Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Daily Life) - Act 2
I sit in the living room, thinking about the situation. Three people need to know our secrets. One already knows, due to the motive Monokuma provided, but it's our responsibility to tell two others. Ayumi already knows mine, but I still need to tell two others. Should I tell Kyo? We may not have spoken much, but I do know his secret, so fair is fair. Or should I just not mention anything to him and just tell someone else. But in that case, who?
As I'm sitting there, lost in my own thoughts, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turn around to find Kiyomi, greeting me with a smile.
"Hey, Hayato-Darling." she greets me, strangely happy.
"Oh, uh... Hey Kiyomi." I awkwardly respond, unsure as to why she keeps calling me that. "What's up?"
"I... uh... Wanted to talk to you..." she nervously responds, blushing. "Can we go somewhere more private?"
"Sure, I don't mind." I respond, curious as to what she wants to talk about.
Kiyomi lead me into her room. She closes the door and sighs.
"I..." she begins, face turning red. "I'm in love with you!"
I'm not sure how to respond. We've barely spoken, yet... she's in love with me? Confused, I speak up.
"Uh... Why's that?" I ask, thinking carefully about my words. "We've barely spoken, so how do you even know you feel that way?"
I can feel Kiyomi's gaze on me. Something... feels off. I look around the room, nervous. I notice some photos on her desk. They were photos of... me? Some even showcased Kiyomi... watching me? I notice a card lying next to them.
"Hayato-Darling!" she screams, staring intensely at me. "I'm sorry, but... I've been stalking you for a while now!"
I look at the card.
Kiyomi Sora has been stalking a fellow guest since before arrival.
"I first laid my eyes on you at the entrance exam for high school." Kiyomi explains, slowly approaching me. "It was love at first sight. I quickly found out who you were. I learned your address, previous school and even your school schedule! I could never get the courage to speak to you, but that's why... I just HAD to get closer to you in anyway possible!"
I back away, scared. This woman is insane. She... stalked me? For so long... I look for my chance to escape.
"That's why... this is such a perfect opportunity." Kiyomi backs me into a corner. "Now we're trapped here forever. We can start dating, become boyfriend and girlfriend, and start a life together! We'll name our first child Hayomi - a combination of both of our names! Ooh! I can't wait! Drop your clothes and let's get started!"
Kiyomi quickly forces herself on me, locking our lips by force. As I accept defeat, I hear an announcement play.
"Ahem. Hayato Hare to meet Monokuma at the top of the stairs immediately. That is... Hayato Hare to the top floor at once! Thank you."
Is... Is Monokuma my guardian angel? No, probably not. But still. Saved by the bear. Without hesitating, I push Kiyomi aside and rush to the door.
"Sorry! Monokuma is calling me! Don't want me to get punished, right?"
Kiyomi reluctantly admits defeat and I leave.
I arrive at the top of the stairs on the top floor. First thing I notice is that the container Yosuke, Serena and Naoki arrived in is still there. Monokuma stands in front of it.
"Is... Is Monokuma my guardian angel?" Monokuma speaks. "I bet you thought that when I called you here."
Can he read minds?
"Upupupu... Honestly though I have no reason to call you here." Monokuma admits. "Just thought you needed a 'get out of jail free' card. No need to thank me. Okay, you can thank me a little."
I sigh. "Honestly... Thanks for that. I didn't know she was... like that."
"Yeah, no kidding. Full on Yandere." Monokuma responds, taking out a can of cola. He opens it and begins drinking. "Probably. I don't doubt she'll kill someone if left to her own devices."
"Please don't talk like that..." I sigh once more. "Because I can honestly see that happening now..."
"So who else you telling your secret to?" Monokuma swiftly changes the subject. "Time is counting down. You know who you're telling yet?"
I remain silent. "What does it matter to you?"
Monokuma finishes his drink and crushes the can. "Eh. I don't want to see you die. I like you. You got a friendly vibe to you, ya know? I would place you in my prediction of who will make it out of this game ali- crap."
"Game?" I ask, confronting Monokuma about that slip of the tongue. "So this really is all just a game to you?"
Monokuma awkwardly laughs. "Would you look at the time. I really should be going. Buh-bye!"
In a rush, Monokuma runs away, quickly disappearing. I sigh, noticing the can he left behind. I pick it up, taking a closer look at it.
Mono-cola. Now with cherry.
I sigh. Guess I'll have to through this can away when I get the chance.
I lay down in my room. I've written a recap of what happened today in my journal, mentioning all the key points - the argument from this morning, Kiyomi's obsession, and Monokuma's slip of tongue. I also write about the Mono-cola, mostly because it's such a strange concept to me. I've left the empty can on my desk, to study at a later time.
*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*
I head over to my door and peek outside. It's Karen. I open the door fully.
"Karen? Hey, what's up?"
"Oh, uh..." Karen appears to be at a loss for words. "Onee-chan... She... uh..."
"Sakuya?" I ask. "What about her?"
"She... Sh-she wants you to come to her room!" Karen quickly spurts out, before running off, embarrassed.
Sakuya wants me to come to her room? I look around. Sakuya's room is... the room opposite mine. Why did she need to send her sister to fetch me? Ignoring this thought, I grab my journal and room key and head out.
I knock on Sakuya's door. Quickly, she opens the door - wearing only a towel.
"Ah, Hayachii!" she greets me. "Come on in!"
"Uh... Is now a bad time?" I ask, entering the room, but looking away from her.
"Hm? No, I was the one who called for you, remember?" Sakuya responds, oblivious to the reason behind my question.
"Y-yeah, I know that. It's just... the way you're dressed?" I decide to bring it to her attention.
"The towel? Yeah, I just got out the shower. Besides... it's easier this way..." Sakuya responds, blushing.
"What is?" I ask, concerned.
"Hayachii, I trust you, so I'm going to tell you!" Sakuya nervously speaks to me. "I... dye my hair pink."
I take a good look at her hair. "Yeah, I kind of figured as much... Pink isn't a natural hair colour. Probably."
Sakuya shakes her head. "Yeah, but... I wasn't talking about that hair..."
Before I get the chance to ask, Sakuya drops her towel. I quickly understand everything.
"Oh..." I respond embarrassed, looking away.
"The photos aren't exactly flattering, so this was easier..." Sakuya responds, also embarrassed, putting the towel back on. "Since we need to show evidence and all..."
"Yeah, I guess, but... Why did you want me to know?" I ask, looking back over when I deem it safe to do so.
"Like I said. I trust you." Sakuya explains. "Let's face the facts. A lot of people here don't seem that trustworthy. They put on a kind facade, then betray you when you're no longer of use to them..."
I can see a sense of disappointment in her eyes. She seems to be talking from experience. We awkwardly sit in silence for a bit. I decide to break the silence, taking my photos out of my journal.
"I plagiarised many of my theories." I share, showing the photos with my confession. "I don't want to share this secret with anyone because I'm ashamed of it, but I trust you too, Sakuya. And in times like this, it's good to have someone you can trust."
A faint smile appears on Sakuya's face. "Thanks, Hayachii."
"That aside..." I quickly change the subject. "Did you want to put some clothes on?"
Sakuya takes a look at the towel she's wearing, then looks back at me. "Well, you've already seen me without it on, so what's the issue?"
"Sakuya, you're too innocent." I tell her, resting my arms on her shoulders.
Sakuya winks at me. "Maybe you're not innocent enough."
I can't help but laugh at that response. Sakuya laughs too. We just stay there laughing for a good few minutes. Eventually, the laughter dies down, and Sakuya speaks up.
"You know, Hayachii. We're actually pretty similar, if you think about it." she comments.
"How so?" I ask, slightly confused.
"I mean... How many people can be this trusting towards people they barely know?" Sakuya explains.
Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense. Given the circumstances, not many people would be as trusting towards each other. The events of this morning just help to prove that...
"Oh, and I've been meaning to ask..." Sakuya speaks up once more. "Why do you keep your hair like that?" She points at the ahoge on my head as she says this.
"My hair? What about it?" I ask, unsure as to what she means.
"You know, with it sticking up like that. My hair does it too, but I just flatten it down each morning." Sakuya explains. "But doesn't it bother you?"
"No, why would it?" I ask, placing my hand against my hair. "It's just how my hair is normally. I feel like it's better to embrace these kinds of things, rather than to hide it."
"Don't you feel self conscious about it?" Sakuya asks, now touching her hair too. "Afraid people will judge you?"
I shake my head. "I am who I am. No point in letting other's opinions shape me. That's why... I regret plagiarising those theories. I was hiding who I really was."
It's true. That was a time of my life where I cared too much about what others thought, which was exactly why I did what I felt like I had to to become popular - even if it was only online through my blog. But once I realised what I was doing... I realised I was only causing trouble to myself. So I decided not to let the views of others shape me. I hid nothing about me from that point onward - except that which I was ashamed of. I guess my strange hair style is also symbolic of that? Maybe I'm looking too deep into this.
I ended up spending more time with Sakuya after that, where we somehow ended up sharing information about ourselves - or, I shared information about myself, if we're being honest about it. I didn't end up doing much after that, simply opting to chill out outside the mansion, in front of the fountain. Before I knew it, it had already gotten dark out, with the nighttime announcement on its way soon. With nothing else to do, I head back inside. On the way, I bump into Lucas.
"Hmm? Oh, Hayato." he greets me, sounding bored. "You're out late."
"Yeah, just bored really." I reply honestly.
"Bored huh?" Lucas is intrigued by my response, for some reason. "Perfect. Come with me."
He quickly grabs my arm and drags me towards the storage room. Waiting for us, were Yosuke, Akio and Kaede.
Yosuke looked at us impatient. "It's about time you got here. Why's Hayato with you?"
"He was bored, so I figured he could join us." Lucas explained. "Besides, the more the merrier, am I right?"
"Eh, I guess..." Yosuke seemed to accept that response. "Well, whatever." He looks over at me. "To explain what's going on, well... We're gonna try to expose a Mansion Secret tomorrow."
"Huh?" I state that out of surprise. Did he already figure something out?
Yosuke doesn't seem surprised by my response. "Akio, could you explain it to him?"
Akio nods. "Well basically, we were abducted by aliens and they all planned to steal our... uh... plants so they could sustain an ecosystem of their own."
Yosuke stares blankly at Akio. "What? That's not... What's wrong with you?"
"Do you even know why you're here?" Kaede asks the Pacifist. Akio simply shakes his head in response.
"I'm gonna be honest..." Akio explains. "I found these weird pills in here earlier and have been tripping ever since."
Yosuke shakes his head in disappointment. "Kaede? Could you..."
Kaede nods ans steps forward. "We have reason to believe one of us is the mastermind behind this. And we're going to confront them about it tomorrow morning. We were going to share evidence we had gathered tonight."
"Not me." Lucas shares. "I was actually going to talk them out of it."
I shake my head. "Yosuke, remember what happens if you're wrong?"
Yosuke sighs and lowers his head. "Yeah, but... We have to do something. And besides... we have a pretty strong lead here!"
Lucas shakes hid head. "We don't."
"No, we do!" Kaede insists. She faces me. "I think it's possible that the mastermind is female. While I have no strong evidence, I do-"
"Sorry, but... Mastermind?" I ask, confused.
"The one controlling Monokuma." Lucas explains. "Someone is clearly controlling that thing from somewhere in the mansion. They're probably also the one watching us through the security cameras everywhere."
I nod. "Okay, that makes sense, but... why do you think they're female?"
"Well you see..." Kaede begins. "It's just a hunch."
I can feel myself dropping to the floor as a result of that response. Pulling myself back to my feet, I speak my concerns. "You're... basing this off a hunch? That's suicide."
"Exactly." Lucas agrees with my point. "If you had evidence, then you should go for it, but Monokuma won't accept that based off a hunch. He told us he doesn't want us to 'Trial and Error' this, remember?"
"But what choice do we have?!" Yosuke argues. "We need to take risks like this sometimes, right?"
I shake my head. "Not like this. We can't have someone risking their life over a simple hunch. We're all getting out of here. Alive."
Yosuke sighs. "Yeah, you've got a point. Forget I said anything. It's off, Kaede. But we'll keep investigating."
Kaede breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank god... I didn't actually want to confront that bear anyway..."
"What if Monokuma is actually a maid..." Akio mutters to nobody in particular, while lying face first on the floor. "Or even a cross-dresser..."
We all stare at him, concerned. Should... Should we do something?
"The time is now 10pm, meaning it is officially nighttime! The doors to the dining room will be locked, as will the front door. Please exercise caution when out of your room at night. Now have a good night rest and prepare for more secret sharing tomorrow!"
I simply lay down in my bed. Today was a long day, but not uneventful. I've already written notes about the day in my journal, but I can't help but think about what Yosuke and Kaede said. The Mastermind? Could they really be one of us? Actually, how could that be possible. If Monokuma is being controlled by them, how could they do that among the crowd of us? Maybe he's just on autopilot? I decide to head to bed and think more about this at a later time.
"Hey! You got a minute?"
A voice called out to me. It was the boy from earlier. Dan... Honda? I think that was.
"Hayato Hare, right?" he asks. "You remember me, right? I butted in the other day."
"Yeah, I remember you." I reply. "Thanks again for that."
Dan shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. I was just doing the right thing. I hate it when people talk like that about others. I'll reintroduce myself to you. Dan Honda, second year. Guess that means I'm your senpai. Oh, you can just call me Dan though."
"Well, thanks again for your help, Dan-senpai."
"You can drop the 'senpai' part. Anyway, if I'm to be honest with you, I actually have a request of you. Would you be willing to listen?"
"A request? Sure, what's up?"
Dan's face begins to show a serious expression. "I'm here at this Academy for an important reason. And I believe... I'll need your help with it."
"My help?" For what reason could he possibly want my help?
Dan sighs. "I screwed up. I need someone trustworthy to help me correct this, but the people in my year... yeah not gonna cut it."
"I'll help if I can. What's wrong?"
"You see..."
"Rise and shine! The time is now 7am, meaning nighttime is officially over! You have almost two and a half days until your deadline so keep on building trust! Seize the moment! Enjoy your youths!"
I awake to the announcement. Again, I had another strange dream. I quickly rush to my journal to document it. I write about it on a new page, right after the notes I made about yesterday. As I finish, I look at the envelopes I placed inside the journal. My conversation with Sakuya yesterday made me think. I need to find people I can trust here. While Kyo is mysterious, I feel like in order to build up trust with him, I would need to speak to him about the secrets. It would also provide a bit of comfort if I could confirm my theory about his secret. I think about all this as I prepare myself for the day.
As I'm deep in thought, I hear a loud knock on my door. It sounds urgent. I do my best to quickly finish changing and rush to the door. Standing on the other side was Naoki, who appears to be in a panic.
"Naoki? What's up?" I ask, concerned.
"Hayato! Dude, this is big!" he cries to me, in a big panic. "She... I mean they... No I mean-"
"Naoki, calm down." I tell him, hoping to find out what's going on. "What's going on?!"
"Kiyomi's gone crazy!" Noaki blurts out. "She's attacking people in the dining room!"
"What?!" I instinctively shout. Without hesitation, I rush out of my room towards the dining room. Noaki follows close behind, almost cowering.
As we approached the dining room (with Naoki cowering behind me), we heard what sounded like a scream of pain coming from a female voice.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
"ONEE-CHAN! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"BITCH, I WILL KILL BOTH YOU AND YOUR SISTER!"
I rushed into the room to find Kiyomi, Sakuya and Karen. Sakuya was leaning against the table with a fork stabbed into her left hand. Karen was naturally next to her sister, trying to help her by removing the fork. Kiyomi stood opposite them at the table holding a sharp knife. She had an dark look on her face.
"I know all about what you spoke to Hayato-Darling about yesterday, and what you tried to do to him." Kiyomi stated. "You tried to fucking seduce him and try to ruin our relationship. So as punishment, I will kill both you and your sister."
"If you want to kill me, that's one thing. But don't you dare do a thing to my sister!" Sakuya screamed, holding onto her left hand in pain.
"Oh, is that so? I'd like to see you try to stop me." Kiyomi taunted, approaching the two sisters slowly.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" I ask with a shout, concerned by what I'm witnessing.
"Hayachii, run!" Sakuya warns me. "This bitch is crazy."
"Hayato-Darling... Don't worry about this." Kiyomi speaks to me, without making eye contact. While the words were meant to be reassuring, the tone of her voice definitely wasn't.
"She just attacked us out of the blue." Sakuya explains, finally getting the fork out of her hand. "I'm not even sure why."
"Oh I'm sure..." Kiyomi begins to speak, but uses the distraction caused by my appearance to slip behind Sakuya and hold a knife to her neck from behind. "YOU KNOW FULL WELL WHAT YOU DID!" She then kicks Karen away from them, knocking her onto the ground.
As I'm standing in the room, cautious about my next move, more people begin to enter the room. Yosuke and Kou. The two freeze on arrival.
"I heard something once I left my room what the hell is going on?!" Yosuke shouts, concerned by what he's witnessing.
"It appears someone has cracked?" Kou responds, strangely calm. "I told you we should have done something to leave already."
We all stand by the entrance, wondering how we should resolve this (except Naoki, who's cowering behind us). We hear a familiar laugh.
"Upupupupu... What a good show!" Monokuma laughs, eating a bag of popcorn. "Anyone else want any?"
Yosuke turns to face the bear. "You! Is this really acceptable?!"
Monokuma puts away the popcorn and sighs. "Sort of. I mean, if she kills them right here and now, I'll have no choice but to punish her. I mean, you need to get away with murder. Can't get away with it with so many witnesses."
"And by 'punish' you mean..." I ask, concerned.
"We'll cross that boat when it gets to it." Monokuma shares. "But yeah. Kiyomi, just put the knife down. Killing them now won't help you with anything."
Kiyomi stares back at us, hatred in her eyes. She then sighs and drops the knife. Sakuya drops to the ground, holding onto her neck, breathing heavily. Karen quickly rushes to her side, tears in her eyes. Yosuke and Kou both rush towards Kiyomi, with Kou grabbing the knife and Yosuke pinning her down. I rush to Sakuya's side to check up on her. Blood is leaking from the stab wounds in her hand, and there's a slight cut on her neck due to the placement of the knife.
Monokuma sighs. "Can't be helped. Sakuya should come with me. I'll bring her to the infirmary and get her patched up. Her sister can come too if she wants. I'll leave you guys to deal with the crazy one."
As Monokuma leaves the room with Sakuya and Karen, I'm left in the room with Yosuke, Kou, Naoki and Kiyomi. As we remain in silence for a brief few moments, Michiru and Serena enter the room.
"What the hell is going on here?" Michiru asks, looking around.
I take a look around too. Yosuke pinning Kiyomi to the ground. Kou holding a knife with slight blood marks. Yeah, this would look wrong in any situation.
"Clearly something they didn't want anyone to see." Serena comments with a smile and a nosebleed.
"It's not what you think!" I reassure them. "Kiyomi went crazy and-"
"She almost killed Sakuya." Kou finishes my sentence.
"That's not true!" Kiyomi protests, pissed off. "I also tried to kill her sister too!"
Naoki looks surprised. "Michiru-sama. Did you not hear? There was a lot of shouting going on..."
Michiru and Serena are both confused.
"Shouting?" Michiru asks, confused. "I heard nothing until I got here."
"Yeah, same here..." Serena adds.
"Now that you mention it..." Kou begins to recall. "I heard nothing until leaving my room."
Yosuke nods. "Same with me."
"Oh, that's 'cause the rooms are soundproof." Monokuma shares, suddenly popping up. "If you're inside, you can't hear outside, and vise-versa."
"Whoa!" Naoki exclaims. "That's so cool! And oddly terrifying..."
"Monokuma!" I call out, ignoring everything else. "How's Sakuya?"
"Upupu... She's just resting at the moment." the bear reassures me. "She's not gonna die from that, if that's what you're asking."
I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good thing too." Monokuma laughs. "Because having two people die today would suck."
We all remain in silence upon hearing this.
"I'm sorry but... what?" Kou asks, concerned. "What do you mean by two people dying today?"
"Ah crap." Monokuma realises what he said. "Guess I can't hide it now. If Sakuya died from those injuries, then Kiyomi, the person who killed her, would be executed. Makes sense, really. Can't get away with murder if you have too many witnesses."
"Seriously..." Kiyomi mutters, calming down slightly. "What if I just killed all the witnesses?"
Monokuma thinks. He then takes out a tablet and writes a few things down. All of our tablets simultaneously beep.
Rule 11 - Any one blackened is not permitted to kill more than two people.
"Because it says in the rules you can't." Monokuma explains.
"Did you just add that?" I ask, putting away my tablet.
"Upupupu... Yeah." Monokuma laughs this off. "But we can't have someone getting away with it because you're all dead though, right? Anyway, that's all for now."
Monokuma disappears as suddenly as he arrived.
Michiru is the first to speak up. "I guess moving on to more pressing matters... Why was Kiyomi acting that way?"
We all turn to face Kiyomi, who's still being pinned down by Yosuke. I'm also curious as to why she did what she did.
Kiyomi smiles in an eerie way. "Because she's a danger to my relationship with my darling Hayato."
Everyone - including myself - stare in confusion.
Michiru turns to me. "What kind of relationship do you have?"
"We don't." I swiftly respond. "We knew of each other before coming here, but she's for some reason obsessed with me."
"THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER!" Kiyomi cries out attempting to break free. "NOBODY ELSE WOULD GO TO THE LENGTHS I WOULD TO BE WITH YOU!"
Everyone is clearly disturbed.
"Uh..." Naoki is clearly speechless, like everyone else. "So... what should we do with her?"
"I'd say we lock her up." Michiru suggests. "She's a danger to everyone."
"Maybe this was a one off outburst?" Serena steps in, attempting to voice reason. "What if someone keeps an eye on her to ensure he behaves?"
Kou shakes his head. "And who do you suppose does that? We certainly can't keep her near Hayato, that's for sure."
"Agreed." I quickly agree with Kou's point.
"I'll keep an eye on her." Serena volunteers. "And if all else fails, then we can try Michii's idea."
"I told you not to call me that..." Michiru mutters, embarrassed.
Yosuke sighs. "I'm okay with that plan if everyone else is."
Ultimately, those of us present all agree to that plan. Yosuke releases Kiyomi from his grip and Serena guides her out of the room.
Following this morning's incident, the rest of the morning went off with little happening. During the mid-afternoon, I headed over to Kyo's room to speak to him about the secrets, however I had no response when I knocked. With nothing else to do, I simply headed down to the living room to chill.
As I arrived in the living room, I noticed Lucas sitting there reading a book. Ayumi, Mamoru and Akio were also there playing a card game. Right as I entered the room, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see who it is and am greeted by Yuki.
"Hayato, hey!" she greets me. "Could you come with me for a moment? I want your advice on something."
Without giving me a chance to respond, she drags me away from the living room and up the stairs towards... my room? Or rather outside my room. Yu was also there, waiting by the wall.
"So you brought Mr Hare to help?" he asked, confused. "I thought you were bringing Mr Kyo."
"I couldn't find him." Yuki casually responded. "So Hayato. Does anything look off about this wall to you?"
The wall? I take a closer look at it, but I don't notice anything strange about it. "No. Should it?"
"I'm not sure." Yuki replies, pressing the side of her head against the wall. She gives it a quick knock. "But the wall feels hollow here. Almost like there's another room hidden behind here."
"We were hoping to receive Mr Kyo's opinion about it." Yu explains. "With him being the Ultimate Observer, we thought he might be able to figure out how we could get beyond it."
I guess they can't find Kyo either. I wonder where he went... Something about this feels off however. "Wait. How did you realise something was off about this wall?"
Yu sighed. "She's been studying the walls of the building since we got here."
"I'm just saying, what if there's a hidden room here somewhere?" Yuki explains, acting as if it's nothing. "It would be the perfect thing to expose as a Mansion Secret!"
I guess that's true. "Well, if you find anything out, let me know. I'm gonna go outside for a walk for a bit."
"Sure. See ya later." Yuki responds, still studying the wall.
"Sorry for bothering you." Yu apologises to me. "I'll make sure she doesn't go too crazy with her research."
I stand outside the Mansion and look around. In terms of people, the area is pretty empty. I notice Karen sitting alone by the gazebo, so decide to approach her.
"Hey." I calmly greet her. "Is everything okay?"
"Ah..." she nervously responds, shocked by my sudden appearance. "Yeah... Onee-chan is doing okay. She's resting in her room now."
"That's a relief to hear." I reply, taking a seat. "How are you doing?"
Karen slowly nods, not making eye contact with me. "Good. Um... Th-thank you!" She quickly stands and bows to me. "Thank you for your h-help earlier..."
I shake my head. "I didn't really do much. It's kind of my fault it happened, anyway."
Karen lifts her head. "I-it's not! K-Kiyomi is to blame f-for her own actions. N-not you!"
I stand and place my hand on Karen's head. "I guess that's true. But I still didn't do much to help."
"You were worried about Onee-chan." Karen explains. "Onee-chan doesn't have a lot of friends because she always worries too much about me. So... thank you for that."
I'm not really sure how to respond, so I just smile. "Uh... No problem."
"And... uh... um..." Karen speaks again, but stumbles on her words. "O-Onii-san! Can... can you help me become stronger? Like you...?"
"Eh?" I'm not sure how to respond to that. And calling me 'Onii-san' so suddenly...
"I'm a shy person..." Karen shares. "I'm not much of a social person... and I always rely on Onee-chan... I don't want to be a burden on her anymore... I want to protect her, like she always protects me..."
I smile upon hearing this. "How can I say no to that? But even still..." I think for a moment. "This isn't something I can just teach to you. I can maybe give you some advice, but you'll need to do a lot of the effort on your own."
Karen swiftly nods. "That's fine. Anything you can do to help will be good."
I think again briefly. "Okay, how about we meet up again at about 6? I can think of a few things to do by then, then you can practice what you learned at dinner with everyone."
Karen nods with a smile. "Yeah! Thank you, Onii-san! I'm going to go check on Onee-chan now. See you later!"
Karen runs off with a smile. Maybe I was imagining things, but she already seems to be a little more confident after our conversation. As I watch Karen go back into the Mansion, I notice some people leaving the tool shed. They're... Serena and Kiyomi? Serena, who is in a good mood, is dragging Kiyomi out of the shed. Kiyomi appears to be drained of energy. What... What happened in there?
After chilling outside for a while - with nothing eventful happening - I decide to head back inside.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Writing this chapter I remembered how tough it is to develop these characters early on. Expect the bulk of character development to come after Chapter 1, because it gives time for everything to set in. Chapter 1 will be short in comparison to later chapters (at least I predict it will be).
