natsume hits play and will let it go until the buzzer sounds to keep amami from saying what the important thing is, the screen an angry red in front of them.
...the rest of it is something he isn't sure he wants to share just yet. )
That's the type of killing game that Amami-kun was before he came HERE. ( technically true, even without the extra school thing, he's guessing. ) Tell me about THEM. EveryTHING.
( he pays attention to every piece that he connect, watching amami speak of memories that he does have to the amami that doesn't have them — pre-recorded just for him per monokuma due to a special perk? that sounds about right, monokuma is kind at times, and stays true to giving certain things if someone actually deserves it. no different than komaeda obtaining the future foundation's black book after going through the final dead room —
yet to see that amami is part of monokuma's whims doesn't surprise him, because saihara knew, so it only means that despair has spread that far — komaeda, older than them both, says a lot too. a few years, and yet they also suffered through the same conflict that was raised around the world. )
...That's how all the killing games are, ( komaeda glances towards natsume, and since that's the question he posed, it's easy to answer ) the first started within Hope's Peak Academy... you have to understand the school, to understand the reason behind the killing games. Hope's Peak Academy is where privileged students are scouted depending on their field of expertise, the best of the best — ( he inhales, looking towards natsume with a smile as he wonders about where this video came from. )
Upon entry, their talents are cultivated, making them into Symbols of Hope! It's their talents that will inspire hope in the nation, in the world no less... and through that means, they will shape the future. ...There are some who attend to be set for life, that's what graduating Hope's Peak is capable of, but I hold a love for hope, so such simplicities as needing money or fame means less when Hope is what will mold your way of life. Can you understand how much weight hope holds when I tell you this, and now imagine... if you force talented students who will shape the future to take part in a killing game.
( he pauses, his voice low, serious as he stares at the other. his passion from before has disappeared, and he appears slightly irritated by the notion. )
What do you think happens?
how ive been sittin on this tag for a week bc ive been too tired.... forgive me for my sins
( what a terrible school; somehow yogen is better, only turning a blind eye to suffering, rather than forcing its students into death match after death match for the chance to cultivate "hope". he wonders if there was ever a time where it was a regular school, or if it's always been that way... )
They'd first try to find a way to get around murdering one anoTHER, but when given an incentive—good or bad—it's likely at least one of them would CAVE, either picking on someone weaker than them or striking when the opportunity arose to murder THEM.
( because most people will inherently not go straight to violence—most people are good. )
Isn't that what you refer to as "the stronger hope coming out on TOP," Nagito-kun?
its fine imagine having to ingest dr lore in one sitting again id go insane actually
Yep, it's different for how they all start, but the one before us, and the one after... it only took so long until Ultimates caved wanting to return to their old life... ( he sighs, shrugging after because those were the weaker set ) ...if a Symbol of Hope proceeds to kill, and it's broadcasted to the world... the Mastermind believes that the world would lose hope, but I know better —
( he always knows better when it comes to symbols of hope, which he admits as he continues. )
Great hope could never be debunked by despair, and so the killing game was just an attempt to do the impossible! The stronger hope comes out on top, and if one Ultimate killed another... one becomes a stepping stone, added to the foundation to strengthen the hope of another! Simple as that...
( he cants his head to the side, his lips pursed into a straight line, is it at the name or the fact that despair did swallow the world? )
If your school was forced into a game, how would the world outside of that school take the change? Would it crumble or can it survive?
cannot imagine playing a dr and needing to rmbr all this fr
( bad things happen every day, and the world still moves on. natural disasters, terrorism, revolution, the lambasting of those guilty not yet proven innocent.
but still it survives, and yet, he's gotten the feeling that how his world works and how komaeda's works might be a little different for all their similarities. if he puts something analogous, like "the united nations" or something like that, just as important as a bunch of kids who happen to be the best at what they do...
if it's just his school, though.
natsume hums, short and brief, thoughtful. )
The world would still continUE. Police would get inVOLVED, and there would still be people upset and grieVING, people trying to set things RIGHT... The victor might be looked at with piTY, for having to go through all THAT, and with resentment by those who lost children to their HANDS.
But one school's corruption will not lay the world to WASTE. Plenty of schools and students are torn apart across the WORLD, and while it's sad and distressing to SOME, it isn't catastrophic for the earth as a WHOLE.
me waking up from my small nap, writing this and then going back to sleep
...Your world doesn't have hope, Sakasaki-kun, or perhaps your group of students mean nothing. Where I come from, wiping hope from the face of the world allows despair to rise and take control! ( there's a bite to it, but not at natsume, no, but just at the fact of how disgusting despair can be. ) What are police when they're part of despair, killing people without meaning... there are children, but they've murdered their parents during an uprise...
( he frowns, looking off to the side as he admits to the danger of the world. though, who is he to forget something important — )
There's only a small group that can fight back, a group that symbolizes Hope at the start... ah, but that's not what this is about. Ultimates are a light to our world, without them, the world is completely cast into darkness... That's what happened when Hope's Peak Academy became the stomping ground for despair...
( he looks at natsume for a moment, grits his teeth annoyed, and parts his mouth before biting down on his tongue. he's a bit irritated, give him some time.
he sighs. )
As for "The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles", that must have been the school rebuilt in Hope Peak's image...
natsume like we shouldve gone to yumenosaki together so you could see what normalcy looks like
...The version of Earth you're from is incredibly messed UP.
( that's all he has at first, getting his initial thoughts out of the way before he chews through the rest. a world like that, where so much rests on the simple dichotomy of hope and despair...
his world isn't without hope, and he wouldn't say it's full of despair. it's more... apathy. the opposite of hope isn't despair, but apathy -- people who just no longer care, who accept what happens because they don't think they can change it. maybe that's a symptom of the despair komaeda clearly dislikes so much, but he can't think of his world and the people he knows and solely surrender them to the word.
...there is despair, but it's mixed with grief and loneliness, not just on its own. the cenotaph... )
Or maybe what you label entirely as "hope" and "despair" simply has many more names and shades to me and my WORLD. That's a possibiliTY. ( but it's a little unsurprising that komaeda is so off his rocker if things are concentrated down so much to just those two things, as if it were a fantasy adventure between good and evil.
a child's fairytale. ) RegardLESS, this school... was one Saihara-kun and a few others attended THEN. I suppose Amami-kun might be among that numBER.
( he glances at the screen, thinking, and wonders what would happen if he showed komaeda the rest.
would he respect him for winning once? or would he find disgust in amami wanting to play again?
he wonders.
but he doesn't hit play to continue. )
What happened to those who succeeded in killing their fellow stuDENTS? Did they ever fall into despair at losing those they cared FOR, or at the general loss of human LIFE? Or did they smile and treat it like YOU?
OMG UR RIGHTTTT next time we go to yumenosaki, show komaeda the truth behind idols
It is... those that lack talent are the majority, and the Ultimates are a small amount.
( that was one of the problems he had with his world, so again, it wasn't perfect, and that's why hope's peak academy stood — to continue helping those that were, and allowing hope to enrich the soil for stronger hope. )
People smiled, people lacked hope, people had hope... sensing hope isn't a talent among many, but I can tell... it comes off as an aura, and most of those where I come from... you had to be special, Hope's Peak Academy chose who entered within its doors, it's not like anyone could just waltz in...
( he laughs, that's how prestigious the school was, and he doesn't know how it works for natsume's own, but at this point, komaeda thinks they aren't as influential as his own school. hope's peak was rooted into the core of the world, is the core, practically kept the world spinning — )
It could, but you, and even your other half mentioned that your school went through a war... it's not unlike what I've seen, and hope won out... if it didn't, there'd be more names on that cenotaph... names that weren't from your school, names of people you would have never known. ( there was a different war waged, that's the type of power hope has over despair, but despair is meaningless because hope will still thrive and destroy it. that's why komaeda loves hope so much, a concept that is purely good, that can remove such a dark energy that tries to...
and it comes to him, a paper that he read, the final words that an unfortunate, talentless soul left, and he's sure she stumbled upon it: )
"It didn't take long before I realized it. I understood when I saw my coworker on the floor with his eyes ripped out. I understood it when I saw my boss with his intestines in his hands. I realized that this is pure insanity. But even though I know this, I still can't convince myself that this is real. In only 1 day. You'd think the world couldn't possibly turn completely on its head. You wouldn't think that the friends you're laughing with one moment could all be dead in another. Whatever happened to the "world" I lived in and the "common sense" I had believed in? Something like this... for kids to go around killing adults...
That sort of thing isn't supposed to happen..."
( he looks over to natsume, his expression almost bored, like he's read this one a thousand times... too many times, and he carries on like he's left it to natsume's imagination. a preview of just a smidgen of what their world went through. )
Amami-kun and Saihara-kun are roughly around the same age, if they attended Hope's Peak Academy in my year, I'd know them... Ouma-kun, Akamatsu-san... but they didn't.
( he pauses, and he leans back against a table as he thinks about natsume's words, mulls over them, it sounds like... monaca, when that child asked komaeda that despite him being part of despair, was he always like that about hope, or was it thanks to big sister junko's influence. that question revisits him a lot, in different forms and phrases, and between different people, and... )
Information regarding those people are private, considering you're asking for more than one because of a video... but if you're interested... you have an idea of what you should do to make me speak.
( komaeda won't say it aloud, but he doesn't look towards the tv either. he hints it though because of the trade off, but the question natsume asked is private... it involves himself, and others, and that's a different sort of hell to sort through. )
Don't mention this video to Amami-kun, ( he says, turning back to the tv as komaeda's words swim in his mind. maybe it's his own failing that he can't paint things so black and white the way komaeda does, but maybe it's because he was a victim, too. ) I'd like to talk to him FIRST, since it came into my posseSSION.
( he presses play, and the rantarou amami on the screen continues until the video ends. )
( his eyes light up brightly, there's a skip in his heart, and it's so loud that it echoes in his head, to his ears, but maybe that's a headache coming to get him. ultimate survivor? now that's a talent he's never heard about, and he's one who searched and read about every hope's peak academy student during his stay, but this is vastly different — it's not common like saihara's, nor was anything like that within the black book of the future foundation. )
I knew! I knew his talent was beautiful, his talent outlasts the lives of so many!? To think that he would have something so...
( his breath hitches, truly, he can't contain his excitement as he listened to the video, not too much caring for the rest of the video, and zooming on the one thing that stands out. natsume can pull him back to reality at any time, but reality is now taking a different shape as he proceeds to hug himself, eyes downcast, and a bit of saliva slipping from the corner of his mouth. )
...Who knew he could have a reckless talent, one that could trump the entirety of this school.
( even rokkun would be no match if his goal was to survive until the school year, oh, oh, that would make so much sense why the counselor had found amami so... favorable. komaeda's nails dig into the fabric of his jacket which encourages him more than calms him down. )
Amami Rantarou-kun, the Ultimate Survivor blessed with a perk... ahh... AHHH!!! We really are lucky to be in his presence, if he chooses who lives and who dies, as long as you're underneath his umbrella, even those who lack talent can make it! I could feel the hope that wafted off him for the longest, no wonder it was so strong, no wonder that type of path he's chosen to take goes that route... ( his voice lowers, and now komaeda's walking to the other side of the room. ) A miraculous gift hidden in plain view, what luck... what luck... ~
( .......ah yes, komaeda as ever. natsume rests his chin in his hand, watching the other with a mix of exasperation and contempt, and when he thinks he's finally done— )
And you love him despite the fact his wish for winning his killing game was to ask for anoTHER? The very same one that Saihara-kun was put THROUGH? Maybe ( his voice lowers, straightening up, ) he's been playing us all this whole TIME, hiding his taLENT. Maybe he's the reason Saihara-kun was here at ALL, given our lifeless staTUS.
( ... )
But I guess that just means Saihara-kun's hope wasn't really that great after ALL. How SAD. ( he's taking his vidcdeo out now, slipping it back into his bag. his terrible material. ) And when you thought so well of him TOO...
( love is... a sensitive subject, as someone like komaeda who loves every ultimate in existence, yes, he still does love amami despite those faults, but as he thinks on the tape aside from his talent, to hear saihara's name mentioned, the hopegasming comes to an end. he swallows down the saliva in his throat, the flustered expression dying down as he looks at natsume. )
...Is that what you think?
( komaeda has a nasty behavior, but to think that amami is why saihara is here, killed him to have stronger hope, and then was killed along the way? it's difficult to explain how komaeda feels, love is... such a concept that clouds anyone's eyes depending on how they feel for another. )
I loved Saihara-kun. ( he starts. ) The Ultimate Detective... I felt as if his greatness was covered in the filth of those around him, dampening his light, and he drowned to the bottom like the rest, but you have no business commenting on that. You were part of his ascent to greater heights. I wonder does it hurt you to say that about him, Sakasaki-kun.
( as for amami, however, komaeda leans against the table, and this is where his smile dims itself. amami rantarou, the ultimate survivor, that such of responsibility, that hope is stronger than most. living, succeeding, but it can be written in so many ways — did he kill his way, or was he a coward who stayed in the shadows to survive. )
...I also love Amami-kun, and yet if he has connections to the killing games, that would make him...? No... I don't feel... ( despair... he mumbles, hand to his chin as he turns away from natsume to turn back around, pacing in thought. his heart skips a beat, but there's a part of him that hurts too... he feels a sickness in his stomach, and a small pain in the back of his head; maybe a migraine, maybe he's thinking too much. his smile flashes briefly in his thought, trusting, warm, and now he's seen some truth, some information that he has to hold onto.
there's a part where he's hesitant, unsure about these recent developments because he doesn't know whether to cry in joy, or wonder if something is wrong with his senses. but... did enoshima have a successor? )
( of course it hurts to speak ill of shuichi; he respected him, found him one of his peers. a good person to talk to, a selfish and kind character. to hear komaeda loved him--unsurprising. to hear he loves amami--also unsurprising.
they're both ultimates. )
So he killed whoever that WAS. Good for HIM. That doesn't erase the fact he decided he wanted to play aGAIN. ( which... which doesn't settle with natsume, at all.
given the chance, wouldn't you just divorce yourself from the experience? why go again, with the hopes of ending it quicker than the last? ...he's suspicious, but natsume understands people aren't completely black and white either. maybe there was some kind of agreement amami had. or maybe amami's an asshole, soft-spoken and kind-seeming but willing to ruin lives for the sake of "something better"--which isn't something natsume completely disagrees with, but the method, there, is the problem, always has been, whether it's people he knows from here like komaeda or people he remembers from home like eichi.
the only one who knows the answer to that query, though,
would be the man himself. natsume zips his bag up, pressing his lips together briefly before he turns back to komaeda. ) Why would anyone want THAT, Nagito-kun? Especially if they were simply planning on ending it almost immediately anyway--it doesn't sound like Amami-kun was hoping to help anyone's hope GROW.
...If he played again, that could make him the new Mastermind. ...Though, it's not unfamiliar to have a positive relationship with Monokuma, or if that was... just a ploy.
( komaeda has a good relationship with monokuma, always calling his headmaster over when he needed to know something, or or needed a certain item from him. he didn't get everything he wanted, but he got enough to where they had a almost positive outlook towards one another. the conversation though, it comes easy to him having been in his own killing game, and he watches natsume as if he's ready to say this video is a joke — doesn't seem to be, he's taking this as seriously as he does everything that threatens his existence. )
Perhaps those Ultimates in his first game were weak, and he wanted to spread hope through another one, but...
( he himself has raised an almost mastermind, monaca was meant to be the second junko — all the way to the point her way of dress, and change of personality was likened to hers. he would build up her despair that hope would break though, changing the trajectory of every person's lives around the world. the thought of why makes him tighten his fist into a ball, his nails pressed into the palm. he doesn't want to love and to hate amami. ) ...It's complicated, I can't doubt him... ( he can be wary. ) but it's not unfamiliar. In the second killing game, the Mastermind killed their own sister to relish in despair. ( one. ) So... you're correct, he could have done it to not spread hope...
The first killing game of Hope's Peak Academy didn't prove fruitful for us... Every student from the Student Council was forced to play, and they all died one by one... Due to that event, you can say despair had planed its seed, and destroyed Hope's Peak from the inside out, calling the school a liar, claiming that someone from the school is why that happened... ( he stops, because that's not untrue. ) We had Reserve Course students, talentless individuals who believed the rumor their money was being used to nurture the culprit, and they proceeded to create a revolution... they destroyed, they killed themselves, they were swallowed up by despair. ( two. )
From that incident: The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History was right before our eyes. The "anti-talent" were up in arms, those that were under the sickness that was despair ( three. ) followed the Mastermind's steps to destroying the world, eradicating hope. ( he rolls his eyes, scoffs right after as he continues on: ) The second killing game involved the students of Class 78th, they were assembled one by one, asked if they could bring hope back to the world despite The Parade was ongoing, and so they shielded Hope's Peak Academy, covered the windows, locked themselves inside, and willingly agreed to erase their memories in order to live a normal school life. It sounds like... a fantasy, some sort of romance comedy, but the idea of coming together, producing hopeful offspring to protect the world was quickly dismissed because they allowed despair ( four. ) into their ranks, an oversight, and so the killing game started again. I told you before, about the sister who was killed? She was part of this group, a spy... in a way, retained her memories, and died knowing their family member was the mastermind who killed them to start the killing game. It takes one murder to induce fear, to make them fight tooth and nail for survival...
( closing his eyes, he thinks back to what he remembers, or have heard. it's a shame that he missed naegi's victory all because he couldn't find a tv. ) I was unlucky, but Naegi Makoto-kun, who now bears the title of Ultimate Hope, defeated Ultimate Despair, the person who caused the world to plummet... a high-school, teenager girl by the name of Enoshima Junko-san. ( her name fills him with disgust as she falls off his tongue, a burning rage, the irritation as he grits his teeth afterwards. )
As for my class...
( ... his class that watched hope die before their eyes, his class that became despair from the mere sight that they couldn't function were engulfed in sickness. they were the mastermind's most important pieces, as ultimate despair, they would cover the world in its darkness — they had the ability given their talents. the ultimate princess? using her army, she could bring parts of the nation down to their needs. the ultimate chef? take the lives of those that he kills, using them as his next meal, force the unexpected into cannibalism, and they too would despair after eating a loved one. the ultimate mechanic... how else did all those robots and monokuma units cover the world in the way that they did.
ultimate luck? how lucky was he to find a child he could groom into becoming the second junko enoshima? it was a hopeful endeavor, that's what komaeda believed at the time, but even the thought of his actions burn him inside and out. )
We took part on that stage as well, as the third killing game, and they were faced with the same opponent who wanted to continue her reign of despair. ( five. they, because komaeda didn't live to see it, but he was able to watch this one, he saw the hope that emitted from hinata hajime, he was in awe, in shock, in fear... in love, he was many things at the sight to see the other fall from grace, but then overcome the pain that he felt. to see him defeat despair, komaeda could let it all happen again, because he trusts hinata enough that he can see through any of its darkness. ) ...A glorious victory. ( he doesn't stay on this topic long, odd, but he's only here to answer natsume's question. )
...Hope's Peak Academy was then rebuilt afterwards, that might have been the stage where Amami-kun's game was hosted. That would make his first game the fourth, and he... wanted to see a fifth. Through these killing games, only one thing stays the same of what their goal is... if he won the fourth, then that means they killed the Mastermind... if he curated another game, just out of want... his intentions can only go so far, but... this by no means is said for you to turn against him. His role is something that's hard to understand, but...
( why did he put his life on the line as much as he does, someone who is the mastermind wouldn't do something so risky, not when he can gather the students here like sheep. ) Ah... ( he looks down, thoughtful. ) Do you believe that the students here can't trust him... he has pitiful aim when catching wild insects, but his method of killing was spot on, and yet that's not a reason to execute him. But... if he asked for another game, it's hard to say how many he's been in... or how many have been introduced to despair. ( six. ) So it's obvious... if it wasn't hope he was spreading, then the other means nothing but mass murders, mass suicides, the world burning down to the roots so that hope can no longer prosper. ( he glances at natsume. ) So I must ask, what conclusions have you came to?
it's difficult to say; it's difficult to digest all of this information at once, even as he goes to picking each sentence apart to figure out what's useful and what isn't, what can be used for later and set aside to think on further. a lot of the history of the killing games goes there—the world and what happened, komaeda's lack-of talking about the one he'd been in, so on—things he notes, but will spend more time on later.
so not quite tossed out, but held in the back of his mind.
komaeda said despair six times to hope's five, not including names or titles or anything like that.
... )
To my utmost reGRET, people are not painted in shades of black and WHITE. It'd be much easier to deal with them if they WERE. ( it's still plenty easy to hate them and resent them for shades of grey though; it might be easier, even, if you can't just chalk it up to their innate nature, but a choice they're making. natsume weighs his words, mind heavy with the amount of information given to him.
sometimes talking to komaeda is no different than talking to anyone at yumenosaki. ) RegardLESS... If you ask ME, Amami-kun doesn't seem smart enough to pull off the long-CON. He's SHARP, and he's a JERK, but he's an idiOT. Anyone who gets involved with someone else while plotting the eventual deaths of their peers IS.
( and maybe
for rika's sake, even if she's dead, he'd like amami to be capable of not being entirely terrible. they'd been close; it would break her heart to be betrayed (again), thinking of the way she'd looked when natsume had come out about killing two of her friends those months ago...
everyone's hiding something, here; some people's secrets are just worse than others. natsume cups his chin with his hand, eyebrows pressing together. still—despite any of that, he can't shake his suspicion of amami... he knows he has his biases, but just because he hates someone doesn't make them a terrible person. he guesses. it's still hard to convince himself of that.
a sigh. )
At BEST, it's just a skeleton or several in his cloSET, and at WORST, he'll get the bright idea to graduate using the same method the girl last year did: murdering his entire YEAR. ( no competition makes for an easy graduation. ) I'd like to gauge it mySELF, so I'll ask Amami-kun about this viDEO. A liar always knows another liAR, Nagito-kun.
( it's a hazard. )
...What were your concluSIONS? Considering you asked about MINE, it's only FAIR.
...You are a liar, you're the most hated being because you're unable to be honest to yourself or others.
( he starts, his judgement of natsume has always been he's two-faced, he puts on an act to fit in with the rest of the sheep. as much as he wants to be the owner of this group, that's not how it works, he can try though, and it's only failure — there's only so many people that can be swept up by his magic. yet, komaeda doesn't hate him for that, he doesn't hate anyone other than despair, the idea, the concept makes him sick, and if that was the case he'd hate amami as well too. he said it over and over again, despair is what mastermind's typically bring if they host a killing game, the absolute thrill of seeing what they love taken from them, from others, the misery that breaks them down, and not build them up. )
Amami-kun... I'll test him myself, I've had a thought for quite awhile now. I know the makings of a Mastermind.
( don't ask him how, he won't elaborate, but he's familiar because there's confidence in his voice as he says that. rather than the self-loathing he typically gives when he's so sure of when it comes to who he is. he could correct natsume's words, tell him not to speak of an ultimate in a light that doesn't fit them, but it's true... he's seen the other. he saw him put his life in danger during the meeting, saw how much far he's willing to jump without thinking of the consequences. the second time he met him, he was interested in uncovering mysteries like a child who had been given a brand new toy. )
As for my conclusions, I can feel hope and I can feel despair, for a Mastermind of low moral turpitude, he doesn't have that sort of aura that comes off of him. It's why I have my reservations... he's complicated.
( yet, he was confused when gauging hinata, that he was someone like him, a person who stood on the sidelines and watches others with admiration. he was right, he was wrong, he was both by the end, but towards the end, hinata is a person he could rely on, had high hopes for, always will be attached to no matter what happens. could he say if his conclusions are wrong, would he be able to share something like that with amami when a video like this exists? he doesn't know because he's unsure what part he could be wrong about. )
If you're going to engage, see how much of his story adds up to what you know from the video, there's some truth even if he isn't aware of it all... besides, you're a liar. You want to force him to lie, yet... take care of him, he's still an Ultimate that had the ability to choose another game if what we watched is real. ( but he stops, a small frown, but it's something that sits in his mind. ) Saihara-kun trusts Amami-kun, Kawaii-san trusted Amami-kun... because he was their...
( it rolls off his tongue unfamiliar, but he pushes through. ) ...friend. Please engage with him with that in mind, the Ultimate Detective deductions... are always right.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
EXCUSE ME???
good.
natsume hits play and will let it go until the buzzer sounds to keep amami from saying what the important thing is, the screen an angry red in front of them.
...the rest of it is something he isn't sure he wants to share just yet. )
That's the type of killing game that Amami-kun was before he came HERE. ( technically true, even without the extra school thing, he's guessing. ) Tell me about THEM. EveryTHING.
YOURE EXCUSED?
yet to see that amami is part of monokuma's whims doesn't surprise him, because saihara knew, so it only means that despair has spread that far — komaeda, older than them both, says a lot too. a few years, and yet they also suffered through the same conflict that was raised around the world. )
...That's how all the killing games are, ( komaeda glances towards natsume, and since that's the question he posed, it's easy to answer ) the first started within Hope's Peak Academy... you have to understand the school, to understand the reason behind the killing games. Hope's Peak Academy is where privileged students are scouted depending on their field of expertise, the best of the best — ( he inhales, looking towards natsume with a smile as he wonders about where this video came from. )
Upon entry, their talents are cultivated, making them into Symbols of Hope! It's their talents that will inspire hope in the nation, in the world no less... and through that means, they will shape the future. ...There are some who attend to be set for life, that's what graduating Hope's Peak is capable of, but I hold a love for hope, so such simplicities as needing money or fame means less when Hope is what will mold your way of life. Can you understand how much weight hope holds when I tell you this, and now imagine... if you force talented students who will shape the future to take part in a killing game.
( he pauses, his voice low, serious as he stares at the other. his passion from before has disappeared, and he appears slightly irritated by the notion. )
What do you think happens?
how ive been sittin on this tag for a week bc ive been too tired.... forgive me for my sins
They'd first try to find a way to get around murdering one anoTHER, but when given an incentive—good or bad—it's likely at least one of them would CAVE, either picking on someone weaker than them or striking when the opportunity arose to murder THEM.
( because most people will inherently not go straight to violence—most people are good. )
Isn't that what you refer to as "the stronger hope coming out on TOP," Nagito-kun?
its fine imagine having to ingest dr lore in one sitting again id go insane actually
( he always knows better when it comes to symbols of hope, which he admits as he continues. )
Great hope could never be debunked by despair, and so the killing game was just an attempt to do the impossible! The stronger hope comes out on top, and if one Ultimate killed another... one becomes a stepping stone, added to the foundation to strengthen the hope of another! Simple as that...
( he cants his head to the side, his lips pursed into a straight line, is it at the name or the fact that despair did swallow the world? )
If your school was forced into a game, how would the world outside of that school take the change? Would it crumble or can it survive?
cannot imagine playing a dr and needing to rmbr all this fr
but still it survives, and yet, he's gotten the feeling that how his world works and how komaeda's works might be a little different for all their similarities. if he puts something analogous, like "the united nations" or something like that, just as important as a bunch of kids who happen to be the best at what they do...
if it's just his school, though.
natsume hums, short and brief, thoughtful. )
The world would still continUE. Police would get inVOLVED, and there would still be people upset and grieVING, people trying to set things RIGHT... The victor might be looked at with piTY, for having to go through all THAT, and with resentment by those who lost children to their HANDS.
But one school's corruption will not lay the world to WASTE. Plenty of schools and students are torn apart across the WORLD, and while it's sad and distressing to SOME, it isn't catastrophic for the earth as a WHOLE.
me waking up from my small nap, writing this and then going back to sleep
( he frowns, looking off to the side as he admits to the danger of the world. though, who is he to forget something important — )
There's only a small group that can fight back, a group that symbolizes Hope at the start... ah, but that's not what this is about. Ultimates are a light to our world, without them, the world is completely cast into darkness... That's what happened when Hope's Peak Academy became the stomping ground for despair...
( he looks at natsume for a moment, grits his teeth annoyed, and parts his mouth before biting down on his tongue. he's a bit irritated, give him some time.
he sighs. )
As for "The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles", that must have been the school rebuilt in Hope Peak's image...
natsume like we shouldve gone to yumenosaki together so you could see what normalcy looks like
( that's all he has at first, getting his initial thoughts out of the way before he chews through the rest. a world like that, where so much rests on the simple dichotomy of hope and despair...
his world isn't without hope, and he wouldn't say it's full of despair. it's more... apathy. the opposite of hope isn't despair, but apathy -- people who just no longer care, who accept what happens because they don't think they can change it. maybe that's a symptom of the despair komaeda clearly dislikes so much, but he can't think of his world and the people he knows and solely surrender them to the word.
...there is despair, but it's mixed with grief and loneliness, not just on its own. the cenotaph... )
Or maybe what you label entirely as "hope" and "despair" simply has many more names and shades to me and my WORLD. That's a possibiliTY. ( but it's a little unsurprising that komaeda is so off his rocker if things are concentrated down so much to just those two things, as if it were a fantasy adventure between good and evil.
a child's fairytale. ) RegardLESS, this school... was one Saihara-kun and a few others attended THEN. I suppose Amami-kun might be among that numBER.
( he glances at the screen, thinking, and wonders what would happen if he showed komaeda the rest.
would he respect him for winning once? or would he find disgust in amami wanting to play again?
he wonders.
but he doesn't hit play to continue. )
What happened to those who succeeded in killing their fellow stuDENTS? Did they ever fall into despair at losing those they cared FOR, or at the general loss of human LIFE? Or did they smile and treat it like YOU?
OMG UR RIGHTTTT next time we go to yumenosaki, show komaeda the truth behind idols
( that was one of the problems he had with his world, so again, it wasn't perfect, and that's why hope's peak academy stood — to continue helping those that were, and allowing hope to enrich the soil for stronger hope. )
People smiled, people lacked hope, people had hope... sensing hope isn't a talent among many, but I can tell... it comes off as an aura, and most of those where I come from... you had to be special, Hope's Peak Academy chose who entered within its doors, it's not like anyone could just waltz in...
( he laughs, that's how prestigious the school was, and he doesn't know how it works for natsume's own, but at this point, komaeda thinks they aren't as influential as his own school. hope's peak was rooted into the core of the world, is the core, practically kept the world spinning — )
It could, but you, and even your other half mentioned that your school went through a war... it's not unlike what I've seen, and hope won out... if it didn't, there'd be more names on that cenotaph... names that weren't from your school, names of people you would have never known. ( there was a different war waged, that's the type of power hope has over despair, but despair is meaningless because hope will still thrive and destroy it. that's why komaeda loves hope so much, a concept that is purely good, that can remove such a dark energy that tries to...
and it comes to him, a paper that he read, the final words that an unfortunate, talentless soul left, and he's sure she stumbled upon it: )
"It didn't take long before I realized it. I understood when I saw my coworker on the floor with his eyes ripped out. I understood it when I saw my boss with his intestines in his hands. I realized that this is pure insanity. But even though I know this, I still can't convince myself that this is real. In only 1 day. You'd think the world couldn't possibly turn completely on its head. You wouldn't think that the friends you're laughing with one moment could all be dead in another. Whatever happened to the "world" I lived in and the "common sense" I had believed in? Something like this... for kids to go around killing adults...
That sort of thing isn't supposed to happen..."
( he looks over to natsume, his expression almost bored, like he's read this one a thousand times... too many times, and he carries on like he's left it to natsume's imagination. a preview of just a smidgen of what their world went through. )
Amami-kun and Saihara-kun are roughly around the same age, if they attended Hope's Peak Academy in my year, I'd know them... Ouma-kun, Akamatsu-san... but they didn't.
( he pauses, and he leans back against a table as he thinks about natsume's words, mulls over them, it sounds like... monaca, when that child asked komaeda that despite him being part of despair, was he always like that about hope, or was it thanks to big sister junko's influence. that question revisits him a lot, in different forms and phrases, and between different people, and... )
Information regarding those people are private, considering you're asking for more than one because of a video... but if you're interested... you have an idea of what you should do to make me speak.
( komaeda won't say it aloud, but he doesn't look towards the tv either. he hints it though because of the trade off, but the question natsume asked is private... it involves himself, and others, and that's a different sort of hell to sort through. )
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Don't mention this video to Amami-kun, ( he says, turning back to the tv as komaeda's words swim in his mind. maybe it's his own failing that he can't paint things so black and white the way komaeda does, but maybe it's because he was a victim, too. ) I'd like to talk to him FIRST, since it came into my posseSSION.
( he presses play, and the rantarou amami on the screen continues until the video ends. )
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I knew! I knew his talent was beautiful, his talent outlasts the lives of so many!? To think that he would have something so...
( his breath hitches, truly, he can't contain his excitement as he listened to the video, not too much caring for the rest of the video, and zooming on the one thing that stands out. natsume can pull him back to reality at any time, but reality is now taking a different shape as he proceeds to hug himself, eyes downcast, and a bit of saliva slipping from the corner of his mouth. )
...Who knew he could have a reckless talent, one that could trump the entirety of this school.
( even rokkun would be no match if his goal was to survive until the school year, oh, oh, that would make so much sense why the counselor had found amami so... favorable. komaeda's nails dig into the fabric of his jacket which encourages him more than calms him down. )
Amami Rantarou-kun, the Ultimate Survivor blessed with a perk... ahh... AHHH!!! We really are lucky to be in his presence, if he chooses who lives and who dies, as long as you're underneath his umbrella, even those who lack talent can make it! I could feel the hope that wafted off him for the longest, no wonder it was so strong, no wonder that type of path he's chosen to take goes that route... ( his voice lowers, and now komaeda's walking to the other side of the room. ) A miraculous gift hidden in plain view, what luck... what luck... ~
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And you love him despite the fact his wish for winning his killing game was to ask for anoTHER? The very same one that Saihara-kun was put THROUGH? Maybe ( his voice lowers, straightening up, ) he's been playing us all this whole TIME, hiding his taLENT. Maybe he's the reason Saihara-kun was here at ALL, given our lifeless staTUS.
( ... )
But I guess that just means Saihara-kun's hope wasn't really that great after ALL. How SAD. ( he's taking his vidcdeo out now, slipping it back into his bag. his terrible material. ) And when you thought so well of him TOO...
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( love is... a sensitive subject, as someone like komaeda who loves every ultimate in existence, yes, he still does love amami despite those faults, but as he thinks on the tape aside from his talent, to hear saihara's name mentioned, the hopegasming comes to an end. he swallows down the saliva in his throat, the flustered expression dying down as he looks at natsume. )
...Is that what you think?
( komaeda has a nasty behavior, but to think that amami is why saihara is here, killed him to have stronger hope, and then was killed along the way? it's difficult to explain how komaeda feels, love is... such a concept that clouds anyone's eyes depending on how they feel for another. )
I loved Saihara-kun. ( he starts. ) The Ultimate Detective... I felt as if his greatness was covered in the filth of those around him, dampening his light, and he drowned to the bottom like the rest, but you have no business commenting on that. You were part of his ascent to greater heights. I wonder does it hurt you to say that about him, Sakasaki-kun.
( as for amami, however, komaeda leans against the table, and this is where his smile dims itself. amami rantarou, the ultimate survivor, that such of responsibility, that hope is stronger than most. living, succeeding, but it can be written in so many ways — did he kill his way, or was he a coward who stayed in the shadows to survive. )
...I also love Amami-kun, and yet if he has connections to the killing games, that would make him...? No... I don't feel... ( despair... he mumbles, hand to his chin as he turns away from natsume to turn back around, pacing in thought. his heart skips a beat, but there's a part of him that hurts too... he feels a sickness in his stomach, and a small pain in the back of his head; maybe a migraine, maybe he's thinking too much. his smile flashes briefly in his thought, trusting, warm, and now he's seen some truth, some information that he has to hold onto.
there's a part where he's hesitant, unsure about these recent developments because he doesn't know whether to cry in joy, or wonder if something is wrong with his senses. but... did enoshima have a successor? )
...If you kill the Mastermind, you win the game.
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they're both ultimates. )
So he killed whoever that WAS. Good for HIM. That doesn't erase the fact he decided he wanted to play aGAIN. ( which... which doesn't settle with natsume, at all.
given the chance, wouldn't you just divorce yourself from the experience? why go again, with the hopes of ending it quicker than the last? ...he's suspicious, but natsume understands people aren't completely black and white either. maybe there was some kind of agreement amami had. or maybe amami's an asshole, soft-spoken and kind-seeming but willing to ruin lives for the sake of "something better"--which isn't something natsume completely disagrees with, but the method, there, is the problem, always has been, whether it's people he knows from here like komaeda or people he remembers from home like eichi.
the only one who knows the answer to that query, though,
would be the man himself. natsume zips his bag up, pressing his lips together briefly before he turns back to komaeda. ) Why would anyone want THAT, Nagito-kun? Especially if they were simply planning on ending it almost immediately anyway--it doesn't sound like Amami-kun was hoping to help anyone's hope GROW.
( ... )
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( komaeda has a good relationship with monokuma, always calling his headmaster over when he needed to know something, or or needed a certain item from him. he didn't get everything he wanted, but he got enough to where they had a almost positive outlook towards one another. the conversation though, it comes easy to him having been in his own killing game, and he watches natsume as if he's ready to say this video is a joke — doesn't seem to be, he's taking this as seriously as he does everything that threatens his existence. )
Perhaps those Ultimates in his first game were weak, and he wanted to spread hope through another one, but...
( he himself has raised an almost mastermind, monaca was meant to be the second junko — all the way to the point her way of dress, and change of personality was likened to hers. he would build up her despair that hope would break though, changing the trajectory of every person's lives around the world. the thought of why makes him tighten his fist into a ball, his nails pressed into the palm. he doesn't want to love and to hate amami. ) ...It's complicated, I can't doubt him... ( he can be wary. ) but it's not unfamiliar. In the second killing game, the Mastermind killed their own sister to relish in despair. ( one. ) So... you're correct, he could have done it to not spread hope...
The first killing game of Hope's Peak Academy didn't prove fruitful for us... Every student from the Student Council was forced to play, and they all died one by one... Due to that event, you can say despair had planed its seed, and destroyed Hope's Peak from the inside out, calling the school a liar, claiming that someone from the school is why that happened... ( he stops, because that's not untrue. ) We had Reserve Course students, talentless individuals who believed the rumor their money was being used to nurture the culprit, and they proceeded to create a revolution... they destroyed, they killed themselves, they were swallowed up by despair. ( two. )
From that incident: The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History was right before our eyes. The "anti-talent" were up in arms, those that were under the sickness that was despair ( three. ) followed the Mastermind's steps to destroying the world, eradicating hope. ( he rolls his eyes, scoffs right after as he continues on: ) The second killing game involved the students of Class 78th, they were assembled one by one, asked if they could bring hope back to the world despite The Parade was ongoing, and so they shielded Hope's Peak Academy, covered the windows, locked themselves inside, and willingly agreed to erase their memories in order to live a normal school life. It sounds like... a fantasy, some sort of romance comedy, but the idea of coming together, producing hopeful offspring to protect the world was quickly dismissed because they allowed despair ( four. ) into their ranks, an oversight, and so the killing game started again. I told you before, about the sister who was killed? She was part of this group, a spy... in a way, retained her memories, and died knowing their family member was the mastermind who killed them to start the killing game. It takes one murder to induce fear, to make them fight tooth and nail for survival...
( closing his eyes, he thinks back to what he remembers, or have heard. it's a shame that he missed naegi's victory all because he couldn't find a tv. ) I was unlucky, but Naegi Makoto-kun, who now bears the title of Ultimate Hope, defeated Ultimate Despair, the person who caused the world to plummet... a high-school, teenager girl by the name of Enoshima Junko-san. ( her name fills him with disgust as she falls off his tongue, a burning rage, the irritation as he grits his teeth afterwards. )
As for my class...
( ... his class that watched hope die before their eyes, his class that became despair from the mere sight that they couldn't function were engulfed in sickness. they were the mastermind's most important pieces, as ultimate despair, they would cover the world in its darkness — they had the ability given their talents. the ultimate princess? using her army, she could bring parts of the nation down to their needs. the ultimate chef? take the lives of those that he kills, using them as his next meal, force the unexpected into cannibalism, and they too would despair after eating a loved one. the ultimate mechanic... how else did all those robots and monokuma units cover the world in the way that they did.
ultimate luck? how lucky was he to find a child he could groom into becoming the second junko enoshima? it was a hopeful endeavor, that's what komaeda believed at the time, but even the thought of his actions burn him inside and out. )
We took part on that stage as well, as the third killing game, and they were faced with the same opponent who wanted to continue her reign of despair. ( five. they, because komaeda didn't live to see it, but he was able to watch this one, he saw the hope that emitted from hinata hajime, he was in awe, in shock, in fear... in love, he was many things at the sight to see the other fall from grace, but then overcome the pain that he felt. to see him defeat despair, komaeda could let it all happen again, because he trusts hinata enough that he can see through any of its darkness. ) ...A glorious victory. ( he doesn't stay on this topic long, odd, but he's only here to answer natsume's question. )
...Hope's Peak Academy was then rebuilt afterwards, that might have been the stage where Amami-kun's game was hosted. That would make his first game the fourth, and he... wanted to see a fifth. Through these killing games, only one thing stays the same of what their goal is... if he won the fourth, then that means they killed the Mastermind... if he curated another game, just out of want... his intentions can only go so far, but... this by no means is said for you to turn against him. His role is something that's hard to understand, but...
( why did he put his life on the line as much as he does, someone who is the mastermind wouldn't do something so risky, not when he can gather the students here like sheep. ) Ah... ( he looks down, thoughtful. ) Do you believe that the students here can't trust him... he has pitiful aim when catching wild insects, but his method of killing was spot on, and yet that's not a reason to execute him. But... if he asked for another game, it's hard to say how many he's been in... or how many have been introduced to despair. ( six. ) So it's obvious... if it wasn't hope he was spreading, then the other means nothing but mass murders, mass suicides, the world burning down to the roots so that hope can no longer prosper. ( he glances at natsume. ) So I must ask, what conclusions have you came to?
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it's difficult to say; it's difficult to digest all of this information at once, even as he goes to picking each sentence apart to figure out what's useful and what isn't, what can be used for later and set aside to think on further. a lot of the history of the killing games goes there—the world and what happened, komaeda's lack-of talking about the one he'd been in, so on—things he notes, but will spend more time on later.
so not quite tossed out, but held in the back of his mind.
komaeda said despair six times to hope's five, not including names or titles or anything like that.
... )
To my utmost reGRET, people are not painted in shades of black and WHITE. It'd be much easier to deal with them if they WERE. ( it's still plenty easy to hate them and resent them for shades of grey though; it might be easier, even, if you can't just chalk it up to their innate nature, but a choice they're making. natsume weighs his words, mind heavy with the amount of information given to him.
sometimes talking to komaeda is no different than talking to anyone at yumenosaki. ) RegardLESS... If you ask ME, Amami-kun doesn't seem smart enough to pull off the long-CON. He's SHARP, and he's a JERK, but he's an idiOT. Anyone who gets involved with someone else while plotting the eventual deaths of their peers IS.
( and maybe
for rika's sake, even if she's dead, he'd like amami to be capable of not being entirely terrible. they'd been close; it would break her heart to be betrayed (again), thinking of the way she'd looked when natsume had come out about killing two of her friends those months ago...
everyone's hiding something, here; some people's secrets are just worse than others. natsume cups his chin with his hand, eyebrows pressing together. still—despite any of that, he can't shake his suspicion of amami... he knows he has his biases, but just because he hates someone doesn't make them a terrible person. he guesses. it's still hard to convince himself of that.
a sigh. )
At BEST, it's just a skeleton or several in his cloSET, and at WORST, he'll get the bright idea to graduate using the same method the girl last year did: murdering his entire YEAR. ( no competition makes for an easy graduation. ) I'd like to gauge it mySELF, so I'll ask Amami-kun about this viDEO. A liar always knows another liAR, Nagito-kun.
( it's a hazard. )
...What were your concluSIONS? Considering you asked about MINE, it's only FAIR.
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( he starts, his judgement of natsume has always been he's two-faced, he puts on an act to fit in with the rest of the sheep. as much as he wants to be the owner of this group, that's not how it works, he can try though, and it's only failure — there's only so many people that can be swept up by his magic. yet, komaeda doesn't hate him for that, he doesn't hate anyone other than despair, the idea, the concept makes him sick, and if that was the case he'd hate amami as well too. he said it over and over again, despair is what mastermind's typically bring if they host a killing game, the absolute thrill of seeing what they love taken from them, from others, the misery that breaks them down, and not build them up. )
Amami-kun... I'll test him myself, I've had a thought for quite awhile now. I know the makings of a Mastermind.
( don't ask him how, he won't elaborate, but he's familiar because there's confidence in his voice as he says that. rather than the self-loathing he typically gives when he's so sure of when it comes to who he is. he could correct natsume's words, tell him not to speak of an ultimate in a light that doesn't fit them, but it's true... he's seen the other. he saw him put his life in danger during the meeting, saw how much far he's willing to jump without thinking of the consequences. the second time he met him, he was interested in uncovering mysteries like a child who had been given a brand new toy. )
As for my conclusions, I can feel hope and I can feel despair, for a Mastermind of low moral turpitude, he doesn't have that sort of aura that comes off of him. It's why I have my reservations... he's complicated.
( yet, he was confused when gauging hinata, that he was someone like him, a person who stood on the sidelines and watches others with admiration. he was right, he was wrong, he was both by the end, but towards the end, hinata is a person he could rely on, had high hopes for, always will be attached to no matter what happens. could he say if his conclusions are wrong, would he be able to share something like that with amami when a video like this exists? he doesn't know because he's unsure what part he could be wrong about. )
If you're going to engage, see how much of his story adds up to what you know from the video, there's some truth even if he isn't aware of it all... besides, you're a liar. You want to force him to lie, yet... take care of him, he's still an Ultimate that had the ability to choose another game if what we watched is real. ( but he stops, a small frown, but it's something that sits in his mind. ) Saihara-kun trusts Amami-kun, Kawaii-san trusted Amami-kun... because he was their...
( it rolls off his tongue unfamiliar, but he pushes through. ) ...friend. Please engage with him with that in mind, the Ultimate Detective deductions... are always right.