Chapter 2: Part 13

'Oh no, oh no, oh no,' Chihiro thought to herself. She really believed that her time working out with Nekomaru would prepare her for this exact moment, but from her rapid heartbeat to her flush red face to the sweat shooting off from the sides of her head, it was clear nothing would've helped for when she was actually receiving the gazes from everyone in the cafeteria.

Well, not everyone had confused expressions. Mondo, Taka, Sakura, and Nekomaru clearly knew her secret, and all of them tried to signal their confidence and sympathy in her with either a fist pump from Sakura and Nekomaru or simple nods from Taka and Mondo. Those would've cheered her up if it weren't for Celestia and Hifumi. Hifumi just turned his head away and whistled while Celeste just kept her smug grin up. That combined with everyone else's long period of silence and looks of confusion made her want to shut her eyes and sink into her chair.

After staring at the small programmer for what felt like a solid minute, Leon finally spoke up.

"No way," Leon said with a laugh. "That's got to be a fake secret."

"Nope," Kokichi said as he held up the secret note. "That's what it says here."

"But it can't be true!" Tenko said before pointing at Chihiro. "I mean, just look at her! Chihiro is the very epitome of a cute girl! There's no way she could be a degenerate male!"

"Yeah," Leon continued. "You can't look like that and be a dude."

"I mean, there are feminine looking boys out there," Nagito said.

"Plus crossdressing has been an activity throughout history with many prominent examples," Kiyo lectured. "Joan of Arc, many Shakespeare actors, and-"

"Stop it!" Tenko said. "Chihiro is a girl! There's no debate here!"

"Tenko…" Sakura said softly, "it's true though. Chihiro…is a boy."

Tenko's eyes widened. "N-no way…" She turned the programmer. "That's not true…right?"

Chihiro sighed. She knew Tenko would be the biggest problem with this secret, but she also made a promise to Nekomaru. She had to stay strong. "It…it is."

"Wh-what?" Sayaka gasped. "Seriously?"

"N-no way!" Leon gasped.

"Wow, you really pull off the dress," Kaede complimented Chihiro.

"Th-thanks?" Chihiro said.

"Is it like a kilt thing?" Ibuki asked. "Love the breeze between your legs?"

"Well, n-not exactly," Chihiro responed.

"Is this some sort of weird fetish thing?" Hiyoko asked.

"N-no!" Chihiro said.

"Is this why you got so anxious whenever you were with us?" Kirumi asked.

"So, what are women's bathroom's like?" Teruteru asked.

"So, are you…trans?" Kaito asked. "The right word is trans, right?"

Chihiro squirmed in her seat. "Well, I-"

"Oh, so he already got his dick chopped up to make a fake vagina?" Miu asked.

"Hey, you can't just say stuff like that!" Leon shouted at Miu.

Everyone paused and turned to Leon.

"Never took you as the progressive type, Leon," Mahiru said.

"Look, I…" Leon groaned. "I had a teammate go through a gender crisis…it was weird, but he- she! She…confided in me about it. It was a lot of stuff that I still don't really get, but…if that's what's up, then I'll try my best to understand."

"Th-thank you, Leon," Chihiro said to the baseball star before looking at the rest of the group. "B-but…to be honest, I don't really dress like girl because of that…at least, not at first."

"What do you mean, blacksmith?" Gundham asked.

"To be honest, I started dressing as a girl because I was scared," Chihiro answered. "When I was little, I got picked on because I didn't act like all of the other boys. I…liked playing with dolls and picking flowers. They all told me I wasn't a real boy…so, wh-when my dad transferred me to a different school, I decided…I'd just…pretend to be a girl so no one would make fun of me anymore."

"And what do you think of it now?" Nekomaru asked.

"I…I don't know," Chihiro answered. "I know I want to get stronger. I want to be comfortable with myself. But...you guys all asking has me wondering if I am trans or not…"

"Well, I say that we will all support whatever choice you have going forward," Taka spoke for everyone. However, this was one of those times where Taka did in fact speak the majority's opinion.

Kaede, Kaito, Mondo, Nekomaru, Rantaro, Chiaki, Leon, Kirumi, Ibuki, Angie, and Teruteru, and Sakura all smiled, showing they would support the programmer. Sayaka, Mahiru, Gonta, Gundham, Shinji, and Mikan seemed more hesitant, probably still confused by the reveal, but they all eventually nodded their approval for Chihiro. Celeste, Mukuro, Ryoma, Kiyo, Nagito, and Kokichi didn't seem to care either way. Miu and Hiyoko looked absolutely disgusted by Chihiro. That definitely hurt a bit for Chihiro.

Then there was Tenko. Surprisingly, Tenko had remained quiet throughout the entire tale. Too quiet honestly. Sayaka actually had to turned to the black-haired martial artist. Tenko was completely still. She didn't even blink. She just had this vacant look in her eyes. Sayaka waved her hand in front Tenko before snapping her fingers.

"H-huh?" Tenko turned towards Sayaka.

"Are you ok?" Sayaka asked.

"Oh…" Tenko turned away. "I'm fine…"

'That's not the reaction of someone who's fine,' Sayaka thought to herself.

"Well, that was something," Kokichi rose from his seat. "It didn't turn out as interesting as I hoped, but there were some surprises. Time to call it a day, right?"

"Wait a sec," Mondo stood up from his seat. "You didn't read your secret!"

"Woops!" Kokichi said. "Well, that's all the time I have for today! Gotta go!"

Kokichi immediately dashed out of the cafeteria.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE, KID!" Mondo shouted as he dashed after the purple-haired boy.

Viewing that as her que, Celeste rose from her chair. "I believe that brings the meeting to a close."

Taka sighed. "I suppose so."

"Now wait a sec!" Ibuki jumped to her feet and raised her hand. "Ibuki has something she'd like to say!"

"What is it?" Chiaki asked.

"Ibuki noticed that all of you are bummed about your secrets being told, but we shouldn't be sad!" Ibuki spoke. "We proved Monokuma wrong! We beat the motive! So, Ibuki says we should throw a party!"

"A party?" Shinji raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Ibuki said. "This is the perfect way to show our bond!"

"I'm all for doing that!" Kaede said with a smile.

"Yeah, same here," Leon said. "I'm down to party."

"If it's a party, you are simply required to have a feast," Teruteru said. "Lucky for you, I'm the chef for the job."

Mahiru smiled. "I can take pictures if you'd all like."

"I'll try to set up some games for us all to play," Chiaki said.

Taka crossed his arms. "Very well, Mioda! I say that this party will serve as an acceptable way to bond as a class!"

"Awesome!" Ibuki said. "Kaede, Sayaka, come with Ibuki to plan this out!"

"Sure thing!" Kaede rose from her seat.

"Okay," Sayaka rose from her seat as well. She turned to her side to ask Tenko to come along, but she saw the martial artist was already gone.

'Is she upset about Chihiro's secret or mine?' Sayaka thought to herself. 'Probably Chihiro's…Poor Chihiro.'

"No more sulking!" Ibuki shouted as she grabbed Sayaka's wrist and dragged her and Kaede out of the cafeteria.

"We should all make our way out too," Celestia said to her clique. As a result, Gundham, Peko, and Kirumi all rose from their chairs and followed the gambler out of the cafeteria.

"Come on, Nagicuck," Miu said as she yanked on his chain. "We got finish putting up those cameras before we work on my next creation!"

Nagito was dragged along the floor, the collar nearly choking him. "Sure thing, Miu," he said, still happy to help.

With that, everyone began to file out of the room, with Taka and Angie being the final two left in the cafeteria. Just as Taka was about to walk away from the table, Angie took a hold of Taka's hand. Taka looked back at Angie with a raised eyebrow.

"Is something wrong, Yonaga?" Taka asked.

"Oh no, no, no, my dear Taka," Angie smiled brightly. "There is nothing wrong. I simply wish to know if I still need to wear these handcuffs?"

Taka paused for a moment to think over the pros and cons of freeing Angie from her binds. Soon enough, Taka reached into his pocket, pulled out the key, and unlocked Angie's handcuffs. Angie rubbed her wrists a bit, trying to remove the lingering feeling from her wrists.

"You've behaved rather well, Yonaga," Taka said. "And your advice has given me a lot to think about."

"Nyahaha, but of course!" Angie laughed. "And I'm always willing to give you advice whenever you ask."

"Of course!" Taka nodded.

Angie walked past Taka and headed towards the door before stopping in her tracks and turning back to face Taka. "Actually, I do have one more piece of advice before I leave."

Taka raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Watch over Chiaki."

Taka tilted his head at the advice. "Nanami? But she's been very helpful with investigating and explaining what's been happening."

"True, true, but it is only after she has no choice, no?" Angie tilted her head to the left. Then, she tilted her head to the right. "It makes me wonder if there's more to her story than what she's telling us."

Taka pressed his fist against his chin. "Perhaps…I-I won't go as far to say that I believe she's our enemy…"

"Of course not," Angie smiled. "None of us our enemies….but in this kill game, we must be careful."

"Understood," Taka said.

Angie flashed one final smile before making her way out of the cafeteria. As she exited Taka's line of sight, her smile grew more twisted and dark.

Mondo had been sprinting after Kokichi for several minutes, but it was clear he wouldn't be able to catch the smug little brat. Mondo was big and buff, but he was hardly a trained sprinter. His breaths sucked up less and less air as he ran. He eventually sped down to a stop and inhaled as much air as he could.

"Sh…shit…how did…that little…prick learn to…run so fast," Mondo said before leaning up against one of the walls.

"He's either around when you don't want him or gone when you need him."

Mondo turned around to see Ryoma standing behind him.

"Oh…hey, kid," Mondo said as he finally caught all of his breath. "What are you doing?"

"Honestly, I was just going to head to the art room to work on some painting," Ryoma answered.

"Not in the mood to help me catch the kid?" Mondo asked before standing back up.

Ryoma crossed his arms. "Honestly, he's become less of an actual threat and more of an annoyance."

"Yeah, well, he's annoying the shit out of me!" Mondo growled.

Just behind the two of them approached Taka. "Ah, Hoshi, bro! I'm glad I've found you. Have you two caught Kokichi yet?"

Mondo turned to his bro. "Does it look like it?"

"Drat!" Taka came as close to cursing as he could possibly do. "To announce everyone's secrets and withhold his own is unfair! Once we catch him, we must take disciplinary action!"

"Hell yeah! Bust some heads!" Mondo smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"No, that is too far, bro!" Taka protested.

"Well, it seems you two have this under control," Ryoma said. "I'm heading on up."

Ryoma walked past both of the boys. Taka waved goodbye to the short man while Mondo noticed something was missing with Taka. His eyes scanned the hall before looking back at Taka.

"Hey, where's that Angie chick?" Mondo asked.

Taka turned back to his brother-in-arms. "Oh. Well, after watching over her the past few days, I felt that Yonaga was no longer a possible threat. So, I released her."

"Oh, really now?" Mondo smirked. "Come on, bro. You can tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Bro, seriously? You have a hot chick in your room, you're getting all handsy with her, you're sticking up for her? You're telling me you really haven't made a move on her?"

Taka's face blushed heavily. "B-bro! Such things are unwelcome-"

"Yeah, yeah, school environment," Mondo waved his hand sarcastically. "Honestly, bro, there's no reason to be so uptight about the rules here. I mean, the only one that really helps is the damn bear."

"Well, true, but…to do such acts while being unmarried…"

"Bro, it doesn't even need to go that far. Just kiss her or something."

"Just kiss her without consent?!"

"What?! No! Why would you even think that?!"

"You said just kiss her."

"Well, of course you ask first!" Mondo face palmed. "Dude, I got a lot to teach you about chicks."

Ibuki kicked open the door to the auditorium and sprinted into the room. Only then did she release her hold on both Sayaka and Kaede, with the two of them having to brace themselves from hitting any of the chairs. Being dragged along by Ibuki was much more dangerous than they'd imagined.

"OK, so where should we start?" Ibuki asked, although, she gave them no time to answer. "Oh, we should set up the instruments!"

She dashed to the front of the auditorium and leapt onto the stage. "The mic stands can go here, the drums are at the back, oh the piano can go the side, hmmm maybe we can get some pyro up here too."

"Uh, Ibuki?" Kaede moved down the aisle and towards the edge of the stage. "I know we said that we'd be happy to help perform a show with you, but don't you think we need some sort of plan?"

"Ibuki is planning!" Ibuki said proudly. "Ibuku's going to include piano songs in the show! Ibuki's also picking songs that mesh all our styles together."

"Really?" Kaede asked. "You know songs that do classical, punk, rock, and pop."

"Yes! Well…sort of."

Kaede climbed up onto the stage. "Only sort of? That's not really the most inspiring word."

"Look," Ibuki spun around and gently took a hold of Kaede's hands, "Ibuki wants this to be the best show ever, so Ibuki's mind is run, run, running as fast as it can to make it all work."

Kaede sighed. "Well, maybe it's time for us to slow down a bit. That way we can clearly think over every idea and decide what to do with them."

Ibuki looked off to the side and rolled her tongue around as she thought over Kaede's suggestion. "OK! Ibuki can work with that!" Ibuki turned her attention to Sayaka. "What do you think, Sayaka?"

When Kaede looked over as well, she noticed Sayaka had not moved from the entrance since they entered the room. She instead had stood still, holding her hands together, and looking down at the floor like a sad child.

"Do you guys really want me to perform with you?" Sayaka asked.

"What?" Kaede asked. "Of course, we do. I thought you were excited to play with us too."

"I-I am," Sayaka said. "But…"

Ibuki let go of Kaede and jumped off the stage before walking right up to the pop idol. "Is this about your secret?" Ibuki asked.

Sayaka nodded. "I remember that we talked about how you didn't really care about how corporate pop music could be and…I feel like you'd hate it even more now. Like, it's just some popularity contest rather than being about the music…and things I did to keep that-"

Ibuki placed a firm grip on Sayaka's shoulder, stopping the idol's self-loathing speech dead in its tracks. "Ibuki…I am upset about that. I am sad that you would do stuff like that to be popular…but that's why I want to do this show. It's supposed to make everyone feel happy. We beat Monokuma's motive. These secrets, the thing we've all done, they can't bother us anymore."

Sayaka opened her mouth to protest, but she was cut off.

"Sayaka," Kaede spoke up, "you're not to only one who's made bad decisions. I hurt Shuichi like how you hurt Makoto."

"And Ibuki has killed a lot of people," Ibuki said.

"But that wasn't your fault," Sayaka said.

"Ibuki still did it," Ibuki said. "If Ibuki was stronger, she could've stopped it. But I can be stronger. You can be stronger."

Ibuki moved her hands off of Sayaka's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly. Out of instinct, Sayaka hugged her back, almost as if Sayaka's body thought it was one of her bandmates hugging her.

After some time, both girls let go of each other.

"Now, turn that frown upside down!" Ibuki cheered. "Use that stage idol energy to sing some awesome tunes!"

'No more crying,' Sayaka smiled and nodded. "Right."

"So," Kaede sat herself down on the edge of the stage, "what songs should we plan anyway? We don't really have time to write original ones."

"Plus, we probably need more people if we want to use more instruments," Sayaka said, immediately jumping into the group planning.

"Well, Ibuki knows Peko totes got the drums down," Ibuki said with a smile. "Ibuki rocks an electric guitar, hmmmm, you think Ryoma or Mondo play bass? Ibuki gets bass player vibes from them."

"I could ask," Sayaka said. "By the way, what do you guys think of having stage costumes?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure," Kaede said. "Whenever I've performed, I just wear a purple dress and white gloves."

"Oooooh, Ibuki's imagining you look like a hottie," Ibuki laughed. "Ibuki is totally down with face paint and spiked shoulder pads."

Sayaka laughed. "I don't think we'd look as good in that."

"Why don't we just leave the theatrics for later?" Kaede said. "We should just focus on what songs we should play for now."

"OH!" Ibuki raised her hand. "Ibuki's got two songs that work pianos, Kaede!"

Sayaka smiled as she, Ibuki, and Kaede planned out what to play. It was filling some hole in her heart. That itch to perform. She hadn't performed since she arrived at Hope's Peak, and speaking with the two other musicians was bringing that performer's high out of her. This would be a kick ass show.

Chihiro had returned to her…his? Chihiro returned to his room. He…she. She had been pondering over the discussion she had with the rest of her classmates about what she would do with herself. He couldn't even go into his lab to continue work on Keebo. She had to focus on this question. She stared at the clothes in her closet, seeing all the copies of her brown skirts and women's shirts hanging up. Back at Hope's Peak, he honestly felt that once his secret would be revealed, he'd hang his skirts back up and were more "boyish" clothes to accept who he truly was. At least, that's what she thought.

'I never really thought about being trans,' Chihiro thought to himself. 'I thought I was just pretending to act like a girl…But…I guess I have gotten used to wearing skirts and dresses. Does that mean I want to be a girl? Or am I still just pretending?'

Chihiro grabbed the sides of her head. 'This was so much easier to figure out earlier!'

A knock at the door caught Chihiro's attention. Chihiro walked away from the closet and opened the door….

Chihiro could feel his heart drop from his chest and into his stomach as cold sweat trailed down his back. Right outside his door was Tenko Chabashira. The absolute last person he wanted to be alone with that day. Sure, Tenko didn't have a grimace across her face and her eyes weren't burning with rage, but that didn't stop Chihiro from fearing his fate.

"T-tenko," Chihiro said softly.

Tenko just stared at Chihiro for a moment, her face remaining completely blank as she just looked into Chihiro's soul. Chihiro tightened his grip on the doorknob, ready to slam the door shut in case of an attack. Seconds felt like hours as Chihiro stood like a statue as Tenko kept staring. Slowly, Tenko's mouth frowned and her eyebrows scrunched up. She raised her hand up.

'God, I'm so sorry for whatever I've done,' Chihiro prayed to himself.

Tenko's index finger stretched out and pointed right at Chihiro's face.

"T…T-turn into a girl right now!" Tenko shouted.

Chihiro remained still, but his fear lightened minimally. "…huh?"

"Turn into a girl right now!" Tenko shouted again.

"…What?"

"Ugh!" Tenko growled as she grabbed Chihirio's shoulders. "I'm freaking out! You're the single cutest thing I've ever seen in this world since Himiko, maybe even Sayaka and Kaede! You're far too cute to be a girl! Please, please, please just become a girl! I can't take this!"

Chihiro's voice became shaky. "Sh-shouldn't this be my choice on if I'm a girl or not?"

Tenko dropped down to her knees. "Please! I'll do anything for you to be a girl! I just can't have both you and Shuichi be guys while being my friends!"

"B-but why can't you still be friends with me now?"

Tenko's brain completely shut down at that point. Everything she tried to say after that moment left her mouth as complete gibberish. She just kept stammering, mumbling, and yelling out a cacophony of noise. Chihiro became uncomfortable. Well, he was before, but that was out of fear. There, she just felt sad watch the martial artist breakdown at her feet. Not wanting to feel responsible for causing someone to breakdown, Chihiro slowly backed into her dorm room and shut the door behind her, leaving Tenko to let out all the emotions she was feeling.

Freedom was such a wonderful feeling. It felt as if Atua himself poured the cleanest water over Angie. Of course, Angie was completely dry walking the halls of the Despair Academy, but she kept a hold of that feeling. Angie followed the breeze that traveled through halls in search of her compatriots. Just a few days was still too long for her to be away from her students. It was Atua's will to spread his word, and she would follow it to the letter. Going up the stairs to the second floor and entering the library, she found them.

Hifumi and Hiyoko were sat down at one of the tables looking through a pile of books. Taking a closer look showed that they were all manga of various genres and age demographics. Hifumi lectured about the history and plotlines of various stories while Hiyoko looked bored out of her skull. However, that changed when Angie entered the room. Hiyoko's eyes immediately lit up and she ran from the table to hug Angie.

"Angie!" Hiyoko nearly cried tears of joy. "You're free!"

Angie smiled down at the small girl and pet her hair. "Indeed I am. Atua was able to make his way into Taka's heart." Angie looked up from Hiyoko to see Hifumi shuffle in his seat nervously. "And I see Atua has led you to find another soul to save."

Hiyoko glanced back at Hifumi before letting go of Angie. "I-I just did what I thought you would do…I didn't really want to-"

"But it was the right decision," Angie smiled down at Hiyoko before approaching Hifumi. "You have no reason to be afraid, my dead Hifumi. Atua noticed your cry for help and welcomes you with open arms."

Hifumi pushed aside the stack of manga to properly face Angie. "It's just…after Tsumugi tricked me…no one seemed to care about checking on me…"

Angie held his hand. "But Atua does. I do. The scared and confused while reach enlightenment and spiritual purity by accepting his love."

"Th-then, I want to join you, Ms. Yonaga!" Hifumi said with tears in his eyes. "I'm tired of being scared! I'm tired of being alone!"

Angie slowly pulled Hifumi into a gentle and loving hug. "You aren't, Hifumi. Not anymore."

Hifumi snorted back his snot as Angie gently rubbed his back much like how a mother would comfort their crying child. After Hifumi was able to regain his composure, he let go of Angie.

"Now, we have work to do," Angie said.

"What do you mean?" Hiyoko asked.

"Nyahaha, don't tell me you forgot about the morning meeting, Hiyoko," Angie smiled. "There are so many lost and scared souls here that need to light of Atua to save them. It is our job to do so."

"Well, all of us were bummed by our secrets, Ms. Yonaga," Hifumi said. "Where would we even start?"

"There's one person I'm truly worried for," Angie said. "Teruteru."

"Really?" Hiyoko groaned. "Do we have to help out the pervy chef?"

Angie wagged her finger. "No one is below our help, Hiyoko. If they need help, it is our duty to offer it."

Hiyoko rolled her eyes. "I hope you're right."

I'm very glad of how this chapter went. I'm also glad I got it done relatively quickly. I would've posted it last night if wasn't acting up.

The elephant in the room. I know that the fandom can get up in arms for Chihiro and whether or not he's actually a trans girl or if we should follow the game's perspective that he is a he. I am sort of turning that into a plot point for Chihiro's arc and hopefully I've done it in a way that is respectful while also not being overbearing. I know how some of you online get.

Building up Angie's cult. Wonder where that's going to go. Getting more odd mashups in is certainly rewarding when I feel that work. Angie's definitely a big player coming up.

Then, there's the musical trio. I keep getting a bit annoyed with how angsty I make Sayaka at times. Granted, I feel it's in character for her to act like that after everything that's happened to her, but I am trying to get her back to that cheerful idol we all know her to be. Plus, separating her from Tenko for a bit helps get more of those long overdue interactions in with Kaede and Ibuki.

Anyways, I'm still trying to figure out if I need a proofreader or not. Also, let me know who else you want to see hangout. I'm making a little list. As always, thank you for reading, leaving comments, and maybe spreading the word.