Another update, yay! I never thought that so many people would like this fic. It's just meant to be a silly comedy story I can write whenever I have spare time, you know? XD Though, with so many people complimenting this story I'm starting to get a little nervous. I don't want to disappoint everyone, but I can't stop thinking that I'll end up doing just that. ^^'

I tried writing Mikan and Gundham in this chapter, and I hope they are relatively in character. :) I'm kind of dreading having to write Nagito later—not because I dislike him, he's actually my favourite character, but because he's so damn complicated that I just know I'm going to mess up with him somehow. XD

Well, on with the story. ^0^

It was time, Hajime decided, to start worrying.

After managing to push his conversation with Kazuichi to the furthest corners of his mind, Hajime had busied himself with collecting materials. At least, he would have had the mountain area not been oddly devoid of anything beyond a few flowers. He probably would have found more if he tried actually climbing the mountain, but Hajime couldn't muster the energy or courage and had to give up, heading down the few rocks he had climbed with disappointment.

As it turned out, trying to climb down while one hand was clutching a pair of flowers was not the best idea. The already unsteady surface shifted, Hajime stumbled, flailed, and fell to his hands and knees. One of the rocks he had grabbed to break his fall must have been sharper than he thought, as when he looked a long but rather shallow cut stretched across the palm of his hand.

"H-Hinata-san, are you all right?!" a voice called before he even had a chance to register the pain. He turned his head to see Mikan running towards him, her face a picture of worry.

"I'm fine, Tsumiki," Hajime said in a reassuring tone, getting to his feet. By this point the cut was bleeding; Mikan noticed almost immediately.

"Ahhh, you're hurt!" She grabbed at Hajime's hand in a way that would have been forceful if it wasn't Mikan, and she quickly examined the wound. "I-I need to treat this. The hospital's nearby—Don't worry, I'll take you there!"

Hajime's complaints were ignored as Mikan all but dragged him to the third island's hospital. She was overreacting, surely, but nothing would deter the nurse and Hajime found himself giving up his arguments rather easily. Besides, his hand was really starting to hurt, and having Mikan tend to the cut couldn't be a bad idea.

And so Hajime soon found himself at the hospital, trying not to fidget too much in his seat as Mikan slowly bandaged his hand, the flowers left on a nearby table. Before this she had insisted on cleaning and even disinfecting the wound, and Hajime would have loved to say he hadn't yelled or squeaked in pain at all throughout the experience.

Mikan finished wrapping the bandage, looking over her work with a relieved and somewhat accomplished smile. Hajime decided this meant he was allowed his hand back and pulled his arm back. He could see the bandage had been wrapped in a professional and clean way that could only come from an immense amount of practice—definitely not something he could have done by himself.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly, and before she could panic he continued with, "You really helped me out. I was lucky you were nearby."

"O-oh?" Mikan seemed surprised by his words, her expression turning embarrassed. "Well, I wouldn't say it was luck. I was looking for you, and I saw you fall over, so..."

"You..." Hajime blinked. "You were looking for me?"

"Yes, that's right." Mikan nodded, a little thoughtful as she spoke. "I don't know how to describe it, but after we left to go find materials I felt like I really wanted to see you."

"Oh. I see."

He must have looked more troubled than he thought; Mikan flinched away from him suddenly.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I should have known—I don't have a right to think about you! I'm sorry! P-please don't hate me—!"

"I don't hate you!" Hajime interrupted, maybe a little too forcefully. "I mean... I'm sorry. I've, um, had a lot on my mind today. But I'm not angry with you or anything."

"Really...?" Mikan looked unconvinced.

"Of course." Hajime's gaze drifted to the flowers on the table. "I… I should probably go. I need to take those to the restaurant. I'll see you later, okay?"

Leaving Mikan while she was convinced she had committed some unforgivable crime wasn't a good idea, that much was obvious from her tear-filled eyes, but Hajime felt he was one strange event away from panicking. At the restaurant, when they were given their individual locations, everyone knew Hajime was going to search the beach. Everyone had left when Kazuichi asked to switch, so that should have meant only Kazuichi knew where he was. How, then, had Mikan ended up at the mountains? If she was looking for him she would have gone straight to the beach. Had Kazuichi told her? Or had she been searching all over the islands, only happening to stumble upon him?

Mikan would also sometimes act strangely, but now there were two people who had shown unusual behaviour since Monkuma used the magic stick and Hajime felt that was two too many. Maybe he was being paranoid over nothing, maybe Mikan was just being nice, but he didn't want to dismiss an incident as nothing only for it to turn out to be something.

Usami would probably be at the restaurant; he decided it would be a good idea to talk to her. Surely their self-proclaimed teacher would know if something was happening, and even if Monokuma's plan was working she could just use her magic stick to stop it, right?

He hurried towards the restaurant, focusing on the act of running to keep his anxieties out of mind and squeezing the flowers in his hand. By the time he was half way there Hajime felt a little more optimistic. He hadn't run into anyone else, his classmates most likely still collecting materials, and the lack of anything unusual happening let him think that maybe there really was nothing to worry about. It was suddenly very easy to wonder if what had happened with Monokuma had caused him to simply misinterpret everything through paranoia. Even if that wasn't the case, everything would be fine as long as he made it to the restaurant.

"Ah, Hinata."

Hajime stumbled to a stop and turned his head. Stood to the side, arms folded and a hamster peering out from his billowing scarf, was Gundham Tanaka. He approached Hajime, staring at him silently.

"Tanaka?" Hajime tried not to sigh. He generally liked talking to Gundham but at the moment he just didn't have the time. "I'm kind of busy right now, so—"

"What manner of sorcery are you casting?" Gundham interrupted, his tone suspicious.

"Huh?" Though Hajime sounded confused, he already had an idea of where this conversation was going. Please don't…

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Gundham continued loudly. "I thought it was strange. Your aura—no, your appearance seemed much more atrocious this morning. I dismissed it initially, but now I find you dare to invade my thoughts. No matter how hard I try to focus on the mortal task set by that rabbit, you always return." He looked as if he was examining Hajime, forming a defensive stance as he spoke. "Could it be? Have you awakened to a hellish power on par with my own? Do you plan to enslave us all?"

"Of course not." Hajime didn't know what else to say, his voice sounding almost tired. It seemed that with every person he spoke to it grew more and more difficult to pretend nothing was wrong. "Like I said, I'm busy right now. We can talk later."

Gundham's eyes seemed to light up upon hearing the last part, but he caught himself and chuckled lowly after a moment of slight confusion. "So you are retreating? A wise move. Very well, I will allow you to flee. After all, no matter how powerful you may now be you will never be a match for the Tanaka Empire!" He began laughing loudly, but by this point Hajime had already started walking away.

It seemed that while Kazuichi, Mikan and Gundham were showing a few typical signs of a crush, they themselves seemed unaware of the fact they were falling in love. In a way, that was a bit of consolation for Hajime. Just as Monokuma had said, whatever he had done was slow acting; there was still time to stop it before things got too bad. He could end this whole fiasco while everyone's dignity was still intact.

An eternity seemed to pass before Hajime finally found himself climbing the stairs of the restaurant. The flowers he had collected looked limp and pathetic, and a few petals fell off when he dropped them on a table.

"Usami!" he called to the empty restaurant. "I need to talk to you!"

"Here I am!" Usami appeared from seemingly nowhere, magic stick in hand as she landed on the table. "Hinata-kun, you're finished early today."

"I couldn't really find much," Hajime admitted, gesturing to the flowers with disappointment.

"Oh? Well, that's a shame, but it doesn't matter. After all, there's always tomorrow!"

"I guess." Hajime realised the conversation wasn't even close to what he really wanted to talk about and shook his head. "Hey, I need your help."

"Really?" Usami stood in a prouder manner, looking oddly happy. "Well, as your teacher of course you should come to me for help. What's the matter? Is it homework?"

"No," Hajime said. "Monokuma used your magic stick last night and now everyone's slowly falling in love with me. He wants everyone to go crazy with love and jealousy so that they'll start killing each other."

For a moment, Usami was silent.

"Wh-what?!" she gasped, horrified. "I-I know he had the stick last night, but how… He shouldn't have the authority to use the magic stick. He can't use it," Usami said, as if she was trying to convince himself.

"Well, obviously he can use it because it's working. But you can stop it, right?"

"I…" Usami started, and Hajime didn't like how unsure she sounded. "I-I can try… I mean, I can probably… Um…"

"'Probably.'" There was no point in denying it. Hajime was completely and utterly doomed.

When she spoke next Usami tried sound more confident. "Don't worry, Hinata-kun! Your teacher has this under control!" she lied. "Since you've finished collecting materials for the day you have a lot of free time now, right? You should just relax and have fun." With that, Usami disappeared beneath the floorboards before she could be questioned further.

Hajime stood there for a while. He didn't know what to do. It hadn't occurred to him that Usami wouldn't be able to solve the situation, and now he found himself without any other plan.

Usami had told him not to worry, but what else could he do besides that?

—Chapter end.