Undestined Love (Mijukuna ai/未熟な愛) Byakuya Togami x reader

Chapter 14: Scared

"I see...so this is what he meant by motive. He want's to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other." Kyoko Said.

"It is the classic 'prisoners dilemma.'" Celeste said.

"Huh?" Hifumi asked.

"Let me use an example. Imagine two countries are on the brink of war. But both countries want piece, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces, and they both end up betraying each other. In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability." Celeste Explains.

"That kinda sounds l-like us right now...Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us..." Toko said.

"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head! That's exactly what they *want* us to do!" Taka said.

"You can say that, but maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just..." Leon said.

"What!?" Taka exclaimed.

"This is exactly what Monokuma or whoever's behind this, wants. They *want* us to fight. Don't you see?" Sakura explained.

"Yeah, you're right. We all need to calm down..." Chihiro said.

"Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just...talking. Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system. Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?" Junko said.

I wonder what was in everyone's videos...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.

"Hey Sayaka...What was in your video, Sayaka?" I asked. Sayaka had an expression on her face, like she was scared.

"What's wr-wrong? Just hurry up and t-tell us..." Toko said.

"Sayaka?" I asked. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

"...Stop it!" She yelled. She pushed my hand and suddenly ran off.

"Sayaka!?" Aoi said. I decided to go after Sayaka, but on my way out the door Byakuya stopped me.

"Let her go." He said.

"I-I can't do that! I have to go make sure she's okay!" I said.

"I h-hate romantic comedies like this. I don't care what h-happens to her, personally..." Toko said.

"That's because you're totally thoughtless!" Junko exclaimed.

"I'm...really worried." Aoi said.

"Then why don't you go do whatever you think you have to? We don't all have to stick together, right? Speaking of which, I have my own things to take care of. Goodbye." Celeste said. Everyone went their separate ways...But I don't have time to worry about them right now. I have to go find Sayaka!

I went out into the hall to look for Sayaka. Where could she have gone? She can't have gone far. I should check around the school...

Eventually, I ran into Leon.

"I'm not going to tell you, and that's all there is to it!" Leon said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I'm not gonna tell you! No way! Hell no! No way in hell! You're just acting all nice so we'll tell you what you wanna hear. You can't fool me! Dammit! How the hell did they get footage of that...!?" Leon kept going on. Eventually I just left him there.

After a while I passed the gym and saw Junko.

"Hey Y/N, aren't you like super curious what's in everyone's videos?" Junko asked me.

"I mean...I can't say I'm *not* curious..." I said.

"Right? I could totally tell!" She said.

"But...does that mean you're gonna tell me what was in yours?" I asked.

"Hmm, who knows? It all depends what kinda mood I'm in, ya know?" Junko said. I thought that she wasn't gonna tell me, so I left.

Eventually, I ran into Aoi.

"Where'd Sayaka run off to...? Anyway, that video was pretty convincing. I almost thought it was real...But it's fake right? It's gotta be!" Aoi said.

"I'd like to believe that but..." I said. If it was real...After talking with Aoi, I left again to go find Sayaka.

Eventually, I went in a classroom and found her. She was sitting in a chair, hands on her knees, staring absently at the floor. She looked like maybe she was upset, or angry. Or, no...she didn't have any expression at all. There was nothing on her face that you could call emotion. It was as if her original mask had been stripped away.

"S-Sayaka? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Actually, no...How could I possibly be fine? What did we do to end up like this? Why are they doing such terrible things to us...? I want out! Let me out of here right now!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"Sayaka! Calm down!" I said. As she thrashed around, I grabbed her by the shoulders. "I understand. I know how you feel right now. When I think what might have happened to my family...But now more than ever we have to stay calm! This is what they want. They want us to lose our composure and stop thinking rationally. Think about it--those videos have to be fake! Because if those things really had happened...People out there would be in an uproar. Our families, police, everyone! Right? So let's just calm down okay? Otherwise, we've already lost." I said. I knew I was trying to convince myself just as much as her. I kept repeating those words to myself, to clear away the images that had been burned into my brain. Be calm, okay? Just be calm...

"As long as we work together, I'm sure we can find some way out of here. And help might even come before that." I said to Sayaka.

"But...what if there isn't a way out? What if help never comes?" Sayaka asked.

"I-If that happens...then I'll get you out of here myself! No matter what it takes!" I said.