Chapter Text
Mikan Tsumiki laughs at something Junko Enoshima says, and her beloved joins in, that beautiful laugh she loves.
It's a sound that is a little cruel, but genuinely delighted; as if Mikan's presence lit her up. It was, Mikan thought, though she might be the only one who did, the laugh of an angel.
Yes, Mikan loved her laugh. She laughed over the gossip Mikan would bring her, laughed over the scenes in the movies they'd watch when the killer cornered the victims, laughed over Hiyoko tripping over her kimono, laughed over Mikan bloody hands as she twisted the knife in her parents gut and she laughed, laughed with her, laughed so hard as they cried and begged and pleaded with her to stop, but she didn't stop, because they never stopped so why the hell would Mikan stop when she was finally in control—
Mikan loved her laugh. No matter what caused it, she loved to hear it so much. It meant she was doing something right. It meant Junko was pleased by her. It meant Junko loved her.
Mikan would trade that love for nothing.
"Mikan~?" Her beloved cooed. "Man, your head sure is in the clouds today! I was asking what you want to drink, it's on me."
"Huh?" Mikan blinked, "Oh, Junko, you don't have to do that, I-I can pay!"
"No, no!" Junko said, waving her off. "It's my treat, Miki. Since I love you so much!"
Mikan relaxed. "You do?"
"Of course, love," Junko giggled. "I don't just kiss anyone, mind you!"
"Right, right," Mikan smiled. "I know, beloved. Forgive me for doubting?"
"Always!" Junko chirped. "But, you know, you don't have to ask. After all, this is a dream. Of course I'll say I forgive you. That doesn't make it real, does it?"
"Huh?" Mikan blinked. "Junko, what are you—?"
"You don't get it, my beloved Frankenstein?" Junko asks, "Ah, you do know that was the name of the doctor, don't you? You know, I wonder if I ever loved you. After all, just as Izuru said, Junko Enoshima loved Yasuke Matsuda, no? Though I suppose it's possible I just have a medical kink, aha! How would you like that? To know I only liked you because of a fetish?"
"Junko, th-this... this isn't like you!" Mikan starts to tremble. "You were never this cruel."
"Not to you," Junko says, "But then again, I guess that's all that mattered to you, right? You didn't care if someone else got hurt, as long as I loved you. As long as I pretended to love you. Selfish, selfish girl. Izuru was right about you."
"Stop it!" Mikan demands. "This is all wrong! This isn't what I want at all!"
"Isn't it?" Junko asks with a coy smile, "After all, this world is controlled by you. You want me to be cruel, Mikan Tsumiki."
"Why on earth would I want that?" Mikan demands.
"So that you can hate me like you want to," Junko smiles, then vanishes like wax melting.
"...Junko?" Mikan calls, looking around for her. Slowly, the Cafe starts to disappear as well; first chairs, then tables, then storefront, then the entire floor falls out from under her—and Mikan Tsumiki sinks.
"Give me back Junko!" She calls as she falls. "Give me back Junko!"
But is she sure that's what she wants?
She lands hard, but does not bleed.
Hajime Hinata stands in front of her.
"Hey, Tsumiki," he says in concern. "Are you alright? Did you trip again?"
"H...Hinata?" Mikan blinks. "Where... where am I?"
"We're on the island, remember?" Hajime asks in concern, furrowed brows she had slowly learned to love. But it is not real, she knows; this boy is destined to turn back into Izuru Kamukura, who she detests. (For being honest.)
"We are?" She questions, and he smiles at her.
"Of course," he says. "An island paradise set up by Usami. Nothing can hurt us here."
"An island paradise?"
"Yes, you were happy here, were you not? You had friends, right?"
"I... no, I..."
"You didn't have friends?" Hajime frowns, hurt. "I wasn't your friend, Mikan?"
"No, you weren't!" She bursts. "Only Junko is my friend! I only need Junko—because you were a lie! You hated me from the start, Hajime Hinata, you just didn't remember yet! But I remembered. All those times Izuru Kamukura taunted me! All those times he glared, hated me, looked at me in disgust! I remember them, and I will not fall for your lie again!"
Hajime Hinata distorts, hair lengthening, eyes growing cold, growing red, looking at her with that look she remembers.
"And I suppose Chiaki Nanami wasn't your friend, either?" He asks, without inflection. That's the worse part; he could be mad, but Mikan would never know. He was unpredictable.
"Chiaki was—Chiaki was..."
What was Chiaki?
Someone important to her, maybe. Someone endlessly kind. Someone Mikan was jealous of—someone she wanted to hurt, once. Wanted to kiss. Wanted to trap.
What was it Junko said? Chiaki Nanami didn't understand her, because she didn't understand darkness, despair. But Junko could teach her—she said she could teach her.
("Don't you want to see her drowning in despair?")
("More than anything.")
"You are a sinful girl." Izuru glares. "Disgusting. She would have accepted you even if she didn't understand. Didn't you know that?"
"I..."
What could Mikan say to that? Of course she knew. Yet something was broken in her, she was sure. Because despite knowing this, a part of Mikan really did just want to break Chiaki Nanami, until she only needed her.
("If she lives, I'll let you nurse her back to health, my love. Bring her to our side. She'll be completely dependent on you, don't you like that?")
("And if she dies?")
("Then, she'll have died with you having been the last thing she saw. Isn't that romantic?")
She wanted to see her despair.
"You horrible girl." Izuru says, as if he can hear her thoughts. "You horrible, horrible girl."
"I don't care." Mikan says. "My world is a world of only Junko; I only need her. She'll forgive me for being horrible."
"She made you horrible."
"I. Don't. Care." Mikan repeats. "Who else could forgive me?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Izuru points, and suddenly Mikan sees her; Chiaki Nanami, in a pool of her own blood, still smiling brightly.
"Mikan-chan," she rasps. "Mikan-chan. I love you. I love you. I forgive you."
Mikan takes a step back, but suddenly there is a wall in back of her; she cannot move backwards any further.
"You're lying." Her voice wavers.
"But don't you want it to be true?" Chiaki asks softly. "Here, it can be. You can hurt me as much as you want, and I will still love and forgive you. You can kill me, and I will come back, and love you stronger for it. Don't you want that?"
She did. This was her most cherished memory, as well as her worst; Chiaki's determination as she ran through the maze, the hopelessness in her eyes as she realized she would die, the way she smiled and forgave them anyways—all of it, Mikan adored and abhorred.
She doesn't deserve to be forgiven.
"You want to see me bloodied, right?" Chiaki smiles. "You want to see me dying. It makes you feel powerful to know you caused it. Right? My best friend, and you betrayed me. If you listened to me about Junko, this wouldn't have happened, you know? But that's okay. I still forgive you!"
"Shut up!" Mikan screamed, clutching her head. "Shut up, shut up, I didn't want this! I didn't want you to die!"
The image of Chiaki shatters, like a mirror. In the shards, Mikan can see her reflection.
"What do you want?" It asks.
"I don't know," Mikan sobs. "I just want Junko back. Bring me Junko back. I only need Junko in my world!"
"Okay." The Mikan in the mirror says sadly, as if she disappointed it, "Which Junko do you want? The lie, or the truth? The cruel one, or the kind one?"
"I don't even know which is which," Mikan admits, "I just want my Junko back."
The her in the mirror nods. The world shatters further, into tiny little specks of glass, that glisten and fade like fallen snow, melting on her skin.
Past the multicolored dust, Junko is standing with a smile.
"Mikan-chan," she cooes, "You look so cute covered in blood."
Only when she says that does Mikan realize it is true; there is blood dripping from her hands, falling onto the concrete. Splatter all over her dress.
"I love it when you kill people, sweetie," Junko says, "You get just the cutest expression on your face!"
There's a knife in her hand, and a body on the ground. Mikan feels her lips curve into a smile. Here, she is at peace. Here, she is in her element.
The world settles. This is all she really wants: just Junko and her, and no others.
Mikan Tsumiki lives in a world with only Junko Enoshima.