Sidenote:
I love foreshadowing things in my books, and making references to the original games.

And besides, one of you actually caught a foreshadowing that Ouma made in the nurse's office back in the [ School Journey ]; which could be relevant to this chapter. Maybe. 💙

And: Sorry to say but I've been procrastinating on editing this because I'm lazy. (No surprise) — I can hear my mom watching 'Tangled' in the other room and it's distracting. XD

I was supposed to publish this yesterday but- darn it. Anyway, enjoy :)

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

✧ Chapter 62 ✧
[ Is All It Could Be ]
♥*♡∞:｡.｡　　｡.｡:∞♡*♥
[ Keebo's PoV ]

"Have you come to save your friend?" Chihiro tilted his head slightly, bringing out a small rod with prongs at the end of it. With a flick of a small lever, the rod expanded to the form of a large hammer.

At the back of my mind, I could vaguely remember.. something familiar about it.

"This is another one of Iruma's inventions.. such a brilliant mind, but too bad it's always so polluted by thoughts as lewd as her.." Chihiro sighed with mock sadness as anger boiled inside me. Miu Iruma..

"Don't talk about her that way!" I snapped, the anger making the pain in my side burn. "It's because of you that she's gone! You killed her! You killed our friends!"

"Unfortunately, that's wrong." The Programmer's gaze moved from the hammer to my eyes, lowering the gadget and making it rest on the floor. "Iruma was killed by your love. Don't you see? Love is poison."

"And.. speaking of poison.."

Maki inched forward slightly as Chihiro slammed a hand on a nearby button, and a panel from the ceiling opened to reveal a figure hanging by several ropes.

At the same time, a vat of green liquid rose from the ground, beneath the hanging body. It was something straight out of a movie of some sort, but this was very much real and just as terrifying.

Beside me, I heard Maki and Chiaki take in a breath as we stared up at Nagito.

He seemed perfectly nonchalant, his pale hands tied and body dangling before the chamber of liquid. His glasses had fallen off, presumably lost in the fight with the Traitors.

However, Nagito was glaring at Chihiro with the same fierceness as someone who was robbed of his food. (A/N: Sorry, as I'm editing this, I'm hungry)

Maki clenched her fists as a door slid open to reveal more Monokumas of different variations. Some of the bears carried bombs, and shields, poised and ready to attack.

Chihiro then scowled, brushing a strand of hair away from his face. A gesture I always thought of as feminine.

"This disgusting human trash tried to attack me, of all things. He even managed to disassemble Kirokuma, knock out Utsugi and Jataro. But still, they've managed to tie him up.. and hang him him up there."

Chiaki frowned at the petite Programmer, who was now smiling despite the seriousness of the situation. The pain on my side was getting duller the second, which was a good thing since I had to find a way to free Komaeda somehow..

"Why.. are you doing this?" Chiaki asked in a small voice as the Monokuma Traitor's smile wavered. It was so innocent looking, but full of hidden malice that I've never expected.

"Why?" Chihiro narrowed his eyes, "I'm not going to launch into a detailed explanation to make you feel sorry for me, Miss Nanami-chan."

"However.." he turned and gazed at the panel before him and turned a knob.

In front of us, the screen flickered to life to show Shuichi, Kaito and Kokichi?

The detective seemed to be struggling with a chain around his neck.

And Ouma wasn't moving even as Kaito held him up by his neck. The video didn't seem to be playing with sound, but I could tell that Shuichi was trying his best to pull himself free from the chain; whilst shouting for Kokichi.

"As long as I want her here.." Chihiro sighed, running a hand across the screens, "She can get the Revival serum, and all our problems will finally be solved!"

Maki wordlessly left the room without another word, her running footsteps fading away. So quietly, and so suddenly that it caught me off guard.

"Maki wait-! Where are you goi-?"

But she ignored me, disappearing out the door as swiftly as an arrow would fly.

Did she have a plan to help the trio on screen? If so, I had to trust her..

My eyes darted up to where Nagito was, who regarded me with his grey-green eyes; holding no concern of his current wellbeing.

I trusted Chiaki, who was distracting Fujisaki but I didn't know how long could she keep up with the talk.

Turning my attention back to the mechanism, I made sure Nagito was okay before tinkering around with the panel on the side of the vat of simmering poison.

It seemed as though it were a system of pulleys and wires. Analysing the coloured wires, I decided to try my hand in disabling the trap without getting attention from Chihiro.

It wasn't very complicated since I was experienced with wiring and technical programming.. but doing this was going to be a slow and tedious process.

Making sure Fujisaki couldn't see me, I pulled out a pair of pliers from my pocket and got to work; yes, I do keep pliers wherever I go in case of an emergency.

The longer I crouched at the side of the vat, the more the wound by my side stung. Perhaps I was lucky enough to not get such a noticeable wound.. but it was getting annoying to receive a prickle of pain every now and then from the simplest move.

I glanced up at Nagito once again, who had his eyes closed. I shifted my gaze back to the machine and realised something.

What if this was his luck? That Neo World Program door's panel broke, which led us to finding him and Chihiro. Ultimate Luck was really something difficult to predict.

With a final snip of my plier, a loud alarm sounded- and heart immediately went into panic mode, since alarms plus snipping a wire doesn't go well together.

Above me, the pulley system activated and Nagito's body descended down towards the poison.

"Oh dear," Chihiro frowned innocently, his hands clasped in front of him as Chiaki seemed paralysed with shock. "It seems like Tetsuya thought I wouldn't notice."

Nagito didn't even seem to struggle at all, he just looked rather resigned to his fate. All I could hear was Ouma's voice in my head: 'Big mood'.

But maybe Nagito believed in his luck too much.

"Komaeda-!" Chiaki ran forward but a figure dashed forward from the shadows and  before I knew it, Nagito was safe in Hajime's arms. The albino smiled slightly as I heaved a sigh of relief.

"What-? No!" Chihiro was the one who was shocked as Hajime wordlessly set Komaeda down and steadied his gun at the trembling Programmer.

"Shut down the Neo World Program or I'll do it for you." he threatened, his ruby red eyes glowing faintly. However, his left eye was now tinged with a mixture of light blue, olive green and blood red. Wait- blue?

"Hajime Hinata.." Chihiro smiled faintly, pulling out a sharpened knife and pointing it at the black hoodied male. "I see you've managed to regain your memories.. your eye is blue."

"Don't state the obvious," Hajime replied coldly, as he narrowed his multicoloured eyes, "I just want to end this, and get everyone out alive. Including you.."

"Me? Get out alive? Ha!" the Programmer slammed a hand against the table, making several objects rattle on the surface, "You should never take pity on a person like me.. I'm useless in the outside world.. shunned because of how I looked, always mistaken for a girl.."

"There's another way to solve this problem, Fujisaki." Hajime reasoned.

"Another solution? Save your empty promises! Nothing can bring Owada back from the grave.. no matter how many artificial intelligences I make.. nothing can replicate a soul!"

"I want Junko Enoshima alive again!" Chihiro demanded, his eyes now starting to fill with tears. "She told me that everyone will stop making fun of me.. just because.." his voice caught as he lowered his head, "Just because I looked like a girl.. I hated myself for being such a weakling.."

Hajime's mouth was set in a thin line as he held up his gun, pointing straight at Chihiro's crying figure.

My breath caught in my throat as Hajime pulled the trigger.

The loud burst of the gunshot made my ears ring and I realised that..

Chihiro has stopped crying..

However, someone was standing in front of him, holding the Electrohammer in a way that the bullet had deflected off its surface.

"Guns are prohibited in such a space, Hajime! Pay attention to the rules!" Ishimaru's voice announced loudly. With that being said, he dropped the hammer and turned to the paralysed Chihiro.

"Fujisaki.." he began to say as he took the crying boy's hands, "You don't have to do this. Alright? We may have lost our good friend, but that doesn't mean we have to take revenge. They're always with us."

Chihiro raised his head, his hazel eyes wide and filled with tears. Around us, the white room started to glitch, the program slowly losing control. "What do you mean-?"

"Only you can stop this machine," Ishimaru gestured to the console in front of them, "Can't you? Just leave the Program, come back with us.."

"But they'll just shun me again!" Chihiro's voice wavered as Ishimaru shook his head.

"I won't let them. You're my best friend, Fuji.. do this for Mondo! For our friends. It's true I miss them all, but.."

I watched with bated breath as the programmer turned to the console hesitantly and flip a plastic case, which was covering a large red rectangular lever.

His hand hovered uncertainly over it, as the world around us started to crumble; picking up on Chihiro's uncertainty.

"I cant.."

The words slipped from his lips as easily as a lie would. "It's programmed in such a way that it's impossible to destroy. Someone has to control it or else the AI will grow and start to think for itself."

"What?" Hajime exclaimed as I stood up, "You're saying someone has to be in this room forever?"

Chihiro ran a hand across the board, his eyes narrowed, "This is more than just a room. More than a program. It's a home. You destroy the home, the program will restart and it will take over the system if it's uncontrolled."

"Which means.." I whispered as Chihiro turned to us, his expression grim.

"You want to destroy the Neo World Program, get everyone's memories back and kill Enoshima all at the same time?"

"You.. can't."

"I believe you can, Chihiro!" Chiaki finally spoke up, as the ground rumbled once more, making me wobble and hold my side. "You can destroy the program because I believe in you! I'll volunteer myself to stay in the program, and control it.. I'll go for the sake of my friends."

"Chiaki.. you cant do that!" Komaeda spoke up, struggling to stand as he leaned against Hajime. "If you do, you can't come back! You'll be.. you'll be as good as dead! I deserve to be in the Program.. a worthless piece of trash like me deserves to stay!"

Hajime immediately frowned, about to say something. However, I saw him pause and whip around to point the barrel of his gun at a silent shadowed figure by the door.

A long haired man stood there, his face expressionless as per usual. His red eyes swept across the room and finally landed on Hajime and the gun pointed at him.

"Kamukura," Hajime muttered, taking out a knife from his belt as well but Komaeda pushed his hand down to stop him.

Izuru walked forward, each step echoing across the marble tiles as he passed. However, he didn't seem to radiate hostility; just curiosity.

"The hope you have." he began to say, focusing on everyone as he paused, "It's rather.. interesting. Enoshima told me to seek despair. But now that I've been unable to predict the outcome of our prolonged battle... this other side holds more interest for me."

"What?" I whispered, shaking out of my daze as the man regarded me with a look of silent consideration.

"This.. girl.." His eyes moved over to Chiaki, who was staring up at him, "She told me to stop the Mastermind," Izuru continued, his voice as cold as ever.

"You need someone to be in the Program, don't you? Perhaps.. it's time for me to go home.."

"Home?" Hajime repeated as Izuru inclined his head forward slightly.

"The Neo World Program was where I was originally formed. If I go back.. it'll be as good as going home. Junko needs to be stopped, I realise that now.."

"A person with talents, but no personality is too meaningless for this world."

"Let's not waste any more time," he continued turning to the Programmer, who was looking up at him with bewildered eyes. "Let me take over the system, and the rest of you, get out alive."

"Kamukura!" Hajime spoke up but was stopped by the other man's gaze, "It was a challenge, battling against you, Hajime Hinata."

Chihiro and Mondo took hold of the rectangular lever together and with encouragement from each other, they pulled it down to shut the Neo World Program once and for all.

"One more thing.." Izuru turned to us as wind started to break away the roof, pieces of it making sunlight filter through its gaps.

He reached into his pocket and brought out a glowing vial full of yellow liquid.

"There was no need to extract Ouma's memories.. I've discovered the Revival serum for myself long ago."

"Holding onto it.. was just for the sake of seeing how this battle would turn out." he tossed the vial to Hajime, who caught it with one hand. "Think about who you want to revive.. and save whoever they are."

Chihiro pushed a button on a screen, the wind picking up speed as a loud scream could be heard in a distance.

"No no no! Kamukura senpai! Where did you go?! How could you abandon me at a time like this?!"

Izuru's eyes narrowed as he placed a hand on the screen Chihiro offered up. The programmer turned to us for a moment, looking hesitant, "You guys.. should go ahead, Taka and I will get out after we finish with this."

"Keebo! Come on!" Chiaki shouted, gesturing for me to move. I turned to the wider screen in front of Chihiro..

The two ponytailed woman was slowly making her way towards Shuichi, who was trying his best to pull some wires away from Ouma.

The pain by my side had faded significantly, but I still felt dizzy..

I couldn't think about that right now. My friends needed me.

I followed Chiaki, Hajime and Komaeda as fast as I could.

However, instead of following the trio to the elevator doors, I stepped into the room where Shuichi and Kokichi were.

Without waiting, I ran forward despite the now building pain by my side. People rushed past me, some giving me second glances but I focused on the teenager who was looking up at Junko.

I've never killed anyone.. but..

The woman now laughed at Shuichi, who was on the ground and looking visibly exhausted. Scooping up a bloodstained dagger from the floor, I swung my arm back and stabbed the woman from behind. Instead of blood, Enoshima started to glitch.

I pulled out the knife and watched as she knelt over, lying in the floor. I ignored the gasp from Shuichi and faced her.

This was the same woman I knew from years ago, who used and manipulated not just me, but thousands of people.

"You're working for the wrong side, my dear Monokuma Traitor.." Raising a long talon-like fingernail towards me, I fixed her with my most expressionless face I could muster.

"You're wrong Enoshima.. I'm nobody's traitor. I don't belong to any side."

Gritting my teeth, I raised my foot and stomped on her arm. The woman made no move to remove my foot and instead giggled maniacally, before slowly glitching out and fading away.

I heaved a sigh and pressed my hand against my side. Shuichi stood up with wobbly legs, looking at me gratefully, "Keebo.. thank you."

Instead of seeing one of him though, I saw double, my vision blurring as I felt breathless.

Nodding with as much strength as I could, my eyes trailed across the room to find Gonta helping Kaito and.. Maki? They seemed to be unconscious.

I turned to Kokichi and Shuichi, the detective holding the smaller boy close as he whispered something.

However.. instead of joining them, I turned away and hid behind a large piece of concrete; shoulders shaking with fatigue.

I was going to die here..

Somehow.. I knew I wasn't going to make it out alive. But.. at least I helped my friends.. didn't I?

A life I've lived well.

"Hey Miu.." I whispered to myself, taking off my glasses and gazing at them for a moment. At the side of the frames, were her initials.. and I remembered how we first met. "Thanks for the help.. looks like.." I took a shaky breath..

"We'll meet again.. right?"

♥ End of Chapter Sixty-Two ♥

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

AND ALSO: it's Ouma's bday! :) And the third manga of V2 just arrived and I'm *inhales* there's too much Kokichi and Komaeda today. BUT. *Jeez, I'm getting sidetracked*

Do you wanna know how Miu and Keebo actually met? Just comment if you want, and if you also want me to add it in the:

next chapter

or

the end of the book

Anyway! That's all for now, ciao ciao. 💕🌸 :)