Fly the Banner

It was a weight off of Shizuka Matsuki and Chisato Ueda's shoulders to see the painter finally being vocal about her feelings, to see her finally having the revelation she needed to have. Losing Kiyotaka and Mondo had hit them hard, and it helped the girls to see one of them finally coming to terms and finding peace with it. Chisato was happy to see Matsuki finally speaking- it meant she had less to deal with. This was still a hostage situation, and she still wasn't going to give Monokuma the satisfaction of seeing her cry or get angry, no matter who they lost or how many times Togami got on her case about it.

Then, as Alter Ego's face switched back to that of the late Chihiro Fujisaki, Chisato was in for a shock when the program spoke to her. "Ueda-san, you and Oowada-kun were close as well, weren't you?" It asked, and the botanist went quiet. "My master told me that you two shared a relationship similar to Ishimaru-kun and Matsuki-san. I don't mean to be rude, but you haven't been as vocal about your own feelings, have you?"

Chisato had felt Matsuki's gaze on her at that point as the painter dried her eyes. It was right, Chisato hadn't expressed her feelings, but that had been for her own safety, for the sake of not letting any of the others potentially take advantage of her grief and sadness, for the sake of being strong. She wasn't allowed to cry when it could be used against her no matter how much she was hurting, right? But it's not like she could tell Alter Ego that, or try to explain it to anyone, let alone Matsuki.

"You were very important to Oowada-kun. I know that he wouldn't want to see you bottle up your pain like this." The A.I continued. "It's okay for you to cry at a time like this- at least, I think, that's what my Master would say. No one will think less of you for it."

That struck a chord- Alter Ego was right, Mondo wouldn't have wanted her to do this to herself, but she didn't have a choice! It would be irresponsible to do otherwise, wouldn't it? Chisato felt a peculiar feeling of something being tugged at inside her chest and it told her enough- bottling up feelings and emotions like pain and grief only ended up in someone getting hurt when the cork finally popped- that was how they'd all lost Chihiro, Mondo and Ishimaru. Besides, there were no cameras in here, no one would see her. The botanist took a deep breath and politely asked Matsuki to leave, then waited until she'd left the room to let the first sob break from her throat. Holding back for just a few moments more, she asked Alter Ego for one more favour: If you could do that with your information on Ishimaru-kun, could you do the same for me with your information on Oowada-kun?

Alter Ego gave an understanding nod. "I'm guessing that this is Ueda-san speaking now. I'll do my best to help, as long as it makes you feel better."

Chisato made herself comfortable as Alter Ego took on the voice and face of Mondo Oowada. The sobs were still trapped in her throat and her body was starting to shake as she watched the screen.

"Oi, Chisato-chan...I know you think that you need to be strong, but you can't do this to yourself. You're not invincible, kid, you know that. You gotta let yourself have that weakness sometimes. It doesn't make ya any less brave, it just means that you know when to pick your battles."

Chisato just broke down sobbing. She missed him, god knows she did. She missed Mondo's laugh, his warm arms and his stupid grin with those tiny fangs he had and how he'd get really happy when he talked about dogs or bikes or food- heck, she missed how he was just there.

"I love you, okay? I never wanted to leave you. I was stupid, I know, and I just hope you'll forgive me. I want you to be happy, babe. Stop hiding how you feel- it's okay. You still have Matsuki-san and the others to back you up when you need 'em. I need you to keep fighting and get out of there. You're stronger and braver than you think. I believe in you."

Tears flooded the botanist's face. Rose-pink eyes were sore already but more tears came and her heart was falling to pieces. She thanked Alter Ego and went to take a bath, even though her tears didn't stop. She sat in the hot water and just cried her eyes out until there were no more tears to shed.

Chisato emerged sometime later from the bathhouse after freshening up a bit and making sure Alter Ego was still okay, only to be met with a rather disturbing sight when she got back to her room. It wasn't another body, thank goodness, but lying across her bed was a familiar long, black coat embroidered with gold thread that should have been stained with blood, but there wasn't a trace, and all the holes that should have been in it had been stitched together. Chisato couldn't tell if it was anger or fear welling up in her gut as she took one of the sleeves in her shaking hands and brought it up to her nose. It still smelled like him. Why is this here? She asked herself. Shouldn't this be on Mondo's corpse right now...? I don't think he kept a spare...

Frantic knocks on her door broke the botanist's train of thought and she hung the jacket over her arm before answering it. On the other side stood Matsuki, who looked like she'd been spooked and was clutching something in her hand. "Matsuki-san?" She asked.

"Y-you found something strange in your room, too, right?" Matsuki pointed at the coat lying on the younger girl's bed before showing her what she was holding- it was, without a doubt, the late Kiyotaka Ishimaru's armband, clear of blood and holes and still carrying the scent of the hall monitor. "I found this on my pillow when I came back from the cafeteria!"

"But how would someone get a hold of these things?" Chisato asked. "They're supposed to be on their bodies! Is Monokuma trying to taunt us or something?"

The painter shook her head, signalling her answer. "We should tell the others."

Chisato folded up the coat and the two headed out to the cafeteria with their findings, and were met with as much surprise as they'd had when the girls had found the items. They explained what had happened and how they'd found the armband and the coat.

"What the glazed heck is this guy trying to pull?!" Said Asahina. "This is sick!"

"Perhaps Monokuma is trying to taunt you both somehow?" Suggested Celes.

Chisato adjusted her glasses a bit. "That was my first hypothesis," She said, her features taking on a stern expression. "Knowing Monokuma, I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this."

"Well, you wouldn't be far from the truth!" As if on cue, the bear suddenly appeared at the end of the table with that same, permanent grin on his two-toned face. "I just thought you two looked a little lonely! So, as your gracious headmaster, I decided to leave you two brats a little present!"

"By taking trophies from the bodies of our dead friends?!" Snapped Naegi. "That's just wrong!"

"Hey, I didn't leave it for you bastards, did I?" Monokuma hopped off the table and walked over to Chisato and Matsuki. "I cleaned 'em and patched them up good as new! How does it feel? Knowing you'll be reminded of losing them every single day? Feeling the despair yet?"

Everyone was silent as Monokuma laughed, but the girls reacted differently. Matsuki pulled on the armband and pinned it to her sleeve with a serious look on her face. "I'd say it feels fine," She said curtly. "I think Ishimaru-kun would want me to have it, as a matter of fact."

Matsuki received a variety of shocked glances across the room, and Chisato looked to her before she looked back at Monokuma and put on Mondo's jacket in a bit of a flashy way just to be a pain. "A little big," The botanist observed when she noticed just how far over her hands the sleeves went. "But I think it's a good fit. Mondo wouldn't have wanted it to just collect dust."

The girls gave Monokuma stern glances, Matsuki's hands on her hips and Chisato's arms crossed over her chest like they meant business. "We will not let you intimidate us anymore, Monokuma," Said Matsuki, her tone stronger than usual.

"You can try, but you can't make us be scared 'a someone like you!" Chisato added. "You little weed!"

Monokuma seemed intimidated by the girls and backed up a bit. Everyone else was watching, mostly in awe. "N-no way!" Exclaimed Hagakure. "Were Matsuki-chi and Ueda-chi possessed by Ishimaru-chi and Oowada-chi or something?!"

"It sure seems like it..." Yamada said nervously.

Soon, Monokuma backed off and disappeared again and the girls sat down at the table like nothing had happened.

The two continued to wear the armband and the coat through it all, through Sakura's suicide and the trial that came after that lead to the deaths of Yamada and Celes, who foolishly tried to turn the odds in her favour, and into the final trial where they learned of the identity of the sixteenth student and earned their freedom.

After being picked up by the Future Foundation and being reunited with their friends (turns out they were from different classes to Naegi and the others), they were given the chance to have their memories restored. Chisato and Matsuki went through it together, still wearing their mementos of the ones they'd lost, but they woke up not as confident as they'd been before. Curled up on Matsuki's bed, the two held each other tightly as they cried together over the two years' worth of memories that had been forgotten.

Matsuki cried for the boy she'd loved and the father she'd lost in this madness. Chisato cried for the young man who'd saved her life and the grandfather who raised her and had died when their home was ransacked by madmen. They cried for each other, knowing the pain that was all coming back to them- the riots that had classes 78, 79 and 80 locked up in their classrooms for what seemed like hours only to come out to find the halls filled with blood and dead bodies, the aftermath in which the bad news was dealt out to them, how Ishimaru's parents were trapped inside their apartment building while the place burned to the ground, how Mondo's gang had been slaughtered by one of their rivals, how Matsuki's father had died when an evacuation went wrong, how Chisato had learned of her Grandfather's death after the Kokeshi doll he'd made for her showed up in a package at the school and how they had all mourned together, their choice not to escape with their classmates and stay with the men they loved, despite being warned of the danger, how they'd all watched helplessly as Jin Kirigiri was executed and how they'd all been torn from each other and how they fought against their captors before they were caught and their memories were taken from them.

The two stayed as friends and made new memories with the classmates they'd been reunited with. In the end, it had all been worth it to see a new future dawning on the world, and they were going to face it together.