Free Time Events: Ami Yuuki

SPOILER ALERT: Chapter I Victim, Chapter I Culprit

EVENT 1: Yuuki-san got interested in football due to her older brother's interests. When they wouldn't let her play, she became a cheerleader instead

Yuuki-san invited me to practice her cheer routine with her, so I changed into my tracksuit before meeting her in the gym. The routine was easy enough to get, but it was a bit tiring for someone without much practice.

We sat against the wall and took a break, with Yuuki-san offering me some of her water. I gratefully accepted, glad that I wasn't sweating all over my uniform.

"I'm curious, Kaori-chan," Yuuki-san said. "Have you ever tried to do something, only for people to tell you that you can't?"

"I actually wanted to be a writer once," I said, "but to put it simply, I'm not good enough to seriously pursue that goal."

"I don't know about that," Yuuki-san said. "I know Sae-chan's one in a million, but you're probably a heck of a lot better than me. The last time I had a creative writing assignment, I just barely passed."

I smiled appreciatively. I wasn't anywhere near Sensei's league, but this vote of confidence did mean a lot to me... even if Yuuki-san was unusually hard on herself. I sensed that now that I'd shared my story, she'd follow suit, even if I still found it surprising that someone so talented would admit to having trouble with something.

"I see," I said. "Why do you ask, anyway?"

"If you promise not to laugh, I'll tell you," Yuuki-san said, holding out her right pinky finger.

"I promise," I said, as Yuuki-san and I pinky-swore. I hadn't done it with anyone besides Yuuki-san since elementary school, but knowing Yuuki-san, she'd probably done this on a semi-regular basis with her peers.

"All right," Yuuki-san said. "Instead of being a cheerleader for an American football team, I wanted to be an American football player, like my big bro."

A moment passed in silence, and Yuuki-san looked me over inquisitively, possibly looking for signs that I was holding back my laughter.

"I actually think I understand that," I said. "Most people would probably rather play the game instead of watching and cheering, wouldn't they?"

"Yeah," Yuuki-san said, a bit relieved, before her tone quickly turned dejected, "but everyone told me that as a girl, I wouldn't be safe with all those big strong muscular guys on the field."

On the one hand, this was a matter of common sense- as much as I hated to admit it, the strongest men were significantly stronger than the strongest women. On the other hand, the Ultimate Martial Artist, an extremely strong girl who seemed almost more of an ogre than a human, was proof that girls could be incredibly strong, too. Unfortunately, while Yuuki-san seemed to be more physically fit and had better stamina than I did, she wasn't near that standard.

"So what did you do?" I said.

"I had a fight with my parents one night at dinner," Ami said, "and left the table in tears. My big bro found me while I was crying, and I talked to him about it, telling him I wanted to do the same sport that he did. I asked him if there was something I could do, and he said I could come to his games to watch and root for him. He said he played best with people hoping he could win- his friends, his family and even the guys on the team who didn't get to play."

It was a somewhat sad but true fact that in many competitive clubs and teams, only an elite few could represent the school in tournaments. If my mahjong club had been larger, then not only would it not have had to turn to me to fill the bench, but my friend, as a first year, would have had virtually no chance of representing the team- they'd probably have me to various menial tasks that the third-years wouldn't deign to perform. Perhaps the practice of forcing newcomers to do chores wasn't just a way of having them pay their dues, but also giving them a way of contributing to the team.

"So that's why you became a cheerleader?" I said. "To support your brother?"

Yuuki-chan laughed out loud.

"Well, I was a bit young for that," Yuuki-san said. "My big bro was in high school, but I was in sixth grade back then. By the time I got to high school, he was halfway through college. Still, it did give me an idea about how someone like me could help out. Not everyone's good enough to be the guy who makes the touchdown that wins the big game, but pretty much anyone can at least do something to help. There's not a lot I can do to help, but I can at least cheer people on."

Humility was a virtue, but while Yuuki-san wasn't a show-off by nature, I noticed she was unusually self-deprecating for someone so accomplished. By finding an outlet for her energy, she'd discovered where her talent lay, but I noticed that some of her choices were defined by what she couldn't do.


EVENT 2: Yuuki-san does a lot to support her school's teams

Yuuki-san and I changed into our tracksuits and did some workouts together. After we finished, we had a snack to get some protein in us, and Yuuki-san told me a little about her fairly meticulous diet plan to stay at an ideal body weight. I was fairly impressed, even after Yuuki-san pointed out that she didn't come up with the plan- she'd had to take supplemental lessons to get through middle school biology. I ate a reasonably healthy diet, albeit occasionally indulging in desserts and junk food, but Yuuki-san's commitment was on an entirely different level.

"So, Yuuki-san," I said. "Were you going to tell me about joining your high school's cheer squad?"

"Not yet, Kaori-chan," Yuuki-san said. "Some of the reporters didn't mention this, but I actually got started in middle school... well, sort of."

"What do you mean?" I said, a bit puzzled at what 'sort of' meant to Yuuki-san.

"I asked around at my middle school," Yuuki-san said, "but found that not only was there not an American football team, there weren't any cheerleading programs. In fact, I kept hearing the same thing- they barely could field a full team, so they didn't have the budget to support cheerleaders, or stuff like that. When I asked why they didn't have much of a budget, they said part of the reason was because no one watched the sport."

Yuuki-san had a knack for asking the right questions, so perhaps in another lifetime, she could have become a good sports journalist.

"After a couple weeks, around when the teams' seasons started, I had an idea," Yuuki-san said. "I got a couple of my new friends together, and we worked together to drum up interest in the sports teams, letting everyone know that their teams were counting on their support. We also went to the games themselves, carrying signs and cheering for the teams."

"I'm a bit surprised that the media didn't report on that," I said. "To me, that sounds like a lot more effort than 'just' being a cheerleader, even if you're an extremely talented one."

"Well, it's just reminding people of what they already know," Yuuki-san said. "Everyone knows we have teams, but not everyone actually takes the time to go see them. By giving them that extra push, we fill the stands."

"That's nice," I said. "It's fairly amazing that you organized that yourself."

Yuuki-san shook her head.

"I got the group together, but I didn't do much apart from the cheering," Yuuki-san said. "Ritsuko-chan was great at thinking of new ideas to spread the word. Yukari-chan had a lot of friends, and was good with PR. Rin-chan was pretty good at art- of course, Yusuke-kun's way better- so she could draw posters and stuff."

"Ah," I said. "Still, someone had to bring them together, so would they have been able to combine their efforts if not for you?"

"Who knows?" Yuuki-san said. "Ritsuko-chan once told me that if one person tells two friends about something, then each of them tells two friends the next day, you could get a heck of a lot of people informed. I don't know the math, or even the name for that, though."

"It's called exponential growth," I said. "Of course, it does assume that everyone actually helps out, and no one ends up talking to the same people. If I told you something, and each of us told the others the next day, we'd spread the word to everyone inside this school three days, assuming no one talked to the same people."

"True," Yuuki-san said. "Of course, you could just make an announcement at breakfast, and everyone would hear."

I chuckled and nodded. If nothing else, people like Yuuki-san generally didn't overcomplicate things.

"Good point," I said. "With the Internet, it's a lot easier to spread the word, assuming that you've got something worth talking about and enough savvy to get it out there."

"Yeah," Yuuki-san said. "People say I'm kind of idealistic, maybe because I'm not so good at figuring out how things would actually work out, but I don't really mind being called that."

"You shouldn't," I said. "If nothing else, I think your story proves that people can make a difference, and one of the best ways is by getting others to care."

I thought for a moment about our present situation. Even though Monokuma had given us every reason to kill each other, it was ultimately up to us whether to take the bait, and if we resisted the temptation, we could potentially leave here alive. Perhaps it wasn't realistic to hope for this, but not succumbing to our baser urges was a simple solution to our problem, so people like Yuuki-san and I couldn't help but hope for that.


EVENT 3: An older girl named Asuka Kisaragi helped mentor Yuuki-san.

Yuuki-san and I did some exercises together. She gave me a few pointers that were surprisingly succinct and easy to understand- when I asked her about it, she said advice was supposed to be as simple as possible while still being understandable. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who struggled in middle school biology, since her teacher was reportedly not very good at explaining the material, and was unwilling to offer extra help.

"Anyway, Yuuki-san," I said, "you got involved in cheerleading in high school, right?"

"That's right," Yuuki-san said. "Our football team wasn't doing so hot, so I got another group together to help promote the team, since my old friends went off to different high schools. I also tried out for the cheerleading squad, and got in."

"As a first-year?" I said. "Not many teams give regular spots to newcomers, although I suppose Ultimates are an exception."

When I stopped to think about it, getting onto a high school team as a first-year was fairly mundane for Ultimates, who often accomplished in their adolescence what few people achieved in adulthood.

"Well, my squad wasn't one of those 'many' teams," Yuuki-san said, "and we've got Asuka Kisaragi, who was a third-year when I arrived, to thank for that."

"What kind of person is she?" I said.

"Asuka-senpai was really nice," Yuuki-san said. "She knew a lot about cheerleading, but she didn't act like a big-shot authority figure- she tried to be a role model to the others. Instead of making the first-years do chores, she believed everyone should pitch in. She said she'd seen a lot of talented freshmen, just like me, and believed that anyone who's good enough should be given a chance to cheer with the others."

"That's nice," I said. "It sounds like you really looked up to Asu- I mean, Kisaragi-san."

Yuuki-san giggled.

"Asuka-senpai would probably tell you to use her first name if you wanted," Yuuki-san said, "since she always thought that if you have to make people respect you, you probably haven't done anything to earn it. She earned my respect as her kouhai, even if she's not the type who believes that I owe her that just because I'm younger."

I couldn't help but notice two common elements in all of Yuuki-san's descriptions of Kisaragi-san. The first was that they were all glowing praise. The second, and more depressing commonality, was that they were all in the past tense. Obviously, Yuuki-san had been separated from her senpai when she'd been trapped in here, but had something happened before that?

For now, though, Yuuki-san wasn't answering that question, and changed the subject. I hoped Yuuki-san would tell me a little more about her senpai when she was ready, and that it would be a story that she'd be comfortable telling.


EVENT 4: A tragedy caused Yuuki-san to be traumatized by the sight of blood, and seeing her classmates' death forces her to remember that(Not available until Chapter II)

Yuuki-san seemed a bit distracted when we met up in the gym, and I noticed her trembling. There were bags under her eyes, and it was clear she hadn't slept well the previous night.

"Is something wrong, Yuuki-san?" I said.

"I had a nightmare last night" Yuuki-san said. "You know the big steamroller that Monokuma used to squash Akito-kun? Well, in my dream, Asuka-senpai was the one who'd gotten flattened under it."

"I'm not surprised," I said. "I can't get that out of my mind, either, partly because I feel responsible for what happened."

"Because Akito-kun tried to frame you, or because you found out that he killed Shiro-kun?" Yuuki-san said.

"The latter," I said, "but I do have to wonder whether the killing would have been avoided if I'd managed to reconcile with Kurogane-kun."

"Gotcha," Yuuki-san said. "I feel bad for Akito-kun, but you had to find the blackened to save the rest of us, and we had to vote for him if we wanted to live... not that it makes it any better."

While all of us had been horrified by what had happened, the vote to convict and execute Sakuragi-kun had been unanimous. All of us had gone along with the decision, whether because we wanted to punish him for his crime, we needed keep the spotless alive or we simply didn't want to be executed for abstaining. Yuuki-san was no exception, and she must have realized this when Sakuragi-kun's sentence was carried out.

"Anyway, that's not the point," Yuuki-san said. "That execution dredged up some really bad memories, and I need to tell someone about them."

"I'm listening," I said.

"I've always been afraid of blood," Yuuki-san said, "since I've always associated seeing it with someone being badly hurt, which I don't want to happen. It wasn't always this bad, though, at least not until I got to high school."

"What happened?" I said.

"It was a rainy day, and me and Asuka-senpai had stayed late to help out with some stuff for the club," Yuuki-san said. "I remembered I'd forgotten my umbrella, and Asuka-senpai went upstairs to the first-years' classroom to get it. On the way back down, she slipped on a puddle at the top step, fell down the stairs, and... the point of the umbrella went into her throat. I ran and got help, but... it was too late. She... bled to death, right then and there."

"That's horrible..." I said, almost at a loss for words.

"Every time I see a lot of blood, that memory comes back," Yuuki-san said, "of a girl not much older than me lying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding to death. When someone dies as gruesomely as Akito-kun did... I can't take it anymore."

"I never wanted to see that happen, either," I said.

Yuuki-san nodded.

"Anyway, a lot of people badmouthed Asuka-senpai after her death," Yuuki-san said, "calling her clumsy, and saying this never would've happened if she hadn't stuck around to do chores. But I don't think there's anything to 'get' here. Everybody dies someday, and some die more peacefully than others, but there's nothing fair about how Asuka-senpai died."

I shook my head. I didn't know if there was anything meaningful I could say, but sometimes, the best thing was to say nothing. After a moment, Yuuki-san continued.

"After Asuka-senpai's death, I did what I could to keep the team together," Yuuki-san said, "and when our team had its best season yet, I guess people thought I was the cause of that. The recruiter from Talent High School noticed my cheerleading talent, and the rest is history. I'm trapped in here with the rest of you, in a 'game' in which any of my friends could be killed at any time."

I had to wonder if some of the Ultimates regretted being noticed now that they were caught up in this killing game, but that didn't seem to be entirely true in Yuuki-san's case. It seemed as though she questioned whether she deserved her honor instead of her late senpai- even though if Kisaragi-san had lived, she wouldn't have qualified for admission to Talent High School.

"I don't want there to be any more murders," Yuuki-san said, "since I'm tired of watching my friends die. Shiro-kun and Akito-kun didn't deserve to die, and neither do the rest of us. I want to help stop this, but I don't know how."

"So do I," I said, "but unfortunately, I don't know what I can do to prevent the murders. If I did, Kurogane-kun and Sakuragi-kun would probably still be alive."

"Yeah, I know I'm not the only one who feels this way," Yuuki-san said. "I just wish I was smarter and more useful at a time like this."

Yuuki-san left me for now, wanting some time to think things through on her own. For now, I had to respect that wish, but I hoped that Yuuki-san knew that if she ever had any problems she couldn't work through on her own, she could always turn to her friends for help.


EVENT 5: Yuuki-san wants to help us however she can. (Not available until Chapter III)

Yuuki-san invited me over to her room. There were various teams' sports pennants on the wall, and a few photos on her desk- one of Yuuki-san and the rest of the Yuuki family, one of her and her middle school friends, and one of her and Kisaragi-san with the rest of the cheer squad.

Yuuki-san wasn't quite sure how to react to my practicing the manners expected of guests, telling me, "Make yourself at home," and saying that she and her friends just hung out when they went to each other's houses. Still, this was her idea of hospitality, so I was grateful.

"Hey, Kaori-chan?" Yuuki-san said. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry I said I was jealous of you and Sae-chan."

"You don't need to apologize, Yuuki-san," I said. "I can understand you feel helpless and unable to do anything."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't just sit around and mope," Yuuki-san said. "I mean, I still love football even though I can't play it, which is why I became a cheerleader in the first place. I want everyone here to get out alive, so I shouldn't just give up on that, either."

"That's the spirit," I said. "We can't undo what's already happened, but we'd be doing the dead a disservice if we just gave up."

Yuuki-san nodded.

"Anyway, I've just been thinking," Yuuki-san said. "I know that I don't have anything going for me apart from being peppy and energetic, and even that doesn't do much good, but I'll keep giving it everything I've got, for all of your sakes, and for Asuka-senpai's."

"Ah, your old friend," I said. "I'm sure she'd be glad that you're carrying on like this."

"Yeah," Yuuki-san said. "I'd like to think that if I help you in some way, it's partly my accomplishment, and anything I help accomplish is something that Asuka-senpai helped enable. If you think about it, she's the real Ultimate Cheerleader, isn't she?"

"You could say that," I said. "But what about the people who inspired Kisaragi-san? Surely she had mentors and role models of her own, who made her into the person you admire so much?"

"Good question," Yuuki-san said. "Maybe I could think of myself as one link in a big chain, of people helping other people. Or maybe it's like Ritsuko-chan said- we each help a few people, who go on to help others."

"Sounds like a good idea," I said. "Of course, I think we also end up helping each other, to a certain extent- that's what friends are for, after all."

"Glad to hear it!" Yuuki-san said. "Oh, and I've been meaning to ask you ever since we got in, but you can call me by my first name if you like."

"I'll try, A-Ami...-san," I said.

Yuuki-san sighed, but didn't seem all that disappointed. Her expression shifted to an encouraging smile as if to say "You'll get it next time, okay?" to me.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Yuuki-san said. "Just keep in mind that my friends don't need to ask, ok?"

I nodded with a smile, and we shook hands. Yuuki-san was more complex than she initially seemed, but while my first impression of her wasn't the whole truth, it wasn't wrong, either. She was a girl who was cheerful, friendly, and supportive of her friends, so I was glad that she counted me among that number.


Author's Notes

Ami's Undergarments: A form-fitting set of underwear with a matching sports bra. On the panties, there's a message- "If you can read this, you need to look somewhere else."

Skill: Go Team!: Makes it easier to push the opponent in Debate Scrum.

Ami's a character who, despite being outwardly exuberant, is meant to drive home that Ultimates have limitations and things they can't do, just like everyone else does. Ami isn't strong enough to be a football player, and isn't smart enough to play much of a role in the class trials, but isn't content to do nothing, so she tries to keep smiling and encourage others. As I gradually fleshed out her character over time, she ended up becoming one of my favorites in the cast of this fic.

Asuka's death was inspired by that of Yukari Sakuragi from Another, and intended to be a suitably bloody and disturbing demise that would cause Yuuki's phobia.

Ami Yuuki

Talent: Ultimate Cheerleader

Birthday: October 5 (Libra)

Height: 166 cm (5'5")

Likes: Watching and cheering on her sports team

Dislikes: Blood.

Hobby: Watching sports on TV.