Heir & Heiress

The Tragedy

The others glanced around, confused and scared. "I understand now," Byakuya said. "Monokuma had said you were his friend earlier". The smirk on my face dwindled. "The fact that you investigated Enoshima's room. You fainted....because you made the same realization".

Addition by choice; Junko didn't care about Byakuya investigating with me because she knew that he couldn't piece together the full picture. This is simply a side story to her. Another game within her game, I thought. "Can we discuss the hint now?" I asked Kyoko. When she nodded, each person, including Byakuya, revealed a memento of what was now a past life. Class notes, photos, and trinkets with missing meanings were displayed before me. Byakuya past something around the podium circle; Makoto and I had to stretch as far forward as possible. Flipping through the short stack of photos, my throat clenched. Me and Sayaka. Me and Celeste. Me and Byakuya. My hand froze on the last photo; I stood in the center of the photo, holding onto Nagito with Mukuro and a blonde pigtailed figure in the background. "Is that your goal?" I asked. "Why did you let me remember?" my voice rose, still staring at the photo of Nagito. "We know who you are! Just come out and witness your handiwork firsthand!" I blurted at Monokuma. "Why? What the hell is the point of being secretive if you painted yourself as the villain in everything? I mean, come on! Your face doesn't show in any of these photos!" The throbbing and numbing grew, my eyes began to sting and water. "You're not that fucking clever, Enoshima!"

"Aw, is that how you really feel about me?" a high-pitched voice echoed from the elevator. "I just like pushing your buttons! There's something about when you're angry that I just love!" She strutted through the room to the front of Monokuma's throne, as if her very existence wasn't an enigma. Seeing her peppy face and hearing that obnoxious voice sent me spinning; it felt as if my feet were sinking further into the tiled floor.

There's still too much missing. Junko is standing there, mumbling and yelling, while the others are equally as confused. I stayed silent. I could no longer hear the pressing questions or accusations. But I could hear the memories in her voice. Voices? Had she displayed such an odd personality back in school? Was she actually my best friend all that time ago? How long ago was our regular school life? I stared at the picture of Nagito and me, "What did you do?" I mumbled. Something warm trickled down my face. I wiped my mouth and the tips of my fingers came back scarlet.

"Uh oh! Did your brain overload?" Junko asked. "All that information must've caused an error!"

"Were the death threats a guarantee? Or were you just fucking around to watch me fail?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart! You didn't fail! You actually exceeded my expectations in how persistent you are," Junko slipped black-framed glasses onto her nose. "In your search for answers, you became quite desperate, so I exploited that weakness. By doing so, you caused your own downfall into despair. Losing your trust in everyone, including yourself. You found more questions than answers and eventually came to the conclusion that your life outside these walls is no more". I had no words for her analysis. "In the end, you betrayed your friends, exploited your boyfriend's trust, and made yourself into a pawn. Only someone as fragile and ignorant as you could have achieved such a feat".

This shouldn't have surprised me. I shouldn't be surprised, yet...I couldn't wrap my mind around how far I had taken things. I overcomplicated everything. I brainwashed myself into thinking this would benefit everyone. Life outside these walls...I might have planted the idea that outside this school was no longer safe, but that didn't mean they took me seriously. Was it even an option to remain in this prison anymore? "What about the outside? What did you do? What happened to the other students, our friends and families?"