Chapter 1: Part 11

Sayaka and Kaede entered the cafeteria and were somewhat surprised to see they weren't the first ones there. The self-imposed leaders of the group, Taka, Byakuya, and Kaito were already sat down at the far end of the main table. They were discussing amongst themselves while Teruteru could be seen working in the kitchen. The two girls sat themselves down at the table when Taka rose up from his seat to smile at them.

"Greetings, Maizono and Akamatsu!" Taka greeted them. "It is excellent to see the two you arrive so early! I can tell the two of take the structure of our group meetings very seriously!"

"Um, yeah, sure," Kaede scratched the back of her head. "Let's go with that."

"I know you're very punctual, Taka, but we still got fifteen minutes before the meeting," Sayaka said before sitting down. "You don't need to be so ahead of everything."

"Nonsense!" Taka slammed his fist into the table. "I allowed you and Makoto to beat me to a meeting once before and I never will again!"

Byakuya let out an exasperated sigh and adjusted his glasses. "Also, it just makes sense for us three to be the first ones here."

"Then why are they here?" Kaito asked.

"To eat, of course," Teruteru said as he popped up between the two girls. "Now, what could I interest you two lovely young ladies in? Perhaps some chips as an appetizer? Or would you rather just skip ahead to a nice, juicy, sau-"

"Dude," Kaito interrupted. "You really need to tone that perverted stuff down, man. Like, you could get arrested if you weren't stuck in here."

Teruteru chuckled nervously as he slicked his hair back. "C-can't blame a guy for appreciating the fairer sex, can you?"

Sayaka shivered a bit. "Just get some chips….and if you try anything funny, I will get Tenko."

Teruteru sweated heavily. "O-of course. Will do." He nodded his head before dashing back into the kitchen.

Sayaka groaned a bit as Kaede patted her on the back. "I'm sure that's a part of the idol scene you don't miss, right?"

"Yeah," Sayaka laughed a bit.

Kaede laughed a bit as well while the head trio discussed amongst themselves.

"So, do you think we'll need keep doing these dinner meetings?" Kaito asked. "I mean, sure, we should keep track of what everyone's up to, but don't you think we'll run out of things to discuss?"

"Nonsense," Taka protested. "We cannot take this situation lightly by ignoring the chance something important may reveal itself to us!"

"Taka is right," Byakuya crossed his arms. "We can't be lazy, Kaito."

Kaito sighed. "Yeah, I know, but I felt like we covered most of we needed to. We know who killed who and what order it happened in. Outside of just figuring out how to get out of here, what else can we do other than talk in circles about theories about where everyone is?"

"That…that maybe true," Taka said, "but I refuse to give up again. And further more-"

Before Taka could finish his sentence, Chihiro burst through the doors of the kitchen and came to a stop to gasp for air. Everyone at the table rose from their seats and approached the small girl. Taka firmly grabbed her hands, attempting to comfort her in his usual robotic way.

"Fujisaki!" Taka spoke. "What is troubling you?"

Chihiro opened her mouth but she could only gasp for air. She kept pointing back to the hallway to convey her words, but no one could understand her.

Kaede placed her hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "Chihiro, take a deep breath."

Chihiro stopped trying to wave her hands and took deep breaths, sucking in all that wonderful air back into her lungs.

"Please…keep her…away…from me," Chihiro forced the words out of her throat in between breaths.

Everyone was puzzled by Chihiro's words. Was she in danger? Was someone trying to kill her? Did someone snap so soon? All these questions ran through their minds at once, but when Sayaka looked away from the small girl to glance down the hallway…and she immediately saw what the problem was.

From the far end of the hall Sayaka could see Tenko running towards them. Clearly, Tenko became very attached to Chihiro during their short time together. Sayaka sighed and prepared the lecture she'd give to her friend once she arrived, yet she noticed Tenko wasn't slowing down. In fact, she was speeding up. Sayaka noticed that Chihiro was right in the path of disaster. Tenko wasn't just going to hug her, she was going to tackle her, and Chihiro was definitely not strong enough to handle it.

"CHIHIRO!" Tenko shrieked with excitement as she leapt towards the programmer.

With little other options, Sayaka pulled Chihiro out of the way, allowing herself to take the full force of Tenko's excitement. Sayaka leaned her head forward as best as she could to avoid having it bash against the floor, so all that was left was the pain in her back and Tenko's embrace.

"Oh no!" Tenko shouted before helping the idol up to her feet and wiping away any dust on her clothes. "Sorry, Sayaka! I didn't mean to be so aggressive! I just wanted to catch up with Chihiro."

"About that," Byakuya spoke up. "Do you mean to tell me Chihiro was running in fear from you…because you wanted to hug her?"

"I don't know anything about fear, but I know when I started talking about cuddling with her she decided to cut her work on Keebo early and come here."

"I know you're a very affectionate person," Kaede said, "but Chihiro seems like someone that really prefers her personal space."

"Y-yeah," Chihiro said. "S-sorry, Tenko."

"It's ok," Tenko said. "It's just…GOD you're just adorable!" Tenko giggled as she poked Chihiro's cheek. "Even you talk about stuff like programming, your voice is so soft and cute, ohmygod."

Both Chihiro and Taka lost all of the color in their faces as Tenko got closer to the small girl.

'If she finds out, she'll kill me,' Chihiro thought to herself.

'If she finds out, she'll kill him,' Taka thought to himself.

"Wait, hold on," Kaito stepped into the middle of the group. "Tenko, did you say Chihiro was working on Keebo?"

Tenko turned away Chihiro to face Kaito. "Hmm? Oh, right! We didn't mention that to anyone else, huh? Well, Sayaka found Keebo's parts in the storage room when we were investigating it."

"So he died too?"

"I guess so," Tenko frowned a bit. "I mean, we don't know what happened."

"But if this Keebo died like the rest of us, why did he not appear with the rest of us?" Taka asked.

"Maybe because he is a robot?" Chihiro asked.

Byakuya and Taka turned to face Chihiro, both with faces of complete confusion.

"A robot?" Byakuya asked.

"Oh, r-right…" Chihiro fiddled with her fingers. "K-Keebo's a robot."

"A really advanced one at that," Kaede said. "So, Chihiro's rebuilding him?"

"Actually, Miu's rebuilding Keebo's body," Sayaka explained. "Chihiro is focusing on his programming."

"Excellent!" Taka cheered. "It is great to see that we are truly uniting together to overcome this mystery!"

"And it seems like we will have something to discuss for the meeting, won't we Kaito?" Byakuya smirked a bit.

Kaito chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah."

"Enough chitchat!" Taka interrupted. "Our meeting is about to begin! Let us return to our seats!"

Ignoring that Taka once again halted a conversation to keep up with the schedule, everyone sat down around the main table and waited as the rest of the group slowly poured into the room. Kirumi once again led Gonta in setting up the table for dinner, Hifumi and Tsumugi sat down next to each other and continued to talk about manga and anime, and Rantaro walked into the room while carrying Chiaki on his back.

Byakuya sighed and readjusted his glasses. "Did she pass out again?"

Rantaro chuckled a bit. "Yeah. We were walking down here and then she just fell asleep."

Gonta quickly pulled out a chair for Chiaki and Rantaro sat the gamer down in it.

"I'm just surprised she can sleep while standing up," Rantaro commented.

"She must have insomnia," Chihiro stated. "She probably stays up too late playing games…I-I know I've done the same before."

"As have I," Hifumi stated. "Sometimes one gets so absorbed in their work that they lose track of time."

Chiaki eventually let out a long yawn and rubbed her eyes a bit. Once she opened her eyes, she looked around the room in confusion. "How did I get here?" she asked.

"Sorry, but I had to carry you here," Rantaro said.

"Oh," Chiaki said. "Thanks…I think."

"Wait a moment," Hifumi spoke up, "if one of the rules Monokuma set is that no one is allowed to sleep outside of their rooms, why isn't Miss Nanami getting into trouble?"

"Hmmm, I never thought about that," Chiaki said.

"You expect Monokuma to make sense?" Kaede asked.

The conversation quickly died back down as more of the class entered the room. Gundham was whispering to his pets and giving them food pellets, Mondo came into the room and sat down next to Taka, Sakura and Nekomaru walked into the room while exchanging workout routines, and Kiyo, Ryoma, Mikan, Nagito, Kokichi, Celeste, and Mukuro all entered the room individually.

Then Leon stepped into the room. He was looking down at the floor the whole trip over to his seat while holding the back of his head. Following him were Peko and Ibuki. Ibuki was laughing and pointing at Leon while Peko stared daggers into him.

"The hell happened to you?" Mondo asked.

"I don't. Want. To talk about it," Leon muttered.

Peko sat herself down and crossed her arms. "He thought he could 'make a move' on Ibuki," she said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was hilarious!" Ibuki laughed more. "He asked Ibuki if she was a screamer, which Ibuki is, then asked if they could make music together."

"Then he wrapped his arm around her," Peko huffed. "So, I hit him with my sword."

"Jesus Christ, dude," Mondo said to Leon. "You have no game at all."

"Just shut up," Leon buried his face in his hands.

"Peko hit him so hard, he had a pump like those old cartoons!" Ibuki said before mimicking said bump growing with a slide whistle.

Sayaka couldn't help but snicker at the whole thing, but Leon heard her and glared right at her. Sayaka went pale. It was the same look she saw that night. She turned away from him.

Angie soon entered the room, followed by Hiyoko. The two of them sat down together.

When Mahiru entered the room, she noticed Hiyoko and Angie were talking with each other. Mahiru approached her small friend. "Hiyoko, are you ok?" she asked.

Hiyoko paused her conversation with Angie and looked at Mahiru. "Hmmm? Oh, I'm fine. A lot better now."

Mahiru smiled. "That's great. Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I should have-"

Angie held her hand up to Mahiru. "Do not worry about your argument, Mahiru. Hiyoko and I have discussed her issues, and we have properly resolved it."

Mahiru was puzzled by this. 'She talked to Angie about it? She doesn't even know her.'

"Ok," Mahiru said. "Well, as long as she feels better then it's all good."

With that, she sat down next to Hiyoko.

After a few more minutes, Miu entered the room. Her hair was far messier than it normally was and there were black smudges all over her clothes and her face. "Phew!" she shouted. "Sorry I'm late! Been busy fixing that hunk of junk."

"What's with all the black smudges?" Kokichi asked. "Did you go rolling around in trash again, dumpster bitch?"

"D-dumpster bitch?" Miu blushed heavily.

"For fuck's sake, just sit down and shut up!" Mondo shouted.

"Oh, don't be like that, Owada." Kokichi smirked. "I'm sure you like get excited with your 'hog' like Miu gets excited with her machines."

Mondo's eye twitched as he cracked his knuckles. "Want to repeat that, you little punk?"

"Or I can be less subtle," Kokichi said.

"Enough!" Byakuya shouted. "We are here for a meeting, not to argue AGAIN."

"Well, it's hard not to when we're surrounded by each other's killers," Kokichi said. "You really think we can all just get along?"

"No, but I'd appreciate you not openly antagonizing everyone."

Finally, Junko strolled into the room like she was on a runway. She noticed Mikan stare at her with a blush across her face. Junko smirked and winked at the nurse before sitting down next to her…and across from Mukuro.

Mukuro could tell what Junko was trying to do with Mikan. Rebuild her Remnants of Despair. 'I'm not letting you do this again, Junko,' she thought to herself.

"You're late, Miss Enoshima!" Taka shouted. "You need to keep better track of your time!"

Junko just rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "Chillax, man. I'm here now, aren't I?"

Before Taka could protest, Kaito interrupted.

"Yep," Kaito said with a smile. "And with everyone here, we can finally start."

"What is it that we need to discuss?" Sakura asked.

"I had done my share of investigating this morning, yet all it resulted in was myself retreading old ground," Kiyo said.

Tenko smiled and placed her hands on Sayaka's shoulders. "Actually, Sayaka found something super important!"

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Really now? What is it?"

Everyone's eyes shifted towards Sayaka. Tenko patted her friend on the back. "Go on," Tenko said. "Tell them."

"Ok," Sayaka said. "Well, Tenko and I went back to one of the storage rooms and while we were digging around we found…a robot."

"A robot?" Nagito asked. "What kind of robot?"

"Was it like me when I was a robot!?" Nekomaru asked.

"Was it Gundam style robot or a waifu robot?" Hifumi asked.

"It was Keebo," Tenko said.

Tsumugi's eyes widened and she looked towards Tenko. "Wait, what?"

"Who's Keebo?" Sakura asked.

"Keebo is an advanced android that was a part of our group," Kiyo answered. "It was a marvel to see him in action. Whoever created him must be the closest to creating an artificial life."

"He was also super helpful in investigating the school," Kaito said.

"So, he was part of your group," Mahiru spoke as she thought about the information just explained to her, "but if he was here the whole time, why didn't he show up with the rest of us? Was he hiding in there?"

"No, he was actually in pieces when Sayaka found him," Tenko said. "We're getting Miu and Chihiro to fix him."

"So, he was killed too?" Mukuro asked.

"We don't know," Sayaka stated.

"I am curious about how he appeared here," Byakuya spoke up. "The way he all appeared after are deaths fit a pattern. We woke up without any of us injuries, yet for Keebo, he was found in broken parts. Why would Monokuma change that pattern?"

"Maybe it is because he's a robot," Chiaki suggested. "He isn't 'alive' like the rest of us, so he maybe Monokuma thought he wasn't worth bringing back right."

Celeste glanced at Chiaki and smirked. "I don't believe so. I don't think Monokuma would discriminate androids if he could make them suffer like the rest of us."

"So, if Miu's working on him does that mean she's giving him a dick?" Kokichi asked.

"Th-that's none of your business, ok?!" Miu blushed heavily. "I can't do whatever the fuck I want!"

"I'm sure Keebo wouldn't want that," Kaede said.

"The important thing is that once Keebo's all fixed up, he can give us more information on what happened in the killing game!" Taka smiled.

"Th-that may take some time," Chihiro said. "I've never seen anything as advanced as him. Figuring out his programming, especially with all the broken pieces."

"Don't worry about it, Chihiro," Tenko smiled and hugged Chihiro tightly. "You're the Ultimate Programmer! You can do it!"

Chihiro shivered as Tenko squeezed the girl's head right next to her chest.

"You mind letting go of her, Tenko?" Rantaro asked. "I think she's turning purple."

Tenko looked down at Chihiro, and while she wasn't purple, her face was turning blue. Tenko gasped a bit and let go of Chihiro. "Sorry, Chihiro! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

'She's definitely going to kill me,' Chihiro thought.

Tsumugi cleared her throat and stood up. "Actually, I've been thinking about something since this morning."

Everyone stopped their conversations and turned to face Tsumugi.

"What is it?" Taka asked.

"It's about how we died," Tsumugi answered. "I know that we all talked it at length, but there were some oddities about them. There are…certain reoccurring elements across all three killing games. Especially with how we died."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "Can you explain yourself?"

Tsumugi nodded and looked at Hifumi. "May I use a piece of paper and a pen?"

Hifumi nodded and pulled his backpack from behind him. "Of course, Miss Shirogane." Hifumi rummaged through his backpack before he finally pulled out a clean sheet of paper and handed it to Tsumugi along with a pen.

"Thank you," Tsumugi said before sitting down and drawing three lines across the paper. "The first murder attempt always seems to backfire. Sayaka planned to kill Leon, but was killed instead. In an attempt to kill Nagito before he can hurt anyone, Teruteru ended up killing Byakuya by mistake. And Kaede set up a trap for the mastermind, but Rantaro was killed instead."

"Not to mention that Kaede didn't kill Rantaro as she originally thought," Gundham stated as he petted Khan's head.

"Yeah, right," Tsumugi said. "The second trials are trickier to figure out, but the motives seem to revolve around secrets."

"Like mine, huh?" Mondo asked.

"Not just you, but Peko hid her connection to her master and killed Mahiru due to the secret discovered in that game."

"I still don't understand the whole point of that game," Mahiru said. "I was apparently connected to a murder scene, but I don't even remember it."

"Then there was me," Ryoma said. "We all got our motive videos switched around."

"And Kirumi's reason that she still hasn't given us," Byakuya said.

Kirumi frowned. "I apologize, but I still need time to gather my bearings before I can explain."

"It's fine, just don't hide it forever," Kaito said.

"The third and the fourth trials have the clearest similarities," Tsumugi continued. "The third trial always involves a double murder. Celeste kills Taka and Hifumi, Mikan kills Ibuki and Hiyoko, and Kiyo killed Angie and Tenko."

Tenko gritted her teeth and she glared at Kiyo. God she just wanted to leap up and strangle him, but no. She had to behave. She kept her anger to herself and kept listening.

"And by the end of the fourth trial, a muscular person is dead," Tsumugi said.

"Th-that bad!" Gonta shouted.

"Those two are too specific to just be a coincidence!" Nekomaru shrieked.

"But what about the fifth trials?" Mukuro asked. "We don't even know what happened at Hope's Peak after Sakura's death. So can we even say there are connections there?"

"I thought so at first," Tsumugi said, "but I did come up with a theory. The, I guess the right word for them would be tricksters, get themselves killed in a confusing way."

"Hmmm, I didn't think of that," Kokichi said. "I guess me and Nagito got some talking to do."

"I'd be happy to talk, Kokichi," Nagito smiled. "I'm dying to know what a Supreme Leader gets up to."

"There will be none of that," Byakuya said to the two boys before looking back at Tsumugi. "While the first two will be difficult to deal with, we can certainly plan to avoid repeats of the third, fourth, and fifth trials."

"That is if they'd even go the same way as last time," Gundham said. "Monokuma is certain to change his tactics if he suspects our plans."

"Hey, how about we talk like we aren't going to murder each other?" Leon suggested. "I thought we were giving each other a second chance and stuff. Don't tell me you guys don't believe that."

Everyone was silent. They looked towards one another and faced the truth. Despite all the flowery words they could say about how they've moved on the doubt and fear were still in them. Some of them were sat right next to their killers. That can't be forgiven so easily.

"I guess we know everyone's answer to that," Junko said.

"S-sorry," Tsumugi said. "You were all so excited by finding Keebo and I just ruined it."

"No," Rantaro said. "This was something we needed to hear. Thank you, Tsumugi."

"Why don't we just start eating?" Mahiru suggest. "I think that will cheer us up."

Teruteru suddenly entered the cafeteria with two floats filled with food. "Did someone say eat? Because dinner is served!"

Teruteru, along with help from Kirumi and Gonta, passed out food to everyone. Teruteru remembered to bow down on one knee as he presented Celeste her meal before continuing on to everyone else. Dinner was awkward. The feelings of doubt, suspicion, and fear made everyone uneasy. After twenty or so minutes, everyone split off from the table to head back to their rooms.

Mahiru approached Hiyoko and smiled. "So, do you want to hang out now, Hiyoko? Isn't it time for your bath?"

"Nah," Hiyoko shook her head. "I promised Angie I'd hang out with her. She can help me out."

Mahiru frowned a bit. "Oh…Ok."

Hiyoko smiled at Mahiru. "But we can hang out tomorrow!"

"Yeah, sure," Mahiru gave a weak smile.

Angie walked right in between the two girls and smiled at Mahiru. "Don't mind me, Mahiru. I'm simply helping Hiyoko come out of her shell a bit more. That's what you'd like, no?"

"I do want that, I'm just-"

"Nyahaha!" Angie clapped her hands together. "Excellent! I promise to talk good care of her. And perhaps the two of us can spend time together as well!"

"Um…sure."

"Great, great," Angie smiled before taking Hiyoko's hand and leading back to her room.

'What…what is up with her?' Mahiru thought to herself.

While that was occurring, Chihiro had made her way back to her room. When she was about to open her door, she felt a tap on her shoulder. While Chihiro jolted a bit, she turned her head around to see Nekomaru.

"O-oh," Chihiro spoke softly. "Hello, Nekomaru."

Nekomaru smiled down at Chihiro. "Hey. I'm glad I caught you at a good time."

"Oh? Did you need me?"

"Yeah. You see, I heard that you were looking to get stronger, right?"

Chihiro tilted her head a bit. "Uh, y-yeah. That's right. How did you-"

"Great!" Nekomaru interrupted. "How'd you like to train with me?"

"H-huh?!" Chihiro backed up a bit. "R-really? With you?"

"Yeah. I have plenty of experience training all kinds of people. I know you'd benefit greatly from training with me!"

Chihiro gulped a bit. Nekomaru seemed nice enough, but his offer was so sudden to her. She also couldn't forget how her last attempt at working out went. Chihiro looked down at the floor.

Nekomaru could tell Chihiro looked troubled. He of course knew how she died, but he didn't realize how traumatic it must've been for her. He took a step back from Chihiro. "You don't have to answer now. You don't even have to say yes. Just know that my offer is up for you."

Chihiro looked back up to see Nekomaru walking down the hall. She was stuck in place. She kept thinking about how Mondo hurt her and how Nekomaru reminded her of him. Yet, he was different. He wasn't a murderer. He laid his life down for his friends. He wasn't strong physically, but emotionally as well.

"N-Nekomaru!" Chihiro shouted.

Nekomaru stopped in his tracks and looked back at the programmer.

Chihiro took a deep breath. "I-I want to work out with you tomorrow!"

Nekomaru smiled at her and laughed. "Awesome! Tomorrow it is! Make sure you're ready!"

Chihiro nodded, her eyes were filled with determination. Nekomaru turned back around and headed to his room. Chihiro turned back to her door and opened it.

'I'm not going to be weak anymore!' Chihiro thought to herself. She stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. She walked over to her desk and opened her computer back up. She had plugged Keebo's head up into it and has been running several programs to repair his memory and understand his functions. 'I'm going to help everyone. I'm going to protect everyone.'

"RING RING!" The intercom rang out as Monokuma's voice echoed through the building. "It is now 10 pm! As a result, all water has been shut off until morning. So, get some goodnight sleep and enjoy your dreams…. Even the wet ones."

Finally got a day to work on this. I got new hours at work, which are a lot longer than what they used to be. So with that on top of working on other important projects may get in the way at times. I don't plan on abandoning this story. It's my most popular one and it's where I'm practicing my skills. So, please be sure to leave comments and review stuff like grammar and pacing. I really need it.

Finally getting to start more arcs like for Mahiru, Angie, and Nekomaru is a pleasure. Got to give some other characters time to shine too.

I do got to get back to Mondo, Gundham, and Kokichi though. They're too important and fun to leave in the dust.