Work Text:
They’ve cornered the astronaut down on 48th.
Go down at the landfill, they excitedly tweet at each other, the news trending on social media within seconds of it going up. Blurry pictures of a tall man desperately jumping a fence taken from a dozen different angles. Each picture telling not only the story of his attempted escape, but the number and closeness of his pursuers.
“There’s a lot of places to hide, but there’s nowhere to run!” they crow out, captions in all caps and littered with Monokuma emojis and bordered by gifs of Junko Enoshima dancing excitedly. “He can’t climb out of the landfill pit without being seen, and he can only hide among the garbage so long! Come help look! Come join!”
Come take part in the Ultimate Hunt.
-
Somewhere out there, some fucking asshole was blasting the damn execution music that Junko Enoshima had edited onto the Hopes Peak execution videos from their car speakers. Taking that assholes example, one by one more people were blasting the music through the landfill, some from their cars, most from their phones, carrying the music with them as they hunted for him. On one hand, it was super useful to keep track of when they were getting close to him. On the other? Kaito fucking hated how much hearing it genuinely made him want to shit his pants. Crazy bastards. Fuck. FUCK .
He had fucked up. He had fucked up so badly.
He could seriously die out here.
Kaito was hiding in the remains of a child’s playhouse, half-buried in the landfill and covered in a fungus and liquid that made Kaito vaguely worried that there probably wasn’t anything keeping a body from actually dying of a few different horrifying illnesses. Like, him already being critically ill probably didn’t give him a pass on whatever the organ killing bacteria that he was sitting in right now had in store for him. Oh, fuck , something had just moved across his hip and if Kaito didn’t want to actually scream and alert the bastards outside where he was, he just… don’t look. Don’t even look. Pretend you hadn’t felt it, man…
Ignoring whatever had slithered against his hips, he stared at his phone, trying to think. Trying to ignore the way the screen shook in his hands, his trembling difficult to deny but damn was Kaito about to try as he told himself to be brave. To think this through. Don’t let them see how scared you are, Kaito. You’re Kaito Momota! Luminary of the Stars! These people weren’t about to get to yo—
“Hey! Astro-boy!” Someone— way closer than Kaito wanted them to be— crowed out, “We found the trash compactor! It’s super cool! Come out and see, we can’t wait to show it to you!”
Kaito shuddered, closing his eyes, trying to calm himself. Trying not to imagine a dozen gleeful hands, shoving and pushing him into a machine that was going to crush him from all sides and— shit . Shit shit shit! What was he going to do!?
He stared at the phone. He couldn’t call the police. The police were just as likely to join these crazy assholes as save him, and they’d be able to track where his phone signal was coming from. The Future Foundation? Maybe he should… but fuck, he didn’t want to. Those guys were out of their minds.
If they came to rescue him they’d likely take him away with them, and who the fuck knew what would happen to Kaito once they had him? Ultimates the Future Foundation caught disappeared, even the ones not slotted for their weirdass Gopher Project. Their obsession with Ultimate Hopes Peaks students taking its weird extreme of the Future Foundation deciding that Ultimate Students and only Ultimate Students would be saved from the meteors.
A spaceship capable of apparently reaching and colonizing a new world— uh huh, Kaito thought dryly to himself— that only Ultimate Students from Hopes Peaks Academy would be allowed to ride to ‘safety’. Even if the only ‘Astronaut’ among them was sick… and also NOT AN ASTRONAUT YET YOU CRAZY FUCKS! Kaito bit his lower lip, frustrated tears burning the edges of his eyes as he glared at the phone number the Future Foundation had given him to call for emergencies. Kaito qualified for astronaut training, but he hadn’t been given any yet! If this ship really could do all they said it could, which Kaito didn’t believe, then at least send a REAL FUCKING ASTRONAUT! The world was ENDING! Pick an adult with some FUCKING EXPERIENCE!
But, no . It had to be an ‘Ultimate’ Astronaut. No non-Ultimates allowed.
Crazy bastards . When had the world lost its mind so badly? The good guys were just as out of their minds as the bad guys. Everyone knew the rumors of what happened to the Ultimates the Future Foundation had. Mind wipes, experimentations, false memories… and maybe even worse than all of that, the complete abandonment of the Ultimates families. Ultimates stolen away for the ‘greater good’ while their families were left behind with no idea what had happened to them, slowly being cornered by the Ultimate Hunt as the crazy bastards currently looking for Kaito right now got more and more threatening, trying to draw the Ultimates back, until finally…
Kaito shuddered, clicking away from the phone number. He couldn’t do that to his grandparents. So long as these bastards knew Kaito was obtainable, so long as they thought it was still possible to find and corner him, they wouldn’t target his family. If Kaito died today, at least his grandparents would be left alone.
‘ Well, at least that was one silver lining to potentially being tortured to death today, ’ Kaito thought miserably to himself, shivering as he buried his head against his knees, pressing the boney joints to his forehead as he closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t know what else to do then, if he wasn’t calling the Future Foundation for help. Should he send a message goodbye to his grandparents, just in case? God, no, he couldn’t do that, he’d give one of them a heart attack. Should he… make a general plea on social media, ask for mercy from the people hunting him? Hell no, they’d make it a meme and share it among each other, laughing at his terror.
There were no good options. He just needed to keep hiding, hope to outlast them. Hide long enough that they’d question if he was even still there—
Kaito’s eyes went bug-eyed as a voice, right in front of him , coo’d, “Found ya~”
Kaito’s head shot up from his knees, in a panic trying to scramble backwards and immediately hitting the fungus covered plastic wall of the playhouse. “F-fucking stay away from me— hrgh! Nngh! ”
“Shhhhh, shh shh.” The mask in front of him snickered, having quicker than Kaito could comprehend shot forward from the opening of the playhouse and shoved a hand over Kaito’s mouth. The head behind the mask tilting curiously as the mask said lowly, a slight giggle in the tone, “Don’t scream~ That’s not very becoming of the Ultimate Astronaut, is it Kai-boy? Keep it together or you’re going to die, got it?”
Kaito blinked back at the mask, his whole body trembling. But as fucking scared as he was right now, Kaito could recognize the tone. Whoever this was in the white mask, was at least pretending to offer an out. It could be someone trying to trick him, but, fuck, why? Kaito was cornered and wouldn’t be able to fight his way out of this, there was no need trick him. What, just to offer him hope and then hurt him with it? Fill him with despair?
…shit, that could be it though.
Kaito gave the mask a wary look, full of suspicion… but knowing there wasn’t much else he could do anyway, he nodded slowly. The mask took his hand away, and Kaito whispered to him, “What the hell, man?”
“What the hell to your what the hell?” The mask asked idly, shifting a large backpack off his back, “Also, before you start asking me a bunch of questions like ‘who are you’ and ‘why are you helping me’, remember that there are literally dozens of people around us right now who are seriously debating between killing you in a trash compactor or killing you by making you eat a bunch of trash until you can’t anymore. And that’s not a lie. So, unless Kai-chan has some sort of vore or reaaaallly gross type of feeding fetish that makes any of that appealing?”
“Fuck, are you serious?” Kaito whispered, paling a little. Neither was a good way to go, but between the two? He didn’t want to be made to eat trash until he choked on it. In this exact moment, he couldn’t think of a worse way to go. “…what is that?” he asked.
“Your costume. Congratulations, you’re now a member of the unofficial subsection of the Remnants of Despair, DICE, and you are currently hunting for Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astro-fake.” The mask informed him, shoving the costume at Kaito. “It’s gonna be too big, so roll up the sleeves and pretend that swimming in clothes too big for you was the look you were going for, got it? Dumpy?”
“Dumpy?” Kaito muttered, shifting uncomfortably as he took the clothes.
“Yeah, that’s your name right now. I’m ‘Leader’. Congratulations, you can kiss my feet later… what are you waiting for, Dumpy?”
Kaito was going to ask, for a moment, if Leader could look away so Kaito could get changed, but the insanity of that request died on his lips as soon as he realized he wanted to say it. It felt weird to undress while the masks weird half-eyes was staring at him, but Kaito didn’t have time to be bashful, as he started to pull himself out of his regular clothes. Besides, as soon as he started changing, the mask looked back over his shoulder, clearly looking to see if anyone was going to stumble upon them the way he had stumbled on Kaito… “How did you find me?” Kaito asked.
“I’m a psychic and followed the scent of your aura. Which was reaaaallly hard considering how much everything smells here.” Leader explained, before giggling, “That’s a lie, obviously. Satellites.”
“Satellites?” Kaito asked warily, buttoning up the straight white jacket with the… latches and… “Dude, is this a straightjacket?” Kaito realized, staring with growing repulsion as the straps.
“It’s part of the ‘look’. You can leave them unlatched, Dumpy, it’ll match your disheveled aesthetic. Here, see how my necktie is? Copy mine, that’s also part of the look. Don’t give anyone a reason to doubt your outfit, Dumpy, if you’re caught I’m leaving you to die.” Leader said, voice dead serious… before giggling, “But that’s a lie~ An Ultimate Supreme Leader would never leave his stupidest member to die. Still, there’s only so much I can do for you once we’re out and walking around, and that’s not a lie.”
“Oh, god, another fucking ‘Ultimate’.” Kaito muttered, putting on the checkered necktie and putting on the shoes— the overall outfit was too big on him, but the shoes were too small and pinched— “Seriously? ‘Ultimate’ Supreme Leader?”
“Wow, you are not paying me the reverence I deserve right now for literally saving your life, Dumpy.” Leader said, sounding genuinely surprised rather than offended. Like Kaito was fascinating, as he put his finger to the massive red lips painted onto the white mask, “Nee~heehee, that’s such a strange reaction. Don’t you love and revere Ultimates? We’re the best of the best .”
“Shut up. I’m so sick of that… I mean, thank you for the rescue.” Kaito said, giving the mask he was supposed to wear— a sad clown face that looked almost as tired as Kaito felt— a wary look, “Seriously, thank you . But, fuck, I’m so fucking sick of ‘Ultimate’ bullshit. I wanted to go to a good school, not be a part of a fucking eugenics program…sorry, sorry. I’m just so fed up today.”
“ Hee-hee-hee , oooooh, oh no.” Leader giggled, resting the side of his head on his incredibly small hands, sounding absolutely delighted as he said, “Hip deep in garbage being hunted by serial killers and that’s what you want to complain about right now? That’s… not boring, at least. Hmmmm~” the mask hummed, before reaching forward and adjusting the mask on Kaito’s face and—
“Aw, man, my hair.” Kaito muttered, as he felt small fingers run through and break apart the gel, disheveling it and bringing it down from its tower that Kaito so carefully worked on every morning.
“Alright, that should do it.” Leader murmured, giving Kaito a look over before nodding, “What’s your name?”
“Dumpy.” Kaito sighed.
“Who am I to you?”
“You’re my… leader?”
“Of DICE, who are?”
“Uh, Remnants of Despair?”
“And what are we doing right now?”
“…hunting the Ultimate Astronaut.”
“Good. Got everything you need from your pockets? Cause we’re not coming back for your clothes.”
“Yeah.” Kaito sighed, shooting his ‘regular’ high school uniform a glance. Hadn’t done any good hiding him anyway. He had been so stupid. He shouldn’t have reacted when someone called his name on the street. He shouldn’t have looked up. It had been all the confirmation they needed to start the hunt. He had been so screwed. “Hey… thank you.”
“Thank me when we get out of this landfill, Dumpy.” Leader said, tilting up his mask and— amethyst eyes with an impossibly pretty, impossibly boyish face, suddenly having Kaito hugely doubt the ‘mans’ age— giving him a wink, “And welcome to DICE.”