I've only played DR 1, and I'm [mostly] done watching a playthrough of the second game. While I have looked at some spoilers so I know a bit about what's going on, please don't yell at me if I get something wrong. So, uh, this story takes place after the first game and has characters from the second game.

Partially inspired by Lions Den by Arca Wolf, please check out her story if you're interested in Makoto doing his hopey tricks on the Remnants of Despair.

Also, there's swearing, kidnapping, killing, and stuff. This is a fic about Ultimate Despair, so… What do you expect?

I don't own Danganronpa or any affiliated ideas and characters. I'm am but a humble peasant. I make no claim to this franchise, and I own nothing except the words which I express myself with.

I also don't own the artwork. It belongs to 8-Xenon-8 on DeviantArt. Please check them out. ;v;

Makoto was the first to step outside, dragging along with him Kyoko as the two had linked their hands just seconds ago. He smiled upon reaching the outside world, taking in a deep, satisfying breath through the nose.

Only to promptly begin coughing.

"Idiot." Byakuya 'tsked' from behind, covering his own mouth. "We were told not even twenty minutes ago that the air is polluted."

Makoto gave a small, sheepish laugh at that. Wincing, he regretted it immediately after, as the poisonous air stung at his lungs.

"Come on," Kyoko chimed in, "All we can do is keep moving in hope of an unpolluted area."

"Yeah!" Hina sounded pumping her fist in the air, pretending not to cough and ignoring a glare from Byakuya.

The swimmer sprinted forward, catching Makoto's elbow with her own and dragging both him and Kyoko forward. "All we can do is look for other survivors and keep on living… For Sakura."

Makoto smiled.

"For everyone."

Makoto stumbled over yet another upturned piece of concrete, cursing as a bloody scratch appeared on his ankle.

The city around Hope's Peak wasn't all too bad in actuality, especially compared to what the group could see just beyond. The tattered remains of buildings, torn up sidewalks, and dead or toppled over trees. Of course, this was just one city… But the damage appeared to be very severe, and it was getting worse the further away they got from Hope's Peak.

Kyoko had suspected that the bombing and riots were kept away from Hope's Peak, either under Junko's order, or by the citizens not wanting to harm the Ultimates trapped inside the building. Possibly both, she had earlier theorized.

"Almost makes you wish they did blow up part of the school." Hina suddenly spoke, surprising everyone, "I mean, I know it would have been unsafe… But if they blew a hole in the wall then maybe we could have escaped with everyone…"

Makoto nodded but stayed silent. It wasn't the worst scenario he could imagine happening - actually, it was one of the better ones… Other than the whole ordeal not happening, or their memories not getting erased. If everyone was still alive then… Then maybe trudging through the waste wouldn't have been so horrible.

Byakuya made an annoyed sound and Toko was seemingly remaining silent by his command. Hiro, on the other hand, would complain every few minutes or would make noises of pain from the frequent scrapes they were getting from the rubble.

Makoto remembered that they all had plans to go separate ways and continuing living their lives and performing their talents… But… They didn't seem keen on separating anytime soon. It was a much more dangerous world than they had anticipated. Even though they had only been travelling the city for a day, stomachs were rumbling and throats were dry. Each and every one of them had been littered with bruises and cuts. Honestly, Makoto was beginning to think that they wouldn't be able to return to their past lives.

His stomach growled. It was a dead sound in the middle of a dead city.

"I wish we grabbed some food from the school before leaving..." Hiro voiced what had silently been on everyone's mind.

"A-and do you think you would h-have had that g-g-genius idea when w-w needed it?… Idiot." Toko hissed.

"Well no-" Yasuhiro tried.

"Then d-don't even speak. I-I only care if… If Master is fed." Toko countered.

Yasuhiro silently pouted at that, murmuring to himself every so often.

Well, that ended that conversation, Makoto thought bitterly. Well, he loved all of his friends, they weren't exactly the best company when trying to scavenge a destroyed city in order to survive.

"Where are we even going?" he asked, trying not to sound as solemn as he felt.

Looking around, his heart broke at the sight of the torn city landscape. Homes crushed, buildings cracked and missing pieces. He squinted, seeing bodies. Bodies. They were haphazardly thrown around the city without a care. Sometimes, it really did feel like no one cared. None mourned the loss.

Was this… Despair?

But he was hope, right? He was supposed to stay optimistic… For everyone!

He blinked, shaking away all thoughts of despair. He didn't need that at the moment… They didn't need that.

"I'm sure there's a faction somewhere that's willing to take us in," Kyoko spoke for the first time in what felt like… Well, since they had left Hope's Peak. "Wherever there is despair, there will be hope," she said, looking Makoto directly in the eyes.

This finally brought a smile to the teen's face. "Yeah!" he shouted, grinning as Hina returned the shout.

And thus, night one of their escape began.

His stomach was growling. He ignored it.

It wasn't the first time. It would be the last either.

Makoto rolled over at the sound of some of the others waking up. Hina, for sure, from the shuffle of movement in her area, and Kyoko who groaned from the other side of the room. It wasn't Makoto's watch time, but he's had trouble sleeping ever since the last trial.

Junko's face flashed under his eyelids. She appeared in his dreams. Not like any of the versions of her she presented at the trial. The version he saw when he was a sleep was… Genuine. Almost like dream-Junko was the real Junko… Not some fake personality made to be interesting.

A little bit sassy, loud, crass… And definitely obsessed with clothing. Though she was funny and kind. She was sweet to those she called a friend, and conversed with everyone else just the same.

She was a Junko that experienced hope. One that hadn't fallen to despair.

Maybe it was just a stupid hunch of his…

But he felt like that was the Junko he was classmates with. Before he lost his memories. Makoto felt like this was the version of Junko that everyone was forced to forget… Like she wanted them to forget her true self.

The real version of Junko Enoshima was someone who she wanted everyone to forget.

It was like… Like she wanted to be remembered as the villain. The bad guy. Enoshima was nothing more than a subject of despair until the very end.

And for some reason, something odd, dark and twisted. This reason… It gave him hope.

Knowing that there was a Junko that wasn't insane, wasn't murderous, or filled with despair. Knowing that there was a version of Junko that he didn't know.

Or at least, that was the best theory he could come up with.

It almost made him wish he was like Kyoko, a great detective, so he could fill in the gaps his loss of memory left. So that he could fully understand why Junko did what she did and why she became the person he watched crush herself.

Why she dropped the crooked grin of hers at the very last second of her life. Why she looked… Normal. Apathetic.

Scared?

Darkness grew louder. The sounds started to fade. All he could see was the look on Enoshima's face just seconds before she was-

"Makoto!"

Was that Hina? She sounded worried.

Makoto opened his eyes - which was a surprise because he didn't even know he had closed them - to see a worried looking Hina. There was a flurry of movement in the foreground, and it looked like Kyoko was swinging… A pipe? When had she gotten-

"Makoto!" this time Hina was yelling… And grabbing.

Before Makoto could even remotely register what the hell was going on, his wrist was being snatched up and tugged roughly out of the abandoned house that they had taken shelter in for the night. While it was mostly intact, there was a large hole in the south wall, which was where a majority of the chaos was happening.

A man with gleaming red eyes, a purple scarf, and a long black trench coat let out an inhuman howl. Kyoko swung the mysterious, yet deadly looking pipe, landing a rough sounding hit to the man's gut. He shook it off, instead locking eyes with a fleeing Makoto and lunging in his direction.

"Run!" Kyoko yelped, bringing up her pipe to slam down on the unknown, possibly rabid, man. "Don't worry about us, just get out of here!"

Hina nodded, much to Makoto's dismay, and the forced him out the back door of the house. Looking over his shoulder, the brunette faintly saw Genocide Jack's scissors fly through the air towards a hardly-dressed unknown girl as she let out a howl of laughter.

Byakuya was suddenly behind him, shouting out orders to evacuate. Hiro let out a startling shriek as he bolted out of the house, zooming ahead of the trio. Makoto didn't now that the fortune teller could even run that fast - but Yasuhiro was zipping into a maze of abandoned and partially destroyed buildings in no time.

"What's going on?" Makoto yelped, ignoring the sting as his leg was cut open by, well, something. The only thing he could focus on was the back of the Ultimate Swimmer's head.

"These people showed up... " she huffed out, her voice shaky due to her running, "Said they wanted to see you, or something. Kyoko declined, saying that we wouldn't talk unless they said who they were."

The trio ducked behind a building, and Byakuya took over. The prodigy seemed out of breath as he pushed up his glasses angrily. "You were asleep, being as useless as ever. The people were demanding your presence and Hina was shaking you, but you wouldn't wake up. " he spat.

Asleep?

Since when had he fallen asleep? He was thinking about Junko while listening to the others wake… Then… The noise just seemed to drop as his thoughts grew larger and…

Oh damn. He did fall asleep.

Three sleepless nights in the waste land, and he had to doze the first time something actually happened.

"We said no to their demands, but they kept pressing the issue…" Byakuya continued, "Then one of the two spotted you and Hina… Seems like hadn't noticed your location until Hina started making a ruckus. I suspect that was the only reason they asked for our cooperation in the first place."

The girl huffed at that and took over explaining. "They, like, totally attacked us! The animal-guy lunged towards you when Kyoko pulled out this pipe… The other one was stopped when Jack came out to defend Fukawa. There was also a pedophile van out front, which probably has a third guy in it."

Makoto gave a shaky nod. "Did they say why exactly they wanted me?"

Hina shook her head.

Byakuya snorted. "Maybe they collect useless things."

Makoto stuck his tongue out and was about to retort when he saw Jack and Kyoko fly out of the back door. Jack was laughing and twirling her scissors, while Kyoko looked stressed, but still hanging onto her pipe - now with a little bit of blood splattered on it.

Naegi felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the blood trailing down the side of Kyoko's face.

The ahoge owning teen jumped to his feet. "Kyoko!" he shouted.

The girl gave him an angry look, pulling a finger to her lips as she ran in the complete opposite direction.

The scarf guy from before busted out of the back door, this time with a german shepherd at his feet. A growl was heard, but Makoto couldn't tell which one of the two actually made the sound.

There was a hand on his wrist again. It tugged him backwards. Another hand came out of nowhere and slapped over his mouth, muffling a yelp.

"Idiot." of course, Byakuya, already ready to insult him. "They're after you. That's why we're hiding."

It made logical sense, but it didn't feel like emotionally. Still, Makoto nodded and allowed the two to lead him farther back behind the house, playing along for the moment. He only got a small glimpse of their attackers following after Jack and Kyoko before he lost view of them.

When it finally seemed like they were far enough away, the hands were removed from his person. "Do you think they'll be okay?" he asked.

Byakuya rubbed at his temples. "How would I know?"

The swimmer frowned at the prodigy. Then, she gave a reassuring smile at Makoto. "I'm sure they'll be fine! Kirigiri is tougher than she looks, and Jack is… Experienced."

Makoto didn't say anything about the smile not reaching her eyes.

Distantly, Makoto could hear a scream. The bloodcurdling scream of one of their friends.

All three jumped in place, eyes wide and frantic. Even Togami, the master of keeping his head, was visibly shaken.

"Hiro?!" Hina asked, cautiously stepping closer to the source of the sound.

"Wait!" came Byakuya's hiss, somewhat reluctantly reaching out to grab the girl's shoulder. "We don't know if it's safe!"

"But we can't just abandon Hiro!" Naegi protested.

"We aren't!" Byakuya retorted "You're going to stay here and hide. Knowing you, you'll just do something stupid and made the situation worse!"

Reluctantly, Makoto dug himself into the small crevice of rubble, watching the back of his friends disappear from view. While he wasn't happy about the whole situation, he did have to admit that he found a fairly good hiding spot. Like looking for a leprechaun in a field of clovers - Hina's words, not his.

Byakuya simply stated that it was great he was as short as he was. Makoto vaguely wanted to slap him.

Now that Byakuya was fully out of sight, the feeling had left him. He didn't want to be stuck here, unable to move or help… Alone.

Was the beating of his heart adrenaline or anxiety? Probably a combination of the two.

His legs were stiff. The muscles were screaming at him to run - to find everyone and make sure they were okay. Though the world was a silent, and in a fight, the silence was a good thing.

No screams, no pain. Nothing to worry about. As long as it stayed silent, that meant everyone was fine.

Expect… Death was silent, wasn't it? Corpses couldn't talk. Nor could they scream. If the final blow came quick enough then they wouldn't even be able to make a sound-!

There was a crunch of footsteps on gravel in the distance. Far away enough to not be an immediate threat to him. But definitely close to where his friends had run off to.

His heart rate was getting faster. If the luckster wasn't nineteen, then he would be afraid of a heart attack.

He shuffled to the side ever so slightly and craned his neck to get a peek. Great, all he could see was the back of the house, a degrading fence, and the browning lawn filled with weeds and rotting vegetables.

He snuggled back into his hiding spot, muttering as dust and peddles slid down into the back of his hoodie and broken concrete poked at his neck.

Then, he waited.

~ Updated Version 2017-08-11 ~

Note: Copy and pasted incorrectly last time. Sorry about that!