Tear Jerker / Class 78th Watches the Future

As is the case with all pages detailing Tear Jerkering Moments, Spoilers Off

It's a Danganronpa fanfic that has Class 78 watching their deadly future. Gut-wrenching moments are 100% guaranteed to be present.

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In General

• Mukuro's situation over the course of watching the game is painful to see. While at first, she thinks she'll remain with her sister, watching her sister's actions and their effects on her classmates cause her to start wavering in loyalty, but her own Big Sister Instinct, guilt for abandoning Junko, and her fear of the repercussions of her alignment keeps her from revealing the truth to Makoto, and it's shown that she hates that she can't tell him the truth. Seeing her classmates and especially Makoto, a person who showed her nothing but kindness, suffer because of her inaction only further fuels her self-loathing.

Chapter 1: To Survive

• Makoto's reaction to his video in the first motive (kill to find out what happened to your loved ones). He's shown to be understandably distraught, asking why it happened and what happened to them.
  • Mukuro herself finds herself torn apart at Makoto's expression, as her conscience tells her that it's because she didn't stop Junko from executing her plans that Makoto's suffering like this, and even with this, she still can't find it in her to abandon her sister.
• Sayaka discovering that she's the first victim of the game. Even with Hiro not understanding that the game is real, Sayaka breaks down, leaving Makoto to comfort her.
• Mukuro's death as she's disguised as Junko. Seeing that she was killed just to set an example and on a whim horrifies the Ultimate Soldier. Makoto's reaction further solidifies how much he cares for her, and how gut-wrenching it is for everyone to keep watching their classmates die.
• Sayaka is revealed as an attempted killer attempting to frame Makoto. Throughout the trial, Sayaka sees more and more proof that she's less of an innocent victim, and she is absolutely horrified with her actions. Makoto himself tries his best to keep that possibility out of her mind, but when definitive proof is shown that she was using him, he slips out of her armhold, and she breaks down crying.
• Leon finds out that his future self was the killer. He tries to protect himself, but unlike in the future where it's to survive, here it's out of disbelief that he could have been the killer. With each piece of evidence, though, he finds it harder and harder to deny the truth, and eventually, while his future self keeps trying to argue, he tells him that it's over.
• Leon's execution. Even with Leon being a killer, neither Kyoko nor Mukuro had seen something as twisted and brutal as The 1000 Blows, and everyone is horrified.
  • Makoto is horrified, having had to watch three of his closest friends die in quick succession.
  • Leon, being the one executed and having had to watch himself get killed by the symbol of his career, is understandably distraught. Even afterward, he does have some time where he finds the baseballs heavier than normal.
  • Chihiro, much like in canon, finds himself blaming everyone else, including him, for essentially voting to kill Leon.
  • Sayaka, seeing how she was the one who caused the execution, curls up into a ball and just sobs.
  • Toko finds herself curling into a ball in fear, the execution enough to give her nightmares for weeks. She's scared to think that she'll have to watch more executions like that.
  • Mukuro undergoes a mixture of guilt for putting her classmates through such a brutal experience, betrayal for Junko electing to kill her on a whim, and loyalty that she struggles to understand.
• While Sayaka is incredibly remorseful of what her future self did, Makoto struggles to trust her at first, even despite his urge to comfort her. It leads the poor girl to worry that her friendship with him is over, and it's worse for her because she loves him.
• Mukuro's reaction to Junko confirming that she would sacrifice her to feel despair, familial bonds be damned. Read the lines and see if you can't feel bad for her.
  She thought she understood Junko, but it turned out she really didn't. She had been doing everything to please her, but in reality, [Junko] really wasn't pleased. [She'd] been doing anything for her forgiveness and it turned out to be completely futile. Mukuro just stood there, eying the door of her room, before tears slowly trailed from her eyes. For the first time in her life, the [Ultimate Soldier] slowly started sobbing like a regular girl.

Chapter 2: Boys' Life of Despair

• Chihiro's death. The victim himself wonders if he was wrong to trust people and why he was chosen.
• Mondo and Taka's reaction to Mondo's I Never Said It Was Poison moment. Mondo is shocked to realize that he's the killer of Chihiro, and Taka struggles to believe that his bro would kill anyone.
• When Monokuma reveals why Chihiro hid his gender, Chihiro breaks down crying that it hurt when people called him weak. It shows how heavily averted School Bullying Is Harmless was for him. Makoto is upset as well, feeling useless for knowing just how badly Chihiro is suffering.
• Monokuma revealing Mondo's secret (his guilt in feeling responsible for his older brother's death) causes Makoto, Hina, and Hifumi to confront the idea of what would happen if their siblings had been killed, an idea they find themselves not wanting to dwell on for long. Leon thinks of Kanon in the same light and even Mukuro, despite knowing that Junko ultimately feels nothing for her, still feels her heart clench at the idea of losing her.
• Mondo's execution is this. Chihiro still holds by his desire to not have any more deaths, begging for Monokuma to not kill Mondo, and is left with a mix of grief and despair. Taka, though, is much worse, as he also begs for Monokuma to not kill his best friend, and is left utterly broken. Mondo himself is another case of tragedy, feeling that he deserved to die such a Cruel and Unusual Death for killing Daiya and Chihiro.
• After the chapter ends, Makoto talks with Chihiro, who's still reeling from seeing the events, and Mondo's jealousy. Chihiro is completely unable to understand Mondo's jealousy, and just can't see himself as strong, calling himself a "weak, little coward" while sobbing. It's awful to see just how badly his bullying left him, and just how deep his inferiority complex runs.

Chapter 3: A Next Generation Legend! Stand Tall, Galactic Hero!

• Taka's death, just when he was starting to move past Mondo's death. Mondo is, for once, pushed into a Tranquil Fury compared to his more outspoken outbursts, starting slow before going into a much more enraged state than normal. Chihiro is still shown to have a lingering fear of Mondo's anger, and Makoto pointing this out to the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader causes guilt to mix in.
• Future Aoi's breakdown when she finds Hifumi's body in the repository. It leads to not only the current Aoi breaking down but also Chihiro and Sayaka.
• Celeste finds herself through the wringer when her motivation for murdering Taka and Hifumi is revealed. Sayaka verbally yet viciously rips into her for being so selfish (outright calling her a bitch), and when Celeste tries to avert guilt by trying to accuse Sayaka and Mondo of being the same as she was, Aoi points out that Sayaka's dream was the result of hard work along with close friends while Mondo had genuinely felt guilty for killing Chihiro. As the Ultimate Swimming Pro tears into her, Taeko can't deny the truth while internally begging her to stop before Makoto intervenes.
• Celeste slowly breaking apart in a combination of despair, terror, anguish, and shock at her execution. When Makoto gives her a Cooldown Hug, she's reduced to Broken Tears, sobbing while clinging tightly to him.
• Sakura being revealed as The Mole. Everyone is in complete disbelief, and Aoi seeing her friend being the traitor shatters her, reducing her to tears.

Chapter 4: All Star Apologies

• Remember how broken Lucahjin was when she found Sakura dead? Aoi's reaction is very similar here. First, she goes through denial, believing that Sakura's just unconscious and that they can help her. However, when it comes to pass that the Ultimate Martial Artist is dead, Break the Cutie doesn't even describe her reaction. The most cheerful, kind-hearted girl in the class is reduced to a sobbing wreck, collapsing and begging to know why her friend had to die and who did it as Sakura gives her a Cooldown Hug.
  • On a side note, Sayaka and Chihiro are also reduced to tears, and Makoto is pushed to the brink of tears as he tries to comfort the former. Sayaka cries over the fact that yet another one of their friends has died, and Chihiro sobs while asking when the game will end.
• Kyoko realizes the implication behind the locked door and the possibility that Sakura committed suicide. She's in disbelief.
• Throughout the fanfic, one of Hina's greatest fears is that she'll end up killing Sakura, so when, during the fourth trial, her future self seemingly confesses to murdering Sakura, she is completely horrified.
• The moment the class realizes the Awful Truth of Sakura's death. Almost none of them can believe that the strongest member of their class was Driven to Suicide. Hina herself is completely lost, unable to understand why her future self tried to get the rest of her classmates to vote for the wrong culprit resulting in a Total Party Kill.
• Chapter 84 may as well be Tear Jerker: The Chapter. There are a lot of painful moments in this one.
  • Everyone is horrified to see that Future!Hina was willing to kill everyone and herself in an attempt to get revenge for Sakura's death, and that includes Makoto and Kyoko, the two people who had done nothing to Sakura. Sakura herself is furious and ashamed at herself for taking what she saw as the cowardly route and leading Hina to get revenge. Hina herself goes limp, horrified to see that she was willing to execute Makoto alongside Hiro, Toko, and Byakuya.
  • Everyone gets to see how much Sakura blames herself for inciting discord, and Sayaka and Mondo show the most sympathy.
  • This is the moment that Toko and Hiro have a massive Heel Realization. The fact that, despite their distrust, Sakura still saw them as friends utterly breaks them, especially the fact that they were the ones that rejected her attempts to send an olive branch. While Hiro's defenses falter, it's Toko who shows a sadder side. She realizes that Sayaka was right about how pathetic she was and that while the Ultimate Writer believed that everyone was out to get her, there are still those who legitimately see her as a friend.
    Toko: I… really am pathetic, aren't I?
  • Hina breaks down as a result of seeing her last conversation with Sakura, and while the present Sakura attempts to comfort her, she feels that since she was the one responsible for her condition, she's inadequate for the job, asking Makoto to do so her stead. At Makoto's Cooldown Hug, Hina just breaks down even more, sobbing and clinging to him.
  • All throughout the story, Byakuya has been shouldering the blame for his future counterpart's awful actions, and seeing everyone defend Hina leads him to erupt, ranting about how he had been demonized, mocked, and even physically attacked by the rest of his class. Mondo, Taka, Leon, and Chihiro are all shown with various expressions of guilt and shame for their mistreatment of him.
  • In response, Sayaka acknowledges the Misplaced Retribution Byakuya suffered, but she points out that she, Celeste, and now Hina were in the same boat as him: unaware of how low they could go only months ago.
  • However, linked to the above, Sayaka is furious at Hina's actions, having a betrayed expression as she tears into the Ultimate Swimmer for trying to also blame and then kill Makoto and Kyoko, the two students who had done nothing to Sakura. At this, guilt mixes with Hina's sorrow, with her trying to rationalize how she could lump Makoto in the same boat as Toko, Byakuya, and Hiro.
• As one might expect, the revelation that Sakura killed herself to resolve the issues of her past alignment while not disobeying Monokuma's instructions to murder, has a number of effects.
  • Hina is devastated, and she repeatedly calls herself an idiot for not being able to realize her friend's true motivations. A Cooldown Hug from Makoto only causes her to break out in tears.
  • Makoto can only sympathize with Hina further as he hugs her.
  • The present Sakura recognizes that regardless of her intentions, her suicide still deeply affected Hina, and she apologizes for how badly she hurt her friend.
  • The Heel Realization completely kicks in for Hiro, as the Ultimate Clairvoyant realizes that even when he was frightened of her, Sakura still thought of him as a friend. His expression is one of guilt as he realizes his future self attempted to kill her despite this.
  • Similarly, Toko is no better, as she's reduced to a Troubled Fetal Position while wracked with self-loathing, repeating "Pathetic" over and over again.
• Three words: Alter Ego's execution. The entire class is devastated to various degrees, but Chihiro is the most visibly affected, understandably as Alter Ego was his creation. Just before the execution begins, he goes into a Rapid-Fire "No!" phase. Afterward, he's left pale and sobbing, since Alter Ego was meant to help the rest of his class find a way out, and Monokuma cruelly smashed it to little pieces. He clings to Mondo for comfort, and the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader can only attempt to comfort the Ultimate Programmer. Chihiro even wonders if the world simply wants him to remain weak.
  • The other classmates have no less heart-rending reactions. Sayaka begins to cry, Hina breaks down onto Makoto's shoulder, Leon and Taka can only grit their teeth, Hifumi is devastated despite getting over most of his infatuation with the AI, Sakura can only give a Due to the Dead, and even Hiro and Toko are saddened by Alter Ego's death.
• Mukuro's situation only becomes worse when Future!Kyoko reveals her presence in the game. While some like Hina and Taka refuse to believe that she's a traitor, Byakuya and Kyoko's suspicion puts her under severe scrutiny. It's only because of Makoto that the conversation is delayed, with Mukuro revealing how she feels she doesn't deserve his kindness and friendship after everything that's happened. When Makoto gently tells her she is wonderful and he wishes that she'd see that, tears form in her eyes.
• Junko also starts targeting Makoto directly after seeing his Hope Bringer status. She begins planting seeds of betrayal and guilt into Makoto's head, and Mukuro witnesses her sister beginning to manipulate her crush. Once again, however, the dilemma of choosing between sisterly loyalty to Junko and honest love for Makoto results in her being unable to do anything, only able to listen and cry over her sister's actions.
• Hina is left wondering if she was any better than Byakuya, asking for space from Sakura and beating herself up for being gullible enough to fall for Monokuma's fake note. Her last notes show her retreating into a Troubled Fetal Position as she notes how she almost completely invalidated Sakura's sacrifice.
  • Makoto stops by later in the break, and she answers the door having obviously been crying.
    Hina: [putting on a forced smile.] I-If you're here to check on me, don't worry. I-I'm okay. Just need to get some rest, and-
    Makoto: Hina… We both know that you're not that good at lying…
    Hina: [flinches] W-What do you mean? Why would I lie?
    Makoto: It's something I want to ask myself. Why insist to Sakura that you're fine, when it's clear that you're not? When Sakura's worried about you?
    Hina: I-I'll be okay, Makoto. Really. Things are looking up. Thanks to Sakura, our future selves are gonna work together and-
    Makoto: That doesn't change that you saw your best friend die. That you saw yourself at your lowest, thanks to that fake suicide note. Just because things ended well, doesn't mean you shouldn't feel devastated.
    Hina: ...What right do I have to feel devastated? Because of me, Sakura's sacrifice was almost for nothing! She killed herself so we don't end up murdering each other, so we could work together! She wanted to save us because she saw everyone as her friend! AND I SPAT ON THAT SACRIFICE!
    Makoto: You were tricked by Monokuma! He led you believe that Sakura died in desperation, not-
    Hina: THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I FELL FOR IT LIKE AN IDIOT! It was one note, one single, damn note, that led me to believe that Sakura was at all weak, that she died hating us! How could I have believed that when everything about her says otherwise?! I DIDN'T HAVE A DAMN CLUE AS TO WHAT HER TRUE THOUGHTS WERE!
  • The story also makes it clear how Hina feels that revealing her feelings is an unfair burden to Sakura and Makoto, wondering why she deserves comfort when her future self attempted a Total Party Kill.
  • As Makoto spells out that he doesn't see Hina as a monster like she does, the Ultimate Swimmer breaks down sobbing into Makoto's chest, apologizing repeatedly as Makoto can only do what he can to comfort his friend.

Chapter 5: 100 Miles; Pain of a Junk Food Junkie

• The seeds Junko planted in Makoto begin to sprout, mainly the one of guilt. His classmates begin to realize that the thoughts of his future self are mirroring his, especially in his inability to stop more dissension. Worse, Makoto's unwillingness to burden others with his own feelings in favor of helping their own begins to rear its ugly head, as he's unable to completely open up to his classmates about his true feelings, a fact Kyoko and Byakuya pick up on.
• The revelation that the entire Deadly Game has been televised for the entire world to see completely shocks everyone. While Mondo is struck into a catatonic state by the realization that his role in Daiya's death has been exposed, Chihiro has a much worse reaction: the revelation that everyone knows that he's a Wholesome Crossdresser and the reason why he did so leads him to coming close to a panic attack, and it's yet another reminder of just how much his bullying has torn his self-esteem to shreds.
• The revelation of the corpse of the masked individual being that of Mukuro is a horrible one, with even the most stoic students, Kyoko, Celeste, and Byakuya, are all shown with various expressions of shock, Mukuro is left in total shock and disbelief, and Makoto is shown to be stewing. Makoto comforting Mukuro, while helping her, lead to her growing guilt continuing to gnaw at her, makin her form tears.

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