✧ Chapter 47 ✧
[ But No Amount of Medicine ]
♥*♡∞:｡.｡　　｡.｡:∞♡*♥
[ Shuichi's PoV ]

"How did he escape the trap that Monokuma-." I started to say when Maki bent down and pulled the knife from Amami's body. Blood dripped from the knife as I refused to take my eyes away from its slightly hypnotising cycle. How could she have killed him so easily.? With no regret or hesitation? But.. that was her talent after all.

"Rantaro was Monokuma's number one traitor, after all." she regarded the green haired male's lifeless body, "I'm guessing Monokuma planned it all along. So Amami would have a clean getaway." She sheathed her knife and looked over at me. I didn't know what expression I was making, but I could tell she knew I was trying not to tear up. He was my friend.

"Are you alright?" she asked with surprising gentleness. The side of her face had a streak of blood across it, presumably having wiped her face with her bloodied hand.

"Y-Yeah." I muttered. Rantaro was my friend. Our classmate. How did it become like this? "Let's just go before anything else happens." The continuous alarms rang in my ears even as Maki swept her hair away from her face. "I suppose we should leave the body here." she suggested as I nodded hesitantly.

"Where.." I cleared my throat to stop my voice from shaking, "Where are we going?" I asked as we gradually started to make our way down the stairs once more, "Do you have a plan?"

"The leaders do," Maki replied without hesitation, running her hand down the railing, "One of them is trying to distract Izuru Kamukura as we speak."

"The Mastermind himself?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "That sounds like suicide."

"..." Maki glanced at me, "You don't seem to know the full story yet, do you?" she questioned. Her expression was difficult to read in the dim blue lights.

"Full story?" I repeated as she turned away. Together, we descended down, passing Level 14. Above us, I could hear people's loud footsteps following behind and shouting. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu, as if I had somehow experienced this before.

My nightmares.

I remember now. I had a vivid nightmare of running down a set of stairs and falling down, pushed by a figure with magenta eyes. My hand outstretched as the magenta eyes regarded me with no remorse. But lately.. instead of the figure being someone I couldn't recognise..

The person pushing me down the stairs looked just like Ouma.

The familiar stance and build, his signature smug smile as he let me fall without worry in his eyes.

Each nightmare seemed to reflect my life..

However, there was that one nightmare I had where I was trapped in that strange white room with my bleeding nose. But thankfully, I haven't experienced that hellish dream in real life. I didn't want to.

"Whatever you do, Shuichi," Maki stopped me with her left arm against my chest. My hands were still shaking from my fall, but surprisingly, I didnt seem to have injured myself very badly. Save for the multiple cuts and bruises forming on my knees and legs.

Maki and I stood at the door of the staircase, the humid air making it hard to breathe, "Just listen to my instructions. If I tell you to run, you run." she turned, her eyes bore into mine with deadly seriousness. I nodded obediently, not wanting to disobey her.

"The leaders told me to make sure you're safe," she held out her knife, staring at her own grim expression on the smooth reflective surface, "You've never met them before, but it seems like they want to speak to you."

"But why?" I blurted out, feeling confused as more thoughts and questions piled up. "Why am I so important?"

Maki tilted her knife slightly, enabling her to see the reflection of a hallway; gentle, crying patients and glassy-eyed doctors roaming around.

"It's about the Hospital. There's something sinister and you're invol-." her sharp eyes darted upwards as she, once again, pushed me to the side. There was a dull thud as I slammed against the door and fell to the dusty floor. I looked up, half expecting to see Rantaro once more.

But what I saw, was my nightmare come to life. His deep crimson eyes. His regal posture as he regarded Maki and I.

"If you think you can run away so easily, Shuichi Saihara," Izuru Kamukura himself, stood at the railing, "You're wrong."

♥*♡∞:｡.｡　　｡.｡:∞♡*♥

"Maki!" I moved towards her, however, the girl shook her head, glaring at Kamukura. "How long have you been following us?" the assassin asked the man quietly, her hand moving to grasp the hilt of her knife.

Izuru slowly sauntered down the stairs, his long hair trailing behind him. "Not for long, girl." he replied in his monotonous voice, "You have pathetic leaders.. so much bravery, so much hope in their meaningless lives. However, my abilities made the fight boring, and rather pointless."

Maki gripped the knife handle tightly as I watched uselessly. All I had to do was delay, till help came. Right? But would it ever happen? C'mon Mister Detective, don't be such a weakling.. a voice so familiar to me whispered to me at the back of my mind. I faced Kamukura.

"What do you want with me?" I asked the red eyed man. He was wearing a business suit, clean and crisp with no dirt or dust whatsoever. He looked so much like Hajime Hinata, the student who had been taken away three years ago. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

"There's no point trying to delay the inevitable, Saihara," the man replied in his monotonous tone, "You have something I need. Knowledge that we have to destroy in order to have a loveless future forever."

"It seems you need the full story. The one that your little friend here," he gestured to Maki with a solemn expression, "Doesn't seem to want to tell you."

I clenched my fists, slowly getting to my feet from where I was propped against the wall, "Tell me everything then, Mastermind." I empathised the last word, "You took everyone away from me."

I suddenly felt furious with the expressionless man, standing before me. I hated him as much as I hated Amami. No, I hated him even more, since Rantaro was under his influence. "You took my parents. My family. My friends. Kokichi." My voice trembled at that last word.

With each sentence, I took a step forward so I was soon standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking up at Kamukura. The only way I could see him was from the blue light above. It seemed to make him glow. I've never seen someone I hated so much. "Why did you take them all from me? You just want a loveless future? Tell me WHY!"

I expected to hear my own timid, scared voice echo, since we were in an enclosed space. But I sounded furious. Izuru didn't seem fazed by my shout, instead, he looked slightly bored. "This is boring for me, Saihara, so let me cut to the chase."

"The one who you have to yell at, is yourself."

"You are the Mastermind all along."

I.. -

I stared at him, my mind processing what he just said. There was a ringing silence, no one moved or spoke after what he just said. I.. I was the Mastermind? How could that be possible?

"Have you ever wondered why you had those nightmares?" Izuru continued, breaking the silence as if shattering a glass. Maki took a breath, as I continued staring up at him. A slow burn in my heart was starting to form as my mind struggled to comprehend what was said.

I didn't recall straight away, but I couldn't find the energy to doubt his empty words. I waited for the red eyed man to tell me he was lying, but he fixed me with such a cold stare, I knew he was serious. I was just too naive to believe.

"You have something we need, Saihara. Your knowledge," Izuru continued, slowly placing another foot down, making his way down once more, "You were the one who was so sick of falling in love so much in your past life, that you decided to do something about it."

"So you approached Team Danganronpa, a small team of people working in a pharmacy. You went up to them with a broken heart, and they mended it for you."

His words struck me, as I realised that whatever he was saying.. was making sense.

"You had an idea to rid the world of unfairness. From what I've heard, after you created the Reverse Serum, you erased your own memories. Still don't believe me?" he suddenly directed the question to me, his eyes drilling right into mine as I struggled to glare.

"..." I stayed silent, my mind processing what he meant. The true Mastermind.. was me all along?

"However, once you erased your memories, you forgot one thing. People with greedy hearts wanted something you made," he continued talking, his face expressionless.

"The three Serums. Reverse, Revival and Regain. The first, of course, being very common, since it was easy to make. It can take away memories. The second, Revival, has the ability to revive one from the dead. The third, is able to recall your lost memories."

"Unfortunately," he paused at the last stair, so close to me, but I refused to move, "You had hidden the last two serums away, since if they fell into the wrong hands, that would be disastrous. There was only one dosage. Just one. But since only you know the serum's secrets.. people are after you-."

"Shut up," I flinched when I heard Maki speak up from behind, "I don't care who you are, or what you're planning, but you should stop talking." she held out a dagger, her eyes cold.

"Maki Harukawa.." Izuru looked at her, the two pairs of red eyes meeting each other, "A Remnant of Love, it seems. A pity, because you would've been wonderful to our cause."

"I'm loyal to the Remnants." she replied, I saw her her fingers gripping tightly on the hilt of her weapon, "It's you whose on the wrong side."

"Saihara made me this way," Izuru spoke up, without missing a beat, "He was worried that the Hospital would not have a leader to turn to, so he created me. He used all his knowledge and programmed me."

"Three years ago, I was still a test. But Shuichi had already erased his memories and gone to Hope's Peak. So all that's left, are the ones working behind the scenes. Chihiro Fujisaki, Makoto Naegi, Sonia Nevermind, to name a few."

"Those we must kill, are the ones who want love." Izuru's irises blazed with red light, "Which is why you need to be killed, Harukawa."

I froze as the man pushed me aside and strode towards Maki, and within that split second, I remembered.

♥*♡∞:｡.｡ ฿ⱤɆ₳₭ ｡.｡:∞♡*♥

"Make sure he has all the talents that Hope's Peak has ever known." I whispered quietly, my mind still occupied with the thoughts of every person I've ever loved. "I want him to not feel any emotions.. so he won't be a victim of love."

The woman in the doctor's coat beside me nodded, pressing some buttons of the side of an elaborately designed machine. Was it all worth it?

Strangely.. yes. I hated falling in love so easily.. only to get my heart broken once more whenever I got rejected.

I couldn't get him out of my head, despite me testing the serums on myself after years of trial and errors. The purple eyes which shone as he thanked me. His warm hands as he pulled me along the hallways. Or his small, fragile smile. A smile I wanted to protect. Kokichi Ouma.

If I couldn't have him.. no one will.

♥*♡∞:｡.｡ ฿ⱤɆ₳₭ ｡.｡:∞♡*♥

Maki hit her back against the wall and dodged the swing of his knife. I watched helplessly as she battled with the man. "Shuichi! Run!" Maki caught Izuru's blade with her own dagger and twisted, making the man drop the knife.

But what she didn't see, was his other hand which pushed her against the wall again with a loud slam. "You picked the losing side, Harukawa," Izuru told her quietly just as he swung the knife at her.

"Maki!" I dashed forward, but someone else beat me to it. A sudden blur of a black hoodie made me freeze. The new person kicked Izuru away, sending him skidding backwards.

"What-?" he muttered, for once, surprise in his chilling tone. "You again.."

I looked at the newcomer, who had their hoodie pulled back.

Somehow, I recognised him, even though I've only ever seen him in pictures and newspapers. White shirt, blue jeans and a simple pair of shoes. Like a normal teenager. But something told me this wasn't just a normal person.

...

"Nice to see you again too, Izuru," Hajime Hinata greeted him, his mismatched eyes glinting in the dim light. I watched him hold out a hand, he looked determined, "It's time for you to end this."

♥ End of Chapter Forty-Seven ♥