TW: abuse, blood, panic attacks

          Leon Kuwata stared in surprise as Akihiko ran out of the room. He headed to his dorm room and sat down on the bed.

          I don’t understand. Did I say something to scare him off? Leon searched through the past day. Nothing came to mind.

          I’m a little worried, to be honest. When I grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving, he literally jumped and started shaking. Who hurt him to make him so scared?

         Leon sighed. I’ll give him a day alone. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.

…

         The next day at breakfast, Akihiko avoided Leon by sitting between Celeste and Hagakure. He felt a pang of guilt at the hurt on Leon’s face every time he ignored him, but shook it off. I can’t talk to him right now.

          Once everyone finished breakfast, Monokuma popped up out of nowhere. “You guys haven’t been killing each other,” he said grumpily.

          “Gee, I wonder why!” Hina said sarcastically, hands on her hips. “Maybe because killing people is wrong and we’re all friends?”

          Togami walked in at that moment. “Friends? Don’t make me laugh.”

           You really need to stop doing that, Togami-senpai.

           “Anyways.” Monokuma clapped his paws. “I’ve decided to give you all a motive! Go to the computer room and find the one that has the disk with your name on it. Aaand watch it.” A menacing look crossed his face. “Trust me, you’ll want to.”

             Sayaka looked around nervously. “Should we go?”

              “I believe we have no choice.” Sakura said gravely. Everyone filed into the computer room. 

              Akihiko found the disk with his name on it and sat down. He pushed the disk into the player, placed the headphones on his head, and pressed play.

Misaki Momota’s Killing Motive

Kaito and Akihiko’s grandparents were sitting on a couch together, holding hands. Kaito was on the floor in front, grinning with a tooth missing.

“Hello, Akihiko. We all wish you the best time at Hope’s Peak Academy. We will miss you so much and will await your return on the holidays.” Said his grandfather solemnly.

“We’re so proud of you.” His grandmother said softly, dabbing a tissue at the corner of her eye.

“Yeah, bro! You’re so smart, so beat ‘em all quickly and that way we can see the stars together again!” Kaito grinned wider. “And look! I’ve lost a tooth, that’s two more than you have! I’m winning!”

“It’s not a competition.” Akihiko’s grandfather said firmly, but gazed fondly at Kaito.

“Hmph, whatever.” Kaito pouted.

The video paused and Monokuma appeared. “Such a lovely, heartwarming family! But…” he said dramatically.

The image immediately turned darker. The room was destroyed, and his grandparents were on the floor, unmoving.

Kaito was in front of them, his back to the camera, his hands covered in blood. “Grandpa! Grandma! Someone help!” He turned, his face streaked with tears. “Help! Someone needs to get Akihiko! He’ll know how to help them! Or get them to a hospital, anything! Please-“ the screen went dark and Monokuma’s voice spoke again.

“What happened? Kill somebody, and escape. Maybe you can help them.”

End.

        Akihiko stared straight ahead at the black screen, willing it to show something else. But nothing happened. The video was done. 

        He reached up to his headphones and took them off and placed them on the table. Since when was I shaking? He barely registered the shocked faces and cries of the others, let alone Sayaka’s scream at her motive. He stood up, pushing past everyone else and going to his room.

          He tried to calm down on the way there, but slowly he started hyperventilating and went into a panic attack. What if they’re dead? Is Kaito okay?! Kaito…I can’t live without him! Please, please, please, I don’t wanna die-

…

         Leon stood up, and let out a breath. Phew, that was scary. But I know Kanon can take care of herself pretty well, so she’d still be alive by the time I get out. Hope everyone else is fine. 

         He noticed Sayaka scream and run out, Naegi following her. He didn’t want to interfere. From what he heard, they were childhood friends, so he figured Naegi could take care of her just fine on his own.

         Leon was about to crack a joke to everyone else, when he saw something that almost slipped his notice. Aki-kun? Akihiko had pushed past everyone else as quietly as possible so nobody had noticed him leave. That on its own wasn’t a major concern, but as he watched Akihiko walk down the hall, the ten year old was shaking, and then he started running.

         I should go check on him. Leon got up and walked down the hall towards the dorms. He saw a piece of paper sticking slightly out of his dorm door. He picked it up. It read Come to my room at night time. Make sure you check the nameplates to get the right room. I want to talk to you. Sayaka Maizono

          He stuck the piece of paper in his pocket and walked a little more then stopped in front of Akihiko’s room. “Aki-kun?” He called, knocking on the door. “Are you okay?” There was no response.

         “I’m coming in,” Leon said loudly, turning the doorknob and opening the door. Just as he’d suspected, Akihiko wasn’t in the right mind to lock the door behind him.

         He didn’t see Akihiko at first, but then he noticed a lump under the sheets of the bed. Quietly, he sat on the edge of the bed. Once he got closer, he heard gasps as Akihiko was in the midst of a panic attack.

         “Akihiko.” Leon said, slowly peeling back the covers. Akihiko stiffened. He was curled up in a ball, hiding his face as he did so.

         “K-K-K-Kuwata-senpai, a-a-apologies. D-d-didn’t hear you c-come in.” Akihiko took a deep breath and said quickly, “You didn’t need to check on me I’m fine so you can go now bye.” He seemed to be forcing his voice to stay steady.

          “You’re not okay.” Leon said quietly. “If you were, then why are you having a panic attack? And struggling to keep yourself from crying.”

          Akihiko buried his face deeper. Why won’t he look at me? “Akihiko..I won’t judge you.”

          Akihiko slowly sat up. Leon could tell he was doing his best to bottle everything up and was struggling to speak. “M-m-make it s-s-stop. Please. Sh-she’ll know, a-and hurt me.”

         Huh? Leon felt rage fill him. “Who? Who hurt you?” Struggling to calm himself, he decided to add, “Never mind that this second. No matter what, I won’t let her hurt you. Let it all out, and once you feel better, just try to match my breathing, slowly in and slowly out. Okay?”

        Akihiko hesitated, then burst into tears. Leon wrapped his arms around the younger boy as years of pain and fear left Akihiko’s body. As long as I live, I won’t let anyone hurt him. Leon promised himself.

         “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry so scared don’t wanna die please help me I’m so tired-“ Akihiko mumbled quickly into Leon’s chest.

         “It’s okay man, it’s not your fault, I’ll protect you.” Leon rubbed Akihiko’s back. “I’m here, Aki.”

         They sat there for a while, then Akihiko’s breaths started to slow and the cries stopped. “Thank you.” He said, wiping his eyes. 

         “What happened? It’s not just about the killing game, is it?”

         “Senpai…I-I can’t. She-she’ll be mad. And if I go back home-“

         “Akihiko Momota. Tell me.” Akihiko flinched, shaking again. Leon realized his mistake and said gently, “I won’t be able to help you if you don’t tell me everything.”

         Akihiko sighed, taking a deep breath, and began.

         “I…wasn’t always a ‘genius’. I didn't know how to speak for the longest time. My grandparents were worried. Kaito and I could communicate just fine, but they wanted me to be able to talk with everyone and go to school. I was behind on all of my academics as well.”

         “So they brought in a tutor. Her name is Yuzu Sayama. They didn’t know anything about her, she was just the only affordable one. To the outside, it was as if a switch had flipped inside of me, which in a way,” Akihiko let out a small, choked laugh. “I suppose it did.”

           “I was five years old, but in a month, she had taught me how to talk, read, and managed to catch me up with the rest of my grade. My grandparents were overjoyed. She managed to convince them to keep her on because I supposedly had ‘great potential’. I almost cried when I heard, but…she had pretty much already beaten it out of me.”

             “Crying, panic attacks, I was told these were weaknesses. Every time she’d see me in the middle of either of those, she’d have me roll up my sleeves and hit my arms and hands with a ruler until I stopped.” Akihiko shuddered.

             “And she always seemed to know! If I cried in my room alone at night, the next afternoon she’d cut me with a pocketknife she always kept with her.” Akihiko unbuttoned his shirt slightly and pulled down the collar to show his shoulders. Cuts like tally marks ran from one shoulder to another. Leon sucked in a breath. Seeing the look on his face, Akihiko guiltily buttoned up his shirt again. “I’m sorry.”

           Leon panicked. “No, no-“

           Akihiko gave him a small, insincere smile. “It’s alright. I realize how gross it is. And besides, by the time I was six, I managed to suppress it completely.” Leon wanted to speak again, but he decided to let Akihiko finish.

            “Coming out as trans at eight years old didn’t help either. That’s what the tank top was for in case you were wondering. It binds my chest. She still called me by my old name, Misaki, and if I wanted to be called Akihiko, I had to become the best ultimate and earn her lots of money. But it still wasn’t enough. Constantly she’d tell me about how worthless I am and how I deserve to die. And I realized how true it was.”

           Tch! I’m gonna kill that lady if I ever see her.

           “Kaito, my twin brother, was the only one who knew about what I was going through. He agreed not to tell because if my grandparents knew, they would die of sadness or not believe us. He just hugged me and held me together even though we ended up barely seeing each other towards the end.”

          “I was so happy to go to Hope’s Peak because it meant I could finally escape. But then all this happened, and my grandparents might be dead and maybe Kaito is too. I specifically stopped at high school so I could maybe have fun, but that was selfish. Nobody liked me at any school. I wish I graduated so I could do something besides study, but no matter what I’m alone. Without Kaito, what’s the point? I’ll probably be killed first because I’m the weakest.” Akihiko buried his face in his hands.

           Leon almost started crying himself, he felt so bad for Akihiko. He tapped Akihiko’s shoulder. He looked up. “You’re not gross.” Leon said quietly. “I think you’re pretty cool, actually.” Akihiko stared in disbelief.

           Leon laughed a little. “I’m not kidding! You’ve been through a lot, and you’re still here. You know what? If anyone is going to get us out of here, it would be you.” He thought for a moment and spoke again. “We’re going to have fun! I’ll show you how to be a kid. We’ll play tag, hide and seek, and baseball! I’ll show you so much fun you’ll forget ever being sad!”

           Akihiko’s eyes widened, then a wide, genuine smile filled his face. Leon felt a big grin cross his face. “That’s the first real smile I’ve seen on you. You should do it more often, man.”

          Shyly, Akihiko replied. “You think so?” Leon nodded emphatically. 

          “Of course! Come on, let’s go eat dinner.” Leon lowered his voice. “Cuz afterwards I got a meeting with Sayaka!” His cheeks turned pink. “Maybe it’s a confession of love! Or she’ll teach me how to be in the music business!”

           Akihiko rolled his eyes. “Lovesick weirdo. By the way…”

           “Hm?” Leon looked back at the younger boy.

           “I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I’ve never played video games and I was embarrassed to tell you.”

           “It’s all right! Come on, let’s eat and hang out!”