#since togami was a bust last time

[grievedifferent]

answer or perish

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: Minor Inconveniences

Author: @midnight-run-amok

For: @moosabus

Rating/Warnings: All Ages (Some minor references to sex and some low-grade cursing, but nothing to write home about.) Relatively Tame Spoilers for DR2, 2.5 and DR3. Prompt: Komaeda adopts a puppy and seeks hinata’s help in caring for it Author’s notes: This was really a lot of fun to write because fluffy concepts like this aren’t really in my usual wheelhouse so… yeah, I’m a little nervous about it. I really, really hope you like it. Timeline-wise this occurs after DR3:Hope Side. Cheers! ^_^

“Well, I mean….” He trailed off, running a distracted hand through his hair as he stared down at the small, fuzzy animal currently flopped over in the middle of the deck licking its… no… his junk. “Can you return it?”

Komaeda just stared at him and somehow his wilting smile made him feel like he’d just spat on a child’s birthday cake.

It was a look that clearly said: You are a monster, Hajime Hinata.

A crusher of dreams.

The literal worst.

“Nevermind,” he sighed, rolling his eyes to stare up at the bright blue of the sky above.

A small voice inside him that was all that truly remained of the most analytic parts of Izuru (and somehow always sounded like Nanami) quietly informed him that the sky wasn’t actually blue.

Don’t be pedantic.

He turned his attention back to the man at his side who was now smiling and looking awfully pleased with himself for someone who had just moments before looked as if someone had just canceled Christmas.

Not that he really thought Komaeda had ever actually celebrated Christmas. He’d seemed completely gobsmacked by the idea when Sonia had started making noises about how they should maybe find some lights to make the ship a bit more friendly-looking so people would stop running away when they docked.

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that people would probably still run away, they’d just be able to do so a lot sooner, because they’d see them coming from further off.

Fortunately, the running and screaming actually seemed to finally be dying down a bit as people slowly forgot who they had been and what they could do. Eventually he hoped they’d just seem like eccentric weirdo do-gooders wandering the world fixing things.

Like those guys on Scooby Doo… only with more practical repair work and a boat instead of a brightly painted van.

They even had a dog now… apparently.

“Where’d you even get a puppy?”

“Oh, I found him.”

And knowing Komaeda that could mean any number of things, each more potentially distressing than the last.

This was why he hated being labeled de-facto leader of their little bad of misfits.

Being responsible for things like this.

Because it had pretty much been an endless parade of things like this ever since they’d woken up.

Gundham was running some sort of weird island rodent rehabilitation program in the old theater and since he’d used the ship to bring them to the island in the first place, they’d been cleaning rat crap out of all the nooks and crannies for the better part of a month.

Akane had somehow stolen one of Togami’s credit cards and used it to order fifteen pigs last month so they could roast and eat them. He hadn’t even known you could buy fifteen freaking pigs online much less have them airlifted to an manmade island in the middle of the Pacific.

Such was the power of the Togami name, apparently, even now.

Their Imposter still couldn’t settle on a name or a default persona and had been oscillating between old standbys for the last few weeks which - in and of itself - wouldn’t have been that big a deal if it hadn’t sent poor Mitarai running to their room every other day at half past three in the morning with a laundry list of completely earnest questions about sex that had made him want to weep.

Mostly because of the sort of answers Komaeda cheerfully volunteered.

Souda had built a giant security robot that had managed to set half of the buildings on the fourth island on fire.

Nekomaru had managed to blow out the plumbing in both his own room and different parts of the hotel no less than five times in the last month.

They had started leaving him behind on the island to avoid potential mid-ocean disasters (not that that helped with the blow out issue exactly, but at least it kept it contained to the island where there were a number of bathrooms).

Akane had volunteered to stay behind with him (which he was silently grateful for as Akane had a tendency to mow right through their food supplies by the time they were two days out of port). Between the two of them they always managed to break something while they were gone, but at least they didn’t have to worry about intruders attempting to take over their little piece of the world while they were away.

Not that people were exactly lining up to attack their island these days.  

It only took so many stalled ships and airplanes and so many rockets shot out of the air before those few countries who had been so inclined had given it up as a bad job.

Mahiru was constantly banging on his door at all hours of the night to complain about something Hanamura had done during the day. Or how she really needed a dedicated space in which to develop pictures. Or how they really needed to install better lighting in the common areas. Or how irresponsible it was of him to be sleeping without first making sure everyone was safely in their cabins for the night.

At which point he usually reminded her that he wasn’t a hall monitor and that they were all adults perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

And the look she usually gave him when he said that was the same look she might have given gum she had to scrap off her shoe.

Fortunately, he had resigned himself to Mahiru’s disappointment when he’d first woken her up and she’d asked him what had taken so long.

For his part things, Hanamura (when he wasn’t having to lecture him yet again about his inappropriate behavior) had begun insisting on regular delivers of all sorts of exotic ingredients so he could stretch his culinary wings.

Which really meant they’d been discovering with uncomfortable regularity that everyone was allergic to something.

And it probably explained the Nekomaru’s bathroom issues as well.

Sonia had insisted on expanding the library’s already improbably large section devoted to the occult and unnatural phenomena, but while they’d been removing and disposing of the library’s collection of weird porn (which Hanamura had been delighted to take custody of) to make room for it they’d discovered some intrepid librarian had built a secret sex dungeon in behind the ‘Do-It-Yourself’ section.

Which would have been fine except apparently Despair had hit the island really, really hard and the sex dungeon had become… something else entirely and since just lighting the building on fire with one of Souda’s robots wasn’t an option they’d had to figure out a way to clean the whole place out.

Which had been an incredibly disgusting task that Komaeda had overseen cheerfully claiming he was glad to have a way to contribute and blithely ignoring Souda’s and Kazuryuu’s loud complaints about being forced to do the grunt work.

Peko… actually never caused any particular problems.

Or possibly was just better at resolving any situations that arose on her own.

It was hard to say for sure.

Saionji had brought the act of ‘making a bad situation worse’ to an art form of epic proportions during the months since she’d woken up. Besides playing pranks on everyone (but mostly Mikan because some folks never really changed completely). She and Ibuki had also formed a band called Hair Down There and had been threatening to hold a concert as soon as they convinced Souda to build them a giant flame spewing dinosaur they absolutely needed for the their big finale.

He was pretty sure the giant robot had given them ideas.

And Komaeda…

Komaeda had apparently found and adopted a dog.

And since they’d been sleeping together practically since the moment he’d taken his hand and pulled him back into the waking world, he had apparently also adopted a dog.

Because, honestly, his life just wasn’t complete without something to stare at them awkwardly from across the room when they….

Dammit.

The idea of having yet another living thing dependent on him for its survival was nauseating.

But Komaeda looked so damn happy about the idea.

Fuck.

When exactly was it that he’d become completely incapable of saying no to Nagito Komaeda?

Komaeda’s chin settled against his shoulder, arms looping tight around his waist, “It’s a lot to ask, isn’t it?”

“The asking part would have been nice,” he sighed, tipping his head in against the soft, pale hair. “Seriously? Where did you even find him?”

“You know all those busted up shops near the dock?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Because it was hard to be sure which shops he was talking about since pretty much all the shops on the entire island (whose name Izuru/Nanami politely informed him was Sint Maarten as if that were important or relevant to the conversation and not just one more awkward piece of knowledge to deal with) had been burgled or trashed at some point before they’d arrived and while they’d been doing clean-up for a couple days, there was still a lot of work to be done.

“I heard him crying. His mother… well. I think it was lucky I decided to take my walk there today.”

“Mm, how are you feeling?”

“I…” He hesitated and within that pause he could practically feel him swallowing down the urge to lie or to tell the truth in the cruelest possible way.

They were all trying so hard to be better than they were.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” he shrugged.

“Because you know anyway?” Komaeda murmured, voice flat, but his arms tightened around him which was a good sign.

He did.

That soft, flat voice in his head was running down numbers and percentages and adjusting his exercise regiment.

He couldn’t help being what he was.

“But you’d still rather hear it from me,” Komaeda commented as if plunking the words from his mind. “Today was a pretty good day. Look at him. He’s cute, isn’t he?”

The nameless puppy had apparently finished cleaning himself and was now roaming around sniffing at the pile of supply crates that dominated that part of the deck.

“He’s going to pee on that crate.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“He just did.”

“Oh… so he did. I should probably clean that up,”

“Probably. I’ll go see if we have anything to feed him,” Hajime sighed, resigned to the inevitably of their new crew member.

He could already see the span of days falling out before him. Days of Komaeda chasing that puppy around the ship, cleaning up after him, apologizing for him… this was probably a mistake.

Still….

He liked the mistakes.

Maybe it was selfish, but he liked watching them all make mistakes.

He was still able to see everything that would happen, all the inevitable cause and effect that ruled the world, all those potential inconveniences coming miles away. That hadn’t changed when he’d woken up in his pod, gasping for air, heart racing. The world was still boring and very little surprised him, but it was somehow less of a burden than it had been when he’d been only Izuru Kamakura and the world had seemed mired in molasses, always moving too slow and predictably around him to be of even the slightest interest.

Now at least he could appreciate the pleasure that came from letting things play out as they would, content himself with enjoying the little surprises as they happened rather than intent on breaking the world to pieces in search of them.

These days he found he liked watching things happen.

Liked seeing what they would make of their lives.

It was worth watching buildings burn and fielding angry calls from Togami and answering uncomfortable questions and navigating an endless series of complaints.

Sometimes they surprised him and events would veer off in directions he could never have predicted.

More often they didn’t.

But that was okay too.

Life was full of inconveniences and robots and wrecked buildings and the feel of Komaeda sliding his metallic hand beneath his shirt and dragging chilly fingertips up his spine because he knew the cold would make him flinch and squirm against him even if he knew it was coming.

That it would still make them both laugh.

There was more laughter than despair these days and that, in and of itself, was something special.

In the simulation, he’d spent weeks wishing Komaeda would leave him alone.

Now he couldn’t imagine what his days would look like without him.

Didn’t want to.

So, if he wanted a puppy… that was okay too.

“So, what are you going to name him?” He’d asked late that afternoon as they lay sprawled out on the deck watching the others laugh and talk as Hanamura grilled up something that smelled amazing and would probably taste twice as good. “And don’t say Hope. You are not naming our puppy ‘Hope’.”

Komaeda laughter was like the tinkling sound of wind chimes swept together by a warm breeze, “Our puppy?”

“Would you rather he was just yours?”

“No, not at all,” he hummed, scooting a little closer so their legs touched, careful not to disturb the puppy currently snoozing on his chest. “Though maybe you should name him. I’m really no good at naming things….”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. If it’s something awful, I’ll veto it.”

“I really don’t know if I can trust someone like you with such an important job, maybe we should have Sonia or one of the others….”

“Oh, shut up about my talent and name the damn dog already,” he laughed, poking Komaeda’s shoulder.

Komaeda hummed and fell silent for long moments as he contemplated the compromise. “Lucky,” he said finally, his face gravely serious.

“What is?”

“His name. See, I told you I wasn’t very good at naming things, you see,” Komaeda replied, scratching a finger against the puppy’s floppy ear. “You are very unfortunate to have such a terrible master.”

“I don’t know, I think it suits him.”

“Really?”

“I do.”

“Okay.”

The fingers of Komaeda’s robotic hand slid over his own, clutched briefly before retreating.

“But we’re going to need to find someone who’s willing to watch him if you want to fool around.”

“Why? I don’t think he’d mind.”

“I’d mind.”

“You’re surprisingly prudish about the strangest things. I don’t think Lucky cares what you look like naked. Or are you worried my body will frighten him? I admit that might be-“

“You’re beautiful.”

“Well, yes, so you’ve said, but I think that’s just because you have terrible taste. I mean, you’ve chosen to spend your time with someone like me so your judgement is highly questionable on a number of levels.”

He rolled over onto his knees so he could loom over Komaeda who, unsurprisingly, looked back up at him with that usual pleasantly blank expression that made him want to throw things at Komaeda’s long-dead parents for whatever part they’d had in this attitude, “You do know I’m literally the most talented man in the world, right?”

“Well, yes, but only because you cheated.”

He chose to ignore that remark. It was one he was well-used to hearing from Komaeda’s lips, after all. Whatever sting it might have carried had worn away long ago.

“And you’re in love with a cheater.”

“Am I?” A smile quirked across his lips, subtle but real.

“Aren’t you? Seems like you said as much several times this morning.”

“Well, you have a few redeeming qualities.”

“Thanks for that. That’s good to hear,” he commented dryly, dropping a kiss against Komaeda’s lips. He’d intended to be a quick thing, but Komaeda had other ideas, fingers catching against the back of his neck and drawing him in for something wetter, deeper.

When he’d finally drawn away, they were both breathing a little harder and somewhere behind them Saionji was bitching loudly about how some people should take their little makeup sessions downstairs.

Komaeda smiled, pale cheeks flushed pink in the light of the setting sun, “Mm, do you think Mitarai likes dogs?”

Hajime laughed, reaching down to scratch behind Lucky’s ears before sitting back, “I think if you have Mitarai watch him for us, there’s really no telling what his boyfriend is going to imitate next.”

The idea of the unknown was always such a unique and tantalizing possibility.

Komaeda’s smile was soft and knowing as he sat up slowly, lifting the puppy from his chest and depositing him carefully in Hajime’s lap. He leaned in and pressed a fleeting kiss against his lips before getting unsteadily to his feet, “I’ll go find out. Wait for me?”

“I always do,” he said, setting a tentative hand against the pup’s back as it lifted its head, suddenly awake and interested in the proceedings as Komaeda slipped off into the crowd gathered around the grill.

The puppy clamored up out of his lap, sniffing the air and padding off towards the pile of crates.

“You need to go for a walk don’t you?” He sighed, climbing to his feet and adjusting his slacks. “C’mon, then.”

Lucky glanced back at him and lifted his leg against one of the crates in response.

Right.

[darkershining]

So, before NDRV3 came out, I made a post about my predictions for the NDRV3 cast. Now that the game’s been out for a little over a month and there’s more accurate translations out there to give us an idea of what was going on, I felt like I should do sort of a follow-up post with some thoughts, such as which of my theories ended up being right, which ones were wrong, and a few other thoughts.

(This post will contain lots of spoilers.)

Kaede Akamatsu

Well... Remember how I said I didn’t think she’d be killed off in a twist, like some people predicted she’d be? Yeah, looks like I was wrong after all...

Seems I was right about her potential execution involving Monokuma playing a piano, albeit very different from the “death trap controlled by a piano keyboard” theory I came up with.

I wonder what kind of character she would’ve become if she had lived... I guess there will be fanfics exploring the possibilities.

Ki-Bo

I was wrong about him being one of the survivors, but at least he made it through most of the game.

If I recall correctly, Ki-Bo’s line about having recording functions was one of the first lines we heard from him in trailers and such. Ah, the foreshadowing. I thought the twist about Ki-Bo turning out to have unknowingly been the cameraman for the show all along was pretty clever.

His ahoge actually being an antenna was also a clever touch.

I kind of want to see him return in a sequel, like maybe the survivors managed to find the part of him containing his A.I. and find a way to transfer him into a computer or something until they find somebody with the right talents to make him a new body?

Rantaro Amami

In my speculation post, I named him as the most likely candidate to be the first victim. Looks I like got that one right!

In the end, he really didn’t end up being that important to the plot of this particular game, but... you know, his status as a survivor of previous killing games opens a lot of possibilities for a prequel spin-off story, or something. As I’ve mentioned in a different post, I’d also like a DR IF-esque story for V3 in which Rantaro could get a chance to shine.

Ultimate Survivor, or Ultimate Adventurer... Interesting talents. I assume the latter one would be the one used in Non-Despair AUs and such stories, for obvious reasons.

Shuichi Saihara

In my speculation post, I guessed that he would either be a survivor, or one of the last to die. Well, I wasn’t wrong, I guess.

Didn’t expect him to become the protagonist, but I’m okay with it. He seems like an interesting enough protagonist. Too bad about what happened to Kaede, though...

The poor guy went through a lot. Hopefully he and the other survivors will uncover the truth about their world, since the ending can pretty much be summed up as “We have no idea what’s actually going on, and neither do the characters!”

While I don’t think I mentioned this in my speculation post, I kind of thought that since DR1 had three boys and three girls survive, while SDR2 had three boys and two girls, I thought that maybe NDRV3 would have one female survivor more than male survivors. Guess I got that one right too, as Shuichi was the only survivor out of the boys in the end, while the other survivors were two girls.

Maki Harukawa

Just like Shuichi, I speculated that she’d either be a survivor or one of the last to die. Like Shuichi, it turned out to be the former.

Her role in the story ended up being pretty different from what I expected, with the Monokuma Cubs turning out to not be all that important to the story, and “Caregiver” turning out not to be Maki’s actual talent.

Ultimate Assassin, huh... Wonder how Kaede would’ve reacted if she had lived to learn about that.

And once again, we have a character with a talent related to killing, who doesn’t actually end up killing anyone during the game. She did come kind of close to doing it at some point, though.

Probably a good thing she survived. I mean, we don’t know exactly what awaits her and the other two survivors in the outside world, but having a badass like her on their side will probably come in handy.

Kokichi Ouma

I thought he might possibly be a survivor, but I was wrong about that one.

I guess I also kind of underestimated his jerk-ish ness. In the end, though, he wasn’t really a bad guy, although that doesn’t really excuse some of his actions, which he probably knew. At least, that’s how I understand it from what I’ve read.

He’s certainly an interesting character.

Tenko Chabashira

I was pretty sure she’d be a survivor, but I was wrong.

I was also wrong in my assumption that if she did end up being killed, the culprit would be one of the other girls.

When speculating about Himiko and her potential relationship with Tenko, I guessed that it would probably end in tears. I guess I was right about that one, but wrong about which of them would end up being the one to die.

Angie Yonaga

Looks like I ended up being right when I predicted that she’d be one of the victims.

... Can’t think of much else to say about her. She seemed like she had good intentions, even if she apparently went a bit mad with power during the third chapter.

Kaito Momota

During the speculation post, I mentioned that I didn’t know what to expect from Kaito’s character and whether he’d be a survivor, victim or killer.

I did eventually make a guess that if Shuichi died, then Kaito would be a survivor, while if Shuichi ended up being a survivor, then Kaito would die. Looks like I got that one right.

I also correctly guessed that his execution would involve a callback to Jin Kirigiri’s execution from the first game. Unlike my prediction, though, the rocket actually did make it off the ground. Well, it went through the ground, but at least he actually made it into space.

He ended up being more important than I expected, which probably shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise. He was one of the first characters we saw alongside Ki-Bo and Maki in early material, after all.

I wonder what illness of his was, but I get the feeling there won’t be a clear answer to that question.

Basically, I like him and the bonds he developed with Shuichi and Maki.

Miu Iruma

Like Kaito, I wasn’t sure what to expect from her. 

I did for some reason think that if Maki died, then Miu would be a survivor, and vice versa. I guess I got that one right, even if that guess was made with the assumption there’d be more than three survivors.

Miu’s talent did end up playing a big role in the story, among other things providing the upgrades to Ki-Bo that allowed the survivors to escape at the end, if I’m not mistaken.

Her plan to kill Kokichi was pretty clever too, but of course, the little guy out-gambitted her.

Strangled to death with virtual toilet paper... Pretty embarrassing way to die.

Himiko Yumeno

I had thought she’d be a victim, but I was pleasantly surprised that she ended up surviving. Too bad Tenko didn’t survive too...

This cute little witch ends up going through a lot.

If we see her and the other survivors again in a sequel, I hope we get to see her busting out some impressing magic tricks in order to distract Monokuma or something while she and her friends are trying to break out the survivors of another killing game, or something.

Gonta Gokuhara

*sigh* He was too pure for this world, so of course he had to be destroyed.

I knew he wouldn’t live past chapter four. I expected him to be a victim rather than a culprit, though. I did mention a possibility of him killing someone by accident, but while people did believe that’s what happened for a while, that’s not really what happened either...

I also mentioned the speculation about the scene from one of the trailers where Monokuma was shown with a flamethrower that people thought might be part of Gonta’s execution, which turned out to be correct.

I feel so sorry for this guy. I mean, during the fourth trial, he has no idea what’s going on because he mixed up two wires and thus couldn’t remember anything from the virtual world after logging out. Then he finds out he’s the one who killed Miu, despite not remembering doing so or why he would’ve done it. And even after learning the truth from his Alter Ego created from his memories, he still doesn’t fully understand the circumstances that led to him murdering Miu as he lets Monokuma execute him... 

And then there’s the execution itself... Even if he did kill Miu, he did not deserve to go out like that. I suppose it’s not as bad as “getting eaten by giant robotic bugs”, which it seems I’m not the only one who considered as a possible way he might get executed, but still, it was certainly brutal.

Tsumugi Shirogane

I had considered both her and Angie as characters everyone thought would be a killer, but that would turn out to be victims instead. While I was right about this being the case with Angie, Tsumugi turned out to be a different story...

At least I correctly predicted that she wouldn’t be a survivor, though. Her death was kind of anti-climatic, but I think that was the point.

Her cosplaying skills were truly impressive. I know there were those who wanted to see her cosplay as Junko, and they certainly got their wish. I also know some people wanted her to cosplay as Togami, and we got that wish granted as well, among others.

Ryoma Hoshi

I thought he might make some sort of sacrifice to save the others, either by murdering for a noble reason, or getting executed for breaking one of Monokuma’s rules. Instead, he simply turned out to be one of the victims.

I expected him to last longer than he did.

His death was pretty nasty too. At least he was already dead by the time the piranhas got to him...

Korekiyo Shinguji

I correctly guessed that he would be one of the killers.

I was wrong about the execution involving the thorny vine being his execution, though. His execution was a bit... stranger.

I’m just going to assume some of the... creepier aspects of his character were the result of the brainwashing he went through.

Kirumi Toujo

Once again, Kirumi is the last on the list. I correctly guessed that she’d be one of the killers.

The execution involving the thorny vines shown in one of the trailers was speculated to either be the execution for Korekiyo, Gonta or her, due to the spider web imagery featured in it. Turned out to be Kirumi’s execution.

I found it kind of amusing how her Game Over screen had her still running from Monokuma, rather than the usual one with Monokuma dragging the culprit away. I thought it was a nice touch.

And those are my thoughts on each character. Some closing thoughts:

While I’m perfectly fine with Shuichi as the main character, I do wish we could’ve seen more of Kaede. With the whole “lie” mechanic, I was really curious where her character development would go. Oh, well. I suppose some fanfic writers will probably do their own take on it.

I really wanted Tenko to survive, but... well, she didn’t. Not much else to say about that.

At least they’re all alive in the bonus modes. I’m especially grateful for the board game mode where they’re all alive, the DR1 kids are all alive and the SDR2 kids are okay as well.

[bakaiju]

Survival at Mount Massive Asylum chapter 15

Female Ward (part 3)

She was feeling nervous. But seriously, who wouldn't? It was her wedding day! Kirigiri was wearing the beautiful white dress Maizono and Asahina, her maids of honor, made her try out and literally cried over its beauty.

Everyone was there, their old classmates and friends. Even some senpais. Her grandfather was there too, even Jin. Makoto convinced her to invite him. There was also Makoto’s heartwarming family. And aw, is Komaru-chan really crying?

She was walking down the aisle towards the altar where was waiting the priest and next to him was her soon to be husband: Makoto Naegi. He was just dazzling in his wedding suit and he even combed his hair back that made him look more mature. She couldn't help herself but blush.

He really knew how to make her heart flutter.

She stood next to him and they shared a look before turning towards the priest who started the ceremony.

“You look beautiful, the girls made a great choice.” He said sheepishly, his cheeks red.

“Thank you. You look good yourself too, Makoto.” She smiled.

“Th-Thank you, Togami chose it for me. But I’m sure you must have already guessed it.”

“Obviously”

The both chuckled. And followed the ceremony, exchanged vows and rings,

“At this time, I’ll ask you, Makoto Naegi, and you,Kyoko Kirigiri, to face each other & take each other’s hands.” The priest said and they obeyed.

“Makoto Naegi, will you take Kyoko Kirigiri to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Do you promise to be faithful to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and to honor her all the days of your life?”

“I do” he answered with a determined smile.

“Kyoko Kirigiri, will you take Makoto Naegi to be your husband, your partner in life and your one true love? Do you promise to be faithful to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and to honor him all the days of your life?”

“I do” she smiled back.

Then the end of the ceremony...

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride"

Naegi smile widened as he leaned forward and slowly pressed his lips against hers. The feeling of warmth was… just relaxing and marvelous.

But suddenly a sharp sound echoed in her ears and the soft lips of her now husband felt metallic… that’s not normal. She stopped the kissing and took a step back only to see Naegi spitting blood as bone shears were poking out of his chest.

Naegi looked with terror and confusion at the blades but a hand grabbed his hair and pulled him up before he could collapse.

“What’s the matter, buddy? You really thought I'd be satisfied with only two fingers?!” Trager mocked as he waved Naegi’s right index and left ring fingers in front of his terrified eyes. His wedding ring fell from the finger into a pool of blood.

Kirigiri couldn’t move as she was staring in horror at the gruesome scene in front of her. The once church turned into a dark bloody room and the priest turned out to be Father Martin as he just looked down in disappointment.

“Well that’s not all but the big guy over here have something to say to you.” The crazy doctor said before letting go of Naegi with the weapon still skewering his body.

Chains and heavy footsteps were heard as an enormous hand reached for Naegi’s neck then grabbed it. Slowly lifting the brunette in the air and without warning, a wet ripping sound echoed around the room as the male detective’s body got his head ripped off. His eyes rolled back as his mouth hung open, blood not stopping pouring out of his mouth.

She finally screamed and cried, her hand grabbed the side of her head. Her vision blurred by the tears that never stopped to flow. She didn't see nor hear Chris Walker approaching her. Then pain attacked her neck, then just like Naegi, the big guy lifted her up and grabbed her around the chest. It hurts a lot.

And her last vision was her own bloody body now between Chris’s fingers, his arm at the side of his body. His white eyes glaring at her as her vision turned red then black…

Then she opened her eyes …waking up… and was greeted with darkness all around her.

Naegi stared at the hole by which Kirigiri fell. He quickly got up to his feet and started to perambulate in worry. He’d done that for less than twenty seconds when he already slapped himself on the forehead.

“Stop being an idiot and go already!” he scolded himself, “You must go save your fiancée, moron!”

With determination, he jumped down to the floor below and looked at the hole again. It was pure darkness down there. He couldn’t see anything! And the hole wasn’t large enough for him to jump down and be sure not to land on where she might have fallen… There was a chance that she’d already gotten up, but there was also the chance that she’s unconscious… There’s no time to see the different possibilities! He needed to get down there and help her!

He looked at the open door behind him. The more prudent thing to do was to find a way down safely. Kyoko would kill him if he injured himself even more for her… But again, it’s normal to-

“AAAH! Stop it! You’re wasting time!” he shouted to himself, feeling that he’s starting to lose sanity in this damned place.

He walked through the door, the next room was dark but just there’s enough light for him to walk around it. He must only walk in the light. Never walk in the darkness since without the camcorder and its night vision, he wouldn’t see the dangers lurking. As he followed this rule, he reached a locker room with showers. One of them was broken and with water pouring down to the floor.

Naegi looked around to see another exit leading downstairs as this room was the only one with light around, but his luck was against him.

“Damnit!” he growled as he hit one of the stalls, the impact opening it and presenting to the detective a large hole on the floor, leading to the floor below, “..Oh!”

Well looks like his luck might be with him finally.

“I’m coming Kyouko!” he said with determination as he jumped down the hole.

Kirigiri woke up in a dark room. Absolute darkness. She couldn't even see the tip of her nose. She wanted to move but the sudden noise of a can being kicked stopped her. It wasn't her and it echoed all around the room, making it impossible to localize the source.

She eventually turned around and saw some light. She could tell computer screens emitted it but they were facing away from her. She slowly and cautiously walked toward the light.

But more noise were heard, noise of metal hitting each other. She couldn't localize the source but knew what it was: cutlery. So she could guess she was either in a cafeteria or a kitchen.

Maybe.

Anyway, she reached the light and the screens were static but illuminating the desk they were set on, and more importantly: the camcorder. How on Earth did it fall there? No. It was put there in purpose. She grabbed it and examined it.

She gasped when she saw that the screen was cracked.

“It’s broken…”

But thank god, it didn't affect the others functions. And the screen still worked, there just was a big crack on the bottom left corner.

As she looked around with the night vision, she noticed that she was indeed in a cafeteria and the doors were open, she must go back upstairs and rejoin Naegi. He must be very worried.

A movement on the left caught her attention. She turned around and jumped as she saw three armed Variants that were staring at her. She started to run toward the doors. She must find Naegi and escape those Variants.

“Uh? She can see us?”

“Get her!!”

“KILL HER!!”

She ran through dark rooms and hallways, she could hear the three men yelling at her as they gave chase.

There was a big room behind the next busted door and- uh?

Is that…?

Naegi jumped down the hole and landed on top of a stack of lockers. It was another shower room but with lockers this time. He jumped down again and left the room. The hallways were dark but some candles were lit.

And as he walked down, thunder suddenly roared and illuminated the hall just for a split second. Just the perfect amount of time for Naegi to see a patient running the way he must go as it had some light and all the doors were barricaded.

Then a second thunder roared when he reached the corner where the patient disappeared. He walked down cautiously and fists clenched. He knew that he have no chance to beat one of those crazy patients but he must keep going. Kirigiri was in trouble!

And just as he finished giving himself determination, a patient jumped out from the darkness and reached for Naegi’s neck and grabbed it.

But before he could tighten his grip, the brunette swung his arm back.

“Let me GO!” He shouted as he punched the patient square in the face.

The man fell back but quickly got back on his feet and ran past Naegi, whimpering.

“Wow… no one would believe me if I told them that I pushed one of these creeps away with a punch.”

He chuckled but quickly got serious as he kept walking down the dark hallway. He entered a large empty room illuminated by the moonlight outside. Well it wasn’t empty as there were two Variants inside. One was sitting on a table, staring at Naegi when he came in while the other had his face glued on the window, looking for something.

Naegi looked for another door that could lead him where Kirigiri fell and found it. He walked towards it.

“You’ll never leave this place alive… hehehe…” said one of the Variant, he didn’t know which one said it.

He did his best to ignore whoever said that and kept walking until he saw a shadow running towards him… it was…

“Kyoko!” he said, his face showing happiness but it quickly turned into a worried face when she saw her frightened eyes and most importantly: the right side of the face soaking with blood.

“RUN!” she ordered, and he understood why when she grabbed his wrist and when he saw the three Variant pursuing her.

“Follow me! I know the way up!” said Naegi with confidence, as it was now him leading the charge.

In less than a minute, they were at the locker room. Kirigiri closed the doors behind her as Naegi jumped over the locker and extended his hand for her to grab.

“Come on! I got you!” he said with determined eyes.

She grabbed the hand and got pulled over the locker. Then they climbed up the hole and reached the second floor’s showers. The danger was gone now. The Variant gave up and walked away. And there they were, both in each other’s arms under the broken shower getting wet. Naegi said that they should huddle away from the water as getting a cold would only make their condition worse. Kirigiri blushed and agreed as she helped him stand up.  They walked back to the room where she fell and there she hugged him and made him sit down.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you when you fell…” he apologized.

“It’s not your fault. But everything turned alright, I’m fine and I got back the camcorder. The screen is broken though.”

“Forget the camcorder, I almost lost you…” he kissed her cheek and brought her closer.

“...Makoto… Let’s rest for a bit…”

“Sure…” He whispered as she laid her forehead against his shoulder, and he rested his head on hers.

They stayed quiet, like that for at least five minutes. But footsteps brought them back to reality; it was coming their way! They stood up and climbed up the platform where they’ve gotten separated. They walked down the dark hallway following the collapsed room and then, next door to the left, they reached the second collapsed room where Father Martin was waiting for them. But not anymore. He was gone again.

The only way to reach the other side of the room was by shimmying against the ledge on their left then jumping down to the platform. Thankfully, this time everything went well. The doors lead to a tight corridor, where a Variant was waiting for them. But he didn’t moved as he looked at them. He even told them to come quickly as Father Martin was waiting.

“Only one way out, only one way.” he said as he gestured for the couple to go through the gridded door next to him.

It was the only way they could go so they did as he said. But as soon as they crossed the doorframe, he closed the door behind them.

“How do you know you’re not a patient?” he concluded before locking the door and leaving his post.

No choice then but to keep going.

But the corridor they were in was familiar. Very familiar.

“Wait… Is this?”

“I think it is.”

“We’re back to the Administration Block!”

“Where everything started.”

“And where everything will end! Kyoko! We’re almost out of here.”

Naegi shouted in delight as he hugged her.

But the nightmare isn’t over, it continues…

To be continued…

In the next chapter of Survival at Mount Massive Asylum…

“Oh God, no.”

“Little pigs!!”

“So he really is alive…”

“The key to the house of God is in the theater. Behind the light. In the theater, behind the light”

“Shh. Can you hear that?”

“Only a test subject who witnessed enough horror was capable of activating the engine.”