The programmer drew a wrinkled sheet of paper from her pocket.
"It reads, ‘Don’t tell anyone about the ghost you saw tonight, or you’ll be the next victim.’"
"Huh?" Asahina blinked. "A ghost?"
"S-so you see…" Chihiro said, voice so tiny that it was barely audible, "I… I’m not afraid anymore! I know that Kirigiri-san isn’t the culprit, and if we vote incorrectly, we will all pay the price!"
"Therefore!" That smile crossed Maizono’s face again- the sincere one. "We can’t vote now under these circumstances! We’ve found new evidence!"
"Upupu… Upupupupu! Fujisaki-san’s hope was great enough to shine through at just the right moment… Ah! I’m so overwhelmed, I think I might cry. Such trust in a friend… such hope."
"Be quiet," Togami growled. "What’s this ‘ghost’? Who wrote you this letter?"
"I, um… it was… unsigned…"
"Nonsense! Anyone could’ve written this!"
"What about yourself, Togami-kun?" Asahina said.
"What?!"
"You seem awfully anxious to get to the vote! Why won’t you listen to Fujisaki-san?!"
"Fine. You tell me, Fujisaki. What ‘ghost’ did you see?"
"Well, um… it was last night.. I saw Enoshima-san walking in the halls toward the stairs."
"B-but Enoshima-chi was executed!"
"Th-that’s the first reason I didn’t tell anyone…" Chihiro looked at her feet in shame. "But then the letter was slipped under my door an hour later. I… could’ve been next."
"So the first culprit’s alive." The sarcasm was thick in Mondo’s tone. "And she fuckin’ killed again?!"
"I- I’m sorry!"
Kirigiri’s pulse had slowed. There was a chance, new evidence to consider. So long as she had that, she had to try to reach the truth. She wiped the tears away and crossed her arms. She had work to do.
"Fujisaki-san," she began, "did you see her clearly?"
"I only saw her from the back, but… her hair and outfit seemed unmistakable."
"It is possible that this ‘ghost’ is the culprit-" and not me, not me, ”- and she, aware of Fujisaki-san’s sighting of her, slipped her a note in order to scare her into silence.”
"Upupupu! Are you bastards forgetting that little punk is dead? Gone? Kaput? We smashed her into bits and smashed those bits into more bits! She’s nothing now!"
"Don’t you dare speak of Junko-chan that way.”
The tone was frigid enough to send a shiver down Kirigiri’s spine. It had come from Mukuro, her first words during the class trial. Her eyes burned with a type of barely controlled hatred that Kirigiri had never seen.
Monobear laughed.
"Are you forgettin’ that it was you all that led to her death! You voted!"
"YOU EXECUTED HER!" Mukuro’s fingernails dug into the wooden podium like a caged animal tearing at its restraint- like it was the only thing holding her back. "SHE’S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"Aw, you’re the shitty sister that couldn’t keep her on her medicine! You let her kill Kuwata-kun! I think it’s your f-"
The restraint broke and Mukuro moved in a flash, making a desperate grab for Monobear’s head. It was like a play; he saw the attack coming, raised his arms, sprang into the air over her head, and landed on the floor in one swift motion. “No-no! Violence against the headmaster is off-limits!”
"I’LL KILL YOU!" Mukuro screamed. It was a guttural sound, reverberating as if she were hollow. She repositioned herself immediately and grabbed for Monobear again, again, again. Each attempt met with failure.
The school rules were clear. Violence against the headmaster was punishable by death.
Sakura grabbed Mukuro by the waist as soon as she approached. “Are you mad?! You cannot launch into an attack on Monobear in the middle of a class trial!”
Mukuro clawed at Monobear, stilljust a claw out of her reach. “W-why?! Why won’t you let me die?!”
Kirigiri realized Mukuro knew it was a suicide mission; whether she succeeded or failed, her suffering ended.
"Upupu… is this what sets you human beings apart from animals, like us bears? You’ve gotta learn to cope with loss, pain, betrayal… No. You’ve gotta learn to have Hope. I know your hope will grow ever stronger, Ikusaba-san!"
The fight in her died; Sakura’s grip loosened, but Mukuro didn’t budge. Monobear walked back to his seat with a spring in his step.
"Ahem! Despite our outburst, we got shocking new evidence from Fujisaki-san! A ghost might be the culprit?!" He paused to chuckle, covering his mouth with his paws. "What a surprise!"
"No, it can only be someone in disguise, right?"
Sakura shook her head. “Enoshima-san is no longer-” and she glanced down at the soldier in her arms, then revised her statement. “There would be nothing to gain from disguising oneself as Enoshima-san in regard to the possibility of being spotted before the murder.”
"Wh-what if it was lavender-hair here the whole time?" Fukawa said. "She could’ve dressed up as her!"
"I have nothing that resembles Enoshima-san’s outfits or hair color. You’re free to search my room for some kind of disguise."
"So who would be able to get to Enoshima-chi’s stuff, huh?"
It happened gradually—a small wave over the ocean before washing foot by foot over land. A few first turned to Mukuro, then the rest, then finally the last who were on the shore. The soldier’s limp posture didn’t change in Sakura’s arms.
"Ikusaba-san would’ve had access to her outfits and makeup at the least."
"Yeah, and maybe her hair dye or a wig or something like that…"
"Hold it. Why disguise herself as her sister?"
Mukuro shifted. Her figure tensed and Sakura’s grip strengthened, but she didn’t move to escape, only to loosen one arm enough to flash a peace sign. An odd smile appeared.
"Yoohoo! Junko Enoshima-san here!"
"E-excuse me?"
She cocked her head. “It’s been so much work being at this stupid trial. Don’t we know it’s Kirigiri? Being here is so… despairingly boring. Ahaha!”
"Ikusaba-san! What’s the meaning of this?!" another person from the group asked.
"Don’t call me by my sister’s name!" she spat back. "It’s me! Super High School Level Fashion Girl— Junko Enoshima!"
"It appears as if she’s assumed the role of her own sister," Togami said. The sympathy in his sigh was more appropriate for someone who had lost a dollar. "It must be a coping mechanism for her loss."
"Which would give someone a reason to go out dressed as her instead of pretending to be someone else during a murder."
"I think we understand now."
"Pardon?"
A wave of relief hit Kirigiri. “Fujisaki-san saw Ikusaba-san, as her sister, heading upstairs to where the murder took place. This was likely the third party. She wrote the note afterward.”
"Hold on!" Mukuro shouted. "I didn’t write any threatening note! That’s the type of fuckin’ stuff Mukuro does!"
"Do we need to compare handwriting?"
Junko’s familiar pout looked strange on Mukuro’s face.
"Yeah, and also, didn’t we see Ikusaba-san around then?" said Asahina. "Not Enoshima-san?"
"Ah, yes…"
"Excuse me?" Togami asked. "Do you think you have something of importance to say?"
Asahina clenched her fists. “As a matter of fact, we do! I remember that Sakura-chan and I were in the cafeteria right before Night Time and Ikusaba-san came by!”
"… Interesting. Does anyone else have any information regarding ‘Enoshima’s’ whereabouts last night?"
"I, um…" Maizono said, "I heard a knock on my door right after the Night Time announcement… Ishimaru-kun did that to say he was going to sleep and wouldn’t be watching over my door any longer."
Kirigiri thought on this. “Did you hear his voice?”
"The problem is… yes, I did."
"Bah. That’s impossible. He was already dead at that time."
"Who says we can trust her anyway?!" Mukuro said. "She’s just as big a liar as the Mastermind!"
"It’s not impossible."
Togami cast a glance at Kirigiri. “What now?”

"Thus, our culprit set up the crime scene, became Enoshima-san again, and wrote the note to Fujisaki-san. If her mannerisms, speech, even appearance alter in her ‘Enoshima’ persona, I have no doubt that her handwriting could alter too."
"B-but the time difference…?"
"Doesn’t apply if we do not take the Monobear File as absolute. If our Mastermind participated in the involuntary fasting as well, it would be easy for a mistake to be made. After all, Monobear said ‘don’t worry about the time’ in his special announcement." Kirigiri concluded. "Isn’t that correct?"
Monobear looked at his feet. “Aw, you weren’t supposed to guess that…”
“Ikusaba-san. If I am wrong, we should find no fresh wounds on your person after a quick look.”
The Junko within her had come to harm anyway. It was if she were struck—all at once, the bravado squeezed out of her like air trickling from a balloon. The confident smirk faded, and her aggressive stance fell back into the soldier’s usual rigid posture. A broken Mukuro Ikusaba was all that remained.
"That won’t be necessary."
Her voice had changed back to ‘Mukuro’, or rather a mockery of her. It was as if she wasn’t used to herself. Her voice was eerily calm despite the fact she had begun to cry.
"I… I killed him. He was a random victim. I couldn’t think of Junko-chan as…I couldn’t see her in the past tense. I loved her—I love her—in the present tense. I wanted her approval by making someone succumb to death’s despair. The… transformations into my sister weren’t voluntary. I just found myself there, dressed as my sister, with a corpse at my feet. She wasn’t there, wasn’t saying ‘Great job, Mukuro-nee!’ or anything similar. I…”
Mukuro’s sentence trailed off; it sounded like her throat had closed up. It took a few minutes for her to resume.
"I realized she wasn’t coming back. She was gone… and I… I carved her name into me," she finished, and smiled bitterly. It was the first time Kirigiri had seen her smile. It would have been nice on her, under different circumstances.
"Surely, as a soldier, you are accustomed to death."
"I never experienced it on a… personal level. Allied soldiers fell, but I never knew them, so they were more like objects, or assets. I’ve done a lot of…questionable things, and it was all for Junko. Sometimes when I did a good job, she would act like she loved me. Then she would retract it if I didn’t perform to her tastes. And besides that, I… felt so guilty after putting her on that medication, and…"
"You had to make it up to her."
Kirigiri understood. Mukuro was trying to impress someone who no longer existed. Junko had been everything, and when Junko had died, Mukuro had died. She was hearing the voice of a living corpse.
And there she was, in the remains of her facade, sobbing her sister’s name.
"I- I’m sorry, Junko-chan… sorry sorry sorry sorry I’m so fucking sorry. J-just-” She managed to look up. “Pl-please… start the vote.”
There was no instruction this time. The remaining students voted. Mukuro voted for herself for the second time.
A moment passed.
"Looks like… you bastards were right! Mukuro Ikusaba is the killer!"
Another silent moment.
"You were very open in your final moments," Kirigiri began.
"If you are looking for an apology-"
"No, no. I… believe your sister did love you in her own way. You showed her how much you cared for her by acquiring the medication and treating her, devoting so much timeand energy to her care. While she said she didn’t like the medicine, she took it anyway. I would like to believe it was for you," Kirigiri said, then paused. "But some would say that’s just a theory."
"Thank you."
It only lasted a split second and wasn’t much more joyful, but Kirigiri was correct. Mukuro’s smile was beautiful.
The next thing she knew, Maizono had walked to her side, taken her hand.
She felt trust in her again. They exchanged grateful looks, partially just for being there.
"And thank you, Sayaka Maizono," Kirigiri found herself saying quietly. "Thank you."
"Ah… her hope never grew…" Monobear said, pantomiming tears with his paws. "Isn’t that just the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?"
Nobody answered.
"I’m gonna take that as a yes~” he said, eyes locked on Kirigiri. “Now we have no time to waste! It’s punishment time!”
Monobear raised his gavel and swung it down, beginning the end of Mukuro Ikusaba’s life.
—-
There was one thing she saw— her sister. The corpses around her were just that, corpses. Dead people in a world of their own. They weren’t Junko Enoshima.
"Junko-chan?" she offered.
No reply came. Relief still washed over Mukuro.
"Junko-chan!"
She found herself sprinting to Junko, tired bones crunching like dust under her feet. Her speed made her shirt flutter open just enough to show the name of her sister carved deeply into her not once, but twice, for each side of her. These things were inconsequential.
Just as her fingertips grazed Junko’s clothing, she turned to face Mukuro. Her face was so obviously a bastardization, a mix of Junko’s facial structure and Monobear’s facial features. It still wasn’t enough to steal her attention from the spear.
If it were anyone else wielding the weapon, she would have dodged. She wouldn’t have heard the delicious sound of the spear piercing straight through her back.
"Why did you let me die, Nee-chan?"
But the words hurt more.
"It was the mastermind," she tried to say, but only a stream of blood came from her opened mouth.
Then another Junko approached from behind. She was identical to the first, from her perfect mockery of her movements to the way her fingers twisted the spear in her.
"Why are you such an awful sister, Nee-chan?"
"Why do you think you deserve to live, Nee-chan?"
They weren’t unfamiliar words. Mukuro looked down and saw the point of a second spear pierce her chest. She didn’t scream but heard the words, “Why did you drug your only sister, Nee-chan?”
"No no no. I wanted to help you," she tried. "Kirigiri said— she said you went along with it-"
"Why are you such a failure, Nee-chan?"
"Why couldn’t you even kill yourself properly, Nee-chan?"
Two more spears went through her either way, masterfully avoiding any vital organs. Now that she looked, Mukuro saw the corpses rising up were all Junko lookalikes— all of them, lifting up from the faceless people she killed in battle into the only person she truly loved.
"How can you live with yourself, Nee-chan?"
"Why did I ever call someone as horribly pathetic as you my sister, Nee-chan?"
"Why did you think I ever cared about you, Nee-chan?"
"Please please forgive me I’m so sorry I’m sorry I’m so fucking sorry-"
They had her surrounded until she couldn’t see anything but them. Mukuro’s eyes had filled with the vision of herself impaled from a million angles at once. The worst part was that she was right. Whoever was in charge of this was right. Junko never would have forgiven her. Junko never would have cared about her.
"I love you, Junko-chan."
The spears all ripped out of her at once. She collapsed onto her back onto the ground, nearby other unidentifiable dead.
Mukuro Ikusaba closed her eyes one last time and died in despair.
—-

Kirigiri awoke again like before: suddenly born into a world of multiple lights and pain. Her throat felt like a collection of brittle, cracked stones from her lack of food and water.
"Welcome back, Kyouko-chan."
Kirigiri opened her eyes and saw Naegi’s face, glowing in front of the Data Processing Room’s screens.
"I suppose you’re wondering what happened to Sayaka Maizono," he said.
Kirigiri glared in response.
"How do I know? Well, I just have good intuition."
"… Naegi."
"Upupupu… Looks like I’ve been found out! I know you figured me out last time. Isn’t it a shame you got no time to look into that?"
Something fell by her with a soft thump. It hurt to turn and look at it.
"It’s bread and water. You must be starving," he said, smiling widely. "Go ahead. Act like you don’t want it. It’s been three days. Or has it been longer? You don’t know anymore, do you?"
As soon as she lifted her head, his foot slammed down on top of it and ground her nose into the floor. It stifled her scream. Her head was exploding from the inside, the outside, everywhere, and each word he said tore through her ears like daggers.
"Did that hurt, Kyouko? How about this?" he mock-whispered, "Maizono is dead too. I just killed her for ‘violence against the Headmaster’. Doesn’t that break your heart?"
Dead. She was dead she was dead she was dead dead Maizono was dead. It hit her again and again, Maizono wasn’t with her anymore, Maizono’s life was taken from her. She knew fully well it could be a trap, but she found herself squeezing back tears, not only for herself, but for the entire situation.
"You were starting to really like her, weren’t you? You wanted to kiss her or some sappy shit like that after she stood up for you in the class trial, huh? It was like she was a new person!"
"Pl-please… stop…"
It sickened her. She had been reduced to nothing- less than nothing, less than something he could step on. Her entire body ached.
"What’s wrong, Kyouko? Did I take away everything you had too? Without sleep or food or anyone to trust, without your title as a Super High School Level Detective… are you nothing now?"
Detective?
"I see what truly makes people human. It’s selfishness and greed and misplaced hope. Hope doesn’t build anyone up, Kirigiri-san, it tears them down."
Her consciousness was slipping. It had to be for the last time; she couldn’t lose it that often in such a short time frame and expect to return every instance.
"You’ve got that wrong."
There was pounding at the door. The weight on her head lifted. She heard the panicked breaths. He shouted in Monobear’s voice, “Th-this place is off limits to you bastards! Breaking in is against the school rules!”
Piece of metal went flying. Sakura was in the doorframe, fist outstretched where the door once was. And there was Naegi, frozen. Smiling.
He moved as quickly as Mukuro had and grabbed the broken Kirigiri with one hand, the other holding a knife.“One move and she dies. Understand?”
There was just enough hesitation to satiate him.
"That’s right. I’m your Mastermind," Naegi said in a voice cracking between elation and terror. "Upupupu! I- I starved with you as a student in this game! Now here we are, on the verge between life and death, as human beings! Isn’t it fucking wonderful!?"
Kirigiri was faintly aware of a loud clang against the floor. There was a partially-dismantled Monobear unit by Sakura’s feet.
"Why…?" Sakura said, slowly at first. "WHY WOULD YOU DO ALL THIS?!"
"P-put her down!" Asahina screamed from behind her. "Put Kirigiri-san down! What did she do to you?!"
"Oh, just treat me like-"
"What, like dirt? Who’s holding the knife to someone’s throat?" Togami sneered.
Kirigiri’s eyes scanned frantically to see if Maizono was among the group. She wasn’t.
"I took your memories. All of them since you entered the school," Naegi panted. "That’s why you all woke up in classrooms. All of you… were awful people. The world went on fine for a long time without cocky Super High School students!"
They began to back away, step by step, behind the towering Sakura.
"Were?"
He flashed a grin. “There might not be much left to escape to. Nothing, maybe. Isn’t that disgusting?”
Kirigiri found her voice amidst the abyss. That was the hardest thing. The second was managing to get her words out with the metal of the knife to her throat.
"I had… odd feelings about you," she managed. "How did you feel about me?"
"I love you, Kyouko-chan. But you never-"
"I might have felt something like that in the past, but… now all I feel for you is pure, unbridled hatred. You’re a monster."
The energy welled up in her and her foot shot back. It connected hard with his shin, enough of a distraction for her to rip the knife from his hand by the blade. Naegi stumbled into his own surveillance screens.
Her grip trembled, but she stood firmly in the blizzard of her emotions. Anger, loss, betrayal, fear, hatred, despair, hope. Naegi shrunk under her broken expression.
“It isn’t healthy to live for one person. Mukuro for Junko. Sayaka for me. Or you for me.”
The students stayed at a distance.
"We aren’t human because of hate or greed or unhappiness. That’s…"
The knife clattered on the ground.
"That’s why I won’t kill you."
"I need you to kill me, Kyouko. I need to die by your hand." Naegi broke out laughing. "Kill me, Kyouko-chan, kill me!"
It would be tempting for Maizono, to take his life as revenge for hers. But then what would she prove? Would she be a living and breathing person or just a bitter animal like he wanted?
"We’re going to restrain you as the Mastermind until you tell us all the details of what you’ve done. You’re going to give us an escape switch. You will live.” Kirigiri barely realized she was shouting, she was so separated from herself. “Do you understand?”
Whatever energy possessed her to finish the argument left. Kyouko Kirigiri collapsed. Her exhausted mind processed everything separately: Sakura’s booming footsteps, Naegi’s whines as she held him in restraint, other feet approaching, someone taking the knife and holding it away from the Mastermind, other arms taking her tattered form into their grip.
For an isolated moment, Kirigiri had the feeling it would be okay. Maizono flashed in her mind; she had truly had nothing to live for, having abandoned her dream along with her hope, and it hadn’t been an act. Maizono still had smiled at her and supported her when she had nothing to support herself.
She felt that Maizono wouldn’t truly die if she kept this knowledge with her. In her worst moment, Kirigiri found her widest smile. Yes, it would be okay now. She felt that it truly would before the world powered down around her.

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Gomen if this is slightly tag-spammy, but I’m in the mood to write some fluff and any prompts would be appreciated; especially for Komanami, Nintendogs, Smallcry, Nanamioda, Kirizono, Hinabuki, Leobuki, or Hinazumi.

kirigireindeer asked:
kirigiri likes wearing her gloves for privacy and comfort reasons but maizonos hair always looks really soft and kirigiri wants to touch it with her bare hands but she isnt ready to show her scars to anyone. so maizono finds out and is instantly just like 'dont worry kirigiri-san i know what to do!!' and turns to face the other direction and lets all her hair fall down her back so kirigiri can just. very gently touch the
KKIRIGIRI-SA N IM CR YING x10000

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Meeep Merry Late Christmas my dear KV!! Q w Q
I didn’t know how to yuri I know nothing about this ship so it’s basically Kirigiri mourning[???] over dead Sayaka orz And I didn’t know what to draw her. I was feeling some DG mood so ORZ
I hope you like it anyways and I didn’t butcher your OTP!!! Q w Q

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