#gunstunned

        he knew he was a yakuza and all, shady work was his forte, but there was something to be said that he was a fairly open book, at least to her. with the exception of anything having to do with peko. it was kinda fucked, sure, but there was no doubt in his mind that she came first.

        “listen, just... forget everything you saw, alright? it’s nothing. she’s nothing.”

though progress on the school’s construction had slowed, komaru still held high hopes for the new hope’s peak academy. part of her wished she could have seen it back in the day, before the tragedy; as an individual with no talent, she’d never been inside the main course gates.

the place was heavy with despair. it reeked of misfortune. she could feel it around her constantly, the souls of those departed students crying out for somebody to take away the pain. they’d been used, discarded, and some of them sought vengeance. it was hard not to be weighed down by those lives that had been forfeited.

for that reason, komaru tried to keep a happy face on at all times. the only way to banish such dreadful misfortune, she felt, was with a smile that refused to let despair take hold. being reunited with her brother again, it wasn’t too difficult. 

so long as she had makoto and touko with her, komaru felt like she could do anything.

a pout forms on chiaki’s face. “i did technically stop a cult from birthing a god and bringing about doomsday...” she points out sullenly. she knows plenty about cults from the games she’s played. cults are cults, right? they’re just a bunch of brainwashed people doing bad things... she thinks.

“besides, if they aren’t a cult, then what are they? if they were adults, you’d admit they were a cult... probably. a child cult is still a cult. the warriors of hope were pretty... persuasive, apparently.” how many times has she said cult now? chiaki wonders, eyeing up the area they have to cover.

instead of doing their job, though, they’re just arguing about cults. great. chiaki breathes in and then out, pulling her hacking gun up in a defensive position. “let’s just... get this over with, yeah? the sooner we’re done, the sooner you can go back to naegi-san...”

      Togami had left for Towa City a few days prior to retrieve the pair handling things there for a much needed reunion. For the time being, Makoto was told to stay in bed and rest. He hated breaking his promise with Komaru more than anything in the world right now. She was gonna hate him for not coming to pick her up. But, it was doctor’s orders. Togami said he’d explain it to them. So, for now, Makoto put his faith there as he shuffled around in his bed, setting down the cup of water next to his head as best he could.

      It was so... boring here. He’d been pushing forward for so long at this point, it felt weird to sit in silence, enjoying the view of the ending sunset outside and watching the slowly recovering city begin to glow with lights. He’d been told to just rest, not to worry about the fate of the Future Foundation and the members left behind by the tragedy that was Tengan’s final game. He let out a deep breath, slowly and carefully, ignoring the shock of pain in his chest. It’ll be fine, he thought to himself, We’re all together, so there’s nothing we can’t do.

      As he closed his eyes, he heard careful footsteps coming down the hall. They were shy, scared, and a bit slow. A tilt of his head as he saw a ripped hem of a skirt flash briefly in the doorway. Oh. They’re... back. But, why was she by herself...?

                     “Fukawa...san?” He called out, his voice weak. “Is... That you?”

so now she was heading back to the classroom, lunchtime nearly over. well, the “set” lunchtime at the very least. there was a free spirit about this school, where students were able to come and go as they pleased. trying to keep to a schedule was something... difficult.

she turned the corner to walk past the library, noticing a strange sight. an underclassmen... staring into the half opened door? she had not had much time to greet the new 78th class. perhaps this was an act of fate! she held her files close to her chest, and approached the twin-tailed girl, keeping her steps quiet.

“Is there something inside of the library that seems amiss?” Sonia asked, attempting to peer over the girl’s shoulder to sneak a peek as well. “If it something that is against school policy, we must make note, and report it to the security offices, yes?”

One couldn’t call it witnessing it, but rather witnessing the results of it. Even after being watched with immense care, Fukawa managed to avoid Mukuro’s superior scouting ability whenever it came to murder. Indeed, Mukuro had only the chance to regard a body being strung up with tools of silver, reflecting beautifully with the shine of the moon.

She felt nothing as she watched the infamous, yet obscure serial killer strap up the young man. Mukuro wondered to herself--“Is it alright for me to feel this way about death?”. Her time as a part of Fenrir had desensitized her to the idea of it entirely. She shook her head, chastising herself for such a thought.

“Without the ability to throw away lives, I would never be where I am today,” she thought to herself.

Mukuro hadn’t lost her focus on her classmate, despite the derailment of her thoughts. She waited for Fukawa to leave before placing her binoculars into her backpack and descending from the rooftop. She made her way to the alleyway of the body.

From now on, it’d be Mukuro’s job to clean up after her classmate, Junko had told her. It was imperative that she keep Fukawa out of jail. Though, she’d been going on for this long and nobody even had a clue about Fukawa’s true identity. Junko had already made connections into the police force, and thanks to her super analytic ability, managed to deduce a thing or two.

Mukuro’s gloved hand wrapped around the shining metal of one of the knives when she felt the draft in the alley change. She snapped to attention, drawing her combat knife quickly from its sheathe strapped to her thigh, ready to fight, turning to her right where the alley lengthened and darkened. A figure stood before her, a wonder that Mukuro didn’t hear the footsteps.