Truth, Perjury, and Sacrifice

Scattered Pieces

"Any news?" Makoto asked Kyoko, who was just arriving home from another extremely late night.

She shook her head, "It's like they disappeared completely. Not even the students you scouted can be located." It had been two weeks since the vandalization of Byakuya's house. Without anything to compare it to, the spray-painted handwriting was useless to identify who was responsible. Most likely, whoever took the initial photos of Karen at the apartment complex was the person responsible for leading this continuation. "We need to lure them out somehow."

Makoto gave a weak sigh. The school year had already started, and Hope's Peak was falling behind the deadline to get up and running. "What do you think the reason for all this is?"

"Honestly?" Kyoko asked. She untied her boots and set them on the shoe rack. "I'm not sure. It's possible that some were unfortunately inspired by Junko's actions, yet incapable of replicating what she accomplished. Thankfully, of course. The last thing we need is another Towa situation."

Makoto nodded, "I'm sure Komaru and Toko feel the same way." He turned back to the array of pots on the stove. "Speaking of which, what's going to happen with those kids?"

"Last I heard, Komaru wanted to find them homes, temporary or permanent." Kyoko took a seat at the island counter, peering into one of the pots. She was pleasantly surprised to find curry simmering. "But with what happened to Karen and with the investigation, I'm not sure how we'd handle such a change."

Makoto nodded, "Toko mentioned sending Nagisa and Kotoko with Byakuya."

Kyoko nodded, "Masaru and Jataro would have most likely gone to stay with the others in the apartments."

"What about Monaca?"

Kyoko fell silent. "Originally...they wanted to hand her off to Byakuya and Karen. But Monaca cannot stay with any of the others." She could only imagine the madness that would occur if Monaca were put into any of their homes, let alone near the woman who became infatuated with her hatred toward Enoshima. "I was hoping she would have gained better coping skills by now."

"Who?" Makoto asked, already losing track of how many people were indirectly involved with this conversation.

"Karen. I have my doubts about her. How much longer can she survive like this?"

Makoto shook his head, "I'm not sure. Byakuya is probably wondering the same thing. I know we went through everything together, but..."

"I know. We're doing our best and that's what important right now." Kyoko took out her cell phone. She pondered the idea of calling Byakuya and discussing long term psychiatric help but decided that conversation was best saved for another day when his home wasn't in post-crime renovation.

"Really, I'm okay," Karen chuckled at Hina being overly protective and cautious as she climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Yeah, but the doctor said you need as little stress as possible!" Hina said. She offered an arm to Karen just in case. Giving into her overly-helpful friend, Karen took Hina's arm as Sakura carried her bag behind her.

Byakuya came out of the house a moment later to unlock the gates. "Thank you for picking her up for me. I would have myself, but I needed to finish up some work."

"Hey, it's no problem! Glad to be of some help lately," Hina smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Byakuya asked, kissing Karen on the cheek.

"Better, but tired. The doctor told me it would be....a long time before I start to feel like myself again." Karen cleared her throat, trying not to dwell on the sudden changes taking place in their lives. "But enough about me for once, how is everyone else doing? Did they find the students?"

Hina, Sakura, and Byakuya all gave negatory reactions. "Kyoko said that they basically vanished. They even tracked down the warehouse Komaru was taken to and found nothing."

"But Komaru did mention something worth noting," Sakura said. "Apparently this D.I.C.E group was able to produce their own version of the Neo World Program."

Karen turned around, staring at Sakura in disbelief. "How the hell could teenagers do that? Is that even possible? Those blueprints were classified to Future Foundation and they're in my office, under retinal scan."

"I know, it surprised all of us. I went back to the office just to ensure they were still in the filing cabinet." Byakuya said.

"So, we have a trained sniper, a secret organization leader, an ultra-tech specialist, and an...elaborate spy and inventor?" Karen asked.

"Unfortunately, I believe we are truly up against Ultimate students," Sakura said.

"Yeah, but, the shooter didn't kill us. If they were an Ultimate, they could have killed us." Karen said. "So, why didn't they?"

"Karen! Why are you asking that now!? You just got out of the hospital!" Hina yelled.

"Because it's important. There has to be a reason. Maybe it was a warning shot?"

"Possibly. Maybe they decided to back out at the last minute," Hina asked.

"No, it's more likely that someone caused the bullet to misfire," Byakuya said. "But enough of this conversation. We can discuss this with Kirigiri later."

The girls nodded. Byakuya took Karen's bag from Sakura and stood just behind Karen as she walked toward the front door. Hina honked the car horn as they drove away, in which Byakuya gave a curt wave in response.

"You're getting better at acknowledging others' existences," Karen said, smiling.

"Well, I suppose when you spend your time saving the world with others, they begin to grow on you."

"What about Hiro?"

Byakuya paused, taking several seconds to ponder, "Even the lacking clairvoyant."

"Ah, I've missed hearing your back-handed compliments," Karen chuckled, wrapping her arms around Byakuya's torso. She took in the new surroundings. The living room wasn't exactly back to the way it was, as the walls were a different color and the furniture was arranged differently. "I've never seen you take creative liberties." She paused. "I like it. Maybe I shouldn't be so controlling about these things."

"I would expect nothing less from you. In fact, if you didn't nag about such things, I'd assume you were an imposter."

"Thank you for handling everything. You truly are amazing sometimes." Karen smiled, looking up at Byakuya.

"Sometimes?" he feigned offense.

Karen stuck out her tongue playfully, and carefully walked over to the couch. "Oh, sweet comfort of home, how I've missed thee." She laid down, spreading her arms out. "Did I miss anything interesting? How's the company?"

Byakuya chuckled, "Everything is gaining momentum at a steady pace. I've recently re-secured banks and stock market offices in China and the United States."

"You talk as if it's just another day at the office, but I'm not surprised, I'm happy for you nonetheless," Karen said, smiling. The doorbell interrupted the quaint moment. She watched Byakuya return to the front door, with the usual hesitant pause before the door finally creaked open. Growing ever curious, Karen pushed herself up off the couch and back into the entryway. In the doorway stood a girl taller than Karen, with bangs that covered one eye.

"Oh, you must be the lady of the house. Hello," the girl gave a short bow, "my name is Kirumi Tojo and I believe I could be of service to you."