#hell nah bro

"Hold on-- Maeda!" Tsurugi called out as Yuki's fingers hovered dangerously close to the popup. The ginger's head snaps toward his direction with a tilted head.

"What... is this?" Yuki asks, much confusion in his voice.

"Something special. You're gonna be the star of the show today~!" Mikado beamed, making Yuki gasp in bewilderment.

"This is... the graduation system!" Yamato exclaimed in recognition. The horror in everyone's faces was like a wave, that was, other than Yuki, who was still confused even if his expression did turn more anxious and cautious.

"What!? What is it!? Is it bad!?" Yuki panics as he raises his hands close to him, eyes widened at the popup in front of him.

"It's nothing bad, you're just gonna make a decision for everyone!" Mikado mused as he laughed, leaving Yuki paling.

"Hey Sannoji, What are hell! Why do you have the graduation system here, and why is it only for Yuki!?" Tsurugi shouted out to the wizard, making him wag a finger at the captain.

"I simply just stated: Yuki will be the star of the show! He's gonna make the unanimous decision for everyone~! It's too much of a bother if I gave you all the right to vote..." The wizard explained, making Teruya yelp in shock and Rei's eyes widen.

"That's unfair!" Yamato yelled out, fist up tight with angry furrowed brows.

"Come on, how hard is it? Just influence him to whatever you decide if you want. You are all friends, right?" Mikado hummed with a concerning amount of happiness. Yuki's brow furrowed deeper.

"So, I'll just have to choose which one everyone wants me to choose?" Yuki asks warily.

"Of course, unless, there's more things you want to ask~" Mikado mused. Yuki blinked as he sent his gaze to the wizard's direction in surprise, Tsurugi snapped out immediately.

"There's nothing else. Nothing else to talk about! We have explained everything. All Yuki needs to do is press 'Repeat'." Tsurugi snapped out, making Yuki furrow his brows at Tsurugi with concern.

"Repeat?" Yuki echoed with concern and confusion.

"The graduation system consists of Graduate and Repeat. It's related to the Personality Override." Yamato states, making Yuki blink in surprise.

"Personality Override?" Yuki echoed, feeling goosebumps come over his skin.

"No... no I know what Sannoji is planning--" Tsurugi's voice trembled a little as he spoke, quickly, he snapped his gaze to the luckster.

"You need to press repeat!" Tsurugi exclaimed. Yuki gasped with much confusion from Tsurugi's sudden urgency.

"Why, can't you explain it to me first?" Yuki asked as his brows furrowed. Tsurugi hissed under his breath.

"You just need to! This is Sannoji's trick in reviving Utsuro-- he wants you to press graduate, you need to press repeat!" Tsurugi insisted with a growing panic, making Yuki narrow his eyes as his hand went over to grasp at his blazer's collar flap.

"What the hell has been going on with you, Kinjo!?" Yuki suddenly questioned with much accusation in his tone, louder than he'd like, causing the captain to quietly gasp as he stilled.

"You've been weird the entire trial-- no-- ALL of you have!" Yuki exclaimed as he put out his arms in an exaggerating way, his anger was seething through his every tone.

"I just asked to know about what the buttons do, what the whole thing does! Why have you all been acting like I'm some third person that isn't included in everything that's happened!!"

The silence was loud and harsh. Rei's gaze was tense as she looked away. Teruya had a similar intensified look, fidgeting his blue scarf. Tsurugi's gaze was hard on the floor. Palms tight on the wooden pedestal. Yamato looked like he wanted to say something, but was taking everything not to spill it.

Mikado seemed to be the only one who's enjoying this.

"The Neo World Program comes with an... interesting sequence. Originally the Junko Ai was going to use it to implement her personality into all the dead people within their simulated killing game. This is why it's called the 'Personality Override'." Yamato explained after a while, voice tight in his throat.

"If the majority voted that they wanted to graduate, everyone would be able to leave the simulation. The downside was that Junko's ai would have completely taken over all the braindead students and would have caused another wave of despair. If you voted for repeat... you... restart the killing game..." Yamato continued, making Yuki rapidly blink from the shock, accompanying a gasp that escaped his lips.

"The rat's right. Only, I changed the settings a bit~" Mikado chuckled after speaking, making everyone's gazes snap to the wizard.

"You what?" Rei asked, gaze hard and intense as she narrowed her eyes at the wizard.

"Only a bit. The main thing is there, but this is for little ol' Yuki." Mikado stated as he leaned on his pedestal, crossing his arms over on it as he does with a wide grin on his face.

"I won't be taking over anyone using the Personality Override. And I think you know who would need it. Need I say more~?"

Yuki paled as he heard these words. Utsuro. Utsuro would be forced back into the waking world after he wakes up from this simulation, thanks to him. Utsuro would be out in the world again, inflicting the same pain he had gave him to others.

"You need to press repeat, Maeda!" Tsurugi insists, making the luckster look back at the captain.

"The... killing game would continue if we do that..." Yuki spluttered, his hands trembled as he looked at the digital popup in front of him.

"It's going to be okay, we'll find another way out of this!" Yamato insists, but Yuki's intense frown never softened.

"Say, Yuki? Will you accept this truth, choose repeat, do everything again?" Mikado hummed, eyes bore itself onto the ginger. Yuki trembled as he looked at everyone. The pressure was on him. All of him.

"Or... don't you have other questions to ask first?" Mikado mused with a snap of a finger.

Suddenly, another thing showed itself in Yuki's vision.

"N-no-- stop!" Tsurugi shouted as he ran out the pedestal and snatched then crumpled the paper that showed itself to the ginger, but it was too late. The damage has already been done.

Yuki's eyes widened. That picture... yes... that was the picture. The 79th class, everyone was there. It's what confirmed everyone to be fellow classmates before the killing game even began, REAL classmates in Hope's Peak Academy. But...

"That... wasn't me..."

The silence was defeaning. It shattered the thick atmosphere with something icy. Mikado's smile grew wider, darkened grin on his face was enough to show that the hell isn't over, no, this is the climax that Mikado had bet on, almost like he knew this was bound to happen from the beginning.

"M-Maeda--" Tsurugi spoke up, softening his tone as he tried to reason with him, but Yuki cut him short.

"Did you know?" Yuki snapped up, quick and sharp. He lowered his head, making it hard to fully see his gaze. Tsurugi's expression changed drastically. Brows furrowed in such anxiousness, unsure how to calm the situation down.

"Maeda, listen to me--" Tsurugi tried to reason once again, but the luckster isn't budging.

"Stop! Enough avoiding the situation!" Yuki snapped. Fists shaking with compressed emotions. Tsurugi instinctively backed away.

"Did... did you know...?" Yuki's voice wavered. His fierce gaze examined everyone in the room when he raised his head once more.

"Did ALL of you know!?"

"Maeda, you need to calm down--" Teruya spoke up, trying to attempt in calming the ginger down next.

"No! You've been keeping this from me, and even now! You haven't told me JACKSHIT!" Yuki's voice cracked as he shouted, Mikado was snickering to himself as he watched the entire thing unfold, but Yuki couldn't care to notice.

"Yes." Rei stated after a long sigh. It wasn't as cold-hearted as the Rei Yuki knew in the trials prior, but still her tone was firm.

"....Care to explain EVERYTHING?" Yuki grumbled. Anger seethed throughout him. Tsurugi couldn't bare to look at the luckster, it wasn't sure whether it was due to guilt of keeping the secret, or having to hear Yuki get told the full, ugly truth.

"If nobody wants to explain, I'm here~!" The wizard chimed in.

"SHUT UP!" Yuki chided to the Ai, making him blink in surprise.

"Woahhh, gotten a little feisty now did you..." Mikado said quietly as his expression turned bewildered.

The room was silent as Yuki waited, but he wasn't waiting patiently.

"You're... not in Hope's Peak... with the 79th class." Yamato ended up speaking out those words slowly. It took a couple seconds for Yuki to register what he heard, but when he did, the color immediately drained from his face.

"W...hat?" All that bark, now gone as the revelation felt like being dunked with ice cold water.

"It's true~. Yuki's gotten an acceptance letter," Mikado states, making the luckster turn to the wizard full of raw chilling fear.

"But... it wasn't him that got into Hope's Peak, or the 79th class killing!" Mikado laughed.

"What... how... how!?" Yuki spluttered, wanting, needing an explanation.

"You saw it, didn't you? That class photo." Mikado hummed.

"My thinking was correct... that wasn't Maeda in the class photo. I remember thinking that when you first showed me it." Rei spoke up after a while. Yuki agreed, he saw the photo, it looked like him, the similarities are so uncanny that they might as well be twins. The biggest difference were their skintones.

"That... wasn't me... yes, I s-saw..." Yuki felt sick to his stomach. Everything he thought he knew, this revelation. He can't deny it, he shouldn't. He knows it all too well, who it's supposed to be.

"...Utsuro." Teruya said the very thing that everyone seemed to be avoiding, brows furrowed with concern and guilt.

"Yes, it was all thanks to Divine Luck~!" Mikado mused. Yuki turned to glance at the wizard.

"What...?" The ginger mumbled, jaw tight from the tense feeling he has.

"Utsuro needed a disguise to infiltrate Hope's Peak Academy with Akane Taira, and look who it is! What luck that someone who looked IDENTICAL to him had been accepted with Akane!" Mikado laughed. Snapping a finger, a screen lowered once again, revealing to everyone just what motive the luckster got on his first day in this killing game. The exact motive, now replayed in his mind.

Her screams... his mother's screams.

"Y-you!" Tsurugi seethed at the wizard, who simply giggled.

"What do you think happened here? Who do you think attacked your parents? Oh wait!" Mikado snapped his fingers once more and the screen buzzed on top of them. After a few seconds, a different bloodied scene was present. The image of Yuki's mother, or, merely her hand mixed with puddles of blood, was embedded into his mind. Deep and haunting.

"Master Utsuro..." a feminine voice echoed out in the video, but nowhere to be seen.

"What should... we do about Yuki Maeda?..."

"..."

"Isolate him and keep him alive." A low, monotone voice echoed afterwards. Tsurugi's hatred blossomed even more at this sight. Yuki could feel himself get lightheaded at the absurdity of the situation. Utsuro killed his parents. Killed his parents with Akane.

"Why..?"

"...a-ah wait-- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to question your actions Master Utsuro-- I'll isolate him as you say!"

"This... where did you get this!" Tsurugi growled. Mikado merely shrugged dramatically with a wide grin.

"It was part of the early motives! I had dear Syobai hunt it down for me! I'm so certain Master Utsuro was betting on this chance of mine to bring him back, keeping Yuki Maeda alive!" Mikado chuckled, pointing at the luckster who looked mortified in place.

"What, you thought that you're motive was fabricated in this simulation? That's way too much work!" Mikado mused, before an expression of surprise and confusion was plastered on his face.

"Oh? But, we already see that Akane Taira and Utsuro had kidnapped dear Yuki and isolated him, possibly keeping him in an unconscious state for like... what, a year or two?" Mikado hummed. Yuki was shaking in place, posture slightly hunched lower as he wrapped himself in a tight embrace.

"No... no... this can't--"

"You have an idea? You'd know right?"

Suddenly, Tsurugi slammed his fists on the wooden pedestal angrily shouting.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! MAEDA DOESN'T NEED TO HEAR ALL OF THIS!"

"Yuki isn't that naive, though, right? Surely he's simply denying it at this point." Mikado lightly snapped his fingers. The picture in the captain's hold burned like ash so quickly it was almost difficult to notice. In Mikado's hand the paper manifested itself. The wizard pointed at the picture of the ginger within the picture frame. A calmed smile as he was joined like a simple puzzle piece completing a set.

"As if it wasn't enough to destroy your life, he decides to take your identity! How fun!!" Mikado laughed.

"Maeda--" Rei tried to speak softer, but even she couldn't deny that fact.

"T...then I..." Yuki was unbelievably bewildered by these turn of events. He didn't know what to think. The undeniable truth was in front of him. He was never there. The Yuki Maeda everyone knew wasn't him.

"Yes, all those friends of yours, they didn't even KNOW you!" Mikado's cackle echoed through the trial grounds, shaking it gently with a deep tense atmosphere.

"I... never went to Hope's Peak with everyone..." even if the words sounded like a question, his tone completely changed that. A tone of defeat, a fact he couldn't counter like all the rest of the trials he's had to face.

"No... and you've never even been in the REAL game!" Mikado was snickering as Yuki slowly turned his gaze to the wizard. Pale and tense.

"Oh, did they not explain that part of the lore?" Mikado hummed with a fake puzzlement.

"I thought you were happy with the discussion of everything that happened! The rat, Rei and Tsurugi should've explained it well. They did talk about exposing both Akane Taira and Utsuro as the Mastermind!" Mikado questioned. Yuki's gaze hardened at the other three.

"Maeda..." Tsurugi's gaze immediately softened at the luckster, but the ginger merely avoided his gaze and looked at the other two.

"What is it... what are you keeping from me!?" Yuki raised his voice, sounding like a mix of a plea and demand.

"...Utsuro used his Divine Luck to fully gaslight his mind into becoming Yuki Maeda when he decided to erase his memories with Akane Taira. He took your personality on as a new persona in the killing game--" after a quick exhale, Rei decided to reveal the words that were close to erupting in this brittle atmosphere. Tsurugi shot up immediately.

"Mekaru!" Tsurugi barked out, eyes wide and furious. Rei adjusted her glasses with a sigh.

"There's no use hiding the truth from him now. He already knew enough even if I hadn't confirmed it." Rei states. Tsurugi could feel himself pale as he barely turned his gaze at the luckster. Face darkened and tense. Teruya grimaced as he fiddled with his scarf.

"Well... that's why we have been looking for him, right?" Teruya mumbled. Yuki's eyes narrowed at the Merchant.

"What?"

Rei would've slapped him now if she was anywhere close to Teruya, but she just decided on a facepalm.

"Oh? Didn't these Kisaragi members tell you? Or did you just assume that you'd be fine with joining the Kisaragi Agency?" Mikado questioned wide eyed confused as he tilted his head and raised out his palm.

"It's true that they were baited to information on where I was, but that's not the reason why they risked it all just to try and ambush me." Mikado hummed with a giggle.

Yuki was dead silent. His gaze was clouding with mixed negative emotions once again as he looked at the captain.

Tsurugi was conflicted on what to do for a moment. With a hiss, he lowered the brim of his cap down over the upper half of his face, hiding his eyes.

"Hashimoto told us that Sannoji had you." It was all Tsurugi simply stated.

"We've been searching to save you, coming on dead ends and losing you multiple times. This was the closest we've gotten to trying to rescue you." Rei explained.

Yuki couldn't hold it in anymore, he was unbelievably pissed off by everything at this point. He whipped his arms outward as he screamed out.

"YEAH WELL, LOOK HOW THAT TURNED OUT! THEY PUT ANOTHER BRAIN IN ME!!!"

There was nothing but the forced quieted giggles that Mikado couldn't hold. The wizard most likely would've brought popcorn right now if he could. The others couldn't give a response. They failed, they did. They screwed up so horribly bad, but they know who's fault that is.

"I have to give it to Tsurugi, taking the bait like that. He was oh so worried about you!" Mikado mused with a fake worried tone. Yuki's expression was wide eyed with shock. He looked over at the captain, who's head was lowered to gaze the floor.

"He wanted to save you so much! But did you really think it was truly because of you?" Mikado mused.

Tears started to form at the corners of Yuki's eyes. His brow furrowed deeply as his stunned shock was breaking.

"W-what..."

"You heard them, right? Utsuro pretended to BE you! Wouldn't you question why Tsurugi was so attached to you this game? Why he tried so hard to save you?" Mikado asked.

Yuki's gaze was dulled and darkened. The reveal felt icy on his skin.

"You really think people would ACTUALLY care about you?--" Mikado mused before Tsurugi shot up.

"SHUT UP! I do care about--" Tsurugi was going to intervene, only for Mikado to interrupt him an immediate retort.

"Really? I've noticed your headaches get significantly worse when Yuki's around." Mikado hummed, looking at Yamato's direction.

"Dear brother, why do you think that is?" Mikado questioned lightly, making Yamato grunt. He's been silent on this messy drama for a while since things were bothering him about this whole thing, and Yuki's unstable mentality isn't helping.

"Be...because--" Yamato was having a hard time answering that, not because he couldn't, but he isn't sure if he should.

"Because Yuki Maeda was an important person in his life?" Mikado mused. Yuki turned his dark gaze at the wizard.

"You questioned it too, didn't you? Why was Tsurugi soooo attached to you, even if you broke his mentality. Technically he would've gone insane, but he didn't. Not with you, anyway." The wizard laughed.

"Maeda..." Tsurugi wanted to explain himself, to deny it, but he couldn't. Yuki wouldn't take a denial like that. Yuki isn't stupid.

Yuki didn't meet his gaze, he was fixed onto the wizard, who'd continue to explain everything the others were keeping from him.

"Yuki was Tsurugi's mental support during the real game. Too bad that isn't you, right?" Mikado cackled.

Yuki's palms clenched into fists as it shook. He wouldn't meet Tsurugi's gaze at all. A sick, betrayed feeling bubbling in his chest.

"How awful of you, Tsurugi! Thinking of another man while being with him, you'd be a horrible partner--"

"SHUT UP! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU RUNNING YOUR SICK MOUTH!" Tsurugi suddenly screamed, his body jerked violently as he gripped on the pedestal and raised a fist at his direction.

"SO SHUT UP---!" Tsurugi screamed out to the wizard, who toned back down to giggling.

Yuki didn't know what to think. Did these people even truly care for him? He thought he knew Tsurugi, knew Rei, even Teruya. But even then, they were hiding all of this from him. His past, his life. They even hid everything that happened with Utsuro from him.

Was it true?

Tsurugi only wanted him back solely because he was attached to the fake persona based of him? Did he ever even care about him as a person?

Did he always see Yuki as him?

"...Maeda..." Tsurugi spoke. It was vulnerable to hear that softened low tone of his.

"...what." Yuki huffed, not meeting his eyes.

"It's true, I wanted to save you! I wouldn't rest until I did." Tsurugi tried to reassure, but his voice sounded extremely sensitive, pleading, like he's brittle enough to crack from a single touch.

"Did you? Or did you want to save that version of me." Yuki retorted, colder tone than he'd like. Tsurugi's eyes widened at the ginger, brows furrowed as his entire stance became weaker. His eyes narrowed with a pained feeling inside as he held his chest, grimacing.

"That's quite saddening, isn't it. But it's okay~!" Mikado cheerfully smiled. Yuki and everyone else's gazes went to the wizard.

"There's one more thing I forgot to mention about the graduate system!" Mikado chirped up, making Yuki furrow his brows warily.

"What?" Yamato asked, copying the same manner as the luckster.

"The graduate system, if you choose to graduate, I'd put you all in the best place you'd love to be in!" The wizard gleefully explained, making Teruya raise a brow in clear confusion.

"Huh, but weren't we supposed to wake up when graduate is chosen?"

"Yes, I've modified it a little~ a Utopia, tethered to your needs and desires! A vast and happy Utopia~!" Mikado hummed, looking at the luckster.

"You could always just press repeat, and be stuck here, in the killings forever until all of you die, orrrr, you could press graduate and live a happy life~! Maybe even be there with friends who ACTUALLY care about you~." Mikado giggled as he spoke. Yuki's eyes was wide yet tense.

"That's the true world of the Neo World Program of Utsuroshima!!" Mikado cackled.

"Utsuroshima?" Yamato echoed with a wary raised brow.

"It's what I call this simulation, you thought this was the Kisaragi Foundation's building? Well you'd be wrong! I fully rebranded this place as my personal Utsuroshima Building~! The Utsuroshima Neo World Program of killing!" Mikado laughed aloud. Yamato hissed as he angrily eyed the wizard.

"Whatever it's called, do you think that Maeda would even try to risk letting him out into the real world?" Yamato asked, to which Tsurugi even spoke up.

"Maeda wouldn't do that! He knows Utsuro would come back if he does, Maeda won't--" Tsurugi spoke up, Yuki was irritated, after everything.

"Why are you saying that like you know who I am!?" Yuki snapped suddenly at the captain, making him gasp in astonishment.

"You're acting like I'm here... like you were ALL doing that a moment before, when you were explaining everything!" Yuki yelled out, mixed frustration and sarcasm accompanied the tears that started to drip from his eyes.

"You were keeping-- all of this from me, you acted like I wasn't here-- and now you're talking like we've known each other for so long?" Yuki hissed at his words, cracking and trembling, unable to level his breathing. Tsurugi didn't know what to say. It's true that what he believed to be Yuki had helped him throughout the game, been there for him and been his mental support, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about Yuki now, the real Yuki. He's tried to help him the same way, they were vastly different, but Yuki tried anyway.

"Maeda, I understand, but we need you to choose repeat. Mikado is planning on doing something, and I know you wouldn't want him to be successful, right?" Yamato spoke out slowly, attempting to gather the luckster's attention.

"....fine. under my own terms. I don't know why Sannoji is so insistent on making me decide this..." Yuki mumbled. Mikado hummed in amusement.

"Simply because it's in your hands, Yuki. You can vote now, if you very much trust these dear friends of yours who supposedly cares about you." Mikado hummed, making Yuki raise a brow.

"You're not gonna stop me...?" Yuki asked warily, to which Mikado shrugged.

"It's your decision, that's, if you believe that this is the entire truth. That you'll keep trusting these backstabbing friends of yours." Mikado mused with a finger to his lips.

"Don't listen to him Maeda! He's trying to confuse you!" Yamato called out, causing the luckster to flinch from the sudden voice. The finger hovered shakily close to the popup.

"Oh? You think so? After they deliberately hid the fact that they're strangers to you?" Mikado soothingly suggests these like seeds being planted into the luckster's rational thought. Even the littlest traits of doubt is starting to blossom and shaken his trust.

"E...even if they kept it from me-- they still helped me--" Yuki tried to retort, only for Mikado to shut him down immediately.

"Oh, pray, tell, what help did they assist you with?" Mikado questioned with a raised brow, causing Yuki to gasp in surprise.

"They get themselves captured and put into this simulation of the killing game. Even if they didn't have their memories, they still treated you pretty harsh, didn't they?" Mikado purred, making Yuki groan as he hunched over, holding his head in a trembling state.

"No... stop! They didn't mean to do--" Yuki tried to protest against his own thoughts as much as he did to Mikado, but the wizard was simply firm.

"Didn't the green plant just try to kill you?" Mikado hummed, tone dark and factual as his eyes widened at the luckster.

"Green plant!?" Teruya squawked out before continuing.

"M-maeda, I didn't mean it, remember?" Teruya tried to reason as he raised his voice, Yuki grimaced with a hiss as he avoided eye contact with everyone.

"Even then, most of you abandoned and blamed him, don't think I didn't notice how he was a suspect a few times in trials, it wasn't even that much in the original game!" Mikado hummed, Tsurugi immediately shot up from that.

"No-- I didn't!" Tsurugi barked out, his entire posture was tense as he held on the pedestal.

"I... I never abandoned Maeda. I was always there for him--"

"--hueh, well that's to be expected, isn't it?" Mikado deadpanned sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, causing Tsurugi's brow to twitch.

"What?" Tsurugi asked coldly, suppressing a fierce anger and fear within him with a calm demeanor.

"Did you not hear a thing I told you before?" Mikado groaned as he ached his head.

"Your attachment to the fake Yuki Maeda caused you to buddy with him. It's just logical." Mikado's smile returned, sly as ever as he turned his gaze to the luckster, just meeting his eyes for a moment.

"Tsurugi never cared about you, Yuki. It's all just false attachment. You were never even there during the vulnerable moments of his life." Mikado mused.

"That's not..!" Tsurugi's jaw was tight, it was difficult to retort the wizard's words. Now, with all his memories. Those dreams. He remembers those dreams. Those pitch black dreams. Hearing his screams. His pleas, cries for help. For an end.

'Kinjo..... save me''

He can't deny it... Yuki was a big part of his mentality and emotional turmoil during the game. He was everything to him, but at the end of the day, he wasn't real. He wasn't the real Yuki. His care felt like a lie.

"So? No retort? What did I say, it was simply because he was soooo attached to the fake Yuki!" Mikado laughed. Yuki's eyes widened as his brows furrowed, such betrayal in his face echoed enough pain in the captain, he couldn't find the words to speak. Yuki was mad at him, for a good reason.

"Isn't that ironic, getting beaten out by your fake? Even if you're the real Yuki Maeda, you might as well be the fake one! He was the one that gained everyone's trust and care. The one that managed to form bonds and relationships. Not you." Mikado's tone was low and dark at the end. It was shaking the luckster to his core.

"That's... not all true..." Tsurugi tried to reason, but the tone in his voice wavered significantly. There was a harsh turmoil of conflict within him.

"It's cute you even thought that the two Yukis acted similar. That 'Fake Yuki' was way more nicer, don't you think?" Mikado laughed lightly. The ginger's hands trembled as he held it close to his chest. A conflicted vulnerable state has fully engulfed the luckster.

"You'd always be whining, moody, crybaby, pushing people away, so quick to piss off~!" Mikado listed with a laugh, before flicking his wrist in a mocking way.

"Meanwhile he has always been there, trying for everyone! He's even the reason that Tsurugi is here today!" Mikado cackled maniacally. Yamato furrowed his brows.

"What?" The inventor asked, making the wizard hum in question.

"Huhm? You don't know? Tsurugi has done some interesting things in the original killing game, did Rei and Teruya not file you in on it?" The wizard asked. Tsurugi instinctively flinched at this.

"They don't have to know! It's not important!" The captain shouted defensively, but the wizard wouldn't care at all.

"Sensitive about it aren't you? I guess I won't spare some details~" Mikado sniffled some giggles before dramatically raising his head proudly.

"Mr 'psycho cop' over there had tried to do some extreme stuff, and caused a deathly blow to his life." Mikado mused, and immediately Yuki snapped his gaze at the wizard.

"What!?" The luckster gasped eyes widened in horror.

"Poor 'Yu--ki Ma--eee--da' was apparently there to witness it. It was the most he's ever screamed other than the later time when Master Utsuro returned~!" Mikado's cackle echoed the trial ground with a sick nauseous feeling. Yamato was able to read between the lines but he hoped it weren't true. Not until things were confirmed. He had not been there to witness any of these, so he hoped none of this was true.

"That emotional drive was so powerful that he managed to keep dear Tsurugi from going into a vegetative state! He shouldn't even be conscious right now!! How powerful is that desire, that it pulled Utsuro's own Divine Luck from the depths just to save this broken excuse of a human!" Mikado laughed aloud, a wild sparkle in his eyes that showed a void of insanity and desire so strong you could get engulfed in it. Tsurugi gripped the pedestal tighter till his fingers numbed.

"That's enough, Mikado!" Yamato chided, anger seething through his words, though Mikado didn't stop laughing, just barely compressing his sniffling giggles.

"It's true though~! Such a personal drive of feelings that it even brought Divine Luck to heal Tsurugi! Monokuma even stated at the time, he would've been in a vegetative state and possibly have a low chance of a normal life once again. But, oh? Look what we have here~? He's all fine and healthy! Maybe even a little jacked up too. What a prime example of how amazing Divine Luck is! Such odds~! So... so-- amazing~!" Mikado's face was panting with such a wild pleasure that it was disgusting to even look at. Such raw desire for an Ai. Just what is his motive? Yamato couldn't fully figure it out.

"Even that version of Yuki Maeda, despite being fake-- is more important than a lowly nobody like you~!" Mikado gleefully praised aloud. That was the first time the others focused their gazes to the luckster after a while.

Yuki looked shaken to the core. Sickly pale as he let himself process everything, tears threatened to escape from his eyelids as his mouth agape trembled to say a word, but nothing came out.

"...so what's this..." Yuki finally spoke up after a while, voice low and dark as he did, but Tsurugi still wouldn't turn to face him.

"...Maeda--"

"What-- was I just a replacement to you--!?" Yuki snapped out, making Tsurugi stiffly tense. Eyes widened. Brows furrowed deeply, he dared to glance at the luckster.

"What-- no!" Tsurugi called out to reason, but Yuki wasn't at all in the right mind right now to listen.

"I've always wondered why you were so close to me-- and this is the final truth, isn't it? I thought you cared about me--"

"I do care about you!"

"YOU CARED ABOUT HIM!"

As Yuki shouted those words out, a single tear fell through which he quickly wiped as he averted his gaze away.

Mikado was quietly sniffling giggles as Teruya went to try to open his mouth to speak a response, but Rei quickly and secretly shuffled from her pedestal and tugged at his sleeve, shaking her head. Reluctantly, they needed to let the two deal with these on their own, it's their own messy situation.

"Did you ever truly think of me as me?..." Yuki's voice wavered significantly. Fists clenched tightly and shaking.

"I did!" Tsurugi tried his hardest to protest, but he can't even trust his own voice, his own mind.

Yuki was silent, arms slowly started to wrap around him before he gave a defeated sigh. None of it was getting to his head at this point, and Yuki can't be blamed, it was difficult to counter something that's been fairly obvious and confusing, ever since the start. They've always fought over their beliefs and morals at some point, but Tsurugi never hated Yuki. He didn't understand it at first, both of them didn't. But now, the full truth is out in the open, and everything was difficult for Yuki to fully process.

"...whatever. I'm not gonna listen to any of your bullshit anymore." Yuki sucked in a breath through his gritted teeth as his brows furrowed deeper, unable to supress his tears as it started to drip in small amount down his face. His hand hovered dangerously close to the popup.

"Maeda! You need to choose repeat! We weren't lying about the Neo World Program! If you press that, Utsuro will come back!" Yamato called out.

"Really, are you willing to trust them too, Yuki? They could all be liars. They're simply strangers to you~!" Mikado hummed in a sly manner, a finger over his lips.

"Maeda, I know what I've done is wrong, but you know how horrible Utsuro is! His Divine Luck! We can find another way out if we had more time!" Teruya called out next, making the luckster turn his head warily.

"Yes, with Yamato's help, we could find a safer, less risky alternative to escaping the simulation if we had more time, graduating will cause Utsuro to wake up." Rei explains with a slightly louder voice, calmly trying to deliver her words to the ginger.

Yuki was stunned still for a moment, trying to regain his focus. He gave a few sniffs as he wiped his eyes with his sleeves.

"You're right... I'd rather not release someone that's hurt me so much out there to harm others--" Yuki mumbled, with a nod.

Mikado raised a brow.

"And, what are you going to do after the events of finding a way out supposedly?" The wizard hummed. Yuki raised a brow for a moment before settling back into his firm determination.

"Well... I'll try to build back my life a-and--"

"And? Your parents are dead, nobody really knows you, and there's nothing else left for you out there. Is there really a life for you out there? In that vast nothing?" Mikadk hummed. Yuki hissed as his determination faltered for a moment.

He groaned with frustration, shaking his head excessively.

"S-so what! I'll think about it when I get there!! Even if it would take longer for me to get back into my real body and escape this place, letting Utsuro out wouldn't be the right way!" Yuki spoke up, a forced confidence in his tone as he narrowed his eyes intensely at the popup in front of him.

Slowly, his fingers made its way to lightly press the 'Repeat' button.

"--pfft--"

The small giggles interrupted the current scene unfolding. Yuki's fingers froze just inches away from the popup. Attention all broken as his gaze slowly turned to the wizard just as the rest of the people.

Just then, the laugher got louder, wilder.

A cackle so horrifying, you'd think it was the sound of broken jackals and starving hyenas. Loud and monstrous as he doubled over, slapping on his pedestal as he continued to hysterically laugh like a madman.

"What, what's so funny?" Yamato eyed the wizard with much confusion as he wiped the tears from his eyelids, the glitchy part of his face was fuzzing out with wild cracks of colour.

"Oouhhh, weeeh, that's hilarious!" Mikado chuckled another moment before stopping.

"It's hilarious to think that you'd even have a CHANCE out there!" The wizard laughed. Yuki's expression was shattered from the previous confidence. All now gone as he widened his eyes at the wizard.

"W-what are you talking about?" Yuki stuttered, unable to comprehend what the Ai was talking about.

With a chuckle, Mikado snapped his fingers twice as the screen once again lowered into his vision from above the wizard. There was static buzzing on the screen for a moment, before it faded to black.

What greeted them next, was a sight to behold. No, a sight that nobody wanted to behold. Not even acknowledge.

"This is the body you want to go back to so much?" Malicious venom darkened every word the wizard spoke.

The floating brain, such chunk of meat tied to multiple wires and floating within the vast sea of liquid.

The stunned silence that took over the entire trial grounds was deafening. The amount of shock experienced by this display alone was enough to be mortifying to anyone, even the strongest people.

"...that's... a brain?..." Teruya spoke slowly, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Colour drained from his face as he was wide eyes petrified.

"Maeda's.... brain..." Rei muttered in disbelief. Even her calm cold demeanor was shattered by what's shown.

"Oh ho ho, yes, I kindly asked Ms Kokoro for a hand with the process~!" Mikado's laugh was the only loud noise that entered the place, but it doesn't seem like everyone else was in their right mind to care due to the amount of shock they've gotten.

"Even though you're just a brain, you're technically still alive, for now. You're not dead, don't worry!" Mikado cackled out, but it doesn't seem like the luckster is listening with open ears right now. The shock had fully put him in a stiff trance as he tried to process through everything.

"He's only a brain-- yet Maeda's alive!?" Teruya asked, wide eyed shock.

"Theoretically, if a constant supply of nutrients is maintained to a brain, it will still be able to function as normal. He's able to think, but however, he won't be able to see, speak, or even HEAR!" The wizard cackled after the explanation. Tsurugi was frozen still as that image replayed in his mind. Yuki... nothing more but a brain. Nothing more but just the bare last piece of him. Just this brain.

He thought he's seen it all.

He's killed his own father, he's caused the death of his best friend and seen his said father eat the splattered remains of that friend.

And yet, this was the biggest thing that shook him to his core.

"He's barely human at this point!" The wizard mused with a palm out, giggling.

"....this..." The voice of the luckster could finally be heard. Small, quiet. His pale as snow skin from the colour drained from his face mixed with his wide, purely shock filled eyes of pure horror.

"Can't... be.... real....."

"...That brain.... is me...?"

Suddenly, with such a violent twitch and tremble, the luckster lowered his head to intensely stare at his hands, then holding himself with a shaky voice.

"N-no... I can... I can feel my hands..! ...m-my body... that's not me... that brain... no..." a completely anxious display clouded the ginger's entire figure. The wizard chuckled gleefully at Yuki's easily shattered pathetic display.

"Didn't we already talk about this? Your current body is just an avatar. More specifically, it's a brain based avatar." The wizard explained lightly, like he's merely just talking about the weather.

"That's the reason he's able to feel those senses." Mikado states as he turns to the others.

"Yuki's body in the real world however, is a 1500g chunk of meat!!" The wizard said with another round of hysterical laughing, like this was just some light prank he's pulled on someone.

"Bullshit... that's gotta be bullshit!" Tsurugi roared out. Fingers dug into the pedestal he's standing on, close to ripping through his gloves.

"I saw Maeda-- I SAW HIM! He was in one of the Neo World Program's Pods--" Tsurugi retorted, raising his fist at the wizards direction.

"You think you saw Maeda?" The wizard hummed as he raised a brow. Tsurugi winced as he eyed Mikado, who's expression turned annoyed.

"Oh dear Tsurugi, why don't you recount the timeline of events that we talked about."

"What?" Tsurugi raised a brow. Suspiciously gazing at the wizard.

"Didn't we already confirm that I knew that Utsuro was alive? That I possibly used his braindead state to put him into the simulation and merge his brain with Yuki's within this avatar? That I worked with Syobai to lure you three into the building? How do you think I could've done this? To make you believe you've seen Yuki with your very own eyes?" Mikado raised a brow. The answer was so obvious that it was basically right in front of them. There was only denying, denial of the inevitable.

"You... used Utsuro's body in order to trick everyone into believing that Maeda was there..." Yamato spoke after long beats of silence. That's what happened. Cold ice water was the feeling within the trial as he continued to speak.

"...which means you've took his brain out even before that... maybe even immediately after you've taken Utsuro's body..." Yamato shivered at this revelation. Everyone was stunned speechless. Tsurugi especially. He could barely remember the last time he'd felt such cold horror. Utsuro's reveal in the original game? Possibly.

"Hmmph, not bad, it did take over four years to set everything up." Mikado laughed as he raised both hands in a prideful sly manner.

"I'm telling the truth! Yuki is not accessing the Neo World Program with connectors like you all... he's within the device! His brain is integrated into the machine itself!!" Mikado gave out a loud cackle.

"Maeda's brain is integrated into the Neo World Program itself!?" Rei's brow slowly furrowed, eye twitching slightly from the cracking anger she's experiencing.

"What have you done--!?" She shouted out exasperatedly. Strong disbelief in the horror she's witnessing.

"Oh, without doing so, I would never have been able to realize the power of Divine Luck inside the virtual world!" Mikado covered half his face with his hand in a magic driven manner. Glitched eye widely staring out to the professor.

"Yuki and Master Utsuro's brains have similar internal structures, I couldn't access Utsuro's brain and his Divine Luck due to his braindead state, so I decided on the next best thing. Since I planned to do everything inside this virtual world, I didn't need Yuki's body outside--!" Mikado says with a wide grin, flicking his wrist dismissively as if he's taking pride in this work of art of his.

"So, I simply destroyed it, leaving only the brain behind." The innocence in Mikado's tone was obvious, but it definitely had passive aggressive undertones. It was simply the truth, and the truth that they had to accept.

"Of course, since I don't have a body myself, I asked someone to help me with this~."

Tsurugi seethed with a thin exhale, not even caring about any spit that ended up exiting as he did. The hold on the pedestal tightened as his rage exceeded.

"SYOBAI HASHIMOTO--!!"

The captain slammed his fists on the wood once again.

Yuki was still stunned silent in place. He was a brain? Simply just a brain? Nothing else. All for the sake of reviving the same person that hurt him. The same person that ruined his life.

Did the others know? He can't even think properly anymore. This was overwhelming. Too overwhelming for him.

"That bastard..." Teruya hissed, squeezing his eyes closed as his fist trembled with his scarf in his hold. Brows furrowed deeply.

"It's obvious~! The biological part was done by Ms Kokoro, and Syobai helped with the technical part!" Mikado gleefully explained as if this was the biggest achievement of his life. It made sense, this whole thing was orchestrated by him. Yuki's life has been further ruined to nothing because of him.

"I mean it's obvious why Syobai didn't mention anything to him. Other than the fact that he was working under me, he also knew that you'd never come back if you found out that Yuki was basically dead! And I needed you three especially. Phuhuhuhu~!!" Mikado's laugh echoed through the trialgrounds. Brittle and icy. Everyone fell into a silence for long moments.

"...No... No it can't be... that's... not my body..." Yuki trembled. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to. They failed. That was the true reality that was seeping through him. They couldn't get to Yuki faster. They failed to track him, to find him. To save him. Unable to even save his body, and have the audacity to say they care?

"Maeda! He's lying-- he's-- he's got to be lying--! I'll save you-- I--" Tsurugi's words fell on deaf ears. There was no use. The tears wouldn't stop flowing from the luckster's eyes as he trembled.

"It's a good plan, don't you think? A braindead body, and a living brain! Once I fully revive Utsuro into that avatar there, I'll simply use the Override feature to push Utsuro's brain back to life! Then I'll discard you like trash. Isn't it a miracle, Divine Luck itself that despite being braindead, his body, muscles, organs and even his nerves are all still functional! So perfect for my plan. Yuki's purpose in this is simply a stepping stool to bring back Master Utsuro and Divine Luck back to life!" The wizard nudged his shoulder to the direction of the limp body cushioned in a red throne. Afterwards then giving a laugh as he raised his hands out.

"Fixing the "software", the brain, and making it run again, it should be able to function once again! Simply like a computer needing its little chips cleaned out or replaced!" Mikado gleefully hummed, then crossing his fingers over another as he rested his head on it, elbows resting on the pedestal in front of him as he leaned.

"And no matter what you do, there's nothing! You can press repeat, you can continue this school of killing, saving your personality here, but even if you escape, there would be NOTHING for you out there Yuki! Nothing can save you. You're just going to be digging yourself a hopeless grave full of despair." Mikado hummed, soothingly, comfortingly in such a sickening way.

Yuki's eyes were disfocused, thoughts clouded. Was there any point in trying? Was he supposed to trust these "friends" of his? Should he even try?

Why?

Why,

Why,

Why?

"Maeda!" Tsurugi called out after cursing under his breath. He needed to get through to Yuki. He knows that there's a way, there HAS to be a way. There has to. He needs to believe. To cling to whatever last hope he has left.

He knows it's wrong, what he's done is wrong, what felt right wasn't right. He can't let Utsuro come back. He can't risk it. After what that monster has done, he can't risk another evil like him returning into the world with his Divine Luck.

"Listen to me! Don't believe him!! If Utsuro comes back-- the entire world will be in danger. No matter what, we must stop that!"

Merely Yuki's sobs were the only one that could be heard throughout the trialgrounds. He clung to himself tightly, trying to reassure himself of everything.

"It's always about Utsuro... isn't it..." Yuki's voice was small and fragile. Trembling as he choked a sob. Tsurugi's expression softened at this. He wanted to apologize, after all this. For the way he's treating and acting for this. Mikado pushed them to this point, pushed everything on Yuki knowing how unstable he is mentally right now.

"...Maeda--" Yamato called out softly, attempting to reason with him.

"I'm tired... of... this world... ... so sick of everything..." Yuki cried out softly, unable to contain his overwhelming agony. A despair that felt so powerful, unlike anything he's ever felt before.

"Maeda it's gonna be oka--" Teruya tried to reason instead, but once again Yuki wasn't listening at this point. His mind was too shattered by the truckload of information the wizard has bombed him. This must be his plan, using Yuki's vulnerability as impulsive desire in order to give him a fake happiness.

"...why... me...? Why do I have to carry the burden...?" Yuki sniffed, his sobs were becoming more noticeable at this point.

"Why is everything down to me...?" Yuki sobbed, arms trembling as he did.

"MAEDA!" Tsurugi shouted louder this time, if he could just break through to Yuki--

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME!?" The luckster hunched over and screamed. Screamed his heart out as the tears wouldn't stop flowing. Yes, that was always what had happened. He was blamed in the killing game, suspected and accused for days, starved, called nothing but crazy, and now, they're forcing him to decide. Forcing him to do things. It was always him. He always had to lose, one way or another. He always needed to be overwhelmed with pain and despair.

The silence was loud, deafening. Only the small grin on the wizard's face could be noted of in the vast depressive atmosphere.

"It doesn't matter what any of you say. In the end, Yuki is just an ordinary boy. His mind and spirit has already been shattered. He can no longer think rationally." Mikado mused in a quiet matter-of-factly tone.

"YOU DROVE HIM TO THIS POINT YOU SICK BASTARD!" Tsurugi screamed at the wizard, who simply raised a brow.

"Oh, did I?" Mikado hummed, crossing his arms.

"Was deliberately leaving out the details of Yuki's life until absolutely backed into a corner my fault?" Mikado questioned. Tsurugi jolted, it was true, he wanted to protect Yuki by avoiding these talks. The only thing this created was more pressure of information in such a short span, the ginger couldn't process it properly.

Tsurugi couldn't come up with a proper response his mouth opened to move, but nothing came out. He was stuck, stunned. His posture significantly wavered as he was panicking internally, unable to find a way to snap the luckster out of this trance.

Silence.

Nothing but the sounds of Yuki's broken sobs.

"......Yuki."

Frozen. Yuki's breathing stilled.

Everyone froze in place. Suddenly now snapped to the direction of one of the empty pedestals.

"....mom...?" Yuki wasn't thinking. Wasn't processing. Nothing. Nothing was working. His whole mind felt like it was on fire.

"SANNOJI--!! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Tsurugi yelled at the wizard who stood there smugly, crossed arms as the captain pointed at the older woman who looked similar to Yuki, smiling softly.

"A glimpse of Utopia!" Mikado stated with a sly smile on his face. A finger rested by his lips as he's done so.

"Just in case you didn't believe it yourself, I thought I'd show you it first hand~" the wizard chuckled Yamato hissed as he tried to boot up his ui once again, but to no avail, glitching and dissolving once more. The inventor continuously cursed under his breath as Teruya was practically shouting at him to try and get the illusion to disappear.

"It's okay, Yuki... you don't need to burden all of this." The women hushed in a soft comforting tone. Yuki's sobs were fully slowly quieting, but his trembles didn't cease.

"..mom... mom...!" Yuki sniffed, gaze only focused like this was the only clarity the ginger could see in this room.

"It's alright, you've done your best. It's okay to have a rest..."

Mikado laughed at this pathetic display, a palm out as if to explain a certain topic like a teacher teaching their students.

"What Yuki is really looking for is 'comfort'. It would make sense that after everything you all put on him, all this pressure on him, he can't really trust you people anymore. He can't trust anyone in this wicked world anymore. Nothing more than his parents. That's merely all he wishes for, other than normalcy."

"..mom--!... I... I can't... do it anymore..." Yuki sniffed, trying to stop his overflowing tears.

"MAEDA! This isn't real! It's just a fantasy!" Tsurugi shouted out to the luckster, stepping out from his pedestal to go to the ginger, but suddenly being stopped by something. He couldn't see what it is for a moment. As his eyes adjusted, light waves were glistening colors all over the side of the trial where Yuki was at. Horror was immediately overtaking him.

"Ah, ah, ah. How about we return to our seats?" Mikado hummed as Tsurugi attempted to break down this newly created barrier. The others got up and attempted to do the same from the other side, but to no avail. Yamato was still trying to push through the errors, but nothing, nothing wanted to work.

"Well, whatever. I'm very hurt that you said this is merely a fantasy. This is reality!" The wizard mused as he watched everyone's feeble attempts at breaking the barrier that encased both him and the luckster's sides of the courtroom.

"There's no escape. From the moment you entered the Neo World Program, it became your new reality." Mikado hummed in glee.

"Maeda--!! Stop it Maeda! I know it's hard but you need to fight it!" Teruya called out as he continued to try and punch through the barrier, which simply made a low hum.

"Maeda-- don't give up! You already know Sannoji can manipulate the virtual world-- don't you...!? She isn't real...!" Rei sounded the most panicked she's ever been as she joined Teruya in trying to break down the barrier. Yuki didn't budge. He continued to talk softly to this fake illusion of his mother. Nothing, he couldn't tell anything apart anymore.

"...Why are you trying so hard to deny reality?" Mikado groaned out, annoyed at their useless attempts.

"This is your reward, you've been fighting so hard for a better world. Especially you, Tsurugi." Mikado stated, making Tsurugi's blood boil even more than it already has.

"Why would I live in such a fake world?! That's denying all the evil that's left in the real one!" Tsurugi barked back, as much as that answer came out almost instinctively, his main focus has been on Yuki. He needed to stop him, to stop the luckster from making this grave mistake.

"To forget everything and just be happy. You could even perhaps... spend time with a lost friend." Mikado had a sly smile as he spoke out those last parts.

"Wouldn't you rather be in a reality where they're with you again? A peaceful world." Mikado hummed.

From stray appearing purple lines of code, the captain's eyes widened as loafers appeared by the corner of his eyes.

Snapping his direction back at what was appearing, he could feel himself break into cold sweat as his entire body trembled.

"Kinjo...!"

A boy with a pale brown vest, ginger hair and soft sweet smile. Smiling at him like the bright sunlight.

"No... no-- no-- no-- NO-- NO!!" Tsurugi screamed as he scrambled back against the barrier.

"Kinjo!" Yamato called out with a panic, staring at the same ordinary boy as well.

"SHUT UP-- SHUT UP-- THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING-- NO-- THIS WON'T BE HAPPENING-- I CAN'T LET IT!!" Tsurugi screamed as he tore his gaze away. Forcing his own desires low down to the ground as he turned back to try and pry his way to the luckster.

The one who is real.

Him. Truly him.

"...it doesn't matter what you say. The decision is all up to Yuki." Mikado sighed.

"Now, Yuki. Time to make your decision."

"Yuki... are you ready?" Soothing, loving false warmth in that woman's voice. Yuki smiled at her so warmly. That fake illusion, that twisted reality.

It's fake. It's all fake. Everything. Tsurugi can't let it become reality. He can't let it end like this.

He needs to get to Yuki.

The REAL Yuki.

He needs to get to him.

He needs to.

HE NEEDS TO!

"...yes... mom..."

Cracks formed before shattering in multiple pieces. Sputtering, the barrier collapsed like glass. Everything moved in slow motion. Yuki was so near. So, so near, almost close enough to touch, but too far out if reach. He tried.

He tried to reach, desperately extending his arm out as far as he could as he tried to get there. He tried desperately to run to him, help him, save him.

"YUUKKIIIIIIII----!!!!"

click