This one is a little short, but that's because I want to seperate the Fte's from the main story.

The next morning comes far too quickly for me. I crack my joints as I slowly sit up. Shit, I´m starting to get used to this room. How long have we been here anyway?I'm pretty sure this is day four. Crap, time flies really fast.

I still can't get over the fact that we're supposed to stay here the rest of our lives.

The trip to the cafeteria is uneventful. I'm still wearing the stuff from yesterday, as Noriko hasn't given back my clothes yet. Homura is the one to bake breakfast today. I wonder if any of the guys know how to cook or bake.

"Morning Yurika."

Toshiya sits down next to me and smiles. I avert my eyes and swing my feet onto the table. "Morning Tossie."

"T-Tossie!?" He squeaks. I see out of the corner of my eye that he is flustered.

"Huh. Thought you wouldn't mind a nickname. If it bothers you, I can just call you Toshiya." I offer. He swallows and nods. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Awkwardness hangs in the air. And it is right at that moment that Noriko begins to speak. "Everyone, your attention please."

Immediately, Yuyami begins to groan. "This better not be another fucking rule."

Noriko pouts and Ekorin crosses her arms. "Rules is what keeps this place from falling apart. You should be grateful Noriko is our leader."

What?

"Hold up, when was that decided!?" I immediately shout before anyone else has a chance to speak. Ekorin cocks her head at me.

"Well, we haven't decided officially, but we all agree Noriko has the best leadership qualities, correct?"

"She is the bossiest, is what you're trying to say." Shrini frowns at her. "We can't just decide on a whim who will become our leader."

Homura stands up, once again knocking her chair over. "Yeah, who says we need a leader anyways!?"

Ainosuke calmly sips from his tea. "I don't wish to intrude but having a leader will help us to be more cooperative with each other. It's good to have someone to keep the chaos from getting out of hand."

Homura glares daggers at him, but Masato nods firmly. "Every society has a leader. Even in the animal kingdom. And that is for a good reason. However, I do agree with Shinri that we need to vote over it."

Voices rise over each other, but I mainly hear the chuckles of someone close to me. Rea crosses her legs as she watches everyone debate. "Ah, someone who could lead us to great heights…or to our deaths. A fantastic idea. I vote Noriko."

I'm not sure if she is sarcastic or not and quite frankly, I don't even care. So, instead, I glance over to Toshiya, who is muttering to himself.

"…Leader wouldn't be bad…but Noriko's…might not go well…Anyone else…hmmm…"

His voice is cut off by two strong hands slamming onto the desk. "Shut the fuck up everyone!" Tomoe yells. "Look, I don't give a shit about whether we have a leader or not, but this is getting us nowhere."

"He is right. If we want to decide on this, we will need to vote." Shinri says. Noriko nods and goes up to stand on the table.

"Alright, put your hand up if you want a leader!"

I decide not to call her out and instead stay silent while a few people put up their hands. Surprisingly, Rea is among them. Further included in the group are Ainosuke, Masato, Kikoi (because of course), Ekorin, Isamu, Yoru, Mizuki, Noriko herself and after some hesitation, Toshiya and Hanako.

"I…really don't know what to vote." Hanako admits sheepishly. "But, a leader sounds cool with me, as long as we don't go overboard with rules. I still want my morning run. And evening run."

"We can have you as a scout." Noriko offers. Homura sneers. "Don't go all sweet and manipulative. At least be frank with it. You want control of the group, don't you?"

Noriko, obviously offended, backs off, nearly falling from the table. Isamu clicks with his tongue. "Hate to be the one telling you this, but more than half of the students just voted in favour of having a leader."

She glares at him, even though it does him nothing. "That doesn't mean she gets to be our leader. I can be leader too if I want."

He glares back at her and I find his glare to be more chilling. "I'd take a goddamn rubber duck over you as leader."

Just as Homura stands up and balls her fist, someone puts a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. This is no time to fight. If we want to decide on a leader, it should be a serious vote." Mizuki calmly says.

Ekorin smiles brightly and cheers. "Alright, all contenders for leadership, raise your hands!"

Three hands rise.

"Everyone who isn't Rea." Ekorin frowns, poison coating her words.

One hand lowers.

"Alright, looks like it's between Noriko and Homura." The violinist beckons for the glassblower to come onto the table and after some eyerolling, she does.

"Okay everyone, go stand next to the person you want to be your leader!"

After a bit of waiting, a few people go to stand next to a few people. Unsurprisingly, I see that most favour Noriko. It's probably because she is the only serious contender…

However, Ainosuke suddenly grabs Shinri's hand and raises it. "I think we should include Shinri as candidate as well."

The critic flushes bright red as he tries to pull away his arm. "H-hey! What are you saying, I can't be a leader!"

Ainosuke simply blinks at him. "But as a critic, you know how to raise your voice over anyone else. You can provide excellent arguments and if your videos are anything to go by, you can certainly swing opinions and please a crowd."

Shinri finally manages to free his arms and starts rubbing it. "Those are just videos. And planning. With a lot of acting. Trust me, it's easier to speak to an audience when you can edit your footage. And make retakes. I…can't be a leader. I just can't. It would be a waste of time anyways."

Before he can explain himself, he quickly walks out of the cafeteria. Ainosuke looks dejected at him, before shrugging and going over to stand next to Noriko. "It was worth a shot."

The decision is quickly made without much more fuss. Noriko becomes our leader.

I sigh and lean back in my chair. However, Ekorin walks over to me. "Why didn't you vote?"

It takes me a moment to voice my opinion. "I don't really care. Whatever makes you people happy."

On the other side of the room, Tomoe nods. "I'm with Yurika. I don't give a shit about any of this. Just don't mess with me."

Noriko, clearly wanting to prevent more arguments, claps in our hands. "Now, back onto the topic I wanted to bring up in the first place before I was interrupted. I was thinking about making a cooking and cleaning schedule."

Groans emit from the room. "Seriously? Why?" Yuyami groans. I almost fear a relapse of the past argument and Noriko glares at him…and at me.

"Because clearly, I am the only one putting in any effort to keep things tidy around here. Which should not be happening."

"Hey, you said yourself two days ago that you needed to do something." I call her out. "So why are you complaining now?"

"Don't twist my words! Yes, I have been busy these past days cleaning here, but I shouldn't be the only one to bear that responsibility." She snaps at me.

"She has a point." Yoru says. "We should all be contributing to this!"

"Hanako and I are already contributing. We help cook the meals around here!" Homura shouts. The girl she mentions shrugs. "I'm not opposed to help with cleaning."

"It doesn't have to be much work if we work together." Noriko tries. "All I'm asking is for those who can cook to make a schedule to see who is cooking every day, for everyone to sort out their laundry and for everyone to keep their rooms clean."

"Then who is going to keep the rest of the school clean? This place is big, especially if there are going to be more locations opened up later." I ask annoyed. Like hell I'm going to clean all of that.

"Glad you asked!"

The voice doesn't belong to any of us, but it's one we recognize. Monokuma jumps out of nowhere onto the table. This action is startling enough to make Noriko trip. She quickly jumps and lands gracefully before Tomoe can step in to save her, but the table gets flipped upside down.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Isamu's rage is more of a tranquil fury, but he makes his point across. "Haven't you already done enough harm to us?"

Monokuma hangs his head, pouting. "Aww, and I only came here to tell you that the cleaning of the school is already being managed by yours truly. Well, more specifically, Kumachrome."

"I-I suppose we're still in charge of keeping our own rooms clean, correct?" Masato nervously asks.

"Yup, yup! Just like cooking your own food. You're all at least 16, you should take some responsibility!" He scolds us, before breaking into snickers. "Unless you no longer have enough people to do so. Then I miiiight take some responsibilities of your shoulders."

I expect Noriko or Hanako to go into him, but surprisingly, it's Kikoi who takes a firm stand. "Not going to happen. I won't allow it."

"Wah, wah? Someone clinging to foolish hope? In my centre of despair? Seriously? Right in front of me?"

His confusion sounds fake. Like he almost accounted for her saying that.

"Yes, indeed." Hanako grins at him. "Give up already. None of us are going to kill here, or we already would have done so."

Monokuma doesn't answer, but the silence is just as chilling. "…I wonder about that."

Before any of us can interrogate him, he disappears just as quickly.

"Damn, that bastard is fast." Yuyami mutters.

"Regardless." Noriko says, shaking her head. "It's probably for the best to ignore him for now. In any case, those who can cook and wish to continue doing so for everyone, please raise your hand."

A few hands go up. It's mainly a few of the girls, but to my surprise, Masato also raises his hand. "My mother taught me how to cook." It's like he read my mind. "But maybe we should do it in pairs. I mean, we are making food for sixteen people every day. That is a lot of work."

Noriko nods and kneels near a bag I hadn't seen earlier to take out a clipboard. "Alright then. Masato, Kikoi, Hanako, Homura and I will take turns cooking. The rest is dismissed."

One by one, everyone gets up and leaves, off to do their own thing. I give Toshiya a quiet goodbye before getting up too. As I walk down the hallway, I see Rea skipping before me, as if she is completely oblivious to the entire situation.

Tsk, oblivious? Her? But…

"Hey." I call out to her. To my surprise, she stops and turns.

"Hm?"

"Why did you vote to have a leader? You're someone who revels in chaos. So why vote for something that prevents chaos?"

"Aha, I think you misunderstood me." She says, the tiniest of smiles coating her face, and a strange mixture of poison and sugar coating her words. "I won't deny I like chaos, but just regular chaos gets boring after a while too. Besides, I doubt there will be much chaos here. People will mostly end up doing their own thing, get a bit paranoid, no real biggie."

"Then why?" I repeat.

"Simple. I prefer chaos extracted from order. Seeing what happens when their solutions fail. What happens when someone betrays the peace." Her eyes are cold enough to send a chill down my spine. "To cut it short, I like to see people break. Because that's when they show their true colours."

There she goes again, with that morbid smile and heartless reasoning. Why do I even try talking to her? Still, I can't help but wonder why…

She chuckles and turns around. "But, I like you. So, I don't mind if you pay me a visit. I'm sure it will be loads of fun. Until then, bye, bye!"

With a wave that can't be anything other than mockery, she leaves me in the dark and with more questions than answers.

Before I know it, I'm back into my room, sitting on the bed. Is everything really going to be okay? Are we really not going to kill each other? What motivations does Rea have? Hell, what motivations does Monokuma have?

I gently slap my cheek and shake my head. No, don't think about it too much. Focus on living here…and getting to know other people.

FREE TIME