The day after the first hypnosis session, Future Foundation 4th Division therapist Tadako Haruta had a minor conundrum on her hands. She wasn't sure if she should do a debrief session with each of the Class 78 survivors separately or do a session with them all as a group. She then remembered how much more difficult Yasuhiro Hagakure was to control in a group setting, which helped with her decision to have separate sessions with them for now.

At the same time Haruta was making her decision, the six classmates were gathered for their morning meal. It was a subdued and quiet affair, with Kyoko Kirigiri partaking of a cup of coffee before she delved into her breakfast rations. Since she wasn't the type to break the ice while she was enjoying the first cup of the day, she decided to let either Aoi Asahina or Makoto Naegi take the lead. Strangely, though, both of them were quiet as they ate their rations. It was Hiro who couldn't stand the silence anymore and broke.

"So, um.. are we gonna talk about what we.. all saw, or whatever?" The question was more quiet and tentative than he was known for, which made everyone else stop and pay attention. Hiro looked to Makoto, and Makoto shrugged as he dug back into his rations, which was also unlike Makoto's normal cheerful disposition.

Surveying the scene as he stood while drinking his own cup of coffee, Byakuya Togami had had enough of the silence. With a sigh, he replied, "Well? Should we indulge in our regained memories of our real first day at the Academy?"

"I wouldn't call it indulgence. It's more like comparing notes," Kyoko pointed out.

"Hmph. Same difference," Byakuya gruffly retorted as he huffed.

Having just finished her breakfast, Hina seemed to have a little more energy as she excitedly offered, "Guys! I knew Sakura from the real first day!"

Toko Fukawa, having also finished her breakfast, stated, "W-well, that's not m-much of a surprise."

Hina groused a little, then continued to speak. "But that wasn't all. Our conversation that we had on the real first day was almost exactly the same as the one we had when.. you know."

"When we got thrown into the game?" Makoto asked, around his last bite of hard-boiled egg.

"Yeah, that," Hina replied. "But we had someone who surprisingly joined us with our training on the first day."

"Who was it?" Kyoko asked, getting a second cup of coffee while Byakuya handed her his mug. She didn't mind that Byakuya never formally asked, as it helped strengthen their relatively weak bond more. The action irked Toko a little, but she usually wouldn't say anything since it was just coffee.

Hina continued, "Mondo. He joined us. And um.. Mukuro almost did.. before she was bullied out of it. I'm pretty sure I don't have to say who did that."

Everyone nodded, then Hiro interjected, "I saw Mondo too, but I was hanging around with Leon and.. I was pretty high so I don't really remember much."

Toko waspishly replied, "T-that's also not m-much of a surprise."

That remark fully broke the ice as everyone else either laughed or smirked, while Hiro was just smiling like the Cheshire Cat as per usual. Underneath his permanent scowl, Byakuya showed the tiniest hint of a smirk while he stated, "I don't know why anyone expected anything more from Hiro."

Hiro just shrugged, then asked, "So.. not only did I see Mondo, I also saw Sayaka-chii and.. her."

Hina became more serious and nodded. "Yeah, I saw her and Mukuro. I think Mukuro wanted to follow me, Sakura, and Mondo, but.. she didn't because of her."

Byakuya tensed up very slightly, but no one noticed except for Kyoko. Makoto asked, "Byakuya, wasn't your session after Hina's? You don't have to say anything to us if you don't want to. Like Kyoko said, this is more about comparing notes."

Regaining his composure, Byakuya stated, "Yes, my session was indeed after Hina's. During mine, I saw and spoke with Taeko and Chihiro."

Hiro looked confused as he asked, "Taeko?"

Hina, annoyed, gave him a slight shove as she retorted, "Celeste. Her real name was Taeko."

Kyoko confirmed this fact. "Taeko Yasuhiro, as we found out in the third Class Trial after Makoto had asked her to boot up her eHandbook."

Makoto nodded to confirm Kyoko's statement as he took a sip from his bottle of water. Once his sip was swallowed, he said, "I can only imagine how.. weird that must have been to see them alive."

Everyone else nodded. The memory of that trial and the level of Celeste's deception was still a tangible presence in the room currently, as well as the odd feeling of seeing their fellow dead classmates alive and well. Makoto then interjected, "Did you see anyone else during your session, Byakuya?"

While Byakuya was internally unsure if he should just blurt it out, he knew that if she'd had similar memories then she would mention it as well. So he decided to strike first, unlike what he'd told Celeste on the real first day at Hope's Peak. "Unsurprisingly, I saw Toko. She apparently had a thing for me from the real first day, too."

Toko just blushed and giggled, while Hina asked, "Can we assume that Toko only saw Byakuya during her session?"

Toko quietly replied, "I did see Master talking to Chihiro, and I heard him talking to that.. she-hag Ludenberg."

Byakuya was taken aback as he replied, "That's not possible! How did you hear our conversation?"

Kyoko then chimed in with, "I think it's safe for us to assume that the soundproofing of the dorm rooms was either added as a safety measure after The Tragedy, or during preparations for the game."

The statement piqued both Byakuya's and Makoto's interest. Makoto was silent as Byakuya asked, "So when do you think that could have been done?"

Kyoko thought for a moment, then replied, "I can certainly speculate, but I don't think we'll know that for sure until later on in the hypnosis sessions. My speculation is that while we certainly could have added the soundproofing to the dorm rooms on orders from the Headmaster during the lock down of the Academy, I believe it could have been the work of Ultimate Despair after our memories were erased."

Makoto, deep in thought, asked, "So, if I understand what you're saying.. we could have been knocked out for however long it took for them to finish everything with that before we came to?"

Kyoko and Byakuya nodded their heads. Byakuya replied, "That explanation makes the most sense, especially since we all mentioned feeling dizzy and disoriented once we had awakened after what we thought was our initial entrance into the Academy."

Makoto nodded and replied, "I remember that it took me a bit longer than usual to figure out where I was. One moment, I was in the Academy's Main Hall. The next thing I remember is waking up in that first floor classroom, as I'd told all of you on what we thought was our first day."

Kyoko thoughtfully added, "It could have also been done as improvements during the time that was stolen from us."

Byakuya, also thoughtfully, stated, "That is possible, but doesn't it sound a little more like something that Junko would have done as she and Mukuro were preparing the game?"

Kyoko couldn't argue with that, and neither could Makoto. Hina, Hiro, and Toko were becoming a little more uncomfortable with the sudden twist in the conversation, so Hina broke the trio's thoughts with, "Hey, you guys? Aren't you getting a little too sidetracked? Byakuya, did you see anyone else besides Celeste, Chihiro, and Toko?"

Byakuya looked to Hina and replied, "No, only those three."

Hina then turned to Toko. "Okay, so I think we can assume that you of course saw Byakuya during your session, right?"

Toko nervously fidgeted and replied, "I d-did see Master talking t-to Chihiro. After t-that, Master allowed me to f-follow him. I d-don't remember where we were g-going, but we did p-pass the first floor classrooms."

Hiro interjected, "So you really were after Byakuya from the start, eh?"

Toko just blushed and smiled while Kyoko replied, "It's honestly not surprising that some of us were falling into the same, unknown patterns of our relationships with each other before and during the game."

Hina asked, "What makes you say that?"

Kyoko replied, "You and Sakura are a perfect example. You had even said that your conversation on the real first day at the Academy was very similar to the one you two had before the game started when we re-introduced ourselves to each other."

Hina nodded. "Oh, yeah, that is true," she agreed.

Byakuya scoffed again while Makoto helped to steer things back to the original topic again. "Wasn't your session after Toko's, Kyoko?"

The lavender-haired young woman nodded, replying while looking directly to Makoto, "You are indeed correct, and I remember only seeing you during my session."

Hina giggled and muttered to herself while Hiro said, "Kyoko-chii, your point was just proven!"

Kyoko's cheeks turned a very slight shade of pink as she said, "Well, that just leaves Makoto."

Makoto's cheeks were also slightly pink as he replied, "Yeah, and I definitely saw Kyoko during my session first. We were heading to the Dining Hall for lunch. Once she and I got there, I saw Sayaka talking with Hifumi."

The collective gasp from everyone else was almost deafening. "As far as I know, Sayaka only hung out or tried to hang out with Makoto before.. " Hina's thought trailed off, not wanting to mention the first murder of the game.

"Not only that, but Sayaka-chii and Hifumi-chii? Not possible! Are you sure it wasn't an occult influence or something?" Hiro asked, followed by Hina and Toko tossing their empty ration boxes in Hiro's direction.

Makoto continued, "It just looked to me like they were chatting and getting to know each other. I also saw Celeste, you," as Makoto pointed to Hiro, "Leon, and Chihiro before someone very loudly entered the Dining Hall to make an announcement."

Everyone stated in unison, "Taka."

Makoto chuckled and nodded, stating, "Yeah, it was Taka. Even on a free day, he was still dedicated to everyone having a simultaneous and orderly lunch period."

Chuckling, Hina asked, "So, what else happened?"

Makoto replied, "Well, I just grabbed a couple of bento boxes and two bottles of water so that Kyoko and I could have lunch before we explored the school together."

With a smirk, Kyoko interjected, "You mean me walking ahead of you, and you trying to keep up."

Makoto blushed and hung his head, while the other four laughed and continued talking amongst themselves.

Toko had nervously gone to meet with Tadako Haruta about the first hypnosis session. Haruta was as calm as possible in an effort to ease Toko through the process. Toko eventually calmed some, relaying her feelings about what had happened during her session with Kenji Miura.

"All right, Miss Fukawa, I just have one more question for you," Haruta stated.

"O-okay, what's the q-question?" Toko asked.

"Did you feel your other self at all during the hypnosis?" the therapist asked.

Toko thought for a moment or two, then replied, "It was m-more like.. seeing s-something out of the corner of your eye, or f-feeling like someone was w-watching you. Otherwise, n-no."

Haruta smiled warmly to the shy author, then said, "Thank you, Miss Fukawa. Do you have any other questions?"

Toko just shook her head.

Haruta then stated, "You're free to go now. It's almost time for your dinner break."

Toko got up and started to leave, but then turned around. "Mrs. Haruta?"

Haruta, inwardly shocked, asked, "Yes, Miss Fukawa?"

Toko swallowed, then said, "T-thank you," then shyly hurried out of the therapist's office.

Haruta chuckled to herself as she bent back to her legal pad to finish her session notes.

A/N: I am so sorry for the length of time between chapters. Life seems to have a way of sapping what I really want to do and replaces it with what I really *have* to do. So thank you for your patience, hope you enjoy the read, and thank you also for the views, visits, follows, and favorites. That really means a lot to me.