#ghau

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36657703/chapters/91438576

Makoto’s legs couldn’t hold themselves up anymore. The stark color splattered across the shower floor would be a sight he’d never forget. As his knees hit the floor, he had the brief thought that blood would stick to the crevices of the shower, never able to wash out. He couldn’t manage to tear his eyes away from the knife sticking out of her abdomen, even as the edges of his vision grew black. Makoto had never seen such gore before, he’d never been a fan of slasher flicks. But now that he was seeing it in real life… he could hardly register that it was real. It looked so fake. It felt numb and distant, like the fuzzy feeling creeping into the tips of his fingers and his face. Was Sayaka really gone? Just like that? In his own room, without him knowing until it was too late? A million questions rushed through Makoto’s mind, but most of all…

“M-Maizono-san…”

Most of all, he wanted to know…  why would anyone do this?

Looking back on the past week… things were tense. Makoto would have to be insane to think otherwise. But… surely no one would be pushed far enough to-- Makoto couldn’t even think about the word. The idea that one of his friends had taken a life? It was unbearable. 

Then again, it was hard for everyone to trust each other. They had all only just met a week ago, when they woke up in Hope’s Peak Academy alone, trapped, and with no memory of being kidnapped. Truth be told, even though Makoto was adamant on calling everyone his friend, Sayaka was the only one he truly knew. And even then, that was just a fleeting moment in middle school; they never even talked. They only knew of each other.

Makoto remembered how hard the first few days of being trapped were. The panic, the fear, the confusion. When everyone recalled their memories, it was all pretty much the same story: they had entered the academy for their first day of school only to suddenly wake up locked inside of it. So then, they shifted gears to theories. Why were they the only ones here? Who trapped them? How? But the theorizing only served to throw them further into a panicked state. 

But then, after that meeting, nearly everyone had banded together to try and find an exit. Well, everybody except for Byakuya, who chose to explore alone. They tried prying open the bolted windows, breaking the locks of closed away areas, they even asked Sakura to try and break the wall. . Nothing worked. Not even a single hint turned up. Byakuya made the passing comment of: “quit trying to escape, just wait for our captors to approach us”.

But that never happened. 

There was nothing besides them and the school.

There were cameras along the walls of every room, and groceries were sent in a timely manner. Surely someone had to be watching them. Surely, this someone must have plans for them, eventually they would communicate with the group in some way. 

But that never happened. 

That’s exactly why Makoto couldn’t wrap his head around why Sayaka died. Yeah, things were bad, scary, and confusing. Understatement of the year. But there was no reason to kill each other; they didn't even have to fight over resources!  So why, why had things led to this? How did they get here, to Makoto finding a body in his own shower, screaming until he passed out? Why was he here right now, investigating his friend’s dead body with Kyoko? And why, even after the sight had been burned into his mind, did his legs still feel weak around the confines of Sayaka’s resting place? 

He couldn’t help the audible whimper that escaped as Kyoko carefully took the knife into her hand.

Kyoko turned to look at Makoto, pale and on his knees, “Naegi-kun, if this is too much to handle, you can switch partners with someone else. Perhaps investigating the kitchen will be better suited for you.”

Makoto shook his head, “...I...I owe it to Maizono-san to find out what happened to her.”

Although, looking around Makoto’s ripped apart room, it wasn’t difficult to put together a picture of how Sayaka died. It wasn’t really a question of what happened to her, but rather who did this to her.

“Has everyone finished their investigation?” 

That’s right, they had planned a self-regulated investigation. Everyone broke into pairs to look for clues, then they would reconvene in the cafeteria at noon. Time felt… so strange for Makoto. One moment he was staring at the body with Kyoko, the next he was here. He struggled to pay attention to everyone’s findings, but tried to force himself, for Sayaka’s sake.

“Why the hell isn’t our kidnapper here…” Leon dragged one of the tables over to the corner of the room, stood on top of it, and started poking at the camera. “Hey! She’s fucking dead asshole, aren’t you going to do anything about it!?”

Chihiro struggled to wipe away her tears as Leon made crude gestures at the camera, “Is...is...one of us really the killer?”

“Well, like, duh! Who else could it be?” Makoto wondered if Junko was even taking the investigation seriously.

Slam! Kiyotaka banged his hands down on the table, “If you are the killer please speak up now!”

Silence…

Until it was finally broken by Sakura, “The sooner we find this killer, the better.”

“Well, I fail to see why it matters.” Celestia’s smile was bright and sweet, but something in her eyes left Makoto feeling threatened.

Mondo, with his arms crossed, hissed out “Someone fucking died.”

“Of course, and it is a true tragedy,” despite the fakeness of her words, the pure grace in her tone left the others inclined to listen, “But why does it matter that we find the killer?”

“That’s crazy, of course it matters!” The outburst had escaped before Makoto could think the words through, “Someone… someone… killed Maizono-san, we can’t just sit by and do nothing about it!”

Celestia placed two hands flat on the table, leaning down so that she and Makoto were face to face. All traces of that innocent doll-like smile were gone, all that was left were wide eyes daring Makoto to question her. 

“And just what do you plan to do once you find this killer?”

“I…” Suddenly Makoto’s bravado was swept away, nearly speechless in her imposing presence, “What do you mean…?”

“Well, we have to teach them a lesson, of course!” Aoi yelled with her fists in the air.

“Yes!” Hifumi chimed in, “We would show the villain the fists of justice!”

“Indeed!” Kiyotaka nodded with full confidence, “I will take the responsibility of ensuring this ne'er-do-well is thoroughly rehabilitated!”

“Is that really all you would do?” 

It took a moment for everyone to process who had spoken. The voice wasn’t from their group at all. Byakuya Togami would never sit with the riff-raff. When they all turned their heads to face him, sitting alone on the other side of the cafeteria, his expression already exuded the narcissistic over-confidence they’d come to recognize and hate. 

Aoi lowered her arms, “Huh? What else would we do?”

“You really haven’t realized it yet? We are dealing with a murderer, you realize. What makes you think you can stop at a pathetic light scolding?”

“It’s better if we forget this whole ordeal ever happened.” Celestia said.

“How could you say that…?” Makoto asked.

“Think about it. We’re not in a normal situation right now. Someone has died, but what incentive do we have to solve it? I’m sure this is just the mastermind playing a coy joke on us all.”

“You’re forgetting one thing, or rather, you’re choosing to ignore it.” Kyoko had been quietly observing the conversation this entire time; Makoto wondered why she only spoke up now. “In the event that the killer is one of us, that means we share our housing with a murderer.. one who may kill again.”

Yasuhiro went pale at her words, eyes darting around as he tried to get a read on everyone, “That’s a joke right? A joke?! Hahaha you’re such a jokester Kirigiricchi!” 

“Nnnn” Toko groaned, running her hands together over and over again, “I-i-if that perverted killer even looks at my B-Byakuya-sama…”

“Perverted!?”

“Wh-What?! S-she died in a shower, didn’t she?! I b-b-bet the killer was one of you g-gross guys” She lifted a shaking finger to Makoto, “S-so?! What…w-wh-what did you do to her?! You f-f-felt her up didn’t you?! Y-You disgust me…!”

“Me?!”

Makoto was quickly learning that despite her anxious demeanor, Toko was all bite. The  hostile glare in her eyes and her harsh tone set everyone on guard. “Wh-wh-what do you think we a-are, huh?! I-Idiots?! Y-you’re the idiot! Killing her i-in your own room… d-disgusting slobbering perv.” She stepped further away from Makoto, as though he were a moldy infection. 

“P-please hold on, Fukawa-san!” Makoto held up his hands to try and appease his accuser, but the others were too focused processing her words.

“Yeah… she has a point, it’s pretty suspicious, man.” Leon couldn’t look Makoto in the eye. Makoto wondered if it hurt to accuse someone of murder so easily.

“Naegicchi! You killed her?! What the fuck, man?!”

“I’m telling you I didn’t…!”

“If it wasn’t you,” Celestia’s eyes held a chipper cynical attitude, devouring the prey who was given full warning, “Then who?”

Everything was falling down around Makoto. He didn’t want Sayaka’s killer to be excused, it just wasn’t right… but Celestia was also right. The idea that a killer was here led to snap judgements and witch trials. It was only a matter of time before the escalation left Makoto forced to walk a path to hell. He had no choice but to defend himself, he had to direct the attention away. But…

He couldn’t accuse one of his friends of murder. 

Makoto stared down at the ground, his fists clenched by his sides. 

“Holy shit…!” Yasuhiro yelled, ignoring Kiyotaka’s scolding, “For real, Naegichhi?!”

“Regardless of whether Naegi-kun chooses to put down a name or not-” Kyoko’s sharp side glance pierced Makoto’s heart, sending a pang through his chest. “-It does not matter, evidence is all that we have. Without evidence, any person Naegi-kun blames will be pointless.” 

“So in other words, Naegi is the only one with evidence pointing against him?” Byakuya rolled his eyes.

“Yes, and that is why-”

Bang! Leon slammed his hands down onto the table, the hatred in his eyes willingMakoto to melt away. “That’s why we can’t take any chances! The longer we let Naegi fuck around, the more he’ll fuck with our heads! We know he did it already, it was in his own shitty  room!”

Aoi held her hands to her chest, stepping back from the buzzing circle of angry people around Makoto, “It does… seem pretty suspicious…”

“That’s what I’m saying, man!” He gestured around to the others with the poise of a desperate man, “We gotta take him out before he takes us out! We can’t just let him sit around after he fuckin’ killed someone!”

“So, like… are you suggesting an execution?” Junko, with a hand on her hip, raised an eyebrow at Leon. 

Huh?

“What else can we do? Not like there’s any cops to take him to.”

What?

“I-I’m fine wi-with that.” Toko hissed out, “A-an eye for an eye. Death penalty. W-whatever. I have no s-sympathy for perverted mur-murders.”

“What?!” Makoto cried out, “Hold on a second! Everyone needs to-!”

“I cannot agree with the death penalty!” Kiyotaka yelled out, back stiff as a board, “There must be a more humane way to ensure punishment!”

“I dunno dude,” Mondo’s body language was cautious around Makoto, his feet placed in a fighting stance. “Extreme situation, extreme answer, yeah?”

Makoto found himself boxed in, nowhere to run where he wouldn’t immediately get caught by one of the others. “But…!” 

“T-this feels wrong…” Chihiro frowned.

“Nah, I think we should kill the little fucker!” Junko laughed.

Celeste smiled, “An execution seems fitting in my eyes.”

Makoto couldn’t breathe around the suffocating heat that their accusations created. His heart was pounding, aching, begging for everyone to take a breather so that he could rationalize the situation. Nothing productive was happening from this conversation, he wasn’t even getting a fair trial! It was just a mess of human anxiety and paranoia leadingMakoto to the gallows. There was no chance for survival. Hands from 14 students were dragging him down to hell for the sins he didn’t commit. His mouth felt dry, his mind felt blank. All he knew was this buzzing panic. All he could see was his corpse, dead at the hands of his own friends, and them alone with the actual murderer who killed poor Sayaka Maizono. 

“Please.” Was all Makoto could muster. A weary plea… a man on death row’s last resort- 

“D-doesn’t killing Naegi-kun make us just as bad..?” Chihiro asked, chewing on her lip.

Byakuya scoffed.

And that was how Makoto knew they’d already signed his death warrant.

“Regardless of whether the killer is Makoto or not, I would advise against an execution.” Kyoko said.

Byakuya looked up from ordering Toko to make him coffee, “And what reasoning do you have for that?”

“The motive. As it stands, there is no discernible motive for Maizono-san’s death. The most reasonable explanation at the moment is that someone simply went mad from isolation. However I have another theory in mind.”

“And that theory is...? Spit it out already.”

“We have spoken about the lack of outside incentive for murder, but, who is to say that the killer did not receive such?”

Chihiro fidgeted with the ribbon of her uniform, “So you’re saying… they might have valuable information on the mastermind?”

“Or” Leon added in, “They could be the mastermind.”

“But like, if it was the mastermind, wouldn’t we have seen em walkin’ around and shit?” Junko Enoshima rolled her eyes.

“Unless the mastermind is one of us…”

Celestia giggled, “See? I told you all we should just drop it. Now we’re playing along with this game when we could be peacefully living here.”

As though anyone could sleep at night, knowing someone here could be a killer.

“W-w-w-well! I d-don’t care if we know w-who the mastermind is or not! It was obviously...N-N-Naegi.” She spat his name out like poison.

“Yeah.” Leon agreed, avoiding eye contact with everyone, his foot tapping against the ground in frantic rhythm “Sorry bro but...your dorm? It’s totally suspicious. Who else would go in there.”

“B-but I didn’t…! You have to believe me!”

Byakuya scoffed, “Your words alone won’t help you, that’s exactly what a guilty man would say.”

“But..!”

“So if we don’t kill Naegicchi… maybe we can just lock him up for a bit…?”     

“Lock him up? Don’t you think someone with the heart of a killer could break through a measly lock?!” Hifumi pointed at Makoto, glaring at what, in his eyes, was a horrific antagonist.

“Not if I and Owada-kun keep an eye on him.” Sakura crossed her arms, “If at least one of us is watching, we can assure he stays put.” She looked down at Makoto. He somehow felt both small and comforted under her gaze. “This way, we can have a proper and fair investigation.”

Mondo slammed his two fists together, “Sounds good to me. Ain’t no bastard getting away from me!”

“You should barricade the door too, just in case.” Aoi hovered close to Sakura, “I know you two are tough, but I want you to be safe too. That’s why jail cells are locked, right?”

“So you simpletons wish to follow the rules of society even in a place isolated from law?” How many times now had Byakuya scoffed and/or rolled his eyes? Makoto had already lost track. 

“The rules of society exist for a reason.” Kyoko explained, “Naegi-kun deserves a fair investigation and trial before we decide what to do about this situation.”

Leon huffed, eye twitching once before he spat out his next words. “There’s no point if we already know he did it!”

Kyoko shook her head. Makoto found himself in awe of her patience, perfectly crafted as though she was trained to deal with emotional outbursts while keeping a cool head. “It is always important to make sure we understand the truth as much as possible before using it as a basis for choice.”

“Kirigiri-san…” He couldn’t agree more. She had taken the words he wished to say, but reshaped them into something more elegant. She managed to take that signed death warrant, and put it on the shelf until further notice. She, out of everyone here, was the one who gave him a second chance. “Thank you so much.”

She paused for a moment. Her expression and posture gave no hint of being caught off guard, but there was a certain glint in her eyes that made Makoto feel she had never properly been thanked like this before. She could read everyone else with ease. He wondered if anyone could read her back, and give her gratitude when she wished for it? 

Their momentary eye contact did not last long. Kyoko was not one to waste time unnecessarily, and there was an investigation to start. Her stare sharpened.

“What matters to me is ensuring the truth, Naegi-kun. If the truth still points to you, then I will not have your side.”

It was a threat, and a clear one. One that would give anyone else the urge to confess for a crime they hadn’t committed. But Makoto was not like anyone else. Her words filled him with confidence. He felt hope swell within his chest. He knew deep down in his heart that if anyone could understand the truth, it would be Kyoko. Sure, he had never seen her in action before. But he could see the determination in her seemingly dead-pan eyes. Kyoko was on the side of truth. And Makoto knew at least part of the truth: he was not the culprit.

“Now,” Kyoko addressed the group, “Everyone will split off into groups of at least two in order to keep any suspicious parties from tampering with evidence. No one is to be alone right now.”

For a moment everyone murmured, but no one seemed to object. Instead, they began to break themselves off into little groups. Kyoko continued speaking once they’d settled.

“Now, investigate what you can, and then I will check in with all of you later-”

“Uhm…” Junko popped her hip to the side and leaned forward, “How will we all investigate in that little shabby room?”

“You will not. You will investigate anywhere in the school. While the crime scene is in the shower of Naegi-kun’s bedroom, there could be evidence in any place of the building, since we don’t know the killer's movements.”

“Oooooh… yeah… sure, okay.”

“Before you all leave, I will come around and ask for your alibis.'' She pulled out a small notepad from her pocket, then turned to Sakura, “Then I will have you and Owada-kun escort Naegi-kun to his room and watch over him. Once I’m done investigating, you may barricade the door.”

—--------------------------

He couldn’t look, even though the room was already wiped clean, as if she had never existed. In the panic of killer and mastermind talk, they’d somehow all forgotten. They’d forgotten until they were in front of the door to Makoto’s dorm.

“... What do we do with the body?”

Makoto pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, trying to will the rising burn of tears to go away. “It would be cruel to leave the body with him, even if he is a killer.” That’s what they had said. They’d already decided he was the killer without a fair trial. 

Just for the night. He’d just have to bear with everyone thinking he was a killer for the night, then Kyoko would pull together a real trial for him. He wasn’t the killer, so if she was really after the truth like she said then…! There was still hope! He could feel that hope thrumming in his chest, a warmth that gave him the strength to keep going.

“There’s nowhere to dispose of a body besides the dumpster chute.”

“I-is it ok to throw a body down there? It feels like… wrong.”

“What other choice do we have?”

It wasn’t fair… nothing about this was fair! Sayaka was killed and they couldn’t even give her a proper burial? They threw her out like trash… someone who used to be his friend. Someone who smiled brightly when Makoto gave her the friendship bracelet he won from a gacha machine. Someone who had so much to live for, so many people to inspire. And now her corpse would rot along with their leftovers. 

Kyoko lifted one of Sayaka’s hands; the fingers were loose and limp as Kyoko took a closer look at the fingernails. There was something about the way Sayaka was positioned that struck Makoto. It seemed almost at peace. Hands loosely placed by her sides, palm up, and her head leaning against the wall. If it wasn’t for the mess of blood, it would be easy to assume she was just sleeping. Makoto finally forced himself to see her expression, and even that felt at peace. With hardly any blood on her face besides a thin trail from her lips, Sayaka Maizono simply laid there without any grief in her expression. 

“She wasn’t… in pain was she?”

Makoto knew that he would do anything- no, he had to do whatever it takes to make sure the mastermind didn’t get away with this. Regardless of whether or not one of his friends killed her, he knew at the end of the day it had to have been the mastermind who forced their hand. None of this would have ever happened if it wasn’t for the mastermind. No matter what it took, he would get everyone out. For Sayaka. Makoto refused to look away from the truth.

“... Do you want my honest opinion?”

“...” Makoto wasn’t sure he did, but it wasn’t about his wants anymore. He wasn’t the one who had suffered, “Yes.”

“As I’m sure you can tell, the killing blow was this knife here.” Kyoko gestured first to Sayaka’s abdomen, then to the strange message she left on the wall behind her in blood, “She did not die instantly.”

“Then…” maybe he shouldn’t have asked after all.

“...” He could tell Kyoko wasn’t used to comforting people, he knew she couldn’t give him what he wanted to hear. All she had were the facts she observed. And the truth wasn’t always there to make you feel better. “There are signs of a struggle, and judging by where her body was found, she was backed into a corner as she bled out. Much of the scene implies a desperation to survive on Maizono-san’s end, such as the minor wounds on her hands.”

For a moment, Makoto didn’t feel horrified by this asercion. He didn’t feel saddened by it either. He simply felt… empty.

“But why does she look so… at ease?”

“...” Kyoko lifted one of Sayaka’s arms up by the wrist, Makoto watched as her hand dropped with an eerie lack of resistance. “You’re right,” she said, “The state of her corpse is a bit strange.”

“Strange?”

“Do you know what rigor mortis is?”

“Uhm…”

“Rigor mortis is a response that occurs approximately 2-8 hours post-mortum where the body’s muscles lock into a rigid, contracted state. According to the timeline of events, Maizono Sayaka-san should be in rigor mortis right now. Nothing about the temperature of the room or the body indicates that rigor mortis should be delayed.”

“So… does that mean she wasn’t killed last night? She was killed earlier?”

“That would be the logical conclusion of things. But then we have to question how she ended up in your room. Along with that are other signs pointing to the fact that she was killed last night.”

“But if that’s true, then why isn’t she in… uhm… why isn’t she all stiff? What does it mean?”

Kyoko dropped Sayaka’s hand, watching the way it flopped back to the ground, “I’m not sure.” 

—--------------------------

It took Makoto a while to get his bearings together. He needed time to process and grieve. Most importantly, he needed time to feel like it was okay to lay down in his own bed. Something about it felt morally wrong. Sinking into the bedsheets didn’t bring comfort to his tired body, instead it felt like he was being pulled down by its weight. No matter which way he faced in his bed, he always felt like something was staring at him from behind the shower door. He knew his sleep would be restless and troubled, fogged by the despair that was already haunting him. The main thing keeping Makoto going was the hope that by staying strong, he could honor Sayaka’s memory in some way. Sayaka would want him to rest, at least that’s what he told his sleepy self for even a false sense of comfort. Makoto continued to tell himself these little affirmations between bouts of rest and wake. Makoto tried to remember the positive memories he had with Sayaka, so that a happy ghost would haunt him instead of a sad ghost. 

His efforts didn’t produce much in the way of results. His mind continued to be addled, tossing and turning in bed as his dreams quickly turned to nightmares. No amount of sleep felt like actual rest, and as time went on he found himself with an ache in his chest that couldn’t be ignored.

In and out of sleep, again and again until Makoto had no sense of how much time he’d spent in bed. As wakeness began to creep into his mind again, Makoto fought back any anxieties with a mantra of positive memories once again. But the mental image was pulled away from him by a quiet sound he hadn’t noticed before. Now that he was listening to it… he wondered how he ever missed it. 

For there was a sweet tune around him. Even though Makoto couldn’t make out the words of the song, it was like an angel's whisper. He felt soothed by every note, lulled into a state of calm, simply listening with his eyes closed.. He didn’t know if it was morning or still night, not when all the windows were bolted closed. But the song left him feeling at ease after the painful lack of sleep. He wanted to bask in this heavenly singing. Even with it’s softness he could still feel the intense passion behind the vocals. Not just passionate… personal. Intoxicating. Everything. Yet just out of reach. Makoto couldn’t bring that voice to him, he would only be allowed it if the angel herself decided to give it to him. Until then he lay on his back, focused on the continually beautiful and dreadfully sweet song. 

The spell Makoto was under snapped away when a haunting croak interrupted the song.. His attention whipped to the bathroom right by his head. What was distant before seemed so close by. The croaking continued, soon taking over the song entirely, slow and harsh. This wasn’t just the sound of someone fitfully groaning, no, this was something far more sinister. It was the sound of a half-dead victim, desperately trying to breathe for a body that was giving out.t. The pure, god-given sound was snuffed out, leaving behind only the wet sounds of a gurgling death croak. 

Makoto knew that singer was already dead. Her lungs only continued to rattle because something kept her clinging to this world. 

Wait. Why couldn’t he run away? He had to leave. She never stopped trying to sing. It was terrifyingly mesmerizing, he could barely register his own footsteps as he neared the bathroom door. He heard every painful wheeze through her blood stained lips. She didn’t know how to quit. So Makoto had to run. But he couldn't. He was stuck. Stuck staring at the bathroom door, hand hovering over the door knob as the dead angel finally decided to give her song to him. He didn’t want this song. These pained noises were unbearable. Hearing her body shutting down was agonizing.

The creaking of the door opening blended perfectly with her dying song, like they were meant to be. There she was, standing in the shower with her back to the bathroom door.. She listened to her own croaks and wheezes echo back to her. She just stood, as if she hadn’t been killed the night before. Something was wrong. Something was so wrong. This wasn’t Sayaka. At least, not anymore. Makoto’s heart raced in his chest. But the pounding felt different. It felt hollow. Like it was knocking on the walls of his chest. Sayaka didn’t look at him. And he didn’t dare speak. He waited for the nightmare to end. To wake up in his bed-

“Naegi-kun.”

The most terrifying detail of all was that her voice sounded exactly like he remembered it. Her voice was perfect, it was Sayaka. But the creature that spoke with it was not Sayaka. There were too many things about her that were simply wrong. Her legs and arms were longer than he remembered them. Her head tilted at a painfully awkward angle. Blood continued to drip onto the floor from her left hand. Her other hand wrapped in ribbon. 

“Naegi-kun, aren’t you happy to see me?”

… Why wasn’t Makoto waking up yet?

He couldn’t help but flinch back as “Sayaka” began to turn towards him, arms hanging heavy by her sides. He never saw her face. Her hair was a dark veil over her features, only her mouth left exposed. He got the sense that she was watching him regardless. 

His heart pounded and pounded and pounded in his chest. And it hurt. The soreness he felt from last night never left, as he clutched the front of his hoodie he only knew that something was wrong. Something was wrong with him. Everything was just wrong, especially how close he was to  the monster wearing the face of his dead crush. 

His own breath was stuttering in his cluttered chest, as if being around Sayaka would make him croak as well. He stumbled backwards out of the bathroom, glancing at where the front door of his dorm is. It was barricaded shut. They thought he was a killer. And now he was stuck with… with… 

Makoto scrambled to get away from the monster. He fell to his hands and knees, but never stopped moving. Not when “Sayaka” was moving towards him. He pulled himself back up, ignoring the cries of the girl he once knew. That gentle voice no longer soothed him, it shot an icy feeling down his spine. 

With all his might Makoto banged on the front door, screaming as loud as he could for help. “Please,” he yelled, “Anyone! Open the door!” 

No answer – Couldn’t they hear him?

Even if they could hear him, who would listen to a supposed killer?

Sayaka’s steps were unrushed. It was like she knew her prey couldn’t do a thing to stop her. She walked with a dead man’s imitation of grace, a heavy, arrhythmic hobble from necrotic legs. Makoto never stopped banging on the door, even as the pain in his chest grew to a burning sensation. It hurt so much, it felt like his chest was going to burst open, like the bones of his ribs would tear through the flesh of his own lungs. Maybe that feeling was the fear. Or maybe it was the guilt, knowing that he could have saved Sayaka’s life if he’d just paid more attention. 

She was right behind him now, but he banged the door until the skin of his fists blistered. He screamed so loud that his voice was already becoming scratchy. How did “Sayaka’s” voice still sound so perfect with a throat full of blood and weak breaths? 

“Nobody is coming, Naegi-kun.”

It didn’t matter if she was right or wrong. Makoto refused to sit down and die, he had to have hope. One of his friends would come for him, he knew they would! He saw the somber look in Kyoko’s eyes, she didn’t think he did it! She wouldn’t leave him to rot if she heard him begging for help. None of his friends would! Makoto refused to think of them in a negative light.

“Naegi-kun, don’t ignore me.”

Sayaka wouldn’t hurt him either, right?

“Just tell me what I want to know, and everything will be okay.”

Makoto’s heart knocked against his chest, daring to turn around and face her. “Wh-what do you want to know?”

Those chapped lips curved into a smile. As her face stretched, cracks tore open from where the skin peeled, leaving bloodied spots on a corpse that should no longer be able to bleed. 

“Where is he?” she said.

“W-where is who?”

Anger boiled over suddenly, Sayaka threw out a fist and slammed it against the wall. Makoto paled as he watched the plaster fall apart from the hole she’d just made. “Where is-!?” 

A horrendous rasp cut her off, like all the air was being forced out of her lungs all at once until only a high pitched wheeze was left. Makoto winced, trying to back himself up further into the door as Sayaka stumbled back. She seemed just as surprised as Makoto was.

“Why- dammit. Where is-?!”

Makoto covered his ears as the rasping screech returned. He willed everything to stop, not just for his own sake but for Sayaka’s as well. 

Sayaka cried out in annoyance, marching over to the wall and lifting her heavy arm to paint onto the wall with her bloody finger. Makoto tried to call out for help again, only for his voice to be drowned out by more frustrated yells by Sayaka.

“Why?!” She couldn’t seem to stop yelling that. “Why why why why why?!” She paced back and forth, her voice getting more distorted and lost with every cry.

On the wall was the message “11037”, the same dying message Sayaka wrote on the shower wall, now immortalized in Kyoko’s crime scene photos.

“It’s not fair!” She cried out, “Give me what I want!”

It occured to Makoto as he watched this creature throw a fit over its own frustrations: this was a surprisingly intelligent and emotional monster. It was getting harder and harder to deny that the thing in front of him wasn’t just a mockery, but was his friend in some twisted way. How could he deny that the Sayaka in front of him was human, when her frustrations and regrets were clearly just that? The ache in his chest felt less painful, more natural. Like it was meant to be.

Sayaka’s frustrated rampage hadn’t halted in the slightest as Makoto collected his thoughts. She scratched at the walls and let out unearthly screeches. Her voice had gone from a distortion to unrecognizable caterwaul. Her limbs grew from subtly disproportionate to horrifically misshapen, an unnatural length that no one could ignore. It was unsettling to watch, ike she was losing that humanity he’d just recognized. 

Makoto steeled his nerves when she turned to him, ready to take out her frustrations on a new target, “Maizono-san.” 

He refused to let his determination wane, even as she stalked towards him with dangerous intent, “I don’t know what happened to you but…”

She placed a large hand over the knife still in her abdomen, making a nauseating gushing sound as she pulled it out. But Makoto didn’t falter. “...but we’re still friends right?! If it’s really you, then you don’t want to hurt me!”

Sayaka’s hand suddenly hesitated just over Makoto. She looked down at him, her mouth flat and her head tilted, as if confused. The knife hovered over his chest, but never lowered. She seemed stunned, or maybe sedated was the better word. 

“You…” Her voice sounded just a bit more like Sayaka again, “I need… why do you-... you’re-”

Sayaka suddenly pulled back, shaking her head. “No. No. You won’t stop me- I need to find-” she continued to mutter unintelligibly, wobbling away from Makoto and back into the shower. 

“Wh-what just..? Wh-waghh!”

Makoto fell on his back as the door opened behind him. Looking up, he saw familiar violet eyes.

“Kirigiri-san!”

“Naegi-kun,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “Did you sleep against the door?” 

“No- ah! Kirigiri-san, we need to leave and tell the others…!” He tried to gather his bearings, scrambling to roll over and get to his knees. As he did, he noticed Sakura and Mondo standing close by. 

“What happened to your dorm?” She asked, clearly about to step inside for investigation. Makoto rushed to his feet and pulled her away. He slammed the door shut and pressed his back against the frame in frantic desperation, willing with all his might to not let the creature escape from its confinement. 

He stared up at Sakura in a panic, briefly wondering if it was safe to leave the door and rebuild the barricade. “I-I… Why didn’t you open the door…?! Couldn’t you hear that I needed help?!”

Sakura’s face however… confused him as much as his statement appeared to confuse her. “Were you calling for help? You were knocking quite loudly for some time, but when I asked if you were okay, the knocking stopped. You never responded to me.”

Mondo nodded, “Figured you were just tryna escape. That’s what I woulda done.”

“Huh...?” Makoto nearly forgot to push back against the door with how shocked he was, “But I was screaming! I wasn’t even the only voice…!”

Mondo leaned over to Sakura and whispered, “I’ve seen this before, he’s just tryna plead for insanity.”

“Owada-kun, I can hear you!” He heaved a heavy sigh through his nose, then turned to Kyoko, “Kirigiri-san, you’ll hear me out, won’t you…?”

Her eyes seemed fixated on him… or rather, on the object directly behind him. “What happened, Naegi-kun?”

“Everyone is in danger…!”

“Yes. But I’m assuming this is a new danger.”

“It is…! Maizono-san she-....well. I mean…! It was a lot…!”

Sakura, Mondo, and Kyoko all gave him a pitying look.

“Damn it...!” He cursed. There was no way he could tell them there was a giant reanimated corpse monster roaming his room and expect them to just believe him on word alone. Even if they trusted him, they would still call him delusional. He needed another plan.

“C-can you please gather everyone…? I’ll explain then! I promise!”

“Naegi-kun,” Again, Kyoko spoke with saintly patience that left Makoto feeling ever so slightly relaxed. “Everyone at the moment believes you are a murderer.”

“I know! I know that but…! …This is important. I can’t let everyone be in danger when I can warn them! Please let me do this, Kirigiri-san!”

“...Very well.”

With Makoto’s insistence, Sakura and Mondo first helped to re-barricade the room before setting out to gather the other students. It took a while to find everyone, they were all scattered throughout the different rooms they were able to explore, scouring every corner for clues (except for Junko, who just lazed around). Eventually, they were all brought to the halls of the dormitories, gathering near the bathrooms and the trash room. Kyoko claimed she had something to show them after Makoto finished his announcement. 

Immediately upon hearing Makoto’s name, the crowd spiraled into an uproar. Some, such as Hifumi, Leon, and Toko, demanded that Makoto be brought back to his “cell”. Others, such as Chihiro and Aoi, wanted to give Makoto a chance. A weary chance, but a chance nonetheless. The chaos was only cut short thanks to Kiyotaka, who, in a booming voice, demanded silence. 

“You will speak only when it is your turn!” He scolded, then gestured to Makoto.

“...” Makoto’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. He chewed and chewed, wondering the best way to carefully break this news to everyone. No one would believe him, so he would have to ease them into it. But he also needed to be clear and translate the severity of the situation in his words. 

“... Maizono-san is no longer entirely human, and she is going to try and kill us if we are not careful.”

The uproar was back, but this time Kiyotaka made no move to silence it. He too was caught up in the frenzy of Makoto’s absolutely insane words. Over the yelling that hurt his ears, Makoto could hear Kiyotaka accuse him of “wasting everyone’s time.”

“I’m being serious!” Makoto yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth to make sure everyone could hear him. 

“Yeah fucking right!”

“Such a cliche anime plot twist.”

“It makes sense for a murderer to be crazy, so…”

“P-perv ju-just wants us t-to pity him b-by pretending to be c-crazy.”

“I’m not crazy!” Makoto cried out. He knew what he saw, he wouldn’t let anyone convince him otherwise. They had to know before they ran into Sayaka and learned the hard way. “Please, she’s locked in my room right now! I can show you, but we need a plan first. She nearly stabbed me!”

“What a rich plot point.” Hifumi said, “I love karma as a narrative device.” 

Toko rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

“Just humor me, take this seriously!” 

“What,” Byakuya’s conceited voice spoke, “Are you telling us that Maizono’s corpse got up and walked out of the garbage?”

“Yes.” Makoto said.

“Oh yes, of course it did.”

“Naegi’s gone fucking insane!” Leon called out, “Put him back in the damn room!”

“I told you…! I’m not insane! C’mon...! Togami-kun, you believe me don’t you?” Makoto turned to Byakuya, who stared back at him like Makoto was the biggest idiot alive. “... Of course you don’t. I don’t know why I asked - Kirigiri-san, you believe me don’t you?”

“It is a rather illogical thing to claim-”

“It’s more than just illogical,” Celeste laughed, “It’s an absolute daydream! I didn’t realize Naegi was one to be stuck in a fantasy.”

Makoto had to take a deep breath to keep himself from pointing out her hypocrisy, “You don’t have to believe me, guys. I told you, I can prove it. Just please… take it a little bit seriously?”

“As impossible as it sounds, Naegi-kun’s theory does explain one thing.”

“Wh-what’s that, Kirigiricchi?”

Makoto rushed to step between Byakuya and Aoi, cautiously eyeing her clenched and shaking fists. “He’s right, we don’t have to worry about that for now. We just have to worry about Maizono-san.”

“So, Naegi-kun was telling the truth…?” Chihiro held a fist over her mouth, staring down at the floor with a vacant look. Her voice was a whimper to the untrained ear, but really it was an emotionless echo. “A dead person has become a monster?”

“Let’s not get hasty!” Kiyotaka announced, “While I want to believe the words of a peer, there must be a more logical explanation for this!” 

“How the fuck does your ‘logic’ explain this?” Mondo prodded at the mangled metal of the access panel where it lay across the room in a battered heap on the floor. Its bends and folds were reminiscent of a soda can crushed between two hands. With his fingers over the sharp edges of splintering metal, Mondo admired the impossibility of the markings. The panel could not have been destroyed by hand, yet the patterns of damage were too irregular to be machine made. 

‘I-...well…!”

“Ogami Sakura-dono could easily smash such an item! Her attack stat is OP!”

Sakura nodded, “this is true. However, I am not so brutish.”

Aoi raised her hand, determination strong in her eyes, “I was with her the entire time! This wasn’t her!”

"Is it really worth it to go pointing fingers at each other?" Chihiro fidgeted with her hands.

"Well, if it's not one of us…” Junko sighed, hand resting on her face as she stared at the ground. “...I don't want to think about it."

A weak laugh. 

Theorizing had been forgotten in place of the pathetic airy sound.

Leon stood there, staring down at the cracks in the blood, with a haunt in his eyes. The edges of the stains were a darker red than the inside, which held a shiny wet hue. There was a grotesque black tar-like rim where the two shades of red touched. The blackness of graveyard dirt, the fogginess of spoiled meat. The clash of sickening flakes and colors and coagulation… the way the splotches were thrown against the ground uncaringly. The repugnant visuals demanded that all eyes gaze upon it. In those markings, Makoto saw clues that were never scrubbed away. Makoto saw grit teeth and ignored last words. The blood left behind the burn marks of anger. Anger which mimicked Leon’s hollow laugh, anger Leon could not take his eyes off of.

Anger that was now directed at Makoto. 

Makoto’s feet lost ground as he was thrown upwards by Leon yanking at the front of his hoodie. Makoto could hear some of the others panicking beyond the trembling in his assailant’s hands; telling Leon to let go, to calm down, anything . Makoto could hardly pay attention to that with Leon’s breath harshly beating down on his face through his clenched jaw. The canines of Leon’s teeth stood out from under his flared lips, ready to bite Makoto’s head off. He clawed at Leon’s hand, begging him to let go. Leon couldn’t hear him. Not with the boiling rot inside his body.

For a moment, Makoto thought about how blood dries from the outside-in.

“What the hell did you do?!” Makoto was throttled back and forth, he heaved as something in his chest felt loose when his back hit the wall. Had he broken a rib at some point? When?

“I-I didn’t do anything…!”

“Clearly you fucking did!” 

The impact of being thrown to the ground ran through Makoto’s bones. He hissed through his nose, grasping at his chest with unsteady fingers. It felt like something had been rattled inside of him, he could feel it knocking against something . And it fucking hurt. He scrambled backwards, hoping his body would hold itself together. The hollow pounding in his ears grew faster when saw Leon scowling down at him. 

“Explain this shit, Naegi!” Makoto had never faced such uncensored fury before in his life. He was staring down a caged tiger that was finally released after years of torment. Leon’s arm shot out in a jerky, unkempt motion, gesturing to the blood on the floor. “This shouldn’t be here ! What the fuck did you do!?” Leon’s voice trembled with its outrage. 

Makoto took two quick gasps of air, he didn’t have time to think his words through. Not against this . “I know that it’s hard to lose a friend but-”

“ You piece of shit! ” Makoto flinched and curled in on himself, hands over his head.

“That’s enough.” 

Makoto opened his eyes again to the sound of Leon screaming “Put me down, dammit!” Sakura had grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and lifted him off the ground with only one hand. He kicked and flailed, anger not subsiding. Makoto winced at the sight of spit spraying from his screaming mouth. 

Makoto stood up with Aoi’s help and dusted off his clothes. “Thank you, Ogami-san.”

Sakura nodded, unphased by Leon’s continued kicks. She waited with a stoic expression for Leon to work out his anger. Once his struggling began to die down from exhaustion she told him “It will do us no good to let our anger get the best of us.”

“Let my-... Let my anger-?!” Leon bared his teeth, craning his neck to glare at Sakura, “Did you forget what happened?!”

“Dude, give it a rest already.” Mondo said, causing Leon to snap his head in that direction.

“Are you guys serious right now?!” He yelled. “You can’t really-!”

Makoto could see the exact moment that Leon registered the varying expressions of pity, annoyance, and suspicion on the crowd's faces. His demeanor dropped, sagging in Sakura’s hold, still inches off the ground like a pathetic rag doll. Leon was strung up for the world to view him at seemingly his lowest, a judging spectacle. Looking at the distraught kicked puppy expression on Leon’s face gave Makoto the urge to apologize. 

“I’m…I’m not…” Leon’s eyes darted from face to face, his voice was soft and pleading , “I’m not the bad guy here..!” An airy, hollow laugh punctuated his breath before he spoke again, looking delirious with emotion. “Don’t look at me like I’m the bad guy, I’m not the one who had a dead girl in his room!”

Sakura lowered him back to his feet. Leon stood there for a moment. It was an awkward silence as he tried to pull himself together from his stuttering stumbling state. He took two deep breaths. He lifted his head. He still took a moment to send a harsh look at Makoto's way, but his anger had subsided somewhat. 

“... Are we really going to just trust him now just because some weird shit happened?” He muttered.

“Kuwata does, unfortunately for us, have a point.” Celestia snapped her fingers, and in an instant Hifumi had run over to her and dropped to all fours. She sat down on his back, crossing her legs with an unfitting elegance for the disturbing image before Makoto’s eyes. “This shouldn’t be here…If the case is the case as we know it.”

“G-g-get…get to t-the point!” Makoto briefly wondered how long Toko had been standing at the entrance of the trash room with her eyes covered and her back to them.

“Perhaps we simply don’t understand what happened.” Celeste said. “Perhaps the scene of the crime was here rather than his room.”

“It’s certainly a possibility that I am considering.” Kyoko said. The ache in Makoto’s chest seemed to dull somewhat despite her words. The object that clamored within the confines of his ribcage stalled its movement, and now all he felt was that strange, hollow heartbeat. “However, I would like to consider Naegi-kun’s theory as well.”

“You really think that there’s a monster Maizono, Kyoko-chan?” Aoi asked.

“Naegi-kun’s theory is, at the very least, worth exploring. Yes, it does not make sense listening to it. However, we are not going to get any closer to the truth by arguing over it. We may discover something if we simply let Naegi-kun explain what he saw.”

“I’ll do more than explain.” Makoto felt determined now. Once everyone believed him… then they could all work together to protect themselves. Or even better… maybe they could figure out a way to save Sayaka. There had to be a way right? He was positive. He could feel that hope thumming warmly in his chest. It filled him with the confidence needed to get things done. “I’ll show you her, she’s in my room right now. But I need you all to take it seriously, she’s very dangerous. I don’t think she’s herself right now.”

“Yeah, dude, cuz she’s fucking dead!” Yasuhiro yelled in a panic, only to receive a sharp elbow to the side from Aoi. “Sorry.” He hissed out, “I don’t like all this ghostly humbo jumbo, man.”

“Aren’t you a medium or something…?”

“ Clairvoyant. ”

“So, he does know big words.” Byakuya said.

“Focus, everyone.” Makoto waved his hands to grab their attention again. 

“Everyone should grab some sort of weapon, perhaps from the kitchen.” Sakura tapped her finger repeatedly against her bicep. “Owada-kun and I will be in the front for your protection. Naegi-kun will join, just behind us, as he is the one guiding us.”

“Will that be enough?” Chihiro asked, her wide eyes begging for guidance.

“It will have to be.” Sakura said. 

“It will be!” Makoto ensured. “With all of us in a group… sure, it will be hard, but we can do it!”

“D-don’t forget that t-t-this thing probab-b-bably is bulls-shit though.” Toko hissed out, trembling with a pair of scissors in her hand as she shuffled out of the room. 

“I’m sure it will be enough to fight Naegi’s grand delusion.” Byakuya did not stock himself with a weapon, and instead stayed close to the “brutish” Mondo. 

As long as everyone was in agreement with checking it out, that’s all that mattered. That’s what Makoto told himself. They were resistant now, but when they saw the mons- Sayaka with their own eyes, the tone would change. Makoto knew it, he just had to be patient. Mondo handed him a hammer. This was happening. This was real. He just had to be prepared. 

As everyone filed out of the room with weapons in their hands, Makoto steeled his nerves. He had to be on the forefront of this mission, no more being an average joe follower, he had to treat himself like a leader, for now. 

With this resolve in mind, he made his way out of the-

A tight gripped hand squeezed at his bicep and ripped him backwards, away from the crowd of people.

Makoto gasped at the sudden crazed eyes glowering down at him. Makoto would have once described Leon’s eyes as a calming blue. Makoto’s image of him was being torn to pieces with every passing moment. The sweat down his brow matched with the pinprick pupils and erratic behavior… it seemed like Leon was losing his humanity more so than the monster sleeping in their midst. Makoto had no words to say to Leon. What could he say? What could placate such intense emotions? Did he just have to sit and be a target until Leon set his sights on something else? But that would only come through the accusation of another friend. Leon truly and wholeheartedly saw Makoto as someone who killed one of them.

“Listen to me and listen to me very closely, Naegi.” It wasn’t betrayal in his eyes. No, it was just anger. It was panic. It was fear. But not betrayal. Why was Leon pointing it all out on him? He couldn’t see any mourning, he couldn’t see any sense of revenge. Just anger . Just fear.  

“I will not let you kill anyone here. You got that?”

Makoto spoke with a numb tongue, “I won’t-”

“Whatever crazy shit is going on here, I’m not letting it get to anyone else so you better back the fuck off.” Leon’s eyes hoped for Makoto to die on the spot. His face was curled into a grimace, as though Makoto were a disgusting wiggling roach. He shoved Makoto, and caught up with the others while Makoto stumbled to get his balance back. 

He watched as the others walked down the hall outside of the garbage room, weapons in their hands and nerves all in flames. He listened as the sounds of everyone's banter and worries grew just a bit quieter over time. Makoto took a moment to just stand there and be Makoto. Just himself and the ache in his chest.

He took a slow, long, drawn out breath through his nose… then released it through his mouth with an exhausted huff.

“Naegi-kun,” He looked up at the sound of Aoi’s voice, “C’mon, don’t fall behind.”

“Sorry.” He walked over to the entrance, “I’m coming.”

Aoi smiled at him. Her smile was sugar and sunshine. Her smile was refreshing. As she guided him over to Sakura, he basked in the light of Aoi’s smile, wishing to be a beacon himself. He wondered how much nicer their situation would be if more people could light up a room the way Aoi just did.

Makoto clutched at the hammer given to him by Mondo. He had no intention of using it unless absolutely necessary. 

Approaching the door was an unwelcome but necessary experience. As they grew closer to the barricaded door, the light hearted banter between friends died down. For a moment, no one did anything. They simply stared at the array of heavy objects acting as the lock for a monster's enclosure. They waited, they listened. There was nothing. 

The silence was far more disturbing that he could have expected. He had prepared to hear Sayaka rampaging from within his room, or at the very least some sign of life. 

Perhaps his first mistake was expecting life from the dead. 

What did the crime scene say? He wondered. Beyond the scratches torn into the walls of his unwilling bedroom, was there something to be found? If he checked underneath the bloody floorboards would he discover the real Sayaka and her last moments? Behind this door, would he see a person? Would the others see that same person? Did the truth communicate itself through constants even when reality has turned itself inside-out?

“Owada-kun should open the door.” Kyoko said impassively. “Ogami-san is our strongest asset in terms of physical strength. Should we need to use force, she should have her hands free.”

“Fair enough.” Mondo mumbled, moving the last piece of the barricade out of the way. 

Behind the two fighters, everyone readied their weapons and held their breath. They kept to silence, as though tending to a wild animal. Makoto felt his entire body tense when Mondo’s hand took hold of the door knob. Now or never. Now or never. 

The door opened.

The sight was ghastly, even to Makoto who experienced the downfall of the room. The furniture was toppled on its ends. There were rigged gashes torn into the walls, the floors, the ceiling. No one could think as they drank in the sight, reading the scrawled bloody messages scattered across the walls. The aftermath of decimation, it seems, was a scene few could prepare for. Even Leon for all his earlier bravado had been stunned by the stark contrast from earlier. And the cause for it all… the hand behind the last message… who had little place left to hide following her own destruction..? 

When Makoto was a kid, his little sister would often barge into his room asking him to kill a spider for her. Now, Makoto was by no means a brave kid. He defined himself as average, and as such he held humanity's typical fear for creepy crawlers. But his sister asked him so earnestly, too scared to be in her own room until she saw Makoto drag the spider out in a cup with her own eyes. But every now and then, in between finding the spider and getting a cup… he'd lose sight of it entirely. 

Makoto found the absence to be a lot scarier. 

"Where is she?" Kyoko asked calmly. She gestured for Sakura to follow her as she stepped into the room. With zero hesitation, Kyoko opened the bathroom and poked her head inside. She turned back to Makoto, waiting for an explanation.

"I… don't-" Makoto shuddered. When- how ? The door was barricaded! 

"Th-this is really creepy…" Chihiro said, hugging herself. "11037… her last message. It's everywhere…" 

"I have a question for the ever-intelligent jury" Byakuya's tone was mocking but Makoto sensed some delight in his eyes. "How do we know Naegi isn't just experiencing some sort of psychotic break?" 

Makoto expected another outburst from Leon at that. Instead Leon was staring at the scene of the crime, at the wall of plastered dying messages, with a stunned look. 

"Get fuckin' real, rich boy." Mondo ignored Byakuya's glare, "No way Naegi could lift all this shit. The fuckin' bed is on its side." 

"I strongly am against the use of foul language and will speak to Owada-kun after dismissal! However, I must agree with the logic of that statement!" 

"That doesn't mean Naegi-kun couldn't have fabricated something." Celeste argued.

"Why would he destroy his own room?" Sakura seemed confused by the entire situation.

"Why is only his room trashed…" Leon mumbled, he was drawing blood from his palms, digging crescents into the skin with tight fists.

"It would appear that solving Maizono Sayaka-san's murder will be the key to everything." Kyoko said, writing down notes in a small writing pad. 

"Yeah!" Junko clapped her hands together, "Like this shits totes freaky but clearly murder has to do with it, right?"

“I-...” Aoi withdrew into herself, clutching at her own wrist, “Look, I really don’t want to… ‘investigate’ this anymore. This was a person that I talked to.”

“F-F-For a few days.” Toko hissed out, mumbling something about ‘two big titted bimbos’.

Chihiro placed a comforting hand onto her back, “I-I understand how you feel, but this might be the only way to honor her memory.”

“Uhm, forgive me for my outburst.” Hifumi, with one hand behind his back and on the other fixing his glasses, spoke up with a straight posture. “Are we seriously going to solve a murder when there is a supposed monster roaming rampant in this school?!”

“I don’t see a monster.” Mondo said, “I say fuck it, might as well do the next best thing.”

“Owada Mondo-dono, my friend, you have just increased your ranking on my personal ‘most likely to die in a survival horror series’ list.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“Ignoring those two clowns,” Leon pulled away from the wall. He scratched, for just a moment, at the pale skin of his face. Makoto pretended to not see the way his hands trembled. “Maybe the ‘murder’ was an accident?”

Byakuya took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I am surrounded by the biggest nitwits the world has to offer.”

“It is very clear-” Kyoko said. It was admirable how she could ignore such banter. “-that this monster, the state of Naegi-kun’s room, and the murder of Maizono Sayaka are all connected. If there is a monster in the building with us, we will run into it no matter what we do. So, it is much more productive to instead investigate the biggest clue we have pertaining to said creature so that we can hopefully learn something before that encounter.”

Everyone stared at Kyoko.

“Any objections?”

“I agree with you, Kirigiri-san.” Chihiro’s eyes were teary, “B-but… how do we even look for clues? We tried to figure it out earlier, remember?” 

“Bleh.” Junko rolled her eyes, flicking her wrist nonchalantly at Chihiro without even looking at her, “ ‘How do we even look for clues’? Do you hear yourself? You could start by using your eyes.”

Chihiro put her face in her hands, “That’s not what I…” 

Makoto felt a strange flicker in his heartbeat, like that of a lightbulb before it fully shines.

Kyoko stood up tall, “Searching for clues will not come naturally to many of you, however it is important to document whatever you see, no matter how seemingly inconsequential.”

“I can’t exactly report every time I see one of you, now can I?” Byakuya said. 

Kyoko pointedly ignored him, causing Byakuya to click his tongue. 

“Do you… really think all of us running around like fuckin’ headless chickens will solve anything?” Makoto wondered where the fire that raged in Leon disappeared to. He seemed a shell of the man who threw him to the floor just a bit ago.

“If you continue to search for the truth…” Kyoko’s eyes were glued to Makoto’s as he spoke. He wished he could understand if it was admiration, respect, or perhaps maybe she thought he was silly for his speech. “Then you’ll get closer to it.” 

Makoto took this chance to stare Leon down. Their first instance of unbroken eye contact without emotions clouding the interaction. It was determination against wariness, and Makoto wanted Leon to understand. They were both after Sayaka’s killer . They would solve this. No matter what it took.

Leon huffed, and turned his back.

It was the last sight Makoto saw before suddenly his vision was ripped away from him. Shrill screeches made his ear drums shake as everyone panicked at the sudden black out. Makoto turned around and felt for the wall, feeling panic thrum along at the desolation of it all. He could not see his own hands in front of his face, he could see nothing. He was completely defenseless, and the sounds of his friends did little to gauge the situation outside of “It is now dark”. 

A flash suddenly blinded his eyes, causing Makoto to squint against the sudden burn. 

When his eyes finally adjusted, Makoto found himself staring down at his own chest with a numb feeling. He turned back towards his friends, unsure what to even do. Did he want to ask for help? For a second opinion? 

“Is that…?”

“What the fuck.”

“Naegi-kun.” Kyoko’s voice caught his attention, “What is that?”

Through the fabric of Makoto’s hoodie was a box ring of golden light, fuzzy through the fabric it tried to escape from. Makoto couldn’t even be scared at the sight, It wasn’t anything directly threatening, it was just out of place. Abnormal. Unexpectedly so. He couldn’t even begin to fathom a way to explain it. 

“Do you have a working phone on you!?”

“Are you dumb? That’s way too big to be a phone.”

“And bright!”

Makoto didn’t answer the others, instead he began to fumble with unfeeling fingers for the zipper of his hoodie. He pulled it down, eyes glued to the box of light which continued to glow. There was nothing between his hoodie and his undershirt. The box of light now permeated the shirt, suggesting the issue was something deeper.

“I-I don’t…” Makoto tried to find a logical reason to explain this, “I don’t have anything there. ” he said. 

He lifted up his shirt, knowing that the truth was unwilling to reveal itself until Makoto went searching. He heard his classmates gasp before he properly understood what he was staring at. 

Makoto let out a pitched yelp, throwing himself back against the wall with a bang. He tried his best to not hyperventilate, legs shaking as he scrambled to feel at his upper body. 

Integrated into his chest, there was an engraved wooden box that lay flush with his skin. 

For a moment Makoto had thought the wood was some sort of tattoo. But no, he could feel it now as he ran his hand over the wood. He felt the grain that threatened to give his hands splinters from running his skin in the wrong direction. This was wood. In his human body .

When did this happen?

Makoto’s mind flushed with panicked frenzy. He could barely hear his peers discussing his predicament as he fumbled with the box implanted into his skin. He poked around the edges, trying to understand how this happened. He picked and dug at where skin became wood, hoping to tear the foregin object out of him, hoping to shove his nails under the edges. But instead he found himself confused, the wood was perfectly fused with the skin around it. There was no healing gap, no stitches, no blood. It was just wood. And just skin. It was as though this box was a natural part of his anatomy, rather than something invasive forced upon him.

God. Now that he was paying more attention he realized that the wood had feeling . He could feel his own hands running up and down as though there were nerves attached. He gently knocked against the box, listening to the hollow noise like knocking on a table. He wondered at what point his body became something unknown to him. How could such a forgein and significant change happen without him realizing? How long has this been happening, forming right underneath his skin?

Is this what happened to Sayaka?

Looking up, Makoto could see the crowd of wary and distrusting faces. They stared down at his chest, with similar questions on their mind.

“Naegi-kun,” Makoto took a deep breath when Kyoko called his voice, “What is that?” 

He swallowed around the painful dryness in his throat, distantly registering how she repeated her earlier question. How long had she been asking him what this was?

He didn’t have the answer either.

“I-” he once again ran his hands over the wood, searching and searching for some sort of reasonable explanation. But reason stopped a while ago, when they all woke up in a locked school with no memories. And reason died along with Sayaka just a day ago, just before her corpse resurrected. 

He watched as Celeste began to check over her own body, running her hands over her chest, her arms, her legs. Searching for any strange happenings that might have appeared. The others quickly followed suit, everyone presently unsure about who and what was normal anymore. The others didn’t find anything. The only strange thing in the room was-

“Anyone else notice that everything fucked up around here has to do with Naegi?” Leon asked.

“I don’t even know what’s going on…!” Makoto cried out. 

Hifumi backed away from Makoto, holding his hands up over his mouth, “I’m sorry Naegi Makoto-dono, but if you’re telling me that Maizono Sayaka-dono became a monster and now you have something strange on you… Well, it’s easy to see where this is going…”

“What?” Makoto was completely dumbfounded. 

“Like a survivor hiding a zombie bite.” Celeste sighed, shaking her head. “For all we know, this is contagious and Naegi has just exposed us all.”

“Or,” Leon said, “He’s the cause of all of this.”

“If he is the cause of all of this, I fail to understand why he would reveal himself so easily.” Kyoko reasoned.

“Maybe he’s just an idiot.” Byakuya said.

Did Makoto’s body belong to himself anymore? Was this empty husk a cheap imitation of the body he once took for granted? Makoto’s mind felt like it was retreating, a dizzying swarm of black dots ran over his vision, and he had to dig his nails into his skin to sweep them away. He grounded himself back to the messy situation he was in.

Makoto shuddered at the feeling of being stared at. Junko was watching him with a blank, haunting expression. He had no idea what she was thinking. It was odd not being able to understand the emotions of the most open person in the group. She watched him, blue eyes dead with a gaze of nothingness, glued to the unknown entity housed in Makoto’s body. 

He raised an eyebrow at her, hoping to prompt some sort of response he could handle. Instead she continued to stare. Her mouth parted slightly as though she began to formulate a thought to voice, but it was never spoken.

Makoto looked away.

As the others discussed whether or not Makoto was a monster in the making, he pushed his hands into his hoodie pockets, digging nails into his palms. He looked back down to the box in his skin, wondering if there was something more to it than decoration. Then, he felt a strange itchiness up his arm, right under the wrist. Along with it was a cold metallic feeling that he hadn’t noticed before, not until he focused properly on how he was feeling. All these alien feelings crept under his skin, under his own body and he needed to tear them out . 

“I think we should focus on more important things.” Sakura said, as Makoto tugged up the sleeve of his right arm. “The power has gone out, and we have no idea where this monster has gone.”

Makoto scratched up and down his arm, but froze at the feeling of something strangely solid. As if his day couldn’t get any worse, there was the indentation of a copper key pressed into his wrist. Unthinkingly, he once again began to pick at the edges where metal met skin, digging his nails underneath and bloodying up the edges where the skin lay. This time, unlike with his chest, the key popped out of the indent with proper prodding. He gasped as the key fell to the ground, interrupting everyone with its loud ringing noise. 

“... A key?” Aoi asked. “.... A Key?!”

“There is a keyhole in the box! Er- his chest? The box chest!” Kiyotaka announced.

Makoto desperately felt the urge to hide away in his hood, “We’re going to put a key inside of me ?” 

“ That is the part that freaks you out?” Mondo said.

“I-I mean…” Chihiro untied and retied her collar ribbon, “We should at least try it right? I understand being uncomfortable, I would too…b-but we have to understand this…”

She was right. Makoto knew she was right before she’d even spoken. But dammit! He hadn’t even gotten the chance to process that he had a wooden box in his body let alone the fact that there’s a key in his wrist or that the box could possibly open! 

He ran his hands over his face, taking in a shuddering breath and murmuring self reassurances to himself. Part of him wanted to write off this entire experience as some sort of fever dream and wait to wake up, but it was far too realistic. He felt that key fall out of him. The indent in his arm felt strangely empty without it. 

Kyoko slowly bent down, grabbed the key off the floor, and stood back up. She dusted it off, flicking it with her gloved hands, then placed it into the palm of Makoto’s hand. 

‘Damn it all’ Makoto thought, ‘This is insane.’

Makoto pointedly kept his gaze fixed upon the key in his hand. He ignored Leon’s tense stance, and how he kept his hands in fists by his side. He ignored Junko’s intent, unblinking stare. He ignored Kyoko’s curiosity. He ignored the fears of his friends. He ignored the fears of himself. He brought the key into the slot, hands trembling at the feeling of metal pressing inside of him. He turned the key, unable to hold back a flinch at the loud pop that came with it. The wood flew open like a door, exposing a hollow space in the cavity of Makoto’s chest. A drawer. It was a drawer. And inside of it was a single object. It was a heart, fully exposed to the air and bloodless. It would be a ghostly, decellularized white if not for the strong golden light it was emitting, enough to illuminate the room, but not so much that it hurt to stare at. It was like a candle, in a way. But instead of a flame’s constant flickering, the heart had a constant heartbeat. 

Makoto went pale.

Have you ever seen a human heart before? Have you ever seen the way that this organ constantly thrums along in its efforts to keep you alive? Maybe you’ve seen diagrams. Or maybe you’ve seen it in health class. But there is nothing that could prepare you for the sight of a cardiac muscle collapsing in on itself with the effort it takes to beat. Because yes, you’re fully aware that a heart beats. You feel it every day, consciously or unconsciously. But you don't suspect that the human heart is actually asymmetrical. An imperfect organ propelling an imperfect creature through life. And the way it beats-- the very action that gives one life-- looks like a seize. With each dull ba-BUM, it coughs oxygen-rich blood out and swallows down even more with each gasping retch. Your heart suffocates so you do not.

 Pulse is a gentle word but the beats of a heart are anything but. The entire organ constricts and sputters. Its movements are untrustworthy and unkempt yet still at its own rhythmic pace. It expands enough to be seen outside of the open chest cavity. Its supposedly natural and healthy function looks ready to give out at any moment with the energy it takes to do its never ending job. But as terrifying as the motion of an actively beating heart was to watch, Makoto didn’t want to imagine watching this little golden heart go still.

He covered his mouth, unable to speak at the heavy feeling rising in his throat. He could feel cold sweat down his neck, but couldn’t stop staring at what he could only assume was his own beating heart, found in the chest cavity that was not his own. He tried to swallow down the bile that bubbled up, curling in on himself as he tried to comprehend his dilemma. 

“Is that going to happen to us?!”

“Does that hurt , Naegi-kun?”

“Nothing makes any fucking sense anymore!”

“A…ah…..ahh…” Makoto couldn’t muster up much else. His legs felt weak. His fingers felt numb. He could see fuzziness on the edges of his vision. The heart in his chest quickened it's repulsing throbbing, distantly he heard someone cry out in distress.

“Wh-what the…” Leon was pale, but still clung to the coattails of his anger, “What the fuck?!”

Leon clenched and unclenched his fists. “This doesn't make any sense, this can’t be happening...!”

Makoto backed himself up against the wall, he forced his legs to stay steady despite the growing urge to sink to the floor. He wanted nothing more than to sit down, and wallow in his ever-growing panic attack. He tried to swallow with his dry throat, but only ended up choking. He nearly spat out bile, and the burn traveled to his nose when he refused.

Leon pointed to Makoto, “What the fuck are you, Naegi?!” He screamed. He screamed, and Makoto wanted to scream back. 

Makoto didn’t fucking know either god damnit! But Leon continued his accusatory yells. And oh, what Makoto wouldn’t give to cover his ears and his eyes and hide away from this all. Did Leon think he enjoyed this? Did the others? They stared at him, they stared at his own exposed heart with variations of fear on their faces. And the only reason Makoto could see those faces was because of his own freakshow glowing heart, which beat heavy and fast in the wooden drawer.

A hand grabbed at Makoto’s wrist and pulled him forward. If it hadn’t been for the sensation of acrylic nails pressing against his wrist, he would have assumed it was Kyoko. Kyoko had seemed to be the only person willing to stand by his side - until now that is. Because here he was, staring into the dead eyes of Junko Enoshima. Her face seemed pale and haunted. For a moment, Makoto forgot his own plight and felt the urge to reassure her. She looked downright traumatized . 

“What is this?” She whispered, sounding like an empty shell of herself. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

She reached with her other hand, her hand with a chipped nail. She reached she reached she reached for his very own beating heart.

Makoto tried to hold back the gasp, pressing himself further away from her. He nearly slammed the door on her hand. 

She had an apologetic expression on her otherwise bland face, “I’m sorry” she whispered.

 “I-” Makoto was cut off by Byakuya, who decided it was his turn to put in his review of Makoto’s issue.

He had a hand over his chin, examining Makoto with an uncomfortable amount of interest in his eyes. Now that he was less focused on himself and Junko, he could see that Celeste seemed to hold the same interest.

He shuddered.

“I think we should give Naegi-kun some space.” Kyoko attempted to intervene, but Byakuya paid her no mind as usual. 

“I think we should question how on earth the man is alive.” He said. Byakuya leaned in, watching the heart grotesquely do its job without any semblance of being squeamish. “Last time I checked a functioning heart needed things like veins and blood vessels, not a wooden box.”

“Yes, this is all anatomically incorrect!” Hifumi yelled out suddenly, but continued to cower behind Celeste. “That is to say, it’s anatomically correct if we’re going for a realistic story. I mean- How is Naegi Makoto-dono even breathing? Doesn’t the box also go through where his lungs should be? And his rib cage!”

Byakuya gave a light laugh, as though this was all some sort of dark joke, “I guess he doesn’t need the structural support with that wooden box.”

“C-Can-” Makoto tried to will his teeth to stop chattering with anxiety, “Can we t-take this a little more seriously, please?”

“And can you all get the hell away from him?!” Leon yelled, “If you all catch this weird shit, I’m out of here!”

Byakuya rolled his eyes, “As if someone as prestigious as me would fall victim to some fictional nonsense.”

“Fictional…?! Togami-kun, I am right here!”

“Take it out of the box.” Byakuya said- no- Byakuya ordered.

“What…?”

“Enoshima had an interesting idea there when she tried to grab it. It doesn't seem to be attached to anything, and I want to see what happens when it’s outside.”

Celeste smiled cheerfully, “If you’re too skittish to grab it yourself, I will have Yamada assist you.”

“I will?!”

Makoto slammed the door shut, shoulders jumping at the feeling of it clicking into place as he hugged his chest close. The shine of the door began to dim, but he could still feel the way it beat. “No one is grabbing anything...!” Makoto yelled. 

He heard a shrill yelp followed by “S-some weird bulls-s-shit happens and everyone turns into p-p-perverts!” Without his heart illuminating the room, Makoto couldn’t see Toko anymore. But he had a sneaking suspicion that she still had her eyes covered. “T-t-t-t-turn that light back on! Pervy N-N-Naegi!”

“U-uhm, excuse me.” Chihiro’s small voice politely piped up. “But…i-isn’t Maizono-san still…a threat?”

Leon cussed, “Naegi’s been distracting us this entire damn time.”

“We must choose wisely what to focus on. This is a dangerous situation.” Sakura said.

“I say we focus on a certain little monster.” Celestia said, “We can worry about Naegi later, but for now we need to get the lights back on and know where the threat is. So that we can go back to a normal life.”

Makoto could hear someone tsk. His wrist prickled with pins and needles.

“So, what? We’re just going to ignore him?” Leon hissed.

“We have to play our bets correctly, and I know how to play my cards. Maybe later the tables will turn, but for now I say we use Naegi and figure out this Monster Maizono situation.”

“This is insane…” Aoi mumbled. 

“Swimming bimbo is right!” Leon yelled.

“If Kuwata’s right and Naegi is the bad guy here then how can we use him?” Mondo asked.

“Last time I checked, Naegi was the only one who’s actually seen this supposed monster. So, if you’d like to go in blindly, by all means, be my guest.” Makoto was beginning to wonder where the borders of fake and real lie on Celeste.

“We will launch the investigation we spoke of!” Kiyotaka said. “If we all work together, then we can protect each other and neutralize the threat with minimal harm!”

“Can you make fighting a zombie sound any lamer?” Mondo sighed.

Makoto flinched at the feeling of a shoulder brushing against his. Two thin hands lifted to lightly grip at his arm: just to let him know they were there. “Naegi-kun…” When Aoi spoke, it was right next to his ear. “I know it’s a lot to ask but like… I mean c’mon! It’s pitch black in here...! Can you please use your uhm…”

“You want to use it as a light source...?”

“It is a light source.” Byakuya said.

“A light source that we don’t understand.” Kyoko countered. There was a beat of silence. “... However, it does seem as though we will temporarily need to rely on it. We should do so with caution.”

Makoto wanted to cry. “You can’t be serious?”

“I’m sorry, Naegi-kun… but could I please ask you to open the chest again?”

“This is...! This could be my actual living heart ..! Having that exposed has to be bad,right?!”

Aoi squeezed his shoulder, and he forced himself to take a deep breath.

“I understand that this is distressing.” As Kyoko spoke, Aoi squeezed his shoulder again. But she was mistaken, Makoto was not discomforted by Kyoko’s medical-talk tone. “However, we need your help.”

They needed his help. Everyone was counting on him. He brought them all here so that they could be prepared and live , not so that they could sit in the dark while Makoto panicked over his own distress. He took another deep breath and steadied his sweating hands. He had to do it. He had to help everyone, even if it meant taking a step into the unknown. Like Celeste said, this was a bet. A gamble. But Makoto Naegi would be damned to not take this gamble, not when the other option was to be sitting ducks in the dark. 

And besides… he could help the others. And maybe, just maybe he could help Sayaka too.

“Okay.” Makoto whispered, mainly to himself. 

“Okay.” he said again, louder now. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I wasn’t trying to be selfish, I promise.”

“It’s not selfish.” Aoi mumbled, “If I were you I’d be freaking out…” 

“What matters most is getting something done.” Makoto moved to grab the key when he felt pins and needles press further into his wrist.

That entire time, Junko’s acrylic nails had been wrapped around his wrist. She didn’t dig them in, but it was clear she was unwilling to let go. What could… she want with him? It was strange, Makoto couldn’t get a read on her at all anymore, when he used to be able to understand her perfectly. 

Without letting go of his wrist, she slid her other arm down Makoto’s. In his hand he felt a familiar copper-cold metal. His key.

Unlike Aoi, her reassurance was a silent thing, unnerving to those unwilling to look deeper.

Makoto unlocked his chest, and a bright golden light filled the room once again.

“F-F-F-Finally!” Toko yelled out, “About t-t-time! Making s-someone like me wait i-in the dark for you to m-man up…!” Her words were harsh through grit teeth. “N-Now get that d-disgusting thing aw-away from m-m-me!” She was still unwilling to look, facing away from Makoto. Squeamish, maybe? Judging by the way she started mumbling and pulling at her hair he guessed it was something worse than being squeamish. 

Aoi pulled off of his shoulder and faced him with a quiet softness, “Thank you, Naegi.”

The light glowed a bit warmer. 

Once Aoi had pulled away and returned to Sakura’s side, Junko looked down at Makoto and whispered into his ear. 

“I am going to protect you.”

She took his arm, and gently pressed the key back into the indent. It slotted back into place like it was home. When did Junko get a hold of the key again…? Makoto’s spiraling mind was thrown to a halt by the sheer abnormality. How was he meant to react to such a meaningful statement being suddenly thrown in front of him, yet with a tender caution. 

“So stay by my side, okay?” 

Makoto watched her in muted surprise. He felt if he so much as blinked, he would miss all the secret signals Junko was throwing his way. Her expression did not change, her intense stare interrogated his very being. He wanted to reach inside her thoughts and get a better glimpse at the blurred line. A single question flooded his mind: "why". But how could he voice that when he wasn't fully sure who he was talking to? He wasn't fully sure about anything anymore. He could only stare back at Junko, as though the shadows on her face could spell out an answer. 

She pursed her lips together for just a fraction of a second. Then she smiled at Makoto, the typical Junko smile he’d come to know. It was bright, a little smug, and curious. He had this genuine smile memorized, it was one only Junko could pull off. 

“Like, this whole thing is weird right? You need someone like me by your side. And I wanna  have front row seats to finding out what the fuck is going on.”

It feels so foreign now. He was speaking to a stranger. There were no longer any flaws in her demeanor, she was perfect and wholey Junko Enoshima. So, why did it feel like she was wearing the face of another person? Why did Makoto feel as though he were speaking to the dead all over again? 

When was she going to let go of his wrist?

“Naegi-kun,” Kyoko called out to him. Makoto forced himself to look away from the shadows casted onto Junko’s face. “We need you at the front.” 

Makoto peeled her hand off him. It took some effort- she was a lot stronger than he’d realized. It wasn’t so much that he made her let go… it was that she realized he wanted her to stop. He awkwardly shuffled up to the front of the group by Kyoko’s side, trying desperately to ignore the many pairs of eyes staring intently into the back of his head. There was no privacy in this world, not anymore. 

Makoto opened the door to his shower.

Not long after leaving, with Makoto’s heart illuminating the way, the group found themselves by the breaker box in the laundry room. The face of the circuit breaker had been torn off the box, with the interior black from electric burns. The wires had been to shreds, blood dotting them alongside the charred rubber of wire encasing. The metal itself was hot to the touch, the circuit breaker had been overheating following the attack.

They were stuck without light.

They had managed to find some candles and matches in the supply closet of the kitchen, which were passed out among the others so that they could all travel individually. However, for now, it seemed as though Makoto was the only consistent source of light they could find.

“Be careful”, Kyoko told him, “You are a vital step in all of this.”

Junko’s eyes from across the room seemed to share the same sentiment.

Makoto sighed as he turned the water faucet on. He stared at the floor, where the body had been. Where he had collapsed upon discovering it. He stared at where the body had been upon its inhuman resurrection. 

Makoto had turned on the water, but didn’t stand under it. He was still fully dressed. He didn’t want to see his own body anymore. And he didn’t want to imagine blood washing down the drain like it must have when they scrubbed this place clean. It was scrubbed clean, again. Clean enough that Makoto couldn’t find any traces in the shower anymore, only in the scratches of his walls. So why did the byproducts of such a mess exist still? Why was her body roaming? Why was Makoto in such disarray?

He unzipped, then unzipped his hoodie. He felt grimey and sweaty and gross. He needed a shower. But it felt like… defiling her last moments. 

Makoto ran his hand through his hair. He needed a shower. He couldn’t neglect his own health over this. It would help no one. He unzipped his hoodie and stood underneath the hot water, pressing his head against the wall and watching the water go down the drain. 

He pointedly avoided staring at the mirror, or at his chest. He needed peace, for just one moment. 

He managed to get his hygiene in check. He felt a bit silly for being proud of himself, but it was important and necessary. Keeping that up was the first step to being okay, even if he refused to stare too deeply into the corner of the room. 

He dried his hair with a towel, and pulled on his pants. It had been a long day, and he needed to go to bed. He needed to be prepared for the worst, so that he could do his best. Like they had all agreed, he would listen carefully for any signs of disarray from the others. He would be ready to help at a moment's notice.

Light filled up the room.

Makoto flinched, looking down at his chest. The door was once again bright. It changed the cold feeling of the shower, covering it with a warm glow. From a prison cell to a second chance.

But… why ?

Makoto didn’t understand. Nothing felt different. 

He unlocked the door, watching the little golden heart beat.

Nothing looked different.

There was an offbeat knock at the door. “Naegi-kun?” 

Kyoko? He heard her voice ring out. It echoed off the walls. Her voice was always a comfort, cold but in a refreshing way. But what could she want at this hour? Was there something she wanted to talk about without the others around?

“Ah, one second, Kirigiri-san!” he was glad the walls were so thin, he might have missed her call otherwise. He scrambled to put on a shirt. Only a shirt. He figured she’d want to know about the science of his weird glowing chest drawer.

“I need to talk to you, Naegi-kun.”

So, there was something important then. “I’ll be right there!” He was tied up in his own sleeve, struggling to get it over his shoulder with how rushed he was.

“You left your door open, Naegi-kun.”

Makoto frowned, how could he still be such a clutz when there was an emergency like this? The constant effort of juggling emotions and realities left him spiraling, enough that he slipped up such a simple task. He could practically hear his mom and sister scolding him for not being careful. He could be a fairly unlucky guy. 

Makoto had half a mind to thank Kyoko for not barging into his room when she’d seen the door cracked open. She seemed the type to care little for social cues, and instead go barging in wherever she needs to be. Looks like he judged her too soon.

“Sorry about the wait, Kirigiri-....Kirigiri-san?”

Makoto looked right. And then he looked left. There was no one in sight. Just the darkness of a creaking building, only the light from his chest to illuminate it. He wondered how the others were faring with candle light and matches. He hoped no one accidentally started a fire… 

“Kirigiri-san?” He repeated. Did she ding-dong ditch? Well. Not only was that rude, but it was odd coming from her.

No. His heart pitter pattered in his chest. There was no way Kyoko would call for him and then ditch. The heavyset burn of nausea and dread began to stir in Makoto's stomach, and he found himself detesting that anyone could visualize his anxiety just by staring at his exposed weakness. 

He forced himself to take one step forward. His hand gripped his door with a whiteknuckled grip, refusing to let go for a moment lest he lose his way forever. He had to tear his hand from the wood, mourning the absence of security instantly. Makoto rubbed at his chest, hoping to force the heartbeat to stall for even just a breath. He felt like he couldn't think. He needed to listen for Kyoko, but his heart was so distracting all he could hear was its pounding. 

Because it beat it beat it beat it beat it beat and it never stopped beating. 

A violently repugnant smell brought heaves out of Makoto’s lungs - the unwelcome distraction he begged for. He leaned over and grasped at his nose to hide away from the smell of rotten meat left in the sun. He tried to fight the urge to run back to his room. The scent dug claws into his trachea with its cocktail of putrid scents. Mothballs, rotten garlic, decomposing cabbage, sulfur. Beneath it all was the hint of something…tangy and fruity. The comfort of sweetness was not found here. Through the tears that the odor brought to his eyes, he struggled to search for the figure he was following.

"K-Kirigiri-san?"

"Naegi-kun?"

Makoto thickly swallowed when he'd reached the end of the hallway. He craned his head around the corner. No Kyoko. Just him. … Just him? 

No, there was someone with him. Someone who hadn't been with him for a while now. 

She had been impossible to see when she blended in with the darkness, especially with her hair draped over her face and her skin an odd grayish tone. Her skin looked… fake . Saggy. Almost moldy. Wet. 

Makoto took a step backwards. He felt rooted to the ground. The only thing holding him back from running to his room was the sense that Kyoko could be nearby calling for his help beneath the suffocating air of death.

But… she hadn't sounded like she was in danger…

Sayaka's head snapped up towards him. He couldn't see much of her face through the wall of hair blocking her expression. A part of him felt grateful that he couldn't see her eyes. He saw her dried lips part. He saw her inorganic hand reach out to him.

 "Naegi-kun."

Makoto almost cried.

Her breaths sounded like there was gravel entwined into the flesh of her throat while her voice spoke with perfect clarity. Her head was tilted towards his direction, and Makoto watched as rage slowly left her dismantled body. 

He wished he could've been there for her that night. 

Sayaka's hand grew closer, bright light showing the paleness of it all, a stark contrast to her swollen red legs and feet where the blood pooled post circulation. He wondered if it hurt to walk. He wondered if she could feel at all.

"Maizono-san…" Makoto's heart was in his throat, "You recognize me, don't you? You're still in there, aren't you?"

She pulled her hand away and without another word to him, she turned around. He called her name out again, but she just limped away until he couldn't hear her heavy footsteps anymore. 

The light in his chest dimmed and went cold. 

The last sight Makoto had seen in its light had been the spots of blood left behind by her.