I'm who now?

by Clemerl

Being dropped into the killing game is always a dangerous place to be as a student of Hope's Peak, not knowing what will happen or who will kill whom. But what happens when the one in charge has a change of heart? Or rather, has the mind of someone else entirely who will stop at nothing to save everyone they can. Even if it dives them to Despair.

31. Promise between men of Despair

"Let me guess, you had to take a moment to pull yourself together after learning the truth, right?"

Mondo stared at the small boy beneath him with a look of complete and utter shock at the revelation, his mind completely grinding to a halt as it tried and failed to piece together the facts before him. It was hard to believe, practically impossible in his mind. The idea that someone so tiny, so frail, was actually a boy. His very soul completely transfixed on the small teen as it tried to rationalize it all.

But eventually, he was given the answer that he sought. Chihiro looked at him with wide eyes full of guilt and shame, but then he ducked his head down with a whimpered, "Y-Yes, that's right. I…I'm sorry for keeping it a secret."

Though the smaller, now confirmed beyond whatever doubts and misgivings, boy could not see it with his eyes closed and his head bowed, Mondo's jaw dropped in the purest of shock as his mouth soundlessly voiced the phrase, "What the fuck?" He couldn't help it though, even as the gears in his head ground to a screeching halt he couldn't believe that he had been so wrong. He thought for sure that it was someone else who was dressing themselves up as a girl, hiding in a skirt for whatever reason or another. Even after running through the other possibilities available, it never would have occurred to him that this one in particular was the one.

"Yeah, actually. How'd you guess?"

"Women's intuition. Continue."

And yet, seeing everything that had just happened, he couldn't deny it. With the Gatling gun refusing to cooperate with the only other option and Chihiro's own confession on top of that, then it had to be the truth. This little petite person in a skirt that everyone was convinced was a girl, was in fact a boy. A real, honest to goodness, boy.

With that fact now firmly in his mind, etched deep into his conscious where it couldn't be forgotten or ignored, Mondo leaned back and stared at the celling in stunned silence. What could he even say to that? he had been so sure in his assumptions that it was someone else that he had completely missed the mark.

He was only mildly happy that he hadn't had a chance to confront Toko about it. That would have been all kinds of awkward.

"Right…Well, after the dude told me that he was…well, a dude, I was pretty fucking shocked. He was just so…"

"Convincing?"

He slapped himself to snap his focus back into reality and pushed aside all thoughts about how bad that conversation would have gone to focus more on the ashamed gi- boy with her-his eyes closed and head tilted down. The biker focused on every detail that he could, from the programmer's face, down to the skirt gripped tightly in tiny hands that didn't befit a teen at all. Mondo's eyes squinted hard as he tried to see past this vail of femininity to find the dude beneath, to see the truth barred behind a shell of lies disguised as a female's uniform.

It was…difficult, to say the least. His brain had already accepted it, locked onto the idea that this being before him was a girl. A sad, lonely girl who was timid, shy, and just all around adorable. Hell, he wouldn't have even hesitated to say that the tiny teen could be comparable to a puppy dog that he just couldn't help but want to protect. Though he knew the truth now, it didn't stop his subconscious thoughts from turning against him as they were slow to take in what he had been told.

"Yeah."

"I know what you mean. Chi rocks that skirt to an almost scary degree sometimes. Hell, I only figured it out because I know what to look for in the first place."

Slowly though, his mind started to accept it. Thinking about it now, it made a lot of things suddenly start to make sense to him. The way Chihiro acted around the girls compared to the boys, the fact the tiny teen seemed to insist on using the bathroom in his dorm even though there were plenty of restrooms to use in the school, and even the way the programmer acted in several situations; the incident with Byakuya came to mind especially strong here.

After a while though, he sighed in resignation. Yeah, Chihiro Fujisaki was in fact, a boy. The only thing left that could prove it once and for all would be for the programmer to drop his pants and whip out his crotch and there was no way he was going to get involved in that nonsense. He might be a rude and crude biker dude willing to duke it out in a sauna for the lolz, but even he had some standards, damnit!

However, as interesting that all was, "Why are you even dressed liked that then?"

"Yeah, well, he told me a lot. Told me some…things that stuck a bit…close to home."

"Told you about his bully problem, did he?"

Chihiro finally opened his eyes to look at the biker with a look of forlorn resentment, even though his gaze couldn't quite reach Mondo's own. "W-Well, look at me. I'm not exactly what you would call a 'manly person' am I?"

Mondo couldn't even give that a response, and it was clear that the tiny boy hadn't expected one either as he continued. "It's been like this…all of my life. I've always been rather small for my age, and it was hard to get any muscles to grow. Everyone was always picking on me for it, saying things like, 'why are you so weak, you're a boy aren't you?' and things like that. I…I've had to hear that kind of thing for so long. Practically every day I had to hear that and I…I just got so sick of it!"

"Whoa!" Mondo jerked back at the sudden shout of the small programmer, completely caught off guard by the level of sudden aggression and frustration contained within the boy's words. Tears, thick and filled with passion and vexation poured down the programmer's face, far surpassing every other instance the biker could recall seeing before and the fists of the meeker boy shook with a burning rage that the gang leader found himself speechless in the face of. What could he even say? It reminded him of himself.

His thoughts would go unheard though as Chihiro continued to rant, as if this was the trigger he needed to finally unload the years of pent up emotion that had been building up to this moment. "I-I just…I just w-wanted to be accepted for…for w-who I am, but every time I-I tried, I just got rejected and pushed aside. E-everyone I met just caused it to get w-worst. I…I've been to so many different schools trying to get away from it, but it was like it was f-following me everywhere. Eventually I just…I couldn't take it anymore."

A dark pit was starting to form in Mondo's stomach as he listened, a fear that he was about to hear something terribly tragic. He'd heard similar words once before, and what they led to had been extremely eye opening for the gang leader in regard to one of his subordinate's life. With a lump forming in his throat, he croaked out, "D-Don't tell me you…"

"Yes," Chihiro mumbled to the biker's horror, "That was when I started wearing a skirt. I hid behind this dress just to get the stupid name calling to stop. I just…I was just so tired of it all the time that I let it envelop me."

"Gerk! You, ah…you know about that too."

"Okay, for the sake of speeding this along, just assume I know everything about him and his problems, K?"

Mondo barely managed to hide his sigh of relief. So, it wasn't like his old subordinate at all then. That was a relief. Heavens only knew that he didn't think he could handle another of those incidents again.

Still, "Seriously? Jesus."

"Y-Yeah," Chihiro mumbled in agreement, suddenly looking much more drained then before. "I'm s-sorry that I lied. But, I…"

"No, No! I get it! I get it." And he did too. As much as it pained Mondo to admit it, even he had problems in the past. Before he was the burly biker he was today, he too was once someone who was tiny and weak. He had been picked on for his size, and for the various things that kids found weird about him. His choice in hair style, the way he talked, even the fact that his bottom eyelashes grew out in a weird way that caused them to curl up together to a point that stuck out at the base of his eye like some kind of weird anime character. That one especially got a lot of strange looks.

However, that was where their biggest differences started, he always had his big brother to help him out, to support him when no one else could or would. He didn't know what Chihiro's family life style was like, but he clearly didn't have anyone like that to bring him back up when he was down.

"But…why now?" Mondo questioned "Why are you telling me this?"

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, he asked me to help him get stronger, help him train and things like that."

"And he asked you to keep quiet about his secret."

"Yeah, said he was going to tell the others eventually, but he wanted to change first."

"He wanted to get stronger, be more of a man, like you."

Chihiro was quiet for a moment as he considered the words, idly whipping away the tracks of tear on his face as he did so, but soon he raised his head and looked Mondo dead in the eye with an expression of determination and drive. "I-I want to change. I know that there is a chance that I will be hurt again, b-but I don't want to keep doing this! Just…Just hiding like a coward and hoping for the best as everyone falls for the lie I built around me. T-that's why I…I want to get stronger. I want to change, to be able to look at myself in the mirror and say, 'I'm a man I can be proud of.' I want to train and become that, like you! I know it's asking a lot, but could you please teach me, show me how to become strong so that when I am ready to tell them I can do so with my head held high!"

Two very conflicting emotions started to blossom within Mondo as he heard him talk, two very different emotions that very much held a conflict in interests. One was light and in awe of the small boy and his dedication, proud of the resolve Chihiro was showing to grow into a new and better person. This side also felt touched that out of everyone here, Sakura, Taka and the like, this little boy had decided to choose him, him of all people, to emulate as his source of inspiration. That alone made that part of him feel positively ecstatic and wanting to immediately start the training that the programmer so desperately craved.

The thing that stopped him dead in his tracks though, was the other part of his feelings, this one darker and twisted. A part of him that he knew so well, like the back of his hand almost, and it made him feel disgusted with himself more and more every time it reared its ugly head. A tainted, vile feeling that was clawing at the back of his head once more at the sight of someone acting this way, in a way that he wanted to be but knew he wasn't able too.

And it was slowly growing.

"But, wait. You've been keeping this a secret for all this time." Mondo stated as he wrestled with his conflicting emotions in an attempt to keep himself under control. "I-If anyone found out…you'd…"

He couldn't even finish. They both knew what it could lead up to. Ridicule, mockery, segregation, humiliation. All that and possibly more waited for him once this got out. Maybe even worst then before he started dressing this way. People could be so cruel when they didn't understand, and sometimes even then. It didn't matter the age, gender, or religion, that would always be true.

"Heh, you really do know everything about him."

"Yeah, well, it's not like he was all that subtle about it."

Still, though there was a brief flash of hesitation and fear in Chihiro's eyes, it was quickly overshadowed by his desperation and determination. "E-Even so, I still want to change. I just can't keep living like this! I've wrapped myself up in lies and fear for so long, I can barely see who I am anymore. I had to have someone else tell me that I'm even still a person to even realize what I was doing to myself anymore."

"Yeah…well, at first, he went on about that for a while, and then he…uh…"

"He said something that really got to you. Something personal, maybe?"

The tears were back, but with a resolve Mondo never expected, the smaller boy…no, the smaller man standing before him refused to let them fall. "I…I'm weak. I embraced that weakness and made it who I am, and I hate myself for doing it. I want to destroy that me, to completely wipe it from the face of the earth so that it can't hurt anyone ever again!"

"Yeah…it…hurt. To hear him say that. It felt like there was something, like…like a knife, deep in my gut, started to really twist and churn. Something dark, eating at my soul."

"Let me guess, it made you so angry, so hateful, that you wanted to shut him up, even if it meant permanently."

That dark feeling was growing ever stronger, slowly starting to surpass the nicer, more proud feeling from before. It was slowly encroaching and started to consume those good feelings, trying to completely drown them in its own darkness even as the light tried to keep his mind stable. He could feel something, something in his head, starting to creak from the strain of dealing with the war going on inside his gray matter, and it threatened to drive him to madness.

Those words. Those damn words. It was like the smaller boy was rubbing his own strength in the biker's face. No, worst then that. It was like the programmer had somehow managed to hack into Mondo's very soul and took the very things he felt about himself and started to blatantly flaunt them right in front of his face.

The world started to feel hazy in his mind's eye, twisting to fit another narrative and he was being dragged along for the ride. Slowly, the image before him started to twist, to change, to warp. Suddenly, gone was the soft little boy and left in his place was a sick and twisted troll, a disgusting beast that got off on making others feel miserable and hurt. This freak hung the words he'd always wanted to say before him, laughing at the way they made him squirm and writhe. With twisted grin on its smug face, in laughed at him for wanted to change, to be better, to become a man like his brother; better even.

He blinked, and just like that the twisted image was gone, but it didn't take away any of the rage, the hate, the despair that it had quickly festered in its short time.

"…Yeah. Yeah it-it did…I almost…"

"Gave in?"

In an effort to keep what little remained of his composure, Mondo ducked his head down to avoid the gaze of the small teen and that retched smile of his. He couldn't bare the sight anymore. It made his mind go into dark places. Places he did his best not to tread. But that wasn't much help as the brat just kept twisting that damn knife.

"I have to change. I don't want to be weak anymore." He could practically feel the proud smile on the punk's stupid face. "You're so strong, it can't hurt you, right? Whatever secret Monokuma might tell us…"

Just stop. Mondo so desperately wanted to say it, to warn the brat that if he kept on poking that bear, he was going to get mauled. But he couldn't say it, that wreathed feeling stayed he lips and forced him to be silent. That horrible feeling just wanted the little teenager to shut the hell up, to make him just stop talking and tearing open that old bloody wound that he so desperately wanted to go away, no matter what the consequences.

And that was when he caught sight of it. The thing that could make this little punk brat stay quiet once and for all. There, on the rack of weights was a row of dumbbells, and one at the end closest to him was absolutely massive. If he had to guess, it had to weigh about fifty or so pounds, possibly more. Just one swing of that would shut the bitch up once and for all. It wouldn't even take much effort to swing it for someone of his strength.

Yeah…his strength. Because he was strong…strong…strong!

"Y-Yeah."

"Well, what stopped you? Not that I'm complaining, mind. Just want to see the full picture, ya know?"

He was going to do it. He was going to shut this bastard up once and for all. Just one quick swing, and it would be done. He could end it fast so that the little punk wouldn't even feel it. Then…well, he would get to that later. He just needed to…grab the dumbbell…and it would all be fine.

"What's the matter? Don't like to hear how you nearly killed someone who wanted to help keep you safe?" His body froze as the memory of that damn bear suddenly intruded on his thoughts, the icy tone of that bad moment momentarily cooling his rage. "Maybe you don't like it when someone who's weaker then you are willing to actually stand up to you and try to save your weak ass."

Wh-What? His mind ground to a halt, trying to figure out just where this was all coming from. Why here? Why was that memory coming up now? "Come on then, hit me. Break the chains holding you back and blindly attack the source of your hatred like you always do. Just like you did to Mr. Makoto over there. Like you do everyone who ticks you off. Just let yourself fly off the handle and try to kill me like you do for every weakling looking to get stronger."

His blood froze. T-that…! Was…Was Monokuma talking about this? This very moment? This very encounter? Did…did the mastermind actually predict that he was going to give in to his rage, his anger, his…jealousy. Did it somehow know that he was going to…to…?

A cold sweet started coating his suddenly ashen face. Oh…Oh god. He was going to…he almost…he couldn't even finish the fucking sentence he was so horrified by what he had been planning to do. What was almost as bad, Monokuma had somehow known, even as far back as the first day, that this was going to happen. They knew, and they were taunting him about it. They wanted him to give in and kill someone, no, they wanted him to kill someone who would be looking up to him; him of all people. Worst yet, they were almost right!

It was taking a lot of effort just to keep standing when he finally came too from that shocking realization. His hand quivered violently at his sides as he struggled to keep from breaking down right then and there. What would his brother say if he saw this? Mondo, just a hairs breath away from killing someone for looking up to him. Would he have been proud?

What was he even saying, of course he wouldn't. Daiya would have kicked his ass for even thinking of it. There was no doubt that his older brother would have been pissed off if he learned of him even coming close to that kind of weakness.

"I had a…bit of a revelation…Well, did you know why he asked me to help him?"

"Course, you're the most muscular man here, and you've got that whole, "Promise between men" thing going on. Obviously, he would want someone like that more than anyone else."

"W-Why…?" He paused to swallow his suddenly dry feeling tongue. "Why now? W-why ask me?"

He could barely hold himself together anymore. His mind had gone through too many conflicting emotions in too short a time. He couldn't keep going like this if he wanted to keep that fucking bear from winning. If he wanted to keep from attacking Chihiro in a blind fit of rage, he would need something to get his mind off of this. Anything would work right now, just something.

Chihiro was silent for a moment, but after a little while he finally spoke, and in a tormented tone that caught the biker off guard. "Because, it's more than just wanting to be strong though…I-I don't want to be a burden for her anymore. You're the only guy I can turn too."

"Her…?" Mondo quickly grabbed onto the change in topic before it could slip away. "Who's 'her'?"

"I…" Chihiro hesitated for a second. "The truth is, y-you aren't the first one to learn my…secret. Though you are the only one I actually told it to."

"Yeah?" Mondo almost sighed, but if it would have been in relief or in disappointment he wasn't sure. On the one hand, this meant that he wasn't the only one with the burden of carrying this weight of knowing something so depressing. This was some pretty heavy shit that the little guy was unloading here, and if it turned out that he was the only one getting a handful then he didn't know what he'd have done. On the other hand, it was kind of discouraging to know that he was playing second fiddle to someone else, even with the fact that it was clearly not something Chihiro intended if the last part was any indication.

He did his best to shake off that thought. Now was not the time for that.

"Y-yeah…" Chihiro continued with a more subdued voice. "W-when…do you remember what happened the morning after the trial? Just after we investigated the second floor?"

Back then? Mondo closed his eyes as he tried to think of what he could be talking about. "Hmm…ain't that when that Junko chick came in looking like death walked all over her and then fell on…? Wait."

"Y-yes, that time." Chihiro confirmed with a small nod and flushed cheeks. "A-After that, I brought it up with her and she said she already knew since the beginning that I was a guy…"

From there, Chihiro continued to tell his little tale of what had happen. How the girl had pretty much dragged him into a nightly routine of exercising to help them both build themselves up. How she had comforted him when he was down and made him rethink what he had thought he had known. How she had opened his eyes to new possibilities he had never even considered with his mind trapped in its loop of depression, doubt and self-deprecation. In short order, she had managed to crack the shell that he had built around himself and turned his eyes to a new possibility of hope.

Throughout it all, Mondo stayed silent, finally lifting his head to watch the boy adamantly talking about all of the good things that this one girl had done for him. He watched enraptured at how ecstatic this boy had become due to this chick forcing herself into his life in a way no one could have anticipated. He stared into those eyes of Chihiro's as they shown with a new life, not quite at the point that he would say they were healed of all the suffering they'd endured, but certainly livelier then they had been at the start of this twisted game.

Then the programmer told him of the time they'd gone to the sauna. "Oof…s-so that's what happened."

"Y-yeah, she was really upset with you guys after that. She said you were lucky that you barely got away with second degree burns." Chihiro confirmed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her."

"No, no. it's cool." Mondo quickly waved away the apology with nary a thought. "To be honest, I could barely remember that part anyway. But man, to be taken out like a total bitch like that? Not one of our better days."

"No, Junko said that it was the heat stroke and dehydration that caused that." The other boy tried to defend what was left of Mondo's dignity.

"Well, its whatever." The biker waved it off. At least now he knew who to blame next time he has that nightmare of a blond demon with icy eyes staring into his soul while he's too weak to do anything against them, again. Actually, in hindsight, it really should have been obvious who was to blame, his bro just wasn't convinced that they got taken out by the crippled girl.

But more importantly, "She's really something, huh?"

"Heh, that's not what he said."

"I…I want to be someone she can rely on." Chihiro stated with a calm determined voice. "It's not just about me anymore. I want to help, to be useful. I want to get us all out of here, alive. I want to get stronger so that she doesn't have to waste her time trying to make me stronger when she could be getting her own strength back. As I am now, I'm nothing but a burden for her…for everyone."

"He…He said that?"

"Yeah he did. Dude really admires you…and he really doesn't want to drag you down. He wanted my help to get stronger so that you wouldn't need to worry about him."

Chihiro raised his head, "That's why I want your help. I really admire your strength, yours and Junko's. So, if anyone can help me, it can only be you!"

And then in a bold move, as if to make things even more complicated for Mondo's conflicted heart, Chihiro then bowed at the waist to the biker, deep and full of a passion the gang leader hadn't seen in a long time. "Please, I beg of you. Please take me on as your disciple. Please show me how I can become strong so that I can stop being a burden on others! Please train me so that when others need me, I won't stand still a cry like a child when I could help them! Please make a man out of me!"

A tiny part of Mondo's mind wanted to chastise the small man for his phrasing, but a far larger part was feeling far too much sentimental respect for what he was witnessing right now. Even though the wording was different, this was exactly the kind of speech he had heard time and time again when he was recruiting a new member to his gang. The raw emotion in the boy's voice as it rose to a level that he could easily believe that even someone as twisted as the mastermind could hear it, the primal drive in his heart that guaranteed to make things happen, the passionate cries of a man who was sick of the status quo and was willing to fully commit themselves to whatever demon, devil, or hell spawn that they felt were necessary to flip the script and see it written anew. The sight of this moment of pure manly dedication in action rocked the youngest member of the Owada family so hard that he could barely feel the wave of jealously as it tried to lap against his mind's shores.

Sadly, for that feeling though, it stood no chance anymore. The early feeling of aw and pride that had once been struggling to stand its ground had grown immense and powerful. It now dwarfed the darkness by such a large margin that it threatened to eclipse it entirely. The only thing it could do to preserve itself was to quickly hide away in one of the twisted shadows of the biker's mind with a hissed promise that it would return again sooner than later.

But Mondo didn't care about that at the moment. All he cared about was trying to regain his composure before Chihiro could raise his head. He felt so disgusted with himself, to think that he had been planning to crush this manly boy's head in just a moment ago. The dude was willing to risk everything to tell him his secret, willing to dare to trust in the rageaholic, motherfucking, ultimate biker gang leader himself, and what was his first thought? Kill him because he didn't have the balls to do something like that.

If there was a contest right now for who could hate themselves the most, well, right now Mondo felt that he could give Toko a run for her money. He had never felt so disgusted with himself then right now, the only thing worst being when his brother died. Hell, he knew that if Daiya could see him right now he might have crawled out of his grave just to bash his younger brother in the head for thinking of doing Chihiro like that. Shame and guilt were the least of the feelings he felt in that moment, and they only got worst with the realization that, if he hadn't remembered that insufferable bear's taunting, he might have- no, he would have done the programmer in. He'd have to thank the bastard for that later.

A fresh wave of revulsion took hold just at the thought.

Still, he did his best to settle his nerves. He took in a long, deep breath. He held it for a few seconds, like his usually ignored guidance consular told him to do. Then, he let it go, all while focusing on letting his rage, his jealousy, and his hate go with it. He repeated this a couple more times, just to be absolutely certain that he was under control, before he placed his hand on the smaller teen's shoulder to get his attention. When Chihiro looked up, he was treated to a sight of Mondo flashing him a thumb up as well as a megawatt smile.

"Hell yeah, dude!" Mondo exclaimed with the most excited tone he could manage as he repressed the darker feelings as had become routine by now. "But drop the whole, 'disciple' B.S. If you're gonna train with me, then it'll be as equals, got it?"

"That…idiot. Why did he have to be so freaking sentimental…What happened next?"

"Well, after I cooled down. I told him to get changed so that we could start, but then-"

Chihiro's eyes widened in such joy that Mondo was sure that, if this were one of Hifumi's manga, they would be full of stars right about now. It was a look Mondo also knew all too well having seen it in the starstruck expressions of the punks that joined his gang for the first time. It made him feel nauseous because it was coming from someone who thought the world of the mask he had put around himself, but with practiced ease he shut that revulsion down and said, "Now, go get dressed, would ya. Can't work out in these stuffy uniforms, 'ight?"

"R-right!" the smaller boy in agreement and quickly rushed to the door, likely to grab that bag if Mondo had to guess. Another wave of guild washed over him when he saw the small boy pull out not one, but two track jackets of a blue hue from the bag along with a set of matching pants; one set clearly larger than the other. Chihiro hadn't even hesitated to bring him a set of clothes to train in as well, even though he couldn't have known that the biker gang leader would accept training him. No, it was more likely that the programmer just had that much faith in him that he brought it along as an inevitability.

Red clouded his vision again, but this time aimed completely at himself for almost giving into his jealousy fueled rage. For even considering the idea of hurting this manly man amongst men and robbing the world of the potential of being blessed by his eventual manliness, the idea made him internally wretch.

His eyes turned back to the dumbbell on the floor, and that rage peaked in that moment. Not even taking a moments hesitation, he snatched up the heavy weight and got ready to outright chuck the blasted thing. Where didn't matter, just as long as it was out of his sight!

"What are doing?" He froze when he heard the innocent question intended for him. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the speaker to see little Chihiro looking at him with confusion and worry. In the small teen's hands was the larger set of clothes for training as well as a bottle of water, both clearly intended for the biker with attitude.

"Uh…" Mondo's mind struggled to come up with a good excuse for where he had been going with this, but he was drawing a blank. A whole lot of nothing was all his head was filled with as he stared at the wide eyed, innocent looking boy's face, while he looked absolutely ridiculous with a heavy dumbbell in his hand, held back in a pitcher's throw ready to chuck the damn thing like a ball. And just as he was about to lower it so that he could explain exactly what he was doing…

"No, don't tell me. Let me guess. Taka showed up at the worst possible time."

"Got it in one."

*Bang* "Don't worry Bro! I'm here too-" The sound of the door slamming open startled the two boys horribly, and both instantly turned to look at the source of the shouting instantly, only for their expressions to change rapidly into looks of horror for their own specific reasons. Looking back at them was the determined and furious glare of none other then Kiyotaka Ishimaru, his hair and face coated with sweat while a red glow lit up his forehead and cheeks.

A look that instantly was dropped for one of complete and total shock when he got a good look at the two occupancies of the room. For a brief second, Mondo had to think about why exactly his bro was looking at them like that. But then it dawned on him. If what he knew of his bro was right, then right now he was seeing Mondo, holding a weighted dumbbell over his head, and standing right before Chihiro, who looked very confused and now very shocked. It didn't matter that the shock was from Taka barging in like he did, he could easily see that his bro might think something bad was happening. So, the best thing he could do right now is trying to clear up any misgivings.

"Uh, I can explain." Perfect.

"Argh, okay. Then what?"

"Well, I tried to calm him down, but he wasn't having any of it. Chihiro tried to help, but…"

"I should hope so!" Taka snapped, his face just as quickly switching to one of horror and outrage, "Because to me it looks like you were about to…!"

He couldn't even finish his sentence, and to be honest, Mondo couldn't blame him. It was a rather incriminating thing he had just walked in on after all. "Okay, now I know how this looks, bro, but you gotta believe me. It isn't what it looks like. I was just…uhh."

He struggled to find the words. Technically, if Taka had shown up a short while earlier, it would have been exactly what it looked like right now. He would have seen Mondo planning to cave in Chihiro's skull with a dumbbell out of a jealous rage. But of course, he couldn't say that. It would completely destroy all of the trust that they had built together and ruin their friendship, possibly for good.

However, he didn't want to lie to Taka either. That would only make him feel bad in the long run and could to even worst.

Well, a half truth wouldn't hurt him too bad, right?

"I was just…just, uh, g-going to show Chihiro some…weight training exercises?" He struggled to say and internally he chastised himself for stumbling. He quickly gave a glance over to said teen with a look that he only hoped would be understood as a desperate cry for help.

"Y-Yeah." Chihiro thankfully caught on and tried to continue for them. "It's my fault. I-I wanted Mondo's help with some training, so he was showing me some…some kind of exercise?"

Mondo flinched at that last bit but was quick to recover once Taka's gaze snapped back to him. Not the time to be questioning what he was doing. It certainly didn't help weaken the intensity of his bro's glare any as he stated, "Is that so. Then please enlighten me why you chose here of all places to exercise, especially at this hour!"

And then he snapped his finger over to Chihiro and it completely shocked both of the two with his ferocity. "And you, young lady! What do you think you're doing coming into the boy's locker room like this! It's completely immoral for a boy and a girl to be alone in a room to begin with, but to use my Bro's trust to sneak into this place is extremely unethical! I do not care how curious you are, this is a violation of conduct."

"That only turned his ire onto him."

"Yeah, and then I got mad at Bro and started yelling at him, and he yelled back. It got pretty crazy."

"I-I…" Chihiro tried to muster up the courage to say something, but it was lost to the winds in the face of Taka's lecture voice. "And furthermore, I would kindly request that you not drag my Bro into such blatant forms of debauchery. Especially not hidden under such blatant fabrications to hide the fact!"

…What?

The two boys, one biker, one hidden by virtue of his skirt, turned to look at each other as the moral compass's words slowly started to click into place. As it did, a cold sweat formed on their faces as a mutual look of horror, disgust, and revulsion quickly started to paint the two's faces a starling shade of red, white, and purple from the growing realization of what exactly it was that Taka thought they were doing. As one they both turned back to look at the boy in stunned silence as they struggled to comprehend why exactly someone like Kiyotaka of all people would come to that conclusion.

"Wh-I just-NO! Fuck no!" Mondo furiously denied with Chihiro struggling to choose between shaking his head in denial to Taka's assumption and nodding with the biker gang leader. "What kind of person do you take us for!?"

"Well, I wouldn't know." Taka stated just as angerly, "I clearly don't know enough because I would never have thought you would be capable of sneaking behind my back in this time of crisis just to break rules and risk a girl's safety to satisfy your carnal desires! And to drag Chihiro into all of this by exploiting her naivety, have you no shame!?"

Mondo was completely shocked, stunned by what his Bro was accusing him of. On the one hand, at least the white coat hadn't jumped straight into accusing him of outright attempting to murder the pipsqueak, but at the same time, this was almost worst! "Are you shitting me? Bro! I would never-!"

"Don't you Bro me Bro!" Taka interrupted furiously, starting to get up into Mondo's face with his accusations, literally. "I thought better of you! But it seems that I was mistaken."

Mondo felt a blood vessel throb in his forehead. "You S.O.B. I jus fucking said, it's not like that! Like the dude said, she wanted some fucking tips on weight training and shit like that. That's it! It ain't my fault!"

"Then why would she ask to meet you in the middle of the night!?" Taka countered, "That seems far too much to ask at a time like this! It completely goes against the rule we set about going out at night!"

"Well, ain't that fucking rich, mister hypocrite! Ain't you one to talk seeing as you're here too!"

"As a night guard!" Kiyotaka shouted back into Mondo's face with a feeling of indignation in his tone on top of the rage. "As I told you, I was setting up a night shift so as to prevent any incidents from happening! Something that you should have remembered had you not gone and exploited my trust for your little late-night rendezvous! And if she has a problem as you so claim, she could have easily gone to us all with it instead of skulking about with you and breaking rules!"

"You mother fucker." Mondo growled as he pressed forward, his corncob pompadour being forced to bend over the top of Taka's spikes as he got even closer to his increasingly irritating brother in name only. "You every stop to think that maybe it's judgment assholes like you running around that might be the reason the she would rather train one-on-one with someone who gets 'um then go announcing that she's got a problem to the world!? That, maybe she was just feeling shy and wanted to just talk instead of listen to shit like what you're spouting right now!?"

"S-Stop it!" The two heard the shout of the little programmer, but they ignored as they continued to shout insults and accusations. "P-Please, just stop! It's just a big misunderstanding!"

"I could guess."

"Chihiro tried to stop us but then we…well…um."

"Well? What?"

"We might have…yelled at him."

The two boys turned only a little bit to catch the small teen in their view as they interrupted with a loud and furious, "BUT OUT!" before just as quickly snapping their view back to each other to continue shouting, completely missing the way the tiny boy's eyes started to fill up with tears as he started slowly stepping back, his footsteps completely unheard over the sounds of their roaring argument.

"…"

"Okay, I know that you're pissed but-Glich!"

"Just…Continue…before I decide to follow through on my promise."

"R-Right. So, we went right back to arguing and then we heard the door to the pool slam."

"Chihiro must have rushed through then, yes?"

"Listen here, Bro." Mondo growled out once more. "I have had it with all of your fuck assuming, so let me set the fucking record straight!"

"Please do! I would be happy to hear it Bro." Taka angerly growled back, pressing even harder against the itchy perm pressed against his forehead.

"Fine! As I told you, I was called up here by Chihiro 'cause she wanted my help. I don't got a fucking clue why she chose me, but she wanted it to be kept between us and she made me make a promise, as a man, that I wouldn't tell anyone 'bout it. She told me she wanted to share her secret that the fucking bear was threatening us all with, as a starting point."

The mention of those secrets proved to be the very thing Taka needed to hear to shake his resolve as he finally took a small step back, but it wasn't enough on its own. "But, why wait until dark? Why not just wait until tomorrow when we all would have been exposed?"

"Oh, come on Bro!" Mondo cut in with a cry of disbelief. Great as Taka-bro was, even he could be an idiot. "You've seen how skittish she is! There was no fucking way that she could handle having her dirty laundry laid out for everyone to know! She's far too fucking weak to handle that kinda shit! Especially with that asshole Byakuya stickin' his nose in everyone's business!"

"I…!" Taka started to say, likely about to try and defend the blond scion in some way, but his argument died in his throat. "Yes, I can see how that would be the case…But that's still no excuse to be scuttling about in a crisis! We have too much at risk going on right now to be dabbling in one person's selfish desires right now! For everyone's sake, you should pack up and head back to your rooms for the night!"

"What crisis!" Mondo demanded furiously, angry that his bro was still harping on about this. What could be so bad that they couldn't get a chance to get some bloody exercise in!? "You keep saying that there's some fucking thing going on, but I ain't heard shit about anything like that going down!"

Taka scowled back and started to rebut, "If you would just listen for a minute, I could tell you-" but he was cut off when he heard the sound of the slamming of a door. Both members of the Broforce turned to look for the source, and immediately noticed two things. One, it hadn't been the door leading out to the rest of the school that slammed shut since, not only was the duffle bag still preventing its closure, both of the tall teens were standing in the way. The second thing they noticed, was that they were the only ones in the room.

Chihiro was gone.

"Yeah, but that just caused us to argue over whose fault it was that he ran off in the first place."

"Agh! Now look what you've done!" Mondo accused the other half of the bro-brigade, "You scared her off!"

"Me!?" came the offended shout of the white side of the brominaries. "You were the one who was shouting, you delinquent juvenile!"

"News flash genius! You were shouting too, y'know!" The chocolate corn boy rebuked angerly, fully aware and uncaring that he had just used his red-eyed partner's trigger word. If he was going to resort to name calling, then so too was he!

It was working too, judging by how tightly the spiny haired brunette bit his lip in rage. "Y-You…! You repugnant rapscallion! You would dare call me that! After everything I shared with you!"

"Oh, get off your high horse!" Mondo fired back just as angerly. "I shared just as much as you did, and yet you still keep accusing me of being a total bastard!"

Something snapped. "Well, maybe that's just because I have never had someone I could trust before, you BASTARD!" Taka shouted as he did something that he never, ever, would have considered doing under normal circumstances. Without thinking, without even trying to consider alternate ideas, he finally let loose. He completely lost himself in the moment, reared back his arm…

And slugged Mondo right in the gut.

In that moment, all time seemed to stop for the two boys. Both sets of eyes shot wide open in complete and utter shock at what had just happened, and their jaws drooped slightly. For a moment, all was silent, both teens trying to comprehend just what had happened.

"I…" Taka tried to say something, but his mind struggled to piece together what he should. Claim he didn't mean it? No, Mondo would see right through that lie in an instant. He had meant it after all, he had wanted to shut the biker up in the only way he would listen too. Should he explain himself, tell the other boy that he had gotten caught up in the moment? No, that paltry excuse would never hold up. He had been in far more stressful situations and never lost it like that. More and more his mind struggled to come up with a way to explain himself, but every single thing he came up with sounded hollow, empty. He couldn't even understand it himself.

He didn't think himself a violent person, at least, not from what he could remember. It was difficult to think of anything in any case. Sure, he had been in a couple of scraps here and there with some particularly difficult students, but this was the first time that he had been the one to give the first punch. And not even a love-tap, or something like that, he had put his full strength into that one. He had meant to harm the delinquent biker with that one, completely and intentionally.

Shame filled the moral compasses heart at the thought. He had hurt someone, someone he was close too, someone who trusted him, and he just let a little argument get him a bit more heated than usual. Worst still, this was the first person he felt comfortable enough with to call his brother in arms. He just felt like the lowest of scumbags right then and there, the lowest of the low.

"Heh…" Taka was cut from his self-deprecation when he heard the strained laugh coming from Mondo, of all people. "G-Got to say, bro. You've got a good hook. Didn't even see it coming."

"I-I so sorry!" the moral quickly and profusely apologized. "I don't know what came over me I-"

"Nah, don't be." Mondo waved it off with a grin, of all things! "I totally deserved it. Hell, I think…I think I really needed that."

What? That was all the moral could think of. What was he talking about? As if he heard the white suited boy's thoughts, Mondo continued, "I mean it. I haven't taken a hit like that in such a long time, I almost forgot what it felt like. Nothing like a punch to the gut to snap you out of it…Oof."

"I…I don't understand." Taka muttered, and the follow up only left him more confused. "Don't worry 'bout it. Let's just say it's was the wake up call I've been needing for a while now. C'mon, we better go get Chihiro before-"

"Right, right. That would be about what I expected. Then he fell into the pool?"

The two teens were cut off from their moment by the sound of a splash, muted though it was from the closed door. Confusion worked its way across their faces and they momentarily glanced at each other in question. When nether party could answer, they both quickly made their way to the door to the pool, eager to find out what it was that had made that sound; all other questions momentarily lost in their quest.

As they approached the door though, something caused them to…hesitate. A feeling of dread and foreboding suddenly and without warning gripped their souls a caused them to pause. But, why was that?

Where was this hesitation coming from? This feeling deep inside that forced them to still? This cold, dark grip on their hearts that caused them to beat and a faster pace than they're used too? Was it instinct? And if so, why was it acting up now of all times? What reason could it be that they had to be nervous?

They gave a quick glance at one another, finding just a hint of comfort in each other's gaze. They nodded, and Taka gave the door a quick and powerful shove, hoping to rip away all of the hesitation and fear in one move, like a bandage. And what they saw, filled them with nothing but panic…

And despair.

"Yeah, don't know why that happened though."

Unbeknown to the two much larger boys, Chihiro hadn't quite booked it after slamming the door on them. No, what he had done was sit down and tucked his knees up to his chin, unable to gather the strength to run away. It wasn't that he didn't want to flee, to run back to his room to cry, but his traitorous legs had only allowed him enough of their strength to get him to the door before collapsing right then and there, forcing him to continue listening to the only slightly muffled shouts of the two boys in the adjacent room.

Tears, thick and fat clung to the edges of his eyes, trying oh so hard to fall, but he refused to give in to their demands to let them fall, if for nothing else then to spite them. It hurt, it hurt him so badly to heard people arguing like that, especially over something he had done. He hadn't wanted this, none of it. He didn't want anyone to be fight, especially over something like this. But the thing that stung more then that was what had been said.

Weak. He'd been called weak again. Too weak to handle it. Too weak to have his secret exposed.

It didn't matter that he knew that it was true. It didn't matter that it was said by someone he respected and trusted. He knew that Mondo hadn't meant anything bad by it, he could tell that the gruff biker was trying to be considerate of his wishes…in his own way. Even Taka's initial misconceptions, as embarrassing as they were, wasn't the reason he was feeling so crummy either.

No, if he had to guess, it was the shame. It was just as Mondo had said, he was ashamed with himself for not being able to stop them from fighting. He just couldn't handle being yelled at, it brought up too many bad memories. It hurt him internally, both because of the fear, and the agony of those memories. The feelings of being discriminated against for his body overwhelmed him all over again and left him feeling weak and sick, and it drained away his will to fight.

It was as Mondo said. He was weak. It didn't matter what he did. It didn't matter who he trusted with the truth. This fact would continue to haunt him for the rest of his days. He just wanted to hide, to go somewhere where no one could see him cry.

But where? He couldn't go back through the locker room, not with the two much stronger teens blocking the way to the door. He couldn't even collect himself long enough to stop them from arguing, let alone enough to push past. And while there wouldn't be anyone in the girl's room to see him, he just couldn't go in there alone. Hell, he could barely manage when he trained with Junko.

A fresh wave of guilt and loathing washed over his heart just thinking of her name. Junko had held such confidence in him. She truly believed in him, and here he was, crying, again, for the umpteenth time. What would she think of him if she saw him right now? Would she be disgusted? Angry? Frustrated? Or would she not care? Would she be indifferent because she expected this to happen, or would she just not care? If he were of sound mind right about now, he might have been able to guess, but as he was right now? He couldn't bare the thought of her seeing him like this again.

He just wanted to hide. Hide from the yelling, the rage, and the misunderstandings. He wanted to get away from the fear, the disgust, the tears, and the uncertainty. He just needed a place to do that.

Idly, he wiped at his eyes and took a long, slow look at the area. Having never actually been in the pool side of the locker rooms, he had no idea what to expect, so it was interesting for him to see just how ridiculous the whole setup was. Just as he had expected, there was a pool, about the size of an Olympic pool and looking just about as deep without any sort of incline for the inexperienced to wade in. the thing that caught him off guard though was the massive stands on either side of the mass of water, each one reaching from one wall to the other and easily capable of holding what he could only assume to be a hundred people each.

Why were they so large? Why would they need this large setup in the first place when it was just the fifteen of them here? And for that matter how in the world did they manage to get all of this built into the second floor?

He shook his head. Questions for later. The only thing he wanted was to find a place to hide out, and as interesting as this all was, it wasn't doing anything for his goal. There weren't any gaps in the stands for him to slip under them anyway, so he could hide there.

However, he did notice that there was a locker on the other side of the room, wedged into a corner and sticking out against the white walls like a blot on a clean sheet of paper with its steel exterior. If he had to guess, it was probably used to store pool equipment and the like, possibly mostly lines of buoy lines or something like that. More importantly though, it was a place he could hide for a while.

So, with wobbling knees, he slowly pushed himself back to his feet and took a few slow steps. Steps that slowly grew in pace until he was fast walking. Then sprinting. He rushed around the edges of the pool at full speed, wanting to get to there as soon as possible. There was no hesitation, no reluctance in his movements.

No traction.

"Well, that's why you aren't supposed to run by them in the first place. And especially in those shoes, I mean come on. One little wet spot and you'd hit the ground harder than a slapstick cartoon character."

"Sounds about right."

With a sharp squeaking sound of wet rubber slipping on the floor, he suddenly had his whole world start to upend itself. For a split second, all he could see was the ceiling, the luminous lights of the linoleum bars that ran across the roof to light up the room and the pool. Then there was a sharp feeling of pain blossoming in the back of his head as it all flashed white, then just as quickly turned to black. The last thing his mind was able to understand was the sensation of being submerged.

And then, nothing.

That would be the sight that two boys would rush in to see. This would be where they would freeze up in shock at the sight of the drowning form of their fellow classmate. This would be the sight that the mastermind would come across and throw away all thought and planning to save the small boy's life, the other two following shortly after.

"So, that was when you both snapped out of your petty argument and rushed to the pool, and then you froze up in shock, so I had to dive in to save him."

"I-! That's…! Yeah, that's about it…"

---

I had to resist the urge to groan in agitation as he finished his explanation. So many things about it made me feel angrier then I had thought possible, but I didn't know just who to aim it at. I wanted to be mad at Chihiro because this whole stupid thing wouldn't have happened if he just stayed with the plan and continued to meet up with me, but I couldn't because that only happened because I had shot myself in the foot with the motive of the week. I really wanted to break Mondo's face in for getting involved and for making Chihiro cry, again, but he hadn't actually killed him like he was originally expected to, so it wouldn't be fair. And Taka only made things worse because I had held zero faith in Mondo's self-control and lead him there in the first place.

And wasn't that a freaking kick in the teeth. All of that planning, all of the risks, all of my efforts, an it turned out that I needn't have bothered. It turns out that the biggest weakness in my plan wasn't the others. No, that title seemed to belong entirely to my own hubris and my lack of faith in others. I guess, in the end, I could only be mad at myself for all of this.

Freaking, perfect.

"Hey, why did you dive in there anyway?" Mondo suddenly chimed in, interrupting my train of thought in the process. "You should have known ya couldn't swim with that busted up leg a' yours. What gives?"

"Hmph, just because I can't stand on my own yet, doesn't mean I'm unable to swim." I informed him with a scoff as I hobbled back over to Chihiro's side, purposefully ignoring how he limped slightly as he followed after. "It's far less strenuous then walking, so I can do it for a little while before it starts to hurt. The only real problem is all the chlorine possibly getting into my wounds, and even that's not important enough to allow my little buddy to drown while you two idiots stand around staring at him like a pair of gap-mouthed trout."

Of course, that was a lie. Though I didn't have much doubt that Mukuro could have pulled that stunt off, I knew for a fact that there was no way a normal person could have done the same stunt. Maybe if their adrenalin was high enough, but even that was a stretch.

He flinched, and it looked like he was going to try and defend his actions, or even Taka's, but one swift glare shut him down before he could utter anything more than a single, "I…"

"Tell me I'm wrong." I demanded in the most authoritative tone I could muster, demanding that he tell me otherwise. He and I both knew that he couldn't, not if the way he struggled to hold my gaze with him was any indication. Sure, he clenched his teeth and his fists for a moment as he tried to come up with an excuse, an argument, something to counter my words, but in the end, he eventually relented with a subdued, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry." I countered relentlessly, "Be better. You're the one who goes on and on about being "manly", so it's your responsibility to be one. Be the man that you want to be and actually do something worthy of the title."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head in shame. "You make it sound so easy."

"Well, it's not." I shot back as I folded my arms with a huff. "Nothing worth doing is easy. Life isn't fair, the world's out to get you, and there's nothing you can say or do to make it any less true. All you can do, is suck it up, and do the best you can with what you got. Yeah, you're gonna stumble a lot, you're going to be hurt, and sometimes you'll want to say that nothing matters because of it. Somedays all you'll want to do is rage against the system and say fuck society, just because you can. There will be times that you will be given the shaft and there won't be a god damn thing you can do about it."

"Really not much of an optimist, are you?"

"But let me tell you something." I continued without a thought to his interruption as I looked him dead in the eye. "Sometimes, you will have to be the better person. You'll have to take the licks your given and move on with your life. And yeah, it's tough sometimes, it's not fair and it totally sucks, but you can't let that be the reason that you give up. You have to be the better person, you have to make the choice to be the good guy. Because if you don't make that decision, then you've already lost every right to call yourself a good person."

He continued to look at the ground, lost in thought most likely, and we fell into a silence for a minute. It was an uncomfortable silence, one build on hesitation and regrets, but I could tell that he wasn't going to say anything, and I had no desire to say anything, so silent we stayed. However, in that silence, my mind was running through its own turmoil.

Be a better person? Yeah, right. Like I had any room to talk. I'd scoff if it wouldn't have attracted attention. The utter hypocrisy of my own words disgusted me, and I could only wonder what the others would say if they learned that I was the last person that should be spouting this kind of nonsense.

Well, maybe second to last. Byakuya would be the last right now.

Regardless, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I was not the right person to deal with this kind of crap. I freely admit that I had been making all the wrong moves and dragging people where I hadn't needed too. I had dragged all of these innocent people into a game of kill or be killed for fucks sake. What right did I have to call someone out on their B.S.?

"Chihiro!" I was cut from my loathing at the cry of one swimming pro as she burst through the door, followed closely by Sakura with Taka shortly after appearing from the men's side entrance. Quickly, I gestured them over and within the span of a few seconds, they had managed to cover the entire length. Impressive when you consider that there was at least twenty feet between the entrance and the boy.

"Watch her head." I quickly warned when it looked like Hina was going to pick his head up. "She's got a mild concussion right now, possibly a hairline fracture along the occupit of her skull. We'll need to keep her off of that for a bit. She's also suffering multiple fractures along her sternum and ribs from standard cardio pulmonary resuscitation and may still have slight traces of chlorinated liquid in her lungs and stomach area. Kiyotaka, did you get what I asked?"

Said boy blinked dumbly, as if something I'd said was weird or something, before he shook it off and quickly passed me a board wrapped in a plain white sheet. "Forgive me, but I was unable to find the board you described, but I was able to make one per your instruction."

"Tch, not what I was hoping for, but it'll do." I commented lightly before flashing him a small smile. "Thank you, Taka."

"It was my pleas- oof!" He started before I cut him off with a slug into the gut and a growled, "Stop shouting, you. Chihiro needs quiet."

"Y-Yes, you're right." He stuttered out once he managed to realize what I'd hit him for, whatever argument strangely dying once he looked me in the eyes. Strange, but I would have to figure that out later. "No, no, Hina. Don't lift her like that, you might rupture one of her lungs. Here, let me show you."

It didn't take long to get the poor crossdresser onto the thick plank of cloth covered wood, the others thankfully listening to my direction with little hassle. Once that was settled, I had Sakura and Hina slowly raise the board so that we could secure him to it with some towels wrapped around him and with a little assistance from Taka, they started slowly moving the slumbering boy towards the locker rooms. I wish I could help more, but I had to keep up appearances after all, so I treaded behind at a sedate pace.

However, I'd only managed a couple of steps when I was suddenly stopped by an arm on my left bicep. I spent all of half a second to glance at the offending appendage before I shot a questioning gaze at the biker that it belonged to. He said nothing to me at the time, merely gazing at the ground as his fingers slowly lost its grip. I made no move to shrug it off though, allowing him time to think over his words.

"Hey." Mondo finally muttered, though he didn't raise his head. "About what you said. Do you really think I can be a better person?"

That's what was bothering him? I took a breath and closed my eyes. "To paraphrase a friend, you yourself are your biggest supporter. If you can learn to love yourself, then you can do anything. And if what you are is something you hate, then make the effort to change it. In the end though, you have to make that call."

"And what if I mess up?" he countered, looking so very lost right now. "What if I slip up somewhere along the way?"

I was silent for a second, a brief period of time as I considered the question posed. But soon after, I shrugged. "Well, that's the beauty of having friends. When you fall down, they'll always be there to pick you right back up again." I finally gave him a small smile as he finally raised his head to look at me. I gave a gesture towards the others with my head and said, "And from where I stand, you've got quite a few to lend a hand."

He stared at me for a moment, as if he was at a loss for words, but after a while, he finally relaxed a bit. A melancholy smile worked its way onto his face and he breathed a small sigh. "Yeah, ya got that right."

And then, he made his way past me without a word further, quickly taking his place next to his bro and stabilizing that side without a word. Taka was only caught off guard for a second, but I could see a smile on his face from where I stood. It was tainted with what I could assume was guilt, but it faded so quickly that I wasn't sure if it had ever been there at all. Still, watching them all working together, helping their friend in his hour of need, it made me feel all kinds of fuzzy. It did feel a bit good though.

But that was only temporary. The reason? A voice, in the back of my head, cut in with a snide, "It's too bad you'll never have friends like that."

A powerful shiver shot down my spine, raw and freezing. The hair on the back of my neck had completely shot out straight, and I could feel my own breath suddenly drop several dozen degrees. I could have dunked my body into an ice pond and I wouldn't have felt as cold. I could hear my heart pounding against my eardrums like a taiko drummer going ballistic. Instinctually, I found my eyes wandering around in search of the cause despite there being no rationally to it.

And just like that, it was gone. Like the wind, it completely faded like wind in my hands before I even had a chance to completely grasp it and it left me fumbling as I tried to understand it. 'W-Where did that come from?'

"Hey, Junko! You coming!?" I snapped out of it when I heard Mondo's shout an glanced over to see Taka arguing with the other's on which entrance they should go through, because obviously he wouldn't be willing to compromise his morals by going into the girl's room without there being a damn good reason, and he didn't want the girl's going into the boys room for the same problem. I sighed at the exasperated looks on both the swimmer and biker's faces as Sakura tried to get the moral to think about this all rationally, but I expected as much. So, I quickly hobbled over to help fix this situation.

I'll just have to worry about whatever that was another time.

---

Hello again people. It's good to see you all again. Did you have a good valentine's day?

Well, whatever the case, quite the predicament we're in, aren't we? Poor Chihiro just can't catch a break, and our little intruder can't seem to avoid shooting herself in the foot. I wonder how much longer she'll take until she breaks. And even though they're not dead, that doesn't mean everything's over yet.

After all, we still have a trial to get too after all. There's always time for more Despair.