Chapter 14: Fluorescent Adolescent
Something prickled in the back of her mind as she drifted into consciousness. She'd had nightmares of claws and sharp teeth and fiery explosions, and it felt like they had followed her into the waking world.
She cracked an eye open, and the first thing she saw was a grinning, sharp-toothed face.
"Good morning!"
Hanako screamed and flung herself backwards so hard she smacked her head against the wall. She cast around for something heavy, but there was nothing more substantial than her pillow.
"All right, all right, calm down." Monokuma waved his paws in a placating gesture. "I get this handsome face probably isn't the first thing you wanna see in the morning."
She clenched her fists, her pulse thundering in her throat. "What the fuck are you doing in here?"
"I thought I'd pay a house call, since my morning announcements apparently aren't enough to wake you up. You ever heard of an alarm clock?"
Hanako glanced at the door. One of the others had always come to get her. Was something wrong?
The image of Nekomaru's bloody chest flashed in her mind, as if to answer her question. They weren't okay. Something was really, really wrong.
"I think humans would be able to get a lot more done with built-in alarm clocks." Monokuma put one paw to his chin, like they were having a casual chat over coffee.
Her muscles were wound tight with adrenaline. She wanted to kick him in his stupid face. She wished she didn't already know what would happen if she tried.
"What the hell do you want?" she snapped.
"Just giving you a wake-up call. I figured you wouldn't want to miss all the action."
A chill shot through her body. "Where? What's going on?"
"No spoilers! You wanna know more, you should head to the restaurant. Gotta go."
As soon as Monokuma was gone, Hanako leapt out of bed and scrambled to get dressed.
When she emerged from her cottage, a few others were drifting outside as well. Monokuma must have woken her up earlier than usual, then.
"The hell is going on?" Fuyuhiko asked as they converged at the central walkway. "Monokuma said something was going down at the restaurant."
"We'd better hurry and see what it is," Chiaki said.
Hanako glanced around, but there was no sign of Ibuki. She forced back a wave of nausea and followed the others up the stairs.
The first thing she noticed was Akane, sitting at one of the tables with her head in her hands. She was sobbing openly, her shirt damp from the tears dripping down her chin. Hanako stared for a moment, torn between disgust and pity. The most upset she'd seen Akane had been the day she'd accidentally knocked a plate of shrimp tempura over the restaurant balcony, and it had only taken minutes for her to recover. Even last night, after Nekomaru, she'd just been shocked. Quiet. It was jarring to see her like this.
Her disquiet turned into relief when she noticed Ibuki standing on the other side of the restaurant with Hajime, Nagito, and Mikan. She was smiling. She was okay.
Hanako made her way over to the group, trying to keep her expression light. "Hey, is everything okay?"
"Not really," Hajime said, and Mikan let out a whimper in agreement.
"Careful, Mioda," Nagito said. "Yukimura's been planning to kill you for quite some time, now."
To Hanako's absolute horror, Ibuki backed away from her. The smile on her face seemed off, almost forced, and her eyes were glassy.
"I would like to request that you not kill me," Ibuki said. "Would begging for my life work?"
"No, I—" She struggled for words, panic clawing its way back into her. "I would never hurt you, okay?"
Ibuki let out a sigh of relief. "Understood."
She rounded on Nagito, who was wearing his usual placid, infuriating smile. "Why would you say something like that? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me," he said. "I feel perfectly fine."
Hajime touched her arm before she could retort. "Something is going on with these two and Akane. They all have really high fevers."
Hanako reached over and touched Ibuki's forehead. Sure enough, her skin was hot to the touch. "They're sick?"
"Ding ding ding!"
They all spun around to face Monokuma, who was standing on a table in the center of the room.
"What woe and misfortune have you brought upon us this time?" Gundham asked with a glare.
"Well, this just so happens to be the third motive." He spun in place so he could look at all of them in turn. "I call this bad boy the Despair Disease. It's a nifty little virus that'll get those neural pathways all criss-crossed, in addition to a few other symptoms."
Sonia had her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles had turned white. "And what does that mean for our friends?"
"Well, it looks like some of the symptoms are individualized." He gestured to Nagito and Ibuki. "Compulsive lying, gullibility…" He glanced at Akane, who was still sobbing into her hands. "And, uh, whatever's up with her. Depression, maybe?"
"How do we treat them?" Hajime asked.
"Whyever would you want to do that? This disease is supposed to be good for you, in a way. So good, it might just spread to the rest of you!"
"You're saying it's contagious?" Mikan asked. "I-Is it airborne?"
Several of the others stepped away from Akane's table.
Chiaki raised a hand. "How exactly does this count as a motive?"
Monokuma's grin widened. "I'm just switching things up. The people you thought you knew are about to become very unpredictable—maybe enough for a killing to occur. And just so you know, I won't allow any insanity defenses during the trial." He let out a bone-chilling cackle.
Hanako turned to Mikan. "What do we do?"
Her jaw trembled. "Um…"
"There's nothing to be done," Nagito spoke over her. "There's no way any of you could overcome this."
Hajime let out a long-suffering sigh. "Komaeda—"
"That's not my name, by the way." He was speaking more quickly now, sweat beading on his brow. "I'm sorry for not telling you all earlier, but Nagito Komaeda is a fake name."
Ibuki leaned forward. "Ooh, really? What's your real name?"
"Okay, that's enough." Hanako took her arm and pulled her away from Nagito. She led her to another table and guided her to sit. "Just take it easy for now, okay?"
"Sure thing." Ibuki folded her hands in front of her.
Hanako bit her lip and looked away. This was all wrong. There was no teasing, no sign of that free spirit that she admired in Ibuki. How long would she be like this?
She was startled by a loud thud, and spun around to see Hajime and Mikan bent over Nagito's prone form.
Hiyoko craned her neck to get a better look. "Ew, is that foam coming out of his mouth?"
"Turn his head to the side. He might be having a febrile seizure." Mikan helped Hajime adjust his position. "We have to get him to the hospital right away."
Hanako turned to Ibuki, her heart pounding. "Hey, are you feeling okay?"
"Well, I feel a little feverish, and I have a headache." Ibuki started counting on her fingers. "Also, I'm getting an achy feeling in my shoulders, but that might just be because I slept in a weird position last night."
"Yukimura," Fuyuhiko called, making her turn. "Let's get a move on. We're taking all three of them to the hospital."
Hajime already had Nagito precariously balanced in his arms, and Mikan was persuading Akane to get out of her seat. Hanako reached for Ibuki's arm.
"Do you think you can walk?"
"I believe so." Ibuki stood up. "I just put one foot in front of the other, correct?"
"Yeah. And if you feel like you're gonna pass out, you tell me."
She saluted. "Will do."
Hanako tried for a smile, but it failed her. She watched Monokuma saunter out of sight, and fury filled her veins.
"How long are we going to be here?"
Hanako sighed and leaned against the frame of the hospital bed Ibuki was sitting on. "Until you get better, I guess."
"Then I'll do my best to get better." Idly, she swung her feet. "I miss the music venue already."
"Well, it's right next door, so… first stop, once we're out of here." She gave her a tentative smile.
"I still have to play that song for you, right?"
Hanako blinked, surprised that Ibuki had remembered that. She still wasn't sure how lucid she was. "Yeah. But focus on feeling better, okay?"
There was a soft knock at the door, and a moment later Mikan entered with a bundle of cloth.
"I found these in the supply closet. I thought m-maybe Mioda would be more comfortable with you helping her with these."
Hanako accepted the cloth from Mikan and unfolded it to reveal a hospital robe and a matching pair of slippers. She tried not to let her dread show on her face.
She thinks we're going to be here for a long time.
"It's standard practice for patients to change into clean and comfortable clothing," Mikan said, apparently reading discomfort on her face despite her efforts. "A-Am I asking too much for you to help with this?"
"No. It's fine. I'll see you outside, okay?"
Mikan let out a squeak of acquiescence and left the room.
Ibuki stood up and looked at the robe. "Those are for me to change into?"
"Yeah." She half-expected a suggestive comment to follow her question, but Ibuki only looked at her expectantly. It didn't feel right to be talking like that when she was in this state. She dropped the robe and slippers onto the foot of the bed. "I'll just…turn around. Let me know if you need any help."
As she faced the wall, a lump grew in her throat. She wanted this to be over, already. The other motives hadn't been like this. Now Monokuma was practically holding part of their group hostage. What if Ibuki's symptoms got worse, like Nagito's had?
A thought prickled at the base of her skull. Monokuma wanted murder. He'd dangled enough incentives in front of them. It wasn't ridiculous to think he would exchange a kill for a cure.
"All done."
Hanako turned around to see Ibuki dressed in her robe. She'd removed her stockings and arm warmer but kept her necklace. Her clothes were piled haphazardly at the foot of the bed.
"Just get some rest for now. I'm gonna talk to the others so we can figure out what to do."
"Rest sounds nice."
Ibuki climbed into bed, and Hanako busied herself with folding the discarded clothes.
She'd nearly forgotten Monokuma's rules only allowed for a zero-sum game. Getting away with a murder would mean condemning everyone else to death. Getting caught would mean facing whatever fucked up execution Monokuma had in store for her.
So if all she needed was to produce a body and avoid execution without getting anyone killed…
She took a deep breath and brushed the rest of that thought from her mind. They still had time. Mikan was their best hope in figuring all of this out.
She stowed Ibuki's clothes in one of the cabinets and straightened the blankets on her bed.
"All good? You need anything?"
Ibuki considered the question for a moment. "I need rest, don't I?"
"Yeah." Hanako moved closer, hesitated, and settled for patting her on the arm. "See you in a few."
The others were gathered in the hospital lobby, murmuring uneasily amongst themselves.
Hiyoko put her hands on her hips. "Okay, can we actually talk now about what we're going to do?"
Hanako glanced around the room. "I think Tsumiki might still be helping the others change. Should we wait for her?"
"Hey, doesn't it bother you that Tsumiki's helping your girlfriend change her clothes?" Kazuichi asked.
She blinked, her brain nearly short-circuiting with all the things wrong with his question. "I—fucking what?"
"We don't need to wait for Pig Barf. I doubt she'll have anything useful to add," Hiyoko said.
Hanako frowned at her. "She's the Ultimate Nurse. She's the only person here with something useful to say."
"Well, it's not like we need an expert to know that we have to contain the infected," Hiyoko retorted.
"You're talking about a quarantine," Chiaki said. "I think that's our best bet to stop the disease from spreading."
"But we can't just leave them here," Hajime said.
"We have to stop another killing from happening, no matter what. The less people who catch the disease, the better chance we have."
"And Tsumiki's staying to take care of them, right?" Kazuichi added.
"I will, too," Hanako said. "She's going to need help."
Hiyoko jabbed a finger at Hajime. "You too. You carried Komaeda all the way here. You probably have his germs all over you."
Hajime's expression soured a little at the implication, but he nodded. "Alright, fine."
"Then we shall take up our post nearby, should you call for aid," Gundham said. "The motel nearby should best suit our purposes."
"Okay, but how are we going to let you guys know if we need something?" Hanako asked.
Kazuichi raised his hand. "Leave that to me. I'll come up with something."
"Then it's settled." Chiaki smiled fondly, like she was their class rep and they were all getting a good grade in Surviving a Killing Game. "We'll leave the caretaking to you. In the meantime, we'll try and find out more about this Despair Disease."
As the others turned towards the door, Fuyuhiko spoke up.
"I'm staying, too."
Hajime turned to him. "Are you sure, Kuzuryu? You don't have to."
Fuyuhiko held his gaze and said quietly, "Yeah, I do."
"It's his choice, I guess." Kazuichi was edging towards the exit. "Good luck, you guys."
Hanako gave him a sarcastic salute.
"Try not to die, I guess." Hiyoko walked outside, letting the door swing shut in Kazuichi's face.
"Thank you all for your service. It is most appreciated," Sonia said before she left.
The others said their goodbyes and filed out of the lobby. The door had just swung shut when Mikan hurried into the room.
"I'm s-sorry to keep you all waiting." She stopped short. "Where did everyone go?"
"They're staying at the motel to avoid catching the disease," Hajime said. "We stayed behind to help you."
Mikan blinked rapidly. "Well, the ideal nurse to bed ratio is actually one to five, so I'm p-perfectly okay staying here by myself."
"Not gonna happen," Fuyuhiko said, and her mouth snapped shut. "You can't handle taking care of three people round the clock by yourself. We're staying."
Tears welled in her eyes. "That's s-so kind of you. I don't know how I could ever repay all three of you."
"No repayment," Hanako said, stepping closer. "We're gonna follow your lead. What's our game plan?"
Mikan didn't meet her eyes. "I've never heard of the Despair Disease before, so I don't r-really know how to treat it."
She took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. There had to be a way.
"You're the Ultimate Nurse, Tsumiki." She waited until Mikan looked at her. "I know you can come up with something."
"Well…" She swallowed. "It'll be difficult to know how to treat the disease if we don't know if it's viral or bacterial. Maybe the others can help with that. In the meantime, as long as we monitor their symptoms, they might be able to fight off the disease themselves."
Hanako relaxed a little. She hadn't even considered that. Maybe this would be nothing more than a waiting game.
"What about Komaeda?" Hajime asked.
"He's in a stable condition for now," Mikan said. "I'll check on him frequently to make sure his state doesn't worsen."
"Sounds like a lot of waiting," Fuyuhiko said. "Shouldn't be too hard."
Hanako let out a long, slow sigh and thought wistfully of the bottles of sake in the music venue.
Fuyuhiko was right—hospital duty involved an intolerable amount of waiting.
At first, there were plenty of chores to keep them occupied. They pulled sheets out of the supply closet and washed them in the tiny laundry room just in case they needed spares. They swept and mopped the hallways after Mikan's third comment about how unsanitary the building was. Hanako went with Hajime to the pharmacy to grab some medicine, and they stopped by the supermarket to grab drinks and snacks for the lobby. Mikan kept a chart of everyone's vitals, and Hanako doodled in the margins until they were bursting with flowers.
By the afternoon, there was nothing else to be done. Hanako kept checking on Ibuki until Mikan politely reminded her that she needed rest to get better.
"I'll keep a close eye on Komaeda." Mikan fiddled with the stethoscope draped over her neck. Nagito had remained in a feverish half-doze since they'd brought him in, but there wasn't much to be done except wait for him to wake up. "Maybe you should try and relax."
Hanako didn't think it was possible for her to relax. She wanted to do laps around the hospital. She wanted to take an IV stand and smash each of the windows. She wanted to tear Monokuma into pieces and dig her fingers into whatever was inside his body.
Instead, she crossed her arms and said, "Do you think the others are going to get as bad as Komaeda?"
"It's hard to say. His decline was much more severe than the others, so it's possible he was given a worse strain of the disease. Maybe his immune system was unable to respond properly." Mikan squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm s-sorry I can't give a better answer. Please don't hate me."
"I don't hate you." Hanako tried to soften her voice. "I meant what I said earlier. I don't know what we would do without you."
Mikan let out a small, watery laugh. "I just want to be useful."
"I know. I see you." She looked away. "You make sure to get some rest too, okay?"
"I'll do my best."
Hanako left her in the hallway and pushed open the door to the lobby. Hajime and Fuyuhiko were sitting in the small waiting area and looked up when she entered.
"Everything okay?" Hajime asked.
"As okay as it can be."
Mikan had said earlier that it was possible the invalids would be able to fight off the disease themselves. Hanako had repeated that to herself like a mantra all day. Monokuma couldn't kill people who hadn't violated a rule, so it wasn't like they would die from the illness.
Right?
It seemed more likely he was betting on another murder happening, and he was two for two so far. Akane seemed too depressed to think about killing, and Nagito was completely out of commission. But Ibuki…she wouldn't do it herself, but what if someone convinced her to kill?
Hanako dug her nails into her palm. She wouldn't allow that to happen.
"Yukimura."
She looked up at the sound of Fuyuhiko's voice.
"You're pacing," he said.
"So?"
"So quit it. You're making the both of us fuckin' nervous."
Hanako frowned at Fuyuhiko and turned her gaze to Hajime. He yawned and adjusted his tie.
"Fine." She walked over to the waiting area and mimicked Fuyuhiko's position, sitting backwards in her chair. "Let's do something, then."
"Like what?" Fuyuhiko asked.
Hanako spread her hands. "I could get up and start pacing again."
"Why don't we play a game?" Hajime said before Fuyuhiko could retort. They both looked at him. "You know, like those icebreakers they do the first week of school."
"Oh, brother." Fuyuhiko tilted his head back, and Hanako pressed her forehead into her folded arms with a groan.
"Hey, at least I'm coming up with ideas."
"Fine." Hanako lifted her head, then raised one hand with her fingers splayed. "Never have I ever been skydiving."
Hajime stared at her, nonplussed.
"You put a finger down if you've done something I've never done. First person to make a fist wins."
"Okay." He raised his hand. "Well, I've never been skydiving, either."
"Seriously?" Fuyuhiko grumbled.
"Well, have you?" Hanako asked. "For some crazy heist or something?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you think yakuza do?"
"You tell me."
He sighed and lifted a hand. "I'd have to be fuckin' desperate to jump out of a plane, so no. Is it my turn?"
"Sure."
"Never have I ever ridden a bike."
Hajime folded his thumb against his palm. "Really? Your parents never taught you?"
"It's a security risk," Fuyuhiko said, sounding almost defensive. "Spent most of my life getting around in armored cars."
Hanako wiggled a finger. "I actually don't know how, either. Does a motorcycle count?"
"There's no fuckin' way you know how to ride a motorcycle."
"I was riding behind someone, dummy."
Fuyuhiko scoffed. "You're gonna call me a dummy when you were the one riding around on one of those death traps? You ever heard the term 'meat crayon?'"
"First of all, gross—"
"Guys," Hajime said.
"Yeah?" Fuyuhiko looked at him. "You gonna take your turn or what?"
They went around their small circle for a few more rounds. Hanako let herself snipe at Fuyuhiko whenever he made a comment, and he was always ready with a comeback. Hajime gave up on mediating after the first ten minutes.
It was a nice way to blow off steam.
"Never have I ever shaved designs into my hair," Hanako said.
Fuyuhiko leaned back and glared at her. "Okay, that's way too fucking specific. You can't just say things that are targeted like that."
Hanako glanced at Hajime, only to find him with his chin propped in his hand and his eyes closed. "Never have I ever fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation." He still didn't react, so she nudged his leg with her foot. "Hey."
His eyes fluttered open. "Yeah. What?"
"You just fell asleep, Hinata," Fuyuhiko said.
"I guess I did." He rubbed his forehead, and Hanako finally noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "I didn't sleep much last night."
"There's an on-call room upstairs," Fuyuhiko said. "You might as well get some shut-eye while you can."
"Yeah, get some rest." Hanako nudged his leg, gentler this time. "We can hold down the fort here."
"Alright. I'll see you guys in a little." Hajime stood up and trudged out of the lobby.
Hanako rested her chin on her folded arms and stared listlessly at the potted cactus on the other side of the room.
"Ancient people in America used cactus spines for tattoos," she said. Anything to keep silence from encroaching.
Fuyuhiko adjusted the strap of his eyepatch. "Oh, yeah?"
"People have been putting ink in their skin for thousands of years. Before they started writing or measuring time."
"Huh."
She tipped her chair forward and let it fall back into place with a clack.
"Do you have cigarettes?"
He finally looked at her. "The fuck kind of question is that?"
She held up two fingers and mimed smoking. "You know, they're rolled up in paper, they make clouds when you light one end on fire."
He glared back at her. "Yeah, I know what a fucking cigarette is. You seriously think I'm carrying those cancer sticks around?"
Hanako held up her hands. "Geez, it was just a question."
"What, do you smoke?"
"No, I just wanted to get to know you better. Yes, I smoke."
"And we're in a hospital, too. This is the last place you'd be allowed to smoke."
She stared at him. "You are the most straight-laced yakuza I've ever met."
He scowl deepened. "I have a code, okay?"
"Oh, so smoking is off the table but murder is totally fine." She snapped her jaw shut as Fuyuhiko stiffened. "Sorry."
"You didn't say anything I didn't deserve," he said lowly.
Hanako sighed and looked away. The two of them needed to work together for now, so it made sense to try and get along. That didn't mean she had to forgive him for the friend—two friends, actually—that he'd killed. Was she still obligated to people she couldn't remember?
"For what it's worth," she said, forcing the words out one by one, "I'm sorry about what happened to your sister."
Fuyuhiko tilted his head away. It was hard to read his expression with his injured eye concealed. The silence drew on for so long that she was beginning to think she'd crossed a line when he finally said, "I think you two could've been good friends."
"I don't think we were," she said. Not if Natsumi had been targeting Mahiru. It was another allegiance drawn for her by a life she couldn't remember.
"Yeah, you'd probably hate her guts. I couldn't stand her most of the time." His voice lowered to nearly a whisper. "But she was a good kid."
Hanako lowered her gaze to her arms, tracing the tiny star tattoo just below her wrist. She didn't know what to say. She didn't have any siblings, and everyone else in her family had left her before she knew she had anything to lose.
Fuyuhiko opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.
"I'm gonna go see if Tsumiki needs anything." She stood. "Be back in a few."
"Shout if you need anything."
She murmured an agreement as she left, ignoring the tightness in her chest.
Night fell, and Hanako gained a little freedom from the tedium of the hospital. She ran to the restaurant and returned with broth and rice for dinner. Nagito was barely conscious enough to eat, so she left a bottle of vitamin water in his room. Ibuki had a decent appetite, so she spent most of her time with Akane, coaxing her to eat in between her tears.
She'd just stepped out into the hallway when Fuyuhiko nearly barreled into her.
"Woah, slow down." She closed the door behind her and tensed when she noticed his panicked expression. "What's wrong?"
"Where the hell is Tsumiki?"
"Upstairs, I think. Why?"
"Something's wrong with Komaeda," he replied, already rushing past her towards the stairs.
"Wha—shit." She sprinted after him as they hurried up to the second floor.
Fuyuhiko threw open the door to the on-call room and froze.
Mikan was there, sitting upright in the bed. On top of Hajime. They both turned at the sound of the door opening, wearing matching blushes.
"Oh my god," Hanako said.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Fuyuhiko snapped. "Seriously, you two are high school students."
Mikan launched into an incoherent string of stuttering, and Hanako waved a hand at Fuyuhiko's face as if that would diminish his glare.
"Not the point I would have started with," she said. "Komaeda needs help."
"I went to check on him just now, and it looked like he wasn't breathing," Fuyuhiko said.
She whipped her head around. "Wait, he's not breathing?"
"What?" Mikan leapt out of bed, somehow managing to land on her feet, and pushed past the two of them.
Fuyuhiko turned to Hajime. "Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?"
He sat up, his face still flushed. "It's not what you think. We were—"
"Not the time, guys," Hanako snapped, and the three of them ran after Mikan.
She was already bent over Nagito by the time they reached the hospital room. He was even paler than usual, his hair limp with sweat and plastered to his forehead. Mikan was counting silently as she took his blood pressure, and Hanako wrapped her arms around herself.
"Hey," Fuyuhiko said lowly. "If he was dead, we would've heard the body discovery announcement, right?"
"No doubt Monokuma is waiting for it anyway," Hajime muttered.
"What do we do if he croaks, though? It clearly wouldn't be a murder. There's no way we would have to do a trial, right?"
"I won't let that happen," Mikan said, loudly enough to startle them. "I won't let Komaeda die. Whatever it takes, I'll make sure he recovers."
Hanako took a few tentative steps to join her by the bed. "How's he looking?"
"The fever has made him incredibly weak," Mikan said. "I'm going to prep an oxygen mask in case he continues to have trouble breathing."
"Okay." She glanced down at Nagito. It took a long moment of staring to discern the rise and fall of his chest. "Anything I can do?"
"Um." Mikan's hands fluttered restlessly. "I don't think so. There's a lot of specialized knowledge involved. I'm sorry."
"Let's not get in her way," Fuyuhiko said. "We need to give an update to the others, anyway. Let's get to the lobby."
"I'm right behind you," Hanako said.
She waited until the boys left the room, then put a hand on Mikan's arm and waited until she made eye contact.
"Look. I have faith in you that you're gonna make this work. But if Komaeda doesn't pull through, it's not your fault. Okay?"
Mikan's eyes welled with tears. "I have to find a way to make him better. W-Whatever it takes."
The words were like a blow to her chest. She didn't feel the same desperation about Nagito. But if it was Ibuki lying there, barely breathing…
"It's gonna be okay," she said, and tried to make herself believe it. "We're in this together."
"I've n-never been part of a team before." Mikan ducked her head and sniffled. "I don't want to let any of you down."
Something about Mikan's crumpled posture and the ache sitting behind her sternum drew her forward. She wrapped her arms around Mikan and pulled her close. Mikan let out a small squeak and tensed, so Hanako held her gently until she relaxed. Tentatively, she leaned forward and rested her chin on Hanako's shoulder, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks.
Hanako closed her eyes and, once she was sure her voice wouldn't break, said, "We should probably get back to work."
Mikan gasped like she'd forgotten about Nagito entirely and pulled out of her grip. "Of course. Right away. I'm s-sorry for distracting you."
"You didn't," Hanako said, and left it at that as Mikan hurried out of the room.
When she entered the lobby, Hajime and Fuyuhiko were standing at the reception desk, looking at a small monitor. She looked over their shoulders and saw Kazuichi's face on the screen.
"What is this?"
"Souda fixed this up today," Fuyuhiko said, gesturing to the monitor and the mounted camera beside it. "This is how we'll communicate without worrying about spreading the disease."
"Pretty cool, right?" Kazuichi grinned. "Turns out there are some useful parts in those electronics shops."
"And where are you guys on researching the Despair Disease?" Hanako asked.
"Oh. Uh, well I was working on this camera thing for most of the day."
She leaned forward, bracing her hands on the edge of the desk. "What about everyone else?"
"I mean, there's only so much we can do. Saionji locked herself in her room and won't talk to anyone. And certain people are more concerned with playing with their hamsters than helping."
"A pitiful overlord I would be to neglect the needs of my most trusted underlings," came the reply from offscreen.
"Seriously?" Hanako grabbed the camera and held it up to her face. "We've been working our asses off all day. Komaeda almost died tonight. The least you could do is fucking try to help us instead of hiding in the motel all day."
"Yukimura." Hajime put a hand on her arm and lowered it until the camera was back on the desk. "I'm sure everyone is doing their best over there."
Kazuichi sent a helpless glance offscreen, and a moment later Sonia appeared in the frame.
"I did not realize the situation in the hospital was so dire, so I apologize on behalf of the group. First thing tomorrow, we will begin looking for a cure. Perhaps the library will have some useful information."
Hanako let out a slow breath and released her grip on the camera. "Okay. Sorry."
Sonia shot her a sympathetic smile. "No apology is necessary. I'm sure your day must have been quite stressful."
"Yeah, like Mis— like Sonia said, we'll figure it out." Kazuichi flashed them a thumbs up. "You guys just worry about taking care of the others."
"Sounds good. We'll talk after the morning announcement tomorrow." Fuyuhiko leaned forward and pressed the button at the bottom of the monitor. The screen went dark.
Hanako stalked away from the desk, embarrassed by her outburst but still too agitated to address it. Before anyone could speak, the large monitor on the wall chimed, and Monokuma's nightly announcement rang through the room. She sighed and flipped off the screen.
"We should probably figure out sleeping arrangements for tonight," Fuyuhiko said once the monitor went dark. "Hinata, did you get any sleep this afternoon or were you too busy with other stuff?"
Hajime sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Like I said—"
"We can line up the chairs for one person to sleep." Hanako nudged one with her foot. "One person can take the on-call room, and two can stay up to monitor the patients. We can take shifts. Sound good?"
"No, that does not sound good," Monokuma said from the doorway, making her tense. "I don't know if you kiddos can read, but the sign outside says hospital, not hotel."
Fuyuhiko glared at him. "The hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Ahem." Monokuma walked over to the whiteboard and stretched an arm up to point at the paper pinned to it.
Hajime moved close enough to read the notice and skimmed it. "Unless patients require accompaniment, overnight stays by non-patients are expressly forbidden."
"We do have a patient that needs accompaniment," Fuyuhiko said.
"Oh, you mean Komaeda?" Monokuma thought for a moment. "Then I'll allow one person to stay with him. Let me know if you need me to count that out for you."
"It should probably be Tsumiki." Hajime glanced at Hanako, as if expecting her to argue.
She only dipped her chin towards her chest and said, "I'll go tell her."
Mikan was so preoccupied with Nagito she barely reacted when Hanako told her the news.
"We'll be back here first thing tomorrow morning," she said. "You think you can hold out until then?"
"Of course." She paused in her work to look at her with watery eyes. "I won't let you down."
"I know." She touched her shoulder briefly. "'Night, Tsumiki."
She stepped out into the hallway and let out a slow, measured breath. It was getting harder to ignore the pit in her stomach.
She stopped by Ibuki's room one more time. She opened the door as quietly as she could, but Ibuki still stirred and opened her eyes.
"Hey." Hanako stepped into the room. "I'm heading out for the night. You need anything before I go?"
"Hmm." Ibuki blinked sleepily and shifted her head to get more comfortable on the pillow. "Goodnight kiss?"
Hanako almost laughed. "Yeah, sure."
She approached the bed and brushed aside Ibuki's sweat-slick bangs. She was still breathing, still awake. She wasn't going to end up like Nagito.
"Ibuki feels gross."
"I'll bring something tomorrow so you can freshen up." She leaned over and kissed her forehead. Something about the simple touch brought a lump to her throat. "See you in the morning."
Hajime and Fuyuhiko were waiting for her outside the hospital. They walked in silence back to their cottages and lingered when they reached the intersection between the boys' and girls' sides.
"We'll get our shit together tomorrow," Fuyuhiko said. "If Komaeda pulls through, we might actually stand a chance at getting past this." He glanced at Hajime. "And no more fooling around with Tsumiki, okay?"
Hanako smiled half-heartedly. "At least put a sock on the door next time."
Hajime flushed. "Seriously, we weren't…"
Fuyuhiko waved him off. "Whatever. I'm beat. I'll see you both tomorrow."
He set off towards his cottage, but Hanako lingered where she was, her humor fading.
"Hey, Hinata?"
Hajime paused and turned back to her. "Yeah?"
"You're serious that nothing happened between you and Tsumiki? She didn't…do anything weird?"
"Yes, I'm serious." He sounded exhausted, but she couldn't detect a lie in his words. "I think she was so exhausted she just fell asleep. Nothing else happened."
"Okay. I believe you." She shifted her weight, unsure where this unease was coming from. "Just… You can always come to me if something weird happens."
Hajime was looking at her more closely now, like she'd been the one to confess something. "Thanks, for that. How are you holding up?"
As soon as he asked the question, tears sprang to her eyes. She wiped them away with furious motions.
"I'm just worried about the others."
"So am I." He hesitated. "Are you gonna be able to sleep tonight?"
She shot him a look that probably wasn't half as effective with tears in her eyes. "What do you think?"
"Do you want to stay up for a while longer? I don't know if I'll be able to get much sleep either."
"Okay." She relaxed. "That actually sounds really nice."
They sat by the pool and talked about nothing until their eyes grew heavy. It was a welcome distraction, enough to ease some of the ache in her chest. Hajime looked a little better by the time they turned in for the night.
Inside her cottage, Hanako undressed, crawled into bed, and stared at the ceiling with her eyes wide open.
I'm really enjoying the Hajime/Fuyuhiko/Hanako trio. Specifically Fuyuhiko and Hanako bitching at each other while Hajime slowly starts sprouting gray hairs.
This chapter's title comes from Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys. I am super hype for the next few chapters; we're gonna get heavy into the angst and drama.