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Makoto was in the middle of crying into his pillow when a huge rumble came out of nowhere. He immediately sprang to his feet and tried to locate where it was coming from. After a minute, he realized that it wasn't coming from his direction, and he raced for his dorm's door.
As soon as Makoto stepped outside, the power went out. One by one, the other participants of the killing game emerged from their dorms as well. "What's going on?!" Himiko screamed from her door.
"Stay in the doorframe, it might be an earthquake!" Maki quickly assured her. But as suddenly as it began, the rumbling ceased in an instant.
While the participants expressed their confusion, Makoto quickly did a headcount. The people present were Hiro, Hajime, Kazuichi, Akane, Fuyuhiko, Maki, and Himiko...
"Guys, where's Nikei?!" Makoto shouted over everyone, quickly grabbing their attention. "Did anyone see them leave their room?!"
"N-No, no one did," Fuyuhiko replied, looking over to the 'lucky student's' door. "The rumbling came from that direction. They might be in trouble."
"We should break down that door!" Akane suggested, cracking her knuckles. "Who cares about the rules?! Someone as weak-looking as them could be killed easily from whatever caused the rumbling!"
"Well, if Monokuma were here, he would have addressed what caused this by now, right? But the power's out, and he hasn't shown up," Kazuichi observed. "Maybe he's connected to the power?"
"Either way, we have to get Nikei out of there!" Hajime exclaimed, beckoning Akane to come to the door with him. On the count of three, the two of them crashed into the door, which didn't budge.
Upon there being no sign of Monokuma, Hiro, Makoto, Maki, and Fuyuhiko joined the duo to break down the door. On the count of three, they crashed into the door again, and its hinges creaked. One more time, they ran into the door and broke it down.
As they burst inside through the broken door, the first thing Makoto saw was the large hole in the wall, showing the outside world beyond the academy's walls. But right now, that wasn't his focus right now.
Fallen beside their bed, Nikei looked uninjured save from blood pouring from their nose and ears. "Nikei!" Makoto shouted, rushing towards the fallen albino and kneeling down beside them. "Come on, wake up!"
"No time for that, Makoto! Look outside!" Hiro exclaimed, rushing towards his friend and pointing towards the hole. Makoto squinted as he looked outside, noticing Hiro picking Nikei up from the corner of his eye. In the sky outside of the academy, there was a helicopter approaching the island.
***
That's how Makoto ended up with Nikei in his house, laying where Kyoko used to lay. The helicopter piloted by Kyosuke Munakata had been prepared very early, according to him, and they had arrived at the mainland quickly.
The first place they went was to the infirmary to make sure that Nikei was alright despite their bleeding. Maki did a full analysis of their condition, and a doctor hired at Hope's Peak Academy did a check as well, and nothing was found to be wrong with them.
While Hajime, Kazuichi, Akane, and Fuyuhiko had to go back to Jabberwock Island, and Maki and Himiko had to tell their classmates about their ordeal, Hiro helped deliver the unconscious 'student' to Makoto's house.
As Makoto sat on a chair next to Kyoko's bed, he saw Nikei finally begin to stir. "Oh, good. You're finally awake," he greeted with a smile. "You were out for nearly a whole day."
Nikei groaned and tried to roll onto their side to look at the headmaster. "How long was I asl- EEP!" they suddenly yelped, accidentally rolling off the bed as Makoto suddenly stood up and backed up out of his chair, knocking it backwards.
Makoto kneeled down beside Nikei and tapped their shoulder in concern. "Hey, are you alright?" he quickly inquired, hoping that they weren't hurt further.
To his relief, Nikei gave him a thumbs-up from their position and lowered it with an annoyed sigh. "Lovely. I've slept on a bed, in captivity, chained to a pillar in my underwear, and on a couch before. Now I'm on the floor. I'm checking off my bucket list."
Makoto shook his head and wrapped his arms around the lucky student's midsection, trying to pull them up. "Come on, you can't sleep on the floor!" he protested. "Up you get!"
It took five minutes for Makoto to convince Nikei to get up off the floor, but they eventually agreed to go to the kitchen and get some food to eat. Makoto had thankfully replaced most of the food in his fridge while Nikei was asleep, as most of it had turned out to be spoiled upon his return to his house.
"Strange. You seem to have not used most of your imperishable foods, including this pancake mix. At least it saves me time instead of making them from scratch, my own food is a comfort food," Nikei remarked, their white hair seeming to shine as they mixed pancake batter in a bowl next to the window. "Do you not know how to cook for yourself?"
"Um, it's kind of embarrassing..." Makoto chuckled. "I really only know basic things to keep myself alive, like toast, eggs, ramen, things like that. I mostly had rations during the Tragedy, but when we got this house, Kyoko said she's teach me how to..."
The headmaster trailed off when he mentioned his fiancée's name, his expression turning depressed. Nikei turned around and noticed his face, then let out a sigh. "Hey, do you know how to make tea?" they asked. "If you do, make some now, then take it to whatever chair you relax in."
Makoto was taken off-guard by their order, but decided to not to protest it in his current state of mind. The way he made it was poor though, he put a teabag in a mug and filled it with hot water. As he waited for the tea to be made, Nikei greased a pan with butter and turned the stovetop on. The batter was poured into small circles while Makoto watched curiously.
"Wow, I knew you were a good cook, but I didn't expect that your cooking methods were so efficient," the headmaster complimented, and the lucky student slightly blushed at the compliment, not used to being praised directly.
"Hey, just go to your damn chair already. I'll bring your tea when it's finished. Go wrap yourself in a blanket," Nikei huffed, shooing Makoto away from the kitchen. The smaller man chuckled and walked away to another room, and the lucky student continued cooking.
When the batter was all made and the stove was turned off, Nikei chose to let it cool and went over to the mug Makoto was previously tending to. The tea had been made by now, and Nikei disposed of the teabag before picking it up and heading in the direction Makoto went.
When they arrived in the 'living room' area of the house, they saw Makoto huddled in a chair and on the verge of crying. With a sigh, Nikei stepped forward and handed him the mug of tea. As Makoto took it and began to drink it, Nikei found a large blanket on another chair and wrapped it around the headmaster's shoulders.
"You really need to learn how to take care of yourself or you'll be wallowing in grief forever," Nikei scolded. "Even if people had died, we managed to escape and the mastermind is likely being captured. The departed wouldn't want you to roll over and die."
Makoto solemnly nodded, then took another sip of his tea. "You're right. Of course," he replied with a sigh. "It's just...I lost my sister, my fiancée, and three of my closest friends. I guess that makes it a little difficult to recover, now that I'm on my own."
Nikei listened and refrained from rolling their eyes. "Don't be stupid, you've recovered before, haven't you? Though I suppose it's the stress of being put on a pedestal that's gotten to you," they muttered the last part to themselves, closing their eyes. "Anyway, I have nowhere else to go, so I might as well hole up here for a while. I have nothing better to do anyway-"
While they talked, they never noticed Makoto putting his tea on a table near the chair and stand up. Their words were cut off as he suddenly embraced the white-haired adult, rendering them silent from shock. "Thank you, Nikei," Makoto murmured into their shoulder. "Thank you for staying with me."