Chapter 3: When Hell Freezes Over Part 3 (Daily Life)
Remaining Students: 14
Yūgo Hachiken (Silver Spoon): Ultimate Tutor
Reyn (Xenoblade Chronicles): Ultimate Tank
Pietro Maximoff "Quicksilver" (Marvel Cinematic Universe): Ultimate Speedster
Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic The Hedgehog): Ultimate Pilot
Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Fire Emblem: Three Houses): Ultimate Prince
Satou Kazuma (Konosuba) Ultimate Thief
Bede (Pokémon): Ultimate Gym Leader
Ray (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Strategist
Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club): Ultimate Poet
Konata Izumi (Lucky Star): Ultimate Otaku
Saki Nikaido (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate Biker Gang Leader
Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia) Ultimate Amphibian
Minori Ichinose (Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure): Ultimate Bookworm
Kale (Dragon Ball Super): Ultimate ?
Team 1: Hachiken, Tsuyu, Minori, Kazuma.
Team 2: Sayori, Saki, Bede, Pietro.
Team 3: Kale, Tails, Dimitri.
Team 4: Reyn, Konata, Ray
Hachiken's POV
Insert Song: Beautiful Morning (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
Dimitri had called us over to the diner for breakfast and for our first strategy meeting. I walked in to see that he's split us up into the teams that were just revealed to us. Minori, Kazuma and Tsuyu were there waiting for me, and I took the empty seat right next to Minori.
"Good morning, everyone! I hope you all got enough rest last night." Dimitri greeted us with a smile.
"(yawns) Yup… good to go…" Konata responds as she struggles to keep her eyes open.
I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance, the everyday otaku lifestyle just couldn't be overcome, huh?
"Not so sure about that, Konata, but you'll have to wake up soon. As you can tell I have separated you all into the teams we will be placed in for this event. Collaboration is often the key to victory, so be sure to strengthen your bonds as best you can. After breakfast we'll be having our first training exercise, which will involve plenty of trust between you and your comrades. Do not let you or them down, understand? Now let us enjoy our meals, take care not to devour too much or that will hinder your progress."
After he ended his explanation, we all got up to grab food from the breakfast bar. Ah, thick cut bacon is on the menu, and I see a good piece right away! Don't mind if I do…
"Steal."
In a brief flash, the perfect bacon slice was gone and I grit my teeth at the guy who managed to take it from me.
"Kazuma…"
"Yeah, I'm Kazuma." I heard him state as I continued to glare at him.
There were three people ahead of him, including me, so it looks like he found a way to cheat the system. I groaned before grabbing the next best piece and moving onto these nice buttery biscuits. Looked so soft that I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into them…
"O-Oh! Pardon me, you can have that one if you want, Hachiken." Minori tells me while pulling her hand back from the biscuit.
"Wait, it's alright! You were there first, so I can just step aside and wait. Go ahead!"
"Ah, thank you…" She grabbed the biscuit on the right of the one I was looking to grab.
So she noticed which one I was eyeing and changed her mind… she seems like a pretty nice girl, even if her face doesn't really show much emotion. I am worried about her though, just as much as I am about me, since she doesn't look like someone who can fight either. Tsuyu has her frog powers, Kazuma has his magic and has probably gone on a lot of different quests, while Minori and I are… a pair of four-eyes that would prefer to be in a library than a gym.
I sat down with my plate full of food (thankfully Kazuma decided not to take any after being chastised by Dimitri), and started my morning off right with an amazing breakfast.
"So good…" I gushed aloud as I teared up in pure bliss.
Tsuyu spoke up while eating some buttered toast, "Hachiken, you're always pretty expressive whenever you're eating."
"Ah, am I? Well, I can't help it when it's actually good! I really don't know how they're able to make stuff this fresh here of all places! The food's nearly as great back home, and I go to a farming school!
I defended my emotional reactions as I continued to eat more and more.
"Yes, the food is quite delicious indeed, but I'm more interested in the fact that you go to an agricultural school. That isn't something one can figure out just by looking at you, a bit of a surprise." Minori adjusted her glasses as she looked at me.
Huh, forgot I didn't tell everyone about this… or they just forgot that I did, I can understand that too.
"Well, it's kind of a complicated story. I am willing to tell you guys bits and pieces, if you all share your stories too."
Okay, let's break some ice. We have to learn some things about our teammates in order to work with them, so no better time than now!
Tsu starts us off, "I guess I'll go first, ribbit. On my world we have these abilities known as quirks, or what some would call 's strength and flight of course, but mine is unique in that I have the abilities of a frog, ribbit. Not just my long tongue either, I can leap up tall buildings—"
"In a single bound?" Kazuma interrupts her by asking while downing some juice.
"... Yes, ribbit. I also have camouflage, great swimming, sticking to walls, and secreting a few types of mucus." She finished listing off her abilities.
"Huh, gross. Guess it's your turn, uh… Minori." Kazuma turned to the other glasses-wearer on the team.
Minori ponders for a few seconds before asking, "Well, um… where should I start?".
"I guess tell us about yourself, like what are your interests?" I suggested as I start chewing on my omelet.
Right as I say that though, it was like a switch just flipped in her head.
"Oh! I'm an avid reader of a lot of different stories, I always find the time to read and lately it's what I've been doing to alleviate stress! The selection here in the campus library is so different from any I've ever seen before, it's incredible! There's even an entire section of the library dedicated to mythical creatures, like mermaids! I adore stories about mermaids the most, so much so that when I found out that they… Oh, I got a bit too excited there, didn't I?"
She caught us just staring at her blankly as she gushed about her love of reading.
I put my hands up defensively, "Ah, n-no! It was good to hear you be that excited, usually you seem so quiet so it's good to see you so passionate! Ah ha…"
"I see… I guess I do have what some call a "poker face", even if I've never played poker." She blushed a bit as Tsuyu spoke up.
"Yeah, ribbit, the same goes for me. It's difficult for some people to figure out what I'm thinking or how I feel without me telling them. Wouldn't say that I'm perfect at staying calm though…"
Meanwhile, as Tsuyu said earlier, I tend to display how I feel clearly through my face. I'm impressed at how these two have managed to keep their composure during this entire killing game. I've broken down in tears more than once even before I ended up here… hm…
"Oh, I nearly forgot since it's been a while since I had them. That ring and compact mirror I had that Sird took from me, it—"
Kazuma rolled his eyes and stopped her, "Yeah, yeah, you like makeup too, big whoop! I know uselessness well, and that kind of stuff will not help us survive this death race thing."
"B-But…" Minori uttered as I patted her on the back.
Excuse the language I have to use here, but simply put it… Kazuma is a dick.
The aforementioned dick shrugged with his hands, "Anyways, what I bring to the table is a whole lot more! You've seen me use Steal and Fire, but I have Enemy and Trap Detection, Lurk, Freeze, Teleport, Lightning, Drain Touch, Snipe, Eavesdrop…"
He just kept going on and on about all these skills that it was making my head spin, can he really do all of this? I'm thinking he either doesn't or he doesn't know how to use them in tandem with each other. The more I'm hearing of all of this though… the more I'm questioning myself.
Maybe… I'm the weak link out of us four…
I mean, Minori and I could both be it, but still… I also get the feeling that she was about to tell us something important about her and Kazuma just prevented us from learning it. He just kept on listing every skill he had down before finally getting to the end.
"Oh I also have this short sword that I unfortunately don't have on me… and that's that!"
Tsuyu blinked twice before answering back, "So you can do all of these things… and you've just been sitting on your ass this whole time, ribbit?"
"... That's none of your business, Froggy!" He crosses his arms and turns away.
"It's Tsuyu, ribbit. Although if you just replace the 'g's with 'p's then it would at least sound better." She states.
Kazuma just got angrier, "Shut up! Why do frogs or toads always end up giving me trouble wherever I go?!"
I sighed and put my face into my hands with annoyance.
"It seems… we have a lot of work to do on the collaboration aspect…" Minori shakes her head as her glasses become opaque.
"Agreed…"
You know if this is how my group is looking, I'm sitting here wondering how the others are holding up with theirs… I look over at Ray and see him groaning while trying to eat his scrambled eggs, wonder what he's—
"C'mon, Reyn! Just a few more, that big mouth of yours is more than just for talking!" Konata giggled while cheering on the big guy.
"MMPH! AW REAH BBY, GIMME MORPH!" Reyn garbled out with his mouth full of biscuits.
Ah, I can see why Ray is so annoyed, I pity the kid. On the other side though, Tails, Kale, and Dimitri seem to be getting along fine.
"Kale, I understand you are not willing to share more about this, but I implore you to at least tell him. From what I have seen, Tails is a trusted ally." Dimitri tells the "Saiyan" girl.
Tails gave her a reassuring look, "I won't tell a soul, okay? I promise…"
I couldn't hear the rest of what they were talking about due to how loud the rest of the diner was and because Kale's voice was so low. All I saw was Tails's eyes going wide, briefly pondering, and then suggesting some stuff to her. She really does have a secret she doesn't want us to know, but I am happy to see her telling a few people…
With all this noise around me, from both my team and the others, I hope Sayori's doing okay…
Sayori's POV
Insert Song: Let's Teamwork! (Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!)
I wonder how Hachiken is doing with his group, because mine is…
"Oi, you speedy bastard! Eat from your own damn plate or go get the stupid leftovers in the back!" Saki yelled at Pietro.
"I'm not the slowpoke who spent all that time grabbing the good pieces while I had to wait right behind you!" Pietro argued back.
Saki bit into a handful of bacon strips in her hand, "I was there for only a few stinkin' seconds you mother—"
Bede sipped some tea before slamming his mug down on the table, "Could you please, keep it down?! Tch, how could I have ended up with a team like this…?"
Pietro scoffed at this, "Then why don't you sit at another table and go to Monokuma later to ask him to switch? Hm? Oh that's right, he will say no. So stop acting like a grumpy little kitten and piss off…"
"What did you call me?" Bede's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Pietro intensely.
"Heh heh, that was actually a good one, Pete." Saki chuckled to herself.
"It's Pietro." He corrected her.
"Pete-tay-to, Pie-tah-tro, same thing." Saki tells him while eating some hash browns.
"Ehehehe~, um… shouldn't we try to bond with each other before we get started with training?"
I finally spoke up to ask them as I carefully held my egg atop a piece of toast. I really don't want us to fight this much when we're about to go through a super challenging maze. We could get killed in seconds if we don't work together!
"Bond how? Don't we already know each other enough?" Bede just began poking his breakfast.
I pouted at him as I took a bite of my egg toast, "No! We need to learn more so we can… strategize!"
Took me a few seconds to remember that last word.
"Don't worry, Sayo, I'll start it off then. Ahem…" Saki stood up from her seat and cleared her throat.
"I AM SAKI NIKAIDO, FORMER LEADER OF DOREMI AND FRANCHOUCHOU NUMBER 2! I LOVE TAMAGOTCHI AND EATING DRIVE-IN TORI, AND MY GOAL IS TO TAKE OVER SAGA AS AN IDOL! GOOD TO HAVE YOU!"
Kyah! I blocked my ears the entire time she was yelling, and I'm pretty sure the other teams heard her too. After she was done I decided to do the same thing… though not as loud.
"U-Um, I'm Sayori! President of the Literature Club and big fan of cookies! I-It's nice to see you all, ehehehe~..."
"Hah, that's the spirit, Sayo!" Saki patted me on the back as Pietro shrugged and raised his hand a bit.
"Pietro Maximoff, I go fast…. And I'm probably an honorary Avenger."
I nodded along as we waited for Bede to say something.
"Come on… you can do it!" I told him as I pumped my fists.
He sighed before standing up, "My name is Bede, current Fairy-type Gym Leader of Ballonlea Stadium in the Galar region. Now if you'll excuse me… I'm going to get more tea, which I know I'll need today…"
As he got up from our booth, I saw Saki holding back her laughter.
"F-F-Fairy? Pfffff…."
"Grgh…" Bede scoffed again as he went over to get his tea.
Well, I'm certainly happy that he decided to speak up at all! Maybe he'll make some good progress and become less of a meanie! I hope so at the very least…
I decided to start talking to Saki a bit more about that idol thing.
"So you're an idol, huh? I didn't expect that… but what's it like?"
Saki crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back, "It's pretty cool honestly, didn't think it would be at first. The whole singing and dancing schtick seemed dumb at first, but Franchouchou's been a great new gang and I really miss those gals. We've only really got each other since we're zombies, although… y'all ain't that bad, most of you anyways…"
She smirked at Pietro who couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Very funny. I must admit… after a bit of… thinking, you are not too bad yourself, zombie girl. Would like to see that singing and dancing compared to your usual attitude towards me…"
"I ain't handing out tickets right now pal, just gonna put you on the looooooong ass waitlist we got." Saki laughs.
Well these two definitely aren't as hostile as they were when the killing game started so… that's something? At least they're trying, unlike someone I know…
"... Why are you looking at me like that, get away."
Bede caught me leaning in and lowering my eyes at him as he sat back down.
"Ah! Sorry, I guess you could say I'm… curious about you. Like, what does a Gym Leader do exactly?"
"Hmph… might as well educate you. I am the successor to the previous Ballonlea Gym Leader, Ms. Opal. I take on individuals taking on the gym challenge and battle them using creatures called Pokémon."
Oooo, this is sounding pretty neat, so I have my hands on my cheeks and my elbows on the table while listening to him.
Bede, seeing how invested I looked cleared his throat, "Ahem, I specialize in the Fairy-type which…. Is there a problem?"
Saki was snickering away at "Fairy-types" again, while Pietro could hide that smirk forming on his face.
"Ugh, surrounded by idiots… Fairy types are super effective against Dark, Fighting, Dragon-types, while also being weak to Poison and Steel-types."
"Damn, Pokémon's gotten a lot more complicated since I first played it in '96." Saki scratched the back of her head as she followed along.
Pietro sighed, "I never got to play video games in Sokovia. All my sister wanted to do is watch American sitcoms…"
"Why are you two blathering about video games? Agh, I shouldn't have wasted my time if this is how it's going to be…"Bede shook his head and put his right hand on it in annoyance.
The rest of us laughed a bit at him before I turned to Pietro.
"You want to go next?"
"Hm, me?" He asked and I nodded at him with anticipation.
Yeah, he's gotta have a good story behind him with how fast he is. How did he get those powers? What's his world like? So much I wanted to know…
"Okay, might as well."
He cracked his fingers before he began his story. I leaned in closer, Saki sat back and got comfortable, and Bede… was looking away. Come on, this is good stuff! I nudged him using my shoulder to get him to pay attention and he rolled his eyes.
"I was experimented on by an organization called HYDRA, they gave me and my sister abilities from a magic rock. We volunteered because we wanted to get back at someone… Eventually though, we worked with that same man and his team of heroes… unfortunately, it did not end well for—"
*BZZZZZZZ!*
Huh? A message from our e-Handbooks, aw… but it was just getting good!
"Ahem, may Minori Ichinose and Bede please report to the Dean's Office at the staff offices! You're in biiiiiig trouble… actually you're not, but you will be if you don't get yer butts over here! This is important for the event, so you better stop by if you want to do well… puhuhuhu~."
I think I'm starting to hate Monokuma's laugh. It sounds so goofy with that voice of his, but he makes it sound so scary when he uses it… Oh, I should start thinking about why he needs those two… if it's that important for the maze race, shouldn't all of us know about it?
Bede sighed as he got out of the booth and put his plate on the dish rack, Minori following him and doing the same.
"That numbnuts was getting tired of us sticking around anyways, who needs him, huh?" Saki says as she eats her last piece of bacon.
I decided to defend him, "H-Hey, he's… trying, okay? Maybe he'll need some more time and we'll be friends soon, just you wait!"
"That's just wishful thinking, it would take a lot to get him to even respect you." Pietro tells me as he drinks some orange juice.
It would take a lot… maybe he just needs some good 'ol hug energy.
Dimitri then stood up in front of everyone, he's acting so cool like a prince should!
"While those two are out with Monokuma, please change into some exercising or training clothes and meet me down by that track in the L Zone. Our first day of training begins as soon as Minori and Bede return, understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" All of us replied back to him.
"Ah, I should really let you all know that it is alright to simply call me Dimitri. We've been acquainted with each other for quite a while now, so no need for any further formalities."
"Okay, Dimitri!" We all answer back in the same tone.
We all cleaned up our plates and walked out of the diner, and I spotted Hachiken sighing while watching Kazuma and Tsuyu go back and forth with each other. I wish I could go over there and cheer him up, but we need to get along with our new teammates too! We'll get to see each other back at the dorms once we're finished, so need to worry…
Yeah, no need to worry, Sayori… hm… but maybe I can do something to help him out before then…
Insert Song: A Dead End to the Ocean's Aroma (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair)
"Ah… if it isn't my star pupils… well, two of them anyways. I have a whole bunch of you on my Dean's List, but you two are in the top five."
Bede scowled at Monokuma, "Enough of your rambling, just tells us why you needed to see us. This better not be some kind of joke…
"What kind of joke? Like trying to set you two on a date or something?" Monokuma fired back to piss him off.
"W-What?!" Minori's face went tomato red at the very idea of that.
Bede's face was red as a beet as he proceeded to tell him off, "Quit it! Stop wasting time and get to the point!"
Minori nodded quickly as she looked downward, "Y-Yes. P-Please do…"
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I knew that would getcha! Anyways, here you two lovebirds go!"
Monokuma revealed a small box for Minori and a slightly bigger box for Bede. They looked at each other and raised their eyebrows before cautiously opening booth packages at the same time. Their eyes went wide at what they saw…
Minori's Tropical Pact and Heart Kuru Ring was in her box.
Bede's box contained five Pokéballs and his Dynamax Band, which made him pause for a moment before looking back at Monokuma.
"What's the catch?"
"Not much… just that you give them back after you've finished making it through the maze… or rather survive the maze. You only have those so you can make it more exciting, after all fans will be watching from everywhere…"
"What… do you mean? There are people watching us here?" Minori tried to ask but when she looked back up, Monokuma disappeared.
Bede looked at his Pokéballs, checking each one to see if they had his Pokémon inside, while Minori made sure her compact and ring were not damaged. It was then that the two of them came to a realization.
"If he's so willing to give these back to us…" Bede's teeth clenched.
Minori gasped, "... Then whatever's waiting for us in that maze must be horrifically dangerous. Most likely… deadly."
Hachiken's POV
"Huff… huff… huff… I think I'm gonna die…"
Insert Song: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
I staggered along the track field as I finally managed to make it to Minori to pass her the baton, even if she looked as tired as I was…
"Hah… hah… me too…" She says as she takes the baton, her glasses slipping a bit.
"So far so good, keep up the pace, Team 1!" Dimitri blew into a whistle as he overlooked our progress.
We just had to be the ones to go first because of the way we were numbered, huh? My legs feel like rubber and I'm about to topple over. We're ten laps into this relay race (which also includes hurdles by the way), and there's ten more to go… someone might need to carry me to the infirmary once I end up inevitably fainting.
Can I also point out that this is the first thing we're doing today too?!
Myself, Minori, and Kazuma have not been able to keep up with how quickly Tsuyu has been going, never really given much thought into a frog's movement speed before now. She manages to make it through her portion fairly quickly, must be that leaping ability coming into play with the hurdles, and Kazuma is never ready to grab the baton when she hands it over.
Speaking of, Kazuma was doing well in the speed department… at first, and that's when the hurdles tripped him up. The way they were placed threw him off so much, and to be honest for an adventurer type he didn't seem too active. Whatever he's doing back on his world, it's not doing him any favors here.
"Just… take it, Hachiken…" Kazuma handed me the baton weakly, before he collapsed face first into the ground.
"Huff… huff… huff…" I continued to breathe heavily as I could barely clear the first hurdle.
"HA-CHI-KEN! HA-CHI-KEN! HA-CHI-KEN! You can do it, woo!"
I hear Sayori lead a chant along with my other dorm mates and a few others in the nearby bleachers. They clapped along as I once again almost failed to clear another hurdle.
"HA-CHI-KEN! HA-CHI-KEN! HA-CHI-KEN!"
"You can do it, bud! Run, run, run!" Tails jumped up and shouted towards me.
Reyn chimed in, "No giving up now, pal, go for it!"
They kept chanting my name, and I heard Minori and Tsuyu's voices join in as well. I look back to see Sayori giving a determined smile at me as I go and try taking a big leap over this final hurdle…
"GYAH! OOF!"
My knee hit the rung of the hurdle as I tripped onto the track, clutching it with some small tears in my eyes. Ow… I feel like I hurt my pride too along with my knee.
"Aw, come on, Hachiken! What're ya doin'?"
Not helping, Reyn. Some bandages and a bag of ice later, I'm sitting down on the bleachers alongside everyone as Dimitri was preparing to talk once more.
"Well done all teams, just three more training regiments left today and we save the rest for tomorrow."
His statement made most of us groan in a mixture of exhaustion, annoyance, pain, agony, etc.. And through all three of those other training exercises, you couldn't blame us.
Weight lifting while your team spots for you? My arms feel like they're gonna snap like twigs.
Rock climbing? I was getting sweaty enough to start slipping and nearly fell five times.
Tug of war? Rope burn and got dragged along when Reyn pulled his side of the rope.
All of those combined left my entire body aching, as we thankfully finished up for the day.
"Great job, all of you. Tomorrow we'll begin with six more exercises, one of them being sparring sessions. Take the rest of your day to rest as you please, and let your pain subside. Dismissed!"
I weakly lifted my hand up to wave bye to Dimitri as I went back to the dorm. I immediately got into the shower to free myself from the stench of sweat and shame as I fell into bed and closed my eyes. Slowly trying to lull myself to sleep…
Deep breath in… deep breath out…
..
…
…
"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!"
My legs began to cramp as I am once again thankful that our rooms are soundproofed. After the pain subsided and I took a much needed nap, I opened my eyes and checked my e-Handbook. Almost evening… agh…
Well, my body may be hurting, but I couldn't go back to sleep. Maybe I should go see how everyone else is doing, see if I'm not the only one still suffering. I drank some water before leaving the dorm while trying to regain what little strength I had in both my legs.
Free Time Start
God damn, I'm just rolling these out one after another, huh? I guess it's because this chapter in particular has been on my mind for months and months since I picked Epicenter back up. You'll see why once the maze event actually begins, but I really wanted to make this a reality. Both Hachiken and Sayori have their work cut out for them when it comes to their new teams, and it seems that both Bede and Minori have been given important items for them to use as well. Just how will this maze race go for everyone? It never really gets any easier in a killing game, huh? Especially right at the midway point… Well, I'll see you all next time! Make sure to keep voting on the free time events, the top option will be the one we hang out with next time while the second option will be used in Chapter 4! Farewell for now, peeps! - Renegade Braveheart