Chapter Text
Ryota Mitarai
Why did I leave them?
Why didn’t I tell Yukizome-Sensei who she was up against?
Why am I such a coward?
Ryota was running across the campus of Hope's Peak Academy, the school he was too much of a coward to attend. He knew he couldn’t do anything to stop her but still, why was he being a coward.
I need to find someone, tell someone. Those thoughts were quickly washed away and replaced by pessimism. What if I get them hurt, or killed, or worse. His mind flicked to Tsumiki-san. The technique he created to instill hope into those who watched his anime had been twisted for Enoshima Junko’s despair and had already infected the Nurse. But still, the most terrifying part was that man, he heard Enoshima refer to him as Izuru Kamukura, was that his name? It couldn’t be, wasn’t that the founder’s name?
Lost in thought, Ryota slipped face first into the concrete path he was running across. The rain battered down against his back. He tore his face up, touching his fingers to the warm blood dripping from his nose. When he looked forward, he saw a group of reserve course students who had snuck onto the campus. They quickly noticed The Animator and they charged at him with fury. He tried to get up and run but he froze. The students were getting closer and all that he could do was stare. Rain pelted down into his face as the students reached him.
One student, seemingly their leader, stepped forward and grabbed him by his neck. “Talent isn’t going to save you now”. Ryota felt a tear roll down his cheek. The student holding him let out a laugh, and with that, punched him in the gut. Ryota started to choke so when the student released him he tried to breathe. A student kicked him in his head before he could breathe out, Ryota hit the ground, face in a puddle of water.
When he tried to lift his head to breathe, the leader took his foot to the back of The Animator's head leaving him with a mouthful of water. The students formed a circle around him and started kicking. Is this really how I die? he thought . Alone, beaten and forgotten? Is my teacher in danger because of me? Is my entire class in danger because of me? The entire world in danger because of me? Because of my anime?
The lack of oxygen started getting to him, taking in desperate breaths of water. As he began to lose his senses, he felt the pressure on the back of his head lifted and the kicking quickly stopped. He slowly lifted his head, coughing up water. Taking in a deep breath, he saw a figure standing over him.
He recognized the figure as Juzo Sakakura, the Imposter had warned Ryota to stay away from Sakakura as he was the head of security around Hope’s Peak and if The Boxer had ever seen The Animator, it could mean expulsion for them both. Either way, Ryota was in a heap right in front of him.
“Get to class, kid, it’s dangerous out here.” Ryota looked around, and saw the reserve course students unconscious around him. The Boxer’s hands were bloody, was that from fighting the students? Ryota tried to get up but the pain was too much. The boxer uttered a curse before slinging the animator over his shoulder. “Why were you even out here?” Why was he out here?
Almost as if the beating knocked some courage into him, Ryota spurted out “Yukizome-sensei.” The Boxer froze. “Yukizome-sensei is in danger… Junko Enoshima has her” Ryota could feel Sakakura’s grip tighten at the name. Did he know her?
“Enoshima? Are you sure?” The Boxer asked, setting Ryota down. Ryota could already feel the courage wearing off, the most he could muster was a curt nod. “Dammit, and you’re sure Yukizome is in danger?” Again, all Ryota could do was nod. “Where?” Ryota tried to talk but couldn’t find his voice, all he could do was raise his finger in the direction of the founder’s statue. The Boxer grit his teeth, before nodding, and turned away from him gripping a phone.
Juzo Sakakura
Dialing Munakata’s number, Juzo knew Enoshima would find a way to let the world know his feelings but still, he had to save Yukizome. He couldn’t let what happened to the student council happen to her. The kid he just saved was almost beaten to death by Enoshima’s reserve course students. Were they just regular talentless reserve course students? It was hard to tell the difference . Munakata soon picked up.
Munakata’s cold but assertive voice came through the speaker. “Sakakura, I told you to talk to me in person about your investigation. This phone line is not safe, I cannot be sure who is listening in.”
“There isn’t time, Enoshima has Yukizome. Meet me at the founder’s statue as soon as you can.” He spurted out. This was a matter of life and death, there was no time for subtlety.
“Yukizome? I’m on my way.” Juzo knew that if Munakata thought The Housekeeper was in danger, he wouldn’t waste a second. He knew about The School President’s feelings for her, so all The Boxer could do was wait.
Juzo turned his attention back to the task at hand. He looked towards the kid he saved. “Who are you, kid?”
“Oh, uh, I-I’m Ryota Mitarai, the, uh, Ultimate Animator. I’m in Class 77-B.” He clutched a napkin to his nose.
“Alright, Mitarai. Come with me, this is all hands on deck.” The Animator was petrified, it looked like he tried to form words but all that came out was air. All he could do was shake his head repeatedly. “You said the founder’s statue, right? You seem to know a lot about this, tell me everything."
With that, The Boxer lifted him over his shoulder and started towards the statue. “W-what do you think I can do, I’m just an Animator!” Juzo tightened his grip around the student’s torso. “Ah, okay I think Enoshima is going to brainwash my class, s-she stole my technology… And implanted it into the video of the student council…” He caught himself on his breath. Juzo wondered about what he meant by ‘his technology’ before he continued. “She already brainwashed Tsumiki-san and she has her sister, Ikusaba Mukuro on her side-”
He stopped abruptly, and started shaking. Juzo looked at him sternly.
“Sh-she also has Izuru K-Kamukura. I was down there when Nagito Komaeda and… And Chiaki Nanami came to find her. Komaeda-kun pulled a gun on her. Kamukura came out and Komaeda turned the gun on him and-” He paused.
“And Kamukura made the gun jam without even touching it. Then he grabbed it and shot Komaeda-kun” Juzo had heard of Ultimate Lucky students but, none were lucky enough to jam a gun without touching it. “After that I ran and came out at the founder’s statue. I saw Yukizome-sensei and told her about Komaeda-kun and Nanami-san.”
By the time he finished, they were at the statue where they waited for Munakata. A few minutes later, he arrived. “Sakakura-san, who is this, why are we meeting here?” Juzo briefly retold The Animator’s story. By the time he finished, Munakata stated. “I saw Nanami leading the rest of her class towards the statue before you called, they must have gone in after Yukizome.” Mitarai let out a horrified gasp when he heard Munakata.
Munakata placed his hand on Mitarai’s shoulder to comfort him before telling him to open the passage. Mitarai placed his hand on the statue and stepped onto a certain brick, opening a staircase descending into the ground. Before he could think, Juzo had started to descend the staircase.
Ryota Mitarai
Why am I doing this? The thought wouldn’t leave Ryota’s head, he couldn’t afford to be a coward right now. I need to save Yukizome-sensei. I need to save my class. I need to stop Enoshima. It wasn’t like he could run, Sakakura was in front of him and Munakata was behind him. The School President’s cold voice caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. “How long did you say this staircase was?”
“Oh, we… We should be almost at the bottom.” He tried to sound happy but Ryota was silently dreading reaching their destination. What if Junko already has everyone under her control? It could be an ambush. They reached a turn in the stairs, to Ryota, it looked the same as the others but Munakata told them to stop.
“Look at the ground, there are scuff marks here.” The Animator looked down and saw tracks in mud, it did look like someone was pushed backwards. Munakata went up to the wall where the tracks ended and pushed it. To Ryota’s surprise, the wall moved. “Someone was pushed through here.” Munakata’s cool analytical personality wasn’t just for show. Sakakura piped up.
“You said you saw Nanami leaving with her class right?” Munakata nodded, Sakakura continued. “Was Tsumiki with them?” Munakata paused for a second before nodding a second time. A chill ran up Ryota’s spine. Did Tsumiki-san betray them? If that was the case, then… Did he betray them?
Munakata announced that it was likely the rest of the class had continued down the staircase before someone was shoved by Tsumiki-san. “Who was pushed?” Ryota found himself asking before thinking it over. Munakata’s sharp voice cut through his words.
“It appears to be the person leading the group, all signs point to Nanami.” As those words left Munakata’s mouth, Ryota felt a hole open up in his stomach. This is your fault. Why did you leave them? You ran. You ran like the coward you are. Your anime brainwashed Tsumiki-san and now everyone is in danger because of you. You are just an animator. Just run, what else could you do?
“W-We need to save them!” Ryota once again spoke without thinking. He turned towards the staircase and started down. He could hear the other two following him. They reached the bottom of the stairs, keeping an eye out for anything. Together, the three headed down the hallway until they reached the room Enoshima had kept him in. Munakata opened the door without hesitation. On the computer where he’d done all his work, he saw the most horrifying thing he could’ve imagined.
Nanami-san was running through a seemingly endless maze. Monitors every two feet with Enoshima Junko’s face laughing at and berating Nanami-san. One thing she said had caught his attention. “With your death, all your friends will fall into despair.” A saw came up from the ground, Nanami-san barely avoided it when another came up tearing through her left arm.
The scream came first, it was the most horrible, blood curdling and painful thing he’d ever heard. Then came the blood, it took a second to register just how much had come out. Nanami fell to the ground clutching her arm. With tears rolling down his face Ryota looked away, he looked to Sakakura and Munakata. They were frozen, their eyes glued to the screen. With his keen eye, he realized that Enoshima was brainwashing them through the feed, that means that she’s probably brainwashing the entire class.
Ryota had built up a tolerance to it’s effects after working on it for his anime so he hadn’t noticed but she was using the most powerful kind he’d designed. Ryota quickly clenched his fist and stormed forward, punching the screen. It shattered and the video stopped playing. It took a second to realize his fist was bleeding but he quickly looked to the other two. After a second, they snapped out of it. “W-We… We need to do something” Ryota shouted with fear.
He was soon running down the hall with the other two following behind him. “Why can’t she just hypnotize them all, why does she need to kill Nanami?” He heard Sakakura ask with desperation.
“The effect d-doesn’t work without proper visuals to go with it. If I wanted to instill hope into someone, I’d need hopeful visuals. If I wanted sadness then I’d show sad visuals. If Enoshima wants despair, then…” Ryota trailed off, trying not to picture what he had seen again. The blood and agony, he pushed it to the back of his mind.
After what seemed like forever, they reached a bright red door at the end of the hall. The sound of commotion came from the other side. Ryota told the other two to look down as he opened the door. The video was playing on screens throughout the entire room, Nanami-san still running, clutching her arm. It was circular with sixteen podiums pointed to the center, opposite the red door, there was a throne with a demented stuffed bear in it. In the center, he saw everyone in there entranced by the video, by his technique, the technique designed for hope turned to despair. He couldn’t let the same happen to his friends.
There was a door to the side of the room. Ryota guided them along the wall, making sure they didn’t see the screens. When the trio reached the door they found it to be another endless hallway, quickly pulling them out. When Ryota closed the door, Munakata spoke up. “Okay, Mitarai, start getting the others out. Sakakura, we’re going to look for Nanami.” Ryota nodded and ran into the first room. He grabbed the first person he reached.
Kyosuke Munakata
As Mitarai ran to the room, Kyosuke and Sakakura ran through another door, it led to another circular room, with unlit monitors. Through a door opposite, they came to another hallway. The pattern continued to alternate for a countless amount of time. Until the screens flickered on. He quickly shut his eyes to avoid a trap.
Enoshima’s face appeared on the screen laughing boisterously. She was wearing a crown and started talking with an obvious accent. “How long did you think you could sneak around without me noticing?” She paused, as if waiting for an answer.
After a few seconds, Sakakura replied. “It seems to have taken you quite a while, honestly.” As he said that, they kicked through another door into another identical room, the monitors still showing Enoshima’s face, she took off the crown. Sakakura continued. “I was wondering when you’d find us.”
Enoshima widened her eyes and took her hands up to her chin. “Is that youuu, Sakakura-chan, and here I wasss, thinking you didn’t want your secret ouuut.” Secret? Kyosuke pushed the thought to the back of his mind, it was probably just her trying to slow them down.
“Where is that sister of yours?” Munakata shouted out. He had been on alert for when she would show up. But, she had been suspiciously absent.
The Despair held up her hand to cover half her face. “She might be on her way to you right now, or she might not, you never know…” Enoshima placed her hands on her hips and yelled out “…Except fucking me, I know where that useless oaf is right fucking now!”
Sakakura whispered “Munakata-san, it’s best just to ignore her. Don’t believe anything she says.” Enoshima seemingly had mushrooms grow out of her head and started muttering. Ten more rooms had passed before Enoshima snapped out of her mood.
When Kyosuke got to the door of another room, Ikusaba had finally made her appearance. Jumping out, and attacking Sakakura, the Ultimate Boxer held off the Soldier long enough for Kyosuke to pull Izayoi Sonosuke’s blade out. He had The Blacksmith craft the sword for him after he was expelled.
The Fashionista’s voice rang out “I told you I knew where that little shit was! Puhuhuhuhu!” With Sonosuke’s blade, he pried the soldier off of Sakakura and together, they fought back against her. “I was wondering, do you wanna know Sakakura’s dirty little secret?” I can’t let myself get distracted from the fight.
“His widdle secwet issss…” Kyosuke and Sakakura had backed Ikusaba into a corner and went to knock her out- “He likes Yukizome-san! Oh wait, that’s not right. He likes Munakata-san!” Irrelevant right now. “ Puhuhuhuhu. And he was going to lie to you, yup, he was gonna tell you he didn’t find any dirt on me. He must be really self conscious about all this.” His mind took a moment to process it. In the half second he paused, Ikusaba lunged at him.
She met Sakakura’s fist in the air and was knocked unconscious. Enoshima’s face flickered off. “Is it true.?” Kyosuke found himself asking. “Sakakura, is it true?”
“Yes. I-I’ve always… Felt this way…” He frowned, tossing The Soldier aside.
“Not that. If you lied… Nevermind, we can discuss this later. Yukizome and her class need our help.” He took off through the hall ahead of him.
Chiaki Nanami
Oh God It Hurts.
oh god it hurts.
OhGodItHurts.
ohgodithurts.
Every part of her body was in agony. Chiaki was limping through the maze, too pained to dodge anything. How long have I been here? Why did Tsumiki-san push me? Why did Yukizome-Sensei…? Her tormentor had stopped appearing, what did that mean? Had her friends stopped her? Are they coming to help her now? Pain seared through her body, her right foot, her left arm, her forehead. She couldn’t see through her right eye. A thin spear came from the ground and through her left leg.
It took all she had to not give up and collapse. She got up and forced herself to walk, every part of her screaming to give up. The black screens flickered. Think of something. Chiaki brought her mind to Hinata-kun, she was sure that the long haired man was him but he acted like he didn’t remember the name. What did Enoshima do to him? Did Enoshima do anything to him?
After what had to be twenty minutes, she looked up and saw a door. It was printed G O A L in golden letters. Her game sense told her this was a trap. But this was the only chance she had. It was risk opening the door, or leave and guarantee dying in a trap filled maze. Dying? She couldn’t die here. She still had games to play. She still had her friends to see. Chiaki fumbled the doorknob, her blood causing it to slip. Another try and she twisted slowly. It flung open automatically.
Everything slowed down, like a killshot on an enemy. Was this her killshot? The cannon fired, the spear flinging out. I failed them: Soda-kun, Nidai-kun, Sonia-san, Mitarai-kun, Owari-san, Hanamura-kun, Saionji-san, Koizumi-san, Tanaka-kun, Pekoyama-san, Kururyu-kun, Komaeda-kun and Mioda-san. I failed Tsumiki-san. I failed Yukizome-sensei. I failed Hinata-kun. The spear was a foot away now. I’m sorry, I’m sorry everyone.
Chiaki saw out of the corner of her eye, a man rushing towards her. It’s too late . She thought. You can’t stop it now. The spear was an inch away from her. She felt his hands on her left shoulder, pain shooting through her wound. It felt as though he was shoving her. He was shoving her. It’s too late anyways, it was about to hit her.
Nothing.
Nothing other than the pain already there. Chiaki looked to her left. The man had a hole through his chest, the spear tumbling across the blood stained ground behind her. Did he just…? Who is he, I don’t even know him. Why did he…? The man was wearing a silver suit with matching silver hair. She wanted to ask, but her voice failed to form words, only leaving her mouth lethargically open.
The man looked down to his chest, then back up at Chiaki. Slowly letting out a frail laugh. “Please… Please help Chisa.” The man fell backwards onto the ground, his foot hit a tile. Spikes shot up from the ground impaling the man everywhere. Chiaki would have clasped her mouth if she had the strength to raise her arms. Is that what Enoshima wanted to happen to me?
Another man Chiaki hadn’t noticed who was wearing a security uniform let out a scream. Were they security? The man who saved her wasn’t wearing a uniform. The spears retracted into the floor. The security guard ran to the other man. “Munakata…!?” Munakata? The name sounds familiar. Did Yukizome-sensei mention him? He did mention her.
Munakata stirred. He’s still alive? Chiaki thought in disbelief. “Saka… kura.” Sakakura? The head of security is Juzo Sakakura. Is this him? Chiaki knew the name but had never met him. Sakakura kneeled down and held Munakata’s hand, tears rolling down his face. “I don’t… hate… you.” Sakakura clenched his hand even harder. “I… forgive… you. Get her… Out.” Munakata stopped moving. Sakakura loosened his grip.
With that, the relieving numbness started to fade from Chiaki. She fell back against the wall, slipping in her own blood. Everything aching. Sakakura looked between the man and her, before rushing to her side. He tried to examine her wounds but clearly didn’t know much about the topic. She couldn’t judge, the most she knew was from the Surgeon series. But that wasn’t important right now.
Chiaki could feel her consciousness fading. She looked to the door opposite the maze and saw a figure standing there. Even silhouetted she knew who it was, it was Hinata-kun. No, not him, he would’ve never shot Komaeda-kun. Right? Sakakura must’ve noticed him too, or at least felt his presence. He turned to protect her as the figure approached. She wanted to tell him to run. When she opened her mouth, blood from her head dripped in, causing her to gag. She remembered reading somewhere that Sakakura was the Ultimate Boxer so seeing him tossed aside thoughtlessly. Whoever this figure is, they are terrifying. They stepped over Munakata’s body.
When he reached Chiaki she braced for impact. If he was working with Enoshima, and Enoshima wanted her dead, then he was probably here to kill her. She closed her eyes, blinking tears and blood out. A few moments passed before he grabbed her. He held her by her back and by her legs. He was holding her gently. Carrying her lightly. Chiaki only had a second to think about it before she faded away.
Ryota Mitarai
After he’d finished getting everyone out, Ryota found himself stuck watching the monitors. The others had been watching for a while but not enough to be brainwashed forever. Nanami was his greatest concern right now. Ryota winced when she was hit through the leg but she still kept going. She was truly the hope of her class.
It was obvious why Enoshima chose her to die.
Eventually Nanami reached a door with the word goal printed in gold. Ryota thought it was an obvious trap but she still reached for the doorknob. As she turned the doorknob the screens all went blank. What? Was that it? Did she make it? Was it not a trap?
All he could do now was wait. He had tied up Tsumiki-san, she was already infected but the others should be fine. After what felt like an hour, the first person woke up. “Wh-what happened? Mitarai-kun?” Komaeda-kun turned towards Ryota “Is Nanami-san okay? That… Despair. It was powerful, but not enough to overcome hope.”
“I’m not sure, she reached a door… It looked like an exit. But as she turned the doorknob, the feed cut.” Komaeda stared at his left hand and started to laugh.
“Without my luck, I’d be worried. But, things often work out for hope.” He said with a grin. How he could smile after seeing a friend go through that, he couldn’t possibly understand. Ryota explained as much as he could before the next person woke up.
“What the fuck? Mitarai? Komaeda? What’s going on?” Kuzuryu-kun exclaimed as he rose. After explaining everything to him, Koizumi-san woke up, then Nidai-kun. Then Pekoyama-san, Owari-san and Tanaka-kun. Eventually everyone was awake, everyone except Tsumiki-san. “I knew that Pig Barf was a traitor!” Saionji-san exclaimed when she heard the news.
“Well, what’s taking so long?” Owari-san asked, “I’m getting hungry.” Eventually, after what felt like hours, though must have only been a few minutes, Tsumiki-san awoke and questioned why she was restrained. When Ryota explained that they knew she was brainwashed and they couldn’t be sure what she would try when she woke up.
“What? Th-that’s not! I d-didn’t!” The Nurse whined. “I w-would n-never do s-something like th-that!”
“Shut up Pig Barf, we know what you did, you traitor! How dare you hurt Nanami-onee!” The Dancer retorted.
“Fine, I did it, but if only you could truly see the beauty of despair” Tsumiki-san’s tone changed and she stopped stuttering “If only this wannabe animator didn’t SCREW EVERYTHING UP! Then you could see the beauty of Enoshima-sama!"
“Mikan-chan is starting to scare Ibuki.” Mioda-san stated
“Nidai-kun, grab Tsumiki-san, let’s get out of here.” Ryota ordered.
“What about Nanami-san? Are we just going to leave her?” Komaeda asked. Ryota had been dreading that question. What if Enoshima wanted them to look for her? What would they find of her if they did? What about Munakata and Sakakura?
“We should get everyone out of here and… And tell some more adults, they can handle it from there.” Ryota was starting to crack, everyone was looking at him. The walls started to close in around him, they needed to leave. “It’s the best chance of everyone turning up alive”
With those last words, the class headed towards the stairs. What if you didn’t save them in time? What if they are just toying with you? What if - a hand clapped his shoulder. The Impostor whispered in his ear. “Thank you Mitarai-kun, you’re… You’re a real hero.”
To Tsumiki-san’s protest, they started up the stairs.