Forum Thread

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Setsuna Jun

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"Area 51..." He hiccupped. "Yeah. We'll raid it."

Setsuna wiped those stupid tears away and clasped Sutaraitsu's hand. "Come on. Let's go. We can find somewhere else to have our date... hey?"

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Kubo Atsushi

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All three of them came to a stop by the pit. He couldn't believe Miyako, with all her stuck up-edness would've left Darcy down here. 'Decent person'? Who was she kidding? She was the scum of the earth.

"Hey, Darcy!" he called. "You alive down there?"

He glanced at Lucian. "We might have to climb down, if he doesn't respond."

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🍨Sutaraitsu Unemoto's POV🍀

"Area 51... Yeah. We'll raid it."

He nodded, beaming. "Yeah! And... we'll come back. Probably."

Well... so long as he had me there with him... he'd probably be safe. I think.

"Come on. Let's go. We can find somewhere else to have our date... hey?"

He gave Setsuna's hand a squeeze in return, his face flushing at his boyfriend's touch. "Y-Yeah! Let's."

❄lucian arbred's pov🕊

"Hey, Darcy! You alive down there?"

Lucian saw a halting in Sawyer's posture. A freezing in their expression. As if they were realizing something. It made him wince.

"We might have to climb down, if he doesn't respond."

He sighed and nodded. "...well... shouldn't be that much harder than helping him up. right?"

...if... he's alive, that is.

📚SAWYER LAURENS'S POV🍭

"DARCY? DARCY, YOU THERE?! DARCY!"

Third-Person

There was no response. Maybe he couldn't hear.

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Setsuna Jun

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My Sutaraitsu, he repeated to himself. Mine. He wouldn't hurt me- he couldn't. Never.

But the mantra sounded hollow, even in his head. Just because someone was supposed to love you didn't mean they would. His mother was proof of that.

And me.

With a start, he realised that he and Sutaraitsu... were out in the hallway. A crowd was up ahead. Kubo, Lucian, and a girl he'd never really paid attention to. She stood back now, watching the two as they hollered down into a... a hole? Huh.

That was weird.

"I'll do it," Kubo decided. "We'll tie together the curtains from the Drama Hall. They should form a stable enough rope."

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🍧Sutaraitsu Unemoto's POV🍀

"Hey, uhh... You okay, Setsuna?" he asked, shifting his feet upon the floor. "You seem... Quiet." Was that normal? There was just something... Faintly off about him. Was he okay?

❄️lucian arbred's pov🕊️

"I'll do it. We'll tie together the curtains from the Drama Hall. They should form a stable enough rope... I think."

Lucian's hands and lips started to tremble, and he immediately tightened his grip on Kubo's hand.

"KUBO, NO! YOU'LL DIE!" Then, he attempted to steady himself. He looked the Ultimate Detective firmly in the eyes. "I... I mean..." He paused a moment. "I... Promised I'd protect you. Okay? So please... Don't do anything reckless. We'll find a safer way down."

He stared numbly at the floor, his breathing trembling. "...I don't want to lose you too."

📚SAWYER LAURENS'S POV🍭

"What about... One of those human chain thingies? Or are those... Actually not that stable?" They squinted. Where... Did they know about that from?

Everything was so fuzzy... The screaming was getting louder.

Louder.

Yet it seemed so far away.

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Kubo Atsushi

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That was... a really bad reaction. Okay, Lucian wanted that off the table. So Kubo probably shouldn't bring it up again. But still, his eyes strayed to the endless darkness.

He got the sudden sensation that something was waiting for him down there. Kaoru and Mom and everyone. If he just reached in, their fingertips would brush his. He'd take a step forward and fall into their embraces and... they'd take me.

Kubo squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears. He wasn't sure why he was crying... but just the sudden dizziness. The way everything seemed to overtake him now. The pressing weight of what he was doing, what everything was doing to him. It was stupid but... for a moment he wondered if he checked his wrist, there'd be a pulse.

That was a dumb metaphor. He wasn't really dead but... in a way...

It felt like every thought in his head was colliding in on itself as he stared into that endless void. Everything he'd ever said or done.

And his breath steadied to Kaoru's murmurs and he turned back to Lucian. "Lucian, if Darcy dies down there, it'd be on my head anyway. We don't know who Monokuma would blame for Darcy's death. Me, Shi, Darcy himself-" He shook his head. "We can't afford to make mistakes right now. And besides..."

He turned back to the pit, gazing into it.

"I think... I'll be okay. Call it intuition, call it God, call it fate- but I feel like I can't die here. Like there's something else I have to do first." Someone I have to take to the Prom tonight. "So it's fine. Don't be dumb, Lucian. I'll be fine. This would be a pretty f*cking stupid way to die."

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Setsuna Jun

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They did backflips all the way to some cute setting where they sat drinking hot chocolate and reading conspiracy theorist pamphlets.

Setsuna jumped at Sutaraitsu's question. "Oh! Yeah! Just reading about something super cute and cool!" He grinned. "You interested in moon men? I've got lotsa stuff!"

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❄️lucian arbred's pov🕊

"Lucian, if Darcy dies down there, it'd be on my head anyway. We don't know who Monokuma would blame for Darcy's death. Me, Shi, Darcy himself- We can't afford to make mistakes right now. And besides..."

"Kubo, I'm sure that you wouldn't-" he cut himself off there. He didn't know that. Their Headmaster would pull... anything.

"I think... I'll be okay. Call it intuition, call it God, call it fate- but I feel like I can't die here. Like there's something else I have to do first."

Lucian was hushed into silence. His mouth remained slightly agape, as though he were about to stay something. But no sound came out. Those words... sounded so unlike Kubo. Trusting in intuition, God, fate... didn't sound like him. He was... real. Realistic.

But Lucian saw the determination in his eyes. He could feel it in the air. In the Ultimate Detective's words, his voice, his... presence.

"So it's fine. Don't be dumb, Lucian. I'll be fine. This would be a pretty f*cking stupid way to die."

He couldn't help but smile at him, despite himself. "...alright. Just-- be careful, okay?"

📚SAWYER LAURENS'S POV🍭

"Can we... go find him, now? Please?" Please no please no please no please no--

No, it was fine. Nothing was wrong... right?

"Okay! It's- it's alright, Sawyer. He'll be fine. Let's just get down there."

He's fine he's fine he's...

...

Who?

...

Why does it feel like...

...

Idon'tknowIdon'tknowIdon'tknow

"Can I come with you? Please? I- need to know he's still here." They looked pleadingly at Blue Pigtails.

But... why? No, it's fine. He's just elsewhere.

...

Why do I feel like... there's something I've forgotten? Something...

...

That day, they... I...

...

It was too unbearable to remember. It must have been gone now...

🍨Sutaraitsu Unemoto's POV🍀

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!" Suzume's ghost screamed nonexistently in a way that seemed OOC. "THE HOT CHOCOLATE WAS OUR THING!! COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!!"

"Oh! Yeah! Just reading about something super cute and cool! You interested in moon men? I've got lotsa stuff!"

Sutaraitsu smiled shyly, scuffing the back of his hair with his hand. "Well, umm... y-yeah, actually!! I'd love to read about them!! What have you got, Setsuna?"

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Kubo Atsushi

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Right... right, okay. We've got this.

Running a hand through his hair, Kubo heaved a sigh. He accepted the makeshift rope that idk if they got yet but i'm too tired to read back pretend it teleported and began to wind it around his waist. No point wasting time... they had work to get to.

"Can I come with you?"

His eyes snapped to Sawyer.

Unstable. Dangerous. Violent.

He had a whole section in his notebook for each Ultimate. His writings on Sawyer were numerous, and they raced through his mind, already arguing with the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Sure. Right after me work for you?"

Can't be much more crazy than me, after all. And besides, I don't think Monokuma wants more than a double murder... probably. So if Darcy's dead and they go crazy, I'm safe.

Of course Monokuma wasn't the most dependable of characters, but Kubo seriously doubted the bear wanted him of all people dead. After all, if he was right about the identity of the mastermind... then they'd want him alive until the very end. He could probably stab someone, write a confession note in his own blood, and wake up the next morning with some poor sap like Setsuna or Idris framed.

Hm. He should probably get some sleep before he started going down that line of thought.

"That okay with you, Shi?" he asked dryly. "And before you ask, no, I don't have any weapons on me and I'm also not stupid enough to stab them when you're here as a witness."

Kubo had never really had a read on Shi. Her snarky quips and jokes seemed so unimportant behind Miyako's anger issues. She just always seemed to be in the shadows, supporting the girl. There was something uneasy about her, but he mostly equated that to her overpowering height. He had no doubt she could break his neck if she felt so inclined.

Miyako...

Looking back on it... There was something so hollow to everything she said. Nothing seemed real with her. She said things and blamed people, but she didn't really. It was as if everything was an act, a play put on for someone. But who, though? Shi?

Miyako was a sociopath in training. He knew that for sure. Just one look in her eyes had him on edge. Something held her back, kept her clinging to her fragile 'morals' and more likely than not, it was Shi.

Maybe he should be nice to her. She might be the only thing keeping Miyako's knife from his chest. It was probably owed.

"Look," he said abruptly. "Just take it." He withdrew the false pen from his pocket and placed it in Shi's hand. "There's a knife in it if you click twice. I promise it's my only stabbing implement. There's no murder happening over here, okay?"

Bad call, every bone in his body screamed. They're going to kill you. Both of them are going to kill you, and it'll be with your knife.

He told his bones to shut up. He was done relying on intuition. It was time to have a little bit of trust in someone who actually didn't have reason to kill him.

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Setsuna Jun

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"E-Everything!" Setsuna planted it in his lap. "It's got all the stuff! The fakeness of the moon landing! The aliens who transmitted it down! And all of it's in French, so it's gotta be real. Sexy French agents collecting stuff gotta be genuine."

He laughed a little nervously. "You're also sexy, even though you're not French... just so you know. Not discounting that..."

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Shi no Shitshow

Shi looked at the "pen" for a bit, some sort of half-disguised belief plaguing her face. Eventually, she shrugged and laid it in her pocket. If he wants to give me a knife, so be it.

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Kubo Atsushi

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"Alright." Kubo released a shaky breath. It felt like a whole weight had left his shoulders. He no longer had his knife, his way of defending himself, the power which made him different from the other Ultimates. And it was... nice. Just like anyone else. Maybe it'd be his death, but that feeling of just being the same for once...

He hadn't felt it in so long. It hurt, but in a good way. I can be normal. I don't have to be anyone or anything. There's no longer any need to prove myself.

No longer the Ultimate Detective.

It was a relief.

He could fail and it wouldn't matter. Just seeing his knife, his way of protecting himself, that identity tucked away in Shi's pocket...

He'd given up more than a knife. He'd given up himself, the Kubo he'd tried to be for so long.

Maybe the Killing Game's messed me up more than I thought and I sound absolutely insane right now. But who the hell cares. If I can find normality by being a target for murder then so be it.

"Well, if I die, prepare a good funeral for me," he said abruptly. "Candles and all that sh*t. I want you guys going all out."

Kubo stood over the edge of the pit. It was an endless black void, ready to swallow him up. This could be the moment he died... and all this would be pointless.

Not pointless. Death doesn't make me a good person or a bad person. Who I am when I die is who I am. There'll be no equaliser if I'm a splattered mess of guts on the ground in twenty seconds from now. If I'm going to die, it'll be as someone who deserved Kaoru. Who deserved Mei, Idris, and f*ck, even Miyako. And Lucian.

He looked for Kaoru's eyes one last time, and the amber glow pierced his. She stood at the very edge, hand reached out to take his. Beckoning.

And he leapt for it. And he accepted the blackness into his arms as he plummeted downwards.

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❄️lucian arbred's pov🕊️

What was that change that he saw in Kubo? The way he stood. The look in his eyes. The halting in his breath. Was... Lucian imagining it?

Then, his face flushed in pure embarrassment. He wasn't ACTUALLY keeping track of details that specific regarding Kubo, was he? No, no, no. That was... That was definitely normal. He was always really aware of little things like that. Little things like that... Were important.

"You're not going to die," he insisted. "but... Okay. Of course. Anything."

Thinking about candles made Lucian almost feel a little tearful. It felt like only yesterday that Darcy had prepared a bunch of scented candles. He'd even baked chocolates. He'd cared so much to try to help in something that he wasn't even a part of.

And Lucian found himself crossing his fingers tightly, squeezing his eyes shut as Kubo jumped off. Just hoping, praying, that Darcy was alright. And that Kubo was alright down there. This whole place... Was exactly what he'd always hoped to get away from.

He'd always hoped when he ran away from home, the bloodshed would stop. Everything would be okay. What a lovely lie that was.

Death followed you everywhere.

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Kubo Atsushi

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He was about to die. For a moment, he cursed his own stupidity as images from his life bounced around his mind. The first time he held Kaoru's hand. The night in the hospital where he watched his mother's heartbeat still on the machine. A storm cellar embedded into the side of a wood church, Amai saying "you're my best friend, Kubo", Kaoru in tears, Lucian smiling, Lucian crying, everyone dying, dying-

Then the rope pulled taut and he gasped, noise strangled out of his throat. For a moment, he just dangled there, struggling to breathe.

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❄️lucian arbred's pov🕊

"Kubo!! Are- are you okay?" he called down, swallowing nervously. He held the makeshift rope as tightly as he could, gritting his teeth. He wasn't about to let go, not anytime soon.

Please... don't get hurt, okay? We'll figure this out together. Everything will be alright.

Lucian felt a slight vibration, and noticed Sawyer too, was tightly clutching the rope. It seemed that they were at least somewhat aware of its importance. "thank you," he whispered. Sawyer either didn't hear him, or simply didn't respond.

There was a strangely blank look upon their face. As though they weren't really processing what happened. As Lucian thought about it... they'd never really had normal reactions to anything here. Of course, there seemed to be something clearly wrong with everyone here, including himself.

But Sawyer... they were a mystery. Usually so hyperactive, cheerful, optimistic, full of energy. Next thing you knew, they were barely speaking. Barely walking. Not even seeming to remember who everyone was, or what everything was.

That way they looked at the knife, with the faint glint of a memory. The way they brought up this being like The Hunger Games with nonchalance, excitement, even. Not even seeming to acknowledge Kaoru's death. Acting like this was all a game, in a way that seemed shockingly innocent, making it all the more disturbing. All part of the game, all part of the dream.

Did they understand it? Partially, in a way? That Kubo might die? That Darcy might be...

Lucian still missed her too. Had it been only a few days since his dear friend had kissed him goodbye? How did... Kubo feel? Did he miss her? Did he loathe her, as he seemed to?

Horatia, Futatabi, Mei, Akora, all gone just like that as well... just how many more would follow?

No more. No one else. We have to get out of here.

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Kubo Atsushi

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Kubo felt around in the dark and his palm landed on a solid, earthy wall. Okay. He could maybe slow his fall. Kicking back experimentally, he felt his foot collide with another wall with a metallic bang.

Okay, that was fine. Probably safer too.

"Drop me again!" he called up. "I think I'm almost at the bottom. Just give it a little slack!"

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❄lucian arbred's pov🕊

"Drop me again! I think I'm almost at the bottom. Just give it a little slack!"

Lucian suppressed a sigh of relief at Kubo's answer. Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay after all... but... he couldn't hope for that quite so easily. Darcy could be dead. He didn't want to think it, but... Lucian bit his lip, trying to shake the thought away.

Just because Miyako was a shifty wildcard of a person, and often to blame for things going wrong, it didn't mean she had anything to do with this. But she and Shi had been the last people to see Darcy alive. That is, assuming he was even dead in the first place. He could worry about this later, what mattered right now was making sure Kubo was okay. And that they could discover if Darcy was dead or not, and... if maybe... he could be helped. He could be saved.

Isn't that so funny, that you think you can save him? Even though humanity has done nothing but disappoint you. Again and again and again. Maybe it's better to just give up. Maybe there's no point in trying.

Lucian nodded at Kubo, although he probably couldn't see it, which made him realize how pointless such a gesture was. He grimaced, reluctant to drop the makeshift rope further, but if Kubo was almost at the bottom, he’d probably be okay. ”Okay! I’m dropping it now!”

How far did Darcy fall? Could it have been fatal? Lucian closed his eyes and attempted to recall all the deaths by falls he had witnessed. The thought made him a little queasy, as he could imagine Darcy dead on the floor all too clearly. A ghostly person materialized within his mind, who wasn't even here. Frosty white hair, ghostly pale skin, sharp milky blue eyes. Miyako...

She’s been acting a little strange this whole time…

But Miyako was shifty. Manipulative. A two-faced liar who never showed what she was truly thinking.

Oh, isn’t she a little like you, then?

It wasn’t my fault!! If I had known, I would have–

You should have known. You should have figured it out. You should know what a killer looks like.

. . .

No… it was my fault. Of course it was. It couldn’t have been anyone else’s. I could have realized, I should have realized. It’s not fair to blame her. It’s always my fault.

Death followed him wherever he went. Now was the opportunity to change that. It was his fault, he could have saved them, he should have saved them…

Is that what Mei would have told you? Didn’t she tell you not to dwell so much on all those things you couldn’t change?

…yes. Maybe that was right. Maybe he could still save everyone here. Maybe they all just needed to be helped. He just had to figure out how, and everyone would be alright…

But he couldn’t ask Miyako how it went down. She wasn't even here. Blameless or not, she was a liar.

A liar, liar, liar… like me. I haven’t told anyone. I’ve never told anyone. What reason would I have to? There’s no reason to think about it, there’s no reason to dwell on it. I… didn’t do anything wrong, right? But if that was the case… why have I never told anyone?

He could deal with that later. It wasn’t something anyone would like to admit to. It changed your whole perspective on someone. And yet… was there really any reason to? All it would do is upset everyone. Maybe it was best for the truth to remain hidden.

. . .

All the same… Shi didn’t seem as two-faced and shifty as Miyako. Maybe it would be better to ask her. Additionally, she was the Ultimate Sprinter. Didn’t it seem more likely she might have answers?

”Shi… you and Miyako were there when it happened. When – Darcy fell, right? Do you have a rough idea of how long he fell for?”

Maybe she didn’t bother to remember. But a sprinter would be most likely to recall that sort of thing. When it came to running, those athletes would often time themselves. The amount of time Darcy fell down for could help determine what level of injuries he might have, and how long he might still be alive. If… he was.

He supposed they’d find out sooner or later anyway…

📚SAWYER LAURENS’S POV🍭

Falling… falling… falling down.

Wasn’t there some kind of rule when it came to falling in fiction? That people usually didn’t die that way? That did apply here, right?

Dying… dying didn’t make sense. It didn’t make any sense. What…

I don’t understand…

Darcy… Darcy… Darcy(?)

The name paced through their head, ran over their fingers, their glass lenses. Sawyer tugged at their hair, and stared into the abyss. Unblinking.

Prom?... A party?...

Death… dying… death… dying(?)

Dying?

It was almost like there was something they had forgotten. Surely it wasn’t anything of any real importance. Surely it couldn’t be –

”I still don’t understand why she’d do it…”

. . .

”It’s fine, though, really!! Maybe… we’ll keep in touch. It must be hard for them without their sister…”

. . .

Outer space was a truly mysterious thing. Drifting, drifting, drifting… you had no idea what to make of anything. The noises, the loud noises, the flashing lights…

The whispers… the loud talk…

All so impossible to understand…

What were they trying to understand?

"I don't remember... what happened that day. It must not be important."

"Sawyer. We need you to remember. Don't you want to get better?"

"I'm not sick! Not as far as I recall, anyway..."

"It's not normal for you to not remember this. If you can't remember... you can't recover. You'll be a danger to those around you. We'll have no choice but to-"

"N-NO! I- I mean... it's fiiine! I'll- I'll remember. I just... need some more time..."

I don't even know what I'm supposed to remember. What does it all mean?

"I'm no danger to anybody! You know that."

"Sawyer... please. We're trying to be patient with you, but... if you can't remember, you can never return to your normal life. Well, if you can even call it that."

Their face froze up. It was almost as though they had turned to stone, if only for a moment.

"What? Never return to... my normal life?"

The woman paused and adjusted her glasses. She tapped her pen against the desk, as though considering something. She let out a heavy sigh, and then spoke again.

"Kid, grief manifests in strange ways. But we've never come across anything as strange as this."

Sawyer opened their mouth, as if they were going to say something. But no sound came out.

"I... don't know what you mean. OH, oh!! I got it!" Their eyes lit up. The woman looked slightly... hopeful? "Is this a Star Trek reference?! You know, that one episode where-"

"...I don't even understand why this institution even tries with you anymore. Just... please, think on it, okay? We need you to understand what happened. We're trying to help you, kiddo, we really are."

Sawyer's eyes shifted around incomprehensibly. They finally settled for staring at their navy blue sneakers. They were grossly untied, again. "...okay."

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Kubo Atsushi

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There. His toe found the floor, and with a relieved sigh, he loosened the rope around his waist. Honestly, his ribs felt like they were going to snap.

He couldn't imagine having dropped the full way, as Darcy had. Hitting the floor was probably like being rear-ended by a pickup truck. He grimaced at the gruesome image. Hopefully Darcy wasn't a splatter of blood on the boards.

Carefully, he began to pick his way across, searching for what might very well be a dead body. Up above, he could hear voices. Were Shi and Lucian talking?

The idea unnerved him.

He trusted Lucian. And he knew that if he wasn't such an unfeeling b*stard, he and Shi could've been friends. That more likely than not, in another world, he'd have handed Shi the rope.

But still... the prickle of unease that had remained since Mei's death lingered in the back of his mind.

Something was wrong, and Shi's lover was at the heart of it.

Ooooo. A mournful sound echoed through the room.

He froze and listened.

All he could hear was the faint whirring of power in the walls. With trepidation, he rested his palm on the stone brick, and when he pulled it back, it was covered in wet dust.

With a shriek, he flung it downwards, shaking off the clumps of oh god, what was it-

An acrid smell pierced his nostrils.

He reached forward with a trembling hand, and touched the face of a dead body.

Everything froze.

His fingers curled around in the empty eyesockets, trailing over the ridges of the skull, feeling at the sharp nose, running over a threadborn uniform. His hand finally caught on the skeleton's wrist, and with a gasp and a yank, he pulled off whatever it was wearing and stuffed it in his pocket.

Then he heard the moans.

"Oh god, Darcy!" Relief flooded him, and he rushed up to Darcy, peering at him, trying to make out his features in the dark. "We thought you were dead! Holy sh*t, I can't believe you..."

He blinked, shaking his head. "We have to get you out of here."

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Shi no Shitshow

"I don't really know, but it probably wouldn't matter if I did. I doubt this place cares about the laws of physics, y'know?"

💌Darcy Harper’s POV🦋

Darcy lifted his dulled, crestfallen face. It was hard to squint through the clouds of dust coating his face that were beginning to make him cough in consciousness. His pale blue eyes flickered open only slightly, in a motion similar to that of a flailing butterfly, exiting its silky cocoon for the first time, merely testing out its wings.

He rubbed his aching head with a pained moan, the sharpness of his nails being slightly irritating as it pressed into his skin.

“Am I… dead?” he whispered faintly, his voice cracking with the effort. His throat felt rough, and dry, although he spoke the words so quietly, so invisibly. No, this probably wasn’t what the afterlife was like.

His eyes lifted slowly, squinting, straining to see, to hear… ah, there was someone else in here with him. It was…

“Oh god, Darcy!” Oh, he knew that voice. Only faintly, and he didn’t have the most positive of memories to draw from it. Yet, still, it came as a relief. To see another person that he recognized down here.

Out of all the things he could have thought about in that moment, somehow, only one ultimately made its way into words, floating through the foggy mess that was his skull.

He remembered my name?

He even… bothered? What was he doing here?

“Kubo?” Darcy queried, stiffening. His shoulders hunched up slightly, his arms tightly at his sides. As though he wasn’t entirely sure how to react. “Is that really you?...”

”We thought you were dead! Holy sh*t, I can’t believe you…”

Darcy stared blankly, blinking numerous times, like he was a machine that was attempting to process something. Then, he dusted himself off, putting his hands on his hips.

“Well. You found me. Surprise, I’m not dead! Do you need me for something?”

He almost felt a little guilty at how bluntly the words came out. But… honestly, all they could think was…

Why does he care? Does he care? Does it really make a difference if I…

”We have to get you out of here.”

Oh. Now that he thought about it… it seemed apparent just how worried Kubo was. Had… anyone else been worried too?

He’s trying to change. We were all going to get out of here together, remember?

Darcy bit his lip, pressing his nails into the crook of his arm. He let out a breathy sigh.

“I… guess we do. Thanks. For coming to get me.” His eyes trailed to the floor. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

Because Darcy Harper was just a stranger. He knew he was just a stranger, merely a name and a face. A stranger, a person that everyone barely knew.

Everyone was a stranger to him as well. Everyone, except for a certain Sawyer Laurens, someone he’d never expected to see again. Someone he had to protect. But there were things… even he didn’t know about them… that he feared might be truly disturbing.

And yet, he knew he had to stop thinking like that. They were all strangers to each other. But they had to band together, as allies, as friends to escape this hellhole, as cheesy as it all sounded.

Now he looked into the face of Kubo Atsushi, and knew, no matter what, it was true. Everyone had to make it out of here… they had to.

Kubo Atsushi, who he had tried to be kind to. They’d both never liked Miyako much. And maybe, just maybe, when the detective’s face was scribbled upon by her…

He had felt something in himself ache. Something in him… clicked.

Kubo Atsushi had lied. He’d lied to hide his talent from the others, he hid the secret weapon that he held. He hid behind the approachable façade of being a stammery, harmless kid.

He was just doing what he needed to do to survive. And, sure, he was a total d*ck. The biggest d**chebag that ever walked this Earth, but…

Darcy knew what it was like to fall. To fall, and have no one there to catch you. To the point you had to do things you never wanted to do. Things you never thought you’d find yourself capable of.

Words you never knew you’d whisper into someone’s ear that would change everything.

So he ran after him. He tried to help him wipe his face.

Kubo had rudely brushed him off, of course.

And Darcy still didn’t regret punching him in the face days later. He deserved it.

Yet, if Kubo Atsushi could change… if even someone like Kubo Atsushi could do better…

Maybe there was hope for him, too.

“Is… everyone okay?” he asked breathlessly.

❄️lucian arbred’s pov🕊

Lucian’s heart caught in his throat. He closed his eyes, his knuckles quivering ever so slightly. All he could do was wait.

He didn’t know what was going on down there. He didn’t know if Darcy or Kubo were alright…

Well, Kubo probably was. He knew that at least.

Yet the therapist found himself perspiring, breathing heavily. There was this weight on his back, that he could feel pressing into his neck, that he could feel bubbling in his lungs.

It weighed heavy on his heart, almost like the lid of a coffin pressing against him. Then Shi finally spoke, and the words didn’t entirely relax the tension that seized every fiber of his limbs.

”I don’t really know, but it probably wouldn’t matter if I did. I doubt this place cares about the laws of physics, y’know?”

”...right.” The ghost of a hopeful smile flickered across Lucian’s features, if only for a moment. It made sense, why would she have bothered?

Hopefully that would mean Darcy was alright…

🍭SAWYER LAURENS’S POV📚

...

I don’t remember… yet I can’t forget.

Buncha desks, podiums, chairs. Lotsa loudness and shuffling. Loads of hushed whispers as a suited individual shouted for order and bashed some kind of hammer thingy into a desk overlooking it all.

Super serious people. Doing super serious stuff. But no matter how many times they think about it, it just doesn’t click. None of it makes sense. Because how could–

Darcy. They swear they recognize this name from somewhere.

They swear it means… something.

It was not long before—

. . .

It doesn’t make sense. Did they imagine them there?

It–

---

saeko? katsumi? who even am i anymore?

'i feel like sometimes i'm not myself. like some weird persona takes over me sometimes and screws up my life. it's this weird, sick, twisted, unfeeling creature, possessing me, taking control of the way i talk, the way i act, the way i think.

i hate it.

and yet, it makes the bad stuff go away for me. when crap happens, i'm not the one dealing with it. she's there. this beautiful creature of fire and hatred and spite that burns all the bad things away. she scorches and incinerates the monsters under my bed, the ones in the closet, and the ones i call my friends.

sure, she's done some bad things. we all have. it's part of being human, right?

she feels human, cause...she's me.

i just feel so conflicted, 'doc. part of me hates her. she's caused so much despair. she's a lying, manipulative, cunning 'lil traitor.

but the stuff she's for me-

no. no. no. i can't. i can't sit here and just praise her.

the evil outweighs the good, at this point.

i have to

try

somehow.

try and escape this part of me.

i don't want her to come out, doc. please. i'm begging you. please. PLEASE. PLEA-


. . . . . . . . . . .

awwwww shucks. this wasn't meant to happen. not like this, ya knowww?

all this....soppy 'lil crap!! opening up, all that good stuff. it's for loooosers.

and i...am not a loser!

hey....this place is kinda cute, y'know?

it'd be a shame if it...y'know...

it burned to the ground.

juuuuuusssttttt kidding doc!

or am i?'

---

---

Kubo Atsushi

---

Kubo snorted. "You're asking after everyone else, when you're sitting in a dust pit, next to the guy with the knife?" He shook his head. "Darcy... don't worry. Everyone's fine. It hasn't changed since you left. We don't even have a trial to attend. And as far as I see it, we won't ever."

Who was really saying that? Him or Kaoru's ghost, taking a minute to reach inside and touch him?

Well, she could take those ghostly hands and put them through his chest, squeezing his heart in iron chains, and he could thank her for the privilege. He'd let the steel press in, the flesh be squeezed through the links, and his essence explode across the pavement, because it was what she wanted. He ought to be grateful she'd even bother to touch him in love or hate, mess he was.

In the end... she thought of me.

She wanted him dead, but that was enough. Because love or hate, it didn't matter, they were all the same anyway. Just bonds on your death that you'd left drift away, but a breath in a storm.

"Everyone's fine, Darcy." Because they were. "And anyway... even if they weren't, I couldn't tell you sh*t. We're in the same pit. For all I know, Monokuma's put Idris in one of those tutus, and Lucian's currently on a killing spree with a lawnmower."

Lucian killing someone. What a thought that was.

---

Title: ion know what to post

Idris Kallikrates
now playing : i threw a rock off an overpass and killed a guy --- sign crushes motorist

it's funny, looking back on things
reflecting and all that crap
wishing you could change stuff
things you coulda said 'n not said
and, looking back
i regret a lot
i regret not being as open, maybe
as... affectionate as a person like myself can be
i regret not loving
not caring
ive lost too much
and i don't want this to be my downfall
i wish i could go back in time and change things
so badly
id tell her a few things

I'd say

" I hate you. I hate you so freakin' much. I poured my heart and soul into trying to have a decent mother-son relationship for you to do this to me. To treat me like crap. To leave me. I stayed, night after night, listening to your pleas and your cries and all your depressing bs 'bout dad whilst you were flat out drunk and I ‘bottled’ my feelings up so I could give you 110% of my attention. I sacrificed so much for you, blood sweat and tears for you. I stayed up for you most school nights. I have bags under my eyes now. Freakin' bags. And look at you, you pathetic little woman. You freakin' spineless cow, going and leaving me after all this. With no warning as well. How much of a goddamn COWARD do you have to be to do that. With no warning? It's honestly hilarious how goddamn sad you are. You say it's ' for the best ' and it was the ' right thing to do ', well maybe for YOU it was.

But did you ever stop to think, maybe for a couple of seconds, about how I felt? Your freakin' son? Did you? Did you get it into your thick goddamn skull about how I would feel? Or are you too much of a dense, selfish cow to even stop to consider someone's feelings apart from your own? Can you manage that, you damn brainless baboon? I pity you now. Just looking at you now, I feel a mix of disgust and pity. Pitying what you've lost now. We’re never gonna have the mother-son relationship I so truly wanted. I look at you with disgust now, not love. I don’t love you. I can’t bring myself to look at you, much less, call you my own mother “


and id spit at her

my fists would clench and my knuckles would turn white

and id look at her with such anger
fire in my eyes
tears in my ears


and id feel so proud
i stood up to her, i did it
i said how I felt

and yet
id feel nothing
emptiness

then pain
my heart break into a million tiny pieces
and my tears would start to roll down my cheeks and id
id
id sob and sob and sob and sob
and sink to my knees and sob and sob and sob and sob
sob for the loss of my mother
and my sister
and my father
and mei
and myself
sob like there's no tomorrow
because there is no tomorrow
im always stuck in the past
i can't move on
i can never do this
never change the past and do what I've always wanted to do
I'll never truly have the childhood I've read about in those silly children's books
I'll never have a proper mother
I'll never have someone to care for me and love me
I'll never have someone to love

And my chest will hurt
It will yearn for the sweet yet painful embrace of a caring parent
It will yearn for that magical phrase of 'it will all be better soon'
And for it to come true
It will yearn for someone to never leave my side
And for someone to say ' i love you '
And for someone to mean it

Is it so selfish of me to want to be loved? Is it so hard to be loved? Do I even deserve to be loved?