Chapter Text
Shuichi stood in front of his mirror, his hat still on his bed. The ten days were finally over, which meant that Monokuma could finally have his way again. Monodam had already stopped by to apologize, he was one of the nicer Monokubs. The detective wasn't really worried about Monokuma, the ten days locked in the academy gave him a chance to get closer to everyone. He was positive that no matter what Monokuma did, they would all be able to push through and escape.
“We'll be alright.” Shuichi told himself, and left his room. He didn't mind leaving his hat behind, he wanted to take Kaito and Kaede's advice to heart and face his fears. As Shuichi walked towards the dining hall, he noticed that no one was around the courtyard. And come to think of it, Monodam seemed too happy when he had said he wouldn't be leaving his room right away. A shiver went down his spine as he wondered what Monokuma was planning.
He went inside the dining hall, but no one was there. Alarms were going off in Shuichi's head. Everyone would meet there in the mornings, and they would all show up unless one of them slept in. While the detective tried to think of an explanation, he heard the door open. He turned around to see a terrified Monophaine. “G-good morning Saihara!” she said. “Ah, good morning Monophaine.” he replied.
“Where is everyone?” he asked. He noticed how nervous Monophaine looked. “Uh, well, everyone is in the gym. Daddy wanted me to get you. I, uh, heard he has a surprise for you!” Despite Monophaine's attempts to make it sound ok, Shuichi knew that anything coming from Monokuma wouldn't be nice. He did, however, follow Monophaine to the gym. He wasn't going to risk his life by disobeying Monokuma. When the two made it to the gym entrance, Monophaine took a deep breath. “I don't know what Daddy did, but I, uh, know he put a lot of time and effort into it!”
With that, Monophaine opened the doors and kept Shuichi in. As if it was rehearsed, the rest of the Monokubs jumped in front of him and yelled, “Rise and shine, Ursine!” Surprised by their sudden appearance, Shuichi stepped back only to calm down knowing that he'd be ok. Unless the Monokubs had their Exisals, he should be ok. “SORRY-FOR-SCARING-YOU-SHUICHI.” Monodam apologized. He was the only Monokub who befriended Shuichi, the other kubs not caring about the students. “Hell yeah!” Monokid exclaimed. “Now that Saihara's here, we can get this party started!”
“Shuichi's here!?”
Shuichi didn't notice due to the Monokubs appearance, but behind the kubs were the rest of the students. They were all sitting on the floor, staring at Shuichi intensely. Before the detective could respond, Monokuma popped up out of nowhere. “Upupupupu! Your ten days of paradise are officially over! I hope you're prepared for what comes next!”
Shocked, Shuichi glanced at his friends, their glares making him uncomfortable. “What… what did you do to them?” He knew Monokuma would do something when the ten days were over, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly. “Don't worry about them!” Monokuma said. “You should probably start worrying about yourself.”
Monokuma laughed as he left the gym, his kubs following him. Shuichi stood there, not sure what to do. Should he say something? After no one showed intention to speak, Tsumugi spoke. “I think Monokuma was right, Shuichi doesn't look alright.” It took a bit for Shuichi to process that.
“Huh?” he said. He… didn't look alright? The detective was sure he made himself look presentable before leaving his room, but the looks on everyone's faces seemed to tell him otherwise. Kirumi got up from the floor and walked towards Shuichi, but Kaito beat her to him. He grabbed Shuichi by his arms and held him in place. “K-kaito? What are you-”
Looking closer at Kaito, Shuichi realized that the boy's eyes were now bright pink, similar to the color of blood. “Jeez,” Kaito said. “This is why I can't leave you alone for too long. You gotta take better care of yourself!” Shuichi brushed himself off as the astronaut let go of him. Blood eyes, everyone saying he's sick, what did Monokuma do to them? Next thing Shuichi knows, everyone is running up to him, saying things about how he looks sick. He noticed that everyone had those same pink eyes, but that was all he noticed because they were getting too close to him.
And he knows they're too close because he felt Miu grope him. Shuichi yelped and began pushing everyone away. “Miu!” Kaede yelled. “What?! I was making sure he was ok!” Miu replied. He watched the two girls fight, something that they would only do jokingly. Kiibo got in between the two girls when the fight started to escalate. “Please stop this!” he yelled. “You two are only making Shuichi scared.” Those words were what made Kaede stop. She turned to look at Shuichi, who was preparing to back away. “Hey, Shuichi…” she said, her face devoid of emotion.
“You aren't scared, right?”
He didn't answer, and instead chose to run out of the gym. He heard everyone call his name, but he kept going. The detective ran to his room and locked the door. This wasn't how he thought it would be. He needed to figure out what Monokuma did to them.
Luckily for him, Monokuma was sitting on his bed. Shuichi jumped when he saw him, and the bear grinned. “Having fun, Shuichi?” The boy shook his head, double checking the door to make sure it was locked. “I hope you're ready!” Monokuma said. “Cuz I'm gonna explain your situation in detail so that I can end the chapter!”
“Basically, your classmates have been giving a special type of disease called the Despair Disease. That, combined with the power of my flashback lights has made them fall in love with you! And yes, I'm aware you're bisexual, you don't do a good job at hiding it. Everyone believes that you're their “beloved” and I may have told them that you have amnesia so you don't remember who's actually your lover. And you wanna know what the best part is? This is permanent! The disease won't go away even if you and one other student survives! People really wanted this.”
After giving Shuichi the answer he craved for, Monokuma unlocked the door. “By the way, Chabashira, Yumeno, and Hoshi are the only people that aren't affected by the disease. Thought you might wanna know so you don't feel completely hopeless. Have fun!”
After Monokuma left, Shuichi locked the door again just to make sure no one tried to walk in. He needed to take it all in. There was no way that could be true…
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Hidden away in her hiding place, Tsumugi took out her pink contacts. After giving everyone the disease, it was easy for her to blend in. She looked at her special Monopad, which had connection to the outside world. The reviews were looking great, and everyone loved the idea of being able to take part in the motive by using their surrogate. All she had to do was not die, and Danganronpa will surely go on forever.