27. Alone Together

"Oh, there you are, Kumiko."

The comic artist turned her head to see Takara standing in the doorway of the dining area. The journalist walked towards her and sat down in the chair across from her. "Oh, hiya Karins!" Kumiko said with a grin. "What'cha need?"

"It looks like we've gotten an update on the Jabberwock Island situation. A few more students have woken up it seems."

Kumiko's smile seemed to falter for a moment. "Neato! But, uh, what's that gotta do with me?"

"Well, not you in particular. But rather all of us. Since most of the students there are fixed up, a few of them will be showing up to help us out with our group. I don't know who exactly's coming, but I'm sure with their help we can help our friends even faster."

"That sounds...amazing! I can't wait for, erm, them to show up!" Kumiko looked down at the floor, an action that wasn't lost on the journalist.

"Is something wrong, Kumiko? Chiyo's told me that you haven't been acting like yourself lately. And we're both getting worried to be honest."

Kumiko sighed, and looked up with a sad face. "I've been thinking about him again..."

Takara didn't need to ask for clarification, she knew exactly who she meant when she said that. "Oh... I see..." she said.

"The thing is, I'm supposed to hate him for what he did, right?" Kumiko explained. "That's how these situation thingys are supposed to work. And I wanna hate him for it, I wanna hate him with every fiber of my whole being!" Small tears began to form in her eyes. "But I just can't. I keep telling myself that he's no good, that he's the worst, that I shouldn't want anything to do with him after everything that happened! But I still can't hate him no matter what... I wanna forgive him and act like everything's okay again, but at the same time I don't wanna risk something bad happening again..."

Takara stood up and sat down next to Kumiko, placing her hand on the comic artist's shoulder. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Kumiko." she said. "This kind of matter is complicated, especially with the information we have now. It's something you'd have to figure out for yourself."

Kumiko tried to wipe away the tears. "But I don't know how. I thought I understood him better than anybody else ever could, but since all this stuff happened... I just don't know! I don't know anything about this! I don't even know if he still loves me, or if he ever ever did..."

"Well, all I can tell you is that you'll have to try and work things out with him if you can." Takara said. "I'm sure anyone would say the same. It's not gonna be easy, but considering the shit we've gone through, doing that would be five times easier you know? And if things don't work out, well, there's other fish in the sea."

A sniffle escaped Kumiko's nose. "You don't get it..." she mumbled.

There was an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say. "Well, anyway, the students from Jabberwock are supposed to be here by tomorrow morning. We were thinking of greeting them when they show up. You don't have to show up, of course, but I think it'd be nice if you did. Just think about it okay? And try not to worry about this...thing. It'll sort itself out in due time, I'm sure. I'll see you later." Takara stood up and walked away to get some food.

Kumiko continued to sit there. She looked down at her left hand, extending the pinky and staring at it. "...It's still there." she muttered. "The red string's still connected to him..."

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"Oh, good morning Kumiko." Chiyo said with a smile as she lied in the bed. "I assume your presence here indicates that you will not be greeting the Jabberwock survivors with everyone else?"

Kumiko sat down in a chair next to the bed and looked at her best friend. While she was making a recovery, she was still skinny and stuck in the bed most of the time. Not too long ago, her and the others had been just as weak. To see her best friend in such a state though, it was hard to deal with. "No, I don't feel like it..." she said.

"Ms. Tsukuda told me about your worries." Chiyo said. "Why did you not tell me of this sooner? You know that I am always here to speak with you."

"Because it's stupid..." Kumiko said. "I thought being in the machine world was supposed to help me with my issues, but it still hurts. Even when I was in there it hurt. And I've been having bad dreams lately. They're not like the ones Kazuzu or Toshi or any of the others are having, because every time I wake up I'm not scared. I just feel like crying and want the pain in my chest to go away!"

"Kumiko, there is nothing stupid about this. You are trying to deal with a broken heart, such a task is not easy for anyone to deal with." Chiyo said.

"...Do you think this is how Shizu felt when she saw Sushi die?" Kumiko asked.

"I...cannot say for sure." Chiyo said. "What Ms. Matsuki had to deal with was more than just a broken heart. She had lost many people by that point, and I assume Mr. Ishimaru's death was the final straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. She had blamed herself for what had happened, at least that is what Ms. Katsuya told me."

"...Do you think he ever really loved me? Or was I just being played with?" Kumiko asked, her voice getting shaky.

"I do not know him that well, but from what knowledge I do have I can say that he was not using you." Chiyo answered. "I believe he truly cared for you, no matter what actions he took. There is much that we do not know after all."

"You mean it?" Kumiko asked.

"Would I ever lie to you?" Chiyo asked.

Kumiko's mouth opened, but she didn't get to ask her question. The sound of loud voices coming from outside distracted both of the girls. Kumiko stood up from the chair and walked to the door, she would've brought Chiyo, but the medium was hooked to an IV and wasn't supposed to be moved suddenly. Opening the door, the voices got louder. They were coming from around the corner, and sounded angry. Some of the voices were familiar, Kazumi was the loudest of course, but others she didn't recognize. She ran down the corner and tried to see what was going on. "What's all the racket going on over............here......"

Everyone seemed to freeze in place upon hearing her speak. Her classmates looked away awkwardly, unable to say anything. A few others that were there didn't say anything, but just looked at the comic artist and back at the last person. One person was staring at her, looking terrified, or perhaps thankful she couldn't tell, and slowly walked closer to her. Kumiko could only stare at him in shock, her mouth hanging open as she didn't know what to say. For a moment she didn't recognize him, but then it registered in her mind who it was. A sole name escaped her lips.

"...Gundam..."

The breeder blinked upon hearing the name. It startled him. Knowing him, he was expecting her to say "Gummy Bear" instead of his actual name. "Kumiko..." he muttered.

Kumiko nervously took a step back, no other reaction coming to mind. "Wh...what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I..." he began. Gundam then shocked everyone in the room by getting down on his knees. "I'm here to beg for your forgiveness!"

"...What?"

"I have committed the most unforgivable sin against you!" Gundam said. "And I am utterly ashamed of myself for doing such a thing to you! Thus I stand before you now, on my hands and knees, to beg for you to forgive me. I do not blame you if you choose not to accept my pleas," He looked up at her, tears falling down his face. "But I humbly ask that you hear this fallen god's words!"

Kumiko jumped in shock. She'd known this boy since he was a child, and not once in all that time had she ever seen him cry. He wouldn't fake something like this, it was completely genuine. "Oh please, you're just making a fool out of yourself." Hikari Nanase, one of the survivors from Class 80, spoke up. "Like she's gonna listen to you after what you did."

"No, he's serious..." Kumiko said, falling to her knees as well. "You really...hate yourself for doing that, don't you?" Gundam just nodded his head, his fists shaking. "If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that he's not lying..."

"Well it's not my fault if something happens because you trusted him again." Hikari said. "If you'll excuse me, I have more important business to take care of." The conservationist walked away.

"Does this mean...we can start over?" Gundam asked.

Kumiko shivered. A voice in her head wanted to scream out "yes, of course it does", but her common sense told her otherwise. "I......don't know..." she said, standing back up with shaky legs. "I...I have to think about this... I wanna fix things again, but... I just..." Unable to handle the stress, she ran off down the hall into the depths of the facility. She wanted to be alone right now, seeing Gundam again was too much.

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Days went by and she still didn't know what to do. It's not like she could avoid him, not forever at least. At some point they'd need to talk about, well, whatever their relationship could be called. She'd have to say something to him eventually. But as it stood, she didn't know how to do that. She didn't even know what to say to him. Yes, she knew that he didn't lie when they saw each other again, but how could she know what was truth and what was a lie? How could she know he wouldn't hurt her again? It didn't  help matters that that Sonia girl had come too. That girl had ruined her happiness once, for all she knew that princess could ruin it again.

But every time Kumiko saw her, she looked sad. She had no idea why, it didn't have anything to do with her, right? And the less interaction she had with the princess, the better. She didn't need her making things worse. But she couldn't avoid her forever as well, it seemed.

"Kumiko? Might I have a word with you?" Sonia called out into the room where the other Class 79 students were resting, seeing Kumiko lying up against one of the active pods.

"What do you want, Cinderella?" Kumiko sneered.

"I understand that you'd rather not talk to me, I don't blame you for that." Sonia said, looking down at the floor. "I'm not here to ask for your forgiveness, but I am here because I want to talk. Just listen to me, please."

Pent up anger boiled up in the comic artist. "Why should I listen to you about anything?!" she shouted.

"Because I'm here to talk about Gundam." Sonia said, attempting to step closer.

"What, you wanna gloat at me about him or something?" Kumiko asked.

"No, that's not why I'm here!" Sonia said. "Please, just hear me out. That's all I ask."

There was a silence, nothing but the sound of the machines could be heard. "........You got five minutes, don't waste 'em." Kumiko said.

Sonia walked towards the device, making sure not to sit next to Kumiko just in case her grudge was that strong. "We weren't sure if Gundam was going to make it, his vitals kept dropping and rising inconsistently." she said. "But eventually, he did wake up. With both sets of memories and no trace of despair. And when he did wake up, his first concern wasn't me, our friend, not even himself. His first concern was you.

"We think he may have remembered what he did to you before his death in the simulation. It's the only explanation we could think of. He asked so many questions about you, if you were alive, if you were okay at all, he didn't even care that he was weak from being in the machine for weeks. The instant we heard about your situation, he wanted to come here.

"In fact, when they were trying to decide which of us was going to come here, he begged them to let him be one of them. I've never seen him beg. All this time, he was worried about you, because he wanted to fix the mistake that he...no, that I caused."

"...Why does this stuff between us even matter to you?" Kumiko asked.

"Because I care about Gundam." Sonia answered. "And even before you came to Hope's Peak, he would mention a friend from his past and smile. He'd smile softly just recalling you. And I know he cares deeply about you. I'm not going to tell you what to do concerning your relationship with him, but if you do anything, try to give him a second chance as a friend."

"....Leave me alone. I need to think."

Sonia sighed as she stood up. She glanced down at the pod Kumiko was standing beside, seeing a young girl with black hair and a pullover hoodie resting inside. She would've asked the comic artist who this was and what happened to her, but it was clear that she had overstayed her welcome. She walked away, hoping that what she said at least got Kumiko to think things over.

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The screen showed the results once again. Kumiko's face appeared as the sound of cheering echoed throughout the room. "Congrats, you all guessed correctly!" Monokuma announced. "The murderer of Kaito Fujiwara, who in turn was the killer of Chiyo Ueda, is little ol' Kumiko Akamine!"

"What? No! I didn't kill Kai!" Kumiko said, her eyes filled with tears as she frantically looked among her classmates. "That's completely wrong!"

"But don't you remember? If the culprit is guessed correctly, they'll be executed." Monokuma said. "And as it so happens, you're the blackened! My results don't lie after all!"

"But I know I didn't kill him! Honest! My spidey-sense is telling me that this is all wrong!" Kumiko said. "You guys, why would you vote for me?!"

The other twelve students all glared at her simultaneously. It even felt like the two photo stands were staring right at her. "Oh come on, it's clearly obvious that you're the culprit." Naomi said, pushing up her glasses.

"Fujiwara killed your best friend, so that's the motive right there." Arata said.

"And if that isn't enough, you take enough pride in your comic work that you wouldn't want them to be destroyed, am I wrong?" Shigeru asked.

"But...b-but-"

"We confirmed that the weapon was from your belongings." Ayame stated. "No one else could have possibly choked him to death with a ton of candy bracelets, which you're not wearing today for once."

"But I can explain tha-" Kumiko tried to say, before she felt her arms be grabbed. She turned and looked at both sides, seeing the photos of Chiyo and Kaito holding her arms.

"Excuses, I'm sure." Monokuma said, walking in front of the comic artist. "You're the one who did it, the least you could do is accept that before you're executed!"

"But I didn't kill no one! I never went to the laudro-thingamjig!" Kumiko screamed as she thrashed her arms around in an attempt to break free.

"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for the Super High School Level Comic Artist!" Monokuma said, beginning his little spiel and ignoring Kumiko.

"You guys, please! I don't wanna die!" Kumiko begged.

"Let's give it everything we got! It's punishment time!"

A clamp came out and grabbed Kumiko by the neck, and the portraits let go of her arms as she was pulled back. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! GUMMY BEARRRRRRRRRRRRRR, HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

"KUMIKO, WAKE UP!"

Kumiko's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. She frantically felt around her neck, finding no clamp there but a lot of sweat. She looked around the area, noticing that she wasn't in any courtroom and there were no people with her. She was lying in her bed at the Future Foundation's base, the one in the room specifically given to her. She grabbed hold of her arms as she began to shake, small sobs escaping her throat. It was all a horrible nightmare. She wasn't about to be executed, she didn't kill anyone, she was safe and sound with the Future Foundation and her friends. Paradise Resort was long behind her. It was all just a dream that felt far too real.

"Kumiko?" A voice made her turn her head, she wasn't alone in the room. Standing in the open doorway was a few staff members, but right there at her bedside was Gundam looking horrified.

"G...Gundam...?" she stuttered. "W...hy are y...you..."

"You were screaming bloody murder as you slept." he explained. "I heard your cries from my own room and rushed over in order to quell your night terrors, and you were here thrashing in your bed. I've been calling out to you in the hopes that my voice would rouse you out of the darkness. And...before I did so you...called out for me...

"You were crying out for 'Gummy Bear'..."

Kumiko froze, with no idea what to say. The last bits of her dream returned to her and it was true. She hadn't called out for Gundam, but for Gummy Bear. She hadn't called him by that name since their fallout, so why...

Realization struck her. All she could do was grab hold of the animal breeder and cry into his chest. Gundam nearly jumped backwards from the sudden action, he hadn't completely regained his strength from his own time in the New World Program, but he continued to stand there and allowed her to cry. He wrapped his own arms around her, hoping it would do some good.

"Um, should we get one of the psychologists here?" A staff member asked.

"Their presence and yours are not required here." Gundam stated. "This is a matter that only I can handle. Now leave."

The staff members hesitated, but left as he asked. They'd read about what had happened between them and couldn't disagree that this was an issue the two of them had to settle on their own. The door closed behind them, leaving the breeder and comic artist on their own. For what felt like hours, Kumiko continued to cry into Gundam's shirt. Neither of them said anything for a long time. As the tears began to subside, Kumiko spoke shakily as she let go of him. "I'm not m-mad at you, I-I-I can still s-see it-t."

"...See what?" Gundam asked.

Kumiko wiped her eyes with her arm and sniffled. "The r-r-red string..." she said. She held up her left hand. "I-It's still there, t-tied to m-m-my fing-ger. And it s-s-still leads to y-yours... We're still conn-nected by f-f-fate!"

Gundam realized what she was talking about. When they were children, she had told him she could see the red string of fate said to connect you to your soulmate. Not just her own, but everyone's red string. And when they'd met up at Hope's Peak again, she told him that their fingers were connected, that they'd always been connected. And that deep in her heart she knew that she'd find him again if she just followed the string; she knew they were soulmates and were meant for each other. For her to say that they were still connected, even after what he'd done, it could only mean one thing. "We are still bound to one another," he said. "Which means that you..."

"I st-till love y-you!" Kumiko said. "I c-couldn't stop lov-ving you because there's n-n-no one else!" Tears filled her eyes again and she began to cry. "B-B-But I didn't wanna b-b-be alone a-again! I th-thought...you didn't love m-me anymore! I w-w-was af-fraid you were gonna l-leave me here and ru-un off with-"

Gundam pulled her closer to his chest. "Cease, and be silent, o trickster goddess," he said. "I no longer have ties to that woman."

"B-b-but...how can I b-believe you?" Kumiko asked.

Gundam reached down into his pocket, and pulled out a small bracelet made of beads. It was covered in dirt and the colors had faded, and the string was broken. He held it out for Kumiko to see, causing the girl to gasp. "It is damaged, but I have kept that which sealed our pact long ago." Gundam said. "After you were spirited away, and I fell into the depths of darkness itself, I refused to let go of this sacred item. If I am correct, I may assume that you still possess yours?"

Kumiko didn't say a word, instead pointing to a small box that rested on the desk. Gundam stood up and walked towards the box, opening it. He could only look in shock in what was inside. Necklaces, bracelets, and rings strewn carelessly inside. Sacred treasures he had given to her after they had started dating. "The b-bottom..." Kumiko said. Gundam dug through the mess of jewelry to make it to the bottom of the box. His hands felt something familiar, and he pulled out another bracelet made out of beads. Like his own, it was old and battered and dirty, but the string holding it together was still connected just barely.

"I was s-so angry and h-h-hurt by what you d-did," Kumiko said. "But I couldn't g-get rid of your gifts. They w-were meant to prot-tect me from b-b-bad guys... I w-wanted to throw them out, b-but I couldn't no matter h-how much I wanted to!"

Gundam closed the box and sat back down with her. "You wanted to repair our pact." he said. "Your devotion was stronger than your spite, and you were not about to destroy that which bound us together. You and I wished for the same thing."

"You what?" Kumiko asked.

"I realized how I had wronged you and wanted nothing more than to rewrite the past to remove that treacherous stain, but not even I have such power. I had hoped to approach you and fix things, but you were adamant in keeping myself away. When you and your companions had vanished, it broke me. I allowed myself to fall completely under that vile curse. But even then, I vowed to settle this with you. For if I could reestablish our pact, I would be able to leave this world with no regrets."

There was nothing but silence. "So...you're not gonna leave me?" Kumiko asked. "You're not gonna abandon me and make me feel all lonely?"

"I would sooner die than commit such a sin." Gundam said.

"Good. Because I need you, Gummy Bear." Kumiko said, clinging onto Gundam's coat. "I need you more than anyone in the whole wide world."

"It has become quite clear to me that we both need one another." Gundam said.

"...Will you stay with me tonight? I want you here if I have another bad dream."

"Of course I will. I am concerned after seeing you thrashing." The two squeezed into the bed, Gundam moving his hand through Kumiko's hair. The motion soothed the comic artist as she found herself relaxing in his arms.

"Our friendship bracelets are all banged up." she said. "I'll need to make brand new ones for us."

"That would probably be wise." Gundam responded. "I fear that our pact has been broken, and we must reestablish the bond."

Kumiko softly giggled. "You're still the Gummy Bear I love the mostest."

Gundam blushed. "And you are still the trickster goddess who I have bound my soul to."

For the first time in months, Kumiko Akamine slept without nightmares plaguing her.