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Gym 4:24 PM
Ichiro POV
"This motive doesn't have to be acted upon, but the risk is worth the reward. Each of you will receive an item that is almost never thought of as a murder weapon - things such as buckets and electrical wires that bear my seal of approval are considered Monokuma Weapons. If the weapon is used as the murder weapon that ultimately kills a victim, you get a free pass out of here. No trial. No nothing."
"I assume these weapons are almost impossible to kill with then. I mean, you wouldn't willingly give someone a free pass unless the task was near impossible," Kyoko stated.
"You'll just have to see for yourselves. You each have had one placed in your rooms. Have fun, kiddies." Monokuma cheered before disappearing once more.
Once again, Monokuma left us with a motive soon after death, and once again, it wasn't an easy one. Someone will definitely be tempted by this motive. The question was whom. Monokuma once again was putting us in a bad spot. Each motive that appeared seemed to be worse than the last. But perhaps that may be because the emotional stress just kept piling on.
Anyhow Monokuma had disappeared at this point leaving many star struck, standing still and jaws ajar just staring off into the distance.
"Well I think an early dinner may be for the best tonight," Kirumi says breaking the silence that had begun to blanket the room.
"Yeah I think that may be for the best," Taka mumbled a lot quieter than his usual self.
The group began to shuffle out of the room and made their way to the cafeteria. A lot of cliques seemed to have already formed in our short time here. However with high school students that was to be expected. On the contrary, there were those few social butterflies that floated between groups which at this point seemed to be Makoto, Sayaka, and Sonia. It was just my observations, as inaccurate as they may have been.
I took my seat at the "sports" table where Mondo, Nekomaru, Akane, Aoi, and Sakura sat. Ryoko was off who knows where and Leon was probably with Sayaka. But that's besides the point. We were surprised a second time today when Chihiro walked over to us.
"H-hey guys," She said meekly. Mondo, Akane, and Nekomaru looked at the programmer with rather judgemental glares before they all softened.
"Hello Chihiro, please join us," Sakura offered to the programmer.
"Thanks," Chihiro said, taking a seat in between Sakura and Mondo. "I came wanting to ask what you guys would recommend me to do so I can get stronger."
"Well since a weight room isn't available, I'd say push ups and sit ups," Mondo suggested.
"A lot of running is also great for the body as well. Helps build up your lungs. You could use the gym to do that," I offered.
"Both of those are great. But gymnastics are great for your body as well," Akane stated slamming her fist on the table.
"Now now, people can only do so much," Aoi stated, "But if we ever get a pool we should go swimming some time."
"I-I think that'd be fun, but that all seems like a bit much," Chihiro nervously mused.
"Chihiro do what makes you feel comfortable. It's your choice what you do not ours," Sakura stated.
"Well said Sakura. But perhaps you may wanna work out with us to get a feel of what we do," I offered.
"We'd love to have you Chihiro!" Nekomaru yelled.
"Nekomaru don't go too hard on her, she's only just starting out," I laughed.
"N-no it's quite alright. I want to get stronger in the fastest way possible," Chihiro says quietly.
"Well chick, you gotta start slow, you don't get strong just over night. Make sure the workout is manageable and as you go on push yourself," Mondo explains to Chihiro.
"O-oh I guess I have a lot to learn," Chihiro says.
"Hey we all gotta start somewhere right?" Aoi spoke cheerfully, "I mean we all were skinny or out of shape at one point or another."
"I agree with Aoi, with the right training anyone can become fit," Sakura agreed.
"However unlike Aoi some of us can't get away with eating a million donuts," I joked.
"Hey Akane eats about five servings of every meal every day," Aoi deflected.
"Fair point."
"Hey eating a lot helps with muscle mass," Akane spoke.
"Yeah except some people here also don't have as good of a metabolism as you two do," Sakura said smiling.
"Hhmf." Aoi in response puffed her cheeks and folded her arms together in a puting manner earning a laugh from the group.
"Anyhow, Chihiro if you want to join us tomorrow that'd be great," I offered the smaller girl.
"We'd love to have you," Nekomaru added.
"I'd love to," Chihiro agreed
"That's great chick. It's cool of you to try an make a change given the circumstances," Mondo commended.
"Th-thank you."
"You're welcome to sit here just keep in mind that you're in the splash zone for Akane," Aoi smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh nothing," Aoi said, rolling her eyes playfully
Cafeteria 4:43 PM
Ryoko's POV.
In spite of the motive from Monokuma, the emotion that we're all feeling through the dining hall is rather light. I look around the tables to see that most of us have decided to go in for an early dinner, the only people who are not present are Ryoma, Maki, and Shirogane. I wonder where the three of them could be just as I grab a bag of apple slices from the fruit rack in the center of the food stations.
I take my seat in an unoccupied booth next to some vending machines and focus on my fruit of the day. "Hi there," I hear a faintly novoselic-accented voice call. "Do you mind if I join you?" the princess holds a tray in her hands. I slide over in my booth and she takes a seat next to me. "It's Ryoko, right?'
"You got it Sonia," I reply. "It is Sonia, right?"
"You have got it right the first time," she says.
The princess opens her mouth as if she's gonna say something but then a rather purple boy sits down across from us. "Miss Sonia! When you weren't at our normal booth I thought you had joined Gundham or some of those other losers over there! Am I glad to see you up and at them! So what were you two ladies talking about?"
"Nothing yet," Sonia says rather tepidly. Soda blabbers on and on about a new invention he's creating, supposedly about preventing a way for traffic lights from falling out of sync. I tune out of the conversation as another body joins the table. "Why hello Junko."
"Why couldn't Monokuma have given us something like new make up?" she gripes. "I've been using the same kind of make up for what it is? Five days now? More? Less? I dont' care, it just feels so last season!"
"I mean, you still look nice without makeup," Soda says. "Sure you aren't as beautiful as you are on the outside but still beautiful."
"Thanks," Junko states dryly.
"I think I'll take my leave now. Kaede is waving me over to her table." Sonia smiles, waving goodbye to the three of us. I catch Soda looking at her shapely behind and flash him a glare that unfortunately goes unnoticed.
"Sooooo, you and Sonia huh," Junko says, raising an eyebrow.
"I think it's going really well," Soda replies in a rather sultry voice. "As good looking as the other girls are around here none of them are as captivating nor as interesting as Miss Nevermind!"
"Well," I start. "Have you actually asked her about dating?"
"Not really," Soda says. "I'm waiting for her to do the work for me."
"Oh my," Junko interjects. "Look, no woman, especially no woman like her, is gonna want a passive guy, much less a purple blob like you! You need to get out there and make your feelings clear and like, totally straightened out."
Taken aback by the forcefulness of her voice, I see Soda visibly recoil and spill a bit of fizzy water over the side of the able. He and I grab at some napkins and hastily drape them over the sides and on the table, cleaning them up as quickly as possible. "Junko does have a point," I add. "Has she ever mentioned anything about your… relationship or rather friendship directly to you?"
A thoughtful look appears on his face as he puts his finger to his chin. "Not in recent memory at least, but I know the subtext is there."
With a sharp look of ferocity Junko grabs a knife and stabs it into the table with an precedented amount of violence. "That's the problem," she hisses. "You can't rely on subtext. In the modeling life, you have to work what you have and take it by the horns!"
"Same thing with track really," I feebly add. "And if Iruma were here she'd add some kind of inventing metaphor too. So umm, think of that inventing metaphor and find it."
"Right," Soda says. "Anyways Junko if you aren't opposed can you help me with Sonia? I know I'm a clueless geek with anything but robotics."
"As soon as we finish eating, like, I need to have some kind of sustenance. You'd be surprised what I didn't eat during the couple of days," Junko explains.
I look at Junko and Soda as they slowly resume to their late dinner. I pack up my food and take it to the trash dispensary. They hardly notice I'm gone. I wonder if I'm able to find Ichiro, I haven't talked to him in a while now. We've kinda gone off in seperate directions almost. It may be best for both our sanities if we reconnect.
Cafeteria 4:56 PM
Makoto's POV
"And that is why the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom's main glue is the collective instability of their individual members and their love of the random non sequitur memes that stem from many of the franchise's individual entries," Chiaki finishes.
"Okay," Togami states awkwardly. "Now if you'll excuse me I will purge my mind of that insipid conversation." The heir stumbles off, angrily muttering about how his conversation regarding video game stocks derailed into something degenerate.
"You okay with that Chiaki?" Mahiru asks.
"Meh," Chiaki says as she finishes the last of her steak. "It happens far more often than I'm sure you're aware."
"Oh no, men typically derail their conversations in spite of their good intentions," Mahiru says. "It seems that for all his manners Togami hasn't learned that aspect yet."
"Miss Koizumi I assure you it's fine. If we focus too much of our time with the formalities of our fellow classmates we simply cannot focus on escaping this place."
All of us at the table look at her stunned as she sips from a tall glass and plays a game on her portable system. I focus on my food as I feel someone heavy slide into me. "IS THAT RHYTHM MAGICA WAIF-FU?!" I feel the spray of spit across my face and I wipe it off of my cheek. "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU ARE GETTING PERFECTS WITH EVERY BEAT?!"
"Practice," Chiaki says simply.
"Mister Naegi, how could you sit here and not see the marvel that is Miss Nanami?! LOOK AT IT!" Forcefully I feel my head being grabbed at and being focused on looking at Chiaki. She moves her head ever so slightly and judging by the sounds of a jingle Chiaki wins. "Oh beautiful miss Nanami!"
"While I do appreciate the compliment I would prefer it if you do not force people to watch me," Chiaki says quietly.
"BUT HOW ELSE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE BEAUTY THAT IS RMWF?!" Hifumi lets go of my head and
"They can most certainly figure it out on their own," Nanami says.
"Chiaki has a point," I mumble. I eye my sandwich hungrily and dive into it. "I heard there were some arcade games-"
"OH OF COURSE!" Hifumi says. "Mister Naegi you must act as a referee for me and miss Nanami as we play a game Groove Coaster 89, The Revenge of our Favorite Anime girls!"
"Sure," I say reluctantly. I look over at Chiaki as she lets out a sigh. "It's okay with you right Chiaki?"
"Fine," she says.
"WE MUST GO POSTHASTE!" Hifumi screams, grabbing me and Chiaki by our hoods. I feebly claw at Mahiru and my sandwich as Hifumi moves us away with startling strength. Mahiru waves goodbye as the three of us run into the arcade.
Through the maze of claw machines, dance machines, karaoke machines, and fighting games is the Groove Coaster game. He pulls out a coin for himself and Chiaki and puts it into the machines that are side by side. A soundtrack starts up and Hifumi is already slapping the buttons at blistering speed. Chiaki seems motionless but matches his movements beat by beat.
The soundtrack ends and Hifumi looks out of breath. His score? A B+. Chiaki has an S rank available. "IMPOSSIBLE!" Hifumi claims. "I can't believe that the ace of videogames uses cheat codes!"
"Mister Yamada you know as well as I do that the cheat codes are now nonfunctional for the groove coaster games with its most recent updates. And Makoto saw that I was entirely focused on the game this entire time, right Makoto?"
"AS IF HE COULD-"
"Yes Hifumi, Nanami was entirely focused on the game," I say, more than a bit annoyed and very much hungry. "What happened to all of that respect for Chiaki that you had in the games?"
"Besides, Hifumi, if I was cheating would I have not been caught years ago? Anti-cheating measures are on the rise and have always been good. I've played stadiums with millions of screaming fans. I'm sure you would feel the same way if I were to question your ability to work on Manga at the skill level you present."
Hifumi stutters indignantly before putting his head down. "Must be the crazy in the air miss Nanami, I fear it is turning me into insanity much like poor Nakamura Sensiki of The Warrior's ballad and the Song of the Songbird. Forgive me if you would."
"Sure," Chiaki says before turning to the groove coaster again.
"Well Mister Naegi, would you like to join me on an adventure through the world of-"
"Hifumi, thanks for the time in the arcade, it was fun, but I'm still hungry," I interrupted.
"Oh then you better eat, thank you for your time, but you simply must learn how to say no to requests," Hifumi says. Before I can object he's playing some kind of anime fighting game with rather tall girls.
The walk back to the cafeteria is a quick one and I sit at the table where my sandwich is. It still feels warm. "Took you long enough," Mahiru says. "Hifumi and Chiaki a handful?"
"Yep," I replied through a mouth full of food.
"Well you're lucky I decided to keep your food warm. That didn't take you too long though," she says.
"No it did not," I say quietly. "Thanks for keeping this warm."
Kitchen 6:25 PM
Ryoko's POV
Most had begun to shuffle out of the cafeteria at this point. Myself and Angie had volunteered to help Kirumi with cleaning the kitchen for the night. Considering the depressing mood most had following recent events I wasn't surprised when many wanted to hit the sack early.
"I appreciate you two helping me tonight," Kirumi says, smiling to myself and Angie.
"Oh it's no problem Kirumi," I say
"Atua and I also agree with Ryoko in saying it is no problem," Angie says as I roll my eyes at her mention of Atua.
I like Ichiro, am not one of faith, however unlike Ichiro I'm not going to voice that opinion as Angie seems to have a few screws loose up in that head of hers.
"Angie, if I may ask what Atua's origins are?" Kirumi asked the artist.
"Atua is the god of my island of Daito. We worship him relentlessly. Such as the Greeks did in their time, we appease Atua with sacrifices and food offerings. I myself am a medium so to speak for Atua. I am Atua's voice in this world. I provide people with Atua's wisdom and guidance."
"If I may ask, by blood sacrifices do you mean human sacrifices?" I ask
"Oh no we stopped that in around the 1700s, we sacrifice animals and a portion of our crops to Atua now."
There was a short pause as we began to focus on washing dishes and cleaning up the counters. Before Angie broke the silence.
"I was thinking of starting a sort of club to worship Atua and to use his guidance to benefit us," Angie spoke, causing Kirumi and I to glance at each other before either of us spoke up.
"Perhaps having some form of religion may be a good relief system for people to get their minds off things," Kirumi suggested agreeing with the idea.
"It may be a good exit but I know some people here aren't the biggest on religion so maybe we shouldn't force it on people," I reasoned.
"Angie totally agrees, I'll bring it up at the next morning meeting," Angie says in a peppy voice.
After another ten or so minutes we had finished with the kitchen and Kirumi forced Angie and I out to go get to bed and get some early sleep.
"Alright go to bed you two I can finish up here. I think with the events of today you'll probably benefit with some extra sleep to recover. Now get going you two," Kirumi says, pushing us out of the kitchen.
As we walk back to our rooms I say goodnight to Angie before heading into my room and getting ready for bed. Needless to say tonight was going to be a long one.
Hallway 6:25 PM
Ichiro's POV
I had just finished dinner for the night and decided that my best course of action was to return to my room. I wasn't on kitchen duty for the night so I made an earlier exit than usual. I'm sure the more observant of us noticed but I wasn't plotting anything so I had nothing to really worry about. However I did have some slight concerns for Fuyuhiko as he left the cafeteria just as quickly as he arrived. He's probably still hurting from the loss of Peko.
"Wow I'm beginning to sound like Aoi," I mumble to myself. "But maybe I should check in on the guy. Those two seemed close ever since day one."
I walked over to his room and stared at his door. Thinking to myself that maybe it was best to leave him alone. But with recent events it was probably best someone intervene before he does anything drastic. I knocked on his door and waited for a response. After about a minute I put my ear up to the door to hear if he was moving but then I realized that the walls are soundproof and that's probably why he hasn't opened the door. I look down to my right to see the doorbell and rung it.
I stood there for a few moments before the doorknob started to rattle and the door cracked open showing Fuyuhiko with what appeared to be a bloodshot eye. Perhaps he had been crying earlier.
"What do you want?" he gruffly asked
"I just wanted to check in to see how you were doing. You seemed pretty distraught," I say empathetically.
"I'm fine. Now leave me alone," He states gruffly, shutting the door. I managed to wedge my foot between the door and its frame preventing it from closing.
"Look man you're clearly not fine. Your eyes are bloodshot and you look like your centimeters from breaking down into tears," I say, stating the obvious.
"Well whatever you want to talk about it can wait until tomorrow."
"Yeah no. We can talk about it now. The walls are soundproof so your dorm is about as private as you're going to get unless you wanna keep talking like this and risk the likes of Aoi or Sayaka coming around."
"Alright alright, I'll let you in. I definitely don't need those two snooping around in my business. At least you appear to be able to keep a secret."
"Thanks I guess," I say walking through the door passed the baby faced gangster and taking a seat in his office desk chair.
"Now what do you want?" Fuyuhiko demanded.
"Like I said before. I want to make sure you're okay. You took Peko's death really hard."
"What? You wanna make sure I don't try anything?" Fuyuhiko questioned appearing to get angrier by the second.
"That's not what I'm saying man. You look miserable, you haven't spoken to anyone except Kirumi so you could get some food," I say guestering to the empty plate. "You're clearly in pain and I wanna make sure you're not going to harm yourself or anyone else in any way."
"I'm not going to try anything. I may miss Peko but I don't intend for my soul to go flying anytime soon," Fuyuhiko says gruffly.
"Look I know you may not like a lot of people here. But I can guarantee that if you reach out they'll help you."
"Like Togami would help me or Kokichi," Fuyuhiko jokes, cracking a small smile.
"Okay everyone except those two," I say, snickering a little bit. "Are we good?"
"Yeah I'd say we are. I may not show it but I appreciate this. No one's ever really cared for my feelings before."
"Hey that's what friends are for right?"
And that's the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed and please review, anything helps. Again please join the Discord link it is on my profile page. And if you guys have any ideas for FTEs please let us know.
Corn: I appreciate your thoughts here. The Hiro and Ichiro part was for Ichiro's backstory but also to show Hiro as more misunderstood but perhaps I didn't get that across well enough. Personally Tenko is not a character I like and I find her hard to write for but she's here and needs a part. That is an interesting plot line perhaps it'll be used perhaps not. Hope you enjoyed this chapter