Chapter 19: Dearly Beloved

Makoto's P.o.V:

"Clear the way, guys!"

I fling open the door to the infirmary, moving both Chihiro and myself out of the way so that Leon and Hiro can drag Mondo inside. The only occupants of the infirmary are Byakuya and Mukuro; that must mean that the other four went to retrieve Kyoko.

"..." Byakuya looks unnerved, to say the least. "You really weren't exaggerating when you said he was full of holes."

"Why would I lie about such a thing…?" I grumble, walking inside. I sit Chihiro down on one of the stools. He shoots me a grateful smile. "Quick, Mondo; what's your blood type? You lost a lot, so…"

"AB." He clips. Mukuro hurries over to the blood cooler and quickly produces a pack of the appropriate typing. As soon as Hiro and Leon lay Mondo down on one of the available beds, Mukuro walks over and begins assessing the damage.

"…It looks like some of the bullets are still inside you. I'm going to have to get those out." The soldier grimaces, quickly setting up the transfusion. "At least you guys got the bleeding to stop well enough…"

"Fuckin' figures…" He half-heartedly gripes, clutching his head. "Just get me some painkillers before you start digging around my damn flesh, alright?"

"Fair enough." She walks over to the cabinets and produces a small bottle. "What happened to your head though? You've got quite a bit of a lump…"

Mondo gives Leon a scathing look, to which he quickly looks away. Mukuro wisely decides not to push the subject.

Just as she doses out the pills for him to take, the door flies open.

And my heart soars.

Laying unconscious in Sakura's arms is Kyoko. As she walks in and lays the sleeping detective on the last free cot, I can't help but notice that I'm trembling. I'm torn between crying and hugging her.

"Relax Chimichanga, Lavender Town Remix over here is fine!" Jack throws an arm around me. Seems like she noticed my excitement. "You can explode your feels on her after she wakes up, kay?"

Hina, to her credit, doesn't seem to be too worse for wear… although she's hovering rather close to Sakura at the moment. It occurs to me that I may need to pull her aside to talk, but Byakuya walks over and leans down to whisper in my ear.

"Sakura already spoke with her. She's seemingly accepted our current situation… whatever it may be."

I decide not to reply verbally, only offering him a quick not of acknowledgment Looking around the room, I can't help but notice that one body is unaccounted for. "Where's Taka?"

"Ah, yeah, so…." Hina laughs a little, rubbing the back of her head in an almost sheepish way. "My stomach kinda growled really loud while we were leaving to get Kyoko. He insisted on breaking off to get us all something to eat."

…Thinking about it, I could really go for something to eat myself. I don't know what time it is, but dodging non-hypothetical bullets can really work up an appetite. "So... let's discuss our next course of action after we bandage these two up and once Taka gets back. We may have the upper hand now, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet."

Everyone present choruses their assent. Mukuro hands Mondo the pills. "Keep in mind that it's still going to hurt, even with as much as I've given you. You'll need to brace yourself."

The gang leader grunts, swallowing them dry. "I already know that they gotta come out no matter what… just make it quick, 'ight? How long till you can get started?"

Mukuro glances to the clock on the wall. "…I'd like to say at least thirty minutes. I don't want to rush into it and cause you any unnecessary pain."

"Tch, that long?" He drops his head down to the pillow. "Well… that's fine, I guess. I'm not gonna try to be a hero just to get them out faster. So, anyway…"

I tune out of their conversation and turn to Chihiro, who'd also apparently been listening. Deciding not to waste any more time, I kneel down and quickly get to work on Chihiro's leg. He has to bite back a few winces when I apply the disinfectant, but he manages to stay perfectly still as I work. In only a few minutes, I have his wound acceptably wrapped.

"Okay, done!" I stand and stretch out my back, depositing the unused items on the table. "You have a nice little hole in your shin, but I don't think the damage was too bad."

"I-I'm just glad the bullet didn't get stuck inside…" He muses, swinging his leg around a bit. "…but I don't think I'm going to be able to walk on this for a while."

"I wouldn't want you to even if you thought you could!" I laugh. "Do you want some medicine for the pain?"

He shakes his head. "No, it isn't that bad… I'd rather save them for another time."

I don't fully believe him, but I decide not to press the issue. Instead, there's a question that I'd been meaning to ask him since Leon slammed Mondo's head into the wall.

"Say, Chihiro…?" I lean up against the wall next to his chair. I keep my voice to a whisper so that we don't interrupt any of the other conversations going on. "What were you and Mondo doing in that room before we came in?"

He starts a bit, cheeks tinting the faintest shade of pink. "W-What do you mean?"

"Well…" How to go about this? Part of me wants to tease him for it, but another part of me is screaming that it isn't the time. "You two were sitting awfully close… and your face was totally red, too. Kind of like how it's turning now."

And sure enough, within seconds he's blushing scarlet. I try and fail to suppress a laugh, earning me a light smack on the shoulder.

"You're so mean…" He sighs, playing with the edge of his skirt again. "Y-You probably know the answer to that already, you jerk!"

I laugh again, but I sling an arm around his shoulder to show that it isn't mean-spirited. "I'm glad you managed to work things out with him. When's the wedding?"

"We-!? Y-You're the worst!" He turns his head away, but I can still see the small smile that worked its way onto his face. "W-Why do you choose now of all times to tease me…?"

"Because I'm trying to make light of this pretty weird situation." I answer easily. "It worked, didn't it? I got you to smile."

"Yeah, well… how are you holding up, anyway?" Chihiro turns back towards me, giving me a concerned look. "That whole stunt couldn't have been easy on you… and now we suddenly have Kyoko back. You must have all these emotions swirling around in you right now."

I scratch my cheek. "You aren't wrong about that. I really am glad she's back, it's just… how are we going to explain this to her? To everyone? We don't even have a full deck of cards yet, you know? There are so many more questions than answers…" My gaze travels to the floor. I can't help the sigh that escapes me. "I just don't know where we should go from here."

He nods a bit, showing his understanding. "I-It is a pretty difficult situation to explain… but you said it before, right? She said she remembered right before Monokuma carted her off. Breaking the news to her shouldn't be too difficult."

"I guess not, but…" I look over to the girl in question. She shows no signs of stirring. "I thought she was dead for sure, Chihiro. The fact that Junko kept her alive all this time is… baffling. She clearly understands the situation more than we do, and yet she chose to keep someone potentially dangerous to her alive. And that's not the only thing that's bugging me…"

I explain to him the issue with the secret room on the second floor. His brow furrows in thought.

"That… really doesn't make sense, actually." Chihiro glances over to the laptop he'd placed on the counter. "If that cord weren't there, we wouldn't have been able to do a thing… but should we really complain?"

"Of course not… but…" I sigh again. I know full well that we should be grateful that she didn't touch it, and yet… my gut is screaming at me that it isn't so simple. "I can't help but feel there's more to this. Junko must feel she has an advantage somehow…"

The programmer purses his lips together in thought. Just as he seems to find a response, Taka bursts into the room, carrying several bags full of snacks and drinks.

My stomach lets out a loud growl at the sight of it, earning a snort out of the small boy next to me. "…Whatever. Let's worry about that later."

An hour passes. After we ate, Mukuro set to work extracting the bullets out of Mondo's wounds. If there was anything to be said about him, it'd be that his pain tolerance is insane; he didn't cry out once.

That didn't stop him from passing out as soon as she was done. None of us could really blame him, of course; all of that blood loss was bound to drain him. Chihiro immediately asked me to move his chair next to his bed, cheeks flushing slightly at the request. I happily complied.

After everyone went off into their own conversations, I moved to sit beside Kyoko's bed. I end up staring hard at her face, trying to mind-will her to wake up. I almost feel creepy for it, but that thought is quickly overshadowed by how desperately I want her to wake up.

"That isn't going to work, you know."

I jump. Glancing away from the detective, I see Byakuya staring down at me, looking tired.

"I know that…" I sigh. He leans against the wall next to me. "I know that, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I just… I really want to talk to her!"

"..." He scowls, turning his gaze down to the girl in question. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't value her insight. A fresh set of eyes on the situation may help."

I raise an eyebrow at his tone. "That doesn't sound convincing. What's the matter?"

Byakuya doesn't answer immediately. An emotion I can't quite place flashes in his eyes before he closes them, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Are you going to be fawning over her once she wakes up?"

"Probably." I answer honestly. My blunt response clearly catches him off guard, if the way his eyes fly open is any indication. "Is that so surprising though? She's my best friend!"

"..." The heir scowls. If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked like he was pouting. "I'm not keen on that idea."

I squint at him. "Are you serious? You're jealous?"

"By no means am I… jealous!" Byakuya turns his head away, but surprisingly enough stays put next to me. "I'm simply not comfortable with you, my alleged partner, clinging to another person. Given her current state, however… I suppose I'll be forced to allow it."

"...Two things." I give him a hard stare. "One, even if you didn't allow it, I'd still be taking care of her right now. That's a fact. And two, what the heck do you mean by "alleged?" We're definitely a couple!"

"I'm fairly certain a normal partner wouldn't throw a punch the minute things got intimate." He counters, all but glaring at me. I flush in indignation.

"Hey! That was only the second time!" I look away, suddenly remembering how he pinned me down in his sleep-induced haze. "I only hit you because you decided to be an ass about how much I liked it. No more, no less. Get off your mood swing already."

I know a lot of our arguments these past twenty-four hours have been almost entirely caused by misunderstandings, I do! Even knowing that though, I still can't help but feel he's been making it a lot worse by being… himself. Its a little infuriating.

"...Oh?" He pauses. I'm certain for a moment that he's going to lay into me again; Byakuya bends down so that he's eye level with me. I jump at the sight of his smirk. "You never told me that you enjoyed it that much…"

My heart skips a beat. "Asshole. Shouldn't that go without saying…?"

His eyes widen a fraction for just an instant, smirk quickly slipping back into place after a moment. "I see. I'll apologize just this once, then. My oversight is what caused you to act so crudely towards me, so I'm technically to blame. I'll be sure to refrain from questioning your attraction to me in the future."

"You…!" I feel my cheeks flush… for more reasons than one. "That's what you've been so bitchy about? You thought I didn't…?" I fight the urge to bury my head in my hands. "More importantly, was there even an apology in there?"

He sighs a bit. "I suppose it's alright to admit to you that I haven't been in the best state of mind recently… My pushes for us to become more intimate were poorly timed, to say the least. I do feel… better, hearing you say that."

"U-Uh…" I back up a fraction. Still not an apology, but I'm not going to push my luck. "It's okay Byakuya. This situation isn't exactly the best time for anything, really."

"T-That said…"

My eyes whip down to the girl in front of me when a newer, far more hoarse voice joins in the conversation.

"I can't say that this isn't the most… unexpected… of developments."

The tears come hot and fast. Those familiar lavender eyes are giving us both an appraising look, even in her groggy state.

"K-Kyoko…!"

I end up launching forward and giving what could very well be the hardest, most forceful hug I've every given anyone.

Ever.

I ended up having to pry myself off of Kyoko so that she could get something to eat and drink. In spite of being drugged up for an extended period of time… she wasn't any worse for wear. In fact, the stab wound Sayaka had given her was treated perfectly; there wasn't even a little inflammation. We'd wanted to wait to fill her in on the situation until she'd had a little more time to wake up, but she ended up demanding an explanation on the spot.

"I've missed a lot this time. We don't have a moment to spare."

Saying that though, she had Leon run over to the warehouse to grab a pen and a notepad before she began grilling all of us for every single piece of information we had. She didn't let a single detail slip through the cracks either; we were there for a good hour or so explaining everything that's happened so far. Naturally she already knew most of it, but was more than taken aback when Byakuya took her notebook and hastily wrote down what we knew about our more… peculiar situation.

She was especially perplexed by Mukuro's presence.

"So… if what I'm understanding about all this is accurate…" Kyoko flips her notebook shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Not only have we gained the aid of Junko Enoshima's older sister, but we've somehow managed to take away her control of the school?"

"K-Kind of." Chihiro fiddles with his skirt in his trademark sign of being uncomfortable. I'm not surprised, given that he hasn't actually spoken with the intimidating girl all that much. "We only know that we have control over the guns and cameras… I-I don't know if the same can be said for the Monokuma units. As far as I saw, they work on a different system…"

"Even so, we've managed to greatly limit her options…" Kyoko nods towards the programmer in approval. He brightens up considerably. "Now then… I have a suggestion for how we can proceed. Since we have control of the main system… I suggest we head to the data center and disable the Monokuma Control Room."

Mukuro nods, speaking up for the first time since Kyoko woke up. "Tactically, it makes sense. The Monokuma units are strong enough to kill most of us with just their claws, never mind the bombs each of them have…"

"After that point…" Kyoko taps her pen to her chin in thought. "I suggest we head towards the trial room."

"Trial room?" Taka crosses his arms. "What could we possibly find there…?"

"I'm unsure as to what exactly we'll find, but…" Kyoko sighs a bit and leans back on her pillows. "That seems to be the only real uncharted territory we have at this point aside from the fifth floor… and I doubt we'll find anything of use up there."

"That's right… we can go up there now." Hiro muses. "I mean, it still won't hurt to give it a peek. Who knows what we might find up there?"

Kyoko, naturally knowing what lies up there already, only shakes her head. "I have no doubt in my mind that Junko Enoshima would only have planted what she'd want us to see up in those classrooms. We're trying to find what she wants to keep hidden."

"And to do that…" Sakura looks over to the door. "We need to make sure that she can't surprise us with anything else unpleasant. I apologize for asking you to do this so soon after your injury Chihiro, but…"

"Its not a problem! I-I'll go and disable the system now!" Chihiro moves to stand, but winces once his injured leg hits the floor. "U-Uh… would any of you mind giving me a hand?"

Taka looks like he's about to volunteer, but Jack promptly shoves him back and steps forward. "Ask and you shall receive, my little lamb! Don't you worry your pretty little head; Auntie Jack will slice anything that comes near you to shreds!"

"Er, Jack… is that such a great idea?" I shoot her a worried look, causing her to cackle. Chihiro jumps.

"Mango Pudding, you need to have a little more faith in your resident serial killer! While I may love killing cute boys, I love being able to stay near you and my White Knight even more! I'd never do anything to jeopardize this sweet group dynamic and miss my chance to record your next makeout session!"

Hiro makes a gagging noise.

"Either way, you'd best bet that not a single hair will be harmed on his adorable little noggin!" Jack sweeps Chihiro up bridal-style, much to his horror and dismay. "Now then, let's get going Chipmunk! We have a date with destiny!"

Jack launches out of the room like a bat out of hell. Chihiro's squeals of disapproval can be heard even as Jack clears the first flight of stairs.

"Is he really gonna be okay with her…?" Leon grimaces out the way they came.

"...Unfortunately, I have no reason to doubt her sincerity." Byakuya looks totally annoyed. "Her motives, while unseemly, are well within her scope of reasoning. She won't let him be harmed."

"I sort of doubt she'd still be in that little hole anyway…" Hina stretches, sighing as her pack pops loudly. "Junko, I mean. She'd have no place to hide if they cornered her in there! She prolly hightailed it out of there as soon as she lost control of the school!"

"Ding ding ding! Bonus points to the ditzy swimmer!"

My entire body tenses up at the sound of a voice I know all too well by now. Without warning, Monokuma drops down from the ceiling, landing hard on his butt.

"Come on, while I do love a challenge, I wouldn't want the game to be over just yet!" Junko's voice rings out clearly from the bear's mouth. "What would be the fun in letting myself get caught so soon?"

"Junko!" Mukuro steps forward towards the bear. "That's a bold-faced lie if I ever heard one! How would you be able to control Monokuma without being in that room!?"

"Jeez sis, get with the times! I'm using a VR headset and a game pad… though, to be honest? Controlling this thing like this is such a pain! I can barely get it to move right!"

As if to prove her point, Monokuma does a jittery little twirl, almost falling over in the process.

"See!? This piece of shit won't respond at all!" Junko sounds angry for a moment, but then sighs. "Yeah, so. This will be the last time any of you see this guy move. I only rigged this one to be remote controlled anyways, so…"

"It's gonna be the last time we see that thing's ugly mug for more reasons than one!" Leon points a finger at the bear. "We're coming for you, Enoshima! We're gonna smoke you out of whatever hole you're hiding in, and we're going to force you to-"

"I'm in the trial room!"

We're all stunned to silence. The declaration was so sudden, so happily given… I almost can't believe my ears.

"Hey now, why so surprised? What's the point in delaying the show?!" Junko's voice is manic; I can just imagine the twisted smile she has plastered on her face. "Don't you see? This round is almost over, and it's proven to be the best round yet! I'm shaking, I'm in ecstasy over the thought of the sweet, boundless despair you lot are about to experience! I can't wait any more...!"

"H-Hang on!" Hiro takes a step back from the bear, clearly upset. "How do we know it ain't a trap, huh!? That's total bullshit! I'm not going anywhere you tell us to!"

"Oh?" Junko giggles. "Oh oh? Come on Hiro, where's your adventurer's spirit!? You're practically stepping on the final boss' toes, and you're gonna run away and hide? Well, whatever…"

Monokuma shakily walks to the center of the room, and promptly sits down in the middle of the floor.

"Listen well, wayward travelers!" Monokuma is speaking in his own voice now, jerkily swaying his head back and forth from his place on the ground. "Though you have managed to slay me, your battle is not yet done! The queen is happily awaiting your arrival in the deepest part of the castle! Make haste to her location, so that you may finally experience the deepest, blackest despair imaginable!"

"Everyone!" Chihiro's voice chimes through the microphone… though with a much more staticy quality. It must be Alter Ego. "Great news! Master has successfully disabled the Monokuma control center!"

"Ah, the horror! My brothers in arms, all dead! The army is in ruins!" Monokuma flops backwards onto the floor, putting his paw to his forehead in a dramatic gesture. "My death shall not be in vain, however! I shall avenge my brothers with my dying breath! I'll see to it myself that you never make it to the final battle!"

I almost want to start jeering at the robot for the cheesy RPG routine, but any snarky retort I had dies in my throat when I hear an unmistakable beeping erupt from the robot.

"For the glory of Queen Junko, Empress of Despair!"

"No!" I scream. "Everyone, get ba-"

Chihiro's P.o.V.:

"What the heck was that!?"

I whip my gaze back to Jack, whose standing in the doorway to the Monokuma control room. She looks extremely panicked.

"I-It sounded like an explosion…!" I heave myself out of the chair with my good leg, using a monitor to balance myself. "B-But how!? We just disabled Monokuma!"

"Don't know, don't care!" Jack rushes over and scoops me up. "Hang on tight, little Chalupa! I need to make sure my OTP isn't in OTPieces!"

As she rockets out of the room, I cling to her neck and do my best to keep myself from screaming. Not because I'm being carted around by a serial killer like last time, but because of the sheer panic I feel bubbling up inside me.

Two flights of stairs cleared, then three. As soon as we hit the bottom floor, my heart sinks.

My head swims.

"Oh my god!"

The hallway wall parallel to the infirmary has a massive hole in it… but that isn't what makes Jack stop dead in her tracks.

Body parts. Charred flesh.

A person, tossed on the floor like a broken rag doll… with half of their body missing.