Summary: Up for Round Two, Love?

His head ached. It wasn't particularly surprising considering his current streak of insomnia, but the dull war drum bouncing around within the four walls of his mind did little to help his mood. Rubbing his temples staved off the brunt of his for the moment, but if he didn't get any rest soon it was likely that Naegi would have to begin the annoying process of having a migraine as part of his daily life. Normally he'd just sleep it away, or take some medication if it got too serious…which didn't seem like a thing he could do when stuck in a prison school, at the tender mercies of a homicidal bear hellbent on pushing them to kill each other.

Each step down the hallway sent a spike of pain straight into the back of his eyes, and it took far longer than normal for him to finally stagger his way to the stairwell. It was dimly lit, but definitely better than having to blindly fumble around in the darkness while his brain felt like it was being put into a juicer. He was more likely to crack his skull open after a fall as compared to actually succeeding in getting to the second floor. Gripping on to the railing like it was the one thing standing between himself and certain death (which it might as well be at this point), the Luckster proceeded to complete the arduous task of pulling himself towards the pool.

His hand trailed along the wall as he forced the headache back to the depths of his mind, pausing briefly at the entrance of the library. Naegi briefly entertained the notion of accessing the records room, but the subtle hint of light trickling out from beneath the gap between the door and the floor indicated someone else had probably set up shop there. No prizes for guessing who exactly would be holed up in the library at this time of night. Slightly disappointed, he continued his slow shuffle. His tenuous grip on mental stability probably wouldn't have helped him absorb any of the information anyway. Humming to fill the silence, his footsteps made no sound against the tiled floor, and the gentlest creak of a door was the only sign he had even been there in the first place.

It was currently about 3.30 in the morning. His little near-scuffle with Monokuma had occurred perhaps five or so hours ago, and his nerves were still singing with the sensation of being dangled off a cliff. He had tried to go back to bed afterwards, but after an hour of fruitless effort, the failure to even approach the fugue state of being between the waking world and his nightmares quite blatantly spelled out that it was going to be one of those nights. Again. Which was why he was now idling in the boy's locker room, sharp bursts of breath escaping his lungs as he desperately forced his body through another set of reps.

Naegi Makoto was not one to exercise. His frequent misadventures along with the amount of time it took to sort them out afterwards left little room for a normal teenager to do anything other than his homework, sleep, and the occasional video game. His family had been supportive, taking steps to work around his misfortune (like childproofing every sharp corner after the fourth time he slammed his head into one), but a good part of the struggle was his own to bear. He wasn't unfit by any means. It was hard enough to run away from rabid animals without your lungs feeling like they had been caught underneath the wheel of a truck. But neither was he like the buff Ultimates that he had witnessed in the past few days, nor did he have the Talent to keep up with them. What he could do, however, was improve himself. Even the slightest edge in physical capability could be the thing making a difference between life and death in the uncertain world he was living in. Resisting the urge to collapse as his arms protested the next set of pushups, the Luckster propped himself against the pull up bars, mechanically running through his current workout regime.

Definitely lighter than what he used to do, but considering he was running on fumes and still had to train with Ogami in the morning, half an hour of cardio intermixed with other strength training exercises would have to suffice. He fumbled around briefly for his discarded hoodie, snatching one of the bottles of water from it and proceeding to take several grateful gulps. Wouldn't want to add dehydration to the long list of issues he was currently dealing with. Stretching slightly and feeling the way his muscles burned at the action, he quietly slipped into another set of cool-down stretches. Pulling or tearing something in this place would be terrible.

Absentmindedly wondering if Monokuma would open up the infirmary in the event that one of them suffered an injury unrelated to attempted (or successful) murder, Naegi took another swig of water. His limbs felt like lead, and the fatigue pulling at his eyelids was now more physical than mental. Nonetheless, he shook the temptation of sleep from his mind, tapping the near empty bottle against his knee as he folded a leg and leaned backwards.

From what little scientific knowledge he had in the cluttered recesses of his mind, Naegi faintly recalled something about muscle mass taking far less time to be consumed by the body as compared to the efforts put into building it. There was a significant possibility that his efforts from now on would be for nothing. That he would expire long before any exercise could even make a difference, or, by some miracle, be rescued from this hellhole before the next rounds of killing could commence. Optimism told the Luckster to hold his head up high and wish for such an unlikely act to occur. The newer, far louder part of his brain scoffed and told him to keep working. He sighed, rolling onto his back to stare at the concrete sky.

Maybe he could take a short break. Just a little one.

He had positioned himself in a corner of the many seats encircling the pool, hopefully far away enough from any prying eyes so that he wouldn't find himself waking up to the watery embrace of death. He started to doze off after a short while, but never quite found enough peace to fall asleep, especially considering the way his head continued to pulse with pain. It had died down from the agonising jabs to persistent minor prodding, but the mere sensation was enough to knock him back into the fight-or-flight reflex every time he attempted to loosen up.

His mind was elsewhere at the moment, thinking over the many, many questions that he had been attempting to solve. He had collected more pieces of the puzzle than most, but the limited nature of their freedom along with the constant surveillance made him feel like he had bet everything on a game that had been rigged from the start. The discovery of the secret room and the files within had been instrumental to figuring out more, but even then he couldn't risk going there too often, lest the Mastermind catch on to what he was trying to do. His own actions had also alienated the Luckster from the majority of the other students that served as his fellow prisoners, but considering the hostile nature of the cruel game they all had unwittingly become a part of, perhaps it was for the best? He chuckled, shaking his head at that idea. To think that he was starting to sound like Togami…the teenager shuddered at the mental image of himself acting in any way that resembled the Scion, hurriedly banishing it from his mind. That road led only to destruction.

In order to beat the Mastermind, Naegi could not afford to treat living, breathing human beings like tools in his self-imposed crusade. They did not deserve such a thing. Class 78 might be nothing more than strangers right now, but in a better world, they would've been classmates. And perhaps even friends. He caught a flash of blue in the corner of his eye, but did not turn his head to track it. No matter what Monokuma said, no matter what the colder members of his class might believe, their true opponent was whoever put them here, not each other. And forgetting that would allow them to play right into the machinations of the Mastermind. Shifting slightly to drape himself across a couple chairs, the teenager allowed his eyes to slip shut temporarily.

With his sight taken away for the time being, his senses seemed to slowly amplify themselves. The monotonous ticking of the clock. The slight gurgle of whatever was circulating the water in the pool to prevent it from becoming stagnant. The pulsing within his head, a steady scraping against the insides of his skull that wanted to be let out. And even the smell of chlorine and dust, as though this place had not been used in ages. Suspicious, but something he wasn't awake enough to deal with right now. He sighed, a sound half-torn between bliss and agony as he tried so desperately to stave off the images flickering behind his eyelids, a slideshow of torment intertwined with simpler times.

With his own tired nature grasping gently at his psyche, it was a struggle to stay asleep enough to rest his mind while also being aware enough to dismiss the unpleasant thoughts seeping through the hasty mental barriers he had put in place as a stopgap measure. Nonetheless, he managed to get a few minutes of uneasy sleep before a new sound caught his attention. It was metallic, punctuated with several deep breaths in between each muffled thud. He frowned, swinging his legs off their perch and quietly making his way down the bleachers, straining his ears to try and ascertain the exact source of the noise.

He traced it carefully to the boys' locker room, tilting his head and placing an ear against the slightly ajar door to try and get a better read of the situation. The grunts were soft, and somewhat strained, as though the person within was lifting something heavy. Not particularly surprising considering the training equipment scattered throughout the room, but what was interesting was the fact that someone was doing this at…maybe three-quarters past 4? Jeez, he still had another hour or so to blow before Ogami would even show up. Leaning closer, he was about to take advantage of the slight opening to check whoever was within before his sneakers abruptly lost traction against the floor. Muffling a curse, he was too late to catch himself before he slammed head first into the metal doorknob, sending a new searing burst of stars through his head like a pickaxe to the face. It took everything he had to not scream or curl up in a ball, and by the time he managed to blink the tears out of his eyes and check the room, whoever had been in it was long gone.

He grimaced. That was one mystery he could've solved before it even began. And now he was going to have to figure out which male member of the class would have been in there, and book it completely rather than investigate the strage noise.

Fantastic.

"Are you…alright?" Ogami looked unnaturally hesitant for someone who was normally as unreadable as a polished rock, but Naegi supposed he must've looked like someone who fell out of bed and promptly broke his nose against the floor.

He elicited to sidestep the question, folding his hoodie neatly before weighing it down with the bat, giving the Ultimate Martial Artist a somewhat dry stare. "I'm not exactly getting a lot of sleep right now. What are we doing?"

"Ah, my apologies." She straightened up, folding her arms across her chest. "Today will be mostly about figuring out where exactly you stand, in terms of physical capabilities and knowledge. We can work on a regime more tailored to your abilities afterwards."

"Right," he inclined his head in acknowledgement, doing some basic stretches even though he was still just a little sore from his desperate bout of exercise a few hours ago, "how should we do this?"

As the words left his lips, his rarely awake danger instinct screamed for the Luckster to dodge, and dodge he did, throwing himself underneath a fist cutting through the air, rolling to one side and back into a half crouched position. His heart began to thump harder, blood roaring in his ears as the layout of the room etched itself into his mind's eye—

"Adequate reflexes, for someone clearly unfamiliar with any form of combat." Naegi blinked once, twice, then dropped his stance with a long-suffering groan and the urge to make his displeasure very loudly known. He resisted the impulse, mentally reminding himself that the nature of Ultimates made them a little warped, and Ogami probably would've stopped before turning him into a fine red paste if he hadn't gotten out of the way. Probably. Maybe. Not definitely.

"Don't do that again. I don't think my heart can take another scare like that." He settled for a more than polite warning considering the circumstances, hoping that the sudden surge of rage still lingering in his thoughts wasn't displaying itself on his face.

"Duly noted." She said it like she hadn't just tried to introduce him to another one way trip into the nearest wall. He'd take what he could get. "Your body is in an acceptable state of fitness, from what I recall, but your muscles are poorly developed, probably due to unorthodox training or the natural improvements that come with strenuous activities done often. We'll have to work on that."

Naegi clamped down on the reflexive roll of his eyes that nearly occurred. It wasn't like he didn't know any of that. As someone who regularly found himself in dangerous situations considering his abysmal luck, not knowing the exact limits of his body was equivalevent to signing himself up for failure. Still, to have it be affirmed by someone clearly experienced in body building of the non-performance kind stung a little. Although the teenager had never really considered training for those purposes, so it was partially his fault as well. Carefully approaching the towering behemoth once more, he watched warily for another unexpected attack. Others might call it paranoia, but if it kept him alive, he'd take what he could get.

"Before we start, I'd like to ask a question. You don't have to answer it, of course." Curiosity was certainly enough to overpower whatever tiny bits of fear were curdling within him, even when faced with someone who could pop his head like a grape with ease.

"What is it?"

"Why?" He chose not to elaborate. Both of them knew what he was asking about, and the more vague he kept the question, the more likely it was that she would give information that could satisfy the hungry thing coiling around his spine, dripping poison into his thoughts.

She frowned, but relented quickly, turning to look him in the eye. "Something has changed about you. And my second analysis of your body showed me things that were concealed beneath that loose jacket you never took off beforehand. We may not have talked much in the beginning, but I can respect someone willing to stick to their beliefs, even in the face of a stronger enemy. There's also the fact that you seem to be determined to fight Monokuma."

"Really? I didn't do much apart from get pummelled by Owada-san that one time…you're overestimating me."

"No." She shook her head, pinning him where he stood with a half-lidded stare. "If anything, I may still be underestimating you. Regardless, I wish to know you better. And the best way to do so is through training."

"Heh." He chuckled, relaxing slightly. "Well, I'll try not to disappoint."

Time passes quickly when you feel like your lungs are half a step away from crawling up your throat and scurrying away to stop dealing with what you were putting it through. Naegi wheezed, his trembling arms barely managing to keep him from collapsing onto the floor. If nothing else, Ogami Sakura was a strict and efficient teacher. She had given him just enough time to catch his breath, but nothing more to keep the Luckster on his toes. Each exercise pulled at a specific group of muscles, and he had been forced to bend in ways Naegi didn't even know the human body could achieve. But every time the thought of giving up even crossed the corners of his mind, the Luckster erased them with the quiet fury that was constantly building up within every fiber of his (admittedly small) being. Failure wasn't an option, it was his loss condition. Everything that happened from now on, everything bad that they experienced, it was on his shoulders. He could not afford to give up. Not now. Not ever.

"Say…" A thought struck him as he watched Ogami move through a complicated kata, hands blurring with the speed at which she was moving. "Wasn't Asahina-san supposed to join us here?"

She finished with a swift roundhouse kick, settling back into her usual posture before hesitating, clearing her throat awkwardly. Considering she hadn't just said whatever reason it was the Swimmer wasn't currently with them, the reason was fairly obvious.

"She doesn't want to be anywhere near me." Ogami stiffened slightly at the remark, but deflated soon afterwards.

"I would not put it that way. It's just that…" A bitter smirk flickered across his face.

"She doesn't feel safe with me around. Perfectly understandable, really. I wouldn't feel safe with me around." The Ultimate Martial Artist donned a look of regret, seemingly about to say something before he raised a hand to cut her off. His pride wasn't nearly fragile enough to require platitudes from someone aiming to defend their friend's decisions. It simply confirmed what he was already expecting from his classmates.

The familiar chime of the school intercom system turned the blood in his veins to ice, and he glanced up, mouth thinning into a fine line as the monitor in the corner of the room flickered on, displaying that infuriating black and white bear.

"Ahem! School announcement, school announcement. I know the day has barely started, but students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!" He exchanged a grim look with his current companion before slowly getting to his feet, eyes hardening.

And so it begins.

He sidestepped Yamada at the entrance, the Doujinshi Writer shutting up immediately after seeing the looming form of one Ogami Sakura trailing behind him. Pushing open the metal doors, he glanced around at his other classmates, doing a silent headcount while glancing them over for any changes since the last time he saw them. Enoshima was sitting atop one of the gymnastic vaulting boxes, glancing at her nails in an attempt to divert attention away from the way her back was ramrod straight with tension. She gave him a quick glance, a conflicted expression briefly surfacing (probably due to Ogami's presence) before returning to her self-imposed task. Surprisingly, Owada and Ishimaru were standing together, looking awfully chummy for people that were at each other's throats for days. Well, he supposed the whole keeping them alive thing worked better than expected.

Naegi bowed slightly after meeting Celeste's eyes, ignoring Hagakure and Kirigiri completely before stepping around Togami. He was slightly surprised at the lack of hostility coming from the Ultimate Scion, but he supposed the rich prick was somewhat used to having his life on the line. Interestingly enough, Fujisaki was avoiding his gaze, and he idly filed away that observation for later analysis. Asahina was already chattering away with Ogami, casting him suspicious glances from time to time, and a quick glance confirmed that Yamada was standing near the door, looking like he was one sudden surprise away from running. Which was an understandable reaction, if Naegi was being honest. Fukawa was being her usual self, and he made the smart decision to ignore the way she was watching him like he was about to snap and murder all of them.

"Ah! Naegi-san!" Ishimaru strode over to him with purpose and drive, causing the Luckster to shuffle back slightly, uncomfortable with the sudden breach of his personal space. "I was trying to find you earlier, but I suppose you were busy."

He flicked a hand in a dismissive gesture, slipping on a somewhat polite smile. "Just doing some exercise to start the day. Didn't think anyone would be looking for me."

"Of course, you were participating in an essential part of a healthy lifestyle!" The Ultimate Moral Compass smiled broadly, patting him on the shoulder with more force than necessary. Naegi wordlessly ignored the way the contact sent a surge of revulsion through his insides. He nodded sharply, muttering a brief thank you before moving away, choosing to plant himself next to the Fashionista.

She gave him a once-over, snorting slightly. "You look like shit, Naegi-kun." He giggled despite the tense atmosphere, offering a small shrug in response. If anything else, it was an understatement.

"Any guesses on why Mr Fake Principal called us here?" That brief moment of levity flickered and died before it could even begin, and his smile was quickly replaced with a grimace.

"Nothing good, that's for sure." It was best that no one overheard him talking about Monokuma's late night disruption of his sleep. Wouldn't want to be accused of working with the Mastermind, after all. He tuned out the chatter going on in the background, noting blankly that Togami seemed to be starting a fight with Asahina, most likely over the same topics that had gotten him pummelled into the ground. Naegi would have to keep an eye on that guy.

Hagakure was rambling about whatever he heard last night (and the Luckster was mildly shocked that he didn't run into the fool while stumbling around), talking about the sounds of construction. Fukawa, as expected, was busy dismissing his claims when the grating voice of the Principal cut in.

"Heeeeeeeello boys and girls!" He sprung up from behind the podium, bouncing off it in an impressive display of acrobatic flexibility before settling on his usual spot. When his entrance was rewarded with a tense silence, the bear appeared to slump slightly. "Wow…tough crowd."

"Anyways, before I forget," Monokuma raised a paw, "what Hagakure-chan here heard wasn't the sound of construction…but it could have been an explosion!" Naegi raised an eyebrow slightly. Now that was the closest they had gotten to a hint about the outside world.

"An e-explosion?"

"Or maybe a machine gun!" He plowed on as though he hadn't just dropped a word bomb on them. "Puhuhuhu…that does sorta sound like construction if you aren't paying too much attention."

"The fuck is he sayin…?"

"Ah-ah-ah!" He waggled one of his limbs in a mockery of a teacher's pose. "Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fullllly puckered! It's a secret little secret!" All annoying verbal tics aside, Monokuma was somewhat out of character today. For something so closely guarding the secrets of this place, it was odd for him to freely give a clue like that. Or maybe it wasn't one?

"Let's just get to the point. Why did you call us all here?" Kirigiri crossed her arms over her chest, looking remarkably unfazed, as she almost always did. He repressed the full body shudder that ran through him. Even being in the very presence of the girl made part of him cry out for blood.

"Welllll~" Monokuma drawled out the word in an irritatingly high-pitched tone. "Normally I would've given you rotten oranges more time to settle, but honestly, I got bored!" He swung around, spreading his arms and flapping them several times in the world's oddest tantrum.

"So in order to speed along the process, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!" Naegi closed his eyes as a ripple of shock and horror ran through the room, twisting the ring on his finger before his hands fell to his sides. Even with the knowledge of what was about to happen, it was still an unpleasant thought.

"Another motive?" Fujisaki clapped a hand over her mouth, tears already beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

Ishimaru stepped forward, an air of confidence and determination surrounding him. "I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other! No matter what you do, I swear that we won't!"

"Bro's right." Owada grunted, cracking his knuckles. "We ain't gonna play your twisted games."

"Oho?" Monokuma giggled as though he was privy to a joke no one else understood. "That's very big talk. Do your best to back it up, okay? It certainly wouldn't be fun if one of you folded immediately…anyways, here's the second motive!"

Rifling around in non-existent pockets, Monokuma pulled out a handful of envelopes, tossing them to each student with uncanny accuracy for a bumbling robot. "As long as you're alive, there's always going to be things you don't want other people to know about you! Which is why I did some investigating and wouldn't you know, I found some of your darkest secrets!" Naegi stiffened, mind running through a brief summary of his past before tentatively opening the envelope. Could it be?

Cautiously, he tugged out the letter within, unfolding it before he could lose his nerve…

"Naegi-kun wet the bed until he was in the 5th grade."

Eh?

Amidst the horrified shouts of those around him, Naegi felt as though his legs would give out, something akin to disappointment coursing through his veins. Was that really the best the Mastermind could find? Of course, the average teenager didn't hold any deep dark secrets that would drive him to murder, but this was more than underwhelming. Sighing, he slipped the envelope into a pocket.

"To compensate for how soon I gave this out, you have 72 hours! If no one becomes the blackened by then…all of your deepest, darkest, embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world! Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans!" Naegi noted the jab at the whole "multiple people are actually watching you at all times", which wasn't exactly the best of threats since no one bar the Luckster himself knew about that fact. Was that a challenge? He scoffed to himself. The teenager's non-existent pride could handle such a blow.

"No one's going to kill anyone over such a thing!" Ishimaru declared with a grand sweep of his arm, looking triumphant despite his earlier shock over the motive. "To even believe that people would murder each other over such insignificant secrets…you must be joking!"

"O-oh no…" Monokuma adopted a downtrodden look. "Could it be? Well, you are the highest caliber students of your generation…it must be impossible for any of you to be hiding something great enough to motivate you. Haaaaah…" He kicked at the ground, turning around and waddling back to the podium.

"Well, that sucks! I'll just have to expose your secrets in three days to make myself feel a little bit better. See you suckers later." And on that note, the bear disappeared once more. Naegi fought the urge to break something. His temper was always put to the test when facing the bear.

"I didn't know what to expect when he called us, but maybe we were lucky enough to dodge a bullet on this one." Asahina scratched at a cheek, looking surprisingly relieved considering the situation. "Sure, it's gonna be totally embarrassing for these secrets to be revealed. But that's not a reason to kill someone else, right?"

"Indeed!" The Moral Compass snapped his fingers, looking as though he had an epiphany. "Which is why we should just confess our secrets right now, and remove any and all motives for murder! That's pretty smart, right!?" For once, Ishimaru was speaking sense. However, as Naegi looked around at a room full of hesitant faces, he could tell it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Anyways, my embarrassing secret is—"

"I d-don't want to hear your stupid s-story!" To no one's surprise, Fukawa was the first to break. "Besides, I don't…I don't w-want to talk about it…I don't c-care what anyone else says, I refuse to t-talk about mine!" A low murmur of agreement swept through the class, to varying degrees. Some, like Ishimaru, clearly didn't care about it. Others, like Celeste—

"I said I don't wanna talk about it, you human bag of lard!"

—clearly valued their secrets over the possibility of another death, which caused the familiar icy sensation of fury to course through his veins.

"There's no need to divulge the secrets of the esteemed Togami family to the likes of you." No one asked you, Mr Rich Prick.

"Fujisaki-san?" Ishimaru turned to look at one of the more reasonable members of the class, somewhat desperate at this point.

"Um…I'm s-sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now." She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, before taking a deep breath and glancing over at Naegi, who was watching on with apathy. "But! I don't want to leave things like this. So, before the time limit's up, I will tell everyone my secret. Just, just give me some time to become stronger."

"If you don't wanna talk about it, you really don't have to." Asahina put her two cents in, succumbing to the peer pressure almost immediately. "I'm not super excited to talk about mine either…"

"Sorry bro." Owada shook his head. "If everyone's so much against it, I gotta say no as well. No use starting fights."

"W-well, that's okay then." Ishimaru sighed, dropping the idea as well. "Either way, if it's just a secret, I'm sure nobody's about to kill someone else over it." He straightened up, eyes set with purpose. "But! We do have three days ahead of us! If anyone wishes to talk about their secrets before then, feel free to do so! We're gonna have to get ready for them to be revealed anyways."

With the general consensus to leave it be, the teenagers glanced among each other, moving to leave the room…

"I'd apologise, but I really can't allow this to continue." With a screech of metal, Naegi broke the mechanism on the door, before barring it shut with his baseball bat. He met their surprised gazes evenly, frozen hazel eyes radiating hostility.

"No one's getting out of here until we all talk about our secrets."