DING DONG BING BONG
"Attention everyone, it is now 8 AM," Nagisa announced. "Please meet in the Gym, we have something to tell you,"
"Mhm, mhm!" Monaca nodded. "Monaca thinks you've been doing such a good job recently!"
"R-Really?"
"Yeah! Monaca loves how useful and smart you are," Monaca beamed as she looked at the Sociologist who was now blushing up a storm.
"Th-Thanks Monaca!"
The monitor shut off.
"Still weird as ever," Kaede yawned as she stretched. "Should probably head down to the Gym, hopefully it's not a motive or something,"
Admittedly, it probably was… Kaede still headed to the Gym anyway, everyone had gotten their before her and was standing in front of the Stage.
"Woah, what's murder girl doing here?" Kokichi smirked as he looked at Maki, who was standing next to Kaito.
"Don't screw around, Kokichi," Kaito grumbled. "Maki's here to stay!"
"Says who? You?" Kokichi turned his head curiously. "The most naive guy here?"
"You're the one who's being naive, Kokichi,"
"Excuse moi?"
Kaito chuckled. "And you don't even know why, typical… you're just doing what Monokuma wants. You've been tricked into thinking mistrusting everyone's gonna help us when it just ain't,"
Kokichi sighed deeply. "I'm never gonna convince you, am I?"
"You can't make the Luminary of the Stars give up on his sidekicks, no," Kaito shook her head, Kotoko giggled a little at the title, Kaede smiled at the astronaut, she swore she saw Maki giving the smallest of grins too.
Maybe both of them are naive, but at least Kaito's naive in a way that lifts people up…
As the small argument ended, Monokuma and the remaining Warriors of Hope appeared on the stage.
"Hello, hello everyone!" Monokuma chuckled. "Ladies, gentlemen, traitors within the audience!"
Monaca smirked at Kotoko for a moment. "The Ultimate Academy is very proud to present the very first double motive!"
"What?" Kaede asked.
"Double motive?" Kokichi turned his head. "But some of here only need one!" The man smirked at Maki for a moment.
"Do you wanna die?" The assassin threatened.
"Eeek! See? See?" Kokichi pointed at the woman.
"Perhaps you are upset at the slow rate in which we have been killing eachother?" Korekiyo mused.
"No, no, Kirumi actually killed in a pretty good amount of time!" Monokuma chuckled. "Both of these motives are actually rewards!"
Nagisa cleared his throat. "The first motive is the 'double escape motive'-"
"Monaca sees how many couples have formed in your time here," The girl giggled, Tenko and Himiko specifically turned red… no surprises there. "So we're giving you the option to take one person with you at no risk to the other person!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Nagisa said. "There's a new section on your Monopads where you can select who you wanna take with you,"
"Of course, if you really just hate everyone here, you can select no one…" Monokuma looked at the ground defeated for a moment. "Which you probably will… such hateful teenagers these days!"
"Don't focus on the hate, Mr. Monokuma!" Monaca smiled. "Focus on the second motive!"
"Of course! The second motive is the mythical Necronomicon!"
"Pardon?" Korekiyo quirked an eyebrow.
"Th-That's not a thing!" Kaito mumbled fearfully.
"I was sceptical too, but if you follow the ritual within this book," Nagisa said as he pulled the black book out of his pocket. "You will be able to revive a singular person who died within this school," Nagisa tossed the book into the crowd. Angie snatched it near instantly, her coat nearly flying off due to the speed at which she moved.
"You're excited…" Tenko scowled at the Artist.
"Of course I am! A chance to have one of our friends return from the grave would be the perfect thing to reduce our desire to leave this place!" Angie beamed.
"Do you really think it's possible?" Tsumugi turned her head.
"Plus, it's a motive; there has to be some kind of catch!" Kaede said.
"No, no, no catch at all!" Monokuma grinned his despair filled grin. "Perform the ritual in that book, and one student of your choosing will come back to life!"
"Monaca can't wait to see who you bring back!" The girl smiled.
"Perhaps the motive is that it won't work?" Korekiyo chuckled. "After all, while it is a common part of many mythologies, I doubt there is any true way to return the dead to the world of the living… the closest thing would be a séance to contact their spirit…"
"We won't know until we try!" Angie smiled.
"I-It just ain't possible!" Kaito yelped, sweating profusely.
Kotoko looked at the astronaut with a smirk on her face. "Kaito, are you scared?"
"O-Of course not, T-The Luminary of the Stars i-isn't scared of any ghosts!"
"I think the Luminary of the Stars is scared of ghosts, nishihi~" Kokichi giggled.
"I think we have one more thing to do, don't we Mr. Monokuma?" Monaca said as she turned towards the bear.
"Of course! Giving you all back your memories seemed to work the last time we did it!"
Kaede thought back to Kirumi's last moments for a moment, the entire Gym seemed to do that to, all of them going silent… Monaca wordlessly pulled out a flashlight with a smile and flashed it in the face of the crowd.
A light blinded Kaede, she felt a splitting, piercing headache hitting her as small fractions of her memories began to flood back in…
Kaede looked down onto a letter she had received that day stamped with a particular, fancy looking stamp…
Dear Ms. Kaede Akamatsu.
Hope's Peak Academy's Ultimate Initiative has selected you to become the Ultimate Pianist, and enroll into Class 80 of Hope's Peak Academy. You will become this generation's hope for the future.
You may choose to use this letter to begin your semester as the Ultimate Pianist, or you may discard it.
-HPA Headmaster:
Kaede returned to the Gym, and was met with concerned, scared and confused looks from the entire Gym.
"D-Did you also get a letter saying-"
Kaede interrupted the astronaut. "That we were accepted into Hope's Peak? Yeah,"
"Were we… classmates at some point?" Korekiyo mused.
"H-How could I be classmates w-with you f-fucken' losers?" Miu mumbled, completely failing to hide her obvious fear with vulgarity.
"Th-That seems plain l-likely, but why can't we remember?" Tsumugi mumbled with frustration clear in her tone.
"I'm searching my memory banks for anything else about this, but…" Keebo trailed off. "There's just nothing there..."
Kokichi smiled to himself for whatever reason, Kaede was too focused on what she had just seen to notice.
"Ah, it seems to be working!" Monokuma chuckled. "I'm so glad for making good on my promises, puhuhu!"
"You know what to do if you wanna find out more…" Monaca smiled into the crowd.
"Such a devious strategy, using humanity's own desire for information against us, kehehe…" Korekiyo chuckled.
"It's such a gooood motive!" Kokichi giggled. "I'm super impressed!"
"Kokichi!" Kaito scolded.
"Glad someone appreciates my effort around here!" Monokuma hmmph'd. "I'll leave you bastards to stew in your despair, so long, so long!"
Monokuma and the Warriors of Hope waved everyone goodbye, leaving the Gym in yet another stunned silence.
"I think… we will not need to worry about any of these motives!" Angie beamed, everyone stared at the islander who was flanked by Himiko and Tenko. "Because the all new, Atua led Student Council will be taking care of them!"
Angie's audience stared at the girl with confusion.
"Student council?" Tsumugi asked.
"Yeah… Atua has decided to ordain Angie as the President of the Student Council…" Himiko said, a confident tone coming over her usual lazy voice.
"Y-Yeah, and he's accepting volunteers to join his council!" Tenko declared. "That's how me and Himiko got in!"
"That sounds like a pretty convenient thing for your God to do," Kotoko put a finger on her chin, deep in thought for a moment.
"Sounds like a bunch of bullcraaaap!" Kokichi smirked.
"Believe what you want to believe, Atua has given me the divine guidance to create a utopia within this school!" Angie's smile grew wider and wider. "No one will ever kill again, because no one will ever want to leave again!"
"B-But we have family out there!" Kaede argued.
"Yeah, we can't just give up this easily!" Kaito agreed. "It's what Monokuma-"
"Monokuma wants us to kill," Angie glared at the astronaut, huge smile still on her face. "Monokuma wants us to die, if we live here in peace and harmony he doesn't get what he wants,"
"That's right…!" Himiko exclaimed. "The Student Council is gonna protect everyone from another murder!"
"Hmm…" Gonta looked lost in thought for a moment. "Protect everyone?"
"Gonta, I swear-"
Angie quickly interrupted the Supreme Leader by walking towards the curious Giant. "Yes, yes, if you join the Student Council; you could have all the help you need protecting everyone!"
"Really?" Gonta beamed. "Then Gonta join right away!"
"Hurray!" Angie cheered as she patted the big man on the back. "Atua is so proud that you made the right choice!"
"Atua sound so nice!" Gonta smiled back.
"Yes, yes, he is a nice and merciful god… he only wants what's the best for us!" Angie cheered. "No matter what!"
"Yeah, no matter what!" Himiko agreed.
"Y-Yeah…" Tenko "agreed"
"Does… does Atua accept Robots into his religion?" Keebo asked as he stepped towards the Islander.
"Keeb, wh-what the fuck are you doing?" Miu yelped.
Angie wrapped the robot in a tight hug. "Of course, of course he accepts you for who you are!"
"H-He does?"
"Yes, Atua accepts all into his kingdom!" Angie smiled at Keebo as she released him from the hug.
"Ah, Angie's religion spreads further… how interesting," Korekiyo whispered.
"Ugh, Gonta, why are you so damn naive?" Kokichi sneered.
"A-All this talk of reviving the dead i-is bullshit anyway!" Kaito declared.
"You sound kinda scared," Kotoko giggled. "Sometimes, I get afraid that the ghosts of all the people I've wronged are out to get me too!"
"Well, you have about four possible right now!" Kokichi chuckled.
Maki gave the man a brief glare before going back to staring blankly into the crowd before her.
Angie and the rest of the student council briefly met up in a circle, whispering amongst themselves with Angie clearly leading the conversation.
"Please do not fear the Student Council, everyone!" Angie cheered as the five people stood in front of everyone else. "We will do our best to make sure that we all feel safe and enriched within our newfound home!"
"That right, and Gonta use his strength to keep you all safe!"
"I-I'll do that too!" Tenko shouted. "Mainly for the girls, though,"
"I'll use my magic-"
"Haven't we already established that your magic is horseshit!?" Miu grumbled.
"I mean, it did kinda make the last trial way harder than it needed to be…" Kotoko shrugged. "But your delusions are kinda funny, so we should probably let them slide,"
"They're not delusions!" Tenko shouted.
"Yeah, it's magic!" Himiko proudly declared. "Maaaaagic, maaaaagic,"
Kotoko sighed in disappointment, refusing to actually respond to what they were saying anymore.
"Kotoko, Miu, please do not harass Himiko," Keebo sighed. "Especially you, Miu, your behaviour here can get… uh kinda intense…"
"Ugh, god, you're so brainwashed now!" Miu complained. "Do I gotta install an anti religious crazy chip in your head now?"
"I-It's not crazy!" Keebo defended. "Atua and you are the only people who accept me here!"
"I-I mean… I wouldn't mind you worshipping me…" Miu mumbled.
"Wh-Wha?"
"Keebo, don't worry about her," Angie shook her head slowly, still smiling despite her disappointed tone. "She will change her behaviour on her own when she sees Atua's guiding light!"
"Of course!" Keebo smiled. "Miu, you should join the student council!"
"Fuck that! Bible camp is probably gonna force me to wear a fucken' nun outfit or something, can't go censoring these beauties!" Miu groped her boobs for emphasis, Keebo blushed.
"One of these days…" Angie whispered.
"Well, this was a total waste of my time," Maki sighed…
"Actually, I believe we should talk, Maki," Angie walked up to the assassin.
"Trust me, Angie, whatever you're going to say, I've already heard it," The woman sighed again. "And it's exactly why I didn't want to reveal my true talent… I'll do my best to stay out of your way," She said forlornly, looking off into a the part of the Gym with no people with a guilty, depressed look.
Angie smiled, though there was a clear hint of hatred in her expression. "Nyahaha, I hope you do your best at it!"
Maki sighed as she left the Gym… slowly the rest of the students poured out of the room one by one. Kaede met with Tsumugi in the hallway.
"Some morning announcement, huh?" Kaede said exasperated.
"T-Tell me about it… new motives, memories, student council… ugh!" Tsumugi groaned as if she had the worst stomach ache of her life. "I just wanna forget it all for today…"
"Let's hang out then, Mugi!" Kaede smiled as she wrapped an arm around Tsumugi. "What do you wanna do?"
"Oh, well… it's kinda silly, but there's some anime in the A/V Room, that could be fun to watch!" Tsumugi beamed. "Anime is more fun with f-friends anyway!"
"Of course, let's get moving then!"
The two women walked hand in hand to the basement and into the A/V Room…
Kaede managed to swallow down the awful feeling being down here again gave her. Part of it was the memories and part the dust that still clung to every corner of the room, though Mugi being here helped with that plenty.
Kaede sat down on the couch in front of the giant roll up screen.
"Okay uhhh… what's something you'd like…" Tsumugi mumbled as she skimmed through the catalogue of tapes on the shelves. "Ugh, most of this is normie, isekai trash!"
"Is… that a bad thing?" Kaede giggled. "I mean, I guess you calling it trash should make that kinda obvious,"
Tsumugi giggled back. "Yeah… ooo! Azumanga Daioh!" Tsumugi smiled as she found the tape, it had a cover of a small group of highschool girls smiling. "A-Azumanga is always a good watch,"
"It looks fun, c'mon, put it in already, Mugi!" Kaede said, Tsumugi nodded and shoved the tape into the player. The anime began to play.
It seemed to be about a group of high school girls just kinda… doing stuff, vibing as one may say. Kaede found herself using it more as background noise, spending most of her time hanging out with Tsumugi to stare at the Cosplayer. God, she was adorable wasn't she? Best of all Kaede got to see her being all passionate about something she liked. That was always the best part about hanging out with Tsumugi, just how passionate she got about her hobbies and interests. Kaede couldn't believe that Mugi found herself to be so plain, she always made everything she was into ten times more interesting than it usually was… also Mugi has a cute laugh, this show is a comedy.
I should probably watch it, but Mugi seems a lot more interesting right now.
Suddenly, Tsumugi turned the volume of the show down, and turned to face the Pianist.
"So uh… now that we're both a little more comfortable, is there anything you wanna talk about?"
"Uhhh… is there something you wanna talk about?" Kaede chuckled nervously. "Sorry, just didn't expect to be speaking,"
"I-It's fine, really, and yeah… I'm still pretty concerned about Angie's whole 'Student Council' thing…" Tsumugi trailed off. "It's got me plain worried, what if Angie's planning something really bad, y'know?"
Kaede paused, thinking for a minute. "Her saying that she'd keep the peace at all costs is a bit concerning, what are you planning on doing?"
"Exactly, I-I'll try to keep an eye on her," Tsumugi smiled at the Pianist.
"Thanks Mugi, that's pretty helpful of you!" Kaede patted the Cosplayer on the shoulder. "You're honestly really reliable when it comes to really important stuff!"
"Th-Thanks Kaede!" Tsumugi gave her friend a big, appreciative smile. "B-By the way it's getting kinda late by the way, I should go ask Angie if I can join the student council before nighttime,"
"Awwww, fair though, good luck, Mugi!"
"Th-Thanks Kaede!"
The two women made their way out of the A/V Room, Tsumugi heading to the fourth floor, and Kaede walking to the courtyard.
It really is getting late, huh? I should get back to my room… don't wanna keep the others waiting for training!
Kaede sat on her bed and felt a wave of emotional exhaustion over here… today had been pretty tough. She flicked through her Monopad and glazed over the section dedicated to the double escape motive…
Who would ever use this? If they care about someone else in this school they wouldn't be willing to kill anyone in the first place. Kaede stared at the screen until-
DING DONG BING BONG
"Nagisa went to bed early, so you have me again!" Monaca beamed. "I bet all the couples in the audience are super duper happy that they can take someone home with them!"
The monitor shut off as quickly as it turned on.
DING DONG DING DONG
"Cooooming!" Kaede sung as she dashed towards the door, opening it to reveal Kaito, Kotoko and surprisingly.
"Maki? I didn't think you'd come back for training again," Kaede said, bewildered, but smiling.
"Kaito annoyed me enough, what, do you not want me to-"
"Nononononono!" Kaede waved her hands around in a panic. "I think it's great, you deserve to have people you can rely on here,"
"...Sure, rely on," Maki sighed.
"Tehehe, what a Tsun-Tsun!" Kotoko giggled, Maki gave the shorter woman a menacing glare.
"Don't hide your feelings from me, Maki, I can see how excited you are!" Kaito chuckled.
Maki blushed mildly for a moment before she returned to scowling. "Do you wanna die?"
"Tch, nice try, Maki," Kaito shook his head. "Now, let's get training already!"
Kaito, Kaede and Maki moved to their usual spot, with Maki looking a bit less enthusiastic then the rest of them. Kotoko trailed behind, and out of the corner of her eye Kaede swore she saw her toss a silver key into her room… probably just my imagination.
"Alright, alright, now that Maki's all settled in; I want one hundred pushups out of all of you!" Kaito chuckled as he bent down to begin doing his pushups.
The session went as usual, with Maki completely and utterly dominating them in the pushup game, though Kaede and Kotoko were obviously struggling less with their exercise though! (They only got worn out after 15 pushups this time, progress!)
"Ugh, looks like you finally did your pushups this time!" Kotoko chuckled as she got up.
"I've always been doing them Koto, just outta view," Kaito promised, Kaede and Kotoko rolled their eyes.
"Sure, and Monokuma will let us go home if we… give him a belly rub or something," Kaede joked.
"Ugh, that joke sucked!" Kotoko pouted. "If Kiyo was here, he'd probably make a weirdo creepy weirdo comment about how we're 'making our own c-c-c-culture!' or something…" Kotoko did an unsurprisingly really accurate if mocking impression of the Anthropologist's more moany voice. She was the Ultimate Actress after all it wouldn't be shocking for her to be good at impressions.
"What made you think of Kiyo?" Maki asked.
"Oh, he was in the casino all day, I've been in there too cause you and Kaito were busy being bad at confessing your feelings for one another," Kotoko chuckled.
"Do you wanna die?"
"Right, the casino… I should try my luck there again!" Kaito chuckled proudly.
"No, no, never again," Kaede shook her head.
"Yeah, I don't think I've seen someone look so uncool before," Kotoko shook her head in mock disappointment.
"I totally coulda won if I had one more monocoin goddammit!"
Maki rolled her eyes. "Sure-"
"What are you doing out so late?"
The group froze up as they heard the voice, laden with a cheerful yet passive aggressive concern that could only belong to the Ultimate Artist herself, Angie Yonaga, she was being flanked by Gonta and Tenko.
"Since when is it your place to ask?" Maki said threateningly.
"I'm the student council president, silly!" Angie giggled as she turned her head. "And I have decided to enforce a strict curfew, no one allowed outside during nighttime!"
"What? Since when can you just do that!?" Kaito's face scrunched up in anger.
"And why? We're not doing anything wrong-"
"But you could, Kirumi and Shuichi were only able to kill someone, because there was no one to watch them at night!" Angie's eyes went wide. "Atua has told me that this is best for your safety!"
"Yeah, Angie only wanna protect you guys!" Gonta said. "Promise!"
"Wh-What Gonta said!" Tenko's voice was clearly shaky, less confident than usual.
"I-" Kaede sighed a sigh of reluctant acceptance. "Fine, I'll go,"
The group was forced to move back to their rooms.
"You don't have many friends, do you?" Kotoko asked while sneering at Angie as she moved back to her room.
"I have plenty of friends, all of you!" Angie smiled. "Goodnight now, bye-onara!"
Kaede sighed as she walked towards her bed, training…
Training would still go on, they'd just need to be more secret so that Angie couldn't stop them! Yeah, yeah we'll still hang out. Kaede's thoughts reassured herself as she flopped down on her bed. Her muscles were pretty exhausted from the somewhat easier workout now… she was so tired that she didn't notice the silvery key hidden under her bed…
…
Kaede awoke standing up, and absolutely nowhere near her room…
She was in a large room with gaudy, pink heart themed wallpaper, and an equally gaudy pink heart shaped bed in the middle of it was this… was this that love suite?
But how? I don't remember buying a that stupid key from the casino at all!
As Kaede mused she also noticed the woman standing in front of her: Tsumugi Shirogane, looking as pretty and as awkward as ever. If-if what Monokuma said, this probably wouldn't be so bad.
"Hey um… Kaede," Tsumugi smiled at the Pianist. "Thanks for uh… thanks for meeting me here tonight,"
"Of course Mugi!" Kaede played along for now, even if she had absolutely no idea what Tsumugi's fantasy was meant to be.
"W-Well, now that we've been dating for about six months now I-I think it's time we go back to where w-we first c-confessed," Tsumugi became more and more of a blushy, smiling mess as she spoke.
Awww! Her fantasy is just a wholesome anniversary date. That's so adorable, pretty expected of Mugi, cute Mugi.
"Of course! That was… probably the happiest day of my life, Mugi," Kaede laughed with a big, blushy smile.
"M-M-Me too!" Tsumugi mumbled with an even bigger smile and an even bigger blush. "Th-This place brings back a l-lot of good memories, like when I'd w-watch you play piano!"
Her ideal also plays piano, huh? What a weird coincidence.
"O-Or when you g-gave me the confidence to do that c-convention panel… you're really good at that by the way, K-Kaede!"
Mugi deserves an ideal that lifts people up, it's good that she can see that!
"A-And… oh goddammit!" Tsumugi stomped on the ground in frustration. "I can't keep this up anymore, Kaede,"
"H-Huh?"
"Isn't it plain to see? I-I love you, Kaede!" Tsumugi suddenly yelped. "Y-You're so pretty, and confident, and sweet, and kind and-and-"
A thought entered Kaede's head, one that made her both happy and nervous, but Kaede wasn't one to let nerves stop her. "I-Is your ideal me…?" Kaede asked, blushing just as hard as the cosplayer.
"Yes! You d-dummy!" Tsumugi gave a frustrated, yet relieved smile. "You, Kaede Akamatsu, Ultimate Pianist, a-and hopefully… m-my-"
"Girlfriend?" Kaede interrupted with a smile as she leaned into Tsumugi. "Cause I love you too, Mugi~"
Mugi's smile got wider, all the frustration leaving her body as she stared into the Pianist's eyes.
"Y-Yes!" The woman nodded giddily. "I-I'm so happy right now, Kaede!"
"Me too," Kaede wrapped her arms around the woman, she quickly leaned in close, close enough that their noses were touching. Kaede's voice was a hushed whisper that sent shivers up Tsumugi's spine. "Why don't we make ourselves way happier?"
"I-I'd like that a lot…"
Kaede giggled as she leaned in to remove what little distance there was between her and her new girlfriend, gently kissing her on the lips.
Both felt like it ended a little to early for their tastes… the two sat next to each other on the bed.
"You're adorable, Mugi," Kaede said as she continued to stare into those pretty green eyes. "Like, seriously the cutest girl ever,"
"Th-Thank you, y-you're not so bad yourself!" Tsumugi smiled. "Eek! I forgot to actually answer your question-"
"Mugi we just kissed, I'm pretty sure that's considered a yes," The Pianist giggled as she wrapped her arms around Tsumugi again. "Though… some more confirmation would be nice~"
"O-Of course!"
The two new girlfriends continued to kiss and cuddle until eventually, they both left the dream of the Hotel Kumasutra…
…
Kaede woke up groggily in her bed, it was still late at night… was what happened just a-
"W-Wuh?" Kaede heard the familiar sound of a certain cosplayer's voice coming from a suspicious blue lump laying on her chest.
"Mugi?" Kaede asked, the woman seemed to jump a little as she called her name.
"K-Kaede?" Tsumugi mumbled. "D-Did you have the same dream-"
"Please, Mugi, call me Sweetheart," The Pianist smiled at her new girlfriend.
"You remembered, uh… S-Sweetheart,"
Kaede blushed hard at that, smiling at her pretty, nerdy, nervous girlfriend. The two quickly drifted off into a quiet, cuddly slumber.
Tomorrow is another day.
…
ALRIGHT, V3V V3 3V 3 V3 V3V 333, 3 VVV VV3 33 VV3 33V VV YOU TWO SHOULD PROBABLY GO IN
I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL GOING IN.
SOMEONE NEEDS TO STAY BEHIND TO
THAT'S FAIR I GUESS…
WELL, 3 VVV VV3 33 VV3 33V VV YOU HEARD THE LET'S GO IN.
I GUESS, WE'LL GET OUR OUT OF THERE, 3V3 V3 333 V3V VV
I KNOW, I'M JUST A TOUCH WORRIED IS ALL, WHAT IF IT DOESN'T WORK?
WE'LL CROSS THAT BRIDGE IF WE GET THERE, NOW QUIT STALLING
I'M NOT!