TK collapsed onto his bed after showering. He and Hina had played for hours, and he was exhausted. She was great, but he had beaten her every time. She had come close to winning a few games, but he always came through in the end.

His stomach rumbled, begging him to eat, but the call of his bed was too strong.

"Nothing is going to get me out of this bed," TK mumbled to himself.

He felt the calming silence of his room lull him to sleep. He felt his eyes get heavier with each passing second. It would only be a matter of time until he was out.

*Ding Dong, bing bong*

TK felt a groan escape his throat after the bell woke him up and his room's monitor turned on. He thought about ignoring it, thinking it was the same nighttime announcement, but his curiosity got the better of him. He peeked one eye open to watch the screen. It was then he noticed Monokuma didn't have his usual drink, and that told him this was important.

"Ahem! School announcement, school announcement. Nighttime is quickly approaching, but before it arrives, all students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!"

The monitor turned off, and TK sat up with a sigh. He considered skipping the meeting and going back to bed, but the memory of what happened to Junko played in his mind. Remembering her lifeless body lying in front of him reminded him that Monokuma wasn't to be played with.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" TK sadly said to himself. Monokuma had shown he wasn't scared to take the life of someone who broke his rules. If he wanted to get out alive, then he had to do what Monokuma told him, except kill. No matter what, he wouldn't kill one of his friends.

TK went to the gym. He saw some of the others make their way to the gym as well. He was too tired to ask them what they thought Monokuma was planning. All he wanted to do was get through Monokuma's emergency meeting and get back to bed.

They all gathered in the gym after, and nothing had changed from the last time he was here. He thought Monokuma would've set something up after calling them to the gym late at night. The bear wasn't even here yet, which annoyed TK even more after being forced to come right as he was about to fall asleep.

"Asking us to gather together all of a sudden like this. What could he possibly want?" Taka pondered with a hum.

"Indeed. What might await us this time?" Celeste said, asking the same question as Taka.

TK did wonder what Monokuma wanted, but he was too tired. He decided he would care about what that bear had planned in the morning.

"He keeps things interesting, that's for certain," Byakuya said with a chuckle and a cynical smirk.

"How is that funny? Can't you smile like a normal person once in a while? Like how a housewife on a classic TV show smiles at the end of an episode?" Hifumi pleaded for his own sake.

"There's something totally messed up with you if you can laugh at a time like this!" Hina yelled at the progeny. She was tired, and Byakuya was making her agitated by his antics. TK softly grabbed her arm to calm her down and prevent an unnecessary squabble.

"Which of us is actually 'messed up,'" Byakuya hummed. He stared directly at Hina, causing her to back off a little.

"Wh-What's that supposed to mean…?"

"Nothing in particular. Just admiring, that's all…" Byakuya then slowly turned his attention to everyone else. "I don't want to kill anyone. But I also don't want to stay here, living in blind denial day after day. I was just admiring how you could live like that and still keep your sanity."

"I'm not in denial…" Hina fired back.

Byakuya didn't waver. In fact, his smirk became more cynical.

"That reminds me. Remember how you kept talking about how the police or whoever would come help us? How'd that turn out? It seems to me there's no sign whatsoever of possible rescue."

"Th-That's just…" Hina stumbled over her words. She tried to think of a comeback, but nothing to her. She then had a look of worry and confusion. "I wonder what actually happened."

"It's strange, that's true. There's no way the police wouldn't know about it. We're right in the middle of a major urban area," Kyoko pointed out.

By the lack of police and his friends not coming to save them, TK knew something horrible happened, and it had to do with what he saw in his and Sayaka's videos. His home was destroyed as if some wild Digimon had run through it, and smoke was coming through his broken balcony. He couldn't see anything of the real world in Sayaka's video, but he did see Monokuma's face on the jumbotron. That let him know that Monokuma had something to do with what happened to his home and the city.

"The police suck!" Hifumi exclaimed, and Kyoko looked a little miffed by his comment.

"On the contrary, the mastermind may be just that powerful, to take control even of the police…" Celeste hypothesized, and that was horrifying to think about.

"Oh! This might not be related, but–"

"Then don't say it," Toko seethed, interrupting Hiro.

"Nope, gonna say it!" Hiro proudly said, ignorant of Toko's aversion. "It's about last night. I was near the main hall, just staring off into space. When all of a sudden I heard it."

"You heard what?" Chihiro meekly asked.

"A sound that… I don't really know what it was…"

"Wh-What kind of sound?" Taka asked. He was starting to sweat.

"Well like I said, I don't really know," Hiro said, causing a few of them to sigh with frustration. "But if I had to describe it, it was like… a construction site mixed with cannons, I guess?"

"A construction site mixed with cannons?" TK repeated with an arched eyebrow. Of all the far-out things Hiro had said, this was up there with the best of them. Why would there be a construction site by the school, and why would they have cannons?

"I mean, I could just be making that up. I only just barely heard anything…" Hiro clarified himself.

"Then you d-definitely made it up," Toko stammered. "M-Must've just been the sound of the ocean in th-that head of yours."

"Say what!? Whatchoo talkin' about, Toko!?" A new voice echoed in the gym.

Just like the first time they met, Monokuma jumped out from behind the podium and landed on top of it, this time with less fanfare and more annoyed grumbles.

"He's arrived…" Kyoko stated the obvious.

"What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction or cannons, but it could've been an explosion!" Monokuma cheered. No one said anything, but they did give the bear some weird looks, but he didn't mind. "Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu… That can kinda sound like construction and cannons in a way!"

"What are you talking about…?" TK asked, more out of annoyance than curiosity. He wanted to get this meeting over with so he could go to bed and not be led around by Monokuma's crazy tales.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Monokuma condescendingly wagged his finger. "Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered! It's a secret little secret."

"Fine, then let's move on to what you can tell us. Why did you call us all here?" Kyoko said to get the meeting onto the topic of why they were there.

"You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya!? Ready for me to get to the point, huh?" Monokuma said. He was grinning widely at Kyoko while lying on his stomach and kicking his legs in the air. "But before that, you mind if I vent a little?"

They all groaned, but Monokuma paid them no heed. He turned his back to them and allowed his little legs to dangle off the podium.

"I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster. I'm thinking, It's probably become of this ho-hum, boring old everyday life," Monokuma said, before turning to them and showing off his maniacal grin and glowing red eye. "I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue!"

The glow went away, but the grin remained as he crossed his legs.

"Listen, can I be frank?" Monokuma asked before becoming red with anger. "The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting booooored! So, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!"

The air became tense when Monokuma brought up motivation. They all remembered their videos and the outcome from it. They were scared, and not only hoped it wasn't as bad as the videos but also that no murders would come from it.

"I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore! No matter what you do, I swear to God we won't!" Taka proclaimed, causing Monokuma to chuckle.

"That's very big talk. Do your very best to back it up, okay?" Monokuma said in a mocking tone. He then turned to acknowledge everyone. "Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So this time it's…"

Monokuma paused for dramatic effect. Everyone would've found it annoying, but they fretted over what he had in store for them. What made it worse was that Monokuma knew the hold he had over them, and he was going to milk every ounce of dread they were feeling.

"...embarrassing memories and secrets!" Monokuma said alluringly while sweating. "As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets!"

His maniacal laugh echoed through the room as he pulled out envelopes, each having their names on them.

"And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here. I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!"

After he finished talking, he tossed the envelopes in the air instead of handing them out like he said. They were annoyed by the action, but they grabbed the envelope that had their name on it. TK saw some panicked faces on his friends, voicing their worries and concerns, while others remained stoic as they read the contents of their envelopes. Whatever they read made him worry about what Monokuma had written for him.

He couldn't think of any dark or embarrassing secrets he had that would drive him to kill. He had faith that his secret wouldn't be related to the Digital World in any way. Sure, Monokuma took his Digivice and D-Terminal, but he probably did that because it looked like a phone. Even if it was about the Digital World, TK knew he could lie and say it was a computer game that he spent an embarrassingly large amount of time playing.

Feeling confident, TK opened his envelope but felt his blood run cold when he read the note.

Takeru Takaishi is a bastard child.

How did Monokuma know? He never told anyone this, not even his friends. The only people that should know were his family. So, how did Monokuma know?

Monokuma laughed in their faces, which enraged TK. He crumpled the note in his hand and glared at the bear. He's going to make sure that bear pays for everything they've done, even if it's the last thing he does.

"You have 24 hours! If someone doesn't become blackened by then all your deepest, darkest, most embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world!" Monokuma proudly proclaimed. He clutched his stomach as he rolled around his podium laughing. "Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans! Wouldn't that be sooo embarrassing!?"

TK growled, but he bit his tongue. This was the motive that Monokuma was using to get them to kill each other. It was underhanded, and even though he wouldn't want anyone to know, he wouldn't kill someone over it. He doesn't think anyone would care about his secret.

"Your plan is doomed to fail!" Taka exclaimed. "No one's gonna murder someone for this kind of thing!"

"O-Oh no…" Monokuma solemnly put his head down and kicked imaginary rocks. "Is it because for better or worse, your memory is still a way to connect to the outside world? I have stuff I wouldn't want anyone to know no matter what, so I assumed you'd all be the same. Which is why I put so much effort into preparing this next motive!"

Monokuma turned his back to them, clutching his chest.

"Maaan! You're saying you really won't kill each other over this stuff? That just sucks!" Monokuma huffed with disappointment and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, what can ya do? Okay, then in 24 hours, I'll expose all your secrets just to make myself feel a little better! So sad, so depressed! Farenotwell…!"

With an almost convincing look of depressed dejection on his face, Monokuma left the gym the same way he came in. Now alone, it gave everyone a chance to come to terms with what happened. After the initial shock, everyone had mostly calmed down. Some still looked worried, but everyone had reverted to how they were when they came into the gym.

"I didn't know what to expect at first, but maybe we dodged a bullet on this one. I mean yeah, having those secrets revealed is gonna be totally embarrassing. But that's seriously not enough to give someone a reason to kill, right?" Hina said, and some of them nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good news, everyone! I have a brilliant idea!" Taka announced. "Why don't we all just confess the secrets in those envelopes right here and now!? If we do that, any and all motive for murder will vanish! That's pretty smart, right!? So not to pressure anyone my embarrassing thing is…"

"I d-don't want to hear your stupid s-story!" Toko interrupted him before he could spill his secret.

"What!?" Taka exclaimed, taken aback by what she said.

"Besides, I don't… I don't w-want to talk about it. I don't c-care what anyone says, I don't want to talk a-about mine!" Toko fumed.

"Neither do I," Celeste spoke up, agreeing with what Toko said. "Not because it is unpleasant, but because it's impossible."

"Well it's human nature to wanna hear it when you say it's impossible! C'mon, it'll be good for ya!" Hifumi creepily urged Celeste. She cringed with disgust and turned away from Hifumi.

"Absolutely not."

"It's okay, just a little bit. C'mon c'mon c'mon…!" Hifumi continued to push her.

"As I said—!"

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!" At this point, Hifumi was creeping everyone out. Some of them got in his way to protect Celeste from him, but she didn't need it.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, you human bag of lard!" Celeste snapped at him. Hifumi screeched with fear and ran to the corner furthest away from the gambler. Everyone stepped back to give her space to not draw her ire.

"I agree with them. There's no need to discuss it," Byakuya said, the only one who wasn't affected by Celeste's outburst.

"What do you think, Chihiro?" Taka asked dejectedly after everyone turned down his idea. Chihiro was paler than usual and had tears in the corners of her eyes. Celeste's outburst must've upset her badly.

"S-Sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now," she said meekly. She held up her arms defensively. "But I also don't want to leave things the way they are. So maybe I can talk about it later. After I try my best… to become strong. Then I can tell everyone."

"If you don't wanna talk, you don't have to. I'm not super excited to talk about it, either…" Hina said to make her feel better. TK nodded his head to show he shared the same sentiment. His secret wasn't something he would ever talk about, but if it would make everyone trust him and feel safe he'd do it.

"If everyone's that much against it…" Mondo sighed and shook his head. "Even if my bro's the one that suggested it, I gotta say no."

"W-Well, that's okay, then," Taka said with a hint of disappointment and betrayal. "Either way, if it's a few secrets, I'm sure nobody's about to kill anybody over it."

TK hoped Taka was right. No secret, no matter how bad it is, is worth killing anyone over. But if Monokuma was able to figure out his darkest secret, then he wondered how bad everyone else's were.

"I'll stop with all the secret talk. But, each of us has 24 hours to get ready! Having our secrets exposed isn't going to be fun, but it's not like we're gonna die cuz of it!" Taka said before clearing his throat. "So, you know, um… Don't do anything hasty!"

"The way you keep repeating it kinda makes me worry even more…" Hifumi spoke up from his corner.

"Oh… Uh, okay, sorry," Taka apologized while showing regret for reminding everyone what will happen tomorrow. "I know it's gonna be tough, but…"

The bell rang, and Monokuma's nighttime message played before Taka could finish speaking. For some reason, this message was more irritating than all the ones that played before. Maybe it was because he spent the last few minutes annoying them and trying to goad them to kill someone by showing them their embarrassing and darkest secrets. Whatever it was, everyone was a little more chipper when the monitor turned off.

"Nighttime already, huh? Okay, let's all call it a day," Hiro said, with a little urgency in his voice. The sweat on his forehead showed he didn't want to share his secret and wanted to leave before anyone asked him to share.

"Good idea. We need to prepare for tomorrow," Sakura said, slightly unaware of Hiro's reason for wanting to leave.

Soon, one by one, they all left. Some lingered on the off chance to share their secret with those who stayed behind but followed everyone else when they realized everyone was leaving. All that remained were Chihiro and TK. The small girl was still shaken up from what happened, and TK would hate to leave her in that state.

"Are you doing alright, Chihiro?" TK asked. She didn't acknowledge him. She was still shaken up over what happened. He snapped his fingers and waved his hand in front of her to try and get a reaction out of her. "You there, Chihiro?"

"Oh, Takeru! You remember your promise?" Chihiro asked cheerfully. TK was stunned by her sudden change of emotions. He thought he was going to have to cheer her up, but she was acting as if the past ten minutes hadn't happened. It was concerning.

"My what?" TK said, still taken by surprise by how she was acting.

"Did you forget already?" She gasped. Her shoulders sagged, and she had a glum expression. "You promised we could talk about you this time. You really did forget…"

Dejectedly, Chihiro slowly walked out of the gym. TK then remembered the last time he talked with her. She wanted to get to know more about him the next time they talked. Even though he was tired and wanted to sleep, he didn't want to let this go unresolved. TK chased after her and hoped that he still had a chance to fulfill his promise.


After apologizing for forgetting his promise, Chihiro forgave TK and was excited to talk with him. She wanted to talk in her room so they had a more private place to talk. Even though it was late, and TK was sure everyone would be in their rooms by now, he agreed. He didn't want to upset her again after forgetting his promise.

TK wasn't all that surprised by what he saw in Chihiro's room. She had a telescope, which had been collecting dust since their time here, and pictures of space on her wall. She had a camera and its case on her table, with the camera's tripod leaning against it. She also had a large computer setup with three monitors that would make Izzy blush with envy.

It's what he expected to find in her room, but what surprised him were the grippers on her bed. He thought it was weird that she had exercise equipment in her room, but he assumed it helped her prevent getting carpal tunnel. He remembers Joe lecturing him and his friends about the effects of carpal tunnel if they kept putting pressure on their hands and wrists.

"Once again, I'm sorry I forgot my promise. I just got distracted by a lot of things," TK apologized.

Chihiro had seemed to accept his apology by the look of the smile on her face.

"It's fine. You're here now, and that's what matters," Chihiro said and sat in her office chair. "Now take a seat. I want to get started right away."

TK did as she wished and sat on her bed. She wheeled her chair over so they were facing each other. She smiled at him, and he returned it with his own.

"So, what do you want to know first?" TK asked.

Chihiro hummed and tapped her finger against her chin.

"What do you do in your spare time?" Chihiro finally asked.

"I like to hang out with my friends, play basketball, and watch TV. I've also started working out recently," TK answered.

He also traverses the Digital World with his friends, but Chihiro didn't need to know about that. Though, he bet Chihiro would love to know about the Digital World. Maybe he could tell her about it one day. He was sure Izzy, Yolei, and Ken would be fine with it.

"I can tell. You look really strong," Chihiro complimented him, and TK blushed. "I bet you could even be a trainer."

"Oh, I don't think I'd be able to do that," TK said bluntly.

"Oh…" Chihiro said disappointedly. She frowned and hung her head.

"What's the matter?" TK asked, worried he said something wrong.

"Well, it's just… I'm looking for someone strong to train me," she said.

"Well, Sakura's the strongest one here. Hina would also be a good person…" TK stopped talking when he saw Chihiro shake her head.

"...No, I mean a guy."

It didn't take long to think of the strongest guy here. He knew it from personal experience.

"How about Mondo? He's the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, so he must be strong. He also packs a mean right hook," TK said while subconsciously rubbing his right cheek.

Chihiro seemed to have perked up when he brought up Mondo's name.

"Yeah, he could work!"

The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of working with Mondo.

"But why are you looking for a strong guy? I'm sure Hina and Sakura would love to help you," TK said.

Chihiro became quiet and avoided his gaze. She had a look of shame plastered over her face.

"I want to… start training. I'm so weak, and I thought if I could talk to someone strong about it, it might help motivate me," Chihiro admitted.

"Oh… I hope I helped you in some way," TK said while feeling a little guilty that he couldn't have been more helpful. Chihiro's small smile helped him a little.

"You were great, Takeru, but…" Chihiro's smile disappeared once again, and her shame was more visible. "Do you have any kind of inferiority complex? A part of you that you can't stand. Something that you absolutely hate?"

TK had to think about that for a minute. He knew he had some, everyone does. He remembered feeling useless during his first adventure and how everyone tried to protect him. He knew they only did it because he was the youngest, but it didn't make him feel good.

"Sure, we all do, but it's not something you should beat yourself up with," TK said, and he could see Chihiro's shame slowly disappear.

"But how do you overcome that feeling?" Chihiro asked.

For him, he overcame it when they returned to the Digital World after defeating Myotismon. He and Patamon had shown their friends how strong they became, so they started giving more responsibilities. Even during his second adventure, he made sure to show his friends that they could rely on him.

"Well, sometimes you have to accept that it's who you are," TK said, which had saddened Chihiro, but he made sure to cheer her up. "But other times you have to work hard to change what you don't like. If you do nothing, then nothing will change."

"If I do nothing, then nothing will change…" Chihiro quietly repeated before smiling the biggest smile TK had ever seen from her. "Yeah, I think your advice has helped me understand!"

"Glad to hear it," TK said while patting her head. Chihiro chuckled, which made TK feel happier.

After he truly started talking to her, TK had felt he understood Chihiro a lot better. He would even consider them friends in the truest sense of the word.

"Thanks, Takeru!"

"We're friends, call me TK," he said, which made Chihiro even happier.

"Sure! Thank you, TK!"