[ Day 308 - Closed ] ( We are sentimental slaves on broken knees, we're on empty... )

[bulletofhope]

Who: Makoto Naegi (bulletofhope) and Ibuki Mioda (scary_music) + Komaru the Furfrou.
Open: NOPE. It's closed, locked and even boarded shut.
When: Day 308.
Where: Naegi's apartment.
What: Naegi and Ibuki discussing what happened in their world and its implications.
Format: Any?
Warnings: Spoilers for the Dangan Ronpa series, obviously.



[ Shortly after this entire encounter with Togami, Naegi had ended up shutting himself away in his apartment for several days to contemplate what he'd just learned about their world from him.

It was unusual, to say the least, seeing Togami again after spending a long time in this place without thinking about what could have happened to their friends - it was always in the back of his mind, though, and part of him then would have been happy to see anyone again from their world.

However, after a ridiculously long session of proverbial teeth pulling from him he wasn't so sure. Among other things, he'd learned that Oogami had killed herself to end the fighting after being outed as Monobear's mole, that the Junko Enoshima they saw killed was her twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba, and that Junko herself was the mastermind and had perished after the game was stopped.

To say nothing of The Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind and everything that came to pass with it. So... even if they did find a way back home, their world was more or less in ruins. And the worst part is he still doesn't know what happened to his parents or Komaru.

The Furfrou he'd named after her seemed to notice his depression, for he soon found himself being distracted from his task at hand by a floofy white mane rubbing against him and barking at him in encouragement. ]

A-ah... thanks, Komaru...! You didn't have to...

[ And yet she did anyway. He laughs for a few more moments before he gets up from the table... well, now he's distracted enough that he's gesturing for her to follow him so they could play outside, oblivious to the guest that was waiting outside his door... ]

Comments

[scary_music]

KNOCK KNOCK!

[... that was less of a knock knock and Ibuki just... slamming open Makoto's door]

Makoto-chan, Makoto-chan, stop being holed up like a hermit crab!!!!!!

[bulletofhope]

Eh--

[ He doesn't even get a chance to open the door before it comes flying at him at 100+ mph, causing him to let out a sound not unlike a deflating balloon as he crumples to the floor, dazed, confused and wondering what the hell just hit him right then and there.

. . . which causes no end of distress from Komaru as she starts barking and growling loudly at this new interloper with the freaky hair. Who are you and who do you work for, you crazy bastard. :| !!!! ]

[scary_music]

Um, um...

... Whoah...

Talk about bad timing! Okay! Um, um...! Hold still, Makoto-chan!

[she hurries next to Makoto, using the healing touch ability on him that she'd gotten just the other day from the monument!... hopefully Komaru won't bite her while she does this]

[bulletofhope]

Uuuuuuh... the lemons... are invading the cheese kingdom...

[ Naegi, what the fuck are you even on about.

Meanwhile, Komaru's still barking loudly at Ibuki and even attempting to block her way, but she does calm down somewhat once she realized she's using a Psychic attack on Naegi.

Human, how do you know Heal Pulse and y u no teach her. :| !!! ]

[scary_music]

Whaaaaaaaaat?! Call Pepper Jack to the front lines!!

Wait I mean...! Um, um, pokemon guy, Ibuki's just trying to heal Makoto-chan!

[Trying to get... that healing touch on Makoto!]

[bulletofhope]

But he's... other side... Gouda's there...

[ Don't add to the weird world, Ibuki...!

Well, fine. Okay. Heal her friend first and THEN teach Komaru the Heal Pulse thing, okok. Naegi being okay comes first...! ]

[scary_music]

That'sa no gouda!

We need to unleash the muenster!

[Okay... healing touch on Makoto! Finally! Go!]

[bulletofhope]

The lemons will not win... they mustn't... uh...

[ Ohai healing touch thing. Naegi eventually groans, sitting up and placing his hand on his head while Komaru runs up to him and starts nuzzling him better.

Yes, good, her friend is very okay. You did good with the Heal Pulse, human. ]

... ow... what happened...

[scary_music]

Ummm...

Ibuki might've accidentally caved in your face with the door. Whoops!

[bulletofhope]

... ow.

[ Naegi just gives her a sort of flat look before sighing, petting Komaru on the head to assure her he was okay. ]

So... what's up, Ibuki-san...?

[scary_music]

Sorry!

... But um, um...

... you talked to evil toothpick Byakuya-chan, right? Right? Did... did he say anything? He didn't want to tell Ibuki anything! What a jerk!

[bulletofhope]

Evil... toothpick?

[ Naegi has to pause and collect his brain together first after being hit in the face with a door before he can properly respond. ]

Oh, OH! Togami-kun, right?

. . . well, we can scratch him off the list of being that heroic type we thought before, he's still somewhat difficult to get along with...

[ At least he didn't say "completely difficult"? ]

[scary_music]

... the Byakuya-chan I knew was um, totally big and fat. And not a big jerk like evil toothpick-chan.

... but wait, he didn't tell you anything, either?

[bulletofhope]

. . . oh. Maybe he let himself go or something after everything that happened?

[ Naegi plz

That said, though, he does blink a few times before he reacts appropriately, jumping up despite feeling lightheaded and stumbling back to the table with Komaru's help. ]

Actually, he told me... he told me a lot of things...

[scary_music]

I...

... Ibuki's not sure about that. We got to talking about... suddenly, he said something about an imposter, and I... well...

[Why did 'imposter' seem to hit something in her mind?]

Well, Ibuki already checked by depantsing evil toothpick and she's pretty sure he can't be the Super High School Level Imposter, because, um...

[wait no, how did that even prove it???]

A-anyway, things! Don't leave Ibuki in suspense, Makoto-chan!

[bulletofhope]

Wait, wait, hold on. You did what to Togami-kun?

[ . . .

Naegi's seriously impressed. And trying so hard not to break out into laughter because seeing Togami getting depantsed was something he didn't realize he needed in his life.

It's enough that he's almost sidetracked from telling her the thing until she reminds him. ]

O-oh, right! Well... there's a lot of stuff I learned from him...

[ Evident from what he was doing before he got up to take Komaru out for a walk - he'd been jotting down notes and connections on everything he'd learned from Togami for just in case he forgot somehow.

Which apparently was more likely than he thought considering everything he'd learned from him. ]

Where do you want me to start?

[scary_music]

Where to start?! How does Ibuki know where to start?!

Um, how about who the mastermind is??????? How about that?????

[bulletofhope]

Ah... that would be the Super High School Level Fashionista, Junko Enoshima.

[ Naegi frowns, crossing his arms and looking at his notes severely. ]

She's... definitely not the first person I'd have guessed to be the mastermind, honestly.

[scary_music]

[Huh... that name sounded familiar... but then, she probably just saw her in a magazine before...?]

Junko-chan? It was just all her??

Ibuki wonders why Byakuya-chan didn't just say so... he was being all super secretive about giving out that name for some reason!

[bulletofhope]

Well, it wasn't just her, apparently. She had a twin sister, Mukuro Ikusaba, who was her accomplice in the killing games...

[ Naegi frowns, looking back to his notes as a reference. ]

Problem is, Enoshima-san ended up killing Ikusaba-san on a complete whim when our killing games started, so we didn't realize that it was Ikusaba-san until well after the fact...

[scary_music]

Huh...?

[Ibuki froze at that...]

Muku-chan?

[an image flashed through her mind]

The... ... the spears...?

[she... she remembered... she remembered laughing as she and the others watched as Mukuro was impaled by the spears of gungnir]

[And then a deluge of other memories followed suit... barely comprehensible immediately except for one powerful emotion...]

[D́͞e͏̵̶̛s̀͝͞͞p̶̴̧a͘͟í̡̕r̡̡͟͝͠]

[She slowly fell to her knees, hands slowly going up to the sides of her head]

I...?

[bulletofhope]

... eh? Yeah, she was... run through with those Gungnir Spear things, how did you...

[ Naegi never even has a chance to finish that question.

Once he sees her falling to her knees and clutching her head, he immediately jumps out of his chair, reaching for her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

What was even going on...? ]

Ibuki-san...? Ibuki-san!

[scary_music]

[she flinched back from the hand, tears gathering in her eyes as she turned away. She didn't... how could she have...?]

I...

... Makoto-chan...?

[... as she said that name, she recognized it. Not just from having met him at the Bastion. From well before the Bastion. And Aoi... and Byakuya...]

[And now a feeling of D́͞e͏̵̶̛s̀͝͞͞p̶̴̧a͘͟í̡̕r̡̡͟͝͠ ... somehow, it was so familiar to her. She had always felt some D́͞e͏̵̶̛s̀͝͞͞p̶̴̧a͘͟í̡̕r̡̡͟͝͠ in her life but... she'd never realized it had... gotten so bad...]

I'm... I'm so sorry, I...!

... it... it was more than just... them, I... you didn't know about...

... there... there were more of them... of us...! Super High School Level Despair, I... I was...

[bulletofhope]

Ibuki-san...!?

[ Okay, okay, now he's both worried and confused for her. Naegi leaves for a bit to retrieve some water while Komaru barks and starts nuzzling Ibuki since her friend is concerned about you, human. Are you okay?

Once Naegi returns, he gently places the glass in her hands and looks at her seriously. ]

Slow down a moment and breathe. What... what do you mean?

Super High School Level Despair... you know about them?

[scary_music]

I...

[She shakes a bit, almost dropping the cup...]

[The memories were there... the D͏̛ȩ̸̴͜͟ś̵͝͠p̷̷͘ą̷̢i̴҉̕r͏̨͜ was there... but somehow, it didn't feel like her... that it was a different person. But it was still there, in her head... trying to make her feel D͏̛ȩ̸̴͜͟ś̵͝͠p̷̷͘ą̷̢i̴҉̕r͏̨͜ again]

I... Makoto-chan I...

I don't... I don't want to feel despair again, Makoto-chan! I don't want to feel it again!!!

[she was tightening her grip on the glass, looking as if she was about to break it]