#just had the most malicious dining hall food bro

[h4bit]

tw vomiting 

i hate throwing up bro my mouth tastes fucking disgusting after and the feeling itself while ur doing it ??? so nasty 

[pyropsychiccollector]

Goodbye Despair, Chapter 1: Destination Despair (Pat 1)

            It had been three days since the start of Ultimate Despair’s incarceration on Jabberwock Island. True to Munakata’s word, Class 78 had been allowed possessions and other privileges that most prisoners would never even dream of having. Nothing dangerous was allowed, and of course there were restrictions, but in general it really was like a holiday retreat instead of a tense imprisonment.

            The main thing was the curfew. Every night, at 10pm, the Despairs had to be back in their cottages. And in the mornings, starting at 7am, everyone was required to attend breakfast, which was prepared by Hanamura. Most Despairs were allowed to freely roam the six islands that made up Jabberwock, as security cameras and announcement monitors were stationed in various locations. Exceptions included Kamakura, who was restricted to the first island for the purpose of restraining him if necessary; Asahina, who was also restricted to the first island (unless escorted to and from other islands) because she would become a threat in the ocean; and Sakura, who required a heavier presence of Foundation personnel around her because of how exceptional she was as a warrior.

            Mukuro Ikusaba would have required as much supervision as Oogami, if it weren’t for the fact that she listlessly stayed in her cottage when she wasn’t required to be present for breakfast or anything else.

            Not too surprisingly, Ultimate Despair didn’t act too excited with their freedom. In fact, they seemed pretty miserable and withdrawn, even from each other. Some even deliberately went out of their way to “break the rules” just so they would be forced to stay in their rooms as punishment. They seemed to crave disciplinary action, as more restrictions brought about a “greater” despair for them.

            This didn’t stop their senpai from reaching out to them. But progress was close to nil.

            ~*~

            “Um… What’s the problem, again?” Hajime scratched his cheek as he looked between the Imposter and the prefect, who was huddled and sulking in the corner of the dining hall.

            “He wants more ‘structure’.” The Imposter, now dressed as Munakata, crossed his arms and frowned deeply. “He likes the idea of a morning meeting and a curfew, but he wants to be able to hold… seminars.”

            Hajime blinked owlishly at that.

            “Seminars?”

            The Imposter held an index finger to his face as his brow furrowed thoughtfully.

            “He says they’re too old for high school classes, and we don’t have the materials for college courses, so he wants to hold these ‘seminars’. I asked him about what he had in mind, and he said he would start by educating everyone on etiquette, hygiene, and health. When I probed him further on these topics, he described what was essentially the exact opposite of these things… I assume this is his Despair, so I simply told him ‘no’. And to try again, when he came up with something meaningful. He’s been like this ever since.”

            Hajime sweatdropped and stared at the depressed hall monitor’s backside.

            “And… how long has he been like this?”

            “The past half hour.” The Imposter plainly responded, which earned a sigh from the brunet. He knew the Imposter hadn’t just left him here, and had likely been trying to cheer Ishimaru up, but sulking for half an hour was pretty intense.

            Tentatively, Hajime approached the dark-haired young man and placed a hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to say, but he knew he didn’t want to leave Ishimaru like this.

            “H-Hey, um… Ishimaru? Did you wanna hang out?” He paused for a moment. “… Or find one of the others to hang out? I don’t mind if you think I’m boring, I just… want to help, I guess…?”

            Hajime finished off lamely, and the Imposter frowned at his self-depreciative attitude. Hinata had come a long way since becoming the Ultimate Counselor, but he still had that tendency to put himself down. The Imposter supposed all that time in the Reserve Course was to blame for this; as exceptional of an institution as Hope’s Peak was, it did tend to be elitist. Arrogant. Even to the people who paid to attend the school.

            As the Imposter considered approaching Miss Yukizome about having another pep talk with Hinata, the Ultimate Moral Compass stood up rigidly and turned to face Hajime sternly. The Imposter arched an eyebrow curiously at this development, and even Hajime’s eyebrows were raised in surprise.

            “And?! Why do you presume to be a boring person, Hajime Hinata?!” The hall monitor barked out as he crossed his arms in a huff. Though his red eyes were blazing like normal, Hajime could tell something was… different.

            “Um… Well, to be perfectly honest?” Hajime scratched his cheek sheepishly. “I… I was a Reserve Course student at Hope’s Peak. I didn’t even receive an ‘Ultimate’ talent before the world went to hell. Frankly, I’m just a boring, unremarkable kind of guy. The kind of person you’d lose sight of in a crowd and forget about.”

            “But that’s not true…!” Hajime backed up as Ishimaru raised a fist and shook it passionately as he closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter if you’re middle-class! As long as you work hard, you can get anywhere in life! I, myself, was born into a middle-class family – no, not even middle-class! And despite that…! Despite that!”

            Ishimaru shook his head vigorously before reopening his intense eyes and jabbing a finger into Hajime’s chest. The brunet continued to be shocked.

            “Listen! I don’t care if we are enemies! You got where you are today because you worked hard, right?! Then you should take pride in your achievements! Just because you weren’t born a genius, it doesn’t mean you’re worthless! The people who work hard, they’re the ones who shape society and provide food on dinner tables! Never put yourself down just because you’re ‘plain’ or ‘average’!”

            Hajime wilted under the intensity of Ishimaru’s impassioned state. Having been in the Reserve Course, Hajime never knew what Ishimaru was like, prior to the Tragedy. He’d borne witness to the cold, tyrannical Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but even when he harped on about unreasonable rules and regulations to the general masses, he’d never seemed this… energized. There was a ferocity and passion in those eyes that Hajime couldn’t quite place. Hajime was truly out of his depth.

            But the Imposter wasn’t. Though he’d only known his underclassman in passing, he saw it. A flicker. A faint silhouette of the boy Kiyotaka Ishimaru used to be.

            Cautiously, the Imposter took a step forward.

            “Oi… Ishimaru…?” The Imposter used his own voice without thinking, shocked as he was. Hajime craned his head toward his comrade at the abrupt change in atmosphere; and like a spell being broken, Ishimaru massaged his temple before shaking it vigorously and giving a wide, malicious grin, typical of an Ultimate Despair.

            “My apologies! I seem to have lost myself for a minute there. Hahaha…!” He spread out his arms benevolently. “Rest assured, Munakata-san, I shall rethink my proposal and approach you again in the near future! You better be ready for an intense negotiation~!”

            With one last boisterous, forced laugh, Ishimaru stomped away with that wide grin still plastered on his face. Hajime and the Imposter exchanged looks, both agreeing that incident was… odd.

            ~*~

            “I still don’t get what the big deal is!” Kuwata moaned as a blonde yanked him along a bridge that led to the central island. “Why have a tank all set up, if you’re not gonna use it?!”

            Natsumi’s scowl remained firm, and she cursed under her breath as she stomped along.

            “Because, dipshit, that’s for us to use in case someone like, I dunno, Ogre decides to try something!” Deciding to vent a little more, she yanked his arm harder. “How do you even go from baseball to motherfucking tanks anyway?! It’s like trading a Siamese cat for a German shepherd! Two different animals, dumbass!”

            To the yakuza’s irritation, Kuwata smiled fondly as he ran his free hand through his hair.

            “You ever seen one of those machines that spits out baseballs? Well, Enoshima suggested I should try one-upping that! So the tanks I drive around shoot out baseballs.” He then grinned madly, his eyes glowing a brighter, more ominous red. “Metal ones. Your body gets shot with those suckers, you’re a goner for sure! It’s really somethin’ to behold!”

            Deciding she’d had enough of the former baseball star’s insane ravings, Natsumi slugged the redhead hard enough in the face to knock him out, and then just dragged his unconscious body along the ground as a petty revenge. It was as she was stomping through Jabberwock Park that she encountered another Remnant.

            “Honestly, you can’t go one day without getting violent with someone, can you?”

            Natsumi growled and whirled on her heel to face the woman who was sitting under a tree, looking bored as hell. The woman flipped a strand of lilac hair behind her ear, which only caused Natsumi’s eyes to narrow further. She never did like this bitch.

            “What do you want?”

            “What makes you think I want anything?” Kirigiri asked airily, arching an eyebrow, despite Natsumi’s hostile tone. To further piss the yakuza off, the detective’s posture was completely relaxed, not tense in the least.

            But then, Kyoko Kirigiri had always been one to keep her emotions in check.

            “You’re the one who stopped me.” The dishwater blonde deadpanned. Kyoko made a small noise of understanding.

            “I was just making a casual observation. Wasn’t even addressing you. Feel free to ignore me.” Kirigiri dryly replied, craning her head away from the yakuza and staring out at the ocean. A clear dismissal, but Natsumi didn’t have the patience or control to ignore the detective.

            It was like Sato all over again.

            “Like hell you didn’t call me out just now…!” Natsumi growled as she released Kuwata’s legs unceremoniously and took one step over to Kyoko. “I dunno what bug crawled up your asshole, but you’ve always had a bone to pick with us yakuza! My big bro hated going to the same school and not being able to touch you! When that Sato bitch attacked me, you didn’t give a flying fuck until it looked like we were gonna murder her punk-ass! You were just chomping at the bit, waiting for us to give you a reason to get me and my bro expelled!”

            Kyoko had her arms crossed for the duration of Natsumi’s little rant, and her gaze remained firmly locked on the ocean. Her expression remained impassive. When Natsumi was done, not a fraction of a reaction could be seen.

            “And?” The lilac-haired girl wondered, after the silence had seeped into them for several uncomfortable moments. Natsumi snarled.

            “And?!” The blonde hissed.

            “What’s the point of dredging up ancient history?” Kyoko continued to needle the girl. “Of course the police and yakuza would never get along. Don’t act so shocked.”

            “That’s not the fucking point!” Natsumi all but screeched. “You might’ve become a crazy cold-hearted bitch, but you used to have fucking morals! You preached about the law being unbiased – hell, you threw it in my bro’s face when you thought we’d murder that bitch! – but you ignored all that shit about Sato attacking me and Hinata!”

            “… Oh. That.” Kyoko’s flippant response had the desired effect of Natsumi advancing towards her threateningly. “I guess I just didn’t care. A yakuza wanting justice is strange, don’t you agree?”

            “You bitch…!” Natsumi snarled and almost lunged at the detective, before a hand clapped firmly on her shoulder. When she fiercely whirled her head to face the unwelcome intruder to the conflict, she was only slightly mollified to see the stony-faced Munakata facing Kirigiri. And beside him was Togami, who only looked mildly annoyed to have apparently been dragged along by the second-in-command of Future Foundation.

            “That will be enough of that, Kuzuryu. Get Kuwata back to his cottage – I will be along shortly.” Munakata frowned slightly as Natsumi shook with rage. He thought he would have to call her brother to take care of her, but a few tense moments later she waspishly obeyed, notably shooting Kirigiri the middle finger that the detective naturally ignored. As the yakuza stalked off, dragging Kuwata behind her, Munakata’s full attention was once again on the Ultimate Detective. He crossed his arms disapprovingly. “I had thought you, of all the Remnants, wouldn’t need to be told to restrain yourself, Kirigiri. The rift between you and the Kuzuryu Clan aside, you’ve handled all interactions rationally and logically. You never pick fights, regardless of how annoyed you may or may not be.”

            Kyoko remained perfectly still in her seated position, and didn’t respect Munakata by returning his gaze.

            “As I recall, you’ve given us the freedom to move as we please. If you can’t handle a little hostility between obvious enemies, perhaps you should just put us on ice until the Neo World Program is complete?”

            Munakata’s frown deepened. He tapped his finger on his forearm as the steel in his gaze sharpened.

            “Being allowed freedom at all is a privilege that we can easily revoke at any time. Do not mistake our kindness for softness.” The silver-haired man warned. It seemed to go in one ear and out the other for Kyoko, however.

            “Even Izuru Kamukura?” She replied blandly.

            “Kamakura will not be a problem.” Munakata boldly asserted, causing the detective to finally turn towards him and arch an eyebrow dubiously. She was surprised his confidence held steadfast.

            Such naïve arrogance.

            “You should listen to him.” Togami spoke up in the same bland tone that Kirigiri had previously been using. “Men of Munakata’s status and character are rarely arrogant. And I should know, because he is my business rival, after all is said and done.”

            Kyoko scoffed, while Munakata scowled at the slight against Chairman Tengan. Never mind how much he wanted to deny that Ultimate Despair couldn’t compare to the Future Foundation – they did. Ultimate Despair and the Future Foundation were the only major superpowers in these apocalyptic times. The old world order was in shambles.

            Before Kyosuke could retort, however, his phone rang in his pocket, and he merely shot Kirigiri one more reproachful glare before squarely facing Togami.

            “I will leave her in your hands. Though if Kirigiri stirs up trouble again, there will be consequences for her, so keep that in mind.”

            “Duly noted.” Togami deadpanned in return, arms still crossed as he kept his head craned in a mocking manner. Kyosuke glowered warningly at this, but then strode away briskly.

            Now the heir and detective were left alone.

            “You’re a suck-up.” Kirigiri coldly pointed out, once Munakata was out of earshot.

            Togami rolled his eyes.

            “I am doing what needs to be done,” the heir’s tone was just as frosty as his jaded eyes glared daggers back at the lilac-haired girl. “There is a very real chance that program won’t be completed. If that eventually proves true, we will need to be in a position to communicate with one another. Being holed up in cottages will do nothing but hinder any possible insurrection.”

            For the briefest of moments, Kirigiri was taken aback. But Togami caught that miniscule change of inflection in her face, and there was a sad sort of vindictiveness in being able to garner such a reaction from the poker-faced detective.

            “The Neo World Program… might not get completed…?” Kirigiri whispered, aghast. “What in the hell are Matsuda and Gekkogahara doing?”

            Togami scoffed at the mixture of disbelief and rage that bubbled under her aloof tone.

            “I don’t know the full details, but apparently there really is a bug that is making the program incapable of operating. They brought in that animator to see if he would be able to offer insight to a potential solution, but I have my doubts. I knew we should have gone with the original plan of infecting the program, rather than remodifying its original purpose… We had a copy of Enoshima’s AI stored in Towa City, but now even that is lost to us, and we’re left in this hopeless situation.”

            Kyoko narrowed her eyes as her gloved hands curled into fists and she stared off into space.

            “If we can’t be the vessels for Enoshima’s return… what’s even the point of being here? We should kill everyone here before reinforcements arrive.”

            Togami tilted his head thoughtfully, index finger tapping his temple.

            “Hnn. How strange. I never would have pegged you for a coward. Haven’t you heard the phrase, ‘no risk, no glory’?”

            Kyoko scowled at the uppity tone her blond classmate had taken with her.

            “Don’t tell me Ludenberg has influenced your decision-making. Without Fujisaki, I highly doubt Matsuda and Gekkogahara would be able to fix a computer program. And there’s even less chance they would trust him to be anywhere near their computers. If our chances are close to nil, we might as well cut our losses and get the apocalypse back on track.”

            “And what if we had Kamakura actually be useful for once?” Togami sneered back, causing the detective to broil over with more rage.

            “I am not entrusting our fate to a man even more untrustworthy than the Future Foundation! If he was truly a Remnant like the rest of us, he would have joined our inner ring of leadership, rather than watch as the world burned. He is an indecisive shell of man that Hope’s Peak created, and that Enoshima used like a puppet to gain our loyalty. Nothing more.”

            Togami tapped his temple again mockingly.

            “You forget. He is entirely obsessed with watching the conflict of Hope and Despair. I am confident we can use him to our benefit. Enoshima has shown us that it can be done. You know that Enoshima’s return would bring the most Despair to mankind. You know that I am right.”

            Kyoko did not appreciate being talked down to like a child.

            “And you know that if this fails, the whole plan falls apart, and only despair awaits in our future.”

            “That is the whole purpose behind our organization, is it not?” Togami sneered. “We go big, or go home. Either way, Despair gets the final word.”

            Kirigiri clenched her fists once more as she stared down into her lap, gritting her teeth. She still disagreed on principle, and she knew for a fact that others in Ultimate Despair would side with her, just as others would rally behind Togami. Ultimate Despair would split in two, and there would be no way out for them once that happened.

            Was Togami so blind? Was he so short-sighted?

            ~*~

            “You’ve been awfully quiet since arriving, Oowada.” Fuyuhiko muttered as he leaned against the entrance to the abandoned ranch. The Ultimate Biker sat on a stump nearby, and his hands were curled into fists in his lap. His head was dipped, so Fuyuhiko couldn’t make out his expression.

            “What’s it to you?” Mondo groused. “Didn’t get enough to think about when you brought me in?”

            The yakuza heir scowled at the memory of their last encounter. It was true. Mondo had given him food for thought, and he was mulling that over.

            That didn’t mean he was going to leave his fellow gang leader to mope around. He held more respect for the fearsome leader of the Crazy Diamonds than to allow that to happen.

            “Tch. You really think I’m gonna let that keep me down? You’re more of a dumbass than Hagakure.” Fuyuhiko clicked his tongue and crossed his arms, craning his head away from Mondo.

            Mondo clearly bristled at the insult, but he didn’t lash out like Kuzuryu had half-expected him to.

            “Whatever. I guess one of us has the stones to move on with their life.” Mondo grumbled. “Then again, it’s not like you lost all that much anyway.”

            “You really think Daiya would want you to just give up like this?” Kuzuryu asked rhetorically, and that got a reaction he was aiming for.

            “Don’t go there, Kuzuryu.” Oowada growled dangerously.

            Anger fit Mondo a whole lot better, and Kuzuryu was a lot more adept at dealing with it, even if he himself was known to have a hair-trigger temper.

            “Daiya was an actual fucking leader, if you ask me.” Kuzuryu carried on fearlessly. The sound of tightening fists could be heard from Mondo’s quarter. “You put on a damn good effort, but then you ruined everything when you helped end the world…”

            “I said shut up!!!” Mondo roared head whipping up as his red eyes flared a bright, threatening red. He held a fist up furiously. “You of all people don’t get to lecture me, when you were doin’ all this illegal shit before the world went to hell!”

            “You’re a fucking hypocrite.” Fuyuhiko deadpanned, unimpressed. “We were both in the same boat before the Tragedy, and you know it. The Crazy Diamonds was knee-deep in just as much shit. The difference between us, I actually made an effort to keep the world together. You tried to burn it all.”

            Mondo’s teeth were bared, and his hand was twitching uncontrollably as his body shook. Fuyuhiko imagined the only thing holding Oowada back was the ‘despair’ of refusing to vent his anger. And that was, ultimately, Fuyuhiko’s goal. To get Oowada to pick his old self back up. Screw how unhealthy rage was – it was even worse to bottle it all up.

            “I don’t need to explain a single damn thing to you, asshole! I might be a worthless piece of shit, but at least I acknowledge I fucked up! The most you ever do is admit it’s possible you’re partly responsible for what happened! You wanna turn this into Storytime?! Why don’t you start talking first? Tell me what you assholes did against Enoshima! What you all lost!”

            Fuyuhiko’s lips curled into a deeper scowl. Oowada was still clinging to that. The fact Class 77 had been more fortunate than Class 78. The fact they couldn’t truly empathize with Class 78. And maybe he was right, to an extent.

            That didn’t justify ending the world, no matter how great the pain was.

            But before Fuyuhiko could mouth such a rebuttal, the Ultimate Biker got up from the stump and stomped away, effectively ending the conversation. Fuyuhiko’s mouth clamped closed as he weighed the pros and cons of pursuing the biker, but in the end, decided against it for now. They’d have time to get all of the Despairs to open up… They would just need to take it one step at a time.

            And that sucked. Because time was a rare luxury in this apocalyptic world.