Chapter Text
It was a door, quite unlike any Makoto had seen before. Definitely not one that he’d ever seen inside Hope’s peak. He frowned, eyes squinting slightly. It was bright. Too bright. And almost translucent in colour. He looked towards the rest of the hallway, all familiar, all ordinary. Well, as ordinary as you can get at Hope’s Peak. There was no doubt that the door was out of place. Curiosity got the better of him in the end, his hand outstretched to grip the flickering handle. Just as his fingers felts the cold metal.
“…Makoto?” a voice called towards him, successfully catching his attention. The whole of his class stood a little farther down the hallway. Sayaka had been the one to call him, she stood a little ways in front of the group. “Hey guys” Makoto grinned sheepishly, his hand flying towards his neck “You guys can see this weird door, right?”. His question seemed to set them off. Without waiting they all crowded him and the strange door. At least he can be sure he wasn’t hallucinating… probably.
“Out of the way” Kyoko ordered. The students pulled to the side, giving her a perfect walkway to the door. Her eyes scanned it head to two, taking in every last detail. “So?” Leon asked, foot tapping impatiently. Kyoko didn’t answer, she didn’t even blink. “What the fuck is taking so long?!” Mondo cracked his knuckles. There were some murmurs of agreement as everyone awaited the detectives response. “I… don’t know” Kyoko eventually sighed out. “You don’t?” Hiro crossed his arms, tilting his head “man, then we’ll never know”. “Don’t say that!” Sayaka protested. “Oh to hell with this!” Mondo exclaimed, his fist heading straight towards the door. “WAIT, BRO!” Taka called out “WE DON’T KNOW IT’S SAFE!”. His words fell on death ears, Mondo’s fist had already connected with the door.
…Or at least it should have…
But instead his hand went straight through the door, like it was water. Without making such a dent in the actual door. Mondo pulled his hand back out. Not a scratch on him. Not a scratch on the door.
“Whahhh!”
“WHAT THE FUCK!”
“AHHH!”
Several cries broke out amongst the crowd. “Man eating door!” Hiro started to shakily put his hands together. “S-s-shut u-up!” Toko scowled “T-that doesn’t m-make any s-s-sense!”. Hiro turned to her offended. “Please cease your useless drivel” Byakuya spoke in his usual arrogant tone. “So s-sorry, m-m-master” Toko apologised with a wild blush. The blonde just ‘tched’ as he turned away “So we can’t touch the door? Is it some kind of illusion?”. His musing caught the attention of a certain swimmer. “Oh Oh!” Hina waved her hand in the air “Isn’t there like an ultimate magician in one of the years?”. “There is” Kyoko nodded, her mind working endlessly behind her eyes. “Right! Right! Right!” Hina grinned. She looked extremely happy with herself. “So it’s not real?” Sayaka asked, tilting her head slightly. “So it would seem” Byakuya muttered “what a waste of time”. Many muttered in agreement.
As the group started to diverse, Makoto called out “Wait!”. His called brought them to a stop, “what is it, Makoto?” Chihiro asked in a soft voice. “W-well it’s just” Makoto’s brain scrambled to reach some sort of conclusion for what he’d seen “what if it isn’t an illusion?”. “What do you mean? You saw Mondo’s hand go through the door, yes?” Celestia asked in an unusually kind voice. “Well yes… but-“ He started. “But what?” Byakuya’s tone was filled with annoyance, obviously whatever patience he had previously held had been washed away.
Makoto opened his mouth to try to explain only to be cut off, time and time again. With a rather frustrated huff reached out towards the door. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you honestly think that touching it again is going to change any-“ Byakuya almost bit his tongue off as Makoto’s hand closed around a very solid door handle. “What the shit?!” Mondo exclaimed. “what is this?! Some kind of protagonist boost?” Hifumi asked. “Ignore them” Kyoko brushed off, stepping towards Makoto. Her hand reaching past to touch the door. Unlike the resident lucky student, her hand slipped right through. “This is getting kinda freaky” Hina muttered as Sakura rested her hand on her shoulder in comfort. “THIS SHOULD NOT BE IN A SCHOOL ENVIROMENT” Taka exclaimed. “Yeah, well we know that” Hina huffed. Kyoko didn’t try the door again. Instead she turned to look Makoto in the eyes.
“Looks like it’s up to you to open this door” She spoken in a clear tone, leaving no room for discussion. With a small gulp he pushed the door open. Only to find behind was… “Nothing?” Makoto murmured in disbelief. “Huh? Did you say nothing?” Leon asked, moving to stand beside him. “Oh! Well that’s good, right?” Hiro grinned, letting his body relax slightly. “Shut up, Hiro! Makoto what do you mean nothing?” Hina asked pointedly. “I mean nothing. Literally. It’s just… nothing” the brunette explained lamely, his eyes still wide with disbelief.
“What?” She muttered, not quiet understanding how a door could just lead to nothing. Was it an empty class room? Or just a brick wall? One by one the class took turns to look through the doorway. “So, what now?” Hiro wondered. “isn’t it obvious?” Byakuya droned with an smirk “We go through the door”. “Seriously? But...” Hifumi muttered, slinking to the back of the group. Many others did the same, their denial clear on their faces. Kyoko stared at the doorway “Go on, Makoto”. The boy in question startled, his hands waving nervously in front of his face “Me?! B-but, Why-“. “You opened the door, no?” Byakuya supported the suggestion “You should be the one to go through, first. It’s only fair”. Before Makoto could protest, others were also vocalising their acceptance. “If it’s Makoto, I know I can trust him” Sayaka agreed. “It certainly does make sense” Celestia muttered. “FROM A SAFETY STANDPOINT, IT MAKES SENSE TO SEND ONE PERSON FIRST” Taka grinned, patting Makoto on the shoulder. “And I know you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your ‘friends’” Byakuya prodded. Finding himself with no rebuttal, Makoto took a hesitant step towards the open doorway.
He closed his eyes tight, hovering one foot above the void. To his immense surprise, the floor underneath him was solid. He took serval steps into the room. If you could call it a room. Before spinning around to see the doorway, his classmates faces peeking out. “It’s fine” He announced “like any other room”. With the safety guaranteed the rest came trickling in. “it’s really f-fine r-r-right?” Toko quired, hanging onto the doorway not taking another step. “Really, really” Makoto assured with a smile. She hesitated for a few seconds more, lingering on the outside. When she finally stepped inside…
The doorway out disappeared.
Panic spread amongst the group like a virus. Calls of outrage, to horror, to intrigue. Makoto was in a similar position of confusion and fear. However something caught his eye, a screen of some sort spanning a length unlike any he’d seen before. “What is that?” He wondered aloud. “It seems to be a screen of some sort” Kyoko responded even though he really wasn’t really looking for an answer. “Hell, what kinda weird fucking screen is that?” Mondo questioned. But it wasn’t a student that answered him.
It was the screen, itself.
“Greetings.” A robotic voice echoed around, making itself known to everyone there “You have all been selected to form a viewing party”. “A viewing party?” Chihiro questioned, eyes shining at the new found technology. “Never mind that! Just what could we be viewing” Leon wondered, looking around the group for any answers. “A viewing party, to watch your future” The voice continued as if nothing had been asked. “Our future!” Mummers broke out amongst the group. “Man, this is gonna put me outta business” Hiro complained “the worlds getting taken over by robots!”. Makoto felt an immense sense of dread filling him up, why would they need to see the future?... Does he even want to see the future?
“Why?” Kyoko questioned, eyes trained towards the screen as if it could hear her. And by some miracle, or maybe a stroke of luck, it did. “To stop the despair” The robot answered, no more explanation, no more answers, no more questions. “What does that mean?” Sakura crossed her arms. “Hello?” Hina called after a minuet of silence. “To stop the despair” It reapted. “What despair?” Sayaka tried. No matter who asked or how it was phrased, the answer remained the same.
“To stop the despair”
“To stop the despair”
“To stop the despair”
“Loading…” There was a beep admitting from the screen, a blinking red light started to flash “Loading…Loading…”. Makoto looked around, wondering desperately what it could have been loading. Hoping that the answer isn’t as awful as he thought it would be. He got his answers soon enough…
“Loading complete. Accessing Naegi Makoto Log One. Processing Naegi Makoto Log One. Playing Naegi Makoto Log One”
“What!?” Makoto yelped as the voice repeated his name. His Name. The sound solidifying the dread that had been settling in his gut into a full on panic attack. He breathed in sharply through his teeth, as a bright light emitted from the screen. And the image that replaced the previously blank screen was…
“Me?”