Howdy, my friends! It's been a while since I updated this huh? My apologies, but I wanted to try my hand at writing some ideas that were plaguing my mind.
You can see the results if you read Intense Love and Pleasant Surprise. But watch out, that last one is for adults only.
Now before you jump into the story, I will recommend an author just like I always do at the start. I know it's weird for me to do it when they are much more well known than me. But if even one of you gets to know a great story or author, that you didn't know before, then I'm satisfied.
Anyway, today I recommend the author called BakaOniisan (BakaJuan if you read in Ao3). Someone that has very interesting ideas and, in my opinion, can write very well heartwarming stuff of things that will destroy your poor beating organ. Also, they do fanart of their own fics (again in Ao3).
I recommend their story called Normality in Lobotomy, a cool crossover of Danganronpa and Lobotomy Corporation. In other words, Makoto has to deal with a bunch of strange things out of this world.
Let's end this intro already and jump into the chapter, shall we?
The beta-read of this chapter is BlueBoxy.
Timeline
1-3-2-4-5
It was time for Class 78 to do their scheduled PE time; today their class would take place in the pool, something that made a certain girl really happy. But before that, they needed to change into their swimsuits, unless the students wanted to spend the rest of the day in soggy clothes.
The 16 students broke into two groups and entered their respective lockers.
The female locker was a place of mystery and wonder, no one truly knew what kind of ancient secrets that holy land guarded, except the girls themselves of course. That's why, to preserve such secrecy, we are gonna focus on the boy's locker room.
The male students of Class 78 were changing clothes with different rates of success: Mondo and Taka were shirtless and having a really loud flex off, muscles rippling and bulging. Chihiro was close by watching with admiration and a tinge of envy in his eyes, shirt still in place as the embarrassment of showing his body to others was very much present.
Hifumi decided to perform a goofy belly dance that Hiro seemed to enjoy quite a bit if the way he was laughing and pointing was any indication. Disgusted by such plebeian display Byakuya was away from their antics, his expensive-looking suit neatly folded in a bench. The physique of the heir was lean and in all honesty pretty normal, it isn't like he was in bad shape or anything but it was clear that exercise wasn't given too much time in the blonde's busy schedule.
In front of a full-size mirror was Leon Kuwata, doing silly poses and admiring himself with a grin. One thing that he loved about baseball was that it gave him a 'killer bod' as the fake redhead liked to say, and in his warped perception that made him a magnet to all the chicks. The baseball star took a little break from his 'gun show' to watch the last member of the 'dudes club'.
Makoto was in the corner of the room, swim trunks already on and black jacket on the locker, but there was something strange about him. His short-sleeved hoodie was still wrapping his torso, the zipper of it being fumbled with while the boy seemed to be mulling over something.
Being his good friend, Leon walked closer with a grin on his face, "Hey dude, I know you love your hoodie but you have to take it off."
Makoto snapped out of whatever he was thinking and looked at the baseball star, he seemed anxious. "Oh yeah...hmm, I think that I'm gonna leave it on. It's a bit chilly today."
"Chilly huh?" Leon didn't buy this for even a second. A mischievous grin replaced the friendly one from before, "Don't tell me you're embarrassed. We won't laugh even if you are scrawny."
"What? No that's n-"
"An opening!"
The moment the luckster dropped his guard, a teasing Leon lunged at him. Two pairs of hands fighting for the control of that tiny piece of metal, the athletic boy was surprised by how much trouble Makoto gave him.
"Knock it off! You are making this weird!" The hotshot teen struggled.
"You are the one being weird!" Makoto lamely responded in panic.
Ziiiiiiiiiiip~
Finally, the zipper went down, revealing what was hidden between its folds.
"..."
"..."
"...Leon?"
"Guys, Makoto is ripped!"
Such a preposterous claim got everyone in the room to turn to the pair, some of them were surprised while others just rolled their eyes in disbelief. However, everybody got closer to see what nonsense the redhead was spewing, once they got a peek everyone grew silent.
Leon was, as usual, exaggerating. It was obvious that the body of the boy was different from the last time they visited the pool. Makoto's torso was more defined, with pecs and abs that were visible. Still, they weren't as prominent or big as the rest of his more active classmates, but now there was something there and it gave him a more boyish look to him.
"Finally you reached puberty, dude." The older of them rubbed his stubble with a smile, "Soon you will be shaving and all."
That little comment, combined with the fact that he was the center of attention made him very self-conscious. "I already reached puberty, thank you very much!" Blushing a bit, the Luckster decided that it was too late for secrets anyway.
Taking off his hoodie revealed that those noodle arms were now packing some meat. Forearms and biceps a bit wider.
"Not bad, now you are starting to look like a real man." Makoto knew that Mondo was sincere, but it did come as a bit condescending coming from the strongest guy in class.
"The manly way…" Someone really had to have a conversation with the programmer about gender roles. But for now, Chihiro was holding his arm up, hand rubbing his non-existent bicep.
"You have the right idea Makoto! One must care for their body as well as their mind." Taka turned shooted a disapproving glance at one of his classmates, "You could follow his example Hifumi."
The objective of that verbal jab, pushed his round glasses up, a gleam in them. "For your information, I do take care of myself. I always do my stretches before and after drawing, and only drink Diet Coke."
"That doesn't really count."
"Heeeeeeh? But it is the diet version!" The artist was in shock, though everyone was curious how those slim legs of him could support such a round body.
"I must say, didn't expect you to put any effort into improving yourself. You have my praise" The heir of the Togamy empire gave him a compliment, or at least the closest thing to one. "Though, I must question what brought this change."
"Heh, isn't it obvious?" Disregarding the concept of personal space, Leon wrapped an arm around Makoto's shoulders and gave him a wink. "The little guy has to improve his stamina now that he has a girlfriend."
"It's good to know that your priorities are still in order, Leon." The Luckster just rolled his eyes, he has gotten better at ignoring the teasing of his friend, even if he was kind of right for once…
A scoff was the answer of the blonde, who gave an eye roll of his own. "Go figure, it's so hard for you to try and do something for your own volition?"
Surprisingly it was the baseball pro who stepped up, "Hey, nothing wrong with trying to look good for the person you like, man.
Of course, Byakuya was dissatisfied with the answer, few things satisfied the blonde anyway. "If you hadn't the drive to improve for yourself before being in a relationship, then you had little love for yourself. After all, there is no one more important in your life than you." Did he just admit that anyone had their own worth? Was he sick or something?
"Okay, okay settle down you two." The brunette walked between the two boys, he wasn't mad at them in the slightest. Makoto knew them well enough to know that they were just trying to help in their own way. "I do agree with you Byakuya, people should be trying to improve for their own sake. But sometimes one has to get some extra motivation, besides I kinda enjoy it myself. If I spend a day lazing around I get restless, and Nidai helps me a lot too."
The tall heir pushed his glasses up with a finger before speaking, "As true as that may be, you still didn't tell us the reason you began in the first place."
"W-well…" All the confidence he had, banished to let embarrassment take place. "I...wanted Akane to think that I'm cool…" Makoto placed his hands on his face to cover the blush that was taking hold of it.
"Hah, I knew it, you sly dog." The way Leon's elbow was poking at the Luckster's side, was more playful than the other times he did it.
"Hmph, at least you are sincere about it." Byakuya looked pleased with himself. "I guess that's good enough, but if you lose motivation along the way be sure that I will be there to rub it on your face."
"What a good friend.." The clairvoyant whispered under his breath but flinched when the blonde shot him a glare.
"You know, not to interrupt this whole talk about motivation and shit...but shouldn't we go to meet the girls."
Taka took a look at his wristwatch and the face of the Moral Compass turned white as chalk. "Oh my goodness! We are three minutes late! Sorry, everyone, I should have been more vigilant about the time."
"No time for dramatism, let's go."
All of them left the locker room in a messy line, which made poor Taka even more anxious. The air around the pool was slightly colder but nothing too bad, if the teacher that was acting as a lifeguard -a woman with a get-up similar to Hina's- noticed that the boys were late, she sure didn't show it.
By now, Makoto had enough attention for one day. So he made a beeline to the mass of water, sadly a pair of hands stopped his advance by holding him in place.
"Hey ladies, check Mr. Muscles over here!"
"Leon, sometimes I really hate you…"
"It's part of being friends, man. Messing with each other." Makoto made sure to remember those words…
The small talk and occasional splatter of water came to a halt, now it was the girl's turn to see what all the fuss was about. After a few seconds of calm, came the reactions.
"Yeah boy~ looking good!" A wet thumbs up and those reassuring words came from the Queen of the pool, Hina always said that Makoto would look better with more meat on his bones. Then again she had a thing for muscles.
"You do seem healthier." The gruff voice of Sakura stated, arms crossed and a soft smile on her face. "I can see you are doing your best, keep at it and you will be surprised how far you can go."
"Hmmm, I do prefer my servants to be slim and elegant." This kind of talk could only be Celeste's, who wasn't even in a swimsuit, much less in the water. Her makeup wasn't waterproof after all. "But I can accept it."
A soft giggle made the boy look at her old friend, "I pity poor Akane, she will be fighting girls off of you from now on. Actually, she will probably enjoy it." Sayaka giggled again and winked at the boy, clearly teasing him.
"N-now, don't say things like that." Suddenly someone made a perfect wolf whistle. Turning the mild blush of his cheeks into a crimson fire, extending to her ears too. "W-who did that!?"
Makoto looked around in confusion, most of his classmates sharing a hearty laugh. The Luckster failed to see the sly smirk in Kyoko's face, she was proud of herself.
All that laughter died when a hellish screech sliced the air, everyone glanced at the source. A very scared Toko, who like Celeste refused to change or get into the water. She was pulling on one of her braids and pointing at the pool with a shaky hand.
"B-b-b-b-blood!" The poor girl was doing her best to fight her fear of the red liquid, having her other self appear in a room full of half-naked boys was a terrible idea.
All the people in the room followed the finger, then they saw it. The body of a girl with black air was floating face down, the trail of blood slowly diluting in the water.
"Mukuro?" The teacher left her spot in a rush, ready to dive into the pool. "Did she hit her head?"
"Ugh, relaaaaaax she is fine." Her dearest sister was at her side, playing with a strand of wet air. Junko wasn't really impressed nor interested in the boring conversation everyone was having. "This gross sister of mine just got too excited."
With a neutral expression, the fashionista grabbed her twin's shoulder and flipped over. The soldier's face was a deep shade of red, blood was flowing down her nose while she mumbled incoherent things under her breath.
Junko rolled her eyes in sheer disappointment. "It's not even that impressive."
With that the mood lightened again, some more people laughed at the antics of the sisters as Sakura helped one of her sparring partners out of the water.
The teacher rubbed the bridge of her nose, she felt tired. "Why can't we have a normal class?"
/-/
The loud ring of the bell signaled the end of today's class, chairs being dragged and the voices of students added to the cacophony in the room. But somehow a voice raised above all the noise, not because it was yelling but because of the authority behind it.
"Remember my dear rotten oranges, I want you to do the homework even if it's optional. Keep those young brains working."
The Ultimate Housekeeper and teacher of class 77-B, Chisa Yukizome, had a motherly but strict presence. Sure, things, like pulling a blade on a student or tying them up like a ham, could be quite unorthodox in a normal school. Normal, being the keyword. Her students responded and went on with their day, the teacher stayed behind to work on some paperwork, and once she was done the mature woman saw that she wasn't alone. Some of her students preferred to stay in the class for a while instead of joining the agglomeration of people outside, each one doing something to kill time.
Chiaki had two favorite activities; sleeping and gaming. And right now she was showing off her status of Ultimate Gamer by doing the two of them at the same time. Her head nodding while a snot bubble grew and shrunk with each breath, hands using pure muscular memory to press a complicated sequence of buttons at high speed. It was fairly impressive, but Chisa knew that the girl needed a proper sleep schedule.
Sitting on the windowsill was Hiyoko Saionji, pondering intensely as she watched her own hand. Squinting her eyes the teacher could see a ladybug walking on top of the dancer's hand, this came as odd to the older woman. Any other day Hiyoko would already smack or squashed the defenseless bug, but now she was just gazing at it and Chisa could sense that she was deep in thought. Slowly the blond girl extended her arm outside the window to let the small creature fly into the open, after a small sigh she dusted her kimono and walked out of the classroom.
Chisa couldn't help to smile, it was a small thing but seeing one of her students grow into a better person always filled her heart with pride.
There was another lady still on her seat, Akane Owari was balancing on the back legs of her chair with practiced ease, a pencil between her nose and upper lip like imitating a mustache: A pencilstache, if you will. Those dark gray eyes of her were focusing intensely on a Math book.
"...huh?" The redhead teacher rubbed her eyes and looked again, it was still a math book.
Chisa stood and walked closer in complete silence, like a hunter stalking her prey or a photographer trying to take a shoot or a beautiful animal. Sadly she wasn't a sneak master and the student ended up looking at her, If only Chisa had a black cap her stealth would have been perfect.
Akane lifted her gaze from the book and grinned at the housekeeper, the pencilstache falling on the table. "Hey Chisa, how you doing?"
Using their first name when talking to a teacher was poor manners, but Chisa had more pressing matters to attend so she let it slide.
"I'm good Akane, just curious about what you were doing."
"Oh." The girl changed her sitting position to a more normal one, shifting her gaze to the pages full of numbers and symbols. "I'm studying."
There are moments in life when one realizes that they just heard a person saying something for their first time in their life. The teacher knew that this was one of those moments, she looked at her student with a preoccupied expression.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Sure, why do you ask?" The tanned girl tilted her head with a curious face.
"Sorry, that was rude of me. Please go on with your study session."
She felt bad about making that question, as her teacher Chisa knew that Akane's talent didn't lie in academics. But as a teacher she must believe in the desire of the students to better themselves, her gaze fixated on her student as Akane stared at the page. A minute passed, then another. The page remained unturned. "Akane, something wrong?"
The girl didn't respond, she kept looking fiercely at the book. Suddenly a bit of steam came out of her ears and she faceplanted onto the desk. "Ugh...this is hard…"
Chisa blinked and giggled softly, dragging a chair closer before sitting next to the girl. "Here let me help you."
Time passed and some things needed to be explained several times, but the progress she was making couldn't be denied. "I get it! If I want to know this, what I have to do is use this formula."
"Exactly! That problem was a hard one, good work."
Their cheers were so loud that they managed to wake up the sleeping beauty that was Chiaki, the Gamer looked at the two with curiosity as she cleaned the drool from her mouth with the sleeve of her hoodie. Her brain was still half asleep so the pink-haired girl was having trouble comprehending what was going on, but seeing them so happy made her happy. With a soft smile, she walked out in silence to give them some privacy.
"If you keep working hard like this your grades will improve in no time."
"Really? Awesome!" The wild girl's eyes shined with glee, it felt good overcoming an obstacle that wasn't a physical one for once.
The woman with the ponytail smiled too, sharing the happiness of her student. But something was bubbling inside her chest. Biting her lower lip, she averted her gaze to the side, not really sure if a teacher should stick their nose into a student's personal life.
Steeling herself Chisa spoke, "Akane, I'm very happy to see you putting in the effort but I'm also curious. Did something happen?"
The girl's excitement dimmed at the question, her eyes looking down. "Nah, just felt like it." Now the gymnast seemed more interested in scribbling in the corners of her notebook.
Such an obvious lie didn't go over Chisa's head, with a comforting smile she let her hand rest on the girl's. "Akane I'm your teacher, one of my duties is to worry about you. Whatever it is I promise not to tell anyone."
The girl took a moment to respond, lowering that wall that was her pride. "Because I'm dumb."
Such a simple statement that was, but it made the heart of the teacher flinch in pain. "That's not-"
"It's fine." Akane leaned back into the chair, shrugging her shoulders as she closed her eyes. "Never cared if people thought that of me, and if they were really annoying I just kicked them around a bit."
The sadness that Chisa's eyes showed didn't go away, "What changed then?"
"Ugh, is just...stupid." She opened her eyes and frowned, hands balling into fists. "I don't care but he always gets so mad about it."
"Makoto, right?" The woman already knew the answer to her own question, but she hoped that the name of the boy calmed her temper.
It worked, the girl relaxed and let out a sigh. "I know he is angry on my behalf but...part of me thinks that he gets angry because he can't tell that they are wrong." Akane glanced at her hands, light marks of her nails digging into the palm. "Even if I know isn't true…"
"Sometimes, feelings can cloud your judgment and make you doubt things that you already know. You have to take hold of them and work to resolve them." Her face showed a gentle smile. "That's why you are doing this, right?"
"Yeah, and for the kids too." Determination began to show itself on the girl's features. "To inspire them to never give up even with the things that are hard, that's my job as the big sister." Akane's confidence came back at full force, she couldn't help but grin. "Makoto will brag about how her girlfriend is awesome AND smart!"
The heartfelt laugher of Chisa filled the classroom, glad that her precious student was feeling better. "Oh my, what a lucky boy he is."
"Yeah, he is the Ultimate Lucky Student." The girl said matter of factly. "The other day we went to an amusement park, they are really fun you know?"
"Hehehe you don't say? I'm jealous now." Now the teacher was playing along with her, this was also a good opportunity to learn a bit more about her student's love life. She was a bit of a sucker for those things.
"Does your boyfriend take you on dates?" The poor girl could never imagine the kind of reaction, such a simple and pure question could cause.
SNAP
The sudden sound made Akane jolt in her seat, searching for the source she saw that Chisa snapped a pencil between her fingers.
"No, he doesn't." The woman was smiling and had her eyes closed, but her voice had a strange edge to it. "But it's fine, he is working on several projects."
"I see." Akane learned a lot of things today, knowing when to stop talking wasn't one of them. "Sounds like an excuse, though."
Chisa's smile tightened into a thin line, the temperature of the room lowering a bit. "It can't be helped, adults can be really busy."
Akane could still retreat, step back, and let this brewing storm alone. "But if he really loves you, he should make time for you. Right?" She didn't.
"EXACTLY!" The teacher slammed her hands on the desk so hard that the whole thing trembled. "WOULD IT KILL HIM TO TAKE A DAY OFF? OR TO CALL ME TO SEE HOW I'M DOING? BUT NOOOOOOOO, IT'S ALWAYS WORK, WORK AND WORK! CAN'T HE SEE THAT I'M STARVED ROMANTICALLY?"
There were few things that the combative girl was scared of, and her teacher just made it into that exclusive list. The eyes of the woman were bloodshot and she huffed and puffed like a wild beast, but when Chisa saw her student sweating and trembling on her seat, she calmed down.
"I'm...sorry, please just forget about that slip." She was now sad and embarrassed, how could a grown-up woman like her explode like that? And in front of her own student too. Such disgrace...
"Professor…" It was the first time that Akane spoke to her in such a formal tone, it surprised the woman greatly. "Maybe I can lend you Makoto for one date. But just one! And better not try anything weird either!"
Chisa looked at the girl with wide eyes, the serious expression on her face combined with such a strange proposition caused a reaction in the woman.
Chisa began to laugh.
"Hahaha oh my, how generous of you." Still giggling she whipped her eye from a stray tear, this time a genuine smile adorned the face of the teacher. "Thank you, I appreciate it." Her hand reached for Akane's head, petting it softly. "But your teacher doesn't feel alone, because she has the best students in the world."
"Okay." The Gymnast seemed a bit relieved, she wanted to help her teacher, sure. But she also didn't want to share Makoto too much, what if I began charming other girls? Or even boys? Sure fighting them off would be fun, but Akane also wanted some alone time with him. "It's gotten late, better go to my room and do that homework." Her stomach, however, had other plans and communicated them with a loud growl. "But first a trip to the kitchen to get supplies hehe. Bye Chisa!"
She let out a small sigh, the woman wished that Akane called her teacher or professor, and also that she didn't use the window to leave instead of the door. But alas, every single one of her precious students was quirky in their own ways.
And she loved all of them.
Omake:
The teacher's lounge was mostly empty after class hours, at the time only two people were in it. Juzo Sakakura was relaxing on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hands, he was probably tired of beating up kids or something. The other was Chisa Yukizome, phone close to her ear.
A calm male voice was coming out of the device, "The construction it's going as planned."
"I see."
"We should finish it right on schedule." The person speaking was Kyosuke Munakata, he was working overseas on the development of a new branch of Hope's Peak.
"Good."
"Did you make the list of potential employees as I asked?"
"Mhm."
"...are you okay?" The stuck-up man had no idea of what he just unleashed on his pale ass.
"Oh, so you do care? Could've fooled me." The contempt dripping off Chisa's voice was so strong that Kyosuke could almost taste through the phone.
"What? Chisa what is this all about?" Utter confusion laced the voice of the man.
"If you don't even know, then it mustn't be that important for you. Or maybe it's me who isn't important?"
This phone call turned into an emotional minefield, a wrong step and the white-haired man won't leave unharmed.
"Is this about that silly date thing?" And he just jumped face-first into one. Amazing.
The teacher gritted her pearly teeth so hard, that it was a miracle they didn't burst. She did though. "Have fun kissing that building then! Because you aren't kissing me for a long time!"
Chisa ended the call, she had to resist the urge to smash the damn cell phone against the ground, those things were expensive.
"That went well." The eternal third wheel chipped in from his spot.
Now, Chisa was a polite and kind woman, but everyone has a limit. So she decided to let out some steam, far away from sensitive ears. "Fuck that guy."
"God I wish…" The boxer muttered under his breath, chugging that coffee to try and quench his thirst.
"Maybe Akane's offer still stands…"
And that's a wrap!
Another chapter is done, and I'm glad that I managed to keep this one short...kind of. While writing this chapter, I realized that every chapter has a bit of angst/drama in it. Wasn't my intention at all but I guess it works balancing the fluff.
This will come as random, but I never liked it very much when a character is excessively bashed in a fic. For me, it always comes as somewhat petty, even if said character deserves it in some way.
Did I enjoy making fun of Punch-man and Katana-man in the omake, then? You bet that I did, hypocrisy be damned.
I want to thank you all, for your support of this story and the others. You guys keep me going.
I will probably write another one-shot before the next chapter but don't worry. I won't abandon this.