Makoto Naegi could be described in many ways. His favorite word to describe himself is average. For some reason, he was always adamant about this. His looks, his hobbies, his grades… all of it was average. He was optimistic - no matter what kind of bad situation his luck puts him in, he always comes out at the other end smiling. It's almost as if nothing could affect him. In fact, he was so optimistic that some people say that he is filled with hope. During the first killing game, Naegi never even once thought about killing anyone. No matter what the motive was, Naegi wasn't tempted. Whenever one of his friends were down, he always did his best to cheer them up. On top of that, he always believed in his classmates. He had a large amount of faith placed in them, to the point where he could be called naive.

Naegi was optimistic, filled with hope, average, and even a little bit naive.

But he wasn't a traitor.

In this point in time, Naegi couldn't even begin to think about ever working for Monokuma. Besides, it wasn't as if Naegi could make a good mole for him either. He was always terrible at lying, giving away thousands of tells whenever he does.

Despite all of this…

"M-Me?!" Naegi steps back in shock, mouth gaping. Naegi thought that he would be prepared for whoever the spy was. He was sure that whoever was working for Monokuma would have a perfectly good reason for doing so - perhaps their family was taken hostage, like how Ogami's dojo was.

But instead of revealing a traitor, Monokuma had said his name. Monokuma had labeled him as a traitor. Monokuma was lying… but it wasn't so surprising. In retrospect, Naegi should have seen this coming. Whenever Monokuma started to get backed into a corner, he would always do something underhanded. Whether that would be planting a dead body, (like with Ikusaba) or hiding a crucial piece of evidence, (like with Ogami's suicide note) he wasn't afraid to cheat.

So when Monokuma had given out several motives but with no results, then… It wasn't surprising that he would pull something like this.

"Puhuhuhuhu! That's right! In fact, from the very start of this whole game, Naegi had been working for me! Isn't that sweet?" Monokuma twirls his wooden stick in his paws, giggling to himself.

"What the hell?! Naegi's a spy?" Owada's head snaps to Naegi as his eyes bulge out in shock.

"No way!" Asahina says desperately. "That has to be a lie!"

"In defense of Naegi, I had neve seen or heard of him when I was still working with Monokuma." Ogami says, placing a gentle hand on Asahina's shoulder.

"I can't say that I'm surprised that Monokuma would make this move." Togami rolls his eyes in contempt. Unlike everyone else, he didn't seem shocked at the new motive Monokuma had given them. "Naegi obviously knew more than any of us. That was proven when he was somehow able to push Ikusaba out of the way."

"Kill the traitor!" Fukawa hisses while backing up from Naegi, giving him an evil look.

"He's not a traitor!" Maizono shouts angrily. "I would sooner believe that Hagakure has a college degree then believe that Naegi would ever work as a spy!"

"Hey!" Hagakure protests.

Ikusaba delivers a chilling glare to Monokuma. "Naegi-"

"HEY HEY HEY!" The monochrome bear interrupts Ikusaba before she could even get past her first word. "Remember the new rule! Or do you feel like going through another execution?"

"..." Ikusaba closes her mouth, but kept her murderous glare trained on Monokuma.

"Oh boy! If looks could kill, I would be bear steak by now!" Monokuma chuckles. "Anyway, I would also like to present a freebie perk!"

"F-Freebie?" Hagakure's head perks up.

"Don't look so interested man!"

"Puhuhuhuhu! No, be super interested because this is a good one!" Monokuma guffaws. "Anyone who kills Makoto Naegi graduates right away! No trial, no investigation, you get out of here completely free! No strings attached!"

Each word felt like a cold knife, stabbing itself into Naegi's heart. Monokuma really wanted him dead that badly?

"Do what you will with these motives! Puhuhuhuhuhuhu!"

…

"G-Guys, I-" Naegi pipes up feebly. But before he could choke out an explanation, Yamada interrupts him.

"Mr. Naegi. You don't need to explain. I trust you way more than that dumb bear!" The otaku grins confidently.

"Huh?" Naegi blinked owlishly.

"No way someone like you could be working for Monokuma! He just wants to get rid of you, that's clear to see!"

"That's right!" Maizono practically shouts. "I believe in Naegi! There's no way that he would be a traitor!"

Ikusaba keeps silent, but she nods firmly.

"I admit, the chances of Naegi working for Monokuma is unbelievably low. I wouldn't bet a single chip on him being a traitor."

"The day Naegi is a traitor is the day I give up donuts!"

"..." The cold knife that was embedded into his heart slowly melts away as a deep warmth begins to fill him from head to toe. His friends were stepping up for him… they believed in him!

"Hey, what the hell are you kids talking about?" Monokuma raises his claws angrily, shooting daggers at everyone. "He's a traitor!"

"I will side with Hina. I must say that Naegi has been acting the least suspicious out of anyone here."

"Yeah dude! Naegs is a nice guy, you know?"

"I-I believe in Naegi. He's our friend!"

"You want me to believe Naegi's a fuckin traitor? That's dumb as shit!"

"Naegi's a cool guy. Someone like him wouldn't backstab us!"

"To suggest that a model student such as Naegi is working for Monokuma… It's impossible!"

"... I believe in him."

In a fit of rage, Monokuma snaps his wooden stick in half and begins chewing on it. His razor sharp teeth tears it apart, sending wooden chips everywhere. "Graaagh! Why is Togami the only one here that sees any sense?!"

"Y-Yeah!" Fukawa says. "N-Naegi's a traitor!"

"Hmph. While I believe that Naegi is hiding something, I think that it's rather preposterous to suggest that he's working with you. Why would you want him dead so badly if he was?" Togami smirks and crosses his arms. "This attempt at causing distortion and confusion within the group… is completely pathetic."

"Oh, Master Togami!" Fukawa swoons, drooling all over herself. "So upstanding… Of course Naegi wouldn't be a traitor!"

"Do not come within 10 meteres of me, you perverted pig."

"... Puhuhuhu!" Unexpectedly, Monokuma starts cackling. "As it stands, the free kill perk is still up for grabs! You say that you guys are friends, but I wonder how long Naegi will last? Puhuhuhuhu!"

With that last laugh, Monokuma vanishes.

"Listen up!" Owada shouts, smashing his fists together. "If you wanna kill Naegi, you gotta get through me first!"

"Yes, I will make efforts to ensure Naegi's safety as well." Ogami says in a low tone.

"If anyone dares to even touch him…" While Ikusaba didn't finish her sentence, the fact that she was holding up a dangerously sharp knife did plenty to convey her message.

"A-All of you… I don't know what to say." Seeing all of his friends, even Togami stand up for him moved Naegi greatly. It made it feel like saving all of them was truly worth it. "All I can say is... thank you all for believing in me. Honestly, I appreciate it!"

*ding dong bing bong*

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"I suppose we will have to discuss our findings about the new floor tomorrow." Kirigiri says simply.

"Ah… Yeah, good night everyone." Fujisaki looks down sadly and bites his lip.

Owada notices this. "Fujisaki? Something wrong?" He looks down at the petite programmer who seemed a bit downcast.

"Oh, no. Everything's fine." Fujisaki smiles as he nods reassuringly.

And everything was fine. Ikusaba said that Monokuma might know about the laptop, but so far, nothing happened.

Everything was fine.

And everything will BE fine.

As soon as everyone leaves, Naegi makes a direct bee line to the locker rooms. He had promised to tell Kirigiri everything after all. Even with all of the excitement, he hadn't forgotten this. Since it was past night, no one was in the halls.

Despite the fact that Naegi was the most likely target for the next murder due to the two motives, he felt ecstatic. Hee had been slightly more distant this time around, skipping conversations and not spending as much time bonding with other people. He had been too focused on trying to save everyone.

So when Monokuma announced that he was a traitor, and that whoever kills him will get away scot-free…

Well, he had begun to panic a bit.

But seeing all of his friends stand up for him like that in front of Monokuma… it actually nearly brought tears to his eyes. That scene only served to encourage Naegi further. He had no idea how or why he was given a second chance at the killing game, but hell if he wasn't going to take advantage.

"I've been waiting. For a second, I thought that you may have skipped out on me." A familiar cold voice reaches Naegi's ears.

"Oh! Kirigiri!" Naegi quickly walks up to greet her with his usual smile.

Kirigiri was sitting on a bench, with one leg crossed over the other. From the looks of it, she had been waiting in the changing room for at least a few minutes. Despite Naegi going straight to the locker rooms, it seemed that she had somehow beaten him here.

"Ah… Sorry if I kept you waiting."

Kirigiri shakes her head. "I haven't been here for long. I just hope that you will deliver on your promise from this morning."

Naegi nods and begins his explanation in a quiet voice, as if someone might have been eavesdropping on him.

He told her everything. He wasn't planning on telling her too much about the first killing game, but she ended up throwing what seemed like hundreds of questions at him, so he ended up spilling nearly everything he could remember.

The deaths of his fellow classmates.

The trials that followed.

Investigations.

The outside world.

The last trial.

Junko Enoshima.

The fact that he had come here from the future.

By the time Naegi finishes, he was out of breath. "I… *huff* think that's about everything."

Kirigiri doesn't respond, instead opting to close her eyes. She looked as if she were deep in thought (which she probably was).

…

Several minutes pass and Kyoko had barely moved a single inch.

…

"Um, Kirigiri?"

…

"That was the most absurd, most dumb, most foolish story I have ever heard in my entire life."

"What?!" Whatever response Naegi had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that. She had been thinking for so long, just to end up telling him that his story was dumb?

"It's insane." Kirigiri looks into his eyes unflinchingly.

"But it's all true!" Naegi protests. "You have to believe me!"

"I never said that I didn't believe you."

"Huh?"

Kirigiri stands up from the bench and smoothes out her skirt. "It may be a ridiculously crazy story, but nothing you have described was impossible. In fact, I think that most of what you said was so absurd that it's actually believable.

"Kirigiri…" Naegi beams at her with gratitude. "Thank you for trusting in me!"

"Sure." Kirigiri brushes off his thanks with a single word. "Just promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"If the time comes, let me press the button to open the door."

The luckster stares at her in confusion. Why does she want to do that? It was an oddly specific request, but it wasn't as if he had a reason to refuse. "Ummm, sure… I guess."

"Don't worry Naegi. It's just a precaution."

"A precaution?" Naegi echoes.

"Yes." Kirigiri stares at him with a blank look, not offering to give up any further explanation.

…

"Uh-"

"Have a good night." The detective says briefly before turning around and promptly leaving the locker room.

…

No matter how many times I talk with her, Kirigiri's going to always remain a mystery to me, huh?

Junko Enoshima was SURE that Naegi would die eventually. She didn't really know or care who would be the one to pull the trigger - she just knew with certainty that he would be killed. I mean, it would literally be a free pass to escape from this place! Any sane person would take advantage of the motive.

"Puhuhuhu!" On the first night after revealing the motives, Junko couldn't help but giggle to herself in excitement. Maybe he wouldn't die tonight, but sooner or later, his death will come! Then, everyone will feel despair. She was in ecstasy from just thinking about it. Ah, how satisfying it would be to spit on the corpse of that hope boy!

In fact, she was so excited about the motive that she realised that she had forgotten about something very important.

"Ah, shit!" Junko jumps out of her chair and grabs a disguise - a mask as well as a long lab coat. It wasn't exactly fashionable, but she didn't really care about that right now. While she wraps the coat around herself, she opens one of the drawers next to her and pulls out a small blue sphere with a silver pin attached to it. As she pulls the mask over her face, she runs out of the room and goes straight to the locker rooms.

Going in, she carelessly pulls the pin on the sphere that she had brought with her and drops it in the middle of the room.

*BZZT*

A soft buzzing noise emanates from a locker directly in front of her.

Grinning, she promptly tosses the locker open and grabs the item inside - a laptop that was completely shut off. The sphere that she had just thrown was an EMP grenade. She had to shut off the laptop so that Alter Ego wouldn't start screaming his head off. This morning, along with the two motives she had set, she was supposed to 'execute' Alter Ego in front of everyone. But she was so caught with excitement that she had completely forgotten.

"Oh well." Junko shrugs as she turns around and begins to run back to her room. "I guess I can execute Alter Ego as a replacement for whoever ends up killing Naegi! Puhuhuhu!"

One day passes. Naegi doesn't die.

Two days pass. Naegi doesn't die.

Three days pass. Naegi doesn't die.

Ten days pass. Naegi doesn't die.

Two full weeks, or fourteen days pass and Naegi isn't dead. In fact, as far as Junkow knew, no one even tried to kill him.

Bored.

boredboredboredboredboredboredboredboredbored

"Gah!" Junko yells, smashing her fists on top of Fujisaki's laptop, which was currently shut off. Nothing was happening. This wasn't despairful at all!

It wasn't even hopeful. If it had been hopeful, then at least Junko could have despaired in the fact that she had created hope with this motive. But there was no hope or despair. It was just plain boring. Watching these dumb people having fun, socializing like normal teenagers…

Sickening.

Maybe it was time for some direct interference.

It was exactly one AM, a couple of hours past the initial night time announcement. Double, triple, and even quadruple checking the cameras, Junko made sure that everything would go smoothly before going out.

Naegi was an extreme annoyance. Sure, he had potential for a truck-load of despair, but right now, his hope was just getting ridiculous. How Naegi wasn't instantly torn into shreds the moment she announced the motives, Junko will never know. She would rather jeopardize her plan then let Naegi live for another day. Besides, maybe his death would actually help speed things along.

Donning her mask and lab coat, Junko also picks out an oversized knife. Exiting the Data Processing Room, she makes a bee-line right to Naegi's room. Tentatively, she tries the door knob.

*wiggle wiggle*

Of course it was unlocked.

Naegi, you naive bastard.

Grinning to herself, Junko practically skips into Naegi's open room and takes a quick look around.

His room was messy - but not too messy. A couple of things were strewn on the floor, mostly things he had gotten from redeeming Monokuma tokens and random pieces of clothing. Curiously, she walks over to his desk and opens the drawer. To her surprise, there were about a dozen pairs of different underwear in it.

Why the hell does he have so many different pairs of underwear?! There's even a pair that kind of looks like Muku's bulletproof panties…

…

"Naegi's such a player!" Junko whispers to herself.

On the desk itself, there were several library books that lay open, as if he were studying for something. Overall, his room was what you would expect from an average high school student. Unorganized and unkept, but certainly not an actual mess.

Nodding to herself, she moved in to the target. Peacefully sleeping, blissfully ignorant…

Makoto Naegi.

"Say your prayers, ahoge boy." Junko says in a normal volume as she pulls her knife up. "Prepare to die!"

Then, Junko's vision goes black.

"Naegi… Naegi!"

A high pitched voice kept calling out to Naegi. Frankly, all Naegi wanted to do was sleep. Who the hell was calling him this early? The morning announcement hadn't even played yet.

"Naegi!"

"Ugh…" Naegi groans and opens his eyes a bit. "Five more minu - GAH!"

Jumping out of his bed, Naegi immediately backs to a corner. Whatever drowsiness Naegi had was instantly replaced with fear and panic.

"Oh, Naegi! You finally woke up." Monokuma stands in the middle of his room, standing strangely still.

"M-Monokuma! Why are you in my room?!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm Ikusaba, not Junko."

…

"W-What? Ikusaba?" Naegi cautiously takes a step forward, staring at the bear suspiciously. "How are you…"

"Ah, here. This should help." As soon as she finishes her sentence, a strange garbled noise starts emanating from Monokuma, causing Naegi to flinch heavily. The noise was extremely unpleasant to his ears and did well to give him a morning headache.

"What.." Naegi winces. "What is that?"

"Ahem. Testing, one, two, three. Naegi, can you hear me?" The strange noise abruptly cuts out and is replaced with a familiar voice.

"Ikusaba!" Naegi exclaims. "Uh, yeah I can hear you! In your normal voice too."

"Okay, good. Come to the gymnasium. Everyone else is gathered there. I will explain the situation once you arrive."

And with that, Monokuma vanishes.

"If Ikusaba is controlling Monokuma… then what happened to Junko?" Naegi ponders to himself as he begins to walk to the gym.

As soon as Naegi enters the gym, he instantly notices that his classmates were all crowded around something. They all formed a tight circle around something, as if intentionally blocking it from anyone else's view.

"Oh, Naegi. There you are." Togami gives his usual glare to Naegi as he enters the gym. "Once again, you're late."

Muttering an apology, Naegi made his way to the circle.

And in the middle of it, a certain blonde fashionista was tied up and unconscious. For some reason, she was wearing an oversized lab coat. Next to her, an odd looking mask lay.

"Wha… Junko?!" Naegi recoils slightly.

"Indeed. We were discussing theories on what she's doing here." Togami says.

"Dude! It's the aliens!" Hagakure waves his hands around in terror. "I've seen this many, many times before! First, they abduct you by sucking you up into their UFO. Then, they do all sorts of crazy surgery on your body! In fact, they even stick up various electric rods up your-"

"Hagakure. Enough." Kirigiri's sharp retort quickly cuts Hagakure's story short.

"S-Sorry."

"Did I keep everyone waiting? I apologize." Ikusaba's voice is heard coming from the gym entrance.

"Oh, hey Mukuro!" Asahina turns around, a hand already up in the are for a pre-emptive wave. But as she looks, her expression suddenly turns into one of bewilderment. "Wait, Monokuma?!"

"Yep. I took over control of Monokuma."

"Woah, really?!" Owada gives her a huge grin. "That means we can get out of here, right?"

"Not so fast." Togami turns to face Monokuma as well. "I would like an explanation."

Monokuma waddles over to the group. The sound of Ikusaba taking a deep breath is heard from the bear.

"Junko Enoshima is the mastermind of this whole killing game. For some reason, Junko had decided that she really wants Naegi dead. This was pretty obvious by her most recent motive. But when Naegi didn't die, even after two weeks, she got frustrated and decided to take matters into her own hands."

"Into her own hands?" Naegi's eyes widen. "Don't tell me she was going to…"

"Yeah. She was going to kill you and frame someone else for it." Ikusaba's voice hitches slightly on the word kill. "However, ever since Junko had announced that motive, I have been hiding outside of your room, keeping watch during the night."

"You were watching me every night for the past two weeks?!" Naegi asks incredulously. "Didn't you get sleepy or something?"

"I slept during the days."

"Ikusaba…" Naegi shakes his head, amazed. "You saved my life! Thank you!"

"I-It was nothing." Ikusaba's voice stutters a bit as Naegi gives the bear a shining grin.

"There are questions in each of our rooms. How come Junko didn't take any suspicion of that?" Unexpectedly, it was Maizono who raised this question.

"Huh? Oh, I just made a fake body and tucked it into my bed. The cameras aren't super high quality, so I guess it was enough to fool her."

Maizono nods, but she was still unconvinced. Junko didn't notice for the whole two weeks? It seemed like a pretty glaring oversight from the apparent mastermind.

"Anyway…" Ikusaba says, tone darkening considerably. "Before you all can leave, there's two major decisions to be made."

"Huh? What now?" Kuwata asks impatiently.

"First of all, what are you going to do with Junko? Kill her? Imprison her? Take her with you?"

"Obviously kill her. The mastermind can not be allowed to live." Togami sneers disdainfully at the knocked out fashionista.

"H-Hey, I don't think we should rush straight into killing her…" Fujisaki weakly objects.

"You guys can decide later if you want." Ikusaba comments. "The second decision is whether or not you really want to get out of here."

"What? Of course we wanna get out of here!"

"Yeah! That's all we wanted since this shit started!"

"Why wouldn't I want to get out of this filthy school?"

"Let me explain." Monokuma claps his paws together and suddenly, several monitors pop up from the floor. On it, were pictures of the outside world.

"W-What the hell?" Owada could only gape at the sight.

"What is this?!" Asahina gasps and puts her hands over her mouth.

Monokuma robots attacking everyone…

Chaos and destruction…

Buildings collapsing…

A bloody red sky…

"I know this is a lot to take in, but this is needed for you guys to make your choice." Ikusaba says.

"Ugh, my head hurts…" Kuwata groans. "What the hell's happening?"

"My head's hurting too." Fujisaki says, wincing. A few seconds later, his eyes suddenly widen. "H-Hey, wait a minute…"

"I have implanted a special light into these monitors. These lights are called flashback lights. They are designed to help you recover your memories. Junko had removed the past two years of your memory before throwing you into this game, believe it or not."

"Impossible…" Togami mutters as a dull pain throbs in his head.

"In about ten seconds, your memories will be fully restored. I hope that you guys can make the right decision."

Like everyone else, Naegi was also feeling a sharp headache. It felt familiar - almost like the pain he had gone through after waking up in that desk for the second time.

Then, in a single blink, he remembers.

In the same blink, everyone else remembers.

They remember the past two years.

The promises they made.

The outside world.

Their decision to stay here.

Everything is remembered.

…

"We… We were the ones who locked ourselves in here." Naegi mutters. He had already known this - it was one of the many things that he and the other surviving students had to solve in the first killing game in order to defeat Monokuma. Still, it was pretty jarring to remember that he had really agreed to stay in this place.

"Yeah, we even talked to the principal about it! Where is he? He's supposed to be here with us!" Kuwawta says, frantically looking around. "Wait, don't tell me that he's the mastermind?!"

"I mentioned this before… Junko is the mastermind." Ikusaba says.

"My father… Ikusaba, where is he?" Kirigiri, who seemed unfazed by the events so far glances at Monokuma.

"Dead. He was executed by Junko before the killing game had even started."

"... I see." Kirigiri looks down at the floor. Truth be told, she was expecting that answer. Naegi had hesitantly told her about her father's fate back in the locker rooms. Back then, it seemed surreal. Naegi, a time traveler sent back from the future? And he said that her father was dead and that the world was in an apocalyptic state? But Ikusaba had just confirmed it for her - Jin Kirigiri was dead.

Her memories also confirmed that the outside world was in a deep pit of chaos, and that most of her family was likely dead. In fact, her memories had confirmed everything that Naegi had told her about the events leading up to the killing game.

Unless Naegi was actually working for Junko… Unless Naegi was an outstanding actor who could not only hide his emotions, but also fake them… Unless Naegi had bypassed the memory erasure…

Then he really did travel through time.

"Junko had synced the air purifiers in this building with her own life. If she dies, the air purifiers shut down." Ikusaba informs them.

"So if we kill Junko, we are forced to go back to the outside world. If we let her live, we can still make a choice on whether or not to stay here." Togami surmises.

"I for one, vote to let her live." Naegi interjects. He had an unusually determined look on his face. "She could be able to atone for her acts. We can bring her back from the clutches of despair."

"Um, Mr. Naegi?" Yamada tentatively raises a finger. "Are you sure that's the right choice? I mean, what if Ms. Enoshima tries to set us up in another killing game? I'm sure she has the means… I mean, she was able to set all of this up."

"Oh man…" Hagakure clutches his head with his hands as sweat began pouring down his face. "What are we supposed to do?!"

"Puhuhuhu…" An abrupt giggle interjects itself into their conversation. All at once, everyone falls silent and stares down at the previously unconscious fashionista. She was still laying down on the floor, and her makeup was smudging.

"Isn't it obvious?" Junko whispers weakly. "Kill me. I tried to force all of you to kill your own friends. Isn't execution the right thing to do here?"

"No, that's wrong!" The luckster shouts. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Even you!"

"No!" Junko shrieks, eyes bloodshot. "You can't take me away from despair! I WON'T LET YOU STEAL MY DESPAIR!"

Despite still being tightly bound in ropes, Junko manages to pull herself into a standing position. A small trickle of blood was running down the side of her head where Ikusaba had struck her. "Kill me. Face the despair! The entire world out there is completely filled with it… Let the despair of the human race DESTROY you!"

Naegi shakes his head. "What I think is the right thing to do is to keep Junko alive. I want to bring her out from despair - no one deserves to be like this. Together, we will all rebuild the world. We will water the seeds of hope planted within this world of despair!"

"Oh, come ON! Cut the upstanding shit!" Junko glares at Naegi with a look of distaste on her face. "Will you let this dumb ahoge kid boss you around?! I KILLED YOUR FAMILIES! I KILLED YOUR FRIENDS!"

"..."

"You! Togami!" Junko whirls around and comes face to face with the affluent prodigy with a sneer on her face. "You know your precious butler that was in your motive video? I personally tortured him. I saw his life leave his eyes. Don't you want to take revenge? You do, don't you?"

"..."

Twisting her head, Junko trains her eyes at Maizono. "Hey Maizono! You know your idol career that you worked so hard to build? I fucking destroyed it. I personally saw to it that your entire pop group was beheaded!"

"..."

Junko was starting to grin maniacally now. Her mouth stretched in an almost comedic fashion as she flashed her white teeth at everyone. Spinning around, Junko turns to look at Celeste. "I strangled the FUCK out of your dumb cat!"

"..."

"Dude, this chick is seriously fucked up." Owada glares at Junko, clenching his fists.

"But we can't kill her!" Naegi protests. "Through the whole game, not a single one of us let her win. No murders happened! What would be the point if we killed her? That would just mean that the Killing Game would succeed in the end."

"Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Junko lunges at Naegi, screeching.

"Not so fast." Ogami grabs her out of the air and tosses her back onto the floor.

"Ugh…"

"Let's put it the a vote then." Ikusaba, who had been staying silent ever since Junko woke up, suddenly speaks up. "It would be the quickest and fairest way to decide this. So, is there anyone here who would like to let Junko live, and stay inside of this building?"

"..."

"Is there anyone here who would like to let Junko live, and go back to the outside world?"

Eleven hands shot up right away - Naegi, Kirigiri, Fujisaki, Owada, Ishimaru, Yamada, Ogami, Asahina, Maizono, Kuwata, and Hagakure.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDD-"

"Is there anyone here who would like to kill Junko, and go back to the outside world?"

After a small delay, three hands go up - Togami, Celeste, and Fukawa.

"... Fine. I would like to see nothing more then for Junko to pay for what she has done to me. I suppose it doesn't matter if that punishment is imprisonment rather than execution." Togami reluctantly concedes.

"How nice." Celeste giggles softly. "I share the same exact sentiment."

"I-I'm just voting for whatever Master T-Togami votes for…"

"So, this is everyone's choice?" Monokuma shifts around slightly. "I have to admit… I'm happy that my sister won't be a casualty. Even if she betrayed me, I still love her. Well, if the decision is made, I guess I'll make my way down there." With that, Monokuma abruptly shuts down. His red eye darkens and he falls limply onto the floor, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"J-Junko?" Fujisaki asks nervously. "Um… W-Where is Alter Ego?"

"Oh yeah!" Hagakure exclaims. "I forgot about that thing!"

"I fuckin threw it into a trash compactor!" Junko spits at Fujisaki, but her trajectory was off so it ended up just splattering onto the floor. "Your precious AI is dead!"

Of course, this wasn't true. She had hidden it away and was planning to destroy it in front of everyone after Naegi's trial. It would have served as a nice bonus of despair… but she never got the chance as Naegi ended up living anyway.

"N-No…" Fujisaki shakes his head as tears slowly started pouring down his eyes. "I… I can't believe it. Alter Ego is dead?"

"It's just a fuckin laptop!" Junko sticks her tongue out rudely. "Suck it up!"

"Hey…" Owada puts a hand on Fujisaki's shoulder. His voice was oddly soft. "Are you going to be alright, Fujisaki? I dunno much about computers but if you want, I can try to find the parts of the laptop before we leave. Maybe we can put it back together or something."

"No." Fujisaki slowly shakes his head. "It's fine. Let's just leave here as soon as possible."

Kirigiri gives him a small smile. "Then it's time. Let's face the outside world once again."

"NO NO NO!" Junko thrashes around, biting at the ropes binding her. "My beautiful despair! I won't even taste the despair of death?! This SUCKS!"

Ogami sighs as she bends down and picks up Junko in one arm. "You will atone for your sins, Junko Enoshima.

Once again, Naegi stands in front of the giant locked door. Once again, he is surrounded by his dear friends. They all face the door, breaths caught in their throats. The tension in the air was noticeably thick, but also light at the same time, somehow.

The only difference now is that more of his friends were standing by him this time.

No one had died.

He saved everyone.

Leon Kuwata, Mukuro Ikusaba, Sayaka Maizono, Chihiro Fujisaki, Mondo Owada, Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Hifumi Yamada, Celestia Ludenberg, Sakura Ogami… Naegi had even saved Junko Enoshima, the mastermind of the killing game.

"Here you go, Kirigiri." As promised, Naegi hands the switch that unlocked the door to Kirigiri. "I still don't know how this is a precaution though."

"Hopefully you never will." Kirigiri says cryptically.

Suddenly, someone steps up next to Naegi. It was Ikusaba - somehow, even in the quiet empty hall, no one had heard her walk up to them.

"Oh, Ikusaba! You're here!" Naegi smiles brightly as the Ultimate Soldier joins the 78th class.

Blushing slightly, Ikusaba nods. "I'm ready. L-Let's go."

"Oh my FUCKING god, sis. Will you just ask him out already? Aren't soldiers supposed to be brave?" Junko snickers, still tied up and being carried around by Ogami. "Claim him before someone else does!"

"J-Junko!"

"I noticed that you didn't vote back when we were deciding what to do." Naegi says, purposefully changing the subject. "Why is that?"

"Oh… Well, I wouldn't be able to do something like decide my sister's fate."

"I suppose that's fair." Celeste nods understandingly. "Holding the life of a family member in your hands can be gut-wrenching."

"Well…" Kirigiri clears her throat as she scans the small crowd. "Does anyone have objections? This is your last chance, really."

"Kill me."

Other then Junko's blunt comment, no one raises any objections.

"Very well."

Naegi closes his eyes, satisfied.

I stopped Maizono from trying to kill Leon…

I pushed Ikusaba out of the way of the spears…

I kept Owada's temper in check…

I managed to put a stop to Celeste's plans…

Ogami didn't try to commit suicide…

It was finally done. His long journey really was over. It had been a mentally taxing ordeal, but Naegi would happily do it over again, if it meant saving his friends. It was all worth it.

"It's time." Kirigiri puts her finger over the button.

No one noticed how Junko was grinning sadistically at Naegi. Despite the posistion she was in, her expression was one of truimph and satisfaction.

…

Kirigiri presses the button.

The door opens.

A piercing bright light fills the room.