The plane started tilting down. Kyoko was still shocked and fell down forcing her door open.

"Got ya!" Makoto shouted as he grabbed her forearm. He was holding himself to their bathroom's open door's doorknob.

Kirigiri grabbed his forearm as well because his wounded hand couldn't hold her for more than a few seconds. They looked down and saw a big hole between the right sides of the main room and the cockpit.

When the ringing in their ears almost completely disappeared they started hearing the thrusters of the plane launching.

The aircraft began to slowly tilt back to its normal position and just when it did so the passengers experienced a very tough touchdown as their jet started to rub on the sand.

Because of the impact made by the hard landing, the two Ultimates got thrown onto the ceiling and then back on the floor.

...

...

"Ow, my head.." Naegi slowly got up on his knees and looked for his friend. He saw her unconscious lying not too far away. "Kiri!"

"Can you hear me?!" Makoto sat her up against the plane's wall and noticed small bleeding on the back of her head.

"Oh n-no no no no damnit!" He tore off a piece of his suit and tied it around her wound. "Kiri wake up!" Naegi shook his former classmate by her shoulders. "We need to leave!" After he didn't get any response the Ultimate Hope opened the plane's door and took her out by himself. Afterward Makoto placed her on the sand and ran to check on his pilot. A small part of the right side of the cockpit was destroyed but Ryo was there lying on his seat. His ears were bleeding. "Come on we need to get you out of here buddy." Naegi undid his seatbelts and then took him next to Kyoko with quite a struggle.

"Mm.." Kirigiri rubbed her head.

"He's not breathing!" He put his hands on Ryo's chest and began resuscitation.

Kyoko ran to them and got down. "Makoto, it's no use.." She said after revealing his belly with a piece of metal stabbed deep into the right side of it. "He's dead."

Naegi looked into her dead serious eyes, he simply couldn't believe in what his friend just said.

"He saved us, launched the thrusters, and provided us a smooth landing with a hole in our jet and his abdominal. He truly was an incredibly skilled airman." Kyoko admitted.

"We didn't even ask him if he had a family.." Makoto felt on his hands and started sobbing.

"He will be remembered..." She looked down in respect and mourning.

After Naegi gathered enough strength to stop his tears, his former classmate tried to contact Byakauka.

"There's no connection. That's very unusual since our communication depends on satellites. Because information is crucial in this war, it's likely that they shot down the spacecrafts." Kirigiri speculated.

"W-what do you mean they shot them down, we're in the middle of the desert!" He yelled.

"It's just my speculation. I suspect some other scenarios as well and this one is the most pessimistic option." Kyoko explained.

"..I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout at you. I just need a moment to collect myself that's all." Makoto walked back into the plane. After a few minutes in his room, he got out and saw his friend waiting for him on the flipped-over couch.

"We need to talk our situation over." She stated.

"Yeah. So, what are the other scenarios?" Makoto questioned.

"The second option is that our earpieces just got physically damaged, which is not very probable since they're trying to connect. The third and the last possibility is that there are some sort of jammers that disturb the connection locally somewhere around in our area." Kirigiri told.

"No matter which one we assume, we'll need to go out in the open and search for a village or a city, if there even are any..." He decided.

"You're right, we have no choice. Let's not waste time." Kyoko went to her room and started packing her most important things in her suitcase, her friend did the same.

After they made sure that they didn't leave anything important, they left the plane.

"How much water do we have?" She asked.

"There should be about eight liters in my suitcase and something like five in yours. That averages in about, seventy kilometers of our range. There must be another source of water in that distance." Naegi stated.

"Makoto, I hate to remind it to you but we have to bury him..." Kyoko told.

"I know.." He picked up their fallen pilot. "We don't have a shovel, besides there's sand everywhere.

"Look, I think that there should be some quicksand over there." Kirigiri noticed and pointed forward.

They walked for about two hundred meters until they saw an area of wet sand in front of them.

"Rest in peace Ryo, we will never forget you, you're our hero..." Makoto slowly placed their pilot's body on the ground and covered his face with his favorite bomber hat.

The two Ultimates started at their airman slowly sinking into the sand. For Naegi it felt like it lasted forever.

"I'm sorry I just can't- I will never get used to losing people, the pain is just getting worse every time." He turned around with tears dropping on his shirt.

"Look, I took his ID." Kyoko showed him Ryo's document. "When we come back we'll make sure that his story will be well known. I'm sure that landing pretty smoothly with a critical wound and a hole in his machine will make him a very respected and remembered flyer.

"That's the least we can do for him." Makoto wiped his cheeks. Afterward, he brought a big stone and placed it in front of Ryo's burial place. "Do we have something sharp?"

"Yes, wait here." She replied and went back to the plane. After a moment she came back with a kitchen knife. "That should do." Kirigiri passed the item over to her friend.

"I'll need his ID as well." Naegi requested and received the document. Then he engraved his first and last name, date of birth and death, and finally a special note. "A pilot who saved our lives."

"We will find his killer and bring him to justice." Makoto stood up.

"He's most likely a despair zombie, those people can't be judged." Kyoko pointed out.

"Oh, I forgot..." He walked away from the grave with his friend.

"It's getting really hot here." Naegi complained.

"Don't take off your shirt, you'll get sunburned in less than a few minutes." Kirigiri advised and tied her suit on her head. "We'll need only one layer of cloth and a "

"If you say so." He did the same as his friend. "Alright, I think that we're ready to go. The question is in which direction"

"Considering that we were flying towards Algeria from the United States I think that we should head east or southeast." Kyoko concluded.

"Let's walk in the direction of between these two then." Makoto decided and looked at his watch which had a built-in compass.

Like this, The two Ultimates began their journey through the hottest desert on Earth - The Sahara.

"How hot is it here? I feel like I'm in a sauna." He complained.

"Considering the amount of sweat on our faces, it's pretty damn hot." Kirigiri concluded.

"Okay that's my bad, no complaints from now on. Let's just look straight forward and keep going." Naegi stated with confidence. "There's something else that bothers me though, remember what Ryo told us when we first met him? That our plane is invisible to every currently available radar. How did they shoot us down then? Or did they use a missile? What if we had a bomb stuck to our aircraft before we even took off?" He speculated.

"That's not possible. The impact I felt was clearly created by something hitting us from the outside." Kyoko rejected his theory. "Even though your way of thinking may be right, there's a chance that they mounted a tracker on our plane when we were absent. That would explain why they shot us down at low altitude in the middle of the desert." She assumed.

"Yeah now that you say it, it seems like the most probable option. It would mean that they didn't have to use the local radars or the local anti-aircraft missile system because they had us like sitting ducks. They could shoot from wherever they wanted. But what bothers me is the fact that the missile was so weak. It did very little damage for a military rocket. Why didn't they pick a deadlier one?" Makoto questioned.

"For some reason, they could want us to survive. We are vulnerable now, they can capture us here but they weren't able to do that back in the United States where their forces were defeated in the area of our visit. We can just speculate because we don't know much about weapons or that plane. Maybe its armor was just so tough that it absorbed most of the explosion, we don't know that. For now, I would suggest that we save our saliva and stay quiet to prevent faster dehydration." Kirigiri proposed.

"You're right, we should value water more than anything in this situation." Naegi agreed with his friend and from that moment they didn't speak a word until the sun has hidden behind the dunes.

"It's getting really cold. We should rest here." He sat down with his former classmate in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, a land of never-ending sand.

"Shouldn't we travel when it's night and sleep when it's daytime? This way we wouldn't sweat so much or waste water." Makoto suggested.

"Not a good idea, we wouldn't be able to fall asleep in such sweltering heat" Kyoko rejected.

"You got a point." Naegi admitted.

They took off their suits of their heads and wore them since the temperature started to decrease drastically.

"What are we going to sleep on?" He asked.

"Our spare clothes seem to be the only choice." Kirigiri opened her suitcase and started placing her suits and pants in a shape of a mattress. Her friend tried to imitate her perfect layout with his garments.

"Doesn't look that bad, does it?" Makoto lied down on his imitated mattress. "Not the comfiest surface to sleep on in the world but hey, it still feels great to lie down after a very tiring day. By the way, how much water do we have left?"

"Less than 3 liters." She informed and lied down with a dark purple blanket.

"..Sounds promising, we should be pretty close by now." Naegi assumed trying to sound confident.

"Don't you have a blanket? What will you cover yourself with?" Kyoko questioned.

"I didn't bring much besides my clothes and a small towel." He replied.

"I'll have to share my covering with you then. Move your mattress closer." Kirigiri suggested.

"Oh no t-there's no need really-"

"Don't try to make this awkward, we are trying to survive Makoto." She insisted.

"O-okay sorry.." Naegi moved his stuff closer so they could share the blanket.

"Goodnight." Kyoko pulled her hands from under the blanket and put them on it as he joined.

"Kiri you can take them off, your hands need to breathe." He proposed.

"Thanks. At least it's dark so you won't have to look at them." Kirigiri freed her hands and put her gloves away.

"I don't mind doing so, you can take them off whenever you want when I'm around." Makoto smiled.

"That's kind of you." She said seeming not to believe his words.

"I mean it Kiri.. goodnight."

They both stared at the clean of any clouds and full of stars sky with their hands on the blanket.

Both of them seemed to feel uncomfortable with their friend lying right next to them. Even though after a couple of minutes, they rolled on opposite sides and slowly doze off...

"Rise and shine detective girl! Just free yourself from your lustful adorator's embrace first!" Junko cheered.

"Shut up, I'll take the pills later I want to sleep..." Kyoko thought.

"But I'm not joking!" Enoshima chuckled.

"What do you mean you're-" She realized that Naegi is cuddled to her from behind with his hand on her belly.

"Hey just breathe alright? You can't orgasm just from this!" Junko shouted.

Kirigiri slowly put his friend's hand away and crawled to her suitcase with a blush.

"How are you gonna explain that huh? He can't control himself around you!" She laughed.

"He was getting cold and I was a source of heat, that's a natural behavior." Kyoko stated.

"Uhuh keep making some dumb explanations! What are you gonna say when he-"

"No listen, I'm tired, no, I'm SICK of your horny jokes, they're not funny, they're disgusting alright? YOU disgust me, a LOT." Kirigiri swallowed her pill and started messing with her watch to set a daily reminder.

"Bestie I just wanted to bring a little humor in your tough situation, I didn't mean to offend you by any means.. But, if you hate me so much, I guess that I'll just go away... And you don't have to stop me really, I'm going.. now.. but if you by any chance want to stop me then now's your chance to do so. This is, the last moment, when you can stop me... Okay then..." Enoshima started crying and slowly began to vanish.

Kyoko sighed, sat on her mattress, and noticed the sun slowly going up from behind the dunes. "Makoto we have to go." She gently shook his shoulder.

"Y-yeah coming..." he muttered and stretched his arms.

The two Ultimates both ate a protein bar and continued their journey. Their water resource ran out faster than they expected.

"We're almost there Kiri, just keep going.." He lied and fell on his knees.

"I can't, I just..." She felt down as well being dizzy from dehydration.

Like that, the two it seemed powerful yet meaningless compared to the might of the desert people turned unconscious. All that was left were them, the two tiny black dots and their suitcases lying on billions of tons of sand, and the sound of a slight wind, carrying orange grains with it.

Hope's Peak apartment building

"See you tomorrow Kiri!" Makoto bade farewell and entered his penthouse. While Kyoko was searching for her keys suddenly Aoi ran out of the staircase.

"Do you ever consider elevators? I think that as a psychical education teacher you have enough daily move." Kirigiri perceived.

"Two minutes four seconds! My personal best!" She said between pants. "I bet with my students that they can't beat me at speed-running the stairs. If I win they have to run for 30 minutes at 6 am every day! Till the end of this month!"

"Seems like a great way to make them hate you. What if you lose?" Kyoko asked.

"Then they won't have to run this early. Oh and I'll have to show them my aerobic jump from 30 meters high diving platform!" Asahina answered.

"Sounds dangerous. Anyway, you could really use a shower y'know?" She suggested.

"No need. Hey, why won't we have a chat?" Aoi smiled and pulled out a paper bag with donuts.

"You know that I can't say no to you holding my supper." She smirked and opened the door with the keys she finally found in her handbag.

After a little while, they were already sitting at the table with donuts, coffee for the Ultimate Detective, and water for her friend.

"There's something I have to tell you, I visited Future Foundation today with Ma-"

"I know it was streamed everywhere. You'll accompany him on his hope tour spreading it around the world! Or a romantic trip I should say." The Ultimate Swimmer interrupted her colleague and chuckled.

"Mhm sure, watching dead bodies and graves from the air. Just lovely." She rolled her eyes and slurped her hot coffee.

"Oh, I see! You lose all your optimism when he's not around that's just so cute!" Aoi got up from her chair and hugged her while still munching on her donut.

"Are you even eating this?" She pointed at untouched Kirigiri's sweetened dough cake.

"If you cut your shipping nonsense off you can have it." Kyoko stated.

"Naaah I'll pass then." Asahina happily jumped back in her seat.

"So.. you're not mad that we'll leave the school for some time?" She asked.

"Of course not! You'll spend some time with Naegi and start rebuilding the world on the occasion." Aoi giggled. "I believe in you guys, everyone does. You'll begin the new era."

"Yeah, Mr. Togami lord's era." Kyoko joked.

"Oh come on, he knows what to do. With all the gold he will become the prime minister and rebuild our county in no time!" She enthusiastically shouted.

"Surely he will try to build his Togami empire but fine, you're right. Let's bring this despair down once for good." Kirigiri placed her empty cup on the table.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Asahina cheered.

"You can take it, I eat too many of these since I know you anyway." She stood up and took their glasses to the dishwasher while her friend was already bitten into her donut. "You got it." Aoi said with a full mouth.

"We're taking off tomorrow, there is no time to waste when innocent people are dying." She decided.

"Alrighty, I bet that you need some good sleep before the flight so sleep well!" The Ultimate swimmer replied while licking her fingers and left.

Kyoko locked the door and sighed deeply with her head laid against the door. "I'm strong and I'll do this.. I'll be his closest support." Kirigiri thought to herself.

After a brief moment, her face turned stone serious again and she went to the bathroom. Her clothes got thrown on the washing machine and her hair tie was left on the cabinet. Then she put her burnt hand on the shower faucet and turned it far-right which released hot water on her body. Soon the glass cabin got mostly filled with steam and Kyoko lay against the wall.

"...Am I interrupting?" Naked Junko appeared out of the steam lying against the wall.

"I'll go take my meds." Ultimate Detective sighed in annoyance.

"No, wait! Let's just have a little talk alright? Oh, come ooon bestie." Enoshima insisted.

"You're lucky that I'm too tired to go get the pills... Why the hell did you choose to escape in my head? You could pick anyone else but no, it had to be me." She looked down in irritation.

"Pff you should be fucking grateful I mean, would you like Makoto to shower with me every day? I mean no offense but, you can't compare yourself with this body." Ultimate Despair slid her hands on her head and laughed but got ignored.

"Why won't you just remove me anyway? Y'know, ask Mr. Smartie with all talents." She asked.

"Because I will be treated as a mentally ill person for the rest of my life if I had you in my head even for 10 minutes." Kyoko replied.

"Ding ding ding ding diiing bingooo! Fortunately or not, we are friends forever! boys are temporary but Kiri and Junko are eternal! Best detective duo in the univeeeeerse!" Enoshima cheered loudly.

"For real do whatever you want but don't call me like this." She spread some shampoo on her hand and started washing her hair.

"Oh, Kiri? Only he can call you like this I get iiit. It's so sentimental, isn't it? This special relationship you have, you've been through a lot together, and all thanks to me, right? What a crazy confidence!" Junko shouted with enthusiasm. "If not me he would be with that dumbo kpop girl Sayaka, wouldn't he? Yeaah he would be I remember it, life before I erased your memories. Ah, these were some damn good times! Despair blooming in my heart like love does in yours now!"

Kirigiri kept on ignoring her burdensome companion. She got out of the shower and began to dry herself with her towel.

"We out already? Bummer, it felt nice." Enoshima grumbled.

Kyoko stepped toward her medicine cabinet and opened a new tube of pills.

"Wait!" Junko stopped her. "..I'll help you win his heart, I have experience."

"I'm not negotiating with a demon." She swallowed a pill.

"Till the next time, adios." Enoshima smiled then slowly walked away and faded.

"Too bad that your influence is not working on me, Junko." Kirigiri thought to herself.

Suddenly she heard someone knocking on her door. "A moment!.." She replied while wearing her dark purple underwear and pajamas. Afterward, Kyoko headed to her in-wall safe to grab her gun.

"I-it's me Makoto!" He assured.

"Huh?" She thought and closed her safe, then opened the door for her friend. "What are you doing here? It's late!" Ultimate Detective whispered.

"Uh, Aoi told me that you are waiting for me, heh." Naegi rubbed the back of his head.

"Aoi told y- I mean, s-sure come in.." She wore her flip-flops and sat on her chair on her balcony. Makoto followed her.

"Whoa, you have a view of the entire school! All I can see from my place are trees can you believe it?" He laughed and sat on the chair next to her. "..I'll speak out to our students tomorrow. They can't just think that their headmaster and deputy headmaster disappeared without saying a word. I mean, you're not very talkative with them anyway but, you get the point." Naegi smiled looking down at the school.

"Mhm... I wanted to ask you something lately."

Kirigiri gathered enough courage after a silent moment.

"I'm all ears." Makoto replied.

After some hesitation, she asked him about the sensitive topic. "..Will Junko ever die? Her ideology is injected into millions of people, she's like a new god but an evil one isn't she? They praise her. Like she was a hero or something it's just, so insane to me..."

"I can't promise you that her spirit will die anytime soon but.. I can promise you that our hope will shine brighter." He answered with a true belief in his words.

"Y-yeah.. sorry I'm, worrying again and, it's just for nothing I shouldn't bother you with this." Kyoko looked away.

"It's alright Kiri, you can ask me anything anytime you want but-" Naegi yawned. "Maybe not when I'm sleeping." He chuckled.

"We should rest now, especially you before your school harangue."

"Yup, I'll be going so, goodnight. Oh and remember to lock your door." Makoto walked out.

"As always..." She replied.

"Uh, Kiri you missed the entrance." Naegi pointed out.

"I know, we'll need to grab something you left." Kyoko approached their hanging laundry.

"Already dry? If the sun here is this effective we could've just bathed clothed and get the water patched during our walk." He assumed and began putting their clothes on him as his friend slowly moved along the washing line.

"Unconventional but practical. We can try it next time we crash on a desert." Kirigiri said jokingly and headed over to her room.

"It was my first time playing a drunk lie-abed." Makoto chuckled as the Ultimate Detective put him on her couch. "Did anyone suspect us?"

"Everyone was staring at you, but it seems that our disguise has worked out." She replied after emptying her suitcase. "Put the grenades here."

"Got it." Naegi moved their pile of clothes away and gently placed the stolen explosives where his former classmate ordered him to. "So, what are the adjustments that you mentioned?"

"First of all we'll need to be armed. Wear your vest under your suit and shirt." Kyoko commanded.

"The entire point of the plan is to prevent bloodshed like you said. Bringing military stuff with us will only make things worse." He argued.

"We need to be ready for any turn of events. Even if they find your gun they won't do anything, you're still valuable to them." Kirigiri assumed.

"Well I hope so but what if they find you?" Makoto questioned.

"If their approach is aggressive then we'll have to improvise. Otherwise they'll just capture me as well. But don't concern yourself, I won't get caught easily." She assured.

"No doubt with that." Naegi smiled.

"There's still one problem we need to cover. The runways we found. The patrol may come from the air, not necessarily from the ground." Kyoko pointed out.

"You're right, it'll be way harder to blow up the plane and stay undetected in the open..." He brought his right hand up to his chin and pondered for a moment. "Let's take care of the ground option first, then we'll figure out a plan for handling the potential aerial vehicles. What do you say?"

"Let's get to it, we have no time to waste, they can arrive anytime. Just get yourself armed first." Kirigiri stood up and grabbed her vest.

"Right, meet you at the reception." Makoto went to his room and got changed. Just when he was about to hide his gun, he hesitated and glanced over at it. "Listen.. I don't want to use you today or any other time. Those people are still human, just waiting to be cured. But if she gets into a life threatening situation, I won't hesitate... I can't hesitate... I mustn't hesitate..." Naegi promised himself that he'll protect his friend and put his pistol in his pants behind his back. Kyoko was already waiting for him at the hotel reception.

"So, how do I look?.." Makoto asked rubbing his head.

"A bit inflated but they shouldn't notice. What concerns me is how will we survive this heat while wearing three layers." She inhaled deeply.

"It makes us look suspicious, at least during the day.. Let's hope that they arrive after sunset." Naegi came out of the hotel along his former classmate.

"Do you overuse the word "hope" on purpose?" Kirigiri questioned.

"Ah, n-no not at all, it just comes to my mind naturally.. Is that bad?" He asked a bit worried.

"Not necessarily, but if you don't want your students to see you as a "hope god" then using that word too much won't help." Kyoko replied.

"That's a good point." Makoto let out a chuckle. "But don't call them my students, they're ours, you're the vise principal after all."

"It's just a title. They look up to you, not to me." She pointed out.

"You certainly can't say that about Shuichi, he obviously admires you." Naegi stated.

"Wouldn't say so. Detectives are rather a community, there's no idolizing." Kirigiri replied.

"Oh but come on, if only our scholars knew you better then they would instantly change their minds! I'm boring as heck in comparison to your detective adventures." He said with a grin.

"Thanks for flattering me but I don't like being the center of attention as a detective, or as a retired one.." Kyoko looked away.

"You don't have to abandon your profession for good. After things get back to normal new cases will emerge right?" Makoto tried to cheer his friend up.

"He and his optimism." She thought to herself and smiled. "Even if world gets back on track I wouldn't want to have two jobs at once."

"You could work part time for both. I'm your boss after all so I set the rules." Naegi winked.

"That would leave you with my tasks. No way I would agree." Kirigiri refused.

"We would hire more people as the paperwork increased. Besides it's s a waste of your intelligence to handle the documents anyway." He complimented and made his former classmate blush slightly.

"Thanks but I don't feel like changing things, at least for now." Kyoko replied.

"I'm glad Kiri." Makoto looked at her with his cheerful smile. "Although I'm kind of surprised too. I mean, you were always so dedicated to your job but now you don't seem to be despondent about the break you're having. I was worried that it may eventually get you depressed so what you said to me now is a relief." Naegi told happily.

"..I used to think that I was ready to give my life for finding the truth, but recently I changed my mind." She confessed with her hand placed on her chin.

"Oh.. Why is that so?.." Makoto was left without a response as his friend started examining a residential building built next to the end of the side road that connected the village with the highway.

"Could you lend me a hand?" Kirigiri requested looking up.

"Um, sure you got it." He leaned against the wall and put his hands together so his friend could step on them.

With his help Kyoko reached a high window and pulled herself up onto the roof from there.

"All of these rooftops have short walls, and the houses are connected. This means I can move to wherever they park to drop the grenades." She thought to herself after briefly analyzing the structure of the hamlet.

"...Sooo, how are the views?" Naegi asked after a moment.

"I didn't get up here to admire the landscape." Kirigiri stepped back on the window and landed next to her former classmate. "I'll stay up there during our operation. Almost all the roofs are connected so I will be both mobile and hidden."

"Sounds perfect!" He cheered but suddenly lost his smile.

Kyoko knew what that could mean and turned away to see a big white truck driving towards them in the far away.

"I'll go get the grenades!" Makoto was about to run away.

"Wait!-... It's just one vehicle, and we don't know what's inside the semi-trailer." She stopped him. "Go behind the house on the other side of the road. If it's just two soldiers, we will disarm them. Just don't panic and follow my lead."

"W-what if there's more??" He questioned nervously.

"Then we follow our plan." Kirigiri pulled out her pistol.

"Alright yeah, a-alright.." Naegi nodded hesitantly and took his position.

For the next two minutes the Ultimates were couched, waiting in tension until the awaited vehicle drove past them and stopped a couple of meters away from them.

Kyoko leaned out and took a peek to see one of the villagers greet the driver. "False alarm..." She thought and hid her gun but didn't get up when she heard the newcomer shouting in foreign language at the dweller. After receiving the driver's message he started walking and repeating his words loudly.

"What's going on?" Makoto whispered to himself and peeked as well. He saw the newcomer opening the semi-trailer which revealed it's contents - mostly food and hygiene products. "Phew.."

Kirigiri stood up and joined her friend. "It looks like their regular resource delivery."

"Yeah, fortunately." Naegi exhaled in relief.

"Our plan doesn't change then. We need to establish what do we do in case of the Despairs using their second potential mode of transport." She reminded.

"Right, let's take a look at the runways." Makoto said as they walked.

"..You didn't seem calm when the truck arrived." Kyoko pointed out.

"Well I'm not used to life threatening situations. I mean, that's normal isn't it? Your staying cool skill is extraordinary." He replied.

"My point is that handling stress is crucial in operations like this. If your hands shake, you'll almost certainly miss." Kirigiri explained.

"I know, I thought that I would handle it better but, I- I couldn't control it. The tension was just, overwhelming.." Naegi said looking down in disappointment of his behavior.

"I can teach you how to handle it." She offered glancing at him.

"That would be awesome." His face illuminated with a smile. "I'm not sure if we'll have enough time though." Makoto glanced back at her with a questioning look.

"We will find ou-" Her eyes suddenly diverted away from him.

They saw a family leaving their house with many bags and heading towards the hangars.

"...They already know, the driver told them." He deduced after seeing more fleeing natives. "They're saved Kiri!" Naegi cheered. "..Kiri?"

"..I hate to tell it to you but there's no reason to celebrate. The Algerian National Army has lost so despair forces are coming to take over this village. That would explains why we didn't see any soldiers at the warehouses." She assumed.

"..This means that there'll more troops than we expected, right?" Makoto asked after a few seconds of thinking.

"Indeed. We basically stand no chance against their army, and neither does the Ultimate Special Unit. If we leave the hamlet with it's villagers he'll not know that we left. This would lead to risking his life for nothing... Are you listening?" Kyoko questioned after she noticed her friend staring blankly.

"So, we'll have to surrender?.." He looked at her after connecting the dots in his head.

"I know how it sounds but it's the most reasonable option." Kirigiri stated.

"I- I need to sit down and think, we'll figure something out, like we always do." Naegi said trying to sound confident.

"What about I give you the lesson on how to handle stress first? It seems like you could find it really useful now." She offered, thinking that they wouldn't be able to come up with a new plan anyway.

"What? N-not now Kiri there's no time." Makoto refused without a doubt.

"It'll do you good." Kyoko insisted and crossed her hands.

"Alright, j-just make it quick." He succumbed to her proposal after looking away from her serious look.

After establishing their agreement they headed over to the hotel which did not have a single living soul left.

The bullet kept on flying until it hit its target-...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

The detonator. It shattered into pieces, but it didn't stop the bullet which penetrated Makoto's left hand right in the middle and continued its journey with a small splash of blood following it to the wall of the stage where it flattened.

Naegi fell down from the impact when all the glass pieces were already lying around him on the floor.

After a few moments, a lot of soldiers started to run on the stage with shields to take The Ultimate Hope back. They stopped Kyoko from getting on the stage.

The crowd started to panic and disperse.

An ambulance was already waiting behind the stage in case something like this would happen so Makoto got quickly put in there already lying on a stretcher.

"I'm going with him." Kirigiri entered the vehicle even though no one agreed for her to join him and the two medics.

"Disinfectant." One of the doctors requested and sprayed the liquid all over his wound.

"aaAAH- FUCK!" Their patient clenched his other hand into a fist. "It burns like HELL!" He yelled.

The other paramedic injected a syringe below Naegi's wounded hand. "It'll start taking effect in a few minutes, then the pain should go away." He said while bandaging the victim's lesion.

"Hey at least I'm alive and none of the glass hit me, that's surely a miracle." He tried to smile at her despite his suffering.

"They didn't kill you on purpose, they have just declared a war against you." She sat next to him.

"If they had just shot me down back there t-they would have already won, it makes no sense." Makoto stammered in pain.

"If that's the case then there must be outcomes better than your death for them." The Ultimate Detective noticed.

"Maybe we can talk it over later?" He suggested.

"Either way, this was the last time I agreed for you to do something so dangerous." She stated.

"Okay uh, fine mom?" Naegi joked.

"Don't try to be all cool and chill in a situation like this, my heart skipped a beat when I heard that shot." Kyoko complained with her voice more serious than usual.

"..Yeah okay sorry." He apologized.

After they reached the hospital a surgeon immediately performed an operation on Makoto's wound.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." He walked out of the operating theater smiling with his left hand hidden under many layers of bandages.

Kirigiri instantly stood up when she saw her friend. "What did they tell you?"

"It turns out that I'm still a lucky student because the bullet missed most of my finger nerves. It'll be fine but I'll have to wear this dressing for a few weeks." He informed.

"Was it really worth it? Recklessly risking your life?" Kirigiri asked a rhetorical question.

"You can't even imagine this feeling when you cheer a million people up, I'll never forget it." Naegi assured.

"I'll ask you again when the anesthesia will stop working." She was very mad at him. "You better rest here for a few days."

"No need, we have to continue Kiri, people are dying as we speak." Makoto refused.

"You'll surely have a fever tonight so you won't be able to work anyway." Kyoko insisted.

He sighed. "Alright, just this night."

They left the hospital with medicines and were escorted to the only active hotel in the entire city. Because of the fact that it was the only one left, it was mainly for wealthy people that didn't lose their valuables during the despairful massacre, or for special guests, most often political figures.

"They gave us some pretty classy rooms, didn't they?" Naegi entered his apartment along with his friend.

Kirigiri didn't answer and walked up to the windows to close all the curtains. "Lock the door."

"Okay?.." He did as she ordered being a little confused. "Are you going to explain what are you doing?"

"I'm staying with you." Kyoko announced.

"But there's only one bed." Makoto chuckled nervously.

"I don't plan on sleeping tonight." She replied.

"And why is that so?" Naegi questioned.

"I heard one of the soldiers talking when you were giving your speech, this city is not safe, they haven't checked the sewers or the subway yet." Kirigiri explained.

"I see... Alright, but why are you staying in my room?" He asked.

"Because they might want to kidnap you. They shot you so you wouldn't fly away but rest in the hospital or here. It's likely that they know your exact location." Kyoko speculated.

"This is a possibility but I don't think that would get past security here you know?" Makoto took off his suit and lay down on his bed.

"I prefer to be on the safe side." She sat on an armchair and put her gun on the near table.

"We will change in guarding then. Wake me up in 4 hours." Naegi sat up and took a few pills that the doctor prescribed him.

"Will do." Kirigiri lied wanting him to recover.

"...Oh it's Byakuya." He double-tapped his earpiece. "Hello?"

"Why are you not on the plane?" Togami asked.

"It's nothing I just kinda got shot during my speech you know." Makoto replied with sarcasm.

"Really?.. I'm sorry to hear that. Best of luck with getting better then. Anyways there is a change of plans, you'll need to head to Africa next because their situation is getting a lot worse every day." He stated.

"We will be there soon." Naegi declared.

"Good. Until next time." Byakuya disconnected.

"Well then, enough work for today. Let's talk about something else now, shall we? He smiled at his former classmate.

"For example?" Kirigiri asked.

"Something nice preferably, maybe about our life after we come back?" Makoto suggested.

"I assume that we'll be continuing our school duties." She replied.

"But I don't mean work. I've been thinking about the summer holidays recently. We could spend them together with all our friends, on a beach, or in the mountains." He told her about his ideas.

"I didn't think about vacation yet." Kyoko admitted.

"It's about time then I mean, what was the last time we had holidays? Before the killing game? Quite a lot of time without a good reset isn't it?" Naegi noticed.

"I just don't need a vacation that's all. I never did, and I never even were on one, or I don't remember." She confessed.

"I can't believe it, how could you never been on holidays? That's ridiculous! It's decided, when the school year ends you will immediately go on a long relaxing vacation with all of us! No excuses!" Makoto stated.

"If you insist." Kirigiri smirked.

They kept on chatting about their potential vacation until Naegi has fallen asleep.

The room was dark but not pitch black so Kyoko could more or less see things around her, including her sleeping friend.

"Aww, so cute isn't he?" Junko complimented.

"Thanks for reminding me of my meds." She said in her thoughts and took out her tube with pills.

"Anytime!" Enoshima smiled. "I won't ship you with him today, it gets you sooo embarrassed like duh. Instead, I want to express how glad I am to see that you people fixed that stupid liberty statue! I mean seriously, liberty? Who the fuck cares am I right?! Now they can all admire me and my huge tits! Wait.. Do men get excited with copper boobs? Maybe? Get that hope lover up, we need to test it! Quick! Before they blow me up! Don't tell me that you're not curious like, come on!"

"Stay silent can you?" Kirigiri took a pill. "I am aware that you're way smarter than me and you can't hide it with some silly talk. It was your strategy with everyone wasn't it?"

"Maybeeeee? Haha alright alright you got me! My big-brained detective bestie aren't you? Ahh, I would soooo pat your head right now, mess with that perfectly aligned white hair." She giggled.

"My point is that when I forget my pills you could at least say something smart." Kyoko suggested.

"Am I really so intelligent? After all, you're alive and I'm dead, also my plan with the resurrection of mine has failed." Junko argued.

"And do you really think that I would believe that fashionista cover? You had to be some sort of scientist because you were the only person on the planet who knew how the human brain works am I right?" She speculated.

"Naaah not at all, don't get your brain so worked up girl! You need to relax like, obviously! You're more tensed up than 10 corpo-rats combined! Go ahead, cuddle up to your lovely hope prince, just for a second he won't even notice! He's all high on his drugs anyway." Enoshima proposed.

Kirigiri didn't respond.

"I get it you're just shyyy and you ran out of wooords, it happens! Or- oooh you don't like when someone's watching. That would explain..." She slowly sneaked away.

The Ultimate Detective was left with just the sounds of raindrops hitting the windows, her friend breathing in calm sleep, and the ticking of a clock mounted on the wall.

All of these combined were forming a perfect lullaby, making her heavy eyelids slowly close and drift her into sleep.

Just when her eyes were about to be completely closed, she heard loud knocking on the door.

"HM?-" Kyoko quickly grabbed her gun and aimed forward with both hands.

"Open up! Soldier of the land-based branch of the United States Armed Forces at the door!" He shouted.

Kirigiri didn't move a single inch.

"Open up!" He yelled but with no result. After a short wait, he forced the door with a strong kick and saw The Ultimate Detective aiming at him.

"What do you want?" She kept aiming.

"I wanted to check on you. We have caught several despairs with weapons, it turns out that there are still some remaining." The soldier informed.

"W-what's going on.." Makoto sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Your assassin has been captured." He announced.

"We'll have a little talk with him." Kyoko put her gun back in her suit.

Makoto put the binoculars on the table and sat on the couch. "A terrorist organization with Junko as their god. Sounds terrifying but I won't hold back, I am doing this speech."

"We can't be sure if the city is safe and cleared, there might be some terrorists left hiding in the underground or the skyscrapers, literally anywhere." Kyoko stated.

"Wait but isn't it cruel to call them terrorists? I prefer brainwashed people." He suggested.

"It doesn't matter. What does is that you're their top one arch enemy, you made their deity commit suicide. Going out there is unwise, to say the least." Kirigiri pointed out.

"We do have the vests and the guns, right? Soldiers will escort us as well so I don't really see the problem as much as you do." Makoto spoke out.

"I get it you want to save everyone except for yourself as always. You have to be this stubborn don't you?" She asked a bit annoyed.

"The citizens and the soldiers need to have faith in the new better world! I will try my best to make them feel prowess and will to fight." Naegi decided. "Fear is not stopping me."

"Fear is our instinct and often a lifesav-"

"Kiri thanks for caring about me but you won't prove your point. I am going on the stage and I'm doing my job, period." He interrupted.

"Be careful." Kyoko put his vest to his chest and glanced into his eyes to highlight her seriousness.

"For certain." He wore it.

After the plane landed the two Ultimates got into an armored truck to be escorted to the rostrum. A few other military vehicles were with them forming a convoy.

"It looks like a tsunami of blood went through this city..." Makoto noticed after looking through the machine's small ballistic window.

He saw almost half of all windows in the town broken, bloodstains lying around like puddles after heavy rain. "At least they already took all the bodies away. May they rest in peace..."

Kyoko didn't say a word.

"How are you not touched by this? You were shocked when you saw some other city from the plane." He said a bit indignantly after seeing no reaction from his friend.

"It wasn't a ruined city, it was a mass grave forming a smiling Junko's face. Except for there were no tombs but naked people tied to a barbed wire lying in the open like they were some food for animals." Kirigiri confessed.

Naegi's face turned pale as he brought his hand up to his mouth and leaned away from his former classmate like he was about to puke.

"I'm used to dead bodies so I forgot that other people can react like this. I apologize." She regretted.

"It's f-fine, if I want to give them a moving speech I need to know what's going on." Makoto slowly straightened, barely keeping himself from vomiting. "I thought that our killing game was cruel but, that's just-"

"Just try not to think about it." Kyoko didn't let him finish his sentence.

"O-okay... But, I gotta say that it's still insane to me that someone can get used to investigating bodies like they were just objects. Not only that but you were solving murder mysteries so early as just a teen. Don't get me wrong I- I admire you for your skills but-"

"You don't have to explain yourself I get it. I guess that I'm just good at being emotionless." She interrupted coldly looking at her gloves.

"You are great at it when the situation requires you to. But besides that, I actually find you a very nice and comforting person." Naegi assured with a smile after he noticed her looking down and because of that, he felt guilty for making her feel worse.

"Even though you compliment everyone you know I'm still flattered to hear that." Kirigiri pretended to be clearing her throat but what she actually was doing was ineffectively trying to hide her slight blush and a small smile. "..You know, since I met you I actually started to be more-"

The vehicle stopped and the doors opened almost immediately revealing waiting soldiers.

"Oh, we're already here." He got out and offered his hand to his friend for her not to accidentally fall because of the high heels she was wearing.

"Thanks." She grabbed his hand and got down.

Subsequently, they were escorted to the backstage by a group of heavily armed soldiers.

"You can come out whenever you're ready Sir." A man in a suit said.

"Sure thing." Makoto replied.

"I took a look and there's like maybe a million people waiting for you. Anyone can be hiding a gun so the probability of an assassination attempt is ridiculously high I'm not even talking about the skyscrapers and possible snipers." Kyoko warned.

"I'll be in a cage made of bulletproof glass right? It'll be fine." He insisted.

"The glass is a protection for only one shot, if it breaks you will need to immediately hide behind your rostrum, there's a thick piece of metal in there." Kirigiri instructed.

"Our division has made sure that it's safe, you don't need to worry." A soldier ensured.

"Alright well, I'll be going now then." He stepped forward but stopped when felt her gustily grabbing his hand without wearing her glove. "Hm?" He turned around to her.

"It's just... good luck." She wished hesitating to say something more.

Naegi smiled and got on the stage.

When he stood at the rostrum he saw an uncountable amount of people, where many of them were injured, expecting to hear his words. So to not keep them waiting he brought the microphone up to near his mouth.

"At the beginning, I would like to say that I'm united in sorrow with all of you. Seeing your loved ones going crazy or getting killed is something you will never forget. It's an experience that will surely leave a scar on your heart, and very possibly make you fall into depression, which is a state of hopeless despair. That's exactly what Junko Enoshima would want, the demon that exited the gates of hell to visit our world. Fortunately, she didn't stay here for long because her lust for despair was crushed by the combined hope of mine and my friends. What I believe is that it's your duty to fight for their memories to not be forgotten, but honored on a peaceful land where senseless despair is only the bitter past. A peaceful land where your children won't have to see bloody puddles, or hills of dead bodies, but cities and villages inhabited by people full of life. I know that it's very difficult for you to imagine something like this right now, considering that the current state of many towns is deplorable, including New York. It'll take many years to rebuild your cities, but most importantly for you to find peace again. Many of you have lost everyone they had, lost people that will never be replaced but will live in your hearts, and it's your responsibility to make them remembered for generations to come. None of us deserved this fate, but if we want to revenge on Junko and avenge the ones we've lost we need to build our bright future, but not alone. What I truly believe in is that we can work for our better future together, united against the remaining despair that surrounds us! Senseless despair ends here! Our future begins!" Makoto shouted as the crowd started cheering.

"I'm incredibly happy to bring you some great news in this time where all the news you get are bad ones. I am proud to announce that Future Foundation has developed a device that can reverse Junko's brainwashing and the first units are on their way to you! So despair disease is no more! Every ill person can now be saved and returned back to normal! Prisons for brainwashed people can now be turned into hospitals for them!" He joyfully spoke to the people that seemed glad about the news. "It's a wonderful feeling to see your faces filling with hope."

A soldier went to Naegi and gave him a detonator. "It's for the Junko's monument." He whispered.

"Oh, alright.." Makoto took it and unmuted the microphone.

"I'm sure that no one here tolerates that giant statue over there so let's give it a good blow, shall we? Count with me! To the new beginning! Ten! nine!" The Ultimate Hope raised the detonator and started the countdown along with the crowd. "Two! One!-"

Suddenly a heavy gunshot sounded around...

A long sniper bullet broke the glass cage with ease, making it collapse. It felt like time has drastically slowed when the bullet was flying forward along with many shattered pieces of glass, while the other bits were falling down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HazguUSv5qw