A/N: This story is going to start after the second murder trial, and will be an alternate storyline. There will be various ships in this story, and will very likely contain lemons. Until warned, it will just contain language. Enjoy!
The Third Floor
Naegi woke up the next morning, feeling restless after having watched another one of his classmates get executed. Now he bore witness to not one, but two murders in which he felt should never have happened in the first place. It was the damn mastermind, whoever it was. He refused to give up hope: there had to be a way out of this nightmare.
"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7:00 A.M. Let's make the most of the day!" rang the normal announcement from Monokuma. Naegi quickly put his hoodie on and made his way out to the cafeteria.
Upon going into the cafeteria, he found everyone standing at the table. It seemed less crowded than it normally is, seeing how they just lost Oowada and Fujisaki. Normally they would listen to Ishimaru for what to do next, but he was so far in shock at Oowada's death that he remained motionless at his seat, face blanker than a sheet of paper.
"Um, seeing how Ishimaru isn't gonna give the morning meeting speech, I guess I'll do it. Since we just passed a murder trial, there should be a third floor for us to explore now. Maybe we'll find some clues on how to escape or why we're here," Naegi said.
"I wouldn't get your hopes too high, you peasant. I think the mastermind wouldn't let such a blunder happen easily," Byakuya said in his usual demeaning tone.
"You don't know that, Byakuya-kun. Reguardless, it's worth a look to see what we have to work with."
"I'm with Naegs on this one. Maybe we'll find something fun to do! I'm getting kinda bored with the lack of things to do around here," Hagagure said, scratching his head.
"Yea! Maybe we'll find some actual protein supplements!" Asahina chimed, and Sakura grinned in response.
"It would be a very pleasant find indeed. It's hard to rebuild muscle once you start losing it. Protein from food isn't enough to sustain this body of mine entirely," Sakura said, looking at her hand.
"Whatever, you plebians can go and have fun on your little adventure. I'm gonna find something that's actually worth my time," Byakuya said, heading towards the cafeteria door.
"Me too, I'll keep Byakuya-sama company!" Fukawa screamed, chasing after Byakuya.
"I told you, I don't want you following me around! You reek worse than a dead cow!" he responded as the door shut.
"...Well with those two gone, what do you say we go ahead and start after we eat?" Yamada said, tearing into his plate. They all agreed and started eating.
After they finished their meal, Naegi made his way by himself up to the third floor. Upon reaching the third floor, he decides to check the first door on his right, which appeared to be a pool hall. Perhaps he should play a game with Hagakure later to alleviate his boredom.
Then he decides to check the door right across from it, and he finds that it's a normal classroom. While he doesn't find anything immediately interesting at first, he sees a note scribbled on one of the desks. He picks it up and reads it:
Today was a boring lecture, as usual. Man, why do we even have to bother learning Calculus? It's not like I plan on using it for anything. I already told the teacher I want to be a storywriter, but he says noooo, we have to be well-rounded! I swear I wouldn't even be in this place if the world was still-
"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Naegi turned around to see a fat bear running in the room, snatching the paper out of his hands.
"I thought I checked all these rooms before opening them to you guys. This isn't something you should be reading, Naegi-kun. Reading other people's diaries is rude, you know?" Monokuma said, tilting his head.
"This coming from the guy who instigated two murders and committed one," Naegi said, narrowing his eyes at him.
"My oh my, it's not my fault Junko didn't follow the rules! I did warn her didn't I? Besides, I didn't murder the other two; they did it for their own reasons. They're the selfish ones, blame them! It's not like you to get so irritated unprovoked, Naegi-kun. I feel so much pressure talking to you, it's unbearable!" he said with a chuckle, satisfied with his pun, and before Naegi could respond, he ran out of the room with a laugh.
Naegi shook his head, trying to cool himself down some, knowing that getting angry won't solve anything. He checks out the rest of the rooms, but only finds a small storage closet, an art room, and a storage shed. His lack of sleep catches up with him quick though and he decides to go lie down for a few hours and check the last room later.
In the early evening, Naegi decides to check the last room down the hall, and is shocked at what he finds.
Naegi walks in to see a fully-stocked bar right in front of his eyes.
What the hell!? This is supposed to be a school!
He then turns and sees Celes sitting at the end of the bar, already pouring herself a drink.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing, Celes-chan!? We're not old enough to be drinking!" he said, scolding her. Not only did she not care, she chuckled and lightly waved her hand.
"Oh come on, Naegi-kun. Don't tell me you never wanted to do something against the rules and have some fun! You should try it sometime!" she said with her trademark smile. He averted his eyes, but he still didn't like the idea.
"Even so, isn't this against the rules or something? I don't want you getting into trouble," he said, sitting next to her.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that!" said a voice by the door, and right on cue, Naegi turns to see Monokuma is back again.
"Monokuma, isn't this against the rules or something? I mean, it's illegal for us to drink."
"Ah, don't worry about it, Naegi-kun. If I really didn't want you drinking, I wouldn't put something like this in here. Not yet, anyways."
"Wait...you mean you actually WANT us to use this room!?" Naegi said in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the so-called principal would do something so unprincipal-like.
"Upupupu...oh come on, Naegi-kun. Most of you don't have much longer to live, anyways. Why not live it up some? Besides, alcohol can cause people to do some beary interesting things, upupupu...," he said, and on that note, he darted out the door, leaving him and Celes alone in the room.
"You shouldn't worry so much, Naegi-kun. I said it before: we have to adapt to this place and live here for the rest of our lives if we wish to avoid murder. If anything, the new facilities provided to us should make it easier to attain that goal, ehehehe!" she chuckled, taking another drink of her beverage. She could tell with a simple glance that Naegi was still pretty bothered by it.
"Would you like me to make you a drink?" she said with a smile. Naegi was a bit taken aback, not because of the fact she offered him alcohol, but because she offered to go out of her way and make him something.
"It's not like you to go out of your way to do something for anyone, Celes-chan..."
"And you're right, Naegi-kun. However, you're the only C rank person in this place, and your company is welcome. I suppose I can do something at least ONCE in a while to help me knight, hehehe~," she chuckled. Naegi wasn't sure, but he was sure that this smile was actually genuine. "Besides, I expect you to start making me drinks after this, you know?
"-sigh- I can't believe I'm doing this...fine, just make me the same thing you have," he said defeatedly. He sure hopes no one else comes in seeing him doing this; he'd feel pretty embarrassed.
"Ok, one Irish carbomb, coming right up!" she said, grabbing a couple of bottles. Naegi watches as she pours a small amount of cream from one bottle, then she opens up a beer from the shelf in addition to a second bottle nearby, and pours an equal amount of both drinks into the glass. She then hands him the glass with an eager smile on her face.
Naegi looks at the glass, really nervous about what he's about to do. Celes looks at him, clearly amused with his hesitance.
"Well? Are you going to drink it? It would be rude not to, you know," she said, smile still planted on her face.
He looked at her, then finally picked the glass up and very carefully took a small gulp of the liquid and his face immediately went sour and almost spit it out, ; he hurriedly gulped it down and felt an amazing bitter sensation on his tongue and throat.
"That was nasty!" he said, and he turned and looked at Celes who was laughing pretty hard at watching his reaction.
"Well yea, it's Irish Whiskey! Of course it's going to be bitter!" she said, continuing her laughter. "That reaction made my day, thanks Naegi-kun!" she said cheerfully. Although normally he would be irritated with what happened, he doesn't feel so bothered by it when he sees how happy she is. He notices a reaction from the drink he took; he feels less irritated. Is this why people drink?
"You're ruthless, you know that?" he said, shaking his head with a slight frown.
"Well of course I am! I wouldn't be the Super Duper High School Gambler if I wasn't so ruthless and cunning!" she said.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about that," he said, taking another drink from his glass, quickly gulping the drink down, trying to keep it from touching his tongue. "You told me your stories already about your underground shogi tournaments and all that, but obviously luck wasn't just a part of that. Are you really that good at manipulating people that you can beat master level gamblers on the first try?"
"Naegi-kun!" she said in disbelief. She thought he already knew this by now. "Of course I am! You didn't think I would have a chance if I didn't play those foolish men like I have, did you?" she said. "They were so gullible, too; they were practically bowing to me, like dogs to their masters. I gotta say, it really amuses me when I have a puppet willing to do an-y-thing I say." she said with a smirk.
"I'm not surprised. You are an amazing woman, after all," he said, then immediately blushes when he realizes what he just said.
What the hell did I just say?
"Oh? I'm a bit surprised to hear that from you, Naegi-kun," she said with a giggle. "Most men think I am very beautiful, so I suppose it only makes sense."
"W-well, it's not just that. You're also really smart and cunning. I wouldn't like a woman just from her looks," he said, looking down at his glass.
"What are you trying to say, Naegi-kun?" she says, looking him in the eyes with a smirk. He looks away and shakes his head, hoping she doesn't see the blush on his face.
"...It's nothing. We should probably head down to make our report. It's already almost 9 P.M.," he said, looking at the clock in the bar. He finishes the last bit of his drink and heads back down to the cafeteria.
As he enters the cafeteria, he sees everyone has already finished their supper and were waiting for him to arrive. He was feeling pretty wobbly from the alcohol, but tried his best to hide it.
"It's about time you showed up, Naegs! We were about to end the meeting and turn in for the night!" Hagagure said with a chuckle. Naegi looked around and saw Byakuya looking disapprovingly at him.
"Is Celes coming or not?" he said impatiently.
"I don't think so; she was still upstairs, so she'll probably just go to her room," Naegi said.
"Alright, so did anyone find anything interesting other than the art room, the storage room, classroom, billiard room, and the bar?" Byakuya asks?
He sees everyone shaking their heads except for Hagakure, whose ears perked up at the mention of a bar and billard room?
"There's a bar and a pool table!?" he screamed in excitement.
"You didn't know?" Byakuya asked in confusion and irritation.
"No, the spirits told me I should stay away from the third floor today, so I decided to check it out tomorrow. Aww man, and I'm in a mood for a drink and a pool game right now too...," he said, pouting.
"At least you have something to look forward to tomorrow," Naegi said, trying to cheer him up a bit.
"That's true. Alright people, I think we should turn in for the night," Hagakure said. They all nodded and left the cafeteria. It now was taking him some effort to walk without stumbling. He only had one glass, but it affected him this much?
As Naegi headed back to his room, he heard the evening announcement:
"Attention, everyone! It is now 9 P.M. The cafeteria will be locked shortly, so please head to your rooms."
Naegi reached his room and reached into his pocket for his room key. As he was unlocking his door, he felt a hand grab his, and he turned to see Celes looking at him with a somber look and a slight blush on her face, which was quite unlike her.
"Naegi-kun...would you mind if I stayed the night in your room?"