Thin Veil

Mondo didn't understand it. Why did Ishimaru vote incorrectly? He knew what would happen if he voted for the wrong person, he'd be executed too! So why? Before he could ask, a sharp pain shot through the biker as the spears impaled him. Ishimaru felt the same sharp pain as well. With the remaining strength they had, the two turned to each other. "Kyoudai...why-?" Mondo asked, looking at the hall monitor beside him.

"Aren't we...brothers?" Ishimaru asked with a smile and a tear in his eye.  The two of them were prepared to die when suddenly, the pain stopped. The two looked at each other, noticing that there were no spears in either of their bodies. What happened? Weren't they supposed to be dead? Mondo looked beside them, his eyes going wide at what he saw.

Standing in the courtroom was Sayaka, Leon, and Chihiro. People who were supposed to be dead.

None of this was making any sense. Just what was going on here?! The two looked down by their feet, noticing their bodies still covered in spears and lifeless. It began to make sense to them; the two of them were dead, but still on this plane.

A sudden scream grabbed their attention. The group turned to the trial stand, seeing Shizuka Matsuki grabbing her head and screaming. Ishimaru ran to her side without thinking. It pained him to see her like this. "Matsuki-kun, I-" he tried to place his hand on her shoulder, only for it to pass through her. He couldn't do anything to help her. But why should he bother? It was his fault she was like this. "How could I be so stupid? Now I can't help my girlfriend when she needs me the most because I-"

He stopped talking upon realizing what he just said. Wait? Girlfriend? But they had just met recently. No......that couldn't be right... He knew her for a long time. Sayaka and Leon walked over to him, Chihiro going to Mondo's side. "There's a lot we need to talk about." Sayaka said.

"Don't worry, Oowada-kun." Chihiro said. "I'm not angry at you."

"But kid, I killed you." Mondo said.

"I heard everything." Chihiro said. "And I forgive you for it. What's done is done. Besides, there's more important things we have to worry about." The programmer looked over at Matsuki, Chisato Ueda now at her side. Mondo looked at the botanist, a flood of memories coming over him. He was right, Chihiro's death and everything could wait. Clearly there were more important matters to discuss.

------------------------

The group of five all sat together in the dining hall, having come up by elevator with the remaining students. Sayaka, Leon, and Chihiro explained everything they could to the best of their ability. The first matter of importance was the fact that they were ghosts. After each of them died, they found themselves like this. Sayaka had tried to see if Junko was among them once she died, but her ghost couldn't be found no matter where she looked. There was no way of knowing if she was even among them. As ghosts, the living could neither see or hear them, not even Hagakure. As ghosts, they couldn't fly or pass through walls and objects, they felt as solid as if they were still alive. However, they could pass through closed doors and the living.

The second matter was that upon death, their memories of the past two years were returned to them. Well, almost all of them. They each had no memory of what happened before they passed out or how their memories were taken from them in the first place. But everything else had come back. They had remembered their friends, lovers, everything. Which both Mondo and Ishimaru had realized. Because they remembered those same things. They remembered the time they spent in classes. They remembered how they used to argue constantly until a challenge sparked their odd friendship, sorta like how it happened a few days ago. They remembered Mukuro Ikusaba (none of the others had seen her). Mondo even remembered Chihiro confiding his secret to him halfway into their second year and asking for help getting stronger. But most importantly, they remembered their connections to Shizuka Matsuki and Chisato Ueda.

Unlike the rest of them, the two girls weren't from their class. They were both a year younger than them, and were accepted into the school before the incidents started. Matsuki had been in Class 79 and Chisato was from Class 80. And neither of the boys had any idea how much the two of them would change their lives.

For Ishimaru, Matsuki was a student he was tutoring. The painter had asked him for his help with her studies as her grades needed improving. And of course he accepted. He was eager to help someone who wanted to improve on their studies. And at first that was all it was, the two of them meeting up in the library after classes for study sessions, maybe heading to the dining hall together if it got late. But then Matsuki asked to know more about him, and in turn told more about herself.

And Ishimaru learned just what she'd been through. The loss of her mother at a young age, her struggles with bullying and making friends, how she had to put on a fake smile and bottle up her emotions, how she was so lonely throughout her years in elementary and middle school. And something about it struck a cord because she didn't deserve it. She had worked hard to get where she was, spent years improving her painting skills, he never expected someone like her to be carrying so much weight on her shoulders. Something in him made the hall monitor want to help her, some strange feeling he couldn't explain. He wanted to make sure she would never feel that pain again, that she would smile genuinely, so long as he was around.

It was at that moment that the two of them began to spend more time together. They'd meet up for meals, Ishimaru would go to the art room to watch her paint, they even would have brief chats in between classes. And throughout it all, Ishimaru would try to contain the rapid beating of his own heart. His words would stammer, he'd start blushing, his nerves began to work up, and he didn't understand why. Especially since weeks before he could speak with her just fine. It took him a while to understand that this was what love felt like. But he knew nothing about being in love or what to do about it, what would she say if he told her? So he kept his mouth shut, trying to hide his awkwardness around her.

But he was surprised when Matsuki took him to the art room one day and showed him a painting. A painting of him. She had spent days working on it to make it look just right. And with it she confessed her own feelings for him, practically blurting it out and shouting from nerves. It was awkward for both of them, but Ishimaru was touched and told her how he felt the same to her relief. And the two of them became a couple.

And then there was Chisato. Mondo didn't have the close bond or connection that Ishimaru did with Matsuki, there was no chance meeting between them. For the longest time, she didn't even know his name. Their interactions had been limited, brief "hello"s and such in between the halls of Hope's Peak. But those moments made him happy nonetheless, he had always been awful talking to girls after all. There was something about her that he felt drawn towards though. One day he wanted to ask her if he could sit with her for dinner, maybe get to know her more, but he was too late. Some upperclassman called Nagito Komaeda had gotten with her before he did. He thought he'd never have another chance.

But then they got into a horrible fight, and Chisato wanted to break up with him. But Komaeda wasn't mentally stable, he had some kind of dementia, and he just didn't want to let her go. And that's when he pulled the knife out. Mondo happened to be nearby when it all went down, and readily burst in to save Chisato's life. He decked Komaeda in the face, not caring if he got in trouble, and knocked him out in the process. The botanist was thankful, and well, things just happened from there.

What with Mondo escorting her from class to class to make sure Komaeda didn't try something, words slipped out and the two started to date. Chisato truly seemed happy with him, she would tell Mondo about her time with Komaeda and why she broke up with him in the first place. She wondered what she ever saw in him. Komaeda never really cared for her, going behind her back with Junko of all people. But she could tell that Mondo was different. Awkward, but different. He wouldn't go behind her back, and he never did.

For a time, the four of them were happy together. But then the riots started. Students were winding up dead, and the halls would be filled with blood. And then the news came. Students would be called into Jin Kirigiri's office and told about the state of their families and friends; rarely did he have good news. All of them were called in, Mondo learning that most of his gang was dead or missing, Ishimaru's father was missing and his mother presumed dead, Chisato's grandfather had died and the kokeshi doll she made for him was sent to her, and Matsuki's father was nowhere to be found but was likely dead as well. They had all spent the night mourning their loses with each other. Then the students of Class 79 vanished, Class 80 following soon after. But Matsuki and Chisato had stayed in the school, choosing to be with the men they loved even with the dangers. The remaining students of Hope's Peak then sealed the school off from the outside world, hoping the school would be a shelter. But after that point, their memories went blank.

Headmaster Kirigiri and Mukuro Ikusaba, how they lost their memories, they couldn't remember a thing. And that's what worried them the most; what they couldn't remember. Because them not remembering the state of the outside world is what got them in this mess. They'd been thrown into this killing game with no memory and the idea that the world was still the same as ever. The other dead students had the same gap in their memories, so asking them was pointless.

The conversation had moved, Mondo asking why they were here if they couldn't interact with anything or anyone. No one had an answer. Ishimaru stood up and proceeded to walk away. "Ishimaru-kun, where are you going?" Chihiro asked.

"I...I have to see something for myself..." Ishimaru responded, not bothering to look back at the others. "Feel free to carry on without me." He walked out of the dining hall, heading to the dorm rooms and stopping in front of one in particular. He raised his had to knock, but quickly remembered that he was dead. His hand would pass right through the door, and even if it didn't it wasn't like anyone would hear him. He passed through the door, his ears suddenly barraged with the sound of screams. He stared at the person lying on the bed screaming and crying, his heart breaking from watching his girlfriend be in pain.

Because he knew that Matsuki's pain was his fault. He voted for himself knowing he would die, leaving her alone. How could he do that to her? Even without his memories, he felt something for her. But he foolishly thought that she wouldn't feel the same, that she would move on from his own death and find support from her other friends here, but seeing her cry like this and with all the memories he had regained he knew just how stupid he had been. But this time he couldn't just say "I'm sorry, Shizuka-chan" to make things better. He couldn't wrap his arms around her and hold her close like when she got the news about her father. He couldn't do anything to help her. She couldn't see or hear him, he couldn't even touch her. What kind of a boyfriend was he to be the source of her pain like this?

Feeling guilty, he sat on top of the bed (it felt strange that the mattress didn't sink under his weight) beside her and just watched her cry. He did this to her, and he deserved to punish himself for it. So he'd stay here and take his punishment like a man, shedding tears of his own. She didn't stop. Hours seemed to pass, but her anguish continued. Sometimes she called out for him, begging him not to leave or asking why he killed himself. And at one point she screamed out, "I thought I was important to you! Was that all a lie?!"

Ishimaru's guilt increased. Because he remembered that Matsuki feared that people were just using her, or faking their friendship with her out of pity. People had done that to her in the past, and it destroyed her self-esteem. She worried that people would just abandon her when they got tired of her. Months ago he had told her otherwise, he truly cared about her and saw her as a friend, he would never abandon her. But she didn't remember that, she had never told him about it during the killing game, and since he died to be with his kyoudai there was no doubt that her fears had taken hold once again. "No, Shizuka-chan, it wasn't a lie..." he said. He knew she wouldn't hear him but he didn't care. "I love you, I wouldn't lie about that... Please forgive me...for breaking my promise...!"

Ishimaru was startled to hear the crying end. He had no idea how long he'd been here, the others said that they didn't feel things like hunger or sleepiness now that they were dead, but the chime of the monitors and the visage of Monokuma told him everything. He'd been there all night. Matsuki didn't get any sleep. Ishimaru hoped that the time she spent crying was all there was to it, that she'd bounce back and try to move forward, but not even the dead could have hope in this place. She got out of bed, staring straight with dull, red eyes. The way she moved could only be described as if she was forcing herself to walk, as she barely lifted her legs. She didn't make a single sound, which scared him because he'd always see her leave her dorm humming some song he didn't recognize or greet the people she met as she headed to breakfast. She was a broken shell of the girl he knew and loved, and it was his fault it happened.

He left the room, literally passing through Chisato as she walked to the same room. He couldn't stand to see the damage he had caused any further. As he ran to the end of the dorm room area, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Mondo standing there. "There you are! What the fuck were you doing that took the entire night?" he asked.

Ishimaru couldn't answer, the words unable to come out clearly. "I...I made a huge mistake..." he managed to say as he stared at his feet.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Mondo asked. At that moment, the girls walked by them and the biker saw the damage left on Matsuki. "Shit, I knew she wouldn't take this well, but I didn't expect her to look like a damn zombie."

"It's all my fault..." Ishimaru said, his hand balled up into fists and shaking. "I'm the one who did this to her, kyoudai..."

"It ain't your fault," Mondo said, trying to think of how he could comfort the hall monitor. He was never good in dealing with these emotional situations. "It's that goddamn bear, he erased our memories and forced us into this situation."

"But I'm the one who allowed myself to be killed!" Ishimaru shouted, looking Mondo in the eye. "You killed Fujisaki-kun on accident, you didn't have a choice to make! But I did, and I used it to kill myself! I abandoned Shizuka-chan without any thought about how it would affect her! I had the choice to live with everyone else and I threw it away to die with you! I'm the worst, I never deserved Shizuka-chan's friendship!"

"Snap out of it!" Mondo said, slapping Ishimaru. He probably didn't feel any pain, but there wasn't much else the biker could do to get him to stop. At the very least, it got Ishimaru to shut up. "The only reason that you're dead is because we lost our memories, and that ain't your fucking fault. We're all victims here, you know. Besides, what guarantee is there that you'd have lived through this whole thing? You could've died at any point after this, and it wouldn't be your fault. Matsuki'd have the same damn reaction no matter how you died, we both know that."

"But I chose to let myself die!" Ishimaru said. "I assumed she wouldn't care or she'd move on, but clearly I was wrong! And it's my fault she's like this! I should've just voted for you..."

"Look, if you lived would you really be in a better state than she is right now?" Mondo asked. "We've known each other for two years, and I know damn well that you'd shut down just like she has. How's that much better than the current situation?"

"You don't understand, kyoudai..." Ishimaru said. Sayaka, Leon, and Chihiro came out of the dining hall and watched the two of them talk. "Before we lost our memories, I promised that I'd never hurt Shizuka-chan like she'd been hurt in the past. I promised that no matter what happened, I'd stay by her side and protect her. And I broke those promises. I was in her room, listening to her cry, and she assumes that I abandoned her. That I didn't care about her. And I can't fix that! I can't tell her that I'm sorry like I could in the past! She thinks I used her, kyoudai!" Tears began to form in his eyes. "Besides, surely you must be worried about Ueda-kun! You still love her, don't you?"

Mondo looked away. "Of course I'm fucking worried about her. Don't you think I went and visited her last night?" he said. "But Chisato ain't like Matsuki. She doesn't cry in front of others. And with those damn cameras watching us, she ain't about to let her emotions run wild. She's been a hostage before. Besides, she's clearly more worried about Matsuki. But if something happens to her and I'm not there to save her..."

"Don't go blaming yourselves for all this!" The two looked over to see Chihiro walking towards them, a stern look on the programmer's face. "What's happened can't be changed, there's no use getting caught up in 'what ifs' or 'what might happen'! Matsuki-san and Ueda-san have everyone else by their sides, remember? Besides, we're clearly here for a reason, wallowing in the past won't help us figure out what that reason is! Ishimaru-kun, Oowada-kun, I know you're both worried about them but I'm sure we can find a way to speak with them! What's getting angry at each other like this supposed to solve? We should be working together!"

Neither of them knew what to say. Chihiro walked up to Ishimaru and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find a way to contact them." he said, trying to smile. "Don't go beating yourself up, okay?"

"Sooo, did we get all that out of our systems now?" Leon asked. "Because we got some news to tell you."

"Asahina-san found Alter Ego!" Sayaka said.

"Alter...Ego?" Ishimaru asked.

"Oh right, you left the dining hall before I could tell you." Chihiro said. "I took the laptop we found in the library and fixed it up! I was working on a special AI that can help everyone, I call him: Alter Ego! He's going to decode the files on the computer, so maybe he can help the others get out of here! I left him in the bath house lockers before I died, so Monokuma can't see what he's doing!"

"And since Asahina found it, I bet the others will learn about him too!" Leon said. "I bet things will work out fine!"

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After the investigation of the new floor, the living students sans Matsuki (and Togami and Fukawa but what else was new) were introduced to the AI. They all agreed to Kirigiri keeping watch on the computer, and the ghosts began to think that all was well. But Monokuma called them all to the gym and revealed a new motive, specifically that someone among them was a traitor. Togami decided to suspect Chisato, which didn't set well with Mondo. "That son of a bitch is lucky I'm dead or else I'd kill him myself! My girl wouldn't be a traitor!"

"Kyoudai, please! Getting angry at Togami-kun won't fix anything!" Ishimaru said. But Togami wasn't about to stop there.

"Has the loss of Ishimaru really affected her that much?" Togami asked, no hint of sympathy in his voice. "It just goes to show how foolish she was to trust him. He decided to waste his life over that delinquet. He abandoned her at the first opportunity."

Ishimaru noticed the change in Matsuki's expression; her eyes becoming misty. How could he say something like that in front of her?! Ishimaru's anger began to boil over. "How dare he say that in front of Shizuka-chan! She's in enough pain already, and he's trying to make it worse!"

"What was that about getting mad at Togami again?" Mondo asked.

Matsuki left the room with tears falling from her face. Ishimaru wanted to follow her, but remembered that he currently couldn't do anything to help. "Poor Matsuki-san..." Sayaka said.

"Ueda's taking this pretty well though." Leon said. "I mean, being suspected of being a spy and all."

"That's just how she is." Mondo said.

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The next morning came as a surprise to the hall monitor and biker. Because Matsuki spoke. She wanted to see Alter Ego. The two ghosts, along with Chihiro, followed as Chisato brought her to the bath house where the computer resided. Why did she want to talk with Alter Ego? What purpose did she have? It came as a shock when she asked if she could've stopped Ishimaru from voting for himself, if either of them could've kept Ishimaru and Mondo from dying.

"Matsuki's blaming herself for your death?" Mondo asked. "That don't make a lick of fucking sense."

"...I thought she hated me for what I did." Ishimaru said.

"But...why ask Alter Ego about it?" Chihiro asked. "I mean, yes, I put in information about everyone into his databanks, but I don't see what asking if she could've stopped you is supposed to do."

But then Alter Ego surprised all of them, saying he could do something to help her. In a moment, Chihiro's head vanished and took on the form of Ishimaru, even speaking with a resemblance of his voice. He told Matsuki not to blame herself for what happened, and that she wasn't alone. That he believed she could keep going and be strong for him. It was enough to cause Matsuki to look away. Chihiro's face returned to the screen, explaining that he used the data he had to simulate how he thought Ishimaru would respond if he could speak to her.

Ishimaru smiled. "Your programming skills are truly phenomenal, Fujisaki-kun." he said. "I'd say just that to her, maybe even more. But that was truly enough, I think."

"I did what I could." Chihiro said.

It turned out to be just what she needed. Matsuki said that Ishimaru would want her to be strong for his sake. And it was true. Ishimaru walked as close as he could to her, knowing she couldn't see him but hoping that maybe she could feel his presence there. "I love you, Shizuka-chan..."

But Alter Ego wasn't finished there. He went on to talk to Chisato about Mondo, saying how she was important to him and that she shouldn't keep her feelings bottled up. That it was okay to cry at a time like this, that he believed Chihiro would tell her that if he could. Something changed in the botanist at that moment. She asked Matsuki to leave, waited until she left the room, and sobbed herself. It was strange to see her cry like that. "Chisa-chan..." Mondo muttered.

Chisato then asked Alter Ego to do the same thing he had done for Matsuki, but with Mondo's face and voice instead. He obligied, speaking to her as if he was the biker. "Damn, you put in a bit too much data or something..." Mondo said, shortly after Alter Ego mentioned how he loved her.

Chihiro laughed nervously. "I thought you two were a good couple. same with Ishimaru-kun and Matsuki-san."

Chisato dried her eyes, thanking Alter Ego and going in to take a bath. The ghosts figured now was their moment to leave. As they walked out, they noticed Matsuki leaving the dining hall with a small smile. She was already looking more like herself. Maybe the girls would be okay after all. Chihiro went his own way, leaving the two unlikely brothers. Ishimaru was about to ask what they should do now, stopping himself when he saw Matsuki stumble on the ground in the doorway to her room.

They both ran over, wondering what had happened, and one look inside the room showed it. Lying on the painters bed was what looked like a small piece of red fabric from where they stood. Walking closer to it however, showed that it was no ordinary fabric. It was Ishimaru's armband, clean of blood and stitched up all good as new. "How did this get here?!" Ishimaru shouted.

Mondo rushed to Chisato's room, seeing Monokuma holding his jacket and placing it on the botanist's bed. Just like the armband, no holes or blood were on it. The bear laughed to himself before vanishing. Mondo growled as he returned to Matsuki's room. "That son of a bitch!" he shouted.

"Kyoudai, what is the meaning of this?" Ishimaru asked. "Why is my armband on Shizuka-chan's pillow? And how is it that it looks clean and fixed?"

"That piece of shit bear did this!" Mondo said, banging his fist against the wall out of habit. "I just saw him leave my coat on Chisato's bed! He's doing it to get a rise out of our girls!"

Ishimaru glanced over at Matsuki, who was staring at the armband as if she'd seen a ghost come to haunt her. She slowly picked it up and brought it close to her. "But why? What does leaving these things do for him?" Ishimaru asked.

"He damn well knows how they feel about us!" Mondo said, his voice getting louder. "He musta noticed Matsuki had bounced back for some reason and wanted to bring her back down!"

Anger began to flow through Ishimaru himself. How could Monokuma stoop so low, Matsuki had been through enough pain! The painter rushed out of her room, armband in hand. The boys followed to see her knocking frantically at Chisato's door. It wasn't long before both girls were rushing to the dining hall with the items in hand, telling the others about what happened. And then Monokuma himself appeared, explaining that he thought the girls looked lonely and decided to leave these "presents" for them. He even went to the trouble to patch them up and clean them. "How does it feel?" The bear asked. "Knowing you'll be reminded of losing them every single day? Feeling the despair yet?"

"If he makes Matsuki cry again from all this, I'm gonna haunt his ass for all eternity!" Mondo said.

Neither of them knew how the girls would respond, but they didn't expect what happened next. Matsuki took the armband and pinned it onto her right sleeve, saying that it felt fine and that Ishimaru would want her to have it. Chisato soon followed her lead, taking the coat and putting it on despite it being a bit big on her. And both of them seemed to change in that moment. The inflections of their voices sounded...different. Almost like they were trying to emulate their boyfriends. Hagakure asked if the girls had been possessed by them, to which the boys could only laugh because they knew better.

Monokuma left, and the girls went on acting as if nothing had happened. "Do I really sound like that?" Ishimaru asked. Mondo laughed at the question. "W-what's so funny?"

"Don't worry about it." Mondo said, trying to regain his composure.

"...Do you think they'll be alright?" Ishimaru asked, looking back at the girls.

"Ya know what? I think they'll be fine." Mondo said. "They just managed to stand up to that phony headmaster after all."

"But what about the possibility that they'll be killed? Or commit a murder?" Ishimaru asked.

"You know Matsuki, she wouldn't hurt a fly." Mondo said. "And Chisato, I trust that she won't try to kill anyone. And if somehow they end up murdered, well, we'll be there for 'em. Seems like everyone who dies 'cept Enoshima winds up a ghost after all, so if they die we can help them through it."

"...You're right." Ishimaru said. "It appears that they have the strength to move forward. They have each other after all!"

"I guess all we can do for now is keep an eye on the sidelines and see what happens." Mondo said.

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Later that night, Matsuki and Chisato were both heading back to their rooms with their spirits high. The pep talk from Alter Ego had really helped Matsuki bring herself back from her depressive state. Still, she felt that something was off. Sure, she still missed Ishimaru and regretted that she never told him her feelings, but he'd want her to move on and stay strong. Yet it still felt wrong for some reason. As if a voice in her head was telling her otherwise...

She stopped where she stood, feeling a sudden chill on her hand and cheek. It hadn't been the first time she'd felt it in the past few days, it overcame her at random times and sometimes felt like it was passing through her. But she didn't know why. It hadn't happened until Ishimaru and Mondo had died, so why was it happening now? Was she sick or something? Or maybe it was all the stress taking a hold on her body. But then again, maybe it was something that couldn't be explained naturally...

She smiled to herself as she returned to her room, deciding that she would assume it was something spiritual. She wanted to tell Chisato, but knew she wouldn't believe her. So she just stayed silent as she fell on her bed, having the feeling that she'd have good dreams tonight. Because Ishimaru didn't abandon her after all, or at least that's what she decided to believe.