Hello, everyone! I've finally managed another update!

I guess I should say what's going on with me. I've finished my exams, and now I've started my first year of university. :) Because of this, I think I'm going to end up maybe even more busy than before. I've also been dealing with a very bad case of writer's block. Whenever I tried to write I just immediately hated everything, and no matter how I tried to rewrite it I couldn't like anything I wrote. This kind of killed my confidence for a while. I've finally managed to finish a chapter, but I feel like I'm still having some problems...

Well, anyway, I'm really sorry this took so long!

When Hajime woke up, sprawled out on his bed, only half covered by his sheets, it was very easy to convince himself everything had been a dream. The sun was shining, the curtains rustling in a slight breeze. Everything was peaceful.

Hajime sighed, an almost content noise. Yes, that must have been it. While he had seen a lot of strange things, something so ridiculous couldn't really happen.

Usami's morning announcement hadn't lit up the overhead monitor yet: he must have woken up early. His wondered drowsily if he should get up anyway or if he should go back to sleep.

There was another gentle breeze from the window. Hajime started to pull at the bed sheets so that he was fully covered again. And as he decided he didn't want to leave his bed just yet, a quiet part of his mind informed him that he didn't open the window last night.

"Hajime-chan!"

"What—?!"

Hajime lurched, flailed, and smacked against the floor. He gasped and yelled, hands at his head. Ibuki, whose face had suddenly filled his vision, jumped down from his bed and looked at him sheepishly. She was holding a large jar of honey for some reason.

"Oh! Did Ibuki scare Hajime-chan?" She sounded genuinely apologetic, tapping her fingernails against the jar as Hajime climbed to his knees, then his feet.

"What are you doing here?" He could feel his head throbbing, and the irritation in his voice was clear.

"Oh, well, Ibuki really, really wanted to talk to Hajime-chan, and since Hajime-chan said she wasn't allowed to break the door anymore Ibuki came in through the window! It was easy to unlock so—"

"No," Hajime interrupted, "I mean why are you here?"

Ibuki held up the jar of honey, close to jumping with excitement. Hajime noticed, with unease, that something seemed to be moving inside.

"Ibuki's here because she has a biiig surprise for Hajime-chan! Look!" Ibuki removed the lid from the jar and dumped the contents onto the floor. What tumbled out, coated in honey, was a familiar plush toy.

"Ibuki found Monokuma-chan!" Ibuki said proudly.

Hajime stared at the mess of honey on his floor, at the disoriented stuffed animal, then sighed.

"Mioda," he said, "That's Usami."

The rabbit was struggling to her feet, whimpering, "Ugh, my fur's all sticky..." And yes, she was definitely a rabbit. Mistaking her for a bear should have been impossible, or at least that's what Hajime thought.

"Wait, huh?!" Ibuki's mouth fell open after a second of blank confusion. She stared at Usami, as if wondering where she even came from. "Usami-chan?! But how? Ibuki was sure her special trap was made exclusively for bears!"

"What exactly was this trap anyway?" Hajime asked above Usami's muffled sniffles.

"Well, Ibuki knows that bears love honey, so she left the honey out as bait and waited all night for Monokuma-chan to show up." Ibuki hummed to herself thoughtfully, arms crossed as she thought back. "Originally she was going to tie him up with some rope, but there was a problem with Akane-chan so Ibuki had to stuff him inside the honey jar instead. Buuuut it looks like Ibuki made a mistake." She deflated with a sigh. "It was dark last night, so Ibuki couldn't see very well. Sorry..."

"It's fine." Well, not really. Hajime had almost forgotten about their encounter yesterday, but the disappointment he felt made him realise he had been hoping Ibuki would succeed. Now Monokuma was still out there somewhere, probably laughing at him as he thought about the 'motive.' Hajime clenched his teeth.

"Man, and Ibuki really wanted that lovey-dovey date with Hajime-chan." Ibuki's expression was not downcast for long. Almost as soon as she said this her eyes lit up. She bounced, face now inches from Hajime's as she smiled widely. "But! But, but! Monokuma-chan must still be out there, right?"

"Um," Hajime said, taken aback by Mioda's sudden proximity. He took a step back. "Yes?"

"Then Ibuki won't give up! Ibuki will definitely catch Monokuma-chan this time!" Then, without even waiting for a response, Ibuki dodged past Hajime and dived out the window, leaving Hajime to wonder why she didn't use the door.

He probably would have got ready for the bizarre day that awaited him had he not heard another whimper, and remembered Usami was still covered in honey on his floor. He grabbed a towel from his shower and knelt down, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked, offering Usami the towel. She took it with a pathetic sniffle.

"I-I'll be fine," she said, trying to wipe away the honey. "Mioda-san had me trapped in that jar all night."

"How did you get caught in Mioda's trap, anyway?"

"Um, well... I was looking for Monokuma last night when I found some honey lying around. Honey's really sweet and nice, so I just wanted to, um..."

"So what you're saying is you took the bait." Hajime wasn't even surprised. Usami stared down at her feet, if they could even be called feet, as if she was ashamed. It was at that point that Hajime noticed something was missing.

"Where's your magic stick?" Hajime felt a stab of dread. Did Usami drop it when Mioda grabbed her? If it was just lying around somewhere, Monokuma could easily get his paws on it again.

"That?" Usami giggled. After a night of humiliation she quickly grasped at a reason to feel proud. "When Mioda-san grabbed me I thought I was being attacked by Monokuma. I didn't want him to get hold of my magic stick again, so I quickly hid it in a place where no one could find it."

Hajime let himself relax, just a little bit. He would welcome any bit of good news, especially since he knew this strange morning would only lead to an even stranger day.

"Oh, that's right!" Usami said, suddenly fretful. "I need to start the morning announcement. Um, Hinata-kun, please try not to worry about this. Just leave it to your teacher! I'll definitely sort it out." And with that, she vanished out of Hajime's sight.

—Chapter end.