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artificialqueens · 5 years ago

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Mer-made For Each Other (Crystal x Gigi) - Mina

A/N: I’ve had this mermaid au in my drafts for ages and finally deemed it ready to post. I have a fun enemies to lovers thing coming out sometime this week so look forward to that, I hope you like this! As always you can come yell at me on @goodemornting :)

Summary: There’s something weird about Crystal’s new neighbour, the shy and shrimp-loving Gigi Goode. Something… fishy.

It felt like bricks were being stacked one by one on Crystal’s limbs as she trudged home from the library at nearly one o’clock on a Saturday. Her worn bookbag was slung half hazardously over her shoulder, the books inside almost certainly working to unravel the tightly woven threads meant to hold them. She felt as though she was slowly breaking down, like even a simple gust of wind could knock her over or simply erode her as if she were dust from a stone. Pulling an all nighter was definitely not the redhead’s best decision, but in the rare moment she got the motivation or the information to write her thesis, well, Crystal knew better than to ignore it.

Coffee, she needed coffee, sweetened until it could hardly be considered drinkable, but in favor of her bank account keeping steady she didn’t stop for any on the way home - a walking zombie with only one thing on her mind, said thing the plush blankets laying bed ready to welcome her back home. Tiny cheers erupted from the back of her mind when she finally reached her floor, the cheap and frayed beige carpet and faded salmon colored wallpaper a comforting sign that soon she could plummet into the depths of sleep.

But, the path to her door just happened to be blocked.

Blocked by a person carrying a box.

Crystal paused, blinking - her eyes burned with the need for sleep - and took in the figure before her who stared right back. It was a woman, pale skin peeking through a stylish black cardigan and tucked into a simple plaid skirt that ended just shy of the middle of her thighs, long legs extending to slip into modest heels. The redhead met her deep eyes - they looked black, but the light of the hall catching in them revealed a deep blue - beholding her sloping nose, lips upturned and glossy, and eyes framed by an abundance of eyelashes. Her hair was long and straight and wet, like a dark brown river dripping globs of water onto the floor as she blinked right back at Crystal with a tilt of her head.

Oh, she was cute.

“Who are you?” She asked, words echoing around through the hallway. Seconds after the words left her mouth she felt stupid. The boxes, the new woman before her, the lack of residency in the room beside prior, the landlord telling her yesterday before she had rushed out to get her materials from the library, should’ve answered that question immediately.

“Oh, um, hello,” the woman held a box between them, her arms swallowed up by the oversized cardigan. “I just moved in. I’m Gigi Goode.��

Oh, she’s very cute. And hot.

“Crystal,” She managed to mumble back with a small tired smile, “Elizabeth.”

The woman - Gigi Goode - smiled, a dainty one, her teeth extremely white and seemingly pointy like a shark. “I hope we can become friends.”

“Likewise,” The redhead reciprocated with a tiny wave, ending in a yawn that she’d feel bad about later but right now the image of her fluffy pillows is beckoning her. Crystal had meant what she said though, she certainly wouldn’t mind making friends with the supermodel next door. Especially when she was less tired.

“Ah, um, it was nice meeting you, but gestured to the door just behind her, beside the one currently propped open with a box labeled dishes. Her eyes widened when she realised Crystal was probably trying to get inside as well, audibly letting out an “Oh!” followed by an apologetic, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stop you.”

The taller woman shrugged nonchalantly in return, taking the needed steps to her door whilst digging in her jean pocket for her keys and brushing it off with a “It’s fine, nice meeting you!”

The task of fishing her keys from her pocket - which should’ve been easy because of all the chains and ornaments she stuck to them - took longer than she would’ve liked, but thankfully, she was tired and couldn’t feel any embarrassment when they finally plummeted to the beige carpet. She huffed, going to pick them up before a delicate hand got to them first. Crystal jerked back, Gigi offering her shy smile, fitting the key in easily and turning it until there’s an audible click.

“Thank…you?” The redhead mumbled, pink cheeks covered by all the makeup there in the first place. There was a salty smell to Gigi, it reminded Crystal of her trips to the beach as a child, all the sand that got caught in her hair and how much icecream she consumed every day of summer. She shook her head, trying to escape from the thoughts of how good the shorter woman might look in a swimsuit.

The brunette nodded, “Don’t mention it”, politely stepping back to the box she’d set down, picking it up easily and disappearing through her door.

Crystal decided to follow suit, making her way through her darkened apartment with practiced ease and hitting the pillows just as she heard a thud echo from the other side of the wall.

***

Two and a half had weeks passed until Crystal saw her neighbor again. Honestly that could’ve been due to the fact she left and came back to the apartment at the most ungodly hours and sometimes spent the night at her friend’s house when she couldn’t work up the energy to walk all the way from campus back to the place she pays for to sleep in. But what she noticed when she did come home is that Gigi didn’t leave her apartment much, or when she did she left for long periods of time. Whenever the redhead came home there was always a takeout box in front of her neighbor’s door from the seafood place two blocks down, no signs that anyone was out to collect it soon. Crystal tried to mind her business, but when the smell of fish always wafted through the hall, carpet permanently littered with trails of water drops, she couldn’t help but get a little curious.

It was one of the rare days Crystal actually came home when the sun was out - granted it was settling for the evening. When she entered the hall and smelt the familiar seafood she almost groaned audibly, before spotting a young kid - high school age at least - carrying the familiar takeout box and rapping his knuckles three times against Gigi’s door. The first time they met, Crystal hadn’t thought much of the dripping wet hair, but when it popped out of the door, her brain couldn’t reason that maybe the pale woman just got out of the shower. After all, most people dry their hair with a towel after bathing, not letting thick drops of water fall onto the beige carpet of the hall when they smile wide and accept more seafood.

Maybe Gigi just got hot easily? Understandable, since she was quite attractive. But why would you always have wet hair? To be fair the redhead had only seen her twice.

Crystal’s head ached, deciding that prying into her neighbours strange habits - especially when she has plenty herself - was only going to add more stress to her already way overblown stress meter, when Gigi opened her door to the child with a soft smile, immediately shifting to her gaze to Crystal.

Her cheeks stretched into a warm smile, “Oh, Neighbour!” She waved.

The taller woman paused, mentally checking how worn down she looked. Her clothes were noticeably wrinkle-free, the bags under her eyes concealed by the glasses she put on instead of contacts, and her hair was mussed. Crystal reasoned that it was a huge improvement from the past few days, hell, she wasn’t wearing sweatpants.

“Hey Gigi,” she waved back politely, “seafood again?” It was meant as a polite attempt at conversation, but the way the thin woman tensed maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up.

The laugh the brunette let out must’ve been meant to be nonchalant but it was much more stiff. “Oh, you know, just my favorite.”

Without thinking, “Really? What’s your favorite?” Crystal wished she would have just read the atmosphere and go into her apartment, sit down, and agonize over her thesis like usual instead of pry into a topic her neighbor obviously wanted to avoid. Maybe someone had thought Gigi’s love of seafood was weird and told her that and now she’s self conscious about it.

“Uh,” The pause was almost comical, the shorter woman glancing nervously at the takeout in her hands, “shrimp.”

Crystal blinked, echoing “Shrimp?”

Gigi breathed in sharply, fingers fiddling with the plastic bag. “Yes,” she said sagely, “shrimp.”

Oh. Okay.

“I like shrimp too” Crystal giggled, and that wasn’t not really a lie, as much as she used it to ease whatever awkwardness is around them.

“Oh.” Gigi’s shoulders relaxed almost immediately, “Cool.” They stared back at one another for awhile, the brunette half inside her apartment clutching a box of fishy smelling food - probably shrimp - and Crystal clutching the strap of her worn backpack slung on her shoulder.

“Well, I’ll get going now, got-“ The brunette awkwardly lifted the takeout box “-shrimp to eat.”

“Oh, yeah of course.” Crystal bowed her head politely, awkwardly shrugging her shoulders, “I’ve got a thesis to write, so.”

They exchanged one last glance, before Gigi shut her door and the redhead let out an audible sigh, returning to her own room and lighting some incense to drown out the salt water scent.

***

The next time she encountered Gigi, was at the small convenience store two buildings down from the cheap apartments, two minutes before closing at ten pm on a Tuesday.

Crystal didn’t have a reliable schedule, the owner of the store knew this, many times in the past staying open well after closing just for the poor graduate student to get some groceries so she could eat something other than instant noodles that week. Looking back, she really should’ve paid the extra thousand for the other apartment with the cramped bathroom because what she needs is a kitchen that has more than a sink, fridge, and counter space for a microwave.

Gigi locked eyes with the redhead from opposite ends of the frozen produce aisle, both visibly tensing. Crystal knew the reason she did is because she wore a oversized green hoodie and baby blue shorts that covered maybe a third of her thighs, feet protected by obnoxious pink crocs. Her hair is definitely not combed and the back is sticking up in her reflection in the freezer glass, eyes squinting unflatteringly because she’d decided against contacts and lenses.

Basically she looked horrible and her neighbor was illegally good looking for this time of night.

The taller woman averted her eyes into Gigi’s basket, quickly tucked behind her jeans before she can get a proper look. Maybe she’s embarrassed about a purchase, which was ridiculous since Crystal was carrying a comical amount of cabbage - on sale - and as luck would have it, shrimp - also on sale. Among other notable items there’s deodorant and toothpaste, the cheapest one, which happened to be melon flavored.

Gigi’s items couldn’t be that bad, not that she especially cared, approaching cheerily with the most enthusiastic “Gigi!” She could muster.

Gigi smiled back, a little forced. Crystal wondered if she’s the type to hold her tongue when someone is bothering her to much, also wondering if maybe that’s exactly what she’s doing right now. “How are you?” She asked politely, not exactly feigning interest as she turned her attention to the basket half obstructed by the other’s body.

“Just shopping,” Gigi replied, chuckling and shifting so her basket was even more hidden, “haven’t had much time lately with all my classes.”

“I know what you mean,” Crystal sighed out of understanding, giving up taking a peak at the mystery contents of the brunettes basket, “I haven’t gotten to a store in two weeks.”

“Oh, that’s sad.” Her neighbour chuckled, anxiously shifting from foot to foot, “Well, the store should be closing soon so I’m gonna,” Gigi motioned past her, awkwardly beginning to sidestep with her basket still concealed, but turning as she walked so it couldn’t be seen.

“Oh yeah, gotta hurry myself,” Crystal shook her own basket, returning a nervous smile and starting to awkwardly make her exit, “see you around neighbor!”

Gigi nodded, smile stretched stiffy across her face, walking backwards to conceal her basket behind her long pale legs. Man, Crystal was really curious about what exactly she’s buying that she wanted to hide so much. The redhead kept walking, plucking a popsicle from one freezer, and then ducking around the aisle to wait for Gigi to finally turn back around. Once she saw a relieved sigh huffed from the pretty neighbor’s lips, turning around and relaxing her grin, Crystal snuck a picture with her cellphone, quickly zooming into the contents of the basket.

And it’s just—lotion.

For the first few seconds zoomed in on the familiar looking bottles of moisturizing lotions and creams, Crystal was very confused. Very lost.

Why would the brunette need that much? There was no way that that was all that was in there but moving the zoomed in area around didn’t reveal any other contents beside foundation and a protein bar that tastes like sand in your mouth in her experienced opinion.

Was that why her skin was so smooth? She literally bathed in lotions and moisturisers?

Crystal shook her head at the ridiculous thoughts, especially the one of Gigi in a bathtub, flailing limbs sticking out of a thick cream of white and off-white lotions, rubbing it into said limbs as she closed her eyes in lotion-ey bliss. The redhead needed more sleep, she realized, waiting until Gigi left to purchase her items and lag a bit behind so she didn’t try to strike up more conversation and say something stupid or flirty.

***

She lay in bed - her mattress on the floor stacked high with blankets because her old bed frame broke - staring at the ceiling, laptop set aside as she pondered.

What was Crystal pondering?

It should’ve been her thesis, due date looming ever so close as she spent more moments like this not working on it.

No, the graduate student thought about how much she wanted to make an actual meal. How much she missed eating more than icecream and salad every night. Crystal couldn’t even afford to get chicken delivered, or even go pick it up herself. Her kitchen was tucked beside her bathroom, no microwave, and cabbage gets really old after two weeks of nothing but cabbage and the occasional piece of shrimp. The scent of saltwater wafted to her nose as it usually did, the redhead starting to relate the scent to the arrival of her neighbour as it and the aroma of seafood - specifically shrimp? - always seemed to fill the hallway when Gigi was around. No one had complained yet, but really that could be because Nicky from across the hall was weak to Gigi’s looks just like Crystal, or that Jan on the other side of the apartment burned sandalwood incense 24/7 which was quite permeating like the sea scent as well.

The redhead lamented how pretty her brunette neighbor was, ignoring the ever growing hole in her stomach of not focusing on her work to instead consider how if only she came and went from her apartment at normal times she could maybe have a proper neighbourly conversation with Gigi about, well, something that neighbours normally talk about. But no, she had better things to do, like not work on her thesis. Her thesis on what jellyfish stings can power, which was quite an interesting topic if you thought about it.

She heard a loud thud from next door, jumping slightly at the unexpected noise. It wasn’t the sound of the door shutting, no, it was the sound of something hitting the ground, heavy.

Crystal lifted her head, looking over at the wall she shared with Gigi and furrowing her brows. She herself was definitely clumsy, but her neighbor, her seemingly always put together, not a strand of hair left uncombed neighbour, I drink strawberry tea and go running for fun neighbour, had dropped something that heavy on accident?

She waited, the hum of her fridge loud in the silent apartment, until she heard a muffled ‘shit’ followed by the sound of bottles clattering to the floor.

Honestly she didn’t know why, but she hopped to her feet, red hair bouncing behind her as she exited her apartment and knocked loudly on the shorter woman’s door, calling “Gigi?”

A muffled voice murmured something through the door quietly, Crystal suddenly thinking maybe it’d have been better if she’d knocked through the wall. But the thought that maybe Gigi had fell and hurt herself overpowered her so she tentatively twisted the door handle, elated to find that it was unlocked.

The smell of seaweed and oceans swarmed her as soon as she entered the apartment hesitantly, footsteps slicing through the otherwise silent hallway. “Are you okay? It’s just me, your neighbour!”

It was the same exact apartment Crystal owned, if only reversed and the walls being painted an off white colour compared to her own mint green, so she moved with shy certainty to where Gigi presumably hid behind the bathroom door.

“I-I’m alright,” The brunette called frantically, voice unsteady and breathy. “I just lost my footing, you didn’t need to come over.”

Crystal ignored her, placing a hand on the bathroom door handle getting ready to open it after she responded, “I’m sorry, I was worried you might’ve hit your head.” She paused, debating whether her next words might come off to strong. “Can I come in?”

“Uh-“ Gigi seemed to knock over more bottles in response, the sound causing Crystal to fuck it, pull the door fully open so she could see just what was happening.

The bathtub was full of water, spilling onto the tiled floor, pink coloured bubbles consuming the tub. The familiar bottles of lotion and moisturizers she recognised from the sneakily taken photo are scattered on the floor, and Crystal’s eyes focused on the center of the room. Gigi was naked, but that seemed quite unimportant compared to the fact that her pale skin - the redhead remembers it being smooth and glowing - was bumpy, textured, overlapping?

It reminded her of fish scales.

Fish scales.

Fish, gills, long slits in the skin stretched across her ribs, opening and closing with each huff of Gigi’s chest.

Crystal knew her jaw had bid goodbye to her skull, hanging open as she stared wide eyed back into similar shocked blue eyes. They were both silent, the slosh of water over the side of the tub making loud splatting sounds with each wave of overflow.

“You’re a,” Crystal wasn’t really sure what, but “fish?” Is what comes out.

Gigi’s eyes scrunched immediately, a look of shock quickly subsiding into disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“You’re a fish?” Crystal repeated, wearing disbelief as well but of a different cloth.

“I—no,” The brunette sputtered, shaking her head, “what?”

“You,” She raised a hand to motion at the gills and scales, “what are those?”

Her neighbor kept her mouth shut, obviously trying to find the words, or maybe a believable excuse, but soon the time is passing to make an excuse for what Crystal can’t pass off as a dream the longer she sees it.

“I’m a - uh - a fish person? Not a fish,” She began, quickly shutting down anymore fish thoughts, “whatever you call us.”

Crystal felt like her jaw might actually detach and fall to the floor. “You’re a mermaid?” She managed to breath out, barely audible.

“Yes.” The fish woman calmly replied, holding her gaze. It’s then that Crystal looked down at the long, scaled legs supporting Gigi’s body, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“But why don’t you have a tail?” She questioned, motioning at the other’s lower half.

“I should have a tail, but obviously there’s not enough water for that to happen right now.” Gigi scoffed, narrowing her eyes as though Crystal was the weird one, “Some have legs or fish heads, both, or neither, or it could depend on natural stuff,” she pointed to herself.

The redhead blinked a few times, turning to glance at her own, very not fishlike reflection in the mirror, before stepping out and shutting the bathroom door.

A moment passed, Crystal standing silently behind the barrier in Gigi’s living room. She took a deep breath, convincing herself that maybe the cabbage she had eaten beforehand was rotten and she was hallucinating, and then -

The door opened back up and she stepped through, looking her neighbor up and down again scrutinizingly. She still sat very much fishlike in the pink bubbles, scales glistening in the water. Shit.

“I don’t believe you,” She finally concluded, “you’re just,” Crystal pursed her lips in thought, nose twitching, “good at special effects makeup.”

Gigi rolled her eyes, giving a death stare at the taller woman. She grabbed a towel from the rack on the wall beside her, emerging from the bubble bath and wrapping it around her exposed body hastily, reminding Crystal that she herself was the one who had stormed in on a naked unsuspecting fish person.

A fish person.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Gigi adjusted the towel slightly, getting it comfortably around her hips and then itching around a gill, “but I’m the real thing.”

Crystal laughed disingenuously through a frown. “Oh, you’re so funny.”

“This isn’t a joke,” The fish - no, her neighbour, deadpanned.

“Oh you,” The redhead chuckled, slowly shutting the door as she backed away, “be careful and enjoy your bath!”

The door clicked shut again.

And Crystal promptly returned home to stare up at her ceiling instead of work on her thesis, head positively swarming with reasonable explanations as to what the fuck just happened in her pretty neighbours bathroom. She could hardly breathe, practically choking with the knowledge that holy fuck, actual mermaids existed.��

It wasn’t long after she’d sat there on her mattress that there was an incessant knocking at her door, and Crystal knew - barely a few minutes had passed - that it was her neighbour. A small glimmer of hope that it was all a dream filled her as she stumbled to her feet and tugged open the door in between the succession of knocks. Of course that hope wad crushed when she saw the peek of grey-blue scales from under the lilac sweater Gigi had thrown on, around the ankles exposed by the grey sweatpants, gold shimmer catching in the flickering hallway lights. Her long dark hair was still wet, much like the first two times they’d met, drops hitting the floor gently.

“Can I come in?” The mermaid - there was no point in denying it anymore - asked, eyes wandering down the hall nervously - probably because her scales was on display.

Crystal wondered how she could show so much skin all the other times without those slightly darker pigmented scales being as apparent as they were now. She realised that she hadn’t replied when Gigi impatiently entered, hand on the redheads shoulder pushing her back into her apartment and closing the door with the other.

“Sorry, I just,” She shifted uncomfortably, “don’t want to be seen, again.”

“No uh,” Crystal felt apologetic now, seeing Gigi’s nervous stance, making her wait anxiously in the hall, “I’m sorry too.”

It fell terribly silent, not for lack of words, but lack of where to start. Gigi was obviously there for a reason, and Crystal definitely had some minor questions.

Finally - “You can’t tell anyone,” The brunette asserted, sharp eyes narrowed seriously although she picked up a twinge of uncertainty behind them.

“That’s a given,” Crystal nodded, scratching her neck awkwardly, “I don’t know if anyone would even believe me if I wanted or did tell them, so..”

The sigh her neighbour let out then is relieved, as much as it could be in the face of her secret being revealed. Crystal wasn’t sure of the full extent of said secret, but that’s probably for the best.

“What exactly does being a fish person mean,” The tan woman asked, “for you? And me, I guess?”

The brunette stared bullets into her, expressionless for a second, before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

She shrugged, shifting awkwardly, “Cause I’m curious?”

“Why?” Gigi repeated.

“Cause you’re Interesting?” Crystal regretted making it sounding like a question.

“I’m interesting? Because I’m a fish person?” The fish person scoffed, scratching impulsively at the scales shining near her clavicles.

“Wouldn’t you be interested if I was like,” Crystal tried to think of a strange animal, “a donkey person?” Wolf person, werewolf. She could’ve gone with werewolf.

Gigi looked utterly caught off guard, staring at the redheads face for a long moment. Crystal watched the exact moment her eyes begin to crinkle, cheeks bunching, and her pink lips parted to release a breathy laugh. It’s not what she’d expected at all, but quite welcome after the slew of things that just happened. Gigi looked pretty cute when she laughed, even if it was teasingly directed at her.

“If you must know,” The younger calmed down, taking a few breaths in and out to stop her snickers, “mermaids are mostly the upper body of a human and the lower of a fish. In my case, the tail only comes out when my legs are surrounded by a lot of water, if that makes sense.”

The redhead hummed, “So there’s like different species of mermaid then?”

“I guess?” Gigi giggled with a shrug, “Most of us have human features but ocean attributes, its rarer for the whole tail and normal head thing.”

“Wait then,” She paused, brief image of a mermaid lying seductively on a rock coming to mind, except this time it’s a fish with legs which caused her to snort with a grin, “not all fish people are actually the maneating beauties they’re said to be?”

Gigi snorted herself - admittedly much more attractively than Crystal had - shaking her head, “Of course they aren’t, that’s why mermaids are a myth.”

“And they actually live among us, eating lots of shrimp?” Crystal asked with wide eyes, suddenly wondering just how many mermaids she might’ve met in her lifetime.

The other paused, meeting her eyes once more. “Look,” she started, “you can’t take pictures underwater. Cameras and the ocean don’t mix, trust me I tried.”

“Waterproof cameras,” She deadpanned.

“They’re expensive, how long do you think it took me to save up for this apartment?” Gigi retorted, picking at her manicured nails that shimmered under deep green polish.

“Probably would’ve been faster to just save up for a waterproof camera,” Crystal hummed in return.

The mermaid huffed, rolling her eyes, “Land is way more interesting than sea.”

“Oh,” The taller perked up in curiosity, “so you’re, like, sticking around?”

Gigi grinned, “For now, thinking of becoming a photographer, you know.”

“Cool.”

A silent moment passed before Gigi seemingly remembered why she even came over, shifting back towards the door. “Anyway, uh, thank you for your silence,” she dipped her head politely, some dark brown strands of hair falling around her face. “I’ll be,” she pointed at the door, other hand wrapping around the handle, “on my way.”

“Oh uh,” Crystal reached out, pulling her hand off the door gently, “wait, would you like to, maybe, go somewhere sometime? Together?”

Gigi looked back at her with a confused frown, hand tensing in the taller woman’s grip. “Why?”

The redhead sighed, rolling her eyes, “Why else?”

“What do you mean ‘why else’?”

For a second Crystal thought Gigi was messing with her, but by the way she waited patiently for an answer she knew she really didn’t have a clue. And honestly at this point the redhead was grateful for that, deciding not to spell it out.

“When are you next free?” She asked.

The mermaid quirked a brow in even more curiosity, “Thursday, why?”

“Okay, on Thursday I’m gonna come and get you and we’re going to go eat somewhere together,” Crystal announced, voice shaking slightly.

“Okay?” Gigi replied without missing a beat, hesitantly opening the door, “Goodbye?”

“Yep, see you Thursday!” Crystal waved, shooing her out.

The other watched her curiously all the way out the door until she shut it with finality. Alone once more, she inhaled a deep breath and let it out loudly, ringing her hands together as she tried desperately to clear her mind.

It was then that her door suddenly opened back up, startling Crystal into turning around meeting Gigi’s eyes with a gaping mouth.

“Is it gonna be a date?” She questioned, cheeks a little flushed, scales still visible.

“Y-yes” She admitted, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

Another second, and then Gigi turned and left once more with a quick “Wear something warm, it might be cold. Also I’m not paying.”

It seemed as though Crystal did have a date this Thursday. With a fish person. And she felt strangely okay with that.

#rpdr fanfiction #crystal methyd #gigi goode #crygi #lesbian au #mermaid au #fluff #mina #submission #s12

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prophetparadox · 8 years ago

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Despair’s Last Resort Trial 1 Rough Draft

So since I’m kind of prevented from making much new content due to my computer situation, I thought I’d look through my computer and see if I had any abandoned fics I could upload to my collection of them on AO3. and instead I found something interesting: the original draft of DLR’s first trial. This was something I had written up back in around March of 2014, about 2-3 months before I actually wrote the fic proper, as I had the idea for what I wanted to do but didn’t want to lose it. So I stuck it in a word document and came back to it to fix everything when the time came to do it proper. Since I can’t provide proper content, I figured it would be fun to share this draft to show the differences between the original plan and the final product. The trial in full is under the cut, but I figure I should add a few things of note before you read.

- The character called Hideki is Shigeru. Hideki was his original name that I eventually changed for being too similar to Hikaru. Any reference to a Hideki in this draft is basically referring to Shigeru. There’s also a few instances where Hikaru is called Haruki instead, as that was his original name. Most of the draft he’s referred to as Hikaru, as it was around that time that I changed the name, but a few still remain.

- At the time I wrote this, Kumiko and Chiyo had not been established as being childhood friends in my mind, thus her reactions here are different since they didn’t have the same bond.

- Some characters aren’t fleshed out as much as I hadn’t figured out what to do with their characters yet. Some lines are even moved around since I was still tinkering with personalities. So some characters will seem off.

- Kaito’s execution here is different. This was an idea suggested to me by my friend Serena, but I ultimately didn’t go through with it and went with the final one.

- I don’t know why the restaurant is called the dining hall here. It might’ve been because I was still thinking about the fic taking place solely in the hotel, but I can’t say more than that.

I can’t think of anything else particularly of note. So on that note, enjoy this early version of the first trial!

Takara and the others stepped out of the elevator, finding themselves face to face with a makeshift courtroom. The purple walls were lined with black curtains, reminding everyone that Chiyo was no longer with them. A circle of podiums rested in the middle of the room, while Monokuma sat in a throne opposite of the elevator doors. "Ah good! You've all made it here!"the bear joyfully said. "Now then, please locate the podium with your name on it, and we can begin the trial!"

"So you weren't kiddin' about this whole trial thing were ya?" Kazumi asked.

"Well of course not! What point would I have of sending you kiddies out to investigate if I wasn't going to keep my word about the trial?" Monokuma said.

"I was hopin' it was all some kinda sick joke." Kazumi said.

"Now now, just hurry up and take your places! We need to get this trial rolling after all!" Monokuma announced. The fifteen students made their way over to each podium marked with their names. Takara found herself placed in between Kaito and Shizuka. Across from her she could see Satoshi smiling at her. He obviously wasn't worried about losing this trial and possibly being executed. Takara began to wonder what was wrong with that boy. Takara noticed that the way the podiums were placed allowed for everyone in the room to see each other's faces. And it didn't take her very long to notice the strange thing in the one podium where no one stood.

"Hey, Monokuma," Takara began, pointing over to the irregular podium. "What the hell is that thing supposed to be?" In the place of Chiyo Ueda was a photo of her attached to a stand. It almost looked like the photographs used to represent a dead person at a funeral. The only difference was the big X on the frame.

"What, that?" Monokuma asked innocently. "Well it certainly isn't fair for Chiyo to miss out on the trial just because she died! After all, doesn't friendship last even beyond death?"

"You disgust me." Naomi said with disdain.

"Well, if there are no more questions, I think it's about time we began the class trial!" Monokuma said.

"First off, we should go over what we already know and go from there." Hideki said.

"Who put you in charge?" Ayame asked.

"Ayame, this is not the time for that. We need to work together to work out the culprit." Hikaru said, trying to calm down the football player. "Besides, I think Hideki is on the right track here."

"...Fine, whatever." Ayame said.

"Now then, if I may continue," Hideki said, clearly getting irritated.

"The victim of this case was Chiyo Ueda. According to the Monokuma file, she was killed around 8:30 p.m. last night in the laundromat. Her exact cause of death has yet to be determined, but can be narrowed down to either loss of blood or suffocation. Either as she was dying, or after she was already dead, her killer fashioned a noose and hanged her. These are the absolute facts. With that in mind, where should we go from here?"

"I think we should narrow down the number of culprits." Satoshi said, his usual aloof tone replaced with a more serious one. "At this point in time, we don't have any possible leads as to who killed Chiyo. And unless we can figure out who has an alibi and who doesn't, I feel like we won't be going anywhere."

"You know, he's got a good point there." Shizuka said.

"Very well, if you really think that will move this case along, then let's go along with it." Hideki said, seemingly interested in Satoshi's idea. "So then, out of the fifteen of us here, who has a solid alibi for 8:30 last night?"

"I was spending time with Kumiko until the nighttime announcement." Takara said. "We were nowhere near the scene of the crime." Kumiko nodded in agreement.

"Me and Hikaru were in my room last night." Ayame admitted with a tint of pink on her cheeks. "We spent the whole night together and that's all that matters."

"It looks to me like there's something more to your story there, Ishikawa." Arata said, a smug grin on his face.

Ayame's face flushed red at his comment. "What we do in the privacy of our rooms is none of your damn business!"Ayame shouted, gripping her podium with all her strength.

"Can we please move on?" Hideki said, his eye beginning to twitch.

"Well, Kazumi and I were in the restaurant eating dinner around that time, and both Hideki and Naomi were there at the same time." Shizuka said. "I also remember that Masaru had been in the kitchen before any of us had gotten there, and was still there when we left."

"Yeah, I was in the kitchen until the nighttime announcement." Masaru confirmed.

"And just what were you doing in there?" Ryouta asked, suspicion in his voice.

"Well, after the announcement of the motive it felt like everyone was tense." Masaru explained. "I thought that I would go over what was in the kitchen so I could make something special for breakfast tomorrow morning. If you're trying to imply that I would poison someone then you're mistaken."

"So that leaves nine of us with solid alibis." Minoru said. "Meanwhile, Arata, Satoshi, Miyako, Kaito, Ryouta, and myself are the most likely suspects."

"Wait, hold on a second!" Kaito said. "How do we know that none of them are lying? For all we know, two of them worked together and killed Chiyo in order to escape together!"

"Even if what you're saying is true Kaito, that still leaves five people with alibis. Kazumi, Shizuka, Naomi, Masaru, and Hideki were all in the same area at the time of the murder." Takara said.

"But what about you and Kumiko? Or Ayame and Haruki?" Kaito asked. "There's a complete possibility that either pair worked together."

"Why not ask the bear?" Miyako said, having finally saying something since the start of the investigation.

"Alright." Hideki said. "Monokuma, is there any reason for someone to team up with another in order to commit murder?"

"Ehhh, nope!" Monokuma asked. "An accomplice has nothing to gain from assisting a culprit in murder! Only the student who committed the crime can graduate."

"So there is nothing to gain then." Hideki said with a smirk.

"But we didn't know that until just now!" Kaito argued. "For all we know two people did team up."

"He's got a point." Ryouta says. "For all we know, someone could have assisted the killer in Chiyo's murder."

"Oy, Monokuma!" Kazumi said. "Was there anyone helpin' the culprit or not?"

"I don't think he's going to tell you outright, Kazumi..." Masaru said.

"Actually, we don't need to ask him." Satoshi said.

"And how are ya so certain 'bout that?" Kazumi asked.

"Because after investigating the crime scene, I can say that this crime was not planned beforehand. It was done on the spot, with no warning."

"That doesn't prove anything." Naomi said. "Just because it wasn't planned doesn't eliminate the possibility that two people did it."

"Alright, you got me there Naomi." Satoshi said, his usual personality shining through for a moment. "But Kara-chan and I have proof that can tell you there was only one culprit."

"Kara-chan...?" Arata asked, trying to hold back snickers.

"He's talking about me." Takara said, clearly irritated that Satoshi continued to use that nickname. She shot a quick glare at him, but all he did was smile back. Takara heard someone in the courtroom giggle slightly, probably Kumiko.

"Just what is this proof that you two found?" Hideki asked.

"In order to explain, I think we should move on to the subject of how Chiyo died." Satoshi said.

"But you're the one who wanted to eliminate suspects in the first place!" Ayame said. "Why are you trying to move away from the subject at hand? That seems pretty suspicious to me."

"No, Satoshi is right." Takara said. "The only way to do this is to talk about her death."

"Where should we begin then?" Hikaru asked. "You must have somewhere to go off of."

"First off, did anyone see Chiyo right before she died?" Satoshi asked. "I think that's a good place to start."

"I think I passed by her before going to my room or something?" Kumiko said, trying to remember the night before. "But that was waaaaay before her death so that probably doesn't count!" Even in this situation, the comic artist managed to smile and be energetic.

"Like I said, Hikaru and I were in my room all night." Ayame answered. "The last time either of us had seen her had been during the motive announcement."

"Oh! I saw her!" Naomi said. "She came into the dining hall around 8 and sat down with me and Hideki!"

"Yeah, I remember seeing her walk in as well!" Shizuka said.

"Funny, I don' remember seein' her." Kazumi said.

"That's probably because you were too busy stuffing your face with food to remember." Hideki said.

"Wuzzat supposed to mean?!" Kazumi asked. "You wanna start somethin', music boy?"

"Ahh, Kazumi calm down!" Shizuka said.

"Anyway, do you remember what she did while she was there, Naomi?" Takara asked.

"Well, she walked in around 8 and grabbed something to eat from the kitchen." Naomi began. "She sat down at the same table that me and Hideki were at and didn't talk much. She mostly just ate in silence and made a few comments. Once she was done, she immediately left the dining hall. She couldn't have been there more more than fifteen minutes."

"Did she say anything about why she left?" Satoshi asked.

"Actually, she did." Shizuka said. "I asked her why she was leaving in such a hurry and she said she was going to bed early for the night. Something about how she was sensing a dangerous air and wanted to avoid being in danger. Anyway, she did mention though that she needed to do her laundry first, because she was out of clean clothes. That's all she said before wishing us a good night. In fact, that's why I went to check the laundromat first."

"And no one in the dining hall left during that time, is that it?" Satoshi said, wishing to confirm his point.

"Correct. All five of us didn't leave until about an hour after she left." Hideki said.

"And no one else knew where she was going?" Takara asked, referring to the six without alibis.

"Um, no. I had no idea." Kaito said.

"I didn't." Ryouta said.

"No." Miyako said, getting straight to the point.

"Not at all." Minoru said.

"Of course not!" Arata said, angry at the idea he was being accused.

"Nope." Satoshi said.

"Well then, I'm pretty sure that answers that question." Shizuka said.

"Wait a second, that doesn't prove anything!" Kaito said.

"Actually, that's wrong!" Takara said. "Considering that Hikaru and Ayame had been in Ayame's room all night since the motive announcement there's no way they would have known. Me and Kumiko had been hanging out in her own room so we didn't even see Chiyo, let alone know where she was going."

"What's your point? Get to it already." Kaito said.

"If her death had been planned beforehand, that would mean the culprit knew where she would be. Since no one aside from the people in the dining hall knew where she was going, there's no way it was planned." Takara explained. "Also, according to what Naomi said, she was only there for around fifteen minutes. And she didn't die until fifteen minutes after she left, which hardly seems like enough time to come up with a murder plan."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense." Kaito admitted.

"But that doesn't tell us that two people weren't responsible." Ryouta said as he fidgeted with his hands. "Just because it wasn't planned doesn't prove anything."

"Well then, we have more evidence where that came from. Right, Kara-chan?" Satoshi said.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Takara said. "But there's still evidence that can show there was only one killer."

"Well what is it then?" Ryouta asked.

"The washing machines themselves." Takara said.

"How does that prove anything?" Hikaru asked.

"When we were searching for clues, we looked in the machines to see if there were anyone else's clothes being washed. After all, whoever killed Chiyo must have been doing their laundry. But the only clothes we found were Chiyo's, which were still wet. And the dryers were nearly empty as well, except for one." Takara said.

"Huh? How so?" Kazumi asked.

"One of the dryers had a pair of socks in them. Whoever killed Chiyo must have left them behind in their rush to leave the scene. And the clothes that were hung up to dry had all been there before the murder." Takara explained.

"How do you know that?" Ayame asked.

"Before Monokuma revealed the motive, I had been doing laundry myself." Takara answered. "When I was there earlier, I saw all the clothes that had been hanging to dry. And all the clothes that were hanging at the scene of the crime were the exact same clothes I saw yesterday! Meaning that the culprit had to have been one person and one person alone."

"Wait a second, you said there was a pair of socks, right?" Kumiko asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Takara said.

"Well, if the criminal left behind their socks, that means whoever wears those kind of socks has to be the culprit!" Kumiko said. "Everyone, take off your shoes!"

"Even though you have a good idea there, I'm afraid it isn't that simple." Satoshi said.

"Huh? Why not?" Kumiko said.

"The socks we found were white. And most of us wear white socks, including the victim." Satoshi explained. "And there was nothing special about these socks that could distinguish them, so we can't use them to figure out the culprit."

"Oh. Never mind then." Kumiko asked as she hung her head down.

"Hey, you gave it a shot." Minoru said. "It was a good idea."

"And if that isn't enough evidence, then there's one more thing I can bring up." Takara said.

"No, no, I think that's enough for me." Hikaru said. "I don't doubt that the culprit is one person."

"So are we done talking about whether there were two people or not? Can we finally move on?" Hideki asked impatiently.

"Yes, your highness, we're done." Ayame said.

"In that case, the six of us without alibis are still the potential culprit." Minoru said. "So how do we find out who the five innocents are?"

"I got it!" Kazumi exclaimed.

"This will be interesting." Hideki said.

"Well obviously the culprit had been doin' laundry right? So all we gotta do is figure out which one of ya was doing laundry! Easy as that!" Kazumi said with a smug look.

"Truly your mind is incredibly simple." Hideki asked. "Not only is that a terrible idea, but whoever was doing laundry wouldn't admit it. The culprit obviously wants to graduate, so of course they're not going to willingly admit they were there."

"So we have no leads?" Hikaru asked.

"Shit!" Ayame said. "At this rate we're all gonna die! Don't we have anything that could move us forward?!"

Takara paused and tried to think while the others attempted to figure something out. The stress of the situation was getting to her. Was there anything else she had found that could lead them somewhere? Anything? If she didn't have something then it was all going to end here!

--------------------------

"Calm down everyone. We're not going to determine the culprit with what little we have so far." Satoshi said, snapping Takara out of her thoughts. "Let's return to the discussion at hand: how Chiyo died."

"But we don't know how she died." Shizuka said. "The Monokuma file only told us it was blood loss or lack of air. That isn't much to go off of."

"I never said we had to determine which one it is, but we can figure out what was used during the attack." Satoshi said.

"We've already established the possibilities of her death." Kazumi said. "Blood loss or bein' suffocated. So we jus' need to figure out what the weapons were right?"

"Well if she was being suffocated, then anything in the laundromat could be a weapon." Ryouta said. "All the killer would need is something that could block off her nose and mouth so she couldn't breathe. And considering the location, there were plenty of things that could do just that."

"However, the culprit could have used their hands just as well." Kumiko added. "Or they may have tried to strangle her with their hands! That sounds about right, doesn't it?"

"No, the culprit used something from the laundromat." Takara rebutted. "And I think I know what it was."

"Well if you're so sure, then tell us." Kaito said, issuing a challenge to the journalist.

"It's simple, the culprit used their own laundry to suffocate Chiyo!" Takara said. "And that same article was also used to hang her body." She smirked at Kaito.

"But how can you be so sure that it was the culprit's clothes?" Kaito asked.

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked.

"If you ask me, I think Chiyo killed herself!" Kaito said.

"Really now?" Satoshi said. "If that's the case, tell us why."

"Well you see, we found Chiyo hanging by a noose right?" Kaito said. "Wouldn't that mean she made the noose and hanged herself? After all, she was missing her cloak when we found her! And the noose was the same color as her cloak!"

"But what about the blood loss?" Naomi asked. "If she really did hang herself, then it makes no sense for it to be a factor in all of this."

"That's easy! Allow me to explain it to you!" Kaito said with confidence. "We already established that there was someone else in the laundromat with her, so whoever was there probably tried to attack her but failed to kill her themselves! After the attacker screwed up, they probably tried to flee the scene. So while Chiyo tried to hang herself, she was bleeding from the previous attack. She made the noose out of her cloak, wrapped it around the pipes on the ceiling, and hanged herself! After all, there's no other article of clothes that could have caused it."

"Actually, that's wrong!" Takara said. "Chiyo's cloak had been with all of her other clothes in the washing machine. There's no way that it could have been the noose. After all, she's not the only person with an article of clothing like that. A few other people here wear black jackets of some kind, so it could belong to them."

"Oh, I got it!" Kazumi exclaimed. "If the culprit used some kinda black jacket, then whoever's missing theirs is the one who did it!"

"It isn't that simple though." Hideki countered. "Out of all of us that wear a black jacket or coat, none of them are missing it. The culprit did leave with all their laundry, so it's safe to assume that the culprit owns more than one black jacket. After all, if they were missing such an article of clothing it would be obviously noticeable."

"Okay, so it wasn't her cloak, I get that." Kaito conceded. "But that doesn't mean she didn't hang herself like I said!"

"Actually, there's one other factor that proves she didn't kill herself." Takara said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kaito asked.

"There was nothing nearby the body that would allow her to reach the ceiling." Takara answered. "No stool, no chair, nothing. Which is strange considering the victim in question."

"Wait, what do mean?" Kaito said.

"Are you referring to Ueda's height, Tsukuda?" Arata asked.

"That's exactly what I'm refering to." Takara said with a smirk.

"Wait, what's her height got to do with all this?" Kazumi asked.

"If you paid any attention to Chiyo herself, you'd know she is the shortest out of all of us." Hideki answered. "She was only 4'11. Certainly not tall enough to reach the ceiling without something to stand on."

"And there was nothing at the scene that was near her to indicate she could've stood on anything in order to reach it." Takara said. "Which means she didn't commit suicide!"

"I see." Kaito replied. "In that case, I guess you can ignore my theory."

"So she was suffocated by the jacket. That eliminates one possible weapon." Naomi said. "But there's still the matter of the blood loss."

"There aren't that many weapons one could find in a laundromat that could cause it." Ayame said. "And we already established that the culprit didn't plan the killing, so it's not like they grabbed a knife or anything."

"The culprit either had the weapon with them and improvised, or the weapon had already been in there and was left by someone else." Minoru said.

"The weapon had to have been hidden after she was killed." Shizuka said. "Probably to dispose evidence."

"But that means the weapon could be anything!" Kaito said.

"There's one thing about this that doesn't make sense though." Haruki said. "If she was losing blood, then where was it? Her body was completely free of it."

"Actually, that's wrong!" Takara said. "Shizuka, you know for a fact that she had been bleeding right? Her clothes show as much."

"Oh, you're right!" Shizuka said.

"What do you mean? There wasn't any blood on her clothes." Masaru said.

"Not at first glance there isn't, but if you look closer you can see it." Shizuka explained. "Around her chest are droplets of blood. They're kinda small, so it's not easy to notice at first, but if you take the time to look, you'll find them."

"Wow Shizuka, how did you notice something so small?" Kumiko asked, astounded by the painter's find. "You must have super powerful eyes to find something like that!"

"I just looked, I guess. I have a good eye for detail." Shizuka said, clearly embarrassed by the praise as her cheeks flushed pink slightly.

"Still though, there's no way that such a small amount of blood like this would be enough to be a factor." Hideki said. "I'm no expert on this, but it would have to be a severe amount of blood to come anywhere close to killing her."

"Except that wasn't all the blood she spilled." Satoshi said. "The killer just wanted to make it look like she wasn't bleeding and that she had been hanged."

"How can you tell?" Shizuka asked.

"There's a spot on the floor that looked like someone had tried to clean it." Satoshi explained. "But they didn't do a very good job at it, as the color of the blood itself is still very slightly there."

"Her clothes were also a little damp." Takara added.

"That doesn't explain anything." Arata said. "Ueda's clothes could've been damp from blood."

"But we already established that there wasn't enough blood on Chiyo's body aside from the droplets Shizuka found." Masaru said.

"That, and if it was blood, it wouldn't be damp." Takara explained. "Blood on clothing wouldn't remain damp by that point. It would've felt harder and left an obvious stain."

"How do you know that?" Ryouta asked.

"...It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand." Takara said hesitantly, clearly embarrassed at having to explain that. "The point is, the culprit tried to wash away the blood, and obviously missed a few spots."

"So we've established that she was definitely bleeding." Hideki said. "And it was definitely enough to be a cause of death."

"But what was the fuckin' weapon?" Kazumi asked.

"There were multiple wounds on her chest." Takara said. "They were too small in size to be something like a knife, and the weapon couldn't have been big enough to cause a fatal stab wound."

"That doesn't really answer the question though." Ayame said.

"True, but I think I found something that could fit the description." Takara said. "It was a pen."

"A... pen?" Arata said. "How could a pen of all things be a weapon?"

"This isn't an average ball-point pen, but rather a nibbed pen." Takara said.

"What the hell is a nibbed pen?" Kazumi asked.

"They're old fashioned pens." Naomi explained. "They don't have ink in them like modern pens, you have to dip them in an ink jar to use it. There are multiple sizes of nibs that can produce many different types of strokes. Most people only use them these days or artistic purposes or calligraphy."

"So, you're saying that this pen is the weapon?" Hikaru asked.

"Exactly." Takara said. "And I believe I know who it belongs to."

"What? You know the culprit then?" Arata asked. "Well then who was it?"

"There can only be one possibility as to who the guilty student is." Takara began. "Someone who has tried everything they can to hide their involvement in Chiyo's death. Someone who has been trying to lead us away from the truth. Someone who tried to make it look like Chiyo Ueda killed herself so they could get off scott free."

"For fuck's sake, just tell us who you think the god damn culprit is already!" Kaito said.

"Gladly." Takara said with a smirk. "It's none other than you, Kaito Fujiwara!"

----------------------------

"...What?" Kaito asked nervously. "You're saying...I'm the one who killed her?" The animator began to laugh nervously. "Come on now Takara, that's just crazy. T-there's no way I killed her. What proof do you have to pin it on m-me?"

"I have plenty of proof." Takara said. "This entire time, you've been questioning everything we've brought up and challenging our theories."

"This is a trial though, you're supposed to question other people's theories." Kaito replied. "After all, someone could be lying and we wouldn't know it."

"That's not all. You were nervous when Monokuma announced the Class Trial, more so than anyone else." Takara said.

"That's because my life is on the line if we get it wrong!" Kaito said.

"Also, you were the one who brought up the idea that Chiyo had killed herself." Takara said. "If I recall correctly, you were nowhere near the body during the investigation. In fact, I don't recall you coming into the laundromat when the body was discovered. So how did you know that she had been hanged?"

"I read the Monokuma file of course!" Kaito said.

"Except it doesn't mention that she was hanged." Hideki interjected. "It only mentions her being suffocated."

"Then there's this pen." Takara said. "Being an animator, it would only make sense that you would have something like this in your possesion."

"That isn't mine!" Kaito said, his anger coming out. "That could belong to Kumiko! Or it's Shizuka's! I wouldn't have a pen like that!"

"Except first of all, both Shizuka and Kumiko have solid alibis for last night." Takara rebutted. "And secondly, Shizuka wouldn't even use a pen like this, she's a painter."

"Besides, I haven't taken out any of my supplies since we got here." Kumiko said. "I can't really be making my comic pages when everyone's acting all crazy-go nuts. And I prefer ball-point pens, I don't have the patience to keep dipping a pen in ink over and over again!"

"T-that's..." Kaito stammered.

"Also, that jacket Chiyo's been hanged with does fit yours quite nicely." Takara said.

"That doesn't mean anything! I've obviously been framed!" Kaito insisted. "I never even saw Chiyo yesterday after the motive announcement!"

"In that case, why was there a charm with blood on it sitting in the trash?" Takara asked.

"What charm? I don't know what you're talking about!" Kaito said.

"At one point or another yesterday, Chiyo approached all of us and gave us one of these charms." Takara explained as she took her charm out of her pocket. "She intended to give these to all of us as a means of protection, and we were instructed to keep them with us at all times."

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?!" Kaito asked.

"If you didn't see her at all yesterday aside from the motive announcement, then that means the only time she could've given you one was at that moment. If you could just show me yours then the matter can be cleared up. And saying that you lost it isn't going to cut it."

"But how can you be so sure that it's mine?!" Kaito asked. "If it has blood on it then it's gotta be Chiyo's!"

"No, her charm was still on her body when we examined it." Satoshi said.

"And the only person this can belong to is the culprit." Takara said. "If you want proof, then I'll ask everyone here to show me theirs as well."

"Fine, do it! Then you'll see!" Kaito said.

"Alright. Everyone, show me the charm that Chiyo gave you." Takara said. Sure enough, everyone except for Kaito managed to pull out their charm and showed it to the journalist without hesitation, leaving Kaito with nothing to hide behind. "Alright Kaito, now either show me your charm, or admit the truth."

"That's your big piece of evidence then? A lousy charm?" Kaito said. "THAT'S GOTTA BE THE BIGGEST AMOUNT OF CRAP I'VE EVER SEEN! I MEAN REALLY? YOU'RE GOING TO RISK YOUR LIFE OVER SOME BULLSHIT EVIDENCE LIKE THAT?! THAT'S JUST UNBELIEVABLE!"

"We've discussed everything we can about this Kaito, there's no other explanation." Takara said.

"YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT! YOU ALL ARE!" Kaito shouted. "YOU'RE GOING TO CONVICT ME ON THAT AND THAT ALONE?! THAT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY ENOUGH TO MAKE ME LAUGH! BESIDES, WHAT REASON WOULD I EVEN FUCKING HAVE TO KILL HER IN THE FIRST PLACE? WELL, GO ON!"

"You have plenty." Takara said. "But the main reason would have to be Monokuma's motive."

"...The motive?" Kaito asked, his voice cracking as he did so.

"Monokuma threatened that if no one tried to kill each other, then he would destroy anything that could connect us to our talents. Being an animator with work in many different areas, surely the destruction of all your work would devastate you." Hideki said. "And out of all the possible culprits, you have the biggest incentive to kill someone."

"I... I..." Kaito said.

"In fact, I think from everything we've gathered we can explain just what happened here." Takara said.

"Everyone was unsettled by the motive and what it would mean for us. And someone among us couldn't possibly let their hard work and talent fall into obscurity. So the culprit began to think about who to kill. Meanwhile, Chiyo was trying to do everything in her power to avoid any disaster. She decided to go to bed early, but realized that she needed to do laundry first. After she decided to eat, she quickly gathered her clothes and made her way to the laundromat.

"Little did she know however, that the culprit was also there, waiting for their own laundry to be finished. She didn't see any reason to find it suspicious, and merely went to doing her buisness. Until she remembered that she had one last charm to give, and the culprit was the only one she hadn't given it to. In her attempt to give them the charm, the culprit decided to attack.

"Using nothing but the pen they had on them, the culprit attempted to stab Chiyo without thinking of what would happen. But the stab wounds weren't enough. It was taking too long for her to die. Before she had the chance to escape, the culprit then decided that the only way that they could kill Chiyo was to suffocate her. So they took a jacket out of their laundry and placed it over her face.

"Eventually, either by the blood or the lack of air, Chiyo finally died. But the culprit didn't know what to do, they couldn't let the others know it was them. So they tried to alter the crime scene and deceive us. First, they attempted to clean off all the blood. But they did a sloppy job, leaving a stain on the floor and some drops on her dress. Next, they had to dispose of the weapons. They figured that if they used the jacket to hang the body, it would keep us off of the right track. So they fashioned a noose around the pipe and stuck Chiyo's head in it. Next was the pen, if that was found they would know who did it. So they attempted to hide it from plain sight, yet in their rush forgot to clean it of the blood.

"After everything had been set, the culprit tried to take all their laundry and remove any trace that it was them. But in their haste they had left some socks in the dryer. Not that they noticed. But then there was the charm. Before they left the laundromat, the culprit threw the charm into the garbage, hoping that no one would dare look. And with that, the crime is clear. After all, am I wrong about this, Kaito Fujiwara?"

Kaito looked distraught. "I...I..." He couldn't find the words he needed. No excuses came to mind. He was trapped and cornered. "I yield."

"Well then! Since you all seem to have figured it out, please use the switch in front of you to vote! Now do understand that you must vote for someone! Not voting at all would mean punishment! So who will you vote as the culprit? Will it be the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be?!" Monokuma explained. Takara pulled the lever, making her decision. Everyone else around her cast their own votes, and before anything else happened, a screen turned on showing them the result. Kaito's face appeared on screen as a track of cheering and clapping was heard. "Correct! The culprit who killed Chiyo Ueda was our very own Kaito Fujiwara!" Monokuma said with glee.

"Kaito, why?" Kumiko asked, tears in her eyes. "Why did you kill someone like that?"

"I had no choice." Kaito said with an air of defeat. "I've spent so many years on my animation work. If it were all to be destroyed, so much would be lost. Movies, TV episodes, short films, all of it gone forever. I've done so much work, I couldn't let it disappear."

"But why Chiyo?" Shizuka asked. "She didn't pose any threat to you."

"No threat? Did you really not listen to anything she said?" Kaito asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Hikaru asked.

"You had to have heard her. All that talk about how death was hanging over us all? She had to have been planing to kill someone before the bear made his motive." Kaito explained. "It was only a matter of time before she would attack somebody. And I was all alone with her, she was bound to attack me. So I went after her before she made the first move. And even if I had killed someone else, she would've been able to contact the dead and find out it was me. I just didn't want to die."

"But Chiyo was trying to avoid that kinda scenario!" Kazumi said. "All she was trying to do was give ya somethin' she thought would protect ya'!"

"I had no way of knowing that!" Kaito said, tears beginning to fall. "I was paranoid, I was afraid. Can you really sit there and say that if it were you in my shoes, that you wouldn't do the same?" No one answered. Takara began to feel sorry for him. It wasn't like he wanted to kill someone, but at the same time he still fell to despair. "You see? Any one of you could have fallen into the same trap that I did."

"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for the Super High School Level Animator!" Monokuma said.

"Wait, you can't be serious!" Kaito said. "Please, don't kill me, I beg of you I'll do anything! I'm sorry Im sorry I'm sorry!!!!" He begged and pleaded with panic in his voice, afraid of the idea he was going to die, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

"Let's give it everything we got! It's punishment time!" Monokuma said.

"NO! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS ME! I WANT TO LIVE!" Kaito screamed.

Before he had the chance to run, a metal clamp secured itself around Kaito's neck, pulling him into a strange doorway as he screamed. As he was being brought closer to his demise, he desperately tried to force the clamp open so he could be let go, but it was useless as no matter how hard he pulled it refused to budge. He was pulled behind a curtain on a stage. The fourteen innocents were rushed into a room reminiscent of a movie theater, many of them afraid of what kind of "punishment"they would be forced to watch. Unfortunately, they didn't need to wait long.

The curtains opened to what appeared to be a movie, but the students knew it was anything but. On the screen they could see Kaito strapped to a pole, his expression filled with fear. Standing next to him was a cartoon like character, one that Takara recognized as a character that Kaito himself had created. But it didn't look exactly the same. The view switched to one of another character, a villainous looking one that seemed to have similarities to their ursine headmaster. The characters began to fight, the one on Kaito's side missing every time. All the while, Kaito became more and more distressed, he had no idea what was going to happen to him and the unknown made him that much more afraid.

Finally, the Monokuma-esque character pulled out what looked like two giant tablet pens. Without hesitation, it threw the pens at Kaito and the good character. Before he even had the chance to scream, Kaito was impaled by the pen alongside his character. As the character fell to the ground, Kaito remained still and unmoving, the clamp still around his neck.

He was dead.

The other students all seemed to react differently. Shizuka looked sick once again, and almost threw up for real. Kumiko started to cry, whimpers escaping from her mouth. Ryouta could only stand there with his arms around his shoulders. Even Miyako, who was usually unfazed by anything, had a look of horror on her face. Takara herself didn't know what to do. She had just witnessed the death of her classmate. Even if she really didn't like Kaito all that much she would never want to watch him die, especially like this.

"Woohoo! What an exciting punishment!" Monokuma said, breaking the silence. "My heart is beating so fast, I think I have an adrenaline rush!"

"This cant be happening..." Ayame said.

"Oh but it is!" Monokuma said. "And knowing you bastards it's sure to happen again!"

"I can't handle this!" Masaru said. "I don't want any part of this!"

"You can ignore it all you want, but the cold harsh reality of it all is that you can't leave unless you try to graduate." Monokuma said. "It's the only way any one of you is leaving this resort."

"Why? Why are you putin' us through all of this?!" Kazumi asked.

"I already told you!" Monokuma said. "All I want is despair, it's my only reason for existing. Besides, why would you want to leave here? You kids always complain about how summer vacation isn't long enough! Im giving you an eternal one this way! So now you don't have to worry about school coming around the corner!"

"That isn't an excuse!" Hideki shouted. "We never asked for any of this!"

"Well if you really want to leave so badly then you know what you gotta do!" Monokuma said. "It doesn't seem like I'm going to get anything through those stubborn heads of yours though, so I think it's time we departed. You can't stay here though, so leave through the elevator once you're ready. Upupupu~"

With that, the bear disappeared. But no one walked into the elevator at that moment. Many of them stood there in shock and fear. This was what their world was now. Either succumb to despair and kill someone, or stay in this resort forever. And even murder was now a matter of life and death. Takara hoped that she would never have to see any more executions like Kaito's, or even be the recipient of one.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Satoshi spoke up. "We should return to our rooms for now." he said. "If we stay here much longer, that bear might try to punish us. And I think we all need some time to ourselves." Everyone seemed to silently agree as they headed into the elevator. No one spoke on the way back up. There was nothing but a disturbing silence. As everyone dispersed and returned to their rooms, Takara found herself stopped by Satoshi.

"And just what do you want?" Takara asked in a tone that was harsher then she intended.

"You did a good job back there." the archeologist told her. "If it hadn't been for you, we would all be dead."

"If that's supposed to make me feel better, then try again." Takara said, prepared to leave.

"Darn, I guess I tried." Satoshi said with a nervous laugh. "But in all seriousness, you were a major help. I honestly don't think we would've found out who it was if it weren't for you and your journalist skills."

"My talent had nothing to do with it, and you know it." Takara insisted. "There's a difference between a journalist and a detective."

"Even so, I really think you were the reason we survived." Satoshi said. "I think you underestimate yourself, Kara-chan."

"I told you to stop calling me that! Don't you fucking listen?!" Takara shouted in anger. "And stop telling me it was all because of me! Two of our friends have died, do you not understand that?! This whole time you've been acting so nonchalant about all we've seen, does the fact that Kaito killed someone not faze you in the slightest?!"

Satoshi stood there in silence for a moment, contemplating what to tell her. "I'm sorry Ka-sorry, Takara. I get that all of this is serious, but that doesn't mean I should just fall into depression over it. That's what the bear wants." Satoshi explained. "Maybe I'm just not as affected by death like the rest of you are, but believe me I'm still upset about both Chiyo and Kaito. I was only trying to make you feel better, but I guess I'm not that good around people as I thought I was."

Takara let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry about exploding at you there. It's not your fault, it's the bear's." she said. "I'm just tired and worn out from all of this, so much has happened in the past twelve hours that it's taking it's toll on me. I know you're only trying to help, I'm just not the one you should be trying to comfort. I'll see you and the others at dinner, I guess." She turned away to head for the staircase, all she needed was a nap and some time to herself. Before she made it to the stairs, she heard Satoshi call out to her.

"Maybe we all just need someone to help us overcome this. All we have right now is each other and our hope."

Takara didn't say anything as she walked upstairs. The hallway was empty of people, everyone must have already returned to their rooms. She walked down the hall, trying to avoid glancing at Chiyo's room. She didn't want any reminders of what had happened. She finally reached her room and swiped the card key to enter it. She shut the door behind her and fell straight onto her bed. And without second thought, she screamed into the first pillow she could get her hands on. She screamed until she managed to fall asleep.

#Prophet posts #Dangan Ronpa #Fangan Ronpa #Despair's Last Resort

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