Chapter Text
The world blurred and spun before Makoto.
Again. It was happening all over again. Maizono. Fujisaki. Mere minutes ago had they found Yamada's body, and now…
"Naegi, he's alive."
Words reached Makoto's ears but stopped short of his brain.
The bloody hammer. The blood trickling from his ear. The mouth gaping but without words, no shouting.
Again. Again. This would never stop. It would go on and on and on until they were all-
"Naegi!"
Makoto jolted. The fog cleared. Invisible needlepoints prickled along his skin as his eyes took in the scene.
Ogami's eyes bored into his. He broke eye contact quickly.
“He’s alive,” she repeated. A vein bulged on her forehead. Hina would tell her to unclench her jaw and roll out her shoulders if she was up here, but she was downstairs with…
Now Makoto saw the rise and fall of Ishimaru’s chest, those wide eyes slowly rolling to gaze at Makoto. Goosebumps prickled upon Makoto’s arms.
Fukawa lay on her back, feet propped up on Ogami’s thigh as she knelt between the two. She didn’t appear to be injured, but Ishimaru…
Makoto took a deep breath, swallowing back bile at the dent the blood was still pouring from. He glanced at the hammer, taking note of the number 4. It was huge.
“I sent Togami to get something to transport Ishimaru to the infirmary so we can keep him lying flat,” Ogami explained.
“I can’t imagine Togami was happy about that,” Makoto croaked, and Ogami grunted derisively.
A long pause. Her face twisted into something that made him want to run away, and she growled, "Why is it Justice Hammer 4? What happened to 3?"
"Yamada. He’s dead."
She gave him a strange look, and an unspoken question hung in between them.
Why was there no announcement?
Silence again. He took a shaky step forward, then another, and kneeled down by Ishimaru and Ogami.
“We thought he was dead. I had to give him CPR,” she explained. “Fukawa… well, you know how she is with blood. She’s physically fine, though.”
Makoto nodded along. He watched Ishimaru’s mouth open and close in odd chewing-like motions, and his eyelids flutter.
“Ishimaru? You need to stay awake,” he said nervously. Ishimaru’s shoulder jerked once. Ogami gasped.
“Damn it, was that a seizure?”
“Was it… what?”
He thought a seizure would last longer and look more dramatic. Ishimaru’s eyes closed, but his chest continued to rise and fall.
Fukawa sat up. Her eyes landed on Ishimaru, then fluttered shut. She fell back.
“What do we do? I don’t know how to- we’re not doctors,” Makoto babbled. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, but he was sure that Ishimaru was going to die as they sat there uselessly.
Even so, a small but hugely annoying voice in the back of his head nagged on about how if he, Ogami, and Fukawa were here, and Celeste and Hina were with Hifumi, and Togami was getting supplies (well, he was supposed to be), and Kirigiri and Hagakure were missing… who was investigating? If Monokuma decided time was up now, what evidence would they have to present? What conclusion could they possibly draw?
He felt guilty that he was sitting around instead of investigating. He felt more guilty that he was thinking like that when his friend lay here half-dead.
And he felt horrible knowing that he hadn’t been much of a friend to Ishimaru these past few days.
“Damn it, damn it all,” Ogami murmured. And then she roared, “MONOKUMA!”
Before Makoto could even begin to wonder what in the world she was thinking, an all too familiar grating cartoon voice piped up behind him. "Yeeeeeees, you called?"
Makoto looked over his shoulder. Where did that loathsome bear even come from? He just popped up out of nowhere, no trap doors or anything.
This wasn't the time to question it.
"The killer failed," Ogami proclaimed. "Ishimaru is still alive. You will help us keep him that way."
Makoto went rigid. How would Monokuma react to such a bold demand? But Monokuma just tilted his head to one side and laughed that irritating laugh.
"Puhuhuhu. So I'm going to help Ishimaru? And why would I do that?"
The vein looked like it might pop right out of Ogami's forehead. She squared her shoulders, and the thought of her ending up like poor Junko helped him find his voice.
"Don't you think that would make the game more interesting?" he babbled. Monokuma turned his soulless eyes to him. "And how will the blackened react to see- to see the intended victim alive?"
He didn't dare look at Ogami, unwilling to see the judgment on her face.
Monokuma tilted his head to the other side. "Hmmm, that does sound more interesting! Come on, boys, it’s time to unsteam a vegetable!”
“Wait, no!” Ogami cried, but two more Monokumas popped up seemingly out of nowhere and seized Ishimaru as the first made whooping noises that sounded vaguely like ambulance sirens. They tossed him onto a stretcher and rushed him out the door as Ogami and Makoto watched in horror. She jumped up and ran out after them, and Makoto tried to keep up through the physics lab and out the door. But when they got to the hall, there was no sign of the bears or Ishimaru.
What they did find was Celeste, who Ogami very nearly crashed into. Celeste gasped and reeled back, a hand flying to her lips in surprise. When the shock left her face, her eyebrows knitted together.
“What has happened? Did you see something that surprised you?” she asked.
“We, um…” Makoto gestured vaguely. How could he even explain something like this? But he stopped.
"Celeste," he murmured. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Aren't you supposed to be waiting in the nurse's office?"
A pause. Celeste frowned and clasped her hands together. “S-something has… come up."
"Hifumi's death?" Ogami asked. It was almost startling how a voice so gentle could come from a girl of her stature.
"Well… that is not all." Celeste took a deep breath. "It is gone."
"Huh? What's gone?" Makoto asked.
"It has disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
Annoyance bubbled inside of him. Would she stop talking in cryptic riddles?
"Yamada's body has disappeared!" she bellowed suddenly.
"You're… you're kidding," Makoto said. Begged, really.
Celeste shook her head, expression somber.
"What the heck is happening here?" Ogami muttered.
So they rushed to the nurse’s office, Makoto nearly tumbling down the stairs in his rush. If the blackened had come back for Yamada’s body, was Ishimaru at risk?
That was, if the blackened could even find Ishimaru.
He was out of breath by the time they got to the nurse’s office. Ogami was so fast… But he hardly had time to catch his breath before the sight overtook him. Sure, Celeste had told them, but seeing the empty spot where Hifumi once lay with his own eyes...
But it was the look on Hina’s face that filled him with dread. Ogami rushed to her side and wrapped her up in her strong arms.
“Me and Celeste went to the bathroom… But we were only gone for like a minute!” she cried. “But then when we got back…”
Celeste cut her off.
“This must be the work of the culprit. They must have come and carried the body away,” she proclaimed. “They must really be enjoying this. Enjoying the sight of us standing around, frightened and confused… We’re all going to die here. We’re all going to die here, just like those guys died!”
She was shouting toward the end. Everyone stared at her, mouths agape.
Why did her words feel so strange to Makoto?
“Um, you girls should know,” Makoto fumbled over his words, shaking the strange feeling off, “there’s been another attack.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Hina asked, voice rising a pitch.
“Ishimaru. He was attacked with Justice Hammer 4,” Ogami explained. Makoto sneaked glances at Celeste as Ogami spoke. “He’s badly injured, but, as far as we know, still alive.”
“As far as you know?” Celeste asked. No change in facial expression or voice.
“Monokuma took him for… treatment, I suppose. I want to find him, but…”
“But we need to find Yamada and continue investigating,” Makoto finished for her.
He felt awful saying it. He was leaving Ishimaru. Again.
No, if they didn’t investigate, the blackened would win, and Ishimaru would die along with everyone else.
Makoto didn’t even know where to begin looking. And he was terrified that wherever they found Yamada, there would be another body with him.
Ogami confirmed Fukawa was all right, and Makoto was struck with guilt again as he realized he had completely forgotten about her and left her in the physics lab’s equipment room. But after Ogami let him know Fukawa was resting in her dorm, he was somewhat happy she was out of the way.
He tried a few rooms but found nothing of note. Eventually he opened the door to the art classroom and was surprised to see...
“Togami? Where have you been?” he asked.
“What do you think?” Togami scoffed. “I’m investigating, unlike the rest of you fools.”
“Aren’t you going to ask if Ishimaru is okay?”
“Has he been able to provide any help with the case? No? Then he is of no concern to me?”
Makoto frowned, but there was no time to get annoyed with Togami.
He found himself gravitating toward the door to the repository. It had been locked before, but now the doorknob turned easily in his hand.
Oh.
He knew Yamada was dead, and seeing his body a second time… He was disgusted by the rush of relief he felt rather than anything he should have. Now the investigation could progress.
Ding-dong!
What?
Hina, Sakura, and Celeste came rushing in after the announcement of the location. Everyone shared similar looks of confusion. Why was the announcement playing now?
Monokuma popped up and tossed the Monokuma File up into the air, clearly expecting them all to lunge for it -- but no one moved. “I was going to give it over when you found the body the first time, but I thought something might happen.”
Makoto bent and picked the file up off the floor. But before he could open it, Togami snatched it out of his hands.
“Now make sure to investigate with all of your mental might and prepare for the class trial! Okay, see ya later!” Monokuma cackled, and he was gone before Makoto could ask about the belated announcement or why he thought something would happen.
Makoto peered around Togami’s shoulder, but he couldn’t focus on the file on his hands, glancing at Hina as she pumped on Yamada’s chest.
“Yamada, come on!” she screamed. Makoto couldn’t bring himself to say that he thought her efforts were wasted. She seemed to come to the same realization and stopped in favor of cradling his head as she sobbed over him. “Who would do this? WHY?”
His chest ached at this display. He had to look elsewhere, and his eyes found the wooden hammers hanging on the wall, all different sizes.
He hardly heard Celeste and Togami bickering over something or other as he exited the repository and the classroom.
Investigate. Put your mind to the investigation. Think about the rest later.
He nearly missed it when he walked through the main hall. It took a moment for it to register, and then he raced back to the pink doors of the nurse’s office. There was a paper taped to the door that wasn’t there before, with a doodled Monokuma holding a finger to his mouth and a note reading:
Shh! Patients resting.
Did that mean…?
He opened the door and rushed to Ishimaru’s bedside. He was perplexed by the sight. He didn't know much at all about medicine or head injuries, but the placement of the bandages looked odd. And while wiry black hair poked out of gaps in bandages on one side of Ishimaru's head, bald scalp showed through on the other.
"Do you know trepanation is the oldest known medical procedure?"
Makoto jumped. He spun around to see Monokuma in doctor's scrubs.
"Trepanation?" he repeated.
"The drilling of a hole in the skull," Monokuma explained gleefully, and Makoto swallowed back bile. "Sometimes it was used to treat head injuries and is a basis for modern treatments of intracranial pressure. It was also done in cases of quote-unquote 'possession' so that the demon could escape. Maybe that Kiyondo Ishida has escaped out his noggin!"
"You-you didn't." Makoto's voice was little more than a squeak.
"Puhuhu! Ishimaru is so scholarly. Don't you think he'll appreciate partaking in history like so?"
When Makoto could only stare, a hand pressed firmly over his mouth, Monokuma cackled and disappeared. Makoto turned back to Ishimaru. Wide eyes looked into his, pleading.
Was Ishimaru awake during the process?
Makoto took Ishimaru's hand and squeezed it.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he murmured.
"N-nuh…" Ishimaru mumbled, and Makoto snapped to attention. He watched Ishimaru's mouth try to form words. "Nuh fot."
"Oh, yeah," Makoto murmured, nodding along. He had no idea what Ishimaru was trying to say. The crease that formed between Ishimaru's thick eyebrows told him Ishimaru knew he was just being humored.
"We're going to find who did this to you," Makoto told Ishimaru.
Whoever did this to his friend… he would find them. He had to.
"I, um, I have to get back to investigating, okay? So we can find who did this."
He quickly excused himself, going out the door without sparing Ishimaru another glance. He kept walking forward. He had to find who did this. He could make it right.
He couldn't.
His chest ached. He couldn't breathe.
As selfish as it was, the worst part of this was the suffocating guilt that wracked every fiber of his being. He wasn't a friend to Ishimaru. He hadn't checked on him once since Mondo's death. He turned a blind eye and hoped the Ishida thing would resolve itself.
When was the last time he ate? Was he sleeping? Makoto didn't know these things.
If he'd kept a better eye on Ishimaru, if he'd checked on him, if if if…
Then maybe Ishimaru wouldn't have fallen into the blackened's trap. Maybe he'd be walking and talking. Maybe…
Togami strode toward him, that usual impatient look on his face. He stood before Makoto and crossed his arms.
"So this is where you were," he said. "I've been looking for you."
"You have…?"
"I wanted to thank you. Not that you meant to, but you ended up making this little game of ours very interesting indeed."
Makoto stared at Togami. He didn't say a word. He couldn't begin to try to figure out what the hell Togami was talking about… or care to.
"You should go to Hagakure's room." Togami phrased it like a suggestion, but his tone told Makoto that this was not up for debate. "Oh, and let me give you this."
Makoto took the note from Togami, looking at the piece of evidence. A note from Hagakure; a request to meet in the dining hall.
He could only nod along as Togami discussed this note and called it a trap.
As far as he knew, Hagakure was the only one who ever checked on Ishimaru. He had mentioned it a few times but Makoto hadn't paid it much mind.
The only person who cared about Ishimaru when it truly mattered… had he really done this? Was it a ploy to get Ishimaru to trust him?
Makoto had no answers. All he could do was proceed with the investigation. He could be a better friend after the trial.