He ran into Mukuro Ikusaba in the hallway.
She jumped. "Oh. Ishimaru-kun," she said. "I heard that you got into another fight."
"Yes," Ishimaru said. "However, Oowada-kun has been released from the Disciplinary Committee, and therefore our problems will certainly go down."
"Souda-kun quit, too," Ikusaba said. "And… Junko-chan has been needing me for a lot for things…"
Ishimaru blinked. He didn't quite understand. "Ikusaba-kun?" he asked cautiously. She wasn't looking him straight in the eye and he suddenly became very, very scared. So he spoke faster. "Do we need to speak with Enoshima-kun?"
"No, I… I'm quitting the Disciplinary Committee," she said. Before he could react, she breezed past him. He stood there, stunned, hand outstretched. He wasn't sure why, if he was grasping for a Disciplinary Committee member that wasn't there or some closure, he wasn't sure. But he stood there for a quite a long time. Ikusaba had been there since the beginning, he'd thought that they were almost… well, almost friends, perhaps. But now… now she was gone, and all he had left in the Disciplinary Committee was Sonia Nevermind.
That was right. He had her. With the Super High School Level Princess on his Disciplinary Committee, it would be fine. More than fine, actually. She had a natural air of discipline and authority about her.
When he got to the meeting room, however, he was met with a resignation letter. He could barely read it without shaking. He hadn't expected Souda to last long. He'd been praying for the time that Oowada was allowed to quit. But Ikusaba and Sonia? Both of them were hard-working and fairly good students. There was no way they would... they would just desert him like this.
While it was true that Sonia Nevermind had left a very polite and apologetic resignation letter, and her reasons were solid – wanting to work on her studies, it had been a delightful and informative time, just not one that she felt she needed to continue – and that Mukuro Ikusaba had seemed very sorry…
It did not matter. He could handle it all. He would have to move the tutoring to Saturdays. He would watch students every day in detention, he would patrol the halls by himself, and he would do a… well, he would do a damn fine job of it. He did not need Mondo Oowada or Kazuichi Souda or Mukuro Ikusaba or Sonia Nevermind to help him. He was the Super High School Level Hall Monitor, and if he relied on others so heavily, he would never get anything done.
Although… he should probably go and clean his face. He hadn't had the chance to before he and Oowada had had to be in that room together, and it would not do for his face to be covered in dried blood. He would go to the nearest bathroom.
The bathroom was empty. He'd hoped that he would perhaps find someone here, hopefully someone like Naegi who was better at casual conversation than he was, but he was alone as he washed off his face. He stared at himself in the mirror, intent on finding a bit of unmarked skin. There was very little. Below his left eye his cheek was swollen, his lip was split, and there was a large bruise reaching from the corner of his right eye up to his temple. He swallowed. It was going to look even worse tomorrow, he was sure of it.
He would wear it with dignity. He had been in a fight. He was a man.
He had broken the rules.
He was a man who had broken the rules.
He shook his head free of such thoughts and decided to head to his room for some much needed studying.
Ishimaru ran into exactly zero people on his way back to his room. There was not a single soul out of their room, it appeared. While this made it much easier to do his job as the Hall Monitor, it was a bit strange. Usually there was at least someone like Naegi to give him a passing smile, or Fukawa to give him a passing strange glare, or Togami to give him a passing scowl. But there was nobody. He was completely alone in the hallways.
He shut himself in his room and sat down at his desk. He found his gaze roaming over his books but not wanting to study. That was silly. He grabbed History, he had always enjoyed History and Government and that was what he would start with. Then he would move on to Math. Then Science, and he would do the more ambiguous subjects last. That would work. He spread his notes over his desk, tapping his pencil on the end of his nose as he outlined and underlined and studied, making a quick sketch of the essay due in a few weeks. If he got his major points done now, it would not be as strenuous to write nearer to the deadline. Of course, he planned to have it done soon, though he would have less time for homework if he were to be watching detention every day…
He retired from studying at a clean ten o'clock. He got up at five and did his morning exercise, and then he showered and make sure that his classmates were awake. He did not have to worry about Disciplinary Committee meetings, now that the Disciplinary Committee was a committee of one. He had lunch alone in the cafeteria, pouring over notes and lecturing anyone who misbehaved. He handed out five detention slips that day – Saionji, Kuwata, Tanaka, Souda, and Fukawa.
"You're even worse than usual," Fukawa muttered when she passed him on her way into the detention room. "Is it because you and your harem bro-"
"There was no harem."
Fukawa snorted and slunk into the room, picking a seat near the front and slumping down as far as the chair would allow, head in her arms. Kuwata and Souda came in together, Kuwata grinning and a high color in Souda's cheeks. They sat next to each other in the back. Tanaka came in, saw Souda, rolled his eyes, and sat in the exact middle.
Saionji did not come in.
Ishimaru swallowed and glanced around. He wondered who, if any of them, was the most trustworthy. He did not know any of them well. Souda had been in the Disciplinary Committee, at least…
"Souda-kun?" Ishimaru asked, and Souda glanced away from his conversation. "Would you mind watching over the detention while I go and find Saionji-kun?"
"Well," Souda said, glancing at Kuwata, then giving Ishimaru an awkward grin. "I guess."
He pulled a wrench out of his pockets and tossed it in the air.
"I can keep order," he said. Ishimaru, not quite sure if Souda was allowed a wrench in his pocket, nodded.
"Okay," he said. He made a mental note to confiscate the wrench later, and hurried out to find Saionji, who was by the pool with Koizumi. "Saionji-kun! You were supposed to serve detention today!"
Saionji sighed, tipping her head back. "Dummy," she said. "I didn't want to."
"You must come, or I will have to report you to the headmaster," he said.
"Go," Koizumi said. "We can finish later."
Still, she shot Ishimaru a dirty look that he ignored. Saionji changed and, while Ishimaru waited outside the girl's locker room, he realized just how difficult it was doing this alone.
And I'm back! With Ishimaru all alone!