Chapter 3: When Hell Freezes Over Part 2 (Daily Life)

Remaining Students: 14

Yūgo Hachiken (Silver Spoon): Ultimate Tutor

Reyn (Xenoblade Chronicles): Ultimate Tank

Pietro Maximoff "Quicksilver" (Marvel Cinematic Universe): Ultimate Speedster

Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic The Hedgehog): Ultimate Pilot

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Fire Emblem: Three Houses): Ultimate Prince

Satou Kazuma (Konosuba) Ultimate Thief

Bede (Pokémon): Ultimate Gym Leader

Ray (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Strategist

Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club): Ultimate Poet

Konata Izumi (Lucky Star): Ultimate Otaku

Saki Nikaido (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia) Ultimate Amphibian

Minori Ichinose (Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure): Ultimate Bookworm

Kale (Dragon Ball Super): Ultimate ?

Hachiken's POV

Insert Song: Ezono Arrangement 4 (Silver Spoon/Gin no Saji)

"Mmmmm…. Agh! This is fantastic…"

We started off by grabbing a bite to eat at a few of these food trucks. As much as I judged them for how weird these menus were, they were surprisingly delicious! I didn't think two grilled cheeses as buns for a cheese burger would work… but I couldn't stop eating it! I think my arteries might hate me now.

"Mhm! Mhm!" Sayori agreed as she took a big bite out of a burger with pastrami and bacon in it.

I seriously have no idea how she manages to stay so thin. Sayori slurps her humongous milkshake with joy as she looks at me with her eyes sparkling.

"Hachiken! This shake has both s'mores and a brownie on top of it! I'm in heaven…"

Is it? I feel as though all of this stuff is a slow way of killing us from the inside. But… I guess there wouldn't even be a trial if we died of a heart attack, so… I suppose it is okay. Or maybe I'm just looking for excuses to just keep eating this unhealthy crap…

Maybe I should have asked more people to join us, but from what I saw most of them already ate a bunch. We can't finish all this! Who's around here that we haven't seen eating yet?"

"Hm? Oh, it's Kale! Hello there!"

Sayori's unexpected greeting startled the other girl as she slowly made her way towards us.

"Uh… hello. Um… you're…" She started to speak, but then struggled to finish her sentence.

I assume she doesn't know our names, she… hasn't been very social with us so that's not too surprising, but there's a biography section in our e-Handbooks that tells you about everyone. Plus she knows Dimitri after all, though I don't have a face as memorable or as chiseled like his… man this day so far has me taking a lot of shots at myself, need to put that to rest.

"I'm… Hachiken." I informed her.

Sayori smiled brightly at her, "And I'm Sayori!".

"Ah, right… sorry for not remembering. Well… see you."

Kale then began to start leaving as Sayori stood up from her chair.

"Wait a minute! We… ended up getting a lot more food than we thought. We can't finish this all by ourselves so… you're free to eat some too!"

Kale contemplates her offer with some surprise on her face. She hesitates for a minute before slowly etching towards our table. Sayori holds out a box full of chicken nuggets with a wide grin.

"C'mon, try one! They're super yummy, I know you want it…"

Kale slowly picks one up and nibbles on it a bit.

"Hm?!"

She gasped as an unbelievable sight just occurred before us. In the blink of an eye, Kale began to shovel ALL of the food we had on our table into her mouth! All of the nuggets, which were 40 in total… two small pints of macaroni and cheese… eight slices of meatball pizza… and a box of glazed donuts.

All of it… gone.

Sayori and I could barely react to whatever that was. Our mouths were agape as she looked at us and realized what she's done. She bows apologetically.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I was still quite hungry after breakfast, and you all looked quite full already so I thought… agh! I'm sorry again!"

Sayori blinked twice before she answered back, "Ah, i-it's okay! You… have a bigger appetite than me, didn't see that coming. Ehehehe… how were you able to eat all of that so fast though?"

"O-Oh, it… must be because I-I'm a saiyan." Kale reveals.

"A… what?" I replied back while tilting my head.

"Um… I'm from a race of warriors from the planet Sadal… our appetites can be quite… monstrous."

Huh, I didn't really see her as the warrior type. Maybe she's stronger than she looks too, thinking back to what Reyn asked her when she said she was in the middle of the hurricane… She must be hiding something… something big about herself…

I readjusted my glasses to make sure I wasn't imagining that our food was wiped off the face of… wherever the heck we were.

"Jeez, no kidding. There's nothing left but crumbs now…"

"Sorry again… but thank you for the food. Now please excuse me…" Kale bows her head before walking away like she wanted to earlier.

"See you…" Sayori tells her before she's out of our sight, "Mm… I hope we're not incriminating her…"

I immediately pointed out her bad word choice, "You mean, intimidating her?"

"Y-Yeah… same thing!" She pouted at me.

"It's not." I told her bluntly as I drank my bottle of water, thankfully Kale left it alone because I needed it after all the junk food I consumed…

Sayori pouted more as she turned away from me, "Hmph! Meanie…"

I rolled my eyes at her before getting back on topic.

"It's not my fault that you're a poet who doesn't know how some words work. But back to what you were saying, yeah she's always avoiding us, so I really hope we're not leaving a bad impression on her."

Sayori took a sip of her own water, "Hm… I agree… we all need friends in a place like this. So… you wanna go do anything else? The afternoon's still young!"

I smiled and nodded at her before she grabbed my arm and dragged me around, running to a bunch of different places.

Our first stop was the baseball field and… oh, is that the pitching machine that was in the gym?

*Bonk*

"Gah!"

A baseball was fired right into my forehead as I rubbed the bump that was left there. I wasn't even ready, and there I was falling on my butt with the bat rolling on the dirt. That's the second time that's happened to me, if it happens a third time then I'm gonna assume that everything on campus wants to hurt or kill me.

Sayori walked up to me holding an ice pack and giving me her signature giggle.

"Ehehehe~, you can go and warm the bench, Hachiken. I'll try to hit a home run for you!"

She grabbed the bat as I walked over to the bench on the side, eying the pitching machine the whole time before sitting down. Sayori holds the bat behind her shoulder and points to the sky, her tongue sticking out a little before she takes aim and…

*Bonk*

"Kyah!"

"Sayori!"

The ball just hit her forehead too and I immediately ran over to her and placed the ice pack I had on her bump.

"Are you alright? Did it hurt a lot?" I asked in a concerned tone.

Sayori rubbed her forehead before answering, "Owie… it's not too bad but… ugh."

"Tch, stupid machine's probably busted. C'mon, let's get going now before—"

*KACHUNK!*

"Hm?"

"Eh?"

*WHRRRRRRRRR!*

The two of us turned to each other, instantly knowing what to do next since those did not sound like good noises.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The pitching machine began rapidly firing at us as we tried to book it out of there, baseballs pelting our backs as Sayori tossed the bat behind her. We continued to run past the field, in hopes that the pitching machine didn't have wheels… or worse: legs. We're left panting in exhaustion as on a nearby bench, both of us likely thinking that we need to stay away from that field.

And that is why my friend Ichirō is the baseball guy and I'm not…

After that debacle, we iced down our bumps on our bodies before heading to the Recreation Center Arcade to play a few games. I lost every game I played (which I blamed on the baseball injuries), but hey Sayori had fun. Once that was over, as we exited we saw that a karaoke room had opened up. Me and her did a duet of a nice song called Oto no Naru Hou e, very uplifting in both the beat and lyrics… even if I wasn't good at singing either.

Soon enough it was evening, as we both sat back in the karaoke's room's chairs drinking water. You definitely need a lot of it if you're going to sing more than a few songs…

"You did great, Hachiken!" Sayori complimented me.

I shook my head, "No, no. Not awful… but not good either, that's how to describe my singing."

"You weren't that bad, y'know? Give yourself some credit! And maybe some extra credit too, since you are the Ultimate Tutor!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed softly at her little joke before she then paused for a moment.

"Something the matter?" I asked her.

"Actually… I was thinking about Kale again. She reminds me a bit of a friend I have back home!"

I leaned forward in curiosity, 'Really? How so?"

"Well, she's shy and afraid of making people hate her… the only difference is that she likes horror novels! Maybe I can ask her if she likes them too…"

O-Oh… how… interesting this friend of hers is. I don't think I'd see myself talking to her too much if that's the case, everyone has their tastes in literature but… I don't think I'd be able to touch books on topics like that, especially after the trauma I endured here.

"H-Horror, you say? That's um… nice?" I laughed awkwardly.

Sayori softly giggled, "Ehehehe~, she is nice though! Just shy. Other than her I have another friend, and she's really cute! She loves manga and baking, and she's just fun to tease!"

I nodded my head as I listened to her more, "I see, I see. I gotta ask though, does manga really count as literature in your club?"

"You're lucky she's not here to hear you say that, she would argue for it being literature constantly. I don't disagree with her though, as long as you enjoy reading it, it's fine by me! As stated by me, the club president!"

Sayori put her hands on her hips and stood up proudly as I raised an eyebrow. She was the president of her literature club? Really now? Heh, Just kidding of course, but still it's surprising to me…

I decided not to be in her words "a meanie" and compliment her.

"Oh wow, you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, don't you? I'm sure you're good at your job. So how many people are in your club in total?"

Sayori starts counting on her fingers after I asked her, "Uh… about four. Me, the two friends I mentioned… and MC!"

"Oh, right… the guy you have a crush on. That's it?" I asked her.

"Hm… feels like there should be more of us, right? But I am glad that we have four members, at least that way we're an official club!"

She exhaled through her nose as she smirked. I smiled back at her, but soon my smile began to fade as I thought of something… sensitive to ask her. I took a breath in and prayed this went well… here we go.

"So… do… any of your friends know about your depression? Have you told them?"

Her eyes widened at my sudden question before she lowered her head, "I… only told MC about it. That same day… I told him I liked him."

"Mm… and what did he say back? If you don't mind me asking…"

"... He said he loved me too. I should have been happy about it… but my own thoughts… those rain clouds in my head… they just kept saying I didn't deserve him. That he didn't mean it and was just trying to make me happy. I just kept on hugging him tight, crying like a baby…"

Her expression was full of misery, couldn't even look me in the eyes after saying all that. We just sat in silence for a few minutes as she stared off into the distance. I gulped before trying to say something else… but I couldn't. What could I have said to that?

Thankfully, Sayori was the one to speak up so I didn't have to.

"I'm sorry, I just… the fact that I was sent here afterwards… it still feels like I deserve it, for loving him so much. That this is my punishment…"

"Sayori…" I said her name as she finally moved her eyes up to meet mine.

"I could be wrong… the fact that I'm still here alive, having fun with you guys… if this was a punishment I would have succeeded at killing myself or at being killed… then again… I don't think I'm being useful here either." Sayori's eyes began to water after she said that.

"That's not true, you have—"

Sayori cut me off by lifting a hand up, "Not as much as you have… you were the one figuring out how the murders went, gathering the evidence, shutting down other people's arguments… I know you don't look like it Hachiken, but you are strong… while here I am… about to break down… because I am useless…"

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!" I stood up and told her as she looked at me in shock.

Agh, had the same reaction back before the third trial. Back when she was saying similar things about herself after we stopped her suicide attempt… doesn't make it any less emotional for me regardless.

"Your kindness, that's what makes you strong, Sayori. Even if you don't share that same love for yourself, you still give it to others. Willing to lend a hand when needed and cheer people up. You are more than just your depression… you're like a sunny day past all those rain clouds…"

Sayori looked back down to her feet again, "B-But…"

"No buts! I believe in you… WE, the friends you've made here, believe in you… and I'm sure your friends back home do too…. And that MC does love you."

She clenched her fists in response and leaned forward.

"So what if that's true?! I don't deserve all of that love! What I've done is still not enough to make up for what you all have given me… I'm… I…"

Tears were streaming down her face as I pulled her in for a hug.

"You don't need to give back… you've suffered enough, so just allow us to help carry your burden with you. You're not alone… even if you forget that, everyone will just come to you to make you remember over and over…" I tell her, as I start to be a little shaky myself…

Am I… crying too? Would you look at that… ugh, she doesn't deserve all these awful thoughts in her head. Such a sweet girl like her… needs all the happiness we could give to her. Fun and heartwarming memories to disperse those rain clouds… I won't let her depression win.

I let out with a quivering voice one more thing to her…

"Keep smiling… Sayori."

…

…

…

It's about ten minutes of hugging until we eventually break the hold and begin to walk back to the dorm. We had a light dinner after the feast we had at the food trucks earlier, so it looked like our day of rest was complete… Sayori then tugged on my hoodie as I turned to see her looking at me with a serious face.

"Hachiken… T-T-Thank you…."

I raised both my eyebrows before turning to face her.

"You're welcome, I'm glad to be your shoulder to cry on. It's no big deal, you're my friend, but… also because… hm… how do I put this…"

I put my thumb and index finger on my chin as I tried to think of what I wanted to tell her. That's when Sayori came up with an unexpected and ridiculous answer.

"... Because you like me?"

"HUH?!" I let out loudly as she tilted her head confused, "Um… no. That's not it! We're both in love with two separate people, remember? And they both told us they liked us back!"

Sayori softly laughed in reply, "Ha, sorry, I was just making sure. I don't see you in that way either… I mean I like you as a friend of course but…"

"Well, thanks to that at least I managed to come up with what I wanted to say. You're… kind of like a little sister to me."

"Oooohhhhhhh…. Wait, little?!" She questioned my viewpoint by raising her voice a bit.

I looked off to the side as I tried to put it lightly.

"I mean… you do act kind of childish, nothing wrong with that. And I find it a little cute, just like a younger sister… albeit one that isn't spoiled or bratty."

Sayori nodded her head as she heard my explanation, "Okay, okay, I'm starting to see your point here… and I guess that sounds nice! Sayori Hachiken, your little sister!"

I groaned a bit at that, "That makes it sound like we're married, and as I mentioned earlier I'm taken…"

"Ehehehe~, whoops. Oh, if you don't mind me asking, do you actually have any siblings? I'm an only child so I want to know what it's like…"

Oh… brother. Literally. Might as well tell her about him…

"I… have an older brother. He's uh… Tokyo University dropout who gets on my nerves whenever he shows up on his stupid motorcycle."

Sayori continued to lean in more, "But do you two still care for each other?"

I hesitated for a bit before sighing and nodding my head, "Yeah he's… not a bad guy. Whenever he shows up he has a new weird change in his life, he's an AWFUL cook, and he manages to get what he wants through less effort than what I usually do… but I still care for him. The fact that he checked up on me for mom's sake is… honorable, and I guess he does have nice things to say sometimes."

"Awwww… how sweet!" She clasped her hands together and smiled brightly.

"S-Shut up! Ugh, I need to get some rest… let me know if you need to talk about anything else, okay? Even if you think you're bothering me… you're not."

"Ehehehe~, I'll keep that in mind. I really appreciate what you said to me, even if I still feel pretty bad… hope you do well on training tomorrow! Good night… big brother."

The way she said that so smugly made me wince, now I regret telling her that as I made my way back to my room. After a long shower I changed into my sleeping clothes and laid down in bed… dreading whatever Dimitri was going to put us through the next morning…

Please have mercy on me, Your Highness…

MONOKUMA THEATER

"Shipping is weird, right? Characters that absolutely hate each other or never even talked can be paired up by fans without much explanation!"

"Of course some people have detailed "Too Long, Didn't Read, I Ain't Reading All That" reasoning for shipping these two (or more) together, but it all just boils down to… I just think it's neat!"

"More power to those folks (except when those ships involves minors, incest, toxicity or real people), but I would NOT want to get involved in their wars. Tear each other apart for all I care, puhuhuhuhu!"

"But hey, if I'm gonna act like that, I might as well act the same with our author here!"

"Can you believe he shipped Ashe and Junko together? Ha, what a stupid crack ship! And what about that Ai Means Love story where the OC is just a representation of… oh hey that's a nice rocket launcher! But what is it doing her—"

*BOOM!*

*BZZZZZZZ!*

"Eh?"

I woke up and put on my glasses… grabbing my e-Handbook from my nightstand and turning it on. The screen flashes on to bind me as I reopen my eyes to be greeted by a message from Monokuma.

"Gooooood morning, students! I hope you're all ready for another day of learning… how to kill! But before I end this message, I heard from a little birdy, and that little birdy actually being a security camera, that you all have heard what your next muh-muh-muh-muh-motive is! Well, don't think that will help you out, the thrills… chills… and hopefully kills, will still shock and amaze you in The A-Maze-ing Athlon of Agony!"

Ah, triple A in the title. Sums up what I'm feeling right now about this whole thing. AAA!

"And now… something very important. Your teams for this event, who you'll be sticking with up until the end where you can grab the Free Kill Card!"

A leaderboard appears on my screen that lists every team and whoever is on it. Four teams, half of them with three members and the other half having four. Figured it would be uneven, since there's fourteen of us… if any two of the four people that had died were here we would have had four teams of four.

I looked closer at who's on each time and my eyes widened on who was on mine.

Team 1: Hachiken, Tsuyu, Minori, Kazuma.

Team 2: Sayori, Saki, Bede, Pietro.

Team 3: Kale, Tails, Dimitri.

Team 4: Reyn, Konata, Ray

I'm not with any of my dorm mates… this will make things a lot more difficult when it comes to collaboration. Tsuyu, Minori, and Kazuma… Hm… guess there's no better time to get acquainted with them than through this training… I just hope I don't end up holding them back.

Tadaaaaah! Two chapters of Epicenter back-to-back, how's that to celebrate the 4 year anniversary of Nexus, eh? (The next chapter's done too btw) The celebration's not completely done though. I can say right now that there's also a Part 2 to Ai Means Love (now available the same day as these chapters)! Suck it, Monokuma. Might as well make another story where Ai is a main character, since it's the anniversary of a story with her as THE main character. My best zombie girl deserves it all…. No, I am not biased! But anyways, what did you think of the Hachiken and Sayori hangout chapter? And about these teams too, you think any of them will get through the maze alright? What are you hoping for in terms of interactions? Let me know if y'all feel like telling me, I'll see you all in the next part whenever that comes out! We also have some free time events, so let me know who you want to see hang out with Hachiken! The link to the voting poll is right here (for those not on , ends on May 17th at 8:30am PT! Choose wisely… because after this chapter, things won't be the same. Personally I'd go for Minori, Tsuyu or Dimitri.): /3RnYlGE2Dye. Once again, Happy 4 Years of Danganronpa: Fictional Nexus and the Fictional Saga as a whole! Farewell, peeps! - Renegade Braveheart