Chapter 1: This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Daily Life 8)
Ding Dong…
"Ehhhh… So this isn't really a bell, it's a recording of a bell." Monokuma said, hitting a button over and over on his chair. "That's because why would a hotel have a huge bell somewhere for me to ring?" Monokuma said, now frustratedly punching his button for the bell over again. "And for some reason, my MP3 of the bell keeps closing the media player every time I hit it! Grrr... If anyone can help me fix it, I'll give you guys 5 whole MonoCoins!"
Di-di-di-di-ding Dong….
"Oh, it's 7 AM by the way. The banquet is at 2 PM! So go find something to do to pass the time, alright? Have a good morning!" Monokuma said before the monitor shut off. Every time Monokuma hit the bell, the sound would loop on the bell, which made the currently resting Saya just glare at her ceiling so hard it could light on fire.
Din-
"STOP RINGING THE DAMN BELL!" Saya screamed, kicking her blanket off the bed and sitting up straight, clenching her fists into a tight ball.
"Your complaint has been noted, and entirely ignored," Monokuma stated over the intercom.
Din-n-n-n-n-n-n-ng Dong, Bing Bong.
"TAKE THAT, COMPUTERS! WHOO!" Monokuma shouted, celebrating him fixing it himself. "Nobody gets money! I win!"
Saya just sighed in response to that, getting out of bed and walking up to the mirror. Another morning of trying in vain to force down that damned strand of hair. "How is that all of my hair has stayed perfectly in place beside you?" she asked, poking at the hair. "My hair is all the way down to my middle back and this strand decides it's had enough of gravity," Saya complained.
She finally decided that enough time had passed, pinching one end of the bandage on her cheek, and peeled it off of her face. The cut was dried out and slightly scabbed over, meaning she wouldn't need to keep it covered and it would heal the rest of the way on its own. This would do for now as Saya headed for the connected bathroom to have a quick shower before breakfast.
She went to the other floor to enter Izumi's 'lab' as Izumi was currently serving Chiwa, Rinne, Airi, and Rokuro.
"You tellin' me you ain't got no hot dogs, waitress chick!?" Rokuro shouted, concerned.
"S-sorry. Hotdogs cost too much at the minimart. I-If you want me to cook some hot dogs, bring me them from the store." Izumi said with a bow.
"You think I'm walking around with hotdog money, here? No way, I can't find a MonoCoin to save my life!" Rokuro shouted.
"You just haven't been looking hard enough," Rinne said with a chuckle, throwing a handful of coins into the air.
"It wasn't on the ceiling of any room I looked. Where the hell do you keep finding those!?"
"...Have you looked under anything yet?" Chiwa asked, hugging her toy rabbit as she swayed side to side gently.
"...Shit, why didn't I think of that!?" Rokuro exclaimed, slapping the side of his head. Chiwa just sighed as Rokuro went over and started flipping over dining tables and chairs in the restaurant to look for MonoCoins. "IT'S TIME TO FIND EM! LET'S GET THAT BREAD!" He shouted in his gruff tone, Izumi started squeaking in a panic.
"D-don't throw my stuff!" Izumi cried out as she flattened a breakfast sausage with her spatula. "And Rinne, I told you to stop putting your feet on the table!" she shouted, Rinne grumbling and switching her sitting position.
"Aw, come on! No one else is using the table!" Rinne objected.
"Yes, but someone's going to eat off that and I don't want to have to wipe the dirt your boots keep tracking in here!" Izumi countered as Rokuro flipped another table.
"Rinne, I needta flip that table! I need that money! Hustle, hustle!" Rokuro shouted, grabbing the edges of Rinne's table.
"Flip my table and you die," Rinne said, pointing a finger at him.
"C'mon, girl! Table money has to be worth the flipping of it."
"I'll break every finger for each MonoCoin you find under my table. I want my clam chowder and you ain't stopping me from using this table."
"Who eats clam chowder for breakfast?" Rokuro asked.
"Don't change the subject away from not touching my damn table while I'm using it!" Rinne shot back, standing up and slamming her hands on the table.
"...I thought you were a babysitter, Airi." Chiwa said, trying to avoid getting involved in a brawl about to happen.
"My skill area is youth ages 8 to 14. The only person that fits the criteria is you." Airi explained.
"...Is that how babysitting even works?"
"Rokuro, I've eaten crickets during some of my missions! I drank from cacti, I've boiled someone's urine so I could collect the evaporated water from it. If I want clam chowder for breakfast, that is MY call!" Rinne shouted.
"I thought you were angry about hot dogs?" Izumi pointed out.
"I'm angry about my lack of money CAUSING my lack of hotdogs, Izumi!"
"And I'm already neck deep in stupid, maybe I should have stayed in bed," Saya said to herself.
"Oh! Good morning, Say-" Chiwa began.
"Saya help me!" Izumi shouted. "Rokuro's being a vandal and Rinne's talking about drinking pee!"
"That is NOT what I sai-" Rinne was going to interject, as Saya took a deep breath to prepare one of her trademarked Council President shouts.
"ENOUGH!" Saya shouted, marching over to Rinne's table and striking her and Rokuro once each with her yardstick. "Both of you will obey the rules of this diner as Igarashi asked!"
"Ow! Why did you hit me?! I wasn't doing any-" Rinne objected, only to get another stinging strike.
"When I entered, I saw you sitting with your feet up on the table. Not only is that unsanitary, but it is disrespectful to Igarashi!" Saya said, spinning her yardstick in her fingers.
"At least we didn't do anything…" Chiwa said with a sigh of relief. "You don't do that to your charges, do you?"
"Absolutely not. Slapping someone for disciplinary reasons is crossing a line, especially a young child," Airi said, Chiwa putting Socrates' head to her ear.
"Hrm… ah, right. Of course," Chiwa said to herself before turning back to Airi. "Don't you drug them to sleep?" she pointed out.
"Only if they misbehave, but most kids I take care of like me," Airi said, Chiwa finding that statement not only dubious but also very unsettling.
"I uh… No comment," Chiwa said, slightly moving her chair away from Airi.
"And Rokuro, don't you DARE vandalize something that isn't yours! If you wanna smash up a room, make it somewhere else!" Saya scolded Rokuro, who just looked up at her in shock.
"Hey yeah… I haven't smashed up my room for coins yet!" Rokuro said, eyes brightening. "IT'S SMASHIN' TIME! Be back later, ladies!" he said as he charged out of the diner.
"..So he's going to break everything in his room? Is there a regulation for that?" Rinne asked.
"No, strangely," Saya answered. "Why are the males here so strange?"
"She says, in a room with the creepiest babysitter ever and a possible war criminal," Chiwa muttered out just loud enough for Rinne and Airi to hear.
"Only in 3 countries; One being Uruguay and who's ever been there?" Rinne countered.
"I'm not creepy!" Airi objected as Saya went to order.
"S-so, what can I get you, Saya?" Izumi asked.
"Egg stirred rice, and a glass of water with chopped watermelon over ice," Saya said. Izumi nodded and began gathering ingredients.
"Tamago Gohan!" Izumi called out as she readied her rice cooker.
"I guess that's what it's called." Saya replied.
"We're still speaking Japanese right?" Monokuma asked, hopping onto a nearby table. "Izumi-Chaaaaaaaaan~"
"I uh… I thought we were speaking Japanese, yes." Izumi said, scratching the back of her head.
"But how do you know you're really speaking Japanese or not?" he stated. "What about all the fancy honorifics? And the naming food, and like… puns that don't work in any other language?"
"Is there a point to you being here?" Saya asked. "Like, literally. You're wasting time and trying to force in-jokes when there aren't any."
"Nope! I'm just getting the banquet ready and being bored. Figured I'd mess with you girls a bit." Monokuma said with a chuckle.
"Duly noted. Now please leave." Saya said.
"I… What? What are you talking about? Isn't this the part you get upset and start shouting at me in some kind of comedic absurd way? That's usually the joke, I act absurd, and then people shout at me, then I laugh and walk away."
"You're not funny, and nobody likes you," Saya responded.
"I like me…" Monokuma said, hanging his head low. Chiwa let out a long sigh, turning to Socrates and nodding her head.
"Yeah, I'm bored too, Socrates," Chiwa said. "There's… literally, nothing to do in here. You gave us a bunch of DVD players with stuff that made us upset, but now we just have to sit around and do nothing."
"Uhh… Does anyone want to watch a movie or something?" Monokuma asked. "I mean, you guys got that big TV in the lounge."
"Why are you suggesting ideas?" Airi asked.
"Isn't that floor off-limits?" Rinne pointed out.
"I'm bored too, shut up! And no, the dining room is off limits, the lounge is readily available. We have some movies in the mini-mart… Though, they might not be all that good. But a hate-watch is still more entertaining than sitting around, trying to force jokes about the format of this killing game."
"Jokes you made." Saya pointed out.
"And weren't funny," Izumi added from behind her counter.
"Shut up!" Monokuma barked out. "I'll grab everyone who is interested, and we'll all sit on the massive couch and watch a dumb movie and make fun of it. THAT'S WHAT THIS DAY WILL BE UNTIL THE BANQUET!" Monokuma shouted. "I've got like 3 hours to kill!"
"...Do you enjoy riffing on bad movies? Like.. legitimately that's something you enjoy? I thought you were all about despair." Rinne wondered. "That seems weirdly normal for a serial kidnapper who puts teenagers into a game where we murder each other."
"Bad people can still have 1 or 2 good things about them and still be horrible despair monsters. It's not impossible." Monokuma argued. "Now, I'm gonna go get us a real stinker! I'll see you all in the lounge in ten minutes!" he said as he left for the diner.
"Do I have to do this with you people, Igarashi? I just wanted some quiet time." Saya complained. Izumi leaned onto her counter to speak over the sound of sizzling meat.
"Well, we could always check out Taiga's lab. I-" Izumi began to suggest.
"No," Saya said, arms crossed.
"You didn't even let me finish what my id-" Izumi tried to cut in, but Saya stopped her at the pass.
"Absolutely not." She bluntly stated.
"But I-" Izumi started again.
"Igarashi…" Saya threatened, holding up her yardstick.
"I'll shut up now," Izumi said, defeated, for a moment. Then she realized something. "Do you even have a better idea of what to do with your time!?" She accused.
"..." Saya just calmly looked at the floor.
"Thought so. I thought so!" Izumi celebrated.
Saya then stood up and headed toward the Ultimate Waitress while tapping her yardstick, Izumi's eyes widening as she went back to working on food.
"I-I see your point!" Izumi said quickly. Saya nodded and returned to her seat. Izumi soon served everyone their meals; Chiwa had her usual streusel cake, Rinne got her clam chowder, Airi got black coffee and a danish and Saya got her egg-stirred rice and water.
After breakfast, the five left Izumi's diner and went to the elevator. Saya had started to become used to the feeling of the elevator's movement, weight shifting as it slowed down to a stop. They headed into the lounge, seeing that others were already sitting at the couch.
"Do we really have to do this?" Saya asked herself, Izumi poking her on the shoulder once.
"You have all that nothing planned until the banquet that you need to tend to?" Izumi asked.
"I have a feeling I would rather be doing nothing. Especially if Minami's here…" Saya said.
"You're gonna have to talk to him eventually…" Izumi said. Saya shook her head. "How long are you going to do this gimmick with him? You can't seriously avoid him for the few weeks, or even months we'll be lodged here,"
"It is not a gimmick, Igarashi. I will avoid him for years if I have to," Saya explained as she looked over the couch to see who was there; while everybody else was in the room, the level of interest between each student could be measured in leagues. Junichi was on the edge of his seat with a large grin on his face. Surumi and Touki sat on opposite sides of him, Touki equally excited and Surumi somewhat curious. Yuuto was sitting next to Sora, eating what could be described as the biggest bowl of popcorn she had ever seen one human attempt to ingest.
"Do you really need to eat that much popcorn?" Sora asked. Yuuto stuffed another handful before turning to Sora.
"It's not about how much popcorn I can eat, it's about how much popcorn I want to eat," Yuuto said, half-chewed popcorn flying from his mouth. Sora quickly shuffled away from him.
"W-Woah, dude! You're getting kernels on my clothes!" Sora exclaimed.
"It builds character, dude," Yuuto said. Saya walked over and smacked Yuuto upside the head with her yardstick. "Ow! What the hell?!"
"Hagiwara, do not talk with your mouth open," Saya said. Yuuto grumbled and shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth.
"How much butter did you put on that popcorn?" Sora asked, seeing butter drip from Yuuto's hands.
"Enough," Yuuto answered with a sly grin.
"Is that where all of my butter went?!" Izumi asked incredulously. "There were eight sticks of butter in my lab! How did you-" she continued before being cut off.
"I have my ways!" Yuuto said proudly.
"Everybody, get in yer chairs, I'm hitting the lights and we're gonna pop in this baby!" Monokuma announced, running in front of the TV and revealing a DVD case in his paws. "Da da da daaaaaaaaaa~ Carnivore Cruiseline! Run From All, All Will Run!" he declared, to a very mixed reaction.
"Yeeeeah!" Asana exclaimed, turning to see Miyuki eying the cover with a sordid stare. The cover was… understandably questionable. It looked like a picture someone took with an old camera, with their flash turned on, and the title itself was in Comic Sans, in a shade of dark red. The cover was a man with brown, curly hair and an all-denim ensemble running away from an obvious cutout of a bear.
"...Carnivore Cruiseline?" she said, pushing up her glasses. "Why… what is this? Why would anyone watch this?"
"Because it's awesome!" Asana countered, Miyuki turning her head down to the book in her hand.
"I'll pass…" Miyuki muttered.
"C'moooooooooooooooooon!" Asana pled, hands cupped together and trying her best puppy-dog eyes, despite being buffer than most of the men there and looking like she was dressed for a street fight. "You'll totally like it when you watch it, it has a dude dropkicking a tiger down an escalator!"
"That's really not convincing me. I'll stick to reading," Miyuki said, Asana pouting and turning to the TV while Monokuma set everything up.
"They teach a Shiba Dog-Karate so he can fight a bear!" Asana objected.
"You're digging yourself deeper, Asana." Miyuki countered.
"Fine. Be a nerd!" Asana said. "Junichi and company went up like 4 cool ranks for not being stiffs like you." She said, pointing a thumb back at Junichi and Touki, who were both looking pretty amped up for the viewing. Izumi went to sit down next to Touki.
Saya took a seat next to Izumi, keeping herself and Touki separated. Chiwa sat to Saya's left, Airi sitting to Chiwa's left. Rinne sat close the TV, kicking her feet up on the nearby table to get into maximum comfort, resting an elbow on the armrest of the 16 seat sofa to hold her chin up with her hand. Rokuro sat on the back of the sofa, crouched and trying to reach for Yuuto's uncomfortably massive popcorn tub sitting between his boney legs on the couch, even covering his torso.
Katusya sat on the floor while Koba took a seat next to Rinne. Only Daichi refused to sit, leaning against the wall and showing increasing irritability. "Alright! The movie's ready!" Monokuma announced as the lights dimmed, Miyuki letting out a groan. "Everyone be sure to keep your phones off during the movie. If you have flash photography I'll stab you with a disc broken in half!"
"Oh! Are we watching that movie too?" Yuuto asked. "I thought this whole hotel thing was a reference to-"
"Can it!" Monokuma shouted at the skinny rocker.
"What movie are you-" Junichi began to ask, Monokuma cutting him off.
"Shoosh! The trailers are starting!"
"There are trailers too?!" Miyuki groaned.
The DVD began with various trailers for movies of similar quality. Koba theorized these were all from the distributor of the movie they were about to watch. All of them having that home video quality shooting and titles such as The Bad Bitches Take Back Britain, Curse of Blood Forest, Computer Braindrain, and Sosuke Ichikawa: Live from Branson
The first trailer was apparently the third movie in the series, where a group of angry 40 something women is shown driving from town to town in England beating zombies with golf clubs, shotguns, and more. Somehow, the dialogue cursed more than Yuuto does in just the short runtime.
The second one was a werewolf kung-fu story hybrid, constantly shot in a sideways dutch angle in a random forest, and fake punch effects to make up for the fact the man fighting the person in a werewolf costume was clearly pulling his punches. Apparently, the director is both the starring actor and made the soundtrack himself that sounded like it was recorded in a bathroom.
The third trailer looked more like a graduate student's computer graphics animation homework, with several dodgy effects and the most obvious green screening that Junichi has ever seen. The plot, as far as anyone could tell, was about a group of humans being uploaded by their brains into a computer and having to fight off the machinations of a CEO who uploaded his brain to become an immortal hologram.
The last trailer showed a man in a garish powder blue suit and an oversized cowboy hat. Speaking in broken English and wearing cowboy boots, and wielding a fiddle he claimed to be from NASA, He was parading around his teenage half-American daughter, who was an expert at playing the fiddle, and wearing the ugliest USA flag inspired cowgirl dress. She was square dancing in time with her father, but her expression was striking.
"Man, she looks like she wants to die," Yuuto said with a laugh.
"That's how I feel half the time in the studio," Sora said, shaking his head.
"Sosuke Ichikawa? What's a Japanese guy doing having a fiddling hoedown in Missouri?" Rinne asked.
"I've heard about him. He got super into country music when some American country star did a show in Osaka," Sora explained. "I've got to admit, he's… enthusiastic about it." right before the cowboy on the screen gave a forced, but enthusiastic 'Yee Haw!' to the cheering crowd of Americans.
"Good lord…" Junichi said, covering his face with his hand. He didn't think he could feel bad for someone who probably earned millions of dollars before just then. Surprisingly, there was a massive turnout in the crowd shots, all cheering for Sosuke. Finally, the menu popped up, Monokuma setting up the Japanese audio track and playing the movie.
The movie had a thin plot with a bunch of what could be generously be called two-dimensional characters boarding a luxury cruise ship, where a gang of smugglers manages to sneak in dangerous animals that later escape and wreak havoc on the ship and its passengers. The main character's conversations literally consisted of him reminding the audience he is a husband, a father and a cop. The dub was the only positive as the voice actors actually tried to and the localization took small liberties, but it only made things more jarring as the effects and facial performances betrayed the dub's best efforts.
The couch erupted into laughter at the first animal attack on screen, a tourist was chased down a hallway by a pack of wolves, who lept on him and began to attack them.
"Uhh… Those are huskies." Rinne pointed out. "Wolves are way bigger. Look how fluffy those tails are!" Rinne said as the camera started cutting every second or so to cover up the fact the dogs were clearly licking his arms and legs.
"Awww. Doggies!" Izumi said with a squeak.
"Is that peanut butter?" Sora asked the group. "I think the dogs are licking peanut butter off of him." He said while the audio had aggressive barking and growling overdubbed on the footage.
"Awww. They're good doggos!" Izumi shouted with joy. Airi went to cover Chiwa's eyes with her hand.
"Don't look, Chiwa. This isn't appropriate for kids." Airi said as Chiwa tried to move her head away from Airi's hand.
"Inappropriate? Move your hand, Airi! Sora said there were huskies licking him." Chiwa objected.
"It's implied violence, Chiwa. You fill in the gaps with your mind, and it becomes real violence. I don't want to corrupt your innocent nature." Airi explained.
"Monokuma's running a Killing Game!" Chiwa pointed out.
"Can all of you shut up? ! I'm trying to fuckin' watch over here!" Daichi shouted from his sulking corner.
"You ain't even on the couch, bro!" Rokuro shouted into the darkness.
"Fuck you, you caveman!" Daichi shot back. "I'm not sitting anywhere near any of you, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna watch this stupid ass movie!"
"You really don't need to curse at us…" Sora said.
"Yeah, watch the fuckin' language," Yuuto added, chuckling at his own joke. Daichi then walked over to the couch, seeing a large red cup sat precariously on the back of the couch next to Rokuro. Without a single word, Daichi struck the cup with a hard smack, sending ice and cold red liquid into the air, splashing Sora's jacket and scattering ice all over the floor.
"Hey, my punch!" Rokuro yelled.
"Screw your punch!" Daichi said in response.
"Gahhhh! It's cold!" Sora moaned.
"Kakihara! Do not go spilling beverages all over the place!" Saya called from the opposite end of the couch, getting a middle finger in response as Daichi stormed off.
"S-shit. This jacket's ruined, man. And it's cold as hell with it on! Get this off of me!" Sora shouted, unzipping his hoodie and tossing it off onto the floor, leaving him in the dimly lit room as he began to look for something to dry himself off. Izumi suddenly let out an excited squeal.
"He's got abs!" Izumi exclaimed, noticing that Sora indeed had some muscle tone on his otherwise slender frame. She quickly got up from the couch, Sora's eyes widening as he saw the waitress about to charge toward him. Without a second's hesitation, Saya pressed her yardstick against Surumi's neck.
"Igarashi! Control your hormones!" Saya demanded.
"W-why are you doing this to me!?" Izumi cried, struggling against Saya's hold.
"Tame your animal, Saya. I'm not for sale, it doesn't matter who!" Sora called as he hid behind Yuuto and his popcorn.
"Yo, don't drag me and my popcorn into this! I'm too skinny to hide behind anyway." Yuuto said.
"Let me go, Saya!" Izumi pleaded. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I might never see Taiga shirtless again!"
"Not on your life! Now sit down and watch this terrible movie!" Saya yelled, dragging Izumi back onto the couch. "I can't believe I'm arguing for this garbage film… but if it keeps order, then so be it."
Katsuya suddenly stood up from his spot on the floor, walking over to Sora. He grabbed his bundled up, drink-stained hoodie and folded it into his arms. "Sora, I'll grab you a fresh pair of clothes," Katsuya said bluntly.
"Wait, really? Why?" Sora asked, legitimately surprised.
"Because I'm not enjoying Izumi's reaction to you either," Katsuya explained. "And I really want an excuse to not watch this movie."
"Sounds good to me," Sora said with a shrug, handing Katsuya his shirt.
Everything began to settle down at that point. Surumi slid her hand into Junichi's during the chaos, Junichi grabbing onto it without thinking. Surumi leaned her head onto Junichi's shoulder in response. Touki let out an exaggerated yawn and stretched out his arm, about to pull Izumi in when he felt the quick, violent sting of Saya's yardstick. "O-ow! Jerk…" He muttered, shaking the pain out of his hand. Katsuya walked around the front of the couch as it was the only way to get behind it and to the elevator, leaving everybody's sight.
Junichi felt something press to his shoulder, glancing for a second and seeing that Surumi was leaning on him. He decided to lean back against her and took a deep breath to relax. Maybe being stuck here wasn't the worst thing, at times.
Junichi then felt a burning sensation on the back of his head. He felt his breath suddenly feel like a weight was pressing onto his chest, and his hand began to tremble slightly. He couldn't understand why he felt that way, but he had to turn around to see if something was making him feel this away. Katsuya was standing on the back of the couch, his face only dimly lit by the blue hues of the television screen and the film. His pale face was blue, and there was a shadow covering the top half of his face thanks to the bear pelt over his head. But his gold eyes were reflecting the TV, his almost catlike set of pupils leering back down at him while still holding the jacket under one of his arms. The audio of the room began to fade, as Junichi continued to gaze into his eyes, making him uncomfortable to the point he had to bite his lip to calm down. He had to say something.
"Wha-" Junichi started, but Katsuya immediately turned around to leave the room. He had to swallow a lot of spit when that uncomfortable moment happened.
"Oh, Junichi. Are you alright?" Surumi asked, noticing Junichi instinctively squeezed her hand.
"Y-yeah… just a little chilly, that's all…" he said. Surumi responded to Junichi's hand squeeze with a squeeze of her own, her face drawing closer to his. Junichi felt his face heat up as she began to close her eyes, her face a bright red to match his own. Junichi, taking a deep breath, shut his eyes and began to lean forward as well.
"Y'all hear that…?" Monokuma whispered, popping his head up slowly from behind the couch and wedging his stuffed head between theirs with a squish, the two of them kissing on both sides of his face. "That's the credits… the movie's over! Puhuhuhu~! Go to dinner." This startled the both of them, causing them to spill back onto the couch in different directions, sending Junichi crashing into Touki and Surumi falling in front of Asana.
The lights came back on, the students getting up from the couch. "Monokuma wins his first ever smooch! Ruahahaha!"
"Y-you… you… you!" Junichi stammered out in frustration and shock.
"Heh! Nice try, Junichi! But you're not sneaking a make-out session during my Killing Suite!" Monokuma taunted.
"D-don't… don't tell everyone that out loud! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Junichi exclaimed, turning a deep red and looking around at everyone now staring at him.
"Welp, it's public now ya perv! This cringe express was courtesy of dear ol' Monokuma; No need to thank me. " he said, cackling the whole time. "Get to the dining hall now! The banquet is ready!"
Monokuma then headed out of the diner, the remaining students leaving the lounge. Yuuto took off his shirt, throwing it to Sora as they headed for the doors. "Here, you can borrow my shirt, dude."
"Uh… thanks…" Sora muttered.
"See you at the banquet, Junichi," Surumi said, skipping away. Junichi stood there, frozen in the spot when he felt a sudden hard slap to his back.
"OW! What the?!" he exclaimed, turning to see Asana grinning at him.
"Man only three days in here and you're makin' moves! Proud of ya, dude," she said, Junichi trying to hide his face in his beanie.
"Sh-shut up!" Junichi said, hearing another voice chuckling at him. He briefly pulled up his beanie to see Miyuki with a barely suppressed grin on her face.
"Y-you'd better be careful, Asana. It seems we've got a ladykiller in this hotel." Miyuki joked
"That's n-not… Cut it out!" Junichi said, trying to hide how red his face was getting.
"Man, I've been trying for days to get a lady interested in me and all I got was Saya hitting me repeatedly. How the hell do you do that?"
"I'm not doing anything at all! Stop looking at me! Leave me alone!" Junichi replied, deeply mortified. He didn't like attention back at middle school and he doesn't like attention now.
Eventually, the jokes and congratulations subsided as the room cleared out, leaving only him and his shame. Junichi finally headed off for the dining hall, thinking of where to go to avoid any more teasing.