On this particular night, no one said a word. The air in the room hung heavy with the murder of Mahiru and the execution of Peko. Their minds were replaying the sad events that led up to this moment, and whether they wanted to or not, they would not forget this.

The class trial was a long one and, not quite used to it, had exhausted them. After the event, they silently congregated to their usual meeting spot, fearing the thought of being alone at a time like this.

At least, that was the case for two of them. The other had enough decency to stay quiet.

Hajime felt like an idiot. It had been a week since the first murder, and he had been sure that it was over. There's no way it could happen again, he had told himself. There's no way these people were capable of another murder.

He was quickly proven wrong.

If only he'd payed more attention to what was happening around him. He should have been less trusting of the others when Monokuma showed them that screwed up video game. He should have known someone would play it. He should have stopped Fuyuhiko that night.

Lifting his head slightly to glance at the other two, he saw Chiaki sitting backwards in his desk chair with her eyes closed, her arms folded under her chin. Nagito was standing against the wall fiddling with his sleeve. His eyes suggested that he was thinking of something else though.

Hajime looked away and sighed. Sitting around in silence like this definitely wasn't good for their mental health. He had to say something, anything, to lighten the mood.

Taking a deep breath and finding his courage, he suddenly cleared his throat, drawing the other's attention towards him. "So...What's up?" He asked, with a pathetic looking smile plastered onto his face. Yeah, that was bad even for him.

Blinking at him in confusion, Chiaki looked up. "The ceiling." She responded truthfully, after a moment's thought.

Hajime was about to respond to her with a snide remark, but then, realizing she was being serious, he stopped himself. Really, did this girl grow up in a cave?

Nagito wasn't nearly as taken back as Hajime was at the gamer's ignorance, and simply laughed. "It's an expression, Nanami." He explained. "What Hajime actually meant to say is, 'What are you doing?'."

As if she didn't quite believe him, she turned to look at Nagito doubtfully, then back to Hajime for confirmation. When she realized they were being truthful, she puffed her cheeks out and blushed. "...Nothing, really." She said, changing her previous answer to one more fitting of the situation.

Hajime couldn't just let that go. "Chiaki, why don't you know what that means?" He asked, Letting his curiosity get the better of him.

After a moment of thought, she sighed and responded. "I guess I just don't really get out much." She said. "Talking to other people takes a lot of energy, so I don't do it. I don't have many friends."

'and yet, here you are.' He thought.

"I don't have many friends either." Nagito assured her with a smile.

Hajime saw the opportunity and seized it. "Gee, I wonder why?" He joked.

"It's probably because no one wants to burden themselves with someone like me." Nagito explained with a smile, not quite catching the sarcasm in other's tone. Hajime definitely wasn't expecting a serious answer, so he stayed quiet, and looked away.

Then, just like that, the conversation once again died down until they were left back where they had started; fiddling their thumbs in awkward silence. Hajime briefly thought that maybe it'd be better to politely ask them to leave.

Though when Nagito decided to speak up again, he didn't get a chance to follow through with his thoughts. "So, why is everyone being so quiet tonight?" he asked, causing Hajime to stare at him in disbelief. "This isn't like you guys at all." he finished as he turned to look in the other's direction.

"Two of our friends just died, and another one's in critical condition. You're asking us why we're being quiet?!" He nearly screamed. "Honestly, I can't believe you!"

The accused only raised an eyebrow and continued. "That's the reason?" He asked disappointedly, seeming to imply that the death of their friends was not a good enough reason to be silent.

The boy's answer only proved to infuriate Hajime more. Looking at Nagito in disgust and disbelief, he slowly shook his head from side to side. "Are you really that dense?" He asked. He knew Nagito was unaffected by the killings, but to not even understand why others would mourn was totally insane.

"What do you mean, Hajime?" Replied Nagito, honestly confused. He didn't understand why such a petty murder would cause two talented Ultimates such grief. "Their deaths will only make the Ultimates shine brighter when-"

"Stop it!" Chiaki yelled desperately, and they did. "I don't want to watch you two fight. Especially not over something like this.." She added quietly, eyes downcast, staring at a single spot on the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Hajime understood what she meant. Even if she didn't show it, this was just as hard for her as it was for him. Everyone dealt with situations differently, he figured. Maybe that even explained why Nagito acted the way he did. Or maybe Hajime was giving him a little too much credit.

With these thoughts swirling around in his mind, he quietly apologized to her. "Sorry.." He said. Nagito said nothing. He didn't really expect him to.

Again, the room fell silent.

Though this time, when Chiaki suddenly stood up and yawned, the silence was short lived. "Sleepy.." She drawled, as she rubbed her eyes.

"It is fairly late." Nagito agreed, and Hajime suddenly felt more alone than ever. "Maybe we should leave. I'm sure Hajime would appreciate that."

To his surprise, he found that he couldn't disagree more.

Then, suddenly it hit him like a punch to the gut. He didn't want them to leave. He didn't want to be alone. He didn't want tomorrow to come.

As Chiaki said her goodbyes and walked towards the door, he panicked, too afraid to let them go. "U-um!" he stuttered, and they turned to him expectantly. Crap! He didn't know what he was supposed to say. Searching desperately for something that could possibly stop them from leaving, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "The bashful turtle...turtled up!" he choked out, pathetically.

The room was silent, and he mentally slapped himself. Where the hell did that come from?! Out of all the things he could have possibly said, he just had to say that, didn't he?

When the two exchanged glances, he felt like he wanted to die. He wished they'd hurry up and say something. Anything was better than the utter humiliation he was feeling beneath their judgmental gazes.

"...Was that supposed to be a joke, Hajime?" Nagito finally asked, putting an end to the dreadful silence.

Suddenly defensive, Hajime gasped with mock offense. "Of coarse it was. What else would it be?" He asked, happy to have delayed their departure.

"Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding." Nagito apologized "I was just under the impression that jokes were supposed to be funny."

Why that little...He was definitely making fun of him. He crossed his arms before speaking. "What? Are you saying you could do any better?" He asked, glaring daggers at the other boy. His tone clearly indicated that he was prepared for a challenge.

"No, I'm not saying that all!" Nagito defended, waving his hands in front of him to prove his point. "As terrible as that was, I doubt I could do any better than an Ultimate."

"Oh, really?" He teased, despite Nagito's claim. He hoped that the other two would understand what he was trying to do, and to prove his point he smirked at him expectantly.

Then, in sudden realization, Nagito smiled. "Well, if you insist, then I guess I can't decline. What kind of bagel is able to fly?" He asked, causing Chiaki to become even more confused than she already was.

"I dunno. What kind?" Hajime responded. In truth, he was a bit excited to hear the rest of Nagito's joke, and he wasn't really sure why.

"A plain bagel!" He exclaimed and laughed awkwardly. When the only response he got was Hajime's pessimistic gaze, he shrugged and said, "I told you I couldn't do any better."

"How about this one?" Hajime laughed, a little doubtful about whether or not he should continue. "What do you get when you cross and elephant with a rhino...?" Then, after pausing for dramatic effect, he blurted, "An elephino!"

Nagito shook his head. "Well, at least we know you're not the Ultimate Comedian." He said, causing Hajime to roll his eyes.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Nagito." He said with obvious sarcasm as he sat back down on his bed and crossed his legs.

"I have one...I think" Chiaki began, and they both leaned in closer to hear. "What's Zelda's favorite breakfast side dish...? The answer is a sausage Link." Neither boy understood what she meant, but they both laughed, glad she was able to join them.

After a few more bad jokes, they ended up forgetting just what had happened on that island the day before to make them so quiet. And after a few more, they ended up forgetting about the entire island itself.

As they moved back to their seats, Hajime looked at their smiling faces and thought that maybe this strange friendship was meant to be. Even on this messed up island, surrounded by strangers and thoughts of murder, it was only these two that were able to put his mind at ease.

He wondered why he didn't realize this before.

But in the end, terrible jokes proved to be more tiring than they had at first anticipated. And that night, for the second time, they all fell asleep in the same cabin.

Have any of you watched Nicob's lp of this game? If so, then I hope you appreciated Nagito's bagel joke. Also, Hajime's jokes came from Peko's Free Time Events. His terrible jokes are canon and that makes me so happy.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's a bit longer than the last one, so that's good. I was a little doubtful about whether or not I should incorporate the murders into this story. I ended up doing it because I figured it would be a good thing to show some of the sad times alone with the happy times. You can't have good fluff without a little angst, right? Wow, I'm starting to sound like Nagito.

As always, thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review!