*These are the free time events of the characters in this fanfiction. Some of these plot points were mentioned in the actual story, but they will be mentioned here as well for the sake of consistency. Also, these don't take place at any specific place in the story, and may contain spoilers.

Spending time with the Ultimate Botanist Sota Shikiba

Event 1:

I had some free time, so I decided to find someone to spend the day with. After wandering around a bit, I found Sota meandering about in the classroom.

"Hey Sota!" I said. Sota smiled and turned to face me. "Hey Y-" He stopped and started mumbling to himself. "Yui! That's right! Sorry. I forgot your name for a moment."

He hadn't been kidding when he said he had a terrible memory. My name wasn't that difficult to remember right? I noticed that Sota had turned away and was now looking around on the floor.

"Did you drop something?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No." He replied. "I'm just doing some investigating. I thought it'd be a smart thing to do."

He had a point. We weren't getting out of here by sitting around twiddling our thumbs. I moved to the desk next him and knelt down to investigate the floor. Sota seemed shocked for a moment before shaking his head.

"You don't need to help me!" He said. "I don't mind doing this alone." This time I shook my head.

"It's more fun if you have company." I replied. Sota still seemed reluctant, but let me join him. We searched around for a few hours, but still couldn't find anything. After a while, I felt the need to talk. Any topic would do.

"Do you like school?" I asked. Spending all that time in the classroom must have imprinted the topic of school in my mind. It was still better than nothing. Sota shrugged.

"I never did too well in it." He said. "I would always garden instead of doing my homework."

I understood being dedicated to a hobby, but shouldn't homework come first? I went to press him a bit, but noticed him standing up and stretching.

"Well, I guess there's nothing here." He said. "That sucks. I was really hoping we would find something."

"We can always check again some other time." I suggested. "Or we could investigate somewhere else." Sota nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "In that case, I'll see you then Yui!"

With that said, he walked out the door a big grin on his face. At least he remembered my name that time. I stood up too, brushing the dust off my pants. We hadn't talked to much, but I felt like Sota and I had grown a little closer. Leaving the classroom behind me, I returned to my room.

Event 2:

I had some free time, so I decided to find someone to spend the day with. After wandering around a bit, I found Sota in the library. He was reading a book on plants.

"Hey Sota." I said. He jumped when I spoke. He must have been really focused on his book... nope... he had been sleeping.

"Hi Yui." The botanist said as he wiped away some drool. "Sorry. Do you need to use this book?" He held the book up to me, but I shook my head.

"No. It's okay." I said. "Though, if you don't mind me asking, what are you reading?" Sota turned the cover towards me and showed me the title. The book was "Breeding Foreign Plants".

"I'm trying to see if I can cross breed any of these plants." He explained, flipping through the pages.

"Why would you need to do that?" I asked. Sota sighed, closing the book.

"There's a special kind of plant I need to grow." He answered. A special kind of plant? That was pretty vague. As if he had read my mind, Sota began to explain.

"My mom is pretty sick with a rare disease." He said. "That's why my brother and I started gardening in the first place. We were trying to grow a plant that could cure her."

Was that why he said he spent his time gardening instead of doing school work? He had been trying to help his mom? Him, and his brother.

"So your brother's a gardener as well?" I asked. Sota nodded.

"Yeah." He replied. "He's even better than me actually. But even with all of his talent, we still can't get our flower to grow." He opened the book again. This time he didn't leaf through the pages.

"I'm sure you'll be able to." I reassured. "Once we get out of here, you and your brother will be able to figure it out!" Sota smiled.

"I hope so." He said. "What kind of Ultimate Botanist would I be if I couldn't even do that?"

I decided to leave him to his reading. I wasn't helping him or his mother by distracting him. After checking to make sure he had nothing else to say, I headed back to my room. Somehow, I felt like Sota and I had grown a little closer.

Event 3:

I had some free time, so I decided to find someone to spend the day with. After wandering around a bit, I found Sota sitting alone in the dining hall. He looked over at me when he heard me come in. Smiling, I sat down next to him.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Sota shrugged.

"I was thinking about home." He replied. "About my mom, and my brother."

I guess you couldn't help but think of home while stuck in a place like this.

"Yeah." I said. "I miss my mom and dad too. They were pretty pushy at times, but I still loved them."

That was true. They did push me to do things, but I knew that they did it to help me in the long run. If it hadn't been for them, I probably would have turned down Hopes Peak Academy. Being around all those Ultimates was a bit too much pressure for my liking. Granted, if I had turned down Hopes Peak Academy, then I wouldn't be in this situation.

"Dad..." Sota said. He had said it softly, but it was still enough to snap me from my thoughts.

"Do you miss your dad too?" I asked. Sota shook his head.

"My dad left us when mom got sick." He said. "I never knew why though."

Whoops. Now I felt like a jerk.

"I'm sorry." I said. Sota shrugged.

"You didn't make him leave." He said. "And besides. We were perfectly fine without him, so I don't really mind that he's gone."

I couldn't tell if he was in denial, or if that's how he really felt. Either way, I needed to try to cheer him up.

"By the way." I said. "I found some interesting books on gardening in one of the corners of the library. I thought you might find them interesting." Sota's eyes lit up.

"Really!?" He asked. I nodded.

"I can show you where they are." I said. Sota nodded and we headed off to the library. We spent a few hours flipping through gardening books. Sota seemed to be happier. After we had gotten through all of them, we both returned to our rooms. It had been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but I felt like we had grown closer.

Event 4:

I had some free time, so I decided to find someone to spend the day with. After wandering around a bit, I found Sota in the repository, looking around. He smiled when he saw me come in.

"Hey Yui." He said. "Can I ask you a question?" I nodded and walked over to him. This hadn't been what I had expected when I had gone here.

"Do you think this is what the repository in Hopes Peak Academy looked like?" He asked. Again, not what I had expected.

"Maybe?" I said. "I could see a rich school like Hopes Peak having a room like this." Sota nodded.

"I wonder if Santa ever went to the school's repository.

Santa? Like, with Christmas? This entire conversation was starting to confuse me.

"Santa?" I asked. Sota nodded.

"My brother." He replied. "Santa Shikiba."

That made a lot more sense than the Santa I had been thinking of.

"Did he go to Hopes Peak Academy too?" I asked. Once again, Sota nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "I was super proud when he got accepted." The botanist sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Though I did have to get two jobs afterwards to help support the family."

I suppose that his mother wasn't working if she was sick. Though the extra work on top of his already stressful life probably wasn't good for him. As I thought about this, Sota continued.

"But Santa said everything would be fine after he graduated." He said. "Since graduation from Hopes Peak Academy ensures success."

"That's true." I said with an encouraging smile. Sota returned the gesture.

"Well, on a different note." He said. "Do you wanna go get some food in the dining hall? I'm starving!"

I nodded and the two of us headed to the dining hall. Sota talked about the time he spent with his brother while we ate, and after he was done, we went our separate ways. I headed back to my room, happy that Sota and I had grown a little closer today.

Event 5:

I was laying on my bed in my room trying to fall asleep, when I heard a knock at the door. Reluctantly leaving my warm sheets behind, I walked over and opened it up. Sota was standing outside.

"Hi Yui." He said. I replied the same way. He looked like he had something he needed to say, so I let him into the room. Once he was seated on one of my chairs, he started talking.

"I have something I need to get off my chest." He said. I nodded and gestured for him to go ahead. He seemed hesitant.

"I... um..." He fumbled with the edge of the fabric on his jacket. "I'm worried about the situation we're in."

So that was it? He was just feeling a little worried?

"Don't worry Sota." I reassured. "No one else is going to die. There's no need to feel worried." Sota shook his head.

"I'm not talking about the murders." He said. "I mean... those are scary and all, but, I'm more worried about my mom." He had stopped fumbling with his jacket and now had his hands on his knees, with his eyes glued to the floor. He almost looked like a little kid when he sat like that. A little boy who needed his mother. I stood up and stood next to him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine." I said. Sota shook his head again.

"But what if there's no one taking care of her?" He said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "If what Monokuma said is true, then I'm a horrible person. I could never see myself agreeing to go to Hopes Peak Academy. I would never leave my mom alone like that."

I hadn't thought of it like that. I wasn't the only one who didn't find Hopes Peak Academy appealing. No doubt Sota had been bothered by this since Monokuma had first told us about our stolen memories. Wait... our stolen memories? Those three years...

"Sota." I said, moving in front of him so I could look him right in the eyes. "If three years have gone by, then your brother must have graduated right? I bet you he's even found a cure already!"

I had no way of knowing if this was true, but it didn't hurt to be a little hopeful. It seems like Sota felt the same way since he smiled.

"I... I guess that could be true." He said as he wiped away his tears. "Sorry for being all gloomy like that. I just... well, that's been bothering me for a while."

He stood up and put his hands in his pocket, searching around for something inside. After a moment, he found what he was looking for, and he placed it in my hand.

"I found this in the Monomono machine." He said. "I was going to give it to my mom, but I want you to have it instead. As thanks."

I opened my hand and saw a small watering can key-chain. I thanked Sota and gave him a hug before he went back to his room. The two of us had become such close friends. After placing the key-chain onto the table, I laid down onto my bed. Had Sota and I been friends at Hopes Peak Academy as well? I felt happy thinking about how that could be true. Our friendship had blossomed into something beautiful, and it helped plant a seed of hope in my heart.

Congratulations!

Obtained Watering Can Key-chain.

Obtained Skill "Green Thumb"