Chapter 4

By the time Kazuichi got back to the academy, students were already staring at him, talking amongst themselves. Some even said hello to him as he passed. Others complimented his style, while some complimented his talent.

Wow...All this just from despair? All because of Junko? This is amazing! Junko was right, despair COULD make you happy!

He was grinning confidently as he walked down the hall. He barely even noticed when a hand grabbed him by the collar, pulling him aside. he pulled his attention from his thoughts to focus on what was happening. Leon had pulled him out of the way, pulling him off to the side.

"Junko Enoshima talked to you! What happened, man? Mondo and Chihiro are waiting on me, but I just had to know what happened...So spill!" Kazuichi was more than happy to tell his friend about his meeting with Junko. how she had bought him lunch at a cafe, how she comforted him, how she talked about despair being a good thing, and lastly, how she had requested him to build a robot for her. At first, Leon was grinning. It sounded like a date to him almost. But then Kazuichi mentioned the robot bear, and he became confused.

"Wait, she wants you to build...a robot? A robot bear? Why? Doesn't sound like Junko..." Kazuichi shrugged.

"She didn't say. But i'm sure she'll tell me. Anyway, I can't wait to start! This is gonna be a big project! I've never built a robot before! This has to be the best robot ever! I better go start designing the blueprints! Igotta go. later Leon!" Kazuichi didn't wait for Leon to respond, leaving the baseball star confused as he ran off to his dorm. Leon scratched his goatee as he thought.

"Hmm...Why does a girl like Junko need a robot? Maybe she has asecret hobby for machines? Guess it makes sense... No different than me wanting to play guitar, right? Right! Long as the guy's happy, then everything's fine! He deserves the happiness." Convinced that everything was fine after all, Leon whistled as he walked off, heading to go meet his friends.

Over the next week, Kazuichi had barely left his dorm. He only lft to attend classes, go eat, or meet with Junko. as promised, she had been teaching him all about despair, and how great it felt. Kazuichi hung on her every word. The more they hung out, the more Kazuichi fell for Junko. She also gave him ideas for the functions she wanted in the robot, dubbed monokuma. He had been busy drawing up the design. When he had the design finished, he had shown it to Junko. She loved it. She strongly encouraged him to continue working, praising him on his good job. he was now busy figuring out how the robot would function and to do that, he had to design it from the inside out, figuring out eah piec. Where it would go, and what it would do. But he didn't give up. Time went on, stretching into months as he wokred fervently on the structure. It wasn't until a year had passed that he had finally finished the blueprints. Now, he had them rolled up into his pocket, whistling as he went to find Junko's dorm. He had barely rung the doorbell when the door swung open. She eagerly pulled the mechanic inside and hopped on her bed, grinning wide.

"Don't tell me...You finished the blueprints?"

"Yup, sure did! take a look!" He pulled out the blueprints and handed them to her. HShe happily unrolled them and looked them over.

"Kazuichi...these are amazing!They're perfect! Does this mean you're ready to build him?"

Kazuichi put one hand on his hip, giving her a thumbs up with his free hand, with a wink included.

"That's right! He's ready for construction! The actual building will be way easier than making the blueprints! He'll be done within months!"

"I can't thank you enough! I can barely contain myself!" Junko squealed, laughing in excitement.

"This gonna be HUGE...! I'm gonna make history with Monokuma! And it's all thanks to you! You know what? I'm gonna make something for you! you're gonna love it!"

"Really? For me? Wow...Thanks, Junko! You don't have to do that..."

"And not show my gratitude? Of course I have to! I won't take no for an answer! Alright, go on and start building, so I can work on your gift! Come see me when Monokuma is finished, ok? Then I'll have your gift ready!"

"Alright. You got it, Junko!" Kazuichi stood up. He grabbed the blueprints and ran back to his dorm.