Chapter 6: Ways to Go

After breakfast the next morning, Hanako found Mahiru in the restaurant kitchen, where she was packing the leftover rice into a bowl.

"I think all the leftovers get taken care of," she said, depositing her dirty bowl in one of the sinks. "And the dishes."

Mahiru arched an eyebrow. "You think all these dishes just get magically washed?"

"I mean, the food just kind of appears, doesn't it?" She paused. "Wait, have you been cleaning up every morning?"

"Pekoyama usually helps me. Sometimes Tsumiki and Sonia join in," she said, a tiny hint of reproach in her voice. "Really, everyone should be taking responsibility for it, but it seems not everyone realized it had to be done."

Hanako crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. "Guess I had other things on my mind with the murders and such."

"Yeah." Mahiru's shoulders lowered a little before she shook her head slightly. "But that's no excuse, is it? We have to keep things neat even when everything else is a mess."

That's a cute idea. Instead of voicing her cynical thoughts aloud, Hanako gathered up a pile of dirty dishes and deposited them in the sink. There was a sponge and soap already available, so she set to scrubbing the bits of food from them.

She glanced over her shoulder and realized Mahiru was preparing a tray of food instead of cleaning. "What are you doing?"

Her cheeks reddened a little. "I was going to bring this to Komaeda. I don't like him at all, but it would be bad if he starved."

"Right."

Nekomaru and Kazuichi had let slip earlier that they were keeping Nagito tied up in the old building, in the very room where Byakuya had been killed. Hanako had initially assumed he'd gone off on his own to wring his hands and laugh maniacally or some other crazy shit, but it eased her nerves a little to know he wasn't free to keep plotting against them.

"Are you going to be all right?" she asked.

"Of course," Mahiru said. "If he's tied up, there's not much he can do, right?"

"He can talk. He manipulated Hanamura into killing someone."

Mahiru narrowed her eyes. "Hanamura made the decision to murder. I'm not that kind of person."

Hanako held up her soapy hands in surrender. "I'm not saying you are. Just making sure you're okay doing this by yourself."

"I'll be fine." Her expression softened. "I appreciate your concern, though."

"Sure thing."

Mahiru picked up the tray and headed for the door, then paused and turned back to her. "Oh, by the way, I was thinking of having a get-together with the other girls later today. We could make some desserts and have them with tea. Did you want to come?"

"...Sure." She stopped herself before she could stop thinking of ulterior motives for that kind of invitation. Mahiru just wanted to eat and hang out with the others. Normal shit.

Hanako wasn't good at normal shit.

"Alright, then. Meet back here around noon, okay?" Mahiru leveled her with a stern look. "And it's girls only, got it?"

"Got it." She tried for a smile as Mahiru disappeared through the door.

Once she was gone, Hanako sighed and turned back to the dishes. Anxiety was already building in her gut like bubbles in a shaken can of soda. After all the insanity that had taken place on this island, she really wished it would make the regular shit feel easy in comparison.


Hanako kept the headphones clamped around her head, checking her eHandbook for the time after each song. The clock crawled towards twelve. She wanted to be a little late, but she couldn't stop watching the time.

The headphones were good quality, at least, the heavy bass and abrasive vocals calming her nerves a little. She would have to let Ibuki try these out. Maybe she could bring it up when they all met in the kitchen. For some reason, the thought made her stomach drop.

At five minutes after twelve, she finally ripped the headphones off and got out of bed. It didn't feel late enough, but she was tired of sitting and waiting.

The rest of the girls were already at the restaurant—along with Hajime and Monomi. She guessed the latter counted as a girl, though she made a mental note to keep an eye on anything the rabbit touched.

Hajime was leaning against one of the tables, and she sidled up next to him.

"Hey, Hinata. Sorry I didn't notice earlier."

He blinked. "Notice what?"

"That you're a girl. That's why you're here, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "I gave Koizumi a magazine with some dessert recipes in it, so she invited me here."

"I see." Out of all the boys on the island, Hajime was definitely one of the least annoying, so she wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

"Okay, everyone." Mahiru clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "I came a little early to put out all the ingredients we need. I also made a list of everything we're going to make."

She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, and everyone gathered around to look.

Hiyoko lifted her chin to get a better look. "Yay, I love sugar cookies!"

"And sponge cakes." Sonia clapped her hands. "How wonderful!"

"I'm too short to see the list," Monomi said, bouncing on her toes, and was ignored.

They all filed into the kitchen, where an array of ingredients, mixing bowls, and cookie cutters had been laid out. Hanako leaned against the counter, unsure where to start. She rarely cooked, and baked even less. Her experience with making desserts mostly consisted of scooping ice cream out of the tub and into her mouth.

Mahiru approached and passed her an apron. "Put this on so you don't get your clothes dirty. Why don't you help out with the cookie dough?"

"Fine." For once, she was grateful for Mahiru's bossy demeanor as she slipped the apron over her head and tied it in the back.

Mikan was already measuring out the ingredients for the cookie dough, spooning flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.

"Need any help?" Hanako asked.

She started and dropped the measuring cup she was holding. "A-Am I doing it wrong? I'm used to m-much smaller measurements."

"Really?"

"When I administer drugs and other medicines. The dosages always need to be exact. Even a small mistake can result in serious illness or even death." Mikan let out a squeak. "I said something weird, didn't I?"

Hanako shrugged one shoulder. "I guess we both work better with needles, huh?"

Mikan let out another squeak, though this one sounded less nervous and more like a laugh. "That's true. Do you…like taking care of other people, Yukimura?"

She reached over and extracted the recipe from under a coating of flour. "What do you mean?"

"Getting a tattoo is p-painful, right? Do you take care of your clients afterwards?"

"I give them the usual instructions about keeping it covered, moisturized, all of that. It can take more than a year for a tattoo to fully heal, so it's not like I can hold everyone's hand for that entire time." She glanced over at Mikan, who seemed to have forgotten about the cookie dough entirely. "Why do you ask?"

A nervous smile twitched on her face. "You don't really seem like the nurturing type, but you m-must take care of your own tattoos, right?"

Hanako blinked. "...Yes?"

Her smile vanished. "I'm being really nosy. Please forgive me."

"Don't worry about it." She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, knowing it would just cause Mikan to apologize even more. She grabbed the mixing bowl and began stirring the ingredients together. "So, what else do we need?"

The baking process went more smoothly after that, until Mikan somehow smashed her finger with the rolling pin and Mahiru had to take her to get some ice. She apologized the entire time for being clumsy.

Hanako let out a sigh through her nose once she was gone. She wasn't used to letting people get under her skin like that, especially not someone like Mikan. She wasn't sure what bothered her more—the idea that Mikan put on an act to get attention, or that she really was that pathetic.

She grunted in annoyance as she almost sliced her finger with the knife she was using to cut out the flattened cookie dough. No way she was becoming the second casualty from this damn dough.

Someone held out a box of cookie cutters, and Hanako looked up to see Peko standing beside her.

"These might be more effective if you're trying to make shapes for the cookies."

"Yeah, I know." Hanako put the knife down. "I was thinking about making a little cookie head for everyone here, so I can't just use generic shapes."

"I see." Peko pointed at the blob-looking shape she was working on. "Who is that supposed to be?"

"Nanami," she said, trying not to grimace. "It's hard to get her hair right."

"Perhaps if you make the cuts like this." Peko took the knife and made a few curved incisions in the dough.

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I knew you were the Ultimate Swordswoman, but I didn't know that extended to baking."

"I suppose some principles can be applied to both." A light blush rose on her cheeks. It made her look a lot less severe. "If you'd like, I can help you with the others."

"Please."

They spent the next few minutes carving shapes out of the dough for each member of the gathering. Hanako hoped they would hold their shape in the oven, but she could always fix any lack of definition with icing.

"Aren't you gonna do yourself?" she asked as Peko finished cutting out the last locks of Ibuki's wild hair.

Peko hesitated. "Should I?"

"Duh. I said I was making a cookie for everyone." She wiped her hands on a towel and leaned against the edge of the table. "Do you think you're not part of the group or something?"

Her lips thinned for a moment before she replied, "I hadn't thought about it like that."

"Well, it looks like we have just enough dough for one more."

Silently, Peko began carving out the shape of the last cookie. Hanako busied her hands with cleaning up their section of the table. She didn't feel like asking Peko what her deal was, but she couldn't help but wonder. Unlike Hiyoko, who was vocally uninterested in being friends with anyone but Mahiru, and Mikan, who was a ball of social anxiety, Peko seemed like she was purposefully keeping everyone at arm's length. Like they were all acquaintances just sharing the same space instead of classmates trapped together in a death game.

Traitor, a voice whispered in the back of her mind, and she shoved the thought away.

The cookies went in the oven next to a tray of pastries, and when she returned to the table, Peko was busy helping Mahiru slice fruit for another dessert. Hanako grabbed the ingredients to make frosting and took an empty spot next to Ibuki, who was working on…

She did a double take. "What the hell is that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ibuki bent down so she was eye-level with the lump of dough on the table. "For many years now, Ibuki has dreamed of making a cookie sculpture of her boobs."

"You're going for a whole bust." Now that she had some context, it was easier to pick out the face and torso. "Are you gonna eat it once you're done or put in on display?"

Ibuki tapped her chin. "Maybe I'll put it in the park where those statues used to be."

"If you put it outside it'll melt," Hajime said, glancing over at Ibuki's project, and Hanako held back a laugh at the horrified expression on his face.

"Maybe there's another way to preserve it." Ibuki waved a hand in Mahiru's direction. "Hey, Koizumi! Are you gonna take a picture of my masterpiece once it's done?"

Mahiru just barely held back a grimace. "We'll see."

"Or you could give me a tattoo of my cookie statue." She bumped Hanako with her hip.

A smile twitched on her lips. "You want me to give you a tattoo of yourself as a cookie."

"See, you already know how to do it." Ibuki pointed to a tattoo on her arm of a marble bust. "Who is that supposed to be, your boyfriend?"

"It's not my boyfriend." Hanako felt her cheeks grow hot and started stirring the frosting more aggressively. "I just liked the design."

"Because he's handsome, right?" Ibuki poked her arm. "You're too obvious, Yukimura."

"Shut it." Smiling, Hanako swiped a finger through the frosting and held it up, intending to smear it against Ibuki's cheek. Instead, Ibuki caught her finger with her lips and licked the frosting off.

"Hey, gross!" She wiped her hand on her apron, her heart suddenly pounding.

"Mm, that frosting is pretty good!" Ibuki went back to her cookie sculpture as if nothing had happened.

"Yukimura, go wash your hands," Mahiru said. "The rest of us want to eat those cookies too, you know."

Too flustered to come up with a better retort, Hanako trudged over to the sink. She resisted the urge to splash cold water on her face—the others must have noticed how red she'd gotten.

She finished up the frosting in silence, dividing the bowl into portions and mixing in food coloring. Once the cookies were done and cooled, she started decorating them. It was calming, pouring all of her focus into the tiny details and watching the shapes come together. Still, there was a stubborn piece of her attention she couldn't pull away from Ibuki, who was animatedly describing her cookie statue to Mikan.

"Okay," Mahiru said, getting everyone's attention. "I think we're mostly done here. Saionji and I are going to get the tea ready, but I think we can start bringing everything into the dining room."

Hanako stayed hunched over her work as the others gradually filed out.

Sonia paused in the doorway. "Aren't you coming, Yukimura?"

"In a minute." She still had three cookies to go, and was debating on whether or not to give Mikan's cookie straight bangs or not.

In her periphery, she watched Sonia move to her side.

"These are amazing!" She clasped her hands together. "You have a wonderful eye for detail, Yukimura."

"Thanks." A small smile lifted her lips. "It turns out inking tattoos and decorating cookies aren't that different."

Gently, Sonia lifted the one shaped like her. "It almost seems a shame to eat it."

Hanako shrugged. "I mean, I could always make more."

"Have you ever thought about pursuing the classical arts?"

"Like painting and stuff? Not really. I dabbled in graffiti for a little while, but…"

She'd been in over her head. Her second night tagging had been the first time she'd heard a gun go off up close.

She blinked the memory away and squeezed some more frosting towards the tip of the bag.

"Hey, Sonia, can you help us carry these trays?" Mahiru called from the other side of the kitchen.

"Of course." Sonia swept away, and Hanako was left to finish the cookies in silence.

When she added them to the spread in the dining room, everyone exclaimed over their individual likenesses. Ibuki proudly displayed hers next to her finished sculpture, Mikan held hers as if it were made of glass, and Akane gave her a brief thanks before biting off half of it.

"What a nice gift for your classmates!" Monomi was standing on her toes to try and see the table. "Did you make one for me, too?"

Hanako froze. Oops.

"That was the one that broke, right?" Chiaki asked.

"Yeah," she said, quickly catching on. "Sorry. It probably got overbaked in the oven. Anyway, where did Hinata go?"

"I actually asked him to leave," Mahiru said, a slightly apologetic expression on her face. "It was really nice of him to bring the recipes, but I did say this was a girls-only gathering."

"Harsh." Especially since they'd let Monomi stay.

"Hey, are we gonna get this thing started?" Akane asked, brushing a few crumbs from her mouth. "I wanna try what everyone else made."

"I didn't see you helping out much," Hiyoko muttered, but everyone took a seat and began filling their plates.

Hanako swallowed a gulp of too-hot tea as Ibuki slid into the seat next to hers. This was fine. Totally normal. If she could just chill out for five seconds, things wouldn't be weird.

Ibuki pointed at the Hanako-cookie, which lay untouched on her plate. "Are you gonna eat that?"

Nope, she thought, This is definitely not fine.


"Thanks for staying after to clean up. I have to admit, I'm a little surprised."

Hanako dried her hands on a dishtowel and glanced at Mahiru. "Why?"

"Sometimes you seem like you don't want anything to do with the rest of us."

She snorted. "You're calling me out for being a loner? Not Kuzuryu or Tanaka?"

"Well, they're guys," Mahiru said with an eye roll, as if that was all the explanation she needed to give. "If they want to do their own thing, that's fine. But I'm glad you decided to spend time with the rest of us today."

"It was nice." Hanako picked at a loose thread on the dishtowel. They'd all hung out for so long it was nearly time for dinner. "A lot more fun than I expected. I'm just not used to hanging out with girls my age."

Mahiru tilted her head. "Really? Why not?"

"I mean, you don't see a lot of teenage girls walking into a tattoo parlor."

Her eyebrows lowered. "But you were in school."

"I kind of did my own thing. I wanted to drop out, but then I got scouted by Hope's Peak, and those guys are really persistent."

Mahiru hummed in agreement. "I think you're better off not being a dropout."

"Well, if I hadn't accepted the invitation, I'd be back home instead of on Murder Island, so…" She walked over to one of the cabinets and retrieved a covered plate of cookies.

Mahiru raised an eyebrow. "You saved leftovers?"

"Yeah. I got kind of lucky—I thought Owari was going to sniff these out somehow."

She laughed, then let out a sigh. "Well, speaking of lucky, I should probably prepare some food for Komaeda."

"You're way too nice."

"Not nice, just…" She shook her head, making her red hair sway. "Some habits I can't shake, I guess."

"Let me know if you need someone to take over. See you." Hanako waved with her free hand and left the room.

"See you, Yukimura."

The sun was setting when Hanako stepped out of the hotel. The surrounding palm trees cast moody shadows on the gently rippling water of the pool. She skirted the edge of it and made her way to the boys' cottages.

It only took one chime of the doorbell for Hajime to open the door.

"Hi, Yukimura."

"Hey. Felt kinda bad that you got kicked out after helping us, so…" She shoved the plate at him.

He blinked twice. "This is for me?"

"Yup."

"Thanks." He took the plate. "You didn't have to."

"Yeah, well." She shifted her weight, suddenly wishing she'd just ditched the plate in front of his door. "There's nuts in the pastries, so I hope you're not allergic."

"I'm not." A genuine smile spread on his face. "This was really nice of you."

Hanako felt her cheeks heat up. She wondered how hard it would be to become a hermit on one of the other islands and just live in a cave until this was all over.

"Yeah, well. We're even for the headphones now."

His smile dimmed a little. Before she could wonder why in the hell she'd said something like that, Hanako turned and walked at a totally normal pace back to her own cottage.

This chapter's title is from Ways to Go by Grouplove. This one and the next will be mostly fluff/character development before we move into the main plot of Chapter 2. Thanks for reading!