Mukuro held the disk in her trembling hands. For once, she didn't know what to expect. Ever since she and her classmates had been thrust into the mutual killing game, she'd had an advantage, had some kind of way to handle the situation.

But this was a complete surprise to her.

Junko had talked about the motives. No true details, but Mukuro had been able to infer most things. However, she'd never explained how Mukuro would be integrated into these motives, considering that she was living a lie.

A soldier in a fashionista's clothes was something you'd read in a book, or see in a movie. But this was Mukuro's life now, trapped as someone she'd never want to be.

Silently, she slipped the disk into one of the laptops, and put the headphones on. Mukuro knew what the motive was: trapping everyone's loved ones, and threatening to kill them. But she didn't have any loved ones outside of Hope's Peak Academy's 78th class.

Mukuro hadn't made any friends before she came to Hope's Peak. Besides her sister, she had never cared about anyone, nor a reason for such frivolous things. Junko had told her that there was nothing worth loving in the world, and Mukuro had felt inclined to believe here up until then.

The screen in front of her buzzed, and then the slightly fuzzy picture of a young man appeared before her. She gasped in shock, drawing away from the screen.

"Tachibana-kun?"

Kaito Tachibana had been the closest thing to a friend Mukuro had had in Fenrir. They had arrived at the same time, and trained together, but besides that, he didn't mean much to her.

Still, the sight of a familiar, smiling face was enough to relax her.

"Hey, Ikusaba!"

The usage of Mukuro's own name startled her, and she leaned closer to the screen.

Kaito said, "I heard you got into Hope's Peak. I remember dreaming of going there, when I was a kid, but that never worked out. Anyway, I think you're gonna do great. We're all gonna miss you in the field, but you deserve some kind of a break."

Mukuro let herself have a small smile. Even if she was never close with Kaito, this was so peaceful, so relaxing, so-

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud crackling noise in her headphones. Mukuro stared back at the screen, and gasped in shock.

Kaito was gone, replaced by a bloodied and mangled corpse. Mukuro clenched her fist. She knew that was going to happen, but she'd let herself be fooled by her sister.

Monokuma's creepy voice fluttered in through the headphones, "Kaito Tachibana, an up and coming soldier, is now gone! But what could have possibly happened to him?"

Then on the screen: *Find out after Graduation!*

Mukuro shivered, and pulled out her headphones. She wanted to take the disk, and smash it into pieces, but there was no way her sister would allow that luxury. She settled for putting it back in it's case, and tucking it into a hidden pocket.

She glanced around the room, trying to gauge the other's reactions. Some of them were shaking, others crying, and some weren't moving at all. Kyouko Kirigiri, Byakuya Togami, and Celestia Ludenberg still had perfect, solid masks, keeping their emotions a complete mystery. But every mask has a crack, a weakness, and if push came to shove, all three of them would fall down and burn.

They acted so stoic, but Mukuro remembered. Remembered Byakuya crying himself to sleep, Celestia using her own night time rule so that they'd never find her sobbing in the bathrooms, or Kyouko taking off her gloves and shaking.

It was so easy for them to pretend, and Mukuro envied them, though not their situations.

Someone screamed.

Mukuro turned her head, and then inhaled sharply. Sayaka Maizono was cold as ice, and was bursting out of the room, tears running down her face. Makoto Naegi was at her heels, screaming her name. Mukuro leaped out after them, and more of her classmates followed.

Sayaka was almost halfway down the hallway, when Makoto caught up to her, and grabbed her by the arm.

Mukuro stopped short where she was, and everyone who had followed her did the same. She wanted to react, to say something, but she was stuck. She could only watch, and pray with everything she had that Sayaka would not give in to despair.

When Mukuro had arrived back at her room, the first thing she had done was trash the disk with her message on it. Now, she was lying collapsed on her bed, trying to sort things out.

Everyone was stressed thanks to the motive, and Mukuro feared that she would wake up, and one of her friends would be dead. Did any of them know, when they woke up that day, that they could be dead by the next morning? She turned onto her side, the looming motive hanging over her.

"Hey, Muku-chan! What's got you so down in the dumps, huh?"

The grating voice caused Mukuro to cringe. She sat up, and stared at the monochrome bear that was now standing at the foot of her bed.

"What do you want, Junko-chan?" Mukuro asked.

Junko, or rather Monokuma, laughed, "Do I need a reason to come visit my most precious sister?"

Yes. You always have one.

The bear continued, "I just wanted to remind you of our… plan for tomorrow. Even if nobody dies, I want you out of the way for the trials. It wouldn't do if my ace was slaughtered by the idiocy of her classmates!"

Mukuro sighed, "Don't worry, I remember. We argue, I step on you, and you drop me into the basement."

"Upupupu… You're still sharp," Monokuma said, "In that case, I'll be taking my leave!"

Mukuro lay down again, and moaned quietly.

"Oh, one last thing."

Mukuro made an 'eep' noise, then sat up again.

Monokuma giggled, "Just thought you'd like to know that Maizono-san plans to commit the first murder. Toodles!" With that, he was gone.

Mukuro buried her head in her hands. They only reason her sister would tell her that would be to fill her with despair.

"She's lying," she whispered to herself, "That's all she does."

Mukuro pulled her quilt over her, and tried her best to sleep, but she felt uneasy.

She could feel it happening again.

It was dark, and her eyes were heavy, when she awoke. It must have been around 1:30 in the morning, and Mukuro groaned. Everyone was suffering from lack of sleep, and she was no exception. Still, what Junko had told her was still weighing on her mind.

"Maizono-san plans to commit the first murder."

It had to be a lie, but just the thought of it filled Mukuro with anxiety. She didn't want Sayaka to kill anyone, or she'd be forever left with the knowledge that it was her fault.

Against her better judgement, Mukuro got out of bed, and slipped her wig on. Then she crept out of her room, and moved silently through the hall. Muscle memory lead her to Makoto's room, and Mukuro frowned. She could have been sure that Sayaka's room was here, but it was right next door.

She buzzed a few times, praying that Sayaka was inside, and would answer her. When there was no response, Mukuro's heart felt heavy.

"Maizono-san!" she cried, "Maizono-san, please open the door!"

The silence scared her, and Mukuro got louder, abandoning caution, "Sayaka! Sayaka, please!"

After a few minutes of this, Mukuro took a risk, and placed her hand on the door, ready to break it down if she had to. However, there was no need. It was already open.

Shaking, Mukuro pushed Sayaka's door open, desperately trying to control her breathing and heart palpitations. It was dead quiet and pitch black inside.

"Sayaka?" Mukuro called out, "Are you in here?"

The little light that came in from the hallway helped Mukuro see, but not by much. She put her hand on the wall, only to draw back in fear. There were deep scratches in the wall, like there had just been a fight. More were on the other walls, and the floor.

Oh no…

Mukuro flicked on a lamp, and the room lit up a small bit. The scratches were everywhere, and the struggle looked dangerous. She glanced around, but there was no sign of Sayaka. Had she already run off to hide the evidence of her crime?

Out of the corner of her eye, Mukuro spotted the bathroom door and frowned. It was carved up, and the door handle looked as if it had been broken in order to gain entry. She swallowed, dread filling her mind.

There was a corpse on the other side of the door. Mukuro didn't even have to open the door to know, but there was one. Who would it be?

Trusting, naive Makoto? Small, timid Chihiro? Eccentric, cheerful Hifumi?

Mukuro couldn't force herself to run back to her room, and stepped closer to the bathroom, her hand outstretched. She pushed the door open, and was only just able to stifle a scream. Her throat closed up, and tears fell from her face.

Sayaka Maizono was lying in a splattered pool of her own blood.

Mukuro fell to her knees, unable to contain her emotions. Getting into this game of mutual killing had never been easy, but Mukuro had never actually expected anyone to die.

She carefully scooted into the bathroom, the cold tiles making her shiver. Sayaka was so still, so unmoving, and it was terrifying. Sayaka had always been so full of life and energy, and now she was just a shell lying on a bathroom floor.

Mukuro reached out, and grabbed Sayaka's wrist. Tears fell from her face. She felt so weak for giving into the despair, but it was the only thing she could do.

"Nnngh…"

The noise startled Mukuro, and she looked up to see Sayaka's barely open eyes.

The blue haired idol whispered, "I..kusaba-chan?"

How she knew her name, Mukuro didn't know, but she didn't particularly care either. She pulled off her wig, revealing her small head of black hair, "Yes, it's me. I'm here."

Sayaka smiled, "I'm… glad."

Mukuro said, "You're going to make it. Just hold out a little longer, and we'll patch you up."

"It's too late… for me," Sayaka murmured, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Sayaka," Mukuro whispered, looking into her deep blue eyes, "It's okay, this could have happened to any of us."

Sayaka asked, "Will you tell them? If they find out… that I tried… to kill? Tell them… I'm sorry?"

Mukuro nodded, and gripped Sayaka's limp hand.

With a final heave, Sayaka whispered, "Thank you… Ikusaba-chan."

Her eyes shut gently, and her chest fell, never to rise again. Mukuro shut her eyes, and let her guilty tears fall.

She stood to walk away, but not before pressing a gentle kiss to Sayaka's forehead.

Mukuro left the bathroom, not looking back, refusing to look back, because if she did she would cry. She had to go back and pretend it never happened, pretend that everything was okay in the morning.

It had happened.

She waltzed in casually, not too early, but not too late. She couldn't look as if she'd gotten no sleep, but she couldn't appear to have slept very peacefully.

"Sorry I'm late! My makeup just would not cooperate this morning!"

It took five times the usual amount to hide the dark circles and tear stains.

Everyone acted normal, acted like nobody had a breakdown last night. Mukuro could see it, though. Where her classmates had cried themselves to sleep, or had got none at all.

And nobody acknowledged that Sayaka Maizono was missing.

At least, until Makoto got up, and went to check on her, and then his deafening scream. Mukuro knew he'd seen it, seen Sayaka sprawled on the tile.

She leapt out of her seat and ran after him, other students on her heels. She was back inside Sayaka's room, back staring at her body. It was almost worse seeing it again, seeing it and not being able to cry, without risk of being discovered.

She had given in to despair, and Mukuro hadn't been able to save her.

They stood silently in the gym. Monokuma explained the trial rules, but Mukuro couldn't listen. Even though her cue was coming up, she couldn't bring herself to do anything but internally break.

But she still did it. Said the lines the way Junko had taught her, did the facial expressions and movements, just the same way. Stepped on the bear, and made a smirk, all according to plan.

But it didn't go to plan, (when does it ever?), and she's falling and it's too late and not like this.

Years and years later, when they tell the tale of Hope's Peak Academy, they speak of losses. They speak of frayed friendships, and horrid heartbreaks. They speak of the lost lovers, the first to die at the school, and everyone assumes Sayaka and Leon were the tragic pair.

They write sad songs and eulogies, while Mukuro Ikusaba is forgotten, only remembered by six scarred kids.

She stopped existing the day the game of mutual killing began, she gave herself up for the sake of despair.

Because she saw the future, and it didn't work.

but she was desperate enough to go for it.