After everyone had watched those videos, we'd all split up to do our own things. We all needed our time and space to process what we'd seen. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure- those videos were definitely, totally faked! Our families must've mailed those into the school to show us after we'd moved in, and Monokuma edited the footage... But if that's true, no one thinks we're missing, because they think we're all still in the school, right? Ugh, I'm so confused!

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I looked at the clock. Woah, five o' clock already? Time flies when you're stressed out... I took a deep breath and went to the door.

Celestia Ludenberg stood in the doorway. She curtsied as I let her in. "Good evening, Hina."

"...Good evening?" Why is she here?

She tucked her hand into the layers of her skirt- That has pockets?- and pulled out an envelope with my name on it. She handed it to me. "I have grown quite bored of this place, so I have decided to host a meeting between myself and the other girls in our class later this evening. I hope you shall consider attending."

"You're throwing a party?" I opened up the envelope and pulled out the letter. "Is this parchment paper?"

"But of course. I bring some with me wherever I go, in case I need to make note of something." She smiled. "Well then, I shall see you at eight. I have other matters to attend to until then." And she disappeared just as quickly as she'd come.

"Oh- thank you!" I closed the door and looked at the letter. It was written in a fancy-looking, loopy cursive with glittery red ink. I almost couldn't read it.

Aoi Asahina,

You are cordially invited to the Hope's Peak Class 78th Women's Evening Tea, hosted by Celestia Ludenberg, Ultimate Gambler. This event will take place in the students' dining hall at 8 o'clock tonight and end just before nighttime. Attire will be dress casual.

Celestia Ludenberg

"Evening tea?" It was a gesture I hadn't expected from Celeste. She'd seemed so haughty up until then, it never occurred to me that she'd organize something like this for us. Well, some regular girl talk couldn't hurt. Besides, if it's for all the girls, than Sakura might be there! I read the letter again. Dress casual. Maybe my tank top isn't enough for this...


Two hours later, and I was almost ready! It was nice to just dress up for a party with my class and not think about... everything else. It was a much-needed break. I've been meaning to show off this new dress! I reached behind my back and, after a good struggle trying to reach the zipper, I managed to get my dress zipped up. Alright, let's go have a good time! I'm sure Celeste won't mind that I'm early!

I headed into the hall and towards the dining hall feeling confident. It's amazing what dressing up can do for your self-esteem! As I got closer to the dining hall, I noticed Toko was standing in the corner, looking at the doors.

"Toko? Is something wrong?"

She jumped when I spoke. "H-huh? Oh, no, n-nothing's wrong! I-I just- um-" She looked at me up and down. She crossed her arms, facing away. "I-I don't need to s-spend time with you, a-and every other sh-shallow girl in this class. I-I'm better than that-"

She started to walk away from me, but I stood in her way. "Yeah, no, nice try. Tell me what's up with you for real, unless you really do wanna spend the night alone in your room."

She turned red. "No! I-I mean, I, uh, I just didn't bring a-any nice clothes, s-so it's not like I could a-anyway... I should go-"

"Toko, are you sure you're not just afraid?"

She looked at me like a deer in headlights. Bingo. "Wh-what? Why would I-" She gave up, sighing. "It's just- I've n-never been to a party before, s-so..."

I smiled at her with as much kindness as I could. "Would you like me to help? I've got some older clothes that might fit you."

She couldn't meet my eyes, but she started fidgeting with her hands, and she was smiling. "Y-you'd do that?" She dropped her smile. "E-Even though it's me?"

"Yeah, totally!" I hopped behind her, putting my hands on her shoulders. "I think I've got just the thing for you!" I steered her back to the dorms and led her into my room. "Here, let me look..." I set my keys on the table, opened up a box labeled 'clothes', and started digging around. "Where is it... I know I brought it!"

Toko stood still in the center of the room. "You've g-got a lot of workout stuff."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I do a lot of training. Ah, there it is!" I pulled out a simple black dress with long sleeves and showed it to her. "My mom got this for me a couple years ago. It doesn't really fit me anymore, but it might fit you. It'll be a little longer for you, though. Here, try it on!"

Her ears went red as she took it from my hands. "Guess y-you weren't f-finished growing your chest wh-when mommy got this f-for you, huh?" She held it up. "Y-you're right. This will f-fit me much better."

"Well, you don't have to be weird about it! Gosh!" I shoved her toward the bathroom. "Just try it on already!"

"Alright, alright! I'm g-going!" She disappeared into the bathroom.

"Hmph!" Why'd she have to say it like that? I flopped onto the bed. It doesn't matter when I got my boobs! I have them now!

After several minutes of waiting, the bathroom door opened. "Um... does it l-look okay?"

I sat up. She looked nice! The dress fit her torso perfectly, and it fell just above her ankles. It suited her really well!

"I make it l-look bad, don't I? Y-You're staring."

"No! Not at all! Here, let me show you!" I brought her over to my mirror. She didn't look into it at first; I had to move her face to look at it. When she saw herself, she let out a little gasp.

"See? You look perfect." I smiled at her in the mirror.

"That's what I l-look like?" She started to tear up. Then she smiled. "It's... n-not that ugly."

"Of course it's not!" Why does she seem surprised about how she looks? "Hey, you can keep this dress if you want! I probably won't wear it again anyway."

"Oh... I don't kn-know..." She looked at herself in the mirror again. Then she smirked a little bit, tilting her head. "M-maybe I'll take you up on that!"

"Well, I won't take it back. So you don't have a choice! It's yours now!"

She mocked betrayal. "What?! H-how could you do this to m-me? Unh..." She mimed fainting. "How w-will I carry on...?"

I couldn't help laughing. She joined me. Toko's a strange one, that's for sure, but she's got a really nice side to her! I'm glad we're getting to know each other!

"Alright, Toko. Now you have to let me do your makeup!" I grabbed my box of makeup.

She cocked her head. "Uhhhh, how are you gonna do that? I don't have any makeup, aaand I don't think we have the same ssskin tone."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" I assured her, taking her back to the bathroom. "I always did makeup for my friends back at my old junior high, so I've got all sorts of makeup palettes!"

"Oh, okay then! If you ssssay so!"

"Alright, now hold still..."

After a good forty-five minutes of struggling to get Toko to sit still, she was finally finished. "Sorry I don't have any lip gloss for you; I need to get more."

"Mehh, don't worry about it!" She brushed it off, looking at herself in the little bathroom mirror. "Besides, it looks fiiiine!" She shook her hands excitedly.

"I'm glad you like it! Do you want some jewelry too? I don't have much, but I could probably find a decent necklace-"

"Nah, you've already done sooooo much!" she replied, patting me on the shoulder sharply. "Now I can go out in public!"

"Hey, don't worry about it! Just lemme know whenever you need help with your makeup, okay? Oh, and here, before I forget-" I went back in the bathroom and grabbed a small pack of makeup wipes- "take these, so you can clean it all off tonight after tea."

"Aw, thaaaaanks! Alright, rrrready to go?" She smiled at me, her tongue hanging out.

"Yeah, I'm ready!"

"Oh, don't forget your keys!".

"Ah, thanks, Toko!"

She squinted at me, than got up close to my face. Than she bounced back, smiling again. "No ssssssweat, D! I like talking to youuu!" She skipped out of my room.

"Aw, I like talking to you, too, Toko!" Mostly, anyway... "Uh, why'd you call me D?"

"D for D-cup, silly! Now c'mon, we don't wanna be late!"

"Wh-?" Excuse me? "Hey, don't call me that! Get back here!" She sped up, and I chased her right into the dining hall.

A few of the others were already in the dining hall. Mukuro had taken off her vest and gloves, Junko was wearing a purple suit with polka dots all over, and Sayaka had replaced her uniform with a bright pink blouse. Junko waved ecstatically at us. "Tokoooo! Hinaaaaa! Hiiiiiiii!"

I took a seat beside her. "Hiya, Junko! How are you guys feeling?"

"Much better now. I mean, that was toooootally photoshop, ya know? Like how they do on magazine covers and junk." She propped her feet up on the table. Mukuro reached over and pushed them back off. "Heyyyyy, Mukuroooo!"

"This is meant to be a semi-fancy event, isn't it? That's what you told me before we came here."

"Oh, yeah, you're totally right!"

Toko slammed her hands on the table from the other side. "Ugh, where's the hostesssss? There'd b-better be some foooood at this party!"

"Oh, Celeste is in the kitchen. And I think she's making scones!" Sayaka told her.

"Scones? Ya meeean those weird british things that are all crunchyy?"

"No, those are biscuits. At least I think those are biscuits..."

"I thought biscuits were the fluffy ones!"

"That's a common misconception, actually." Kyoko, who hadn't been there a moment ago, was now sitting at the end of the table. Shehadn't changed. "Americans have a different, fluffier kind of biscuit, as opposed to the British biscuit, which is tougher and has more consistency of a cookie."

"Oooooooooh, so thaaat's how it works!" Toko gave her a large, toothy grin as she flopped into her chair.

I looked over to the kitchen door. "Do you think Celeste needs help in there?"

"Maybe, but I don't think she'd accept it," Sayaka sighed. "I tried to offer earlier, and she shooed me away before I could get through the door. She's been working really hard in there, though."

"Wow, is she really doing all this by herself?" Wow, I really assumed the worst of her...

"Aw, I'm sure she'll forgive you! She wasn't exactly friendly at first, after all!" Sayaka giggled.

"How did- ya know what, I'm not even gonna try to figure it out anymore." I swear, there's no way that's just intuition talking!

She stared at me, unblinking. "Well, I am psychic." She held it for a bit, then laughed again. "No, seriously though! I just have amazing intuition, promise!" Then her face became puzzled, and she turned to the doors quizzically. "Did anyone else hear that just now?"

"Huh?" I turned to the hall doors, but I didn't see anything. "What are you talking about?"

I met Kyoko's eyes. She silently pointed to the kitchen. Celeste had come out with a silver tray of some kind of baked good- the scones, probably- and she was wearing another lacy dress with a large bow and a personalized apron.

"Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining me tonight," she greeted us, placing the scones on the table. "Allow me a few moments to bring everything out." She looked around the table. "Oh, Kyoko. You found your invitation, then?"

"Yes, I found it. Forgive my lack of proper attire." She offered no other insight. "Could one of you bring the plate closer?"

As Toko slid the plate down the table, Celeste straightened back up. "I will be back in a moment." She returned to the kitchen, then came back out with several cups of tea. She went around the table, letting us each take one off of the tray. "Be careful; they are quite hot, and this was expensive china."

I took my cup gingerly off the tray and held it over its little plate carefully. "What kind of tea is this?"

"It is royal milk tea, of course," she replied. Eventually, there were only three cups left. "How curious. We have extras."

Right as she said that, the doors opened slowly, and Sakura stuck her head in. "Am I late?"

"Ah, not at all. You are here precisely on time. Have a seat, please."

"Thank you." Sakura stepped in, closing the door behind her. She was wearing a gorgeous pink kimono, and her long white hair was tied up into two buns on either side of her head!

"Sakura, you look beautiful!" It came out before I could stop myself, but... I mean, we were supposed to dress up, it's not like it was out of place or anything.

She pulled at the hem of her sleeve. "You're sure? It's not too much?"

"It looks lovely, Ms. Ogami. It is certainly nicer than... other choices made." I swear I saw Celeste's eyes flicker to Junko as she said it, but it could've just been my imagination. "Do you know if Chihiro is on her way?"

Mukuro raised her hand halfway. "Um, Chihiro's not planning on coming. I- Junko and I wanted to get ready with her, but she said she wasn't feeling well."

"Ah, how unfortunate. Well, I suppose I'll take this extra cup back to the kitchen then," she sighed, setting her own cup on the table. "I hope she feels better by morning."

"She'll be fine!" Junko waved her hand dismissively, before grabbing a few scones in her hands and shoving them all in her mouth. "Nw lt's et!" she managed, voice muffled by baked goods.

Mukuro brushed her sister's stray crumbs away. "Let's."

There was the sound of shuffling and squeaking chairs as we all grabbed scones off the plate and started on our tea. There was no conversation; there was only the sound of Junko and Toko mauling their food. Gross. The room felt weirdly cold, like someone had just cranked the air down an extra hundred degrees. Eventually, Kyoko looked up from her cup.

"So, Celeste, why did you gather us all here?"

Celeste smiled that strange smile of hers. "I wanted to have a chance to meet my new neighbors properly, that is all. Us girls will have to look out for each other quite soon, don't you think?" She took a napkin and started to fold it onto her lap. "So I might as well try to enjoy myself."

"I see. You wanted to gather us all here and ensure that none of us would choose to target you." Kyoko had a hand up under her chin thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Alright. Thank you." She stood up as she said this, stepping away from her chair and pushing it in. "I'm not much of a fan of tea, so I'll have to excuse myself. Have a good night." And she left.

"Bwye!" Junko waved at Kyoko as she left, swallowing the last of her scone. She moved her body in kinda the way you'd expect a cartoon character to when swallowing something- puffing out her chest, making a loud *GULP* noise, and I swear I could see a huge lump going down her throat in sync. She crossed her arms and rested them on the table. "So, Kyoko. Kinda strange, isn't she?"

"No more than anyone else here, I'd say," Sayaka replied. "Although, it is kinda scary how she's always so calm about everything. Don't you think?"

"Hey," I decided to ask, "did anyone ever hear of her before we came in? Or like, at least find out what her talent is? I didn't get the chance to ask."

"Come to think of it... no. At least, I never did." Toko slumped in her seat. "But it's not like I ever looked, so that's not exactly surprising."

"She kind of did come out of thin air," Mukuro said. "But then, I suppose if none of us had any sort of niche close to hers, we wouldn't have ever heard of her."

"Oh! But Makoto looked all of us up before he came here, and he couldn't find her either!" Sayaka remembered. "So she really did come out of nowhere!"

"Uh, I'm sorry, Sayaka, he did what?" That little creep! I totally thought he was a decent guy!

"Hm? Oh, no, he wasn't being creepy or anything! He was just looking to know all his classmates, so he checked the Webbit forums for-" She stopped. "I'm not helping his case, am I?"

"Not much, no." Sakura shook her head.

"What is this about a creep in our midst?" Celeste gave Sayaka a pointed look.

"No, not me, Makoto! Well, not Makoto either, but-"

"And how aaare things between you and MMMakoto, Sayaka?" Toko leaned in close to Sayaka's face, her tongue hanging out. "You know, they say people will get a lot more attached in life-threatening situationsssss," she hissed. "So which base is he at?"

"We haven't done anything like that!" Sayaka scooted herself away from Toko's chair.

"Toko, stop being rude!" Why is she acting like this...

"I must second this, Toko. You must respect Sayaka's personal space," Sakura said calmly, standing up. "Or I will make you."

She immediately backed off, playing with one of her braids and shrinking into her chair. "Whatever you say, SSSSakura..."

God, I wish that were me... I stuffed a scone into my mouth. Bad Hina, bad Hina! I finished and smiled at everyone. "Let's talk about something else, shall we?"

"Oh, I think I know something we could do," Mukuro suggested. Perfect! Mukuro's the Ultimate Soldier, so she should have something militaryish to do! I'll take wading through mud over-

"I think it's called kiss, marry, kill. Junko told me about it once." She turned to Junko. "Did I get it right?"

No!

"You got it, soldier! Although, we could always play the more fun version!"

No, stop-

"There's a more fun version?"

Junko, please-

"That is enough," Celeste interrupted. "This is still meant to be semi-formal. Although-" she tapped her metal-clad finger on her chin- "I suppose it could be interesting. Mukuro, would you be so kind as to start us off?"

Well, that's it. If they ask me about Sakura, I'm fucked. I'm totally fucked. Although I was feeling... nervous, I was interested to see what everyone else said! Besides, they'll all probably ask about the boys anyway.

"Okay... Sayaka, kiss, marry, and kill... Makoto... Leon, and... Hina."

Why am I one of the options?

"Oh, that's a weird combination! Gosh, I don't know. Uhhh, I'll marry Makoto... and let's see, I think I'll kiss Hina. And, um... which one is Leon again?"

I had to hold back a laugh. Say goodbye to Sayaka, Leon. You're doomed!

"Leon is the one with red hair and vitiligo," Sakura told her.

"Oh, that's his name! Actually, I think I'd like to change my answer. I'll kiss him instead." She looked at me apologetically. "Sorry, Hina. No offense."

"None taken!" I mean, anything for that quip at Leon. Haha!

"Okay, so now it's my turn. How about..." Sayaka scanned the table. "Junko! Kiss, marry, and kill Monokuma, Mondo, and Makoto!"

"Well, kill Monokuma, duh," she laughed, whipping out a nail file. "And, uh..." She started flapping her hands, standing up abruptly and stomping one foot, than sat right back down. "I'll kiss Mondo and marry Makoto! Cuz, ya know, Mondo's got issues, and I'm not about to commit to that, ya know? Okay, my turn now! Celeste! Fuck marry kill Kyoko, Byakuya, and Hifumi!"

"It is supposed to be kiss, marry, kill, Junko. But I suppose I would have intercourse with Kyoko, court Byakuya, and kill Hifumi." And she sipped her tea.

"Woah, you'd fuck a girl? Pop off! Although, honestly, same."

She sighed, setting down her cup. "Now," she smiled, "I believe it is my turn to ask. Hina?"

Oh, God, here it comes. "I'm ready, Celeste! Hit me with everything you've got!"

"Very well. Kiss, marry, and kill Kiyotaka, Yasuhiro, and Leon."

All boys? Ew. "Well, okay." I thought about it for a minute. Okay, I guess I could... no, but... okay, got it! "I'd kill Hiro, because he's overage, and anything else would just be gross. Then I'd kiss Leon, and marry Taka!"

"Is Hiro really so much older than us?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, Hiro's like, twenty-one," Junko confirmed. "That's like, what, five years older than us? Like, we're all like sixteen or seventeen or so, right? I know Mukuro and I are at least."

"Yyyyyyyeah, I'm sixteeeeen," Toko dragged out, leaning back with her chair. "Do me, Hina! I want a turrrrrn!"

"Well, okay." I was still a little upset with Toko, not gonna lie, but it was only fair that she got a turn too. Besides, if I ask Sakura, I'd be too tempted to make myself an option. It was hard to come up with options for her. I don't think I'd seen her ever talking to anyone else. "Toko, kiss, marry, and kill... Taka... Kyoko... and uh... Byakuya?" I guess I could've used someone here, but that would've felt weird.

"Uhhhh, gosh." Toko started chewing at one of her thumbnails in a really aggressive kinda way. Her face started turning a bit pink and she tore her nail right off, snapping her head away so fast one of her braids flew onto the table and her neck made a little popping noise.

"Toko Fukawa, if you please... get your hair off my table." Celeste told her through gritted teeth.

Then I saw the blood coming out of Toko's thumb. "Toko, you're bleeding!" I reached out and took her hand. It kept bubbling out steadily.

"Huh?" Toko looked at her thumb and gasped, covering her eyes with her other hand. "Gross, gross, gross, get it off, get it off!" She pulled back her hand and pushed away from the table, wringing out her hand. "S-someone g-get a band-dage! H-Hur-ry!"

"I'll get one! I think there's a first-aid kit in the kitchen!" Sayaka jumped up and took off.

Mukuro vaulted herself over the table and pinched her hands over Toko's, slamming their hands down onto the table. "Pressure will slow the bleeding," she told her. "Try to catch your breath."

"Mukuro, why did you feel the need to jump over my table?" Celeste asked, also standing now.

Mukuro looked over at Celeste. "It was faster."

"Here, I've got the bandages!" Sayaka burst through the kitchen doors and moved over to Toko.

"You guys are really fun, ya know that?" Junko said cheerily from her seat. She'd broken out a bottle of sparkly red nail polish and was touching up her nails. "But you're also like, kinda overreacting over a hangnail."

"Everyone has different limits," Sakura told her, then stood from her own seat. "Besides, it seems to be a very aggressive hangnail." She walked over to Celeste and gave her her empty cup. "Thank you for tea," she said, bowing. "I'll be taking my leave soon."

"But of course. Have a good night." She set Sakura's cup beside hers on the table and held up her hand. She snapped her fingers, and the sound echoed clearly around the room. Toko, now bandaged, and the rest of us stopped.

"I regret to inform you all that this is where the night must end," she told us. "I must have adequate time to clean up. You may leave your dishes on the table. Thank you all for coming." And she disappeared into the kitchen.

"This was really fun, you guys! I really needed to get my mind off everything, haha! We should do something like this again!" I suggested.

"I agree!" Sayaka agreed. "Maybe we could all hang out every night! This is the most fun I've had since we got here!"

"Me too, girl! We can like, take turns picking stuff to do!" Junko tossed her hair. "Dibs on next pick, b-t-dubs."

"Perhaps Chihiro will be up to joining us next time as well," Mukuro said. "Then we'd have everyone."

"I g-guess if you guys a-aren't sick of me by then, I could come to th-the next one," Toko said sheepishly, rubbing her arms.

"Someone will have to inform Kyoko," Sakura mentioned. "Tomorrow night?"

"Oh, yeah! Like, we'll all meet in here at like, eight and then we can like, go to whatever we're doing!" Junko gave her a thumbs up.

"And what will we be doing?"

"It's a surprise! Even to me!"

"Very well. I'll go and inform her."

"Oh, Sakura, I'll come with you! Ya know, since you went with me this morning!" I offered. I've barely even gotten to talk to her tonight. Now's my perfect chance!

"Alright then. Let's go."

I hopped up beside her. Once we were out the doors, I looked up at Sakura. "Did you have fun?"

"I think so," she responded. "It was a new experience for me."

"What do you mean? Didn't you ever go hang out with your training buddies after workouts or anything? I used to go out for dinner with the girls on the swim team after our practices sometimes. And the girls on the soccer team and I would go shopping, and the hockey team would sometimes go to this axe-throwing range that was super cool! The only ones I never went out somewhere with was the basketball team, but that's cuz we did our homework together instead. See, they were all really smart, and honestly, Lee is probably the reason I didn't fail my exams last year-"

"We're here," Sakura interrupted. "Actually, we've been here." She knocked on Kyoko's door. Ah, shoot! I was doing all the talking again! She must be so annoyed right now.

After a minute, the door opened slightly. I could barely see Kyoko's eye through the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all. We all decided that us girls should hang out every night as a morale boost, so we came to tell you! Cuz you're a girl too, so you're invited, obviously," I told her.

"We're all meeting in the dining hall at eight pm tomorrow," Sakura continued. "Junko is going to plan something for us."

"I see," Kyoko said thoughtfully. "Alright, I'll come. Thank you for telling me." And she slammed the door back in our faces.

I looked at Sakura. "Should we tell Chihiro while we're at it?"

"That sounds wise," she agreed.

We went to knock on Chihiro's door. There was no response. I tried knocking again. Still nothing.

"Perhaps she's already asleep," Sakura suggested.

"Maybe," I tried to agree, but I could feel a pit in my stomach. Or she could be... No, don't think like that! But... I can't say for sure...

"Hina?" Sakura put her hand on my shoulder. "You look pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I tried to shake it off. "Just a little worried, that's all."

Sakura looked me in the eyes. "Would you like me to force the door open?"

"Wh- No, don't do that! That's an invasion of privacy!" It was such a ridiculous suggestion, but it felt like a very Sakura thing to say, somehow.

"Oh." She looked at Chihiro's door. "How should we check on her then?"

"We'll just have to wait until morning," I sighed. "If she doesn't come to breakfast, then we'll break the door down. Kay?"

"Alright," Sakura conceded. "Then... may I stay with you until then?"

"...What?" Does she mean that? She wants to stay with me? In my room? Alone? Just the two of us? Alone? In my bedroom? Alone?

"If that's alright." She looked off to the side. "If there really is a killer about, I'd rather not be caught off guard alone. I'm most vulnerable when unconscious."

Deep breaths, Hina. It is for *safety* reasons. "Yeah, sure! I'd honestly feel safer with you there anyway."

"Alright. Let's go then." She stepped to the side. "After you."

"Right! After me, cuz it's my room, and I have the keys, hahaha." I grabbed the keys from my pocket because fuck yeah this dress came with pockets and opened the door. "Come on in!"

Of course it wasn't until Sakura came in that I just realized how messy my room was. In an effort to keep everything packed, all the boxes were still out, but every time I'd had to look for something, I'd dumped things on the ground, and gosh, it was like a pigsty in here.

Luckily, she didn't say anything. "I tend to wake up very early, so forgive me if I wake you."

"Oh, don't worry about it! I get up pretty early too," I assured her. "I uhh, don't have anything in your size though, so if you need to get pajamas from your room, I'll wait up for you."

She looked down at her kimono. "Ah, right. One moment." She left, closing the door gently behind her.

I went to wash off my makeup. By the time I was in my pajamas, she was knocking on the door. "Alright, I just gotta brush my teeth and I'll be ready for bed." I went back to my bathroom and stared myself down. You can handle this, Hina. You a mature and respectful individual, and Sakura is a good friend who is trusting you to protect her! You can't let her down!

By the time I got out, Sakura was still sitting up on the end of the bed. I carefully got in on the side. Okay, we are going to be very mature tonight and stay on our side of the bed. We will not engage in any forms of cuddling, oh no, not like last time when you accidentally fell asleep hugging Misaki and she-

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Hina?" Sakura was facing the door, not looking at me.

Great. Now the opposite is happening. "No, not at all! If anything, I don't want you to be uncomfortable! I..." I sighed. "I just get really nervous around you, that's all. Is that okay?"

"Most are," Sakura replied. "I've gotten used to it. But you have nothing to fear from me, I promise. I may be strong, but I've never taken a life, and I'm not planning on starting tonight."

"That's not what I meant, but thanks." I scooted up closer to her. "I'm not afraid of you. If I were, I wouldn't have let you in my room!"

She didn't say anything. She started to hug herself- almost the same as her usual crossed-arms stance- and started to tremble. "Do you truly not fear me at all?"

"Sakura..." I put my arms around her waist, leaning on her from behind. "Of course not! You've done nothing but try to help everybody since we got here. You're my friend! Why would I ever be scared of you?"

"Hina..." I could feel her voice echoing as I leaned my head on her shoulder. "Thank you."

"I mean it," I told her, letting her go. I moved to sit next to her. "You're really awesome. Even if being here is awful, I'm glad I got to meet you! Silver lining, right?"

She smiled at me again, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Right. Silver lining." God, her smile was gorgeous. I wanted to make her smile like that as much as I possibly could, for as long as I could.

*Ding, Dong, Bing, Bong*

"Attention, students! It is now ten pm. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Good night! Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite~"

Wow, way to ruin the moment, Monokuma. Come on! "Well, I guess that's our cue," I told Sakura, offering her part of the blanket. "Let's try and get some sleep."

Sakura took the blanket and we lay down, adjusting the blanket until we were both covered. "Oh, what time do you get up to workout? I normally try to wake up at five, but I can go earlier or later," I asked her.

"Five is fine," she replied. "Goodnight, Hina."

"Goodnight!" I said, trying to ignore how close together we were. I faced away from her, my thoughts swirling together. So much had happened in just one day- Monokuma's announcement, the videos, the party- it all felt surreal, like I was watching all this from the outside. In the span of one day, I somehow went from receiving a threat on my brother's life to sharing a bed with my crush, and it somehow felt normal? This place is messing with our heads really bad... I thought back to my conversation with Taka, and the conclusion we'd come to. I hope he found something, even if it's a stretch. Anything is possible in here. Eventually, my exhaustion caught up with me, and I fell asleep.


The curtains rise on Monokuma's wooden stage. A globe has made its way to the stage, perched behind him near the curtains. Monokuma sits in the center, shaking his head from side to side, smiling gleefully at his audience.

"Imagine you're all in a big spaceship, in the middle of an intergalactic adventure. You've heard of Noah's Ark, right? We're sort of like that. We've set sail and left Earth behind!

Here you don't have to worry about crazy neighbors, corrupt cops, drunk drivers, or pyromaniacs! You don't have to worry about the ozone layer, or asthma-inducing air pollution! And of course, you don't have to stress about studying for finals or practicing for the big game!

But even our divine world of freedom has a few rules. After all, freedom can only exist *because* of rules. If you're really dead set on returning to that tiny piece of dog poop you call Earth... please do your best to follow the rules. I hope I've made myself perfectly clear.

So then, let's everyone do our best to follow these new guidelines and live happily ever after together!"

The lights start to fade, and Monokuma and the stage disappear into the darkness, the crimson glow of his eye winking out.


"Hina. Wake up."

"...Hn?"

I opened my eyes to see the fuzzy picture of Sakura standing over me. "It's nearly five. You wanted to wake up at five, right?"

"Yeah, but I have an alarm clock," I groaned. I rolled out of bed and hit the carpet hard. "Oww..."

"Ah. Sorry. I woke on my own and thought waking you would help." She offered me her hand. I took it and got pulled to my feet so fast I could feel the blood start rushing to my feet. I could see her blurry image in front of me. "Hina, why are your eyes brown?"

"Because I don't have my contacts in yet," I yawned. "Hang on; I gotta change into my workout gear."

I stumbled over to the bathroom and slammed the door. Oops. It really is amazing how being even slightly off schedule can mess up your system. I put my contacts in and changed into my workout gear, then stumbled back out to be splashed in the face.

"It'll wake you up," Sakura explained, holding a now empty water bottle.

My hair is all wet now, but at least it did the job. "Thank you, Sakura. Should we do some strength training today?"

"I was thinking the same thing," she agreed. "I need some new weights, and I don't believe we're in the same weight class, so I'll have to use some heavier objects."

"I bet we could find some stuff for you to use in the school store," I suggested, wringing out my ponytail. "That place is full of all kinds of stuff!"

"Then let's head there," she decided. We headed over to the school store and found Chihiro inside, digging through a fallen pile of junk.

"Chihiro!" I ran over to her, relieved. "You're okay!"

She turned around. Huge dark circles were under her eyes, and her hair was sticking out in every direction. "Huh?"

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She looks horrible! "Chihiro, have you been in here all night?"

"Well, if it's morning, then I guess so." She turned back to her pile, starting to dig through it again. "I've been trying to find some tech I can work with, but so far, I haven't found anything. Help me look?"

"Chihiro, you need to rest. If you overwork yourself, you could cause serious damage to your health," Sakura said, picking her up and pulling her away from the pile.

"No, I'm fine, Sakura! I promise, I can- *yawn*- keep going..." She tried to wriggle out of Sakura's grasp, but she didn't have much fight in her. "I... I need to keep... *yawn* looking...."

"What you need is rest," Sakura told her sternly.

"Yeah, morning breakfast is only two hours away. Do you really want to be falling asleep in the middle of breakfast in front of everyone?" I reminded her. "Come on, you have to go to bed, at least for a little bit."

"But..."

"Hey, if you get some sleep, I promise I'll help you look through all of this. But only after you take care of yourself, okay?" I smiled at her reassuringly. "We've got the time."

She looked at me, tears streaming down her face. "Okay, Hina. I will." And as soon as she agreed, her eyes started to droop closed.

"Don't fall asleep here. It's against Monokuma's rules." Sakura picked her up bridal style. "We should take her back to her room," she said softly.

"Right," I whispered. I looked over at the pile again and saw her key laying on top of some sort of little gadget. "What's this?" I picked them both up and turned the gadget over. On the backside was an open battery compartment.

"That?" Chihiro adjusted her skirt. "That's just a remote control toy. I was gonna take it apart to see if I could find any good parts."

"Alright then. Here you go." I handed it to her. "Now let's get you back to your room."

We took Chihiro back to her room and went back to the school store. We didn't find anything meant to be a weight, but we found some sports' training equipment, so we decided to workout in the gym. After a couple hours, we were both totally sweaty. Gosh, what an awesome workout!

"Let's head to breakfast," I said, checking my watch. "Taka asked me to make breakfast so he can make a big announcement to the whole class today, and the morning announcement has probably gone off by now."

"Very well. Should we collect Chihiro first and make sure she's awake?"

"Good idea!"

We headed back towards the living area and found Mukuro walking to the dining hall with a slightly less tired looking Chihiro. She waved at us. "Good morning."

"Morning, Mukuro! Chihiro! Taka wants to talk strategy with the class this morning, so I'm gonna make everyone donuts!" Hopefully, he's found something great! I mean, today could be the day we all get out! Who knows? And then we could know for sure that Yuuta and everyone else's family is safe!

"Donuts sound nice," Chihiro said tiredly. "I really should've gotten more sleep..."

"I told you to pay attention to the time," Mukuro chastised her. "I knew I should've gone to find you..."

The four of us headed into the dining hall. Sayaka and Makoto were already inside, looking over a magazine. When they saw us, Makoto waved us over. "Morning!"

"Morning!" I turned to Sakura. "Make sure no one leaves before breakfast, kay? And let me know when Taka gets here! I'm gonna make all kinds of donuts!"

Sakura nodded. "I'll tell you as soon as he's here."

I went into the kitchen to look around. It was full of all kinds of food! Meats, cheeses, vegetables... I bet there's anything here a gourmet chef could ask for! I washed my hands at the sink and found some aprons. After a bit, I had everything I needed to start frying! Just as I was about to start, Sakura came in.

"Hina, everyone has arrived-"

"Oh, awesome! I'll step out for a minute then." I put down the sack of flour and a bunch of it puffed out of the bag and all over me! "*cough cough* Aw, crap!"

"I wasn't finished. Everyone has arrived... except for Taka."

I had to take a double take. "Wait, everyone else is here? Even Byakuya?"

"Even Byakuya." She glanced back at the door, then at me. "I'm worried."

Taka is the Ultimate Moral Compass... He'd never be late to his own meeting! Something's wrong. "Maybe we should go check on him, just to make sure."

"My thoughts exactly." We hurried out of the kitchen, ignoring everyone's confusion. Before we could get to the door, Mondo stopped us.

"Where do ya think you're goin'? Taka ain't here yet." He narrowed his eyes. "What's goin on? Where's my bro at?"

Sakura and I looked at each other, than back at him. "That's what we're gonna go check," I said quietly.

He looked confused for a second. Then he realized. "Wha... no way, you don't think... My bro wouldn't!..."

He turned around, bursting out of the doors and towards the hall. "Taka! Where you at, bro!" Sakura and I followed him. We reached Taka's bedroom door, and Mondo started slamming the door with his fist. "Hardass! TAKA! Open up! You're freaking everyone the fuck out! Bro!"

"Try the handle," Sakura suggested. Mondo whipped around.

"Shut the fuck up! I was about ta!" He grabbed the knob and wrenched the door open so fast it slammed into the wall inside. Once the door was open, he froze, eyes wide. "Bro..."

He ran inside, panicked. I followed him, terrified of what I was about to see.

What I found inside would haunt me forever.


Drops of blood on the blue carpet stand out, dark and foreboding. They form a trail from the doorway to the middle of the room, where slumped over, eyes wide and bloodshot, a body lies, a large steak knife protruding from the center of its stomach, crimson blood staining the stark white of a once perfect, spotless uniform, the face of the victim painting a picture of deathly terror.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass, is dead.


To Survive- Daily Life- End


To Survive- Deadly Life- Begin