Ren

To my astonishment and hilarity, Yuu is tidying up the table. "I can't believe you," I tease.

"Look, none of the rest of the evidence matters anymore! I don't have to keep trying to focus in the middle of this absolute tornado," he plays in return. We all pass papers toward him and he gathers them into a neat little bundle, but those words are hitting me harder than I thought they would. Our sleuth work is over. I didn't think this was possible, but the stakes are almost higher now than before. We have all the answers. It's just up to us. It's up to us: six deeply traumatized teenagers who have, among other things, a severe phobia, flashbacks, a tendency to stress-faint, and an abusive cousin in the room. Who could be better equipped to handle this, really?

Yuu puts the papers into his pack and then Azumi slides her chart into the center of the table. I look to each one of my companions. Battered. Bruised. And with the weight of the world on their shoulders. There's courage there, in each of them, and it makes me feel a little less shaken. What Azumi said was true. I really don't need anyone to save me. Our fate is in our hands now. I take it upon myself to start the conversation. "Let's take care of the option I think we all want the least: option one, following through with the plan we made as White Daisy Room."

"Your assessment is correct, Ren. We mustn't allow that to come to pass."

"Objectively," Chimon says, "it's one of the worst choices. Its main benefits are that all sixteen of us wake up safely with our memories intact. But fourteen of us will be left with nothing to do. Even if we do have our memories, we can't go home. All we'll have left is each other. We either make a whole new life or stay trapped in a building– or maybe a couple different buildings– for the rest of our lives..."

"Aka, exactly where we were before we started this trial," Gou sighs.

"I know that we signed contracts, but can't we breach it? Sure, we'll have to deal with legal fees and stuff, but if the world knows we're alive, we can go home," Fujiko proposes.

Hibiki laughs. "Sweet summer child, we would destroy you in court. You wouldn't be able to financially recover for generations."

"I... I can't afford debt. Our savings are pitiful to begin with," Chimon admits quietly.

"And if my family steps in to help, the circus may go out of business. I cannot take that risk," Azumi agrees. "To breach the contract would be infeasible for the vast majority of us."

"If we focus on the non-objective stuff, it's even worse. This footage gets released and everyone we know will watch us suffer and 'die.' The people who hurt us, whether on purpose or by accident, deliberate action or inaction, will feel accountable for our deaths, even if we love them. A lot of the people I used to blame for my problems are my age. And I know what it feels like to believe you're responsible for someone dying," Yuu says solemnly.

"I could never forgive myself for doing that to my family. They weren't perfect, like, at all, but they loved me and tried their best," Fujiko clacks her nails on the table thoughtfully. I think back to being small and watching my father painstakingly paint my guitar, and to when Tamiko brought me fireflies from a town hours away. I'm sorry for getting into this situation, guys/

"The one good thing we haven't considered yet is the ideal. I know it was pretty much baloney, but Hibiki did have a good point about the way society shoves away every conversation about trauma. If we wanted societal change, broadcasting the simulation footage would absolutely make the biggest splash the fastest. They wouldn't be able to deny anything anymore," Chimon says.

Hibiki once again laughs. "I'm actually pretty proud of that. None of the authorities bothered to ask what the premise for this 'season' was gonna be, cause they told us we'd have 'complete creative control' as long as nobody ACTUALLY died."

"I don't think that's worth it. It would undoubtedly be effective in kickstarting change, but I don't want this to be my legacy," Gou offers.

"So. We're saying no to Option one, I'm assuming?" Everyone nods at me. I cross it out with simple, straight lines. On the off chance we change our mind, I want the words to be legible. "Option two, leaving our friends comatose so we can go home unscathed and with all our memories, falls into a lot of the same pitfalls. We'd still be broadcasting the footage. And if the government decided to rat out that it was a fake, our futures may as well be kaput. Society's fury and anguish would turn on White Daisy Room instead. Meanwhile, we've completely ruined the others. They stay half-dead, die, or wake up with nowhere to go. It's even more selfish. The only way we could really justify it is by saying, 'Well, a day ago, we thought they were dead, so this is an improvement!'"

"I'll say it before and I'll say it again. I refuse to risk even the slightest chance that they die. We just got them back. To abandon them like that would be doubling down on my mistake. Sorry, I know it's not all about me and my guilt, but this is something I'm not budging on," Yuu insists.

"I don't think it appeals to anyone," Gou says tentatively. Nobody argues with that, so I cross out that choice, too. We're down to three.

"I'm gonna skip ahead to the last choice I think we don't have to seriously deliberate on. Option five, Hibiki's trap. We'd all wake up, and it'd be like none of this ever happened. Aside from a lost month, nothing would be different. It's more than likely that we'd start the killing game over again. For as awful as this choice is, it would give us one particular benefit. Time. This would be the ultimate procrastination move. If everything else sounds too awful, we can do this and put off the real decision for later."

"Furthermore, in the next iteration of this killing game, there may be different survivors. This may be akin to taking the responsibility off of our own shoulders–"

"You can't make me!" Chimon cries out suddenly, slamming his hands on the table. "Please, please, please don't do that! I can't go back to where I was! I don't want to live another day in that emptiness and frustration! Even if I somehow manage to survive again, there's no guarantee I'll get my ability to love back a second time!"

"Little bro, no need to worry. We won't do it." Fujiko laces her fingers between his.

"Besides, we don't know whether this would give Hibiki an advantage. If he remembers this version of the game, he'll be able to avoid any slip-ups that let us get here," Yuu points out.

Azumi follows that up with an even scarier thought. "He may even elect to make Chimon the Inheritor to begin with."

"Oh, I don't actually know whether I'd keep my memories! That's the fun part! None of you have any idea whether or not you've done this before! For all we know, this could be the twelfth version of the game!" Hibiki enthuses. "For instance, there could be a world where Chimon lived and didn't get his love back, or one where he died as soon as he did! Keiji's death was basically down to a game of Roshambo anyway! Think of the possibilities!"

"If there was that many versions, then you really suck. Not being able to convince us to follow through with the plan in ANY of those realities?" I mock.

"Touche, chickadee."

"For as far-fetched as his theory sounds, it is even further impetus to make a different choice. We cannot allow a never-ending cycle. We must stop this now," Azumi resolves.

I cross it out and stare at our list. "Well, guys. Now we have to start thinking about choices we actually might want to make. The two that may come at the highest personal cost."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azumi

I do not know what to do. I have been humbled by this game. I believed I was wise and mature, ahead of the curve. But I have no answers here. Throughout this month, which to us felt like nearly six, we have been tested and harmed and changed. I just want my family. I just want Chuya to hold me. As much as I rue to admit it, I am just a child! We are all just children who made a foolish decision.

"Option three," he says, holding the paper so tightly that it crinkles softly at the edges. "We all wake up healthy and safe. The simulation does not get broadcasted. We are allowed to leave. But we won't remember a thing about our entire lives."

"Not so much as the smell of your mom's muffins," Hibiki emphasizes.

Fujiko sucks in air through her teeth, as if deliberating whether to speak. "I don't think it would be as bad as we think. If we brought any of our stuff, we could start piecing things together really fast! Like, school IDs! They have our names, birthdays, addresses, and school info! And our phones have pictures, emails, all sorts of things! It would still... super suck. But it's not like we'll be totally stranded and left in the cold!"

"Ehhh... there are problems with that. First of all, our phones are as good as useless if none of us remember our passwords. Second... we didn't bring ID's... Third, what's gonna happen to Joanie? She's gonna be lost in a foreign country, with her passport tucked away in an apartment she forgot about," Gou retorts softly.

"We'd get Joanie home. No guarantees for the rest of you suckers, though."

Chimon sighs. "I agree with Fujiko that it's the least harmful method. None of us, Hachi included, would ever have to remember our traumas again. But obviously the big glaring problem is that we lose the good stuff, too. Including each other. If we somehow manage to find our families– or they find us– they could help us re-learn a lot. It's possible, though, that we'd have entirely different personalities. And even if we don't, this would hurt our loved ones really badly."

"Yeah. We stay alive physically, but this could be considered a death of identity. A lot of you are prominent public figures, too. If you get mobbed by fans or badgered by journalists, it'd be confusing and frightening," Yuu adds.

An intriguing thought occurs to me. "Hibiki, would this apply to you, as well?" His lips purse for a second and his eyes open ever so slightly, as though that had not dawned on him. Gou blinks frantically.

"...No. If this is the path you decide on, I will eject and do it myself." The hope that had briefly invigorated Gou's body vanishes.

"Why?" he asks. "Why do you want this? Those memories do nothing for you but make you hate the world. I know you're not happy. You haven't been really, truly happy since before the accident. This could be your chance to start over! We've preached to you long enough about how people are capable of growing! Something must've stuck!"

Hibiki once more walks across the table to sit near Gou. He grips his chin lightly to force eye contact. "Gou. You can't understand this. You're too idealistic, despite my influence and your own problems. But I'm going to try and explain anyway. There is very little I care about, and one of those things is inflicting pain. The world hurt me. I love hurting it back. If I ever intended on backing out, trying to heal properly and manage my grief and all those healthy things, I could've turned away from this so many times. I have been making deliberate decisions to dig my own hole deeper. I am beyond redemption, and frankly, that's how I feel about most of humanity. Besides. One of the other things I care about is my brother. When I come home and our family starts indoctrinating us with platitudes, Naruhito will not be there. I don't want to live a life he was never a part of."

"So you're willing to die for us, but not live?! That's bullshit! You used to care about so many things! You used to want to help fix humanity, not burn it to the ground! If you just go along with this, you can be like that again! You can make the world a little less shitty!"

"Not worth it. Here's a lesson, my very stubborn and very well-meaning cousin: people can change, but they have to want to. Otherwise, you're pouring water into a bucket with no bottom hoping to fill it. I like you. We've been friends forever. So I owe it to you to tell you, upfront, I'm a bottomless bucket. And anyway, you seem to be operating under the assumption that your friends agree with you. Don't you have one more choice to talk about?"

Ren inhales sharply, as if having forgotten. "Option four. Hibiki and one other person begin a Forced Shutdown, killing them both. Every other person will wake up healthy, safe, and with all memories intact. The survivors get the choice of what they want to tell the world, or whether they just want to return to their normal lives and pretend we went to the second enrichment program. Someone dying for real is obviously not ideal. Even worse, we'd have to choose who to send to their death."

"But this comes with a rare opportunity. A guaranteed permanent end to Danganronpa. No more killing games. No matter how fictional," I remind them.

"But again, how are we supposed to decide who to–?!" To Fujiko's surprise, Gou, Yuu, and I all raise our hands. To my surprise, we all get scolded furiously for volunteering. They get loud about it.

"Azumi, you can't be serious! You know that would destroy Bisque and Tozen! And your circus family! All the kiddos you help take care of! You're so important to so many people!" Ren shouts.

"That's not funny, Yuu! You can't just decide to be the martyr because you feel guilty! We have gone through hell and back keeping you safe, you can't just turn around and throw it all away now!" Chimon yells.

"Gou, shut up! Stop pretending that, just cause you're the Inheritor, you're any more deserving of this than the rest of us! You need to get out, to finally start making choices for yourself and not everyone else!" Fujiko squeals.

"What?! It's not cause I feel guilty, it's for purely practical–!"

"This would be my own choice, you don't understand–!"

"Well, what do you want us to do?! If we go through with this, we need a sacrifice, and if you three do not want the role, it must be one of us! As the eldest one here, it ought to be my responsibility!"

"Look, I don't want it to be me. I need to go home so I can start helping my family put itself back together again. I need to start getting my Papa on the right path."

"And I volunteered to hire him! I can't go!" Fujiko chimes in.

"I want to start fixing things with my mom, too, but that doesn't mean any of us–"

"Want any of you to die!" they all remark in unison.

I sigh. "Is Option three still on the table? I feel as though we are too protective of one another to make any headway on four."

Silence. I suppose, in their desperate pleas toward us, the three of them remembered they have goals to pursue in the real world. It would be very difficult for them to begin making progress if they cannot recall forming these resolutions.

"So anyway, here's why it should be me," Gou interjects. We all start buzzing and he raises his voice louder to make himself heard. "I knew this was a possibility. I've been mentally preparing for months... or, I guess weeks. I'm the one who brought Hibiki into your lives in the first place. It would also hurt me the most if one of you died, because I have more happy memories with you. And, uh..." he chuckles like he's about to tell a joke, "Hibiki's troll folder made me wanna kill myself."

"Love you, too."

We all sit, quiet and unimpressed. "Draw straws?" Fujiko offers.

"We don't have straws," Chimon reminds her.

"Spoons championship?"

"We don't have playing cards either, Fujiko. And what, is the winner supposed to be the one who dies? That doesn't make sense."

"Guys, I'm serious! Let me do this! I'm so tired of not having a say!"

"But isn't that what Hibiki wants?! He broke you down for years, you deserve to start living your life independently! Learn to say no! Overcome your fear and zoom off into the sunset in your race car!" Ren insists.

"It's not what he wants. He was going for Option One, Two, or Five. We already defied him. And the choice I want to make right now is to die for you all. Admittedly... this is part of why I pushed so hard to be the Inheritor. Hibiki even said I'm too weak for this. That's not true, though. I wanted my sensitivity to help you, where I could. It's just like you said, Ren, my weakness was my strength, here." He smiles so happily, placing a hand to his chest. "I'm never gonna stop wanting the best for you guys. Because I love you."

"And love is one of the only things that outlive us," Ren says breathlessly.

"S-Stop! Stop getting all philsoc– philosophical on me! Gou, you can't!" Fujiko begs.

"Dude, I know you said you weren't universally beloved, but you matter so much to us! You can't just leave us!" Yuu shakes.

"Guys, we have to respect his choice. Our intentions are good, but we can't keep stripping away his agency," Chimon rationalizes. But he is hugging himself tightly and his voice trembles.

I... I have to let go. If I make a fuss, if I fight him on this, it will only make it harder on him. Just like it did with Bisque. But it's so hard to let go. "I... I am so honored that I had the opportunity to know you. You are in every manner remarkable beyond compare." My chest feels tight.

"The honor was mine. Can you guys do me a favor?"

"Anything!" Yuu answers instantaneously.

"I'm not saying you need to... but could you at least consider telling the world what really happened to us? I can save you a little bit of footage for proof. If you're scared and you just want life to go back to normal, feel free to destroy it forever. But I just think the world should know our story. Who knows? They might even listen. And it will definitely make it easier for any future therapy sessions..."

We soak this in for a moment. "I promise I'll consider it," Ren nods.

"Wow! You guys are so cool. How did I get so lucky? I met the most awesome people."

"Okay. You guys have to vote to make it official." With trembling fingers, I select Option four, and then press Gou's picture. Shortly thereafter, it makes a sound of recognition. "Cool. Let's go. It's Punishment Time. Oh, but I'll be nice first." Our ankle clasps unhook.

We throw ourselves at Gou, and he embraces us back just as readily, even twirling Fujiko in midair. He laughs. Kisses my hand. Noogies Ren. Throws Chimon on his shoulders and runs around with him. Offers a fistbump to Yuu that is swiftly rejected in favor of a hug. "Thanks for the goodbye party! I'm ready now." Simultaneously, he and Hibiki fall limp to the floor. We check his pulse. There is none. We huddle around him, taking him in our arms. All there is now to do is wait here with him a while longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gou

Hibiki and some of his friends help me throw together something small in case the group wants to reveal this whole farce to the world. We go at a feverish pace– can't leave them waiting too long. I make absolutely sure that no funny business is going on, but Hibiki seems subdued. Calm. I walk past all of the pods carrying my friends. Feeding tubes in their noses. Ventilators on a few of them. So deep in sleep it's eerie. But they're still beautiful to me.

Hibiki and I meet up near the two Forced Shutdown buttons that control all the machines at once. We stand there in front of it for a little bit. The way this was explained to me is that the electricity in our bodies will course through us into the machine. It'll go slow. It'll feel like burning, sort of like Nari's execution, but after a while, our brains will be kinda wonky, too, since our neurons will be freaking out. "I didn't get to use most of the cool execution ideas we came up with," he complains idly. He plays with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Oh, damn, what a shame," I snark. He snickers. "Hey, I have a question for you. Why did you volunteer for this? You could've caused us a lot more despair or whatever if you made us choose two people." We count down three together and then simultaneously push the buttons. A strange buzzing sensation ripples throughout me. "Oooh, weird."

"I volunteered cause I'm tired. I don't really feel like being alive anymore. Hurting the world is fun, but it's exhausting. And hey, your friends aren't total dumpster fires. People suck but they don't suck quite as bad as most people."

"I believe that the really cruel people are exceptions, and that most people are just trying to do the best they can. They fuck up all the time, but there's something incredible about how they just keep trying."

"Aw, so you're calling me special?" he teases. I roll my eyes. My hand is starting to feel hot and my arm is thrumping.

"Are you looking forward to seeing Naruhito again?"

He snorts. "I don't know whether to point out how chatty you are, or how insanely naive."

"Wow! You did both at once! Good job!"

"I'm a master. But anyway. If there's any kind of afterlife, I'm not gonna meet either of you there. Naruhito was a million times more pure than me. And if he reincarnated, I bet he became some grand, benevolent ruler. I'll be a gnat eating shit all day. And I might be a bottomless bucket gnat."

"I don't think you'll have a concept of good and evil if you're a gnat."

"Eh." This is starting to get painful now.

"Can you tell me stories...?" I ask quietly. He studies me for a moment, as if trying to figure out if I'm for real.

He shakes his head in a "What can you do?" kind of way. "When you were four, you wanted to try these wings that your dad had. They were seasoned with this Habanero rub, and we told you it was gonna be way too spicy for you, but you did it anyway cause you've been a thrillseeker your whole life. You bawled for like fifteen minutes, even after drinking a glass of milk. And then, when you recovered, you stole another bite! And liked it! We asked you what the heck was up with that, and you said you were angry at how spicy it was because it surprised you. Once you knew what to expect, you were chill."

I can't help but laugh, even though the pain is spreading to my chest now, too. "That sounds like me."

"Mmm. I've got a good one. One time, when we were hanging with some old family friends, one of them dared you and Naruhito to eat a fistful of dirt. My mom saw you guys holding it up toward your mouths and freaked out immediately. And you two didn't see the obvious problem with what was happening. No, you decided the reason my mom was scolding you was because she wanted you to share, so you both offered her half of your fistfuls and she was absolutely bewildered. That was before we moved out of the big city. She relaxed a lot once we got to a woodsier place."

"I was about to say, I can't imagine Auntie panicking about dirt. Even though... I vaguely remember that." The words seep through a grimace.

"And that time I instigated a game of Soup-Salad-Sandwich! God, that was ch-chaos! It was so funny how p-passionate everyone got about those arguments! But of course, baby brother was a little angel and got you all to stop fighting by grabbing bread slices, putting one on each side of my face, and calling me an idiot sandwich. He had been silent that whole time, and then just did that all out of nowhere! It made our relatives laugh so hard they forgot they had been so heated just a second ago."

"I-I remember that. Do you still have Naru's favorite scarf?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

The pain is basically all over my body now, and I sink to my knees, still holding the button. My legs almost feel numb. It reminds me of the months I spent with them paralyzed. Hibiki follows suit a second later. I start to see weird colors and shapes in my vision.

"B-By the way... gave your 'non-survivor' buddies a copy of my simulation memories. You don't have to worry about them resisting the others."

I try to say something in response, but something wild starts happening with my language comprehension. Whatever I say sounds like gibberish. I wonder whether my parents were really as unsupportive as I thought, or whether I bought into a twisted narrative. Sorry Mom. Sorry Dad. I wish I could've done better with this life I was given. But honestly? I'm proud of myself. Consciousness goes in and out for a bit. And then... there's peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ten of them are already awake by the time we open our eyes.

[A/N] Epilogue to come shortly. Thank you all very much for reading my story. You have helped me find my wings.