Ding dong, bing bong!

I groggily woke up and turned my head just in time to see the monitor turn on to reveal Monokuma.

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

The monitor turned off. Apparently, it's morning… But thanks to the total lack of windows, there's no way to know for sure.

Anyway… What should I do now?

Maybe I should go find Maizono, and we can figure out where to go from here together. After all, she did say she's my assistant now.

"Okay, it's decided!" I said to no one in particular. "I'm gonna head to her room!"

With a newfound determination, I left my room.

As soon as I left, I saw Ishimaru standing in the hallway.

"Good morning, Naegi!" He exclaimed proudly as he saluted.

"G-Good morning…" I said. Shocked that he was up before me.

"Yes, morning greetings are quite a delight!" He continued. "Such an energizing way to start the day! Now then, let's make sure we both do our very best throughout the day!"

"S-Sure…" I replied. I wonder if he's always like this…

Focusing on my current task, I walked over to the door that lead to Maizono's room. There's a doorbell next to the door. I guess I should use that.

Ding dong!

Shortly after, Maizono opened the door. "Hello…?" She groggily said.

"Good morning, Maizono." I cheerfully greeted.

When she noticed that it was me, she became excited. "Oh, Naegi! Perfect timing!"

"Huh…?" I asked confusedly.

"Listen, I have a favour to ask…"

I cocked my head curiously. "A favour…?"

"I was just getting ready to come out." She began. "If it's okay, would you like to come with me? Maybe we could talk…"

"Yeah, sure." I replied. "Where are you headed?"

"Oh… Umm…" She stammered. "I've been thinking that… There might be something around here I could use for self-defense."

"Self-defense…?" I asked in shock.

"Well, I mean…" She continued. "Whoever's keeping us here could show up and attack us any time. You never know…"

Whoever trapped us here… Whoever presented us with rules for murdering each other… Whoever put us in this insane position… She's right. We never know when they might attack.

"So, I just want to be able to protect myself no matter what happens." Said Maizono.

A weapon to protect herself…

Well, now that I think about it, that display case in the gym entryway had a bunch of stuff. Maybe…

"Oh, the gym?" She suddenly said. "Okay, let's go!"

"A-Again…?" I said in shock.

"Like I said, I'm psychic." She seriously said before giggling. "Come on, I'm just kidding! Seriously, I just have amazing intuition."

Am I really so easy to predict? Anyway, we should head to the gym.

On the way to the gym, we passed by Asahina, Sakura, and… Fukawa? Fukawa together with those other two… Quite a combination.

She then noticed that I was looking at her. "What do you w-want?" She asked. "You l-look like you have s-something to say…"

"Oh, no." I replied. "I was just thinking that you three make a pretty unique team."

"L-Let me make this perfectly c-clear!" She began. "Me hanging out w-with two people who have muscles where th-their brains should be is not by ch-choice!"

Asahina didn't take kindly to that. "Wow, that was super mean! Yesterday you were complaining about how nobody invited you! That's the only reason I asked you come with us!"

"I never a-asked you to d-do that!" Fukawa retaliated. "S-Stop trying to drag me farther into y-your meat dimension!" After that, she ran off somewhere.

"Jeez, I can't believe she just ran off!" Asahina said after a short moment of silence. "You think we should go after her?"

"We shouldn't pressure her any further." Stated Sakura.

"Oh yeah, good point…"

They're like water and oil, anyway, it'd be weird if the DID get along.

I then felt Maizono tugging at my sleeve. "Come on, Naegi." She said. "Let's just head to the gymnasium."

"R-Right…" I stammered. I've completely forgotten what our current task was.

"Here we are!" I said as we entered the trophy room.

"Here we go." Said Maizono. "I might be able to find something here to protect myself with…"

Her eyes then fixated on the display case. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll find something in the display case I can use."

The second and third shelves were protected by glass, so we could only access the first shelf.

One of the items on the first shelf was what appeared to be a sword. No, wait, it was just a replica. Still, it's pretty impressive. It's completely covered in a gold coating. But curiosity got the better of me, and…

"Jeez!" I exclaimed as I reeled back. "I barely touched it and I got that gold stuff all over my hands."

"Wow, you're right." Maizono said when she looked at my gold-covered hands. "Your hands are totally gold! Even just for self-defence, I think it's a little…"

"Well, it's still better than nothing, I guess." I said.

"You should take it with you! It might help liven up your room a little." She suggested.

"You think so?" I asked. She giggled.

"But I guess you'd better be careful taking it back." She said. "You should wrap it in newspaper or something."

And just like that, it's been decided; I was taking the sword to my dorm room.

"I don't see anything I could really use for self-defense…" Maizono sighed sadly.

"H-Hey, don't worry about it!" I comforted her. "It's not like you need it right away, right? Plus, if anything WERE to happen, when the time comes… I'll protect you."

Maizono gasped at that last bit. "You'll… Protect me?" She asked. "Thank you for saying that… If I've goy you on my side, I guess I don't need a weapon after all!"

Maizono giggled as she said that. That mysterious smile… I can tell it comes from the heart. It makes me feel at ease… When I look at her, I honestly feel like I can do anything.