"I guess they're called moments because they don't last very long."
― Sarra Manning, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
Chapter 19
Naegi scowled as she took in her image in the mirror. She had to admit that the shiny black shoes did look good but they pinched her feet. She immediately traded them for her black-laced boots instead. The dress she was wearing wasn't bad but in her opinion it was a bit too short for her liking, not only that but the black kitty stockings made her itchy. The top part was sleeveless; weren't French maid dresses supposed to be high collars?
Not to mention the cat ears adorning her head; all in all the maid costume served to make her highly uncomfortable.
Hope's Peak Academy was a prestigious high school, but during the school festival, it opened its door to everyone. Every class had to make a booth for the duration of the festival and the 78th class had decided to do a maid café by lottery. Everyone had written what they wanted and placed their crumpled paper in a hat. Not everyone was happy, but they had decided that no matter what was picked out of the hat they would do it. No questions asked.
What they got was a maid café; the boys had cheered while the rest of the girls groaned. Deciding that it wasn't fair for just the girls to dress up, they had chosen to dress the guys as well.
Togami had crossed his arms and refused until Naegi sent him something on his phone. Quickly glancing at it, his face had turned red before he coughed and said that they had convinced him to join after all. The rest of the class had snickered knowingly but they let it go.
Naegi snapped out of her thoughts as the dressing rooms curtain opened to let another person in; Naegi didn't even need to turn to know who it was.
She tried in vain to make the dress a little longer to no avail before she let out a sigh and turned to the newcomer who had come in.
"What do you think?" she asked.
Munakata Kyosuke stared back at her with a cool expression as he leaned back on the wall and crossed his arms. His blue eyes revealed nothing; he merely tilted his head and slowly blinked at her.
"Do you have your stun gun?" he asked her instead, ignoring her question.
Naegi sighed and took it out of her bag. Munakata walked up to her before he circled her, Naegi stayed as still as possible. Finally stopping at her back, he gently took the stun gun from her hands, tied a ribbon around her middle and tucked the stun gun at her back. Naegi turned her back to the mirror and tried to find it; if she squinted she could see the top of it just a bit.
Munakata stepped back and tapped his chin before he took something from his white suits pockets and handed it to her. Naegi opened her hand and saw a small hunting knife, she immediately tried to give it back but Munakata gave her a scolding look before he motioned for her to lift her right leg.
Naegi bit her cheek but did as she was told. Munakata strapped a leg strap sheath on her thigh before inserting the knife in its sheath. Once Naegi put her leg down, the frills of the maid outfit covered it perfectly.
"Is this all necessary?" Naegi asked frowning at him.
She seemed to be troubled. Munakata, sensing this, tried to soothe her. He crossed his arms again as he peered at her. "I was told to keep you safe, and that's what I'm going to do. In case something happens and I'm not there with you," he pointed at her weapons hidden by her outfit, "I want you to use those. And if those fail, you know how to defend yourself. The Ultimate Martial Artist as well as the Ultimate Soldier and I myself have trained you. You're going to be fine." He said with a small smile.
Naegi looked at him in surprise, for the past three weeks since Munakata Kyosuke had been assigned as her personal bodyguard the man had been detached and reserved around her and her friends. It had taken her weeks to get him to even smirk, but she had and Naegi was pretty proud of herself for it. Munakata Kyosuke was a hard shell to crack but she'd found a way to break through his barrier.
It had been an accident really, Naegi had tried talking to him and get him to try new things but he never responded to them. He'd simply keep a small distance from her and watched their surroundings. Nothing escaped his notice.
For the first time in a while, Naegi had some free time since they had finished most of the preparations for the school festival so she had decided to try that food at that new restaurant that had opened up during vacation. Togami had wanted to come as well but Junko had still needed to make his outfit so he had stayed behind. Hinata, Komaeda and Chiaki were busy working on the haunted house for their classroom so they couldn't come either.
Naegi had shrugged and made her way over there by foot, Munakata walking silently behind her. She tried to make conversation with him but he simply didn't answer her or grunted in response. After a while, they settled into silence and finally arrived at the restaurant. Naegi tried the burrito special and some juice, Munakata simply ordered coffee and kept an eye on all the exits.
After a while Naegi's stomach started hurting. Like really really bad. Naegi made to go to the restroom only to see a line. She wanted to cry; she kept fidgeting in place and Munakata simply stared at her. Her stomach gave a really vicious growl and Naegi held her stomach; she turned pleading eyes to Munakata who gave her a smirk.
A smirk!
The bastard! Naegi made a vulgar gesture at him that had his lips twitching upwards. Naegi's eyes watered, and Munakata snickered before he made his way over to her and placed her over his shoulder before he started running to the nearest liquor store.
"Out of my way, this is an emergency! She might shit her pants!" Munakata bellowed at everyone. Naegi covered her face in embarrassment as the people in the store jumped and quickly moved out of his way. Finally reaching the bathroom, he placed her on her feet and Naegi glowered at him before she slammed the door in his face. She could hear his roaring laughter through the door.
When she finally emerged from the restroom fifteen minutes later, she walked up to him with her fists clenched and said, "We never speak of this again. Never."
Munakata's lips twitched upwards as he covered his mouth to hide his muffled laughter. Naegi's face turned red before she walked out of the store with her head held high and Munakata's snickering behind her.
After that, he had relaxed just a bit around her. And every now and then, if she were lucky, he'd smile or offer up a small smirk. But hey, it was better than nothing.
Naegi's thoughts led her back to the meeting they had on the first day of school three weeks ago. She remembered Jin Kirigiri walking up to her and the rest of the 77th and 78th class to tell her to come to his office. Togami, Hinata, Komaeda, and Chiaki had insisted they come as well.
The headmaster had frowned and was about to tell them no before Kuzuryu and Owada made their way over as well and said they were going and that was final. Kyouko stepped up to her father and padded his shoulder and told him to give it up and started making her way to her father's office. The headmaster looked up at the faces of his students and saw grim determination in them.
Finally, he nodded and ushered them all to his office. It took them a while to get there, they were still sore after yesterday's events, but they finally made it to the office and crammed themselves inside. Naegi noticed Sakakura, the head of security already there along with Mr. Tazuna the janitor. Both of them gave her a nod of greeting before she turned to take a seat in front of the headmasters' desk. Togami took the seat beside hers and narrowed his eyes as two more people came inside.
A tall lean man with a pasty white complexion who looked like he was in his mid-twenties made his way to stand behind the headmasters desk. His silver hair and blue eyes made him stand out as he leaned back on the wall. He was wearing a white suit with a blue dress shirt and a faded pink necktie; his expression was cold as he surveyed everyone.
The woman who had come with him stood on the other side of the headmasters' desk and offered everyone a wave and a smile. She looked to be in her mid-twenties as well, her large green eyes seemed friendly as she fiddled with her long orange hair before she tied it into a ponytail and clasped her hands in front of her.
Jin Kirigiri made his way over and took a seat on his desk. Everyone turned their attention to him as he laced his fingers together and leaned forward on his desk.
"Ms. Naegi," he said politely. "It's nice to see you again. As well as the rest of you, welcome back."
Everyone mumbled a halfhearted hello before Mr. Kirigiri motioned to the man and woman standing behind him. "This is Yukizome Chisa and Munakata Kyosuke, both of them will be playing roles in this school until this matter is over."
Yukizome waved and shook hands with Naegi before turning to shake Togami's hand. Yukizome held out her hand, but Togami didn't shake it. Munakata and Sakakura narrowed their eyes at the heir and Naegi frowned at him. Yukizome didn't seem to mind and dropped her hand back at her side, her smile never wavering.
Mr. Kirigiri continued. "Yukizome will be taking over for Ms. Wallace since she's away for maternity leave. I wanted Chisa to be class 78th teacher but Mr. Aizawa refused to budge from his position." A look of concern passed over his features. "Try to go easy on him, he's just been informed that his cancer has spread to stage three. If he looks a little tired or angry just try to understand."
The 78th class nodded solemnly; there poor homeroom teacher.
The headmaster continued and gestured to Munakata Kyosuke. "Munakata will be Ms. Naegi's bodyguard until this matter is resolved. Everywhere she goes, he goes. My daughter has told me what Mr. Komaeda has said and I believe them both."
Komaeda's eyes widened from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Kuzuryu and Saionji crossed their arms and narrowed their eyes. "Why do you believe him? What aren't you telling us?"
The headmaster gestured to Mr. Tazuna who took a step forward and maneuvered his way to stand beside Mr. Kirigiri. Yukizome made room for him and he sent her a grateful nod before he turned back to the rest in the room and cleared his throat.
As quickly as he could, he told them his real name, why he was there, and why they believed that someone was still targeting Makoto Naegi. He took out a thick folder and handed several pages to the students who passed them around and gasped.
Sonia covered her mouth.
Tsumiki was shaking and looking at Naegi in concern.
Soda and Hagakure bit their nails.
Fukawa let out a tiny scream as she looked back and forth between the pictures and Naegi.
"Naegi here exhibits the same traits as the girls in those photos who were taken. Same M.O. as well, the girls felt like they were being stalked before they disappeared. We've found some, but," here Akashi hesitated before he turned to look at Naegi, "They weren't alive anymore."
There were several more gasps around the room and Naegi clutched Togami's hand for support. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he turned his icy blue eyes on Akashi in suspicion. "You want to use her as bait." It wasn't a question.
Several people had something to say about that.
"You can't use her as bait!" Hinata got to his feet and placed a hand on Naegi's shoulder as he narrowed his eyes at Akashi.
Komaeda and Chiaki had gotten up as well and surrounded their friend as they looked at Akashi angrily. If glares could kill, Akashi would be a puddle of bones right now.
Pekoyama placed her hand on her wooden sword and Sakura and Mukuro cracked their knuckles.
Nidai and Owari sprang to their feet and even Mioda let out a screech of anger.
Junko and Maizono clutched Naegi's arms and Kyouko looked at Akashi with narrowed eyes.
Akashi's jaw clenched, "I did." There were a few more outbursts. "But it hardly matters anymore. Jin Kirigiri has already refused that idea, so all we can do is try to keep her safe before they come for her. And they will. This is the first time they've tried this hard to get one of their targets. When they come, hopefully we'll be able to capture one of them and find the rest of the girls who were taken."
Naegi's quiet voice got everyone's attention. "If I use myself as bait, we'd find them faster though right?"
Togami looked sharply down at Naegi's quiet words.
Everyone suddenly started shouting again but Naegi ignored them all and focused on Akashi. He gave her a grim nod in return. "If we use you as bait, and you were taken, we've be able to find the other girls faster. We'd place a tracker on you of course."
There was a heavy pause in the room.
Togami blocked her view of the FBI agent and narrowed his eyes at her. "Stop making stupid suggestions! If you have enough energy for that, then use it to keep yourself safe. I'm not letting you put yourself in danger!"
Naegi gave him a half-smile at that, but she looked a little sad. Togami's heart clenched at the sight and he felt the sudden urge to take her away. Somewhere far where she would be safe. "But if I could help get those girls get home…"
Her eyes turned pleading and he dragged his eyes away from her before focusing on Akashi. "She's not going to do that. We'll go with the first plan, is that understood?"
Akashi flicked his eyes to Naegi before he focused on Togami and gave him a nod. He didn't look happy about it but Togami didn't particularly care.
Hinata tightened his hold on Naegi's shoulder. "I know you want to help Naegi, but please. Let us keep you safe."
"We'll find a way to get those girls home, but you have to let us protect you," Chiaki said.
Komaeda placed a hand on her other shoulder. "I can't lose any more people Naegi. You promised you wouldn't die on me, you promised you'd be safe. Please let us keep you safe." His voice turned pleading and Naegi turned her eyes on him.
"Please," Komaeda whispered.
Naegi closed her eyes and let out a small sigh before she looked down at her lap. "I promise."
Everyone exhaled and some of the tension faded.
Mr. Kirigiri leaned back on his chair, "I've added extra security around the school as well, not enough to make the rest of the student body worry but enough to keep them safe. Munakata and the rest of Sakakura's men will make sure that Ms. Naegi is safe."
Munakata took a step forward. "How good is the security system here?" he demanded.
"Security is good enough," Sakakura said, keeping his voice low as he turned to look at his friend. We check everyone at the front before they can enter the school. I also planted security guards around the school as well as the dorms to patrol the grounds at night."
Munakata eyed Sakakura be gave him a firm nod. "I'll do a check around the school just in case." He turned to Naegi. "And I'll be staying in your dorm room as well," his voice left no room for argument so she simply nodded.
A faint frown crossed Togami's face as he looked at Munakata, "You touch her and you'll regret it. Other than that, make sure you keep her safe."
Munakata rolled his eyes and scoffed.
Yukizome and Sakakura chuckled in amusement.
The headmaster clapped his hands together and smiled at everyone. "Now that everyone knows what's going on, it's time for you all to return to your classrooms. Mr. Fuyuhiko and Mr. Owada, don't bring in your men to school you'll just scare the rest of the students here."
Kuzuryu and Owada scowled but nodded nonetheless. As everyone started to leave the room, Naegi noticed Kyouko pull Soda and Fujisaki aside. She frowned but Togami's hand on her back made her keep walking to their classroom.
Munakata went with Sakakura to check out the security around the school and promised he'd be back soon.
The 77th class bid goodbye but not before saying a few words of encouragement to her before they entered their own classroom with Ms. Yukizome following behind them. Komaeda, Hinata and Chiaki lingered a little longer before they said they'd see each other at lunch and disappeared inside.
When the 78th class entered the classroom, Mr. Aizawa was already waiting for them. A bead of sweat ran down his cheek and he grabbed a handkerchief to wipe it away. He looked a little haggard and much thinner than the last time she'd seen him. He looked older and his usual sandy hair lacked its usual shine. His hazel eyes narrowed as everyone took a seat before he slowly walked to the board and started writing.
The words Ideas for School Festival was underlined on the board as Mr. Aizawa turned to them with crossed arms.
"Now then, I understand the circumstances and I will keep an eye of Ms. Naegi as well. However, you should not let this deter you from still having a good time at school. And so for today, we will be coming up with ideas for the school festival. This is your first time in Hope's Peak Academy, but it's the same as all the other schools." Mr. Aizawa took a seat in his chair and placed his legs on his desk. "Every classroom has to make a booth, there will be judges who will be walking around ranking each booth. On the last day of the festival, the judges will pick three winners."
Hagakure raised his hand. "Do we get prices?"
Mr. Aizawa grinned. "Oh most definitely."
Everyone suddenly looked more interested.
Leon raised his hand. "What are the prices?"
Mr. Aizawa tapped his chin in thought. "Third place gets a buffet done by some of the best chefs in the world, second place winners get to choose when to take their finals as well as a trip to the beach. And first price winners get to choose the destination for their field trip at the end of the year. It doesn't matter where, the school will make it happen."
Excited chatter filled the room as everyone all spoke at once.
"We can go to the Bahamas!" Hagakure said.
"P-paris," Touko stuttered. "The city of love."
"We should all go snowboarding!" Leon and Ishimaru suggested.
"I propose London," Celestia said with a smile. Maizono and Fujisaki nodded enthusiastically.
"Somewhere where there's a clear ocean to swim in!" Asahina piped in. Sakura chuckled beside her and Owada and Yamada agreed with Asahina.
"Oh goodie, I can try out my new swim suit!" Junko squealed. Mukuro and Yamada chuckled in amusement.
"Perhaps somewhere where we can see all the historic discoveries," Kirigiri said with a small smile. Togami and Mukuro both nodded to that.
Munakata silently entered the classroom and moved to the back where he could keep an eye on everything.
"Now now everyone, that can only be possible if we have the most popular booth. So, ideas? Anyone?"
Fukawa raised her hand. "A k-kissing booth!"
"Missile launcher!" Leon yelled.
"A fortune booth where I tell everyone's future!" Hagakure yelled out.
"A maid café! We make all the girls wear the sexiest outfits!" Junko yelled out.
"Hit the teacher with a wet sponge!" Owada yelled.
Mr. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at him.
"A locked room simulation." Kirigiri quietly said.
Mr. Aizawa sighed before he took out a hat. "Let's do this, everyone write what you want to do for the festival and put it inside the hat. Whatever gets picked, we'll do. No questions asked. Deal?"
Everyone nodded and wrote down their ideas on a small paper before rolling it up and placing it on the hat at the front desk. Once everyone had placed one, Mr. Aizawa put his hand inside and took out a paper.
"Drumroll please."
Hagakure and Yamada made a drumming noise on their desks as Mr. Aizawa opened the paper. "It looks like we're doing a maid café!"
Junko screamed in delight and a few people groaned.
"If we're going to do this, I suggest that the men also dress up. It's only fair." Kirigiri said with a smirk. The guys paled and the girls nodded in agreement.
Junko stood on her desk and cackled. "Leave it to me! I'll make all the outfits for everyone! No arguments on whatever I choose got it?"
Everyone gulped before Mr. Aizawa suddenly started coughing violently. Naegi and Fujisaki immediately went up to him with a water bottle and started patting his back. He shooed them away angrily but took the bottle of water anyway.
When his coughing finally ceased he cleared his throat before he began to speak again, "Now that we've decided on what we're doing let's get to work on a list of supplies that we'll need. The school festival is in three weeks; classes will resume but only until lunch. After that, everyone has to work on their booth."
Everyone nodded and started throwing out ideas on what they might need.
"Naegi, are you done in there?" a voice asked in the present and broke her thoughts.
"Yes, I'll be out in a second." She replied.
Munakata placed a comforting hand on her back as he parted the curtain and led her back to the transformed classroom. Togami had ordered pretty much everything when he'd seen the first designs that they had come up with. He brought in twelve beautiful rounded tables and placed them around the classroom. Beautiful pink and white drapes with a small vase with a rose on it as well as the menu lying on each table. Two small couches were against the wall next to the door for people to wait to be seated. They had placed small lanterns hanging from the ceiling and put pink and purple curtains on the windows. At the back of the classroom, there was a small counter and a giant curtain blocking the small kitchen where they made the food.
Junko Enoshima was waiting for her with her hands at her hips already dressed in her own maid outfit. It looked the same as Naegi's but hers was pink and black instead of purple and black, Junko had placed two little Monokuma bears on her pig tails as well bear ears on her head. The Monokuma bears looked cute; Naegi really needed to make time to go to Monokuma Land.
Upon seeing her, Junko let out a squeal so loud that it caught the rest of their classmates' attention. Maizono and Fujisaki showed up a second later, their own maid outfits blue and black with bunny ears on their heads.
Kirigiri, Fukawa, and Celestia showed up behind them. Kirigiri had the same purple and black outfit as Naegi along with the cat ears while Fukawa and Celestia's outfits were black and white and wore puppy ears on their heads.
Asahina, Sakura and Mukuro popped their heads in and clapped in admiration. All three of their outfits were black and red and all three of them had the same cow ears on their heads. Mukuro like Naegi had traded in her shoes for some laced up boots as well.
Junko wiped a tear from her eye. "Sometimes I surprise myself at how talented I am. All of you look fantastic!"
Fujisaki looked around the classroom. "Where are the guys?"
Junko snorted and twirled, "Probably still in the restroom putting on their outfits. Most of them didn't want to, but I threatened to reveal a few things and they quickly ran to the restroom."
The sound of footsteps made them all turn to the door to see the guys finally walk in. All six of them walked in wearing a black six-button double-breasted tuxedo, a white shirt and a grey vest, pants, a tie, and gloves. Togami had a purple shirt under, while Leon had a red one and Owada had a blue shirt under.
Junko whistled as she circled around them and gave them a thumps up. Yamada kept fidgeting with his tie, and Hagakure was playing with his hair. Maizono and Celestia had gelled it back and he looked clearly uncomfortable. The only one that actually seemed to like their outfit was Ishimaru who walked up to the mirror to admire his view. The girls giggled and Owada rolled his eyes at his friend and put his hands in his pockets.
Naegi sent Togami a mischievous look that he returned before Munakata cleared his throat before they could start making out.
Togami had to admit, Junko had done a pretty good job on the outfits, but no way was he going to tell her. He didn't feel like seeing that smirk of hers.
Junko jumped and quickly picked up a box before striding towards the guys. "Almost forgot. Everyone, pick out a headband. No complaining!"
The guys groaned and picked out a random headband. Togami got cat ears, Hagakure got lamb ears, Owada and Ishimaru got dogs ears and Yamada and Leon got bunny ears.
Maizono clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "The school festival will start in another ten minutes. Let's all do our best to make this enjoyable and everyone please keep an eye on Naegi."
Kirigiri nodded her head as she crossed her arms. "I agree. The school festival is the perfect chance to make a move on her. Everyone keep an eye out and be careful."
Everyone nodded in determination. Owada made a punching motion in the air. "Let them come, we'll take care of them. Some of my men will be attending as well so I'll tell them to keep an eye out. Kuzuryu also mentioned that his men are here as well. They'll be on their best behavior though."
As everyone got to their stations, Kirigiri came up to Naegi and handed her a small box. Naegi looked at her in surprise before opening it. Inside were black and silver flower earrings; Kirigiri took them out of the box before she gently moved Naegi's hair out of the way and put them on both ears.
"These are really beautiful Kyouko, but why are you giving me earrings?" Naegi asked in confusion. Munakata tilted his head at the sight but otherwise said nothing.
Kirigiri gave her a secret smile and patted her cheek. "No reason, I saw them at the store and thought they'd look good on you." Her face turned serious. "Please don't take them off."
Naegi looked surprised at the comment but promised she would take good care of them. Satisfied, Kirigiri stepped back and went to stand by Fukawa who was looking nervous.
Naegi turned to Munakata and placed bunny ears on his head. He scowled and immediately tried to remove them. Naegi slapped his hand and he looked at her stunned.
She crossed her arms and huffed at him. "If we have to dress up, then so do you."
Munakata scowled and tried to remove the ears again before Naegi stepped on his foot.
Munakata flinched and finally let it go.
Naegi beamed.
The sound of horn suddenly sounded and Junko clapped her hands and grinned at them all. "All right kids, it's show time!"
They were three hours into the school festival and Hinata already wanted to stab himself. His class had chosen to do a haunted house and judging by the loud screams he could still hear, it was going well.
Hinata stretched his tired limbs and leaned against the wall of his classroom. Tsumiki and Sonia had dressed him up as Frankenstein and Mioda had done his make up. It was itchy as hell. Something cool touched his cheek and Hinata blinked his eyes to see Komaeda holding out a water bottle to his cheek. He was still dressed in his zombie outfit with fake blood smeared on his face and ripped clothes. Chiaki joined them a few minutes later in her medusa outfit and took the water bottle that Komaeda offered her.
"Its finally time for our break! Thank god, it was fun at first but now I just have a headache." Hinata groaned out.
Komaeda nodded in agreement and tapped his chin; "It got a little quiet after those three girls tripped though."
Chiaki giggled and stepped closer to the wall to let other people walk by. "That was probably Kuzuryu's fault, I'm pretty sure I saw him stick out his foot when they laughed at his outfit."
Komaeda and Hinata laughed. They could believe that. Kuzuryu was unfortunate enough to be dressed as a clown and he was not happy about it.
"Let's go visit Naegi and Togami. I heard their class is doing a maid café." Hinata got off the wall and started heading down the hall towards his friend's classroom. Komaeda and Chiaki followed after him.
As soon as they stepped inside, Maizono greeted them with a smile. "Welcome home masters! Table for three?"
Hinata grinned slowly and nodded. Maizono's eye twitched before she led them inside to a small rounded table. All three of them looked at the classroom in wonder, beside them Fujisaki and Mukuro were taking orders. Owada and Leon had trays in their hands with a few cakes on them, Fukawa was trying to take the orders for three girls but she kept stuttering. Celestia calmly made her way over and helped her out.
The sudden squealing from the end of the classroom caught their attention and everyone turned their eyes to the source. Togami Byakuya was trying to take the order of a particularly large group of women to no avail.
Every time he opened his moth, the women let out a squeal that caused Togami to grit his teeth in annoyance. Togami inwardly cursed, it was damn hot in this outfit and these women were getting on his nerves. He'd been trying to get their order for the last few minutes and had yet to succeed.
He tried to speak again before another set of squeals covered his words.
He may or may not have whined.
It was so hot.
Hinata snickered from his seat and Komaeda made as if to help him when Naegi suddenly appeared beside her boyfriend. She sent the women a tight smile and told them to either order or get out. The women scoffed before their faces paled as Owada, Hagakure and Leon appeared with their arms crossed.
The women quickly ordered something random and Togami quickly wrote it down. As he made his way to the "kitchen" Naegi kissed him on the cheek. That had some of the woman throw dirty looks at her but Munakata stepped forward with narrowed eyes and they quickly looked away.
Seeing her friends, Naegi made her way over to them and waved. Komaeda covered his nose as blood suddenly started dripping, Hinata snickered and Chiaki offered Komaeda a napkin from the table.
"Welcome back masters," she said in her sweetest voice, " Are you ready to order?"
Komaeda chocked on his blood and Naegi looked at him in concern. Hinata laughed at his friends' antics. Deciding to take pity on Komaeda, Chiaki ordered three omelettes and three coffees.
Naegi sent her a smile and curtsied before disappearing in the back. As they waited Chiaki brought her game console and started to play, Komaeda's nose had stopped bleeding and Hinata looked at everyone's outfits in interest.
More people came in and took a seat on the couch as they waited to be seated by Kirigiri who looked bored. Yamada was scarfing down a cheesecake in the corner while Ishimaru reprimanded him pretty loudly.
Junko cackled nearby as she painted something with indecent on a guy's omelette. Mukuro looked at her proudly as the table next to her tired to get her attention.
On one of the other tables, a few guys were trying to give Sakura their orders but couldn't help but be intimated by her. Asahina kept trying to convince another group to order some donuts instead.
A few people even came up to Hinata's table to comment on their outfits while others wanted to take pictures with them. Hinata grinned enthusiastically and posed for the camera, Chiaki allowed one picture before she went back to her game, while Komaeda politely refused.
After what felt like forever but was actually less than ten minutes, Naegi returned with their orders and set them on the people before them. She picked up the ketchup on the table and asked what they wanted drawn on their omelette; after a bit of thinking Hinata decided he wanted a character from a manga he read to be drawn on his omelette, Chiaki let it to her to choose so Naegi drew a Pikachu and Chiaki beamed, finally Komaeda just asked for the word Hope to be written. Shrugging, Naegi complied and wrote it in cursive, Komaeda looked like he wanted to cry in happiness.
As she was leaving, Naegi suddenly remembered something and turned back to her friends. "Togami and I will take a break in another few minutes, do you guys want to check out the rest of the booths with us?"
"Damn straight!" Hinata said mid-chew, "I also want a picture with all of us though. We look pretty cool if I do say so myself."
Naegi rolled her eyes but agreed before she left to attend another table.
Ten minutes later, all five of them were off to explore the rest of the school. A lot of people came up to them and wanted their pictures taken. Togami refused but that only got the girls to squeal in delight. Something about a bad attitude being hot. A lot of guys went up to Naegi and Chiaki to chat them up but soon retreated once they saw the looming figures of Togami, Hinata, Komaeda and Munakata who had a hand on his sword.
They tried all kinds of food from different stalls and even managed to convince Togami to go into the House of Mirrors with them. He easily got out though so that was disappointing. Munakata was not happy to go inside, but since he had a job to do he went inside, all the while glowering.
As they made their way outside, they saw more food stalls before a commotion to the side caught their attention. One of the classes had done a booth were they had to hit the target on the side in order to dunk the person sitting inside the box inside the water.
The guy sitting in the plank was aggravating people on purpose but so far no one had been able to hit the target yet. Hinata went up to the booth, paid for three tries before he threw one of the balls.
He missed.
"The guy sitting on the plank slapped his knee in amusement, " My grandma throws better than that!"
Hinata narrowed his eyes and threw the second ball.
He missed again.
"Oh I get it, you forgot your glasses at home huh?"
Hinata stomped his feet and threw the last ball.
He hit the side of the bulls-eye.
"Oh! So close!"
Hinata stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked back to his friends. Komaeda decided to take a try and paid for three tries.
The first ball missed and the guy on the plank said something rude.
Komaeda only smiled and threw the second ball.
It missed.
They guy on the plank started laughing when suddenly there was a crack.
The next thing they knew, the plank broke and the guy went in the water.
Hinata started howling in laughter as the guy frantically got out of the box.
As Komaeda made his way back to his friends, Naegi and Chiaki clapped while Hinata slapped him on the back good naturedly, even Togami looked a little impressed.
A few minutes later, they made their way over to where a large crowd was gathering out in the field. Mioda, Leon, Maizono, and Nidai made their way to the stage before they started playing a song. Naegi cheered along with the rest of the crowd, she was surprised that Nidai and Leon could play an instrument but they were pretty good.
The crowd couldn't seem to stop cheering. A lot of people gathered around the area; children's laughter could be heard.
By the third song, Koizumi and Tanaka came to retrieve Hinata, Chiaki and Komaeda. Their break was over; Hinata groaned as he was pulled away and Chiaki and Komaeda waved goodbye before they disappeared.
Junko and Ishimaru came over soon after to draw Togami away. They'd seen him slack off so he had to get back to work. He glowered at them and removed their hands from his suit before he promised he'd see Naegi later and left with his head held high.
As Naegi and Munakata maneuvered their way from the crowd they moved to the side of the building when Yukizome Chisa suddenly appeared before them.
"Kyosuke!" she said excitedly, "I'm going to try the yokisoba at those stalls over there, want to come along?"
Munakata's gaze softened ever so slightly but refused her offer. Yukizome pouted and bid them both farewells before she made over to the food stalls.
Naegi sent Munakata a cheeky look, which he refused to ignore.
"You know we could have gone. I wouldn't have minded." She said as they continued their walk. There were less people here she noticed.
Munakata shook his head and continued his stride beside her, "Your break will be over soon, and we have to head back."
Naegi opened her mouth to say something else before they heard an explosions and she lost her balance. Munakata turned to make sure she was all right before both of them turned to see smoke coming from the food stalls.
Munakata's eyes widened in horror.
Yukizome!
"Go!" Naegi said.
He whipped his head to her; indecision flashed in his eyes. "I have to protect you-"
Naegi cut him off. "I'll stay right here, I wont move from this spot. Go make sure Yukizome is all right!"
Munakata hesitated before another explosion sounded and people started screaming. "You stay right here! You wait for me, is that understood?!"
Naegi nodded firmly.
Munakata looked at her one more time before he started sprinting to the food stalls.
Naegi began to pace in place. She hoped everyone was okay.
She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone coming her way before they bumped into her.
Naegi looked up to see Mr. Aizawa panting heavily. Upon noticing her, he offered her his hands before he started shaking her.
"We need fire extinguishers! The fire department will be a while, I need you to go to the third basement we have and take out some fire extinguishers!"
Naegi bit her lip and was about to protest before Mr. Aizawa doubled over and started coughing. Naegi was at his side in an instant.
"I'd do it myself," he took a shuddering breath, "but I'm no good in my condition. You have to go."
Naegi didn't know what to do. She'd promised Munakata she'd stay, but those fire extinguishers would be really useful right now.
Her phone's ringtone startled her and she quickly took it out only for it to be snatched from her hands.
Mr. Aizawa looked at her angrily, "Talking on the phone while people are in danger? Take my keys and get over to the basement right now!"
"But my phone-"
"Now!" he barked at her.
Naegi jumped and hastily took the keys from him before she started sprinting to the closed gymnasium where the basement was. Fortunately, it wouldn't take her too long since no one will be there since it was still under maintenance.
As soon as her form disappeared, Mr. Aizawa took out his own phone, dialed a number and pressed it to his ear.
"I've sent Makoto Naegi your way, no one should be able to get in your way. Now please," his voice cracked, "Release my wife and daughter. I've done what you asked of me."
There was a pause on the other line.
"Very well. You'll see them soon."
There was a click and the line disconnected.
Mr. Aizawa released a sigh of relief before he felt a hand under his chin holding him in a vice like grip and somebody pressing on his back. Something sharp was jabbing into his neck, almost piercing his skin. He felt hot breath on his right ear and was unable to move.
"Why do you have Naegi's phone? Who did you call and where did you send her?" The voice whispered to him.
Mr. Aizawa gasped and tried to move. He recognized that voice. Where had he heard it before? He felt a sharp pain before something trickled down his neck.
"I won't ask again. Tell me or you'll be dead before you can shout for help."
Mr. Aizawa's eyes widened as he finally recalled where he'd heard this voice.
"Komaeda…Nagito."
Mr. Aizawa wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he felt him smile.
