Chapter 2: Part 10

"BOW WOW, RIRIRIRIRIIIIIII!" Monokuma shouted his best impression of a dubstep beat into the school's intercom. "It's 7 o'clock, meaning it is now morning! As such, all water has been turned back on and the kitchen has received its food supplies. So, you all have a wonderful morning!"

Kaito slowly sat up in his bed and ran his hands through his hair. It didn't matter how long he had been putting up with Monokuma's morning announcements, he still couldn't get used to waking up at 7 in the morning. After putting on some deodorant, combing his hair, and getting dressed, Kaito exited his room to seeing Chiaki and the fake Togami talking in the hall. Kaito smiled and approached the two of them.

"Hey, Chiaki," Kaito waved to the two. "Hey, Toga…wait no. Hey, uh…"

The heavyset blonde crossed his arms. "Shinji," he said dryly.

"Shinji, right," Kaito said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, man. I guess I haven't been keeping up with you, have I?"

"That's actually why I'm talking to him right now," Chiaki spoke up. "I feel like ever since Shinji stepped down from his position as my class's leader, we've all lost a bit of focus on investigating this place. Maybe I'm just not stern enough."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Kaito said. "I think you're doing a good job at looking out for everyone. Sure, maybe we've relaxed a bit after investigating the second floor but cut everyone some slack. We just went through a class trial after all."

"But that doesn't change Chiaki's point," Shinji interjected. "We have found two books covering Hope's Peak and the Ultimate Academy as well as Tsumugi's journal and Junko's tape and we've yet to go over any findings in them."

"Don't worry about that," Kaito responded with a smile. "I got Rantaro on top of that."

Shinji raised an eyebrow, turned to Chiaki, then back at Kaito. "So, you just pawned your work off onto Rantaro?"

"Wh-what?" Kaito laughed awkwardly. "No, no way! I just figured, you know, since he had Tsumugi's journal, he compare it to the Ultimate Academy book."

Kaito laughed again, but the deadpan expressions of both Shinji and Chiaki caused his laughter to die off. Kaito scratched the back of his head and coughed.

"Ok, I get what you're saying," Kaito said. "But I'd say Chiaki doesn't need to step at all. You have helped us a lot and you look out for everyone. I say, we just let Shinji back into the group leader…group."

Shinji let out some air out of his nose. "While I appreciate the offer, I fear that your colleague wouldn't be as willing to accept me."

Kaito frowned. "You mean Taka, right?"

Shinji nodded.

Kaito sighed. "I don't really know what got into him."

"I can't truly blame him for distrusting me," Shinji said. "I did lie to you all about my true identity. In these killing games, such a lie is a betrayal."

Chiaki gently placed her hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Some people are more willing to give you a chance than you realize."

Shinji gave a small smile to Chiaki before returning to his usually stoic demeanor. "I believe we've stood around long enough," he said. "Let's head to the cafeteria."

Kaito smiled. "Lead the way, man."

Shinji led Kaito and Chiaki through the dorm halls towards the cafeteria.

Mondo dragged the handcuffed Korekiyo by the collar of his shirt and shoved the Anthropologist into the cafeteria. Luckily for Kiyo, Mondo's shove was a bit half-hearted, so Kiyo maintained his balance. Kiyo let out a sickly chuckle as he looked back at the biker.

"I don't think that such a fair way to treat a prisoner," Kiyo said.

"Dude, you murdered several people and you're kind of creeping me out," Mondo said.

"I do apologize if my behavior unsettles you, but I simply can't help how my mind works," Kiyo smiled underneath his mask while he sat himself down. "Perhaps I can explain the history of biker culture to put you to ease?"

"Anything's better than hearing about your sister again," Mondo said as he rolled his eyes before entering the kitchen.

"Of course, the first prototype of what would eventually become the motorcycle was created in Germany in 1885," Kiyo began his ramble. "As you could imagine, the exact structure and layout of the prototype is hardly similar to what you'd expect. There even plans to try and make it steam powered, but alas, no such thing could've been possible. Of course, there would be continued work on the design, the first of which would eventually be released in the mid 1890s-"

Mondo reentered the cafeteria, only partial listening to what Kiyo was saying. Bikes were obviously his passion, and hearing about some of the earliest motorbikes was pretty cool to him. But hearing it from a serial killer who was in love with his sister made Mondo's skin crawl. He reluctantly sat down next to Korekiyo and handed over a plate with a sandwich on it. Kiyo briefly stopped his long-winded lecture to unzip his mask and slowly ate his breakfast. Mondo leaned back in his chair and bit down on piece of toast.

Before Mondo could get comfortable in the uncomfortable situation, Celeste entered the cafeteria, closely followed by her maid, Kirumi, her bodyguard, Peko, and her animal expert, Gundham. Mondo couldn't help but have a puzzled expression across his face as he took note of their new attire. Gundham had his hair combed down, with the longest strands of his hair becoming bangs that slight covered his red eye. He was also much more professionally dressed, with black dress pants, black button-up shirt, red vest, a new red scarf, and well-polished slacks. The only things remaining from his previous look were the hand-wraps and trench coat. Peko got a makeover as well. She traded out her school shoes for dark red boots, instead of her skirt and leggings, she also wore black dress pants, a white Victorian era shirt with neck and wrist frills, a red vest, a black dress jacket, and white gloves. Only Kirumi and Celestia remained unchanged.

They all sat themselves down at the corner of the table with Kirumi heading towards the kitchen. Celestia seemed quite pleased with her… "friends" new looks.

"What, are you guys a clique now or something?" Mondo asked.

Celeste turned her attention over to the biker. "I just gave them a few tips on how to better present themselves, if that's what you mean."

"Not just that," Mondo said. "I never really thought you'd all hangout."

Peko stood up from her seat to face Mondo. "Celeste had requested that I act as her bodyguard until we eventually escape this place."

Gundham crossed his arms. "And Ludenberg asked me to advise her on how to properly treat her familiar."

Celestia let out a hearty laugh. "Oh Gundham, there's no need call me by my last name. I'd prefer you call me Celeste."

Gundham bowed his head. "Of course, Celeste."

"Well, Miss Ludenberg," Kiyo spoke up, "if you'd ever wish to have an anthropologist in your group, I'd be happy to lend my knowledge."

'What the hell?' Mondo thought to himself as he watched this new, goth clique interact with each other.

Thankfully for Mondo, more "normal" people began to flood into the room. Kaede, Mahiru, and Ryoma entered the room. Then came Sayaka flanked by Tenko like always, followed by Ibuki and Gonta who seemed to be chatting about cricket sounds or something. Then entered Chihiro and Nekomaru. Mondo waved to Chihiro who sheepishly waved back. Then rest of the group walked in. Leon, Sakura led Mukuro into the room, Hiyoko and Hifumi strangely entered the room together, Rantaro and Mikan entered together, and then Teruteru dashed into the kitchen to whip up some breakfast for everyone. After a minute or so, Miu finally entered the room, holding her monopod her right hand, then in her left she was yanking a chain. What was the chain attached to? A collar wrapped around Nagito's neck. Everyone paused their conversations to look at Miu and Nagito.

"Oh~" Teruteru wiggled his eyebrows. "Getting kinky now, you two?"

"Please, as if I'd let this loser even fondle my boobs," Miu answered. "No, this is just my way of keeping him in line."

"Don't you think that's a bit too cruel for him, Miu?" Kaede asked.

"What?" the blonde inventor shrugged. "He doesn't hate it. Honestly, I think he's into it. Besides, Mukuro is still handcuffed."

Kaede turned to Nagito. "Nagito, you can tell us if you're uncomfortable."

Nagtio smiled and waved his hands. "Don't worry about me. A worthless dog like me deserves to be treated like this."

Teruteru snickered. "Like I said. Real kinky, you two."

Finally, the last remaining members of the group entered the cafeteria. The group leaders, Taka, Chiaki and Kaito, who were followed by Angie and Shinji. Angie's eyes locked onto Hiyoko and noticed she was sitting with Hifumi.

'Strange,' Angie thought. 'Hiyoko hardly seems like she'd enjoy interacting with someone like Hifumi. Did Atua lead her to finding another lost soul?'

Angie smiled at Hiyoko as she sat herself down. 'I knew she was the one.'

Taka, Chiaki, Kaito, and Shinji all stood at the end of the table and overlooked the rest of the group. Taka frowned and placed his hands on his hips.

"I see Kokichi is still not willing to join our morning meetings," Taka said.

"But isn't that a good thing?" Leon asked. "The guy was a major pain in the ass-"

"Language!" Taka interrupted.

"Uh, right," Leon scratched the back of his head. "But yeah. The dude's a pain and said stuff like how he'd try to screw us over and stuff."

"Leon's got a point," Celeste said. "He's made his intentions to faceoff against us quite clear. It would be wise for us to keep any plans a secret from him."

"Yep, but it would be hard to do that," Kaito explained. "He's kind of good at getting info while staying out of our sight."

Miu smirked confidently. "Well, dickless and I may have just the answer for you guys." Miu placed down her monopod and turned it on. However, instead of the usual start-up screen and selection of apps, Miu's monopod immediately showed an outline of the first and second floor's layouts with several squares showing footage around the school. "Nagicuck and I spent the last two days placing my Mobile Voyeurs around the school. We now can finally keep an eye on Kokichi, Monokuma, and any other sneaky fuck!"

Ibuki leaned forward in her seat to look at the monopod. "WOW! You even got one in the bathro-"

Miu's face turned red and yanked the monopod back. "I think I made my point!" she shouted over Ibuki.

Chihiro leaned to the side to look over Miu's shoulder. "Wow," she said softly. "You managed to place them everywhere. How did you manage to put a camera so high in the gym?"

"Well, unlike you I actually am capable of creating things," Miu explained. "I made a jet back and had Nagicuck place them just about anywhere I needed."

Chiaki frowned. "While I'm sure we can agree your cameras are helpful, there's no need to insult people like that."

"Yeah!" Mondo growled. "What did the kid ever do to you?"

"I don't know," Miu said sarcastically. "Maybe it's because she's still not getting any progress done on Keebo."

Chihiro frowned and sat herself back down. "B-but I am…"

Everyone in room paused what they were doing and turned towards Chihiro.

"Wait, you're getting work done on Keebo?!" Kaede asked.

Chihiro nodded. "Y-yeah. I-it's not much, but I recreated my Alter Ego AI program on my lab computer and I'm using that to both fill in gaps in Keebo's programming as well continuing to repair him while I'm away."

"Wow, Chihiro!" Kaito cheered. "That's some real impressive programming work!"

Miu rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Whatever. I could've done it like three days ago."

Shinji sighed and spoke up. "I'm at least glad some of you got work done."

Sayaka raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Shinji crossed his arms. "From what I've seen since we explored the second floor, we've become lazy. We've discovered two books about Hope's Peak and the Ultimate Academy and a tape from Junko, yet no progress has been made in investigating them."

Celeste gently folded her hands together. "Are you saying it's wrong for us to enjoy ourselves after a class trial?"

"No, but I'm saying finding our way out of here should be a top priority," Shinji answered before turning to Rantaro. "I've been told that you've been reading through Tsumugi's Journal. Is that correct?"

Everyone turned their attention to Rantaro, and for the first time during the entire meeting, noticed that Rantaro had barely been able to keep himself away. He had heavy bags under his eyes and kept bobbing his head up to stop himself from falling asleep. Mikan eventually had to tap the lime haired boy on the shoulder signal that he had been asked a question.

"Oh, uh, yeah I have," Rantaro said as he rubbed his eyes.

Ryoma shook his head. "A bit absorbed in your work, huh?"

Rantaro nodded as he opened his mouth for an extended yawn. "Yeah. Tsumugi wrote a lot considering how few days it'd been."

Hifumi let heavy breaths out through his nose and he balled up his fists. Hiyoko immediately noticed how the mention of Tsumugi's name upset the nerd. She placed her hand on top of his. He glanced down at the usually spiteful girl attempt to comfort him. He sighed and relaxed his hands.

Mikan fidgeting with her fingers before speaking up. "R-rantaro's been taking notes on everything she wrote in h-h-her book. He said he was a-almost done."

Taka tapped his chin. "Just how almost done are you?"

"Uh," Rantaro yawned. "Just about one more page."

"Well, that's good news," Taka smiled. "Well, all we have to do now is watch Junko's tape then get to reading the history books."

Before anyone else could speak up, the school's intercom rang out a three-note chime, stopping everyone's conversations.

"Ahem!" Monokuma cleared his throat in a purposely obnoxious manner before speaking up. "Attention all students. This is your beloved Headmaster Monokuma speaking. All students are required to meet me in the gymnasium for a special announcement! So, be there or be square!"

The group collectively groaned at Monokuma's announcement. Of course, there was a feeling of dread. It was Monokuma and any announcement he made usually a motive or some sort of trick to mess with them. Following his orders to the gym was the last thing anyone wanted to do…and yet, they knew all too well what refusing to listen would do. Slowly, but surely, the group made their way out of the cafeteria and through the halls to get to the gym.

Taka, Chiaki, and Kaito led the entire group into the gymnasium where they were met with quite the unusual sight. Instead of the usual podium layout, Monokuma was sat at a hardwood desk in the middle of the gym. The desk was covered in paperwork with a flickering desk lamp lighting up the already well lit area. And just behind the desk sat Monokuma, with a fedora hat covering his eyes, a smoking cigar hanging from his lips, and tie and suspenders combo. He shuffled through the pages on his desk as he spoke.

"It just never seems to end," Monokuma spoke in a…Jimmy Stewart impression? Humphrey Bogart? Jack Nicholson? Monokuma spoke in the style of some sort of film noir narration as he huffed out a cloud of smoke.

"Everyone seems to be hiding something in this town," Monokuma continued. "But someone's got to get to the bottom of it all. Beneath all the filth in this city. I guess that someone just happens to be me."

Gonta scratched the back of his head as he watched Monokuma. "Is Monokuma in movie?"

"Yeah, what the hell are you even doing?" Leon asked.

"What?!" Monokuma spun around and faced the group. "Don't kids have any respect for the performing arts anymore?!"

Ibuki shot her hand up, "Ibuki does!"

"Ibuki, not now," Peko said to her classmate.

"Please tell me that you pretending to be a detective is your announcement," Mukuro said.

Monokuma hopped on top of the desk and growled. "I'm not pretending to be a detective! While you were all living on easy-street, I was getting my hands dirty! I was digging up dirt on all of you for… THE NEXT MOTIVE!"

Everyone got goosebumps from those horrid words. Another motive, and so soon after they had just gotten done with a class trial. To be forced to live through the cycle of motive, murder, class trial and execution is something no one should live through. It was something they refused to live through, yet they couldn't stop it.

"Oh, and before anyone of you guys go all 'but none of us will fall for the motives again,' just remember how you all ended up in here," Monokuma snickered.

Taka gritted his teeth. "Well, that was the past! We've all learned not to fall for such tricks!"

"Oh, really?" Monokuma raised an eyebrow. He picked up a stack of envelopes from his desk. "Are you sure about that?"

Monokuma then tossed the stack of envelopes into the air. As they all scattered and gently fell to the floor, everyone could see that each of them was signed the name of each individual student. Taking that as a sign, everyone began to pick up their respective envelope.

"Inside of these bad boys are all your dirtiest little secrets," Monokuma explained.

Chihiro had barely even touched her envelope when she heard those dreaded words. "S-secrets?"

"Again?" Celeste asked with her eyebrow raised. "You're already resorting to recycling motives?"

"Why can't I?" Monokuma shrugged. "I hate to be the BEARER of bad news, but you guys are highly overemotional and stupid. You've all done horrible things in your lives and might be willing to do anything to keep it in the dark. Am I right, Mondo?"

"You son of a bitch." Mondo would've lunged forward if Taka and Nekomaru weren't there to hold him back.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Monokuma waved his paw. "See what I mean? I can do the same thing over and over again and get the same results. So, why don't you all go ahead and take a peak? You may even be surprised with I found on you!"

Teruteru was the very first person to open up his envelope, and the moment his eyes laid upon the secret message inside, he froze. "N…no. That…This can't be true!"

Following him was Kaede. Her face turned red and she held the letter close to her chest. "H-huh did you even know that?!"

Mukuro crumbled up her paper. "Junko told you, didn't she?!"

As everyone read through their secrets, they reacted out of embarrassment, shock, or terror. Sayaka was honestly a bit nervous to read her own. She figured it was a damned if you do, damned if you don't moment. She would like to know just how much Monokuma truly knew about her, but she also figured, if it was something Monokuma thought she'd kill someone over, then it would have to be bad. Real bad.

Sayaka took a deep breath and slowly opened the envelope. Inside was a small piece of paper with some writing on it.

'Sayaka Maizono has ruined three girls' lives,' the note read. 'One, she crippled by tripping her down the stairs. The second, she burned her song pages. The third, she left drugged at a club.'

Sayaka remained still. The page nearly dropped out of her hand but caught it and held it against her chest. She could feel her heartbeat against her fist. It felt like it was going too fast. She tried to take deep breathes, but it felt like no air was entering her lungs. She kept panting as sweat dripped from her forehead. Her eyes darted around the room towards all of her classmates. No one saw what her note, right? She couldn't tell. She couldn't see any of their face. She couldn't hear their voices. Her panting and heartbeat were pounding against her eardrums.

"Sayaka!"

Two hands sudden grabbed onto Sayaka's shoulders and shook her. Sayaka broke out of her panicked state to see Tenko was the one shouting out her. Sayaka's attention returned to reality to see everyone staring at her. It seemed that her panic attack caused quite the scene.

"Are you done freaking out already?" Monokuma whined. "I have to finish the rest of my speech!"

Sayaka's breathing and heartrate returned to a more natural level and her posture softened. "Sorry," Sayaka said softly to Tenko.

Tenko released her grip on Sayaka and turned back to face Monokuma with the rest of the group.

"Now then," Monokuma continued. "Tomorrow morning, all of your secrets will be read out loud to everyone. No ifs, ands, or buts. Well, unless you kill someoooooone."

Chihiro gulped.

"So, if one of you want to take that secret to the grave, you better start digging someone else's!" And with that, Monokuma tipped his fedora and stomped in his cigar before backflipping behind the desk and disappearing from sight.

The group was left in the gymnasium with an aura of tension and dread enveloping them. As much as everyone wished to keep faith in one another, they couldn't help but have some suspicions. Someone had fallen for the motive in a previous killing game. So, to deny the possibility would be foolish.

Taka would eventually speak up for the class. "Alright. I know all of you are scared about these secrets, but we can't allow Monokuma to scare us like this." Taka clenched his fist tightly. "That's why I suggest we reveal our secrets here and now!"

The plan, of course, made sense. What better way to deal with the motive than to immediately make in null? However, most the class were uneasy. Outside of a few side glances, no one was willing to face one another, let alone tell their secrets.

Taka frowned. "Are you all seriously going to keep your secrets?"

Chihiro hung her head in shame. "S-sorry, Taka. I do want to tell everyone. I really do but…" Chihiro shot two glances at Mondo and Tenko. "I just…I need one more day. Just one more day to prepare myself."

Nekomaru patted Chihiro on her shoulder. "I think that's the right move."

"Y-yeah," Kaede nodded in agreement. "I mean, our secrets are being exposed tomorrow. We might as well prepare ourselves mentally for it."

Before Taka could disagree, Kaito spoke over him.

"Alright then, everyone," Kaito said loudly. "Take the rest of the day to calm down and…well, ease yourselves for the morning."

"Now, wait just a moment," Taka said. "Momota, I respect your commitment to keeping everyone comfortable, but…my class have faced this motive before and we failed."

"Then we must up security for the rest of the day," Shinji said. "We'll use Miu's security cameras to oversee all activity."

Taka side-eyed the round man.

"Um, we got a right to privacy, man," Leon protested.

"It's better than having Monokuma be the one's watching over us," Sakura commented.

Taka sighed. "Very well. You all may have the rest of the day to rest. However, if any of you see anyone acting suspicious, report it to Nanami, Momota, and myself immediately."

Shinji couldn't help but notice that Taka left his name out when listing the group leaders. If it was anyone else doing it, he would've assumed it was a mistake, but with Taka, he knew it was intentional. He would've been mad, but then again Shinji revoked his title as group leader himself. So, he simply nodded in agreement with the rest of the group. However, before everyone could leave, Angie walked to Taka's side and whispered into his ear. After listening to her, Taka turned his attention from the whole group to just Sayaka.

"Maizono," Taka approached the pop idol, "I must apologize, but I believe it would be for the best if…you were put under guard."

Sayaka raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

"I…" Taka glanced back at Angie before returning to Sayaka, "considering how severe your reaction to the secret was…I feel it would be for the best."

Sayaka took a step back. "Wait, wait, wait. Y-you don't seriously think I'd try to kill someone over-"

"Pfff!" Leon let out a laugh.

Sayaka stared at Leon as if she was hoping her eyes could kill him. Then again, that proved Taka's point. She dropped her glare she realized it, but it was too late. The moment she turned back around, she had handcuffs locked onto her wrists. Sayaka's eyes widened and tears formed.

"P-please…" Sayaka pleaded.

"H-hold on," Tenko rushed over to Sayaka's side. "Sayaka has been one of the most helpful people in investigating this place and without her we wouldn't have found Keebo or figured out Tsumugi was a killer! Are you really going to treat her like a criminal just because she's scared?! We're all scared about our secrets! That doesn't mean that we're all going to try kill people."

"The difference is Sayaka has attempted murder," a voice called out from the back of the gymnasium.

Tenko groaned, already knowing that it was Kokichi. "How about you can it?"

"What?" Kokichi snickered as he approached the rest of the group. "I'm just looking out for the rest of the group."

"Shut up already!" Tenko then turned her attention back to Taka, "Look, if you're all really so worried about Sayaka, then let me look after her."

Taka turned to Chiaki and Kaito for their opinion.

"Let her look after her," Chiaki said softly. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Yeah, Tenko can take care of herself," Kaito said before a bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face. "I mean, not that Sayaka would do anything."

Taka turned back to Tenko and nodded. "Of course, Chabashira."

Tenko smiled and pumped her fists. Feeling that this meeting was over, everyone began to file out of the gym. However, Tenko didn't leave. She stayed with her friend until everyone else had left.

Once they were alone, Tenko placed her hand on Sayaka's shoulder and gave her friend a comforting smile. "It's ok, Sayaka," she said softly. "I promise that…I'll figure out a way to get you out of this."

While Tenko seemed optimistic, Sayaka was still in a panic. Just one day until Sayaka's most vile secret will be revealed. Whatever sympathy she had gained from the group was sure to dissipate. And the only way to get out of it…was to kill someone.

'This can't be happening,' Sayaka thought to herself.

I honestly planned to get at least two more scenes into this chapter, but this chapter has already dragged on long enough. I would've added them if I had Saturday off, but unfortunately this has been the third Saturday in a row I had to work. I really worry if I will ever finish this story sometimes. I do have dreams of writing original stuff, and I'm really trying to make time for all my writing as well as my personal joys. Well, at least the gap between parts was shorter this time around.

I've finally gotten to the formation of Celestia's new inner circle, all complete with new designs for Gundham and Peko. I know some of you were wondering about the cast getting redesigns, and as I said before, I will give them new looks when it feels natural. Hopefully the formation of that group felt natural too. I've really been worrying about how my dialogue, pacing, and characterization has been going. Keeping track of everything is a task lol.

Bringing the Ultimate Imposter/Shinji back to the fore front. I know that name is still odd for some of you, but I did have to call himself. I plan to keep up on the odd tension between him and Taka.

Will this motive take affect on our group? What is on Junko's tape? What's in Tsumugi's journal? I swear I will give you all answers...eventually.