*Ding dong, bing bong*

TK awoke to the sound of the bell ringing throughout his room. He was wiping the tiredness from his eyes when the monitor turned on.

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!" After Monokuma finished his message the monitor turned off.

'I guess it's morning… But without any windows, I can't be sure if he's telling the truth,' TK thought. He quickly put on his vest and started to think about what he should do.

'I should find Sayaka, and we can figure out what the plan is gonna be. She did say she's my assistant,' TK liked that plan. He liked that he already somewhat knew someone here. It's not because he doesn't like the others, they all seem pretty cool with a few exceptions, he just likes a little familiarity that's all.

"Familiarity, right…" Mimi teased.

"It's the truth! Wouldn't you try to find someone you know in a strange place?" TK defended himself, and Mimi lightly laughed.

"You don't need to explain yourself, TK. I completely understand," Mimi said with a wink, and TK hid his face with his hands.

"Why?" TK groaned.

Everyone laughed at his embarrassment, and Matt wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder.

"She's gonna keep teasing ya if this is how you're gonna react."

"I know…" TK said.

"I should probably check her room first," TK said after putting on his hat. He left his room to look for Sayaka's, which didn't take long because it was the one right next to his. He rang her doorbell and waited for her to answer.

"Hello…?" Sayaka said tiredly after opening her door. She was still tired from Monokuma's wake-up call.

"Good morning," TK greeted and she seemed to perk up when she noticed that it was him.

"Oh, TK! Perfect timing!" Sayaka exclaimed, quickly erasing any signs of her being tired.

"Someone's happy to see you," Sora joined Mimi in teasing the young blond.

"Sora, not you too," TK whined, and she gave him a cheeky grin.

"Huh…?"

"Listen, I have a favor to ask…" she said softly, making sure that no one else but him could hear it.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I was just getting ready to head out. If it's okay, would you like to come with me?" Sayaka asked. "Maybe we could talk.."

"Ooo, I wonder what she wants to talk about? Maybe she'll confess," Yolei said.

TK slid down in his seat to hide from the three girls. They giggled at his expense, and Kari quickly came to his defense.

"Alright, girls, he's had enough."

"OK, I'll stop," Sora said, while Mimi and Yolei shared an evil look.

"Your cheeks are pretty red, Kari," Yolei pointed out.

"Are you feeling OK?" Mimi added.

Kari quickly slapped her hands over her cheeks and slid down in her seat like her best friend. The two scheming girls high fived while Sora disapprovingly shook her head.

"Yeah, sure. Where are you going?"

"Oh… umm…" Sayaka looked over his shoulder and TK followed her gaze. All he saw was Taka standing to attention outside of his room. "I've been thinking that… there might be something around here I could use for self-defense."

"That's not good," Cody commented.

"How come?" Davis asked.

"Because she doesn't fully trust anyone and thinks that someone will snap and try to kill her," Ken explained.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions. She probably has another reason," Yolei argued, and Ken shrugged his shoulders.

"For the sake of everyone, she better."

"What!?" What she said worried TK. Why would she need something for self-defense? Even though he didn't have the best introduction with some of them, TK didn't think any of them would actually kill someone. And with the nighttime rule they agreed upon, they didn't have to worry about anyone sneaking around at night.

"Well, I mean… whoever's keeping us here could show up and attack us any time. You never know…" Sayaka told him, which made him feel better. She just wants something to defend herself from the person who trapped them here.

"See. You were just overreacting," Yolei proudly stated.

Ken didn't respond. Choosing to place his chin in his hands and study the screen closely.

"So I just… want to be able to protect myself no matter what happens," Sayaka explained and TK started thinking of anything he saw that she could use to defend herself.

'When we were in the gym entryway, I remember seeing a bunch of stuff in the display case that could be used for self-defense.'

"Oh, the gym? Okay, let's go!" She said, making TK jump.

"That's not intuition. She really is a psychic!" Davis exclaimed.

"Davis, we told you women have good intuition," Mimi said, but Davis didn't believe her.

"But that's not intuition. There's no way she was able to figure out TS was thinking about the gym."

"Yes there is. Us women are just good at reading people," Mimi said.

"OK, then what am I thinking about?" Davis challenged.

Mimi studied his face for a minute before she had a knowing smile on her face.

"You're thinking about those sliders I made earlier. You're upset that you didn't get to finish them before we came here."

Davis paused for a second before pouting in his seat.

"Lucky guess," he said, and Mimi giggled.

"You need to stop doing that!" TK told her.

"It's not my fault I'm psychic," Sayaka started giggling to herself. "Come on, I'm just kidding! Seriously, I just have amazing intuition."

'I'm still having a hard time believing that she just has intuition,' TK thought. He and Sayaka started walking to the gym, getting a little lost along the way. They soon made it to the gym, passing by some of their classmates along the way.

"Here we go. I might be able to find something here to protect myself with…" Sayaka started to browse the trophy case for the perfect weapon for her to use for self-defense. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll find something in the display case I can use."

TK decided to help her find a weapon, and also one for himself. What Sayaka said earlier stuck with him, whoever trapped them in here might try to attack them so it would be a good idea for him to have something to defend himself as well. He spotted a golden sword in the corner of his eye and decided to get a better look.

"Out of all the trophies in there, that sword would be the best one to use for self-defense," Tai said.

"Thankfully it's fake, but I wouldn't be surprised if Monokuma put a real sword in there," Sora commented.

"If it's real, then I hope TK keeps it so we know it's away from everyone else," Matt said.

"Why do you say that?" Joe asked.

"Because if Sayaka's looking for something to defend herself with, then who's to say the others aren't thinking the same thing," Izzy explained.

'For a second I thought it was a real sword, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful for defense,' TK grabbed the sword by its handle and felt something sticky on his hand. He released the sword and looked at his hand to find gold paint on his hand.

"I guess the paint is still wet. I barely touched it and I got its gold coating all over my hand," TK said and Sayaka looked over his palm.

"How is it still wet? It's been in there for at least a day," Yolei said.

"Do you think they're all second place trophies, and Monokuma paints them gold to make them look like first place trophies," Davis pondered.

"That doesn't make sense because Hope's Peak always enrolls the top students. So there's no way they would ever come in second place, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he does that," Cody answered.

"Wow, you're right. Your hand is totally gold! Even just for self-defense, I think it's a little…" Sayaka paused and moved her hands around to insinuate what she meant. TK didn't know if she meant that it was useless or overkill.

"At least it's something, right?" TK sighed and Sayaka started thinking.

"You should take it with you! It might help liven up your room a little," Sayaka suggested.

"You think so?" TK asked and the pop star nodded.

"Matt you get your wish," Tai told his friend.

"Great, good to know my brother has a fake sword in the murder school," Matt said sarcastically.

"At least no one else has it," Yolei chimed in.

"So it's a small victory," Sora said, and Matt sighed.

"But I guess you'd better be careful taking it. You should wrap it in newspaper or something," Sayaka then turned back to the trophy case for a weapon of her own. "I don't see anything I could really use for self-defense…"

"Now that I think about it, why would she think a trophy would be a good thing to use for self-defense? Why not just grab a knife from the kitchen?" Davis pondered.

"It would look suspicious if she walked into the kitchen and stole a knife. If something unforeseen happened, then she'd be the first suspect," Ken answered.

"That makes sense, but why a trophy?" Davis asked.

"It's not like she has many options at her disposal," Cody shrugged.

"It's fine and it's not like you need it right away, right? And if anything were to happen you know I got your back!" TK said and Sayaka blushed.

"You'll… protect?" Sayaka said and TK realized what he said, causing him to blush as well. Sayaka soon gave him a small smile and started giggling. "Thank you for saying that. If I've got you on my side, I guess I don't need a weapon after all!"

'Something about her smile makes me feel at ease.'

"Aw, someone's falling hard," Mimi cooed.

TK dug deeper into his seat to hide his embarrassment.

"When do you think they're gonna confess their feelings?" Yolei jokingly added.

"So, when's the wedding? I want to practice my best man speech," Matt joined in.

"I thought you were brooding," TK said, and Matt gave him a cheeky grin.

"Still am, but I want to have a little fun at your expense."

TK groaned, and Matt chuckled.

"Okay, we can stop looking for a weapon, then," Sayaka said after she regained her composure. "But as long as we're here, let's hang out a bit more."

They stood around not saying a word to each other, it was awkward. TK didn't know if he should be the one to start the conversation or not and Sayaka was looking around the room. How do you even start a conversation with a pop idol anyway? She's famous and popular amongst her peers, while he's just some random guy that's contempt hanging around with his small group of friends.

"Umm, I know I said I wanted to talk with you, but now that we're here… I don't really know what to talk about," Sayaka said, breaking the silence. She then looked a little sad. "And I was the one who invited you to come with me, too. Sorry…"

"It's fine," TK told her. "If there's nothing to talk about, then we don't have to talk or we can talk later."

"Huh?"

"You don't have to force yourself. You can just stare off into space and do nothing or find something you enjoy doing," TK said and Sayaka started to mull over what he told her.

"Stare off into space…?" Sayaka repeated what he told her and TK realized what he said.

"Oh, but that sounds super boring for someone like you! Just standing around doing nothing," TK quickly said.

"No, it's not that it's boring. It's just…" Sayaka then looked like she was a mixture of sadness and embarrassment. "I've never really done it before. I don't have a lot of time to just… do nothing."

"How? It's so easy!" Davis exclaimed.

"She's an idol. Her schedule must be packed, so she doesn't have time to do nothing," Yolei said.

"That's kinda sad," Mimi said solemnly.

"She's at the age where she should be having fun, not living with the confines of a busy schedule," Sora said.

"I know this'll sound dark, but maybe it's a good thing she got trapped," Joe said, and he immediately got some dirty and confused looks.

"What makes you say that?" Kari asked.

"Where she's at in her career, she's not going to get many days off. Being stuck gives her a chance to not worry about work and be around people her own age who aren't paid to be there," Joe explained.

"I guess you're right, but it sucks that it happened this way," Mimi sighed.

"Yeah, but we'll come and save them, so don't hang your head too much," Tai said.

"Makes sense. You're not a normal high school student like everyone else. You've got a ton of stuff to do every day," TK said. He kind of understands what she goes through, not as an idol but as having too much stuff to do every day. Between his Digidestined duties, school work, and basketball, staring off into space is heaven for him.

"Hey, um… this is kinda out of nowhere, but, TK, do you have a dream?" Sayaka asked out of nowhere. TK was taken back by her question, not expecting someone to ask about his dream. If he was being honest he doesn't have a dream. He likes writing and he hopes one day he could write a story about his and his friends' adventures, but he also likes basketball and being active.

"Don't worry too much about it, TK. You still have time," Joe said.

"Thanks, but I think I'm leaning more towards being a writer. I want to write about our adventures in the DigiWorld, so we could always look back on those memories no matter where we are or how old we get," TK said.

"That's great, TK. I hope you're able to do that," Sora said.

"But don't give up on basketball. I really think you can make a career out of it," Tai added.

"I'll keep playing for as long as I can," TK told him.

"What about you, Sayaka? What's your dream?" TK asked after not being able to answer her question.

"I… My dream is…" She then smiled a bright smile. "I've always wanted to be a star, as long as I can remember. I grew up without a mother, you know. And my dad worked really late every night. I was always home alone. I was just a kid, ya know? So I was really lonely."

TK could relate to that, it was just him and his mother when he was growing up. Around the time when he started Elementary school, his mother started to work late leaving him to fend for himself. It wasn't bad in the beginning because he had to worry about the Digital World, but as he got older he spent less time in the Digital World. He wasn't entirely alone because he was able to hang out with his friends and brother, but he wished he saw his mother more.

"It's not easy living with a single parent. You know they love you, but they're rarely around. At least that's what it's like for me," Matt said.

"It's kinda the same for me too. Mom is usually home, but she's always on the computer working," TK admitted.

"There's also the fact that both of you grew up without a parent and missed out on what they could teach you and their love," Izzy said.

"It sucked, but I mostly missed my brother. So I'm thankful that we have the DigiWorld to bring us together," TK said.

"But that all changed when I saw a pop star on TV for the first time. She was so pretty, like a princess. And she could sing, and dance…" Sayaka started to get lost in her thoughts as she remembered the pop star that inspired her. "But more than anything else, there was her smile. Looking at her smile, I could feel my loneliness melting away. I decided that's what I wanted to be someday. I wanted to give that kind of encouragement to others. Eventually, that became my dream."

"That's amazing. And the fact that you were able to fulfill your lifelong dream. That's really incredible," TK said with amazement, though Sayaka didn't share his enthusiasm. She looked sad and ashamed, but also serious.

"I did whatever it took to reach that dream," she said suddenly. "I mean it. Even some things that… weren't so pleasant."

"What did she do?" Mimi worriedly asked.

"Something that she wouldn't do if she wasn't aiming to be an idol," Izzy answered.

Sayaka shuddered and TK was worried. He didn't want to know what she did to get where she is as a pop star, and even if he did, he doesn't think Sayaka would want to tell him.

"I honestly believed that as long as you kept chasing your dreams, someday they had to come true. But to do that, you can't take your eyes off of your dream, not even for a second. Even if sometimes it's a bad dream… Whether you're awake, whether you're asleep," she said seriously. "To make your dream a reality, you have to keep your gaze fixed on it no matter what. In that world, if you lose focus for even a split second, you get left behind. You have to keep on swimming against the current, without even taking time to breathe… That's the kind of world my dream lives in."

"That sounds tough and horrible," TK said. He felt bad for her, to go through so many hurdles at such a young age, it sounds brutal.

"Oh no, don't get the wrong idea. It's super fun!" Sayaka reassured him, but he still had his doubts. Her hands started to shake and she had a frightened look on her face. "But… that's exactly what scares me."

"Huh?"

Sayaka took a few deep breaths and her hands stopped shaking. In fact, she looked like she did a few minutes ago as she wore that same exact smile. "I enjoy every single day I wake up and get to do what I do. Everyone in our group is amazing. We're rivals in a way, but they all mean so much to me. We've been performing together since we were young, so they're all like family to me. Without them, I would have given up on my dream a long time ago. To work together, and fulfill our dreams together, has brought me so much happiness…"

"That doesn't sound like real happiness," Kari said bluntly.

"I understand what she's talking about because in sports, you compete for your spot on the team, but this is an entirely different level," Ken said.

"At least she's working with her friends," Yolei said, trying to find the silver lining in this situation.

"But are they friends in the way that we're friends, or are they friends because they work together?" Izzy asked.

Suddenly, she started to shake and she wore the same frightened expression as before. "But that's the thing that scares me the most. If the world gets tired of us, then what happens? What happens to us? Then the dream dies, those wonderful days come to an end, and everyone goes their separate ways…"

"Then continue to perform with a new group," Matt said.

"I'm guessing you're speaking from experience," Tai said, and Matt nodded.

"It's common for bands and groups to split up. I know this because I've been through it with my band mates. Heck, future TK even said I formed another band."

"And what about the part of the world getting tired of them?" Davis asked.

"It's how the music industry goes. Eventually, people grow tired of you and move on. Usually, because it's a different generation of people who have different tastes," Izzy answered.

"Look at hair metal. It was big in the 80s, but then grunge came along and killed it," Ken said.

"So all you can do is either stay the same and perform for your loyal fans or adapt to the times and sell out," Matt finished.

"So she's in a situation where she can't win?" Kari asked.

"Not necessarily. She can make as much money as she can now to live a comfortable life, or she could use her fame and popularity to get into other ventures," Cody said.

'Sayaka…' TK was extremely worried for his friend. 'To work so hard and to sacrifice so much to reach her dream, just to be forgotten must be terrifying. I somewhat understand because other than the die-hard fans, no one remembers Matt's first band. Though he didn't care as much as Sayaka because he just went on to form another band in high school, and when they broke up he decided to become an astronaut.'

"So that's the reason I decided to come to Hope's Peak," Sayaka admitted, gaining TK's attention.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… they say that if you graduate from here, success is basically guaranteed. Which means I could keep on performing with my best friends, forever and ever," Sayaka explained and TK doesn't know if Sayaka even knows he's even there. "At least, that's what I thought. I really did believe that, but… now we're trapped here, with no way out. They're probably waiting for me…"

Sayaka turned extremely pale and her eyes sunk into her head. "While I'm in here, the world out there is forgetting about me. Minute by minute, we're all disappearing. But still…"

"Sayaka?"

"I can't afford to be stuck in here!" Sayaka screamed, causing TK to jump in shock.

"OK, so maybe there was another reason why she wanted to look for a weapon," Yolei said.

"She's doing exactly what Monokuma wants!" Izzy exclaimed.

"TK, you need to calm her down before she does anything rash!" Mimi yelled at the young blonde.

"I'll try, but I don't know how much I can control right now," TK said.

'She sounds desperate. I somewhat understand, to work so hard to achieve your dream only for it to be ruined by something out of your control, it's horrible,' TK thought. I know nothing I could say will make her feel better, but I wish there was SOMETHING I could do!'

"Ah- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to complain," Sayaka apologized after she calmed down. "I kinda killed the mood, huh?"

"Her mood just flipped," Cody said.

"That's not good. She's suppressing her emotions," Kari said.

"Do you think she'll snap?" Yolei asked.

"Not unless she truly calms down and talks about it," Ken answered.

TK shook his head. "No, not at all."

"I'm really sorry…" Sayaka apologized again.

TK tried to think of what to say next, to forget about what happened. He realized that he hasn't eaten anything yet and since he went straight to Sayaka's room this morning, he assumes that she hasn't eaten anything either.

"Hey, Sayaka, are you hungry? After I put this sword away, would you like to meet me in the Dining Hall for some breakfast?" TK asked. She didn't give him a response right away.

"Good, get her mind off of everything," Joe said.

"But that's not going to fix anything. That's going to cause her to suppress her emotions even more," Kari said.

"But it's a start," TK said.

"So…" she gave him a little smirk before it turned into the bright smile that he was used to seeing her wear. "You want me to make us something to eat? I might not look like it, but I'm actually a pretty good cook!"

"Really? What's your specialty?" TK asked with amazement, assuming that a famous idol like her would have someone to prepare her meals for her.

"Chili oil," she said with a straight face.

"Like the condiment?" TK asked with his amazement from before diminishing. She then snickered before she burst out laughing.

"Just kidding!" She continued to laugh and TK couldn't help but smirk.

'She's acting completely different from her mood earlier. I just hope I get to see more of this Sayaka.'

"We do too," Mimi said.

"You need to look out for her, TK. I think she's going to snap at any moment," Sora said.

"I'll do my best," TK said.

"Let's hope she's not too far gone," Kari said.