Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

As Shuichi looks up at the giant roulette wheel above, he feels the sudden urge to puke in disgust. The bright words on the top of the huge device, "HOPE WINS" flashing in his eyes, permanently engraving itself into his mind, nearly crushing any rational thought he had left.

If this is hope, then he'll be damned. From his fractured memory, he could recall that hope was supposed to be a sign of a new beginning in the games, a fresh start. A way to chase away the despair of the world. This hope couldn't be real, for all it did was invite more killings.

How many more Ultimate Detectives will there be before these games end? How many Ultimate Despairs? Ultimate Hopes? Pianists? Dictators? Astronauts? How many of them have died before in the hopes of ending the killing games only for there to be more? Shuichi can only remember thirteen, but he knows there's more, this is the 53rd season after all.

He can't dwell on that as he blankly stares at Tsumugi, who is rambling on and on about despair. He watches as Kiibo quickly retaliates, saying that hope will always triumph over despair, yet the other two contestants in the room besides him are in the same dazed state he was currently in. He's about to glare at Maki, who had willingly given herself up to another season of this insanity, before realizing that he should have done it instead. He was the protagonist, not her, he was the one that should have sacrificed himself for hope, right? She should be the person walking away free with Himiko.

Suddenly, a claw drops out of nowhere, wrapping around the mastermind's neck, dragging her away as she smiled and waved, cackling madly. Shuichi barely catches the words "Ultimate Despair's Execution: Ultimate Punishment" flashing in his eyes once again before he sees Tsumugi once again, sitting inside a rocket, surrounded by props from the executions he had seen before.

Despite himself, Shuichi can't help but chuckle just a bit. Even to the very end, Tsumugi was adamant about being the 53rd Junko Enoshima, down to her execution. Or did someone simply make her that way? Either way, he stops himself once Maki turns and glares at him, before looking back towards the execution grounds.

For the rest of the execution, Shuichi felt numb. For some reason he couldn't fathom, seeing the person who was the ring leader of this entire game show, or at least this season, getting boiled, beaten, and almost sliced in half, before being crushed by the piano's lid, did not bring him as much satisfaction as he thought it would. If anything, it just made his disgust for Team Danganronpa grow. There shouldn't be anymore deaths, that being said, no one should have died in the first place.

Right when Tsumugi is crushed to death, the spikes slicing through her body like a knife through butter, his vision begins to go black. He nearly jumps, opening his mouth to shout to the other three occupants in the room. Before he can open his mouth to say anything though, his vision goes dark, and he's dragged into the darkness.

"Hm..."

Shuichi's hands are gripping the arms of the chair as the person across from him hums in thought, the pen in their hand lightly hitting the clipboard on their lap. The small, dimly lit room the two were in was nearly void of any sound, save for the whirring of the fan above and the humming. Shuichi tried to recall what song the other was humming, wondering if it was something he had actually heard, or something he was told he had heard for the sake of the show. Some trait given by him to make him more relatable to some of the audience. "... I think I see the problem here." A smile adorns the other man's face as he looks back up towards Shuichi, the glasses on his face shining just a bit in the small light before he took them off, placing them in his breast pocket before clapping his hands together. "You, sir, are one of the biggest messes I've ever seen."

Shuichi can't help but laugh sheepishly at the other man's words, although he only grew more tense, shrugging just a bit as he spoke. "Well... I kind of gathered that..."

"Oh, it's not just that." The other man leans forward in his seat, his black hair blocking his face from sight, hiding his flashing smile for a second before it blinds Shuichi once again. "You don't really know what to make of all this killing game stuff. I can't blame you for that, though. I mean, I would be pretty shocked too if I was told that everything about me was made up by some game show employee..." Shuichi's eyes narrow at the other man's words, causing the man sitting across from him to only laugh. "Oh, don't give me that look, we both know that's true!"

The man's laughter slowly drifted into a cough as Shuichi's glare remained, his smile turning into an awkward frown as he looked back down at the clipboard, taking the small glasses out of his breast pocket once again to look them over. "Let's see... We also got a classic guilt complex, but we already know the drill. Yadda yadda yadda, it wasn't my fault that they died. No, let's look for something more interesting..."

Shuichi mumbled as he tried to sink further into his chair, shutting his eyes as he tuned out the other man's words. How long has he been here? Days? Months? Years? At this point, he had memorized the patterns on the carpet below his feet, as well as the leather of the chair he always sat on. When could he leave? Could he even leave? He knows there's a door just behind the chair he sat on, but he didn't know what was behind said door. There were no windows in the small office either, so he couldn't tell what level floor he was on, or even what time of day it was.

"... Ah ha! Here we go!"

Shuichi opens his eyes just a bit, at this point used to the other man's outbursts of shock, forcing himself to sit up straight as the other man read something off the clipboard. "How about this? "Anger towards Tsumugi Shirogane and Team Danganronpa"? Mind you, it isn't surprising, but it's better to talk about this than the other poor saps that got killed, right? Let's talk about this instead!"

"I guess so..." Shuichi sighs a bit before forcing himself to sit up straight again, stretching his arms above his head before crossing them, shutting his eyes for a few minutes in thought before speaking. "... I don't think I hate Tsumugi. Well, at least, not anymore..."

"And why do you say that?"

Shuichi ignored the sound of pen running against paper, instead trying to focus on the thoughts that ran rampant in his head. Why didn't he hate Tsumugi anymore? She did orchestra the game, and it was mildly satisfying seeing her getting crushed by that piano. Maybe it was because... "... Because she was just another victim in all of this."

"Oh, really? Like us?"

Shuichi quickly nods his head, no longer looking as exhausted as he was before, almost animated as he waved his hands in front of him. "Well, not really, but it was like she was almost brainwashed too. Like she was kind of being manipulated by..."

Team Danganronpa.

The very thought of those directors causes rage to boil in Shuichi's heart, cutting off most rational thoughts in his mind, his hand turning into fists, his nails digging into his skin, almost as if he would punch whatever executive that decided on his character if they were right in front of him. All he could settle on for now, though, was mumbling angrily in his seat. "... I would do anything to stop them..."

The sound of pen running against paper stops, yet Shuichi doesn't look at the other man, not yet. "... Anything?"

Shuichi can only nod his head slowly, lowering his hands so that they now held onto the arms of the seat he was on once again, his nails now digging into the leather. He does look towards the other man, though, once the other man throws the clipboard he held onto the small table next to him, a hint of a somewhat devious smile on his lips as he spoke. "Well, that's all well and good, but before you do anything to stop them, you should probably wake up."

Shuichi can only stare at the other man in confusion for a few minutes, watching as he stood up slowly, walking over to Shuichi before tugging on his sleeve. "Are you deaf?" The other man points behind the chair Shuichi was on, tugging on Shuichi's sleeve a little bit harder this time as he spoke. "You have to wake up. Just walk out that door, and that's it. You're home free."

Slowly, the black haired boy looks behind him in fear, tensing up just a bit in case something jumped out at him, before noticing the normal wooden door behind him. "..." Slowly, Shuichi stands up, only having to move forward a few steps before the other man lets go of his sleeve. A few more steps, and he's right in front of the door, grabbing the brass doorknob, turning it slowly before opening the door just a bit.

He glances outside to see nothing but an inky blackness, and yet, this does not terrify him at all. No, what terrified him was staying in that office room for any while longer with the man that wore his face.

Shuichi steps through the door without looking back, unable to see the smile on the other man's face as he vanished into the darkness once again.

Maki couldn't recall the last time she had ever felt so alone.

Actually, that was technically wrong. Correction, she had never recalled a time in her real life where she had felt so alone. She could recall long, somewhat warm winter nights at the orphanage she grew up in and warm picnics with the other kids at the orphanage near the lake. In contrast, as an assassin, she could remember cold nights spent on rooftops, or the sand sticking to her skin in searing deserts as she waited for her target to appear.

Even now, though, when she wasn't living her fake life, and was living a, what most people considered, a well off life, there was still a small void left behind in both her heart and spirit. This baffled her to no end, since being alone never really bothered her in the first place. Now, though, it slowly ate away at her, plaguing her even more so than the deal she had made with Team Danganronpa, and had to follow through with a year later.

Once Team Danganronpa crossed her mind, though, what she didn't linger on was the fact that she would be making a second appearance in another killing game, or the friends she had lost, but rather, she thought about the two other survivors in the killing game.

She had been the first one to wake up from the small coma the virtual reality program put her through about a month after the killing game ended, with Himiko waking up a week later. She had only seen Himiko a few times in the hospital both of them woke up in, before both of them parted their separate ways, with Maki refusing to stay with Himiko out of sheer guilt. Last time she checked, Shuichi woke up just a few months after Himiko did, which was now just a week ago.

She had not seen Shuichi since he woke up, although it was not of her own will.

The faux detective was told to stay with someone for a little while in fear of the side effects of having an extended coma from the program, with Himiko welcoming him with open arms. The second Shuichi went into the red head's apartment, though, he never stepped foot outside of it. At this point, she couldn't tell whether or not he was dead, and was almost too afraid to ask Himiko the truth. Why she was afraid, though, was a mystery to her.

Was she afraid of being told that Shuichi was dead? Or was just scared of talking to Himiko?

She jumps out of her seat as the sound of a doorbell rings inside the small house, echoing down the halls and bouncing around in Maki's head. At first, she can only stare towards the doorway for a solid minute in shock. Did a fan of the show find out that she lived here? Dammit, she had been so careful to keep that a secret, she didn't want to move again. The doorbell ringing across the house again forces her to move, almost stomping towards the front door.

Might as well get this over with.

She swings the door open, her face already forming into a scowl, opening her mouth to tell the person behind the door to just go away, before she freezes up completely.

The young man in front of her looks exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes almost taking up his entire face, shivering in the cold winter weather, even if he was wearing a thick jacket and wool hat. If she didn't know the person in front of her, she would have guessed that he was homeless due to his thin goatee and long hair. Even if she hadn't seem him in months, though, she instantly knew who it was.

"... Shuichi..."

She doesn't realize she had spoken until the man in front of her flinches, before quickly nodding his head. "Y-Yeah, it's me." He sounded breathless, and Maki was half tempted to ask him if he walked to her house. She didn't live that far from Himiko's apartment, only about a half hour away, just in case, yet something tells her to not ask as the young man in front of her rubs his hands together. Instead, she questions him about something else. "... Why are you even here?"

Shuichi freezes up, his hands stopping for a second, before he brings them to his face, blowing on them in an attempt to warm them before he continued speaking. "I w-wanted to... A-Ask you s-s-something..."

Maki does not say anything in reply, only crossing her arms, prompting the other to continue. "I-I..." Shuichi lowers his hands, turning just a bit as he talked to Maki. "I n-need to show you s-something first..."

Maki almost sighs in annoyance, stopping herself at the last second. She had nothing to do today, so it wasn't like she would be missing anything if she did go with Shuichi. Besides, isn't this what she wanted? Someone to talk to?

Before she thinks about it a bit more, she nods her head, grabbing a jacket off the coat racket next to her before stepping outside, shutting the door behind her. She didn't bother to lock it, it wasn't like she had anything of value inside the house.

She turns to Shuichi, already rubbing her hands together to keep them warm as she gestured towards him. "Where are we heading?"

A hint of a smile appears on the young man's face, and Maki can't help but smile in return, even in the bone biting cold. "Himiko's apartment... E-Everything's there..."

The walk to Himiko's apartment isn't that bad, considering the two inch thick snow, as well as the occasional ice they had to walk either on or around. Still, they manage to get to the dingy looking apartment building in record time, Shuichi nearly running inside to try and escape the cold air, with Maki following close behind.

Shuichi sighed in relief once he was inside, taking off the winter hat as he walked forward, sweeping his hair out of his face. Instead of going for the elevator, he headed for the stairs, much to Maki's surprise. In the killing game, she could recall one time the young man mumbled about how a set of brightly colored stairs was menacing. Now, though, he easily went up the dimly lit staircase, which seemed to be littered in garbage and other unsanitary items.

She simply shakes her head, sighing before following Shuichi up the stairs. She shouldn't be judging him like this, he could be the Shuichi she saw in the interview tapes, the Shuichi she met in the killing game, or both. Either way, she shouldn't question him over going up a flight of stairs without being terrified.

They only go up three flights of stairs before Shuichi walks down another dimly lit hallway, mumbling under his breath as he pocketed the hat, withdrawing a small key. "Himiko's working down at the gas station right now, so she won't be back for another hour..." Maki caught a small smile appearing on the other's face as he stopped in front of a door, twisting the key inside the small lock. "I'm actually really happy for her... It took her a long time to even apply for a job, and I don't mind being left alone for awhile..."

Maki can only nod a bit in acknowledgement, watching as Shuichi finally unlocked the door, leaving it open as he walked inside. Maki followed in only seconds later, shutting it behind her before blinking quickly as Shuichi suddenly flicked the light on.

In contrast to the rest of the building, the small apartment actually looked quite nice. A few couches decorated the living room, with a small table and lamp sitting next to one of them, a small TV in front of both of them. Two dark hallways were on both sides of the single room, leaving Maki to guess which one led to the bedrooms, and which to the kitchen.

Shuichi tossed the key onto the small table, taking off the jacket as he sighed in relief. "Finally, some warmth..."

For now, Maki chose to ignored Shuichi for a second, looking down the left hallway to see a darkened kitchen, barely able to make out what was inside. She turned to see Shuichi already walking down the other hallway, the white shirt he wore standing out in the darkness.

Maki waited until a light appeared somewhere down the hallway before following him, trying her best to navigate in the near darkness before making it to the doorway the light originated from.

The second she opens the door, the first thing she notices is that the walls are covered in writing. All of it pointing towards the center, where the Team Danganronpa logo was.

She can only stare dumbly at the wall for a few minutes, trying to decipher what Shuichi was trying to do, before deciding to ask the man himself. Now that she wasn't looking at the wall, she noticed Shuichi already picking up another marker on a desk in the room besides the small bed. He smiled sheepishly once he noticed Maki's confused, almost accusing looking stare, uncapping the marker as he spoke. "I-I must have picked up some of Ouma's... Investigating habits..." He trailed off a bit, before clearing his throat, turning back to face the wall. "Alright, so, do you know what this is?"

Maki could only reply in silence, which seemed to be an answer the fake detective was expecting, circling a few more pictures tacked to the wall before turning back to Maki. "Do you know how Team Danganronpa gets all that money for those killing games? The virtual reality? The mind wiping? Hell, even the merchandise?" A small laugh escaped his throat as he capped the marker, shaking his head. "It's crime. They run gangs. It's ridiculous, really. How can a huge company like this gain money through crimes? I mean, it kind of makes sense, they would probably need to get a lot of money through some illegal means when they first started, I just didn't expect this..."

As Shuichi trails off once again, Maki can only sigh in disbelief. "Organized crime? Really? They run one of the most popular game shows in the world, why would they need to still turn to crime for money?"

Shuichi shrugs in return, shaking his head once again as he sits down on the chair next to the wall. "I... Don't have an answer to that... But the fact remains, they get a lot of money through all of..." He taps the wall with the marker. "This. And I don't think the police can stop them at this point. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew about everything Team Danganronpa has done, and are still doing."

Slowly, a scowl begins to appear on Maki's face as she glared at Shuichi, then at the wall again. "... Why are you telling me this?"

"... I want to stop it, and I need your help."

Maki's scowl of anger turns into one of shock as she turns to Shuichi once again, her head moving so fast her hair nearly slaps her face. "... Are you serious? How can we stop all of this?"

Shuichi doesn't smile this time, for once looking completely serious as he continued speaking to Maki. "I have some ideas... But I can't tell you until you agree to work with me on this, alright?" He leans forward a bit in his seat, holding his hand out to Maki as he spoke. "Deal?"

Maki stared down at the hand in front of her. On one hand, she could decline his offer. She could accept the fate she had been given, and die a year later for the world's entertainment.

Or she could help Shuichi with whatever time she had left, and at least put a dent into Team Danganronpa.

She doesn't think twice as she reaches forward, grabbing the other's hand tightly as she glared down at him, a hint of a smile on her face as she gave her answer. "... Deal."

In the small time that he had worked in this town, Hashi Yukio had never made so much money. Yes, he hadn't worked for a company like this before, and not in this way, but that wasn't the point. What really mattered was that now he had something to rub into his brother's face once he could make it back home.

For now, all he had to really worry and complain about were the idiots he worked with.

"So, uh... You two from around here..?"

Hashi didn't have a chance to bite back as the other goon with him spoke up quietly in return, their voice almost at a whisper. "I don't think we're supposed to be talking about ourselves..."

Well, at least the idiot was right about one thing. Their employer had told them to wear masks, to both hide their identity from the prying eyes and so they won't turn against each other outside of work. Still, the man that had spoken before continued to talk, as if he wasn't aware of that one rule. "It's just, you know, I've been working with you all for a few weeks... Well, I think it's you guys, and I thought it was a bit weird that-"

"Shut up."

The other man seemed to gawk behind his red mask at the other's words, almost dropping the gun in his hand in shock. "N-No need to be rude! You didn't need to tell me to-"

Hashi held a hand up in front of the other's face, looking up towards the warehouse's ceiling as he whispered. "Seriously, shut the hell up." The mad in the red mask went silent, staring at Hashi in as he looked around. "... Did either one of you hear that?"

The other man with the two, one who chose to wear a black ski mask, narrowed his eyes at Hashi, yet his hands gripped the gun in his hands a bit tighter. "... Hear what?"

"..." Hashi shook his head, a small sigh leaving his mouth. "Nevermind, it was probably just the wind." He wish he could take off this stupid bear mask, it was starting to itch a bit, and it was unbearably warm. Not to mention, it greatly diminished his vision to the point he could only see what was directly in front of him.

While the man in the ski mask relaxed, the man in the red mask only got angry at Hashi's words, setting his gun back down onto the table next to him as he scowled. "Man, don't say that. My heart is already weak enough as it..." He trailed off slowly, his eyes visibly widening behind his mask at Hashi. "..."

"... What the fuck are you looking at?" Hashi turned to the man wearing the ski mask, as if he could provide an answer, yet the other man was also staring at Hashi in shock as well. Slowly, the gun dropped out of his hand, taking a few steps back, only confusing Hashi further. He's about to open his mouth once again, before he finally notices the edge of a larger shadow outlining his own.

Hashi snaps around, already raising his gun to shoot at the intruder in the dimly lit building, before the weapon is nearly snapped out of his hands. He doesn't have the chance to move once again as the gun is then slammed into his head, causing him to slam into one of the storage units before falling to the ground, the mask he wore nearly blocking his darkening vision. He could only watch in growing horror as the person, or thing, that hit him tackled the man in the red mask, while the man that wore the ski mask ran away in horror. Or, he tried too, as once the blur was done taking care of the man in the red mask, it quickly ran after the man in the ski mask, leaving Hashi behind.

When the blur was no longer visible, and the warehouse fell silent, Hashi could only give a small, breathless sigh in relief. Save for the pounding headache and inevitable bruise, he seemed to get the best outcome. At least he didn't his face beaten in like the mad in the red mask did.

He relief was shortly cut off, though, as he was suddenly lifted into the air, giving a breathless scream as the mask on his face was ripped off, thrashing madly in an attempt to get out of the other's grip. Now, he could tell that the blur was actually a person, a man by the looks of it, wearing a ski mask and some sort of armor, giving the man an almost bulky appearance. Nothing about the man seemed normal, save for his eyes, hidden behind a pair of red goggles.

"Hashi Yukio?" Hashi freezes up at the other's deep voice, barely able to give a proper reply besides a small whimper. That was the only answer the masked man needed, his grip on Hashi's collar tightening as his eyes narrowed behind the goggles. "Where are the rest of your men? It can't only be you three!"

Hashi quickly shook his head, before stopping once his collar dug into his throat painfully. It took him a few minutes to finally manage to get some words out of his mouth, nearly choking in the other's grip. "T-Tomorrow... Supposed to meet'em... T-Tomorrow..."

"..." The other man's eyes seemed to widen just a fraction behind the goggles, before narrowing once again, shaking the man in his hands as he spoke. "Don't lie to me!" His voice echoed across the warehouse, making Hashi flinch. "You were supposed to meet the rest of your little group today, I-"

The masked man was cut off as two gunshots echoed across the room, originating from somewhere in the darkness.

He sees that the first bullet hits the masked man, causing him to give a small yell in pain, dropping Hashi to the ground as he glared behind him.

He doesn't realize that the second bullet had hit him until he notices the dull pain in his chest, raising his hands to feel blood slowly pooling out the front of his shirt. He tries to take a few steps forward as the masked man dashed off into the darkness, a dull thud resounding across the room as he began to fall onto the ground.

He's dead the second his skull collides with the cold ground, the last thing he sees is the flash of another shot illuminating the masked man, his goggles flashing a menacing red in the darkness.

Shuichi tries his best to stand up straight as he walks back into the apartment building, small backpack in hand, his now much shorter black hair unable to hide his slightly bruised face from sight. No one was in the small lobby, save for the desk guard passed out at his desk, much to Shuichi's relief. Even if the other man didn't care that much about the building's occupants, he would no doubt be curious about the black eye and bruises on his face, which Shuichi didn't have the patience or time to think of some excuse for them.

It's been six months since he convinced Maki to help him get rid of all, or at least some, or the trouble Team Danganronpa had caused. It's been five months since Maki started training him inside the small cave by her old orphanage, although he could clearly recall the first day he had arrived, with the fake assassin nearly throwing him into the small river running through the cave, smirking almost smugly as she said that he had a long way to go.

It's been only one month since he's put on the mask and finally started to fight in the streets, and he's already making so many mistakes.

He eyes the elevator for a second in longing, the bruises on his body somehow hurting more at the idea of walking up three flights of stairs, before shaking his head, moving towards the garbage littered staircase instead. He nearly limps up the steps, digging into his pocket to try and find the key he had for the small apartment. He's only able to find it once he's front of the apartment's front door, sighing in relief. He didn't want a repeat of what happened last week, it took forever to think of a good excuse to give Himiko over how he lost it. What did he say again? He dropped it in a sewer grate while walking to work? He couldn't remember what he said exactly, he could only remember that it caused Himiko to laugh for the first time since he woke up from the virtual reality world.

A small frown appeared on the man's face as Himiko crossed his mind. He could only guess what she was going through, after all, she had lost some friends through the killing game, just like he and Maki did. She was the only survivor that tried to get rid of Danganronpa from her life entirely, both mentally and in the real world, never speaking about Tenko, or anyone else that had died.

Her laughing a week ago had reassured Shuichi, but now, he should probably stop going out at night to hunt down those criminals for awhile, especially after what happened tonight.

He shakes his head once again, taking a deep breath to calm himself, forcing his hands to move and unlock the door. Once it opens, though, his eyes only widen in shock.

Himiko's curled up on the couch, hugging her legs to her chest, her entire body hidden by a huge, fluffy blanket, the witches hat she usually carried around, yet never wore, on the ground in front of her. Her head snaps up at the sound of a door opening, her eyes widening once she sees the black haired boy. Shuichi barely catches the tears falling down the red head's face before she shoots out of her seat, the blanket a heap on the floor as she nearly tackles Shuichi in a hug, causing him to drop the backpack in his hands in shock.

At first, the two just stand in silence, save for the sound of Himiko's shaky breathing, before she finally gets out of the hug, glaring up at Shuichi as she clenched her hands into fists. "... Where have you been? Do you know how late it is..?"

Shuichi opens his mouth to speak, before quickly shutting it. He really had no excuse ready for this, he had expected Himiko to be asleep at this time, like usual. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist, before looking back up at Himiko, smiling sheepishly as he replied. "... Two am..?"

Immediately, Shuichi knew this was the wrong answer, as Himiko's look of worry turned into one of anger, a scowl appearing on her face as she now glared at the faux detective. "Ha ha, very funny. You should give up the whole crime fighting thing and be a comedian instead." Himiko must have caught the way Shuichi's eyes widened in shock, as her anger quickly turned into confusion. "... What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

At first, Shuichi only stares down at Himiko, before looking behind him into the hallway, looking back and forth to check if anyone was there before grabbing his backpack off the ground, quickly shutting the front door behind him. "..." He remains silent for a few minutes longer, staring at the door in thought, before turning back to Himiko, the sheepish smile from before completely gone. "... How long have you known?"

"..." Himiko shrugs as she looks down at the ground, trying to make small circles in the ground with her feet as she whispered. "... It's not that hard to find out... I saw your room a week ago, and I remembered all the times you weren't here, so I put two and two together and..."

"Have you told anyone?"

Shuichi curses as Himiko flinches at his cold tone, running a hand down his face as he shook his head, mumbling under his breath. "... Sorry, it's been a rough night for me..."

Himiko only watches in silence as Shuichi limps over to one of the couches in the room, dropping the backpack next to his feet as he sat down, running his hands down his face as he sighed. Why did he think this was a good idea? He wasn't only putting himself in danger, but he was also endangering anyone he's ever interacted with. Not to mention, if anyone ever found out that he was the masked man, he wouldn't only get sued, but probably even killed.

"... How bad was it?'

Shuichi nearly jumps out of his seat, only managing to calm himself at the last second once he realized that it was only Himiko who spoke, on her knees by the side of the couch, her arms crossed against the arm of the couch. Just Himiko, not Maki, not a masked man, not someone who was dead yet continuously haunts him in his dreams.

At first, he debates on whether or not to tell Himiko the truth, before eventually giving up. He was too tired of lying, almost disgusted at this point. If there was ever a time to tell the truth, it was now, no matter how awful it will sound. "... I saw someone die in front of me."

"... Really? How?"

Shuichi ignores how indifferent Himiko sounded, they both saw many people die, she probably thought this was no different than the awful deaths they have seen before.

He can't blame her for thinking that, before tonight, he felt the same way.

"... I was holding him, asking him about the rest of his crew, when one of the other guys he was with tried to shoot me... He didn't miss his mark, but he shot the other guy too, and..." Shuichi has to take another breath before continuing, shutting his eyes a bit as he leaned back in his seat. "... I didn't even realize he was dead until I took out the other guy..." A somewhat bitter laughs leaves his mouth as he opens his eyes once again, lazily looking down at Himiko. "It's kind of funny, really. The man that shot at us was someone I failed at taking out, I thought he just ran away... That isn't even the worse thing about it, though." Shuichi doesn't notice the tears starting to fall down his face until his vision grows blurry, his voice shaking as he got quieter. "I-I didn't... I didn't care at first... He was just l-laying down on the ground, h-his blood staining the ground, and he almost looked like..."

"... Someone who died in the game?" Himiko's voice is barely a whisper, yet Shuichi still flinches a bit, simply nodding his head in reply, trying his best to wipe the tears off his face as he shut his eyes. "..." Himiko sighed, resting her chin against her arms as she shut her eyes. "... I... Think I can understand what you're trying to say..." She opens her eyes to lazily look up at the young man in front of her, her voice getting a bit quieter. "... Are you still going to do the entire... Crime fighting thing..?"

At first, Shuichi is tempted to just shake his head. He didn't want to experience anything like that ever again. For a second, he could have sworn that who he was under the mask was not him, but the young man he saw in the interview tapes. The one who willingly and happily described his own execution after murdering someone else, not the young man who was a coward and hid behind a mask to do the unthinkable. Hell, he probably wouldn't be able to disagree with someone suggesting he was a bit crazy at this point from seeing so much death, and he would probably agree with them.

Yet he's only doing this to stop these killing games from continuing. If no one will step up to try and stop everything Team Danganronpa was doing, then he'll just have to be the one to step in.

He sighs, forcing himself to sit up, flinching a bit from the bruise he got from the bullet earlier. He knew it could be worse, and it was one of the reasons why he didn't ask Maki where she got the bullet proof armor. That didn't mean that it wasn't painful as hell to get shot anyway.

He forces himself to keep moving, picking up the backpack he set down earlier as he stood. "Y-Yeah... I just... Need to take a break, that's all..." He then forces a small smile onto his face, walking towards the small table as he opens the backpack. "... You want to see something cool?"

Himiko stares up at Shuichi for a second, before standing, nodding her head as she walked over to the table, watching in silence as Shuichi takes something out of the backpack, before laying it out on the table.

She nearly gasped at what she saw, her eyes widening just a bit, before she turned to Shuichi. "... Are you really going to wear this?"

Shuichi nods his head, lifting up a few parts of the costume in front of him to reveal the bullet proof armor underneath. "Yep... I thought that if I wanted to go against Team Danganronpa, it would be pretty funny to have their own mascot thrown back into their face..." He then chuckles, letting go of the costume, allowing Himiko to look it over as he spoke. "Maki also added a few extra design choices to make it more... How did she say it... Combat ready? It's not done yet, mind you, but still..."

Himiko's head snaps up to face Shuichi, and for the first time in nearly half a year, an emotion besides worry and exhaustion flashes in her eyes. "... I can finish it, if you want."

Shuichi stares down at the magician in shock, before he quickly nods his head, relief evident in his voice as he spoke. "Really? Oh, thank you so much Himiko, you're a life saver..!"

The red head blushes a bit at the taller boy's praise, picking up the mask of the costume, looking it over in an attempt to hide her face. "It's no problem... Now that I think about it, I can probably make a few other things for you, if you want..."

"Th-That would be amazing! Thanks!"

"Nyeh... It's no problem..."

Silence reigns over the two for awhile, yet whether it was over exhaustion, or the two thinking about whatever project they had to conduct in the future, neither could tell.

Eventually, Himiko's words break the silence.

"Can't you get accused of plagiarism if you use that bear for this..?"

The dark haired boy looked down at the fabric on the table, deep in thought, before turning back to Himiko, a hint of a smile on his face as he whispered, as if someone could hear through the walls of the small apartment building. "They can't sue me if they don't know who's under the costume."

At first, the faux magician narrowed her eyes, before a hint of her own smile appeared on her face a few minutes later, shrugging her shoulders just a bit as she spoke. "... Well, I guess it's fine, then."

As Shuichi sits down on the edge of one of the many steel beams decorating the top of the ceiling, he can't help but glare down at the people below. Every single person inside this building were nothing but the lowest scum, and yet here they were, plotting something only a few blocks away from a police station.

He digs into one of the containers onto his belt, trying to find one of the objects Himiko had given him, a capsule that would release pink smoke everywhere once it was detonated. It took him only seconds to find it, yet in the small amount of time he spent, he looked over the amount of people below.

There were only six people currently in the building, a few of them armed. He would have to take them out first, quickly and quietly, before they got a chance to fire a shot. He didn't want a repeat of the incident a week ago, he still had nightmares about that man dying in his hands, and Maki had made training even worse after it.

He held the small, round, pink capsule in his hand, using his other hand to lower his visor down over his left eye, enabling him to see through the smoke, before tossing it to the ground below. Once the capsule hit the ground, it immediately exploded into a pink cloud of smoke.

He quickly jumped down from the beam, the boots he wore, and as well as the armor, cushioning his fall a bit as he rolled onto the ground, before diving towards the first armed thug. He snatched the gun out of their hand, using the butt of the gun to slam it across the thug's head, instantly knocking him over and, hopefully, out, before tossing the gun away and out of sight. He repeated this process with the second armed thug, before moving on to one of the unarmed thugs. The smoke began to clear as he grabbed the shocked man, tackling him to the ground, the two rolling a bit before Shuichi ended up on top, snapping and breaking the other's arm in the process.

He slowly stood up as the smoke finally cleared, allowing the remaining three thugs to barely be able to see him. One of them widened his eyes once he saw Shuichi, turning to the other thugs as he questioned them. "Hey, uh... Doesn't that guy kinda look like the bear from-"

Shuichi dashes forward, before swiftly uppercutting the talking thug, prompting the other two to try and help their injured friend. The fight only ends in seconds, as Shuichi almost dances around the thugs, dodging every hit they send his way, sending each one sprawling onto the ground after a few hits. Once the thugs are down, he sighs in relief, removing the red visor from the black side of his costume, turning to one of the crates inside the building as he mumbled. "Now that that's over with, time to see what they were trying to hide..."

Once he gets to the crate, he first tries to rip it open, before noticing the small lock on the lid of the crate. While it did surprise Shuichi, it didn't inconvenience him that much, simply removing, what seemed to be, a small box with a few wires sticking out of it off his belt, before sticking the wire part into the lock. It takes only a few seconds for a click to be heard, before Shuichi places the box back onto the belt he wore again.

He would have to thank Himiko later, because even if her past life as a magician was fake, it seemed her talent and spirit for magic was real, evident by what she had made for him.

Shuichi rips off the crate's lid, only to groan once he saw that no there was no light to illuminate what was inside. He lowered the visor once again so he could see what was inside, before freezing up.

The crate was empty, save for one thing. Shuichi leaned inside, using the gloved white hand of his costume to pick up the object, a card. It seemed like a normal playing card, a dancing Jester juggling balls decorating the front of it, while the Danganronpa logo covered the back of it. He's about to throw it away until a laugh echoes around the room.

"Nishi nishi... I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon..."

Shuichi whips around, his eyes darting across the darkened warehouse. Even with his night vision visor covering one of his eyes, he couldn't pinpoint whoever spoke in the darkness. Yet he didn't need to see the speaker to know who was talking.

He would be able to recognize that laugh, even if the owner of it had died nearly half a year before.

"Show yourself!"

His modified voice startled him a bit, almost sounding way deeper than his actual voice, before forcing himself to stay focused. He takes another item off his belt, a grappling gun, aiming it towards one of the steel beams above so he could try and get a better vantage point.

He's about to shoot it when the sound of a gunshot rings across the room, a burning pain reverberates in his hand seconds later, causing him to drop the grappling hook as he gave a small yell in pain.

"A-Awh, I'm sorry! I've seen what you've done, and I just knew I couldn't take you down on my own! Soooooo, I brought a friend!"

At first, Shuichi can't quite comprehend what the other is saying. A friend? Dead people don't have friends. It's until he hears the dull thud from above does he finally remember where he is, rolling forward, grabbing the grappling hook with the hand that he knew wasn't broken, barely dodging the person who just jumped off the steel beam from above.

He glares at the armored person in front of him, their face covered by a pitch black helmet, their eyes highlighted by two red beams of light. Shuichi can only see the weapons in their hands, though, two pistols, which he guessed was the reason why his hand was now broken. Was this person also dead? If so, who was it? They knew how to fight, so it could be Tenko, or Kaito, or maybe even Gonta.

Shuichi quickly shakes his head, forcing himself to stand up straight, angling his body to hide his broken hand, narrowing his eyes at his opponent. "Who are you..?"

The masked person seems to glare right back at Shuichi, if the red lights on their masks narrowing meant anything, pocketing the guns they held as they stared at him. "... I could ask you the same thing."

Their voice was warbled, modifying their voice so that they almost sounded like a computer that spoke with many voices at once. Shuichi couldn't pinpoint their identity with their voice alone this time, and while this somewhat frustrated Shuichi, he also felt somewhat relieved. At least he could, for now, easily pretend that he wasn't potentially fighting an old friend.

Speaking of old friends, the voice from before finally spoke up, almost sounding excited. "Oh, are we having a little meet and great party? Don't leave me out of it!" Suddenly, one of the crates behind the masked person in front of Shuichi bursts open, causing packing peanuts to scatter everywhere. In the center of it all, inside the crate, was a very familiar face.

Shuichi's eyes widened once he saw the familiar flash of purple hair and pale skin. While this person wore a striking green suit with purple gloves, there were still some parts of their outfit that stayed the same, like the checkered bandanna that now covered the lower half of their face.

Ouma Kokichi waves madly, lowering his bandanna a bit to reveal a wide, almost maniacal grin, leaning forward over the edge of the box as he yelled. "Hiya! I'm the new plague that's going to bring this shitty city to it's knees! You can call me the Joker!" He pouted as he pointed towards the person in the black mask, watching as said person walked over to him. "And this spoil sport is Executioner. They're not as bad as you think they are, just B-O-R-I-"

Executioner grabs the top of Ouma's head, pushing the small young man back under the packing peanuts, the red beams of light on their face growing somewhat brighter in anger. "... Hush, you took me here to kill this man. If I did not work with you, I would finish you off right now just to shut you up."

This was too much.

Shuichi couldn't comprehend what he saw in front of him. He had seen Ouma's dead body in the killing game, crushed by a hydraulic press, as well as everyone else's that had died in the killing game.

The dead shouldn't come back.

This couldn't be real.

He had to get out of here.

He dug into the small container on his belt once again, this time using his broken hand to do so, yet he feels no pain, just a dull throbbing at this point.

As usual, it takes him just a second to find the small pink capsule, and another to throw it onto the ground.

When the Executioner and Ouma are finally out of the smoke, still coughing and hacking, Shuichi is no longer there, the warehouse empty except for them and the unconscious thugs.

"... So, what you're saying is, is that Kokichi is actually alive?"

Shuichi flinches at both Maki's question, and as she tightens the bandage over his hand. Apparently, his hand hadn't broken when Executioner shot it, even if it felt like it, it was simply bruised. He didn't need to be reminded by Maki that he needed to be more careful, or else his hand would have ended up broken, yet the fact that she was doing this was reprimanding enough as it was. He winces once more in pain, before he manages to speak. "Yes, but he looked... Different, and he acted different, too..."

Himiko looks up from her workbench for the first time since Shuichi told them about Ouma, lifting up the pink stained goggles hiding her eyes so that she could clearly see the costumed man in the dimly lit cave. "But we saw him die, didn't we? It's not like anyone could really come back from that, even in a simulation..."

Shuichi couldn't help but agree with that, after all, Iruma did get killed when they went into the simulation during the killing game. Was it really a stretch to think that everyone that died in the killing game would stay dead?

Maki gives the bandage on Shuichi's hand one final tug, looking it over one last time before she stood, glaring at the red head as she gave her own answer. "Should it really matter? The fact is, Kokichi is somehow alive, and he's dressing up and calling himself by some stupid nickname like this idiot here."

At first, Shuichi opens his mouth to agree, before he realizes what Maki says, a frown appearing on his face instead. "Hey, I didn't think up the name, and I'm not about to walk up to whoever thought it up and change their mind... Also, you're helping 'this idiot' fight crime."

"My point still stands, 'Monokuman'." She doesn't look back towards Shuichi, instead walking over to Himiko, who went back to creating more of the pink smoke bombs, the pink goggles hiding her eyes once again. "What we should really be asking is this. Who brought him back, and are they going to bring back anyone else who died?"

The other two people in the cave froze up, their eyes widening just a bit. Shuichi couldn't read minds, but he could tell that everyone else was thinking about the chances of certain people coming back from the dead like Ouma did, and they were terrified of what state they would be in once they came back.

Himiko looks back up from her workbench once again, the smoke bomb she just finished making rolling around in her gloved hand for a moment, before she finally speaks up. "... That other person you were talking about, Executioner, do you think that they were..?"

Himiko eventually trails off, yet Shuichi already knows what the other was going to ask.

Was the person that was with Ouma tonight Tenko?

It takes a few minutes for Shuichi to form the right answer, shrugging his shoulders as he forced himself to his feet. "I don't know, Himiko. They were wearing a mask, and their voice was changed as well, probably through some voice modifier. Yet they clearly knew how to fight. We might need to investigate them more..."

Himiko clenches the small smoke bomb in her hand to the point that Shuichi worried that the smoke bomb would explode in Himiko's hand. Eventually, Himiko takes a deep breath, her grip on the pink capsule loosening before she turned back to the workbench. "... How are we going to do that?"

Shuichi bent over to pick up the mask he dropped onto the ground earlier, trying to think of a proper response. He could try and track the Executioner, but that meant that he would have to return to the warehouse, and there was a chance that both Ouma and the Executioner were still there. He didn't think he would actually be able to handle both of them in his current state, so that threw that plan out the window. He groaned in slight irritation, taking the cape off from his back as he spoke. "We should start by investigating who hired the Executioner, or who made Kokichi that way."

Maki scoffed at Shuichi's words, looking over the objects on the workbench Himiko worked at as she spoke. "Well, isn't it obvious? Whoever made those two is also the same person that told us they died."

Shuichi nodded in agreement, clutching the mask in his hand tighter in disgust. He should have expected this. He knew that in the second killing game, those who had died in the virtual world ended up surviving in the end. He was an idiot for taking Team Danganronpa's word. "We need to find someway to get more information..."

"... I think I can do something about it."

Shuichi and Himiko looked over towards Maki in surprise, making the other narrow her eyes annoyance. "What? Did you guys forget? I have to go through another killing game in four months. They're already preparing for it..."

The look of shock on the other's faces turned into one of pain, because both of them had forgotten, in the chaos that was becoming a vigilante, that Maki was going to be in another killing game.

Shuichi quickly forced himself to recover, nodding his head quickly as he placed the mask on another workbench. "Alright, we can work with that. Just try not to get caught."

Maki scoffed, a small smirk appearing on her face as she looked back towards Himiko's workbench. "I'll try my best, but it's not like they could do anything to me if they did..." Her smirk disappears as she grabs one of the objects on the workbench, what looked like a boomerang shaped like Monokuma's left eye. "... I still can't understand why you insist on mimicking that bear..." Before Shuichi can respond, she's already setting the boomerang down, grabbing another object on the table, which looked similar to the grappling gun Himiko had made for Shuichi. "What even is this? Where did you get the equipment to make this?"

Himiko quickly grabbed the clawed gun out of Maki's hand, much to the other girl's annoyance, setting it back down on the workbench as she gave an explanation. "I'm calling it the 'Bear-claw', and it's for grabbing stuff. Like guns, and maybe even a person if you aim in the right place. And sorry, I won't tell you where I got the stuff for it, trade secret."

Shuichi tuned out the other's inevitable banter, throwing his mask onto the workbench and then placing the cape on a chair before sitting down. Unlike Himiko's, his workbench wasn't covered in tools and various other equipment, but laptops and other technology, as well as the data he had kept on his room's walls. He didn't want a repeat of Himiko finding out his identity like that, and it wasn't that hard to move everything from his room to the cave. He quickly turned on his computer, bringing up the files he had collected for tonight's events.

He had been investigating various arms deal for the past few weeks, with minimal results. He had been able to stop a few deals, yet it seemed minuscule compared to what he knew so far about Team Danganronpa's operations.

But what happened tonight was new. He had never heard of Ouma, or rather, the Joker before tonight, or about the Executioner. He went onto his laptop, looking up 'Joker' first to see if there was anything about him.

Much to the black haired boy's surprise, there was some results. A few newspaper clippings detailing some small scale crimes committed by an unknown man and a few other criminals, yet every single crime scene carried one thing, a card with a joker decorating it.

Shuichi grimaced at the pictures the articles provided, showing dozens of people with disgusting, wide grins, every single one of them in what seemed to be immense pain. "Kokichi, what the hell do you think you're doing..?"

He quickly took out the tabs, and, to satisfy his own curiosity, looked up 'Executioner'. In only a few seconds, he got just what he expected, which was next to no results about who he was actually looking for. He sighed in slight annoyance, taking out those tabs as well before turning back to his work.

He'd have to look up more info on Ouma and the Executioner later, for now, he had to do whatever he could to try and find out more information on the arms deals.

Right when he's about to get to work, the police radio on his workbench goes off, causing everyone in the cave to freeze up.

Maki had been the one to bring the radio inside the cave, which only went off if a major crime was occurring, and Shuichi didn't suspect that he would ever have to use it, hell, he didn't even know how to work the damn thing.

Slowly, Maki walked away from Himiko's workbench, moving over to the police radio as if it was a bomb that was about to go off. Once she was in front of it, though, she quickly went to work, turning it on. At first, the radio only emitted a harsh static, causing Shuichi to flinch, before Maki quickly adjusted the settings. Soon, the static turned into quick and choppy words.

"... peat! We have a shooting going on in Grand Bank, multiple casualties! Requesting backup! I repeat, requesting-"

The words cut off by a loud bang, followed by a loud scream of pain, and static was left behind again. This time, though, Maki doesn't have to adjust it to have another voice resound from the radio. "... Hello? Anyone hearing this?"

Shuichi's eyes widened at the voice, turning to Maki to see her reaction. The fake assassin stared at the radio in shock, yet she didn't move a single inch, both of them remaining silent to hear what the voice had to say next. "Never could work these damn things..." This time, the voice sounded gruff, almost ragged, before it went back to a more normal sounding tone. "Whoever's hearing this, don't come inside the bank for the next hour. If I see anyone that I don't recognize, I will kill every last person here? Do you hear me?"

Shuichi's already getting up, placing his mask back onto his face before grabbing his cape, trying his best not to look at Maki, who was still staring at the radio in shock. Himiko, who couldn't hear the radio that well from where she was, looked at Maki in concern before turning to Shuichi. "... What's happening? Is something wrong?"

The now costumed man didn't give her an answer as he moved, only grunting as he grabbed the Bear-claw off Himiko's workbench, as well as a few other smoke bombs and the boomerangs Himiko had been working on, before walking away. Himiko's eyes widened a bit as Shuichi moved towards the cave's exit, getting up to stop him, removing her pink goggles. "W-Wait, your hand is still-!"

Too late, Shuichi vanishes into the darkness of the cave, nearly sprinting towards the exit. The last thing he hears before leaving is Maki quietly saying, almost whimpering, the name of the man who spoke on the police radio. "... Kaito..."

It takes only a half hour for Shuichi to make it to Grand Bank, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, his cape trailing behind him. Once Shuichi finally sees the bank, he waits on a rooftop a block or so away, lowering his night vision visor over his left eye to see, grimacing at what he saw.

The building was surrounded by police officers, all of them facing the bank's entrance, guns trained on the front door, with multiple reporters standing behind them. It's the first time he's ever seen civilians at a crime scene, and the most amount of people while he was wearing the costume. If Kaito wasn't inside the bank, he probably would be more hesitant about trying to stop the heist, but now, he wanted to see what had happened to his friend. Would he be the same person that he was in the killing game, or was he the man he saw in the interview tapes? There was also the possibility that he was now someone else entirely.

Shuichi shook his head, instead forcing himself to move, taking the grappling gun off his belt with his bruised hand, using it to move over to the top of the bank. Thankfully, no one had heard him over the chaos below as he moved from rooftop to rooftop. Once he was on the bank's roof, he pocketed the grappling hook, shaking his bruised hand as he walked around the roof to find some sort of entrance, cursing under his breath. He really shouldn't have used his injured hand like that, or else he would make it so that his hand wouldn't heal for a lot longer.

He found what he was looking for only seconds later, a grate leading into the building's ventilation system. He knelt down, gripping the grate with his gloved hands, pulling it off after a minute, before tossing the grate off to the side. He quickly jumped inside, almost crawling through the vents, trying his best to keep the amount of noise he made down to a minimum.

It took awhile for him to finally make it to another grate that led him to a part of the bank that actually had people inside, although it wasn't part of the lobby or the vault, much to his dismay. Rather, it was inside a small security office, where multiple thugs watched over about a dozen hostages, guns trained on their backs. The masked man froze up, staring through the grate in fear. He had never dealt with a hostage situation before, and now that he was facing one, he was slowly starting to remember how dangerous this entire situation was.

Still, that didn't mean that he wouldn't try and save the hostages, just that he had to be more careful. He took a deep breath, before looking over the inside of the security room once again, for once taking it all in. It was now that he realized that there wasn't that many thugs inside the room, only two, both of them wearing masks, who were both a distance away from each other. One wasn't even looking at the hostages, but the cameras decorating the wall in front of him, while the other was just beneath Shuichi.

"... Do you think the boss will have us kill these guys?"

Shuichi grimaced at the thug's words, forcing himself to move quickly and quietly. He hoped that the thug wasn't referring to Kaito just now, because Kaito would never harm anyone unless he absolutely needed to, right? He wouldn't kill an innocent person or order for their death just because, right?

Shuichi quickly removes the grate, before hooking his feet onto the edge of the opening. "I don't think so. Well, not until we get all the money and leave..."

Once the thug below him is done speaking, Shuichi quickly lowers himself so that he was now hanging from the ventilation's opening, wrapping an arm around the man's neck in a choke hold while covering his mouth so he wouldn't be able to warn the other. The hostage's eyes widened at the site of the man struggling in his grip, while the other thug didn't even notice. There were a few moments of silence while the thug in Shuichi's hands slowly passed out, with the costumed man dropping him once he stopped struggling, before pulling himself back into the ventilation. He jumped down to the ground quietly as the other thug spoke up again, a tense laugh leaving his mouth. "I guess, but I sure as hell hope not. Their blood would really stain my clothes, and I don't want to explain how I got them to my wife..."

"Really now? Well, now I feel bad for your wife."

The thug jumped at the deep voice echoing in the security room, turning around as he raised the gun in his hand. "Who the hell just-"

He doesn't finish his sentence as Shuichi grabs the Bear-claw off his belt, aiming it at the other man before shooting. It grabs the thug by the shirt, dragging him towards Shuichi so fast that he nearly slams into his fist. He goes unconscious instantly, with Shuichi simply watching as the man dropped to the floor.

Once he's done, he looks over towards the hostages, before going speechless. He's never talked to civilians before, and he hadn't planned on anything comforting to say. Instead, he just goes with what he feels is best to say in the current situation. "Stay in here until the police come inside, I'll take care of the rest of them." He stares at the hostages for a few seconds more, before quickly turning towards the wall behind him, which showed where every security camera was currently pointed at.

The first one he looked at was the camera inside the vault, and his heart almost dropped in his chest. There were about five unarmed thugs inside the vault, and in the center of it all was a purple haired man with a mask covering half of his face, the mask resembling the darker side of Monokuma's face. The masked man seemed to be yelling at the others, waving the gun in his hand as he did.

Shuichi nearly punched the screen, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He was about to see Kaito anyway, whether he wanted to or not, and could question him later, for now, he had a job to do.

He looked at the other screens to see that three more men patrolled the rest of the bank, each of them armed with a rifle. He looked a bit closer, before finally noticing what he needed, another ventilation grate leading to at least one of the thugs. Shuichi quickly moved around the unconscious thugs, trying his best not to make eye contact with the hostages as he finally made it to the ventilation's opening, about to jump up when a quiet voice spoke up.

"... What are you?"

His head snaps down to look at the hostage that spoke, who flinched away at his gaze. He remained silent for a moment, debating about whether or not he should actually answer the other's question. In the end, though, he eventually gave his answer, his voice barely above a whisper. "... I'm just a man."

Before the other could question him further, he leaps up, grabbing the edge of the grate with his gloved hands before climbing inside, disappearing into the safety of the darkness once again.

This time, it only takes him a solid minute to find the correct grate he was supposed to get out of, the legs of a thug visible behind the steel bars. He rolled onto his back, using one foot to push onto the grate gently enough so that it wouldn't burst out. Once he saw it dent enough to the point the screws came off, he was back onto his knees, pushing the grate forward a bit and then off to the side.

Once he's able to, he quickly grabs the thug in front of him by the legs, the larger man giving a startled yell as Shuichi drags him into the vent, before being cut off as Shuichi claps a gloved hand over his mouth. Again, the man is out in seconds, allowing Shuichi to exit the grate to hunt down the other two men.

He takes them both out in a few minutes, leaving them unconscious on the cold aluminum floor. He quickly heads off towards the vault, almost sprinting there, before stopping just at the edge of the opening. He wonders how he was going to take out five of those thugs at once, considering how it's the most he's ever had to deal with. He's reaching to his belt to grab a smoke bomb when someone to his side tackles him.

He can barely comprehend what happens next, one moment, he's standing to the side of a vault, the next, his head is smashed into the ground, held down by the person that nearly broke his hand earlier tonight. At first, he tries to struggle out of the masked person's grip, before stopping once the other grabs his mask. If he moved anymore, the mask he wore was going to come right off in front of all these people, which was something he couldn't afford.

"Well well well, look what we have here."

Shuichi tensed up at the gruff voice, his eyes darting up towards the purple haired man walking towards him. Only half of Kaito's grin was visible, and yet it still sent shivers down Shuichi's spine. This wasn't his friend from the killing game, this was the young man who signed up for the killing game to kill everyone for cash.

Kaito bent down onto his knees, raising his gun so that it was aimed at Shuichi's head. "We got ourselves our own private freak show, now isn't that just fan-fucking-tastic?"

The other thugs in the room cheered, while the person that held Shuichi down simply glared at the purple haired man, the red beams on their helmet almost flashing. "... What is with the theatrics? You are just as bad as the other man I was working with earlier..."

Much to Shuichi's surprise, the gun that was aimed at his face quickly changed targets so that it was instead pointing at the Executioner, the purple haired man's voice taking a more normal tone as he yelled. "Don't compare me to that fucking lunatic, alright? I'm not him!"

The Executioner stared at Kaito in silence, showing no reaction whatsoever to being yelled at, while the thugs in the room all went silent. Shuichi watched in growing worry as Kaito took a few deep, shaky breaths, before speaking, his voice once again taking that gruff tone. "You know what? Fine, if I'm being theatrical, let's have our own little death match, right here, right now." Kaito gestured towards the rest of the thugs in the vault, motioning them to follow him as he gets outside of the vault. "You want him dead, right?" Kaito smirks as the rest of the thugs follow him out of the vault, shutting a gate behind the last one before turning back to the two masked people inside the vault. "This door won't open again until one of you die, so... Let's get this show on the road."

Shuichi can only feel a creeping sense of dread as the Executioner lets go of his mask, getting to their feet before taking a few steps away from Shuichi, allowing him to stand. At first, he debated whether or not he should actually get up and fight. Even if the other had nearly broken his hand, he didn't want to kill them. Yet he all too quickly realized that just laying down would simply be him accepting a swift death by the Executioner. Quickly, he rolled back onto his feet, standing just the way Maki had told him to hundreds of times, one of his hands grabbing a smoke bomb on his belt as he glared at the Executioner.

The Executioner stared at Shuichi in silence for a few minutes, their entire body relaxed, their hands casually at their hips, close to the two pistols attached to their belt. "... Why are you doing all of this?"

Shuichi froze up for a second, confused at the other's question. Was he being interrogated? He didn't think that the other would want to talk to him, that they were just sent by Team Danganronpa to take him out. He debates whether or not he should give an answer, like with the hostages.

In the end, he says nothing, much to the masked person's annoyance. "I don't understand. You weren't hired by anyone, correct? So why would you seek out trouble like this? Is it because you wish for fame? For some unforeseen fortune? Or maybe for some sort of selfish, self righteous cause..."

At this point, Shuichi could tell that the other was trying to provoke him into answering. Once again, he doesn't speak, but instead moves into action. His hand moves to grab the smoke bomb at his belt, throwing it on the ground in one swift motion. Instantly, the entire vault was covered in pink smoke, causing the thugs behind the bars of the vault, as well as Kaito, to cough, all of them taking a step back.

Shuichi didn't know if the other person inside the vault could see through the smoke through their mask like he could with his visor, so he moves swiftly before the Executioner could gain back their bearings. He throws a swift punch into the Executioner's stomach, the other barely flinching as they were hit, before he raised his fist to hit the Executioner again.

This time, the Executioner caught his fist, the red lights on their mask flashing as they threw Shuichi off to the side. As Shuichi rolled on the ground, he caught the Executioner reach for one of the pistols on their belt. Once Shuichi was on his feet again in just a few seconds, he grabs a boomerang off his belt, before throwing it at the Executioner's hand. The masked person gave a startled yell as the boomerang hit their hand, stumbling back a bit as Shuichi ran towards them again. This time, Shuichi tackles the Executioner to the ground, causing both of them to slam into the metal gate blocking the exit of the vault.

Shuichi almost felt his ears ring as his head collided with the metal bars, momentarily dazed, before he shook his head, glaring back down at the masked person he had just tackled. The Executioner didn't seem as fazed as Shuichi was, even if they had hit the metal bars harder than he had, even managing to struggle, albeit weakly, in Shuichi's hands.

As Shuichi stared down at the masked person, an idea suddenly sprang into his mind. He reached for the other's helmet, his hands clipping onto the edges of it, before screaming in pain as a bolt of electricity coursed through him. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it was enough to cause the Executioner to freeze up and for Shuichi's hands to shake.

It was then that, to Shuichi's shock, the smoke began to clear, revealing who was the winner of the fight inside the vault.

At first, no one said a single word, all of the people inside the vault staring at the two masked people, before Kaito suddenly laughed. It was a disgusting sound that made Shuichi scowl as the purple haired man walked forward. "It looks like we have our winner! Go on then, finish it up, and then we'll open the door and let you out."

It took a moment for Shuichi to realize what Kaito was asking for, and his eyes widened behind his mask. He stood up quickly, nearly yelling at Kaito as he quickly moved away from the Executioner. "No, I don't kill, and you don't either! You're supposed to hate killing people! That's how you were in the game!"

Kaito's visible eye widened at Shuichi's words, the gun in his hand lowering. "... The game..?" The gruff tone was absent from Kaito's voice this time as he shut his visible eye.. "... You mean the killing game?"

Although Shuichi knew that he was treading on thin ice, he continued to speak, nodding his head as he took a step forward. "Yes, the killing game, don't you remember? You were Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars!"

Shuichi ignored the thug's confused and worrying looks as Kaito continued to hum in thought, now looking towards Shuichi. "... Yeah, I think so..." Once again, his voice was absent of that gruff tone, which Shuichi took as a good sign. "... Yeah, you're right, I'm Kaito, although, I'm pretty sure that-"

"Freeze!"

Shuichi tensed up completely as a light flashed in his eyes, causing the thugs and Kaito to sharply turn around, shielding their eyes from the light. Shuichi is about to yell out to whoever spoke, removing his night vision visor, before a gloved hand is wrapped around his mouth. A bang echoes across the room, before the vault is filled with smoke, although this one is clear instead of a bright pink. He has no time to struggle as he is dragged into a floor grate he hadn't noticed before, his mouth still covered once the person that dragged him shut the grate, plunging both of them into darkness.

He doesn't know who dragged him underground until two bright red lights shone in the darkness.

The gloved hand over his mouth keeps him from screaming, his eyes wide underneath his mask, yet the Executioner doesn't move much, only pointing above them. It is only then that Shuichi hears the sound of gunshots and officers yelling.

He's about to slap the hand off his mouth when the Executioner finally removes their hand from his face, making him finally take a breath he wasn't even aware that he had been holding. "... Don't ask questions. We need to move, it's only a matter of time before they find us here."

Even when their voice was lowered to a whisper, it sounded almost deafening in the enclosed space they were in, causing Shuichi to flinch just a bit as he lowered his night vision visor over his eye again. "Alright, just lead the way."

Now that he could see, the Executioner nodded their head, turning so that they were facing the direction behind them, before quickly crawling through the vent. Shuichi followed not that far behind, trying to keep his distance in case the masked person in front of him was leading him to a trap. Yet, for some reason, he doubted it. They couldn't have planned this far into the fight, especially since they were the one who had lost.

Now that he had the time to think about it, though, he wondered why the Executioner was helping him escape. They were trying to kill him only seconds ago, after all, so why the change of heart?

It takes them a few minutes for them to finally make it outside, into a small alleyway to the side of the building. The Executioner is the first one to get out of the vent, helping Shuichi to his feet once he had made it to the end of the vent. As Shuichi dusted himself off, he looked off to the side, unable to keep a relieved sigh from leaving his mouth as he saw Kaito being led to one of the multiple cop cars, glad to see his old friend alive, before giving an almost pained groan. God, Maki was going to kill him for allowing Kaito to get arrested.

He doesn't even notice that the Executioner is staring down at him until he faces forward again, freezing up under the masked person's gaze. "... Why didn't you kill me back there?"

Now this was probably the easiest question Shuichi would answer all night, forcing himself to stand up straight as he stared right back up at the Executioner. "Simple, I don't kill. What reason would I have for ending someone else's life?"

"..." The Executioner simply nods at Shuichi's words, before turning back towards the end of the alleyway, watching as the cop car holding Kaito sped off. "... You talked to that man like you knew him from somewhere."

This question wasn't as easy as the last one, and Shuichi mentally cursed at himself for talking to Kaito that way before. He should have been more careful, and now he was paying the consequences for his actions. "... So what if I did? Have you met him before? You seemed to be working with him tonight."

"... I think I have talked to him before tonight..." Shuichi was surprised at the other's answer, considering he didn't expect one in the first place. "My memory is kind of... Scrambled..."

Scrambled? What kind of person used that to describe their memories? Still, Shuichi remained silent, and the Executioner didn't say anything else, both of them simply watching as the police cars drove away. This time, at least Shuichi got more info about the Executioner, like how they were possibly a participant in the killing game as well.

"... You know what would be perfect for this?"

Shuichi's gaze snapped back to the Executioner, the red beams of light on their mask shut off, as if their eyes were shut in thought. "... What?"

"Chopin, twenty four preludes number 4, E-minor." The Executioner then lets out a static laced laugh, not yet noticing the way Shuichi's eyes widened under the mask. "It's silly, isn't it? How I can only think of music at a time like this? Yet it's somewhat relaxing, don't you think-?"

"... Kaede?"

Shuichi doesn't realized that he's let his own thoughts slip out of his mouth until the Executioner's head snaps to him, the red beams of light now flashing a bright red. In one swift movement, they grab Shuichi from around his throat, actually managing to pick him up and slam him into the wall.

Shuichi can already feel the hand tightening around his throat, making it harder to breath as seconds went on. In the heat of the moment, he reached up, grabbing his mask. "W-Wait!" For a second, the grip on his throat loosens, and Shuichi debates whether or not he should actually do this, before he ripped his mask off. He's already made a dozen of mistakes tonight, what's another one to the pile. "Kaede, i-it's me!"

"..." This time, the Executioner lets go of Shuichi, allowing the young man to gasp for breath as his knees slammed into the dirt. In between his gasps for breath, though, he hears a hiss of air, followed by the sound of a something hitting the ground. He looks up to see that what was thrown against the ground was the Executioner's mask, and he looks up even further to see long blonde hair surrounding a face he never thought he would see again. "... Shuichi?"

This time, when Shuichi returns to the cave, Maki isn't there. Himiko later explains that the other survivor had gone home to rest, unable to think straight after hearing Kaito over the radio.

For now, though, the shorter girl only stares up at Shuichi as he walked through the entrance of the cave, this time with another masked person in tow. "... Sh-Shuichi..." The pink colored capsule she holds in her gloved hand is only halfway full, yet it seemed like she would still use it given the chance as she stared at the masked person behind Shuichi. "... Is that..?"

At first, Shuichi nods his head, before stopping, then quickly shaking it, a sheepish smile on his face. "Kind of..? Well, not really, I guess, since they're not trying to kill me anymore. No, this is..."

He trailed off as he realized that he couldn't simply introduce the person behind him, at least easily. Thankfully, the masked person behind him does it for him, walking forward as they reached for the helmet covering their face. Himiko stands up, taking a step back before the masked person takes the helmet off their head, causing Himiko's eyes to go wide.

Kaede's smile seems exhausted, almost sad, yet it still radiated some sort of warmth as she waved at Himiko, setting the helmet she had worn for so long to the ground as she quietly spoke. "Hey, Himiko, long time no-"

She was cut off as the red head ran forward, enveloping the armored young woman in a hug, tears springing to the shorter girl's eyes as she sobbed. "Kaede..! We thought we would never see you again..!"

Kaede looks as if she was about to throw Himiko across the room due to the sudden hug, causing Shuichi to worry for only a moment, before the fake pianist seemed to relax, uneasily returning Himiko's hug as she laughed sheepishly in return. "... Y-Yeah, me too..."

Shuichi allowed a quietm relieved sigh to leave his mouth at the sight of the two girls, taking his mask off as he walked over to his workbench. He had worried that Kaede wouldn't even be able to recall Himiko, due to, according to Kaede, the memories that Team Danganronpa had messed with.

Kaede hadn't told him much about what happened to her after she had died inside the virtual reality, yet what she had told him was incredibly concerning. Apparently, Team Danganronpa was using all the people that died in the killing game as their own puppets, mixing and giving them different memories to suit their new role. They had basically made Kaede into another Ultimate Assassin, while turning Kaito into some sort of lunatic with his old pre-game mindset and in-game mindset. She had no idea what they had done to Ouma. If anything, they had just made the him a ruthless killing machine with no regard for human life.

As for the others, she had no idea what happened to most of them. She had yet to tell Shuichi what happened to some of them, out of either fear or a lack of time.

For now, though, he doesn't question Kaede, only allowing her to talk to Himiko, who quickly showed Kaede what she had been working on since she decided to help Shuichi, with Kaede showing Himiko her own equipment.

The red head had flinched once Kaede showed her the dual wield pistols she had, with the fake pianist quickly placing them back on her belt once again to grab something else. For the most part, though, what Kaede had was non-lethal, which was only a few smoke bombs and a device similar to the Bear-claw Himiko had made.

Himiko was in the middle of explaining something she had made after Shuichi ran off, some sort of explosive gel, when she suddenly yawned, her eyes drifting shut for a second before she sets the device onto her workbench, glancing down at the watch on her wrist. "Oh god, it's five am..." She forced herself to her feet, covering her mouth once again as she yawned. "I should probably go to bed now..." She froze up at the other two's confused looks, staring back at them before she quietly spoke up. "What? Have neither of you gone to sleep before?"

Shuichi frowns from his own workbench, finally setting down the police radio in his hands to turn to Himiko. "It's not that Himiko, it's just... You're exhausted, do you really think that you can walk back to the apartment like that?"

The silence the magician gives is the only answer Shuichi needs, causing the now unmasked young man to sigh as he stood up. "You can sleep here, if you want. I think Maki dragged some cots down here once while we were sparring, let me just..."

As he walks off into the darkness of the cave, Kaede looks down at Himiko, who slowly sits back down behind her workbench, slowly taking off her gloves and goggles. "... He's really changed, hasn't he?"

Himiko only hums lazily in agreement, somewhat resembling her killing game counterpart as she mumbled out her reply. "Ahuh... He really didn't like how the killing game ended... I don't think he would have done anything if you hadn't inspired him to stand up and face the truth back then, though..."

Kaede stares down in silence at Himiko, shocked by the redhead's words. It was clear that she didn't think that her words had inspired the other like this, and right when she opens her mouth to question Himiko again, Shuichi returns, a rolled up cot in each hand, with a blanket draped over his shoulders. "Found them!" The black haired boy grunted as he placed both of them down on the flat cave ground, rubbing his hands together as he stood. "I grabbed another one for you, Kaede, in case you wanted to head off to sleep too. I only found one blanket, though, but Himiko can use my cape to keep warm."

Himiko seemed to light up a bit at Shuichi's words, which gave her enough motivation to move out of her seat towards Shuichi, who was quickly setting up one of the cots.

Kaede stared at the black haired boy in something akin to wonder for a few moments, before forcing herself to move, picking up the helmet she had dropped before. She quickly sets up her own cot, placing her helmet next to her once she was done, before taking off the armor she wore, revealing the baggy black shirt and sweatpants she wore underneath, leaving her armor and belt underneath the cot.

As Shuichi walked over to her to give her the blanket, she looked up towards him in concern, brushing her hair out of her face to see him clearly as she questioned him. "What about you? Last time I checked, tonight's been rough for you too."

The black haired boy doesn't respond at first, looking deep in thought as he handed Kaede the blanket, before he eventually gives a small laugh, waving Kaede off as he spoke. "I just need to finish something tonight, and then I'll go to bed. I'll be fine." He notices how Kaede's eyes drift towards his bandaged hand, forcing his smile to be more reassuring, his voice getting quieter. "... Really, I'll be fine..."

"..." Eventually, Kaede nods her head, sighing in resignation as she sat down on the cot, wrapping the blanket around her. "... Alright, fine, but don't stay up for that much longer, alright?"

Shuichi nods his head as he walks back over to his workbench, grabbing his cape off his chair before giving it to Himiko, who snatches it out of his hands quickly, wrapping herself up in the black and white fabric as she laid down. "I promise."

Himiko falls asleep the instant she lays down, and it takes awhile for Kaede to finally pass out. Shuichi, though, remains awake for another hour, messing with the police radio to figure out how the damn thing even worked. Eventually, though, like the others, he falls asleep, his head laying against his workbench.

For the first time in half a year, his dreams are not laced with nightmares of murderous bears and friends dying, but are filled with people who spoke of stars and going to space, and of melodies no one has ever heard.