Chapter Text
April 8, 2013
The sound of shoes hitting the floor echos across the room as Maizono Sayaka paces back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
She tries not to think about her situation. She tries to stay calm.
You know, she remembers being so happy on the day that she received the invitation letter in the mail. She remembers smiling and spinning around out of joy after she read that she had been invited to attend Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Idol. She thought it was an amazing opportunity. Honing her skills, making connections…
Instead she was trapped in Hell, if Hell was a high school and Satan was a robot bear headmaster.
She remembers walking through the entrance gate, through the paths inside the campus, and stepping through into the main hall…
And then she remembers crushing, all-consuming despair.
“You must kill someone if you want to leave.” Monokuma says gleefully.
At least there was a silver lining. Naegi was here, too…
Maizono stops pacing.
Naegi Makoto. He was such an enigma to her. She had gone to the same middle school as him, Black Root Junior High.
Maizono smiles as she recalls noticing him nursing that crane’s wing out in the courtyard of the school. He did it even though the crane was poking at him with its beak the entire time. It just… didn’t seem to bother him.
Ever since then, he’s been on her mind. She wanted to talk to him after that, but she never got the chance. After middle school had ended, she thought that she would never see Naegi again.
So imagine her surprise when he’s been plunged into this nightmare, too.
“You must kill someone if you want to leave.”
Maizono starts pacing again. Earlier today, Monokuma had berated them for not murdering anyone yet. Shortly afterwards, he gave them… motivation.
“This ultra-successful team suddenly fell apart!”
The other idols in her group… her girls, her friends…
“None of them will ever perform onstage again. None of them will ever feel the warmth of the spotlight…”
They were… they were…
“For Sayaka, there’s simply nowhere for her to return to.”
And… her dream…
“So here’s the billion dollar question: what oh what could’ve caused the group to go to pieces?”
She… needs to get out…
Then words appeared on the screen where her… friends used to be. “Look for the answer after graduation!”
She needs to get out…
“You must kill someone if you want to leave.”
“I NEED TO GET OUT!” Maizono screams as she falls to knees and begins to sob.
After several minutes of crying her eyes out, she stands up. For a split second, she’s thankful that the dorm rooms are soundproof. Then she focuses.
Okay. If she’s going to… get out… how is she going to go about it?
don’t think about it
Maizono starts pacing again. Monokuma said that she just needs to… murder someone and get away with it, right? That can’t be too hard…
don’t think about what manager would think
She should probably figure out her target first, right? It needs to be someone easy…
Maizono snaps her fingers. “Kuwata!”
According to her intuition, Kuwata’s already interested in her. Not just romantically, but also because he wants to be a musician instead of a baseball star. He never stops talking about it.
Maizono clenches her fists. He really thinks that it’s that easy to switch talents? That it’s easy to play music? To stay ahead of the game? To stay on top of the world?
Maizono notices that she’s clenching her fists too tight and loosens them. Okay, then. Kuwata it is.
don’t think about what the girls would think
She has her victim, but what else does she need? Probably a weapon, right?
She looks around her room. Nothing. ‘I knew I should’ve taken something with me when Naegi-kun and I were looking around.’
She paces as she thinks for a few more seconds.
The kitchen! The kitchen has some knives. Perfect.
don’t think about what your fans would think
Alright. She’ll get a knife from the kitchen. But how will she murder him?
She paces for a few more minutes, but nothing comes to mind. ‘Damn it! I need an actual murder plan! How can I murder him without making myself look suspicious?’
Suddenly, it hits her. Naegi…
“As long as we work together, I’m sure we can find some way out of here!” Naegi proclaimed boldly.
Naegi said that he would help her find a way out.
Naegi said he would help her find a way out.
“N-naegi…” Maizono says, dealing with an internal battle.
You can’t do that to him! He’s been way too nice to you.
He said he would help me get out. He… I need to get out.
But you’d be betraying his trust! Throwing away a true friendship, and your only ally in this place!
I won’t need any allies after this.
What… what will it do to him? If his friend betrays him like that?
I don’t intend on abandoning him! I’ll get out, and then I’ll come back with the police. I’ll save him.
I…
Maizono swallows as she steels her resolve. ‘Alright.’
She stands up. If someone else were in the room, they might notice that her eyes seem to spiral slightly.
‘Time to murder Kuwata.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asahina Aoi hummed to herself as she sat down at one of the dining tables. Why was she out in the dining hall this late? Well, she knows that it’s getting close to nighttime, but she was just soooo thirsty, so she got herself some tea!
After a few minutes, she’s about to take another sip of her tea when something in the corner of her vision catches her eye. “Oh! Hey Maizono-san! Were you thirsty too?”
“O-OH! U-um, hi Asahina-san! I’m, yeah! I’m a l-little thirsty too!” Maizono says.
Is it just Asahina, or does Maizono seem a little… nervous?
“Hey, are you alright? There’s nothing to worry about, y’know? I’m pretty sure we still have…” she trails off as she checks the clock. “Yeah! We still have half an hour until nighttime, so you have plenty of time to enjoy some tea and relax! That’s what I was doing!”
“Oh! That’s, uh, good, but I’m not actually that thirsty. I-I’ll be going back to my room, if that’s o-okay.” Maizono says as she inches towards the door.
“Oh, of course! Have a good night, Maizono-san!” Asahina yells cheerfully.
“You, y-you too.” Maizono says as she quickly leaves the dining hall.
Asahina looks quizzically at the door. “She seemed… off.” She says to herself.
“Oh well!” Asahina says as she gets up. “Time to put my cup away and go to sleep! Maybe I can have donuts for breakfast tomorrow…” she continues as she walks to the kitchen.
As she’s washing and putting her cup away, she notice something. “Huh, one of the knives are missing.”
Oh. One of the knives are missing.
Didn’t Maizono look a little… shaken?
“Hmm… isn’t Naegi-kun pretty good friends with her? Maybe I can tell him something’s up with Maizono-san… I’m sure she’s just worried about her video, though…” she says as she leaves the kitchen and walks out of the dining hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“N-no, Komaru, that’s mine…” Naegi Makoto says in his sleep as he moves slightly in his bed.
DING DONG
“Ugh… one sec, m-mom…” Naegi says as he rolls over.
DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG
“I- huh?” Naegi says as he rolls off his bed and falls onto the floor. “OW!” He says as he puts his hands on his head.
DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG
“Is someone… at the door? At this hour?” Naegi says as he gets up and walks towards the door.
He wonders who it is… maybe Maizono? Or Ishimaru? Maybe they need something? Or maybe…
Naegi shakes his head as he opens the door. ‘Don’t think like that. I’m sure everything’s all right!’
He opens the door. “Hello? Oh, Asahina-san! Do you need anything?”
“I don’t, but I think someone else might.” Asahina says. “I was having some tea in the dining room when I saw Maizono-san walking out of the kitchen. She seemed… I don’t know, a little nervous? Shaken, maybe?”
“Shaken…” echos Naegi. “Is that it?”
“No, actually,” Asahina continues. “When I went to put my cup away, I noticed that one of the knives were missing.”
Oh.
“Was it, uh, missing before you had tea?” Naegi hesitantly asks.
“Hmm… nope! It was definitely there before!” Asahina says cheerfully.
Oh. That… might be a problem.
“So… do you think Maizono-san… took it?”
“Yes!… wait. Maizono-san took a knife? Why does she need that?” Asahina asks.
“Um…” Naegi vocalizes, at a lose as to what to say. “I’ll… go see if she’s okay. Do you know where she went?”
“Hmm… I thought I heard a door close when I left the dining hall, so maybe in her room?” Asahina offers.
“Okay,” Naegi says as he sighs with relief. At least he knows where Maizono is. “I’m going to check on her. Bye, Asahina-san! Thanks for letting me know!”
“Of course!” Asahina responds as she walks away. “Bye, Naegi-kun!”
Naegi closes his door. Naegi sighs to calm himself.
Okay, stop and think. Maizono seemed nervous? A little shaken? So like in the classroom earlier, but not as bad?
And… a knife went missing right after she left the kitchen. So… did she… take the knife? Why?
She did say that she wanted something for self-defense, right? Maybe she’s just feeling a little scared, and wanted something to protect herself. Yeah! He’s sure she’s just scared.
In that case, she’s probably okay. He should check on her anyway, though. He seemed to be able to calm her down earlier, even if he isn’t quite sure how.
Naegi’s about to open the door when…
DING DONG
Oh? Someone else is at his door now?
Naegi opens the door, finding…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maizono opens her room’s door and walks out into the hallway. ‘Okay Sayaka,’ she thinks to herself. ‘Focus! I need to do this right if I want to… murder Kuwata.’
Maizono focuses and presses Naegi’s doorbell. She shocked when the door opens almost immediately.
He’s already- okay, calm down. Focus. Act scared.
i don’t need to act
“I’m really sorry to come by so late…” Maizono says., hopefully with the right amount of ‘scared’ in her voice.
“Maizono-san?” Naegi replies. He looks… pretty shocked. More than she expected. “What are you doing out this late?”
He seems to notice how scared she looks. Good, she’s pulling it off. “I-is everything okay?” Naegi continues. “A-actually, why don’t you come in first…”
“O-oh! Of course!” Maizono says as she walks in. Naegi closes the door for her.
“So, are you… alright?” Naegi says with worry in his voice.
he doesn’t deserve this
“Sorry to bother you, but… s-something really weird just happened.” Keep going. It’ll be over soon. Then you can kill Kuwata.
“Something… weird?” Naegi says, slight confusion leaking into his voice.
“Just a little while ago, I was laying down in my room… and all of a sudden, my door started rattling and shaking.” She hoped she was convincing enough.
god why am i doing this to him
“It was like someone was t-trying to force the door open. My door was locked, so they couldn’t get in, of course. But they started shaking the door harder and harder. I was so scared I couldn’t even move.”
“S-so… what happened next?” Naegi seems… appropriately panicked, but he also seems… like he’s putting something together? What?
‘Breathe, Sayaka. Just keep going.’
“After a while, it just… stopped. I let some time go by, then I got up and opened the door to check outside… but there was nobody there.”
“So someone… tried to force their way into your room?” Naegi asks.
“Y-yeah, I think so…”
“Hmm, that’s…” Naegi says, looking deep in thought. “When… when did this happen, Maizono-san?”
“Um… I went to you right after I was sure that there wasn’t anybody still outside…” Maizono improvises. Why isn’t he more panicked?
“I…” Naegi stops talking for a second. “I didn’t see anyone outside a few minutes ago, though. Just me and Asahina-san.”
…
W-what?
“You and… Asahina-san?” Maizono replies.
They… they were outside? Around the same time that her fake story took place? So he…
“Yeah! She came by my room to let me know that… anyway, I didn’t see anyone else. Which messes with the timeline a little.” Naegi doesn’t look like he’s connected the dots yet. Maybe she can still…
“Maybe…” she pretends to shiver. “Then it might’ve been… Asahina-san, then?”
“That might be it… but she said that she heard you closing your dorm room door around the time that she left the dining hall.” Naegi’s getting closer. She needs to salvage this.
She needs to get out.
“Maybe she heard me… opening my door to look around, then? Maybe she missed whoever it actually was?” Please trust her. Please, Naegi.
“But didn’t you say that you went right to my room after opening your door and looking around?” Naegi says. Why is he being so logical?
“Um… well… I…”
‘C’mon, Sayaka! Salvage this! NOW!’
“Maizono… can I ask you something?” Naegi says, looking… she can’t place his expression.
She can’t place his expression.
“W-what is it, Naegi-kun?” She feels sick. He’s so close to figuring it out…
“Asahina-san said she saw you leaving the kitchen. She said you seemed nervous, and that… that one of the knives were missing. Did you… did you take one of them?” Naegi asks, in a… kind tone?
Why can’t she read him?
Wait… did he… did he just ask her about the knife?
he’ll hate me he’ll tell the others he’ll abandon me i’ll be alone
“I…” she can’t respond. She don’t know what to say.
“Maizono-san? I won’t be mad, I promise. I know you were looking for something to defend yourself with before, right? Is that what it’s for?” Naegi asks. Why does he sound calm? Why isn’t he freaking out?
he’ll tell kuwata kuwata will kill me i’ll never see the girls again i’ll never be in stage again
“I… I…” Maizono can’t hold herself together. She starts crying.
“W-whoa! Um… it’s okay, Maizono-san! I didn’t mean to… make you cry! I’ll… leave it alone if you don’t want to talk about it…” Naegi says, panicking.
“N-no, it’s… not your f-fault, Naegi-kun…” Maizono says in between sobs.
“Is… something else wrong, then? You can… talk to me, if you want…” Naegi says. Why? Why is he so nice to her? Even when he knows that she stole a knife? Even when he knows that she lied about someone trying to break into her room?
Why is he so kind? Why is he…
She can’t take it anymore. She falls onto Naegi and starts crying into his shoulder.
“O-OH! Or y-you can just cry, I g-guess…” Naegi says with shock in his voice. “Um… why don’t w-we walk over to the bed, though? It’s p-probably more comfortable than… standing like t-that…”
Naegi guides Maizono over to the bed and sits down on it. Maizono continues to cry on Naegi’s shoulder and begins to tightly hold onto his sleeves.
The two of them sit there for a while. At some point the nighttime announcement goes off, but neither of them really listened to it.
DING DONG BING BONG
“Mh, ahem. This is a school announcement. It is now 10 PM! As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay, then…sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…”
DING DONG BING BONG
After a while, Maizono’s sobs finally stop. “Are you…” Naegi begins. “Are you… okay to talk, or…”
“I… you’re going to hate me.” Maizono says, still burying her face in Naegi’s shoulder.
“What? You’re my friend, Maizono-san! I could never hate you.” Naegi says with such sincerity that it makes tears well up in Maizono’s eyes all over again.
“P-please don’t… tell anyone else.” Maizono begs.
“Don’t worry, I won’t!” Naegi promises.
“I… I didn’t take that knife for self defense. I was going to… I was going to… murder Kuwata-kun.” Maizono says guiltily.
“…r-really?” Naegi asks weakly.
he hates me he hates me he’ll abandon me he’ll tell the others
“Yeah…”
The two of them stay silent until Naegi speaks up. “So… w-why did you come to my room, then?”
Shit. If he somehow didn’t hate her already, he definitely would now.
“Um… I planned to… swap rooms with you… to frame you for Kuwata-kun’s death…”
“Oh.” Naegi whispers.
The two of them stay silent again. Maizono just waits for Naegi to push her off of him, to call her a monster, to go tell the others…
But he doesn’t.
“Maizono-san… can you… l-look at me, please?” Naegi asks, sounding slightly pained.
“O-okay…” Maizono says as she lifts her head off of Naegi’s shoulder, bracing for the moment when she sees pure hatred in Naegi’s eyes…
But it isn’t there. Sure, he has tears in his eyes, and he definitely has hurt and confusion, but… no hatred? What? How?
“I… I’m not mad at you, Maizono. I’m really not. I’m just… sad, I guess? Sorry, I’m not… great with words…”
i made him sad i’m such a bitch i’m such a monster i’m terrible
“You’re… not mad?”
“N-no, I’m not. I… I know how much your dream means to you, and how much your job as an idol means to you… I can definitely… understand how you were pushed to… attempt murder.” Naegi explains. W-why is he so understanding?
“You… u-understand?” Maizono weakly echos.
“Y-yeah, I do… I don’t think you should’ve tried to… murder anyone, but I’m sure that in normal circumstances you would never dream of doing something like… that.” Naegi says.
Maizono is too shocked to say anything.
“I… don’t blame you, Maizono. You… only wanted to do that because of…” Naegi looks up at the camera. “Because of Monokuma. Because of the mastermind.”
Maizono can’t say anything. Is this… real? How is he so… understanding? Caring?
“I’ve… never had a dream like yours, but I think this… terrible situation has given me one. I… I never want to see any of us break down in the same way that you just did.. and I want us to get out of this place. All of us.” The gravity of Naegi’s words contrast immensely with the way that he’s softly speaking them.
“You… even me?” Maizono finally manages to say.
“Yes, Maizono-san.” Naegi says, finally smiling for the first time since Maizono knocked on his door. “Especially you.”
“N-Naegi-kun…” Maizono says as she abruptly pushes herself into Naegi, hugging him tightly. “Thank you. T-thank you s-so much.”
Naegi jumps a little at the sudden embrace, but he quickly returns it. “Of course, Maizono-san. I’m happy to help.”
The embrace continues until Maizono breaks away. They look at each other, remaining in silence, until Maizono suddenly realizes something.
“N-naegi-kun…” Maizono begins. “I s-still have the knife.”
“Oh! Do you… what do you want to do with it?” Naegi asks.
He… still trusts her with a knife? After she admitted that she was going to use it for murder? How is he like that? How is he so…
“U-um… I don’t really t-trust myself with it, so… let’s just put it over there,” Maizono says while pointing towards the counter with the ‘golden’ sword on it.
“Okay! I’ll do that now,” Naegi says as Maizono hands him the knife. With the knife out of her hands, she feels… lighter. Like a burden’s been lifted.
‘Naegi said he’ll get us out. He’s trustworthy. I can wait for him,’ Maizono thinks with a smile.
Naegi walks back over and sits down. Once he sits down, he starts talking again. “So… are going back to your room, or…”
“No.” Maizono tries to say it normally but it comes out weakly. “I don’t… w-want to…”
“Oh! W-well, that’s okay,” Naegi says. “I guess you could stay in my room, if you want-“
“Yes, please!” Maizono says with a little more enthusiasm than she meant. She immediately blushes. “I-I mean, I-if you’re fine with I-it…”
“Yeah, that’s fine with me! B-but, um, where will you sleep?”
Maizono smiles as she sees an opportunity. For what?
Maizono smiles as innocently and normally as she can. “In your bed, of course!”
“Oh, okay- what!?” Naegi says as he seems to jump, a bright blush covering his face. “Are you s-sure that’s- I mean, you’re a g-girl, and I’m a b-boy-“
“I think it’s perfectly normal, don’t you think? As long as you stick to your side of the bed!~” Maizono says with a wink.
“W-wait! Don’t go s-saying things that c-could be m-misunderstood!” Naegi says while frantically waving his hands.
Maizono laughs and smiles fondly. “Good night, Naegi-kun,” she says as she gets into Naegi’s bed and pulls the covers over herself. “And… t-thank you, again. You… you’ve really helped me.”
Maizono hears Naegi walk around and get into the other side of the bed. “Of course, Maizono-san! Good night.”
As the two of them slowly drift off to sleep, Maizono thinks to herself.
‘He saved me, didn’t he? I probably wouldn’t have gotten away with it. Or if something else went wrong…’
She shivers and pulls more of the covers over herself. Seconds later, she notices that Naegi is asleep.
She smiles. She slowly moves closer to Naegi. Once she gets closer, Naegi’s arms partially wrap around her while Naegi is moving around.
She closes her eyes again. ‘You saved me, Naegi… so the least I can do is stay by your side and help you achieve your dream. Help us all get out.’
As Maizono slowly drifts into sleep, she is completely unaware that someone is watching her through the security camera in Naegi’s room.
The Mastermind, far off in their lair, pulls some of their hair out in frustration. Maizono was supposed to break. The motive was tailor-made for her. She was going to murder Kuwata, but the idiot swimmer girl and the naive luck boy had to ruin it! They calm themselves, and then they make a vow: they will make Maizono or Naegi break. Preferably both of them.
Neither of them are aware of this, though.
Right now, they’re just… content.