Chapter Text
Junko sat on the sofa with crossed legs while mindlessly scrolling through her phone. The living room had been decorated: a deep red cloth covered the table, four glasses were placed on it, along with a corresponding bottle of cola, and a small carton of apple juice. Multiple portraits of herself hung on the walls. 'Despairful Get-Together' was written on a banner attached above the entrance, as well as a few red balloons. Pop music played in the background.
6:34 PM.
Her leg began to impatiently bounce. She grumbled. "Where are they?"
Just as she stood up, the sound of glass shattering reverberated throughout the first floor. When she noticed a brick surrounded by glass shards on the beige carpet, she approached and peeked through her now broken window where two of her lovely guests were standing. She grabbed the brick as a sneer played on her lips.
"About time, I've been waiting for over an hour!" The item pitched up and down in her hold.
"Nishishi! Traffic. Literally, two trucks crashed into each other on the highway and blew up!" Kokichi gestured an explosion with his hands.
Ouma Kokichi, the ultimate leader. His agonisingly recurrent lies are impossible to escape; they're like his lifeblood to him. Like he'd faint if he ever told the truth.
Nagito beside him chuckled. "Traffic was a hassle, but thankfully no cars actually exploded! One of our tires popped so we had to stop at a gas station."
Komaeda Nagito, the ultimate lucky student. A weird guy. Can have charming traits but is quite awkward to be around. Expresses disturbing opinions at the wrong moments and is bizarrely obsessed with hope. Seriously, if one could marry words, he would propose to 'hope' on the spot.
"Right." She hunched over the broken frame to greet her other two drop-ins with a wave. "Towa, my adorable little sister! How are ya?"
"Monaca's super happy to see big sis Junko! We all are! Isn't that right, Mister Togami?" the girl in the wheelchair twinkled as she lightly tugged onto the brim of the tall guy's jacket.
Towa Monaca, li'l ultimate homeroom. Oh, how adorable she is! Her cute little eyes and her sweet, baby voice are irresistible! Makes you forget how manipulative she is towards everyone who meets her gaze. Her feigned sweetness has brought several to wrap around her finger without anyone knowing. This lassie is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Byakuya looked away, scoffing, "I only came here because none of you would stop pestering me about it."
Togami Byakuya, the ultimate affluent progeny. He's rich, he's vile, his words bite and hiss at you with every syllable that spouts from his mouth. Reserved and cold, he won't hesitate to throw you under the bus if it's for his benefit. Hay, even if it's not, he'd still do it! Why? Because he can.
"And am I glad we didn't! You gotta hang out with peeps from time to time, have some despair-inducing fun!" said Enoshima, to which the others (except Nagito) agreed.
"Whatever," spat the progeny, "open the door."
She retracted her head from the broken window—allowing Komaeda to crawl into the room—and opened the front door for the rest to enter. "Come on in! Don't get too comfortable."
"Wow," laughed the leader as he wandered a bit through the wealthy lobby, "this is your house?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Why would I be? It's atrocious."
"You're jealous." She gestured for them to enter the living room, where Nagito was already sitting with his back against the couch.
"Not gonna sit on the sofa? Y'know, like a normal person?" Ouma asked him.
Komaeda shook his head. "I'm comfortable this way. Trash like me doesn't deserve to sit on a sofa."
"Suit yourself."
The leader flopped onto the furniture, leaning his elbow on the armrest as Togami took a seat in an armchair farther from the group. With Monaca happily gazing at her and having everyone's full attention, Junko clasped her hands together.
"Welcome, you guys! Not gonna lie, I'm a bit disappointed to see you in perfect health. Hoped you'd get in a car accident on the way here, end up hospitalised, especially you Komaeda but oh well."
Ah, yes. The warm greetings of Enoshima Junko.
"You thought of us," Monaca remarked.
"I know! I'm so caring, aren't I?" Enoshima beamed. "Anyway, I've invited you here because, despite our greatly contrasting personalities, there's one trait we all share."
"Really? And what could that possibly be?" Byakuya inquired.
"We are outcasts. Hopeless outcasts. No one likes us."
She paused to observe their expressions, which, unsurprisingly, did not appear hurt. They knew just as well as Junko nobody in their classes was very fond of them. The never-ending lies Kokichi would tell, Nagito's constant rambling about hope, Byakuya being himself, Monaca's manipulation, Junko's insane desire for despair...They weren't the most likeable people.
"But that's nothing to be sad about. This evening, we're gonna embrace our distasteful qualities! Just between the five of us!"
The guests threw dubious glances at one another. Enoshima Junko invited them to celebrate their own attributes. For what reason? Making them feel better about themselves?
"That sounds...nice. Too affable coming from you." Komaeda squinted his eyes in suspicion.
Seemingly offended, she greeted the comment with a moue and she placed her free hand on her side. "I can do good from time to time. Otherwise, how could I spread despair without hope?"
"You don't care about any of us. You simply let boredom get to you," Byakuya replied.
"Hmm...yeah, I did," admitted the fashionista before she opened the large bottle of soda. "Too bad you're stuck with me now."
"Don't fret, I'm not planning on staying here for long. I've got important matters to attend to. Nothing you duds could comprehend." He crossed his legs in a conceited manner, earning various gazes from the others.
Komaeda smiled warmly, he praised him regardless. "Certainly we wouldn't. After all, none of us is equal to you regarding finances. An attribute only the ultimate affluent progeny is worthy of!"
An arrogant smirk formed on the blond's face.
"Snob," Enoshima mumbled. "Anyhow, who wants Cola?"
Ouma groaned. He got up and went to the kitchen. "If you're gonna make us waste our day, get the good stuff at least." There he casually opened the fridge, as if he was the one paying the bills for this house, in search of his favourite drink.
"We don't have grape panta!" Junko shouted from the adjacent room whilst Togami turned on the TV.
"Yeah?" He shuffled through the lower compartment of the refrigerator, eventually pulling out a purple bottle labelled 'Panta' and showing it to her.
"Oh. Guess we do."
"Filthy liar," he teased before taking a sip of the drink.
Just when Junko finished pouring soda for the four of them, Monaca took the carton of juice on the table and asked, "So, what are the plans for today?"
The blonde pondered on what to do as she sat on the sofa again (the brick still in her grasp). Correct, they couldn't just sit here and do nothing the entire time. As someone with keen analytical skills, she would usually plan ahead how exactly she wanted things to go by using information she obtained. However, that quickly gets boring, hence why she specifically invited these four devious students: no matter how much info she gained about them, she couldn't predict how they would act in certain situations; like that time when Ouma actually attended detention. Perfect for spicing up her daily life. Along with her mischievous persona, these personalities together can create colourful, despair-like chaos. "Lemme think...We should go shoplifting!"
"We are not doing that," said the affluent progeny sternly. "Lest you wish to get arrested and spend your weekend in jail."
Kokichi interjected loudly with his iconic grin, "Jail's pretty easy to evade when you commit your crimes correctly. I do it on the daily!"
"If you refer to your childish pranks as crimes, I believe you."
Nagito spoke up after sipping on his glass, "I've been jailed once. It's not that bad! But it only lasted a few hours, so my experience isn't worth..." A few hoarse coughs then erupted from his throat. Concerned glances were shot at him. "...Considering."
"You good?" Ouma peeked from the kitchen.
"I'm okay! Must've drunk it too fast." He caught his breath.
Junko snorted at his misery. "I put cinnamon in it."
He let out a disappointed sigh, putting the glass back on the table. "Of course..." the lucky student murmured. Can't have nice things with Enoshima around.
"Shoplifting sounds so plain," Towa expressed while Junko mentally fished for an activity. "Monaca wants to do something more fun!"
"Yeah, joyriding seems better to me," said the leader once he finished drinking his beverage. He then pointed at the elated little girl. "In fact, we should let you drive! Togami, your keys!"
"No."
"Ah, if I may share my worthless opinion..." Komaeda got up. "Perhaps we should opt for something different? Committing crimes just to get a kick out of it sparks very little hope."
Everyone audibly groaned hearing that word. And so it begins: Komaeda Nagito is ready to bring that cursed noun into question whenever he can! Despite the clear dissatisfaction and objections coming from them, Nagito continued.
"There's no point in doing wrong with no actual hopeful expectations. When criminals act, they hope for something. Hope for a better life, hope for revenge, hope to bring justice in their own ways." A creepy smile inched on his countenance, he held himself tightly as his rambling went on. "And the hope they carry is oh-so-wonderful! Although everybody else sees it as insanity, it is, in reality, a wonderful aspiration of theirs being realised by their own two hands!"
An uncomfortable silence has entered the chat. Ouma, Togami and Towa stared at him with disturbed looks. Togami sighed. Monaca frowned while gulping down the rest of her apple juice.
Ouma blinked. "Y'know," he offered a smile, "the hope one feels when breaking the law is indeed splendid. I totally get what you're saying. Komaeda, you have enlightened me!"
The luckster's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Not at all. Stop blabbering."
His shoulders drooped. Frankly, Nagito knew the boy was lying. Kokichi's words can never be trusted. Not to mention his rambles about hope were difficult for people to immediately discern, so naturally, it would be weird to hear someone say they understood.
However, Junko finally snapped out of her stupor. The blank stare she had on disappeared from her face.
"Hope..." she enunciated that word with disgust, but her demeanour changed when she clapped her hands. She thought of a certain someone she'd just love to bother tonight. "Ah, yes yes yes! I know what we're going to do today!"
"You do?" exclaimed Monaca with delight. The fashionista jumped up and eagerly stood in front of the TV, earning a scowl from Byakuya.
"Excuse you, I'm watching that!"
"Yeah well, focus on the better view for a moment, alright? I've got something to say." He huffed, she proceeded. "As the host of this party, I decide what turmoil we shall wreak. Therefore, we'll be doing whatever we want! And I mean whatever!" She smugly pointed to her temple. "Don't worry, I have tons of good ideas we can execute on the spot."
A brief quietness followed as they waited for anything else she had to say. Nothing came. A sceptical Togami nodded, folding his arms. "Uh-huh. Mind sharing those ideas with us?"
Whilst performing a zipping motion over her mouth, she answered, "My lips are sealed! If you already know what happens, it'll be boring. And we don't do boring in this household."
Ouma's head invaded the affluent progeny's bubble. "Y'hear that? Boredom's a no-no, means you gotta step up your game in fun." He then turned to Junko. "Miss Enoshima's always been masterly when it comes to engaging activities! How could one possibly ever doubt her?"
"Absolutely! The wonderful ideas she brings to life are almost not despair-inducing," Nagito added to the sarcastic remarks.
Though Junko didn't seem to mind, Monaca was displeased with the way they spoke about her elder sister. She still put on a smile. "Super true! Unlike with you boys, her plans always succeed in one way or another."
"Yours don't either. Ironic, isn't it?" the trickster countered.
She gasped and sniffled. "So mean! I would've been big sis' perfect successor," she pointed at Komaeda, "if it weren't for that hope freak!"
"Is the bickering over yet?" shouted Junko from further away. She already stood outside, in the car, watching them from the window. "We don't have all day!"
Baffled, the guests stared at her.
Togami spoke, "Hold on—when did you..."
"Move it!"
Soon enough, they left the residence—with the luckster hopping through the aperture again—and entered the vehicle. After twisting the keys into the slot and ignoring the seatbelt she had to put on, the motor set in motion.
"This is my car you have the privilege of using. You best be mindful with it," informed the snob.
His car she has the privilege of using. Why did he say it like that? "Worry not, dear, I'll treat this baby with great care."
"So," Komaeda spoke, "where are we heading? The beach? Park? Museum?"
"What would we do at a museum? Stare at crusty paintings? Boring."
"Very boring," Ouma added.
"Super boring," Towa added.
"We're dashing straight for the centre! Buckle up, children! It's finna be a bumpy ride!" Enoshima Junko exclaimed right before stepping on the gas and speeding towards the city.
Frankly, she had no idea what she was doing.
All she knew was that tonight was a night meant for crashing, messing around and, most important of all, spreading despair.
In the most entertaining way possible with her newly formed squad.