"Okay, run that by me again, I think I must have misheard."
Byakuya Togami couldn't help but scoff at the mastermind for their little act. He knew very well that they had heard him correctly the first time. Most likely this was an attempt to make him upset by using one of his pet peeves against him. They wanted to make him feel agitated to prevent him from making rational decisions and possibly make an agreement or mistake that he'd regret. It was the same strategy he himself preferred when dealing with those of lesser intelligence and standing.
"Don't make me repeat myself, you know very well what I said." The scion insultingly instructed the sad little child that controlled the animatronic bear that stood before him. The mastermind, tilted the bear's head in a mock display of confusion, another factor that irritated the genius millionaire with the cheap acts to make them seem more human to keep the contestants of this game thrown off their game.
"Yeah, I'm aware," they said in response, "but still, I'm surprised that you would come to me with a deal like this. I never would have taken you for the deal making type."
The Togami heir jeered at them in response for daring to assume his personality. "Don't presume you know anything about me, you have none of the credentials to do so. Now, will that be acceptable or not?"
"Okay, okay." They replied with what sounded like a condescending eyeroll, since the bear's eyes clearly couldn't or possibly it could but he couldn't see it with its pitch-black eye. "Don't blow a gasket. I just wanted to be sure."
Straightening the bear up, the mastermind continued in a more professional tone. "Anyway, to answer your question; after that stunt you guys pulled with the infirmary, I won't just open any room just because one of you telling me that I'll get a murder from it. Fool me once, and all that noise."
He figured as much, if it had been that easy, then any of the other morons here could ask for the rooms to be unlocked and then the mastermind would never be able to convince them to commit a murder. If they can't progress, then they would eventually grow stir-crazy and someone would try something. Ether they would convince someone else to act, or they would act themselves to make it so that the others could progress. All it depended on was whatever the next motive they were provided with.
Still, this was a problem. If he couldn't get access to the room he needed, then he wouldn't be able to confirm the truth that he needed to-
"Although," the bear interrupted his thoughts with a concerning amount of interest, "I can tell you about a way to unlock the rooms."
"…Go on." Byakuya commanded, unable to hide his interest. He knew it was likely a trap, but that didn't mean he was going to let it prevent him from learning all he could.
"Alright, I'm only going to mention it once, but as I told Makoto, the school store has a large assortment of prizes that you can purchase using the Mono-tokens. You with me so far?"
The blond man didn't even try to hide his scoff at that jab at his intelligence. "Don't waste my time. Out with it."
"Alright, sheesh. Mister bossy. Alright, now while you can only unlock new floors from winning class trials, you can use the tokens to unlock locked rooms on those floors. And in some cases, you can upgrade the rooms you've already unlocked."
"I see. And I assume that was where the tire Asahina mentioned came from?" It was the only thing that would make sense. Why would a locker room, especially the girl's locker room, contain the tire from a truck? The only answer he could think of would be for it have been acquired by one of the others through Monokuma.
This was confirmed by Monokuma with a nod. "It is, however, that doesn't mean that I'll make it easy for you to earn. That would defeat the purpose of making them prizes in the first place. That being said, some rooms are vastly more expensive than others, and it can take a long time to grind for even one. Honestly, you'd be better off waiting for someone to kill someone and hoping that it gets unlocked afterward."
That was a good point. With how much time they had to stay in this school, and with how irrational some of the others acted, there was a good chance that the rooms they needed would just be given to them overtime. All it would take would be a short wait for the motive of the week and for one of them to give in to it.
However, Byakuya didn't earn his title as the Ultimate Affluent Progeny by sitting on his rear and waiting for others to do the work for him. He earned his fortune by being the best of the best, he won against the impossible before with nothing but his wits, and he would do so again if he had to.
"I'm assuming the reason you haven't told anyone this information is to make things interesting, correct?" Byakuya questioned almost bored with his own theory, as it had seemingly been the only reason thus far that was consistent with their actions; so, he found it interesting when they laughed it off with a shaking of their head.
"Oh, no. I'd tell that to whomever asked. There's nothing to hide, they just don't think to ask me to explain everything that I have for sale. So, congrats on being the second one to think about asking." He could practically feel the levels of condescending in the bear's tone and it made him feel disgusted that they would dare. However, he made no move to take their bait and continued onward.
"And what exactly would it take to gain the rights to the room in the library?" It was not usually his nature to be this blunt with his questions, but he had a feeling that if he wanted to keep this little meeting of theirs's a secret, then he would have to keep the banter to a minimum. He just hoped that the mastermind would not notice.
Fortunate seemed to favor him thus far, but as the bear stopped to think, he couldn't stop the feeling of concern that they would realize his desire to move this along as soon as possible. As time ticked by and the bear 'hmm'ed excessively long, his teeth started to grind slowly in a mixture of stress and frustration. They were dragging this out on purpose, they had to be. They were trying his patience, trying to get him to break first.
Finally, they spoke an actual word, and he felt his frustration peak into bloody rage. "One thousand-five hundred Mono-tokens, payed in full."
An unbelievable outrage as he had no chance of earning the money himself, not in his usual ways. The plebian method would be to do chores from the chore board like the rest of the riffraff, but those only offer around ten to thirty coins normally, with the most difficult tasks reaching fifty. Even the trial, the only thing that offered more, had rewarded them all a couple hundred and change each. Monokuma had clearly not been kidding when he said that it would be easier to get someone to try and kill in a trial and hope for the best. The grind would take far too long, even if he was willing to do the chores.
He could ask one or more of the others to lend him their assistance, but that was not something he was willing to try. There was no way to trust any of them with such an important task of helping him, nor was there any way he could rely on them not to screw him over when it came time to collect. The bear clearly knew it too, as it laughed at his frustration and took off before he could manage a rebuttal.
To think, this coward hiding behind a toy, no matter how advanced it was, had managed to trap not only the ultimate's of Kibougamine Academy, but also someone of his pedigree. It would be more impressive if it wasn't so embarrassing. Still, as asinine as this whole "Killing game" could be, the heritor of the Togami empire couldn't deny that it was interesting. Not what he would ever deem such a title as "enjoyable" or even what the plebeians refer to as, "fun". But it was certainly interesting.
It almost reminded him of his time making plans to overthrow his half-siblings in the race to earn the prestigious title of "the one true heir" of the family name. Only one of them could earn a title of importance like that, and he was as unwilling to lose then as he was now, even with the much stricter rules and circumstances this game held over him in comparison to the first. He had no interest in letting the others take the lead from him, but he held no illusions in the idea of him winning fair.
Despite how he acted, he knew he was far from untouchable. He wouldn't have stood a chance against his "family" if he hadn't understood his own weaknesses and setbacks at an intimate level, and here was no exception. He was very aware of his humanity, and what that meant for his chances.
That had been the fundamental difference between him and his siblings. Those fools thought themselves as invincible, and thus fell hardest when he upset their illusion of perfection. They thought too much of themselves and could not bounce back from the upset. He had earned the right to be boastful where they had not. The only exception had been his older sister, and she had given up the race in the end and settled to be the Ultimate Secretary; his own secretary no less.
However, he still had a reputation that he needed to live by. He had to make everyone else believe that he was as undeservingly arrogant as his siblings had been to keep back his many enemies he'd made on his rise to the top. That included this so-called mastermind of this game. He needed to keep to their favor for now, without sacrificing his pride of course, and to do that he needed to keep them entertained and trusting in his desire to play this disgusting game.
The others would likely hate him for this, but so what. If he was to defeat the mastermind of this worthless game, he would need to be willing to sacrifice anything and anyone.
'However, first things first,' he thought to himself as he left his room and locked his door, and began heading towards the cafeteria for their regular supper time, 'I need to find a way to make myself a profit in this insane asylum. The only question is how.'
This thought would follow him well into the evening, and well past the night time announcement, but come morning, he swore he would have an answer. That was just how he was.
I watched as Byakuya left his room from my Monokuma with a feeling of frustration, and gratification. An odd mixture to be sure, but that was what I felt. The former was for the obvious reasons, I was pulled from my informative call where I could have learned so much more than I did, just to deal with that pain in the neck with a stick up his rear. I could have learned so much more about the situation outside had he not interrupted me when he did. I swear, I will find a way to suplex him into the ground before this game ends.
But, for now I had to settle for the satisfaction of making him frustrated with my ludicrous price tag for the locked room in the library. It had already been funny to me when he found the room inaccessible, and the vexation he'd experienced. If he had had any less control on his emotions, I'd have sworn he looked more like Mondo then the rich scion he was. And now I got him in a trap made from his own hubris.
There was not a snowball's chance in a volcano that he would be willing to do chores to earn enough coinage to unlock the archive. His pride would never allow it, and he had even less chances of convincing the others to help with how he acted all week. Most of them would rather dunk him in a basket, or maybe even the toilet, then help him out. And because his riches don't translate in here, the odds fall even further from his favor.
However, as much as these thoughts made me giggle with glee filled spite, it did nothing to distract me from the concerning call that he'd interrupted.
To think, those little kids thought I was going to be their "mother". No, wait, that came out wrong. To think that I would try and adopt five kids myself and be so determined to do so that I would be willing to use less then legal means to do so. It was too obvious what those kids had meant by "got a better one" when they said they couldn't find the right lawyer, there was no way I would miss that. But I had always tried my best to stay on the right side of the law, never deviating even when I thought it would be to my benefit. So, to hear I was willing to bend my morals to adopt them was something I never would have considered doing normally.
Just how much had the past me fallen for these little kids? I mean, I sympathized with them a bit when I played through "Ultra Despair Girls" and learned of their pasts and Monaca's manipulations, but that had been tempered by the rage I felt from them murdering innocent people and enslaving kids with mind-control. The ends justify the means, that was the expression I never agreed with, and it was what they had been following in their asinine game of "Demon hunting".
'…Then again, they weren't exactly the same as they were then, were they?' The thought came suddenly, but that didn't stop it from being true. In the game, little miss Towa was the one to use Junko's death to spearhead their desire to build a utopia for kids, and I clearly wasn't dead yet. Plus, she had gotten them so depressed that they tried to commit mutual suicide when the world was already going to hell, whereas here I introduced myself to them well before the Tragedy was even a thing.
In addition to that, I had given them hope in their hopeless situation. It only made sense that they would see me as a savior of sorts and do everything they could to keep my favor, they were still kids after all. They needed love, love that past me must have been willing to give them. It's possible that former me realized what would have happened in the aftermath of them ruining those kid's parent's lives, and sought to be their saving grace by preventing them from being tossed in an orphanage. (S)he might have even fallen into a parental love with them during the long red-taped, and possibly blackmail filled, process.
It was…rather surprising though, that I could love them so much. I mean, I'm okay with kids for the most part, but I've never been one who could keep engaged for too long. After a while, I just want to get away from them, have some time to think by myself, and the longer I have to stay, the shorter I find my temper's fuse. I never snap, I just pull away before then, but it is never easy. I figure that it might change when I have kids of my own, but I had no way to tell.
That was why I was so stunned that the past me was so much more like a parent, so much more willing to care about them for so much longer then I remember being able to. It was so different, so unlike me, yet still like me, that it left my mind boggled.
So, to get away from those thoughts, I turned my attention to the others having their own free time. Today was a bit different then the norm, Makoto was hanging out with Mondo, talking about dogs and motorcycles. Taka and Leon were apparently having some kind of glaring argument, but it was hard to tell whether or not it was over anything serious because they were both waring matching smirks of…I want to say, mutual understanding slash anger? Something like that. Kyoko seemed to be in some kind of discussion with Hiro about something, though if I had to guess it might be over the validity of aliens existing or some of the OOPs artifacts he'd collected over the years. Toko and Hifumi had apparently decided to continue their debate about their passions from the library, though thankfully for the others they had taken up residence in the laundry room for it. Sayaka, Hina, and Sakura were just finishing up their tea in the cafeteria, and were putting away their dishes. Byakuya was alone though, and he was heading off to the library for some late reading, and possibly working to find a way to earn things to his favor.
I did find one thing concerning though, Celeste was currently in the storage room with a nervous Chihiro who was hurriedly stuffing the sleeve of a blue tracksuit into a duffle bag. No doubt, the small boy had gone in to grab the two items for our meet up in half an hour, and she had caught him in the act. Fortunately, it seemed like he was able to convince her that he wasn't up to anything nefarious, and she eventually let him go. Sadly, I could tell she was planning to remember this if anything ever came of it.
I had to be careful to watch that in the future. She was a crafty one, and given the right motivation, she would end up the next blackened. Unlike Byakuya, who was only in this trying to beat me at my own game, she was someone who would fall into temptation if left to her own devices, and was willing to manipulate things and people to win this game. She had already proven this by her proposing a night time rule and her manipulating Hifumi into being her servant using his otaku nature against him.
But, that's a professional gambler for you. Reading people and lying for her advantage, using people for her own gain, and turning her luck around.
Still, even though I knew she was more than her title, it was inevitable that she would give in to the temptations. She was just so afraid of being a nobody, of being normal. It was why she had put so much effort into her persona as Celeste and hiding her former life.
Even her name.
Sadly, that would have to wait. I had a prior date to get to, so after setting the cam up to watch over Makoto and doing the night time announcement, I turned to open the door and made my way over to Monokuma's hidey hole, and began my trek through the vents. It was time for some training with Chihiro.
"Hi~, How's it going Chi-chan!"
Chihiro jerked into awareness at the sound of his new exercising buddy opening the door to the pool area, her melodious voice accompanied by her crutch tapping the wooden flooring as she hobbled in. He smiled back in return, happy and relieved that she hadn't stood him up. Looking downward, he noticed that she had already changed into her own matching blue tracksuit and she had changed her hair style from the usual messy ponytails in to one big one at the back of her head. It honestly made her seem much more sporty than normal, but the normally baggy clothes didn't do anything to hide her figure, especially in the chest area which she had left partially open to show off the low-cut white tee she likely got from the warehouse. It also showed off the valley of her cleavage and her black bra covering her goods, something he noted with a massive blush as he quickly averted his eyes.
He couldn't help it, he was still a growing teenage male after all.
"I-It's going well, Junko." He replied, desperately hoping that she hadn't noticed his brief glance at her bust. He didn't want to risk angering his first confidant, especially since she knew his dark secret. He had seen how much of a vendetta that girls would hold against perverts in the past from a few early bloomer classmates of his, and he had no intention of suffering the same fate as they had.
Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice his brief moment of weakness as she tossed her own duffle bag to the side and pulled out her E-handbook out. "Good to hear, cause we're gonna be working hard tonight! Come on, you've got a hundred sit-ups to start with."
Chihiro's grin became far more strained at that as his arms ached in response. It hadn't been that long since they had their previous workout after all. Cautiously, he asked her, "C-Couldn't we start a bit lighter?"
"Now, why would you want to do a silly thing like that?" She asked in response as she swiped the electronic pocketbook over the reader to temporarily unlock the door to the girl's locker room, her smile becoming more joking as she did so. "If your gonna become as diesel as someone like Sakura or Mondo, or even just as fit as I am…was…then you've got to push your limits every chance you can."
There was brief pause as she corrected herself, and he could see her eyes momentarily become melancholier, but they returned to their excited expression just as quickly. That look made Chihiro feel a bit sad himself, to see her so depressed and hiding it. She was likely only trying to hide it to make him feel better, to keep him from feeling as bad over his insecurities. It was honestly sweet of her to consider his feelings like this, but it also made him feel more self-conscious as well.
He liked that she cared for him so much, but it made him feel like she was pitying him. He knew that it wasn't the case, but that didn't stop his mind from unwillingly going in that direction. He hated that about himself, among the other weaknesses he had. He always felt like such a burden, a weight dragging people down.
"I'm sorr-" He started to apologize, but he was interrupted when Junko flicked him on the forehead. While he was busy rubbing the spot she'd hit, she looked back to him with a look that screamed annoyance.
"Okay, first thing I want you to do if we're going to make this work is, you've gotta stop apologizing for everything; especially when you aren't at fault." While he was stuttering out another apology, she stopped him when she reached out and grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the locker room. The suddenness of the action caught him completely flatfooted and left him clumsily trying to regain balance as the fashionista closed the door behind her and turned to him with a raised palm. "I understand that you've got a lot of issues, and that you like to be polite, but it's infuriating to watch you saying sorry for things that aren't your fault."
"I'm sorry." It was all he could say in response, but he flinched back when she groaned back in response, her hand slapping her face in annoyance.
"See, that's what I mean. It's not your fault you're like that, I understand that, and I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing to be so kind." She removed her hand and pointed to him dramatically, her hand making a quick whoosh sound as it displaced the air. "However, if you keep doing that, then one day someone will come along and take advantage of you. You need to be willing to stand your ground at times."
Chihiro nodded softly, and looked away anyway. "I-I know. I'm not trying to be so weak, b-but I can't help it. I-I'm sorry."
She merely sighed in response before looking at him again and saying with a concerned look in her eyes, "I know, but that's why we're doing this, right? To give you a reason to say, "I'm not weak!", right?"
"R-Right." He nodded along, a small smile gracing his lips as he agreed. That was something he would like, to no longer have to call himself a weakling and to be able to stand up for himself.
"Then the only thing we can do for now is to see if we can get you some strength to back up that resolve." She smiled back at him as she said this, her grin filled with so much compassion and resolve that he felt his cheeks light up a little as he nodded in response. It felt good to hear her say that she supported him so much. It made everything feel that much better.
"…And the best way to start is with a good workout! So, come on, let's get started on those sit-ups!" Chihiro could feel a shiver run down his spine at the sinister grin that came to her face, but he swallowed his trepidation anyway. After all, it couldn't be that bad.
Right?
"I hate you…I hate you so much right now."
"That's the spirit!" Junko gleefully replied in response to Chihiro's glare from where he lay on the ground, clearly having an absolute blast seeing him looking angrily at her as sweat poured down his face and his face red as a tomato. He had a feeling that the pout on his face didn't do him any favors either, nor the panting that interrupted his every attempt to look intimidating. Though, to be fair, she was just as sweaty, but the grin of absolute amusement on her face prevented any sympathy from him.
It hadn't even been that much into the exercise either, just around eighty or so, but he hadn't been able to get any further without feeling like his stomach was about to explode and his back aching. His abs hurt so much, his chest as well burned from his lungs and heart working so hard to keep him going. His back even hurt a bit from laying on the floor for so long, even despite the soft mats that covered the area he had been laying on.
Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to blame it all on his partner, he knew he reasonably couldn't. She had been nothing but supportive, making sure he only did ten reps before switching with him on the floor, and holding his legs to prevent him from just falling back and hitting his head. Plus, he had sort of asked for this when he agreed to meet up for their workout session, so it would be rather hypocritical of him to be too mad at her for something he knew he had agreed to.
Still, it didn't stop him from feeling a tad bit vexed either way.
"Aw, don't give me that scary look." She told him in a deliberately unconcerned manor, clearly unfazed in the slightest at his glare. "I could have made you do the full thing after all. Or maybe you would like to continue?"
The way her smile dropped at the end there filed him with a feeling of dread and terror that made him leaned back and wave his hands in nervous denial. "N-No, no! T-That's fine. Thank you."
For a brief moment, her face stayed the same. The same dark, yet serious expression covered her face as she stared into his eyes, the glare filling him with absolute terror, a primal instinct from deep within himself that made him want to turn away and run. However, he was frozen in place, unable to pull out of those deep blue eyes of hers as they held him in place. It was like he was a mouse, staring into the eyes of a cat just playing with him before his imminent demise. That analogy only became more pronounced and prominent when her expression started to melt away as her cheeks puffed up from restrained laughter.
"Oh geez, you really take me too seriously." She giggled with light mirth. "I'm not that heartless. Come on."
Chihiro took a moment to digest the sudden shift in tone even as she continued to laugh at her own sarcasm, but eventually he couldn't help but slowly give in to the laughter a chuckled along with her. For a short while, they sat there laughing at nothing before it ultimately petered out and left them in a comfortable silence. For a moment, that was the only thing they needed. But as time passed, Chihiro couldn't help but turn and look at her in bewilderment.
It only just occurred to him, but he had no idea who she was as a person. He knew a little, like she was a model, and from their chat earlier that she had a sister and was very intelligent, but he didn't know her very much at all. Like right now when he completely misunderstood her humor. He knew nothing about her, her past, her likes, her dislikes, or anything of the sort. She already knew his secret and had even gone out of her way to help him, but he had made no effort to return the gesture.
It…it didn't feel right. It felt like he was almost…using her in some ways. That was just like the bullies at his old school, using others without any concern for the people they used.
And that just made him feel like a scumbag.
So, in order to alleviate some of that feeling, he turn back to her to ask her something. Anything would work, even something dumb and irrelevant like asking about the weather would work. Anything at all.
"…"
Yet, his mind was blank. He couldn't think about any topics of discussion, and whenever the words started to come to mind, they became muddled as they tried to leave his mouth. Again, he had his own fears holding him back, his own hubris preventing him from reacting as he wanted. Sadly though, he didn't want to risk offending her. He was just afraid of making her an enemy.
He shook his head. No, that wasn't it. She was a friend after all, she wouldn't do anything like that. But he didn't want to offend her or make her regret helping him out in his dream of overcoming his weaknesses. Yet, at the same time, he didn't want to make her feel like he wasn't interested in her for anything besides what she could do for him. That would be horrible. So, he took a breath and gathered up his courage before turning to ask his friend…
"So, Chihiro. There's something I've been wondering." Only to be cut short when she turned to him and spoke. With the wind significantly removed from his sails, all he was able to do was sputter out a go ahead. "Okay, I got to know. What got you to want to be stronger anyway?"
Chihiro froze, his heart clenched in his chest. Unfortunately, because of him freezing like this she was able to continue. "I mean, yeah, I can understand wanting to improve yourself, and not being too sure about your health and things like that, but those feel a bit too…I dunno, basic? Straightforward? Maybe primitive? Something or another, but it doesn't seem like it's the reason you want. Now, I know this might be a bit presumptuous of me to ask you this, so please tell me if I'm asking too much, but what started all of this?"
His blood felt like ice in his veins, his hands were clammy and cold. He could feel like his body, once heated and exhausted from working out, now was like he'd been dumped in ice-water and it left him shivering. That fear of saying the truth to her, of the memories that tormented him every time he let his guard down, it clawed at his soul, and made him feel like he was going to be attacked, sliced to ribbons for even daring to think about speaking about that horrible time-
"Hey. Hey! Chihiro!" He was cut away from his thoughts when a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and jostled him a bit. His eyes snapped over to the girl who spoke his name with such concern that he couldn't help but feel startled. Her gaze bore into him, her eyes full of worry for him as she held his shivering shoulder. "Easy there. You zoned out on me for a moment. You okay?"
Was he okay? No, of course not. He was anything but okay. He would never be okay if this kept happening every time someone brought up his past. "I'm s-sorry. I don't…I-I can't…"
"No, no. It's fine." She interrupted with wave of her free hand. "I shouldn't have asked so soon. We barely know each other and it's clearly a sensitive topic. I was being too impatient and insensitive. I'm sorry."
She was the one who was sorry? He was the one who had been unable to talk and she was the one apologizing? It wasn't because she was wrong in doing so, but the fact that she had picked up on his distress so quickly that stunned him so. He wasn't able to respond properly because of his shock when she stood up with her crutch and turned away. She didn't say anything as she started limping away, her free hand waving back at him in farewell.
He knew he couldn't let her go just yet. He didn't know if it was intuition, or instinct, or maybe it was experience that he couldn't quite remember properly, but somewhere in his mind he knew that if he were to let her walk away now without a word that he would regret it for years to come. So, with a quick shake of the head to clear the cobwebs, he called out with a surprisingly loud voice.
"Wait!" He caught both her and himself off guard with how loud he had been, but when she turned back to look at him he knew that it was do or die. If he didn't speak up now, he never would. "I-I know I'm not ready to talk about it right now, but I…I want to change. No, I need to change. I can't say why right now, but when I think about it, I know that if I don't do something, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. S-So…"
He had to take a quick breath to steal his nerves, but he still pressed on with eyes clenched and shaking hands. "I don't want to leave things the way they are, but I can't say why just yet. So, p-please. Please be patient w-with me, a-and I promise, I'll tell you later…why I'm like this, a-and why I want to be able to stand up for myself…and accept who I am."
He swallowed noisily, his throat suddenly felt really dry and scratchy like he had just tried to eat sand and he could feel the far to common touch of moister rolling down his cheeks, but he also felt somewhat relieved that he was able to say that. It felt like he had taken an important step in improving himself, even when he stumbled as he did so. Now he had to keep making these kinds of steps to improve himself, and eventually he might just improve as much as he wanted to.
This feeling only continued to grow when he looked up and saw Junko smiling back at him and she said, "Sure! I'll be waiting for that day. No need to rush. Just don't keep me waiting too long though. After all, it's not polite to keep a girl waiting, ya know?"
She stuck her tongue out playfully and winked, and he had not seen that he might have mistaken her for being cross with him again. Still, he couldn't help but smile back a bit before wiping his eyes and nodding back at her, happy that he hadn't made her upset with his refusal to speak of his past.
They parted with a promise to meet again the next night to continue where they left off, and return to their rooms to rest. Chihiro struggled to get in his bed, the soreness of his muscles catching up with him now that he wasn't focused on other things, but he couldn't deny that he felt sort of accomplished with himself because of it. He had made strides to make himself better, he had managed to make a promise to improve and even made himself a goal to tell his friend about the events that led to him living a lie. It didn't sound like a whole lot to him if he was honest, but even this much felt like a real improvement over who he was at the start of this terrible game of Monokuma's.
Before she told him that she had learned of the truth, he never would have considered even trying to improve had she not gotten him started. He would have continued to hesitate and stewed in his fears and insecurities, unable to even attempt to improve himself, and he would have continued down that terrible spiral down the depressing path he had lived in thus far until eventually giving up entirely. He would have been snuffed out, his heart becoming a void of self-destruction from which there was no return.
He shook his head at the thought. Okay, maybe that was a bit too far. He likely would have just stayed in a dress until they eventually got out of here and gone to collage somewhere out of state where no one would learn of his crossdressing phase. He might even eventually have grown to continue doing so after. Either way, despite it only being a day, he felt like he had improved a bit thanks to Junko. He would have to find a way to pay her back in some way.
"…Wait a minute." He spoke aloud as he suddenly sat upright with realization in his eyes. "I forgot to ask her about herself."
It was bizarre, he had been trying to ask her about her history, or anything really about herself, and she had gone and distracted him with talk of his past. Had she somehow known that he was going ask and cut him off when he went to ask. Was he that predictable, or was she really that perceptive? It was so shocking that he was left speechless at the thought.
'She really is amazing.'
"Good morning everyone! The time is now seven oh' clock. Get ready for another beautiful day!"
The morning announcement came and went, and everyone headed toward the dining hall. Per the norm, most were gathered by the thirty minute mark, the only exceptions being the two stuck in a wheelchair, their agreed upon escorts, and surprisingly enough, both Byakuya and Junko. It didn't take much to understand the first four people, it took more time to wait for the two injured parties to get changed considering their conditions, and with Leon being in charge of Sayaka's movement, and Sakura volunteering to help Hiro in his own, of course they would have to wait. Junko was also understandable since she was left to hobble on a crutch on her own. Still…
"I wonder what's keeping Byakuya?" Hina asked, her head resting on her hand propped up on the table as she stared at the door, wondering what the scion was doing that would be holding him up for so long. There were a few nods of agreement from the others, each of them feeling a bit irritated that they were being made to wait on the tarty boy. Even Toko, who almost always was the last one through the door, had come in roughly on time and nervously sat off to the side at one of the smaller tables waiting like the others.
"Yeah, that's not like him." Chihiro chimed in her own confirmation as she worriedly glanced at the door. "He's not usually this late."
"Well, if he doesn't show up soon, I'm gonna be real fucking pissed." Mondo angrily quipped, his feet resting on the table as he leaned back precariously. "It's bad enough that we gotta wait for the others to get up, but waiting for him as well is a god damn pain in the ass."
Taka, ever so eager to play mediator, was quick to defend the missing member of their group. "Worry not! I have no doubt that Byakuya is already on his way as we speak."
"He better." Mondo growled as he switched legs to keep them from falling asleep. A few of the others close to him subtly scooted away from him just in case he lashed out.
"Um, do you think that…?" Hifumi started to ask, but he quickly cut himself off with a nervous shake of his head. "No, no. That's not possible."
Whatever it was that he was trying to say, it was clear that the thought was making him jumpy. His hands shook and he turned his attention away from the door with the intention of ignoring its presence. Unfortunately for him, that only made the other students curious.
"Hmm? What is it Hifumi?" Asked Makoto, his gaze locked on the fear filled eyes of the otaku with concern, but neither one could say anything because the impatience of the biker next to him. "Come on man, if ya got something to say, spit it out!"
The ultimate fan shook under the evil glare of the gang leader. It was clear that the prolonged wait for the first meal of the day was affecting the rider very negatively, leaving him a bit snappier then normal. Hifumi understood that feeling as well, his own stomach had been gurgling in hunger for a while now as well. "W-Well, um. What if he's been…well, you know."
The way he said it more than painted dark picture that none of them needed context for. With the situation as it was, they knew full well he was assuming that the rich boy had been killed. The very thought sent a chill rushing down most of their spines, and caused their hearts to momentarily leap into their throats.
"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Taka quickly denounced the idea, but there was a thick bead of sweat rolling down his forehead that betrayed his worry. "There has been no reason for anyone to even attempt anything of the sort!"
"Y-You say that, but y-your still sweating l-like a sow in the sun." Toko unhelpfully pointed out. Taka, however was clearly unfazed as he replied with his own comment, "There is no need to worry! Let us go find him post haste!"
"W-We should." Makoto agreed, concerned for the fate of their comrade. There was a growl from Mondo as he forced himself to stand up, but it was generally silence from the whole student body as they got up and headed out the door. However, just as they crossed the threshold into the main hall to discuss how they were going to split up to search, they were caught by surprise by the person just about to head in.
"Huh? Whoa, hold on, where's the fire?" Junko asked with a raised brow and a brief widening of her eyes. "What happened to the meeting?"
"Junko." Chihiro was the first to react to her presence, but she was quickly overshadowed by Mondo. "Meetings been canceled. Byakuya never showed up so we've got to go find his dumb ass."
The others expected several kinds of reactions for this news. Shock at their fellow captive for suddenly up and vanishing, maybe relief since he hadn't exactly been the most enjoyable person to be around. They would have even anticipated her reacting with fear at the possibility of another attempt of murder happening. But even then, they never expected an outright groan of exasperation.
"Seriously? That punk. God damnit. He's still in there?" her free hand rose to meet her face in exasperation and frustration to the other's confusion. A thought bubbled to the surface of their minds as she moved to pinching the bridge of her nose, but it would be Taka who asked.
"Miss Enoshima, are you saying you know where Byakuya has been this whole time?" She looked up from her ministrations to look at him with an expression that could only be described of as, frustration.
"Yep." She confirmed with an exasperated sigh as she adjusted her crutch a bit. "He's probably still upstairs in the library reading."
There were only a few who raised their eyebrows at the news as Hina asked with a tilt of her head, "Huh? Why would he be up there?"
Junko had no real answer, only a shrug of her shoulders and a reply of, "Dunno. I didn't bother to ask when I saw him."
"Why ever not?" Taka asked in response, his brows furrowed and his fist rose up dramatically as he did. "It is imperative that we all gather together for the morning meeting so as to stand united against our common foe!"
Junko sighed irritably at his remark, though it didn't seem as if Taka noticed. Still, she responded anyway. "You don't need to tell me that, I'm not the one who blew it off. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't have listened to me if I told him anyway, so I didn't bother. If you want to get him though, be my guest."
"I will do just that!" Taka agreed, completely missing the disregard in the girl's voice. He quickly began walking past her, equally overlooking the look of pity she gave him in the process. Mondo, Celeste, and Toko followed after him, the first grumbling about how he would, "Give that punk of piece of my mind." The two girls following were completely silent as they trekked after. Hifumi hesitated for a second, but he followed as well, just to make sure that his favorite tsun-princess was where he could be ready for her next command. As they left, Junko quickly turned back to the others with a look that said how much faith she had in his success.
"You guys should probably go too. I've got a feeling he's going to need the help." The wasn't a single one of them that doubted it. With the way both Byakuya and Taka did things, the both unwilling to back down, there was not a chance of the moral compass convincing the scion to do anything he didn't want to.
Still, there was a concern that Kyoko decided to address for everyone. "It would be best if someone were to wait for the others. They'll likely want to be informed about what's going on."
"On it." Junko quickly volunteered, her free arm lazily raised as she just as tiredly made her claim. "I'll just slow you guys down as I am anyway. I'll make sure the others know what's up."
There was a nod from Kyoko in response, but Chihiro looked worried about their friend. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, no worries." She waved off his concern both figuratively and physically, her hand finally dropping down to her side right afterward. "I'm a big girl. I can totally handle it."
Chihiro wanted to believe it, he wanted to have confidence in her words. Yet, she couldn't stop her gaze from wandering down to glance at the fashionista's crutch and her limp leg. He couldn't help but feel worried about her, she was still injured after all and it was clear that she was still tired from their late night meet up. Just because he knew full well that she was capable of traversing the school by herself, didn't mean he was able to convince himself that she would be fine alone while Monokuma still roamed the halls.
Though, now that she thought about it, their two-toned captor hadn't been seen much of since yesterday. There was obviously the morning and night time announcements, but those could be prerecorded messages for all they knew. Plus, there was a feeling of distance there that was brought from him making announcements compared to being up in their face. Unfortunately, that only made that feeling of worry intensify that much more. There was no telling what he was plotting behind their backs, waiting in the wings to strike once their guards were down. But before he could say anything about the matter, Makoto spoke up with his own concerns.
"Hold on Junko. I think one of us should go with you." There was a lot of worry in his tone for his friend, concerned for her safety in being left alone. But, he felt it was warranted. While he had his doubts about anyone actually killing anyone, especially after everything that had happened over the course of the trial two days ago, there was no telling what Monokuma would do to her if she were left on her own. Yes, the mad-man controlling it clearly stated that he wouldn't get involved unless they broke a rule, but she had already gone and done that and he'd been hounding her ever since. Given the evidence, Makoto felt it only fair to worry about her safety.
Thankfully, it seemed that the others agreed with him as Hina swiftly took over. "I got this! I'll go with her. Besides, I'm sure Sakura would like the help with Hiro anyway."
While Chihiro and Makoto smiled in appreciation for the swimmer's quick thinking, but Junko seemed reluctant. "I don't know. You sure you want to come along? I'm not going to be able to move that quick, ya know. Why not just go with the others?"
"Don't worry!" Hina quickly shot down her inquiry with a determined pumping of her arms. "I won't push you any, and if you need it, I can even give you a piggyback ride!"
"That still feels like pushing." Junko deadpanned as a large bead of sweat on her head.
"Still, it would be for the best." Kyoko stated as she looked on, her arms crossed again as she thought to herself. "With Monokuma's threat of moving anyone found alone in the school where ever he deems fit, it would be a potentially grave error."
Junko didn't look convinced, in fact, if the amnesiac girl was to say anything, it seemed like the model found the very idea laughable at best, and unlikely at worst. Yet the expression faded into a smile so quickly that it almost like they never existed in the first place. "Well, that's fine then. If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you."
While the others were quick to agree, but Kyoko was still suspicious. There was something wrong with how quickly Junko gave in, something about that one split second of lackadaisical attitude towards the threat Monokuma possessed towards her own safety bothered the purple themed albino. It was almost as if the fact that he had crippled her leg didn't even register beyond the heavy limp she had. There wasn't even a hint of fear in spite of the trauma she endured. Add in the other strange moments that were starting to crop up and it wasn't painting the model in a good light.
It only got worst from there. Something had clearly happened between the time the trial and their waking the next day. It was possible that something had happened between her and their captor that resulted in these new character traits, or possibly something else along those lines. Maybe she even went out of her way to possible make a deal with the mastermind.
She narrowed her eyes on the girl as she and Hina started heading back to the dorms, the rest of the gang beginning to follow after the others headed off to check on Byakuya. There was something going on here with that girl, something strange that bordered on dubious. Junko was becoming far more bizarre with every other interaction these past two days, to the point where she might be completely untrustworthy.
But then why was he so spiteful against the model to only give her a single crutch to move with. It would be too bizarre to do such thing since it only drew attention to the blond. There would be no point in making a deal if she was going to be so vocal and attention grabbing, the same with targeting her with vindictiveness. It only made the idea feel so much more ludicrous.
Furthermore, how did she know that Byakuya was in the library? Even if she discounted the crippled leg, making such a trek to the second floor extremely difficult, it would have only made some sense for her to know this if she had been coming from the direction of the exit to the school itself. However, Junko had been coming from the dorms side when they almost ran into her, not the exit. While it was possible that she had gone back to her dorm for one reason or another, the simple fact that she would even have to was difficult to believe considering how meticulous she had seemed.
There wasn't enough to prove anything though. As much as that would make things easier to blindly aim her suspicions on the model, there wasn't enough to prove anything beyond her own speculations. People were strange and unpredictable creatures at times, each and every one reacted to situations differently after all. It was very possible that she was just misreading the fashionista's actions for something more nefarious then they were. So, while her actions were quite suspect, they didn't say only one possibility existed just yet. As long as there remained a shadow of a doubt, there wasn't anything Kyoko could willing say to prove the girl's guilt or innocence.
Still, she had no intention of letting this go completely. She would be keeping a close eye on the blond for now, and when she found something that could prove Junko's innocence or guilt, one way or another, she would confront her and find the truth.
Hello everyone. Doing well?
Yes, sadly this ended up being a mostly nothing chapter, a few tidbits that needed to be seen, but mostly nothing major.
Or maybe it was important? Turns out that I might not be as good an actor as I think I am. Our Detective is seeing things that might get me in trouble soon. Plus, now we got something going on with our resident rich kid. Only so much longer before things go wrong.
Only a matter of time.