#naetoshi

Naegi fiddled with the pin on his jacket—the normal pin, on his normal jacket, in his normal outfit—as he stood in front of Hope’s Peak, looking left and right, seemingly waiting for somebody—but he looked incredibly nervous, not like himself at all during the past few months at the school, when he’d been cranky and scowling at every person that came near him. As such, the students steered a wide berth around him, though a couple cast concerned glances over to him.

The worst part was, he shivered as soon as he spotted any of them. For he’d seen them cower before him, heard them scream in agony, reveled over their dead corpses—and now they were walking, perfectly healthy. It was enough to make anyone tremble in confused emotion. Finally, footsteps approached him, and the broken boy hopefully glanced up—to see him. He looked as confused as Naegi was and still a little bit angry, but there was also relief mixed in the expression as well. It was definitely Satoshi Mochida.

Naegi couldn’t speak for a second. After all, the memory of holding the limp body in his hands was still fresh in his mind, and here Satoshi was, alive and healthy. It was a miracle, like it had all been a bad dream. He couldn’t help himself—he rushed forward to close the small gap between them and threw himself onto his surprised boyfriend.

“I-I-I’m s-so sorry,” He choked out, unable to stop the tears from falling. He clutched onto him, trying to suppress the sobs. He was just so relieved to see him alive, to see him well, and the apology wasn’t just for his plans—it was for everything. I’m sorry I did all this. I’m sorry you got to see me like that. I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you…

For a horrible split second, Naegi first thought that Satoshi wouldn’t forgive him. But then, he felt the arms wrap around him as well, and another sob escaped him as he redoubled his grip, Satoshi’s hands slowly and calmly stroking his back as he let out muffled wails, not even caring about the people staring at them. He heard Satoshi’s murmuring voice, whispering to him that it was okay, no harm had been done.

It was like a dream come true. Everybody… everybody was alive and healthy, the despair would never come to the world, it was all okay and amazing and wonderful. He’d already sent out the command through the secret allies he’d gathered to stop the mission of despair, under the guise that it was too dangerous. There were still small riots going on around, but now… now they wouldn’t grow into the horrible despair that he’d orchestrated.

After a few minutes, Naegi’s sobs finally quieted, and he lifted his head a little from Satoshi’s shoulder, his breathing still irregular, but his tears dried out. But he still held so tightly to Satoshi, still partly in shock over the fact that he was alive. That everyone he’d killed was alive. That he could relive his life, with no mistakes…! He could mend his bond with his classmates, he could become friends with all of them, he could become the happy, optimistic person he once was—

A bloodcurdling scream broke him from his thoughts, and Naegi froze in place.

In the next moment, Satoshi had pulled away, staring in horror at a point behind the would-be mastermind, where more screams resonated throughout the air. Naegi was almost too scared to turn around, almost knowing exactly what he would see.

His worst nightmares, replayed in real life in front of him.

Figures, spattered with the blood that Naegi had so often seen and wearing masks with that horrible oh-so-familiar black-and-white face, sprinted through the campus, taking swings at any poor student still standing. Screaming teenagers rushed past the two boyfriends—but there was no escape. Naegi knew. His mission was going exactly how he’d planned—and that was terrifying.

The next second, a firm hand was on his shoulder, and he was spun around into the furious face of his boyfriend. And that was probably even more terrifying than anything.

“What the hell is this?!” Satoshi yelled, gesturing to the scene behind them, the anger and hurt plain on his face—of course, he thought Naegi had betrayed him just to let down his guard.

“N-No—I-I—I t-told th-them t-t-to call it off…!!” Naegi choked out in a panic, his eyes wide and his face taut with fear. “I-I s-swear, I-I d-didn’t l-lie to you, S-Satoshi!!” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, shaking his head as he felt tears burn again at his eyes.

After a bit, he felt the grip on his shoulder loosen, and he tentatively opened his eyes again, desperately searching Satoshi’s face. The other boy had a look of doubt and still anger, but his eyebrows furrowed as he saw how serious Naegi was, and he let out a sigh. “… Fine. But then, explain to me—“

Another scream cut them off, and Naegi whirled around again to see his once-followers advancing on them, chasing after any Super High-School Level trying to run. Fear shot through Naegi, and without thinking, he grabbed Satoshi’s wrist and started to run, hearing a cry of surprise from his boyfriend. He didn’t care. He just knew that he had to get Satoshi away, he had to protect him like he couldn’t last time—

But he drew up short. Out in the street where Hope’s Peak was situated, a couple bears that he knew all too well popped out of the bushes, starting to run towards them with claws outstretched. Naegi almost screamed in panic—no, no, no! They weren’t supposed to be activated until later on! Oh, god, now even his plans weren’t going right, and he was completely helpless.

He felt his legs start to move again, half-dragging Satoshi along. He knew he could outrun the Monokuma—they weren’t very fast, after all, which was one of their design flaws. The question that only burned in his mind was how many other things would go wrong—how many other tricks would be pulled against him as he tried to save the one he loved?

Naegi’s chest felt like it was burning, and his lungs gasped for air, but he couldn’t stop.  Stopping would mean giving up, and no way in hell was he going to do that—not after he’d come so far, not after everything that he’d done. There was still a chance to fix this, there was still a chance that he could save everything.

Without warning, he felt the wrist in his grasp pull suddenly down, and Naegi stumbled backwards, falling harshly to the ground. He frantically looked back, seeing Satoshi collapsed where he’d tripped over a stray rock. In desperation, Naegi pulled on him, but Saotshi only gave a groan. He’d hit his head and was still dazed. Naegi’s panicked gaze traveled from the bruise on his head to behind and in front of them—where more Monokuma were absolutely surrounding them.

Can’t I do something?! Then Naegi gasped. He fished around in his pocket for a frantic second before pulling out the red gem, which started to glow. Come on, transform! I have powers now, or at least that’s what that thing said! I can stop this!

Light burst out of the Soul Gem, engulfing him for a second as his clothes changed and took on a different shape, something attached itself to his wrist, and the gem flew out of his hand and near his eye. Naegi brought a shaking hand up to the bottom of his eye, feeling the lightning-bolt shaped smooth gem that was now there. But there was no time to revel, or even glance at his new outfit for more than a second. He had to protect Satoshi, had to save him like he couldn’t do last time.

But where was his weapon? Was this… shield-circle-thing on his wrist the only thing he had? He reached out to touch it—only to draw back in slight surprise as his fingers touched the hilt of a dagger. Slowly, he reached closer, and pulled a couple knives out of seemingly nowhere. Naegi let out a breath. This, he could work with. He quickly threw the two daggers in his hand towards the bears advancing on him and his boyfriend, hitting one squarely in the eye but missing another. Naegi stumbled backwards, but quickly reacting, whipped out another dagger and threw it with more force and accuracy than he knew he had. It struck another one of the Monokuma he himself had designed, causing it to fall over and malfunction, sparks flying everywhere.

So it continued for a couple minutes, Naegi desperately trying to keep himself and his boyfriend from getting killed by throwing a seemingly endless supply of daggers. Finally, finally, it seemed like the last one had been thrown back and struck down, and the magical teenager almost collapsed in relief. He let himself catch his breath for a few moments, and then, hearing a sound behind him, he realized that Satoshi had finally come to his senses and was getting up. He sheepishly turned to his boyfriend, unsure how to explain his attire.

But he froze in his tracks as a sickening squelch disturbed the air.

Satoshi was standing, yes, but he now stared in shock down at his stomach, where three claws were poking out, blood coating them.

”NO!!!!” Naegi screamed, moving to seize another dagger and move to destroy the Monokuma, stabbing it squarely in the eye as its focus was still on Satoshi. But it was too late. Even as the claws pulled out, Satoshi fell to the ground, and Naegi let out a sob as he dropped to his knees in front of him.

He cradled the body as he had before, sobbing down into the still-warm body. Blood poured out of the wounds and flowed into a sticky puddle beneath them, but Naegi didn’t care. All he cared about was that he’d failed. He’d failed again to protect the one that he’d loved…

“Use the time manipulation device!”

The voice, so sickeningly familiar, reached Naegi’s ears, and he looked up again to see the creature from before, staring at him, still smiling. Naegi gazed furiously back, tears still flowing down his cheeks, not really understanding.

“Turn the circle on the device on your wrist! It will turn back time to the beginning of today!” The rat-like thing said, its tail swishing back and forth.

Naegi glanced down, seeing the circle on the outside of the shield. He gently lowered Satoshi’s body to the ground before shakily reaching over with bloodstained hands and turning the circle.