was the murder weapon,” Leon repeated. “But where does that get us?”

“M-Makoto must have taken it f-from the kitchen, right?” Toko assumed. “He did it in secret, when nobody was in the d-dining hall... And then he w-went and stabbed S-Sayaka with it!”

Leon glared at Makoto again. “So he really did do it!” he accused.

“Okay, wait, hold on,” Makoto defended. “I didn't take the knife from the kitchen.”

Toko just frowned hatefully at him.

“Next you're g-gonna say you're not the k-killer, right?” she growled. “Go ahead and say it all y-you want...!”

“Well, what if I have a witness?” Makoto asked, turning to look at Hina. “What do you think, Hina?”

“...Huh?” Hina reacted with surprise.

“Remember what you were telling me earlier?” Makoto questioned her. “Just to be perfectly clear, the knife disappeared while you were in the dining hall, correct?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right…” Hina confirmed. 

“And at any point while you were there, did you ever see me come into the dining hall?” Makoto pressed.

“Umm…” Hina murmured, “no, I don’t think so…”

Byakuya frowned, folding his arms. “You don't "think" so?”

“...No, he definitely wasn't there!” Hina confidently declared.

“The knife disappeared while Hina was in the dining hall,” Makoto explained. “But I wasn't there the entire time. In other words, there's no way I could have taken the knife!”

Chihiro nervously spoke up after some brief back and forth between Makoto, Toko, and Hina, after Monokuma clarified that there was no accomplice in this case; something that infuriated Leon to hear, since Monokuma had once again given the others more information to work with.

“Okay, so then… who did take the knife?” Chihiro asked. 

“Hina seems the obvious candidate,” Celeste answered, staring intensely at Hina. “After all, she just said she was in the dining hall…”

Hina looked horrified at the accusation. “N-No way! I swear it wasn't me!” she exclaimed.

“Sure, but can you or anyone else prove that?” Hifumi interrogated.

“I can,” Sakura answered confidently.

“That's right!” Hina remembered. “Sakura was with me the entire time I was drinking my tea…”

Leon was growing more nervous.

“Uhh… I hate to have to ask, but just to be sure, Sakura's…” he hesitantly tried to question, trying to remember which student went by that name.

“Me,” Sakura answered.

“...Right,” Leon nervously smiled, seeing that Sakura was the arguably the strongest student in the class.

Another one he feared getting on the bad side of after the end of the trial.

Leon watched the discussions escalate, with the others getting closer and closer to the truth. He was surprised to see that Kyoko and Makoto had noticed the lack of hair in Makoto’s room; his focus was primarily on Kyoko as discussions continued, because she was definitely onto him.

The suspicions were gradually being taken off Makoto, which is not what Leon wanted at all.

“Then… Makoto isn’t the culprit?” Chihiro asked with wide eyes.

“But are you sure we can decide something so important based solely on the absence of some hair?!” Taka questioned loudly.

“No,” Kyoko answered. “There are other reasons that prove Makoto couldn't have done it.”

Sakura looked at her curiously. “I would like to hear these reasons…” she said.

“Do you remember anything remarkable about the bathroom at the scene?” Kyoko pointed out. “Sayaka was attacked in the main room first, then fled into the bathroom, right?”

Mondo nodded. “Yeah, then they ran after her, got into the bathroom, and stabbed her,” he recalled.

“And how did the killer get into the bathroom?” Kyoko questioned. “Did they have any trouble with it?”

Celeste seemed surprised by Kyoko’s hint. “What do you mean…?” she responded.

“It's fairly certain that the killer had some trouble getting into the bathroom,” Kyoko explained confidently. “There was clear evidence left behind. Do you remember, Makoto?”

Leon was grinding his teeth together as he felt his nervousness growing more and more.

“Evidence that the killer had trouble getting into the bathroom…” Makoto remembered. “You're talking about the doorknob, right?”

“Huh? Doorknob?” Yasuhiro echoed. “What doorknob?”

“The doorknob for my bathroom... It was completely broken,” Makoto revealed as he showed the picture on his handbook. “See how the top part was unscrewed, and the doorknob's about ready to fall off?”

“Oh yeah, true…” Chihiro gasped. “But what does it mean?”

“In trying to bypass the lock, they ended up nearly removing the entire doorknob,” Kyoko explained to her. “This is another most bewildering act for the room's owner. It proves Makoto is beyond suspicion.”

Leon’s anger was beginning to boil over.

“So what, you're saying he wouldn't break the door in his own room?” he scoffed. “But if the only choice you have is to break it, you break it! There's nothing "bewildering" about it!”

His little outburst definitely caused a few of the students to raise their eyebrows.

“You still don't see? Okay, then…” Kyoko said to him. “Let's take another look at how the incident unfolded. Hopefully that will help you understand…”

He already understood; he just wanted everyone else to be misled.

“The incident took place in Makoto's room,” Kyoko recapped. “Sayaka was first attacked in the main room. She then fled into the bathroom.”

“Then the killer ran after her... And they got into the bathroom,” Mondo remembered.

“At that point, the killer had to try and bust down the door because Sayaka had locked it,” Leon added, but Makoto immediately interrupted him.

“No, that’s wrong!” Makoto declared, catching Leon by surprise. “The reason my bathroom didn't open wasn't because it was locked. After all, the girls' rooms are the only ones with locking bathrooms, right?”

Leon had almost completely forgotten where the murder had taken place; he had believed it was in Sayaka’s room, and with the way the door didn’t move, he was convinced she had locked it.

“Yes... Now that you mention it, that is true,” Sakura nodded in agreement with Makoto.

“Then… why didn't your bathroom door open...?” Chihiro asked Makoto.

“Because it was stuck,” Makoto revealed.

Leon’s eyes widened a little.

“Huh?” he reacted. “What are you talking about?”

“My bathroom door doesn't fit the frame quite right,” Makoto explained. “Monokuma over there can testify to that.”

Leon glared at Monokuma, who smugly answered the question.

“Yup! True as true can be!” Monokuma confirmed. But ya know… you're supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, right? But to have such a cruddy door… Puhuhu...! That's not lucky at all!”

Monokuma was really not making this easy at all for Leon.

It was as if Monokuma wanted the blackened to lose the trial.

Discussions continued further, with Makoto explaining why he and Sayaka had switched rooms. He explained how Sayaka had told him that she was scared, and that someone had aggressively knocked on her door.

Leon couldn’t help but think about Shiho; she had come to him because she was also scared…

“...What if her being scared was a lie?” Kyoko then asked after Makoto explained that there was no way Sayaka would open the door for anyone.

“Huh…?” Makoto gasped with wide eyes. “Wh-What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Why would she lie about something like that?!”

“I know you don't want to consider it, but look at this and tell me… can you still deny the possibility?” Kyoko responded, holding up a piece of evidence that made Leon swallow hard.

It was a shaded piece of paper, with an exact copy of the note Leon had received from Sayaka.

“I found a notepad during my search, and I shaded in the top sheet with a pencil,” Kyoko told everyone. “And these are the words that appeared.”

"There's something I want to talk to you about, just us two. In five minutes, come see me in my room. Check the nameplates to make sure you don't get the wrong room, okay?"

Leon was doing his best not to lose his cool.

He could barely focus on the conversations being had, because as everyone continued, they were only getting closer and closer to the truth.

Kyoko was able to reveal that Sayaka was the one who had attacked first by luring someone to her room, not appearing surprised at all while the other students seemed horrified that Sayaka could do such a thing.

The class now knew that Sayaka had lured someone to Makoto’s room, intending to frame him, but suddenly, Byakuya spoke up.

“So, now we know the circumstances of the attack,” he stated, “but we are yet to decide on a culprit.”

“Yeah, because there’s no way to figure out who received that letter,” Mondo replied to him, frustrated. 

“Might I draw attention to a certain individual?” Byakuya asked. “A certain someone who has been acting suspicious this whole trial?”

Leon felt the blood drain from his face.

Had Byakuya figured him out?

“Huh?” Hina reacted, tilting her head. “Who?”

But Byakuya didn’t look at Leon.

“Someone who hasn’t said a word since this trial began,” Byakuya detailed as he turned his head towards Shiho, pointing an accusing finger at her. “What do you have to say for yourself, Shiho?”

The whole class had turned to face her, all with shocked expressions.

Shiho didn’t even look horrified at the accusation; she was just standing, not facing anyone as she rubbed her arm nervously.

Leon’s eyes widened; the suspicion was off him, but it was now on Shiho.

It didn’t matter who took the blame, since ultimately, they were all going to be executed regardless, but she wasn’t even fighting back.

She was just standing there, totally silent, like she had done for the whole trial.

“Shiho…?” Makoto questioned, his voice wavering.

“N-No…” Chihiro reacted tearfully. “Shiho… Did you…?”

Shiho didn’t say a word, closing her eyes tightly as she trembled.

“Why aren’t you sayin’ anything?!” Mondo snapped at her. “Stayin’ quiet makes you look hella suspicious, y’know!”

Yet she just held her arms tightly as if hugging herself, her body shaking more.

“You’ve been acting strange ever since we found Sayaka’s body,” Byakuya recalled coolly. “I also happen to know that you have a tool that can unscrew any screw, is that correct?”

Her T-Bone.

The tool she had made herself which she was about to use to dismantle the cameras.

Shiho didn’t confirm or deny this; she remained standing silent.

“I believe you used this tool to loosen the screws on the bathroom doorknob,” Byakuya theorised. “You were also shaken up after the motive videos yesterday; it’s no surprise that you decided to graduate out of desperation, much like Sayaka was planning to.”

He pointed at her again.

“You seem to have quite the aggressive nature, too,” he acknowledged, “so, can we really be surprised that someone like you chose to commit murder?”

Still, she stood in total silence.

Byakuya smiled with a hint of smugness.

“I believe we may have our culprit,” he concluded. “She wasn’t prepared for this class trial, which is why she is unable to defend herself; she didn’t know about this procedure until after she committed the murder.”

“Hold on,” Kyoko spoke up, “can we really be certain that Shiho is the culprit?”

Byakuya looked at her oddly, though he also spoke in a way which made it sound that he knew more than what he was letting on.

“What’s the problem?” he asked her. “Shiho is not defending herself, and there is plenty of evidence that can link her to this crime, isn't there?”

“I don’t think her silence is caused by her own guilt,” Kyoko guessed, “but rather, I believe she knows who the real culprit is.”

Leon’s eyes enlarged as his mouth dropped open with shock, and he stared at Shiho with horror in his gaze.

Kyoko pointed her own finger towards Shiho.

“You’ve known the culprit's identity this whole time,” she accused, “and you want to protect them.”

Shiho’s trembling became more noticeable as she stared at her own feet, unable to look at anyone. She looked paler than ever, as if she herself was a ghostly corpse.

Leon believed it without a doubt in his mind.

Shiho had known the whole time that he had killed Sayaka.

That explained why she was closer to him than usual; she fully understood that only one of them would be alive by the end of the day.

“C-Can we really be certain that Shiho is protecting the real killer…?” Chihiro asked timidly.

“Yes,” Kyoko confirmed, “because once we look at Sayaka’s dying message, it all becomes clear.”

Leon’s head snapped towards her.

“Dying--wait, what did you say?” he asked her shakily.

Kyoko presented the image of what at first looked like a bunch of random numbers, but Leon could see exactly what it was.

It was his name upside down.

Sayaka, in her last attempt to make sure that Leon went down with her, had written his name on the wall.

“Rotate the image 180 degrees,” Kyoko instructed the others, and they all did just that.

“Oh my god…” Makoto gasped. “Now I see! She wrote down the killer's name…”

“Do you see why Shiho’s behaviour makes sense now?” Kyoko asked everyone. “The one person she spent the most time with during the investigation, and the one mentioned in Sayaka’s dying message, are the same person.”

Makoto nodded in agreement, his eyes falling upon Leon.

Leon had to contain his shock, swallowing hard before grinning nervously.

“What’s with that look…?” he replied.

“It… was obvious, wasn’t it?” Makoto asked slowly, his eyes filled with betrayal. “Even the way the evidence was destroyed… it could only have been disposed of by the Ultimate Baseball Star. Hiro’s crystal ball was found shattered right beneath the switch which switched on the incinerator, as if it had been thrown.”

Leon’s shock was turning to anger rapidly.

“What?!” he snapped. “Are you-- Are you serious right now?! You seriously think I’m the killer?!”

“There’s no one else it could be,” Makoto argued. “Sayaka invited you to my room, hoping to pin the crime on me. She attacked you with the kitchen knife, but you defended yourself with the fake sword and broke her right wrist. She ran into the bathroom, and you broke down the door to finish the job.”

“How could I have?!” Leon defended. “Didn’t you guys just say that Shiho had the tool most suitable for it?!”

“Yes, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Makoto countered, sweating. “When we first got here, boys received toolkits while girls received sewing kits. My toolkit was completely sealed; can you prove to us that yours wasn’t used?”

Leon trembled more; the screwdriver was still in the pocket of his trousers.

He glared fiercely, his eyes wild with rage.

“You wanna know why I opened my toolkit, huh?!” he yelled. “I opened it for the screwdriver! I’ve kept it in my damn pocket this whole time for self-defence! So, if I was attacked, why would I use some stupid fake sword?!”

“That’s easy,” Makoto answered. “If you had the screwdriver in your pocket when you were attacked, you probably didn’t have time to reach for it, so instead you reached for the sword, because it was easier and more convenient in the moment.”

“You’ve also just confirmed that you had your screwdriver with you when Sayaka attacked you,” Kyoko pointed out, “which means you wasted no time in breaking the doorknob to get into the bathroom.”

“Wh--!” Leon reacted, his eyes wide.

“So, Leon… do you object to anything that's been said?” Kyoko asked him, noticing that he was stunned into silence.

“Do I object…?” Leon reacted, still in shock for a moment before suddenly lashing out. “Hell yes I object! Of course I do! I object, I object, I object!”

“Shut up!”

Leon felt his words being sucked right out of his breath, freezing on the spot.

For the first time since the trial began, Shiho had spoken up.

The horror was still evident in her eyes, as if she was staring past all of the others, but her fear had been replaced by fury.

“Shut up!” she repeated. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

She slammed her fists angrily against her podium, her body still trembling.

“I was there, dammit!” she yelled. “I was in Leon’s room when he got that letter! I didn’t know who it was from, but… but…”

“You lie!” Leon found himself shouting back at her. “You need real evidence! Where’s the evidence?! Without evidence, it's all bullshit! It's bullshit and I refuse to acknowledge it!”

“I said shut up!” Shiho yelled over him.

“No, I won’t shut up!” Leon shouted back at her. “I refuse to acknowledge you! You're stupid! Stupid stupid stupid!”

“Who the hell are you callin’ stupid, stupid?!” Shiho argued angrily. 

“Stupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupid!!!” Leon repeated with even more aggression, trying to be louder than her.

“Leon,” Makoto spoke up, trying to talk over their arguing, “it’s… over. Only you could have thrown Hiro's crystal ball to activate the incinerator, and you are the only guy who has opened his toolkit. Between you and Shiho, the only two people with a tool to remove those screws… only you could have been the one to do it, and your screwdriver will show evidence of being used.”

“Stupidstupidstupid!” Leon yelled at Makoto this time.

“Sayaka targeted you because she knew you would come to her without hesitation,” Makoto went on. “Everyone else was too cautious after those motive videos, but Sayaka knew that you would go and see her if she asked, because she knew you liked her.”

“Stupidstupidstu… uh, huh?” Leon slowly reacted.

“You liked Sayaka,” Makoto repeated, “and… she took advantage of that. Am I wrong?”

“Only a guy would have fallen for such a trick,” Byakuya smirked, “and out of all the guys, you had the most obvious feelings for her.”

Was he that stupid?

Is that how obvious it really was?

Only he could have thrown the crystal ball.

Only he had used his screwdriver from his toolkit.

Only he could have been stupid enough to fall for Sayaka’s trick.

Without even realising, Leon had fallen to his knees, trembling as he felt sweat pouring down his face. He could barely breathe. The world around him felt distorted, like it wasn’t real.

“Stu… pid…?” was all he could whisper.

“So, you have no rebuttal?” Byakuya asked smugly.

“Then it would seem… we are finished here,” Celeste concluded as if bored.

Leon could barely hear them, still on his knees.

He had lost.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~I Wanna Live~

“Puhuhuhu…” Monokuma chuckled. “Looks like you've reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes?”

“Votes…?” Shiho could be heard asking faintly.

“You all have a lever in front of you,” Monokuma explained. “Use it to make your selection! Oh, just to remind you all… Make triple sure you vote for someone! You wouldn't want to be punished for something so minor, right?”

Silence followed from everyone, who must have been looking towards Leon with wary gazes as he continued to tremble on the floor.

“Okay! Then let's get excited!” Monokuma exclaimed. “Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!”

One by one, everyone was voting, and Leon knew exactly who they were voting for.

Obviously, he didn’t choose to vote.

What was the point?

Monokuma soon laughed, indicating that all the votes had come through.

“Uh-oh! Looks like you got it right on the money! The blackened in this case, the one that killed Sayaka… was none other than Leon Kuwata!”

Leon was still too stunned to respond to the announcement that he had been voted for.

“In case you're wondering, the vote was NOT unanimous,” Monokuma confirmed. “Shiho chose the wrooong answer! You're treading very close to the danger zone, Miss Nakai! You need to be more careful!”

“Huh?” Leon reacted, still barely able to process what was going on around him.

Had he heard that right?

Shiho, after being the one to essentially condemn him to his fate, had not voted for him?

“H-Hold on a second…” Leon stuttered as he began to regain his senses, staggering back up to his feet.

Makoto looked at him, his body tense.

“Leon... Leon, did you really… kill Sayaka?” he hesitantly asked him.

“I don't believe it…” Hina gasped, covering her mouth.

“Son of a bitch...!” rasped Mondo, glaring daggers at Leon. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“I-I didn't have a choice…” Leon tried to defend. “It was kill or be killed! S-So that's why… I killed her first.”

He felt his anger flare up again as everyone stared at him with such judgement.

“None of you are any different!” he hollered. “One wrong step, and you'd be the one standing here! It was complete chance that I wound up like this! I was just… unlucky! That's all…”

Mondo looked down, clenching his fists, and Leon’s words hung in the air.

He was right; it could have been anyone in this position.

But everyone was just… silent.

They weren’t agreeing with him or defending him.

“H-Hey, come on...! You expect me to just accept my death?!” Leon cried out.

“This isn’t fair…” came Shiho’s voice, sounding ghostly once again.

“Hmm?” Monokuma reacted to her words, amused yet feigning innocence. “What isn’t fair?”

“This whole thing!” Shiho snapped at him suddenly. “I mean, Sayaka attacked first, right?! Surely, there can be some sort of… exception!”

“Killing is killing,” Monokuma coldly told her. “He could have fled to the safety of his own room after disarming Sayaka, but he chose to kill her, because he was just following the rules. He wanted to graduate!”

“And those rules weren’t even made clear!” Shiho shouted at him. “The class trials, the executions… you didn’t specify those rules at all!”

“And does that justify killing?” Monokuma asked her. 

Shiho hesitated to answer, looking down at the floor.

“No, but I don’t think Sayaka or Leon would’ve done it if they knew about those rules first!” she defended.

Monokuma’s grin seemed to grow even wider.

“And that’s precisely why those rules were a surprise!” he chirped. “Otherwise, nobody would start killing each other!”

Shiho’s gaze went from shocked to murderous.

“Bastard…” she rasped.

“Okay, well, anyway. More importantly...!” Monokuma then announced. “Let's hurry up and get to what everyone's been waiting for! The punishment!”

Leon felt a sickness in his stomach as Monokuma made the announcement.

“P-Punishment?” he gasped. “You mean… e-execution?”

“Precisely!” Monokuma answered happily.

Leon almost fell to his knees again, barely able to keep standing as his breathing became shallow.

“I'm begging you...! Please, don't do this!” he pleaded desperately.

“No more begging!” Monokuma scolded. “No more excuses! You must pay the penalty for breaking the rules! Society demands it!”

“S-Stop, please...!” Leon cried as he clutched his head, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Star!” Monokuma revealed dramatically, and Leon could only dread what that meant.

“No no no no no no no!” he sobbed as tears fell down his face.

“Let's give it everything we've got!” Monokuma went on with glee. “It's… PUNISHMENT TIIIME!”

“NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Leon’s vocal cords were sore from the howl of distress.

His words fell upon deaf ears.

Monokuma pulled out a hammer as a red button appeared before him, and he slammed the hammer down upon the button, presumably initiating the execution.

Leon tried to run, but his legs could barely carry him. He almost tripped over as he darted towards the doors, hoping to maybe push them open and flee the trial room, but he stopped in his tracks.

Nothing was happening.

Was it a joke?

Had Monokuma been bluffing?

Leon stood there, feeling the sweat beads dripping down his face as he looked around at all of his classmates.

They were all looking at him with uncertainty and keeping their distance.

Leon was completely on his own.

“Heh…”

The sound barely came out at all as he grinned nervously to himself, hearing something happening behind him.

He didn’t dare turn around, his body locking with fright.

Something rattled, and suddenly, something cold snapped around his neck.

“Huh?!” he exclaimed in a sharp gasp as he noticed the chain clasping around his throat tightly.

The other students were still just standing, unmoving, even as Leon felt the chain yank him backwards.

Nobody was going to help him.

Still, while clasping the metal collar around his neck with one hand, he reached out with the other.

Maybe he could grab something.

Maybe he could grab someone.

Where was he even going to be taken?

There was so much he had to live for; hell, he was ready to admit that he didn’t care about pursuing a career in music. He cared about baseball.

He missed baseball, and he wanted to keep on playing.

As he was being hauled towards some doors, though, he caught sight of someone moving.

Only one person.

Shiho.

She looked as though she was moving without even thinking, having reacted so much faster than the other students.

Shiho had pushed past anyone who got in her way, reaching her own hand out towards him…

She grabbed his hand.

His eyes widened with a glimmer of hope; for a split second, Shiho had delayed the inevitable, but the force on the chain was far stronger than her. She barely kept her footing, and as Leon was finally pulled through the doors, Shiho was dragged through with him.

She wasn’t letting go.

Shiho was being towed along brutally like a ragdoll as her bare knees scraped across the floor, meanwhile Leon was still desperately trying to dig his heels into the ground. He was struggling to breathe, too, with the pressure being applied to his neck, and he could only feebly clutch at the clasp with one hand as Shiho continued to hold onto his other.

“Leon!”

He faintly heard the other students calling out his name, their voices echoing further down the corridor.

“Shiho!”

Her name was being shouted, too.

Maybe the other students were worried about Leon and what fate awaited him, even after he had been found guilty of what he did to Sayaka.

They must have been worried about Shiho, too, panicking about what could happen to her if she didn't let go of Leon.

Shiho's knees were scraped and bloody, but she only held Leon's hand tighter. She swung her other hand out, too, using both to hold onto Leon as if her life was the one on the line.

Leon felt his body suddenly being hoisted from the ground, and as his feet no longer touched the floor, he was certain that Shiho would be forced to let go. Together they had been dragged past a chain fence, with the gates closing behind them. All of the other students were on the other side of the fence, still calling out their names.

Shiho didn't let go, however, as Leon was suspended. Leon was still desperately clutching at the clasp around his neck with one hand, feeling it digging into his skin, and he could feel his other hand slipping from Shiho's grasp. Shiho almost fell, but before she could drop to the floor, one of her hands reached up and grabbed Leon's shoulder, with her second hand clutching the front of his shirt. He could feel her slipping and instinctively grabbed onto her with the hand Shiho had let go of, holding her tightly against him.

They both still had no idea what was really happening. Shiho's eyes were focused on the clasp around Leon's neck, as if she was planning on undoing it to free him from his suspension against the pole, but before she could even make a move, their predicament worsened.

Metal restraints clasped around them again, securing around their legs and torsos.

Shiho could be heard letting out a startled gasp, and her large, fearful eyes shifted to look directly into Leon’s, looking upon his reddening face.

Surely, Monokuma wasn’t going to allow this.

Whatever he had planned, it was a punishment only for Leon, not for Shiho or anyone else.

“Shiho!” Makoto could be heard yelling from the other side of the fence.

“What the fuck, man, she’s not supposed to be in there!” Mondo yelled, presumably at Monokuma.

“I-I can’t watch!” Chihiro cried, covering her eyes as Mondo stood in front of her protectively.

Leon was certain that his fate could at least be stalled for a while longer; Monokuma had to let Shiho go.

But the restraints never came undone, keeping the pair firmly secured together.

Leon glanced around, trying to get a better understanding of his setting. The environment was dingy and dark, yet there was a sense of familiarity.

That was when he noticed Monokuma standing proudly with a baseball bat in his hand, and a cap upon his head.

Shiho couldn’t see this, since her back was facing Monokuma. Her face was white with horror, but she didn’t let herself freeze up. She released her grip from Leon’s shirt and was able to wriggle her arm free. Shiho grabbed at the restraint which had wrapped around their upper bodies, but there was no way to loosen it.

Both her and Leon stiffened upon hearing a sound. It was a sound Leon recognised much faster; it was the sound of a baseball pitching machine powering up. 

“Huh…?” he heard Shiho whisper; she couldn’t even see the machine, while Leon spotted it aiming directly at him from the front.

Well, it would have been aiming at him, if Shiho wasn’t trapped against his front.

A sound, almost like that of a cannon being fired, could be heard, and following the noise was a pained grunt from Shiho.

A baseball, fired straight from the pitching machine, had struck her directly in the back.

“He’s gonna kill us…”

Leon had said the words without even processing the fact that he was speaking.

Both of them.

They were both going to die.

“He’s gonna kill us!”

Sheer panic was in his voice.

Shiho, meanwhile, had moved her free hand towards the pocket of her shorts, grimacing as a second baseball struck her in the back again. Leon’s eyes were focused more on the pitching machine, since he could hear the mechanical buzzing getting louder. He wasn’t paying attention to what Shiho was doing until he noticed her once again attempting to loosen the restraints.

This attempt was different, though, because from the corner of his eye, he saw that she had something in her hand.

Her T-Bone.

The tool that she had made herself to adjust to any screw.

Her eyes were wide with focus as she successfully began loosening a screw which secured the restraints to the pole.

“I can do it…” she murmured to herself. “I can--!”

She didn’t get a chance to finish speaking as the pitching machine whirred to life, and instead of shooting just one more baseball, it began to fire at a rapid rate, like a machine gun gunning down an enemy.

The force almost made Shiho drop her T-Bone, yet miraculously, she continued to loosen the screws.

The machine was moving instead of staying in one spot. It moved high, it moved low, and it moved all around them. Leon yelled out as he felt some baseballs pelting at his back, and one struck him directly in his liver, silencing his shouts as he instead let out a pained, desperate gasp.

Blood was splattering against his face, spraying mainly from Shiho’s body. Some of the baseballs were striking the restraints, which actually helped with undoing them. The restraint around their upper bodies was dented and damaged enough that Shiho managed to finally remove it entirely, and the ones around their legs had become loose from the relentless onslaught.

Shiho could have dropped to the floor and gotten out of the way. All she had to do was wriggle her legs free and let go of Leon, who she was still holding onto by the shoulder. Leon still had his neck clasp which was holding him firmly in place.

Shiho did wriggle one leg free, but only to wrap it around Leon’s legs as further support. Her legs were battered and bruised, and with the way she cried out as another struck her directly in the knee, it was likely that bones were being broken.

Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth and she already had a wound to the head. Still, she held onto Leon with what remained of her strength, and she raised her tool to the screws on the clasp around his neck.

Leon was screaming. He was no longer using his now-free arms to clutch at his collar or onto Shiho. Instead, he was trying to shield his face, feeling his arms being pummelled by the baseballs.

Something clicked.

His breathing became slightly easier as his neck felt like it had more room.

His eyes shot open wide.

The clasp around his neck was close to coming completely undone.

Shiho, despite the condition she was in, could tell that she was so close to freeing him.

Her rapid, coarse breathing could be heard as she tried to pry the clasp open…

Shiho suddenly jolted, though, and she let out a shallow gasp.

A baseball had struck the back of her head, and it was the last one she could take.

Her body fell limply, no longer holding onto Leon or the pole, and without the restraints to keep her suspended, she simply crashed to the ground.

Leon kicked his legs and clawed at the loose clasp around his neck, continuing to howl and yell from his own agony. Shiho had acted like a shield, having protected him from most of the baseballs, so now he was feeling the full force of Monokuma’s punishment. 

Only for a moment.

The pitching machine had been overworking itself, not designed for pitching baseballs at such high speeds. It began to spark and buzz, though before it could break down entirely, one more baseball struck Leon between the eyes.

The last thing Leon felt was the clasp around his neck loosening as he saw nothing but black.

What Leon saw next was fleeting.

He was simply sitting on some grass, with Sayaka beside him.

She was saying something to him, with the wind blowing in her hair gently, though he couldn’t hear her words at all.

His vision was blurry as he began to reawaken.

His entire body was numb, aside from a throbbing pain in his head.

As his vision cleared, he realised that he was lying on his side, right beside Shiho.

For a moment, he was certain that this was another vision or dream of some kind, until he recalled what had happened just moments before he blacked out.

His ears were ringing, with the sounds around him being muffled.

“Shi…”

He couldn’t hear his own voice as he tried to prop himself up on his hands.

“...ho?”

For a moment, she seemed completely lifeless, and the longer Leon stared at her, the more he felt his breathing quicken.

“Shiho…?!”

The ringing in his ears was fading away, and as the sounds around him became clear, he could hear the shouting from the other students still behind the fence. They were still shouting his name, along with Shiho’s.

Shiho’s eyes fluttered open as she lay on her back.

All she was doing was staring upwards, her gaze unfocused.

“Kairi…?”

She weakly called out the name Leon had previously mentioned to her.

“No… Kairi’s… gone…”

Gone?

What was she talking about?

Had she remembered something, or was she just talking nonsense?

Slowly, her eyes moved to directly land upon Leon, though she still seemed unfocused and distant.

“You…”

Leon’s eyes widened slightly as she turned her attention to him. He was still struggling to prop himself up on his arms.

“I remember… you…”

“Huh…?” Leon murmured.

Shiho's own breathing was ragged as she struggled to keep speaking.

“I’ve… known you…” she rasped weakly. “How… could I… forget…?”

She wasn’t making any sense.

The hit to the head must have messed her up.

“I… knew… all of you…”

Her hand reached up towards nothing in particular. Her arm was black and blue with bruises, and her wrist was swollen and purple.

“You… and… Sayaka…” she whispered, her voice growing weaker, “were… Prom King… Prom Queen…”

That wasn’t possible; she really was losing her mind.

“Both… looked… amazing…” she rambled. “You… looked… amazing… even though… we… we broke… up…”

Shiho must have been getting her memories muddled up.

Leon had never been to a prom with Sayaka, and he would remember being voted as Prom King. He only met Sayaka in person after waking up in Hope's Peak Academy.

He also would have remembered knowing Shiho, especially if something happened between them which eventually resulted in some kind of breakup.

Shiho's mind was completely scrambled from that baseball hit.

That was the only explanation.

“But… But maybe I still…”

Her eyelids fluttered.

“Maybe I still…”

Her hand briefly touched Leon’s cheek, but only for a second before it fell back down to the cold floor. 

Blood from her fingers left a mark on Leon’s face.

Shiho’s eyes fluttered to a close, and no more words left her lips.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~You Don’t Know What You’ve Got~

“Shiho…?”

She didn’t respond.

“Shiho…?!”

Still, no response.

Was she…?

Leon barely had the strength to get up, but he forced himself to do so. A shooting pain ran up his leg from his ankle as he put pressure on it, but he ignored the feeling as he sprinted as fast as he could towards the fence. His hands slammed against the chain links, rattling the fence as he faced his horrified classmates.

“Help…!” he pleaded. “Please… do something…!”

The other students were all frozen, not knowing what to do. 

Makoto was the one staring right at Leon, with him being closest to the fence. He looked past him, seeing Shiho lying motionless on the ground behind him.

“Please…!” Leon begged. “Open up, dammit…! Get us outta here…!”

“Unacceptable!” Monokuma then scolded, tapping the baseball bat against the ground. “Completely unacceptable! Totally unacceptable!”

Leon wasn't even scared of hearing his voice, turning around to face him while still leaning against the fence.

“You've gotta be kidding…” Leon uttered.

“This is NOT what was supposed to happen!” Monokuma complained. “Shiho just HAD to go and ruin my first ever punishment!”

He rubbed his free hand over his eyes dramatically as if he were crying.

“Do you know how much blood and sweat went into making the perfect punishment?” he whined. “Not my blood and sweat, of course, but now it's all ruined! Totally ruined!”

Leon was too busy looking towards Shiho, who still hadn't moved.

“She's… She's hurt…” he mumbled, not speaking to anyone in particular.

“Hurt?” Monokuma scoffed. “With a bludgeoning like that, she should be more than hurt! She should be totally dead! As dead as dead can be!”

“Hold on,” Kyoko spoke up from behind the fence, her voice as emotionless as ever, “Shiho wasn't the blackened. She didn't break any rules, therefore she shouldn't be suffering the consequences of a punishment.”

“She ABSOLUTELY broke the rules!” Monokuma corrected angrily. “She interfered with the execution!”

“And where in the rules does it specify that this is prohibited?” Kyoko questioned.

Monokuma fell silent for a moment as he realised that no such rule had been uploaded to the handbook.

“It should be obvious!” he then chose to argue. “The blackened MUST be punished if they are caught!”

He pointed towards Leon with a grand, firm gesture.

“You! Leon Kuwata!” he shouted. “Once I finish repairing my unique and highly-advanced baseball pitching machine, your punishment WILL be completed! No more interruptions! No more setbacks!”

Kyoko spoke up again, pointing towards Monokuma.

“First, you should be focusing on making sure that Shiho doesn’t die,” she pointed out to him. “If she dies, how can we be expected to believe that you have no further hidden rules? How can we believe you are enforcing those rules correctly?”

“Why you--!” Monokuma growled irritably. “Fine! I will make sure that Miss Nakai is properly taken care of. But from now on, executions are NOT to be interfered with! Students attempting to do so will be punished!”

A bleep could be heard as the rule was uploaded to the handbooks.

“W-What about surviving an execution…?” came Chihiro’s nervous voice. “If someone manages to survive their execution… what happens next?”

Monokuma was visibly getting more agitated, raising his claws.

“A punishment will not be considered as complete until the blackened is dead,” he described, “and believe me, I will make sure that the punishments from now on will be absolutely impossible to survive, even if another student foolishly attempts to interfere!”

“B-But there’s no rule saying that a student should be punished a second time if they survive…” Chihiro noticed.

“Grr--!” Monokuma growled. “Execution is execution! It should be obvious that the one being punished MUST die!”

He calmed his anger down slightly, almost seeming defeated until he came up with a twisted idea.

“But, if you kids are really going to keep trying to defend Mister Kuwata’s life, I’ll consider a compromise,” he offered.

Leon gasped quietly as he listened to Monokuma’s words.

His life could be spared?

“I’ll leave his life in your hands!” Monokuma explained with glee, and the hope in Leon’s heart quickly vanished. “In 48 hours, all students will be required to vote to decide whether Leon Kuwata should face his punishment, or if you wish to let him continue his communal school life!”

Mumblings could be heard among the students, with Makoto being the first to properly speak up.

“You expect us to vote to kill him?!” he reacted strongly. “As if we’d ever willingly choose to send someone to their death!”

Monokuma laughed behind his hands as he eyed the students on the other side of the fence.

“Well, we will see when it’s time to vote!” he chuckled ominously. “Until then, everyone should think hard about their choice!”

“What if someone commits another murder in that time?” asked the cold yet curious voice belonging to Byakuya.

“Then, the class trial will be held as normal,” Monokuma answered simply, “and the voting will commence afterwards. That is, of course, unless the blackened chooses to murder Mister Kuwata, or unless he becomes the blackened himself for a second time!”

“I see,” Byakuya nodded thoughtfully.

“Now, then, I believe matters are done here,” Monokuma pointed out, “so, can all students please proceed to the elevator and return to their rooms?”

Leon slowly looked at him, still leaning against the fence.

“W-What about me…?” he asked hesitantly. “C-Can I… Can I go back…?”

“For now, yes, you will be returning to your room,” Monokuma confirmed, though he sounded displeased, “and Miss Nakai will be spending the night in the nurse's office.”

Leon’s eyes moved away from Monokuma to stare at the motionless Shiho, even as he heard the gates being opened which would allow him to reunite with the other students. He felt the dread growing within him, because with how still she was, he was almost certain that she would never move again.

Even if she did move, if Monokuma was the one treating her, maybe he would finish her off…

“Well, what are you waiting for?!” Monokuma barked at him. “Get outta my sight before I change my mind!”

Leon swallowed hard as he forced himself to stand, grimacing at the pain in his ankle. He had aches and swellings elsewhere, too, as he limped slowly out of the execution set piece.

Everyone was staring at him in silence, and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Some looked nervous, visibly sweating, while others looked hateful and angry.

No student offered to help him walk despite how badly injured he was. They all turned their backs on him as they walked back down the corridor and towards where the elevator was located. Leon could only limp after them, and as he was the last student to step inside the elevator, he noticed how everyone was keeping their distance from him, standing silently.

Leon leaned against the metal wall as the elevator began to ascend. He held his throbbing head, since it felt like it was splitting in two. The loud rattling of the elevator only made the pain worse, so as soon as they arrived at the first floor, he was grateful to be stepping out of the elevator.

He was the first one off, but the others all briskly walked past him, with some even pushing past him on their way out. One particularly harsh shove came from Mondo, who stared back at him bitterly before continuing to storm towards the dorms.

For a moment, Leon stopped limping, simply watching as the other students walked on ahead.

His life was in their hands.

In 48 hours, if the majority voted for him to face his punishment, he would have to go through it all again, only this time he wouldn’t be lucky to be saved by Shiho.

Leon continued to stagger through the halls, reaching the dorms. Everyone had gone straight to their rooms, though he still worried that someone might have been waiting for him around a corner somewhere. His dorm was one of the furthest to reach, with it being right at the end of the hall and around a corner, so he slowly hobbled past every room towards his own.

Briefly, he stopped and stared at Sayaka’s room.

Or was it Makoto’s?

He couldn’t tell if the nameplates had been switched back or not.

Either that was the room that once belonged to the girl of his dreams, or that was the room he killed her in.

Sayaka had tried to murder him, and he hated her for that, but he still couldn’t help but feel heartbroken and betrayed.

He never would have killed her.

Leon continued to limp towards his room, finally letting himself inside with his key. He had to double check to make sure he locked the door, wary that someone might attack him in the night, after what he had done.

As the shock was beginning to wear off, the pain in his body only grew stronger. Leon collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to change out of his scruffy, bloodstained clothes. The only thing he could do was try to sleep off the pain and hope that he would feel better in the morning.

“Seriously? She’s late?”

Leon asked the question in a deep sigh as he stood with an anxious Kairi, and Sayaka was at his side.

Everyone was dressed fancy. Sayaka was wearing a short pink strapless dress with red and yellow flowers wrapped around her waist. The same flowers were in her hair, which was tied up in a high ponytail, and she had a decorative choker around her neck. She looked as stunning as ever, in Leon’s eyes.

Kairi was wearing a red tuxedo over a white shirt, with a red bowtie to match. His red hair was combed to look more tidy.

Leon realised that he was not wearing his usual clothing, either; he was wearing a plaid waistcoat and trousers, with a blue blazer to finish the look while a white shirt was underneath. 

This must have been some kind of special event.

“What if she’s feeling nervous?” Kairi asked as he, too, appeared nervous. “It might’ve been a bad idea for Junko to try helping out with her outfit…”

“I could go and check on her,” Sayaka suggested.

Leon casually put his arm around Sayaka, sounding dismissive.

“If anyone should go and check, Kairi should,” he pointed out. “He’s the only one she wouldn’t try to take the head off.”

Kairi nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he replied, “I should go and check on her.”

But before he could, the doors to the gymnasium, where the event was being held, were burst open by Junko Enoshima, who was wearing a long, ruffled red dress with pink trims and a pink bow around the front. A yellow beaded necklace was around her neck, and her hair was tied back in a single ponytail rather than a pair.

“She’s ready!” she loudly declared as if announcing a royal arrival. 

“Quit making a scene!” Shiho could be heard yelling, hiding from view. “It really shouldn’t be a big deal!”

Junko just laughed as she reached around and grabbed Shiho, pulling her forcefully from behind the doors.

“This is what we call being “fashionably late”!” she grinned, marching into the gymnasium with her arm linked with Shiho’s. “Come on!”

Shiho was forced to awkwardly walk into the room, dragged along by Junko. A lot of the other students were looking at the two of them due to Junko’s dramatic reveal, and Shiho just looked stiff and embarrassed.

Leon was staring at her with wide eyes. Shiho was wearing a black and red plaid mini dress with black ruffles lining it, and it was laced intricately so that it could be tightened perfectly around her body. Black straps held the dress up over her shoulders, rather than the dress being sleeved, and she also wore black tights. She was wearing a pair of black platform boots to match, also giving her some extra height, and a black choker was around her neck.

Junko had also done Shiho’s makeup. Most of the work had been done around her eyes, where Junko had given Shiho smokey eyes while also applying dark red lipstick to her lips. Shiho’s hair was tied back in a stylistically messy ponytail, with a black ribbon keeping it up.

Kairi’s eyes were glimmering more than ever as he looked at her, his jaw practically dropping to the floor. Even he had never seen Shiho in a dress, despite being her boyfriend. Dresses weren’t really her style, but Junko had been determined to get the right look for this event.

Prom.

It was prom, and both classes were celebrating their first year of attending Hope’s Peak Academy.

Shiho awkwardly came to join Kairi, Leon, and Sayaka after Junko had released her, and her face was red.

“I swear, next year, I’m just coming in a suit,” she grumbled as she rubbed her bare arm.

Kairi took her by her hands, and Shiho lifted her head to meet his twinkling gaze.

“You look gorgeous,” he gasped. 

Shiho’s eyes widened, but she quickly looked away, blushing harder.

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to seeing me like this,” she huffed. “Next time, you can wear the dress, and I definitely ain’t wearing a dress to my wedding!”

Kairi just shrugged as he smiled, his thumbs caressing Shiho’s hands tenderly.

“I’ll wear the dress next time, then,” he chuckled, “and you can wear a nice tuxedo.”

His words made Shiho tilt her head, a small smile appearing on her lips.

Leon hadn’t realised that he had been watching the two intensely, mainly with his eyes on Shiho, until he felt Sayaka hold onto his arm. He looked down at her, seeing her smiling up at him as she rested her head against his arm, and he could only smile back warmly.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and night time is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Leon clutched his head tightly as he forced himself to open his eyes, the light physically making his head pain worse. His whole body was aching, and even breathing in hurt his chest.

The pain was much more noticeable now. The adrenaline must have worn off in the night, leaving Leon to feel every single injury caused by his punishment.

He vaguely recalled the dream he had just awoken from, and how strangely detailed it was once again. It must have been a coincidence; Shiho had mumbled something about a prom when in her delirious state after the execution, and that had likely affected Leon’s dream.

His eyes widened slightly as he pushed himself upright, remembering what had happened to Shiho.

Monokuma had mentioned that he was going to take her to the nurse’s office, which had previously been locked.

Leon had to check on her.

Shiho had saved his life, and he couldn’t even begin to understand why.

She had risked her own life, even when she had the opportunity to simply abandon him and save herself.

He wanted to know why.

If the nurse’s office was unlocked, it would also be a good place for him to treat his own injuries to the best of his ability.

Leon didn’t bother to shower or freshen himself up in any way. He kept his scruffy clothes on, having to lean on the wall for support as he hobbled towards the door, unlocking it with his key.

He didn’t see any other students, so presumed they were already in the dining hall for the breakfast meeting.

For a moment, Leon just leaned against the wall, debating if he should go and join them, but it didn’t feel right.

They weren’t going to want him there.

Leon continued to stagger through the hall, moving past the dining hall as he headed out of the dorm area. If the other students wanted him to join the meeting, then they could have someone search for him.

Entering the first floor, Leon made his way slowly towards the pink doors of the nurse’s office, but as he approached, Monokuma popped up in front of him.

“Access denied!” the bear shouted in Leon’s face.

“Huh?” Leon reacted.

“No students may enter the nurse’s office at this time!” Monokuma reiterated, which only made Leon’s frustration grow.

“Why the hell not?” he questioned.

“Miss Nakai hasn’t finished being treated yet,” Monokuma explained. “You students should be thankful that I have access to some of the most complex medical procedures that haven’t even been made mainstream yet!”

Leon’s eyes widened very slightly.

“So, she’s alive, right?” he asked with hope in his voice.

“Yes, yes, she’s alive and will make a full recovery,” Monokuma assured, though he sounded annoyed. “Now, get outta here!”

“C’mon, man, I just wanna get some shit for the pain,” Leon sighed. “My ankle’s killin’ me, I can barely feel my arms, I’ve got a killer headache…”

“You, Mister Leon Kuwata, shouldn’t even be alive!” Monokuma argued loudly. “Yes, I can see that you have several fractures, but you should’ve been pummelled to a pulp!”

Several fractures?

No wonder he was in so much pain.

In fact, hearing it described like that suddenly made the pain feel so much worse.

“Are you kidding me?” Leon complained, grimacing as he did so. “So, what am I supposed to do? Just walk off the pain like it’s nothing?”

“Yup,” Monokuma answered smugly. “You know what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”

Leon glared, baring his teeth angrily at the smiling bear, but he knew that there was no convincing him.

“Whatever, man,” he growled, turning around to start limping back down the hallway.

Every step felt so much more painful, now that he was aware of the fact he had fractured bones. Even breathing hurt his chest as he practically had to drag himself back towards the dorms.

On his way, he spotted Chihiro exiting the dining hall, and the petite girl gasped upon seeing him.

“Leon!” she exclaimed shakily, looking hesitant to approach. “A-Are… Are you okay…?”

Leon was just leaning against the wall; he couldn’t believe that he was letting a girl like Chihiro see him in such a state.

“I’m going back to my room,” was all he said without looking at her. 

“B-But what about breakfast…?” Chihiro asked him cautiously. “You didn’t come to the breakfast meeting…”

“Yeah, I’ll get it later or whatever,” Leon insisted firmly as he continued to stagger. He let out a hiss of pain as he put too much pressure on his ankle.

Chihiro took a shaky step forward, though she was still far away from him.

“Leon…” she murmured with worry, while Leon continued to make his way back towards his room.

One step suddenly made Leon stumble over, and he yelled out as he hit the floor.

“Shit!” he cursed as he fell on his front, sending an agonising shooting pain through his chest.

“L-Leon!” Chihiro called out with worry, no longer hesitating as she ran towards him.

Leon tried to sit himself up, resting back against the wall as he took in a few deep breaths despite the pain it caused his chest. He was surprised to see Chihiro running towards him; the programmer fell to her knees, seeing up close just how badly Leon had been hurt. Some of the studs in his belt and shirt had fallen out during the failed execution, and his clothes were still stained with both his own and Shiho’s blood. Even the streak of blood Shiho left on his cheek was still there.

“Y-You… You need help…!” Chihiro practically whimpered.

“Already tried,” Leon grunted, frowning. “Monokuma won’t let anyone in the nurse’s office.”

Tears were in Chihiro’s eyes as she trembled, having to wipe away the tears with her hands.

“I’m sorry…!” she wept.

“Huh?” Leon reacted, confused and genuinely surprised at Chihiro’s tears. “Hey, come on, why’re you crying?”

“B-Because it’s all our fault…” Chihiro sobbed. “We didn’t do anything to help you… and now Shiho… Shiho is…!”

Leon stared at her as she whimpered into her hands, his confused frown softening into a thoughtful stare.

“Hey, look, there’s no need to cry like that,” Leon then said as he looked away from her. “Shiho’s gonna be fine, and… well, I’m alive… for now.”

Chihiro didn’t seem like someone who would vote for Leon to go through his punishment a second time.

She actually seemed worried about him.

“Listen, I hate to ask, but… can you help me up?” Leon then asked, embarrassed. “I… just wanna go back to my room for a bit. The nurse’s office might open up when Shiho’s finished being treated.”

Whatever that treatment was.

Chihiro quickly wiped away her tears and pushed herself up to her feet, offering her hands down to Leon.

“Okay…!” she responded nervously, trying to take him by his arms. 

Leon grimaced in pain again, but he let Chihiro grab his arms, though Chihiro noticed the way he bared his teeth in agony.

“I-I’m sorry, does that hurt…?!” Chihiro reacted, but Leon quickly shook his head.

“I’m fine,” he lied as Chihiro helped him stagger back up to his feet.

Leon let out a yell as he had to rest against the wall for a moment, feeling the pain in his arms, ankle, head, and ribs. He took a moment to catch his breath as Chihiro looked up at him with worry in her eyes, so he did his best to put on a brave face.

“Thanks,” he thanked, “I can make it back on my own.”

“O-Okay…” Chihiro stuttered. “Please, take care of yourself…!”

Leon looked back at her one last time, grateful that someone else was there for him. It made him have hope that there were others, too, who at least worried about him and didn’t want to see him complete his punishment.

With that thought in his mind, he returned to his room at a slow pace, and all he could do was let himself fall back into yet another deep slumber.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Me or You~

What would have happened if Shiho hadn’t grabbed onto him?

Leon found himself visualising the scene as he slept deeply.

The feeling of him being hauled through the corridor by the chain around his neck, screaming.

The feeling of him being suspended and restrained to a pole.

His eyes locking onto the baseball pitching machine, knowing that there was no way for him to shield himself or move.

He could only look on with despair, as the other students watched from the other side of the fence.

His whole body, pummelled by baseballs being fired at a rapid speed…

Leon’s eyes shot open as he sat himself upright, the pain in his chest miraculously being gone.

Was it all a dream?

He thought he would see himself either in his dorm room, or maybe even back in his old room from home, proving that everything at Hope’s Peak was just one big nightmare.

Leon was not in a bedroom at all.

He was in the nurse’s office, lying on one of the beds.

“Huh…?” he murmured to himself as he looked around.

Nobody could be seen.

Monokuma wasn’t there, and neither was Shiho.

He couldn’t even tell what time it was, or how long he had been asleep for.

Leon was wearing a fresh set of clothes, and he felt a lot fresher than before. His arms were wrapped in compression bandages, and his ankle was bandaged in a similar way. 

It was strange how little he noticed any of his pain, and as he was about to get off the bed, Monokuma appeared right in front of him, making him fall back down onto it.

“Rise and shine!” the bear greeted with glee. 

“Wuh--!” Leon exclaimed, startled by his appearance. “What the hell?!”

“Now now, that’s no way to thank me,” Monokuma whined, acting as though he were sad. “I finished treating poor Miss Nakai, so I decided to lend you a helping paw!”

Leon narrowed his eyes warily. “Uh-huh,” he reacted slowly; he was trying to understand how he had gone from being in his room to being in the nurse’s office.

Had Monokuma just let himself into his room and carried him out?

“You totally forgot to lock your door yesterday,” Monokuma explained, “and Shiho went to check on you with Chihiro and Makoto last night before 10 p.m..”

Last night?

That meant that Leon had slept through the whole day and throughout the night…

“So, of course, they saw that you were in bad shape, and they couldn’t wake you up,” Monokuma went on. “Shiho carried you all the way here and had the nerve to demand that I help you, so being the loveable headmaster that I am, I, of course, took good care of one of my students.”

He said it in a way which didn’t sound genuine at all.

Leon’s eyes quickly reflected his surprise, though, as he realised what else Monokuma had said.

Shiho had carried him to the nurse’s office.

She must have been in a worse state than him, yet she carried him to the nurse’s office and begged Monokuma for help.

“Those highly advanced compression bandages will have your fractures fully healed in no time!” Monokuma told him. “Neat, right? A former student of Hope’s Peak was responsible for their design!”

Most likely some kind of Ultimate Nurse or Ultimate Doctor.

“But you are still healing,” Monokuma reminded him. “So, don't do anything totally reckless!”

Leon hesitantly placed his feet onto the ground, surprised not to feel that same shooting pain. He felt completely healed, despite what Monokuma had said.

“Those painkillers will wear off in about twelve hours,” he stated, “which will be just in time for the class vote!”

Leon’s heart almost stopped.

“Class… vote?” he asked slowly.

“That's right!” Monokuma chirped. “You've been sleeping like a baby for so long that your 48 hours are almost up!”

Leon immediately forced himself to stand up.

He hadn't even spoken to any of the other students aside from Chihiro.

He had to convince them not to vote for his punishment.

“Puhuhuhu… I shouldn't be wasting your time, should I?” Monokuma giggled. “I'll see you in twelve hours!”

Leon just barged his way through the doors of the nurse's office, not even bothering to respond to Monokuma.

What was he supposed to do?

What if everyone had already made up their minds?

The first place he decided to rush towards was the dining hall.

Someone had to be in there, and while he was at it, he needed to get some food.

Someone.

Anyone.

They had to hear him out…

But as he reached the dorm halls, the first person he crossed paths with was Mondo Owada.

Leon stopped in his tracks, but Mondo's eyes were already upon him.

He looked furious.

“You piece of shit…” Mondo rasped, cracking his knuckles as he marched towards Leon.

Leon started backing away, feeling the sweat beads forming on his face.

“H-Hey, man, c’mon…” Leon tried to reason, but Mondo already shoved him up against the wall, pinning him by pushing his arm against his neck. “Ack…!”

“What kinda man do you think you are?!” Mondo snapped in his face, practically lifting Leon from the ground. “Attacking a woman?! I swear, I should just cave your damn skull in right now! Fuck the voting shit!”

Leon grabbed onto his arm, trying to pull it from his neck to ease the pressure Mondo was applying.

“The crazy bitch attacked me first!” Leon argued, his voice strained. “What the hell was I supposed to do?!”

“As a man, you're stronger than her!” Mondo shouted. “And as men, we're supposed to protect the women! Only a weak man would attack a woman like that!”

Leon flinched as Mondo raised his other fist up, throwing it towards his face. However, Mondo's punch landed against the wall beside Leon's head, dangerously close.

“You fucked up big time, dude,” Mondo growled lowly. “You should be dead. For what you did to that chick… you deserve to be dead.”

He let out a loud sigh as Leon just stared in silence, still grasping onto the arm against his neck. Mondo bowed his head, and Leon could feel the pressure easing slightly.

“But… that other chick almost gave her life to save you,” Mondo murmured. “If you had let her die in your place because of your recklessness… you'd be the worst kinda guy in the world.”

He finally dropped Leon, and as Leon landed back on his feet, he rubbed his neck where Mondo had been pinning him.

“It's not like I asked her to do that shit,” Leon pointed out.

“You didn't,” Mondo frowned, marching away from Leon with a distant look in his eyes, “but that doesn't mean you're not responsible.”

The way he said it was quiet, as if it came from a place of experience, but Leon didn't want to press further. One wrong move could probably set Mondo off, so he was simply grateful to have been left alone.

Still, Leon did feel a pang of guilt. Mondo had been someone he had spent some time with previously, and he would've considered him as someone he was closer to compared to the others, but now, Mondo looked at him with hatred.

Mondo was probably going to vote for him to be punished.

And if someone like Mondo, who personally had spent time with Leon, could decide to do such a thing, then so could the others who barely knew him.

The only people Leon could be certain wouldn't vote for his punishment were Shiho, Chihiro, and Makoto, since those three had checked to make sure he was okay together.

Kyoko might have also been someone who voted to spare him, since she had defended his survival after Shiho intervened.

But then there were people like Byakuya, who seemed willing to see the competition eliminated. Others might have felt the same way, or might have been too afraid to let a murderer live amongst them again.

Leon felt his stomach grumble, deciding that his top priority was getting food. He may have not been able to feel his pain due to the pain relief Monokuma had given him, but he needed his strength.

As Leon entered the dining hall, he saw Sakura and Hina drinking tea together. They both were casually having a conversation, but upon spotting him, their smiles faded.

Would they vote for him to be punished? 

Leon chose not to bother them, heading into the kitchen. He prepared a regular bowl of ramen rather than using some instant ramen, and once he was done making it, he sat down by himself at one of the tables, eating his food in silence.

Nobody else came into the dining hall while Leon ate. He was paranoid that the other students knew he was in there, and that they were avoiding him.

Where was everyone?

People might have been in their rooms.

They must have all still been tense, after what happened with Sayaka and even with Junko.

Leon finished his food as quickly as he could, feeling like he was bothering Sakura and Hina just by being in the same room as them. He wanted to run over and beg for them to not vote against him, but that would make him look uncool and desperate, which would only make them want to vote for his punishment more.

As he was leaving, he passed by their table, but Hina hesitantly called out to him.

“Hey, um, Leon?” she said to him with nervousness in her voice.

Leon stopped, looking down at her.

“Huh?” he reacted. “What's up?”

“N-Nothing, really,” Hina responded, still with that hesitation in her voice, “but… I was wondering… about how Monokuma treated your injuries.”

Leon raised his brow. “Huh?” he repeated.

“I mean, Chihiro said you were limping yesterday,” Hina explained, “and… now you're walking just fine. Shiho was the same.”

Leon shrugged, running his hand through his hair.

“Monokuma said something about the bandages and painkillers,” he recalled, “but I don't really know how it works.”

Hina looked at Sakura with large eyes.

“We should totally check those out!” she exclaimed. “I might have to hide a stash in my room!”

Sakura nodded in agreement, leaning back in her seat with her arms folded.

“They could be useful, yes,” she uttered.

Leon just scratched the back of his head.

“Well, uh, I'm gonna go see who else is around,” he mumbled. “I haven't had the chance to really speak to anyone since the trial…”

“Oh!” Hina gasped as she remembered something. “Shiho was with us not long before you came in here. She said she was going to the gymnasium, so she should still be there!” 

Leon stopped scratching his head.

He hadn't seen her since she recovered.

Shiho had suffered worse injuries than him, all because she was trying to save his life.

“Right,” he murmured. “Thanks for telling me. I should prolly go see her…”

“She didn't show it, but she was totally worried about you!” Hina told him. “Yeah! She was, like, not eating the donuts I brought to share with her! She must've been super worried!”

If Shiho had been with Sakura and Hina, there was a chance she had probably talked to them about voting to spare Leon's life.

“Worried, huh?” Leon murmured, mainly to himself. “Right. I'll definitely go see her.”

He said nothing else as he left the dining hall, walking at a brisk pace. Sakura and Hina watched him leave, and he didn't want to focus on what they might say about him after he was gone.

Shiho was on her own in the gymnasium, even after a murder had taken place.

Leon practically barged the doors open as he hurried into the gym, and his pale eyes spotted Shiho, for the first time, on her skateboard. She was skating towards the other end of the gymnasium, and she had laid out some gym equipment as a makeshift obstacle course. She swerved around some plastic cones, and performed a high ollie over a very small metal hurdle.

Shiho, like Leon, was wearing compression bandages. They were around her knees and arms, but the exposed parts of her legs still looked badly bruised. Her exposed midriff was in a similar condition.

Shiho seemed so focused on her routine even as she turned around on her board, but as she lifted her head, she spotted Leon by the doors of the gym.

Her red eyes twinkled with both shock and relief.

She didn’t see where her board was going, and it crashed into a small hurdle she had placed on the floor. She bailed with ease, looking like she had just jumped off the board intentionally as she started jogging in Leon’s direction, and the jog quickly turned into a complete sprint.

Leon just stared at her, his mouth hanging open slightly. He was so focused on the fact that she still looked badly hurt, yet she had as much energy as ever. No doubt she had been given the same pain relief as Leon, but Leon was still aware that her wounds had been significantly worse than his. He couldn’t help but worry that she was going to trip and fall, with how careless she was, and worsen her injuries.

As he was about to say something, Shiho jumped forwards and threw both of her arms around him, almost knocking him over. He stumbled back slightly as he was forced to catch her, wrapping his own arms around her while she buried her face in his shoulder.

“Hey, easy!” Leon exclaimed as he held her. “We’ve still got broken bones, y’know, even if we can’t feel the pain right now.”

“Shut up,” Shiho mumbled into his shoulder. “Just… shut up, dumbass.”

Leon was silent, letting her hold onto him for a moment. He awkwardly gave her a pat on the back as he tried to smile.

“C’mon, were you seriously that worried about me?” he softly said to her. 

Shiho shook her head while keeping her face buried in his shoulder, mumbling something incomprehensible. Hearing this just made Leon chuckle, and he gently managed to push Shiho away from him by her shoulders. She immediately folded her arms and looked away from him, and unless Leon was imagining it, he could’ve sworn that he saw tears in the corners of her eyes.

But as Leon was focused on staring at her face, he didn't have time to react to Shiho throwing a punch harshly into his gut, knocking the wind from him.

“Uwah!” he grunted as he doubled over and clutched his stomach. “What the hell was that for?!” 

“For being stupid!” Shiho shouted at him. “Super stupid! That’s what you are, dude!”

Leon grimaced as he recovered, standing straight again as he rubbed his stomach.

“Uh…?” he questioned, trying to understand precisely where her anger was coming from.

“I told you not to do something stupid!” Shiho snapped at him. “You said you wouldn’t! You said you weren’t gonna do anything stupid, but you got that note, and… and…!”

Her eyes reflected a concoction of conflicting emotions. Anger, pain, betrayal, fear, sadness, grief… it was all there for Leon to see as she tried to glare furiously at him.

“You killed Sayaka,” she said through clenched teeth. “I know she was gonna kill you first. I know you had to defend yourself. But you didn’t have to break into the damn bathroom to get her!”

Shiho may have known Leon killed Sayaka even before the trial began, but she didn’t know all the details until after the trial came to its conclusion.

She threw her bandaged fist into his shoulder, shoving him back as she punched him hard.

“You should’ve just got outta there, dumbass!” she cried as she punched him with her other fist. “You should’ve just run back to your room and locked the door, or you could’ve come to my room!”

“Hey!” Leon grunted as he raised his arms to shield himself from her punches. “Quit hitting me!”

“You were gonna get us all killed!” Shiho rambled in her anger, still throwing punch after punch. “You were gonna let us all die!”

“I said quit hitting me, damn!” Leon shot back, managing to catch her fists.

He froze, though, because her fingers were not fully covered by the bandages, and he could see the blue and purple bruises along with the swelling.

Shiho tried to pull her fists free from his grip, growling with frustration, but she gave in to defeat within seconds.

“You goddamn dumbass…” she grumbled, shaking while Leon kept a firm hold of her by the wrists.

Leon stared at her while she could barely meet his eyes. He glanced at her bruised hands again, then at the bruises around her midriff, before finally looking once more at the bruises up and down her legs.

“The only reason I’m alive right now is because of you,” he muttered, feeling her body stop shaking as he said the words. “You risked your life to save mine. Like, you could’ve died.”

“Yeah, I know,” Shiho murmured, still not looking back up at him as she kept her head bowed. “I know what I was risking.”

“Then, why did you do it?” Leon pressed while still holding onto her wrists.

“What, you think I’d just let that stupid bear kill you?” Shiho huffed in disbelief. “I’m mad at you. No… I’m furious with you. But… I just knew I didn’t want you to die.”

Shiho lifted her head at last, her conflicted eyes locking with his.

“I still don’t want you to die,” she insisted, “or anyone else. I don’t wanna give that bear what he wants.”

Finally, Leon released his grip, letting Shiho drop her arms to her sides. He crossed his own arms as he looked away from her.

“There’s gonna be a vote tonight,” he reminded her, trying to keep his cool as he thought about potentially facing his execution again. “A vote… to have me punished or spared.”

“Yeah, I know all about that,” Shiho responded, also folding her arms tightly. “I’ve been telling everyone that if they vote to have you executed, I’ll kill them.”

Leon’s lips curved into his typical nervous grin as he rubbed his head.

“I don’t think that’s gonna make people vote in my favour…” he admitted awkwardly. “That might just make someone plan to kill you next.”

“Let ‘em try!” Shiho exclaimed, raising her fists passionately. “I’ll just kill whoever comes after me and frame someone else!”

Leon put his hands on his hips, sighing loudly as he shook his head.

She was still crazy.

“Yeah, let’s not let it come to that,” he told her. “I mean, if you really think about it, it doesn’t make sense for anyone to vote for the punishment, right? I’m sure someone would rather just try killing me themselves to become the blackened and graduate. Nobody here would vote for a punishment willingly… right?”

Shiho looked uncertain, rubbing her chin.

“I dunno…” she mumbled. “But even if someone votes for your punishment, all we gotta do is outnumber them! I already know people who definitely aren’t gonna vote for it to happen!”

Leon perked up with interest.

“Really?” he asked her. “Who?”

“Well, Chihiro definitely won’t,” Shiho recalled. “She told me herself that she’s gonna vote to spare you. Makoto said so, too.”

Makoto, who Leon didn’t like all that much, and who was closest to Sayaka, was going to vote to spare him.

Then again, Leon could definitely see him being the wannabe hero type.

“I don’t think Hina or Sakura are gonna vote for your execution, either,” Shiho stated. “I was in the dining hall with them earlier, and we briefly talked about it all.”

Leon gave an understanding nod.

“Yeah, Hina told me where to find you,” he remembered before giving a small smirk. “She said you were totally worried about me.”

Shiho huffed and folded her arms again, turning away from him stubbornly.

“I wasn’t worried,” she defensively reacted, “I was just… getting impatient. Monokuma took forever to treat you.”

Leon walked around to be back in front of her, even as she turned her head to avoid looking at him.

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me,” he smirked smugly, “I also heard you were really worried about me last night. Apparently you carried me to the nurse’s office and begged Monokuma to treat me the same way he treated you.”

Shiho huffed again, sounding offended as she stomped her foot and glared at his smug expression.

“That’s not--!” she denied. “I wasn’t begging or anything like that! Did Makoto tell you that?! Or Chihiro?!”

“Nope, Monokuma told me himself,” Leon grinned, amused at how defensive she was. “I’m that cool, huh? You wanted to be the one to save a future rockstar? Is that gonna be your claim to fame?”

“Ha! As if!” Shiho scoffed. “Makoto and Chihiro were both too weak to carry you, that’s all. They did more begging than me!”

Funny, considering Monokuma didn’t mention that the other two had begged at all.

“I should go and ask them,” Leon planned mischievously, seeing the sudden fear in Shiho’s eyes. “I mean, they’re not exactly known for lying, right? They’ll tell me exactly what you just told me.”

“Look, just shut up before I send you straight back to the nurse’s office!” Shiho threatened.

“Wanna carry me again that badly, huh?” Leon mocked, but Shiho shot him a deadly stare as a warning.

He had no doubt that she would actually try to hurt him badly, but unlike before when she threatened him with such a glare, Leon didn’t flinch.

His smile faded when he realised why he wasn’t flinching.

He could easily kill her.

The thought was a horrible one, and he had to immediately shake it out of his mind.

It wasn’t like before when he had similar thoughts just after watching the first motive.

This time, he knew he could do it.

Shiho may have been stronger than Sayaka, but she wasn’t stronger than a professional baseball player. She was still a girl going up against a guy.

No, he couldn’t think that.

Not about the one person who risked her life for his.

So, before Shiho could notice his horrified expression, he forced himself to smile again.

“Alright, I’ll quit messing with you,” he assured her, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Although, there is something I wanna ask about.”

Shiho raised her brow, putting her hand on her hip.

“Huh?” she responded. “What is it?”

Leon’s expression turned slightly more serious as he put his own hand on his hip.

“You said some really weird stuff when… well, when you were in bad shape,” he explained to her. “You took a bad hit to the head and started mumbling about some stuff.”

Shiho seemed surprised by this, widening her eyes.

“I did?” she reacted with shock on her face. “What did I say?”

It wasn’t too surprising that she didn’t remember.

“Well, you were calling out for Kairi,” Leon recalled, “and you said something about him being gone or whatever…”

“Kairi?” Shiho repeated with confusion. “Who’s Kairi?”

Leon was about to continue describing what she had said to him, but he immediately stopped himself.

The last time he brought up the name to Shiho, she reacted as if it was familiar to her.

“...I don’t know,” was all Leon answered, his voice a little quieter as he tried not to appear too concerned by her response. “Anyway, you started blabbering about how you had memories of all of us here, or something like that. You mentioned me and Sayaka being Prom King and Prom Queen, and even said something about how me and you had broken up. At least, that’s what it sounded like.”

Shiho scratched her head, only looking more and more baffled as Leon spoke.

“Damn, sounds weird as hell,” she uttered. “Guess I really wasn’t making any sense.”

Leon looked at her suspiciously before nodding in agreement, his gaze thoughtful.

“Yeah, you weren’t,” he murmured. “So, you really don’t remember saying all that?”

“Nope,” Shiho clarified with a shake of her head, “the last thing I remember was trynna take that clasp off your neck, then I got hit real hard in the back of the head.”

Logically, it made sense that there was nothing else to this.

Leon and Shiho both met a few days ago, along with everyone else.

Yet Leon still felt that something wasn’t quite right.

There was no way for him to figure out what that “something” was, though.

“Unless you’re just making all this up to hit on me,” Shiho then taunted before shuddering at the very thought. “Ugh. The most realistic thing about what you said is that I’d totally break up with you.”

Leon sighed and shook his head.

“Trust me, I ain’t hitting on you,” he assured her. “Jeez, you say that like I’m some desperate loser.”

“I mean, you are,” Shiho immediately countered, deadpan.

Leon groaned, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

“I think those painkillers are already wearing off,” he grumbled, “cuz you’re giving me a headache.”

Shiho just grinned, putting her arm around him.

“Heh-heh, I missed you, too, dumbass,” she smiled.

Leon sighed again, but he let himself smile even if she was so exhausting to be around.

She was the closest thing he had to a friend in this hellhole, and he did owe her his life.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Bad Reputation~

Shiho had tidied the gymnasium, clearing all of the makeshift obstacles she had placed down. Leon helped, though for the most part, he only passed her things for her to put into the large sack which she had obviously brought from the warehouse. She lifted the sack over her shoulder, while carrying her skateboard under her other arm.

“I’ll put these back in the warehouse, then I’m gonna put my board back in my room,” she planned. “Guessing you’re tagging along?”

Leon scratched his head awkwardly.

“I mean, it’s not like I can do anything else,” he pointed out, mumbling. “Someone might try killin’ me while I’m alone.”

“Fair point,” Shiho nodded. “Well, once I’ve put all this stuff back, I might get some food from the dining hall; I’m still hungry.”

Hina mentioned that she wasn’t eating the donuts that were supposed to be shared between them, specifically mentioning that it must have been because she was worried about Leon.

“I already ate,” Leon told her as he held the gymnasium doors open for her, “but I’ll probably grab a snack or something.”

Shiho strolled through the doors, carrying the sack of items like it was weightless. Leon awkwardly walked beside her, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Need me to carry something?” he asked her; even if Shiho was strong, he didn’t feel right letting a girl carry so much, especially while having more injuries than him.

“Nah, I’m good,” Shiho casually assured him while walking through the halls.

Leon let out a quiet sigh as they continued to walk together, but as they reached the warehouse near the dorm rooms, she passed him her skateboard.

“Hold this for a minute,” she instructed, practically shoving the board into his hands.

“Uh, okay,” Leon replied as he clutched the skateboard close to his chest, holding it like it was a baby rather than an object.

Shiho seemed amused, likely because skateboarders could be very judgmental if boards were held “incorrectly”. She disappeared briefly into the warehouse, and Leon could hear the rustling of the sack as she dumped it unceremoniously somewhere before coming back outside to rejoin with him, quickly reclaiming her board and holding it back under her arm.

“Thanks,” she casually said to him, “now, just wait right there. I’m just gonna put this back.”

Leon scratched his head and watched as Shiho ran down the corridor towards her room, which was near the end but not around the corner like his room was. He felt a little uneasy, being left by himself, and was constantly looking over his shoulder in case someone was nearby.

Someone might want to kill him so that they could graduate, now that they knew how the trials worked.

All it would take was someone running up to him with a knife and…

He subconsciously felt for the screwdriver which was thankfully still in his pocket, even though he was in a new set of clothes. Monokuma must have been decent enough to put it there after treating him.

Luckily, Shiho could be seen dashing down the corridor, her footsteps loud as they echoed through the hallway. It probably wasn’t the best idea for her to run, given the condition of her legs, but she was doing it, anyway.

“Alright, let’s grab some grub!” the skateboarder cheered with a big grin on her face as she pranced past Leon.

Leon scratched his head as he raised a confused eyebrow, but he had no other choice but to join her. He followed at a slower, more casual pace, and by the time he entered the dining hall, Shiho was already out of sight, presumably in the kitchen searching for donuts.

Sakura and Hina were no longer in the dining hall, though Leon did see Makoto sitting on his own with some instant ramen.

Leon stopped in his tracks and stared right at him, feeling his eyes widen. He hadn’t seen Makoto since the end of his trial.

He wasn’t sure what to do. Makoto had been the closest to Sayaka, and even though he had supposedly checked on Leon while he was resting off his injuries in his room, it seemed weird to just go up to him like everything was alright.

Leon paced near the dining hall doors awkwardly, pretending he hadn’t spotted Makoto. However, Makoto had caught sight of him, and after staring for a moment, he arose from his seat and waved his hand.

“Leon!” he called out to him. “You’re awake!”

Makoto looked so pleased, and so relieved. He was even smiling slightly, though he did still appear somewhat nervous.

Leon stopped and stared at him again, warily raising his brow. Makoto didn’t seem like the type of person to suddenly attack him, but at the same time, it seemed strange that he was acting so… friendly.

“Uh…” was the only sound Leon could make.

Makoto actually jogged away from the table to head over to Leon, although he did keep a safe distance away from him once he was close enough.

“You had us worried yesterday,” Makoto pointed out with a nervous laugh. “Your door was unlocked and we couldn’t wake you up.”

Leon awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, I heard,” he murmured, glancing to the side as he struggled to maintain eye contact with Makoto. “You, Shiho, and Chihiro all came in, right?”

“Yeah,” Makoto confirmed with a nod. “We weren’t really sure what to do until Shiho just picked you up and carried you to the nurse’s office. She was furious that Monokuma didn’t help you the same way he helped her, but it looks like she got Monokuma to treat you, after all.”

Leon just ran his hands through his hair.

“Yeah, sure seems like it,” he mumbled as he felt himself growing tense.

It didn’t feel right talking to Makoto.

“But… you were unconscious for a long time,” Makoto then went on, his smile fading. “You must already know that the vote is tonight, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Leon almost snapped, folding his arms as he grimaced bitterly at the thought.

Makoto paused for a moment, having spotted Leon’s tension, before speaking again.

“I don’t think anyone wants to see more death,” he pointed out carefully. “Not after Sayaka and Junko, and after seeing how brutal Monokuma’s punishment was gonna be…”

Leon wasn’t feeling quite as optimistic as Makoto.

He didn’t have that same trust in his other classmates.

Some of them were definitely going to vote in favour of his execution.

But before Leon’s tension could grow further, he heard Shiho hurrying out of the kitchen.

“I got donuts!” she announced. “I’ve brought enough to share!”

Both Leon and Makoto looked towards her, seeing that she had placed a box of donuts on a table. The two boys looked back at each other, and Makoto gave another nervous smile.

“Come on,” he said to Leon, “otherwise she’ll just eat them all.”

Leon was still in disbelief at how nice Makoto was being. He watched Makoto head towards Shiho first before choosing to follow, and the pair sat down at the same table as Shiho.

“You guys can help yourself to any of the filled donuts,” Shiho told them both. “I prefer ring donuts; they’re less messy.”

Leon just shrugged and took a regular jam filled donut while Makoto took a chocolate filled donut for himself. Meanwhile, Shiho was wolfing down a ring donut with pink icing and sprinkles.

It was beginning to feel like regular school life once again, just for a brief moment.

As if nobody had died.

As if Leon’s very life was not on the line.

So, to distract himself further, Leon decided that he may as well treat the situation as such.

“Yo, mind if I ask you guys something?” Leon asked in a casual tone of voice after finishing his donut.

“Huh?” Makoto reacted as if surprised at Leon’s sudden change in attitude. “What’s up?”

“Well, I wanna start up a band, right?” Leon reminded him, trying to sound as relaxed as possible. “I was wondering if either of you know anyone who’s good at writing music.”

Shiho audibly groaned, sinking back in her seat.

“Not this band shit again…” she grumbled, but Leon spoke over her with a big grin on his face.

“Oh, but nobody too popular!” he specified. “I don’t want anyone to overshadow my own popularity as the lead singer.”

Shiho sank further down her chair, though not before reaching for a second donut, and she let out another groan as she almost disappeared to the floor.

Makoto just stared at Leon, his eyes wide as he processed what he was saying.

“You’re serious about becoming a musician, huh?” he responded, coming across as relatively thoughtful as he asked the question.

“Absolutely!” Leon passionately confirmed. “And I don’t wanna be a George, ya know? Gotta get that Paul action!”

Shiho could be heard letting out a mocking laugh before she sat back up properly.

“Do you even know what you’re saying, dude?” she mocked.

Makoto just scratched his cheek.

“Speaking of which, what kind of music do you want to make?” he queried, actually sounding interested.

Finally, after all this time, someone was actually interested, even if it was just Makoto.

“What if I said I wanted to be like The Damned, The Clash, The Sex Pistols?” Leon hinted smugly, as if testing Makoto’s knowledge while glancing towards Shiho, who was just looking at him with an unamused expression.

Makoto rubbed his chin for a moment, repeating the names of the bands to himself before looking at Leon again.

“Those are all punk bands, right?” he guessed, and Leon pumped his fists excitedly.

“Damn straight!” he shouted, though his sudden passion did make Makoto flinch. “My plan is to conquer the world with punk! Cuz I mean… when it comes to punk, it doesn't really matter if you can actually play or not.”

Shiho buried her face into her hands, and even though the sound was muffled, she could be heard letting out a scream of frustration.

Makoto had a nervous expression on his face as he glanced at Shiho, scratching his cheek again.

Leon just shook his head, waving his hand passively at Shiho’s dramatic behaviour.

“Anyway, by the time I got to this school, I'd already decided I was gonna quit baseball,” he went on to explain. “I was just gonna use it as a stepping stone once I got into Hope's Peak to propel me to stardom. I was gonna use my time here to become the Ultimate Musician!”

Keeping her face buried in her hands, Shiho could be heard howling with laughter into her palms while Makoto just continued to listen, still with a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

Leon’s expression became slightly more serious. He glanced downwards and folded his arms, learning back in his chair.

“...That dream’s dead now, though,” he confessed quietly as if merely vocalising a thought rather than trying to have a conversation. “I came here chasing a dream, but I never imagined it’d turn into such a nightmare…”

Makoto continued to silently stare at him, and Shiho lifted her face from her hands, staring at him with similar thoughtfulness.

All three of them were painfully reminded of their situation once again.

They were trapped, unless they killed someone else, and even killing another student couldn’t guarantee their freedom; Leon had killed Sayaka in retaliation, but had hoped he could just be released and maybe even find help for the others.

And killing one student wasn't even the end of it; for one student to graduate, all the others would have to be executed, anyway.

The image of Sayaka dead in the bathroom briefly flashed in Leon’s mind again, so he quickly slammed his fists against the table.

“Dammit…!” he shouted. “I have to do it! I have to become a famous musician!”

Shiho raised her brow at him, leaning forward in her chair slightly.

“Uh, Leon?” she responded slowly. “Are you, like, okay there?”

Leon jumped up from his chair, raising his fists high as he glared up at the ceiling.

“Stop screwing with me, world!” he hollered dramatically. “Give me back my youth! Give me back my dreams!”

Shiho just sighed and rubbed her head, leaning back in her seat.

“Did Monokuma check your head?” she asked. “I’m beginning to think those baseballs hit you harder than they hit me…”

Leon noticed that both Shiho and Makoto were looking at him like he was crazy, so he quickly sat back down and tried to compose himself. 

“I… I swear to god, I have to do it!” he insisted as his mind wandered back to the world outside. “Then… Then that girl at the hair salon will go out with me!”

“...Huh?” Makoto reacted, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“Huh?!” Shiho also reacted, her response more delayed than Makoto’s.

Leon looked at them both, folding his arms casually.

“Oh yeah, she told me she only dates musicians,” he explained to them before giving a sleazy smile. “Her face is only okay, but she's got a smokin' hot body. I gotta get me some of that!”

“That's… not the real reason you want to do all that, is it?” Makoto questioned hesitantly.

“What better reason is there?!” Leon countered defensively. “The whole point of becoming a musician is to be popular, right?”

Even if he couldn’t do it to impress Sayaka anymore, there were still plenty of girls who would love to be with a famous musician.

Unfortunately, the other girl he was interested in was outside the school.

Either way, if he ever got out, he would at least be super popular, guaranteeing that he could get with other girls.

Makoto let out an exhausted sigh and shook his head.

“You know, I think I'm really starting to understand you,” he said to Leon, though he didn't sound too enthusiastic.

“Yeah, he’s a total poser, am I right?” Shiho scoffed.

“Quit callin’ me that!” Leon snapped at her. “I’m a totally legit punk rock musician! And all the chicks are gonna dig me!”

“For, like, five minutes,” Shiho snickered.

Leon could feel his cheeks going red with anger.

“Are you serious?!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “I’m, like, totally popular already, ya know! Girls practically throw themselves at me!”

He caught a surprisingly thoughtful glint in Shiho’s red eyes, and it almost sent a chill down his spine, because once again, it was like the skateboarder was looking through him.

“How long do they stick around?” she pressed.

“Huh?!” Leon reacted defensively. “The hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Shiho shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in her chair.

“Like, how long do girls stick around you?” she specified.

“It’s not about how long they stay,” Leon deflected, “it’s about how long I keep ‘em around, y’know? I mean, it’s not like I want anything serious; I don’t have time for that when so many girls want me.”

Shiho immediately burst out laughing, and as she did, Leon felt his cheeks heating up more.

“What’s so funny?!” he shouted at her, but she just continued to laugh. “Damn, and I thought we were friends or something…”

To his surprise, Makoto was also laughing, and it completely caught him off guard, because the way he laughed…

It was the same way Sayaka laughed when she spotted Shiho and Leon fighting in the dorm corridor.

The laughter made Leon freeze, his eyes wide with shock, and even Shiho’s laughter faded after a few more moments.

Hearing Makoto’s laugh reminded him of his grim situation once again.

If he survived the vote in a few hours, he would still have to carry Sayaka’s murder with him for the rest of his life, however long that would be.

There was no normal life for him anymore.

How could he flirt with girls and date them when he knew just how capable he was of hurting them?

Even if he didn’t want to think such things, the thoughts would surface whenever he least expected them to.

Thoughts of how easy it was to break a girl’s wrist.

Thoughts of how easily he could fight off a girl even if she was trying to hurt him.

Thoughts of how easily he could slide a blade into someone’s abdomen…

And no doubt his crime would become public knowledge.

If that happened, girls would be terrified of him, knowing that he had killed the famous Sayaka Maizono.

Maybe he didn’t deserve to live.

“Leon?”

Shiho’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he hadn’t realised that both she and Makoto were staring at him with concern in their eyes.

“You good there, dude?” Shiho asked. “You kinda just… froze up.”

“...Huh?” Leon responded after a pause, sounding equally as confused.

“I said you froze up,” Shiho repeated, gesturing towards him with her hand. “Like, you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

Leon rubbed his head, glancing down at the table oddly.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” he told her, pushing himself up from his seat. “I’ll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom.”

He didn’t wait for either of them to question him. He left the dining hall in a hurry, heading for the boys’ bathroom near the dorm rooms. On his way, he briefly ran past Kyoko, but didn’t even cast her a glance.

Leon barged through the door, heading for the nearest sink. Nobody was in the bathroom, to his relief, so he just started running the cold water from the tap. He ran his hands under the water until they were numb before splashing his face, and he rested his hands against the porcelain of the sink while the water continued to run.

“Stupid…” he murmured to himself as he watched the water running down the drain. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

He lifted his head to glare bitterly at his own reflection in the mirror.

“You’re stupid!” he shouted at himself. “Why’d ya have to be such a goddamn moron?!”

He leaned closer to his reflection, resting one hand against the wall beside the mirror.

“Coulda just ignored that damn letter!” he yelled with frustration. “Way to ruin your life!”

Leon punched his fist against the wall, and though he didn’t use all of his strength, it still hurt his knuckles, even with the miracle painkillers Monokuma had given him.

“Shit!” he rasped, shaking his hand loosely.

He didn’t want to die.

He didn’t want to face his execution again.

But how the hell was his life supposed to be worth living after all this?

He was a killer who had taken the life of a famous idol, and he could never escape what he had done.

Even if his classmates in the Killing Game could somehow forgive him, it would mean nothing if they all managed to escape to the outside world, because nobody on the outside would forgive such a crime.

His family would see him as a disgrace, too; even his cousin, who always talked about how she cared about him and admired him, would probably look at him with fear in her eyes. He could never even go back to playing baseball with his team, either; why would they play baseball with someone who murdered the famous Sayaka Maizono?

The bathroom door opened, and immediately, Leon made sure that his hand was close to his pocket, ready to pull out his screwdriver to defend himself. 

The one to come into the bathroom was Yasuhiro, but the moment he spotted Leon, he immediately looked nervous.

“Oh! My bad!” he exclaimed as he let out a nervous laugh. “Uh… wrong bathroom!”

He left even quicker than he had entered, not even giving Leon the chance to respond to him.

Leon could only stare at the door after it swung closed, and he felt his teeth grinding together as his body shook while his hands balled into fists.

All he wanted to do was fall to his knees and scream. He just wanted to weep until no more tears could be shed.

He wished this was all just a bad dream.

But it wasn’t.

This was reality, and it was a reality he had brought upon himself.

So, he just splashed his face one last time with cold water and turned off the tap, sluggishly making his way out of the bathroom to return to the dining hall, where Makoto and Shiho were still sitting together.

Makoto and Shiho were talking casually about whatever, and for a split second, Leon felt bothered by it.

It was no different to when he'd see Makoto with Sayaka.

But the difference was, as soon as Leon was spotted, Shiho immediately waved her hand and jumped from her seat, abandoning whatever conversation she was having with Makoto.

She was no Sayaka, but at least she cared about him.

So, he forced a smile and sat back down with them both, reaching for another donut as he let them know that he was feeling better, even if that was a lie.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~The Wait~

Once all the donuts were gone, Shiho brought drinks to the table. Makoto stayed long enough to finish a glass of water, but excused himself, saying something about seeing what Kyoko might be up to.

Shiho had a coffee, as did Leon. The dining hall remained empty aside from the two of them, and Leon just knew that it was because of him.

There was a silence for a while as the two sipped their drinks, making small talk Leon wasn’t even fully listening to every now and then, but as the emptiness of the dining hall grew more and more uncomfortable, he spoke up properly.

“What do ya s’pose is gonna happen?” he quietly asked, tapping his ringed fingers against the side of his mug casually.

“Huh?” Shiho responded after placing her mug back down on the table. “Whaddya mean?”

“Like, after the vote,” Leon specified. “Ya know, assuming I’m… still here.”

Shiho puffed out her cheeks with a determined look in her eyes.

“You will still be here, dumbass,” she insisted.

“Alright, alright, sure,” Leon agreed quickly, “but, like, what then? It’s just gonna be like this, ain’t it? People actin’ weird around me and all that.”

Shiho shrugged her shoulders as she took another sip of her coffee.

“At first, yeah,” she pointed out, “but I don’t think it will always be like this. Hell, Makoto was the closest to Sayaka and he seems alright with you already.”

Leon stared into his mug, deep in thought.

“That’s weird as hell, too,” he admitted. “I mean, if Makoto had been the one to kill Sayaka, I’d hate his guts, ya know?”

He took another sip of his coffee, barely able to make eye contact as he finished the thought and gripped his mug with enough force to make his hand shake.

“I’d want you dead, too, if you had been the one to do it,” he confessed bitterly before letting out an empty chuckle. “Ain’t that shit just crazy? If you had been the one to kill Sayaka, even if she attacked you first, I would fuckin’ hate you. No way in hell would I have saved your ass from execution, either.”

Shiho raised her mug as if making a toast, smiling sarcastically.

“Nice to know you’re there for me, dude,” she dryly reacted, though as she lowered her cup, she sounded a little more serious. “But I guess we ain’t too different, cuz if anyone else had killed Sayaka… I’d hate ‘em, too.”

Leon stared at her, watching as she ran her finger around the rim of her cup.

“...Would you have still risked your life for them?” he found himself asking her quietly.

He watched as Shiho stopped running her finger around her cup, staring into it as she thought about her answer.

“...I don’t know,” she admitted honestly with a sigh. “A part of me wants to be, like, “hell yeah, I’d never let Monokuma kill my classmates”, but another part of me is, like… I dunno, not like that.”

She lifted her eyes to meet his, and she looked conflicted.

“I guess… it would depend on how I feel in the moment,” she concluded.

Leon gave a nod of understanding, even though he didn’t fully get what she meant.

Then, without thinking, he asked her a question which he wasn’t even sure he wanted the answer to.

“Do you regret savin’ me?”

Upon hearing the question, Shiho’s eyes slowly grew larger and larger, her brows furrowing as if he had said something personally harmful to her.

“...Huh?” she reacted slowly. “Whaddya mean?”

“C’mon, it’s obvious what I mean,” Leon huffed, leaning back in his seat as he stared at the table. “You got seriously hurt and almost died savin’ me, and all for what?”

He folded his arms tightly, still not lifting his head to look towards her.

“So… do ya regret savin’ me?” he repeated, his voice even quieter.

Shiho stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking her head.

“No, I don’t,” she assured him, keeping her tone a little more casual. “But if you kill anyone else, I swear to god, I’ll make you wish you had the baseballs pummelling you instead.”

Leon actually laughed at her threat, even if there may have been some seriousness to it.

“Fair enough,” he agreed, finishing his coffee.

Shiho also finished her coffee, gulping the drink down loudly before wiping the back of her hand across her mouth.

“Alright, we’ve still got a few hours before everyone’s gotta vote for you,” she stated. “Shall we go find some people to blackmail into voting in your favour?”

Leon grinned nervously, shaking his head.

“Not the way I’d go about gettin’ people on my side,” he told her. “Can’t we just, like… let ‘em know I’m not dangerous?”

Shiho stared at him as if surprised by the suggestion.

“Huh, that could work,” she agreed, pushing herself up from her seat. “Alright! Let’s go, then!”

Leon sighed as he got up, as well, stretching his arms as he followed her out of the dining hall. On the way out, they crossed paths with their first person that they needed to appeal to.

Celeste.

She was on her way towards the dining hall, presumably to help herself to some tea.

“Oh, my,” she commented as she eyed the pair leaving the dining hall together. “It seems that you are indeed awake, Leon.”

“Uh, yeah,” Leon nodded, scratching his head. “Hey, listen, about the vote… You wouldn’t know anybody who would want me dead, right?”

Celeste just tittered behind her hand with a knowing look in her eyes.

“Oh? Are you perhaps planning to eliminate your opponents?” she guessed.

“Huh?!” Leon exclaimed. “No way, nothin’ like that! I just wanna make sure people know I’m not, like, some psycho killer or whatever.”

Celeste’s gaze suddenly became intense as she leaned forward, her stare piercing through Leon.

“And why should anyone believe that?” she asked him. “You are the one who made the first move in this Killing Game.”

“C’mon, it’s not like I had much of a choice!” Leon defended. “She was planning to kill me first, remember? What I did was just… self-defense!”

“How, exactly, was it self-defense?” Celeste pressed intensely. “When you forced your way into the bathroom, did you or did you not use your very own screwdriver? After she'd shut herself in the bathroom, you went out of your way to break inside, and then you killed her. Am I wrong?”

Leon was stunned, trying to speak up, but Celeste continued.

“You had any number of chances to stop what you were doing,” she lectured. “But you chose not to. Is it not because you had an unclouded intent to commit murder?”

Leon felt his eyes widen as he quickly shook his head.

“N-No! That's not...!” he stuttered.

Shiho stepped forward, quickly coming to Leon’s defense.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” she firmly interrupted. “Look, Celestia, Celeste, whatever you wanna be called, you’re a gambler, right? So, why not take a risk for the sake of beating our opponent, Monokuma?”

“Our opponent?” Celeste chuckled at the words. “Monokuma is simply in charge of this game. The rest of you are my opponents.”

“C’mon, don’t be stupid,” Shiho argued. “You can’t seriously still wanna partake in this Killing Game?”

“The only way we can stop participating is if we adapt to our new life here,” Celeste pointed out with a strange, unnerving smile. “Until then, nobody can be trusted. I have no reason to trust Leon after he chose to murder Sayaka, and I have no reason to trust you after saving the life of a killer.”

Shiho looked agitated, clenching her fists as she grit her teeth together.

“So, does that mean you’re gonna vote for Leon’s execution?!” she shouted at her. “That ain’t no different to killing him yourself, ya know!”

“I think of it more as voting for my survival in this game,” Celeste corrected calmly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

She walked past the two with haste yet still with elegance, disappearing through the doors to the dining hall.

Leon stared in silence as she left, thinking about the words Celeste had said to him.

“Is it not because you had an unclouded intent to commit murder?”

“Damn, that bitch…” Shiho cursed to herself angrily, even though Leon was barely paying attention to her. “How can she be so cold?”

“I think of it more as voting for my survival in this game.”

Survival.

Leon’s presence was a threat to her survival.

Was that because she just wanted other opponents out of her way, or was that because she was actually wary of him now that he had blood on his hands?

“Well, we shouldn’t waste our time on her,” Shiho concluded. “Let’s go and find someone else!”

She started walking, but Leon didn’t follow, lost in his thoughts.

Noticing this, Shiho turned around to look back at him.

“Leon?” she called out to him. 

“Huh?” Leon quickly reacted as if awakening from a trance, lifting his head to stare towards her.

“Are ya coming or what?” Shiho responded. “We need to go and see who else is around.”

Leon scratched his head.

“...Right,” he replied after a pause, beginning to trail behind her as they left the dorms together.

As they wandered through the first floor hallway together, they caught sight of Hifumi leaving the school store.

“Hifumi!” Shiho called out to him, watching as he turned around quickly as if startled. His face seemed to go even paler upon spotting Leon.

“EEEEEK!” he shrieked, immediately running as fast as he possibly could further down the hall and towards the gymnasium.

“...Huh,” Shiho reacted slowly. “He, uh… ran faster than I expected him to.”

Hifumi had looked terrified.

Yasuhiro had also looked terrified when crossing paths with Leon in the bathroom.

Celeste looked wary and disgusted.

Mondo had looked at him with pure anger and hatred.

“Dammit…” Leon whispered as he clenched his shaking fists. “Dammit! I don’t wanna die!”

With his face red with anger, Leon suddenly sprinted after Hifumi, determined to convince him not to vote in favour of his execution.

“Leon!” Shiho shouted after him as she immediately followed. “Slow down, dumbass!”

Leon didn’t listen to her. He barged through the doors and made his way swiftly into the gymnasium, which was the only place Hifumi could have run to.

“WAAAAH!” Hifumi squealed as the doors slammed open loudly. “HELP! HE’S TRYING TO KILL MEEEE!”

Leon marched towards him, still with fury and desperation in his eyes.

“I’m not trynna kill you, fatass!” he snapped. “You’re the one who wants to kill me!”

Hifumi had backed into the wall, trembling as he held his arms in front of his face.

“HELP!” he screeched again.

Leon was about to grab Hifumi by the collar of his shirt, but he was quickly grabbed from behind and restrained.

“Hey, calm down, stupid!” Shiho yelled at him as she pulled him away from Hifumi. “We’re trynna let people know you’re not dangerous!”

Hifumi stopped trembling, breathing a dramatic sigh of relief as sweat poured down his face.

“You saved me, Miss Nakai!” he praised before quickly looking panicked again. “Eek! But what if you’re his accomplice?!”

Shiho pushed Leon easily aside, much to Leon’s surprise, and she glared down at Hifumi who had practically curled up on the floor with fear.

“He’s not trynna kill you, moron,” she huffed with a roll of her eyes, “and neither am I.”

“B-But you did say you’d kill me if I voted for Mister Kuwata to be p-punished…” Hifumi recalled.

Shiho scratched the back of her head nervously as she grinned.

“Oh, yeah, I might’ve said something like that,” she recalled, having made such threats before Leon awoke from his own recovery. “So, you’re gonna vote for him to stay living with us, right? I mean, this is Leon we’re talkin’ about. He’s not scary, right?”

Hifumi trembled again, fidgeting with his fingers.

“H-He’s a little scary when he’s angry…” he corrected, flinching upon seeing the anger still on Leon’s face. “Please! Don’t hurt me!”

He quickly sprinted away again, managing to slip away just before Shiho could grab his arm to stop him. He huffed and puffed as he ran across the gymnasium and through the doors.

“Dammit!” Shiho rasped. “Come back here-OW!”

As she tried to sprint after him, her leg looked as if it gave way beneath her weight as she stumbled and landed flat on her front.

“Huh?!” Leon reacted with surprise. “What the hell just happened?”

Shiho was clutching her leg close to her chest after sitting herself upright, grimacing.

“I think… I’m gonna need to get some more of those painkillers,” she told him through clenched teeth.

Leon hadn’t been present when Shiho was finished being treated, so he had no idea when she was last given any pain medication.

“Shit,” he murmured, reaching down to her. “C’mon. I’ll carry ya.”

“Nah, I can still walk…” Shiho tried to protest, but Leon scooped her up into his arms.

“Yeah, but this is faster, anyway,” he countered.

Being a baseball player, he was always grateful that the sport gave him strong arms.

Shiho let out a sigh, sounding embarrassed as she practically let her body go limp in his arms.

“This is humiliating,” she grumbled.

“Hey, not as humiliating as a guy being carried by a girl,” Leon argued as he began walking with her through the gymnasium. “Besides, people will think I’m cool and not-murderous if they see me helping a poor, injured gal.”

He grinned to himself at the very thought, though as he pushed his way through the first set of doors, his smile faded.

Even though Shiho was pouting in her usual way, he saw her injuries once again for what they truly were. They had been easy to ignore while she was running around behaving like herself, but without the painkillers, she was back to looking terribly wounded.

Maybe she needed more compression bandages, too, especially around her exposed midriff.

He tried not to look down at her as he carried her through the second set of doors out of the gym, but he felt her fingertips grazing against the padlock around his neck.

“Huh,” she mumbled, “that’s actually a real padlock…”

Leon cast a confused glance down at her, seeing the way she studied the padlock so closely.

“Well, duh,” he scoffed. “I keep tellin’ ya, I’m a real rebel.”

Shiho kept casually fidgeting with it, her gaze curious.

“Where’s the key?” she asked him. “Did you throw it out like a real punk?”

“No idea,” Leon answered as he continued to carry her, spotting Taka further down the hall.

Shiho just laughed quietly to herself. “Heh-heh, that means you’ve still got it,” she mocked. “No balls.”

Leon sighed irritably, shaking his head.

“If Taka wasn’t watching, I’d drop you,” he threatened her quietly, “but I need to look super cool in front of everyone else so that they don’t vote for my execution.”

The truth was, Leon genuinely had no idea where the key was. He barely even remembered how long he’d had the necklace for, so knowing him, the key had probably been lost long ago unintentionally.

Shiho pouted again, lowering her hand to rest it on her own stomach. She caught sight of Taka, too, monitoring the hall, and she let out a groan of embarrassment.

“Just drop me, dude,” she pleaded monotonously.

Leon’s grin widened as he spoke louder, making sure Taka could hear him as he approached the nurse’s office.

“Don't worry, Shiho, I'm gonna take care of ya!” he said with more enthusiasm than he usually had. “You've got nothin’ to worry about. Nothin' at all!”

“My hero,” Shiho groaned with defeat as Leon opened the doors to the nurse’s office. “You know, you could just kill me, actually. I won't be offended at this point.”

Leon laid her down on one of the beds carefully before looking through the shelves and cabinets.

“Now, uh… which ones are the painkillers again?” he asked himself as he scratched his head.

Shiho let out a loud sigh.

“I've got no idea,” she replied.

“You mean these painkillers?”

Monokuma's voice made Leon jump, almost dropping a jar he was examining from the shelf.

“Ah!” he yelped. “Dammit, not you…”

Monokuma slumped his shoulders as if depressed.

“And here I was, coming to the aid of my precious students…” he whined before quickly becoming aggressive. “Well, if you brats don't want my help, then I'll just leave ya to it…”

“Hey, man, quit messin’ with us and just hand over the meds,” Leon demanded impatiently as he folded his arms.

“Why should I when you've got zero manners?!” Monokuma barked before grinning behind his paws. “Besides, if Shiho is in so much pain, maybe she won't get in the way of your execution a second time!”

“SHUT UP!” Leon snapped, throwing a punch towards Monokuma without realising it.

Luckily, Monokuma reacted fast and dodged, though he did raise his claws warningly.

“What do you kids not understand?!” he snapped. “Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed! If I hadn't dodged your little temper tantrum punch, there'd be no need for tonight's vote!”

Leon panted with rage as his face went red. His icy blue eyes were filled with hatred.

“Just shut up…” he growled. “You're annoying as hell.”

“Alright, alright, here ya go,” Monokuma responded, sounding like an annoyed parent giving up on being playful. 

He handed a syringe to Leon passively, and Leon studied it nervously.

“Uh, where does it go…?” he asked, but Monokuma was already using a red pen to draw a cross shape on the side of Shiho's neck.

“Right here!” the bear chirped before giving a mischievous grin. “Disappointed? Were you hoping it would go somewhere else? Too bad!”

“Wha…?” Shiho reacted with confusion.

Leon shook his head, his face going redder.

“Ignore him, he's being a total creep,” he dismissed, walking over to Shiho's bedside while shooting a glare towards Monokuma. “Can you leave now?”

“Of course,” Monokuma grinned, once again laughing behind his hands. “Considering this could be your last day alive, I don't blame ya for wanting to get some action with a girl in private!”

“GET OUT!” Leon roared, and with that, Monokuma disappeared while laughing to himself. “Damn, I hate that bear so much, man…”

Although, if he could have one last wish, it would be to spend some time with a pretty girl, like the one from the hair salon…

Shiho was in too much pain to move, likely now feeling all of her fractures at once, however many she had. She must have had more than Leon, since she took most of the blows.

“You're not afraid of needles, right?” Leon asked her after clearing his throat.

“Nah, but I dunno if I trust ya with one…” Shiho mumbled, eyeing the syringe in his hand cautiously. “Can't I just do it myself?”

“Fat chance,” Leon huffed. “Your hand will prolly slip.”

Shiho stubbornly made an attempt to lift her right arm, only to hiss from the pain which shot through her body.

“Fuck!” she cursed. “Dammit, my arms are totally messed up…”

Leon rolled his eyes.

“Right, hold still,” he instructed as he lifted the syringe. “No squirming. I don't wanna do this wrong.”

Shiho held her breath, bracing herself dramatically, which Leon was almost offended by. At the very least, she wasn’t moving, and considering she had survived getting piercings on her lips and belly button, it was guaranteed that she could survive being pricked by a needle for a few seconds.

“Alright, on three, yeah?” Leon prepared, steadying his hand. “One, two…”

He didn’t get to three, deliberately catching her off guard just in case she flinched or tensed preemptively.

Shiho grit her teeth a little, letting out an annoyed gasp.

“Asshole,” she cursed as Leon injected the contents of the syringe, pressing the needle exactly where Monokuma had marked.

He froze suddenly, however, because for a split second, he wasn’t looking at Shiho with a needle in her neck.

He was looking at Sayaka with a knife in her gut.

The vision appeared in a flash, and he quickly blinked it away as he pulled the empty syringe back, but the sight changed into something more horrific.

Shiho, dead with a cut to the throat.

Leon dropped the needle and stumbled backwards, tripping over a wheeled stool which sent him crashing to the ground.

“Leon?!” Shiho could be heard calling out, though she sounded far away.

“Is it not because you had an unclouded intent to commit murder?”

Celeste's voice replaying in his mind was louder than Shiho's real voice.

“Leon! Leon, please, I'm sorry! I'm scared, I don't want to die here!”

His heart physically hurt as if it had been bruised.

For the first time since he had killed her, he could hear what Sayaka had been crying out to him during his moment of disconnection when he chose to end her life.

Her voice was so loud, her cries and screams echoing in his mind.

How could he have killed her?

Why did he kill someone like her?

Leon shuffled back against a cabinet near the beds, feeling it rattle loudly behind him as he bumped against it hard. He covered his ears, hoping Sayaka’s screaming would go away, but it only got louder and louder.

“Please, don’t kill me! Stop it! I just wanted to make sure they were okay!”

Her dying breaths were louder than her screams. Leon could hear her last desperate gasp, remembering how her eyes widened as she realised that her life had come to an end. He could feel the blood running down his arm again, making him pull his hand away from his ear.

He could see it.

He could see her blood on his hand.

Or was it Shiho’s, from where his hand had slipped and cut her throat with the needle?

Or was it even a needle at all?

It was probably the same knife he used to kill Sayaka with.

Or maybe it was the screwdriver he always carried in his pocket.

He was struggling to breathe, each breath coming out rapidly as his heart raced faster and faster like it was going to explode. He clutched at his chest with both hands, tightly gripping the fabric of his shirt.

His chest felt tight, like it was being compressed by the metal restraints that had held him against the pole. His throat felt tight, too, as if the cuff was around his neck again.

It was going to happen again.

He was going to face his execution, and he deserved it.

If he believed that he deserved it, then everyone else must have believed it, too.

He was going to die in a few hours.

Cold sweat was pouring down his face, and he could even feel the back of his neck dampening while the feeling in his chest only became tighter.

“You had any number of chances to stop what you were doing. But you chose not to.”

Celeste’s hauntingly calm voice returned amidst Sayaka’s sobbing. 

“Please! Don’t hurt me!”

Hifumi’s desperate plea could also be heard, reminding Leon just how terrified the boy was of him.

“Oh! My bad! Uh… wrong bathroom!”

The nervous laughter belonging to Yasuhiro echoed through his mind, too, as he recalled how quickly the older guy fled the bathroom to avoid Leon.

“Only a weak man would attack a woman like that!”

Mondo’s rageful voice became the loudest of all among the many that Leon was beginning to hear, and his breathing quickened as he held his hand over his rapidly beating heart.

“You should be dead. For what you did to that chick… you deserve to be dead.”

He was right.

Leon deserved to be dead.

But before those thoughts could totally consume him, one voice spoke up louder than everything he could hear.

“I just knew I didn’t want you to die. I still don’t want you to die.”

Shiho.

The feeling of the tightness around his neck eased ever so slightly as he remembered the way she reached out for him before he could be dragged to his execution.

She had leaped towards him with that wild look in her eyes, and had grabbed his hand.

That action alone was the very reason he was still alive, because if Shiho hadn’t grabbed onto his hand in that moment, she wouldn’t have been dragged to the execution site with him. And if she wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have been able to save his life almost at the cost of her own.

The feeling of her hand around his felt so real…

Until he realised that it actually was.

Shiho was beside him on the floor, holding his hand.

She didn’t have a bleeding throat, and she was looking just as lively as ever.

His fingers tightened around her hand, careful not to squeeze too hard since she still had injuries to recover from, and he could feel his breathing becoming more even.

Shiho stared into his eyes, studying his expression as she watched him slowly coming out of his daze. Her presence grounded him, and gradually, everything he was hearing and seeing in his mind faded away.

“You sure you don’t have a fear of needles yourself?” Shiho asked him while staying right by his side, not taking her hand from his. 

She must have known that there was more to it than that.

The look in her eyes gave it away; she didn’t look confused, instead looking genuinely concerned.

Leon’s whole body was shaking, though he could feel the pain in his chest easing. He parted his lips, but found it difficult to speak for a moment. He struggled, like the air was still trapped in his lungs, until he managed to finally breathe out slowly, with the words coming out as a whisper.

“Thanks, Shi…”

He wasn't even sure if Shiho could hear him, still sounding like he barely had the energy to speak at all.

Shiho relaxed her expression slightly as she let out a small exhale, her posture losing all tension. She kept her hand clasped around his loosely like she was afraid of him slipping away, and she moved closer to sit right beside him.

The two leaned against each other, for a moment in complete silence. Leon rested back against a cabinet, with Shiho joining him. It was a relief to realise that he hadn't hurt her, and that the painkillers he administered worked effectively.

“Thanks for giving me that shot,” Shiho then thanked with a kind smile on her face for once. “I’m already feeling so much better, like nothing’s broken at all.”

Leon turned his head, staring at her. She still looked battered and bruised, but behind her red eyes, there was no sign of her being in pain anymore.

In an attempt to brush off his episode, Leon scratched his ear with his free hand, trying to look as cool as possible.

“Think I’m gonna give myself my own shot later, too,” he commented quietly with a hint of a smile on his face. “No way am I trustin’ you to do it. That took serious skill.”

Shiho puffed out her cheeks and nudged his arm, though her other hand remained around his.

“Seriously?” she huffed. “You think I can't do that?”

“No way,” Leon swiftly responded, sitting himself up into a more comfortable position. “Besides, it's not cool to let a girl do that sorta thing, anyway.”

Shiho pulled her hand from his since she could see that he was back to acting like himself.

“You’re a total jackass,” she grumbled, folding her arms.

“Sorry, but it’s the truth,” Leon pointed out to her with a small grin on his face. “Besides, I’ve got steady hands from playing baseball, so I'm way more skilled for this sorta thing.”

Shiho got up to her feet, not offering to help Leon up.

“Totally unfair,” she complained under her breath.

“Whatever,” Leon replied as he stood up, stretching his arms with a sleazy smile on his face. “What’s your problem, anyway? You just want an excuse to take care of me, huh?”

“No, I just wanna be even,” Shiho clarified, nudging his arm again with a little more force. “And if you keep deluding yourself into thinking you’re some famous hottie, I’ll shove that needle where the sun don’t shine.”

She started heading towards the doors, with Leon trailing behind her. He grinned mischievously, debating on whether or not to respond to her comment with something crude. Only a very small part of him wanted to hold back, so he ended up continuing to push her buttons.

“Famous hottie, huh?” he repeated. “So, does that mean I’m at least a regular hottie?”

Shiho didn’t even answer him, simply rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she opened the doors. Leon’s smile faded as he felt her silence bruise his ego.

“I am, right?” he pressed without as much confidence in his voice. “...Right? …Shiho? …C’mon, man, can’t ya butter me up just once?”

The answer seemed to be “no”, given that she just walked out of the nurse’s office with Leon following like a begging dog.

He thought she’d at least be nicer to him, given that he could still potentially be killed within hours, but at the same time, he appreciated that she was still treating him the same way she normally would, even making sure not to bother him too much about his incident in the nurse’s office.

It would be weird if she suddenly started being sweet to him, anyway.

~End of Chapter~

Chapter Text

~Requiem~

Ding dong, bing bong.

The sound startled Leon as he walked through the corridor with Shiho.

“Ahem, so, I’m getting bored, and it’s been two days already,” came the voice of Monokuma through the monitor. “Could everyone please proceed to the red doors on the first floor of the school for the final debate? I’ll be waiting!”

Final debate?

Leon stood frozen on the spot while his eyes widened.

He was going to have to go back to the very room where his original trial was held, and if the vote wasn’t in his favour…

“What the hell?” Shiho growled out. “Final debate?”

Her anger quickly turned to optimism.

“Hold on!” she gasped. “That means we get a chance to meet with everyone in one place before the final vote! We can convince them all to vote in your favour!”

Or, if something wrong was said, they would be encouraged to vote against him.

He could feel that aching feeling in his chest returning, but Shiho quickly nudged him to get his attention.

“Hey, we’ve totally got this,” she assured him. “Come on. Once this is over with… you won’t have anythin’ to worry about.”

That wasn’t even true.

Even if he survived the vote, he would still be wary of others who would want to kill him, especially if Monokuma prepared another motive.

Other students could be seen coming from the dorms as they walked through the hall and towards the red doors. They passed by Leon and Shiho, with some looking worried and others looking disgusted.

Leon bared his teeth angrily, marching after the others.

“No way in hell am I being put through that shit again!” he snapped as he stormed after everyone. “C’mon, Shiho! Let’s do this!”

Shiho jogged after him to catch up, sounding equally as determined but not as angry.

“Hell yeah!” she cheered with a grin, pumping her fist in the air. “Let’s convince them you’re just some pussy and not a threat!”

Leon slumped his shoulders, letting out a loud sigh.

“Dammit, bitch, quit making me sound worse!” he complained, mumbling under his breath. “Why couldn’t I have an intelligent girl like Kyoko on my side…?”

“I heard that, dumbass,” Shiho huffed as she flicked his ear, watching him flinch and yelp with annoyance. “You callin’ me stupid?”

“Ow, can you not?” Leon grumbled irritably, rubbing his ear where she had flicked him. “I’m freakin’ out here, man.”

The doors were opened by the classmates walking ahead, though nobody bothered to hold the doors open for Leon and Shiho. Shiho quickly caught them before they could slam shut in her face, holding them open for Leon to also walk through as they approached the elevator.

Leon’s heart was racing again as he noticed all eyes on him.

“Leon, you’re here!” came Chihiro’s voice. She sounded relieved to see him, though she also appeared nervous as sweat formed on her forehead and cheeks.

“Leon Kuwata, you arrived exactly on time!” came Taka’s booming voice. “That deserves praise, considering your potential fate!”

Leon frowned at him, not sure if that was supposed to be some kind of compliment.

“Uh, thanks, man,” he awkwardly thanked, scratching his head.

It was surprising that Leon and Shiho were not the last to turn up.

Makoto was next with Kyoko arriving seconds later, though the last one to enter was Mondo, who shot a deadly stare down at Leon without saying a word to him.

“Looks like everyone is here!” Monokuma chirped through the monitor. “Okay, everyone! Please, step onto the elevator so that we may proceed to the debate area!”

It was another trial.

That was the only way Leon could see it.

Once again, he was on trial for the murder of Sayaka Maizono, and the others were deciding whether he should be punished or not.

One by one, the students stepped onto the elevator, with Leon’s legs shaking as he moved. Everyone was staring at him, with some even stepping back away from him cautiously. Some were glaring with bitterness while others simply looked wary.

It was like they all hated him.

Leon bowed his head to avoid their gazes, and soon enough, the elevator began its descent.

The rattling of the elevator was loud, but Leon could only hear the pounding of his own heart in his ears. He was aware of his own breathing, too, as he breathed through his mouth rather than his nose.

Nobody was even speaking up to fill the silence on the way down.

Everyone was just standing still and staring at him.

Even Shiho was silent as she stood closest to him.

Leon couldn’t bring himself to speak, either, fearing that it would only ruin his chances of being spared by the others.

Eyes were on him the whole time until the elevator finally stopped its descent, and the doors slid open clunkily.

“Puhuhuhu!” came the laughter from Monokuma. “It looks like everyone is here! I thought I was gonna have to drag Mister Leon Kuwata here, but he actually came without trying to resist!”

Leon was terrified, but he wasn’t going to let that show. He clenched his fists angrily and raised them aggressively, baring his teeth.

“Damn right I didn’t resist!” he snapped. “I’m not some little bitch!”

“Yeah!” Shiho agreed. “I mean, he’s a little bitch sometimes, but he ain’t scared of you! None of us are!”

Leon felt his lips curve into a small, embarrassed grin.

“Dude, seriously?” he mumbled to her, but she didn’t even acknowledge him.

Monokuma simply laughed behind his hands as he eyed the students.

“Well, now, perhaps the students don’t fear the headmaster, but do they fear one of their own?” he chuckled. “Are they afraid of letting a killer live among them?”

Leon felt everyone glancing at him again, and he met everyone’s eyes individually without saying a word.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Monokuma then cheered. “Everyone, please make your way to your assigned seats so that we can begin our exclusive class debate!”

Like with the class trial, everyone stood by their assigned podiums. Leon was once again between Celeste and Toko while Shiho stood between Yasuhiro and Hina. The portraits of Sayaka and Junko remained in place, too, with Leon staring at Sayaka’s portrait as his heart rattled in his ribcage.

“Let’s begin with a basic explanation of this class debate!” Monokuma began after taking his own seat. “Like with the class trial, your votes will determine the results. If you conclude that Leon Kuwata should not return to communal school life, then he will be punished! If you decide that he deserves a second chance, then he will get to live once again as an ordinary student!”

“We don’t need to have a debate!” Makoto spoke up quickly with determination in his voice. “We aren’t gonna vote to kill one of our classmates!”

“Don’t be so quick to speak on our behalf,” Byakuya spat condescendingly. “A debate is perfectly reasonable.”

“No, Makoto’s right!” Shiho argued swiftly. “We all saw what Monokuma was gonna do to him, right?!”

“Indeed,” Celeste calmly agreed, “but are you perhaps forgetting why he was being punished in the first place? He is the one who killed Sayaka Maizono, which indirectly also resulted in the death of Junko Enoshima.”

Leon’s eyes widened as he stared at Celeste.

“Huh?!” he exclaimed. “What, you’re gonna blame me for her death, too?!”

“Of course,” Celeste told him, meeting his worried gaze with her cold one. “If Sayaka had not been killed, Junko would not have disobeyed Monokuma after he explained the rules of the class trial. Therefore, you are indirectly responsible for Junko’s death, also.”

Leon shook his head in disbelief.

“You can’t just say shit like that!” he countered with panic in his voice. “I didn’t even know about the class trials, and neither did Sayaka when she tried to kill me!”

“That d-doesn’t change the fact that you m-murdered Sayaka in order to g-g-graduate…” Toko pointed out, fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke before pointing angrily at Leon. “Y-You’re a murderer…!”

Leon grit his teeth as he glared at her, his face reddening with anger.

“It could have been any one of you in my position!” he snapped. “None of you can say that you’d react differently because none of you have been in that situation!”

“You still murdered someone who had already been disarmed,” Byakuya explained coolly with his arms folded, “and you easily could have safely returned to your room without killing her.”

“Yeah, and then what?!” Leon shot back at him. “She’d have told you all that I attacked her! She’d have played the victim, and one of you would’ve killed me, or she would’ve just tried again!”

“Leon is right,” Kyoko calmly spoke up. “It was Sayaka who made the first move in this Killing Game Monokuma created. She had planned to take a life, and there is a chance that she wasn’t going to stop if Leon got away.”

Leon stared at her, feeling relief washing over him, but Kyoko wasn’t looking back at him.

“However, the same can be said about Leon himself,” she admitted. “Leon ultimately chose to kill Sayaka because he, too, wanted to escape. Anyone has the right to be wary of him.”

Hina nervously scratched her cheek.

“I mean, he hasn’t tried to hurt anyone for the last couple of days, right?” she pointed out.

“Yeah, because he was unconscious most of the time,” Mondo huffed, rolling his eyes.

“But he still didn’t try to hurt anyone!” Hina insisted. “Think about it! All he had to do was kill someone else if he wanted to postpone this vote, right?”

“Yeah, but that would’ve made him super suspicious…” Yasuhiro noted. 

“H-He probably thought the s-stupid skater girl would g-get everyone to v-v-vote to save him…” Toko added, glaring at Shiho, who only glared back with more viciousness.

“Stupid skater girl, huh?!” Shiho snapped, leaning against her podium.

Celeste nodded in agreement. “Shiho has indeed been attempting to convince us to spare Leon’s life,” she recalled.

“Yes, indeed…” Hifumi nodded at the memory as he sweated. “And she was rather… forceful with her convincing…”

Shiho nervously laughed, scratching the back of her head. “I just… wanted to make sure my friend didn’t die…”

Friend.

She said the word so casually, as if she had referred to Leon as a friend thousands of times before, but they had still only known each other for just a few days.

“Friend?” Byakuya scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody here is a friend to anyone. He’s probably just using you the same way Sayaka used Makoto.”

That was a low blow.

Makoto seemed hurt by the words, though he was trying not to let himself get angry.

“Byakuya…” he said, but he was in too much disbelief to say anything else.

“If I recall correctly, he had no problem with letting you take the blame for Sayaka’s murder during his trial,” Byakuya went on, “and he even tried to accuse you when the suspicion fell upon him. Isn’t that right, Leon?”

Leon was about to argue, but his eyes widened suddenly.

Byakuya was right.

Leon had been doing everything he could to make sure he got away with Sayaka’s murder. Even when he knew it meant killing the rest of his classmates, he kept up the act until he was cornered.

“What's wrong?” Byakuya practically taunted. “Do you have nothing to say against that accusation?”

Leon bowed his head, silent.

Even Shiho was struggling to speak up to defend him.

“Personal feelings aside, we need to focus on the one who put us in this situation in the first place,” came Kyoko's composed voice. “The mastermind wants us to turn against one another when we should all be focused on beating the mastermind together.”

Makoto nodded in agreement.

“If Leon is punished, we will just be missing another person who could help us defeat whoever the mastermind is,” he explained. “We've lost Sayaka and Junko already…”

“But what if defeating the mastermind isn't an option…?” Hifumi nervously queried as he bit his fingernails. “A large party is essential in defeating a final boss, but what if there is no final boss?”

“B-But everyone here could kill anyone at any time…” Chihiro nervously acknowledged. “If anything, surely he would be the least likely to try killing again after this…”

“Or h-he has m-m-more knowledge on h-how to succeed a s-s-second time…” Toko countered.

Leon slammed his fists against his podium angrily all of a sudden, gritting his teeth.

“I'm not gonna kill anyone, dammit!” he yelled. “If you guys are really gonna push that damn button to vote for my punishment, then you're all no different than me!”

The trial room fell silent as he continued to raise his voice, glaring at everyone who stared at him.

“I was in my room with Shiho that night, everyone knows that!” he snapped. “She was gonna stay the night because she was totally freaked out, and I ditched her the minute Sayaka slipped me that note!”

Taka let out a horrified gasp as he went pale. “A boy and a girl sharing a room together?!” he cried out. “For a whole night?! Unsupervised?! That's… That's…!”

“Oh, my…” Hifumi reacted with surprise in his eyes, practically looking like he was salivating at the very thought.

Leon grit his teeth. “It wasn't like that” he insisted before nervously grinning. “She, like, totally isn't my type.”

Makoto scratched his cheek awkwardly with a smile. “I'm not sure if that's important right now…” he murmured.

“So, you're saying that you had no intention to commit murder the night you killed Sayaka,” Byakuya reiterated with an air of smugness. “You only chose to kill her in retaliation to her targeting you.”

“Yeah!” Leon confirmed aggressively. “Shiho, back me up here!”

“He's right!” Shiho agreed confidently. “He told me to stay the night with him after I came to his room. I spent at least a few hours in there before Sayaka slipped that note under his door.”

“A few hours?!” Taka practically screamed in distress. 

“Seriously, it wasn't like that!” Leon defended quickly again.

“Yeah, we were just playing “Project Zombie”,” Shiho explained.

“Together?!” Hifumi gasped. “A girl and a boy playing a game like that together is…”

“Totally normal, fatty!” Leon interrupted. “It’s one of the coolest games ever made! Surely you should know that, with your 2-D obsession and shit!”

Sakura closed her eyes, letting out a very quiet sigh as she folded her arms.

“The discussion has moved away from the topic of debate…” she pointed out before the two boys could argue further.

Leon looked at her nervously with a forced laugh.

“Right!” he agreed before returning to looking serious again. “I was gonna stay in my room that night, just like everyone else, and when Shiho came over, I was totally gonna let her stay so I could, like, protect her.”

“Might I ask a question?” Celeste questioned, though she didn’t wait for Leon to give her permission. “Shiho came to your room without an invitation, yes?”

“Uh, yeah,” Leon answered, with Shiho giving a nod of agreement from where she stood.

“So, you allowed her into your room, but she could have been planning to kill you, yes?” Celeste pressed intensely, her eyes wide and unblinking. “All she would need to do is wait for you to fall asleep before killing you and returning to her room.”

“But… Shiho wouldn’t do that,” Hina anxiously defended. “She’s the one who saved Leon, remember?”

“Of course,” Celeste nodded in agreement, maintaining her calculating smile, “which can only mean that Leon did not see her as a threat that night. Why do you suppose that is?”

“Because they’re friends… right?” Yasuhiro guessed slowly.

“Shiho, my next question is for you,” Celeste went on as she locked eyes with Shiho. “At any point did you see Leon open his toolkit while you were in his room?”

Shiho’s eyes widened as she tilted her head, processing the question.

“Huh?” she reacted. “What do you mean?”

“If I am not mistaken, Leon claimed to have brought the screwdriver with him as self-defense to Sayaka’s room,” Celeste recalled. “According to him, it was in his pocket. Were you aware of this?”

Leon was slowly noticing what Celeste was trying to hint at, and he had no idea how to speak up while Shiho rubbed her head.

“I… don’t remember seeing him open the toolkit, no,” Shiho admitted quietly. “I don’t think it ever came up in conversation, either.”

“Then Leon had the screwdriver in his pocket the entire time you were with him,” Celeste concluded.

Shiho clenched her fists, narrowing her eyes.

“So what?!” she snapped at Celeste. “That doesn’t mean anything! He probably had it in his pocket every single time we were alone, or when he was hangin’ out with Makoto, or at breakfast…”

Byakuya joined in with the conversation once again, appearing even more smug than Celeste.

“What do you say, Leon?” he asked him. “Do you wish to tell us that you’ve been carrying that screwdriver around the whole time? Can you tell us exactly when you decided to open your toolkit?”

He could easily lie.

Nobody could prove when he opened the toolkit and could only take his word for it.

“When I opened it, huh…?” he murmured slowly as he thought about how to answer, sweat forming by his brows.

But if he was caught lying, and asked to give details, it would just make him look suspicious and more untrustworthy.

He had to just tell the truth, even if the truth was equally as damning.

“I opened it… when I heard my doorbell ring,” he confessed, glancing downwards as he rubbed the back of his head. “When… Shiho was at my door that night.”

The silence that followed didn’t last long, but it certainly felt heavy.

“So, you heard someone at your door and decided to arm yourself before opening it,” Byakuya recounted. “Is that correct?”

Leon frowned and lifted his head.

“Yeah, because I thought it could be someone coming to kill me!” he defended.

“But then you saw that it was Shiho,” Byakuya added. “After hours of her being in your room, you must have realised that she wasn’t a threat at some point, right?”

“I… uh…” Leon stuttered as the sweat dripped down his face.

“Leon allowed her into his room because he was planning to kill her,” Celeste finally accused, which is what she had been getting at the whole time. “He was simply waiting for Shiho to lower her guard, perhaps even waiting for her to fall asleep first.”

Leon shook his head as he clutched the podium.

“This is bullshit!” he shouted. “It’s total bullshit! I wasn’t gonna kill her!”

Byakuya looked towards Shiho, pushing up his glasses.

“What do you think, Shiho?” he interrogated. “Knowing that Leon opened his toolkit the moment you rang his doorbell, how do you feel about having him return to living freely among the rest of us?”

Leon also looked towards Shiho with widened eyes. He could see her rubbing her arm, staring at the ground in silence.

If she lost her confidence in defending him, then it was all over.

But she lifted her head, narrowing her fiery red eyes at Byakuya.

“I don’t care what his plan was,” she answered with determination. “Maybe he was gonna kill me, maybe not. There’s no way to prove what he was gonna do that night; what I do know is that I would trust him with my life more than I’d trust any of you.”

She trusted him more than anyone else.

She already had such trust in him when she visited his room that night, and despite knowing that he had been armed with the screwdriver, she maintained that trust.

“Th-That doesn’t m-mean anything…!” Toko scowled.

“It means everything!” Shiho argued passionately. “And if you guys vote for his execution, I’ll… I’ll…!”

“What?” Byakuya tutted. “You’ll become the next blackened and make sure we all die?”

The look in Shiho’s eyes wasn’t just murderous.

It was genuine.

“I can do it.”

She said it quietly, as if the words came out on their own.

Shiho was not a particularly scary individual. Sure, she was aggressive and had made Leon flinch a few times with her hotheadedness, but she never came across as genuinely threatening.

Yet when she spoke those words, even Leon felt a chill run down his spine.

He believed her.

He believed that if he was executed, Shiho would find a way to get away with her own murder, letting everyone else die while she graduated.

That would include the people like Makoto and Chihiro, who Leon didn’t hold any hatred for, especially since they actually seemed to be on his side.

That would include the people Shiho saw as her own friends, like Hina, Sakura, and Mondo.

Yet without a doubt, she certainly meant it.

“Don’t do that shit,” he found himself muttering, immediately snapping Shiho out of her anger as she looked towards him.

“What…?” she reacted quietly.

“I said… don’t do that shit,” Leon repeated, leaning against his podium shakily as he glared downwards with his own hateful gaze. “If you’re gonna do somethin’ stupid like that… you’re the worst of all of us.”

He felt so venomous saying that to the person who was defending him.

He couldn’t even look at her as he practically hissed the words through his teeth.

The worst.

She would be the worst.

She would be killing everyone, and ultimately, Monokuma (or whoever controlled Monokuma) would win.

And Shiho would be all alone, carrying more guilt than Leon.

Shiho was staring silently at Leon. Her expression had shifted from hateful and angry to shocked and… hurt?

“Leon…?” she responded quietly, and Leon finally faced her with coldness in his eyes.

“Killing everyone?” he repeated in disbelief. “I mean, seriously? What happened to when you were saying all that shit about not letting anyone else die?”

He gave a shake of his head, his gaze now looking distant.

“I killed Sayaka, Shiho,” he reminded her bluntly. “I broke down that door when she was crying and begging me to leave her alone. I stabbed her and waited until she stopped moving. Do you think that shit means nothing to me?”

Leon eyed everyone else within the circle.

“Do you all think that shit hasn’t fucked me up?!” he yelled with fury. “Do you think I don’t regret what I did?!”

He lowered his voice, but maintained his rage.

“This debate is bullshit,” he hissed. “Go ahead and just fucking vote already.”

“Wait, Leon!” Shiho called out to him, her voice riddled with fear.

“Shut up!” Leon immediately snapped at her, clenching his fists tightly. “Just… shut up, Shiho!”

“Hell no!” Shiho argued. “I’m not gonna sit back and let you give up!”

Monokuma’s laughter came from where the bear was sitting.

“Puhuhu… Leon Kuwata wishes to end the debate here and now!” he observed. “Well, then, is everyone ready to cast their votes?”

Shiho stared up at him, visibly panicking.

“No, the debate isn’t over!” she objected.

But Byakuya had already pulled on his voting lever.

“Yes, it is,” he coldly disagreed.

“Agreed,” came Celeste’s voice as she also cast her vote.

One by one the students began to make their choice. Some were taking longer than others, but none of them looked at Leon as they voted.

Shiho had voted swiftly, too, upon seeing that the process had already begun, but her hands were shaking as she did so.

“Aaaaand that’s everyone!” Monokuma announced, making Leon flinch. “Now, since this is a class debate and not a class trial, I will reveal all votes one-by-one! Isn’t that exciting?!”

Leon would rather just get it over with, but instead, he was going to have to see who voted for his death and who voted to save him.

“I will reveal the votes in order!” Monokuma explained. “First up, Byakuya Togami!”

Upon the television (which Monokuma was using exclusively for this debate), a pixelated icon of Byakuya’s face was placed onto the red side of the screen.

“Byakuya voted for Leon Kuwata to accept his punishment!” Monokuma revealed gleefully. 

Byakuya folded his arms, standing his ground confidently.

“It would be foolish to allow a killer to live among us,” he justified. “Besides, you are just an obstacle in my way.”

Leon narrowed his eyes at him, feeling his anger rising, but he didn’t say anything. He already knew that Byakuya was going to vote for his execution.

“Next up, the one known as Celestia Ludenburg!” Monokuma went on.

She also had her icon placed on the red side of the screen.

“Uh-oh!” Monokuma mocked. “That’s two votes against you already, Mister Leon Kuwata!”

Toko Fukawa was next, and considering her behaviour, she, too, had her icon placed on the red side.

Leon grit his teeth, shaking as he tightly closed his eyes while Monokuma laughed.

“Three votes!” he chortled. “Okay! Next is Shiho Nakai! Oh, but her vote will be painfully obvious…”

Shiho’s icon was placed to the green side of the screen, indicating that she had voted to spare Leon.

What if she was the only one?

She was watching the screen with more focus than Leon, rubbing her arm anxiously to see if more votes would appear on the green half.

“Makoto Naegi is next!” Monokuma announced before sounding uninterested. “Oh, of course…”

Makoto’s icon was placed beside Shiho’s on the green side, meaning that, as Shiho had previously predicted, he was voting in Leon’s favour.

“Chihiro Fujisaki!”

Chihiro’s icon also appeared alongside Shiho’s and Makoto’s, making the two sides even.

Until Yasuhiro’s vote appeared on the red side, followed by Kiyotaka’s.

“Sorry, man, but… you killed someone,” Yasuhiro defended nervously.

“It is vital that the rules must be followed,” Taka forced himself to say as if deep down he didn’t agree with it. “Even if those rules are ones I disagree with, they are in place for a reason and must be obeyed!”

At the very least, Taka’s vote didn’t come from a place of malice or fear, but just his own moral compass being challenged.

Aoi Asahina and Kyoko Kirigi had their votes placed next, once again making the scores completely even as they had their icons added to the green half.

But Hifumi’s vote took the red side ahead.

If one more person voted against Leon, he was done for.

The next vote appeared on the screen, belonging to Sakura Ogami…

Green.

She had voted to spare him.

“Alright!” Monokuma grinned. “It looks like the last vote belongs to Mondo Owada! This will be the deciding vote! Drumroll please!”

A drumroll appeared out of nowhere as Leon stared at Mondo, who was only glaring back at him with that same anger behind his eyes.

Shiho was staring at Mondo with large eyes, and she was breathing through her mouth as sweat poured down her forehead.

Mondo had made it clear that he was disgusted by what Leon had done to Sayaka…

Leon looked away from Mondo to gaze back at the voting results, and as the drumroll came to a halt, Mondo’s icon appeared as the final one on the screen.

~End of Chapter~