Chapter Text

I'm in the library with Shuichi, setting up my trap for the mastermind, when he suddenly gasps and begins to climb down the ladder on which he is standing.

"Saihara-kun! What's wrong?" I call out to him, stunned by his sudden actions.

"I..."

Shuichi hops off the ladder and tries to respond, but he is panting heavily. Only after pressing a hand to his temple and taking a moment to calm down does he complete what he had been trying to say:

"...I heard something."

I turn from my spot, almost knocking a hand into the trap I'd been so careful to hide. "I didn't hear anything..." I reply unsteadily. "Yet...what did it sound like?"

"I don't know how to explain it." Slowly, Shuichi removes his hand from his hatted head, then he continues, "But, whatever it may have been, it sounded...inhuman.

"I'm going to search for the source, Akamatsu-san. I'll be back as soon as I can."

At first, I hesitate; What if something happens to him? I ask myself. I'll never be able to forgive myself if he gets killed...

"Please stay safe, Saihara-kun," I say at last, remembering that, after all, he is a detective.

Shuichi nods and gives a slight smile. "I'll do my best."

I watch him run out of the library, waiting until he is out of sight before turning back to continue with setting the trap.

With him gone, my worries of him finding out about my plan are alleviated, at least for now. At the same time, however, I feel uneasy. Perhaps it's the thought of being alone in a dangerous situation, but my chest aches with a fear of sorts. If something were to happen to me, I realize, nobody would notice...

Stay focused, I silently instruct my body before mentally beginning to play Stravinsky's Piano Sonata.

The music in my head is quite calming, and before I know it, my part of the trap is done. I clap my hands together softly and grin; the mastermind won't know what hit them - literally.

Wait...where's Shuichi?

I visually scan the room, but he's nowhere to be found. "Augh, what's taking him so long...?" I ask aloud as I turn back around.

It occurs to me that I probably should make sure everything's perfect, so I begin to take a closer look at my handiwork. "Everything's in place, right?" I mumble to no one. "Need to be absolutely cer-"

The hand whips the rag over my mouth before I can react.

My mind is thrown into a frenzy, and I scream, though no sound leaves my lips. I try to fight back, but my attempts are futile, nothing more than thrashing and some pettily wild tries at slapping a face I cannot not see.

Eventually, I grow exhausted, and when the last of my breath leaves my lungs, I give up and collapse into the arms of my attacker. The void consumes my consciousness shortly afterward.

"Welp! It appears I severely underestimated you, Miss Enoshima."

Amid the blackness, a squeaky, cheery, and all-around terrifying voice emerges, echoing through the nothing. It takes me a second to gather my thoughts, but then its source clearly surfaces.

Monokuma? Wh-what's Monokuma doing here? Where is here? I...

A second voice - one I don't recognize - replies, "Hell yeah, you did!" and laughs.

There's something about their - her? - laugh that horrifies me, a cold, cruel, merciless intonation I'd never believed to be sonically possible to produce.

It is, without a doubt, something only a villain - a mastermind - could possess.

"HEEEYYYYYYY!" I cry out.

Only there is no sound. Not even a whisper is audible.

Monokuma speaks again. "Oh? Is she awake?"

"The pianist bitch?" the second voice responds. "Yeah, appears she's trying to wake up. Gimme a sec."

Footsteps follow, but I almost don't hear them - I'm too caught up in wondering what, exactly, the nature of this confusing web of a scenario is. I don't even pay much mind to the "pianist bitch" comment - it likely is nowhere near as bad as whatever my situation is.

Then my vision fades from black into color, and I can see once more.

Sure enough, Monokuma is in front of me, his abnormal, glowing, blood-red left eye staring into my own pupils.

The source of the second voice - a young woman with wild, bleached hair in pigtails, donning an outfit looking like something a supermodel would wear - comes into view a few seconds later. I don't recognize her at all, but one thing's for sure: she's not here to make me happy.

I'm frozen in place in any case.

"Hello, Kaede!" Monokuma calls out to me, waving. "Apologies on Junko's behalf for the rough greeting - wasn't sure how to get you here otherwise."

"Don't fuckin' apologize to her!" the woman, whom I assume to be Junko, snorts, putting her hands on her hips and side-eyeing the bear. "It's more despairing when you don't show remorse, you little shit."

Monokuma cowers momentarily. "I was going to follow up with a 'not,'" he says, nervously sweating, "but alrightie."

Junko struts toward my still self. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kaede Akamatsu," she says with a devilish smile before stopping a meter or so away from me. "If you haven't already guessed, I'm Junko Enoshima."

"J-Junko Enoshima...?" I repeat. The name lingers on my tongue, and it sounds somewhat familiar, though I can't pinpoint how.

"Yep! The one and only Ultimate Despair." She grins like the Cheshire Cat after her response. "But fuck that, at least for right now. How do you feel?"

"Confused and scared, but - given that I was just kidnapped - otherwise alright," I sass, not really meaning the last part.

"Alright?" Junko repeats, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

I choose not to respond.

"Fine, bitch, be that way."

Admittedly, that causes me to flinch.

"Do you know where you are?" Monokuma asks me.

"N-no..." I reply.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No."

"Do you know how you got here?"

"No. Why are you asking m-"

"Do you know what you are?"

"HOW MANY TIMES ARE Y-"

Before I'm able to finish, I stop talking. "Huh? What do you mean, do I know what I am?"

Monokuma looks at Junko, who looks back and nods. She then reaches into her cardigan and pulls out a black, medium-sized hand-mirror, its reflective side facing her. "Do you really want to know?" the bear asks me as the woman analyzes the object.

"Yes, I do," I respond solemnly, staring at the mirror.

"Okey-dokey! Show her, Miss Enoshima."

Junko flips the mirror around, allowing the glass to face me, and I look into it.

I'm not sure what I'd expected, but what I see is not it.

It is far worse.