Chapter 2: Afraid of Water (Daily Life 4)
Junichi threw the fork onto his empty plate, rubbing his belly with a content sigh. "Ahhh… that hit the spot." he said as Izumi gathered up the dishes.
"Yeah, good work Izumi." Touki said, giving a thumbs up.
"Thanks, you guys. It's been great to have this lab," Izumi said with a smile.
"You come up with a name for the diner yet?" Touki asked.
"No, not yet. I've been brainstorming a lot of names, but nothing's really clicked for me." Izumi said, putting a hand to her chin in thought when the door to her lab suddenly slammed open.
"Ahhh! What the hell was that?!" Junichi exclaimed, turning around to see Asana standing at the doorway.
"Yo! Izzy! It's hot tub party time! Get a move on!" Asana shouted,
"...I thought it wasn't a hot tub?" Izumi pointed out.
"...You know what I mean, dingbat. Go to the place with the pool!" Asana said, grabbing the door and slamming it shut. Izumi, having covered her ears from the second door slam, uncovered her ears and let out a small sigh.
"Don't student handbooks have a messaging system?" Junichi asked. "Couldn't she just message you or something?"
"Huh… it doesn't," Touki said, checking his handbook. "That's weird, why don't we have a way to message people? That'd make things way easier."
"Well… huh, that's a good point," Monokuma said as he popped up. "I mean, I've done twenty of these Killing Games, but I've never had anyone use a messaging program? I may have to get to work on this…"
"Wait, seriously? That's all we had to do?" Junichi asked.
"I know! I dunno how no one ever brought up the idea! I mean, I'd have to make sure it's local to prevent any communication from reaching the outside world… One killing game someone snuck a device on here that opened an IM client and called in the calvary before the school blew up."
"How does someone make 20 of something, and nobody stops them? or does something to change the laws or.. I don't know, people get bored and move on. You'd think someone would catch you after the twentieth killing game." Touki noted.
"Yeah, especially if you're livestreaming it. Someone's gonna find us if you're showing this on the internet, right?" Izumi added.
"Eh, Monokuma's more of a legacy role. Junko Enoshima, then like… a computer one. Then some old guy… and then there was that Children of Junko cult, then Monaca Towa came back from space and gave it a shot, Then a guy with three personalities did like 4 killing games before they got caught. Then there was the American Killing Game… that one was kind of bad. And… hrm, Murder Boat… then some weird 24 hour puzzle thing like it was one of those Spike Chunsoft games-"
"Fire Pro?" Junichi asked.
"No! Not Fire Pro! Don't interrupt!" Monokuma barked. "And uh… Did I say murder boat? Oh yeah, I did. Then there was the killing middle school, that one also kind of sucked. And… man, a lot of those other killing games were boring... then there was Danganronpa 15 where they lost the FIRST class trial. That was hilarious. Hmmm…" Monokuma hummed, trying to tap into his memory. "The 19th one was very interesting, but anyway! It was a soft reboot, so a lot of things changed. The 20th one was a'ight, the villain was kind of a wackjob and sapped some of the excitement. We're on the HAVOC Arc now!"
"There's story arcs? Isn't this real life?" Junichi asked.
"Yeah, but people like narrative n' stuff. If there's a throughline more people will want to watch all of them in a row. It retains viewers compared to if each one was its own separate incident." Monokuma explained. "It's basic marketing! I'm a big Danganronpa fan, I've watched replays of every single one!"
"...Were you the mastermind of 20?" Junichi asked.
"Oh god no, that guy was bonkers!" Monokuma said with a laugh. "Poor bastard works for the same organization I do, but he was such a nutjob that I feel like he set us back more than gave us credibility. He nuked Kyoto for pete's sake!"
"Why do you keep comparing us to people we haven't met?"
"Eh, people really liked the first two Danganronpas. But you can only have so many character archetypes. I picked you guys because you were all in the same class, but it really feels like you're all just Danganronpa 2 again." Monokuma explained. "The next couple of Killing Games weren't as good, so none of the students 'stuck' with me."
"I don't really 'act' a certain way. This is kind of how I always act… It's not like I'm trying to be interesting. I didn't really pick the things I'm interested in, I just sorta did what I thought was fun." Junichi said.
"And how." Monokuma taunted.
"Hey! That's not what I meant!" Junichi objected.
"Annnyway, The villain is sort of inspired by the last one. I guess that's a vicious cycle of this kind of thing, huh? Junko caused a generation of weirdos to carry on her legacy without even meeting a single one of them through media coverage!"
"Are you trying to make a point?" Junichi asked.
"I don't have a point, Junichi." Monokuma said. "I'm not the mastermind. I'm just a vessel, the one who operates me have their own weird idiosyncrasies about them. We're in the digital age, so I do have my own personality outside of what the mastermind wants me to do!"
"...Do you like seeing us like this, like… the AI monokuma and not the guy running the machine?"
"Are you asking if I'm aware of the things I'm doing and if I have ethics? That's kind of a tough question to ask a robo-bear like me." Monokuma said.
"Am I talking to the robot now?" Junichi asked, leaning down to look at the bear.
"I guess so, the mastermind's busy so I'm running on auto-" Monokuma replied,before being cut off.
"Hey, Junichi!" Touki called
"Huh? What? What's up, Touki?" Junichi asked, turning to see Touki stood at the entrance to Izumi's lab.
"You gonna keep arguing with the teddy bear or what?" Touki asked, nudging his head out the door. "The girls should be in the bathhouse in a few minutes, right?"
"So? It's supposed to be a girl thing. I'm pretty sure they don't want my pasty ass in there with them." Junichi said.
"Oh, we're not gonna be joining them. We're gonna do like… the thing men have been known to do for millenia. Appreciate the beauty of women!" Touki offered.
"Uhhh… Why do you think I'd be interested in that?" Junichi asked. Touki walked over and leaned against the table.
"I didn't think your door swung that way!" Touki joked.
"Not like that! I… I like girls but I wouldn't want to.. I dunno… look at them without them saying it's cool first." Junichi said, clearly embarrassed.
"Look, Junichi, buddy. I didn't wanna say this, but… you've been pretty down since the class trial. You've gotten a little better, but you have this aura of negativity around you and I feel like it's only gonna keep getting worse. What's wrong with a little hijinks? You're not killing anybody." Touki said, trying to egg Junichi on.
"Yeah but… It feels kind of gross to do that. Looking at women that I know… I don't know why, but something about that bugs me." Junichi said.
"You sayin' you don't like busty women?"
"I do, bu-"
"Ha! I just made you admit your type, you like busty gals!"
"N-not like that!"
"So you'd like it if they were strangers?"
"No! You're… stop it, you're making me feel embarrassed, dude. I mean.. I guess I'd be more okay with it if I -didn't- know them, but I do. And it makes it weird, alright? I respect women!"
"You can respect women and think they're still hot, dude."
"Isn't that kind of... We're peeping on them, man. That's messed up."
"What else am I supposed to do to cheer you up? Are you just going to collect cobwebs? Look man.. You don't have to like it. Just humor me for this, dude. Even if it goes wrong it'll snap you out of your funk."
"I…"
"Junichi, do you like how you feel right now?"
"Not really…"
"And do you know what you need to do to fix it?"
"I… I don't really know what to do to make myself feel better."
"Then why not try something that makes you uncomfortable!? You don't know until you do it, man. That's life, that's being spontaneous, dude!" Touki argued. "If you can't figure out what would make you feel better, try throwing stuff and see what sticks!"
"I'm kind of sick of arguing, so fine. But if we get caught I'm saying it's your fault." Junichi said with a sigh.
"All you've got to lose is the respect of your female peers!" Monokuma added.
"Man they never respected me in the first place." Touki said with a laugh.
"...I mean I think Izumi and Miyuki are alright. Asana's pretty cool too, if slightly scary, I wouldn't want them pissed at me either." Junichi explained.
"Not if we don't get caught." Touki said
"Let's just do this before my stomach tells me this is the worst thing I've ever considered doing in my life." Junichi said with a defeated sigh.
"That's the spirit! If you keep doing new things, your brain won't have time to regret it!" Touki said, heading out of the diner.
"That sounds really flawed but fuck it, let's just go already!" Junichi said, getting and follow Touki. The two left for the elevator, Touki taking the lead and hitting the button for the sixteenth floor. As the elevator door opened, Touki leaned up against the wall, shuffling down the hall and nodding to Junichi. Junichi followed suit, the two sliding along the wall until they came up on the hotspring doors.
"Should we get into some swimwear or just go in our normal clothes?" Junichi asked.
"...Aw man! I almost forgot the swim trunks!" Touki exclaimed, slapping his temple and running for the pool hall. "Come on, Junichi!"
"Man, you sure I should go in the water with this injury I have? It's not an open wound anymore but I wouldn't want it to get infected or something."
"This water's filtered and doesn't have chlorine. You'll be fine if ya don't go in the pool." Touki said. Now c'mon! We gotta get some trunks!"
Junichi shrugged and followed after Touki. He saw Rokuro, clad in bright orange trunks, doing moonsaults off the highest diving board into the deep end. Chiwa was attempting to climb onto a large inflatable Monokuma float. Saya was sat on the edge of the pool, dressed in a white one-piece frilled swimsuit and legs resting it the water close to her knees. The frills were hanging over the front of her chest, and while it showed no skin, the outline of it showed her curvier than normal figure. Something that Touki kept glancing back at.
"Saya! I'm stranded on this floating bear! How do I paddle it back over to you?" Chiwa called.
"You were the one who climbed on it, Chiwa." Saya replied.
"Damn it, why do all the terrible people I meet have to be stacked…? Those are like D cups, man." Touki complained.
"If you look at her for more than three seconds I think she'll murder you." Junichi warned.
"How can you ignore that chest, junichi? Do you have some kind of blinder over your eyes?" Touki asked.
"She terrifies me. I wouldn't want to risk my life to get like three seconds of satisfaction, followed by an agonizing death."
"Heh, your loss, bro." Touki said while Junichi read the description of the MonoMono Bikini Ma-Cheen
Here at Hanging Garden, we believe in good, wholesome fun. Pools are great, but you can't go swimming without proper swimwear and a shower. The MonoMono Bikini Ma-Cheen is here to help cover your shame with your swimwear from when you came to this University, but for added fun, you've gotta get them for a price! Every five MonoCoins gets you a random student's trunks or bikinis. Will you get the right trunks or the dreadfully wrong ones? Give it everything you got! IIIIIT'S BIKINI TIME!
"Alright, when I go to your funeral I'll leave some flowers and a 'told you so' on your headstone." Junichi said. "So, why do you need me here? Don't you just have to put in five MonoCoins?"
"Yeah, but you remember what Monokuma said? The Bikini Ma-Cheen will drop a random swimsuit. So unless you want like.. A sling bikini I think we can use your Ultimate Luck to get swim trunks."
'...you know, i don't think luck works the way you think it works. I can't just… luck my way into exactly like what I need to get. If that was the case, I woulda won 3 lotteries by now and bought that race car bed I always complained to my dad that I wanted." Junichi said.
"Yeah, but you got the spot in Hope's Peak and you solved the last Class Trial. I think you got some probability manipulation powers or something," Touki said. "Plus, it's a one-in-sixteen shot of getting the right ones. Hell, one-in-eight without all the ones that already came out.'
Junichi shrugged and reached into his pouch, pulling out five MonoCoins and dropping them into the machine. He turned the dial, a small capsule popping out of the machine and onto the floor. Junichi picked up the capsule and opened it up, getting a pair of red swim trunks. "Huh… they're mine."
"See? Now it's one-in-seven." Touki said, patting Junichi's good shoulder. "Now, get me mine."
Junichi nodded, dropping in another five coins and turning the dial. Another capsule dropped, Touki picking it up and popping it open. Inside was a pair of simple black trunks. "Alright! Two for two!" he cheered.
"Does this place have a dressing room or am I taking my pants off in front of you?" Junichi asked.
"There's changing rooms in the door past the gashapon machine." Saya explained, pointing them to the door.
"Hey, thanks Saya!" Junichi said.
"Though, I'm curious. Nanashima made a point of announcing her intentions for a girl's night at the hot spring… so are you here to join us at the pool, Ando?" Saya asked
"Don't mess this up Junichi. Come up with a good lie." Touki said in his smallest possible voice.
"Ah… well, no. I actually don't think I can swim right now… But ...I thought it might be easier if…" Junichi said, pausing as his brain tried to write some kind of lie that made sense and not something that would blow their cover. "I got my shorts now instead of having to get them from someone else when I actually want to swim. Me and Touki just wanted to see what everyone was doing at the pool."
Saya made a long, low hum as she put folded her hands together, looking over them with her hawklike eyes. Junichi began to gaze at the floor, eyes darting from side to side as Touki looked away and started to whistle.
"Hm… maybe Junichi wants to visit the hotspring to help heal his chest wound. Soothe his muscles a bit…" Chiwa figured, sitting on the Monokuma float as it drifted along the pool.
"Y-yeah! And the girls and boys hots prings have a divider wall. That's clearly what we were doing and not anything else!" Touki said, nodding rapidly.
"...Very well. Go and change." Saya said with a wave of her hand. Touki breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Junichi, dragging him to the changing rooms. After a brief tangle with Junichi's sling, the two went into the changing stations and quickly changed into their trunks, Junichi looking at himself in the mirror. His injury was… less disgusting than he remembered. Now it just looked like a stitched up, and mostly scabbed over hole. It was still hard to move that arm, but at least he wasn't oozing blood and pus, or being woken up in the middle of the night with bouts of horrifying pain.
But for now, he and Touki made their way for the hot springs on the other side of the hall. Steam drifted slowly out of the cracks in the door. Even opening the door caused the steam to billow in little whirlwinds. The hallway clearly splitting by gender to which side they should walk down. Touki once again lead the way, moving slowly toward the boy's half. The room was filled with the sound of rapid bubbling water and idle chatter filled the silence of the onsen.
"Good job bullshitting Saya, Junichi." Touki said quietly as he slowly stepped down the ladder into the hot tub.
"Uhh.. thanks. So how are we supposed to do this? I'm pretty sure I can't climb that separator, it's like 12 feet high." Junichi explained, following after the Ultimate Journalist.
"Here's the thing… the wall is cross stitched like a wicker basket. The thing is pretty good at blocking the view if you're a few feet away, it's even good at blocking it if you're close to it. But the size of your pupils are like.. As small as a pencil eraser across. If you put your eye right up against it, you should see through." Touki explained. "And that's not all… I'll explain more when we get in the water."
"Alright…" Junichi said, taking to the ladder. "They can't hear us, right?"
Touki just pointed down at the water. "You see that the water's bubbling? That means it's hot enough to produce its own steam… which travels from the heat source at the bottom of the sauna to the surface. Each one of those bubbles are making noise… We might not be able to talk, but we can probably move around." He explained. "Bonus points if Asana's being loud, then we can get away with whispering."
Junichi was soon submerged in the heated water, letting out a relaxed sigh as the bubbles massaged his sore shoulder. "Ahhh… that's the-" Juncihi began before Touki clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Maaan, what did I just tell you about whispering? Here, let me go first." Touki said, slowly swimming toward the wall. Junichi followed, curious as to what Touki was planning. The two were soon up against the wall.
"So… what's the plan?" Junichi asked in a hushed tone as Touki put his hands against the wall. He pushed his finger in between two of the wooden bands lacing the wall and began to wiggle it side to side, wedging his finger into it.
"If I do this right… I should make a little hole to see through." Touki said, carefully circling his finger through the hole to stretch it further. "Almost… almost… got it!" he said, creating a small hole. The hole was big enough to fit an eye through without being seen unless one knew to look for it. "Junichi, I'm a goddamned ninja. Come over here and make a hole."
"I'll pass, don't wanna make it obvious what we're doing. I'll just use your hole," Junichi said, getting a shrug from Touki. Touki peered through the hole, an ever-widening grin on his face. "So… how's the view?" he asked, Touki's smile piquing his curiosity just a bit.
Touki pulled his eye away from the hole and punched his elbow, pumping his other fist. "Niiiiice!" he said in a half whisper, drawing out the I as much as possible. "I'm glad most of the hot girls are here."
"Most?" Junichi asked.
"Yeah, it's just missing Saya and we'd have the package deal." Touki said, Junichi shaking his head.
"You are a sad, strange dude…" Junichi said, shuffling over to the hole and lining his eye up to it.
His first sight was Izumi, sitting in the water at about chest level, as Asana tried to comb some of her hair straight. All Junichi could see of her swimsuit was that it was dark blue in color. He kept his eye movements quick to avoid possible eye contact with any of the girls, shifting over to Rinne, who was surfacing from being neck-deep in the water, leaning against the rim.
Rinne looked rather surprising out of her usual all-black combat-driven ensemble, though even her one-piece swimsuit was black. Her jet black hair was no longer in its bun, reaching down to her shoulders. Her body was toned, but not ripped like Asana's, and covered in all scars and burns. Junichi figured they were old wounds from previous missions.
He moved his lone eye over to Airi, noticing some things were… off about her. He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was how she had the same build as Rinne, with clearly defined abs that did not look to be something your typical babysitter would have. Though Airi was rarely a "typical" babysitter. Junichi had to agree with Chiwa's doubts to Airi's talent. Her fingers were calloused, and he could see a fresh scar on the palm of her right hand. She had a purple colored swimsuit that looked like it was almost made of some kind of satin or vinyl, with a hole cut in the center like a triangle to expose her stomach. Junichi tried to take in as much eye candy as he could, but he couldn't seem to really get into it. Maybe it was because he wasn't as hormonally-focused as Touki or because of the eyepatch that Airi was still wearing even in the hot spring. Along with that, fear of being spotted kept his eye jutting away the second he thought any of them saw him, moving as he saw her left eye turn.
Thankfully, Miyuki's eyes were turned well away from the wall, so he mainly saw her from the back, her bikini was dark pink like her sweater. She had to keep wiping her glasses as the steam fogged up the lenses. Junichi followed Miyuki's line of sight to see Asana turned around and flexing her back. Junichi's eyes widened and he let out a massive grin at the sight he saw.
Asana's swimsuit was backless, and on her back was a full tattoo of a dark cloak wrapped around a woman aiming a bow at a winged eyeball.
"Hell yeah, buddy!" Touki cheered in a hushed tone. "See somethin' you like?" Touki said, trying to peek in the same hole. "Ya see some big jubblies, or like.. are buff girls are your thing?"
"No, man. That tattoo on Asana's back… I recognize it!" Junichi said. "It's Queen Arryd of Trafalgar!"
"...Queen Who of What?"
"From Journey of the Silver Chariot! She was the one who taught Phelan how to use a sword! She was the only one to wield the sword of Orichalchos! She's a badass, dude!" Junichi said with an emphatic whisper.
"...I took us here to see boobs and you're freaking out about a tattoo?" Touki said. "Are you chaste? Did you join one of those abstinence youth groups? Do you like guys? Junichi, this is bro talk, you can tell me if you don't like gir-!" Touki said, Junichi holding a hand.
"I'm not… Look. I can look at a girl and admit she's attractive but... I respect them too much to just ogle them like some piece of meat. I'd only feel comfortable putting my hands on them if y'know… they were cool with it. If I wanted to see something tantalizing I'd just go on the internet or buy a magazine, not peep on my friends." Junichi explained in earnest. "Seeing I have something in common with Asana makes me way more interested than her figure ever could." He finished, causing Touki to just sigh and start rubbing his own shoulders bashfully.
"Huh… well, dang. I can see why… why Surumi wanted to hang out with you…" Touki said, sinking into the water in shame. "And here I was trying to cheer you up… and then you go and make me feel like an asshole."
"I don't think you're an asshole. Just.. I feel like you're dictated entirely by hormones." Junichi said. "Like, we're teenagers and I get it. I can be a pervert too, in private at least."
"Dude, how did you get so wise? You've had to had girls chasing you through the halls." Touki said, Junichi having to clamp down his teeth to keep from laughing.
"Pft! Bro, you're making me sound like I'm some sort of suave, charismatic supermodel. Look at me, I'm a pasty, scrawny nerd. I just… I dunno, I listen to people." Junichi said. "I'm not drowning in girls because I'm a pick-up artist… They just like that I actually care about their interests." He explained, as Touki stood up to get out of the water.
"So… that's what I've been missing…" Touki said. "Maybe I should update my sta-OH SHIT!" Touki shouted, falling back into the water with a splash. Junichi turned and saw that Touki had been hit, seeing a white flip-flop floating in the water.
"Huh? What's this doing here?" Junichi said, picking up the offending shoe. He heard a sharp ahem from his side, turning to see Saya standing at the edge of the boy's tub, her other flip-flop tightly gripped in her hand. "Ack! H-hey Saya… how's the pool?" Junichi said, backing against the wall as the Ultimate Student Body President gave a cold glare to him.
Without a word, she whipped the flip-flop right at Junichi, striking him in the forehead. "OW! Watch where you're throwing that thing! I'm injured!"
"Huh? Was that Junichi?" came a voice from behind the wall, sounding like Airi.
"Yeah, and I think I heard Touki…" came another voice, that had to be Izumi.
"Heh! Looks like they wanted to get first dibs on the boy's tub!" Asana's voice with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that…" came Rinne's voice. Junichi heard the sound of splashes coming closer to the wall.
"Huh? What's that Rinne? Is that…" Izumi said, voice trailing off.
"Th-that's a peeping hole! They were sp-spying on us!" Miyuki's voice stammered out.
"I-I'm not here! I'm a hallucination brought on by heat! Junichi's a ghost! He died and is haunting the bathhouse. We're both not here!" Touki called in a desperate panic before Junichi quickly covered his mouth his hand.
"Dude, we're gonna be ghosts if you don't shut up!" Junichi said in a hushed tone.
"I hear perverts! They be peepin' on us!" Asana said, boisterously in a cavewoman-ish tone.
"Well, I think we'll have to deal with this, right Airi?" Rinne asked.
"Took the words out of my mouth." Airi replied. Junichi and Touki heard new splashes and the sound of water dripping on the floor. Touki's eyes widened as he broke off from Junichi.
"Oh fuck, we're dead." Junichi said with terror in his voice. "They're gonna kill us dead!"
"Speak for yourself, dude!" Touki said, swimming over to Saya. "H-hey, Saya. N-no hard feelings, right?! L-look, I got your shoe!" Touki said, reaching for Saya's foot. "H-here ya go! You can have it ba-"
Saya lifted her foot and dropped it right on Touki's head, forcing it into the water and causing bubbles to rise up. She grabbed the sandal from his flailing hand and slowly lifted herself off the rim, using Touki's head to precariously balance herself as she approached Junichi.
"Death to perverts." Saya claimed, picking up her flip-flop and swatting it against her palm, causing some of the water to flick off of it. "One THOUSAND deaths to perverts!" She announced, eyes ablaze.
Junichi scrambled to get out of the hot tub as he heard the doors of the dividing wall open. "I've got Minami!" Saya called, barely able to keep balance as Touki desperately attempted to resurface.
"This is not how I die! This is…Nope! I'm leaving! I'm sorry for bothering you, girls! I'm going to forgetthiseverhappenedBY-" Junichi said as he clambered out of the tub and made for the exit. However, he suddenly felt his arm get grabbed and was jerked over to face Asana.
"Nooooope! Nuh-uh… You ain't going to weasel out of this one, Red." Asana said with a wide, devilish grin.
"...Oh man, I'm screwed… Asana, please! Can you just… think of me as an idiot and just let me leave?"
"I mean, I don't blame ya for wantin' to see this rockin' bod. But, you had to go and be sneaky to do it, and that's just not cool. So, we're gonna hafta mess up your face. You're gonna look like a pug when I'm through with ya." She said with a coy laugh.
"...A P-pug!?"
"Yup! Now hold still, this is gonna hurt me a lot more than it's gonna-" Asana said, rearing back a fist when Saya suddenly fell backward into the water. "Shit! Saya, you al-ack! Damn it, my eyes!" Asana exclaimed as handful of water splashed her eyes.
"H-haha! Gotcha! Junichi, punch it! We need to scramble!" Touki shouted as he finally came up for air. He shoulder checked Saya to cause her to stumble into the water, and ran up to grab Junichi's arm.
"But they're all faster than me!" Junichi objected.
"I don't know, throw things in the way!" Touki said.
"But Rinne's literally a soldier!" Junichi pointed out, panic rising in his voice.
"I mean, I don't really care." Rinne casually mentioned. "I'll go after them I guess but it'll be kind of half assed. You've all got this anyway, it's just two losers."
"L-losers!?" Touki exclaimed as the two scrambled up the steps and out of the hotspring, grabbing a bucket and tossing it to Junichi after scooping some water into it. "Do it! You don't know if you don't try, dude!"
"Get them!" Asana shouted. Airi rushed at Touki with immense, nearly inhuman speed, knocking him to the floor and quickly putting him into a double wristlock. "Hah! Nice work Airi! Kimura his ass! Didn't know babysitters knew how to do that!"
"...I didn't know I knew this either." Airi said, looking up at the ceiling as she wrenched on the poor journalist.
Junichi panicked and tossed the bucket of water, splashing Rinne with it. "..Big mistake." Rinne said, cracking her neck. "Now I'm mildly annoyed, and that's enough for me to hunt you down like a dog. I hope you're ready." she said, softly shifting her legs wider and getting into an almost animalistic stance.
"...Shit. Shiiiiiit." Junichi said, throwing the bucket at her before breaking into a panicked scramble for the door. "WHY DID I DO THAT!?"
Rinne broke the bucket in mid air with a spin kick before giving chase to Junichi, Asana and Miyuki cheering her on. Junichi began to squeak as he shouldered the door open and began running back to the pool facility.
He ran for the elevator, being stopped by Chiwa standing at the doors. "Good afternoon, Ando." she said. "You look more full of life and terror than I'm used to. What can I do for you?" She asked, body wrapped in what appeared to be a yellow duck innertube, Socrates resting on the duck's head.
"AAAAHHH!" Junichi screamed, eyes just looked up at him, tilting her head in confusion.
"That doesn't really help me." Chiwa said as Junichi scrambled past her. "Where are you going?" She asked, turning to watch him run into the elevator and start mashing the close door button, prompting Chiwa to walk in with him.
"The hell away from Rinne!"
"You need to tell me what's going on!" Chiwa said, as the elevator doors closed.
"Hi." Rinne abruptly said, as she was already standing behind Junichi.
"AHH!" He shouted, falling onto his butt. "H-how did you… How!?"
Rinne shrugged and slammed her foot into his chest, pressing him against the elevator wall. "I'm a Black Ops soldier. You're a dork with a bad arm. I can outrun you in my sleep.
"Oh… so that's what's going on… Saya warned me there were two perverts in the hot springs."
"Ack! The situation's more complicated th-than that, Chiwa! And how did you get past us! We were both at the door!"
"I jumped over your heads."
"Wow… you can do that?" Chiwa asked, impressed.
"Mhm. By planting both my hands against both doors and using that to extend my leap. The only hint would be that the door closed with a slight delay." Rinne explained before turning back to Junichi. "Now, what to do with you? I'm sure Asana, Airi and Saya have Touki taken care of."
"Please don't injure me more than I already am. Rinne, c'mon…." Junichi bargained. "I don't want to actually die because of this! I thought we were gonna work together!"
"Soft tissue damage is not fatal, Junichi." Rinne said, pulling her foot off of him before grabbing Junichi by the hair and lifting him back up.
"I don't like it when you describe it like that!" Junichi said. "L-look, it wasn't my idea! Touki talked me into it! He said it would cheer me up but it just got really awkward and I wanted to leave!" Junichi stammered. "I-I-I… I'm not a slave to my hormones, damn it!"
"...This is weird. Which floor is the elevator going to?" Chiwa asked. "Can I leave?"
"I just sorta hit buttons to close the door, so I don't know either!" Junichi said, still in a panic of being lifted off of his feet. "Uhh… Rinne?" He asked, just getting a glassy eyed glare at him in response. "I'm sorry! Let me go!"
"Hrm…" Rinne stood there and tapped her chin with her index finger before the elevator dinged, the doors opening. "Okay." she said, tossing him out of the elevator. Junichi let out a high pitched scream as he hit the floor.
"Just don't do it again… not don't let me catch you, just don't do it." Rinne said, voice as mellow as ever.
"Got it…" Junichi said as he slowly got back to his feet. Chiwa stepped out of the elevator, walking past Junichi as the doors shut, the elevator taking off. He wasn't quite sure if that had really cheered him up. In fact, right now he just felt like his heart was going to explode from stress.
"Junichi?" a voice came from his side. Junichi let out a yelp and turned, expecting that Airi or Asana had caught up to him. He then saw the familiar blue-violet hair and pink eyes of Dr. Kageri Saito. "Well, hello to you too, Junichi. I see you haven't been following my advice about outside stimuli."
"Hah… hah… d-don't do that. I just… got back from swimming…" Junichi said, trying to regain his composure and cover up what he was doing.
"...Is that so?" Kageri said, walking over. "Perhaps you should consider a new method of exercise if swimming is causing that much adrenaline…"
"Wh-what? Nah, I'm fine…" Junichi said, trying to wave off the Head of MonoMedicine.
"Junichi, I didn't get to be the go-to doctor of the Hanging Garden by being unable to notice simple things like your increased heart rate and... " Kageri said, taking a minute to study Junichi's body. "Your body is flushed, were you in the hot springs? Typically, that's a relaxing thing that reduces stress. But contrasting that with your breathing rate… You seem to be getting over some form of distress." Kageri analyzed. "Were you peeking on somebody and got caught?"
"N-no! I was peeking on them!" Junichi blurted at, Kageri chuckling.
"Ah, so it was several somebodies. Well, perhaps a refill on your medication is in order. I assume apart from your accelerated heart rate, your wound has been improving." Kageri said, stepping back into the clinic.
"Y-yeah," Junichi mumbled, looking at the floor as he shuffled into the clinic. He was definitely not feeling better after this trip to the hot springs…
17 DAYS REMAIN