Nowhere to Go
Seiko’s POV
‘What the hell am I supposed to do now?’
I sat on a bench outside of Hope’s Peak with all I had left; my bag with my most important pills and chemicals. The same bag that was switched out for a detonator... This entire situation occurred because I just wanted to help: Ruruka, Sonosuke, Komaeda. I couldn’t even do that much. I should have just shut the hell up and gotten each of them their own drug myself.
I was minding my own business, it was just a normal day...
‘That sounds familiar...’
I was working on my presentation for the upcoming test, starting with just a few trial-and-errors to see which method worked better. Komaeda bursted in the room and practically appeared next to me. He scared the shit out of me and messed up my slight progress. He told me TeruTeru, who happened to be in his class, ‘referred’ him to me to help him with a problem prior to appearing.
He basically just needed strong laxatives, so I told him exactly where they were: “Very back of the storage room. Top shelf, far right.” I explained the best I could at the time considering Ruruka and Sonosuke were yelling at me through the door. The door was unlocked. They only wanted to use me again anyway...
There was no hesitation, there never was. They sat themselves down and Ruruka started explaining why she needed to use my project to enhance hers. She wouldn’t have ever gotten into Hope’s Peak if it wasn’t for me... I mean, I’m the one who made her sweets so good. If it wasn’t for my performance enhancers, she would be a Reserve Course Student.
Even in that moment they tried to get me to eat their sweets... Of course I agreed to let them take my reanimator - the project I was working on for my own performance - once they did that... How could I not? After they accused me of being a bad friend because of it - yet again - Komaeda was just coming out of the storage closet. I guess Sonosuke took seeing someone else in my lab unannounced as a threat. I couldn’t completely blame him, though. No one aside from them ever really came to ‘visit’ me.
All while Sonosuke had a knife pressed against Komaeda’s neck, he didn’t seem phased in the slightest. It was slightly unsettling, but I had bigger problems to worry about. I had to stay up all night making a brand new project and I had no ideas...
I’m not blaming them for what happened, I just knew I should have done something... I could have explained what the bottles looked like better or checked to make sure they both grabbed the right ones. What good will beating myself up over it do now? I’m homeless...
And to think, the last time I had somewhere to sleep I barely did. I came home less than an hour before I had to get up and passed out uncomfortably because I spent the whole night making a new performance worthy drug. I slept through my alarm anyway and that’s why I bumped into Komaeda on my way to the gymnasium.
I just wanted to support Ruruka and be there for them... At the time, the fact that they made me late and was using me without remorse didn’t bother me at all.
I just wanted to be there for them...
I just wanted a friend...
Why didn’t they ever want to be my friend?
What didn’t I do right?
Komaeda even lied to me. I asked him how my reactivator worked for him and he said it worked great. Even he lied to me... I didn’t even know him! There was no reason for that! After he lied, I finally made it to the gym. Ruruka was on stage presenting her project already. Sonosuke was sitting at the side of the stage, saving a seat for me. There were people all over and a group of people with a camera broadcasting everything live, I assumed it was the local news station.
Before sitting down and trying not to make a scene, the judges who ate Ruruka’s sweets, enhanced with what I thought was my reanimator, started choking and groaning. They nearly collapsed on the ground! I’ll never forget the threatening look Sonosuke gave to me right before we both ran up to Ruruka, trying to comfort her and figure out what happened.
Without even thinking, I plainly told her she took the laxatives. After seeing the reactions the judges had, there was no doubting it. They were angry and confused with her when they heard that, but both Sonosuke and Ruruka instantly blamed me. Ruruka stared at me with a blank expression, but her eyes read nothing but pure hatred. Nothing more. Sonosuke brought out a fist full of knives and threatened to kill me in front of everybody for ‘what I did’.
‘Wow... That sounds familiar, too.’
I tried to fix the situation by getting a different drug from my bag and giving it to the judges to reverse the effects of the laxatives. I even thought about negotiating with the school to give Ruruka another chance. At the time I knew for a fact I had nothing to do with the outcome of the situation, but I still felt it was my responsibility to fix it. Though when I opened my bag, I was hit with the dreadful realization that Komaeda and I had switched bags and his bag held a detonator...
The entire room erupted into terrified gasps and chattering. I remembered feeling like I would die on the spot. I felt all the color drain from my face and my legs felt wobbly. Despite that, I tried to calm the situation once everyone knew I was in possession of a detonator. I tried to explain what happened with mine and Komaeda’s bags and I even backed away from the bomb.
It didn’t matter. No one listened and Ruruka started calling me names and accusing me of setting this all up on purpose just to sabotage her. She said such vile things about me in front of everybody, the whole world, as if my situation wasn’t bad enough. I never even did anything to make her think that about me. It was so unfair...
They had me so angry I actually took my mask off to scream back at them a little better. I wanted them to hear every word I had to say to them and I couldn’t let everyone think I was some horrible, selfish monster. I couldn’t just let them keep using me like their servant... I know they didn’t hear or retain anything I was saying. Partly because they had their head too far up their ass, partly because there was a dog bigger than the entire school that just bursted through the gymnasium wall.
When I say the dog was bigger than the school, I’m not kidding. And yes, it did happen that suddenly. The only logical explanation would be Komaeda misusing my drugs and creating that. Ruruka and I were both terrified and we tried to back up, but somehow, we both ended up tripping at the same time and setting off the detonator. We were all lucky to have survived the blast. It felt like an action movie. Nobody died.
Of course, that didn’t stop Ruruka, Sonosuke, and I from getting expelled and me getting kicked from my dorm that the school paid full for. Komaeda only ended up getting a suspension for a few months, which is outrageously unfair. Sonosuke had his own shop Ruruka lived with him at, so they weren’t in as bad of a situation as I was, unfortunately...
But now that I replay the situation again and I can think of it a little more clearly, if this situation is anyone’s fault... it’s Komaeda’s. He’s the one who bursted into my lab without any sort of warning, at least Ruruka and Sonosuke let me know they were there before I opened the door, he took the wrong drug on purpose and he switched out our bags! He had a god damn detonator in his bag for Christ’s sake! He should’ve at least marked it or something...
Not to mention, he was able to escape the situation with a little suspension. Mine, Ruruka and Sonosuke’s lives were ruined!
Man, I’m probably just trying to shift the blame onto someone else because I can’t handle admitting it was my fault. If anything, I really should have directed Komaeda to the laxatives and checked my bag once we both fell. They looked so similar, but after that whole thing I should have checked... Now everyone thinks I’m a crazy terrorist and I lost my only friends...
Now that I actually think about it, were they ever really my friends? They always showed appreciation for my favors, though! Right after begging me to agree... But even when I couldn’t eat Ruruka’s sweets, they were both nice enough to stick around just so I had somebody! But I guess they only stuck around because I did them so many favors...
If they were really my friends, they wouldn’t constantly guilt trip me into eating their sweets. I’ve explained it to them so many times, there isn’t anything else I could have done. They never gave up. They guilt tripped me my whole life because of a deathly allergy I have no control of! I felt so horrible for it that I let them treat me like their servant! I might not have the best grasp on the idea of friendship, but I at least know it’s not that.
Maybe I should have just taken them both with me to get an actual allergy test... They might have listened then...
I did everything for them. Everything. I even risked getting kicked out of Hope’s Peak on my own and making a complete fool of myself just to ensure Ruruka would pass with flying colors! And for what?! For this! This is bullshit! Utter fucking bullshit!
And for both of them to humiliate me in front of the world and make me out to be some evil mastermind with the plan to ruin Ruruka’s life. Ruruka called me a terrible person and Sonosuke threatened to kill me! I’m not that bad. I know I’m not. TeruTeru and Komaeda could tell anyone the same thing; I’ve only ever had good intentions. I’m not a terrible person!
But what good is my word against everyone else’s? All the world ‘knows’ what an evil person I am. I ruined my best friends’ lives, hurt a bunch of innocent judges at Hope’s Peak Academy in the process and blew up the entire gymnasium with a detonator.... They would take Ruruka and Sonosuke’s word over anyone else’s, mine included. I never had the chance to make a good name for myself, let alone a name.
I’m nothing, but a potential terrorist to the whole world...
God, I’ve only been thinking about how upset this is going to make me now that I’ve gotten kicked out of my dorm and have nowhere to stay and lost the only two people I ever had in my life, I won’t be allowed anywhere! I wouldn’t be surprised if I got arrested. I nearly blew up an entire school and killed people! No one will trust me ever again!
There’s probably warnings out everywhere across the globe for me by now! They’ll all depict me as a crazed monster. That’s what I am now...
This whole thing truly is all my fault...
I could have just directed Komaeda and Ruruka to their specific chemicals. I could have cut contact with Ruruka and Sonosuke instead of just letting them treat me like garbage. I could have made a backup project in case Ruruka did end up using one of mine for their project. I could have gotten more sleep last night. I could have just said no to Ruruka. I could have checked my bag after I bumped into Komaeda.
Even if all of that was unavoidable, the reason that dog was so big and the judges had such horrible reactions to Ruruka’s sweets was because of my drugs...
I should have just given up on all of this when I failed to save that poor puppy when I was younger... I should have known I couldn’t save anybody. I couldn’t help anybody. I couldn’t do anything right.
I felt a tear roll down my cheek and plop onto my skirt, causing it to turn a darker shade of brown. I sighed, wiping my eyes angrily. I didn’t know if I was sad or angry - probably both - but regardless, I can’t let anybody see me crying. Especially after what had just happened. I have no right to be upset over a horrible event I caused...
The sun was setting and the sky was turning a light, but brighter, yellow and orange color. I could see the sun off in the distance and the slight breeze blowing through the trees and shaking the leaves picked up a bit. I wondered how the sun could continue to shine being all alone in the sky all day... I wondered if I would be able to do that, too. I didn’t really have a choice now.
‘I wish I could ask the sun for guidance. Or advice...’
After thinking that, I bursted out into tears. I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I was overflowing with emotions and I didn’t know what else to do. I had nowhere to go, no one to talk to, no one to turn to, nothing to look forward to. I had nothing. I had nothing to do. Nobody wanted anything to do with me...
I took my mask off, as it was falling down my face as I sobbed anyway, but I was sure to cover most of my face with my hands. I was almost certain mostly everyone had already left the school by then. Even if they hadn’t, everyone already thinks the worst about me, what more could me crying do?
I only stopped sobbing when I felt my bag slip off of my lap a bit. I grabbed it and sighed. I wiped my tears off my face, sniffling while I put my mask back on. Tears continued to fall from my eyes all the while I put my bag around my shoulder and stood up from the bench I was sitting at for hours. I had no idea where I was going, but I had to at least find somewhere to keep myself warm for the night...
I began walking away from the school, straight toward the sun. It obviously wasn’t planned, but I guess it made me a little hopeful I was walking into a bright light away from the school. I’m not spiritual or anything, but it’s still a nice feeling... I wanted to wipe away more tears, but I realized my gloves were soaked in tears as well so it wouldn’t do anything, just as I heard a familiar voice call my name from behind me.
It didn’t sound angry or threatening and it made me feel a strange mix of exhilaration and dread. No one had tried to speak to me in a polite tone since this morning, but why would anyone want to speak to me after today? Why can’t everybody just leave me alone?
“Kimura!,” they called out again, louder this time.
I turned around, bracing myself for whatever the hell this could be about. I looked a mess, I assumed, so the outcome would be changed based on the fact I was crying. It was Komaeda. Of course it was. I mean, it could have been worse. It could have been Yukizome or Ruruka. He didn’t look like he wanted to cause any harm, he was actually smiling, but that’s how he approached me when he fucked everything up...
“Ah, Kimura! Are you all right? Do you have anyw-”
I didn’t want to hear anything more he had to say, I just wanted to escape the entire school ground and never look back. Who knows what he could want anyway. He seemed innocent enough when he was asking for my help with what I thought was a simple task, now he’s gotten me kicked out of school completely. It was obvious there was nothing good coming from him.
I turned back around, darting off in the opposite direction of Hope’s Peak, hoping to never see it again, as I cried even more. I didn’t care as much as before since no one would catch or question me. I would probably be staying under a bridge for a while until I figured something out, crying is the least of my concerns.
I had been running for a while with my head down and I had no idea where I even was. I bumped into someone for the second time that day. I prepared to either be screamed at or pushed on the ground when they grabbed me by my shoulders, making sure I didn’t knock either of us over. I didn’t want to see who I was looking at - who else I made a fool out of myself in front of - so I closed my eyes, kept my head down and trembled in fear.
“What the hell are you doing? Can you not see or something?,” a voice I didn’t recognize in the slightest scolded me.
“I... I’m sorry... I d... didn’t mean to...,” I stuttered, struggling to catch my breath while I shook my head back forth, ashamed.
“Hold on a second,” the voice spoke once again. They grabbed me by the chin, lifting my face up to look at them as I whimpered. I opened my eyes and looked them in the face. I still didn’t recognize them and that only made me even more nervous...
They had thick strawberry blonde hair in high pigtails, pale blue eyes, sort of like Ruruka’s, long and full eyelashes and a smile on their face. There was another person standing close behind them. They had short black hair, faint freckles across their face, their eye color more grey than blue and they seemed a lot more serious than the person holding my face. Not to mention, the person standing behind them was armed with some kind of weapon...
“You’re Seiko Kimura, aren’t you?,” they asked, almost excitedly.
‘How the fuck did they know my name? Did word actually spread that fast?’
I was too nervous to speak any words, so I muttered a slight “Mhm...” under my breath and nodded my head.
The person’s face expression became a lot happier as they let go of my face and wrapped their arms around me tightly. It seemed like their voice completely changed the next time they spoke, “Eeeee~ That’s great!! You’re just incredible, you know that?!” They let go of me as I stood still in shock. “What’s the matter? You’re crying AND you’re out all by yourself so late?!”
“I... I...” I searched for the right words to say, feeling the other person’s eyes beating down on me from behind the strawberry blonde’s head. “T... They... I was expelled... I don’t have anywhere to go...”
“WHAT?! What on Earth could they possibly kick you out for?!,” their expression and voice sounded a lot angrier and shocked.
“I... It’s a long story...,” I whispered, wiping some tears from my face with my sleeve.
“Well, hey! I guess today’s your lucky day!,” they shouted, grabbing my hands and holding them. “I’ve got a place you could stay and tell me everything! I actually have quite a bit of spare time on my hands today.”
‘They... They had somewhere for me to go? I could actually stay somewhere? I didn’t have to camp out under a bridge?!’
“R... Really?! You would... You... Wait, I don’t even know who you are and... how do you know my name?,” I trailed off a bit at the end, realizing the potential dangers of the new pressing situation on my hands. None of this made any sense, but I was extremely desperate...
“Ah, it doesn’t take a genius to know about the Super High School Level Pharmacist, even though I surely am a genius. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t heard of you.” They seemed very fascinated by my existence, which is a first...
‘Am I really that well known?’
“Anyway, this is my sister, Mukuro Ikusaba,” they pointed to their sister without even looking at her. “She’s a little basic, but not to worry! I make up for all of her flaws! My name is Junko Enoshima, The Ultimate Fashionista! But I suppose you could just call me Junko,” she rolled her eyes at me, but still seemed as happy as could be. She had gone through a whole collection of voices while speaking to me, it was honestly a little scary...
‘Ultimate?,’ I thought. ‘She must be a student at Hope’s Peak then...’
I recognized their names, but I was too exhausted and terrified to remember why exactly. I just wanted to take a nap, at the very least...
“Welp, now that we’ve been respectfully acquainted, guess you’re coming along with us,” she shrugged, grabbing both of my wrists and running back in the direction of Hope’s Peak. I had no time to protest, she just started dragging me with her. I didn’t know where I was going, who these people were or how exactly they knew who I was, but all I could think of was how my medicines could possibly get me out of this mess if it fell apart...
“J... Junko? Where are we going?!,” I called out to her.
“Back to my place, dumbass! I know where I’m going!”
I didn’t say anything more after that...
