- Between Hope and Despair -

Chapter 5: Arrival to Towa City

The whole group agreed to depart early in the morning the following day after ellaborating a plan with the main purpose of infiltrating into Towa City in order to sabotage the mass-production of Monokuma units and brainwashing devices that were secretly made by Towa Group and sent to Junko and Ultimate Despair in exchange of protection and money. The second objective was to find and rescue their loved ones who were held captives in a unknown location within the city.

Mukuro told everyone during the making of the plan that Fujisaki was going to be a key player because of his programming skills, something that made the Ultimate Programmer to feel anxious and pressured. However, everyone reassured him that they were going to support him in everything they could, specially Mondo and Ishimaru, which boosted up his confidence. The fifteen students also agreed to avoid getting involved in any conflict unless there was no other option left.

While her classmates were preparing to leave the basement, Mukuro who was already awaiting for them outside wondered if the plan that involved all the students from class 78 was going to be success at the end because of the dangerous implications it could have during it.

"I hope i can get them of this safe and sound..." The black haired muttered as she was beginning to doubt of her idea.

"I'm pretty sure of it, after all you are with us!" Makoto happily exclaimed as he came to check on the girl who just confessed her feelings the day before, making the Ultimate Soldier to react with a blush.

The two then looked at each other while smiling shyly.

"By the way, i found this the other day, Ikusaba-san." The boy said as he gave a military ration that he found when inspecting one of vehicles the other day to the freckled girl.

"F-for me?" The soldier asked surprised as her eyes shine and her cheeks flushed with a light shade of pink since she loved the special food it contained that was designed for minimal preparation in the battlefield, which consisted in canned, pre-cooked or freeze-dried ingredients, powdered beverage mixes and concentrated food bars with a high number of calories that were like a gift from the heavens after an exhausting day of heavy combat.

"Man, she can be really sweet..." The boy thought as he noticed how cute and adorable she could be during moments like this despite her constant cold and serious expression.

After departing, around a few hours on their way to Towa City and just when they were going to reach the large bridge that connected the road with the huge artificial island where the city got constructed, their vehicles ran out of fuel.

"I thought we had enough gasoline to get to the city..." Mukuro said as the vehicles stopped next to the highspeed highway.

"We must be just a few miles from there." The Ultimate Detective spoke after looking at the enormous cable-stayed bridge.

"Oh man, so close yet so far!" A frustrated Leon exclaimed.

"What do we do now?" Maizono asked to everyone.

"We can walk all the way across the bridge." Aoi suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Hina..." The martial artist told her friend about her dangerous idea since all type of vehicles passed at top speed and just a narrow passage at each side of the roadway.

Makoto then took the initiative and decided to ask for a ride by standing up next to the road with his thumb finger lifted.

"He's so brave..." The soldier thought as she suspired while watching the luckster with admiration.

After waiting for several minutes Makoto couldn't manage to get the attention of any driver.

"Sorry everyone..." The boy apologized to his friends.

"Don't worry man, we've got you covered!" Mondo told to Makoto as he and Ishimaru who joined him stood next to the highway with high spirts.

"Let's do it, bro!" The Ultimate Moral Compass told to the biker who not only made the peaces but also managed to form a friendship with him in the couple days they spent in the basement.

"Hell yeah, bro!" Mondo shouted completely fired up.

Nonetheless, and despite their efforts, both were ignored much to their dismay.

Hagakure and Hifumi then tried their luck only to fail miserably.

"Dude, without my crystall ball i'm nothing..." The fortune teller lamented.

"How about you give it a try Togami-san?" Makoto asked to the affluent progeny.

"Tch, i'll never do something so low." The blonde heir refused with evident annoyance.

"Alright everyone, let the professionals take care of this!" Leon exclaimed with great confidence as he wanted to show off to the girls, specially Sayaka.

After a couple of minutes, a woman on her late thirties stopped her convertible car next to the aspiring rock star.

"Hey sweety' wanna go for a ride?~" The women seductively said as she took off her black glasses before winking at him.

"N-no thanks..." The orange haired baseball star face nervously responded as his face got completely red by the sassy woman comment.

"Well, you miss it, sweety!" The woman expressed with a smirk before leaving at full speed.

As he went back trying to cover his face of the embarassment the young man could hear mocking comments and giggles from Celeste and Fukawa.

"Dude, i think we should have the girls to try to pick a ride." Still feeling humillated, Kuwata proposed to Makoto who had to agree since he and the rest of the males of his class failed horribly or refused to take part.

The luckster then went to ask the girls personally since apparently the ladies had a good opinion of him. However, he got the following responses:

"N-no way I'm d-doing something so h-humilliating like t-that!" Fukawa stuttered angrily.

"I won't do it unless you pay me first ten million dollars, then we could talk." Yasuhiro Taeko, or better known as Celestia Ludenberg swiftly rejected the idea with her unreasonable proposal.

"I-i don't think i could do it..." Chihiro nervously replied.

"I'd kindly help in whatever i can, but this isn't something i could perform with the desired success..." Sakura apologized to the young man.

"..." Kyoko's silence said everything about the idea.

"It isn't convenient in this situation." Mukuro in her Junko disguise replied with her usual stoicism because her sister was obviously seen by Towa City population as the public enemy #1.

Makoto the proposed her to take her wig off and give it a try to which the soldier after being encouraged by the boy of her affections finally agreed. However just as she stood next to the road she froze in the spot and immediately went back covering her face in embarassment causing Makoto to apologize to her and warmly comfort her much to their classmates surprise save for Kirigiri and Togami who couldn't care less, making both blush as the suspicions of their classmates about them began to arise.

"Well i guess its a job for the two of us!" Maizono and Asahina cheerfully exclaimed.

The swimmer and the pop idol singer then went to ask for a lift with their upbeat attitude and femenine charisma.

A truck stopped almost immediately next to the two beautiful young women.

"Woah, that was fast..." Leon said dumbfounded.

"Going to the city, ladies?" The trucker who was middle-aged man asked to the charismatic girls.

"Yeah, but could you also get our friends, please?" The Ultimate Pop Idol pleaded to the trucker as she pointed to her classmates.

"Well looking at your faces how could i say no, but they go into the cargo area."

"Thank you very much!" The two girls exclaimed in unison.

Then Makoto and company had to accomodate in the trailer carrying tons of supplies leaving the students with limited space.

"Well, at least we are just traveling like that for a short time until we get into the city..." The Ultimate Lucky Student said as he tried his best to avoid getting crushed by the giant boxes inside the trailer.

"So where do you girls came from?" The man asked with curiosity.

"We come from Hop-..." Hina almost spilled the beans if not for Sayaka's intervention."From Hokkaido!" The pop idol exclaimed by telling to the man they came from the second largest island of Japan, and the largest and northernmost prefecture.

The trucker then questioned both girls about the motive of their visit to Towa City during tough times like this to which the girls lied to him saying the two and their friends have wanted to visit Towa City turistic attractions for a long time. The man after hearing that recommended them to visit Towa Riverside, a commercial shopping district built along a river leading to Towa Tower, and eat in the famous restaurant called Pig Boy where he adviced to order the delicious Pig Burger Bacon.

After some minutes of travel, they reached the end of the bridge and the main access where an exhaustive revision of every vehicle was taking place in order to prevent violent people and guns coming into the city to cause chaos and crimes into the relative peaceful city since the frequency of violent acts was among the lowest in a world after The Tragedy where the number of violent acts was still off the charts.

"What should we do now!?" A visibly nervous Hina inquired to the man.

"Don't worry ladies, i already know the guys who are on guard here, they won't suspect anything." The trucker assured with confidence. Nonetheless, Mukuro and the others inside were already prepared to enter into action in case they were discovered.

"Yo officer Daigo, how are you today?" The trucker asked to the man who worked as a police officer at Towa City Police Department, but was assigned to control and revision of vehicles in the main entrance to the city.

"Just the usual, Touma..." The man bored by his daily rutine of his job spoke with a monotone voice.

"And who are those two?" The guard asked after looking at the idol and the swimmer next to the driver at the cabin of the truck.

"Some cute ladies i found who needed my help after their vehicles suffered from a ."

The security man suspected he has seen the girls before but couldn't figure their identities.

"Okay, now open the back doors of the trailer, Touma."

"Come on Daigo, you already know i'm carrying tons of supplies for the people who live here."

"You know it's a standard procedure we do everytime..."

"Oh no, we are getting found!" The blue haired singer exclaimed in her mind as she heard the conversation between both men.

Suddenly, at that precise moment, a violent man tried to force his way into to the city after being found out he was carrying all type of weapons and explosives in the trunk of his car.

"LET ME PASS OR I'LL BLOW UP ALL OF YOU!" The crazy man who had a swirl pattern on his eyes shouted loudly as he opened his shirt revealing an explosive belt, shocking everyone present.

However, without previous warning, a bullet flew impacted right into the skull of the man killing him in the spot.

"W-what just happened outside?" Hifumi asked with fear after hearing screams and sounds heard outside.

"Seems like a man threatened to blow himself up ended up getting killed by Towa City security forces." Mukuro told everyone on the trailer as she recognized the caliber and gun just by the sound of the shot.

"Geez... another man in despair who wanted to cross the bridge and get into the city." The police officer sighed as he looked at the body of the man laying in a pool of blood.

"I'll have to clean up this mess..." Daigo commented while holding a gun on his hand before returning to the trucker who was along by the events that just happened. "Just because you pass here regularly i'll allow you to cross this time without revision, Touma."

"Thank you, sir!" The trucker gratefully told to the officer.

"Phew! We were so lucky this time..." Both girls exclaimed in relief after passing the controlled access.

The truck then went into the modern city founded by Towa Group just a few years ago and which initial construction started with the conglomerate headquarters and quickly followed by research buildings, factories, commercial buildings, residential areas, and more.

"Thanks for everything!" The voluptuous swimmer thanked the man who wished them good luck in their vacation trip as he left them next to Towa Tower, the city's tallest building and a popular tourist destination.

As soon as the fifteen students were outside they immediately noticed the air was a lot more clean and the sky wasn't as polluted compared to other places they've been before due to the air purification system developed by Towa Group to combat the worldwide spread of horrible air pollution.

Byakuya then focused his sharp eyes at the giant tower with the logo of Towa Corporation logo on it. "To think those bastards of Towa Group lead by Tokuichi Towa would take advantage of something so dreadful like The Tragedy just to increase their fortune and get privileges from it... Although it doesn't surprise in the slightlest since they always tried dirty tactics to topple Togami Enterprises." The blonde whispered with his usual arrogance as he adjusted his glasses.

Having entered the city and with the first step of their plan complete, the group now had to infiltrate Towa Group headquarters without drawing the attention of their security forces and search for a top executive to steal his ID card in order to gain access to the secret underground factory producing Monokuma units and brainwashing helmets.

"So how are we going to do that?" The girl infamously known as 'The Queen of Liars' inquired to the soldier.

After some minutes of discussing different ways to do it, the group didn't reached a consensus. Makoto who was still trying to looked at a nearby theater where the staff was preparing for the set of a play,

"I have an idea!" The luckster exclaimed as he looked over a bunch of costumes, wigs, masks and accessories on delivery carts that were left in an alley behind the theatre building.

As the fifteen students from Hope's Peak Academy went to the theater they were unaware a survelliance camera focused it attention on them.

"Interesting!" A voice exclaimed with excitement as a shadowy figure was observing at them in a monitor from what it looked to be the inside of a laboratory room with a devilish smile.

Who's this shadowy figure?

How are class 78 going to enter into Towa Headquarters?

Find out next chapter !

Author's note: I hope you liked this chapter, the scene where Makoto and the others ask for a ride was fun to write lol.

For related trivia i ask you: In which popular anime series a similar scene like the one that i based on to write said scene took place?

Don't forget to review!