Another day, another death, another trial, another execution. I enter my bedroom to see something dark resting on my table.
As I approach, my eyes widen. It’s a coat.
It’s Mondo’s uniform coat.
What the hell is this doing here?!
I grab it and shake it out to its full length, as if that will change it into something, anything other than a grim reminder of who we’ve lost. The coat remains black and gold and purple and—white?
A paper flutters down from where it had been tucked into the collar. I drape the coat over one arm and reach out with the other to snatch the paper before it hits the ground. Opening it up, I see that it’s a note, addressed to me.
Dearest Mister Makoto Naegi,
Thanks for all your hard work at the class trial today! At this rate, no matter how many people die, I don’t think anyone will be able to graduate! Consider this a present for making sure killers never walk the streets again!
Keep up the good work!
With Ultimate LOVE!
Headmaster Monokuma ♥
“This is sick!”
Without a second thought, I crumple up the note and toss it in the trash. I look back at the coat in my arms.
Mondo… Monokuma got to you. But I won’t let him get to me, or anyone else.
I fold Mondo’s coat and lay it on the table again. I’ll find a better place for it tomorrow.
The next day at breakfast, Taka’s not himself. He won’t speak. His clothes are wrinkled and creased in the wrong places, like he didn’t change out of them to go to sleep. Worst of all, though, he won’t look at anyone. He used to be so strict about making eye contact as a sign of paying attention, but now his red eyes, once so intense, are dull. It’s like he’s already dead.
I shake my head. No… No! I can’t think like that! We’re gonna make it out of this alive! Me, Taka, and everyone else…!
Hiro tries to take over as leader this morning, but it’s not much use. None of us are in a particularly collaborative mood right now. I watch as everyone leaves the dining hall, none with a spring in their step, but some worse off than others. Taka’s a different person as he drags his feet and shuffles out the door. If it weren’t for his uniform, I wouldn’t recognize him at all…
Uniform.
“Uniform!”
I hurry to my room. I think I know someone who could use my ‘present’ more than I do…
After getting Mondo’s coat from my room, I search the school for Taka. I find him in a classroom on the third floor.
Did he still try to explore the school and look for a way out? Or did he come here wanting some quiet…?
I try to size up the situation from the doorway before approaching.
He’s sitting frozen at a desk, arms locked straight with clenched fists resting on his knees. His downcast eyes stare through the tabletop, somewhere beyond even the classroom floor. His expression could be described as that of a student waiting for his name to be called in class as the teacher announces test scores in descending order, but that wouldn’t cover it.
That wouldn’t even begin to cover the despair in his eyes.
It looks like he really needs someone to talk to. I approach, and hold out the jacket.
“Taka…?”
He barely looks up from the desk, but when he sees what I’m carrying, he reaches out for it desperately, like it’s a lifesaver and he’s drowning at sea.
“Give me that!” He clutches it with shaking hands, knuckles white against his already pale skin. Tears fill his eyes, but they’re nothing like the tears I’ve seen him cry before. They’re not angry tears or passionate tears, or even the frustrated tears from last night’s trial. These are tears of pure sorrow.
I don’t say anything. I just let him have his moment.
“Why… Why did you have to leave me, bro? You were my first…” He chokes on a sob. “You were my only friend, bro! Why did you do it? MONDO!!!”
It’s hard to watch… I decide to sit at the next desk over, just to keep an eye on him. In case he wants someone to talk to…
“Makoto…”
Hearing my name makes me jump. Taka turns to me with tears and snot dripping down his face. He sniffs.
“How…did you get this? Mondo, I thought he…” Was turned into butter. Yeah, we all watched that happen.
“Um, well, it was in my room when I got back from the trial. Monokuma said it was a ‘present’ for…”
I decide not to finish the sentence. It’s probably best not to remind Taka of the conviction.
“A…present? Why, why for you? I LOVED HIM MORE!” Taka almost roars his last sentence. It makes me jump again.
Once I’ve processed his words, I’m taken aback. “I-I don’t know! Probably just ‘cause I talked so much!”
That answer seems to satisfy him, and he goes back to clutching the coat to his chest. Tears fall from his squeezed-shut eyes onto the desk below. With a shaking voice I don’t recognize, Taka asks me to go.
“Th-Thank you, Makoto, but now… I’d really like to be alone. Plea…Please leave.”
His eyes are still scrunched shut, so I wordlessly get up from the desk and leave the classroom. As I close the door, I hear him start crying again. I guess, if nothing else, I’ve reunited him with a piece of Mondo…
I hope I did the right thing.
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