"Wakey wakey, sister!"
Chiaki grumbles, rolling over to her side and putting the pillow over her head. Somehow, it feels like she knows who that is just by the sound of that voice, but she's too tired to really entertain that right now. "Go away."
"C'mon, we've got a long day ahead of us today, and you can't be late for work, you know!"
That voice is so stupidly and annoyingly persistent. Very unsurprising, knowing who that is.
With another groan, Chiaki groggily rolls. Even when taking the pillow off her face, her body feels so sluggish and heavy. She cracks one eye open, but she doesn't actually look at whoever's been trying to wake her up.
"I don't care."
She's sure that her voice probably sounds very groggy and might've been inaudible, but she doesn't really care anymore, she already made her point. So after saying that, she immediately rolls over back to her side again, and she also covers her face with the pillow. It's only early in the morning right now, but doing all of that is already making her feel exhausted again.
So that means in no time at all, she should fall back right to sleep. Good in that case.
"Hmph! Looks like you leave me no choice then. I really don't want to do this, but you've forced my paw. This is for your own good, sister."
Was that voice saying something again? Oh well, not like it's important anyway. She's already going back to something more pleasant right now. It looks like she's going to start having another very nice dream.
She can already see something that looks like green pastures, the kind that's fun to frolic around with. Though she would prefer just laying down there and relaxing. Oh wait, she's already doing that.
Either way, things are looking good and she's getting some nice peace and quiet again, with no annoying voice from a stupid annoying bear to pester her right now—
Something very, very, very uncomfortably wet and cold is suddenly dumped right on top of her.
Chiaki immediately gets up with a loud yelp. Without even thinking, she throws both her blanket and pillow off of her to try and get all of those away from her as fast as she can. She then wipes at her face with both hands, trying to keep that wetness from getting into her nose and mouth.
She then starts coughing. And then, once she fully opens her eyes, the last thing she ever wants to see is right in front of her.
Monokuma, holding a bucket that's almost as big as he is. He then grins at her. "Rise and shine, ursine! We got another long day today, so let's get moving!"
With her sleep completely ruined, Chiaki is feeling way too tired and angry to say anything to that stupid bear right now. So she just gets off her bed, heading off to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day.
Besides, it makes things slightly easier to deal with if she forgets that stupid bear is still right there, right inside her cottage right now.
After getting in the bathroom, she wastes no time setting up a relaxing bubble bath. And then once it's warm and bubbly enough, she then steps in there. Chiaki sighs in content, letting herself sink a bit deeper into the warm, bubbly water.
"You better make it snappy, sister! Or I'll drag you out of there myself if I have to!"
Of course. He just has to ruin this too. Stupid bear just can't let anything be right even if it's just this once. But at the same time, she doesn't want to test if he'll actually go with those words, so as much as she feels very unenthusiastic out by it, she does make it quick as he demanded.
After getting a fresh set of clothes on and getting out of the bathroom, Chiaki quietly breathes out. The day has only barely started, and she already wants to go back to bed right now.
"Now follow me, sister!" Monokuma calls out to her, beckoning her with a paw.
For a moment, Chiaki did feel tempted to sass back at him. But she doesn't want to waste any more energy on him, so she just shuffles herself along, following on wherever that bear wants her to go.
She really can't wait for this stupid motive to finally be over.
Chiaki doesn't know what she expected, but she supposes it should've been a given that Monokuma will lead her to Hotel Mirai. Since that's what he's been doing with everyone for these past couple of days or so already.
Though this time, he doesn't make her stand outside of the hotel. Instead, he makes her get inside the hotel's dining area. It's so different from what he usually does that it did make her even more suspicious, but she doesn't have much of a choice but to go with it for now.
Once she's in there, the first thing Chiaki notices is that a handful of her classmates are already inside. More specifically, it's Tsumiki, Souda, Owari, Nidai, Saionji, and Hanamura right there, with all of them sitting on the same table.
As she takes her seat, she then notices that it's only just her and those classmates who are in here right now. "Wait, where's everyone else?"
"You mean the prisoners?" Monokuma laughs. "Upupu, you don't have to worry about them, dear sister. They're all still safely contained in their cells."
That didn't sound good to Chiaki at all. "What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't you hear him, or is your brain really that badly damaged?" Saionji groans. "We had to build those bars up over their cottages, remember?" After a brief pause, she then snidely adds, "Oh wait, you didn't do anything last night, so no wonder you forgot about it."
"I…" Chiaki tries to say something against that, but in the end, nothing comes out of her.
Because the truth is, not even she can deny that. She didn't forget about what happened last night, she remembers that Monokuma even paraded them around their classmates' cottages, the ones whose doors and windows are covered in metal bars.
But, it's true that she didn't have a hand in putting any of those bars on some of their classmates' cottages. Saionji, Hanamura, Tsumiki, Souda, Nidai, and Owari did.
"Hey, don't be so hard on her." Nidai suddenly speaks up, getting himself between Chiaki and Saionji. "What happened last night isn't anyone's fault, that bear put everyone in a tough spot together."
Saionji stares at him with a grimace and an annoyed look on her face, but she doesn't say anything back to him. She just huffs and goes to sit somewhere further away from them, on the other side of the same table.
Once that's done with, Nidai turns to Chiaki. "Don't worry about her. She may say a lot of nasty things, but they're just words."
"Yeah, what the old man said." Owari agrees. "She's also kinda a big pain to everyone's butts, so it's not just you."
That makes Chiaki think. 'I guess that isn't surprising. Saionji hasn't exactly been friendly to anyone ever since...that happened.' Letting herself relax, or at least, as best as she can right now in this situation, she mumbles out, "Thanks for that, though."
Nidai laughs, in a hearty but good-natured kind of way. "Just doing as promised!" He playfully slaps her on the back a few times.
Chiaki almost yelps from the force of those. But, even with the strength he put in those, none of it actually hurt, and she doesn't think any of them were strong enough to knock her over anyways. She just didn't expect that at all, that's all.
Now that she's this close to him, she notices that Nidai has some bags under his eyes. Chiaki wonders what's up with that, and if anything that happened last night had something to do with it. Or if anything else that's been happening since these past days had something to do with that too. Like when Monokuma forced him and Owari to clean the planes in the airport up yesterday.
But before she can think about that any further, Monokuma calls out to them.
"Alright, breakfast is ready for you lot!" He loudly announces as he brings out food, presenting it to them all. "Eat up while you can, for another day is shining on our wondrous nation this morning!"
This time, though, none of the food was the meal loaf or anything disgusting. Actually, they all look pretty good and there's all sorts of variety between them. Like with one set being filled with all sorts of traditional Japanese food, and another is like some kind of fancy steak of some sort.
Chiaki stares at one set in particular. It's a gut feeling for now, but it looks like it must've been made specifically for her. It even has strawberries for dessert too. "What are you trying to pull with this?"
She isn't the only one who's suspicious of this, as even from here, Souda, Nidai, Owari, and Tsumiki look wary about the food that seems to be made for them. The only one who didn't react with any suspicion is Saionji, who just happily takes her share from there.
Monokuma shakes his head as he puts his paws over his hips. "Why so tense, everyone? It's only just us in here, and no prisoners to put up an image for. You should all relax right now."
'Even if you tell us to relax, it's hard to do that when it's you who's saying it.'
"You're tryin' to pull somethin' with this, aren't you?" Owari accuses, jabbing a thumb at the dishes. "I know that people think that I'm just some dumb meathead, but I'm not that dumb."
"Oh yeah, that's right. After feeding us that…meal loaf and whatever that disgusting soup was, now you're giving us not just actually good food for once, but our favorites too. No way you're doing this without a catch." Souda adds in too.
"OUCH! You wound your Grand Headmaster with those terrible, terrible words." Monokuma holds a paw over his chest like he's been stabbed, but his grin doesn't go away. "Is it really so hard to believe that I want to provide for my people out of the goodness of my heart?"
'Ever since you showed up, you haven't done a good job showing that.' Before Chiaki can say that, Nidai beats her to it.
"There's no reason to trust you." Nidai stares that bear down, cracking his knuckles. "For all we know, you could've tampered with the food right there."
The sound of chopsticks dropping to the floor fills the air.
Monokuma laughs. "Upupupu, you got a great sense of humor there!" He wipes a paw off his red eye, and then all humor fades away from him. "If I really wanted to poison you all right here, right now, then what's the point of this killing game then, hmm? It'd be soooo boring and anti-climactic, don't you all think so?"
That makes them go quiet. None of them can deny that Monokuma did have a point there. If he really did want all of them dead right now, then he'd have done it already, maybe even as far back as when he first arrived on this island.
As minutes pass by and their stomachs grumbles, it didn't take long for them to take their own breakfast too. Even if the way Monokuma had set this all up is too suspicious and that bear can't be trusted in the slightest, it doesn't change the fact that this is still breakfast. And they don't really have any other options right now.
Hanamura starts to choke up. "This…" Tears flow from his eyes as he sobs. "This is exactly like how my mama would make it."
"And doesn't it taste great?" Monokuma suddenly comes close to him.
Hanamura turns to him, nearly falling over from his seat in shock. He keeps himself in his seat, breathing heavily. "What does this mean?" He shakily points a finger towards that bear. "H...How did you know about this?"
Monokuma just grins at him. "Isn't it obvious?"
Hanamura looks at his plate, and immediately goes pale. He audibly swallows the cutlet, but doesn't say anything else after that. He still continues to eat his breakfast, but it's clear he doesn't look or feel happy about it at all.
Chiaki doesn't know what Monokuma's implying, and she doesn't know if Hanamura ever realized what Monokuma's exact intent is. But whatever the case is, Monokuma is relishing in Hanamura's reaction right now.
Even though Monokuma demanded them to relax just a few moments ago, with how tense the current atmosphere is, everyone's eating in silence right now.
As Chiaki nearly finishes her breakfast, some thoughts are running in her mind right now.
The food did taste really great, especially if compared to how the meal loaf and that stew tasted really bad in the bland kind of way. But it's impossible to enjoy that right now, not when it's clear that Monokuma has some ulterior motive behind this. The only problem is that no one knows exactly what he's getting out of this.
Once everyone's done, Monokuma then marches in front of their table.
"The four of you." He points towards Saionji, Hanamura, Souda, and Tsumiki's direction. "Go and fetch the prisoners right now. Tell them that the Grand Headmaster wants their butts in here as soon as possible, got that?"
"Do we really have to?" Souda groans.
Saionji shrugs as she gets off her seat. "You heard what he said."
As both Souda and Tsumiki get off their seats, Hanamura stays still in his. He's slightly shaking, as if whatever Monokuma had implied to him earlier is still going over in his mind. But after a few moments or so, Hanamura gets up as well and joins the other three as well.
As soon as all four of them are up and about, Monokuma then suddenly adds, "Also, another thing. I want you to bring in the food for the prisoners too."
Tsumiki fidgets around. "B-But w-where do we f-find it?"
"You'll find it if you look hard enough. Now enough questions and get going already!" He stomps his foot at the end of that.
With that, the four of them hastily get out of there as soon as they can, going off to do what Monokuma ordered them to do. Knowing how Monokuma is, it won't be easy for them at all.
Monokuma then points his paw towards where Nidai and Owari are. "Now for you two, there are some new arrivals at the airport today, so I expect you two to get out there and clean them up as soon as possible!"
Owari rapidly looks between that bear and the exit. "But we just did that yesterday!"
"And so what?" Monokuma points his paw to the door. "Get going NOW or so help me! You wouldn't want me to use these on you and on him now, would you?" He then points towards the machine guns attached to the ceiling.
Hearing and seeing that makes Chiaki remember on how Monokuma used those to threaten Nidai back then, to keep him from using the kitchen and preparing everyone's meals. She can't believe she forgot about it, and now, remembering it again makes her feel so much sick.
And it looks like Owari remembers that too, as that threat makes her step back. But, she still has a burning look against him as she does so. "Urgh, fine, we're gonna hafta do what you want for now."
So now, both Owari and Nidai make their way outside, to do exactly as Monokuma demanded them to do. If Chiaki remembers correctly, the last time both of them got forced to clean the planes at the airport, it took them at least a whole day to finish.
As she thinks on that, she then remembers that Monokuma has also mentioned else about this. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
Monokuma tilts his head at her. "What do I mean by what?"
"You said that there's new arrivals at the airport today, so what's up with that?" She clarifies.
"Just some fighter jets." He says with a shrug.
"You got some fighter jets?" Hearing that makes her a little more curious, but it also makes her even more suspicious of that bear. For all she knows, either he's lying or, if he's telling the truth, then it can't mean anything good.
Monokuma flashes an even bigger grin at her. "Perhaps I can show them to you later."
Chiaki looks away from him, thinking about his offer. After a few seconds or so, she looks back at him, letting him know that she's staring him down. And then, she finally replies with, "You can look at them yourself."
Instead of getting angry about it like she expected, Monokuma only looks mildly disappointed by that. "Aww, what a shame. Oh well, I did ask nicely, but okie-dokie."
Another awkward silence passes by between them. Chiaki doesn't know exactly how long it lasted, but that silence is eventually broken. But of course, it's only because Monokuma has decided to break that silence.
Monokuma whistles and leans back in his seat. He drops the heavy accent, going back to how he usually talks. "It'll take a while before everyone gets back here again, so why not pass the time together?"
'Is this dumb bear serious?' Chiaki just stares at him.
He huffs at her. "Why so serious, sister? I just want a friendly chat between the two of us, but you're not even giving this little old me a chance." He then deflates on his seat. "Now you're making me beary sad…"
She turns away from him, deciding that staring off to the walls would be a better use of her time.
'I don't even know what he's trying to do this time, but I don't think it'll be a good idea talking back to him now. I better keep ignoring him and maybe he'll get bored of it. Everyone should be back here soon, anyway.'
Some time pass by. It might've been just a few minutes, or at least maybe half an hour, but she hears footsteps from here. Finally letting her know that the others have returned here at last.
Souda, Tsumiki, and Hanamura are the first ones to come in. Then after them, everyone else comes following them. Not only that, but it looks like they also found where the food for everyone else is too, like what Monokuma ordered them to do, as they also have a large cart right beside them too.
Though from here, Chiaki notices that Kuzuryu's the one pushing the cart. With how annoyed she looks, while Saionji's smirking right next to her, it's safe to assume that Saionji has ordered Kuzuryu to push that cart around.
Speaking of the cart. That same cart is filled with trays, as well as meal loaf and the same bland soup that Monokuma gave them all yesterday.
Upon seeing that, Chiaki then suddenly realizes why Monokuma gave her, Souda, Tsumiki, Saionji, Owari, Nidai, and Hanamura good breakfast meals for once.
'This is another way for him to divide everyone up again, isn't it? While we got good meals, the others would be forced to stomach the terrible food. And because we've already eaten, we won't be able to join in the others too.'
Monokuma jumps off his seat to greet them all in the front. "Privyet, people of Jabberwock!" He waves his paws around with so much energy, like he's trying to cheer for some team.
Komaeda's the first one to respond, as he looks down on the bear with a neutral look on his face. "You took your time getting us out this time. And you even had your guards do your dirty work for you too."
"What can I say? Things change." Monokuma dismissively says, waving a paw off at him.
Komaeda raises a brow, like he isn't convinced by that at all. "Is that so?"
"Yes, it's that so. Now stop being nosey." Monokuma turns his back on him, shutting Komaeda down before he can say anything else about that.
"If you say so." Komaeda replies with a laugh. Though, his laugh sounds a lot more different. Usually, it'd sound calmer, but now, his laugh sounds more biting and sarcastic this time.
Their other classmates, escorted by Saionji, Tsumiki, Hanamura, and Souda, get to their own table, which is separate from where Chiaki is currently seating at. Even from here, Chiaki can see how tense and uncomfortable their other classmates looked. No doubt there's so many things going on in their minds right now.
And then, once it's time for the rest of their class to get their breakfast, Chiaki has a hard time watching as they're all forced to take the meal loaf and the bland soup. And worse, they have no other options besides those, so either they take those or they get nothing.
She wonders if they noticed that she, along with the ones in the 'guards' role, didn't join them in eating the disgusting food this time.
Once everyone else is done with breakfast, Monokuma brings the roulette wheel again. "Alright. You know the rules here by now, everyone. Wherever the wheel lands on, the selected prisoner will have to wash everyone's dishes for this whole day." He lightly taps on it to emphasize his point, widely grinning at them all.
Chiaki remembers that yesterday, it was Komaeda who got forced onto that. 'So he's doing this again.'
Monokuma lifts a paw up, preparing to spin that wheel again. But, before he can do that, someone speaks up, interrupting him.
"We don't need to use that this time, because I got a way better idea than that old junk." Saionji says as she walks forward without even a flinch. It's like she isn't afraid of any consequences for going against that bear at all, and so openly and without a care too.
Monokuma stares at her for a good second or so, like that actually caught him off-guard. He immediately gets his composure back, though. "Normally, I would punish such things. But I'm intrigued by the audacity displayed here, so go on." He gestures at her to come towards the front.
After gaining that permission, Saionji then rotates the wheel, but she doesn't even let it properly spin. She only drags it by the edge and makes the arrow land on a certain name.
Kuzuryu's.
That causes everyone present to start talking among themselves. Though, they're all talking among each other so much, Chiaki can't make out what are the exact words they're saying. But she guesses that not even they thought that Saionji would go this far.
And Kuzuryu's reacting just as well as anyone would in her situation. "What the fuck are you trying to pull with this?"
Saionji flashes a malicious smile at her. "Hehehe, not my fault the wheel landed on your name this time."
"Bull. Fucking. Shit. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Each word is spit out from Kuzuryu's gritted teeth as she twitches in place, like she wants to lunge at and attack Saionji for it, but has to stop herself from doing it.
Saionji's smile fades, and now, it's replaced by an even more cruel sneer. "Hey, don't blame me for your own bitchy self. I'm just giving you what you deserve! Yesterday, you said that I'm acting like the hottest shit right now, but that's so damned rich coming from you."
"And what makes you any fucking better? You're a fucking murderer, and instead of getting put to justice, that damned bear let you walk free!"
"Says the member of the literal yakuza who's standing right in front of me! Oh let me guess, it's suddenly bad now just because it happened to someone you're using, right?"
"Don't you dare talk about Peko like that, you little shit!"
"And why the hell not? She's also part of the yakuza, so I don't see how she's any better than you. Big sis Mahiru is dead because of you two, and everyone else helped!"
"It's not my fault Koizumi got what she deserved—" Kuzuryu isn't able to finish what she's saying, as she suddenly collapses onto the floor with a loud scream.
Saionji holds the remote in front of herself, pointing it towards Kuzuryu's direction. She presses on its button again and again, making Kuzuryu scream and wriggle and writhe on the ground more and more.
The sight is more than enough to Chiaki feel so sick. "Saionji, that's enough. You're going way too far now!"
"And what are you going to do about it? Talk and preach to me until I do what you want?" Saionji didn't even bother looking in her direction when she said that. "You're too spineless to actually do anything meaningful, anyways."
Without saying anything else, Chiaki quickly moves, intending to snatch that remote away from her.
Saionji must've realized what she's planning, as she quickly runs out of there, to try and keep the remote out of her reach.
"Hey, wait!" Chiaki comes after her, trying her best to catch up and keep up with her. But so far, she isn't doing so good with that.
After some time chasing her all over, Chiaki finally manages to grab Saionji by the wrist. Now all that's left is for her to take the remote out of her hands—
At that moment, Chiaki hears a familiar scream. And by the time she turns around to look at who it was, there isn't anything she could do. Kuzuryu has finally recovered. With a scream and eyes full of so much hatred, she lunges towards Saionji, taking her down with her.
And now that Saionji doesn't have the remote anymore, she can't do anything against Kuzuryu. Saionji starts to cry out as Kuzuryu hits her with so much punches and kicks as much as can, with no mercy being given to her at all.
"Wait, that's enough now!" Chiaki may not have liked what Saionji been doing to Kuzuryu, but if she doesn't do anything, then there's a chance that Kuzuryu could actually kill Saionji on the spot. And so, she tries to get in-between them.
For a second, Kuzuryu does stop. But that's only so that she can look her right in the eye. "Stop getting in my fucking way already!" And then, she pushes her aside, with so much more force than expected.
Chiaki falls to the floor, landing right on her forehead. She doesn't know how long it lasted, but everything hurts, her mind is so groggy, and her vision's getting so blurry.
But even from here, she can here more screaming. Only that this time, it isn't just Saionji and Kuzuryu. She can hear the others too. She can't see what's going on, not right now, so she doesn't know exactly what's going on now.
"Nanami, are you okay?"
She recognizes that voice. "Hinata?"
Just as her head starts getting clear, even only a bit, she then hears more screams, along with some loud buzzing. And she hears Hinata screaming along with the others as well. That makes her immediately try to get up. Even with everything still hurting and her limbs being so wobbly, she knows she has to do something about it, or else things will only get worse.
Once she's finally up on her feet, that's when her mind is finally, and she can see what just happened. And it's horrifying.
At least of the class are huddled up to the corner, while the others are on their knees on the floor, like they've just been beaten down. Kuzuryu is on the floor, completely unmoving. If it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of her chest, Chiaki would've thought that the worst has already happened. Saionji is being pinned down by Souda, Sonia, and Tanaka, no matter how much she screams and tries to kick at them.
Hanamura's breathing so heavily, with so much sweat running down the sides of his head. But, even from here, anyone can see that he's holding the remote out in front of himself. There's no denying that sight at all.
Chiaki feels herself stepping back from him. "What have you done?"
He must've heard her, as now, he's putting the remote away and tries to defend himself. "I...I had no choice! I...I didn't want to do it, but...I swear, I...I had to." His words get more frantic and faster. "E...Everyone was going crazy at each other, and if I didn't do that, then this would've turned into a riot!"
She can't believe what she's hearing from him. "What did you just say?"
But before Hanamura can say anything else, loud claps fill the room. All of it coming from Monokuma.
"Wowie, beary nice and impressive work you did, you lot!" He says with slow clap, and there's an even wider grin on his face. "We haven't even started working yet for today, and you've already caused a lot of excitement to happen this early in the morning!"
For a moment, Chiaki feels so sick and disgusted by how he's taking it all in stride. And then she remembers how he reacted to the end of the first class trial, as well as why he started this whole killing game in the first place. 'Of course, this is all just entertainment to him.'
"But," Monokuma continues, shaking his head, "You lot also made quite the big mess, and this is going to put quite a big damper on our plans today. It's such a big shame, really."
That didn't sound reassuring.
"So what are you going to do now?" Chiaki questions.
Monokuma laughs. "To start with, one of our prisoners will have to kept in her cell for the time being. Not only is she unable to work at the moment, she's also clearly too violent to be allowed free in a peaceful and prospering country like ours."
"You're saying you'll keep Kuzuryu under house arrest in that case." Sonia coldly concludes.
"Yes, that's another way of putting it." Monokuma didn't even hesitate to confirm that. "And along with that, one of our guards will have to…take an extensive break as well. A break that will have to last for some time."
Saionji stops struggling and kicking around as soon as she hears that. "Hey, what do you mean by that!?"
Monokuma chuckles. "Upupu, it's very simple. That means you'll be under house arrest too."
"What? You can't do that!" Saionji balks, and then she struggles against Souda even more, but he keeps her pinned.
"Oh yes I can!" Monokuma then completely ignores Saionji as he continues speaking, pacing around in front of everyone. "And as for everyone else, it's unfortunate, but we won't be able to continue with our usual operations, at least, not for now."
Tanaka raises a brow. "And your plans for that is…?"
"As you all know, many of our forces will be unable to work at the moment due to…excessive force done by one of our guards." Monokuma side-eyes Hanamura as he says that.
Hanamura shrinks back in his spot, either out of shame or fear. Or maybe even both at the same time.
"So," Monokuma continues, "As your kind and merciful Grand Headmaster, you will all be allowed to rest for the first half of the day."
'Am I hearing this right?' Because she can't be too sure about Monokuma's exact intentions, Chiaki decides to ask, "You're saying you're giving us a break?"
"I am a kind and merciful Grand Headmaster." Monokuma repeats with a laugh. "Just be grateful that I'm allowing this at all."
He doesn't clarify anything more about that, so now, it's hard to tell what are his exact intentions with that. Chiaki isn't even sure on how she should feel about this whole thing either. But, she sees the slight relief in her classmates' faces, and she can understand that.
It's been a long while since anyone had been this free, ever since the motive started.
After that, Monokuma did exactly as he said.
Kuzuryu still hasn't woken up yet, but she's placed back inside her cottage. Meanwhile, Souda, Tsumiki, and Hanamura have all escorted Saionji back to hers. Other than that, no one's actually watching over either of them, and they can only take Monokuma's word of keeping them inside their cottages for now.
And for everyone else, just like as Monokuma promised, they do get their break with no catches to it. At least, for now, that is. There's still a part of Chiaki that worries if this is another part of Monokuma's scheming.
But at the same time, she can't deny that it feels nice not having to run around and carry robot parts from place to place.
Chiaki lets herself breathe. 'It's been a while since anyone got this amount of free time.'
Since she doesn't have to worry about anything else right now, she figures she can probably do something to pass the time. Maybe spend somewhere relaxing, to take her mind off some things, even if it's only just for a bit.
She doesn't have any specific destination in mind right now. So she's just wandering around for now. And while she's walking around, she's also started to play a few rounds of Gala Omega on her GGA in the meantime too.
That game has always brought a smile on her face.
She doesn't know how long she's been walking around or playing, but by the time she decides to end her game and put her GGA back in her bag, a realization comes to her.
'Oh, I've wandered a lot farther than I thought.'
Somehow, Chiaki has ended up getting herself right here at Chandler Beach. Which probably is the last place she ever expected. She isn't the only person in here, though. From the corner of her eye, she can see Sonia standing close to the shore.
Sonia then turns around, her eyes widening in surprise as soon as she sees her. "Oh, Nanami? I didn't expect to see you here."
It might be just her, but Chiaki swears that her cheeks might be warm and red by now. This is a bit embarrassing. "Oh, yeah. I wasn't really looking where I was going. Sorry about that."
"You don't need to apologize for that, you know." Sonia reassures in-between some giggles. "I really don't mind at all. I think it'd be nice having some company here."
"You really mean so?"
"Yes, I do mean so." Sonia then gestures at her come closer. "Come on now, the view looks great from here!"
Chiaki can't turn that down, not without making herself look rude. So she just nods and does as Sonia asked her to do. And as soon as she's right by Sonia's side, that's where she sees it. "Woah."
"It's great, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you are right. The view really does look great from here." As Chiaki lets herself take those blue skies in, she then thinks to herself, 'I wonder why I haven't noticed it until now. If Sonia hadn't told me about it, I think I might keep missing out on it.'
"Nanami, is something the matter?"
Hearing that breaks Chiaki out of her thoughts. "Hm? What do you mean?"
"You look like you're thinking of something."
'Oh. Am I really that obvious?'
Chiaki wonders how she should reply to that. She figures she should just be honest about it. "Just thinking about the view here." Her mind then thinks back on why they're all even here in the first place, now souring it a bit for her. "It's kind of a shame we can't really enjoy even something as simple as this, not with our situation right now."
A small frown makes its way on Sonia's face. "Yes, it truly is a big shame." She says with a soft sigh. "Especially since this is only for a moment. After that, it will be…back to business as usual."
"How can anyone live like this?"
"Do you want to hear my honest answer about it?"
Chiaki is surprised that Sonia heard her mumbling those words. And when she turns to face her, she sees that there's an unusually serious look on Sonia's face. It's hard to describe it, but for a moment, it feels like there's something else going on behind Sonia's eyes, like this has become something personal for her.
Sonia breathes out, and then she begins with, "The truth is, this is just another fact of life for me. One that I've had to learn to accept time and time again." She then turns away from her, now staring off into the distance.
"What do you mean by that, Sonia?"
"The only thing I can say is that this isn't the first time I've felt so much fear and uncertainty in such situations, far from it. And, unfortunately, I'll have to leave it at that."
"So, you're saying that you're used to this kind of situation by now?" Chiaki feels her stomach sink as she thinks over that. 'What kind of life do you live where you just...start getting used to it? I don't think it can be anything good.'
"And I know it must sound very horrible for you to hear." Sonia replies, without directly saying yes or no to that question. "It must be very unthinkable, even."
"I…" Chiaki tries to say something, but nothing comes out.
Because Sonia is right.
What she's saying so far is something that Chiaki can never imagine. Somehow, it feels like what she's forced to endure on this island right now is something small and insignificant compared to whatever kind of life Sonia must've had before all of this happened.
"Yeah." Chiaki finally admits, the heavy feeling still in her heart even after she said that. "I'm very sorry, but I have hard time imagining it. I don't know what it's like, and I don't think I'll ever know."
Sonia gently shakes her head. "No, no, you shouldn't apologize for it. This isn't something I'd wish for anyone to experience. I should be sorry for bringing all of this to you so suddenly."
"You don't have to apologize either." Chiaki tries to reassure her, and now, that feeling has only gotten heavier since. "And I can't blame you for that. This is something you've been holding on within you for so long, isn't it?"
For a moment or so, Sonia goes completely quiet.
'Did I say something wrong? Did I offend her with this?'
But then, Sonia speaks up again. "Yes, that is right. But enough about that, before we get too off-topic. Because there is another thing in this, and I think you may need to hear it too."
That makes Chiaki wonder what she might mean by that. "You mean like, as an advice?"
"In a way, yes, it would be an advice. But it's also something I want to reassure you with." Sonia then faces her again. "Will you be willing to listen to me for a moment here?"
"I'll listen." Chiaki says with a nod.
"Thank you." She then continues, "Earlier, I know I said that this isn't the first time I've encountered such situations, and that it's something I had to learn over and over. But, that's only one part of it. There's another factor, and that's what I really wanted to answer your question with."
Chiaki keeps herself quiet, continuing to listen on and letting Sonia continue with what she's saying.
"Why do I appreciate the view from this beach even though it will only last for a while, and then we'll have to go back to a more frightening and uncertain situation?" Sonia breathes in, and then breathes out. "That's because for me, even the smallest joys in life is what helps us to keep going forward. Even if it's painful, even if it feels like everything will fall apart in the end, those little things are a good reminder to keep on living, for the sake of everyone around me."
As Chiaki lets those words weigh in on her, she now realizes what Sonia's trying to tell her with that. "I think I know what you mean by that now."
'It might not be the same thing, but is this a bit like what I'm doing right now? With my games?'
"That said, I hope you'll never have to put that to practice." Sonia says with a slight laugh, like she's trying to lighten the mood up. "Oh, and sorry if everything got too heavy right now."
Chiaki shakes her head. "No, it's okay. Besides, I learned something from you today, and I think it was worth it."
"I'm glad to hear that at least." Sonia smiles at her.
At that moment, Chiaki hears another jingle coming from her e-Handbook, letting her know that she has gained another Hope Fragment from Sonia.
Then the speakers start buzzing again.
"Ahem. Attention, attention, people of Jabberwock! Your break is now officially over. Please come gather at the Central Island and continue working on the robot for our great nation. Remember, your hard work will set you free. Your Grand Headmaster awaits you, upupupu!"
And then Monokuma laughs for a good while, before the feedback is finally cut off.
'Well, I don't know what I expected.'
"That sounds like our cue." There's a rather neutral look on Sonia's face when she said that, but judging by the tone of her voice, she doesn't sound thrilled by it at all.
Because there isn't any other choice they have, both of them start heading towards the Central Island, just as that bear has demanded everyone to do.
Now here they are again, back at the Central Island for more work. Aside from Saionji and Kuzuryu, everyone else has made it either. Though, Nidai and Owari haven't returned either. They're most likely still stuck at the airport, doing Monokuma's ridiculous and useless task of cleaning all of the planes at the airport, including some new arrivals.
As Chiaki passes robot parts around, she thinks back on how it all started, and how it's going now.
For the past days or so now, they all made a lot of fast progress. And that speedy rate they're going with, she was sure that they'd get this motive over with after maybe a few days more. But now, she isn't so sure about that anymore.
They completed the giant robot's framework. They made sure that the robot's engines were working. And, they even got its coating almost done with.
So now, what's the problem?
It's something she noticed while watching her classmates do their own work.
There's some pieces of the robot that just won't stay put together, no matter how many times someone tries to put those pieces in their place. As in, those pieces just keep falling apart no matter what. It's starting to get really annoying to deal with. So much so, there's several sections of the giant robot where it's just incomplete, and it sticks out real bad.
Her classmates are starting to notice that too.
"Man, are we even getting closer to finishing this whole thing?" Souda grunts as he tries to push a robot piece off the ground. "It's like nothing's changed!"
Monokuma doesn't even bother facing that direction as he says, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Less complaining, more getting work done! You all just need to be a little more savvy!"
"Savvy?" Hinata repeats, and his eyes narrow. "What the hell are you talking about this time?"
"That's not your Grand Headmaster's problem. That's something for you lot to pick up on." Monokuma takes another sip from his coconut drink. Then, he gestures at his side. "Make it a bit faster now, will you? Can't let your Grand Headmaster turn into a cooked bear here, upupu!"
Komaeda doesn't even bother replying to that. While he does do what Monokuma demanded him to do, he isn't pleased with that at all. He's not even smiling at all this time, and even with a more neutral look on his face, the look from his eyes are enough to show just how much he hates being next to that bear.
Everyone continues with the thankless work on this stupid giant robot. For a while, aside from the metallic noises, things are quiet.
Until Mitarai shouts, "Tsumiki, look out!"
'Wait, what's going on now?' Chiaki turns to where that came from, and what she sees makes her almost drop what she's working on.
One of the robot's pieces has broken off, and it's a rather big piece too. Even from this distance, that robot piece is big enough to crush anyone who's standing under it.
And right now, it so happens that Tsumiki is the one standing under its way.
And Chiaki is too far from her to do anything about it.
Tsumiki looks up. Instead of running for cover, she freezes up on that spot. She stares at the incoming robot piece with wide eyes for a second or so. And then, once those seconds pass, she then realizes what's about to happen. With a loud squeak, she crouches in that same place, with her arms covered over her head.
Mitarai drops the robot pieces he's working with. He runs towards Tsumiki's direction, to try and push her away before that giant robot piece can fall on her.
But just as he nearly reaches her, that robot piece lands onto the ground with a loud thud.
And it narrowly misses Tsumiki by a very, very short width. If she had been just a little closer, then she would've…
"Tsumiki, are you okay?" Mitarai asks once he's right in front of her, now that the danger has passed.
Tsumiki looks around, her body shaking, like she's expecting it to happen again. Once it's clear that nothing else will hit her and that she's safe now, she falls onto the ground on her knees. Loud sobbing comes out of her as she rubs at her eyes with hands.
"It's okay now." Mitarai kneels down to her level, rubbing her back to try and calm her down.
The others, once they noticed what just happened, don't take it well at all. Some of them, like Souda and Hanamura, are even backing away from where they're working at, as if those robot parts they're working on might suddenly fall apart on them too.
Monokuma notices that they've all paused from working, so he takes a megaphone out and starts shouting at them. "Hey, who said that you can slack off?! Get back to work! Your Grand Headmaster's robot isn't going to build itself!"
'What's wrong with him? That piece of the robot almost fell on Tsumiki, and he wants us to get back to work like nothing happened?'
Chiaki doesn't raise her voice, but she lets that stupid bear have a piece of her mind. "Why is that your priority right now? Didn't you just see that it isn't safe to be working on that robot right now?"
He yawns, and paw goes down to scratch at his rear. "And that's a problem because…?"
'...I can't believe you right now.' Chiaki tries to keep herself calm, even if it's getting harder and harder to do that, the more she talks to this stupid bear. "You're already terrible, but now you're not even trying to pretend to care at least."
As the others murmur among themselves, for a moment, Chiaki wonders if she'll have to do this alone. She remembers that Nidai and Owari promised to help her if she ever needs them, but neither of them can help her right now, not when Monokuma forced them to be at the airport right now.
But then, she hears footsteps coming closer. And when she turns to look at who's there, she's never felt so relieved up until this moment.
Sonia has stepped forward, and now, she's facing that bear head-on. "Tsumiki could've gotten hurt or worse. So why should we risk our lives if building this robot could put us in harm's way?"
Monokuma lazily waves a paw off. "Not your Grand Headmaster's responsibility. Besides, she turned out just fine, didn't she? You can't complain if nothing actually happened."
"So you won't care if any of us were to die while making this robot for you? Wouldn't that ruin your own killing game for you?" Sonia's voice is still relatively calm, but there's a more burning and biting tone in her voice when she said those words.
"I never said that. And you won't have to worry about that anyways." Monokuma then points his paw towards where the giant robot is, ending that conversation before anyone else can speak up. "Now get back to work now, or else!"
Because no one wants to know what Monokuma would do with that threat, they all scramble back to their respective posts. Even if the giant robot starts falling apart again, they don't really have a choice but to keep working on it.
Seems like even after that dangerous close call, nothing has changed for them.
Another long day.
Chiaki lets herself collapse face first onto her bed, too mentally and physically spent to process everything that happened today. Most of the day was spent on doing even more work for that stupid robot, only now, she isn't even sure if they're gonna get closer to finishing it. That thing just kept falling apart earlier, and they still have no idea on how to fix it.
Not to mention, with that close call with Tsumiki right there, it looks like it's getting dangerous working on that giant robot. They were lucky that it didn't hit Tsumiki at all, but what if something does happen later on, if they keep working on it?
'Just how much longer do we have to put with this?' She buries her face even deeper into her pillow.
She quietly breathes in and out, letting her eyes fully close. At least now she'll get some sleep, and she'll only have to worry about it once she's awake again.
"Hey, just wait a minute right there! You can't go to bed just yet!"
'Why does he have to be here now?'
Chiaki grumbles, not even bothering to lift her head up to look at him. "What do you want now?" Though, because her face is currently buried deep into the pillow, her voice is a bit muffled by that.
Monokuma didn't have any trouble understand her though. "Just going through business as usual, of course! I can't believe you already forgot about this part of our arrangement."
"I don't remember anything about that."
"You know what I'm talking about! This is the part where you report to me about everything that's happened today."
As Chiaki thinks that over, she then starts to faintly recall that yes, Monokuma did say something similar before. But because this is Monokuma she's talking with right now, she's not in the mood to confirm that for him.
"You don't even need me to say that for you. You were with us all day today." She groans.
"Too bad! I came all the way here for that, and I am not leaving until I get what I want and hear what I need to hear from you!" Monokuma stomps around in place, and it's easy to picture him shaking his paws around while doing so. "Also, you should get up right now and face me properly this time!"
'He's not even bothering to give any good excuses for this at all, is he?' With a very annoyed sigh, Chiaki gets up in a sitting position on her bed, even though she'd rather just fall asleep right then and there instead. "Okay, I'm up now. Let's get this over with. What do you need me to tell you first?"
Monokuma rubs a paw over his chin. "Actually, I think I don't need you to report anything to me tonight. I already know everything that happened today, soooo, no biggie right there!"
'Is he trying to waste my time on purpose now?' Chiaki can't believe him at all. She wants nothing more now than to take one of her pillows and smother that stupid bear's smug face in. The only reason why she hasn't done that now is because of that stupid rule.
While trying to keep herself somewhat calm as much as possible, quietly breathing in and out, she only barely manages to ask him something in a somewhat civil tone. "If you don't need me to do that for you, then what do you want now?"
"Is there anything wrong with just wanting to talk to you, sister?"
"Just answer me already."
"I'll just say this to you, then." Though his grin doesn't leave his face, Monokuma's tone turns serious as he tells her, "You really should be more aware of everything that's going around you."
Hearing that is more confusing for her than anything. She doesn't know if Monokuma's trying to intimidate her somehow or if he's planning something else. "What do you mean by that?"
"Let's just say," Monokuma pauses for effect. "Maybe you don't know your classmates as well as you think. Maybe they're not actually all that great as people when no one's around. And maybe, juuuust maybe, some of them are actually acting reaaal nasty once you take your eyes off of them. So nasty, I don't think I can even talk about that here without significantly bumping the rating up!"
One face comes to her mind after she hears that. "Is this about Saionji?"
Monokuma hums some more. "What makes you think she's the only one who's like this? I didn't say it was just one classmate, you know."
Chiaki thinks back on one incident that happened today. "Are you saying that—"
Before she can even finish what she's saying, Monokuma whistles and looks over his wrist. "Well, well, well, would you look at the time right now! I'd love to chat some more with you, but I can't ruin your bedtime. You'll need all of that for tomorrow." He then laughs as he salutes at her. "Goodnight sister, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite!"
And just like that, he's suddenly gone from her room.
And now, Chiaki doesn't think that she can even sleep now, not after everything that Monokuma has told her.
'What does he mean by that? Is he saying that some of my classmates are…' She tries to shake those thoughts off. 'No, they wouldn't, would they? I can see it happening in the future if this motive keeps going on, but it can't have happened this early, can it?'
She then thinks back on two certain classmates, and she grimaces. 'But then again, Saionji is already treating Kuzuryu so horribly, and she also wasn't all that nice to Komaeda either. And today, Hanamura used that remote on the others too. Did they, and everyone else too, already acted corrupt even before this, and I just wasn't around to see it?'
With everything feeling so heavy right now, she lets herself lie back on her bed. But she doesn't feel the same sleepiness as she did earlier, not anymore.
'But this is Monokuma. Can I even trust what he's saying about my classmates?'
As Chiaki stares off onto the ceiling, with sleep getting further and further away from her now, one thought stays in her mind.
'Who do I believe in?'