Heir & Heiress

All or Nothing

Byakuya joined me in my room just as nighttime was approaching, "Did you speak with Naegi?"

I nodded, "Have you seen Kyoko or Sakura at all today?"

"Neither, but I'm more concerned with Kirigiri than Ogami," he stood at the desk for a moment before sitting down. He set a short stack of black files; I watched at his eyes scanned the pages.

"What are you reading?" I angled my head to read the title, but the only word I saw was 'classified'. "Where did you find those?" I sprung off my bed, trying to swipe one of the files off the stack, but Byakuya's hand stopped mine. "What? You have the same files in your library".

"Yes, but you've never read them nor cared to," his stiff jaw and hardened eyes made me retract my hand. "Only the select few can read these documents. Even bringing them here concerns me for your safety".

Then why did you bring them here? I puffed my cheeks in a pout, circling him to glance over his shoulder. "No way...," I whispered, scrambling to find the sketchbook. "What?" I said, yanking drawer after drawer open. "Where is it?" I tossed the blankets off the bed, looked under the bed, and even dug through the vast piles of fabric. "The sketchbook's gone," I ran my hands through my hair, gripping at the roots.

The crackling monitor and Monokuma's face re-centered my flustered mind. "Everyone, please gather in the gymnasium! It's of utter importance!" 

When we entered the gym, Kyoko barely acknowledged our presence. "And where did you disappear to today?" I asked, watching the door for the others. Unsurprisingly, she didn't answer. Makoto and Sakura were the last two to arrive; seeing how few of us were left turned a knot in my stomach.

"Now that everyone has arrived, we can get started!" Monokuma's voice echoed throughout the gym as he sat atop the podium. "So, today's been quite eventful," he chuckled. The sarcasm mixed disturbingly with the hidden implications.

"Don't waste our time. Introduce the new motive so we can move on". Byakuya had the near-perfect knack of embodying our collective distaste for the monochrome bear.

"Motive? There's no new motive!" Monokuma's eye sparkled with red light.

"Do you take us for idiots?" I asked.

"That's a good question because I distinctly remember telling you all 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth'," Monokuma jumped down from the podium.

"Stop talking in riddles and explain why you called us here". Byakuya's patience was wearing thin.

"All that talk about a traitor hiding among you is about to pay off!" As soon as Monokuma said that, I glanced over at Kirigiri and caught her eyes on Byakuya and I. "The traitor is...Sakura Ogami!"

The room grew tense, "What? How?" I looked back at Sakura and Hina. The martial artist stood in silence with her eyes closed and face turned towards the floor. Monokuma left laughing, leaving us to handle the rest of the situation.

"Is it true? Ogre is the mole!?" Hiro freaked out, distancing himself even farther from Sakura.

"Of course not! He's lying!" Hina denied any possibility of her best friend working with the one who trapped us here.

"If he is, Sakura can tell us herself," Kyoko said.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, Hina," Sakura lifted her face, but didn't look towards the swimmer. "I'm sorry," she said looking around at us.

"So you were deceiving us all along!?" Toko gritted her teeth in anger.

"Not if she didn't tell the Mastermind anything worth knowing," I turned from Toko to Sakura. "Do they know about it? Do you know what they look like?"

"I never spoke a word of our meetings. Unfortunately, I also never met the Mastermind face to face". Sakura averted her gaze once more.

"It was because of a 'hostage situation', right?" Naegi jumped into the conversation. "I saw you fighting Monokuma a couple of nights ago. That's what I wanted to talk to you about earlier".

"You fought Monokuma?" I said, staring in awe. "So...he blackmailed you and you took a stand". The others weren't convinced of Sakura's apology or innocence.

"Does that excuse her agreement?" Byakuya asked, "In the end, she helped the Mastermind".

"How? If she didn't divulge any useful information that we discussed, she was merely a standby for Monokuma to use. She's been incredibly loyal, especially to Hina!" I pointed at the two girls yet kept my eyes trained on Byakuya's. "Why bother turning on each other when we should follow her example and turn on Monokuma?" Taking a deep breath, I faced the others. "We all want to get out and picking sides won't help us achieve that," I held my hand out to Kyoko, "Can we call a truce? That way, we don't have to fight separately anymore," I turned to smile at Sakura.

"How can we trust either of you?" Kyoko crossed her arms, still standing tall with scrutiny.

"You don't have to think of us as trustworthy friends. Just allies with the same goal," My hand continued to hover alone. "Please, Kyoko. If we give up or continue suspecting each other, we'd still be playing the Mastermind's game". Her gaze fell to my hand; eventually, she nodded and slipped her gloved hand into mine.

"I don't want any of you getting involved with my mess," Sakura said.

"If you don't want us involved, fine. But I'm not going to stand here and let you die for it," I approached Ogami, staring up to meet her steel eyes. "Someone taught me the importance of believing in others around you," I glanced back at Makoto. "I agree with Hina. I don't think you'd willingly betray us".

"Yeah! C'mon Sakura, let us help," Hina tugged on her best friend's arm, tearing up yet smiling. Sakura nodded and excused herself; we watched the pair leave the gym. Once the doors shut, my posture sank, and the hopeful strength disappeared from my face.

"What was that?" Byakuya asked, annoyance seeping in his words. "Were you being serious?"

"Yes. Although, I may have tried a little too hard with the friendliness," I pressed my hands around my neck, attempting to massage the stress away. Someone with the mental and physical discipline like Sakura wouldn't be easy to blackmail, nor would be one to act irrationally. Thinking back to the first day, I wouldn't blame her for making a deal with Monokuma.

"You're going to continue trusting someone who is working with the enemy?" Byakuya closed in on me, hovering over my shoulder.

"Was working with the enemy. I'm more concerned with getting out," I said through gritted teeth. "Wasn't that the plan? Out of anyone here, you should know that when a system isn't efficient, you change it".

"The exchange of one's life for the victor's seems efficient enough".

"That's what I'm talking about! You're still in the mindset that we must play their game to survive". Byakuya's eyes narrowed, fingers clenched in crossed arms. "Monokuma won't let both of us leave and I wouldn't push myself to leave anyone behind. All of us escape or one walks out with blood on their hands". Seeing the regret in Sakura's eyes, the hatred in Byakuya's and doubt in everyone else, giving up wasn't an option anymore. Somehow, confined in these plated walls, I found what I yearned for all my life and resolved to keep it, no matter the cost.