Author's Note: I was so psyched to get to this act (and the next one) you guys don't even know.

ACT 3: Begin

A Fate Worse Than Death

"Ghh..." Gundam pulls himself out of bed. Pulls being a stronger word that necessary. It's more accurate to say he flops out of bed, collapsing onto the floor, and pulls himself up from there using the chair at his desk as an assistant. A snoring draws his attention, and he sees Komaeda draped over the edge of the bed, sawing logs. A sound pings through the air, and Gundam glances at the monitor in the corner of his room.

"Attention, ye of little faith! This is an announcement from the Hope's Peak Field Trip Committee. It's seven am, another perfect tropical day! Enjoy it while you can! Upupu..." The announcement cuts out with a gentle hiss of static. Gundam sighs and runs a hand through his fizzled hair. He shrugs off his jacket, shirt and pants, and reluctantly removes his scarf. The Four Dark Gods of Destruction chitter curiously at him from their bookshelf perch. Gundam salutes them wearily, then heads into his bathroom. He cranks up the hot water and steps in, letting the heat scald him. It reminds him that this is just a simulation. That Owari and Pekoyama and Souda and Kuzuryuu are still alive. Probably. He hopes. The animal breeder runs his hands through his hair, letting the wet strands stick to his skin, and groans angrily. How could he have let this happen? Gundam pounds on the wall a few times with his fist. How could he have let them die? Shaking his head, Gundam roughly grabs the shower handle and turns the water off, letting the excess water run down his body, dripping from his fingers, hair and nose. The animal breeder throws the shower curtain open and grabs a nearby towel, using it to dry himself. With a sigh, Gundam wraps the towel around his waist. He trudges back into the main area, grabbing his shirt and yanking it over his head. He carefully pulls on his pants, wraps his scarf around his neck, and puts on his jacket. Gundam hangs the towel over the back of the chair, leaving it there to dry, and wakes up Komaeda.

"Get up." He shakes the luckster, who sits upright with a start, mumbling something about hope.

"Eh? What's going on? Can I have eggs benedict?" Komaeda rubs his eyes with his fists and yawns, shaking his head. "Oh... uh... hi, Tanaka-kun."

"Eggs benedict?" Gundam just raises an eyebrow.

"Haha... yeah... I guess I've just been craving some food that's a bit more exotic that what we normally have for breakfast. Maybe we should get Hanamura to cook for us again, eh?" Komaeda chuckles and lets Gundam haul him to his feet. Gundam holds his hand out, and the Four Dark Gods leap down, landing gracefully into his palm, scampering away into his scarf. The pair head out of the cottage, the sun beating down on them pleasantly. Gundam shakes his head. If that Monobear was right about one thing in the entirety of his miserable existence, it's that today is a beautiful day. They tromp to the restaurant silently. The only sounds of the late morning are the chirping of frogs and insects, and the far-off sound of waves hitting the shore. Nobody else is out. Gundam hesitantly pushes the door to the hotel open. Nothing. Nobody anywhere. He glances at Komaeda, who shrugs. That's when he hears something... familiar coming from the restaurant. It sounds like... crying? The animal breeder carefully stalks to the stairs and sneaks up them, Komaeda right behind him. Gundam finds himself staring at something very... disturbing, to say the least. Nekomaru Nidai sits at one of the tables that is usually filled with food. He arranges a modest assortment of things, from flasks of what appear to be protein shakes to stacks of dirty plates. A shoe, one of Owari's it seems, is among the clutter. Gundam and Komaeda stare at the coach as he makes what appears to be a shrine of sorts for the fallen gymnast for what seems like hours until he leans back, stares at it, and hangs his head. Gundam feels a pang of sadness for the man, and walks up the last step into the restaurant. Unfortunately, the final stair makes a horrid squeaking sound as Gundam's foot settles on it. Nidai whirls around in surprise, horror written across his face until he sees who it is.

"Oh... Tanaka. Komaeda. Good morning. You ah... caught me at a bad time." The coach shakes his head, a sad smile on his face, and wipes away a few tears. "I just..."

"No, no, it's fine, Nidai-kun." Komaeda walks over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Nidai tears up again, grabbing Komaeda and pulling him into a bear hug. The luckster makes a quiet sound of surprise, but lets the coach squish him. Nidai bursts into tears. While Komaeda comforts the man, Gundam looks over the apparent shrine for Owari. It's rather modest, just an assortment of things the coach must have though she would like. A stack of plates, one of her shoes, a bag of what looks like barley and rice. There's also a small bowl of potpourri, a small plastic dumbbell from the supermarket, and two thermoses that look like they're filled with protein shakes.

"I... I just wanted to do something for her... A-A going away gift." Nidai sniffles, laying his chin on Komaeda's head. "I... I feel like... it's my fault."

"It's okay Nidai-kun. It isn't your fault. We understand how you feel. Right, Tanaka-kun?" Komaeda looks to Gundam for help.

"Yes." Gundam nods. "The loss of the lithe one was a truly audacious blow to our morale. I wish she was still present with us, to be frank." He folds his arms. "One can only hope that her now ethereal form makes it across the Great Divide, into the pastures of ever-present joy... May she allude abyss of darkness..."

"...Yeah." Komaeda somehow worms his way out of Nidai's iron grasp. "I'm sure Owari's fine, wherever she is."

"You're right!" Nidai stands up, stretching his legs. "This is no time to be crying! I think I'll go for a run to rejuvenate myself." Nidai jogs over to the stairs, but turns to the pair standing near the shrine. "Ah... Thank you for talking to me."

"No problem, Nidai-kun." Komaeda smiles. "That's what friends are for." The coach smiles back, then leaps down the stairs. Komaeda turns to the tiny shrine for Owari, smiling dreamily.

"...Why are you smiling like that?" Gundam raises an eyebrow, leaning backwards.

"Ah, Tanaka-kun... Don't you think it's amazing that despite all this tragedy, everyone is still trying their best to become friends?" The luckster sighs happily, and Gundam makes a face at him.

"Sure." Gundam shakes his head and sighs, plonking himself down into his normal seat. A quiet thumping from the stairs reveals Saionji and Koizumi. The dancer marches over to Gundam, plopping herself in Sonia's normal seat. Koizumi sighs and sits down next to her. "...Can I help you?"

"We're sitting here now." Saionji says simply, crossing her arms. Koizumi nods.

"Okay." Gundam shrugs, turning to Komaeda, who's across the table from him. The luckster responds with a shrug of his own, and faces Koizumi.

"Koizumi-san, are you alright? The trial was kind of rough for you, and it kinda looked like Kuzuryuu's words got to you. I was just worried abo-"

"I'm fine." Koizumi cuts him off with a curt, dismissive wave. Komaeda looks startled. "You really think that some stupid accusations from someone like him would affect me? I'm fine. Now go back to doing whatever boys like you do in the morning." She turns away from him with a haughty huff. Saionji looks confused for a moment before turning to talk with the photographer.

"Uh..." Komaeda looks around, unsure of what to do.

"Leave her be." Gundam snorts, raising an eyebrow at the redhead. She glares back at him. The animal breeder shakes his head and turns to look at Komaeda. They start up a conversation about nothing, distracted a couple of minutes later by a tromping coming from the stairs. They turn, finding Togami. He grunts at them, taking his normal place at the top of the stairs, leaning against the banister.

"Oh! Hello Togami-kun. I was wondering where you were. You're normally here first." Komaeda smiles at the false heir, who scoffs dismissively.

"Yeah. I was doing something important. I'll tell you when everyone gets here. Although I suspect we'll have a bit of an interruption during our meeting..." The imposter trails off, staring out the window. Gundam snorts and gets up to get a plate of food. Togami's eyes wander, and end up falling onto the small shrine made by Nidai. He raises an eyebrow, walking over to it. "...What is this?"

"Oh." Komaeda scratches the back of his head. "Nidai-kun made that. He... misses Owari."

"...Hmph." Togami shakes his head. "That's a waste of good barley and rice." He doesn't say much more, mumbling something about talking to the coach, and heads back to his spot at the stairs. Koizumi mutters something to Saionji who snickers. It takes about half an hour, but the others eventually start filtering in. Sonia comes up the stairs with Mioda, and is confused about the fact that Saionji is in her seat. She glances around like she's in the wrong place, then slowly makes her way towards Gundam, sitting on his other side. The musician herself happily trots over to Komaeda, plonking herself down next to him and interrupting his conversation with the animal breeder, blabbering something about music. Gundam frowns. Hanamura arrives with Tsumiki, saying something that sounds suspiciously like a direct plan to get under her skirt, stopped only by him noticing Togami's presence leering at him from the top of the stairs. The imposter glowers at Hanamura until the cook sits down next to Mioda at the table, saying something about the relationship between music and mood, especially in the bedroom. Komaeda shoots him a look. Tsumiki sits next to Komaeda, glancing away from him nervously. Komaeda just laughs and invites her into the conversation he's having with Gundam and Mioda. Nidai finally arrives, eyes lighting up when he sees everyone eating at the same table. Togami stops him before he can head over to the table, talking quietly about something and pointing at the shrine table a few times. Nidai manages to control his volume, speaking quietly back to Togami. One final creaking from the stairs causes everyone to turn. Hinata stands at the top of the stairs, staring out at the twenty eyes set on him.

"...What?" He waves a hand around, then scoffs dismissively. "Whatever." Hinata marches over to the food table, glancing suspiciously at the tiny shrine for Owari, and gets some food for himself. He then heads over to a table in the corner, plopping himself down. Komaeda gets up to go over to him, but Gundam grabs the boy's sleeve and pulls him back down. The luckster glances at Gundam, sighs, and sits back down.

"Well well well, aren't you bastards looking hopeful this morning? Looks like I'll have to step up my game..." Not a moment later, Monobear is standing on the shrine table, arms behind his back. His smirk is a bit more knowing than normal.

"Called it." Togami snorts, crossing his arms. "Why don't you tell us about how you opened up the third island for us to explore?" He lets out a falsetto gasp, gruffly snorting and turning away. "Oh, did you want to tell them that? My bad."

"Jeez Togami-kun." Monobear hangs his head. "Ruin all of my fun, why don't you?" The bear shakes his head and sighs. "Do you want to tell them of my motive, too?" The others turn to glance at Togami. The imposter just rolls his eyes.

"No. I don't know what it is. But if it's as stupid as your last motive, I'm sure that we'll be able to dismiss it rather easily." Togami snorts, glare boring into Monobear.

"Oh?" Monobear begins to sweat, pressing a paw to his forehead. "You wound me, Togami-kun. And here I thought we were becoming closer friends too? Don't you want any of Monobear's Despair Shards?" Togami scoffs. "But anyway, I don't think that's too important anyway. And if my new motive is like the other one, don't you think it will end spectacularly as well?" Monobear snickers evilly. "Ah well, happy trails! And remember, keep despair close to your heart! I know how much you bastards love to. Upupupu..." The bear snickers, falling backwards off the table and disappearing.

"You explored the new island without us?" Koizumi turns to glare at Togami.

"Not explored. More like made a preliminary survey. I was just making sure the area is safe. We can explore together after breakfast." Togami states simply, going back to standing silently by the stairs.

"Hmph." Koizumi turns back to Saionji.

"The third island, huh?..." Komaeda strokes his chin in thought.

"Oh boy, Ibuki can't wait!" The musician grabs Tsumiki's shoulders and rocks her roughly. The nurse wails loudly, flailing her arms as Mioda laughs. The other students spring into conversation about the new island. Gundam plays with Cham-P, stroking the god's soft fur in thought. The third island. He doesn't remember it that well. He knows there's a hospital, a music club, and a motel. He's not sure about the rest. Togami shoves something into his mouth, then swallows and clears his throat.

"Alright, we've wasted enough time here. Get up, let's go." He stomps down the stairs to the hotel.

"Wait for Ibuki, Byakuya-chan!" Mioda springs up, keeping her hold on Tsumiki's wrist, and sprints after the imposter, whimpering nurse in tow. Hanamura and Nidai scurry after them.

"Well that's that, I suppose." The remaining five at the table turn to see Hinata stand up and wipe his hands on his pants. "I'm not going." He scoffs and heads out of the restaurant. Gundam hears him plod down the stairs and slam the door when he exits the hotel.

"Ugh. That boy, thinking he can just do whatever he wants. And Togami too, thinking he can just order us around all the time. C'mon Hiyoko-chan." Koizumi gets up, Saionji quickly following suit.

"See you later, nerds!" Saionji grabs Koizumi's hand, pulling the photographer along.

"...I think I'll go after Hinata-kun. I don't want Togami-kun to yell at him..." Komaeda scratches at his nose, shrugs at Gundam, and heads out. Gundam shakes his head and sighs.

"Well then. I suppose we should get going, huh Tanaka-san?" Sonia gives him a strained smile.

"...Yes. Let's make haste." Gundam poses dramatically, heat rising to his cheeks when he feels the princess take his hand. "Wh-! I-I thought I warned you of my toxic blood, safe to only the bravest and hardiest of souls, perilous to all others!"

"...Maybe I'm not normal then?" Sonia giggles quietly.

"Hn..." Gundam grunts, hand like a limp fish in the princess' grip. She squeezes it lightly.

"I just thought that it would be hella cool if you explored the new island with me." Sonia smiles up hopefully at Gundam, and sweet lord how is he supposed to say no to that smile? Gundam sighs, gaining feeling back in hand and squeezing back.

"I suppose you are one not of this realm... A lady of darkness, perhaps?..." Gundam chuckles. "Yes, it would only make sense that such a being would be able to grace the flesh of one that has caused thousands to perish from but a touch."

"Yay!" Sonia cheers, pulling him along. "Let's go then!" She tugs Gundam along, down the stairs and out of the restaurant. The sun lightly beats down onto the pair as they run to the third island.

"...A movie?" Gundam crosses his arms, staring the bear down. He, Sonia, and Togami stand in the movie theater lobby in front of the front counter.

"Yup! Free of charge!" Monobear laughs and puts his feet up on the counter, reclining in that ridiculously tall stool he sits on.

"And why would we want to go see your stupid movie?" Togami snorts.

"Well..." Monobear rights himself, scratching the back of his head. "Er..." He slumps, staring sadly at the ground. Suddenly, he has an idea, righting himself and grinning- more so than normal anyway. "Because it's mandatory! Mandatory school activity!"

"Are you kidding me?" Togami groans angrily, smacking himself in the forehead with his palm.

"Look on the bright side!" Monobear chirps. "There is a large assortment of theater snacks to quench your ravenous hunger!" Monobear motions to the almost empty glass cabinet, holding a single, lonely chocolate bar, and the popcorn machine that holds popcorn that probably went stale days ago. "It's a shame that my biggest potential customer died though... Hmm..." The bear taps his chin in thought, then shrugs. "Oh well."

"We are not going to take part in the observation of your disheartening film." Gundam frowns at the bear.

"Augh, me feelings." Monobear grabs at his chest. "Well if you don't want to watch it that badly, then I suppose you could just buy this!" Monobear reaches behind him, grabbing something that rests next to the strange bag on the otherwise empty counter. It's a sticker with Monobear on it, reading 'Apologies for being such a chump' in large, pink letters. "I'll let you off scott free! Just 1.5 million yen!"

"1.5 million?" Sonia gasps, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Surely you jest!" Gundam leans back, horror etched onto his face.

"I wouldn't pay one yen for that piece of garbage. Hell, you'd have to pay me to take that stupid thing." Togami scoffs. "Fine. We'll watch your stupid movie."

"Splendid!" Monobear claps his hands, scuttling over and opening the only other door besides the exit. The three walk into the dark theater room. Gundam glowers at Monobear as he passes him. The bear just shrugs. As they enter, the door swings shut, the only source of light being the projector hitting the screen, casting an eerie white glow over the front of the room. Togami leads the two over to the front row. The theater is small, containing only sixteen seats arranged in rows of six. Gundam plops himself down into a seat next to Sonia, Togami sitting down with a bit of difficulty on her other side. The chair groans in protest and Gundam snickers. Sonia grabs Gundam's arm as the projector whirrs to life, throwing a picture onto the screen.

Monobear stands in a town, happily walking along. He and everything else look like sloppy paper cutouts. 'Monobear lived in a village.' The screen reads. 'And he thought it sucked eggs. Like, rotten eggs. Holy cow you wouldn't believe how bad these eggs sucked. Almost as bad as you bastards.' Monobear walks along into what looks like a large body of water. 'One day while taking a break from thinking about how much his town sucks, Monobear decided to go for a swim.' Monobear begins swimming, when a whirlpool appears under him and begins spinning him around. 'Suddenly, a freak whirlpool appeared, sucking poor, innocent Monobear into it.' Monobear spirals down, disappearing from the screen. It goes black.

'Monobear awoke on a shore in a mysterious land. He decided that it was his time to start fresh.' Monobear, on a sandy beach, stands up and begins walking until he runs into a tree. He lamely punches it and it falls apart into squares. 'He found that this new world bent the strings of reality. Wow, Monobear says, I could get used to this.' Monobear picks up all the wood blocks and lays them out in the shape of a house. He goes inside, the sun in the background sets and rises again. Monobear comes out with a sword made of wood and a cap on his head. 'One day, Monobear decided to go out and explore. As he was walking in the forest, he found a wounded plant person. "Help me." said the plant person. "I fell from the tree."' The screen shows a withered bush laying on the ground. Monobear leans back and bobs up and down. 'Monobear laughed at the plant person, kicked him, and left.' Monobear's leg swings into the plant man and Monobear walks away.

'Next, Monobear was trekking through the tundra.' It shows Monobear walking over a white block, probably the ground, with snow falling from the sky. 'Here, he met a village that was freezing cold. '"Help," the people said. "We were trapped here and can't leave." Monobear just told them to kill themselves and left.' The screen shows Monobear waving his sword around angrily and walking away.

'Finally, Monobear was walking through another village of poor sods. One of them turned to Monobear and screamed for help.' It shows a person, about the same height as Monobear, waving their arms around frantically. '"Help!" The person said. "A holy fire is burning down a house!"' Monobear heads over to find a house burning. He dashes inside. 'Monobear, our valiant hero' the screen says, 'ran into the house. He saw two people burning, grabbed some money that was on the table, and left. Monobear laughed at the villagers and exited the village.' It shows Monobear laughing, the villagers crying, and Monobear exiting the screen.

'On his last leg of the journey, Monobear found himself in a cave.' Monobear walks along, only a small circle of light around him. The rest of the screen is black. 'Suddenly, giant spiders attacked, killing poor, innocent Monobear.' Giant spiders jump out of the darkness, landing on Monobear. The screen goes red, then black. Finally, it shows Monobear lying on the beach, a doctor standing over him. 'It turns out, Monobear's adventure was just a dream induced by inhaling too much water. A doctor revived him.' The doctor helps Monobear to his feet. Monobear reaches behind himself and pulls out a piece of paper. The doctor takes it, reads it, and slumps down, walking away sadly. 'Then, Monobear sued the doctor for malpractice and won, of course.' The final scene shows Monobear sitting on a golden throne, old people swarming around the base of it. 'Monobear used the money to buy the town and make everyone his slave.' The screen goes black and the words 'The End' appear on the screen.

"Tadaaaaa!" The lights in the movie theater come back on, and Gundam blinks away the spots that come to his vision. The theater is a lot... fancier than he gave it credit for. It was hard to see in the darkness, but the seats are a nice gold and red color, and there's an ornate balcony at the back of the room. Monobear jumps off of said balcony, landing happily in front of the three students. Gundam rubs at his eyes to make sure he actually saw what he just did. "How'd you like it?"

"In Novoselic..." Sonia begins, timidly playing with the bow on her dress. "creating something such as this in quality can get you jailed for life."

"I would rather gouge my own eyes out, eat them, and pay for my own medical bills, just to not see a movie that bad again." Togami folds his arms, glancing back at the screen in disgust.

"..." Gundam glances back at the screen as well, before turning back to Monobear with a frown. "I hated it. It was truly a sight that would make even the most horrid and vulgar beings cringe in repulsiveness. I wish to smite the world before another tragedy such as that should ever come to exist."

"Eesh, tough crowd." Monobear grumps. "If you guys didn't like it, all you had to do was say so." Monobear makes that weird 'eye rolling' motion before slipping behind one of the seats and disappearing. The three stand staring for a moment before Togami clears his throat.

"Alright. Get going." He grabs Sonia and Gundam's shoulders, pushing them towards the exit. They walk out to find Hinata talking with Monobear, the unamused former staring down the sweating latter.

"Don't be like that, Hinata-kun." Monobear wipes his forehead.

"Shut up and give me the damn sticker." Hinata holds his hand out and Monobear reluctantly trots behind the counter, grabbing the sticker and slapping it into Hinata's hand. They both turn to stare at the three kids coming from the theater. "Oh. It's you guys."

"Would you guys believe it?" Monobear seems to cheer up slightly. "Hinata-kun bought my sticker! He doesn't have to watch the movie now!"

"..." Gundam stares at him in disbelief. "You... purchased the bribe?"

"Hinata, are you serious?" Togami shakes his head with a scoff.

"Whatever, I didn't come here to get scolded by you two." Hinata snorts, shoving the sticker into his pocket. "I came because Tsumiki wants Tanaka at the hospital." This gets a few raised eyebrows from the others and a mischievous snicker from Monobear.

"Me?" Gundam asks, glancing around.

"No. The other Tanaka." Hinata snarks and motions for the animal breeder to follow him. "Yes you, idiot. Come on."

"Go." Togami waves Gundam off, much to his chagrin. "I'll stay here to make sure the others watch the movie. And to make sure you stay here." Togami turns to glare at Monobear, who starts sweating again.

"Ah, Togami-kun! Wanting to spend some quality time with your principal? I'm touched!" Monobear sighs happily, making Togami snort. Hinata groans and walks out of the theater. Gundam and a confused Sonia follow him.

"You wanted me to look at this?" Gundam asks, arms folded.

"Hey! You're not the only one here, you know. Have some respect." Koizumi puts her hands on her hips. Gundam just snorts.

"U-um... Yeah..." Tsumiki nervously fiddles with her hands. Gundam stands on the hospital's second floor with Saionji, Tsumiki, Koizumi, Hanamura, and Sonia. Gundam has no idea where the cook came from, to be completely honest. He just sort of appeared.

"...It's a door." Gundam says, staring at said object. Nothing is really abnormal about it, aside from its rather strange coloration difference, being the only gray door in the hallway, and its odd lustrous sheen.

"Y-Yes, th-that's true. B-But I-I think there's... something wrong with it..." Tsumiki nervously stutters out, pointing a timid finger at the door.

"Pff. It's just your imagination!" Saionji snickers. "Your little piggy imagination!" Both Koizumi and Gundam shoot her a look, making her pout and mutter a half-hearted apology to the nurse.

"I fail to see what's wrong with it." Gundam snorts.

"Maybe we should check it out." Hanamura says curiously.

"It is rather peculiar. Investigating would be a good idea, I think." Sonia remarks. "As we say in Novoselic, 'Get the goat before the goat gets you'."

"...Hmph." Gundam reaches out, grabbing the doorknob. As he twists it and pushes the door in, a thin sheet of what looks like mold sloughs off the front, hitting the ground and exploding into a cloud of dust. Gundam starts coughing as a rather sizable part of the cloud gets into his mouth. It tastes gritty and dry. He hears another source coughing as well, and when the dust clears, he finds himself covered in a whitish powder. Koizumi, Sonia, and Hanamura are also coated with the stuff. Saionji and Tsumiki managed to avoid getting hit simply because they were behind Koizumi and Gundam respectively when the door was opened.

"Tanaka!" Koizumi howls, wiping some of the gray dust off of her face. "What have I told you about being careful?! Now look what happened!" She stomps her foot angrily, sending up a gentle puff of the stuff off of the ground.

"See here! I-" Gundam stops to cough, a tiny cloud of the dust coming out of his throat. "I was not aware that the door was coated in a vile substance scraped from the rocks of hell itself!" Gundam glances as Hanamura coughs up another cloud of dust.

"Um... I don't think we should be fighting. It seemed like an accident, yes?" Sonia, who seems to have protected her face with her forearms, wipes the dust off of her.

"Hmph." Koizumi brushes away some of the dust caking her skirt.

"I-I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to get you guys all dirty!" Tsumiki wails, reaching out towards Gundam. Saionji wraps her arms around the nurse's waist and pushes her backwards.

"Eew! Don't touch them! They're all dirty!" Saionji snickers.

"In more ways than one." Hanamura raises his eyebrows, yelping and coughing out a cloud of dust when Gundam swats the back of his head. "Ouch!"

"Enough. Let us go get clean." Gundam, walking awkwardly so as not to shake too much of the weird dust from his clothes onto the floor, stalks out, Sonia and Hanamura following. Koizumi considers for a moment, then reluctantly follows them. Saionji turns to Tsumiki, devilish grin on her face.

"Wanna play the sweeping game?" Her eyes glint menacingly, making Tsumiki wail.

"N-no!" The nurse cowers.

"Okay! I'll teach you! The tune goes like this: One, two, three, four!" Saionji mimes out sweeping, swinging her arms with each number. On four, she grabs Tsumiki's hair and tugs on it, making her squeak out again. "Get sweeping before I start counting again!"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Tsumiki scurries away to find a broom, Saionji happily trotting after her.