“You joined fucking Future Foundation, Junko?”
Junko took a step back, eyes widening as she recognized Mikan Tsumiki as naturally as breathing. She was disguised, of course, but that didn't matter. Junko would recognize her anywhere. Her eyes steeled, straightening up as she looked at what some people were dubbing her ‘Nemesis’.
Mikan Tsumiki, her ex-girlfriend.
Current Ultimate Despair. And also, current problem .
Mikan Tsumiki still hasn't given up on convincing Junko Enoshima back to despair; likewise, Junko Enoshima has not given up on bringing her back into the light.
That is the only reason they are able to coexist. (It is also the only reason Junko has joined Future Foundation; she needs their resources to pull this off.) It's a deadlock. One day, one will triumph, or give up. And once they give up?
Things will get bloody .
Maybe they already have.
“You can't help disappointing me, Junko-chan.” Her lips are pulled into a sneer, fake glasses wide and round on her face. They gleam in a way that make it hard to see her eyes, but Junko doesn't need to. She already knows what expression they're making. “Can you?”
“I could say the same to you, Mikan-senpai.”
A scoff, Mikan pushes her glasses up. “Could you, now?” She asks, tilting her head up. Finally, Junko can see those eyes, gleaming just as bright as those glasses. Disgust. “You don't seem very surprised to see me. Well, maybe this can surprise you.”
She holds out a photo. It's from a monitor camera; Komaru Naegi peers out from it. She doesn't seem to be aware of the camera — she's in the same apartment Junko left her in.
“Your boytoy's sister, right?” Mikan smiles, crooked and bright. “I wonder what you would do if something happened to them… to all the hostages you so lovingly crafted. That would surely be a blow to 'Ultimate Hope,' right?”
Junko schooled her expression, lips going thin and eyes going blank. “So, you've allied with Nagito-senpai?” She observed, narrowing those empty eyes. “I see… Are you sure that's wise, though, Mikan-senpai?”
Mikan faltered, taking a small step back. She raised her chin, rallying herself. “What about it is wrong?”
“He won't kill the hostages.” She asserts, confident. “They have too much potential. Especially Komaru Naegi. She's the type of girl who may become hope or despair… or someone who rejects that binary entirely, depending on how things go. He can't resist testing them, playing with them. He won't do it.”
Mikan narrowed his eyes, “Then why did he agree?”
“To test you and me, too. To see what we'll do. He doesn't believe my ‘Ultimate Hope’ status for a second. As for Makoto… it could go two ways. He could see him as the True Ultimate Hope, being tricked by me, or he could see him as a naive fool, a False Ultimate Hope for aligning with me, protecting me, shielding me. But either way, he wants to see what our move will be. Be careful, Mikan-senpai. He'll use you, too.”
“I know that.” She snapped. “I don't trust Nagito as far as I can throw him—he's still bitter about Nanami-san. But… I can still make use of him , too.”
Junko observed coolly, “That will backfire on you, most likely.”
Mikan frowned. “What about you?” She demands. “Do you really think this won't backfire on you, too? Junko… just come back. ”
“I can't.”
“You're always like this. You're always leaving me.” Mikan spat, “You're just like everyone else, aren't you?”
“Mikan-senpai…” Junko shook her head. “ You're the one leaving me .”
“Well, what else am I supposed to do? You won't accept the me you made.”
“Because the you I made isn't a happy one.” She paused. “But I will always wish for your happiness, Mikan-senpai.”
Her eyes flinted.
“Even if that means being your enemy.”
Mikan stared at her, with wide, empty eyes and flushed cheeks. Hollowed out, or awed, or disbelieving, or disdaining — and then she laughed. A loud, beautiful laugh.
“Maybe Nagito is right.” She grinned. “Maybe it's time for a different Ultimate Despair to rise… Maybe this ‘Junko Enoshima’ is a lost cause better thrown away.”
Junko raised a brow. “And Komaru Naegi is your meal ticket?”
“Maybe someone else will love me, if you can't.”
Junko laughed. “Mikan, honey,” she flashed her teeth, “That's doubtful .”
Mikan laughed back. “Because only Ultimate Despair could accept me, right?” She answers in her steed. “Only 'Junko Enoshima.' But you can be created and born anew, Junko-chan. Maybe you shouldn't forget that.”
Something forbidding tickled Junko's brain. But that was all Mikan Tsumiki had to say. With one, final glance at the girl known at “Ultimate Hope,” Mikan Tsumiki walked away. Junko didn't stop her, though she watched with keen eyes as she vanished.
“Born anew…” Junko murmured. “Now, what does that mean?”
It didn't sound like she was talking about Komaru.