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Kiyotaka Ishimaru was the Ultimate Moral Compass.
At the beginning of his time at Hope's Peak Academy, he'd spent his time studying, barking at people to walk in the halls, and enforcing the disciplined rules he revered. Every day. Stacks of books littered his dorm's desk, all of them opened up to some chapter about morals, public service, hard work, dedication, academics, physical fitness, politics, loyalty, everything that created the perfect Prime Minister-to-be. Kiyotaka was going to restore honor to the Ishimaru name.
Then he met Mondo Owada.
Owada was the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, and his brutish personality certainly aligned with that. He would curse enough to make a sailor blush (a crude display of a lack of manners), pick fights with anyone over small things, and strutted around Hope's Peak like he owned the place. Just the man's primitive ways should've been enough to make Taka's blood boil. The gangster would berate his smaller peers for only slightly bumping into him, scaring them off. He was disrespectful and rude to his classmates, a far cry from Taka's almost military greetings to everyone in the 78th Class.
Their rivalry began as soon as Owada took one good look at him, that very first morning, and asked, "What's up with that stick up your ass? You got a problem?"
Taka had replied, "Cursing is forbidden on school property, Owada! You should know better! I trust you'll reflect on your ways and adhere to the rules more appropriately!"
He'd damn near taken a beating before another one of their peers, Sakura, broke them up.
Yet, after Taka realized Owada was just as much of a man as he was, and vice versa, they fostered a grudging yet deep respect for each other that eventually turned into close friendship. Mondo was, surprisingly, shy and didn't really know how to communicate like the rest of their peers without coming off as intimidating. He was caring, and even a bit sensitive (he'd once teared up when talking about his dead dog, Chuck). He said he'd wanted to become a carpenter after high school, to finally start making things instead of breaking them (Taka was so moved he'd hugged his best friend).
Although Taka had his rigid rules, Mondo relaxed them. He'd tell Taka it was fine to go to bed an hour after curfew, to spend an hour watching TV instead of studying, and (later on in the 'friendship') to kiss in the secluded library (which Taka insisted was a public space). Taka let himself relax for the first time since the 5th grade.
Then Chihiro died. Or, more accurately, got killed.
The trial was excruciating. Evidence against Mondo began piling up, bit by bit. They found him guilty.
Everyone voted for his bro. Except Taka.
Taka had defended him till the end. He knew Mondo. He would never hurt a fly, let alone kill Chihiro, whom they were so close to. He wouldn't believe it. He couldn't. He voted for himself in the trial, even if it meant letting everyone else die.
Mondo was executed. Taka couldn't watch. He tried to cover his ears as Mondo's screams echoed from the motorcycle death cage. It was a sick joke; Mondo loved motorcycles and they used them to kill him. Taka sat on the floor, shaking, turned away from the cage, covering his ears as everybody else stood and watched in horror.
How could they? How could they just watch him die such an excruciating death? How? How?
Monokuma brought out a container labeled 'Mondo Butter' 20 minutes later.
Taka vomited immediately before passing out.
He was catatonic days after Mondo died. Only today was he really able to sit down and process it all.
Mondo, who had kissed him, who had shown him love, who had fallen asleep holding him, who had told him what it meant to be cared for for the first time. Mondo, who was snarky and rude yet gentle and sincere. He was strong, quite brilliant, and a strong leader in ways that Taka would never understand yet always appreciate.
Mondo killed Chihiro.
The same Mondo who went strangely emotional whenever someone brought up Chuck, his cute Maltese who was probably up in Heaven. It brought Taka mild comfort to hear that Mondo could at last reunite with his dog and play with him again, yet it all came crushing down when he remembered Mondo wasn't ever coming back.
The same Mondo who'd comfort Taka when he got a 97 on a test. The same Mondo who'd cut down on his cursing just so Taka would feel more comfortable around him. The same Mondo who stopped getting into fights if it meant seeing Taka happy. The same Mondo who still believed his own brother's accident was his fault.
Yet it had to be accepted. All the evidence pointed to the fact that his darling Mondo had bludgeoned Chihiro with a dumbbell that night.
Taka let out muffled sobs into his pillow for the rest of the night.
Mondo liked heavy metal and would often blast it through a crappy music player he'd bought at a convenience store ages ago. Taka kept it in his room and would listen to Mondo's music in the hopes that he'd be able to feel the warmth in his chest that he did when his lover was around.
"I still wish you were here...
叶わぬなら... now I’m gonna fly away, a-a-ah oh, wo-oah, woah, woah...
You're not here, so I'm... I'm gonna fly away"
Mondo. Mondo sounded like the word in French for 'world'. Monde. Mondo was Taka's world, in some twisted, cruel way.
Taka's pillow was always wet with tears, from the moment Mondo died up until the second Hifumi smashed his head in with the Justice Hammer and left him for dead.
Nobody really cared. Hifumi's death was more important because there was an actual mystery to be solved. Everyone knew Hifumi killed Taka, but they didn't know WHO killed Hifumi just moments later.
At least Taka got to reunite with Mondo. At least he finally got to meet Daiya and Chuck. At least he could be happy.