"Run that by me again?"

That was all that Hina could say as she stared at the Ultimate Moral's Committee Leader alongside her friend Sakura as she tried to wrap her brain around what the pristine suited boy was saying. First, he comes out of nowhere looking every bit like he'd won the lottery or something. Then, he rushed up to them both, and grabbed Sakura by the hands like he was about to propose or something, and as if just to confuse the issue even more, states the most leading line the swimmer had ever heard in the entirety of her life in school.

It didn't help that Sakura, the single most powerful girl she had ever met, who always looked so stoic yet kind, was now at a complete loss of words and looking at Hina with the most lost expression she'd ever seen. The worst part were her eyes which were giving the swimmer a look that she had never thought would be within them, it was a look of complete confusion that begged her to help her understand just what was going on.

However, Hina couldn't help but hesitate when she looked at Taka's eyes. There wasn't any hint of ulterior motive that she could see, but there was some sort of gleam in them that she wasn't all that sure about. It kind of reminded her of the looks she got from the boys at the local swimming pool sometimes, or maybe more like a drill sergeant looking at a new recruit with potential. She wasn't quite sure how to go about describing it to be plainly obvious, but it wasn't a look she felt comfortable seeing aimed at her friend like that.

But, no, that couldn't be right. After all, this was the Ultimate Moral Committee, he wouldn't be after Sakura for something dubious or untoward…would he?

"I said, I need Miss Sakura on a matter of grave importance!" Taka stated his intention in what he thought was clear in his intentions, that much Hina was sure, but it wasn't as far as she could see. It certainly didn't sound like he was asking for anything bad, but it still wasn't clear enough for her to understand his intentions quite yet.

"Grave Importance?" she repeated just to be sure that she was hearing him right, cautious as to what his answer would be. If he did have anything bad planned for her best friend, then he would have another thing coming.

Taka nodded along before dramatically pointing, "Yes, it is a matter that I can trust only in her with. A task that only she can help me with as the Ultimate Fighter. I need her help with a plan to protect our friends."

Hina blinked. "Oh. Oh, okay good. I thought that… no, never mind."

The swimmer blushed as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head in shame. What the hell was she thinking, trying to make Taka out to be some sort of delinquent pervert after her best friend. Of course, he would be wanting to talk with her about her talent as a fighter to help protect everyone, what else could it have been? Even if he was being all buddy-buddy with a biker gang leader, that wouldn't suddenly make him a bad guy. Hell, for all of his swearing and yelling, Mondo wasn't really a bad guy either, so there no way Taka would have turned into one.

It must be all of the stress from lack of sunlight affecting her, making her try and create problems where there wasn't any. Or maybe Monokuma's stupid motives were making her more stir crazy then she thought.

"Hmm?" Taka questioned as he gave the swimmer his now full and undivided attention. "What? What did you think I was going to say?"

"No, no. It's nothing." She quickly tried to assure, her hands waving in front of her defensively as a nervous chuckle forced its way past her strained smile. Even with her eyes closed though, she could still feel the inquiring look on his face just as well as the bead of nervous sweat rolling down her face.

And it only got bigger when Taka's eyes started to narrow suspiciously. "Are you sure? Because it sounds like you were…"

"What is this task that you needed of me?" Sakura interrupted, cutting off the boy before his mind could go to places that would paint Hina in a rather poor light in the boy's eyes. The swimmer could only thank her internally for the save as Taka blinked from being cut off, before thankfully deciding to drop the subject.

"Ah! Right. Ahem…" He coughed into his hand once as he rearranged his thoughts before turning back to the ultimate fighter as he stood straight with his hands laced behind his back. "Miss Sakura, I would like to humbly ask for your assistance in protecting our fellow students tonight by forming a night watch with me."

Hina blinked in confusion. "Huh? A night watch?"

"Yes!" The exuberant boy proclaimed excitedly, before settling down a tad with nothing but seriousness in his tone. "You see, after the…unfortunate incident following the last motive, it has been brought to my attention that for every motive that our captor gives us, our lives will be at risk. The most recent of these motives being of particular problem. It pains me to admit it, but there is truth in what has been said, that there might be some of us willing to do anything and everything to protect our secrets. Plus, with Monokuma's time limit coming to a close tomorrow morning, there very well might be some willing to risk making an attempt at murder."

Hina shuddered, completely taken aback by just how seriously he was taking this. "H-Hey, come on. You can't be serious…right?"

But her question was given a shake of that head in response. "Believe me, I want nothing more than to believe otherwise. To be honest, I'm having difficulty believing that someone would stoop to such drastic measures." His eyes then snapped open with a fiery glare as he took a sharp step forward with fists primed as he proclaimed, "However, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do our best to try and prevent such an event either way! After all, it is best to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best!"

Sakura, to Hina's shock, nodded along with the white suited boy with a look of understanding. "I see. Am I to assume that is why thou wishes to form a night guard."

Taka nodded in turn once more, his fists moving to cross over his chest as he did so. "Exactly. Our last incident occurred at night time, so it is reasonable to assume that another incident may occur at a similar time. So, to prevent such a thing, such measures will be necessary going forward."

Hina swallowed, suddenly very aware of how dry her throat felt now from his words. "Okay, but why not just do it yourself?"

She then had to take a quick step back when the hall monitor's finger was almost jabbed right into her nose. "Excellent question, Hina! True, I could possibly do it on my own, however, there would be a regrettable problem should this fail, and someone ends up killed."

"What problem?" She asked in concern, not quite able to see where he was going with this. What could be the issue with him watching the dorms alone at night…in a crazy school…where they were being told to kill each other…Okay, she could kinda get where he was coming from. So, it was a surprise to her when Sakura answered with a completely different problem.

"As the only one on guard, should a body be discovered, he would be the first one suspected of doing that act." Hina flinched at that, but she couldn't deny it. If a murder did happen, as scary as that sounded, then as the one responsible for a self-imposed guard duty, Taka would be the most likely suspect. Most of them might not even give him the chance to explain himself. It would be just like what they'd done to Makoto not that long ago and it made her heart clench from the guilt born anew.

Unware of the swimming pro's inner turmoil, Taka resumed his cross armed pose with a gusto. "Exactly! But with two people, this means that I would both have an alibi, as well as being able to collaborate one for them as well."

Hina found herself nodding along as well, understanding what he meant very easily. However, it didn't stop her from asking another question, "Okay, I get that. But, what happens if you fall asleep or something?"

That was a very big issue that even she knew needed to be addressed. Everyone knew very intimately just how much Monokuma was willing to execute them all for breaking his arbitrary rules, especially after what almost happened with Junko. She still shivered when she thought about that moment, blood all over the place, and the bear's coat splattered in it. Brrr. It still gave her chills remembering it. And the thought that something similar could happen to Taka or Sakura because of those same rules made her feel nauseous and scared for them both. She really hoped he had something in mind for that, otherwise she would have to intervene.

"Ah, but that is the other benefit of having a second person on guard as well." Taka proclaimed with a wide grin, clearly pleased that someone was willing to ask questions so that he could continue his explanations "We would be able to converse with one another, monitoring to make sure that neither of us break Monokuma's rule, and it also gives us both a chance to bond together in glorious cooperation!"

"Huh…" Hina hesitated to agree, mostly because she wasn't quite sure about the intent beyond the last bit. "I guess that makes a bit of sense."

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind one way or another. "Agreed. However, how would this all work exactly?"

Taka grinned in anticipation, eager to let them in on the plan as he motioned for them both to follow him. The two girls exchanged a brief look before following after, both listening to his explanation as he moved to stop in the area smack dub between the dining hall and the bathhouse. "Why It's all quite simple, thank you for asking. We will station ourselves here from the night time announcement till the morning announcement, right at the juncture between the halls of dorms, dining hall, and baths. This makes it so that we have full view of all access routes, while also making it impossible for any form of sneak attack on ourselves. I will retrieve a table and a couple of chairs from the dining hall soon, of course, as well as a few nonperishable food items that will allow us to stay alert and energized."

He pointed to the air dramatically as he continued. "In addition, to further prevent us from falling into a stupor from being still for too long, we will periodically have one of us patrol down the hall of the dorms in full view of the other. That will also prevent either of us from falling victim to any foul play. Quite ingenious, no?"

He looked at the with a wide smile, looking quite proud of the plan, and both girls had to agree with him on most fronts. Even though it was rather bare bones for a plan, it was still a very effective strategy that they couldn't see any major faults in. With the exception of Hifumi and Hiro's rooms which were just around the corner and out of view, all of the dorms would in fact be viewable from where he was suggesting. That would make things easy enough as it was to keep an eye on everyone coming and going from their rooms, but throw in the occasional patrol as he'd mentioned, then it theoretically should be impossible for anyone to sneak past for an attempt at murder.

However, Sakura had another concern. "True, tis rather well thought out. However, I wish to inquire as to what will keep them from leaving their dorms?"

The moral committee chair noticeably hesitated to respond, his expression becoming rather strained and stressed as he looked off to the side. "Ah, well, that is where things get…complicated. I don't want to take away anyone's right to go where they please as, not only would that make me out to be worst then Monokuma, there is a possibility it might violate his one of his rules."

The fighter nodded along, almost instantly understanding exactly what he was talking about, but Hina was having trouble grasping it. "What do you mean? How would that violate a rule?"

"With minimal restrictions, all students are free to explore the school at their discretion." Sakura recited the rule in question from memory, already aware of Taka's concern. "Thou art referring to this rule, correct?"

He nodded along, his expression tense. "Exactly. I don't know for certain if preventing anyone from leaving their dorms for any reason outside of punishments does or doesn't count as breaking a rule, and without knowing that, I'd have to take a risk in upsetting the status quo and being punished for it…"

The two girls couldn't help but feel bad for him. it was clear just from his face alone that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of just locking everyone up for the night, regardless of the benefits it would have. Hina especially could think of at least one person who she thought should be locked up, but she couldn't say that it would be fair. They would all have to be locked up and she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to handle that on top of their already current imprisonment. And this was all without considering what Monokuma might do if it turned out that this was a violation of his rules. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't see anything good coming from blocking everyone's right to move as they please.

Of course, they would need something that could block them in the first place, and that was easier said than done. Not only did the doors open inwards, meaning that propping a chair against the door wouldn't work, but the simple fact that a good amount of them were much too strong for suck a simple trick made it less than perfect. And they didn't have any supplies like boards and nails to create a barricade either, so it didn't look like there was much they could do short of tying them all up and leaving them in bed till morning came.

And that just created a whole other series of issues.

Unknown to the two girls, Taka was having his own inner doubts, yet his were aimed at another source. It had him questioning whether or not he should actually stand by what he was saying, or to trust in the words of the friend who helped him plan this out. He knew what he'd been told, and he had agreed with them at first. However, the more he thought about it, the less sure he was in the plan.

Most of it was fine, excellent even! It covered bases he wouldn't have thought of right away, and he felt fully confident that he could do most of it with little trouble. Yet, it was that one part that he disagreed with that kept coming back to gnaw at him and his conscious. He knew she had said over and over that it was fine, but he wasn't so sure with all of the risks involved. He did believe in her words, he did! But that didn't take away how he felt.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, now was not the time to doubt. Now was the time for action! "However, that doesn't mean I can't keep track of everyone's movements and keep them safe that way!"

Hina and Sakura pulled themselves out of their thoughts at his enthusiastic shouting, and the sudden pose of rightfulness sudden thrust upon them and gave Taka a look of concern. He did know how he made that sound…right? Deciding to air on the side of caution, Hina decided to bite the bullet and say, "I don't know, doesn't that sound a bit…stalker-ish?"

"Nothing of the sort!" He cut off any further misconceptions before they could come up. "While I can't stop them from leaving their dorms, I can keep track of who is and who isn't in their dorms…"

"And by knowing this, you can collaborate alibis should something happen." Sakura cut in, understanding in her tone. It made sense, with Monokuma's insistence on a class trial, then if nothing else it would be for the best to have some way to know for certain who would be unlikely to be involved in the case. With the guard in place, then that would make it all the simpler to find the culprit.

"But only if something happens." Taka stressed, hoping beyond hope that this would be enough. "That is what I hope to prevent with this plan of action."

The two sport enthusiasts nodded once more, finally feeling like they truly understood what he was wanting, and they couldn't agree more. This was probably the best course of action they could do to prevent any killings from happening, and in they were to be honest, they secretly believed that it was a long time overdue. Already there were far too many things that had happened during the night so far, the bands secretly put on them in their sleep, Sayaka's lapse in judgement, and the pancake incident being the greatest examples thus far They both agreed that it would be for everyone's greater interests that this was a necessary step.

However, Hina had one more question. "But, why ask Sakura? I mean, you and Mondo are all buddy-buddy now, so why not ask him?"

Once more the Moral found himself struggling to come up with an immediate response, and when he did, it was rather hesitant. "That is…well there are a few reasons for that. The biggest reason is that, as the Ultimate Fighter, miss Sakura is far more then capable of subduing anyone unruly. That is quite important as that can theoretically be channeled into an incredible detractor against making any attempts to play Monokuma's twisted game. Bro is about as powerful as could be asked, I believe there is no doubt there, however, as much as I respect my bro's strength, he has already admitted that there is a fatal weakness to it."

Sakura had an idea of where this was going, but for the sake of airing on the sake of caution, asked, "I see, and that is?"

"He won't fight girls."

Hina suddenly felt very sheepish for forgetting that. "Ah, yeah, that would be a problem."

"Yes, yes it would." The moral bro bluntly stated, before continuing. "In truth, I would actually have preferred it if we had a third member to our team of guards. That would allow for a rotating shift so that we could all have a chance to get a slight bit of shut eye at the very least, or even allowing for one person to gather up the others that didn't go to their dorm rooms for the night."

"You've got a point there…" Hina admitted while Sakura hummed in agreement as well, and why wouldn't they? It was also something that the two girls found themselves agreeing with as, either one of those plans would have been made the entire operation go a lot smoother and the additional man power would be quite the effective deterrent against any would be attacker slash murderer. Plus, anything that could help keep them at least a little bit more alert and aware of their surroundings certainly couldn't hurt any. No, no matter how they looked at it, it would be even better with three heads over just two.

"Hmm…" Hina pondered to herself, before pumping her fists with resolve in her heart and a fire in her eyes. "Okay, then I've decided!"

"Hmm?" Taka glanced her way, as did Sakura, both interested in what she was going to say considering the sudden shift in gears she just made.

Hina, unaware or just not caring about the sudden attention on her, stated in a no-nonsense voice, "I'll be you're third guard!"

Taken aback by both her sudden resolve and the sheer determination in her voice, Taka could only ask, "What? Miss Asahina, are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure!" She stated excitedly, her whippy ponytail almost appearing to sharpen off of the steel in her resolve. "After all, if Sakura is doing it, then as her best friend, I should help too! Right Sakura?"

Said fighter could only smile at her friend, glad to see that her fellow exercise enthusiast would be willing to go so far for her, even if it caused a slight twinge of guilt to flare up in her heart. "Aye. It would be my pleasure."

Taka had to take a moment to gather his thoughts, but once he did, a grand smile found its way onto his face at the sight of the loyalty between these two friends of his. "…Very well then! If that is what you wish, then I welcome you aboard with open arms!"

"Hehe, Thanks…" Hina mumbled her thanks with a slight blush, suddenly very aware of how loud they were all being and feeling just a tad mortified. However, that did cause a sudden thought to appear in her head. "By the way, what is Mondo doing?"

"You know, I'm not quite sure." The white bro admitted with a small frown, his eyes closed as he used one hand to brace the other beneath his chin as he pondered. "When I asked him earlier he said that he had something he wanted to take care of first, so I figured that it must be important."

"What could that be?" the swimming pro wondered herself as all three of them crossed their arms in thought. What could be so important to the biker that he decided that he needed to do that more than helping out his new-found bro in his own goal to help protect the others? Sadly, neither of them had any real idea of what it could be, they simple didn't know Mondo all that well yet to be able to tell what he was thinking or whatever it was that could pull him away from something this important.

Taka sighed in disappointment in himself for not thinking to ask. He simply trusted that it had to be really big to draw the biker away, so he hadn't spoken up. "He didn't say, but whatever it is, I'm certain that he will handle it in a calm and understanding manner."

"Come on you stupid thing! Open the fuck up!"

This was the sound of one very angry biker as he repeatedly slammed his fist against the door to the boy's locker room, his eyes nearly as red as his face from the blood boiling just below the surface. This wasn't that much of a new development really, he had known rather intimately how short his temper was, so this kind of rage was a common occurrence to him. He was a very angry person, and he knew it.

However, this time was a rather different thing since, for once, he felt he was justified in his rage as he continued to pound away at the door barring his entry with one hand, the other holding the other reason for this tantrum.

"What the fuck is wrong with this thing?" He growled as he stopped his assault on the door for a moment to glare at the unresponsive piece of metal and plastic that had once been his working E-handbook with contempt, trying to piece together what it was that stopped the little thing from doing its job. The now glorified paperweight had refused to do more than just reject his attempts to open the electronic lock though, for reasons he couldn't yet understand, it also refused to even turn on.

Now, he knew very well that he was not good with delicate things like electronics, hell he had gone through at least seven cellphones in the last year alone just from accidents on the road or in various brawls he'd been in, but this was something different. That bear had claimed that this thing was as close to indestructible as it could be, so there was no reason that it should be inoperable at all.

"So, why the fuck aren't you working!?" he growled as he angerly chucked the device against the still locked door, finally giving into the temptation. Panting in frustration for but a minute, it quickly faded into a sigh as he pressed his face into one of his hands at the realization that he'd done it again. Instead of stopping to think things out calmly, he'd lashed out for no other reason than because he could. He'd once again given into his rage and took it out on something that didn't deserve it.

Probably didn't deserve it.

It wasn't like the handbook broke itself after all, and with how much Monokuma emphasized its importance, it couldn't be the bear's fault that it wasn't working now when it had been just fine previously. It couldn't have been one of the others who caused it to break since it never left his side, so the question was, why then was it broken now?

Running his hand down his face, he peeked over his fingers as he tried to think things through. What could he have done that would cause it to break like that? Why was it now of all times that it burned out and…?

"Wait a second…" He stated as deadpanned as he could as he stared blankly at the dead screen in thought, idly picking it up to get a closer look. It couldn't be that easy, right? Because that would just be stupid.

Well, there was only one way to find out. Turning to the camera in the corner of the room, the biker gang leader grimaced. He really didn't want anything to do with the pain in the ass bear if he could help it, but the damn thing was his only way to know for sure if his thinking was right or not about why his handbook wasn't working. He really didn't want to do it, he really just wanted to say that he didn't want anything to do with the psychopath.

But, he wanted to know for sure.

And so, after gathering up his nerve and sighing in resignation for the headache that was sure to follow, he fully turned to look the camera full on and boldly declared, "Hey bastard! Come out here, I want to talk with you!"

For a moment, there was no response, and it made his face slowly morph into an even deeper scowl then before. The bastard must have been ignoring him, he had to be. The damn bear was testing his patience just because he knew it would piss him of more than if he had shown up on cue like he usually does.

Well, fuck him and his plans. If he thought that he could get under his skin that easily, then he had another thing coming. Mondo Fucking Owada wasn't going to give the mastermind the satisfaction of seeing him break. He was going to stay calm and wait patiently like a proper man if it fucking killed him, solely to spite the bastard.

It was just as he thought that, that said bear popped up from where ever it was hiding with a cheery, "Heyo! What's up? Wait, don't tell me. You want to get some of my tips on how to get an actually cool hairstyle, right?"

Deep breaths Mondo, deep breaths. "Okay, first off, fuck you. You fucking wish you could get a pomp like mine. Second, that's not what I wanted at all, you bitch. You know how you said that your e-handbook was unbreakable?"

"Yep," the oversized toy replied eagerly, "It's state of the art in every way. It can't be crushed by anything short of a tank rolling over it, you could leave it in a pool for days and it wouldn't get even the slightest bit moist inside, and it can even serve as a really tiny bullet-proof shield if you need it too without more than a nick for your troubles. Yes sir, unless you go out of your way to do the extremely stupid, they can't be broken even accidentally."

"Then what the fuck is this?" He asked before practically forcing the broken handheld into the bear's stupid, smug face. The toy stumbled back as it grabbed the handbook with a puzzled expression on its face, fiddling with it in confusion. Monokuma messed with it for quite a while, raising it above its head, shaking it next to one of its ears, even turning it upside down and around a few times, all while humming in thought every few seconds.

Mondo said nothing as the toy examined the thing, merely standing with his arms crossed impatiently as he waited for the fool to finish poking around with the broken device. His foot tapped every so often as well before he shifted his weight to the other leg, idly wondering just how much longer the bear was going to take.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the bear lowered the handbook, looked the biker dead in the eyes, and said, "It broke."

"No shit, sherlock." Mondo rudely replied, "How did it break?"

"Well," Monokuma said as it turned their attention back to device as one of its paws rubbed the spot where their chin would be. "Okay, so I might have forgotten to mention that they do have a slight weakness to them. But really, who would have thought that you would have stumbled on in so early. I mean, they were made to be completely idiot proof, so clearly someone in development forgot to account for your brand of stupid."

Mondo felt a vane pulse in his forehead, but he refused to let the bear get to him. Gritting his teeth, he growled out, "Well, if you're so fucking smart, then why did it break?"

"I was getting there, sheesh. Learn some patience, why don't ya." It took everything Mondo had not to try to strangle the damn plushy right there, though that didn't stop him from pantomiming it. "Truth be told, I had hoped that I wouldn't have to say it, but these things do have a fatal flaw to them. Because of all of the waterproofing that had to be done to protect the delicate circuitry, they don't have any way to vent when they get really heated up. I mean sure, against normal room temperatures, and even body temperatures it's fine, but if you do something like say, throw it in the oven for an hour, that thing will fry no matter the circumstances."

Monokuma lightly tossed the pad to the biker at that, and Mondo fumbled for a second to catch the unexpected projectile. Once he had a solid grasp, he let his mind wonder to the only thing he could think of that matched what the bear was saying. It took him a moment, but eventually it clicked.

"Oh right. Bro and I had that endurance contest in the sauna." Mondo also remembered the fact that he had kept his jacket on, and that in his haste, he had forgotten to empty his pockets. He had wondered why he had heard something like a muffled pop about an hour into their competition, but he had thought it was his imagination. Whoops.

"That would do it." The bear confirmed with a sagely nod of its bulbous head. "The temperature in there can reach up to two-hundred and that alone would be bad enough, but if you were stupid enough to bring it in there for, say, an hour or more, then obviously it's gonna fry."

"Shit." That was all the biker gang leader could say to that. Yet again it seemed like his own temper had caused him more harm than good. He couldn't even deny it this time since he was the one to wear his clothes in the sauna in the first place. He didn't even care that Monokuma had insulted him again, he was beyond caring at this point.

"Can't you fix it or something?" He asked, reluctantly. He didn't want to rely on the damn bear for this, but the half-n-half freak was the one who gave it to them, so he must know of a way to repair it; if not replace it altogether.

Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely that the bear would even humor the thought, especially since it started laughing at him. It started out as light chuckle, but it soon devolved into outright cackling as the plushy started rolling on the ground.

"What's so fucking funny?" Mondo growled, not at all liking the fact that he was being laughed at. That feeling was only made worst by the fact that he was being laughed at by something he wouldn't be shocked to see in some twisted kid's toy box. It made him have to shove his clenched fists into his pockets just to keep himself from lashing out and walloping the damn freaky toy.

That temptation only grew harder to ignore when he heard what the bear had to say on the matter.

"Like hell!" the bear snapped, losing any of the laughter that had been in place. "Oh, I certainly could get it fixed for you, but why the hell would I!? You were the one to break it even after I explained that they were a necessity in your school life, so unless you've got the dough for it, you can forget it!"

"You little-!" Mondo quickly cut himself off before he could bash in the bear's cotton brain. "Fine! How much!?"

"Oh, you're actually offering?" Monokuma asked, as it got off the floor and dusted itself off. "Well, normally it would be about five hundred-thousand yen."

Mondo nearly choked at that. Even with what he made at his former part-time job he wouldn't have been able to afford that kind of thing and still been able to keep up with his medical bills from the aftermaths of his fights and the mandatory maintenance of his ride. And yes, it was mandatory. With the amount of shit his gang got involved with on the regular, his baby took all sorts of dents, dings, and even occasional damage from rival gangs trying to get back at his gang by messing with their hogs.

Which was always met with a beat down, which Mondo's gang always won, but that wasn't the point.

Even if he could figure out where Monokuma had stashed his wallet, because it had to have been the reason that it was missing, he had needed to pay off far too many bills to even put a dent in that kind of price tag. Sure, that prick Byakuya could have probably paid that without question, but there was absolutely no way it hell he would willingly throw away even the tiniest smidgen of his pride to ask that glorified ass-hat for a loan. Just the thought of that bastard gloating and lording the fact that he has money and Mondo didn't, all while wearing the smuggest, smarmy smirk made the gang leader's blood boil. He'd sooner grab the damn bear and shake it like a maraca till it went boom then ask him for help.

And no, that was no exaggeration.

"Shit." He swore. "Any other ways?"

"Well, you could always resort to…murrrrrrde-"

"Fuck off with that shit!" He quickly cut the annoyance off with a growl. Ain't no way that he'd resort to murder just to get a stupid tablet fixed. He wasn't Hifumi after all.

"Aww, okay." The bear…pouted? It sounded like it was pouting, but the way it looked at him had him questioning. "Welp, if that's not your cup of tea, then the only option you have is to pay in mono-coins. To be more specific, one thousand of them."

Mondo bulked at that. It may not have been near as bad as the previous price, but it was still far outside of his financial standing. Though, that was on him, he had to admit. Monokuma had given them a chance to earn the blasted tokens by doing chores after all, so really all he'd have to do was ask for some simple tasks. Hell, he'd already seen a few of the other's doing things here and there to get their own stuff when they thought no one was looking, so it wouldn't have been like it was a big deal or anything.

However, the very idea of doing chores for the asshole who'd imprisoned them in here stung at his pride far too much for him to give into the temptation, no matter how much he wanted stuff. No sir, he had no desire to have that fact gnawing at his back like a rabid dog to a prime piece of steak.

Besides that, he didn't even have more than a few of them left anyway, since he'd pretty much used up all the ones he had gotten from the trial. In fact, the only thing he even had earned from the darn store so far was a small bottle of hair gel he'd put a request in for yesterday, and that had been solely a matter of necessity since he had used up the last of his own after the endurance contest.

"Fuck." He swore as he let his head droop in frustration. This had to be one of the few times he hated that he was right. He suspected that it had been the case that it was his own fault that it had broken, but he had hoped that it wasn't the case. Unfortunately, it turned out to be exactly what he feared.

However, a thought occurred to him at that. "Wait, then wouldn't that fuck up our bands too?"

He raised his right arm to emphasize his point, and he felt it was with good reason he did. These bands that were worn by him and the others were important after all, they were literally what kept their friends and or families alive after all, and if they were to break then that would mean…

He felt a cold shutter run down his spine, and all of the blood drained from his face as he slowly turned his head to get a better look at the black band tying another person's fate to his with terror in his eyes. It would mean that in his battle that earned him a brother, he had unwittingly cost himself another. He would have caused his second in command, a reckless youth much like himself that had so much to live for, a boy who looked up to him of all people as their big bro, to expire long before his time, before he could truly have the chance to live. If this band wasn't working, then Mondo would have been the cause of the death of yet another person he treasured and respected.

A cold lump formed in his chest as he remembered another important fact, Taka was in there with him after all, and of course he had his band on as well. If his band was broken, then surely his would be as well then, right? Then, did that mean that he had also cost his newly found bro their most precious person as well. He had been the one to issue the challenge in the first place after all, so even if Taka had agreed to it, that wouldn't mean a thing. He certainly hadn't known of this little flaw in the tech, so there wasn't much chance the morals man would. Even if Taka had been the main cause, Mondo would be the guilty one by proxy.

Oh god, how would Taka handle that? To learn that his new, sworn brother had inadvertently killed someone that had clearly been important enough that they had been chosen as the Ultimate Moral's Committee's lifeline over everyone else that was close to him. To learn that the biker's recklessness had cost them both their loved ones very lives just to settle a grudge. The thought chilled him to his bones, and it might have driven him to his knees from the guilt if it wasn't for the animatronic bear looking at him at the moment.

Speaking of said bear, it was currently…laughing at him? The fuck?

"Hahaha! You're so stupid! If you really think that I would make such obvious oversight in my design of the Monokuma brand, Mono-Lifeline! Patten pending; then you are far too naïve! Like my glorious commercial said, it was designed to withstand any manner of water, heat, cold, and impact, just because I knew one of you morons would screw it up otherwise."

There was a rather mixed feeling within Mondo at the fuzzy robot's claim. One the one hand, he'd been insulted again. Called stupid, naïve, and a moron all within the span of half a minute. Thus, he felt justified in his want to be angry.

At the same time though, he was also extremely relieved to know that he hadn't accidentally gotten two people killed by being exactly what the damn toy was calling him. That weight had been lifted off of his shoulders completely from the bear's words, harsh though they may have been, and it made him almost want to thank the bastard.

He settled for sarcasm instead.

"Oh, well then why the hell did this thing have such a stupid flaw, huh?" He snarked, glad that, for once, he had gotten one over on the bear for once. Finally, he would be able to say that he had made the bear it its own words

Of course, right as he thought that, there was a slight snicker that came from said toy. "Oh please, those aren't one of my sponsored creations. While, yes, they are top of the line and extremely difficult to replace, the E-Handbooks are entirely school sponsored items. As such, they were implemented long before I showed up with my vastly superior technology, and I just didn't have any reason to change it. Why would I? If it ain't broke…"

It should be said that, Mondo couldn't help but agree with them on that. He hated that he was agreeing, but even he believed that things that worked shouldn't be replaced just because there was something more interesting and new showed up. Hell, before he arrived at this school he was still using the exact same old flip phone he'd gotten when he was a kid despite the new craze that was smartphones and PDAs dominating the market. He just, didn't see a reason to make the move up, and it certainly didn't help did he heard that they were very easy to break if you dropped them for whatever reason.

However, rather than say any of that, he changed the subject. "And let me guess, I can't just ask you to open the door for me, can I?"

"Oh, sure, you can ask me if you want." Monokuma stated with a shrug, to Mondo's immense surprise. Really? It was that simple?

Yeah right. Like he was born yesterday. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, I promise." The bear stated, even going so far as to pantomime drawing a cross over where it's heart would be, as if to state the age-old cross-my-heart-hope-to-die shtick little kids used to swear an oath. "Bear's do not lie after all."

Mondo squinted his eyes at the bear in suspicion, not believing for one second that it was telling the truth. Even he, for as lacking in his studies as he was, knew full well the impossibility that was the statement, "I cannot tell a lie". Everyone can lie, even if some people only did it rarely, everyone lies at least once in their life. Consciously, subconsciously, intentionally or not, it didn't matter, everyone lies, that was a fact. The only question was if what he was saying now was true or not.

"Okay…" He cautiously said as he waited for the bear to open the door…and he waited… and waited…

"Well?" he asked the still robot bear impatiently. He wanted this conversation over and done with so that he could move on with his day. He already had to flake on his bro twice now today, he didn't want to do it for another person.

"Well, what?" Monokuma played dumb, putting its paw to its chin in what was clearly a fake attempt to act coy. Mondo in response, ground his teeth in silent anger, trying to keep himself from lashing out.

"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked, doing his level best not to snap at the toy. Monokuma, for its part, took its sweet time to ponder over his words, rubbing its chin in a thoughtful manner. Then, it turned its head to the door leading to boy's locker room, continuing to act all inquisitive as it hummed in thought so loudly that the biker knew instantly just from how forced it sounded that it was just to continue pissing him off. Then it slowly turned back to look up at him and spoke.

"Open it? Now why would I do that?" it asked in one of the troll-iest tones he'd ever had the misfortune to have to hear. One that spoke nothing but mischief and tomfoolery, like a prankster knowing fully and completely that they were only dragging out the situation because they got a kick out of the other person's misery and frustration. Even if it wasn't being extremely oblivious about it, even he could see that the damn thing wanted him to get mad, and what was worse of all was, it was working.

"Didn't you say you would?" he asked in frustration, his fist balling up despite how much he told himself not to let this damn toy, play with him and his emotions like a puppet dancing on a string.

"Well, you didn't ask yet, did you?" That was easier said than done though when the damn thing was pulling shit like that!

"You fu- grr…!" He growled like a rabid dog, about as pissed that he had walked right into that one almost as much as he was with the bar for pulling it. It was a feat of herculean will that he managed to physically force his fist back into his pockets rather than into the freak's face. "Fine. Could you open the door?"

"Why yes, I could do that. I could." Monokuma stated happily as it began rocking on its heels with the most irritatingly smug look, trying to play innocent and failing utterly. Mondo waited for a few moments for the bear to make good on what it claimed, but when nothing happened, and the bear didn't move, he bit back a sigh of anguished hate and tried again.

"…Well?" he stated as he leaned forward intimidatingly, trying to get a better response then what he had been getting thus far. Anything would have been better at this point, even sarcastic smarm would be better.

"Well, what?" he wanted to take it back. He really did.

"The door?" He pointed harshly at the obstacle in his way once more, trying to ignore the pulsing vein in his forehead as best he could. He wasn't having much success, but he was trying, damnit.

"What about it?" Monokuma continued to play, causing something in the biker to creak and groan in anguish as he tried to hold it back.

"You…!" Mondo had just about enough of this, this game of Monokuma's. "Open the fucking door already!"

"Oh, oh." Monokuma stated, as if it had only now figured out what he wanted, before stating in a completely serious voice. "No."

That, in this massive pile of hay, was that last straw. The biker couldn't handle this any longer unless he wanted a hernia from just how high his blood pressure had shot up in the past few minutes. He was metaphorically and physically going to put his foot down, as he got close enough that his pompadour was pressed right into the space between Monokuma's eyes, towering over the toy as he shouted in the bear's face. "No!? The fuck do you mean no!? You said you would!"

The infuriating toy completely ignored the fact that the teen towering over him was just a second away from knocking its block off, even going so far as to wave its finger in his face in a condescending manner. "Oh no what you asked me was, and what I said was, I could open it for you. And I can. What you should have asked was if I would. And I won't."

"You! Mother! Fu-!" Mondo had enough of this, he was going to throttle, crush, and squeeze the life out of the fucking toy even if it killed him! Unfortunately, just as he lashed out with his hands in an attempt to make good on that promise, the deranged toy leapt to the side far faster than he was prepared for. To make matters worse, he had completely thrown all of his weight into that lunge, causing him to fall right onto his face in an undignified heap.

"See ya! Ahhhahahahahaha!" Monokuma laughed at him and his blunder as it turned on its heel, clutching its gut all the while as it rushed out of the room. The furious biker slammed his fist into the floor and quickly scrambled to get up so that he could chase after the menace.

"Hey! Get the fuck back here...!" he shouted as he got his bearings in place and started to give chase with an enraged, "Damn it! Piece of shit!"

However, just as he was about to pass through the purple doors, a stray thought pounded him right in the jaw and forced him to stop dead in his tracks. That wasn't to say that he didn't try and fight it, his feet practically trembled at the thought of chasing after that freaking tool and showing it who's boss. However, it was by his pride as a man that he knew he had to stay. Stay and wait for the person who had asked him to come here in the first place. So, with a hefty sigh, he turned away from his pursuit, slammed the metal doors closed to help prevent giving him any temptations, and marched right back to the locker room to lean against the door with an aggravated sigh.

Well, he did slam his fist into the wooden door once more with a mighty bang, but that was the extent of what he did before putting his hands back into his pockets.

As he did though, he found himself brushing up the other thing that had him feeling tense and furious, and he scowled as he crumbled it even further in his pocket. Monokuma's most recent "motive", and the source of his frustrations. He never would have thought that one little piece of paper could make him so angry, yet here he was. He didn't even need to pull it out for it to make him upset, he'd already memorized every single piece of the damn message till he could recite it by heart.

The first piece of his three- part motive wasn't even worth mention as far as he was concerned. All it was about was the fact that he was illegally driving underage and has been for several years now. Even the dumbest of people could have told you that just by the fact that he had earned this title of his despite being in high school. It wasn't even that good of a reason to feel embarrassed as far as he was concerned, all it was to him was a necessary evil that needed to be done, simple as that.

Did it make him a hypocrite? Kinda, he would admit, since he himself didn't like accepting people into his gang if they were about as young or younger then when he himself joined, but the way he saw it, he'd fucked up his own chances of a regular, honest living by following his brother into the gang, and as it's leader he shouldn't let anyone else do the same unless they were absolutely certain they knew what they were getting into.

Well, okay it could be a bit embarrassing. Mostly since he felt so awkward sitting them down and making sure to go over every last excruciating detail about what joining the gang meant. The stigmas that they would have to put up with, rules about what was expected of them as a member, making sure they knew the fundamentals of not only riding, but also in motorcycle maintenance, bareknuckle brawling, ins and outs of the streets and alleyways and where they shouldn't cross, and a whole slew of other shit that would make your head spin. He didn't become the leader of the gang by being an idiot after all, he might not have much school smarts, but he was street smart, and he expected every single one of his crew to be the same.

Makoto didn't count. When he made the invite to the luckster about them riding together, it had come with no expectations whatsoever that the smaller boy would join the gang. It was just the best way Mondo could think of to show the uninitiated the thrill that is riding a hog with the posy. If Makoto wanted to join afterwards, great! If not, well at the very least he would have shown the luckster a grand old time.

Unfortunately, as much as he would have liked to continue to reminisce, the memory of the second part of his "motive" soured his mood far too much. On it, was but a simple sentence, but one that brought back all sorts of pains to the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.

Mondo Owada killed his older brother.

When he had read that the first time, a cold, dark feeling enveloped his heart, followed by a feeling of both rage, loathing…and despair. No one, no one, was supposed to know about that. He knew better than anyone that this should not be possible, this secret that haunted him to this day and kept him up at night showing up here of all places. Even now he could see that twirling scrawl that proclaimed his greatest source of guilt and shame.

Monokuma clearly hadn't been kidding when it said that it had all of their darkest, horrible secrets, and it showed. With just this little tidbit he knew that the bastard in charge of this game had done more than their fair share of research into their pasts to find out stuff about them that they'd all prefer to keep locked away and buried in the deepest hole they could find. If he had the chance, he would even have liked to even go as far as to cover it in cement and put a massive skyscraper on top of it just to guarantee that it never saw the light of day again.

Just thinking about that horrible night brought back every last vivid detail to his mind. The cold ness of his skin as the rain and wind of the night, the bellowing of the wind in his ears muffing the roar of his cycle's motor, the feeling of blood burning with adrenalin as his heart's song started pounding in his brain. Were he to close his eyes, he could still hear the sounds of the truck's bellowing horn and see the twin beams of light from the truck barreling towards him at top speed. And if he focused just a little, he could still feel the phantom pains in his side from where his brother had rammed him out of the way, throwing away his own life in the process.

How did the fucker even get that info? Mondo knew for a fact that there was no conceivable way anyone should know about that. There was only three people who could have known about it, him, his brother, and the truck driver who hit said brother. He sure as hell didn't tell anyone the truth, and neither would his dead brother, on account of, you know, being dead. He didn't think that the driver who he never got the name of could have been responsible since they had been knocked unconscious in the wreck. He knew that because he had planned to beat the shit out of the moron after his brother had passed on in his arms, but that plan failed since the man was completely out cold when he ripped the door open on the cab.

Livid as he was, he had standards too damnit!

But that did nothing to help him solve this mystery and it gave him a headache trying to think of where that damn mastermind had gotten the truth from. He hadn't been kidding when he had said that he was no good at this kind of thing during the investigation. Sure, he wasn't completely stupid, but he just wasn't good with mysteries like this. Put him in a fist fight and he could handle himself fine, and if it involved motorcycles then he was your man. But, putting the pieces together to solve mysteries was just not something he was good at, that was all.

It also didn't help that he was trying to ignore the implications that was the last entry on his paper. A secret that belonged to someone else, but it made him feel all kinds of wrong for a multitude of reasons. Mostly because he just didn't know how to handle it.

Some one here, despite the fact that they wear a dress, they are actually a boy.

He didn't know how to respond to that, for many reasons. For one, he hadn't even meant to look at it, at first. To him, the idea of looking at someone else's dirty laundry without their consent was just about as low as you could get and to be told that he had to use said dirt to protect himself really rubbed him the wrong way. But when it had flipped open on him and he caught a small glimpse at what it contained, he had been unable to stop his curiosity until it had been too late, resulting in him now knowing something that on added to the conflict in his mind.

Personally, he didn't really care much about it. So, some dude was wearing a dress, who cares? It didn't matter really as far as he was concerned. He'd met a lot of people who do really weird things with their lives, and he was admittedly one of the weirdest as far as society was concerned. Who was he to say what someone should and shouldn't wear? More power to them as far as he was concerned.

But, that didn't stop the stupid little voice in his head from wondering, just who was it? Who was it that was dressed like a girl? He didn't want to think about it, and yet he found himself doing so anyway.

Most of the girls he was able to eliminate from the idea right away, no questions asked. Hina, clearly a girl, had to be with that figure. Same could be said about Sayaka, Junko, and…maybe Kyoko. It was kind of hard to tell with her suit. Sakura had already been established as a girl before, Taka's little blunder at the trial settled that as far as he was concerned. So that left only Toko, Celeste, and Chihiro, and he wasn't sure about them anymore.

Celeste was the least likely of the three to be a guy. True, her clearly fake accent might point her in that direction, and the time she had nearly gone ballistic on Hifumi for fucking up her tea did not paint her as a picture of femininity in the lightest, but there was just a certain air about her that screamed female to him. Then there was Toko, and she was…well, maybe. It might explain why she was so abrasive to everyone. Plus, it might be the reason that she seemed so awkward with everyone in general.

But, then again, he didn't know anyone guy who wrote romance novels. Least, none that he had ever met. But, that could explain the attitude though. Maybe…well, Toko did always assume that everyone was out to get her and was always so suspicious of everyone. Plus, he couldn't think of any girl that would willingly go for weeks on end without at least a shower to clean up; at least, none that he'd met anyway. Maybe…maybe she was the guy dressed as a girl!

Yeah! That had to be it, because if not then it would be Chihiro, and he just couldn't see it. She was so small and tiny that there was just no way, and she was way too smart to be a dude. And the way she got so nervous around the other girls, clearly, she was just more comfortable around guys then girls. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course. No, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Chihiro was a girl.

Well, that was one mystery solved. But that still left him with one more to figure out and he fished out the reason he was even in this place to begin with from the other pocket as he tried to think. He had to figure out who had sent him this letter.

He had just been minding his own business shortly after lunch, just stewing in his thoughts about the motive Mono-prick had given them, when he'd heard the sound of someone knocking. Naturally, he'd gone to check it out, only to find no one there, and this slip of paper under his door. And reading it offered no answers either.

All it said was, "Mondo, please meet me in the men's locker room just after the nighttime announcement. I know this sounds weird, but I really need your help. Please don't tell anyone about this, promise me, from one man to another."

Now, he knew it was a bit strange, and more than a little suspicious with the end telling him not to tell anybody, but he couldn't find it in himself to just say no. True, part of him wanted to simply crumple it up into a ball much like the motive in his other pocket, but there were three things that stopped him from doing so.

For one, the writing was incredibly shaky, like whomever was writing it was scared out of their wits, their hands shaking from the terror of something. Likely, they had been reeling like most of them had by the treat of their dark secrets being exposed, and that was only supported by the second thing being little wet spots that he could only guess were tears. Combined with the fact that they had mentioned a promise between men…well, damnit. He couldn't say no after all of that.

So now here he was, stuck, unable to get into the place that they wanted to meet him in, and unwilling to leave lest he be made into a promise breaker. He felt like an idiot, but now that he was here, it felt like his pride was on the line. So now, all he could do was wait, think about stupid shit, and hope that whoever it was that was meeting with him doesn't either snub him, or try to kill him if they do show up.

His fists clenched at the thought. If some idiot called him out here in the middle of the night to kill him, they would have one hell of a fight on their hands to do it.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard the tell-tell sounds of the nighttime announcement going off alongside the annoying sound of Monokuma proclaiming the time as ten and wishing them all good night. He sighed, another day gone by without an exit in sight, it felt like he was going stir-crazy in here. All he wanted was to ride his bike on the highway again, just once. He'd settle for just working on it at this rate as long as he just had something to do.

But instead, he sat there…waiting…waiting for someone to show up…waiting for them, presumably a him, to explain exactly what they had called him here for…waiting…waiting…

…

"Alright, that's it!" he exclaimed in an angry snarl, sick and tired of waiting around. He crammed both of his hands into his pockets and angrily kicked the door one last time for good measure before he started making his way out. He felt like such a git for falling for this. He could have been helping his bro with something important, but instead, here he was, wasting his valuable time.

Yanking open the doors with a huff he was about to stomp his way down to the dorms right that second, when he suddenly was caught off guard by something colliding with his chest and a sound like a small mouse squeak followed by the sound of someone falling to the floor. He blinked, momentarily confused, and that confusion only escalated when his view dropped down to look at who exactly had run into him, only to find a shocking sight as it was the last person he'd expected to see.

"You…?"

Hello everyone, it's me again.

I just would like to say how thankful I am of all you lovely readers. Many of you were quite kind in your reviews last time and understanding of my circumstances, and I can't thank you all enough. I'm going to cut it off here, but make no mistake, things are going to start heating up next chapter.

See you all next time.