Masked Hope (Nagito x Fem!Reader)

Chpt. 1: Class Trial Pt. 6

Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Chef, has been voted guilty of the murder of Byakuya Togami. . .

"Correct!" Monokuma announced. "That's right! This time, the blackened responsible for killing Byakuya Togami is Teruteru Hanamura!"

"N-no. . ." The chef mumbled. "Nononononono. . .!"

"A-Are you serious. . .!?" Fuyuhiko questioned. "Out of all these people. . . Are you saying a ponce like him is the one who killed Byakuya?"

"B-But. . . WHYYYYYYYYY!?!? WHY DID YOU KILL HIM!?!?" Nekomaru demanded an answer.

"I-It was a mistake. . ." He responded. "I'm telling you it was just a mistake. . . I. . . was only trying to save you guys. . ."

Wait. . . He was trying to save. . .us?

"It was a mistake. . . wasn't it?" I realized.

". . .Huh? A-Are you actually siding with him. . .!?" Mahiru asked.

"It's the truth. . ." I answered. "If Teruteru was only using the glowing paint on the knife as an indicator for when to strike. . .He only had one target in mind. The person he believed was planning on killing someone else."

I paused, trying to come to terms with what I knew had to be true.

"Nagito. . . he thought he was killing Nagito." I finally said. "I-Is that right. . .?"

Teruteru slowly nodded. "I-I was only trying to stop Nagito from murdering one of you!"

". . .But how did you know?" I asked.

"I spent most of the day in the old building preparing the dishes for the party. . .b-but when I got there. . ." He trailed off. "I heard weird laughter near the banquet hall. . . and when I peeked over there. . . I saw him. I saw Nagito, Y/N was cleaning the kitchen, but he was putting the knife under the table. . .! I-I had a bad feeling about it. . . so I continued to watch what he was doing. . .

"And I saw him place the irons he brought in the storage room. . . and mess with the air conditioner timers. . . Plus, he was grinning. . . Just grinning by himself the whole time. . .S-So. . . I questioned him. . . Wh-When that happened. . .he. . .!"

". . .Oh, I've been caught?"

"B-Been caught. . .? What are you doing? What are you scheming!?"

". . .I'm planning to kill someone, of course."

"Huh?"

"Teruteru. . .just to let you know, it's pointless of you to stop me. If you stop me now, it doesn't matter. I will never give up. Whether it's tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the days beyond that. . . I'll definitely start the killing."

"Wh-What? No matter how much you want to leave this island, that's just. . .!"

"I see. . . So that's what you think. . . But, that's not it at all. This isn't about my survival. I just. . . want the killing to start."

"Wh-What are you saying. . .? D-Does Y/N know what you're doing. . .!?"

"Y/N? Of course, she doesn't know! I love everyone here, and that's why I want to be of good use to them. I love all of the Ultimates. . . and I admire them for being symbols of hope. That's right. . . In the name of hope, I love everyone's talents from the bottom of my heart. That's why. . . I don't want them to lose against something like killing. I want them to prove to me that hope will never lose, no matter how daunting the despair they face may seem. I want everyone to prove to me that 'hope will never lose to despair'!"