Give it all up for me

[--Her grin merely widened at his words, fingers tapping against her chin in amusement. Waking up in a place like this and still as sharp tongued as ever. She'd enjoy making that tone turn into pained screams.--]

♚— "I'm hurt Byakuya, aren't you happy to see me?"

[--She giggled, the sickly sweet sound echoing slightly.--]

♚— "I guess that's not important, what is however, is that you're awake, events like these are no fun when the guest is conked out and drooling~"

[--Standing, the Mastermind walked out of what little field of vision the former heir had, moving gracefully with deliberately loud steps around behind him. Reaching up, she tugged on the cord that hung a few inches away, a loud and irritable hum filling the room before the lights lining the room burst into life, harsh light cutting the darkness like a knife.--]

♚— "Now, before we begin, do you have any medical problems i should know about~? Faulty heart, weak bladder or the like. I'd really rather you didn't wet yourself while i'm working, it'd be a pain to clean up~"

#frxgid #reality;

-Prettier on the inside-

frxgid

[--The sound of pin point heels clicking loudly against hard concrete echoed off the basement walls, the only noise present other than the rhythmic beat of a leaky pipe dripping somewhere above. It was dank, dark, the perfect room for the activities that were planned.--]

[--Activities the Mastermind had no hesitation to admitting she enjoyed, watching the life and hope dull from the eyes of those unlucky enough to end up in this room was a favorable past time of hers, and one she was 'lucky' enough to indulge in now.--]

[--Who it was that ended up as the unlucky one this time, however, only made the activities all the more enjoyable this time around--]

[--Coming to a stop in front of the unlucky heir, Junko sat herself down in the seat positioned directly across from the chair he was tightly strapped into, crossing her legs and resting her hand on her chin.--]

♚— "Are we awake yet~?"

[--Her voice was far too cheery for such a setting.--]

#frxgid #reality;

{An issue of image}

If she hadn’t been embarrassed before (and she had been) Naegi CERTAINLY was now. The girl’s whole body burned bright red with a blush. How mean! Of course she had a chest under there!… even if it wasn’t especially big…

The flirting didn’t exactly help either. All it did was add a bit of extra confusion… and made her a bit mad.

"You… you jerk! Now you’re just picking on me!" She protested. Naegi turned away from him and moved to walk quickly past him.

[---He quirked a brow as she turned away, but before she could successfully move past him, the Gyaruo quickly snagged her shoulder, holding her in her tracks.---]

♚— "I wont deny that was rude of me, but to be fair you did cause the set off of my bad mood~"

[---He grinned, taking full advantage of the height difference between the two to look down at her as he did so.---]

♚— "I believe that makes us even, yes~? Besides, i never said you looked bad as a boy, now did i~?"

[---This boy was a smooth as they came. At least, that's what he and everyone else thought.---]

#Genderbend;#Hopeorbust

{An issue of image}

"I… I got the wrong uniform by mistake in the mail… I… I thought it was strange no one said anything, but…" Naegi swallowed. "I didn’t realize it was that hard to tell…" Her face was upset and more then a little embarrassed. One of the most popular and handsome boys in the school thought she was a BOY. How mortifying!

#genderbend;#Hopeorbust #//and the flirt mode activates i'm sorry Naegi

[---Wait so he really was a girl?! That'd explain the high pitched voice, but he'd more or less assumed that was from lack of hitting puberty. She was tiny after all.---]

♚— "Wait, you're not actually a boy? For real? You've got a chest under there?"

[---It was all too apparent she was on the verge of tears, and the boy was loving every minute of it. As cruel as that was. But then again, the boy wasn't an overly nice person.---]

[---But as lovely as tears would be, making a girl cry in the middle of a hallway would not be beneficial to his reputation. And the boy really did need the King Complex he had.---]

♚— "That'd explain your voice, It was a little more on the cute side than i expected."

{An issue of image}

Poor Naegi, being so small was easily caught up and jostled by the crowed. It wasn’t even her fault when she crashed into the Gyaruo… she had been pushed.

"Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, Enoshima-san, I…" Wait, what did he say??

"B-boy?" Did… did he really think that? "Do… do I really look like one?" She looked a bit upset by that. Maybe the short hair was a little messy, and maybe she HAD gotten the wrong uniform, but… she didn’t think that she looked like a GUY. That was… really depressing.

#closed;#Hopeorbust #Genderbent;

[---The Gyaruo frowned, giving the shorter male a questioning look. Was he confused or something? Short hair, boys uniform. Did he get knocked on the head and forget his own gender?---]

[---Not that Juntaro actually cared, he didn't really care about anything other than himself and something special, but the teen did run into him, and this did seem to be upsetting to the shorter boy.---]

♚— "I thought you would've figured that out from the get go. That is a guys Uniform."

[---Although, if he had to admit, it didn't look half bad on him.---]

#Hopeorbust #Genderbent;

{An issue of image}

[---For a school with little students, the halls of Hope's Peak Academy were always surprisingly crowded, teens rushing to pack their things into their lockers and head to the cafeteria before the good food was taken, or simply standing in the hall to chat with friends and causing impasses for everyone else. The halls were a busy place, and usually a hazard for most people trying to get through.---]

[---Not that the Gyaruo ever paid much attention to it, usually the first to leave class, it wasn't often he got caught up in the rush of other students. Today, however, was different. Deciding to do his nails in class had turned out to be a bad decision, and he'd been forced to stay for a good five minutes to take quick notes that were needed for homework.---]

[---Which was how he ended up in the thicket of student bodies, trying to get from one place to another, a displeased look on his pretty features. The air of superiority seemed to do little to help the situation, the teenagers far too caught up in their own worries to pay him any attention. (A crime in its own right).---]

[---Fingers clenched firmly around the strap of his book bag, it took all the Gyaruo's restraint not to groan outwardly. However, that restraint slipped, when something solid and heavy collided with his back, pushing him off balance and allowing a grunt to slip.---]

[---Spinning around with the full intent of glaring daggers into the person who dared crash into him, the boy was the definition of displeased.---]

♚— "Watch where you're going, boy."

{Cracks in the Foundation}

Her actions, her words, her expression…they all disgusted him. His bare fingers tightened on the trigger…..Byakuya’s icy gaze looking over her as if she was some garbage that gave off a particularly foul stench. Had he less self control she would’ve been dead right then and there…..but what he had was sufficient…at least sufficient enough to postpone her death for now.

The boy had hated her when he was in her servitude. Everything he had done for her was done through clenched teeth…after all, she was no ‘real’ queen….nothing deserving of any real respect. He knew that better than anyone else, he’d like to think.

But those days as an agent of despair were fuzzy in his head…and thinking about them threatened to give him a migraine….so instead of putting his focus on the past, he allowed himself to gaze forward at the present…..

"You are no queen, and I assure you, I am not your loyal subject. This isn’t the sort of behavior you should be giving when there’s an ill-tempered man pointing a gun directly at your head….especially one that’s grown tired of your venomous words." Was she too stupid to realize he no longer ‘belonged’ to her…that he was no longer a puppet…that he was not that ‘king’ that she had last seen before her….?

This only seemed to piss him off more….and made his trigger finger grow all the heavier.

[---She wasn't stupid, far from it in fact. The orchestrator of despair, the queen who made her kingdom. She was far smarter than most would realize, holding two Super Highschool Levels alone was proof enough of that. Especially given what one of them was. A skill she was rather proud of.---]

[---A skill that was in play the minute she stood in front of him, his words adding to the calculations in her head, the gears that turned and clicked as they figured things out. Her title as Mastermind was well earned.---]

♚— "Oh, that's right. I believe the correct term was Empress~"

[---She smirked, clearly her lack of concern was upsetting. Still, he was holding a loaded gun at her head, and the boy was known for his temper.---]

♚— "Tell me, why the sudden change of heart, Byakuya~? You seemed so eager to please me the last time we spoke, Did the King get bored and decide he wanted to expand his domain~?"

[---She studied the hand tightly clenched around the gun, watching his trigger finger tighten as she spoke."

♚— "Or is it something else~?"

[---It was obvious this didn't come from nothing, and whatever it was that had caused this...problem, needed to be found and removed. She wasn't fond of things messing with her property, even if he wasn't technically that. He was still in her lines, he still served for and under her, which in the mastermind's eyes, dictated him as hers. As long as he was useful, he was hers. This was a problem, and it needed to be resolved, and the source removed.---]

[---She just needed to find out exactly what it was.---]

#Reality;#Frxgid

{Cracks in the Foundation}

Byakuya’s footsteps were quiet, precise, and confident. He was aware of his location, and incredibly aware of the dangers it possibly held for him. This was why he kept that weapon so securely held within his grip. It wasn’t the same one he had used before, back when he would kill those underlings of his ‘kingly’ state as a means of stress relief…this was one issued to him, instead, from the hand of a friend…someone who wished him only to use it if he was in need of protecting himself.

His grip on the gun tightened. Togami had no intention of abusing what had been given to him, breaking an unspoken promise that he knew that fool had made with him. He would use it when necessary, nothing else….these cold hands were out in the open, soft skin against cool metal.

He wasn’t wearing his gloves. He wasn’t in fiction. This was reality, true reality, and he would keep that promise. It may not have been hope that was his driving force…but assuredly, whatever was there supporting him would not falter enough for him to stoop….even when the familiarity of the gun in his hand gave him some comfort…and the bloodlust made his heart ache. He was Byakuya Togami.

Though it was when he heard that frightful humming that he felt his blood run as cold as the ice in his gaze. His body tensed, his hand tightened around the trigger. He was ready to shoot, ready to take the initiative and blow the brains out of this incompetent pest before she even had the chance to weasel her way back into his brain.

…But his promise prevented him.

The heir’s hand shook with frustration as he looked for her, looked for the woman that had ruined him for so long…lead the way of temptation to turn him into that mad beast of a king…. She was repulsive, disgusting, vile……he wanted to see her bleed for what she had done…but if he did that then it…felt as if he had not changed at all, as if he had never fully healed.

He grimaced, noticing too late how close the two had come before he had even realized she was there. Quickly, the boy pulled up his gun and aimed it at her head, ready to fire at the slightest whim.

"Stand your ground, you disgusting wench…or I swear to you that this will be the last day you filthy the earth with your presence.”

[---She'd seen him before he'd seen her, a wicked smile gracing her lips as the King looked around. She knew he was looking for her, there would be no other reason for him to be out here. But it wasn't often she actively saw him outside his visits to provide her with sweets, or when meetings and plans needed to be discussed and laid out. For all she knew he could be out for the same reasons as her, wandering around to see the destruction and take a 'break'. Although she surely doubted that was the case.---]

[---Confirmed so as she stood across from him, taking advantage of his seeming inner argument and lack of attention to do so without him noticing.---]

[---It didn't take long for him to seemingly come to an agreement with himself, and register her presence, the steel barrel of his gun aimed squarely at her forehead.---]

[---If she was confused, she didn't show it, not even flinching as her eyes locked onto his, looking past the gun like it wasn't there to begin with.---]

[---Although that didn't rule her out as surprised. She hadn't expected him to aim the gun at her, but really, why should she. He was a follower of hers, devoted to her cause and her, his sucking up was proof enough of that. But that didn't mean she'd react openly, this wasn't the first time a gun was pointed at her, and it wouldn't be the last.---]

♚— "Well this is an interesting turn of events~"

[---Her words were steady, laced with sweetness and sarcasm as she stood her ground. She was testing the waters, so to speak, studying him with a cool gaze as she continued to act like the gun wasn't there.---]

♚— "What a lovely way to greet your Queen."

#Reality;#frxgid

{Cracks in the Foundation}

“Keh…….”

It felt as though it had been years since he had last stood in the frigid night air without the presence of gloves to protect his slender fingers from freezing…though their true purpose had been to protect him from not only the external forces around him, but the very reality of the world, itself.A barrier to all that was not under his control….a barrier to the truth that he did not want to see.

The process of removing him from that fictional world…where touching and knowing were the enemy of all he stood for….was a long, painful one…and he still felt himself on the fringes of that same despair on occasion.

But with the cold metal of a gun in his hand….and the words of the boy who pulled him from those very pits of despair still echoing in his ears, Byakuya let out a sigh.

He was better now. He wasn’t broken. He was no longer that mad ‘king’…that monster….They had trusted him with a gun, and he was sent out on a mission once more. He was Byakuya Togami once more…not a King, not a Lord, not a merciless beast…..but the proud heir that would carry his family name with pride.

[---It wasn't often she had a break, well, break in the sense of an absence of followers that surrounded her being on a regular basis. She was a Queen, in both delusion and fact, and a ruler required 'protection' despite being more than capable of handling herself. Usually this protection provided itself in the form of her sister, but the soldier was off doing some mindless task she'd been given to get her out of the mastermind's hair.---]

[---Which was how she had found herself walking through the crumbling buildings and destruction her followers had left in their wake, the heel of her boots echoing loudly through the rubble that surrounded her, and a whistle on her breathe that made the scene all the more eerie.---]

[---She was still well within her territory, the inner city mostly secured against the work of the Future Foundation, several sub territories elected within. The school, her own personal domain, and the Togami Conglomerate building being three of the most noticeable ones. Grounds around these three had barely been scraped with the foundations 'hope', although the school was far more barren than it had been after the survivors release.---]

[---The former was seemingly where her feet had decided to take her, the academy looming overhead and cutting through the repetitiveness of empty streets and destruction. Dead silent save for the tune on her lips that sliced through it like a hot knife.---]

#Reality;#frxgid

Makoto looked away with an expression of guilt. She was his friend… and not only could he not remember her, but he was making her worry.

"N-no… I’m sorry…"

#Mastermind;#Hopeorbust #//i'm so sorry Naegi don't trust the devil in heels

[---Perfect.---]

[---With little hesitation, the Mastermind offered the other her hand as she stood up, a warm (Yet utterly empty on the inside) smile on her lips.---]

♚— "There's no need to apologize Naegi-kun. I'm your friend. I just want to make sure you're ok~"

[---More lies easily fed one after the other. It was easy enough to fake concern, and when you're taught to pull expressions as part of your job, it was easy to make them as convincing as possible.---]

"Naegi…?" So that had been correct as well? That was good to know.

"Well… I guess that would explain why my head hurts so much." the boy smiled weakly. "It’s… really hard to remember anything… I… " He hesitated. "We’re… are we friends?" He asked her. "It… feels like I know you, and I have that sort of feeling but… I can’t remember. even my own name… it’s just too fuzzy."

[---So it wasn't as bad as it could've been, bad amnesia was better than none, and if he didn't start to remember things it was something she could work with.---]

♚— "Of course we are Naegi-kun,we're good friends. We have been for a while."

[---Lies, bitter in her mouth as she said them. She couldn't have imagined being his friend, regardless of her plans or not. He was far below someone of her status.---]

[---Still, mock concern seemed to always work in her favour. Junko pushed herself off the desk, approaching the boy with steady steps and a look of worry etched across her features, an internal grimace at the act, but it was needed. Reaching him, she knelt in front of him.---]

♚— "Does your head hurt at all? Can you remember anything at all?"

#Mastermind;#Hopeorbust

Makoto(?) looked up at the speaker with a bit of confusion… saying nothing at first. This person…was awfully familiar. He was sure that he knew her somehow.

"…Eno…shima-san…?" He tilted his head slightly. He wanted to remember more, but… it hurt. That pain was evident on his face. Why was this happening? "S-sorry… I… I don’t even know if that’s right…"

[---That....wasn't supposed to be right. Clean slate, empty headed, that was the desired result. Well, to be fair she'd had help with it the last time, maybe she missed something while she was working. Still, she'd need to see how bad the situation was. He seemed unsure, which meant it'd worked to some extent. In any case she'd just have to play with it some more. More trouble than he was worth but it was fixable.---]

[---Either way, time to play it up for the boy.---]

♚— "That's right. You hit your head pretty hard Naegi-kun, i'm surprised you woke up at all."

[---Really, she should've been given SHSL Actress with the amount of shit she's pulled.---]

#Mastermind;#Hopeorbust

"Ugh…." The boy opened his eyes with a bleary expression, blinking quite a bit to protect against the light of the room. His head felt like someone had split it open and that all of the insides had fallen out. As soon as everything stopped spinning, He looked around him with more then a little confusion. He couldn’t remember where he was, or even how he got there… or even his own name, for that matter. Not knowing that last bit was really bothering him. He tried to focus, but that just made everything hurt worse… eventually, a name DID occur to him. Makoto Naegi… was that… him? Maybe someone else would know.

[---Thin fingers rapped soundlessly against the solid wood of the desk, her legs crossed and back straight, the Mastermind watched carefully from her perch in front of the computer network, brow raised and amused expression clearly painted across her features.---]

[---It seems her charge was awake, the result of mixed boredom and a need to rid a problem. Makoto Naegi should, theoretically, be as blank and blank could be, at least, in the respect of his memory.---]

[---It'd been awhile since she had a toy that was within her reach to physically play with, and the boy proved the perfect subject for it after he'd cause more trouble than she'd have liked.---]

♚— "Awake, are we~?"

[---Her voice rang out clear and sweet, being the only other person in teh room but him, it wasn't hard for her to be heard. Even if he was still groggy from his 'fix'.---]

#Mastermind;#Hopeorbust

He felt the presence of eyes on him. It wasn’t the same kind of feeling one would get from something physically pressing against them, for it seemed as though his capability to feel such things as that were long gone…..but the ability to know when a burning, malevolent gaze burrowed into your form seemed to have stayed with him.

Why was he even alive?

Was he really alive?

Groaning, the boy quivered….everything was cold….everything felt as though it was missing something…something crucial, essential to his being….though he couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what it was… But that thing was gone now, and it seemed as though that disappearance was a permanent one.

Who was there?

And how was it…that he was there to be seen at all?

A blue eye met the mysterious figure, as dead as his eyes were, he was still capable of sight, at least with the eye that hadn’t been caked with a thick layer of, now dried, blood….he didn’t know who this person was…why they were there…or even if this counted as some sort of after life.

Maybe this was ‘hell’…?

”…..Ghh….nnnnh….”

He tried to speak, tried to make a sound, form a sentence, make some sign that his mind was still as functional as it had always been, even with the grogginess of sleep (or rather, death) still coated over him…but his shivering was too violent, his teeth chattering too loudly, all he could do….was shake…..and stare at the being who looked at him with a masked visage, with no doubt that they enjoyed the sight they saw before them.

This sadistic bastard…taking pleasure in something so horrific.

Disgusting creature, vile monster, unneeded pest…

That person’s presence unsettled him

Though he knew it was his failure to ‘survive’ that unsettled him the most.

[---The grunt was unexpected, to say the least. Dead bodies didn't groan, they didn't really do anything rather than rot and stink. An unpleasant side-effect the living had to deal with, but not one that bothered the Mastermind. What did, however, was the slight possibility of something that was really not wanted. The possibility the Heir wasn't as dead as was assumed.---]

[---Better safe than sorry seemed to be the reoccurring theme of the hour, and a displeased frown, although un-shown through the masks cover, was ever present on the Masterminds face as steady fingers pulled back the leather gloves, revealing perfectly manicured nails to the frigid air.---]

[---Delicate fingers push back the hair surrounding the nape of the boys neck, an obvious noise of displeasure left the Mastermind's lips, frown deepening as the blood matted blond brushed against skin. Gross. Still, that did confirm the possibility to be false, no pulse evident under the boys iced skin, which meant he was as dead as assumed and had been for some time.---]

[---Good.---]

[---Not bothering to re-glove, the Mastermind's fingers hooked under the collar of the boy's shirt, forcefully pulling at his corpse till he was off the ground enough to be pushed onto his back, presenting his beaten body in full view.---]

[---No one could've survived that, not without being a vegetable for the rest of their life. Hypothermia was a wonderful thing when coupled with injury.---]

[---Still, it was a poor presentation when obscured by a mask, and and as someone who obviously vastly enjoyed these things, that was far from acceptable. Besides, his death was confirmed and safety first only applied when there was an actual threat.---]

[---Delicate fingers curled, before the Mastermind slid them under the bottom of the mask, wasting little time in removing it with an evident sigh of relief.---]

[---God that thing was stuffier than expected.---]

[---Running her fingers through the golden locks that fell across her vision, the Mastermind pushed her hair back, thankful for a lack of knots but regretting not bringing her ties with her. Still, its not like it mattered, and once her hair was out of her vision she could fully admire the work of her execution, grin twisted across her pretty features.---]

♚---{"I've gotta say Togami-kun, you're much prettier covered in your own blood~"}

#Mastermind;#frxgid

Cold.

His frostbitten flesh was mostly numb

But there was one thing he could still feel.

The icy sting of the very cold that had ended his life.

It stung him like the sorrow from within

Cut through his fragile body like scissors on thin paper.

Splitting

Like there was nothing left but the anger.

The Fear.

Despair.