Chapter 3: Part 14

'This is the stupidest thing I could do,' Sayaka thought to herself. The pop idol followed Mikan down the halls towards the dormitories. 'Sure, if Kokichi is planning something, I should know what it is, but…what if it's an ambush? I don't have anyone to back me up. Tenko taught me some Aikido moves, but I haven't really used them in a real fight. As for fights…I can't risk anything.'

Sayaka slipped her hand into her skirt pocket, grabbing onto the skeleton key in such a way that it stuck out from a gap between her fingers. 'If anyone tries anything, all I got to do is just jab them with this, right?'

Mikan stopped as the duo arrived at her dorm's door. "He's just inside…" she stepped aside for Sayaka.

Sayaka sighed. "Mikan, why didn't you tell anyone he was talking to you? Why did you even want to talk to him? You know he can't be trusted."

Mikan frowned, but didn't respond. She simply opened the door and motioned for the idol to step inside.

'Did Kokichi use those trigger words to make Mikan an Ultimate Despair again?' Sayaka thought as she eyed the nurse. 'No…she still looks too skittish and sad. Whatever he said, he got her to help him willingly. You poor girl.'

With a huff of irritation, Sayaka stepped inside. She was careful with her steps, hoping that she wouldn't be caught off guard from a potential ambush. Thankfully, no such attack took place, as once she was fully in Mikan's room, she saw Kokichi was laying across her bed, munching on a bowl of pretzels and sipping from a can of Panta. Kokichi seemed completely content with where he was at that moment before spotting the blue-haired pop idol. A wicked grin formed across his face, and he leapt onto his feet on the bed.

"Well, well, well," Kokichi said as he spread his arms out. "The woman of the hour finally shows up! Sorry I couldn't pretty myself up for you, I'm kinda still in hiding."

"Make this quick, Kokichi," Sayaka said sternly. "I'd rather have some breakfast and join the party instead of playing your games."

Kokichi covered his heart and gasped. "How rude! I just wanted to talk to you! Oh, and one other thing." Kokichi then called out. "Mikan!"

Sayaka felt a hand reach into her other skirt pocket. Just as she began to turn and see what was occurring, Mikan had stolen Sayaka's room key from her possession. Sayaka reached out to take her key back, but Mikan shoved Sayaka away with a surprising amount of force.

"Thank you for bringing her here," Kokichi said before weakly waving his hand as he rolled his eyes. "You can go ahead and see Rantaro or whatever."

Mikan frowned as she faced Sayaka. "I'm…sorry," she said quietly before exiting her own room.

Sayaka sighed as she turned back towards Kokichi. "Is that what you told her to get her to help you?"

Kokichi shrugged. "Meh. I just figured I'd be nice and return the favor for helping me catch up on what's been happening." He then approached the edge of the bed and sat himself down. "But enough about all that kiddy stuff. It's time for the grown-ups to talk."

Kokichi smirked as his eyes locked in onto Sayaka, creating a standoff between the two. Each party waited for the other to speak up first, with Sayaka expecting Kokichi to make an obnoxious comment and Kokichi waiting for Sayaka to make a comment for him to mock. After neither spoke for five seconds, Kokichi gave in with a shrug.

"OK, I guess I'll start," Kokichi said. "If I can be honest, I already knew Rantaro killed Kaito."

"You what?!" Sayaka's eye twitched in frustration.

"Look, sorry to say, but it was obvious! I mean, the moment he brought up the idea of pushing someone into a trap counting as murder, it had to be him. I mean, how much more obvious of a distraction can that be? I would've called him out then if his idea didn't work."

"So, you brought me here to make fun me? Because I couldn't solve it as fast as you?"

"Make fun of you? No, no, no! Well, if was a day ago, I would be making fun of you. No, I brought you here to congratulate you."

Sayaka was puzzled. An earnest compliment from Kokichi sounded like an impossibility to her. "Congratulate me?"

Kokichi leapt up to his feet and took a hold of Sayaka's hands. "Just when I was about to give up hope on you being an intellectual rival, you prove me wrong. And outing him in front of everyone? Nehehe. That's cold-blooded."

Sayaka yanked her hands out of Kokichi's grasp, but he continued his tirade. "But that's not all Mikan shared with me. You mind explaining what she meant when she said you were a "main character?"

"I don't know, ok?" Frustration seeped through Sayaka's words. "Whatever Rantaro read in those books made him snap."

Sensing the pop idol's frustration, Kokichi held his hands up and spoke with his usual sarcastic tone. "Whoa. Someone's a widdle cwanky. Why are you so upset anyway? I thought pop idols liked being the center of attention."

"How are you not concerned about any of this?! We keep running into clues saying our lives aren't real! Even you have to care about your stupid organization!"

For a brief moment, Kokichi went dead quiet and averted his gaze from Sayaka. For that brief moment, it seemed that something had finally made the Supreme Leader feel unease. Then, he turned back to Sayaka, straightening his posture and putting his hands behind his back.

"Famous philosopher René Descartes," Kokichi began to ramble, which Sayaka immediately groaned in response to, "proposed the phrase "I think therefore I am."

"Kokichi, what are talking about?"

"Just give me a second," Kokichi held his hand up. "This will be good. Anyways, this phrase was created to counter the theory of our thoughts and feelings not being our own, but instead fed to us from some outside source. I'd say that fits this problem quite well."

"So, you're saying all we need to disprove that our memories are fake is that quote?"

"Well, it's more of a jumping off point. Think about it; if the Mastermind faked all of our memories and personalities, why would they allow us to discover that on our own?"

"Because it would drive us to despair," Sayaka answered. "That's what Junko wanted, Tsumugi seemed to have wanted that, and this mastermind isn't any different."

"But that's the problem, isn't it? If they want to hurt us the same way Junko would, that would imply Junko, her actions, and her history are real. And if this Mastermind is anything like Junko, they'd never allow us the chance to cope with this revelation. If this is somehow just a show, then the Mastermind is a showman, and showmen know better than to play their trump card so early. Why wouldn't they save this info for the final trial? That is a final episode twist."

Sayaka tapped her index finger against her chin as she pondered over Kokichi's words. "So…if we're able to think about our own thoughts, we must be real then."

"That's the theory. Although, I know one thing for sure," Kokichi said before his smirk twisted into a sinister smile. A thick shadow covered his face, with only the whites of his eyes and the red inside of his mouth being visible to Sayaka. "If you're a main character, then I'm your rival. You may not be Shuichi, but you're definitely going to be some fun. I'm going to enjoy molding you into something great."

Sayaka scowled at Kokichi. "I'm not some doll for you to play with."

"Come on! You owe me after I just helped you not worry about being fake anymore." Kokichi's voice softened up, however his words became crueler, "But then again, aren't you fake anyway?"

"What?"

Kokichi stepped closer to Sayaka as he almost whispered into her ear. "Being a pretty face on stage, hugging fans on TV-"

Sayaka stepped backwards, yet Kokichi kept close to her. "Shut up."

"-and behind the scenes you're crippling rivals and leaving them drugged at clubs."

Sayaka felt her back get pressed the wall and her whole-body shook. With only his words, it felt like Kokichi was violating her. "N-no…"

"Your public persona is a character. Hell, it's not even a character, it's a product. Just a nice smile to slap onto some make-up brands, CDs, posters, maybe even some cereal boxes. Why would you being a character be any different from an idol…Maybe that's it. You don't care about getting out of here to see your friends or boyfriend. You just want to get back to being famous."

"SHUT UP!"

In a matter of seconds, Sayaka's vision was briefly enveloped by a flash of red, she felt as if she had lost control of her body while an explosion of energy flowed through her body before she was finally able to process what had happened. Kokichi had separated himself from the idol while clutching the left side of his face. Sayaka looked down at her hand and saw that had her master-key out, and her key was dripping with blood.

"Hehehehe…" Slowing removing his hand, Kokichi revealed a bloody scar across his face, just barely missing his left eye and travelling from his eyebrow down to his chin.

Sayaka looked back at the snickering boy.

"You're going to be so much fun, Sayaka," Kokichi said before his snickering turned into a fit of chaotic laughter.

Having enough of this encounter, Sayaka dashed out of the room with Kokichi's laughter echoing behind her.

While Sayaka and Kokichi were busy talking, Rantaro was stuck in his cell, slouched awkwardly on the floor with a rumbling stomach.

'Hmmm, Sayaka's been gone for a while now,' Rantaro thought to himself, completely unaware of the pop idol's predicament. 'She wouldn't leave me here to starve for long, would she?'

From the darkness of his cell, Rantaro heard a door creaking open. Excited, the lime-haired man shuffled himself up to his feet, albeit hunched over. "Sayaka? I was wonder what took you."

As he peered out from his cell window, he realized it wasn't the pop idol that had entered the room. Rather, it was the Ultimate Nurse, Mikan. Upon locking eyes with her, Rantaro's excitement was replaced with solemn expression. He knew he had to approach this situation with care.

"Hello, Mikan," Rantaro said softly. "Did you want to sit down or-"

Mikan approached the cell's window and leaned down to properly face Rantaro. Tears ran down from her eyes as she stared at her companion. Rantaro slowly reached his hand out between the bars of the window to wipe away her tears.

"Mikan…you don't have to cry for me," Rantaro said. "After everything I did, I can't blame you if you hated me."

Mikan remained silent for a moment before finally speaking up. "I…I don't hate you for what you've done. I…I understand you want to find out more about this killing game. B-but…I want to know…was I just an alibi for you? Just someone to vouch for you?"

"No, no," Rantaro was quick to dispel Mikan's worries. "Absolutely not."

Mikan couldn't help herself. Whatever self-confidence she had gained over the past few days vanished as her stuttering reemerged in her speech. "W-would you h-have let me die in that t-trap?"

Rantaro immediately took a hold of Mikan's hand. "Mikan, I'd never hurt you. You have every right to hate me, but I need you to know I'd never do anything to hurt you. Do you understand? Hell, I led our group as far away from the trap as I could. I care about you."

Mikan's grip on Rantaro's hand tightened. Could she trust anything he said? Lord knows that she wanted to believe in him with every fiber of her being. Yet, her history of trusting others had painted a picture that everyone she held close to her heart were liars.

"I want to trust you," Mikan spoke before more tears poured out, "but I-I don't want to screw up anymore! I-I hate being an ugly idiot! I j-just want this pain to go away!"

Rantaro tightened his grip on Mikan's hand. "Mikan, stop. I don't know what you've gone through in life or who hurt you, but they are wrong. You are a beautiful, beautiful girl. You have a wonderful smile, lovely purple hair, you're sweet and caring, and you're a great nurse. You need to stop listening to those negative thoughts. There are so many people here that love you and care about you. You need to learn how to love yourself."

Mikan's lips began to shake as more tears fell from her eyes. She grasped onto Rantaro's hand with both of her own. "Wh-why is it so hard though?"

"I don't know. There's no way to just heal pain instantly. It takes time."

Mikan hung her head down as she sobbed, with her only source of comfort and love coming from a boy that was locked up for murder. Mikan was left to reflect on just how much of her life was a disaster. All the bullying, all the harassment, all of the toxic romances, it was too much for her to handle. She wanted it to go away. That's when her eyes shot open.

"Or…m-maybe it can go away now," Mikan said to herself.

Rantaro was taken aback, sensing something ominous about Mikan's words. "Mikan, what do you mean?"

Mikan pulled herself away from Rantaro and stood tall. "I…I can get rid of my pain."

Rantaro pushed his face against the bars of the cell to try and get a better look at Mikan. "Mikan, what are you talking about?"

"I have to go!" Mikan shouted before she dashed towards the door.

"Wait, Mikan! Hold on!"Rantaro shouted and reached his hand out in a meaningless effort to stop the nurse.

Before Mikan could exit the room, Sayaka opened the door and rushed inside as the same speed Mikan was. The two women crashed into each other and fell back onto their rears. Mikan had dropped Sayaka's room key, but it didn't matter to her. The nurse quickly got back up to her feet and dashed out of the room. Sayaka watched the nurse leave the room with a puzzled expression before shrugging and retrieving her own room key. Turning her attention to Rantaro's cage, she saw the lime-haired man looking out at her.

"What was that all about?" Sayaka asked.

Rantaro sighed. "I don't know."

"Hmmm," was all Sayaka was able to muster in response.

This left the room in a short period of silence before Rantaro spoke up. "So, what did you get me for breakfast?"

Upon hearing this question, Sayaka smacked her forehead in frustration. "Aw, crap! Sorry, I got caught up in something!"

Rantaro let out a polite chuckle. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

"No, no," Sayaka shook her head. "I'll get something really quick. Just give me a sec."

Sayaka dashed out of her room and shut the door behind her. Rantaro leaned back into his cell, and while the prospect of finally eating was nice, he couldn't but worry about Mikan's well-being. As much as he cared about her, as highly as he spoke of her, he knew she was far too unstable to make rational decisions.

A contest of strength between two stubborn men could only end one way, with both wearing each other down. Both Mondo and Taka were left leaning against the sides of the punching machine exhausted, panting, and sweating. They lacked so much energy that any more attempts to punch the machine resulted in limp-wristed swings that did nothing but miss. When they were finally unable to even do that, the two men locked eyes. Their passions, their drives to push themselves to their absolute limits, it reminded them of how their bond was formed in the first place. The bad blood that laid between evaporated as they both exchanged nods and smiles.

"THAT'S IT! MAXIMUM POWER!"

Mondo and Taka both turned their attention the sound of the shouting voice. Turns out, it was Chihiro pressing a button on his Nekomaru watch as a form of congratulations to the two. "Well, now that you two are done, do you want to hear what your best scores were?"

Both men nodded.

"Well, Taka was able to score 1043," Chihiro listed off.

Taka stood proudly. "I don't see that record being broken anytime soon."

"Not so fast, Taka," Chihiro interrupted. "Mondo was able to score 1052."

"What?!" Taka gasped.

"HAHA!" Mondo laughed confidently. "I told you! You never stood a chance!"

Taka clenched his fist. "I-it's hardly much higher than my score! I could easily best it in a rematch!"

"Oh, you ready to go round two, bro?" Mondo asked as if he forgot how exhausted he was.

However, before another contest of strength could commence, the trio were interrupted by a shouting Ibuki.

"HEY YOU GUUUUUUUYS!" Ibuki called out. "I know the game room rules, but we got some swim-swim-swimming to get done!"

Taka sighed. "Very well, Mioda."

Sakura smiled as she walked past her class's group leader. "Don't be so sad, Taka. You and Mondo will benefit from a cool swim."

"Yeah," Mondo scratched the back of his head. "My jacket's pitting out right now."

As everyone in the game room moved away from all the electronics and tables and towards the door, Hifumi realized something.

"Hey, wouldn't we have to go get our swimsuits from our rooms first?" Hifumi asked.

Ibuki stood right in front of the door, patting herself on the chest. "Ibuki already got her swimsuit under her clothes."

"Same here," Chiaki said before blushing. "Although, maybe I could change. It's still a bit smaller than I'd like…I think."

"Crap, I totally forgot mine, man," Leon groaned.

"Me too," Kaede said.

Mukuro held up her handcuffed wrists. "I haven't even gotten a chance to really change my clothes."

"Me neither," Keebo said.

Everyone in the group, at least those that weren't in the 3rdKilling game, turned their attention the robot, all with confused expressions. This, in turn, confused Keebo.

"Um…what?" Keebo asked.

"Um, you're a robot, dude," Leon said. "Can't your wires get wet or something?"

"A being as dense as you would sink to the bottom," Gundham commented.

"And why do you need a swimsuit anyway?" Mahiru asked. "It's not like you have…um…y-you know…"

Keebo's eye twitched in irritation before finally shouting. "That's robophobic!"

"Well," a mischievous grin formed across Teruteru's face, "if no one's got any of their swimsuits, then I'd propose we go skinny-"

Angie tugged on Teruteru's arm, silencing him from making any more perverse comments.

"Now, there's no need to panic over something like this," Celeste spoke up. "I can just have Kirumi gather everyone's swimsuits and bring them back to us. Would you be ok with that, Kirumi?"

Kirumi smiled and politely bowed her head. "It will be no trouble at all."

"Well, chop-chop-chop!" Ibuki clapped her hands together. "We gotta hurry up and get wet!"

"HA!" Miu laughed.

All of the students would exit the game room and make their way to the pool's entrance. They stopped just outside of it while Kirumi and those that forgot their change of clothes broke off from the group to retrieve everyone's swimsuits. After around seven minutes, they returned with a stack of neatly folded clothes. Of course, everyone immediately snatched their swimsuits.

"Alright everyone!" Ibuki cheered. "You guys go change in the locker rooms and meet Ibuki in the pool!"

Ibuki immediately stripped off her uniform to reveal her two-piece swimsuit with the same shades of blue and purple that she had dyed in her hair and for her thigh-high socks. "CANNONBALL!" she screamed before sprinting inside.

"Damn…" Leon said with a slight blush across his face.

It took another five minutes before everyone got into their swimming appropriate attires and entering the pool area. Ibuki had already fully prepared for fun by littering the pool with several beach balls, pool tubes, pool noodles, inflatable beds, even an inflatable basketball hoop and ball. Ibuki herself had already seated herself on a pool noodle and spraying a water gun around wildly. As she saw all her friends enter the room, she waved at them to hurry over.

Despite having come out as his true self, Chihiro chose a rather conservative outfit with yellow trunks and a loosely fit, sky-blue beach shirt. Hifumi chose to be brave and go shirtless but wore a baggy pair of Princess Piggles swim trunks. Leon wore dark red swim trunks and had an open hoodie to show off his abs. Mondo wore black trunks that had his gang's logo printed onto the left thigh. Offsetting her rather masculine appearance and physique, Sakura wore a pink two-piece bikini which had girly frills. Mukuro had been allowed to uncuff herself to change…only to be cuffed again when she stepped out of the changing room. She had a two-piece bikini that had a red and white floral pattern across it. Celeste obviously chose to wear something that lined up with her gothic Lolita fashion, a two-piece, black swimsuit with white ruffles at the top and bottom of each piece. Then there was Taka who, despite everything about him being strict and prudish, wore the most daring outfit of a tight black speedo that…left little to the imagination.

For those from Jabberwock Island, they weren't too surprised by Chiaki's choice of a two-piece white bikini with a ribbon on the top and ruffles at the bottom. Gundham had refused to remove his scarf or his bandages, however he did choose to wear a pair of black trunks with a purple cross printed on the left thigh. Despite how prudish Mahiru could be, she chose to wear a blue two-piece bikini with white poke-a-dots across it. Nagito wore a simple pair of blue trunks and a white hoodie...and his chained collar. Peko wore a black two-piece bikini but was still equipped with her sword and glassed. Hiyoko did wear a bikini, however it wasn't visible since she chose to wear a yellow bathrobe over it. Teruteru wore a white pair of trunks and a black button-up shirt, both having a rose pattern scattered across it. Shinji was dressed in a pair of yellow trunks and wore a grey sweat jacket.

Kaede wore a blue two-piece bikini which wasn't too shy to show off her impressive figure. Angie didn't even need to change into other clothes. She simply took off her yellow jacket. Gonta wore a pair of green trunks with a tropical leaf pattern across it while still wearing his glasses. Kirumi wore a black two-piece bikini, but still wore her maid's apron over it. Just like Mukuro, Kiyo was allowed to be uncuffed while change but was then cuffed again when he stepped out into the pool. He wore a black, full body wetsuit and still had his mask over his mouth. Miu wore a leopard-print two-piece bikini that was absolutely made to have everyone's attention. Ryoma wore a pair of white trunks and a white hoodie, both of which had blue stripes across them, similar to an old-fashioned prison jumpsuit. Tenko, surprisingly, chose to wear a pink two-piece, string-tied bikini. Keebo…looked exactly the same. Granted, he is a robot, so his school clothes wouldn't actually be clothes, rather just a part of him. Still, his only way of showing he was going for a swim was a pair of goggles hanging from his neck and a pool floaty around his waist.

Kaede couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Keebo's floaty. "God, you're so previous, Keebo!"

Keebo couldn't help but blush. "W-well, you guys wouldn't stop talking about me sinking in the pool, so…I got this."

"Ok, so that means water doesn't screw you up?" Leon asked.

"Uh, of course it doesn't!" Miu spoke up. "I'm the one that's worked on him for two killing games now!"

"Gonta will lift Keebo if Keebo sink," Gonta chimed in.

Taka stepped forward, forcing everyone to see him and by extension…his bulge. "This does bring up a good point! We should have safety precautions in case someone drowns!"

"AH! MY EYES!" Leon cried out before covering his eyes.

"Did you have to wear something like that?!" Mahiru covered her eyes as well. "No one wants to see you in a speedo, you creep!"

Taka crossed his arms. "I have no idea what any of you are complaining about. Speedos allow me to be more aerodynamic when swimming."

"I certainly don't mind," Teruteru commented, which resulted in Angie tugging on his arm to shut him up.

"Hey, can you guys stop standing around already?" Ibuki called out from the pool. "Pool parties aren't about standing around. THEY'RE ABOUT PARTYING IN POOLS!"

Celeste twirled a strand of her hair. "I hate getting water in my face."

"Then why did you even come here?" Mukuro asked.

"I doubt I'd be allowed to leave," Celeste responded before walking off to one of the pool chairs along the wall and sat herself down. Kirumi, ever the loyal maid, followed her and stood beside Celeste's chair waiting for her next order.

Miu yanked on Nagito's collar, dragging him behind her as she walked towards another pool chair. "Come on, Nagicuck! I need you to lather me up in that sun lotion!"

While gagging on the collar, Nagito spoke up. "B-but we're indoors."

"I don't give a shit!" Miu spat out. "I ain't swimming without being covered in…that s-sticky white stuff…"

"Eww," Chihiro cringed at Miu's comment.

"Guess I'm going in first, man," Leon said before sprinting towards the pool and jumping up. "Cannonball!"

"HEY! NO RUNNING BY THE POOL!" Taka shouted and stomped after Leon.

With that, everyone began to make their moves. Kaede, Chihiro, Chiaki, Shinji, Mahiru, and Kiyo simply used the pool stairs to walk into the cool water. Mondo, Angie, and Teruteru didn't really care about being careful and simply hopped into the water with no issue. Hifumi, Gonta, and Sakura were more cautious, and took the effort to walk around to the deep end of the pool before jumping in. Both Mukuro and Ryoma sat on the edge of the pool, only lightly dipping their feet into the water. Hiyoko and Gundham decided to sit off in far corners of the room on their own pool chairs. Peko decided she needed to make a big splash. So, she walked around the rim of the pool towards the diving board. She stepped up, took a deep breath, and with a running start, dived right into the pool. When she rose back up to the surface, she slicked her hair back, getting some whistling from Ibuki.

"Dayum, Peko!" Ibuki cheered. "You're making Ibuki's heart go BOOM-BA-BOOM-BOOM!"

Peko let a quite groan. "You're doing that again?"

"What? Ibuki can't help admiring a hottie like you!"

Before Peko could respond, Ibuki took aim and sprayed water at her face. Peko growled and took off her glasses. "Be careful where you spray that."

"Oh yeah? Are you get Ibuki back for it?" Ibuki sprayed at her once more.

"That's it!" Peko lunged at Ibuki, managing to disarm Ibuki and using her water gun against her.

Unlike her sword swinging friend, Ibuki only laughed in response to being hit with water. It was a game to her, and as such, she swung her feet to kick water back at Peko. Each time the two of them would exchange blows, Peko's stoic and intense expression slowly shifted into a small smile.

Ibuki smirked and pointed at Peko. "Ah, Ibuki got you to smile!"

The still smiling Peko shook her head. "No you didn't."

"I totally did! You're doing it right now!"

Peko shot water at Ibuki's face once more. "Not at all."

Leon happened to be right next to both Peko and Ibuki while this happened. Two beautiful women in bikinis and wet, Leon couldn't help but blush heavily. He backed away from them and turned to find another place to go. However, beautiful women were in every possible direction. Kaede and Chiaki were passing around a beach to one another, hopping upward each time to hit it. It doesn't take much to understand why two ladies jumping up in down in water would excite someone.

"So, what exactly are we trying to do then?" Chiaki asked as she knocked the ball over to Kaede.

"I don't know," Kaede knocked it back. "Maybe we're playing keep it up?"

Chiaki punched the ball once more. "That works…I think."

Leon turned once more and saw Miu laying down on her stomach across one of the pool chairs with Nagito just off to the side squirting some lotion on his hands.

"Now, don't fuck this up, Nagicuck," Miu said as she closed her eyes. "I need that shit all over me."

Nagito stood by awkwardly as he stared at Miu. "Um…are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm fucking sure," Miu snapped. "Why are you nervous? Aren't you just dying to get your hands all over my golden bod?"

"Uh…not really."

Miu's eyes shot up and she looked up at Nagito, mortified by what he had said. "Wh-what?! Y-you think I'm ugly or something? Th-there's no way, right?"

"No, no, you're very attractive, Miu. I'm just…not into women."

Miu stared up at Nagito for a moment. "So…I am hot, but you won't get a boner? Well, what the fuck are you waiting for then?! You got nothing to complain about!"

Nagito sighed, accepted his fate, and began to rub the lotion onto her body.

Leon eventually turned away. 'Gotta find someone to talk to, gotta find someone to talk to.' Desperate to find something that wasn't titillating or horrific to look at, Leon turned to the one person he felt would inspire neither. Leon paddled over to Keebo, who had been standing at the shallow-end of the pool.

"So, you still scared of sinking, dude?" Leon asked.

"N-no!" Keebo put up a tough front. "I'm just…checking to see how my modifications are handling being water."

"Sure, sure." Leon nodded before nervously tapping his foot. "So, how you doing? You know, being around all of us new people?"

"Honestly, it's still rather difficult to process. I have seen your faces before, but all as disguises Tsumugi used…"

"So…we're, like, still fake to you?"

Keebo thought back to his encounter with Sayaka before speaking up. "I'm not going to get into that again…" Keebo looked away from the baseball player before locking onto something of interest. "You know, there is one thing that I haven't done here yet."

"What?" Leon asked.

Keebo pointed to the outside of the pool, right at Gundham. The brooding boy was busy with his four pets when Keebo pointed him out.

"I haven't gotten a chance to be around animals," the robot said before stepping out of the pool.

With nothing better to do, Leon followed Keebo over to Gundham's table. Gundham's dark disciples, Raijin, Phoenix, Kahn, and Mephisto, were placed upon a table eating food from palm sized bowls before they felt Leon and Keebo's presence. Gundham glared at the two boys.

"What business do you have with me, automaton?" Gundham growled out.

"Well," Keebo spoke up. "I was hoping I could see your pets. You see, being a robot, I'm still learning about several things about life, and not scaring away animals is something I've been wanting to do. I know we didn't get off on the best foot earlier, so if you don't want to-"

"Hmph!" Gundham smirked. "You wish to understand the path of the shadows then. Your curiosity is admirable, but your ignorance is despicable! Let it be known to you these four are not simple pets! For the final time, these are the Dark Disciples!"

Keebo's eyes suddenly popped out of his head, like how an older styled camera lenses would push out when zooming in. "I'm not detecting any anomalies in them. Are you sure there's supposed to be something supernatural to them?"

"Wh-what?" Gundham gasped. His animals even seemed offended as both Khan and Mephisto hissed at the robot. "That is an unkind thing to say!"

"Can you both calm down already?" Leon interrupted their argument. "The dude just wanted to pet your…disciples…"

Gundham's rage diminished, but he still looked annoyed. "If you are so desperate to connect with these creatures, it will take time. They are accustomed to you being an enemy. As a result, you must maintain your distance and wait for the Dark Disciples to come to you."

"Hmmm, I see," Keebo said with a slight frown. He was disappointed in the answer, but it made sense. He had to accept it and return to the pool party.

Elsewhere at the pool, Mahiru had been leisurely swimming laps around the edge of the pool. The photographer's stress and irritation had been washed away by the cool water that enveloped most of her body. As she began to slow down her pace, she noticed that Hiyoko was still seated by herself. Mahiru quickly glanced around the room, looking for where Angie could potentially be, before spotting her playing some pool basketball with Hifumi.

'OK, she's busy,' Mahiru thought to herself before looking back at Hiyoko. 'I have to give it one more try.'

Mahiru climbed over the edge of the pool and left a trail of water behind her as she approached Hiyoko. "Hey," Mahiru said quietly enough to not startle the shorter girl. "I…saw you weren't swimming."

Hiyoko avoided looking at Mahiru, however she still spoke up. "I don't want to swim."

Mahiru sat down next to Hiyoko. "Why not?"

Hiyoko crossed her arms. "I don't like my swimsuit. Angie told me to wear it, but…it's so embarrassing…"

"Angie wouldn't let you wear your own?"

Hiyoko's eyes widened. "I-I mean, I'm glad Angie let my use it, but…I don't like it as much."

"Well…what is it?"

Hiyoko huffed and untied her bathroom. Upon opening it, Mahiru saw that Angie had forced Hiyoko to wear the exact same seashell bikini Angie wore. The artist was attempting to morph the dancer into a replica of her. Mahiru frowned at the sight and shook her head.

"Would you mind if I helped you pick out a better one?" Mahiru asked.

Hiyoko looked at Mahiru before glancing over at where Angie was. Angie was too distracted with her game to notice the two of them talking. Hiyoko took a hold of Mahiru's hand.

"Sure," Hiyoko said.

Mahiru smiled and helped Hiyoko up to her feet before they exited back to the locker room.

Meanwhile, Celeste had been enjoying herself at her own chair. She had been sipping on a glass of lemonade and reading through a copy of Interview with a Vampire, both obviously given to her by Kirumi. After taking another sip of lemonade, Celeste glanced over at Kirumi.

"Why don't you go ahead and go swim with the others?" Celeste asked as she looked back at her book. "You've more than earned a moment of fun."

"I would," Kirumi said, "however, I imagine you wouldn't appreciate me handing you anything with wet hands."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Celeste said.

At that moment, Teruteru climbed out of the pool and approached Celeste. "If you're worried about that, I'm willing to take Kirumi's place."

Celeste glanced up from her book to see the short cook. "Hmmm. I don't mind. Kirumi, I relieve you of your duties for the time being."

Kirumi bowed her head. "Thank you, Miss Ludenberg." She untied her apron, neatly placed it onto a table, and made her way towards the pool.

Teruteru normally would've ogled Kirumi as she walked past him, but he had his eyes only on Celeste. He could barely stop himself from biting his lip as he admired the gambler. The way her sheet white skin complemented her figure and contrasted against her black hair and bikini. If he had any less self-control, he would've surely…busted right then and there.

"So, how may I be of service to you?" Teruteru asked.

After taking another sip of her lemonade, Celeste held out her glass. "A refill will be fine."

As Teruteru reached out his hand, his wrist was suddenly snatched, and he was pulled to the side. The person who dragged him away from Celeste was Angie, who in a completely out-of-character move, tightened her grip on him and glared at him.

"What is wrong with you?" Angie whispered to Teruteru. "Are you forgetting everything I've been teaching you? You're supposed to be avoiding your temptations."

Celeste smirked as she listened in on their conversation. "Is that how you talk to your followers?"

Angie snapped her head towards Celeste. "It's rude to eaves-drop on other people's conversations, no?"

"Why are you only getting on my case?" Teruteru asked. "I don't see you going after Hiyoko for hanging out with Mahiru."

Angie went silent and her eyes widened. She looked back at Teruteru, examining his expression to check if she had heard him correctly. When she saw him darting his eyes off to the side, she swung her eyes off to where he was looking. At the corner of the shallow-end of the pool, Mahiru was holding Hiyoko's hand as they were swimming together. To Angie's shock, Hiyoko had swapped out her shell bikini for a yellow one-piece. Angie released her hold on Teruteru's arm.

"Hmmm," was all Angie could let out.

Whether they were swimming or not, everyone had found a way to enjoy themselves at the pool. Everyone except Tenko. She had not moved a single step since she had entered the pool room. Why?

'I totally forgot that I can't swim,' Tenko thought to herself. 'Now I'm just stuck standing around in this stupid swimsuit.'

And why would she wear such an out-of-character choice in bathing suit?

'Maybe Sayaka will think I'll look go in this?' Tenko blushed as she thought to herself. 'I mean, if she is into…Kaede might have a point. But what if she's wrong? Sayaka would still compliment me anyway, right?'

Tenko looked down at her stomach. Normally, due to her akidio outfit, no one could notice her figure. However, due to wearing a swimsuit, her four-pack abs were on full display.

'Maybe…she'd like my muscles?' Tenko thought. "I'm so nervous…"

"Why are you nervous, Tenko?" a familiar voice asked from behind.

Tenko yelped and her entire body jolted in place. She nearly swung her arms out of her instinct to attack any creeps sneaking up on her. However, she was thankfully able to stop herself from decking Sayaka in the face.

Tenko yelped again. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Sayaka! I wasn't trying to…"

Tenko's voice died as soon as she got a good long look at the pop idol. Sayaka wore a two-piece bikini with a shade of blue that her hair and her eyes were. And that swimsuit showed off her perfectly her curves, her flat and smooth belly, her long, smooth legs, and her admittedly impressive breasts. Tenko's entire body turned beat red, so much so she felt like her body was steaming.

'OH MY GOD, SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!' Tenko thought.

"Aww," Sayaka smiled at her friend. "Thank you, Tenko. You look great too."

'AH! A COMPLIMENT!' Tenko's mind began to race. 'WHAT DO I DO?!'

"You can always thank me," Sayaka said.

"Oh, yeah," Tenko suddenly calmed down. "Thank you, Saya…HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING?!"

"I'm psychic," Sayaka said with a serious tone of voice.

"Wh-what?!" Tenko's eyes bugged out. 'OH NO! SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING!'

Sayaka suddenly smiled and giggled. "Just kidding! I just have good intuition."

'Oh ok,' Tenko let out a sigh of relief. "You really freaked me out for a second."

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it. I've had…a bit of a rough morning."

"Yeah, are you feeling any better?"

"A bit," Sayaka said with a sigh. "I caught up on some sleep, got some breakfast, but then I had to deal with Kokichi."

Tenko's eyes widened. "He didn't try to hurt you, did he?!"

"No, no, but he still found a way to get at me," Sayaka hugged herself briefly before looking back at Tenko. "Hey, why aren't you swimming with the rest of the group? I figured you'd be having fun here."

"Oh, that," Tenko became embarrassed. "I…actually can't swim."

"Really?" Sayaka gasped. "I never would've guessed. Do you want me to teach you?"

"I don't want to take up your time teaching me when you should be having fun."

"You should be having fun too, Tenko," Sayaka took a hold of Tenko's hands. "We can stay in the shallow-end of the pool. That way we don't have anything worry about."

"O…ok," Tenko turned completely read once more as Sayaka led her into the pool.

Sayaka made sure she wouldn't overwhelm her friend by going down the pool steps as slowly as she could. She shivered a bit as the cold water covered more and more of her body. Eventually, both of them were in 3 feet of water before they stopped. Sayaka noticed a paddleboard floating on by, so she took a hold of it and handed it over to Tenko.

"This works for beginners," Sayaka said. "As long as you hold onto that while paddling, you should remain up above the water. Now, you start off by laying down on it and kicking your feet to move forward."

Tenko leaned forward until she was floating on the water with the board. Her eyes went wide as the slow waves of the pool's water moved her around. She felt like she had control over herself.

"Tenko, it's ok. Just kick your feet and you'll be able to move wherever you want."

"O-ok," Tenko said nervously before she slowly began to kick her feet against the water, flinging it around everywhere. It took some time for her to get the hang of it, but Tenko was eventually able to move a whole foot forward. Excitement filled Tenko as she was finally making progress. She smiled brightly at Sayaka, who clapped in response of her efforts. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

It took some time for everyone to dry themselves off and swap back to their regular clothes, but they had they were dragged along to the auditorium by Ibuki. Even despite the fact all of the students had been busy for nearly 8 hours, Ibuki had already set up the lights on the stage as well as setting up all the instruments her rag-tag group of band mates would play. The band mates in question being Keebo, Kaede, Gonta, Leon and Ryoma, who all climbed onto stage and got their respective instruments. Keebo on drums, Kaede on piano, Gonta on saxophone, Ryoma on bass guitar, and Leon holding a microphone of his own. Meanwhile, the rest of the group filed into the seats, starting with Taka and ending with Angie. Ibuki grabbed her own guitar and approached the microphone stand to speak.

"Ladies and dudes of all walks of life!" Ibuki almost screamed through speakers. "We've all been brought here together today….TO ROCK!"

Leon spoke into his microphone. "WHO'S READY TO ROCK?!"

A few cheers came from the audience.

'Oh, dude, don't get nervous now,' Leon thought before shouting once more. "I SAID! ARE! YOU! READYYYYYYYY?!"

The cheers get a bit louder from the crowd. Leon smirked a bit. He was finally got to be what he wanted. He finally got to be on a stage to play some rock music. He glanced over at the girl who had given him this chance, Ibuki. The punk girl looked right back at him and smiled. The two were ready to put on the show of a lifetime.

"ALRIGHT!" Leon shouted. "ON THREE!"

Ibuki held her hand up. "ONE, TWO, THR-"

Before Ibuki could finish counting off, Monokuma suddenly popped his head out of the Gonta's saxophone horn. "HOOOOOOOOOOLD IT!" the monochrome bear shouted out before he slowly wiggled himself out of the saxophone and hop down to the floor.

Immediately, almost everyone in the room let out a groan of irritation at the bear's interruption. Taka shot up from his seat to face off against their captor.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?!" Taka asked. "We have been minding our own business this day!"

"Yeah, I was about to finally start singing, dude!" Leon added on. "What the hell, man?!"

Monokuma held up his paws to silence the student body. "First of all, I am your headmaster. If I have an announcement to make, then I shall make it. You wouldn't ignore an announcement from the president, would ya?"

"Well, the president didn't kidnap us, did he?" Mahiru mouthed off.

"You think I pay attention to politics?" Miu began to laugh. "I couldn't give a fuck what that bitch said."

"Which president are you referring to anyway?" Kiyo asked. "Multiple countries have elected officials in positions of power. Plus, many businesses use the term president for those in highest rank in the company."

"Couldn't you just spread the announcement through the Mono Pad?" Chihiro asked. "I mean, that's how regular phones do it. Whether it's a news app or an amber alert or even-"

"HEY!" Monokuma shouted. "I didn't ask for your input, Poindexter! So, shut it!"

"Then what is it you want?" Celeste asked. "I'd rather have this concert end as soon as possible."

"Well, well, well," Monokuma chuckled. "Lucky for you, what I'm announcing will put an end to this concert."

"WHAAAAA?!" Ibuki whined. "How could you do this to Ibuki?! After all this hard work that was put into this set up, you're just going to cancel it?! No one's going to #cancelibukimioda!"

"Unfortunately for you, I do gotta put an end to it," Monokuma said. "You see, a little birdy informed me that someone broke the rule about destruction of school property before I had to discipline Leon the Skinhead over there."

Leon immediately covered his head. "HEY, DON'T GO SAYING SHIT LIKE THAT ABOUT ME! I AIN'T A SKINHEAD, BITCH!"

Monokuma spun on his heel before stopping himself to face Ibuki. "Hey, Ibuki! Remember that first little concert you had, and when I announced it was nighttime you got so mad that you decided smash your guitar against the floor?"

Kaede rose from her piano seat. "Hey, hold on! You can't seriously be punishing Ibuki for that!"

"You're several weeks late to bring that up anyway," Shinji pointed out.

"So?" Monokuma asked. "If a crime's committed, you got to give the appropriate punishment. And you don't just let things slide just because it "happened a while ago." You still got to pay your dues."

"Rantaro got two people killed and you aren't following through with that!" Mondo growled.

"Guys, guys, it's fine," Ibuki held her hands up, attempting to ease her classmates' concerns. "Monokuma isn't going to kill Ibuki. Leon broke a plate and got a bad haircut for it. Ibuki's going to be just fine."

Everyone in the room went silent. It made sense, at least if they processed it through Monokuma's warped sense of justice and punishment. However, leave it to Monokuma to spoil any good mood the students could have.

"You're right, Ibuki," Monokuma said. "Destruction of property isn't punishable by death. But since that guitar is a bit pricier than a plate, I gotta give you a bigger punishment. I'd say a lobotomy is fitting enough."

"See?" Ibuki smiled. "Ibuki's going to be allll-l-l-lo-lo-LOBOTOMY?!"

"What?!" Tenko gasped in terror.

"N-no way!" Tears began to form in Hiyoko's eyes.

"You can't do something like that!" Taka shouted.

"Too late, already doing it!" Monokuma snapped his fingers and a hole in the ceiling formed, with a robotic claw lowering down from it to grab Ibuki.

Peko leapt from her seat and unsheathed her sword. She would hop from chair to chair as she rushed towards the stage, taking one more jump to hopefully slash the robotic arm apart. What Peko couldn't expect was the robot arm suddenly swinging at high speeds to smack her to the side, sending her crashing against a wall. Keebo activated his jetpack and flew up towards the arm, aiming his blasters at it. Monokuma decided to ruin the group's last form of hope by pulling out a remote and pressing a button on it. This resulted in Keebo being electrocuted, shutting of his jetpack and blasters, and sending him back to the floor.

With no one else able to make it to her in time, Ibuki was left open to being grabbed by the robotic arm. Leon attempted to reach out to her, but the arm too fast, pulling her up into the ceiling. Soon, Ibuki Mioda, a girl wanted nothing more to reunite her friends and end all their conflicts, vanished from sight. This infuriated her classmates, even those who would normally never admit it.

"This is outrageous!" Gundham shouted. "We all know how flippant you are with your rules! You were simply looking for an excuse to hurt her!"

"It isn't fair!" Mukuro snapped. "You can't just permanently ruin her life for something like that!"

Monokuma looked back at the rest of the group. "Oh, really now? Are you sure about that? I mean, who said this had to be permanent?"

"It is permanent," Chiaki glared at Monokuma. "Lobotomies cause permanent damage to someone's mind, leaving them in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives."

"Oh, how you all forget so quickly," Monokuma said. "I brought you back from the dead. I can easily undo a lobotomy…but I ain't going to do it for free you know."

"What?" Sayaka asked.

"I see this as the perfect opportunity for your next motive!" Monokuma cheered. "You guys want good old, loveable Ibuki back to her senses? All you got to do is kill someone! Do that, and I'll make sure she'll be back to normal."

Everyone in the room went silent once again. No one wanted Ibuki to have permanent brain damage. But was her safety worth another murder? As they thought about the weight of this decision, tensions began to rise in some of the group. Particularly from those who were a part of Celeste's and Angie's groups. Their differing beliefs, their suspicions, it made them actually consider Monokuma's offer. As the group were left to ponder this motive, Monokuma would dash off the side of the stage and disappear from sight.

The nighttime announcement played out and everyone returned to their room, although was able to go to sleep. How could they when they witnessed one of their friends get taken away for a fate worse than death? However, there was one person that wasn't for Ibuki's capture was Mikan. She was still awake at that time, but her reason for being up had nothing to do with that. All the lights in her room were off, completely consuming the nurse in darkness as she stood in the bathroom by herself. She gripped onto the sink so tightly that, if she had some sort of super strength, she perhaps could've pierced through the ceramic of the sink with her fingers.

Thoughts of anger, embarrassment, sadness, and emptiness filled her mind. Why had she been cursed to always feel such misery? Why was she always so foolish to put her trust in those that only used her? If she was real or just a character, she was always too weak to handle her emotions. But there was one way out. One way to never be a weak, emotional wreck ever again. With a deep breath, Mikan stared into her reflection.

"Miyuki Ishikawa, 1948."

UGH! This took way too long and I still left out some scenes I really wanted to include. Just some small moments of these poor people having fun. Sayaka was supposed to see Sakura and talk about how adorable she was in pink. There would've been another scene of Taka and Mondo being bros in the pool. I think I would had a full on water gun war, but it just didn't happen.

I'm trying to keep earlier plot lines going, I also don't want it to feel like dead characters don't matter anymore. I'm trying to keep Nekomaru in mind, but I got to bring up Kaito too. I got to go back and fix some grammar mistakes too.

What else is there to say really? I'll try not to take as long with the next chapter, but I will be away for a bit to get some cleaning done. Outside of that, it's a new year with new opportunities I need to take advantage of. Gotta workout and cook more. Rewrite some original drafts, and keep Loser Reunion going. I want this to be the best story it can be. I always appreciate fanfics that stick closer to the vibe of the original source. Hopefully this chapter didn't screw that up for this story. Thank you all so much for your patience during this time. 2024 was easily the worst year of my life and I don't want to repeat that. Take care of yourselves.