The War For Hope

Chapter Five

Morning came early, and Mukuro was still kinda drained. Nether the less she forced herself out of bed, getting dressed and limping into the dining hall. A few people were already there, including Makoto. Makoto gasped when he saw Mukuro, and ran over to Mukuro, dropping his breakfast plate in the process.
"Ikusaba-san, are you okay? What gave you all those cuts and bruises...?" Mukuro looked at Makoto, sitting down on a chair. She needed to rest her foot, which had thankfully long stopped bleeding but was still painful to put weight on.
"I got into a fight with someone. Don't worry, Naegi-kun. I'm okay." She reassured him with a small smile.
"A fight... with who?" Makoto asked plainly, completely oblivious, since Sayaka had yet to show up. Byakuya looked at her in complete disgust.
"Engaging in a scuffle, I would expect nothing less from a hooligan like yourself!" Mukuro looked at Byakuya for a moment, before turning back to Makoto.
"It doesn't really matter. Don't worry." She tried to reassure him. She didn't want to cause any drama by saying what had really happened, and that someone had tried to murder her last night.
"Mukuro, we're friends, if something went down last night, than, you can confide in me, and I'll try and help however I can." Mukuro's eyes widened slightly in shock when he called her his friend. It was like she wasn't expecting it. Before she could speak, Sayaka stumbled in the room looking as bruised as Mukuro if not more so. Makoto looked over at Sayaka, and then back at Mukuro, all of the dots suddenly connecting.
"What in the World caused you two to fight?" He asked, scratching the top of his head in confusion. Sayaka sniffled, glaring at Mukuro for a split second before starting to cry.
"That crazy bitch tried to kill me Naegi-kun!" Sayaka cried, grabbing hold of Makoto and crying into his shoulder. Mukuro looked really surprised, rendered speechless that Sayaka had said that.
"Wha-no way, Ikusaba-san wouldn't try to murder somebody, Would you?" Makoto asked, turning his attention to Mukuro. She shook her head instantly.
"No way. I never wanted to hurt her." She told him. She wasn't sure if he or anyone else believed her, but she hoped they did.
"Yeah. There's no way Ikusaba-san would attempt murder, right?" Aoi said, trying to defend Mukuro although she sounded doubtful. She wanted to believe in her friend, but it was starting to get harder with everything that was happening.
"I don't believe that Ikusaba-san would engage in combat without probable cause, she must have a reason." Sakura assured the others, whilst observing the various scrapes, cuts and bruises on both girls faces. Sayaka pouted, starting to get annoyed that people like Sakura and Aoi didn't believe her.
"How can you say that for certain though?" Celestia asked, sipping on her royal milk tea. She'd already ordered Hifumi to remake it twice, and now she was finally satisfied with it. "For all we know her attempt could've failed and she is simply lying to save herself from any further negative reputation. A soldier like that is very unadaptable." She continued.
"An individual with the nerve to attack another, while meanwhile they are out of the line of duty, doesn't deserve the praises of a soldier, but instead to be shamed and labeled as a sociopath." Byakuya said, continuing off of what Celestia had said, in his usual snarky manner.
"Oh indeed." Celestia smiled a little in agreement with Byakuya. The two seemed to agree on most things if not everything. "Perhaps the title of Ultimate Soldier does not fit Ikusaba-san, rather that of Ultimate Sociopath."
"Hey, stop that, I mean, we don't know what happened last night, we can't judge Ikusaba-san on rumors alone." Makoto told them, in an effort to defend Mukuro. He didn't want to hurt her, or Sayaka for that matter.
"Well it's rather unfortunate that the two people who do know have conflicting stories. Ikusaba-san claims she and Maizono-san got into a fight, while Maizono-san claims Ikusaba-san attempted murder." Celestia said, looking down her nose at both girls.
"I-I trust in what M-master said, I-Ikusaba is way too suspicious not t-to be called into question. Why don't we a-ask Monokuma about it?" Toko suggested shyly, not looking Makoto or Mukuro directly in the eyes.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Ishimaru agreed with Toko about summoning Monokuma. He looked around, realising they didn't have a way to summon him. "How can we ask him?" His voice dulled a little, still loud like normal though.
" I'm right here Mr. Representative, for somebody who's so demanding, you'd think a high ranked, political basket case like yourself would pay more attention!" Monokuma said, making both Chihiro and Toko jump, and hold up their arms for protection, both of them physically frightened.
"Perfect timing. We need to know what happened last night between Ikusaba-san and Maizono-san, and anything other than the truth won't be accepted." Kyoko told him bluntly just like usual. She already had a suspicion, but chose not to air it just yet. She knew to stay neutral.
"The answer is simple, I tried telling you kids that she was dangerous, but no, you chose not to listen! Last night, Mukuro Ikusaba attempted to kill Sayaka Maizino, she had no choice but to try and fight for her Life! It was real exhilarating, and despairful all at once, puhuhuhuhuhu!" Sayaka knew that wasn't true, and that it was actually the other way around, but she didn't care. She was actually glad Monokuma was on her side.
"I told you!" She cried, clinging to Makoto harder. She was a very good actor for an idol. Mukuro shook her head, almost confused. Makoto looked up at Mukuro, and then directly back down at Sayaka.
"No... That's wrong! There has to be some kind of mistake, There's no way!" Mukuro nodded, relieved at least someone doubted Monokuma and his lies.
"Yeah. There's no way I'd try and kill Maizono-san. I'm being honest." Mukuro begged desperately, wanting everyone to believe her. If they didn't, then a real murder would be pinned very easily on her. If that happened. Everyone would die.
"I-I think that we need to see proof, before we come to any conclusions..." Chihiro suggested, stepping forward with his laptop nervously. "I have access to the school's security footage."
"Yeah, I agree. I don't think I can believe that Ikusaba-san would attempt to kill anyone without proof." Aoi agreed, eating a donut. She was pretty sure if Mukuro had attempted a murder, she most likely would've succeeded. That's mostly why she didn't believe Monokuma. Chihiro opened up his laptop, and typed a few lines of code into it, making the various security cam views from around the school appear on screen. Mukuro watched the screen, certain the truth was about to be revealed. They'd all see Monokuma was again lying, and she was actually the victim here. Of course, life didn't seem to like her right now. Chihiro focused in on the camera in Sayaka's bedroom, rewinding the footage to the pervious night, What he paused on caused the onlookers, including Makoto, to audibly gasp. The image on screen showed Mukuro on top of Sayaka, beating her in what appeared to be a merciless manner. Mukuro was rendered speechless by what she saw on screen. This wasn't the start of the fight at all, just her beating Sayaka for seemingly no reason.
"That's not..." she started, her voice quieting by what appeared next on screen. The next image was from earlier in the fight, when Mukuro held a knife towards Sayaka, in order to protect herself. She was aware of this fact, but in everyone else's perspective, she was instead threatening Sayaka, ready to strike her down. The audio seemed to have been muted too on this part of the video, so nobody could hear that Mukuro was begging Sayaka to stop the fighting. She held her arms around herself, knowing everyone was starting to hate and fear her. Even those closest to her were starting to hate her. Makoto took the liberty of stepping away from Mukuro, red with hatred, his face a blistering display of anger. He patted Sayaka on the head.
"Come on Sayaka, let's get back to your room, I can help you clean your wounds." Sayaka nodded, still holding on to Makoto. She couldn't believe how things had turned out. Mukuro looked up at Makoto, seeing the look on his face. It broke her heart right down to the core. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but it just hung open in silence. Her voice was stuck in her throat. Chihiro closed the laptop, and looked up at Mukuro with a hint of fear.
"If only... I was strong enough to save us all from this." Mukuro stood up carefully, looking around and seeing similar looks of fear and anger etched on to the faces of the rest of her classmates.
"I-I know this looks bad, but-" she started trying to explain herself, being cut off. Byakuya's slap was sudden, quick, but with a lot of force, the touch of his hand was cold, but the look on his face was hot like flames, his stature and reserves vanished instantly.
"How absolutely pitiful, such conduct is unacceptable, repulsive pests like you should be disposed of at birth! Are there any greater lows to stoop to for you, you demented fake? Do us a favor right now, and kill yourself now. It would be the most honorable choice you have made thus far." Under a normal circumstance, Byakuya's slap would barely cause the girl to flinch, but due to her current state it sent her down to the floor. Her hand went to her cheek, looking up at him. Usually, Mondo would jump to her aid, defend her honour, tell Byakuya "it's not okay to hit girls" but this time he was silent. "While, I accept that it's kill or be killed in this game, Such cunning, souless tactics have proven that you are little more than vile garbage, disguising yourself as a timid, passionate military woman!" Byakuya ranted on, in a speech loud enough to reach all corners of the dining room. Mukuro had chosen to remain silent and still, looking up at Byakuya.
"Your pathetic act will no longer work on us, and we shall no longer trust someone like you." Celestia said as she looked around the room. "I suggest we tie her up and lock her away where she can't bring harm to any of us again." Monokuma stood on the dining room table, chuckling with glee at Mukuro's pain and misery, while the Ultimate's huddled around Mukuro with rope and rags, all of them unanimously agreeing to Celestia's plan.
"Once you kiddies have her all tied up, I have a place for her to go! A deep, dark place for Mukuro Ikusaba to rot!" Monokuma told them all, a laid back smoothness to his words, which implied some form of irony. Mukuro shook her head, getting up. Only the darkest part of her mind could imagine what Monokuma had in store for her.
"Th-that won't be necessary. I'll stay in my room, I promise." She said, looking around at everyone closing in on her. She fumbled about in her pocket, pulling out her room key. "I'll even give you this. Lock me in my room, and I'll be powerless to leave and hurt anyone." What Mukuro said didn't register with anyone. Sakura already had the Ultimate soldier pinned to the ground, while Chihiro and Toko tied had wrists together, hesitation to get close visible in the way they moved, taking a few steps back every so often. Mukuro chose not to struggle, just letting them tie her up. She didn't want them to see her as a threat or a danger anymore. She remained still, trying her hardest not to cry. Crying would give Monokuma satisfaction, and she didn't want that. Once they had Mukuro secure Sakura and Hifumi both lifted her, and followed Monokuma to an elevator, which none of them had noticed before. Mukuro looked around desperately, seeing a few of their classmates had followed Sakura and Hifumi. She knew there wasn't an escape, and she knew she didn't have a chance. She sighed sadly, looking ahead at the elevator. Toko looked at Mukuro in disgust, glad that they were getting rid of her, she had one psycho torturing her in mind, she didn't need another to make things worse. Mukuro frowned sadly, tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't hold them in much longer, but she was a strong girl. She could wait until she was alone to cry about her situation and embrace her own despair.