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youngmrkusuma · 5 years ago

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Oh my goodness. Another Ficlet? So quickly?? But it’s only been less than two weeks!

Yeah.

Anyway, it occurred to me as I was writing this that the chronology for the entire project is a complete clusterfuck. I apologise. Because there’s some required reading if you want to fully understand what’s going on here. Probably not an issue for my long-time readers, but anyone new to this series should at least read Lasting Impressions and Genocider Syo’s Excellent Adventure first before tackling this one. The order doesn’t matter. I think.

In a voice just slightly above a whisper: “Right! Let’s get started. Favourite movie genre?”

“Um… Action, I guess.”

“Favourite singer?”

“…Does Sayaka count?”

“Sure, whatever. Favourite ice cream flavour?” Syo was smirking as she said this.

Naegi tapped his chin pensively before answering. “Vanilla, I suppose.”

“Aha! I knew you say that!” Syo laughed, a little too loudly. Her boyfriend rolled his eyes, unsurprised by her reaction.

“Keep it down, please,” he chided.

They were seated on his bed. This was Syo’s fifth late night visit to Naegi’s room, and by now, he had gotten so used to her just randomly showing up outside his window that he no longer bothered to even lock it. It was a good thing that this was a Friday because it was very unlikely that he would get much sleep this evening. (Not that he really minded, truth be told)

“Favourite soda?”

“Coke.”

“Favourite video game?”

“Mario Kart.” Naegi scratched his head. “No offense, but is this going anywhere?”

“In a minute,” she smiled. “You’ll see. Favourite food?”

“Curry.”

“Favourite colour?”

“Green. I thought you already knew that.”

“Favourite criminal?”

He was taken aback by the question, and by how the topic had somehow shifted to something dark so quickly.

“Wh… What?”

“Come on, answer! Favourite criminal?”

“Uh, I don’t have one?? And I don’t know anyone who would have one.”

“Boo!” Syo pouted. “You’re supposed to say me!”

A sudden laugh escaped him. He now understood the point of this little game of hers. “So you admit you’re a criminal?”

“Yes! Proudly!” She started prodding his cheek with a finger. “Now answer the question.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he sighed, grinning. “Genocider Syo. Satisfied?”

“Very,” she grinned back, nuzzling against him like a cat. He put an arm around her.

Two weeks had gone by since their adventure at Comiket. Naegi had been making plans to start moving out of his parents’ home in the coming months, having decided to take after Fukawa’s example. One of the things he was looking forward to was Syo finally being able to visit him like a normal person, instead of sneaking into his home when everyone else was asleep. That meant they could meet more often and be as loud as they wanted.

“You’re being really affectionate today,” he said.

“Been feeling really affectionate lately, lover boy.” She looked up at him. “Which means Tou-chan been feeling the same way.”

“That’s good.”

“Little Miss Gloomy’s not so gloomy anymore nowadays, did you know? Usually, she’s all oh life is pain and everything sucks donkey balls, wah wah wah.” Then smirked again. “Not now, though. Not so much, anyway. What have you been doing with her?”

It was silent for a moment as he pondered.

“Not sure what you mean. We’ve been hanging out, going on dates, that’s all.” He said. His expression saddened a bit. “Actually, if anything, she’s seemed kinda distant recently. When we’re together, she’s more …quiet than usual. I’ve been worried that something’s wrong, in fact.”

Fukawa had never been much of a people person, but even before they started going out, Naegi didn’t have too much trouble getting her to open up to him (once he had gotten through the initial hurdle of befriending her, that is). Over their last few dates, however, things seemed to have regressed. It felt like there was something bothering her, hanging in the air between them. And he couldn’t get her to tell him what it was.

“She’s afraid,” Syo said.

“Afraid?” His heart grew heavy with concern. “Of what?”

More silence.

“Syo?”

“Mhmm. Thinking about how to explain this. Gimme a sec.”

It was rare to see her deep in thought. She almost never took anything this seriously. It was actually a pretty comical look for her, with her tongue constantly hanging out like that.

“Okay, so. Tou-chan and I have been feeling very warm and fuzzy lately. That’s because you two have been getting very close, right?”

“Yeah…”

She squeezed his arm. “And, from the way things are looking now, both of you dorks are probably gonna get even closer, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Have you ever…” she trailed off, struggling to find the words. “Have you though about what it would feel like if things go wrong and both of you split up?”

The very idea felt like a dagger in Naegi’s chest.

“That’s… horrible. Why would you even think like that?”

“That’s the issue, Ma-kun. Tou-chan’s been thinking like that.”

And the pain in his chest got even worse.

“She’s happier now than she’s ever been,” Syo continued, “which isn’t saying much since it’s her we’re talking about, but… well… You know about her past, and about that wankstain that pretended to be her friend. She had high hopes when she tried confessing to him with that letter, and when everything went south… you know the rest. It broke her.”

“…and she’s still afraid it’s gonna happen again,” Naegi said, now understanding.

Syo’s expression became one of annoyance, but not towards him. “Gloomy’s got this stupid fucking idea that God or The Universe or What The Fuck Ever just doesn’t want her to be happy. Or that she herself doesn’t deserve to be happy. Even after everything that’s happened. She wants to trust you but, she’s afraid that your relationship with her is on borrowed time.”

“…So she’s scared that if she and I get closer, it’ll hurt even more when it comes to an end.”

“Pretty much. It’s pissing me off, frankly.”

This was a lot to take in.

“She’s gonna need some talking to, hero.” Syo was back to smiling, tenderly this time.

He felt deflated. “I’m not even sure what I could say to her that would make it better.”

“You’ll figure it out. It’s what you’re best at.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I believe in you.”

He looked at her. No smarm, no sarcasm. She was being totally serious.

“What about you?” He asked. “Do you think we’re gonna break up?”

“Nah.” There was not the least bit of hesitation in her response.

“Why not?”

“Because you’ve already seen the worst of both Touko and me. She’s a lame, whiny and utterly unpleasant disaster of a human being. And I’m an insane, bloodthirsty psychopath,” Syo said cheerfully. “You knew this and you stuck around anyway, Ma-kun. You’re still here cuddling with me – being all lovey-dovey and shit – when everyone else would be running away screaming.”

Heh. He supposed that was true. A smirk formed on his lips.

“How do you know I’m not at my limit?” Naegi asked. “Maybe I’m finally getting sick of you both and I’m planning to fake my death and jump on the next plane to Mexico so you won’t find me?”

“Haha! Yeah, right!” She cackled. “I see through you, Ma-kun, you filthy, filthy masochist! Acting like such a good, decent boy when really you love putting up with me and all my heinous shit. Goes double for Tou-chan; it’s probably the only reason you like her!”

He laughed. “So not only do you admit to being a criminal, you also admit to being heinous.”

“Proudly. You should know that by now.”

Their eyes met as she nuzzled against him some more. The humour and good mirth had given way to something more profound and meaningful in that instant. Somehow, they knew, whether Naegi knew what to say to Fukawa or not, that everything was going to turn out fine.

“Everything’s gonna be fine.” He said.

Fondly: “I know.”

And suddenly, from beyond his bedroom door came a woman’s voice. “Makoto-kun? Is someone there with you?”

Oh crap. Mom. They had forgotten to keep their volume down.

Emiko Naegi had gotten out of bed to get a drink when she heard what sounded like talking from her son’s room. It was dark inside when she opened the door.

“Makoto-kun?”

There didn’t seem to be anyone else in here. Only her son, still tucked under the sheets. He stirred from his bed, rubbing his eyes.

“Were you talking to someone in here?” She asked. “I could have sworn I heard a girl.”

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah.” He said, grabbing his smartphone from the nightstand next to his bed. “I just got off the phone with Fukawa-san. Video-chat. Were we too loud?”

Ah. So that was all it was. Her baby boy was enjoying his youth, chatting it up with his girlfriend late into the night. “Just a little, dear.”

“Eheh. Sorry about that.”

Emiko smiled. “That’s okay, sweetie. Good night.”

“Good night, Mom.”

She shut the door gently behind her. For about ten minutes or so, Naegi waited, listening to her footsteps as she descended down the stairs, presumably grabbed something from the fridge, then went back up the stairs into her room. It was only until complete silence had fallen that he lifted his blanket and spoke to Syo.

“You can come out now.”

He was met with giggles. “Why? It’s so nice and cozy down here, Ma-kun,” she purred. “Mmm-mmm.”

“Of course it is,” he rolled his eyes. “Maybe it’s time you head home, Syo.”

“You sure?” She teased, drawing circles on his chest with a playful finger. “You’re gonna miss me tonight in particular when I’m gone!”

“I’ll cope,” he said. “Now go on. Scram.”

End Notes: Nine days. Nine days was all it took for me to get this out (Actually, it’s more like three if you consider that I spent the first six days unable to write anything). It’s a bloody miracle.

Anyway, that’s enough self-praise. This story was supposed to address an ask by one of my readers, but ended up being slightly more serious than I intended. For anyone worried about how things will play out with Fukawa and whether or not her fears are allayed: don’t be. All this happens before the Christmas fic, where our heroes are still very much in love.

As I said in the beginning. Clusterfuck. Sorry.

#Dangan Ronpa #Makoto Naegi #Genocider Syo #naesyo #makosyo #rarepair #I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIP SAIL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO

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youngmrkusuma · 6 years ago

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Hm? I’m not entirely sure what you mea-

Oh.

#makoto naegi #genocider syo #naesyo #makosyo #why yes I did in fact throw this abomination together in like ten minutes #how ever did you guess?#crack #please don't bully me nagatoro

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youngmrkusuma · 6 years ago

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Following the last snuggle fic I did for Fukawa, I’ve received requests for one about everyone’s favourite serial killer. Since I’ve always wanted to do a ficlet for her but had no other ideas, I decided: why not? Hopefully, things won’t seem to repetitive.

One of the many quirks of being with Syo – whether as a friend, acquaintance or a partner – was that conversations with her could wind up going down very odd directions indeed. Even in seemingly private, intimate moments. Naegi and her had been reclining on the sofa re-watching Mirrai Nikki for the third time (entirely her idea) when he finally learnt that there was no exception to the rule.

“…no, but like… pretend we’re not dating for a sec,” she was saying, her head resting against his shoulder with his arm around her. “If you had to pick one of our classmates, which guy would you kiss?”

The prelude to this question had already been enough to make him blush. She had asked him – apropos of nothing – which of their male friends he thought was the ‘hottest’. This latest bit only made things worse.

“I… I can’t answer that.” He wanted to bury his face into a pillow and hide.

“Boo! Why not?”

“Because I don’t know!” He blurted. “I don’t know any of them in… that way. You can’t just ask me that out of nowhere. How am I supposed to decide?”

On the TV screen, a pink-haired girl just grabbed an axe and started swinging it at a roomful of deranged cultists. Neither Syo nor Naegi were paying it any attention.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re against the idea of kissing boys, though,” she grinned, looking up at him. “You like playing for both teams, don’t ya? Gyahahahaha!!”

No response. He was too embarrassed to.

“What about Mondo, eh?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Big dude, big hair… bet you anything he’s got a big-”

“Stoopp,” he whined. “We shouldn’t even be talking about Oowada-san; he and Ishimaru-san are a thing.”

“Hnngg. Ishimaru-san…” Her eyes took on a lewd gleam as she became distracted, already conjuring up all sorts of fantasies about them in her head. Her gaze drifted to the clock hanging nearby. It was half past ten. “You know at this time of night, they’re probably about to bed down and start getting jiggy! Haha!”

Silence. Then: “…I am not dignifying that with a response.”

“Pfft. You’re no fun.” She slumped back down against him. This was a bit of a sea change for Syo. Usually she was the one holding him in her arms when they cuddled. She had to admit; this was kinda nice. Like wrapping herself up in a comfy blanket that smelled like a cute boy.

A minute passed. It seemed to Naegi that she had mercifully given it a rest when she asked: “What about Leon-”

“Syo, can we please talk about something else?”

“Ugh, fiiinnneee,” she groaned. “Honestly, you’re such a drag sometimes, Ma-kun.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said, not sounding very sorry at all.

There was no malice in any of this. They were both holding back giggles. Really, this conversation was just her way of telling him she was bored. He had been with her long enough to know that.

“This show isn’t so fun anymore,” she said, sighing. On screen, a petite girl in a yukata faded from existence. Watching the show for the first time had been quite a ride, but on repeat viewings, Mirrai Nikki had lost its magic.

“Well… yeah,” he said. “I mean, we’ve already seen all this before. Maybe you’d be happier if we watched something else?”

They were streaming Hannibal on Netflix some fifteen minutes later. Naegi kept his eye on Syo the whole time she was handling Fukawa’s laptop. He still remembered what happened the last time she had been allowed with it. They had reached the end of the first episode when she turned up to look at him again.

“What about me?” She asked.

He blinked twice. “What about you?”

“If I was a boy, would you kiss me?”

Her expression had taken on a slight but noticeable degree of seriousness. Naegi’s mind hadn’t yet caught up to what she was referring to, but his answer came without hesitation all the same.

“Of course, I would.” His hand came up to stroke her hair. “You know I would.”

She smiled, in what almost looked like relief. “Yeah. I guess I do.” Then she leaned forward for a smooch, tongue and all. Naegi didn’t hesitate there either.

“Alright, enough of that sappy horseshit,” she said, after they broke away. “What about… say, Yamada?”

“Oh my god,” he started laughing. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“What? He’s got prospects, too. And fantastic taste.” Her eyes took on that lewd gleam again. “Hnng, you ought to read some of that Yaoi I bought off of him. It’ll turn a straight man gayer than a hand grenade!”

“I’ll pass,” he shook his head. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed, Syo.”

“Yeah, yeah…” She ignored him. “What about Hagakure? You’re always hanging out with him.”

“…”

“Ooh, or maybe that Gundham kid with the scarf and hamsters. That guy is smokin’!”

“…”

“Or maybe that baby-faced gangster dude! What was his name again? Kazuri… Kuzura…”

This went on for quite some time.

End Notes: I asked some friends on a Discord server about whether or not Syo would put her tongue away when kissing and they said no. To quote @komaruus on tumblr: “She’s like ‘You kiss me tongue and all’.”

#Dangan Ronpa #makoto naegi #genocider syo #naesyo #makosyo #rarepair #I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIP SAIL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO

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youngmrkusuma · 7 years ago

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The Naekawa Project - Part 8: Lasting Impressions

Link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15139919

Summary: In which Syo and Naegi meet for the first time. (Setting: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair)

AO3 Notes: Of the story subjects I’ve tackled so far, this one in particular has been the most requested by my readers. Since ‘Genocider Syo’s Excellent Adventure’ was pretty well-received, I felt a bit more confident in trying to write for everyone’s favourite serial killer again.

Speaking of which, this piece takes place after part 3 and before part 6. I am terribly sorry that the timeline for this series is so skewed. I didn’t plan any of this beforehand, you see. I hope you can bear with me. Just pretend like you’re watching Memento or something.

Features include: The longest dialogue sequence(s) I’ve ever had to write, dear God.

There was something strangely familiar about Naegi’s room.

That was the first thing that came to mind, the moment Fukawa stepped inside. Very odd indeed, since she had never actually set foot in here before. And, at the beginning, she had dismissed it as a mistake of some kind; Naegi’s room was very much like something you’d expect from the average person; a small work desk, a thin-curtained window, a cramped bookshelf, with no posters on the wall or clothes left lying carelessly on the ground. So maybe that sense of Déjà Vu came from having seen something like it in her mind’s eye, or from TV, or a book or something.

Yet that sense of familiarity only became stronger as she went further inside, carrying with her a stack of study notes and the day’s homework under arm. It deepened and grew until she was almost completely certain that, somehow – in spite of what logic denoted – this wasn’t just her imagination playing tricks on her.

She had been here before.

“I’ve been here before,” she said.

Naegi – lying in bed with a slowly receding fever – didn’t seem the least bit surprised by this information. Merely puzzled. “Um, yeah,” he said, his voice small and weak. “You kinda have. Sort of. It happened like… a year ago, I think?” He stopped to cough, covering his mouth. “Of course, you weren’t exactly yourself at the time…”

All at once, Fukawa was terribly confused. “A y-year ago?” She eyed her surroundings. “But… that can’t b-be right. You hadn’t even asked me o-out back then. How could I ha–”

A swatch of memory came to her, the second her gaze came to rest at his window. Fukawa hadn’t paid it much attention initially – hadn’t so much as touched it the whole time she was here – and yet somehow, she knew; it slid open smoothly and quietly, as long as you didn’t use too much force. A sturdy pipe ran along the side of it, all the way down to the ground floor. It was strong enough to support the weight of someone climbing it. And with something long and thin, you could jimmy the window’s lock right out of place…

Something long and thin.

Like a pair of scissors.

“…Syo?” Her eyes grew wide.

Her boyfriend nodded, smiling a little.

This was by no means the only time something like this had ever happened. By and large, hers and Syo’s memories were kept separate (Which, taking into account all of the vile repugnant things her other half got up to, was quite a mercy). But sometimes, there were tiny fragments that slipped through. And Fukawa would recall things she had never experienced.

“You know, we did talk about this before,” Naegi said. “Don’t you remember?”

Come to think of it, they actually did. Though it felt like a lifetime ago.

“I don’t think I went into the details, though,” he continued. “Didn’t Syo ever tell you about it?”

“N-no.” Her hands balled into fists. “S-She didn’t even think to mention it, that miserable bitch.” Then a wild thought occurred to Fukawa, turning her cheeks red. “Wait a sec, s-she came into your room! Don’t t-tell me that you and she–”

“No, no!” He cut her off, laughing a little. He had grown to expect this by now, it seemed. “Nothing like that. Geez, keep your mind out of the gutter. All she did was talk to me.”

“…T-Talk?”

“Yeah. She said she was curious about me or something.” He started to sit up in bed, wincing. Immediately, Fukawa was at his side, gently pushing him back down. Even with the AC on full blast, and with him apparently in nothing but a tank top and shorts, his skin was still very warm to touch.

Stomach flu, Naegi’s mother had explained, before Fukawa came up here. He’ll be fine in a day or two, dear. As long as he gets some rest.

“You’re s-supposed to be resting, dummy,” she chided.

“Sorry.” He sank back into his pillow. There was a washbasin on the stand next to his bed, half filled with cold water and a soaked cloth. She grabbed the cloth, wrung it twice and lay it over his forehead.

“…So… then, that w-was how you found out about her?” She asked. “W-when she came here?”

“Mm-hm,” he continued. “Scared the hell out of me at first, to be honest. Here’s how it happened–”

Spring of 2015. Two hours past midnight.

Busting into the Naegi residence hadn’t been anywhere near as fun as Syo would have liked. Compared to every other hunt she had gone out on, this was too damn easy! It was pretty insulting and – in a strange sort of way – almost embarrassing. Like being made to use a kiddie tricycle after years of professional bike racing. Half the entertainment of these escapades was in the challenge; having to move fast while remaining unseen… having to plan an escape route in case things went south… chasing down cuties when they tried to make a run for it…

There was none of that here. No witnesses to look out for, no getaway options to take note of, no nothing! Just a bit of legwork to get up to that window and that was that. Lame. Though, to be fair, maybe Syo should have expected this, since she wasn’t out for blood this time (though she came armed all the same). No, this was just a little excursion. Meant to answer two burning questions.

Who was Tou-chan’s latest crush, and what did she see in him?

Little Miss Gloomy had made great mention of him many times in her diary. Almost as much as she wrote about Byakuya-sama, in fact. Initially, it was nothing flattering – mainly stuff about how he kept talking to her at school and acted nice to her. She had called him nosy. She had called him irritating. She had whined about how he wouldn’t just leave her alone (all while also complaining about how alone she was). In one particularly spiteful entry on a very rough day, she called him a blood-sucking sycophant.

And then things began to change. She wrote about how he was different from her other classmates. She wrote about how surprisingly kind he was. She began expressing doubts about whether or not he was doing this to trick her. And then one day she wrote – happily – that he had called her his friend. Not that he’d want to be anything more than that, she made sure to include after.

Syo had rolled her eyes reading it. Tou-chan could act all tsun-tsun if she wanted, but Syo wasn’t fooled. And she didn’t need to share feelings with her to know. Whoever this Makoto Naegi was, Touko was falling for him. Falling harder than she had for almost anyone else. There was only one other boy she had gotten the hots for this badly, except that didn’t end well, did it?

Up until this point, Byakuya-sama was the only thing that had occupied her thoughts. Now, he had been dethroned by someone else, though Touko wouldn’t admit it to herself.

So! Who was this wonderful, magnificent specimen that had somehow managed to snatch her gaze away from her beloved White Knight? Was he handsome? Sexy?? He had to be. Byakuya-sama was one glorious hunk of a man; this new contender had to be at least as good-looking, right?

Syo licked her lips, slipping in through the window. She couldn’t wait to find out.

Nothing about his room at a glance suggested he was anything special. And it wasn’t like this place was a mansion, so this guy probably wasn’t rich (His family might have bothered with sturdier locks, otherwise. Seriously; any jackass with the right tools could have broken in here if they wanted to). None of Tou-chan’s diary entries gave any clue about what drew her to him, except that he was real sweet on her. Maybe if she had a closer look…

She slinked over to his bedside, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was a penlight in her pocket, but she wasn’t about to start shining that into his face like some fucking moron. That would wake him up for sure, and she couldn’t have that. Ideally, this was just going to be a quick recon. Look but don’t touch. She moved in closer for a better view.

Messy, hazel-brown hair. Soft, delicate features. Judging by the form beneath his blanket, he wasn’t very tall or athletic either. She observed him for about a minute more, then quietly sighed.

This was the guy Tou-chan was falling for? Syo couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Yeah, he was kind of cute, in that huggable teddy bear sort of way, but honestly? He looked really plain. Not bad-looking, of course, but still. He was certainly not attractive enough to compare with Byakuya-sama. Hell, he didn’t even hold up that well compared to any of Syo’s previous conquests.

She closed her eyes and thought about doing him nice and slow in her standard fashion, hands drifting to her skirt. She imagined him with an expression of pure agony on his face. Imagined what it would feel like to plunge a blade deep into his flesh. Imagined burying her arms elbow-deep into all that blood and guts, then leaving it all for his parents to find. It just didn’t do it for her.

As a matter of fact, she found the idea… repulsive. Not in a physical sense, but an emotional one. Somehow, she didn’t want to hurt him. Not even a little.

A smile crossed her lips. Tou-chan must have cared about him very much then. Who’d have guessed?

Then again, if they were already friends, that made sense. Gloomy didn’t have a lot of those.

Well, either way, Syo wasn’t about to learn any more about him by standing there, gawking like a fish. Her attention turned to his bookshelf as she began to grin. Kind-hearted or not, Mako-chan over here was most definitely a growing boy. And all growing boys had, well… interests. Whether it was porno-mags or ero-doujins, the back of one’s bookshelf was more often than not a safe haven for such scandalous materials. At least, that was how it always happened in manga. Wouldn’t it have been amusing indeed if she found something naughty back there? Mm-mmm. You could learn a lot about a man from his taste in smut. She pulled out the penlight from her pocket and started inspecting.

And here came another disappointment. The shelf was flush against the wall. No space behind it to hide anything. The contents of the shelf were barely worth mentioning either. Textbooks, notepads, a series of YA novels… She got a bit excited when she saw manga, but it was just the standard Shonen Jump stuff. Boring. Two of Gloomy’s bestsellers were there, but she didn’t give a crap about that (Tou-chan would probably have been delighted at this information, she supposed).

“The hell, this guy’s as basic as a piece of cardboard,” she whispered aloud. What a let-down. Couldn’t there be at least something to make this trip entertaining? She was getting bored out of her skull.

His desk was next. None of the drawers were locked, and there was nothing juicy inside. Double boring. This guy was a total normie, maybe even more so than other normies. Like one of those Buddhist Koans; so normal that he wasn’t.

Heh. Guess that technically counted as something interesting.

In any case, the wardrobe was the only thing left that she hadn’t explored. Her expectations were low by this point. After everything else, it seemed unlikely that she’d find something in there worth her–

She heard the creak of bedsprings. A rustle of fabric. And the flicker of a lamp.

“Wh… Who’s there?”

Her instincts were immediate. Barely a second had gone by before she was across the room, her hand around the boy Naegi’s mouth and the blade of her scissors at his neck. Damn it, this had gone sideways in record time. She had gotten careless.

“Mhfm!!” He went rigid.

“Shh…” she crooned softly. “Not a sound, sweetie. I’d hate to make a mess out of you when we’ve only just met.” She suppressed the urge to cackle with a vicious grin.

Naegi’s eyes went wide. Now here was something remarkable! Those eyes of his were rather pretty. Not quite enough to make him stand out, perhaps, but they did make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You could get lost in all that green. Tou-chan’s attraction to him was starting to make a bit more sense.

More importantly, though, this was trouble. He had seen her. And unfortunately for him, the most practical solution to the problem, like it or not, was for her to slit his throat and disappear. So far, there were no other witnesses. This house was completely silent, meaning that they were the only ones here awake. No one would ever know it was her. Except for Touko, of course.

But Syo wasn’t about to do that. She didn’t want to.

So maybe it was best to appeal to his good nature instead. Convince him not to say a word. And possibly learn a little something about Makoto while she was at it.

“I’m gonna take my hand away now,” she said. “Keep your voice down and you won’t get hurt. Understand?”

He blinked twice, then nodded slowly.

“Good boy.” Syo removed her hand but held the blade steady. By now, Naegi’s expression was no longer one of shock, but recognition.

“…Fukawa… san?”

“Close, but no cigar, pipsqueak.” She said, grinning wider. “She’s a mutual acquaintance, though.”

Then came confusion. And fear. “Mutual… acquaintance? What is all this? Who are you? What do you want??” Poor boy looked about ready to faint.

“No need to get antsy now, I just wanna chat.”

“…Chat?”

“Chat.” She lowered the blade slightly, just enough to give him some breathing space. “A little birdy told me that you and Tou-chan have been getting real close lately.”

Relief. His fingers drifted to his neck where her scissors had been, and he relaxed a little.

“Yeah. We have,” he said. “At least I think we have. Honestly, it’s so hard to tell with her…”

He tensed up suddenly and there was anger. “Wait a minute, what the hell is going on here? What have you done with her??”

“Whoa, whoa,” she brought the scissor blade up again, laughing. “Settle down, hero.” He backed down, but the anger stayed. That was genuine concern from him. What a guy! Thinking more about Tou-chan than he was about himself. Syo had to admit; that was kinda hot.

“She’s perfectly fine,” she said. “Can’t you tell? You’re looking right at her.”

There was confusion again. “Wha…?”

“Pretty slow, aren’t ya? That’s okay; I’ll explain it to you. Without any big words.” She giggled. “Tou-chan and I are roommates,” she poked at her temple, “up here. And she isn’t in right now. Get the picture?”

He stared at her uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, then understood.

“D.I.D,” he said. “You’re her split personality.”

“Correctamundo. And you’re all she’s been thinking about recently. Aren’t you flattered?”

This must have been a lot to take in for someone who had only just woken up from sleep. Especially with a beautiful, saucy murderess distracting you with her feminine charms. Syo could almost hear the cogs in Naegi’s mind, turning slowly. Shaking off cobwebs and rust. Trying to piece everything together. She waited a few moments for him to gather his thoughts.

“What do you mean by ‘thinking about me’?”

She giggled again. “What do you think I mean, sweetie?”

Naegi’s cheeks slowly turned red as he tried to speak and faltered. It took him three attempts before he could actually say something.

“N-no… that can’t be right,” he rambled. “I mean, there’s no way! She’s already… but then again, maybe… I…” A bashful smile crept across his face. He seemed to have forgotten that a stranger had just broken into his house and started threatening him.

“Fukawa-san… likes me?”

“She sure does, lover boy. Of course, knowing her, she probably doesn’t realise it yet.”

Syo watched as the cogs turned again. Creek. Creek.

“Well… then, how do you know?” He asked. “Maybe you’ve made a mistake.”

“Uh, because we’re roommates?” She replied, as if it should have been obvious. “Here’s how it works, Mako-chan. Can I call you Mako-chan? Sure, I can. Okay, so! Tou-chan and I don’t share memories – All girls need to keep their secrets, you see – but her feelings come through to me all the time. Don’t know why that is, but basically, I know exactly how Little Miss Gloomy feels about the people around her.”

“And you…” she said, “boy oh boy, you… Helping her out when she drops her stuff, chatting it up with her like she isn’t a complete bore, giving her pep talks when she’s down… You’re her newest Prince Charming! Which brings me to my next point.”

Her face hardened. “What’s your game, kid? What are you trying to pull?”

“Pull?”

“Tou-chan’s diary says she told you about her past. No one’s ever chummy with her unless they want something.” Her scissors pressed into the underside of his chin. “Which is it for you? A prank? Lost bet? A desperate, easy lay–”

“It’s not like that!” He snapped. The anger had returned. “I would never, ever do anything like that to her.” Then his tone softened, becoming concerned. “Is that what she still believes? That I’m trying to hurt her?”

Syo studied him for several seconds, her gaze staying locked with his. Neither of them looked away.

Then she eased up, smiling.

“No,” she said. “Tou-chan doesn’t believe that, Ma-kun. And neither do I.” She put the scissors away for good, back into the sling pouch she kept on her thigh. “Guys tend to spill their guts pretty quick whenever I start squeezing. As far as I can tell, you’re telling the truth.” All at once, the tension in the room had disappeared. Naegi had calmed down, though he did still seem wary of her.

“I don’t get it, though,” she said. “If it isn’t for kicks and it isn’t for her body, then what are you hanging out with frumpy old Tou-chan for? Don’t you know there’re less lamer people you could be spending your time with?”

“Fukawa-san isn’t lame!” He pouted. “Her writing is incredible. She’s so talented…” his eyes became starry. “She’s really not that bad once you get to know her.”

“Uh, objection! I know her better than you, Ma-kun, and she really is that bad. She’s bland, she’s boring…”

“No, she’s not!”

“Yes, she is!”

“No, she’s not!” He folded his arms. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be a part of her or something? You’re just insulting yourself at this point.”

“Pfft,” she waved her hand dismissively. “Wrong again! I happen to be the only part of her that’s cool, sweetie. You should be grateful that you got to meet me. Anyway, we’re getting way off topic. Why’d you end up being all buddy-buddy with her?”

“Why?” Naegi appeared to ponder before answering. His expression became sad and forlorn.

“Because she looked like she needed a friend.” He said, quietly. “Everyone deserves a friend.”

“Aha! So, it’s pity?”

“No!” His voice had gotten loud. He brought it back down. “I mean, fine, yeah. In the beginning, that’s what it was. I felt bad for her. She always seemed so lonely. But things are different now.”

“Hmm? How so?”

“I’m friends with her because I like being around her,” he said. “I like seeing her smile. I like seeing her laugh. You might think she’s lame, but I think she’s amazing. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

Syo let out an amused huff. This boy really was like Tou-chan had described in her diary. A bit soft in the head, perhaps (you’d need to be if you could put up with someone like her), but nice. Nicer than her diary said, even. And he wasn’t faking it. For the first time in God knows how long, Touko had finally met someone who was genuinely good to her. There was only one thing left to find out.

“And how do you feel about her crushing on you?”

“Eeh?” He was blushing again. “…Um, before I answer–”

“Assume that I’m right,” she said. “How do you feel?”

Naegi looked about ready to die from embarrassment. “I�� um, well… uh.” He fell silent for a minute or so.

“…How long has she felt this way?”

“Tsk, rude! Answering a question with a question.” Syo was clearly enjoying this. “Hard to say for sure. It probably wasn’t a specific moment, but it might have been when you started calling her your friend.”

Naegi’s eyes widened. “That was months ago!” Surprise turned to sympathy. “That means that… this whole time… Fukawa-san…” He bit his lip. “I never thought I stood a chance. If I had known sooner, I would have asked her out by now.”

“So that’s your answer.”

“Y-Yeah.” His blush got deeper. “I mean, she’s always been cute. And if she wouldn’t mind having me…”

“Heh, of course she’s cute, sugar. Just look at who she’s sharing a body with!” She ran a hand along her braids and tossed them. “Anyway, what are you going to do now?”

“Ask her out, I suppose.” He let out a nervous laugh. “God, I’ve got no idea how to even start.” An idea came into his head. “Hey, you know everything about her, right? Couldn’t you lend me a h–”

“Nope!” She chuckled, before clapping his shoulder. “Sorry, hero. That’d be cheating. If it’s ever going to mean anything, you’re gonna have to woo her all by yourself, fair and square. Besides! Aren’t you besties with her? Just go talk to her or something.”

He made as if to protest, then decided against it. “…Yeah. You might be right about that.” He smiled at her. “Thanks for telling me. I don’t think I would have worked it out for myself if you hadn’t. Say, you didn’t come all the way out here just to tell me that, did you?”

“Hmm? Nah.” She smiled back. “I came here to learn all about you, Mako-chan!” She told him about Fukawa’s diary.

“…and so I said to myself, woowie! This guy must be a real hottie if he could get her over Byakuya-sama!” She chirruped. “Course, you turned out to be a huge let-down in the looks department.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, you ought to be grateful for that, Ma-kun. Trust me.” She winked at him. “Anyway, that reminds me; I need a tinny-tiny favour from you.”

“What’s that?”

She put a finger to her lip. “Keep this little encounter of ours a secret, yeah? You can tell Tou-chan about it if you want, but no one else. Things might get… troublesome for both her and me if people know I exist. Don’t get any clever ideas about talking to some Doctor to get us a psych-eval, either.”

“Um…” Naegi scratched the back of his head. “No offense, but wouldn’t that be for the best? I mean, D.I.D is a very severe condition. It can’t be healthy for either of you to live like this.”

Cheeky little monkey. He’d been thinking that after all. Looks like Syo was going to have to scare the notion out of him. Her grin became vicious once more.

“You never did ask me my name, did you, Mako-chi?” She said. “That’s some pretty bad manners, you know?”

A minute later and the tension had returned, stronger than ever. Naegi’s cheeks were completely ashen.

“You… y-you’re…”

“That’s right, sugar. I am. Breathe a word of this to anyone, and who knows what would happen? The police might come knocking at my door, and Gloomy’s life might become that much gloomier. She might end up in a padded cell. Or Jail. Or worse, community service! You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Timidly: “N-no…”

“No,” She said, sombrely. “You wouldn’t. That’s because you’re a good boy, aren’t you, Mako-chi? All the other boys Gloomy fell for, they didn’t have much else going for them other than their looks, but you’re different. You really do care about her, don’t you?”

He said nothing.

“Sure you do. You’re just too shy to admit it.” Her tone turned jovial. “Oh, don’t look so glum! I don’t kill anymore, if it really bothers you that much.”

He blinked. “You don’t?”

“Nope! I’m on hiatus! Sort of. Been that way for more than a year now. Tell you what, Ma-kun. If we ever meet again, I’ll give you a more detailed explanation.” She stretched her arms out like a cat and yawned. “For now, it’s getting late and I need my beauty sleep. I’ll leave you with one last bit of advice.”

She looked at him affectionately. “Tou-chan would probably start going on about how risky it is for you to be around her if you talk to her about tonight. All you have to know for now is that I’ve got no intention of hurting you. Tell her that. If she doesn’t believe you, ask her to hit me up. I’ll set the record straight.” It’d be the exact same deal as with Byakuya-sama, Syo would say.

He nodded, uncertain. “…okay.”

“You can also tell her that I could have killed you any time I wanted, but I didn’t.” She laughed as he turned paler. “So, both you and her can trust me.” Syo turned to leave.

“Wait!” He said. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”

“Ooh, paranoid, are we?” She snickered. “Here’s the kicker, Ma-kun. You don’t.” In an instant, her hand went for his bedside lamp and shut it off, rendering the room dark once more. “Sleep tight!” She said.

By the time Naegi had registered what was happening, she was gone.

Most of the next day had gone by in a daze for Fukawa. She felt as if she had gotten no sleep at all the previous night. This did not bode well. From her experience, Syo’s nightly activities were the usual cause of this fatigue. It had been awhile since that wretched woman had last emerged, and there had been no news reports of murders for a long time, but who’s to say it hadn’t been her?

She was probably up making scissors again, Fukawa tried to tell herself. Or watching anime. Or reading that disgusting Yaoi garbage online. Syo had done these sorts of things many times in the past, after all. And there were no new scars on her thigh when she checked this morning. No reason to assume that she claimed another victim, right?

She dug her nails into the palm of her hand, willing herself not to think about it.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Fukawa whispered aloud, taking a deep breath. God, who the fuck did she think she was fooling? Since when did anything ever turn out fine?

“It might not have even been her.” This much was true. Perhaps the stresses of school, her authorial career and her family life were taking their physical toll. People simply weren’t meant to deal with this sort of pressure. But her gut was telling her otherwise. Something’s happened, her instincts told her. And Syo was a part of it, somehow.

The school bell jarred her out of her reverie. Although she could have sworn she drifted off for just five minutes at the very most, a whole hour long lesson had passed her by. Around her, Fukawa’s classmates stood from their desks and made to leave as their teacher made his closing remarks. “You’ll want to get started on your assignments ASAP, ladies and gents,” he said. “Believe me, there’s a lot of ground you’ll need to cover.” He swept up his things and left.

Fukawa lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes. More than anything, what she wanted right now was to get some rest. She started packing her books in to her bag. By the time she was done, the classroom was almost completely empty. There was only one other student aside from her, and she didn’t have to look to know who it was.

“Um… Fukawa-san?” Naegi said. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“O-Of course there is,” she sighed. “Alright, what is it?”

Naegi looked around the classroom, as if scanning for anyone who might be listening. His voice was quiet.

“I…uh,” he scratched his head, “God, how do I put this… I had a visit from someone we both know last night.”

Her heart sank immediately. Without him having to elaborate, she knew who he meant. Vaguely, against the tide of raw panic in her mind, she heard him say the name ‘Syo’.

The worst had finally happened. Somebody found out the truth. Her life was over. Everyone would know, and she’d face judgement for crimes she never committed.

Except things didn’t add up. Why was he telling her about this instead of simply going to the police? The last thing he should want is to warn her about his intentions, lest she try and stop him. This conversation had no reason to happen, unless…

Her mind came to the simplest conclusion.

“T-this is blackmail, isn’t it?” She said, meekly. “Y-You want money. Or s-something else entirely.” Unconsciously, she drew her arms across her chest protectively and shrank back.

“No, no!” Naegi raised his hands shoulder-high. Gently: “Fukawa-san, you know me. I’d never do that to you. And I’m not going to tell anyone else, either.”

The fear in her eyes wavered a little. “Then, w-why bring this up at all?”

“I just thought that maybe you needed somebody to talk to about it.”

She could have sworn she misheard him. “Wha…?”

“You must’ve been carrying this burden all by yourself, right?” He said sympathetically. “I mean, it’s not like there was anyone you could turn to without getting into trouble. That must have been so terrible for you.”

Fukawa had no idea how to respond. This was the absolute last thing she would have expected. Why wasn’t he afraid of her? Why wasn’t he calling her a murderer or a freak? Why was he still bothering with being nice to her?

Didn’t he know any better?

“Naegi, i-if you k-know about her,” she said, trembling, “then you know it’s d-dangerous to be around me now. There’s no telling what she’ll do. Please, you have to–”

“Yeah, about that.” He told her about Syo’s parting advice.

“And you believe her??” Fukawa had become exasperated. “Y-You can’t honestly be that naïve! There’s no way she can be trusted!”

“Maybe so,” his response was strangely calm, “but either way, I can’t just leave you alone with this.”

He stepped closer, much to her surprise.

“Listen, as far as I can see, you’re in trouble. You’ve been in trouble for a long time now, and nobody was ever around to help.” There was conviction in his eyes. “But I’m here now. Maybe it’s dangerous and maybe I’ll get hurt, but I can’t just sit around and do nothing while you suffer. I don’t know if there is anything I can do to help with this, but you’re my friend. And I want to at least try, okay?”

There it was. That word again. Friend. He still thought of her as a friend. In spite of all the verbal barbs she had thrown his way. In spite of how awkward and anti-social she was. In spite of what he had learnt about her murderous other half. Naegi still thought of her that way. Anyone else would have given up on her long ago, yet here he was.

That must have been so terrible for you, he had said. Naegi had no idea how right he was. Nor could he know how grateful she now was that – finally – after so long, she had somebody that actually tried to understand.

She realized she was crying.

(Fukawa-san…?)

“I…” she faltered, not knowing what to say. Her tears fell heavier. “I…”

He pulled her into an embrace. (Fukawa-san?) Her heart felt like it was ready to burst – the way it did recently whenever she was around him – and she hugged him back, squeezing tight.

“We’ll figure something out,” he said. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

She wanted very badly to believe that. That there was still hope for her. But how could she? (Can you hear me?) Things always went wrong for her. And she didn’t see what he could possibly do that would solve the problem. Sure, Naegi was willing to stand by her side now, but when he learnt just how little he could do for her, he would leave. No matter what he said. And that was assuming Syo didn’t wind up killing him first.

It wasn’t fair. He was her only true friend, one she had grown to care deeply about. And no matter which way this went, she was going to end up losing him–

“Fukawa-san!”

And suddenly, Fukawa was back in the cool conditioned air of Naegi’s room, hovering over his bed, while her boyfriend – sick with fever – eyed her curiously from beneath the sheets. She blinked, feeling disoriented.

“You were spacing out for a moment there,” he said, amused. “Is everything alright?”

She took a deep breath, allowing herself to collect her scattered thoughts, then shook her head.

“Y-yeah,” she said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Everything’s fine.”

Everything’s fine, she thought. Just as she had told herself it would be, that afternoon in Spring. And just as Naegi had promised. Who’d have guessed that they’d be right?

“What were you thinking about?”

She considered telling him, then shrugged. “Old stuff. N-nothing important.”

Naegi’s story hadn’t taken long to finish. Syo snuck in through his window, ran her mouth off about some asinine horseshit and asked him her stupid questions. As Fukawa listened, more memory fragments bled through. She could recall some of the observations Syo had made about the bookshelf and desk, as well as her theory about Naegi possibly having hidden salacious paraphernalia somewhere around here (That ridiculous woman hadn’t thought to search under Naegi’s bed, apparently. Fukawa was of half a mind to do it herself). On the subject of Syo unmasking her true feelings, Naegi had made a joke.

“You know, you and I kinda owe her for getting us together,” he said. She had responded by rolling her eyes.

“I refuse to t-thank her for a g-goddamn thing.”

Occasionally, he paused to cough or have her check to make sure no one was outside to hear any of the more compromising details. They were undisturbed. When the story ended, Fukawa found herself thinking back to how their relationship began.

He had stayed with her this whole time. Whether as her friend, or as her boyfriend, he had always been there. Finding out that she had a fucking serial killer cooped up inside her skull hadn’t been enough to scare him away. Here they were one year later, despite the odds, still going strong. He could have and should have gone with someone else already, yet he hadn’t, for reasons entirely beyond her.

Stupid boy, she thought fondly. Crazy, stupid boy.

Fukawa heard him chuckle. “Someone’s in a good mood,” he said.

“What do you m-mean?”

“You’re smiling.”

Ah. She hadn’t been aware of it until he said so. When he asked why, she cupped his cheek tenderly. She took her time deciding how best to say what she wanted to say.

“Has a-anyone ever told you,” she asked, after a full minute, “that sometimes you’re too n-nice for your own good?”

Naegi laughed. “Yeah. You do. All the time. Where’s this coming from?”

“Nowhere,” she gave him a quick peck on the forehead, stroking his hair. They shared a moment of comfortable silence.

“Hurry up and get better already,” Fukawa said. “It’s lonely at school without you.”

End Notes: On the topic of reader requests, one of my anons was hoping that the unveiling of Syo’s identity might lead to Fukawa crying and Makoto hugging her and promising that everything will be alright. I’ve kind of done that here, and I hope it turned out satisfactory. (Good lord, that was last year. Where did all the time go?)

I also took a bit of liberty with how Fukawa’s and Syo’s memory retention works for the purpose of the story. Hope that’s okay too.

#Dangan Ronpa #naekawa #naesyo #makosyo #fukaegi #naefuka #naegi x fukawa #makoto naegi #Touko Fukawa #genocider syo #fluff #rarepair #I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIP SAIL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO

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youngmrkusuma · 8 years ago

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The Naekawa Project - Part 6: Genocider Syo’s Excellent Adventure

Link to AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11529537

Summary: For everyone who wanted a story for Syo. Takes place a year or so after ‘Why the Streams Are Bitter’

Right! Some quick admin before we begin; Earlier this year, I mentioned in this

post

that I was working on a fic that would involve more of the DR cast members. Unfortunately, this isn’t it (although there are a couple of guest appearances here). I decided to push that one back because I wasn’t getting anywhere with it, and because I had a new idea that I was itching to get on paper.

And so here we are.

Now, it should be noted that even though this story does involve Syo, it’s fairly light-hearted and silly. Hope that’s alright. I was getting a bit weary of writing angst and needed a break.

“Compromise” was not an unfamiliar term for Fukawa; living with shitty parents and going to school with shitty classmates had taught her early on that you can’t always have what you want in life. At least, not without giving something up first. She had learnt that sometimes, for the sake of keeping things civil, it was better to just calm down and let things go. To let others have their way. Sometimes, as her boyfriend was wont to do, it was better to just smile and take your problems in stride.

This, was not one of those times.

Even after her other half had agreed to stop killing people, dealing with Syo was still a complete and utter nightmare. Yet Fukawa did her best to be patient. She tried to forgive occasionally opening her closet to find stacks of those vile, X-rated BL doujins that Syo liked to read so much spilling out from a corner. She didn’t mind having her laptop’s hard disk space be taken up by gigabyte after gigabyte of shameless yaoi porn, as long as they were stored somewhere she couldn’t see. She ignored the fact that her internet browser history and favourites bar was full of links to dubious and crassly named websites.

But Fukawa had to draw a line somewhere. And she decided yesterday that she knew right where to put it.

Naegi, who was lending her a sympathetic ear, asked “What did she do this time?”

Fukawa’s cheeks went scarlet. “It’s… um… better if I showed you.”

She went over to her desk and turned on her laptop. As soon as the Desktop wallpaper loaded, Naegi understood. A strangled ‘Oh!’ escaped him and he started blushing as well.

Several youthful individuals. All males. Expressions of pure ecstasy. Naked, alabaster skin. And seed. Everywhere. Lots of it.

A swatch of memory came to him unbidden; the voice of a screeching young man in a youtube video imploring his audience to please “Don’t watch an anime called Boku”. Fukawa slammed the screen shut once Naegi comprehended what he was seeing. His face would stay red throughout their conversation.

“…Well,” he managed, after a moment. “That’s extreme.”

"It-It’s horrible!“ She pulled at her hair. “I-Imagine w-waking up one morning to find that waiting for you!”

As soon as she had seen what Syo had done, Fukawa had grabbed her smartphone and navigated straight to the voice recorder app – the primary mode of communication between the two personalities – and left a heated message on it, about the importance of boundaries and not overstepping them. Then she stuck a post-it note that read 'For Syo’ to the phone and made herself sneeze.

When Fukawa regained consciousness some fifteen minutes later, she found an equally heated message waiting for her.

“You never let me have any fun!” Syo shrieked. “Do you have any idea how hard it is, denying my true nature?? I’m already laying off the real pretty boys for your sake; can’t you just let me have some fictional ones? Besides, I don’t see what the big deal is. You’re a romance author, right? That picture is the purest expression of love there is! Gyahahahaha!!!”

“Purest e-expression of love,” Fukawa seethed, her fingers curling into claws. “What does th-that uncultured swine know about love??”

After some back and forth that lasted for three hours, with some recordings consisting solely of the words “Fuck you”, the two of them eventually came to an understanding. Syo was willing to be a bit more cooperative, even willing to remove the smut from Fukawa’s computer, if four conditions were met.

“Conditions?” Naegi asked. He had a bad feeling about this.

“Y-yeah,” Fukawa pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket. “She made a list.”

The first condition, in Syo’s own words: “I want my own laptop. No cheap shit! It’s gotta be fast and it’s gotta be spacey! Them yaoi vids take up a lot of room. Actually, while I’m at it, make it a Macbook Pro! Hahaha, get it??” (Fukawa shuddered at the stupidity of her joke)

The second condition: She wanted a private place to stash her doujins. More specifically, she wanted her own cabinet, with a lock and key. (“Your closet’s running out of room, Miss Gloomy!”) Since Fukawa had moved out of her parents’ home and into her own apartment, this was easily accomplished.

The third condition: She wanted an allowance. A 'Fujoshi Fund’, as she put it, so she could buy all the merch she wanted without having to steal from Fukawa’s wallet. 80 000 yen a month (haggled down from 100 000).

“Did… Did she just casually admit to stealing from you?”

Fukawa bristled with annoyance. “L-let’s just leave that aside for now.”

“Ohhkkaayy… What about the fourth condition?”

She bit her lip. “That’s w-what I called you here for, a-actually.”

The fourth condition: Syo wanted to go to Comiket. Not just this year, but every year. For the whole three days. “And I mean both NatsuComi and FuyuComi! I want to be with my people!”

“S-She wants to be with her people.” Fukawa rolled her eyes. Then turned to her boyfriend. “NatsuComi starts t-this Saturday. I need you to go with her and make sure she doesn’t get into t-trouble.”

Naegi rubbed his chin, musing. He supposed he should have expected this. “Saturday, huh. Didn’t we have a date planned?”

“We’ll have to c-cancel,” she said, looking guilty. “Sorry a-about this… making you go along with that awful, awful woman. You’re the only o-one I can trust with this…”

“That’s okay,” he smiled at her. Then put his arms around her shoulders. “I don’t mind.”

She leaned against him and smiled back. “Thanks.”

“We’ll need to take some precautions, though. Maybe a disguise.”

“Disguise?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Just in case anyone we know recognises her face… your secret might get out, you know?”

“Oh. R-right.” She was unnerved. “I d-didn’t even think about that… Any ideas?”

“Well, it’s an anime convention, right?” Naegi grinned. “We can have her cosplay as someone who looks nothing like you.”

“Syo.”

“Yes…?” She trilled playfully at him.

“I thought we agreed that you should cosplay as someone who looks nothing like you.”

Syo had done the complete opposite of that. Naegi wasn’t sure who she was supposed to be cosplaying, but all she did was change her hairstyle somewhat, replace her glasses with green contacts and put on some sort of school uniform.

And she had her scissors out. Many of them. Proudly displayed on pouches slung around her waist. It was making him very nervous.

“Oh relax, Macoco! No one’s gonna recognise me.” She waved her hand dismissively.

“Yes, they are!!” He said, exasperated. “You hardly look any different from before! Who are you supposed to be anyway?”

She let out an offended gasp. “You don’t know? I’m Otoya Takechi! From Akuma no Riddle? My poor, misunderstood angel…” She started hugging herself, a disturbingly lewd smile on her lips. “Thrust into the world of assassins, cursed with an insatiable desire to kill, and every bit as beautiful as I am… It’s like her character was just made for me! Kyah, I want Serial Killer insurance, too! Nyahhahahaha!!”

Naegi just stared. He had no idea what she was talking about, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“Besides, I’ve been in the business for a long time. Don’t you think I’d know how to keep a low profile? Trust me, Mahkyutie, no one’s gonna know.”

He sighed. “Fine, if you say so.” He didn’t believe her in the slightest – he had been expecting her to don something far more elaborate and transformative – but honestly, he’d rather not argue with her anymore. Talking to her could be… frustrating. It was a bit of a risk, leaving things as they were, but truth be told, he didn’t think it was that likely that they’d bump into anyone they knew here anyway. Comiket was a big event, with thousands of others attending. What were the odds of meeting an acquaintance in this mob? His good luck ought to count for something.

They began making their way to the main convention hall. Might as well enjoy my time here, he thought. Fukawa might have disdained anime and everything related to it, but Naegi himself had always liked it. He had only been to Comiket once before with his sister Komaru, many years ago, just for the first day. He would have come back, except life kept getting in the way.

Well, now you get to come back twice a year, he thought. With Syo.

Attending a convention with a former serial killer. Who he was kinda sorta in a relationship with. Somehow, he didn’t find the idea as objectionable as he thought he would. Without thinking too much about it, he reached out and held Syo’s hand as they walked.

“Oh?” She turned to him, pleasantly surprised. “This is new.”

“Yeah, well,” his cheeks grew a light pink. “We’re technically dating, right? Objectively speaking, you’re still a part of my girlfriend.”

She giggled and suddenly wrapped her arm around his bicep, startling him a little. For several moments, he wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Syo…” he said.

“We share feelings, remember?” She said, sounding unusually lovey-dovey. “Me and Little Miss Gloomy, that is.” In her usual carefree tone: “So, what do you have to say about all this?”

“NatsuComi?” He looked around him, taking in the dozens upon dozens of cosplayers, and the sheer size of the convention building. “I think it’s great, honestly!” Already, he had seen some characters he recognised. Maka Albarn, Kamina and Yoko, Eren Yeager… “There’s so much to see and-”

“No no no, not that!” She cut him off, amused. “I meant about us! You, me and your Emo girlfriend! This love triangle, this Ménage à Trois! Ohohoho,” she started hugging herself again, “dating two girls at once! And here I thought I was bad. Ma-kun, you naughty boy!”

He breathed out through his teeth. Silly him, he actually thought they were having a moment.

Around them, people were starting to stare. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say anything.” He tried to change the subject immediately. “How’d you get that costume done so quickly anyway? Doesn’t it take most people at least two weeks to have everything ready?” Naegi himself wasn’t able to do much on his end; with only a few days to prep, all he could put together for a costume was a red hoodie and a child’s Kamen Rider mask.

Which made him feel pretty lame, he had to admit, but at least it got the job of hiding his identity done.

She shrugged. “I bought it a couple of months ago. Was planning to come here, whether Gloomy would let me or not. Shit’s pretty expensive, but hey,” she ran her fingers through her hair, “take one good look at me and tell me it isn’t worth it, eh?” She grinned and winked at him.

“Expensive? Didn’t you steal the money for that from Touko?”

Her mouth dropped open. “I didn’t steal it!”

He raised an eyebrow. And though she couldn’t see it through the mask he wore, she got the message.

“Whatever! It’s not stealing if you both share the same body.”

A short laugh escaped him, mainly because he didn’t know how else to react. “What the hell kind of logic is that?”

“It’s called sharing! We’re already sharing a body, and we’re already sharing you! What’s the harm of sharing some other things too?”

He didn’t say anything. Don’t bother arguing, Makoto, he told himself, you’re never going to talk sense to her.

They managed to beat the long queue to enter Comiket by arriving a bit later than most everyone else. Syo had protested wildly against this decision, (“all of the good stuff would be sold out by then!”) but she relented when Naegi pointed out that standing in line under the punishing summer sun was a good way to take the fun right out of anything. The second they stepped into the convention hall, she began taking longer strides and running her tongue over her lips. Predictably, she was leading them right towards the Adult Doujin booths. She took in a deep whiff of cool, conditioned air.

“Aaahhhh, ambrosia!” She shivered, barely able to contain her excitement. “Can you smell it, Ma-kun?”

“Smell?” He sniffed around him. “I don’t smell anything.”

“No…” she intoned dramatically. “Not with your nose, young grasshopper. With your heart… Can’t you tell? It’s the smell… of adventure!! Haha!”

“If you say so.”

She tutted. “Party pooper. No wonder Miss Gloomy likes you so much; you’re as boring as she is!”

No response. Naegi didn’t want to dignify the jab, especially since it was also aimed at Fukawa.

“Just remember to behave yourself,” was all he cared to say. “That was what we agreed on.”

“Ooh, aren’t we snippy! Did I strike a nerve?”

“Syo.” He shot her a look. He was starting to lose his patience.

“Hmph! Well, if you’re going to be that way, I might as well enjoy the festivities by myself!”

With that, she dashed off into the crowd, apropos of nothing and with shocking speed. It took Naegi several seconds to even process what just happened.

“Wah! Syo, wait!” He chased after her.

Having a known murderer disappear from sight and into a mass of potential victims was bad for obvious reasons, even if said murderer had sworn off of killing people. If Naegi was being truthful, he didn’t yet fully believe it was safe to trust Syo’s word. Especially when she had so many pairs of her scissors on her. Who knows what she would get up to while he wasn’t watching?

Damn it, Makoto, you had one job, he cursed himself. How did you manage to screw that up?

After combing through the sea of unfamiliar faces for at least ten minutes, he did manage to find his girlfriend at one of the booths. He nearly had a panic attack the moment he saw who was manning it. Surrounded by mountainous piles of Heretical ☆ Angel Super Squishy Princess doujins, with the aura of a grand and magnanimous king, was their old classmate Hifumi Yamada.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please!” he was saying, to the impressively large mob of customers at his booth clamouring for his attention. “Calm down! There’s plenty of Byuuko to go around! No shoving!”

Syo was standing by the side of the booth, thumbing through the pages of one of his creations. Her expression quickly became one of displeasure and she threw it back at Yamada.

“Hetero Lolicon trash!!” She yelled. “I thought you were a connoisseur!”

“Oho!” Yamada didn’t seem the least bit insulted by her actions. He readjusted his glasses. “I see we have a young lady of particular taste! Fret not, Fujoshi-dono, I do believe I have something more suited for you.” He reached under the booth and pulled out another doujinshi, handing it to Syo. Astoundingly, he didn’t seem to recognise who she was, much to Naegi’s relief.

She scanned through the book with scepticism at first, then her eyes became starry. She held it close to her chest.

“Forgive my earlier rudeness, kind sir,” she said coquettishly, “do you have any more just like this?”

(Naegi, who was observing this exchange from afar, was aghast. He had never seen her act like that before)

Yamada’s grin was smug and satisfied. He reached under the booth again, and emerged with a variety of BL doujins. “Take your pick, Fujoshi-dono,” he said. She slammed down a 5000 yen note onto his table immediately.

“One copy of each!” She declared shrilly. “Keep the change!”

Syo was giddy with delight when she returned to Naegi’s side, hugging her new acquisitions tightly. “Mako-chan, look!” She was practically singing. “Isn’t it wonderful?” She shoved an open doujinshi into his face. The image made him yelp and blush an even deeper red than when he saw Fukawa’s desktop. “It was worth coming here just for these! Gyahahahaha!”

He took a moment to recollect his scattered thoughts. He never knew that Yamada was into this sort of thing.

“Don’t run off like that! You had me worried sick!”

“Oh please,” she made a flippant gesture. “I’m a grown serial killer! Don’t you think I can take care of myself?”

“That’s not the point! You were supposed to be careful! What if Yamada had recognised you??”

She made a raspberry. “I don’t a babysitter!” And took off again.

“Ah! No, come back!” But she was already gone, bending into the crowd once more.

Naegi let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be a very long day.

If Syo could describe the experience of coming to Comiket, she would have likened it to being a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, finally free after months of captivity to spread its wings across the endless azure and see the world. Sure, she couldn’t kill anymore – what with that promise she made and everything – but freedom was freedom. Mako-chii was such a sweet boy, but she couldn’t allow him to spoil her fun with his bad vibes and slow her down. Not when there was so much to see! So much to buy and consume!

She spied another booth that looked promising. And another. And another. She’d visit them all, of course, in due time. But she couldn’t decide who first.

She settled for the nearest one. Began perusing all they had to offer hungrily. Within a half hour, she had purchased another twenty books of lovely, gratuitous smut. Costly, yes, but she wasn’t the one paying for it. Her other half was more than capable of bearing the expense; as part of the deal with Miss Gloomy, a tidy sum was set aside for her to play around with. Besides, she’d have an eternity to fill before FuyuComi. She had to make the best of this opportunity.

And God knows she hadn’t done a bad job of it so far, oh yes. It hadn’t mattered what genre or fandom they were from; as long as they were hot, she bought what she could. Her precious darlings. Mmm-mmm. Cloud X Sephiroth, Rikku X Sora, some ship from another one of those sports animes, she didn’t care. She now had two carrier bags worth of doujins, and it was all delicious.

Shame there wasn’t any guro around here, though. Oh well.

“Maybe I’ll make some of my own,” she said aloud, and cackled.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the convention hall, Naegi kept up his search. He didn’t understand how Syo could be so quick, or how she could so efficiently disappear from view. Twice now, he had spotted her from a distance but lost track of her within the space of a few seconds, while trying to navigate through the crowd. And the one time he did catch up to her, she vanished like before without so much as a warning. This was not how he envisioned spending the day.

He should have been having fun. He should have been taking pictures and trying out fan-made games and buying posters and keychains and figurines. Not dealing with this insanity.

At least he could be sure (somewhat) that Syo hadn’t hurt anyone yet. No one was screaming or calling security. So maybe she was keeping her promise and he was just being paranoid. Still, there was another concern; if she bumped into anyone else they knew ̶ someone much sharper than Yamada-kun, say ̶ it could mean trouble for-

“Oh my,” said a familiar voice. “This is unexpected,”

“It’s Naegi-kun.” said another.

So much for my good luck, he cursed inwardly as he turned to face the speakers. He did a double take when he saw who they were.

“…Celes-san? Kirigiri-san?”

Both were dressed in their usual attire, eyeing him curiously, standing arm in arm. That last detail recalled to mind the rumours Naegi heard about the two when they were still in school. He had erroneously dismissed it as just bitter spiteful diatribe from the boys who tried asking them out and failed. Guess they really were dating…

“Um… How did you know it was me?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. Her girlfriend crossed her arms.

“You’re speaking to the Queen of Liars, Naegi-kun.”

“And I work for a detective agency,” Kirigiri said. “You’re not fooling either of us in that silly getup.”

Heat rushed to his face. Now he felt even more lame than before.

“I didn’t know you were into conventions,” he said, addressing them both.

“Why not?” Celestia smiled. She lifted a paper bag full of soft-pastel coloured garments that bore the words Angelic Pretty in pink cursive letters (The Ariake branch was doing some kind of promotion here, it seemed). “They have such lovely dresses for sale. Exactly my style.” Behind her, Kirigiri was smiling at her date affectionately.

“I’m just tagging along,” she said.

A plethora of questions formed on the tip of Naegi’s tongue, but before he could ask any of them, he spotted a swish of dusky purple hair, from a long way off. That had to be Syo. He needed to get a move on fast.

“Sorry, I’d really love to catch up, but I was here with a friend, and I’ve lost them.”

“Oh? Maybe we could help,” Kirigiri offered.

“Um, that’s okay!” If they could see through the mask and hoodie, Naegi had doubts that Syo’s disguise would have lasted very long under their scrutiny. Best not to get them involved. “Talk to you later, bye guys!”

They watched as he rushed off, awkward and graceless as a bull in a china shop. “A friend, huh.” Celes remarked.

Kirigiri cocked her head. “Was he talking about that girl with the scissors?”

“I believe so.”

“Any clue who she is?” Kirigiri asked.

She pondered for a moment, then shrugged. “Haven’t the foggiest,” she said, having already lost interest. “Come on, my dear.” She beamed at Kirigiri. “We’ve got more shopping to do.”

Kirigiri chuckled. “Yes, ma'am.”

“…and that’s why I prefer Kanehide,” Syo was saying, to a fellow NatsuComi attendee in plain clothes who had asked for a photograph. She took a swig from a bottle of cherry cola, washing the dryness from her tongue.

“Right??” The girl chirruped excitedly. “They went through hell and back for each other! There’s no way they’re 'just friends’. The haters don’t know what they’re talking about!”

Three and a half hours had passed since she first stepped into Comiket. Running around sampling comics while lugging two heavy bags of booty was hard work, so she was taking a break. The day’s events had already taken out quite a bit from her.

“And that damn ending,” the girl continued. “I wanted to cry! The anime can’t hold a candle to the manga, though. There were so many things they had to cut out.”

Syo nodded at all this, taking another pull from her drink. It had been awhile since she had anyone to talk to about her passions. Naegi, sweet boy, would have made a willing enough audience for her discussions, but he wouldn’t have been able to relate; he didn’t just share her interest.

“Anyway, speaking of anime, have you seen Owari No Seraph?”

“I haven’t.” She leaned forward. In conspiratorial whisper: “But I’ve heard some ̶ ah, interesting things about it. Is it any good?”

The girl grinned. “It’s the best. The series flagship is to die for. And there’s this shota cutie who you could just-”

"Mariko-chan!“ A young man called out to her. "We’re going for ice cream! You coming?”

“Ah, that’s my cue.” She gave Syo an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go now. Bye.” And made to leave. “Wait for me, please!!”

Owari No Seraph, eh? She snickered. She was definitely going to check that one out. Downing the rest of her cola in one long, refreshing gulp, Syo hefted her bags and got back to prowling. Those doujins weren’t going to buy themselves.

But two things slowed her advance. First, the bags were getting a little too heavy. One of the numerous downsides to sharing a body with Tou-chan was that she was almost criminally unfit; years of sitting on her ass, writing those sappy, stuffy novels had not done her physique any favours.

But second, and most importantly, she was starting to get worried about Mako-chii. It had been quite some time since she last saw him. Where the hell was he? He should have caught up to her by now, yammering on about how Syo, you can’t do this, or Syo, you can’t do that. Did he get lost? Maybe she should slow it down so he could catch up. Enough torturing for the poor boy.

Gloomy’s gonna be pissed if you let anything happen to him. Hell, she’d be pissed with herself if she let anything happen to him. Good-natured little shit. Lacking as he was in the looks and the height department, she understood why Tou-chan liked him so much, she really did. Even if she did a lousy job of showing it.

She sighed. “Guess I should go look for him.” Her darlings could wait a little while longer. There was always Days Two and Three anyway.

“The fuck didn’t you watch where you were going, bastard!?”

Naegi’s horrendous form of luck had once again landed him into hot soup. Having spotted a glimpse of what might have been his girlfriend in the distance, he had broken into a sprint. A particularly beefy-looking cosplayer with a spiky blue wig and a massive black Styrofoam sword had chosen the wrong moment to set his prop down so he could tie his shoe, inadvertently placing it in the perfect position for Naegi to run into and trip, snapping it in several places.

“Took me three fucking weeks to put this thing together, asshole,” the cosplayer was saying. “And I’ve got a photoshoot tomorrow. The fuck am I supposed to do now?”

Naegi put his hands up defensively. This was bad. Very bad.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I was just… in a rush…” he pulled out his wallet. “I… I’ll pay for it. How much did it cost?”

“Pay for it? Pay for it??” The young man seemed outraged by the very notion. “Goddamn right, you’ll pay for it. C'mere.” And grabbed him by the collar with one very large hand. Around them, people were watching. No one seemed to want to do anything to help. Naegi was on his own.

This was definitely not how he envisioned spending the day.

He tried to put up a struggle, tried to reason with his aggressor, but that didn’t amount to much. Soon, Naegi found himself in an unfamiliar corridor, away from the rest of the convention. Some kind of fire exit perhaps? A hard shove sent him sprawling backwards into a white wall.

“Please, calm down,” he managed, weakly. “You don’t need to-”

He was cut off by a sudden and powerful uppercut to the belly. The pain drove the wind out of him and brought tears to his eyes. He heard the sound of knuckles cracking.

“That’s just the start, asshole.”

Naegi hadn’t realised he had gone to his knees until he looked up. Another punch dented the cheap, paper-thin plastic of his Kamen Rider mask. “Teach you to ruin my day.”

He didn’t yet know this – and wouldn’t have grasped it until he thought back to this some weeks later – but at that moment, Naegi’s own twisted serendipity had landed him right where he needed to be, just as it always did. Unfortunately for him, he’d have to deal with this unpleasantness first. It should have come as no surprise that out of everyone he could have ran into in NatsuComi, it had to be some jumped-up musclehead stereotype with a chip on his shoulder, before things would start working themselves out; he’d been dealing with crap like this since middle school.

How’d it come to this? He remembered asking himself. How’d go from spend the day having fun to making sure Syo didn’t murder somebody to get beat up in a corridor because of something you didn’t mean to-

“Oi.”

That voice. It wasn’t from the young man. It was softer. Feminine. And infinitely more terrifying. Through the watery haze of his tears, he could make out another figure, against the backdrop of painted concrete. A wave of fear and dread overtook him when he realised who it was.

“Syo…”

He wasn’t afraid for himself. Syo wouldn’t have harmed him. This young man, however…

“Mmm, aren’t you a cutie.” She smiled, and her fingertips danced over the handles of her scissors. “Handsome, hunky… Been awhile since I’ve done anyone. Now, just what do you think you’re doing to my man?”

She was met with a stare. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Syo,” Naegi called out from where he knelt. “Don’t hurt him, please…”

Horrible images came to him. Blood. Sharpened steel glistening under fluorescent lights. Arms impaled against a wall, next to a message in sticky dripping red. Whatever this young man did to him, he didn’t deserve to end up another scar on Fukawa’s thigh.

But Syo gave Naegi a look that was surprisingly tender.

“Don’t you worry, Ma-kun,” she assured. “I won’t hurt him. Much.”

Between them, the young man’s expression became one of outrage. “You? Hurt me?” He took a step towards her. “Is this supposed to be some kind of joke, bitch?”

She licked her lips languorously. “Oh, I’m gonna enjoy this.”

Raw panic had compelled Naegi to try and stand. The pain in his belly was subsiding, but it was still enough to hinder him considerably. It was a good thing he hadn’t had a bite to eat since breakfast; he felt ready to dry heave all over the floor.

Gotta stop her, he said to himself. But Syo’s scissors were already out, tearing through the air with frightening speed. The cosplayer hadn’t thought twice about taking a swing at her before she started slashing. There was the sound of ripping fabric and a cry of shock by the time Naegi got to his feet. She must have cut the young man at least a dozen times in the space of those few seconds. He feared the worst; was he going to look up and find another victim of hers?

He did not.

All the same, however, he did regret looking up.

All across the floor were the tattered remains of the young man’s clothes. For what must have been the third time this week, Naegi found himself staring at naked, alabaster skin. Lord have mercy… he blushed again. This young man was a lot more well-built than he thought.

Syo’s bladework had been precise. Surgical. She hadn’t drawn a single drop of blood, yet damage had been done anyway. You could see it on the young man’s face.

“Aaahh!?” was all that escaped him. He didn’t seem to comprehend how he could have ended up like this.

“Well now!” She giggled. “I guess it really is true, what they say about men with big swords!” She wagged her pinkie at him, then howled with laughter.

The young man let out a shriek and ran straight for a corner, attempting to preserve what remained of his modesty.

“You b-b-bitch!!” He screeched at her, from a huddled position. “I-I’ll get e-even for t-this, yo-”

“No,” she interrupted, hurling one of her weapons at his direction, where it buried itself into the wall inches from his head. “You won’t.” He whimpered and fell silent.

“You okay?” She turned her attention to Naegi, sounding genuinely concerned. “Hold still now, let me see.” She lifted the Kamen Rider mask gingerly from his face. An enormous goose egg of a bruise was rising majestically from under his right eye. He had his hand over his stomach where the cosplayer had struck him, but he was okay. Mostly. “I… I’m alright,” he said. “Just a little shaken up, is all. I-”

She put her arms around him and pulled him close, letting out what might have been a sigh of relief, squeezing him tight. Neither of them said anything for awhile.

“Come on, Makoto,” she smiled at him. “Let’s get out of here.

The rest of Comiket went by that afternoon without a hitch. Syo was back to her usual self once they rejoined the convention.

"But did you see the guns on that fuckboy? Woowie!” She fanned herself with an open hand. “He was hot, hot, hot!! I wouldn’t mind never killing again if I could do that to some cutie every once in a while! Gyahahahaha!!”

Following close behind her, with one of her carrier bags on his shoulder, Naegi winced. “Please don’t. You really shouldn’t be doing that to people.”

“Yeah, and he shouldn’t be beating the crap out of someone for no good goddamn reason,” she said offhandedly, unconsciously tightening her grip around his hand. She’d been holding it ever since they walked out of that fire escape.

“Um, about that,” Naegi said, with what might have been guilt. “Thank you.”

She turned to him and cocked her head. “What for?”

“For not killing that guy,” he spoke softly, in case anyone heard. “And for saving me.”

“D'aww, you’re such a sweetheart! You’re welcome!” She coiled her arm around his bicep once more. It made his heart race. “Wouldn’t have been a good idea to do him anyway,” she continued. “Too many witnesses, hahahaha!”

In all seriousness, Naegi had been wrong not to trust her. And he couldn’t be happier to be proven wrong. He owed her an apology.

“I owe you an apology,” he said. “I didn’t think you’d keep your word. I should have trusted you more. I’m sorry.”

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah, sure.” She wasn’t even paying attention. “I forgive you, I guess.” Her focus was more directed towards another booth, this one proudly displaying Daimakuras with some very under-dressed pretty boys. “Hey, Ma-kun, could you lend me some cash? I’m almost out.”

Naegi blinked twice, certain he had misheard her. “What? How??” He was incredulous. “Touko gave you like 150 000 yen for the whole three days!” He started rummaging through the bag he carried. “How many of these things did you buy??”

“I don’t know, I lost count after… uh, fifty?”

“Fifty?”

“Fifty.”

Naegi shook his head in utter disbelief, his earlier guilt already forgotten. “Syo, I think you have a problem.”

“Oh, whatever! You gonna lend me the money or not?”

Soon enough, two bags became three. Naegi couldn’t remember the last time his wallet felt this light (or his shoulders so heavy). Yet it hadn’t been a bad day, even with all the running around, the excessive expenditure and that scuffle in the fire escape. When he was spending time with Syo rather than chasing her around, things were… pleasant. Much more than he expected. It was actually making him look forward to Days Two and Three.

As long as Syo didn’t start speeding off again.

Which he doubted she would, anyway. She was keeping him very close to her now, hovering over him protectively. Even as she sampled more doujins from booth after booth, she kept one eye on him. It stayed that way even as Day One of Comiket drew to a close and the crowds thinned in the convention hall. It stayed that way as they started making their way out of there.

“That bag giving you any trouble?” She asked.

He shook his head, touched by her concern. “No, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Then he smiled. “You know, that sounds so strange, coming from you.”

“Tch, rude!” She grinned. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been bothered after all.” But she moved in a little nearer so they were almost shoulder to shoulder, keeping him there beside her for most of the trip home.

She wasn’t about to let Mako-pyon out of her sight for a while, oh no.

“Ah! Y-Your face! What happened??”

Fukawa’s reaction was both expected and immediate; as soon as Syo made herself sneeze and Touko turned her eyes to Naegi, she saw the bruise and the ice pack he was holding up to it.

“H-hey, come on, let me s-see…” She sounded almost exactly like Syo had that afternoon, lifting the pack away and cupping his cheek tenderly. They were far more alike than they knew, Naegi thought, as he spent the next three minutes or so with her fussing over him, in spite of repeated assurances that - Yes, he was fine, and No, it didn’t hurt anymore.

“Ngghh!! She did this, didn’t she!?” Fukawa hissed, hands bunching into fists. “I knew it! I k-knew we couldn’t t-trust that ridiculous harlot! She’s gone too f-far this time! Daring to lay a hand on you…” She made as if to wring her fingers into Syo’s neck.

“No, no! That’s not what happened at all!” He explained the day’s events to her, calming her down a little.

“Hmph! Well, you still got hurt b-because of her.” She mumbled, folding her arms crossly. “If she had just behaved herself, this would never have happened…”

“You’re being too hard on her.” He said, patiently. “She did help me out, after all. And she’s still keeping her promise about not killing anymore. I think we should cut her some slack.”

“F-fine, if you say so.” She sounded unconvinced. “But if you get h-hurt again, the deal’s off. I don’t care w-what she does.” Her shoulders slumped as she allowed herself to relax, before they suddenly tensed again when she looked down.

“Ugh, what did she m-make me wear? What is all this crap??”

Syo hadn’t bothered changing out of her clothes before surrendering control back to Fukawa. As soon as they were done packing her new doujins somewhere inconspicuous, she smiled at Naegi and said “Alright, you can have Tou-chan back now.”

“She was supposed to be cosplaying as someone named Otoya… or something,” he said, scratching the back of his head. What was it that Syo was going on about again? Akuma no… Rhythm? River? He already forgot. Oh well. He didn’t think Fukawa cared about that in the least.

“Anyway, she told me to tell you that she’s going to be wearing that tomorrow, so don’t put it in the wash yet,” he said, moving to sit on her couch. “Just fold it and leave it somewhere she can see.”

“Fine, fine.” She made a dismissive gesture. “Honestly. That woman…” One of her hands brushed against the handles of Syo’s homemade scissors and recoiled from them as if she had touched something filthy. “This a-arrangement is going to be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Fatigue was starting to set in for her. She was feeling the full weight of Syo’s physical actions for the whole day on her body. Unceremoniously, she collapsed into the couch next to Naegi and lay her head onto his lap, startling him. This was a first.

She didn’t object when he placed a hand on her arm. She nuzzled against him and sighed.

“S-so, what else did she say?”

“She’s asking for more money,” he said, feeling bad for dropping this on her now, when she was so exhausted. “She’s already spent what you gave her.”

“Geh!” Fukawa went rigid. “O-of course she did.” Then relaxed once more. In a softer tone: “A-anything else?”

“No. Not that I remember, anyway.”

“And what about you?” She turned to face him, concerned. “There’s still two more days of this a-absurdity. Are you going to be okay?”

He considered.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, after awhile. “She’ll make sure of it. I think.”

“She damn well better,” Fukawa seethed, thinking about her smartphone, the massive dent in her chequebook, and the harm that had already befallen poor Naegi because of Syo. To hell with what he said; as soon as her boyfriend went home and she had taken all this cosplay garbage off of her person, she and that diseased lunatic were going to have a very long talk.

End Notes: In order to better understand Syo as a character, I decided to re-read two of my favourite stories involving her as inspiration. These stories are “Burning Down Love” by thereisafire and “why stand on formalities when we’re already so close” by suitablyskippy. I highly recommend checking them out. (Fair warning, though; these stories are much darker and more violent. Proceed at your own discretion) Also, I have never been to Comiket in my life. Most of what’s described here is based on things I’ve heard from others. Please pardon any factual inaccuracies.

#dangan ronpa #naekawa #makosyo #celegiri #fukaegi #naefuka #naegi x fukawa #fluff #rarepair #i'm gonna make this ship sail if it's the last thing i do #naesyo

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