Chapter 13

Warning: Abuse from parents and failed suicide mentions! Proceed with caution if this triggers you

Within a couple of minutes, Kokoro and Emma arrived at the location Syobai had sent them. "This should be it," Emma said as they saw two figures up ahead. Syobai was leaning against the wall beside Iroha, who was crouching and hugging her knees. "Iroha!" Emma ran over and scooped her into a hug ."I'm so glad you're okay! We were so scared..."

This surprised Iroha but she didn't mind. "I-I'm fine...don't worry.." Iroha muttered.

"So what is your plan now Syobai?" Kokoro asked.

"You can tell yourself, there's a lot more to this than we think. We can't bring her back to the police or her parents yet until we solve this out." Syobai told them.

"So where do we bring her?" Emma asked.

"The dorms. We have to sneak her in" Syobai said.

"The school has cameras though....right? If they see us bring her in, we will most certainly get in trouble" Emma pointed out.

"How did you avoid the cameras seeing you Iroha?" Kokoro asked.

"I-I used a signal blocker to do so. B-but I don't have it with me..." Iroha told them.

"I got a couple in my room that we can use. I'll go grab one and when I give you the signal, you two bring her in and keep her in one of your rooms. We'll only have a couple of minutes otherwise if they look through the camera feed and see the cameras dead for longer than that, we're screwed."

"Alright then, we'll let everyone know of the plan," Kokoro said pulling out her phone.

*Private Groupchat*

Kokoro: Alright everyone we have a plan

Shinji: What is it?

Emma: Syobai will come back alone to grab a signal jammer from his room

Emma: Right before he activates it he'll give us the signal to come in, and we'll hide her in my room

Kokoro: After that, we can determine how to communicate with each other and Iroha and figure out the rest

Nikei: Sounds good

Within a couple of minutes, Syobai arrived back to the dorms as he headed to his room, grabbing the signal jammer before texting the group again.

Syobai: Starting jammer in 1 minute

Syobai: You only got five minutes to come in, so be quick

Syobai pressed the button and all of the signals within the dorm were cut off. Emma quickly hurried in with Kokoro and Iroha as they headed to her room. Luckily it was on the first floor so it was easy to get her in. Within five minutes, he turned off the signal jammer as he checked his phone.

Emma: We did it!

Emma: Iroha is safe in my room

Yuri: So how do we talk to her?

Kokoro: I suggest a video call. I'll set it up

Sora: Sounds good

Soon all of them were awaiting a video call from Kokoro as they turned on their cameras. Pretty much everyone was there.

"Iroha are you alright?? Are you hurt??" Hajime asked, being the worried mom-friend he was.

"I-I'm fine Hajime, I'm not hurt..." Iroha reassured him.

"Now that we're all here, Iroha, I assume you know what you need to say," Kokoro told her.

"Yeah yeah, I-I know. You all want to know why I ran away...." Iroha sighed.

"Well we don't want to force you my dear, but we just want to help," Yuri told her.

"Well I gotta, otherwise you won't get it," Iroha said.

"Well, we'll all ears, so take your time," Sora assured her.

Iroha took a deep breath as she began retelling her story. "It started when I was a kid. My parents were famous artists, so of course, they wanted me to follow in their footsteps. But when I was introduced to the concept of art, more so art in a formal style, I didn't really like it. It was difficult and boring to me. I like anime and manga, simpler but still just as amazing. But my parents weren't having any of it. They locked me up in my room....and forced me to learn art the "proper way." If I refused, it was beating after another by the guards they kept in my room. They didn't even let me go out to eat, all my food was brought to me..." Iroha sighed.

"That's horrible...." Emma was shocked.

"It was. And the worst part? They never loved me. They never thought of me as their child. It was so bad...I wanted to die. And yet...I couldn't. I tried to kill myself but they stopped me. And they blamed me for being such an "incompetent child" Iroha stuttered out as tears began running down her face. Emma hugged her close, rubbing her back. After calming her down, Sora spoke.

"So that is why you ran away?" Sora asked.

"It's most of the reason. I also just never wanted to be the Ultimate Painter. I wanted to be normal. The pressure of being an Ultimate is too much for me. I don't care if I can't attend Hope's Peak. I just want to be myself..." Iroha said. "But even after getting this talent, they still have power over me, and I can't stop it...So I ran away, hoping I could start a new life..." Iroha said.

"Iroha...we're so sorry that you had to go through that" Hibiki said.

"We should've realized something was wrong," Shinji added.

"No, it's not your fault. I was just so scared. Everyone here is actually proud to be who they are. If I told you that, I figured you would all hate me" Iroha admitted.

"We would never hate you Iroha. Whoever you want to be, you should be. As your friends, we'll be there to support you" Kokoro said.

"Guys...thank you" Iroha smiled. "It feels a lot better to admit all of that."

"Of course. Iroha, if you truly wish to leave Hope's Peak, then it's your choice in the end. We can still be friends" Yuki said.

"Yeah, you're our friend no matter what!" Kanade smiled.

Iroha smiled. "You guys are the best"

"Of course Iroha-chan," Setsuka smiled.

"So...now what are we going to do?" Yuki asked.

"Well, Syobai mentioned he had a deal with your parents, so he is forced to bring you back. But I assume he has a plan" Kokoro looked to Syobai. He of course was asleep but he still was on the call.

"Syobai get the fuck up!" Yoruko yelled.

"Hm? Oh, you guys aren't done yet?" Syobai yawned.

"We need you for this next part, what are we going to do now that we have Iroha?" Nikei asked.

"Simple. We need the cop and those detectives to help us prove this is happening. If we get them to confess when I "bring " bubblehead to her parents, they can be arrested. So I'll go through with bring bubblehead, but I won't give her in" Syobai explained.

"That seems like a good idea. We'll invite the three of them to my room tomorrow after classes. So you better be there Syobai!" Emma told him.

"I will relax" Syobai sighed.

"I-I am a bit confused on one thing tho..." Iroha pointed out. "Why did you do this all Syobai?"

"I have to agree. First, you told Kinjo and the others that Iroha ran away instead of being kidnapped, then you helped her now, despite you having a deal with her parents. I assume they are paying you for this, so why betray them?" Sora asked.

"I have my reasons, so leave it alone. Oh by the way bubblehead, consider the $5000 you gave me compensation for all of this " Syobai said ending the call.

"E-Eh!? Ugh fine..." Iroha muttered.

"$5-5000?!" Shinji said shocked.

"Geez, Iroha how rich are you???" Mikado asked.

"Well I stole a lot of it, but my parents are pretty rich.." Iroha admitted.

"Alright, let's end it here," Kokoro said. "I'll get some food for you Iroha"

"Ooo, do you need some clothes?" Hibiki added. "Kanade and I will bring them over!"

"If you need anything like an extra toothbrush or hairbrush I gotcha!" Yoruko smiled.

"Sounds good" Iroha smiled. She finally felt at peace, for now.