Chapter 2: Afraid of Water (Daily Life 2)

Saya stepped through the elevator, followed by Sora and Chiwa, going straight for the lounge. They entered to see Daichi leaning against the wall, away from the couch, brooding as always. Junichi was on the couch, literally slumping downward. Touki was sat next to his left, still trying to talk to him while Koba was at Junichi's right, playing one-on-one against Rinne in a fighting game. Miyuki was on the far right end of the couch, reading a book. Because of course, she was. Unusually, Asana was leaning over her shoulder and reading the same page. Yuuto sat where he was before, leaving a spot open for Sora. Last was Airi, who gave Chiwa a wave of greeting.

Saya walked toward the right side of the couch, seeing there was a decently sized space there in comparison to the left side. Sora sat next to Yuuto, Saya taking the seat next to Sora and Chiwa sandwiched herself between Saya and Airi. After a few minutes, Izumi and Rokuro entered the lounge, Izumi shooting a glare to Saya before walking over to the other side of the couch, sitting next to Touki. Rokuro jumped onto the back of the couch behind Yuuto and Sora.

"Akada! Get off the back of the couch!" Saya demanded, but Rokuro ignored her. Saya was going to speak up, but just swatted him on the wrist and sat back down, with Chiwa hopping up onto the seat with her slightly undersized frame beside Saya, then putting her toy rabbit on one of her legs.

"Is Monokuma gonna show up already?" Junichi asked, barely any emotion in his voice.

"He woulda showed up earlier if you didn't have your thumb up your ass all morning," Daichi said from across the room.

"...Whatever." Junichi replied, sinking in further to the couch. In response, Daichi grit his teeth.

"C'mon, man. Get offended by me. Your mom's a whore, I ran over your cat, your stupid pointy hair thing is fuckin' stupid! Don't just blow me off like that!"

"Uh-huh…" Junichi said with a weak nod.

"Ah, fuck you too!" Daichi exclaimed, turning away from the couch.

"Weird how that's getting to him more than when he's pissed us off…" Touki said, looking at Daichi stewing in his own anger. "Maybe he likes having someone to piss off."

"I guess..." Junichi said with little enthusiasm.

"Beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Monokuma announced, jumping out of a small hole that opened in the floor, just in front of the coffee table.

"Bear!" Touki shouted, in surprise.

"Bear!?" Miyuki shouted, startled.

"Bear…" Junichi muttered, then sighing.

"Well, good afternoon everybody! I'm here to make a veeeery special-" Monokuma started with a paw behind his back.

"Just give us the shitty thing you're planning next." Rinne cut him off.

"Look, I'm trying to be the bear-er of good news, for once!" The bear joked, rocking on his toepads.

"Booooo!" Yuuto heckled from his side of the couch. "Boo this bear!"

"Oh, boo yourself! Are you really fed up with me after like ONE class trial? Is this going to be all the jokes now? I show up, and you tell me I suck and leave?"

"You called all of us rip-offs of people we've never met."

"I was just spitting straight facts, dawg! That's different than sandbagging any jokes I can come up with!" Monokuma said. "Anyway, y'know how this building has 21 or so floors, and you guys could only use like 4 or 5?"

"You're opening more rooms?" Saya asked in response.

"Dinga-ding-ding! We've got ourselves a smart cookie in the room! Yep, I opened up a few more rooms. The theme of these rooms? They're gonna be wet. Uhh… with water, in case you don't know what wet is."

"We know what wet is," Rinne said bluntly.

"Yeah… the motive is on hold for now until you guys check out the new areas. I suggest you make it snappy instead of… I 'unno, dwelling on each room. Less time lookin' at stuff and more time doing stuff! We should have a pool party, dammit. Poolparty!" Monokuma said, voice squeaking at his excitement about a potential pool party.

"We have a pool now? Sweet!" Yuuto said, scrambling off the couch and hopping over the back of it, nearly plowing into Rokuro as he got ready to explore the new floors. "I'm goin' to that shit!"

"Yuuto, wait for m-" Sora said, Yuuto already leaving the room. "Oh, whatever… Let's just go already," he said with a sigh, getting up from the couch and following after Yuuto. Rokuro jumped off the couch, more people getting up and leaving in different groups out of the lounge and to the elevator. Saya and Chiwa, followed by Airi. Rinne leaving with Koba. Daichi walking away from the others. Asana dragging Miyuki along.

"Alright, new floors! You ready to go, bro?" Touki asked, getting a shrug from Junichi.

"I guess so..." Junichi droned.

"Hey man, I know you're sad, maybe a change of scenery might be good for you. Let's hash it out on our own and see some of the new places." Touki said, giving Junichi's good shoulder a clap.

"Yeah…" Junichi said.

"Izumi, a little help here?" Touki asked. Izumi stood up from her spot on the couch, putting her hand on Junichi's other shoulder.

"Did you guys need help with something?"

"Junichi needs camaraderie, you're one of the decent people to be around, so maybe you can check out the rooms with us now that Saya gave you the pink slip."

"Sure," Izumi said.

"That's weird, I thought that statement would have rattled you, now that I thought about it," Touki muttered.

"Spending time with people who won't yell at me? Why exactly would I hate that?" Izumi asked, scratching some of her messy black hair.

"Good point. Now, help me drag Junichi out of here," Touki said, grabbing Junichi's arm. Izumi nodded and wrapped her arm around Junichi's back. The two hoisted Junichi from the couch, careful not to hurt his other arm. "Alright, you support his back and I'll support his front."

"Got it," Izumi said as they walked Junichi out of the lounge, meeting everyone in the elevator.

The door shut, Saya looking to see the buttons for floors 16-13 had lit up. "So, these are our new floors…" Saya observed, pressing the button for the 16th floor.

"Only four extra floors?" Miyuki asked as the elevator shook to life.

"Monokuma opened up the mall because the Dining Hall got shut down if I remember," Saya answered. The elevator soon came to a stop, the doors opening up to show a hallway with a polished quartz floor and bright blue walls, the hallways lit with blue neon lights hung from the ceilings, soaking the room in a strange atmosphere.

"It's very… blue…" Sora stated. "I guess someone here likes blue a little too much."

"Blue has a soothing effect according to color psychology!" Monokuma said, literally leaning out of a small door in the wall. "Plus, it's thematic! Blue is a wet color! And these floors are-"

"Wet. Yeah, we get it!" Miyuki snapped.

"I even polished the dark-colored floor so it's reflective, and looks like you're looking into th-"

"Water. We know." Rinne said, cutting Monokuma asked.

"...You guys seem less excited about this than I was hoping." Monokuma said, disappointed.

"You literally spoiled this before we even got here," Touki said, holding up Junichi with one arm. "What's next, painting waves on the walls?"

"I mean… I was gonna do that, but I didn't get around to it in time." Monokuma said with a shrug.

"Right. So what's on this floor?" Saya asked.

"Well... The pool! Also a bathhouse/sauna thing, you can also check out the aquarium on two different floors from how deep the thing is. We also have a karaoke bar!"

"Hell yeah! Everybody get in the pool!" Yuuto exclaimed, running for one of the doors.

"I don't even have a bathing suit…" Miyuki said. "Does he expect me to go swimming in a sweater?"

"I mean… you could always take off the sweater..." Touki suggested with a grin.

"Touki, don't be gross," Izumi commented under her breath into his ear.

"N-no way! I'd want a proper bathing suit if I were to go swimming. I'm not ruining my clothes in pool water! I'm not j-just some fan service for guys who like girls with big chests and glasses!" Miyuki objected.

"...I just realized you and Saya are both exactly that. Oh my God." Touki said, in realization. He then felt the sudden sting to the back of his head. "O-ow! I'm holding Junichi over here!" He shouted, as he almost lost his grip on Junichi.

"Th-thanks, Saya," Miyuki said.

"Here, lemme help you there, Touki," Asana said, reaching over and lifting Junichi onto her shoulders "Up you go, sandbag boy!" she exclaimed, holding him effortlessly.

"Thanks, Asana. Don't throw him, okay?" Touki asked before Saya began striking him again. "Ow! OW! Stop it! This is assault! This is not cool, nor funny!"

"Thank you, Nanashima. I was hoping to discipline Minami without harming Ando." Saya said.

"No problem," Asana said, carrying Junichi off.

"YOU HAD AN AGENDA! I KNEW IT!" Touki shouted while getting rained with swats from the flexible metal yardstick.

"Hey, you perved on MiMi and her boobies. You've got no one to blame but yourself. You see how many swats Junichi got for not being gross?" Asana pointed out.

"He's injured! And in a weird… potato-tive state!" Touki shot back, face covered in little, rectangle-shaped red marks from some of the blood vessels under his skin getting inflamed.

"Bad wording," Izumi said, looking away from them.

"Someone make her stop!" Touki cried out.

"She's not even really swinging her shoulder to hit you. She's doing those little tennis slap shots with her elbow and wrist more than clobbering you. And anyway, a yardstick mostly just stings… You'll live, Perv-Minami." Asana said.

"It still hurts!" Touki shouted as Saya did one final spinning strike.

"100 Strike Atonement! A pervert's ultimate punishment." Saya said.

"Oh, now you're talking to me!" Touki exclaimed. However, Saya did not respond to him, she turned away from him and began to walk.

"While swimming is not on the schedule yet, we may check out the pool room and attempt to return Hagiwara to the group," Saya said to the remaining students, stopping at the door to the pool room.

She opened the door, greeted by the wide, terrifying grin and leering eyes of the MonoServant Hojo. On any other day, his presence would be enough to spook Saya. But today, she was given a whole new terror to gaze upon.

"Surf's up, dudes!" Hojo said excitedly, dressed in shades, Monokuma-themed flipflops and a tight red speedo.

"Oh good God, no!" Sora shouted. "I can see way too much, abort, abort!"

"Cover your eyes, Chiwa! You do not need to see this!" Airi exclaimed, putting her hands over Chiwa's eyes.

"Thank you!" Chiwa said gratefully, covering Socrates' eyes with her own hand.

"W-why is he so hairy!?" Izumi shouted in disgust, which made Asana start to fight the laugh she felt coming because she might drop Junichi.

"Isn't it rad that this totally bodacious pool got opened up?! It makes me wanna dive in deep for a beach break! This place is totally duck-dive!"

"...Are those words?" Koba asked.

"But this pool is totally choice, brah. It's like 80 feet long and has three diving boards! One little one for baby losers, a 10 foot one, and a 30 foot one!"

"How many Monocoins will it cost for you to shut the fuck up?" Daichi asked.

"More than what you have, ya hodad!

"...The fuck did you call me?" Daichi asked, more confused than angry.

"I'm gonna hit the water, dawg. You folks can go check out the other dope ass rooms on this floor! Just remember to hit the Mono-Mono Bikini Ma-Cheen in the pool room to get your personalized bathing suit!" Hojo said, pointing to a nearby gashapon machine.

"W-wait, we have to get personalized swimsuits from a gashapon machine? W-Won't we just get a random swimsuit with no guarantee which one is ours?!" Miyuki pointed out.

"Eh, just makes it funner that way. How do you think I got mine?!" Hojo said, swiveling his hips.

"...I really want you to stop gyrating at me." Touki commented.

"Would it feel better if I looked you directly in the eyes?" Hojo asked, still gyrating

"It makes me want an adult," Touki said.

"I am an adult!" Hojo protested.

"I'm guessing it's better I stay blinded, huh Airi?" Chiwa asked

"Absolutely," Airi replied.

Saya sighed and began striking Hojo repeatedly with her yardstick.

"Uh… aren't we not supposed to attack the MonoStaff?" Koba asked.

"Is that a weapon or an extension of her awful self?" Touki asked, answering a question with a question of his own.

Rinne got behind Saya and grabbed one of her wrists, easily twisting it behind her back and using it as a lever to pull Saya away from Hojo. "Eaaaasy now. Let's go be sane somewhere before Monokuma comes and kills us."

"Death to perverts, Takayanagi!" Saya shouted as Rinne dragged her away.

"We're… gonna go to the hot spring now. Seeya, weird speedo dude." Yuuto said, shaking his head as he guided a now blinded Sora way from the pool.

"You didn't go swimming?" Sora asked, wondering why Yuuto had all his clothes on still.

"You damn sure know why I didn't," Yuuto said. "Not with that weird dude bein' here."

"Good point…" Sora said with a shrug.

The group soon got to the bathhouse, which was mimicking a traditional outdoor hot spring, a large pool of water, heated to the point it was bubbling, and the room was partially filled with steam. The pool itself was made of smooth rocks, with a vacant place for the water. There was also a splitter in the center; a tall, wide wooden fence separating two halves of the hot spring.

"Ah, of course. The onsen is split between men and women, I forgot what they call when the two genders intermingle." Saya said, putting a hand to her chin.

"Co-ed?" Asana chimed in.

"Yes. That's right." Saya said with a nod.

"This wall is a force for great evil," Touki objected, Izumi suddenly covering his mouth.

"Don't press your luck, Touki. Saya still has her yardstick," she warned. "I'm pretty sure you don't want her beating the snot out of you two times in the same hour," she said, taking her hand off his mouth.

Touki nodded as Chiwa walked over to the border of the hot spring. "Hrm… the water looks to be pretty deep… One or two steps down, the floor fades away from the bubbles. If I tried to sit in this, I'd just end up drowning and hot and hating it."

"Yeah. Most people hate drowning…" Asana said, scratching the back of her head.

"It wouldn't be just the drowning. The heat would also be a factor in hating being here. I'd turn into a lobster if I spent half an hour in here due to my lack of surface area."

"Surface area?" Asana asked.

"Yeah, if the same amount of energy is applied to two objects with different surface areas, the one with less surface area will heat quicker from the convection transferring the heat energy to their body. It's like grilling a skirt steak vs trying to grill 4 pounds of roast beef."

"Uh-huh… well, I know where I'm going after this. My muscles are still barking from the morning work-out." Asana said with a light shrug.

"I nearly died from your morning run, Asana... " Miyuki said, adjusting her shoes. "My legs are still throbbing with pain… I'd need to come here too."

"Sure thing, MiMi! We'll make it a spa date! Every lady is invited! We'll even get some food afterward." Asana suggested, Touki's ears perking up at the idea.

"Sure!" Izumi exclaimed, Touki slightly bouncing in joy next to her.

"Alright," Rinne said as Touki's smile widened. "I could use a nice hot bath."

"Sounds like a plan," Airi added, Touki lightly pumping his fist. "Are you sure you want to skip this, Chiwa?"

"I don't want to turn into a lobster, so I think I'll just stick to the shallow end of the swimming pool, as long as the weird speedo guy isn't there," Chiwa said, slightly uncomfortable.

"I'll pass as well. I'll take over watching Chiwa for the while," Saya said.

"How are you even holding Junichi right now? Isn't he heavy?" Miyuki asked, tilting her head curiously at Junichi lying limp across Asana's shoulders.

"Heh! Red's nothing compared to pulling a tractor tire around by my teeth! That shit hurts, but it improved my leg strength and my ability to get punched in the face!" Asana said, playfully punching herself in the chin.

"Why would you… why a tire? Why with your teeth?" Miyuki asked as Asana started walking out of the bathhouse. "...Anyway. I think we've seen enough of the bathhouse. We got a few more places to go, right?"

"Right! The top few floors of the building were intended for the guests to stay in. Without the windows boarded, you could see the sunset over the sea of Japan when you're that high up! The lower floors will probably have less stuff on 'em." Monokuma explained.

"Good because I'm getting tired of exploring already," Rokuro said.

"We're only a floor in! How are you already tired?" Miyuki asked.

"Because it takes you idiots half an hour to tie your shoes! Get a fucking move on!" Daichi snapped. "Stop getting distracted by dumb shit!"

"Man, you really need to see a therapist," Yuuto said.

"I need some fucking smokes! Now hustle!" Daichi shouted, lightly shoving Yuuto out of the door.

"Hey, hey! Quit pushing, you jackass!" Yuuto objected as everyone left the bathhouse.

"Then move!" Daichi yelled, pushing Yuuto along the hall. They stopped at the next door, opening up to find what appeared to be a relatively small room, lit by pink and blue neon lights alternating in slow pulses, with what appeared to be a small stage on one side of the room, and a small machine with a microphone attached to it. There was a Monokuma singing background music into the microphone, wearing a blue business suit with a red necktie wrapped around his head like it was a bandana.

There also appeared to be two vending machines in the back of the room, and a bar counter for serving drinks. There were about 2 tables, with about 6 seats apiece, the back wall had a dartboard, and in the center of the room was a billiards table. The room had no wallpaper or paint and was entirely made of brick, with a grey and black tiled floor.

"Blue moon~ You saw me standi-... Oh! Welcome to the karaoke bar!" Monokuma announced into the microphone in a husky, bluesy tone. "Why don't you cool cats go over and get yourselves a drink from the vending machine and coooool off~?"

"Why a karaoke bar and not just… a bar?" Miyuki asked.

"Y-you're minors, stupid!" Monokuma shouted, causing the microphone to feedback with a hiss. "Don't drink the champagne, I might get into trouble with the censors."

"So you stocked the place with wine… but don't want us to drink it." Airi observed.

"I mean… I guess you're old enough, Airi. But I don't really want you to go around and be drunk like my alcoholic dad."

"What did you just say?"

"...Blue moon~ You didn't hear that last joke~ And now I'm all alone~ Singing my little tune." Monokuma sang to dodge the question. "Anyways, the vending machine has… varietay~ You can choose between a soda…" Monokuma started, snapping along to the song. "Or a different sodaaaaa~ Aww yeah."

"And how about the karaoke machines? Do the songs have variety?" Sora asked.

"Ah ah ah! Varietay~" Monokuma said.

"This is dumb," Sora said, shaking his head.

"I've got 3000 songs on this baby!"

"Wait. Holy shit." Daichi said, shoving his way to the front of the group. "Any of you assholes got some MonoCoins!?"

"You thinkin' you want… a sodaaaaa?" Monokuma said, slowly pirouetting in place. Then he saw as Daichi quickly pickpocketed Junichi, grabbing a few of his stash of Monocoins. He then went over to the vending machine. After a few button presses and dropped coins, a pack of cigarettes dropped to the door on the bottom, with a matchbook attached to it.

"H-hey! What're you doing?" Saya exclaimed.

"What does it look like I'm doing!?" Daichi shot back, grabbing a match and striking the plate to set it alight. "I've been wanting this since the fuckin' doors opened!"

"D-don't buy cigarettes, you're a minor!" Saya shouted. "Kakihara! Put those down!"

"Eat my ass, bitch! I need my stuff, goddamn it!" He said, lighting the tip of the cigarette, putting it in his mouth and taking the biggest drag of his life. "H-hoooooolly fuck, man… Oh, thank god…" He said, his knees almost shaking from the headrush.

"For the record, Monokuma doesn't condone substance use, but he's not interested enough to stop it at the moment... Dig it, baby~"

"Wait, so murder's okay, but you draw the line at smoking?" Chiwa asked.

"I don't draw lines, maaaan. Everything's supposed to just kinda blend together into one big cool thang~ You do you. Just don't drink the wine… I'm instilling despair, not starting alcoholics anonymous. Shaka boom boom yeah~ "

"You didn't answer my question," Chiwa said.

"There are no answers and there are no questions! There's only groovin'... and class trials. A trial about who's falling to the demon of addictive substances is for the after school special, y'all. And that just ain't cool~"

"You're not even intimidating, you're just weird!" Yuuto complained as Saya continued to rant, complain, and berate Daichi while he smoked cigarettes like a chimney in the background.

"We can get back to what we're doing, but I think the rest of you will get a treat out of the last room on this floor!" Monokuma said.

"We're leaving already?" Chiwa asked.

"Man, let's just actually get in an out of a room in under 10 minutes. Don't ruin this for me." Daichi said, cigarette hanging from his lips.

"You are too young to be taking in carcinogens into your body, Kakihara!" Saya continued to rant. "Do you want to deal with cancer before you're 40?"

"We're in a killing game you dumb bimbo, half of us will probably be dead by the time we get out," Daichi said, taking in another drag and puffing it out in her face, getting a loud, wheezing cough out of Saya. "Cool your tits, I'm going to be easier to deal with now that I'm not in constant withdrawal."

Saya coughed and gagged, waving the smoke away from her face. "H-How… dare you! You... hakk! Urk!"

Saya's anger was cut off by more violent coughing. Before long, she had to double over, putting her hands on her thighs and coughing hard enough to turn her face red. "S-Saya! Are you okay?!" Chiwa exclaimed.

"Real dramatic of you, damn," Daichi said, taking another drag as he walked off.

"Can't… breathe…" Saya said, turning away from Chiwa and barreling out of the karaoke bar, reaching into the breast pocket of her clothes to grab her inhaler, and hold it against her lips to try and take a breath of the medication, feeling only a weak blast coat her lungs. That was the last she had in there. She began to slow her breathing to compensate for the lack of medication. A few more coughs sputtered out as Saya leaned herself against the wall for support. She kept up her slow breathing until she finally felt her lungs recover.

"Saya… is something wrong?" a voice came from behind her. Saya turned around to see Chiwa standing behind her with a concerned look on her face.

"Ah… Chiwa… I'm fine now. However, I will need to tell you something in full confidentiality," Saya said, getting a nod from Chiwa.

"Of course," Chiwa said.

"I suffer from moderate Asthma and my inhaler is out of medicine. I didn't get a lot from the previous class trial, so could you purchase some medication?" Saya requested.

"How would I know if I got the right Asthma medication?"

"I'm fairly sure the only ones they'd sell would be the ones I need. Monokuma seems to curate items based on who we are at the mini-mall," Saya said, handing her the inhaler. "If not, just try to find a copy of this one."

Chiwa nodded, checking her student handbook briefly. "Hrm… oh! Saya, there's a clinic!"

"There is?" Saya asked.

"Yeah, on the thirteenth floor! I bet that lady with the bear head will be there and can help you get treatment!"

"Ah yes, Dr. Saito," Saya said with a nod.

"...Why don't we just use the map to figure out what new rooms there are instead of having this tour bus wandering through the floors slowly?"

"I… I didn't really think of that. I figured Monokuma would force us to explore if we just all looked at the handbook map." Saya said.

"I don't think he's having much fun doing this either," Chiwa said.

"Monokuma is a difficult person to read. He seems to flit between manic jokester and menacing danger to us all..." Saya assessed as she headed for the elevator. "Besides, knowing where something is an being familiar with it are different things and I would rather be aware of any potential dangers the new rooms bring to us."

"Good point. Anyway, we'll meet up with them after we meet with Kageri?" Chiwa asked.

"That's right. Hopefully, they won't get too far through the floors without us," Saya said with a nod as she pressed the call button for the elevator.