Author's Note: Phooey, that last bit on the last chapter was sure something else. I kinda spent the rest of the day after that wondering if writing it was a good idea in the first place. Do people who write fluff feel this way too, or are they used to writing stuff like this?
In any case, my respect for fluff writers has now deepened. Props to y'all guys!
Anyways, on to Chapter 27!
Walking out of her room the next morning, Celeste couldn't help but smile genuinely. Aside from not carrying that heavy burden of hers anymore, the fuzzy memory she received yesterday really uplifted her spirits, too.
Looking at her surroundings, Celeste realized that nobody else has woken up yet. Not even the Monokuma announcement has rung. Did the feeling of happiness wake her up early?
"Mimi?", asked Cloakie, appearing from behind the gambler's back.
"I'm sure they're all still sleeping."
Celeste then remembered what Monokuma said. If no one were to be killed today, Monokuma would unleash a 'punishment' of some sort tomorrow. Just what would that punishment be, though?
ZAPPPPPPPP!
Huh?
ZAPPPPPPPP!
What's that sound?
Suddenly, flashes of light were visible from Chihiro's room. Along them were... lightning rays?
Celeste ran up to the programmer's room. Knocking on the door, Celeste asked if Chihiro was okay.
"Chihiro?"
No response.
Chihiro?
"Mimi...", resonated Cloakie worriedly.
"Chihiro, are you well, dear?", asked Celeste. Still no response.
Suddenly-
"I'm gonna open the door!", said a small voice.
Chihiro?
Soon afterwards, the door gave way, revealing the small programmer on the other side. But something was different about him. His hair was on its ends, as if an invisible balloon was above it...
"Chihiro, are you good?", asked Celeste worriedly, albeit hiding said worry very well. "Your hair is all over the place, dear."
"That's not the problem!", spoke up Chihiro, whose voice was... slightly higher pitched?
Ignoring that observation, the gambler asked, getting closer to the door, "So what's the problem, then?"
"I've woken up to find this on my room!", the programmer said, pointing towards... something.
Floating frantically through the room in a lightning-like motion was a bright yellow dragon, one of the eastern variations. It was relatively small, but it had lightning rays coming out of its scales.
A stand!
The question was, who's the stand user? It could be another enemy user.
Celeste then came up with an idea.
"Chihiro, I want to ask you a question", the gambler asked. The aforementioned programmer looked at her frantically.
"Can you see this?", Celes asked calmly, pointing at Cloakie.
"Yeah, I can... why?"
So Chihiro's the user...
"Tell the dragon to disappear", said Celeste curtly, pointing at the lightning dragon.
"What!?", asked the programmer. "Why would that work?"
"Assuming this stand is yours, it means that you should be able to control it", the gambler deducted, still keeping watch of the yellow serpent.
"W-well... I'll try", gave in Chihiro, approaching the lightning dragon dejectedly. A few feet away from the stand, Chihiro then ordered, "Go away, dragon!"
...Only for it to not work.
"GRAHHHHH!", roared the lightning creature, flying towards the programmer. Passing right through Chihiro, the programmer was electrocuted for a second, feeling a tinge of sharp pain. The dragon, then passed Celeste, flying out of control in the hallway.
"Chihiro!", said the gambler, running towards the collapsed programmer. Chihiro's breaths were rapid and small, his heartbeat accelerated.
"I-I'm okay...", trailed off the programmer, struggling to stand up. Losing his footing, the programmer then fell towards the floor, only to be held by Celeste at the last second.
"T-thanks...", Chihiro said meekly.
"Look, Chihiro, just sit down for now", Celeste said, carrying the programmer towards his bed. Sitting down thereafter, the programmer asked, "...T-this is my fault, isn't it?"
"A little", responded Celeste, "Despite it being your stand, you can't control it well. We're gonna have to stop it before it kills someone."
"No... I don't want to kill someone", cried the programmer.
"Don't worry, I won't allow that to happen", assured the gambler. She then ran out of the room, leaving the programmer to weep to himself.
I'm lucky I didn't get electrocuted like Chihiro, thought Celeste, giving chase towards the lightning dragon. If anything, I should chase it towards somewhere isolated, far away from everyone else...
Back at Chihiro's room, the little programmer was wiping his tears away. Still sniffling a little, the programmer stood up, running towards Mondo's room. "The least I could do is get help from Mondo."
Knocking on his door, Chihiro waited for a response from his friend. The door then opened, revealing a still-sleeping Mondo.
"What happened, dude...?", the bike rider yawned. "The Monokuma announcement hasn't rung yet, so why are you awake?"
"My stand's gotten out of control!", Chihiro panicked, forcing the bike rider to open his eyes widely.
"Wait, you're a stand user!?"
"That's what Celeste told me!"
"And since when did you have this stand?", the gangster asked a little forcefully.
"W-well, I've had it ever since this morning...", the programmer stuttered, recalling the events from the back of his mind. "I just woke up and I saw it, flying out of control!"
"Okay, calm down a little", said the bike rider, placing his hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "We'll solve this before anything bad happens, okay?". The programmer nodded weakly in response. Receiving the computer geek's answer, Mondo then asked, "Alright, now tell me, where did you see your stand go?"
Sniffling, Chihiro responded plaintively, "My stand went to the left, Celeste chasing after it."
ZAPPPPPPPP!
Suddenly, both Mondo and Chihiro heard a lightning strike from the food court, making the programmer yelp in surprise.
"That's your stand?", Mondo asked, Chihiro nodding in panic.
"Just calm down a little more, okay?", the bike rider asked.
"Okay...", the programmer weeped to himself.
Running off towards the cafeteria, Mondo then thought to himself, Chihiro's acting strange for some reason. Could it be because of his stand's sudden awakening?
Exiting the hallway, the bike rider then faced the food court, showing a struggling Celeste dodging a flurry of lightning strikes.
Shit, the gambler thought to herself. Of course it had to go to the cafeteria!
We need to control Chihiro's stand before anything bad happens to someone!, Mondo thought, entering the cafeteria as well.
Back at Chihiro's room, the programmer then stopped sniffing, taking a series of deep breaths to calm himself.
Why am I acting like a little child!?, thought the programmer, frustrated with himself. I should be acting like a man!
"Excuse me", rang out a monotone voice, bringing the programmer back to reality. Looking at the entrance, she saw Junko, alongside a weird apparition floating beside her.
"Y-yes?", meekly asked the computer programmer.
"You said your stand went crazy, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And where did it go?"
Pointing to his left, Chihiro responded, "To the cafeteria...?"
"I see...", said the model to herself. She then faced. Chihiro and said, "You stay here. We'll solve this."
"A-alright..."
The model then left the entrance, leaving the programmer to himself once more.
Calm down, calm down..., the computer programmer repeated to himself.
Meanwhile, Junko (Mukuro) began running towards the cafeteria, her stand, Fallen Soldiers, in tow.
"Well, what a way to start the morning", remarked the stand.
"Shut it", deadpanned the mercenary.
"Aww, don't be like that", stated Fallen Soldiers. Flying closer towards his user, the stand then asked, "So why do you think Chihiro's stand has awakened suddenly?"
"Assuming from all the behavior he showed earlier with both Celeste and Mondo, it was probably awakened by force from anxiety."
"Huh, never heard that happening", wondered Fallen Soldiers, a hand placed on his chin.
"Mondo said it's a rare case", responded Mukuro.
In any case, this might be a chance to prove this theory I've been thinking about lately...
Entering the cafeteria, the soldier left the hallway empty once more.
...With the exception of a curious heir listening closely from his room. His door was slightly open, allowing him to listen in on the conversations taking place.
"Well now", Byakuya grinned, turning a page from his book. "It seems another obstacle has appeared in my way."
Closing the book preemptively, the progeny then exited out of his room, being the fourth person heading towards the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, at a certain building...
"Five students are awake", reported Kyosuke, looking at a giant screen. "It seems they're dealing with something at the cafeteria."
"Indeed", responded Tengan, approaching the recording screen. "But just what are they doing?"
"They're facing against a stand. Non-stand users can't see it."
A new voice rang out from behind, both members turning to face the entrance. Out of it came a pink-haired man in a tattered trench coat, nothing but broken mesh wires underneath.
"Who are you?", said Kyosuke, readying his sword. "And how did you get here without the guards noticing?"
"It was fate that led me here", responded the man, his dirty hair spread all over the place. "I've come to tell you people about the existence of stands, and how it changes the killing game."
"Stands?", curiously asked Tengan, Kyosuke placing an arm in front of him.
"Don't listen to him!", the swordsman said. "He's trying to confuse us!"
"Am I?"
The swordsman then lunged an attack towards the man, swinging his sword with immense force.
...Only for it to not hit anything.
"Huh!?", asked Kyosuke.
"As I was saying", said the pink haired suddenly behind him, staring at the screen. "The existence of stands changes the killing game. These students from Hope's Peak have something else to burden their shoulders with now."
"...How did you dodge my attack?", asked Kyosuke in bewilderment. It was like he teleported...!
"More importantly", brushed off Tengan, not showing a single trace of panic in the world. "How do you know these kids are from Hope's Peak? They could just be normal students, you know."
"I know them", responded the pink-haired man. "Ever since sparring against one their classmates, I've spent the last two years spying on them, alongside with the rest of the school. I can tell who they are by looking at their faces."
"You're lying!", screamed Kyosuke, the pink-haired man not looking at him. "I'm one of the staff there and I've never caught footage of a bizarre man like you!"
"...I have my ways of hiding", responded the trench coat user.
Interesting..., thought Tengan to himself. He then spoke up, "So who was this student you fought against?"
"...Izuru Kamukura."
Hearing that name brought both members to his attention. They didn't expect that name to come back.
"...And you survived? Against him...?", asked Kyosuke, his face a mix between shock and doubt.
"...yes, I did."
"Tell me, young man", said Tengan, approaching the pink-haired man. "You seem to know your share of both Hope's Peak and these 'stands'. Would you mind joining our group here? We could use some of your experiences to save these people."
"Mr. Tengan!", reciprocated Kyosuke sternly.
"...I'll join", responded the pink-haired man.
"Good, good", said Tengan, passing by the pink-haired man. Facing the entrance and a bewildered Kyosuke, the old man then asked, "Now then, before we begin things, what's your name?"
"...My name is Diavolo."
Author's Note: Chapter 27 done! Yep, a new member has joined the Future Foundation! Will his arrival change our students' fates? How will the rest of the foundation respond? And what's the deal with Chihiro's stand?
In response to SparkyBoi, both fics are indeed connected! But not just those two, every fic is connected! Remember, the appearance of blue portals is no coincidence! It's just a matter of time before we see who exactly is behind the portals...
Thank you guys for reading up to this point! Leave in the comments any questions, feedback, or theories! Again, thanks to everyone's support and until the next entry, I'll see everyone later!